D Day The Ultimate Warrior

It was Sunday morning and Sergeant Rollins was still comfortably stretched out under his blankets when the flash of light being switched on next to him told him that Mary, his wife, was awake. He slowly zoomed in to the real world and as he rolled over, he found his wife staring at him. Twenty years of marriage and she was still able to make him feel the same sense of wonder as he had experienced that very first night he had seen her as a rookie on the Los Angeles SWAT unit. 

“Morning, sleepy head,” she said, smiling at him.

“Good morning.”

“Happy birthday.”

“Mmmm. Do not remind me, please.”

“Happy birthday, Daddy,” said a small voice.

“We made you breakfast,” said another small voice. “Mommy said that we could.” And with that the two small bodies and their sweet voices left the bedroom.

Twenty minutes after his shower, Rollins went down the stairs to find that his family was waiting for him, with the kitchen table set with a most inviting breakfast. Immediately when they saw him, they broke out into a song, ‘Happy birthday to you’, and he waited until they finished before he wiped his tears away. “You guys are the best,” he said.

Just then the doorbell rang. Justin, his second youngest son, ran and answered the door. He was greeted by Thomas, Stan, Victor, Michael and Marcus, Rollins’ special weapons and tactics (SWAT) team. 

“Where is the birthday boy?” Stan asked as they all entered the house, bearing gifts. Just then, all their phones beeped, a bad sign.

“Sergeant Rollins. Yes sir, I understand, I’m on my way.” He turned to his family with the apologetic look they had all gotten to know so well. “I’m sorry guys.”

His wife just smiled. “Go save the world, superman. We will still be here when you come back.”

He went upstairs, changed into his uniform and got into the special bulletproof Discovery 4 Full House he had received last year as part of SWAT’s recognition of his 25 years with the team. It was this part of the job that Sergeant Rollins hated the most, the unexpected calls that always took him away from his family. Twenty minutes later he entered the underground parking of the Los Angeles Police Department.

When he got upstairs, everyone was already in the debriefing room. Captain Rodgers was standing in front with three other men who Sergeant Rollins had worked with before – Special Agent Sanchez and Special Agent Montez of the DEA, and Agent Williams from the FBI. This told Rollins that his day was about to take a turn for the worse.

Just then, Captain Rodgers said, “Thank you, Sergeant Rollins and team for finally gracing us with your presence.” The whole room burst out in laughter. This was one of the things that Sergeant Rollins liked about Captain Rodgers, the man always knew how to make everyone laugh.

“Now that Sergeant Rollins and his team are present, I will hand over to Special Agent Sanchez. I’m sorry for those of you who were called in on your day off,” said the sorrowful voice of the DEA agent. “The DEA and the FBI have been running a joint investigation into the drug cartel and human trafficking ring that has recently plagued this city. We now have a fair understanding of who is who in this ring. Unfortunately, as we all feared, this is not the work of one deranged human or a gang. In fact, this is a competition between the gangs.”

Just then, a large screen turned on and an organogram filled the screen. “At the top, we have the El Diablos. They are estimated to be in charge of about 65% of the drugs that hit the streets every week. We were able to put a man on the inside and he tells us that at the top, there is a man who goes by the name Angelica. He is the top dog of the El Diablos, and he rules with an iron fist. Do not let this man's name fool you. He is the most ruthless drug lord in the area. As far as we have established thus far, he is personally responsible for 30 deaths in the past few months and over 100 disappearances. Next after him, we have Nicky, he is Angelica's most trusted lieutenant. Up until three years ago, Nicky was a nobody in the El Diablos. Then he took out some big shot in a rival gang, and has since become the second most dangerous person in the El Diablos gang. Over the past year, the El Diablos have expanded their business from having concentrated on drugs to now also include human trafficking. Over 3000 teenage girls have disappeared in the past six months alone, and we have reason to believe that Angelica and his gang are behind it all. I will now hand over to Agent Williams of the FBI.”

Suddenly, the screen changed again and some stats replaced the organogram.

“As you all know, the past two weeks have been filled with many mysterious disappearances. Fifty to be exact. Now we have reason to believe that the El Diablos have recently gotten into business with this man,” Agent Williams pointed to the screen and a large picture of a Mexican man, covered in tattoos, came on the screen.