by David Wilson
“I doubt that luck played as much a part as you are giving it credit for,” quipped Jake, as he looked around our little group. He looked over at his wife, and her look told him to get on with it. “As we said earlier, I’m Jake, and this is my wife of 32 years, Maggie. After 27 years in the Army, I retired and transferred to the Virginia National Guard. I have been the Post/Battalion Commander for the past five years but had to retire this year because of health reasons. We are currently running about 71 or 72 percent of our TO & E for the Battalion. Most of the Battalion has had multiple tours either to the sandbox or the rock pile. The unit roles run to about 30 percent single, which is good in this case because we would have a difficult time getting husbands and fathers to leave their families to go set up checkpoints and strongpoints. I passed the word yesterday to my First Sergeant to do a full recall today and for the troops to bring in their immediate families to the armory. There are more than enough supplies and beds available for the short term. Long term, we are good with food as long as we are not attempting to feed the rest of the world.”
Don stood and turned to Jake, “So why are you offering to help us? You just said yourself that your unit is good as long as you are not attempting to feed the world. But you know as well as I do when people start getting hungry, or they have to sit and listen to their kids cry themselves to sleep because of hunger, then they are going to come and take what they need. I don’t care how big your unit is, if they know you have supplies, then they will take them, no matter the cost. Yet you are offering to help us by setting us up as an outpost. Why?”
Jake just sat there and looked at Don for a few seconds before turning to Talon and saying, “Because I need your help too, and I’m willing to help all of you if Talon’s willing to help Maggie and me with a problem that I should be handling.” Jake said with a bitterness that surprised everyone and caused Maggie to reach over and take his hand.
Talon could see that Jake was serious, hell the guy had tears in his eyes. Whatever it was couldn’t be good, and if it pained him that much, it had to be something with the family. Talon was steeling himself to say sorry that he had to get to his own family when Maggie spoke up.
Maggie let go of Jake’s hand, stood, and pulled two photographs out of her coat pocket as she walked over to stand in front of Talon. “Jake tells me you might be the only person that could possibly get back into the city and out again. If he weren’t sick, he would have already been in there getting our daughter-in-law and grandson out, but he can’t. Jake was diagnosed with stage 4 lung cancer just three months ago. After all the years he has served this country, the VA had the nerve to just had him some pain medicine and told him to retire and enjoy what little life he has left. Plus, most of his troopers are not specials ops types. They are supply guys. Our son’s wife and our grandson are in Fairfax, and we have had no word from them for the past two days. We don’t know anyone else that could do this, we are begging you to please help us find them.”
Talon looked up into the grief-stricken woman’s face. Without breaking his eye contact with her, he reached inside his own vest and pulled out a picture of his kids. Holding the picture up so she could see the kids in the photograph, Talon said, “Ma’am, I have a wife and three 8-year-olds in Texas right now. Texas got hit just as hard as we did up here. What you are asking is for me to turn around and go back into hell, risking my life every step of the way and try, and I don’t mean to sound harsh but, try and locate, recover, and move two people back to here. I don’t know about you, but that sounds like a really bad idea to me. Our group was lucky getting out of the city the way we did, but that only happened because we moved before everyone realized just how bad everything was going to get. I feel your pain, trust me, I do, every waking moment, and in my dreams, I’m thinking about my wife and kids. Where is your son, why can’t he get them out?”
The older woman jerked as if Talon had thrust a knife into her, her face twisted from grief to rage in an instant, as fresh tears ran down her face, “He was killed in Afghanistan almost two years ago, the 17th of November. He was on patrol when his vehicle hit an IED. All five of the guys in the vehicle were killed. My boy came home from that hell hole in a closed casket!” she said with a hiss. Her rage pulsated off from her with such an intensity that Talon had to break eye contact and take a step back. Maggie had turned from a sweet smiling older lady into someone that Talon was grateful that all that hate was not directed at him. Jake walked up behind her and attempted to put his arms around her and hug her. She turned quick as a snake and pushed him away, “God damn it, Jake, I am not wasting any more time, and I told you that either we go to the post and get some of your guys to go get them or I’m going myself to get our kids.”
“Maggie, we have been over this before,” said Jake lowering his voice, “There isn’t a single guy in that unit that has the background or training to do something like this. If there was, I would already have had Top send them down here. Rob would have done it, but he is laid up with his back and leg messed up from that car accident. Let me talk some more with Talon, that’s our only hope to get her and Billy out of there and back here with us.”
Talon stepped forward and said, “Look before we go any further in this conversation. I think everyone needs to listen to the broadcast we recorded about an hour ago off of the shortwave. Things are falling apart and are going to get much worse before they get better.”
Pulling the recorder out of his vest, he sat it on a large rock by the fire pit and, without any other preamble, hit the play button on the recorder. For the next few minutes, other than the slight sound made by the breeze rustling the tree leaves, there was not a sound made by the people listening to the recorded broadcast.
As the broadcast ended, Talon stood and shut off the recorder. All most as one, there was an intake of breath collectively from the group. Beth was fighting a losing battle with her emotions as the tears coursed down her cheeks, but she wasn’t the only one of the group that had shed more than a few tears during the broadcast.
All eyes were on Talon as he shut off the recorder. He turned and stood looking back at each of the group, meeting each of their eyes as he faced them. Talon glanced over his shoulder and said, “Ben, could you hear the broadcast?”
Ben stood and shrugged off the ghillie blanket and stepped over the small downed tree he had been lying behind, “Yes Sir, I heard it.”
“Alright, come on over and join the rest of us,” said Talon.
Jake stood and introduced himself and Maggie to Ben and said, “Nice job son, I had been looking for you since I sat down and was not able to find you. Nice job, indeed.”
As everyone took their seats again and several of the group had added some more hot water to refill their coffee cups, Talon began, “Ok, I know that sounded bad, and in fact it is. Just about the worst scenario anyone could come up with. We are all a long way from our homes, and basically, travel has become outlawed. We can still do this, we really have no choice, but from here on out we are going to have to be much more careful about our interaction with people.”
Talon paused as Jake raised his hand. “Talon, is you help us out we can give your group a hand.” Jake explained, “I am still the Commanding Officer of the Winchester National Guard Unit. I wasn’t at the unit when this happened because I had just started terminal leave, but was planning on heading back up that way with Maggie today or tomorrow. I think our best course of action is for all of us to load up and head to the armory in Winchester. From there, we can work out a plan to get your guys down to their cabin. I will send a squad down with them with additional supplies for the winter and to help out with security.”
Talon met and held Jake’s eyes for several seconds before asking, “What about your daughter-in-law and grandchild?”
Jake stared back at Talon, “Didn’t you say you were from Texas. I understand you need to get back to your family before you report to the nearest federal center down there. Plus, I figure all of us here local owe you f
or taking care of these hit teams that we would not have known about without your help. Figure I can cut you some orders say you checked in and had been ordered to report as soon as possible to your local commander down in Texas. I can’t guarantee that it will work outside of Virginia authority, but it should help. After you get our girl and grandchild, I’ll provide you with any supplies, weapons, and ammo and a horse and packhorse for your trip to Texas.”
“Ok that takes care of me, what about Don and his group,” Talon asked.
“That’s easy, Don is going to be recalled and promoted, and I’ll put him in charge of an OP/LP down at his cabin, complete with radio equipment and a generator to report on local conditions down in the valley. I figure he won’t turn down the supplies and some equipment. You do have to remember that my unit is a support unit. We have tons of MRE’s and equipment, and I really will have to establish several posts around the area to try and maintain some sort of order.”
Talon dropped his head thinking, did he really have a choice? “If I do this, would the horses be available for me to use to go get your daughter-in-law and her kid?”
Jake nodded, “Whatever you need to go get them, we have six good ones here at the farm.”
Talon paused, his mind was a blur, running through all of the scenarios. Reaching up and wiping his hand across his face, he turned back to Jake and Maggie, “Damn it all, you two are putting me in a hell of a position, but you know that. If I were half smart, I would tell you not only no but hell no and to get out of our camp right now. Then we would pack up and head out of here straight to the cabin. I really am sorry, but I have to get home to my own family,” turning to face Don, Talon asked, “What do you think?”
“Talon, we already owe you more than we could ever repay. I don’t know what to think, you have to do what’s best for you. We will be fine without the additional help or supplies, so don’t let that influence your decision. I haven’t known you for long, but I think you have already made up your mind on what to do,” said Don, “Ben, Beth, you guys still planning on coming down to the cabin with us?”
Ben just nodded his reply and gave Don a thumbs up. All eyes turned to Beth, who was still visibly upset about all of the events. Beth looked over at Don and then back to Talon, “How can all of you just sit here and talk about plans when our whole world is falling apart. I am still confused about how Iranian’s got here and were allowed to do all this horrible stuff to our country. Now I can’t get home, and I don’t know what I should do. I really don’t want to go live in a cabin in the middle of the woods, but I don’t think I have many choices. I’ve seen how dangerous it is in the city, and there is no way I want to go it alone, so yes, I’m going to the cabin, at least for now.”
Talon was only half listening to Beth, with the assistance of Jake, there was going to be no reason for Talon to go all the south to the cabin to help Don get set up. With what Jake was offering, it would cut at least two weeks if not a month off his trip. He could cut due west out of Winchester over to the Ohio River. While that meant crossing the entire state of West Virginia, it was still closer, much closer than he could hope for. The offer from Jake to cut him some orders might come in handy also, he might be able to get Jake to give him a ride to the border if the unit had any working vehicles.
Snapping back to the present, Talon realized that everyone was looking at him. “I’m sorry, I was running down all the possibilities this presented to us as a group. Jake, I’ll go get her, but a deal is a deal. You have to get Don and this group down to their cabin and help supply them for the coming winter. I’ll do everything in my power to recovery your daughter-in-law and grandson.
“How far are we from Fairfax?” Talon asked Jake, “Also, can we get everything together for me to leave tonight?”
“It’s about 35 miles from our house to Diane’s house in Fairfax,” answered Jake, “And yes, we should be able to get everything together so you can leave tonight.”
“Ok, then let’s get packed up and get back over to your house and get this show on the road,” said Talon.
Chapter Twelve
Talon paced back and forth in Jake and Maggie’s living room, “So when you leave here, you guys are all going to the Winchester Armory. Today is May 6th, your guys will meet me back here on the 10th. They will wait here until the morning of the 15th. I will be back by then, or I’m not coming back. If Diane is not at her apartment, is there anywhere else she might be?”
Jake thought for a moment, “Not that I know of, the last time I talked to her, I told her to stay put until I could get there. She is very smart and knows that I would do anything to come and get her. I know she had plenty of food and water to last her for over two weeks. No, she will be at her apartment.”
Talon continued to pace, he was ready to go but didn’t want to leave and have to pass by Leesburg while there was still daylight. “Two questions, is she armed, and is she trained to use a gun?” asked Talon.
“Of course she is armed,” Jake responded, “And yes, she knows how to use that Glock she has, and she grew up shooting rabbits and deer hunting. She is actually a pretty fair shot.”
Holding up the handful of pictures, Talon asked, “Is there anything else you can think of that I need to convince Diane that I am who I say I am and to get her to come with me?”
Maggie and Jake looked at each other, and then both turned to me, “Nothing we can think of,” they both said in unison.
“How old is the boy and can he ride a horse,” Talon asked, holding up a picture of their grandson.
Maggie smiled, “Billy has been riding since he was about five years old, he is eight now and can manage most of the horses we have at a canter.” Talon nodded his head in satisfaction.
“I do have one more thing that we need to talk about,” Talon explained, “Beth was captured and held by the Iranian’s for a couple of hours. She basically just walked up to them, and they grabbed her, which resulted in getting one of our young guys killed. Which she doesn’t or hasn’t realized his death was totally her fault when she disobeyed my order not to approach any group before we checked them out. She also saw the aftermath of what happened to the ferry owners, and they handled her pretty roughly. Plus, I probably didn’t help her mental state with my negotiating tactics, as I shot two guys, separate incidents, which tried to use her as a shield while they attempted to talk to us. As in, I blew their damn heads off as they tried to hide behind her. Then she was present when the Iranians attempted to trick us there at the last of it, which didn’t work out for them as we had to light them all up. So needless to say, she has had her fair share of traumatic events over the last 48 hours. If your unit has anyone experienced with personnel recovery or the reintegration debriefing procedures, it might be useful to have them run her through the process. She is having a rough time processing all of it, and without some help, she is going to have problems with long-term PTSD. If it gets worse, she is not going to make it another week under these conditions before she does something to herself or the group that will be at the worst possible moment if I can read her with any accuracy.”
Jake rubbed his chin thinking before saying, “I don’t know if we currently have anyone on board that could help her, I mean, we have a program set up, but no one currently has any real-world experience. But with said, we might be able to get old Doc Hanson to come over to the armory and talk to her. He retired about three years ago and ran our personnel recovery program for years before that. He actually has several degrees in psychology, but you know as well as I do that if she isn’t willing to talk about the events and how she is feeling about the whole experience, then it is just going to be a waste of time.”
Talon nodded his agreement, “I know, but she is showing all the bad signs, and none of the recovery signs that I’ve seen so far and I do know she has refused to talk to Mat or Ben about anything that has happened other than to blame me for her having to shoot that guy back at the bridge. That seems to be a critical incident that she is r
eally having problems with.” Talon stopped when Jeff got a confused look.
Talon sighed, “Ok, there is a lot more that has happened over the last three days, beginning with me having to shoot a couple thugs just a few hours after we picked Beth up. Then the next day we had a big run-in with a group of guys that just would not take no for an answer. So yes, she has experienced more in the last three or four days than she ever has, and she is in some real need of professional help to handle it, or she is going to go off the deep end pretty soon.”
Maggie spoke up, “We will do everything we can to help the young lady. I’ll try and get some alone time with her tonight and see if she will open up to me. I’ve had some experience dealing with trauma patients over the years, and sometimes these things just need a woman’s touch.”
This made Talon smile, “Last question, is Diane going to shoot me for messing up her saddle?”
Jake laughed out loud, but Maggie was not amused, “She might,” said Maggie.