“It takes a lot of guts to do that.”
“My father… was a patriot. He would kick my ass if he even heard me mention Canada. From that he taught me, from all that he bestowed in me, I know this is what I should do for him, for me and for my country. There is no other choice.”
“Good girl.” Harry patted her hand. “Now you said you’re an expert shot. If I were to ask you what I should do with you, what would you say?”
“Honestly?” Lana asked.
“Yep.”
“Put me in a sniper position.”
“Holy Be Jesus!” Harry chuckled. “You ain’t kidding around.”
Ben felt bad knowing that Lana was back in room 101 of the grade school, sleeping on a cot or reading. He left her note stating that he wanted to wander around the town a bit, visit The Tap. It seemed odd to him to walk into an adult drinking establishment and see children. But the woman in there told him that most of the adults were at the fire hall, working on weapons and learning what their part would be in case of attack.
Ben got a glass of bourbon and spotted Tyler sitting off by himself next to the jukebox holding a big tin box. He was keeping his distant from the other kids and Tyler just didn’t strike him as an antisocial child.
Then again, Tyler had lost both his parents.
Ben took his drink and walked over to the table where Tyler was seated.
“Can I join you?”
“Sure,” Tyler responded.
“Do you hate me?” Ben asked.
“No. You helped my dad.”
Ben nodded. “If I didn’t help your dad, how would you feel about me?”
“Why are you asking me?” Tyler questioned.
“Just making conversation,” Ben said.
“Harry said to be nice to you and stop bitching about you.”
Ben chuckled when Tyler swore. “I appreciate it.”
“Sure.” Tyler rolled up a drawing.
“What’s that you got?”
“You really wanna know?” Tyler asked.
“Yes. I do.”
“It’s a box. Harry says it’s very important. Well, the contents are. He was giving it to his friend Leo when the attack happened. Harry says the box is I…. I… ron…”
“Ironic?”
“Yeah, that’s the word he used.”
“Did he say how come?” Ben asked.
“Because of all that’s going on now.”
“What’s in the box?”
“It’s something special. And I’ve been adding to the box. Harry said future generations need to know about the box, especially now, because it deals with war. I’ve been making pictures to keep in the box. Just to add some extra stuff. The box is bigger than the contents. My plan is to pass it on. Harry says it’s a good plan.”
“It is.” Ben reached for the box. “May I?”
“Sure.”
Ben slid the tin box to him. “This is beautiful.” His hand ran over the wording on front. “Did Harry have this engraved?”
“Huh?”
“Did Harry have these words put on here?”
“Yeah,” Tyler nodded. “He made the box himself.”
Ben lifted the lid and smiled at the drawing inside. He reached in and lifted the stone. “Wow. How cool is this. It’s a piece of the Berlin wall.”
“The Berlin wall?”
Ben raised an eyebrow. “Yeah, the Berlin wall. See this.” He grabbed the envelope. “This is documentation. And this…” He lifted the photo of the man holding a sledgehammer and gazed at it. “This is a guy taking a swing at it, knocking it down. The Berlin Wall separated East and West Germany—Communism and Democracy. It truly stood for a divided world, especially during the cold war years when the use of nuclear weapons was a very real threat. The wall coming down showed the end of communism and the end to the threat of nuclear war, at least for some. It symbolized peace. President Reagan initiated the tearing down of the wall. And Harry’s right. It is truly ironic that this box and its contents have found their way to this time and place.”
Tyler just stared at Ben.
“What’s wrong?” Ben asked.
“Did you just tell me what the rock was?”
“Yeah, didn’t you know?”
“No. Gees. I was trying to figure it out on my own. You spoiled the ending for me. Like a movie.”
“But all you had to do was read the documentation.”
“I was trying to figure it out myself.”
“I’m… I’m sorry.” Ben put the rock in the box. “I am. But it’s really cool. Those pictures you made and your plan on passing this along, that’s a great idea.”
“Thanks.” Tyler grumbled.
Ben finished his drink. “Well, listen, I’ll let you alone. If you have any questions, you just ask me.”
Tyler nodded.
“I’m gonna head over to the grade school and be with Lana. I’m sure she hates being alone.”
“She’s not there.”
“Sure she is.”
Tyler shook his head. “She’s at the fire hall.”
“No, she was. She had dinner and went back home.”
“No, she didn’t. She stayed for the meeting. Or at least she was there when I left.”
“Are you sure?” Ben asked.
“Positive.”
“Okay, thanks.” Ben stood. “You think the meeting is still happening?”
“Harry’s not back, so I’ll say, yes.”
“Thanks.” Ben laid his hand on Tyler’s back. “And sorry about spoiling the ending for you, I mean, about that rock.”
Tyler shrugged. “It’s ok. Are you going to the meeting?”
“Yes,” Ben answered.
“So does this mean you’re gonna stay and fight.”
“No.” Ben shook his head. “But I need to find out why Lana is there.”
Leaving the boy alone with his art and box, Ben left The Tap. In his mind he was convinced that Tyler was mistaken. There was no way Lana was at the fire hall with a militia meeting taking place. No way. Not when she had agreed with him that it would be best for them to seek sanctuary in a new country.
Colonel Hayes made a special point to go to Brendan once more and shake his hand. There was a general air of excitement in the hours before dawn. Things were about to happen.
The strike was precise, the colonel told him.
They were able to use bunker bombs to get into the tunnel system and then Special Forces took out an extra two hundred plus soldiers not killed in the raid on the tunnel base.
The strike at the base camp in New York was the trumpet sounding off.
Things were going to change.
And they would change quickly, too. By dawn, a whole new phase of the war would begin.
Because of that, the colonel had Brendan transported by air to Ohio.
He apologized to Brendan for not being able to keep him close to the action, but it was uncertain how it would go.
The colonel was confident that the front lines would move east, but there was always that chance that things could go wrong.
Brendan understood. He understood a lot. He even understood why he would be kept at an Army camp. It was not only for his protection but also to guarantee his silence.
She did it in seconds. Perhaps that was a slight exaggeration, but Harry bragged to all about Lana’s ability to take apart a revolver, put it back together, lock and load a matter of seconds.
Lana was teaching a younger man how to properly hold a revolver and keep his stance when Ben came in.
He stared at her across the fire hall.
Harry saw this and approached him. “Hey, Ben. I thought you were at The Tap.”
“And I thought my wife was sleeping.”
“Nah, no one sleeps at night.”