Jake made eye contact with Maggie in the rear-view mirror. She looked sympathetic, but didn’t offer any advice.
“Homeland Security,” Maggie said. Jake shook his head disapprovingly.
Dawson looked abruptly back at Maggie, then at Jake. “Are you serious? Why would they have anything to do with my kids?”
“They were in the area because of the attacks. They pulled over a vehicle that looked suspicious and found the kids inside with a couple of Middle Eastern guys.”
“Iraqi guys?”
“They didn’t specify. They just said Middle Eastern. What makes you think Iraqi?”
“Isn’t it always guys from there?” Dawson answered, now looking back up the road at the farmhouse.
“Isn’t that where you did your military time?” Maggie asked from the back. Jake gave her the silent what-are-you-doing stare this time, but she ignored him.
“Yeah,” Dawson answered gruffly.
They turned down the narrow gravel road leading up to the farmhouse. Veronica and Chase sat on the front porch. The black van started up the road towards them. They passed each other going in opposite directions. Dawson strained to see inside the departing van, while Jake paid them no heed whatsoever.
“I couldn’t see anyone inside the windows. Could you guys?” Dawson asked.
Jake just shook his head. “The kids look OK,” Maggie said, pointing through the window, changing the topic.
Veronica and Chase sat huddled together on the front steps till they recognized Dawson’s pickup. Veronica leapt up and charged down the steps toward the pickup in spite of Chase’s attempt to hold her back. She was having none of that. Dawson was the first one out of the truck as it came to a stop, and Veronica nearly bowled him over as she threw herself into his arms.
“Do you really think it’s necessary to tell him everything?” Jake said, turning to look at Maggie in the back of the truck. “The man can barely stay off the bottle for more than a few days. I’m not sure we want to be telling him too much.”
“I didn’t tell him everything. Besides, they’re his kids. He deserves to know what’s going on.” Maggie paused. “It’s his life too. Maybe knowing everything would straighten him out.”
“Or send him right back into the bottle.”
“We’ve got to give him a chance to make things right. There are tough times ahead, and we both know there’s no room for a dead weight. He deserves an opportunity to fix things. I’m sure if he knew what was really going on, he’d behave differently.”
“I’m not so sure about that.” They both watched as Dawson sat with the kids on the front steps. Chase was reluctantly talking.
“Wouldn’t you?” Maggie asked.
“Wouldn’t I what?”
“Want to know what was going on if this was happening to you?”
“It wouldn’t happen to me.”
“Don’t give me that, Jake Banner. You know very well that things can happen in anyone’s life that they have no control over. Dawson didn’t decide out of the blue to jump on a plane to some foreign country and kill innocent people.”
“No, but he did decide how to deal with it afterward.”
“Those are horrific events for anyone to deal with.” Maggie took a deep breath. “He’s good people, Jake. Deep down inside, he is and you know it. We wouldn’t be here if you didn’t believe that. He needs our help. Just a little guidance. Point him in the right direction. That much we can do. We wouldn’t be saving just one man, we’d be saving an entire family.”
The both watched as Dawson and the kids made their way down the drive towards the truck. Dawson said something to Chase, who playfully punched Dawson in the shoulder.
Jake nodded his head up and down. “Yeah, alright. For the family.”
Maggie couldn’t wait any longer, and jumped out of the truck to see the kids. Veronica ran into her arms, but Chase just walked by with a smile. Maggie grabbed him in a headlock and pulled him in for a group hug. Chase begrudgingly played along.
“I’m so glad to see you two; you have no idea how worried I was,” Maggie said as she squeezed them tight. “Your dad was pretty worried too I might add. It took both of us to keep him from tearing the whole town apart looking for you both.”
Dawson gave her a guilty smile. “Thank you, Maggie. I don’t know what I’d do without the two of you. You’re the world’s best landlords ever. Above and beyond.”
“You’re welcome, Dawson. Whatever it takes to help out with my second favorite kids in the world.”
“Only second favorite?” Veronica looked up at Maggie with big eyes.
“I do have children of my own you know, pumpkin.” Maggie smiled. “They always have to be my favorite. It’s a rule.”
“It is?”
“Of course it is, just ask your dad.”
Dawson nodded his head in agreement. “It’s true, kiddo. You wouldn’t want anyone to squeeze in above you on my list of favorite kids, would you?” Chase rolled his eyes, finally sneaking away from Maggie’s embrace.
Veronica looked to Maggie. “Are we ever gonna meet your kids? How old are they?”
“I certainly hope so, pumpkin. They’ll be coming for a visit soon.” Maggie’s eyes misted over.
Dawson clapped his hands together. “Alright, everyone, let’s get in the truck and out of here. We’ve got places to go.”
“Actually,” Maggie interrupted, “Jake wanted to chat with you in the truck about a few things.” Dawson raised questioning eyebrows. “I’ll hang out here with the kids for a little bit, and let you two have a guys’ chat.”
“Umm, OK,” Dawson agreed as he got in the truck, giving Maggie a what’s-up look. Maggie and Veronica walked hand in hand down the lane, while Chase trailed behind. Looking back at the pickup, he wanted to ask what was going on, but knew Maggie wouldn't tell him.
“You wanted to have a chat?” Dawson said, sliding in.
“Yeah,” Jake answered, adjusting his ball cap. “There’s been some stuff going on lately that we need to be straight about.”
Dawson held out both hands in agreement. “Let me just stop you right there. I know I’ve been a screw-up lately, and I know there’s no good excuse. I’ve got lots of crappy excuses, but you don’t need to hear them. You and Maggie have been nothing short of spectacular, and I already owe you guys more than I can ever pay back. But, from now on, I promise to —”
“Actually, let me stop you. This is not about you and your screw-ups. We’re all well aware of those. This is more about mine.”
Maggie and the kids didn’t get far down the lane before Maggie heard the sound of feet running in the gravel. Maggie turned, bracing herself, only to realize that the feet were running away from her. It was Chase running towards the parked pickup truck, which at first confused Maggie. Where was Chase going? Alarms went off in Maggie’s head and she looked around to see what Chase was running from. All Maggie could see was the old farmhouse, and crops. No one was coming up the lane, there were no vehicles on the road, and nothing overhead.
They she realized what was going on. Through the back window of the pickup, she could see Jake and Dawson having a heated discussion in the truck. Heated enough that they were pushing each other, and while she couldn’t be sure, it looked like Dawson was throwing punches. Maggie ran after Chase. Before either could get there, the passenger door flew open, and both Dawson and Jake came tumbling out onto the ground.
Chase stopped at the edge of the wrestling match. He hesitated for a second, then reached down to break up the grown men, but changed his mind. He wasn’t sure who to pull off who. Maggie pulled Chase back from the tussle by his arm.
“Go with your sister,” Maggie instructed, pointing to Veronica, who was standing in the middle of the laneway, frozen. Chase hesitated briefly. “Don’t make me repeat myself. Go to your sister. She’s had enough excitement for one day, and she’s not going to understand this.”
“I’m not sure I understand it,” Chase answered.<
br />
“Go!” Maggie said, and Chase headed towards Veronica.
Maggie turned her attention back to the wrestling match. “Grown men can be such jack-asses,” she said to whomever was listening, which at the moment was no one.
The longer the two of them wrestled in the dirt, the more tired they became. It no longer seemed a battle of one trying to beat up the other one, but more a battle of survival. Neither wanted to give in, but it was becoming obvious that the younger Dawson was going to win out on pure endurance. As the fight ran out of enthusiastic combatants and Dawson was about to pin Jake, Maggie delivered a swift kick to Dawson’s backside. They were both so engrossed in the conflict they hadn’t noticed Maggie’s presence.
“Get the hell off of my husband!” Maggie said.
Partially from surprise, and partially from fatigue, they rolled away from one another. Dawson was the first to get to his feet but Jake wasn’t far behind. He had no intention of letting the kid think he’d got the better of him. They hunched over, hands on their knees, trying to catch their breath.
Maggie spoke up. “What the hell is wrong with you two? Did you forget the kids were here?” She turned to Dawson. “Do you really want them to see you rolling around in the dirt like a dog? Is that what we’ve come to? There’s enough damn conflict going around, without you two squaring off.”
Dawson pointed a finger at Jake. “This bastard has been —” Jake shook his head, and Maggie cut him off.
“You will not refer to my husband in that tone. He may be a lot of things, but a bastard he is not. I’ve met both his parents, and they’re wonderful people. Salt of the earth. I have no reason to believe that their son was born out of wedlock, so you will not call him that. Not after everything we’ve done for you and the kids.”
“Dammit, Maggie, I’m sorry, but he’s been spying of me and the kids. He’s known we were in danger all this time and did nothing. He put all of us in harm’s way. That’s just not right.”
“He had no choice. This is big government we’re talking about. They do whatever they want. They could’ve locked him up on trumped up charges or confiscated everything we have. At least this way he was in the loop. He was in contact with the department, and knew what they were looking for. He pieced together quite a bit of your story. They didn’t say much, and you didn’t say much, but between the two he figured things out.”
Jake chimed in. “I didn’t give them much, just enough to keep them happy. After a while, I figured out what they wanted to hear. It’s not like you were doing anything wrong, at least not in their eyes. It’s not you they were ever looking for, it’s these bastards that have been blowing everything up. Actually, they’re interested in their bosses. These local guys are just little fish. Your original target—whoever that was—is who they’re really interested in.”
“I did wonder, when most of my old squad went missing, it felt like something was wrong. We weren’t that close after we came home, but we did have the occasional communication. When everyone disappeared, it seemed like something from the movies, so I just dismissed it. Figured it was an overactive imagination. I guess not. So, where are these guys now?”
Maggie looked to Jake, who just shook his head. “No idea,” he replied. “They could be in custody, or they could be on the loose. Like I’ve said, the government doesn’t share a lot with me. My gut reaction is they just stepped in because of the kids. Their primary goal is still the top leaders … not these little guys.”
“We never saw the kidnappers after we got in the government van,” Chase said as he and Veronica joined the group. “They did something with them. They had them tied up, but they never got into the van with us. I figured they just shot them or left them on the side of the road.”
“I sure as hell hope not,” Dawson said. “If the government has resorted to public executions, then things are a lot worse than I thought.”
“It wouldn’t make sense,” Jake said. “At the very least they would have detained them for questioning. So far, they've been content to observe and collect information. Taking real action hasn’t been their approach.”
“Well,” Dawson said. “Nothing like a little urban terrorism and exploding water towers to change the state of things. Maybe now they’re finally doing something.”
Maggie was pacing back and forth during the whole conversation, looking agitated. Finally she spoke up. “We can’t go back to our place. We need to change things.”
“What are you talking about?” Jake said. “The bunker’s all set for us. We’ve got room and supplies for everyone. It’s the best place to be right now.”
“I know you’re not going to like hearing this, Jake,” Maggie replied, “but that’s exactly what these terrorists will expect us to do. They’ve already scoped out our place, that’s obvious from the shots they took at us. We don’t know if they know about the bunker or not. We don’t even know if they’ve been taken into custody or if there are others. If we go back there, we could be walking into a disaster.”
“I don’t want to go home if those men are going to take us away again,” Veronica said, her voice filled with fear. Dawson picked her up and held her.
Maggie continued. “We need to do something they won’t expect, and go somewhere they won’t expect us to be.”
“Maggie,” Jake pleaded. “Don’t you think you’re overreacting? What about our kids? They’re going to expect us to be at home, at the bunker. If we’re not there …”
“If we’re not there, they’ll know exactly what to do. We raised smart kids that know how to take care of themselves. They know about the bunker … probably more about it than I did.” She looked at Jake, who didn’t disagree with her. “They’ll hunker down and wait for us. If those goons are watching the place, they won’t know who they are. They’re not looking for them anyways. They’re looking for Dawson. When we don’t show up there, they’ll start looking elsewhere.” Jake just shook his head. He knew there was logic to her argument, and she was right about their kids. “At least for a few days to get our wits about us. Long enough for us to get a plan of our own together.”
“We should get a few things first.” Dawson said. “If we're going to be away for a while, it makes sense to stock up.” Maggie looked skeptical. “It won't take long. Trust me. We’ll be in and out of the bunker in no time.”
Chapter 36 ~ The Calvary
The transport rolled down the road unabated, as Ahmed struggled with his restraints and Harish resigned himself. The agents sitting across from them weren’t talking. Harish let Ahmed do the talking. Not that it helped. Ahmed had given up asking questions half an hour ago when it was clear the agents weren’t going to respond. Even Ahmed’s struggling with his restraints was more a display of defiance than an escape attempt. What was he going to do? Overpower half a dozen armed guards and dive from a moving vehicle? The big agent with the long non-regulation hair cut couldn’t hide his amusement with Ahmed’s struggles. Ahmed didn’t seem to care.
“We’re going to spend the rest of our lives rotting in a prison cell Ahmed, stop wasting your energy. You’re only making a fool of yourself in front of these clowns.” The big agent shot a menacing look at Harish. “What?” Harish fired back as menacingly as he could. “You know it’s true. This country is heading back into the dark ages. You’ll barely be able to keep your fat elite upper crust population alive, let alone prisoners of the state. If I were you, I’d be more concerned about yourself and your family, then taking us wherever it is we’re going.” The agent looked away from Harish, determined not to engage. Harish turned his anger back towards his brother. “I never should have listened to you in the first place. At least back home, I would have had a chance. Maybe not a great one, but I’m street smart enough. I knew how to lay low and avoid the wrong people. Which for the record included cops, like these idiots here.” He shrugged towards the agents, who spoke quietly amongst themselves.
Ahmed stopped struggling, and turned to smile at Harish. “How many
times do I have to tell you about having little faith brother?”
“You need to stop with that Ahmed. Are you totally oblivious to our situation? Faith isn’t going to change any of this. We’re practically dead and buried.”
“Dead, in the holy war against these infidels? Dead in a struggle that will only bring us to a higher glory?”
“Yea. Maybe.”
“Faith Harish, faith. You shouldn’t disparage Allah so quickly. He knows our purpose.”
“I just wasn’t ready for it to come today. That’s all. Maybe you’re right, and maybe we will end up in a better place, I just didn’t want for it to be today.”
Ahmed grinned and motioned for Harish to look out the front window. “You’ll get your wish for today Harish. That I can assure you. Our war is far from over.”
Their van slowed, as Harish looked through the windshield. The road was blocked, and littered with vehicles and a dozen or so men with bandannas covering their faces. They carried military grade weapons big enough to take out a tank. In the rear view mirrors, Harish could see more vehicles moving in to block the way they had come.
“Allah will provide.” Ahmed said. “Praise be to Allah.”
Chapter 37 ~ Back Door
Given the recent circumstances, the drive back home was remarkably quiet. The kids and Dawson relaxed in the back.
Maggie broke the silence. “We need to stop. Now!”
“But we’re almost there.” Chase protested. “I can see the house from here.”
“Jake, stop the truck here please.” Maggie put a hand on his shoulder. “I have a bad feeling about this. Call it female intuition, or just plain crazy, but this feels like a bad idea.”
Jake pulled over by the side of the road. “What’s on your mind?” He asked looking openly at Maggie.
“I think … I think it wouldn’t hurt to be cautious. Right? Maybe I’m wrong, and there’s no reason to worry about coming back here, but that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t be cautious. Let’s not go barging back in, like it’s business as usual. A lot of things have changed.”
America's Sunset: A Post Apocalyptic Fight for Survival Page 19
