by Robert Boren
“Oh, this is so gross,” Madison said.
“Check the balcony,” Richardson said. They rushed outside. There were two choppers approaching the base in the distance.
“They’re not close enough yet,” Juan Carlos said. “Wish we had binoculars.”
“Seriously,” Brendan said. They watched as the two choppers began circling over the smoking ruin that was the harbor.
“See, they’re looking for us,” Madison said.
Suddenly two missiles shot out of a chopper, hitting the unburned stretch where they climbed out. The other chopper fired on the few remaining buildings that were still partially standing.
“Shit, that’s not good guys,” Brendan said. “Let’s get off this balcony. We can watch from further inside.”
“Yeah,” Richardson said.
“What if they land ground troops again?” Madison asked. “I’ll kill myself before I’ll let them take me.”
“They won’t take us,” Juan Carlos said, pulling her closer.
“They’re working their way north,” Richardson said. “Let’s get further inside.”
They moved back towards the bar, huddled together behind fallen tables and broken drink glasses as the choppers approached.
Chapter 9 - Tomorrow
Curt and Amanda walked back to their toy hauler, exhausted and a little drunk after the memorial service and barbeque.
“You okay, honey?” Amanda asked, watching Curt’s face, catching him on the verge of breaking down.
“I’m okay,” he said, snapping himself back into his over-confident self in an instance.
“Don’t do that,” she said.
“What?”
“Don’t perform,” she said. “We both know what just happened. If I was in love with a lessor man, I’d probably be dead right now. It’s okay to have a reaction.”
“It wasn’t just me that saved you,” Curt said, as he unlocked the door to their rig. He held the door as she climbed the steps, then followed, closing it behind him.
“What do you want me to say?” Curt asked, sitting down on the couch. She sat, leaning against him.
“Nothing, I just don’t want you to hide your feelings,” she said softly. “We like to act kind of aloof, you and I.”
“What do you mean by that?”
“You know, like a cat,” she said.
“Still not getting you.”
“This isn’t a fling,” Amanda said, “not for either of us. Hasn’t been since the start, and we’ve just grown tighter over time. You gonna deny that?”
He was silent for a moment, pushing back tears again.
“Talk to me,” she said, touching his cheek, looking into his eyes. It was too much, and he broke down into sobs. She pulled his head against her chest and caressed him, her tears coming too.
“If I lost you I wouldn’t want to live,” Curt said, not looking up. “I’ve never felt like this before. I’ve never been so scared as I was when I saw you’d been taken.”
“I know, honey,” she said, “but I wasn’t scared, because I knew you’d get me back.”
“I wasn’t that confident,” Curt said, sitting up. “I was afraid they just killed you right away.”
“They wanted to use me to get to you and the others,” Amanda said. “The guy holding me was a coward. He was scared to death the whole time. He knew we were gonna kill him.”
Curt calmed down as they sat, then got off the couch. “Want some coffee? I need to clear the booze out of my head.”
She nodded yes, and he went to the coffee machine, brewing a cup for each of them.
“There, or the dinette?” Curt asked.
“Dinette,” she said. “I’m too woozy. I’ll probably spill if I sit here.”
He sat the cups on the table, watching as she got up, catching her as she stumbled into the bench seat.
“You okay?” Curt asked.
She smiled. “Told you.”
He helped her into her seat and sat in the other bench, facing her.
“You really think we’re aloof?”
Amanda took a sip and set her cup down, then smiled at him. “Inside, no. Outside, yes, we tend to act that way, although we aren’t fooling anybody but ourselves with it.”
“I’m all in with you,” Curt said. “You know that, don’t you?”
“Yes, I know that.” She sighed. “We’re not like other people. Other couples.”
“Well, we’re not rushing off to get pregnant, anyway,” he said.
“True that,” she said, looking down at her coffee cup. She picked it up and had another sip. “This tastes good.”
“Do you want to be pregnant?”
She laughed, then looked up at him. “Now? Hell no. I’m not crazy.”
“I didn’t think so,” Curt said. “You want something more, though.”
“I’ve got you,” she said. “That’s what’s important to me.”
“Then why the aloof comment?”
“Forget I said it,” she said, taking another sip. “This is starting to clear my head.”
Curt watched her for a moment, his gaze making her nervous.
“What’s wrong?” she asked.
“We need to get married.”
“What? I’m not asking for that. It doesn’t mean anything anyway.”
He chuckled. “Yes it does. We should do it soon. Before the next mission. There’s probably a Justice of the Peace in this town.”
“You’re serious, aren’t you? Seems a little too conventional for us.”
“Are you going to make this difficult, woman?” Curt asked, smiling for the first time since they left the others.
She stared at him, not sure what to say next. He reached across the table, grabbing her hand. She pulled it back, shaking her head. “I need to understand why you’re pushing this. We already talked about it, remember? After my sister and Don tied the knot. I told you I didn’t expect that, and you told me it didn’t matter to you.”
“What are you worried about?”
She was silent for a moment.
“Well?” he asked.
“You mean from a personal perspective or a philosophical perspective?”
Curt chuckled. “Yep, you are going to make this difficult. You can’t just accept that I want to do what most men do when they’re deeply in love? This is the history of humans in most cultures, you know. Going back to before recorded history.”
“We don’t even know that,” Amanda said.
“Know what?”
“That people formally pair-bonded before recorded history,” she said.
He sighed. “Okay, you’re right. I don’t know exactly how it was for our species before recorded history. Doesn’t matter to this conversation.”
“It’s central to this conversation,” she said. “I’m saying it’s not a biological imperative. It’s convenient for raising children, which neither of us seem to be interested in at the moment. It was a business arrangement, and frankly, a way for males to dominate females.”
Curt laughed. “So, you’re on me for not letting my emotions out, but when I push you on something that is all wrapped up with emotion, you start talking like a college professor.”
“Shut up,” she said, smiling. “Okay, I get it. I still stand by my basic point, though. There’s no logical reason for us to formally pair-bond. I’m with you because I want to be, and I don’t think it’s going to change. There’s no reason to make it more difficult to part if we both want to.”
“Yeah there is,” Curt said, smiling at her.
“Please explain. Do you fancy the idea of having some kind of ownership of me?”
He smiled at her. “You’re going to make me say it, aren’t you?”
“It’s a valid question,” she said.
“Okay, then yeah, I want ownership over you,” Curt said, his eyes ablaze. “And furthermore, I want the right to knock you up when it’s time, and I want structure in place to keep us together for our kids when things
get dicey. They always do.”
“Oh, really,” she said, her expression showing a mixture of amusement and annoyance.
“Yeah, really, and don’t make this sound like it’s one sided. You get ownership of me as part of the deal. Does that really sound bad to you?”
“I can’t believe we’re having this conversation,” she said.
“Am I making you angry?” Curt asked.
“Maybe anger isn’t the right word,” she said.
Curt studied her for a moment, then got out of the dinette.
“Now look who’s angry,” she said smugly.
“Maybe anger isn’t the right word,” he said, his gaze shocking her with its intensity. He yanked her off the dinette bench, picking her up like a doll and throwing her over his shoulder.
“Put me down,” she said as he walked towards the bedroom, her legs kicking.
“Like hell I will,” he said, tossing her onto the bed. He got on the bed, ravishing her.
“Oh, God,” she said, losing herself to him completely as their passion raced towards a peak.
Afterwards they lay next to each other, looking at the ceiling.
“Do you get it now?” Curt asked, turning towards her, caressing her blonde mane. She looked at him, passion still in her eyes. “You haven’t had enough yet, have you?”
She got on top of him, rising and then lowering onto him, biting her lower lip as they came together, only going slow for a moment, beside herself with love and lust.
“You get it now, don’t you?” Curt asked as he watched her. She nodded yes silently as she began to peak.
“You’re mine,” Curt said, the passion taking him again. “You’re going to marry me, aren’t you?”
“Oh, God,” she said, bursting into a feverish spasm, nodding her head yes as it took her. “Yes…yes, I’m yours.”
Curt grabbed her, stopping her movement.
“Let me go,” she said, struggling to keep moving.
“When?” he asked, holding her tight.
“Dammit,” she cried.
“When?”
“Tomorrow,” she said. He released her and they rode the wave together, Amanda falling onto him afterwards, her breath coming hard and raspy. They lay together silently for several minutes. Then she got off of him slowly, laying on her side facing him, putting her leg over his torso.
“Glad we settled that,” Curt said.
“I’ll bet you are,” she said, the fire still in her eyes. “You’re stuck now. I’m not letting you back out.”
He looked at her and laughed. “Did I just get played?”
“Maybe a little,” she said. “People probably heard us, you know.”
“I don’t care, they’ve heard us before,” Curt said. He got a serious look on his face. “I’ll never leave you. I’ll always be here for you. No matter what.”
“I know that,” Amanda said softly. “You didn’t have to go crazy to convince me.”
“Ah, but you liked the crazy,” he said.
She looked at him, tears in her eyes. They kissed tenderly, then she got off the bed.
“Where are you going?”
“We’ll need witnesses for tomorrow,” she said. “You’d better find out where the nearest place is.”
He got out of bed and looked at her. She returned a grin. “Told you I’d trick you into it.”
He rushed over and kissed her again, laughing.
Chapter 10 – The Junction
Jason watched the crowd as the memorial finished. Carrie had taken Chelsea back to their rig a while ago. He was sitting with Kelly, Junior, Kyle, and Don. Stanton Hunt came over. “Mind if I join you guys?”
“Of course not,” Jason said, moving over to make room. “Get enough to eat?”
“Yes,” he said. “I’m wondering about the I-40 job. You see the mess around Albuquerque?”
“I’ve noticed the enemy slipping down there,” Jason said. “Was going to watch it tonight, then discuss it with all of you tomorrow, when we’re recovered from the memorial.”
“Are they coming this way?” Kyle asked. “Don’t worry, I didn’t drink much. I’m in good shape.”
“Yeah, us too,” Junior said, nodding at Kelly. “Even though we’ve got the apps, things tend to move a little too quickly these days.”
“We need an alternate way to get to the far western part of I-40,” Jason said. “We’d have to fight our way through the enemy if we took I-25 to I-40. That’s pretty obvious.”
“Yes, that’s what I’m thinking,” Stanton said. “They understand how much trouble they’re in. If we don’t make a move through there, I suspect they’ll come looking for us.”
“Anybody come south along I-25 yet?” Don asked.
“Nope,” Jason said, “but I wouldn’t count on that being the case for long. Stanton, you know this state better than any of us. How do you suggest we proceed?”
“The secondary route is pretty obvious if you just look at the map,” Junior said. “Highway 52 to 60, then up through the Zuni reservation.”
Stanton nodded in agreement. “If we had no enemy fighters to worry about, and we knew we’d have a good source of fuel for these thirsty RVs of yours, that would be the first choice.”
“Just keep in mind that if we see it, anybody with a map is gonna see it too,” Kelly said, “and there aren’t a lot of alternatives.”
“Wish we could go as the crow flies with off-roaders and the tanks, like we did for some of our other operations,” Kyle said.
“We’re not leaving our women and children here unguarded,” Jason said.
“Maybe there’s an alternative,” Stanton said. “We take the whole group, but leave them at a more secure location before the actual battle.”
“This will take some serious thought,” Jason said, eyes on his phone. “And by the way, I-40 isn’t all we have to worry about. Look at Highway 60. They could come barreling down that road and hit I-25 north of the downed bridges.”
“That’s another thing,” Stanton said. “We probably want to mess with I-25 a little more. We should destroy bridges between here and Albuquerque.”
“He’s right,” Kelly said. “How many people can the enemy field at the junction between I-25 and I-40?”
“Quite a few thousand, based on what we see in and around Santa Fe right now,” Stanton said.
“We’d better not assume that the enemy won’t send more fighters south from Utah,” Jason said.
“I don’t think they’ll do that,” Junior said.
“Why not?” Kelly asked.
“They’re mounting attacks on Colorado Springs and Denver as we speak. I suspect those operations are too important to put at risk.”
Jason looked at his map, then nodded at Junior. “I think you’re right, but we have no way to be sure.”
“Nope,” Stanton said. “We need more people in the mix.”
“Sydney and I are planning to get another social media campaign started,” Don said. “Maybe we should try to get enough people rounded up so we can hit the I-25 and I-40 junction, instead of taking backroads all over the place. It has a lot of advantages, if we can get the forces together.”
“Well, it would solve our fuel problem, assuming we’ll have one,” Jason said.
“Yes,” Don said. “We might even get enough help to hit that damn base in Santa Fe. If we can neutralize that, we’ll have a free hand to screw up I-40.”
Jason nodded in agreement. “I want to bring the others in to brainstorm, and then get with the leadership team again. Tomorrow, though, not tonight.”
“Agreed,” Kyle said.
“Reasonable plan,” Stanton said. “We’ll need to keep a sharp eye out tonight, though. Remember that Albuquerque is not far from here.”
“Damn straight,” Junior said. “It’s just over two hours.”
They were silent for a couple minutes, thinking.
“Sorry, guys, but I’m beat,” Jason said. “Let’s sleep on this and reconnec
t after breakfast tomorrow. Everybody okay with that?”
“Yes,” Stanton said.
“Me too,” Don said.
The others nodded in agreement, and the group disbanded.
Jason walked back with Kyle.
“You okay, man?” Kyle asked. “You look scared to death.”
“I feel like our butts are flapping in the breeze, and I keep thinking about how close we got to losing at the bridges. We were lucky. Lucky to be rescued at the end of the battle, and extremely lucky to have gotten Amanda back.”
“I hear you, bro,” Kyle said. “I think all of this is really wearing on our women, too. You keeping track of Carrie’s stress level?”
“I’m trying, but I’m worried sick,” Jason said. “How’s Kate doing?”
“Counting the days until we can start working on another baby,” Kyle said, shaking his head. “If it were just up to me, I’d hold off.”
“Have you talked to her about it?”
“Kinda,” Kyle said. “She’s so focused on it.”
“I’d talk her out of it, at least for now,” Jason said. “I’m worried about Rachel. She’s no spring chicken. Wouldn’t take much for her to have a problem.”
“Oh, I don’t know about that,” Kyle said. “I’ve done a lot of reading on this. The impact of stress can be way overblown in these cases. Rachel might not be in any danger at all. Hell, Kate might not be either. We might have lost that baby because there was something wrong from the start. Might not have been the war at all.”
They got to their coaches. Jason stopped for a moment. “You could be right about that, Kyle, but I’d still broach the subject. You can let her know you want to have kids with her as soon as the war’s over.”
“I’ll sleep on it,” Kyle said. “See you in the morning.”
Jason nodded, and went into his coach.
“Finally,” Carrie said. “Everything okay?”
“We were talking a little strategy,” Jason said, as he sat on the recliner and pulled his shoes off. He dropped them onto the floor, then stood and took her into his arms. They kissed, Carrie hugging him tight afterwards.
“I’m glad you’re home.”
“How’s the munchkin?”
“Sawing logs already,” Carrie said. “What were you talking about?”
