by Ts Alan
“What?” Marisol gasped in shock and disbelief.
“It’s true,” Ryan revealed. “She’s the colonel’s daughter.”
“Well, now I think you do owe us an explanation, Major,” Kermit told Ryan.
“Don’t think me ungrateful for what you all did for me, and don’t take what I’m about to say the wrong way, but you shouldn’t have come back. Everything changed after you left. J.D. has changed. Hell, I’ve changed. I used to be an actor. Now look at me, second in charge in the middle of a war with a madman.”
“So, what happened?” Sam said, interrupting. “How did J.D. end up with a transmute for a daughter?”
“You saw Paul Wiese, the one J.D called Piss Pants? You see he’s a warrant officer now.”
Ryan tried to condense the events of what had happened since they left, but even the highlights were lengthy.
“This girl, this transmute sat in the truck and kept holding him all the way back to the armory,” Ryan told them. “And when we got here she followed us in. Well, the doctor freaked when he saw her, and Luci’s reaction was unsettling. I ended up attending to J.D.’s wounds because Luci wouldn’t let France anywhere near him.”
Kermit was impatient with Ryan’s long explanation, which still hadn’t answered any of their questions. “Son, can we speed this up, and get to the crux of things?” Kermit asked, interrupting, having nearly run out of patience.
“Sure. So, J.D. is out for hours. When he wakes, he can barely remember what happened. Doesn’t remember you left, doesn’t remember getting shot, doesn’t seem to remember anything. When I told him, Luci was outside his door waiting and she was pregnant. He looked at me, got out of bed, pushed me out the door, and then locked it. In his room for three days, won’t come out, won’t eat, and refuses to see anyone. Then someone drives up to the gate. Next thing I know there’s J.D. coming out of his room, all dressed in his blacks, machetes strapped on and machine gun in hand. He orders me to follow him. That was the first time I ever heard him actually give an order. So, I did. We went to the gate. That’s how Lieutenant Alexander joined our ranks; he accepted J.D. as his commander. The weird thing he really was a Lieutenant and actually had been a member of this armory.”
“What about the baby? How can that girl be J.D.’s? She’s too old,” Marisol wanted to know.
“Yeah,” David added. “And where was Luci all that time?”
“I’m sorry, Marisol, the child is his. He named her Caitlin Marcela. Caitlin, he told me because it was a good Irish name. But he never did say why Marcela.”
Marisol knew, and she was surprised. Marcela had been her mother’s name.
“As for Caitlin’s age, she’s almost a year old. However, the doctor says she aged faster because of her transmute DNA. He puts her physical age around four or five and maturity around seven. She’s extremely bright, and very precocious, as you saw… As for Luci, she sat outside his room for three days, never made an attempt to get in. Just sat patiently waiting for J.D. to open the door and let her in. He did eventually, the day Lieutenant Alexander came.
After Caitlin was born he made sure everyone in the armory knew Luci was the mother of his child, and that they were both to be treated with dignity and respect or else get out. There were 15 or 16 of us back then. Everyone accepted it without question, as would any new refugee or they were turned away.”
Kermit asked, “So what’s all this about women and children?”
“It was Paul who first told us about them. He said he had heard and seen things when he was a part of Stone’s group, about women and children held captive and abused. Then later, a few days after Lieutenant Alexander arrived, Peter the dwarf came. He told us about Stone, too. Well, sort of. As you heard, Stone cut out his tongue, so he had to write his story down.”
“So who is this Stone? I thought Piss Pants was part of that Renquist gang.”
“Richard Barlow called himself Renquist. Barlow was Edward Stone’s enforcer. Edward Stone is one sick piece of shit… Anyway, J.D. starts leaving the little one in my care and goes out on patrols with a few of our men looking for Stone’s prisoners, doesn’t have any luck. One night there’s this fire on the west side. J.D. goes out to investigate, takes Luci, Sergeant Schumacher, and the Dunphy brothers with him. After an hour or so Peter Senior comes back, says that they were ambushed and everyone is dead. We were getting ready to leave when I heard this angry scream just resonate in the night air. I knew it was the colonel. We looked for him but all we found was the smoldering bonfire, that and the burnt corpses of the Dunphy brothers, and a lot of Stone’s men torn apart. The next night the colonel shows up. He’s all crusted in blood. But there’s no Luci. He never spoke a word. He went up to his room and shut the door. He didn’t come out for a day. I went to check on him. I heard him weeping. That was the last time I ever heard him cry. That was the day he changed.”
“He cried over her?” Marisol asked.
Ryan responded to Marisol quickly. He knew by her tone she was hurt.
“No mi hijita. Usted no entiende. Él clamó para que usted también. He cried after you left, too. He cried for all of you. Those three days when he locked himself away, he was sobbing. I didn’t know what he was crying about at first, but then one day I found Caitlin in his room looking at a photo. It was all of you. It was the one I took before you left that night. He had made a shrine of it. That’s when I knew he was crying for losing all of you.”
There was a silence for a moment. They were perplexed by this man they had once called friend, a man who had helped to save them and who had later, by election, become their leader. Why was it that a person who had once been so caring and loving toward them was now so cold and distant? David broke the silence.
“I thought you said you didn’t speak Spanish?”
“If you are referring to that day at Astor Place,” Ryan replied, “when I asked J.D. why he was speaking Spanish to me. I never said I didn’t know Spanish.”
David responded, “Oh.”
“Yes, that’s all very nice, but what in the hell is going on?” Kermit asked. “And why the attitude and indifference? Even if he had something against the rest of us at least I would have expected he’d be happy to see Marisol. He acts like he doesn’t care. Was he in love with Luci? Is that it?”
“Oh, no, no. You really don’t understand. I don’t think he was ever in love with Luci. I think he did love her, but she was the mother of his child. It was more of an act of responsibility and loyalty. As for his behavior, he distances himself from everyone. He’s afraid he won’t be able to protect you.”
“He doesn’t think we can protect ourselves?” Sam asked.
“He stopped getting emotionally involved with people after Luci died. He has no friends. No attachment, no pain. Everyone here was either civilian or one of his subordinates. It’s not that he doesn’t care, it’s because he does. You were the closest thing he had to family, and now he fears for you. He feels responsible for everyone. Every time someone died under his command, whether it was a soldier or civilian, it took something away from him. He’s taken on the burden of saving all of humanity and it’s rotted his spirit.
Now gentlemen, and Marisol, I must end this. I have a meeting with the colonel. We are doing final departure in the morning and I have to finalize our plans with him. Please make arrangements with your base for a pick-up point. I’ll be back shortly with an escort for you.”
Ryan moved for the door, but was interrupted by Kermit.
“Hold on there, son. Why is it everyone is trying to get rid of us? Aren’t you a bit curious to why we came back?”
“Kermit, we don’t have time to be curious. There’s too much going on right now. Its best if you all go back to England like Colonel Nichols asked. It’s better that way, better for all of us.”
“We didn’t come back just for the sake of wanting to, we came back because
we had to,” Kermit informed Ryan. “England doesn’t exist for us anymore more. We were forced to leave. We had to come back, everyone.”
“What do you mean by everyone?”
“I mean every last U.S. citizen—civilians and armed forces alike. We left England and are now at McGuire Air Force Base… 94 of us.”
“Is this something the colonel should be concerned about? What was the specific nature of your mission?’
“Mission? There’s no mission. The Chiefs of Staff gave us permission to look for you as a courtesy. They knew the rescue team that extracted us last year shot J.D. and left him to the half-mutes. So they gave me permission to come back to the armory to see if you were still here and if by some miracle J.D. was still alive.”
“Is that the only reason you’ve come, or was it the doctor?”
“Why would you even ask that, after everything? Why would you suspect an ulterior motive?” Kermit asked disappointedly.
“Your arrival the day before withdrawal is suspicious. And in these times, everything is suspect to me; especially when you come with two Navy Seals. Are they aware that J.D. isn’t a real colonel?”
“You know us. How could you think like that?” Marisol pleaded.
“Listen. There’s no secret agenda here, Major,” Kermit enlightened his host. “When we left J.D. was a sergeant, remember? And the doctor was dead. And that’s the way we left it; no one except us knows differently.”
“Yes, but he introduced himself as colonel. They’ll be suspicious. Now, I really must leave you. If there’s anything you need just let the guard at the door know and he’ll arrange it.”
“Wait a minute, wait a minute! Let me finish,” Kermit requested, nearly demanding. There’s more I need to let you know.”
Ryan gave him five more minutes.
5
A Long Journey into Day
“Come,” J.D. spoke, as the knock came to his office door. It was Ryan.
Ryan had earned a Major’s rank and had not only earned the trust, respect, and admiration of the troops and his commander, but was also the only one that J.D. wholeheartedly trusted with his daughter. Not even Paul, though he had earned J.D.’s trust in watching over her when needed, had gained the entitlement of care provider. This honor was exclusively given to Ryan.
“Is everything ready?” J.D. asked.
“Yes, sir.”
“You sure? You know how she loves her music and her movies—and her books. She’ll be quite unhappy if you forgot to pack everything. You know how she can be.”
“Everything is packed, including the Blu-ray player.”
“Good. And are you all set?”
“Begging the commander’s pardon, but I’m not going. My place is here, until the very end.”
J.D. was angry with him. Ryan had never challenged a command decision before.
“Begging the commander’s pardon? No! No, you may not beg my pardon! That wasn’t a request, Major, it’s an order. You will be on that convoy. Do you understand? An order!”
“No sir, I will not. I will not go. I will stay.”
“How dare you. I could shoot you for this.”
“You could, sir. But you won’t. And I still wouldn’t be going.”
“Damn it, Ryan. Cut the crap. You’ve never disobeyed me, why now?”
“Because my job isn’t done here. I told you I wanted to stay and help as many survivors as possible. I told you this the night we made contact with England. That time has not yet come.”
“Goddamnit, Ryan. If the children are alive then Chief Dunne and I can handle it. You know I need you to lead that convoy. And you know you’re the only one I trust with impunity with my daughter and Michael Adam. So Goddamnit! As a friend, I’m asking. Please do this.”
“That’s the first time you’ve ever called me friend. I appreciate that, J.D. You know Caitlin means the world to me, and I would never do anything that would put her in harm’s way. That’s why I have no reservations about staying. Chief Wiese can lead the convoy as well as I. Paul is more than capable of watching over Caitlin and Michael Adam. I wouldn’t say that if I truly didn’t believe it. Paul cares deeply about her. You forget he was expecting his first child before the plague. You’ve never given him the same trust as you’ve given me. The trust he deserves. You should. He would protect her with his life, as would I.”
“Damn you to hell, Ryan Duncan. If our friendship means anything, you’ll take care of your godchild. Damn you, damn you for… just get the hell out before I change my mind and shoot you out of principle.”
“No, sir.”
“What? Going to disobey another order?”
“No, sir. There’s the matter of our friends. I know why they came back, and it concerns me.”
In a way J.D. was actually disappointed when Ryan explained the situation to him. He had hoped that the sole reason for their return was out of concern and interest in finding out what had happened to him, though he was still angry about it all. Even though he had hoped his friends were well and happy, and would never return for their own sake, he had hoped the reason for their abrupt appearance had been motivated by friendship and loyalty. However, that was not the case, at least not in whole.
At least the integrity of his command, what little there was left of it, for the moment would remain intact. After tomorrow it wouldn’t matter what the returning military wanted. They could have the city and what was left of it, which was little, at least below 86th Street. Over many months J.D. and his men had hit as many hospitals, pharmacies, grocery stores, food shops, clothing stores, and anywhere else they could scavenge supplies. Almost all of what they had acquired had been shipped out of the city and up to Mechanicville on two separate occasions. This third and final transport was solely for the purpose of evacuating the armory’s remaining military personnel. However, there was no place for men with deceit in their hearts and blood on their hands in Mechanicville, as the doctor would soon find out.
It was now late August. If necessary, J.D. had hoped to stay until October, but things had not gone as planned. Rodents had ravaged their food stores, and they could not waste vehicle fuel or divert manpower from protecting the armory to travel the distance needed to find a possible replacement source. There was just enough fuel to get them to their destination. Also, there was little remaining diesel to power the generators to last until October, even with conservation efforts. Ammunition was the only supply that was abundant.
Of the twelve men remaining at base only Ryan Duncan and Peter Dunne knew where the survivors had been sent. This was a necessity in assuring the secrecy of the town. That decision had proven to be a wise choice.
Only the senior and second in command of each relocation team mission had been told their destination. There had also been a contingency plan put into place to make sure each convoy wasn’t followed out of the city as an extra measure of security to protect the convoy and their destination. Further security measures had also been taken in keeping the town a secret after arrival. Only one brief transmission four times a month was allowed from the town to the armory, unless there was an emergency. The transmission dates were only known to James Alexander in Mechanicville and Ryan Duncan and J.D. Nichols at the armory, and the dates and times pre-set before the first convoy departed. As a further precaution a codename for the town had been pre-established. Gladly, an emergency call had never come.
This first convoy leadership had been given to third in command of the 69th Infantry Regiment, Major James Alexander. Second mission team leader duty was assigned to Sergeant Katie O’Hanlon. The B-Team, the team that would protect the rear of the convoy was Jonas McGann and Liz Hudson. All together there were 12 soldiers, 34 civilians—mainly men—four cats, one dog, six Humvees, nine LMTV cargo trucks, one MTV LWB truck, three Strykers, and two NYPD Police buses all loaded with supplies that had been stored at a secret storage si
te.
A month later and several weeks ahead of schedule, O’Hanlon and Custode returned to the city with a small team to collect the remaining, civilians—mostly women and children—transport vehicles, and nearly all the outstanding supplies, leaving enough food, fuel, weapons and ammunition for a team of twelve to survive until October, or so they thought.
***
J.D. had made his goodbyes to his daughter, a teary farewell that nearly brought him to his own tears. Although he kept in control of his emotions, yet it had not been easy for him.
“Dawd? Where we go?” Caitlin asked in a concerned tone.
“You, young lady, are going to a special place where you can be outside and run around and play in the grass. A place where you don’t have to worry about bad men trying to hurt you.”
“Dawd, what is gwass?”
Caitlin had rarely been on the outside of the armory. It had been too dangerous for anyone to be outside with the constant threat of attack, so she did not know what grass was, for she had never seen any.
“Grass is… well, it’s green. And… It’s… You know, Cat, I don’t know how to tell you so you’ll understand. You’ll just have to wait and see. But I promise you will love grass. And Katie is there.”
Caitlin had not overlooked her father’s reference to only her going to a special place, and knew that his mentioning of Katie was to distract her.
“Dawd? How come you say Caitlin go. You go, too. Dawd go to special place, too. Okay? Elty and Cheep Weez and Mickel go, too.”
He smiled at her tentatively, trying to cover his uncertainty about Ryan.