G Hopf - The Long Road

In their haste, they hadn’t noticed the gunfire outside had stopped.

Carefully looking around the corner, Derek didn’t see anyone.

“Seems clear.”

“Good, from here, let’s get to the hangar where the cars are,” Gordon said.

Sticking his pistol straight out in front of him, Derek led them down to the main double doors.

Gordon watched Derek closely; he knew how much pain the other man was in. Only weeks before he had suffered from several gunshots. The respect you have for people comes not from who they say they are but from what they do. Derek had proven himself to be a good man. How strange, Gordon thought, that all these events would lead him and Derek to work side by side. They may not have agreed on everything politically in the pre-attack world, but they were kindred spirits in this new world. Gordon looked forward to having Derek be a part of his group once they escaped this hell they were in.

Derek stopped just outside the doors and took a deep breath. The pain in his shoulder was immense. All he had to do was make it another four hundred feet to the hangar. He knew they weren’t out of the woods, but they were closer.

“Hey, thank you so much for helping me get my son. I can never thank you enough,” Gordon said.

“Well, you can thank me with a drink when we get outta here. Let’s go,” Derek said, grimacing from the pain.

He pushed the doors open, exposing the bright light from the outside.

The loud crack of several gunshots rang out.

Gordon saw the bullets rip through Derek’s torso.

Derek fell to his knees; he tried to shoot the pistol, but it was more of an involuntary reaction than a deliberate action.

Gordon stepped back from the door. He slouched down, still holding Hunter.

Hunter tightened his grip on Gordon’s neck. His whimpering grew louder.

“Sshh, it will be okay,” Gordon softly said, but doubt filled his mind.

The double doors closed, leaving Derek out front.

Gordon saw his shadow cast on the doors.

More shots cracked. Two of the bullets went through the glass doors and hit the far wall of the lobby.

Gordon stood and looked at the doors; he saw Derek’s shadow disappear as he fell down.

“Hunter, hold on as tight as you can.”

Gordon started to run back toward the elevator. He remembered seeing another exit. He turned the corner, jumped over the dead guard near the elevator, and stopped just outside the exit door.

The main doors burst open, and voices echoed down the hallway.

Gordon placed Hunter on his feet and said, “Honey, I can’t carry you. When I open the door, come out behind me. I’m going to be shooting and running. Just follow behind me. If something happens to me, you keep running, okay? Don’t stop, just run and run.”

“No, Daddy, I’m scared.”

“I know you are, but I need you to be that big man I know you are. Here, take this. Shoot anyone who comes near you,” Gordon said, giving Hunter the pistol.

Hunter perked up a bit and wiped the tears from his cheeks and eyes.

Gordon kissed him on the forehead and said, “I love you.” He then stood, kicked the door open, and ran out.

Outside unknown military installation

Nelson observed the guards shooting random people and gathering others up. The Army’s feeble attempt to secure the base had been a total failure. Nelson still could not explain why so few troops were utilized.

“So who are those people down there?” Nelson asked.

“Some religious guy named Rahab and his fucking wacko followers,” Lexi answered with disdain. Looking bored, she kept picking up small rocks and throwing them.

“How did you come to be captured?” Samantha asked.

“My sister and I ran out of gas out on the 15. Next thing we know a truck shows up, these fuckers jump out and take us. That simple.”

“So what happens down there?” Samantha asked.

“What doesn’t? Rape, murder, you name it. It’s horrific. They murdered my baby sister,” Lexi said loudly as she threw a rock.

Samantha could feel her eyes tear up.

“So you never heard of a man named Gordon or a boy named Hunter?”

“Listen, I told you no! They kept us, they kept the women separate. We would see the men but never interacted with them.”

Nelson kept scanning, hoping to see something glaring that would help him identify Gordon or Hunter.

More gunfire sounds came from the base.

Moments later Nelson saw a man and child run out of the back of a building. He only caught a glimpse because a large hangar stood in the way. He waited to see them pop out the other side, but they didn’t.

More gunfire erupted, then silence.

Nelson was straining his eyes to see. Was that Gordon and Hunter? he asked himself. He kept waiting for them to reappear on the other side of the hangar, but nothing. It was like they just vanished. He contemplated telling Samantha, but he hadn’t gotten a good look. Not wanting to give her false hope or now, with their disappearance, a sense that something bad had happened to them, he kept quiet.

Samantha looked at her watch, then the sun, as it was already on its slow march toward the horizon.

“Let’s get you back to our camp and get you cleaned up,” she said to Lexi.

“Sam, I’ll stay here till the sun sets,” Nelson said.

“No, you need to come with us.”

“Please, let me stay. One of us needs to be watching this place. This place. I don’t know. This place might be where they are. I need to study it to figure out how we can find out if they’re in there.”

“Okay, we’ll leave Mack’s car,” Samantha said, reaching over and rubbing his arm.

He looked at her and smiled.

“Come on, Lexi, let’s go meet the crew,” Samantha said to Lexi, giving her a nod.

Cheyenne Mountain, Colorado

Julia was happy to be back in her room with her things. The only thing she couldn’t stand was how boring it was. She had always kept herself busy before. Being locked underground for weeks now was starting to wear on her.

As she paced her room, she thought of some of the activities and groups she could form. She imagined there were so many other women who could use support. She had the influence and needed to have a purpose.

All over her residence were signs of Brad. His clothes still had his smell. On the counter was a pen he’d used to take notes the last time he was there. It hadn’t been moved since he placed it there.

She walked into the bedroom and saw on the chest of drawers a comb he’d used. She picked it up and looked at it carefully. Some of his fine black hairs were stuck in the teeth. She put it back down. Next to it was a pile of loose change he’d had in his pocket from when they arrived at Cheyenne Mountain. It still sat there where he’d laid it. The last person to touch those pennies, dimes, and quarters was him.

The same questions popped into her head: Where are you? Why can’t we find you? Cruz and Baxter had kept the special ops teams out in the field looking for him. Every day they would report—Nothing found. She knew they couldn’t keep up the search forever; eventually she too would have to say good-bye to him.

She started to feel emotional for the hundredth time. As the sadness filled her up, she sat on the bed. Even sitting up took effort, so she fell back and lay there. She then thought about how much they had reconnected just before he left. She hadn’t had those schoolgirl feelings for him since college. Attempting to be positive and mature, she thanked God that if Brad was never coming back she at least had those final moments with him.

“Arghh!” she said out loud. She sat up and again blurted out “Arghh!” Her feelings were like a seesaw. One minute there was hope, the next despair. “Pull yourself together, Julia.”