“Well, that was the end of the movie,” Anna said. “But you’re supposed to assume that it does.”

  “How would that wipe away the debt, though?” Bailey asked, and she pinched together her eyebrows in confusion.

  “If they don’t have a record of it, then it doesn’t exist,” Paige said.

  “I mean, I’m not an expert here,” Bailey said. “But isn’t all of that stuff on the internet? And if it’s on the internet, then couldn’t they access it from somewhere else?”

  The girls were all silent as they stared at Bailey with wide eyes.

  “Like, breaking a laptop doesn’t destroy the website that it was on,” the blonde continued. “You can just access it from another laptop. Right?”

  “Well,” Anna said after another few seconds of silence. “You’ve ruined a classic film. I hope you’re happy with yourself.”

  “Wait, wait, wait,” Paige said, and she thought for a minute. “It takes place in the late 90s, so it’s likely that not everything was on the internet. A lot of it was still paper records, I bet. It might not have destroyed all debt, but it would have destroyed a lot of it.”

  “Whew,” Anna said. “Thank you, Paige. Cause I was about to be really mad at Bailey if she ruined that movie.”

  “Hey!” Bailey laughed. “I wasn’t trying to ruin anything. I was just asking questions.”

  “And in doing so you violated the first rule of fight club,” the redhead said.

  “What’s the first rule of fight club?” the blonde hippie asked.

  “Don’t talk about fight club,” we all said together, and Bailey stared at us all in shock.

  “Everyone has seen this?” she asked.

  “Duh,” Tara laughed. “It’s a classic. It’s fucked up, but it’s a classic.”

  “You bite your tongue,” Anna said.

  “Hey, hey, I like it,” Tara said. “It’s fucked up in a good way.”

  Anna opened her mouth to speak again, but then Rolly came out of the dorm building and rushed over to us. I stood up as he came over, and I knew that there was something wrong.

  “What is it?” I asked as he approached the group.

  “There’s something on the radio,” he breathed.

  “Is it Renee again?” Anna asked

  “It’s in Korean,” Rollyy said, and he looked at me with eyes full of anxiety.

  “Shit,” I said.

  Chapter 11

  The girls and I rushed inside and to the small room where the CB radio was kept. We all gathered around, but there was no sound coming from it.

  “I swear it was just here,” Rolly said.

  I was about to try and switch the station when a crackle came over the speaker.

  I had no idea what it was saying, but Rolly was right, it was definitely the same language that we’d heard the first time we heard something over the radio, and that the girls and I had heard numerous times while we were in Boston. This was for sure Korean, and it didn’t sound like anybody was communicating. It sounded like these were orders that were going out. We listened to the message a couple of times, it appeared to repeat itself after a few moments of silence. It was always the same, though. I couldn’t tell from what they were saying, only that the sounds were the same each time. After we had listened a few times, then I turned the radio off and looked at the girls. There was no telling what the message had said, we could only speculate.

  “What do you think it means?” Anna asked.

  “I’m betting that it’s orders for them to move out,” I said.

  “What makes you so sure?” Bailey asked.

  “Nothing,” I said honestly. “That would just be my best guess based off of what’s going on right now. I have no other reason to believe that it’s orders for them to move out, it could be anything.”

  This language barrier was killing us, and the Koreans knew that it was. We didn’t have anybody that was fluent in Korean, but it wasn’t uncommon for people in foreign countries, especially Asian countries, to learn to speak English. There were even a lot of online tutor programs targeted toward Asian children that were learning to speak English.

  I didn’t doubt that some of the soldiers knew how to speak English, and in that regard they had a leg up on us. None of our men were fluent in Korean, of that I was pretty sure. And even if they were, they would have to hear these transmissions in order to translate them.

  “So if they are orders for them to leave Boston, then that means they’re going to be leaving pretty soon,” Paige said.

  “That also means that they haven’t left yet,” Anna said.

  “Well, that’s good for us,” Tara said. “We need to beat them down there.”

  “I bet that they haven’t left,” Kimmy began, “if we can hear this transmission, then they have to be within range. These radios work well, but I’m not a miracle worker. They can only reach so far.”

  “That’s good to know,” I said. “We’ll need to leave as soon as possible. Luckily, we have mostly everything we need done.”

  “We still can’t be sure how many people are coming over from the fort,” Anna said.

  “I can get a hold of Renee tomorrow,” Paige said. “I don’t want to try tonight since the NKs are clearly on the radio. But if we use the new code that Anna and Bailey created then it should be fine.”

  “That’s a good idea,” I said. “We’ll need them to head over to us fairly soon, too. I want everyone together so that we have a good tally up and everyone can try out the plasma weapons before we leave. They all need some practice with them, including our guys, and us as well. I wanna make sure that we know those things inside and out.”

  “Alright,” Anna said. “I think that’s a good idea. I also want to go over safety precautions with everyone. I know that at least the people on campus haven’t really been out in the field in a while. And I don’t think the people who are at the fort have, either. I’m not sure about the preppers, they seem like they could handle their own, but I still want to make sure that everyone knows how to protect themselves and everyone else around them. We don’t need anybody accidentally firing off a shot or giving away our cover.”

  “I completely agree,” I said with a smile.

  My redheaded second in command was completely right, we needed to go over the safety measures just as much as we needed to go over training. Most of these people hadn’t been out in the world in a long time, the girls and I were always the ones to go on runs. This was going to be a new experience for them, and I wanted to make sure that they didn’t do anything stupid. Once some adrenaline got pumping in people's veins then it tended to blind them to what was going on. I needed to make sure that they had all the proper information in order to deal with that.

  After the message came through, everyone was in their own little worlds for the rest of the evening, particularly me. All I was thinking about was getting out there and fighting. The waiting game was what always killed me. I wanted to get it done right then, but I also knew that it would be better for us in the end to hold off and get everything together before we left. I might be eager, but I wasn’t stupid.

  The next morning I woke up well before dawn, nobody else seemed like they were awake, so I headed downstairs. When I got down there I found Kimmy sitting with baby Anthony, Rolly and Betty hadn’t even gotten up yet.

  “Hey,” I said softly. “What are you doing awake?”

  “Anthony is an early riser,” she chuckled.

  “Are you usually down here before Rolly and Betty?” I asked curiously. I had always assumed that they were the ones who were up first.

  “Sometimes,” she said with a smile. “Tara’s had my coffee a few times, but don’t tell her that.”

  “I won’t,” I laughed.

  “What about you?” she asked. “Everyone seemed pretty upset last night. How’d you sleep?”

  “I slept okay,” I said as I took a seat next to her. “I don’t think anyone was so much upset as they were focused. It’s difficult waiting to get out there and do what we do. Most of the time we’ve been able to make a plan and get it going. The only time the girls have really waited to see some action was when we were waiting for people to come through this past winter.”

  “That makes sense,” Kimmy said with a nod. “I’m sure that waiting is difficult.”

  “It is,” I agreed. “But it’s also that we can’t be sure what we’re walking into.”

  “You know where the NKs are going, though,” she said, and her eyebrows pinched together with confusion.

  “We do,” I said. “But we don’t know what’s going on with our boys or the other NK troops. There’s a lot of variables here.”

  “I see,”she said, and she looked down for a second. “I’m going to miss you.”

  “I’ll miss you, too,” I told her softly.

  “I love you,” she said, and she locked eyes with me.

  “I love you, too,” I told her sincerely, then I leaned down and kissed her gently on the lips.

  Baby Anthony let out a squeal then, and he reached for my beard. He grabbed it with his small, but strong, hand and gave it a nice hard tug.

  “Ouch!” I feigned injury, which only made him laugh harder.

  “Anthony,” Kimmy chuckled. “That’s not nice.”

  “It’s fine,” I said with a smile, then I turned to Kimmy. “How about we go for a walk? The traps still need to be checked this morning. It might be nice to get out in the fresh air before everyone else is awake.”

  “I’d like that,” Kimmy said. “I’m sure Anthony would like it too.”

  “Do you think it’s too cold for him out there?” I asked, suddenly concerned that I hadn’t even considered that.

  “No, he’s fine,” Kimmy said. “He’ll be alright, I’ll just put his jacket on him.”

  “Let me help,” I said with a smile.

  Kimmy and I got Anthony dressed, then we headed out into the woods. We were going to check the traps and the fishing lines, but above all else I just wanted to spend a little bit of alone time with Kimmy and Anthony. She had put on her baby Bjorn to carry him, but he seemed fussy in that at first, so I offered to carry him with me.

  The young boy clung to my hip as we walked, and the feel of his small warm body against me made me smile. I loved that Kimmy thought of me as a father to her child, it was something that I had thought for a while, but I would never insert myself like that. I had waited until she told me that, and it made it that much more special. She really was a fantastic mother, and even though Anthony wasn’t my child by blood, he was mine in virtually every other way. All I wanted to do was protect him. I only wanted the best for him, for him to grow up and live a good, happy life. I think that's all anyone ever really wanted for their children.

  Baby Anthony looked around curiously as we made our way to the stream to check the fishing lines. Once we got there I went to hand him to Kimmy, but he reached for me again, and I just couldn’t say no. I took the boy once more and had him come over to the fishing lines with me. It was more difficult to work with only one hand, but I made it work, and he seemed to enjoy watching me as I pulled the fish out of the water.

  “He’s going to miss you, too, when you’re gone,” Kimmy said with a soft smile.

  “I’ll miss him more,” I said. “He probably won’t even notice I’m gone.”

  I said the last but with a laugh of sorts, but Kimmy just gave me a hard look.

  “He definitely notices when you’re gone,” she said.

  “Then I’ll just have to try and make this a quick trip,” I said hopefully.

  I knew that wasn’t something that I could promise, but I wanted it to be true. I didn’t want to be away from either of them for any length of time. They were my family as much as the girls were, and the only reason I was able to leave them with confidence was because I knew that I was leaving to protect them.

  “Yes, do that,” Kimmy told me, and she leaned in and gave me a kiss on the cheek.

  We took our time checking the traps and walking through the woods. It was nice to spend some time just the three of us. Once it was officially light out and the day had begun I figured it was time to head back to campus, so I led Kimmy and Anthony back toward the dorm building.

  Before we got there I smelled the aroma of food and coffee, and I knew that everyone else had to be up for the day.

  We bumped into Donna and Jeff as we were nearing the tree line.

  “Oh, hey,” the dark-haired woman said, and she looked at the fish I was carrying. “It looks like you already did the lines and traps this morning.”

  “We did,” I said. “Sorry to steal your chores.”

  “That’s fine,” Jeff chuckled. “We can figure out something else to do, I’m sure.”

  “We can always use more trees chopped for winter,” I told him. “Focus on the ones that died in the fire but are still standing.”

  “I’ll make sure I do a couple today,” he assured me.

  “Thanks,” I said with a smile, and I patted him on the shoulder as we walked by.

  Everybody was gathered around waiting for breakfast to be ready, and Kimmy and I went and found the girls sitting by the fire.

  “Hey,” I said as I took a seat.

  “We were wondering where you went,”Anna said. “We figured you went to do chores when we didn’t see Kimmy anywhere, either.”

  “Yeah,” I agreed.

  “I mapped out our trip to Norfolk,” Paige told me.

  “Good,” I said. “Thank you.”

  “I also figured out how we’re going to move the howitzer,” the brunette said.

  “You did?” I asked. “How are we going to do it?”

  The howitzer was larger and weighed more than anything that we had tried to move before, and I wasn’t sure that we would have the proper equipment to do the job, but if anybody could figure it out, then it was Paige.

  “Wel,l there’s good news and bad news,” she said, and she bit her lip.

  “What’s the good news?” I asked.

  “The good news is that I figured out how we can move it,” she said with a nervous laugh.

  “So what’s the bad news?” I chuckled.

  “The bad news is that we don’t have anything that’s strong enough to move it right now,” she said. “But we can find something. I marked out some spots for us to go visit to see if we can find a truck big enough to pull it.”

  “Why wasn’t that your good news?” Tara asked.

  “What do you mean?” Paige asked.

  “I mean, why wasn’t that you figured out where we can get the equipment the good news?” Tara asked.

  “Oh,” Paige said with a confused look. “I’m not sure. I guess I didn’t think about that.”

  Everyone chuckled about Tara’s comment, but that only lasted a brief moment before we got back to business.

  “So where are we headed?” Anna asked.

  “Well, I’ve marked a few spots,” Paige said.

  “What type of truck do we need?” Bailey asked.

  “A semi would be ideal,” Paige said. “But we might be able to make do with a fire truck.”

  “Are fire trucks able to haul things?” Kimmy asked.

  “I’m not sure,” Paige said. “I thought maybe we could figure it out, but I just think that finding a semi that doesn’t rely too much on the electronic components might be more difficult than finding an old fire truck.”

  “What about a tow truck?” Anna asked.

  “Would that be strong enough?” Bailey asked.

  “It should be,” Paige said with a nod. “Why didn’t I think of that?”

  “Wait-- our big military truck should be able to tow it,” Anna said. “It even has the pintle hitch thing already on it.”

  “It would work, but the transmissions on those trucks are already slipping, and frankly I don’t want to tow anything that heavy with them and become stranded on the side of some mountain,” I said.

  “Both of them?” Anna asked.

  “Yeah,” I explained. “They’re pretty old, and we’re going to need one of them to haul the ammo for the gun which isn’t exactly lightweight, either. They’re also our best cargo vehicles, so we’ll have to pack them to the gills with supplies as it is.”

  “Can Rolly repair the transmissions?” Paige asked.

  “He’s a good mechanic, but rebuilding a tranny is probably a bit beyond his expertise and would be a huge time delay for us even if it was possible,” I explained. “So tow truck it is.”

  “We could even take the pintle hitch off the truck and move it to whatever tow truck we find to make it super easy,” Paige added.

  “So where can we find a tow truck?” Tara asked.

  “We’ll need to go to a salvage yard or something,” I said. “Paige, can you find one of those nearby?”

  “I’m sure that I can,” Paige said. “Just give me a couple of minutes.”

  “Is that what we’re doing today, then?” Anna asked.

  “We also need to finish tallying up all of our supplies,” I said. “Once we’ve done that, then we’ll know more of what we need for a run. There’s no point of going on a run somewhere and not knowing if we need something other than the tow truck.”

  “I already finished tallying everything,” Paige said.

  “Of course, you did,” Tara chuckled.

  “Oh, great,” I said. “Thank you, Paige.”

  “Do you think we’ll be able to find a tow truck that runs?” Bailey asked.

  “I can’t say for sure,” I said. “But we might be able to figure something out either way.”

  “If we can find one old enough, then we could haul it back here and see if Rolly could get it working,” Bailey suggested.

  “I can tag along,” Kimmy offered. “I am pretty good with electrical stuff, and I’m not too bad as far as mechanical things go, either. I might be able to be of some help.”

  “Alright,” I said.

  “I spoke with Renee this morning,” Paige said.

  “You already called her?” I asked.

  “She called us,” the brunette said with a nod. “She said that twelve of her people have offered to come with us. Eight men and four women.”

  “That’s over half of her people,” I said with concern. “Is she okay with that?”

 

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