With that, the group breaks and readies to continue with the established projects the next day.
With the sun casting its early morning rays across the deserted base, long shadows reaching from the tall hangars to the west, we depart the ramp on yet another adventure. We skirt by the operations building and several large hangars before entering the base proper. Huge drifts of sand are piled up against their sides and almost completely cover the roads. If it weren’t for the higher drifts along the edges of the streets, it would be difficult to tell them from the surrounding brown fields.
The base itself is only a few blocks long, but the roads are confusing nonetheless. Most of the core of the base is made up of nearly empty, dirt-covered parking lots feeding smaller buildings. I know we have entered a very arid land as there is not the usual greenery that beautifies a majority of bases. Before long, and only having to turn around once, we make it to and through a gate serving the installation. A very tattered flag hangs limply from a flag pole near the visitor’s center.
We find the road indicated by the soldier and, after passing a few housing developments and a school, we emerge into an area of flat brown fields. They stretch far into the distance to the point that I can almost discern the curvature of the earth. There is not much in sight that breaks up the nearly unlimited view. I don’t see a single tree. There are only fences with sand piled up against the posts. Making a turn to the north, we pass a few farm houses and outlying buildings which are soon lost behind. We then enter an even more sparsely populated area. The only greenery, as noted by our assessment from the air, is along the small streams we pass.
As we continue along this lonely stretch, I don’t see any animals. There weren’t people other places we have driven along, but the lack of structures makes it seem lonelier. I ponder the food sources for other survivors and night runners. There isn’t much out this way to feed much of anything. There are some places where water flows but they are far and few between. Perhaps that’s why I didn’t sense any night runners in the base and only a few in the city itself — there just are not enough food sources to sustain them. I wonder how long that will last in the city itself and whether they will migrate to the surrounding hills when it runs out.
We pass through terrain that is a little more rugged with draws and ravines that extend outward from the Black Hills to the east. A series of tree-lined hills lie amongst these earth fractures and it’s there that I think some food may be found. If there is any, it wouldn’t support too many people or night runners. No, the only place really to survive around here is within the Black Hills themselves. The town of Sturgis lies right at the foot of them so there’s hope that we can find some survivors there and the higher hope that we will find the soldier’s family.
Bri jostles to the side as the Stryker navigates one of the many bumps in the road. Looking around, she sees the other soldiers sitting shoulder to shoulder in the cramped quarters, all moving in unison with the bounces. She pays a little attention to the hoses that run through the compartment and the display hanging down just prior to the small entrance of the driver’s compartment. She smells a certain electrical odor mixed in with the aroma of diesel and oil. It’s a tight squeeze for all of them and the seats aren’t comfortable but she doesn’t mind all that much. She’s here with her team and family and that’s all that really matters.
She looks over to Robert sitting across the way with his hands wrapped around the M-4 situated, like hers, between his legs. He is slumped forward staring at the floor lost in his thought. Everyone is sitting in various positions — some with their heads forward like Robert’s and others leaning back — but all have that far away stare of being lost in their own minds.
Looking back at the carbine between her knees, she admires the shape of the plastic and metal. Before, she enjoyed shooting, but a gun was just a gun. Now it is something much more. It is a part of her. She feels anxious if she doesn’t have her M-4 with her or at least nearby. Staring at the suppressor opening, it still amazes her that this is the only thing that has kept them alive when they’ve ventured into the dark buildings that house night runners.
She reaches down to one of her mags and pulls it out. Her gloved fingers grip the hard plastic housing the rounds. The feel also brings a measure of security within her. Turning it over, she eyes the bright rounds set firmly inside. They seem so small to her and the amazed feeling returns; amazed that bullets so small can cause such damage. Returning the mag to her pouch, she thinks,
She looks at Gonzalez sitting directly across from her and smiles. It appears that Gonzalez is actually napping. Bri knows though that Gonzalez will be instantly alert should anything happen. Even though they are far from home and on a mission to a place they don’t know much about, she feels secure with those around her. The confidence she has been building since this whole thing began has become stronger in the time she has been with Red Team, especially hanging around with Gonzalez.
She knows her dad is nervous about her being out with them and has noticed his worried look whenever she has caught him glancing her way. However, and this amazes her even more, he has allowed her to remain on Red Team and go with them. He has witnessed her in action and perhaps this is why he allows it. Thinking back to the fight in Madigan, she relives what she remembers but most is still a blur. She reacted but really isn’t quite sure what that reaction was. The stories told by the others in Red Team, and in particular Robert and Gonzalez, speak well but, as hard as she tries, she really doesn’t remember anything more than a series of snapshot images. At least it did answer a question that worried her endlessly and that was how she would react. She was so worried that she would freeze and therefore let down the team and her dad.
The increase in Robert’s confidence has also rubbed off on her. He always had that quiet confidence in himself, but she knows that he is constantly second-guessing himself. That’s a trait he inherited from their dad. And she has also noticed that, like their dad, Robert has pushed that second-guessing to the side and reacts with more and more confidence. She wants to become like that but always has these nagging doubts riding around inside of her as to her ability. Deep down, she knows that time and experience will dampen those down some but it’s getting that experience that makes her nervous. Of course, there was that night out on the top of the aircraft. There wasn’t any fear that time, but she also knew that there was little chance the night runners could get to her.
She has watched and absorbed every bit of knowledge she can, immersing herself in the training. Bri knows that she is like her dad in that you never know what will be helpful down the road, so she continues to soak up everything she can. Her dad has brought her with him when dealing with others in order that she might gain experience by watching. She had been allowed to sit in on the group meetings for the same reason. Sifting through her limited knowledge base continually, she runs scenario after scenario in her mind just as her dad instructed her to. She is eager to learn and can’t seem to get enough training. To her, the runs and team training in the mornings seem to end far too quickly. Her fear remains that she’ll let the others down. She knows in her heart that she can handle herself well but also knows that the feeling is based on a very limited amount of experience.
Her thoughts drift from image to image as she relives moments from the past. Memories from her cheerleading days and the events she attended flash through her mind. She recalls times with her school friends, chuckling silently at some; but with those, a sadness forms that she won’t see them again. The recollections make her realize just how far she has come in the last few months and how different she is now — the changes in her priorities and how she thinks. Changes that are continuing to evolve.
She thinks about the first day when her dad came to get her and the sadness that enveloped her whole mind, body, and soul, thinking that she had lost her mom. And the overwhelming joy at finding her again, even in such a dismal place as they were. With that, an image of Nic surfaces. It’s not so much an image but a feeling. She feels a hole in her heart and again feels the tearing pain that she felt on the day Nic died. Distress comes that she can’t remember a perfect image of Nic’s face. She doesn’t want to forget what Nic looked like even though she knows she’ll never forget her spirit. She misses Nic so much. The hurt she feels every time she remembers hasn’t eased with time like the saying goes. The only thing that has changed is Bri’s resolve to keep Nic’s memory alive and to avenge her whenever she has the chance. A perfect image of Nic’s smile does come, and with it, tears well in Bri’s eyes.
She is thrown to the side as the Stryker lurches to a stop with a squeal of brakes.
Robert rocks from side to side as the Stryker rolls across the bumpy road. The M-4 held between his legs and the movement is barely noticed as he is locked in his own thoughts. The world before, the one where he went
