Chapter 24Home - Monday, August 6th to Tuesday, August 7th
Fic sat on the porch of the farmhouse, weapon in hand and watched the sky start to lighten to the east. He got up and went inside the house. He had relieved Kitsune after a few hours' sleep and had been wide awake the rest of the night. He just couldn’t sleep with home being so close, and yet so far away with all the soldiers looking for them in between home and him.
He went into the living room and saw the others already stirring. Everyone had felt his urgency and wanted to get him home as fast as they could. When Fic had relieved Kitsune, the young man had said that they should get an early start. He had a feeling that things weren’t good at Fic’s home.
Fic had stopped wondering how the boy knew so much. After his predictions and warnings had been confirmed many times over, he had just come to believe that the boy knew things. Maybe he could see the future or other places or something.
Everyone ate a quick breakfast and as the sun was just starting to peek into the valley they were in, they set out. Following the road as it turned north. Keeping weapons at the ready and being alert to anything out of the ordinary.
They made their way back to the road that they had almost reached the day before and crossed it, quickly returning to the woods. They had taken a good look both ways before heading out and Kitsune had scouted ahead for a while first. Shortly after that, they had to cross Interstate 66. They crossed a creek that crossed their path and noticed another smaller stream was entering this one from the direction of the highway. They followed the creek upstream and saw that it crossed under the highway in large five-foot-high culverts. They used that tunnel to get under the highway and lessened the chances that someone who may be monitoring the highway would see them. They exited the pipe and continued on.
Once again, Fic used his compass to find the trail again, but he already had a good idea of where they would find it. He knew the lay of the land here. Not just the trail itself, but the surrounding woods also. He had hunted in these woods with both of his kids and his wife.
They moved as fast as they could. Fic checked on Daisy a couple of times, but each time she said she was feeling good. “I think I finally got a handle on those blisters,” she explained. “They are hardly hurting at all.”
The morning’s miles went quickly, with only one short break to rest and eat a quick snack. The day had become hot, starting off that way before the sun had risen and growing more intense as the sun rose in the sky.
They could tell they were getting close to Highway 50, the road that led to Fic’s farm, when they started hearing traffic. This seemed like the most road noise they had heard in a long time, and they once again sounded like heavy vehicles and buses.
When they got close to the road, Kitsune did a quick scout and came back to report that crossing the road was going to be a challenge. The traffic was pretty heavy, and they seemed to be looking for something. Maybe us.
“I have an idea,” Fic said. “I know these parts pretty well, follow me as we sneak around these idiots.”
He moved off to the left, paralleling the road.
They crossed a few country roads and saw a house or two as they went along, but the area was well wooded and they kept out of sight of the road, that continued to announce the presence of vehicles driving up and down.
After about a mile, they could smell the river. Fic moved down a small incline and there was the great Shenandoah River.
They were following a small dirt road that went straight to the river. Fic stopped and gathered the others around. They huddled in a circle as he explained the scene.
“Ok, we are at the river. My house is on the other side. We will need to go up on the road and get across as fast as we can. It will be a long time to be in the open, but if the traffic lets up some, we should be able to make it.”
“I’m gonna have a look around,” Kitsune said and disappeared into the brush before Fic could say anything.
The group crept closer to the road. There was a steep embankment going up from where they were hiding to where the bridge started across the river. They would have to perch at the top, hiding behind the guardrail until they saw an opening.
Kitsune found them at their new hiding place. He had a paddle in his hand. “Maybe we can paddle across,” he said. Holding up the paddle for the others to see. I found two canoes down by the river. This road is a boat launch and people store some boats down by the river. They have locks on them, but I figured RW’s axe should be able to cut the cable easily.
Fic was happy with this new plan as he was having second thoughts as to how fast they could get across the open bridge.
The Party went to the water’s edge and found the canoes. There were two of them.
Rodent Whisperer was able to cut the cable that held both canoes secure with only a few hacks of his blade.
They tried to figure out how to get the whole Party across with all of their gear.
They only had four paddles. After some thinking, they decided that Fic, and Brown Shades would paddle one boat with Class Room and most of the gear. In the other canoe, Kitsune and Rodent Whisperer would paddle with the two tweens as passengers and the rest of the gear.
Both boats rode low as they started across. The plan was to stay under the cover of the bridge the whole way across, hoping that no one up on the road would see them crossing.
This started out fine, but as they moved into the main channel of the river, the current started to pull them down stream. Both canoes turned into the upstream side and paddled hard to stay under the bridge.
The heavily loaded canoe that Fic and Brown Shades were crewing started to lose the battle with the current and stared to be pulled downstream and out in the open.
A few Humvees passed as the two canoeists paddled as hard as they could and finally they reached the other bank about 50 meters downstream of the other canoe.
They all quickly disembarked and pulled the canoe up into some bushes. They had made it.
After the river, Fic started off across the fields and away from the road. They moved into a large forest and Fic led the way, quickly finding one of the trails and following it for a while, then veering off back into the woods in the direction he wanted to travel.
They came to the end of the forest and saw a large swath of fields. Some had brush borders or fences. Fic led the Party straight through one of the larger fields. They crossed a couple of roads, carefully checking first to make sure they were empty.
At one such crossing, they heard a vehicle coming down the road. They hid in the darkness of a small copse of trees as a Humvee came driving by. They waited for the sound to die, then continued on.
They were crossing one more field and Fic could see the road up ahead. That was the road that went to his house. His pace quickened.
They came to the road about a quarter of a mile from his house. He hopped the last fence and turned onto the road. He started off at a slow jog. The rest of the Party did the same until they were a wave moving up the road. Together and at the ready.
They moved over a rise and as they went over, they saw a person standing in the middle of the road. The person stopped and looked at them.
Fic saw the person in the middle of the road and immediately recognized his wife. Lori was right there. It had been two months and a thousand miles since he had last seen her. She looked as good as ever. His pace quickened and a smile came to his face as he ran to meet her.
“Hey darling,” Fic said. “I’m home.”
Fic and Lori stood in the middle of the road. Hugging each other. Talking over each other. Looking at each other. Lori reached up and pulled on his beard. “Nice beard, soldier,” she said. “Is that regulation?”
Fic reached up and touched the side of her face. “I sure did miss you lady,” he said. “It has been a long walk home.”
Suddenly, Lori remembered why she was out in the middle of the road. Her son was hurt and needed her. “Quick,” she said. “We need to get home. Shane is wounded and Brittany is missing.” She turned and started for the house while Fic stared at her in shock at what she just said so nonchalantly.
“What?” he asked as he hurried after her.
The others followed behind, completely forgotten for the moment.
Lori ran up the drive and into the house, Fic right behind her. She led him to the living room and towards the couch.
Fic saw his son on the couch and at first, he thought he was dead. He lay still, his sunken eyes closed in a pale face. His breathing apparently non-existent. As he kneeled next to his son beside his wife, he saw that his eyes had lied to him. His son did breathe, but it was shallow and slow, but it was there.
Lori had dropped her pack and was rummaging through it for something. She pulled some bandages and a vial of pills. She opened the vial and shook out two pills. Lori went to her son. Softly talking to him and rousing him from his sleep. His eyes fluttered and he saw his mother in a blurry haze. “Ma,” was all he said.
He gave him the pills and helped him drink them down with the glass of water she had left by the couch. After that feat was complete, he looked behind her to the man kneeling next to her. The guy looked a lot like his father, but this guy was older looking, with a full beard. “Dad?” he whispered before his eyes grew too heavy to keep open as he fell back into an uneasy slumber.
Lori turned to her husband and told him what had happened the day of the storm. How the kids had gone out on a patrol and never returned. She told about finding her son at almost the same spot she had found him and how he had told her that the soldiers had taken Brittany and fought him, wounding him as he is now.
At this point she remembered that the living room was full of people. She looked past her husband and asked, “So, who are your friends?”
Fic remembered his Party and introduced each of the hikers to Lori. The hikers would give a little wave and bow as Fic told their name and how he had met them.
“I wouldn’t have gotten back here without their help.”
“Are you guys hungry?” Lori asked the group.
“We’re hikers,” said Rodent Whisperer. “We are always hungry.”
Lori led the group to the kitchen and put a bunch of fresh produce and other foods on the table. She sent Fic out to the spring house to fetch the milk and butter.
She grabbed a skillet and some eggs and started cracking them into the skillet as Brown Shades offered to help with the cooking.
“Ma’am,” said Rodent Whisperer
“Call me Lori,” she said with a smile.
“Lori, I have some healer skills. I could take a look at your lad if you like. Maybe change his bandages?”
“Thank you,” replied Lori. “That would be nice. I don’t know what else to do. I had gone to fetch the doctor but got to witness his execution instead.”
Fic came back into the kitchen as she said this and was shocked once again. “What has been going on here?” He asked. “I know it is crazy out there now, but if I had known, I would have come faster.”
Rodent Whisperer walked to the sleeping young man and started checking him out.
Lori continued with her story. She told about what had happened in the area after the bombs and how they had joined the Blue Mountain Patrol and how they were all working together.
Next, she told about how something was happening up on Mount Weather and all the coming and going of the vehicles and busses all the time. How they had mainly left the community alone until recently.
Lastly, she told them about what she had seen at the doctor’s house. How it appears that Jim Henry was working with the soldiers, or at least this soldier and from what she had heard, they may be the ones who took Brittany, and she may be hurt too.
“I never really liked Jim that much. Even though he was the leader of the Blue Mountain Patrol. Brittany had complained about his advances several times.”
“Ok, I know where to start the search for Brittany. The Henrys live out on Clay Hill Road, right? That’s where I’ll start.”
“I’m coming with you Fic,” Kitsune said, Brown Shades and Class Room nodding their agreement and apparently volunteering.
Lori looked over at her husband, her eyebrow arching and a half smile coming to her face. “So, we are Fictilibus again?” she asked, looking at him closely.
Fic smiled and nodded. “Yeah,” he said. “It seemed appropriate when hiking the Trail. When I met Gnobbit and she introduced herself by her trail name, it just came naturally that I replied with mine, even though I hadn’t worn that name for many years.”
“Who’s Gnobbit?” Lori asked.
Now Fic told her about Gnobbit and Finn and how he had left them in Pearisburg way down in the south of Virginia. He told a few more stories about the times with those two and after a while he remembered he needed to find his daughter.
“So is the truck running?” he asked.
“It runs, if it had some gas,” she replied. “The soldiers were confiscating any car or truck that drove out of the neighborhood, so we used the gas for the quads that the BMP were using. I don’t know where we could get some more.”
“Well, I’ve been walking for two months,” Fic said. “What’s a few more miles? It isn’t that far.”
Fic went into the dining room where they had dropped their packs and stowed their gear, and he started checking his weapon. Kitsune and Class Room came in and started checking their weapons. When Joey went to check his shotgun, Fic said, “I think you should stay here, son. “I need someone to guard the house and my son while we go find his sister.”
Joey looked at Fic with a sad look. “I’m a good shot ya know,” he said.
“I know that. That’s why I need you here.”
Joey nodded and went to place his shotgun near his pack.
Fic looked to Brown Shades and asked that he stay here too, to help Joey with security. Brown Shades nodded and threw Fic a quick salute with two fingers.
Rodent Whisperer came in and Fic asked him to come along, just in case his daughter needs his healing skills. Rodent Whisperer nodded and went to get his pistol and a small pack that had medical supplies. “Your son appears stable for now,” he said.
“I’ll help your wife with the chores here,” said Daisy.
Fic looked back at his group of friends and was proud how they all prepared for the mission just as good as a well-trained platoon.
When all were ready, he stood and said, “Let’s roll.”
The four team members went out the kitchen door and headed towards the drive. When they came to the road, Fic led them across and into the brush on the other side. It was time to do some more cross-country walking.
The four hikers cut across the land. Through fields and small forests until they came to Clay Hill Road. They walked along the road, keeping close to the shoulder, so they could jump into the edge bushes or trees if they heard a car coming down the narrow country road. The road made a small turn and started heading down a small decline towards the river.
They came to a small, paved driveway heading up an incline with a wooden fence lining the house side of the drive. The top of a house could be seen above the rise.
Fic called the group into a huddle.
“OK, I don’t know if Jim is here, but at least his mother, Maybell, might be there, if she’s still around. She may be a handful, but we should be able to reason with her. It all depends on how much she has had to drink so far this morning.”
Fic gave each of his warriors instructions on how to approach the house. He sent Kitsune off to the left, to circle around in the woods and get close to the back door. Rodent Whisperer he sent to the right, hidden from the house by the rise of the land. He would keep an eye on that side of the house.
“Come with me Class Room,” Fic said to the woman. “We are paying old Maybell a visit today.”
Fic and Class Room started walking up the driveway. Rifle hanging loosely in its sling and pistol holstered. They were trying to look peaceful and somewhat harmless.
They came to the front door and Fic knocked with a hard rap. They waited a good two minutes with no answer, so he knocked again. A little louder this time.
From inside they heard the clatter of something and a shouted word that they couldn’t quite understand and eventually, they heard footsteps coming to the door.
The door opened a few inches, stopped by a chain from the inside and a bleary, red eye looked out at them.
“Hi Maybell,” said Fic. “Is Jimmy around?”
The woman looked at him for about thirty seconds before saying questioningly, “Clayton Collier? I ain’t seen you in months. Where have you been?”
“Yes ma’am. I just got back, I’m here on Blue Mountain Patrol business. Is Jimmy around?”
“That no good son ain’t here,” she said with a slur. It looks like it’s always five o’clock at Maybell’s house. She was already pretty shit faced. Looks like that may be her normal state of being in this new, chaotic world.
“He wouldn’t get me my ‘medicine’, so I kicked him out.”
Fic knew that what she referred to as ‘medicine’ was usually vodka, but whatever would work was also part of the prescription.
“Do you know where he might be?” Fic asked the drunken woman.
“Probably at the cabin,” she replied.
“Where is this cabin?”
“Down off of Ellerslie, along the river. About a mile and a half down the road. There is a big rock next to the road, that marks the trail to the cabin.”
“Thanks, Maybell,” Fic said. “We’ll go look for him there.”
“You say it was BMP business, what kind of business?” She looked side eyed at Fic.
“Yeah, my kids were involved in an incident while on patrol. I need to talk to him about it.”
“You wouldn’t have any hooch on ya, would ya?” Hope crept into her bloodshot eyes.
“Sorry, Maybell,” Fic answered. “We are all out at the moment. Thanks for the info on Jimmy.”
Fic and Class Room moved off of the porch and started back to the driveway. As they fell out of sight of the house, they hunkered down until Kitsune and Rodent Whisperer re-joined them at the road.
“Just a little more walking, guys,” Fic said. “He may be at a cabin down by the river.”
Onward they walked. Using the road again as it came down to the shore of the Shenandoah River. They turned left onto Ellerslie Road and continued to follow it along the river.
After walking for a while, they heard a vehicle coming down the road. They quickly moved off the road on the river side, which had a sharp embankment that dropped about ten feet very quickly into some brush and then the water.
Everyone was well hidden when the vehicle came rushing down the road from the direction they were walking towards. Fic had an obscured view of the road, but he easily recognized the vehicle as a Humvee. He had already suspected, by the sound, but he got a quick look at the man driving. He didn’t know his name but recognized him as one of the personnel stationed at Mount Weather.
When the sound of the Humvee faded, they moved back on the road and continued on. After about fifteen more minutes, they came to a large rock that sat next to the road away from the river. Next to it was a path that led up the hill and into the woods.
Once again, the group became alert and ready. They moved up the path in single file. After about a hundred meters, they could see a small cabin sitting in a small clearing in the woods. It was made of logs and looked like it had been there for at least a century. The roof looked like it needed some work and there was a lot of broken equipment, buckets and pieces of wood laying around the clearing.
Once again, the patrol got their orders and executed them with precision.
Fic told Class Room to stay hidden and cover him in case anything starts happening.
She nodded and held her pistol at the ready.
Fic approached the cabin, using the cover of some bushes and a couple of trees then ran to the corner of the building. He crept around to the front where there was a window and peered inside. At first it was hard to tell what was what in the dark building. It looked like there had been a commotion in there with a lot of stuff strewn about.
Fic looked at the door and saw that it wasn’t closed completely. He ducked under the window and moved to the door. Using the tip of his rifle, he pushed the door open and waited for a few seconds.
He looked back at Class Room who was watching from the edge of the clearing and signaled to her that he was going in and that she should advance to his position, when he does.
She nodded her understanding and got ready to move. He looked to both sides of the cabin and saw Kitsune and Rodent Whisperer were in position. She signaled to them her next move, and they too nodded in understanding, getting ready to join if need be.
Fic moved into the cabin, keeping low and sweeping his weapon across the room. There was a small bed in one corner, and on it, Fic saw Jim Henry. He was either asleep or unconscious.
Fic quickly moved toward the prone man keeping his rifle at the ready and said, “Jimmy, wake up.” The man gave no response, and as Fic moved closer to prod the man with the muzzle of his weapon, he saw that the man had recently suffered a severe beating.
Both of his eyes were swollen shut, and he had a large cut on his left cheek. The severity of the beating revealed there may have been some torture involved.
Seeing the man wasn’t in no state to offer resistance, he let his weapon fall into its sling and came closer. He shook the man's shoulder and said closer to his ear, “Jimmy, wake up.”
Jimmy stirred and tried to open his eyes with little success. “Who’s that?” He said softly, coughing a little, and trying once again to force his eyes open.
“It’s Clayton Collier, Jimmy. I just got back from Georgia. I came home to find my boy wounded and my daughter missing. They went missing while working for you. Do you know where Brittany is?”
Understanding came into the man’s beaten face. He forced his eyes open once again and this time he was successful in getting his right eye open a little. He looked at Fic and fear was clearly the main emotion he was feeling now.
“No, I don’t know where she is,” he replied. Coughing again and trying to sit up and move further away from Fic.
“What happened here?” Fic asked. “Who beat you?”
“I fell down,” he replied. He had gotten his other eye open now and seemed to be looking around the room for something. Fic noticed his actions and did a little looking around himself. The other three members of his patrol entered the building, weapons ready. Fic gave them the all clear sign, and they relaxed. Standing by.
At the foot of the bed on the floor, Fic saw a small black bag. He went over and picked it up. It was one of those medical bags you see on old tv shows all the time. There was a metal plate next to the zipper. On it were the words. Dr. Michael Miller.
Fic opened the bag and saw a plethora of medical supplies.
“Jimmy, I know what you did to Doc Miller,” Fic started. “Who did you need the doctor for, before you killed him.”
“I didn’t kill him,” Jimmy said. “George did,” He was still looking around the room. His face was becoming frantic as he understood that Fic knew what he had done. And he had just admitted that he was involved.
“Who is George?” Fic demanded.
“A soldier from up on Weather,” Jimmy replied.
“What’s his last name?”
“I think that is his last name. That’s what is on his uniform, George.”
“So why were you looking for the doctor, before George killed him?”
Jimmy snapped his swollen lips together and looked away guiltily, as if he had just realized again who he was talking to. He offered no answer.
“I swear Jimmy. If you don’t give me some answers, I’m going to make you look a little bit worse than you already do, if that is even possible.”
Suddenly, Jimmy jumped up and started running for the door of the cabin. Class Room stuck her foot out as he tried to run past her and he tripped over the outstretched appendage, slamming onto the floor just before the door, which Kitsune was swinging shut. He slid forward and slammed into the now shut door, once again falling unconscious.
“Let’s get him into the chair,” said Fic. “I think we will need to tie him up, so he doesn’t accidentally kill himself trying to get away.”
Rodent Whisperer and Kitsune lifted the man and sat him in the chair, he slumped over, still groggy and out of it.
Fic found some rope in a box next to the bed. There was also a knife and a roll of duct tape. “Hmm,” he said. “It looks like you have the perfect tools available for tying someone up. Who were you tying up, Jimmy?”
The beaten and now restrained man looked blearily at Fic and said nothing. “Ok, I guess we have to do this the hard way,” said Fic. Reaching up and squeezing his cheeks together. He held the grip for about ten seconds and new blood started leaking out of the cut under his eye, which was being squeezed by Fic’s thumb.
Jimmy let out a long groan and then said. “Ok, Ok, Ok.”
Fic let loose his grip, wiping the blood off of his thumb on Jimmy’s shirt.
“George had taken a prisoner and he asked to keep her, I mean him, here until he could transport him somewhere.”
“Him?” Fic asked. “It sounded like you said ‘her’ first. Don’t lie to me Jimmy, I can tell.” Fic reached up and squeezed his face again. This time it was a little bit harder, and Jimmy screamed.
“Did you take my daughter, Jimmy?” The look on Jimmy’s face was all Fic needed for an answer. He took a half step back and backhanded the young man with all his strength. Jimmy and the chair fell to the floor.
“Was my daughter in that Humvee that drove past us before we got here?” Fic yelled at the dazed and confused man, laying on the floor tied to a chair.
“Yes,” said Jimmy as blood flowed out of his mouth. “They took her. They did this to me. I was trying to rescue her.”
“Rescue her?” Fic looked sternly at the man. “You fucken took her, you idiot! Was she hurt?” Fic stepped on Jimmy’s lower leg between the ankle and knee. He pushed just a little but was ready to increase the pressure if Jimmy tried to be stubborn.
“She fell down a cliff near the river,” Jimmy said. “We weren’t sure if her ankle was broken or just badly sprained, but she couldn’t walk on it.”
“Was she trying to get away from you when she fell?” Fic asked, leaning a little forward on his foot that was on Jimmy’s leg.
“Yes! Yes! Please stop hurting me. I liked her, but she wouldn’t give me the time of day. George thought it would be a good idea to take her and… convince her.” He started blabbering, his words no longer understandable.
Fic looked down at the man, sobbing on the ground. “Please don’t kill me,” Jimmy blubbered. The disgust shown on Fic’s face.
“Where did they take her?” Fic asked.
“Weather.” Was the whispered response.
Fic looked at the other three and said to Kitsune, “Cut him loose. I may need him later.” Fic looked at Jimmy as Kitsune cut his bonds. “I’ll be back for you later, Jimmy. If my daughter dies, so do you.”
Fic motioned to the group towards the door, and they all headed out, walking back towards the road. Just as they were about to turn on the road, a shot rang out and Fic felt a bullet whiz past him next to his ear. He turned and there was Jimmy, pointing a small pistol at him and trying to take aim with his swollen eyes.
Four shots rang out as each of the patrol members turned on Jimmy and opened fire. Several more shots echoed up the river valley as they hit the falling body of Jim Henry.
Fic walked back up and looked at Jimmy’s bullet riddled body. He wouldn’t be any more help Fic realized.
“Should we bury him?” Class Room asked.
“Birds gotta eat same as worms,” Fic replied. Finally finding a situation where he could use a favorite line from a Clint Eastwood movie.
No one caught the reference, but they all turned and walked back to the road.
Fic addressed the others as they started moving back along the road the way they had come. “We need to get back to the house and make another plan. I think I have an idea, but I won’t know if it will work until I try it.”
Fic started to jog a little and the others followed as they moved into the late day’s light with long shadows trailing behind them.
The patrol moved across the fields and came to the road that Fic lived on. As they were stepping onto the road, crossing a rocky gully next to the road used for draining rainwater, Class Room stepped on a large rock that shifted and rolled, taking her foot with it, and turning her ankle. They walked slowly to the driveway, helping Class Room make her way, and headed to the house. They went around the back and entered into the kitchen.
Lori, Brown Shades, Joey and Daisy sat around the table. They had been drinking water that was chilled by the ground. The glasses had a good sheen of condensation showing how cold the water was.
They all looked at the four warriors and were disappointed that it was just the four and not five.
Seeing Class Room limping and being helped into the room, they all jumped up to see what had happened.
“We just walked about five miles and I stupidly twist my ankle not a hundred meters from your driveway,” said Class Room. “I’m such a klutz.”
Rodent Whisperer took her to the side to check out her ankle, now that they were off the road and out of sight.
Lori looked at Fic. “You didn’t find her?” She asked.
“No, but we know where she is,” Fic responded. “But it is going to take some effort to find out exactly where and I may need to do some sneaking.”
He started to tell her about talking to Maybell and then Jimmy. How he got Jimmy to admit taking Brittany and how it all ended with Jimmy’s bullet riddled body.
Just then, a moan came from the living room.
Rodent Whisperer rose to go check on Shane and Fic and Lori followed.
Shane lay in a sheen of sweat. He didn’t look too good. Rodent Whisperer checked the boy’s vitals and started looking through the backpack and asked Lori to rinse out a rag for Shane’s forehead.
He got the boy to swallow some aspirin, and it was also time for another dose of antibiotics. After fussing around with the boy for about ten minutes, Shane seemed to settle down and once again fell into a troubled sleep.
Darkness came to the farmstead and a couple of lamps were lit around the house. Fic set up a watch schedule for the night. Although Lori had said that the soldiers had mostly left them alone, he had a feeling that they were going to start paying a lot more attention to the residents near the base than they had before. Roadblocks and taking the citizens hostage or prisoner had increased in the past few days.
Next, he set up a watch on his son. The boy wasn’t doing too well, and they wanted to have someone nearby, checking on him for changes to his condition.
The rest of the group tried to get some rest.
Fic and Lori sat at the kitchen table. Rodent Whisperer was in with Shane and Class Room had the watch on the back porch.
“What’s your plan, Clay?” Lori asked her husband.
“I will go into details tomorrow when everyone is well rested, but I will tell you that I will be more recognizable to you. A little less shaggy.
Lori smiled at her husband and reached over to tug on his beard. “I’m starting to get used to this old rag. It reminds me of when we met. A little less sparse, but still nice”
“If Brittany is in Weather, I will need to get into Weather and find her. I think that if I can blend in a little, I may be able to get a little further into the base. As far as I can tell, they are still following some kind of good order and discipline. All the rogue soldiers we have encountered so far seem to be following grooming standards.”
The couple stood and Fic killed the lantern. He pulled up his head lamp to his forehead from where he had had it hanging around his neck and turned it on.
He led his wife up to their bedroom. After making up for the two months of being apart, they lay cuddled in a spoon shape. Just enjoying being in each other’s arms after so long without each other. Eventually, sleep came to both.
Fic came awake with someone shaking his shoulder. He looked and saw Brown Shades in the dark room. His face was illuminated by the lantern he was carrying.
“Your watch,” Brown Shades said. “Both of you.” Turning and leaving the room.
Fic unspooned himself from Lori and placed his feet on the floor. He got up and threw on some pants and a shirt. Heading down the hallway to the stairs from memory in the dark house. Lori sat herself on the edge of the bed, trying to knock the sleep out of her head. It seemed like they had only slept a few minutes, but it had actually been about four hours.
He went into the kitchen where Brown Shades waited for him. Daisy was standing at the doorway to the living room, looking like she was ready for some sleep herself.
Brown Shades handed the M-14 to Fic, gave him a half-hearted salute and turned to go up to his sleeping space, which was in Shane’s room on the floor.
Lori came into the kitchen next, and Daisy smiled to see her. “He’s been sleeping peacefully during my watch,” she updated Lori. “I’m off to bed for a couple of hours of sleep.” She gave Lori a quick hug and followed Brown Shades up the stairs. She was sleeping in Brittney’s bed, her cousin on the floor next to her.
“I’ll bring you out some coffee,” Lori said to Fic. “He gave her a peck and went out on the back porch.
The night was loud. Insects called to each other, crickets and a few early riser birds were starting their morning songs. Fic sat on a rocker on the back porch. Weapon across his knees. He looked into the forest surrounding the back of his house. A slight breeze was swaying the limbs of the forest edge, but it was a warm breeze, offering no cooling effect at all.
Lori came out and handed him a mug of coffee. Their watches will take them into daylight, so they were starting their day early. She gave him a peck this time and went back inside to watch over her hurt son.
Slowly, light started to enter the back yard of the farmhouse and Fic was able to make out more and more details of the area. All felt good to the sight, but he was uneasy. His plan, which had started to come together just before Jimmy’s life ended had matured and morphed during the night. He spent a lot of time in his head as he thought about what they could do to find and rescue his daughter. Jimmy had been a creep, but he did have some small sense of honor. Fic had no idea what this George guy was like. If he was part of the group of soldiers that took Brittney, or if it was another group. The man he had seen in the Humvee, although familiar, he had no idea if his name was George. The fact remained that she was in Weather, and he needed to get inside and find her. If he had to kill a lot of soldiers that had one time been part of the same command, he wouldn’t hesitate for a second. The worst thing about killing, is it starts to get easier after a while. It was a part of himself that he didn’t like but had come to accept as part of the job when he was deployed. He found he had quickly settled into that mindset when people started shooting at him. That mindset had been set into overdrive with the wounding of his son and the taking of his daughter.
Fic waited until he saw the sun peaking over the mountain before heading into the house. Some of the others were already up and getting their own coffee and Class Room was cooking a bunch of eggs on the gas stove. “How’s the ankle?” He asked Class Room.
“Better,” she replied. “But still pretty sore.”
Fic set the M-14 in the corner of the kitchen, grabbed a pitcher of water that he had poured from the large jug that had been filled from the hand pump that they still had out in the barn yard.
He went up to the bathroom and found his battery powered razor. It hadn’t been used in months, but still had a charge. He went to work on his hair and beard.
After ten minutes using the electric razor and then a Bic razor, he was once again Sargent First Class Clayton Collier. Grooming standards compliant.
Fic went into his bedroom and opened his closet. In the left corner of the large closet hung four full uniforms. He took one off the rack and started putting it on. After he was dressed, he went over to his dresser and picked up a key card that had been sitting there for two months. The ID had his picture, name, rank and had a red stripe to mark his access level in the building. It also had a magnetic strip and IC chip. “I sure hope you still work,” Fic said to the key card.
When Fic came into the kitchen in his uniform and with a clean face, everyone did a double take and started in surprise for a second. He smiled and sat at the table.
“So, I guess this uniform is part of your brilliant plan, huh?” Rodent Whisperer said.
“Yes, it is,” Fic said. Placing the key card on the table. “Hopefully this will still work, and I will be able to just walk right into the base. I have pretty good access to the whole site due to my duties on the security team.”
Fic started to finally explain his plan.
“So, as you can tell, I’m hoping to blend in with the rogue soldiers, get into the base, find Brittney, Joey’s mother and brother, and get them out and back here. I don’t think any of you could wear one of my uniforms because it would actually make you stand out instead of blend in due to our drastically different shapes and sizes, but I still will need everyone’s help.”
“Class Room, with your ankle issue, I need you to stay here and help Lori take care of Shane. Hopefully, he is over the hump, but we still don’t know if we got the infection under control yet. Constant monitoring and treatment are still needed.”
“Joey and Daisy, you will be in charge of watching the boats we will use to get across the river. I saw two or three canoes at Jimmy’s cabin when we were there. You will need to guard them and have them ready when we get back with Brittney, your mother and brother.”
“Brown Shades, Rodent Whisperer, and Kitsune will be my support team. You will come with me up to the border of the base on the forest side and will stand by until I get back out. You’re to provide cover for our escape and if Brittney needs any medical help, that’s where you come in RW. Kitsune, your eyes, knowledge and knife will be needed as we move along.”
The three men nodded, and Brown Shades asked, “When do we leave?”
“We will head out in about an hour and make our way to the river. After we get the canoes and get them to the water, we will see if we can get across if it is clear. If not, we wait until it is, but there shouldn’t be very many people in that area.”
“After leaving Joey and Daisy with the boats, we will move cross-country up the ridge. Once we find and cross the AT, we will find the back road that ends at the back of the base. Not too many people use this route, but we will still stay off the road and under cover as we make our way to the back gate.”
“When we are about a hundred meters from the gate, you three will take cover and set up an ambush. Monitoring the gate for when I come out.”
“I will walk in that gate like I’m reporting for duty. If my keycard works, we are in. If it doesn’t then we will have to shift to Plan B.”
“What’s Plan B,” asked Kitsune.
“I haven’t figured one out yet, but I’m pretty good at going with the flow. We’ll cross that bridge when we come to it.”
“If I get in, I will head to where I hope they are keeping her. Actually, my old workspaces. If she is there, I should be able to get to her and get her out of whatever room they have her in.”
“Once I get them, we will make our way back here, pick you guys up, head to the boats, cross the river and back cross-country to the house. Easy Peasy.” Fic finished with a smile.
No one said a word for about two full minutes. Then Kitsune said softly. “I’m ready.”
Lori had got up when she had head most of the plan and went into the other room. She came back with a small bolt of black cloth. She came up to her husband and wrapped it around his right arm over his uniform sleeve. “You’ll need this,” she said. “All the soldiers wear one now, to show they are with that asshole in Weather.”
Fic looked at the black arm band and smiled at his wife. “What would I do without you?” he said as he caressed the side of her face with his hand.