“Some of us will die protecting Estes Park in the coming days, and I may be one of them. If I fall, I will die proudly to protect the people and the town I love.”
***
Twelve hours after taking the first of the antibiotics, Raven was finally starting to feel better. His back still hurt, but his fever had broken and he didn’t look like a ghost anymore. But even better, he had plenty of energy to interrogate the one surviving member of the Sons of Liberty raiding party.
“You up for this?” Colton asked.
Raven answered by grabbing the door handle and walking inside. Colton followed and closed the door behind them. They were inside the utility room in the Estes Park Medical Center where they had Miles, a member of the Sons of Liberty, handcuffed to a metal pipe. They had found him hiding in a ditch a few hours earlier with a broken leg.
“I’m going to make this really easy,” Colton said. “You’re going to tell us where General Fenix is hiding, and I will allow our remaining doctor to set your leg.”
“If you don’t tell us where Fenix is, then things are going to be…interesting.” Raven used his boot to push down on the young man’s left leg, where the bone had split through the skin.
Miles let out a scream as Raven applied pressure. He eased off a moment later, and bent down next to the soldier. His shaved head glistened with sweat that streamed down his pale forehead and youthful features.
“How old are you?” Raven asked.
Miles whimpered. “I just turned seventeen.”
Raven looked up at Colton, who shook his head. Miles was just a kid. But he was still the enemy.
“I’m sorry, I really am. I only shot at people that were armed. I promise. I could have killed the girl we took on the road, but I didn’t.”
Raven leaned down. “What girl?”
“Sarah, I think.” Miles adjusted his cuffed hands so he could look at Raven. “Please, please don’t kill me.”
They already knew Jennie, Sarah’s caretaker, had been killed on the road, but learning Fenix had taken the girl was a shock. When Dale Jackson found out, he would be furious.
“Tell us where Fenix is,” Colton said.
Raven knew the chief already had his mind made up about the fate of the young man in front of them. It didn’t matter how old Miles was. He was a Nazi, and he had made his choice. Any conflict Raven felt about his age ended when he remembered the three men who had beaten, and were preparing to rape, his sister in front of Allie the night before.
“Tell us,” Raven said. He stood and prepared to push his boot against the wound again.
Miles stared up at Raven. “He’ll kill me if I tell you.”
“We will kill you if you don’t,” Colton replied.
Wincing, Miles straightened his back against the wall.
“He’s got an FOB not far from here. He’s preparing to use it when Thompson attacks Estes Park.”
Miles’s eyes flitted toward Raven. “He will come back, I promise you that. He wants you.”
Raven swallowed hard. Once again, his actions had put his family at risk. He knew then that he couldn’t wait for an attack. He had to go to Fenix before his men could attack.
Colton pulled out a folded-up map and placed it on the floor in front of Miles.
“Show us where,” Colton said.
“Promise you’ll let me live?” Miles asked.
Colton unlocked the handcuffs so Miles could point out the location. He winced in pain and rubbed at his wrists as he studied the map.
“You help us, and we will help you,” Colton said. He drew his Colt .45 and pointed it at Miles and added, “You lie to us, you die.”
Miles swallowed. “This is where Fenix is,” he said, pointing.
Raven looked down to the spot. “Lily Lake? That’s only a couple miles south of town.”
“How many soldiers are up there?” Colton asked.
Miles squinted in pain. “Only about thirty. But he did bring the big guns. M240s and some mortars we picked off a Chinese convoy.”
“Jesus,” Colton said.
Raven stood and scratched at the stubble on his face as he thought of the implications. Thompson and Fenix were preparing to launch a full-scale attack on Estes Park, and they were going to do it from two different directions.
Miles slowly wagged his head. He sighed when Colton lowered his gun and motioned for Raven to meet him back at the door. When they got there, Colton aimed his pistol at Miles.
“No!” the teenager shouted.
The shot hit him in the center of the forehead, slamming his head back and painting the ceiling with blood and brains. Colton holstered his gun like nothing had happened, and stepped outside with Raven.
“We have to get this message to Secretary Montgomery,” Colton said.
Raven closed the door so he didn’t have to see the dead boy’s destroyed head.
“There might not be time for that,” he said. “We have to stop Fenix on our own.”
“No, we need to stay here and man our defenses.”
Raven shook his head. “Chief, we do that and we die. He’s got fucking mortars. I’m going out there to stop him.”
“You’re going to fight thirty men?”
“I know someone that will help. You heard Miles—they have Sarah. Dale will get her back.”
“I really need you both here,” Colton said, frowning. He gave Raven a side glance. “You’re right, but you two aren’t going alone.”
Raven shook his head. “Let us go. You need everybody on the barriers. I’ll take one of the working radios and report back. It’s close enough you can deploy some militia if needed.”
Colton thought on it, and then nodded. “I’ll keep trying to reach Secretary Montgomery with this new intel. In the meantime, you two go see if Miles was telling the truth. I’ll hold the fort down here.”
Raven reached out with his fist, and Colton bumped it back.
“Keep my family safe, Chief.”
“Keep mine safe, too,” Colton replied.
— 19 —
The front door to the Estes Park Medical Center opened, and a young woman with freckles and crystal blue eyes stepped inside the lobby, taking off her scarf and hat.
“Who’s in charge here?” she asked.
Sandra waved a hand. “You’re Rea?”
“Yup.”
She directed the young med student toward the doors to the hospital. She would join the other five already working inside.
“Doctor Duffy will get you started. I’ll be right there to help,” Sandra said.
Rea nodded, swallowed, and headed for the doors. Sandra couldn’t help but wonder if this was the first time the student had actually seen a patient. But right now, they needed all the help they could get.
Sandra turned back to her family. Raven’s dark skin had regained some color, and he was walking unaided, but he still looked like death warmed over. Allie stood to his right, stroking Creek’s coat. She hadn’t said much at all since the attack, and it broke Sandra’s heart to see her daughter once again terrified. She brushed a strand of brown hair from her bruised face with a shaking hand.
“I know you have to fight, Sam, but you need to rest at least another day,” Sandra said.
“I’m almost back to normal,” Raven said, revealing his snow-white teeth in a half grin.
“Bullshit. Those antibiotics may have kicked in, but you’re weak. You need—”
“So give me something to make me strong,” he said. “You guys got new meds last night from the raid on Fort Collins, right? Let’s put ’em to good use. Don’t you got some stimulants or something I can have?”
Sandra sucked in a deep breath and looked out over the families sitting in the lobby. They were clustered in the small room like animals, the scent of sweat filling the stuffy space. Many of them were sobbing and clutching one another as they waited for word on their loved ones.
“I have to get back in there, Sam,” she said.
“I know
, and I have to get out there to make sure more people don’t end up here.”
Sandra let out her breath in a sigh. She was doing everything possible to hold it together, but after the attack, she was a nervous wreck. They had several volunteers working in the operating area, including Doctor Meyers, who had helped save Creek at Storm Mountain, and Doctor Martha Kohler, who was nearly fully recovered from her own wounds. But even with Rea and the other med students that had shown up, it wasn’t enough. It would never be enough.
She looked back to her brother, and then Allie and Creek. Her heart longed to stay with them, but she knew her duty was to help here with the injured and dying. She also knew Allie would be safer at the designated shelter—and that Raven had to go out there to fight.
“Sandra, you with me?” he asked.
She nodded. “I’m sorry. I was just thinking.”
“We’re alive, and that’s all that matters. But in order to make sure we stay alive, I need to fight. I think you know that.”
“I don’t want you to fight anymore,” Allie said, speaking for the first time in hours.
Creek let out a whine.
“Uncle Raven has to fight,” Sandra said, crouching in front of Allie. “And you have to go to the shelter with Teddy and the other kids.”
“No, Mom, I want to stay with you.”
Sandra wiped a fleck of dried blood off Allie’s face that the tears hadn’t washed away.
“I will join you when I can, sweetie. But for now, you have to go.”
Allie looked up at Raven. “You’re taking me to the shelter?”
“Yes, Agaliga.”
Sandra almost smiled at the Cherokee word for “sunshine.” Even now, when all seemed lost, her brother’s love for Allie warmed her.
“I love you, Sam. Please, please be careful out there,” she whispered.
“I love you too, sis.” He put his hand on Allie’s head, ruffling her hair. Allie giggled at that.
A flash of red and the clank of an ancient metal truck came from outside. Jake’s 1952 Chevy pickup pulled up in front of the doors with Lindsey behind the wheel. She had several families in the back that were heading to the shelter.
“See, there’s Teddy and his parents,” Sandra said, pointing. A dog’s head poked up in the pickup bed.
Allie smiled. “Hey, that’s Teddy’s dog!”
“Yup, and that truck’s our ride, kiddo,” Raven said.
Sandra gave him another hug, holding him an extra few seconds and praying this wasn’t the last time they would embrace. When they let go, she told him to wait for a minute. She hurried back into the hospital, the sounds of moaning patients and the scent of bleach overwhelming her. She forced her way past the overflowing beds. Some of the patients reached out for help.
“I’ll be right back,” she said. “I promise.”
She raided the pill cabinet, found the stimulants she was looking for, and then raced back out to the lobby. She handed the bottle to Raven.
“If you get drowsy, take these. They will help with the pain and help keep you alert.”
“Thanks,” Raven said. He turned to Allie. “Time to go, kiddo.”
“I love you, Mom,” Allie said.
“I love you too, baby,” Sandra said. Normally, she would have shed tears as she left her family. But today she didn’t have any tears left to shed.
***
The sun was high in the sky by the time Charlize made her way to the tarmac. A V-22 Osprey was waiting in the shimmering heat. Sergeant Fugate and his team were finishing their final gear checks and loading crates into the back of the tiltrotor military aircraft.
She counted ten of the Green Berets. Thoreau and Sammie, the two men who had helped hold the stairwell in New York, had both been killed during the North Korean terror attack.
“This better be worth the trip across the country,” Colonel Raymond said as they took seats in the Osprey. Albert sat next to Charlize and strapped in.
“Colton is a good man,” she replied. “My brother trusted him, so I trust him.”
“I’m not doubting that, ma’am. I’m just concerned about this standoff he’s reporting with the Sheriff of Fort Collins. We can’t get caught in conflicts between communities like this.” There was anger in his voice, the first time Charlize had heard him ever speak with anything but respect.
“I understand that, Colonel, but if what he says is true—if this Sheriff Thompson has teamed up with Fenix—then I’m inclined to step in.”
Raymond still wasn’t backing down. “But do you have to go there personally? This could end up being a disaster if we don’t catch Fenix.”
“We will catch him this time.”
“I’m certainly going to do everything to ensure that happens, ma’am. I’ve already got several military assets on their way.”
“What assets?” she asked.
“A Black Hawk out of Denver, plus a Marine fire-team that’s been guarding a Chinese crew,” he replied. “Chinese and American air support is also standing by.”
“Good, but I don’t want a single weapon fired until we’re positive it’s Fenix.”
“Understood.”
“We got your back, Secretary Montgomery,” Fugate said from his seat.
“I know you do, Sergeant. Thank you.”
The ring of her satellite phone sounded, and she fished it from her pack as the lift gate of the Osprey began to close.
“This is Charlize Montgomery,” she said.
“Secretary Montgomery, this is Captain Harris. How are you?”
“I’m good. How are things in Charlotte?”
“Good, ma’am. We’re setting up shop at the SC again, and then I’m moving out with the convoy to the next location. I wanted to let you know that things have improved greatly since you were here last, thanks to our Chinese counterparts.”
“Excellent news, Captain.”
“There is some bad news, though.”
Her heart fluttered. The overhead and bulkheads hummed as the pilots flipped on the engines of the Osprey.
“I’m getting word of several white supremacy groups popping up on the east coast, attacking the Chinese and American convoys. They are killing workers, too. Apparently they are being told to rise up by a man they call The General.”
Charlize cursed under her breath. If that was true, then Fenix was extending his reach beyond Colorado. She wasn’t sure how that was possible, but she couldn’t let his racist tendrils spread through the platform he was using to convey his message of hate.
“Don’t worry about that, Captain Harris. You just keep doing your job, and I’ll take care of this General,” she said.
“Roger that, ma’am. I’ll talk to you soon.”
The Osprey pilots took off vertically from the small tarmac, and pulled the bird into the air as she hung up the phone. She patted Albert on his forearm and then looked over at Colonel Raymond.
“Hope you’re ready for this, because I’m not coming home without Fenix this time,” she said.
***
Colton had done everything he could to prepare for battle, including reaching out to the Secretary of Defense. But while her people had promised to check out the location Miles had given, she hadn’t agreed to send any support to Estes Park to fight Sheriff Thompson. He guessed the federal government didn’t want to get involved in skirmishes like this.
He took a slug of water and tried to focus through the exhaustion. He hadn’t been this tired since the time he and Jake had spent thirty-six hours on patrol in Afghanistan—the same night Colton shot and killed his first Taliban soldier.
I wish you were here with me, buddy, Colton thought. He stood on the cliffs above Highway 34 with Lindsey. Like Jake would have done, she was standing by his side, ready to fight anyone that would threaten Estes Park or the United States of America.
The war in Afghanistan no longer seemed much different than the one they were fighting now. In both cases, innocent people were going to die at the hands of
evil men, and good people would die defending them. All Colton could do was keep fighting and hoping the bloodshed would end soon. He centered his binoculars on the road to watch the refugees fleeing the canyon below.
“Why haven’t they attacked yet?” Lindsey asked.
“Waiting for night is my guess.”
The mountains were preparing to swallow the sun, and when the light was gone, Colton had a feeling Thompson would make his move. It was a fatal error on the Sheriff’s part, giving Colton time to prepare. Everyone living along the highway had been evacuated over the course of the day, and with night falling, Colton was preparing for the first part of the battle for his city.
“That’s the last of them,” Lindsey said.
Colton moved his scopes to the south, where a caravan of armed civilians conscripted into soldiers were heading down Highway 36 to man the new barriers at the intersection with Mall Road. That’s where he would be going next.
He pivoted to look over the town. His family and most of the other civilians were holed up at the high school, where Detective Ryburn had organized over one hundred fighters to protect the building at all costs. To the south, another two hundred people were set up along various places along Highway 7.
“We’ve done all we can,” Lindsey said.
“If Miles was telling the truth, it won’t matter,” Colton replied. He lowered the binoculars to look at the captain. “Do you know what mortar fire and an M240 will do to our defenses? What it does to a human body?”
“John Palmer,” Lindsey said quietly.
Colton dipped his head. “Let’s hope Raven and Dale find Fenix before they can do any damage.”
Lindsey looked to the south, where Raven and Dale were heading out on horseback. She didn’t say a word, but Colton could tell she was worried. Over the past two months, she and Raven had become close—close enough that Colton wondered if they might have developed into something more than friends under different circumstances.
“Raven can look out for himself,” Colton said.
“Yeah, but he’s still not one hundred percent better. He was just on his death bed a few days ago.”
“He’s been near death before.”
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