

The War Journals: Resistance

by

Cory McCoy

Published by Cory McCoy at Smashwords

Copyright 2013 Cory McCoy

We aren't always given a choice where our path in life takes us, we just have to hope for the best and pray that God equipped us to handle the worst. My involvement in this conflict began in the shadows of the cascade mountains.

It seems like a century has passed since the war began, still no one fully believes life will one day be better. The hardships have become a way of life. Constantly on the run, always hiding. What happened to that paradise we had hoped our children would grow up in? May 23rd, was the day God abandoned America.

I believe it was Santayana who said, "Those who do not remember their past are condemned to repeat their mistakes." And so the historians urge us to tell our stories. These professors think that by chronicling our accounts of the war, that we will somehow instill hope in the generations to come. I have witnessed more deaths than any man can comprehend, taken enough lives to ensure my place in hell. I am responsible for more deaths from both sides than any man would dare to claim. In their naivety, these historians believe that my accounts of the conflict may have the power to shape the outcome of this war in our favor.

My name is Connor Jeffries. This is my account of the darkest days in our country's history and how the Resistance began.

Part One

An Incredible Burden

Chapter 1

My involvement in this conflict began in the shadows of the cascade mountains. We aren't always given a choice where our path in life takes us, we just have to hope for the best and pray that God equipped us to handle the worst.

It was stiflingly hot that day, but our biggest concern was making sure we had enough potato salad for the party we were having that weekend. We had just seen a movie and decided to go to the big box retailer next door to grab some last minute supplies. God how I hated those places.

Mega Mart was 150,000 sq ft of everything you could possibly need, brought to you at discount prices. Crushing mom and pop stores was in it's DNA. The place was built like a fortress, with the only entrances being a side access road and the movie theater parking lot. The city had required Mega Mart to build the store with it's back to the interstate and a courtesy fence with a twenty foot drop off in the front. The walls were thick, you couldn't hear the highway or airport just a few miles away while inside. They built these places to withstand the worst natural disasters, with enough supplies to sustain any army for months.

I was 28 at the time. In that life I had just been accepted to start clinicals for my doctorate in psychology. I'd even managed to land a paid internship with the county mental health hospital in order to make up the shortfall that my GI Bill wouldn't cover. The GI Bill was earned over four years in the USMC performing reconnaissance in drug ravaged countries.

I'd met Liz in a child psychology class, she was studying to become a social worker. We'd been together for over 3 years by that time. She was beautiful, intelligent, and compassionate. Obviously, I didn't deserve her. She didn't know it yet, but I planned on marrying her after I finished clinicals.

It had been a good day so far, aside from having to shove my way through people just to grab an item off the shelves. These places were a nightmare if you only needed a few things and I needed some beer. You can never have enough cheap beer at a cook out. Hell, I probably needed a second cart for it. Liz disagreed, she hated beer. She only ever drank girly drinks, but that's what blenders are for I guess.

"But I only have one blender, and you have 10 cases of beer!", Liz whined playfully." I need at least three more to keep up"

"Well they're only, what, ten dollars here?" I responded, "They've got everything here, I bet you could even buy a kid"

"Oh in that case, I'll just have the kid make the drinks", she said. "What aisle are indentured servants on?"

"Hell if I know, they don't even have aisle numbers here, let's check over by the...", I stopped mid sentence. I could recognize that sound anywhere. Three short pops in rapid succession, and now people were screaming.

"Someone's shooting, we need to find some cover." I said, years of training taking over.

As I turned to look for somewhere to get Liz to safety and saw a small man in combat gear armed to the teeth coming at us. Shots were ringing out everywhere, this place had turned into a battlefield. As the soldier went to train his gun on us, I flung a beer bottle hard at his head. He went down, I didn't stop to think. I kicked him hard in the ribs as he tried to get up, there was a sickening crunch, the sound of a few broken ribs. As he writhed, clutching his chest, I yanked off his helmet, viciously slamming his head into the concrete.

A second soldier had heard him screaming in a language I didn't recognize. I took the dead man's rifle as I got up from the floor. It would be minutes before his other comrades realized one of their own was down. They were dressed in all black like some kind of SWAT team, I wasn't sure what kind of body armor this was, which meant I would have to shoot to kill. As he rounded the corner, I took out the second gunman with one shot and attempted to survey the situation. People were trying to run and being shot down everywhere, this was a fucking massacre.

Spotting an office by the auto parts about 60 yards away, I knew that was my best bet to get Liz to safety. I wasn't sure what I would do once we got there.

"I need you to listen, I'm going to get you somewhere safe. You have to trust me and do exactly what I tell you. "She was scared, she had no idea what was happening. I had a little time before someone would notice us so I grabbed the body armor off of the guy i had taken out first and put it on Liz. These guys were absurdly well armed. Each had an assault rifle and two sidearms along with a knife and a bevy of grenades.

Knowing I couldn't risk leaving the first gunman to be found by his friends, I prepared to put a round in his head, but I must have cracked his skull on the floor. He was already dead, blood pooling around him.

"Take this pistol, if someone comes at you, you shoot them in the head. Don't hesitate just pull the trigger, ok?" I said handing Liz one of the guns, as I unhooked his radio just in case.

"Connor", she sobbed. "I'm scared, what's happening?"

"I don't know, but they're not going to let anyone live to find out", I said. "I need you to keep your head down and don't stop moving no matter what. We're headed to that office, It'll be safer there. Don't look up just run as fast as you can, ok?"

I shouldered the second rifle and grabbed a belt of grenades. Sixty yards feels like the Atlantic Ocean when you have god knows how many people trying to kill you along the way. There was no time to waste. We would have to run through the women's clothing to get to our destination, with nowhere to stop for cover if we drew fire.

We ran like our lives depended on it, because they did. There was no turning back, these guys knew someone had taken down one of their men already. Why the hell hadn't they just cut the power? As we started to move across the store it became apparent that these guys had more of a reason to be here than just killing random people.

We were a little over half way to our destination when we began drawing fire. At least three men had spotted us.

"Keep moving." I urged Liz as I drew the rifle up to retaliate, hitting one and leaving the others sprawling for cover. We were almost there when a gunman cut us off, he was between us and the office and there was no turning back. I was headed straight at him with no way of stopping, he had a line on me.

I was as good as dead when a mountain of a man with a baseball bat came out of nowhere and nearly removed his head. If not for him, we would have both been among the body count..

"I've got to try and stop this," I said as I got Liz into the office. "everyone here is going to die if we don't try something."

"Connor, you can't just-", she said as I closed the door before she could try and talk me out of it.

We had a moment's reprieve in the chaos. I'm easily six feet tall and this guy had to be closer to seven.

"What's your name?" I asked handing him the rifle of the man he had just taken out

"Jim. Listen man, my boy is out there somewhere. You've got to help me find him." He plead

"Got any combat experience Jim?" I asked as I handed him a few extra clips.

"No, none. I know my way around a gun though." He replied.

"Good, because these guys want us all dead and you and I are the only ones standing in their way. Something big is going down here, it's like they're trying to secure this place." I said, I could see gunmen patrolling outside of the auto bay. They were waiting to kill anyone who managed to make it out alive. "My phone can't get a signal, what about you?"

"No, it stopped working right after we got here. I tried to call my son, but it wouldn't go through. " He said, sounding more and more desperate by the second.

"I've got a plan," I said "these guys are speaking some kind of oriental dialect, so we have no way of telling what they are saying or if they've located our positions. They can communicate, but we can't. We need to block their radio like they're doing to our phones."

"How the hell are we going to do that?" he asked.

"See that counter over by the stereos? We're going to lock down the talk button and open up the store's intercom. While I set that up, you're going to turn up those radios as loud as you can on one of the rock stations"

"Those little bastards won't know what the hell is happening", he said with a grin."Let's do this, boss man."

The counter was probably 15 yards away, but there were open aisles on the way to it. We had no way of telling if someone was waiting to take us down.

"Run like hell Jim, don't stop for anything" I said as we took off toward the counter. Shots rang out a few aisles down, but we kept moving. Once we got there we both jumped over the counter to cover ourselves in case one of the gunmen had followed.

"Wh-what in the hell is happening?" said a little old man who was already hiding there. He was wearing one of those obnoxious vests with the big thumbs up on the back, indicating he worked there. Although, Mega Mart employees general disdain for life usually gave them away better than the vest did. His name was Tom, I think.

"Looks to me like a couple dozen little bastards are trying to kill everyone here," I said "You're gonna have to help me out Tom. I need you to turn on the PA for me, we're going to fuck with their heads so we can try to secure the store and save as many people as we can. Oh, and I need a map of the store, do you have one?" He nodded, terrified that he might draw the enemy toward him. As he frantically searched through binders under the counter for a marketing schematic, I secured the phone for the PA and use a zip tie I found under the counter to attach it to the radios.

Damn those radios were loud, we probably didn't even need the PA on. I could barely hear myself think, so those bastards definitely couldn't hear each other. With a little assistance from Tom we had a diversion and a map of the store with every possible location people might be using for cover. Now was the time to strike.

Tom was too afraid to move, so Jim and I set off toward the kids section where his son was supposed to be. We were under heavy fire for much of the the way until the gunmen seemed to break off, chasing someone. Seconds later an explosion knocked an entire aisle over just yards away from us.

I could hear someone yelling even over the music, "Come on mother fuckers, I've got more where that came from" We spotted the guy yelling and he ran toward us, he must have taken a shooter down because he had a belt full of grenades strapped across his chest like some kind of Rambo. He was bouncing off of shelves, hopping from one side of the aisle to another like some kind of rabbit on crack.

"Hey you guys! HEY, you guys must have been the ones taking those fuckers out!" he exclaimed.

"Are you insane?" I said, "they're going to swarm us because of that shit, use the gun for Christ's sake"

"I don't know how man, my only gun training is on the xbox", he said rather sheepishly for a man covered in grenades.

"Come on kid, we need all the help we can get" I said, this kid was pretty handy with the grenades to be honest. "How many do you think you got just now?"

"I don't know the bitches were all over me after I grabbed the grenades off one of the dudes when he wasn't looking", He explained " I was hiding in a clothes rack and jumped out and grabbed the belt and ran."

This kid couldn't have been older than sixteen, he was just a baby still. Yet at sixteen he had become a man and taken other men's lives. "Did you see anything while you were hiding kid? I need an idea of what we're up against"

"Quit calling me kid, my name is Jesse!" he said irritated and scared, "I could see the front of the store from there, there were 6 or 7 by the doors and checkouts. Bodies were everywhere, they killed my mom when we were in line." As he said this, Jesse began sobbing. He was fighting to hold back the tears.

We were wasting time and were in a dangerous spot, hiding under an aisle that had been knocked onto another by the one of the blasts, almost forming a makeshift tent.

"She'd be damn proud of how brave you're being, you're a hero Jesse" I said as I searched for the safest path toward our destination. "Listen we need to move, we're headed toward the kid's section. Jim here, his son was supposed to be over there and we need to find him. Let's go."

We were heading into a dangerous position, the toys were in the corner by the outdoor living area and the whole place was wide open. I knew there would be gun men waiting to mow people down as they headed toward the exits. If we could get across the main alley we could run through the rear of the area, the problem was the main alleyway was about as safe as the far end of a shooting range.

We were peering around a corner when a shooter saw us and fired. We had to duck back, surely his friends knew we were there now. I turned to Jim and Jesse to tell them we were going to have to make a break for it, but Jesse was gone. He had run off without saying a word.

"It's just you and me again Jim, we need to make a break for it. I'll open up on our left you take the right. We only need to cover 10 feet or so and we're across." I said. Before we could move I heard more explosions toward the outdoor living, it had to be Jesse. The kid was stupid, but he had balls. These guys wanted the place intact for whatever they were planning. It was only a matter of time before the police or military arrived and tried to break the perimeter, we just had to hold out.

We took advantage of the momentary distraction and made a mad dash for the other side. The gunman who had fired was running toward the explosions. He saw us and tried to start firing, but I tackled him and we slammed into the far side of the aisle. We hit hard, so hard it knocked the breath out of me. As we fell to the floor Jim clocked him with the butt of his rifle.

"Don't shoot him," I said, struggling for breath.

"What do you mean don't shoot him? He'll kill us if we don't kill him first" Jim roared at me.

"I know, I know but hear me out. More Chinese speak English than there are Americans, so there is a damn good chance this fucker can understand us if he really is Chinese." I ripped the ski mask off his face, the guy definitely looked Chinese to me.

"Do you speak English? Do you?" I yelled.

Jesse was doing a hell of a job buying us time, I could hear him still throwing grenades. The fire set off the sprinkler system. Another distraction for these guys. Meanwhile, our temporary hostage took the liberty of spitting my face. That was a pretty clear indication he understood.

"Do you understand this, asshole?" I said as I grabbed my sidearm and fired a round into his thigh .

"YES, yes please don't shoot me again. I tell anything, anything I promise", we were getting somewhere.

"How many are with you and what the hell are you planning?" I asked as I pressed the gun between his eyes. This guy opened up like a momma's boy on his therapist's couch. He didn't speak the best English, but it was good enough to get what I needed. I handed Jim his grenades, just in case. Jim held off the occasional soldier while I questioned him in a corner against the wall of the store.

They were Chinese, but they had no idea where they were. Their orders were simple, they would be dropping from a commercial flight going overhead and taking over the store that they were landing in the parking lot of. Meanwhile, others who had already been here waiting for the attack knocked over large trucks in front of the only exits. They had jeeps ready inside a semi as well as a mobile command center disguised as a delivery truck out back.

To avoid detection the Chinese had booked multiple flights headed for major airports with their own soldiers. There was no indication our government even suspected an attack. We had killed about a dozen already which left another twelve to fourteen by various entrances. Apparently they broke position when Jesse had started throwing grenades. They were under strict orders to do as little damage tot he store as possible. With it's proximity to the highway and airport this was to become their base of operations in this area.

"We destroyed all of the bas-" before he could tell me more he was shot by another of his soldiers. Jim had been busy with two trying to lock us down and didn't see the soldier coming from the other side. I fell sideways and opened fire on him, taking him down, but not before he caught me in the shoulder.

I hadn't realized it until then, but the intercom had been shut off and the stereos were no longer on. They must have found the old man. We needed to move and fast.

"Come on, it's now or never" I said as Jim and I began firing on the two who had distracted him.

These guys must have been regular grunts, they weren't exactly expert marksmen. I remember thinking at the time, if these were the grunts than where the hell did they send the special forces to?

As we rounded the corner toward the bicycles, we noticed a pool of blood on the floor near some large boxes. Jim frantically knocked them out of the way, hoping it wasn't his son.

It was, "no no no no no, not him! It can't be..." Jim wept as he held his dead son in his arms.

"I'm sorry Jim, I am so sorry" I said, stunned even though it wasn't the first body I had seen that day "we're gonna get these bastards back"

Without a word Jim stood up and took off running toward the outdoor area's doors. He had snapped. The man was built like an ox and was drawing heavy fire. He had to have been hit multiple times, but he didn't stop. I followed as well as I could, trying to take out the fighters before they could kill him.

Suddenly, I saw what Jim was headed toward. They had a supply truck backed up to the door and one man was unloading heavy artillery while another guarded the supplies. They must have just started because the truck looked packed still. Jim was going straight for the truck. Both men saw him and started firing. I had a line on the guard and took him out before he could raise his gun.

I was running as fast as I could behind Jim, trying desperately to catch up. There was no stopping him. Jesse had seen us and was drawing others in the opposite direction, some kind of commotion was happening that way. I didn't have time to look.

I reached out to grab Jim, he was going to run headfirst into the unloader's muzzle, when I tripped. My feet came out from under me and I hit my head hard on the painted concrete floor. I blacked out for a second, but forced myself to move, scrambling to pull myself up. I was as good as dead if I couldn't.

I had slipped on the pins from the grenades I had given to him not ten minutes before. Jim had dropped them as he ran toward the truck, shooting the unloader with his pistol. He wasn't dead, he laid there with a look of horror as this behemoth of unadulterated rage came barreling his way.

I knew I didn't have time to stop him and couldn't even if I had tried. I'd be lucky if the blast didn't take me out as well. He had decided his fate, they had broken this man by taking his son from him.

Chapter 2

It was like an atomic bomb went off. Debris was flying everywhere. I had covered my ears just in time, but the blast was still deafening.

As I crawled out from under the debris, that had once been on the shelves around me, I struggled to see through the smoke where the truck had once been.

Someone grabbed me and yanked me to my feet. I reached for my side arm, but it was gone. I must have dropped it when I ran for cover. A blast like that made you feel like your chest was going to cave in.

"Whoa cool it General!". It was Jesse and he had a half dozen more people with him. They all had weapons and most were covered in blood. "What the hell happened back here?"

"I could ask you the same question" I said, trying to find the words for what had went down. "We found Jim's son, he was dead. Jim snapped and made a beeline for the supply truck they were unloading. I tried to catch him, but he threw the pins at my feet and I went down. He took out the entire area when he hit it. Who are these people?"

"They were hiding near the front of the store when I ran those bastards up there. They saw me and came out to help. I threw this dude the gun since I don't know what to do with it, dude was taking them out like it was halo!" He said pointing to a gruff looking man in his early fifties or so.

"Staff Sgt McDonnell" said the man who Jesse had thrown the gun to, "I'm assuming you're a marine, son?"

"Semper Fi", I said and shook his hand, "Corporal Jeffries, 1st Recon"

"Good man," he said, "you probably saved us all today"

"Well sir, today ain't over yet" I said " we need to move. I managed to get some info out of one of them, before the explosion" I then relayed the info to the group of people around me. None of the others had military experience, luckily some were hunters.

"Well shit," Jesse said "there cant be more than 2 or 3 left, we've taken out at least two dozen. We've got these fuckers."

"Calm down son," said McDonnell "It's only a matter of time before they send more in, the two boys we left up front can't hold them off forever."

"I've got an idea," said one of the group "I work here, I've got keys to the lift. We can get it and blockade the front doors until we figure out what to do."

"Go get it, ill stay here and see if we can salvage some heavy artillery from the truck" McDonnell said.

"OK, come with me. Jesse you too." I said "We're going to get this and then I'm going back for my girlfriend. She's holed up in an office near the back"

We moved cautiously toward the service doors near the back. I would have bet anything the last few of them were waiting there. "Wait, we can't just bust through the doors, they'll pick us off if we do" I said, looking for a better way in.

"Over here, there's a crawlspace through the electronics that we can go through. It's dusty but they probably didn't even see it. It comes out behind some boxes."

I went through first. We had pretty good cover behind some massive TV boxes when we got into the warehouse. Using the spotting mirrors, I pegged at least three soldiers. Two were stacking pallets to block the receiving doors and the other was guarding the doors we almost ran right through.

I turned to the worker, to get him into position. If this didn't work I was done for. I had him climb the warehouse racks and get into position to get a clear shot on the man guarding the door. I snuck around the rear. On my signal he shot at the guard. He wasn't as good of a shot as he thought, it took him half a clip to kill the guy. I stood against the steel rack, biding my time. As the other two came around the corner I was waiting and shot them both in the head before they could react. They hadn't seen me and when they did, they started backpedaling forgetting to grab for their guns. I shot them from so close it lifted them off of their feet.

We had the lift and were ready to head back, but I still needed to get Liz. As we came out from the warehouse I heard shots in the direction she was hiding. We left the lift and ran toward the office. The shooter was trying to break into the office. He had already unloaded a clip into the door. I didn't have time to wonder if she was ok.

He had an open line on us, we were sitting ducks. He fired and killed the worker we had brought with us. Jesse broke off to the side to try and help him, sliding on his knees. I was alone running head first toward the business end of this rifle. I couldn't afford to open fire, it was too risky. I had maybe ten yards to cover as he trained his gun on me.

I heard the shot fire. He slumped to the ground and I saw the office door open with Liz standing there shaking. She had taken him out.

I had too much momentum to stop, I slammed into the counter and fell to the ground. I was dazed as I looked up to find that she hadn't been alone. There were four others in the office with her. Three kids and a lady, who has bawling while holding them for dear life.

"Thank god, its you" she gasped, as she practically crushed me trying to squeeze me. " I knew you would come back"

"It's ok babe, I think that was all of them" sitting back against the counter with my hands on my ribs.

"You've been shot." she said as she frantically started ripping at the sleeve of my shirt to check it

"It's ok, it just grazed me" I said, pulling myself to my feet "I'll be fine, but we need to get everyone to a safe spot."

"Where are we going?" the distraught woman asked.

"We've secured the front entrance and the outdoor area, we've got a lift to blockade the doors. There are probably fifty men outside, I think they're setting up a some kind of base here"

"They ran off" She said pointing at the window "they all started shooting and running off earlier, when that one came in. He saw the girls at the door and was going to kill them, but there was an explosion and they all went running"

I tried to make out what was happening outside, but they had closed the bays. Through the narrow service window it looked like there was a fire fight going on. They were distracted for the time being.

"Attention Mega Mart shoppers," I had grabbed the phone and turned on the PA, hoping it was still working "We are under attack by a force of Chinese soldiers. Do not attempt to leave the building or you will be killed. We have secured most of the store and neutralized most of the fighters inside. I want you all to try and get to the outdoor living area, we are setting up back there. Be careful, there may be more gunman hiding."

I heard the little girls giggling, "mommy I wanna talk on the thingy" one said as their mother started scooting them toward Jesse, who was waiting to help escort them back.

"Come on babe, this is far from over." I said "Stick with those girls, if we draw fire you keep going. I'll hold them off."

Luckily we made it back without incident. McDonnell had done exceedingly well with the salvaging. He had set up half a dozen tripod mounted machine guns, ready to be moved. From under the rubble they had brought out another half dozen crates of other guns, ammo, rockets, and grenades.

"Ain't they purdy?" He grinned as we made our way into the makeshift fort, crates stacked three high for cover. "I reckon we got enough ammo here to hold them off for weeks"

"Good, we may need to" I said as I scanned the people coming in. I spotted what looked like a manager type. "You, come here"

"Yes sir?" he said, visibly shaken from the day's events.

"I need roof access and any men you have that can handle a gun" I said, I knew what my next move would be." He took off trying to find the men I needed.

"You're in charge here General" McDonnell said with a sly grin. "Listen I'm an old jar head, I don't have it in me to be moving around. I've got my daughter to think of, you take the men and do what you've got to. I'll stay here with the civilians"

I nodded and stood up, "Listen up, we may have stopped the two dozen or so Chinese soldiers who were sent in to secure this shit hole, but there are dozens more outside. Right now they seem to be engaged in a fire fight with who ever is trying to break through to help us."

These men picked this place for a reason, it is easily defended and they are likely to be easily picking off anyone who tries to break through. I need as many strong guys as I can get and anyone who can handle a gun. If you're a vet, even better.

We're going to take most of this ammunition and get it to the roof. We will be setting it up around the perimeter. We are going to give these boys hell. If this was the A team then the ones outside are not well trained, they won't be expecting us from above."

I also need someone who can operate the lift. Our man died before we could block the front entrance. We are not going to let anyone in this behemoth until these boys have picked off every single son of a bitch that's outside waiting to kill us."

"Hell yeah," Jesse said jumping to his feet.

"It's time to take the offensive, get your asses moving". I yelled as pulled a machine gun off of it's tripod and hoisted the gun onto my shoulders. Most of these people had no formal combat training, but they were mad and ready to fight back. They were not going to be the victims any longer.

It was worse than we could have imagined. You could see for miles standing on that roof. The Chinese were smart to have picked this place as a base of operations. It was ideal for not only it's natural defenses, like the layout of the land around it, but also for the simple fact that the place was built like a fort. You could leave a handful of snipers up top and defend the place for years if you had to. No one stood a chance of getting close.

Luckily they had not gotten that far. All hell had broken loose about the time we started fighting back inside. The military had not responded, but it looked like every cop in the precinct had.

The police officers were unprepared for what was waiting for them. The Chinese army had set up a solid perimeter, All access was blocked from one light to another and they had jeeps patrolling the outside walls. These corporate buffoons had created a nearly impenetrable base.

I sent the boys to scout around to see what we were up against, while I attempted to survey the damage in the outlying areas. The sun was beginning to set, the sky a blazing red. Smoke was billowing from the airport. It looked like they had crashed planes into the parking garage in order to block access to it from the road.

There were dozens of military vehicles with the People's Liberation Army symbol on them. That red and yellow star was unmistakeable. Meanwhile, three planes were circling waiting to land. The Chinese now controlled the airport. Seemingly normal civilian planes were offloading troops, tanks, and god knows what else. To think only a few hours had passed since the attack began.

I had given the boys strict orders not to fire, we were doing recon only at this point. Scouting every inch of a store this size was no small feat for six men.

I was so busy trying to get a picture of the size of this invasion, that I didn't even notice a teenage kid that had come running up to me.

"Sir, sir are you Jeffries sir?" he asked panting from the trip up.

"What the hell are you doing up here kid?" I asked puzzled.

"We've got a problem sir, there's a middle eastern guy in there and some of the older guys keep saying he's a Taliban or an Al Qaeda" Said the visibly shaken boy,

"Slow down," I said, as he was spitting the words out. "What are they doing now?"

"They were gonna shoot him, but a little kid ran out and said it was his dad. The old army guy said he is gonna shoot the other guys if they don't leave him alone"

"Ok, ill be right down" I said as I grabbed my sidearm.

"Hurry they said they ain't gonna listen to nobody but you" said the kid as he ran ahead of me.

It took a good five minutes to make it back to the others. Tense situations generally don't alleviate when people are made to wait. When I arrived I found McDonnell engaged with an old red neck, standing there with guns pointed at each others heads.

"That is enough!" I yelled as I ran up, "You're scaring these kids, you dumb sack of shit, they've been through enough already."

"Please sir, we were shopping just like the rest of you", said the middle eastern man. "I've lived here for over twenty years, my children were all born here in Portland.

"Come here," I said gesturing to him "Show this man your ID so he'll calm down, ok?"

"Yes, of course," the man said, his name was Omar. "You see, I live right down the street, these are my children and this is my wife" It seemed to ease the tension as the old redneck saw the pictures of Omar's family.

"Now I want you to listen to me," I said " All of you. If we can't trust each other, we are as good as dead, you got that? Our enemy is the Chinese army, this is not an isolated incident, the airport has been completely taken over. The good news is, they're stuck outside being distracted by the police for the time being."

As they mumbled agreement, I looked around at the people sitting there. There must have been fifty or sixty and they had carried over people who had been injured in the gunfire. A lot of people were probably going to die if they didn't get to a hospital soon.

"You, ma'am are you a doctor?" I said to a middle aged woman who was frantically tending to people.

"No, no I'm an EMT" she said without leaving the person she was tending to.

"Ma'am what do you need? I'll have some of these kids head over to the pharmacy area and see what they can find. You just tell them what to bring you"

"These people need a hospital", she said

"For the time being why don't you have one of them grab some paper and make a list."

A teenage girl ran over, pulling a notepad from, her purse. The EMT began relaying the supplies to her, occasionally stopping to spell something out. I spotted a man in a lab coat, who turned out to be the pharmacist. He was pretty badly injured, but he gave Liz his keys to get in and find whatever medicine the EMT might need.

As I turned to leave, Liz pulled me to the side to find out exactly what I had seen. "It's bad Liz, it's really bad. This is an all out invasion, we're at war."

"Be careful, I love you" She said.

"I love you too hun, " I said, kissing her before adding "oh and see if you can get someone to find a radio and bring me a report of what's going on if you can"

Once I was back up top, the boys started relaying information to me. Most of it was what I had already seen, but one of the boys found out something crucial. He had been watching a fed ex truck out back, noticing the enemy had set guards around it. After a few minutes of watching, a high ranking man walked out. While the door was open he was able to get a look at the inside. It wasn't a delivery truck at all. This was their command center for the time being.

Chapter 3

"This is insanity. The entire country is under attack! The Chinese army has somehow disabled most of the military and are slaughtering anyone who gets close to them. Mayor Adams has ordered an evacuation of the entire metro area."

Here's what we know so far; Some kind of chemical agent was released at military bases all over the country. The Marine Corps have engaged in a fierce battle to keep control of the San Diego airport. It's almost entirely recruits from the boot camp fighting at this point.

D.C. is believed to have been completely destroyed. First reports indicated that the White House, The Capitol building with all of congress in session, and the Pentagon were all attacked almost simultaneously. We have no information on the President or his Cabinet at this time. Air force 1 and marine 1 were both shot down earlier today

Communication is sporadic at best, internet service is almost non existent. The AP tells us that virtually every major city within 300 miles of either coast are under siege. Mexico and Canada have been attacked as well. It seems we are on our own now."

"This is Big John with KUFO, we will attempt to continue updates as long as we safely can."

Panic was beginning to set in, even if we made it out of here alive our chances for survival were slim at best. No one had to say it, but we knew we didn't have much time before the Chinese outside decided to move in.

"We're going to have to get out of here," I said after pulling all of the adults to the side. "There are 60 of us trapped in here, maybe 15 of you can handle a weapon. When we make our move, we need to be lightning quick. No hesitation or we're all dead. I would guess we have maybe an hour and thirty, forty five minutes before reinforcements arrive if we move on these guys."

"We're never going to get out of here alive" said a sobbing woman, "they'll probably just kill us as soon as they're done with the cops"

"You're right," I replied "they are going to kill us soon. If we don't try to make our way out of here they're going to kill every single one of us, including your children. So need you all to do the impossible and pull yourselves together, we need to act fast"

"How are we going to make it past them?" Omar asked

"There is an RV about 20 yards from the front of the store, once we get a chance we need to get everyone who can't fight into it. We'll have to drop the trailer with the dirtbikes, hopefully the keys will be in the RV. The others will move to military vehicles if any are left. Does anyone have a four wheel drive vehicle?"

"My mom's car," said Jesse nearly breaking down, as the realization that she was gone hit him "It's a Subaru rally edition, ill go get the keys"

"I'm gonna go with you sweety" said Liz and they walked off to find the keys.

She was a strong woman, that's what attracted me to her initially. The first thing she ever said to me was "move dummy" because I was blocking her way out of the class we were in. My reaction was to give her the stink eye, but when i turned around it was like staring into the eyes of Aphrodite herself.

"Are you going to move me?" I asked cockily

"I could take you," she said. "You aren't that big" She was stunning, five foot six, big green eyes, and a beautiful smile. You could tell by looking at her that she could handle herself.

"Yeah, I've only got half a foot and a hundred pounds of muscle on you" I said

"Don't make me take you to the mat G.I. Joe" she said and shoved me playfully.

The next day I asked her out, but she said no. So I asked again the next day and every day after that for three weeks before she finally said yes. The thought of losing her was more than i could bear. I would fight the entire Chinese army to keep her safe. She knew I would move the heavens to keep her safe and happy.

As we waited for Jesse and Liz to return, I went over our plan to escape with the others. It was risky, McDonnell wasn't sure if it would work. I wasn't either, but there was no room for errors. If we didn't move fast enough everyone on the roof would be dead and the people inside left defenseless.

I started having people move into their positions as Jesse and Liz came back. She had her arm on his shoulder, he was trying hard to control his sobbing, almost choking from the effort. It pained me to see this kid, who had lost his mother just hours before, trying so hard to carry on for the sake of others.

I needed these people to be strong. Stronger than anyone should ever have to be. Some of them couldn't maintain their composure. These weren't soldiers, they were poor scared soccer moms and dad's with corner offices. I didn't fault them for being so scared they were physically sick.

The sun had almost set by the time we were ready to go. We were on the PLA's time-line, not our own. I was waiting for the right moment to strike. If I didn't act within the split second opportunity I was waiting for then all would be lost.

"On my call" I told them, "not a moment before."

The men on the roof trained their weapons on expected targets, who had no idea we were watching them from above.

I'd only ever used a shoulder mounted rocket launcher in training, but I was good with any weapon I could get my hands on. As I lay in wait, I tried hard not to concentrate on the fires that had popped up as far as I could see. People all over the city were dieing, their homes being burnt to the ground.

I watched the disguised fed ex truck as if I were trying to move it with my mind. Waiting, anticipating, anxious for the moment when I would strike. My entire life and the lives on 60 others depended on this split second.

The door began to open, I inhaled slowly steadying my aim. I could see the Chinese officer starting to exit the vehicle. Another second, waiting for the door to be open by another foot. All time on earth slowed down in that moment, I was watching the greatest tragedy in the history of mankind unfold at a snails pace.

I pulled the trigger. The rocket screamed out of the chamber, the officer heard me fire but couldn't move fast enough. The rocket flew within inches of his horrified face. At that moment I'm sure the world had gone into slow motion for him as well. It was just the two of us watching each other, waiting for the inevitable. Neither of us could have imagined how this day was going to turn out.

He had come to destroy my world, assuming we lacked the courage and training to fight back. He had not expected the invasion to go so smoothly, everything was on track. This officer would surely be getting a promotion for his work today. Little did he know what was happening inside.

Well, he would have, had the universe not put me in this exact spot on the same fateful day. My heart was beating a million miles a minute as I watched that rocked fly toward it's target. My aim had been perfect, but it wouldn't have mattered as long as it was close. The rocket made contact and the explosion lifted the truck off of the ground. A moment later there was nothing left of that officer's body.

"FIRE! FIRE!! mow these bastards down!" I screamed into the radio, we had less than five minutes to wipe them out. If we didn't move quickly they might be able to call for reinforcements. Eight turret mounted machine guns were screaming and sending forth death from all corners of the sieged store. Jesse and three others were hurling grenades at those to close to be hit by the machine guns.

Two minutes had passed and almost all were dead, they didn't have time to even fight back. Less than ten were still alive using cars for cover. Trying in vain to return fire.

"Everyone down now! We're moving people!" I belted as I ran toward a line of rocket launchers I had set in a row, for the stragglers. "I'm right behind, get your asses down. We need to get out of here fast."

McDonnell had everyone ready to move when I got down. We broke through the front door forming a wall around those who couldn't help fight. I had known we wouldn't be able to get all of the fighters from the roof. Even with the ten RPG's I had launched while the others ran down.

We did our best not to break formation as we moved toward the RV. As we filed everyone in, we broke off to return fire using the cars for cover. We had to make sure none of them could fire a rocket or a mortar at the people in the RV.

Liz and the EMT tore through every nook and cranny looking for the keys to the bikes and the RV. We were in luck, they were all inside, unfortunately the owner hadn't been so lucky. He was found dead in the tiny bathroom.

"Get that trailer loose now!" I yelled. "If you can't find the keys forget it."

"Got it!" Liz yelled throwing me the other keys.

"Alright," I said "Who can handle a bike?"

"Me" said the redneck who had caused problems earlier. I gave him and two of his friends the keys.

We lost six men while trying to secure some jeeps, but all of the Chinese were dead from what we could tell. Our plan was working, but we weren't in the clear yet. We still had to find a way to get out of the blockaded parking lot. Beyond that we were unsure where to go. We had all agreed that we needed to get the injured to a hospital, hopefully it was still there.

Our best bet was just slamming straight through the barriers in the movie theater next door and getting to a side road as fast as possible. The interstate was clogged with panicking motorists. None of the heavy duty vehicles were intact, leaving us stuck with smaller jeeps. Jesse and I jumped into the Subaru, if we needed to break off to lead the PLA away, this car would be ideal.

It became apparent that the RV was going to have to break through ahead of us, they would be left unprotected except for a gunman on the roof. All the rest of the military guarding the perimeter were being kept busy by the police and swat. It wasn't looking good for them, they were outgunned and would be overwhelmed the moment the Chinese reinforcements came.

As we headed toward our escape route, some of the Chinese broke off and began firing on us. We were able to shut them down, but not before McDonnell, who was driving the RV, took a bullet to his throat. Liz grabbed the wheel, attempting to keep the RV from crashing. She had never driven anything larger than a Cadillac.

Suddenly, the dirt bikes broke off headed god knows where. It was a stupid move and they paid the price for it. The first rider was hit by a grenade, causing the other two to crash. Chinese soldiers swarmed them, emptying their clips as they laid helplessly on the pavement.

We managed to break through, only losing one of the four jeeps in the process. When all of the jeeps were through, we formed a caravan around the RV to protect it. I doubted any of the men knew how to use the heavy guns correctly, but precision didn't really matter with that kind of a weapon. Liz couldn't control it over 45 mph so we would be moving slowly toward the hospital.

Chapter 4

As our makeshift convoy inched toward the hospital, pockets of fighting could be heard in all directions. I could barely see Mount Hood past the smoke billowing over Portland. The roads were clogged with people trying to flee the city, anyone not already on the road was probably packing essentials into their car. It was nearly impossible to get past a gas station without having to drive on a median or a sidewalk, people were fighting to fill their tanks.

No one could have been prepared for this, people were panicking. The morally ambiguous had already began looting. Who knows what the hell they were going to do with the merchandise they stole.

It was only a few miles to the hospital, but the drive took well over an hour. Dusk had begun to set over this unlikely war zone by the time we pulled our convoy into the parking lot of the ER. The police had set up a blockade with the few officers they could spare. They probably assumed the worst when they saw a convoy with PLA vehicles rolling toward them.

"We've got at least fifteen injured civilians in that RV, some of them don't have much time left" I said, as I walked up to the blockade. The cops didn't know what to make of our outfit.

"How the hell did you manage to get their jeeps?" One asked, clearly puzzled and worried.

"We fought our way out of the Mega-Mart, they seem to be trying to set up some kind of base there"

"No shit, I heard dispatch say that the Chinese were taking fire from the roof, that was you guys?"

"Yeah, we managed to take out about two dozen Chinese inside and then made a break for it" I said, growing impatient. People were dieing, I didn't have time for chit chat. "Listen, I've got one EMT in there tending to people who could die any second, are you going to let us through or not?"

"Yeah, of course." The cop said embarrassed, "I don't know if bringing their vehicles in here is such a good idea"

"Don't worry, we'll get them into the parking garage after we remove the guns from the back, you guys could probably use some better fire power out here in case we were followed."

With that, the police pulled the barrier to the side to let us pass. It was chaos inside, people were laying all over the triage room, some with gun shot wounds and others suffering from panic attacks. Sarah, our EMT, went in to try and find some help. She worked out of the non profit across town, but had a professional relationship with some of the ICU physicians here.

"They're only allowing surgery on patients who are going to die without it, I need some help getting them organized enough to come in." Sarah said to Liz. "There are three free rolling beds, we can each take one out and start bringing them in"

Moving a hospital bed by yourself is easier said then done, but Jesse and some of the guys were waiting to help as soon as we got back outside.

McDonnell was the highest priority, luckily the bullet didn't hit his jugular, but he was still in bad shape. He had maybe an hour if he didn't get into surgery, he had already lost a staggering amount of blood. Sarah had wrapped a t-shirt around his neck to help stymy the blood flow.

"Sarah," Jesse said, clearly worried about something "umm, i think... that lady with the little girls.. can you come here?"

"Jesse, take the girls inside ok?" I heard Sarah saying from the back of the RV. "Listen girls, we need to try and help mommy, go with Jesse ok? He's in charge for now."

The girls reluctantly agreed and Jesse led them away. "What's going on back there?", I asked as I was strapping one of the older rednecks down, to move him inside.

"She's gone," Sarah called back "Let's get her in, we can try to revive her, but I don't think it'll do any good. Those poor little babies...."

These girls had lost their mother, their home and their innocence all in a few hours time. Life would never be the same for any of us, but for them the sacrifice was greater. Maybe the only person they had in the world had been torn from them.

Charon would be busy today, ferrying the lost into the after life. Most beginning their journey much too soon. Clearly God had turned his head away, ashamed at what we had become.

After everyone was safely inside, Liz and I headed back to the RV to move it. "Hun, why don't you take a look around and see if you can find anything we can use" I said, as I headed toward the parking garage. The cops had already set up the machine guns at their blockade, they were looked thrilled to have something bigger than a rifle. They might actually have a chance if the PLA moved on the hospital.

"Wow, these people were set. They've got maps of every National Forest in the country and what looks like six months worth of freeze-dried food." She said excitedly "Look I even found a satellite notebook!"

"No shit, see if you can get it running." I said "We'll see just how bad this attack is"

"CNN is down, so is MSNBC." she said a few moments later, "I cant find any news sites that are working"

"Try AP or BBC, they may have some updates from overseas.", I suggested as I found a safe place to park the Winnebago.

"Hun, you need to see this, they're calling it World War III," she said with a hint of panic in her voice, "It's not just us, the entire east and west coasts are being attacked"

She wasn't lying, the entire world was at war. Reports of attacks by the Chinese were coming in from every major city within 200 miles of each seaboard. Even worse, were the reports indicating that somehow they had crippled the entire military's ability to mobilize. Hundreds of military bases had been hit with some kind of chemical attack. They were suffering massive casualties without a single shot being fired. The pentagon reported that Ft Hood, the nations largest base was the first to be hit and it was believed that there were little or no survivors. Within hours hundreds more were hit, the soldiers didn't have time to evacuate and many couldn't get to their gas masks.

In every major city, the Chinese had encountered some degree of resistance from civilians and paramilitary both. Most had surrendered, but there was still hope. Seattle had managed to completely fend off the PLA and the USMC boot camp in San Diego has successfully regained control over the airport next to it. New York was heavily engaged with the PLA attacking all three major airports outside of NYC. NYC, home to the largest police force in the country, was doing well containing the Chinese at the airports. They had not broken through to the city yet and it looked like they wouldn't be able to. Reports were showing that the PLA was mobilizing toward New York from Boston, which had been taken within two hours of the first attack.

D.C. was all but destroyed, the casualties were estimated at well over a million for the metro area near the Capital alone. Every major state building had been destroyed in simultaneous attacks, hundreds of large trucks had been used as mobile bombs. In most cities, the PLA was still facing pockets of fighters, but had began establishing a military lockdown of all major highways. Reports indicated that they weren't killing civilians if they didn't have to.

As bad as the attacks on the United States were, we were probably better off than some of the others countries around the world. Russia had begun an all out assault on former USSR territories in an apparent attempt to reclaim their former land. The EU issued a unanimous declaration of war toward China and Russia. The UN security council had begun mobilizing all available troops to the closest cities that were under siege.

India had launched an offensive against China only to be rerouted by Pakistani forces. About 100,000 troops remaining in Afghanistan were headed to rendezvous with Indian forces, but the Chinese had already set up a massive guard along their southern border in anticipation. Japan and the pacific island nations were mobilizing in anticipation of an attack. Japan vowed to assist the few hundred thousand marines stationed throughout the pacific, if they were to take the fight to China's soil. China hadn't been able to breach any of the joint bases on Japanese shores.

No solid evidence of the fate of the President and his cabinet had come down the wire. Both Congress and the Senate had been in session when the attack began, most were thought to be dead. The only cabinet member accounted for was the Secretary of State who had been in Copenhagen for an environmental summit. Without contact with the President, she was the assumed head of state and acting commander in chief. An announcement on the U.S.'s course of action was expected within hours.

Very little help would be coming from our neighbors who were also under attack. Venezuela and Cuba had begun an assault on Mexico City, sources said the drug cartels had allied themselves with the corrupt governments, Meanwhile, Russia had over run military forces in Alaska and began funneling into Canada. There were reports of a naval battle near the arctic circle. The Canadians had managed to help recapture Buffalo and had pledged to route forces into New York state to help fend off the PLA.

Seizing the opportunity Iran had invaded Iraq, hoping to crush their long time enemy once and for all. Nearly all of the countries in the middle east declared outrage at their audacity and vowed to help Iraq. Africa had plunged into pure melee, with warlords from all over the continent outright attacking former enemies and allies both, in order to seize valuable land and minerals.

"Christ, this is ridiculous," Liz said to me, trying to take all of it in "Why the hell would China choose to outright attack us with so much at stake in our country?"

"Well, honestly" I responded, "that's probably why they attacked us. Over the last ten years, they've grown increasingly powerful and their rhetoric has become more and more ominous. Remember a couple of years back when their prime minister made that outrageous comment that they would not stand by and let us default on loans just because we're the United States?"

"Yeah, I do," she said, no one had forgotten that China was the country we borrowed trillions of dollars from in order to pull our selves out of the great recession. We all knew we hadn't made good on those loans either. "You think they would try to take over our country because of the loans?"

"Yeah, at least as a blanket excuse." I said, shaking my head in disbelief "An attack on this scale would take years and years of planning, I guess we now know why they PLA has been ramping up its numbers for so long."

"Let's go in and check on Jesse and the kids" Liz said, changing the subject. We headed back inside to see how everyone was doing.

"Hey General!", someone called as we walked through the lobby. Who the hell were they talking to?

"Hey! Hey! slow down, can I talk to you please?" A small Hispanic man said as he tapped on my shoulder when he caught up to me. "You're him right? The guy that saved all those people from the Mega Mart?"

"I didn't save those people," I said somewhat irritated at this stranger "They saved themselves with a little help."

"Don't be so modest, man" said the nosy little man, "They're calling you the General, they said you single-handedly saved all of their lives. I heard you killed over a hundred Chinese yourself!"

"Who are you and what the hell are you talking about?" I snapped, this guy was pissing me off.

"Relax, I'm a journalist," he said, showing me what appeared to be some kind of press ID "Raul Castronova with the Willamette"

"Well, isn't that special," I said, I didn't have time for this twit " You still haven't told me what the fuck you want."

"I'm sorry man, I know you must be stressed out," he said, looking like I had hurt his feelings. "Listen, I'd like to interview you. I think it'll be good for people to hear your story"

"You know what, you stu..." I barked, but Liz grabbed my shoulder, as she often did to let me know to dial it down a little.

"Hun, maybe you should." Liz said as she rubbed my shoulders trying to make me just a little less tense. "People are going to want to know what happened, it'll give them hope and maybe they'll be able to fight back if they know it's possible."

"Fine, you're right" I said reluctantly "Not right now though, we need to check on Jesse and those girls"

"I don't think you have much time," Raul said, there was something he hadn't told me. "The dispatchers said they found the PLA's radio signal and are having it translated, they're pissed. They want to bring the wrath of whatever god they pray to down on the motherfucker who was in charge of the fight at the Mega-mart. They want to make you an example man."

"Liz," I said, realizing just how right he was. "Go find Jesse and the girls, we need to go. Make sure they're ok and tell Jesse we need to take his car."

"Ok, I'll be back as soon as I can," she said "I've got to make sure someone is going to take care of those kids."

"Alright , you've got until she gets back," I said to Raul who had already pulled out his tape recorder. "Then we're out of here, so that no one else gets hurt. Oh and don't use my name or anyone else's. The last thing we need is family and friends getting killed because of me."

"Ok, sounds good," Raul said with a glimmer in his eye, "I'll use the nickname they gave you. We'll call you The General, that ought to shake those bastards up a little."

"Fine, where do you want to start" I said, giving in to his absurdity.

"Give me a little background about yourself." He said.

"Well I like long walks on the beach under the moonlight," I said jokingly as I started telling Raul a little about myself and my training. Liz came back about half an hour later, I had almost finished with the entire day's events.

"Hey, what took so long?" I asked as she walked up with Jesse. "Whoa, where do you think you're going?"

"I'm coming with you guys" Jesse said excitedly.

"I'm sorry hun," Liz said looking slightly irritated, "He wont take no for an answer."

"Listen Jes-" I began before he interrupted me

"No, you listen. I don't have anyone left, what the hell am I supposed to do?" He said, obviously he wasn't going to back down. "My mom is dead man, she is fucking dead and I have no where to go. You have to let me come."

"Well, you're gonna have to learn how to handle a gun" I said, he was right. It was the least we could do. As much as he had done today, surely he would become a target as well."

"Good, let's go" he said almost skipping away.

"Liz babe, take him to the RV and grab us three bags, put all the dried food you can find in there, with the laptop. I'm going to finish up with Raul and have Sarah stitch my arm up real quick. She's going to grab a needle right now. Ill catch up in a few minutes."

"Ok babe," Liz said and gave me a kiss.

Luckily the bullet had just grazed me, so it only required a few stitches. When I told Sarah we had to leave she gave me some cleaning swathes, a few changes for the dressing, and some medicine to deal with the pain and antibiotics in case they got infected.

"You know I could lose my license for this," she said jokingly "but at this point I don't think it matters anymore."

"Thanks Sarah," I said as I got up to leave. " and again thanks for agreeing to look after those girls, they need someone like you right now"

I couldn't help but to stare at the sky as I walked out of the ER toward the RV. Bombs were lighting up the night sky like it was the Fourth of July, occasionally shaking the ground with the force of their explosions. In a way it was eerily beautiful, the sky was clear and the stars bright, mortar shells and ground to air missiles lighting streaking through the night sky. It was a tragically beautiful night that i would remember for the rest of my life.

We needed to find out what the closest safe city was, we had to get out of the Portland area. If all else failed, there were thousands of hiking trails through the cascades we could take to stay off of the roads. We might be safe for now, because the PLA had no idea who they were looking for, but how long until someone identified us? What if the security cameras at Mega Mart were still active? We were as good as made if they were.

This morning I woke up thinking I would be cooking steaks right now. Instead I was now targeted by the world's largest military. Within days there would be millions of PLA soldiers looking for me. Ready to break the spirit of the American people, who still thought they had a chance of seeing this thing through. To think, this whole thing started when I was filling a shopping cart with beer, only hours ago.

"Hun, can you make me a list or something?" Liz and Jesse were having a hard time figuring out what would be essential and what wasn't. "I have no idea what we need."

"Yeah, sure" I said and started jotting down necessary supplies. We needed to keep it light in case we had to run. "Make sure we don't grab anything with a strong scent though".

"What?" Jesse said, clearly puzzled.

"If we are being following, we don't want anything with us that is gonna make us easier to track" I said

"How do you know all of this shit?" He asked.

"Connor was Force Recon when he was in the marine corp," Liz answered "He could live in the woods more comfortably than most people live in a house"

"Oh man so you're like one of those dudes from a Tom Clancy game!" he said, looking at me in awe.

Rope

Water

Hatchet

Thermos

Small pot/pan

Sleeping bags

Flashlights and extra batteries

Lighters or matches

Maps

Radio (am/fm, not just fm)

compass

jackets

socks. lots of them

small tent

duct tape

multi-tool

"Ok let's tear this place apart, if you find something that might be useful let me know" I said, "oh and no coffee."

"What?" Liz asked, "I can't function without my coffee."

"Well if you can make the grounds magically disappear then you can bring it."

"Zip lock bags," She said waving a box at me. "Booyeah."

"Fine, bring your damn coffee." I laughed.

The people who owned this RV must have been some kind of extreme sports enthusiasts. It was like winning the survival gear lottery. They were sure to have 90% of the things on the list, which was a damn good start.

"Connor, what do you think about this?" Liz asked, holding up a water filtration pitcher. "Wouldn't it be easier to take this instead of all that water?"

"Yeah, good call sweetheart." I said, rummaging through cabinets "I'm gonna take this collapsible shovel too."

"Hey, look I found an old school cell phone!", Jesse said laughing "I wonder if I can call 1987 with it?"

"Whoa, that's a sat phone." I said looking at the box he had opened. "call your cell phone, we need to get the number on it. Those things can make a call from just about everywhere except under the ocean."

"Ok, got it" he said "Hey we should give that reporter this number, he would know if there are checkpoints set up along the way."

"That's a good idea," I said, Jesse seemed like he was a very bright kid "Why don't you run it to him."

"You better not leave without me!" he said, probably not completely joking as he jogged off.

"Babe, I can't find a tent anywhere." Liz said looking downtrodden "They probably just slept in here, this thing is nicer than my college dorm was."

"Yeah, look at that map on the wall," I said pointing to a large U.S. map covered with thumbtacks. "Looks like they were going to try to hit all of those places, That would take months and more money than we can make in a year."

"Ok, this is pretty much everything," Liz said pointing to our pile on the table "Well except for a tent, sleeping bags and some jackets or sweaters."

"Well we could always try to stuff a comforter in the bags, but that would take a ton of room. Hmm, let's check the outside compartments." I said and grabbed the keys "Wish I knew which ones opened it."

"You could always break it open if you cant find the key," she said laughing. "Use some brute force on it."

"Fuck with that," I said, "ill shoot it in it's nonexistent face"

"Ok, there we go" I said as I finally got the right key. "Let's see what's in this treasure trove."

"Alright, you guys didn't get away yet" Jesse said panting as he got back. "OkRaul, gave me his number too, he said to call anytime we need information."

"Awesome," I said rummaging through the compartment. "Here's an emergency kit, why don't you take out the parkas and the emergency blankets. They aren't much, but they're compact. Holy shit, a vacuum seal kit. It's got a hand pump too, let's take that in case we need to keep stuff dry."

"Hey, there are some tarps and bungee cords here," Jesse said looking through another compartment. "They're probably for the dirt bikes, but I bet we could use them since we don't have a tent."

"Ok, good." I said, "We're pretty much done, let's get this stuff in bags and go. Oh and take those gas cans to the car, just in case Jesse."

It took about 20 minutes to get the few backpacks we found filled, luckily they were made for climbing supplies. I took the heavier bag, which was probably about 60 pounds and had Jesse and Liz take some lighter ones.

"I think we need to try to make it to Seattle, it looks as if the PLA was completely shut down north of Olympia, so if we can make it past the capital, it's smooth sailing from there." I said as we put the bags in the car. "We'll take the side roads, since the highways are basically shut down. That way we can avoid the Chinese as much as possible."

Chapter 5

Just getting out of city limits took over 3 hours. Every road was packed. People were panicking to get out, yet had no clue where they were even going.

This part of the Columbia river basin is almost always under a light cloud cover, it's rare that you see more than a quarter of the sky. Tonight was an exception, as if the fighting had torn a hole through the clouds. Smoke billowing from all directions, the sound of fierce fighting in the distance. I barely recognized the city I called home. This was merely the beginning of many battles to come, no one could have really understood why at this point.

The air smelled of gunpowder, quiet Portland had been turned into a battlefield. The quaint skyline of this trendy northwest town, now scarred. Everyone in this city now knew the horrors of war. War was no longer just a story they heard about on the evening news, it was no longer far off and inexplicably justified. This was the cruel reality of man, innocence brutally ripped from those lucky enough to still hold onto it. This was the cruel face of hatred, unknown to these ordinary people until today.

War changes a man, even the youngest soldiers. That first battle, those first shots fired into the heart of the enemy will define a man for the rest of his life. Every decision he will ever make past that point, will be influenced by what he learned and saw that day. It is not something you can find in a classroom, this is an intimate understanding of your limits. You can not hope to look death in the eye and come out unscathed. Even those lucky enough to survive do not escape with their soul intact.

Jesse and Liz were both exhausted, they couldn't have been prepared for this kind of trauma. They tried to get a little bit of sleep while I drove. The magnitude of this new war had not yet sunk in. I don't think I even understood yet. How could I have? An attack of this scale was unprecedented. Easily the largest military operation in the history of mankind. It was mind boggling just trying to figure out how the PLA could have coordinated it all. It must have taken years to plan, I wondered if they even remembered why they set upon this course to begin with.

Our arrogance had defined this country for far too long. We lived our lives under the misguided belief that some how, for some insane reason, God had chosen us. That he elevated the United States to unparalleled might. We even believed that every action we made was driven by purpose. That somehow, we were better than the other nations we tried to police and bend to our will. We could not have been more wrong.

I wasn't sure how far a full tank of gas would take us, or even how to get where we were going. The safest bet seemed to be taking the back-roads through a few small towns until I could hit 503 and take the long way around Mount St Helens. It was far enough inland that there would likely be no fighting. If anything happened the extensive hiking trails or service roads that would start in Gifford Pinchot National Forest could take us all the way to the Canadian border. Where Gifford Pinchot ended, Mt Baker National Forest begins, following a series of state parks all the way to the border. We could follow them to about a hundred miles east of Seattle if the main roads weren't an option.

"Hey guys," I said waking up Jesse and Liz, "Look alive, we're about to head through Woodland. We should be able to get to 503 on the other side of town, but we're going to have to take it slow to be safe."

"Hurngh, wha-" Jesse said as he woke up, "What the hell would they want with podunk ass Woodland?"

"What does anyone want with it?" I laughed, "but the truth is we don't even know what the hell they want with us in the first place, so we can't afford to take any risks."

"Yup," Liz said groggily "He's right, maybe they came for the scenery."

It was extremely quiet, as if the whole town was abandoned. Not a single light was on in the houses or businesses along the main road. Occasionally I could see I-5 in the distance, it was almost completely barren, only a few broken down cars to be seen. The PLA must have found a way to blockade the main interstates just outside the city. We were right to have taken the back-roads.

"Hey! Hey," Liz squealed, "Look over there, that restaurant is open!"

"Oh man, I'm so hungry" Jesse said, " Can we stop and get a bite?"

"What in the hell?" I replied, shocked that a single restaurant was open in this ghost town. "Yeah, let's go in, maybe someone can tell us what's happening."

I pulled into the drive way, the place was packed. It was surreal seeing this packed parking lot and no other signs of life except for it. Clearly, this was going to be interesting.

"Ok, guys, listen" I said after we pulled in. "We do not leave this vehicle without a weapon, under any circumstances. Got it? No matter how safe it looks, I never want you to open those doors without a gun in your hands."

"Yeah," Liz said "Who knows when or if we'll run into that army again."

"They're looking for us," I said "Well, they're looking for me anyways, it's a matter of time before they figure out what I look like so we need to keep moving, no staying in any one spot for long, OK?"

"Yeah yeah," Jesse grumbled, "Let's go get some food, Rambo."

Ralphie's Steak House, big gaudy neon sign and all. They were definitely open, I could smell the food wafting through the air. I hadn't realized just how hungry I was until then. We ate breakfast at nine or so, and skipped lunch to go to the movies. It was around eleven thirty now. This was no chain restaurant, it had that feel of a very successful out of the way joint that you only find when taking a break from the freeway. You turn off ready to hit the fast food place you saw on the sign a few miles back when that huge neon sign catches your eye.

The sign on the front doors said they were only open until 10 pm, but the place was packed. Waitresses flitting about from table to table like bumblebees. No one batted an eye as we walked in. Three banged up people, the biggest of which carrying an assault rifle. Hell, the teenage kid with a 9mm in his waistband, like a rapper, would have normally been enough to cause a commotion.

"Hooo, look at the gun that boy's got!" said an older guy at the bar, "Come here soon, come have a seat."

We made our way across the room, some people had started to notice us. A few were gawking, some even pointing. It was slightly uncomfortable, but then again I was the one with a gun. I'm sure it made them more uneasy than it did me. The man that called us over stood up to greet us, he was wearing cowboy boots and the biggest belt buckle I had ever seen. He was a little shorter than me, but rugged like a man who'd lived in the country his entire life. He could only be described as the good ole boy type.

"Where the hell did you fellas come from?" he said chuckling "How are ya miss?"

"We came from just outside of Portland." I replied shaking his hand. "I'm Connor, this is Liz, and Jesse"

"That's a mighty big gun for such a little lady" he said as he took Liz's hand. "Name's Ralphie, this here establishment belongs to me. Why don't y'all take a load off, you look like you need to relax a bit."

"Thank you, sir." I said as we sat down at the bar by Ralphie. "We've been driving for hours."

"I would imagine, what route did you take to get here?" He said as he called over a waitress. "Last I heard some Chinese assholes had shut down the all the roads just a few miles north of Vancouver."

"Yeah, it looks like it," I replied. "We've been snaking through the back-roads all night."

"Sweetheart," Ralphie said to the young waitress "Take these folks order, it's on me tonight"

"I know daddy," she said, "everything's on you tonight. We're gonna go outta business if we do this tomorrow."

"I'll have a burger and some iced tea." I said, turning back to Ralphie as Liz and Jesse ordered. "What made you decide to stay open, if you don't mind me asking?"

"Well, I figure people are gonna need a good meal right now." He said, "The whole town just about lost their minds and took off, who knows where the hell they think they're going? Me, I figure it'll be a while before those bastards even bat an eye at this town. Even when they do, what are they gonna do, kill everyone? I highly doubt that, hell I got plenty of rice if them boys don't like steaks."

"Yeah, it seems like they were avoiding major confrontations for now," I said "They seem to have this thing pretty well planned out."

"That they do, that they do." He said "I heard they were trying to set up a base at some department store a couple miles from the airport, but they bit off more than they could chew... Now where does a fellow get a gun like that son?"

"Oh this?" I said as he gestured to the assault rifle. "This is a QBZ-97, let's just say the owner no longer has any use for it. I figured if we came under fire, I'm better off with their rifles because I can use their own ammo."

"I ain't even gonna ask how you and the owner came to that agreement" He said with a wry smile. "What's your poison?"

"Good old Jack," I said "but I'm doing the driving so I'll have to refrain for now."

"Oh come on son, I insist" He said " You ain't gonna insult me in my own bar are ya?"

"It's ok hun," Liz said leaning over to me, "You deserve to have a drink, I can drive for a little while and you can get some sleep."

"Alright, then it's settled" Ralphie said as he walked around the bar and grabbed an unopened bottle of Jack and a few glasses. "Do you take it straight or with soda?"

"Yea, some coke would be good" I said. Liz was right, I did need a drink. It had been a very long day. "thanks"

"So where are you folks headed?" Ralphie asked as he made the drink.

"Well, we were planning on taking the park roads around St Helens and head up toward Seattle." I replied, "The PLA wasn't able to take that port so it should be a good starting point. Not sure after that though."

"I never would have thought that bunch of liberals up in Seattle would knock back that kind of an attack," He said laughing "Hell, I never imagined anyone would have the gall to bring a fight to American soil."

"Yeah, people were fighting all over when we left," I said "I even saw some gang members helping out the cops, it's crazy"

"I usually put the T.V.s on ESPN, but I've had em on the news all night." He said, "Satellite TV, still running even after the Apocalypse."

"So it is," I said looking up, the screen was filled with images of fighting from all over the country. Pictures of people dead in the streets and pictures of victories as well. The ticker that runs across the bottom of the screen was listing the cities that had been attacked and their status.

Miami - taken. Savannah - Taken, with PLA moving into Atlanta by morning. Raleigh - Taken. D.C. - Taken, casualties thought to exceed 1 million. Annapolis - Still under siege, but believed to be turning the tide. Philadelphia - Free. Boston - Free. Atlantic City - Taken. Providence - taken. NYC - free and mobilizing defense to move into Albany. Albany - Free, but fighting is fierce with Canadian and National Guard expected to arrive within hours. Los Angeles - Free, but expected to be taken without reinforcements. San Diego - Free, attack was stopped within two hours by Marines and Recruits from the MCRD adjacent to the airport. Balboa Naval base took only minor fire. Fresno - taken. Oakland - Taken. San Francisco - free, Golden Gate Bridge was destroyed by the PLA to cut off aid to Oakland. Astoria - taken with devastating casualties. Portland - taken, but fierce pockets of resistance are slowing the Chinese advance. Olympia - taken. Seattle/Tacoma - Free, National Guard was able to mobilize before the PLA could take SeaTac Intl.

"This just in," blared the TV as Ralphie turned the volume up after seeing a picture of a devastated military base. "We previously reported that over 200 military installations were affected by some kind of chemical attack. Medical Personnel are now reporting that the soldiers who they were able to save seem to have been exposed to some kind of fast acting poisonous fungus. Not unlike the spores that were ravaging rural Oregon only a few years ago. This fungus is not believed to be contagious, but spread only by contact with objects in the vicinity of the bases. It is not yet known if this was carried out by Chinese personnel or how they ev..."

"Christ almighty," Ralphie said shaking his head. "So that's how they shut down the entire god damned army."

"Do you think, " Jesse said between mouthfuls of the steak he was eating, "They would use that stuff on regular people?"

"I don't know Jesse," I said, trying to take in the fact that nearly the entire military was crippled. " I don't think they would, why would they be taking major cities by force just to make them uninhabitable?"

"Hun, it looks like Raul is trying to call us," Liz said handing me the sat phone. "Why don't you take it? I wouldn't know what to ask him."

"Sure thing," I said turning to Ralphie, "Hey is there somewhere a little more quiet I can take this?"

"Yeah, why don't you head into my office," He said pointing toward the kitchen. "It's right on the other side, you can't miss it."

"Thanks man," I said as I got up "I appreciate what you're doing for us."

"Hello? Can you hear me?" I said as I answered "Hold on just a minute, I've got to get somewhere I can hear." The place was packed, there had to be close to a hundred people here. It was comforting watching people eat and enjoy themselves as if the whole world hadn't just gone to hell. I wondered how long it would be until I had a chance to relax again without having to worry about some foreign army trying to kill us.

"Hey Raul, you still there?" I said after I closed the door behind me.

"Yeah, I'm here," he said, the line was a little staticy, but at least he could make a call at all. "Listen, I've got some really bad news Connor."

"I'd be damn surprised if you had any that wasn't"

"True enough, but this involves you." He said "The police have had interpreters trying to intercept radio signals and surprisingly the Chinese are using open frequencies."

"How does that involve me?"

"I'm getting there," he said, his voice starting to shake. "We all knew they were going to respond to the incident at Mega Mart, but we just weren't sure how... They're pissed man, they're out for blood. You killed one of their top brass when you guys were fighting your way out and they want to make an example of you."

"I'm going to assume they were able to recover the security tapes then..."

"Yeah, they were. They came straight to the hospital about two hours after you guys left. They said they only wanted the people who were in charge. We tried to cover, but they found that guy who was shot in the neck..."

"McDonnell, he was a retired Staff Sgt I think."

"Yeah, that's him. They tried to get him to talk, but he wouldn't. I'm not even sure he could have if he wanted to, he was hurt pretty bad. One of the doctors tried to stop them , but they shot him in the head right in front of everyone."

"Christ"

"They didn't get anything out of your friend so they just killed him. After that, the guy in charge told us that if they find anyone helping you they would be killed in order to show us how futile it is to fight back."

"Then what the hell are you doing telling me this?" I asked, I didn't want any more blood on my hands.

"Because we can change things, Connor," he said "If you tell people your story, it can give them hope. You can give people a reason to fight, help them to see that it isn't pointless."

"How do you propose I do that?" I said, "After all I'm on the run and those bastards are probably after me right now."

"This isn't the 1950's anymore," he told me "These rat bastards can't control the flow of information. Don't you see? With today's technology they can't stifle our voices."

"Last time I checked they had done a pretty good job of blocking access to the internet," I said unsure of where he was going. "And if I go on TV that's only going to make myself and anyone around me more vulnerable."

"No, No we can't have them seeing your face," He said excitedly "You can be more than a just some guy, we can use you to represent an ideal. Let me record an interview and I can get it out online, I have contacts all over the country and in Europe and Asia, we can make this go viral. The Chinese were only able to completely knock out the Asian hubs. Our navy was smart enough to know that we had to protect ICANN at all costs.."

"Wait, what is that?" I interrupted.

"ICANN, it's the company that basically controls access to the internet" He said, "It's much more complicated than that, but if it were to be taken the entire world's access could be blocked for god knows how long."

"Ok, you said the navy responded? Where is it?"

"Well it's in Marina Del Mar, it's a half hour or so from LAX, on the coast. The government apparently had a contingency plan in case it was ever in jeopardy. Coronado had warships there before the Chinese could even get outside of LAX."

"What about LA?"

"I think they're rerouting some of the Marines up that way for back up, but LA has a huge police force so I think eventually they'll be ok. Besides people down in LA are mean as hell, they aren't just gonna let some assholes take over their city. They've got as many guns as the cops do, I'm sure."

"That's good, from what I've seen Seattle is in the clear. Maybe they'll be able to retake most of the west coast with such huge naval bases open, they must have forgotten to attack them."

"Nah, more likely too much wind to apply that shit they used on the army all over the country" he said. "So do you want to do this? There's no turning back once we do. You've already got the entire god damn Chinese army after you, but they'll really kick it into gear once this gets out."

"You're right, Raul." I said "If we're going to win this thing, we need to give people some encouragement."

"Ok good, just let me set up the recorder."

"Alright, tell me when" I said. I already had a target on my back, but it was about to get a lot bigger.

"Ok here we go, ready?" He said.

"America this is R.C., out of fear for my personal safety and that of my family I can not reveal my real name. Tonight, the world as we know it was torn asunder. Not just our great nation, but dozens of our Allies face the largest and most aggressive invasion in the history of mankind. So flawlessly was this attack executed, that the entire planet was taken by surprise. Hundreds of cities have fallen and probably millions of innocent people are dead as we speak. However, all is not lost. Tonight, I will give you a reason to believe. Tonight, we all become the resistance. Everyone who sees this, every man, woman and child will be part of the fight to retake our homelands."

"Tonight, I introduce you to your General. This morning, he was just an ordinary citizen like you and I, but all of that changed when the store he was in came under attack. This man took action without hesitation for his own safety in order to save the lives of dozens of other people in a Vancouver, Washington Mega Mart. For those of you who haven't heard of Vancouver, it is just across the river from sunny Portland, Oregon."

"How did you get that nickname, the General?"

"When we were attempting to secure the Mega Mart, there was no time for introductions so one of the employees there just started referring to me as General."

"How many people helped you take back that store?" Raul asked.

"Everyone there had a part in it. Every single person there was a hero tonight." I said, "But those of us doing the fighting, there was myself, another old Jar Head and about 10 other guys."

"How many died there tonight?"

"I'm not sure, we were able to save about 40 or so." I said, "However, I'm sure dozens, maybe more than a hundred more died. I don't really know how many were able to get out before they sealed the place off."

"How many soldiers did they send to take the place?"

"I think it was around two dozen. They sent them in there to slaughter us and then intended to set it up as a command hub."

"That didn't work out did it?"

"No, no it didn't. I heard the first shots fired when I was in the middle of an aisle and saw the first gunmen as he rounded the corner. I was able to take him out and grab his weapons. After that, I..."

"What happened then?" He asked as I paused.

"I, um, I was able to get a civilian into an office about 50 yards away." I said not wanting to implicate Liz, although I was sure the PLA already knew. "I was under pretty intense fire and would have been dead only a few feet from the door when a man, Jim was his name, came out of nowhere and nearly took a soldier's head off with a baseball bat.

He was looking for his little boy, who had wanted to find a new toy. I tried to help him find the kid, but the soldiers were all over. Another guy managed to get ahold of a soldiers hand grenades." I said as I recalled what had happened. I hadn't thought about it until then. I did my best to keep my voice from cracking as the emotions came rushing to the surface. I had pushed them aside, knowing I would be dead had I let them get in my way, but I couldn't avoid them now. I didn't let it come across in my voice, but my eyes began to water as I told how Jim and so many others had died.

"That is an amazing story," Raul said as I finished telling him how we made it to the hospital. "I met you there, at the hospital. You came across harshly at first, but I can't blame you after all you've been through today. I would never be able to hold myself together like that."

"We can't have let them die in vain R.C." I said as a chill came over. I was beginning to feel a sense of purpose, beginning to believe what Raul had said about giving people a reason to fight. "Those bastards came looking for us and they killed an injured man along with his doctor in cold blood."

"Staff Sgt Michael McDonnell and Doctor Thomas Richards," Raul said, I hadn't even known McDonnell's first name. "They died today as heroes."

"And Jim, he gave his life to save us. We would have all been dead if not for his sacrifice."

"Yes, he's with his son now." Raul said, "Tell me, where do we go from here?"

"Know this, no man will fall in vein while attempting to restore our lives, at the same time no loss of life should ever be considered small. So many of us will die, so that our brothers and sisters may live. We must willingly face our end in order to give our nation a new beginning. Without a doubt, we must take back our country," I said "and after that, the homes of our allies as well. We all fall together and together we will all rise again. Today the Chinese government and those of their allies decided that we were not fit to lead anymore, not even fit to run our own lives. They sent in their armies to break our spirit, to punish us all for our ignorance. Not just us, but all free people. If we do not stand now, this authoritarian army of tyrants will wash over the entire world, killing and suppressing any who stand in their way. They intend to hunt me like a dog for the insults I have made against them."

"Are you afraid for yourself, General?"

"I am," I replied "I am afraid for all of us. We can not let fear dictate our lives, we must strive to control our own circumstance. If we give in to fear, we will be lost within months. If we stand aside, we will never again have a chance to take our country back. We must embrace this fear and use it, because it is only this fear that can remind us what is at stake."

"How should we fight back?"

"We face an army of an unprecedented size, no one knows exactly how large it actually is. However, they do not know these lands, they do not know our cities. They can not imagine how fiercely we will fight them to wrest control out of their hands. So let them hunt me, let them send their troops to find me. It is a fool's move to waste massive amounts of resources to find one man.

While they aimlessly attempt to track me down, we will be building ourselves up. We will organize to fight back. They have only been able to take major coastal cities, everything between the Cascades and the Appalachian mountains remains free. Within days our military will be mobile again. Our enemy is coming from across the seas, we are only witnessing the first of their massive armies, but it will take them time to move their Armada toward us. We must not simply bide our time, waiting for death to come"

"Should we fight them at every turn?"

"No, no, we do not need people dieing for no reason. We need to use our cities and forests to our advantage. We can fight as guerillas, it is our time to use the urban warfare tactics we have learned over the last few decades. We can mount an urban counteroffensive the likes, they could never have imagined. We will not fight in the streets, we will use our heads. Our intelligence and resourcefulness are our most valuable weapons. There is no shame in retreating. Attack while the enemy is unsuspecting and move. Do not stay in any place longer than necessary, do not fight in the same spot twice. Always, always keep moving. Do not give your enemy time to breathe."

"So we are now the insurgents?"

"You could say that," I replied. "All of our lives are now intertwined. We can not let our enemy break our spirits. Even if I were to fall, let my death steel your hearts and cement your will. We are all the leaders of this new militia, they can not destroy us by simply killing one man. Let us strike fear into their souls. We will give them a fight so fierce that they will abandon their plans to conquer this land. Let our righteousness make this land untenable for them."

"We are running out of time here," Raul said. "It is unsafe for us to linger much longer, we will all become targets soon. Anything else you'd like to tell the people General?"

"Though the night may seem too dark to bear, remember that the dawn will always break. We are at a crucial point in the history of mankind, where all free people must fight to maintain their independence, we can not simply lay down and die. Embrace your brothers and move forward, in order to survive we must all resolve to stand as one. We are all the Resistance."

Chapter 6

As i sat in the office collecting myself, I heard the tell-tale sound of rain drops. Only a sprinkling at first, within moments a torrential downpour all but drowned out the sounds coming from the kitchen and the bar beyond. It was fitting that a storm would hit now. No matter how self important man becomes, God is always there to reenforce our insignificance.

Nature did not care for our war. She probably didn't even notice it. We were just another group of violent animals, foolishly striving against our own inability to recognize how tiny our place in the universe really was. Were we all to die off, the Earth would continue on. In time healing the scars we had inflicted upon her. After all, we were just men. Temporarily asserting our dominance over forces we could never hope to control. Foolishly fighting the inevitable.

What if, in this new war, America had become those foolish people? Were we just ignorantly struggling against a force we could not hope to contain?

At times we all harbor doubts. I was and still am, no different. The pain of uncertainty was tearing through me, bordering on panic. Could I protect Liz and even Jesse? Could we get away from here before the head hunters found us? Am I strong enough to be the symbol that these people so desperately need? Who the hell is stupid enough to mark themselves as a target for an incomprehensibly large, blood thirsty army? How long would I last until they caught me and executed in front of the entire world as a punishment for my insolence?

I could not let a moment of weakness cripple me. I knew that now, not only Jesse and Liz, but the rest of the country as well would counting on me to stay alive. The longer I lasted, the more of distraction I would become for the PLA. They would arrogantly send their best soldiers after me, allowing those with the courage to fight invaluable opportunities to strike.

I knew I could handle myself, perhaps Liz could hold her own as well. Jesse was just a sixteen year old kid who had been thrust into the middle of this. I never should have let him come with us. How could I have just left him alone though? He would need to learn to fight, to use a gun. He was brave enough, but gallantry does not stop bullets.

A little while after we started dating Liz and I had taken a trip to New York. Her parents lived in Manhattan, and she insisted they meet me. She was so sure about me, even then. I had never been to New York, so of course I needed to see all of the tourist traps. Our love was still young and our bodies infinitely hormonal. We couldn't keep our hands off of each other. As we walked back to our hotel from Times Square we ducked onto a side street to steal a few kisses. Of course, one can ever just have a quick kiss at that stage in a relationship. We were oblivious to the rest of the world, only she and I existed during those moments.

Unfortunately, we did exist in other people's worlds. We looked an easy target to a thug, two young lovers ravaging each other under the faint glow of the street lights. Who could blame him? I saw him out of the corner of my eye. A few seconds earlier and we could have probably walked off unmolested.

Liz knew something was wrong as I sized him up without turning. Perhaps she had a better view of him, but that did not matter. He was much larger than me, 3 inches and probably 60 pounds.

In the Marine Corps I had learned to trust my instinct, to react without hesitation. As he reached his hand for what could only have been a weapon. I struck him hard in the right shoulder where the deltoids meets the peck muscle. He would be unable to move his right arm for a few moments. As he reeled I slammed my right hand into his solar plexus, causing him to double over. As he bent forward, I slammed my fist like a hammer between his shoulder blades taking him face first into the pavement.

Liz had let out a deafening shriek when she saw him move for his weapon. Luckily a police officer had been down the street so I didn't have to worry about wrestling a gun away if he tried to get up. The officer called for someone to pick him up and took our statement. We were fine, but Liz was shaken up pretty badly. She cried herself to sleep that night because that crook had made her feel so god damned helpless.

When we got home we decided to take a Krav Maga class together. I had wanted to learn it after becoming certified to instruct MCMAP, the marine corps martial arts program. Unfortunately I had never found the time. My dad used to say I was born with a pair of boxing gloves on, probably because he had put me in a pair before I was even big enough to pick them up. The boxing led to various other martial arts when I was younger. He had wanted me to learn some discipline so I wouldn't become a bully. By the time I graduated highschool, I had mastered Wushu, Wing Chun, Tae Kwon Do, and Muay Thai. Dad had always wanted me to compete, he said he wanted to see me become an Olympian, but I had other plans in mind. In my mind the United States Marines were the ultimate warriors. I believed that history would someday look back upon them as it does the Samurai, Spartans or the Viking invaders.

Even though I was definitely no beginner, I made sure that Liz and I both advanced at the same rate. This was for her sake after all. She learned Krav Maga exceedingly well. The attempted mugging had lit a fire within her, she refused to be helpless. Never again would she let herself stare helplessly at someone who intended to harm her. Our instructor used the traditional military patch system. Liz had become an expert within two years. The owner of the dojo even asked her to help with self defense classes for women, something she had been more than happy to do. Through her training to become a social worker she offered battered women a way to regain confidence and learn to defend themselves.

Combined with the fact that she had learned to shoot guns with her father and uncles when she was young, Liz was more than capable of defending herself. I would not want to be the unsuspecting soldier who mistook her for some poor, vulnerable woman.

I had no idea if Jesse even knew how to throw a punch. I knew he couldn't handle a fire arm, that's for damn sure. He wasn't bad with a grenade, but those are only good in very specific situations.

I soon realized that I had been back here far too long, I was still very hungry. The battery on the phone was getting low so I plugged it in to the power-strip on Ralphie's desk. I would have to go get it before we left.

I had to come to terms with the fact that I really did not have a plan, and there was no realistic way to plan this situation anyways. I walked back through the kitchen, noticing the clock, I had been in the office for nearly an hour.

Liz was talking to Ralphie about his family and Jesse was having a very intense conversation with Ralphie's daughter who had taken our order earlier. He was a handsome kid, lean and athletic with a dark complexion. She looked at me in the most peculiar way as I went to sit back down.

"umm Hi," i said uncomfortably.

"Jesse said you got shot earlier." She said in a sheepish voice, "You don't look like someone shot you."

"Well, it just grazed me," I said laughing as I understood why the girl had been staring at me. "it's not nearly as bad as it sounds."

"Oh, that's good," she said, "My name's Laura. Are you guys gonna stay here for a few days?"

"No, we need to get moving pretty quickly" I responded.

"oh..." She said dejectedly. I couldn't help but notice her hand was resting on Jesse's knee. They seemed to like each other. "When will you guys be back?"

"I'm not sure honestly," I didn't want to break this kid's heart, but we would be lucky to live, let alone make it back. "It's not safe for us right now, so we'll have to keep moving until it is."

I decided to hang around for just a little longer, Jesse deserved it after all he had been through today. Liz was curious about what I had been talking to Raul about, but I wasn't comfortable discussing it out in the open. I would have to tell her later, once we left.

"You know what? Why don't you take this with you son," Ralphie said as we prepared to get back on the road, "I think this bottle of Jack will do you more good than it will me."

"Thanks Ralphie," I said taking the nearly full bottle, "Be safe, there's no telling when those bastards will come this way."

"I'll just have the cook poison them." He said laughing.

As we pulled out of the parking lot, the first strands of sunlight were beginning to creep over the horizon. Dawn was pushing it's way out of the depths of night, bringing with it a new day. One just as unpredictable as the last.

We stopped at a gas station down the street to top off the tank, who knows how long we'd be driving.

"Ok, set that GPS for the Mount St Helens observatory, but use the alternate route," I said to Liz as we were on the outskirts of the small town. "We want to go around the east side of the mountain, there will be less of a chance of being followed."

"Ok hun," she replied, "I cant figure this one out, it's so much different than ours."

"Here let me see" Jesse said groggily from the back seat, I thought he had fallen asleep. "I can do it."

She handed the GPS back to him to be set.

"You have to type it in, it's not voice activated," He said "How alternate do you want? I can do hiking trails with it."

"I Don't think the car would hike too well," I laughed "but that's good to know in case we do need to hoof it."

The day seemed to be going by at a snail's pace. No one else was around, I hadn't seen a car for hours. Around nine, Liz insisted we switch so I could get a little sleep. Jesse was shocked she could drive a stick. I don't think he knew too many women at that point.

It wasn't easy to sleep in the car for any of us. Jesse was having nightmares, occasionally calling his mother's name or whimpering in his sleep. He was repressing his emotions, but he'd have to deal with them soon enough or they would tear him apart.

The country roads were really beautiful this time of year. All of the plants were blooming and the animals scurrying around, unafraid of the cars flying by. Well car, since we were the only ones around for miles.

I wish I knew where all of the people had went, it would make our trip so much easier. Which routes were safe and which would take us right into our enemies hands?

Around 2 pm Liz was starting to drift off, so I took over driving again. We were probably half way to the observatory at this point. We had encountered maybe two cars the entire time. The first pulled off the road as soon as they sighted us, the other flew by.

Jesse hadn't really seen all of the supplies we rounded up so he was going through the bags as it was getting close to dusk. He was so bored he was putting anything with a battery or food into waterproof bags.

"Hey, where'd you get this ninja sword?" He asked me

"That's a machete," I replied "It's called a Kukri."

"No, it's called a bad ass ninja sword," He said laughing and making karate sounds.

"You're gonna hurt yourself, put that away" Liz said, cracking up.

"You killed my brother, prepare to die!" He said mouthing randomly as if he were in a poorly dubbed movie.

"You're gonna make me crash if you don't stop making me laugh so hard" I said almost in tears.

"Holy shit, look there's someone else out here," Jesse said pointing behind us at a car looming closer and closer.

"How the hell did they manage to catch up to us?" Liz said sounding worried, "I haven't seen a cross road for at least an hour."

"Oh shit, Connor they're coming up fast," Jesse yelled," Something's wrong, why are they coming up so quickly?"

As I looked back in the rear-view mirror, squinting to see the vehicle better, I realized it was a green jeep. It looked a lot like a military vehicle.

"Mother fucker," I said. "Look, when we take this curve ahead try to see what symbol is on the side of the jeep. If it's not a big star we're in for some serious shit."

The curve was about a half mile ahead, we'd have to slow down to around 45 mph to make it safely. Well that's what the sign said anyways, this was a rally car after all. As I whipped around the curve at 55 I could see Jesse craning his neck to see.

"FUCK! GO GO GO!" he yelled, "they've got a fucking machine gun on that bitch!."

We were in luck, the roads curved every few hundred yards and jeeps are top heavy. We had a huge advantage in making head way.

"Hold on," I said as I slammed the gas pedal hard. "I'll try to shake them."

55 mph.

I accelerated, anticipating the next turn. 35 mph, I took it at 60. The tires screamed as we slung around. The jeep couldn't keep up, it would flip if they tried.

68 mph

"Someone's climbing on top!" Jesse yelled.

"Connor they're going to try and shoot us!" Liz screamed.

77 mph

The next curve was 50, I didn't slow down at all.

the soldier was trying to draw a line on us, but we were taking the corners too fast for them keep up. If the road opened up, he would have a chance. We were coming up on a 25 mph curve. I hit it at 50 and felt the rear end starting to slide. This car was damn good, but I was pushing it. We were going to wind up in a ditch if I wasn't more careful.

The GPS was showing the road would open up in just over 3 miles. A few more curves then completely open for at least half an hour.

"I'm going to put some distance between us." I said. "Jesse I need your help."

"What?" he said shocked.

"Get a belt of grenades and climb into the hatch part."

"Wh-why?" he said terrified.

"Trust me," I told him. "we've got maybe 2 minutes before this road is wide open. I'm going to slow way down around the last curve. They won't expect us to be there. You'll need to open the hatch just enough to throw them. When I tell you, yank a few pins and toss them."

"But won't that hit us?"

"No, as soon as you let go I'm gonna to floor it." I said, unsure if I was right or not. "just close the hatch and get down."

"Ok, don't get me killed man." he said climbing into the back.

"Are you sure this is going to work?" Liz asked.

"I haven't been wrong yet, just trust me." I may have been wrong though, I had no clue if this was going to work, but I knew we only had one shot.

50 mph around the next to last curve, they had started firing but were too far behind to do any good.

"Almost there Jesse" I said as I started slowing down around the last turn. God, I hope this works... "Open it, get ready"

23 mph.

I heard their breaks screech as they realized they might hit us. They were caught totally off guard. The soldier on top started firing, but his gun was pointed to the side. He was panicking.

"Do it!!!!", I roared.

"oh fuck, oh fuck" Jesse screamed, as he tossed the grenades.

I slammed hard on the accelerator.

43 mph.

Shifting frantically as we came out into the open. I saw an explosion in the rear view, it was huge. the flash almost blinded me.

64 mph.

"Hell yeah!" Jesse yelled, "Choke on that bitches!"

"How many did you throw?" I asked in amazement.

"I don't know," he said "The entire strip?"

"That's like 20 grenades, Jesus." I said laughing.

"They landed right on their fucking hood!" He yelled "I think I saw the guy on top go flying off."

79 mph

"Why are you going so fast honey?" Liz asked.

"We've got to make room in case there are more behind them."

84 mph

The engine was roaring, this car was built for performance.

"Wow, this is the fastest I've ever seen a car go!" Jesse exclaimed.

"The governor will probably kick in around 120 or 130" I said.

"The who?"

"Governor, it turns off the engine at a certain speed. I doubt this car's was disabled." I replied.

99 mph

The engine was purring, it could probably run a hundred miles per hour all day. I needed to buy one of these cars someday.

115 mph

It was time to hold, no sense in tripping the governor.

"How far are we from the observatory?" I asked, I had only been there once.

"Just about an hour or so." Liz said, "Maybe five minutes if you don't slow down."

"Ok good," I replied, "we've got a few miles to go until the roads not straight anymore. Let's take advantage of it."

"Ok just watch the temperature," she said pointing to the dash, "It looks like it's getting a little higher."

113 mph

It was time to start slowing down. I could still see smoke billowing from miles behind us. The road was probably destroyed and so was everything within 20 yards of where the grenades landed. They must have had explosives in the truck as well.

"Jesse, how many grenades are left?"

"Ummm, hold on" He said as he rummaged through the gear "Looks like three belts full."

"Ok, good."

75 mph.

We were coming up to the first turn, a sign showed the observatory at just over 30 miles. Good, we were close. Hopefully the park rangers were still there. We might be able to spend the night safely.

56 mph and holding.

Chapter 7

The stars were just starting to peak out into the night as we reached the observatory. Mt St Helens loomed ominously in the background. Intimidating, like a volatile volcano should be. She was unpredictable and her rage was great. We had been waiting for the next big one since she started smoking in 2004, but it hadn't happened yet.

The forest surrounding her was as majestic as the mountain itself, with national parks covered nearly half of the state's land. Some of the tallest mountains in the country were here as well. Most of the parks consisted of over 90% wilderness. It would be the perfect escape route if we ever needed to utilize it.

The windows hinted that the lights inside were on, but no signs of life were about. Perhaps all of the vehicles were in the ranger's garage around the back. We parked near the front door, surely someone would have seen us pulling up and come out.

"I don't think anyone is here," Liz said. "Now what are we going to do?"

"We don't know that for sure yet babe." I replied getting out of the car. My side arm was always on my hip and the machine gun on my shoulder. It would be many years before I let a firearm be out of arms length from me.

"Hello?" Jesse yelled into the door as he fought with it, trying to pull it open. "Helloooo? anyone there?"

"It's no good Jesse," I said, no one is here. "Let's try to find a small window we can get through."

We walked around the side of the building looking for about twenty minutes until we found a suitable way in. I shattered the glass with the butt of my rifle.

"Ok, which one of you wants to climb in?" I asked, looking at the two of them who were each about half my size.

"I can, "Liz said "In case someone's inside, it's safer that way."

"Ha, what are you going to do to 'em?" Jesse said looking at her scrupulously.

"You'd be surprised little buddy," she said as she hoisted herself in without so much as asking for a lift.

"Come on, let's go around front." I said as we walked back up front. She wasn't there when we arrived. I was starting to get worried. Just as I was ready to shatter the glass on the front doors she came walking up.

It took a few minutes, but she finally got the doors open.

"What took so long?" I asked. "I was about to break the doors open."

"Oh," she said laughing at me, "That room was locked from the outside, I had to kick the door open."

"Wow, she is a bad ass" Jesse whispered to me as we walked in.

"I'm going to see if I can find a way to get the car into the garage out here, you guys find a good room to set up camp in."

I walked through the building until I found the backdoor to the garage. It was a government building so it was nothing fancy. Just a latch on the inside. I pulled the door up and brought in the car before heading back to Jesse and Liz.

They had found a small dorm area, the guides must have lived here part of the year. It was better than anything we could have asked for.

"Alright, bed time!" Jesse exclaimed, flopping onto a bed.

"Not quite yet, bud." I said.

"huh?"

"Well we can't all just go to sleep," I replied "What happens when you wake up with a PLA soldier pointing a gun at your head? We've got to set up watches."

"Oh..."

"C'mere, I found the security room when I was looking for the garage." I said walking out of the room. Liz and Jesse followed halfheartedly, they just wanted to sleep.

"I present to you, the mother load," I said making a sweeping gesture at the high tech control room. There were security cameras, seismic monitors, maps of the entire park and other instruments which I had no clue as to what they did.

"Holy crap," Liz said laughing, "Which one fires the photon torpedoes?"

"What, we have torpedoes?" Jesse exclaimed.

"Ummm no, torpedoes are under water," I joked "That was a star trek reference."

"A what?"

"Best show ever, that's what" Liz said.

"Damn skippy," I said, amazed we could even make jokes at this point. "Four hour watches guys. Ill take first. If you see or even think you see anything moving come get us. Everything needs to be stashed under the beds and we get under them or we move, depending on the situation."

"What do you mean move?" Liz asked.

"We head for the woods and hope we don't get killed. You guys go get some sleep." I said, sitting down in the chair.

"Do you want me to make you some coffee baby?" Liz asked after Jesse left.

"yeah babe, that would be nice." I said.

"Alright, I'll be right back, are you hungry?" she asked.

"Yeah, I am."

"Ok, I'll see if I can find some real food while I make the coffee." She said as she walked off.

I was impressed with the control room. As it got too dark to see, the cameras switched into night-vision. Not many military bases were set up this well. Every square inch of the facility was covered as well as trails all the way to the crater of St Helens.

About 20 minutes later Liz came back. She had brought an entire thermos for me.

"Thanks hun," I said "Is Jesse sleeping?"

"Yeah he's out." She said pouring me a cup. "I brought some milk and sugar for you. They have a full fridge, I got you a hot pocket."

"Thanks baby," I replied. "Make sure to take this radio back when you leave ok?" I said handing her a walkie talkie.

"You think you have enough energy for.." Liz said coyly, biting her lip.

"For what babe?" I replied, but I knew what she meant.

"For me..." She said

"I've always got energy for you sexy." I said closing the door.

I grabbed Liz's waste, pulling her toward me. Kissing her passionately. Her hands gripping my shoulders as I pulled her body against mine. I brushed my hand through her chin length hair, her hands moving down my back.

Later after she had left to get some sleep I sat watching the monitors. I had never been to this observatory, it had only been open for a few years. After St Helens had started trembling again in 2004, the original observatory at Johnston Ridge was deemed unsafe. It reopened, but the state had decided to break ground on a new one on the northeast side of the mountain this time. The view of the crater wasn't quite as good, but it had access to walking trails in either direction and a huge second floor observation deck with a retractable roof.

When we had come in we took the service door in the lobby to get to the employee only section, which itself was massive. It was set up so that scientists and park rangers could live here for months at a time.

The administrative quarters were pretty plain, long drearily lit halls with green and white walls for what seemed like miles. There was probably more space in the quarters than the actual observatory area. This was as much as research facility as a tourist destination.

In the last decade or so air traffic had been crippled by volcanic ash spewing through the air, so the government had stepped up the funding for research of our country's most active volcano in the lower 48. For a long time volcano watchers had been sure St Helens would blow her top again, but she hadn't yet. For years it had emitted plumes here and there and rumbled a bit. The cone had even started rebuilding, in a century it might look like a normal mountain once more.

The only major difference between the observatory's admin area and a drab office building was the skylights. They were huge and all over. Every 15 yards down the main halls and half of the roof in small rooms. It allowed not only for natural light but also a beautiful view of the uninterrupted night sky. It was one of the few places in the northwest where the stars came out night after night.

Sitting there was a calming almost spiritual feeling. I was unafraid of what was to come and able to withdraw myself from what had taken place in the last two days. Even after a few hours the coffee was still hot, it was strong but a little stale. I still liked it, it had that flavor you only get from industrial brewers like at the convenience store. Bold and a slightly woody flavor because it was brewed so hot.

I had decided to take the first two shifts, letting them sleep a little longer. They would probably be irritated about it, but fire watches came natural to me given my military experience. In fact we could probably stay here all day and leave tomorrow night. That would give us a chance to take a much needed shower and to figure out what to do next.

I didn't think it was a coincidence that the PLA had found us on that abandoned stretch of road. I knew, even then, that the chase had already begun. This hunt was primal and cruel, tracking other men down for no other reason than to kill them. There was nothing of material value to be gained, only to break the spirits of others who would, one day, themselves be hunted down and killed. This was a vicious game of chess upon which we had embarked.

Around 2:30 in the morning I thought I caught something on the cameras, it was too quick to be sure though. Perhaps I was just a little sleep deprived, After all, i had only had 4 hours of sleep in the last two days. I had been running solely on adrenaline since the attacks began.

During the last few hours I had been messing with various pieces of equipment out of boredom, so I had pretty much figured the camera system out. I pulled up the monitor I thought I had seen the movement on and started to rewind the tape, just to be safe.

I hadn't been imagining things, there was a brief flash of light in front of the building only moments before. It was too dark to be certain what was actually out there, but it could have been anything. Even with the night-vision on I couldn't find anything. Warning the others was a dangerous task in itself. There was no cell service here so I couldn't call them and if I left the room who knows what would happen next? If I tried to reach them on the radio, anyone on the same frequency might hear us. I had no idea if these park services walkie talkies were using an encrypted frequency.

I watched for a few more moments, looking for any sign of activity. Nothing was there, but I wanted to check it out myself. I put the dorms on the main screen to see if Liz had the walkie near her. Smart girl, she had it on the pillow.

"Liz... Liz... Wake up.." I said softly into the radio. "Hey, wake up.."

"Hungh, wha?" she mumbled back at me.

"I need you to get in here as quickly and quietly as possible," I said. "Don't turn on any lights, ok?"

"Unngh ok" She said grumpily "I'm coming"

It only took her a few moments to find her way to the security office, but I could see her trying the wrong doors a few times.

"What's going on?" she asked as she walked in, "Is everything ok?"

"I'm not sure," I replied " I saw a flash of movement a few minutes ago, just outside but I can't make out what it is. I'm going to climb up to the observatory to get a better view. If you see or even think you saw something, tell me where, ok?"

"Yeah," She said "but how are you going to know where it is if I'm in here?"

"Oh, yeah" I said seeing her point. "Ok see the screens? they're marked with different areas. The way we came from was west, the mountain is south."

"Oh i get it." she said "ok go see what's happening"

I gave her a quick kiss on the cheek as i left the room. I remembered seeing an access ladder to the roof when I had come back through from the garage. It was a lot harder to find at night, but the skylights made seeing much easier.

This place was huge, it took me almost 5 minutes to get to the access ladder. I had taken the keys from the security room just in case, but the panel was unlocked. The observation deck was massive, nearly the size of the entire building with statues of wooly mammoths, Native Americans, and other life that used to inhabit the area strewn about. There was also a huge glass panel with a transparent forest painted on it, illustrating what the area looked like before St Helens blew in the 1980s.

I would definitely have to come back up here when it was light outside so I could appreciate the view, but for now I was busy looking for a ghost. I had seen the light on the south side of the building near the road. I did my best to make my way across quietly in case anyone was out there.

As I peered over the edge, I spotted the one thing I was most afraid to see. It was a PLA convoy sitting near the road, they were searching the perimeter of the building. Their camouflage concealed them from the cameras. Surely they would be listening, waiting to see if we tried to contact each other. So I sat there in silence, for what seemed like an eternity. Hidden behind a pillar, watching my enemies scour, looking for me.

I moved toward a security camera hoping Liz would see me. It was far enough inside to where no one from the ground would be able to tell I was there. I made a silence motion holding my finger over my mouth trying to let her know not to contact me. After a few moments the camera bobbed up and down, she must have understood.

I made my way back to my vantage point, it was well over an hour before I saw about a dozen PLA members heading back to their vehicles, they must have been satisfied no one was there. Slowly they got back into their jeeps and started to head off back toward the main interstate. We were safe for now, but they would have to return this way eventually because trying to go too far north was a suicide mission for them. The military would have had guards set up outside of Seattle and any major road as far down as they could.

Once I was satisfied they were completely gone I made my way back down to the security room, where I found Jesse and Liz waiting for me.

"Morning sunshine," I said to Jesse as I walked in.

"That was the Chinese right?" Jesse asked looking nervous.

"Yeah it was," I said "We've got a big problem now. There is only way way to the interstate and that's the way they were headed. So even if they do go that far, they're going to have to turn around at some point and will be likely to head back this way."

"What does that mean for us?" he asked.

"It means they know what the car looks like and we're certain to run into them if we keep driving toward Seattle."

"Shit..."

"So we have a choice now," I replied, wishing I didn't have to place them at this crossroad. "We either risk the open road and be out-manned and outgunned by that convoy or we head through the woods going north, we'll have to hike until we come across a road in safe territory, which could be a hundred or more miles."

"That would take years!" Jesse exclaimed.

"No, not years, but at least a week or more." I said.

Chapter 8

It felt like years since I had last taken a shower. I leaned forward with both hands against the wall letting the water flow over me like a torrential downpour. The wound on my arm was searing with pain, but it desperately needed to be cleaned.

The hot water felt so cleansing, almost as if it were purifying my soul. Washing away the pain, anger, and fear that had been weighing so heavily upon me. I could feel my chest swell, relieved at an opportunity to relax, almost feeling safe. Soon I would lay down and get some rest. Sleep seemed like such a precious treasure to me at that moment. So elusive, yet so persistent it threatened to overcome me at any moment.

I watched as the dirt, blood, and water coalesced at the drain swirling down into some far off sewage pipes. The water did not care who I was or what I had done, it was indifferent to my plight. It cared not for my uncertainty or the guilt that was slowly overwhelming me.

I had not hesitated to kill any of those men. Yet, I knew they were soldiers just as I had once been. That they too had a woman who loved them praying for their safe return. Praying that a monster like me would not strike them down in the midst of their youth, robbing them of ever raising their children or growing old with their wives.

I had taken them from their children, leaving more orphans in this cruel, uncaring world. They would have no one to teach them how to be a good man. To show them that respect is not simply given, that they must become worthy of being respected by their actions.

For now, they would know no better. They would continue thinking that daddy was just out of town, that someday he would return, he had to. Eventually, as they grew older, the spark of anger would begin to smolder and their souls would burn with rage. Wishing that they could take from me what I had so wrongly stolen from them. They would hope that one day my heart would be so completely shattered as theirs had been. That god would bring ruin upon my life as I done to them.

Perhaps they would even be justified in wishing for this. After all, these were men I had killed. They were not some hollow shell filled with hate and rage, even though I so badly wanted to think of them this way.

I did not even know how many lives I had taken so far. Or how many people's deaths, both American and Chinese, I was directly responsible for. I remembered so clearly, that lust for vengeance I had once felt when my friends had been killed in combat. How badly I had wanted to take the lives of those who had struck down my comrades.

I couldn't help but imagine these men's lives, their families, their homes and all that I had taken from them. It was impossible to defend myself from this guilt, even though I knew they would have killed me had I not been faster.

So often in my life I had pushed my pain aside in order to keep moving forward. Suppressing hurt feelings or disappointment. Throwing them to the side as if they were a sign of weakness. I knew the guilt I felt that day would last until my dieing day. I would never be able to escape these ghosts. These specters that I had created would haunt my every dream.

I did my best to compose myself as I toweled off, there was no point in Jesse or Liz seeing this. They were probably still operating in a state of shock. It was likely that was the only thing keeping them going.

I put on some clothes we had found in the RV, they weren't a bad fit. Nothing a belt couldn't fix. I'd have to see if there were any extra hiking boots in the dorm areas. My shoes were no good for a long hike. Maybe a few pairs of extra socks also. I remember being a new recruit and wanting nothing more from a care package than a pack of fresh socks. Hell, in the field you could wear down a pack a week.

The bottle of whiskey slid out of my bag, almost as if it were offering itself to me. Who was I to decline? I took a few swigs, it was hot and tasted like ass, but it would help me get some sleep. We were going to have to head out after I got some rest. I had a feeling it would be a while before I slept in a real bed again.

Jesse was going to take the last shift, apparently he had found the coffee and drank nearly a whole pot while waiting for me to come back down. He wasn't going to be getting any more sleep, that's for sure.

So I climbed onto one of the cots with a rifle leaned against the headboard and tried to get some sleep. These beds weren't great but they were a lot better than the cots we had in the field or basic.

That night I kept dreaming of the Chinese soldier i had questioned. The bullets hitting his head kept replaying over and over. I was sure they were meant for me, they had only missed by inches. I had traded those soldiers lives to let the civilians in the store live. This unknown soldier's sole purpose in the afterlife must have been to torment me.

I didn't sleep well that night. I'm not sure I even slept at all. I laid writhing, stuck between an unending nightmare and being half awake. I dreamed that I was awake and troops were storming the building. I sprung into action only to find myself sitting up in the bed, covered in sweat.

"Why the hell did you let me sleep so long?" When I awoke it was nearly noon and I was angry. I demanded of Liz and Jesse who were cooking in the commons area.

"Oh shush, you hadn't slept in two days" Liz replied.

"We've got to get moving" I said frustrated to the point my face was getting hot.

"It's ok" Jesse replied, "Raul called this morning, he heard about a convoy up this way. He said they were long gone and had taken another road into Olympia, but a smaller one was headed up from the opposite direction. He said they're moving slowly, like they're questioning everyone they see."

"Oh yeah," I replied sarcastically " that makes me feel much better about sleeping all day."

"Babe, just relax. They're tracking them with traffic light cameras or some crap." Liz said forcefully.

"Fine, but we can't stay long"

"Would you just shut up and eat something?" she said laughing at me as she gave me a plate of bacon and shredded hash browns.

"Too bad we can't take the bacon with us," I said, not completely joking. I'll take the fat and sodium content gladly in return for the pure rich greasy joy that is bacon.

"You're going to weigh 600 pounds by forty" she replied.

"So did he say anything else?"

"Well yeah, but I'm not real sure how to explain it," Jesse said "I bookmarked an article on the sat book that basically sums it up."

"Ok ill take a look at it in a minute." I said wearily, I wasn't looking forward to more bad news.

BREAKING NEWS

Portland, Ore. - The Mayor of Portland called a closed press conference today in his private chambers. Only trusted reporters were made aware for safety reasons.

The most pressing matter on the agenda was the fate of the President and Vice President. It is believed that both were killed during the attacks on Washington D.C. Due to the severity of the attacks there is no way of confirming this for sure. It is also believed that most members or the Senate and House of Congress were killed in attacks while they were in session. However, it should be noted that Secretary of State, Susan Thompson, has assumed presidential authority. She has given governors and mayors immediate authority of their national guard and other military forces until an organized counter attack can be planned.

At this time Admiral MacAlary, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, has pushed back against her request, ordering many combat ready battalions to retreat from cities that may be on the verge of loss in order to mass forces. He is asking them to move to the closest bases on the other side of the Rockies/Cascades or the Appalachians. It is not yet known which, if any, have taken this order in lieu of the acting President's orders.

At this time Secretary Thompson is still in Europe, but may attempt to return to the United States within days. She has asked that citizens look to their local government and military until such time as an interim government can be set up.

In related news, newly formed militias are popping up all over the country. When asked who they are taking orders from, almost all said they are awaiting orders from an individual known only as the General. This mysterious figure's interview was posted only days ago and has already amassed nearly 300 million hits from around the web. No one is sure who he is, all that is really known is that he led a group of civilians to safety from an attack on what is now believed to be where the PLA was planning to set up it's central command base for the west coast. As a result of these heroic actions, the city of Portland has been able to largely expel Chinese forces from downtown. They are confined to the airport and shores of the Columbia River.

Satellite imagery also shows unprecedented activity in nearly all of China's ports. Early analysis points to the possibility they are readying a massive armada. If these reports are correct than we can only conclude that this week's massive attacks were only the first phase in a much larger offensive.

-This article will remain unsigned in order to prevent harm to any of the journalists present.

"C'mon, let's get moving" i said not wanting to worry them any more.

"Hun...?" Liz said, knowing what i had read. She didn't need to ask. She knew that we were moving full speed toward survival mode.

The PLA had been beaten back, they wouldn't take that kindly. They would look for those responsible. As far as they were concerned, the others were just witnesses to our massacre. They would be marching an army toward us in no time.

"I said come on! We need to get the fucking hell out of here!" I barked.

Chapter 9

We began to make our descent into the forest on the north side of the observatory. It was a rough climb down into the woods, but not nearly as bad as the other side would have been headed toward the devastation left from Helen's anger.

At first it was sparse greenery like any roadside but within a few hundred yards the trees began to truly soar. After a few miles we had to find makeshift trails to inch along under trees over a hundred feet tall.

Behemoths of nature, towering over us. The sound of animals in the distance, birds chirping small game scurrying. Everything but the sound of enemies behind us.

It would take a few days, but we would be able to find a creek and follow it north to a river if the GPS was correct.

We probably made five miles the first day, tripping over roots and scratching our faces on bushes. It was draining for Liz and Jesse, irritating for me. Luckily we had plenty of allergy medication in Liz's purse. My seasonal allergies were bad enough to incapacitate me without a full bottle or two at hand.

Jesse was irritable, angry even. He didn't want to talk and we both knew why. It was rough for him losing his mother on top of everything else. All he could do was power on. Not talking, not looking at us, not even crying when he needed to so desperately.

How could so much, be so wrong when we were surrounded by the finest of nature's beauty? Ancient trees towered above us, birds sung all day long, small game ran about. Occasionally we might hear a bear or wild cat in the distance. We were completely secluded in an area where few men had ever walked before.

Hopefully we would find a trail or the creek within days. However, it was hard to tell with the terrain. Sometimes taking us an hour or more out of our intended path. Our eventual aim was to hit the Cascade Pass, a trail that had been followed for centuries. Probably the safest way through this rugged region and our passage north.

We tried taking the easiest paths possible. Avoiding big tangles of bushes if we could. Around five in the after noon we took a break to eat and rehydrate.

"Try to drink only what you need to," I said. "I'm not sure what kind of pace we are making, so we don't want to run out of water and find ourselves a day or more away from a stream."

"Oh, crap I forgot we had the GPS" Jesse said and began going through his pack.

"Are these too heavy for you guys? I can take a little more if they are, just let me know" I told them, referring to the bags of gear we were carrying. They weren't bad altogether, mine was about eighty pounds and theirs were each about half of that.

"Where are we going to sleep?" Liz asked

"Not sure, probably will hike for another few hours or so and try to find a nice safe spot." I replied.

"Here ya go" Jesse said as he tossed me the GPS "I set it to "off the trail" mode."

"Thanks" I said taking the GPS. It was pretty easy to read, a full color screen about 4 inches across. The map looked more like a satellite shot than a paper guide. It was probably expensive.

"I've never been camping before" Jesse said, staring off into space.

"Well you probably won't want to do it ever again by the time we're through" I said.

"It's ok sweetie," Liz said, she was very motherly. "We'll teach you how to rough it."

"Your first lesson is, hand on your gun at all times." I said without looking up. "Never set the gun completely down, and especially don't let the barrel hit the dirt."

"Why?"

"Well because if a Chinese solider sneaks up behind you, he'll take you out before you can clean the burrito off your hands and get to the gun."

"Well then how do you eat?"

"With one hand preferably." I replied, remembering how hard it was back in basic to eat with my off hand. "It takes some getting used to, but you'll be glad soon enough."

"I'm sure. We can't seem to catch a break." Jesse laughed.

"Nope, but that's probably because we gave them a damn good reason to chase us, eh?"

"So, what's the plan el capitan?" Jesse asked.

"Looks like there's a creek about 13 miles north, the terrain is pretty rough closer to it. We should be able to follow it up most of our way through this park and into the next. Eventually we'll find the river it came from."

"How many miles have we walked today?"

"Four, maybe five." I said. "We'll head due north for another two hours or so, then find a spot to camp. It will give us enough time to set up before it's too dark."

"Alright, let's do this." Liz said as she stood up.

The hike was anything but easy. Our way would be almost completely blocked by undergrowth at times. We would spend fifteen to twenty minutes just hacking our way through a few feet at a time. It took longer than expected to find a decent place to set up camp. It was eight pm before we could start clearing a place to lay down our supplies.

"Want me to get wood for a fire?" Jesse asked as I was stringing the tarp up in the middle of three trees.

"Yeah, sure. Just don't go wild and don't cut anything." I replied

"Why?" he asked

"Well if someone does decide to come looking for us, they might be able to tell that we were here and how long ago if you cut branches down. So pick em up off the ground and we'll make a very small fire. We don't want a lot of smoke."

"Wont they be able to tell we were here if we set a fire then?"

"I'll show you how to cover it up in the morning. It'll be as if we were never here. Even if someone was on our trail this whole way it'll be nearly impossible to catch up."

"Ok cool" he said and walked off to gather some wood.

"Hun, what about the crap we were cutting through earlier?" Liz asked.

"No one is going to follow us through that, that's why we got into it before we started cutting. If they saw it passing by, they'd never know we went straight through."

"Oh so that's why you didn't want to bother going around that. I hope Jesse doesn't get reactions to poison ivy or anything like that." She said almost as an afterthought.

"Hmm, I didn't even think to ask, but we should be able to take care of it if it isn't too bad. Id be more worried about burning it than touching it, to be honest."

By the time Jesse got back I had already dug a small hole to make the fire in. He almost tripped on it because his arms were so full of twigs.

"Whoa, what the..." He exclaimed

"It's for the fire."

"Is that why they say fire in the hole?" he laughed.

"That's just corny," Liz joked.

"Have you ever had a reaction to poison ivy or oak?" I asked

"Nope, don't think so. I remember my cousin got it when we were little, he looked like sloth from the Goonies for a week."

"Super Sloth or Pirate Sloth?" I asked, cracking up with laughter.

"Ummm, basement sloth I think"

"Now I want a Baby Ruth," Liz said pretending she was sad. "You know they filmed most of that in Astoria?"

"I've never been there" Jesse said.

"Oh, it's so beautiful, maybe we'll take you there when all this is over."

"You guys aren't just gonna take off on me when we get to Seattle are you?" He said, looking unsure.

"Of course not bud." I told him, "We need to stick together, you're stuck with us for the duration."

"I don't have anyone left..." he said starting to sob.

"Oh, honey" Liz said going over to hug him. "Things are going to be ok"

"My mom's dead and no one is even going to bury her."

"Don't say that, she'll be taken care of." Liz reassured him "She'd be so proud of you, you're a hero. You helped save so many people."

"They're gonna kill me too aren't they?" He bawled.

"No, I'm not going to let that happen." I told him, "It may be hard to believe right now, but I promise you we'll make it safely."

"Besides, they can't even catch you with all that little jumpy stuff you were doing." Liz said

"It- it's parkour."

"What's that?"

"It's french I think, it's like street acrobats. I think it means the art of movement."

"Well, I thought it was pretty cool." She said, glad he was starting to feel a little better. "You should teach us sometime."

"They have clubs, i joined one when I was twelve." He said "They used to use it in the french military."

"You know, that might come in handy. Maybe when we get settled you could start teaching people. They'd have a better chance to escape from soldiers that way." I said as I put the fire together.

"This is kind of fun," Jesse said a few hours later as we were sitting around the fire relaxing. "Besides all the bugs and blisters and stuff."

"Nah, that's the best part, you can spice up dinner with those." I said.

"That's disgusting." Liz said elbowing me.

"What do you think we're eating tomorrow?"

"No, that's what you're eating, not me."

"Whatever, I'll go kill Bambi or something." I said

"That's mean" Liz said looking disgusted.

"You don't complain when we eat steak."

"Aww, cows are cute"

"And delicious."

"I want some ribs" Jesse said.

"Hey there aren't bears out here are there?" Liz asked

"Probably," I said "But, we do have assault rifles. I think we'll be fine."

"Is bear meat good?" Jesse asked

"I have no idea. I'm secure enough in my masculinity that I don't need to kill large animals to make myself feel better."

"Ha, you could probably beat up a bear." Jesse said laughing.

"I'd kick it in the crotch and run like hell." I replied.

"OH! we could train it to do circus tricks and wear a cute little vest!" Liz exclaimed.

"Yeah, that would be easy." I said sarcastically.

"You ruin all my dreams." She said pouting. "I'm going to bed you big meanie!" she said in a squeaky voice.

"Night hun, I'll take first watch." I said, pulling out the night vision goggles we had taken from the observatory.

It wasn't too cold that first night, though it did sprinkle a bit. Not enough to put out the fire, but enough to make the drops hitting the tarp sound like a rhythmic lullaby. By the time Jesse took over the watch I was exhausted, but still couldn't sleep. My mind was moving a thousand miles per hour with no sign of slowing down.

I'd never been so unsure of anything in my life. I was at that point where you know what's supposed to happen tomorrow but for some reason you can't even fathom it. Like a wall blocking you from seeing the path ahead.

I knew we had to get north of the Chinese forces no matter what, but I had no idea what we would do once we got there. People were expecting me to lead some kind of an army, but I wasn't sure I wanted that responsibility. I didn't think I could even handle it, honestly. I was no general, I was just some guy who the government invested a lot of money into during my stint with the Marines. I was not the Messiah these people were looking for.

This night was no different than the last. Every time I started to drift away, I was haunted by images of the people I had killed. I would see my self standing over dead bodies, sometimes with their children next to them bleeding out, like their parents. Begging me not to kill them, but i would. I would stare into their pleading eyes and put a bullet in their head.

I looked down upon a girl, no more than four, laughing as she begged me not to kill her father. I didn't listen. Blood sprayed from his head, her face covered in it. She was crying, hugging onto my leg. Groveling, pleading for me not to kill anyone else. I moved my gun toward her face, maybe a foot away. Her eyes were filled with terror as I pulled the trigger. The round exploded from the chamber, fire spewing like a cannon.

I screamed, jerking myself upright. It was morning, the sun had just begun to rise. Fiery in the sky like the bullet when it had erupted from the gun in my nightmare.

"Connor, what's wrong?" Liz asked startled by my actions.

"Nothing, I.. I was just having a nightmare." I replied, not wanting to go into details.

"You just about gave me a heart attack hun" She said relieved as Jesse came running over with a rifle in his hands.

"Nothing to worry about" I said, not giving him a chance to ask.

"Good, cause I have no clue how to use this thing." He laughed.

"I'll show you how to aim it after we get settled in tonight" I said as I started packing up our camping supplies.

"Breakfast is done" Liz joked as she handed me a power bar. I hated the things, they taste like chocolate covered lard. However, they're so packed full of calories that I would have to be an idiot not to eat them on an excursion like this.

"You know, we just might make it to that stream by nightfall if we push"

"Good, I'm getting pretty ripe" Jesse said waving his hand in front of his face to waft away his body odor.

"Birds are going to start nesting in my hair pretty soon" Liz said.

"Well then we can make omelets, so no bath for you" I joked.

"Hey Connor," Jesse said "I'm not getting a signal on the GPS."

"Shit," what else could go wrong? "Well we were headed due north, we'll just keeping going that way until we hit the stream. Hopefully it'll be back on by then."

After everything was packed, I started to show Jesse how to clear the site and cover our tracks.

"Go grab some debris, sticks, leaves whatever is laying around." I told him as I covered the small pit I had made our fire in.

"What should I do with these?"

"give me some of the leaves and smaller stuff and then just scatter that stuff around, don't make it look like you put it there on purpose" I instructed him. It was usually dry this time of year so there was no need to worry about foot prints.

"It's gonna be hot today," Liz said as we started off. She was right, it was only half past six and the temperature was starting to rise steadily. The heat in the northwest is no where near as bad as other places in the country, like the gulf coast where the humidity is unbearable. It's just a dry heat and there would be lots of bugs drawn by our sweat this deep in the woods.

We were making good time, doing our best to stay on a path that took us due north. As a result we avoided going through any brush because we would likely be taken off course trying to navigate it. It was definitely risky to travel completely in the open but we had little choice in the matter.

Chapter 10

Around noon we stopped to eat. This time we had trail mix and granola. Over all, we had some pretty decent food for the trip. Hopefully it would be enough to last. Eventually we would cross a road, but it might be too risky to stop for supplies.

"Have you noticed we're walking slightly up hill now?" I asked

"Yeah, I've seen a lot more animals too." Liz said referring to the few deer and other small animals we had seen throughout the day.

"That should mean we're getting close to some water." I said

"I can't wait" Liz said as we got up to continue our hike.

We continued on, heading in the same direction for another few hours. Occasionally tripping over rocks or stopping to look at odd plants or moss formations. The trees towered above us, it was like walking through down town new york. Surrounded on all sides by behemoths, insignificant as an ant in the scheme of things.

It's hard to believe, but we were actually enjoying ourselves. I'm not ashamed to admit I was terrified about what was to come, but we really took the time to appreciate the beauty of our surroundings. I think in the back of our minds we might have been worrying if this would even be here in a few years. The prospects were abysmal, what if the world governments decided there was no option but nuclear retaliation? Would we be shrouded in nuclear winter for decades to come? Could this actually be the point where we made our planet uninhabitable, after so many years of greedy businesses and corrupt governments pushing it in this direction?

It wasn't long before we heard the faint rush of water in the distance. Liz wanted to just run and jump in, but I wouldn't let her.

"We need to be cautious, we don't know if there are people or even roads around." I said

"Ok fine" she said, a little upset.

So we picked up our pace a little, being careful not to make any noise. As we got closer we hid the bags by a tree in case we needed to make a break for it. I grabbed the binoculars and we continued toward the creek, it was maybe 50 yards away now.

"When we get to the edge of the trees, you two scan the other bank for any sign of movement." I said. "I'll move into the open and check to see if anyone has been here once we're sure it's clear."

"Aye, aye captain." Liz said saluting me.

So we moved to the treeline, inching along not saying a word. Once there, we found ourselves looking at a stream about 10 yards across, deep enough to swim in. The current was a little too fast to safely use at this point, we'd have to go up stream and find a calm point.

"I don't see anything," I said handing the rifle to Liz "I'm going to go check for debris, cover me."

I moved cautiously out from under the safety of the trees. Listening for any slight noise that would alert me to a foreign presence. As i got close to the water I scoured the rocks nearby for trash or anything else that might indicate people were around.

Nothing, not even a footprint. It was probably safe to assume we were too far out for anyone to be camping or hiking nearby. Once I was satisfied that we were clear, I signaled for Jesse and Liz to come over.

"Ok guys, there's nothing around." I said

"Awesome, let's go swimming!" Jesse said excitedly

"Not quite yet, bud" I told him.

"Why not?"

"Look at the current, it'd slam you into a rock." Liz told him. He looked pretty upset, he was definitely tired and needed to relax a little, he deserved that much.

"It's ok Jes, we're going to grab the gear and go upstream until we find a calm spot." I told him

"Yeah, it's only about 2:30, we've got all day." Liz said reassuring him.

It didn't take long to find a calm spot. The water was clear and cool, deep enough to swim in, but safe enough to not pull you downstream.

"We ought to refill the canteens." I said as we set our bags down by the water. The stream was almost twice as wide here as it had been when we first saw it. "Which bag is that water purifier in?"

"The one with stuff in it." she said

"Oh really?" I asked, "I thought it was the one with the zipper."

"Well why don't you buy a label-maker and we wont have this problem next time, ok?" She retorted.

"You're a label-maker." I said while digging through bags. "We really ought to organize these better later on."

"Oh shut up and take your clothes off." She said getting ready to get into the water.

"Cold, cold, cold!" Jesse yelped as he ran in wearing just a pair of boxers.

"Ok, fine." I said getting up and taking my clothes off.

"Hun," Liz said sheepishly, "I don't have any shorts. I'll have to go in my underwear."

"Well, I'm skinny dipping."

"What about Jesse?"

"He's old enough, he'll be fine. Besides it'd be funny."

"I don't want to be naked in front of him, it's kind of weird."

"So go take your underwear off underwater."

"Ok that's fine" She said, stripping down to her bra and panties. "you go in front of me" she said embarrassed.

"Hun, it's fine." I reassured her, "Besides I'm positive that you are hands down the hottest woman the kid has ever seen in her underwear."

So we got in the creek, Liz walking behind me as if I were a human shield. It took a few minutes to get used to, but it was so nice to be able to wash my face.

"What are you doing?" Jesse asked shocked as I threw my boxers on the shore.

"Trying to get clean," I said laughing as he turned away when Liz threw her bra as well. "Come on, like you've never seen a naked woman before? Well you can't really see anything but still."

"Well, umm, I.." Jesse stammered.

"You haven't have you?" I said, it was obvious by his reaction.

"So?" he said, his face turning bright red.

"We need to get you a girlfriend." I told him, " There's nothing to be embarrassed about. I didn't have a serious girlfriend until i was a senior in high school."

"Tiffany gave me her number." Jesse said, his face returning to it's normal color.

"Who's that?" I asked

"It's Ralphie's daughter," Liz said, "You know the waitress he was talking to?"

"Oh ok," I said. Honestly I didn't remember what she looked like.

"I wish we had some soap." Jesse said.

"Yeah, that would be nice." I said swimming around a bit.

"OW!" Jesse yelped running toward the shore. "A fish bit me!"

"Bite it back." I yelled after him.

"I oughta pop a cap in it!" he said sitting in the shallows.

"You'd probably miss," I said "either that or the bullet would lose velocity and tickle it."

"I wish we had some fishing poles" Liz said. "Fish would be great for dinner."

"We could try and catch some in a little bit," I told her "See how the banks rise a bit up there?"

"Yeah, why?"

"Well we could probably set up camp in a nook tonight and relax for the rest of the day." I said.

"Oh, god that would be nice." She said smiling.

"Hey Jes, can you grab me one of those short sleeve, button up shirts out of the bag?"

"Sure, what do you need it for?"

"I'm gonna try and catch that fish that was picking on you." I said

"You've got to show me how to do this." He said eagerly as he came back with two shirts in his hand.

"Alright, but keep in mind I've never done this before. Tie the sleeves into knots first, make sure they're tight." I said, showing him how to set the shirt up.

"Like this?" he said

"Yeah, that's perfect." I said "Ok so you need to hold it at each end, like you're going to carry something in it."

"I got it"

"No the other way around," I said "Like a bowl almost."

"But how is this going to catch fish?"

"Well you need to stand perfectly still with the shirt under water. When one comes by you need to swoop it forward and around, trapping it in the shirt as you pull it out of the water."

"That doesn't sound like it'll work."

"Well it might not," I told him, "You go upstream about 15 feet and if you miss I can try and catch it on the way down. Maybe we'll get lucky."

"Ok" he said swimming forward. After only a few minutes he saw his first fish. "I've got one coming!"

"Ok, remember don't move until it's right there."

"Fuck, I missed."

Sure enough the fish was almost to me, I missed as well.

"Sneaky little bastards." Liz said laughing at us back on the shore. She had taken a pair of my boxers to wear and was laying down in the sun.

I wasn't so sure my fishing method was going to work. After nearly two hours Jesse was visibly frustrated and ready to give up. I convinced him to give it a few more tries and we'd call it a day.

"Conner!" he said after a few more minutes, "There's a bunch of them, like a school or something."

"Good, you can do it."

"Hell Yea!" he yelled yanking the shirt above water.

"You're losing fish!" I said laughing as two fell out of his makeshift net.

"Crap, crap" He said running to shore.

The fish were headed my way now. I waited patiently, slowly pulling the shirt backward. It was fully opened when I ripped it forward as hard as I could, yanking it and the fish out of the water. The shirt was bulging as I tried to tight it up.

"What do I do with them?" Jesse asked frantically. We had forgot to get a spot ready to put them.

"Just tie it up and set it down by the bags." I said as I tried to tie my own shirt full of fish.

"Nice birthday suit" Liz said as I got out of the water. I had forgotten to put my boxers back on.

"Nice boxers" I said noticing that was the pair she had put on.

"Aww man, put some clothes on." Jesse said throwing me my pants.

"But I don't want him to" Liz said, "I like him better all naked."

"That's gross."

"Wasn't gross when it was her." I said teasing Jesse, his face getting red again.

"Your boobs are pretty big though."

"I like 'em." Liz said grabbing my chest.

"Ok let's head up stream and set up camp so we can cook some fishies."

We found a great spot probably about a quarter mile up stream. The banks were getting step on each side, some places more than twenty feet. The stream had just turned a corner and snaked again about thirty yards ahead of us. It was as secluded as anyone could hope for. We were able to find a nice dry enclave that was about ten feet back, so we could make our fire out in the open. As Liz and Jesse gathered fire wood, I set up the tarp running it from over hanging roots along the bank's wall.

"Well this is cozy," Liz said when they got back.

"Yeah, soon it'll have the ambiance of fish guts."

"Want me to clean some of these fish while you make the fire?" Jesse asked.

"Yeah, go for it" I said tossing him the fish.

"Do you do that a lot hun?" Liz asked Jesse, who was flaying fish like a chef.

"My Grandparents used to have a sushi restaurant. They taught me how to cut the fish when they let me help out one summer."

"Aren't you Mexican?" She asked

"Only half," he said "My mom is Japanese."

"Ok, fire is going." I said walking over to Jesse with a handful of strong sticks. "run these through them and we'll set them across the fire to cook."

"How many did we get?" Liz asked.

"Nine altogether." I replied

"Plus the three of four that got away." Jesse added laughing

"Oh, I checked the GPS while you guys were busy and it's still down." Liz said

"Oh well, at least we found the creek." I said, feeling relieved after finally catching a break.

Dinner was good that night, we only lost one fish in the fire. It was a beautiful night, Liz was cuddled up next to me looking at the stars until we all fell asleep. I woke up around two in the morning wanting to kick myself, because we hadn't set up anyone on guard duty.

I got up and grabbed the goggles, I would watch out since it was already close to morning. Sitting beside the creek on a night like this was very peaceful. It gave one a sense of tranquility, even when in doubt of your own safety.

I was happy to have woken up calmly for once. No nightmares at all, just random meaningless dreams like a normal person has. I sat there enjoying the stars on such a clear night.

As dawn began to break, the sky was streaked blue and red. Birds were singing amidst the towering Cedars and Douglas Firs. I lay looking up as the sun fought to rise against the mammoth tree tops. Trees so large that snow rarely touched the ground in their thick undergrowth. These trees were here before Americans even knew this land existed and were still standing as our country fell into ruin. They would probably be here long after we were gone.

Soon after dawn, Jesse and Liz woke up. We ate the left over fish for breakfast and cleared the campsite. I let Jesse do it this time, he had figured it out pretty well. We then washed down the area where he had gutted the fish and headed up stream. We found our way out of the creek bed at the first opportunity, the terrain was too rugged to walk right next to the stream.

We had been walking for a little over three hours when we started hearing rushing water, much louder than the creek itself. We couldn't see where it was coming from due to the fact that the creek was snaking and turning so often.

"What do you think that is?" Jesse asked

"Could be another larger creek that this one branched off of." Liz said

"That or the water is getting very rough ahead." I replied, "If that's the case we'd have to double back and cross."

"I hope not" Jesse said glumly.

"This whole morning would be a waste, if it is." Liz replied.

As we continued on, the rush was getting louder and louder. The terrain began to incline sharply the closer we got. Soon we turned another corner and saw what the noise was.

"Fuck me running," I said staring at a waterfall that was at least sixty feet high.

"It's going to take all day to find a spot up" Liz said.

"Hand me the GPS." I said

"Oh hey, it's working now." Jesse said as he handed it to me.

As I studied the terrain I realized we had a very big problem.

"Guys, there isn't a way up for about twenty miles either way it looks like."

"What? So we're going to have to head back toward the roads?" Liz asked "Someone will see us for sure."

"Let's sit down and eat while we figure this out" I said, feeling defeated.

As we ate, I examined the rock wall on either side of the waterfall. It looked sturdy enough, even if it didn't have as good of grips as I would have liked.

"I think we're going to have to climb this."

"There's no way" Jesse said, "Look how high it is. How would we get everything up?"

"I'll have to go up first," I said "I'll take all of the rope with me, then once I'm at the top you can tie the bags and I'll pull them up."

"I can't do it, I've never climbed anything. I'll fall and break my neck!" he said

"Jesse, you'll be fine." I assured him, "I'll have the rope tied around you to help you up. I'm the only one who needs to worry about falling."

After resting for a while and eating an extra powerbar for energy, I began my climb. It was slow going, having to stop and search for a grip every few feet. I was straining by the time I found a small ledge about half way up. Soaked in sweat and my muscles screaming, I take a short break.

"This is a lot tougher than it looks" I called down.

"Take your time hun, just be careful" Liz called back.

"Don't worry, I will." I said, unsure how safe I could actually be. I knew I needed to mentally pump myself up to make it the remainder. Close to the top would the rock would give way more easily because of the soil. However, it also afforded me more grips because of the roots that broke through here and there.

I would just power through. I needed to fling myself upward or I would be too tired to keep going. There was little possibility I could survive a fall that far. So I found my first grip and began moving up the wall again. Another ten feet up, there were no grips within my reach. I had to move to the side, closer to the waterfall to find more. The climb was becoming much more dangerous, I was now only about fifteen yards from the water. Moss was all over the rocks, making potential handles slippery. I kept moving up, trying to move back away from the waterfall as I went.

Grabbing onto a rock jutting out of the wall, I pulled myself up more. Only another ten feet to go. The rock broke loose, sending me plummeting down. I was clawing frantically trying to grab something, anything. I felt my face scraping as I fell, grabbing wildly like a mad man. Trying to get a hold on the wall before I fell to my death. Finally I gripped something, my left hand slipped again. I was dangling by one hand, nothing below but the forest floor some forty feet away. The pain in my hand and arm was enough to make me want to pass out. My shoulder couldn't have been separated, I would not have been able to hold on. I finally found a grip for my left hand, ready to begin pulling myself up. Liz was yelling something, but I couldn't make it out. My head was throbbing, I could taste blood running into my mouth. I looked at my right arm, it too was covered in blood.

I had to keep moving or I would die. I had to force myself up, fight through the pain. My right arm was throbbing. I was bleeding from somewhere near my hand and I could feel that the bullet wound had opened back up near my shoulder. I pressed on, trying to get a good look at my hand but I was disoriented. It didn't matter, whatever was bleeding would have to wait until i was safely up top. Another few minutes and I finally reached the top. I took hold of a long root that was weaving in and out of the cliff side and used it to lob myself onto solid ground.

I moved away from the cliff and sat down for a minute. I needed to recuperate before I could pull the bags up. I was finally able to get a good look at my hand. The middle finger was gushing blood, it looked as if not only the finger nail but most of the skin to the middle knuckle had been ripped open. I didn't have anything to stop the bleeding with me, so I took off my shoe and used the sock to wrap my finger.

My face was too tender to tell where the blood was coming from, so I walked over to the edge of the water,to clean off so I could see. The water stung like alcohol on my raw flesh. I was reeling and didn't know if I wanted to vomit or pass out.

Chapter 11

It took a few minutes to collect myself. I had to let the pain dwindle a bit before I could think clearly. I would have to bandage my hand and face once I got the bags up. They were both bleeding pretty heavily. In the meantime I took my shirt off and wrapped it around my head as best I could without obscuring my vision.

Close to where I had pulled myself up, I found a small tree with a broken off tree only a few feet in front of it. I tied the rope around the tree and tossed it over the side of the cliff. Five minutes later I saw the rope being tugged to signal me it was time to pull it up.

The bags would definitely be the hardest to get up. Our options were to pull them up one at a time or all three at once. I decided to pull them all up at once, we had dumped most of the water to make it easier. After all, we could just filter more once up top. It took nearly twenty minutes to pull them up. I had to stop a few times, wrapping the rope around the stump when I needed to rest. Finally, I had them up top. I took a minute to properly bandage my hand before I threw the rope back down for Jesse. I would have to wait for Liz to bandage my face. I still had no idea how bad it was.

He had no experience climbing so the obvious move was to send him up next. After that, I could rest and he could help pull Liz. We had gone rock climbing many times together, so it wouldn't be hard to get her up.

Jesse was a different story. He moved very slowly, afraid of slipping. I looped the rope every few feet to ensure he couldn't fall more than a yard at a time, which he did a few times. It wasn't really his fault though, I was an experienced climber and this cliff had almost killed me. It definitely wasn't a great place for a leisurely climb.

Eventually, I was able to help pull him up the last few feet. It was a struggle lifting him with my left arm.

"Holy shit Connor," he said doing a double take when he saw me. "What the hell happened? Are you Ok?"

"Yeah, I think." I replied. "I slipped and hit my head pretty hard, it scraped me up pretty badly."

"Did it rip off your finger when you fell?" He exclaimed looking at my wrapped up hand. "We heard you yell, but couldn't see what happened."

"No, it just tore up my middle finger , I think it ripped the nail completely off. I'll have Liz look at it when she gets up here."

"Ok, well show me how to do this so you can go sit down." He said, eager to get Liz up here. I had a feeling I looked worse than I thought, because he seemed very concerned. So I showed him how to take the slack out of the rope by wrapping it and made sure he knew not to try and hold on if it slipped.

"The rope is strong, it won't break, but it might cut your hands or even break a few bones if you try to stop it." I told him, "She wont fall more than three feet if you wrap it every time."

"Alright, go sit down now." He said, when he was finally comfortable that he wouldn't get Liz killed. It didn't take nearly as long to pull her up because she was able to climb most of the way. In fact it was probably safer for her, because she weighed almost a hundred pounds less than me. She was much less likely to have the rock falter under her weight.

Over all, Jesse did a pretty good job of pulling her up. He only tried to grab the rope once before learning his lesson. They were in much better shape than I was by the time she was at the top.

"Connor!" Liz screeched, the blood draining from her face as she saw me sitting against the tree, covered in blood. She was trying to untie the rope from her waist as she ran over. "What the hell happened?"

"Fall down, go boom," I said trying to crack a smile. "A rock broke away and I fell about ten feet, I used my face to slow the fall."

"You're an asshole" she said trying not to cry, she was extremely worried. I really must have looked like hell. "First you get shot then you fall down a cliff, when are you going to stop trying to kill yourself?"

"Ahh! ow ow!" I exclaimed as she was pulling the shirt off to take a look at my face.

"Jesse, get me some water, I can't see through all this dried blood." She yelled to Jesse who was looking for bandages.

"Yeah and bring me the pain killers when you're done." I added.

"I need one just looking at you" she said as she unwrapped my hand.

"Here" Jesse said handing Liz the water and me the pain killers.

"Thanks sweetie. Ok this is going to hurt." She said as she poured the water down my face.

"I half expected to see a metallic skull when you did that." Jesse said jokingly.

"Well, his head is certainly hard enough." Liz replied.

"I think we should just set up camp here for the night." I said

"Yeah, it's mid afternoon already hun and you look like you're getting tired." Liz said as she finished bandaging my face. "Why don't you walk around a bit, so you don't fall asleep."

"Do you have a concussion?" Jesse asked.

"Hell if I know," I said as I stood up. "I'm not dizzy if that counts for anything, but my head is still throbbing and my hand feels like it got smashed by a sledgehammer."

"Connor," Liz said after a few minutes "Let me take a look at your hand."

"Alright," I said walking back over to the tree where she had the first aid kit. "Well this sock is ruined."

"Jesus," She said as she looked at my hand. "The finger nail is completely ripped off."

"So that's what that feels like." I joked, trying to lighten the mood up.

"We've got to be really careful that you don't get an infection." She said as she cleaned my hand up. "You're going to have to change this every day."

"We'll have to keep the bandages in one of the vacuum seal bags" I said, aware that I could be leaving a trail of blood and filthy dressings behind me now.

"Want me to find a good spot for camp?" Jesse asked

"Yeah sure, I think somewhere by those big rocks near the water would be good." I said glad to be relieved of that duty for at least one night. If anyone was following us, they would be a few days behind now, having to move around the cliff.

"I wonder if we can catch any fish here?" he said as an afterthought.

"Actually, we probably can," Liz said "A lot of times there will be calm pools near waterfalls, it would probably be easy to catch a fish in them."

"Awesome, can you show me what to look for later?"

"Sure thing, just let me finish patching up Connor."

"Hey, just be sure to tie yourself to a tree." I said groggily, the pain killers were starting to get to me. As I rested against the tree, while Jesse and Liz set up camp, I occupied myself with the GPS trying to find our best route from here. Another climb like that was simply out of the question. I was too beaten up to risk any more injury.

It was shocking how much ground we had actually covered over the last few days. To the south, and past the waterfall, you could see Mt St Helens and her perpetual waft of smoke. To the north and slightly to the west, in the small clearing provided by the abrupt cliff, you could see Mt Rainier. The other side of Rainier was about our halfway mark. At that point we had no choice, but to start crossing the major roads that passed through the Rainier National Park. With that vulnerability also came opportunities to get more food, medical supplies, and more importantly information.

"Hey! Look what I got!" Jesse said running over with a huge fish hanging out of his makeshift net.

"What the hell is that?" I asked

"I have no clue, but it's got to weigh at least twenty pounds." He said, obviously proud of his accomplishment.

"I'll make a fire" I said getting to my feet.

"We already did that, hun" She said, walking over to the camp with me. They had done a great job setting up. It almost felt like an actual room, the way they had run the tarp from the top of one rock to another.

"This is like the Flintstones," I said, still feeling a bit loopy. "All we need now is a Brontosaurus shower."

After only a few minutes I had dozed off, Liz woke me later to eat. I soon fell back asleep, waking around midnight. The pain was excruciating, I had been sleeping on my right arm. Jesse and Liz were still awake, sitting outside looking over the cliff. I quietly opened the bottle of painkillers and downed a few.

I woke again, sometime after dawn. Quickly getting up, ready to start our day's hike. Jesse just looked at me incredulously.

"Are you really in any shape to be doing that?" He asked.

"I'm fine, we have to get moving soon." I said, irritated that I was being treated like I was incapable of continuing.

"Oh really? Catch." he said throwing the smallest bag at me.

"Ahhh, fucking son of a bitch." I groaned. Sinking to my knees as I caught the bag, the pain was immense. I couldn't even lift my arm without screaming.

"Dude, you aren't ok. You need to rest some more. Just take a day off from being Mr. Badass."

"I'm not trying to be a badass, god damnit." I said furiously, "I'm trying to fucking keep us alive."

"Connor, if anyone was following us, we would have seen their camp fires last night, right?" Liz asked yawning.

"Just take a day, man. If you can move your arm tomorrow we'll keep going." Jesse added.

"We can take care of things while you rest. You got us up here, now let us help you." Liz said sternly.

"Fine, it doesn't fucking matter anyways." I said walking off to wash my face. I wasn't angry with them. Honestly, I wasn't even sure why I was so angry. I tend to react that way when I'm in pain, I guess. I wasn't the kind of guy who could just sit back and relax when I felt threatened.

They were right though, I needed to rely on them a little bit more. Trying to do everything myself was down right stubborn. I felt as if I would break at any minute. I was terrified of what might happen in the coming days and weeks.

"Babe, what's the matter?" Liz asked, walking up behind me.

"Everything is the fucking matter! We have an entire fucking military looking for us, they want to fucking hang my head from a pole. How the hell am I not supposed to be worried about this shit? I didn't fucking ask for any of this!"

"I'm right here with you Connor." She said, trying to calm me down. "We're in this together, we can't just give up or start yelling at each other."

"What the hell do you expect me to do?" I responded, "I have no fucking idea what I'm doing. For all I know, I'm going to get you both killed."

"Maybe so, but we chose to be here with you" She snapped, "So stop being such an asshole, because it isn't helping."

"You know what? You're right I'm sorry" I said getting up and walking off.

"Hey are you ever gonna teach me how to use these guns?" Jesse asked, not knowing what was going on.

"Jesse, not right now"

"It's fine," I said, "Come here, grab the one I've been carrying."

"Why can't I use this one?" he said gesturing toward the rifle I had given him earlier.

"Mine has a laser sight on it." I responded calmly. At least this would help take my mind off of my feelings of inadequacy for a while.

"Oh cool!" he said grabbing the gun.

"Ok," I said, setting him up "Use the rock to steady the gun, like you would a tripod."

"Ok, what do you want me to shoot?"

"Nothing."

"But, how-"

"That's what the laser is for." i said, "Ok see that clump of moss on the rock over there? Aim for it."

"Ok, got it"

"Alright, let's see how close you are." I said turning the sight on. "Ha, way off."

"crap"

"Line the sight up."

"How?"

"See that tiny hole right there?" I said showing him, "Line it up with the center of this cross-hair at the end of the gun."

"Ok, got it this time." He said assuredly.

"Closer," I replied after turning the laser on,"About 3 feet to the left."

After about an hour, he was able to consistently sight the target. From there we moved on to retargeting after firing. This was much more difficult to do without actually firing the weapon.

"Ok so we'll leave the laser on and I'm going to jerk the gun back to mimic the kick." I told him, "I want you to retarget as quickly as possible."

"This is a helluva lot harder than it looks." He complained after a few minutes.

"Just imagine doing this combined with the sound of the bullet firing," I said laughing.

"Yeah, it would help if I could actually fire it."

"I agree, but it would also help anyone who was looking for us."

After another hour, I was satisfied that he had learned as much as possible without actually firing the weapon. I would have to take him to a firing range, once we got to a safe town.

"You're doing good." I said

"Can you show me how to shank a fool with the bayonet?" he asked, I wasn't sure if he was serious.

"Maybe once my arm I get my arm reattached" I said laughing.

"Is it hurting still?"

"Yeah, I'm gonna go swallow a hand full of pills." I said walking back to our camp. I was starting to feel a little better after eating, but it was still extremely difficult to move my arm.

"Hey, what's this?" Jesse asked, handing me the GPS. "See that faint line right there?"

"Yeah, that's pretty close." I said, "I wonder if it might be a road."

"I think it would be marked if it was." He replied.

"You're probably right, let me see the laptop."

"It isn't getting a very good signal here." He said handing it to me.

"That's fine, it has Earth Maps on it." I said

"Oh, that's cool." He replied, before adding "Wait why is that good?"

"You can zoom in to near ground level with satellite images." I told him, "It's unlikely to have changed since they last time this area was imaged."

"Oh, I get it."

"Where is Liz?" I asked looking around

"She said she was going to go take a bath in that pool." He laughed, "She walked up and told us that, you had a whole conversation."

"Hmm," I said, wondering how that could have slipped me. "Shit, we didn't shut this down completely so the battery is almost dead. Give me those coordinates, it only has about five minutes worth of juice."

The program popped up a picture of the earth, as I input the coordinates it spun and started to zoom until it rested about 10 miles above the spot I had selected. I then zoomed in until the image was set just above the tree line. It was easy enough to spot the line we had been looking for. It looked like an access trail with a small bridge crossing the creek about ten miles up.

"Jackpot!" I said a minute later after following the trail.

"What did we win?" Liz asked, giving me an odd look as she walked up.

"A park ranger station." I said pointing to the cabin I had found about two days hike away.

"You mean we might be able to sleep indoors for once?" She asked happily.

"Looks that way, let's get some rest. I think I'll be up for it in the morning" I said, determined to go whether I felt better or not. The longer we stayed here the more antsy I became. My nerves were getting worse and worse the longer I sat around doing nothing.

We ate the leftover fish and went to sleep early. Jesse and Liz split up my watch again, over all it was a very uneventful night. Although, Jesse was sure he had seen a bear at some point. Liz told him to give it a pic-a-nic basket before rolling over and going back to sleep. She didn't remember in the morning, but we both had a good laugh about it.

The next morning my arm was still stiff, but was feeling much better. I was even able to pack a bag, which was considerable progress. The best thing about following the water was definitely the ease of covering our camp site with the loose soil and rocks all around. Creeks and streams in this area tend to be either very sandy or covered in rocks. This one happened to be a pleasant mix of the two.

By the time we had finished cleaning up, we could hardly tell where our camp had been. It was much cooler than it had been over the last week or so that day. We were making better progress because of it.

"No fucking way," Jesse said as we saw a small wooden bridge in the distance. Somehow, by mid day we had reached the bridge we were looking for.

"About time things go our way," I said. I couldn't help, but smile as we sat down to eat before breaking off from the stream.

"I'm gonna fill up all of the water, just in case." Liz said

We ate quickly and began to follow the trail, weary of any sounds. We kept up our brisk pace, but were ready to break off of the trail at any moment if we thought someone was approaching us. We pressed on until nearly seven before eating.

"Alright, we've got to be close." I said, "But if we're wrong we'll be setting up camp after dark. What do you guys want to do?"

"Let's keep going." Jesse said immediately

"I agree, I'd rather sleep indoors for once." Liz agreed, "We're bound to be there soon."

"Ok, let's go then." I said, leading the way.

Sure enough, within an hour and a half we saw the cabin.

"Guys, be careful," I said "I saw some tire tracks from what looked like a quad earlier. They didn't look more than a few days old. Someone might be here."

"Ok, what should we do?" Liz asked, assuming I had probably thought of a plan.

"We're just going to move up slowly and if no one comes out, I'll go in first." I replied. I didn't have much of a plan, my head was starting to throb and I was dead tired. I refused to let them see though, they wouldn't have pressed on otherwise.

After a few moments we were at the cabin, no lights were on. It was only a few hundred square feet by the looks of it. We made a loop around and still didn't see anything.

"Ok, wait for me to call you in." I said as I walked in.

I wasn't thinking clearly and had forgot to grab a flashlight. I walked in with my weapon down, squinting for a light switch. My stomach jumped into my throat, I thought I had heard the scuffle of a foot. Suddenly, I felt the cold steel of a shotgun barrel against the side of my head.

Chapter 12

"Who are you?" Demanded the voice behind the steel pressed against my temple.

"I'm Connor" I said, quite unsure of what to do next.

"What are you doing here?"

"I'm just..."

"Don't fucking move! Ill kill your gook ass!"

"I'm an American," I said as calmly as possible.

"He's the General, you fucking moron!" Jesse said as he walked in, rifle trained toward my assailants head.

"Bullshit! that's just some rumor!"

"You aren't in a position to bargain." I heard Liz say, somewhere to the side. Possibly through a window.

"Listen, man." I said, not wanting to resort to violence. "We can talk this over. I promise you'll be much better off if we do."

"Oh and you're calling the shots now?" He screamed, "I have a fucking gun to your head, think about it!"

"I'm thinking pretty clearly right now," I replied coolly, "You have one gun against my head, another two aimed at yours."

"Put your weapons down or he dies!" he yelled

"I wasn't finished," I replied, my voice cold as ice. "If they're telling the truth and I am who they claim I am, you'll be dead before they have a chance to shoot you."

It was a huge risk, hoping he had heard something about this mysterious warrior known as the General.

"You're lying!" he rasped, his voice full of uncertainty.

"Perhaps, but I suggest we let cooler heads prevail." I said, holding my hand low and fingers apart. Signaling Jesse and Liz not to shoot. If they didn't catch on, I was as likely to die as my attacker.

"I don't believe any of you!" He screamed. In an instant I acted, forcing my body to move. My arm screamed as I yanked his gun down and slammed him face first into the wall in a violent, twisting motion. I could feel my the fingers in my hand trying to dislocate as his headed bounced off the wall.

"You don't have to believe me, but I'd rather not kill you" I whispered to him, his head shoved painfully against the wall. My arm was failing me, but I couldn't let him know. "I'll only ask you once, stand down or die."

"Ok! I give" He cried desperately.

I released his head, yanking the shotgun away with my right hand. Don't show the pain, I told myself. I compensated by kicking him hard in the chest, knocking him to the ground.

"We aren't here to hurt you." I said, tossing the shotgun out of the doorway, Jesse catching it mid air.

"Please don't kill me" the man sobbed from the shadows.

"Get up and turn on the fucking lights." I barked.

"Ok, ok"

"There are two guns aimed right at your head, asshole" Liz said like a cold, hard, mob enforcer.

"Try something, I fuckin dare you." Said Jesse, the only light in the cabin coming from the laser he had trained on this man's forehead.

"For some reason, I'm not worried about you's two like I am him." the terrified park ranger said as he turned on the lights, seeing me with only the Kukri in my hand.

"Well then, you're smart and lucky." Jesse said lowering his gun. "You're the only person I've seen him let walk away since this shit began."

Chapter 13

"You can't really..." The man said, shaking so hard that he looked as if he were going to have a seizure.

"Just relax, we aren't here to hurt you." I said

"That's kind of hard to believe when you've all got weapons."

"Jesse, give him the gun back," I replied, strapping the kukri back to my belt. "I know it's hard to believe, but you can trust us."

"Just don't try anything stupid." Jesse said handing him the gun.

"Why are you still in the Park?" I asked him after he took a seat at a small table.

"I've got no where else to go" he replied, as I sat down across from him. "Say what happened to ya's face?"

"I got into a fight with the wall of a cliff."

"The Chinese didn't do that to yous?"

"No, although they tried." I replied. "My name's Connor and this is Jesse and Liz."

"I'm Mike."

"Where are you from Mike?" I asked, curious that a Park Ranger in Washington would have such a thick east coast accent.

"Me? I'm from Boston," He said pronouncing it BawSten. "I got tired of the city, so I moved up here afta college."

"Do you have a wife, kids?" Liz asked

"Nah, look at me." He said laughing, "the ladies ain't so big on short, chubby guys like ma self."

"How long are you planning on hiding out here?" Jesse asked.

"Probably til the war's ova." He said laughing. "What bout yous guys?

"Headed north," I said

"Why's that? Yous gotta tell me what happened in Portland"

"It's kind of a long story." I replied

"That's fine, we got bunks in the back, yous can stay here for a few nights."

"Alright," I said, proceeding to tell him our story. "I'm the last man on earth you should harbor."

"So when did yous start the broadcasts?" he asked.

"Eh?" I wasn't sure what the hell he was talking about

"Aww c'mon, the broadcasts when yas comes on the radio out of nowhere, or like when you cut into the middle of the TV screen and are all blurry."

"What the fuck are you talking about?" Jesse blurted out.

"Yous guys is messing with me aren't ya?" he asked.

"I'm afraid not, but seriously what are you talking about?" I said becoming more intrigued.

"Oh man, you ain't shittin me, ares ya?" he asked looking extremely confused.

"Are you going to tell us what the heck you're talking about?" Liz asked, frustrated but amused.

"Well, umm, here's the thing." He said, starting to look at us suspiciously. "Did you or didn't yous make that interview a week or so ago?"

"With Raul?" I asked.

"Who? Oh you mean R.C.?" he said looking relieved, "Ya that's him, sounds kinda Hispanic or somethin."

"Yes, that was me in the interview."

"Ok, so from what I've heard on the radio it was posted online and started to get a followin. Tens of Millions of views within three days of something'"

"Amazing," Liz said to herself.

"Yeah, your damn right. But get this, what happened next." He said as if he were telling us about a prize fight. "So then, the next few days, the Chinese, theys makin their broadcasts and all of a sudden this mean sonnuvabitch cuts in all shadowy and blurry."

"What do you mean?" I asked

"Well it was just a, what do you call it... like a cut out..."

"A silhouette?" she said.

"Yeah, that's it, it was a silhouette of yous or somethin and it was playin clips from yas recording." he said "then it starts happenin more and more, they try and cut off the frequency, but it doesn't always work!"

"Interesting..." I said, listening intently

"Not to mention the radio," He told me next, "yous come cutting in mid song or right in the middle of those fucks broadcasts. It's always the same shit, but it really makes ya feel all tingly. Like somethin in the worlds changing ya know? They try and convince us we's been broken, then BAM here's the fuckin' General. He says fuck those guys, ya know?"

"I get the feeling."

"It's like our Kennedy assassination man." He said, so excited he was beginning to get up and pace, "Like our generation will be defined by looking back and sayin to each others, When did you first hear the General?" That shit gives me chills every time. Telling us we're all the resistance, it makes me wanna fight too! Come on brotha, let's fuckin do it!"

"Wow" Liz said laughing, Mike looked at her shocked.

"It is kind of funny," Jesse said, "We had no idea this was happening."

"So you're tellin me that the general and company is right here in my cabin and yous guys ain't had a clue this was going down?"

"Well," I said "I knew he was trying to get the word out, but I didn't think it would be that effective. Not by a long shot."

"This changes everything." Liz muttered

"HELLS YEAH IT DOES!" Mike yelled, carried away in his excitement. "We're gonna win this mothafucka."

"I guess at this point we've gone beyond running and are going to have to get to Seattle to put a face behind the movement." I said, still contemplating what would need to be done. I couldn't quite accept it. I started to feel afraid, more scared than the day I entered basic. There was no turning back, is this what I wanted? Shit no, could I even handle it for a minute?

"Man! I feel like my prom date just knocked on the door!" Mike said

"What?" Jesse said, laughing uncontrollably.

"Ok, ok wise guy, that was a bad analogy or somethin." He said slightly offended, "Who is this kid?"

"That kid's killed more men than most soldiers ever will." Liz said gravely.

"No shit? Yous the third one they're after aren't ya?"

"Wait" I said standing up and walking over to Mike, every instinct in me screamed kill him. I couldn't let Jesse be hunted alone. My voice came out harsh and slow, as I drew close allowing no room for him to avoid me. I was like a bear looming over a house dog, compared to his puny frame. "What do you mean third?"

"Two guys and a girl, they said yous guys are killers," He told us, shaking visibly "They're trying to discredit yas, like you were convicts or somethin. I figured you'd all be a little talla, ya know?"

"How do you know all this, when you're this far out in the woods?" I asked

"He's twice your size, dick head." Jesse muttered. Even he was bigger than Mike. Hell, Liz was damn close to his size.

"The radios still work up here, man."

"So they've said they're after us?" Liz asked pulling a 9mm out of her satchel.

"Oh yeahs, they said theys gonna do some crazy shit once they find ya." He said, slowly realizing how bad it was as he told us. Knowing that he might have implicated himself. "They're.. gonna.. well.. they wants to make an example.. they said they'd execute you in front of the entire world.."

"Well, isn't that daunting" I said, defiantly. I Pressed my hand against the wall behind his head, my face inches from his. "Why the hell should I trust you, Mike?"

"Ha, you really are a tough sonnuvabitch!" he squeaked, "I want, no I need you to come out ahead, ya knows?"

"You think they're in the woods yet?" Jesse asked quietly.

"Nah kid, I'd have known if they was."

"You didn't know we were here."

"Hell I didn't!" he said as if he were offended.

"How long did you know that we were out there Mike?" Liz asked, her hand on his shoulder to calm him a bit.

"Well, I saws ya fire a few days back when I was at the river, but didn't think nothin' of it." He said, "But around a week ago I was sure I saw yous guys from the cliff top."

"Nothing else behind us?"

"Nah, but the other rangers all left for their families right after this started, so it's just me out heres."

"How far are we from a road?" I asked

"About thirty five miles or so."

"How do you manage that hike?" Jesse asked incredulously.

"Oh? ha I ain't hiking that, I take the gator." He laughed.

"You have gas out here?" I said, curiously.

"Oh yeah, we gots everything. I got a generator, gas for the gator, we even got fresh water and a hot shower."

"Wow, that isn't bad at all" Liz said.

"Say, yous guys wanna hang out here a few days? Rest up, your arm don't look so good, General." He offered with a wink. Maybe he really did want to help us. After all, what good would a man like him be in a revolution?

"I'm not so sure..."

"Aww, c'mon, I haven't talked to anyone in a few days. You guys can clean up and relax for a while, then I can take ya north on the gator if ya wants." He offered, looking somewhat desperate for companionship.

"Alright," I said, knowing I needed the rest, but becoming slightly suspicious. "We can stay, but only if you have a decent first aid kit."

"Oh shit," Liz said, gasping "We need to clean your... well... there's a lot that needs to be cleaned before you get infected."

"How bad is it?" Mike asked.

"Well..." I said

"Oh shit, man! Did you get in a fight with a fuckin' bear?" He said as I pulled off the bandage off pf my face.

"I take it, you don't want me to accompany you to prom anymore?" I asked grinning.

"Well, yous still prettier than me." he said, "Lemme grab my first aid stuff, this place is like a field hospital."

"You should see the bear" Jesse said. "Actually, he fell down a cliff and stopped himself with his teeth apparently."

"It tasted like chicken." I said dryly, I could feel the wound on my face pulsing after I had taken off the bandage. I began rummaging through my bag for the painkillers.

"Connor, are you almost out of those already?" Liz gasped, noticing that the bottle was almost empty. "That was supposed to be a month supply."

"Yeah, and I was also supposed to take it easy." I replied, angry at myself that I had let them see the bottle. "I don't think hiking a hundred or so miles and scaling a cliff fall into that category."

"If it feels half as bad as it looks, I'd be eaten that whole bottle at once" Mike said, looking for the best medicine to use on my face. "Listen, you should probably go try and wash that as best you can. It's gonna sting like a sonnuvabitch when ya clean it."

"Yeah, sure," I replied, glad for the excuse to leave "Where's the sink?"

"Oh, it's on the other side of the bedroom over there."

"Fuck..." I muttered as I looked at my face in the mirror. I hadn't realized how bad it looked until now. While none of the cuts were too bad, it looked as if I had scraped off half of the skin on my face and side of my head. There was one nasty looking gash about two inches above my right temple. It burned like hell washing the dirt and grime out. The wound was raw, as if I had fallen off a motorcycle face first.

"Alright boss, lemme get this cleaned up for ya" Mike said, sitting at the table which was filled with medical supplies.

"I'm looking forward to it," I said sarcastically.

"Connor, maybe you can take a bath after we're done." Liz suggested, "Soaking your arm might help a bit."

"Yeah, that'd be nice." I said, I was exhausted and looking forward to sleep.

"Looks like a storms coming in." Mike said as he was cleaning my face, which did in fact hurt like hell.

"That's good." I said

"You still think yous guys is bein' followed?" He asked nervously.

"I can't imagine that they wouldn't be looking for us." I replied, "A big storm is just what we need to wipe away our tracks, if we left any."

"Alrighty, you're all done boss." Mike said placing new bandages on my face, "plus yas don't look like a half mummy anymo' "

"Thanks Mike," I said, "Do you guys mind if i go soak for a bit? Id really like to be able to move this arm more."

"Yeah go ahead." Liz said, waving me away. "So Mikey, tell me everything you've heard."

"Well.." Mike said as he began filling them in. I ran a bath, pouring in a cup or two of Epsom salt to help relieve my muscles. A few moments later, after struggling to get my shirt off, I dropped into the bath. I could hear them talking in the front of the cabin, they seemed excited. It sounded like they were talking about politics for some reason. As I relaxed with their chatter in the background I began to nod off.

Chapter 14

I woke up to the sound of an explosion in the distance.

"Guys?" I yelled, wondering what was happening. "Hey where are you?"

No answer, I got out of the tub and got dressed, not wasting time drying off. My arm didn't hurt at all, in fact it looked perfectly normal. I rushed out of the bathroom and found myself in an alleyway. I knew this place, it was where Liz and I had been mugged in New York. How did I get here?

Something was off, it was much too quiet for New York. I ran out of the alley, looking desperately for anyone to tell me what was happening, what the fuck was happening?

I was so frantic that I tripped and fell face first on the side walk. I looked back to see what I had fallen on. It was a child's body. I was horrified, as I got up, I saw cars wrecked in the street. Everywhere there were bodies.

"Calm down," I told myself, I would figure this out. As I tried to gather my nerves, I walked further down the street. There was no sign of life anywhere.

So I kept walking. I walked for hours, nothing seemed right. I would look at a building one moment and then when I looked back it was something else entirely. I knew it was a dream, but I couldn't wake myself.

I was trapped within my own nightmare, unable to escape. Unable to figure out what had happened. I had walked for miles and seen nothing but dead bodies, some of them so familiar, yet so vague. I couldn't quite remember who these people were, but I was sure I had known them.

"Heeey! HEYYY!" I yelled desperately, I had finally found someone. He was a decent sized guy, tall with broad shoulders wearing a camouflage uniform. He must be with the military. By now, I was sure this was a dream, but I needed his help.

"Hey, talk to me man!" I demanded grabbing his shoulder, because he wouldn't turn around. When he spun around, what I saw left me stunned and stumbling backward, falling to the ground.

Without a word, this man who looked just like me, maybe it was me, lifted a pistol toward my head.

BANG!

"Shit, fuck, shit!' I said flailing in the bath tub. Liz had just walked in, the bang wasn't a gun but the sound of the door closing behind her.

"Oh my god, Connor are you ok?" She asked in a panic.

"I'm fine," I said, knowing I was probably as pale the ghost I had just seen. "What are you doing?"

"I was just checking on you," She said sitting on the toilet to talk to me. "You've been in here for two hours."

"Sorry, I- I must have fallen asleep." I replied, getting out of the bath.

"How's your arm feeling?"

"It's better" I said. I wasn't lying, I could move it without the pain being unbearable.

"Oh so apparently, Susan Thompson is the acting President now." Liz said as I dried myself off

"That might not be a bad thing, she had more balls than anyone else in that administration." I replied.

"Yeah, but the Joint chiefs of staff are split and are refusing to deploy to the area's she is ordering them to."

"You've got to be fucking kidding me."

"Nope, apparently they think it's more important to build up the forces than to help towns on the verge of being taken."

"That's no better than treason," I said seething at the thought of such cowardice. "There's no time for political bullshit."

"I agree," She said with an odd look. I knew this look, it was the one she got every time she didn't want to tell me something.

"Oh god, you're squinting." I said, "What is it?"

"Well, it's just that..." She said stammering, "We, uh, we think you should do something about it when we get to Seattle."

"Me? Have you lost it?" I said laughing. "What could I possibly do about it?"

"I don't know," She said embarrassed.

"Hey," I said walking out of the bathroom "What do you clowns think I should do about the military? Tell the president and joint chiefs to kiss and make up?"

"Well no," Mike said, "or yes, I mean you could umm.. Well there's a lot of people out there waiting to hear from yas and they want you to help. I mean.."

"What he's saying" Jesse interjected "is that people are waiting for orders from you and you alone. They seem to have really gotten behind this whole resistance thing. You can force their hand and you know it."

"I see," I said taking a seat. Contemplating for a moment exactly what they meant. "What the fuck have I gotten myself into?"

"It's not always up to you whether or not yous get ta be a hero man." Mike said.

"All you've ever wanted to do is help people." Liz said "As long as I've known you, you've never questioned doing the right thing."

"I know," I said "But this isn't the same thing. Every time I do anything, I put people in danger, people keep dieing because of me."

"And they'll die even without you!" Jesse said angrily "Don't you get it? It doesn't matter, if you do something people are gonna die, if you don't they'll still die. All that matters is that you're at least trying to make a difference."

"Jesse.." I said before he cut me off.

"No you need to understand something," he said with tears running down his face. "I doubt there's another person in the entire world who is brave enough to do any one of the things you've done over the last few weeks. Yet, you keep doing them, you keep pushing. That's why you're in this position, because no one else is strong enough to do what you have done. You're that one person in a million with the tenacity to risk the impossible.

Do you think I blame you for my mom? Like I would somehow blame you for not being able to save her? That's bullshit, she may have died, but because of you I'm here and so are two dozen other people. Don't try and pretend that one over-rides the other."

"Think about what you're asking of me." I said, slowly raising my head toward them.

"I know Connor, I know." Liz said, "but we're asking because we know you're strong enough to do it."

"I'll think about it," I said reluctantly "No guarantees."

"That's a yes." Liz said laughing.

"Hey Mike, is there somewhere we can plug in a laptop and a phone?" I asked

"Yeah, yeah it's over there" he said pointing to the corner. 'You knows I gots meat ready to put on the smoker outside too."

I grabbed the bag, taking a few pills while the others were in the back room so mike could show them how to use the shower and where the beds were.

"Ima go start the meat he said walking back outside with an armful of food from his chest freezer in the main room.

As I plugged in the laptop, my heart sank into my stomach. As I bent down I noticed something taped under the table. It was a long range 2 way radio. I could still hear them in the other room, as I tried to figure out what I had just found.

Without touching it, being careful not to mess up the duct tape, I inspected this radio. it definitely was not American. In fact, my best guess was that the symbols on it were mandarin. Mike wasn't the kind of guy who would just happen to speak Chinese. I had to assume that this radio had been hidden here for a reason.

It was there to communicate with somebody. Someone who spoke English and needed to be notified. There was only one real reason a park ranger from Boston in the middle of the woods would be so courteous while having a hidden Chinese radio.

I plugged in the laptop and the phone, grabbing my pillow out of the duffel bag. I would sleep here against the table, he wouldn't dare go near that radio with me around. I quickly made my bed on the ground and pretended to have fallen asleep. Out of the corner of my half closed eye I saw Mike talking to Jesse and Liz, they too seemed uncomfortable. They knew me well enough to know I wouldn't fall asleep without securing the perimeter.

Fortunately they played it cool, Liz decided that she would take first watch outside, while Jesse and Mike slept in the room. They talked about various things ranging from television back to politics and eventually Mike gave up and went to sleep, insisting Jesse went to.

I was comfortable with the knowledge that Jesse could take Mike out and knew that he did not trust him. Unfortunately he and Liz never found a real opportunity to talk to me throughout the night.

Around 2 am a thunderstorm rolled in. They were rare in these parts. The torrent of rain roared down on the tin roof of the cabin. It was soothing, but still almost impossible to relax.

The next day as Liz slept near the table, pretending to have come in and fallen asleep next to me, she kept on eye on the radio and "slept" throughout the day. By this time, it was clear that Mike would betray us if he had the chance, in fact I was almost certain he had been threatened into doing so.

I knew this, but I had to do my best to manipulate the situation. I was starting to need the pain killers every couple of hours, they were beginning to interfere with my judgment. I knew what I needed to do, yet I kept finding myself wandering back to them. I could barely concentrate as they wore off each time.

Throughout the day, I had Mike help fill up our water supply and show us the trails surrounding the cabin. He had no idea I was looking for fresh tracks. If someone was in the area we would know because the mud was so fresh.

There were none to be found. I even managed to get him to show me where he hid the gator in the woods. It's gas tank was full and I had made a mental note of which trails he said would lead toward the road 35 miles from here.

By late afternoon he began feigning concern about Liz, that she had been sleeping so long.

"I needs to take a showa too." He insisted, "Ya, ya, I ain't had one in almost four days now."

"I can tell" I said jokingly, he had given himself away.

The Chinese had made it to him before us, how far away they were was anyone's guess. How long it would take them to get to us was the major threat looming over our head, now that we knew they had to be somewhere in the area.

We made our way back to the cabin, Mike talking about a shower more than any normal person would. Jesse pretending he was looking at trees and how tall they were.

"Oh, hey Liz musta went inta the other room." He said as we walked back into the cabin,

"ya, she's been asleep all day, she probably moved to the beds." I said playing along, I knew she was up to something.

"Hey Jesse can you go grab that meat off the smoka?" he asked nervously, "There's a big platter right there to put it on."

"Sure thing" Jesse said walking outside, he had never let his weapon leave his side, just like I had taught him.

"Say Conna, I don't hear the wata" he said, his accent getting thicker, the more nervous he became. "Yous wanna check on her?"

"Yeah of course" I said, after I had seen Jesse duck below the window to the side. I knew Liz wasn't in the bath.

"Hey Liz, are you ok?" I said in a sing song voice walking in the room. As I walked around the door she handed me a pistol. I kept walking, closing the door halfway behind me. She was behind the door with the machine gun in her hand. She was going to force his hand.

"The radio went off" she whispered in my ear, "it was in English, Connor. they know something is up."

"Good job," I said giving her a kiss on the cheek before I slung the door open with the pistol aimed at Mike's head.

"Don't move!" Jesse said sneaking back inside, his gun also aimed at Mike's head. this could become very unsanitary...

"Why are you doing this Mike?" I asked, he didn't answer, "You seem like a nice enough guy. You even seemed sincere last night, asking me to fight back."

"They're gonna kill me if I don't, then theys gonna kill my ex wife too!" He sobbed, " I ain't got no choice man."

"There's always a choice Michael," I said calmly, walking forward with my gun trained on his head. "When faced with certain death we have the choice to die with dignity or fall into cowardice and let others die with us."

"It ain't that simple man," He cried "There's dozens of them. You can barely take a few of me injured that bad. How you gonna save us alls?"

"Maybe, I cant" I replied, "but you can be damn sure none of us are gonna live if you make that call Mike. Are you going to go out fighting like a man or will you trade our lives and countless others just to save your own?"

He didn't respond, I could tell he was torn. the pain flowed with the tears from his eyes, he didn't want to die, but he would rather let us die in his place, as indicated by his constant glances and small jerks toward the table.

"THEY'RE HERE!! THEY'RE HERE!!" He screamed scrambling his hands under the table, ripping the radio out, "The general is he...!"

Chkaw, Chkaw, Chkaw! rang the machine gun in Jesse's hands.

Mike fell to the ground, his face mutilated by the three rounds that had entered it. The back of his head was one gaping wound, blood and brain matter scattering the wall. The wounds were tight all within a few inches of each other. Jesse had controlled the weapon better than most career soldiers could ever hope to. Barely a fist's size between the three entry points.

"Come on!" he yelled breaking our stunned silence. "We have to go."

"He's right..." Liz said quietly as her hand opened, the batteries from the radio hitting the ground with a quiet thunk as they rolled across the floor.

"You did the right thing," I assured Jesse, who probably didn't need me to tell him this.

"He's right, they tried to radio three time's today." Liz said

"The gator is about thirty five yards from here, the gas is full." I said breaking their dazed silence.

No response from them, aside from compliance

"If they didn't get radio contact, they sure as hell could have heard their own weapons firing." I said shoving our supplies in the bag. "Let's get the fuck out of here."

We rushed through the woods, barreling down the trail to where Mike had hidden his getaway vehicle. It was no bat mobile, but the gator was capable of forty five plus miles per hour on rough terrain. We only needed to get thirty five to forty miles to the nearest road and we would be free to get to Seattle from there.

We threw our gear into the back, it was like a golf cart-truck hybrid, but much faster.

"Connor..." Liz said terrified.

"I know, keep moving" We had heard the Chinese ascending upon the cabin in the distance. If we were lucky they had no vehicles. How could they if they controlled nothing north of these forests?

"Fuck you!!!!" Jesse roared, spitting shells into the distance to keep our enemy at bay. After such little time, I knew somehow I could trust the fact that he saw the enemy and that we needed to move. I would never question his judgment again, neither he would mine. I only wished I could have kept him from having to kill at such an early age, or ever really.

As we tore away down the trail, with Jesse laying down firing from the back like an experienced soldier, Liz clung to my side. She was hoping, praying I could get us out of this situation. The strain was becoming more apparent with each day, each passing moment. I didn't know how much longer I could ask her to keep doing this. She was beginning to crack, and I might not be strong enough to hold myself together if she wasn't there with me. I was becoming so god damned selfish...

"Oh shit..." I heard Jesse yell faintly, moments later what seemed to be a shell from a bazooka or RPG flew past us, about ten yards from the side, exploding into a massive pine tree.

"Yeah, you wont get another shot mother fucker" Jesse said, I knew he had saved our lives in that instant. That he had hit a moving target nearly a hundred yards away causing the shell to veer to the side, barely missing us.

He was a better fighter that I could have imagined. I pitied him for this, and for what would inevitably follow because of it. I could feel his pauses between bursts as he locked onto each new target. Our pursuers couldn't hope to return fire accurately while chasing us on foot.

"Hold on," I said "we've got a sharp turn coming up, we should be out of fire after that."

We were moving about thirty miles per hour in the diesel powered gator. Soon enough, we would be safely out of the line of fire with enough gas to take us to the highway that lay beyond these woods.

As we closed in on the turn, our pursuers let loose a volley in a last ditch effort to stop us. Branches were falling out of trees, bullets lodging into trunks. Some even ricocheting off the small bed of the tractor that Jesse was laying in returning their fire.

"Oh god," I heard him mumble. I looked at him through the mirror as soon as we were safely around the corner. He had rolled onto his side, clutching at his chest in a fetal position. he had been hit.

Chapter 15

"Jesse!" Liz exclaimed, "Connor, I've got to help him." She said, not waiting for my response. She was already climbing around the roll cage, trying to get back to him.

"How bad is it?" I asked after a few minutes. I couldn't hear what they were saying. My heart was beating so fast I thought I might go into cardiac arrest. A sense of despair began to wash over me. It was my job to keep them safe and I had failed. Had I gotten this kid killed?

"He's bleeding like crazy, it hit him right by his collar bone." She yelled to me, as she dug through the packs looking for bandages. "We have to get him to a hospital, he's losing too much blood."

"Just hang in there, we'll be at the road in another ten minutes or so." I said as I looked down at the gauges, trying to estimate how far we could get on this tank of gas. We didn't get a chance to grab the extra fuel container, so once we ran out that was it. From what I could tell, Jesse was in no condition to hike.

I could faintly hear Jesse moaning from the back. He seemed to be in an incredible amount of pain. Probably the worst of his life, up to that point.

"You're gonna be fine, honey." Liz was saying to him, trying to reassure him and keep him calm.

"We've got a problem." I said. "A big one"

"What? what do you mean?" She asked.

"They must have hit the fuel line, I can see the gas gauge slowly going down."

"What are we going to do?" She asked as she finished getting a bandage around his arm to stymie the bleeding.

"I don't know," I said, racking my brain, trying to desperately find a solution. The soldiers chasing us had to have been on foot. We would have seen or heard them in the days before, if not. According to all reports, the roads we were headed to were safe. They would not have come from the north or the highways to the east. There was no explanation except that they had traveled inland a few days behind us. Easily making up ground on the days we had rested. Perhaps they had been forced to abandon quads or dirt bikes at the cliff we had scaled just a few days before.

"He's in a lot of pain." Liz said as she climbed back up front to talk to me. "He'll be fine for probably an hour, maybe two, but he needs to get to a doctor bad. This isn't something we can just wrap up and drown out with pain killers."

"You're right." I said bringing the tractor to a stop.

"What the hell are you doing?" She said panicking.

"Where's the duct tape?" I asked ignoring her question. I still didn't have a good answer.

"Connor!"

"Look we're a good five miles away now, it'll take them at least half an hour to catch up to us on foot." I replied, " Now where is the god damn duct tape?"

"It's in the bag by the medical kit." Liz said, still upset and scared. "You have to tell me what you're thinking."

"I'm thinking we need to stop the gas leak if we want to get him to a hospital." I said as I looked for the line that had been damaged.

"Is that going to work?"

"No, not very well." I replied honestly. "It's like putting a band-aid on it, but it will slow the leak down some."

"How much?"

"Enough to get the two of you to the road at least. That's the best we can hope for-"

"Wait," she said cutting me off. "What do you mean the two of you? You cant leave us, are you fucking crazy? They'll slaughter you."

"Yeah," i said, "I'm pretty sure that's what they intent to do."

"I'm not going to let you!" She said crying, knowing she had no say in the matter.

"You are" I said somberly, pulling out the larger mounted gun as I talked. "You won't make it if I don't and we both know it."

"Connor, they're going to kill you." She said sobbing.

"Probably." I said strapping the Kukri and hatchet to either side of my belt. "But maybe not Liz. If you haven't noticed, I've made it this far without getting killed. Maybe, just maybe, that luck is going to hold up."

"Unngghh, don't...be..."

"Take it easy, Jes." I said grabbing the extra clips for the two pistols.

"..such...a...dumbass..."

"I know what I'm doing. Oh and I'm going to need to borrow these." I said taking the last belt of grenades.

"Connor I cant just leave you her to die." Liz said grabbing my arm as if she were going to drag me back into the vehicle.

"You can and you will." I said, cupping her face with my hand. "I love you and I refuse to keep running from these fucks. Besides, without me on this thing, that's 200 pounds less which means you're going to be using a lot less fuel to keep going."

"We have to keep running, it's the only way." she said desperately, tears streaming down her face.

"I've run far enough." I said, bracing myself for what lay ahead. "If they want a fight, I'll give them one. This ends here one way or the other."

We stood there in silence, her clinging to me as if she thought that I would float off if she let me go. She was trying to come to terms with the realization that she would probably never see me again.

"You need to go." I said, "Tell people what happened here today. They can kill me, but they can't destroy what's been set into motion. This is bigger than any of us now, we've just got to keep the momentum going."

She said nothing, knowing she couldn't change my mind. I kissed her on the forehead as I picked up my weapons and started walking back the way we had come.

"We'll come back for you..." She said sobbing as she got into the tractor and pulled away.

We had wasted a lot of time. At a brisk jog, they would be here within minutes. There was no way of losing them with the gator leaking gas behind it. My jaw was clenched tight as I looked around, trying to find my vantage point.

There was no time to try and camouflage myself, I would need to find somewhere to hide. I walked about thirty yards back, looking for the place I would make my stand. Just a few feet off the trail was a large tree with plenty of low hanging branches. I climbed up a few, putting myself about 10 feet off the ground. the branch was sturdy enough to hold my weight near the trunk. I was crouched down, with the machine gun's tripod set against the branch.

They were out for my blood, but I would be waiting for them. I could not continue running away, it was against every instinct in my body. I had no flight reflex, this assault would not be over until one party was unable to walk away.

Luckily for me, I wouldn't have to wait much longer to find out who that was. I was out-manned by about two dozen. Outgunned by probably thousands of rounds and injured as well. My only advantage was that they had no way of knowing this. I would have to make myself appear as an angel of death in their eyes. A demon, using their fear against them. No mercy, no hesitation, and no survivors to bring back reinforcements.

Within minutes I heard their boots thundering down the trail in unison. The sound of their feet amplified by the almost complete silence of the woods. Even the birds had left, they wanted no part of this.

I waited patiently, as I had been trained to do. Taking measured breaths, biding my time until my enemy would inevitably step into my sights. I would strike when they were so close that they could not retreat.

I did not have to wait long. Soon they came into view, twenty six men. They looked well seasoned and experienced. However, they had made a fatal mistake in exchange for speediness. Their weapons were slung over their shoulders, hanging behind them so that they could chase us. Never expecting that I had decided I would no longer let them chase me.

Twenty six men in tight formation came running up the trail toward me. Their eyes on the tracks from the gator, they would not get close enough to see where we had stopped. They were only yards away, nearly in front of me. The trail was narrow, with huge trees walling them on each side.

I tossed grenades at them, in front and behind. They were caught off guard and had started to panic. They were now in my kill box. I trained my gun on them and opened fire.

22 men, the grenades had killed four. Another two were obviously injured.

The bullets tore through the leaves in front of me. Like a swarm of angry hornets, speeding toward their victims.

16 men left scrambling for cover, as my magazine was spent. I lobbed the rest of the grenades, corralling them back into the line of fire, afterward jumping out of the tree.

14 men, three more on the ground dieing from grievous wounds.

The strap on my gun snagged a branch on my way down. They had spotted me and came running. Ignoring their training in favor of allowing themselves to be controlled by their adrenaline. I released the hook, leaving the machine gun where it had stuck. I didn't have time to grab it.

Three men running right at me, raising their guns to fire. Rage in their eyes, they wanted my blood as payment for the friends I had taken from them. I unholstered my pistol, calmly moving forward toward them.

Only eleven left as I put bullets in heads of the three foolish enough to rush me. The others had begun to collect their-selves. The blasts had knocked them off their feet, they had scrambled for cover. I did not allow them to find it.

A few bullets in one man's back as he tried to run behind a tree. Ten left. I walked forward calmly firing. They were starting to fight back, but I had pressed toward them so aggressively that they couldn't afford to fire wildly without hitting their own men.

Another struggling to get a bead on me, his gun caught. He probably let the barrel hit the dirt in his panic. Another fatal mistake. I shot him from so close that his blood splatter reached me.

This time, I made the mistake. I had passed one man in order to shoot the other. The man behind me, much larger than the others, viciously slammed into me, tackling me to the ground. My gun went flying out of my hand. As we fell, I slipped thew Kukri out, driving it into his stomach as we hit the ground. His guts spilling from the gash.

His friends knew he was dead, they didn't hesitate to fire on us. I used him as a shield, buying time to pull out the other pistol, as he absorbed their fire. Reaching out from behind him I shot down two more soldiers.

Only half a dozen left standing, they scattered about. Desperately looking to distance themselves from me. Two had dropped their guns and appeared unarmed, I would deal with them last. I flung the dead man's body off of me and jumped to my feet.

I hadn't anticipated they would use their own grenades. One hitting just yards away, sending me flying into a nearby tree. I nearly blacked out from the force of the impact. Slinking to the ground, my ears ringing. I couldn't hear anything. The grenade had knocked down the other three who had been closing in on me. It was a twisted blessing, they probably would have had me seconds later. I forced myself to my feet once more. Struggling to get up where a low hanging branch had forced itself between my ribs.

I emptied the clip into a particularly motivated individual who was charging toward me, while firing erratically. One of his bullets had clipped my injured shoulder, the bandage taking more damage than my own arm.

I went to reload, only to realize my clips must have been knocked off when that grenade had sent me flying.

Five left, three armed the other two still trying to find weapons on the ground. I had no gun. The three saw their opportunity and advanced on me. They weren't firing, these bastards intended to take me alive if possible.

Unfortunately for them, it was not. I moved fast between the two closest to me. Swinging the kurki, knocking his barrel out of my way. I came down hard with the hatchet, lodging it into his skull. He crumpled to the ground, the other had decided I didn't need to live after all. He fired with his pistol, as I dislodged the hatchet, by kicking the dead man in the chest, and moved toward him. I took a bullet in my uninjured shoulder, but it was not enough to stop my momentum. The blade of the Kukri slashed across his face, blinding him. I followed by slamming the hatchet into his wrist, forcing him to drop the pistol.

I was unrelenting, like a hurricane of blades, raining blow upon blow onto him. The last armed soldier moved in trying to peel my attention away. I struck hard, swinging my arm backward slicing his throat. I moved to finish my first target. He had fallen to one knee under the force of my blows. Wounds all over him, I had broken his collar bone with the hatchet during the melee. He was completely incapable of fighting back at this point. Pleading, begging me not to kill him, I couldn't understand if it was Chinese or if his voice was just garbled by the injuries to his face.

No mercy, I reminded myself. He would return with more men. I hesitated for only a moment before driving the tip of the kukri down through his right trapezius muscle and into his lung.

Two men left. The hesitation was the last fatal mistake. I had ignored the other two men for far too long. Perhaps, I had even been arrogant in thinking they were not a threat. A hail of gunfire rang out, spraying me from the side and another from behind.

I had no idea how many bullets had torn through me as I sank to the ground in shock. They had won, I would not walk away from here. They couldn't possibly get me to an infirmary in time on foot. Then again, perhaps they no loner wanted me alive. In that case, they had probably succeeded.

I had fallen to my knees, slumping forward. The man who had shot me from behind yanked me upright by the throat. Pressing a pistol to my head with his free hand.

"Hey, that's my gun asshole." I said, spitting blood out of my mouth.

"Silence!" Yelled the other, viciously backhanding me. I fell to the ground from the force of the blow. His comrade, promptly yanked me back up. I was at their mercy, which meant I was no better off than they were at mine. Only an hour before we had been so close to escaping them.

Only minutes away from the road and a clear path to Seattle. I knew Jesse and Liz would make it. It pained me to know I was right, that they couldn't have made it, had I stayed with them.

"Tell me something, General," the soldier, clearly an officer of some kind, said snidely. "Did you really think you could withstand the might of the Empire of China?"

"Oh, you're an Empire now? That's precious." I said spitting more blood out of my mouth. I was bleeding out, but they didn't realize it. They were probably too shaken to assess the situation.

"Arrogant fool!" He said stomping his boot hard into my face. I felt my nose breaking, but this time the other soldier was kind enough to keep me upright. he bound my hands with zip ties as his Officer kept speaking. "You're going to make me a very famous man, General. I am deeply saddened by the loss of so many soldiers, but it will only serve to bolster my own reputation."

"I'm happy for you." I replied, amazed at his self righteousness. "But what makes you think you'll make it back alive?"

"You are as foolish as you are dangerous," He said, a glimmer of doubt flashing in his eyes. "Xiang, call in the helicopter for retrieval."

Xiang responded in Chinese and began to walk off as his superior continued to monologue like a classic cartoon villain.

"You talk too much." I said tired of listening to his poor English.

"I will take great pleasure in watching your execution, perhaps I will even be allowed to take part in it."

'Shao Xiao," Xiang said as he slowly walked up to his officer, continuing to speak in Chinese

"So your name's Chow Jow, huh?" I said trying to unsettle him. "Is there a Mrs Chow Jow?"

"Shao Xiao, you arrogant little scum," He snapped at me, more angry with whatever Xiang had told him. This time he kicked me hard in the ribs, connecting with where the branch had penetrated earlier. "It is not a name, it is a rank."

I clenched my teeth hard, trying not to scream from the pain. I was getting dizzy from the blood loss, even starting to feel a slight chill. I had no interest in carrying on their games, I needed to find a way to end this. I had accepted my fate and did not wish to waste any more time than was necessary.

"Stand up" He ordered me. Xiang pulling me up by the collar, "It seems our radio is damaged, we will have to march back to the cabin and retrieve another. Move fool!"

"What makes you think I'm going to let you live?" I asked looking him straight in the eyes, with a look of menace, fueled by the rage in my eyes. He was visibly taken aback.

"You couldn't possib.."

"Shut the fuck up." I snapped, "I killed two dozen of your men single-handedly. Another thirty or forty within the last week. Do you really think, the two of you will live long enough to find another radio?"

"You arrog..." He said moving closer to my face. "Arggh" He yelped as I headbutted him in the nose. Our faces were now both covered in blood.

Xiang stomped hard into the back of my leg, sending me to my knees.

"Pray!" I roared, struggling back to my feet. Xiang trying to yank me back down. "Pray to whatever god comforts you, beg him to accept your soul, because I promise you I will separate it from your body before this day ends. Ask your god whether you have been righteous. Ask him if the incredible suffering, I laid upon you and these men, was necessary. Nearly two dozen others have died today and I guarantee you will as well. Reconcile with your deity before I rob you of the opportunity." I continued as they stood there stunned. I flung myself upright, viciously slamming a boot into his chest. The kick sent the senior officer sprawling before his lackey pistol whipped me from behind.

"No matter," The officer said collecting himself. His eyes betraying the fear he felt. His voice trembling. "It will make very little difference whether you live or die. Kill him, Xiang. Make sure the pig stays down this time."

It would not matter, I had over-exerted myself and was already fading fast. I would soon pass out from the blood loss and be dead within half an hour. My thoughts had become so cloudy that I couldn't even figure out how many times I had been shot. I didn't even have the energy to move as Xiang walked slowly around me, standing next to the officer. He slowly drew his gun up, toward my head, his hands trembling.

This was the end. Xiang fired, I thought I heard more than one gun as the first bullet entered my chest knocking me to the ground.

I heard another gun for sure that time, was the officer shooting me too? I felt nothing, aside from my body being jerked by the impact of the bullets.

I fell completely to the ground, the left side of my face in mud, made of the dirt and blood. I found myself looking into the officer's eyes on the ground next to me as I lost consciousness.

Chapter 16

I was fading in and out of consciousness. I could hear things in the distance, voices that sounded like they were miles away. I couldn't force myself to open my eyes. I was dieing and I knew it. I was probably just hallucinating.

I thought I felt hands, touching me. Gently caressing my many wounds. Maybe they were angels, taking the pain away from me as I passed into the great beyond.

I had never been particularly religious, preferring logic and reason to blind dedication and zealotry. After all, religion was the biggest cause of violence in the world. Why would a peace loving god want people to kill each other in his name?

I felt my body being lifted. One leg dangling, dragging on the ground. Surely, that leg was coming with me to whatever afterlife I was on my way to. Why was it dragging in the dirt? I could still hear the voices in the distance, but couldn't make out what they were saying.

Suddenly, I was dropped. Only a few inches onto a hard surface. It didn't hurt, but it was certainly a shock. Enough to jar me and rouse me, if only a little.

It felt like I was rushing away, zooming through the air. I tried to open my eyes. I could barely move them.

Everything was so blurry, I could hardly see. I could almost make out faces hovering over me. The sun glaring over distant tree tops as they rushed by. I was fading in and out of consciousness again. Occasionally seeing the light breaking through the tree tops as I flew past. Where was I going?

Surely, if I was going to hell, for being a murderer, these mysterious figures would not be so nice to me. I was probably much more efficient at dealing pain and death than any demon.

Again, I faded. this time completely to black. A black so dark and deep that I could not wake up from it. I felt myself descending into darkness, never to open my eyes again.

I had always been a fighter. Ignoring my better judgment and rushing into battle with no thought for myself. And now, I was too tired to keep fighting. I was calm and at peace. My guilt was lost, left behind me as I fell on the battlefield that day.

The Chinese had won. I had failed. The General had failed his resistance. Their intent was to show the world that the General was just an ordinary man. A man made of flesh and blood. A man that could die like any other.

He was not just any ordinary man. He was a man who possessed a certain mettle, a different kind of valor. The kind of courage that could define a nation, one that would live on in others for generations after he was gone. The General had become more than just one person. He was the embodiment of hope, a symbol of perseverance and tenacity in the face of certain death.

They were right about one thing though, I could die. The Chinese succeeded in killing Connor Jeffries that day, but the General would continue to live on in the heart and soul of not only the Americans, but all those who had been searching for hope all over the world.

Connor Jeffries' story ends here, with him alone and bleeding to death in the woods.

Part II

The Hardest Loss

Chapter 17

It has been a little more than three months since we lost Connor. The world has not yet learned of the death of their General, but they have begun to grow anxious. Afraid for the worst, afraid for his safety and more importantly afraid that this shining beacon of light has been extinguished.

Fear is nothing new, we live with it every day. We know it as intimately as we do anger, anxiety, or even love. We all harbor these fears inside of us, even Connor did. I think in the days before his death, his greatest fear was that he would fail, that nothing he could do would make enough of a difference in this war.

At the end of the day, our fears never simply fade away. They merely take on new forms, spawning a whole new set of doubts. You see, on the day Connor died, my greatest fear was realized. I watched in agony as the path faded behind us. My body was wracked with the pain of losing him. It is a pain I still experience, and probably always will, every time I see his face in my mind. Each time, I mistakenly think I hear his voice in this distance. Every time a door opens, hoping it would be him walking through.

If there is one thing I hope to accomplish by sharing my story, it is this; Connor was not Jesus or some kind of super hero, he was a man crippled by fear and insecurity just like all the rest of us. What set him apart was his incredible drive to persevere when the darkest moments were still before him. Connor was a man, wrought with doubt and trepidation. What made him the General, is that he owned his fear. He acknowledged it and used it to push himself past limits that most men could not.

Now we must all attempt to own our fear in order to move forward. In this darkest of hours, there is no General for us to turn to. We are truly alone. I am truly alone now.

Loss affects us all differently. Most of us grieve first, the length depending upon the severity of the loss. Others try to suppress their grief until the pain over takes them and they can hide it no longer.

A profound loss is the hardest to deal with. Even if it is someone you have never actually met. When the few dozen citizens of this tiny town finally realized just whose dead body we had gone back for, the effect was unlike anything I had ever seen. Watching as people had to sit or began to bawl, definitely did not make the loss of the man I loved any easier. I couldn't hold that against them though, they had a right to mourn his loss, just as much as Jesse or I did. It was first time I had begun to fully realize just how much of an effect this persona had on the world. To us, it was just some long-shot, hoping it might inspire people of our city to fight back. Just a rouse we had crafted to draw attention away from those who couldn't defend themselves. It was our red herring.

The General had become so much more than a diversion for the scared and meek across the world. He began to represent hope. Hope in the face of an enemy that had effectively destroyed their governments ability to respond. Hope that they could no longer find in their house of worship. The hope that had been stolen from us all.

Each day, new rumors circulated of far off deeds and conspiracies that would become attributed to this resistance. A resistance with a dead leader and no real direction.

To the resistance, direction was not necessary. All they needed to know was that fighting back could make a difference and that their adopted leader scared the living shit out of the enemy. Cells had begun to spring up at exponential rates, partly because their was no real organization that they could turn to as a way of keeping each other safe. They fought in the streets, attacked Chinese operational centers, and crippled their intelligence systems from the safety of their own homes.

Of course, all leaders have their detractors and The General and his Resistance were no different. Critics accused him of stoking the fire, leading our youth headlong into a certain death, or even playing the world's cruelest practical joke. In spite of all their bile, one thing the critics could not deny was the results the resistance had begun to see.

For the most part, the military allowed this. They turned their head and let them carry on, while their inept leadership forced them to standby and watch. Many were convinced that the military itself was playing a part, allowing soldiers and marines to sneak off base to carry out attacks or helping to arm local fighters. Of course they officially deny this, but our armed guards would probably tell you differently.

In fact, in the new President's eyes, we were priority one. Two of the best Marine Recon teams were assigned as our personal guard after Connor passed away. To her, we would be just as valuable when the time came.

In the first few days after we arrived, I spent most of my time in an uncomfortable chair by Jesse's bed. He was recuperating in the town's only doctor's house. Dr. Brier was once considered to be among the elite surgeons in the country. After thirty years of trauma surgery in Seattle he had decided to move to Upper Lake Malakwa, where he had owned a weekend house for many years. He was gentle to the point of putting you at ease, even when giving bad news. After we arrived, he insisted we stay with him until better arrangements could be made.

Jesse's wound had been severe, but luckily he would make a full recovery after a few months. Dr. Brier had to have him pretty heavily sedated for a little more than a week due to the pain, so I spent my days sitting by him, in shock at what had happened. I was dieing inside and had no one to turn to. Who could fully understand my pain at this point?

It was such a shame to not be able to fully appreciate the beauty we were surrounded by. This little town was nestled firmly within a marvel of nature. Only accessible with a four wheel drive vehicle, you have to make your way past the dirt roads around Lake Malakwa-proper to a spot where there is a tiny inlet between two almost mountainous hills. This pass is about two miles long and climbs higher and higher into the hills until you finally reach Upper Lake Malakwa. After a bad storm, it could take days for the pass to be cleared out. Of the forty or so people who live here year round, there are only about fifteen houses and a few shops, all situated at the north end of the lake.

If you're lucky, you can make your way down to the dock and watch the sun rise over the hills. It was on a particularly beautiful morning like this that I met Jeanine. As I sat there watching the sun crest over the hills, listening to birds sing something inside of me finally snapped. I began to cry, asking myself how God could have created a world so beautiful only to inhabit it with people who were so horrible.

"It never gets any easier sweetheart," A lady in her mid-sixties said as she sat down beside me, draping her arm across my shoulders. I hadn't even heard her coming. "I lost my Burt some twenty years ago and it still knocks the breath out of me how bad I miss him sometimes."

I said nothing, I just sat there crying and truly glad for the company.

"I like to think that we all return to the place we love the most when we're gone." She continued. "That's why I never could bring myself to leave this little place. In fact, there was nothing Burt loved more than to come out here before Sunrise and do some fishing. I'd sit here watching him, waiting for the sun to come up, just like it is right now."

"It's the prettiest sunrise I've ever seen." I said before being overcome with tears again.

"Well darlin', it comes up every morning and only gets prettier as the year goes on." She said, rubbing my shoulders. "My favorite time of year is early in spring when the snow starts melting and the critters are scurrying around again."

"You know Burt's favorite thing about spring time was all of the baby critters. I don't think there was a year that went by that he didn't bring home some poor little squirrel or fox or god knows what else to nurse back to health. I don't know how on earth he found 'em." She said, laughing. "Like I said honey, it never gets easier. But eventually, you wake up one morning in early spring and you'll start to see how beautiful everything still is and know that he would want you to be happy. More importantly, you realize that even though he might be gone, he's always gonna be here with you."

"Thank you," I said wiping my eyes with the cuff of the sweatshirt I was wearing. "I hope you're right, I really do because right now, I just don't know what to do with myself."

"It'll happen honey, you just can't rush it." She said, giving me a tight hug. "You deserve to feel every little thing you're feeling, it'll help you cope and don't let anybody tell you not to be sad if you want to be."

"I'm really sorry, but I can't remember your name," I said, "I know I've seen you at the doctor's house, helping him."

"It's Jeanine." She said, "If you'd like you can join me and Johann for some coffee."

"I think I would like that." I said as she helped me up and we walked back to her house.

"We're all pretty close knit here, you kind of have to be in a town this small." Jeanine explained as we walked past the little shops. "There's no room for gossip and pettiness when you're this secluded."

"That must be nice."

"Well don't get me wrong honey, we still have our little squabbles like any family would." She said laughing "But we get over it pretty quickly."

There was just one little road leading from the docks through the little strip of town, after about fifty yards it branched off going to houses and to the main road, which curved back to the pass. Almost everyone lived within a few hundred yards of the dock, with the exception of one or two houses a little ways back in the woods. The town was so secluded that it only had a single landline telephone, which was outside the general store, and that had only been there for ten years or so.

"Here we are," Jeanine said as she opened the waist high gate leading to her house, a cute little blue and white two story with a wrap around porch. "Burt and I built this place when we were around your age. It was our little labor of love."

"Good morning, ladies." Dr. Brier said, he was already there and had made the coffee. "I saw the two of you down at the docks when I got up and thought it best to give you a little time together."

"Well thank you, Johann." Jeanine said as she went to grab mugs from the cupboard. "You know if you two get tired of sleeping in the doctor's office I've got a few empty rooms."

"Oh and leave me with no one to keep me company, I see." Dr. Brier said feigning indignation.

"You don't have to make a decision right now, honey." She said, "but the offer is there if you decide to. Besides, that boy is gonna need to get some real meals into him soon, so once he's up and about you two can eat here with Johann and I."

"Are you two-"

"Oh god no, I haven't been with a woman in over fifty years." Dr. Brier said laughing. "and I'm not inclined to try again."

"We're just old friends honey," she said

"Very old friends." he added

"Well, you might be old Johann, but I'm not a day over forty."

"Her late husband Burt and I were in the army together, about a hundred years ago." He said as we sat down at her table, her kitchen adorned with little cow and watermelon statuettes. "After our service ended we went our separate ways until about ten years later when he came into the emergency room after cutting himself pretty badly building god knows what. As it happened, I was working the ER that night and we caught up. He told me about this doll he had just met and how his construction business was just starting to take off."

"And who was this hussy?" Jeanine asked jokingly.

"Well of course, it was Jeanine here," He said "We all went out for drinks a few weeks later and got on so well. Those two were a match made in heaven. They built this little house right after they had their first kid, my God-daughter Sophia. Would you believe there was only the general store and about five other homes at the time?"

"It's so hard to tell, everything looks like it's frozen outside of time here." I replied

"Well, Burt just loved building rustic old homes." Jeanine said, "He hated how the country was turning into one giant suburb where every house was exactly the same. So every few years a new couple would fall in love with this place and Burt would have to bring a crew out for a few months to build their house. All but two of the newer homes were built by us."

"Mine included," Johann added. "I never had any children and I think Burt always knew I'd move out here so I came in one weekend and he had added a sign to the front yard like those old hotels, but instead of vacancy it said "The Doctor is " either in or out."

"So when did you move out here for good?" I asked sipping my coffee. It had been a while since I had drunk coffee, my stomach wasn't able to handle with all the stress.

"Well some years ago right before my partner passed away, god bless his soul," he replied "I decided that there were enough hot shot young doctors in Seattle and that we would retire early. I had hoped it would help him, and it did for a time. He was happy just to sit outside in his wheelchair, so it was an easy decision. We had always wanted to move out here and sip tea on the porch with Burt and Jeanine, after all."

"I'm so sorry to hear that." I said

"Don't be honey, we had love and that's all that really matters in this life." He said smiling. "You might lose your partner, but no one can ever take away what you shared. You'll always have those memories."

"I hope I'm not being too upfront, Liz sweety," Jeanine said "I didn't know Connor, but I can tell he loved you with everything he had. Just try and ignore all this talk of the General, for now, and remember him for who he was and who you two were together. Don't worry about all this talk of unfinished business and his role in this war, all that matters right now is you and Jesse and how you two are gonna continue moving forward with your life."

"I know, I'm just so lost and scared right now." I said, the tears creeping back as they did so often.

"Well honey, that's ok. When you're with someone for so long, they become a part of your identity and after losing them you have to start to learn who you are on your own." Johann said, "But you don't have to forget them, you just have to find out how they helped to make you a stronger person."

Chapter 18

Breakfast with Johann and Jeanine had been a bit of a wake up call for me. I was still drowning in my thoughts and the pain had not eased, but I was starting to see a few rays of sunshine through the clouds. Finally I was able to pull myself up in the morning, to engage other people, without my mind screaming for me to run away.

I told myself that if I kept busy I could start to cope. There was next to nothing to busy myself with in a town so small, so I took to morning jogs by the lake before breakfast with the doctor and Jeanine. Later I would help Johann around his office if he needed anything, but there was never much. He had never had anyone work for him until recently and now he had two eager medics assigned solely to assist him.

They were smart kids, who both wanted to continue their medical training after their service ended. I could tell he was getting a lot of enjoyment out of tutoring them. Even with the influx of the dozen or so soldiers, this little village was still dreary. The military had set up at the bed and breakfast, taking all the spare rooms for quarters and for their makeshift command center. It didn't matter though because no visitors had come since the attacks started. Even in early fall, no one would be going on vacation this year.

Around mid morning, Jeanine and I would go out to the community garden to tend it. I had lived in New York all of my life, so I had never had an opportunity to test my green thumb. I wasn't very good at it, but it was nice to work up a sweat. Afterward we would have lunch with whichever soldiers happened to be around and then Jeanine would make her rounds with the local kids to make sure they had done their school work.

Normally, they would have had about an hour drive to school. Given the circumstances, Jeanine had taken it upon herself to download lesson plans and work with the kids. She had been retired for a while now, but she had been an English teacher at the high school the kids attended.

With Jesse starting to come to and being able to move around without heavy drugs, he had begrudgingly agreed to do the coursework for his GED. Unfortunately, he wouldn't be able to take the tests any time soon.

"Do you think I can go running with you in the mornings?" He asked me, "I'm going stir crazy in here, everything is so sterile."

"I know, I hate that hospital smell." I laughed, "But yeah, as soon as Johann gives you the OK, you can start running with me."

"How far do you usually go?"

"I'm not sure exactly how far it is," I responded "usually I'll get about halfway to the pass before I turn around. There's a hunters stand thingy that I use as a marker."

"We should make the medics go too as punishment for using me as their guinea pig." he joked

"Oh they're not that bad," I said "I actually think they're kind of sweet. You know, Coffey thinks you're cute."

"Oh what the hell," He said, his face turning red "She could probably beat me up."

"Probably, but I think the two of them have a little something going on."

"Good," he said relieved "that means I don't have to worry about some older army chick beating me up."

"Yeah, she's probably got some kind of hand to hand training."

"I bet you could take her Liz." he said, "you're like a 12th degree ninja or some shit right?"

"It's Krav Maga and there aren't really belts, silly." I said

"Why don't they have belts? That's the coolest part."

"Well some places use them, but it's not technically a sports martial arts. Most schools use badges on your uniform."

"What kind are you?"

"I'm a phase one instructor." I said, "I used to do the self defense courses for women."

"You're only allowed to teach women?"

"Are you blonde or just hopped up on those pain meds?" I said laughing at him.

"Probably both. So you can teach guys how to do it to?"

"Yes..."

"Can you teach me?" He asked timidly. "I think I should probably learn how to fight now that Connor isn't here to do it for me."

"Yeah, hun." I said patting his shoulder. "On one condition though, ok?"

"I promise I won't try to beat people up," he said quickly.

"Well, that's a start, but that's not what I need from you." I told him, "You're going to have to go through some grief counseling. We both are I think."

"With who?" He asked, obviously confused by the prospect.

"Well, you'll have to settle for me for a while, but we won't be in this town forever. After that, we'll find someone in Seattle."

"Oh yeah," he said, "I forgot you were a social worker."

"Well, I'm sure they've fired me by now." I joked.

"Okay, it's a deal." He said rushing out of the room before I could trick him into anything else.

"Where are you going?" I asked bewildered.

"I'm gonna go find Dr. Brier," He hollered back to me without stopping.

Later that night as we were eating dinner, I asked Jeanine if she was sure she wanted us to stay with her. She assured me that she did, which Jesse was pretty excited about.

"Well young man," Johann said "you've got a few days left still."

"Why? I feel fine."

"That's because of your good friend, codeine." Johann said, "You may feel fine, but we need to do some blood work, x rays, and a few more tests before I'm comfortable with you being active."

"Do we have to go somewhere to do that?" He asked, seemingly nervous about the prospect of leaving the security of this hidden little town.

"No, no. Not at all." He replied. "I have all of the equipment at my house. The portable x-ray machine isn't quite hospital quality, but it will suffice."

"You don't have to send his blood-work to a lab?" I asked

"I would normally, but our friends from the army basically brought a field hospital with them when they arrived." He explained, "and our lovely medics were able to convince them to leave it as long as we needed it."

"In case those marine boys get too rowdy, I'm sure." Jeanine said.

"Connor was a marine" Jesse mumbled through mouthfuls of food. It was only the second day Johann had allowed him to come over for dinner. After so long in the wilderness he was scarfing down food like he'd never had a real meal before.

"What did he do in the Marines?" Jeanine asked, "If you don't mind talking about it."

"It's ok," I said, "He was in Recon. After training he spent a few years in Central and South America. He just called it the jungle, most of the time."

"Why was he stationed down there?"

"He never said too much about it," I replied "But apparently it was a lot of intelligence gathering and helping the governments with extractions of hostages."

"Oh my," Jeanine said, "Were they fighting with the drug cartels?"

"I think so," I told her, "But he did say that he had been to Venezuela and Columbia."

"Isn't that where all the drugs come from?"

"Pretty much, but the governments are mostly corrupt, so they're involved." I said, "He had a pretty nasty scar on his forearm that he got in Venezuela on razor wire."

"Did he ever get shot?" Jesse asked, still gobbling food like it was thanksgiving.

"No, he did most of the planning and would go in while the rest of the team was keeping the guards or whatever busy."

"Burt always said that a man without a plan is like a fisherman who forgot his pole." Jeanine said.

"Connor always had a plan," I said, surprised by how easy it was to talk about him. "He was a brilliant strategist, he was always aware of everything happening around him. All of our friends hated playing games with him, he always won."

"Hey, did he do that krab mava stuff too?" Jesse asked.

"Yeah," I said laughing at his version of the name. "It was so funny, the first class we took together, the assistant instructor was trying to be a bad ass and asked if anyone thought they could take him and saying how he could literally kill people with his bare hands."

"I bet Connor beat his ass." Jesse interrupted. "I mean butt, sorry."

"Honey, I was married to a sailor," Jeanine said "Believe me, I heard a lot worse from Burt and Johann when we were young."

"We really mellowed with age, didn't we?" Johann said fondly.

"You two sure did, but not before teaching James a few new words." She responded with a smile, referring to her youngest son.

"He loved sneaking down to watch us play poker," Johann said incredulously "It couldn't be helped!"

"I'm sorry honey, we interrupted you, didn't we?" Jeanine asked.

"It's ok," I said, I was growing fond of their stories. "Connor didn't say anything at first, but then the guy picked a student anyways. He looked terrified so Connor asked if he could spar with him in his place. So this guy, the assistant instructor, he was this big red headed guy, probably four inches taller than Connor and he didn't wait, he just started going after him as soon as he put the gloves and head gear on."

"What a punk" Jesse said.

"Yeah, he kind of was." I continued, "Of course, that kind of pissed Connor off. So he let the guy swing, just dodging him for about a minute. It was just making him mad, he looked like a giant angry beet, his face was so red. Then he does this lunging side kick at Connor and he just side stepped it and nailed him right in the jaw. The instructor just hit the ground. He was out for like five minutes."

"It's hard to imagine he would have much authority over the class after that." Johann said.

"Well the owner was watching from his office and sent him home." I told him, "If I remember right, he ended up getting fired about a month later because of his temper."

"I wouldn't have come back if I got handled by a student" Jesse said laughing.

"I know," I said. "Connor actually used to fight competitively when he was a kid."

"We had our son James in boxing lessons when he was younger," Jeanine said. "He was getting beat up on by older boys almost every day. Did Connor have problems with bullies?"

"Well, his parents owned an auto garage" I told them, "and next door was a Kung Fu studio. His dad said he used to come to the shop everyday after school and would sneak off and watch them through the window. He would beg him to let him join, but his mom didn't want him learning how to beat people up."

"That didn't do a lot of good," Jesse said, still eating even though everyone else had finished much earlier.

"It was relatively new at the time so they weren't making a lot of money and the owner worked out a deal to cover some car repairs in exchange for lessons. Since he was there everyday anyways, he would sit in the dojo and watch the older kids on days he didn't have his class. He was six or seven when he started, I don't remember which."

"So he was basically doing it his whole life right?"

"Yeah, pretty much and he was good at it, so by the time he was eight he had won a few tournaments and was getting the lessons for free just because it was good for the studio."

"Oh my, I didn't realize they let kids compete so young." Jeanine said as she was clearing off the table.

"Yup, he went to the Junior Olympics Twice. At some point the owner's brother opened a boxing gym and talked Connor's parents into letting him train a few days a week. Which of course he did. He was so good that the Olympic Committee started courting him for three or four different things when he was fifteen."

"No kidding?" Johann said, "He went to the Olympics?"

"Actually no," I told him "I guess by that age the military recruiters were talking to kids at his school and he fell in love with the idea of being a Marine. It almost broke his dad's heart when he told him, he said he was pretty mad at him for throwing away his shot like that."

"Well hell, I would be too." Jeanine said.

"Yeah, but I guess he came to terms with it." I said, "The first time I met his parents, his dad was showing me all of Connor's trophies and at the top of the book case was his pictures from bootcamp and of them at his graduation. He said watching Connor graduate top of his company was the proudest day of their lives."

"Hey, do they do Kung Fu in the marines?" Jesse asked, almost to himself.

"No they have MCMAP, he was actually certified to instruct in that too."

"Sounds like a happy meal."

Oy, this kid." Johann said getting up from the table to help Jeanine with the dishes, "He kills me, he spends his entire day trying to make me laugh."

It was the first good night I had since we arrived here. For a while I didn't even think about the war raging all around us. Spending time in the company of such kind people had taught me that even in the midst of conflict, life keeps going and we have to as well. I couldn't keep telling myself that someday I could be happy again, someday I would be able to hold my head high once more after the war was over. I didn't need to wait that long.

Chapter 19

After running Jesse through the gamut of tests, Johann allowed him to go jogging with me in the mornings. Though, he wasn't comfortable with any other kind of training yet. Jesse understood when he was told that we needed to see how his wound was responding to mild activity before becoming more involved.

I could tell he was in pain, but he was trying hard to hide it. Connor wouldn't complain about it he would say. He was right, Connor would probably suck it up and deal with it privately. It had been his worst quality. I worried about him, in the back of my mind I feared that he felt responsible to continue what we had started.

We spent much of the next month adjusting to the lifestyle of this small town. Helping the locals out where they needed and finding ways to occupy our days. Jeanine had moved us in the very day Johann gave Jesse the go ahead. Jesse was happy about it, he had grown attached to Jeanine quickly. I couldn't begrudge him that. She was the prodigal grandmother; always worried, nurturing, and one hell of a good cook.

I think Jeanine enjoyed it just as much as he did. Her kids had been gone for years, only visiting occasionally with her grand children. Her son James, the youngest, had two grown kids himself. He was some kind of a business man and traveled constantly. Luckily he had been in New Zealand with his wife and youngest son when the war started. They were stuck on a perpetual vacation.

Her daughter Sophia now lived in Sacramento with her sixteen year old daughter, JoAnne. She had been named her after Johann, with whom she was extremely close. Jeanine had only heard from her once in the last few months, when she called to tell her they were safe. I think having us around helped her deal with her her anxiety about her children's well being.

For the next month we settled into our new routine, each day growing closer to our new friends. We were even getting to know the members of the recon teams, even though they tried to remain professional at all times. Soon enough Jeanine and the owner of the one restaurant in town were having a little banquet every night and nearly everyone would be there. Everyday was like a mini thanksgiving.

By the end of summer Jesse and I's morning runs had grown into a community event. When I started training him in Krav Maga down by the docks, a crowd would gather and soon we had a full class of town members and military personnel alike.

Jesse excelled, he pushed himself harder than the others. He had grown fiercely determined to be the best and his Parkour skills gave him an advantage that I hadn't expected. He was fast and didn't hesitate to fling himself at his sparring partner, often catching them off guard. He was quickly proving to be too much for even some of the marines.

He never submitted, always fighting and struggling to gain the upper hand even when outclassed. His intensity soon burned into the minds of the others, helping them to realize that we couldn't possibly be safe here forever. The PLA would come for us at some point and we had to be ready.

An unexpected visit in late summer cemented our resolve and withdrew all doubts that our safe haven was hidden away from the world.

One morning in late august, as we shared our morning coffee, a frantic knock came at the door. It was Lt. Col. Sombers, the man in charge of both the Force Recon and the Deep Recon teams stationed here. Whatever he had came for seemed to be of the utmost importance, I couldn't recall him ever looking nervous.

"Is everything alright?" I asked as I opened the door to invite him inside.

"Yes, Ma'am," He replied "There is no immediate danger, but I need you and the Dr to come with me right away."

"What's going on?" I asked worried, even though he had said we weren't in danger.

"I'm not at liberty to discuss that right now." He replied sternly, "Please grab your coats and come with me, I'll explain once we are back at command."

"I've found in cases like this, that it's best not to even bother asking," Johann said as he took my arm, following the Lt. Col out the door.

"Well then, I guess I'll see you for lunch." Jeanine said looking confounded. "Will you be joining us Mitchell?"

"If I am able to, ma'am." Sombers replied with a smile.

As we approached the bed and breakfast/command post we noticed extra military personnel hovering in the area.

"Darling, do you see that man to our right?" Johann asked.

"Yes, the one in the suit, looks like secret service." I said "That can't be right, we already have two recon teams why would they send us more people?"

"Well either something very bad is going to happen soon or we are about to meet someone very important." He replied casually, seeming certain of the latter.

We went inside and were stopped at the entrance by two more men in suits, who insisted upon searching us.

"Gentleman, I don't think that's necessary." Sombers told them.

"With all due respect sir, it isn't your decision." One replied, "Everyone is searched, trust is not a luxury we can afford."

"Very well," He said "Let's not keep them waiting any longer than is necessary."

"Of course," The agent replied and then to his ear piece. "Delta One, the package has been cleared for Whisper."

A moment later he led us upstairs to the room furthest back, which had an additional two guards in front of it armed with assault rifles. Our escort opened the door and led us inside, taking up near just inside the door like a statue.

"Dr Brier, Ms. Johnson please have a seat." A short, but intimidating woman told us as we entered.

"A pleasure to meet you Madam Secretary." Johann said as we took a seat, I had not recognized her. She was the Secretary of Defense, Susan Thompson. "I apologize, but I don't believe I know who this gentleman is."

"Commandant Rigalio, of the Marine Corps." He responded, shaking first Johann's, then my hand. "You probably haven't heard, but Mrs. Thompson is our President now."

"I don't understand." I said, I had remembered she was acting President, but why was she here?

"Well, when Washington was attacked we lost most of our elected officials." He replied.

"No, no I'm sorry. I understand that, I just don't understand why you needed to see us." I explained.

"We've come to discuss Mr. Jeffries." She said, her voice even and firm. "You see, your partner has had an impact on this conflict in a way no one could have envisioned."

"I've heard a little from the medics and recon teams." I said, "Mostly hearsay that they encountered before coming here."

"The impact on our private citizens has become unquantifiable." She told me handing me a dossier. "I want you to have this, it's confirmed reports of activity within The Resistance."

"What do you mean?" I asked "The resistance doesn't exist, it's just something Connor said to inspire people."

"And inspire them, he did." the Commandant interjected. "Our best estimate puts this movement at well over fifteen million active citizens so far."

"What? How is that even possible?" I said, in shock.

"The Chinese and it's allies were only able to cripple internet access for a matter of days, only hours in some areas." Johnson told me, "By the time access had been restored, your friend Raul had leaked his conversation to the associated press and over thirty other independent news outlets. The tape became known as "The Rallying Call", by most and then it went viral. Hackers and technicians started interspersing parts of the audio over radio shows and on the news. Your program will cut out for a moment to a black screen with only a segment of the tape playing."

"Simply amazing." Johann said

"I'm not sure how you missed it to be honest," Rigalio said laughing, "We know there are satellites that provide access to the internet in this town."

"To be honest, I was preoccupied." I said, it came out sounding rude which I had not intended.

"It's alright Elizabeth." The President said.

"You can call me Liz," I said "I haven't been called by my full name since I was in preschool."

"I lost my partner at the beginning of this whole thing." She continued. "He was getting ready to board a plane at Dulles when the airport was attacked. Not many people can understand that kind of loss, it is a unique kind of pain to have someone violently taken from you."

"I'm sorry to hear that." I said, knowing that I was one of the few people who did fully understand her pain. "but with all due respect, you still haven't told us why you have come here."

"You're very direct, I admire that." She said with a smile, "We came to consult Johann and felt that you should be here since any decisions are yours to make."

"What kind of decisions?"

"As you know, this place is easily defendable," Rigalio said "but it is not ideal for such high value targets as yourself. The question is not if the PLA will strike, but when."

"So you want to move us?" I said, "We can't just go. I won't leave Connor."

"There comes a time when you have to accept your loss and think of the safety of the people around you." Thompson said calmly.

"I am not comfortable with the thought of moving him." Johann said.

"Dr. Brier, the field surgery team we sent you was comprised of some of the best doctors in the Navy."  
Rigalio said, "When we debriefed them, they spoke of you with the utmost confidence. We respect your opinion immensely, but it is not a matter that we can leave without discussion."

"I understand, what would you have me do?" he asked.

"At this point we must weigh the options and find the one that will benefit our cause more." Thompson said, "Liz please believe me when I tell you, we do not take this lightly."

"One option is full disclosure and a public memorial." Rigalio said.

"Excuse me?" Johann said in disbelief.

"Our analysts believe his death could have as big of an impact as any prolonged effort of leadership."

"Are you asking me to take him off of life support?" Johann said, the blood rushing to his face.

"Our surgeons said there is little chance of long term survival and virtually no plausibility of recovery, doctor." Thompson said.

"Madam, I don't think you fully understand this situation. He is not brain dead, his body has simply shut down as a coping mechanism. The trauma he endured was massive and the blood loss triggered a stroke, but he is certainly not unresponsive."

"Are you telling me that he's regained mobility?" She asked, leaning forward in her chair.

"No ma'am, I am not. What I am telling you, is that his CT's show a very high level of brain function. His mind is active and he very well may be trapped inside himself fighting to get out. Under no circumstances will I allow you to take him off of support as long as this is the case."

"How can you be sure of this?" Rigalio asked. "Our medics haven't reported anything similar."

"Sir, I have been a trauma surgeon for longer than those two wonderful young medics have been alive." He replied, seemingly more collected now. "I doubt they have any expertise in how the brain reacts to trauma of this scale or even how to read those tests."

"Understand, that we want you to have the best team available," The president said, "We can have better trained attendees out here by tonight."

"That won't be necessary," He said "Those two have done splendidly and I do not wish to have them carted off at this point."

"Our second option," Rigalio said after a short pause. "would be moving him to a secure base. We have set up a joint base near the great lakes with our Canadian allies. It is one of the most secure in the world."

"I'm so god damn tired of hiding," I said, exasperated, "I'm here with a seventeen year old boy who has no family left in the world. Trying my hardest not to let him turn himself into another martyr. I don't want him around any conflict if it can be helped. The kid doesn't need another rifle, he needs a therapist."

"The entirety of our great marine corps is at your disposal, ma'am." Rigalio said "All you need to do is let us know what you need and it will be taken care with the efficiency that only jar heads can muster."

"That reminds me," Thompson said, "Lt. Col. Sombers has a secure phone for you, the line will connect you directly to either Jerry or myself at any time."

"Why are we so important to you still, even with Connor incapacitated?"

"Liz, the resistance has become the largest militia force in the world, in just a matter of months." Thompson explained, "It has completely dwarfed our actual military."

"My marines number less than half a million." Rigalio said, "The entire military boasts about a quarter of the number under Connor's command. They recognize no authority, but his. You are priority one."

"What if I say no?" I asked

"No to what?" Johann asked puzzled.

"No to both options, that we are staying here for as long as it takes." I said "What if I told you that somehow, deep down inside that I know Connor will push through? That he will keep on fighting even if his body is dead? Connor never gives up, he's too damn stubborn and I know that eventually he'll win this fight too."

"I want nothing more in the world than for you to be right Ms. Johnson." the President said, looking as if she too would be overcome with emotion. "Dr. Brier what is your opinion?"

"My medical opinion is that anything is possible." Johann said, "This is a man who was already dead when he was brought to me. He has lost an incredible amount of blood, suffered at least seven gun shots, shrapnel and blunt trauma. Yet, somehow, we brought him back. Against all odds his mighty heart started beating again. Do I think that he can beat the odds? Absolutely, but I can not offer you a time frame."

"Unfortunately, I must offer you one doctor." Rigalio said. "There is a building PLA force outside of Portland, they have not attacked a single target. Our Intel shows them sending tracking teams all through the various national parks looking for something. We've also learned that a certain task force lost contact sometime around the incident that brought the General here."

"Jerry, I have to say I never thought I would have heard you call him that." Thompson said, slightly amused.

"Ma'am, with respect" he said looking at me, "this young man has earned that title with his own blood."

"Agreed," She said. "As Jerry was saying, there is a force massing in central Oregon and our Intel points toward an assault to drive out the general. Winter will be upon us soon and with the advances Jerry's Marines have made in south Asia, they will probably wait until there is a clear path through the mountains."

"We can always hope that they didn't learn from the history of nations who invaded Russia." Johann said.

"If only," Jerry responded, they were referring to history's numerous failed campaigns to take Russia in winter, only to lose the bulk of their forces to the elements. "Unfortunately, the Chinese are not the same podunk, overpopulated guys we dealt with for so long. As we sold our country away to them during the recessions, they used their new found capital to grow themselves at an exponential rate."

"Our ignorance and greed during those years allowed them incredible leverage, both politically and technologically." The president continued for him. "During the last ten years their collective knowledge grew in leaps and bounds and they invested all of the money we repaid back into their military. This plan has been in action for more than a decade, we allowed them the opportunity to become too powerful."

"The intelligence sharing agreements the last administration made..." I started

"Yes, Liz. We allowed them to pull the wool over our eyes. We had no choice because we were so indebted that we were far beyond the point that we could control negotiations." She explained. "As they grew their tourism industry, the massive ship yards and new airlines were, in reality, clandestine military operations. They were assembling their armada with the information we had sold them to settle more debts."

"So really, no one saw this coming?" Johann asked.

"Our greatest folly was turning our heads when we knew they could have been planning something against other countries," Rigalio said. "But we never expected them to attack us, we'd become arrogant even after losing our clout."

"So how much time do we have?" I asked

"I can give you six months, maybe seven." She said "The first of march is the absolute latest."

"Well then, let us pray for a miracle." Johann said.

"No, let's just have faith that Connor can push through one last time." I said solemnly.

Chapter 20

"Ms. Johnson," The President asked after they had finished briefing us, "I would like to know what happened the day of the attack that brought you here, if you don't mind sharing."

"Yeah, of course," I said reluctantly "Just bear with me, I haven't talked to anyone else about it before now."

"Of course, take your time." She said sitting down a digital recorder.

"What's that for?" I asked

"For Jerry and I to consult, if we need to."

"Ok," I said as I began "Well we had been on the run for two or three weeks, I can't remember how long. Connor had torn up his arm pretty badly trying to scale a cliff, his face as well."

"Ahh, I wondered how he got those cuts and scrapes." Johann said to himself.

"Right," I continued "So we found this ranger's cabin a few days later and this guy, Mike, was there. He was acting really weird, nervous even. We stayed there over night and Connor found a radio stuck to the bottom of a table when he was going through his bag."

"The next day Connor made Mike show him around, letting him think he was just curious about the place. In actuality, what he was doing was looking for an exit strategy and signs of whoever was forcing him to use that radio. I don't think he was a bad guy, but he was scared and willing to throw away our lives to save his own."

"While they were out, the radio went off. The guy was speaking English with a thick oriental accent. He came across a few times asking for an update. I didn't answer, but I took the radio into the other rooms and got our bags ready to go. When Connor and Jesse got back, I heard him trying to distract them while I was waiting in the other room. They didn't realize I had the radio. Then, Connor came into the room pretending to look for me. I handed him the gun and we walked back out. Connor was pleading with him, he didn't want to kill him. The guy had been almost begging us to make a difference the night before, I think he really meant it at the time."

"What happened next Liz," Johann said, his hand on my knee, gently coaxing me.

"He went for the radio," I said choking up a little, "It wasn't there, but Jesse didn't know that. He shot him, three times in the head."

"He did the right thing," Rigalio assured me.

"I know, believe me I know." I replied, "It's just that, well he's so young and he's had to kill so many people because he was unlucky enough to cross our path."

"He's very lucky to be alive, darling" Johann said.

"We made a frantic dash to the gator," I continued, "The Chinese had already sent scouts, they were chasing us. They must have known something was wrong after he never replied. Jesse was in the back shooting at them to hold them off. That's when he got shot. I climbed back, while Connor kept driving. He was in so much pain. He was crying, he thought he was going to die. Eventually I got him bandaged and Connor had to stop because they had hit the fuel line. He taped it up and made us leave him."

"I didn't want to leave," I said overcome with emotion. "I knew he wouldn't come with us though. I had this horrible feeling that it was the last time I would ever see him."

"He took a lot of weapons," I said forcing myself to get through this. "The path was only about ten feet wide with trees everywhere. It was ideal for the way Connor fought. He could get right in there to where they would have to shoot each other to take a shot at him. He had body armor on, but he always use to tell me how bad it was back when he was in the service."

"There was a three inch shard of metal sticking out of the chest plate when he arrived, he was blessed to be wrong." Johann added.

"So we kept going. I was trying to get to the road hoping to find someone. We had been so close. Only five minutes away. As the trail broke onto the road we nearly got hit by Terry's truck."

"Terry is who?" Johnson asked.

"Oh Terry," Johann said "He and his son TJ own the little restaurant down the way. They were on their way back from a hunting trip I believe."

"Yeah," I said "They were, they barely stopped in time. They almost t-boned us, the truck went sideways when they slammed on the breaks. They saw Jesse bleeding and thought it was a hunting accident, then TJ saw the assault rifle. I tried my best to explain who we were, luckily they watched more TV than I do. They parked the truck on the side of the road and set Jesse up in the back seat. TJ took the assault rifle, leaving Jesse with his shotgun, so he wouldn't have to reload every shot."

"Is this when Jesse placed the phone call?" Johnson asked.

"At some point yes," I said. "After we headed back, he must have unpacked the sat phone and called Raul. He knew Raul was in Seattle with the mayor of Portland."

"They were actually in my office at that exact moment." She commented.

"Right so that's how they knew where to send the surgeons when we got back, I guess." I continued. "When we arrived we saw Connor in the distance he was being drug to his feet by a soldier, it was only him and two others. Somehow they didn't even hear us."

"From the broken ribs, I assumed a grenade had thrown him into a tree or a rock" Johann said, "They were probably a little hard of hearing so soon afterward."

"We were too late though," I said. "They were about to execute him. The soldier and his boss, I think. I opened fire, so did TJ and Terry. I hit the guy behind him, they killed the officer I think. They had already started to shoot him, he was falling down when we killed them. I think my shot jerked the soldier just enough to avoid a direct hit in the back of his head. Johann said the bullet grazed the side of his skull and eye socket."

"Correct, it barely missed his eye." He said "But I have no way of knowing if it has affected his vision."

"He was dieing when I got to him." I said, doing my best not to let my voice break. "His eyes were open, but he couldn't see me. He kept mumbling, I couldn't understand him. We had to drag him to the gator because of all the dead bodies and broken branches around. I've never seen anything like that in my entire life. I thought the Mega Mart was the worst violence that I would ever witness. But this, it was something entirely else. It looked like Connor had slaughtered an entire army. How on earth one person, even him, could have done that is beyond me."

"What do you mean?" Rigalio asked.

"There were at least twenty bodies, some had been shot, others blown to pieces, a handful had been hacked up." I said. "You have to understand, Connor was an amazing fighter, but he was a better tactician. Even when he was fighting he was planning and adjusting his strategy in his mind. It was like a science to him. Everything he did was precise and timed."

"He was amazing with swords and knives as well," I said "His dad showed me an old video of him at an exhibition once, where his sensei had him surrounded by five people with weapons. It was all for show, but with Connor that only meant he was slowing down. Being careful not to hurt anyone."

"You know, according to his file, he was pretty heavily courted for a career in espionage after his time in Venezuela." Rigalio said.

"He never told me that," I responded.

"Of course not, it would have been classified," He said "He turned them down with no real explanation though."

"I think he wanted to go to school," I said smiling, "He told me he didn't reenlist because he didn't want to spend his life fighting. Funny how that turns out sometimes. Where was I?"

"You were saying how the area was pretty much destroyed." Johnson said. "By the way, I had a team comb the area and dispose of any evidence."

"By evidence you mean bodies?" I asked

"Among other things, yes."

"As we were dragging him to the gator to get back to the truck," I continued, "He was losing a lot of blood. I did my best to compress the wounds. We had to use every spare piece of clothing we had on us. He kept mumbling, I swear he said I was an angel."

"It's ok, darling" Johann said, I had started bawling. "Just take a deep breath."

"He, umm, he gasped for air as we laid him down on the back of the tractor." I said after a few moments, "We kind of dropped him, he was so heavy. It scared me so bad, when he gasped. I thought he was going to die right then."

"But he didn't" I said, "Not until later. We were on our way to Johann's. Jesse had told Raul where to send medics and we were headed here. TJ said he was such a great doctor, that if anyone could save him it would be Johann."

"He died as we were coming out of the pass. I looked down and he had stopped breathing, I couldn't get a pulse. I was so angry at him. I kept shaking him, yelling at him not to give up. Telling him that other people give up, but not him. He never surrenders and he can't now, when we all needed him the most."

"It was another fifteens minutes or so before we got here. Johann was at Jeanine's, TJ practically dragged him back. Terry and I laid him on the operating table in the main room, we began cutting away the clothes. Terry was fighting to get the body armor off of him."

"His chest was so bruised, it must have been from the bullets that didn't penetrate. He had cuts, and bullet holes everywhere. The whole time I kept trying to do CPR, but it wasn't working. Finally after what seemed like a year Johann arrived. Jeanine was running behind him. She was like his nurse."

"She's been helping me with the local kids for so long, she might as well have a license." Johann said.

"She was so calm, she just set up everything while you started working on him. You thought he still had a chance. It took almost forty five minutes for you to get a heart beat back."

"He had lost so much blood, there was hardly anything left to pump."

"That's what caused him to have the stroke that put him under right?"

"Yes, I believe so sweet heart." Johann told us. "You see when the body has had too much stress or trauma it attempts to reboot itself, almost like a computer. When his brain tried to hit the reset button, it sent him into this locked-in state, wherein he still has brain activity, but his body is not responding beyond breathing for himself. I do keep him on oxygen just to be safe though, I've found that relieving the stress on such a major system allows the body to focus elsewhere."

"In Captain Smother's debriefing he told me that you had helped pioneer a lot of the procedures used today in major trauma cases." Rigalio said.

"That was back in another life, Commandant. I'm just an old man living in the country now."

"Nonetheless, they said it was a privilege to work with you. I told them I would pass on their compliments."

"Well thank you, sir."

"Johann, I've been wondering how Jeanine knew how to set up those machines?"

"Oh that's simple dear," He said grinning "She's very nosey and likes to play with other people's toys."

"I'm not following you Doctor," Johnson said.

"She's a dear old friend," He explained, "She's spent so many years helping me around the office that she just kind of picked up on it over the years, that and she always wants to know which button does what."

"As soon as the helicopters arrived with the surgical team, she went and set up Jesse for surgery." I continued. "We had stopped most of his blood-loss already, but it was a little overwhelming with two critically injured patients and only one doctor."

"So Jeanine made two of them come with her to start work on Jesse. You would have thought she was the doctor, to hear her barking orders at them. Jesse was in surgery for, what five hours, to repair the tissue damage. Connor was in so long that I can't even recall."

"Nearly three days, dear." Added Johann.

"Doctor Brier, what exactly were the extent of his injuries?"

"Oh my, do we have enough time on that recorder?" He joked.

"Only the best for the President," Rigalio retorted.

"Well I've already mentioned the bullet that grazed the left side of his skull, damaging his eye-socket. Another large caliber round tore through his right trapezius just above the collar bone. His right kidney had to be removed because it was pierced by another bullet."

"His nose was broken pretty badly, along with quite a few contusions on his head courtesy of the butt of a rifle or pistol. Two rounds penetrated the body armor in his chest, one narrowly missing his heart and lodging into a rib behind it, the other did some minor damage to his lower left lung. He had shrapnel all over, it had to have been twenty pieces here and there. Hitting some large object did much more damage. Whatever caused that explosion, flung him into a tree which broke four ribs and severely damaged his right arm. He also had a deep cut from a limb, with splinters all around it. Some of the cuts were older, I assume from the cliff incident. That would also explain damage to the hand and the missing fingernail."

"My god, how could anyone survive that?" Johnson asked.

"That isn't all Madam." He said continuing to rattle off the injuries. "Several abrasions near the throat, were he had been drug by the collar, those only caused bruising and chafing. It looks as if another bullet grazed his ribs where they were broken, taking a chip of bone with it, but I didn't find a bullet there. He also suffered cuts to his wrist from plastic zip ties. He was also shot point blank in the left shoulder, but escaped any major damage, he must have been moving at the time. A few more shots grazed him, the only severe one being his leg. It barely missed his femoral artery due to the way he had been standing. I had never seen one person so severely injured able to be resuscitated. His will to live was incomparable. Which is why I believe he deserves more time."

"Can we see him?" Johnson asked.

"Liz, darling?" Johann said, allowing me to answer.

"I don't think I have to remind you that seeing his face, will put your life in unprecedented danger." I said, "But I feel compelled to express that much. We haven't let anyone aside from Jeanine, Terry, and TJ see him in order to keep them safe."

"Well, seeing as how I am the acting President, presiding over a council of joint chiefs who may be plotting against my life, I think I could do with a little more excitement." She said laughing, "Jerry here is the only one of those bastards that I can trust. I have to say I'm glad that out of all of them, the Marine is on my side."

"Ok well, let's go down to Johann's then." I said. "Oh before we go, what did you mean when you said the Marines were making progress in South Asia?"

"I'm not sure you have the clearance.." Rigalio started.

"Oh for Christ's sake Jerry," Johnson said. "These two have more then enough information already, allow them a little more."

"Yes ma'am." He said, "I suppose a person is easier to trust when you both have something to blackmail the other with."

"Fair enough," I replied.

"Well my boys are stationed all over the Pacific ocean, have been since world war two." He pointed out, "At the time of the attacks we had about 100,000 around japan and another 50,000 in South Korea, due to that little skirmish a while back."

"The one where the DKRP tried to launch a nuke?" Johann asked, "I'd hardly call that a little skirmish."

"Correct, doctor." he continued. "So my immediate orders were for them to start pushing toward the Chinese ports. The boys in South Korea, along with their army have made a helluva push toward the Yalu River. We expect them to break it within a week. The DKRP is imploding upon itself, and it's army is revolting."

"In Japan, we've been making bombing runs and sending in special forces teams to assault high value targets. They're building an unprecedented armada, as we speak, and our boys are slowing them down like only us jarheads can."

"Oh my," Johann said, as he led us into Connor's room. Very few people even knew someone was still here, and even less knew who he was. "Here he is."

"One day," The president said taking my hand, "we're going to look back on this and reflect upon how you three changed history. How you, Connor and Jesse helped renew our country's fighting spirit. For the first time since we dropped the bombs on Japan, our country is fighting for a cause that they believe in."

"You are so much more than a man" she said sitting down beside his bed, looking at him. He looked so peaceful, yet so haggard and rugged from all the fighting. "You've become a symbol of hope for not just America, but the entire world. Know that as long as you keep fighting for us, we will continue fighting for you."

Chapter 21

In the days after the President visited us, Connor seemed to take a turn for the worse. Each day his breathing grew more labored as if his lungs were starting to fail. Johann began frantically running tests, bracing for the worst. It was possible that his lung injuries has become infected.

"Johann," I told him one day as we were pouring through readouts for any sign of changes, "Please don't burden yourself with guilt. It isn't your fault if he got an infection."

"But it is." he said without looking up, "I have always been a consummate professional and in my decades as a surgeon, I have not once missed something like this. I am truly at a loss. I can't find anything."

"I know," I said, taking a short break to grab us coffee from the pot we had been cycling for two days. "I just don't understand. Nothing has really changed, the medics are both passed out from exhaustion trying to help figure out the CT scans."

"What was that?" He said looking up.

"The medics are exhausted," I replied confused.

"That's it," he said excitedly, "Go grab Somber and the medics!"

"What? Why?" I said confounded.

"You've figured it out," He said like a child who was looking through the window of a toy store. "Go get them, hurry."

"Oooook" I said, maybe he was started to become delusional due to the lack of sleep.

"Hey," I said gently shaking Coffey, who was now openly dating the other medic, Maddow. "Dr. Brier needs you two, it's urgent. I'm going to grab the Lt. Col., ok?"

"Yes ma'am," Maddow said, getting up on the other side of the pull out mattress they had been sharing.

"You two are so cute," I said grinning, giving them a hard time.

They had shared a mutual attraction ever since they had met the first day here. It only made sense that they would eventually become an item. They both embarrassed easily, so teasing them had become something of a game the residents used to amuse themselves. When I arrived at the bed and breakfast, Sombers was no where to be found, but his men said he hadn't been in the field. Confused I started walking toward the general store, hoping to find him there.

"Hey," I said when I spotted him have lunch with Jeanine on her porch, "What are you kids up to?"

"Well, the Lt Col was just telling me that Commandant Rigalio has recommended him for a promotion." She said, and hurried inside suspiciously.

"Oh yeah?" I asked, raising an eyebrow. "When did you talk to him?"

"Actually ma'am," He replied, calling my bluff, "He called last night. He asked me to relay a message to you even."

"Oh, you were being serious?" I said laughing, I was pretty tired myself. "What did he say?"

"Well, they've decided to let us connect to family members within the next week, all my men, the townsfolk, and yourself included."

"How do they know who we want to talk to?"

"Well, I guess they weren't lying when the President said that the entirety of our government is at our disposal."

"Even the long distance companies, I guess." I said making a dated reference.

"Did you need an escort to town to buy a calling card?" He asked continuing my bad joke.

"No, sorry." I said, "I almost forgot why I had come. Dr. Brier needs you for something, it seems important."

"Well then," he said after thanking Jeanine for lunch, "Let's not keep him waiting."

"So why were you at Jeanine's?" I asked on the walk back. "Are you two the next Coffey and Maddow?"

"Jeanine is a lovely lady," he said, "But I had come over to inform her that her daughter had made a request to have her youngest grandchild stay with her for a while."

"JoAnne?" I asked

"Yes Ma'am." he told me, "The mother made a request through the transit authority to send her up here and our Intel services picked it up. She'll be here within the week."

"Johann is going to be thrilled," I said happily.

"Jeanine thought so also." He replied, "Did he say what was so prudent?"

"No, we were pouring over Connor's test results and he had some kind of an epiphany."

"I certainly hope he's correct." Somber said. "Can I tell you something that stays between the two of us?"

"Sure," I said, this day kept getting weirder.

"Well, before my teams were routed here," He said "Commandant Rigalio and I were attempting to set up a sort of clandestine partnership with the local resistance fighters."

"My god," I said shocked, "It is true then. The military really is allowing people to sneak off base to fight?"

"Well it's unsanctioned of course," he explained, "The troops involved are all fully aware that if captured, they have not been given leave. But yes, we've been working on training and arming local militias."

"Why?" I asked, "Why not just recruit them?"

"Well ma'am," he said, "as you are aware, there is a certain amount of contention between the council of the joint chiefs at this time. The chairman would certainly not approve, however it allows our marines an unprecedented opportunity to fight in Asia. We would have seen them all pulled out if not for the Resistance."

"I still can't believe that Connor's message has actually taken a concrete form." I said in awe.

"Good Afternoon, Sir!" the medics said, saluting in unison as we walked through the door.

"At ease," he said taking a seat across from Johann who was still buried in paperwork. "Doctor, you called for me?"

"Oh yes," He said happily, "yes, I did indeed. I need a very large favor Lt. Col."

"And what might that be?"

"How intimate is your knowledge of our current naval hospitals?"

"As I understand, the are some of the most advanced facilities in the world," he replied.

"Excellent," Johann said as he handed him a piece of paper with something scribbled on it. "That machine, I saw it in a medical journal last year. It is a portable active brain imaging device."

"And you need this in order to find out why the General's body seems to be failing him?" he asked

"Yes, yes." he said pausing, "How did you know?"

"Doctor, I'm briefed on a daily basis."

"Ah yes, my apologies," He said, "I seem to be suffering from a profound lack of sleep."

"You're doing a fine job, regardless." He said trying to decipher what Johann had written. "is this the actual name of it?"

"Yes," he said laughing "as far as I am aware anyways."

"I can't believe that's a real world. These medical terms are beyond me."

"Can you secure one for us, sir?" Maddow asked eagerly.

"If I can manage to pronounce it, I'm sure." he said. "Please excuse me, I'll see what I can do."

"Thank you so very much Lt. Col." Johann said, frantically shaking his hand.

"Anytime, doctor." he said and left.

"So that's what you wanted?" I asked, unsure exactly what "it" was.

"Yes, you're the one who figured it out."

"How did I manage to do that?" I asked quizzically.

"You said they were exhausting themselves going through the brain scans and it hit me," he explained. "what we needed were not just stationary images, but an active view of his brain function."

"The doctor thinks he's losing function because he is stressing his nervous system, trying to force it to act!" Coffey blurted.

"Wait, are you telling me that he's trying to wake himself up?" I asked, so shocked I had to take a seat where Sombers had just left.

"Yes, darling," Johann said softly, "I believe that he is fighting to break out of this shell his body has become. if we can map the activity we may be able to kick start the process with certain types of therapy."

"I can't believe this," I said, my hands covering my nose and mouth as if praying. "Are you certain he'll come to eventually?"

"Coffey, Maddow please excuse us." Johann said kindly.

"Yes, sir," they said, leaving the room promptly.

"Liz, dear," he said sitting down in a closer chair, taking my hand. "Nothing is ever certain with catastrophic injuries like he has suffered. However, you know him better than anyone on earth, and I truly believe that the man you have taught us so much about is fighting to get out."

"Oh, Johann" I said hugging him. "I never thought I'd be able to look into his eyes again. I was so sure I had lost him forever. What if he comes back to me and only wants to keep fighting? I can't bear to lose him again."

"Well that is a decision that you will have to make when the time comes," He said comforting me as if he were my own father. "Just keep in mind that he may not be the same as when you saw him last, for better or worse."

"I know," I said my mind becoming numb, it was too much to process. "He might be blind, deaf or even worse."

"Those are all certainly possible," he said, "but what I mean is that you may find that he did not wake up at all, it's possible that he has been fully conscious and trapped in his own personal hell for the last few months with no relief from his pain, loneliness, or agony."

"Surely, he wouldn't be angry with me."

"No, darling probably not," he went on, "but I have encountered patients who awoke to find themselves in a changed world, after being driven to the edge of their mental faculties trying to shatter the wall in front of them."

"Well, Johann," I said "If that day ever comes then we're going to have to be there for Connor, at his side fighting through it just like he would do for us."

"Exactly, but let's hope no one gets shot this time." He said trying to make me smile. "I don't want to fill you with false expectations, but I think you have a right to prepare yourself."

Sombers soon came back to inform us that he had been able to get the device Johann requested, but it would take a few days.

The next day I was summoned to the command center where my phone call awaited. I was nervous, my heart beating a million miles a second, like a prisoner who placed all their faith in that solitary call to the outside world.

"Hello?" I said, holding my breath until I received an answer.

"Lizzy, it's mom." The voice on the other end answered.

"Mom?" I said stammering, "Mom are you ok? Is dad ok?"

"Baby, everyone is fine." She said in the Brooklyn accent I had loved so much as a child. It was an accent full of attitude and determination. "Dad and I are safe. In fact New York is one of the safest places on the planet right now."

"I'm so glad to hear that." I said at a loss for words.

"Baby, I need to ask you somethings," She said cautiously. "And you know you can tell me anything, right?"

"Right mom," I said as Sombers nodded, he had explained that he had to record all the calls for security reasons. "But you don't need to ask me."

"I had a feeling it was him," She said, we had such a close bond that she hadn't needed to ask if Connor was the General. "I'm so proud of you baby girl. Your daddy and I both are."

"Thank you mom," I said, "I was afraid you wouldn't understand if I ever told you."

"Oh honey," She said, "Your daddy knew as soon as he heard. He knew it was You and Connor who saved all them people."

"How did you know, mom?" I asked.

"Honey, don't you remember?" she explained, "When Connor's parents died and we came to town to help you guys with the funeral, your house was only a few blocks away from that store."

"Oh my god," I said recalling what had happened. "You're right, we went there to get food for the wake."

"Yeah, and Connor gave such a beautiful speech about his folks."

"He did," I said remembering how he had stood before the couple hundred people who had attended, stoically trying to honor his parents on what had until that point been the hardest day of his life. "Oh god mom, what would I have done without you? I couldn't even get him to eat, he was so broken up."

"That was more your daddy than me though, honey." She said "I think the hardest part was when they had to go deal with the bank about his parent's business."

"You're right," I said, "Daddy really loved Connor, I was so happy I had finally found a guy he didn't want to strangle."

"Sweetheart..." She said concerned.

"Yeah mom?"

"What do you mean, "he really loved him?" she asked. "Has something happened to Connor?"

"Oh god," I sad covering the receiver, unsure if I could even tell her. She was becoming frantic, I could hear her calling my name over and over.

"Your parents have been cleared," Sombers said, "In fact they're under protection."

"Thank you." I said, the god-damned tears welling up again. Was there no limit to how much I could cry?

"Lizzy, honey, please answer me." My mom begged.

"Yes mom, something happened."

"Oh no, oh god no. Are you safe?" She said sounding as if her heart was breaking.

"Mom, right now I am the safest person in the world, I promise you that."

"Sweety, what happened to Connor," she asked, but in a way that sounded like she didn't really want to confront the truth. "We heard rumors he might have died, that's why there haven't been any more tapes..."

"He's not dead mom," I said wondering how many times I'd have to tell this story. "But he's close. We lost him for a while after we were ambushed trying to flee Portland."

"Honey what do you mean close?" I heard my dad in the background. "That doesn't make sense, how can you be close to dead?"

"Hi daddy, I miss you." I said before continuing. "Johann said he's.."

"Who the hell is Johann?" My dad said, he was gruff but endearingly sweet.

"Johann is his doctor Daddy," I said to him, they were on speakerphone. God how I hated that. "He's in what they call a locked in state."

"Like a coma?" my mom asked, her accent skewing the words.

"Kind of mom," I said trying to explain it. "but he has a high level of brain activity, his body just won't respond."

"Come home Lizzy," my dad said sounding more vulnerable than I had ever heard him. "Please just come home so we can know you're safe."

"Daddy, you know I can't just leave him." I said, "Would you just leave mom if she was sick?"

"No, baby of course not." he said dejectedly. "Lizzy, he called me about a month before this all happened, did you know that?"

"No daddy," I said confused, "What was he calling you for?" Usually, I called them and they asked to talk to him at some point.

"He asked-" My dad said, starting to choke up, I had only once seen him cry. I was a just a kid, only eleven and my mother had just miscarried at seven months. "He wanted to know if he had my approval to propose to you. He asked me for my permission, Lizzy."

I said nothing, it felt like I had just been hit by a train. All at once I was reliving every moment of our struggle to survive while simultaneously imagining what our life could have been like, if not for the war.

"He never got around to it, did he?" my dad asked after a moment. "I'm sorry, Lizzy I just wanted you know. I told him yes, that he was already a part of this family and if he ever wanted out, that's when I was going to put my foot down."

"I can't believe this," I said still in complete shock. "Why did this have to happen to us?"

"We've neva been too religious, sweetheart," my mom said. "We always tried to teach you that whatever god is out there, well he's gonna judge you based on your actions, not which philosophy you subscribe too. Connor understood that. I think he knew that he had been given a chance to make a difference and took it, it doesn't mean he loved you any less."

"He laid down his life to save me and the kid that was running with us," I said unable to even continue my sentence, the pain had faded some, but now it was back and unbearable.

"And he did save you, Lizzy," My dad said "In fact he probably saved all of us. You know after the tapes started playing, that's when people really started fighting back, they stopped being so god damn afraid and started giving these guys a reason to be more scared of us than we are of them."

"Ms. Johnson," Somber said, "I'm sorry, but I have to ask you to release the call."

"I have to go. I love you mom, love you too daddy." I said not wanting to put down the handset.

"We love you too, Lizzy." My dad said. "Just don't forget that we're here anytime you need us."

"And you can always come home, sweety." My mom said, I could tell she was starting to cry.

"Goodbye," I said as I set down the phone.

"Oh honey," My dad said trying to get more in before we were cut off. "Read to him, it might help. It always did when your uncle was sick, even though he was asleep he would still smile."

Chapter 22

I took my father's advice. Every day I would read to Connor, sometimes from his favorite books. Others from works I knew he had always wanted to read, but never had the time.

Johann had found a renewed sense of passion and was working diligently to help him recover. So far we had nothing to go on, aside from the results of his brains scans. I knew little of such matters, but Johann was convinced that he was exhibiting an incredible level of acuity for someone in his state. After days of having him hooked up to the scanners, we were able to discern that not only was he showing signs of awareness, but that when engaged the scans exploded with color showing his brain working at an amazing pace.

My Connor really was in there somewhere and we were all determined to help pull him out. Johann had begun having the medics exercise his entire body vigorously on a daily basis. He said that if he were to regain function he needed to find the right nerves to control. The exercises ranged from general stretching to muscle shock to induce spasms. I had been placed in charge of his mental re- invigoration. Jesse would spend hours listening to me read to Connor, he had never heard of most of these books. One morning, Johann noticed a flurry of activity as I explained some of the more subtle meanings of "A modest Proposal". It was one of Connor's absolute favorites, he was such a smart ass.

Soon after, JoAnne arrived. Her mother had went back to LA. Jeanine was so relieved to be able to pamper one of her grandchildren, along with Jesse. It was so cute to watch her developing a crush on him. He wanted to train and learn to fight so that he could make Connor proud and he had redoubled his efforts since learning that Connor was responsive. JoAnne would try to run with us every morning, but she was a city girl and couldn't make it half way.

Jesse was picking up on cues from the marines, who he spent a significant amount of time interrogating. He had become their pet project without knowing it. They were determined to instill him with the ethos and resolve that boot camp normally did. He was doing exceedingly well in his recovery, between the training and Jeanine's cooking he had gained almost thirty pounds after three months.

Which brings us to today. I had never planned on writing down my story, I didn't think it would ever be necessary. Today something changed and in the process it helped me change my own mind.

We had taken our morning run, this time when JoAnne stopped, Jesse finally took the cue that she wasn't tired. She just wanted some time alone with him. He told us he would hang back and thirty minutes later as we returned ,we passed them sitting with their feet in the water. Her leaning on his shoulder. It had taken a while, but she had broken him down. I knew him well enough to know that he was putty in her hands, but she was a sweet girl and he deserved that summer romance that we've all had or wished we did.

After coffee that morning, Jesse and JoAnne still hadn't come back, I went to read to Connor. I had found a copy of The Mists of Avalon, it was another favorite of his. A tale of Arthurian legend from Morgaine's point of view. It was beautifully written, Connor had always been a sucker for such poetic prose, which was evident in not only his tapes but whenever he passionately conveyed a message.

I sat there, as I often did, in a recliner by his bedside. Johann had taken it from his own study to make us more comfortable, a fair amount of grunting and cussing had ensued as he was dragging it down stairs.

I read to him, myself encompassed in the beauty of the words, Johann had joined me at some point. Probably to check on his scans.

""For this is the thing the priests do not know, with their One God and One Truth; that there is no such thing as a true tale. Truth has many faces and the truth is like the old road to Avalon; it depends on your own will, and your own thoughts, whither the road will take you, and whether, at the end, you arrive at the Holy Isle of Eternity or among the priests with their bells and their death and their Satan and hell and damnation...but perhaps I am unjust even to them. Even the Lady of the Lake, who hated a priest's robe as she would have hated a poisonous viper, and with good cause too, chide me once for speaking evil of the God."

And Johann continued for me, without needing to read the next passage.

"'For all the Gods are one god,' she said to me then, as she had said many times before, and as I have said to my own novices many times, and as every priestess who comes after me will say again, 'and all the Goddesses are one Goddess, and their is only one Initiator. And to every man his own truth, and the God within.'

And so, perhaps, the truth winds somewhere between the road to Glastonbury, Isle of the Priests,"

He continued to recite, his coffee cup in one hand, smiling as he remembered the words.

" and the road to Avalon, lost forever in the mists of the Summer Sea."

With this Johann's cup went crashing to the ground, I dropped the book as well. Life had begun to move in slow motion, we were both in shock as we looked up to see Connor's eyes open and the words coming out of his mouth, barely audible.

"Get the medics," Johann said in a single breath. I rushed from the room, wasting no time. It was almost noon, they weren't here so they must have been at Jeanine's waiting to eat lunch. I ran as fast as my legs could take, not slowing down as they began to burn.

I couldn't even talk as I arrived, finding half the recon teams on the porch with the medics, Jesse, JoAnne and Jeanine. They gasped as they saw me, fearing for the worst. I grabbed Coffey by her collar half dragging her back with me, unable to even speak.

Jeanine, Jesse and Maddow were behind running wildly trying to keep up. They were yelling at me to stop, but I couldn't. I wouldn't let myself. My legs began to give from the strain as we approached the doctor's house, but Coffey pulled me along. It was her turn to drag me now.

We rushed into the room, Johann spitting out orders at break neck speed.

"Coffey, grab the scans from last night."

"Maddow, I need you to test reflexes, now."

"Jeanine, dear. Help me move him upright."

"Jesse get me some water, JoAnne be a dear and find some carmex in my bathroom."

"Liz darling, I need you over here where he can see you." He said "I have no idea if he is registering this, but if he can see I want it to be your beautiful face, dear."

"What are we going to do?" I asked

"Patience dear, we need the others to get back with the things I asked for." He said, "When you left, I walked around and eventually his eyes followed me to the other side. He is making an incredible breakthrough and we are going to help facilitate it."

"Sir, I've got the images." Coffey said short of breath. Maddow was right behind her.

"Good now help me get this gown off." He said, for a moment I imagined him as he had been when he was younger and the most distinguished trauma surgeon within a thousand miles. His body had slowed with age, but his intellect was still formidable.

"Yes, sir," they said starting to remove his gown, careful not to pull out IV's or monitors.

"Not all the way," Jeanine said. "After all, there are children present."

"I've never seen someone with this kind of musculature in a vegetative state." Maddow pondered as they set him up for the tests.

"Well, young man." Johann said matter-of-factly, "The two of you have been like his personal trainers since he arrived, helping to stave off sever muscle loss. We just may be able to restore function in a reasonable time frame if we are lucky."

"We don't need luck." Jesse said as he came back, JoAnne squeezing his hand. "Connor never gave up before and he won't now."

"You've got to manage your expectations, honey." Jeanine said smiling at them. "These things can take a substantial amount of time, I know. I've read almost all of Johann's medical journals."

"She's knows more than I do now." He laughed as he finished hooking up the EKG. "The water and lip balm please."

With that Johann smeared the Carmex on his lips and the inside of his gums. He then slowly poured the water in his mouth. Connor couldn't swallow on his own so Johann would drain it with the little vacuum hoses that dentists use.

"We're ready, sir." Coffey said. "Just tell us what to do."

"The two of you are going to make extraordinary physicians someday," he said, before giving more orders. They beamed with pride, obviously this was not just a passing compliment. "This is going to get complicated, so please every try and keep quiet. Liz darling, continue reading where we left off."

I quickly found our place and carried on, placing my trust in Dr. Brier's hands.

"And now," He said softly to his medics, "Coffey, I need you to capture the images the exact moment Maddow stimulates the nerves. With Liz reading we will be able to see if he is capable of functioning on multiple levels."

I continued reading, while Johann would point to the next reflex spot hoping that Connor would react. It was a slow process, only a few good images at a time. We were making no progress until nearly an hour later as Maddow tapped his knee and the monitor lit up with activity. His brain function was sparkling like a fireworks display and his knee jerked ever so slightly. It was the first time in months I had seen him move.

The whole time, his eyes remained open, only blinking occasionally. Johann explained this was an involuntary reaction, but when he finally responded his eyes darted from the ceiling toward me. In that moment, I could see through him, his eyes conveying everything that he could not.

It would be a long process. It had already taken a substantial toll on me, through all of the agonizing weeks and months when despair had so cruelly beaten me down. At moments when I wanted nothing more than to walk a mile into the woods and put the barrel of a gun into my mouth, because I could not bear the pain any longer. I had prayed every night for god to spare him, finally Connor had come back to me.

Chapter 23

Of all the cruel scenarios that life had thrust upon us, by far the most agonizing was waiting day after day praying to god that Connor would regain control of his body. For two grueling weeks he made no more progress, aside from rarely moving his eyes and an occasional half mumbled word.

Every day we hovered over him like a swarm of flies, tending to his needs. Trying fruitlessly to help him move a finger, an arm, anything. At first it seemed like all of our efforts would be in vain, nothing was helping. Johann spent hours applying electrodes to shock muscles and nerve groups, hoping his body would take over at some point.

It pains me to admit that I was terrified that he would regain function. I couldn't sleep at night imaging the possibilities of what he would do once he could move again. I knew on some primal level that I would lose him again, and I could not bear the thought.

The conversation with my parents had kept replaying over and over in my mind. What if we could leave? Could we just walk away? Connor had been ready to propose and I wanted so badly to spend the rest of my life with him, but the thought of waking up every morning wondering if he had died on a mission was excruciating.

My days were beginning to run together, I hadn't sleep well in nearly a week. I wasn't even sure what month it was anymore. The middle of October I think, or maybe it was still September. I didn't know. Jesse had been spending a lot of time with JoAnne, it was really helping him to step back from the anger he still held over what had happened to him in the past few months. Between JoAnne, his classes with Jeanine, and the time he had been spending with the Recon teams I hardly saw him. I was lonely. Sombers had taken a liking to him, he treated him like he would his own son, which of course meant that he pushed him harder. He was fast becoming a young man.

It must be October, I thought to myself, the leaves were starting to change and the air had become brisk. It would be raining almost daily soon. Never too hard, just a constant drizzle. The lake had already become too cold to swim in, not that I did. It sounds silly, but I had a fear of being bit by a fish or something.

"What day is it?" I asked Jeanine as we were having our morning coffee.

"It's Tuesday honey," she said laughing at me. "You need some sleep, I can fix you up some herbal tea later, if you'd like."

"That would probably be a good idea," I said "But I mean, what's the date? I can't remember for the life of me."

"Time has just been going by so quickly lately," She said "It's the 12th of October, you've been here near four months now, can you believe it?"

"No, not at all." I said taking a deep breath over my coffee. Her french press made the most amazing cup of black coffee, somehow it pulled all of the woody, natural flavors out.

"You know, I think those two are in love," She said grinning, referring to Jesse and JoAnne "I'm so happy, they're such good kids"

"I am too," I said, glad he was able to have some kind of normality, "She's a godsend, he's calmed down so much since she came."

"Oh, honey, I know," she replied, "I remember Johann saying he was worried about his blood pressure, a seventeen year old, how does that happen?"

"I worry about him," I said finishing my drink, "He's been through a lifetime worth of stress in only a few months."

"I wonder where Johann is this morning?" Jeanine asked

"You know, he probably fell asleep in Connor's room." I said laughing, "He spends every hour of every day in there, he's becoming obsessed."

"He tends to do that sometimes," She said as we walked outside, headed to Johann's "He never gives up on his patients, normally doctors detach themselves, but not him. That's what makes him such an amazing physician, he cares."

"We would have probably lost Jesse and Connor both without him."

"I think he needs it," she said "it helps him when he's working with a patient. He was in such a stupor after his partner died, like he had lost his way and was just stumbling through life. So now, he applies himself like this in order to fill that void, so that he feels needed."

"Told you so," I said as we walked in to find Johann asleep in a chair, with some kind of medical magazine clutched like a teddy bear. "We should probably get him into bed."

"His back is going to be killing him later." She said shaking her head. "Come on old man, let's get you up stairs."

"Oh, no no no, I have work to do," He said groggily looking for his glasses.

"Johann Sebastian Brier, you get your butt upstairs right now. It's not like he's going anywhere." She said as we led him off, he begrudgingly complied, shuffling his feet like a chastised child. We were halfway up the stairs when the life support alarms went off. Jeanine looked terrified as we all raced back toward the room, a crash coming from inside.

Johann slipped and started to fall as he rushed into the door, I barely caught his arm keeping him from landing on a broken glass. Jeanine slammed into me as I helped him to his feet and he all tumbled onto the small couch on the other side of the bed.

"eh heh heh" I heard Connor coughing. As Johann silenced the alarms we realized he was laughing at us, but it was choking him. His right arm was hanging to his side, off the bed and he had pulled off the oxygen mask.

"Sit him up, quickly" Johann said, as he started to take his pulse. "Jeanine, dear hand me the stethoscope."

"Morning," he choked out as we sat him upright. He tried to grab a hold of my hand, but he couldn't get his arm up far enough.

"Just relax, baby" I said taking his hand and running my other through his hair.

"Who are these klutzes?" He asked still laughing at our entrance.

"My name is Dr. Johan Brier," Johann said "and it is very nice to finally meet you."

"This is Jeanine," I said as she handed the doctor his stethoscope, "Jesse and I have been staying with her since we got here."

"I think he needs some water, Liz." Johann said as Connor was gumming trying to talk.

"I knocked it over." he said referring to the broken glass we had slipped on.

"Dear, there are some plastic cups above the sink." He said and I ran off to grab him a glass.

"Where is here?" Connor asked after he had gulped down the water. "What happened?"

"What do you remember last?" Johann asked him, still running through his vitals.

"It's all blurry," He said slowly, "I think someone kicked me in the face."

"You lost a lot of blood, young man," Johann told him, "It caused you to have a stroke and when you arrived at my door step you were clinically dead. You may experience some trouble with your memory because of that."

"I died?"

"For a while, yes." Johann said "You looked like you had been used for target practice."

"Jesus," He said "can those guys do anything right?"

"I'm sorry, I'm not sure what you mean."

"The assholes who tried to kill me." he said carefully forming each word. "They aren't very good at it."

"I'm glad to see your humor is still intact." he told Connor, and then to Jeanine, "Could you go let the medics know that they have the day off? I don't want him crowded."

"Bye.." Connor said with a little wave as she left, he seemed loopy.

"Tell me Connor, what do you feel right now?"

"Slightly confused."

"No son, your body." He said laughing, "Are you in pain?"

"I can't feel my arm." he said letting go of my hand. "I see it moving, but I can't feel anything in it and everything else just hurts."

"In what way?"

"It feels like I jumped on a grenade."

"I'm pretty sure you did at some point," I said with a kiss on his forehead.

"Well, I guess that explains a lot." He said, "How do you feel?"

"Remember on our first date, when you took me hiking?" I asked him, he nodded "and when we got to the top of the hill there was that incredible view of Multnomah Falls, then you just grabbed me and kissed me for the first time?"

"Yes, I planned that for a long time."

"That's how I feel right now, Connor." I said tears springing into my eyes. "Like nothing in the world can take this feeling away from me because I have you here."

"Careful, your gonna make the doctor cry." He said, tears in his own eyes.

"It's true," he said with a pause, "I am nothing more than a sentimental old man."

"Can you pull me up more?" He asked, "I want to sit upright."

"Of course, let's go slowly though." Johann said as we adjusted his bed. It became apparent that something was wrong. Connor's fist was clenched on the rail, his face twisted and then he wailed in agony.

"Argghh" He screamed, "it feels like it's on fire."

"What is Connor? What feels like it's on fire?" Johann asked, starting to lower the bed back down.

"My back," he said breathing sharply "all the way down my spine."

"Believe it or not, that is a good thing." Johann said

"How is that good?" He asked through the pain.

"It means you may not be paralyzed." Johann said grabbing some equipment out of the cabinet. "I'd like to turn you over and take a look, if you are feeling up to it."

"Can't you give him something for the pain?" I asked, my heart breaking just watching him.

"Yes dear, of course," He said "If he is willing, I'd like to check his spine first though."

"It's fine," he said through clenched teeth, "Just hurry."

With that we turned him over, an act that caused him a similar amount of pain. Johann was encouraged that he was breathing on his own while on his chest.

"You've demonstrated an incredible amount of stamina for someone in your condition," he said as we removed the back of his gown.

"I've been told that before." He said laughing, using humor to deflect from the pain, "right Liz?"

"You're horrible" I said amazed that he was making jokes, and dirty ones at that. "Just keep talking, you can do this."

"If I stop talking, I think I'll have to scream some more." he said

"You can't see, but we have you hooked up to one of the best brain activity scanners in the world," Johann explained, "When you feel a tinge of pain it should light up and help us narrow down the cause."

"Can't wait for that part." he said.

Johann went over almost every inch of his back and around his spine, taking nearly an hour. Every so often Connor's would forcefully grab the hand rails in pain. By the end, tears were streaming down his face and he was doing his best to deal with it.

"Liz, dear," Johann said finally, "Let's get him turned back over."

"Did you find anything?" I asked

"Well, we'll need to do some xrays and and an MRI, but a lot of shrapnel was stuck in that body armor."

"I remember, I cut my hand on some of it." I said, recalling all the twisted metal in his back as we drug him away from the trail.

"Right," he said taking a seat. "I believe there may be some nerve damage, which is causing his pain."

"How long?" he asked, still speaking slowly and deliberately. He seemed to be having trouble forming his sentences, as is common with stroke victims. "How long is it going to be like that?"

"I'm not sure," he said "Sometimes it heals itself in weeks, other times you have a lingering pain for a prolonged period of time. Perhaps even for life."

"I don't think I can handle that," he said his head starting to droop. I had never seen him look so defeated. His body was torturing him.

"I'm going to have to run down to the command post and retrieve some morphine," Johann said. "We'll set you up with a drip, it will help some. In the meantime, I'm sure the two of you would like some time alone."

"Thank you doctor." He said, his head still hanging low as Johann left us alone.

"Hey," I said cupping his face in my hands, "You're going to make it through this, you're the strongest person I know."

"I don't know how much more I can take, Liz." he said raising his eyes toward me, still full of tears from the pain.

"You can handle anything," I said, his face looked older. The scars defining his features more sharply. Particularly, one long scar running across the side of his head to his eye where the bullet had grazed his skull. "We can handle anything."

"That eye's so blurry," He said noticing me looking at it, "I can hardly make anything out. I thought I saw Jesse sitting here with a girl earlier, but I couldn't be sure."

"That's Jeanine's granddaughter, JoAnne," I said, "they've been dating about a month."

"A month?" he asked seeming shocked. "How long was I out for?"

"It's October now, hun. You were under for almost four months."

"I missed you."

"I missed you too, baby." I said, raising his chin so I could kiss him. My chest swelled, I was so happy. It was the most amazing feeling in the world, I thought that I might float away.

"I don't understand," He said a few moments later "The guy who kicked me in the face, they were about to kill me. What happened?"

"We were so close to the road," I told him "A truck almost hit us and I couldn't leave you there."

"But how?" he asked "How'd you stop them?"

I spent the next hour explaining what had transpired and answering his questions. He remembered some things and was able to answer some questions of my own, his words delicately formed as if he had to coax them out.

Chapter 24

My days had become consumed with Connor's recovery. Most nights I slept in his hospital bed with him. He was lonely and desperately wanted to get outside. He took the news badly when Johann explained that he didn't have enough muscle function in his back to even sit up in the wheel chair yet. Of course, to Connor this meant pushing himself like a mad man, refusing to accept what he perceived as a loss.

I didn't have as much time to write anymore, but I gladly accepted my burden. For the first time in our relationship, he was dependent upon me for more than just his emotional needs. It sounds selfish, but you have to know that Connor is a very hard-headed person and if he ever makes himself vulnerable to you, it's because he's practically begging for your help. Weakness doesn't come easy to him.

"Come on, it's fine" I heard from outside of Connor's room, one morning as we laid in his bed talking. It sounded like Jesse.

"I'm scared" whimpered a feminine voice.

"Of what?" Jesse asked flustered.

"I don't know," JoAnne pouted, "I just am. Don't be mean to me."

"He's going to like you, I promise." Jesse said opening the door. JoAnne had positioned herself behind him like he was a human shield. All you could see was part of her face under his arm and her hands right above his hips.

"Hey babe," Connor asked "Why is there someone sneaking up behind Jesse?"

"Heck if I know," I teased, "Probably just someone trying to assassinate you."

"Liz!" She squealed popping her head up, her face red. "Stop it, you guys are picking on me."

"Well," Connor said, "You are trying to hide from a cripple. I doubt I could catch you if I tried."

"She is pretty fast," Jesse said, practically having to drag her into the room. "Connor, this is JoAnne, Jeanine's grand daughter."

"So this is your girlfriend, huh?" Connor asked, sufficiently embarrassing them.

"Well, uh, umm" He stammered.

"Yes," JoAnne said, ribbing him.

"Good job, kid." Connor told Jesse.

"Oh thanks," JoAnne said doing a little curtsey.

"It's ok to ask questions," Connor said, seeing her looking at the scars on his uncovered upper torso.

"I'm sorry, that's so rude of me." she said sheepishly

"I got in a fight with a bear," He told her, "You should see the bear. He won't be putting out forest fires anytime soon."

"You're lying." She said grinning, unsure if he actually was.

"Go ahead, ask him." I said getting up, "Men love to talk about their bad ass scars."

"Hey where are you going?" Connor asked.

"I'm gonna run over to Jeanine's and get some coffee, it's probably still hot."

"I want some," he said

"Well too bad, you get juice."

"Jesse." he said, as I walked out of the room.

"Yeah?"

"Go get me some coffee."

"No, Liz would kill me." he replied, probably backing out of arm's reach.

"Damnit," he grumbled.

When I returned Connor was laughing so hard he had started coughing. JoAnne looked mortified, like she was going to cry and Jesse was doing his best not to laugh.

"What did I miss?" I asked.

"I tell her she can ask me anything." He said between coughs, "And she asks me what the hell this thing is."

"Your chest?" I asked confused

"No, the electrodes," He said, "She wants to know what they do."

"It was kind of funny," Jesse said.

"Don't worry about him JoAnne," I said handing him a bottle of juice. "I think he's brain damaged from getting hit in the head so much."

"She's right," He said still laughing, but coughing less now "I have no idea what this is though, maybe I'm a cyborg now and this is my power outlet."

"What's a cyb-"

"Honey, don't" I said giving her a knowing look.

"You guys better stop making fun of me," she said crossing her arms.

"It just means he likes you," I told her, "if he didn't he'd be growling at you and trying to glare out of his good eye."

"Like an angry pirate?" she quipped.

"Exactly"

"Dude!" Jesse exclaimed, "We should get you like a hook or a sword to go on your hand if it doesn't work anymore."

"A chainsaw would be perfect." He said making chopping motions.

"Actually," I said just remembering a prior conversation, "Johann said that his partner-"

"My Papa Thomas?" JoAnne asked

"I think so," I continued "he said that he had invested in a lot of medical research companies, one of which makes some kind of advanced partial prostheses for people who only have partial limb control."

"Eh?" Connor grunted, unsure of what I was talking about.

"He said it's like a sleeve," I said trying to describe the thing. "You put it on kind of like those gun holsters you have and it has computer chip that responds to small movements and helps you move that arm or whatever."

"Oh, so I really am gonna be a Cyborg?" He said before adding to JoAnne "It's a half man, half robot."

"Wow," Jesse said staring off into space, "You could be like superman with that."

"Batman's cooler, he talks all scary, "I'm batman"". JoAnne said doing a horrible imitation.

"Well, I guess when the time comes we'll have to look into it." Connor said pensively, I could tell that he'd much rather have full control on his own.

"It's in Seattle," I told him. "Johann said they could fit you before they do the surgery on your back and eye."

"I think it would be better to wait until after." He said, "Just in case."

"Jesse," he said a few moments later "How would you feel about spending the summer in New York after I have my surgery? You can come too, JoAnne."

"Connor are you serious?" I asked

"Yeah, if they want to come."

"But what about Seattle? What about the war?" Jesse asked, unsure of what Connor was getting at.

"As soon as we leave here, my war is over." He said.

"You're just going to give up, after coming this far?" Jesse asked, starting to become angry.

"No, Jesse. No, I'm not giving up, but the days of me fighting are over." he said collectedly "Look at me. I can't even walk. I can't see out of one eye and I can't use my right arm. How am I going to fight like that?"

"What about the resistance?" Jesse demanded, his voice cracking "What about the General?"

"Jesse," he said "the General is just a voice on the radio. I can make recordings from anywhere, I don't have to be on the battlefield to accomplish that."

"What about me? What am I supposed to do now?" he asked, his world coming crashing down around him. "You won't need me anymore."

"Jesse," He told "I'm offering you, both of you, a chance at a real life. Something that I can't have anymore. Someday, you're going to want to have kids, get married, go to the movies without worrying about being attacked. You can have a normal life without ending up like me."

"I've always wanted to go to Columbia," JoAnne said squeezing his hand. "You could go there too."

"I'm not going to college," he said indignantly, "I'll join the marines and I'll fight back."

"Give him some time." I told JoAnne as he stormed out, leaving her looking crushed.

"I don't want him to get hurt." She cried, "I'm scared, I'm so scared all the time."

"We all are." He told her, "and that's ok, you'd be stupid not to be. Jesse's angry right now, he'll calm down. He's seen what fighting back looks like, it isn't glorified. He'll come around eventually, he doesn't want to end up like me. We just have to give him room to breathe."

"I don't want him to kill people anymore." She whimpered. "they'll come after him too someday."

"I promise you," he said, "Jesse doesn't want to kill people either. Every life you take feels like a piece of your own soul dieing. Like a rock slowly being chipped away until there's nothing left."

"How do you deal with it?" She asked looking up, her makeup starting to run.

"I'm not so sure that I do," he said "every time I fall asleep, those nightmares are waiting for me. I killed these men and in return, they've taken my life from me. I know that I did what I had to in order to protect everyone else, but that doesn't make it easier. Jesse knows that too, he doesn't want that. With time, maybe our souls will begin to heal their-selves, but not until we stop fighting.'

"Your like a fortune cookie," She said smiling, wiping away the tears. "Jesse said you were the smartest person he's ever met."

"I see how it is," I said snarkily.

"Why don't you go find him." Connor told JoAnne.

"Ok," She said, "It was nice to meet you."

"You too, kid."

"Connor," I asked, after she had left. "Did you mean it, that you're done?"

"I hope so, God Liz, I hope so." He said patting the bed to tell me to sit down. "Although, I've got a feeling that even if I want to walk away, this war won't let me."

"Well," I said snuggling up to his chest, "You can be like those old fat cops and run things from behind a desk."

"That's the plan. Well without all the donuts anyways" he said.

"Maybe we can have some kids of our own soon." I said hopefully.

"I'm not even sure that still works." He said half seriously.

"Let's find out," I said walking across the room to lock the door.

Chapter 25

"Good afternoon, you two." Johann said, as he stopped by later in the day. "I trust your recovery is coming along?"

"Yeah," Connor said "Actually, I was able to move my legs a little."

"That's incredible," Johann exclaimed. "How did you figure that out?"

"Oh, ummm" he said as I elbowed him. "It's a secret..."

"A secret?" he asked, raising one eyebrow.

"Yeah," Connor said trying to keep a straight face. "Classified information, sorry."

"I see," Johann said. "Perhaps we should move you out of the hospital room in order to aid your clandestine operations."

"Oh god, the two of you are just alike." I said walking out of the room. "I'm going to go find Sombers for the commando here."

"How much movement are we talking about?" I heard Johann ask

"Not a lot, but most of the upper muscles groups were responding." He said.

"At the risk of sounding too forward, I would recommend that you keep up whatever is you were doing."

"Oh, I certainly plan to."

"Connor!" I yelled, "I can still hear you."

I couldn't be too tough on him, it had been my idea after all. Not to mention, I wouldn't mind helping him with that kind of a secret mission any time he wanted. What a great stress relief sex could be, especially when I had all the control.

"Don't you look chipper today," Sombers said as I was walking past Jeanine's porch. I hadn't even noticed him there.

"Oh hey," I said twirling around, "I do, don't I?"

"Jeanine just ran inside," he said "Would you like me to fetch her?"

"No, I came to find you." I said, "and here you are. Again. I'm watching you, mister."

"I assure you, my intentions are pure." He said. I didn't entirely believe him.

"Come on," I said "Go grab Jeanine too, I need her help with something."

"You're the boss," he said and walked inside, reappearing a moment later with Jeanine.

"Liz, honey," Jeanine said coming over to hug me, "I feel like I haven't seen you in weeks. You look so refreshed."

"I'm feeling pretty good right now." I said hooking her arm. "I need your help with something, but we have to drop Lt. Col. Tall, dark, and handsome off first."

"He is handsome, isn't he?" she whispered in my ear, Sombers pretending not to notice.

"Connor has a laundry list of requests to run by you." I told Sombers.

"Well, he certainly doesn't slow down for anything does he?"

"Nope, god forbid he took a break and tried to heal or some nonsense like that." I said laughing, "Can we borrow one of the guys if any of them are laying around?"

"Yes ma'am," He said. "I believe Maddow is just running through paperwork."

"Perfect." I said

"What are we up to, anyways?" Jeanine asked.

"I can't tell you yet." I replied, "I don't want Connor to know until we're done."

"Oh, how exciting." She said

"Ok, don't say anything while we're in here" I told her as we walked inside Johann's foyer. She acknowledged making a zipping motion across her mouth.

"Mr Jeffries," Sombers said, as he entered Connor's room. "I'm told there are some matters you would like to discuss."

"Yes sir," Connor said in a business like tone. "If you're allowed to speak with me about such things, I'd like to discuss the defenses you have in place."

"I've been told to allow you unrestricted access to all personnel, information, and equipment that you might need, sir." Sombers said.

"You don't have to call me sir." Connor told him.

"My apologies, it seems an appropriate way to address the leader of the largest free military force on the face of the earth."

"So I've been told." Connor replied, "I haven't quite reconciled it all yet."

"Johann," I said "Can we borrow you as well?"

"Of course dear," he said, closing the door behind him.

"I want to do something for Connor," I said as we walked outside.

"What did you have in mind?"

"Johann," I asked grabbing his hand "I remember you telling me that Thomas' favorite thing in the world was sitting in the yard, watching the leaves change."

"Yes," He said with a glint in his eye, "I would take him out front in his wheelchair with a blanket or two wrapped around him and he would sit here for hours. He was always so peaceful here."

"Do you still have that wheelchair?" I asked

"I have quite a few actually," he said unsure of what I was getting at.

"Perfect," I said clapping my hands "I want to make one that Connor can steer on his own, so that he feels less helpless and trapped inside all the time."

"I don't have any powered chairs, though." He said.

"That's ok," I told him, "We're going to make one he can steer. Maddow is going to help."

"Whether he likes it or not," Jeanine said laughing.

"I'm sold," Johann said. "It's a beautiful day, let's go get our hands dirty."

"I'll believe that one when I see it." Jeanine said teasing him.

"I'm a surgeon, darling." he said "my hands are my finest asset."

"Your nails are nicer than mine." I said noticing for the first time.

"That's because of his little manicure sessions with JoAnne."

"Well someone had to teach her to care for her hands." he laughed "What with you constantly digging up that garden and Burt doing god awful things to his hands."

"I swear," Jeanine remarked, "you had to set a broken finger every week, after he started slowing down."

"James as well," he replied "but that was from all of those horrible hockey games."

"That poor child," she said "he was so bad at it."

"Maddow," Johann called from the lobby. "Where are you, son?"

"Here, sir" he said walking down the hall with a stack of papers.

"It's your lucky day." Jeanine said. "Liz has decided you're going to do our heavy lifting."

"Oh, thank god." He said dropping the papers on a nearby desk.

"Don't you want to know what for?" I asked

"Nope, don't give a damn as long as it gets me away from that pile of crap." he said grabbing his jacket.

"Ooook." I said, "You might want to grab a tool box."

We spent the next hour ripping apart the shed behind Johann's house, looking for a good chair and anything we could use. It was more fun than I had anticipated.

"I feel like we're at a flea market." I said happily, playing with a large box of gears and pullies.

"I've been meaning to clean this out for years," Johann said absently.

"So what's the plan?" Maddow asked.

"Well, he can only use him left arm right now." I said explaining what I had in mind. "So he needs to be able to push with that and not spin in circles."

"How's he going to steer it?" Jeanine asked.

"I haven't figured that part out yet," I said "that's why I need all three of you."

"What if," Maddow said playing with the arm to a track light. "We rig this up on the right and he moves it just slightly to release the wheel, letting him turn?"

"See," I said "That's why I pay you the big bucks."

"Didn't realize I had gotten a raise." he said laughing, rummaging through another box.

"Yup, now you can buy your girlfriend something pretty."

"Actually," he said stopping his search, "Can I ask you guys for some advice?"

"Of course you can," Johann said, taking a seat on an old metal bench. "We're all one big family now."

"Well," he said nervously, "that's kind of what I needed advice about."

"He's going to propose!" Jeanine exclaimed.

"Ok, ok," he said "keep it down, she's right inside."

"Hmph," Jeanine grumbled, throwing an old stuffed bear at him.

"Hey," I said snatching the bear. "That's cute, give me that."

"You were saying?" Johann prodded

"Err, yeah, it's just that," he continued "well, this is a war and it's dangerous out there. People are dieing everywhere and we can't stay here forever. I just don't want to lose her when he get reassigned."

"And it's because you love her more than anything?" Johann asked tenderly, "not just because you're feeling selfish and don't want to lose your rock in the midst of this storm?"

"I do," He said "I love her more than I even thought was possible."

"Then do it," Johann said patting him on the shoulder, "You've already made up your mind, it's clear as day."

"I want to," he said "it's just so complicated. Where am I going to get a ring? How can we have a wedding when this town isn't supposed to exist? What about our families?"

"The details don't matter," I said, remembering how my father had told me Connor had been waiting to propose. "Don't regret waiting too long. Life is to precious to take that kind of a chance right now."

"I'll be right back." Jeanine said running off.

"What's gotten into her?" Maddow asked.

"She's very excitable sometimes." Johann sighed. "She gets a half baked scheme into her head and goes off in such a rush that you'd think she was being chased by a mountain lion."

"Oh hey, look at this." Maddow said, holding up a seat from a go-kart or something similar.

"I had to take that away," Johann said "James kept trying to run Sophia over with his buggy so I took the seat and hid it, that must have been thirty years ago."

"So you don't mind if it gets damaged?" Maddow asked.

"No, I'm past my days of dune buggying" he said

"Ok cool," Maddow replied, taking his knife to the seat. "These are like the belts you find in race cars, five points, we can attach it to the chair. It'll keep him upright and let him adjust it."

"Ok," I said as Jeanine was running back with a small box in her hands. "we're ready to start building it. Oh and by we, I mean you."

"Still better than paperwork," he said laughing.

"Hold off just a second," Jeanine said breathlessly. "Come over here and have a break."

"I'm not tired,"

"Honey, just come here." She said shaking her head at him "All you kids do is work, work, work around here."

"Holy cow," I said looking into the box as she opened it. "Jeanine, what is all that?"

"When Burt and I first got engaged," She said "We decided it was better to spend our money building the house, than to waste it on some fancy ring."

"I love this story," Johann said playing, looking through the jewelry she had brought over.

"But it bothered him that he never got me a nice ring," she continued. "So for our third anniversary, he bought me this whopper."

"It's huge," I said staring at the diamond ring, which was nearly a full carat.

"This was always my favorite," she said holding up a much smaller ring. "It was the one he proposed with. But anyways, every three years he bought me a new ring. A different stone every time, James proposed to his wife with the one he gave me for our fifteenth anniversary. Sophia's husband, we gave the sapphire ring from our sixth. It was the year she was born, of course it was her favorite."

"This one is my favorite," Johann said showing us a diamond ring with a small ruby to each side of it, "I helped Burt pick it out."

"He said he chose most of them," She said wiping away a tear, "but I know it was always you or Thomas helping him. He got me so many that they just started collecting dust, I had to put them away after only a few years at a time."

"Your life sounds like a fairy tale," I said, still rifling through her jewelry. It was an impressive collection.

"It's always felt like one," she said smiling, "but by far, what I cherish the most are the memories of life when it wasn't perfect. The little things that make you appreciate the good even more."

"She's right," Johann said pensively, "it's the hardships that highlight how good everything else is in comparison."

"I'm and old woman now," She said handing Maddow the jewelry box. "And I don't have a lot of big memories left to make, I'd like to help you make one of your own."

"I don't know how I could ever repay you," he said stunned by her offer.

"Honey," she said "You don't repay a gift."

"You two are going to make me cry," I said, so happy for Maddow and Coffey.

"I've already started," Johann said sniffling a bit.

After a few more hours we had constructed the oddest looking wheelchair any of us had ever seen. It looked like what you would use if NASCAR had a wheelchair class. Connor was ecstatic, but it took him a while to get the hang of it. His first shot out of the door he crashed into Johann's fence, scaring the life out of the birds nesting on a bath nearby. It was the first time I had seen him laugh since he had woken up.

We spent much of the rest of the day avoiding Maddow and Coffey, afraid we might ruin his surprise. Johann told her to take the day off early. Sombers had all but disappeared to work on Connor's list of requests, which he still hadn't fully explained to me.

That night, Maddow and Coffey took a walk along the edge of the lake as the sun began to set. As it began to dip below the pass he dropped to one knee and put a beautiful princess cut, pink diamond ring on her finger. We watched as they embraced for what seemed like an hour, while sitting at the picnic table in Johann's yard.

Chapter 26

"Are you going to tell me what you and Sombers were talking about?" I asked Connor the next day, as we sat down by the lake.

"I'm sorry, babe." He said "It must have slipped my mind."

"That's alright," I said, "You've been through a lot. So what were you asking him for?"

"Well, I had him grab me a map of the area," He said, pulling it out of the pocket on the front of his shirt. "I want to be able to stay here while I recover, but we can't risk being idle."

"There's two recon teams," I said "and we have the President willing to do, literally, anything you ask."

"I know," he said unfolding the map. "I asked them to bring in some heavy munitions, and we also discussed setting up an extraction point north of here in the woods."

"Do you really think they're going to attack us here?" I asked, afraid of his answer.

"It's a certainty," he replied. "But we'll be ready, we can evacuate the town as soon as we get Intel that they've moved. When they get here, they'll find a fire fight and then we'll call in air support."

"Connor," I said worried, "Did you see the size of the force they're building?"

"Yeah," he nodded, "I did and they can't sustain a campaign in this area if they suffer losing even half of that."

"So it's a set up?"

"Exactly," he said and began pointing to various spots on the map. "I'm told this pass is narrow and the hills are extremely steep. We'll drop downed trees onto their convoy, separating them in different places. Then we'll set up snipers with anti aircraft guns on the hills over here."

"There won't be nearly enough people."

"There will," he said continuing, "The snipers are going to be holding off the helicopters, while we have heavy machine guns set up on this end of the lake, along with mortars to pelt the end of the pass if any get out. They'll have no choice, but to call reinforcements in and when they do we'll have a team of fighter jets and Viper attack choppers ready."

"What about the town?" I asked

"Hopefully," he said uneasily "we can minimize the damage to the buildings, but ensuring we extract them beforehand is for more vital."

"These people are going to lose everything, Connor..." I said

"Liz, we've all sacrificed far too much to give up this opportunity." He said staring at the lake, like a person in guilt. "The PLA will come, one way or another. We have a shot at putting it on our own terms though."

"When can we tell them?" I asked, knowing he was right. They would never stop chasing us. Leaving everyone around us in constant danger.

"Tomorrow," he said his eyes lost on the water. "Let them have one more good night."

The night passed quickly and the next day, with word that Sombers had been given the go-ahead by Rigalio, we started to organize a town hall meeting. TJ and his father were gracious enough to accommodate us all in their little restaurant and busied themselves setting up the tables and fixing a buffet. Meanwhile, Connor had Jesse setting up a projector in order to give a presentation of what he had planned. JoAnne and Jeanine spent their day making sure everyone was going to attend.

"Thank you for coming," Connor said after everyone had settled in. "I can tell that some of you are worried, and you have the right to be.

I want to thank you all for the hospitality you've shown us. I'm sure you are all aware that this act of kindness has planted you firmly in harm's way. The time has come that we must start preparing for the worst, while resolving to do what we each can to make a difference."

he had put together. The first picture was met with hushed exclamations of shock.

"This is the Chinese force that has been gathering approximately twenty miles outside of Astoria. This is a massive force, at least 750 ground troops, a convoy of dozens of vehicles, and twenty attack helicopters. They have shown no inclination to move toward Portland and reinforce their own losing efforts there. All signs point to this being a strike force intended to move when and if their intelligence finds evidence of the Resistance's leadership.

At some point, the cross hairs will inevitably fall upon Upper Lake Malakwa-"

"Let 'em come!"

"Yeah, they'll be sorry they ever found us."

"I appreciate your enthusiasm." Connor continued. "We have a plan ready to set into motion if they move on us, but it won't be ready for weeks at the earliest-

"Just tell us what to do."

"We ain't giving up the General without a fight."

"Shut up and let him talk!" Jeanine snapped, quieting the crowd before they got too rowdy.

"Thank you Jeanine," he said "I'd hate for this power-point to go to waste after spending all day on it."

After the laughter had died down, Connor moved on to explain the counter-offensive he and Sombers had been planning. Detailing gun positions and the artillery we would be seeing soon.

"Finally," He said "Our beta team has begun working on a clearing half a mile north of where the main road ends at the woods. This is the primary extraction point that you will all be evacuated from before the attack. Any questions?"

"With all due respect," TJ said standing up, "This is your war, but this here is our town and I ain't leaving without a fight. So you might as well just tell me where to sign up."

"Me too," Terry said from the back, "I ain't gonna let my boy get all the glory."

A few more of the younger men had begun chiming in before Connor stopped them.

"I'd be foolish to think that you wouldn't" he said, "After all, at it's heart that kind of tenacity is what fuels the Resistance. Don't think for a moment that I planned to discount your courage. Lt. Col, please."

"Thank you, sir." Sombers said taking over. "If you want to fight, you're going to have to be in fighting shape. Luckily, I spent a few years making boys into Marines and if you expect to hold one of our rifles you'll be at the dock at 0600 every morning for training.

You'll have to go a few days without top notch supplies, but we'll get you booted up eventually. Now Dr. Brier has been kind enough to let my medics use his quarters for physicals, I suggest you head there straight away."

"I want you all to understand one thing," he said slowly, letting the words sink in. "There is nothing romantic about war, it is brutal and unrelenting and many of you will die. There will be nothing glorious about what we are going to set into motion."

On that note, Maddow and Coffey left to set up. Connor stayed behind to shake a few hands and answer questions.

"I can't believe they took it so well." I said, amazed by the out-crying of support.

"Our courage is measured by the manner in which we stand up to adversity." He said, "And this town, is overflowing with it."

"It's personal to them," I replied, "They won't willingly watch their lives and memories burn."

"What's this?" Connor asked as Sombers handed him a package.

"Parcel from President Thompson, sir."

"Thank you," Connor said as he looked at the book with a puzzled expression.

It was a plain brown package with a note stapled to it. The note read:

General,  
I thought it would be fitting to allow you an outlet

for your thoughts. I must confess, that I send you

this recorder for selfish reasons. I hope that it might

inspire you, and in return you might inspire us all.

-President Susan Thompson.

"I think she wants me to send a message." He said pensively.

"It's been five months since the world has heard from you," I said, opening the box for him.

"People might have started to think I'm dead."

"Luckily," Sombers said on his way out the door, "those reports have been greatly exaggerated."

"I wouldn't have pegged him as a Twain fan." I said as he left. "Ok give it a shot."

"What?" he asked, "right now?"

"What better time than when you're waxing poetic?" I told him as I popped the batteries into the recorder.

"Wish me luck," Connor said as he turned the device on.

"It has been nearly six months since the war began. In that time, the Resistance has grown from a fleeting thought into the largest militia on earth. Like the father's of this republic, we have formed a loose network held together by incredible ideals.

The enemy would have you believe that we are on the run, that I have been captured or killed. They spread these rumors in order to tarnish our hope. Their aim is to erode our confidence, allowing them to strike us at a weak moment. We can not grant them this opportunity. Already they have come to fear us, because we refuse to allow them reprieve. They are terrified at our ability to carry out attacks without central leadership, leaving them scrambling foolishly looking for a heart to strike where one does not exist.

In their desperation our foes will become cruel. They have already disregarded nearly every article of the Geneva Convention and all standards that decent men hold true. We allow them no quarter and they begin to grow weary, realizing that their assault has lost the initiative. Already, our military makes progress pushing into their own homeland, dividing their strength. We will force them to choose where they spend their defenses.

So many have died in order to allow us just one day longer. Each life lost has pushed us closer to our objective. We can not allow our brothers and sisters to have fallen in vain. As the heavens sing of their valor, we shall take up their blade and press forth into our enemy's keep.

Tonight we look into our enemies eyes and we see the terror that our wrath has instilled upon him. We will run no longer, we must marshal our valor and drive them from our lands. Raining blow upon blow on our enemy until his armor crumbles and falls away, under the ferocity of our onslaught. This... is the night that we make our stand."

Part Three

The Longest Thaw

Chapter 27

For nearly one hundred days I had been sealed within myself, with only my nightmares to keep me company. As my body shut down in order to save itself, I walked through wastelands of my mind crying out, begging for someone to hear me.

I had no way of tracking the time, the silence became unbearable. Somehow, I knew I was not dead, yet not quite alive. The dreams were always the same, always filled with death and loss. Each day I watched the world be reborn only to burn once more. I stood helplessly to the side as millions walked unknowingly toward their ends. As a shadow stole life from the innocent and massacred the weak. And I knew that this shadow was me, that I had caused all of this. This was my punishment, eternal torment for the lives I had taken. God did not care about justification, he would punish us all equally. In my heart, I knew that I deserved this.

If I were not dead, then I had to be somewhere I reasoned. The only explanation being that the PLA had taken my body and attached me to machines in order to use me as a puppet. Perhaps, I was some kind of leverage. Would the Resistance falter if they knew of my condition? No, I told myself, never.

In my mind the days melted away becoming months and years. It seemed like decades since I had last seen the light of day. I imagined myself drowning in a frozen lake, trapped under a sheet of ice. Fighting furiously to break through, but it was all in vain.

After what seemed like decades or centuries, for whatever inexplicable reason, God decided to unshackle me. That I must go back, condemned to keep repeating my sins. Perhaps, he was only preparing me for the greater punishment I would receive when I finally did die.

Chapter 28

"What are you thinking about?" Liz asked as she found me by the docks. I had left the wheelchair in Jeanine's yard and walked down on my own. It was Thanksgiving morning, we had given the recruits a few days of R&R.

"New York," I lied.

"I'm really going to miss this place." She said, reading me with ease.

"I wonder if it will even be here when we're safe again."

"Connor," She said, grabbing my hand, "Promise me this is it, that you'll be done for good after we leave here."

"I'm starting to wonder if it's even my choice to make." I said, trying to imagine the battlefield that we would soon turn this town into.

"Haven't you suffered enough?" She asked, "Haven't we suffered enough?"

"The last thing I want is to put you in more pain," I said looking her in the eyes.

"Then promise me, Connor." She replied, "That's all I want, just tell me that you're willing to walk away."

"I promise," I said, not knowing whether I was even capable of doing so.

We should have been in New York having dinner with Liz's family that night, her parents were always insistent about the holidays. Last year we had waited too long to book our flight and they took the liberty of doing it for us. In some families that might be considered overbearing, but with hers it wasn't. A quiet family meal wasn't easy to put together when you lived in Manhattan, so they would pack Thanksgiving and Christmas into one frantic week. She told me that she had spoken with them and that they worried about me.

They had taken me in as part of the family from the beginning. When my parents were killed in a car crash, they held me up at a time when I needed family the most. Her mother was disappointed that we weren't married yet, or at least engaged. The truth is, I had bought a ring but would never be able to retrieve it now.

Liz was everything to me, but I could feel her slipping away. Who could blame her for distancing herself after everything I had done. She had begun building walls, prepared for the inevitable. We both knew that I couldn't keep this up, close to a half billion people had died over the last 6 months and my time would come as well. One can only cheat death so many times before he rips you from this earth. Then again, maybe Death didn't want me. Maybe he was tired and had allocated the job to me for now.

"I'd just like to say a few words before we eat," Jeanine said "Lord we thank you for your grace, that in these trying times you allow us to share a meal and each others company. We also thank you for our new family. Sent here to protect us, allowing us to cherish one of the few safe places left in this world. As we prepare for a new journey we ask you for courage and guidance. We don't ask that you let us retain our worldly possessions, because the love we share is far more important. Thank you lord for all the blessings you have given us. And in the days to come, all that you allow us to keep."

"Amen," Sombers said as she finished, still holding her hand. Terry had lined up all the tables into one enormous banquet table, seating the nearly sixty people present.

Liz and Johann exchanged a knowing look, certainly pertaining toward this new friendship. What was it about this place that made you want to share the experience with someone else?

"So Sombers," I asked after the room had become sluggish. "Did you get a chance to go to the post office?"

"I certainly did, and you have some mail waiting," he said referring to communications with Rigalio and Thompson. "Unfortunately it might be the last for a while, the carrier said this route was becoming too busy."

"Is that due to international or domestic logistic problems?" I asked

"Domestic, but you'd have to ask Macalary for the details."

"What on earth are you two talking about?" Jeanine asked with a look of amusement.

"Shipping Christmas presents, of course." I lied.

"Well," She laughed "you sound like part of a bad spy movie."

"I don't look very good in a bow tie." I told her as I contemplated the information given to me. Macalary was referring to one Admiral Macalary, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. He had been the voice of dissension that had caused us to lose several major cities. The military was sharply divided because he and a few others refused to recognize Thompson's authority as Commander in Chief. If Intel was going to be frozen, that could only mean that he was starting to suspect Rigalio and Thompson were aiding the Resistance. In his mind the Resistance was committing acts of aggression against enemy combatants and inhibiting the military in their role. Unfortunately, thus far he had not acted against the PLA in a major way, instead choosing to mass forces and bide their time while civilians died and the Chinese cemented their foothold on the coastal cities.

His hesitation was nothing more than a political ploy, a ruse to deny Thompson the confidence of the people. Already the Resistance fighters in New York had cleared every Chinese fighter within a hundred miles. Fighters were able to mount an offensive from San Francisco to take back Oakland. All this done without any verifiable aid from the US military, and yet he hid behind the mountains biding his time. He was right to suspect Rigalio of collaborating with us, in fact he was playing into our hands. A plan was already in motion to unveil his intentions while sustaining the fewest possible military casualties.

The mail I received from Thompson that night was startling. An undisclosed surveillance network had been tasked with trailing Macalary and anyone he was known to associate with. Only a week prior, satellite images showed Commander Ropas, the vice chairmen of the JCOS, meeting with suspected Chinese officers fifty miles off of the Oregon coast. The Intel indicated that some kind of information exchange had occurred. The only active investigation that Chiefs had commissioned, in a contentious vote, was pertaining to our whereabouts. Whatever Ropas had found out, he had sold to the PLA for god-knows what in return.

All direct communication would cease immediately. Our extraction team and air support would remain on standby, under the assumption that they had been dedicated to the President's personal security. She had moved the Capitol to Seattle for her protection and ours. Rigalio was unsure if additional reinforcements were even possible.

Soon winter began to creep over the mountains, shrouding our basin in snow. As the world began to freeze, my body continued to thaw. Each day brought new discoveries, I found myself introduced to startling new limits.

My right arm was so severely damaged that I might never again be able to raise it above my shoulder. Slivers of shrapnel had been embedded into my back, some so close to my spine that they couldn't be removed without risking permanent paralysis.

I struggled to find a balance between the pain and the disorientation of the pain-killers. In order to function, I had to sustain this nearly debilitating affliction. The only thing I looked forward to was an opportunity to sneak away and swallow a handful of relief.

Along with that satisfaction, came the shame. Each day I asked these people to be stronger than they thought possible, to push themselves with no regard for the pain. Meanwhile, I could not bear my own. Gradually, the humiliation lessened as I became capable once more. I dreaded the kindness of my peers, I did not want their sympathy or their help. I did not need someone to cart me around like a dog who'd broken his leg.

I felt like a ghost, watching some strange world from the outside. Every time someone opened a door or grabbed an item from atop a shelf, I seethed with anger. They looked to me as if I were their savior, yet treated me like a child.

I hated myself for the things I had done, for allowing my arrogance to take me this far. Jesse and Liz would never have a chance at a real life and now I had stolen that right from everyone in this town. This was my purgatory, I was trapped watching helplessly as I prepared these thirty fools to meet a violent death. I had become such a coward that I would allow Jesse to lead their futile charge into hell.

Hope was more dangerous than any weapon we possessed, it turned these daydreamers into nothing more than a hindrance. In their minds, hope had given them strength, making them invincible as long as they were righteous. In reality it had only given them a paintbrush, with which they would draw a target.

Chapter 29

"Holy mother of god!" TJ exclaimed watching through binoculars as a concrete block exploded 500 yards away.

"You like that?" I asked, standing up "This is the classified Specter .50 cal sniper rifle, equipped with incendiary rounds. This particular model is still considered experimental, only a few people in the world have had the privilege of firing it. It is hands down the most powerful long range rifle in the world. We have ten of them."

"How did you get these?" Salinger asked in amazement.

"We have friends that would like very much for us to succeed." I said as I pried the lid off of a nearby case. "This is AMOS, he likes to blow shit up."

"Can't say I've ever seen one that wasn't attached to a tank," Sombers said offhandedly, as he and the recruits started unpacking our munitions.

"Well luckily," I said, while directing them through the hundred-plus crates, "this model doesn't need to be, though it's heaver than all fuck from what I understand."

"Be careful with those!" Sombers yelled as Sarah almost dropped a case of mortar shells, "There'll be no trace we ever existed if you set all this off."

"That bad, huh?" Jesse asked

"Definitely," Sombers said "then whoever lived would have to explain why our little earthquake shook civilians off the top of the space needle."

"Don't touch those!" I yelled, hobbling toward Terry. "See the big ass sign that says, "Don't fucking touch these?" It isn't there to be sardonic."

"Sorry," he said sheepishly "I thought you wanted it all unpacked."

"I do," I said sitting down on the crate to ward off any other loose hands "but these go last. You guys aren't ready to handle these."

"Wait, what?" Jesse asked incredulously, "You bring us guns that are fresh out of sci-fi novels, but we can't touch whatever that is?"

"Yup, pretty much." I said "well, that is unless any of you forgot to tell me about your extensive experience with high powered explosive charges and their components."

"No?" I asked a moment later, "Didn't think so. So once again, please refrain from coming near these crates for now. You can build all the tree houses you want with the lumber tomorrow."

"Hey," Jesse teased "I haven't blown off any fingers yet."

"Here," I said tossing him a crowbar "Go open that container full of grenades, maybe you can try a little harder with them."

"Which one is it?" he asked.

"The one marked grenades, dummy."

"Oh," he said, "yeah, OK that makes sense."

"I wouldn't even trust him with that crow bar." Sombers said taking a seat beside me. "Isn't it nice to have all your heavy lifting done for you?"

"Yeah," I said, "But you know what we need?"

"What's that?"

"A case of beer to drink while they work."

"Hell," he said laughing, "I'd settle for a box of wine."

"Classy."

"Well, we don't have to drink straight out of the box," he said. "By the way, I saw you running this morning."

"I wouldn't call it running so much as quickly hobbling forward."

"Well, whatever you call it," he continued. "You just keep using that anger to propel you. I've watched a lot of good marines succumb to their demons in my career and if I know one thing, it's that you have to stay in control of that rage or your disability starts to control you."

"It's funny," I said "my second year I got a pretty nasty infection in my leg from some razor wire, and I sat in the infirmary with these guys who had lost limbs from IED's or were paralyzed by a sniper. I never thought it could happen to me."

"I hate to say it," he lamented, "but it almost always happens to the best of us. You put yourself in harms way enough times you're bound to end up in someone's cross-hairs."

"That's what this resistance is," I said "a bunch of people with more balls than brains, all living in the cross-hairs."

"In my 25 years there have been a lot of conflicts I didn't agree with." Sombers told me "Days when I told myself I had to fight even though I knew it was wrong. This group, they remind me why I wanted to become a marine in the first place. That if something is worth having, than you have to fight for it with everything you've got."

"We should probably go finish teaching them how to do that," I said standing up.

The learning curve for the assault rifles wasn't as steep for most of the platoon, many had been hunting all their lives. The mortars and anti-aircraft weapons would have to be handled by the recon teams, we couldn't risk giving our location away with constant explosions. From a bird's eye view it was nearly impossible to tell the town was even here, with the heavy tree cover in the basin. We used low velocity rounds for the target practice and let the better shots compete to use the sniper rifles. Jesse probably could have beat the others, but I needed him for something else. He was by far the fastest and most agile runner we had and I intended to take advantage of it.

"So what exactly is this special task?" he asked as he were surveying the traps in the pass.

"We've been compromised." I said, shoving a log down the steep hill.

"Like we have a spy here or something?"

"No, nothing like that." I said, "this isn't going to work."

"You're killing me," he said sitting down to take a breather. "Just tell me what you're talking about."

"I'm going to," I said leaning on the cane that I really didn't need anymore. "but it goes no further, you don't tell JoAnne, you don't tell Liz, you don't even discuss it with the recon teams."

"When you put it that way, I'm not so sure I want to know."

"The Chinese have bought off top military officials," I told him, "any information they have about us is being handed directly over to the PLA."

"Then they know this is a set up?" He asked, looking like he had just been punched in the stomach.

"I don't think so," I said "but they may have found some indication that we are here, which means they likely won't wait until spring to move."

"We're fucked..."

"Maybe," I lamented "we only have a handful of people who are combat ready, the rest there's no telling how they'll react under fire."

"We need more time."

"We need a lot more time, but we haven't got it." I said "We can't support a fire fight in the pass, we're going to have to blow it."

"Connor, this thing is almost two miles long." He said in disbelief.

"I might have added an extra zero when I was requesting the explosives." I said with a wry grin. "The only problem is the distance, we'll have to have someone near the outlet to detonate it."

"Are you asking me?"

"Yeah Jesse." I said "I don't want to, but we both know you're the only one fast enough to make it back in time to avoid being caught by the air support."

"I'll need some pretty heavy cover." he said

"And you'll have it," I said "I can set up with a team using sniper rifles and anti-aircraft guns on the east ridge, all you have to do is follow the path fast enough to avoid the air show."

"JoAnne isn't gonna be happy about this," he said

"With any luck," I replied "they'll be safely in Seattle by the time we're attacked."

"What're you going to do once we get there?" he asked

"Get as much of this metal pulled out of my back as I can." I said, allowing him to change the subject.

"Well that's a lot less fun than what I was planning." he said laughing, "I wanted to go to the fish market."

"The fish market? What the hell is that?"

"It's this huge outdoor market down at the port," he said "My grandparents used to take me there every weekend."

"I tell you what," I said "if we make it out of this alive, I'll buy you the biggest fish there."

"How?" he said teasing me, "you ain't got no money."

"This certainly isn't a paying gig," I said "but I do have quite a bit of money that my parents left me. I've never touched it though, it didn't seem appropriate."

"Do they still have banks?" he asked

"Yes, Jesse. I'm reasonably sure that banks still exist." I told him, "and schools too."

"I already finished," he said "like two months ago. I still have to take the test in my name, but I'm done."

"That's good," I said "maybe you can get a job flipping burgers after you're done being a war hero."

"Hey, do you think they still have McDonald's?" he asked. I responded with a flustered look. "I'm kidding, I'm kidding."

Every day in December I ran them through the drills. Each day, Jesse made his run from the pass to the east ridge, where my team would move back to the town and finally the extraction point to let the airstrike finish the job. TJ and Terry were ecstatic to have been allowed to use the sniper rifles, it was like their own Christmas present. Which was a good thing, by the time Christmas rolled around no one was celebrating. Everyone had gone so deep into prep mode that not a single tree was decorated.

Instead we spent our days lining the pass with high powered explosives. Wrapping the trees with plastique instead of ornaments.

Beta team had set up a field medical tent near the extraction point for Johann, in anticipation of injuries. We ran through drill after drill with a thousand different variations, preparing ourselves for any and all discrepancies.

Sombers and Salinger grew anxious, having gone months without word from their command. A sense of dread had begun to settle over the town, it had even started to wear on these people's resilience. Perhaps they knew, like I did, that no matter how much prep was put in we were ultimately fighting against losing odds.

Chapter 30

"Positions!" Sombers screamed over a megaphone. "This is not a drill! Everyone into position!"

January 11th a phone call came from Rigalio, breaking the long radio silence. The PLA ground force had mobilized the night before, they were headed straight for us. We reacted like clockwork, everyone pouring out into the central street through town, preparing for battle. All of them ready to see if our training had paid off.

"All non-combatants are to proceed immediately to the extraction point." Sombers continued, "I repeat, All non-combatants must immediately proceed to the extraction point for evac."

"Come on," Liz shouted, herding them north "There's no time to pack, if you didn't have a bag ready then you'll have to do without."

"Jesse!" I yelled searching the crowd, "Where is Espinoza?"

"He just left." JoAnne said, tears streaming down her face. "He took one of the quads."

"Someone get me a radio, now!" I yelled as I started heading toward the docks to grab another four wheeler and move to my position.

"Here, sir!" Sarah said as she caught up, tossing me a radio.

"Espinoza, do you copy?"

"I copy, go ahead."

"Remember," I said "You rendezvous at my position, no exceptions."

"Yes sir," he came back, "I'll be there."

"All teams in position," I said over the channel, "we need complete radio silence."

I abandoned the quad half a mile from my position, having to hike the rest of the way. Salinger and Sarah were with me to provide cover from helicopters while I found my targets. We had nine other three-man sniper teams dotting the basin. We were the highest up. Two were in position in town to provide cover fire for the mortar and heavy guns. One team was trained on the path toward the extraction point, just in case any soldiers made it to town.

I watched a hand-held monitor intently, Jesse had an identical one. It was a modified GPS showing the check points in the ravine. Once they had hit the center, he would blow the walls. He had to time it perfectly or half of the enemy caravan would be unscathed on one side of the blast or the other.

"Connor," Salinger said, nudging me "We've got something coming over the southern ridge.

"Fuck me," I said grabbing my binoculars. "Those aren't our helicopters."

"Should we break silence and warn the others?" he asked.

"No, not yet." I said "They won't proceed into the ravine if they know we're here."

"They'll be here long before the ground troops are."

"They will," I said, now watching the choppers through the scope of my rifle. "But by that point, it'll be too late to go back, there's no room to turn around."

"I hope you're right."

"So do I," I said. They were on the far side slowly making their way toward the town. They seemed to be holding a slow formation, probably keeping just ahead of the caravan.

Soon the sound of their propellers filled the air, they were closing in on us and our extraction team had not yet arrived. The civilians were as good as dead if the enemy choppers found their position.

"Be ready to open the radio up," I said training my rifle on the foremost helicopter in their V formation. "As soon as I fire, you give the orders for the other teams to do the same."

"Yes, sir."

"Sarah," I said, "be ready for them to return fire on our position."

"I am," she said lugging a rocket launcher onto her shoulder.

The wait a sniper endures before taking his shot is agonizing. Your nerves start acting up and your body wants to jump the gun, but you have to stop yourself. You have to force yourself not to move. You lie there, waiting, stalking your prey until the moment when you find your shot and the bullet races toward them like a hawk hurtling toward a rodent.

I could almost see the pilot's eyes as I drew a breath in and pulled the trigger. My aim was precise, the incendiary round ripped through the window of the chopper and his skull exploded with the impact. The force of the bullet yanked his body sideways, sending the helicopter careening into the far end of the lake.

"Open fire!" Salinger shouted into the radio, "All units open fire!"

The volley of guns and mortars opening up was deafening, the explosions echoing through the basin. The remaining four helicopters scrambled, trying to avoid the same fate as the first. A rocket from the west side of the lake connected with another helicopter, sending debris through the air. After only a few moments, their gunmen began to retaliate. Blindly shooting into the woods, unable to hit the mortar teams with rockets while attempting to avoid incoming fire.

A team southwest of the docks was hit, indicated by an explosion that could have only been caused by their munitions. Sarah tried to return the favor, drawing the attention of two helicopters.

"Incoming!" Salinger yelled, scrambling for cover as a rocket headed straight at us. I clambered to my feet, grabbing my rifle and a box of shells.

"Move Sarah!" I yelled as she stood there, watching the rocket headed straight for us. It was too late, she sent an RPG back at the helicopter mere seconds before impact. I hadn't made it far when I was thrown from my feet, the rifle breaking my fall and probably a rib in the process.

Salinger had landed only feet away, his body mutilated. As I struggled to find my footing once more, I realized I had taken a large piece of shrapnel through my right hand. It didn't really matter, that hand was useless anyways. I hurried to the box of ammo, placing my gun over a low tree limb, my tripod lost in the blast.

"Zulu team is down," I said over the radio. "Zulu team is down."

As I trained my rifle back into the air, looking for another pilot, the earth shook violently underneath me. The tremor jolted me so hard that I missed my shot, leaving just a hole in the windshield of my target's chopper. I looked south as the earth began to crumble and fall upon itself. Trees being swallowed by the earth and the mountain coming down ,sealing the only exit by land. Within it, presumably, hundreds of dead soldiers.

With only one good eye, I hadn't noticed the helicopter converging on me. As I looked up, it opened fire splintering trees just down the hill. I ran desperately for cover, knowing I wouldn't have the time close in on them again.

"Zulu leader," said a voice over the radio. "This is Terra 1, your escort has arrived."

"Copy," I said still running, gunfire ripping the hillside apart. "Get them out of here. Where the fuck is the dragonfly?"

"the dragonfly is in route, Zulu leader." Sombers said over the radio.

"Tell them to hurry the fuck up, we're getting slaughtered." I yelled back, than I heard Terry over the radio.

"We have more company inbound," he said sounding frightened. "I repeat more company inbound, at least two more birds."

The chopper had stopped shooting at me, it was following me with only a gunman hanging out the side trying to hit me with a rifle. I dropped the sniper rifle, pulling out a hand gun with my left hand. I wasn't as good of a shot with that hand, but it paid to be ambidextrous. My third round hit him in the throat. Men had started dropping down from the far side of the copter, they were going to come after me on foot. I kept firing, hitting two as they rappelled down.

They were closing in on me and I was fast running out of clips. I slipped on something, sending me sprawling. This was it, or so I thought. I turned myself back over, what the fuck was happening? The soldiers were jumping out, not even using zip lines. That's when the attack chopper exploded, killing the men on the hillside below me.

"It's my turn to save your ass." A voice yelled, muffled by the ringing in my ears. I had hit my head hard, I was disoriented as I was dragged to my feet. "Come on, you heavy mother fucker."

"You are pretty damn good with those," I said looking up to see Jesse. I forced myself to my feet once more, powering through my disorientation. As we started to run I saw two jets streak by, our air support had arrived, the Viper attack choppers would be here soon.

"Are we headed to the extraction point?" he yelled

"What?" I asked

"The extraction point, are we evac'ing?"

"No, head to the top of the ridge." I said ripping the hunk of metal from my hand.

"You're fucking insane." he said, as I wrapped my hand in a piece of cloth while we ran.

"This is Zulu leader," I said trying to hail the air support, "I need a hornet at the top of the east ridge, do you copy?"

"Copy, this is Leopard one," came a voice, "what is your location?"

"Two hundred yards above the enemy bird that just exploded." I returned, "Bring a friend."

"Roger that sir, we are en-route."

Three birds converged as we reached the top of the ridge, the other two drawing fire while we were pulled in.

"Zulu leader, this is Terra 1."

"Go for Zulu leader," I said

"We've lost a package, Zulu leader." Sombers came back, delivering the worst possible news.

"What do you mean you've lost a fucking package?"

"It's the girl, JoAnne," he said "she never made it to the extraction point, Jeanine went back for her."

"We're on the way," I said "Find them asap and we'll pick you up."

"You're the best pilot in the marine corps right?" I said as I went to give the pilot directions.

"I'm a good pilot, General."

"No, today you ARE the best pilot in the marine corps, don't let me down."

"Yes, sir!" he said enthusiastically.

"Get us in the air," I told him "We have a handful of high value targets that need to be picked up in the town."

"Yes, sir," he said, wasting no time, "strap in."

"You, off the gun." I ordered the gunner.

"Sir?"

"Off of the god damn gun, now!" I barked, "You're going to have to drop in, I can't manage the zip line with my hand in this condition."

"Aye, aye sir, but who's going to operate the gun?" he asked perplexed.

"I am," I said grabbing a strap from the side of the wall. "Jesse, secure my hand on that side."

"Connor, that isn't a good idea." he said

"Fucking do it!" I said, "If you want to save your girlfriend, get me strapped to the god damn gun and do it fast."

"Alright," he said after tying my hand to the handle of the machine gun. "I need some binoculars."

"Pilot, get us higher." I said "Above the fire fight. Tell those two birds to flank you no matter what."

As we he pulled us higher into the air Jesse surveyed the town looking for any sign of movement. The enemy choppers saw us and two turned to fire.

"We've got incoming!" the pilot yelled, jerking the chopper sideways. As we yanked back, he dropped down and to the left, pulling us to the side of the Chinese birds. I opened fire filling the first chopper with bullets until it erupted into a fireball. Our flankers had taken care of the second.

"Terra 1," Jesse said into the radio, "I've got something in town, it looks like Jeanine's house."

"Copy, we're on the way." Sombers said

"Take us toward the houses," I ordered the pilot.

"Sir, I can't get in there," he said frantically "there's too much mortar fire."

"Zulu leader," Sombers radioed "We have PLA pouring down from the west side of the ridge."

"Echo teams, redirect fire toward the west wall of the basin." I ordered

"I can find an opening as soon as they recalibrate." The pilot said

"I knew you could," I responded, "Get us in there, co-pilot call in more air support, everything we've got. I want every mother fucking bird on the west coast scrambled."

"The entire coast?" The Co-Pilot asked, his mouth gaping for a second.

"All of them." I said, "We're going to wipe them off the map."

As we flew toward town, the PLA had made their way toward the docks. The mortar teams were taking heavy fire from inside their range. One of the machine gunners had been hit and his gun was left unmanned, a replacement couldn't reach him. I opened up on the troops making their way down, cutting a line through them. As they fell back, it gave us enough time to get a new gunner in.

"Ridge teams, concentrate your fire on the ground, I repeat fire on the ground troops. Air support will occupy their birds."

We were now just above the lake, taking fire from the ground as well. I could see Sombers running toward Jeanine's, Liz by his side. I watched helplessly as they were ambushed, Sombers beat back three fighters and Liz collided with the fourth, both falling to the ground. He was trying to pin her, but she was fighting him hard. Sombers took a bullet in the thigh, trying to get to her. The other three started closing in, when the soldier on top of Liz slumped to the side. In an instant she was up and firing on the others.

My heart had frozen, certain they were going to die. She was pulling Sombers to his feet, on the move once more. The had come out on top, but it had drawn attention.

"Get me as close as you can." I yelled at my pilot, who swooped the chopper down toward the street. "We need to buy them five minutes."

As they disappeared into Jeanine's front door, we hovered only a few feet above the street. Our escorts had not caught up, they had sustained heavy fire and had to veer off.

"Get down there, now!" I yelled at the gunner and Jesse, both dropping to the street. Jesse hadn't been allowed much practice, he ended up rolling as he hit the ground trying not to break his leg. As they made a break to retrieve the others, I did my best to hold off the soldiers in the street. Praying that no one else had stayed behind as my bullets ripped through the other houses. I ordered the pilot to pull up, allowing me a better shot at the people on the ground.

Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, our escort arrived. With that Jesse, Liz, and the others burst outside making their way to the chopper.

"We can't carry you all," the pilot said to Sombers over the radio.

"Understood," he said moving toward the second chopper with Jeanine and the gunner.

"Alright," I said "get down there and pick them up and let's get the fuck out of here."

"Zulu Leader," came a familiar voice over radio, "Zulu Leader come in."

"This is Zulu leader," I said as Jesse helped Liz and JoAnne aboard.

"Your request for support has been received." the voice said , "I would recommend that no friendlies are within a five mile radius in approximately twelve minutes."

"Affirmative," I said still wondering where I had heard that voice before.

"Good luck, General," he said "Rigalio, out."

"Holy shit," I heard the co pilot say, "The Commandant is relaying orders from the general. I knew it."

"Alright, boys and girls," I said over the radio, "You heard the man, get those birds to the docks and let's get the fuck out of here. As soon as we're in the air, you keep those motherfuckers boxed in, do not let them retreat."

"Leopard one, you have company" The pilot and our escort all got into the air as quickly as possible. Two birds were headed toward us. These two weren't birds built to carry personnel, they were meant for dog fighting.

"Make some room," our pilot ordered to the others, "Don't give them an easy target."

Our escorts veered to the sides, we dropped sharply slipping under the PLA choppers. Suddenly, both pulled hard to the right chasing the bird with the others in it.

"Leopard two, they're on you."

"Take them out, fast!" I radioed, firing on the choppers as they tailed Leopard two. I hit one near the rear propeller, smoke began billowing but it didn't go down. I kept firing, finally a rocket from the other chopper hit it.

"We're taking fire." Leopard Two's pilot came across, "they aren't letting up."

I could see the gunner slouching out the side of his chopper, the Chinese pilot was closing in on him. He was getting close

"What the hell is he doing?" The pilot asked "Why hasn't the Chinese bird pulled up?"

He had stopped firing, either their gunner was dead or they were out of ammo.

"Leopard two, dive!" I bellowed "Dive! He's going to ram you!"

Leopard two dropped sharply, trying to get out of the way. He hadn't reacted in time, the PLA chopper tore through rear propeller, it was now a fire ball careening into the side of the ridge. We watched in terror as Leopard Two exploded on the snowy lake shore.

Chapter 31

"Grandma! Grandma!" JoAnne wailed hysterically as we cleared the war-zone.

"It's not your fault, JoAnne," Liz told her, as she and Jesse tried to calm her down.

"It is," she sobbed miserably, "It's all my fault, if I hadn't got lost, she wouldn't be dead."

"She went back because she loved you and couldn't let you get caught alone in there."

"I killed her," she shrieked.

"No honey, that's not true and you know it."

"Liz," I said untying my bloody hand from the gun "we've got to calm her down, she's starting to distract the pilots."

"Christ Connor!" she said angrily, "she just watched Jeanine die, what do you want me to do?"

"I know that Liz," I said trying to keep my cool, for their sake.

"This isn't some random person, these are people we care about." she said "they died Connor, they all died because you had to keep on fighting. Because you drug them into this."

"I had no choice."

"No, but they did and you made the decision for them."

"You know I didn't want any of this." I said trying to calm her, putting my hands on her shoulders.

"Don't fucking touch me," She said, slapping me hard in the face. "How many more people are you going to get killed because you have something to prove?"

"Liz!" Jesse said making his way over to us, JoAnne looking on in shock. "Just go sit down."

"Give her one of these," I said pulling the pain killers out of a cargo pocket. Liz grabbed them, not saying another word.

"You need a medic," he said looking at my right arm, covered in blood from my hand up to my elbow.

"We'll be in Seattle soon," I said "Go take care of your girlfriend."

"Hey," he said quietly as I turned to sit down across from them, "We knew damn well what we were getting into. All of us."

The rest of the journey was painfully quiet, only the sound of JoAnne's sobbing and the roar of the propellers could be heard. Eventually, the painkillers kicked in and she mellowed out, falling asleep in Jesse's arms. Liz wouldn't even look at me.

"Leopard One, come in Leopard One."

"Go for Leopard One."

"You are being rerouted, Stand by for the coordinates for your arrival."

"Roger that." the pilot said as new coordinates were given.

"Be advised that you will be landing on a civilian building. A team will be on hand to debrief you."

"Affirmative, Leopard One out."

"Jesse," I said, he looked up seeming exhausted. "Fresh clip, safety off. Be ready for anything."

"Got ya," he said, adjusting himself so he could reload his rifle without waking JoAnne. I handed Liz a pistol, she took it without looking at me.

We were now directly over the city, flying through downtown past the skyscrapers. The sun was beginning to set, it was hauntingly beautiful as the red-orange glow began to encompass the buildings around us.

"This is it." The co-pilot said pointing toward a 50 or 60 story building in the heart of downtown Seattle.

"The Vermillion?" he said to himself, "What the hell is a Vermillion?"

"I think it's the color of the building." The pilot responded, he had only spoken a few times since we left.

"Alright guys," the pilot shouted back, "trays in the upright and locked position and all that other shit."

The helicopter hovered for a moment before landing, the pilot giving me an opportunity to survey the roof top. There were a handful of people in suits, not secret service, and a few soldiers with assault rifles standing by.

As we exited the chopper, Liz helping JoAnne off, the guards raised their guns.

"Drop your weapons!" One yelled ,as an important looking older woman with a medium build and a man in fatigues came forward.

"Drop it or we'll shoot!"

"Gentleman, stay yourselves." The woman said turning toward the guards. I darted forward grabbing the man in uniform by his throat, forcing him to the ground. My gun in my right hand pressed against his temple.

"Who set us up?" I roared, overcome with rage.

"General, please." he mumbled.

"Who was it?" I demanded pressing the barrel hard into his head.

"Gentleman, you will all compose yourselves." The woman said to the frantic soldiers before walking back toward me.

"I swear to god, I'll kill you if you don't tell me."

"I don't expect you to salute me," she said standing a few feet away, "but please refrain from killing the only adviser I fully trust."

"Connor," Jesse said, grabbing my shoulder, "That's the President."

"Indeed, I am" She said "and the man you have on the ground is Commandant Rigalio. I assure you, he had nothing to do with this conspiracy. Now please, let him up so that we can all go inside and talk."

"Sorry," I said offering Rigalio my hand to pull him up.

"No offense, son" he said smiling as he got up on his own, "but you're bleeding all over the place and I just washed this uniform."

"Captain," the President called to the soldier who had been barking the orders. "Would you mind fetching my personal physician?"

"Right away, ma'am"

"Thank you." She said "we have a lot to discuss, but we must head indoors to do so."

"Commandant, I-" I began before he cut me off.

"No need to apologize," he said walking beside me, "I assure you that we are doing everything possible to find out who double crossed you."

They led us to an elevator which we took to the 20th floor. We were then escorted to a room down the hall where the President's physician was waiting.

"Captain, might I request one more favor?" Thompson asked the soldier.

"Of course, ma'am."

"This young lady would do well to get some sleep," she said "Please take them to one of the secured rooms and see that they get anything they need."

"Jesse," I said "why don't you go with them, I'll be fine."

"Thanks," he said leaving the room with Liz and JoAnne.

"My evac was delayed, someone want to tell me why?" I asked pointedly as the doctor began to remove the shirt to look at my hand. It hurt like all hell, but I was too determined to find out what had happened.

"There was some interference with the support team," Rigalio said "Some of my peers did everything within their power to stop them from leaving. Finally, I convinced them that I am still head of our Marines and any obstructions would be treated as hostile."

"Who gave those orders?"

"We're all but certain that they came directly from Admiral Macalary." Thompson said.

"A lot of Americans died today because of what he did," I said "and I fully intend to repay him in kind."

"I'd like to give you that opportunity" she said, "but we can't just kill him and risk further fracturing our armed forces."

"We don't need a civil war on top of this," Rigalio added "our ultimate goal is unfettered cooperation between the US military and the resistance."

"I don't know what you've heard, but I've never given a direct order to them."

"Not yet," Thompson said, "but if you were to give them direction, they would surely follow."

"They could help bolster our defense at home," she said "while we wage a campaign in Asia."

"Imagine, if you will" Rigalio said "the resistance given joint access to the entirety of our country's arsenal. We would like your opinion on these matters."

"Why is that?"

"Well, not only have you proven to be a masterful strategist," The President said "but you have a voice that can compel men to fight, in a way that we can not."

"This isn't a game of risk." I said wincing as the doctor cleaned my hand.

"I won't argue that," Rigalio said handing me a map with data all over it, "Take a look at this, that shows the location of our Marines and Navy personnel stationed all over Asia and the Pacific."

"And these numbers?" I asked looking at connotations near the Chinese coast.

"The Chinese armada," he said "thousands of ships strong and thousands more being built as we speak."

"As you can see, General," Thompson said "they plan on crossing the Pacific very soon. We may not be able to beat them back this time."

"You want my opinion?" I asked, they both nodded "Meet them head on."

"Please elaborate." Thompson said intrigued.

"Canada is massing naval forces in British Columbia." I explained, "We have one of the largest ship yards in the navy here in the Puget Sound. Not just that, but a yard which specializes in retrofitting submarines. We then get on the horn and pull all the ships on the west coast up here."

"What about the ground troops?" Rigalio asked.

"Send them to Asia."

"How many are we talking about?" Thompson asked.

"All of them. The entirety of the Marine Corps with a huge amount of the US army following to secure areas once the Marines are done."

"Is that even possible Commandant?" The President asked.

"With the cooperation of the joint chiefs it could be." he said, seemingly deep in thought. "We could request the assistance of the Australian and Indian navies to transport excess personnel..."

"There's no way they could refuse an offer like that." I said, "Meanwhile, we use the coast guard and what's left of the army to reinforce the Resistance. After all, there probably aren't a lot of private citizens with fighter jets."

"No, probably not." Thompson replied, "we've been training foreign armies for decades, I'm sure we could do the same for our own citizens."

"There are a lot of risks though," I said

"There always are." she responded.

"You and I will become targets." I said, staring right into her eyes. "They will try to kill us. They'll send assassins and we'll have to remain in the open to make sure they meet us head on."

"Then that is a risk we'll have to take." she said unfazed.

"I'd also recommend you strike the PLA forces in this area." I said "They just suffered a staggering loss, don't give them time to breathe."

"It's as good as done." Rigalio said. "I assumed that's why you requested such a staggering amount of back up."

"Naturally," I replied, signaling for the doctor to leave us. "Now about the Joint Chiefs..."

Part Four

The Last City on Earth

Chapter 32

"Jesse said you'd be down here." I said taking a seat next to Liz at the bar, she was drinking something with fruit on top of the cup.

"Johann made it out," she said without looking up "he's headed over here now."

"I'm glad to hear that." I said

"We're leaving Connor," she said looking at me for the first time in hours. "Johann and I are taking JoAnne to New York, we're leaving soon."

"It doesn't sound like you're asking me to come with you." I said

"You wouldn't" she said taking a deep breath, "You'll never be able to walk away, I realize that now."

"Liz, I want to-" I said, she held up a hand to stop me.

"Let me talk for a minute," she said "I understand why you have to do this, I do. The people need you, they need someone up there who looks as if he has the answers and will lead them to victory. I know better, but they don't and maybe they don't need to.

Connor, I hope to god you can do this. I really do, and I'll pray for you every night, asking god to keep watching over you. But I can't do it, I'm not strong enough to watch you charge into battle anymore. I don't have what it takes to kill people, even if they deserve it.

Everyone around you is going to die, all of them. I know that I can't make Jesse leave, he loves you too much to let you do this alone. But pretty soon Connor, they'll take him too. They'll slit his throat just to get at you. Maybe you'll be able to make a speech about it and fill everyone with enough bullshit to get through the next day, but I'll know the difference. I'll always know the difference and it'll eat away at my soul for as long as I live.

"Goodbye Connor," She said as she stood up.

"Liz," I said "I'll always love you."

"I'm sorry, Connor. I just can't talk to you right now."

I sat there at the bar, not drinking feeling as if my heart had been ripped out. That horrible suffocating feeling that you get when you just want to die. I had known this was coming, but no matter how hard I tried to prepare for it her words tore through me like a blade. She was right, we both knew it.

"You look like a man who's just lost everything."

"That's what it feels like," I said turning to see Johann standing there. "She said you guys are leaving."

"We are," he said "there's nothing left here for me."

"Pretty soon, there will be nothing left for any of us."

"And that's why we have you." He said sitting down in the stool Liz had been in, waving at the bartender. "Two scotches, the older the better."

"I don't feel like drinking." I said

"Well you're going to." he replied, "let this old man buy you a drink before he skips town."

"I don't want to let go of the pain," I said accepting the drink, "because when I do, that means I have to start accepting that she's gone."

"You have a remarkable ability." Johann told me, "a few of them really. Abilities like yours are not just things that god hands out wantonly, he chooses carefully who he allows these gifts. In fact, I would say you are the precipice of my life's work. Every surgery I've ever performed was in some way preparing me to help save your life that day you were brought to us."

"How many people did I get killed today?" I asked

"None," he said firmly "they chose death over a life under a Tyrant's fist. They fought hard so that some day we could go back and rebuild that little village by the lake."

"What about Jeanine?"

"She was my closest friend," he said wiping away a single tear. "She lived a long happy life full of love. She died close to Burt and Thomas and they'll be waiting for me to come back some day. You saved JoAnne and that is all that would have mattered to her. Now JoAnne can start her life, maybe even someday I'll have the honor of walking her down the aisle when she and Jesse marry."

"Liz said he isn't going with you guys," I told Johann.

"No, of course not. I wouldn't expect him to." he replied, "he's becoming a fine young man, he'll continue fighting to make sure that one day we have a home to go back to. I expect you to make sure he makes it that far."

"I don't want to be responsible for his death or anyone elses." I said falling deeper into my despair.

"Then don't be," he said "It's a matter of perception, be responsible for the lives you've saved."

"I wish it was that easy."

"Nothing in life is easy, but the hardships make us cherish the memories more. I truly believe that some day you will be able to make those memories, just like the rest of us. Unfortunately, it seems that you are the only man on Earth who can ensure we keep the right to do so."

"What's this?" I asked, as he handed me a cocktail napkin with names and phone numbers.

"For your prosthesis and surgery," he said "it looks like they'll need to work on that hand, as well. If you'll forgive me, I need to go tend to JoAnne."

"Wait, Johann. Just a moment longer." I asked " I know in my heart that this is what has to happen, but god it stings. Worse than any bullet ever has. She's right though, I can't give her the life that she deserves. One day she'll marry a good man, who will give her children and the happiness that you and Jeanine were lucky enough to have. But not with me, never with me. I'm always only a moment away from death. Every breath I take, it brings me closer to that stray bullet or lurking assassin. One day when he dies she'll be able to bury him, with a lifetime full of love and happy memories, all she could ever have with me is a lifetime full of the nightmares like today. I've got to let her go completely, so that I don't continue dragging her down with me, there truly is no other way that she can be safe and happy. It hurts so bad having to acknowledge, that no matter what I do or how great our love is, we can never be together."

"All things change with time General," he said with a tear in his eye "Never forget that you might wake up one morning, ten years gone from here, and finally be at a place where you can fully give yourself to her, perhaps even forgive yourself. When that day comes, I trust that you won't let your fear get the better of you. You never do, never let go of that fearlessness for all of our sakes, Connor."

"Of course, Doctor."

"Try not to let the pain over ride your better judgment," he said handing me a bottle of Percocet filled to the brim. "Without a doubt you'll need these, but please don't let them overcome you."

With that he finally left, leaving me alone in the bar. Maybe a handful of people in uniform inside. I sat there another half hour, staring down at the counter ashamed of myself in a way I had never experienced. We had been successful, but it didn't feel like it. Even though we had won, I ended up losing everything.

"Bartender," I called, not that it made a difference, the bar was almost empty.

"What can I get for you?" he asked

"I'll take the rest of the bottle." I said handing him my room key, which also served as my tab.

"You sure you don't want an unopened one?"

"No," I said as he handed me the bottle, still 3/4ths full. "This will do."

Liz had requested a separate room, at a reasonable distance for me. The elevator man pretended not to look as I drank from the bottle on the way up. He looked like secret service, probably was, the entire building was being used by the government.

"I saw a pool about three fourths of the way up when we flew in." I told him

"That would be the 47th floor sir." He said, "Only yourself and a few others are being allowed access to it. Would you like to go there?"

"Yes, very much." I said, as my thoughts drifted further and further away from me. I took out the bottle of pills and swallowed a couple. The guard gave me an odd look. "Would you like some?"

"No, sir." he replied "I'm on duty."

"Good man." I said walking out as the elevator arrived at our destination.

The view was spectacular. Dusk had begun to creep across the city, stars flickering to life. The air was crisp, but not biting. I walked around the pool for a while before deciding I'd rather sit on the ledge over-looking the city. Of course there was a safety cage below which eliminated all fear of plummeting to one's death.

As I sat there, I experienced a kind of peace that one only finds after a long battle. It was not unlike the feeling the lake had given me when I had finally mustered the strength to get to it of my own accord. I could see the space needle in the distance, like a bulls-eye marking this beautiful city. Seattle, known for its innovative thinkers and the glum atmosphere. Such a dreary city would drive most crazy, but here it prodded its citizenry to think outside the box. Seattle boasted some of the finest philosophers and musicians our country had known over the last half century. They also established a tech stronghold, making it one of the more advanced cities on the west coast.

I sat contemplating what kind of death and catastrophe I would be responsible here. Death followed me wherever I went and this would not be any different.

Today I had made my friends pay the ultimate price. Willingly or not, they had not deserved this fate. I had new wraiths to haunt my dreams, they would be even more terrifying now. Every single one of those brave souls had some part in saving my life over the previous year. It is hard enough losing a fellow marine in combat, but losing people who had become family was excruciating. I had drawn them into a conflict that they were not, and possibly never could have been, prepared to deal with. I gave them no choice. My presence alone had decided where their path in this life would end.

"I've got half a mind to throw that bottle over the ledge," came a voice from behind me. I had heard the door, but I no longer cared.

"And I've half a mind to follow it." I replied, my jaw clenched, turning to face Liz. We said nothing for a few moments. "Did you come to tell me you're leaving?"

"Yes." she replied simply.

"I am sorry," I said, throwing the bottle over my shoulder, letting it plummet fifty stories to the pavement. "deeply, agonizingly sorry that I could not save them."

"So am I." she said, coming closer to me. Her eyes were red and agitated, tears streamed slowly down her face. She looked like an angel, as the last light of the red evening sky was fading behind her.

"I love you Elizabeth," I said, as she put her hands on the side of my face. "I'm so sorry for what I've put you through. So many have died, but what hurts the most is the fact that I've killed us, our future together."

"I'll always love you," She said slowly and deliberately, choking the words out "but my war ends today."

I stood there in silence, with no words to respond to what she had said. She kissed me lightly on the forehead, like she had done so many times before.

As she turned to walk away my chest constricted while feeling like it was about to burst. My heart sank into my stomach and I plunged away, falling further and further within my own mind.

Chapter 33

I walked slowly out of the shower, knowing someone was waiting for me in the room. They had not been quiet, but they weren't trying to be either. It was a safe bet that whoever was on the other side of the door was no threat.

So I took my time, they could wait. After all, they had come into my room unannounced. I didn't care who they were or what they wanted. I was weary of this never ending stream of self important strangers and their ridiculous demands. I didn't want to deal with this person, but I knew I had to. Not even the Percocet helped in dealing with these gnats.

"What do you want?" I asked as I walked out of the bathroom, with only a towel around my waste and another hanging over my shoulders.

"Mr Jeffries, my name is Colonel Alfred Studemeier," Said a man in his late 50's, with finger length greying hair and a full beard. He went to shake my hand, but I ignored his pleasantries.

"Colonel, you don't look like you're active duty," I said walking over to the dresser. "So cut the crap and tell me why you let yourself into my room."

"That's no way to speak to a superior officer!" He said indignantly.

"Colonel, did it ever occur to you that I no longer recognize your authority?" I asked, leaving him looking shocked and outraged. "I have no need for your bureaucracy and I owe you no favors. Now tell me what you came here for."

"Well... Ropas wasn't lying when he said you were hot headed." Col Studemeier replied. "That's a dangerous trait for a man in your position."

"And what exactly has Commandant Ropas sent you here for?" I asked, staring at him intensely as I leaned back against the dresser. This man was much more irritating than most.

"He wants to know where you stand, son." He replied gruffly, obviously pushing for a reaction.

"Usually when someone needs a favor from me, they don't make a point to insult me Colonel."

"Well, I'm not every tom, dick and harry," He said snidely, "I am a highly decorated superior officer asking a brash young man what he's willing to do for his country."

"My country?" I asked seething. "What am I willing to do for my country?"

"I want to know if you're man enough to help us lead the people in the direction they need to be headed. We cant win an all out war and you know it." He barked back at me. Both of our tempers rising. "What the hell are you going to do when this war gets real? Are you willing to sacrifice for this great nation."

"I Have sacrificed more than any man alive!' I roared, throwing the towel off of my shoulders. The other fell as I stood up, exposing the dozens of scars all over my body from the beatings I had taken over the last year. "Take a god damn look at what I have sacrificed for this country. Every scar, every bullet wound, all the damaged nerves, every fucking broken bone, and a crippled arm. I literally died for the likes of you and that wasn't fucking good enough. I have bled for this country more than any man could bear. I looked death in the eyes and asked for one more fucking round. So God, in his infinite wisdom, thrust me back down to this hell hole to make sure I suffered more trying to tear this land out of the grip of the PLA! How much of your own blood have you shed for America? How many times have you faced an eternity of darkness in order to wrench her from their grip?"

"No, you sir" I continued with the ferocity of an enraged lion, " You are a coward and a fool. You dare to stand before me asking what I have given up, when you have done nothing, but hide in the shadows. Years from now I will still be bleeding for this cause and you, you will ALWAYS be a coward!"

Studemeier sat there stunned. He couldn't stop looking at the scars all over my body. The torn flesh and indentions where bullets had ripped through me. I had become the embodiment of a nightmare.

"I earned every single one of these scars in the service of my country, you son of a bitch." I said grabbing his arm and yanking him to his feet. I pulled him up, staring right into his eyes. "I serve no man, but I will die a thousand more times to ensure the resistance continues. If you attempt to intervene, I will treat you as the enemy and you will suffer the same fate I have given so many of them. I have given everything for my cause, you would not be standing here if you could grasp the torment I have endured. No force on earth can stop my retribution."

"Corporal, I appreciate all-" he said stammering as I led him forcefully to the door.

"I believe you have my answer." I said shoving him into the hallway and slamming the door behind him.

Chapter 34

"They just arrested some douche bag for sneaking into your room." Jesse said as more of a question than a statement, when I found him the next day.

"He's lucky I didn't kill him." I said.

"I wouldn't blame you if you had," Rigalio said, he was seated across from Jesse.

"Did you give them that list?" I asked leaning on the back of a nearby chair.

"Yeah," he said "and she called them herself!"

"No shit," I said "I'm sure an aide could have done it."

"Ms Thompson likes to ensure things are done her way," Rigalio said laughing. "Have a seat."

"So what was that jackass doing in your room?"

"Well, it sounded a bit like he was giving me an ultimatum," I said "but he didn't have the nerve to follow through."

"From whom?" Rigalio asked, leaning forward.

"If I'm not mistaken," I said "the same man you caught selling information to the Chinese."

"Ropas?" he said "that little sewer rat!"

"I'm going to enjoy making him suffer." I replied.

"I was just going over the details with Espinoza." Rigalio said, "I also told him that if he ever got tired of being a freedom fighter, we'd gladly put him to use."

"He thinks I'm your second in command." Jesse said laughing.

"No, commandant," I said "that all falls squarely upon my shoulders. I endanger the people I care about enough without issuing titles."

"Mr. Jeffries!" The president said as she came out of the other room of the suite. "I have a friend of yours in the other room, please join us."

"We'll just swap war stories," Jerry said as I excused myself.

"Ma'am," I said "with all due respect, I don't have many friends."

"Maybe we should just call him your publicist." She said leading me into the other room.

"Raul?" I said in disbelief "god man, I'm glad you're safe."

"You've helped my career in big ways," he said shaking my hand. "They've really put you through the ringer haven't they?"

"In more ways than I'd like to admit." I said looking for a seat. "This place is... um, swanky."

"It's god awful, isn't it?" Thompson asked laughing, "but my team said it's the safest room in the building, so they put us in the honey moon sweet."

"What are you doing here?" I asked Raul.

"The President asked me to come," he said "I've been in Seattle since about a week after the initial attacks."

"Raul has been paramount in keeping the momentum going." She said, "he was the brain who came up with the idea of inserting the audio clips into the air waves."

"She said we need to send up a rallying call" he told me, pulling out his tape recorder.

"Alright, let's do this" I said glad to see someone who didn't hate me.

"America, this is R.C. I come to you today with a message from the general. Hours ago he led an attack that crippled the PLA forces in the pacific northwest, as we speak our military is finishing the job. Soon the entire area will be free from the terror of the PLA. The General led an assault on a massive Chinese force with only fifty resistance fighters. With the help of the United States Marines, he held them long enough for an airstrike to come in and destroy the majority of their air force in the area. General, tell us about the men who died in this assault."

"We lost a large part of our force. Terry Boris and his son TJ, who saved my own life only a few months ago. Sarah Anderson, whose sacrifice enabled us to draw fire long enough to take out hundreds of ground troops. Jeanine Myers who gave her life in the evacuation and was one of the kindest people I've ever had the privilege of knowing. Lt. Col Sombers died by her side and Lt. Salinger, both of the USMC, died helping to carry out this attack. Without the support of the President and our friends in the military we could not have won. We sacrificed a great deal, perhaps even too much to force our enemy back."

"General, you're almost unrecognizable right now. You look like you've walked through hell and back."

"I've taken some hits, but it pales in comparison to the lives we've lost."

"I'd like to point out that he's being modest. While I can't go into detail, the injuries you have sustained are immense and yet you still hold your head high and fight along with the rest of us."

"Perhaps it is fitting that I should bleed, when I ask you all to bleed with me."

"And that you have sir, that you definitely have.

As we speak there is an armada of incalculable size being constructed by the enemy, all indications point to a final assault. A battle to end all battles, so to speak. What can you tell us about this?"

"You are correct, our enemy builds his forces in order to unleash one last crushing wave upon us. Their population outnumbers us nearly 7 to 1, but they lack our fighting spirit. They underestimate the Resistance. We are, without a doubt, the largest fighting force on earth. Today, I have come with an offer. All of you have courageously fought, upholding your end of our bargain and I would like to give you something in return. In thirty days you will have unprecedented access to the might of this nation. I ask that every capable man and woman join me in Seattle as we prepare to brave the full onslaught of our enemy. We will meet the Chinese head on. Once they are defeated, we will fight him back into his home land and tear away his hold on the world."

"This is R.C, asking you to join us in this fight. Every capable man and woman who is willing to put their life on the line for our cause, please start making your way toward Seattle. General, please leave us with some words of inspiration."

"I can not offer you safety, no in fact I can only give you the total opposite. If you follow me, you are likely to die. The days of noble battle are far behind us, those who fall now can expect no glory. We fight only for an opportunity, for the possibility of one day reforging our nation.

And as the night approaches it's darkest, our blade shall cleave forth sundering it's terror apart. It is from our valor that the land will be flooded with light once more, and in that hour it is not God that our enemies will fear. It is us, the righteous. We, who are known only as, The Resistance."

Chapter 35

All great plans take time to come together, ours was no different. We made our move a month later on Valentine's day, as inappropriate as that might seem.

Resistance fighters had been pouring into the city, I-5 had been secured all the way from the Mexican border after we pushed the Chinese back in Malakwa. Jesse had taken to training the new fighters in the street, incorporating parkour into the urban warfare we were teaching them. The results were nothing short of astounding. A moving target was hard to hit, but one that moved through the air as easily as across the ground was formidable.

My latest surgery was all done through outpatient procedures. They hadn't even put me under to remove most of the metal from my back. The relief was immediate, if not quite adequate. My hand was bad, but the repairs combined with the advanced prosthesis allowed me full function of my arm again. It was cumbersome and hotter than hell, but it worked.

It covered my entire arm from fingertips to my shoulder and then went across my back and looped around my other arm like a shoulder gun holster. The responsiveness was incredible, if I knew how to play the piano I could have done so. Too bad I'm not musically inclined, the coolest thing I could do was use a keyboard without popping the letters out. Still, that wasn't bad for a guy who couldn't raise his arm above his shoulder without it.

Of course, this new flexibility left me sore, but I relished the pain. We had set the ball rolling and after days our efforts had warranted concrete results. All that was left was to get the naval yard in motion and break the Joint Chiefs hold on the military.

The spotlights of the arena glared down upon us. Tens of thousands of soldiers watching from the bleachers. Qwest field was over run with soldiers, harkening to world war II when allied countries would house visiting troops in arenas. It was the most efficient way to set up mass check points and boarding, but incredibly uncomfortable. Normal capacity was around 65,000. Which meant room for about 40,000 cots in the stands and tents for operations on the field, with the officer's quarters being held under the stadium by the locker rooms. It was actually incredibly efficient, mess halls weren't used in favor of modified soup lines at the various concessions. Single file lines throughout. Troops had a greater control of their bladders leading to much less rest-room use. Every other day units were given 45 minutes to shit, shower, and shave in the locker rooms.

Down on the field tents were set up for command posts, with helicopter landing zones in both end-zones and at center-field, allowing 3 Apaches or similar size transport helicopters to ground at the same time.

We were told that the Secretary of State, and acting President, would meet with us and the Joint Chiefs of Staff in the owner's box. In case of attack we had mapped the access route, normally used by personnel. Only Jesse and I were aware of where it had not been blocked off. The helicopter didn't land, we rappelled at about one hundred feet. A fair distance above the north end zone. We were told to go east off of the field through the underbelly of the stadium and our guide would lead us to the owner's box.

"Out of the way soldiers!" Our guide screamed over the crowd gathered.

"Fuck off, pipsqueak."

"Yeah choke on it!" came the dissent from the crowd, we quickly realized they weren't necessarily here for us. There was a fight going on just through the crowd under the goal post. It looked as if the soldiers were betting under the guise of waiting for the helicopters.

"Move you morons." Our guide insisted pushing through, he was small but not one to mess with.

"God damn, you idiots" Jesse barked. "Get the fuck out of the way, this isn't Madison Square Garden, it's a fucking military base."

"If it was Madison you wouldn't last." said a voice near the goal post.

"Fuck off and move dip shits!" the guide yelled, getting increasingly angry at their disobedience.

"Fuck yourself little man, how bout your boss fights to get you all through?"

"What the fuck did you say boy?" he yelled, "I guarantee I am a superior officer and I will have you court marshaled for the fucking suggestion.

"Why don't you blow me Major?"

"How did..." our guide started, before I grabbed his arm.

"Major, I believe something is about to happen. It would be best to let me handle it, OK?"

"Sir, I..."

"Major, that was not a request." I said. "I'm sorry but i don't think your involvement is necessary at this point."

"Aye, aye sir," he said, "Would you like me to to retrieve your escort so you can handle this?"

"Yes, sir," I replied with a cool smile. "I would appreciate the good faith."

"Out of the way, you maggots," he roared pushing plebeians aside.

Jesse and I made our way through the crowd, pushing toward the goal post. Most men weren't used to the blinding spot lights used to illuminate the field during the game. They didn't even notice people moving among them. The best approach was to look toward the lights to accustom yourself to the glare.

"Son," I said putting my hands firmly on the shoulders of a soldier at the edge of the crowd. "I've noticed you are one of the few armed people down here. I've also noticed that you have not just a firearm, but a blade as well."

The boy gulped, knowing I could take him down if he even tried to move.

"Now, what you're going to do is walk calmly back toward your superior and tell them what is happening, if you don't you will be dead within five minutes time, is that clear?"

"But.."

"There are no butts asshole." Jesse growled leaning against his shoulder, he had already taken the gun and released the clip. "try anything and you're dead before you can move, got it? Now get the fuck out of here."

"Wow, you almost made me piss my pants" I joked to Jesse as the boy ran off.

Two men were going through the motions boxing. It was obvious they weren't trying to hurt each other, if you were inclined to look for the signs. Pulled punches, lack of elbows, knees, and direct strikes. As the bigger of the men saw us, he struck a real blow for the first time. He had injured the other fighter badly, the kid wasn't expecting an elbow to his throat. After all, it wasn't a real fight, or so he thought.

"Winner!" yelled the scrawny kid to the side, who must have been their booky.

"Double or nothing." the winner growled.

"Wha?" the booky asked as the crowd began whispering, unsure what was happening.

"Double or nothing." He said with a sneer, "After all we have a celebrity in the house."

"No thanks kid." I said calmly while I sized him up. He was a few years younger than me, wearing BDUs, only the pants of course. Dark green digital camo in contrast with his light tan boots, he was a Ranger. He was in good shape, 6'3 maybe, 245 pounds of muscle. He looked like he could have played for the army football team

"C'mon General" he said snidely, "3 rounds."

"I don't have time for your games soldier. The adults have important things to do." I replied, I knew it was a set up but being called General reinforced it. Only about half a dozen people in the world would recognize me after the hell I had been through. Some one was setting this up.

"I understand, if I was a pussy I'd walk away too."

"Connor, don't." Jesse said as he saw my reaction, stopping mid-stride to turn around.

"Shut the fuck up boy."

"Fuck off you moron, this man has a lot more important things to do than kick your dumb ass."

"Well I guess I'll settle for yours then." He said striking at Jesse as fast as he could.

He wasn't fast enough. I was already turned around, less than a yard away when he acted. I reacted, coming up and around his right arm with my left. Locking it, if necessary I would break it. This boy had never been in combat, I could tell from his reactions or lack thereof. He tried to swing, but telegraphed. I struck down hard, driving my covered right fist squarely into his mouth. I felt a knuckle breaking as I pushed past his teeth, they cut into my hand. I was surprised by the amount of force the prosthetic was able to generate. I yanked back releasing his arm, pulling my fist away.

He lay on the ground, unconscious in a pool of blood. He was alive, but I doubt he'd ever cross me again. Not before his broken jaw healed anyways.

His friend ran forward as if to interfere, before I could act Jesse dropped to his knees, jarring his elbow into this man's upper abdomen, breaking his sternum. He fell to the ground and began sobbing.

"This game is over, next one dies." I said walking off, Jesse at my side. They wouldn't dare, they were too shocked to move.

"Someone find those bitches a medic." Jesse said, finally assured of his own abilities.

A hundred yards away we walked back into the Officer's compound, making our way off the field and into the underbelly of this vast stadium. The great fortress cities of legend were nothing compared to the size of modern stadiums.

I was tired and pissed off, this meeting was not exactly what I wanted to deal with right now. Jesse was ready to rip someone's head off, he wasn't able to quickly calm himself yet.

"Remarkable restraint you showed back there, General," MacAlary said sneering, emphasizing "general" sarcastically.

With this Raul stuck his hand into his pocket and flipped a switch, he was hiding in the corner almost completely unnoticed as he impersonated the President's aide. We couldn't hear it from inside the guts of the stadium, but he had turned on the loud speakers outside.

"Perhaps, you should talk to your special ops team about it, Sir?" I replied coolly, "After all, it was your scouts who instigated the confrontation and your man who tried to stab my companion here."

"What?" Jesse roared "That mother fucker tried to stab me?"

"Well, he probably wanted me," I explained "but realized he wasn't smart enough to be able to engage me openly."

"What the fuck is going on here asshole?" Jesse demanded of the Chairman.

"Yes, do explain." Secretary Thompson insisted.

"There's nothing to explain..." the vice chairman mumbled unsure of himself.

"I didn't ask you to speak!" She yelled at him, and then calmly "again chairman, I must insist upon an explanation."

"Fuck you..." he said through grated teeth. "You think you can win this war, you stupid whore? You really think some no-one, ex-enlisted marine is going to save the free world?"

No one responded, instead letting him continue.

"You're wrong, all of you." he screeched, then pointing to me, "And you! you are going to make damn sure our entire fucking country is under Chinese rule because you want to fight!"

"And what would you propose Admiral?" I demanded, " That we lay down? That we go quietly into the night as our enemy descends upon our children and families?"

"That we make a deal you fool!" he said "that we find a way around this.

"That we all sink to your level of cowardice?" I asked. "You ask that I let my family and friends all die, that I give EVERYTHING for this country. That I follow blindly, just to give up and let them win?"

"Yes..." He whimpered, "don't you see? it's the only wa.."

"NO, I refuse, Sir!." I bellowed. "I may be a nobody in your jaded eyes, but I have given everything to save this country, and I will not lay down, I will not cower in the face of my enemy as you do! I have one thing you do not, and that is the dignity of meeting my enemy head on and refusing to let cowardice overcome me! You know nothing of sacrifice, you've lived a privileged life and your children have been entitled to the same."

"Noo...."

"You think I'm so stupid that I don't know that I just shattered your own son's jaw?" I asked "You arrogant son of a bitch. You were willing to let your own son sacrifice himself for your approval, just to throw him to the wolves."

"But.. how..."

"Do you think I'm an idiot Admiral?" I said, "Do you think I walked blindly into this situation? Never! I know the odds back and front before I act. I never walk into a firefight without being prepared. Maybe I should have shoved that blade into his throat, the way you asked him to do to me? You're the fool sir. You have no idea what is happening in the world around you"

"Your son," Jesse explained "He was top of his class in Annapolis three years ago. You used him as a pawn in your unsuccessful bid for governor of New Jersey, right?"

"I know everything about you." I informed him, "In fact I know every facet of all of your lives, every single one of you."

"You don't have the security clearance," The vice chairman shouted.

"I am the acting President and you WILL stand down vice chairman," Roared Thompson, the vice chairman begrudgingly submitting. "These two young men, I trust them more than anyone else on Earth. Do you honestly think I'd let them walk into our own massacre unarmed?"

"That's a lie" said the chairman, now cowering and inching toward the door.

"Is it?" She demanded, closing the distance between them. "Or was the plan to have Connor and Jesse killed out there in a brawl while you and your goon in the corner killed me?"

As she said this, the man in the corner lurched forward. This man was an army Sergeant Major according to his rockers. He grabbed a letter opener off of the desk swinging it toward the President's throat.

Shots rang out. Jesse had disarmed a guard and taken his service weapon. He had taken down the other 3 guards and backed the other joint chief's into a corner. Time was flying by, the Sgt Major moving forward, covering more ground than I could manage from my place in the room. He grabbed Mrs Thompson with his free hand.

She shrieked, trying to fall to the ground to avoid his blade, buying me the time I needed to cover the distance. I caught his hand, the blade slicing from my left pinky down to my wrist.

At this point, you know as well as I do, that pain only spurs me on. The shock of my hand slicing open was enough to let me get a grip on his wrist with my left hand, swinging my body backwards in a circular motion I grabbed his throat with my right hand.

It was over as quickly as it had begun. I had yanked him around by his neck slamming him into the desk, where we had been fighting for control of the knife. He slowly let go, as I pulled the knife out of his chest. His own momentum had impaled him when I swung him around.

"They won't stop..." he gasped as he fell to the ground lifeless.

"Don't even try it!" I snapped as I threw the knife at the Chairman, who had been crawling toward the door. The knife pinning him to the door frame with the blade through his hand.

"Ahhhh" he cried miserably, mumbling various unimportant threats upon my life before Jesse stomped his face into the wall to shut him up.

"Well I cant say that was unexpected." Thompson said as she collected herself. "Now are any of you other fools going to try to make an attempt on our lives?"

"With all due respect," said the Commandant of the Marine Corps, "they never had the chance, my dear."

"And I thank you for that Jerry," She said "I also thank you for your unwavering belief in this great nation and our ability to rise from the ashes."

"Of course, Madam President."

"Effective immediately" She said somberly, "the joint chiefs of staff are hereby stripped of their command and all military personnel are to report to Commandant Rigalio of the United States Marine Corps until our country is either at peace or insolvent. Is that understood?"

"Yes ma'am," the other chiefs mumbled.

"Some of you, I feel I can trust." she said "to a degree... of course. Mr Rigalio will give you further orders. If you refuse, you will spend the remainder of this war in the Brig as a traitor."

"Gentleman, if I may have your attention." Commandant Rigalio said as we led out the Chairman and the Vice Chairman to take them to the brig. The troops outside stood by stunned, they were clearly trying to absorb what had taken place.

"I need a CACO" I said as they led the Chairman and his lackey away.

"I will leave this to your discretion General." The President said.

"Thank you ma'am"

"I want all of your attention" She barked to the thousands of troops present. "Your orders from here on out will come from either myself, the Commandant of the Marines, or the General here. Is that clear?"

"Yes ma'am" came a resounding roar.

"Now I expect you to give the General all the respect you reserve for the highest officers in your own branches." she yelled, not needing a microphone. She had a commanding voice, one that could silence a crowd with a forced tone. "The only person in this entire country who will question his orders are myself."

Another resounding yes ma'am, this time louder and with much more heart.

"Now gentleman, you have all earned a short rest period." she said, "be advised, this is not a leave and we are at war so do not wander far."

"Thank you ma'am" I said sincerely.

"Might I borrow your young friend General?" She asked referring to Jesse. "I am in need of a body guard while you go about your new duties."

"Of course," I said, seeing Jesse's eyes gleaming with pride, "You wont find anyone more capable."

"As you were General," She said as she turned to walk back into the conference room.

"Where is my CACO?" I asked looking for the casualty notification officer.

"Here, sir."

"Listen soldier," I said looking at the army CACO who had responded. "We are at war and unfortunately, casualties have occurred on both sides. Is that understood?"

"Yes, sir"

"Well, soldier" I replied, "A highly decorated Sgt Major is dead and his family must be notified. I am going to recommend him for the medal of honor and you are to tell his family that he died following orders."

"But, sir I, we all heard..."

"Soldier," I said "We are taught from day one as recruits to follow orders, and I will not have his wife and children harboring ill thoughts of him for dieing while trying valiantly to carry out the commands of his superior officers. Is that clear?"

"Yes, sir." He replied. "If I may speak freely?"

"Of course, Sergeant."

"I only hope the rest of the country is able to see how lucky we are to have you at the front of this battle, sir."

"Why is that?"

"Well, sir in the face of certain death we all need someone like yourself to lead the way." He said shaking my hand. "Someone who refuses to compromise, not matter what."

Chapter 36

"They just arrested some douche bag for sneaking into your room." Jesse said as more of a question than a statement, when I found him the next day.

"He's lucky I didn't kill him." I said.

"I wouldn't blame you if you had," Rigalio said, he was seated across from Jesse.

"Did you give them that list?" I asked leaning on the back of a nearby chair.

"Yeah," he said "and she called them herself!"

"No shit," I said "I'm sure an aide could have done it."

"Ms Thompson likes to ensure things are done her way," Rigalio said laughing. "Have a seat."

"So what was that jackass doing in your room?"

"Well, it sounded a bit like he was giving me an ultimatum," I said "but he didn't have the nerve to follow through."

"From whom?" Rigalio asked, leaning forward.

"If I'm not mistaken," I said "the same man you caught selling information to the Chinese."

"Ropas?" he said "that little sewer rat!"

"I'm going to enjoy making him suffer." I replied.

"I was just going over the details with Espinoza." Rigalio said, "I also told him that if he ever got tired of being a freedom fighter, we'd gladly put him to use."

"He thinks I'm your second in command." Jesse said laughing.

"No, commandant," I said "that all falls squarely upon my shoulders. I endanger the people I care about enough without issuing titles."

"Mr. Jeffries!" The president said as she came out of the other room of the suite. "I have a friend of yours in the other room, please join us."

"We'll just swap war stories," Jerry said as I excused myself.

"Ma'am," I said "with all due respect, I don't have many friends."

"Maybe we should just call him your publicist." She said leading me into the other room.

"Raul?" I said in disbelief "god man, I'm glad you're safe."

"You've helped my career in big ways," he said shaking my hand. "They've really put you through the ringer haven't they?"

"In more ways than I'd like to admit." I said looking for a seat. "This place is... um, swanky."

"It's god awful, isn't it?" Thompson asked laughing, "but my team said it's the safest room in the building, so they put us in the honey moon sweet."

"What are you doing here?" I asked Raul.

"The President asked me to come," he said "I've been in Seattle since about a week after the initial attacks."

"Raul has been paramount in keeping the momentum going." She said, "He was the brain who came up with the idea of inserting the audio clips into the air waves."

"She said we need to send up a rallying call" he told me, pulling out his tape recorder.

"Alright, let's do this" I said glad to see someone who didn't hate me.

"America, this is R.C. I come to you today with a message from the general. Hours ago he led an attack that crippled the PLA forces in the pacific northwest, as we speak our military is finishing the job. Soon the entire area will be free from the terror of the PLA. The General led an assault on a massive Chinese force with only fifty resistance fighters. With the help of the United States Marines, he held them long enough for an airstrike to come in and destroy the majority of their air force in the area. General, tell us about the men who died in this assault."

"We lost a large part of our force. Terry Boris and his son TJ, who saved my own life only a few months ago. Sarah Anderson, whose sacrifice enabled us to draw fire long enough to take out hundreds of ground troops. Jeanine Myers who gave her life in the evacuation and was one of the kindest people I've ever had the privilege of knowing. Lt. Col Sombers died by her side and Lt. Salinger, both of the USMC, died helping to carry out this attack. Without the support of the President and our friends in the military we could not have won. We sacrificed a great deal, perhaps even too much to force our enemy back."

"General, you're almost unrecognizable right now. You look like you've walked through hell and back."

"I've taken some hits, but it pales in comparison to the lives we've lost."

"I'd like to point out that he's being modest. While I can't go into detail, the injuries you have sustained are immense and yet you still hold your head high and fight along with the rest of us."

"Perhaps it is fitting that I should bleed, when I ask you all to bleed with me."

"And that you have sir, that you definitely have.

As we speak there is an armada of incalculable size being constructed by the enemy, all indications point to a final assault. A battle to end all battles, so to speak. What can you tell us about this?"

"You are correct, our enemy builds his forces in order to unleash one last crushing wave upon us. Their population outnumbers us nearly 7 to 1, but they lack our fighting spirit. They underestimate the Resistance. We are, without a doubt, the largest fighting force on earth. Today, I have come with an offer. All of you have courageously fought, upholding your end of our bargain and I would like to give you something in return. In thirty days you will have unprecedented access to the might of this nation. I ask that every capable man and woman join me in Seattle as we prepare to brave the full onslaught of our enemy. We will meet the Chinese head on. Once they are defeated, we will fight him back into his home land and tear away his hold on the world."

"This is R.C, asking you to join us in this fight. Every capable man and woman who is willing to put their life on the line for our cause, please start making your way toward Seattle. General, please leave us with some words of inspiration."

"I can not offer you safety, no in fact I can only give you the total opposite. If you follow me, you are likely to die. The days of noble battle are far behind us, those who fall now can expect no glory. We fight only for an opportunity, for the possibility of one day reforging our nation.

And as the night approaches it's darkest, our blade shall cleave forth sundering it's terror apart. It is from our valor that the land will be flooded with light once more, and in that hour it is not God that our enemies will fear. It is us, the righteous. We, who are known only as, The Resistance."

A Brief Interlude
Chapter 37

Jesse here. Sitting in a bar in Tennessee, chasing yet another sketchy lead. It'll be a bust like all the rest. I probably would have just sent someone else, but the fact that the perp was often in this bar and mean as hell was just too good to pass up. According to my data, he's never officially identified himself as the person of interest, but other patrons sure seem to think he is. To be honest, not many people can fuck a man up the way this guy did. So there is at least that much to go off of. Besides, it's been a long time since I've been in a good brawl. Hell, the war's been over for damn near ten years now.

As I sit here, reading over his file I can't help but notice that this was the point where things really began to change. Not just for the war effort, but for Connor himself. You see, he did not take Liz's departure well. He'd be angry at me for saying this, but he had already developed a pretty heavy dependency on pain killers by that point. It only grew worse from there. Not just that, but the alcohol as well. He began taking big risks, with no regard for his own safety. Of course, he had learned a harsh lesson when we left the lake. He no longer allowed anyone to accompany him on missions. They became increasingly dangerous, almost as if he were trying to get killed.

It was nearly two months after our arrival when Connor had the shrapnel removed. Another two before his arm was fitted with the sleeve. It was certainly an incredible piece of hardware. He had been in surgery for over nine hours as doctors picked at the metal in his spine. The fitting for his arm took nearly an entire afternoon. After that, he finally consented to laser surgery to repair his bad eye. I couldn't help but feel like we were fitting a dangerous animal with weapons that even nature refused to give it.

By this time we had begun taking over the training of our Resistance fighters, knowing that a definitive battle was coming our way. Death was in the air, it was palpable. We all knew that tens, maybe hundreds, of thousands would die once the Chinese launched their massive assault on Seattle. This would be our greatest test, defending the nation's new capitol.

The last had been incinerated like a bad alien invasion movie. The difference was that we knew a storm was coming this time. We were preparing to unleash our own hurricane upon them.

"Today," Connor yelled loudly to the crowd of over a hundred of the best fighters, "Commander Espinoza is going to teach you how to fight in these streets. Today, you learn how to fly."

"Alright, up the ramp!" I yelled at the dozens of people on three large half pipes. They scrambled trying to get themselves up with nothing but will power. One by one they slid and fell backward, taking their friends down with them.

"Again!" Connor roared as they got back on their feet. Only a few had made it up top.

"You cant climb this wall, you stupid fucks!" I yelled as they again fell backward. "move lightly, thrust yourself where you can. This isn't a treadmill!"

"Do we need to break out a chalkboard and draw colorful pictures to get you asses to understand?" Connor bellowed as he hopped down the ramp, sliding gracefully, as if he were on a skateboard, before lunging through the crowd. He dodged, spun, and hopped over the people in his way before running up the wall as if it were a stair case.

"Come the fuck on!" I yelled "he just ran through your uncoordinated asses and made it up. Get your shit together!"

And so it continued until every last one of them made it up as if they were stepping over a puddle. Ever day the training became more intense. We moved to the streets using rubber bullets to reinforce the importance of the exercises. Connor would usually pull his own gun and take out half the line. Eventually I made him stop participating in the group exercises. He was learning how to work this completely different body, but his instincts had never changed. He was a predator. The badger you refuse to corner because the outcome was never pretty.

It was a daunting task, but one made easier by commanding all of the resources available in the free world.

He inspired them. He told me that I did the same, I wasn't so sure, but the progress was hard to argue with. We had created a guerrilla army.

Connor frequently disappeared. No one knew where. I had the highest possible security clearance, as I was second in command of the Resistance. I was Connor's shadow, replacing him when he couldn't, or didn't want to, attend high level meetings with various heads of state.

"Who is this child?" demanded the prime minister of Italy.

"This 'child'" President Johnston said forcefully, " is the second in command of the entirety of our Resistance forces. Over four hundred million world-wide would march to death at his command. You will show him the respect he deserves. After all, he did help work out the strategy that saved your country."

"I don't need you to remind me," he said sheepishly. "My apologies Commander."

"As I was saying," I said, not caring if I interrupted the prick. "Our enemy still believes that only Jeffries commands the Resistance. They are making a grave mistake. They allow their vanity to play right into our hands, and sights..."

"Then it is decided," said the Premier of Russia. "We follow you into the gates of hell."

"Agreed," came the response from Spain.

A chorus of unity followed. Our plan was in motion. We would feign the mouse and lead our enemy into the jaws of the monster.

Chapter 38

As the surgeons began work repairing Connor's back and arm, they had put him on Fentanyl patches. It was basically a time released dose of morphine. I would still catch him taking other pain meds on top it. I couldn't imagine how much pain he was in at the time. No man could have handled it really. Yet, we turned our heads and refused to see it because Connor was the General. We needed him too badly to try and intervene.

He would often sneak off, wandering the city with no body guards or companions. The trips usually ended in a bar somewhere. An unsuspecting patron would say the wrong thing and Connor would tear into them. Seattle was huge and the population was actually growing because of the influx of fighters. Of course vendors had to follow, so most businesses stayed open. The city was thriving, it was probably the only place on earth experiencing significant growth. In a dark bar, with people still mostly in cold weather attire, no one would notice him. Until he beat the shit out of someone and left that is. He was losing control.

He could take out an entire platoon by himself, yet he could not cope with losing the love of his life. The poor bastard had lost literally everything in his life. They had been together so long that Liz was part of his identity. He no longer knew who he was without her.

She wasn't doing well either. I talked to her and JoAnne almost nightly. Liz wanted to be with him so bad, but knew that he wouldn't let her come back. She understood that as hurt and broken as he was, that if she were to die it would destroy him. In a way all of our fates were contingent upon her safety. If New York was attacked again, Connor would have immediately ordered an all out assault. If she was taken hostage, he would have moved the Earth itself to get her back. Occasionally they would talk, but it was formal and seemed forced. Both much too afraid to tell the other how they felt, unable to bear hurting each other anymore than they already had.

Connor often talked to her parents though. After all, they were the only family he had left. They never knew exactly how much resources he committed to keeping them all safe and secure. Two people, perfect for each other forced apart by circumstances that even God could no longer control.

In retrospect, it all seemed so evident. It's as if Connor had laid his path out on a chalk board in pretty colors. He was screaming for help. He was in agony and we all stood by and let him slip further away.

The End of the Road
Chapter 39

The days passed quickly as our war machine sprang into action. With the Joint Chiefs successfully dislodged, the military was at the President's full command. Within days we had to start moving in drill instructors to help with the training. All over the country, those who couldn't stray far started reporting to military bases for training. They would protect their cities, while we struck toward the enemy.

As the ice began to melt and winter faded away, the Resistance formed from mere abstract ideology evolved into a fighting force of epic proportions. By mid-April when the Chinese ships started to launch we had 3.2 million resistance fighters in the city ready to meet them if they made land fall.

In addition to the fighters, support had flooded the city as well. We had doctors, chefs, and even musicians coming to witness the battle that loomed just over the horizon.

"Do you remember when you said our drums would thunder from the rooftops Connor?" Raul asked me in early June as the Chinese forces were only days away. We sat outside of a restaurant just blocks from the fish market that Jesse was so fond of.

"Vaguely," I responded, "Why?"

"Well get this," he said excitedly, "There are thousands of people who are going to be making their way on top of buildings to beat war drums."

"That sounds dangerous," I responded skeptically.

"I'm sure it is," he said "but remember when you were a kid and your history teacher said that armies would go marching to war with drummers?"

"Yes, I understand the concept." I said "It's bound to psych the PLA out, if they manage to breach the ports."

"Imagine that, a city alive with the sound of a single massive drum beat."

"Sounds like something that could only happen in Seattle."

"Connor, we're up" Jesse said letting me know it was time for us to take our positions overlooking the Puget Sound. We would be largely out of the way, the navy would do most of the heavy hitting along with air support. God help them if they did make it to land.

"They'll be like hamsters trapped in a microwave." he said as we headed toward our positions in a racing red 1971 trans am that I had commandeered. I didn't plan on giving it back either.

"That has got to be the single worst analogy I've ever heard." I said laughing at him.

The streets were clear, a ghost town before the battle. All private citizens who weren't involved had already left, knowing what was coming. I took liberty with the solitude, screeching through corners on the way to our perch. Eventually we parked on a hill overlooking the bay. We got out, taking our radios and binoculars, we would oversee the battle from this vantage point. Raul had set up a podium in order to hold a press conference, Rigalio was speaking to the cameras as we arrived.

"We're in position," I said over the radio "All major systems report."

The teams began sounding off, from the war ships in the harbor to the anti aircraft crews, to the air support, along down to the ground crews, and eventually to the naval relay from British Columbia who would bring up our rear.

We waited as the Chinese war ships cautiously approached, their tail stretching for miles as they funneled into the sound. They had met little resistance on their way, seemingly even the military had largely abandoned the city.

"Maestro, cue the music." Raul said. The drums started slowly pulsing, building up into one rhythmic heartbeat across the city. The closest war ships panicked and began firing blindly, which was the signal for the submarines to attack. In the last few months, the massive new workforce had brought over 200 submarines back to fighting standard. The subs had remained stationary at the bottom of the sound for two days prior, allowing the Chinese to filter in unaware of their existence.

At the first sign of fire, they unleashed in unison. The warships began pulling out of the hundreds of inlets around the sound.

"Send in the birds." I ordered as dozens of planes scrambled, with dozens more waiting for a runway, from SeaTac to nearby military strips and even the private airports. Hundreds more launched from aircraft carriers near British Columbia as the Canadian Navy moved to cut off the Chinese forces from behind. Thousands of miles away another large collection of warships and aircraft carriers were leaving Hawaii and the Philippines, they would hinder any reinforcements and halt any retreat.

Meanwhile, in the streets of Seattle, millions of Resistance fighters waited for the Chinese to reach our shores. We all knew it would happen. They would rue the day they attacked us when they found Terra Firma.

"Behind me, the General has just initiated the largest joint attack our military has ever mounted," Rigalio said addressing the world., "Halfway across the world our brave soldiers have breached the Chinese-Korean border and our joint forces have overwhelmed the major coastal naval yards that were targeted. Today we are making history, writing the next chapter in our own story.

As we broadcast today, over every television and cable station in the western world, I would like to introduce to you, for the first time, the man responsible our renewal."

"Thank you Commandant," I said "be sure to congratulate our allies for me."

"Aye, aye sir." He said "With any luck they'll be drinking to our victory here today."

"Let's not get ahead of ourselves." I said "we've got 10,000 war ships still floating."

"Nothing your boys in the streets can't handle" he said turning the microphone over to me.

"Our enemy is at our door," I said looking into the camera, the world seeing my face for the first time. "He intends to raze our homes, but we will not allow it. No, today we repay the injustices he has dealt us. We make our stand and we will beat the enemy back from our gates. Unlike our adversaries, we will show them mercy. We will allow their unconditional surrender and if they refuse we will assail their lands, after driving every last one from our homes.

Today you look upon me for the first time, you see the hard won scars from the battles leading up to this point. I have bled so much, but I continue to fight for you as I know you will do for me. Now, you're all aware that I am not your messiah. I am not sent down from on high to determine the line between right and wrong. I ask you all to stay true to yourselves in these moments of doubt. When your nemesis lays before you bleeding, don't ask what would the General do to this injured man, ask yourself what is right or wrong. You have all made tremendous, selfless choices in order to be here. Do not let that stop. We are not monsters in our own lives, but when pressed upon the open battlefield we may become monsters or wraiths sent to exercise judgment. And me? I am not your god, Jesus or anything of the sort. I am a man... A man pushed beyond his limits, but not his wit. I am a specter ready to hunt down the souls of the wicked. If I am to die on the battlefield today it will be with the greatest honor. There can be no higher reward for me, than to fall alongside my brothers and sisters in the Resistance. If you see this scarred and shattered face amongst you, know that I am there to support your fight. And if I do not survive, be assured the way is prepared in advance. Our enemies might destroy my vessel, but they will never have the power to change the messages that we have sent forth. It will continue as long as this war sees fit to rage on.

I stand here, stripped and broken. A man with nothing left but my word. I have begged them not to press me, yet they refuse to relent. The air around me burns with my anger, somehow our enemy is foolish enough to keep pushing us. We will shatter the world just to defy them, the Chinese empire will fall, becoming an ember within our grasp. I promise you, we will watch as their lives become nothing more than the fuel driving my pain, all of our pain. They have stolen everything from us, and we will repay in kind!" I continued, the words bleeding forth. My anger had become palpable as I slammed my fist down against the podium, shattering the edge of the cheap wood.

"We have all bled so much to reach this point, so many have died on our path. Today, we honor the fallen with our valor. The war will not end here, but now we take back the right to shape our future. In Seattle, we will determine the fate of the free world. The time has come to fight valiantly and die with honor!"

"And cut transmission." Raul said as I stepped away from the podium.

"I never thought I'd witness a battle of this scale." I told Jesse as we watched the chaos engulfing the waters, leaning back against the hood of the car.

"I figured you would have been dead by now too." he joked.

"As did I." I replied.

"I wonder if this will be the end." he said

"No, not at all" I told him, "Soon they'll be the ones with something to lose, we've started pushing back and with a fifth of the world's population there's no telling what they're capable of when desperate."

"Do you really think we have a chance Connor?" Jesse asked, almost as if it were an after thought.

"Yes, I really do Jes." I said, I couldn't have been more impressed with the man he had become , his mother would have been so proud of him.

As we stood looking across the horizon, I felt just the slightest tinge of hope. Something I had not known in so long. In the midst of all this chaos, I found myself calm. The drums rang out from the rooftops across the city. Jets screeching through the air above, like birds of prey searching for their meals. Explosions rang in the distance as these two incredible armadas met, each side hoping to force a final blow upon the other.

On that beautiful summer day, for better or worse, I knew we had finally reach a turning point.

The End

