A Whole New Life

By McKinsey Sage

Tim Claire is a regular teenage boy. After he gets caught up in a terrorist attack, he's hailed as a hero. This puts him square in the sights of an international terrorist organization and their enigmatic leader. They want Tim and his father dead. The FBI will do anything to keep them alive including giving them all new identities. These new ide

• Language: English
• Publisher: The Mulberry Books
• Release date: Jun 25, 2021
• ISBN: 9781952864322

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A Whole New Life.

Copyright © 2021 by McKinsey Sage.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without permission in writing from the publisher and author, except by reviewers, who may quote brief passages in a review.

This publication contains the opinions and ideas of its author. It is intended to provide helpful and informative material on the subjects addressed in the publication. The author and publisher specifically disclaim all responsibility for any liability, loss, or risk, personal or otherwise, which is incurred as a consequence, directly or indirectly, of the use and application of any of the contents of this book.

ISBN-13:

978-1-952864-33-9 [Paperback Edition]

978-1-952864-32-2 [eBook Edition]

Printed and bound in The United States of America.

Published by

The Mulberry Books, LLC.

8330 E Quincy Avenue,

Denver CO 80237

themulberrybooks.com

I am stoked. One of my favorite times of the year. Comic Con, Buffalo comic con, me and Kevin have gone the last two years. Kevin’s my best friend. We’re both comic nerds. We love superheroes, sci-fi, manga. Truth is we love it all.

Hey Tim, I can see the convention center.

Alright! Hurry up, I’ve got money burning a hole in my pocket.

We’re almost there.

Kevin is sixteen. He’s several inches taller than me with reddish brown curly hair and tons of freckles. He just got his license two weeks ago. We both live the burbs just outside of Buffalo and this is the first time his parents have allowed him to go in the city without an adult. His car is an old beat-up Chevy. His parents gave it to him on his birthday. His dad likes working on cars in his spare time. He rebuilt the engine and it runs great. Now if he can fix the dented, rusty body it’d be a great car. Me? I’m only fifteen, still haven’t got a license.

Kevin pulls into the packed parking lot and starts cruising around while we both try to spot an empty space.

There’s one, I quickly point to the end of the aisle we’re in. He presses the accelerator and we speed up the aisle. We pull in just as another car circles around the end of the row trying to beat us there. The guy drives by and gives us a dirty look and says something that is probably not very nice. But he drives on.

We both jump out of the car. Look out, comic con, Kevin Burns and Tim Claire have arrived!

Yeah! I scream while pumping my fist in the air. Lock up the women and the beer! That gives him a laugh, neither of us drink and we’re not exactly ladies men. Matter of a fact, I’ve never had a real girlfriend and Kevin has only taken a girl out once. He found out later that she was just trying to make her ex jealous.

Kevin is wearing his favorite Captain America t-shirt. I’m sporting my X-Men t-shirt. We both really into Marvel.

We head towards the entrance. There’s already a long line. We take our place in line and start checking out the cool costumes. A lot of the costumes are amazing and it helps that some of them are worn by pretty girls.

Hey, look at the Sailor Moon girls, Kevin says.

I look and see five teenage girls in sailor outfits. Each costume has a different color skirt and the skirts are short. We are both enjoying the view.

The blonde in the blue skirt is mega hot, I observe.

Why don’t you go over and talk to her?

Uh... I don’t want to lose my place in line.

I’ll keep your place. Go ahead. He nudges me that way.

The girl was sooo pretty. I knew I wouldn’t be able to string together a coherent sentence if I tried to talk to her. No, we’re almost to the door. It was the best excuse I could come up with.

Chicken, he laughed. You really need to get over your shyness,

I’m okay, I grumbled, move up, we’re getting close.

I was trying to distract him. But he is right. I am too shy, especially with girls. I never know what to say and when I do say something it comes out sounding stupid. It doesn’t help that I’m a small guy. I’m only five feet four inches tall with a slender build. Our family doctor says I won’t get much bigger. Most girls don’t want a guy that they look down at, or if I’m lucky, eye to eye. They all seem to want taller guys that they can gaze up at.

I come by my size honestly. My dad is the big one of the family. He’s a whopping 5 feet 5 inches. Mom was only 4 feet eleven inches but she was a beautiful woman. Long dark brown hair and big blue eyes with a beautiful face. But she’s gone now, so is my little sister, Sarah. She was two years younger than me and she was the spitting image of mom. Or at least she would have been. Mom went to pick her up at a friend’s house. On the way home they were both killed when a drunk driver went left of center and hit them head on. They were killed instantly. The drunk driver survived. He was tried and found guilty, he’s serving thirty years to life. You might think that would make me and dad feel better but it doesn’t. They’re still gone and always will be.

The two of us did the therapy thing. I guess it did help to talk about it. But I don’t think my wounds will ever heal, I know dad’s won’t. Mom was his everything. He tries to put on a positive face, I know it’s just a show for my sake. I’ve seen the way he sometimes sits at the kitchen table and stares at nothing while his coffee gets cold. He falls asleep in front of the tv every night. When I find him sleeping there he says he nodded off while watching a show. That’s his excuse but I know he hates that empty bed.

Earth to Tim. Dude, you’re in a trance. Wake up! We’re here. He spreads his arms out and I look at booth after booth after booth of cool memorabilia for sale. People in all kinds of costumes everywhere. He’s right, again, time to have fun.

Let’s check out some stuff before any celebrities hit the stage or the autograph booths. It was extremely crowded and loud. We pushed through to the nearest booth which seemed to be devoted exclusively to Star Wars. I picked up a replica light saber and checked it out. Meanwhile Kevin was carefully looking over all the PVC figurines.

Kevin and me have been best friends since the second grade. One day Billy Maxwell was beating the crap out of me just to show how tough he was. Yeah, real tough beating up a kid half your size. I tried to fight back but he was as big as most of the fifth graders. He had called me a hobbit and I came back by telling him his shoe size was bigger than his IQ. I think it may have actually been true. Anyway that’s what started it. I never could keep my mouth shut when I needed to. After he threw me on the ground for the fourth time Kevin tapped him on the shoulder and sucker punched him in the nose when he turned. Then he yelled c’mon! and signaled for me to follow. We both ran like hell, leaving Billy with a bloody nose. Kevin took me to his house where I cleaned myself up. He showed me his room. I knew by looking at all his stuff that we were kindred spirits. I suppose the rest is history. We began talking comics, comparing Marvel and DC. We were instant friends. Most evenings I was at his house or he was at mine. He was there for me when mom and Sarah got killed. He’s the closest thing to a brother I’ll ever have.

We had now gotten to one of the super hero booths.

You gonna part with any of that moldy money, T? He was buying a PVC Captain America holding his shield above his head. Cap’s always been his favorite.

Haven’t found anything I want yet, K.

Well unless you’re going to invest it, you’d better spend it, He snickered.

I’ll spend a little right now, I need a drink. Let’s find a food stand.

Yeah, I could use a Coke too.

We could see a food vendor at the end of the aisle. We were working our way through the crowd when we heard the first shot.

Somebody got firecrackers? He looked around.

Dunno, I was confused.

Then more shots, a lot of them. Then all hell broke lose. We started hearing screaming and yelling. The sound of gunfire never stopped. All the people around us were looking around, not knowing what to do or what was happening. Then there were people running away from whatever was happening. We were still standing with a crowd of scared, confused people. Should we run, should we hide, and most of all, what was going on. Maybe it was just a show or some kind of demonstration.

Then a man wearing mostly black walked into the other end of our aisle. He had black cloth around his face and head, only his eyes were showing. He was holding what looked like a machine gun. He pointed the gun at us.

Get down, Kevin screamed. I’d never heard his voice sound like that. The gun opened fire at the same time as I hit the floor. I could hear the explosive gunfire and bullets impacting things around us. Someone near me cried out in pain. At my right there was a banner with a picture of a bad guy firing a gun at a superhero stretched across the front of one of the booths. It was from the table top to the floor and it was right beside me. I kept my head down as I rolled sideways to the banner and underneath it. I was inside the booth, under a table. I looked behind me. A woman in her fifties was on her knees. Her eyes were closed tight and her hands were clasped together. Her lips were moving as she prayed silently.

I turned back around. There was gunfire all around and the gunman in our aisle was getting closer, firing as he came. Screaming and sounds of all out panic. The smell of gun smoke was strong. I slightly pulled back the side of the banner in an attempt to peek out.

Kevin? I whispered. I could see an overweight man flat on his back, his shirt was blood soaked. A minute before the shooting started that same man had been standing a couple of feet away from me. I could see people hiding between booths on the other side of the aisle. The gunman had passed, still firing intermittently.

Kevin, I spoke louder this time and pulled the banner open farther. Kevin was lying right in front of me on his back, his Captain America shirt splattered with blood. His face was turned towards me with his wide open eyes in a blank death stare. A trail of blood had run out of the bullet hole in his temple and across his face. I forgot about the danger as I stared at his lifeless face. I tried to believe it wasn’t real but I knew it was. My tears were falling when two of the terrorists ran by before I could pull the banner back in front of me. As they passed I heard one of them say, that’s all we have time for, get to the van.

I stuck my head out and watched the two men run towards the exit through small drifting clouds of gun smoke. Maybe I’ve gone crazy because the next thing I know, I’m up following them. I ran from cover spot to cover spot keeping them in sight. I had to watch out for people on the floor everywhere. I didn’t know if they were hurt, dead, or playing dead. The gunfire had stopped but there were the sounds of wounded and dying people. Groaning, moaning, and crying. People panicking, calling for help. I wanted to help but I was obsessed with following these monsters. There were four of them now, the two I originally followed had been joined by two more psychos. They all wore similar outfits, black with only their eyes showing. They all had assault rifles.

Suddenly one of the men turned around. I hadn’t reached my next hiding place yet so I did the only thing I could do. I threw myself on the floor and played dead. I held my breath and silently prayed that he hadn’t seen me. The men had been at least twenty yards ahead of me. I opened my eyes slightly. There was a dead security guard lying beside me. The next several seconds felt like an eternity. Finally, I thought I heard them moving. It wasn’t easy to tell with the sounds of the people all around. I could also hear the sound of sirens in the distance. I raised my head and looked, they were moving again. Six men now. I quickly jumped up and ran for cover. I heard a noise close behind me. I looked back and saw one of the Sailor Moon girls close behind me crouched in a corner crying and shaking uncontrollably. I wanted to help her but, again, I was on a mission to get those bastards. She would get help soon I told myself. I turned around in time to see them going through a door with a lit-up exit sign above it. I was even farther away now. When the last one went through the door I sprinted as fast as I could to the door.

The sirens were getting much louder and there were a lot of them. I opened the door enough to peek out. There was a late model white delivery van parked along the curb. It was running with someone behind the wheel. They opened the sliding side door. It had a faded picture of a bouquet of flowers with Carl’s Flowers in red letters underneath. They were all piling in. They slammed the door shut and the driver stomped the gas pedal squealing the tires.

I burst out of the building. I ran for Kevin’s car while trying to watch which way they were going. I was breathing hard but the adrenaline kept me moving. I got to the car. I knew he kept a spare key hidden in a magnetic case in the front wheel well. I knew because I was with him when he got it and helped him decide where to hide it. It still didn’t seem real that he was gone. Can’t think about that, gotta keep going. I retrieved the key and jumped into the drivers seat. I’d driven this car before, Kevin let me practice a couple of times in an empty parking lot.

I started the car and backed out of the spot. I hit the gas and went in the same direction they went in. The sirens were very close now. I pulled out of the exit they must have used. As soon as I was in the street, I saw the van about two blocks ahead. I pressed the gas a little harder. I wanted to get closer but not too close. I was now a block and a half away when they turned left at the intersection. I floored the gas while weaving through traffic. Three police cars sped by going the opposite direction. Their emergency lights were on and their sirens blaring, they didn’t give me a second glance. I got to the intersection where they had turned. I stopped in the middle of the road while signaling a left turn. I looked up the street where they had gone and saw them turn right onto the next block over. I veered back into the straight lane, there were angry horns blown behind me. My plan was to shadow them from a block over while traveling parallel to them. It was a gamble, but this way they’d be less likely to see me. I just hoped I wouldn’t lose them. I looked over while going through the next three intersections. I was matching their speed almost exactly. At the fourth intersection they turned left. I slammed my brakes, got over and turned left also, almost getting hit by an oncoming car. They were still a block ahead with several cars between us. I slowed down and tried to drive as calm and normally as possible. I’m pretty sure they had no idea I was following.

We traveled for a long time making many turns. At first, the streets had been busy and the heavy traffic helped to hide me following them. But now we were in a run-down section of the city. Traffic had become sparse and I had to stay as far back as possible just barely keeping them in sight. The farther we went into this neighborhood the worse it got. I’m sure I’ve never been in this area before. Run-down properties, vacant houses, the whole place looked like an apocalypse movie. Kevin’s crappy looking car looked right at home here. A group of rough looking people stood in front of a seedy bar. They stared long and hard at me as I passed. This was not a good place to be.

I should call the cops but I wanted to find where they were staying. My dad would kill me if he knew I was taking a risk like this. He wouldn’t understand that I was doing this for Kevin. I had to stop these murderers and keep them from doing it again. Traffic had now all but disappeared. I was a good three blocks back when they took a sharp left turn. I hurried to the corner and made the same left. They were nowhere in sight. I drove fast for two blocks, no van. I stopped in the middle of the street and looked around. This was the seediest looking street I’d been on. Trash and debris littered the street. Most of the houses seemed to be abandoned. A couple of junk cars sat on the curb, they made Kevin’s Chevy look like a showroom model. There was no sign of life.

They couldn’t have gotten that far ahead of me. They must have pulled over somewhere. I need to backtrack. I turned the car around and drove slowly back the way I came. I was nearly ready to give up when I spotted it, parked in a driveway between two houses. Like the rest of the area the houses were trashy. I drove on by. I went up to the end of the street, out of sight of the houses. I parked next to the curb. A voice in my head was yelling call the police now. Instead, I opened my door, I was going to make sure they were in one of the houses.

I stepped out of the car and realized I wasn’t alone. A dog sat on the broken sidewalk looking at me. He was a big mutt, looked like he had a little German Shepherd in him. He was dark, mostly black with a little brown and tan. He was painfully thin. I could see the outline of his ribs. I dug into my pocket and pulled out half a package of beef jerky that I hadn’t finished. I pulled it out of the wrapper and tossed it to the poor mutt. He gulped it down, he was ravenous. He looked at me hoping for more.

Sorry pup, that’s all I’ve got.

I started to walk up the street. It was eerily quiet.There were no people in sight anywhere, like a scene in a zombie movie. As I got closer to the two houses, I moved off the sidewalk and into the front yards of the houses. I was getting near as I tried to keep out of the sight line. I nearly jumped out of my skin when I heard a small noise directly behind me. I looked back. The dog was following me. I thought of trying to run him off but I was only a couple of houses away from the driveway where the van was parked. I couldn’t take a chance of making any noise, so the two of us crept closer.

I was now in the front of the house that was beside the driveway. Being this close, I was almost sure this house was empty. There were no curtains over the dirty windows. Some of the window panes had been smashed. There was no noise coming from inside and no sign of movement. I now focused my attention on the house on the other side of the driveway.

I eased across the driveway behind the van. The house had once been white, now it was a dirty gray. Much of the paint was chipped and pealing away. The old house had a full porch. The side railing nearest to me was almost completely broken off. The front yard