all god's orphans
Chapter 48

Out in the sun, Brian felt near to tears, but he knew better than to let anyone see him cry. He looked up at the sky, hoping gravity would keep the tears at bay. As he stared up, he became aware of movement in the trees. All around the perimeter of the camp, soldiers were putting deer stands high up in the pines. They appeared to be makeshift guard towers and he wondered just what the Hell they were expecting that they felt the need to fortify the base. Those weren’t going to do much good, he thought. The cover of the forest was too thick to allow a good sight line on an approaching enemy. They’d be within a few dozen yards of the fence before they were ever spotted. He stopped watching them and turned his attention back to the present.

He knew Wes was right, and that was a large part of the reason that he was so angry. How could he have left Daniel alone for so long? At the time, it had felt like he didn’t have a choice, but was that true? Maybe he was just being selfish. It had been almost fifteen days now and he still had not managed to replace a way to check on Daniel. He suddenly hated himself with a fury. He needed to know that Daniel was okay.

He steamed towards the motor pool like a freight train ready to roll over anyone who got in his way. It would be difficult to know exactly who at this point, he noticed. Almost all of the soldiers were now sporting those black balaclavas. He was surrounded by kids playing G.I. Joe and he was getting sick of this shit. He was going to get in one of the SUVs and head straight out of the gate. If anyone asks, he’s just gonna say he’s on a mission. If they try to stop him, then…He didn’t know and didn’t want to replace out. He had decided that nothing on earth was going to stop him today.

As the big engine roared to life, Brian spotted two figures sprinting towards him. He had no idea who they were because of the masks, but he didn’t care.

“Step out of the vehicle.” Said one and he immediately recognized Holt’s habit of chewing on his language. Brian obeyed, but mostly only because he wanted to have a clear line of attack on this fuckhead. “Where do you think you’re going?” Snapped Holt.

“Foraging, asshat.” Said Brian. “What the fuck do you think?”

“There are no foraging parties scheduled today.”

“Since when is there a schedule?” Brian asked, genuinely curious.

“Since now. New security protocols are in place.” Holt hawed and Brian wondered if he even knew what the words actually meant.

“Blow me, Holt.” Brian said and turned to get back into the truck. As he did, Holt grabbed his arm and pulled him away. Brian let him pull him around and as soon as he planted his feet, he sent a haymaker to interview Holt’s left cheekbone. Holt caught it out of the corner of his eye just in time to snap his head backwards, leaving just his nose to take most of the punch. It hurt instantly, but not so bad that he couldn’t keep it together. Because his nose and sinuses had just been rocked, tears turned his eyes into shiny cloisonné buttons. He felt ashamed and rushed away with his hand holding the dripping blood under his nose. The other soldier who had not said a word scampered after him.

Before Brian could even get into the truck, Sgt. MacDunn exploded out of the nearby construction trailer office and flew towards him.

“You!” He shouted from across several rows of black SUVs. “Don’t move!” Brian put his hand on the door and MacDunn brought his weapon up. “I said don’t move!” Brian turned to face him, daring him to fire. Wes could see this unfolding as he raced towards them both. He reached them just as Brian was set to attack MacDunn and rip him apart. Wes jumped between them.

“Sergeant!” Wes pleaded. “Sergeant give me a second!” The fact that Wes was actually asking him for something was just a shocking as the fact that he had addressed him as ‘sergeant’ for once.

“What is it?” MacDunn stepped back and Wes pushed Brian away from the SUV and back towards camp. Wes thought fast and put on his shtick.

“He just got some bad news.” Wes affected a far away look. “It seems he had this girlfriend at AGO Foxtrot and he found out she’s been seeing tons of guys besides him.” Wes could see MacDunn shifting his anger. “I know you don’t like me, but don’t let that color how you see him. If you think about it, he’s never actually done anything wrong. He’s just been standing next to me when I do something so you think you hate him, but he’s a good guy.” MacDunn watched as Brian walked slowly back to camp.

“He gets this one chance.” MacDunn declared. “Make sure he understands that.” MacDunn poked Wes in the chest. Any other day that would have escalated shit straight to the moon, but Wes let it slide.

“Will do, sergeant.” He said with all the sincerity he could fake.

“What is with you?” He asked Brian when he finally caught up with him.

“I have to get out of here. I need to see Daniel and know that he’s okay.”

“All right, man.” Wes said trying to calm him further. “All right. I get it. You’re stressed out. Don’t know what’s happening with your brother. We’ll figure something out.” Brian stared at the ground while Wes tried to think of a plan. “Ok, how about this.” He finally began. “You go get your mom. Then take her over behind the tents near the motor pool. I’ll go talk to the guards about their radios and shit. The next patrol that comes in, I’ll offer to park their car for them. They’ll want that because it means they get to breakfast sooner. I’ll drive it over near the motor pool parking and just turn around. You get in, we go out the gate.”

“What are we going to tell them?” Brian asked but Wes didn’t think that was important.

“Whatever we want. I know these guys. They’re not going to give me shit.” Wes seemed confident and that bolstered Brian’s spirits. He found Carla helping with the breakfast cleanup. It was easy to slip her away unseen. As they waited for Wes to accomplish his part of the mission, they had a hard time pretending they were busy. They didn’t want anyone asking what they were up to since they didn’t have a good reason to skulk around the supply tents.

Wes was running out of things to talk about with the two guards on duty. He’d already gone over radios, camp romance rumors, camp romance stories (both real and fake), and food. There was literally nothing else they could discuss. When he thought he might just have to start doing card tricks, he heard the telltale growl of the GMC Suburban rumbling towards them. Finally.

He stepped inside the camp where they would stop their vehicles for security checks as the two guards stood to meet the vehicle. Behind it were several other Chevy Tahoes, all exactly alike. They pulled through the gate without stopping, causing Wes to have to jump to the side in order to avoid being run over. The men in the rear SUVs jumped out and raced along the perimeter of the camp, some of them scaling the trees into the deer stands. Wes tapped on the driver’s side window of the lead vehicle.

“Why don’t you guys let me park this for you so you can hit breakfast faster?” The window slid down and a mammoth of a man barely looked at him as he growled.

“Don’t touch my fucking car again.” Wes stepped back, a bad feeling expanding like a slow motion explosion in his chest. He walked quickly towards the motor pool to replace Brian and Carla.

“What’s going on?” Brian asked. He could see the old school bus being driven across the gate and parked. He had never known them to close the gate. Suddenly, there were sharpshooters in the trees and large men running about the camp.

“I don’t know for sure.” Said Wes. “But I think we’re fucked.” The PA system clipped to life and a voice they had never heard filled the camp.

“Now hear this! Commanding General Joseph Atwood has entered the base. New security protocols are now in effect. All movement into and out of the camp must be cleared with the appropriate personnel. All foraging parties and roaming patrols are suspended. Stand by for an address by the general.”