Day One (Book 2): Choices (7 page)

“Good luck with that,” he said.

We stood there for several long moments, neither of us saying anything as the awkward silence grew into a vast crevasse miles deep and hundreds of yards wide. I simply smiled and began walking away…
find your son without hurting my men.
The sound of power tools blaring from nowhere, and then abruptly dying away, forced me to stop and look over my shoulder. Captain Andrews was walking the opposite direction.

Had I just heard those words for real, or had my mind made them up and screamed them to me with the barrage of tools echoing like howitzers at point blank range? I watched him until he disappeared from sight, yet couldn’t bring myself to turn and continue. I had to know if I was hearing things or not. It was imperative.

With the sun slowly slipping from the sky and my need to know the truth still burning in my head like a stone in a fire, I traversed the options, knowing somehow deep down that if he had spoken those words to me; it had been for a reason and just amongst us. Any attempts to question him in front of his men would only lead to Johnny and I being detained.

Captain Andrews would not look like an idiot in front of his men, hell, I led no one and I wouldn’t want to look that way myself. I took it with a grain of salt, as one might say, and headed back to the room.

When the darkness began, Johnny and I stepped outside to go over the plan one last time, adding anything we may have forgotten and doing our best to pump each other up.

“When this thing kicks off, you are going to be the eyes and ears of this whole plan,” Johnny said taking the cigarette I offered him and lighting it. “Because for sixty long seconds, both of my hands are going to be busy working the starter and initiating fuel into the turbine at the right moment, so I’ll be useless to you when they come running. And they will, as that turbine, when igniting, makes a very distinct and very loud noise.”

I took a drag of my cigarette and listened carefully to his every word.

“In the event of a hot start, it’s going to add another sixty seconds to our time.”

“A hot start?” I asked.

He looked at me, apparently trying to dumb the answer down. “That’s when the aircraft has a problem and won’t start in the allotted time, due to overheating or some other mechanical problem,” he said.

“Great. More wonderful news,” I sarcastically said. The whole plan was starting to fall apart and we haven’t even initiated it yet. I began to think that maybe we should just leave on foot. We had night vision capabilities now and with Kember asleep, we could move silently through the woods, avoiding any of those things and shooting the ones we couldn’t with silenced weapons.

“Hey,” Johnny said, calling my attention. “We still have a shot at this. I’m not going to lie and say those birds start perfect every time, but there’s also the fact that it’s a military bird, so maintenance on it is extremely thorough.”

He did know more about this stuff than I did and with a lack of worry upon his face, maybe I shouldn’t let it bother me until there was something to worry about. “So, what you’re saying is that I’m on my own for a minute or two while you start the helicopter, right?”

“Yes, you will be unless things get to hot, in which case I’ll cut in and we can resort to the second plan,” he said and moved closer to me. “If that happens, then the proverbial shit has hit the fan, in which case we won’t have a choice in defending ourselves… and you know what that means.”

Yeah, I knew what that meant. It meant that when the plan actually fell apart we would have to kill these young men who were at the moment keeping us safe. I didn’t like the idea, in fact; I hated it more than this new world we were all lost in. I wasn’t a killer; it just wasn’t within me to take another’s life outside of self-defense, and all the justification in the universe could not tell me any different. I’m sorry, but I value human life, and it isn’t my place to judge or execute you, especially in a selfish act.

The decision I would make in the next twenty minutes would more than likely determine weather or not I got to stick to my so called guns, or be forced to use them and become that which I loathed the most.

“I need to hear you say it, Brandon. I can’t for the life of me take another step forward in this plan if you aren’t even going to bother to shoot back and get done what needs to be done,” Johnny stated and took another drag of his cigarette.

I looked long and hard at the man before me, thinking even harder on what he was asking me to do. How do you answer that? I mean how do you answer a question that you know is morally against everything you stand for, is against everything you believe in whole heartedly? How do you do it?

Everything hinged upon me and my next round of words.

Even in the light of day the base was not a bad place to live. There was food, shelter, others, but most importantly, in a world where there were no more guarantees or sure things… there was safety, or at least a better sense of the word than out there. And I was about to give all of that up, and for what? Yet there are two sides to every story. And the base was run by many people that I had not had the pleasure of meeting, some that I had, oh and there was also the base pet. A young private who had somehow or another found a way to get himself bit and then turned. He was treated like an animal. A caged monkey for everyone to laugh at on a bad day, without one single thought that he had been one of them.

If they could treat their own that way, without mercy and compassion. How could they treat me and my Daughter, complete strangers, any better?

“If it comes down to it… if things get too close for comfort, then I’ll shoot to keep Kember safe,” I said in a hollow voice, unable to believe what I had just agreed too.

Johnny placed a hand on my shoulder. “I know what you’re going through. I was once in your exact shoes and the thought of taking another human’s life didn’t sit well with me. I’m not going to lie and tell you that it gets any easier, because it doesn’t. You just learn to deal with it better. In the end, no matter how you want to look at it or justify it, it’s still the taking of another life.”

I watched the barely visible skyline of that far distant city as it burned, trying to imagine what the poor people were facing, what they had been through so far, and what was still to come.

“All I can do is hope that God forgives me,” Johnny added.

I didn’t know how to respond to his recent words, although I realized now that he understood me a little better and knew I wasn’t scared, even though I was.

“Take some time to gather your thoughts, clear you head, or whatever else you need to do,” he said looking to his watch. “They’ll start eating here in about twenty minutes and that’s when we are going to go for it.” He smiled and walked away.

I continued to watch the burning city as I finished my cigarette and snuffed it out. My little world had been confined for a week now, so much that I had forgotten about all of those who had not been able to get away. Maybe they had thought that it would all blow over in a few days and there was no real danger, no need to flee. Every choice we made on a daily basis, back then, helped us to become better people. Even if you hadn’t done things right, there was always that choice to change. That life had taught us nothing, yet some of us were able to adapt to the new one. Some weren’t or just unwilling too.

I was still trying to live in that world and base my choices off of something that no longer was. Why could I not change even with the truth staring me straight in the face?

“For the love of God, just shut the hell up,” I told my mind. I had thought more than enough for one day – probably more than enough for several months to be honest, maybe even a lifetime.

The sun was now gone. Gleaming stars were slowly beginning to burn brightly above as the moon rose to take the suns position. The darkness was eerily quiet, still and infinite.

Kember sat on the head of my bed drinking a juice box and eating a small microwavable sandwich. She was dressed and ready to go, as Johnny and I donned the gear and equipment I had gotten from the armory earlier. He helped me put things on the correct way, got my drop holster to sit where I wanted it, all while the small camera over the door had been taped over. If we spoke, it was to Kember and had nothing to do with what we were getting ready to do. More than likely if there was audio it would still record, so we were not about to take any chances.

Dressed, I stepped outside to smoke and make sure that no one was around when we got ready to go. If any guards were nearby, they’d have to be dealt with before we could move to the next phase of the plan.

I held the SBR in my right hand, barrel down and smoked a cigarette, trying my best not to look in the direction of the burning city. I had seen more than I ever wanted to, besides, there was nothing I could do for any of them anyway. Maybe it was better to just remember what the place used to look like and move forward. Andrews take on the scene made roughly more sense to me now. There wasn’t a place with a name on it anymore. All places were the same, and that was death.

Chapter Four.

I watched Johnny move silently through the darkness to my right. He was low to the ground and scanned with his eyes as he moved, like a predator on the hunt for prey. When he reached a small bundle of crates he stopped and took up a firing position. It was now my turn to move and I could taste the fear in the back of my throat. It was insipidus and I gagged on it.

The art of planning held a mystery all its own, although there were no consequences in that part of the plan. You could perpetuate as much as you wanted, come up with several different scenarios that could happen, and figure them out with time. But on the run with the consequences hanging over you like a noose, there was no time to think if something went wrong, only your instincts to guide you.

I froze.

Johnny motioned for me to advance and all I could do was look at him. My eyes were glazed over and like an animal crossing a busy highway, I had been spotted by approaching lights, which would not swerve to miss me. The fear of death was holding me by the shoulder and I could smell its foul breath.

Don’t do this, not now! This is not the time to freeze up!
My mind shouted to me.
Your son is out there all alone, remember? Now stop cowering in the corner and let’s go!
I burst from cover, low to the ground and scanning ahead of me, trying to cover as much distance as I could, yet do it in a manner that would not wake Kember. I had her secured in my backpack behind two layers of body armor, so if they started shooting at me I could simply face the threat and keep her as far out of harm’s way as I could. Of course that wasn’t as far as I would like, it was still better than leaving her behind.

I made it to my first cover location and quickly went to my knees. My heart was pounding from a combination of the overwhelming fear and extensive cardio I was putting it through. My breathing came in quick gasps and for a few seconds I was positive I would not be able to get enough air into my lungs and I’d pass out at any moment.

Johnny was on the move again and I propped the rifle on an empty container and watched for any signs of movement, also trying to watch him at the same time. How could anyone do this for a living? I was scared shitless, thinking at any second I would catch a well-placed bullet to my face, or when I moved, I’d run into a soldier that I hadn’t seen previously. There was too much stress for me to swallow. Too many unknown variables that could happen at any moment and I wished I’d never agreed to this stupid plan.

I moved once again and was halfway to my next position when I caught something out of the corner of my eye.
Oh shit!
Time suddenly slowed to a crawl as I thrust my head one way, and then the other in hopes of finding something to hunker down behind for cover. There was nothing near me. If I dropped to the ground the jarring crash could easily wake Kember and she’d start to cry. If the soldier hadn’t seen me yet he would hear her cries and come to investigate.

The soldier moved across the moonless void and disappeared into a small tent. I waited where I was, kneeling on the ground, watching the front of the tent with hawk like eyes, even though I couldn’t see any further into the dark than the next guy. I swung the NVG’s down over my eyes. The green contrasted world jumped to greet me, although even at this distance I was still unable to see just a few inches into the dark tent front. So if he was standing just inside the darkness, when I moved he might spot me. But that would also mean he knew I was nearby anyway, which made no sense to me. If he knew I was there, then why wasn’t he coming to investigate or sounding some alarm?

He didn’t see you… now go before he comes back!
My mind again screamed to me. I listened and hauled ass.

The helicopter was now within grasp and I watched from cover as Johnny made his approach, scanned the area a few times, and then made his way up to the aircraft. I was certain that if anything was going to happen, this would be the time. I flicked the safety off my weapon and took a single glance toward my secondary route, in the event that things spiraled out of control and planned how I’d get there through a hail of gunfire. I knew it wouldn’t be easy, not to mention the fact that I would have to run in order to make it to the fence, and that put Kember in greater danger than me.