“My parents will be in their car,” Lisa said. “That will be OK?”
“Sure,” Pow said. “Same thing. They’ll be in the middle of the convoy.”
“OK. I’ll get them ready,” Lisa said. “Come at 5:30. Thanks again… I’m sorry. What was your name?” Lisa asked.
“Pow,” he said. “You can call me Pow.”
“OK, Pow,” she said. “See you at 5:30.” Lisa hung up. She had to call her parents now. She didn’t know if they would understand. She called them. The cell lines were busy. She tried the landline. It was working. Her dad answered.
“Dad,” Lisa said, “I need you to listen to me. The kids and me, and hopefully you and Mom, are going out to the cabin. Grant is out there. He’s safe. It’s safe there. He has food out there and guns. He has been preparing for all of this for a long time. He didn’t tell me. He just did it.”
Lisa’s dad thought to himself, “Good for you Grant. That’s how you have to do it.” He kept listening.
“Things are getting bad,” Lisa said. “Really bad. Someone attacked us and hurt Cole.”
“What! Are you alright?” he asked. He was furious that someone hurt his girl and his grandson.
“We’re fine,” Lisa said. “But we need to go. Now. I’m going to come by your house with some people to take us out to the cabin. You need to be ready to go by 6:00. I mean ready to go. Everything you’ll need for a week or so out at the cabin.”
“OK. I’ll tell your mom,” Lisa’s dad said. She was glad her dad answered the phone. It seemed like it would be easier for him to understand the need to go. “Who are these people coming with you?” he asked.
“It’s a long story,” Lisa said. “But Grant goes shooting with some guys. They’re very well armed. He had a plan for them to get us out to the cabin if he couldn’t take us himself.”
“OK,” Lisa’s dad said. “We’ll be ready by 6:00.” He paused. “I am kind of looking forward to being with all of you at the cabin.”
“See you then,” Lisa said, wanting to get packing. “Bye, Dad.”
Now Lisa had to tell the kids. Manda had overheard all of this. When Lisa got off the phone, Manda came running downstairs and jumped up and down. “Yeah! We’re going out to the cabin with Dad!” At first Lisa was mad. She was reminded that Grant had left them. But then she was glad, too. “Yes, we’ll all be together out there. Now get your stuff together.”
“Way ahead of you Mom,” Manda said with obvious pride. “I’m pretty much packed. I can help with getting Cole packed.”
Cole was glad to see that they were going to the cabin. “No more mean lady? She won’t be there?”
Lisa started crying, but they were happy tears this time. “No, honey, no more mean lady. Daddy is out at the cabin and we’ll be safe there.”
Cole smiled. He wanted to go there so badly. He wanted to throw rocks in the water with his dad. He wanted all the crying and being scared of people to stop. “Dad can tuck me in.”
Lisa cried some more. “Yes, Dad can tuck you in.”
They spent the next hours feverishly packing. Deciding what to bring and leave behind. That Tahoe held a lot of stuff.
Pow rounded up the guys. Scotty was out on a milk run, so they had to wait for him to get back. “OK, gentlemen,” Pow said when Scotty returned, “we’re bugging out to Grant’s cabin. We’re taking his family and his in-laws. They’re both in town here. I have all the details.”
“What about your neighborhood here?” Wes asked.
“Clay has it under control,” Pow said, which was true. Clay and all the vets had this place doing very well; better than most neighborhoods. They wouldn’t be leaving the place to the bad guys. Pow thought about Mrs. Nguyen and those like her. She would be in good hands. The neighborhood didn’t need the Team. This made leaving much easier.
Pow wasn’t worried about his house getting trashed if they left. He rented and so did all the other guys on the Team.
Back in the Cedars, Lisa was done packing. When they had everything, she made sure the stove and faucets were off and the doors locked. It was 5:25. She heard some trucks pulling up. She looked out the front door window and couldn’t believe what she saw.
A white civilian Hummer and three pickups. The drivers got out to stand around their vehicles, seeming to be guarding them, and looked like soldiers. Actually, they looked like private military contractors that she’d seen on the news in Iraq and Afghanistan. She felt safe, for the first time in a week.
“OK, get in my car,” Lisa said to the kids. She looked around at her house. “Goodbye house,” she said. “We’ll be back soon.” She got in the SUV and hit the garage door opener. “Here we go, kids,” she said just like when they were going on a vacation.
Pow came walking up to her in the garage. He didn’t have a rifle, but had a pistol on his belt. He had that badge out, too.
“Since you know where you’re going,” Pow said to Lisa, “you take the lead. We’ll follow. We’re not in any rush, so don’t run any yellow lights with us trying to follow.”
Lisa nodded. She was nervous, but trying not to show it. Pow looked in the back seat of the Tahoe, smiled, and waved at Manda and Cole. He pointed to his badge and gave the kids a thumbs up to reassure them everything was OK. Manda and Cole felt safe for the first time in days.
“OK,” Pow said, “back out and we’ll follow. You all set?”
Lisa nodded again and smiled. She was so thankful for Pow and these other guys. She looked at the clock in the Tahoe. “5:31.” She wanted to get out of there. Now.
They slowly left the neighborhood. Len was at the entrance with a gun. Lisa rolled down her window and said, “See you later.” Len wondered why she was leaving with the cops in the Hummer and pickups; he had seen their badges.
They headed out on the short drive to Lisa’s parents. At an intersection they saw some graffiti in yellow spray paint that said, “There is no gov’t.” That seemed odd.
Pow remembered that he hadn’t told Grant the good news. He tried the voice line; it was down. He typed a text: “Lisa n kids r coming out!! Me and Team 2!! C u round 8 to 9.” He hit send. Pow was so proud of himself. He was reuniting a family. And getting the Team out to a safe and well-stocked country location.
Chapter 67
Ten Bucks a Gallon
(May 7)
The guys were following Lisa well. The last trucks would run red lights to stay with the convoy, but no one was exactly handing out tickets. There wasn’t a lot of traffic. Lisa was surprised to see most neighborhoods along the way to her parents’ had checkpoints, some with armed men. She hadn’t been out of the house in several days. Everything had changed. It looked like something out of a movie. She was so glad they were getting out of here.
Her parents’ neighborhood didn’t have any checkpoint or guard. They drove right in. Are you kidding me? Lisa thought. No guards? Her attitude about armed men guarding neighborhoods had changed 180 degrees during that short ride. She was so glad her parents could come out to a safe place and be with her.
Her dad, Drew, was waiting in their Toyota, with the engine running. It was 5:40. They were early. He got out of the car and yelled for Eileen to hurry up. He looked at the convoy and couldn’t believe it. Who were these guys? Did Grant hire some Iraq or Afghanistan vets as mercenaries? Drew felt safe.
Pow got out and introduced himself to Lisa’s dad. “Sir, I’m Bill Kung. Everyone calls me ‘Pow.’”
“I’m Drew,” Lisa’s dad said to the unusually tall Korean young man. “Thanks for doing this.”
“No problem, sir,” Pow said. He pointed to each truck and said, “That’s Scotty, Bobby, and Wes, but you can meet them when we get there. I will take the lead.” Pow handed Drew a walkie talkie. “This is a handheld CB radio. We all have one, and some spares. Lisa will get one, too.”