Jim growled again. He reached into the cargo pocket and pulled out a satellite phone, “Now, this is a D.O.D. phone. I won’t say that in the past I’ve never used this for a personal call, but unofficially, we’re held to a ten-minute limit. So you can call your wife but when I say ten minutes max, I don’t mean 10:01. Got it?”
Kim leaned over to me and whispered, “What’s D.O.D?”
I smiled and whispered back, “Department of Defense.”
Red smiled and said very excitedly, “Yes Sir! I understand.”
“Do you have the number?”
“I’ll have to go get it. It’s in my billfold in my bike’s saddlebag.”
“Well go get it, man!”
Red ran out of the house, and a big smile came over Jim’s face.
“Under normal circumstances, I wouldn’t do this, but the man needs to check on his family and let them know that he’s ok.”
I got a big smile, “Jim, you and your crew, just earned a steak dinner. I’m serious. Just let us know ahead of time when you’ll be here and we’ll have steak with all the fixings for all the crew out there. Thank you for doing this.”
“Well, I’m not going to turn that down, but I can’t tell you when we’ll be able to do this again. But trust me, we’ll be contacting you.”
“Let me ask you, how in the hell did you get clearance to make this little stop?”
He smiled and pointed at his rank insignia on his uniform, “Well, being the Wing Commander has its privileges, but when your commanding General is one of your best friends, you’d be surprised what you can get clearance for.”
“Yeah, sounds like the Army. It’s not only who you are but who you know.”
Roger laughed, and I looked up at him knowing he had something to say.
“Go ahead,” Jim said.
Through his laughter, Roger said, “Let’s just say this isn’t the first side trip we’ve made.”
Jim spoke up, “How do you think I found out about Kim’s mom and the family? R.H.I.P.”
At the same time, we all said, “Rank has its privileges.”
When Red came running back in and handed Jim the phone number and Jim started pressing a code into his phone. As he did, he said firmly, “Remember, TEN MINUTES MAX!”
Red took the phone and was practically bouncing up and down on his toes with anticipation. His fear was that no one would be home. On the fourth ring, the phone was answered.
“Thomas? This is Kevin. Is Elizabeth there?.......... Thomas, I’m calling from America….. Listen, I only have a few minutes so I can’t explain now. Please, get me, Elizabeth.”
Red continued to bounce, now acting nervous that he was going to run out of time.
“Beth! Hi, baby, it’s me.” We could hear a scream of joy from the phone, “Yes baby, we made it to Vince’s farm. We’re fine. How are you and the kids doing?”
We didn’t want to eavesdrop on his call any longer, so we continued talking.
“Jim, what can you tell us about this radiation leak out in California?” I asked.
Jim acted surprised, “How did you hear about that?”
“Red picked up a report over the ham radio. So I take it by your response that it’s not just a rumor.”
“Technically, we didn’t want this to be common knowledge as we didn’t want to create even more panic. There was a very big discussion on it. Right now, there is no way to get any warnings out to the public, and there is very little that we can do about it. I was really split on bringing it up to you earlier.
To be honest, we don’t know how bad it’s going to get or even how far it will travel because we don’t have the experts that we use to have. The sievert level is extremely high….”
I interrupted, “Wait. Do you mind if I ask Brandy and Wit in? Brandy is an RN and Wit just retired as First Sergeant of a medical unit. They’re going to understand what you’re talking about a lot more than I will because I have no idea what a Sievert is. The only terminology that I have used is Rad and Rem.”
“Go ahead, get them.”
I called them in and told them what we were talking about, and then Jim proceeded.
“For you and Kim’s sake, to put it in layman’s terms, Sievert is the measurement of radiation escaping per hour. To give you an idea, a standard dental x-ray has .01 millisieverts in it. That’s what a patient is exposed to. There are one thousand millisieverts in a sievert. Ten sieverts can lead to death.”
He became very uncomfortable, then cleared his throat and continued, “We sent in a robot, and it measured 530 sieverts per hour.”
“Oh, my God.” Wit said with a look of astonishment.
Brandy just gasped and covered her mouth as though she was stunned.
Jim continued, “It was so strong that the robot was basically fried after only an hour.”
I sat there trying to comprehend it and then asked, “What does that mean for us?”
“We don’t know for sure. It depends on a lot of factors and even the weather patterns. That’s the other reason that I wanted your ham frequency. If I see it’s going to be a problem, I’ll contact you.”
I told him that we set up the radiation detector and that we had Potassium Iodide available, but Wit spoke up, “Well that won’t do us any good if we receive levels even a tenth that high.”
“I agree, but hopefully that isn’t very likely. But to be honest, we don’t know for sure. It’s a hell of a mess.” Jim stated with frustration.
We talked for another minute or so, and I told everyone that I wanted them to keep this to themselves because we didn’t need to worry everyone, and I was very emphatic about that. They all agreed.
We then heard Red say, “I love you, baby. Kiss the kids for me,” and he walked over and gave Jim his phone.
Jim changed his serious tone and said, “You were pretty close there Red.”
Red, with a huge smile, said, “Nine minutes and forty-eight seconds. I timed it on my watch.” He shook hands with Jim, “I can’t thank you enough. I owe you so much. I feel so much better now. If you ever need anything, just let me know.”
We could see that Red was on cloud nine.
“You don’t owe me a thing. I can imagine what you were feeling.” Jim then stood, “Well, we have to get the hell out of here.” He walked over to Kim and gave her a hug, “Thank you for the food Kim, it was very good.”
“No, thank you for all the news,” and she hugged him a second time.
“Why don’t you give us a lift back to our rides and I can give you those MREs now.”
We walked outside, and Kim, myself, Roger, and Jim jumped into the jeep.
Brandy and Wit stayed in the house and continued to talk about the radiation levels. They were truly worried.
“Vince is right, though. We can’t do anything about it, and there is no use worrying everyone. We really need to keep this to ourselves right now.” Brandy said.
“Yeah, you’re right. Not saying anything is one thing but we need to not show it in our actions, mood or expressions either. We sure can’t wear the worry on our sleeves, if you know what I mean. The best way to handle it is as though you’re in the military. He gave us an order, and that’s what we do.”
“You completely trust Vince, don’t you? I mean, total trust?”
Wit chuckled, “Yeah, completely. To use an old western expression: “We’ve ridden some together.” Vince knows how to take care of his people, he always has. Now, don’t misunderstand me, he’s human, and he makes mistakes, but he’ll be the first one to own that mistake, and he’ll never let someone else take any heat for it.”
“I don’t know how you guys in the military could always do that. I mean to obey an order even when you may not agree with it.”
Wit looked a bit surprised but said, “It’s the only way it can work. The chain of command. Now, believe me, I’ve been under people that I thought were idiots and I’ve seen some commanders get people killed. But Vince was never one of them.
You know, d
uring an average lifetime career in the military, you’re lucky if you have that one special commander. I mean the kind that takes care of his people and always gets the job done.
As far as Platoon Sergeants go, you’ll find a few more in your career, but it’s still rare to find that really special one. Vince was one of them.
Don’t tell him I told you this but I tried to pattern myself after him, and by doing so, I did really well in the Army.
Now, don’t get me wrong, we’ve bumped heads. Hell, we’ve all bumped heads with Vince and one another but we respect one another completely and most of all, we trust one another.
Vince doesn’t mind if you don’t agree with him or even confront him about something, just as long as you do it at the right time.”
“How do you know when that is?”
“Well, it’s common sense, really. Never in the heat of battle or if a situation is very serious or tense, and never in front of others outside of our main group.” Wit laughed a bit and continued, “You know when Lebowski was here in the front yard, and I spoke up when Vince was talking to him and said that we ought to blow their heads off? Well, I’m surprised Vince didn’t rip my head off later for that. That was completely out of line on my part. But then confronting Vince like we did during our little meeting afterward, wasn’t out of line because I knew he wanted to hear what everyone thought.”
Brandy gave a cute smile and asked, “You have a real love for Vince, don’t you?”
Wit spoke up defensively and replied in a louder voice, “Well, I wouldn’t go that far.” He then laughed, “Yeah, we all love one another as brothers do. It’s hard to explain; it’s even stronger than a real brother. It’s a brotherhood…I can’t explain it… it’s a deep respect and trust. You develop a bond with the men you serve within the military, but when you end up going into hell together, and God willing you survive, you form a special bond with those you survived with.”
Brandy paused as though she was thinking, then smiled, “I kind of envy you guys. I’ve never had that much trust, except maybe for Carmen.” She paused again, realizing how Carmen was no longer there and tears came to her eyes.
Wit reached over and gave her a hug, “I’m sorry. I know how much you loved her.”
Brandy forced a small laugh while wiping her eyes, “No, I’m sorry. It just hits me at times.”
“No, I understand. You’re not the only one that feels that way. I know Mia and Kim do,... and of course, Vince.”
Wit trying to lighten up the subject, asked, “Can I ask you something?”
Brandy smiled, “Sure.”
“Uh… well…., just out of curiosity, do you think Vince and Carmen ever did anything? I mean, you know, fool around?” He then formed a sheepish look on his face and continued, “The only reason I ask is I’m just curious as she was so devoted to Vince. You have to admit, due to the circumstances, it was kind of a strange situation. I know I’m not the only one to wonder.”
Brandy chuckled, “I’ve asked myself the same question, but to be honest, I don’t think they did. I knew Carmen like the back of my hand. I would’ve seen it on her face if they had.”
Wit shook his head side to side as though he just didn’t understand, “You know, I didn’t get to know Carmen that well, but it just seemed like she worshipped Vince. As sweet as she was, she would just light up more when she was around him.”
Brandy gave a quick laugh, “She did, but if you knew Carmen, it would baffle you even more. You had to know how Carmen was. Now, both of us were raised with ideas that leaned towards the conservative side of things but other than that, if you had met Carmen out in Hollywood, you would have sworn she was a feminist. She was TOTALLY in charge of her life. I mean, she had that sweet smile and personality, but she was a tiger, especially when she was dealing with men. NOBODY got over on her. But around Vince, she turned into butter. I have never seen her open herself up so much. She was truly happy when she was around him.” She then laughed, “I can’t imagine how she would’ve been if she would have actually been able to make love to Vince.
Before she made her big decision, she wouldn’t put up with any man’s bullshit. She got burnt pretty bad a few years back and ever since then if some guy tried to force his way of thinking on her or dominate her in ANY way, the guy was history. She was done with them, and with very little discussion.”
Wit laughed, “Well, I haven’t seen Vince for years, but I can tell he hasn’t changed. BUT…., you have to understand, I’ve seen Vince’s hard side. He’s someone that doesn’t have mercy on stupid people. I’ve seen him drop a hammer on someone and not think twice about it. But around Kim and Carmen, well hell, all of you, he’s a puppy dog. When we would see him and Carmen talking, we had to laugh because he was butter also.”
“This is fun comparing notes this way. Let me tell you this. Do you know Carmen was becoming very good at Kick Boxing?”
Wit’s mouth dropped open, and he said with a big smile, “No way?”
“Yep! She had been taking lessons but nothing really serious, but after the two clowns that got aggressive with her at the casino in Kansas City, you know, where Vince intervened? She got extremely serious and took several private lessons a week.
Later, Mia and Carmen went to some club, and a drunk got pretty aggressive with them, and Carmen knocked him out cold, by what Mia told me anyway.”
Wit started rolling with laughter at the story, “Good. Good for her.”
Brandy laughed again and asked, “Do you know why she got so serious with the lessons?”
“Well, I assume that the two guys at the casino scared her a bit and she figured she would learn to defend herself.”
“Ha! That may have been a minor part of it but believe this or not, the main reason was she felt so guilty that Vince had to put his body in harm's way with two guys half his age. After that, she promised herself she would never let that happen again as apparently he had some serious pain afterward, due to the fact that he had to make his body do things during the altercation with them. No, there was no doubt that she adored him. I tried to make her see reason, but before the conversation was over with, she almost had me understanding. I was actually a little jealous that she could find such happiness.”
Wit said while still chuckling, “Well, trust me, Vince knows how to fight. Except in Special Forces, the Army doesn’t do a lot of hand-to-hand combat training anymore. Well, Vince is old school. He insisted on giving us special training, whether the Army ok’d it or not. He took special delight in it if he thought we weren’t taking it seriously. He taught us some serious moves, and he wouldn’t hesitate to use full contact if he saw you were leaving yourself open out of stupidity. He’s good.
As far as the pain he felt after the fight with the two guys you were talking about, that doesn’t surprise me in the least. I don’t know how he does some of the things he does with the pain he feels 90% of the time anymore. I know the pain he was living with when he finally had to take his medical retirement, and I guarantee that his current pain level is twenty times that now. How he worked as a cop for five years after that is beyond me.
I don’t know if you’ve noticed but when he takes his Oxycodone, those are only five milligrams and the most I have seen him take at a time is two. I don’t know how he does it?”
“Are you kidding me? I can tell by watching him at times that he has some serious pain, but I didn’t dream his oxy was that low of a dosage.”
Wit nodding his head, “Yep and I know sometimes he has a pain level that I would consider giving him morphine...if we had it.” He then paused and with some anger said, “Damn it! We’ve got to find more medication somewhere. I mean, I wish we would’ve had it for…….” He then got a guilty look on his face.
With a little bit of sadness, Brandy said, “You mean with Carmen.”
Wit sadly nodded his head yes.
****
Kim and I drove Jim and Roger up close to his Blackhawk. As Jim climbed out of the Jeep, h
e looked at his crew, stuck his finger up in the air and made a circular motion indicating for them to fire the choppers up. Almost immediately, the turbines and then the blades started churning. He told Roger to have a crewman bring over three cases of MREs.
The sound of all the choppers firing up made it hard to hear, but Jim said, “Listen, you guys have a hell of a setup. Kim, if I get a chance, I’ll let your mom know how you’re doing. You guys take care. Oh! Now, don’t hold your breath but I’ll see what I can do with getting you some aviation fuel and some ammo.”
“Don’t forget the coffee,” I said with a laugh.
“Yeah, yeah, coffee too. But I’m serious, don’t expect anything soon or at all. Do you know what I mean?”
“Jim, don’t get yourself in trouble. I just want to thank you for the news, the MREs and for letting Red contact his wife. I can tell you; he will owe you forever. We all do.”
Kim walked up to him and gave him a big hug, “I love you. You be careful.”
He formed a big smile, hugged her back, “Always.” He looked at me, “You take care of her.”
“She usually has to take care of me.”
He then gave an informal salute and ran to his Blackhawk. The Apache took off first and again, started circling the area doing a security sweep. Soon the Blackhawks took off and headed towards the east, obviously towards Whiteman.
Chapter Eighteen
After the helicopters had flown off, I walked around the jeep so that it was blocking the view from the house so that I could get rid of all the coffee that I drank earlier.
Kim laughed, “It must be really nice to be a guy. When you have to go, you just whip it out and go.”
“Well, you guys can do the same thing. When you're done, just learn to shake it like we do.”
“Yeah, right. Even if I could, I’m not going to squat in the soybeans.”
As I finished up, I could hear the sound of the ATVs that Red had talked about earlier. It sounded like a group of them, and they sounded like they were moving south down the gravel road that ran the length of our eastern border. I called the East roadblock and asked them what they had.
Into the Apocalypse Page 27