“Happens to all of us the first time,” she hears Gonzalez say. “It’s the adrenaline.”
She feels another arm fold around her. “Are you okay?” She hears her dad ask.
“Yeah, Dad, I’m okay,” she answers wiping saliva from her chin.
“You should’ve seen this little warrior in action, sir. She took down the entire front line of night runners on her own as soon as they broke in,” Gonzalez says to her dad. “I’m not sure I’d even finished yelling ‘fire’ when I heard her gun start chattering.”
Her eyes light up with this little bit of unknown news. She had no idea. Her heart swells hearing Gonzalez call her a little warrior. She hears Robert tell her nice job and her heart swells a little more. If she could only remember; it all happened so quickly. Henderson and Denton add their kudos. “That was a lot like Robert during his first action,” she hears McCafferty say. “You two are kin.”
She looks up into the face of her dad standing before her. He is giving her a look over to see if she is in fact alright. He has always been protective of her and Robert in a loving way. Not too overly protective as he also lets them get into trouble at times. Nothing dangerous although some of the stories Robert shared of his and her dad’s time after a weekend together made her doubt some of that ‘not too dangerous’ aspects though. There were times when he was a little overly protective but those were infrequent. She feels this is one of those times and loves him for it.
“Jack,” she hears Lynn call. A momentary flash of fear crosses her dad’s face. Her dad looks behind him as if looking for a place to hide. Shrieks can still be heard emitting from inside the ER.
“We can’t call you a noob anymore,” Robert says as her dad walks away towards Lynn.
Needless to say, the ass-chewing by Lynn wasn’t pleasant but all-in-all, it wasn’t bad. I’ve had worse. My kids and everyone are okay and that’s what matters. The tan binder I found contains diagrams of the facility but I don’t know what good they’ll be. It doesn’t look like we’ll be able to use the place. We won’t be able to clear this place short of using an entire battalion and that’s still even odds. I think of the hordes that poured in the door and both of my kids in the room. The memory still leaves me shaky. Yeah, Lynn’s ass-chewing wasn’t without validity. I told her they needed to learn and accumulate some experience but both she and I know that was just me making excuses. Part of what I said is true about wanting to give Bri some experience but not against a horde like that right off. Thankfully, the door was close and we could exit quickly.
I look over the parking lot and the expanse of the buildings. I’m standing with the others in our group and about to have everyone saddle up.
“Dad,” Robert says.
“Yeah, what’s up?” I ask thinking he wants to talk about the action or even my bringing Bri inside. Maybe to give some assurance that I did the right thing in letting her go or coming to Bri’s defense in some manner. None of my thoughts about what he wants pan out.
“If those walls,” he starts pointing the concrete wall surrounding the hospital, “can keep night runners out, won’t they keep them in too?”
The sheer brilliance of his unspoken idea, or I should say the sheer lack of my own, explodes in my mind like a firecracker. Duh, I think. The others stare at him as if saying the same thing and having their own epiphanies. Such a simple yet brilliant concept and one that completely slid by everyone present.
“You, my son, are absolutely right and brilliant,” I say. We’ll just keep the night runners locked up in here and visit in a few weeks after they’ve starved to death. Well, I hope it’s a few weeks and they don’t have some super hibernation skill that allows them to live indefinitely without food.
We head back to base. Next on the agenda is going out to look for the families of the soldiers who fit within the parameters. We’ll have to reorganize one of the teams so we’ll have two teams going out. All of Red Team is going but the others are scattered among the other teams. I may have another team go as added security. I’d like to get going soon. I’ll talk with the team members about where we need to go and begin flight planning. And yes, my kids are going because it’s damn tough to fly a 130 alone. If we don’t leave soon, we’ll miss our opportunity.
Talking with Bannerman that night, we make plans to hit the distribution centers upon our return as we have enough to keep us going for a little while. Not through the winter, but a while longer.
I sit with Lynn, Robert, Bri, and Red Team that night for dinner. The kids usually eat with their mom but with the action of the day, they seem to want to spend it with their team. There are a certain amount of war stories told with some embellishments. Well, maybe those were my own. A flash of a picture goes through my mind.
I look up from the fork that is half way to my mouth. Sure I have pictures and thoughts in my head all of the time. This is different. I don’t know how to describe it other than to say it isn’t my own. More flash through and I have a momentary feeling like I’m going crazy; you know, the voices in your head thing. But this is more than that. I can understand what they’re saying. I know, weird, but the pictures are like a language and I know what they are saying. It’s just an occasional flash but it’s clear nonetheless.
“Are you okay, Jack?” Lynn asks.
I don’t answer but rise and walk downstairs to the front door. I hear Lynn following with the “Jack, are you listening? I know you can hear me.” I wave her question away with my hand and hold a finger to my lips when we reach the door.
There, there it is again. It’s like I’m hearing part of a conversation. I can actually feel where it’s coming from. I know, this is weirding me out as well. I stand at the door with my head tilted; listening.
“Jack, what the hell is going on?” Lynn finally intrudes on my wish for quiet.
“They’ve cornered a small pack of dogs,” I answer.
I Shall Not Return
Chief Petty Officer Vance Krandle looks toward the compound a couple of hundred meters away from an overlook position they found a couple of hours ago. The dark jungle around them stirs only slightly with the animals of the night. They landed in this god-forsaken place two nights ago and made their way cautiously to this location. Avoiding the small villages along the rutted, rocky jungle road, they paralleled it here. He can’t see the other team hidden nearby but the others of his team lie close.
“What do you think?” His point man quietly asks.
“I haven’t seen any movement so far,” Vance answers.
“Do you think we have the right place?”
“Has to be. The coordinates match with the satellite Intel,” he answers.
“Yeah, but shouldn’t there be lights on or something? I mean, they don’t even have guards posted. Guard towers, yes, but guards, no,” the point man asks.
“Maybe they went to bed early but it does seem a little odd for the guards not to be out,” Vance replies.
“Think they know we’re here then?”
“I suppose that’s always a chance but I doubt it. They’d have hit us earlier or set an ambush,” Vance whispers not taking his eye off the compound.
He is relaxed but feels his nerves tighten. He’s seen a lot but there’s something about this that doesn’t seem right. Compounds of this nature always have lights on unless they’re trying to hide from overflights of aircraft or satellites. And to not have guards posted when it’s evident they are meant to be there adds to his worry.