2020: Emergency Exit (25 page)

As winter spread across the country, the commanders weren’t able to control as much as they wanted, but they weren’t worried about the few Americans who may have survived doing much either. Nonetheless, as they cut down their domestic troop movement and communication network, they maintained the entirety of their naval presence between North America and Hawaii. Like a war version of kick the can—the can was in Hawaii, but good luck getting to it.

Then again, Hawaii remained impenetrable for Qi Jia too, shield up and with the most advanced defense system ever made. Every one of Qi Jia’s boats, planes and even rockets crossing within a ten-mile radius of the island chain’s shores had been destroyed. Their collective wreckage had already formed a significant scrap metal reef around the islands, and there was no telling how deep Hawaii’s ammunition stash was. Reluctantly, the Seven commanders gave up on trying to break in with force, and began planning other ways to eventually bring down the lone surviving state.

The American military had designed Hawaii as a “last resort” base for the President—who hadn’t survived—and the leadership of each of their military branches. In 2015, a second Pentagon had been opened there—although it had six sides—and most American military operations were directed from Hawaii. Qi Jia’s leaders figured the former population of the islands, 1.5 million, had likely been reduced by over 90%, but that didn’t make the defense system any weaker.

Hawaii was untouchable as far as the former United States went, but that was it. The Seven commanders were intent on not letting any survivors get there while they conquered the rest of America. The Americans could keep Hawaii…for now.

FORTY-TWO: “Where’s Eddie?”

After saving Hayley’s life, Eddie had taken his remaining men down into the valley and led them to Denver. He shot the only one of his men who vocally opposed his temporary truce with Danny and the Americans. The others pledged their silence and knew the consequences if they went against their word.

In Denver he told the military commanders he and his men had pursued a band of renegade troops to Cheyenne, and he had lost almost his entire company in a large battle at the depot. The commanders had heard a great deal about that firestorm at the train yards and were surprised anyone had escaped. They asked Captain Eddie if he had any idea as to the whereabouts of the renegade soldiers, and he told them he’d tried to track them west but had been cut off by a large storm.

Eddie’s story was convincing. Impressed by Eddie and his men, the commanders granted each a post of his choice in the national army. A few of his men asked to be sent back out into the field, and they were assigned to other African companies. Eddie was offered, and eagerly accepted, a leadership position inside the Intelligence Commission, Qi Jia’s second-tier command unit. He was promoted to major, commended as a hero for his bravery in Cheyenne, and was allowed to select his own personal security team. His brother Lazzo joined him, and he likewise retained the services of two of his most loyal men, Omar and Cabo.

Eddie had no intention of staying at the Intelligence Commission headquarters once winter passed. But for now, he couldn’t pass up the luxury of being able to monitor the entire army’s actions across the continent from one warm location. Additionally, being less than seventy miles from Estes Park, he could keep a close eye on the last place he’d seen the Americans. They’d never have gotten out of there before the snow covered the mountains on the other side. There was far too much troop movement in the area for them to pass through unnoticed. Eddie was convinced they’d have tried to hide and wait it out and, as a result, they would be trapped in Estes Park for the winter. Eddie was content to wait. Cabo, Omar and Lazzo made sure Eddie got every update from there, including the recent assignment of 123 Qi Jia men to the Estes Park valley for the winter. It seemed odd to Eddie that they would keep so many men in such a small town so close to Denver.
Why not just bring them here?
Perhaps there was more to that arrangement than met the eye. The report showed the company had been split into three groups of forty-one, each positioned at the three possible western routes out of Estes Park. Another eighty men were stationed at the summit of Trail Ridge Road at the Alpine Visitor Center, and yet another eighty in the town of Granby, down the other side of Trail Ridge Road.
Clearly he was missing something.
Each of those five stations had to submit weekly status and fatality reports, and Eddie made it clear that a copy of each of those reports was to be brought directly to him.

FORTY-THREE: (Ryan) “Thanksgiving Day”

Thursday, November 26, 2020.

Estes Park, Colorado.

Thanksgiving was a strange day. Sure, it was on Thursday like every other year, but it didn’t feel like a Thursday. It didn’t feel like any weekday. It just felt like a day. It was hard to explain. We told ourselves we needed to be positive for Emily’s sake, but truthfully we all needed the hope. Sitting in the cave, day after miserable day, made us realize even more how dire our own—and the entire country’s—situation really was. We had listened one night as Kate related our circumstances to her dad’s terminal cancer. His clock had been ticking, just as we felt ours were now. She knew at the time that his last day was coming soon, but had no way of knowing exactly when. It was an ominous feeling. It really sucked. But wallowing in that suckiness wasn’t going to get Kate anywhere and wasn’t going to heal her dad. He wanted her to be positive. The number of days he had left didn’t matter as much as what he did with each of them. The room full of nods said it all, as we absorbed the emotion in her every word. We all got it. Perhaps not to the degree that Kate did, but we understood the concept in general. We needed to make the most of the life we had left. We each needed to give optimism a chance.

With it being Thanksgiving, I guessed there was no better time to give optimism a shot.
Here goes
.

Modern cave life was great. Well, as great as it could be anyway. It helped no one in our group dressed or acted like a Neanderthal.
Though Tara probably would have looked pretty dang good.
We had discussed what it would be like if “Wooly” had been here. It was hard to imagine.

In any case, it’s a strange process for a human to transition from a sunlight creature to a nocturnal one, sleeping all day and staying up all night. But that switch did have its benefits. The stars were amazingly bright this high up in the mountains. That was always incredible—romantic, euphoric, terrific, all of the above. But it was also quite eerie. We could hear laughter echo up the valley from the troops below us, see the smoke from their fires in the distance, and hear the gunshots from their hunting and drinking games. They were “free to be.” We were trapped. Here in the most openly beautiful state in America, other than maybe Hawaii, we were prisoners of war. It sucked.
Hey, stay positive
.

At Emily’s initial suggestion we each came up with something we missed from our old lives and something we didn’t miss. Huddled under blankets on our thick carpet floor, we put the lamp in the middle of our circle like a campfire and went around the room.

Emily went first. “I miss my goats. But I’m thankful I don’t have to go to school.”

We got a good but subdued laugh out of that. The padding and insulation of the walls worked wonders for soundproofing our chamber, but we were careful nonetheless.

Tara continued the sharing. “I miss my parents.”
Maybe this wasn’t a great idea
. You could’ve heard a pin drop. “And Twix…” She offered a half-hearted smile.
Could she get any more perfect?
“But I’m thankful for new friends and for you all letting us tag along.”

Grandma Ollie volunteered next. “I miss looking through Black Friday ads.”

“Hold on,” I objected. “Mom, you’ve never once shopped on Black Friday.” That drew a little more laughter.

“True.” She smiled. “But I always thought I would. Oh well. At least I still get to spend Thanksgiving with my family.”

“Do you miss anything?” Hayley asked.

“Not yet,” Mom replied, looking at Dad and squeezing his hand.

“What about you, Kate?” Emily asked, moving us on. I think we were all glad she was in charge of the game.

“I miss the smell of turkey in the oven.” Kate smiled. “Green bean casserole, pumpkin pie…” Her voice trailed off. “And my mom.” I could see her eyes watering. Even Danny couldn’t look at her. “But I’m thankful to be alive, and my Vikings won’t ever lose another game.” Another chorus of smiles.
Maybe this wasn’t a terrible idea after all
.

“Blake?” Emily pointed at him.

“Okay, I’ve actually been thinking about that the entire drive from North Dakota. You’re all probably gonna think I’m crazy, but I appreciate that technology is basically irrelevant now. Phones, social media, all that jazz… it was just too much. I love simplicity. I won’t miss that stuff at all.”
Interesting
. That truly was a surprising answer.

“So,” Emily seemed unsure how to respond. “Is there anything you do miss?”

Blake smiled and winked at her. “I miss my dog.”

            “Aww…” Emily said. “What was your dog’s name?”

Blake laughed. “Dog.” Several of us had to cover our mouths to stifle our laughter with that one.

“Seriously?” Emily asked, and Blake nodded. Emily started laughing.

“My little sister was a big
American Idol
fan,” Blake explained. “Her favorite judge was Randy Jackson, and he called everyone ‘dog.’ When my parents brought the puppy home, she kept calling it Dog, and it stuck.”

“How old are you Blake?” Dad asked.

“Twenty-seven, sir,” he replied.

“And what did you do before all this?” Tara asked.

“Honestly?” He smiled again. “Not a lot. I hate to admit it, but before my parents died they made a ton of money in the oil business in North Dakota. My sister Kaci and I traveled around the country climbing mountains, river rafting, fishing, skydiving, etc. It wasn’t very occupational, but it sure was fun. I was a volunteer firefighter, if that counts as a job.” He looked around and collected a few nods. “Kaci was into photography, and I just loved to travel.” He looked down. “I always figured I’d do something someday but never had an idea what.”

That was the most any of us had heard him say all trip. “You ever been here before?” I asked.

“No. Never.” He shook his head. “Surprising, actually. It’s amazing up here!”
Definitely is
.

“Your turn, Ryan.” Emily interrupted my thoughts.

Next to me, Hayley cleared her throat.
Don’t worry
. “Well…I miss Mongolian Grill buffets.”

“Dude,” Blake groaned aloud, holding his stomach and shaking his head. “That was uncalled for.”

“I know…sorry.” I smiled. “Okay, not really. And I miss golf.”

Hayley gave a loud, drawn-out yawn, then coughed and said, “Loser.”

“Ha ha.” I shoved her over.

“But what are you thankful for?” Emily asked.

I thought about it a little, then looked at Tara. “New friends,” I nodded at her.

“Please,” Hayley muttered, and I shot her a mini glare. She replied with a coy smile.

“How about you, Hales?” Emily asked, poking her.
Wow, I wasn’t even allowed to call her that.

“Me? Hmm…” She thought about it a second. “I miss my iPod.” Hayley pointed at Blake. He just laughed.

“Please,” I muttered, and several other people laughed. She ignored me. “And I’m thankful for my new little sister.” She gave Emily a big squeeze, and the little girl’s eyes danced.

“Dad?” I asked.

“I miss my computer—”

“We were all going to say that for you, Grandpa,” Danny cut in.

“I’m sure. And I’m thankful your mom is still with me,” he said to me, looking at her.

“Your mom,” Cameron quipped.

“Dude. How old are you?” Hayley threw a hacky sack at him.

“Your turn, Cameron,” Emily directed.

“I’m thankful Danny and I were home for your tournament,” he said, pointing at Hayley. “Too bad she wasn’t good enough though,” he said to the rest of us. Hayley stuck her tongue out at him, and he threw the hacky sack back at her.

“What do you miss, Cameron?” Kate asked.

“Mexican food,” he replied. “Definitely good Mexican food.”

“Sure glad you can’t get any of that in here,” Danny said with a smile.

“We all are.” Jenna added, drawing plenty of laughter.

We were afraid to ask Sam or Isaac what they missed, the loss of their father still on their hearts, but Emily did anyway. “I miss my dad singing,” Isaac said. “He was
always
singing. Every dang song on the radio. Commercials. Jingles. He sang all the time.”

“And most of the time it was intentionally the wrong words,” Sam added. “But his words were pretty funny.” He paused. “He had a way with words. He was great at getting people to do what he wanted them to do without asking. You wanted to make him happy…” Most of us could only nod as his words trailed off.

“I’m sure you both did,” Tara spoke up. “He’d be real proud of both of you, you know?”

“Yeah,” Isaac answered. “He would be.”

“He always let us know he loved us,” Sam said. “I guess I’ll miss that the most.”

“Anything you’re especially thankful for?” I asked them.

 “I’m thankful Dad’s with Mom now,” Sam answered, then shared a fist bump with Isaac. I could feel Tara watching me, but I kept my face turned towards Sam. “She always made him the happiest,” he continued. I looked down. I knew exactly what he meant.

“Your turn, Jenna,” Hayley perkily chimed in then, redirecting the conversation and the mood.
“Saved the best for last,” Cameron added, smiling at her.

“Hey now. I haven’t gone,” Danny interjected.

“We don’t want to hear you talk about your guns. Or how much you miss running miles and jumping out of airplanes,” Cameron teased him.