“What are you doing? You know you are just going to hurt yourself. Right?”
“I swear I will go get a step ladder from the garage, climb it and kick you in your ass! Now pay attention to me Lieutenant Chun!” She stomped her foot like a petulant eight-year-old girl not getting her way.
He watched her for a moment in silence, and then sighed and relaxed his posture, tilting his head and giving her his full attention. “Yes ma’am, you have my full attention. What can I do to assist you?”
Her face was blotchy red, her eyes focused, and her hair in a messy ponytail. “Your gorilla of a Master Chief over there,” she jerked her thumb in the direction of Butch, who had stopped what he was doing and giving the unfolding scene his full attention. A smirk spread on his lips. “Informed me that you and your men are pulling out tomorrow and leaving us!”
“Yes ma’am, that is correct. I told you when we first met, that we would only be staying a little while to assist you and your people.” He affected his ‘I’m in charge’ voice.
She stuck her pointed finger up toward Chun’s face and narrowed her eyes at him. “Don’t try using your officer voice with me, you dumb ass, lead filled, limp dicked, puss filled, useless Swabby! I was married to a Marine, remember that!”
Chun stared down at her, trying hard not to burst out laughing. He put his hands out in front of him, palms toward her. “Whoa, Tina,” he reached into a pocket and removed a white hanky, waving it in front of him. “I surrender, just don’t punch me in the nuts.”
Tina froze and stared at Chun, before bursting out laughing. “The thought to punch you in the nuts honestly crossed my mind. But I figured being a Seal you would’ve gutted me. So, I aired on caution’s side,” her body relaxed visibly as she calmed down. “Chun, I appreciate everything you and your men are doing for us. But I can’t do this without you guys.”
Chun reached out and took her shoulders gently into his hands and looked deep into her eyes. “Tina, you are a leader,” he turned her around so she could see the women and kids. “You are their leader. You make a decision and they follow it, you protect your people even if you have to sacrifice yourself. We have done what we can do to prepare and train you for eventualities. You must now take the reins and lead them. We will send others to help, when we come across other soldiers, do you remember the code phrase?”
“Yeah, I remember it. Kind of hard not to. My husband, God rest his soul, was fond of saying it at least five times a day.”
“That’s a Marine for you. Too many words and you lose them, small attention spans and all,” Chun joked.
“You will at least let the women and children make our heroes a dinner tonight.”
Chun stood quiet, ignoring the woman, looking out to the distance. He let go of a breath he had been holding and looked and nodded, as if coming to a difficult decision. “Only if you let us provide the main course.”
“You have something in mind?”
Chun ignored her while activating his radio. “Lupo, Six. Over.”
“Go for Lupo, Six. Over.”
“Remember the discussion we had last night? Over.”
“You mean the cowboy talk we had? Over.” Lupo came back.
“Roger that, round them up and drive them this way. Over.” Chun listened to Lupo’s response and slid his attention directly onto Tina. “How does steaks, and fresh milk grab you?”
Tina gave him a bemused smile. “And where is it you are going to come up with steaks from, not to mention fresh milk.”
“That is an ancient Chinese secret,” he stated then turned and walked toward the shooting range.
Tina stood there watching the big Asian man walk away. She shook her head and hurried into the house to put together cooking teams and working through their supplies. She had a large dinner to create for them all.
A horn beeped in the distance, alerting a snoozing Butch from his slumber. He grabbed his rifle laying across his legs, jumped up from his comfortable place and ran for where he thought he had heard the sound coming from. His earpiece to his radio bounced on his shoulder, where he had placed it when he had unplugged from life to nap. He leaped over a covered position he had dug the day before and slid to the front gate rifle up, shouldered, and seeking targets and dangers. He fought to get his heart beat to relax, and bring his breathing back to norm. He looked to his left and right and wondered where the rest of the troops were. He was going to rip them new assholes if they all survived this.
A motored dirt bike appeared in the distance followed by a small cloud of dust. Then his brain had to fight with his ears over the sound they had heard. He heard what he thought was someone yelling ‘yip yip’, that would be answered with what he swore was mooing. “What the fuck is going on here?” he muttered to himself.
Just then a voice answered next to him. “If you had put your earpiece back in you would know Master Chief.”
Butch looked down to his shoulder and saw the black bud lying there. He snorted, grabbed the damned thing and screwed it back into place, deep in his ear canal. Once it was seated, he sneaked his right hand to his radio and switched it back on. He felt ill prepared and knew he was about to get a ribbing he would not live down for a while. Hootie climbed the gate next to him and perched on it. Smiling broadly at Butch.
Butch growled something low in his chest, and then reached out lightning fast, and with both hands shoved Hottie off the fence and to the ground on the other side. He landed on his back and shoulders and a rush of air evacuated his lungs as fast as it could. Leaving Hootie gasping to refill them.
A voice called out from behind them. “Hootie, now is not the time to screw around. Get your ass up off the ground, square yourself away and go open the vehicle gate,” Chun appeared standing next to Butch a broad smile pasted on his face.
Hootie tried to sputter a response, thought better of it and instead got to his knees and drew in a big pull of air. He shook his head slightly and then popped to his feet and delivered a salute. “Aye, Aye, Lt!” He took off at a jog to see to his orders.
“I take it he irritated you, and that was a lesson?”
“Like always Lt. Only thing that boy understands is an ass kicking. But he is reliable in a fight, and I trust his skills. One suggestion though, Sir?”
“Speak your mind, Master Chief.”
“I suggest we either sew, staple, or tape his mouth shut.”
“I hear you, Chief, and will take it under advisement. In the meantime, let me bring you up to speed on what is going on here.” They spoke for twenty minutes going over the plan for the meal tonight and their travel plans for the next day.
That night the women, children, and men sat down to a hearty meal. The children had presented the men with arts and crafts they had made to thank them for rescuing them. The women came around and gave kisses and hugs and thanked the men for protecting them and saving their children. The men smiled through it all and accepted the kisses and offered gifts. The night went on and the men went through the last-minute suggestions and defense positions for the women.
Chun ordered Dio and Hootie to take the first three-hour guard duty for the night. Butch and himself would relieve them for the rest of the night. The men had taken to sleeping in a small building on the school grounds, but within sight and easy access to the main building. Chun was used to operating at a high level on minimum rest, and knew most of his men could operate better than him on even less. But every chance he could, he would order them to go down and rest. Chun had read all the research on how sleep depravity could slow down reflexes and impair cognitive brain functions. His men operated at such a high level and at times right on the razor edge, and could do so for the duration if called upon. But even being the excellent specimens they were, they had limits. Problem with Seals is they were taught to ignore limits and to continue until they succeeded or died.
Chun had dropped off the second his eyes closed, and dreamt of the last time he had seen his adoptive father. Chun had come home from hi
s first mission as a teamleader. He was tired and worried over the mission parameters and whether he had done everything right. His father had embraced him and handed him a beer as he walked through his front door. That whole day and night afterward, they sat out back in front of a raging fire and had what his dad called a ‘No Shitter’. During this time, no lies or detail was allowed to be left out. Chun had wrestled with that, OPSEC or ‘Operational Security’ and all. The Navy had a saying. ‘Loose lips sink ships’ and Chun took that to heart, since it was his and his men’s lives on the line. His father had calmed his fears when he reminded him that his own security clearance outstripped his easily. Pops was no longer in uniform, but he now worked for the U.S. intelligence community, and was cleared for just about anything. Heck, he had more information than his son did when he went out on missions. That night, Chun had let all his fears flow free, and questioned his actions and leadership abilities.
His pops sat there, expressionless, handing more and more beer to Chun and polishing off a fair number himself. Chun had spoken about his fear that one of his brothers could die trying to fulfill his orders and that would be on Chun, he wasn’t sure he could do it. His pops put his hand up to stop him, looked up to the sky and smiled at the blanket of stars overhead.
“Son, those are normal fears. But I need you to reflect on the wisdom I am about to throw down on you,” He drained the rest of his beer and stood up ramrod straight. He looked down at the young Seal and bored into him with his best scowl. “Those men, that you are afraid to order to their deaths, are warriors. They joined the Seals knowing that someday their number would come up and they would not be coming home, same as you did boy. You and your men are the tip of the spear, your lives were forfeited the minute you put that uniform on. As a leader, you need to be prepared to spend all your men’s lives to fulfill your mission. You would give your life for them and they would give theirs for yours.” He finished his little speech and pulled his chair closer to his sons, sat on the edge and looked over to him. “I have something for you, but it cannot leave this little enclave we have here,” he whispered conspiratorially.
“You know what you tell me stops with me, Pops.”
His dad scanned his yard and looked deeper into the shadows before speaking again. “A report came across my desk the other day, that disturbed the hell out of me. You know of that ass hat company Ridder?”
“Yeah ran across them in Iraq and Afghanistan a couple of times. Had to slap them down. They are a bunch of assholes.”
“You got the asshole part right. Okay, so a couple of my inside sources independently of each other sent me reports. They talked about chatter overheard about a group called the Culling Initiative. They had never heard of this group before, but it would seem they have infused Ridder with a ton of funds, which they have put to use buying large amounts of weapons, ammo, and gobbling up mercenary types from across the globe. Their fighting force is huge, and scattered around the world. Something big is about to happen, and I have a feeling it is not going to be a good thing. Keep your eyes open out there, boy, and let me know if you or any of your men are approached by Ridder or this Culling Initiative Group. Also, be ready for anything, you and your men may be called into action against these fuckers,” he dropped the subject quickly and took out a bottle of Maker’s Mark bourbon from his ever-full cooler. He grabbed two glasses and poured four fingers worth into each. He handed one over and they clinked glasses and drained their contents. That was it for the night, they retired to the house and the next morning Chun was called out for another mission.
Chun felt someone touch his arm and he snapped his eyes open, coming out of the dream fast. He stared into Butch’s eyes for a moment, confused, until it all came rushing back to him. “Time for guard duty, Lt.”
Chun stretched his neck and back and stood. He collected his gear and weapons and followed the big Master Chief out into the cool air. They found Dio and Hootie near the front gate and relieved them. Butch opted to walk the perimeter while Chun took the gate position. As Chun sat there peering through his precious but battery draining night vision glasses, he scanned the horizon and nearby fields. He froze when he heard steps coming towards him slowly but on a direct course. He swiveled his head and watched as Tina approached his position, wrapped up in a long cardigan sweater she held tightly closed over her chest, as the wind tried to yank it open. She stopped at the edge of the small divot in the ground she knew Chun was lying in, but she couldn’t see the man.
“Chun, you there?” silence was her only answer.
A moment passed as she stood there, considering heading back inside, when a quiet voice scared her, causing her to jump. “Stop whispering, those S sounds have a habit of traveling far. Instead speak quietly, like I am. Now would you like to join me in my little hole?” He had been standing mere inches from her and she hadn’t had a clue until he had spoken.
He took her elbow and guided her down into the divot and helped her into a sitting position. He then sat down with his back to the main building and his eyes out to the distant fields. “What’s going on, Tina?”
She had to struggle to see the man’s silhouette. She licked her lips unsure how the man could see her. “I wanted to see you before you left. I realized that you and your men have saved us, and I owe my life to you and your men, but I know nothing about you.”
Chun sat in silence, digesting her words while keeping his eyes moving over the horizon. He stopped when he felt her reach out and take his hand. He was tempted to yank it away, but felt the courage it took from her. “Not much to tell, Tina. What would you like to know?”
She gripped his hand tighter and traced the outline of his gloved fingers with her free hand. She sighed audibly. “Who are you, Chun? Where are you from?” she hesitated for a moment trying to find the courage to speak the next part. “Is there a Mrs. Chun, or girlfriend?” she said meekly.
There it is, Chun thought. He had felt the electricity between the two of them since he had met her. But he didn’t have time in his life for love at this moment. Maybe, in a different time and different place. “Not much to tell. I was born in China, my father and mother died trying to get us out of the country and I was adopted by a man from England. He was in the military and did pretty much the same thing I do now. Pops brought me up in this country, Virginia to be exact. I joined the Military right out of high school and the Seals right out of boot camp. After being in the teams for a couple of years, I took a crapload of college courses and then was appointed to Officers Candidate School. Upon completing, I was promoted to an officer rank and then busted my ass to get into this special group and then given my own command. Been with these guys since then.” He was quiet for a moment as he watched something move off in a distant field. He watched it until he finally identified it as a big dog. “As for a wife or girlfriend, I have neither, there is a saying in the Navy. ‘If they wanted you to have a wife, one would’ve been issued to you’. I guess Butch is as close to a wife as I have ever had. He nags on me like one. “
A voice interrupted in the dark close by. “See the Navy did issue a wife, me. The grounds are secure, Lt.” Butch’s voice cut through the tension between Chun and Tina. Chun hadn’t even flinched when he heard him. He had heard his stealthy approach and watched him through his night vision glasses.
“Good to hear, Master Chief. Far field to our northwest had movement. I think it’s a big dog. No other movement,” Chun reported back.
“Roger that, Lt. Why don’t I go check on the vehicles and do another circuit, give you and Miss Tina some alone time,” he ribbed Chun.
“Sounds like a plan, Master Chief. Oh, and consider yourself on watch tomorrow night too,” he joked back.
“Aye, aye, Lt,” he stalked off with a smile playing on his lips.
Chun squeezed Tina’s hand reassuring her everything was okay. “That is pretty much all there is about me ma’am.”
“Nice to know a little bit more about you,” she slid her free hand up h
is arm and was leaning in closer to him.
Chun had a moment where he froze, not knowing what to do. By the time he was coming up with a plan, Tina’s lips had found his. She eased her free hand behind his neck as she pressed her lips harder against his. He relaxed and enjoyed the moment, kissing her back. When they broke free, he pulled back away from her. “I can’t do this right now,” he let out.
She pulled back, covering her mouth with her hands, taken back by his words. He studied the look on her face as she tried to decipher his words. “No, not because of what you are thinking. I am on duty, this is not allowed, it may jeopardize my men’s lives and all I guard,” he reached out and took her hands and pulled her in close. “We are leaving tomorrow, but I will return,” he kissed her quickly on the lips again and then bolted down his professional demeanor.
She was taken back by his words. Did he just say he was coming back for me? She thought. The idea of a future with this man that she found herself fawning over was more than she could hope for. She put her hand to his chest and then gained her feet under her and walked away back to the building. She stopped and said just loud enough for him to hear. “I am holding you to that promise, swabby,” she continued walking away. He watched her swaying backside much longer than he should have. But he was mesmerized by this woman’s strength and dedication.
As Chun turned his attention back to his duty, he found himself face to face with a grinning Butch. “Looks like you are replacing me, huh? What am I not good enough anymore?” he said dead panned.
Chun rolled his eyes and pushed up his glasses onto his forehead. He pinched the bridge of his nose and cracked his neck. “Sorry Master Chief, you have let yourself go. I need a woman who understands my needs and sorry to say but her breasts are nicer than yours,” Butch bust out laughing, covering his mouth, trying to keep the sound down to a minimum.
Zombie Theorem (Book 4): Aces Mortis Page 7