It bright and early Monday morning. Well okay it was damned early and kind of overcast
and there he was standing at the end of his driveway with a sac filled with garbage. The
weather had recently turned so that the feel as well as the smell of autumn was in the
air. Jack needed to get to the base early but primarily he was up early to beat the garbage
men to his block. If he left the bag out at night the raccoons had a field day decorating
the lawn, so he left things till the morning and got a jump start on the day in the bargain.
He went back in to the house to see if there was anything iffy lying about. If this was one
of those weeks, he might not be home to keep the house from smelling like the town dump, so he
looked around especially in the kitchen for any more donations to his favorite collection
agency. It was also recycling pick up today and the bin was surely filled.
Across town a cell phone rang. He rolled over wiping the sleep from his eyes. Reaching
over Sam to grab his cell phone from the night table.
"Shanahan"
"Today's the day."
Without another word he snapped the phone shut and Pete got out of bed and hurriedly
threw his clothes on. Sam looked at his questioningly.
"Gotta go babe, I'll call you."
He kissed her and raced out the door. He jumped in his car and sped cross town.
He parked half a block down from the General's house and saw him come out of the
garage with a black plastic bag and place it at the curb. Then O'Neill returned to the
house. Not five minutes later he returned with the recycling bin and another garbage bag.
As the garbage truck roared to life two or three blocks down the street two muffled shoots
pierced the morning air. They also pierced Jack O'Neill.
