The Emerald Virus

by Patrick Shea

  Danny smiled even broader and said “Noah that sounds good to me. I feel bad about interrupting your meeting.” He then looked at Noah and said, “Yellowbird, I knew a fellow named Stan Yellowbird some time ago, he was from South Dakota and was a Lakota Sioux. Would you be any relation to him?”

  Now Noah was flabbergasted, he wasn’t sure there was any way to stop this guy from talking. He said, “I had a cousin by that name. He cowboyed on a ranch in northern Montana the last I heard.”

  Danny reached out and shook Noah’s hand again and said in Lakota, “I can’t believe it. Stan was a good friend of mine, and he used to talk about his cousin Noah a lot. He thought that maybe you were the best cowboy or ranch hand he had ever been around. It’s a real pleasure to meet you.”

  Noah did a double take at the change in languages and realized that if Danny hadn’t been blonde and blue eyed he could pass as a Lakota. He was not only fluent but he spoke without accent.

  Now Sam was really lost. She did not understand a word being spoken; she wasn’t even sure what dialect it was. She looked at Ben who looked captivated by this man. And he seemed as if he understood him as well.

  She thought she would make one more futile effort. She said, Noah, do you think you can get Mr. Gardner outside for just a couple of minutes while I finish this meeting, or will I have to ask for volunteers to chuck him out?” She smiled as she said this and most of the people in the room were smiling as well.

  Danny broke off his conversation with Noah and said, “Oh. I’m sorry, I got carried away there. I know Noah by reputation. You folks are lucky to have him from everything I’ve heard of him. I’ll have to tell ……” He saw the look on Sam’s face and started laughing and others joined in. “Okay, okay, I’ll just step out here while you talk to your folks.” And in a blink he was out the door.

  Noah looked at Sam and with a smile said, “I’ll be outside with him, and if he isn’t gone by the time I get out there I’ll hold him for you.” Noah went out the door a little more slowly than had Danny and Sam looked at the group.

  She said jokingly, “Boy, I don’t know if I want him to stay or if I want him to get the heck out of here. I’m not sure my ears can take being around him too much.”

  There were smiles and nods of agreement from some of the folks, but Sam noticed that there were no looks of animosity. Whoever Danny was, he was going to be a hit with the group.

  Sam ended the meeting a couple of minutes later and reminded the veterans in the group that they were going to meet with Colonel Green. By the time she got outside there was quite a group gathered around Danny, all of them introducing themselves to him.

  Sam saw the three Hispanic survivors start to walk past Danny’s group. Sam felt bad that they always kept to themselves but she knew that none of them spoke English very well, and they all seemed a little shy or perhaps lacked confidence.

  Danny looked up and addressed them as a group in Spanish. Sam was amazed to see the transformation on their faces, which all became animated and bright with smiles. All of sudden everyone was talking at once and Danny was talking to all of them at the same time. Sam realized what a huge difference being able to communicate made. She would remember this lesson. A couple of the residents spoke Spanish, but at a minimal level, and while they got by, this was a different thing altogether. She wondered what other surprises this man had in store.

  She watched him say goodbye to the Hispanic group like he had known them all of his life, and then turn back to the others. He started talking like there had been no interruption, and no one who was waiting to talk to him seemed to mind at all. He was so easy going and smiled so much you had to like the guy.

  She watched him as he kept his eyes constantly moving, but always returning to the person he was speaking with. He was able to watch everything while making sure the person he was talking to felt important. Suddenly he looked at Sam and smiled and nodded like he knew what she was thinking. She pointed to her RV and gestured for him to come.

  Without breaking stride he said, “Okay Sam, I’ll meet you there in just a minute” and went back to his conversation as if there had been no interruption. Sam shook her head and walked to her RV. Noah was sitting in the living area with a cup of coffee in his hand.

  Sam said, “Noah, how did you get in here?”

  “Sam, you gave me a key. Remember you and Ben and I all traded keys since we all trust each other. That guy must have really shaken you.”

  Through a smile Sam said, “My goodness, I don’t think I’ve ever met anyone like him before. He’s like the most social whirlwind you could find. Do you think he ever shuts up?”

  “Actually I do. When he was talking to me about my cousin, I remember Stan mentioning a friend of his named Danny. A guy who in Stan’s eyes could do no wrong.”

  “Stan told me he was a hard worker, a good cowboy, was magical with all animals and was a guy you just didn’t want to mess with.”

  “Why would your cousin say that? He looks a little on the thin side and he doesn’t appear to be overly muscled.”

  “Stan said he was a member of the Army’s Delta Force. They are the most elite of all soldiers. Knowing that, I’ll be the last person that tries to take him down, although to tell you the truth, from what I’ve heard we don’t have anything to worry about.

  “The only reason Stan ever knew about his background was because of a bunch of drunks that tried to extend their fight to include Stan and Danny one night when they had gone to town. Stan said he was ready to run just to avoid the hassle of a fight and then possibly the police.

  “Before he had a chance to take off one of the drunks pulled a gun. Stan said it took Danny about two seconds to disarm that guy and disable the other three. He had never seen anything like that. He asked Danny where he had learned to fight like that. He said Danny was almost embarrassed about his actions, but told Stan that in a previous life he had been a Delta soldier. That was the only time he ever talked about it and Stan had the good sense not to ask any more from Danny.”

  Sam responded, “Well, he certainly is an unusual guy in a lot of ways. I just watched him talk to the group of Hispanics who are always so quiet. As it turns out they aren’t as shy as we thought, they just can’t communicate with us gringos.” And then she smiled and said, “Assuming that name can refer to you as well.

  “I motioned for Danny to join me here when he finished talking. Of course that could be a week from now.”

  With a smile Noah said, “I told him about the meeting with our veterans. He said he would be interested in sitting in on that. I’m not sure which one he’ll do. If he isn’t here soon we’ll find him with the militia group I’m sure.”

  “That’s okay with me. I’m sure Colonel Green can use his help.”

  Sam and Noah used the next forty five minutes as a planning meeting. A loud knock on the door announced Danny’s arrival.

  Sam opened the door and Danny said, “Oh good, you’re both here. Sam you indicated you wanted to talk with me so here I am. Noah, Colonel Green asked if you could meet with him briefly in the lobby.”

  Noah said, “Thank you. Sam I’ll see what the Colonel wants and be right back.”

  “Okay, I’ll see you in a minute. Danny come in and sit down. I was just about to put on a fresh pot of coffee. Are you interested?”

  “That I am.”

  Noah walked into the lobby and said, “Ted, what’s up?”

  Colonel Green looked up and said, “Noah, thank you for coming. I just wanted you to know that all of us think a militia is the right thing to do. We’ll make the proposal to the group this evening. I don’t know what you’re thinking of but I think we need to form at least two squads of men who will train daily for a couple of weeks, and then regularly after that. But I’d like to include all of the men, and women if they want to participate, in regular training as well.

  “A fighting force is a funny thing. You don’t ever want to have to use one, but if you do, you don’t want be unde
rmanned or outgunned.”

  “That sounds reasonable to me. We don’t have many people in the group that strike me as soft, so I think you’ll get a good response tonight. Do you have enough leaders to help you with the training?”

  “I believe so. I’ll know for sure after the first couple of days. But we have a nice assortment of officers and sergeants to work with. The Navy veteran who spoke up last night was a Seal, Navy Special Forces, three of the Army vets were rangers, one was in Special Forces, and four more have experience in combat. An additional four fought in Vietnam. That’s a great deal of skill. More than I could hope for.”

  “What did you think about the new guy?”

  “Surprisingly he was quiet. He seemed much more interested in listening than in talking. I think we need to be careful with our first impressions of him. He told me he did one tour in the Army and got out as a First Lieutenant. When I asked the group about combat experience he didn’t say anything.”

  “My cousin Stan knew him in the old world. Did Danny mention to you that he was a member of the Delta Force?”

  Ted grunted and said, “No he didn’t. But for some reason that doesn’t surprise me. A man like that keeps himself in reserve, but I’m glad to know that. Thank you.”

  “Sure, but I didn’t tell him I knew that, and I wouldn’t want to be the one to upset him by talking too much, if you know what I mean.”

  Col Greene smiled and said, “I knew you were a smart man Noah. We’ll keep this between the two of us, at least for as long as circumstances will allow us to do that. Besides, I’ve always had a great respect for another person’s privacy.”

  The main door to the lobby opened and Danny stepped in, and with his perpetual grin said, men, Sam would like you both to join her in her RV.”

  When the four of them were seated in the living area Sam said, “Col Green, Danny says it looks like we’re going to propose a militia this evening. Leading a force of fighting men is a large responsibility, would you mind if we talked about your background a little bit. I want to make sure I know what I’m doing tonight, if I nominate you to lead our militia.”

  The Colonel said, “Sam, I don’t mind at all. I probably appreciate more than anyone the difficulties and responsibilities of such a position.

  “I had a pretty typical Army career. I graduated from West Point, was a platoon leader and then a company commander in the first gulf war. I was part of the Corps that swept around the lines and attacked as three divisions. I knew some remarkable senior commanders involved in that war and I patterned my career after them. ”

  Danny spoke up and asked, “Colonel, what made them so remarkable.”

  “I think the thing that surprised so many people was that they cared deeply for human life, all human life. Of course their emphasis was on their own men first and foremost. It was unusual for men trained for war to show restraint when given an opportunity to fight with, and lead, the most powerful army ever assembled. But these men realized early on that a few miles of desert wasn’t worth the lives of their men.

  “Some leaders of armored units and mechanized infantry units wanted to race to the next group of Iraqi soldiers so they could destroy them and race to the next group after that. After the first day we all knew that they couldn’t stop us. Our equipment was incredibly good and our men as well trained as any fighting force had ever been.

  “But however good we were we could still be killed and at least some of our leaders worked hard to keep our casualties to a minimum.”

  Noah said, “I remember after the war some of the generals were criticized for being too cautious.”

  “Yes, but not by the parents of any of his soldiers who came home from that conflict.”

  “But it wasn’t just the war. For some, injuries and death during training was part of the price of preparing men for war because everyone knows training itself is dangerous. But that wasn’t true in my division. Our commander did not accept a single death as a price for anything. He felt that the parents of his young soldiers trusted him to return their sons and daughters to them unharmed, and he allowed no excuses for accidents.

  “So, it was easy to follow men like that, and it was easy to let them influence you. I spent the rest of my career trying to emulate those leaders, and it worked pretty well.”

  Danny asked, “Why did you retire Colonel? A West Point Officer with combat experience and a good record could make a good run at becoming a general officer himself. Obviously the Army thought highly of you or they wouldn’t have made you a Colonel.”

  “I was a Regimental Commander when the second Gulf War started. Frankly, after the first year of the war I realized we were being asked not to fight a war but to win a peace. The Army has never been good at that, and I didn’t like the thought that my men were being put on patrol to draw fire from guerrilla style fighters, so we could kill the guerillas. It was kind of like saying ‘I can’t find you any other way, so I’m going to sacrifice men so I can maybe have an opportunity to kill someone’.

  “I decided that since I felt we were prosecuting the war in a manner I couldn’t support that I had to leave. The Army and the country deserved people more committed to what they were doing to lead our troops. Afterwards it was painful to watch it go on for so long.”

  Sam said, “I think that’s enough Colonel, I like your background. But there is a second reason I asked you for your resume. I think I’ll let Danny tell all of us about that. I wanted to be sure who was going to lead the militia first, since I want that person in on the ground floor. Danny, explain please.”

  “First you need to know that I’m not here accidentally, although to tell you the truth I thought I might show up during the winter sometime. I came now because I was passing through a town north of Bozeman earlier this week, and I noticed some RVs parked on a main street.

  “I’ve been by myself since this started. The people who put together the RV for me found a four wheel drive and chains for all of the tires. I was able to move about pretty well since they also mounted a snow plow on the front. See, I’ve been living in a town up on the Canadian border and we get a bit of snow there. Anyway, I’ve been pretty mobile over the last week, although I did have to dig myself out a couple of times.

  “I thought it was curious that the RVs were there since I hadn’t seen anything about them on the web, or heard anything on the radio. So I pulled into the town from the Interstate and joined a group of men and women in a saloon.

  “It was like an old western movie, when I walked in there was dead silence, someone even put the CD player on pause. I almost laughed, but there were some serious folks in there.

  “I introduced myself and said I was looking for a drink and a little fun, if they didn’t mind. One of the men stepped forward and said his name was Bob Turner and that he was part of this little group, but that they were kind of particular about who they let in.

  “I told him I’d be happy to leave, that all I was looking for was a beer and a conversation. This was about ten o’clock in the morning and the entire group of about twelve men and six women all looked like they had been drinking for some time.

  “Bob finally smiled, kind of a funny sly smile, and said I was welcome to join them for a beer.

  “I spent the rest of the week with them. They talked quietly amongst themselves and didn’t include me in their group discussions, but they all drank, and drank too much. I don’t even like beer so nursing one for a couple of hours isn’t hard for me.

  “Over the course of the next couple of days I picked up bits and pieces of conversations, usually when I was talking to someone else. I guess they thought I couldn’t talk and listen at the same time.

  “What I learned is that you guys really irritated Bob Turner and one of the other guys, a young fat guy. They’re planning to sneak in here one night with all the weapons they can carry and light up your RVs. They’re sure that you don’t put out guards and that they can easily get within rifle range on a moonlit night.

&
nbsp; “Even if they don’t kill anyone the loss of an RV is a critical thing in this new world. And if they are going to indiscriminately shoot up a closely packed group of RVs, someone’s liable to die.

  “I thought I’d come over here and give you people a heads up. I can’t tell you for sure if they will actually mount an attack, you never know when you mix alcohol with words what the outcome will be.”

  Ted looked at the group and said, “This makes the meeting this evening even more important. There is still only one way in here and one way out. I believe it is in our best interest to completely block the entrance to the park each evening and open it in the morning. We can leave a sign board out saying people are welcome but they’ll have to wait until morning to join us.

  “I’ll gather up my folks and start preparing some defensive measures and a couple of listening posts.”

  Danny said, “Good ideas Colonel, but I haven’t told you the worst part yet. I overheard Bob Turner bragging to one of the women that they had an insider here in the Park who was letting them know what was happening here.”

  “Damn Danny, is there anything else?”

  “No, that’s about it.

  Danny continued, “We have a second option of course. We could just go over there and deal with them. It isn’t that far, and there are only eighteen of them, including the women.”

  Sam said, “I’m not ready to start a war yet. I think we should start with defensive movements, as the Colonel said. After all it could be the booze talking. I’d have a tough time with killing people if I wasn’t sure of the need.”

  Danny responded, “I wasn’t talking about going in shooting. We could take their weapons, although that would be a temporary thing. Or we could slice all of the tires on the RVs. They could still live in them but couldn’t move them.

  “Even so, it would be easy enough to find other vehicles in town and go out and get more RVs, even if they wouldn’t be the prepared ones.

  “And no matter what we do, in this kind of an operation someone is always liable to get hurt.”

  Noah said as he smiled, “Do you always do your thinking out loud?”