Chapter 5

David Privett peered through the windows of the Jaguar dealership hed found, his hands cupped on either side of his face to block out the afternoon Texas sun. Tired of walking, tired of sweating, he has his eye on an XKR convertible, with AC to battle the afternoon heat, and top-down winds to enjoy the cool evenings. Based on the conditions of the roads he had observed on his previous courier trips, he knew he should be looking for a Hummer, or a good ole pickup truck at the least. But he and Julius other messengers had blazed enough of a trail where he thought a fine English touring car with a Ford engine would do just fine.

The door to the dealership was unlocked, as most of the doors he encountered these days were. The smell of decay that hit him as he opened the door almost convinced him to turn around, and seek other means of transportation. But he had performed these grisly duties before, many times, and he pushed on through the stench.

Out of his well-worn backpack, stained but stenciled with the words Go Rockets, David pulled out latex gloves and a cloth filter mask for his nose and mouth. A quick tour of the dealership revealed seven bodies, one female and the rest male. They were dressed like car salesmen, except for the young lady, who David imagined must have been cute before all this happened. None looked like customers, meaning it must have been a slow sales day when the disaster hit.

David was sure that he would find more bodies back in the services and parts area, and hed do a thorough inspection later. If a store, gas station or any other place was to be a sanctuary added to the couriers map of safe and useful places, it had to be thoroughly cleansed. This implied one of the many undesirable tasks the couriers had to perform.

He propped the dealership door open, then dragged all of the bodies into a pile in the middle of the lot in front of the dealership. He moved quickly, almost frantically; other couriers had reported packs of wild dogs, that went even wilder with the scent of dead meat in the air. He quickly rummaged through his ever-present backpack, and extracted his last coffee can of gasoline. Since all car dealerships kept their own gas tanks (another reason he was investing time at the dealership, he rationalized to himself), he knew he would get to replenish his supply soon. David said a few quick words over the bodies, praying that their loved ones had been luckier than they were, then doused the bodies with gasoline and quickly set them ablaze.

He puked, as he always did, though he always expected the previous time to be the last. What a wimp, he thought. How many times have I done this, but I still cant keep lunch down.

He quickly turned away, wiping his mouth with the back of his sleeve, and strode back into the dealership.

All couriers were selected by Julius based on certain specialized skills: mechanics, pilots, technicians. Most could be classified as your basic handyman, able to fix things up and get them in good working order.

Davids specialties were computers and computer networks. As such, the first thing he checked on in a new location was the possibility of Internet access. Other couriers designated or self-proclaimed goals were power systems, or transportation systems or other infrastructural needs. Davids passion was the Internet. It was his firm belief that even minimal Internet access between Julius, the other couriers and Julius home base in Guatemala would relieve the couriers from playing messenger boys and free them to get systems back online faster.

Resuscitating the Internet was Davids personal quest. At the time of the disaster, David believed the Internet was heading toward its own evolution. Its size in number of connected devices had reached the vastness of the number of neurons in the brain. People were producing and consuming information at a staggering rate, communicating on a virtual level more so than at any time in history. It was surely taking on a life of its own.

David thought it might be mankinds salvation. His friends, when told of this idea, simply called him a geek.

Passing up the salesmens offices, David found and entered the larger, more private managers office. This was where the customers were pulled in for the last best offer. Here also was usually where one would find unfiltered Internet access. Small businesses rarely trusted mere employees such as sales people or receptionists with full Internet access, worrying that they would waste company time and resources with personal online activities, or worse downloading porn, gambling online, or other forms of electronic sinning. Full access was always given to the most senior manager, who ended up abusing these privileges more than the underlings ever would.

David pushed the power button on the desktop computer underneath the managers desk, with low expectations. He was mildly surprised when the green light flickered and the disk drive began to whir. According to the latest courier update power had been restored to certain sectors in this area; but you never knew how the building infrastructure would hold up after all this time.

The computer booted up, and asked for a user name and password. David shook his head, as he typed in the information that was clearly displayed on the yellow sticky note on the side of the monitor. Such are the problems with network security, he reminisced in passing.

Before becoming a courier for Julius (a recommendation he was still not sure whether to thank his brother or not), David was responsible for network security at a local energy firm. His training concentrated in the area of network architecture, building and designing the networks to connect the companys computers, and to connect the company to other companys.