It’s been some time since the last update, but life’s been tough.
It’s been something like 9 years since the last update, and those 9 years have been seriously difficult for Tim and me. My last update ended with us still in that hotel…it was more of a motor lodge type place, a couple levels of rooms in a U-shaped building with the parking lot in the center. Nothing fancy, nothing terribly rustic either. I was pushing for us to make a run for it and drive to the nearest airport, but Tim knew better than that. The airport would be full of surveillance and officials who could pin us at any moment. Instead, he suggested that we sneak out the back under cover of night and run through the field behind the hotel, hoping to reach the next town over before dawn. That meant we had to keep at least a jogging pace the entire time to make it with enough darkness left to steal a car and get on the road without being noticed. We spent the next couple hours doing our own surveillance, making sure we could get out without being spotted, especially since there were a couple men who would randomly make rounds, checking the grounds for suspicious activity. They knew we hadn’t gone out the front door, but what they didn’t know was that there was an attic door in the closet of the room. While I kept watch out the peephole, Tim checked out the attic and discovered that while it did have separation between the rooms (damn building codes), there were hatches in the walls between rooms that just had little locks on them. They could certainly be cut with the right tool, one of which we had from our planning before going to Tim’s work. So we decided to sneak as far around as we could until getting close to one of the stairwells, and then we would try to sneak out the back of the open-air stairwell into the field. That meant waiting for the surveillance to make their rounds.
The timing of the rounds was random, but they always moved in the same patten. They would get out of the SUV, leaving it empty, then each move around the front to opposite sides, back around from behind and through the central stairwell out into the parking lot again. It took them all of maybe three minutes each time, give or take a minute depending on whether or not they stopped at the vending machines. With our backpacks all set, I left my phone on the bedside table, turned off and wiped clean as much as possible. Being the genius he was, Tim planned on ditching his phone later, in an area that we would double back from, to hopefully lead the surveillance in the wrong direction. Once we saw the guys get out of the car, we climbed up into the attic, put the hatch back over the hole, and started making our way toward the closest stairwell, one near a side of the ‘U’ rather than the central one they would use. It took a few seconds to get through each lock, but once we were at the room nearest the stairwell, we quietly lifted the hatch and made sure there was nobody in the room, then dropped down and hurriedly made our way out to the balcony and over to the stairwell. We stood just on the front side, waiting to hear those guys’ footsteps coming toward the central stairwell, and then slowly made our way down the stairs, fortunately making very little noise, as they were concrete steps. We were stood on the back side of the building waiting to hear the two “thunks” of the doors closing on the SUV. Instead we heard one “thunk” and a can drop from a vending machine. We waited more, then heard a second “thunk” and hoped that meant both guys were back in the SUV. Rather than chance being spotted trying to check the SUV, we decided to hope for the best and started running through the back field.
We ran until our legs were rubber and our hearts hurt from the constant elevated rate. By the time we got to the next town, Tim’s calculations were a little off, as it was just getting to twilight. Maybe we had slowed down at some point, enough that it screwed up our timing. Anyhow, we found a small mechanic shop near the edge of town where a couple cars sat, looking sad and possibly abandoned. The first one we tried we dead. We prayed that the second attempt would be more fruitful and our prayers were answered. It moaned a few times when I first turned the key, but then it choked up and sputtered out some smoke before turning over and revving up. Tim got in, throwing his pack in the back seat. We quickly made our way a couple miles East of town where Tim turned on his phone and threw it into a field of corn. We then doubled back and turned south just as we got back into the little town. Fortunately, things were still quiet and the sun was just starting to peek over the horizon, so it was likely that nobody saw us. We drove straight south for what felt like forever. I mean, after the night we had, with no sleep, it felt a lot longer than 14 hours. We did end up sleeping in the car, parked in the middle of an abandoned oil field, a bit north of a town called Langtry in Texas. That lasted for maybe 4 or 5 hours before Tim woke me up and said we should keep moving. We ditched the car on the south side of Langtry and walked the rest of the way to the border. You’d be amazed at how easy it is to cross over into Mexico from the US side, especially at night. There’s pretty much nobody guarding the Mexico side, and the border patrol agents on the US side couldn’t care less about someone trying to get out of the US.
If you’ve never seen that part of Mexico, you’re lucky. There’s literally nothing for hundreds of miles around. We walked sandy roads for what felt like days before we finally hitched a ride with a rancher. He took us to a compound in the middle of nowhere that I think had something to do with the wind farm that was around that area. Either that or it was a cover for drug runners. The rancher pretty much forced us out at that place in mid afternoon and yelled something before taking off and disappearing headed east. We hid out behind some kind of silo thing, facing east to stay out of the desert sun until it was dusk. Once it was darker out, we started exploring the place. There didn’t seem to be any people around, but there were a few utility trucks lined up along the side of one building. We checked the doors on all the trucks, but none we open. We spent the good part of an hour trying to get into one of the smaller pickup trucks, finally snagging the locking mechanism and opening the door. Once inside, we made good time busting the ignition and getting the truck started. We hadn’t seen any cameras around the place, but being careful, we drove away with the lights off until we were far enough down the dirt road. We headed southeast toward a town called San Carlos, knowing that would be pretty much the closest place with anything we needed, like gas and food. When we got there, we found that it was a friendly town with plenty of supplies and people who were willing to help us. For a price. But still, it was the first bit of respite from the rough journey that led us there.
We spent months planning our next steps, trying to figure out where to go, what to do about the information we had. We knew we couldn’t just sit on it and had to do something to stop whoever was behind it. We had new identities created for us, new passports and IDs so we could travel inconspicuously. That took time and money, money which we didn’t have. We both took on jobs at a factory in Monterrey, which is where we ended up finally planting roots until we had the means to start taking on our plan. Since we were more educated and skilled than many of the other workers, we quickly became managers, making better money and having a bit more freedom; it felt more like home at that point. We saved as much money as we could, spending very little on only food and a room we shared in a local vagrant shelter. It was a small room and at times we wanted to kill each other, but we knew it was the only way we would save enough to be able to get out of there. We had very little in terms of personal effects, other than the packs filled with all our hardware and chemicals. We didn’t buy much of anything, even after we got the promotions. We had finally made enough to pay the guy for the new identities when the Federales showed up at our work and extorted bribes from us to avoid prison time for contacting that guy. Then we found out the guy we were referred to was working with the Feds in a joint effort to steal as much money as possible from unsuspecting victims. Lesson learned the hard way. It took us close to a year to save up all that money and it was gone in the blink of an eye. So we kept plugging away, all the while solidifying our plans and making sure that we wouldn’t make any more big mistakes.
We got a laptop on the black market and used the dark web to arrange our new identities, making sure to use the proper channels for securing our communications and preventing another bad deal. This service came highly recommended by users across the globe, so we were satisfied with that. We just had to make sure that the conversion of our funds wasn’t going to go sideways. We had to deposit all our cash into the federal bank, which was the sketchiest part of the exchange, as strange as that sounds. Being obvious white non-natives put us at an immediate disadvantage, being that the Federales could swipe in at any moment and force a bribe for any reason. Fortunately, we made it into the bank and were able to make the deposit without being extorted. Then we just had to do the exchange and transfer over the dark web and we were home free. Easy peasy, right? It seemed too easy, but then we got thrown the curveball we were already expecting. Because of the sensitivity of our situation and the fact that we would have to have a secure location for the drop, it was going to take months to complete the transaction, and we would need to leave a cash payment at the drop, in addition to the money we already transferred. So more work, more saving, more shitty vagrant shelter. We had some extra money saved, but that was supposed to be our travel money. Ugh.
It took us nearly five years from the time we left that hotel in Nebraska to getting our passports and having enough money to hire a small plane to fly to Havana, where we would then hop a jet to New Brunswick in Canada. That’s when we ran into some real trouble. Somehow, some way, people around us started acting strangely, and it didn’t take long for us to realize that even though Tim’s antidote seemed to cure the symptoms, the disease was still there. We were contagious, and it was spreading fast. As soon as we made the connection, we quarantined, finding an old cabin on a long abandoned fishing outpost, miles outside of town. We had bought a cheap car to get around and would only go into town for supplies when absolutely necessary, usually just before stores closed to minimize our exposure. The new discovery threw a wrench in our already solid plans, causing us to have to re-think everything we had yet to do. We had already spent so much time digging around the dark web, finding out as much as possible about Tim’s company and their ties to the government, and we were getting close to finding the answer to the why, but we still hadn’t figured out who was funding it. We just needed to figure out exactly what the serum was made from so Tim could make the right antidote, but without the serum and all the analytical equipment, it would be nearly impossible. That is, unless we could manage to hack our way into the servers that housed the information, but that was all under government watch by then. The local FBI that raided the building had locked it all down a week later and secured the data. Tim was good, but not getting through government level encryption good.
We found out that some high ranking official in London had knowledge of the project and was willing to exchange information with us - whatever we had was more than enough for them to start their own investigation, knowing that this had global ramifications, and in return, we would receive a handy sum of money as well as free housing with proper ventilation and filtering to prevent the disease from spreading. We would also have food and whatever supplies needed delivered weekly so we wouldn’t have to go out. We had written verification of the transfer, as well as a guarantee that we would be protected and would not be detained for any reason, barring we didn’t do anything illegal once we arrived. We were to receive an up-front payment, and then all we had to do was send everything we had over secure channel to receive the remainder of our money. A specially equipped private jet was sent for us, one that would allow us to fly without infecting the crew, keeping us separated the entire time. They left snacks and cold food and drinks in a small refrigerator in back of the plane where we had access. It was actually really nice to have that level of comfort and service for the first time since leaving the hotel. As we sat in the back section of the plane with nothing to do but talk and think, Tim started getting worried, thinking that maybe handing everything over was a mistake, that maybe they would take it and kill us off or something to cover it all up. He was starting to question his trust in this official, especially since we only messaged them on a dark web forum about conspiracies.
We landed and were instructed to exit the plane and get into an armored truck that was sitting on the tarmac. Tim was almost ready to make a run for it at that point, but I talked him down and got him into the truck before anyone realized anything was off. He was still unsure of the whole thing, but he was more worried that backing out at that point would make things much worse for us, since someone important knew we had the information and knew where we were at that time. There was far too much surveillance around that city to run and hide. It was too late. We arrived at a large warehouse building where a large garage door opened. Inside, it was mostly empty with the exception of a small inner building built inside the warehouse. They had basically built a house for us inside this warehouse. Tim looked at me with worry on his face and I had no words to comfort him. We were told we wouldn’t be detained, but this was pretty much detainment, if I had ever seen it. The driver pulled up to the inner building and over a speaker instructed for us to exit the truck from the side and go straight into the building. We did as we were told and once inside, it was actually really nice. There was a living space with all the typical amenities, then a kitchen and dining space. At the back was two bedrooms, each with their own bathrooms. There was an upstairs area as well that had a bunch of modern gaming consoles, arcade style games, a pool table, and a fully stocked bar. The whole place was wired with speakers for music, and there was a drop-down projector screen for movies on one wall upstairs, the projector on the other side of the room. In the living room, there was a large TV that had a webcam unit attached to the top.
I, of course, went to the bar and made us a couple drinks to calm down a bit. Sure, the place was nice, but we were pretty much stuck there and couldn’t go anywhere outside without risking the spread of this thing inside us. We sat down in the recliners that were placed across from the large TV, at which point the TV turned on and a man was on the screen. We both jumped, startled by the image in front of us. The man apologized for the abrupt display, but said we were doing the right thing by handing over the information to him. We all introduced ourselves, formally for the first time, and discussed the next steps of the process. There was a laptop on the dining room table that we were to use to make the data transfer, and then the rest of the money would be sent to our encrypted online wallet. From there, we could transfer it to any standard bank, or convert it to bitcoin or whatever cryptocurrency we wanted…that was all still pretty new at the time. Tim asked how long we would have to be stuck in that place and the man informed us that he wasn’t sure, that it could take years to come up with a vaccine that would prevent the spread of this thing. We both questioned the “non-detaining” clause of our agreement, to which the man explained that we weren’t actually detained, but being quarantined. We could technically leave, but we would be detained if we were found to be the cause of an outbreak. Best to stay inside, or so he claimed.
We stayed in that building for an undeterminable time, being that there were no windows to the outside world, a result of the systems needed to properly filter the air and exhaust for the habitat. There was no contact for a while, but eventually we managed to get in contact with the official, at which time Tim explained that he had been working on an antidote and was in need of text subjects. The official, who says his name is Robert, told Tim he would work in it, which left neither of us with much confidence. He abruptly disconnected before we could say anything else. A short while later, we heard the main garage door open. Assuming it was going to be a food drop, I got ready to bring the stuff in while Tim was back in the dining room working on his formulas. I was standing near the door when it burst open and two men in hazmat suits walked in. They shoved me to the side, nearly knocking me off my feet, and made their way to the dining room, pushing Tim over in his chair and collecting all the vials of chemicals and whatnot. Tim was yelling as the men took all his stuff, including his notebook, and then they swept all the glassware off the table, breaking every last piece. They left, the two of us standing in awe. As the main garage closed, Tim broke down crying. Months, possibly more than a year worth of work was all gone. He turned on the laptop and it wouldn’t boot, just sat there with a blinking cursor, like in the old days. He screamed a string of obscenities before throwing the laptop at the wall, shattering the screen and breaking the hinges. I knew this was going to be aa turning point for us, and not in a good way.
We had no idea where we were, specifically, other than being somewhere in London, and we had no way of looking anything up, since the laptop was garbage. We ended up ripping the camera from the TV, wanting nothing more to do with “Robert” after he screwed us. The food and supplies kept coming, but things were getting bleak for us, mentally. Tim decided that we had no choice but to leave, go out into the world and start over with all our work. We still had the drive with all the data, as long as “Robert” didn’t somehow infect it, so we could potentially continue at least from where we were when we got to London. We discussed where we would go, and how to get there, having no access to our money without a computer and no way to obtain transport. First thing was to find a computer in a less crowded area, still trying to avoid exposure as much as possible. We made masks from a shirt that we sacrificed, that being at least some measure of protection. We opened the front door of the inner building and looked around the warehouse. There was literally nothing in the main area other than our “house”, but there was a door on a wall behind the house. There was a faint hum on the other side of the door, which appeared to be thick steel. We just assumed that was the filtration system and decided it wasn’t worth breaking into. So we opened the main garage door and that first rush of cool, fresh air was like nothing we’d ever experienced before. There was a stench that was actually welcome after however long we were in that prison with no conceivable odors in the air. It was nearly night time, so adjusting to the sunlight was going to have to wait until the next morning. We both became emotional, standing on that driveway with nothing but our backpacks full of clothes and that little drive with the data on it.
We walked for a good hour or so, coming from some industrial area, before we finally got to civilization and found a small internet café, where we could check a map and decide where to go. We connected to a web proxy and then a VPN before logging into our encrypted wallet. Every bit of money that was promised to us was there, much to our relief, although we were a little worried that even with the precautions, we would somehow be found by making a transaction. We needed the money though, so we transferred all of it to a joint account that we set up in a dark web bank, worried that leaving it in that wallet would put as at risk of losing it all. This ‘Robert” did still have our account information, and we wouldn’t have put it past him to somehow withdraw all of it before we could take it out. From there, we transferred a chunk of it to my old debit account that was in my old name; coming from a dark web bank, the transaction being untraceable. This way “Robert” couldn’t trace our activity using our known names…the only ones he knew…as far as we were aware. We hoped he wasn’t able to trace back to our real names, but we had no way of knowing. We then logged out of everything and wiped the computer back to OOBE, making it that much harder to see our activity if someone were to look. We left and walked down to a train station where we got cash and bought tickets to a small village in the middle of nowhere, somewhere that we could be inconspicuous.
Shit, as I’m writing this, I see flashing lights outside. I’d better post and continue the update later. Gotta get into the hidden bunker that Tim insisted on building. Man am I glad I didn’t argue that one too hard.
Catch you later.