“It’ll be okay,” Marty said, wishing she would shut up. “We’re going to get going in a minute.”
“Get a medic over here,” Flynn said to the other soldier. He turned his attention back to Marty. “Is that the only weapon you’ve got?”
Marty considered lying but thought better of it, since the pistol was concealed under his shirt, rather than under the seat. He knew he should have thought to stash it there, but Susan had jumped from the Jeep so fast he hadn’t had time to think.
“No, I’ve got a pistol too.”
The sergeant stood looking at him, waiting for the medic. “Where is it?”
“Under my shirt.”
“I’m going to ask you to leave it in the Jeep while you’re being treated,” Flynn said.
“That’s fine,” Marty replied, the feeling of sweet relief spreading through his veins.
A woman in uniform, complete with helmet, appeared at the sergeant’s side with a large green bag over her shoulder. “Who’s injured?”
“This man has a stab wound to the shoulder and a gash to the head,” Flynn said. “See what you can do for him.”
He stood by while Marty stashed the .45 in the glove box, then walked off to join the other troops as the medic began to probe Marty’s wounds.
“Thank God you guys were here,” Susan said to her. “Those maniacs were trying to kill us.”
“If I might make a suggestion,” the medic said. “Woman-to-woman. You need to start making yourself less noticeable.”
Susan self-consciously doubled her grip on the shirt. “I was a little freaked out… but that’s good advice. Thank you.”
“Where are you two headed?” the medic asked, pouring peroxide onto Marty’s head wound and sopping at it with a wad of cotton.
“Mesa,” he answered, wincing slightly.
“Married?”
“We’re just friends,” Susan said.
“Are you prepared to die for her?” the medic asked, her tone very frank.
“He’s almost done that a couple of times already,” Susan said, sounding oddly proud.
“The way you prance around in front of men,” the medic said flatly, “I believe it.”
“She was just freaked out,” Marty said.
For a fellow woman, the medic didn’t seem to have an ounce of sympathy. “You endanger us all by drawing attention. You understand?”
Susan looked down at the pavement. “Yeah.”
The medic opened a foil pack of sutures. “I’m going to sew these up.”
“I appreciate it,” Marty said.
The sergeant came back across the lot and offered a digital ACU jacket to Susan. “Put that on and keep it zipped.”
“Thank you,” she said quietly, never having felt so much like a tramp in her life. Didn’t these people realize she was a victim, for God’s sake?
“I put out a call on those bikers,” Flynn said. “But I wouldn’t count on anything being done. When you get back out on the highway, you’d better keep your eyes peeled.”
“Actually, we’re going right out the back of the rest stop,” Marty said. “We’re going to try keeping off the highway.”
“Might not be a bad idea,” the sergeant said, and walked off again.
“Where are you guys going from here?” Marty asked the medic, whose name tag identified her as Emory.
“No idea,” Emory said. “We’re waiting to decide.”
“You don’t have any orders?” Susan asked.
“After that asteroid hits, our orders aren’t going to mean shit. We just plan on getting as far away from the impact area as possible.”
“Call your sergeant back over here,” Marty said.
“Why?”
“I might be able to help you decide which way to go.”
Emory got on her radio and called the sergeant back over.
“What do you need?” he asked.
“Sergeant, believe it or not, I’m the astronomer who took the asteroid public.”
“That so?” the sergeant said, not entirely convinced.
“It is, and I might be able to offer you a suggestion as to where you don’t want to be tomorrow morning.”
“How’s that?”
“Because I work at Mesa Station, and I’ve actually seen this beast with my own eyes. Most of my calculations have it hitting in the tristate area of Wyoming, Montana, and South Dakota. I formed a couple of orbital models that predicted it would hit farther north, but none of them predicted that it would hit any farther south than Wyoming. There’s the remotest possibility of it hitting in the Great Lakes, but that’s it.”
“Washington says it could it hit anywhere between Central America and the North Pole.”
“Well, Washington is wrong. If I were you guys, I’d head due south. This thing’s blast radius could be anywhere from five hundred to a thousand miles, and nothing within that distance is going to survive unless it’s deep underground.”
“Washington says closer to five hundred miles.”
“That was before their nuclear blast may have given the damn thing a boost.”
“I’ll talk to the lieutenant,” the sergeant said, turning away. “Appreciate the information.”
“Maybe we could go with you guys?” Marty said to Emory.
She glanced over her shoulder to see if any of the men were within earshot. “You don’t want to come with us, regardless of where we go.”
“What’s that mean?” Susan said.
“There are eleven women in this unit,” Emory said. “And as soon as it gets dark tonight, we’re hauling ass down the highway.”
“But you’re in the Army… aren’t you all like family?”
Emory drew the needle through the flap in Marty’s shoulder wound. “Where did you find her?”
Marty smiled at Susan. “She’s actually a genius in her field.”
“Which is what? Home decorating?”
“Hey!” Susan said. “I’ll have you know I’m a professor of astrophysics.”
Emory drew another stitch through the wound. “That explains it.”
“Well, we can’t all wear camouflage for a living,” Susan snapped.
“Please don’t shoot her,” Marty said. “I know she’s a little mouthy, but she’s the only woman I’ve ever loved.”
Emory finally cracked a smile. “Lucky you.”
Susan shook her head and went to sit in the Jeep.
“She’s pretty,” Emory said quietly. “I’d jump ’er.”
Marty looked over his shoulder at her and grinned. “What happened to ‘don’t ask, don’t tell’?”
“Maybe I meant I’d like to beat her up.”
“Maybe it’s both,” he said with a chuckle.
Emory finished stitching and dressing his wounds and turned to close up her bag.
“Are you really in that much danger here?” he asked her.
“Fifty horny guys with M-16s? No law and order? What do you think?”
“They can’t all be animals, can they?”
“No, but we’re not hanging around to find out who is and who isn’t. We’ve got rifles too, and we’re splitting before they’re taken away from us.” She gave him back his shirt. “You’re good to go. Take these antibiotics with you.”
“Thanks,” he said, shaking her hand. “Should I say anything to the sergeant before we go?”
Emory shook her head. “Just go.”
“Want to jump in and go with us?” he asked as she walked with him toward the Jeep.
“I can’t bail on my friends, but thanks for the offer. Look after the princess.”
“I’ll try,” Marty said, opening the door and getting in. “I’m Marty, by the way.”
“I’m Shannon.”
“Good luck, Shannon.”
“Shit, we’re all fucked, Marty.” She shut his door and stepped back as he started the motor, then watched him drive off and crash through the fence at the back of the rest area.