Operation Warren

journal of laura harper

The call came in the night, two forty-three to be precise. The phone rang beside me, my ring tone blasting loudly from my bedside locker. I groggily picked it up, pressed it to my ear and muttered sleepily, "Hello?"

The voice from the other end of the phone was alert and sharp. "Hello. Is this Miss Laura Harper of 36 Oxford Grove, Cleveland, Ohio?" he asked me, pausing as he spoke as if he were reading from a list.

"Yes," I mumbled, "this is she. Who is this, and why are you ringing me at such an ungodly hour?"

"My name is Colonel James Matherson; I'm with the US army. A member of the US Army will be arriving at your home in one hour; I need you to be ready to leave as soon as he arrives. Pack enough clothes to last you for one week, bring any books and knick knacks you wish. However you may only bring two hand luggage size suitcases. Please be ready to leave when my man arrives."

Before I could ask what was happening, there was a click, indicating he had hung up. I crawled from my bed and from my closet I dragged two old suitcases. Into them I put my favorite clothes, and some pyjamas. I also took a few books, toothpaste and some other toiletries. I didn't take any knick knacks, except a small crumpled picture of my family. I carried it everywhere with me. By the time the Army guy arrived, I was sat downstairs in my kitchen drinking a cup of hot, strong coffee.

He came to the door and rang it once. Hearing it I stood up, switching off the kitchen light as I did. I grabbed my bags from beside the front door and walked outside looking at the man standing on my porch. He was tall, at least three inches taller than me, and I stood almost six feet tall - abnormally so for a girl. His hair was cut so short he appeared bald especially with his light hair, but that was hardly unusual for an army man. When I opened the door he said my name, and then asked me to follow him. He took me to large jeep, probably black or dark green though the color didn’t seem important at the time. All I wanted to know was why the hell I was being taken from my home in the middle of the night. And where was I being taken.

He sat into the driver’s seat, started the engine and drove away. He said nothing, except that he was not authorized to explain when I asked him what was going on. But everything would be explained on the plane.

Yeah, because that answers so many of my questions.

He drove for close to an hour, out of the city and towards a nearby airport. It wasn't commercial, usually just used by the army and people importing things for construction. As we turned onto the main runway I gasped, huge tents had been erected all across the air field. There were hundreds of identical jeeps spread across the tarmac and a few hundred soldiers - dressed in combat gear with fairly lethal guns - were dotted about the place.

My "driver" pulled up beside one of the many other identical jeeps, and he stepped out waving a hand to indicate I should follow. He led me to one of the large tents, where we met a slightly friendly looking woman. She too was dressed in army gear. On arrival my male companion left me. The woman turned to me, smiled and then spoke, "Hello, I am Sergeant Ann Montgomery. If you could please follow me I'd appreciate it, I've had a busy night and it's not over yet by a long shot." She hurried off, leaving me jogging to catch up with her and then try to weave my way between the hundreds of beds in the large tent. Many were un occupied, but some were, and I imagined by the morning all would be. She brought me right across the large tent before stopping at what I assumed would be my bed.

"I understand you must be confused and tired, please, if you could keep any and all questions until the morning, it would be appreciated. Everything will be explained then. Good night." she said quickly before walking away again.

I checked my watch, it was nearly 5am. I sat down on the cot in front of me and quickly fell asleep despite the noises of people moving, shouting, and the general noise of a few hundred people packed into a relatively small space.

*****

We woke to the sound of a man shouting into a megaphone; obviously he didn't understand the basic principles of the thing. "COULD EVERYONE PLEASE REPORT TO THE GREEN TENT? EVERYONE TO THE GREEN TENT!" he screamed it into the megaphone, his voice being amplified to twice the original volume until really you couldn't hear anything he said. He stopped briefly, and someone else spoke a moment later, another male but less loudly, "Could everyone please report to the green tent, leave your belongings where they are. Please report to the green tent."

Everyone had been woken by the first guys screaming, so most had already left the tent by the end of the second announcement. I was one of the few who still sat on their cot, hair messed and eyes full of sleep. Slowly I stood up, rubbed my eyes, and walked slowly towards the exit of the tent. Outside the makeshift camp looked much less tidy than it had the previous night. The jeeps that had been lined up so neatly were gone save for about two dozen. The place looked quite dusty and a large green tent had been erected, with hundreds of people milling towards and around it. Everyone made their way across to it. Our names were ticked off on some list when we arrived. The interior was quite plain. There was a small raised platform on which stood some army officials. The room was packed with about a thousand chairs, most of which had been filled. I took a seat near the exit, a dislike of large crowds making me feel ill at ease.

Once the room was full, the man who appeared to be in charge of the whole operation called us to be quite. Instantly the room went from an almost deafening din to a strange silence. "Thank you for that." the name on the podium said. "Now, I'm sure most of you are wondering what's happening here. Well, there's no simple explanation. I imagine most of you saw the president’s address to the nation on the news last night?" People all around the room mumbled that they had. Everyone had. It had been on every channel on television last night.

"In case any of you didn't see, basically, Russia and Europe are threatening to send nuclear bombs at each other. And as such, the US Government is implementing Operation Warren. You are the first thousand of 200,000 people who will be brought to a secret location, and will be housed underground in a city known as Esper. You will be housed there until such a time as the threat of nuclear war passes. Or," his face went grim here, "until such a time as it is deemed safe for you or your descendants to resurface."

At this people stood up and shouted questions to the man. Why them? Why not someone else? What did he mean by "safe to resurface"? For several minutes this continued, as he tried frantically to get the crowd to shut up and sit back down. Eventually they settled back themselves, knowing they wouldn't get any answers. "Now," he continued, "you will be taken, via plane, to the site of Esper, where you will all receive further instructions. Please can you all gather your belongings, and report back here in twenty minutes."

Everyone stood when he gave the signal, filed out of the tent, and back towards the sleeping tent. On each and every person’s face was a look of uncertainty. What was going to happen to us?