It is such a beautiful day that I am posting this and then I am off to go back outside and dig in my gardens for a while. Nothing soothes my soul like gardening and after this week, I really need that. I love the sense of possibility that comes with gardening (and I'm not really a very good gardener so it's really all about possibility for me.) When I put in a plant and I've given it what I hope it needs, there's that period of watching to see if it makes it. Sometimes it works out and sometimes it doesn't. At least with gardening you can always did the unfortunate plants out and start over. It's much less stressful than raising children.

**Little Birdie, The Stanley Brothers**

An hour later they were in a dark stretch when Vince's phone flashed in the center console. An icy fog drifted in and out of the trees on the side of the road looking still and peaceful. In contrast, the rumble of icy ruts beneath the car tires and the jarring bumps that occurred periodically as Vince tried to go as fast as possible without edging into unsafe territory were anything but peaceful. Every now and then they saw a deer or fox at the side of the road, but otherwise they might have been on the moon rather than a major highway.

In the passenger seat, Debbie squealed. "Service! We have cell service."

From the back Peter commented. "We should be coming into a town called Williamsburg. Doesn't look like much, but I guess they have a well positioned cell tower."

Vince pulled over. "Try calling Kara." he told Debbie. Her hands shook as she dialed.

"Hello?" Kara's voice was muffled and Vince was sure she had been asleep.

"Kara! Kara wake up." Debbie's voice was urgent. "This is very important."

"Mom? It's nearly midnight. Are you OK? What's the matter. I can contact someone in Norfolk fo..."

Debbie cut her off. "I'm fine, I'm fine. You're the one in danger. Where are you?"

Kara's voice rose and Vince pictured her sitting up in alarm. "In my hotel, in St. Louis. Mom? What's going on? Where are you?"

Debbie quickly related what they had learned. "I was afraid you were with the President." She concluded. "Do you know where they are? Can you warn them?"

"No, well maybe. Their radio and sat phone were both damaged in Windsor so we've been relying on cell and landline phones. Danny and Burk scouted ahead to Lexington yesterday and they were able to call me from there. I'll try to get them on the line as soon as we get off the phone here."

"OK. We're going to continue on to Lexington to try to alert them." Vince copied down the coordinates of the place they were staying and Kara's other contact numbers. He felt much better knowing they weren't working completely alone now, but he also worried. What if Kara couldn't get in touch with the team? They rolled through the town of Williamsburg without stopping. It was nearly a ghost town with no lights visible from the highway, but he did see the silhouette of the cell tower perched on a hill behind a shopping center. A little while later his phone beeped again to indicate that he had lost service.

By the time they came into cell service again, they were almost to Lexington. A dim glow was emerging on the horizon. Some parts of the road had been slick with black ice and others had uncleared snow that had formed icy ridges where previous cars had left tracks. Peter was driving now and he picked up speed as the ruts in the road became more visible allowing him to follow them instead of bouncing in and out in the dark. When the phone dinged to announce a message, Debbie sat up from where she'd been trying to sleep. "I give up." Debbie groaned from the backseat, rubbing her eyes. "I don't know if it's anxiety or the bumpy road, but I can't drop off anyway."

"Grab a pen in case Kara gives us new coordinates or phone numbers." Vince picked up his phone and clicked on the message symbol.

"Hi Vince, Mom, Peter." Kara's voice filled the car. "I have not been able to reach the group yet and I'm guessing you've lost that tower you were near before. I'm going to keep trying. My comms guy here thinks he might have a contact in Lexington that he can rouse on a radio. In the meantime, hurry. They were planning to leave for Louisville early in the morning so that they could do a lunchtime meet and greet and then move on to Nashville by the evening. If you can, let me know when you get this. Let's attempt to check in every hour."

Vince tried to return the call but there was only enough service for messaging. He tapped out a quick update and then pulled out a map to direct Peter toward the area the President's group was staying.

By 10 AM he was hungry, exhausted, angry, and worried. They had found some people living in the hotel the President had been scheduled to stay at. Unfortunately, they said The President's group had apparently pushed on after their handshaking event last night because there was no electricity in Lexington. "But the President promised to send some people to work on it as soon as he could." A grandmotherly lady with curly salt and pepper hair assured Vince. "If you folks want to stay, we can offer you some candles." He thanked her and inquired about food instead.

Twenty minutes later they were eating fruit cocktail out of cans and leaning over the hood of the car looking at the map again. "A guy taking a smoke out back told me they lost landline communication back in August and cell service went down with a big ice storm in November." Debbie put her phone on the hood of the car. "I've tried both Kara and Danny but nothing's gone through."

"I had to get a ham license when I worked in news radio. I could see if I could find someone with a radio and try to send a message that way" Peter offered.

"There's no time, they don't know to listen for our message, and we don't want to broadcast this across the whole midwest...but that's good to know about Peter. Maybe we can use your skills later." Vince made a few quick finger measurements on the map. "We're at least two hours from Louisville but if they got in last night they might not stay all day. I say we take this route here..." he traced a path with his finger. "..to get to Elizabethtown. That should put us between them and the militia so we can stop them."

They piled back into the car. "You'll want these." Debbie produced a handful of granola bars from her jacket pocket. Sorry it's not a McMuffin and coffee. I had to take what I could get."

Vince grinned appreciatively. "Debbie Foster, you take great care of us."

She smiled and patted his arm as she hauled herself into the rear of the SUV. "Just drive fast and help us do a good deed for our country."

The smaller highway leading to Elizabethtown was even more rutted and treacherous than the route to Lexington had been. Debbie's teeth ground together as Vince took another icy corner with a skidding real end. In the back seat, Peter looked simultaneously pale and clammy. When they finally bounced and slipped their way into the little town around 2 PM, even Vince was looking a little green around the edges.

There were a surprising number of people around the town center. Vince parked in front of a boarded up hardware store. A cluster of people were gathered in front of a cafe a few doors down. Another cluster was lounging near the curb where the two lane highway cut off one end of the town green. Debbie wondered where they had all come from. A narrow path was worn through the crusty old snow on the sidewalks. Most of the parking spaces were filled with trucks and SUVs.

"Ok. Peter, you and I will try to find out about communications. We want to know if they can reach Louisville or St. Louis in any way."

Peter nodded. "Even radio?"

Vince glanced at his watch. "Yes, the President could be arriving any minute. I think we should prepare for the chance that this militia gives chase. I'll take that group over there." He nodded toward the twenty or so people milling in front of the Community Safety Complex.

Peter began buttoning up his coat and donning gloves. "Meet back here in how long?"

"Un uh." Vince nodded toward a church on the other side of the road. "Meet on the left side of that church, behind that parking portico, just in case there are militia scouts around." Debbie scanned the clusters of people. They didn't look like the camo clad guys Jeanne had described back in Knoxville, but who knew what a scout looked like. Somewhere in the old timeline of her memory she remembered her oldest son Eric laughing and telling Kara that he hardly ever wore a uniform. She wondered if the militia was that knowledgeable.

Vince opened the center console and took out a gun and two magazines. He handed them back to Peter. "Just in case, something about all these people being here doesn't feel right for such a small town. I'm surprised there are even this many survivors here." He held out a gun to Debbie too. She closed her fingers around the barrel and realized she was shaking with the anxiety of leaving the safe and familiar confines of the car. She was a decent shot with a rifle or shotgun, but she had little experience with a handgun.

"Does it work like a shotgun?"

Vince sucked in a breath. "You don't actually know how to use a gun?" She saw the disbelief in his eyes and felt herself grow defensive.

"This isn't exactly the kind of gun we use on the farm you know."

Vince sighed. He shouldn't have assumed that just because her husband had been a legend that she knew anything about the kind of work men like him did. "Peter, how about you?"

"Boyscouts, rah rah. I know enough." Peter busied himself familiarizing himself with the weapon and finding a good pocket for it.

Vince spent a few minutes showing Debbie what to do. Once she nodded that she was pretty sure she could use it if she had to, he gave her an assignment too. "We need a few supplies because we might end up back on the road or even on foot in a hurry. See if you can find us some bottled water and snacks."

She nodded curtly and began scanning the street. "Looks like a shopping center a few blocks up. Should I take the car?"

"Yes, and park it behind the church when you come back in," he glanced at his watch, "25 minutes."

She motored away and Peter gave a quick wave before heading to a gathering of people in front of what looked like city hall. Vince went the other way and merged with the group that was chatting near the community safety complex. "Hi!" He stuck out a hand toward a meaty looking guy with a trucker cap on. "I'm Vinnie." He did the best Georgia accent he could manage.

The guy didn't shake his hand and Vince noticed that his other hand immediately went to his jacket pocket. So the guy was carrying then. He'd better try to appeal to his innate urge to help, if he had one. "Me an my kin are trying to get up to Cincinnati, on account o her daughter havin' a baby soon. We had a heck of a time gittin' over the mountains. Had to sleep in the car twice!"

"Man that sucks." The guy stepped a little to the side of the crowd and Vince knew he had him hooked even if the guy still didn't want to shake hands. "you folks sick?"

Vince shook his head, trying to look as easy going as possible, even if that wasn't at all how he felt. "Naw, we got the cure. You got it here yet?" Maybe that was why everyone was out here, they knew the President was coming.

"Yeah, got it from the President himself. They was just here about an hour ago. Sorry you missed 'em. It was quite a sight."

Oh Shit. "They just came through here? Wow, it's pretty late in the day to be goin' south of here. We just came that way and it was sure a lonely drive. There a good town to spend the night that way or somin?"

The guy looked at him like he was a little off his rocker. "They were going North. That's why they didn't stay long. Said they were trying to get to Fort Knox before dinner time." Fuck! Vince had a very bad feeling about this. "But after seeing the Army roll through here and the President waving from his humvee, as the guys walking along, sharing the cure, we're feeling a lot more hopeful around here now."

Vince tried to grin and look happy for the man but he was feeling sick again. "Well I'll be! I didn't even know we still had an army!" Fort Knox was between here and Louisville. And there was likely some real firepower there too.

"Sheriff Jim Taylor was a little surprised too. Didn't want to let them come through Main street, said he didn't believe they were real. But something they said changed his mind." He jerked a thumb toward the building behind him. "My cousin Rowdy and his buddy Frank are good friends with Jim. They're in there now tryin' to figure out what made him so onery."

Vince nodded and tucked his chin down a little. "She gonna be real pissed at me if we've missed the baby. You got any workin' phones 'round here?"

The guy frowned. "Nope, we haven't got none working yet. But the President promised to work on that." behind him, the front door of the city complex opened up and a man in a neatly pressed uniform stepped out onto the front steps. "Oh, that's the Sheriff."

The Sheriff placed his parade cover over his balding pate and then stepped down a few steps with such precision that Vince was sure he had been a marine at one point. He eyed the crowd and then set his hands on his hips before making his statement. "I reckon all y'alls should be going home for the night. Rowdy and I will get in touch with you tomorrow about spreadin' the cure."

The man Vince had been talking too waved to the Sheriff. "Come on Vinnie, I'll introduce you." Vince did his best to stay in character but as soon as the first guy said his goodbyes, he turned a sharp eye on the Sheriff. "That wasn't the President, tell me what you saw."

"Agreed." The sheriff did a double take at his change of accent but stuck out a well worn hand for a firm handshake. "Jim Taylor. Been Sheriff around here for the last twelve years. And you are?"

Vince angled himself so that he'd be facing away from the crowd as he spoke. "Vince Grazinski, lets call me a government contractor for now."

The sheriff looked him up and down. "Some kinda militia I'd guess. Well equipped too. They got 17 vehicles, were towing some heavy artillery. Maybe 90 to 110 of them." Shit. Vince glanced back up the street toward where Debbie and Peter had gone. She wasn't going to react well when he told her the news. "That's what tipped me off." The sheriff continued. "Well, that and the fact that they were carrying mostly knock off AR-15s. They weren't professionals but they had plenty of firepower." The sheriff's eye's were grim. "I hope this is the part where you tell me you know where they are going and how to stop them."

"The real honest to goodness President is headed south from Louisville and I don't have a good way to contact him." Vince met the Sherif's shocked gaze and hped to God the man had some good ideas because right now he was feeling pretty useless. "I don't suppose there's a back way to get North in a hurry that doesn't appear on my maps?"

"Naw, the highway is it." The Sherrif scratched his chin, looked up and down the street, and then tugged on the tie that just showed beneath his black sweater.

For a moment they stood there, scratching their toes in the dirt. Vince ran several scenarios in his mind. He could probably get pretty close behind the militia and then join in, but every way he figured it, he'd end up getting shot before he got anywhere close to meeting Michener's party. He prayed that Kara had been able to reach them in time and this would all be unnecessary because if it came down to it, he would attempt the crazy bezerker move to save Danny before he ever admitted defeat and sat hopeless.

"I don't suppose there's an airfield nearby?" He wasn't exactly sure how that would help, but he figured it couldn't hurt to know all his resources.

"Not in town. Of course over to Fort Knox they got a couple runways. But I think they moved all the fixed wing out of there years ago."

Jim crooked his finger at his deputy, standing at one edge of the porch, rifle held rigidly in front of him. "Hey Timmy, come here." He turned back to Vince. "Timmy was a helo pilot in Desert Storm, still in the guard. He'll know what they're keeping up there."

The younger man scanned Vince from tip to tail before sticking out his hand for a firm shake. "Chief Timmy Darnel, Yeah, I think I can get one of you in the air." Vince filled him in on the situation.

"Well, we still have a couple of Apaches up there for training." He scanned Vince again. "I reckon I could get you to Louisville ahead of that militia if you want. We got plenty of firepower for them too. Got a detachment of weekend warrior air national guard that use the training range once a month."

The Sheriff looked to Vince to decide. "Yeah, I think we better give that a try."

"Good, tell me what I can have the boys here do to help." Said Jim.

Two hours later Vince and Timmy were cutting a jeep sized hole in the chain link fence beside the gate to the airfield. Timmy had assured him that Fort Knox had been closed since the third week of the flu but it didn't hurt to be cautious. No alarms sounded however and they quickly made their way to a large hanger, Debbie and Peter in the SUV behind.

"I'd like to get up as quick as possible." Vince told Timmy. "It's already 1630 and if we don't hurry, we're not going to get a chance to see what they are bringing to the party."

Timmy hit a light switch. "We got three birds in good shape, take your pick."

Vince eyed the three helos. "Usually I'm calling for air support, not bringing it. I don't really know more than how to ID a friendly from a foe. What would you recommend?"

Timmy strode over to the middle one, slapping his hand against the mottled brown and green paint just above where his own name was stenciled on the side. "Well Lil' Liza Jane here's been my girl since the early 90's." He pointed to the undercarriage. "Plus she's already got live rounds loaded. Although these only have infrared sensing so without GPS guidance they aren't going to be too precise." Vince recognized the missiles slung below the cockpit as some kind of antitank variety. "But if your people can get me some kind of thermal signature to lock on, I can do plenty of damage.."

"Sounds like a plan." Vince strategized quietly with Peter and Debbie, while Timmy readied the helo. "Now don't forget, anything we say over this com is public. We have to assume those militia guys are monitoring, and we can't know for sure that Michener's group will hear or recognize us." They quickly went over some plans and alternatives. Debbie took notes and Peter looked worried as Vince used a sharpie to mark off and label grids on the map and then handed one off to Peter. "We'll use these labels as references so that even if they overhear us, they won't know where we're referring to."

"What if we don't understand what you're telling us?" Peter paced as he watched Vince get ready to go. "What if we do the wrong thing?"

Vince had seen that kind of insecurity in young recruits a million times. "When push comes to shove, just trust your gut and go for it."

"Ha ha." Peter laughed with a self-depreciating grimace. "My gut is telling me to move to northern Canada and learn to love raw whale." Peter ran his hands through his hair and looked to Debbie. "But, She can't lose another one and I can't lose her."

Vince knew exactly what he was saying because he felt the same way. The day his first wife divorced him and took his four young children away had felt like the end of the world. Having them reject him when he tried to reconnect with them a few years later had been even worse. But the hope had always been there that as they grew into adulthood they would come to understand what it had cost him to make the world better for them. And all four of them had forgiven him and shared their lives with him when he didn't give up trying to make a relationship with each. Now they were likely all dead. Two had been in L.A., one on Norfolk, and V.J. had been overseas somewhere. But he still had Danny and Danny was going to give him a grandchild, well, more like a grand nephew. But he would love it like a grandchild all the same. He hadn't been there when his kids were young and he'd lost the chance to make up for it now that they were grown. He couldn't afford to fail Danny now. His heart wouldn't take it.

Debbie surprised them both by offering a weak smile. "We do what has to be done, then there will be time to worry about about the future." She kissed Peter soundly. "Be brave for me, and for your grandchild." Then she kissed Vince on the cheek. "I am so glad we found you. Let's all grow old together."

Vince nodded in agreement. "That sounds like a good idea."