Afraid of the Dark

by Chris Hechtl

  “Somehow, I think we'll be there,” Shane said amused.

  “You'd better be,” Jen growled. She came over and hugged him. She looked a little the worse for wear, but triumphant.

  “Tired?” he asked as he felt her body sag.

  “It’s a good tired,” she said. He snorted softly. He tucked her in under one arm, knowing she probably needed the help even though she didn't want it.

  “We'll get it done. Tamara had the kids do a gift list yesterday in class. We've got people wrapping now,” Jen said.

  “Good,” Sheila said with a smile.

  “We ran out of paper so we've had to improvise though,” Jen said softly.

  “Whatever works dear,” he said, leaning over and cupping her cheeks to kiss her forehead. “You're a miracle worker, you know that right?”

  “Love you too,” she said smiling up at him with a glowing smile. He was a bit concerned about how pale she was, but the challenge and the reward coming seemed to be worth it to her. He hoped so at least.

  “We'll pull it off, I can feel it,” Jayne said with a smile. “Tree lighting ceremony tonight. We'll have the kids do it.”

  “Good. That's good.”

  Jen started humming softly. He looked down at her and she started to sing, not looking up. “I'll be fine and dandy, Lord its like a hard candy Christmas...”

  “I'm barely getting through tomorrow but I won’t let sorrow bring me way down,” Jayne joined in, taking Jen's hand with one hand and Sheila's with the other.

  He smiled at the women and felt Jen's tears on his chest. He brushed them away as she buried her face.

  Further away he could hear someone start to sing Jingle Bells. He snorted. The song grew and grew. He rocked and sang along. Jen seemed to relax again, and after a moment she dashed her tears with her fingers and sang along too.

  ...*...*...*...*...

  “Delivery,” a guy said as Shane walked the outer perimeter.

  “Incoming?” another said. Shane immediately stopped and turned, hunching his shoulders and looking for cover instinctively. He felt his attention immediately turn to finding the nearest cover.

  “No man, I heard we're getting an incoming shipment,” the first guy said giving Shane a look. He'd winced a little too.

  Shane relaxed, nodding. “Yeah, weapons, that gunk the eggheads want, and more MREs. We're getting two, maybe three loads coming in. Hopefully three, hell, I'm hoping four. We need the MREs.”

  “Meals Rejected by Ethiopians,” the second guy muttered.

  “Hell, I'll eat them any day of the week. Better than spam man,” the second guy said, checking his hunting rifle.

  “We're getting some weapons too. Or so they told us,” Shane said. The tree lighting ceremony had been a big hit. So had all the prayer and festivities. Apparently Candace had put it up on the network and it made national news. Good. People had to be reminded that some of the good things in this world, in their civilization, shouldn't die, shouldn't go away. They should be cherished and held onto.

  “Really?” they looked up and others gathered around. “Seriously?”

  “We won't know for sure until the load is dropped and sorted. I put in for some XM-307s so here's hoping,” Shane said. Yes it was Christmas time and he did have a wish list. His list was a bit more practical than some of the kids' though. Even though it was after the holiday he wasn't going to complain. He'd take what he could get.

  “XM... like the radio station?” the second guy asked wrinkling his nose.

  “No man, saw it on Future Weapons. Some sort of machine grenade launcher right?” the first guy said, looking at Shane for confirmation. Shane nodded.

  “Right, its a machine grenade launcher, shoots normal or smart rounds. Fifty pounds including the tripod, smart rounds work with a laser range finder to target a tango under cover.”

  “Nice.”

  “Oh it gets better. You can convert it into a full auto fifty cal in less than two minutes,” the first guy said grinning. “Saw what that thing did to a cement wall. I so want one,” he said rubbing his hands in glee.

  “You and me both. They are only sending ten though. If that,” Shane said with a grimace.

  “Why?”

  “Why not?” the first guy asked. “Only so many to go around apparently.”

  “We've still got some military people here and their dependents. The Osprey is picking some up.”

  “Cool,” the first guy said, turning at the soft sound of rotor wash. “Right on cue.”

  “Sounds like it,” Shane said looking around. “I'll be at the LZ if anyone needs me,” he said nodding to the men and women near and moving off.

  He grimaced as he walked, having to dodge the traffic. He knew that the grapevine was going to buzz, and people were people. The sight of the Osprey was going to have them buzzing. He wasn't sure how they were going to take losing some of the soldiers, but he was pretty sure not well. Fortunately most of the people being evacuated were Air Force or wounded.

  Hernandez... losing him would hurt. Hurt like hell. The man was one hell of a trooper, a good leader. Whoever had dumped on him and busted him back through the ranks needed to have their head examined. He felt a pang, Mateo was torn, he could tell. On the one hand he wanted to get back into the fight with his unit; on the other he had established bonds here now. He'd have to talk with the brass, have Mateo set up as a liaison or something. Trainer in country. Dress it up so he wouldn't feel like a deserter.

  ...*...*...*...*...

  Kyle and Mateo were all smiles as they stood around a pair of military totes. Shane snorted; they couldn't wait to open them. Christmas indeed. This was their kind of Christmas. Even if it was late.

  “A little late for Christmas?” he asked. Christmas had been a hit. The tree ceremony, the evening mass, everything. The rendition of Silent Night on Christmas Eve had deep reverent meaning, more so now than ever before. The only hiccup had been that some of the people of other religions hadn't been happy about being excluded. Jen had made sure that they had separate places to worship for those who desired. Jayne might have done the heavy lifting in organizing it all, but the entire event had Jen's fingerprints all over it.

  Of course no one had complained when all the kids, no matter what upbringing had a gift of some sort. Or the snacks and meal on Christmas day. Somehow, and he wasn't sure how, the women had managed to get everyone a piece of chicken, turkey, or ham. Or at least those who weren't vegans. They'd even swung sugar cookies. He was pretty sure they had been left in the back of the freezer for quite some time, but he wasn't going to complain. Then again, Jayne did have that bakery to fall back on.

  “I'm not complaining,” Kyle said, looking down at the XM in his lap. He lovingly stroked the thing. “I'll take this as my gift any day of the week. Going to be fun with this baby. I can't wait to see what she dishes out.”

  “Definitely,” Jolie grinned, trying to open another package.

  “These babies aren't for you dear,” Kyle said.

  “Not much recoil to them dad, ain't nothin',” she said trying to heft one.

  “But they do weigh a pretty good amount. Better let someone built for it carry it.”

  “I can see that,” she said, lips forming a moue. “I'll definitely need a porter. Maybe two. One for the ammo cases. Someone good looking with a nice rear.” She grinned at her dad, clearly twisting his tail.

  “You can think thoughts of getting a teen to port your luggage all you want. The answer is still no girl,” Ross said coming over. “How'd it go?” he asked, looking at Shane.

  Shane shrugged as the others looked at him. “Same old, same old,” he said with a shrug.

  “Oh?”

  “I called the general and talked to him about you Mateo.”

  Mateo flinched and then looked up, instinctively straightening up into attention. “Oh?”

  “Consider yourself our official onsite training adviser and military attaché slash liaison,” Shane said with a twinkle
and one sided smile. He handed Mateo a paper.

  Mateo blinked at him.

  “That means he can stay?” Jolie asked suddenly excited.

  Shane nodded. “For now. Military intel will no doubt want to pick his brains later down the road,” Shane said slapping the soldier on the shoulder. “I even got you bucked to Corporal. I can't get all your stripes, but I tried.”

  “You didn't have to do that,” Mateo said quietly, looking stunned.

  “Hell he didn't. We lose you, we have one hell of a hole to fill,” Ross said with a nod. He knew his own limits. Kyle was even worse off than him. “Anything else?” he asked.

  “Not much. A few odds and ends. Pilot passed me some intel on flash drives for the eggheads and doc to go over.”

  “Eggheads. One of which is your wife. May want to watch who you cast disparaging remarks about,” Kyle said with a snort.

  “I won’t tell if you won’t,” Shane said with an answering snort of his own and broadening smile. “She won’t care anyway,” he said when he saw Jolie's gleam of mischief. If anything the twinkle didn't die, it just grew. He sighed. Women. Always trying to get guys into trouble. Okay, so maybe it wasn't so hard when we put our feet in our own mouths, he thought with amusement.

  “We've got twelve of these babies. I figure we can sort out what goes where.”

  “We'll want at least one fire team with one in each fort,” Ross grunted.

  “Probably,” Shane said with a nod. “How did they set us up with ammo?” he asked, looking from Mateo to Kyle.

  “We're recycling our own brass now so that should help with the fifty cal part. Wish it was two, one fifty cal and one grenade launcher,” Kyle grumbled, opening the one in his lap up. “I wonder if we can copy the mount?”

  “I'll take what we can get,” Ross said dryly. “This sucker looks like it weighs a lot less than the one my fire team toted around back in Iraq.”

  “Mine too,” Mateo said with a nod. “Less recoil, easy to use, even has smart rounds. Bet it costs a mint.”

  “Probably,” Shane said with a snort.

  “So how'd we get Uncle Sugar to spring for them?” Kyle asked.

  “Uncle Sugar?” Jolie asked in confusion, looking up.

  “Never mind,” Shane said with a dismissive wave her way. “They are on loan. We've got to keep track of shit too. Ammo, etc.”

  “Sure,” Ross said with a snort.

  “Typical,” Kyle said with a sigh. “So I can't fire a few off?”

  “You and everyone else wants a piece of the action,” Shane said with a laugh. “No, we've only got a finite supply after all. You can rig one up in fifty cal mode and give it a shot with your recycled ammo though.”

  Kyle looked a little crestfallen and then nodded slowly. “Okay.”

  “I want to be there for that,” Mateo and Jolie said together. They looked at each other in surprise then smiled.

  Kyle looked from one to the other and then grunted irritably. Ross raised his good hand. “Me too,” he said. Kyle looked at him and nodded.

  “Keep a limit on the rounds please, don't shoot anything that we need and do it on the range or preferably into a nest house. Save the...”

  “We know, we know, save the brass.”

  “I was going to say the rounds too if you can find them,” Shane said nodding. Work crews were moving in to clear the weapon crates. “These go to the mall armory for now folks,” he said stepping out of the way as the guy with the forklift pulled up. The super nodded and waved his people forward.

  “Don't mind us,” Kyle said with his gun. “We're going to do some test trials. Back in a bit,” he said moving off. The others interested in shooting the gun followed. Shane sighed, feeling a pang. He wanted to see it but damn it he had an appointment.

  “Duty calls,” he sighed softly under his breath as he turned reluctantly away.

  ...*...*...*...*...

  Mateo smiled as he hefted a big hard rind. “Now this is a good one. Almost splitting here,” he said.

  “Not bad man, not bad,” Todd said with a nod. “Picked it nearby?”

  “While we were out and about. I think TJ's sending a crew to transplant the tree back here though,” he said, putting the pomegranate back in the bag. There were several bags around them. That tree had been packed with the fruit. It would have been nice to have got it around the holidays. Mix the juice with some alcohol and it made a great drink.

  “They going to make skin cream or something with it?” Todd asked, wrinkling his nose.

  “No man, at least I don't think so. The seeds are edible. My pops loved to use the seeds and juices in mixed drinks right around this time,” Mateo said and then felt a pang. It was muted but there.

  “Oh,” Todd said with a nod. “Okay,” he said with a shrug.

  “Food's food. We'll put it to good use,” Mateo said nodding to the crew as they came up to unload their daily gains. “What'd you bring in?”

  “More of the same,” Todd said with a shrug. He was head of a squad working in the Canyon Springs area, North of the base. The teams were slowly spiraling North and West along the 215/60 towards UCR. “Its hard though man, people's homes and all. Not many stores up that way. We've got some I mean, but not like the center of town.”

  “Tell me about it,” Mateo said with a grimace. “And going door to door sucks.”

  “Shit yes. The damn aliens were in every house we hit. Every frigging house today.”

  “Casualties?” Mateo asked.

  “Some,” Todd admitted, rubbing his bandaged arm. “Not too bad, but I don't like losing people for a box of pasta.”

  Mateo winced. “Me neither. None of us for that matter. But we've got to clean the aliens out. The boss is right, the best time to fight them...”

  “Is by day,” Todd said waving a hand in agreement. “Yeah I know. I know.” He shivered a little, getting a distant almost terror look on his face. “Man I don't want to ever have to come up against these critters at night,” he breathed.

  “Which is why we're doing it by day,” Mateo said patting the man on the shoulder.

  “Any word on switching systems?” Todd asked, changing the subject.

  “Um... Not following,” Mateo said, checking his MP-5 and then clearing it. He'd have to clean it later in the evening, like he did every night.

  “Well,” Todd squirmed a little. “Its like this. I've, well, we've heard talk about how this set up is really communist. Socialist. How the boss is a commy at heart. And well...”

  Mateo turned on him, eyes glinting. “He's a what?”

  Todd put up warding hands. “Hey man, it didn't come from me, don't shoot the messenger. But well, there's been talk and well...”

  “The boss has enough on his plate with Jen and trying to run this place as it is,” Mateo growled. “Not to mention keeping things running in the field with his own teams,” he said in disgust. “And he's right along with us, sticking his head right in the Hellcat's den every damn day.”

  “Yeah man, I know but the way this is set up...” Todd waved helplessly.

  “You have a better idea?” Mateo asked amused. “Money?” He turned in a circle hands up as others got closer to listen. “You think money's worth spit now? Its not even good for toilet paper! Believe me I know, I've got the paper cuts to prove it!”

  That earned a sputter of laughter from the group. He shook his head. “Look folks, the people bitching about this kind of shit are the ones who aren't getting what they want. The ones who think they should be in charge. Seen that, been there, done that. We all know that. Right?” he turned looking at them. A few nodded.

  “We're going to have that. Right now the only currency worth a damn is shelter, water, and food. The boss thinks that everyone should have a chance at all three and I agree. But he also thinks everyone should work for it. Don't you?”

  There were a few startled nods, and a few grunts of agreement. They paid for the food people ate with blood, sweat, and far too many tear
s for a fallen comrade.

  “Right. Anyone can do stuff here, you want to be a soldier? Sure, sign up,” he waved and indicated his rifle. “Harvester? We lose people every damn day we go out. Every damn day,” he emphasized. “They don't have guns, at least not many of them. We at least have something that can put the damn aliens in their place. Too many of you have seen these people put their weapons down because their hands are full. Full of shit we need.”

  “I heard the truckers complaining.”

  “Everyone's got a right to gripe. For us in the field its long hours, day in and day out. For what? Food and shelter? They keep thinking its going to get better. Maybe it will. It damn well better. But we're going to have to work for it.”

  “You're saying we don't have to be in this chicken shit outfit?” someone cat called.

  Mateo turned and stared. The heckler shrugged, embarrassed at the sudden intent look. “No one has to do this. Volunteers only,” Mateo said quietly, finally breaking the look to lock eyes with all of them. “There is a job board, anyone can apply for a job, but you better know your shit or be willing to learn fast. We don't make anyone do anything they don't want to do. Well, most anyone,” he said.

  “The cleaners gripe,” Todd said with a nod.

  “Job of last resort. That's for people who can't or won’t do anything else. Who'd like to sit on their ass, bitch, shuffle paperwork and act like a tick on our ass. They can damn well contribute somehow.”

  “Heard a guy bitching. Turned out he was a realtor.”

  “We had a guy who did that too,” Bobby said coming over and sitting on a bumper. “Idiot thought he knew it all. Chuck or Charles or something. Got tore up and spat out his first five minutes on the job. Learned the hard way its not all fun and games on this job,” he said.

  “I say let em bitch. They want it bad enough, they'll find something better to do. Learn something or take a long walk. One good look outside and they'll change their tune fast,” someone in the back said.

  “Exactly. We should take them for a walk,” someone else said.

  “Or have a ride along,” Bobby said maliciously.