Frank nodded. "If they had gone in and destroyed Missoula, we probably would have seen smoke on the horizon so I'm betting they're still standing. It’s impossible to know about Delta and Echo."
"So we're still agreed on reaching out and making contact with the survivors in these locations, correct?" Colin asked. He looked around and received a nod and firm yes from everybody, even Hunter. "Let's form up. Three teams."
CHAPTER FOUR
“I will lead team one to Missoula. Julie and Hunter will accompany me. Team two will be led by Brady, who will take Tiny and Koby to Delta Sector,” Collin said, meeting their eyes. “Team three will be led by Hannah, accompanied by Frank and Jeb who will bring Echo onto our side.” Any questions?”
Jeb raised his hand.
Inside, Collin groaned. Outwardly though, he wore a mask of patience. “Jeb?”
“Sir, with all due respect, I request permission to accompany you to Missoula. From what I hear, you weren’t just leading Goshen.”
Collin raised an eyebrow.
“Word is you’re the damn president. Now I understand the need for secrecy and all, but damn if I don’t feel a strong sense of duty to make sure I watch your back.”
There it was out in the open. His big secret.
Collin glanced around at his companions. Julie, Koby, and Brady already knew the truth. Hannah and Frank both looked shocked to hear it, skeptical even.
Before Collin could talk, Julie cut in. “It’s true. I was there when we recovered President War from the wreckage of Air Force One.”
Frank, Jeb, and Hannah all looked at her loose jaws.
She just nodded. “Shortly after he recovered from his injuries related to the crash, Collin fell into the fevered coma and was like that for most of the intervening years," Julie said, tapping her chin. “Just over sixteen years to be exact.”
Jeb mumbled something under his breath. Frank obviously heard because his eyes widened even more.
The two men looked at each other. Frank nodded at Jeb, who stepped forward.
“Like I said, Mr. President, it’d be my honor to defend you and serve as your ...” Jeb tilted his head and nibbled his lower lip. “Damnation, what are they called?” He glanced back at Frank.
“Secret Service,” Frank said.
“That’s it. It’d be my honor to defend you and serve as your Secret Service officer until such time as I’m dead or you find someone better,” Jeb said proudly.
Brady let out a low whistle and turned to look at his dad. Hunter watched with a mix of fascination and confusion. Julie stood next to Collin, looking up at him.
When Collin didn’t respond right away, Jeb licked his lips. “Plus with me as your guide, the Maniacs we left to guard Missoula won’t give you no trouble. It’ll be smooth sailing for both of you,” Jeb said, motioning with a gnarled finger at Collin and Julie. "While the good doctor here collects her supplies and gets to work on that cure juice, whatever it is, you and I can focus on other matters. Our Maniacs will help provide security, keeping an eye on the doc.” He smiled and nodded as if that sealed the deal.
Collin shifted and scratched the back of his head. He thought about it for a moment before deciding. It wasn't a difficult decision. Having Jeb escort him to Missoula and help provide security would of course be helpful. He was more concerned about how Hannah would feel traveling alone with Frank. Glancing up from the ground, he looked at Jeb and nodded his acceptance. "Welcome to team one."
Jeb beamed like a kid on Christmas morning. “Yes, sir, Mr. President.”
“Please, just call me Collin. Nothing has changed in that respect.”
“Yes, sir.”
The tilted smile on Collin’s face faded as he turned to Hannah. She cut him off before he could speak, which was apparently becoming a thing.
"I know what you thinking, but Frank and Jeb told me their plan before they brought it up. And I agreed, so don't worry about me. Frank and I will make it to Echo and hopefully return with reinforcements."
Collin smiled at them.
Brady smiled at the look on his dad's face. "You good, Pop?"
"You guys making all these secret plans behind my back; providing coordinated answers and a united front makes me feel like I'm back to working in a campaign,” Collin said. “Everything all laid out and I just have to agree or decline. I'm just a body taking up space."
“You worked on election campaigns?” Brady asked.
“How do you think President Pittsley won Michigan?” Collin grinned.
Frank cleared his throat and raised his hand briefly to catch everybody's attention. "Sorry to interrupt. If we can come back to our team missions for a moment. I am concerned that if team two shows up in Delta sector claiming there's a cure without any proof, it won’t be persuasive. Do we want to coordinate a message to deliver so we’re all on the same page?"
"I can take care of the proof." Julie reached inside her jacket and pulled out a vial of serum. She held it up triumphantly, proudly, before handing it over to Brady and Koby. "This is one of the last vials of the serum I have so take care of it. Use this on their leader and that should help persuade them."
Collin looked at Hannah. "What’s your plan for Echo?"
"I've never been to Echo before, but since they used to have four operatives, or at least they did at one point, the area must be quite important. Frank and I will run an extensive recon before exposing ourselves."
"What if Echo demands proof of this cure as well?" Kobe asked. "I don't think they're just going to accept such a bold claim even if it is coming from such a pretty face."
Kobe winked at Hannah, who rolled her eyes.
“You do what you can to persuade them,” Collin said. “Delta seems to be where the resettlement might take place although we won't know until we reconvene. If at all possible, keep our whereabouts to yourselves. If one of the groups turns against the others we don’t want to expose ourselves to an ambush. Likewise, if there are undercover operatives still within the communities, we don't want HAGS hunting us down, especially not with Julie working on a new supply."
"Then I guess we have everything we need. Time to gear up and rollout,” Brady said. “When we have this situation with HAGS dealt with, we should have a proper memorial for the town and all our people.”
Heads nodded and grunts of agreement filled the air.
CHAPTER FIVE
Collin and the rest of team found one more dead and buried them. The sun passed its apex before they finished and began to ride toward Missoula.
With the gruesome business of burying their dead over, Colin found he quite enjoyed the ride and the sense of freedom from getting out of the valley, the same feelings he experienced the first time he traveled to Missoula.
Part of him wanted to urge the horse into a gallop so he could feel the wind rushing through his hair. He didn’t want to alarm anyone or wear out the horses, so they plodded along at a steady pace.
Hunter fell into the routine rather quickly. Collin thought he sensed roiling emotions from the boy, yet none of it was reflected in his eyes. If he felt any grief over the loss of his companions, he wasn’t showing it. For the most part, the boy was excited about getting to see places he’d only experienced through stories.
"How many people lived in Missoula?" Hunter asked.
“Do you mean before or after the fever?” Collin shifted in his saddle to ease the ache in his muscles.
Hunter thought for a moment and shrugged his shoulders. "Either one, I suppose."
"Jeb, you would know better than I would." Collin looked at his new Secret Service officer.
"Far as I can recall, Missoula was one of the biggest cities in the state by population. Maybe a sixty or seventy thousand people?" Jeb thought for a moment before giving a shrug. "After the fever things went bad real quick. A lot of farms around here so we were hit pretty hard by the crops that HAGS gave us. I got lucky. So did most of my family. For a while anyway," Jeb said, clearing his throat. "I recko
n there were maybe five thousand people who survived the initial wave when people were still figuring out what was going on. People separated and hid themselves away fearing infection from others, especially strangers. Fighting broke out over simple things. You may get killed if somebody sees you walking down the street carrying some groceries. A can of soup became worth more than gold in most people's eyes. Before HAGS rolled in and took our women, I believe our population was right about two thousand souls."
Hunter gaped at Jeb. "Two thousand people?" His question came out in a hushed tone laced with awe.
"Huh,” Jeb grunted. “I guess you never seen much more than a few hundred people?"
Hunter nodded his head. "Dad and the others have talked about cities from before the fever. Millions of people living in places like Los Angeles, New York City, Chicago, and Atlanta. I can't even imagine."
"Have you ever left the Valley?" Julie asked.
Hunter shook his head. “Naw.”
Julie launched into a story with Hunter. Collin felt Jeb's horse draw near to his.
"Sir, I know you probably don't remember. We only met in person one time, but you were on the same post as me in Afghanistan. Back before I got rotated back home before shipping out to Iraq."
"Is that so? How did we meet?" Colin asked.
"You and some of them Marine Recon boys pulled us out of some real shit.”
Collin’s eyebrows arched in surprise. “Tell me about it.”
“Well, ya see, we got ambushed on foot patrol. We had a small village ahead of us and a wide open field behind us with a cluster of trees off in the distance. We were taking direct and indirect fire, took some casualties, and were forced to rush into the village for cover after a bomb disabled our Humvee. The bastards were up in the hills. So after finding some good positions in the village to settle the injured, we maneuvered to engage the enemy. Of course the whole time we had a humanitarian aid convoy rolling in behind us that we were supposed to be clearing the way for." Jeb waved his hand in the air. “Long story short, I was knocked out by a mortar that landed nearby and threw me into a rock. When I woke up, one of them hajis was creeping up on me. I crawled behind the rock to return fire but realized my rifle had flown down the hill. I thought I was done for.” Jeb’s voice trailed off at the memory before he continued. “That’s when you and the boys rolled up and put a hurtin’ on ‘em.”
“Sounds like good timing.” Collin smiled.
“Shiiiiit, it was a Hollywood moment.”
They both laughed.
Collin wracked his brain for any scrap of memory about the battle. He shook his head. "You know I only remember bits and pieces of the past. There are some periods of time that just haven’t come back to me yet. I do remember a few of the firefights we got in. You’re right; it was some real shit," Colin replied.
“Ain’t that the truth, sir. Anyway, I kept up with the Military Examiner. Do you remember that paper?” Jeb asked.
“Vaguely.”
“That’s how I heard President Pittsley appointed you as Secretary of Defense. It was quite a moment, and I felt proud to have served alongside you even if only briefly."
Colin wasn't sure what to say. Jeb didn’t seem like the kind of guy who would normally open up and while Collin didn't remember the battle Jeb spoke of, he appreciated the story and the motivation that went behind Jeb volunteering it.
“Thank you for saying that. It was people like you, the real core of the service, who pushed me to accept the nomination. I wanted to take care of our fellow servicemen.” Collin chuckled softly, looked down at his hands, and let out a sigh. “That sounds like a campaign speech.”
“Naw, I hear ya.” Jeb gave him a serious look to let Collin know he understood. Then, as if a switch had been thrown, he busted out laughing. “And now here you are. President! I bet you never figured on that happening." Jeb nearly toppled out of his saddle.
“That was never in my plan.” Collin grinned at his friend. “And I'm not sure how much it actually means given the situation we find ourselves in."
"We'll see about that. I think knowing the president is alive will give people hope. Even if you’re not the guy people remember. And the reason to rally behind you, ya know, to deal with these bastards at HAGS is easy to get behind. Ain't nobody above the law, especially not them. They brought the world to its knees, and they need to pay."
"Amen to that," Collin said.
CHAPTER SIX
Team One approached Missoula cautiously. Collin led them with some direction from Jeb to the park where they initially met him and Frank several weeks ago. Although it seemed like only yesterday, so much had happened in such a relatively short period of time that it was difficult to keep track of everything.
From the relative safety of the park, under cover of the trees, they observed the small city. None of them really knew in what condition they would find the town. It was good to see it wasn’t ashes.
"How many men did you leave behind?" Collin asked Jeb.
"Thirty Maniacs who are just as hard-nosed and bat shit crazy as I am." Jeb chuckled.
Collin grinned.
They stopped their horses in the park, and Collin slid out of the saddle as soon as he could. His back and legs ached from the long days of riding. They had taken a more leisurely pace than his first trip to Missoula because Koby already survived his amputation, and they were not under threat of a pending attack by HAGS.
"Do you guys see anything interesting?" Julie asked.
Collin shook his head as he scanned the areas the Maniacs fought HAGS from last time he was there. Nothing.
Jeb appeared beside him and stared out over the city with his brow furrowed.
"What do you think, Jeb?"
"What can I say, Mr. President? I am as concerned as a roomful of nervous moms that we haven't been greeted by the boys I left behind."
"Maybe they've pulled back the perimeter for the evening and settled in for the night."
Jeb shot him a skeptical look. Colin shrugged. "We left plenty of men to cover this damn post," he growled.
Hunter stepped in between the two men, looking out at Missoula.
“Whoa! This place is huge. I can’t even see everything." Hunter raced forward toward the edge of the open area.
Collin barked at him. "Stay under the trees."
Hunter looked back at him and nodded before turning away and scanning the sky. He took a few steps back even though he was still safely under a large oak tree.
From where he stood, Hunter had a much wider view of the city below. He held out his hands, one to each side as far as he could stretch them, marking the edges of the city. He looked as though he was about to give the whole town a hug. Looking slowly from one side to the other, it was obvious he was trying to gauge the town’s size.
"This is incredible!" Hunter said, turning around with a giant grin lighting up his face.
"It ain't even a big city," Jeb said with a chuckle. "You'd tip over at the sight of a real city."
Hunter went back to enjoying the view.
Collin turned away to check on Julie. She was standing with the horses as they grazed around the trees along the edge of the forest. They nibbled and sniffed around, staying close together.
She must have felt Collin looking at her because she lifted her head and met his eyes. A small smile came to her lips, and he thought her cheeks flushed slightly pink. He returned the smile.
Jeb said, “I guess we’ve learned as much as we can from here. You ready to head down into town?"
“Sure,” Julie and Collin said at the same time.
“Come on, boy.” Jeb rolled his eyes at them as Hunter raced back to the group.
In a flash, Hunter passed the two older men. His horse gave a slight startle and shook its mane when he ran up to it.
"The boy better watch out or he’s gonna find one of them hooves in his gut," Jeb growled.
Collin chuckled, but quickly grew serious. “I’m concerned about your men.”<
br />
"You and me both. The lack of any greeting party gives me the heebie-jeebies." Jeb rubbed his forehead and glanced around, giving the park a quick scan. “Whatever it is, it can’t be good.”
Collin climbed onto his horse. “Let’s go find out. If they're not here, I'm sure there's a good reason for it.”
“Better be.”
They all mounted up.
“Why don’t you take the lead, Jeb.”
“Yes, sir.” Jeb nudged his horse forward as he pulled his rifle out and held it across his lap.
“From what I've seen your Maniacs are quite disciplined, so if they're not here we need to stay alert and be ready for whatever we might find."
Jeb grunted.
They rode down the hill into town with Collin leading the way, Jeb to his side, and Hunter and Julie following close behind them. Hunter was looking around, whispering with Julie at all the houses, buildings, and things he had never seen before. Cars were parked in the road, abandoned items littered overgrown front lawns and sidewalks, unkempt bushes grew haphazardly. All of it hinting at a whole world full of experiences that the young boy was only now beginning to encounter.
“How come there are so many cars in the road?” Hunter asked.
“Some were already left there, others we placed on purpose to block HAGS in case they tried to attack in a convoy,” Jeb replied.
Collin became concerned about the click clack of the horses’ hooves and suggested they get off the road or take a roundabout route in case they were being followed.
“That’s not a bad idea, sir.” Jeb glanced around suspiciously.
"How far is the hospital from here?” Collin asked. “This place looks familiar, but it's still too new for me to know.”
"I'd say we’re two blocks away, three at most. We could slow down, I suppose, but we’re better off getting to the hospital quickly than walking ‘em. If some shit goes down, we don't want to be caught with our britches ‘round our ankles when we've got perfectly good horses. Besides, if anyone is here they would've already noticed our presence. And I don't think HAGS is going to be much of a problem right now."
Fighting for War Page 2
