all god's orphans
Chapter 85

It was strange how much darker the night seemed to be these days, thought Millie as they made their way towards the mountain. It wasn’t just the fact that fewer streetlights were working, but the stars themselves seemed to have dimmed. All around were the remnants of a town that now existed in a strange state. Colorado Springs hadn’t been destroyed, but it certainly didn’t exist anymore. The streets were empty and the lights of grocery stores that would normally always be illuminated, were now dark outlines of their former selves.

Grey and Kite huddled together as Wallace led them through back streets and away from main thoroughfares. The general had given him a map that showed the best avenue of approach to the mountain. The Mormon forces had secured a stretch of road leading north, presumably to keep their supply lines open, but that meant devoting all of their forces to it, leaving the southern side relatively unguarded. It was going to take them most of the night to skirt the main town in order to get to the safety of the south, but they couldn’t risk the other approach, even if this did put them under considerable time constraints.

In silence, they hustled as fast as they could in the oppressive darkness, each lost in their own heads, except for Wallace. His focus now was sharper than they had ever seen. No more fucking around, apparently. Time to go to work. Millie tried to convince herself that the general wouldn’t really kill Brian. He wasn’t the type, she told herself. Sure, he was a prick and he thought he had god on his side, but he wasn’t a monster. She hoped.

Grey had been given the letter for safekeeping and he couldn’t stop himself from constantly slipping his hand in his jacket pocket to make sure it was still there. The weight of it was enormous. All of their hopes, and Brian’s life, as well as Carla’s, rested on this letter. He wanted to ask Wallace if it was true that the base was abandoned, but in the total silence of the night, he dared not speak. It wasn’t that he thought the general was lying. When he told them this, he seemed earnest in his opinion, but could he be wrong?

In the distance, they heard the low growl of car engines and the headlights threw up a glow into the sky that was unmistakable. Wallace stopped. The vehicles were heading their way. To their right was a large grocery store, the name of which Millie could barely make out. Cub Foods? Club Food? It was too dark.

“In there!” Hissed Wallace and they slinked towards the entrance, which was now nothing more than a broken set of doors. Inside, the place had been cleaned out long ago. There were no lights, but the streetlight of the parking lot seeped inside and reached halfway down the aisles. All of the shelves were empty. They huddled in silence behind one of the checkouts and listened as the sounds grew louder until a caravan of five Humvees roared past on the road outside. As the sound faded into the dark, their shoulders relaxed for a moment. Grey took this opportunity to ask a question he was afraid to have answered.

“Wallace.” He whispered. “Is it true what the general said? Is the base empty.” Wallace hesitated for a moment, like when adults have to contemplate the answer they are about to give a child. There’s a debate about whether to lie and let them remain children, or tell them the truth and push them one more step on the road towards adulthood.

“Possibly.” Wallace finally said before adding. “There’s only one way to replace out, right?” This brought Grey some comfort. There was still hope. He squeezed Kite’s hand and they headed back out into the night.

By the time they had made it to the south side of town, it was getting close to midnight. Fatigue was beginning to drag them down but the adrenaline surges kept pushing them onwards. There was even less light here than there had been in the city center, which made hiding easier, but the going was slow. Millie’s eyes went to her watch every few minutes. This was taking forever.

Eventually, they made their way to the bottom of the mountain and found a spot on a small hill that overlooked the mountain entrance. The road to the base rose up out of the surroundings and headed deeper into the mountain. There was nothing out here to give them cover. Instead, they lay in the grass, pressing themselves against the earth and saw for the first time how fucked they actually were.

There was a reason they had only seen one patrol on their way in. The entirety of the Mormon forces seemed to be stationed around this one road. The encampment was brazenly lit, casting light for what looked like miles in every direction. There were no trees or buildings, so anything trying to get near there was going to be seen far before it became a threat. They could see tents and vehicles, as well as dozens of soldiers milling about. Just beyond the checkpoint, the ground rose quickly up into the sky, leaving no other way to get beyond it. Climbing this in broad daylight would have been difficult. At night, with guards surrounding it? Impossible.

They lay in silence for a long while, watching as flashlights swept through the grounds around the encampment. Every once in a while, a vehicle would approach from the town, discharge some soldiers or pick others up and then turn around and head back. Wallace led them in a tedious crawl to get a better look, and Millie wondered why they were bothering with this. Nearby, a small group of trees stood like silent sentries. Wallace sidled up to Grey and whispered in his ear.

“Grey.” He sounded serious. “Make your way slowly to those trees. Stay low and quiet. If you spot any trouble, come right back here. If it’s safe, stay under cover and we’ll be right behind you.” Grey nodded. He kissed Kite’s hand and turned to make the crawl. It was about five hundred yards away and the ground beneath him was soft, but his elbows were being rubbed raw by the constant friction of dragging himself forward.

After a while, Millie’s patience was running low. Grey had reached the trees probably thirty minutes ago, and yet, here they were. Right where he had left them. Wallace was doing nothing but watching the guard post. Millie pressed her machine into the ground to dampen the noise.

“We’re wasting time.” She typed, and the meager light of the screen shone like a supernovae in the darkness. Even the voice, which was barely audible, sounded like a shout simply because it was louder than a whisper. Wallace shushed her, which only angered her further. She kept her mouth shut for a little while longer, but after another ten minutes, she’d had enough.

“We need to go.” She typed. Her only thoughts were of Brian. Kite realized that Millie wasn’t going to be quiet and attempted to communicate for her. She leaned close to Wallace who seemed determined to ignore them.

“What are we waiting for?” He words curled like smoke in the air. “Where are the secret entrances?” Wallace’s jaw clenched. Millie saw it and knew he was hiding something. He kept his eyes on the guard post and made no response. Fear and anger began to swirl in Millie’s mind.

“How do we get inside?” She typed, the robotic voice striking into the air again. Wallace ignored her. Millie stood up and straightened her spine. “I asked you a question.” She typed, the speakers now unhindered sounded like an announcer at a football game.

“Get down!” Wallace hissed, grabbing her arm and yanking her back down to earth. Millie glowered at him and he knew he had to tell her the truth. “I made it up.” He said quickly. “There are no emergency ventilation shafts. I had to say something to get us out of there.”

“Then why are you still trying to get inside?” Kite asked.

“That’s classified.” Wallace said flatly.

“Fuck this.” Millie said and stood up again. “I’m going back.” Wallace tried to grab her wrist again, but this time she jerked away.

“Why would you do that?” Wallace was getting less careful with the volume of his voice, too.

“If we can’t get in there, he’s going to kill Brian.” Wallace shook his head.

“Killing Brian would be pointless.” Wallace informed her. “He’s just trying to scare you into doing what he wants.”

“And you’re just lying to get what you want.” Millie started back through the darkness towards the road they had followed to get here. Kite followed soon after.

“Get down!” Wallace hissed, but they ignored him. He watched them go but could do nothing to stop them. Down at the guard camp, they were starting to stir. People were moving quickly. Wallace doubted that it had anything to do with them, but he couldn’t be sure.

Grey could hear what sounded like an argument floating over the grass towards him, but he couldn’t make out the words. He thought he could just make out two forms heading back through the field towards the road, but for the life of him, he couldn’t figure out what they might be doing. From their size, he guess it was Kite and Millie. He had no idea where Wallace might be.

From his vantage point in the trees, Grey could see the backside of the small hill that they had been lying on. A single vehicle from the guard post was trolling slowly along the road with its lights off. The glow of the dashboard lights was the only thing he could see and it looked like a ghost floating along the road. Millie and Kite were walking right towards it. Quickly, he weighed his options. There was no way he could get their attention to tell them to stop. Everyone in a five-mile radius would hear him. His only hope was to intercept them before they got around the side of the mound of earth where the truck would easily spot them.

He made his way out of the trees and went as fast as he dared through the grass and uneven ground. Wallace still had not moved, and Grey had no idea what was going on. Kite and Millie were now so close to the truck that they could throw a rock and bounce it off the hood. He quickened his step, falling in the process. When he got back up, he could see that there was no way he’d reach them in time. The truck would spot them in a few seconds. Fear froze him in place.

If he kept going, they would see him, too. But without them, he had no mission. Kite was going to be caught. He didn’t know what that meant, but he hoped these “Mormons” were nicer than the general’s men. When he heard a shout blast from the truck, it shattered his reveries.

“YOU!” A voice rang out as lights swept instantly on Kite and Millie. “STOP RIGHT THERE!” Kite froze, but Millie ran, dashing across the road and into the empty field on the other side. In only a matter of seconds, they had caught both her and Kite. Grey could see three or four soldier gather near the truck. One of them was looking at the ground and seemed to be following tracks.

He watched as they crossed the open terrain to the spot where Wallace lay hidden. They had found him, too. Grey began to wonder that they would replace him next, but when they had loaded the trio into the back of the truck, they drove off towards the small town that lay nearby, leaving the mountain behind them. Grey stood in the dark, lost.