“Why do you need Richie for that?”
“I don’t. His JLTV is the closest.”
Lauren reached for his shoulders as he reacted clumsily to her advance. Norman had the Suburban and she needed a ride. “Where is the…JLTV?”
His eyes scurried around. “Richie’s? The church. It’s our FOL…Fred authorized it.”
Lauren plotted her next move. “Okay, listen. I’ll handle Richie and corral Dr. Vincent. You get back on the radio, tell them we’re on our way to meet them, and don’t lose contact. I’ll bring the doctor to them, just guide them directly to me.”
“Are you sure about this?” Neo asked, his face knotting up.
“Positive.”
He grinned. “Should I advise it’s you who’s coming?”
Paying no heed to his question, Lauren made a daring play for Neo’s sidearm. “Sorry—I need to borrow this.”
Neo glanced down and askance at his now empty holster. “Oh boy. Force multiplier is back for real now, isn’t she? Ready to go ballistic.” As Lauren went to part ways, Neo grabbed her sleeve. “Wait,” he pled. “Let me tell you what they’re driving so you know what to look for.”
Chapter 26
Lauren dashed up the driveway, hurdled the gate again and took off like a shot onto Trout Run Road, with Neo’s Sig P320 in hand. Before she knew it, her feet had taken her to the entrance of St. James Church, where a desert tan JLTV sat in the parking lot alongside two other larger, similarly colored transports.
She took a quick look around to gauge the scene and made a break for the driver’s door. She opened it and slid into the seat and took a breath before bringing the engine roaring to life.
Lauren reversed the JLTV into the road, and the commotion served to rouse all the soldiers inside the church, including Richie. They marched hurriedly out the main door, waving and shouting, their rifles pulled to their shoulders, having no idea who had pilfered their vehicle or why.
She maneuvered into position and stomped the accelerator, sending the armored truck on a southerly course, passing the cabin’s driveway before cutting left at the entrance to the former Ackermann farm, where Dr. Vincent and his wife were staying. She slammed on the brakes, and the JLTV slid diagonally in the driveway, coming to a stop mere feet from the porch.
Dr. Vincent emerged from the house, casting a look of indignance coupled with astonishment. “Young lady! Really! What is the meaning of this? Are you stark raving mad?”
“There’s no time to explain,” Lauren said, jumping out of the vehicle. She stuffed the Sig in the waistband of her running pants and ran to him. “There’s a medical emergency. I need you to come with me now.”
Dr. Vincent was taken aback. He folded his arms in defiance. “Oh really? A medical emergency?” he parroted. “Well, I will do no such thing! Not until you, at the very least, tender a suitable rationale for your crude deeds.” He scoffed. “I…am truly appalled, miss. You can’t just barge in here, demanding from me whatever you want! I happen to be a medical professional, as is my wife, and if you desire our help, you had better damn well entreaty it—doing so respectfully and in the proper fashion!”
Lauren tensed. She could feel mayhem surging inside. There really was no time for this.
Before she realized it, she had drawn the P320 and had it leveled on Dr. Vincent’s nose. “Get your medical bag, kit, stethoscope, pocket protector, and whatever else a fucking medical emergency calls for, and get in the goddamn truck!”
Dr. Vincent’s jaw went slack, his mouth fell open, though no words escaped. He did as he was told, and with one hand held in surrender, he turned away, retrieved his gear and traipsed with zeal to the JLTV.
Still holding him at gunpoint, Lauren opened the rear passenger-side suicide door and guided him into the backseat. “I’m truly sorry about this. I’ll explain everything soon enough, but for now, sit down and shut up.” She then slammed the door closed.
Lauren circled the vehicle, jumped in and reached for the door, but before she could pull it closed, a voice called to her. She reacted on instinct before discerning who it was.
With the Sig’s barrel pointed in his face now, Christian slowly began raising his hands. “Hey there. Welcome back…and why do I have a gun in my face?”
Lauren hurriedly lowered the weapon. “Sorry about that. No time to talk. I’ll explain later.”
“Wait…who gave you the truck? Looks kind of like the one that doofus Richie drives.”
Lauren sighed exhaustedly. “Christian, I’d love to catch up, but there is zero time for this—zero. So either get in or get out of the way, but don’t try to stop me. If you do, I’ll shoot you, I swear to God.”
Christian shrugged. “Twist my arm, then.” He rounded the vehicle with excitement and hopped in, and as Lauren maneuvered onto Trout Run Road, found they weren’t alone. “Hey, Doc.” His pupils shifted sideways. “Um, what’s he doing here?”
Lauren didn’t say anything, her concentration fully queued up on the matter at hand.
“And the plot thickens,” Christian said, looking misplaced. “Did Richie or one of the guys let you borrow the ride?”
Lauren hesitated. “No.”
“No?”
“Not exactly.”
“Not exactly…” He trailed off. “Okay, you didn’t borrow it, and I doubt you have one of your own, so I guess…that leaves one explanation. You stole it.”
“I didn’t steal anything.” Lauren vetoed the remark. “I…tactically acquired it.”
Christian repeated those last three words to himself. “Well now. I’m getting the feeling this situation, whatever it is, is poised to fall way, way out of control.”
Turning the blind left corner, Lauren gasped and pushed hard on the brakes when a figure emerged onto the road before her from literally out of nowhere.
“What the hell?” Christian queried. “Pedestrians? Hey, wait—isn’t that your friend from the camp? The one with the sword?”
Lauren nodded. “Oh shit.”
Christian’s brow furrowed. “Busted already, huh?”
Glowering, Woo Tang marched to Lauren’s window with purpose in each step, then pulled her door ajar. “I am aware of many who prefer morning-hour strolls for the purposes of gathering fresh air,” he said. “You…apparently prefer morning-hour joyrides in boosted vehicles.”
“I didn’t boost it,” Lauren said. “I need it, Jae—and I don’t have time to explain, I really don’t.”
“Though you do plan to tender explanation, regardless.”
She nodded. “Of course I do.”
The former SEAL evaluated her expression closely. “How serious is this?”
“Dire.”
Woo Tang sighed. “Then you may present your motives while Oscar-Mike…to wherever this joyride takes us.” He shut her door and opened his, sliding into the back beside Dr. Vincent.
And with a full house now on board, Lauren stomped the accelerator and sped towards the incline, en route to Wolf Gap.
“You know, I’ve heard these things were way better than Humvees, but I’ve never ridden inside one until now,” Christian mused. “Heh…check it out, it even has a cup holder.”
“They are far better in terms of comfort, as well,” Woo Tang added, “especially on longer outings. The air-conditioning and extra legroom is noticeable, as is the added padding in the seat cushions.”
Christian looked back at their newest arrival. “Hi, we met already…once before, albeit briefly.” He stuck his hand out. “I was with Lauren in that death camp you saved us from. Forgive her, she’s not the best with introductions. I’m Christian.”
“Yes. I remember you being there. You may call me Woo Tang.”
Christian grinned mischievously. “Very good to meet you, finally. And let me guess, you…‘ain’t nothin’ ta fuck with’. Right?”
Woo Tang’s expression went askew. “I beg your pardon?”
“Uh…nothing, forget it.” Christian faced forward. “Sorry to
bother you.”
Several minutes later at the approach of Wolf Gap, Lauren let off the accelerator at the sight of what could only be another tremendous burden. She realized she’d forgotten about the D9T bulldozer that had been parked here to block the road months ago. She slammed on the brakes, punched the steering wheel and shouted curses at herself.
Christian tried consoling her. “Hey, hey! What are you so upset about?”
“I’m not upset! I’m pissed!” Lauren pointed at the snow-covered yellow behemoth. “We can’t get to the other side with that thing in the way!”
Christian studied the monstrous earthmover with a casual eye. “Why do we need to get to the other side?”
“A very pertinent question,” Woo Tang added.
Lauren rested her head against the wheel, squeezing her eyes closed. “I’m such an idiot.”
Christian looked her over, then opened his door.
“Where are you going?” she asked.
“To see if they hid a key somewhere,” he said, his tone denoting total lack of concern. “If not, I don’t know. Maybe I can hotwire it.”
Lauren squinted at him. “You can do that?”
“Please…have I ever failed you before?” He went to close his door but halted. “Never mind. Don’t answer that.”
Christian tore off, climbed onto the tractor and began wrestling with the controls. Moments passed by, but before long, black smoke spewed from the exhaust stack, indicating success had been achieved.
He motioned with his arm as if pulling an imaginary trucker’s horn and drove the monstrous bulldozer ahead at a meager pace to the recreation area’s parking lot just beyond the state line.
Stunned at what she was witnessing, Lauren moved in to follow and pulled alongside. A look of victory dawning on him, Christian hopped down and got back inside the JLTV.
Lauren leaned over, placing a kiss on his wind-chilled cheek. “You…are a godsend. Thank you.”
“It was either that or watch you suffer a mental breakdown.” Christian rubbed his hands together. “Another crisis averted. Think you can explain all this now?”
Lauren began mentally preparing herself to rationalize all this through the anxiety, apprehensions and excitement, but a mile down the road, learned that she didn’t have to.
After negotiating the tight turns along the descent and leaving the national forest, a monstrous black armored vehicle turned onto the road and stopped in front of them. Both vehicles stalemated in the middle of the road, barely ten yards from each other’s front bumper.
Christian’s eyes boggled. “What the hell is that?”
“An armored personnel carrier of some variety,” Woo Tang filled in. “Possibly of foreign origin.”
Christian nodded. “Look at the size of that machine gun.”
The menacing-looking vehicle’s passenger door flung open and a second later a middle-aged man jutted his head out and began waving.
Upon seeing his face, Lauren went pale and distant.
“Do you know him?” asked Christian. “He seems to know us.”
Lauren didn’t answer him; she couldn’t answer. Same as it had in her dreams, her voice was failing her.
Woo Tang squeezed between the seats. “Though he does not appear exactly as I remember, there is no question the man waving at us now is Alan Russell.”
Christian whipped around. “Are you saying that dude is Lauren’s dad?”
“Affirmative.”
In utter shock, Lauren shut off the engine and pried open her door. She melted from her seat onto the slick pavement outside, struggling to find footing and support herself on wobbly legs. Barely able to utter a word, her voice trilled, “Dad?”
Jade had halted the Marauder upon seeing the JLTV headed for them after the turn onto Wolf Gap road. Knowing they were here to meet them, Alan didn’t hesitate to open his door, stand and offer a friendly wave.
But what he hadn’t bargained for was seeing a young woman deliberately exit the driver’s side and look upon him as if knowing precisely who he was. Then it all became clear to him in a single spoken word.
“Sweet Jesus. What a day,” he said.
“Alan, who is that?” Jade asked, her eyes bloodshot, her tension becoming palpable. “Is that your daughter?”
“Yeah, I think it has to be…”
Jade simpered. After all that had happened today, her emotional self was verging on collapse. “I don’t understand…she’s here? How is this happening? Here? And right now?”
“Do you recall our talk about fate?” Alan asked. “How did we get here? How did we survive that mess back there?” He descended the ladder. “It’s happening because it had to.” He then hopped to level ground and secured his door.
Jade reached into her hip pocket and pulled from it a black velveteen bag, the one Valerie had given her right before leaving Camp Hill. The stones that shared her name were still inside. “I’ll be damned.”
Dr. Vincent let himself out. Medical bag in hand, he made his approach and bellowed to the Marauder, “Hello? I was advised you have a casualty?”
Jade snapped herself out of it. She sprang from her perch and rallied with him. “He’s in the back. I’ll take you to him.”
While Christian and Woo Tang remained in place, Lauren took cautious steps toward a person she hadn’t seen since the day the world had gone mad, a man she had written off countless times, only to believe he’d come back to her someday.
But in what was becoming the most surreal moment of her life, she stood frozen in the roadway, a tactical military truck to her aft, another in front of her, facing a man appearing to be Alan Russell, the person she knew to be her father, even though everything about him in that moment felt off beam.
She wanted to go to him, reach for him and hug him and cry with him, while he held her head firmly to his chest, but something wasn’t right.
Why was he standing there? Why was his expression so flat and empty? He looked as though he didn’t know how to act or even who she was. Why wasn’t he running to her to sweep her into his arms? Why wasn’t he telling her how much he’d missed her and how much he loved her? And why were no tears erupting from his eyes like they were from hers?
Lauren could feel her lower lip trembling. A flood of emotions was assaulting her, and there were so many things she wanted to say, but she couldn’t make sense of the jumble.
Staring back at her, Alan felt something of the same. He looked the young woman over, knowing full well who she was, aware she was his daughter Lauren, but he didn’t know what to say to her. What did one say to someone they knew and loved, but failed to recognize and had no memories of? Alan’s memory was sluggishly coming back to him, but even now, displaced in a life moment as paramount as his reunification with his daughter, he hadn’t a clue how to begin.
He could feel Lauren scanning his every movement and lack thereof. Her eyes were filled with tears and his weren’t. She could tell something was off. She knew something was wrong.
Headlights from both vehicles lighting their way in dawn’s early light, Lauren started taking steps, inching her way closer to him. When she got to within a few feet, she looked him up and down. “Where…have you been?”
The question, compounded by his burden, the torment etched on her face and the misery and longing in her voice, massacred Alan’s heart. “I’ve…I’ve been everywhere,” he stammered and shook, “everywhere, other than…where I should’ve been.” And with that, his tears began to fall.
She edged closer still, her soggy eyes narrowing into slits. “Something’s wrong. You’re not yourself,” she whimpered. “Did…something happen to you?”
More than you’ll ever know, he thought. But the words still escaped him.
“Are you sick? Talk to me, Dad. Tell me something.”
Alan looked away, attempting to ready himself. He wanted so much to confess all to her, take her into his arms, hold her and tell her how sorry he was for not being there, but an unfamiliar face b
earing an urgent expression flanked them, disrupting the moment.
“Excuse me, miss? We must go now,” Dr. Vincent said. “I believe I can save the gentleman’s leg, but we must get him to the infirmary. I need a sterile environment in which to operate, and that isn’t here on this road. Are you hearing me?”
Lauren didn’t respond. Her whole being was transfixed on her long-lost father having recently returned, only to have done so not as she remembered him. She wasn’t about to go anywhere.
The brunette driver of the black APC approached Alan from behind, and Lauren’s eyes tracked her, gauging her every move, every expression, taking distinct notice of her eyes and the way the woman looked upon her father.
The doctor became persistent. “Miss? Excuse me, I’m talking to you. I said we must go. And we must go now.”
“I got her, Doc,” said Christian, moving in with a gentle hand. He tugged Lauren’s elbow. “Hey, come on, we can finish this at home.” He sent acknowledging nods to both Alan and the brunette. “Follow us. It’s not far.”
“Alan, let’s go,” Jade said, and the pair made their reentry.
Dr. Vincent boarded the Marauder as Christian guided Lauren into the JLTV’s passenger side, her stare never once leaving her father.
Christian then took the controls. He made a turnabout and guided the duo of armored vehicles toward Wolf Gap and into the valley.
Chapter 27
Christian turned the corner at the driveway leading to the Ackerman farm, then pulled into the yard to provide room for the other driver to maneuver. An infirmary had been built within a portion of the farmhouse’s lower floor to accommodate the treatment of patients not long after Dr. Vincent and his wife had moved in.
The black APC pulled in immediately behind them and reversed to the porch. Jade jumped out to assist Ken inside, and Alan followed behind her.
Lauren remained stoic, her eyes drilling holes through the passenger window, watching her father follow the doctor and the brunette, who had hoisted the other man into her arms and was now carrying him inside.
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