Chapter Eight~
Percy stood at
his father’s bedside, the syringe in his hand. He looked down at him, fear
making him immobile. “What if he court-martials me?”
“What for, waking
him up? Be serious Percy.” Lily grimaced at his reticence.
“I just don’t
want to get in trouble.”
“For Pete’s
sakes, give it here.” She grabbed it from his hand and pushed the needle into
the empty tubing.
Wyatt stirred,
opened his eyes, and said groggily, “Why are you standing there staring at me
like that?” His heart beat heavy in his chest like a tom-tom.
Lily smiled. Her
heart tripped around in her chest and sweat popped out on her brow. “We need
you to wake-up, colonel. Something bad might happen if you don’t.”
Wyatt’s eyes
popped open wide. “What’s going on?” He cleared his throat, trying to get his
voice in working order. His brain was full of cobwebs, and he needed to clear
it, too. “I need to go outside.”
“You can’t go
outside yet, Colonel Adams. Your son has something he needs to tell you.” Nanny
looked over at Percy expectantly.
Wyatt looked at
him. “What’s up?”
“You have to
promise me you won’t be mad.”
“I don’t have to
do any such thing. Besides, when someone tells you that, it usually means
you’re going to be mad.” He raised one dark brow. His mind was finally waking
up and he had a sneaking suspicion he wasn’t going to like what Percy had to
say.
“I stole your
laptop.” Percy cringed with the words, waiting for the blow-up.
Wyatt dispelled
the urge to bellow and asked quietly, “Why would you do that?”
“I wanted to
know what was going on in the rest of the country and you wouldn’t tell us.”
“Did it ever
occur to you that it was for good reason?”
“Yeah, it did
for a minute.”
Wyatt couldn’t
help chuckling a bit. His son was a lot like him. “What about after that
minute? What compelled you to steal from me?” His blue eyes fastened to the
laptop under Percy’s arm. He hadn’t really stolen the computer, but borrowed
it.
“Look, I realize
you didn’t want us to know what was going on, but I just don’t think it’s
right. We serve this country and we have a right to know what’s going on. It’s
a good thing I did take it and look at a news page, too. The terrorists have
demanded the government turn Lily over to them or they’re going to bomb all the
secondary cities, too.”
“What? They
can’t be serious. What response did the president give?” Wyatt’s heart slammed
in his chest again, this time for an entirely different reason. What if they
decided to turn her over? It was the logical thing to do, even though the U.S.
didn’t negotiate with terrorists. They were at an extreme disadvantage, and she
was only one person, opposed to millions.
“We haven’t
heard a response yet, but you can guess what it’s going to be.” Nanny shoved
her bottom lip out in disgust.
“I can guess.”
Wyatt shoved the covers off and pushed his legs wearily over the side of the
bed. His chest was screaming with white-hot pain but he didn’t have the luxury
of time to recuperate. “We have to get her out of here.”
“But where will
you take her? Do you want me to go?” Percy was torn between his affection for
Lily and his love for his dad. He wanted to be where they were.
“I don’t know,
kid. Give me some time to think about it. Now skedaddle on out of here so I can
get dressed.”
“Do you need
help?” Nanny smiled mischievously.
“I think I can
manage.” He returned the smile and shooed them out with a wave of his hand.
“Percy, on second thought, I need you to stay.”
“Yes sir.”
As the women
went to stand outside the tent Lily said, “Will you go with us?”
“I want to, if
he lets me.” She tipped her head toward the tent.
“I don’t want to
leave if you aren’t going.” Lily picked Mushi up and hugged him to her tightly.
“You’re the only human I have left.”
“I know, sugar.
It’s the same here.”
***
“I want you to
go. As soon as I heard the news, my first thought was to take Lily and run with
her as fast as possible. But if I do that, Nanny will be all alone. You can go
and help me. I don’t have any strength right now, so you can be my brawn and
I’ll be the brains.”
“That’s awesome
dad, thank you.” Percy tried not to let the hurt show on his face. He knew his
dad was weak and exhausted, he’d just had surgery.
“Why don’t you
go direct the ladies in preparations? I know they don’t have much left but they
need to take what they can. Tell Lily to make sure she brings that mutt some
food because it sure isn’t getting any of my meals.”
“Does she have
dog food?”
“I told them
when they went back to get the dog not to forget food, so I assume they brought
it. Make sure you remember to grab it before we leave. Son, this has to be done
quietly. No one can know we’re leaving.”
“Dr. Wilkes
knows already. He’s the one who gave us the stuff to wake you up.”
“That’s
interesting. He’ll have to go with us, then. Make sure you tell him. No one
else can know so be as quiet about it as possible. Now scoot, I have to get
dressed.”
Percy hustled
out the tent flap and almost ran into Lily and Nanny, who were leaned up
against the canvas, trying to hear what was being said. “What are you two
doing?” He grinned at the guilty looks on their faces.
“We were trying
to hear, of course.” Lily felt humiliation spread through her at being caught
in such a position.
He smiled and
said, “I was gonna tell you.
Lily gave him a
playful punch in the arm. “See how you are?”
“How am I?” he
laughed. “Dad says the doctor has to go with us since he knows we’re planning
on leaving. That’ll be good because he needs one, anyway.”
“You said we.
Does that mean he’s gonna let me come, too?” Nanny chewed on her lower lip
worriedly.
“Yes. He doesn’t
want to split you two up.”
“That’s great.”
Lily was happy. At least Nanny could come with her. But how long were they
gonna hide out, wherever they were gonna hide?
“I think it is.
I have to go inform the doctor of his orders. You two need to go gather
everything you can carry comfortably to take with you. Dad also said not to
forget the dog food because he isn’t feeding that mutt any of his.” Percy finished on a mock-snide
tone to let Lily know he was just relaying a message, and not necessarily one
he agreed with.
Lily pugged her
nose and spat, “What a beast.” She fumed off in the direction of her tent to
get ready. No one knew they were leaving yet, so no one paid any attention to
her movements. Maybe that meant the president hadn’t made a public declaration
about what to do with her yet. She knew in her heart if she were president,
she’d make the same call she expected him to make. She couldn’t be mad at him
for making the same decision she would if it were up to her. It wasn’t really a
matter of rocket science. One versus millions was a no-brainer.
Nanny entered
the tent about five minutes behind her younger friend. “Are you okay, sugar?”
Concern wrinkled her massive brow.
“Yes, I’m just a
little pre-occupied. I’m really sorry, Nanny. I don’t know what they think I
know that’s worthy of killing me over.”
“It isn’t your
fault, sweetheart.” Nanny walked over and rubbed Lily’s shoulders for a second.
“You didn’t ask a bunch of crazies to go blow-up our cities.”
“I know. I just
wish I knew what they want from me.”
“I think you
already know what they want. That’s why the colonel is getting out of the bed
just a few hours after surgery, and why I’m letting him. He’ll lead us where we
need to go. I’m glad that doctor’s going, to be honest. I’ll feel a lot better
knowing there’s someone coming along to help keep an eye on Wyatt.”
“I know what you
mean. Nanny, why do you think the colonel thinks I’m his fiancé? It feels
so…deceptive not to tell him.”
“It wouldn’t
matter if you did, sugar. In his mind, you are, and that’s what counts.
Lily picked up
the pile of clothes she’d stacked up against the tent wall and stuffed them
into a backpack. It was disheartening to realize this was all she had left. She
was reduced down to a backpack full of possessions, and a hairy dog. She
reached down and ruffled his silky fur in apology. It wasn’t his fault she was
thinking bad, ungrateful thoughts. “You know I love you, Mushi.”
“Do you love
your fiancé?” Wyatt said from behind her. She jumped, turned around and said,
“You scared the daylights out of me.”
“I’m sorry,
love. I didn’t mean to. Are you almost ready?”
“You couldn’t
possibly be ready. You’re weak and tired from having surgery. You couldn’t
possibly be moving that quickly.”
“I wouldn’t bet
on it, love.”
“Stop calling me
that.” Her demand was petulant, and he laughed.
“You know you
love it.”
Secretly, she
did, but she wasn’t about to tell him. What were they gonna do when he regained
his memory? He was going to be totally humiliated, and she didn’t want to be
anywhere near when it happened. Different scenarios about how it would go ran
through her mind and she couldn’t take it anymore. “I’m not your fiancé, Wyatt.
I barely know you.”
He looked at her
like she’d taken leave of her senses. “What are you talking about? Of course we
are.” Genuine hurt crossed his features and Lily almost cried.
“Why do you
think we’re engaged?” Her tone was gentle because she didn’t want to upset him
anymore than he already was.
“I proposed to
you ten years ago, on the bus.”
A fuzzy memory
leapt to her mind, but she couldn’t quite grasp it. “What are you talking
about? I didn’t meet you until yesterday.”
“Think, Lily. It
was ten years ago. I was on the bus when you got on. I can still remember the
outfit you were wearing, and the way you smelled; Like sunshine in a rainy
breeze.”
“I think you may
need a psych eval.”
“I can’t believe
you don’t remember. You boarded the bus carrying some ridiculous camera from
the late eighteen-hundreds. You were wearing black jeans, a black turtleneck,
and had a big red rose pinned to the lapel of a white linen jacket.”
Memories slammed
into her brain all at once. She could almost envision what he was talking
about. She could picture the clothes he’d described. It was still one of her
favorite…well; it had been one of her
favorite outfits. It didn’t exist anymore. But how did he know about that? Had
they actually met in the past? She didn’t remember if they had. “I don’t
remember.”
It was in
October. I was in Salt Lake for a special mission and I rode the bus downtown
so I didn’t have to rent a car. When you boarded the bus you smiled at me and
sent me for a loop.”
“Even if that
were true, why do you think we’re engaged?”
“When you came
on the bus, I said, “I think I’m in love. Will you marry me?”
You giggled and
said, “I know I’m in love, and yes,
I’ll marry you. That means we’re engaged.” He smiled at her and made a heart
sign with his hands.
His actions were
so incongruous that she stared at him before asking, “Are you serious? Even if
it did happen, we aren’t engaged. We don’t even know each other.”
Nanny laughed
hilariously behind them and they both started. They’d been so involved in their
conversation they’d forgotten she was there. “You two sound like an old married
couple already. You might was well do the deed.”
“Don’t encourage
him, it’s like feeding the…”
“Bears, I know.
I heard that one before. You’re just upset because you know it’s true. You two
are like oil and water and that’s a winning relationship if I ever saw one.”
“I think you’re
confused.”
“Nope, I’m
pretty that’s what it takes.”
“I think you
need to be checked by a doctor yourself, Nanny.” She huffed out the door flap
in search of Percy. Maybe there had been some kind of nerve agent dropped here
and it was affecting their brains.
She found the
private in the doctor’s tent, helping him pack a bag. “Hey Lily, we’re almost
ready.” He gave her a strange look, which she tried to discern. She didn’t know
him well enough to figure that one out, though.
“Could I talk to
you outside, privately?” She asked. She gave him a warm smile, letting the
doctor see she didn’t pose a threat.
They walked
toward the door, and as soon as Percy cleared the flap behind her, he turned
around and whispered, “He didn’t argue at all when I told him he had to go with
us, even though he knows it’ll mean a court martial for desertion. I don’t
trust him. I think he’s up to no good.”
Alarm swept
through her. “What do you think it is?”
He shrugged his
shoulders. “I don’t know. I just have a bad feeling.”
Lily didn’t have
any such feelings about Dr. Wilkes so she discounted the private’s worries and
said, “We’ll keep an eye on him. Is he about ready?”
“Yeah he was
just putting the last of his stuff in his backpack. I told him to pack lightly,
and to make sure he brought supplies to take care of my dad.”
Suddenly,
suspicion began to crawl through Lily. “Did he happen to say anything about
your father going? I mean, he did just have surgery and the man’s a doctor.”
“He didn’t say a
thing. Maybe that’s why I got suspicious. I couldn’t put my finger on it, but
that must’ve been it. Do you think we should make him stay here? Or maybe we
could get him up on the trail somewhere and incapacitate him somehow.”
Lily giggled. “I
think you watch too many movies. We’ll just watch him for now. I’m gonna go.”
“Hold on and let
me tell the doctor I’m leaving and I’ll walk back with you.”
Lily examined
her fingernails while she waited on Percy to come back. He was a really likable
kid. It was a shame his mother had died already. He seemed to still need a
mother’s special kind of love. She heard a twig snap and her head jerked
upward, to the hill above the camp. She saw movement and quickly ducked back
into the doctor’s tent.
Dr. Wilkes stood
in the middle of the tent with a gun pointed at Percy. “Good, I don’t have to
go collect you now.” He gestured with the gun for her to join the kid. She
slowly complied, trying to think of an escape, but there wasn’t one.
“What’s going
on?”
“You’re a smart
girl, figure it out.” He said snidely.
“You’re one of
them, aren’t you?”
“What do we have
for her, Johnny?” He asked sarcastically.
Wyatt stepped
through the tent just then, his gun out and pointed at the doctor. “Let them go
and put the gun down.”
The doctor’s face
fell and he began to lower his gun, until someone else entered the tent. It was
a man Lily hadn’t seen before, but he was holding a gun, too.
“No, you put
down your gun.”
Wyatt stood his
ground and the stranger began to pull back on the trigger. “Hold on.” He
lowered the gun and dropped it to the tent floor.
Lily wondered
where Nanny was and hoped she didn’t come through the door, too.
“Okay, let’s get
out of here.” The man standing by the door looked out, and then gestured for
them to leave ahead of him. Wyatt, Percy and Lily followed him out, while the
doctor took up the rear, holding his gun under a jacket.
They were led
through the camp, and no one noticed anything amiss. The last two days had
taken their toll on every citizen of the U.S. and they were all tired, thinking
the worst had already happened.
A tear of sorrow
rolled down Lily’s cheek as she walked in between Percy and Wyatt, her protectors. What would happen to them
now?
