Jacqueline Druga - Then Came War

Ben and Rick were offered the chance to leave, to get to safety, but both men opted to go back and help.

“Are you guys sure the enemy is going to head there for you to ambush and cut off?” Ben asked.

“Positive,” the sergeant replied.

“How can you be so sure, I mean…” Ben shrugged. “It’s a small town located off the main roads.” He saw the Sergeant look at him and it hit him. “You guys set it up.”

“We fed them false information that we were setting up headquarters there and that there were civilians.”

Ben closed his eyes. “What are the town’s chances?”

“We expect them to storm in, not air drop troops. We have Intel that is leading us to believe that is their plan. We planned on waiting on the ground and in air. But that has changed now.”

“You didn’t answer the question. What are the town’s chances?” Ben reiterated.

“If we don’t get there before them…” the Sergeant said. “Not good.”

People scurried.

At first, George informed everyone to hang tight. He thought it could be a trick when they heard a man with a bull horn announce, “This is the United States Marine Corp and we are evacuating the town. STAT. Trucks are waiting and helicopters are arriving for the elderly, sick and young.”

“Hold tight,” George radioed his roof watchers to ask what they could see.

Lana answered. “I see trucks, quite a few of them,” she replied. “Yes, they are American.”

When George heard that, he escorted the people who waited in the basement of the school to the steps outside. He encouraged order, but so many just flew to the staircase that it made it impossible to keep the exodus totally panic free.

“What is happening, Harry?” Tyler asked.

“Well, sounds like the military is here to get us out.”

“Why?” Tyler asked, as he and Harry walked slowly through the cramped stairwell.

“My best guess is something might be going to happen, or maybe they are just being cautious. Either way, they’re getting us out of this town and taking us somewhere else.”

“Oh, no.” Tyler said with panic in his voice.

“Oh, no what?”

“I didn’t think when we came to the basement we would be moved out by the military.”

Harry was lost as to why Tyler was so upset. “Okay, what’s wrong? Are you scared?”

“A little, but that’s not it.”

“What is it?”

Tyler looked up at Harry and then looked toward the staircase filled with people. “Don’t leave without me.”

“What? What are you…” Before Harry could ask anymore, Tyler had released his hand and slipped his body with ease through the hoards of people. “Tyler!”

“I forget the box!” Tyler yelled, his voice growing fainter as he moved farther way. “I’ll be back. I have to get the box!”

“Damn it.” Harry yelled. “Tyler. Stay put!”

“I’ll be back.”

“Son of a bitch.” Harry had to follow him. He had to. While he was confident that the military was right above and they would get him, he couldn’t take that chance. He tried to squeeze through the stairwell, but he wasn’t as small or nimble as Tyler. The best he could do was keep repeating ‘excuse me’ and force himself through the people and up the steps.

It had been the first time in a long time that Foster had been above in the sunlight and it burned his eyes. He took the sunglasses offered to him by Manny as they reached the top level of the parking garage that would lead them out to the street.

It sounded like every war movie he had watched and any newscast of war.

Gun shots, both rapid and single, rang out. Explosions blasted.

It was obvious the battle out there was a major one.

“If you want to change your mind, now is the time to do it,” Manny told Foster.

“No. No. I’m good. I’m good.” Foster nodded, taking a breath. “It’s three blocks down and across the main road. We can do this.”

“Stay close to the buildings and move quickly.”

“I know. I know.” Forster was nervous. He didn’t have a gun; he didn’t have any kind of weapon. If he was found by the enemy, being unarmed was thought to be best. He just need to move, stay focused and move.

Manny did have a gun. He kept it under his jacket.

They inched to the garage entrance and looked out.

Buildings burned and the smoke was thick, but they didn’t see any soldiers. They saw trucks, some parked and some that had exploded.

At the entrance, with nod to one another they took off.

The plan was to just run. Run in the direction of the clinic. Once there, Manny would wait outside and Foster would get the items asked for by Doctor Baker.

He was schooled rather quickly on what he needed to get. If he couldn’t find them, then he’d have to call for Manny. But the doctor had written down all the names the IV bag he needed could possibly have on it. He was looking for Oxytocin, a drug that would help the young woman stop bleeding.

They raced as fast as they could down the sidewalk. Foster never looked back to see where Manny was. He assumed he was there.

Only twice did they see enemy soldiers and both times the enemy didn’t see them.

Foster’s heart pounded when he ran into the clinic. He literally had to stop to not only catch his breath but also to get his wits about him. The continuous shooting had him trembling.

He was certain that after this adventure it wouldn’t be hard to keep his promise to Judith.

He heard Manny outside telling him to hurry. Manny had kept up and that made Foster happy. The abortion clinic was on the second floor. The building had not been seized by either United States forces or the enemy.

It took longer than Foster expected.

He found one of the operating rooms and searched. He must have been there for a while because Manny sought him out.

“What’s going on?” Manny asked.

“I… I can’t find everything.”

“Okay, no panicking. Okay?” Manny swung his rifle around his shoulder. “Let’s look together.”

And they did.

It took several minutes, but they were able to find all of the items that the doctor told them he needed. At least they hoped they had. They shoved them in Foster’s back pack and raced out of the operating area, down the stairs and to the front lobby.

It was quiet.

The gun fire was minimal and what they did hear was in the distance.

Foster felt safe. In the lobby he nodded to Manny.

Manny peeked out, opened the door and pulled out his weapon.

Foster followed.

The moment they took a single step to the sidewalk, two shots rang out.

Manny’s body jolted from the hit. One shot struck his chest, the other his head and Manny fell instantly to the sidewalk.

Foster screamed and ran to Manny. As he knelt to check his friend, he saw eight enemy soldiers all aiming their weapons at him.

Foster dropped the bag, raised his hands and slowly stood.

While the roof top wasn’t that tall, it still gave Lana the advantage of seeing a good distance. She watched the United States Forces roll into town. At first it was just a couple of Humvees and then two huge trucks.

In the distance she heard helicopters. Who they belonged to, she didn’t know.

The trucks stayed in the back of the town. She watched soldiers ushering people from the school into the trucks and down the road at The Tap another truck was loading people. But people at the school had begun mobbing the truck, making any sort of orderly evacuation impossible.

Then she spotted Rick. He was trying to reason with the people and calm them down.

Where was Ben?

Did Ben get hurt when they went out? Where was he? She was frantic as she scanned faces, trying to recall what he was wearing so she could look for that.