Day One (Book 2): Choices

by Michael McDonald

  I made it to my first cover location and quickly went to my knees. My heart was pounding from a combination of the overwhelming fear and extensive cardio I was putting it through. My breathing came in quick gasps and for a few seconds I was positive I would not be able to get enough air into my lungs and I’d pass out at any moment.

  Johnny was on the move again and I propped the rifle on an empty container and watched for any signs of movement, also trying to watch him at the same time. How could anyone do this for a living? I was scared shitless, thinking at any second I would catch a well-placed bullet to my face, or when I moved, I’d run into a soldier that I hadn’t seen previously. There was too much stress for me to swallow. Too many unknown variables that could happen at any moment and I wished I’d never agreed to this stupid plan.

  I moved once again and was halfway to my next position when I caught something out of the corner of my eye. Oh shit! Time suddenly slowed to a crawl as I thrust my head one way, and then the other in hopes of finding something to hunker down behind for cover. There was nothing near me. If I dropped to the ground the jarring crash could easily wake Kember and she’d start to cry. If the soldier hadn’t seen me yet he would hear her cries and come to investigate.

  The soldier moved across the moonless void and disappeared into a small tent. I waited where I was, kneeling on the ground, watching the front of the tent with hawk like eyes, even though I couldn’t see any further into the dark than the next guy. I swung the NVG’s down over my eyes. The green contrasted world jumped to greet me, although even at this distance I was still unable to see just a few inches into the dark tent front. So if he was standing just inside the darkness, when I moved he might spot me. But that would also mean he knew I was nearby anyway, which made no sense to me. If he knew I was there, then why wasn’t he coming to investigate or sounding some alarm?

  He didn’t see you… now go before he comes back! My mind again screamed to me. I listened and hauled ass.

  The helicopter was now within grasp and I watched from cover as Johnny made his approach, scanned the area a few times, and then made his way up to the aircraft. I was certain that if anything was going to happen, this would be the time. I flicked the safety off my weapon and took a single glance toward my secondary route, in the event that things spiraled out of control and planned how I’d get there through a hail of gunfire. I knew it wouldn’t be easy, not to mention the fact that I would have to run in order to make it to the fence, and that put Kember in greater danger than me.

  “Don’t let this go down wrong, I beg of you,” I said to the man upstairs softly.

  A chill ran up my spine as I got the thumbs up from Johnny. I tightened the grip on my weapon, said another quick prayer and gave him a thumbs up in return.

  The night was calm and windless. No sounds scurried up from the nearby pond, no animals calling into the night and singing their lonely songs. It was as if there was no one alive but Johnny, Kember, and I. That was bad, as there would be nothing to mask the startup of the aircraft, which for all intense and purposes would be extremely noticeable… and very loud.

  I watched with great anxiety building as Johnny fumbled around in the cockpit and I began to worry that maybe he couldn’t fly the bird as he had stated earlier. Perhaps he had gotten a bit ahead of himself, thinking it would be easy. I felt the need to turn and run back to the small room and let him deal with what was surely to come any second now.

  I was about to turn when I heard a foreign noise and looked to see the aircraft starting up. There was a slight whine, which was followed several seconds later by the turbine engine kicking in and powering up. He’d done it, the bird was coming alive and soon every soldier on the base would be rushing out to stop us. I couldn’t let that happen.

  “Here it goes,” I said and dug in to my firing position. I had been versed lightly on the use of firing sectors. To explain it in layman’s terms, it just meant that my weapon only had so many degrees in either left or right in which I could shoot before I’d cross my firing line and accidentally shoot the wrong people. From where I was oriented, I covered from four o’clock to eight o’clock. Anything past eight was a danger to Johnny and anything less than four shouldn’t be there in the first place.

  The rotor blades began to spin and pick up speed. The whooshing sound they made cutting through the air increased and I felt my heart pull itself back up into the middle of my chest. The turbine whined heavier and I loved the sound it made. I had to physically pull myself back into the moment to cover the tent fronts to my left, in case the soldiers scrambled out them faster than first thought. The wind from the steel bird flooded out in all directions and having my NVG’s on kept me from having to look away.

  Within sixty seconds the aircraft was maintaining itself and ready to fly. Johnny waved for me to approach and I did. Even with all the heavy gear on and my Daughter snuggly in the jerry rigged backpack, I was amazed at how quickly I was able to cover the short distance to the aircraft. I reached the door on the right side of the bird, opened the rear one and crawled in. “Can we go now?” I yelled to Johnny, although with his helmet on and the blasting sound from the whipping blades and roar of the turbine, he didn’t hear me at first.

  He turned to see what I was doing and I asked again. He pointed to a headset just above my head. I put them on and screamed into the mic, deafening him by accident. I pulled Kember from the backpack, she was very much awake now and crying, although under the mechanical tempest, I was unable to hear her.

  “Can we go now?” I asked.

  “Get up front!” Johnny shouted to me.

  I took the headset off and was back out on the ground, shutting the rear passenger door before moving to the front. I opened the side door and was about to crawl in when I spotted several large groups of soldiers with weapons pointed at us and Andrews standing there amongst them with his arms crossed. I brought my weapon partially up, although the look he held at me was not one of anger for stealing from him, but rather a look someone would give you when letting you barrow their car to go on a trip. I stopped and stared back at him as several soldiers hurried about with their weapons, getting ready to put a swift end to our plan.

  “My son is out there,” I mouthed to him, knowing that he could not hear me.

  He mouthed something in return. Now I’m no expert when it comes to reading lips, nor will I ever admit to being one, but as clear as day I saw him tell me to go. I’m sure of it. So much so that I crawled into the bird and put on my headset.

  “Get us the hell out of here!” I told Johnny, who had apparently not seen Andrews.

  The aircraft whined louder, as the rotor blades cut brutally through the still night air. I could feel the ground float away as Johnny got us airborne and I watched the soldier’s line up to fire, and then suddenly they lowered their weapons and stood down. Johnny could see the same thing, even better since it was unfolding on his side of the aircraft.

  “Why aren’t they shooting at us?” He asked.

  “Who gives a shit? Get us out of here before they do though,” I replied, noticing how weird my voice sounded through the intercom system.

  The MD500 spun right; putting our tail rotor toward Andrews and his soldiers. I grew a bit concerned that one of the soldiers may inadvertently fire at us, causing the rest of them to open up as well. I wasn’t a mechanic, but was certain that with the turbine outlet behind us, the tail and tail rotors as well, if there was ever a spot to bring us down, that would be it. I braced myself and looked over my shoulder to see Kember crying and visually shaken at what was happening. “It’s okay, baby. We’re getting out of here, just hang on,” I told her. She couldn’t hear me of course, so I strained over the seat and attempted to put a headset on her. She wasn’t having it, and in a rage slapped the device out of my hand where it fell to the floorboard and out of my reach.

  Turning around I was confronted with the wall of trees that had separated us in great distance from the falling skyscrapers from earli
er. I braced hard and pushed against the floor with my feet as my hands found suitable places to attach permanently.

  “Holy shit, Man! What are you doing?” I shouted.

  “I’ve got this,” Johnny responded.

  “You’re going to fly us right into the ground!”

  Swiftly though, the nose pitched up and the wall of trees disappeared from sight. I looked to Johnny who was smiling at me.

  “I had to drop the nose to gain some speed in case they started shooting at us,” he said.

  The burning city was rushing toward us, but then suddenly drifted away as we gained altitude and fled into the darkened night. Our heading would not take us over the city and I was even further relieved about that.

  “What just happened back there?” Johnny asked me.

  I shook my head. “I don’t quite know.”

  “They didn’t fire a single round at us, which they could have done and ended this little plan in a ball of fire,” he added.

  I looked at him, still braced for some unknown reason, as if I expected a missile to come from nowhere and blow us out of the sky. Of course bracing would no more stop the violent collision with the ground, ending our lives in mere seconds, if we weren’t killed in the initial explosion from the guided missile or rocket.

  “Let’s worry about that later. Right now we need to put as much distance between us and them as possible. They do have another helicopter, remember?”

  Johnny nodded and slid the stick forward. The MD500 responded instantly and we dove toward the earth. I tightened the grip on my seat and wished I would have said nothing to his comment. I’d only ever been in a helicopter once in my life. It had been a short twenty minute flight out over a pristine lake and mountain side, and then back to the pad. I was sixteen and fearless. I wasn’t sixteen anymore and I damn sure wasn’t fearless.

  Johnny pulled the map and opened it. “I took the marks you put on the map and studied them pretty good. We just need to figure out which area to stop at first, that way I can work out our exfil route,” he stated.

  I did my best not to notice that we were flying through a dark sky and he was more focused on the map then he was the environment in front of us. I took a glance at the map and pointed at the far pen mark. “We need to start at his house. There’s a good chance he could still be there,” I said.

  “Okay, if that’s what you want,” Johnny said and folded the map up and put it away.

  The glow of the burning city slowly faded off to our right. I watched it from a better perspective until only the faint glow could be detected, at which point I turned my attention to Kember. She was sitting in the twin seats behind us watching the world slip by underneath. I wasn’t sure if she was amazed at what she was seeing, or just so frightened that she didn’t know how to react. Either way she was quiet and that gave me time to think ahead at what I would do when we arrived.

  There was a silence in the helicopter that no one dared to break. Only the obvious noises of the turbine running and the blades cutting through the air registered. Johnny and I said nothing more as we both watched the moonless sky slowly pass by, like grains of sand in an hour glass. Hours of build up to a possible demise gave way to what could be hours of sheer boredom.

  I found myself watching Johnny’s hands and feet as he flew us toward the next chapter in our lives. He made it look easy; no doubt years of experience could do that to a person. I thought about the things I had done in my life and wondered if anyone had ever watched me and thought the exact same thing? Wondered in the back of their mind if they could be as good as me someday?

  Of course not, that is unless they had severely low expectations in life. I was a nobody, no one special, nor would I ever be. I bent pipes at a dead-end job for a living. I lived from paycheck-to-paycheck, had no real goals or much of an ambition. I did want to be better though. I just didn’t know how or where to start… I guess that was my excuse for not trying. It’s amazing how we can easily blame others for our own problems, or simply create an excuse that makes us feel better about being worthless.

  “We’re coming up on the drop off point,” Johnny told me. “Probably three minutes or so.”

  I took a quick gander out of the bubble cockpit and saw the lights of the small town emerge through the low hanging clouds. We descended to a lower altitude and swung along the outskirts of the city, doing our best not to attract very much attention. We had no idea what was down there and the unknown was the perfect catalyst to keep us out of range of predators as well as military weapons that could easily have been seized by locals when the shit hit the fan, so to speak.

  “Okay, now remember. When I put this thing down you’re gonna have to haul ass out of the area, because the noise of this bird will attract a lot of attention, quickly,” he stated.

  “Got it,” I replied and cursed myself for not thinking about that beforehand. It was bad enough that I was going to be weighed down with so much gear, but now I would have to push harder than I had anticipated to keep from becoming a victim. I thanked my lucky stars that my weapon was light and I could carry lots of ammo for it. Had it been something larger with a greater killing range, I would have been limited in the amount of bullets I could carry, further increasing my need to stay undetected. And let’s face it. I was no Navy SEAL, Army Ranger, or Delta Force operator. I was a normal Joe, apparently one with a death wish disguised as a good intention.

  Johnny pointed. “Okay, there’s your drop off point,” he stated, pitching the bird into a shallow right hand turn.

  I strained through the darkness to see the landing area. The street lights and a few lawn lights of several houses helped to bring my eyes to the familiar single story brick house I had so many times before pulled up to. It was kind of odd to see it from a few hundred feet up.

  “I’m going to put us down in the cul-de-sac over there, that way you can slip between those two houses and use the cover of darkness to hit your ex’s house,” he added and made a sharper turn the opposite direction. “I’d also advice that you go in through the backdoor instead of the front. It’ll make you less of a target to someone that’s hold up in their house shooting anyone that comes near.”

  Great! I thought to myself and rocked a full mag into my SBR and slid the sling over my head and under my right shoulder. I took another look at Kember; who was still either amazed at flying or scared to the point of remaining perfectly still. “I’m gonna go get, bubba now. You be good for, Johnny and stay safe,” I said to her.

  She looked only briefly at me before shifting her big blues eyes back to the window in the door. She could now see the lights from the approaching ground and she pointed and made some off the wall noise.

  “Get ready to go,” Johnny said as he made a few corrections and began bringing the bird back to earth.

  I chambered the first round, ensured the weapon was ready in case I had to shoot just seconds after exiting the chopper, and then slid my right hand down to my hip to feel the Beretta firmly seated in its holster. The chest rig felt tight, like it was shrinking with each passing minute. I pulled at it a few times and was unable to get the feeling to go away. My mind stumbled back to the shooting process and I brought up the proper shooting fundamentals that the Young Woman had taught me, trying my best to load them into my memory. That’s also when I realized that I couldn’t just start shooting if I ran into a group of them, as it would surely draw more. I pulled the suppressor from a narrow pocket on my chest rig and swiftly screwed it onto the end of my weapon.

  “Ten seconds,” Johnny said. “Take this.” He handed me a small radio.

  “What’s this?” I asked.

  “Military grade radios, that way we can talk to each other. So when you find your boy just call me and I’ll come get you two,” he said.

  I took several deep breaths of air, letting them out through my mouth as I saw the world coming up at us. Seconds later I felt the bird touch the earth. I swung the door open, jumped out and shut the door, taking only a fe
w steps before hunkering down as the bird lifted off and quickly flew away.

  “What the hell am I doing?” I asked myself as I lie there in silence waiting and watching. The buzz of the helicopter disappeared and I was all alone in the dark, and of course my mind made the best of the situation by forcing me to hear things normal in nature, although I took them as multiple threats closing in on my position, but unable to determine which direction they were coming from. I was at a loss of what to do next.

  I couldn’t just wait around for them to find me. I jumped to my feet and hurried across someone’s front yard, slid between two houses and stopped near the rear to take a peek out into the further unknown. From where I was I could see the back of my ex’s house. They had a deck which I had never noticed before, although I did remember the door leading from the deck into the back of the residence. That would probably be my best point of entry, as their living room, dining room, and kitchen where all one large room. It would be easier for me to asses any threats and deal with them, rather than going around to the front and maybe getting shot in the back by a trigger happy, frightened neighbor.

  The only problem that remained was the long run over open ground to the rear of the house where my son could be hiding. The NVG’s would help me to see any threats that were out of my normal vision, it would however, not point out those threats I could not see until I was upon them. Point in question, the house I was about to make entry into. I could not see through walls nor could the NVG’s, so I had to take my time and remain quiet. The last thing I needed was a house full of dead folks lining up to get a piece of me for making too much noise.