“You are?”
Grace nodded. “Yeah. Because you might not have come back. And the world is a better place with you in it.”
Her visit concluded, Lauren stepped out to the front porch of the old Ackermann place and leaned against a column, staring out into the driveway and dark beyond. She took a deep breath, then another, exhaling and dismissing a multitude of worries. Grace was doing okay. She was going to be an aunt before long. Her nephew’s name, if indeed Grace were to have a boy, was to be Isaiah, named after her father. The war within her still raged on, and the dangers extant in her world were far from being over, but she was now aware of better ways of going about getting that which she’d sought. The unit was here now, having arrived and pervaded the valley during her absence at nearly full strength. Perhaps better times were approaching. And in due course, a strategic proposal would be drawn up and put in motion that would spell an end to all that had plagued her and her loved ones for far too long.
The door creaked open behind her, and Lauren felt a strong, stubborn presence approach, one not requiring a declaration for her to know who it was. When she heard the porch’s old decking creak beside her under his weight, Lauren looked right to spot Dave Graham, who had found a location at the opposite column to lean against. He, too, stared out into the driveway and dark beyond.
Lauren smiled at him, then looked away, resuming her stare at the previous obscure focal point. “You came.”
Dave motorboated. “Are you kidding? I wouldn’t miss this hokum for the world.”
Lauren chuckled slightly through her nose.
The old vet peered at her from the corner of his eye. “And you came home. Imagine that.”
She shrugged. “I didn’t have a choice.”
“I don’t buy that,” said Dave. “There’s always a choice, Janey. Everything in life is about choice.”
“I’m not sure I buy that.” She glanced at him. “Did you see Neo?”
“That’s affirmative.”
“They allowed you to see him?”
“Also affirmative.”
“And did they, meaning the good doctor and his wife, have a choice?”
Dave shot her a feisty glance. “Are you trying to get cute with me?”
“I don’t have to try.”
“No, you don’t. And the answer’s no. They tried keeping me out, but you know how that is, Janey. There are those of us who refuse to take no for an answer.”
Lauren nodded understanding of that. “How is he?”
“Better,” Dave said, sighing. “He’s got a long road ahead of him, but he ranks up there with some of the strongest young people I know. I think he’ll be fine.”
“Think?”
“I’ve seen soldiers recover from worse. And I’ve also seen them succumb to less. The only guarantee listed in life’s fine print is that it ends at some point. There’s no fountain of youth, no magic pill. But Neo is strong and able-bodied. He’s got a lot going for him. And it’s my belief he’ll pull through.”
Lauren nodded and smiled. “It makes me very happy to hear that. You have no idea.”
“Then again, I might. It’s my understanding that your sister’s regained consciousness. What’s her status?”
“Semi-functional,” quipped Lauren. “That’s fully operational for Grace. About as good as it gets.”
“Fine business.” He paused. “You still plan on becoming an aunt?”
Lauren squinted in delight. “I do. In about ninety days, give or take.”
Dave tilted his head. “That’s good news. Probably the best I’ve heard all day. I’m glad you found your way home, and very pleased you erred against doing something predominantly harebrained.”
Lauren looked at him again, attempting to gauge his demeanor. “What happens now?”
Dave hesitated, tilted his cover back, and shifted his weight. “That all depends on factors. We’re in business here. Deployed, geared-up, inclined to and readily capable of ferociously repelling intruders. If an attack comes our way, we’re ready for it.” A pause. “Your escapade tied up a few loose ends for us, reunited some families, and pleased a lot of folks, your sister included. But it also set fire to one big goddamn volatility fuse. I’ll assume you know what I’m talking about deprived the need of going into further detail.”
Lauren pinched her eyes closed and nodded.
“If this sounds familiar to you, too bad,” Dave grumbled, staring her down. “It is critically important that you understand the implications of your actions, Janey. The measures of a single element can decide the fate of everyone, and often does. What you did damn near guarantees a swift and harsh retaliation on their part.”
“I know…I know that, and I’m sorry. I didn’t know what else to do, Dave—I couldn’t just sit here and do nothing. I mean, where has doing nothing gotten us?”
Dave held up a hand. “I’m not finished.”
“Sorry.”
“When you told me a few months back about your family’s run-ins with FEMA and the DHS, and that you thought federal agents had deliberately baited and poisoned wildlife and contaminated your water supply, I took what you said in earnest, but I didn’t believe you. I didn’t want to believe you. No one in my position wants to believe that an agency consisting of men and women who’ve essentially taken the same oath I have, along with every person with whom I’ve served, would ever do such a thing. Or worse yet, would stand by and watch it happen and do sweet fuck all about it. I wasn’t about to tell you that after what you’d just been through, but it’s how I felt at the time. You should know that I’m sorry, Janey. I’m truly sorry for doubting you.”
“I…forgive you, I think. But I don’t understand.”
Dave moved closer to Lauren, bent and leaned his weight on the bannister. “I read the folder.”
“You did?”
“Affirmative. Christian handed it off to me moments after he landed.”
“So you know.”
“I do. It doesn’t fully justify what you did, but it explains a lot. Hell, it explains everything. And…it rationalizes our response; that which we’re about to do.”
“What is that, exactly?”
“Something I swore never to do again unless it meant attainment of a precise endgame. I’m sure you’ve heard me rattle off about it once or twice, maybe more. There’s a part of me still in conflict with the notion. Another part remains dead set against it, but the enemy is clear now, and their intentions have never been clearer. It’s all laid out in that abomination of a manifesto. Even has a table of contents…the digital version probably has a searchable index and a goddamn glossary, for goodness’ sake.”
Dave took a breather. “Zero Dark Armageddon began as a cause that transformed into a movement, the purpose of which was putting a final end to tyranny and returning the power of this country back unto whom it was originally vested. The keyword there, in case I didn’t emphasize it with enough dynamism, is tyranny. Everything I read in those pages both defines and encapsulates the epitome of that very concept. I don’t know what this agency’s mission was supposed to be or why it’s deviated into the atrocity it’s become, but I cannot allow it to continue. Not here, not on this land, not within the borders of a nation that I serve proudly to this day and for which I would voluntarily lay down my life. You’re right, doing nothing has gotten us nowhere. ‘I prefer peace. But if trouble must come, let it come in my time, so that my children can live in peace’.”
Lauren grinned. “Thomas Paine.”
“Correct,” Dave said. “Political activist, philosopher, revolutionary. Author of Common Sense and The American Crisis at the onset of the Revolution. And he was dead-on. Tyrants cannot be appeased. We want personal liberty, and they want servitude, and the latter will not happen here. Not on my watch. No rules of engagement, Janey. Zero. Not a damn one. So saddle up; get your head right.” He extended, unbent, and rose fully. “We’re going to war.”
The story continues in
; coming soon
About the Author
C.A.Rudolph is a self-published novelist who lives and writes within the pastoral boundaries of Virginia’s northern Shenandoah Valley. He spends most of his limited spare time pursuing outdoor adventures with his family. He is an avid backpacker and outdoorsman, proud gun owner, vocal gun rights / 2A activist, and an active amateur radio operator.
His first book, What’s Left of My World, published in December 2016, became an Amazon post-apocalyptic and dystopian best seller.
Readers and fans can find Mr. Rudolph online on social media (using the links below) or via his website at http://www.carudolph.com
Subscribe to the free Preferred Readers List.
Contents
Also by C.A. Rudolph
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Chapter 32
Chapter 33
Chapter 34
Chapter 35
Chapter 36
Chapter 37
Chapter 38
Chapter 39
Chapter 40
Chapter 41
Chapter 42
Chapter 43
The Story Continues
About the Author
The Heart of War: Book Seven of the What's Left of My World Series Page 38
