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She wasn’t sure how she did it, but she made it far enough up one of ridgelines lined with homes to escape the first wave of water temporarily. It gave her a moment to breathe and look for the next route. She could see where the road she was on perched on the side of the ridge descended again inland, and the water swallowing up the road in that direction. She kept looking for a way to get off this rapidly developing temporary island. This spot is going to be swamped with survivors and refugees, neither of which she wanted to be a part of. She thought she might see a route through some yards and such to a trail linking one road to another that might get her to the landward side of the water. Her SUV may fit and could be nimble enough to do it if she was careful.
It took a while, with quite a bit of white knuckle driving and nonstop praise for her trusty vehicle, but she made it to the crest road of the ridge. She followed it, not sure where she was going but knew she needed more distance to achieve real safety. It would be days at least for the water to recede and people to be let back into the flood area. She could see the roof of her apartment building sticking up from a literal sea of water. With some quick calculations, she realized that her apartment was underwater.
“Well Allyson, what are you going to do now?” This question kept ringing in her head as she rolled east, moving higher in elevation and farther away from the sea.
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White knuckle driving indeed...Thank you.
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CCG,
“Well Allyson, what are you going to do now?” This question kept ringing in her head as she rolled east, moving higher in elevation and farther away from the sea.
Keep going and going up would be advisable....
Thanks for the chapter....
Texican....
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“****! Taking fire from the left! Go Go Go!” Garen screamed over the radio at the same time he saw Kara jerk sideways on the bike.
They were traveling down one of the elevated roadways, trying to put more distance between them and the water before they exited. Their bikes could only go through water so deep before they would be stalled and swept away. The roads were fairly packed with cars and angry and stunned people. Garen and Kara were traveling slowly but steadily up one of the shoulders, keeping the revs low, trying to be inconspicuous and not attract too much attention. Both bikes had overbuilt mufflers, originally to avoid spooking wildlife. Some of the people they saw tried to flag them down. Some shouted questions. Some asked for help. Some wanted a ride to somewhere. All were somewhere between shock, anger, and disbelief.
Garen was hypersensitive to the danger. He had been in the LA area during the whole Rodney King/Reginald Denny Riots. Some poor truck driver, just out trying to make a living was stopped by the crowds because he accidentally drove down one of the streets with the riot. He was drug out of his truck and beaten nearly to death, sustaining massive head trauma. All because he was there.
“Kara, Talk to me. Kara!” The space was too narrow for him to pull up beside her and she was slumped in the saddle some, but at least she was still riding.
“Faith!! Next embankment, Break Right! Now! Now! Now!” Garen Bellowed over the radio, hoping to snap her out of shock.
He was relieved when she started angling to the side and working down the embankment. She was traveling slowly but still in control. They hit level ground and started looking around. Garen pulled up next to her and could get his first look at the damage. She had blood on her left upper arm and had her teeth gritted with every bump.
“How bad is it?”
“Took at least one round, left upper arm, don’t know anywhere else.” Her gasping voice replied.
“We got to get some cover so I can look at that. We can also rebalance the bikes and get a better plan. We should be above the highwater mark now.”
Garen was looking all around, trying to remember what was in this area of the city. They were on the outskirts, in some older industrial parks that had been overtaken by the sprawl. Mixed in were some older subdivisions. He wanted nothing to do with people. He was looking for a multilayer deep industrial park, with alleys to back buildings. That would get them off the street and away from casual observation.
Another part of Garen’s mind was trying to catch up to the facts. It was less than 2 hours after the quake and people were shooting at one another. What will it be like in two days? Two weeks? Shit! This was coming apart fast!
They found an older one that was more of a network of small buildings rather than one big building subdivided into multiple units. Most looked like locations that were only in use at infrequent intervals and it was the end of the day so anyone not burning the midnight oil should have left already.
Pulling down through the alleyways, Garen found a likely candidate. He wanted one that was for lease or sale, somewhere behind the first row so not visible from the street. That would make it less likely to be occupied or checked on. The one he settled on was a medium sized building, a couple of roll up doors and a walk in door, toward the back. The “for lease” sign was aged and weathered, so it had been empty for a while. Behind it was a vacant field that once had been part of a larger factory complex, evidenced by the scattering of random roadways, concrete pads, and sections of tiled concrete and loading dock ramps. That would provide an avenue of escape if something happened.
Garen pulled up to the concrete pad in front of the roll up doors. After a quick look around, he dismounted. He pulled a small leather pouch from his tank bag and moved toward the glass doors.
“Kara, Keep a lookout”
Garen walked to the glass doors, noting the dust and grime on the glass and the handle. Seeing no signs of life, he opened his master key pouch-a highly capable lock pick set. After about a minute or two fumbling around, Kara’s voice chimed in
“Bekka would have had it open by now.”
“It’s been a while since I have done this” he quipped back.
“You should practice more”
“Awfully mouthy for taking a round”
The glass door swung open. Garen Moved forward with a flashlight in one hand, his other on the pistol on his belt. A small office with a couple of glass cubicles like those in a car showroom were just inside the building. There was no furniture to be seen. He pressed forward to the back of the room where he spied a doorway. Passing through into the yawning blackness beyond, Garen swept his flashlight to the left, looking for and finding the roll up door that was next to the glass door. Garen was able to unclip the chain hoist to raise the roll up door nearest the glass doors. As the door rattled and clattered with his efforts, more light flooded into the bay.
Kara could see into the building through the roll up door. Most of the building was empty. Scattered near the walls were a couple of workbenches. She gunned her bike into the bay, taxiing down near one of the benches. She positioned the bike around so it was pointing at the other roll up door at the back of the building. Dropping the side stand, she unassed the bike and leaned on the workbench next to her.
Garen walked his bike in the open door. Once inside, he brought the door back down, sealing them in from prying eyes. He then went through to the office and locked the glass doors again, followed by the door out of the office into the bay. Garen brought his bike up next to Kara’s. He put it on the center stand. He then grabbed the med kit from the back of the bike and moved to Kara.
“Alright, Kara, how are you doing, “a note of concern in his voice as he set his med pack on the bench next to her.
“Hurts like hell, but nothing new. I think it was just the shock and the pain out of nowhere” she sighed then blurted out “DAMN! DAMN! DAMN! Why did I have to catch another one?”
“Calm down. Any other locations?”
“No, just the arm.”
“Alright, give me a moment to get stuff out.”
Garen started spreading stuff out. He popped out one of the cheesy little space blankets and spread it out on the workbench. He then opened the main part of the med bag and pulled out various wound treatment stuff.
“Ok, Kara. Saint-Tropez time” he said, motioning with his hands for her to take her top off.
Kara popped the quick release for her plate carrier and slid it off. This was hung on the handlebars of her bike. She then unbuttoned the shirt and slid it down and off. This then went on her bike as well. She then started the hardest part, her compression T-shirt. She pulled, and tugged and fought with it for a few moments until she heard Garen speaking under his breath. She looked up at him where he was just staring at her with his hands on his hips.
“What, Smartass?”
“I said, you’re like a three year old trying to take off a turtleneck sweater. Do you want some help? I can help you take it off, or I can cut it off, or I can stand here and wait for you to finish.”
An exasperated sigh, “I’ll take the help. I can’t afford for you to cut it. It’s my only t-shirt now. The rest of my clothes were in the trailer.”
Garen’s eyes bored into hers as he slowly and deliberately told her “Kara, don’t worry about that right now. I still have a ton of stuff at the house for you to use and sort through. As long as Bekka or I have even a tarp for a shelter, you have a home with us.”
Garen inspected the wound on her arm. The bullet had creased the muscle. It was a shallow trench in the tricep. It would hurt when she used it but wouldn’t bleed too bad.
“Ok, decision time. I can fix this a bunch of ways. I can wrap a bandage around it and call it good, but when you tried to use the muscle you might tear it worse. I can use the butterfly dressings and it might hold. I can use the trauma stapler, or I can stitch it. Those are your choices.”
“Shit. What’s the most durable? You can’t afford me to screw up my arm trying to ride.”
“I can stitch it, then dermabond and a dressing over it. That will hold it together the best and keep you mobile. It won’t be quick to do but will serve best in the long run.”
“It’s almost nightfall anyway Garen. I don’t think a night ride would be good tonight. Do you agree?”
Garen looked at the wound, calculating the work necessary to do it right, then his watch.
“Let’s call it a night here. I can do my Betsey Ross imitation, we can get some food in us, reload the bikes better and catch some zzzs. Then an early start in the morning to slip past some of this area before the zombie horde wakes up and hears us coming. What do you think?”
Kara nodded and unzipped her sports bra so she wouldn’t get any more blood, or worse, betadine, on it and lay down on the table.
Garen tucked the airway roll form his pack under her head as a pillow. He then handed her a couple of tablets to swallow, one a pain drug, the other an antibiotic. He then assembled his tools to stitch up the wound. As he is working on her in the light of his headlamp, the pain meds take effect and Kara gets light headed and emotional. Garen has seen this in many patients. The effect is similar to being drunk; a loss of inhibitions, talkative and all kinds of other effects can happen.
“Garen, why me? What karmic debt am I still paying off? Why does everyone and everything I touch go to shit? Tell me Garen, Tell me.”
Garen looks up from where he was sewing. “Kara, you are one of the strongest, most resilient people I have ever known. You have survived things that would have killed or crushed most people. You have saved people, you have helped people, all without regard for yourself. Just as you must heat iron to make steel, I believe one must be forged in the fires of adversity to become stronger and more able to prevail the trials and tribulations life will throw at us.”
“Who did I save? I just keep blundering into situations and somehow fighting my way out of them”
“Kara, I saw the after-action report. I talked to Bekka. The last trip out of England, when she got knocked down and took the shrapnel, you stood over her exchanging fire with the bad guys. You took two to the chest in your trauma plate. When others were shitting themselves and looking for something to hide behind, you stood up and fought. Now. Stop feeling sorry for yourself. This is just a scratch and will be no more than a scar the size of a sharpie line in a couple of weeks. Do something else. I know, sing me the Barbie Girl song and let me get back to work.”
She laughed and sang the Barbie Girl song, then Henry the Eight and a few more silly ones until she dropped off to sleep while he worked. Once he was done, he covered her up. He then repacked his med ruck and stowed it on the bike. He then put hers on the center stand so they could inventory and rebalance gear in the morning.
He searched around inside until he found a roof access ladder. He was able to get the hatch open and climb out onto the roof. Looking around, he saw some areas in the distance lit up, but most areas to the west were pitch black. The night air was quiet in the darkness. He sat down on the roof for a few minutes staring at his hands and the blood on them, thinking. After a few minutes, he realized he was praying to god for guidance and clarity in his decisions ahead. He was also praying for the answer to how to help his friend. She was still hurting inside and he didn’t know what else to do to help.
Fatigue came over him and he remembered the real reason he climbed to the roof. He pulled out his radio.
“ATC, this is Briar Flight, Blade 53 and Faith 27. RON Rabbit, push arrival +24, Acknowledge?”
No answer.
He extended his antenna.
“ATC, this is Briar Flight, Blade 53 and Faith 27. RON Rabbit, push arrival +24, Acknowledge?”
A female voice brought his spirits up and thrilled his heart anew.
“Briar Flight, acknowledge two ship Spike 53 and Faith 27, RON Rabbit, arrival push +24. Advise and update for changes”
A big smile on his face and tears in his eyes, he replied.
“Copy, Briar Flight, Out”
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CCG,
Kara is carrying a lot of baggage that needs to be let go and live in today for the future.... At lest she has a good guy and gal to help....
Now tomorrow will be a challenge to get home.... Leave wee hours while most are asleep????
Thanks for the chapter....
Texican....
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Thanks! Really enjoying this one!
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Stellar writing! Thank you for excellent additions to your stor! I love your use of paragraph breaks. They make it easier on my aging eyes.
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Thank you. It's hard to believe you haven't published before. Or, have 'ya and I missed it?
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Another great story!!!!!! I hope this continues for a while. Keep up the great writing.
WAB
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He woke up sometime in the middle of the night and didn’t know where he was. Everything was blackness. He took a slow inventory of his body. He was in a cramped position, half sitting up against some sort of pole. His neck hurt, his back hurt and he wasn’t alone. He slowly slid his right hand up and hear the crinkle of an aluminized casualty blanket and felt the warm skin of a naked back. That explained the weight he felt laying against his chest. He was also drenched in sweat inside his clothes. A soft whisper came up to him from Kara.
“It will be ok, go back to sleep. I’ll keep them away. Rest.”
He was worn out. It sounded like a good idea at the time so he did.
When he next stirred, he saw Kara standing over one of the work tables with a pile of gear from her bike, examining it and reorganizing it in the light of her headlamp. She was still naked from the waist up.
“Kara, how are you doing?”
“The arm hurts, but it will work. It’s good that you woke up. I thought I was going to have to wake you up. “
“Why, what’s going on?” he groaned as he staggered to his feet.
“I was up on the roof and off to the west, nearby, we have added fire to the calamity striking the region.”
“Any other cheery news?”
“Sporadic gunfire all around, nothing sustained. I felt safer in Ilidža, but it’s about the same level of fire.”
“So any other exploring you did?”
“Found the bathroom, the water is still on. We should top off everything. The showers still work as well. I’m going to rinse off real quick. You should too. You were doing calisthenics in your sleep. You were starting to make too much noise, so I curled up to you to try and quiet you down.”
“So it was laziness with an impending shower was the reason you were, correction, are running around half naked?”
“No, smartass, I need your help with the compression shirt. Besides, you and Bekka have seen me naked all the time. Same with me and you guys. You suddenly have a case of the shys?”
“No, just too many jumbled flashbacks to places I’ve never been.” He was quiet for a moment, then he looked over at Kara
“Kara, promise me something.”
“No, I am not having your children”
“I’m serious, Kara. Promise me something”
“Don’t do this, we have too many things to do”
“Promise me ……If anything happens, Take care of Bekka.”
“That promise is already engraved on my heart and in my soul. In this have no fear. “Her voice was thick with emotion.
She grabbed a small hand towel from the bottom of one of her saddlebags and headed toward the back corner where the bathrooms were. Over her shoulder she said
”Grab your shower shit, the pressure might not last long. We need to get resituated and on the move, we don’t have long before dawn.”
By the time he had grabbed his stuff and gotten back to the bathroom, Kara was stepping out of the shower and handing him a small hotel sized bar of soap. As he stepped into the shower, he saw Kara wiping down with the body shammie. He watched her for a moment. He then thought about why he did it and had to laugh. Most guys would be all lustful looking a beautiful body toweling off. And make no mistake, having studied the female form recreationally for years, she was beautiful, however, what he was looking for was range of motion and her use of her left arm, trying to gauge her health and combat effectiveness for the upcoming evac.
The water was cold but clean. By the time he was dry and dressed, Kara had the water bladders from the bike and was topping them off. They then moved to the bikes to sort the gear and rebalance everything. They had their own packs, two packs apiece that were for the students that John told them to take, plus the two smaller bags he handed them at the last minute. What a mess. They didn’t want to leave anything behind, but this was a lot of crap to pack. Fortunately their bikes could handle the weight if they could just get them tied down well. They tied all the student bags down first, followed by the other ones John gave them. On top of those they put their med bags. Their bail bag and fighting load went on them. With things shuffled and balanced better the bikes were more stable.
They checked their fuel state and found they were at about half a tank. They would keep an eye out for more if a relatively safe location presented itself.
While Garen cracked out a map, Kara ran up to the roof with her GPS to get a better fix on their position.
Kara’s voice echoed from just inside the roof hatch.
“Garen, better come up here and see this”
Garen climbed the ladder, concerned at what he would find.
Off to the west and north, there were few if any lights other than some fires. The sky was black, no stars. They had been blotted out by the smoke. As his gaze moved closer, he could see a few fires in nearer subdivisions, ones that should have been free of water. This made no sense. A growing feeling of dread grew in him.
“Did you get the fix?”
“Five Satellites worth”
“Let’s get down from here and get our route and points plotted, right ****ing quickly. I don’t like this. Make sure your weapon’s hot and ready.”
“After yesterday, there was no doubt I was doing that.”
Looking at the map, they would be moving through some more urban sprawl for most of the day til they break out into countryside late in the day. Neither one liked the idea but that was the only way without adding a week to their journey, which was a non-starter. This time, weapons were prepped, mags rechecked, draw positions reevaluated, and armor repositioned. They planned to stay in low revs to try and be as quiet as possible. They also decided to swap lead every hour to prevent too much fatigue. Everything ready, they started the bikes, rolled up the door taxied out. Garen rolled the door back down and they left. Dawn was an hour away.
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Awesome story
Very good....keeps me on the edge of my desk chair!! :)
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She woke up cold and alone on the table. The darkness was complete. She wasn’t sure but she knew she had heard rustling noises to her left. She slipped a small flashlight from her pocket and shined the red light over toward the sound. Slumped on the floor leaning on the leg of the workbench was Garen. He seemed to be shaking and mumbling. She slid off of the table to her feet. Her head hurt with the aftereffects of the pain pill. Gods she hated that. She had had far too many of them over the years.
Something was going on with Garen. Normally he didn’t sleep very well to begin with. Now he seemed to be on the edge of some sort of nightmare. They couldn’t afford any loud screaming or outbursts. They were supposed to be hiding. She sank down next to him and curled into his chest, holding him gently. She hummed a soft little tune as she lay there. He quieted down some. She rested like that for a while until they both dropped into a deeper sleep.
When she next woke, everything was quiet in the building. She slipped out from under the blanket, leaving Garen asleep. She wandered the building in search of her most urgent need, a bathroom. She was beginning to think she was going to resort to a floor drain when she found a small door in the back corner. It led to a small bathroom/locker area, complete with a shower. A quick test showed the water still pressurized. She didn’t flush, not wanting to wake Garen without being in the room.
Her bladder situation resolved, she began exploring some more. She found the ladder to the roof. She figured a good look around to familiarize herself with the terrain would be a good idea since she wasn’t paying much attention on the ride in.
As she stood on the roof, she slowly pivoted around to look in all directions. There were some fires in the distance. She also heard some random pops that most people wouldn’t recognize as gunfire. She knew better. She found her listening to the pattern of fire, to see if it was some one on one or an actual firefight somewhere. Except for the absence of lots of streetlights, it reminded her of all those nights on rooftops in Iraq and Bosnia, and a dozen other places. It felt wrong for it to feel so peaceful, listening to others hunt and shoot one another. It felt like some of the shackles of society had been lifted, if just for a little while. It made her feel a little more alive that she had been.
She could hear Christians voice in her head. His sweet but earnest way of speaking, his passion, his love. She missed him terribly. It was at times like this that the rest of the world’s noise is drowned out in silence that he came to her so clear. She can remember his energy. She could never explain it, and hadn’t really tried to anyone other than Bekka, that she sometimes could almost feel his presence.
The most important part Christian gave her was a better and stronger understanding of faith. Growing up, religion got lip service. Joining the military, her knowledge grew with her experiences. By the time she met Garen and Bekka, she had come to realize many of her perceived problems with organized religion was not the message, but the delivery and the hypocrisy. How is a Catholic priest going to guide his flock on marital issues when they aren’t allowed to be married? How can you preach sacrifice and live in a mansion and fly on a private jet? Everyone is going to hell unless you covert to this particular subsect of church. You can lie, cheat and steal from anyone who isn’t your religion? How can that be right?
She started drilling down into the origin of faith and the word of God, not only in Christianity, but her ancestral religions, and the religions of those throughout the world. It was with this stronger deeper knowledge in her that she met Christian. He too had been studying religion, both for personal reasons and his degree. He was also part of a small group that had a more consolidated religious concept.
Looking at many religions, the core message was similar, yet mildly altered for the understanding of the locals. The flood story, the rules of God handed down through his prophets, Good vs Evil, all are present in the major religions, even those with zero exposure to the others. This in its own right proved the truth of the message. It was the people who interject themselves between the word and message of God and the people that tend to distort and screw things up.
Christian pointed out the dovetailing of the two religions between Norse and Christianity. Adam and Eve were sheltered in the trunk of the World Ash Tree during Ragnarok. Many believe the War of the Angels upon the land prior to man was the basis of the Norse Religion, and became also metaphorical of the struggle of good vs evil and betrayal. It was a more violent time as was the earlier times in the bible, pre-Jesus. The book of Deuteronomy was God’s book of war. The lands grew a bit more peaceful after Jesus and the message of forgiveness to the land, but still others rise up and pervert and twist the message of redemption, looking to conquer rather than help. It is during these times God needs the righteous arm of his angels and his servants to defend the faithful. Not to make war for the sake of war, but for the defense of others.
As they talked together, and studied together, a deeper sense of purpose grew in her. By studying and learning as much as she could, she could try to make herself a better person and spread the word, not with labels and doctrine, but with real faith and belief. She also saw that the weak needed defending so they can prosper.
Christian was also studying the Templars. Contrary to all the money grubbing anti-Templar politics and propaganda over the last several hundred years, they really were in the beginning out to defend and protect the faith and the people. They answered to their faith, not to worldly kings. And for that they were destroyed.
Christian and her had spent many nights talking and when not talking, just sitting within each other’s presence. They both felt calm and at rest with each other in ways both had never felt before. They had decided to get married once the deployment was over. It was to be a simple affair; two warriors of faith pledging to each other and to God their commitment to both, forever.
A trip to the holy land, with just a few very close friends for the ceremony was the plan. They had already decided on non-traditional marriage vows. All was lining up and they were going to tell their friends soon.
It was not to be. The blast shattered Christian’s body like a water balloon, shards striking and wounding Kara along with the metal fragments. He was gone in an instant, and Kara was plunged into despair. Her faith shaken, her focus lost, she wandered aimlessly spiritually for a long time. She threw herself into her recovery physically, then her work mentally, trying to get past the anguish and loss.
The rage that build in her at having salvation and hope so close, only to be ripped away, was in the end crippling her just as surely as someone who lost a leg. After her breakdown or blow up depending on your point of view, and her subsequent medical retirement, she was cast free from the only anchor she had keeping her above water spiritually. She was ashamed to admit, she fell far from right and was scared to think what Christian would have thought of her if he could see her.
She doesn’t remember how it happened or how she got there, but she was picked up by the police for vagrancy one night at a veteran’s cemetery. She was asleep on one of the graves. It was Christian’s. She doesn’t know if she was drunk or high, but when they searched her, the only thing they found in her wallet other than her Military ID card was a card with Bekka’s phone number on it.
The next thing she knew, Bekka was standing there when they opened the door. She didn’t judge, or scold, she just wrapped her arms around her and took her to a hotel. They stayed there a few days, collected what belongings she had and started to help her get well. A few days later Garen was there and helping in his own way.
Before they drove out of town, she had to go by Christian’s grave. She knelt down and talked to him. She thanked him for saving her, told him she missed him, she loved him, and would try to live up to his promise with her. She finished by reciting the vows they were supposed to say together, as she has tried to do every day since.
“I will be without fear in the face of my enemies
I will stand brave and upright that the Lord may love me
I will speak the truth always even if it means my death
I will protect the helpless and do no wrong”
These words rang loud in her head as she whispered them on the rooftop, looking west into the fires and blackness.
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CCG,
Poignant....
Texican....
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Awesome story, like it is based on real life. Thank you.
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I just read the first pages of an awesome story that has been lovingly crafted. Thank you
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Thank you for the new chapters!
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Allyson wasn’t sure where she was headed or what she was going to do. She felt in a state of limbo. A year ago, she would have been rolling out with her fellow officers to help people. Now she had no authority, no infrastructure, no duty to act. And if she was honest with herself, her mindset had altered as well. Working at the center, she had lost some of the public spirit, at least how she thought of it. She still had no problem helping someone. The big qualifier was that now she didn’t necessarily felt she had to help everyone.
She wasn’t sure where to go now that she escaped the initial flood. The area around the city was cut off in several directions due to the fragile state of many bridges. She did know that the routes deeper into the rural parts bordering the urban sprawl should still be accessible. She had no family to go back to where she grew up. She had no ties anywhere she realized. Her only real connections were at the center.
She remembered Garen had told her to contact him on Tac channel 7. She had to get to the area he had indicated, however. She was doing some mental inventory of what she had in the SUV, and came up feeling unprepared. She had a couple leftover MREs and some power bars, plus some half full water bottles behind the seat. For shelter, however, she was doubly set. She could and had slept in the Suv before, but even better, she had the rooftop tent. It stayed on the roof since she had no place in the apartment to keep it. She would be warm, dry and sheltered. Next question was where to park. She wanted to find a good spot before it got too dark.
As she kept winding her way in and around the outskirts, she came across a convenience store that was, for some unknown reason, actually open. An opportunity like this couldn’t be passed up. When she went inside, the first things she exchanged were pleasantries, followed by what she figured the most important question, is your card reader working?
The generator out back had kept the electricity on in the store and their card reader was satellite driven. This was music to her ears. Allyson went on a focused spending spree. Bags of rice, Spam, cooking oil, canned chili, a dozen gallon jugs of water, a bunch of odds and ends, and from behind the counter, an entire display worth of disposable lighters and all six bottles of Everclear. This , combined with topping off her fuel tank, was a decent hit to her credit card, but she had a sneaking suspicion that it won’t matter too much.
Now her next challenge was to find an out of the way place to set up camp for the evening. She knew there was a huge national forest to the east. This would let her get away from people so she could get some rest. She was o tired she thought she would collapse, but she refused to. With the final light fading, she made her way to the edge of the forest. It took some hunting around but she finally found a jeep trail into the woods.
Backing into a small clump of pine trees, She was able to conceal her position from any casual observer. Half a bottle of water and an MRE entrée was dinner. This was followed by hunkering down for the night. Exhaustion was the best sleeping pill by far. Tomorrow would be inventory and rescout the location. She would also try to contact Garen.
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Thank you so very much! I appreciate your continuing this story.
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Thank you for another chapter this morning!
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Thanks
Ya know I wonder if I've spent so many years in nasty places that things like knowing how long I can go without sleep, and normal field security and such is just second nature of If it is as unique as it sometimes seems to me.
Probably a little bit of both.
Still interesting food for thought.
Dosadi
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Dosadi, I agree about the sleep and field security elements. One of the biggest problems the wife and I observed was people not being able to make the transition from back on the block to a “danger zone” footing. It was especially difficult when it was the environment that changed not the location.
When we were in small group ops, it was more difficult. Less manpower to share the load. Lots of hide small, don’t get noticed. Had the hardest time teaching the junior troops these lessons
Both of us look at it like the Hulk’s line in the Avengers- he didn’t have to get angry, he was always angry
The secret to security and knowing yourself and your limits is turn the switch to “Always”
One of my troops asked me once how did I know when to worry. My answer was “kid, I’m always worried.”
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I was / am 0317
I was used to just me and partner, so I know the challenges.
Been there; Done that; have multiple versions of the tee shirt.
I keep saying someday I'm gonna write a book.
Outta name it : Here hold muh beer; ya'll watch this. I've lived and done my share of stupid, and it's just God's will I ain't dead.
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Her damp hair in her helmet was a magnet for the thoughts in her brain. It pulled her back to this morning and beyond. She remembers standing in the cold shower. The water felt good on the tired muscles. Her tall, lanky frame stretched like a cat in the shower stall, seeking to ease the soreness that seemed to stay in her now, not the good soreness of a proper workout, but the pain and agony of real mortal combat and the soul deep ache of having suffered greatly with no end in sight. As her hands run the soap over the scars her body has acquired, she can still remember all too many of the causes of them. The ones gained earning her skills troubled her not. Some of the others woke her screaming in the middle of the night, robbed her of sleep, and made her feel far too old for her years. The water couldn’t be hot enough to fight the chill in her heart at those memories
"To sleep, per chance to dream, ain't that the bitch" she said, wondering if she will ever sleep well again. Once, she had bolted upright, not knowing where she was. Her boyfriend or guy she was sleeping with, whatever, at the time tried to be helpful, hold her until she knew what was going on. At his touch she screamed and fled. A bit shaken, he followed. He found her huddled in the shower, sobbing uncontrollably, the water on at a scalding temperature. He turned on the lights and gasped. She had always stayed covered up with him, or had the lights too low for him to see more than her outline. To him, it had been cute. She seemed so shy. Now he saw what she had attempted to hide from him. Her back was to him, covered with several scars the cause of which he couldn't imagine. He could see others, too. He asked, pleaded, and in the end finally demanded to know what happened to her. She didn't tell him, couldn't detail her past to him. She wasn't ready for that. She had lain in the shower for hours trying to pull herself together. By dawn, she had recovered. Also by dawn, he had left. She never heard from him again.
"Sleep is overrated anyway." she muttered to herself.
She stood in silence for several moments, the water rinsing the last of the soap from her as she pondered her worth. When she was finished in the shower, she spent a few minutes drying and braiding her long blond hair.
The braid bouncing on her back brought her back to the present. She was following Garen down a side road, searching for the best place to hook left up to the forest. They were trying to stay stealthy by keeping the revs low, and not traveling too fast. This wasn’t a sprint, where the highest speed possible would win the day. Instead, the best was thinking and moving smartly.
Watching Garen and thinking about him and Bekka, she came to realize that other than Christian, they were the only ones who ever accepted her and loved her for who she was, scars and all.
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The empty house always make me feel his absence. I got up and started the coffee just like every day. It seemed a bit off to do so, since my mind was still torn between downrange mindset and back home environment. I went to the shower to try and get focused. Water always seems to be a calming agent to my psyche. I was showering in the dark.I know it sounds strange but its a habit I got into living with Kara in England. She said it helped her clear her mind. I let her think that I believed that was the only reason. In some ways she was right though. It is soothing and gives you time to think.
Kara, that girl still has so many secrets of her past that you could spend a lifetime trying to uncover them and still not scratch the surface. She is a calming presence when she is around, but there is a wellspring of deep energy that I can feel , like a dangerous riptide you can just feel on the tips of your toes. I have seen her temper, and I don’t like it. When she gets that far gone, there is no filter, no safety valve, no check swing. Her emotions have no dimmer switch. they are either on or off. One time, I remember it was after about two bottles of wine apiece, she told me that Hubby and I were teaching her how to feel again. In some ways, the process of helping her has helped us to feel again, too.
I didn’t realize how much I was worried about her when I called him on the radio about the Tsunami. The fact she was with him also means he has someone covering his back that I trust with the job as much if not more than me. I need him back here, and I know she would move heaven and earth to do so.
Warbelt, carbine, Time to make the rounds Jenny Wick
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Thank you. I really appreciate the frequent chapter contributions!
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Many thanks, I'm lovin the story.
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CCG,
Good chapters, but a road map of where folks are and where they need to get to would help in the story line....
Texican....
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Thank you for the new chapters!
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Very moving chapters. Thanks
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Garen and Kara were making good time. They were trying to get to the southern edge of the National Forest. Once there, they figured they had about 120 miles to cover north through the forest to get back to the Briar Patch and home. Their overall plan was to hopefully get to the convenience store outside the park. This should still have power and therefore a decent chance for fuel as well. They had stopped there many times as part of the company headed to an area in the park for training in navigation with the students. They had gotten to know the owner and his son.
Mr Chenkof, the owner, was a retired Park Ranger and his son was currently a Backcountry Ranger in the park. Chenkof Senior was quite a character. He had escaped from East Germany while stationed there. He would tell little stories about things like one of the girls he grew up with always hating to go to target practice. She would shoot the lights out, claiming to be a horrible shot. Things like that and other lighthearted stories about growing up in Russia. He never went into any depth about his youth, though. It was always “it was a long time ago”, and “you wouldn’t understand, it wasn’t on a computer” followed by a laugh.
His son Doug was a fairly cheery sort. He was quite happy patrolling the back woods, helping people. He was always dreading having to work in the front office for any length of time. He always said the long hike to his territory filtered out most of the assholes, coupled with the lack of internet and cell service. He worked with the center as a navigation instructor, purely as an adjunct instructor. This was to prevent the Park service from getting concerned about him working two jobs, since he was a Federal Law Enforcement Officer.
Kara spotted a closed for remodeling rest stop about midway through the day. They pulled up the berm and hid beside the building. This gave a chance to stretch their legs, pee, and get a bite to eat. Garen was anxious to get back on the road and make more ground. Kara was getting a bit concerned that Garen might be getting a bit too careless in his rush. She tried to calm him down, reminding him that Bekka was safe, and God help anyone who tried to do her harm there in her own castle. They ate their energy bars, finished some water and mounted back up.
After their short intermission, they got back on the road, winding out into the countryside. This helped ease some of their worries. Now they were away from the masses of people and the immediate threat from the water. The light was fading fast as they rolled up to their target location. This was to be a quick fuel stop, maybe some snacks and press to the edge of the forest. Kara knew of a new subdivision being built backed up to the southern edge. She figured they could hide in an unfinished house, prep and reset, grab some sleep and hit the forest around 0300. The first part would be on actual trails so they could crack out their tactical gear they were carrying for night range training and roll on NVGs so no one would see where they were and where they were going.
Kara was sure they could squat in one of the houses overnight. She had done it plenty of times after she had gotten out. Too many times. Garen likened it to some of the times squatting in some abandoned or cleansed village, choosing a house that was in the middle of the scale. Not too intact, because they would be popular targets, not too trashed or collapsed where there was no advantage, only negatives. This also made sense to Kara the first time he taught it to her, mostly because she had thought the same way when she was on the streets prior to the military.
They figured with the new ones being built, they needed one that was framed out with sides and doors, but didn’t need windows. They wanted the doors so they could hide the motorcycles and themselves in a garage instead of having to roll them into the living room. With the saddlebags and such, they were too wide for most standard doorways.
The convenience store had one row of pumps. An older jacked and lifted, primer spattered pickup sat empty on the side closest to the store. They rolled up nose to tail on the outside, Kara first. The signs on the pumps said pay inside first. This worked for Kara, she had to pee and told Garen she would get the pumps started after she peed. Garen didn’t mind, he needed to stretch. He told her he would stay with the bikes, then it would be his turn.
Kara slipped her helmet off and left it on the bike. She kept her radio earpiece and throat mike on, because she had finally gotten it comfortable and didn’t want to squirm around getting it in place again. She double checked her pullover jacket that covered up most of her gear and slipped inside.
At the counter to the right there were two guys sounding like they were having a bit of a heated discussion with the young girl behind the counter. Kara slipped in to the left with not even a glance from the guys at the counter. She went to the back corner of the store to the bathrooms. Once inside, she had some relief at a clean toilet and a chance to wash her hands with soap that hadn’t lived in her saddlebags for a year. Sitting on the toilet, she heard the voices get louder, then a shot, followed by more yelling, and angry female screaming.
************! Instantly she keyed her radio “Spike, don’t come in yet! Two bad guys at the counter, I think they shot the clerk but she is still screaming. I don’t think they know I’m here. Let me eyeball it, get ready for breach!” She yanked up her pants, setting everything in place as fast as she could without causing too much noise. She crept out of the room and down an aisle or two to see the counter.
As she rounded the corner, she could see the bad guys leaning over the counter trying to punch buttons on the fuel authorization machine and the register. The girls screams kept coming up from behind the counter, sounding more like rage than pain at the moment. She could hear the guys talking about the event. Such things as ‘she shoulda done what we said’, ‘don’t hurt her too much, maybe we can take her with us, she’s kinda cute’. At the last, Kara’s temper ignited into cold calculating fury. Knowing the gunmen would be mostly deaf for a few, she plotted with Garen.
“Spike, two tangos, pistols, at the counter. Clerk is down behind the counter. If you come in, it will suck. Let me start. I’ll distract them, you pop them from behind. They are talking kidnap and more.”
“Faith, give me 30 seconds to get in position.” He knew she wouldn’t be calling for it if it wasn’t necessary. He slipped open the case with his gear from work. This is the sort of thing it was made for. He also slung his med bag on his back, he had a downed civ. He made sure he had two extra mags ready and his pistol prepped. He rounded the truck and slipped up beside the door.
“Faith, ready.”
“Spike, I’m 45 degrees to the left of the door, clerk is down, go word is pickle.”
“Copy”
Kara prepared herself. She stepped out into the open and called out.
“Hey, honey, the bathrooms locked! Oh, hi guys, have you seen the clerk, the bathrooms locked and I’m in quite a pickle.”
When she stepped out and began talking, the two guys swung their attention from the counter to her. All her equipment was covered by her jacket, and she had on her most demure and helpless look in her face, hoping they didn’t figure out what was on her head or throat in time to be worried. She shouldn’t have worried. They died with looks of puzzlement on their faces. Garen came in the doors directly behind them quiet and fast. As soon as the muzzle of his submachinegun came on target, he loosed two three-round bursts into each, one in the head, and one in the torso. They dropped into lifeless heaps. There was no worry about them ever getting up again. The noise wasn’t like anything most people had ever heard. A real silenced weapon makes a loud noise, and when the shots come that fast, it’s just a ripping noise, hard to tell they are gunshots though.
The center was performing training for a group that would be deploying with older weapons not normally associated with active US military. They were acquired from another federal agency that had a stockpile. H&K MP5s were the gold standard for CQB in the 80s and 90s. They fell out of favor due to a lack of stopping power from the in-use 9mm ammo. There was one agency that worked that issue and fixed it in conjunction with their handgun upgrades. The agency later phased out the 10mm handguns and with them the 10mm MP5-SDs went into storage. Fast, accurate and powerful up close, it was purpose built for situations just like this. Garen drove it like a champ. It was not his preferred choice but it was effective. Between his bike and Kara’s bike, they had four of them and had set up their training rigs for the class.
Once the badguys were confirmed down, Garen went to the girl behind the counter. She was clutching her thigh, a small puddle of blood was beneath her.
“Ma’am, we are here to help. The bad guys are down, they will not hurt you again. May I look at your leg? I need to get that bleeding under control.” He was trying his friendliest voice and moving toward her. Meanwhile Kara was securing the weapons, gathering the brass from Garen’s gun and flipping the closed sign on the door.
Things just got complicated
And then Tac channel 7 Lit up, calling Gaven.
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CCG,
Stupid is as stupid does and shoots the female clerk.... With it falling apart, why wasn't there someone else at the convenience store????
Looks like Kara and Garen have a forgotten child to take care of....
Not a fast escape....
Thanks for the chapter....
Texican....
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“Kara, switch to Tac 7, I think its Allyson.” barked Garen as he pulled out some bleeding control gear.
Kara switched radio frequency, catching the end of a transmission. It sounded like Allyson. She couldn’t remember the call signs from work and don’t know if Allyson had one she would remember, so she improvised.
“Carrot, this is Faith. Wait one.”
Silence
“Carrot, this is Faith, we were standing on the third floor loading bags when we felt a dance coming on.”
“Copy Faith, but it was the second floor.”
“We are a bit busy here right now, what’s up?”
“Checking in, with nothing but me and my vehicle. Wave wiped my place and boss said to call” a tone of exasperation crept into Allyson’s voice.
“Give me a rough location.”
“Backed into a forest trail, just trying to avoid attention.”
“Boss is hearing our conversation, improve your location, hide as well as you can and get some coordinates. We will come to you, but probably not for at least two days. You good for that?”
“I’m good, and we will talk later about ‘Carrot’”
Kara turned toward Garen.
"Hey Garen, we need to work a link up with Allyson”
“I heard, now get over here and help me get her patched up.”
Garen was working a single GSW to the thigh. It appeared that it was a straight through and through. He threw a tourniquet on to slow the bleeding until he could get everything dressed properly. All the while he was talking to her. In short order, he determined that this was Angelique, the 16 year old granddaughter of Mr. Chenkof Sr. She was filling in while he was taking care of his wife. She had been ill for quite some time and it seemed that it may be finally coming to an end. He spent as much time as possible with her.
Asked for the best way to get ahold of her grandfather so he knew what was going on, she pointed to the phone and told Garen the first speed dial on the right was the number for the house. After finishing up the wound dressing, the TQ was removed and the bleeding was controlled. This freed Garen up to talk on the phone. Kara gave Angelique some Antibiotics, and a pain killer.
Garen explained everything to Mr. Chenkof, the wound, the bad guys, and the mess. Mr. Chenkof told him to not worry about it, he would be there in 30 minutes to help take care of everything. He also told them to load up on whatever supplies they needed or wanted. No charge. He wouldn’t hear of it.
While they waited, they refueled the bikes, collected some food for the next day or two, and kept checking Angelique. Around thirty minutes later, Mr. Chenkof arrived. He was beside himself with worry for his granddaughter, heartfelt appreciation for Garen and Kara, and rage to the two dead men.
He told them to not worry about the police, the bodies, and their truck, none of it. They would disappear. The supplies, fuel and food were all gratis for their actions that day. He also insisted on taking them to his home for their meal and rest, but it was half an hour in the wrong way and Garen didn’t want to intrude in Mr. Chenkof’ s wife.
Garen explained the follow on medical care needed. He also gave him the radio frequency and a general location where her father could contact them. This wasn’t new info, Her father was very familiar with the park and had already know of the existence of the compound on the edge of the National Forest.
After a much longer stop than they had planned, Garen and Kara rolled out in search of the subdivision. One more day and they should be home.
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