Chapter 13 – In the face of Danger
One by one, the Walkers stepped off the plane, which several Arabs in uniforms rushed to get into a hanger before an operative saw it. What this family was doing had to be taken very seriously and done in complete secret, something Robert had explained over the phone to the general of the base. They walked in a line across the Tarmac to the base headquarters. Rebecca looked around at the city and felt really distanced from her surroundings. The air felt warmer and dryer, like the Santa Anna winds had been blown into Los Angeles and the hot air dumped on the city. It smelled different as well. She couldn't describe it to herself fully, but the one scent she could recognize was gasoline. At first she just assumed it was from the planes, but she smelled it in the breeze as well. It was everywhere. She quickly regained the grip on her bag and followed the rest of the Walkers into the main headquarters. Robert walked at the front of the line, Kitty and Jadia close behind. As soon as they walked in the front door, they were met by a man in a green General's uniform.
"Senator McAllister," He began, holding out his hand. "General Martin Andrews."
"Pleasure to meet you sir." Robert responded, returning the handshake. Andrews looked down to Robert's sides and saw the two Iraqi girls standing next to him. "Are these the girls?"
"Yes, they are." Kitty responded. Andrews held out his hand to shake hers.
"This is my wife, Kitty." Robert said, glancing back at his wife. "Justin's older sister."
"I'm very sorry about these circumstances, Mrs. McAllister. Kitty nodded silently as Robert continued to Introduce the rest of the Walkers.
"This is Justin's mother, Nora Walker." Robert said, motioning to Nora, who was quickly brushing the tangles out of her hair and extending her hand.
"It's a pleasure, and you have my condolences, Mrs. Walker."
"Ms. Walker," Nora corrected. "and you can call me Nora."
"Alright then." Andrews responded. Robert turned down the line with the introductions. "This is Sarah Walker, Justin's eldest sister." He said, going next to Sarah. Sarah said nothing as she shook the general's hand, she just cracked a smile. Under normal circumstances she would have been offended by the "eldest" phrase Robert had used, but right now she didn't care.
"Next, this is Tommy Walker and his wife Julia." Robert said, motioning to Tommy and Julia as the General shook their hands. Tommy crossed his arms impatiently and his breathing got heavier. Julia rested her hand on his shoulder, looking at him right in the eyes. "You're not going to help anything losing your cool here." Julia whispered nervously. "Save it for later."
"This is Kevin Walker and his partner Scotty Wandell." Robert said as the general continued down the line and shook Kevin's hand, and then Scotty's.
"And last but not least, this is Rebecca Harper." Robert said to the general. "Justin's girlfriend."
The General raised his eyebrows at the sight of Rebecca. "What you are doing is very commendable, Miss Harper." He commented.
"Thank you." Rebecca said, shaking his hand. "All I want to do is find him."
"About that." The General began. "I've been informed of the Situation and I must inform you that the military group responsible for this is one with a history of extremely violent actions."
"We are aware of that." Robert said. "We're well aware of the dangers." The general looked from Robert to each and every one of the Walkers. He could tell when people were nervous or scared by the looks on their faces, and not one of them had that look upon their faces.
"Alright then." The general sighed. "We'll offer our assistance whenever we can. We have a vehicle with a driver ready to transport you to the village."
Robert nodded. "Is there a place where we could prepare?"
"Of course." He said, leading them down a narrow corridor to two rooms at the end. There was one for men and one for women, and they were both marked "Field Prep".
"Everything you will need is in there. Armor, clothing, gear, and…" He hesitated before mentioning ammunition.
"I understand." Kitty said, stepping out in front of Robert. "But we've brought our own artillery."
Just at that moment, three guards came from outside carrying six large black gun-shaped cases and two square metal trunks. The General looked at the cases as they were brought into the prep rooms, and looked back at the family. Nora stepped forward to speak with the general.
"My late husband, Private William Walker," Nora said with slight pride. "Had a colorful military career and passed much of his knowledge onto his family."
"Oh."
"So, General Andrews." Nora said, stepping past him and pushing the women's room door open. "We'll take it from here."
Nora stormed past him politely and the door closed behind her. The Walkers paused for a moment, and then the door swung open.
"MOVE IT, LADIES!" Nora barked. Sarah and Kitty smiled humorously and picked up their bags, eagerly walking through the door. Jadia and Sabriya followed them, then followed by Julia and Rebecca. The door closed behind them, leaving the men in the hallway.
"Yeah, what she said." Robert said, cracking a smile as he went into the men's room followed by Tommy, Kevin, and Scotty.
"Woah, wait a minute." Rebecca said startled as she saw Kitty and Sarah open two of the gun cases and pull out two large rifles. "We're taking on Iraqi militants with hunting rifles?" Sarah and Kitty both scoffed at that comment.
"Hey, I can shoot the bark off of an Elm tree from a mile away." Kitty said, holding her gun in her hands. Sarah picked up her shotgun and admired the wood body. Both of them were long and polished, her shotgun was a gift from her father, rebuilt from a gun dating back to the Civil War. Kitty's gun was very similar. Both were custom built Remington shotguns, not the cheapest guns on the planet, but worth every penny.
"Rebecca, don't worry." Kitty said, taking her shotgun in her hands and aiming it around the room. "If they worked at Gettysburg, they can work here."
They all had been given brown and tan colored clothing, a desert-friendly alternative to camouflage. Nora wore a gray vest with tan jeans. Kitty wore a tank top and shorts, both in faded brown. Julia wore a tank top covered with a light tan blouse, along with a tan skirt. Rebecca was wearing the same as kitty, only in light tan. Sarah wore a regular tan t-shirt with brown shorts. Sabriya and Jadia both wore dark tan t-shirts and faded denim shorts. All of them wore bullet proof vests underneath their clothes, but other than that not much more armor. They didn't want to stand out too much.
Rebecca looked at them nervously, especially when it seemed like it didn't bother Nora very much. She looked behind her as she buckled her bulletproof vest on and covered it with her shirt. She looked back to see Julia's expression, but saw that Julia was digging through one of the trunks that had been brought into her room. Sarah walked up behind her to grab the bullets and loading materials needed for her and Kitty's rifles, when she saw Julia pull two smaller gun cases, both of them had her maiden name inscribed on them.
"They might not be as big as yours, Sarah," Julia said with a grin as she opened one of the cases and pulled out an automatic revolver, polished with chrome finish.
"Woah." Kitty said. "I knew you were into collecting guns like Tommy was, but this one looks vintage."
"Yep." Julia responded, pulling out her other revolver. "Both of them were designed from post-1900 models, one of my mom's friends made them by hand. My parents own about two dozen of them."
"Are those the kind of guns they use in America?" Sabriya asked, looking at all the guns.
"Yes, sweetheart." Nora said. "Our family has been collecting many types of old guns for many years."
"I understand." Jadia said. "We've seen boys younger than us practicing with a lot of different guns out in the desert."
The five American women looked at the two girls with slight shock. The thought of children fighting in the wars had come into their minds, but it didn't fully sink in until Jadia had made that statement.
"My brother was only eight when he died." Sabriya said softly. "He and many other boys tried to run off the Sunnis with the men in our village, many years ago. My uncle died that day, too."
"As well as my grandmother." Jadia said, reaching into her pocket and pulling out a crumpled up picture of her when she was younger, standing and smiling with an older woman. "I was at school, and the house was set on fire. Nobody could have saved her." Nora walked over and stood between the two girls, not even thinking to ask this question before. "Do either of you have any family left?"
"We have distant relatives in Syria." Jadia said softly. "Sabriya has a great Aunt and Uncle in Damascus and my mother's cousin lives in the countryside near the city."
"Nobody else?" Nora asked softly.
Both girls shook their heads. "All dead." Sabriya said.
"That is why we were so determined to help Justin." Jadia said, her eyes filling with tears as she continued to speak. As she listened, Rebecca gained a clearer and stronger understanding of Justin's reasons for enlisting in the military. "He tried to stop the fighting as much he could. He saved me, and he very well may have saved somebody else that day. He and those other men fought for us as if we were their own people."
"You're right, Jadia." Nora said, putting her arm around the crying girl's shoulder. "Justin is a very brave person, all those men and women are."
Sabriya smiled as she reflected on a positive memory about her parents. "I remember what my mother and father used to say." She said as the women focused on her. "Bravery is essential to achieving happiness, because it enables us to live without the restraint of fear."
The women each nodded, some of them tearing up.
"Let's do this with that bravery." Kitty said. "For Justin." She put her hand in the center of the circle.
"Yeah." Rebecca said, putting her hand in. Sarah and Julia followed with their hands, and last but not least, Nora rested her hands on top of the stack, which was then topped with Jadia and Sabriya's hands. "For Justin." They all said simultaneously before withdrawing their hands and continuing to prepare for the fight of their lives.
In the other room, the four guys were hastily gathering themselves. The four of them were also dressed in tan and brown colors. Robert had on Brown jeans with a black sleeveless shirt, Tommy had on tan jeans with a t shirt, covered with a darker colored collared shirt with short sleeves. Scotty dressed in shorts and a sleeveless T-shirt, with a bandanna tied around his head covering his hair. Kevin was wearing shorts and a collared shirt covered with a vest, all in faded light brown. Scotty helped Kevin tie a brown cloth over his head as they both kept looking down at the shotgun case on the bench nearby.
"Are you nervous?" Scotty asked.
"Actually, not really." Kevin answered. "Now I'm going to get to see what Justin has seen."
"Yeah, we all will." Tommy added as he checked out his shotgun. He and Kevin both had vintage Remington shotguns their father had given the five of them one Christmas. These weren't like their other hunting rifles, these ones were used for defense. At home, Tommy kept his in the closet behind his old football trophies, out of Elizabeth's reach and Kevin kept his in the umbrella stand all the years he'd lived in his apartment. Robert mentioned how Kitty kept hers mounted on the wall, while Sarah locked hers away in her house. Right from the start, they all noticed Robert's gun case was a bit bigger. They were all surprised when he pulled out a Gauge shotgun. He hadn't used it in years and luckily was able to track down a store of the proper ammunition for it on the base before they'd arrived.
"Kitty was shocked to hear that I even still had it."
"I'll bet." Tommy said with a smirk as he tried to hold in a laugh.
"Wait, is that what that noise was that I'd heard earlier from her?" Kevin asked. "I thought you'd just hit a bug or something."
"Nope." Robert answered, checking out the same gun he'd used in the Gulf War. "It took me years to track it down after my service ended." Tommy stood up and walked over next to Robert to get a better look at the gun. It looked like it'd been through some rough use, but other than that it was still in pretty good condition. Robert gently set it down back in the case and closed the lid. He had a tight feeling in his stomach that made him uneasy. Justin hadn't handled remembering what he'd seen over here very well, which told them it was going to be bad, without a doubt. As soon as he shook it off, he picked up four metal flasks one of the guards had given him and turned to his brothers in law.
"We should make a toast."
"What?" Tommy asked. "Is this really the right time."
"I think it is." He answered. "It might be our last chance, for both him and us."
Justin's breath labored as he heard the door lock clicking. He prepared himself for the worst as he heard it open up and the footsteps of three men walk into the room. Two of them stood behind him, and the other one, turning out to be Rabu, kneeled down aside him. He was laying on his side and could look right into Rabu's face.
"Tell me something, dear friend." Rabu began, holding out a white piece of paper. "What do you see?"
Justin looked on as Rabu turned the piece of paper over. As soon as he saw it, Justin's heart stopped. His eyes widened and he almost choked over his own breath. In the photo, which had been enhanced, two girls were walking along the tarmac of an Airport which looked like it was either in Baghdad or Mosul. Not only did the girls look familiar, but the nine people with them looked very very familiar. He held in another breath when he heard two guns lock behind him.
"Are we done here?" One of the men behind him asked.
"Not quite." Rabu said. "This might actually work to our advantage." He glared down at Justin. Justin looked up at him, his throat tensing and two drops of sweat rolled down his already sweat drenched skin, stinging his eyes and the open sores on his face.
"Nothing suits an honor killing better than an audience."
To Be Continued…..