“My guess is about twenty miles along this road right here,” Rubio said, running his finger along a yellow highlighted line that led to a red circle.
“Hmm. You know what I’m thinking, right?” Gordon commented.
“Yeah, that this might be an ambush? I feel you. I tell you what. I’ll walk up to them and see what their story is. You and Jones cover me.”
Gordon thought for a second and said, “Roger that.”
Rubio exited the Hummer and began to walk down the muddy gravel road.
Gordon took up a position behind the open door with an M4. He watched what looked like a friendly conversation. Finally, Rubio waved and headed back to the vehicles.
“They’re cool, they ran out of fuel,” Rubio said as he walked up.
“Really? What’s up with the hood?” McCamey questioned.
“Don’t you know it’s an international distress signal?” Rubio shot back. “Boot.” He snickered. While Rubio and Jones were combat veterans of Afghanistan, McCamey hadn’t seen combat before. He was on his first deployment when the lights went out, and so he often encountered these types of comments.
“You sure everything looked okay?” Gordon queried.
“Yes, yes. Listen, not my first rodeo here, Mr. Van Zandt. These folks just need some fuel. We can spare enough for them to get them where they’re going,” Rubio answered. “McCamey, take us down there,” he ordered.
Gordon was uneasy but didn’t question the decision.
The Hummer rumbled its way slowly down the road and parked just behind the old Crown Victoria. From the condition of the vehicle, Gordon was surprised it was even drivable.
Rubio slammed the rear hatch, waking Lexi up. She yawned and looked around. “We here yet?”
“No, we came across some people who need help,” Gordon said, stepping out of the vehicle.
Lexi rubbed her eyes and looked through the windshield. Her expression changed instantly when she saw the man, but Gordon was already too far away for her to signal him.
Gordon waved hello and starting chatting. “So, why are you folks out here?”
The young woman smiled. “Oh, we have a ranch down the road.”
“Nice,” Rubio said.
Gordon took a closer look at the vehicle, taking note of an empty car seat inside. “You have children?”
“Yeah, a daughter. She’s back with her uncle,” the woman answered.
Gordon looked at them. They were dressed normally. Slightly dirty jeans, thick jackets, and beanie hats.
“So, Marines? Where are the rest of your guys?” she asked curiously.
“Most are back in Coos Bay; we’re out on a patrol.” Rubio motioned with his hand to the vehicle.
“Coos Bay?” she asked.
Gordon looked at her oddly, then eyed Rubio.
“It’s a small town along the coast, a few hundred miles away,” Rubio answered.
“So it’s just you?” the man asked referring to Rubio and the group.
“Just us out here,” Rubio answered.
Gordon shot back, “There are others not too far away though, just a short radio call away.”
“Sorry, fellas, if you don’t mind me ducking out for a second, I’m going to try and start this up again,” he said quickly, looking at the woman. Then he stepped away and got back inside the car.
Rubio and Gordon watched him quizzically. Gordon took a few steps so he could see him clearly sitting in the seat.
The woman, appearing nervous, started to ramble on about the weather. Rubio was peering through the rear window at the man, looking for anything unusual. The woman reached over and touched Rubio gently and said, “Ah, I’m Laura.”
Her touch distracted Rubio, who looked at her and said, “Oh, I’m Corporal Rubio, nice to meet you.”
These people looked innocent but Gordon was very skeptical. He kept scanning the area for a sign of anyone else. His instincts kept taking him back to a large grove of trees.
The slam of a door on the Humvee startled Gordon. He turned to see Lexi stomping over to them. She seemed focused and intent. He looked at her face. Her gaze was past him, toward the car. He followed it to see if she was seeing something he didn’t.
Lexi brushed by Gordon, moving quickly toward the front of the car with her pistol drawn at her side. She walked up to the driver’s door, opened it, and put her gun to the man’s head. “Remember me?”
Not saying another word, she pulled the trigger.
“Mr. President, the chopper is ready to take you,” Baxter said.
Conner finished loading his belongings into a few boxes. He was finally ready to leave the bunker fortress of Cheyenne Mountain. The place held nothing for him anymore. While the bunker did have luxuries others didn’t have on the outside, every time he walked the hallways, he was only reminded of Julia.
Those first few days after his return had changed him. At his lowest moment, he found himself holding a gun to his head. But something stopped him from pulling the trigger. He couldn’t explain, but he figured God had some other plan for him. He needed to return to his duties. That’s what Julia would have wanted. That moment was when he decided to come out of his self-imposed isolation. Being back on the outside would offer challenges, but he was ready for them. It was freeing, in a way.
“I’ll be right there. General, please make sure these boxes get on the next bird out,” he said to Baxter. Baxter had personally made all the arrangements with Governor Richard Laney of Wyoming.
Baxter proved himself trustworthy during his absence. He could have taken the presidency then and Conner probably would have welcomed it. Knowing that Baxter was a man loyal to his country and capable meant a lot to him. He kept note of those he could trust, specifically after the ordeal with Griswald.
Governor Laney was excited to hear that his state would house the new capital. He promised to give President Conner and the federal authorities all the support they could muster. Like most of the country, everything was down in Cheyenne and around Wyoming. The local power grid was still down, and not having electrical power had a cascading effect across the state. With no power, there was no flowing water, operational sewage, or communications. This power disruption, coupled with the fact that a vast number of the area’s vehicles were inoperable, left Cheyenne a dead city. However, Laney’s staff immediately made contact with Lieutenant General Wasserman, commander of F. E. Warren Air Force Base in Cheyenne, to establish control of the city. The Air Force provided critical support to Wyoming’s Department of Homeland Security, and even though they had limited working vehicles and equipment, they fortunately didn’t experience a total collapse as other cities had. Through this quick response and coordination, Cheyenne had a functioning government.
The fact that Cheyenne was a stable city made it easier for Conner to establish the capital he needed. It wasn’t his first choice, and getting supplies and equipment there would be a challenge, but for now, stability won out over easy access. Plus, F. E. Warren Air Force Base headquartered the Air Force’s Ninetieth Missile Wing and the Twentieth Air Force. They essentially commanded an arsenal of over 150 Minuteman ICBMs, a resource that was valuable to him. All of them were hardened against EMP, so were still operational.
Conner sat down at his desk and started opening up drawers to check for anything of importance that he might have forgotten. When he pulled the right top drawer a small notepad slid forward. On the front page there was a list entitled “Baby Names.” The pain he felt upon reading that was enormous. Angrily, he ripped the paper off the pad and crumpled it up, tossing it in the trash.
He left the room, and left a time in his life that forever changed his outlook on the world. When he had tossed away the crumpled paper, he had also tossed away the old Conner. Gone was the Conner that operated from impassioned beliefs. He hadn’t mentioned it to them, but if he could take back his order to nuke all of those cities, he would. He now regretted that decision, but he’d been operating out of fear. He left that fear behind too when he closed that door. He was still prepared to make the tough calls, but he next time he would try to see the long-term effects of a decision he made. His loss of fear transformed him.