It was edging towards nighttime, General Elaine Terrance explained to us the situation. The invading country had assimilated decently enough, except now the entire country was cramped with up to a dozen people living in one house. To gain the majority of land, the soldiers, the ones who instigated the invasion for their people, were kidnapping all those they could in hopes of using them for leverage. General Elaine and her special group were formed to invade the opposing territory and rescue those who had been unlucky enough to be taken hostage.
We had been rescued. This was what we had been dreaming of for weeks, none of us could remember exactly how long in total we had been there. We rode with General Terrance, the four of us cramped in the back while she drove and a soldier kept watch out the passenger window. Our getaway vehicle left behind, sending up a burning smoke-signal that made me slightly uncomfortable. It was advertising our whereabouts to anyone still back at camp.
We all had questions for the General, mainly if our parents were okay. She reassured us they were. We had been driving for a while and although I hadn't been this way in months, I remembered the area vaguely from when I would drive up with Dad for the annual sheep sheering competition. It was amazing how quickly the area had changed since the convergence of nations. Signs changed, new roads diverging from the main road, makeshift homes being erected.
'So, I'm guessing you've been wondering for the last three months why you were kidnapped' General Terrance spoke up.
We were shocked. Despite the fact we'd wanted to know why we were kidnapped, we were more surprised by the declaration of how long we'd been away. I knew time flew when your having fun, but we were far from having fun being cooped up in that tin shed. I was the first there, I had been gone for three months, the others joined me not long after, but I was there the longest, three months and I had felt like it was only a couple of weeks. Lucy began shedding tears while Jenny comforted her and Barry looked at me, I'm sure our faces mirrored each others shock.
'Yes please' I finally said.
The others didn't look like they were quite over the reality of how long it had been since they'd last seen their families but I needed to know why we were taken in the first place. After reading of Ellie's actions during the invasion, I knew first hand the invading forces were inclined to round everyone up and put them into camps, considering my family were living in one for the entirety of the invasion with only Ellie's renegade actions to give us any hope of freedom. We were of course eventually freed, then forced to share the country with the invading people, but things had been relatively peaceful.
'Okay, so while our 'guests' have assimilated nicely, things have not been going as smoothly as you would have guessed.' Terrance explained. 'There has been guerrilla groups from both sides crossing the border, causing all kinds of political mayhem. The government has conflicted feelings towards this whole mess. They've established a relations department for talks between the two countries but the government is ignoring any complaints about renegade actions because we know they've been doing the exact same thing. A couple of months ago, they're actions have halted and slowly people have been disappearing.'
While we didn't pretend to know anything about Australia's political protocol, we fully understood how the government felt about this situation. Ask any farmer, landowner and general citizen and chances are they'd tell you the same thing. While none of them are necessarily racist, regardless they could all share the same feelings. These 'guests' have forced their way into our country at gunpoint when we were vulnerable, running from their own problems, making us share our land and essentially halving the country in size. I wondered if we would even still be called Australia or if they invaders have already renamed their half of the land. I'm not going to pretend I'm happy for them to live here, I do wish they'd have at least entered the country in a less 'violent way', maybe a plane ticket or two.
'So, what's been going on exactly?' Jenny asked, still comforting a now calm but watery-eyed Lucy.
'It's not good, as you've been caught up in it they don't care who they take anymore. At first, they were kidnapping small political figures or relations of said political figures. They've gathered a number of influential people of the past few months and while we've only recently discovered all this and have been recovering people like you, there are still a number of people behind enemy lines. They've tried using them as leverage' General Terrance sounded really pissed at the word leverage, like it was worse than the countries current residential situation.
'What do you mean by leverage?' I asked her, almost worried what her answer was going to be.
'They've tried using the people they've taken as leverage to get more land. They're essentially trying to bribe us into giving them more space.'
I must admit, our reactions were less than friendly. I know that they're are a two of ways of thinking towards this situation, yeah, they needed someplace to go, they're not all bad, they needed to do something. The problem is the other way of thinking is basically the truth of the situation and everyone tends to lean toward it more. They forced their way in at gunpoint, kept us locked in camps, killed some of us even, they took half the country and want more. You can think, 'oh, you've got plenty of room, you have it easy, stop being greedy'. It's not like that at all, there isn't enough space, we don't have it easy, life can be tough, it's not all sunshine and lollipops.
After our general feelings of anger faded, we urged the General to continue on.
'They've tried bribing the families and have so far had success. The families don't want anything to happen to their loved ones and so they agree, give them half their land in return for their loved ones. It's been a quite successful plan, here take a look at this.' She nodded to the soldier in the passenger seat and he took a piece of paper from the glove box. He handed it to me and I studied the map. It was a map of Wirawee and the neighboring area. There was a line dividing two colored areas. We could tell from the landmarks that the green area on the left represented our country and the red zone on the right represented the invaders. There was a second line next to the dividing line, it was a small purple zone that inched into the green territory.
'The colored zones represent each side and that purple zone, that represents the territory that they've managed to take. We've tried clearing them out but that just creates a political nightmare. The only things we can do are prevent the bribes from happening or, a more radical idea, bomb the area to clear them out.'
'What! but they're innocent people, they took our country yeah but they're not evil' Barry protested.
'Calm down, I know exactly what you mean. We didn't mean bomb them but the area, scare them away, not blow them away' General Terrance corrected.
'Should you be telling us all this?' I asked. As much as I liked getting answers, I couldn't help but feel that the information was a little top secret, need to know.
'Don't worry, we're not spilling political secrets. Half the country should have worked most of the political stuff out for themselves and know that we have only a limited amount of options before we look like we're picking on them'.
'Are there any possible long term solutions to this...delicate situation?' Jenny asked.
'Of course, but none of them are politically correct in their course of action. We'd like to take more serious action than covert rescues but that is as much as we're allowed to do. We don't want another war'.
A war would probably the worst thing for the country right now, already torn between itself a war would help none, especially all the innocent people who would be caught in the cross fire, kept in camps like we were during the invasion. I was about to say this when the world outside was obscured by a wall of fire. The next few minutes passed by in frames. Wall of fire, loud bang, car rolling, car exploding, car rolling, glass shattering, people flying, more exploding and then finally, thud.
I opened my eyes and found myself looking down at the roof of the car. I was hanging upside down by the seat belt. The others were also hanging upside down. I felt something wet seep into my eye and rubbed it only to find blood covering my hand. I tried to get my bearings. The others were slowly moving to get free, the soldier in the front seat was groaning but already free. General Terrance was nowhere in sight, her door flung open.
I unbuckled my seat belt and crashed uncomfortably on the upturned roof. I could hear gunfire outside through the flames and knew we were in some serious trouble. I quickly helped the others down, luckily all conscious, and made our way outside the car, the soldier was already outside.
'Stay low' he ordered, crouching beside the upturned vehicle and motioning for us to get down.
I glanced around, uncomprehending the carnage that lay around us. Our little convoy of vehicles were either on their roofs or on fire. Smoking craters were scattered here and there and a small group of our soldiers where firing at an unknown enemy hidden in the trees lining the road. I could see the General nearby attending to a wounded soldier.
'Follow me, be careful' He started running low in a zigzag pattern outside the battle zone, past the bomb blasts and car fires, into a paddok.
I desperately wanted to go back and help the wounded but I couldn't, I knew we would just be in the way, this nameless soldier was leading us to safety so that the others could be left to do their job, fight the enemy.
The five of us made a mad dash to the treeline opposite our attackers and we lost ourselves in the dark woods. The gunfire rang out behind us and we knew that any minute the enemy soldier may chase us in here, then we'd be in trouble, so we kept running.
'Stay low and move fast! We need to get to the Cooper outpost!' The soldier shouted over his shoulder.
'Where's that' Lucy asked, frantically looking around as though expecting to see it emerge from nowhere.
'It's a base set up on the border to provide a meeting place for the two nations negotiators. It's approximately eighty kilometers away. We need to hurry!'
'Wouldn't the border be closer?' I asked, It had seemed like we were nearly there before the bombs hit.
'Yes, but they can always follow us over. We can't defend ourselves, I can't protect you. We need to get to Cooper. They wouldn't dare touch the place, it's safe ground. The deal of land between the two countries means they can't touch it without damaging all the progress they've made in negotiations.' The soldier explained.
We were blindly reaching for each other as we followed him. The sunlight, what little there was now was barely getting through the canopy above us and we'd been walking for a long time. I didn't know how close we were to this Cooper outpost but I knew that I wasn't the only one that felt uneasy and kept looking behind us as we made our way west.
I was sure I could still here the sound of gunfire ringing through woods and hoped it was just my imagination. Unfortunately, the helicopter was hard to mistake for imagination. The whup, whup, whup of the blades was getting closer and closer and through the woods, a powerful searchlight was scanning the area for what I could only guess was us. The wind created by the helicopter was allowing the searchlight through the treetop and it made it that much easier for us to be spotted.
'Stay low, hug a tree or find a bush' The soldier ordered.
We all immediately did what he said and found ourselves begging for the helicopter to pass over our hiding place. I was curled around the foot of a tree. Lucy was hugging one while Jenny and Barry managed to squeeze into a thorn bush. I did not want to be them. The soldier was climbing a tree, hiding on a thick branch covered in leaves. The whiring was right on top of us and the searchlight passed right over each and every one of us. Luckily, they kept right on going. After a minute or two, the helicopter faded into the distance. We all emerged from our hiding places unscathed, except for Jenny and Barry who were both covered in scratches.
'We need to get movin-' The rest of the sentence was drowned out as the soldier took a bullet to the stomach. It came out of nowhere, we didn't even hear them sneaking up on us. Three soldiers, dressed in black with assault rifles emerged from the creeping darkness of the night.
'Run!' The fallen soldier shouted before the three men could train their guns on us. We moved fast. Each of us spreading out through the woods. Gunfire riddles the darkness around us, we all ran off into a westerly direction, reuniting after a little dash between the trees, dodging the bullet storm. We crashed into each other then ran as fast as our feet could take us, jumping over thick tree roots and ducking under long branches. The gunfire stopped. The soldiers weren't chasing us and I didn't like it. Why wouldn't they, they had the advantage. We all heard one shot ring out, the loudest of them all and we each had a feeling we knew exactly what happened. The Soldier. I felt a gut wrenching pang of pain, he had saved us on multiple occasions in such a short period of time and we didn't even know his name. We couldn't do anything for him, we had to keep going, no matter what.
Fast forward an hour and we were beat. We walked for so long, we all felt like we should have been there by now. We didn't speak, instead listening to our surroundings. Birds chirped, crickets...cricketed? twigs snapped under our feet and far away, off in the distance, the hum of the helicopter. It was far enough away that we couldn't see it's searchlight but the silence of the night did nothing but make sure we could still hear it out there. I wondered what had happened to each of the soldiers that had survived the ambush, how they were doing, where they lying dead in a hole or still fighting for their lives. Was the General still alive, was she looking for us right now?
'Hey, there's a clearing ahead' Barry alerted everyone.
Sure enough, up ahead, through the gaps in the trees we could all make out a wide open space lit by the glow of the moon. We all stopped at the edge of the clearing.
'Should we cross or go around?' Jenny asked me. Apparently now that we were by ourselves again, everyone was looking toward me to lead, to make decisions and get us home.
'We go around' I said 'If we cut across and the helicopter comes this way we're in trouble'.
'What if there is a patrol in the woods?' Barry asked.
I groaned. They look to me for a decision, I make one and then they make me think I made the wrong one. My leadership skills aren't what they used to be. I strained my ears to listen for the helicopter, it still sounded a long way off but I'm sure that it could be here as soon as it needed. I thought about the possibility of there being a patrol in the woods searching for us and decided.
'We make a break for it. We've been walking for so long. We've got to be close. They should know where we're heading, they'll probably have all their forces between us and the base. If they're in the woods we're bound to come across them. If we make a break for it, we might be able to avoid the helicopter. We need to go for it' I said.
Everyone nodded in agreement and we all line up at the edge of the clearing, sprinters stance, ready to make a mad dash for the opposite side. For probably two minutes we'll be in the open, completely visible to anyone who wants to shoot us.
'On your mark, ready, set, GO!' I quietly shouted. We ran. We ran more, we hit the deck.
About half way across, we were spotted. A spray of gunfire from the woods behind us filled the air. We got low and ran as fast as we could, but we were still in the line of fire, and Lucy got hit. I heard a shriek of pain and a thud, I turned to see her fall to the ground gripping her leg.
'Keep going you two' I shouted to Barry and Jenny. I rushed back to Lucy.
Tears were streaming down her cheeks and she was grabbing her right calf. She was hit, twice. The bullets were still in there, this wasn't a graze. I knew she wouldn't be able to walk, let alone run. I quickly pulled of my belt and as fast as I could I tightened it around her leg before I scooped her up in my arms. I ran full pelt with her in my arms. Barry and Jenny had just cleared the edge of the clearing.
I thank my lucky start that my father got me started on the farm at a very young age so for as long as I could remember, I'd been carrying the sheep and hay bales for as long as I could remember. Carrying the tiny Lucy wasn't much of a strain and I made it to the edge of the clearing ahead of the chopper which had just decided to grace us with its presence.
Barry and Jenny looked so relieved to see us. We had no time to stop so we immediately got a move on. I continued to carry Lucy and Barry and Jenny kept look while we ran.
'Thank you so much' Lucy thanked me. She was wincing in pain from every bounce as I ran but she managed a smile.
We we're managing to stay a fair distance from the enemy and the helicopter had not, having only just shown up, seen where we entered the woods but we could hear it to our left, searching parallel. This gave as a small advantage but it didn't last long when we emerged onto a road going left and right.
'Run' I shouted. There were no more woods, the other side of the road was completely open farmland and there were no other means of escape, we had no choice but to run along the side of the road, under the tree canopy, away from the helicopter. The searchlight from the chopper pierced the darkness behind us, probing the road for us and they were about to find us. I was about to say move but that was helpless, behind us, gunning it were four jeeps, much like the one we escaped in yesterday. I had to think fast.
'Barry, take Lucy' I passed Lucy to him and while he staggered a little under her weight, he managed to hold her.
The first jeep reached us and the driver jumped out. I couldn't believe our luck, he was by himself, the others behind him were filled with soldiers however so I had to move fast. As he stepped out, I drop kicked his door and it swung back and slammed him against the car before falling the the ground. I kicked him for good measure and grabbed his gun, an AK-47 type rifle. I made sure the safety was off and I ordered Barry to get Lucy into the jeep as I let loose a barrage of gunfire at the jeeps all lined up behind the first. Soldiers were climbing out and making a dash for the treeline or getting behind their vehicles. I managed to shoot our the tyres on both and the windscreen of the first. A soldier took a bullet to the shoulder, lucky for him, I had missed. I climbed in the driver seat and handed Barry the gun.
'Let them have it' I ordered and hit the gas. Thankfully not a manual.
I spun the jeep around and crashed through the fence on the side of the road that protected the wide open fields. We sped across the wide open space, with the soldiers that were still mobile hot on our tail. The helicopter's spotlight was now trained on us, helping the enemy's aim.
'Hit the deck!' I told the others as Barry took pot-shots at those behind us.
I took a huge risk and spun the jeep into the trees. They were farther apart here but it was still risky. The jeep was open top so any overhanging branches and I may be decapitated, or I could just as easily plow into a tree.
A huge explosion erupted behind me, lighting up the woods. I swerved to avoid an upcoming tree. The chopper had lost us and the Jeeps weren't game enough to try following after the other had already failed.
I didn't care to hide our whereabouts at this point so I turned the jeeps lights onto high beam. I could instantly see better and besides being able to avoid the trees better, I could also see a dirt trail nearby. I maneuvered the jeep onto it and was now able to drive smoothly. Up ahead, I could make out a distant fence. A tall, wire fence with steel reinforcements and and floodlights. The two atop the gate turned and pointed directly at us.
A voice erupted from a speaker somewhere, speaking in the language of our pursuers. I was tempted to stop and turn around, but I realized that while the language was foreign, the dialect was English. This was the compound the general was talking about and they thought we were enemy soldiers.
'Barry, quick, take of your shirt and wave it around.' I said.
'What!?' he shouted in surprise. I glanced in the rear view mirror and saw the girls turn a deep red.
'Dude, your shirt is white. White flag. Surrender' I explained, the shouting from the speaker was getting louder.
'Oh?' he said then quickly used the windscreen to steady himself, stood up and removed his shirt, waving it about.
The shouting from the speakers stopped immediately. The spotlights were still trained on us as we got closer, the iron gates slid open slowly and a dozen heavily armed soldiers poured out.
'HALT!' One of the soldiers ordered.
I slowed the jeep to a crawl before bringing it to a full stop, a dozen feet from the line of soldiers, all with their guns trained on us.
'Turn off the engine and step out of the vehicle slowly with your hands raised above your heads' the same soldier ordered again.
Each of us slowly raised our hands and stepped out, Lucy with Jenny's help.
'Can I put my shirt back on? It's a little chilly' Barry asked.
'Slowly. What are you four doing here?' The soldier asked, stepping forward. He was a big man, muscular with a chissled chin, an action man was the best way to describe him.
'We were being held captive, General Elaine Terrance rescued us' I told him. Barry had pulled his shirt back on now.
'Hmm, E.T huh? We were wondering where she was. She should have been back here before nightfall, where is she now?' He asked.
'She's back there' I said and I turned and pointed in the general direction of where the huge firefight had been. I was about to tell him that we lost had track of her in the escape when from out of the trees appeared a lone gunman, an enemy soldier.
He fired one round before he fell to the ground. He landed with a thud, a bloodstain spreading slowly across his back. A metre behind him, General Terrance stood, a gun aimed where the soldier had been standing. Her hair was in a fuzzy mess, caked with blood. Her uniform shredded and burned in places and she was leaning to one side.
'That was a close one' Barry said, then Lucy screamed. I looked where she was staring. A huge red patch was forming on barry's shirt. He had been shot.
'Quick, get the medics, apply pressure to the wound.' Barry collapsed, only now realizing he had been shot.
'Barry don't die!' Jenny cried.
'Me? Die? Never!' Barry laughed and began coughing, wincing in great pain as pressure was then applied to his wound. A group of medical soldiers rushed through the gate and split into two, three attending to Barry while the other two converged on General Terrance.
'Alright, quickly now, everybody inside the compound. You'll be alright now' The soldier waved everyone through the gate, Barry now hoisted onto a stretcher. General Terrance waved hers away.
She hobbled over to me as we made our way inside. She put an arm around my shoulder.
'Listen kid, I'm proud of the way you've handed yourself and your friends. You got them here, you saved their lives.' I tried to wave it away but she shushed me. 'No, you did. It's thanks to you that your friends are alive'.
'But Barry' I interjected.
'He'll be fine, I've seen much worse. He'll make a full recovery' We both watched the medics carry him towards a bunker with a red cross above it. Jenny was in hot pursuit.
'Hey, I don't want to sound like the cliche army recruiter but, I really think you should consider enlisting. I'd pull some strings and get you in my regiment. With some training, you could make a real difference in the tide of this fight. Don't give me an answer straight away but give it a think okay?' she said. She gave me a pat on the back and hobbled away towards the medical bunker.
I stood rooted to the spot, staring at my feet. That was something to seriously think about. I mean, working on the farm the rest of my life isn't exactly going to help anybody, and I don't want to think highly of myself but she was right, I helped save my friends tonight. I also had to admit that while I was risking life and death out their, I actually enjoyed it. In some weird way, what I did out their actually thrilled me. I couldn't deny it but I had an itch for military work.
'Hey soldier' a voice interrupted my thoughts. I looked up, Lucy was standing next to me, a comforting arm on my shoulder.
'You look a little deep in thought there' She said, smiling then wincing from her leg.
I took one look at Lucy's face and made my decision.
'Hey! General!' I called after Elaine. She stopped and turned around.
'I'm in' I told her. She grinned and offered my a shaky thumbs up.
'Welcome aboard'.
I took swept Lucy off her feet and headed towards the Medic barracks.
'What was that about?' She asked, blushing.
'I just enlisted in the Royal New Zealand Army' I told her.
'What!' Lucy put up a hand to halt 'Why would you do that?' she asked.
'Because, I need to help people. This country is a mess. People are getting killed fighting over a little leg room, and innocent people are getting caught in the crossfire.' I motioned to the both of us. 'I need to help do something about it.'.
'Well, I guess your going to need a lot of help then, maybe I should enlist too?' She said, leaning closer.
'If you think your up for it' I told her, inching my face closer to her.
'I think I've got what it takes to fire a gun. Do you have what it takes to get the girl uh I mean the kidnapped people the um' She was mumbling now, struggling to get back on topic.
'Oh yeah, I think I've got what it takes to get the girl.' I then planted a kiss on her lips. She kissed back, placing her arms around me.
'I could do this forever' I whispered to her.
'So could I, but we better go see how Barry's doing.' Lucy replied.
'Oh, I think he's just fine, he's got Jenny looking after him. We should get your leg checked' I told her.
'What leg? Oh, right. In a minute. Where were we?' She asked.
'Oh, I think, right about here'.
We kissed all the way to the barracks.
A cheesy way to end this I know, but, why not. That was our story, written down for us after the ordeal to look back on despite the ordeals we went through, the struggles and the injurys and the deaths, to remember what brought us together as friends.
Peace & Love, the Tomorrow gang (it's our self appointed nickname, not my idea FYI).