The young, pretty blonde military wife was in the passenger seat of the midsize suv; they always wanted a big car, better for road trips and someday- a family. They were off base in the middle of what Maya liked to call the Germany bad lands. By day these areas were lovely, but my night they were un-lit streets of pure darkness, where the only clue you were still on this earth were lights of an oncoming car.

At a 4 way stop; in between small towns; the mysterious car plowed straight in to them. this car was reinforced with something; no normal car could have completely smashed in the front of their car the way it did.

He had been driving; Air force SSgt Shawn Cree. He was an aspiring pararescue trainee, but those openings were hard to come by, so until then he trained his body in 4 different martial arts, weight training and marathon running. He hoped that his peak physical shape and combat skills might help him secure a sport in a future class. But that dream died that night.
The front of the car had the newlyweds pinned to their seats. Maya's arms and legs were broken, but god did not allow her the mercy of falling unconscious. She was sure she had broken ribs and she could not move her mouth without horrifying pain, but through it all she felt her husband holding her hand. She could feel him shivering and she could her him struggling to breathe. Maya didn't want to turn her head; she didn t want to have to watch him. He squeezed her hand harder, as if to show he was still alive and perhaps even trying to get free of the wreckage.
She turned her head; and that's when she saw it- the driver of the other car. A she did not get a good look at his face, but she what she saw was far more disturbing. The arm reached in with a pistol-like weapon, firing a single shot to the back of Shawn s head. Then the arm brought out a welding torch-like item and cut the body out of the car.

It would be 30 minutes before police arrived. Maya was not well enough to give a statement until 14 days later. By then it was too late; the police had no leads. It wasn't like they didn t believe her; clearly she was not the driver of the car and clearly there was a hole in the car where SOMEONE removed the body of the driver.

She had no family in Germany so when she was well enough she was sent back to Arkansas to live with her parents. That was over a year after the accident. Her father picked up from their airport; she was still in a wheelchair. Her bone were mostly healed but she still needed help with basic skills and would need at least a year of physcial thrapy. But that just meant she had lots of time.

Her father, Matt "tusk" Carter was a long haired big game hunter and conspiracy theorist. He lived off the grid with a wife that was far too tolerant of his 'hobbies'. They lived off the land, with acres of 'garden' land and an unregistered car (that her mom used to take her to physical therapy appointments.)
Even if she qualified for financial support as a military spouse, she figured her dad would probably burn the check. Shawn was missing, not dead- so the military was holding on to his life insurance policy for now.

"Not like you even need the money; you're doing just fine. You ll be back on your feet in no time." her father would say- every time she brought up her medical bills. She was on temporary disability but that would not last. She would eventually need to pay something towards her recovery care.
Then out of nowhere she got a check and a letter. Shawn was being declared dead. Not because enough time had passed, but because body parts were found. A trash collector found hands, feet and pieces of bone mixed in with garbage on the side of the highway.

But no head, no organs, Maya cried until she made herself sick. Her mother helped her in to bed and brought her some tea and cough medicine to put her to sleep.

"Something don't feel right." Tusk said to his wife.

"please don't..." she knew what her husband was planning.

"...they can't do this to our little girl." he said picking up his pack.
"where exactly are you going?" she asked him.

"North Dakota; I have a lead" he said. He went to a stack of papers he printed from the library. (since they had no electricity). There was a strange phenomenon taking place around the world; military members going missing and body parts being found days, weeks or even years later. Some called it terrorism, some said these deaths were not connected, but this was too much of a coincidence. But he was headed to North Dakota because that state had more body (pieces) dumps than any other, which was odd since it had no (reported) missing military personnel.

And in the backwoods of North Dakota, a regular hunter/survivalist would hopefully not draw too much attention.

He would be gone for over 18 months.

In that time Maya got better, got a job and moved out. Her mother slipped in to depression; as if she already knew the man she loved was never coming back.