by Robert Boren
“Turn off the lights out there,” Sydney said.
“Will do,” he said, rushing back to the light switch and turning it off. He came back to the door. “You decent?”
“You care?” she asked, her voice coy. Don slid the door open. She was already under the covers. He undressed quickly and slid in next to her. She was warm and soft, turning her head back towards him. “You can wait a little while longer, can’t you?”
“Yes,” he said, feelings of love building in him. She turned onto her back, locking eyes with him for several minutes. He petted her hair. “I love you.”
“I know,” she said. “Go to sleep.” Her eyes closed, Don watching her beautiful face as her breathing changed, feeling the closeness that was gone from him since his beloved wife had died. He finally fell asleep, spinning into a world of battles and terror and loss that he’d been living with, every night since the horror at Deadwood.
Chapter 19 – Old Friends
Kip Hendrix paced in the console room, going stir crazy.
“You okay, honey?” Maria asked, walking in from the living room.
“Cabin fever,” he said. “Sorry. I’ll get over it.”
“Maybe we should see about joining Governor Nelson,” she said.
“I don’t think they want us there,” Hendrix said. “I think they want to keep this site open for now.”
“Maybe we could get a field trip,” she said.
Hendrix’s phone rang. He pulled it out, his eyes getting wide. “Jerry Sutton.” He took the call and put the phone to his ear.
“Kip. Thank God.”
“Jerry, where are you? Where have you been?”
“Holly and I were captured by the enemy,” he said. “We just escaped, when they evacuated the site.”
“Where are you now?” Hendrix asked.
“San Marcos,” Jerry said. “I think the enemy fled after a battle in San Antonio.”
“You need somebody to pick you up?” Hendrix asked.
“Yeah, we don’t have a car. We’re in an industrial park near the San Marcos Airport.”
“Okay,” Hendrix said. “You guys safe where you are?”
“I think so,” Jerry said.
“Okay, sit tight. I need to talk to Ramsey. I’ll get back with you.”
“Thanks, Kip.” Jerry ended the call.
“Was that really Jerry Sutton?” Maria asked.
“Yeah,” Hendrix said. “Get the console fired up. Let’s chat with Nelson and Ramsey.”
“Will do,” she said, taking the seat in front of it and inputting her code.
“Want a cup of coffee?” he asked.
“Sure, honey,” she said. “This will be ready in a couple minutes.”
“Thanks,” he said, walking into the kitchen. He made two coffees and brought them out. “Here you go. We on?”
“Brian responded, said he’d have to round them up. I told them it was about Jerry Sutton. He got a lot more serious after I mentioned him.”
“I’ll bet,” Hendrix said, pulling a chair next to her and sitting. “At least this got rid of my cabin fever for a while.”
She glanced over at him, a wicked grin on her face. “There are other things we can do, you know.”
He looked at her with loving eyes and smiled. “Again? Yeah, I’m game.”
Brian came back on the screen. “They’ll be here in a minute.”
“Great, thanks, Brian,” Hendrix said.
“Coffee tastes good,” Maria said.
“Yeah, it does,” Hendrix said. “Have any decorating ideas for the house?”
“It’ll be months before it’s ready,” she said.
“I don’t know,” Hendrix said. “They’re building fast. I was shocked when I saw the progress this morning.”
“You didn’t go outside, did you?”
“No, I used the video cameras,” Hendrix said, “although it was tempting, now that we have the door fixed.”
“Kip, what’s up?” Nelson asked, walking into the conference room with Ramsey and Gallagher.
“Hey, boss,” Hendrix said. “Brian told you that I got a call from Jerry Sutton, right?”
“Yes,” Nelson said. “Fill us in.”
“Well, not too much to tell. He said that he and Holly got captured by the enemy, who fled the area after the San Antonio battle. They were being held at an industrial park near the San Marcos Airport.”
“The enemy just left them there?” Ramsey asked.
“Sounds a little fishy,” Gallagher said. “I think they would’ve either taken them or gutted them.”
Hendrix sighed. “I know, I had a similar thought. What should we do?”
“We don’t bring them here,” Ramsey said. “Wonder if they have chips?”
Hendrix was silent for a moment. “We should check. That would tell us a lot.”
Gallagher chuckled. “He’s right, Governor. If they have chips, we’ll know we can’t trust them, and we’ll know that the enemy thinks we’re still clueless. We could exploit that.”
“I’m surprised they don’t get it, after all of the people we’ve taken out of the military,” Ramsey said. “Hard to contain something as big as that.”
“We’ve been extremely careful,” Gallagher said.
“We got a base near there we can take them to?” Ramsey asked. “With x-ray equipment?”
“Yeah, close by, too,” Gallagher said. “We’ve got a few buildings at the airport. Not the most secure in the world, but secure enough.”
“We could bring them here,” Hendrix said. “To our bunker.”
“Absolutely not,” Nelson said. “You guys are too important to risk, and we don’t want them anywhere near our systems.”
“Let’s think about this a little,” Gallagher said. “Do we want to make them think we don’t know about the RFID chips? Just in case they have them?”
“There’s a good question,” Hendrix said. “Might be in our interest to hide the fact from them.”
“That’s all well and good, but we need to know,” Ramsey said.
“I agree,” Nelson said. “Where can we bring them where they can be walked through a body scan, like the setup we have here at the Capitol building?”
“Do we dare bring them here?” Ramsey asked. “We could put them into the place we had Landry.”
“What if they use the chips for targeting?” Nelson asked.
“It’s not like the enemy doesn’t know where the Capitol Bunkers are,” Gallagher said. “I’m changing my mind on this. We should bring them here. We’ve got the bunker very well hardened. Nothing short of a direct hit from a nuke is gonna reach us.”
“Aren’t there other places where you could walk them through a scanner?” Hendrix asked.
“We’ve got the setup in Fort Worth,” Gallagher said. “We’re holding all those bad guys there. Army National Guard and Air National Guard.”
“You’ve already got a lot of beacons there, unless you’ve removed the chips from all those traitors,” Ramsey said. “So that part doesn’t matter.”
“Yes,” Gallagher said. “You’re right. I’m still against taking them there, though, in case the enemy doesn’t know we’ve used the RFID chips to weed out their plants in the National Guard. It would be hard to hide that from Sutton and Holly. We don’t have a good setup where we could keep them in the dark.”
Nelson sat silently for a moment, thinking. “I don’t want them taken to the base in Fort Worth. Let’s bring them here. If they have no RFID chips, we let them back in with us and watch them like a hawk. If they do have RFID chips, we very quietly stash them in the room we put Landry. We’ll have to decide how we handle things beyond that.”
“It’s slightly risky, but I’m good with it,” Ramsey said.
“What do you think, Kip?” Nelson asked.
Hendrix sighed. “I don’t like it, but it’s the best choice at this point.”
“Okay, then it’s settled,” Nelson said. “Gallagher, think you c
an get an armored car detail together?”
“Sure,” Gallagher said. “Kip, why don’t you call Jerry and give him my cell number. I’ll talk to him and make the arrangements.”
“Okay, will do,” Hendrix said.
“Anything else?” Nelson asked.
“How much longer do you want us to stay down here in the bunker?” Hendrix asked.
“Going a little stir-crazy, I’ll bet,” Nelson said. “A little while longer. We’re not sure it’s safe enough outside yet, and we want to keep that operation up and running just in case.”
“No problem,” Hendrix said.
“Okay, we’ll talk soon,” Nelson said. He nodded to Brian, who ended the meeting. Hendrix took a deep breath and got out of his chair.
“Worried?” Maria asked.
“A little,” Hendrix said. “I’m glad they’re doing full-body scans. If they’ve got chips, they obviously know about it. Ought to be interesting when they’re led through the scanner. They might try to bolt.”
“If they have any other devices the scanner will pick them up, right?”
“You mean like weapons or explosives?” Hendrix asked.
“Yes,” Maria said. “Remember the underwear bomber? The shoe bomber?”
“Yeah, I remember,” Hendrix said. “That’s why I’m glad it’s a full scan, although I can’t picture either of those guys as suicide bombers.”
“You better call Jerry back,” Maria said.
“I’ll do that now,” Hendrix said. He picked up his phone and hit the contact. It rang twice.
“Kip,” Jerry said. “What’s happening?”
“I’m texting you Gallagher’s cell number,” Hendrix said. “He’ll pick you up and take you to the Capitol building.”
“Great, thanks so much,” Jerry said, sounding relieved. “Holly wants to talk to you.”
“Put him on,” Hendrix said. He waited for a second.
“Kip,” Holly said, sounding on the verge of tears.
“Holly, how are you? You don’t sound so good.”
“I thought we were dead,” Holly said. “Still can’t believe they let us go. You still close to Nelson?”
“I am,” Hendrix said. “I was really worried about you guys. So glad you survived.”
“We almost didn’t,” Holly said. “Any big changes since we’ve been away?”
“Not really,” Hendrix said. “The battle continues, and it’s not a lock that we’re gonna win. That’s not much of a change from last time we talked.”
“No, it’s not,” Holly said.
“You got much info for us on the enemy?”
“They were pretty careful about talking to us,” Holly said. “We probably don’t know any more about them than you guys do, but I’ll describe all of the conversations in detail.”
“Good,” Hendrix said.
“I’d better go,” Holly said. “Jerry’s anxious to call for our ride.”
“Understand. Take care.”
“You too, old friend,” Holly said. The call ended.
“Well?” Maria asked.
“Jerry just wants to come in from the cold and be safe. I think Holly is hiding something.”
Chapter 20 – Waiting Rooms
Richardson, Juan Carlos, and Brendan sprinted up the stairs to the roof, bolting out the door.
“Oh, thank God,” Lita said, rushing to Richardson. “We were so worried, especially when that big explosion went off.”
“Yeah, I could see it in the air, and I was sitting down here,” Madison said, Juan Carlos getting down next to her. He kissed her tenderly.
Hannah held Brendan tight, sobbing. “It’s okay, honey,” Brendan said. “We’re safe.”
“Until next time,” she said. “Oh, hell, I don’t even care now. I just want you to hold me.”
Chuck and Carol came back on the roof.
“Good, thought I heard you guys,” Chuck said. “Where’s the boat?”
“Tied up by that third-floor window,” Juan Carlos said.
“You guys were amazing,” Carol said. “Same with the guys on the other side.”
Richardson’s phone rang. He looked at it. “Jefferson.”
“Answer it,” Lita said.
Richardson nodded and put the phone to his ear. “Hey, boss.”
“Congratulations,” he said. “Heard about what you did. San Antonio is out of danger.”
“Good, the Army National Guard must have showed up for once,” Richardson said.
Jefferson chuckled. “Yep, they did.”
“What are we doing now?” Richardson asked.
“We’re sending a trailer and tow vehicle there, with a crew to help you get your boat out of the water. Same with the other two boats.”
“What then?”
“You guys will go back to R and R, or maybe I should say honeymoon.”
“That would be nice,” Richardson said. “Are we trailering the boat ourselves?”
“Probably the best bet, assuming your car is under water.”
“It is,” Richardson said. “There’s six of us, remember.”
“I know,” Jefferson said. “We’ll be sending a crew cab dually, but that will be a little tight. I’ll try to arrange another vehicle.”
“Great,” Richardson said. “How soon, and where are we going?”
“In the morning,” he said. “You guys have someplace to stay?”
Richardson laughed. “We’re on the roof of a building right now. It’s not a hotel.”
“Not the greatest,” Jefferson said. “Try to get some sleep however you can. We’re gonna suggest you head on to Houston. We’ll have a place where you can put the boat. You’ll have a few days to find apartments.”
“I hope Houston will be less exciting than San Antonio has been.”
Jefferson laughed. “Me too. I’ll call you when the trailers and vehicles have arrived. Take care of yourselves.”
“Will do,” Richardson said. He set his phone down.
“Well?” Lita asked.
“They’re sending us a trailer and tow vehicle in the morning,” Richardson said. “Until then, we wait.”
“Where we going, dude?” Juan Carlos asked.
“Houston,” Richardson said. “Don’t know much beyond that, other than we’ll have a few days to get set up there.”
“We have to sleep on the roof, don’t we?” Madison asked.
“We can go down to another floor that’s cleaner and warmer,” Brendan said. “Maybe the elevator is working.”
“It’s not,” Chuck said. “Water got to it down in the basement. Sorry.”
“Where’s the best place to sleep?” Hannah asked.
“Probably any floor other than the third,” Chuck said, “since you guys busted the window down there.”
“All those damn flights of stairs,” Madison said, eyes weary.
“I can get you guys some sleeping bags,” Chuck said. “On the house.”
“You could charge them to DPS,” Richardson said.
“Yeah, that’s right, we can do that,” Chuck said. “Which floor do you want?”
“Why don’t you take the fourth floor?” Carol asked. “It’s another medical floor. There’s waiting rooms down there. Some of them are outside of the office doors. There’s couches and chairs.”
“Sounds like a plan,” Juan Carlos said. “Maybe we should get a head start, honey.”
Madison nodded.
“What about the guns and ammo?” Brendan asked.
“We’ll get it once we’re settled,” Richardson said. “Take a weapon with you, though. Everybody. Just in case we have enemies who know how to swim.”
“Help me up,” Madison said.
“Okay, sweetie,” Juan Carlos said, standing up next to her. He helped Madison to her feet and led her to the stairwell. They disappeared inside as the others gathered up weapons.
“I wish we still had our hotel rooms,” Lita said.
Richardson chuckled. “They’
re gonna need a few screen doors. They got blown up, remember?”
“Yeah, I remember,” she said, looking at him. “All that matters now is that we’ve made it through this. Six hours ago I thought one or both of us would be dead by now.”
“I know, sweetie,” he said. “I’m sorry.”
Hannah helped Brendan carry the SMAW and grenades. They made it to the fourth floor after a few minutes, arriving at the door just as Madison and Juan Carlos got there.
“You two got down here pretty fast,” Hannah said.
“I’m stronger now,” Madison said. “Thank God.”
“Yes, you are,” Juan Carlos said. “That’s good.”
They went into the hallway. There was a waiting room with two couches and several chairs about half way down, and another similar space about five yards past that.
“Perfect,” Richardson said.
“Still gonna be hard to sleep much here,” Lita said.
“Oh, I don’t know,” Madison said. “I’m so damn tired after this craziness.”
“Me too,” Hannah said. “Once I get comfy, I’ll be out for a while.”
Chuck and Carol came in with blankets.
“These ought to help some,” Chuck said. “Probably easier than sleeping bags. Just leave them when you take off tomorrow.”
“Thanks so much,” Richardson said. “For everything.”
“Thank you,” Chuck said.
“Yes,” Carol said. “You guys were amazing.”
Chapter 21 – The Line-Up
Sydney woke up looking at Don as he snored softly. She petted his head, eyes tearing. I love him so.
There was a loud mechanical clank outside, jarring Don awake. He saw Sydney staring at him and smiled.
“Good morning,” he said.
“Yes, it is,” she said. “Sounds like they made good on getting the tanks loaded at six.”
“That’s what that was, eh?”
“I think so,” she said. “Haven’t gotten out of bed yet.”
“Well I have to,” he said, climbing out. “Cold!” He went quickly into the bathroom. Sydney stretched, happiness flowing over her. He’s mine.
“It’s even colder in the bathroom,” Don said, shivering as he got back under the covers. Sydney snuggled up against him.
