Sleepers Prequel 1: Beck's tale

Here is the first story of many in the Sleepers Prequel...

Beck's Tale
Beck is an amazing man, strong and quiet, dedicated. The world wasn't kind to Beck and this is story of what happened to Beck before he met Mera.


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It had been the first time Gavin Back had been out of uniform in three weeks. It was the first weekend he had off in a long time. Being Executive Office at Ohio’s Army largest training base took its toll on his home life.

            But he had off. Finally. A weekend where the weather was supposed to be perfect.

            Beck had plans.

            One of them being to sleep in, but he couldn’t. His wife, Robyn, was always with the children and when his two month old son, Levi, cried his first ‘hunger’ whine of the morning, Beck was glad to handle it.

            It was his son. His pride and joy.

            Beck was a big man, six foot five, intimidating in bulk, and in comparison, his son looked like a baby doll in his huge grip.

            He changed the baby’s diaper, kissed his sleeping wife, pulled the covers over her and carried the baby into the kitchen. One arm, one forearm was all Beck needed to carry his son. Head cradled in his hand, Beck kept him close to his chest, like a football player, as he prepared the bottle.

            “You hungry?” he asked softly. His voice cracked as he did. Whispering wasn’t vocally possible for Beck. His voice was deep and trying to soften it only caused it to squeak and miss. “Yeah, you are.”

            He turned on the kitchen television to watch while he fed the baby, and as the formula heated, Beck brewed his coffee.

            His phone sat on the counter and he lifted it.

            Six missed calls? All from base.

            “Are you kidding me?” He grumbled and thought, ‘bottle for the baby, a sip of coffee, it can wait.’.

            The coffee was faster than the bottle, that new machine Robyn got brewed it in an instant.

            Beck took the cup, took a sip, and grabbed his wits.

            “Hey Daddy.” His daughter, only three, darted in the kitchen. Still in her pajamas, her ponytails tossed from sleeping.

            “Hey Sweetie,” Beck accepted a kiss. “You’re up early.” The baby squirmed in his arms, fussed vocally and Beck started to feed him.

            “No, silly. I always get up early.” She giggled. “Can I watch cartoons?”

            “Yeah, let Daddy have some coffee, make his call and I’ll get you food, too.” Holding the baby and bottle in a single wraparound grip, a task he was quite good at, he reached for the remote and that was when he saw it.

            Across the screen were pictures of devastation. The headline read, ‘earthquake in Seattle’.

            “Oh my God,” Beck said.

            “Are they hurt, Daddy?” Dakota asked.

            “I don’t  know––” his phone rang. “Damn it.”

            “You swore.”

            “I’m sorry.” Beck answered the phone. “Major Beck.” He sighed out. “No, Benson, I haven’t checked my voice mail, what’s up?” he paused. “National emergency, how is this affecting us it’s in Seattle …” Beck’s eyes widened. “How many?”

            “Daddy?”

            “Twenty-seven? Are you serious?”

            “Daddy?” his daughter tugged on his leg.

            Multi tasking. Beck was good at it. He noticed the baby consumed a few ounces and placed him against his chest to burp him. “We’re mobilizing?” he spoke on the phone.

            “Daddy.”

            Burp.

            Beck placed down the bottle and sipped his coffee as he listened. “Where are they putting the center? You don’t know.” He exhaled. “Get the Intel, have it ready, I’ll get dressed and be at base in an hour. Thanks.” He hung up. “What the hell is going on?”

            “Daddy.”

            Thump.

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