John O'Brien - Takedown

“That will be a change for a lot of us. We have supplies, water, and a safe haven of our own here. However, that said, and given your stories that there aren’t many of us left, the more we can gather together, the better off we’ll be. I want to talk it over with the others if you don’t mind. After all, it’s their life and decision as well,” he says after a moment of contemplation.

“That’s more than fine, Sheriff. There are a few others farther to the north at the air base that may be going. We can’t stick around for too long, though, as we need to be back before dark… for obvious reasons,” I reply.

“You and you’re group are welcome to stay here for the night if you need,” he says.

“I thank you for that, but we have a long trek ahead of us yet. The sooner we begin, the quicker we can be home. That is one thing to think about though, you’ll be stuck with us for a few days yet as we go searching for more families. It won’t be an easy time. But, we should be back in the Northwest in less than a week,” I state.

“I’ll make sure to mention that. Well, if you are leaving today, I guess I better start the conversation. It may take us a while as some like to hear themselves speak and are prone to lengthy dialogues.”

With that, we shake hands and venture outside. Dixon gathers his people and they head back in for their version of a town hall meeting. Sam accompanies his parents.

“Going to be a bit crowded again, sir,” Gonzalez says, referring to inside the 130.

“If they decide to go,” I say.

“You just watch, sir. They’ll go. They know they don’t have much left here,” she says, waving her arm across the empty fields. “As will the others at McConnell.”

“You have a talent for predicting the future do ya?”

“Nah. I just know people. The Stryker and 130 are great recruiting tools. They see those and armed soldiers, then look down at the hunting rifle by their side and they’re sold. Plus your rugged charm, sir,” she says with a grin.

“Charming and I haven’t ever really seen eye-to-eye.”

“You’ll notice I said ‘rugged’.” Robert chuckles at my side and Bri fails miserably at suppressing a grin.

“You people are impossible. I think I now understand why Lynn assigned me to you. It’s in retaliation for something I said…and more than likely something a year or more ago,” I state.

The sun has long since passed overhead, hidden mostly behind the gathered clouds. We spend the afternoon staring across brown fields or playing cards that McCafferty has broken out while we wait for the people to arrive at a decision. True to his word, the meeting drags on for most of the day. It is getting to the point where I am going to have to interrupt them to tell them we have to leave. The day is wearing on and, if we are going to make it back with some daylight to spare, we have to leave soon. The sheriff walks out just as I rise to go in.

“Well, everyone had to have their say, and some twice, but we’ve decided to come along if the offer still stands. There were a few who weren’t eager to ride for days so I promised them I’d ask this, is there any way you could pick us up on your way home?”

“Of course the offer still stands and we’d be happy to have you along. However, I’m sorry to say we won’t be returning here. Maintenance could become an issue with the aircraft so the sooner we can get home, the better,” I answer.

“That’s kind of what I thought. Okay, give us a chance to pack our stuff up. How much room do you have?” Dixon asks.

“Some, but not much I’m afraid. We can cram what we can in but realize that we have the vehicle there,” I say, pointing at the Stryker, “It takes up most of our available space.”

“Okay, I’ll tell them to keep it to a minimum. Some have mementos they want to hold onto,” he responds.

“Pictures and the sort aren’t going to change things one way or the other so those are fine. Favorite couches on the other hand…” I reply.

“We’ll be ready in about an hour if that suits you. How do you want to do this? Follow in vehicles?” he asks.

“That will be fine. Just realize that the vehicles will also have to be left,” I say.

He nods and vanishes inside once again. People come and go, tossing articles into vehicles and eventually everyone is ready to go. I tell the teams to mount up. The ride back is more of the same with the exception that we have a convoy of loaded pickups and vans following. We pull into the airfield and park our caravan by the 130. I take Dixon over and introduce him to Tim. Harkings glances over the crowd gathered by the aircraft and pulls me aside.

“We talked after you left. We want to come with you, but I have to ask now, will there be enough room?” he asks.

“I won’t lie. It’ll be a touch cramped, but we can all fit,” I answer.

“Okay, well, if it won’t be too much trouble.”

“None at all. We plan to hunker down here for the night and leave early tomorrow morning.”

“Sounds good. We’ll be ready. If you want, we have plenty of space in the tankers if some people want to stay in there for the night,” Tim says.

“That would be great. It’ll give everyone one more night of being able to stretch out. After that, we’ll just have to endure. If it’s okay, I’ll have everyone but the teams stay with you.”

“That will be more than fine. We saved some food for you. Not enough for everyone, but we have enough daylight left to light up the grills again. We can have one more feast before we depart. It’s not like we’ll be able to take truckloads of food with us,” he says.

“That would be way cool. Thanks.”

With the afternoon sun settling over the city to the west, we cook more than enough hamburgers and chicken to fill an army of people. The odor of the grilling food wafts over the ramp, reminiscent of what summer is supposed to smell like. Contentment reigns over the gathering. I tuck it away in the back of my mind that we’ll have to score some grills and have days like this when we get back. I’ve been so consumed with getting things done that I’ve forgotten how times like this can rejuvenate people. Yeah, we need to do this. It may bring night runners to our walls, but the mental needs of our group are important as well. We can’t afford to do this every day, but we can set aside a day of rest once we set up the inner wall and towers. Unless something comes up, which it always seems to.

Some of the smaller children, which were with Dixon and his group, run across the ramp chasing after one another. Their laughter mixes with the murmur of conversations. One of the younger boys, not looking where he is going as he races from one of the girls chasing him, runs into me. He stops and looks up with a mixture of fear and awe. I hesitate and, with a smile, reach down to ruffle his hair. The sweet upturned face of the young boy smiles in return and he races off. Watching the boy run off, I wonder if that might have been what the boy in the trees was like once.

We finish our meal and stow the Stryker. With the last rays casting an orange glow in the cockpit, Robert and I verify our numbers for the next hop to Petersen AFB. The last time we were there, we barely escaped with our lives rescuing Mullins and his men. The memory of the chase through the night sends a shiver up my spine. I’m not all that keen on returning to that place but I remind myself that we’ll only be out during the day. The question of whether night runners are there in abundance is not in doubt, or at least they were. At any rate we’ve reached the eastern most location of our journey and our direction west will draw us closer to home. We are close to the line we drew some time ago with regards to the nuclear power plants and possible radiation zones.