Pritis couldn’t stand the silence, so she resorted to pacing around the kitchen area while Owl continued his snooping. Finally, she spoke up again.
“Aren’t you supposed to be heading up and planning for the group that’s going to root out this terrorist organization? Shouldn’t that be where you’re spending your time?”
“What makes you think I’m not doing that now?”
“Unless you think the parents of a toddler are somehow involved with a terrorist organization looking to overthrow the United States of America, then I’d say what you’re doing right now has absolutely nothing to do with what you’ve agreed to do.”
“I prefer to take a holistic approach to life’s challenges, and all the tasks that go along with it. If you prefer I just dropped the whole thing, I’d be happy to go back to living my regular life.”
“That wouldn’t bother me in the least, but I suspect that Dawson and the others wouldn’t be too pleased. Besides, I don’t believe that there isn’t a small part of you that’s intrigued with the prospect of chasing these bastards down.”
Owl came down the steps and into the living room with Pritis.
“Everything in the world fascinates me; I just choose to ignore the majority of it.”
“Of course you do. Life’s easier when you just block out the rest of the world. Closing your eyes and running away like a child isn’t the answer to everything.”
“That’s funny coming from you. Haven’t you and all of yours run away from the rest of the world to your little desert hideaway?”
“We’re still part of a community; we haven’t chosen to live in total isolation. We’re still in touch with humanity, just a smaller slice of it and on our own terms.” Pritis indicated that they move towards the front door, but Owl pulled himself out a seat at the table and sat down, showing no desire to leave the house. “Shouldn’t we be talking with the others about the makeup of the group that will be heading out?”
“I’m not much into governing by committee. I know exactly what they all want, and I’ve already made my decisions about who goes and who stays.”
At that point they heard some noise from the back of the house, the door to the storage room opened, and Lewis suddenly made an appearance. The community handyman, who’d been instrumental in solving the problem of the terrorists the last time they’d been around, bumbled his way into the room.
“I’m sorry to interrupt, but I couldn’t miss overhearing that—”
“Were you eavesdropping on us?” Pritis asked.
“Not really, no …” Lewis looked to Owl this time, more in an attempt to evade Pritis’ gaze than to get Owl’s attention. “I’d really like to be part of the group that goes. I have some ideas that could be helpful. Did you know that it was me who came up with the big ideas to defeat the terrorists last time?”
Owl looked at Pritis and could see that she wasn’t impressed with the interruption, nor with Lewis.
“Your Lewis, right?” Lewis looked confused, that Owl would know who he was. Owl smiled in amusement at the confusion, but didn’t explain how he knew. “What do you think, Pritis? Does it make sense to have Lewis here accompany us on our little adventure?”
“I think Lewis would be better off staying behind and keeping the community intact and functioning. We’ve had enough good people go missing for the time being; Lewis is essential to the community.”
Owl looked back at Lewis, grinning. “I think it’d be terrific having you along for the ride, Lewis.” Owl didn’t look back to Pritis, but he didn’t have to. He knew she was glaring bullet holes through his skull. “It’s going to be quite a challenge, taking on the thugs in charge. I have a feeling, Lewis, that you’ll contribute more than your fair share of what’s necessary to make us successful.” Owl turned back to Pritis, trying his best not to grin this time. “Don’t worry, Pritis; he’s the only one I’ll need from your group. I was really hoping he’d volunteer. Conscription is such a dirty word. I think I will need your help as well.”
Pritis tilted her head in amusement. “Oh really? I’m having a hard time imagining that.”
“Yes, as a matter of fact, I do. I’ve heard that Dawson has some strong views about who from his party should not go with us. More specifically, his daughter Veronica. For some reason, he’s concerned for her welfare and doesn’t think she should take part in such a dangerous venture.” Surprisingly, Pritis nodded her head in agreement. “He’s going to be a little discouraged with my decision, though. It would appear that everyone in his group is insistent on tagging along for the ride, including his daughter Veronica. Apparently, she still has anxiety about him leaving her behind in the past.” Owl got up and headed towards the door. The other two followed. “I think, however, I’m going to take to heart your little argument about community and staying together. I think Dawson’s entire family, including Veronica, should join us on this escapade. At the very least, it’ll give Dawson the motivation to be successful. Motivation is key, after all.” He gave Pritis a wink. “It’s just one of the many things I learned in my previous occupation.”
Chapter 26 ~ On The Road
The day’s weather didn’t bode well for a trip to anywhere, let alone a trip with the intention of taking on a major terrorist cell. It was still early in the morning, and the wind was already gusting, blowing down from the mountains. It was never a good sign when the wind started this early in the day. Sand was already blowing through the EarthShip community and obscuring the main road. Dawson wanted to blame the lack of turnout from the EarthShippers on the storm, but he knew it was more apathy on their part. They seemed uninterested, with the exception of Lewis and Pritis. Lewis for some reason or another had come out of his shell when the opportunity arose to take on the terrorists. Dawson suspected Pritis was there to try and talk Lewis out of going. She worried about Lewis’ ability to deal with the situation they were heading into. She dreaded the thought of the community losing one of their most important members.
Owl had already assigned who would be driving in which vehicles. Dawson and Jake would drive the lead Humvee; the old Volkswagen van would take middle position, driven by Beth and Kyle, while Owl and Maggie took the trailing Humvee. Chase would drive with Owl, and Veronica would stay with Dawson. It was one of the few decisions of Owl’s that Dawson agreed with. He wanted to keep Veronica close, and having Chase tag along with Owl allowed Chase to keep tabs on everything Owl said or did.
Pritis pulled Lewis aside for a private conversation, while Dawson did the same with Jake, well out of earshot of the others.
“What do you suppose she’s saying to him?” Jake asked, motioning towards Pritis.
“I have to suspect that she’s trying to talk him out of this whole crazy venture. She and Owl have a long history together which I suspect isn’t a good one, and I think part of her believes that Owl’s just doing this to put her at a disadvantage.”
“You think he’s just doing this to spite her? I thought we picked this guy because he was a lot smarter than that.”
“We picked him on Pritis’ recommendation, which I think she’s regretting. He may have been a sharp guy in the past, with all sorts of connections, but people change over time. Especially when they spend years living in the desert, isolated from every human being on the planet. I’ve sure got a bad feeling about all of this.”
Some big black birds were hovering above them on the rising wind.
“But not bad enough to call the whole thing off?” Jake was distracted by the birds overhead. “Those aren’t vultures, are they?”
“I have no idea,” Dawson said, hardly giving the birds a glance as he kept an eye on Pritis and Lewis. “Her body language tells me she’s not too happy with his decision. He doesn’t look like he’s backing down, though.”
“That’s probably a good thing for us. He is a pretty bright guy, and we have little idea what we’re heading into. Has Owl said anything to you about his plans for this mission?”
“Not a damn
thing. I pressed him on it a couple of times yesterday, and even once more this morning, but he’s keeping pretty tight-lipped. He’s a hard one to read. I’m not sure if he’s clueless, or just trying to keep things to himself.”
“He was in the business of keeping secrets, and it’s not like he’s had many people to confide in for a long time. I suspect he’s got some trust issues.”
“Yeah, well join the club. At some point, he’s gonna have to be a lot more forthcoming if he wants people to buy into following him.”
“And what exactly is it that you’ve got in mind?”
“What do you mean? It’s his plan, I’ve got nothing.”
“Really?” Jake gave him a joking push. “None of us believe that. We’ve both got more at stake here than anyone else. Our home, and our families. None of the EarthShippers seem to care whether we stay or go. You don’t see many of them volunteering for this mission. They can’t even be bothered to show up for a send-off.”
“All I can say is I have no intention of letting that man out of my sight for the duration. And if we’re smart, we’ll stick together on this.”
“To be honest, I’d have preferred if it was just the three of us heading out. You, me, and Chase. Small and manageable, with no one else to worry about. I find it strange that a guy who spent decades living in the desert would want this many people around him on an exercise like this.”
“He’s either completely incompetent, or crazy like a fox.”
They both followed suit and climbed into their vehicles as the others did the same. “Either way, it looks like we’re about to find out. I’m just hoping the storm holds off long enough for us to clear the region.”
Dawson hit the ignition, but nothing happened.
Chapter 27 ~ Hitchhikers
The ragamuffin pair of hitchhikers quickly scooted to the other side of the road and pointed their thumbs in the opposite direction once they saw the convoy heading towards them.
They’d been driving for several hours now, and somehow had managed to escape the wrath of the storm. It hadn’t been a good day to start with, but gradually things seem to be improving. Between the storm and their vehicle not starting, things didn’t bode well for the caravan of travelers. As it turned out, Lewis quickly proved his indispensability by troubleshooting the Humvee ignition problem and getting them going within an hour of their planned departure. Now, things seemed to be taking a turn for the strange.
“Did you see what they just did?” Dawson said to Jake, who was sitting next to him in the Humvee. “Those two were just totally hitchhiking in the opposite direction, and when they saw us coming, they switched sides.”
“I did,” Jake responded, as he leaned forward and squinted to get a better look through the windshield. “That’s kinda strange, don’t you think?”
“Strange, and suspicious. First of all, why would they be hitchhiking deeper into the desert to start with? And secondly, why would they just decide to change direction when they saw us coming?”
“Maybe they’re just desperate for a ride. Maybe they’re lost or something. We’re a convoy with two armed Humvees; I can’t imagine they’d try anything stupid.”
“Given the state of the world these days, I wouldn’t jump to any conclusions. They could be up to just about anything. Given the fact that the only people we’ve see out in the desert besides ourselves and the EarthShippers are terrorists, I can’t help but be majorly suspicious. I have absolutely no intentions of picking them up, that’s for sure.”
“What’s the worst they could be? It’s not like they’re a couple of terrorist spies looking to infiltrate our ranks. I mean, the only people who have any clue what we’re up to are the ones in these vehicles and the EarthShip community we just left behind.”
“The only person who knows what we’re up to is Owl. And he’s not exactly forthcoming these days with information. I mean, what exactly do we know about that guy? Sure, he was recommended by Pritis, but it’s not like she had tons of contact with him over the years.”
They heard honking from one of the vehicles behind them, and Jake strained his neck to look behind them.
“I can’t see anything back there,” Jake said. “It must be the Humvee in the back that’s honking. Is that Owl?”
“Oh geez. He’s waving us over,” Dawson said angrily.
“Really, what for?”
“I can’t imagine it’s because he wants to have a conversation about the weather. He’s got enough people to talk to in his vehicle back there.”
“You don’t really think he—”
“I almost hate to say it, simply for the fact that it might come true, but something tells me he wants to pick up the hitchhikers up ahead.”
They weren’t quite close enough to get a good look at the hitchhikers’ faces. They could see, however, that they looked like they’d been through some rough times. Their clothes were pretty tattered, and they looked woefully underdressed for surviving the elements of the desert. There was one thing about them both that stuck out, though. They both carried oversized packs that looked virtually brand new. Whatever these two had been through to do a number on their clothes obviously hadn’t affected their backpacks. Either that or the backpacks had been on someone else’s backs until just recently.
As Jake pulled the vehicle over to the side of the road, the tires crunched on the loose gravel. The van driven by Beth behind them did the same. Owl, however, drove past both of them and up close enough to the hitchhikers to get a good look at them. Owl stopped the vehicle in the middle of the road and Maggie got out to greet the hitchhikers.
“What the hell?” Jake said. “What does she think she’s doing?”
“More to the point, what the hell does Owl think he’s doing?”
Chapter 28 ~ Atlanta
Dawson thought it was complete insanity to want to go anywhere near a town at this point in their travels. They’d spent twenty hours on the road, with a group of people that were pretty apprehensive. Twenty hours in a vehicle traveling with anyone, even family, can be a tough haul. Now compound that and try driving for twenty hours in hot southern weather, with a couple of Humvee military vehicles that don’t have air conditioning, on your way to a mission that involves murdering terrorists. Now, where do you end up? Owl was the one in charge of this mission, and Dawson was having serious regrets about ever having ceded that authority to him. Today especially was one of those days. They were coming up to the city of Atlanta, and even from a distance, they could see there was going to be nothing but trouble. The town of Big Springs had taken enough abuse during the terror attacks that hit there, but they paled in comparison to the looks of Atlanta. Bigger city, bigger problems.
“Is there anything we can do to change his mind?” Jake asked.
Dawson looked in the back at the hitchhiker that they’d picked up less than a day ago. He claimed his name was Tobin, but Dawson didn’t believe him. He had no identification, and he didn’t seem to care what the rest of the people in the convoy thought. Owl had insisted on picking up the hitchhikers, but at least Dawson had managed to convince him that separating them into different vehicles was a good idea. Tobin rode with Jake and Dawson, while the other one, Charlie, rode in Owl’s vehicle. Dawson didn’t like the idea of the stranger hanging out in the same vehicle as his son, but at some point he knew he had to count on Chase being able to take care of himself. Owl was with them as well, and even though he didn’t show signs of making the best decisions, Dawson still believed that he was capable of handling trouble. At least that was the story Pritis had told him, and that’s what he was going to pin his hopes on till Owl proved otherwise.
“I don’t think he even hears what I say half the time,” Dawson replied to Jake’s question.
“Well, he did agree to keep these two separated, so I suppose that’s gotta count for something, right?”
Tobin in the back didn’t say much. Mostly, he just stared out the window and watched the scenery roll by. At least he
doesn’t complain too much, Dawson thought to himself. Not that he should really have much to complain about. Although he might if he knew where they were heading, and what kind of trouble he was getting into by hitching a ride with the convoy. Neither Tobin nor Charlie seemed too picky about where they took them. When they questioned them yesterday about where they wanted to go, they just said they’d go wherever the convoy was going. They told them Atlanta, and that seemed good enough for them. They never told the hitchhikers their final destination; even Owl didn’t trust the new hitchhikers that much yet.
There was smoke in the distance, and when they stopped for a rest just outside the city, Dawson was convinced he could hear distant gunfire. Faint, but there was no mistaking the sound. It was something a soldier never forgets.
Owl wandered over, and Jake spoke up. “You want to explain to me again why it is that we’re taking a chance going into a town full of trouble?”
“We’re running short of supplies,” Owl replied without any further explanation.
“Supplies?” Maggie said, joining in on the conversation. “We’ve still got plenty of water and food left to get to where we are going. I don’t think we’re gonna find boxes of ammo or weapons lying around the streets just for the taking.” She shrugged her shoulders, looking at Dawson. “I’ve had this conversation with him multiple times already driving here,” Maggie said. “His side of the conversation’s been pretty limited.”
They both looked at one another, as Owl seemed oblivious to the conversation they were having well within his earshot. Maggie looked at the skyline of the city, and the expression on her face told Dawson they were thinking the same thing.
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