“Tell me about it. Especially with our dad’s listening. But we didn’t have a choice. They had us surrounded.”
“So, did he know what he was talking about?”
Cody was in earnest. “He knows everything about it. He deals with it all day. He started talking about what he has learned from being a divorce attorney and how pornography affects people. Watching pornography changes the way whoever is watching it thinks about anything sexual. Also pornography is incredibly addicting. Once a person starts, it’s very difficult to stop. Because of the internet, it’s available and easy to hide from everyone you know. Then he and our dads started telling us about what it’s like to have a good marriage, when both partners totally trust each other. It’s hard to think of your parents as having a sexual relationship, but that’s kind of stupid when you think about how you got here. They told us that long after the children are born, having a trusting relationship with your wife is the best thing in the world, and pornography ruins that. Then they started talking about how it affects us as teenagers. When you look at pornography it becomes a part of you. It will always be with you to some degree. When you look at pornography you fantasize about what things could be like as opposed to reality. Even if you don’t do anything physically, but just in your mind, it will be with you the rest of your life, and when anything happens physically, even years later, the images you saw and what you fantasized about will always be in your mind at some level. But that’s not all, it gets worse.”
“How could it get worse?” Sarah asked amazed.
“They have recently proved that watching pornography can be physically addicting.”
“What! How? You’re just watching something.”
“When you watch pornography your brain is flooded with endorphins that make you happy. That’s why it’s so appealing. If you watch pornography daily and your brain is constantly flooded with these high levels of endorphins, your brain responds by resetting itself to lower your serotonin levels so it can function normally with the abnormally high levels of endorphins. Your brain is now set to lower levels of serotonin and can operate fairly normally with the lower levels of serotonin combined with the elevated levels of endorphins. If you want to have the euphoric feeling from the inflated levels of endorphins, you have to constantly watch more pornography or harder core pornography. If you quit watching pornography and flooding your brain with endorphins, you no longer have enough serotonin for your brain to function properly. The neurons can’t communicate properly so you are unable to focus or concentrate or remember things. If you quit watching pornography, it takes months to reset your brain to normal levels of serotonin so it can operate properly without the massive quantities of endorphins you get from watching pornography. During these months you are constantly battling depression which is caused by the low serotonin levels. That’s when you’re addicted and it’s very difficult to stop because your brain now needs the large quantities of endorphins to operate properly because of your low serotonin levels. The entire time you are fighting depression and trying to reset your brain to normal serotonin levels, you know that instant relief is only a mouse click away. That is why it is so hard to break being addicted to pornography. What makes it even harder is that you have to do things besides watching pornography to get your endorphins up to a level that your brain will function somewhat normally. If your brain is too depressed it can’t reset itself and you never break the pornography addition.”
“That’s amazing. Did that happen to you and Jacob?”
“No. We got caught the first time. It takes a while to get addicted.”
Sarah thought for a minute and asked,
“What was it like when you watched?”
Cody was silent and then said softly,
“Very exciting and stimulating.”
“Do you think if you had watched it a lot you would have gotten addicted?”
Cody slowly nodded his head, “Totally. That’s why I’ve decided not to look at pornography. It’s not who or what I want to be. I have a friend my age who is addicted. He can’t think straight and gets depressed without watching it often. He doesn’t have control of his life anymore. It’s the same as being a drug addict. There’s no way I’m going to be addicted to anything.”
“You seemed very upset when I saw you without any clothes on when we were being decontaminated,” she said.
Cody answered slowly, “When Jacob and I saw that pornography, there was a scene somewhat similar to what happened to us when we were decontaminated. It brought back a flood of memories that weren’t pleasant that I thought I had forgotten. That’s what that lawyer was talking about how it will always be with you.”
“I noticed you looking at me then turning away.”
“I couldn’t help looking,” he said, “but then I felt I was invading your privacy, so I turned away.”
“Yeah, I noticed you turned away but then you looked back again.”
Cody turned red.
“Okay, I looked again. I’m fourteen. I couldn’t help it. I don’t get too many chances like that.”
“Too many?”
“Okay, I never get an opportunity like that.”
“You couldn’t help looking?” she questioned raising her eyebrows.
“Are you kidding? You’re gorgeous. Any normal boy couldn’t help looking when you were standing there like that.”
“Do you really think I’m good looking?”
He was incredulous. “Are you serious? You don’t think you are?”
“You don’t think I’m fat? I’m not really thin like my sister.”
“Sarah, that is such a load of crap! Boys don’t feel that way. I don’t understand why so many girls buy into that idea. You are so hot, not that super thin emaciated look your sister has. I know. I’ve seen your body. You look great.”
“Thanks, Cody. That means a lot to me,” Sarah said as she snuggled over closer to Cody. “By the way, you look great too. I sneaked a couple looks. I couldn’t help it either.”
Cody sat silently turning redder not knowing what to say.
“I always envied your life in Newport Beach.”
Cody looked at Sarah surprised.
“I always thought you hated me and the way we lived.”
“There is a fine line between envy and hate. It’s difficult to admit you want something you have always made fun of. Life has changed.
“Did everything change for you after you were almost raped in Arizona?” he asked.
“That was the starting point. It just fell into place after that. I started doing other things like playing soccer and working out. That made me start eating real food instead of picking at salads and eating crackers. I tried to get new friends because my old ones abandoned me.”
He was grim now. “If they abandoned you they were never your friends. Real friends stick by each other when they go through problems. They are always there to help when you need it, and they don’t judge you without hearing your side of why you did something.”
“Cody, I never had any real friends. They were just people I texted all day about how lame others were. As soon as you turned your back they would stab it. They weren’t friends. I can’t believe I’m 14 years old and never had real friends. Cody, can we talk about what’s going to happen to us. Do you think they’re really pornographers?”
“Looking at this room I think so.”
“Why do they want us? We aren’t even adults.”
“Some of them are into children” Cody said slowly.
“Isn’t that illegal?”
“Very. As bad as the next couple weeks will be, the worse problem is when that sponsor guy shows up. He wants us dead.”
“What are we going to do?” Sarah sobbed.
“I know I’m going to fight them.”
She gave an involuntary shiver. “I’m not sure how well that’ll work. They seem to know what they’re doing.
I just wish someone was looking for us.”
“I don’t think anyone knows where we are. If any of those planes made it through and sprayed that nerve gas, the authorities are going to have a lot to deal with.”
“What about our parents? Do you think they’re safe? Do you think they sprayed where are parents are?”
“I have no idea.” He replied shaking his head. “I’m afraid we are on our own.”
Tears welled up in Sarah’s eyes as she snuggled in closer to Cody.
Chapter 71
There were now two helicopters in the general vicinity of the pornographers compound, one with the second SEAL team and one with Major Nelson and Sergeant Morris from the CPU. They both landed and joined a ground team from the Army. Major Nelson spoke to all the teams.
“We have a group of pornographers holding four teenagers in a compound within a few miles of here. The teenagers might have a flash drive with them that contains vital information about the terrorist attack on Southern California. We are waiting for an exact location. When we get it we have to go in carefully. We can’t have someone see us coming in and destroy the flash drive. Also there might be a terrorist group in the area chasing the kids, so be on the lookout for anything suspicious while we wait. We are going to get the helicopters in the air with two man crews and station the rest of the vehicles around this area and stay as concealed as possible. If we find the terrorists, we want them alive.”
The helicopters took off and flew behind a hill out of sight, while the vehicles all dispersed. After several minutes they saw a red jeep go by. Sergeant Morris called Sergeant Frank,
“Sergeant Frank, I know you’re listening in while you are searching for that flash drive. Ask Clyde what the terrorists were driving.”
Sergeant Frank walked back to Clyde who was tied to a chair,
“What were the terrorists driving?”
“There were two of them in a red jeep and several more in black jeep. My cousin was in a white van with no windows.”
Sergeant Frank asked, “did you hear?”
“Got it.”
Sergeant Morris looked at his driver and pointed at the jeep.
“Follow them, but don’t get too close.”
He then called Major Nelson in the helicopter.
“Have you been listening?”
“Yeah, don’t get too close. We can see you and the red jeep. We are going high so they don’t hear us. I’ll guide you.”
General Moody called Sergeant Frank from the conference room in New Mexico,
“Sergeant Frank, where are we on that second flash drive?”
“It appears they did a thorough search of the building. If they hid it, it’s outside. We searched the perimeter of the structures with equipment with no success. We are searching other areas but we have to be within a couple feet of the flash drive for this equipment to pick it up. It’s going to be a very slow search.”
Tony interjected, “You need to think outside the box. If you were a teenager and got to that compound in the middle of the night exhausted, what would you do? Put on your helmet camera and let me see the area.”
Sergeant Frank turned on his helmet camera and started walking the area.
Tony said, “Walk the way they would have driven in.”
Sergeant Frank headed toward the barn opened the door and entered.
“This is where they opened the door, drove the dune buggy in, and then closed the door. Then they went over to those bales of hay and fell asleep.”
Tony said, “You’re missing some steps. You have two teenage boys traveling with two teenage girls. John would have been driving and everyone else would have fallen asleep. John probably got out and opened the door, or more likely woke up Cody to make him open it. But they would have looked around for a minute to see where they were. Then they probably went to the bathroom before they slept. Go outside and see if you can see where they would have gone.”
Sergeant Frank walked back out the door and turned around. Tony watched through the camera and said, “Walk over by the side of that bush. What do you see?”
“It looks like someone peed on the ground here last night.”
“OK, stand in that place and look around with the camera.”
Sergeant Frank scanned the area and Tony asked,
“What’s that box over there on legs?”
Sergeant Frank approached the box and was swarmed by bees.
“It’s an old bee hive and there are still bees in it. When I get close they start buzzing around me.”
“But the kids were there at night when it was colder. The bees would have been in the hive. It would have been a perfect place to hide a flash drive. Get one of the SEALS to check the hive with the equipment, while you walk other areas.”
Sergeant Frank went back over to the SEALS and said,
“One of you get the equipment and check around that bee hive. The bees are pretty active and it is an abandoned hive. You can probably find bee keepers equipment in the farm house.”
Sergeant Frank continued to check the area while one of the SEALS looked for bee keeper’s equipment. When he couldn’t find any, he asked Clyde where the equipment was.
“We never had bee keeper’s equipment here,” Clyde said, “Those are killer bees. We have tried to kill them off several times at night when they are in the hive with poison and they keep coming back. As long as you leave them alone during the day, they don’t bother us. The hive is far enough away from the house.”
One of the SEALS tried going over to the hive without equipment. As he got close to the hive, the bees started swarming him. Sergeant Frank and the other SEALS watched from a distance. The SEAL couldn’t get close without being attacked by the bees. He rejoined the group.
“I think they’re killer bees,” he said. “I don’t mind a few stings, but I don’t think you could get near that hive without all the bees attacking and I’m not sure you would survive. Also the bees would attack anything in this area for a long time.”
“We need to find out if the flash drive is there. Is that Hummer one of the sealed ones?
“Yeah, it’s set up for biological warfare.”
“I have an idea.”
After several minutes of following the red jeep Major Nelson saw them driving on a single lane road leading to a house and barn a mile away. He called back to Sergeant Morris and the ACU and said,
“They seem to be on a long driveway leading to a house and barn. We can’t let them get into the house if that’s where the kids are, but I don’t want to alert them either if that’s not the place. What do you want me to do?”
“The staff at ACU looked at each other around the conference table. No one was sure what to do. They all looked at Tony who was sitting with his eyes shut. He opened his eyes and said,
“Take out the jeep, that’s the place. Don’t alert the house.”
“Major Nelson hesitated for only a second and said to the pilot,
“Take out the jeep. I want them alive.”
The pilot set the crosshairs of his optically controlled minigun on the engine compartment of the jeep and fired a single round.
The terrorist felt a thud and the engine died in the jeep. I can’t believe this, he thought. What caused that thud? I don’t have time for this. We are only a half mile away.
“Get out. We go the last half mile on foot. We’ll take one of their vehicles when we have the flash drive.”
They only made it a hundred meters when the Hummer with Sergeant Morris came flying up. They looked up at the helicopter Major Nelson was in with the minigun trained on them. The terrorists quickly ran through their options, dropped their weapons and held up their hands. The Hummer slid to a stop and Sergeant Morris told one of his men to get out and take care of the terrorists. The Hummer tore away, leaving one man to guard the terrorists. He yelled after the Hummer, what do you wan
t me to do with them? As it sped away without hearing him, he trained his rifle on the two terrorists as they sat on the ground. He was so intent on trying to see what was going on further up the road he didn't notice the black jeep approach and stop a hundred yards away. Joseph silently slid out, set his rifle on the hood and shot him in the back.
Chapter 72
“Let’s attach that pole to the front and put the detector on the pole. We can drive up to the hive and stick the detector under it to see if it beeps.”
“What if it does?”
“Then we decide what to do. If the flash drive isn’t there, it doesn’t matter.”
They tied the detector on the pole and it beeped as soon as it got near the hive. Pulling it back they lowered the pole and got a strong reading under the hive.
“Now what?”
“We kill the bees. This place is loaded with chemicals. Find something. I need to make a call.”
Sergeant Frank called ACU.
“We found a flash drive under a hive of killer bees. Now we just need to get it out.”
“We are running out of time or we lose the window to get the pornographers. The flash drive is so critical we can’t wait.”
“I understand. I’ll get back, I’m kind of busy here.”
“You know we can’t stall them,” said Major Nelson listening in.
“I know,” said General Moody. “Hopefully Sergeant Frank can beat the timeline.”
Chapter 73
Sergeant Morris drove as near as he could to the house while staying out of sight. He ran behind the barn and looked in through a dirty window and spotted the white van. He said into his radio,
“I found the white van. I’m heading for the house.”
After a minute he said,
“All the windows are covered. I can’t see in.”
“Sergeant, can you get a fiber optic camera through that wall, without them hearing you?”
“Give us about two minutes and you will have live visual and maybe some audio.”