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“I do.” Her stoic face broke with a sad smile. “Three kids and a dog and a cat. They’re at home with my husband.”
“Then what are you still doing here?” His fists were clenched at his sides.
“Because I have a duty to my patients.” She raised her chin as she stepped through the next doorway. “I think you of all people should understand that.”
Landon waited in the back of the open AAV watching the seagulls as they flew overhead and Sgt. Sierra snored on the bench beside him. Cpl. Hemming paced outside in the dirt, digging circles with his boots and trying not to look as anxious as they all felt. The duty van drove the five miles back to base to drop off the families they’d picked up yesterday.
Five miles. He’d been back on American soil for two days and had only been able to make it five miles closer to home. GySgt. Fuimaono had parked the AAV facing east and Landon was glad he couldn’t see the mountains from the back with nothing to do but sit and wait. The smoke in the distance was far enough away that it didn’t worry him as much, but his house was right there. A half an hour drive northeast.
“Load up.” GySgt. Fuimaono dropped down from the driver hatch and his eagle eye view of the road as LCpl Wallis, Sgt. Forges, and Sgt. Brittany came flying down the asphalt in the duty van. Cpl. Hemming climbed inside and Landon closed the back doors, kicking Sgt. Sierra in his side as he made his way to the crew chief seat.
“Finally.” Sgt. Sierra jumped up, fully awake, and ran to the turret hatch. “Let’s get this over with.”
A sense of purpose loosened the tight muscles in his back and he nodded in Sierra’s direction, even as GySgt. Fuimaono started the engine and they began the next part of the journey south. Landon mentally ran through the numbers again. The plan was to fill the duty van a second time and escort it back. LCpl. Launce and Cpl. Bailey’s families were next. That’s three. Then HM3 Cooper in San Marcos was one.
Landon glanced over his shoulder at Cpl. Hemming who bounced along in the main compartment and tried to laugh off his frustration. “How do you have four kids, man? I thought you were like twenty-one.”
“Twenty-three,” Cpl. Hemming called back. “And the last one was a set of twins.”
Five. Landon resumed his brooding as they drove through the residential sector in Vista. Maybe he’d be able to convince them to keep moving forward after they’d filled the duty van at GySgt. Fuimaono’s stop. Tessa wasn’t picky and wouldn’t mind riding in the AAV. Mason would probably think it was cool.
He allowed himself a small smile of hope. It everything went according to plan he’d be there by the end of the night. And after? He stubbornly pushed the thought away to focus on the mission. They could worry about the future later once they were safely in his arms again.
LCpl. Launce’s wife came running down the street screaming his name as the AAV continued its forward assault of the tracks on the pavement. LCpl. Wallis was forced to stomp on the brakes as Launce jumped out and raced to meet the woman. They collided in a tangle of flying hair and limbs, crashing into one another and kissing in the trash strewn street under the cheers of the Marines.
Landon blinked back the moisture in his eyes and put his finger in his mouth to let out a loud whistle for the young couple. LCpl. Launce carried her to their house with her legs still wrapped around his back, hurrying to get their things.
A shaggy gray wolfhound followed the couple back outside, its massive paws staying in step with LCpl. Launce’s wife. The Marine reached a hand down to scratch his dog’s head and then helped them into the duty van. Landon smiled, thinking about Moose, as the convoy moved forward and LCpl. Wallis rolled the window down to let the dog lick the wind.
The smell of the ocean faded as they moved further east, choked out by the smoke that drifted in the humid air under the clouds billowing from the south. Whatever joy that remained from the young lance corporal’s happy reunion began to dwindle as they came onto the freeway. Sgt. Brittany pulled the lead AAV to a halt and Landon’s muscles tensed as he surveyed the road.
“What is it? Why are we stopping?” Cpl. Hemming tried to push his way into the crew compartment and out of the darkness in the back.
“Sit tight for a minute,” Landon said, taking in the chaos. Hundreds of people were fleeing down the freeway as they pulled their belongings behind them and tried to fight off those that stood in their path. Grabbing hands of those with less struggled to relieve the slower ones of their possessions. Groups stuck together, warding off attackers.
A gunshot rang out to the west. Screams as a large group of people rushed a small Honda Civic that dared to brave the road and pushed it onto its side with the tires still spinning, the driver helplessly pumping on the gas pedal.
“Gunny! You got orders for this?” Sgt. Forges called out from the turret hatch of the second AAV, maneuvering the .50 caliber toward the group of onlookers who were eyeing the military vehicles.
Sgt. Sierra tightened his grip on the machine gun. “Gunny, he’s asking…”
“I heard him,” GySgt. Fuimaono growled as he stood up through the open hatch. “How much further to your exit?”
“It’s the next exit. Less than a mile,” Cpl. Bailey called from the crew chief hatch of the second vehicle, watching the growing crowd that was changing direction toward them. His face was pale and his rifle was held tightly in his hands as he clung to it for support. Even from this distance, Landon could see the man shaking. They were so close to his home.
“Stay back,” Landon shouted, as a stupid few broke from the crowd and sprinted toward the vehicles.
“Warning shots at the ground to clear the way. Plow through them if you have to. And keep the van covered between us.” GySgt. Fuimaono dropped back down to the driver seat as the machine guns peppered the pavement, sending flying chunks of asphalt that stopped the advancers in their tracks. Travelers jumped to the side of the freeway, shielding their faces as the convoy passed.
“Ease up on the fire unless they chase.”
Sgt. Sierra signaled GySgt. Fuimaono’s orders to Sgt. Forges and the machine guns quieted, but Landon’s ears still rang from the vibrations and the pulse pounded in his veins. This is home. It wasn’t war. It was California. She’s going to be okay.
“What the hell was that?” Cpl. Hemming beat his fist against the metal wall of the AAV.
“Just a hiccup.” Sgt. Sierra turned to meet Landon’s eyes, a sickly sheen of sweat glistening on his forehead. “Right, Doc?”
Landon nodded as they coasted off the exit ramp and away from the freeway, praying that was the truth.
