Arks of America by D A Carey

Author:D A Carey [Carey, D A]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2018-08-28T06:00:00+00:00

Friends

“Let me not pray to be sheltered from dangers, but to be fearless in facing them. Let me not beg for the stilling of my pain, but for the heart to conquer it.”

- Rabindranath Tagore

<< Vince >>

The helicopter touched down in a field near French Lick, Indiana. Vince was accompanied by Andy and Dwight, two Special Forces operators. They had been assigned to the Carrollton location after getting some cursory training in Colorado. Vince would have preferred to work alone. He didn’t want to be responsible for them. However, the practical part of his mind knew he needed them. If he was going to bring a handful of people out of Chicago, through a couple of hundred miles of highway and small towns, their experience and firepower would be a welcome addition.

Andy was a big, blond-haired man who had been a Ranger in both Iraq and Afghanistan. It helped the team comradery that Andy was happy and good natured. That was always preferable in a tight-knit team because it helped people relax and increased camaraderie.

Dwight was harder to figure out. He shared enough of his Special Forces background that confirmed he was imminently qualified. He also spent a good deal of time with a Blackwater-type private contracting firm after he left active duty. That stint was a double-edged sword for Vince. Although they hired and trained the best, it worried him that some of the men didn’t take as much of a moral high ground as Vince and his uncle mandated. Dwight admitted there was a lot he wanted to leave behind, and he wanted to get back close to home in Indiana. Vince chose to take him at this word the same as his uncle had done. Dwight was tall and dark haired, broad of shoulder and lean at the waist. He moved silently, with a spooky economy of motion that could sneak right up on you.

When they stepped off the helicopter at French Lick, they were near a massive country junkyard with a few metal pole barns scattered around, which presumably acted as shops for the work or as storage. From the outside looking in, it was a mess of rust and destruction holding nothing of value. A grizzled older man came out of one of the barns with a shotgun in one hand and a yellow Motorola walkie talkie clipped on the breast pocket of his Carhartt jacket. Gus and Vince had talked before the flight, so Gus knew he was coming and why; he was just being cantankerous and cautious. Vince stepped forward with his hands palms out and identified himself. Although they’d spoken, Gus hadn’t yet met him face to face. Still a bit wary, Gus asked how Dave and his wife were doing.

“Dave has been a widow for most of his adult life. He lost his wife Tess to a drunk driver back in the seventies,” Vince answered.

This mollified Gus. He lowered his shotgun and spoke into the walkie. “Everything seems all right here. Although to be on the safe side, sit tight, stay ready, and watch the perimeter.

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