Beginnings

[The Stig]

Bobby and his men had covered a fair amount of ground and were just entering the woods that led to Dink's cabin. The men were walking side by side and spread out by 50 yards or so between them. This gave them a decent spread to cover more ground but allowed them to reinforce each other should they encounter Miller's group.

Bobby was no fool. That idiot Ketch underestimated Miller and his men but Bobby didn't. He recognized men who knew how to handle themselves when he ran into them. As such all of the men had automatic and sound suppressed rifles and plenty of ammo. While he would make a token effort to return the men to Smythe he wouldn't hesitate to use force if given the slightest provocation.

"Jones" he said quietly into his radio mic, "you're lagging behind, keep up with the line".

The plan was to make contact with Miller's group. Should they summarily surrender, which was unlikely, they'd be hauled back to town, Smythe and certain transport to areas holding troublemakers. Should Miller or his men engage them, Bobby's intention was to hold them down long enough for the couple of pickup loads of other men Smythe had sent to show up. It had taken a while to get them rounded up and there was no direct way to get off the road to the woods where the men were originally spotted let alone further to the point where Bobby was currently. They'd be along in no more than an hour. With the additional men it would be all over but the shouting for Miller and whomever was with him.

Again Bobby whispered into his radio mic, "Keep an eye out as we start to work our way up this hill. Lots of little places to hide. We'll give it another 30 minutes of searching. When the other men show up we'll spread out, call the chopper back in with the infrared and go after them full bore. Until then, stay sharp."

****

At that exact same time, about 600 yards away Miller and his friends were leaving the shed. After catching a second wind, resupplying and grabbing a quick nap all the men felt refreshed. Really they only had to hump over to the outskirts of Lumberton before they could set up camp and relax for a bit.

As they discussed before they left the cabin, they were going to backtrack a bit to ensure they weren't being tailed. They hadn't run into any indications they were being followed but they also had been mostly on the move since they left Klepper's house last night. And the incident with the helicopter unnerved them too. It was time they started pay attention to such details.

They headed back down the gentle hill mostly single file and spread out by 15 yards. They took their time to minimize the noise they made.

Dink, the usual joker in the group whispered out loudly, "shouldn't we leave a trail of popcorn so we can find our way back?"

****
Lowry was pissed. One of his Humvees had crapped out. He squeezed two of those men in with his can pressed on. He still had 6 men but more is always better than less in these sorts of situations. It wasn't the first time in his long military carer where things didn't go the way they were planned.

They had forced their Humvee through the woods to the point were they suspected the chopper first made contact with Miller. After dismounting and clearing the area they had pressed on. Within a few minutes they would be near the wide open fields indicated on the map.

He was trying to balance speed with surprise. He knew the contractors had a big jump on him so he wanted to cover ground as quickly as possible. At the same time if he came crashing through the woods Miller was likely to just scatter or hide out until they passed.

He needed to make contact with Miller and convince him they were on the same team. His plan for that was crude but, hopefully, effective. His men were just going to yell out "we're here to help you". They'd use the PA on the Humvee if it was available. Sometimes in the heat of the moment simpler was better.

"Come on Ramirez" he admonished the driver, "keep us moving".

[The Stig]

It was the man on Bobby's right that first saw Miller. He had immediately dropped and clicked his throat mic three times as a signal he'd made contact. He had the good fortune to be behind a fallen tree when he dropped to one knee. That would provide him some form of cover.

They had gotten lucky, Miller hadn't spotted him right off. As soon they heard the radio clicks, Bobby and his other man began moving to their right. It would take less than a minute for Bobby to cover the distance. Bobby went into a crouched stance as he moved as quickly and quietly as he could. Fortunatley for Miller, that was hard to do on a forest floor covered with sticks and other debris.

Miller hadn't seen Bobby's man at first but his sixth sense told him something wasn't right. He had dropped like a sack of potatoes and crawled a yard or so to a large stump that afforded some cover. In turn Webb and Dink did the same.

Miller's senses were going into overdrive as he strained to hear or see something that would indicate where the threat came from. He only cautiously peeked around the stump by a few degrees so he couldn't see Bobby's man even if he hand been standing up. As the seconds ticked by, and the sweat began to pour Miller forced himself to breath steady.

It didn't take long to hear Bobby moving through the woods. Another second or two passed before Miller could make out a shape moving behind the trees. Dink had crawled to within 10 yards of Miller and to his right to provide some sort of covering fire if it became needed. Webb was trying to do the same on the left but stayed back a bit to try to use the height to some advantage.

"Listen Miller!" called out Bobby as he continued to move towards them. "Surrender right now and we'll take you back to town safe and sound. But you have about five seconds to do it". Bobby counted to three in his mind and then dove in a small ditch that afforded him cover.

The seconds clicked by in what seemed to be an hour. Miller was surprised at how many birds and other animals he could suddenly hear frolicking in the woods, unaware about what was about to happen. He had no intentions of surrendering although he would like to avoid a fight that could get one of his friends hurt.

Before Miller could tighten his hand on the grip of his AR-15 and slip the safety to "fire" the first shots from Bobbie's rifle impacted about 10 yards to his right. Dirt and twigs kicked up as the rounds thumped into the dirt. The contractors did not use subsonic ammunition in the suppressed rifles so Miller could clearly hear the crack of the bullet as it broke the sound barrier. This gave him no indication where the fire was coming from but he already had a general idea.

A hail of bullets from Bobby and the man on his right impacted all around the general area where Miller was hunkered behind the stump. Dirt flew through the air, some of it landing on Miller. He was able to get a little bit of angle and fire off a 5 round burst towards where he heard the voice call out to him.

Dink joined in the fray as did Webb. Webb had the best vantage point, being higher and 15 yards behind and to the left of Miller. He had a good angle on the man firing beneath the fallen tree almost directly in-front of and 50 yards beyond Miller. Unless the man exposed himself Webb didn't have a clear shot but at least he could send rounds that way to keep his head down.

The man who had been to Bobby's left, Jones, when this started finally joined the fray. He had worked his way several yards further up the hill than Bobby but hadn't gotten close enough before he decided to drop and craw the rest of the way. As such he was finally able to put some cover fire in Dink's general area. Bits of wood and bark flew off the trees as rounds impacted the tree trunks.

Miller continued to send short bursts of fire in the direction off to the right of his stump. His mind was racing but very clear. They had to do something or else they'd be pinned down until these guys ran them out of ammo or got in a lucky shot.

"Miller! I doesn't have to end like this" yelled the voice that had called out earlier. "Stop firing, and surrender now".

This only served to get Bobby another burst of shots crashing in around him. He cursed as dirt kicked up into his face.

It was Dink who saved the day. There was a crisp "pop" just before the metallic canister flew through the air, bounced off a tree, and landed about a third of the way to Bobby's men. Another one followed shortly after more to the left of the original one. Within seconds a thick cloud of white smoke poured from the canisters. Webb, seeing what was happening, stopped firing long enough to toss one as far as he could in front of Miller. Again the blanket of smoke began to pour out.

Miller didn't need an invitation, as soon as the smoke grew what he hoped was thick enough to conceal him he scrambled back up the hill. The contractors, quickly realizing what was happening began to fire repeatedly into the smoke cloud while Dink and Webb poured down covering fire.

As the rounds fell in between himself and Bobby, the man to Bobby's left decided to charge into the smoke. It was a strange decision, but sometimes in the heat of the moment people do strange things. It was Dink, who had already retreated 10 yards further up the hill who saw him first. The man had just started to emerge though the smoke. Dink quickly brought his AR-15 to bear and coolly placed a 5 round burst of M855 rounds into the man's chest. The man yelled out as he crashed to the ground and rolled into a heap.

Miller had retreated far enough that he lobbed a couple more smoke grenades into the area. As the thick haze intensified all three of the men were able to continue pulling back until they had broken contact. At this point they made tracks, packs and all, as fast as they could back past the cabin. They put as much distance as they could between them and the other men. As the crack of rifle fire receded into the distance they turned sharply south and followed a small ridge-line that afforded them some cover. Within 10 minutes they were gone.

Back at the scene of the firefight, Bobby's man writhed on the ground from the 3 rounds that had impacted his chest. As soon as he heard Jones yell out he knew what had happened. He instructed the man on his right, the one behind the fallen tree that had first seen Miller, to hold fast. There was no sense charging after them after already sustaining a casualty.

As it became clear their adversaries had eluded them they approached Jones. The other man tried to offer him assistance but it was clear the man was severally injured. Bobby didn't hesitate to inspect the man and instead called base.

"Base, Viper-1, over". He thought briefly about how silly these code names were.

"Go ahead Viper-1". Came the digitized voice.

"Base, made contact with the subject. Need the chopper to return to our area with the infrared unit. Men have broken contact and are heading westerly." Bobby gave them the grid coordinates of his position and awaited confirmation that the chopper would come in to help the search.

"Negative Viper-1. Bird is down with mechanical issues. It returned to the airport One Five ago. Suggest holding out until ground support arrives. Estimated two zero minutes out from your position. Over".

"Goddammit!" yelled Bobby as he kicked a tree. The scream startled the man attending to Jones. As much as he wanted to give chase, he knew what a bad idea it was and by the time the support group arrived it would be to late.

"Bobby, Jones is hurt bad. We have to do something." the man implored his boss. His hands were covered in Jone's blood from his efforts to apply compression bandages to the wound.

Bobby walked over, and without hesitation placed a round directly in Jones's head. The man assisting him recoiled but was still covered in blood and brains.

"There" said Bobby. "I just did something. Fucker cost me catching Miller anyway." With that he turned and starting walking back down the hill through the fading cloud of smoke.

His man sat in stunned silence for a minute before placing a small towel over what was left of Jones's head and beginning the same trek himself.

[The Stig]

Sargent Lowry's men made it to the scene of the firefight 20 minutes after it happened. Bobby and his man spotted Lowry's troops working their way across an open field and evaded them by going southward and then cutting back east. They walked for over and hour and eventually linked up with the men Smythe had sent to reinforce him. Bobby had radioed back waiving off the force after the failed attempt to capture Miller and made arrangements for the meet up.

As Lowry's troops surveyed the scene it, there was no hiding the fact a gun battle had taken place. Spent casings, holes in trees, bark blown off stumps, and the occasional mangled slug. As they sifted through the haze of the dissipating smoke clouds they eventually found Jone's body. It was clear he was a contractor and it was equally clear that some of his wounds were from a foe shooting from some distance, while the shattered shell and stem of his head was a wound inflicted from very close range. From what the Captain had indicated, this Miller character wasn't the sort to execute someone. Maybe they had been wrong about this guy.

"Sarge!" called out one of his troops. "Found several smoke grenade canisters. They seem closer to the line of brass at the bottom of the hill. I'm guessing Miller was coming down the hill, the contractors going up and they collided".

Lowry surveyed the scene. If that assumption was true, it wouldn't make sense for Miller's men to pop smoke, then come down the hill to finish off a wounded contractor, then head back off to evade the rest of the group. They would have thrown the smoke to provide cover to scoot. Something didn't add up.

"Do a perimeter search up to 50 yards out from any sign of activity" he instructed the men.

****

Miller, Dink and Webb didn't stop moving for almost two hours. They had run full steam to break contact and keep moving as fast as they could go for the first twenty to thirty minutes. Slowly they trailed off to a fast pace but there was no stopping or looking back. The sky had begun to fade into darkness as the sun fell behind the ridge-line and they stumbled upon an abandoned mine.

They only stopped because exhaustion took over. They had been moving nearly non-stop since the night before and had nearly been wiped out in a firefight. All three men had been through tough situations before so they knew how to deal with the adrenaline dump and subsequent crash. But the events of the two days were catching up with them.

All three men moved as far back as they could into the tunnel, about 20 yards. There was a slight bend in the tunnel which afforded them some concealment. They were so tired that flashlights were only used to ensure they weren't crashing out on a fireant hill or snake nest. After that was confirmed they sat in the dark stale air of the tunnel.

"Holy shit boys" mumbled Dink. "What the hell was that?"

Webb mumbled something unintelligible at the same time Miller responded. "Beats me. I expected they'd try to apprehend us, maybe fire a shot or two. But a full on firefight? Damn." Miller didn't get taken off guard often, but he had to be honest that the encounter with Bobby took him by surprise.

"I guess we shoulda figured that bird that buzzed us had FLIR or something" Dink chuckled. "It's the only way they coulda tracked us".

"Yea, we gotta step it up. These contractors are sharp and have a hardon for us". Replied Miller. "Let's get some shuteye. Being underground will deal with any more helicopter antics. You want me to take first watch?"

A few seconds passed. "Dink?" he asked aloud.

Dink and Webb were both out like a light. Miller settled back and fully intended to take the first watch. He had just gotten done pontificating about being more alert but within two minutes he was fast asleep.

[The Stig]

"Cap, it was weird". Sargent Lowry offered as he debriefed Captain DeMetrie. "Miller, or one of his men, may have wounded the contractor but I think one of their own finished him off."

Lowry had given his Captain a blow by blow description of the events of the day including the broken down Humvee, the trek through the woods and coming across the scene of the firefight.

"You think Miller or any of his men were injured?" inquired the Captain.

"No sir. Did a full search out to fifty yards from any sign of a trail and never saw a drop of blood"

"Ok, get some shut eye. Gonna be a long day tomorrow. Plan on reinforcing your group and resuming the search tomorrow. We're going to get ahead of those contractors instead of trying to trail them" declared the Captain. "I sorted out a mess with Bravo 4 and 5 this afternoon, but we're going to put our heads together and work something out tomorrow. I may even have Jenkins take a small squad from Lumberton and work his way back towards you. We'll see. I'm open to ideas".

"In the morning, that is" he added.

As Lowry walked away DeMetrie looked at the maps he had already committed to memory. He wasn't sure why it suddenly became so important to find this Miller but now it was critical they found them before the contractors did.

****

Smythe and Bobby were not as understanding.

"I want that sonofabitch dead" declared Bobby.

"All in due time, Bobby. I want the same thing" Smythe replied.

"I don't suppose the choppers fixed?" inquired Bobby.

Smythe just gave him a dirty look. One that told Bobby that not only was the bird down, it was down for a while.

Smythe poured over maps that were almost identical to the ones Captain DeMetrie was pouring over a couple blocks away. "No sense going out in the dark without the bird. We'll waste a lot of time and energy and maybe never find them."

Bobby interjected, "and if we do they'll likely pick us off, NVG or no".

"Agreed. It's clear they are trying to move to Lumberton for some reason. Either they have other friends in the area or they have transport arranged to meet them there" deduced Smythe. Take the men you had today and start at Lumberton in the morning. Work your way back towards the site of your little tiff today. Meet me here at 0400 and we'll work out a search pattern. I doubt they are going straight line and they may well be headed south or north of town itself. Either way, we'll work something out in the morning."

"Copy that boss". said Bobby as he collected his gear.

"Bobby. Full gear tomorrow. No mucking about. You find these guys and you finish them" ordered Smythe.

[The Stig]

In the North things had spiraled out of control. The couple of Generals who were throwing their hat in the ring with Crutchfield had been able to cobble together enough contractors, National Guard Troops and regular Army folks to form a few fighting forces. Their goal was to win a battle of some significance over the regular Army so that others would join them. While committing treason, these Generals actually felt in their core they were defending the integrity of the constitution and protecting the country they loved. But the cold reality was this patina of patriotism disguised their true intent: getting a share of the power pie.

They had been led astray by Crutchfield's manipulations. With the help of the media, he had been successful in painting the disaster in Youngstown as the effort of President Alan to crush a group of innocents who were trying to express their voice. Somehow, he twisted the event to be more like Tienanmen and less like The Gulf of Tonkin. It was a masterful stroke.

His cronies had whipped the North Easterners into a frenzy and played on their latent resentment that the rest of the country had rejected Crutchfield. Always an arrogant lot, many in the North East felt the rest of the country just didn't grasp the nuances of running a country nor were "lowly citizens" able to have a say in how things were ran. Of course, they left out the part about how they were more than "lowly citizens" and who have a say in the direction of the country. All of this fueled the situation.

Crutchfield stayed above the fray and continued to position himself as a peacemaker, all the while pulling the strings behind the scene. But with the advent of the battle it was time to go all in. He had to announce his intentions and make public the fact he was the defacto leader of the Liberal forces.

The first battle between the US Military and Crutchfields forces was in a small town in the middle of Pennsylvania, which has suddenly become a "border state" between the Liberals in the North East and the rest of the country. President Alan still felt he held grasp over the remainder of the country without realizing that Senator Donovan's efforts in the South effectively reduced The Presidents realms to the Midwest for now. As it stood, Pennsylvania stood to see a disproportionate share of carnage in the coming battles.

The battle was fought with all the grace and organization as a drunken prize fighter, roller-skating over marbles with a blindfold on. Both sides had rushed forces to the area piecemeal. Many of the combat ready divisions of the military were on deployment in the Middle East fighting the wars Crutchfield helped start but was too cowardly to finish. Crutchfields forces were a hodgepodge of fighting groups. As such men who had spent their carers in supply were suddenly trust into combat. The small smattering of actual infantry and armor units were woefully undermanned. Truck drivers became infantry men while cooks manned mortars. In short, it was a mess.

There was a wild melee of Abram's tanks and Bradley fighting vehicles, some Stryker all wheeled units, the occasional M113 tracked APC and horde of Humvees. Some fielded M2 .50 machine guns, some had TOW anti-tank missiles, some did nothing other than haul troops to the scene of the battle. Neither side could muster many aircraft so the few F16's and Huey Cobra's that were fielded turned out to be ineffective.

Mostly it was a running gun battle where the on-scene commanders did what they could to avoid being over run and take advantage of whatever opportunity was offered to them. Tanks firing SABOT anti-tank rounds across the wide valley that was the battlefield punctuated the small arms, mortars and SAW light machine guns.

When all was said and done, hundreds laid dead or dying. Thousands more were injured and the burnt out hulks of armored vehicles littered the countryside. There was no clear winner in a military sense but Crutchfield came out the political winner. He took the airwaves, announced a clear victory over US forces and was able to prompt an enlistment that bolstered his ranks. Also, it served to buy him time to organize his forces to be more effective.

He realized that his biggest enemy right now was time. If President Alan could react swiftly with a combined and organized military response he would overwhelm Crutchfields meager and scattered forces. But with every hour and day that crept by he could bolster his groups and maneuver himself into a position of strength.

Now that he had gone all in, Crutchfield was more confident than ever of his abilities. The country would soon experience his wrath for not grasping his brilliance.

[The Stig]

As day broke Maggie Bond was cheerful. She didn't have much to be cheerful about but today she'd be able to get off into the woods and do some artwork. It was an escape that helped her forget about her current situation.

She tripped over the beer bottles Wallace had left strewn about the floor. He was, as usual, passed out in his room laying gracefully on top of his bedsheets still wearing last nights clothes. She spent an hour or so cleaning up his mess and straightening up their home. She then began preparations for that night's meal. They lived on a shoestring budget so meals were simple and light and required her to cook from scratch. She prepared a couple of ingredients ahead of time and got the rest of the items she needed organized so she'd be ready to cook later that day.

By late morning she was headed down the path, away from her depressing home and off into the woods she loved. With her art supplies tucked under her arm she briskly walked deeper and deeper into the woods. She was on the way to a small clearing where she and her Mother would go. It was her favorite place to commune with nature and was the perfect spot for her to make her first sketches of that subject.

A short time later she broke into the clearing. In a deep woods that blocked out the sun, the clearing was surprisingly sunny. She felt close to her mother, a woman she didn't have much time to know, but clung to for hope.

"Hello momma" she said aloud as the sun warmed her face. She took up a spot on a felled tree and began sketching. Within minutes she was lost in her artwork.

****

Miller awoke with a start. He had just closed his eyes for a second and now it was obviously much later and sunlight filtered its way back into the tunnel. He quickly awoke his friends and they began hurriedly preparing to move out again. Webb passed around high energy bars for them to eat while they humped.

"Well, I feel refreshed and ready to face the world" Dink said sarcastically.

Within two minutes of waking up they had cautiously left the tunnel and ensured they weren't being followed. They had gotten lucky a second night in a row as Smythe had given up the chase and had to resume it again. And this time he wouldn't have the advantage of a helicopter.

Miller said softly to his men, "let's turn East and make our way towards Lumberton. Once we get near the area we'll cut back north to get to where we want to be. No sense returning to course because that's the likely place they'll start looking. It doesn't take a genius to figure out where we're headed". They had gotten way off course after cutting south to escape the gunfight of the previous day.

They were still very good on time. Webb's brother wasn't scheduled to return for another full day and wouldn't be until the middle of the night then anyway. They had a lot of time to kill. Miller even considered drifting further south as they walked and only make the dash to the landing zone at the last minute. Still, he felt they needed some time to ensure the strip of state highway hadn't been torn up or trees along the edges were too close to prevent a landing.

"Webb, how good of a pilot is your brother?" he asked of his quiet friend.

Webb thought for a minute. "He was landing in dirt fields before he got his solo pilot ticket punched. He'll be fine. I do wonder if he'll head straight back or take a rest break once he lands. They should have landed at the ranch last night. If he refuels and comes back without resting he'll be flying non-stop for 6 days by the time he gets here night after tonight. He's good, but everybody is human."

"Hell" Dink snorted "I can barely function without my afternoon nap".

"Oh, so that was what you were doing all those times you were allegedly running radar out on the highway" shot back Webb. "Napping".

Dink smiled and gave him the middle finger.

"Webb you've gone way out of your way here. Once we get to Wyoming we don't want to be a burden" stated Miller.

The other guys couldn't see it because they were all walking but Webb looked hurt by the comment. The fact was his parents ran a family business and were filthy rich. Webb liked Miller and Dink because they didn't give a hoot about his money and treated him with respect. He and his brother had built this compound in secret so they could surprise and care for their friends in a time like this. At worse, it would be a nice vacation getaway spot. Because they didn't care about his money he was happy to spend some of it for the benefit of all of them.

"Trust me" he said with a smile "you guys are going to like what you see".

The men walked on, spread ten yards apart and staggered from each other. They remained alert with their weapons at the ready, rounds chambered and safeties off. All three men had donned their ACH helmets that had bought surplus. Miller and Dink wore their BCM03 harnesses and warbelts as they preferred to travel light. Webb wore something similar but over-top his SAPPI ceramic armor plates.

They were going to do everything they could to avoid another situation like yesterday

[The Stig]

Miller, Dink and Roberts pressed on into the mid afternoon on the quest to make it to Lumberton. It was a pleasant day with moderate temperatures and only mild humidity. It wasn't like the dead of summer when 90 degree temperatures and 90 percent humidity conspired to make life miserable.

They made good time and rarely stopped more than for a few minutes. All three kept their heads on a swivel as they rapidly but quietly made their way through the woods. Miller knew that the contractors had made a big mistake by not continuing the search last night. They may have been able to catch Miller's group had they kept up the chase.

This was an environment that was not foreign to these men. All three had spent their lives, in their own ways, learning to be a part of the deep woods. As such they knew where and how to step to avoid making undue noise. They knew what patterns of shapes and colors to look for to make out the confusing detail of a forest. All in all, they were in their element.

Miller was equally glad that they didn't hear a chopper today. The contractors would be able to bore in on them pretty quickly by using various electronic scanning devices. If the contractors chose or were forced to use a old fashioned foot search Miller stood a good chance of pulling this caper off.

It seemed like as they crossed each hurdle it became obvious the next one would be higher and this was no different. They had to kill the rest of today and tomorrow without being found. Webb's brother had to make it back without crashing or being shot down. They had to meet the plane at a fixed time and location they still hadn't scouted to ensure it could even be used. Then they had to contact Webb's brother, guide him in, have him land, hop on the plane and get out of there without crashing or being noticed.

And they still had two more days to kill.

He just kept putting one foot in front of the other and trusted that it would all work out. It had to. There was no way Ava was growing up without a father.

****

Maggie had completed several sketches of the trees which she evaluated and was mostly happy with. She sat back and soaked in the warm rays of the sun. Some days she wondered what it would be like if Momma hadn't have died. Her mom did a great job of keeping Wallace in line. In fact, it was the classic story of good woman calming down wild man when they met.

They had met by chance, at an event in the town square and the attraction was immediate. Within two years Wallace had cut his hair, held down a job and saved up a enough money to purchase a modest but attractive engagement ring. Within three they were expecting Maggie. It was the first time in his life he had tired to "play the game by the rules" and everything was going well.

The first six years were the happiest time in his life. He loved Maggie's momma with all his heart and doted on Maggie every chance he got. Then the last big lumber mill in town had financial troubles and experienced waves of layoffs. Wallace survived most of them but the second to last one resulted in him walking into the house with a pink slip in his hand.

Even then he was able to stay focused and on track. But a couple years later when Momma died from cancer it was more than he could stand. He felt as if the rug had been pulled out from underneath him and he reverted back to his old ways. Soon drink and foul moods replaced the happy and warm man that had started to emerge all those years ago.

Over the years Maggie somehow became the focus of her fathers rage. Mostly it was verbal but occasionally it was physical too. She tried to hide the marks with makeup and excuses but sometimes it was harder to hide than others. One time a lady from the YMCA on the coast came to the trailer to offer Maggie some art lessons and discuss a scholarship to an art camp. They had met through a church friend. Wallace was so enraged that he shoved Maggie into the wall and screamed like a raving lunatic until the woman left.

Maggie yearned to be out of their house and away from her father. She had been secretly saving up money from her arts and crafts to fund a bus ticket. She didn't have quiet enough so it'd likely be another year before she was able to make her escape. In the meantime she did what she could to avoid angering Wallace.

Maggie walked deeper into the woods, making her way down to a small stream where she liked to go. The family used to go there on hikes during the happier times. There was a bend in the stream that was surrounded by small hills on either side. They were forty to fifty feet high. The sides of the hills were steep enough that you could walk up them but it required holding on to trees and a lot of effort. But they were not impassable. After the bend was a small straight section of the stream where you could walk the exposed rocks and was even a small beech.

She sat on a big rock and again drifted off into her art work. The thoughts of a family picnic long ago tried to invade her mind but they faded as soon as her pencil danced across her sketch pad.

[The Stig]

Miller, Dink and Webb decided it was time to take a breather, eat and get recharged. There was no sense in running themselves into the ground. Especially when there was a good chance they'd need the energy to evade or fight later on.

They found themselves at the top of a wooded hill overlooking a stream. They took up a small station just below the summit on the side facing the stream. Packs were carefully arranged so they could be picked up in a hurry if need-be. Rifles remained within arms reach. Webb unloosened his boot laces a bit, but didn't take them off. Within a few minutes power bars and small packets of chicken were being consumed. Had they not been running for their lives or all the craziness up North happening it would be an enjoyable hike in the woods.

****

Maggie continued to sketch for going on an hour. She had intended to finish up this sketch and then start making her way back. She'd need to start working on dinner soon or Wallace would be mad. If he was awake yet, that was.

She was using a charcoal pencil to shade in some areas when Wallace's booming voice rang out.

"GIRL" he screamed. It startled her to the point she knocked her pencil case into the creek.

He closed the distance to her quickly. Grabbing her by the arm he yelled "I knew I'd find you here wasting time. The damn cat got into the food you left out and ate my dinner". The spittle flew from his lips as he nearly spat the words out.

"Daddy" Maggie said meekly "I'm sorry. Don't worry, I'll have your dinner ready. I was just...."

He cut her off. "You are coming home now! You are wasting too much time on that crap" referring to her art. Out of spite he grabbed the sketch book out of the terrified girls hands and threw it into the creek. "Now comeon!" he barked out.

"DADDY!" she yelled out heartbroken that her sketchbook was likely ruined. She tired to twist to catch the book in mid-air as it flew by her. At that exact same time Wallace was trying to grab her arm to drag her home. The end result was that he lost his balance on a wet rock, slipped and fell backward into about the only pool of water in 20 feet.

Maggie stood transfixed. She didn't dare utter a peep or move a muscle as she stared at him wide eyed.

Wallace sprung to his feet arms flailing and sputtering as he tried to spit out words.

The first slap landed hard on Maggie's face. It immediately turned red and started to swell. Maggie recoiled as she screamed out "Daddy!". The terror was clear.

As she started backing up he continued to scream obscenities and gibberish at her. His second slap landed nearly on top of the other one resulting in another scream as she turned away to protect herself.

"Girl, I'll teach you not laugh at me again" he uttered as he raised his hand a third time.

"Daddy no!" she yelled out as she turned and pulled her arms inwards in a reflexive action to protect herself.

BANG!

The shot rang out in a defining roar as the sound bounced off the sides of the steep hills.

Dink stood rock still, in a perfect isosceles shooting stance, Glock bearing down on the middle of Wallace's chest. Wallace, wasn't a total idiot and immediately froze.

"Mister" he said calmly "the next round isn't going into the dirt. So there ain't going to be a third slap is there?"

Wallace's face, already red with anger, turned nearly purple. While he was filled with rage he knew there wasn't much he was going to be able to do. He started to turn slightly towards Dink and say something.

"Tut tut. That's a very bad idea" Dink warned him while continuing to focused on his front sight and Wallace's chest.

Wallace really didn't know what to think when two more men came sliding down the hill with rifles. One of them walked between him and Maggie and pulled her out of Wallace's reach.

His eyes narrow like a snakes, face flush with anger, Wallace managed to spit out "you...you're sticking your nose where it don't belong boy".

Dink's eyes narrowed as he calmly stared back at Wallace. "Mister, you've got three seconds to turn and get out of here before I shoot you dead".

Wallace was many things. A drunk. An abuser. A failure. He wasn't a complete idiot. He knew when he'd been had.

"Girl, don't even bother coming home" he tossed out as a parting shot as he slowly backed away to the other side of the stream and then eventually turned to scramble out of sight.

****

Miller and the boys had been camped above the creek site for a few minutes before they even noticed the small girl fifty feet below them. She was sitting on a rock and appeared to be drawing something.

By communication of the eyes they decided to lay low until she moved on.

When Wallace made his appearance Dink couldn't help but react. He had jumped up and made his way down the hill so fast Miller or Webb didn't have time to grab him. They just dove in the deep end of the pool along side their friend.

[The Stig]

Dink picked up Maggie and hugged her as she cried. He went from ice cold to warm and loving in seconds. In a weird way Maggie felt safer in the arms of a stranger than she had in ten years.

Miller didn't know what to think. He backed Dink's play and wanted to kill the guy too when he hit the girl but now they were compromised. And what was this girl going to do? Webb just silently took up a guard position 10 yards up the side of the hill in the event Wallace returned.

Dink could read Miller's mind. "Listen, that was my call. If you two want to move forward as we planned I'll take the girl somewhere safe and then make my own way out of there".

Miller replied "It's not that Dink, I just don't know if we're going to be able to do what we need to do while keeping her safe".

Dink lowered himself to one knee. "Sweetheart, I know this is weird. But you need to be safe. Do you have anywhere we can take you?"

She sniffled, brown hair matted with tears and water from Wallace's hand. "No sir" she said as she trembled.

"Anywhere at all. An aunt's? Someone from church?" Dink pressed on.

She told him about her mother and the situation she was in. It was clear she had nowhere to go.

Miller quickly sized up the situation. "Listen, no matter where we take you we need to get moving and do it right now. He's either going to come back armed or go get help. Either way we don't want to be here and you certainly don't either. Webb, stay on guard in case he decides to come back for more. Come up the hill when I give you the signal. I'll go up and get the gear. Dink, calm her down and start helping her up the hill. We'll figure this one out as we go".

As Miller began scrambling back up the hill Dink continued to comfort the frightened and hurting girl.

"Listen, you don't know us at all. But I'm a Sheriff's deputy and those are good men" he said pointing at his friends and showing her his badge. "You don't want to go home to him right now. Why don't you come with us for a short while until we can figure this out. We can get you to a safer place and then sort out the details. I know this is strange but you are going to have to trust us".

She just looked up at him, sobbing, and nodded.

He had no idea that she trusted him more now than she had any man she had ever met.

Webb thought to himself, "well, this can't possibly go wrong".

[The Stig]

Sargent Jenkins sat in his Humvee in the middle of the main street of Lumberton. In his military career this was the weirdest situation he'd found himself in yet. He'd done two tours of the Middle East and enforcing marshal law on drunken rednecks while racing evil military contractors to find a wrongly accused man took the cake.

At the end of the day he trusted Captain DeMetrie and he was a solider. He'd do what he was ordered to do. He and the Captain had been through a lot. The entire unit had. Deaths, moments of sheer terror, incredible acts of bravery and suicidal zealotry. The Captain had led them well. He was the sort of leader that didn't mind getting his hands dirty and didn't give his men tasks he wasn't willing to do himself. It wasn't uncommon to find the Captain helping out the in motor-pool or burning off latrine dumps if he had some spare time.

And then there was the time where the Captain led a small group of men up a crowded street in Najaf. Some of his men were pinned down in a small store with a wounded solider. There wasn't time to put together a proper relief force. So the Captain grabbed the men who were available and just started moving up the street. Like a scene out of a movie they moved from doorway to house corner, in the middle of a hail of gunfire, and got to the trapped men without taking a scratch.

From there the Captain had organized airstrikes while the additional men he brought helped reinforce the troops and fight off several waves of AK-47 toting insurgents. The wounded man survived, the rest of the troops survived and the Captain was awarded some hardware.

So when the Captain dispatched Jenkins to this godforsaken dump of a town he organized a squad and gladly headed over. He reinforced Baker-2 who had been sent in earlier. The area was so economically depressed that people felt no inhibitions about taunting the soldiers, fluting the curfew and throwing rocks.

They had just about gotten the small town area settled down when the call came down to dispatch a small group to work eastward in search of this Miller. Jenkins dutifully sent men out in the early morning but so far with no results.

Jenkins mind worked back to the advent of nightfall in several hours and wondered what sort of drunken idiocy they'd have to deal with tonight.

****

Miller and his group moved out and continued to push westward. He wanted to get a few more miles towards Lumberton at which point they'd hole up until nighttime. Then he and Webb would go scout out the landing site while Dink talked to the girl and figured out that little problem.

Dink had given Maggie one of his shirts and helped her along through the woods. Obviously she didn't have very good footwear with her so she stumbled along as best she could. But she was small and quiet so not really a burden. Webb had given her one of his seemingly never ending supply of powerbars and she nibbled on it as they walked.

Dink took total responsibility for Maggie and stayed within arms reach of her at all times. He really wasn't sure what he'd do if a firefight broke out but he figured he'd deal with it if the time came.

"Damn boy. You is up a creek now" he thought to himself. He knew he had done the right thing back at the creek but felt awful for putting his friends at risk and adding the burden of this girl. Maybe once they got to a place where they could sit they'd be able to hash out some sort of plan. He'd stay behind to ensure she got to a safe place and then make his way to Wyoming if he had to.