by Chris Bostic
“Fight?” Maddie asked, and I cringed. I hadn’t planned on telling my sister about the mission, but I’d really screwed that up. Then again, I thought she had every right to know.
I kept quiet, reverting back to my initial concern that maybe she wouldn’t handle it so well. There was no sense getting her worked up. But the more I thought about it, the more I saw how I was treating her exactly the way our parents treated me, and I hated being talked to like a child. Still, I could easily rationalize it. Maddie was younger, more fragile, and far better suited to watching kids than fighting a war.
By the time I was done playing a mental tennis match over whether I should spill the details, Katelyn had already launched into the whole story.
“Are you serious?” Maddie asked. “We’re going to North Carolina?”
“You’re not,” I interrupted.
“I didn’t think I was.” Maddie focused back in on Katelyn. Her voice barely rose about a whisper as she asked Katelyn, “How long will you be gone?”
“I don’t think I’m going either.”
“Cool. We can hang out while all the adults are gone.”
“You’re okay with this?” I asked, shocked once again at my sister. She’d come a long way from the sniveling kid stuck in the back seat of our Jeep while our parents raced us into the mountains ahead of the coming storm.
“I know my place,” Maddie said. “I’m more use here.” She looked me in the eyes, and a crooked smile appeared. “You think I don’t worry, but I’m terrified. It just doesn’t help for the kids to know that.”
“Wow, Sis. That’s…uhm-”
“That’s what I do. Speaking of which, I need to get the afternoon activities going. You leave these monsters alone too long, and the Feds will be able to hear us from a mile away.”
I noticed the background hum of younger voices had grown while we’d talked to Maddie. Feet scuffed on the cave floor as the grade school kids rushed around, playing tag and hide-and-seek around people’s gear. The first time one of them knocked something over, the parents would flip out.
Maddie hopped up off the mattress and scurried away to round up the kids.
“Huh. She took that well,” Katelyn said.
“Surprisingly. That was kinda the way I expected Austin to react…well with a little more swagger and big talk.”
“Yeah, he’ll want to take on the whole army himself.”
“He thinks he’s some kind of super spy secret agent or something.” I couldn’t resist taking a shot at my older brother even though he wasn’t there to hear it. “But I’m the first one to bring back a prisoner. How cool is that?”
“You’re my hero.” Katelyn slugged me on the shoulder. “Just don’t get too brave when you take off for Cherokee.”
“No danger of that.” I shrugged. “You know I don’t want you getting hurt, but I kinda wish you were going too. I can’t believe your folks would make you stay here.”
“Maybe they’ll change their mind.” She looked across the cave at the adults, who remained deep in conversation. “I’ll talk to ‘em again when they don’t look so busy.”
“Are you…” I let the question fizzle out. No one liked to be asked if they were sure of their decisions. She didn’t need me pushing her, and so I changed the subject, just not to anything more cheerful. “Anyway, can you believe this is happening? I guess I knew we’d have to go on the offensive in a big way sometime, but who knew it’d be against the whole army? I thought we’d just do more raids on towns and have some rallies or something. I never planned on taking on a base. Like a well-protected base crawling with soldiers.”
“I don’t like it any more than you do, but it sounds like we don’t have a choice.”
“Not really. I was kinda doubting when Noel said the Feds are staging to make a big raid on the park, but then to have Spotted Owl pretty much say the same thing.”
“And then my folks on the radio,” Katelyn added.
“Yeah, it’s serious alright.” I thought about what it meant for troops to be massing outside Cherokee, and had to almost chuckle at the ridiculous thought that came to mind.
“What’s so funny?”
“There’s a Visitor Center by Cherokee, and these thugs are pretty much sitting right there, probably right by the welcome sign. It’s like come on in and visit the park, soldiers. Have a nice look around.”
Katelyn didn’t laugh. Instead, she asked, “You’ve been over to Cherokee before?”
“Oh, yeah. A few times, back before all this. There’s some buildings at the Visitor Center area, which is a lot like the Sugarlands one by Gatlinburg. The town of Cherokee’s a lot smaller, but there’s the same kind of restaurants and shops. Just not as many, or as many hotels.”
“Sounds like a repeat of the Gatlinburg raid,” Katelyn said.
“Sort of. Only we need to bust up the soldiers’ camp, not steal supplies from the town.”
Understandably, Katelyn grew quiet.
The sun had already crested overhead, and began dropping down behind the mountain we sheltered under, plunging the cave rapidly into an early darkness. Adding in how the changing of seasons was giving us fewer minutes of sunlight every day, the more I felt trapped. People had talked about winter bringing on depression, and I was finally beginning to understand what they’d meant.
“So much for sneaking out tonight,” she whispered.
“We could go now,” I said hopefully. “Go, uhm, gather some water before this big war council thing.”
“You’d like that.” She smiled, and lay back on the mattress. “I would too, but…”
I nodded. Under my breath, I cursed my bad luck again.
Still sitting next to her, I watched as Katelyn tucked her arms behind her head and stared back at me.
As badly as I wanted to stretch out next to her, I knew that could get me in more trouble than the enemy. Our old-fashioned parents would come unglued at the two of us lying together, especially in front of all the children.
Neither of our parents had shown any objection to the two of us being a couple, but mostly in the platonic sense. Like a school dance, we had to keep at least a short distance between ourselves no matter how deeply I felt for her. We’d grown so close in the last several months, but sitting next to each other was as far as we were supposed to go—particularly in public.
My mom’s voice called out from across the cave. “Zach! Come here.”
I didn’t move for a moment, not wanting to leave Katelyn alone.
“You better go before she starts yelling again,” she suggested.
“What’s new about that?” My mom had always been a yeller. Back in my house, whether I was up in my room or across from her on the other couch, she always had her volume set too high. When she wasn’t looking, Dad would pick up the television remote and pretend to hit the mute button. He had been incredibly lucky that she’d never seen it.
“Zach!”
“Guess I better go. She’s only gonna get louder.”
“Holy crap. She gets louder than that?”
“Yeah, it’s not pretty.” I patted Katelyn on the leg, and resisted the urge to lean over and kiss her. “I’ll be back.”
“I’ll be napping,” she said with a wink. “But come back anyway. If I don’t get to go, there’s no way you’re leaving without saying goodbye.”
Little did she know how our plans would change.
CHAPTER 9
“We’ll meet some of the other folks from my camp tonight,” Spotted Owl told the assembled group. “You might remember some of them from the forums. There’s Wood Duck, Box Turtle, Golden Eagle, and Field Mouse.”
“Field Mouse?” my dad said. “That name doesn’t exactly inspire confidence.”
“That’s exactly what we need. Small, quick, and able to sneak into tight places. I’d say she’s the perfect one for the job.”
“She?” my mom noted. “I like that.”
“So like I’ve said, we’ve verified most of Noel’s claims.” Sp
otted Owl gestured with his head toward the deserter in the corner. Noel watched with interest, but kept his lips pinched in a thin line. “Mouse has already been into Cherokee a couple times, and there’s definitely been more activity. Before the night is over, she’ll know if they really are stockpiling temporary bridges and massing troops by the city.”
“Still seems like a huge waste of manpower to me,” Katelyn’s mom said. “There have to be bigger targets than a bunch of scattered groups hiding out in a giant park.”
“They’re there,” Noel said. “They need to get the highway back open.”
“That makes sense,” Spotted Owl replied to Spotted Fawn. “When we closed that road, it’s put them in a bind. They’ve literally gotta drive hours out of the way to get around the park.” He pointed to the map. “The road from Cherokee to Gatlinburg is the only way through, when it was open. It was only a matter of time before they made a serious effort to clear out the roadblocks.”
“And they’ll do it with overwhelming force,” my mom added. “I wouldn’t want to try to fix all those bridges and push out the downed timber without a whole army. It would be too easy for us to pick off a few little groups of soldiers at a time.”
“So they moved the troops out of Fort Bragg,” Noel said. “My unit was coming up to join them. They’ve got temporary bridges, probably a whole mechanized battalion.”
Although I had an idea what he meant, I asked, “Mechanized?”
“Armored Personnel Carriers or Infantry Fighting Vehicles…whatever you want to call ‘em,” Spotted Owl told me, then turned back to the group. “So we need to stop them before they get started. Mouse will get us the intel. I’ll gather the troops, and we’ll move out tomorrow.” He looked around the assembled group with grim anticipation. “Any objections?”
“We’re onboard,” my mom said. “You, Spotted Fawn?”
Katelyn’s mom nodded firmly. “Yep. We don’t have a choice.”
Mom looked at me. “We’ll still need to watch the roadblocks in case they try to insert troops by chopper. We’ll need to leave people behind to watch them while the rest of us head out.”
“Wait…you want me to do that?” I deduced. I shouldn’t have been surprised that they would leave me behind, though I’d obviously assumed they would need the help in the big fight.
“And Katelyn,” Spotted Fawn added, which didn’t surprise me about them wanting to leave her behind. It was more the part that I could be with her unsupervised. The last time they’d allowed that, we were practically strangers, at least in their eyes.
For a second, I liked the idea of staying with Katelyn, but my attitude quickly darkened. I shouldn’t have minded a cushy, but semi-important, job; however, their suggestion turned to anger.
“You know that didn’t work out so great when you left us last time.” I looked to my mother with pleading eyes. “You said that wouldn’t happen again.”
“Someone needs to watch the roads. You want Maddie to do it?”
I couldn’t stifle a laugh. “Yeah, right. Be serious.”
“Austin’s not doing it either,” my mom said before I could ask.
“What about the Olsens?” I asked. “They’re pretty useless.”
“Zachary!” Mom shot a glance across the cave, but the stern look faded as soon as she locked eyes on Katelyn’s former neighbors. Softly, she said, “You have a point there. Those two really haven’t been pulling their weight.”
Spotted Fawn didn’t stick up for them. “I’ve been thinking that too. Glad someone else saw that.” She leaned across the table, focusing on my mom. “But can we trust them to actually watch the roads? They’ll probably be sleeping out there.”
“No worse than Zach,” John said with a grin.
“Hey!”
“I’m just kiddin’, bud.”
“Good, ‘cause I’m the first one to bring back a captive. Remember?”
“Oh, jeez.” My mom buried her face in her hands.” “I’m gonna regret saying that.”
Dad agreed. “Yeah, you know he’s gonna milk that for all it’s worth.”
“Like going on this trip,” Spotted Owl said. He focused his dark eyes on me as if sizing me up. I straightened to my full height and stared back with equal intensity. “And I’d say we could use him.” He looked to Spotted Fawn. “We’re gonna need every able body we can muster, including your daughter.”
Until that moment, I wasn’t sure if a person could feel proud and sick to their stomach at the same time.
“Go grab your gear,” Spotted Owl told the group. “After supper we’re heading off to my camp.”
I nodded numbly and tried not to think about what I’d just volunteered for. Both of us, in a sense. I knew life would’ve been so much easier back on the roadblock. Perfectly boring, most likely, and with Katelyn by my side. We could’ve had our quiet time together without even having to sneak away.
I walked over to Katelyn to break the news, and mumbled under my breath, “I’m an idiot.”
“Maybe,” she said with a smile. “Why this time?”
“Getting volunteered to take on the whole army. That’s about as dumb as it gets.”
“You never back down from a fight,” Katelyn told me as we walked toward my bunk. “That’s why I don’t argue with you. You always have to win.”
“That’s not true.”
“Well, I do like to argue too. You got me there. But you most definitely don’t like to lose.”
“I’ll give you that.” I blew out a frustrated breath. “But now I’ve got you coming along with us. You should go back and tell ‘em you want to stay here.”
“I get to go with you?” she said, sounding excited at the prospect.
“Yeah. I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said anything.”
“Wow, it’s just…I didn’t expect that. Not at all.” Her eyes brightened. “I’m sick of staying here.”
“You could go watch a roadblock. It’s way safer.”
“No way. I’m coming with you.”
I didn’t give up on trying to convince her to stay behind. “They’re gonna have the Olsens watch the road. You should do that. Those two are worthless.”
“You’re not arguing, are you?” A sly grin crept across her face.
I mirrored the look, and stifled a laugh. “I guess so…which means you’re staying, ‘cause I always get to win.”
“Does not,” she shot back.
“How do you figure that?”
“I only said you like to win, not that you always win.” Before I could object, she added, “And you already got your win today. Thanks to you, we’re taking on the whole army.”
CHAPTER 10
“Let’s move out,” Spotted Owl commanded with a wave.
To my surprise, my mom had seemingly ceded control of the group to the burly, steady-handed rebel from a camp over on the other side of the state line. Into the fading light, we rolled out in single file with Spotted Owl taking the lead. My mom was right behind him. Spotted Fawn followed her. The two dads and Noel were right behind them.
I brought up the rear with Katelyn, with Austin in front of me. He was already grumbling about being stuck in the back, and also a fair amount about the hike. Austin would’ve made the perfect helicopter insertion trooper. He was all about getting to the fight, but not the actual work involved in getting there.
“Someone has to watch the rear,” I told my older brother. “You want to take over?”
“I belong up front with the doers, not back here with the slackers.” He harrumphed. “So much for being the leading edge of the spear. I got the shaft.”
“I heard you liked it,” Katelyn wisecracked, causing me to laugh uproariously.
Dad whirled around. “Keep it down back there.”
Austin was too busy working on a retort, and failing. “Shut your face, stick boy,” he finally said with a growl.
“I didn’t say it,” I protested.
“Hey. That’s not cool.” Katelyn nudged
me. “Way to stick up for me.”
“He won’t hit you,” I replied.
“You afraid of him?” she whispered once Austin had turned around to face the front.
Austin grumbled something again. I opened my mouth and had to pinch it back shut as Dad laid into the both of us, threatening to leave us behind if we couldn’t get along. I assumed our father should’ve known that was practically impossible, but I was more concerned why he had snapped at us. That was unusual. Discipline was Mom’s job, which implied he was edgier, and perhaps more worried about the mission than I’d expected.
“Keep complaining and you can go keep Pops company,” I whispered to him once our father’s chastising was over. “Wouldn’t want you to be stuck back here with the hero.”
Katelyn sighed, no doubt having already grown tired of the bragging. Austin wasn’t smart enough to keep quiet.
“Oh, whatever,” he hollered, and was promptly moved up front closer to our mother.
“Ha, it worked,” I whispered to Katelyn.
“Are you about done with that hero business?”
“Oh, yeah. I was totally joking.” My voice grew even softer. “If you’d been there, you’d know there was nothing heroic about what happened.”
“Whatever happened, it’s worked out for the best.” She ducked under a mass of dense vegetation as the trail narrowed up into an indistinguishable path. As she handed the branch back to me, she couldn’t help but notice my frown. “Not that this whole going to war thing is some kind of picnic. But I guess it was something we really needed to know.”
“That’s true.”
I took a moment to check through the thick canopy at the blackening sky. The last few minutes of dusk remained before we would be pushed into darkness. Fortunately, the sky remained clear. The moon had hit full bloom a couple days before, and would provide enough light to make it through the forest. Or so I hoped.
We slipped off the side of a mountain into a narrow valley. It was wooded as densely as what we’d hiked so far. Possibly more so. After another twenty paces, the tiny footpath dwindled away until there wasn’t a trace of a game trail, much less any hint of civilization.
