Story Market Day

It took a few moments for Bekka to remember where she was. There was weak light filtering into their little shelter on the hillside. She looked around. A very small fire was burning, a cup of water warming next to it. Olivia was sitting with the deck of cards over to one side of the shelter. At first Bekka thought she was playing solitaire or something. Bekka looked closer. She was reading something and making gestures with her hands.

“Whatcha doing, kiddo?”

Olivia jumped, startled.

“Oh, morning Ms. Bekka. I was just reading these and trying to figure out how to remember them.” She held up some plastic cards before she kept talking. “I have some hot water for you on the fire. I already had some oatmeal.”

Bekka looked over at the cards Olivia was holding. She had forgotten those were in with the deck of cards. Quick reference cards for navigating with map and compass, navigating by the stars, tactical hand signals, and how to tie knots were all in there, plus some she probably forgot.

Shit! This nine-year-old was thinking more and better than most adults she had known.

“Ok, tell you what. Let me get some oatmeal into me as well, and we can go through our gear. We need to figure out what we have, what we can gather and then I’ll teach you some stuff like map and compass if you don’t already know. I also need to teach you some more about your pistol.”

“Sure thing, Ms. Bekka. I found a tiny creek or stream a little way that way.” She pointed the opposite direction from the road. “I refilled the water containers in my bag but I didn’t fill yours cause I wasn’t going to go digging around in your stuff.” Olivia’s smile lit up her face.

“Did you ever learn how to catch crayfish, Olivia?”

“Yeah, but I didn’t see any. This is a tiny stream. If you give me your water stuff, I can go fill them while you wake up.”

“Maybe when it gets dark, we can creep down to the bottom of the ravine and check there. For now, I’ll get a bite to eat and we can look at the map and the compass.”

Bekka thought once again how fortunate she was to not be saddled with a noisy little brat to worry about. Olivia was a lot more switched on than many of the Airmen she had worked with.

Bekka thought once again how fortunate she was to not be saddled with a noisy little brat to worry about. Olivia was a lot more switched on than many of the Airmen she had worked with.

Olivia is still at that age where learning is fun and a treat. Way too many grow out of this phase as they become teenagers and young adults for they decide they know more than everyone around them.

Thanks CCG for the continuing saga now on page 127.

Now if Shooter and Griz would shorten their postings, we would only be at page 101 or 102.



Texican....

Wow. What a kid! Sure makes things better when what could have been a liability turns into an asset.
Thank you.

Texican said:

Bekka thought once again how fortunate she was to not be saddled with a noisy little brat to worry about. Olivia was a lot more switched on than many of the Airmen she had worked with.

Olivia is still at that age where learning is fun and a treat. Way too many grow out of this phase as they become teenagers and young adults for they decide they know more than everyone around them.

Thanks CCG for the continuing saga now on page 127.

Now if Shooter and Griz would shorten their postings, we would only be at page 101 or 102.



Texican....

Click to expand...

lets not shorten the feedback and dialog. Its the fuel that brings more posts

ComCamGuy said:

lets not shorten the feedback and dialog. Its the fuel that brings more posts

Click to expand...

So... that means that we will get MOAR!!!

“More switched on than many of the Airmen she had worked with” ain’t that fact.

ComCamGuy said:

Bekka thought once again how fortunate she was to not be saddled with a noisy little brat to worry about. Olivia was a lot more switched on than many of the Airmen she had worked with.

Click to expand...

Chronologically young yes but like most 'country kids' she knows what life & death are and has witnessed her family being injured & killed around her for the last few days. Sounds like Karl & Co were heavily into prep so she's likely going to have an edge in awareness. Lots of new inductees are still in the 'I'm invincible' mode of thinking until they're well into the 1st deployment ......
Never too young to start teaching critical skills; those lessons tend to stick for life..

G.

Griz3752 said:

Chronologically young yes but like most 'country kids' she knows what life & death are and has witnessed her family being injured & killed around her for the last few days. Sounds like Karl & Co were heavily into prep so she's likely going to have an edge in awareness. Lots of new inductees are still in the 'I'm invincible' mode of thinking until they're well into the 1st deployment ......
Never too young to start teaching critical skills; those lessons tend to stick for life..

G.

Click to expand...

not so much “prepped” , more like old school farm life , rolling back the clock some to 1930’s for many aspects. a bit of religious isolationists as well. Family first focus reinforced by both David and Penny’s upbringing as well.

Want chicken for supper go get the hatchet

She had no idea when it would end. It seemed to go on forever. Screaming, crying, blood, vomit and tears. She felt like she had been going forever. Another sound? A new sound was here. It was a voice. Not raw and screaming like her own or the others. It was tired, but who’s wasn’t? This one was electronic. Electronic?

“ATC, Scarlet Flight. On glide slope Ten minutes from touch down.”

Emilia sat up. She was drenched in sweat. She reached for the radio.

“Scarlet Flight, Runway lights will be on momentarily.”

Emilia grabbed her gear and headed for the stairs. She had to get the roll up door open and the front gate open. She was glad they were back! She was also glad to be out of that horrible dream.

Another group coming in and two still out in the woods.

What does CCG have planned now? Only time and another chapter will reveal.

Texican....

Allyson rolled up to the gate. Emilia was there at the gate as they came in.

“We have rows of tape on the floor of the training building for lanes to park in. Jesse and Garen need you to park in the one just inside the door with your name on it. Everyone else pulls straight in. Food is in the kitchen. Garen will be down in a few.”

Allyson rolled slowly down the road to the training building. She was spent.

Andrea was at the wheel of the last vehicle in the line, Angelique next to her.

“Emilia! Damn it’s good to get here! What’s the plan?”

“Hang on. Let me lock the gate. We are going to the training building. Garen will explain everything.”

Emilia locked the gate and hopped onto the running board of the Land Cruiser for the short ride to the building.

It was chaotic in the training building. Garen was directing people where to park. Once inside, everyone got out of their vehicles and gathered around him at the front of the room.

“Welcome. Come on this way. We have food ready and a place to wash up and sleep. We can figure out everything when you are fed and rested. Emilia, could you show our newcomers upstairs? I need to talk with you Allyson and Angelique.”

Emilia got David, Isabela and Andrea together and led them upstairs while Allyson and Angelique went to Garen.

“What next, boss?” Allyson was the first to ask.

“We still have Kara and Heidi’s group out there, and Bekka is out there with Olivia, on foot and hiding.”

“Damn! When are we going to go get her?” Angelique blurted out.

“Funny you should ask. I need you” he looked at Allyson “to get reset as an emergency response again, and you” he looked at Angelique “need to get with Zed. You are going on the pick-up and doing some sneaking around in the woods.”

“So, if Angelique is going on another mission, who will be with me in the rescue vehicle?”

“Well, until the other group gets back, it will be you and Angelique again. After Kara gets back, your sidekick for a rescue run will be Heidi.”

Hearing this, Angelique walked over to Andrea’s SUV, grabbed her kit and dropped it back in the front seat of Allyson’s truck. Garen and Allyson just stood there and watched her do it and return to where they were standing.

“OK, Garen. Depending on what else comes up, I’m mostly reset for the rescue.”

Allyson and Garen looked at each other and back at Angelique.

“I guess you are.” Garen looked over at Allyson. “You two get some rest. I don’t expect you will have to run out again, but I have to have a plan. I’ll see you guys up at the house.” Garen walked out the side door, back towards the house.

Angelique looked over at Allyson after Garen left.

“I’m going to pop up and grab some of that food Emilia mentioned, the I’ll walk on up to the house. I’ll meet you at the room.” Angelique walked to the back of the bay towards the stairs, leaving Allyson to check her gear for the emergency mission.

Angelique passed Allyson on the stairs, her coming down as Allyson was going up to the big kitchen in the training building.

“Hey, the stew is good. I’ve been cooped up sitting still too long. I’ll be to bed soon. Meet you there, but don’t wait up for me. You’re wiped from all the driving.”

Angelique kept walking down the stairs as she talked. Allyson wished she still had all the energy of being seventeen. She could smell the bowl of stew Angelique was carrying as she passed her on the stairs. The plan sounded good. A bowl of stew, a stiff drink and sleep!

THank you. No wind-down time now. They've got to be starting to feel the strain, They've been prepping, but it's not like they are on a six month deployment doing this stuff every day.

Angelique was too wired to go to sleep quickly. She was worried. Worried for her friends, worried for herself. She took the bowl of stew, and something to drink, and took a walk. She passed Allyson on the stairs. She decided to tell Allyson to not worry about her being in bed when she got there.

Out the back door of the training building she went. She wasn’t sure where she was heading at first, but her feet knew. The path was well known. Soon, she was sitting on the granite slab, looking out over the water of the pond.

She set the little stove up. With it lit, she could keep her stew warm and heat her drink as well. She would just pick one up and set the other one down, alternating. The drink was her new favorite; warmed Sangria.

At first, she just stared out at the water, unsure why she was here. Slowly her brain began talking.

“Please, look after my friends as they try to help and defend the others. We don’t start trouble; we only try to help others.” She ran out of words, but she was confident God knew her heart. She ate her stew and sipped her wine. As she did so, she felt a stirring within her. She felt compelled. Finally, the words poured forth. Not only did she say them, she felt it in her heart.

Those are good words to live by

Thank you.

Dawn’s light saw the gate open again. In rolled the second convoy, Kara in the lead. Emilia gave directions and climbed in with Heidi, who was last in line. She slid in close giving her mom a hug, hoping the nightmares would stop now that she was back. Heidi kissed her daughter’s forehead thinking this was one of the best things to see as she got back.
The crew looked worn out. Garen was once again there to meet them. Jesse was there anxiously waiting as he walked right over to Paige’s Cherokee as she stepped out. Paige’s eyes were full of tears as she stepped into his embrace, collapsing into sobs.

“You made it. You’re safe now, Paige.” Jesse said, but Paige just kept sobbing.

Garen got the rest of the group headed upstairs for food. As they walked up the stairs he gave Kara and Heidi a two minute synopsis of their upcoming mission to rescue Bekka and Olivia, and the parts they would play. Heidi took it in stride but Kara seemed a bit numb.

Garen figured maybe it was because she was wiped out or was worried about Sabine. He knew he needed to rest. Every one needed rest before anyone would be thinking straight, including himself. He had to get back and help Zed iron out some details, check on his patients, then hit the rack for some more sleep. Doug should be up soon and able to take over med watch.

He knew they needed to think about things before just rushing out to get Bekka and Olivia. He didn’t want to half ass this and get someone killed. All their preparation was what pulled them through so far in the trip down to get Paige. He had to remember. It was all ass or no ass as he drift off to sleep thinking of all the trouble Bekka and he had been in over their 20+ years of marriage. He couldn’t lose her.

Oh, the karma coming upon those who attacked them is going to be heavy. Thank you.

It was late afternoon by the time everyone woke up. There were long conversations with several small groups of people. One of the most painful was when Karl and Karen were telling David and Isadora about Kevin.

The visitation of the wounded were kept brief initially. Hera was struggling to get up and move around, a good sign, but they needed her to be careful with her stitches. Penny was mostly unchanged but her vitals were stable.

Sabine was having brief periods of consciousness. Doug was keeping a close eye on her and Andrea and Paige had to be pried away from Sabine’s bedside after a brief visit.

Everyone was getting their wits back and starting to focus on the next problems at hand. Zed got his crew together in the bay to lay things out.

“So, what we are going to do is find out what happened, who did it and why. To do this will entail a long walk in the woods. If it goes like I’m thinking, they will never know we are there unless we want them to. That is why it’s the three of us.” He turned to Kara. “You did this before when you were scouting the lower park camp. This will be similar, but help will be farther away. We will set up several recovery locations we need to memorize. If we get separated or are on the run, we will head to one of these points.”

Zed paused as Kara and Angelique thought on that before he continued.

“If we run into trouble, we need to hit them like a thunderbolt so we can break contact and escape. If we can accomplish this we will vanish into the wilderness like ghosts.” Zed turned to Paige, Heidi and Allyson.

“Paige, your grandfather says you are THE whiz at offroad driving, trail work and rock crawling. You are going to get us to the drop off point and pick up Bekka and Olivia. You will also be the one coming to get us if we can stay stealthy and come out at one of the prearranged hide-type pick up points.”

“Allyson, Heidi, you are the cavalry. If we get hit going in for the drop off or they get hit coming out, you are the rescue team. If we get hit and are on the run, we will try to make it to one of the hardball roads for an emergency pick up. You slide up, we dive in the bed of the truck and you take off type of pick up.”

Zed looked at the faces around the circle. All were serious and attentive, not that he expected anything else from them.

“So lets get our gear ready. I want to go get Bekka and Olivia tomorrow night. Jesse is working them to the pick up location today.” As everyone started moving, Zed touched Paige’s arm.

“Hang on a moment. I’ll show you what I was thinking to use for the vehicle.”

Re-edit #5059

[..]

Thank you.

Chapulin said:

"He knew he needed to rest. "
About Re-edit #5059
Does Garen need to rest or Paige?

Click to expand...

It was Garen thinking on the need to rest

Paige and Zed were pouring over the Suburban. Paige slid under it on a floor creeper, Zed right beside her.

“OK, these axles will work as far as not breaking and giving us ground clearance but they are heavy as shit.” She slid farther under, a flashlight in her hands. “Well, we have enough fuel on board. We can ditch the big ass tank inside. That will help the maneuvering and such.” Her hands glided point to point as she spoke in shorthand, more to herself than Zed.

“Front, middle and rear locking differentials, twin fuel tanks. The frame is double box reinforced by someone who seems to know how to weld, proper sized and rated winches front and back actually tied to the frame.” She looked over at Zed.

“Let’s look under the hood.” Paige slid out and headed for the front, Zed right behind her.

Zed was still having a hard time with how ‘big’ Paige has gotten. She had come to visit Jesse a few times after enlisting, mostly after her deployments wanting to unwind. They would come over to visit, see him and Marta, fish and generally hang out.

Part of him still saw her as that sixteen-year-old girl he taught to weld and work on cars with when she was little. She would come over with Jesse and ‘play’. They would work on stuff in the garage then go run around on the mini-bikes or some other fun thing.

Zed forced himself to come back to the here and now.

“When we were checking this thing out prior to coming down and getting you, it all looked capable enough to do some fire and logging road crawling. That’s what gave me and Jesse the idea.”

Paige looked over at him. The reminder of the mission down to get her bringing her back from her distraction of the Suburban. It also brought back her loss.

Zed saw the sudden shift in Paige’s demeanor.

“What’s wrong?”

Paige’s voice was hesitant. She had barely mentioned this to Zed and Jesse and told them she didn’t want to talk about it when they first rolled in.

“How did you deal with Marta dying?”

Zed was knocked completely off track. He knew from the tiny amount Paige had told them that her long term boyfriend new husband had died recently and unexpectantly. Paige wouldn’t give details. He didn’t know when she would open up more about it then, but it seemed now was the time for a little.

“It’s hard.” Zed took a deep breath. “I keep turning around, expecting her to be there, or thinking about something I can’t remember and thinking, that’s ok, I’ll ask her.”

Paige was looking at her hands now, rubbing them together.

“I know she was sick for a while. Do you think it would be easier or harder if it was all of a sudden?”

Zed thought a moment. He hadn’t looked at this angle. Finally he thought he had his answer.

“I don’t know if it would have been or would be easier sudden versus knowing it was coming. I just know it would be different. Not better or worse, just different.”

They just stood there a moment before Zed pulled her in for a quick hug. When he let go, his voice was gruff as he spoke.

“Anything you need, you let me know. Someone to talk or drink with or just a hug. You let me know. Heidi and Kara are in the widows club with us as well. One thing I do know, work helps. Having something to do helps to not dwell and wallow.” He rubbed his face with both hands as Paige wiped the tears from her eyes.

“Now, let’s look under the hood.”

Yep makes the screen all fuzzy...

Thank you.

Life is a lot simpler when you can just focus on the mission. Nothing else exists, just the mission. But then the mission is over.....

This operational pace has to be hard for such a small group to keep up

Landcruiser said:

This operational pace has to be hard for such a small group to keep up

Click to expand...

And the corresponding fatigue and fatigue-induced errors, hence the ops pause/standown rather than rushing right out to get Bekka. It’s at least 36 hours from return before a crew heads out.

Thank you.

When this bunch gets integrated the group becomes much stronger. I have a sneaky suspicion we will see veronica? and the other gal at some point. I really should have made a small flow chart, I will when I go back and read this as a finished work, it is harder for me to keep track of names when it's coming piecemeal over time. Thank you Sir!

Heidi and Kara were both at the big table next to the Suburban. Their gear from the Suburban was in a pile. As they were sorting it, Heidi to move it to Allyson’s truck and Kara to reset and rebuild it for the upcoming mission, Kara noticed Heidi seemed to be avoiding looking at her.

“Look, Heidi, I’m sorry I ruffled your feathers this morning.”

Heidi didn’t know what to say. She sputtered, coughed, and turned red all at the same time. She knew Kara well enough by now that she did that shit intentionally too. She thought back to this morning when Emilia slid into the Suburban at the gate.

“You had me worried, mom. I am so glad you are back! Garen has the wounded in the room we normally use. I’m staying down here to play tour guide for the new people when they get up. Garen gave Doug a sleeping pill so he is sacked out on the day bed in Garen and Bekka’s room. There’s a second bunk in the room I have right now so you could crash down here with me…..” The words would have kept coming but Heidi had to stop her. She couldn’t keep up.

“I’m glad Im back. I missed you. My brain can’t catch half of what you are telling me and I won’t remember it two minutes from now. I’m going up to the house, shower, and go to sleep. I’ll probably crash on one of the couches.” She was looking at Emilia’s face as she talked. Another thought was pushing at the edge of her brain.

“Did you really mean it when you said you would be ok if I tried to be more than a friend to Doug?”

Emilia’s heart leaped in her chest and throat!

“Yes! You two would be good for each other, are good for each other!” She would have said more but Heidi cut her off again.

“I am just asking. Don’t push us on it. This is something I want to try SLOWLY! You hear me young lady?”

Emilia smiled.

“Sure mom. I won’t say anything until you do.” Emilia switched topics as they pulled into the bay. “Back the Suburban up here by the door across from Allyson’s truck. It’s going back out soon.”

I'm a little surprised we haven't heard more communication from the other groups. Daily/weekly check in schedule, parallel scheduling, road trip planning tie-ins etc.

Thank you, a chance of romance is in the air...

Heidi grabbed her bag from the guest room. Garen told her to use the shower in his room so she wouldn’t wake up the patients. She was so tired. On the way to the back of Garen and Bekka’s room she passed Doug curled up asleep on the day bed. She stood there a minute or two, not for the first time, watching him as he slept.

She would need a supercomputer to calculate all the times she second guessed herself on the idea of her and Doug. She moved on into the bathroom and started a shower. She was on her third time shampooing when she heard a voice behind her.

“Damn! And I was worried you had a thing about tattoos!”

“Kara! What the ****!” Heidi turned around. Kara was naked and turning on the second showerhead behind her.

“Don’t mind me, I just have to get this grit off too.” She said as she stuck her head under the showerhead, scrubbing furiously to get her hair wet.

“You have no modesty at all, do you?! Then again, I shouldn’t be surprised. You run around damn near half naked most the time anyway as it is.”

“No, I guess I don’t. Spent time on European beaches as a little kid growing up. Picked on as a teenager about not having anything worth hiding so I fought back with ‘look at me’ levels of not caring. Then spent enough time in locker rooms and then the military, survival school, deployments and months naked in the hospital. After I got booted, I even spent a couple months in a nudist colony. I know I’m nothing to look at but a skeleton with no tits and covered in scars so I got used to not caring what somebody saw.” She stopped talking as she stuck her head back under the water.

Heidi could hear all the self-depreciating in Kara’s words. Kara was skinny, true, but she looked good. She wasn’t the hideous thing she obviously thought she was.

“That still doesn’t explain why you are in the shower with me.”

Kara turned around and looked at her.

“You already have the water warm and it’s next to the bed I’m crawling into.”

Heidi thought for a moment. It made sense, she guessed. Not for the first time she thought about the weird relationship Kara seemed to have with Bekka and Garen. Wait what did Kara just say?

“What was that?”

“I said, the bed is big enough we can share. I’ll sleep in the middle between you and Garen. It’s a lot better than the beds down in the training building or the couches.”

For a brief second, Heidi wasn’t sure what was going on. Kara saw this and spoke again.

“I’m not propositioning you to a naughty fun time romp. Not that I would be opposed, you look smoking hot and would probably be a hell of a time in the sack. I’m just offering a comfortable place to sleep.”

Heidi turned red with embarrassment and she wasn’t sure why.

“I appreciate the offer, both of them actually but I don’t play on that side of the street. I would feel weird though being in bed with you and Garen and my other plan has me feeling weird enough as it is.”

Kara raised her eyebrows and smiled as she turned back towards the spray of water and soaped her hair again. She thought she knew what Heidi had in mind. She spoke again.

“If you ever change your mind and want to play on that side of the street, just let me know. I’ll show you the ropes so to speak, or real ropes if that’s your thing.”

Heidi heard the humor in Kara’s tone and was happy things seemed to be ok between them. She shut down her showerhead and stepped out, leaving Kara alone in the shower stall. She dried off quickly then got dressed in some running shorts and a t-shirt. Back out in the bedroom she reconsidered her plan again. Again she heard Kara’s voice behind her.

“Go ahead, you two will be fine.”

Heidi glanced over her shoulder to see Kara standing there drying her hair with a towel.

“You really think so?”

“With all my heart.” Kara stepped back into the bathroom.

Heidi reached down and lifted the edge of the covers. Sitting on the edge of the day bed, she moved one of Doug’s arms and lay down in front of him with her back to him. She pulled his arm across her body and covered the both of them with the blanket. The last thing she remembered seeing before she fell asleep was the golden eyes of the calico cat sitting on the bed looking at them.

Thank you. Nice to have some morning reading.

The new people were still dazed and confused about their new surroundings. They were congregating in several small groups having long conversations about what they had been through and what was next.

Emilia tried to make them feel comfortable but she was not having much luck so figured they needed time alone to process what had happened. She looked over at Karl and Karen. She was not sure what they were talking about but they did not look happy.

Karl and Karen had David and Isadora sitting alone in the corner, no one with them. They both knew this was not good especially since they had not seen or heard the boisterous sounds of Kevin lately. They hoped he was still coming somehow in their hearts they knew different.

“There is no easy way to say this” as tears welled up in his eyes.

“Don’t Karl, we know our hearts and souls feel a loss, we know the feel of pain but he… it was not for no reason. It was for family. Sometimes one must sacrifice for the many.”

“Just tell me the Bitch did not get anything.” Isadora chimed in.

Garen tried to keep visitation of the wounded brief but Isadora had been away from her family long enough. It was her job to take care of her family, she was the matriarch, which meant she was the nurse.

Andrea was not going to be kept from Sabine any longer either. She informed Garen in no uncertain terms she would be sitting by her side. She had a loud enough voice to call for help and could read a monitor’s parameters if told the too much and too little limits. At that point she noticed how close Sabine’s bed was to the radios. It gave her an idea she knew Garen could not turn down.

“Look I will monitor the radios, this allows me to be close to Sabine and frees up Jesse to do something else.”

After all the discussions were settled Garen led them to see the wounded. It seemed like a shift change at a hospital as he walked the group by each of the wounded

“Hera is struggling to get up and move around, a good sign, but we needed her to be careful with her stitches. Penny was mostly unchanged but her vitals were stable.


“As for Sabine, it ain’t pretty. She is banged up pretty bad as you know but I managed to patch her up. I took a lot of work, so it will take longer for her to heal. I hear she is a stubborn feisty fighter. She is going to need you guys. Sabine’s having brief periods of consciousness but we need to let her rest and heal a lot. Doug has been keeping a close eye on her.”

He could see a fire in Andrea’s eyes as she was pried from Sabine’s bedside.

“Please Garen let me monitor the radios so I can be close by! I love her I need to be close by! I need to feel her!” Andrea pleaded once more as he told her it was time to leave. At that moment Garen remembered Bekka got shot not so long ago and how he felt.

“OK, nearby, close, but don’t hover. She needs to rest. That goes for you too, Isadora. When Hera gets up, help her and don’t let her do too much and screw up her stitches. Anything looks out of sorts or you even get an inkling of something wrong, call Doug or me right away, even if it’s just to find out what time it is. Agreed?”

Andrea and Isadora nodded.

Thank you. So much interpersonal happening that it'll take a while to digest it all.