by Payne, T. L.
“Shouldn’t we tell her?” Beth asked. “If she wakes and discovers he’s deceased, she might freak out and hurt herself or flee from the room.”
“I don’t think she will wake up,” Rebecca said.
Beth looked back at the woman on the bed. Her head was bandaged entirely, even her face. She had slits where her mouth and nose were, but the rest of her skin was covered in gauze.
Rebecca began removing the bandages that Beth had just applied to the man she had spoken with about Roger.
“Was there a fire last night?” Beth asked as she approached them.
“Not here.”
“Oh, sorry,” Beth said, raising an apologetic hand.
“No, I’m sorry. I mean that fire wasn't here. She was brought in by the second search team. There was some sort of explosion. The humvee she was in caught on fire.”
“IED’s in Arizona?” Beth asked, her voice low.
Rebbeca handed Beth the roll of medical tape and scissors then continued reapplying the man’s dressings.
“They said that was what it looked like,” Rebecca said.
The man winced as Rebecca pressed on his wounds. She appeared not to notice how rough she was being, and the man gave Beth a quizzical look.
“Did anyone else survive?”
Beth was afraid of the answer, but she had to ask.
“No. They don’t believe Roger was with them. It was a five-person team, and only four were found in the humvee.”
“Were the doors left open or closed?”
“I don’t know, Beth, but either way, Roger wasn’t with the team. They’re doing a sweep of the area for the fifth man and Roger. I’ll let you know when I hear anything new. In the meantime, you should go eat breakfast before the dining hall closes.”
Beth didn’t feel like eating. She never felt like eating when she was stressed. But Beth knew that staying fueled up meant survival. At any moment, she may have to run or fight for her life, and having an adequately fueled and hydrated body could mean the difference between life and death. Not eating properly or drinking plenty of liquids was no longer a choice. She must force herself—no matter how she felt.
Beth nodded quietly, then opened the door and stepped out into the dusty morning sunlight.
As her feet moved down the dusty dirt path leading to the dining facility, Beth tried to recall the route Roger had mapped out to get home. She was halfway to the dining facility when she realized that she had left Jack and her pack in the women’s dorm. It had barely been daylight when she had awakened and walked over to the medical trailer.
What time is it now?
She turned to the east and looked for the sun. Having barely crested the tops of the trailers that lined the path, Beth guessed it was only 8 o’clock or so, but the temperature had already climbed to at least seventy-five degrees.
Beth turned and hurried past the women’s bathhouse and between the conex housing units to get Jack. As she opened the door, Beth saw a little girl sitting with Jack in her lap as the girl’s mother brushed her long brown hair. Beth had never known Jack to be so outgoing and friendly. Equally odd was the fact that small dogs often didn’t do well with children, at least in Beth’s experience.
Beth stopped to catch her breath before approaching them.
“Jack, are you being good?” Beth asked the dog.
A wag of his curly pom pom tail was the only answer she received.
“I hope you don’t mind. Your dog was whining, so we took him outside to do his business,” the woman said.
Beth used the neck of her T-shirt to wipe sweat from her face as she approached them.
“Oh, no. Not at all. I can’t believe I forgot to take him before I left this morning.”
“You were concerned for the baby,” the woman said, her voice low.
Beth dreaded giving her the bad news. The women had apparently been very close, and the loss of both the mother and her child would hit them hard. It occurred to her that delivering the news may not be her place. In the hospital, that task was always left to the doctor and chaplain. Only once in her career had she been the one to tell a loved one that someone hadn’t made it.
While Beth considered whether to give the woman the bad news, several more women entered the dorm.
Two women in leggings and long white shirts were in an animated discussion as they stripped bedding off their bunks.
“The colonel said that everyone but the maternity dorm had to pull security duty. I don’t know how we are supposed to do all of our chores and guard the gates.”
“Maybe they should be assigned some of our duties.” the shorter of the two said.
Just as the woman asked, they both turned toward Beth then quickly returned to their task. Beth had her answer—it was not her place. These were not her people. Beth decided it was time for her to meet this colonel everyone kept talking about and let him tell them.
With the strap of Jack’s carrier slung over her neck, Beth ascended the steps to the command trailer. She knew she was in the right place because the big sign over the door said so. After knocking, Beth heard a female voice call for her to come in. She opened the door and walked inside. A sign on the wall said, “Command Center.”
“Can I help you?” the woman asked.
“I’m here to see the colonel.”
“What can I help you with, Beth.”
The woman knew her name already.
“I’d like to see the colonel,” she repeated.
The woman smiled and motioned to a chair opposite her desk. Beth took a seat and placed Jack’s carrier on the floor at her feet.
“Hello, I am Lieutenant Colonel Kate Taylor,” the woman said, reaching her hand across the desk.
The colonel wore her dark brown hair in a tight bun. Although she wasn’t in a regulation uniform, her khaki shirt looked to Beth to be a Navy or Marine uniform without rank insignia. She wore no medals or ribbons on her shirt. Although her pants and shoes were hidden under the desk, Beth imagined she also wore the green slacks and shiny black shoes to match the khaki shirt.
“May I ask what your military occupational specialty was?” Beth asked as she shook the colonel’s hand.
The colonel rose from her seat, walked over to the water cooler, and poured two glasses before answering Beth’s question. Beth was staring down at the woman’s shining black dress shoes as the colonel approached her.
The colonel handed Beth a glass of water and returned to her seat.
“I was a ground intelligence officer.”
“And you knew my husband?”
“Yes. And Roger. You were a military spouse long enough to know that the Marines are a close-knit group. Before this shit went down, we formed a network of not only Marines but members of other branches of service, as well, to work together, should this event ever occur.”
“And it did, so now what?”
“Now, we survive.”
“Is that all? We just survive somehow. Our entire existence is now to scrape and claw to survive?” Beth asked.
“It always has been that way throughout time. But, no. We also work to rebuild.”
The colonel stood and walked over to the window. The office was bright with windows on two walls. Beth realized that there were no electrical appliances—no lights, no air conditioning, not even a fan. Very little wind blew through the open windows. Beth’s thin shirt stuck to her and sweat rolled down her back.
“There are a few different plans for rebuilding the nation. There is the official plan, sanctioned by our previous government and several others. But there are alternatives, should the government’s plan fail.”
Turning to face Beth, the colonel continued. “We will rebuild. It may be decades before the country looks anything like it did a few weeks ago, but I have no doubt we will claw our way out of this. These early stages will be our biggest struggle. Much like the early days of our nation, competing factions will have to come together to form a unified nation, or we will devolve into s
maller countries like Europe.”
“Is this compound part of that recovery, Colonel?”
“Call me, Kate. And, yes, we are part of that recovery. I have folks here from many professions whose knowledge and skills will prove crucial to rebuilding our infrastructure. We have to make sure they survive these first few months so they will be around to help us survive long term.”
“With the cartels running around, it seems like that has become a difficult job, Kate.”
Beth pulled a tissue from a Kleenex box on Kate’s desk and wiped her brow.
“Come, let’s take a walk and get out of this oven,” Kate said, motioning to the door.
“Is the medical trailer the only one with electricity?”
“The medical trailer and the kitchen in the dining facility both have power. We have to learn to live without electricity. It may be years before we rebuild our infrastructure, and we must adapt to life as it is now.”
Beth followed Kate out the door and down the steps. Initially, the slight breeze blowing on her damp skin felt refreshing, until they stepped into the blazing Arizona sun.
Beth shielded her eyes from the blinding light.
“You should go over to supply and pick you up a hat. This sun is brutal.”
“Supply?”
“Has no one shown you around the compound yet?” Kate asked.
“No, I think everyone is a bit too busy to play tour guide at the moment.”
Beth looked down at Kate’s shoes. The loose sandy dirt was collecting on the shined mirror surface. Beth’s running shoes looked dark and dingy.
As Kate gave Beth the tour of the compound, Beth was struck with the utter size of the place. Although Beth thought that the woman’s dorms were at the back of the property due to its layout, the compound actually extended at least a quarter mile past there.
It looked as if they used anything and everything they could find to make a shelter. In addition to the stick-built structures were box containers turned housing units, manufactured homes, travel trailers, and campers, horse trailers, and in the rear were adobe-built structures. They were all laid out in a grid pattern, and the streets even had names.
Kate pointed out the logistics building, the armory, and a blacksmith shop.
“This is impressive, Kate. Was all this here before the shit hit the fan?”
“Some of it. I can’t take credit for any of it, though. That would be my predecessor.”
“Your predecessor?”
“I have only led this group for about a week.”
Beth stopped walking and turned to face Kate.
“What happened to the former leader?”
“Oh, he and some men went and got themselves killed trying to chase the cartel out of Kingman,” Kate said, continuing to walk ahead.
“Well, if the cartel was causing concern that soon, I can’t imagine what they will be like when they become really desperate.”
Kate stopped and turned.
“They weren’t causing trouble for us at that point. Major Wayland was trying to be proactive and take them out before they started raiding homes and killing people. He and his team accomplished running them out of Kingman, but we’ve been at war with them ever since. We’ve lost ten people already. We have our security team stationed two miles out surrounding the compound, so we have time to get people to safety if we are attacked.”
“That sounds like a solid plan if you have the people to do it,” Beth said, walking up beside Kate.
“We are losing a couple of people each day. The cartel has a sniper picking us off as we patrol.”
“Sniper? The drug cartel has a sniper?” Beth asked.
Kate resumed walking as she explained how their reconnaissance team had discovered the shooter. Kate was sure he had military or law enforcement training. He was an excellent shot for long distances.
When the two women had made it back to the command center, one of Kate’s security forces was waiting on the steps.
“I’ll let you get back to work. I just wanted to check in with you and see if you had any information about Roger. I’m sure you will let me know if anyone finds out anything,” Beth said as she shifted Jack’s carrier from one shoulder to the other.
He may have been a small dog, but the carrier’s weight was not distributed very well and cut into her shoulder.
“I will, Beth. I should have a report from the search team later this afternoon if you’d like to come back after dinner.”
“I will. I think I’m going to pay your radio guy another visit and see what he has heard about Missouri and Illinois.”
“All right, I’ll see you after dinner,” Kate called as she shut the door to the command center.
Beth walked straight to see the radio man.
Dex sat in an office chair at a desk in the corner of the small trailer. The round, short man turned toward the door as Beth entered.
“Hello, Dex. I came to see if you might have heard anything about my kids or their trip to Missouri.”
“Ah, Beth. It is Beth, right?” Dex asked, pushing his thick glasses up on the bridge of his nose.
“Yes, I’m Beth.”
Dex pushed himself back from the desk and pointed to a chair along the wall of the tiny room.
“I just heard a transmission from those folks near Chicago. The ones who sent out that message for you. I let them know that you received the message, and you were on your way home.”
Beth lowered herself onto the straight-back chair and placed Jack’s carrier on the floor. She held her breath, waiting for news of her children.
“There was some concerning news,” Dex said.
“What? About my children?” Beth asked, scooting to the edge of the seat.
“That fella that they are with headed toward Peoria, Illinois. Well, the group up in Marseille heard that DHS followed them, and they fled down river.”
“Downriver? In a boat? What happened?” Beth asked in rapid-fire succession.
“That’s all anyone knows at this point. The Marseille group was packing up to get out of the area themselves. It seems those DHS goons are trying to bust up any armed groups in the area. They were heading down to the Peoria area too. He said they’d try to get an update out when they got there.”
“How long ago was that? Have they had time to get there?”
“That was yesterday. I’m not sure how long it would take them to get there. That would depend on how they were traveling. Peoria is about one hundred miles, or so, south of them, I think.”
Beth ran both hands through her long blonde hair then rubbed her forehead.
“They likely won’t know anything about my kids, though, will they?”
“Probably not, but they might hear news about them from other ham operators in the area.”
“What is in Peoria that Ryan and now this group would want to head there?”
“From what they say, the county officials have decided not to cooperate with FEMA and DHS and have set up their own food distribution centers in the area. They are supported by the local National Guard and Reserve units. They have seized the Port of Peoria warehouses and barges filled with food and supplies. Right now, they are pulling together to keep the community fed and protected from raiders.”
“I bet that won’t sit well with DHS, though,” Beth said.
“So far, they haven’t moved on the local jurisdiction. So, maybe DHS will leave them alone.”
“Is the group in Marseille some sort of militia that DHS feels threatened by?” Beth asked.
“No, not that I am aware of. As far as I know, their community is a cooperative much like this one, filled with like-minded people who saw this shit coming and prepared.”
“I guess a community like this one would stand out. Guns are pretty restricted there.”
“Yeah, and I hear they have been fighting armed groups hitting FEMA storage facilities so they may be trying to root that behavior out,” Dex said, rolling his chair back to his desk.
Beth heard chatter on the radio but could not make out what the person was saying. Dex turned some knobs, and the voice came in clearer.
“I hear that Roger is missing,” Dex said.
“He went out to help when the cartel attacked the compound. He hasn’t made it back yet,” Beth said, standing.
“I wouldn’t worry about that one. He is likely looking for that sniper. That is what he does, you know.”
With her hand on the doorknob, Beth said, “I wouldn’t be worried if he wasn’t injured already. He barely had enough water for a couple of hours, let alone overnight.”
“Still, Roger can handle himself. He’s been in tougher conditions and made it out to tell about it. I’ll have someone come get you if I hear any news about your kids.”
“Okay. Thanks,” Beth said as she slid her arm through the strap of Jack’s carrier.
Beth believed that Dex was right about Roger being able to handle himself. But she didn’t think he would have stayed gone this long willingly. He knew she needed to get home to her kids. If he didn’t make it back soon, she was going to be forced to make some tough decisions—decisions that scared the shit out of her. And she wasn’t sure she was ready for the consequences of those decisions.
Beth spent the rest of the day helping Rebecca care for her patients. The woman with the burns had passed away. Her body lay on the bed in one of the rooms down the hall, a sheet covering her head. Rebecca’s son, Ethan, sat on the hallway floor playing with Jack. He bounced a little yellow tennis ball off the walls for Jack to chase. Beth had never seen the little Shih Tzu play so hard.
Although Beth did her best to not worry about Roger or her kids, the longer she went without a word about them, the harder that became. By the time dinner was announced, Beth’s stomach was in knots. She knew it was important to stay fueled up, so she forced herself to eat, but it kept threatening to come back up. She saved part of her slice of canned ham for Jack. He’d love it.
Beth returned to the colonel’s office after dinner. Several people waited outside the door to the command center. They glanced at Beth then turned away. When a man dressed in camo exited the trailer, Beth saw Kate standing in the doorway. She motioned to Beth, and those gathered around the door parted to let Beth through.
