by Robert Boren
Jason was exhausted as he went up the steps of the motor home, slipping inside. Carrie was sleeping on the couch, and stirred when he shut the door.
“Oh, good,” she said, shaking off the sleep. “I was getting worried.” She sat up on the couch, and Jason plopped down next to her. He chuckled.
“What’s so funny?”
“We screwed up that road but good,” Jason said. “What a mess. Even the frontage road is screwed up in spots. We had to use two Jeeps with winches to pull Amanda’s bobtail out of one place. She was on the shoulder and that truck just sunk right into the sand.”
“She must have enjoyed that,” Carrie said.
“You know, she’s such a strong person, and with this great sense of humor. She laughed about everything and pitched in as much as anybody else there. I can see why Curt is so infatuated.”
“She screams like a banshee when she’s in bed with Curt,” Carrie said.
“Shit, that story is getting out all over the place. We need to stop this kinda crap. It makes the troops mad. Hopefully it hasn’t gotten back to Curt. Probably isn’t even true.”
Carrie snickered.
“What? Don’t tell me you…”
“Yep,” Carrie said. “You know what this pregnancy has been doing with my sleeping patterns.”
Jason snickered. “Good for him.”
“Good for her,” Carrie said, shaking her head. “You men crack me up.”
“You might want to stop there,” Jason said.
“Shut up,” she said. “That was years ago.”
“And last time,” he said, watching her face turn red.
“Okay, okay,” she said. “I’m going to New Mexico, you know. No ifs, ands, or buts.”
“I’m okay with that,” Jason said. “I’d rather have you nearby than back here. Anything could happen. This park could get attacked.”
“I hope we’re past that.”
“There’s thousands of Islamists in North America. I’m sure they know by now that they aren’t taking over the US mainland, but their leadership probably wants them to hide out and blow things up here and there, just to keep the population on edge. They could really use that.”
“I know, been thinking about that too,” she said. “What happens when the war is over, and our story starts getting out? You know it will. We’ll end up being famous.”
“You’re afraid that some of these sleepers will sneak right up and kill us,” Jason said.
“A little bit. You aren’t?”
“When the leadership and army are both defeated, the rank and file usually won’t rise up and fight to the death, regardless of what some people have thought. After we got rid of Hitler, remnants of the German Army didn’t continue killing people. Some high-level Nazis escaped the country, but most of them just took off their gear and tried to forget any of it ever happened, and we promoted that outcome…after trying and executing the big fish we captured, of course.”
“So what are you saying, Jason?”
“I’m saying that when it’s obvious the Caliphate will never win, most of these people will either fade into the woodwork and try to live normal lives here, or they’ll flee the country. I don’t think we’ll have a bunch of them still blowing things up all the time. They won’t have a leadership to egg them on and give orders.”
“Well, I hope your right,” Carrie said. “Can we go to bed now?”
“Okay,” Jason said. “I’m glad we didn’t have to keep going. I’ve wanted to curl up next to you for a while.”
“Me too,” she said. “We don’t get enough us time.”
“How’s Chelsea?”
“She missed you, as usual,” Carrie said. “C’mon, let’s go in the bedroom. We can talk in there.”
Jason nodded and got up, pulling her to her feet.
“Was it a bad fight?” Carrie asked. She slipped into bed, watching him get undressed.
“It wasn’t nasty hand to hand,” Jason said. “We really caught these folks with their pants down. From the reaction we got, I’d say we took them completely by surprise.”
“Lots of people get killed?”
“Hardly any of our people,” Jason said. “None of the core group. I think Kyle’s truck took a couple of shots to the top of the cab. Maybe some other damage like that. Lots of enemy fighters died, but that would’ve been worse if we hadn’t kept the survivors as prisoners.”
“How many were left?”
Jason slid into bed. “Way over a thousand. Don’t know the exact count.”
“Where they taking them?”
“Some jail in Waco,” Jason said, snuggling up against her, his hand feeling her baby bump. “Kicking much?”
“Yeah,” she said. “More than Chelsea did. I’ll bet this is a boy.”
“We need to get you some pre-natal care. We should see somebody in Amarillo before we split.”
“I was thinking the same thing,” Carrie said. “At least I could get some vitamins, and maybe have an ultra sound.”
“Let’s do that tomorrow,” Jason said. “I don’t think we’re leaving until day after tomorrow anyway.”
“Okay,” she said. “I’m so tired.”
“Sleep,” Jason said. “We’ll talk more tomorrow.”
She nodded, then turned on her side, facing away from him, pushing back to snuggle. They both drifted off.
Jason woke up first. He could hear people moving around outside in the bright morning sun. He looked at Carrie, still on her side, her body rising and falling as she breathed. Please, help me to keep her safe.
“Daddy, are you in there?” Chelsea asked from outside the door.
“Yes, sweetie. I’ll be out in a minute.”
He snuck out of bed and threw on his clothes, then slipped outside.
“I’m hungry,” Chelsea said.
“I’ll get you some cereal.”
“Okay,” she said, watching as he opened the fridge. “I wanted to wait up for you, but mommy said no.”
“That’s good, because I didn’t get home until after midnight,” Jason said. He made her a bowl of cereal and took it to the table. “Here you go.”
“Thanks, daddy,” she said, climbing up. She ate as he plugged in the coffee maker and filled it with water.
“Good morning,” Carrie said, walking out of the bedroom in her robe. “Been up long?”
“Just a few minutes. The coffee maker is heating up.”
“Good,” Carrie said. “Hey, pumpkin.”
“Hi, mommy,” Chelsea said. “Daddy made me cereal.”
“I see that, honey. Now daddy can make me some coffee.”
“Coffee is yucky,” Chelsea said, mouth half full of food.
“Don’t talk with your mouth full,” Jason said. “You want bold or medium?”
“I think this is a bold morning,” Carrie said.
Jason picked a bold pod and brewed it for her as she sat in the dinette next to Chelsea.
“Here you go,” Jason said, sliding the cup to her, then turning to make himself one. “You’re checking out the doctors, right?”
“Yep,” Carrie said. “It’s only eight-thirty, though. I’ll wait a little while. I should take a shower.”
“Here or the park showers?” Jason asked.
“Park, I think,” she said. “I feel huge.”
“You aren’t showing that much,” Jason said.
“I know, but I feel clumsy already.”
There was a knock on their door. Jason looked out. “Eric and Kim.” He opened the door.
“Just in time for coffee,” Jason said. “Come on in.”
“Uncle Eric!” squealed Chelsea.
“High, sweet pea,” Eric said, smiling as he walked to her. He planted a kiss on her forehead. Kim petted her head, and then sat on the couch.
“Something going on?” Carrie asked.
Jason brewed another cup of coffee and handed it to Kim.
“Yeah,” Eric said. “Remember the meeting yesterday, where Ramsey said we
should take I-40 into New Mexico?”
Jason laughed. “Crap, you’re right. We need to either delay when we take off or find an alternate route. No way are we gonna do what we did yesterday with all of these RVs.”
“Exactly,” Eric said. “We might want to call Ramsey and chat about that.”
“Yeah, probably better,” Jason said.
“Are you coming?” Kim asked Carrie.
Carrie shook her head yes. “I already made that quite clear.”
“And I agreed, remember?” Jason asked.
“Yes,” Carrie said. “I was surprised.”
“I wouldn’t leave my loved-ones here,” Eric said. “We’re liable to see a revenge attack.”
There was another knock at the door.
“What is this, Grand Central Station?” Carrie asked. Her and Kim giggled.
“It’s Curt and Kyle,” Jason said, opening the door for them.
“Hey, pencil neck,” Curt said.
“Hey, bro,” Kyle said. “Already got company, I see.”
“Hi, guys,” Eric said.
“I’ll bet you were over here to talk about the same thing we want to talk about,” Curt said.
Eric chuckled. “Great minds think alike.”
“Where’s Amanda?” Carrie asked.
“I let her sleep,” Curt said. “She had a rough day yesterday.”
“Okay, let’s get to it,” Kyle said. “You guys know we can’t take I-40 into New Mexico. Not with our rigs. It’s hard enough with the off-roaders.”
“Yep, that’s what we were talking about,” Eric said.
“Think it’s too early to call the chief?” Kyle asked.
“Who cares?” Curt asked.
“Be nice,” Carrie said. “And watch the language. We’ve got big ears here.”
“Oh, yeah,” Curt said. “Hi, honey.”
“Hi, Uncle Curt,” Chelsea said.
“I’ll try him,” Jason said. “Have some coffee. We’ve got a decent assortment.”
“Don’t mind if I do,” Kyle said.
“Where’s Kate?” Kim asked.
“Still sleeping, I hope,” Kyle said as he loaded the coffee maker.
“She back to one hundred percent yet?” Carrie asked.
“Physically, yeah,” Kyle said. “She’s got a little ways to go emotionally, I think. The hormones are still raging.”
Jason put his phone down on the kitchen counter and hit the speaker button.
“You hear us, chief?”
“Yeah. Good morning. Sounds like I’m on speaker.”
“We got Curt, Eric, and Kyle here,” Jason said. “Also Carrie, Kim, and Chelsea.”
“Hello, everybody. What’s on your minds?”
“Our route to New Mexico,” Jason said. “I-40 isn’t good enough to take these rigs on. We found that out last night.”
“How about the frontage road?” Ramsey asked.
Curt laughed. “That’s what we’re talking about. We had a hard time using that to get home. We didn’t get back here until after midnight. No way can we use that for RVs.”
“Oh,” Ramsey said. “Crap. We’d better look at the map.”
“That’s what I’m thinking,” Curt said.
“I’m punching it into my phone,” Kim said.
“Good idea, honey,” Eric said.
Kim giggled. “Guess what the recommended route is?”
“I-40, of course,” Jason said.
Ramsey chuckled.
“The secondary route looks okay,” Kim said. “Funny, it’s less time too. Probably a harder drive.”
“What’s it saying?” Eric asked.
“I-27 to Highway 60, then to Highway 70.” Kim laughed. “This route goes through Roswell.”
Curt snickered. “Oh, brother.”
“Maybe we should stop by there for some hardware upgrades,” Kyle said.
“Shut up, pencil neck,” Curt said, shaking his head.
“You guys sound like you did when you were all rookies,” Ramsey said.
“Well some of us do, anyway,” Jason said. “You have any problems with this route?”
“Not offhand,” Ramsey said. “Let me run it past Gallagher and Wallis, though, okay?”
“Sounds good, boss,” Jason said.
“Okay, I’ll talk to you later,” Ramsey said. The call ended.
“Well, there you have it,” Eric said.
“We could’ve done that ourselves,” Kim said.
“I want the leadership team to know where we’re going,” Jason said.
“Yeah, me too,” Kyle said. “We might need some air support.”
“All right, that makes sense,” Curt said.
There was a knock at the door.
“Amanda,” Jason said, looking out the window.
“Well, pencil neck, let her in,” Curt said.
Jason chuckled and opened the door.
“Curt in here?” she asked.
“Sure, come on in,” Jason said. “Coffee?”
“That sounds good,” she said, coming up the steps. “What’s going on?”
“We all kinda realized that taking I-40 to New Mexico isn’t the best idea in the world,” Curt said.
“Hi, Amanda!” Chelsea said. She climbed under the table and came out, running over and hugging her legs.
“Hi, sweetheart,” Amanda said, squatting down next to her. “How are you this fine morning?”
“I’m good,” she said. “Daddy’s home.”
“Yes, he is,” Amanda said.
“Looks like somebody’s mother material,” Kyle said, sly grin on his face.
“Shut up…pen.”
“I know, pencil neck,” Kyle said. “You going to teach your babies to use that term?”
Amanda snickered. “We’ll have to adjust some of Curt’s habits.”
Everybody laughed. Chelsea looked around, trying to understand what was so funny.
“We made a suggestion to Ramsey,” Curt said, getting next to Amanda. “He’s going to get back to us.”
“We need to talk about the mobile still and the tanks,” Amanda said.
“Seriously,” Curt said. “Are we taking the tanks?”
“That’s a good question,” Kyle said.
“Yeah, when I thought the entire group was going to New Mexico, I just assumed we’d take them,” Eric said. “We might want to leave them here to protect the people staying behind.”
There was another knock at the door. Everybody cracked up.
“We’re just about to our limit in this thing,” Carrie said.
“Probably Kate,” Kyle said, going for the door. “Yep.” He opened the door for her.
“Geez, everybody’s in here,” Kate said as she climbed in.
“Pretty much,” Carrie said. “How are you, honey?”
“I’m good,” Kate said. “I assume we’re trying to figure out how to get around that mess on I-40.”
“Yeah, pretty much,” Kyle said.
“We should have a meeting about this stuff,” Jason said. “Both the route change, and the other questions, like what to do with the tanks.”
“Maybe we could leave the still here and teach somebody else to run it,” Amanda said.
“Yeah, maybe,” Curt said. “Who’s staying here? Do we know yet?”
“Don and Sydney’s team,” Jason said. “Remember? That includes all of the minors.”
“Teenagers,” Amanda said. “Probably shouldn’t get them started with moonshine.”
Curt chuckled. “Yeah, you’re right there. Wonder what the authorities are like here? They could come in and bust our operation.”
Amanda chuckled. “True.”
“I’m a little worried about what happens here when we leave,” Kyle said.
“I know, me too,” Jason said. “That’s why I’m good with Carrie and Chelsea going to New Mexico.”
“We sure the social media team really needs to stay here?” Carrie asked.
“We have r
eliable internet here,” Curt said. “We might lose that and cell coverage in New Mexico, if it’s as screwed up as we’ve been hearing.”
“The cell towers will be in good repair,” Eric said. “It’s in the enemies interest to keep them that way.”
“Why?” Carrie asked.
“I think they’re part of the system for those RFID chips,” Eric said.
Curt sat quietly for a moment. “He might be right, you know. Maybe we should blow every cell tower we see.”
“If we crack the chips, it’ll be in our interest to leave them in place,” Eric said.
Jason’s phone rang. He answered it, then put it on speaker and set it on the counter again. “Hear us, chief?”
“Yeah,” Ramsey said. “I’ve got Wallis and Gallagher on the line.”
“Hello, everybody,” Wallis said.
“Good morning,” Gallagher said.
“Same to you guys,” Jason said. “What do you think?”
“The route is fine, although you’ll end up in a little bit of rugged country,” Gallagher said. “We’ll set up surveillance of the area. We can keep several drones in the air over you for the whole time.”
“Good,” Jason said. “Thanks. You guys could’ve run that through Ramsey. You want to talk about something else, don’t you?”
“We don’t think you should leave anybody in Amarillo,” Wallis said.
“Uh oh,” Carrie said. “You see something?”
“There’s been chatter,” Wallis said. “The enemy knows where we’re taking the prisoners. We think they’ll try to rescue them, and in order to do that, they’ll try to come in via I-40.”
Curt laughed. “You looked at that road?”
“Yes, we’ve already got cleanup underway,” Gallagher said.
“How?” Curt asked.
“We made an offer to the folks who joined you in the battle. We hired them, basically. Twenty thousand people will get that road back in shape pretty quick.”
“How’d you talk them into that?” Kyle asked.
“Most of these people have been out of work due to this war,” Wallis said. “We’re paying them very well for this.”
“That’s great,” Eric said, “but aren’t they needed along the southern border?”
“We’ve got other places to pull from,” Gallagher said. “San Antonio, for example. Houston. We’re already getting that started.”
“So you think I-40 is going to become an enemy route,” Curt said. “Maybe we should go ahead with arming those folks and let them patrol this part of Texas.”
