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“Oceanside. Behind the Walmart.” Sgt. Brittany’s knee bounced under his arm as he sat in the dirt, his gaze dark and focused as he watched Landon write it down.
“How many?” Landon kept his voice neutral. A simple question that couldn’t encompass the amount of rage and fear each of them felt.
“Two.”
“We’re about a mile back from there.” LCpl. Wallis sniffed, wiping her bandaged hand across her nose. Tears streaked through the dust on her cheeks. “My husband and two girls.” She inhaled deeply, hardening her face. “Three.”
“I’m in San Marcos,” HM3 Cooper said. “Just my wife. So, one.”
Landon continued down the line.
“Seven in Oceanside. Three stops. Four in Vista. Two stops. One in San Marcos. One stop. Five near Lake Hodges. One stop.” Landon handed the clipboard to GySgt. Fuimaono and stood with his shoulders squared. “I’m in Temecula. It’s out of the way from the rest of them and, with your permission Gunny, I’d like to head out there by myself.”
“I’m in Escondido.” GySgt. Fuimaono read through the list and looked up briefly at Landon as he shook his head. “You stay with us as a unit. We don’t know the conditions these people will be in and they might need your help. I promise we will get your family too. If we follow as the bird flies, they’ll be the last stop after mine.”
He had him. Landon swallowed back the swear word he wanted to scream in frustration, knowing Gunny was right. HM3 was a decent medic, but he didn’t have the combat experience that Landon did. This is bullshit. “Aye, Gunny.”
“Load up,” GySgt. Fuimaono barked at the troops and they jumped to their feet to file into the van.
“Hang on! I’m coming.” Sgt. Sierra sprinted across the parking lot wearing his cammies with his M4 in his hands.
“What are you doing here Sergeant?” GySgt. Fuimaono folded his massive arms over his chest as he waited for an explanation. Landon ran his hand over his face, trying to hide the smile that was teasing his lips.
“Going to help my boy find his family,” Sgt. Sierra said, breathless and swaying to the side as he stopped in front of them.
“Are you drunk, Marine?” GySgt. Fuimaono leaned down to sniff the air.
“Nah, Gunny.” Sgt. Sierra straightened his shoulders and planted his feet firmly on the ground. “I was drunk last night.”
Landon chuckled, resigning to his fate, as he crawled into the van and moved over to make room for his friend.
“Do we have a plan to load up our families?” Sgt. Brittany leaned forward over the second row seat. His five o’clock shadow was already filling in to cover his chin. Landon stared at the back of Gunny’s head as the man drove with a vengeance down the main road of base, racing past broken streetlights and ignoring the speed limit.
“Let’s just get to them and then we’ll figure it out.” LCpl. Wallis had claimed the front seat instead of fighting for leg room in the back. Her voice cracked as she spoke and she coughed to make it stronger. “Right, Gunny?”
GySgt. Fuimaono grunted in response as he made a hard right turn away from the blocked off main gate and drove up the overpass.
“What’s going on down there?” HM3 Cooper asked as he looked out the side window.
The ones in the back climbed over each other to press their faces against the glass. The freeway appeared beneath them and they had an eagle eye view of the front of the main gate. Hundreds of people stood waiting and even more huddled under tents. Fires burned in metal barrels lighting up their haggard faces in the gray dawn as they camped outside. Landon’s blood boiled, imagining the chaos Tessa would have had to face if she’d tried to come get him. No wonder she isn’t here waiting. He’d have killed someone if his kids were stuck there in that mess.
“Where’re we going Gunny?” Cpl. Hemming packed a dip into his lip with shaking hands as they dropped below the vantage point and the world outside of the base was blocked from sight again. His eyes were red and swollen from unshed tears as he spit into an empty water bottle and twisted the cap back on.
GySgt. Fuimaono drove without speaking, anger radiating from his skin, as he made another two lefts and then slammed on the brakes in the dirt parking lot.
Behind the open chain link fence was a row of AAVs all ready for the next deployment that wasn’t coming any time soon. Of course he would. Landon grit his teeth, mentally prepping himself to board another one of the death traps.
“How many can those things hold again?” LCpl. Launce whispered from the back of the van.
Landon turned to look over his shoulder. The kid was green and his nervousness showed. He sighed in defeat, defusing the tension with a joke. “I think the technical answer is one more.”
GySgt. Fuimaono started barking orders before his boots hit the ground. “I want a four-man team in these two vehicles with a medic in each and two back to drive the van.” He pulled a bundle of pages from under his seat and pointed straight ahead as they climbed out behind him. “HM3 Cooper you’re in this one and HM2 Ward you ride with me. Brittany, do you know how to drive?”
“Aye, Gunny.” Sgt. Brittany nodded.
“I’ll drive the van.” LCpl. Wallis climbed over the center console and into the driver seat. Landon looked at her wrapped hand pointedly. She returned his stare with a smirk. “Worry about yourself, Doc. Gunny drives like a maniac.”
The rays of the sun finally broke free of the mountains in the west, brightening the morning with a golden warmth and illuminating the beast of a man as GySgt. Fuimaono spread the printed aerial maps on the hood of the van. “We’ll exit the side gate here and start up the 78.”
“Um, Gunny... Gunnery Sergeant…” Cpl. Bailey hung back, trying to voice his concern. His regulation haircut was so tight he looked as if he’d just stepped out of bootcamp and somehow his uniform was still clean. They all turned to him and waited. Cpl. Bailey cleared his throat. “Are we allowed to take these?”
GySgt. Fuimaono paused, looking up from the maps with an icy glare. “My orders. My responsibility. Stay back if you want.”
Real smiles spread around the group as they moved closer to Gunny to go over the plans for the mission. Landon felt a lightness, an eager motivation to get started, that overrode his frustration at having to wait. He was going home. I’m almost there, beautiful.
