The Butterfly Box_A SASS Anthology

by Anthology

  Pretending to check on the rabbit in the kitchen, Jema had stolen three days’ worth of food. With matches, weapons, lights, a radio, phones, and extra jackets, we just needed water, and I figured I could load it in the truck in the afternoon.

  The rest of the day flew by as I finished fueling up the vehicles. There weren’t any more visitors to the truck bay, and I loaded five gallons of water in the Jeep. Double-checking the keys still sat on the dash, I stowed them in my pocket and made my way to dinner.

  Afterwards, I showered before the evening update. There weren’t any new developments, and the communication ban held. Reclining on my bed, I heard footsteps and sat up to see Jema striding across the room towards me.

  “What’s going on?” I grabbed her hand as she passed.

  “Just an act,” she whispered, wrapping her arms around me. As with the previous night, Jema talked with her mom via the fiber line they’d laid between the sites. Nave’s condition still deteriorated, and Jema had pleaded with Commander Butler to make an exception to the radio ban. He wouldn’t budge, and she stomped off, pretending to be upset.

  “Is everything okay?” Mom approached us.

  Jema stepped away from me. “My sister’s not any better.”

  “I’m so sorry.”

  “Thanks.” She plopped on her mattress, hugging her pillow.

  Mom sat beside her, and I was surprised to see Jema stiffen as Mom wrapped an arm around her shoulder. “They’ll figure something out. You just have to have faith.”

  Jema nodded, and Mom released her.

  “We’ll go running, that will help you feel better.”

  Mom ruffled my hair. “Exercise is not the answer to everything.”

  Ducking away, I planted myself beside Jema. “But it’s a good distraction.”

  “You guys just be careful. Commander Butler came and had a talk with me. I don’t want any more trouble.”

  “We won’t make any trouble.” They don’t need that Deserter anyway, I thought.

  “Okay, well some of the women are playing cards, so I’m going to join them.”

  “Have fun.” I watched her walk away. “She’s not going to be happy with me.” I rubbed my hand on Jema’s leg.

  She wrapped her hand around mine. “Is this a stupid idea?”

  “I think it’s going to work. Plus, your dad thinks it’s okay.”

  “I may have let him believe my uncle knew about it.”

  “What if your dad contacts Commander Butler?”

  “He won’t. I told him with the communication ban we could only use my radio.”

  “It’ll work. We should get a nap.” I stretched out on my mattress and set my alarm for sunset.

  She lay beside me. “I don’t know if I can sleep.”

  “How do you fall asleep back home?”

  “Thinking of my choreography.”

  “Yeah, no, we would’ve never met at home. I don’t dance.”

  “Too tough, eh?” She poked my ribs. “What do you think of?”

  “New football plays.”

  “You’re just as obsessed as me.” She closed her eyes, and I closed mine, trying to clear my brain.

  THE ALARM SOUNDED, and I found I’d dozed off. Jema was off the mattress in a second. She’d hoisted her pack on her back before I could even sit up.

  “Yeah, yeah, you’re driving first. Too bad we don’t have coffee in this place,” I said in my most nonchalant voice. But my pulse raced, and I could hear my heartbeat in my ears. I felt the same tingle of every nerve just like before a game.

  “Here.” She set my bag on the bed.

  “Got it, ooh-rah.”

  “Military brat.”

  “Takes one to know one.” I bumped her into the aisle.

  “Hi, guys.” Mom’s voice froze me.

  “Oh, hi.”

  “You heading out?”

  “Yeah.” A sudden urge to hug her attacked me, and I wrapped my arms around her, squeezed her for a second, and then released her. “Love you, Mom.”

  “Oh, sweetie, I love you, too.” She kissed my cheek.

  “Okay, I’m done. Bye.”

  “Don’t stay out too late.”

  I waved my hand behind me as we walked away.

  Passing the command center, Commander Butler exited from the locked door. “Getting me another rabbit?”

  “We’ll see if I get lucky,” Jema called back, looking at me and winking.

  We walked outside a few feet and checked the area. After making sure it was clear, we tiptoed back to the truck bay. Moving down the aisles between the trucks, we found no one.

  Once at the Deserter, we stored our bags inside. Sliding on her night goggles, Jema walked into the tunnel.

  “I walked it. It’s downhill,” I whispered when I caught up with her.

  She nodded, and we traipsed back to the Jeep. After putting it in neutral, we tried to push it forward. I motioned to Jema to steer, and I looped around back, using the vehicle behind us for leverage. It took a few attempts, but the truck started to roll. Crackle, crackle, crackle went the tires on the rocky ground, and I held my breath listening for signs we’d been caught.

  We pushed on each doorframe to inch the Deserter along. The path descended at a steady angle, and I figured the truck would pick up enough speed that we’d need to brake at some point. As the tunnel grew darker, there were fewer and fewer sounds, save the crunching of the tires. As we walked along at a faster and faster pace, I signaled to Jema to jump in.

  “Wow, I cannot believe we’re doing this,” she whispered as I slid in beside her.

  “I was going to use some stronger language, but that works.”

  Unlike earlier in the day, the tunnel didn’t brighten as we rolled along, making it hard to tell how far we’d gone.

  “When are we turning the motor on?” Jema asked in a hushed tone.

  “At an incline, or as soon as we hit the road. Whichever comes first,” I said, keeping my voice low.

  “Got it. This is kinda fun.”

  “Let’s just hope we think that once we get back.”

  “I think we’ll have to go into containment again.”

  “Oh, God, I didn’t think about that. That placed sucked.” I opened my door. “I’m out.”

  “What?”

  “Ha, just kidding”

  She slapped my leg.

  “Hey, hands on the wheel.”

  The space in front of the Jeep seemed to lighten. “This is the end. We’re almost out.”

  “You drive.”

  “What? We can’t switch places now. We need speed.”

  “I want you to drive.”

  “You’re serious?”

  “Yes.” She pulled herself up to the steering wheel.

  “Fine.” I slid under her and took the wheel.

  “Who’s the scaredy-cat now?”

  Coming out of the tunnel, the vehicle bounced over rocks and crushed bushes in its path. Punching the ignition button just before the low point, I switched the transmission to drive. With enough momentum to get us up to the road, the Jeep bounced over the edge of the asphalt and onto the highway.

  Then I pushed my foot to the floor, and the truck accelerated away from the mountain. I’d already planned a route around the far side so we didn’t pass Lovelock’s entrance.

  “We did it!” Jema yelled as soon as we were around the side of the hill and well clear of the cave. Her hand still gripped the rifle, but she relaxed back in her seat. “Would you have shot them if they’d come after us?”

  “The tires first. Why? You wouldn’t?”

  “I don’t know. I hadn’t thought about that scenario.”

  “That’s all I’ve been thinking about. What to do if we’re discovered by border patrol, the EC, or chased by Commander Butler’s guys.”

  “I don’t think there are many patrols. Why do they care if people leave?”

  “The EC does. About someone like me.”

  She didn’t respond, and w
e sped along the road in near darkness. I didn’t dare turn on a radio, and the silence started to wear on me.

  “Okay, you gotta talk to me.”

  “About what?”

  “You.”

  “Me?”

  “Yeah, have you always lived in Port Orford?” I pelted her with question after question to keep her talking. It was funny how she clammed up when asked about herself. All the other girls I hung out with were the opposite. Usually I didn’t get a word in. But she shot question after question back at me. My family had moved every two years or so, and I cataloged the bases I’d lived on.

  We froze when the radio dinged.

  “Cleo and Mark, come in.” Commander Butler’s voice sounded from the speaker.

  “What do we do?” Jema asked.

  “Nothing.”

  “We know you have the Deserter. Very ironic. I’m sure you realized that, though,” the Commander said.

  “Does he think we’re stupid? We’re nearly halfway there.” I checked my watch, which read eleven thirty.

  “If you’re caught, you’ll endanger our whole camp.”

  “They’re endangering their camp by talking to us. Disconnect the wires,” I told Jema.

  She lifted the radio from the dash. “I think this is your area.”

  “I need a break from driving anyway.” I slowed the car and steered off the highway. When I shut off the engine, I studied the radio, unplugging the wires from the back so we could reconnect them if needed.

  Getting out of the car, we walked between the skeletons of dead trees, going our separate ways for privacy. When I circled back we stretched out our limbs, preparing for the drive ahead. Climbing into the vehicle, Jema craned her neck towards the windshield and lifted her night vision goggles from her eyes.

  “I don’t know how you see anything without these.”

  “Genes, baby.” I smiled at her.

  We kept each other amused by talking about our families and lower grade years. She was into science, especially biology, and I admitted to my infatuation with history. Funny, I’d never told Bridget about the history books I had stored in my closet.

  “So, do you compete, like in dance competitions?” I asked Jema.

  “No, I mostly try out for roles in ballets.”

  “So, have you been in any?”

  “Small parts in Seattle.”

  “That’s a long way. I wish I could Google you. You’re probably good, aren’t you?”

  “I do okay.”

  “How many hours do you dance a day?”

  “In the summer, six to eight. With school, I only get in two a day.”

  “That’s hard core. I only get four to six hours a day in during the summer.”

  “I’m inside though.”

  “I guess.”

  We switched drivers, taking shifts to stay sharp. Even with the surveillance system, I grew more nervous the closer we got to the border. We’d chosen a location half an hour from the pick-up spot to camp. Finding a clearing wide enough, I drove between the trees about three hundred feet off the road. So far north, the trees survived and the long needles grew thick on the branches. We covered our tracks and set up a lean-to tent extending out from the Jeep. Deciding to sleep in one-hour shifts, I took first watch. We switched again, and I pulled the sleeping bag over my head.

  “TROY, TROY.” JEMA poked my arm.

  “What?” I sat up fast.

  “There was a ping on the map. I can see them on the next ridge over. They’re driving slow, scouting the forests.”

  “How did you see them?”

  “From the tree.” She pointed at the sky.

  Following her up the branches, I used the binoculars to locate the vehicle. “Dang.”

  “What do we do? Hope they don’t see us?”

  “It’s too late if they do. It’s us or them.”

  “Really?” She looked at me, wide-eyed.

  “Did you think it wouldn’t be?”

  “Maybe we can start a fire or something.”

  “Then there’ll be more people out here.”

  “Are we good enough shots to get them? If they’re missing, people will come look for them.”

  “Not for a while. And we can move.”

  “Okay, so we try for them but not the vehicle?”

  “Have they gotten out of the truck?”

  “A couple of times.”

  “Good, we wait till they do and take them out.” I backed down the tree and grabbed my pack. “Put everything you can on your back. We’ll get as close as possible.” I checked the bullets in my pistols, and Jema checked her rifle. Slinging the bow and quivers on her back, she stuffed the radio in her pocket.

  “Here.” She held out my phone to me. “Just in case.”

  “I don’t know your number.”

  Searching the Jeep, we found pens and wrote numbers on each other’s forearms. Hiking towards the men, it was slow going over stumps and rocks. Every hundred feet, Jema scaled a tree to check for the vehicle. The men walked several feet into the woods and then drove five hundred feet or so, and I wondered what they were looking for. Could they detect the rubber from the tires? If so, they’d know when we went off road.

  We reached a ravine and started up the side of the next hill. It was harder to see them, and we cut closer to the road. I prayed we had the advantage. Maybe they were hunting and not a threat at all. We couldn’t risk it, though.

  As we heard the motor, we crouched down under some low branches. Using the binoculars, I saw an EC symbol displayed on the side of the Jeep.

  “They’re EC. We have to eliminate them next time they stop.”

  Jema drew in a long breath and let it out.

  “Survival. This is what we trained for,” I whispered to her.

  Swallowing hard, she raised and lowered her chin. In a few more feet, the vehicle slowed, and the men got out again. Moving in slow deliberate steps, I held my pistol out, ready to shoot. I took in a deep breath and crouched behind a rock.

  “I think the sensors messed up,” one voice said. “There’s nothing out here.”

  “Me right, you left.” Holding three fingers up, I counted down. Three, two… Spinning around the other side of the rock, I squeezed the trigger. Both our guns fired within seconds, and I saw my guy grab his abdomen. I knew I had to do better and aimed and fired again. Hearing Jema’s gun fire a second shot, I forced myself to focus on my guy. His hand went to his chest, and he fell to the pavement.

  Switching my gaze to the left, I saw the second man lying on the asphalt. My first thought was to jump and cheer, but a survival instinct checked the reaction, and I crouched to the ground. Jema had already knelt, and I whispered to her, “We got them. We’re safe.”

  She shook her head back and forth.

  “Hey, you okay?” I rubbed my hand down her back.

  When she looked up at me, her face was wet with tears. “I can’t believe we just did that.”

  “It’ll be okay.” I hugged her to me. “We’ve got to get back to the Jeep.” Gripping her shoulders, I pulled her up. “You okay?”

  “Let’s just go.”

  “Okay.” I headed in the direction we’d come, not knowing whether to talk to her or not.

  She didn’t say anything, so I didn’t either. When we reached the Jeep, I checked the surveillance device again. The EC patrol’s blip stayed stationary on the screen, and the rest of the field was clear.

  “We should move.”

  “We can’t get on the road in the daytime. We should stay. We need the vehicle. We can protect it.”

  “I guess you’re right.” I took a long swig from a canteen and held it out to her.

  “No.” She sat down on a rock.

  I sipped water and stared into the woods. “Do you want to talk about it?”

  “No.”

  “It was—”

  “I said no. I am napping.” She climbed into the truck and shut the door behind her.

  As my heart rate ret
urned to normal and my breaths evened out, every sound in the woods became magnified. My face flushed with heat, and sweat beaded on my forehead. A gust of wind had me shivering, and I lowered my head between my knees. Just a blood sugar dip, I told myself. A reaction to the last hour. I couldn’t think about those men. I had to stay vigilant.

  I left her alone for an hour. Peeking into the car, I saw her eyes open, trained on the ceiling.

  “You okay?”

  “Yeah.” She sat up. “Want me to take the next watch?”

  “I guess. I’m not that tired, but I could use some company. It seems too quiet now.”

  “I need to move around.”

  “Let’s walk a little.”

  We grabbed our packs and, staying under the trees, walked farther into the woods. After several hundred feet, we doubled back and repeated the trek.

  “You should eat something,” I told her as we set our packs down.

  She turned her wrist over. “Five more hours till sunset.”

  Sitting down, she handed me a meal and opened one for herself. “How long before they send someone to find those guys?”

  “Couple of hours, maybe.”

  “Should we try to drive through the woods? Cross the road? Get away from here? The forest is going to get darker now. That’s an advantage.”

  “That may be a good idea.”

  We finished eating and stowed everything in the Jeep. Making our way north, away from the patrol vehicle, we picked a spot on the road almost covered with trees and crossed over, heading west. It was slow going through the brush, but in forty minutes we parked directly south of the pick-up location.

  I filled the gas tank, and we stretched our legs, hiking away from the vehicle and back again. She napped, and then I did. As it got dark, we snacked on granola bars.

  “This is the part I don’t like,” I told her as she checked her gear.

  “It won’t even be an hour. We’ll stop a mile from the border, and I’ll hike to the drop location.”

  As if on cue, her radio beeped. “Copy,” she said into the receiver.

  “The procedure is done. The package will be at the location in an hour.”

  “Thank you.”

  She held the radio out to me. “See, all is going as planned.”