CHAPTER 18 Time Since Attacks: 100 days Date/Time: 30 July/1831 Local Location: Southeast Kansas Katie peeked over the top of the small rise at what appeared to be a roadblock on the county road she was currently paralleling south towards her ultimate destination. She was far enough away she hoped to be able to observe to see if the occupants were friendly or whether they were like others she had seen so far. She had dropped the pack and was using the camouflage jacket to cover her top as she peeked through the long grass from about three hundred yards away at the dozen people she saw carrying weapons and waiting by the road. She could easily avoid it for the most part, but the problem she saw was the fact that the group at the roadblock would head into the fields from time to time and collect the random vegetables growing in the small plots. And she wanted to keep the roadway in sight if at all possible as well as snatch a few of the vegetables herself if at all possible. The ambush was set up near a house that had burned somewhat recently, but still had a barn area where apparently the ambushers stayed. And the original occupants had laid out several personal gardens that were already bearing decent crops. And lucky enough for her, the ambush was at the end of the driveway about a hundred and fifty yards from the former house. She hadn’t seen any movement at the barn area since arriving and was waiting for either dark or for the ambush to leave. Katie was slightly in luck though as a truck was approaching down the roadway from the north. It appeared to be loaded down pretty well and looked to have at least two families riding inside and the back. But they also saw the roadblock from a distance and attempted to slow the vehicle without throwing the occupants out. However, they also garnered the attention of the group at the roadblock and she saw at least half the members running towards the vehicles carrying their weapons as they scrambled. Two vehicles, a high performance convertible and a truck squealed their tires in pursuit of the vehicle that had appeared and was attempting to turn around on the narrow road without spilling the occupants or anything they had in the bed. However, the other two vehicles were faster and made the ground up quickly and overtook the escaping vehicle just as it was departing. Katie could hear the gunfire as the ambushers started firing and some selected return fire from the victims. However, the attackers had well thought out moves and were able to divert the attention of the victims by presenting a large target in the truck while the Mustang swept around the side of the vehicle and engaged the driver. As soon as the driver was hit, the vehicle swerved erratically before rolling off the road and getting caught in the ditch where the occupants and the supplies inside spilled out as the truck rolled over. The attackers pulled up and wasted no time in dispatching the victims as they walked off the roadway and shot anything that was still moving. Katie watched in horror as the attackers casually aimed and executed the wounded before starting to collect the supplies from the vehicle. But even as horrified as she was, she saw the numbers at the roadblock were diminished and the remaining individuals at the point weren’t paying attention to anything but the rest of their group picking up the supplies and whatever else they could get from the ambush. She quickly darted into the nearby gardens and grabbed several cucumbers, carrots, tomatoes and a head of cauliflower as she tossed them into a plastic shopping bag while trying to keep an eye on the roadblock. She was spending far too much time far too close to the attackers and knew she needed to clear soon. She filled as much as possible before darting back into the rows of corn nearby. After getting somewhat concealed, she checked behind her and didn’t see anyone pursuing her for the moment. She attempted to stay as low as possible and headed back towards the area she had left her pack. But she was slightly disoriented and tried to pick her way back through the rows of corn along the path she thought she had taken. But still couldn’t find her way to where she thought she was supposed to be. Figuring she couldn’t do much more, she decided to pop her head up quickly to get her bearings. And as soon as she did, she knew it was a mistake as the whizzing of a gunshot nearby caught her attention. But she did manage to figure out where she was at and where she needed to go and quickly ran towards the low rise. More gunfire followed her from the vehicles as she dove over the top of the rise and rolled downwards towards her pack. She quickly dropped the bag inside and zipped the main compartment before dragging it low towards the long grass to her rear. The gunfire was more sporadic now as she reached the relative safety of the concealment it offered. But she knew she wasn’t out of danger as the ambushers certainly would have pinpointed her location and were probably heading her way. She pulled on the pack quickly and darted away from the area and towards a low ridge she had seen earlier while scoping out the gardens. Peeking up above the grass and weeds, she gained a few more shots in her direction before running full bore toward the ridge. The pack was slowing her down, but she had become accustomed to the weight and since she had been eating food, it weighed less than it had in the beginning. And the fact she had eaten all the canned goods first meant the weight was reduced even more. However, it still slowed her down considerably as she continued to pant as she ran towards what she considered safety. Two more bullets passed close by, enough to spur her on as fast as possible before she covered the two hundred yards to the rise and went over the crest. Once on the other side, she knew she should continue walking as a minimum to put as much ground between her and the ambush as possible, but paused momentarily to catch her breath and take a few sips out of the hydration bladder on her back. But as she panted, a noise to her rear caught her attention as she heard yelling on the other side of the ridge. She didn’t know she had been pursued and had no desire to find out if they had pinpointed her location. She continued moving towards the ridge, but along the way was looking for a better place to hide. She found a small depression in the ground and cold see the overhang that provided a place to hide. She pulled the pistol from her holster before dropping the pack and shoving it inside and followed it by crawling inside and pulling some of the grass to conceal her position. And took the time to catch her breath even more and drank down more of the water as she watched the area intently to her front. “Over here!” she heard a voice yell outside the area she was hiding in. Katie gripped the pistol even tighter and thumbed back the hammer as she heard footsteps near her position and a pair of legs in blue jeans walked outside her hiding spot about ten feet away. She held her breath and didn’t move an inch as they stopped and looked around before continuing past the position. But she knew she wasn’t out of danger just yet as there were obviously others looking for her as well and she stayed as still as possible. “We know you’re out here! We aren’t going to hurt you! Come on out!” yelled the male voice. A gunshot from near the position made her jump and she heard the pair of ambushers run past her position. Luckily enough the shot wasn’t aimed at her position as she heard two more shots and a female voice from somewhere behind her. “Got her!” yelled the voice as she heard the pair running across the field and coming to a stop. “Just a stupid rabbit,” remarked the other voice, a male voice. “We know you’re out here! Just give up because you know we’ll find you!” Katie again didn’t react and didn’t move at all. The pair continued walking around for several minutes and even passed by her hiding spot again before a third voice called out to them. “Anything?” he asked. “No,” said the female voice. “She’s out here though.” “We’re too far away from camp,” said the third voice. “We should head back.” “We should wait on the ridge,” said the female voice. “She’ll pop up eventually.” “We’ve got some good stuff from the vehicle we just hit,” said the third voice. “One little girl with a pack isn’t worth the trouble.” “I don’t like it when they get away,” said the female voice. “You want to wait her out, be my guest,” said the second male voice. “It’s going to be dark soon,” observed the other male voice. “Leave me your flashlight then,” said the female voice. “Not a chance,” said the third voice. “Just leave me the stupid flashlight!” protested the female voice. “We don’t have the batteries to waste,” said the first male voice. “Give me the damn flashlight!” yelled the woman’s voice and a scuffle was heard. Katie heard the unmistakable sound of a body hitting the ground hard and what appeared to be a shotgun slide racking. “You put your hands on me again and I’ll blow your head off,” said the second male voice through gritted teeth. “Understand?” Katie could hear the woman attempting to get up and resume her attack before a strike was head hitting her midsection and the air emptying out of her lungs. And a dull thump as Katie heard her being struck again. But no further movement from the woman was heard collapsing entirely on the ground. “Grab her rifle and pistol,” ordered the second male voice. “Want to carry her back?” asked the first male voice. “She can lay out here and hurt for a while,” said the second. “When she wakes up, she can find her way back.” “If she wakes up,” said the first. “Well, that just means she learned her lesson,” said the second. “Let’s go.” “Can’t just leave her out here,” said the first voice. “We’ll just blame that girl that got away if anyone asks,” said the second voice. “Just grab her stuff and let’s go.” Katie could hear the two grabbing the rifle and unbuckling the pistol belt she had on with the holstered pistol. The footsteps departed back towards the ambush site, yet still couldn’t bring herself to move after a half an hour of waiting. She knew it could be a ruse to draw her out and decided it was better to wait for darkness to fall where she could move easier. But one thing was for certain, she wanted to put as much distance between the ambush site and her as possible. Eventually it appeared dark enough outside her hiding spot to move out and she pulled the pack behind her as she crawled across the still hot ground towards the depression. Once she was out, she held the pistol out and looked around her position. She immediately saw the woman that had been chasing her lying face down on the ground with a large lump on the back of her head. With the pistol pointed at her, Katie inched forward and could see the shallow breathing in the waning daylight. She managed to roll over the woman and heard her moan softly, but could see she was still breathing. Katie had a desire to help her because she was injured, but also remembered the fact the woman was pursuing her with the intent of killing her if she got the chance. And common sense overtook the desire to help and she gathered her pack before moving away from the area as rapidly as possible. The remainder of the daylight helped her move across the open field and she could see a decent sized grove of trees in the distance that would provide her shelter for the night. Luckily enough, the almost full moon was helping guide her as it was already up as her eyes started adjusting to the growing darkness. She made decent time even though being slowed by the terrain and having to watch her steps as she continued across the large open area. The darkness would be a problem as she got closer to the trees as there might be danger hidden inside, but she decided it was also her best bet for finding more water. Katie approached the area cautiously after finishing the short trip and stopped to listen for any dangers that might be waiting on her. And as soon as she stopped short, she heard the distinctive sounds of voices inside the trees. She couldn’t make out what was being said, but it was more than one person and there was danger in just about everyone she met those days. She decided to depart the area and head away and find a place in the large open stretches that might conceal her for the night. But as soon as she started moving, a sound was heard to her right side. “Don’t move,” ordered a voice with an odd metallic click. “Please don’t hurt me,” said Katie. “I’m leaving.” “What are you doing here?” asked the voice. “I was looking for a place to spend the night,” said Katie. “Who are you?” asked the voice. “My name is Katie,” she replied. “I’ll move on.” “Not so fast,” said the voice as she heard him moving closer and yanking the pistol out of the holster. “Why are you stopping here Katie?” “I was looking for a place to hide while I slept,” said Katie. “Where’s the rest of your group?” asked the voice. “I’m alone,” said Katie. “You sure about that?” questioned the voice. “Yes sir,” said Katie. “Well, bye,” said the voice. “You can go now.” “Can I have my pistol back?” asked Katie. “You’re funny,” laughed the voice. “It’s my only means of protection!” protested Katie. “And you come back after my back is turned and kill every one of us,” said the voice. “No,” said Katie. “I am just looking for safety.” “Yeah, like that exists today,” said the voice. “You can go now.” “Please sir,” said Katie. “You can leave or get shot,” said the voice. “Two choices.” “John!” exclaimed a second voice to her side. A female voice. “You stop that!” “She’s free to go,” said the male voice. “She’s just a young girl,” said the woman’s voice. “Now stop scaring her!” “You need to go back to the camp,” said the male voice. Katie turned slowly as the two were having a brief discussion and saw both their faces were half covered with some sort of device. She didn’t know exactly what it was, but saw the both of them were carrying rifles as well. “I’ll leave, but I’d like my pistol back,” said Katie. “You can take it out in the field and set it down or walk me away or whatever, but you can’t leave me defenseless.” “We surely can,” said the male voice. “Fine, walk me out and give it back when I’m far enough away. If you see me turn around then shoot me. But please don’t leave me defenseless out here,” said Katie. “We just don’t know who you are, that’s all,” said the female voice. “We can’t be too careful about strangers we meet these days.” “You mean like the strangers a couple of miles up the road that are ambushing people going by?” asked Katie. “There is a gang ambushing people up the road?” asked the male. “About two miles north, yes,” said Katie. “We didn’t know,” said the male voice. “How do I know you’re telling the truth?” “You’re more than welcome to check it out in the daylight,” said Katie. “No, they are best to be avoided,” said the male voice. “How do we know you aren’t a part of them and just waiting to go back and tell your friends?” “Because I don’t kill innocent people,” said Katie with resolve. “Or steal their stuff.” “What are you doing out here alone?” asked the female voice. “Heading south to Oklahoma,” said Katie. “Why are you alone?” asked the female voice. “Where are your parents or someone to watch over you?” “I’m alone,” said Katie. “Let’s leave it at that.” “You don’t have anyone?” asked the woman. “Ma’am, I don’t feel comfortable talking about it,” said Katie. “I don’t know you.” “I’m sorry,” said the woman. “It’s just that a young girl like you is easy prey for the predators out on these roads. It’s not safe.” “I know better than most,” said Katie. “Look, I just want to find a place to sleep tonight. But I need my pistol back unless you want a young girl out here wandering around those predators without any protection.” “Give it back to her,” said the woman. “No,” said the man. “I’ll walk you away from here and give it back, but I’m not giving it to you right now. And that’s not up for debate.” “I don’t trust you to do it so I’ll take her away,” said the woman. “Give it to me.” “You aren’t going out there wandering around by yourself,” scoffed the man. “Either give me the pistol or I’ll give her mine,” said the woman. “And don’t argue with me.” “We’ll go together,” said the man. “Go that way.” Katie led off the small party away from the grove and in a southerly direction. They were a hundred yards away when the man finally spoke again. “How many people at the roadblock?” he asked. “A dozen, maybe fifteen,” said Katie. “They are blocking the roads with old cars.” “How are they stopping people?” asked the man. “Chasing them in other vehicles,” said Katie and explained what she saw during the ambush. “So fifteen total?” asked the man. “That’s about what I counted,” said Katie. “They are at a burned out house.” “Can they be bypassed?” asked the man. “If you stay beyond that far ridge, probably,” said Katie. “There might be a woman lying out in one of the fields though.” “Care to explain?” asked the man. “Long story short, they saw me and gave chase,” said Katie. “She wanted to keep looking for me, but the leader decided not to. They had…a disagreement and he knocked her out.” “How do we know you didn’t do it?” asked the man. “John!” exclaimed the woman. “She told us about them, that’s good enough.” “I don’t trust her,” said the man. “I don’t trust anyone either,” said the woman. “But she’s barely old enough to be out here by herself. So ease up.” The man heard the “or else” tone his wife gave him and decided it was better to cease the discussion at the moment. And Katie helped along as well. “What are those things you’re wearing?” she asked. “Night vision goggles,” said the woman. “That’s neat,” said Katie. “I could use some.” “We only have the two pairs,” said the man. “I originally tried traveling by night, but I couldn’t navigate around in the dark,” said Katie. “Something like that would have made my trip easier.” “Where are you going again?” asked the woman. “Oklahoma,” said Katie. “Any place in particular?” asked the woman. “Wherever will take me in I suppose,” said Katie. “Where are you all heading?” “North,” answered the woman who also didn’t say anything about Katie’s destination since she knew there were few places that were taking in the influx of refugees coming from the north and even some from the east. But she thought that with Katie’s age it might help find her a better spot than in one of the refugee camps. They were about five hundred yards away from the trees when they finally stopped. “I’d like it if you went another mile or so,” said the man as they stopped. “I’ll try,” said Katie as she received her cleared pistol and magazine. “Is there water nearby?” “About three miles south of here is a small stream,” said the man. “It runs east to west so you can’t miss it.” “Thank you,” said Katie as she holstered the empty pistol and put the magazine in her pocket. She would load it up after the pair had left since obviously the thought of her being armed was unnerving to the pair and whomever they had with them. She headed off in the southerly direction away as she felt the two watching her. She eventually heard them turn to leave and the wife giving her husband down the road over his conduct. Katie went another few hundred yards before finding a place out of the way that was somewhat sheltered from the wind that was currently blowing in from the west as it typically did. Some clouds were on the horizon, but it didn’t feel like it was going to rain that evening. But she unpacked the poncho and laid it out on the ground just in case she needed to bundle up that night if it did. She checked her water quickly and found for certain she would need to refill the next day. With only two liters left, she would need to top everything off as well as finding a place to start a fire and sterilize it. And she removed the plastic bag she had stowed from earlier and found in her mad dash two of the tomatoes had broken inside the bag and covered the other vegetables. But no matter what, it was fresh and after a steady diet of processed food, she enjoyed the taste of the fresh tomatoes as she grabbed one of the broken ones and started eating it and licking the juice off her fingers. The remainder would need to be checked out prior to eating and she set the bag off to the side for the evening. Katie was pretty tired after the two brief encounters from that day as she laid her head down on her pack. Thoughts of the day’s events went through her head as she tried to get comfortable on the hard ground. She wondered if she was right by stealing even though the group at the ambush site had probably not come across the gardens legally either. She couldn’t come to a good decision in her mind on whether or not stealing from bad people was okay or whether it was just…well, stealing. She wondered what her mother might say in that instance and decided she probably would have called her “Katherine” with that particular look on her face. So before falling asleep Katie made the determination to not steal any more even if it was from the bad people causing harm right then. And furthermore, it put her at greater risk trying to find food since most of the gardens were closer to the houses that were still occupied. ******************** Katie awoke the next morning as the sun was starting to come up. Even though she didn’t have an alarm clock or any kind, her body seemed to know when it was time to get up and start moving. However, she stretched out and laid on the ground for several more minutes, still a little sore from the mad dash she had done the day prior. Eventually she knew she needed to get up and move and pulled the poncho back away from her legs and sat up and stretched. Letting out a slight groan she checked her pack and the food bag and saw they were untouched by the local wildlife that probably wasn’t too far away. And even though she saw plenty of rabbits and squirrels, she had no idea how to skin and prepare them even if she managed to catch one. She grabbed a bottle of water from her pack and drank down a decent amount, still feeling a little dried out from the run the previous evening. Checking the plastic bag, she pulled a cucumber out and wondered if the family had sprayed it at all. Seeing that one couldn’t be too careful, she poured a bit of water over the vegetable and washed it as best as she could. However, she also saw her hands were fairly dirty and applied a little more water to them and rinsed them as best as she could. She used the camouflaged top to dry them off and started peeling the cucumber and looking through the MRE parts in her bag, finally finding one of the main meal pouches worthy of sharing with the fresh produce. But she did wonder exactly what animal the supposed chicken patty came from since it didn’t taste like any chicken she ever had before. Ripping the top off, she took a bite of the chicken and started eating the cucumber from one end like a banana. It wasn’t that large, but was enough to help fill her up along with the MRE meal. And most importantly would help stretch her food out a little bit more as she was running low as it was. She thought again about the decision she came to the night before and thought the decision might have been because she was tired. But the more she thought about it, the more her mother’s voice was heard in her head telling her it wasn’t right. But eventually she found a middle path that her mother would probably have agreed with in only taking things that were completely abandoned. That wasn’t necessarily stealing, she rationalized in her head as she took another bite and a sip of water. And found her mother’s voice agreeing with her after a sigh. Finishing everything up, she suddenly had the call of nature. She had originally packed away a couple of rolls of toilet paper for fire starter, but after the first day had realized she probably couldn’t use it for that as there were certain aspects of her journey she hadn’t thought about when packing. So she saved the two rolls for the absolute necessary times and used the small packs of tissue found in the MREs for that purpose instead. But being that everything needed to be stretched, she even started using the small tissue packs from time to time as well. After finding a decent spot away from her camp, she squatted down to relieve herself and looked around at the horizon. She could see fairly far into the distance and saw the group she had encountered the night before leaving the grove of trees and heading north. She counted almost twenty in their party as they skirted around the ridgeline out of sight and mind of the ambush on the roadway. Katie wondered where they were going and more importantly wondered if they would arrive there. They seemed to be pretty well set up from what she could tell in the distance with the majority of the group wearing large packs and even the children carrying something or other as they pushed north. After she finished, she also noticed that she needed a bath, badly as it would seem. Walking and sweating had taken its toll on her hygiene and she really needed to find a place to wash up when she could. She collected everything into the pack and did her best to cover the garbage before departing. She checked the map and got a general idea of where she was at before pointing the compass south and heading off. While she had no idea how to use it in the beginning, she quickly learned the cardinal points after studying the device for a couple of minutes and at least would have a general idea of where she was heading. She traveled slightly southwest looking for the roadway again and after an hour came across the small stream the man had told her about the night before. It wasn’t on her map, but most of the small creeks and streams she had used weren’t on her map. She checked the area out before approaching and found the stream was deserted for the most part. It was slightly wider in the area she was in and she spied an old tree standing alone nearby that looked to have several dead branches just within reach. Katie decided to gather her water from that area instead where she could refill at her leisure and boil at the same time. Taking out the pot as well as her two dirty water bottles, she set everything up before gathering the firewood and starting to make her fire lay. By this point in her journey, she had pretty much mastered fire building and found several natural materials that would aid in getting it started. Breaking off the tops of some dead weeds nearby, she got everything ready and filled one bottle before filtering off the mud and dirt into the second bottle. The coffee filters she used were less than ideal, but still got the majority of the nasty stuff out before being poured into the pot to boil. She struck a match and the tinder immediately caught and started burning through. She added in the pieces of kindling and puffed on it to keep it going. Before long she had a good blaze going in the small pit she had dug out with her boot and the pot already starting to bubble up on the bottom. She removed all the empty bottles from her pack and transferred the remainder of the water in one of the bottles into her hydration bladder. She had found the item almost worth its weight in gold as she didn’t have to stop and pull out a bottle of water any time she wanted to drink. After the bladder was topped off, she drank down the remainder of the two liter bottle and set it off to the side. After adding a few more pieces of wood to the fire, she had boiled the first pot long enough to add to the first bottle and set it off to the side to cool slightly before pouring it in. She had already warped one bottle by not waiting long enough and the near boiling water had deformed it badly. After waiting for five minutes she poured it inside the first bottle and prepared the next batch to boil. It was a time consuming process, but she also knew there was no such thing as too much water. Too much safe water, she reminded herself for the thousandth time as she pulled the small bottle of bleach out and added a couple of drops to the two liter bottle before swishing it around to mix it up. It took nearly an hour and a half to completely fill the bottles she was carrying and she even filled the dirty bottle to later purify as it was far easier to find fire materials than it was water it appeared. As she reloaded the pack, she realized that last night was the first time since she had left Kansas City she had any human contact. It was strange that she had been out in the rural areas of Kansas for two weeks and only then had some human contact. And not very friendly contact at that, but she realized everyone was on edge these days and she had avoided human contact as well. Before leaving, she checked the water in the small stream and found it was acceptable for being able to wash off with for the moment. She looked around and couldn’t see anyone for the moment and went to the tree. The lower branches were just within reach and she climbed towards the top and looked around as best as she could. There didn’t appear to be anyone, but in the distance she did see a town that would be within reach if she made good time that day. Dropping back to the ground, she got some of the spare clothing out and decided it was past time to at least rinse off. Since she was alone, impropriety went out the window for a moment as she pulled off the t-shirt and her boots and socks. Rolling up the legs on her pants, she toed into the water and started wiping down as best as she could. The water wasn’t deep enough to wash out her hair, but she used one of the bottles to wet it down. She took a chance and pulled off her pants and washed quickly before donning her spare set and rinsing out the t-shirt and pants. Grabbing her last clean t-shirt, she attached the wet clothing to her pack and shouldered it up before setting out for the town. She felt cleaner for the moment than she had and the breeze helped keep her head cool for the moment. And she set off to check the next town just in case they were allowing refugees in.
CHAPTER 19 Time Since Attacks: 101 days Date/Time: 1 August/1658 Local Location: Near Fredonia, Kansas Katie watched as the security checkpoint going into the town turned away yet another vehicle of refugees. She had no idea how they got past the roadblock at the farm since they came down the same road, but decided it was irrelevant as she had no hope of getting in anyway. With a sigh, she took one last look at the checkpoint that appeared to be manned by some form of police and headed directly south and towards the river she saw on the map. At a minimum she would be able to top off her water and continue on although her food was running a bit scarce. She wondered if she should try the town anyway and attempt to at least trade for some food to keep her going a little longer but decided with the way she saw the police treating the refugees it would be a wasted trip. She was also faced with a dilemma of where to cross the river at. She was giving the town a reasonably wide berth when she saw a way through that was somewhat sparsely populated. She decided to give it a go but to wait until it was a little darker out. But she decided to get as close in as possible before it got dark so she could pick her way through. According to her map, there looked to be a bridge across the river on one of the street roads and she decided it was the best place for her to cross. While waiting for it to get darker, she grabbed one of the MRE meals from her pack and saw it was “Mexican Style Corn.” And decided it was better than going hungry as she used her knife to cut a small slit in the top and ate without the spoon. She ate and saw a few vehicles going this way and that, but certainly not as many as there normally were. And most appeared to be some form of security or police as the occupants were armed. Katie decided it was dark enough to give it a try and headed towards the small neighborhood and would pick her way through heading towards the bridge. As she started getting closer, an eerie feeling swept over her as if she was being watched. But she managed to get past the first houses without incident and continued towards the bridge coming to a fenced in area. Not knowing who or why it was fenced, it was in her way of getting to the bridge and she found an area where she could slide underneath the fence and continue directly west. After going a hundred yards, she noticed the area was a golf course of some type and was in a pretty bad state as it was. But she continued through, feeling a bit safer since if it was a golf course, the chances of finding anyone living there was remote. She arrived at the other side and found another place in the fence that she could wiggle her way under and outside was the road she was looking for. It was almost dark now and she paralleled the road and saw the bridge in the moonlight. There didn’t appear to be anyone on the bridge at the moment as she got closer, but she stopped and checked it out anyway. A passing vehicle caught her attention and she hid down in the long grass and watched as the vehicle passed by loaded down with armed men. She didn’t know if they were police or just concerned citizens, but she didn’t want to find out as it was. They crossed over the bridge and out of sight as Katie also noted nobody stopped them as they crossed. She figured the crossing was clear enough and headed out at an increased pace to be able to cross. She also planned on following the river away from the town and refilling her water away from the houses where she could conceal herself from observation as she had been doing since the day she set out. Crossing the bridge was the easy part, but the fact there were houses on the other side and they appeared to be occupied was another matter entirely. And trailers of some sort on the other side of the road. She could hear voices coming from behind one and what appeared to be a campfire in the backyard as people were laughing and talking with each other. It was almost a normal scene had it not been for the fact they were over three months past the largest terrorist attacks in history and the world as they knew it had ended. But she pressed on over the bridge and crossed without being noticed. But she faced a new set of problems as she wouldn’t be able to follow the river that easily since the trailers butted up against the path she intended to take. And she didn’t want to go west necessarily since it would take her well away from the direction she wanted to go. She looked at both directions and saw the east side was a little more open and decided it was better for her to go that way instead. She crept along as quietly as she possibly could and followed the river towards the area it went south again, but found she had been discovered. “Freeze!” yelled a voice and the sound of a weapon being charged was unmistakable. She didn’t know exactly what to do, but her gut instinct was to run as quickly as possible. A powerful light came on as she sprinted down the path of the river and into the trees. But vehicles were heard rumbling to life and more shouts were heard from the trailer area as the security force for the town was heard coming to life and giving chase. She wasn’t sure how they might react to her being there, but again, with the rough handling of some of the refugees she had seen earlier, they probably wouldn’t have treated her any differently. So she ran as fast as possible as the security pursued the shadows of where she was at and fanned out searching for her. “We’re finally going to catch that murdering thief!” exclaimed one of the men in the party as they set out across the open field looking for any signs she had been there. They think I’ve been here before, she thought as she ran faster and tripped up from time to time on the uneven ground. And if that wasn’t enough, the gunfire to her rear spurred her on even faster as she took longer strides trying to put some distance between the security and herself. “Dammit people! Cease fire! Cease fire! I said stop shooting!” yelled one of the leaders. “We want them alive!” “I thought I saw something!” exclaimed one of the men. “They killed three people and have looted four houses! We want them alive to stand trial!” yelled the leader. “So no shooting unless there’s a direct threat!” Katie heard the conversation and decided the security would consider her a “threat” as they already appeared to be trigger happy. And appeared far more than ready to use lethal force no matter what. She decided to change her direction slightly since she had been going in the same direction for a while and headed back towards the southwest. But the lights and vehicles behind her made her continue the quick pace she had set and she decided it might be best to hide and let them pass her by while they were searching. But she also thought it might be wise to press on and put as much distance between the town and herself as possible. So she pressed forward, taking a sip of water as she did so and moving as quickly as possible. A large field opened up to her front and she didn’t necessarily want to cross it since she would be out in the open, but she could see the pursuers to her rear were concentrating their search in the wooded areas near the river so she pressed forward into the field. The headlights of the vehicles were seen sweeping her from time to time, but apparently they never caught sight of her as they continued their search. She tripped over an object in the field of some sort and looked in the pale moonlight and saw an old piece of sheet metal mostly covered in grass covering up a narrow furrow in the ground of some sort. She had no idea what it was or why it was here, but she decided it might be the best thing since the pursuers were starting to sweep the fields nearby as well. Katie took a chance right then and decided there was just enough room underneath for her to hide and hopefully allow the pursuers to pass by unnoticed and be able to escape. For once in her life, she was happy about her small stature as she got underneath the piece of metal, an old business sign of some sort, and shoved her pack in behind her. Turning around underneath wasn’t easy, but she managed to do it in hopes it hadn’t disturbed the grass on top too much and pushed the grass near the entrance back up to conceal her entry. She thought about grabbing the pistol attached to her pack, but knew it certainly would enrage the pursuers even more if she started taking shots at the group. So she decided if she was caught, she would face the group and attempt to convince them of her innocence and hopefully they would let her go on her own way. Katie peered out into the field and saw the group of men coming closer as she pulled back slightly underneath the board for more concealment. Two men were bearing down on her position, and she hoped they would divert their path. However, it wasn’t happening as they drew closer and shined bright flashlights back and forth looking for her. They didn’t pay attention to the ground as much and passed within ten feet of her position before continuing on through the field on their search. She contemplated getting up right then and there and making a run for it behind them, but decided it was better for the activity to die down before moving again. She heard random footsteps moving past her on several occasions and even heard more gunfire in the distance, but it appeared her hiding spot was okay for the moment. Without moving too much, she managed to locate a bottle of water in her pack and pulled it forward enough to drink. But in her cramped conditions, it wasn’t easy and she ended up spilling a portion out on the ground as she attempted to drink in some of the water. She wrapped her lips around the spout of the two liter bottle and sucked the water out until she realized the bottle was compressing and was out of shape. She released her mouth only to hear the bottle pop back into position making a noise far too loud for her comfort level right then. She quickly capped it off, losing a little more water in the process and heard footsteps coming in from behind her as she set it off to the side. The footsteps closed in and got slower as she laid motionless waiting for them to pass. But she was unlucky as they drew even closer, soft footsteps of a practiced hunter waiting for his prey to appear and make a mistake. But she was motionless even as he stepped on the edge of the piece of sheet metal and stood right on top of her lower back. He stomped on the metal for a moment almost causing her to cry out in pain, but a yelling from south of her position caused the footsteps to depart quickly as someone had yelled “over here!” from a position well away from where she was hiding. Katie laid there motionless for what seemed like an eternity waiting for the person to return and uncover her position. But the activity moved away from the place she was hiding for the most part and she laid there in silence wondering what to do next. She knew the security was bound and determined to find her and make an example of whomever they thought she was and she felt that no amount of convincing would help her leave that town. And she decidedly marked it off her list as a place she could be able to stay for the most part. She knew she needed to move south as quickly as possible and away from the town, but wasn’t sure if it was clear yet. After a half hour of waiting and being patient, she crept forward and peeked her head out of her burrow and into the field. She couldn’t see anything due to the long grass in the field and moved forward a bit more peeking over the top and saw two vehicles waiting north of her in the field with men inside shining spotlights over the field attempting to catch a glimpse of her. Most of the search was well south of her at this point and she wondered if they would return and conduct a more detailed search of the area and find her. So for the moment she was content to slide back into her hiding spot, reset the grass and wait for a better time to leave. She managed to drink in a few more gulps of water, making sure the bottle didn’t deform again and located one of the ration bars inside an outer pocket on her pack. It made far too much noise for her liking, but she needed something to eat and keep her going. And as the night continued on, she heard random noises of the continuing search to include the field once again. And her fears of being discovered multiplied as several of the security passed by her location, but by and large they never found her. And she didn’t even attempt to sleep that night knowing full well the group had revenge set on their mind and a sleeping target made a still target in her mind. So she continued to listen and watch the small opening throughout the night. ******************** As the dawn crept closer, the light outside turned to the dull gray as often seen right before the sun would come up. Katie again wondered if the security men had left the field and crept out of her hiding spot and looked around up the field. And the vehicles along with the men were still there watching the area, although not as intently as the night before. Several groups of the security were seen coming back from searching and heading back towards the town as she knew it wasn’t possible to leave yet again and certainly not in the daylight. One of the two trucks left, but one remained behind with four of the security still watching the field and Katie figured her best shot was to wait the entire day and head out when it was dark again and the security wasn’t as alert to the presence of an individual. Or she hoped something else would distract them so she could slip away unnoticed. She wasn’t sure how far outside of the town she was, but the further she was, the more comfortable she would be. She pulled another meal pack from the pack and ripped it open, taking account of how little food she had left. But she knew if she was to move away, she would need energy and managed to eat the meal without the aid of a spoon yet again. And drank down more water as the sun peeked out over the horizon and started warming the ground. Taking another drink of the water, the metal surface of the old sign was already starting to warm up and she felt it would probably get unbearable before long. But she also knew with the vehicle sitting three hundred yards away escape wasn’t likely and her plan to leave that next evening was probably her best shot at getting away unnoticed. So she stayed in her position, waiting and listening as a few vehicles swept by from time to time and the sunlight started heating up the metal surface and warming everything underneath. And she got lucky as the field was swept again and four of the individuals stopped close enough for her to hear their conversation. “You think they’re still out here?” asked one of the men. “Probably not,” said another. “But as we suspected, whoever it is came in from the south.” “I don’t think they’ll be stupid enough to try to cross that bridge again,” said another. “It’s the only way across except for downstream,” said the first. “And the other side is being covered and searched as well.” “We’ve got to be careful,” said another. “Anyone who kills three people in cold blood needs to be shot down like a dog on sight.” “The Sheriff wants them taken alive,” said one of the men. “So he can string them up himself,” laughed another. “I don’t know about our Sheriff, but I do know if I happen to get ‘em in my crosshairs, there won’t be much of a trial,” remarked one. “The Sheriff wants to make an example of them,” said another. “Dead bodies work just as well when you hang a sign on them,” said the boastful one. “He’ll be pissed,” said one of the men. “So they were a ‘threat’ and I had to protect myself,” said the man. “Have to find them first,” said another of the men. “They came back five times,” said the man. “Can’t see why they wouldn’t come back again.” “Want something to eat?” asked one of the men. “Yeah, let’s head back,” said another as Katie caught a glimpse of two of the heads as they passed close to her hiding spot. She sighed briefly as they passed by and grabbed the water bottle yet again and took another drink. But the most important thing she had figured out the entire time was that she was in serious danger the longer she stayed near the town. But at the moment, she had no way of being able to escape and would more than likely have to wait for dark yet again to move away. So she tried to make herself as comfortable as possible while the sunlight continued to beat down on the metal above her. Time Since Attacks: 102 days Date/Time: 2 August/1843 Local Location: Near Fredonia, Kansas Katie was miserable. After staying in position that entire day and having the sun beat down on the metal above her, she was completely drained and exhausted. It was likely a record breaking temperature that day and being that her hiding spot had no air circulation meant she was soaked from the sweat and tired as she ever remembered being in her life. And she knew she still had at least three more hours until she could move. She had taken the opportunity at one point to check out her surroundings once again and had seen the vehicle waiting to her north hadn’t moved. And several patrols had passed through the field throughout the day although none had come close to her position. Checking her watch for the millionth time it seemed like, she tried to get comfortable once again and take a brief nap. But as soon as she thought about it, she also remembered if she slept through the night somehow, she would end up having to stay in position for yet another day. So she shifted yet again and tried to get comfortable, but it was impossible in her current state as she was hot, sweaty and tired. Another problem was presented to her as she knew the water she desperately needed to refill would be completely out of her reach unless she traveled far down the river. And furthermore, wouldn’t be able to boil it effectively since the light from a fire would be sure to draw attention. She cursed herself knowing that she had used up the purification tablets given to her by Mr. Brady in the first week and how invaluable they would have been since she could have just dropped the tabs in and continued walking. But even with the tablets, she had no way of knowing whether the river would be patrolled by the security and what her chances of being caught were. And with the patrols being in vehicles, she had no idea how far out they would travel away from the town. So she decided to make a mad dash immediately south once it got dark and stay away from the roads as best as possible. And most importantly, put the town in her rear view mirror as fast as possible. Katie knew she needed some food to keep her going and checked the vegetables she had gathered from the garden a couple of days prior. Retrieving the bag wasn’t easy, but she managed to get it pulled from the pack and up to where she could get at the contents easier. However, as she put her hand inside, she found the items inside had wilted in the heat and became a mushy mess inside the bag. She had no idea whether or not they were safe to eat and the thoughts of having stomach problems inside her small hiding spot was certainly not a risk she wanted to take. With some disgust, she set the bag off to the side and grabbed at several pouches before coming up with a freeze dried pouch. She knew it required boiling water to make, but decided she could just drop the warm water inside and let it soak instead. She decided to give it extra time to soak in and dropped what she thought was about two cups inside and zipped the pouch back up. However, she had an idea of putting it against the top of the hiding spot to give it a bit of extra heat and wedged it between the pack and the sheet metal before calling it good. She managed to dig out the spoon from her pack as well as she waited on the meal pack to finish up. She hated not being in a good position to be able to see around the area, but knew there was no other alternative the previous evening than hunkering down and hoping for the best. Thoughts continued to roll through her head as she was lying there, thinking of her mother, how far things had gone downhill, what and where her life was heading and whether or not an end was in sight. But mostly, she wondered how her mother would have held up on the journey so far and what advice she would have given at that moment in time. I would tell you to keep going, said her mother’s voice in her head. But there’s no end in sight and everywhere I go I see bad things happening and people getting turned away, Katie protested in return. You were the one that said not everyone in the world was bad, said her mother’s voice. So it’s up to you to find those people and survive this. I don’t know if I ever will, Katie thought. I tend to think you’re stronger than you give yourself credit for, said her mother in her head. And I think you’ll make it through this and find what you’re looking for. It just seems to hopeless, thought Katie. Maybe I should just turn myself in to this town. And get killed for it? I don’t think that’s a wise decision, said her mother. I know, thought Katie with a mental sigh. I just keep looking for the light at the end of the tunnel and finding more darkness. All tunnels have to end eventually, said her mother’s voice. Except the ones that dead end, thought Katie with a mental smirk. You were always the bright, positive example in my life and I cannot figure out why you are so cynical all the sudden, said her mother’s voice with sadness. You’re alive, you’ve survived this long and I know you can keep going if you put your mind to it. And who knows what you’ll find down the road in the next town or farm. You’re not going to let me give up are you, thought Katie with a slight grin. I know you would never let me give up, said her mother. Turnabout’s fair play. I love you Mom and I miss you so much, thought Katie. I really wish you were here. I’ll never be that far from you as long as you keep my memory in your heart, said her mother’s voice with kindness and a mental smile. And you will make it through this. “Thank you,” whispered Katie as she finished the mental conversation and brought resolve back into her mind. She knew what she needed to do and how she needed to do it. And now just needed to get it done as her mother used to say. She pulled the food pack to her front and ate quickly, ignoring the minor crunches she had from time to time where the water hadn’t penetrated the freeze dried food. She took in a little more water, but wanted to be careful since rationing was needed until she could find another source. Luckily enough, she still had four full liters to go on and could stretch that until she found another source or went east to the river. After she finished, she put all the garbage she had accumulated inside the plastic shopping bag and set it behind her pack, making a little more noise than she wanted to. But overwhelmingly, she wanted to leave this area as quickly as possible and as soon as it got dark. ******************** Katie peeked out across the field as best as she could in the darkness. The security vehicle was still sitting there, however, the occupants were not searching with the spotlights like they had done the evening prior. After stretching out as best as she could, a cold shiver went down her body as the breeze hit the wet clothing she had on. But she ignored it for the moment and shouldered her pack quickly before heading out due south and keeping a wary eye on all sides. She hadn’t heard anyone searching near the river and couldn’t see any signs of anyone in the darkness her eyes were getting accustomed to. But after seeing the couple before this town with the night vision goggles, she didn’t trust anyone to have a light on while searching. She quickly departed the field and crossed over an old barbed wire fence. She had become pretty adept at crossing them in recently memory as there had been several she had to move across. After shedding the pack, she dropped it on the opposite side, making a little noise in the process and quickly placed her hands on the wooden fence post before hopping over. Her actions didn’t garner a response for the moment so she quickly donned the pack and continued south. After traveling what she thought was about two miles, she decided to double back east towards the river and fill her water bottles. The map showed it went south for a ways after it had gone east and she hoped she had traveled far enough south to make it a shorter trip. But after she had gone about a quarter of a mile, one of the vehicles from the nearby town passed by on one of the farming roads as they scanned back and forth. She dropped to the ground and hid while they passed slowly and used spotlights in the fields. But she remained undetected as they continued down the road and disappeared over a low rise. Since they had passed her, she decided it might be best to dash across and try to get to the river. After slowly approaching the road, she checked both ways before sprinting the distance and for another hundred yards into the field. She continued her approach towards the river until she came within view of a house with several vehicles outside. She could see at least one police vehicle sitting with the others and figured it had to be from the nearby town. And if there were vehicles there, the chances were huge that they had at least a dozen people nearby looking around. So instead of continuing on, she doubled back and crossed the road again before continuing south. She decided it was best to go south and try to find one of the smaller creeks or streams that wasn’t on the map and use it instead. As Katie continued on the fatigue was catching up with her though and she knew she needed some rest. She had been awake for almost thirty-six hours and knew that rest would help more than anything. She hadn’t seen any signs of human habitation for a while and decided it might be better to hide in plain sight as far away from the roadway as possible and catch some sleep. She knew she was at least a quarter mile away from the roadway, but she wasn’t sure if there was anything to the west. But she decided to take a chance in the open and pulled the poncho from the pack and set up her camp. She wrapped it over the top to give herself a little concealment and was out like a light within moments of her head hitting her pack. Time Since Attacks: 103 days Date/Time: 3 August/0618 Local Location: Southeast Kansas Katie awoke to the sounds of some nearby birds chirping and peeked out from under the poncho. She couldn’t see or hear anything out of the ordinary as she sat up and looked around. She couldn’t see anything nearby to include houses or people and got up and stretched. She took account of what little food she had left as she munched on a bite of the last energy bar and more importantly what little water she had left. She knew the four liters could be stretched a decent amount, but not as far as she wanted. Again, she was faced with a dilemma of heading towards the river or continuing south and finding additional sources along the way. She made a snap decision in her mind that the safe bet was to continue south and avoid the river since she had already seen patrols on it the previous night. Pulling out the compass, she got her bearings and shouldered up her pack while continuing her journey.
CHAPTER 20 Time Since Attacks: 105 days Date/Time: 4 August/1507 Local Location: Southeast Kansas Katie stumbled ahead aimlessly across a large open field in search of water. She had run out the day prior and had been unable to locate any more sources she could filter and boil since that point. The normal rains that came through Kansas during the summer hadn’t been as frequent as she’d hoped and the wet weather streams and gullies didn’t contain the water she so desperately needed. She had been able to keep her stock replenished until only recently and had taken the last drops out of the bottles the previous evening before waking up in search of more. Along her journey she had seen several towns and farms that looked promising, but had heeded Paul Brady’s advice and looked them over beforehand. And in every case he was right as refugees were typically shot at or herded away from the towns. And in the case of two of the farms, killed outright and whatever belongings they had were taken over by the residents in question. So she continued southward towards Oklahoma and the safety she believed she would find there. But the only thought on her mind at the moment was water. Just a gulp of water to quench the incurable thirst rolling through her body. And she commanded her feet to move forward each and every step of the way in search of anything that she could drink. But her legs were cramping and she felt dizzy as she moved forward. She stumbled once, rolling onto the ground before getting back up slowly and continuing on. She came across a dirt path and crossed it like so many others before continuing forward with the single thought of water on her mind. She thought she saw a house in the distance, but felt her mind was playing tricks on her once again as they had been all morning. But she moved that way just in case in hopes of finding help. But eventually the weakness was too much for her to bear as she passed out and fell flat on her face in the middle of a field. ******************** “She appears to be alone,” said a man as he peered through a set of binoculars. “I don’t trust anyone,” said a second one as he took the glasses and swept the horizon. “Who knows if there isn’t a gang out there ready to attack.” “I’m kind of hoping it’s too early for them to be using a ruse to draw us out,” said the first. “We can’t go on hope alone you know,” remarked the second. “She doesn’t look threatening,” said the first. “You want to go find out?” asked the second. “I’d prefer to find a gang as far away from the house as possible,” said the first. “If they are out that far, you can support us from the house and we can take a few of them out.” The second man relented for a moment as it was his house and his decision. “I’ll go.” “It’s my idea,” said the first. “And it’s my home,” said the second. “I’m not going to let a guest go do all my dirty work.” “Take a few with you,” said the first. “Give me Aaron, Adam, Kip, Shelly and Steve,” said the second. “And a med pack.” The first man headed off to find the individuals that had been requested and returned in short order with a medical bag and two of the specified group. “The rest are on the way.” “Okay, Aaron, Adam, when we go out, you head towards the trees. Kip and Shelly will check out the ditch over to the northeast. Steve will stick with me,” said the second man. The remaining individuals showed up, armed to some extent or other and they headed towards the area where they had seen the girl fall down. After departing the house, they had spread out and the pairs went separate directions to do as was instructed. They found the girl lying face down on the ground about three hundred yards away from the house. The man pulled at the pack and rolled her over while being covered by his partner. She was completely limp and dangled from the straps as he held her in place. He loosened the straps and belt while the body slipped out and hit the ground with a minor thud. “Looks to be dehydrated and probably heat exhaustion,” said the man after checking her vital signs. He noticed one of the pairs was returning from the trees that were in the distance. “It’s clear,” said the one identified as Aaron. “We’ll get her to the house,” said the man as he pulled the pack away and set it off to the side. He did happen to notice she had a pistol and removed it from the holster on the pack and tucked it into his waistband. There were no other weapons immediately visible save the machete sticking out of the top of the pack and someone else would be carrying that. He peered and saw his other pair had finished checking the ditch and shot him a thumbs up. He used the military “rally up” hand and arm signal and pointed at the house. The pair started making a beeline towards the house as the man slung his Springfield M1A over his back and picked her up. Her limp form wasn’t that heavy and he stood up to return to the house. “Grab her pack.” The remaining four started heading back towards the house as well, uncomfortable with being out in the open as they were. While most of the violence had not gotten to their location yet, they had already been hit once by a gang and defeated the threat before they were able to get to the house. Once they arrived, the front door was opened and the first man stood next to the door with a scoped hunting rifle waiting on them to enter. Once everyone was inside, he shut the door and resumed his perch of watching the front of the house. “Grab an IV kit with two bags of saline. And grab an ice pack from the freezer,” said the man as he headed towards the spare bedroom where one of the members of his retreat were currently staying. He laid her down on the bed and started removing the boots she was wearing and the outer shirt she had on over the tank top. She was extremely flushed and needed fluids and cooling down more than anything at the current moment. She might not have survived much longer had they not gotten to her in time. “So what’s the plan?” asked the first man as he had been relieved from his watch position. “Find out who she is and where she was heading,” said the second. “She’s way too young to be out here wandering around by herself.” “Taking in more strays?” chuckled the first. “No, probably not,” said the second as he started trying to find a good vein for an IV. “The least we can do is hydrate her before dumping her back on the road.” “We found her driver’s license in her pack,” said the first and handed it over. “Anything else?” asked the second as the IV was brought in and he started prepping the kit. “Little bit of food, bunch of empty water bottles, jewelry, some silver, a diary, some other odds and ends, but nothing significant,” said the first. “And nothing to indicate she is a part of a gang. Looks like just another unprepared person out wandering around.” The second man was able to get the IV started in her left arm as another member started applying the ice packs they had brought around her head and under her armpits. “Grab the fan,” said the second man as he hooked up the IV and placed it on the tree intended for the purpose. “We might have to run the generator to charge up the batteries tonight,” warned another member. “Fine,” said the second man as he looked over the driver’s license and back to the girl in front of him. “Okay Katherine Shepherd, what were you doing out there?” Time Since Attacks: 107 days Date/Time: 6 August/1657 Local Location: Southeast Kansas Katie awoke to complete disorientation as she was in a bed and had a sheet covering her lower body. Opening her eyes and attempting to focus through the sunlight coming through a window, she first noticed the stainless steel IV stand as the light was shining off it. She brought the object into focus and noticed the IV line running down to her left arm where it terminated in the crook of her elbow. Still unsure of her surroundings, she noticed a Hispanic looking woman reading a book and turned her head to get a better look. Her movements caught the attention of the woman as she set down the book and came over to her. “Finally awake I see,” said the woman with a smile. She called to someone else in the house before turning back to Katie. “It’s okay; you’re in a safe place.” “Where am I?” asked Katie weakly as she tried to sit up. “Just take it easy,” said the woman calmly. “Don’t try to move too much.” Katie slumped back over on the bed, but was helped into a semi reclined position by the woman who put extra pillows behind her and helped her scoot into position. A man came into the room as they were finishing and went to the opposite side of the bed. “How are you feeling?” he asked as he put his hand against her forehead to feel her temperature. She was still weak, but appeared to be out of danger for the moment. “Confused,” said Katie as she looked around the unfamiliar environment. She saw the man had a kind face, although it looked weathered. Like a man who spent the majority of his time outside under the sun working. He didn’t appear to be that old, but had a wiser look normally associated with age. “You’re lucky to be alive,” said the man as he felt for her pulse. “You took in five bags of IV and were out cold for two days.” “Where am I?” asked Katie again. “You’re in my house,” said the man. “We’ll finish this bag of fluid and pull your plug. Are you hungry?” “A little,” said Katie who was still trying to orient herself. “Am I still in Kansas?” “Yep,” said the man. “Near Elk City. What’s your name?” “Katie, Katie Shepherd,” she replied and shifted a bit and looked around. Her face must have shown the confusion and concern she was currently thinking. “You’re safe here Katie,” said the man. “Where are you from?” “Kansas City,” said Katie. “Originally from Delaware.” “How’d you get so far out here in the country?” asked the man. Katie looked at him, but didn’t answer. She still wasn’t sure what was going on or why they nursed her back to health. And at this point, she didn’t trust anyone she didn’t really know. “Where are my clothes?” she asked as she noticed she was wearing a pair of basketball shorts and a t-shirt that was far larger than her small frame would support. “My wife and sister in law decided you needed a bath,” chuckled the man. “Your original clothes were washed and put with your pack. So how’d you get this far out?” “I was forced to leave my home,” said Katie. “I was looking for a safe place to go to outside of Kansas City.” “Are you alone?” asked the man. Katie looked at him as the memories flooded back into her mind of the reasons she had to leave and who she had left behind. She nodded slightly in response and the man saw it might be a touchy subject so he avoided it for the moment. A peanut butter and jelly sandwich and homemade tortilla chips were brought in along with a large glass of water as well as a packet of instant lemonade. A TV tray was set up next to the bed and the items set down. “Can you sit up?” asked the man. Katie attempted to wiggle her way up, but ended up needing help from the pair to be able to sit up in her weakened condition. Her legs dangled loosely from the side of the bed as she attempted to sit up straight. The food looked appealing as she slowly picked up half the sandwich and took a bite, helping chase down the sticky peanut butter with a drink of water. The food hit her stomach and immediately formed a cramp as it was the first time in three days she had anything to eat. A bottle of pink bismuth was brought out to help settle her stomach where she could tolerate more food as she needed to get her strength back up. Upon seeing the bottle, a tear formed in her eye and escaped down her cheek as she remembered the last time she had seen the medicine and who it had been provided to. The husband and wife traded a look as Katie let the medicine settle her stomach before taking a small bite out of one of the chips and slowly chewing it up. She managed to get down half the chips and sandwich before having to let it settle for the moment. “Thank you,” she said and looked at the pair still staring at her intently. “You’re welcome,” said the man. “You’re welcome to stay here until you get back healthy. After that, we’ll see about getting you to wherever you were going.” “I honestly don’t know where I’m going,” said Katie. “Well, we can cross that bridge when we get to it,” said the man. “Let’s just get you healthy first, okay?” Katie nodded her head slightly once again, still unsure of how she got to this house in the first place. The last thing she remembered was walking along in a daze and having no idea where she was going. She had only glimpses of wandering through a field before blacking out entirely. “I don’t have a way of paying you,” she said. “We’ll figure something out,” said the woman with a smile. “You’re free to leave at any time if you want, but I’d take the opportunity to eat a bit and rest up. You’re far too skinny for my tastes and you need some better food than what we found you with.” “I’ve always been slender,” said Katie quietly. “Not this much I’d bet,” said the woman. “Feel like finishing your sandwich?” “No, not yet,” said Katie. “Maybe in a little while.” “We’ll cover it up to keep away the flies,” said the woman and called to one of the other members in the house. A younger girl came in and smiled at Katie as she took the plate back to the kitchen. “Whenever you are ready, let Susan know and she’ll grab it for you.” “I really need to go to the bathroom,” said Katie as her bodily functions were starting to catch up. And the pressure on her bladder immediately came on full force. “I figured your back teeth were floating by now,” chuckled the man as he checked the IV bag and saw it was empty enough to force the last into her system. He squeezed the bag and sent the remainder into her vein before stopping the flow, pulling the catheter out and taping a folded piece of gauze over the point. She attempted to stand on her own, but eventually saw she needed help as the two helped move her into position. She was led into the bathroom and the man and woman closed the door after she was inside. She immediately moved to the toilet and pulled down the shorts after untying them and sat down with a thud. But while the rest of her body may have been moving slowly, her bladder surely wasn’t as the pressure was finally being relieved. It didn’t appear to be stopping anytime soon and Katie let out a sigh of relief. After finishing up, she flushed the toilet, but immediately regretted it since the tank wouldn’t refill. However, she heard the water running into the tank as it normally did and wondered why they had pressure where they were at. After pulling the shorts back up and tying them off, she washed her hands in the sink where again the water was running and looking for a hand towel. After finding the towel and drying off, she opened the door and found the younger girl waiting on her. “Momma and Daddy are waiting outside,” said the girl and handed a pair of flip flops to Katie. “They asked that you come outside when you were done.” “Okay,” said Katie and took the footwear. “Thank you.” She slipped on the flip flops and felt a little stronger than she did since she woke up. But she still moved slower than normal as the young girl led her to the back door and onto the covered concrete patio on the rear of the two story farm house. The man and woman were talking with another person she didn’t know and Katie could see an old farm hand cabin as well as ten camper trailers and another half dozen tents set up in a semicircle around the property. Gardens and fields growing some crops were seen and a handful of people were going about doing chores and duties. Katie walked slowly over to the man and his wife as they finished talking and the person left on whatever task they had been assigned. “I figured a little fresh air might help you out,” said the man. “This is your house?” asked Katie. “Yep, our little slice of heaven,” said the man. “We’ve got families and friends staying with us right now until things settle down.” Katie peered around at the grounds and the people nearby. She again wasn’t sure how she had gotten there, but wasn’t complaining since the man and his wife seemed to be genuinely concerned about her health. Whether there were other motives she wasn’t sure, but for the moment, she would be thankful for what she was being given. She did happen to notice everyone was armed with at least a pistol and some carried military style rifles as well. “We’ll return your pistol to you when you leave,” said the man as if he read her mind. “Not that we don’t trust you, but we don’t trust you just yet.” “I understand,” said Katie. “I can stay here until I get healthy?” “Do you have a place to go?” asked the man pointedly. “Not really, no,” said Katie. “I was heading for Oklahoma.” “What’s in Oklahoma?” asked the woman. “I heard it was safe,” said Katie. “So I was trying to reach there.” “Any family that can take you in?” asked the man. “Not here,” said Katie. “In Delaware maybe.” “Long way from here young lady,” said the woman. “I’m not even sure if they are okay,” said Katie. “Mother? Father?” asked the man. “No,” said Katie quietly as her eyes got distant once again. “Oklahoma isn’t really taking in refugees right now,” said the man. “I didn’t know,” said Katie. “We were talking while you were in the bathroom,” said the woman very pointedly. “I think you’ve had something happen to you very recently. I know you’ve obviously had a rough time from the remains of some cuts on your face and body. And you showed up all the way out here with barely any food or water. But the most telling fact is that you showed up all the way out here from Kansas City alone.” “And we want to help,” said the man. “Help?” asked Katie. “Find you a place to live that’s safe,” said the man. “I…don’t know,” said Katie. “I’m not sure where my life is taking me right now.” “That makes you little different than most teenagers,” laughed the man. “So in the meantime, you can rest up and get back to health. Just a thought to consider.” “Are there places taking in refugees?” asked Katie. “Not many, but a few,” said the man. “I’d avoid the FEMA camps though.” “Know any of them in Oklahoma?” asked Katie. “I can’t say,” said the man. “News is a little slow these days and a lot of it is still government propaganda. And being that Oklahoma isn’t sitting well with the federal government or what’s left of it, the news is pretty biased.” “I guess I could take my chances,” said Katie. “Or there’s another option,” said the woman. “What’s that?” asked Katie. “You could stay here and help out,” said the man. “If you wanted.” “You would be willing to take me in?” asked Katie. “Maybe,” said the man. “I’m just going to ask point blank, do you have anywhere else?” “No,” said Katie quietly. “Can you work hard, shoot straight and contribute around here?” asked the man. “I can work hard and contribute, but I’m not sure how,” said Katie. “And I really haven’t shot a gun that much.” “You had one when we found you,” said the man. “It was my mother’s gun,” said Katie without explaining further. “Like how often is ‘that much’ to you?” asked the man as he noticed the past tense Katie put on her comment. He suspected her mother was dead before and Katie partially confirmed it. “Like twice,” admitted Katie. “You have any special talents that we don’t know about?” asked the women. “I can sew a little,” said Katie. “I worked part time in an alterations shop before the strikes.” “And we were just saying we needed a seamstress around here,” said the man with a chuckle. “Really?” asked Katie. “No,” he laughed heartily. “But it’s not a bad talent to have around.” “I…had some problems before,” said Katie. “Just that you know.” “Bad problems?” asked the woman. “I…had something happen to me,” said Katie without explaining. “And to my mother.” “We’ve all got problems,” said the man. “But yours seem a bit more pronounced. We won’t make you talk about them if you don’t want to, but we’ve got some folks nearby that maybe can help out. We know a good preacher that does dandy counseling.” “Maybe,” said Katie. “Are you a bad person?” asked the man pointedly. “No,” said Katie. “I don’t think so.” “Well, until you can get your feet back underneath you and you decide which direction you want your life to head, you are welcome to stay,” said the man. “I don’t want to be a burden,” said Katie. “Too late for that,” the man chuckled. “Open invitation for the moment. We just ask you work hard like the rest of us and conduct yourself in a proper manner.” “You would just take me in?” asked Katie. “Is there a reason we shouldn’t?” asked the man. “No,” said Katie. “I just saw most of the farms and towns not taking refugees in.” “We aren’t like a lot of them and we haven’t seen that many refugees out this far,” said the woman. “We’ve taken in a couple though that we thought could help. So you aren’t the first one we’ve offered to stay here.” “Where would I stay?” asked Katie. “Accommodations are a little short, but we can find a tent for you and something to sleep on. As you might have noticed we still have water pressure so it isn’t completely unbearable,” said the man. “Best we can offer.” “I can’t complain,” said Katie after having spent nearly three weeks sleeping under the stars. “So you accept our invitation?” asked the woman. “I’d like to give it a try,” said Katie. “Just behave yourself and you get three hots and a cot along with knowing we have armed security out twenty-four hours a day,” said the man. “I’ll do my best,” said Katie. “I never got the chance to introduce myself,” said the man. “I’m Bill Meyers and this is my wife Mariana. Welcome to my farm.”
CHAPTER 21 Date/Time: 9 May/0026 Location: Combined Forces Command, RAF Brize Norton, Oxfordshire, England “It took me a long time to get over my mother’s death. But Bill and his family helped me along. I met a nice minister that helped guide me through the tough times and eventually was able to deal with the loss and my loneliness,” said Katie as she finished up her tale. “Wow,” said Jamie. “I didn’t realize you had been through so much.” “I haven’t really been open with anyone since. Like not cared for them like I could have I suppose,” said Katie. “Attachment is kind of hard to do after you’ve had so many people you care about ripped away violently.” “I can completely understand,” said Jamie. “If you want to run now, I’ll understand,” she said. “My head’s a mess.” “No, it just proves what a tough lady you are,” said Jamie as he pulled her in closer. “I’ve had to be,” said Katie. “When I finally got healthy and my head straight, I focused my attention on becoming the best soldier I could. There were bandits and gangs still out there preying on the weak and I knew the only way I could stop them was being strong myself and helping those who couldn’t help themselves. So I focused every single moment on perfecting my skills as a soldier and putting an end to it.” “You’ve done good so far,” said Jamie. “I joined the Army not long after the NAU formed up. Bill had asked me to stay behind in the beginning when he left to help watch over his property, but eventually I had to go myself. And after I got through basic and advanced training, I went straight to Cider selection and made it through with flying colors. I joined the unit right before going to Iceland,” said Katie. “Did you ever go back home?” asked Jamie. “Yeah, I went back to where the house was a couple of years ago. Apparently a fire had wiped out the entire block at some point and it is nothing but an overgrown field now,” said Katie. “I was able to locate and remark my mother’s grave with a more permanent cross.” “What about your grandparents and the rest of your family?” asked Jamie. “They’re still in Delaware,” said Katie. “I tried to explain what happened but they blamed my mother for what happened and basically said if she had listened she would still be alive. I wasn’t in the mood for a conversation of ‘I told her so’ since she gave her life to protect me and I don’t think anyone should say anything about that.” “And really, her idea of what I should do with my life was resign my service commitment and come back to Delaware and ‘find a nice boy to settle down with’ along with popping out some great grandchildren. And couldn’t understand what I was doing was important and what I felt I need to do in this life. So we don’t talk if you get my meaning,” she concluded. “And your dad?” asked Jamie. “No,” sighed Katie. “It’s not easy tracking anyone down after the Fall and being in Europe and all. I really just don’t have a good place to start. Maybe when it’s all over I’ll give it a try, but I’m not holding my breath.” “I’m really sorry,” said Jamie. “Don’t be,” said Katie. “I’m just one of millions that lost someone during the Fall.” “Maybe, but you happen to be the one I’m talking to right now,” said Jamie. Katie snuggled in a little closer to him and squeezed his shoulder letting him know she appreciated his words and letting her tell her story and release a few of the demons from her soul she carried around for so long. It felt nice to finally open up to someone other than the preacher in Kansas. “Let’s change the subject though,” said Katie. “I’ve probably depressed the hell out of you.” “No, not at all,” said Jamie as he adjusted slightly. “Like I said, it’s get to know my Bear night.” “And I think I reminded you that I’m not your Bear,” she chuckled. “I know how to put you in check,” he said and his fingers found their way down to her side and he softly ran them against her exposed side. She flinched and swatted at his chest before reminding him broken fingers took a while to heal. “And you say you never get flirted with,” he chuckled. “Not that I noticed,” she chuckled and scratched at his chest. “Until you at least.” “Does Chief Henry know you two met before you got here?” asked Jamie. “I don’t think so,” said Katie. “I never mentioned it either. I mean, I was a single face out of a thousand faces so I doubt he’d remember me.” “You have a pretty face,” remarked Jamie. “I doubt anyone would forget it.” She pulled her leg up his and snuggled in closer. “You’re just saying that.” “No, you are pretty,” he said and kissed at her forehead. Which in turn was answered by her reaching up and kissing him on the mouth which generated a lot more passion as she slid on top of him. “You are a pushy broad.” “Well, I didn’t realize I wore you out,” she giggled. “I didn’t say that,” he said as he added more kisses down her neck. “We’ve got a big day tomorrow,” she said with a groan. “You might want to save a bit of energy since we are swimming.” “I’m more worried about you wearing yourself out,” he said and continued to kiss. “I hope your neighbors understand.” “She’s some girl from a Texan artillery unit,” said Katie between kisses. “She’s already kept me up a couple of nights with her random dudes.” “We can return the favor,” he said as his hands roamed over her body. “I don’t want you to wear yourself out before tomorrow morning,” she groaned. “Our job requires great dedication to the task at hand and service above and beyond the norm,” he said as he adjusted slightly underneath her. “And I’m prepared to do what is necessary.” “I can feel that,” she said in a husky voice as the two were lost in their passions once again. But even as they let themselves go, she still felt a slight hesitation as this was as close as she had come to anyone in a long time. And confusion filled her mind as she had always attempted to prevent the emotions from entering her thoughts. But for the first time in a long time, she had let herself go and decided to let her heart lead for a change. ******************** Jamie woke early as the sun was beginning to peek into the curtains in the room. Katie was still sound asleep and her alarm hadn’t gone off yet. Jamie checked his watch and found it was just a bit after six. He knew he needed to head back to his room and get showered and changed before the morning. He attempted to pull his arm out for underneath her without waking her and was successful. Picking through the random clothes on the floor, he finally got everything and went back over to the bed and kissed her on the cheek, accidentally waking her in the process. “Hey,” she smiled. “Leaving?” “I’ve got to get back and shower and change,” he said and brushed the hair away from her face. “What time is it?” she asked. “About ten after six,” he said. “I’ve got to run sweetie.” “Too bad,” she said with a naughty smile. “Maybe later,” he smiled and gave her a kiss. However, her aggressive streak took over as she pulled him down and the two passionately embraced for several moments. “I gotta go baby,” he said after they released. “Okay,” she said and gathered one last kiss. “See you in a bit.” “Bye,” he said and departed the room. ******************** “Everyone made it back okay?” asked Thomas as they gathered around the large pool. “Nobody is reported missing,” said Darren. “And I didn’t have the MPs waking me up last night to bail anyone out,” said Thomas. “Okay, everyone doing okay this morning?” “Let’s do it!” remarked Chief Warrant Officer 3 Stephen “Papi” Garcia, recently promoted back to team leader after Major Mark Williams had taken a new job on the staff. He was also breaking in a new troop that had arrived to replace Technical Sergeant Heath Bates who had been wounded and would likely never return to the unit. And as with most new troops, had his problems of being eager to charge into the fire. “Looks like I’m up first,” said Thomas as they started donning the equipment for the exercise and qualification. Body armor, helmets, vests, packs and simulated weapons were all donned as they got ready to hop in. “I just realized it’s not going to be fair,” said Darren. “What’s not?” asked Thomas. “The stuff isn’t waterlogged yet,” said Darren. “That gives you an advantage.” “Excuses,” grinned Thomas. “Bet we still beat you,” said Darren. “Okay, team dinner,” said Thomas. “We get a quicker time, you buy. You get the quicker time, I’ll buy. Deal?” “Place of choice?” asked Darren. “Absolutely,” said Thomas. “Amber gets to wear an apron?” asked Staff Sergeant Jeremy “Irish” Baines with a grin. “Sure,” laughed Thomas. “Good incentive for her to move quicker.” “I don’t wear an apron for anyone,” she remarked. Thomas got the nod from the instructors and observers in the water that they were ready. Amber had her back to the pool and was adjusting the pack as Thomas walked by and shoved her in the water. She landed with a yelp and immediately started sinking as he followed her in and immediately set to removing the gear and getting back to the surface. It wasn’t an easy exercise and required significant swimming ability to be able to kick back to the surface and take a breath before removing gear and sinking once again. But eventually they had removed the gear along with their uniform tops and boots and were treading water. And continued to tread water for another half a minute before the lead instructor declared them to have passed. The bottom of the five meter end of the pool was the point where they would “pass” or “fail” on the exercise as the object was to shed all the weight before hitting the bottom. “Well, you won’t set any records, but you passed,” said Darren as he annotated the time on the sheet and Thomas removed himself from the pool. “I’d hate to think I got sent home for failing this,” chuckled Thomas as he collected his towel and wiped his face. Additional personnel were already collecting the various packs, body armor, helmets, web gear and weapons from the bottom of the pool for another group to put on. “I’m reasonably certain nobody will fail,” said Darren. “Especially since most of our missions are over land at this point.” “I think this is just an easy way of getting a free wet t-shirt contest myself,” said Amber as she hauled herself up the ladder. “Be happy you have something to show,” said 2nd Lieutenant Holly “Casper” Meredith as she grinned at Nancy Dugger. “I’m perfectly content in that department thank you very much,” said Nancy. And they noticed Amber was sneaking up on Thomas trying to retaliate for his push earlier. However, he caught her out of the corner of his eye and managed to side step her push and countered by shoving her back in the water. She landed with yet another yelp and came floating back to the surface as the teams had a good laugh at her expense. “Colonel, I know this seems trivial to you,” said the lead British instructor. “But can we please take it a bit more serious?” “My apologies Petty Officer,” said Thomas. “Okay gang, no horseplay in the pool and no swimming at least thirty minutes after you’ve eaten. And no cannonballs.” “Not fair!” exclaimed Amber as she was hauled out of the pool by Thomas and Darren. “You were supposed to let me shove you back in!” “It was more fun to watch you get wet again,” laughed Thomas. “Who’s next?” “Shannon and her team,” said Darren. “I really love annual certifications,” remarked Thomas. “Be back in a few.” The next team already jumped into the pool and were busy shedding the gear without touching the bottom. While it sounded fairly easy, attempting to remove over fifty pounds of gear, boots and other equipment wasn’t as easy as it appeared. Thomas reappeared after showering off and changing into dry clothing with the remainder of his team. “You’re up next.” “Fun,” said Darren as he handed off the clipboard and watched as the team under the command of Chief Warrant Officer 2 Cliff “Doodle” Morris was going through the exercise. Three of the team had finished, but Specialist Trent “Flower” Rosenberg was having problems. But eventually he shed everything and was treading water. However, one of the instructors came to the poolside and waved over Thomas. “Your last mate didn’t pass,” he said in a heavy British accent. “He kicked off the bottom.” “He’ll go again,” said Thomas. “We have to do refresher training first sir,” said the instructor. “We’re booked for a while,” said Thomas. “Give him another go.” “I’m not supposed to sir,” said the instructor as his team was busy tossing out the equipment to the next group. “Call it a favor,” said Thomas. “Okay, but if he doesn’t get it on the next pass, I have to report it up,” said the instructor. “Flower, you’re going again,” said Thomas. “Okay sir,” said Rosenberg without argument as he hopped out of the pool and collected his gear. Putting everything back on, he jumped back into the pool solo and started the exercise once again. The entire gathered group came to the poolside to cheer him on and he passed this time without any trouble. He was hoisted out of the pool by the rest of his team and congratulated by the group. “Okay, he passed,” said the instructor. “Next group!” Darren and his team hopped in the water and completed the exercise in slightly better time than Thomas and his team had. And Darren made sure to point this fact out to Thomas as he exited and saw the official time. “Yeah, yeah, yeah,” said Thomas. “Go shower up.” “You’ve got dinner tonight,” reminded Frank as they departed. Bill Meyers’ team was up next and also completed the exercise somewhat with ease. But as always, Katie Shepherd had a bit of problems as she was naturally not that buoyant and sank towards the bottom. But she managed to keep from having to use it and eventually got to treading water. They were instructed to exit the pool and Katie saw Jamie smile at her and give her a thumbs up. She briefly smiled back at him and departed with her team to shower and change. Eventually Thomas was rejoined by Darren as the two watched as Rick and his team took their turn. And something interesting came up yet again. “How is that even possible?” asked Darren. “How is what possible?” asked Thomas. “You have a brother and a sister, same mom and dad and one you could use as a surfboard and the other as a boat anchor,” said Darren as Heather kept popping up to the surface with ease and Rob kept sinking towards the bottom. “Nice to know we could sit on top of her and paddle our way out if we needed to,” chuckled Thomas. “So she’s useful for something.” “I heard that,” said Heather as she pulled herself up the ladder out of the pool. “We were discussing how drastically different you and your brother are,” said Darren. “You float like a cork and he sinks like a rock.” “It’s always been that way too,” said Heather. “He’s the weird one of the family.” “For you, that’s saying a lot,” laughed Thomas. “Not cool!” objected Heather as she helped the rest of her team out and they left to change. “How many more do we have?” asked Darren. “We’re over halfway,” said Thomas. “And this afternoon?” asked Darren. “Sensitivity training and other various briefings we get to sleep through,” said Thomas. “I don’t think we’re insensitive,” remarked Darren. A scoff was heard from the side as Katie had returned from changing. “Really?” “Okay, besides making fun of short people,” said Darren with a grin. “You guys need to go through it twice,” she laughed and returned to the bench. Before long she was joined by Jamie after he returned from changing. “Hey,” he said. “Hey,” she said and looked away. “Something wrong?” he asked. “No,” she said. “Did I do something wrong?” he asked. “No, it’s not that,” she said. “I just…we’ll talk at lunch, okay?” “Sounds fair,” he said, but was still worried he had done something wrong and upset her over something. She didn’t appear to be paying any attention to him and before long he was called over by Thomas. “What happened to the hand?” asked Thomas as he saw the new dressing Jamie had applied. “I cut it last night,” said Jamie simply. “Paper cut?” asked Thomas with a look that he expected more on the answer. “I…had an accident sir,” said Jamie. “Doing?” asked Thomas. “When we were coming back on base,” sighed Jamie and told his commander the whole truth. “We were avoiding the gate guards and used a pedestrian gate building to climb over. I sliced open my hand on the guttering when I came off the roof.” “Oh, okay,” said Thomas plainly as he sipped at his ever present travel mug full of coffee. “You aren’t mad sir?” asked Jamie. “You think you were the only one hopping fences last night?” asked Thomas. “I guess not,” said Jamie. “You did what you had to do to avoid getting detained by the police and made it here to training on time and sober,” said Thomas. “That’s a good day in my book.” “Roger that sir,” said Jamie. “You did good in the water today,” said Thomas. “I had to do it fairly recently when I came in theater,” said Jamie. “So I had practice already.” “Ah, yeah,” said Thomas. “Well, you’re good for another year.” “Yay,” deadpanned Jamie. “Anything else sir?” “Nope, I was just curious,” said Thomas. Jamie looked back and saw Katie was talking with other members of the unit so he went back to his team. “You look different today,” observed Heather. “I do?” asked Jamie. “Yeah, and besides the bandage before you bring it up,” said Heather. “How did you know I was going to say that next?” laughed Jamie. “You think you’re the only smartass in this outfit?” laughed Heather. “Just got a good night’s sleep I suppose,” said Jamie. “Okay,” said Heather who knew there was more, but didn’t know what exactly. “What do you mean I look different?” asked Katie as the same question was posed from Captain Shannon Parsons. “I don’t feel different.” “Normally you have this intense scowl on your face and grim look of determination. It’s missing today and I’d almost say you had a happy look for a change,” said Shannon. “We’ll call it a very content look instead.” “I have no idea,” said Katie. “Well, whatever happened last night, it was good medicine,” said Shannon. “What do you mean what happened last night?” asked Katie. “I didn’t mean anything by it,” said Shannon. “You had your Bear look when I saw you yesterday and today you look a bit more relaxed.” “Oh,” said Katie. “Awfully defensive about it aren’t we?” asked Shannon with a grin. “I didn’t think I was,” said Katie evasively. “Something happened last night didn’t it?” asked Shannon with a grin. “You met someone?” “No,” said Katie, but her face told a different story. “You can’t lie worth a damn honey,” laughed Shannon. “But if you don’t want me prodding into your off duty time, I’ll leave it alone.” “I get that from my mother,” said Katie with a brief smile. “Is it that obvious?” “Just if you know what you’re looking for,” said Shannon. “I minored in psychology when I was in college and it’s more of a hobby to me now. And unfortunately for you guys, you are my test subjects and I tend to notice change in moods and whatnot.” “I’ll try to be more reserved,” said Katie. “Hey, I think it’s nice if you found someone to help ease the tension a little,” said Shannon. “My tension was eased a lot,” grinned Katie. “Oh,” said Shannon with a knowing grin. “Well, I think it’s nice.” “Our secret, okay?” asked Katie. “Oh laws yes,” laughed Shannon. “We know how to be discrete.” “Thanks Volley,” said Katie. “Keep it up and you might find you like it,” said Shannon. “One thing about it is I’ve been able to not let my personal feelings come into the job. I try to focus one hundred percent on what I’m doing here and I don’t need the distractions of a man in my life screwing up my rhythm,” said Katie, but not really agreeing with her own logic. “Yeah, I know how it is when you try to be hard and act like you don’t care about someone while doing this job,” said Shannon sarcastically. “It’s different with you and Token,” said Katie. “Not really,” said Shannon. “I just learned to balance the two very carefully. Look, Michael goes out and does dangerous things. As do I. We both fret over each other, but we’ve both learned to put it in a box in our mind while we’re at work. And when we’re not at work, we have that ability to open the box and let the emotions out. So you just have to find your box.” “Gonna be a small box with me,” said Katie. “That’s the nice things about boxes; they come in all shapes and sizes. And if you need a bigger box, you can always get one,” said Shannon. “You have a simple way of putting things,” observed Katie. “When you’re married to my husband, you have to be simple,” laughed Shannon. “You know I’m sitting right here?” asked Michael from the other side of Katie. “How long have you been sitting there?” asked Katie with her eyes opening a bit wider. “Long enough,” said Michael. “We all love you to death, but you don’t always have to be Bear twenty-four seven. Be a human for a change sometimes.” “Ganging up on me?” chuckled Katie. “Nope,” said Michael. “Common sense for a change. Everyone needs a release every once in a while. We get ours during times like this. Warbucks gets his release from defying orders and going on unsanctioned missions. We all have something to keep us sane.” “I thought we all had to be slightly insane to be in this outfit,” laughed Katie. “Well, there is that too,” laughed Michael. “Mike! Stay away from my talent!” remarked Bill Meyers. “Straight up trade for Giggles,” said Michael. “Hey!” objected Nancy Dugger. “But only if you throw in a ladder with the trade,” said Michael. “Sorry, can’t part with the Bear,” laughed Meyers. “Or my ladder for that matter.” “Ya’ll just wait til I grow up,” said Katie. “I’ll be whipping every one of you.” The group had a good laugh at the conversation as the remainder of the teams finished up the exercise and returned from changing. Once everyone was back in place, Thomas gathered them around addressed the group. “Okay folks, I’ll need four pairs that aren’t team leaders to volunteer to take all the uniforms over to the laundry exchange and turn them in. Put it on the unit tab,” said Thomas. Eight individuals were selected out of the group as hands went up. Thomas didn’t have trouble finding any volunteers for the task as the group tended to go above and beyond as it was. “Okay, so from here, grab lunch and be formed back up at Kisling Hall at 1330. We’ve got an entire afternoon of briefings and I swear I’ll keel haul the first person I hear snoring this afternoon, understand?” asked Thomas. “I think that only works if you’re on a boat,” laughed Holly Meredith. “We’re on an island so it’s a pretty significant deal,” said Thomas. “And who gets to keel haul you?” asked Dave Lawson. “I’ve got Glamour to keep me out of trouble,” said Thomas with a grin. “Yeah, like that’s going to happen,” laughed a member of the group. “Fine,” said Thomas. “I’ll allow Sister to do it. She knows a thing or two about the Navy or so I heard anyway.” The crowd gave some catcalls and “ohhhhs” at the expense of Sergeant Jill “Sister” Dugger who had become involved with an AFNAS SEAL somewhat recently. She blushed up at the remarks and couldn’t find a decent retort at the moment. “On a serious note, I’ll need the team leads together for lunch so try to get there a little early. We’ve got to go over the rest of the week’s training schedule and start getting prepped for next week. We’ve got an easy week this week so rest up while you can since we’re back in the field next week for exercises. And a three day E and E exercise against the British Home Guard as well as an SAS Squadron,” said Thomas. “They ain’t got nothing on us!” exclaimed Sergeant Fred “Woody” Stone with pride. “They are pretty decent at playing hide and go seek,” said Thomas. “And we’re playing in their backyard so I’d expect it to get a bit entertaining. Okay, any questions?” Nobody answered and the group was dismissed. The group grabbed their wet clothing and tossed it into large bags for transport over to the laundry turn in. The remainder of the group grabbed their packs and headed back to the living quarters to drop off the wet pair of boots and head to lunch. After Jamie arrived, he set the boots inside the bathtub portion of the shared bathroom upside down to drain out just as Johnny Thompson was coming inside to set his up as well. “Hey man,” said Johnny. “What’s going on?” asked Jamie. “You know how it is,” said Johnny. “Heading to lunch?” “Yeah, go ahead and get it out of the way,” said Jamie. “You?” “Nap for me,” said Johnny. “Late night last night.” “I understand,” said Jamie. “Sorry if I woke you up,” said Johnny with a sly grin. “I wasn’t here last night,” said Jamie and immediately regretted it. “I can completely understand,” grinned Johnny. “See you in a bit.” “Later,” said Jamie as he quickly dropped everything and headed for the mess hall. He had no idea what happened in the brief time between the morning where they had said goodbye and the time they met at the pool. He didn’t know what he had done to upset her, but the best chance of finding out was speaking with her as she suggested over lunch.
CHAPTER 22 Date/Time: 9 May/1134 Location: Combined Forces Command, RAF Brize Norton, Oxfordshire, England Jamie opened the door and headed into the cafeteria where he joined in the growing line. He was lucky since it was right at the beginning of service before the line grew longer than normal. As he headed in, he saw Katie was already ahead of him and had finished up signing for the meal before he got through the line. He was waiting on the main service line and decided he would give himself a minor treat that day since he had been doing well and moved over to the fast food line. After getting a double bacon cheeseburger, baked beans and fries, he decided a little bit of health might be in order and got a small premade side salad. Upon signing for his meal, he noticed Katie was still sitting alone and headed for her table. “So am I still in trouble?” asked Jamie as he took a seat across from her in the dining hall. “I didn’t know you were in trouble,” she said and added with a grin. “Again.” “With you,” he said with a smirk. “No, you aren’t in trouble with me,” said Katie. “Unless you didn’t change your bandage like you were supposed to.” “No ma’am,” he replied and showed her the changed bandage. “So why would you assume you were in trouble?” she asked. “I just…” he started. “You were kind of standoffish at the pool.” “I just wanted to separate work from play,” said Katie. “Two people having a conversation isn’t okay?” he asked. “I don’t…” she started to say and stopped. “Go on,” he said. “I’m a little confused right now, okay?” she stated. “I’m sorry,” he said and started to leave. “No, you don’t need to go,” she said and nodded at the chair. “It’s complicated.” “Okay,” said Jamie with some confusion. And with that the conversation came to a dead halt as neither knew what to say at that point. However, the silence after two minutes was killing one and she brought up another point. “You really should eat a little healthier,” said Katie as she nodded at the cheeseburger he was devouring at the present. “I got a salad as well,” he protested. “Yeah, that balances it out,” she chuckled. “I’m allowed a cheat day every once in a while,” he said and picked at the fries. “Something men can do a little easier,” said Katie. “If I ate that, it would go straight to my ass.” “I think you’d be okay for a single meal,” he said. “You don’t realize what that kind of stuff does to a girl’s figure,” she said. “Yeah, I can see how fat you are to start with,” he said sarcastically. She laughed and rolled her eyes, but did reach across the table and steal a French fry because she could cheat a little as well. “You don’t want to know?” “Know what?” he asked. “Why I’m complicated?” she asked. “Aren’t all women?” he said in reply. “I’m not like most women,” she said. “This is true,” he agreed. “You’re different, but not in a bad way.” “So that’s a good way?” she asked. “I’d say so,” said Jamie. “So why is this complicated?” “I’m not sure if us being together breaks rules or anything,” she said. “And my personal issues coming into this as well.” “I…” he started. “Can I be completely honest?” “I’d prefer it,” she said. “You are hiding,” he said simply and hopefully wasn’t something he would regret. But he felt like he had to say what was on his mind and let the chips fall where they may. “Hiding?” she asked. “Hiding behind that wall you’ve thrown up that you think protects you. I’d be willing to bet you’ve been flirted with before and hit on and even asked out for a cup of coffee in more than a friendly manner. But you always said no because you are afraid of letting your emotions show. You want to be the good soldier that doesn’t want to start to care because you’re afraid of getting hurt again. So you throw up this cold hard barrier that you think will protect you. And you use the rules as an excuse not to get closer to someone.” “Honestly, I can completely understand why you are hesitant, but you can’t go the rest of your life without caring a little. Whether or not you want to admit it, you will eventually get so hard and used to being able to deflect your emotions that you’ll be alone the rest of your life. Mainly because you will forget how to care,” he said, letting it all out. He didn’t know what her reaction would be and if he would be wearing the glass of tea she was currently sipping, but everything he thought was on the table. She was a little mad that he assumed to know her mind after not knowing her that long. And her anger must have shown a little, but as she thought about it, he was right and she had been hiding from the fact she hadn’t allowed herself to care about anyone since her mother died. She knew she cared for her teammates, but not on a level that some did. And her face softened a little. “You throw a lot at a girl on a first date,” she remarked. “You’re not mad?” he asked. “A little,” she said. “But you’re only saying what others are thinking.” “So I’m not going to the briefings wearing that glass of tea?” he asked with a chuckle. “Not yet,” she warned him although the mirth in her eyes told a different story. “Look, I can understand why you might be hesitant to open up a little,” he said. “And maybe it’s not my place to tell you that. But you’ll find I’m a pretty open and honest dude.” “No, it is your place to tell me that,” she replied. “As a teammate, you should be open and honest no matter if it hurts or not.” “Just a teammate?” he asked. “Well, that’s what you are,” she replied. “I’d rather not hurt you,” he replied. “Gonna take a lot more than that,” she said with a smirk. “So last night?” he asked. “I’m not sure how to feel about last night,” she said bluntly. “I enjoyed last night, sure. And could even go for a repeat performance. But I just don’t want my emotions interfering with my job. So I’m a little confused. Plus the angle that I’m not positive we can see each other.” “Are there rules?” he asked. “I don’t know,” she said. “I mean, Chief Henry and Amy are an item. We’ve got the Parsons that are married. Amber’s husband was a part of the unit until right before you got here. But most of that predates my time here so I’m not sure.” “I can be sneaky,” he grinned. “Not really,” she smiled. “You’re pretty blunt.” “As are you,” he grinned. “Well, pushy at least.” “Is it a turn off?” she asked. “No, just a little more than a lot of guys can handle,” he replied. “Sorry,” she said. “Don’t be,” he said. “Look, I enjoy our company and maybe in time…I mean, who knows what the future holds,” she said. “I just want to be careful and not get you into trouble.” “Or get yourself in trouble by actually letting your emotions show just a little?” he asked. “No, not really,” she said. “Yes, really,” he said. “Arguing with me again?” she asked with half a smile. “I’d say no, you’re too stubborn to argue with,” he laughed. “Are you calling me stubborn?” she laughed. “Either way, I just don’t want to put you in a position to where you get briefed again.” “You’re a golden child around here so I’d be more concerned with getting you in trouble,” he grinned. “I’m the bad boy that gets good girls like you in trouble.” “I think you have a few redeeming qualities,” she said with a smile. “Such as?” he asked. “You don’t argue with me…much,” she laughed. “Probably because you’ve never had a guy stand up to you before,” he said. “There is that,” she agreed. “Can you give me a little time to sort out the mess?” “I suppose,” he sighed. “Not sure if I can contain myself if another British girl picks me because of my dancing skills though.” “Self-control is a wonderful thing,” she said with a sly grin. “You proved that last night.” “You are something else,” he laughed. “And you are welcome.” She laughed at the comments and the conversation moved on to other items. They both were still a little curious about the other and a few more “get to know you” detail questions were asked as they finished eating and enjoyed each other’s company. “Looks like someone tamed the Bear,” said Thomas with smile and a nod towards the table where Jamie and Katie were having lunch together. And from the appearances there was more to it than a happenstance meeting and sharing a table. “What?” asked Rick as he glanced in that direction. “Bear and Outcast are eating. So?” “Look a bit closer,” said Darren who had noticed the same thing. It was apparent there was a mutual attraction there as their body language was extremely telling. “Oh great,” sighed Bill Meyers. “I’ll talk to her about it later.” “And I’ll talk to mine,” sighed Rick. “About what?” asked Thomas. “About the rules,” said Rick. “What rules?” asked Darren. “The unwritten ones,” said Rick. “No messing with teammates.” “Is there such a rule?” asked Thomas. “Not written,” said Rick. “But yeah.” “I don’t ever recall the matter coming up,” said Thomas. “But it isn’t kosher,” said Bill. “And why not?” asked Thomas. “They are on separate teams, both are single and around the same age. As long as they keep work with work and play with play, there isn’t a problem.” “It’s like dating your sister,” said Rick. “Just not cool.” “Look, we knew this might happen eventually,” said Thomas. “It’s what happens when you get guys and gals together. Most find their relationships with folks outside this unit, but you had to know it was going to happen.” “Yeah, but…” said Rick and not finding an argument since he was being trumped. “I can’t have married folks serving together in this unit and make restrictions on the single folks at the same time,” said Thomas answering what was on Rick’s mind. “Greg and Amy are positive proof that you can have a relationship and still work together.” “Yeah, but that’s different!” said Rick. “They were together before we joined.” “No, not really,” said Thomas. “It was there prior to, but didn’t develop until after we were in Texas.” “Yeah, but you darn well know how much drama can come about if it doesn’t end well,” said Bill. “It causes disharmony.” “So even if you two tell them not to see each other, you can’t hold their hands twenty-four hours a day. And you should know Outcast has a bit of a rebel streak in him and would ignore you anyway,” said Darren. “Better in public than sneaking around.” “We could order it,” said Rick. “And you know that’ll fly,” said Thomas sarcastically. “Look, I’ll talk to them, okay?” “I guess,” sighed Rick. “Smack them both in the back of the head, okay?” chuckled Bill. “You guys act like you’ve never been attracted to a girl before,” said Darren. “I guess we’ve just been so protective of the ladies on our teams it’s gotten to where we’re the mean daddies not wanting any boy to lay a finger on them,” sighed Rick. “Well, they do make a cute couple,” remarked Shannon Parsons who had put two and two together when she saw the couple sitting by themselves. “Oh great,” sighed Rick. “Now we get all mushy over this. ‘Oh, how cute’ you say…” “Okay, enough,” said Thomas. “I’ll handle it.” “So, are you finished?” asked Katie as their leadership discussed other matters. “Yeah, why?” asked Jamie. “Do you want some dessert?” she asked. “You gave me grief over what I ate now ask me if I want dessert?” he laughed. “Just wondering,” she said. “Don’t you have anything in your room?” “I’ll be okay,” he said. “You sure?” she asked. “We’ve got about an hour and a half before the classes start.” “I was thinking of a quick nap,” he said. “Oh,” she said dejectedly. “Okay.” He didn’t think too much on what…and suddenly the realization of what she was implying smacked him right in the face. “I’m an idiot.” “So you want dessert? I’m down,” she said. “Let’s go,” he said and collected the two trays as they departed the cafeteria. And back to his room where he found dessert wasn’t the only thing on her mind. But it left him with a feeling of confusion when it was all said and done as he wasn’t sure which way she was leaning. He was fairly smitten with her and in a very short amount of time. But he couldn’t get a read on whether she was just using him or actually felt something for him and her armor was cracking a bit. So for the moment he would just go with the flow and take things as they came. But one thing was for certain, she was way different than other women he had been around before and had him far more than curious on a personal level. ******************** “…and you can use the appropriate chain of command to report fraud, waste and abuse violations as you see fit. There are protections in place for whistle blowers so don’t feel like you would be put in a position to jeopardize your career by any means. Coalition Forces Regulation 200-42, Chapter 14 deals with the protections as well as the avenues you can take for reporting such fraud, waste and abuse. And Coalition Forces Memorandum 1412 deals specifically with reporting said violations across the different nations and services. The war effort requires each and every one of us to make sure the resources are used appropriately. Are there any questions for me today?” asked the current briefer as he finished up his forty-five minute briefing on yet another checkbox the unit had to have for annual certifications. And being that it followed the safety briefing was pure agony and more than a few people in the theater had their head bobbing by the time the briefings were done. However, there was always one in every crowd. “I have a question,” said a member as he rose. “Let’s say I have an overage of a certain item and feel someone else can use it from another nation. Who do I turn it into?” “You hold onto it and trade it off for something you do need,” said Stephen Garcia. As he was hidden from view by Rick Jones, the briefer couldn’t tell where it came from. “Absolutely not!” exclaimed the briefer. “Who said that?” Nobody acknowledged the question, yet at least three quarters of the theater mumbled their agreement with Stephen or nodded their heads. “That’s a really good question and I’m glad you asked. And please ignore the comments that were just made. That doesn’t work in the real military,” said the briefer as the remainder of the theater rolled their eyes or hung their heads in shame as the briefer went on for another seven minutes describing the process. “You know, me and a couple of the boys could take that kid outside and give him the answers,” said Senior Master Sergeant Brian “Tattoo” Holmes in a low voice to Thomas. “If he asks another stupid question, don’t grab the kid, do a snatch and grab on the instructor and hold him for ransom,” said Thomas. “You honestly think anyone would pay to get him back?” asked Brian. “Tell them we’ll put him on twenty-four hours a day on the Armed Forces Network talking about fraud, waste and abuse if they don’t pay up,” suggested Thomas. “Gentlemen! Gentlemen! Please,” said the instructor as he looked at Thomas and Brian. “This is an invaluable subject that is critical to the war effort! I request you don’t interrupt please!” “Our bad!” said Thomas with a large cheesy grin. “Please proceed!” Barely contained sniggers and snorts were heard throughout the ranks in the Cider section as well as the other units inside the theater. Eventually the briefer got finished with the answer and looked at his watch. “Okay, we’ll take a quick fifteen minute break. Please be back in your seats at quarter after for your sensitivity briefing.” “Check this out,” said Darren as he stood and tried to get by Senior Master Sergeant Tim “Fluffy” Daniels. Darren waved his hand in front of his face several times with no reaction. He didn’t appear to be asleep since his eyes were wide open. “Did he die from sheer boredom?” asked Greg Henry. Darren snapped his fingers in front of his face which brought Tim back to the land of the living. “What?” he asked. “Are we done with the safety briefing?” “Oh that’s classic,” laughed Thomas. “You can sleep with your eyes open?” “It’s a trick I learned a long time ago,” said Tim as he wiped his face. “Dude, you’ve got to teach me that!” said Greg. “We can make millions off the book deal.” “Oh no,” said Tim as he stood up. “That’s my little secret.” “Am I going to have to keep an eye on you in the staff meetings from now on?” asked Thomas. “You don’t really hold what the rest of the military calls ‘staff meetings.’ It’s more like a cross between a rugby match, a Metallica concert and a mass riot,” remarked Darren. “We do need more music during our informal staff calls,” said Thomas. “Everyone gets their own intro song with smoke and lights. I want our command trailer completely pimped out with a fog machine, strobe lights and surround sound. Make it happen.” “I’m not sure a fog machine is on an official request form,” said Darren. “I bet I can find one,” said Tim. “No way,” said Darren. “What are you willing to wager?” asked Tim. “Hmm, let’s say the bottle of Scotch I’m saving and a batch of Janet’s cookies,” said Darren. “Which ones?” asked Tim. “Your choice,” said Darren. “And what do I get if you don’t come through?” “I’ll give you my Yankees hat and my music collection on MP3,” said Tim. “Deal,” said Darren as he stuck his hand out. “You’re so screwed,” laughed Tim as he took the offered hand. Thomas had wandered to the back of the theater and was stretching out and attempting to keep himself awake through the briefings. He remembered he wanted to make contact with Jamie Collins and Katie Shepherd and was on his way to collect them when he was stopped by an old friend. “Congratulations Lieutenant Colonel Dayfield,” said Colonel Powers from J-SOD. “Colonel!” exclaimed Thomas as he received a punch from the front on his new rank. “Ooof!” “That’s the least you deserve,” he laughed. “The headquarters said you would be here.” “Yeah, about that,” laughed Thomas. “How are you doing?” asked the Colonel. “Oh, if I get another briefing like I just had I think I’m going to start murdering people,” said Thomas with a faux excitement. The Colonel had a good laugh as they headed to the outside of the theater for a breath of fresh air. “What brings you all the way to England?” asked Thomas. “We had a leadership conference Manchester with the Russian National Forces. Their civil war is about over and they are going to need some time to consolidate before joining us. But they are coming in on our side of things so it’ll be a huge help on the northern flank of the IU. So it was initial talks and getting on the same page of things,” said the Colonel. “Kinda obvious they would have been next,” said Thomas. “Apparently they weren’t happy with a bunch of places that end in ‘Stan joining the IU. And certainly weren’t comfortable with the so called assurances they wouldn’t be targeted. Especially after the IU was found raping and robbing equipment, weapons, aircraft, vehicles and munitions from their old stocks. Pretty much if it wasn’t nailed down, the IU was hauling it off,” said the Colonel. “I thought the majority of it was being used in the Russian Civil War,” said Thomas. “I think you underestimate the amount of crap the Russians piled up during the Cold War. I’d be willing to bet even the senior Russian leadership before the Fall didn’t have the first clue about the vast stockpiles they had saved up,” said the Colonel. “Yeah, folks tend to get a little upset when you start stealing their toys,” remarked Thomas. “Don’t ask me how I know.” “But either way, I had to swing down and talk to you about something else,” said the Colonel. “I’m all ears,” said Thomas. “And hopefully it removes me from the rest of these briefings.” “Sorry, I can’t promise that,” laughed the Colonel. “You’re dead to me sir,” laughed Thomas. “Anyway, the Russians, well, quite a few of the special ops guys are requesting a briefing on how you took down that camp. The US was very interested as well as the Brits and the Texans. So I took the liberty of scheduling you in for a full on briefing on the operation,” said the Colonel. “You and whichever staff you feel could contribute.” “Like a formal briefing with slides and pretty pictures?” asked Thomas. “Being a Lieutenant Colonel means you have to do this from time to time,” said the Colonel. “I’d bet Mark Williams is behind this,” said Thomas. “He knows how much I hate staff work.” “No,” laughed the Colonel. “He’s getting settled in after the R and R though.” “Well, good,” said Thomas. “What kind of briefing and where?” “Probably in Manchester or maybe Berlin. And a standard briefing from the start of the mission, planning, intel coordination, logistics, the takedown itself, so on and so forth,” said the Colonel. “Even though the mission was…questionable?” asked Thomas. “You might want to omit the parts about how it came together,” said with Colonel with a chuckle. “But let’s face it; the mission was a textbook example of a combined operation that went off without a hitch. And since the coalition leadership was ecstatic that we not only liberated that camp, but managed to get two complete divisions of troops surrounded and to surrender, the questionable methods were shoved in a deep dark hole never to emerge.” “I suppose I could whip something up,” said Thomas. “I’d like Major Thompson and Williams in on it as well. Probably Captain Parsons, the Mrs. Captain Parsons type since she did a lot of the legwork on the coordination. Captain Andy McNabb of the Australian Defense Force was who led us there originally. Chief Scott and Captain Meyers both had reports that positively identified the compound. Captain Brown from the Rangers had a critical role in our escape. Honestly there’s a lot of people that should be involved.” “But only one commander that brought them all together,” said the Colonel. “You can have an assistant to help during the briefings, but that’s it. This is your briefing to give.” “I don’t like the spotlight sir,” said Thomas. “Maybe not, but the coalition staff is setting some new priorities,” said the Colonel. “With the way this one went down, they are starting to feel like the liberations of these camps should be at the forefront of our taskings. They obviously won’t always be in the positions like you had where we can evacuate them easily, but the logistics of that can be worked out. But the major point is the fact your unit and those Rangers took down that camp in less than fifteen minutes and freed five hundred people. Your force was outnumbered almost three to one and you didn’t take any significant casualties. And if that isn’t a lesson to be taught, I don’t know what is.” “I understand,” said Thomas. “So start putting some thoughts down on paper. I’ll send in one of the paper pushers to help with the briefing portion and show you how to turn on the computer and make everything pretty when you get done with your exercises next week,” said the Colonel. “And of course, something on paper to take away from the briefing.” “Are you implying I’m not technologically inclined?” laughed Thomas. “Of course not,” laughed the Colonel. “I would never do that!” “Seems easy enough,” said Thomas. “You might even like staff work before long,” grinned the Colonel. “Oh no,” said Thomas. “That’s your realm.” “Well, either way, I’ll let you know when everything will go down. I’d plan on giving it at least three or four times with Birds and Stars in attendance each time,” said the Colonel. “You failed to mention that part,” said Thomas. “You’d be surprised at how many people are interested in hearing the details of that mission,” said the Colonel. “And it didn’t help that General Chambers was screaming your praises to the high heavens after it was said and done.” “That man…” said Thomas with a shake of his head. “Would adopt you if he had the chance,” chuckled the Colonel. “I think I’m still skating on thin ice with him,” said Thomas. “You really don’t know what went down between the mission and your promotion do you?” asked the Colonel. “Honestly no,” said Thomas. “A bit of scuttlebutt, but nothing confirmed.” “Well, it appears Colonel Woodson started a major gripe and had a few supporters. General Chambers went to bat for you in a huge way. Like threatening to resign his commission if anything happened to you kind of huge way. And he wasn’t alone as the Corps Commander jumped in on your side as well.” “Well, after the facts of what happened came out, it appears Colonel Woodson ended up being faced with two choices, resign or face a trial for what he did. It was a pure mess and when his attorney told him he’d rather be on the prosecution, he resigned and went home to momma. And it didn’t help your case that the Governors of Colorado, Kansas, North Dakota and Minnesota called up the General of the Army Martin and asked what decoration he was putting you in for. For once, politics worked out in your favor,” said the Colonel. “I didn’t realize it went that high,” said Thomas. “The highest levels now know exactly who Thomas Dayfield is,” chuckled the Colonel. “I’m not sure that’s a good thing,” laughed Thomas. “You might be surprised at how far you can advance with a little backing from the right people. Doing your job exceptionally well is one thing. Having senior leadership and politicians back you for higher positions are helpful cards to have in one’s deck,” said the Colonel. “You know I just want to do a job and get back home,” said Thomas. “And along the way the Army will use you in the capacity you are most suited to. And if that happens to be, say a full Colonel commanding a Brigade or even my job at the J-SOD, then that’s where your capacity will lie,” said the Colonel. “Something to remember.” “I don’t care about promotions,” said Thomas. “Not really at least. I do care about getting my people recognized and more pay for them as well which means accelerated promotions.” “You may not care about promotions, but you will find that being in a higher grade can get a lot more of what you want accomplished. While most of the people look past your rank and see the aptitude you have for the job, there are some that won’t deal with you because you’re a Major or a Lieutenant Colonel. So there are unseen benefits to being promoted,” said the Colonel. “I just got promoted, so that’s a long way off,” said Thomas. “With the way this war is going, it might not be as far as you think,” said Powers. “I’ll try to play nice and let the chips fall,” said Thomas. “That’s all we’re asking,” said the Colonel. “Okay, you going to shoot me an email about the briefing?” asked Thomas. “Yeah, times and dates,” said the Colonel. “Your assistant will be here Friday when you get out of the field. Have fun with those SAS boys by the way. They’re damn good.” “So are we,” said Thomas. “I’ve got to get back. The next briefing has probably already started and you know how detrimental to the war effort it is to miss sensitivity training.” “You need it more than anyone,” laughed the Colonel as he shook Thomas’ hand. “People keep telling me that for some reason,” laughed Thomas. “We’ll see you soon.” “Take care,” said the Colonel as the two saluted and Thomas returned inside. He was making his way back to his seat and trying not to cause too much disturbance as the briefing had already started. As he made his way through the aisle he was stopped by the briefer. “Excuse me, you needed to be in your seat before the briefing started. I’m afraid you’ll have to reschedule,” said the Second Lieutenant. “My apologies, I was held up,” said Thomas as he continued. “Sorry, but you’re going to have to leave and come back next week,” said the Lieutenant. “Okay,” said Thomas with a large grin as he continued towards his seat. “I said you need to leave,” said the Lieutenant. “I heard you,” said Thomas. “And I’m ignoring you.” “What?!” exclaimed the Lieutenant who had no idea who he was dealing with. “You might want to continue with your briefing Lieutenant,” suggested Darren and murmured agreements followed from those that could see the rank on Thomas’ uniform. “I’m the instructor and in charge here,” said the Lieutenant. “You need to leave.” “Son, just don’t,” said Thomas. “Else you’ll find yourself the recipient of a significantly life altering briefing about how insensitive I can be if you choose to continue on this path.” The Lieutenant was dumbstruck and looked over at the Captain that he had accompanied to the briefing. He missed the subtle shaking of his head and persisted. “What is your name?” “Lieutenant Colonel Thomas B. Dayfield, Commander, 14th Special Operations Battalion, North American Union Forces. You want my service number as well?” asked Thomas with an edge in his voice and a look on his face that spoke volumes. “Sir, you aren’t required to sit through these briefings. There are special provisions for commanders and Lieutenant Colonels and above,” said the Lieutenant as a dodge. However, it apparently wasn’t the right time to pull that card as Thomas rose out of his seat. “My troops have to sit through this briefing so hence; my troops won’t go through anything I’m not willing to do myself. So I’m going to have a seat right here Lieutenant and I’m going to thoroughly enjoy your briefing because you are about to get articulate, entertaining, funny and, most importantly, very succinct. Because like everyone else in here, I don’t like having my time wasted and while this may be an important subject, you’ve got a whole theater full of combat troops that should be out training to kill our enemies instead of wasting time here. And I hope you get the distinct impression that I’m not in a mood to fool around any longer today,” said Thomas. “So if you’ll move along in your briefing, make us laugh and keep us entertained for the next little bit, I’m sure we’ll all be happier for it.” Cheers and applause followed his announcement as the Lieutenant blushed up at the rebuke. He again looked to the Captain and was more visibly prompted by a waving of his hand to continue on with the briefing. He stuttered for a moment before getting back into where he was at. “Yeah, some insensitive bastard needs this class,” whispered Amber in a chuckle. “Hush,” chuckled Thomas in return. “Or you’ll get briefed as well.” “You wouldn’t do that would you?” she asked with her pitiful look. Thomas scoffed and shook his head as the briefer got into his topic. But added in a wink at the end since it was Amber. And since it was “suggested” to make the class entertaining, he went away from the prepared manuscript and actually had the class laughing at certain points with some witty comments and they generally paid attention throughout the half hour lecture. And he found it far easier to do his briefing in a more relaxed environment over what would normally be considered a boring topic. Once he concluded, there were no questions and he started to depart. Thomas rose and cut him off at the exit to the theater. “I apologize for my behavior Colonel,” said the Lieutenant with a polite bow of his head. “Not everyone that sits in these classes is who you think they may be,” said Thomas. “You did good and kept the topic entertaining. Try doing that from now on and you’ll have a far easier time. And you won’t draw the ire of angry Lieutenant Colonels in the class.” “Roger that sir,” said the Lieutenant and noticed Thomas had his hand held out. He shook it and came back with something in his hand. He noticed it was the Commander’s Coin for the 14th Special Operations Battalion as Thomas nodded and returned to his seat. “You realize what you have there?” asked the Captain. “His commander’s coin?” asked the Lieutenant. “Some commanders hand those things out like candy,” said the Captain. “This is the first time I’ve heard of anyone outside special ops or those that support it getting one of his. And few enough as it is.” “So it’s a big deal?” asked the Lieutenant who had never received a coin. “Huge,” said the Captain. “So keep up what you are doing. It works.” The remainder of the briefers has seen what had happened prior to their instructional periods and found that it was far easier to go impromptu on their briefings and make them somewhat entertaining. Certain subjects weren’t as easy to do, but they managed to keep the attention of the gathered troops in the theater through the remainder of the afternoon. And eventually it was quitting time and the troops started gathering around their leadership. “I don’t know about anyone else, but I want the grumpy bastard to start all of our formal classroom instructions with a briefing to make it fun,” grinned Michael Parsons. “You mean Greg?” asked Thomas with a grin. “For not wanting your Lieutenant Colonel rank, you sure make it work when you want it to,” laughed Darren. “Yeah, yeah, yeah,” said Thomas. “Okay folks, that’s it for today. Tomorrow we have the mandatory 5K fun run with the base populace and at 0800 we get the techs in from Future Cyber to go over our new communicators. Tomorrow afternoon, Stellar Applications is coming in with some new thermal and night vision goodies I think you’re going to like. So get ready for some tech time and not understanding half of what they say.” “Fun run starts at the flagpole at 0530 and is a formation run. Furthermore, I’m going to say I’m not going to let any other unit on this base beat us out. So we will finish first, leading the way and setting the pace for others to follow, clear?” asked Thomas. Acknowledgements, cheers and growls came from the group as they were dismissed. “Outcast, Bear, hang tight,” said Thomas as the members departed. Thomas waited for a moment for the area to clear before addressing the two. “I’ll need to see you both tonight after supper. Say 1930 in my temporary office at the admin building. Okay?” “Sure,” said Jamie with a questioning look. “You aren’t in trouble,” said Thomas. “Just need to go over a few things with the two of you.” “Roger that,” said Katie in a confused tone as well. “It’s nothing serious,” said Thomas. “So stop worrying.” “Yes sir,” they said. “Okay, get out of the monkey suit and grab some food,” said Thomas. “See you in a bit.” The three departed and Jamie and Katie wandered away from everyone else. “You think it’s serious?” asked Jamie. “I wouldn’t think so,” said Katie. “Normally when I go see the commander, I’m in trouble,” chuckled Jamie. “I don’t think…” said Katie and stopped. “What?” asked Jamie. “I wouldn’t think Colonel Dayfield knows about what we did already,” said Katie. “That can’t be it is it?” asked Jamie. “No,” said Katie. “At least, I wouldn’t think so.” “Now you have me a bit worried,” said Jamie. “I don’t want to get you in trouble.” “I’m the golden child, remember?” she laughed. “But you are a bad boy.” Jamie chuckled in response as they departed the area, promising to meet up after supper to go in together to see Thomas. Jamie was slightly worried as he didn’t want her to get into any kind of trouble on his behalf, but could only come to the logical conclusion that was what it was about.
EPILOGUE Never believe that a few caring people can't change the world. For, indeed, that's all who ever have. Margaret Mead Jamie sat in the seat across from Thomas, still unsure of what he was seeing his commander for this particular time. But what worried him was the fact Katie was sitting next to him as Thomas mindlessly finished up a report and signed at the bottom. There was no way the unit could have found out already since it had only been less than twenty-four hours since their first encounter. But there was no other explanation for the two sitting in front of him waiting. He had often heard their ability to find out things was legendary, but this bordered on absurd. “Okay, now that’s out of the way” he said and set it in a pile of reports to send off. “You two getting caught up on your rest and training?” “Yes sir,” they both answered separately. “Do you know why you’re here?” asked Thomas. “Sir, I can explain,” blurted Jamie before Katie had the chance to respond. “Okay,” said Thomas with a half a smile and leaned back in the chair. He detected neither one knew exactly why they were here, but figured he’d see what they thought. “It’s a perfectly good explanation,” said Jamie. “I bet it is,” said Thomas. “And I might agree if I knew the specifics.” “Well…” said Jamie and took in a deep breath. “I know it’s probably against the rules or protocol to see someone from our unit. But I think Katie, I mean Staff Sergeant Shepherd, is really cool and I thought it would be nice to get to know her, you know? Like on a more personal level. So we’ve kind of been talking and seeing each other, but not for long. It’s all my fault really so I’ll take the blame. I mean, I know it’s probably inappropriate, but I’ve started to grow quite fond of her in the short time I’ve known her and really like her a lot-” “And I like him a lot as well,” interrupted Katie. “On more than professional grounds.” “Wait…you like me a lot?” asked Jamie. “Umm, yeah,” said Katie as he looked at her. “As in like like?” asked Jamie. “As in yeah, like and care about you in the way a girl likes a guy a lot,” said Katie. “Really?” asked Jamie. “I thought it was kind of obvious,” said Katie. “Well, you didn’t say anything,” said Jamie. “I didn’t realize you had any doubts after we…” said Katie and her voice trailed off. She looked at Thomas with a bit of shock on her face out of the corner of her eyes and saw her commander was emotionless. However, Thomas did look between the two with pursed lips, but with a hint of humor in his eyes. “After we shared dessert.” “Well, you didn’t say specifically,” said Jamie. “I didn’t realize I had to,” said Katie. “I like you, okay? You’re a nice guy with a good personality and a cute grin. Not just your grin, but a good looking guy all together. And you’re built like a brick outhouse. And can carry on a decent conversation. I mean, why else did you think I wanted to hang out with you?” “I just didn’t know you liked me on that level,” said Jamie. “You said you were confused.” “Girls can think on multiple levels you know. We can like a guy and be confused at the same time,” she said. “I thought maybe you were hesitant since you thought I was too pushy.” “You weren’t being too pushy…well, maybe a bit pushy, but nothing I can’t handle,” said Jamie. “And I thought I was being too forward.” “But you never said anything either,” said Katie. “Yes, I like you,” said Jamie. “Fair enough?” “Well…sure,” said Katie. “I’m not feeling it,” said Jamie. “Of course I like you. I mean we did…” said Katie and waved her hand. “Share dessert three times. You think I do that with every guy I meet?” “Well, no,” said Jamie. “Was there ever a question?” she asked. “I should have just asked,” asked Jamie. “Why didn’t you say anything?” “I just thought you knew,” said Katie. “I do like you. I just didn’t know you liked me.” “I didn’t realize I had to say it,” said Jamie. “I thought you already knew too.” “Girls like hearing that kind of stuff,” said Katie. “You should have said something and I probably would have said the same thing.” “I didn’t want you to think I was trying to pressure you or anything,” said Jamie. “I would let you know up front real quick if you were out of line,” said Katie. “I don’t know,” said Jamie. “You didn’t even say you liked me.” “You should have said it first,” said Katie. “Are you serious?” asked Thomas with an exasperated tone, finally breaking into the conversation. They both looked at him with surprised looks on their faces as they had almost forgotten he was in the room with them. “Have we cleared this up?” asked Thomas. “Or do I have to pass a check yes or no note?” “Sorry sir,” said Katie and Jamie at the same time and both sat up in their chairs, a little uncomfortable at the current situation. “Yes, he likes you,” he said to Katie and turned to Jamie. “Yes, she likes you. Now can we move on?” “Sorry sir,” they said almost together. “This is some straight high school sh*t that I don’t have the time nor the great desire to deal with, okay?” asked Thomas. “Sorry sir,” they answered together. “Look, there aren’t any rules against two team members becoming romantically involved with each other. I always knew the chance was there for it to happen, but you two are actually the first to be involved outside of work. It’s not really a big deal as you are two consenting adults and what you do in your off time is your own business. Now having said that to say this, I will not have work and personal life collide. We don’t go peeking into bedroom windows around here for any of the members. But when you come on the job, personal feelings get left at the door. So no matter what, you two will be professional with each other when you come on duty,” said Thomas. “Understood?” “Yes sir,” they said together. “Now some might frown on your two being an item, but as long as you can keep work at work and play at play, there will be no problems. And you know I don’t like problems,” said Thomas. “And if I even get one hint, one iota of a suggestion you two are bringing personal life into work, one of you will be out of this unit and heading for another Cider Battalion before the ink is dry on the orders. And I don’t care which one it is, just the first I get my hands on. So there will be no wounded puppy looks or growls from either of you if this ends. Understand?” “Yes sir,” was the reply in unison. “Also, if you two run into trouble with anyone causing an issue with your relationship, you come let me know. Either me personally or Snoopy. Nobody has the right to tell you who you can and cannot see but I wouldn’t put it past some people. So as long as it’s professional, nobody can say a thing. Am I being clear?” asked Thomas. “Yes sir,” the reply once again. “And I hope I’ve foot stomped the professional aspect enough,” said Thomas. “Yes sir,” they said together. “Now get,” said Thomas and jerked his head towards the door. The pair stood and saluted and received a salute in return before departing the office. But they were stopped just as they reached the doorway. “One more thing.” They both stopped before exiting the office. Thomas was already looking over the next report and didn’t look up as he was speaking. “That’s the lamest attempt I’ve ever heard at trying to hide the fact you two are getting it on. Try to be more creative next time.” Katie turned and looked at Jamie as they both tried to stifle a giggle and departed the office. Once they were outside, Katie cornered Jamie in the hallway. “You didn’t say you liked me,” she remarked in trying to get the last word in. “I thought it was plainly obvious,” he said. “Yeah, you’re a really nice lady that puts me in check. You’ve got a good personality and a good heart when you get past your hard exterior. You caught my eye almost the first time I saw you and there aren’t a lot of women that have ever done that.” “Well, I didn’t know,” said Katie. “I mean, I might have liked to hear it from you.” “Seriously?” he asked. “Yeah, I do like you. Why do you think I happened to be on the track at the same time you were three days in a row?” “You were stalking me?” she asked. “No more than you stalking me downtown!” he protested. “You didn’t see me so that doesn’t count,” she replied and cut him off before he could reply. “Don’t argue, you know it doesn’t.” “I was just trying to get in position to start a conversation,” he remarked. “Why didn’t you just knock on my door?” she inquired. “Ask me to dinner or something?” “I thought that might be too forward of me,” he answered. “Like you have a problem being forward,” she remarked. “I tried starting conversations before,” said Jamie. “But you blew me off.” “At work yes,” she said. “You should have been less subtle away from work.” “I wasn’t sure if I should since you seemed like you didn’t care,” said Jamie. “And for the record you didn’t say you liked me either and could have come up to me.” “I was waiting for you to make the first move,” she replied. “And I wasn’t sure how you would react if I was that forward.” “Seriously?” asked Jamie. “I’ve thought you were cute since you showed up,” said Katie. “Of course I kept it professional in the field, but let’s face it; you’re a good looking dude.” “And you’re a good looking gal,” he replied. “Not so much,” said Katie. “I think it’s what’s here that matters,” said Jamie as he touched her chest and her heart area. “And you win over all sorts of women in that regard.” “So I’m not pretty,” she said. “No, you are,” said Jamie. “But I’m not the kind of guy that goes on looks alone. That British gal was pretty, but just wasn’t my type. I like a bit of substance.” “Are you calling me fat?” she asked and half hid a grin. “Nothing could be further from the truth,” he grinned. “Yes, you are a very pretty lady.” “Thanks,” she said and moved in closer to him. And even though they were in a somewhat public place, they hugged which led to a kiss and ended up getting a little hot and heavy in the hallway. Since it was after hours, the chances of being discovered were minute. For him, it was the first time since he had been through training he got to be a little intimate with a woman. Furthermore, one that had challenged him in more ways than one. For her, she had been trying so hard at her job since joining the military she had forgotten there were other pleasures to be had and it was okay to show some affection and care for someone as more than just a friend or coworker. It would still take a while to completely get over everything bad that had happened in her life, but Jamie was helping her on the road to recovery. However, they were interrupted by a stern “ahem” before getting too involved. “There are private places for that,” said Chief Master Sergeant Frank Zimmer as he came around the corner with Senior Master Sergeant Tim Daniels carrying a machine of some sort. “And the schedule is clear this evening.” “Sorry Chief,” they said in unison and released each other. “You need some help with that?” asked Jamie as he saw the two carrying the object. “Nah, we’re delivering it to Warbucks,” said Tim. “What exactly is it?” asked Katie. “It’s a fog machine,” said Tim with a grin. “Do we want to know?” asked Jamie. “Probably not,” laughed Frank as they walked past them and into the office where Thomas was finishing up. “We should follow the advice of our leaders,” she said with a twinkle in her eyes. “And find a private place.” “Remember, I’m the maverick here,” he grinned. “I bet I can set you straight,” she commented. “Are you flirting with me?” he asked with a grin. “Come buy me a cup of coffee and find out,” she said and looked over her shoulder with a naughty smile as she walked away. Bear had finally opened her heart just a tiny bit and found she liked being able to care once again.
Afterthoughts on “Tales of the Ranch – Lonely Bear” I got the idea of doing some shorter works with some background and character development of a few of the characters I’ve introduced since Normal was written and decided to go “back in time” for lack of a better term and focus in on one of them during the initial days and weeks after the attacks portrayed in “Normal.” It’s not as detailed as others with a lot less action, but at the same time, shows how ordinary people are affected by the events they are totally unprepared for as well and how they try to adapt as they are caught between a world that is normal and one in chaos. I tried to tie up some loose ends I left in “Tales of the Ranch - Seeing Jahannam” as more than one person has pointed out that I didn’t further explain a few of the things. So I hope I got some minor points neat and tidy. The story focuses more on the everyday citizen and again, how they might react. I intentionally gave Theresa Shepherd a little more foresight than most citizens and a few more skills, but not enough to be the major preparedness type portrayed in a lot of stories. And Katie was simply a young girl swept up in events completely out of her control and how the emotions can, and will, take a toll on people eventually. But in short, it’s a story for entertainment as well as some minor lessons to be learned about preparedness in general. As a reminder, this story series was written in advance of the 2008 elections, so the President at the time was not who won. So the Normal and Tales of the Ranch series can be considered an alternate timeline for most intents and purposes. As always, credit and appreciation goes out to the staff of Timebomb2K and Survival Monkey for keeping the sites well maintained and operational for amateur writers like myself. And to the readers who put me behind the keyboard in the first place. I appreciate all the support you continue to give and hope I live up to your expectations. Grand58742 16 July 2014
Much appreciated sir. I only have two hands and single keyboard, but there's always ideas rolling around in my brain.
