“Hi, Kyla,” he shouted. The road on the far side of the bridge turned to woodland terrain, with lots of trees. He intended to get in there as fast as possible to make those airstrikes less of a threat. Ted couldn’t see what was up in the sky, but he imagined an entire swarm of mosquitos zeroing in on them.
“Heya, Unk! Listen, I have to tell you this. There’s a nuclear missile heading your way—”
“Five of them,” Meechum’s voice interrupted.
“Five of them,” Kyla repeated. “We saw them on a map. Wait, we were captured by special forces. Some sort of task force. They showed us. We’re on—” She hesitated. “I can’t say on an open channel. We’re close to you, though!”
He met Emily’s brown eyes. In the days they’d been together, he’d become accustomed to reading her. They nodded at the same time.
Ted spoke to the phone. “Kyla, listen to me. I don’t want you anywhere close to us. If there’s a nuke coming, Emily and I will be fine. We have a plan. You, however, don’t want to be anywhere near here when a strike happens.”
“As long as I know you’re going to be safe,” Kyla replied, with what sounded like a rattle in her voice. “But I have to tell you what happened. I caused the explosion in Westby. I almost got us killed. I kept the tablet you told me to destroy. They tracked us with it!”
“Well, remind me to get out the belt when I see you next.” He chuckled, not sure how he was supposed to answer. It seemed pretty minor, in context.
“That’s not all! I used the tablet again in Devils Tower. I’m the one who got them to launch the nuclear attack on NORAD. Uncle Ted, I’m the one who is going to get you killed!” His niece sniffled.
It did explain a lot, but it was water under the bridge.
A missile impacted against a tall tree to their left, splashing them with splinters of wood. His heart couldn’t race any faster. All he could do was grit his teeth and keep the gas pedal on the floor.
“What was that?” Kyla gasped.
He made himself laugh to hide the deadly nature of the blast. “It’s wind noise. We’re in a military Humvee.”
“Oh,” Kyla’s voice replied through the speaker.
Ted didn’t want her to feel bad about how things had gone down. They were all still alive and fighting. She’d even hooked up with US forces. A miracle.
“Kye, listen. Tell your military friends about the nuclear arsenal codes. Tell them Emily has been leading the counterattack this whole time. And, Kyla, give yourself a little credit for this fight, too. You did good.”
“I wanted to hammer those bastards so the rest of us could go home. I didn’t mean for you to be there. I should have thought it through, you know?”
“I told you, we have a plan.” He wanted to keep her hopes up. It also helped his own psyche to believe there was a way out.
Kyla started out speaking in monotone. “You were right about my mom. She would have been happy to have me sit in that cabin and be safe. She would be freaking out if she knew what I was doing at this exact moment.”
He leaned closer to the phone. “I am sorry about having to ditch you guys.”
“Me and Meechum got over it pretty fast, but you—” She paused. Both her and the Marine shouted at the same time, making it impossible to hear.
Kyla spoke frantically. “They went over our freaking heads! The missiles! Oh, God, you aren’t going to make it. All five are together now. They’re heading toward the city…”
Meechum added. “It looks like they’re pre-programmed. They just crossed a waypoint and turned southeast. I think they’re going around the mountain so they can hit it from the front.”
Adding to the chaos, he nearly rear-ended an idle fuel truck when he whipped around a bend in the road.
“Shit!” He veered into the wrong lane to avoid the three trucks ahead of the first. It looked like an entire convoy of them had gone up the road and found themselves where they didn’t belong.
“Uncle Ted, please hurry…”
“We will, sweetie. I, uh, love you very much.” He hesitated voicing the words to avoid sounding like he was saying good-bye, but when there were five nukes tracking to his location, he couldn’t let the opportunity pass.
“I love you, too. Call me when you’re safe,” she added quietly.
“Bye, Kyla,” Emily added before hanging up.
“Thanks,” he said to her. All his focus needed to be on the road. The bunker entrance was ahead.
NORAD Black Site Sierra 7, CO
Going up through the elevator transfer stations was as uncomfortable as it was time-consuming. At each stop, they had to get out in the small waiting room and hop into the next car. Fortunately, each station seemed to always have one car parked on the level, so they didn’t have to wait for one to arrive. That saved lots of time.
Still, spending time with a guy who thought of her as wife material inside a post-apocalyptic vault was unsettling. What confused her, however, was how uncomfortable he seemed, as well.
When they got into the car labeled Transfer 1, she recognized it as the last elevator ride they would need. Instead of having one button for the next transfer point, the elevator panel had multiple buttons for different levels in the living area of David’s bunker. She pressed the topmost one, labeled ‘TOP,’ knowing it was closest to the exit door.
“Last stop,” she said as the doors closed.
Neither of them conversed until the numbers ticked on the LED above the doors. It meant they were passing the regular levels. Once she saw it, Tabby wanted to say what was on her mind.
“Thanks for coming to get me, but it doesn’t change how I feel about you. If you’re coming with me in the hopes
