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The Cabin, Kentucky
“Come on, guys!” Lance shouted, standing at the backdoor. Hearing footsteps on the stairs, he sighed as the others ran down the stairs and through the living room nearly in single file at a trot. Along with their regular gear, everyone had a large tote bag carrying air soft gear.
Allie and Carrie smiled at Lance as they passed. “The sun won’t be up for two hours,” Allie told him.
Holding the backdoor open, Lance followed them with his eyes out the door. “Hey, Ian and I would already be down in the field doing drills if we didn’t have to wait on all of you!” Lance snapped as Jodi ran past, following the ladybugs. He couldn’t help but smile at Jodi. It seemed Jodi’s goal in life was to make everyone smile. She studied hard and did her best, but that quality of making others smile, endeared her to everyone.
Denny and Lori filed past with Holly behind them carrying Dawn. Rolling his eyes, Lance let out a groan as Holly passed him. Seeing the look on Lance’s face, “Lance, we knowed how ta be movin’, so don’t worry bout us, but I be wantin’ Dawn to learn how to move when I’m shooting,” Holly snapped over her shoulder.
“Huh?” Lance frowned, trying to decipher what Holly said.
As Jennifer ran past, Lilly stopped beside him and translated. “Oh,” Lance grunted with the translation. “I’m not saying they haven’t survived some shit, but I think Dawn will be a pain when we drill in the field. Hell, she never stops moving,” Lance said, stepping out and letting the door close.
Walking beside Lance, Lilly just chuckled at Ian sitting in the buggy, drumming his fingers on the steering wheel and watching the group load up in his ride and the UTV parked behind him. “And Holly knows, but if you remember, Dawn doesn’t act wild outside. She may be two, but even in her mind, she knows it’s dangerous. Unless Holly tells Dawn to stay put, Dawn is right next to Holly,” Lilly told him.
Lance stopped at the UTV, looking at the ladybugs, Jodi, and Denny in the backseat. “Fine, we agreed to try letting Dawn come this once, but if she interrupts the gun drills, she’s not coming again,” Lance said as Lilly climbed behind the steering wheel.
Giving a nod, Lilly watched Lance walk around the UTV while pulling out his cellphone. Flipping her NVG down, Lilly flipped the battery on when Lance climbed in. “We ready?” she asked.
“Ian and I were ready half an hour ago,” Lance huffed as the screen on his phone turned on, almost whiting out Lilly’s goggles.
“Be nice,” she grinned, turning away and waved at Ian.
Following Ian around the cabin, Lilly shook her head as Lance tapped his phone and the gates started opening. Only Lance and Ian had that on their phones, and it still unnerved Lilly that the gate could be opened from somewhere other than control.
“Stop outside the gates till they close,” Lance told her.
Following Ian out the gates, Lilly slowed past the outer gate and noticed it barely missed the back of the UTV when it swung shut. “Are the tigers close?” she asked.
“No, they’re still in their treehouse,” Lance answered, tucking his phone away.
Speeding up to catch Ian, “The gate almost hit us, and that might have broken that arm you worked so hard on,” Lilly told Lance as he lowered his NVGs.
Shrugging, “Then I would’ve put in a rolling gate,” Lance grinned, watching his area.
Laughing, Lilly followed Ian through the cedar trees as Denny asked. “Lance, why are we practicing outside the fence?”
“We need to practice moving long distances under gunfire,” Lance replied as Ian parked near the back of the field. “Ian and I noticed that after hitting the pirates. Up close we are deadly, but we’ve never practiced moving when the enemy is at distance. Unfortunately, the yard is only five acres and doesn’t give us room to do that.”
Stopping behind Ian, Lilly gave a shiver as she parked, remembering the battle bot and rover rolling around the camp and autonomously killing as they went. Then the gun bots she and Jennifer had set up just mowing down targets. But of all of them it was battle bot, or Phoenix, as it was now dubbed, that scared her the most. It had sped toward targets and pulled them in the spinning shredder drums screaming. It could move four times faster than a human could run and pivot just as fast, so there was no escape once it locked on. Then it would spit out that menacing stream of fire at those hiding.
“I still wish you had left Phoenix,” Lilly said, getting out.
Shrugging as he got out, “It’s turned off, and we don’t leave working equipment,” Lance reminded her.
“I know, but they have killed autonomously now. What if they liked it and want to do it here?”
“Then they rewrote my programing and we’re screwed,” he answered. “Baby doll, I hate to say it, but we will need them again. Besides, all the gun bots kill autonomously.”
“Yeah, but they can’t move.”
“Yet,” Lance laughed and walked off.
“Oh, you keep on, and you and Ian will be in that research area alone,” Lilly warned.
All the dogs laid by the buggies while the group got ready. “I’m going to stay on gun just in case,” Lance told everyone. “You will run the drill with Ian and then he and I will swap out.”
With her ladybug mask on, Allie raised her hand. “Yes, Allie?” Lance said. He couldn’t help but grin at the mask painted like the back of a ladybug. The red wasn’t bright enough to stand out, but one knew what they were looking at painted on Allie’s and Carrie’s mask.
“Why not just bring the gun bots down here to watch while we train?” she asked.
“Allie, where are we at?”
Looking around, “The field,” she answered, wondering if this was a trick question.
“Where are we not allowed to set up traps?” Lance asked, and Allie lowered her head.
“Oh, I forgot,” she mumbled.
Walking over, Lance dropped to one knee. Putting a finger under Allie’s chin, he lifted her head. “You just wanted us safe. That’s why we all must remember the road in is off limits until our parents get here,” he told her. “After they get here, we will add stuff here, okay?”
“Okay,” Allie said, perking up.
“In teams of two first,” Ian said as Lance moved away to provide cover, just in case.
Moving over, Lilly guided Allie away from the others, so Ian would team them together. “Allie, I want to ask you, how did Ian and Lance get so good sneaking around? Allie, they were like ghosts. They were walking right past people and they never knew it,” Lilly embellished. One thing Lilly had learned, that was one way to get information.
“They practiced,” she said, reaching up and lifting her mask up to reveal a huge grin.
“But how? They were sneaking past people.”
“By sneaking past people,” Allie giggled. “When grownups in the neighborhood had a party in their backyard, Lance and Ian would sneak over and then move around their yard. They got spotted a lot when they started.”
Cocking her head, “How do you know?” Lilly asked.
“Duh, Carrie and I were there,” she giggled. “When they got caught, we would run out saying we found them. Then the grownups thought Lance and Ian were only playing hide-n-seek with us.”
“Whoa,” Lilly mumbled. The level of intrigue just blew her away.
“Then they started practicing on scout camping trips and summer camp. When they would go to work with Daddy or Daddy Jonathan, they would try to get the daddies to let me and Carrie go. When they got caught then, they had to act like they were playing hide-n-seek with each other, and sometimes still got in trouble. When we were with them they didn’t get in trouble, because they were playing with their little sisters and the daddies really liked that,” she explained.
The level of scheming involved boggled Lilly’s mind from all involved. “When did they start this?” Lilly asked.
“When Carrie and I turned six.”
Watching Holly and Carrie moving across the field covering each other, Lilly saw Dawn’s little legs churning to keep up with her momma. And just like Lilly said, outside Dawn was quiet and very observant. “When did they start sneaking into people’s homes at night?” Lilly asked, then looked down at Allie.
Hearing the question, Allie’s mouth fell open. Snapping it shut, “Never,” Allie answered.
“Allie, I’m asking you because I want to be good like Lance. He will tell me, but I want to surprise him that I tried to learn on my own.”
Glancing around timidly, Allie motioned Lilly to bend down. “Last summer,” she whispered. “Me and Carrie tried to get them to let us help, but they didn’t want to get us in trouble.”
Cocking her eyebrow up, “Have you and Carrie tried that?” Lilly asked.
“Yeah,” Allie laughed. “Nobody says anything to little girls. We just say we are looking for someone, but we only snuck in Lance’s house at night. We didn’t want to scare someone bad.”
“Allie, you and Carrie are smarter than they are. They could’ve gotten shot,” Lilly sighed.
“No, dummy. They had radios and if someone got up, the one outside cut the power, so the one inside could leave.”
Hugging Allie tight, Lilly just gave up on trying to reach Lance’s level of stealth. When Ian called them up, Lilly shot at the targets while Allie ran ahead for cover, then shot the targets so Lilly could move up. Moving across the three hundred yard course was exhausting and when the sun came up, everyone was soaked in sweat.
“All right, let’s do teams of four,” Lance called out and made the teams.
Many mistakes were made by everyone, with more moving and shooting, so the course was moving slower, giving everyone a chance to rest. It was after nine when Lance called a stop after seeing Dawn fall down while trying to keep up with Holly. Before Holly could pick her up, Lance ran over and scooped her off the ground. “You were doing so good, Dawn,” he told her.
Realizing Dawn was looking back at him with terror, Lance lifted his mask. “Better?” he smiled, and Dawn laughed as sweat rained off her body.
Lance sat her in the buggy and pulled out a bottle of water to give Dawn, but when he turned around she was sprawled out in the seat, sound asleep. “I want the ability to fall asleep that fast,” he said in awe, and drained the bottle.
“I ‘ad her Lance,” Holly panted, coming over.
Turning to Lilly, “Should she be running?” he asked, looking at Holly’s protruding belly.
“She was very active before this, Lance, so Holly is fine,” Lilly assured him. About to turn away, Lilly stopped, watching Carrie and Allie taking off their vests and camouflage tops dropping them to the ground. Both were in black tank tops now and she glanced over at Lance but wasn’t surprised when he didn’t say anything to the ladybugs. “Anyone else would get their ass chewed out but not the ladybugs,” Lilly mumbled as the ladybugs slung their short ARs across their backs.
There were sandwiches, but nobody wanted one as they sucked down fluids. Beeping sounded around the group and everyone let out groans before pulling out cellphones. Looking down at his cellphone, Lance felt panic grip him. “That’s the road coming in,” he gasped.
Shedding his airsoft vest, Lance grabbed his real gear. “Ian, flank the right side, I’ll take the left. Lilly, pull everyone here behind the rides. The tigers will be moving, and I don’t want little ones exposed,” he said, pulling his mask down.
“Why don’t we just get to the cabin?” she asked.
“If they are in a vehicle, they will be on you as everyone is loading up. But anyway, this is the deepest breach in our defense. This area has the fewest traps going to the cabin. It’s best to deal with them here, besides, the tigers will be moving here, and I don’t want you moving through them with the little ones,” he answered and trotted off.
Running hard, Lance jumped the barbwire fence heading for the trees. Dropping on his hip, Lance slid across the grass into the tree line. Crawling around on his belly, he looked down the road at the gate they had put up. “Movement,” he called in his radio.
“I see it,” Ian answered.
Feeling his phone vibrate, Lance groaned. “Lilly, make sure someone is pulling rear guard, so the tigers don’t take you by surprise,” he called out on the radio.
“We got it, Lance.”
He bent over his rifle, seeing horses round the corner. “Five horses with two riders,” he called out.
“Lance, there are kids with the riders,” Ian told him.
About to tell Ian he didn’t give a shit, Lance’s hand froze over the PTT. The riders looked at the gate, then looked around like they were wondering where they were. Then one pulled out a map, showing it to the other. “Are they lost?” Lance wondered.
Now he could see the kids. One was sitting in front of one rider and the other riding behind the other. The one with the kid in the front moved to the gate, leaning out and undid the chain. Opening the gate, they came in and held it open for the other rider. After they were in, the rider closed the gate and wrapped the chain back around, locking the gate back up.
“Lance, are you seeing this?” Ian called out.
Trying to make sense of what he was observing, “They’re courteous at least,” Lance offered.
“What the hell is going on?” Jennifer asked.
“They closed the gate back, and even wrapped the chain to lock it,” Ian told her.
Trying to process that, Jennifer didn’t answer for a few seconds. “Since they’re nice, let’s at least see what they want.”
“We were going to do that anyway, Jennifer,” Ian popped off. “They could be bringing a message about our parents.”
“Hey, ass wipe, I have a big pussy sitting back here in the cedar trees looking at me, so drop the attitude,” Jennifer barked. “I don’t like big pussy any more than you do!”
“Sorry, Jen,” Ian mumbled.
“Ian,” Lance cut in to stop Jennifer. “When they reach the fence, and before they enter the field, we come out and challenge.”
“Copy,” Ian said as they both watched the group very cautiously moving down the road.
Then Lance noticed, they were in the very center of the road and had been the entire time, with the exception of the gate. Fifty yards away the lead rider took their hat off, wiping their forehead and Lance’s heart nearly stopped. Those at the buggy saw Lance just stand up and his AR was just dangling under his arm. “They are nearly on him, what the hell is he doing?” Lilly howled.
Ian glanced over to see Lance walking numbly toward the road. “What the fuck are you doing?” he hissed over the radio, but Lance wasn’t listening.
“Momma?” Lance called out in a normal voice and Ian jumped, whipping his head back to the riders as the lead rider stopped, searching for the speaker. “Momma!” Lance said louder, and the lead rider locked in on the voice and saw a camouflage figure with a skull.
Seeing her face, Lance reached up to push his mask off before letting it fall to the ground. “Momma!” he shouted, and broke into a sprint.
“Lance!” Sandy cried out, leaping from the saddle and hitting the ground running.
Levitating to his feet, “MOM!” Ian screamed, throwing his mask off.
Sandy and Lance’s chests hit as they engulfed each other in hugs, crying. Ian nearly reached Mary before she got off the horse shouting, “Ian!”
Ian wrapped his arms around his mom, squeezing her tight and lifting her off the ground. “MOOOMMMMIIIEEEE!” Allie screeched from the top of her lungs, barreling across the field and holding Carrie’s hand. “MOMMIE!” they both screeched, running for everything they could muster.
Relaxing her arms but not letting go, Sandy leaned back to look into Lance’s face. “My baby boy!” she cried and pulled him tight as they both sobbed hard, falling to the ground.
With legs burning, Allie and Carrie pushed harder as Ian and Mary opened their hug for them. When the ladybugs reached them with tears raining down, the four wrapped up. Mary and Ian dropped to their knees as the four hugged each other tight.
Sandy and Lance sat up to hear running feet. They turned to see Jennifer charging for them and bawling. “Momma Sandy!” Jennifer cried and dove on the two, taking them down. Hugging Jennifer tight, they just savored the moment.
It was nearly five minutes before the two groups stood up and swapped mothers and hugged again. Then they came together and all hugged tight. “Mom, where’s Dad?” Lance asked.
“Are they in Dewitt making sure you weren’t followed? We can go get them,” Ian said, wiping snot off his face.
Mary and Sandy looked at each other and grief flooded their expression. “They were killed, babies,” Sandy whimpered. “We wanted to stay with them, but neither one would let us. They told us we had to get home. We wanted to try and bring them, but they wouldn’t let us. They made us promise to reach you. I’m sorry.”
“It’s not your fault, Momma,” Lance said with a breaking voice.
Still at the buggies, Lilly watched at almost the same time all the kids dropped to their knees around the moms. “Guys, stay together because the tigers are close, but we are going to them,” Lilly told the others and they jogged across the field.
Sitting on the horses, Tyler and Chris just cried quietly, not wanting to interfere. Sandy and Mary held their arms out, pulling the kids back into a hug as they cried. The joy felt just moments ago was tarnished by the raw grief. Sandy lifted her head hearing more running feet, and saw a woman and kids she didn’t know. “Sorry,” Sandy told them with tears.
“No, Ms. Sandy, we’re sorry,” Lilly said.
Looking at Lilly’s face hard, Sandy couldn’t place her. “Momma,” Lance sniffled. “Who are the boys?”
Sandy and Mary jumped up, apologizing to the boys. “This is Tyler,” Sandy said, pulling him off the horse.
“And this is his brother, Chris,” Mary said, putting him on the ground. “We found them run up a tree by a pack of stinkers.”
“The military had them in a camp and wouldn’t let their mom escape when the stinkers broke in,” Sandy added. “After their mom got killed, the boys tried to get back in the part of the base that wasn’t overrun, but the soldiers threw rocks at them, so stinkers would come over and the boys could draw them off.”
“Motherfuckers,” Lilly snarled.
Sandy looked up at her and nodded approvingly. “Sorry,” Lance said, moving over and introducing the group. When he got to Lilly, even with the emotions she was feeling, Sandy could tell, Lilly was very important to Lance.
Jodi ran over to Allie and Carrie, hugging the two sobbing girls tight. “Ca-ca-c-can w-we go home?” Allie bawled.
“Momma and Momma Mary, go with Lilly and them to the buggies and take Chris and Tyler. Ian and I will bring the horses. With all of them the tigers won’t try anything, and they won’t bother Ian and I with the horses because we’ll take Dino with us,” Lance said.
Both moms turned. “Tigers?” they said together.
Nodding and wiping more snot from his face, “Big pussy,” Ian sniffled.
Slowly the group headed home, thankful to be present for a miracle, and some much needed joy was felt by all, but the grief still spilled out, demanded by this forsaken world.
The End
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