by RH Fox
Dreia eyed the distance from the convoy to the side of the highway and calculated the odds of making it into the trees. There was a chance the soldiers wouldn’t even follow since they’d let their captors escape. On the other hand, her painful ribs would make her easy to catch and then she’d surely be put in restraints. She deflated and allowed herself to be led to a seven ton that was identical to the one she’d encountered with Karen.
Melissa and Tracy were already seated on the long benches inside, along with the other mother and all three children. Someone had given Melissa an olive colored t-shirt to cover herself. There were several other people on the truck as well, faces all mirroring disbelief over what was happening. Dreia didn’t bother talking to anyone and spent the next hour jostling against Tracy in silence. Thankfully the fabric covering the gigantic bed of the truck had been left halfway up in the back, allowing fresh air to circulate.
She wondered if Matt had made it home yet. Rioting and looting weren’t likely to impact their small town this soon. There weren’t enough places to loot. Besides, it was a close-knit community where it wasn’t a stretch to assume most residents were related somehow. As long as Abbie and Chase stayed in their neighborhood, they’d be fine, even if Matt wasn’t home. That’s what she chose to continue believing anyhow, since she was currently helpless to do anything else.
Dreia had plenty of time to let her thoughts wander. She thought about Rena and the others from school. She hoped all the children had been reunited with their parents before things had gotten bad and wondered if anyone had encountered Stubs. Thankful that he was one problem she didn’t need to worry about anymore, her thoughts moved to Karen. Dreia said a small prayer that her new friend’s children would make it home. It was probably too much to wish for, but she also pondered what they could accomplish if Karen eventually showed up in Sawyer Springs.
When she couldn’t avoid it any longer, her mind finally settled on Wayne. Brows furrowed, Dreia spent the last half of the drive plotting ways to keep him from getting anywhere near her family. Killing him was the only conclusive solution. She debated between going straight back to the bridge and hoping he was still there, or heading home to wait where she’d have the advantage. However, with a million and one things necessary for survival alone now, constantly being on edge waiting for him to show up wasn’t something she relished adding to the load. Which helped clarify things. As soon as she got out of the military’s clutches, she had to go back to the bridge and take care of Wayne herself. She tried not to dwell on the fact that she didn’t have her supplies anymore, let alone a weapon.
I’ll cross that bridge when I get to it ran through her mind, and she snorted at the irony. Several people were startled by the noise and looked her way. Ignoring them, she wrapped her arm across her bruised ribs and felt the truck veer right.
Shortly after exiting the highway, they came to a stop. When the truck lurched forward again they passed a large sentry station, but she didn’t recognize anything. From her limited angle she couldn’t catch the name on the sign at the entrance either. Finding out which base this was would have to be her first goal. With Norfolk home to the largest naval station in the world, there were numerous support bases all over the area. The average civilian had no idea where they all were, but she had a slight advantage. Matt’s government position had taken him to several. Hopefully she’d recognize the name, and then be able to place its location and reorient herself.
The next time the truck halted, soldiers appeared to help them climb out in front of a four-story building. A row of folding tables had been set up in front of its glass encased entrance where people were standing in two long lines, waiting to be checked in by the soldiers seated there. Melissa and the mothers joined the line on the right, all looking relieved to have found what they probably perceived as a safe haven. Dreia reluctantly joined the line on the left while her eyes searched for an alternative, because she had no intention of letting herself be recorded as a refugee.
The grouchy sergeant was talking to men near the truck. Trying anything with him right there would be futile. Three soldiers holding M4s also stood near the lines, guns pointed at the ground. They weren’t too threatening now, but Dreia worried a wrong move from someone in line would cause that to change quickly.
The line inched forward slowly as she continued to study her surroundings. They were being placed in the tallest building on the street. There were a few two-story structures in the immediate vicinity, and the one directly to the left had soldiers milling around the steps in front. A few were eating something and several held styrofoam cups, leading Dreia to believe it was the mess hall.
Feeling impatient with her inability to do anything, she tapped the man in front of her. The older gentleman was wearing faded blue jeans and a short-sleeved, plaid shirt, reminding Dreia quite a bit of her father.
“Excuse me sir, do you know what base this is?”
“Sorry, I’m not from here,” he answered politely. “I was in town on a business trip when the power went out.”
“Oh, okay. Thanks.”
“Would it be too forward of me to ask what happened to you, dear?”
Dreia was reminded of what she must look like with her battered face and neck.
“There’s a group of men charging a toll for crossing their bridge,” Dreia responded, touching her swollen lip self-consciously, “and I refused to pay it.”
“I hope the soldiers took care of them.”
Dreia realized he must not have come in on the same truck as her group.
“No, unfortunately not. They picked me up on the highway with some of the other women the men terrorized. Where did they pick you up? It looks like things in the city went downhill fast.”
“It was awful. I was staying at a motel near the airport, and you wouldn’t believe what I saw people do to each other last night. There was a small strip mall across the way and they emptied it, fighting over everything. I didn’t dare leave my room, because a few people ventured out and never came back. Thankfully, I had some bottled water and snacks that held me over until the soldiers showed up to secure the airport. I was sure relieved to see our boys in uniform.”
Dreia could understand his feelings, even if she didn’t quite share his appreciation right now. If she’d been stuck in a motel far from home, she’d probably feel a lot differently about being rescued by the soldiers.
“Where are you from, sir?”
“Dallas. I really hope they’re not having power issues down there. My wife will be having a conniption fit.”
Dreia didn’t know how to respond. If what Corporal Hall had told her and Karen was true, Dallas was in the dark as well. She decided to let him hold on to his hope though. Chances were slim the poor man was going to see Dallas again anytime soon. If ever. She didn’t have it in her to explain EMPs again, so she just remained silent.
There were only about five people in front of her now. Her head swiveled at the sound of loud engines starting up. The sergeant and his soldiers got back in their trucks and pulled away.
Finally!
Dreia’s eyes rapidly scanned the area again, looking for anything that could get her out of line. Her eyes lit up when they landed on someone she recognized.
17
“Look! My nephew!” Dreia squealed loudly. She grabbed the older gentleman’s arm and bounced up and down, pointing at the group of soldiers in front of the mess hall.
The man smiled politely and nodded, looking bemused. Other people in line turned to see what she was pointing at when they heard the commotion. One of the soldiers moved toward her, but his gun remained pointed at the ground. She took advantage of everyone’s confusion and walked briskly toward the group of soldiers in front of the mess hall. They were comically looking at each other, trying to figure out who she was referring to.
“I can’t believe your mom didn’t tell me your training was going to be up here!” she shouted. Launching herself at a young Marine, she wrapped her arms a
round him and frantically whispered in his ear. “Corporal, remember me from the highway on Friday? I’m begging you, please hug me back and call me Aunt Dreia,” she finished with a catch in her voice.
To his credit, Corporal Hall only hesitated a fraction of a second before wrapping his arms around her. The soldier watching the line caught up and looked at him questioningly.
“This is my Aunt Dreia. I’ve got it from here.”
The other man simply nodded and headed back to his post. Dreia heaved a sigh of relief. Hall continued to play his part and put his arm around her waist, leading her away from the curious soldiers at the mess hall. Once they’d gone a good distance, he turned and looked at her with raised eyebrows.
“I can’t thank you enough!” she exclaimed.
“What happened to you? You didn’t look like that on Friday! Is your friend okay?”
“Hopefully Karen’s safely home by now. I wasn’t as fortunate and ran into a bit of trouble.”
“Your face suggests it was more than a bit.”
“A biker gang took over the bridge I needed to cross. They’re stripping people of working vehicles and all their supplies. Even worse, if they think the female can be sold, they kill the man with her and dump him in the canal. I was being transported to God knows where when the truck was stopped by one of your patrols on the highway and brought here. Speaking of, where is here?” Dreia was breathless by the time she finished her explanation.
“JRTF, the James River Training Facility. It’s being used as a refugee camp of sorts, because of all the old barracks.”
“Never heard of it. Where are we in relation to other bases?”
“The shipyards are about half a mile to the east.”
“I know where that is. Bates Annex is nearby!”
“Yeah, not too far down the road. It’s empty though. They told us to move over here if we wanted to keep eating. Are you still looking for your husband?”
“No. I mean, yes, I am, but he won’t be at Bates. He’s undoubtedly on his way home at this point. But now that I know where I am, I can get back to the bridge.”
“Wait, what? You want to go back to where that happened?” He gestured at her face, incredulous.
“The man who did this threatened my daughter and he knows where to find her. I have to go back so I can stop him.”
Corporal Hall looked her up and down. “How do you figure on doing that?”
“I don’t know yet, but I’ll come up with something. First, I need you to help me get off this base. Can you do that?”
He looked conflicted, “I don’t know . . .”
“Do you have any sisters?”
“Two.”
“What would you do if a rapist and murderer threatened to pay them a visit?”
“Kill him.”
“Exactly. I need to get off this base before he leaves that bridge and gets anywhere near my family.”
Dreia refused to break eye contact and the young man verified her belief that Marines will do anything for another Marine, to include protecting his family. It was an unrivaled brotherhood.
“Okay, I’ll try but can’t make any promises. Come on, I know where you can wait while I check on some things. Are you hungry?”
Dreia realized she hadn’t eaten anything since the previous afternoon. To prove it, her stomach chose that moment to let out a loud rumble.
“I’ll take that as a yes,” Hall laughed. He steered her back toward the mess hall, but instead of going in the front door he veered off around the corner and used a side entrance. Once they were inside, Dreia followed him up some narrow stairs and into a large conference room.
“Wait here. I’ll be right back with some food.”
While he was gone, Dreia looked around. The room was well lit by an entire wall of windows opposite the door, blinds all open, and a long conference table down the middle was surrounded by office chairs. A whiteboard dominated the wall behind one end of the table and historic pictures of military achievement covered the wall at the opposite end of the room. When she turned to look at the wall behind her, she found a huge map of Hampton Roads hanging next to the doorway.
She walked over and easily pinpointed her exact location. All the area bases were highlighted in yellow and she quickly orientated herself with the landmarks she knew. She traced the route she needed to take back to the bridge with her finger and felt discouraged. She might as well be back at the school starting her journey all over again. It might even be a few miles longer.
However, the thought of Wayne putting his hands on Abbie fueled her resolve. She would stop him. Studying the large map to see if there were any shortcuts, she thought she saw a few options. Without her own map to mark them down, though, she could easily end up turned around.
Dreia wished she was more familiar with the area. Even after four years, other than an occasional movie or trip to the mall, most of her local experience consisted of driving to work and back. That meant she had no idea which specific areas might mean safe passage or which ones she should avoid like the plague. She sighed heavily, wishing she could just pull up a map online and zoom in to see exactly what businesses and neighborhoods covered each route. Dreia was so engrossed in her planning that she jumped when the door opened. Hall carried a tray to the table and she eagerly pulled a chair up to the packaged turkey sandwich, bag of chips, apple and can of soda.
“I know it’s technically not lunch time, but it’s all I could get without standing in the regular chow line again. That would’ve taken a lot longer.”
Her mouth started to water. “It looks amazing after two days of trail food. How are they keeping the sandwiches from going bad?” Dreia tore into the packaging and took several bites while he explained.
“Someone managed to get some old generators they found in storage working. Most were allocated to the communication equipment, but the kitchen staff got their hands on one strong enough to power a small refrigerated room and the grills. So, until either the fuel or the food runs out, they’ve got cold storage and a way to cook it.”
“That’s wonderful! And this is delicious,” she mumbled around a big bite.
“Now, about your dilemma. I may have an idea. Show me on the map where that bridge is.”
Dreia carried the sandwich with her, taking another bite on the way. “Right here, southwest of the expressway.”
“Alright, I’ll be back as soon as I can. Don’t leave this room or you might get put back in that line. I’m not sure you could duplicate your little performance again. That took moxie!” Hall grinned at her, then left the room.
Dreia finished every single bite of food, then carried the drink over to the windows. They overlooked an access road that ran between the mess hall and the barracks where they were placing refugees. She could even see the two lines at the tables. The other women and older gentleman were already gone, and the new people waiting were subdued and orderly. A few carried quite a few bags and Dreia wondered if they were all truly displaced travelers or if the neighborhoods were deteriorating to the point of abandonment.
Glancing at her watch anxiously, it read 10:17am. She tried to reassure herself that Wayne couldn’t have left the bridge already, since he seemed to be in charge there. That didn’t really alleviate her sense of urgency though. It felt like days, instead of merely hours, since she’d left his captivity. She went back to the map on the wall and continued studying the roads around her target. Having exhausted what the map could tell her, Dreia wandered over and sat back down at the table. The office chairs were surprisingly comfortable, and before she realized what was happening her head had dropped onto her arms.
The opening door startled her awake and she sat up swiftly, pushing hair out of her eyes. Once she verified it was only Hall, she relaxed and hastily swiping at the drool she could feel escaping the corner of her mouth.
“I’m sorry it took so long, but I think you’re going to like what I worked out!”
Dreia looked at her watch, surprised
to see that it now read 12:42pm and she’d been asleep over two hours. “I’m all ears!”
“There’s a recognizance convoy going out at two o’clock. My buddies and I are supposed to go with it, so I talked to the captain in charge and told him what was happening on that bridge. He decided to send us that direction to scout it out and take care of it. He wants to talk to you first and get more information, though.”
Dreia couldn’t contain her excitement and threw her arms around the young man again. “Thank you! When are we going to talk to him?”
“He wants to see us at one-thirty. I, uh,” Hall’s face turned red, “I brought you some clothes to change into before we go meet him. I figured you might want to freshen up a little.”
Dreia was too thrilled to be embarrassed by any insinuations. A lot had happened since she’d last washed up in the firehouse restroom, and she probably smelled worse than she looked.
“That’s an understatement.”
“I nabbed you a small bucket of hot water, too. They’re heating water out back for washing. It’s sitting in the hallway and has probably cooled off enough to use by now. There’s a bathroom next door.”
Dreia was giddy at the thought of hot water. He handed her a bundle of clothes and showed her which door led to the bathroom. The room had a big frosted window set into the wall next to the stalls, allowing plenty of afternoon light to filter in. Dreia turned the deadbolt on the door and looked through the bundle of clothing. She found a clean cotton rag, a pair of camouflaged pants and an olive-green t-shirt. Though these were Army issue, they reminded her of Matt’s old uniforms. The memory of how handsome he’d been in the cammies, especially when it was rolled sleeves season, brought a smile to her face. Nineteen years and her heart still fluttered thinking about the man she’d married.