Arriving in a short passageway, we formed an oblong ring and introduced ourselves, reviewing our prior training. Twelve members formed our group: three each from Utah and Lovelock, two each from Kentucky and West Virginia, and Garrison and me. As Garrison talked about the different competencies, he indicated we’d start with hand-to-hand combat. I realized my skills in this area may be lacking compared to the others, many of whom engaged in martial arts or wrestling.
“Actually…” Garrison started and then whipped his leg up towards my face.
I swiveled, deflecting the kick, and brought my arm around, hitting his jaw. He fell to the ground.
“Oh, God. I’m so sorry.” Ignoring my aching fist, I dropped to one knee beside him. “Are you okay?”
He massaged his cheek and sat up. “Wow, okay, well, we know that we don’t need to work on your speed or fear of hitting someone.”
Standing, I trained my eyes on the ground. “No, sir.”
“That’s a good thing.” Sitting, then rising to a squat, he stood. “Note to the group. J here has a good right hook.”
For the next three hours, he demonstrated and we practiced how to defend against—or counter, as I learned was the official term—various attacks. Garrison used me to explain the techniques, and we sparred together, his clothes black from my face paint by the end.
As we sat drinking water and panting, he asked about my makeup. When I told him I liked it, felt it kept a barrier from the world, he seemed to get that. I wondered if it’d become a part of who I was, who I would want to continue to be.
In the afternoon, we rotated partners between moves to experience different styles, size people, strengths, taking turns being the attacker and defender. My muscles seared as I stretched out. Still, I found Amelie and Sadie, and we did a slow three-mile loop before dinner. After the meal, the strategy group held a brainstorming session. Feeling like I had nothing to add to that conversation, and not wanting to think about what we had to do, I snuck out to check on my bear pelts.
Rubbing my hand along the thick fur, I remembered my uncle talking about spirit animals and how Turner liked the jack rabbits in the desert. Owen said people with rabbit totems were clever, quick, and agile, yet spontaneous and unpredictable. A bear person would be strong, confident, a leader willing to stand up to adversity. This seemed to fit Turner better, and I tied the furs onto my pack.
Fighting the urge to slip off alone, I found Amelie in the tech hall, and we hiked out to our tree stands. We’d positioned them at both ends of a large clearing, but even when the moon reached a quarter crescent, it offered little light to the forest floor. Climbing up to the platform, I watched the forest come alive through my night-vision goggles. Movement caught my eye and I studied the trees. As one swayed, I slid out my pistol and released the safety.
“Jewel,” Troy whispered.
“Well, it would have been good if you started with that.” I snapped on the safety and stowed my weapon.
“Permission to come aboard.”
“Come experience my amazing new rug. I made one for you too.” I ran my hand along the fur and held his pelt out to him.
“You did this? For me?” Stroking the fur, he leaned in and kissed me. “This is amazing.”
We sat knee to knee, trading stories about our days as if it was normal to be training for a military coup. He liked the guys in his group and that I clonked Garrison. Complaining about the lack of bird meat on the menu that night, he asked me to try and snag a couple of ducks for the morning.
“If this weren’t such a temporary gig, I’d be catching ducklings and putting them in a pen.”
“You and your birds. You’re going to end up a crazy old man with tons of birds one day.”
“I don’t know, they’re just sweeter.”
Motion caught my eye, and I spun around to see an owl swoop into the clearing. Catching a mouse, it flapped up into a tree opposite us.
“Guess I should be going. You’re never going to get a deer with me around.”
“You’re probably right. I love you.” I leaned my forehead against his.
“I love you too.”
Swinging his legs, he slid down to the first rung. I handed him the larger bear pelt and leaned over and kissed him again.
Refocusing on the forest floor, I waited and waited, and just as I was about to give up, a pair of deer—a buck and doe—entered the clearing. Dang, I hated this job. Signaling to Amelie that I’d take the left one, we coordinated our shots and brought them both down. I retrieved my pack and shouldered the buck. Amelie lifted the doe to her back. She trailed me, commenting that she might keep the antlers.
“Actually no. I never want to think of this place when we leave here ever again.”
“Ditto that. I’d love to erase the last six months of my life.” I fell in beside her as the trees allowed a wider path.
“We can’t become bitter old women. If we get through this—”
“When we get through this,” I corrected.
“When this stuff is done, I demand to relive our sophomore year.” Her voice trailed off as she finished the sentence.
Neither of us spoke for a long time, and I speculated she was thinking the same as me, except most of our friends were dead. I wished I could hug her right then but lumbered on with the buck straddling my shoulders. Skinning the animals, and carving the meat, we set it in the cookers and made our way to the pond for a quick cleaning. Back at the cave, we left instructions for Sadie. I laid my head on the bear pelt, imagining sleeping beside Troy in a little wood cabin, a wood fire burning.
The days marched on with completion of hand-to-hand training, marksmanship, and weapons, where we learned to use tear gas, grenades, bayonets, and automatic machine guns. T minus fifty-two days found our team in day one of combat training, the unit I dreaded most. With limited ammunition and no access to paint balls, we used blanks in makeshift live simulation drills. Team members stood in as enemy soldiers, and spotters in the trees recorded our reaction times. The gift shop building served as a training arena.
The point was to get our reaction time, or time it took us to fire a lethal shot, under a second. Waiting for my turn, I did my mental prep. Us or them, kill or be killed. Get Butler, save Nave. In the first few runs, all our targets wore helmets, glasses, and bulletproof vests, and I dehumanized them, made them inanimate objects. Then, Garrison’s face appeared before me, and I froze. Dang. I pulled the trigger.
“Your reaction time has to be the same if they have faces.” Garrison yelled and tapped his chest. “Aim for the heart or head.”
We took turns as attacker and target, talked about assessing threat, knowing when to aim for the kill or shoot to wound. I hated every second of that day. By sundown, even with cotton ear plugs, my ears rang with the sound of my gun firing blanks. I shed my helmet and started to the cave opening.
“Good job today, Jewel.” Garrison fell in beside me. “I’m impressed. Have you always wanted to be in the military?”
“I never wanted to be in the military.”
“Oh, you said you trained at Port Orford.”
“We volunteered because of this screwed-up situation, not because we wanted to.” Wondering how old he guessed I was, I tried to stick as close to the truth as possible. I hoped my height gave me the advantage of appearing older.
“You’ve only been working with weapons for six months?”
“Give or take.” I swung the door open and motioned him in.
“I’m impressed.”
“Like you said, us or them, kill or be killed, right?”
“Ooh rah.” He fell in behind the others in the food line.
I scanned the space for Turner as I waited for a plate. Finding him, I noted the smile on his face. His eyes met mine, and he winked and held up a forkful of duck meat. It made me happy that he got his wish and even gladder that Amelie, Sadie, and I weren’t the only ones doing the hunting anymore. The eastern groups had many skilled bow hunters.
&
nbsp; Finishing the meal, Amelie, Sadie, and I took our evening run and washed in the pond. Then, Amelie and I tread to our stands as was our routine. Mace had started to come along with Turner and visit Amelie, and I got up the courage to ask about their relationship.
“I don’t know what it is. It’s not like he kissed me or anything. It’s just, he feels like home, and maybe I mean that to him too. Not like you and Turner, all hot and heavy.” She bumped her arm to mine.
She asked how my relationship with Turner formed, and I told her about driving to Lovelock, how he made me run, and how I taught him how to shoot with a bow—all the good things that’d happened.
“Mace and I talk about Port Orford and high school sometimes. He and Turner were supposed to graduate this year. He wanted to play football for the Navy in college. I wonder if our lives will ever be normal. High school seems so stupid now. I wish we knew what was going on at home.”
I wrapped my arm around her shoulders. “We’ll hear something soon. Mace and Turner will figure out how to tap into their systems.”
The lack of news about the spread of the virus, vaccine, or cure from the UNS concerned me. Had they done enough vaccinations to stop the spread? Were the victims or carriers quarantined? What were they doing with Nave? Would the virus mutate, leaving the vaccine and cure ineffective? Cmdr. Butler’s official statements said they were working on a diplomatic solution to the ultimatum, but China said they weren’t satisfied with any of the UNS proposals. If we were dealing with the old EC, I might have been more optimistic about a peaceful resolution. But Zhou hadn’t shown signs of having a patient or amicable personality.
Before I knew it, we were in the clearing. The grass shone silver in the light of the bulging moon. Ascending my makeshift ladder to the platform, I rejoiced that we only had one more day of combat training. It also meant that we’d be assigned our teams for the operation soon. A new team equaled new people, more people I would be exposed to. My emotions vacillated between excitement for having the operation completed and terror of executing our plan.
Focusing on the night surrounding me, I tabled those feelings for another time. There wasn’t any use in trying to predict an outcome. We would follow through with what we started and pray the gods smiled on us. I could set my watch by Turner and within minutes saw a swaying of bushes signaling his approach. Mace followed and, waving his hand at me, proceeded to Amelie’s post.
The next evening, I shifted my weight from foot to foot, waiting for my name to be called. Fifty had already been assigned to teams, leaving thirty of us that included Amelie, Sadie, Mace, Turner, and me. I knew Turner would be positioned in the tech group. He’d already talked to River about his role.
River read out another nine names, and they moved to the end of the passageway. Then he introduced the mission’s tactical tech team that included Turner, and I released a breath, relieved that his place became official. But River didn’t include Amelie, Sadie, and Mace, and I stared wide-eyed at Turner, hoping he’d get the cue. What the heck?
My pulse raced, and I held my breath, waiting for River’s next list. He glanced down the line of the remaining eight of us. “The rest of you will form the final strike team led by me.”
What? My brain exploded. I glared at Turner. That was not the plan. He and Mace were supposed to make sure Amelie and Sadie were on the tactical team with them where they would be safely hidden outside the UNS borders.
Murmurs spread throughout the group, and River raised his hand. “I know many of you may have questions about why we would put three females on the strike squad. First, we’ve got our best shooters—me, Jewel, Garrison, and of course, Shooter—on the team. Garrison and I are from Lovelock and worked with Cmdr. Butler helping him plan his coup. Ben and Carl of the Utah team are seasoned military and command of their group. Amelie and Mace trained in Port Orford and have tech and engineering skills. Sadie has come a long way in the past two weeks and will serve as our decoy mom. See, the perfect family.”
River took a sideways step to Sadie and wrapped an arm around her shoulder. “Dad, Mom, and our two beautiful daughters. One of which”—he snatched my cap from my head—“tends to walk to the beat of her own drummer.”
I jumped up and snatched the hat from his grip.
“Definitely the snarky teen.” River pointed at me.
Replacing my hat, I shot dagger eyes at Turner. How had he not known about this plan? He shrugged as if innocent.
“Okay, that’s all. Let’s eat.” River clapped his hands together.
Spinning to face us, River indicated that our squad should meet up after dinner. My stomach turned as I approached the food line. We had to fix this. I wouldn’t let Amelie and Mace, even Sadie, be put on the front line. I took a portion of meat, sat down and picked at it.
Garrison pointed at my plate. “What’s wrong? Finally realizing this is really happening?”
“Not hungry.” I handed him my plate and walked towards the exit.
Passing Turner, I kicked his shin and glared at him.
He held up his half-gone meal and shook his head. I didn’t care. I would wait till he came outside if I had to stand outside the cavern all night. Heaving the door open, I made sure to close it and skirted the clearing to the opposite side so I had a good view of the entrance. He appeared within five minutes, and I used our special bird call. Turning his head in my direction, he circled the meadow to me.
“How did that happen? You said you had this under control?” I accosted him as he approached.
“Sorry, but it had to be that way. If you’re going in, and I know you’re not changing your mind about that, I need people who care about you more than anything else beside you. Amelie and Mace know how important you are to this cause. They will protect you. And Sadie looks at you and Amelie like you’re her kids.”
Shaking my head, I paced away and spun back to face him. “This is exactly what I didn’t want. I need to know that you, Amelie, Mace, and Sadie are safe. Amelie and Mace need to stay and protect you. You’re far more important than me to this whole thing. You literally were the key to the cure.”
He closed the distance between us. “But I’m not going to be anywhere near harm’s way. Butler’s men will be so focused on the attack they won’t have time to figure out where they’re being controlled from. Plus, we’ll be on the move. The guys on my team are solid. Nothing will happen to me.”
Tears sprang to my eyes. “I don’t like this. What if something happens to Amelie or Mace? It’ll all be my fault. I don’t know if I could bear that.”
“Please don’t tell me you’re playing the tears card.” He laced his fingers in mine. “This is the best way. Amelie and Mace think so too.”
“So, Amelie and Mace knew?” I snatched my hands from his grip.
Water flooded my eyes, and I spun away from him. How had it come to this? “Why, why didn’t you tell me?”
“Because we knew you wouldn’t like it. You would have hounded us forever. You’re kind of like a mini-tornado when you get your mind set on something.”
Shedding my hat, I spun to face him. “Yeah, because I don’t want my friends to get killed.”
“You heard River. The lead team has the best people. And besides, we won’t fail. You need to visualize success. Where did that person go who believed she could do anything? The one who got the cure for her sister? Escaped four kidnappers and jogged from California to Utah to make this happen?”
Running my sleeve across my wet cheeks, I replaced my hat. “You’re right. We have eighty people who committed to this. Failure is not an option. It doesn’t mean I have to like it though.”
I took a step forward, meaning to brush past him, but he caught my arm. “When we’re done here, we’ll disappear again, go anywhere you want.”
“You’re such a liar. You never can resist being in the middle of everything.”
“You’re right. I can’t wait to sit in Butler’s chair and gloat.”
I chuckled. “I
love you.”
“I love you too.” He clutched my arms and kissed me.
I let him kiss me for longer than I should. Who kissed their boyfriend in the middle of a war? But it felt good. Hearing a whistle, I spun around to see Mace outside the main entrance. We jogged towards the cave. Reaching him, I jabbed him on the arm with my fist.
“What’s that for?” He rubbed his bicep.
“That’s for not narking on your friend.”
Inside, I followed Mace to the command center where River and the rest of the team were gathered. Seeing Amelie, I rolled my eyes but sat down beside her.
She bumped my leg and leaned into me. “Don’t pout. It’s for your own good.”
“Oh, you’re going to get a lot more from me than pouting later,” I whispered.
River reviewed the evolving plan and stressed the need for us to be a cohesive unit, trusting every member with our very lives. The pit formed in my stomach again as I contemplated the secret I would have to keep from all of them. It was safer for them. If they were captured, they’d be able to say they had no idea who I was. Refocusing on River, I listened as he explained our first exercises would be team building, and then we’d move to additional tactical, hand-to-hand, and operation training. He asked for questions and closed the meeting to brief the other groups.
Garrison stood, instructing us to gather our gear and relocate it in the passageway next to command center. We would train, eat, and sleep together for the next four days. My brain swam. At least I had Amelie and Sadie as buffers.
For four days we lifted weights, ran and worked on stealth, hand-to-hand combat, and weapons. Mace and Turner monitored the satellites, radio stations, and web for any change in Butler’s position, locations of his crews, and news from Port Orford. Not seeing movement on any fronts, we planned to sort and pack gear on the next day in preparation for departure at T minus forty-six days from Zhou’s deadline.
At day T minus forty-six days, I woke at 0500, and Amelie, Sadie, and I jogged our morning loop. Meeting our team for the first meal, we got instructions on packing weapons, gear, and food rations. All the provisions were organized in stations at various locations in the tunnels, and each team took turns packing their equipment. Everything would be organized by teams in the exit tunnel. Then, after dark we’d load the transport vehicles and strip the cave. At 2200, we were set to pull out.
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