by Fiona Quinn
Suz went through the backpack to find the things that she would need handy – light sticks, a compass, and the razor that she had fashioned into what she would call a shank for lack of a better word. She made sure the camel bladder was full. She decided that she could leave the weight of the blow up mattress and the sleeping bag, but they might need the tarp, especially if they got caught in another deluge.
As a second thought, Suz sliced the tarp in half. One half would be their ground cover and shelter if need be; with the other half, Suz made the boys ponchos of their own. The reflective side would help them stay warm as they walked. If they got overheated, they could just turn them inside out. She made a necklace for each of them with the chem-light sticks. If someone were coming after them on the trail, they could hide those underneath their arms. But they’d need something to keep them on track.
She picked up and thought through each piece in the backpack. She felt mildly more prepared for those decisions after reading through the survival guide. But not a hundred percent. She was over-thinking things. She needed to pare down the weight. She might end up having to carry the boys – one at a time to let them rest. But each thing might be the thing that could have kept them alive. Jack help me think. Please. Help me think. Guide my hands. She decided she might need almost everything in there. The playing cards could stay. The Q-tips and Pepto-Bismol could stay. Yes, she might need the rest.
The boys watched her curiously, but she wasn’t willing to reveal the plan until they were standing in front of the fence. She made sure they were all clean, dry, and with mole skin preventively in place on their heels and the balls of their feet. For the first time since she had arrived, Suz opened two MREs. They were a lot of calories, and they’d need them. The boys shared a plate, and she ate the other. Jack said they were fairly unpalatable; but right now, Suz thought they were a five-star meal.
The boys seemed uneasy, and Suz smiled to reassure them. She went to the food tent and brought back the hard-boiled eggs. If this was all the men were eating, they wouldn’t have much stamina to chase after them. They have the four-wheelers somewhere, and we don’t. Suz wasn’t athletic by nature, and neither were the boys. . . All she could do was try.
They ate the eggs.
Suz staged their tent as if they were there tucked into their sleeping bag. She left the cards laying out. Suz wasn’t completely sure that no one checked on them at night while she slept. In the dark this charade might pass.
The sunset call to prayer sounded, she took the boys out the back of the tent, down the back of the row to the far corner of the camp. With shaking fingers, she undid the nut, pulled out the bolt, and put them in her lips. She pulled the fence in and pushed the backpack out of the hole. She signaled to the boys to be quiet. They scooted through the hole. She followed, searching the ground behind her for any telltale signs that they had been there. Seeing none, Suz put the fence back in place – bolt and all, pulled on the back pack, and with a little one’s hand in each of hers. They fast walked down the trail and out of sight.
27
Jack
18:00 Hours Tuesday, Feb. 22nd
Mossad Base, Ciudad Del Este, Paraguay
Ezra pulled up a satellite of the weather. It looked promising. According to computer trajectories for the next twenty-four hours, the heavy rains would be farther to the south and west, and they had a window of clear skies with intermittent drizzle.
Days had gone by, and Jack was chomping at the bit to get them operational.
Sunday. Monday. Now here it was Tuesday, and they were still sitting on their hands. There was nothing to be done; though, it was making Jack nuts. The rain came down so hard for the last few days that visibility was measured in feet. Water ran down the streets like a river bed. No one ventured out. It was a time to hunker down.
Jack had made his way back to Mac’s during one of the rare moments the rain let up a bit, to gather his molle pack and thank his friend for his help. Jack had been camped out in the corner of the Mossad operational base for the last few days on a cot that was a good six inches too short for his body size, using the time to nurse his knee. When the time came, he needed to be in good condition. Ezra had sewn him back together. The antibiotics had kicked in. The ice packs had taken down the swelling. Resting seemed to be making the difference. The pain though, man, it was whipping his butt. He thought he’d probably prefer to take a bullet again rather than have another surgery on his knee.
Now, with the new weather maps green-lighting the mission, they were dressing in night gear. This was it. Jack could feel it in his bones. He was going to find Suz tonight or die trying.
28
Suz
Somewhere between midnight and dawn,
Wednesday, February 23rd
The Forest, Refugio Tatí Yupí, Paraguay
That was it. Suz had taken her last step. Each step of the way — from the time she had been at the hospital with Jack unconscious with post-surgical drugs, to the hide in the woods with the sixteen kids all giggling over Captain Jack stories, to coming home and Jones pushing through her door and her shouldering Jack’s zombie pack — all she kept saying was this was it, she had pushed herself to the limit, she had nothing left. Each time, she had surprised herself and found courage hiding in her toes that she pulled up to her chin and powered on. This time was it, though, for sure.
The boys were walking in their sleep. With their fingers curved into her pants loops and her arm wrapped around their shoulders, they had soldiered on though their eyes had closed a long while ago. There was nothing to see anyway except for the orange glow from her chem-light stick. The night had descended quickly and completely after they left the view of the encampment.
She didn’t know how long they had walked. The only reason she felt that they were headed out of and not farther in to the forest was that this was the way the tire tracks had gone. There were none on the other side of the gate. She had no idea how far they had come or how far they had yet to go. But there was no going back. The decision had been made, and Suz felt it was the only one possible. It was the one that Jack would have made.
“Jack,” Suz whispered. He was probably frantic or broken hearted. He was something. But the one thing he wasn’t was here. Somewhere deep in her cells, she had believed that Jack would know she was in trouble and nothing would stop him from finding her and helping her. But this was Tuesday. She had been gone a week. If he was coming, he’d be here wouldn’t he? He probably saw the start of her letter and the ring. Saw the plane tickets and the man’s name. Thought that someone was supposed to care for her dogs and got hung up. . .decided she wasn’t worth the effort.
Whew! That was a thought. He might think that he was as equally done as she had been. They were done, and she wasn’t worth coming after and confronting. She had been letting go of their relationship one finger at a time. She had known that no Jack in her life meant…well, no Jack in her life. But somehow that message didn’t get to her cells, where she believed that somehow Jack would always be there for her in her time of need. She cycled those thoughts again. And again. Wow. I am such a hypocrite.
No one was coming. It was all on her. Everything that Suz knew and loved about Jack fought against the conclusions she just drew as she moved the children off the trail and behind a large rock that jutted up as big as a car. She sat the boys on a smaller stone. Jack would come no matter what. He would. He just has no way to find me. That’s the problem.
“Sit here. I’m going to make a camp for us and we’re going to sleep.” There was no response. The boys wrapped their arms around each other, holding their twin upright, their eyes still closed.
Suz ran some line from tree to tree in front of the rock as high up as she could reach. The tarp came down to the ground and she used rocks along the edges to hold it outwards. Suz figured if the terrorists were out looking for them with night vision, the tarp and rock would help block their heat signatures. That’s what the survival guide had said, anyway. S
he suspended the hammock. It was some kind of high-tech hanging tent system that she assumed would be considered hyper-cool by people who used this kind of thing. That it was a snap for her to get up and secure was the only thing that Suz really cared about. The guide had been adamant about staying off the ground. Suz couldn’t agree more. The ground was a sponge, and it crawled with things that wriggled and squirmed as the foliage was consumed, digested, and biodegraded. She found the hot sack that Jack had included and put a hand warmer in the bottom.
She had the boys drink, and pee, then helped them navigate into the bed. Suz couldn’t figure out a way to fit in there with them without flipping the base over, she’d have to come up with something else for herself.
Suz sat on the smaller rock, poised to go through the backpack and make a plan to get some rest when she heard a mechanical noise from the path, coming in from the direction they were headed out. She looked over at her handiwork, she thought the three of them were completely hidden from view. She pulled her pack behind the rock and checked the boys. They were sleeping with an intensity one wouldn’t equate with rest. They were sleeping so hard, it looked like work, wrapped in each other’s arms. Pulling the hood of her poncho up over her head, Suz picked up a stick and stood behind the boulder, watching.
Electric ATVs moved down the path. In the low lighting put out by their red headlamps, she couldn’t see anything but black outlines. She counted heads, there were ten in all. That was all she could see. It didn’t look like they were bringing in supplies – more food to bolster the hungry jihadists. She wondered who they were. Reinforcements for the terrorists? People who came to inspect their progress? People dispatched to do something to the children? Whoever they were, she was glad she wasn’t in the camp anymore. Their automatic weapons poked into the air like something out of a dystopian battle scene.
Suz waited for a long time for more people to come in or to leave, for an alarm to sound that they were missing from their tent and a search was under way. The rain drizzled lightly down and Suz was glad because eventually it would obscure their foot prints. Maybe. She hoped it worked that way. She wasn’t sure what the terrorists would do to her if they found her. She knew it wouldn’t be good – so she tried Jack’s thought process – don’t fight a battle you don’t have to fight. Once again, she was smacked in the face with the fact that she was not Jack.
She moved around to sit with her back against the rock. Time past, and Suz fell asleep, her head back, her mouth hung open. She startled awake and wiped drool from her chin. That’s when she heard the rata-tat-tat of machine gun fire, coming from the fort. Thoroughly confused, terrified beyond physical control, Suz crouched behind the outcropping and wept.
29
Jack
01:30 Hours, Wed., Feb. 23rd
The Forest, Refugio Tatí Yupí, Paraguay
The unit moved in a single, silent line at the edge of the pathway. They each wore a communications system around their neck that allowed them to be heard by the movement of air over voice box. They didn’t need to speak aloud. The jungle could be tricky: sometimes, sound waves was muffled by the density of air and foliage; sometimes, noise carried for long distances like it could over water. The operatives meant to limit the chances of arousing attention. They intended to slip in and save the PCs –precious cargo—and grab their mark, get them out before they moved to the next step of their mission. Destroy the cell.
Their ATVs were hidden among the trees two klicks out. They rounded the northern corner of the encampment, heading to the farthest side away from where the terrorists slept. They scanned for a night watch and found none. The jihadists probably felt complacent out here hidden in the thick of the forest. The operatives moved silently into the tree line as their breacher stepped forward, using the bolt cutters to open a pathway in. The sharp metallic snip echoed loud. As soon as the fencing was moved away, they held their position watching for any movement coming from the tents through their night vision goggles. Nothing shifted or changed.
After ten minutes, Rivka pointed her open hand at Ezra and Adam and signaled them toward the commander’s tent. She pointed to Jack and signaled him toward the tent they believed held Suz and possibly Suz and the boys. Low and slow the three edged through the opening. Keeping close to the fence line, they peeled off in their own directions.
Jack came up behind what they were calling “tent B” and used his KABAR to slice the tie downs to open the back flap. He stood for a moment taking in the scene. In the center of the tent a propane heater glowed red. That was the only heat source in the tent. His night vision didn’t pick up the heat signatures on any human forms. He hauled himself over the edge of the platform and flipped up the blankets that covered humps, momentarily afraid that he’d find Suz’s deceased body.
Rivka’s voice played in his ear. “Alpha two, sitrep.”
“Alpha two, confirmation that Molloy was here. There is no one in this tent now.”
“Alpha one sitrep.”
“Alpha one, we have mark secured. There are no other targets in this tent.”
“Alpha one hold tight. Alpha two move to tent A and wait for signal.”
“Alpha two, Wilco. Over.”
The team moved quietly into place, each operative had one tent to disable except Adam; he’d take the whole south-western corner with the latrine, shower, and eating tent. All bullets were to point toward the western face to prevent accidental injuries.
“Males, not females or children,” Rivka said. “Check in.”
“Alpha two in position,” Jack responded.
“Alpha three in position.” And so went the calls until everyone had done their check.
“On my count: three, two, one, move.”
Jack burst through the tent opening and with one step in, trained his gunfire on each of the jihadists. His bullets made popping sounds as they blew through his suppressor. He checked his work, did a headcount, and exited the tent.
“Alpha two complete.”
As each unit member exited their tent, Rivka brought in a remote area lighting system. The terror commander was brought out and made to kneel in front of her. She spoke to him in Arabic. “We are looking for the woman and two boys.”
The commander pointed at tent B.
Rivka looked at Jack, and Jack shook his head. She nodded at Ezra who lifted the commander by the scruff of his neck and moved him to the tent.
“Here? Here is where you kept them?”
The commander nodded. “Yes, Molloy and two boys. They sleep here.” Everything about his face and body language screamed confusion.
“What were the names of the boys?”
He shook his head.
Adam showed up with the cell phone in his hand. He pushed the camera file and showed the video of Ari and Caleb to Jack and Rivka.
“That’s them,” Jack said in English.
“And that’s the interior of the command tent,” Ezra said. “The newspaper is from Sunday.”
“Ezra and Jack stay with me. Over her comms she called, “Beta One, there was a thorough check of the latrine, the shower and dining tents? No sign of the hostages there?”
Adam responded, “Beta One, I have no one in my locations.”
“Copy. Let’s gather what intel we can. We’ll take it back to Base to examine.””
Rivka cupped a hand around her mouth and hollered their names to see if Suz or the children would come out into the open. She shot a look at Jack, and he tried too, hoping Suz would know and trust his voice if somehow she were hiding somewhere within the camp.
Ruby came forward, “We checked the fencing, ours is the only breach.”
While the rest of unit finished up its task, Rivka worked on the commander, trying to gather where the precious cargo had gone. All he gave up was that he was supposed to send the video via satellite to the person who had requested it. Code name “the Bear.” The SAT phone had not worked in the weather. He was hoping to get it out today. It had to be out today.
>
Why?
He didn’t know. Or if he did know, he didn’t say.
“That’s it,” Rivka said into the comms in English. “Have we accounted for all thirty-seven in the cell?” Once that was affirmed, Rivka ordered the unit to exit. They would talk to the commander back on their own turf where they could run his image through the computer system. Find out if he had any vulnerabilities they could exploit to gather more intelligence on the reason for their cell activity.
“Ma’am, I’m going to hang back,” Jack said.
Rivka tipped her head to the side.
“Something happened to Molloy and the children, they didn’t just vanish into thin air. The turd who was running this place seemed damned surprised that she wasn’t in that tent. I need to stay here and see if I can’t figure things out.”
“I’m not going to leave support with you. You’ll be parting ways with us.”
“Understood.”
“I can’t leave you a vehicle, either. We need them to get everyone out.”
“Understood.”
“We’ll be back during daylight if the weather holds. We need to pack the weapons and ammunition out of here. The bomb materials. We’ll destroy the camp then. So depending on how things turn out, we can rally here.”
“I appreciate that.” To be sure, hiking that far to the road on his bum knee, and then finding a vehicle to requisition dressed the way he was and with an AK and molle pack. . .Well, slipping onto the back of someone’s ATV seemed the better route.