“Run!” Meechum screamed to her.
Kyla looked into the woods, worried someone would shoot her in the back, but no one was there. Meechum furiously waved for her to move, so she did as instructed.
The tough Marine unloaded on the woods as she backed up toward the copter landing site, like actors did in any number of action hero movies.
The wind almost blew Kyla backward as the Seahawk hit the ground with a bounce. The pilot appeared to struggle to get it back down, but it was low enough for her to crouch-run toward the flight deck.
The machinery was deafening. The rotors and helicopter engine screamed ahead of her, and Meechum continued to fire her rifle behind.
Kyla was so tired, she misjudged the height of the helicopter and slammed off the metal hull as she tried to jump in. It was those ten extra pounds coming back to bite her.
“Get in!” The Marine shoved her bodily into the compartment, then she hopped up after her, still carrying her rifle and hefting the backpack.
“Go!” she bellowed toward the pilot.
The tireless Marine hooked up Kyla’s tether before doing her own.
Kyla knew enough to hold on, but she remembered the two people still down on the field. “We have to pick them up!” she yelled into the wind.
The pilot wouldn’t hear a nuclear bomb; he wore the heavy headphones up in the cockpit.
“Headphones!” she reminded herself.
The helo banked out over the field, and for a moment, she had a clear look at the two people hiding in the brush. They weren’t more than fifty feet away.
“No effing way!”
She recognized Uncle Ted easily enough, and that was shocking, but she didn’t know what to make of the woman next to him. Was it the vice president? Kyla leaned far over the edge to watch the figures get smaller. Almost too late, she waved.
The man was crouched in the weeds and waved like crazy, as if he’d recognized her, too.
“We have to go back!” she cried out.
The helicopter rose straight up, giving her a sensation of being on an elevator. It wanted to glue her to the floor, but she fought against time and gravity to put on the headphones.
“Sir, you have to pick them up!” she said the second she had them on.
Meechum had hers on too. “Negative, our priority is to safely evac.”
“They saved us! He’s my uncle! They’re the survivors! That’s our mission!” Spittle came out of her mouth and covered the microphone. She yelled with great force, praying it would convince them.
“Negative,” the Marine said impatiently. “Our mission was a bust.”
The helicopter continued to rise straight up, and Kyla got the sense they were evacuating an impending disaster. They rose above the trees quickly enough, but soon rose higher than the twenty-story buildings ringing the edge of the park.
“But that’s my uncle, I swear,” she said with less enthusiasm. As before, telling military people how to do their jobs was a lost cause. They were already above the city and she couldn’t get them to go back down.
The pilot interrupted her and Meechum. “We can’t go back down, I’m sorry. They’re here,” he added dryly.
“Who’s here?” she asked.
Kyla leaned left and right to see what he was talking about. She heard them before she saw them. Two dark gray blotch marks appeared in the sky; hovering over the park.
“Oh, crap.”
CHAPTER 26
Near Chicago, IL
Tabby glanced over at Donovan, asleep on the front seat. He’d curled up with his shotgun and hadn’t opened his eyes since they’d left St. Louis. Peter and Audrey had been silent for most of the ride too, though she wasn’t sure if they’d fallen asleep or were in shock after their brush with death.
For her part, Tabby was determined to drive north until she found someone, anyone, who was part of the disaster recovery effort. She imagined their stop in the convent with Sister Rose was a big mistake, because it had given Mom and Dad time to drive away with everyone else. Their delay in downtown St. Louis only made it worse. Now she might never catch up with them.
She glanced at herself in the rearview mirror. The grim woman staring back soon cracked a smile, however, since it was laughable to think of her parents driving north forever. Were they going to stop once they reached the North Pole? Tabby was ready to drive that far, if necessary, though she might need skis when they hit the snow.
The horizon ahead was filled with Chicago’s skyscrapers. Numerous smoke plumes rose into the clouds in front of and behind them, giving the city a washed-out appearance. There had been random fires in St. Louis, and every small town between there and here, but nothing on this scale.
“Sheesh,” she said to herself.
Mom and Dad had taken her on an exciting trip to the Windy City back when she was in grade school. Her memories of the vacation destination were mostly limited to what she saw in the digital photos they’d brought back, but she would never forget the trip up into the Sears Tower.
She followed the tourist signs deeper into the city, always avoiding the fires and traffic blockages, and she did her best to look away from the telltale shirts and pants blowing on the wind. A freak thunderstorm came along and collected streams of clothing in the gutters as she neared her destination.
A burst of thunder echoed among the skyscrapers, waking everyone up.
“We’re almost there,” she said matter-of-factly.
The wiper blades tossed water back and forth, but the rain was already slowing down by the time she neared the destination.
Peter squeezed his way between the two front seats to get a better look ahead. “Where are we going?”
“Right here.” Tabby pulled the car onto the curb next to a giant black skyscraper, only stopping when it was a couple of feet from the revolving door. She shut off the motor, snatched her keys from the ignition, and walked out into the drizzle. This time, she took her shotgun, along with Audrey and Donovan’s.
The kids followed her through the large front door. Audrey slipped on the wet pavement, but Peter grabbed her before she fell.
“Thanks,” the girl said with relief.
“Up we go,” she deadpanned. Tabby was tired from being behind the wheel for five hours. The strain of looking around each bend with the surety of seeing the cordon of police vehicles also took a heavy toll on her mental faculties. Now, her emotions were spent and all she wanted to do was get somewhere she could see for miles. Short of flying, it was the quickest way to look ahead.
The lobby was huge and spacious, with gold trim, fancy furniture, and a third-story skylight. The mall-like enclosure sat next to the main building, rather than under it. The open top gave her a view up the side of the black-windowed structure.
Fifteen minutes later, they came out of the elevator on the observation deck.
“Wow!” Peter ran directly to the side windows. Audrey and Donovan followed with a bit more restraint.
Tabby took her time too, mostly to walk around dozens of tourist outfits strewn about on the black carpet. For a short time, Tabby walked toward the windows. The evening view was stunning despite the low clouds and light rain. However, her attention was soon focused on the dead people’s clothing.
A man and woman had been sitting on a bench seat, probably looking out the windows, when they disappeared. The man’s blue jeans and flannel shirt was exactly what Dad would have worn. The woman’s style wasn’t exactly like Mom’s, but it was close, especially the tacky purse with a picture of a poodle on it.
She stepped around the bench like she was about to interrupt the couple’s view. They’d been holding hands. The man’s wedding band sat on the woman’s slacks, and a tasteful gold bracelet sat with it.
Tabby lost herself in thoughts about her parents and what they had in common with the two lovebirds who were struck down on this bench. A small trickle of tears started at some point, but she was too tired to care.
“Are you all right, Tabby
?” Audrey asked kindly. Peter and Donovan came up behind the girl, as if they’d noticed Tabby was in trouble.
“Yeah, we’re sorry for running ahead,” Peter added, sounding properly apologetic.
She wiped her nose with the back of her hand. “These two have opened my eyes to a truth I’ve been avoiding since yesterday. They’ve given voice to a nagging suspicion that wouldn’t let me go, and I’ve refused to even see. It has followed me every mile since we left Bonne Terre and it has finally caught up to me. Right here.” She pointed to the bench.
Audrey held her hand. “What is it?”
Tabby had been taught by optimists her whole life. Fall down? Get yourself back up. Bad grade on a test? Do better next time. Want the perfect career? Go out and learn how to do it. That optimism had carried her through and out the mine, away from Bonne Terre, across St. Louis, and for all the drive to Chicago.
Now it was gone.
The tour guide was never supposed to make the trip about themselves. She’d struggled to keep to that maxim, though the breaking point was upon her. Tabby’s emotional state was already fragile, and it fell apart as more tears ran free. She let out a lone gut-wrenching sob, steeling herself as best she could to say the words.
“My parents are dead.”
Then she exploded with a torrent of weeping.
Her friends piled on top of her to offer comfort, but for the next several minutes, the tears were unstoppable.
New York City, NY
Ted watched as Kyla went up in the Skyhawk. It was so impossible, he stood there dumbfounded until he remembered to wave like a madman at her.
“Kyla!” he shouted into the wind.
“Your niece?” Emily asked with surprise. “I thought you said—”
“That helo is from the JFK, no doubt about it. They must be looking for survivors, though how she got on board I’ll never know.”
Kyla saw him, of that he was certain. He assumed it was only a matter of time before she convinced the pilot to come back down and get them, so he was content to wait. However, men broke cover from the tree line across the empty field and took shots at the departing aircraft.
“Oh, hell no,” he declared. Ted got on a knee and lined up his shot, but he hesitated when he heard the arrival of powerful jet engines.
He took his eyes off the men and looked to the north, deeper in the park. They were blocked a bit because of the trees between him and the planes, but he was almost certain they were two AV8-B Harriers.
A few seconds later, as the hovering jets inched closer and the screaming engines became eardrum-splitting loud, he was certain of their make.
“That’s the sound of freedom!” he yelled.
The forest on the other side of the field exploded with extreme violence as the planes unleashed their rotary-cannon machine guns.
Huge branches fell from trees between the planes and the enemy ground troops, as if the Harriers didn’t have a totally clear shot on them. However, most of the shells went the distance and threw up grass and dirt under the bad guys.
A few men vaporized on impact. Others ran for a short distance or tried to hide behind the biggest trees they could find.
The Harrier pilots nudged their planes from side to side, which created a wide swath of destruction. They also tilted up, which ripped apart the vans parked on the street, along with many windows on the front of Emily’s building.
He grabbed Emily by the elbow. “We have to run for it!”
“They’ll shoot us!” she replied with fear.
The aircraft-mounted Gatling guns continued to wreak havoc, but he knew they didn’t have unlimited rounds. If he and the VP had any hope of getting away, it had to be now.
“Trust me!” he insisted.
She followed reluctantly at first, but then with greater speed. When the planes finally stopped shooting, she ran as fast as he did.
“We’re going east, that way.” He pointed through the woods to what he hoped was an unoccupied street.
The Harrier II jets got even louder as they pushed off to gain altitude, and the engines only became tolerable as they switched from hover to cruise. He did his best to follow where they went, but it was impossible with all the tall buildings around.
Miraculously, some of the enemy still shot their guns. He hoped they were going for the planes, not him and Emily. None of the bullets smacked the trees or dirt around them as they ran, so he figured they were in the clear.
By the time they left the park and got back on pavement, he let go some of his tension. When they’d made it a couple of blocks farther into the city, he let Emily take a short break.
“That was incredible,” she panted.
He’d been thinking about the timely arrival of those jets, and there was only one conclusion he could make. “The Harriers were ours, and I don’t think they came from the JFK. Those are flown by Marines, not the Navy.”
“They supported their own on the ground,” she replied.
Ted still didn’t know how Kyla fit into it, but she certainly had powerful friends.
He gave Emily an extra minute to catch her breath, but then got them moving again.
“Where are we going now?” she asked.
“East,” he replied. “We’ve got to get off Manhattan before they figure out we’re still alive. That will make it harder for them to find us.”
He pointed where to go, then she took off jogging.
A text message buzzed on his phone before he could follow.
“Hold up!” he exclaimed. “I have to check this.”
Air Above New York City, NY
Kyla was pissed they wouldn’t go down and pick up Uncle Ted, but she understood a bit better when the two planes showed up and fired long strings of bullets into the woods where those bad men had been.
She reveled in the destruction, because each dead asshole was one less who could hurt her uncle.
Meechum and the pilot talked back and forth about routes out of the city, Predators in the air, and other air traffic, but Kyla yanked out her phone rather than concern herself with all that.
At first, she tried to take off the headphones and dial Uncle Ted’s number, but she knew immediately it was far too loud to talk. She put her ear covering back on, then tried to text his number.
Uncle Ted. I saw you!
He replied a few seconds later. I saw you, too. Why are you in city?
Search for survivors. Search for Mom. No one found but you. Is Mom okay?
She held her breath, willing the answer to be a good one.
I’m afraid she’s gone, sweetie. I’m so sorry.
Her heart was already broken from thinking the same thing herself, so the impact wasn’t as painful as it might have been. She had to ask more important questions.
Who is that woman with you?
He took thirty seconds to reply, giving her time to dwell on his last line. When he did write back, all it said was, OPSEC.
She was positive it was the VP, but he couldn’t say it on their connection. Who was listening?
Kyla looked out on the city now that they were high above and flying away. More of those hovering planes had attacked the Newark Airport, too. Smoke and fireballs rose across the waterway.
We brought help, she typed. Where are you going? We can send copter back.
Uncle Ted waited a long time, as if he had to think through each reply. OPSEC.
“Dammit!” she cried out to the wind.
“What is it?” Meechum said over the comms.
“Oh, nothing. I’m texting my uncle. He was down there. We could have picked him up if we’d known he was there. Plus, I think he had the vice president with him.”
Meechum cursed to herself. Kyla couldn’t understand the words.
She typed in the phone again, more mindful of who might be listening. Speaking without saying the wrong thing was a lot like programming a device to behave in a certain way. I’m going back to the same place where you called me before. Bad there, but not
hopeless. I’ll get those people to look for you.
Thank you. I’m glad you’re OK. Your mom would be so proud of you. I am.
The Seahawk helicopter was already over the water. The city, and all the new pillars of smoke, fell behind her.
Goodbye for now, unk.
CHAPTER 27
Queens, NY
“I never thought I’d say it,” Emily wheezed, “but I can’t run another step.”
She and Ted had run out of Central Park and continued until they hit the East River. From there, they walked across the Queensboro Bridge, using the bottom deck to keep hidden from anything in the air. It was comforting to know allied planes were up there, but the enemies were still there as well.
“I’ll keep it out of my report,” Ted joked. “Though I should inform you I’ve been keeping track of your fitness since we left my apartment. If your health isn’t up to it, I’m afraid I’ll have to recommend the job of president to someone else.”
She forced laughter out of her tired lungs.
The bottom deck of the bridge was four lanes, but it was split in half, so two lanes went east, and two went west. The two westbound lanes were bumper to bumper with what would have been the morning rush hour traffic in this part of the city. They walked in the emptier eastbound lanes.
“I should have ordered that helicopter to come and get us.” Her tone was wistful, like she’d thought of the idea but knew it wouldn’t have been right.
They’d talked about it when he had Kyla on the phone. It delayed some of his texts back to her as they debated how much information to share. Kyla asked about Emily’s identity in her texts, but, at the time, they’d both agreed it wasn’t safe to confirm it was her.
He’d responded with the word OPSEC, knowing Kyla would understand, but ever since the exchange, it bothered him they’d communicated at all, because he’d made another mistake.
“I should have lied and said I’d found a random survivor. By not answering, I gave an answer. To anyone listening, they’d want what I was hiding.”
She walked for a short time as if absorbing all the words. During the pause, he second-guessed himself even more. “I shouldn’t have responded to her at all. Now, they can use my niece to learn my identity. They’ll know I didn’t die back at Dulles. They might put two and two together and figure out the woman I’m with—the one I wouldn’t identify to my niece—is probably you.”
Minus America Box Set | Books 1-5 Page 41
