Ever Hayes - Emergency Exit

Eddie and Lazzo took the two men from the Endovalley base to their new post in Colorado Springs and introduced them to their new commanding officer, Captain Kubar. He hadn’t been informed of Eddie’s demotion, and Eddie neither told him nor allowed him to see the lack of stripes on his uniform, keeping his jacket on the entire time. Eddie’s office radio had been shut down, but Captain Kubar saw no problem in letting him check in with Estes Park from his office. Captain Kubar took his two new men to meet the other soldiers, and Eddie got on the radio to the Alpine Visitor Center.

As expected, Eddie was told all the troops were being pulled out of Estes Park first thing tomorrow morning. There was no reason left to contain that site, as there was no way in, no way out, and no signs of life at this point. If anyone were still there they’d surely be dead by spring.

Some of the Estes Park troops would join the eighty men currently up at the alpine base, while the rest would be sent to the other end of Trail Ridge Road in Granby or Grand Lake until spring. That was all Eddie needed to know.

He thanked Captain Kubar for his help and told him he and his men were being reassigned to Buena Vista. If anyone asked the captain what he knew of Eddie’s whereabouts, Captain Kubar would tell them what the commanders already knew. There would be no surprises on any end, and Kubar would never be the wiser about being used. Perhaps he would even remain someone who Eddie could count on, if needed, in the future.

Cabo and Omar were never reassigned. They were killed in their sleep that same night.

The troops were gone by noon. Dozens of helicopters flew in, and all the base camps were abandoned. A couple of helicopters flew up to the Alpine Visitor Center, but most of them headed in the general direction of Denver. It didn’t matter to us anymore. We were safe where we were and could hold out here for the duration of winter, no problem. We had plenty of food, plenty of water, plenty of shelter, and enough distance between us and the soldiers who had been down here that, paired with the freezing conditions outdoors, we never had to worry about anyone walking up to our cave and knocking on the door.

We held a service for Cameron and for Vice President (or President) Moore later that same afternoon. They were both military men and were honored accordingly. We didn’t have sufficient silencers for the appropriate gun salute, but we improvised and allowed Danny to run the service as he wanted.

His conversation with Reagan had gone easier than expected. I guess the daughter of a politician, especially one in higher office, must have to prepare herself differently than the rest of us. Sure, she hurt. Sure, she cried. But she seemed to accept what had happened as a gift her father had given to keep the rest of us alive. She had devoted herself from that point on to getting her little sister through it. That had been the difficult conversation. Abbey had so many questions. Danny and Reagan were careful to word their answers so she wouldn’t feel the least bit responsible for her father’s death—or for Cameron’s.

Danny recognized the vice president at the service as an honorable man, though I couldn’t help but notice Reagan didn’t seem to share those sentiments. Danny remained haunted by some of the vice president’s final words to him. When Danny had praised him in the tent, the VP had told him not to, suggesting there was a great deal Danny didn’t know. It seemed Reagan was aware of what her father had been referencing.

Danny didn’t say much about Cameron. He dug the grave himself, and he had written some words on a piece of paper. He buried those thoughts with his best friend, but held onto the American flag he had originally intended to cover his body with. It was our last American flag, and clearly Danny had some other purpose for it.

After the ceremony, we gathered inside and shared memories of our time with our friends and family who had passed. I even shared some memories of Sophie. It seemed so much easier to talk about her now, especially with Tara at my side. Emily and Abbey had become fast friends, and Hayley had more time now to hang out with the rest of us.

At one point I noticed Danny excuse himself and walk up the tunnel to the ledge, with Hayley right behind him. Unsure whether I’d be wanted, I held back until Tara nudged me. “You need to go up there too,” she said.

I didn’t argue. I met them out on the ledge. It was still light out but rapidly darkening. Danny was sitting on the ledge when I stepped out, his arm around his little sister. Hayley patted the ground beside her, and I sat down next to them.

“This sucks,” Danny said, and Hayley laughed. Danny even smiled. Then he looked at us. “We’ve gotta make it there. All the way. We need to do it for Mom. And now we’ve got to do it for Cameron.” Exactly the resolve I was hoping for in my son .

“We will, Dan,” Hayley replied, patting his knee and then turning to look at me. “Right Dad?”

I nodded. “Yeppers.” What else could I say?

Hayley laughed again. “Idiot.” She smiled.

Yeppers, indeed .

After most of us had gone to bed, I watched Danny get up and put his heavy black jacket on. He walked over to the table by the tunnel and grabbed a ski pole and the American flag. He put the flag in his backpack, walked up the tunnel, and stepped out onto the ledge.

I waited a minute before sliding out from under Tara’s arm, grabbing my own jacket, and following him. When I reached the ledge, he was already on the other side of it, scaling the far wall. With the soldiers gone, Blake had left the rope up. Danny climbed it with ease and continued up the mountain’s face behind us. I stepped back inside and grabbed my gloves and a rifle, then returned to the ledge. I cautiously sidestepped my way across to the far wall. I was trying not to look down or slip. A fall meant probable death, but I had to know what Danny was doing.

I slung the rifle over my shoulder and was halfway up the far wall when one of the stakes came loose. The rope swung outward and I lost my footing. I frantically grabbed onto the only rock near me and tried to find a foothold somewhere but without luck. I looked up, desperately seeking another handhold for a better grip as a hand suddenly reached down.

I grabbed the hand, and Danny helped me up. Talk about strength . “You could’ve just asked to come along, you know. It’s not like you’re all that quiet,” he chided, as I tried to regain my composure and catch my breath. “Man, you can be stupid sometimes.”

I deserved that .

“Listen… Dad,” he said softly. I listened . “This isn’t the time to talk about this, but I’ve been really hard on you for a long time. And you deserved a lot of it, but you were better to Mom in the end than I ever gave you credit for. I should have believed you a long time ago. It just took a while.”

I understood. He looked like he wanted to say more but couldn’t find the words. “Look. I’m proud of you,” Danny continued. “Mom would be too. Tara is great for you. I like her a lot. But now… I don’t mind if you sit here and watch me, but I need to do this on my own.” He pointed up the mountain, indicating he was going to climb to the top.

I nodded. I understood again. “Got it. Thanks, Danny.”

He thumped me in the chest with a gloved hand. “Don’t fall off the cliff, okay?” he said with a trace of a smile, and then he turned his back on me and began climbing up Bighorn Mountain.

I followed him as far as I needed in order to see the top clearly, and then watched Danny through the scope as he finished the climb. When he reached the summit, he took the American flag from his backpack and tied it to the ski pole. He embedded the makeshift flagpole in the ground and looked down at the valley below him.