Katrina watched Dreya take the family’s small children to pick out a toy from a large box. Pvt. Augusta was a young Army soldier who’d been on temporary assignment at the base when the bombs dropped. His wife and baby were in Fort Worth, Texas. Radio contact had yet to be established in that area. Augusta filled the box dutifully by bringing back a toy on every raiding mission.
The little boy pulled out a stuffed dinosaur and clenched it tightly to his chest. He smiled up to his mom and she laughed as she pushed her shy daughter to pick out a toy of her own. The Navy Corpsman came into the building and waited patiently for the girl to get her toy.
They all cheered loudly when she finally picked a princess crown and wand. HM1 Benson helped the girl fix the crown on her head. Then they had a royal parade to the temporary medical area to assess the family for any major concerns. Katrina laughed as she watched two Corpsman turn into roaring dinosaurs at the end of the parade as they exited the room with the little boy and his father.
“You know, you used to be a cute kid.” Sgt. Major Floyd ruffled the top of his daughter’s head with his calloused palm. “What happened?”
“Maybe dropping me in a bunker full of other kids that are supposed to repopulate the earth with babies that carry this dandelion gene so that we’d all be submissive to this new government jaded me just a little bit.” Katrina turned to face her father. “What do you think dad?”
“Nope. It was long before that. I think it was right about the time you started talking that you lost your cuteness. Eh. Those were the good old silent days.” Katrina’s eyes widened and her dad started walking to the door. “Come with me,” he said. “We need to go have a discussion with those dandelion kids. For some reason, they actually like to hear you talk.”
“Dad,” Katrina said in frustration. It fell on deaf ears. She quickly ran to catch up with him.
*
Leroy and Rose were shoveling the last of the food from their trays into their mouths when Katrina and her dad walked in.
“Did you want seconds?” The Sgt. Major asked as he raised an eyebrow.
“Those were seconds.” Cpl. Boulder laughed from the other table.
Rose blushed. “Thank you for feeding us sir.”
Sgt. Major Floyd smiled. “Eat as much as you want kid. But come talk to me in my office when you get done. Also, don’t call me sir. I work for a living.” He walked out of the cafeteria and the kids put their trays in the bin.
Katrina and Cpl. Boulder walked with them to the office. “Sorry my dad sounds so rough,” she told Rose. “It’s just the way he speaks. He is actually a giant teddy bear.”
Rose laughed. “So I don’t understand why you were in the shelter if he is fighting them.”
“That is a story that would take a book to tell,” Katrina smiled. “But I can give you the short version. This new government has been planning to lower the population for a while. It was a bunch of rich elites who thought we were all disposable. My dad and some other military guys got wind of it years ago. They tried to warn people. Those guys started to disappear, whisked away to CIA black camps mysteriously or for bogus charges. The group my dad was working with switched gears. They went underground and took key roles in this new government plan. I don’t know all the details, but I know they were trying to crumble the plan from the inside out.”
“Is he still working as a double agent then?” Rose asked as they turned the corner.
Katrina cringed and Cpl. Boulder chuckled. “Uh, not anymore,” she stuttered. “That was kind of my fault.” Boulder pushed the door open to the office. “I’ll tell you more later,” Katrina whispered as they walked into the room.
“Sit down kids.” Sgt. Major Floyd motioned toward the empty chairs. “Did you get enough to eat?” Leroy and Rose nodded their heads. “Good. This is Major Sprague, Senior Chief Dillon, and Gunnery Sgt. Drake.” The three men nodded to the kids and then moved over to the other side of the room. Leroy and Rose nervously took their seats.
Katrina sat down beside them in the chair closest to her father. “They are going to ask you some questions about where you were at.” Katrina smiled at the teens. “This is just so they can figure out how best to help. If it is uncomfortable or if you need a break, let me know.”
Sgt. Major Floyd sat as his desk. “Can you tell us exactly what happened at your shelter that made you run?”
Rose looked to Leroy. He took a breath and began to speak. “It was the first new video. We were fine with the Nanny lectures and the survival training in the morning. The evening of the day that the doors unlocked, a small group of guards showed up. There were maybe ten of them. We gathered in the common room. They said the rest of their unit was coming soon. They would bring us fresh food and more supplies, but we had to listen and not cause any problems. We were nervous but it didn’t seem like that big of a deal. I think we were relieved to know we weren’t alone or something.” Rose’s bottom lip quivered but she bit it to hold it still.
“Then they played that stupid propaganda video,” Leroy continued. “The next day, the guards left us alone in the afternoon for hygiene. Thomas called an emergency meeting. We were panicked, but he came up with a plan. We’d all scatter and confuse them. Since there were six tunnels and we all chose to dig out, we could run in different directions.” Katrina thought back to Lark and how he convinced everyone to just dig one tunnel. She quickly pushed away the thoughts of that awful place.
“We didn’t want to wait since we had no idea when the new unit would be coming. Thomas said, really we all said, this new government was bad news and we didn’t want any part of it. I wish we had a better plan though.” Leroy’s voice cracked and Katrina reached over to touch his shoulder.
Rose exhaled as she stared at the Sgt. Major. “They didn’t try to stop us,” she said. “Just told us to stop and when we didn’t, they started shooting. Real bullets. We heard our friends screaming. Leroy grabbed me and pulled us into a rocky ravine. I looked back to see Thomas fall. Blood was pouring from his head. He was a good leader.” Rose swallowed.
“We ran and didn’t stop for a whole day. Leroy found a horse trail that led us to a ranch. The people weren’t there so we…” Rose looked over to the men standing against the wall. Katrina nodded for her to continue. “We, um, borrowed some supplies and kept moving.” Sgt. Major Floyd chuckled, and Rose turned to smile at him. “We’ve been moving ever since. We stayed far away from the main roads and hidden from the military vehicles, but we were stupid and got caught sleeping in a house by a patrol.”
“We picked you up at the site near Cortez, Colorado,” Gunny Drake spoke. “You kids sure walked a long way.”
“The wrong way too.” Leroy shook his head. “We were trying to make it to the Southern California coast.”
Sgt. Major Floyd nodded. “Well you are a lot closer now than you were before. I know where Shelter 15 is. There was a unit sent there a few weeks ago. I don’t know much else though, it’s been radio silent from them. Did you see any of the kids survive?”
“I don’t know Sgt. Major,” Leroy whispered. “We didn’t stick around to look.”
“That’s exactly what you should have done, son.” Sgt. Major Floyd stood up. “If you had panicked and froze neither you nor Rose would have made it. You did good.” Katrina saw relief cross Leroy’s eyes briefly before he dropped his head again. She smiled up at her dad. “You kids can go now,” he continued. “We have what we need.”
Leroy and Rose paused at the door. “Can I ask what your plans are?” Rose turned back to face the Sgt. Major.
He ran his hand across the back of his neck as he looked to the men leaning against the wall. “What do you think?” he asked.
Katrina watched their faces harden. Senior Chief Dillon raised an eyebrow. Major Sprague’s lip curled slightly. She knew what the answer would be before Gunny Drake even opened his mouth to say, “Let’s go get those government bastards.”
The three men grunted in response.
Chapter 5
“What did you guys do today?” Katrina asked as she set her tray of dinner on the table between Dreya and James. She motioned for Leroy and Rose to join them.
“I was helping the housing office crew check in the new refugees with Dreya,” Mia said as she picked up her fork. “They think one of the families will take them in soon. I guess the husband used to work with one of the Marines back in the day. Small world.”
Katrina smiled. “Small military more like.” She turned to James. “What were you up to?”
He swallowed a mouthful of mashed potatoes. “Jayden and I were training today.”
“Training for what?” Katrina asked as she scooped up a spoonful of peas.
“I don’t know,” James said as he returned to his food. “I guess training to be prepared. Some of the military guys asked if we wanted to work out with them. Then we went to the range. I think I’m going to go back with them tomorrow.”
Katrina held her spoon in midair and then delicately placed it back on the tray. “Why are you training with them? There is no reason to. Unless you want to go out on the missions.” Her words were careful, and she searched his face as she spoke.
“I don’t know.” James shrugged. “I want to see what they are doing and maybe see if I could help in some way.”
Katrina’s heartbeat quickened. “Did you know about this?” she asked Dreya.
“Know about what?” Dreya’s forehead scrunched in confusion. “Training with the military? Jayden just told me. What’s wrong with it? They just want to learn.” Dreya looked over to her sister.
“It beats washing dishes all day,” Mia laughed. “Can I come tomorrow too?”
“Me too,” Leroy said, and Rose smiled at him.
Katrina could hear her heart pounding in her ears throughout the rest of dinner.
*
I’ll just tell my dad that James can’t train with them anymore, Katrina thought as she walked down the hall. She put her hand on her face. My dad is never going to agree to that. Why didn’t I see this coming? Katrina let out a groan.
“Am I allowed to walk you to your room?” James asked, coming up behind her. “Or is that a violation of the no boyfriend rule?”
Katrina turned around. “I’m kind of tired right now and I have some stuff I need to think over.”
“Please don’t do that,” he said. She stopped walking when she heard the pain in his voice. “I know you are mad at me about training with the guys. Can we talk about it?”
Katrina sighed. “Let’s go sit on the steps outside. The Sgt. Major probably has cameras in my room.”
“You’re not serious?” James gulped.
“No,” Katrina laughed, “but I’m sure that he has spies everywhere.”
*
They sat on the concrete steps out back of the building which overlooked the parking lot. The glow from the streetlamps made the world orange tinted. The evening was still hot but not as unbearable as the middle of the day. James leaned back against the building and Katrina crossed her legs as she sat in front of him.
“Okay,” James said. “Tell me what you are thinking. Why is it upsetting you that I’m curious about the training?”
“Isn’t that obvious?” Katrina looked over his head. “I don’t want you to go fight.”
James smiled. “I don’t think we have a choice. Look at the world right now. We need to fight to take it back.”
“There is always a choice.” Katrina crossed her arms. “You can choose not to join the military.”
“And what would you have me do? Wash dishes for the rest of my life and let someone else die protecting me?”
“That’s not what I’m saying.” Katrina looked at the cracks in the concrete. “I’m just saying that you don’t have to join a group that goes actively looking for a fight.”
“You know bad things happen when good men do nothing.” James winked.
“Save it.” Katrina put her hand up. “I’ve heard this speech before.”
“This isn’t like you.” James stared at her intently. “Well maybe the old you, but not the girl who sacrificed her freedom for her friends.”
“That’s different. I didn’t join the military and we aren’t talking about me.”
“Well what are we really talking about then?”
“You joining the military.” She threw her hands into the air. “I don’t want you to join.”
“Why?” James’ eyes were murky blue as he studied her face.
“Because I absolutely refuse to be with someone in the military.” Katrina slammed her palms on the concrete and instantly regretted the bone jarring sensation.
James burst out laughing as she scrambled to her feet. “Wait,” he tried to catch his breath as he grabbed her hand. “Is this some promise you made to yourself because of your dad?” Katrina glared at him. Laughter bubbled again in his chest and he coughed it away. “Listen. That was a promise you made before the world ended. Maybe it’s time to rethink your convictions just a little.”
James smiled at her, but Katrina’s face remained cold. “Hey,” he said softly. “It’s okay.” He cupped her chin in his hand and leaned close to her face. “We will figure this out together.”
“Arms length body distance,” Sgt. Major Floyd called out from the window above them. “Friends don’t need to be that close.”
“Dad!” Katrina stomped her foot on the step. “Stop spying on me.”
James laughed again. “Sorry about that Sgt. Major. She had an eyelash on her cheek.”
“Well leave her eyelashes where they are son and get inside the building.”
She rolled her eyes as James held the door open for her. “Orders are orders,” he said as he shrugged.
Katrina stormed past him and went to her room.
*
“Jayden really likes training with the soldiers,” Dreya said to Katrina as they walked to the housing office. The sun beat down on Katrina’s head, making her hair burn, but the walk was helping to clear her mind until Dreya brought it all up again. She had been fighting with James for a week and he wasn’t budging.
Stubborn jerk, she thought as she kicked a rock out of her path.
“They aren’t all soldiers,” Katrina said as they crossed the street to the sidewalk. “Only the Army ones are called soldiers.”
“What’s the difference?” Dreya asked. She pushed a sweaty piece of hair out of her face and the wind caught it like a sail.
“They’ll get mad at you if you say it wrong. Army is soldiers. Navy is sailors. Airforce is airmen. Coast guard, coasties. And Marines are…” Katrina turned to look at the giant flag poles near the base entrance. All five branches flew their flags along with the yellow Gadsden flag. Just above them danced the upside down American flag. “Marines are just called Marines.”
Dreya raised an eyebrow and Katrina shrugged. “You should know this if you are going to be a military girlfriend.” Katrina grimaced at the word.
“What’s so bad about that?” Dreya smiled at her friend. “Why do you hate it so much?”
“It’s not that I hate it.” Katrina started to walk faster. “It’s just that I grew up with this. I’m proud of my dad, don’t get me wrong, but this isn’t the life that I wanted to live forever.”
“I don’t think we have a choice anymore,” Dreya looked over her shoulder to the flags. “This is our reality now. We have to fight.”
“Are you okay with Mia fighting?” Katrina turned to watch Dreya’s face. “What if she gets hurt?”
Dreya smirked. “I’m not going to be able to stop Mia from doing anything. At least if she is training, I know she will be prepared. Jayden will be with her too.” Dreya’s smile softened as she looked to Katrina. “And James will be with them.”
Katrina exhaled. “You know, we don’t have to do this. We can get to the cabin still.”
Dreya opened the door to the housing office. The two young kids from the last rescue mission ran up to greet her. “
We will get there someday.” She laughed as she dropped down to her knees to hug them. “We just have work to do first.”
Chapter 6
A knot was in Katrina’s stomach as she stood on the tarmac at 5 o’clock in the morning. It was still dark, but the floodlights would soon turn off as dawn broke the sky. She shivered even though it wasn’t that cold. Early mornings would still be warm for another month.
Mechanical failure. Her thoughts were racing. Maybe the helicopters won’t be able to fly. Maybe a radio call will come in last minute saying they don’t need to go. If I break his leg right now, he doesn’t have to leave.
“How are you doing kid?” Sgt. Major Floyd asked, bringing Katrina out of her spiraling denial. Her dad was dressed in full combat gear.
Ready for another deployment, Katrina thought. Except this time, it was different. James walked away from the group of men he was standing with. He was dressed in the same gear as her father but his was new and clean. The Sgt. Major’s gear was creased and faded from the years of use.
“I’m fine.” Katrina smiled at her dad. “It’s a quick trip, right?” Sgt. Major Floyd nodded. “Why does he have to go though?” Katrina whispered as James approached.
“You think I’d leave you two alone unsupervised?” Her dad laughed as he kissed the top of her head. “I’ll take care of him for you,” he whispered back.
“Thank you, daddy.” Her face relaxed with gratitude as she looked at him. “Love you. Stay Safe. See you later.”
“Love you.” Her father messed up Katrina’s hair with his hand. “See you later.” Sgt. Major Floyd nodded to James. “Two minutes till formation,” he said as he walked away to talk with the other families.
James nodded in return. “Aye, Sgt. Major.” He reached over and grabbed Katrina’s hand. “Hey.” James winked at her. His shoulders were relaxed but she could see the worry in his eyes.
Pure muscle memory took over and Katrina pushed away all her own fears. “You know your haircut isn’t all that awful.” She smiled. “And I’ll be okay,” she said even though the words sounded fake to her own ears.
Project Dandelion: Resistance Page 2