“My neighbor was between me and the only set of stairs leading to the pool, and I smashed her head in with the heel of my boot as I passed her. There was no doubt it was Janelle in the pool, and I knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that she was gone before I even reached her. I still had to check. There wasn’t a scratch on her. As far as I could tell, she must have been running away and fallen in. She was only six. She could hold herself up on the ledge but she couldn’t tread water yet. I should have spent more time teaching her to swim. If I had, maybe she would still be here.”
Adam buried his face in his hands and wept silently. I squeezed his hand; it was the only thing I knew to do. “I know it’s not much of a consolation, but maybe it was better that way. Would you have been able to take care of her if she had turned into one of them?” I motioned to the stack of rotting corpses being piled onto a flatbed for disposal on the other side of the barricade.
He shrugged and pulled his knees up to his chest. “I don’t know. All I know is there’s an empty place in my heart without her. She was my world, and I’m lost without her. I’d been trying not to think about her, to put that day out of my mind. But I realize now that I needed to talk about it. You’re a good friend, Emma. I appreciate you listening.”
“I’m good like that.” My retort earned a genuine smile from him. I felt for his loss. I didn’t lose a child. If almost losing my dog was an inkling of what he felt, I knew he carried a heavy burden.
Chapter 16
G.I. Jane
The radio squawked from the table next to me. “Base, come in.”
I ran to the radio and picked up the handset. Pressing the button before one of the soldiers could pry it from my hand I replied, “This is base camp. Who is this?”
The other end of the radio connected and the sound of gunfire came through, making the radio crackle and hiss. “Forward Operating Base, this is Echo One. Fuel is a no-go. I repeat fuel is a no-go. The area is swarming with Charlie’s. Fall back! Go! Go! Go!” The hissing cut off as whomever was talking on the other end let go of the button.
Seth grabbed the handset from me and shouted into it. “Echo One, this is Chief Warrant Officer Puri. Report?”
“We’re getting hit from every angle. They’ve blocked access to the Humvees. We’re retreating but taking on heavy casualties. Jesus Christ, they’re everywhere. They’re Arrgghgggllllgg…” His voice cut off, replaced with a wet gurgling scream and the sound of raspy moans. I hadn’t heard the moans so close since Jake and I had been running for our lives. A hail of gunfire sounded, then all went dead.
“Echo One, do you copy. Echo One, I repeat, come in, Echo One.”
Nothing.
“Echo One, do you copy? Over.”
Silence.
I grabbed the handset back and screamed into it. “Jake. Are you there?” He had to be okay. I just kept telling myself he was fine. He had gone with the other team. The other option just wasn’t possible.
My knees buckled and Adam caught me before I hit the floor. “Emma, he could be okay. Maybe he’s with the other team and on his way back to you as we speak.” Sweeter words were never spoken, because in that moment I needed to believe them… needed them to be true.
One of the other soldiers shouted out by the gate, and we all looked up to find the transport vehicle closing the distance to the barricade. It was all hands on deck as we ran to open the gate and let them in, and I begged God the entire way to let Jake be on that truck.
As soon as there was enough space for me to fit through, I shot out of the lot and toward the truck. Not caring that I had forgotten my carbine by the radio, I ran with determination to find my husband. I leapt up on the foot well and held onto the mirror as I peered into the passenger window and screamed for him.
Three soldiers filled the space, none of them Jake. Almost losing my balance, I jumped down and ran to the back of the transport. Running to catch up with the moving truck, I was back behind the barricade before I got close enough to see inside. Eighteen more soldiers sat on the bench seats, but no Jake. I couldn’t trust what my eyes were showing me, so I jumped into the truck and ran all the way to the back. Sure Jake was hidden by shadow.
I thought my world had already crumbled, but in that moment I realized just how wrong I’d been. Adam led me out of the truck like a child. I curled up on the concrete and wrapped my arms around my knees.
“He lied to me. How could he do that?” My screaming alerted Daphne that something was wrong. Like Lassie, she honed in on me and came to my rescue. I felt her nuzzling her way into the cocoon I had wrapped myself in, and she took up residence under my chin, shaking and giving me slobbery dog kisses.
Fifteen men, Jake included, didn’t make it back to the store. Adam tried to carry me inside, but I fought him. I refused to go inside in hopes Jake would return. I sat outside all night, eyes fixated on the gate. The air filled with the sounds of a heated debate between the remaining men. They were split; some wanted to go out and search while other, more prevailing heads, thought it best to wait until morning. The decision was made to leave at dawn. Ten men would stay behind to man the barricade; twenty-six would go in search of their comrades.
Meg was inconsolable, and I was in no condition to comfort her. She had witnessed her parents ripped apart before her eyes. The loss of her brother, her last bit of family, was too much to handle. Margie led her back into the store, one arm around Meg’s shoulder and the other gently stroking her hair as she whispered things I couldn’t hear into her ear. She really was a remarkable woman. She helped wherever needed and never complained.
When dawn came I stood before Lieutenant Dan, rifle slung over my shoulder. “I’m going.” He searched my eyes and said nothing. One, slight nod of approval was the only indication he’d heard me. Adam, on the other hand, was a tougher sell. After a much-heated debate, he accepted my decision. The condition, of course, was that he would be accompanying me.
“I’m not going to let you go off half-cocked and get yourself killed. One day of target practice doesn’t make you G.I. Jane.” I rolled my eyes at him and squared off.
“Adam, if you think for one second that I’m the kind of woman who would let my husband get stranded out there without moving heaven and earth to find him, then you don’t know me at all. If Jake’s out there, and I know he is, I’m going to find him and bring him home.” I waved my hand in the air, motioning toward Target and put a caustic emphasis on the word home.
I rode up front between Warrant Officer Seth Puri and Lieutenant Dan. Adam was relegated to the back of the truck. Saying the atmosphere was fraught with tension would be an understatement. We were all wired. All hell bent on doing whatever it took to find them. I had the niggling fear that finding them would not mean finding them alive, but I shoved it down deep inside. I needed to stay positive.
Scenarios played out in my head regardless as we drove toward the fuel tanker. Our hopes were that they had barricaded themselves in somewhere and were safely waiting extraction. The other possibilities, far less pleasant, were too hard to speak aloud. They could be dead, or they could be undead. If they were undead, what would I do? Did I have it in me to put Jake down? I thought back to Adam’s fear of having to do the same for his daughter and made the conscious decision to focus on finding him alive.