As i sat in the office collecting myself, I heard the tell-tale sound of rain drops. Only a sprinkling at first, within moments a torrential downpour all but drowned out the sounds coming from the kitchen and the bar beyond. It was fitting that a storm would hit now. No matter how self important man becomes, God is always there to reenforce our insignificance.
Nature did not care for our war. She probably didn't even notice it. We were just another group of violent animals, foolishly striving against our own inability to recognize how tiny our place in the universe really was. Were we all to die off, the Earth would continue on. In time healing the scars we had inflicted upon her. After all, we were just men. Temporarily asserting our dominance over forces we could never hope to control. Foolishly fighting the inevitable.
What if, in this new war, America had become those foolish people? Were we just ignorantly struggling against a force we could not hope to contain?
At times we all harbor doubts. I was and still am, no different. The pain of uncertainty was tearing through me, bordering on panic. Could I protect Liz and even Jesse? Could we get away from here before the head hunters found us? Am I strong enough to be the symbol that these people so desperately need? Who the hell is stupid enough to mark themselves as a target for an incomprehensibly large, blood thirsty army? How long would I last until they caught me and executed in front of the entire world as a punishment for my insolence?
I could not let a moment of weakness cripple me. I knew that now, not only Jesse and Liz, but the rest of the country as well would counting on me to stay alive. The longer I lasted, the more of distraction I would become for the PLA. They would arrogantly send their best soldiers after me, allowing those with the courage to fight invaluable opportunities to strike.
I knew I could handle myself, perhaps Liz could hold her own as well. Jesse was just a sixteen year old kid who had been thrust into the middle of this. I never should have let him come with us. How could I have just left him alone though? He would need to learn to fight, to use a gun. He was brave enough, but gallantry does not stop bullets.
A little while after we started dating Liz and I had taken a trip to New York. Her parents lived in Manhattan, and she insisted they meet me. She was so sure about me, even then. I had never been to New York, so of course I needed to see all of the tourist traps. Our love was still young and our bodies infinitely hormonal. We couldn't keep our hands off of each other. As we walked back to our hotel from Times Square we ducked onto a side street to steal a few kisses. Of course, one can ever just have a quick kiss at that stage in a relationship. We were oblivious to the rest of the world, only she and I existed during those moments.
Unfortunately, we did exist in other people's worlds. We looked an easy target to a thug, two young lovers ravaging each other under the faint glow of the street lights. Who could blame him? I saw him out of the corner of my eye. A few seconds earlier and we could have probably walked off unmolested.
Liz knew something was wrong as I sized him up without turning. Perhaps she had a better view of him, but that did not matter. He was much larger than me, 3 inches and probably 60 pounds.
In the Marine Corps I had learned to trust my instinct, to react without hesitation. As he reached his hand for what could only have been a weapon. I struck him hard in the right shoulder where the deltoids meets the peck muscle. He would be unable to move his right arm for a few moments. As he reeled I slammed my right hand into his solar plexus, causing him to double over. As he bent forward, I slammed my fist like a hammer between his shoulder blades taking him face first into the pavement.
Liz had let out a deafening shriek when she saw him move for his weapon. Luckily a police officer had been down the street so I didn't have to worry about wrestling a gun away if he tried to get up. The officer called for someone to pick him up and took our statement. We were fine, but Liz was shaken up pretty badly. She cried herself to sleep that night because that crook had made her feel so god damned helpless.
When we got home we decided to take a Krav Maga class together. I had wanted to learn it after becoming certified to instruct MCMAP, the marine corps martial arts program. Unfortunately I had never found the time. My dad used to say I was born with a pair of boxing gloves on, probably because he had put me in a pair before I was even big enough to pick them up. The boxing led to various other martial arts when I was younger. He had wanted me to learn some discipline so I wouldn't become a bully. By the time I graduated highschool, I had mastered Wushu, Wing Chun, Tae Kwon Do, and Muay Thai. Dad had always wanted me to compete, he said he wanted to see me become an Olympian, but I had other plans in mind. In my mind the United States Marines were the ultimate warriors. I believed that history would someday look back upon them as it does the Samurai, Spartans or the Viking invaders.
Even though I was definitely no beginner, I made sure that Liz and I both advanced at the same rate. This was for her sake after all. She learned Krav Maga exceedingly well. The attempted mugging had lit a fire within her, she refused to be helpless. Never again would she let herself stare helplessly at someone who intended to harm her. Our instructor used the traditional military patch system. Liz had become an expert within two years. The owner of the dojo even asked her to help with self defense classes for women, something she had been more than happy to do. Through her training to become a social worker she offered battered women a way to regain confidence and learn to defend themselves.
Combined with the fact that she had learned to shoot guns with her father and uncles when she was young, Liz was more than capable of defending herself. I would not want to be the unsuspecting soldier who mistook her for some poor, vulnerable woman.
I had no idea if Jesse even knew how to throw a punch. I knew he couldn't handle a fire arm, that's for damn sure. He wasn't bad with a grenade, but those are only good in very specific situations.
I soon realized that I had been back here far too long, I was still very hungry. The battery on the phone was getting low so I plugged it in to the power-strip on Ralphie's desk. I would have to go get it before we left.
I had to come to terms with the fact that I really did not have a plan, and there was no realistic way to plan this situation anyways. I walked back through the kitchen, noticing the clock, I had been in the office for nearly an hour.
Liz was talking to Ralphie about his family and Jesse was having a very intense conversation with Ralphie's daughter who had taken our order earlier. He was a handsome kid, lean and athletic with a dark complexion. She looked at me in the most peculiar way as I went to sit back down.
"umm Hi," i said uncomfortably.
"Jesse said you got shot earlier." She said in a sheepish voice, "You don't look like someone shot you."
"Well, it just grazed me," I said laughing as I understood why the girl had been staring at me. "it's not nearly as bad as it sounds."
"Oh, that's good," she said, "My name's Laura. Are you guys gonna stay here for a few days?"
"No, we need to get moving pretty quickly" I responded.
"oh..." She said dejectedly. I couldn't help but notice her hand was resting on Jesse's knee. They seemed to like each other. "When will you guys be back?"
"I’m not sure honestly," I didn't want to break this kid's heart, but we would be lucky to live, let alone make it back. "It's not safe for us right now, so we'll have to keep moving until it is."
I decided to hang around for just a little longer, Jesse deserved it after all he had been through today. Liz was curious about what I had been talking to Raul about, but I wasn't comfortable discussing it out in the open. I would have to tell her later, once we left.
"You know what? Why don’t you take this with you son," Ralphie said as we prepared to get back on the road, "I think this bottle of Jack will do you more good than it will me."
"Thanks Ralphie," I said taking the nearly full bottle, "Be safe, there's no telling when those bastards
will come this way."
"I'll just have the cook poison them." He said laughing.
As we pulled out of the parking lot, the first strands of sunlight were beginning to creep over the horizon. Dawn was pushing it's way out of the depths of night, bringing with it a new day. One just as unpredictable as the last.
We stopped at a gas station down the street to top off the tank, who knows how long we'd be driving.
"Ok, set that GPS for the Mount St Helens observatory, but use the alternate route," I said to Liz as we were on the outskirts of the small town. "We want to go around the east side of the mountain, there will be less of a chance of being followed."
"Ok hun," she replied, "I cant figure this one out, it's so much different than ours."
"Here let me see" Jesse said groggily from the back seat, I thought he had fallen asleep. "I can do it."
She handed the GPS back to him to be set.
"You have to type it in, it's not voice activated," He said "How alternate do you want? I can do hiking trails with it."
"I Don’t think the car would hike too well," I laughed "but that's good to know in case we do need to hoof it."
The day seemed to be going by at a snail's pace. No one else was around, I hadn't seen a car for hours. Around nine, Liz insisted we switch so I could get a little sleep. Jesse was shocked she could drive a stick. I don't think he knew too many women at that point.
It wasn't easy to sleep in the car for any of us. Jesse was having nightmares, occasionally calling his mother's name or whimpering in his sleep. He was repressing his emotions, but he'd have to deal with them soon enough or they would tear him apart.
The country roads were really beautiful this time of year. All of the plants were blooming and the animals scurrying around, unafraid of the cars flying by. Well car, since we were the only ones around for miles.
I wish I knew where all of the people had went, it would make our trip so much easier. Which routes were safe and which would take us right into our enemies hands?