Kyle Pratt: Through Many Fires

Very slowly she lowered it.

He stepped back. “My name is Caden.”

She nodded. Then moments later whispered, “Maria. My, my name is Maria.” She looked at the whimpering child on the ground. “They would have killed the baby.” Her eyes were full of fear as she looked at Caden. “They would have killed you.”

“Yes.” He set the bloody knife back on the dead man. “Thank you for saving my life.”

He considered what to do next. He felt they were justified in killing the two robbers, but still they had taken two lives. Someone had to be notified. He retrieved his cell phone from the car and was relieved to hear a dial tone. He knew only one phone number on base and called Lieutenant Turner.

While they waited he tried to find out more about Maria, but most of her responses were either yes or no. Within minutes, a jeep and a van arrived. Turner walked up to Caden as a tall officer spoke with Maria. As the man escorted Maria toward the van, Caden glimpsed the gold oak leaf insignia of a major. Caden started to follow.

“Please stay here, sir,” said one MP. “The Major would like to interview the young lady first.”

Caden leaned against his car and watched while the MP examined the area and took photographs.

“What do you know about this girl?” Turner asked as he joined Caden at the car.

“Her name is Maria and she’s a good shot.”

Turner chuckled. “Well, that’s two excellent things to know about a woman. Let me see what I can find out.”

Caden watched his friend walk toward the van. There his eyes shifted to Maria. She took Adam into her arms and leaned against the vehicle. She was out of earshot, but a tall man asked her questions. Her head cast down, she appeared to be focused on the baby. She wasn’t talking much, but her long black hair gently swayed as she nodded or shook her head. She looked younger than him, perhaps early-to-mid-twenties. Even in a faded denim jacket and worn jeans, she was pleasant on the eyes. He recalled she had the merest hint of a southern drawl. Despite her accent it was clear her roots were south of the border.

Turner stood quietly to one side of Maria while the tall officer continued the interview. It seemed the MPs were more interested in Maria than him.

A medic came and examined the two bodies then double timed off to the group around the van.

Maria’s head was cast down, but she did seem to be answering a few more of the major’s questions. After a minute of staring at her and trying to figure out what she was saying, she seemed to pause and shudder. Turner called and someone came with a jacket. Caden shivered. Is it cold or are we both going into shock? He had no answer, but he pulled a coat from the car and, returning to the hood, put it on.

After what seemed like hours, Turner and the major walked over to Caden.

Turner introduced the senior officer who quickly asked. “Where were you when you first saw the two men?”

Caden moved to the spot.

“Tell me what happened,”

Caden looked back at Maria as she sat in the police van holding Adam. She had saved his life. He wanted to help her if he could. He thought about telling a version of the story where he shot one man and knifed the other. “Ah….” he sputtered as he determined how to spin his yarn.

Turner coughed, pointed to the bodies and asked, “Are these the men who killed Maria’s parents?”

The Major gave Turner a harsh glance. “Yes. These are the suspects,” he said flatly.

The news hit Caden like a fist as he stared at the two bodies. That was why the Major had been so interested in her, why they had questioned her first and for so long. These guys murdered Maria’s parents. While the men hunted Caden, she hunted them. Caden knew the two men would have killed him, but now the realization hit him with new force. He owed her his life. Emphasizing how she had saved him, he told the major what had happened.

“Lieutenant Turner tells me you were with Special Forces.”

Caden nodded.

The major looked down at the man Caden had killed and bit his lip. After several moments, a slight smile came to his face. “We’ll need the pistol and the knife.” He looked Caden in the eye. “I won’t ask if you have any other weapons.”

“Thank you.”

Four medics arrived with stretchers and body bags. The major nodded to them. Turning back to Caden he said, “Normally, we would jail both of you until the investigation was complete, but these times aren’t normal.” He sighed. “And considering all the chaos and crime right now, I’ve got better things to do than lock you two up and I don’t have a facility for the kid.” He looked slowly around the campsite. “Look, I believe both of you.” Glancing at the medics as they hauled the bodies away, he shook his head adding, “And they needed killing.” The Major stared at Caden. “We have to investigate. Can I trust you to stay on base until this matter is cleared up?”

“Yes, sir.” Caden frowned. Now it would be days or perhaps even weeks before he could continue his journey home.

After everyone left, Maria sat near the campfire, cradling Adam in her arms. Caden walked up to her.

She pulled the baby in against her chest.

“Do you have a campsite, a place to sleep?”

She shook her head.

Caden slid down against his car. “I have blankets and a sleeping bag. You can stay here if you like.”

She nodded. “Thanks.”

Caden fixed his gaze on the young woman. She rocked Adam back and forth while staring at the fire. He expected tears from her, but there were none. Had the tears for her parents already come and gone or were they yet to flow?

He remembered the first person he had killed up close. When the fight was over and the squad back at base camp, he trembled. Tears welled in his eyes, but he wasn’t sure why. He wasn’t sad. He was a soldier and had done his duty. He held his emotions in check that night for fear of what his comrades would say, but the face, the eyes, of the man he killed still haunted his memory.

Caden sighed and stared at the ground for several moments, then looked across at Maria and the baby. She held Adam close but gently with experienced ease. Anyone might mistake them for mother and child. Thoughts turned to his own mother and father. He should call home. He imagined how the conversation would go. Hi Mom. How are you doing? Good. And the rest of the family? That’s good news. Where am I? Fort Rucker in Alabama. Yes, I was on my way home, but now I’ve got to wait for a few days. Why? Well I was just interviewed by the military police because I killed a man. Calm down, no, I’m fine. You see Maria…. Who’s Maria? We met a couple of hours ago—at the robbery. She shot one guy, because he was going to hurt Adam, and that gave me the chance to knife the other one. Who’s Adam? Oh, he’s the baby…. Maybe it would be better to call home later.

Caden looked to the lights of the main camp. He had chosen this isolated spot to be away from people and that had nearly cost him his life. He looked to his right at the dark patch of blood stained earth. He was certain the old nightmares would return that night. If they stayed neither of them would get much sleep. “Maria, we should move.”

Caden sat under the canopy Maria had created to shade Adam. Somehow, in the three days they had been there she had acquired a variety of rope, string, a tarp and two wooden poles necessary to build it. They had both done well to get this far. I guess I’m a survivor. He pondered the thought for a moment and concluded that he was right. He had skills and he used them to find solutions that allowed him to live.

Maria had gone with Adam to the market area. He found it pleasant to lean against the car in the shade of the awning while reading a three-day-old edition of the “Montgomery Advertiser.” The day after the shooting, the radio briefly reported the capture of terrorists with a nuclear bomb in New York City, but the article in the paper gave a detailed account of the cooperation between the FBI and Homeland Security. At last a victory. But the delight he felt at the news was squelched when he read a nuclear bomb had exploded four days ago near the naval base in San Diego. Five cities, hit by nuclear bombs. All those people dead or dying. He shuddered and tried to put the horror from his mind and wondered why no action had been taken against North Korea. They had provided the uranium used in two of the bombs.