G Hopf - The Long Road

40 miles east of Barstow, California

“Mommy! You’re back!” Haley squealed with excitement seeing Samantha step out of the truck.

Ignoring her daughter, Samantha asked Beth Holloway, “What’s happened? Where is everybody?”

“They took off,” Beth said flatly.

“What do you mean they took off?”

“She means just that,” Eric said, walking up.

“Eric, what happened?”

“The Thompsons and Behrens pulled guns on us. They tied me up and hit Nelson’s father over the head,” Eric said.

“What did they take?” Samantha asked, concerned that they might have taken some of their stuff.

“They took what they said was theirs and just left. They didn’t want to sit around anymore,” Beth said.

“So where do they think they’re going? Idaho? They’re not welcome at our place,” Samantha stated boldly. She picked up Haley and asked, “You okay, sweetie?”

Haley nodded and hugged Samantha.

“So no one was hurt but Nelson’s father?”

“I’m fine. It’ll take more than a hit to the ole’ noggin to stop me,” he joked.

“Whatever, good riddance,” Samantha said.

Lexi stepped up to the others and said, “Hi, I’m Lexi.”

“Hi, Lexi,” Beth said, holding her child. She looked over at Samantha quizzically.

“Lexi, this is Beth Holloway and this is Eric; his wife, Melissa; and Frank Williams, Nelson’s father. You of course already met Seneca and Mack,” Samantha said, introducing everyone still there. “Oh, and this is Haley.”

The little girl waved shyly, then tucked her head back into Samantha’s shoulder.

“Hi,” Lexi said with a hand extended in the air. “Hi, Haley,” she then said in a softer tone.

Haley reminded her of her little sister, the sister Rahab had killed a few days before.

“I don’t want to bore you with the details of what happened to her, but this is our group,” Samantha said, looking around, unsure of what else to talk about.

“Where can I get cleaned up?” Lexi asked.

“Come with me,” Beth said.

Lexi walked with Beth toward their trailer.

“So how much stuff did we lose?” Samantha asked Eric.

“None of our stuff. They took only their stuff and left. I don’t know why they thought they had to hit Frank and tie me up.”

“Like I said, good riddance, but I better not see them in Idaho,” Samantha shot back. She then looked at her watch. The night would be upon them soon. She was concerned for Nelson but felt confident he’d be careful.

“Where’s my son?” Frank asked.

“He stayed back to see if he could find out more about that place,” Samantha answered.

“Will he be okay?”

“He insisted,” Samantha said. Now that Frank was worried, she started to feel that leaving Nelson there might not have been the best thing to do.

Both turned and looked toward the north as if they just might see him pulling up.

“You’re right. He’ll be okay,” Frank said.

Trying to reassure herself, Samantha said, “Yeah, he’s probably just heading back now.”

“Hopefully, he’ll have some more info on that place.”

“Yeah, I hope so, I really do,” Samantha answered.

Haley had fallen asleep, and her warm breath on Samantha’s neck contrasted with the cool breeze blowing in from the north.

Cheyenne Mountain, CO

Cruz was becoming accustomed to the early morning banging on his door. While he appreciated that they didn’t call because they didn’t want to wake his family, banging on his door was no less disturbing, he thought.

Wiping the sleep from his eyes, he opened the door to see Baxter.

“General, we really have to stop meeting like this,” Cruz said groggily as he leaned against the open door.

“They found the ring and…,” Baxter said firmly.

“Shit, okay. Umm, what time is it?” Cruz asked, interrupting him.

“Zero, four-thirty-four, sir.”

“I don’t want to wake her. Let’s plan on…”

“Sir, she already knows.”

“Huh? How?” Cruz asked, standing straight up.

“She’s been near the command post most of the night. As soon as the team came in, she went directly down to them…”

“I get the picture. How is she?”

“They told me she was blunt and seemed almost emotionless about it. She thanked them then left. No one’s seen her since then.”

“When was that?” Cruz asked; he was concerned for Julia.

“Not more than fifteen minutes ago.”

“Did she ID the ring?”

“Yes, sir, she looked at it. Asked a few questions, then left.”

“Let’s go see her. I want to make sure she’s okay,” Cruz said, grabbing his keys and closing the door.

“You’re not going to change?” Baxter asked, looking down at Cruz’s striped pajamas.

Cruz shrugged off his question.

Both men proceeded with haste to Julia’s room. On the way they discussed how they would address the situation.

Baxter flatly said, “We need to get you sworn in immediately.”

“That can wait. But I do need to find a new VP.”

“Don’t look at me, sir,” Baxter said, gazing at him from the corner of his eye.

“You have nothing to worry about, General. I have someone else in mind.”

“Who would that be?”

“No one you’d know, but sort of a former colleague of mine when I was governor of Florida.”

“And?”

“Governor Sheila Morgan. I worked closely with her on the Governors Association and she used to be the governor of Texas. If I can get her, she would prove to be important in our negotiations with the Texas Republic.”

“Should I try to contact her today?”

“No need, I already did. She’s thinking about it,” Cruz said while cracking a smile. He was proud that he was thinking ahead. “I know you’re probably thinking, What was I doing calling her before we received any conclusive info on the president? Well, if I’m leaving tomorrow, I better have something in place. It’s all about COG, right?”

“What does she need to think about?” Baxter asked, curious as to why someone would turn down such an honor.

“She’s been asked to serve in a similar capacity in Texas. She’s obviously torn.”

“Can I be candid?”

They had reached Julia’s door and stopped.

Cruz looked at Baxter and answered, “Sure.”

“Besides moving up the date for your departure, you haven’t made any plans or decisions in relation to what happened yesterday.”

“You said there wasn’t anything we could do,” Cruz responded, taken aback by Baxter’s accusatory tone.

“It was good to start thinking about your replacement, but you need to have third and fourth people in place. You also need to make a decision about what we plan on doing with the millions of refugees entering the midwestern states.”

“General, I’ll ask you. What would you do?”

“Sir, that’s not my call. You’re the one in charge.”

Cruz was getting pissed by this unexpected confrontation. “After we’re done here, let’s meet,” he said. This isn’t the place to have this conversation.”

“Yes, sir.”

Cruz took a moment to study Baxter’s face. Then, as he was getting ready to knock, Julia’s door opened.

She stood there looking unfazed by the recent news of her husband. “Gentlemen, come in,” she said.

The men took a quick glance at each other and then entered.

“Please sit down.” Julia pointed to the sofa. The same sofa where she had learned of Brad’s disappearance.

Cruz and Baxter sat down, both looking sheepish because Julia was definitely in control.