by Eric Vall
“Does Tara know about this?” Ben asked as he walked over to the fire. It was still dark out, and his metal leg reflected the firelight as he walked.
“I won’t tell if you don’t,” I chuckled.
“As long as I get some coffee out of it.” He smiled and sat down.
“Deal,” I told him, and I set the pot of water on the fire.
I wasn’t going to make breakfast for everyone, instead I pulled out some of Betty’s homemade granola bars for us to eat. Once everyone was up, I wanted to head back to the ship as soon as possible.
“Feels good to be back in the field, doesn’t it,” Ben said as we sat and waited for the water to boil.
“Feels like I never left,” I chuckled.
“Yeah.” Ben nodded. “Once a military man, always a military man.”
“Most of the time, at least,” I said with a smile.
“Yeah, that hair of yours isn’t exactly regulation,” Ben laughed.
My hair wasn’t long, but it definitely wasn’t military short, and my beard certainly wouldn’t have been acceptable.
“Not all of us like a buzz cut,” I joked with a point at Ben’s immaculate hair.
“You jealous?” he teased.
“Absolutely,” I said with a sarcastic smile.
Once the water was boiling, I poured in the coffee grounds, and we watched as they bubbled up to the surface and all around the pot. The water quickly turned a deep brown color, and the aroma of fresh coffee filled the air.
“Mmm, is that coffee I smell?” Paige asked as she stepped out of the tent.
“It sure is,” I said with a smile.
“Did you make it?” Tara asked as she stepped out behind Paige.
“Ben did,” I lied.
“I guess I’ll accept that,” the platinum-blonde said. “His wasn’t terrible last time.”
“I hope it won’t be terrible this time, either,” Ben said, and he shot me a discreet smile.
The girls all made their way to the fire and took their seats so they could warm their hands and feet. After the coffee was finished, I poured us all cups and passed them around.
“Mmm, it smells so good,” Bailey said as she breathed in the steam from her cup.
“I’m glad you think so,” Ben chuckled. “I like to think I did a good job.”
I had to bite my cheek to stifle a laugh. The pilot was running with this bit, and he was going to accept either the blame or the praise, regardless of the fact that he’d actually done nothing.
“Mmm, it is good,” Tara said after she took a small swig of the dark liquid. “Tastes like Rolly’s.”
“I miss him,” Bailey said with a small smile.
“Me, too,” Paige agreed. “Him and Betty.”
“I wonder how they’re doing on campus,” Anna said.
“They have hot water and fresh strawberries,” Tara said dryly. “I’m sure they’re doing fine.”
“You sound a little bitter that we left our cushy life to come fight,” Paige laughed.
“Ehhh, maybe sometimes,” Tara said with a smile. “But only for a minute when I really want a nice, hot shower. I’m proud of what we’re doing here, though, and I’m happy to be part of it.”
“The ship should have hot water,” I said. “We’ll grab some showers soon.”
“I hadn’t thought about that.” The platinum-blonde smiled.
“I could definitely use a shower.” Anna nodded.
The girls all agreed and sipped their drinks. It was a quiet morning, and once they finished their coffee, we all got ready to go for the day.
Hammer, Minji, and the rest of the civilians and Navy men met us by the jeeps, and we hopped in and headed over to the ship.
While we drove, I focused on the bright sky ahead of us. The sun had just risen above the horizon, and the world was still cast in a slightly blue color.
I rolled down my window just a bit and breathed in the cool air. The road to the beach was surrounded by trees and driveways that led to nice homes in the area, and I smiled and put on my aviators as the sun got even brighter in the sky.
After a few minutes of unusually quiet driving, I felt like something was wrong. I couldn’t put my finger on it for a second, but then I realized it wasn’t just a feeling, it was a sound.
“Shit,” I breathed, and I yanked the jeep off the road so it was hidden by trees.
Hammer slammed on his breaks behind me and did the same thing, and I shut my engine off so I could listen.
“What’s going on?” Anna whispered.
“Hear that?” I asked.
“Is that…” Paige’s voice trailed off as a MiG flew overhead.
I knew I’d recognized that sound.
Chapter 6
The plane flew directly overhead so we could see its silver underbelly. The jet was loud as hell as it flew past us, but I didn’t think we’d been spotted.
I let out the breath I hadn’t realized I’d been holding, then I took a deep breath to steady myself.
“That was one of the NK planes, wasn’t it?” Paige asked, and her wide brown eyes stared into the distance after the plane.
“That was a MiG.” I nodded.
“The same kind we saw at Rolly and Betty’s wedding,” Bailey said, and she bit her lip.
“That’s right,” I agreed.
“That means the Boston troops have to be close, right?” Tara asked.
“I thought they wouldn’t be in the area for at least a couple more days,” Paige whispered almost to herself.
“Do you think they saw us?” Anna asked.
“No.” I shook my head. “They probably would have shot at us right then if they had.”
“We’re going to have to figure out a way to take them out,” the redhead said.
“The destroyer should be equipped with anti aircraft missiles,” I said. “We can use those, but that’s why our ambush point needs to be close to the water.”
“Right.” Anna nodded. “Geez, seeing it fly right overhead was a reality check.”
“You can say that again,” Tara muttered and shook her head.
“If that thing is out here, then how close are the Boston troops?” Bailey asked.
“I don’t know for sure,” I said. “But within seven-hundred-and-fifty miles at least.”
“That doesn’t seem very far.” Paige bit her lip.
“It’s not,” I agreed.
“They could have sent the MiG out to scout,” Anna pointed out. “That doesn’t mean the troops are that close.”
“That’s true, too.” I nodded.
“Can’t Ben take them out with the plane we have?” Tara asked.
“No way.” I shook my head. “The MiGs would destroy that antique.”
“I’m sure they have plasma weapons hooked up to them, too,” Anna said, and she pursed her lips.
“For sure,” Paige agreed. “They have them on everything else.”
“What are we going to do?” Anna asked. “What’s our plan for dealing with those things?”
“Like I said, the ship should have anti aircraft missiles,” I repeated. “That’s our best bet.”
“I still don’t like it,” the redhead said.
“Me, neither,” I agreed.
Having air superiority could be the difference between winning and losing this battle, and I most certainly didn’t want to lose. Those MiGs were powerful as hell, though, and I knew we needed a backup plan for them.
We had the howitzer, but it wasn’t intended to be used against aircraft. What we needed was a specialized anti-aircraft gun so our eggs aren’t all in one basket with the missiles on the destroyer.
“I need to think about this some more,” I said. “Let me go talk to Hammer for a second, though, then we’ll get to the ship.”
“I bet he’s freaking out, too,” Paige said.
“That was pretty intense for the drive over here,” Anna agreed.
I hopped out of my jeep and walked back to where Ha
mmer and his crew sat in theirs.
“Hey,” I said as I approached his already rolled down window.
“What the hell are they doing in this area?” he asked, and he looked up in the direction the MiG had gone off.
“Their troops were over here,” I reminded him. “If they wanted to check on their buddies in the area, that’d be the way to do it.”
“You’re right,” he sighed. “But I don’t like it.”
“I don’t, either,” I said. “But there’s nothing we can do about it right this minute. It’s long gone by now. Let’s head to the ship, and we’ll go from there.”
“Right,” he agreed. “We’ll follow you.”
I hit the hood of his jeep a couple of times, then I walked back to mine, climbed in the driver’s seat, and started her up.
We weren’t too far from the beach, and I knew logically that the MiG was far enough away they’d never see us right then, but I still felt my stomach turn as I pulled onto the road and continued toward the water.
My nerves were fried after seeing that MiG. It had come out of nowhere, and if it had seen us, we’d all be dead right then. I shuddered to think what would’ve happened if I hadn’t heard it when I did.
We got to the beach, but instead of parking where we had the past couple of times, I stayed near the road and parked under the trees so if the MiG came back by we wouldn’t be easily spotted.
Granted, they could assume the jeeps were just random vehicles, but since they were military, there was a chance the NK soldiers would recognize them.
Once we parked, we all hopped out and headed down to the water.
Even as my mind was clouded with thoughts about the impending battle and the MiG we’d just seen, I had to take in the sight of the ship in the morning light. The dark metal reflected on the deep water, and there, with the beach in front of it, it could have been a picture on a postcard. The old ship had a certain beauty to it, especially with the light blue of the new day.
“Tav, come in,” Rivers said through the walkie as we all made our way down to the water.
I pulled the device off my hip and spoke into it. “What is it?”
“A fuckin’ MiG just flew overhead not ten minutes ago,” he said.
“We saw it,” I told him.
“You did?” he asked. “Jesus.”
“We’ll be there in just a few minutes,” I told him.
“Yeah, alright,” he answered, and I hung the walkie back on my hip.
“He sounded freaked out,” Bailey said. “I feel like that MiG really gave everyone a good scare this morning.”
“It was pretty terrifying,” Paige agreed.
“How many do you think they still have?” Bailey asked.
“We did some damage when we were in Boston,” I said. “But I’m sure they still have a couple.”
“Well, we know for sure they have one,” Tara said with a shake of her head.
“Right,” I tried to chuckle, but it fell flat with the seriousness of the situation.
We were all quiet as we used the rafts to get out to the ship. Once we were on board I gave everyone their tasks, then I headed down to the hold with Paige and Minji to finish tallying up all our supplies.
Paige and I had sorted through pretty much everything the day before, but it all still needed to be counted and a master list needed to be made.
I tried to be of some help, but I couldn’t focus right then, so instead, I took the maps from Paige’s bag and went to the deck to look them over.
I sat down near the edge so I could see off into the ocean, then I laid the maps out in front of me and went over all the places Paige had marked. Most of them I already knew weren’t going to work, and I kept coming back to the one we’d gone to the other day. That small peninsula was exactly what we needed. The enemy would be surrounded by water on three sides, and surrounded by us on the other side.
We had thought the Boston troops were headed to Norfolk to form a pincer attack, but after finding the orders, it seemed the Captain’s group here wasn’t considered enough of a threat to be a problem. Instead the Boston troops were headed down to Atlanta, and the Norfolk troops we’d taken out were supposed to meet them there, but we didn’t know what their ETA was supposed to be.
“Hey,” Anna said as she walked over and sat down next to me. “What are you doing?”
“Just trying to formulate our plan,” I sighed.
“What’s wrong?” the redhead asked, and her eyebrows furrowed together with concern.
“I just need to reach them,” I said. “We need to make contact and get an ETA and location from them. Otherwise we have no idea where they’re actually at.”
“We have Minji,” Anna reminded me.
“Right,” I agreed. “She’s down in the hold with Paige right now, but we’re going to need her to stay here in case the Boston troops try to reach us.”
“That MiG encounter this morning really got under your skin, didn’t it,” she said with a nod. It wasn’t a question so much as an observation. “Is it because of Tara?”
“Partly,” I admitted. “We had a close call this morning. If I hadn’t heard that MiG we’d have been in deep shit, and while I love all you girls, the thought of something happening to Tara when she’s pregnant with our baby, that’s just too much to bear.”
“I get it,” Anna told me with a smile. “And I don’t think I officially said it before, but congratulations. As much shit as I give Tara, I know she’s going to be a great mom.”
“Why don’t you tell her that?” I asked with a laugh.
“Never,” Anna chuckled. “And you can’t tell her I said that, either.”
“You two are ridiculous.” I shook my head. “I swear, if I didn’t know any better I’d think you were actual siblings.”
“She is pretty much like the sister I never had.” The redhead shrugged, then she looked at me seriously. “I hope you know I’ll do whatever I can to protect her. All joking aside, I don’t want anything to happen to her, either. Especially now.”
“I appreciate that,” I told her.
“There’s no way we can stop her from fighting,” she said. “But I thought it might make you feel better to know that I have an extra eye on her, too.”
“It does,” I said with a smile. “Thank you.”
Anna leaned in and pressed her plump pink lips against mine for a few seconds, then she pulled away and flashed me a soft smile before she stood up and walked away.
I took a deep breath to clear my head. Anna had reminded me that while it’s okay for me to be protective over Tara, I wasn’t the only one looking out for her. I needed to trust the other girls to take care of her, too. And I needed to trust Tara to take care of herself. The platinum-blonde was stubborn, but I knew she wouldn’t do anything to intentionally hurt herself or the baby.
Another quick glance over the map, and I knew the spot we’d visited before was our only chance. We needed to somehow get the troops to that location, then we could attack from there. We had enough men and weapons to take out what was left of the Boston troops if we were able to trap them all.
It’d be like fish in a barrel. Maybe not quite that easy, but if we were in control of the situation, we’d be far more likely to win.
I rolled up the map and headed back down to the hold to put it in Paige’s backpack.
The brunette was working diligently to count everything down there, and she and Minji barely even seemed to notice me as I came down the ladder.
“How’s it going down here?” I asked.
“Pretty good,” Paige answered without looking up from what she was doing.
“We’ve tallied up all of the plasma guns,” Minji told me. “We’re onto the larger storage rooms now.”
“Oh, good.” I nodded.
“Where did you go?” Paige asked, and she glanced over at me with intense brown eyes.
“I just needed a little break,” I explained. “Still a little rattled from this morning.”
“Right,” the brunette sighed. “That was close.”
“It was,” I agreed, and I turned to Minji. “We know they’re in the area now, though. We’ll get you moved here tonight.”
“I brought a bag with some spare clothes,” she said with a nod. “I was figuring I would stay the night.”
“Thank you,” I said, and I put on my best work mode face. “So, what are we looking at as far as plasma guns?”
“There’s a hundred-and-five,” Minji said.
I whistled low. “Nice.”
“I thought so, too,” Paige chuckled. “They must have been backups. “There’s also about five-hundred replacement pods for them, not including the ones that are already in the guns.”
“How did you all count that many that fast?” I laughed.
“They’re all in those weird little briefcases like the ones we found in Boston.” Paige shrugged. “We just counted how many were in one, then we counted all of the cases. Easy peasy.”
“I’m glad I put you in charge of this,” I told her with an amused shake of my head. “How much more is there to tally?”
“Hm,” Paige said, and she looked around for a minute. “We’re onto the larger storage rooms now, and after we get them done we’ll only have other weapons that came with the ship.”
“Right.” I nodded and looked around. My mood lifted as I realized the score we had in front of us. “No matter how many we have already, this is still a great supply. We can do some serious damage with this stuff.”
“Not to mention the couple of small tanks we already had,” Paige reminded me.
“Yeah,” Minji said with a shake of her head. “I don’t know how you guys do it. You showed up with so many supplies, and then you got more in just a few days. And the weapons are impressive, but you had so much food and everything, too. I figured that everywhere had been ransacked by now. That’s how we got our supplies, we ransacked everywhere, even the places that had already been picked clean, just in case there was something left.”
“You all have a good bank of supplies,” Paige said. “Especially for scavenging them. You’re right, if we had tried that now, it wouldn’t have gotten us anywhere. We grew all of our supplies and canned them ourselves.”