by Kenny Soward
“Hey new guy,” the first soldier chirped. “You need a handle. I was thinking Frisky Puppy.”
“We heard how you fixed the SATCOM terminal,” the second soldier chimed in. “Did a better job on it than Murray, and she’s the best. So, I suggest Nerd Man for your handle.”
Jake pressed the talk button, answering with a bit of sarcasm. “I was hoping for something cool, like Jade Tiger, or the Destroyer.”
He was treated to hoots and hollers and rough laughter. He couldn’t make out what they were saying, because they were all hitting their talk buttons at once.
Jake shook his head and gripped the wheel harder, eyes focused on the Humvee ahead where the soldier manning the .50 caliber machine gun raised his fist to Jake and pumped it in the air.
“Jade Tiger, baby. Yeah!”
Chapter 23
Sara, Gatlinburg, Tennessee | 5:20 p.m., Friday
“One more inch to the left, and you would have gotten your head blown off.” Natasha finished with the dressing on Sara’s left ear and stood back to inspect her handiwork.
“I feel woozy,” Sara said, head buzzing with white noise as she sat back in her chair at the kitchen table. Zoe sat in the chair next to her, doting on her mother with concern.
“You just gave blood the other day, Sara.” Dion shook his head from where he stood by the back door. “Now you went and got yourself shot in the ear. I should have gone with you. I could have helped…”
Sara settled a warm and groggy smile on the man. “I know you could have, but I needed you here. I felt safer with you here protecting my little girl. You and Natasha both.”
“It’s not a life-threatening injury,” Natasha stifled a smile at the compliment. “Although ears always bleed a lot. I’m putting you back on the extra-liquid diet for the next twenty-four hours. No coffee. I want to make sure you stay hydrated.”
“Okay,” Sara said with a weak and almost childlike sigh.
“I’ll make you some orange juice.” Zoe leaped out of her chair and went to the sink.
Sara looked askance at Natasha with a wincing expression. “How does it look? My ear, I mean.”
Natasha’s eyes were filled with regret. “I’m not going to lie to you, Sara. Your earlobe is gone, but you shouldn’t have any problems with your hearing.”
Sara’s thoughts immediately went to Jake and what he would think when he saw her. Would he turn away in disgust?
Don’t be stupid, she thought, Jake will always love you no matter what.
“Hey, wipe that sad expression off your face,” Natasha said, putting her finger under Sara’s chin and lifting it. “You’re alive, Sara. You rescued that poor girl, and you brought back that thing.”
Natasha was talking about the big black case that rested on a small table in the living room. They’d kept it packed up with its power cables inside the case, and it looked big and bulky and out of place in their rustic cabin, just like it had looked at the lodge.
“I’ll take a look at it later,” Sara said. She was unable to shake the feeling that it might be more trouble than it was worth. At the same time, it seemed like a very important piece of equipment.
The door to Todd’s room flew open, and her son burst from his room, as much as someone could burst out of a room while suffering from cracked ribs. Barbara crouched down beneath his arm to bear his weight as the two stumbled awkwardly down the hall and descended the stairs. Todd seemed overly excited about something, and Barbara fussed and complained at him as she tried to get him to slow down.
Rex and Astro backed away as the ungainly pair got Todd to the bottom of the stairs and turned around. Then they limped into the kitchen where Todd regarded his mother with wide eyes.
“Mom, are you okay?”
“I’m fine,” Sara replied, flatly.
“I told him you were fine,” Barbara said, mimicking Sara’s tone as she helped Todd sit down.
“Are you worried about your mother, Todd?” A bit of dry sarcasm edged Sara’s tone. “How sweet.”
“Heck yeah, Mom.” Todd’s blue eyes were glassy with emotion. “Barbara told me what happened. Jeesh, you got shot.”
Sara’s heart melted over her son’s concern for her, but that didn’t keep her from reaching out and giving him a light pat on the cheek. “And now you know how it feels when someone you love is in danger. Remember that before you run off and do dumb stuff.” She instantly regretted her words, frowning. “I’m sorry. That was the wrong thing to say. You thought you were doing a good thing with the Good Folk—”
“I totally get it, Mom.” Todd grabbed her hand before she could draw it away. “I’ll never leave you guys again unless I’ve thought it through. I promise.”
“I know, son,” Sara said as she felt her own eyes tear up. “You’re a good kid. You always have been. I’ll try to trust your judgment more, though I’ll never stop worrying about you. I can’t help myself.”
“Worry all you want, Mom,” Todd grinned fiercely.
Sara gave him a smile in return, then her eyes lifted to Barbara. The tall girl was looking down at the two with an expression of affection and longing, and when she saw Sara watching her, she quickly looked away.
“Here you go, Mom.” Zoe had finished making Sara a glass of instant orange juice and placed it in front of her before she went over to the opposite chair and sat down.
Sara gladly lifted it to her mouth and took a big swallow, finishing with a smack of her lips. “Delicious.”
“Now that your ear is taken care of, I’m going to drive back down and check on the girl.” Natasha pressed the dispenser on a small bottle of hand sanitizer on the kitchen counter and rubbed her hands together. “I’ll probably spend the night down there with her, if that’s okay.”
“Of course,” Sara nodded. “Poor thing. I hope she’ll be okay.”
The first thing they’d done after returning to Pine Bluff Road was take the girl to Dion and Natasha’s old cabin, now occupied by Frank and Karen. Sara hadn’t known how the pair would take to having a new roommate, but the girl needed immediate care in a warm, clean bed. Sara had been prepared to fight them if they’d complained, and she wasn’t going to take no for an answer.
Surprisingly, the older couple had taken one look at the injured girl and rushed down to the Subaru to help get her inside. Frank had knocked Sara aside before putting his arms beneath the girl’s legs and shoulders and hefting her all by himself in one scoop. Standing there in bewilderment, Sara had watched the big, ungainly man carry her as gently as a lamb into their cabin, his own painful afflictions forgotten. Wide-eyed, Karen had followed at his heels, wringing her hands and buzzing with concern. Natasha had come down soon after to assess the girl’s wounds and get her cleaned up before seeing to Sara.
“It’s hard to tell.” Natasha had a haunted look in her eyes. “She’s got a lot of strange injuries. It looks like she was tortured.”
Sara nodded her head sadly. “She was. The whole family…”
“I’ll need to set her leg tonight,” Natasha said. “And I’ll give her some of the pain meds the clinic gave us. She’ll think she’s at Disneyland.”
“Do you need any help?” Sara asked
“Dion’s coming with me. I will, however, need you to check in on Tex, if you would.”
“Of course, I will,” Sara nodded.
“Great. We’ll see you soon.”
Natasha grabbed a pack of medical supplies off the counter and walked past Dion, giving his arm a light tug as she went by. The two talked quietly as they moved to the foyer, donned their customary rain gear, and left the cabin.
“Is anyone hungry?” Barbara asked, looking between Sara and Todd.
“Starving,” Todd said with a nod.
“Pancakes?” Zoe suggested with an innocent shrug.
“No pancakes today,” Sara said with a frown. “Unless Barbara feels like making them.”
“I love pancakes,” Barbara said. “If you’ve got the mix, I’ll do the
making.”
“It’s settled,” Sara flipped her frown upside down. “Pancakes for dinner, but they won’t have blueberries.”
“I’ll take what I can get,” Zoe said with a satisfied nod.
As Barbara took the pancake mix down from the cupboard, Zoe stared in awe. By now, the little girl was used to strangers, although something about Barbara seemed to fascinate her.
“Why don’t you go and help her?” Sara suggested.
Zoe gave her mother an uncertain glance, but Sara’s assured look gave her enough confidence to hop out of her chair and go over to the stove.
“I can mix pretty good,” Zoe said, taking a fork out of the kitchen drawer and holding it up for Barbara to see.
Sara sat back in her chair and gazed up into the rafters, listening to the heavy winds blasting against the side of the cabin, sometimes hard enough to rattle the windows. “These windstorms are getting worse. We may be looking at more repairs on the cabin soon.”
“What about after that?” Todd asked, wincing as he shifted in his chair. “Are we going to join the Good Folk?”
“Oh, I think we probably already have in some small way.”
Rex came over and rested his head on her lap, looking up at her with big, doleful eyes. Sara placed her hand on his head, ruffling his fur gently. Her heart swelled for the animal. His fierce defense of her back at the lodge had saved her life from the woman with the strange combat suit on.
Sara shifted her attention to the big black case in the living room. She swallowed hard as she stared at it, convinced they might have bitten off more than they could chew. Her expression hardened as her mind envisioned what they needed to do. “We need to start working on our defenses right away. The gate. A new patrol schedule. The tree stand. Everything. And we need to start today.” She glanced over her shoulder at the door to the master bedroom. “After I check on Tex.”
“Okay, Mom,” Todd said with a firm nod. “Barbara and I will work on some more designs. I might not be able to do much heavy lifting yet, but I can help in other ways.”
“Thanks.” Sara stood up on stiff, sore legs and walked carefully over to the master bedroom door. It turned out that being in two firefights in a week took its toll on the body. Natasha had numbed her ear with some topical anesthetic, though the rest of her felt like it had been hit by a Mack truck.
She pushed through the door and shut it gently behind her. The room was nice and quiet although completely altered since the day they’d arrived at the cabin. The nightstand was covered with a neat array of antiseptic, cotton swabs, and bandages. A clear pitcher of water and its companion cup sat within easy reach, and the IV stand had been pushed back away from the bed.
Sara stepped farther into the room and sat down in the plain, cushioned chair at Tex’s bedside. He appeared to be recovering nicely. His skin had a healthy sheen, and the color had returned to his face. Natasha had taken impeccable care of the man, keeping his hair combed back from his forehead and his face, arms, and chest bathed at least once a day. Even his mustache was trimmed back from his upper lip in a straight line.
Tex’s chest rose and fell in a deep, steady rhythm, and Sara relaxed back in her seat with the knowledge that the man would make a full recovery. Her thoughts turned to Jake, wondering for the thousandth time what he was up to. It was probably worse now with their internet down and no way to know if the Navy had ever gotten to him or if he’d found another way out of the city.
She reached up and absently touched the bandage on the side of her head. Part of her ear was missing, shot right off as easy as you please, and who knew what it looked like now?
Tex stirred, shifting his head to the right and grunting softly as he resurfaced from a deep, dark slumber. Sara stood and immediately grabbed the pitcher of water, pouring some into the cup before standing at his bedside. The man hadn’t come fully awake nor uttered a single word, though he seemed invigorated, filled with new energy and a will to live.
Sara leaned over him, watching as his bushy gray eyebrows lifted and his chest gave a gentle sigh. Bowing closer, she studied his face for any signs of him coming fully conscious.
“Hey, Tex,” Sara said gently. “Are you awake in there?”
Tex’s blue eyes fluttered open and roamed the room before finally coming to land on Sara. When he saw her, a smile spread slowly across his lips, lifting his mustache on both sides. He tried to speak, but the words came out raspy, and he broke down in a weak cough. Sara quickly put her hand behind his head and placed the cup of water to his lips. Tex took one sip, swallowing before leaning forward for more. Sara obliged, tilting the cup so he could drink as much as he wanted, tiny trickles escaping around the edges and running down his chin as he slurped eagerly.
To Sara’s wonder, the man finished the whole thing, so she laid his head back gently as he smacked his lips with satisfaction. Sara placed the cup on the nightstand and turned back to find Tex looking up at her, his blue eyes shining with dreamy comfort.
“Well, hello there, pretty lady.”
Chapter 24
Jake, Providence, Rhode Island | 6:22 p.m., Friday
Long Island Sound rested outside of Jake’s window on his left as the convoy slunk south down the coast like a lazy snake, ten semi-trucks and a half-dozen Humvees, fifty people that were a mix of military and professional truck drivers.
This short stretch of I-95 between New Haven and Port Chester had been left relatively untouched by the hurricane flooding, where Long Island itself had absorbed much of the hurricane’s blow. Jake noticed some military posts along the way—really just a few fast-moving military vehicles parked on the side of the expressway—soldiers standing guard with their weapons at the ready, probably there to protect the road and keep it open for the supply trucks. They took a moment to wave at the passing convoy before turning their eyes back to the shadows lurking in the brush and trees.
Jake was surprised to see several cars fly past them, mimicking actual traffic, making it seem like it was just a regular day in the life of a United States citizen and they weren’t under attack from within.
He listened to the chatter of the soldiers as he munched on a chocolate bar kindly provided by Captain Sanchez. Jake wasn’t normally a big chocolate eater, but he found the piece of candy quite heavenly.
The soldiers’ banter had grown more solemn and professional as the miles wore on, giving further credence to Jake’s theory that their previous bravado had been mostly for show to bolster their own confidence more than anything else. Their enthusiasm faded as Providence fell behind and they looked forward to the next big military outpost, a destination they were not willing to say over the two-way band.
They passed a sign that identified Port Chester coming up, and Jake knew they must be approaching New York City. He imagined it would be a bad idea trying to go directly through the city, and he wondered what route the convoy might take to circumvent it.
“We’ve got a return party incoming,” one of the soldiers said over the radio, breaking Jake out of his thoughts.
Jake pulled over into the left-hand lane and spotted a long line of trucks and military vehicles approaching on the other side of the expressway. The trucks were likely full of supplies heading for the FEMA camps, and it lifted Jake’s spirits knowing that things were moving again. That there was a process and a plan in place. That there were leaders out there trying to right the listing ship that was their country.
He watched as three Humvees passed by in a row, followed by four semi-trucks appearing to move at about the same speed as Jake’s group—slow and steady.
Jake drifted back behind the line as the approaching convoy passed. Semi-truck horns blared on both sides of the expressway, and soldiers waved and pumped their fists at each other. Jake’s somber expression lifted as a smile spread across his lips.
The last Humvee in the convoy passed, and the horns fell silent. Jake settled back in his seat and took the last bite of his chocolate bar, reveling in the nutty good
ness of it. He thought he had two or three left in his pack, and he figured he should probably save one for Zoe when he got home. The one he’d just eaten was his alone, a reward for getting himself and his friends out of the nightmare of Boston.
“Sorry, Zo,” Jake said, swallowing the last of the candy bar down. “You can have one of my other—”
A distant boom caused Jake’s heart to stutter, and he squinted ahead to see if something had hit his convoy. Seeing no apparent damage, his eyes lifted to his rearview mirror with a sinking feeling. To his shock and amazement, the last truck of the returning convoy was on fire, and a massive plume of smoke was rising in a great, cavorting swirl as it lifted into the dark sky.
Jake grabbed his radio from the passenger seat and hit the talk button. “Guys, the other convoy got hit. We need to turn around and help them.”
“Negative, Jade Tiger,” came the stern reply. “Stay on course. Keep driving.”
Jake stared wide-eyed into his rearview as the truck swerved, trailer on fire, material goods flying all over the road in charred and smoking remnants. The Humvee bringing up the rear of the convoy turned its .50 caliber guns toward the brush and let fly with a stream of lead, tracers lighting up the gloomy day.
Something shot out of the brush at lightning speed, missing the Humvee to fly across the expressway and curve downward in a distant explosion.
“Jeesh. That was a rocket.” Jake’s words were a hushed whisper as he watched the brief melee.
Miraculously, the semi-truck that had been hit kept going, dragging part of its trailer behind it as the Humvee turned its guns on the spot the rocket had fired from.
The wounded truck disappeared around a bend while the trailing Humvee lingered. Finally, satisfied it had killed whatever was hiding in the brush alongside the road, the vehicle tore off and rounded the bend, disappearing out of sight.