Tasha’s nodded, listening to the radio transmission. She never thought to ask if Emma was actually with Dukes, she just trusted it to be the case. She pressed the button on her own microphone and began sharing the story.
“We were packing to leave, I really didn’t want to leave, you know, but Mr. David did. We weren’t fighting about it or anything; we were both just going on feeling. You know, since everything has happened, I don’t think anyone really knows where they’re going.” Tasha could sense others listening to her story. People with radios, scared, alone, attacked. This was news to them, this was real, and this was what the new reality had become for people in the region.
Dan Maddox finished pumping the fuel and joined the others gathered around the radio. The young girl’s voice on the radio was haunting and alluring all at the same time. Her story could be any one of theirs if not but for faith or luck.
Dan’s younger sister, the one with the rifle from the upstairs window, joined them as the only other occupant of the house. She smiled at the others, and they smiled back; but no one spoke. It was the voice on the radio that kept them silent.
“The helicopters came so fast that we really didn’t have time to react,” Tasha continued. “That’s what caught us. They were fast, like a hawk or a falcon swooping from a high branch ready to land on a field mouse. We were out in the open, really not that far from the church, and that’s where we froze. In an instant, the distance from where we were, and safety seemed like miles.” She released the microphone and took a breath. The warm breeze still flowed around her, and she felt better releasing her story, her memories and her emotions from the walls of her soul.
She pressed the button again and began to speak. “The next few seconds seemed to happen so quickly, but they were also like they were happening in slow motion, or if I was watching it at the movies. If you know what I mean?” She didn’t release the microphone button, casting the question into the rhetorical bucket. “Either Father Jeff or Mr. David saw them first and yelled…”
Jack and Lucy were listening to the broadcast with the same attention as everyone else. Tasha’s voice was hollow, yet full of color and detail. She had experienced pain like they had while in Atlanta. Was this what America was turning into? A nation of hollow parentless children?
Lucy put her hand on Jack’s arm at the mention of ‘Mr. David and Father Jeff,’ in the same sentence. They both looked at each other. Neither one wanted to put too much hope in what they had just heard.
“It can’t be the same,” Jack whispered to his sister, and dismissing the possibility of hope. “Dad would have been at the river, that’s the bug out location,” he tried to reassure her, as well as himself. “He had to be.”
“But, what if he didn’t make it out, out of Birmingham I mean,” she offered, wanting to find any thread to stitch her hopes to.
“He had to, that’s our only hope of finding him. Remember what the colonel said back at Dukes’ farm? Birmingham was attacked, they had airplanes crash in the downtown area.”
“We don't live downtown.”
“We live close enough.”
“So, you think he’s dead, and you haven't thought to share that with me?”
Penny looked at the brother and sister; their voices were beginning to drown out Tasha’s on the radio.
“What river was your house on?” It was Dan Maddox’s sister; she had yet to be formally introduced to the group. “I’m Deb, his sister,” she offered.
The brother and sister stopped their bickering and looked at her.
“I’m Jack.”
“Lucy.”
Deb nodded. “Sure, so what river was your bug out location on?”
“The Coosa, about five miles upriver from the highway. Why?” Jack answered.
Deb, who looked about Jack’s age, took a deep breath, a troubled look etched across her face. She looked over at her brother, and he nodded at her as if to say that it was ‘okay’ to spill some sort of secret information.
“Why did you want to know?” Jack asked for a second time. An ounce of worry that he might be right about his father’s demise crept into his voice.
“They, the helicopters or some drone, took out the damn up river from your dad’s house. Everything down to I-20 was destroyed in the flood. I really hope your father wasn’t there when it happened.” She turned to look out over the pasture, as if she too was looking for someone.
Lucy reached for Jack’s hand and squeezed. This was the closest she had felt to despair since everything had started.
“Let’s listen to what Tasha has to say, she seems to know a lot, we can ask her. Okay?” Jack said, turning to denial first. He tried to put on a mask of encouragement for his sister, but with the news of the damn break, and Birmingham having airplanes hit downtown, he felt sick with the fear that his father was gone. Information from Tasha was the only thread of hope that he had left to cling on to.
“I never saw the men, they shoved me towards the church and I ran.” Tasha’s voice was like a siren song of pain and despair, drawing in hundreds of people from around the region that were monitoring their radios.
“Now that I can feel,” she half laughed at the fact that she felt she could actually feel. “I know that wood splinters are spread all over my body from where the bullets punctured the walls as I ran down the hall. I even have a bullet hole through the side of my shirt, but I have no idea how the bullet didn't hit me.” She sighed heavily without releasing the microphone. “Everything seemed to explode all around me. These were bullets fired from grown men at a defenseless girl from a hundred feet above the ground. How is that,” Tasha released the microphone again and looked at the wounds along her body. She didn’t know where her own blood began and that of David’s or Jeff’s ended. She said that she could feel, but it would take a long time to actually ‘feel’ what had happened to her.
“David and Jeff had built a place for us to hide. It was kind of like our tornado shelter against the evils of war. Anyway, I made it to the shelter and hid there, in the middle of the church, until the shooting stopped and the sounds were gone. I have never prayed as hard as I did in those minutes. I know there’s no way that God wants his children to suffer, it’s man that causes such things.”
She released the microphone again as she shored herself up to tell the rest of the story. She was supposed to be telling Emma about how David got hurt so that she could help, but telling this story was her own form of first aid for herself. With a deep draw of the warm air that circulated around her, she pressed the button again.
“I should have come out earlier, I knew I should have. I’m trying not to blame myself, because I didn’t, but,” her voice cracked with emotion. “I…I might could have done something to save him.” She released the button again and looked at the plastic tarp that now covering the dead priest. The tarp flapped in the same warm breeze that seemed to embrace her and give her strength. She pressed the button again to tell everyone about the final seconds of a sheriff deputy who was better at being a priest.
Emma felt sickened at the description of the dead man. She was more horrified that this young girl had to witness such terror. Her hand covered her mouth as her other hand rested on Clark’s shoulder. He had his hand on hers for comfort, ignoring his own tears.
“Mr. David is still alive,” Tasha continued. “After Birmingham Bob was killed by the same helicopters, his sons, Joshua and Adam, came to help me as best as they could before they had to bury their own father.” She paused. “Mr. David is all that I have left now. My own father and mother were killed when the planes crashed in downtown on the first day. He has taken me in because he’s caring; I don't know why, other than he’s a caring man.” She sniffed at the thought of possibly loosing another person close to her. “He’s a good man to me, even though he has every right to be bitter. I mean, after he lost his own kids in Atlanta during the bombing. I don't know, maybe he wants to die so that he can see them? But, but I don't want that. He’s the onl
y father I have left. Emma, if you’re a nurse, then you have to come help me save his life. Over.”
CHAPTER 25
“See! See! It’s him, Jack! That’s our dad!” Lucy said, pointing at the radio. “It has to be!” Tears of excitement sprang from her eyes as hope filled her.
Jack nodded that it could be true; his father might actually still be alive. He noticed that everyone was looking at him. “We need to get there, now! Can I talk to her?” he asked Penny.
She handed him the microphone and stepped away from the open door of the vehicle. “Just don't give away our position. Okay?”
He nodded and cleared his throat before keying the microphone and speaking. “Ah, Tasha, this is Jack, I’m with Penny. This might sound a little weird, but what is Mr. David’s last name? Over.” He released the microphone, sending the question across the airwaves for all to hear.
Tasha heard the question, and it threw her off for a second. In that instant, she realized that she didn’t actually know, or remember David’s last name. Mentally, she beat herself up for not remembering. David had done so much for her over the last few days that she was sure that she would still be wondering the neighborhood where he found her.
“Jack, I don’t know,” she said, her voice soft. But something inside of her head told her to stop, and think about the situation. She had not released the button of the microphone, when she said Jack’s name again. “Jack?” She released the microphone, knowing that his name was supposed to mean something to her.
“Tasha, this is Jack. Do you,” he paused. “Do you know his last name? Over”
Tasha licked her lips, tasting salt, blood and dirt. The warm breeze blew around her, and seemed to whisper in her ear. She didn’t believe in coincidences, but she did believe in God, and she knew that she was supposed to be right here, right now, for a reason. The breeze gave her hope and purpose. She keyed the microphone.
“Jack, this is Tasha. Do…do you have a sister named Lucy? Over”
Tasha, and everyone listening could hear the screams of joy surrounding Jack’s voice as he yelled, “Yes! Yes! Yes!”
“What?” Emma asked Clark. “Did she just?”
“I think so,” he said cutting her off.
She reached for the microphone. “Tasha, this is Emma, are you saying that Mr. David is Jack and Lucy’s father? Over.” She was wide eyed and couldn’t keep her mouth shut. “What are the odds?” she asked, slapping Clark’s shoulder.
“Pretty flipping slim to none,” he responded, holding onto the fractional hope that it was true.
“Emma, this is Tasha, I don’t know. Over.”
Forgetting that all three parties couldn't hear each other, Jack chimed in. “Tasha, that’s got to be our dad. For God’s sake do what you can to keep him alive, we’re headed your way. Over.” He looked at Penny, as if to ask if she needed any other motivation to get the Humvee moving in the direction of their father.
“I’ll get us all there,” Penny said, looking at the Humvee.
“What about your Chinese friend?” Maddox asked Penny. “You’re not going to leave us with the responsibility of watching over him, are you?” He tossed a thumb to the tied-up man sitting a few feet behind the vehicle. She followed the direction he was pointing, and a wave a heat went up her spine.
“Where is he?” she reacted by unslinging her rifle, causing a panic to expand through their small group.
“I’m right here,” Joseph said, stepping out from around the back of the vehicle. He had one of his arms tightly around Dan Maddox’s little sister, Deb, and a knife to the side of her skull.
“Let her go,” Maddox said, his tone stern, but he had yet to raise his weapon.
“Back away from the vehicle,” Joseph countered, and made a threatening move with the knife. “I will kill her, do not tempt me any further,” he said, reiterating his determinedness. “I am finished playing your games,” he looked at Penny. “I am in control. Do you understand?”
“Okay, fine,” Maddox said, raising his hands and showing his open palms. “You’re in control,” he agreed, backing towards the house. He motioned the others to do the same. Penny, Jack and Lucy all followed his lead.
“I can shoot him,” Penny whispered, her rifle was raised, but tilted just below level. She had trained on rising, finding the target and shooting dozens of times with her father. But, this would be the first time that she would attempt it with another person in the way.
“No,” Maddox hissed.
“But…”
“No! Just back away.”
“We can’t let them leave!” Lucy pleaded. No one responded to her, the scene had to play out.
Joseph watched the four back to halfway between the front porch of the farmhouse and the vehicle. Satisfied that they were far enough away, he pulled back on Deb’s neck and drug her around the Humvee. With as much speed as he could muster, he shoved her in the back seat, closed the door, and jumped into the driver’s seat.
Dan Maddox made a move to rush the vehicle before it could move. Using athletic skills honed by a lifetime of playing ball and working on a farm, he closed the distance in a few strides and yanked on the rear door handle. It was locked from the inside; something that Joseph had learned earlier. Maddox banged on the window, as the giant diesel engine’s turbo whined and the wheels responded in kind. His pounding didn’t even register as thuds on the inside of the armored vehicle.
Deb was screaming, but Dan couldn’t hear her.
“Open the door!” he yelled. “The lock!”
She pulled at the door handle with frantic fear consuming her more and more with each failed pull, but nothing happened. The vehicle moved faster and faster, and Dan jumped onto the back, trying to hold on.
Penny tracked the hummer with the iron sites of her rifle. She could hit moving targets, but didn’t know what Maddox would do in a vain last-ditch effort. With little time left to do anything, she released her breath and let loose two rounds to puncture the tires. She didn’t think it would work, and it didn’t. Both rounds bounced off of the puncture proof tires and into the steel wheel well. She watched Dan, finally thrown from the vehicle, roll across the grass ditch along the side of the farm’s dirt driveway. She ran towards him.
Within the turn of two minutes the group had lost the vehicle, several weapons, the radio and worst of all, Deb Maddox. Penny reset her chessboard; this was a new game, and the stakes had changed.
Dan Maddox climbed out of the grass ditch, accepting Penny’s hand to pull him the last few feet. They both watched the Humvee drive out of sight with his sister.
“I’m sorry,” she said, her voice was humble, but her insides told her that she would get used to saying how sorry she was with every day that this war continued.
“What do I do now? How do I get her back?” he asked, never taking his eyes off of the cloud of dust being created in the wake of the speeding truck.
“We’ll get her back.”
“My parents haven’t come back since this started. I can’t lose her; she’s all the family I have left.”
“We’ll get her back,” Penny repeated, fighting back the urge to say, ‘next time, use zip ties!’
CHAPTER 26
Their captors finally searched both Airman Nina Perez and Sergeant Cotton Fields for weapons; taking the grenade and her cell phone. With little ceremony, the guard took a knife and split the cellphone open to remove the battery. Perez was pretty sure that her distress message did not transmit.
With new zip ties added to the ones Cotton had put on, they were both thrown into a small room with metal walls and a wooden floor. Perez thought that it looked like the inside of a shipping container, and that thought scared her.
“I don’t understand who or what these guys are?” Cotton asked in a whisper. “What do they want with us?” His head throbbed with each word he spoke. Even the brightness from the single light bulb was enough to drive daggers through his eyes.
“We’ve been getting report
s that the Russians have been scrambling their Navy into the north Atlantic ever since the Chinese attacked us.”
“Oh, that’s cheerful news,” Cotton said, his head resting on his knees.
“I don’t know, they’ve obviously got something in mind, or they wouldn’t need to kidnap a JCS analysts. Someone’s here,” she hushed her voice.
The mechanism on the watertight metal doors exercised, releasing the lock, and allowing one of the doors to swing open. Two men stepped in; one was huge, dressed in camouflage pants and a black tee shirt. The other was smaller, and exceeding well dressed. He sported blue pants and a matching jacket. His pressed button down white shirt was open at the collar, exposing a well-tanned and smooth chest.
The large Russian man closed the door behind the suit, and leaned his back against the frame. The man in the suit moved to the table in the middle of the room and casually leaned against the top, as if they were about to chat about the weather.
“What do you want with us?” Cotton asked, as Perez helped him stand.
The well-dressed man seemed to study the two, not voicing an answer. “My name is Victor Poluski, I am the Deputy Ambassador from Russia, and you are going to get us access to the Joint Chiefs of Staff.”
Cotton and Perez exchanged looks without speaking.
Poluski removed a cigarette from his shirt pocket and lit it, holding the smoke in his lungs longer than normal. He smiled as he released the smoke, and said something in Russian to the big man guarding the door. They both nodded.
“This is all about the Russian Navy, isn’t it?” Perez fished.
Poluski took another drag on the cigarette. “You see Alexi, she is the right one. She has a sharp analytical mind. I told you as much.”
Cotton looked over at her, his eyebrows raised. “Are you Russian?”
Perez opened her mouth to answer, but Poluski cut her off, choosing to answer the question for her.
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