Shadow Warriors

by Chris Bostic

  “I’m not so sure…” I quickly corrected myself lest I dig myself into a hole. “But you’re definitely not like most girls.”

  “I suppose a lot wouldn’t want to be wearing body armor and carrying buckets of high-explosive through the woods.” She shook her head at the ridiculousness of the whole situation. “Not that I want to either, but…”

  “But you are,” I said. “How many are still back in the city? Like I was saying before, I wonder all the time what it’s like back there.”

  “Me, too. I don’t know if life’s still going on, you know, the same…the same crappy day by day, or if things haven’t gotten even worse.”

  “Surely it has. I mean I know it’s fall and we should be starting back to school, but I don’t even see how that’s possible.”

  My mom had faded to the back of the line, struggling to carry her bucket. She’d overheard at least part of our conversation, and picked that moment to jump in.

  “Well, kiddos, I don’t think you’re missing any school. The way I see it, when you start attacking your own people and locking them up in their own homes with crazy curfews, and then figure in fuel shortages and all that, I’d say that things have only gotten worse.”

  “What about our friends?” Katelyn asked. “Are they okay?”

  Mom waved with her free arm around the inky woods. “I know this doesn’t look good, but I think you’re infinitely better off than they are.”

  The anxiety made me beg to differ. “How do you figure?”

  “You’re out here actually doing something about it. There are so many people willing to go along with anything, no matter how onerous. Others just complain, but still do nothing,” she explained. “You’re part of a much smaller fraction actually willing to do something.”

  Not that I had a choice initially, I thought to myself. The whole Smoky Mountain experience had started when I was forced to tag along with my parents . Way back then, I thought they were completely overreacting.

  Mom continued with the peptalk, saying, “You guys are gonna change the path we’re on, to take our country back. To fight for what you believe in. I couldn’t be prouder of you two. How many other kids would do that?”

  I felt the dreaded tears building up. I tried my hardest to push them aside, but it was no small feat. While I tried to regain my composure, Katelyn said, “I never thought of it that way.”

  “And I’ve been complaining about being stuck on guard duty and being bored.” I grimaced at the thought of what I’d gotten myself into by volunteering for the current mission. “Guess I got what I wanted.”

  “Just be proud that you want it,” Mom replied. “If you’d had different parents, you might be sitting home in the basement, cowering in fear.”

  “Yeah, but now there’s only one of you left,” I said, and immediately regretted it. “I mean, not that I wouldn’t want to be here, you know…doing something.”

  Sunning Bear showed no sign of being negatively affected by my words. If anything, she grew stronger. “Your dad’s still with us. He’s probably prouder than I am to see his baby boy out here fighting for our future. He loved this country as much as he loved you guys, and that’s a veritable ton. I think when this is all over, the best thing we can do is make him proud.”

  As much as the loss still hurt, I straightened up. I threw my aching shoulders back and stood a little taller, carried the buckets a little lighter, and the tears evaporated from my dirty face.

  I knew Mom was right. Though I’d occasionally wallowed in self-pity, especially after Dad had died, it had been somewhat rare, or at least short-lived, thanks to the way I’d been raised. Maybe I hadn’t been the first to fire a shot, and maybe I never would, but I wanted to be in the thick of the action. And in those shadowy hills, I knew that was where I needed to be.

  “Thanks for the pep talk, Ma.” I looked ahead to see the outlines of Katelyn’s parents about to disappear into the woods. “We need to hurry up.”

  With renewed energy, the three of us closed the gap. I was breathing heavily, but done with pain. I ignored my complaining back. If anything, it felt better to walk more upright.

  I was definitely done worrying about my feet too. Listening to my boots plod on the forest floor, I began counting with each footstep. I’d reached a hundred and was ready for a hundred more when Spotted Owl suddenly ducked down and dropped both of his buckets. In a smooth, quick movement, he unslung his rifle with one hand, and held up the other for the group to stop.

  Buckets thumped on the ground, and handles clanked against the sides.

  “Shhh,” Spotted Owl said, not concealing his disgust.

  I shouldered my weapon, and slid over to where I was back to back with Katelyn. I felt her trembling. No doubt I was too.

  “Why’d we stop?” she whispered so softly that I could barely hear her.

  “I dunno.”

  “Shhh.” Spotted Owl stared at the two of us, reminding me that maybe I wasn’t actually whispering. He turned back to the forest.

  I concentrated on the woods. Though my ears rang like sirens, I thought I made out the sound of moving machinery. It wasn’t as loud as the banging of steel at the temporary bridge, but easily as troubling.

  I turned my gaze skyward to see what I could make of the topography. Mountains climbed to the sky behind us, but it was all downhill in the direction we were headed. Perhaps out of the park, I guessed, remembering that it seemed like the Visitor Centers on each end of the main highway were down in valleys at the foothills.

  In every direction I looked, it was nothing but trees stretching to the sky—except for one. A large gap in tree cover sat below us and to the left. And it glowed. Not the bright white of headlights, though I knew the road had to be close by.

  Seemingly comfortable with whatever he’d heard, Spotted Owl urged us forward again. We went slowly, which helped given the steep decline. In what became a choreographed movement from the front of our column to the back, we got to the point where we were taking one step and then resting for two to listen.

  The sound of diesel engines was unmistakable. The grumbling grew in volume with every step we took. Spotted Owl was leading us right toward them. My pulse quickened. Breathing became labored, and not only from the exertion.

  Spotty raised his hand and sank to the ground. Still standing for a second longer, I got a clean look over the man’s back at the clearing ahead. Outdoor lights were scattered across a huge, open field. Only the field wasn’t empty. It was lined with dark, bulky vehicles, most of which were running. And dangerously close.

  So much for my hopes that big numbers of enemy troops had headed up the road to the bridge. There had to be hundreds of soldiers and plenty of armored vehicles to go around.

  “Dang,” I muttered under by breath. “Should’ve known it wouldn’t be easy.”

  Katelyn turned to me. Her face said it all, but still I had to try to make her feel better. Before I could offer a weak bit of encouragement, pounding footsteps came running up behind us.

  I wheeled and went for my rifle, sure we’d been spotted by a sentry.

  CHAPTER 28

  Relief flooded in, mitigating the terror.

  “You’re back,” I told John. “Thank God.”

  Katelyn cut in front of me to wrap her arms around her brother and sob. I’d known she had been upset ever since we’d heard the shots, but hadn’t quite expected that reaction.

  “What about all the shooting?” she asked.

  John waited until the others had gathered around. “I don’t know if they’ll find the bombs or not. I got as close as I could, maybe too close.” He looked to Spotted Owl. “I put the caps in like you said, and hooked it up to the phone before trying to crawl in. It seemed easier.”

  “That’s a good call.”

  “Ha, pun intended,” I said, drawing a stern rebuke from Spotted Owl.

  John grinned. “Anyway…I don’t think they ever saw me. I dropped one kinda short, but it was going so good I go
t one almost all the way under the bridge. And that’s when I scuffed my boot on a rock.”

  “And they heard you?” his mom asked.

  “I don’t know how, really. It was quite a racket going on under the bridge with all the trucks moving. Hell, I thought it might collapse. But it’s solid, and they’re definitely going on up to the next bridge, you know, where we got this guy.” He gestured toward James.

  “So they did see you?” Katelyn’s dad asked. “We heard shots.”

  “I doubt it. I booked it outta there before the lights came on, but someone got a little trigger happy.” He shrugged. “Hopefully they just thought it was a deer or something.”

  “No doubt they’re a bit jumpy if they’ve heard about what we did earlier,” Spotted Owl said. “But I doubt they’ll check under the bridge. Who would expect us to blow it?”

  “So we could blow the bridge right now?” Katelyn’s dad asked.

  “We could.” Spotty took his time retrieving a cell phone from his pocket, and hefted it from one hand to the other. “But they’d hear it all the way down here.”

  “And that might make it tougher to get Turtle and the other guy back,” John said.

  Spotted Owl nodded and slipped the phone back into his cargo pocket. His hand came back out with several more similar phones. “But we should go ahead and get the other bombs rigged up.” He looked over his shoulder toward the lights on the field. “We’re plenty close now.”

  “Too close,” I muttered, once again thinking about sentries.

  “So how’s this work?” my mom asked. “Looks like we still have a lot to rig up.”

  “Yeah, we’ve got a few to put together, but it’s not too hard.”

  “Like twelve,” she insisted. “We can help.”

  “Alright. So…you know how your phone vibrates when you get a call or a text?” Spotted Owl asked. “There’s an asymmetrical wheel inside that shakes the phone.”

  I leaned in closer to hear the explanation. I’d assumed the electrical pulse of receiving a call was enough to set off the blasting cap, so all the wheel talk was confusing.

  “What we need to do is remove the wheel motor, and connect the circuit to the blasting cap wires like a relay.” Spotted Owl tapped the back of the phone. “It’s not as hard as it sounds."

  It sounded impossible to me.

  “Yeah, it was simple,” John said.

  “You can set an alarm like one helluva wake-up call, or just call or text the phone to trigger the circuit you created. Like in the movies, when the guy calls the phone to watch the bomb blow.”

  “Wow,” I whispered to Katelyn, who was equally transfixed by my side. “That’s pretty cool.”

  I thought I heard her say, “That’s sick.” However, she showed no sign of being upset. Instead, she scooted closer to watch Spotted Owl disassemble the first phone.

  I decided against helping out. After the extra explanation, I thought I could figure it out, but assumed it would be easier to let the pros wire everything up and not have to answer so many questions. As far as I was concerned, it was better this part got done correctly.

  So I kept watch over the vehicles below as the others worked. Katelyn ended up joining me.

  The big field stretched out beneath us. It was ringed on all sides by trees. The cleared part was at least a quarter mile long and seemingly half as wide, but it would be much farther across the entire valley to reach the dark mountains rising in the distance.

  From our high ground west of the field, I watched as soldiers milled about among the machines. I thought I should be able to hear voices calling out from that distance, but it was nothing but motors churning and the ringing in my ears.

  “They look ready to move out,” Katelyn whispered.

  “Might make it easier to find our guys,” I said, though I preferred to get that over with rather than wait for however long it took for the soldiers to head out. I wasn’t sure I could handle sitting so close to the enemy without action.

  I went through my memory banks, trying to bring up an old picture of the place. I knew there were several buildings on the site, otherwise an open field wouldn’t have made for much of a Visitor Center.

  I slid over to the right, but kept close enough to Katelyn that I could keep a hand on her knee.

  “What are you doing?” she whispered.

  “Looking for the buildings.”

  I gazed between the trunks of trees that looked like pillars holding up a giant rooftop. At the right spot, I finally caught sight of a small parking lot, and the rest of my memories fell into place without needing to see any more.

  “There’s at least a couple over there,” I whispered, pointing off to the left at the north side of the field. “I think three. One’s a pretty big hall with the park exhibits and maps and stuff. Kinda turned sideways next to that one there’s a big ole garage with giant metal doors. It’s some kind of maintenance building. And then there’s an old lodge next to that. It’s all tucked up against the trees, back by the river.”

  “That’s pretty good scouting. You should take Austin’s job.”

  “You trying to get rid of me?” I joked. “Maybe I can cut in on Big A’s action?”

  “Yeah, Mouse might not like that. She seems pretty attached to Big A already.”

  “He can have her.”

  “Because you have me?”

  “Uhm, yeah, of course.”

  “You paused.” Her eyes narrowed, though she couldn’t contain a grin. “You got a thing for chatty girls, Big Z?” She stifled a laugh with a hand over her mouth.

  “Wait, what?”

  “I just thought of it. You guys are like the whole big alphabet, A to Z.”

  “Ugh. Hilarious,” I deadpanned, though a little grin snuck through.

  “I know.” She patted my hand. “So what about those chatty girls?”

  “Not really my type,” I said. “Maybe they should be since I don’t like talking, you know, like what could be more boring than two quiet people. That’s weird too…”

  I was rambling, though Katelyn didn’t seem to mind. But she pointed out the contradiction.

  “You’re plenty talkative for a quiet one.”

  “Now’s not really the time for that, is it?” I whispered. “I’m nervous. Bad habit, I guess.”

  “It’s not so bad.” Katelyn looked at me. “It’s nothing like Mouse. She’s a chatterbox.”

  “Well, yeah. She’s more like chatty and quirky. And that makes her a real good fit for Big A.”

  “And quiet ole me is a good fit for you?”

  “You’re not that quiet.” I flashed her a smile and scooted back over to take her hand. She pretended to resist, and relented.

  Though the back and forth had been a nice distraction, a chill rapidly came over me as my gaze returned to the field below. The rumbling of the engines mimicked the churning in my stomach. In a matter of seconds, we would be headed down to face the enemy with bombs the others had just finished assembling.

  The sounds of clothing shuffling behind me drew my attention, but only for a moment. I quickly jerked back around as movement on the slope, right at the roadside, froze me in place. It had to be a patrol.

  I tugged on Katelyn’s arm to pull her lower. She followed suit, but focused on me with questioning eyes. Rather than speak, I pointed toward the shadows. Katelyn squinted, and nodded a moment later.

  Someone rustled around behind me. I wanted to call out to them to keep it down. Before I could, Katelyn whispered, “I think it’s Mouse and Austin.”

  I drew a bead on the two figures. One tall and lanky, and the other diminutive. “It sure is. But how do we get their attention?”

  I left unsaid some cursing and a bunch of questions about what they were doing so close to the road with the soldiers right across the street from them.

  “They’re crazy,” Katelyn said, echoing my thoughts.

  “I’m going to get ‘em,” I said. “Tell the others if they ask.”


  Without waiting for a reply, I scooted down the slope. I had maybe thirty yards to cover, and wasn’t about to race there and draw more attention. But I moved as rapidly as I dared.

  “Psst.” I tried to call for them, but the shadows kept creeping along the edge of the woods. “Austin,” I called, slightly louder.

  Still no reply.

  I cursed again, and had to change course to move parallel to the road to keep up with them. Out of curiosity, I took a quick look up the slope toward Katelyn and the others. It was blacker than a coal mine. The moon shone down over the clearing along with the scattered lights, making the military vehicles practically gleam in the evening. But there wasn’t even a shadow, much less any movement, from where I’d come.

  “There was no reason to be worried,” I muttered, knowing that no one would’ve found us up there unless they’d specifically come looking. But I was just a few footsteps off the road by then, and ten times more nervous. Worse yet, Mouse and Austin weren’t stopping.

  I debated moving quicker, and settled for calling out one more time. They were getting closer to the parking lot, and that meant the buildings.

  “Austin,” I said a little louder.

  The thin figured turned, and reached out for the much shorter one.

  “Zach,” came the reply.

  “Behind you,” I said, overjoyed that they’d heard me. Unfortunately, the relief flooded right back out.

  Searchlights popped on from across the road. I hit the dirt.

  CHAPTER 29

  Austin dropped to the ground, pulling Mouse with him. I morphed into a fallen statue as the lights stabbed into the forest all around me. I held my breath, lest I make the slightest movement, and willed myself to melt into the vegetation.

  A poke in the back had me shooting upright, ready to fight.

  “Quiet,” Austin said. He pushed me back down and knelt next to me. Mouse slipped in on the other side of Austin, a grin painted on her round face like crazy clown makeup.

  “What the heck?” I said. “You scared the crap outta me.” I forced a breath into my aching lungs. “And what’re you doing over here?”