Nik and Julia came home the following day, where they explained to their families what had transpired in Washington. Julia's kids had a lot of questions.
"What does this mean for all of us, Mom?" asked Rachel. "Are you going to be gone a lot now?"
"Hopefully, I won't be gone any more than I am with my other job, but this is more dangerous," Julia said; "We will be making some changes in our routine."
"Like what?" asked Miri.
"Uncle Jere and I talked about having Rachel and Aaliyah start weapons and survival training now, instead of waiting until they're ten like we did for the rest of you," said Julia; "Miri and Jaime, you'll be getting refresher training, just to test your skills; Zach will continued to be trained by Nik with Adam and Daniel. Peter needs to recover fully before he'll be able to train again. I'll start training Rachel and Aaliyah starting early tomorrow morning."
"Are you going to do that dropping them off in a random place in the woods and making them find their way home thing, Mom?" asked Jaime.
"Not right away," Julia said; "they need the basics before that can happen."
"Mom, can I still be trained on the crossbow?" asked Zach.
"I think we can arrange that, Zach," said Julia; "since you were so good with it at camp. I know someone who is good with the crossbow and may be available to train you."
"It won't be you or Uncle Nik or Uncle Jere?" asked Miri.
"I can use a standard bow," Julia said; "but I'm far from an expert. The person I have in mind is a certified archery instructor. I just have to find out if he's available right now."
"Cool!" said Zach excitedly.
"Now, though," Julia said; "I'm tired and it's getting late. Zach, Jaime and Rachel, you need to be getting ready for bed. Miri, you should probably be thinking about heading to bed. We're all getting up early tomorrow for training."
"Yes, Mom," her kids chimed in almost simultaneously.
As her children headed upstairs to prepare for bed, Julia sat at the bar and knew she, too, would have to go to bed early. The household routine was definitely going to change. Everyone was going to have to adapt to the new schedules.
This was her childhood all over again, except this time, she was the parent with the firearms and survival skills. She was living her guardian's life; Preparing her children to be able to handle anything.
Their very survival, as individuals and as a family, would depend on it.
Chastity lay sated in bed; beside her, yet another man whose sole job it was to keep her satisfied. He still slept, unaware of her plans for him.
She looked at him, thinking, so sorry but you have ceased to remain useful to me. You'll never know what hit you when you leave here, darlin'.
She had immediate plans for when he woke up, and she hastened that by grinding her crotch against his leg. Chastity literally watched as he got hard, even before he was fully awake.
"Damn, baby, you want more?" he asked sleepily;
"Mmm hmmm," Chastity purred.
He was exhausted from their fuckfest from the night before, but when Chastity Edwards wants something, he knew enough to give it to her. In his case, it was just his hardness she wanted.
And he gave it to her. He went at her until he thought he was going to drop dead where he was. He was sure his dick would probably fall off, too. He'd never been so worked over by a woman in his life. He enjoyed every second of it.
He just didn't know that his seconds were severely limited.
Later, after they had showered together and had breakfast, he went back to his apartment to await her next call.
He never made it.
Chastity had spiked his coffee with an untraceable poison. He'd die of a heart attack at twenty-six years old while riding his motorcycle.
An hour after he left, one of Chastity's female deputies came in to inform her of the man's demise.
"Poor thing," Chastity said with fake sincerity; "So young and strong, too. Inform his family, Krysta."
"Yes, miss."
Chastity just smiled her evil smile. Even people were expendable in Chastity's world.
Also in Chastity's world, she, too was expendable. Her demise would come at the hands of someone she had learned to forget existed.
But, not even they knew it yet.
"Kelly? Could you come here a moment, please?"
"Yes, Grandfather," the sixteen year old said.
Eric Hope sat in the kitchen of the small house he and his wife owned on the lake. His wife had died a couple of years before, and he was raising his granddaughter, Kelly, alone. His son, Dylan, was thirty four with a family of his own. Kelly's mother, Kathryn, hadn't been heard from since she was eighteen. She'd be thirty-one now, Eric thought.
The girl, the spitting image of her grandmother, walked into the kitchen, where her grandfather was preparing breakfast.
"You asked for me, Grandfather?" she asked.
"Yes, Kelly," Eric said. "We need to talk about your college plans."
"Like where I'm going to school?"
"Yes," said Eric; "Which of the schools have sent acceptance letters?"
Kelly sat down as Eric served breakfast, then said, "All of them except the one I really want to go to. I'm still hoping to receive one from them as well."
"Which school is that?"
"Northwestern, outside of Chicago," Kelly said.
"What about Northwestern appeals to you, Kel?" asked Eric.
"It's not here, for one thing," Kelly said; "And for another, it has an excellent Biological Sciences department."
"You still want to study Chemistry and Biology?"
"Yes," said Kelly; "Maybe I can parlay that into a graduate program in Psychology."
"Then why not stay on the east coast and go to one of the Ivy League schools?" asked Eric; "Then apply for a graduate program at Tufts or somewhere?"
"Grandfather," Kelly began; "I've never been out of New York State. There's a whole wide world out there I want to see. It's not that I don't want to stay here and go to school, but there's more to this world than Buffalo and Syracuse."
"You do have a point, Kelly," Eric said; "And you should go to school wherever you want. I'm sorry if I make sound like I want to keep you on a leash."
"Grandfather, I'm not my mother," Kelly said; "I'm not going to turn into some nymphomanical ne'er do well if you allow me to explore more of my environment. I have more sense than that. I just want a good education, and I want to go where I think the best options are."
Eric looked at her. She wasn't her mother, who had literally abandoned her daughter at birth for Eric and his wife Helene to raise. He just wanted to protect Kelly from all the evil influences that ruined her mother. He didn't even know where Kathryn was, or even if she was still alive. Kelly wasn't interested in meeting her mother. As far as Kelly Clare Hope was concerned, the people who raised her were her parents.
Kelly was interested in meeting the man who impregnated a fifteen year old girl. What kind of man takes advantage of a child that way? she always asked herself. She had asked her grandfather when she was twelve to try and find him. Eric did try to find out, but all he knew about the man is that he was married and lived in a New York City suburb.
Back at the kitchen table where Kelly was finishing breakfast, Eric decided that Kelly would go to school where she wanted to go, and not where he wanted her to go. He had been overprotective of Kelly her entire life. He even interviewed the teenage boys who wanted to date Kelly. All Eric wanted for Kelly was for her to be a well adjusted, normal teenage girl. Whatever he had done wrong with Kathryn, he wanted to make sure that he did right by Kelly and that she had a solid family life.
She was growing up, and Eric knew he had to let his little dove fly from the nest.
Niki woke up one morning about two weeks into her treatment to find something laying on her pillow.
A clump of her own hair.
She instinctively put her hand on her head, trying to feel for the spot where it had fallen out from. Not finding an obvious bald spot, she sighed in relief.
She got up from the bed and padded into the bathroom and looked at herself in the mirror.
Niki thought she looked gaunt. She had lost more weight after gaining about ten pounds. Her shoulder legnth hair was mussed from sleep, but still there, the clump she found on the pillow not withstanding.
Picking up a hair brush, Niki started to brush her hair. When she pulled the brush away, it was filled with more of her hair.
Oh, this isn't good, Niki thought. But it's to be expected. I'm not going to buzz my head quite yet. I don't look forward to adopting Dad's bald look.
As she left the bathroom, she went back to the bedroom to get dressed. Nothing really fit her anymore. Her own clothes were too big, and Drake's even larger. She and her mother had gone into town to get Niki some clothes that did fit. She was shocked when she fit into a size four pair of jeans. She'd never worn anything smaller than a ten. T-shirts were impossible to find. Not many stores carried extra small, so she bought smalls, and even those were too big. But they worked.
Even her bra size was smaller than it was before. She had been blessed with a generous bosom for her build, but when she bought the smallest B-cup bra, she almost cried. She almost called her sister Julia to ask if she could borrow her clothes. Julia was a smaller build than either Niki or her twin, Kimber. Julia was also shorter at five-three, while Niki and Kimber were five-seven.
"I have to call them and tell them what's going on with me," Niki said aloud as she dressed. She then put on one of her UT sweatshirts because, despite the fact that it was July in Texas and therefore the weather was in triple digits more often than not, she was always cold.
Drake was working his landscaping job during the day, and hanging out in the entertainment district three nights a week doing charactures of the tourists that flock to Austin every year for ten dollars each. Some nights, he came home with hundreds of dollars, and some nights, made enough to buy dinner.
He took good care of Niki even when she wasn't fighting leukemia, and was always there for her when she needed him.
Niki only wished she wasn't sick.
Early the next morning, as promised, all of Julia, Nik, and Jeremiah's kids were up ready for training.
Julia honestly thought that Rachel and Aaliyah would freak out at the idea of having to shoot a gun, but both girls were okay with it. Julia started with safety basics, something that Peter had taught her when she was younger than the two girls who sat before her in the living room.
"You won't be handling a real gun for a few days," Julia said; "For now, we'll go over safety and rules that must be followed. We'll also do survival training. In three months, you should be able to shoot at a target accuately, disassemble and reassemble a handgun, load the gun properly, and navigate through the woods using only a compass. After that, we'll test you to see how you do, then go on to the next step."
"The first rule is assume that any gun is loaded," Rachel said. "And never point it at another person unless you are going to shoot him."
"Yes, Rachel," Julia said; "That's the first rule."
"Never leave a gun where little kids can get to it," Aaliyah said; "Dad is always telling Adam and Arielle that."
"Right, Aaliyah," Julia said; "And never, ever use a gun as a toy. The guns you'll be using are not toys. That's why we assume every gun is loaded. If it even has one bullet in the chamber, it's loaded."
They've got some things down already because of their older siblings, Julia thought. Peter started training the four of us at the same time.
Julia wished she could talk to Peter and ask him questions she never thought to ask when she was still a girl. However, Julia was determined to make Rachel and Aaliyah the best markswomen they can be.
Events were going to get ugly in a hurry, though Julia didn't know it yet.
Jack enjoyed the weekly emails that Julia sent about what was going on in her life. He felt like he knew her kids better through their mother's description of them.
Miri was confident and self assured, but not cocky about it. Jack got the impression that the girl was a lot like his daughter Celine. What surprised Jack was how tall Miri was. At 15, she was already five-foot-nine.
Jaime was the mischief maker, and loved telling jokes. She knew when to be serious, and serious she was when it came to her studies and her handling of firearms.
Zach was a typical ten year old boy. He thought girls at school were silly. He was good at math and science. He liked using a crossbow as well as firearms. "I'm trying to get in touch with a crossbow instructor I know, but I can't seem to reach him," Julia had said in her latest email. "Zach had been exposed to archery at camp, and he really likes it."
Rachel, the youngest of Julia's children, was small and petite like her mother. "I don't think she'll be as tall as me," Julia said in her email; "After spending the first three months of her life in the hospital, she's never been considered big for her age. If she hits five-feet, I'll be happy."
Julia had told Jack about her meeting with Darren Dixon, the CIA Director. "I have no idea where he got his information, but as I told you on the phone, he knows our secret. So now, I'm working for him, and for DHS. This will be interesting."
He knew that his feelings for Julia were still as strong as ever. If ever she needed him for anything, he would be there for her and her family.
He just didn't know it would be sooner than either of them thought.
II
"Aunt Julia," said Aaliyah one morning about a month after she and Rachel started their firearms training; "Are we going to be getting up this early every morning?"
"Yes, we are, Aaliyah," Julia said. "When school starts up again later this month, then this will take place before you go to school."
"Okay, I just wondered."
"Dragging your behind, Aaliyah?" asked Julia.
"A little, but Dad says I have to suck it up if I want to be as good as you are," she said.
"Dad's right, sweetheart," Julia said; "Anything worth learning is worth getting up early for. We had to do it when we were growing up, and I was younger than you and Rachel are now."
"Wow, Mom," Rachel chimed in as she ate breakfast; "you were younger than we are now?"
"I was five, Uncle Nik and Uncle Jeremiah were eight, and Uncle Joe was six when our guardian, Peter, started training us," Julia said. "And we had trouble getting up at 5am, too. But we were homeschooled, so Kiera could let us sleep in if we wanted to after training."
"That won't work with Rachel, Aunt Julia," Aaliyah said as she grabbed a bowl of oatmeal from the pot on the stove; "She goes to a real school; Dad homeschools me and Arielle and Adam."
"What about Adriana?" asked Rachel.
"She goes to the Academy," Aaliyah said; "We'll get to go when we're fifteen, or we can 'test out'."
"What's 'test out'?" asked Rachel.
"Aaliyah means that when she's fifteen," Julia explained; "she can take a test the state of Illinois gives to homeschool students and if she passes, she gets her high school diploma."
"At fifteen?" Rachel asked.
"Yes, Rachel. That's what I did," said Julia. "I graduated from high school at fifteen years and six months of age."
"Can I do that?" asked Rachel.
"I have been thinking about homeschooling you, Jaime and Zach after Miri goes to college next year," Julia said.
"So Miri doesn't get to get homeschooled?"
"What you don't know, Rachel," Julia said; "is that Miri was homeschooled from ages four to eight. Dad and I put her in school when she was eight because you had such a rough start after you were born. Jaime was going to go to kindergarten anyway, so we sent both of them. Miri would have been in third grade according to her age, but when she was tested, she went into fifth grade instead."
"I didn't know that, Aunt Julia," said Aaliyah. "I know that Miri is really smart."
"That she is, Aaliyah," Julia said; "Now, ladies, Uncle Nik will be here in a few minutes to teach you about how to use the compass in finding your way in the forest, so be ready when he gets here."
"Okay," they both said.
Chastity held a meeting of her top deputies to discuss "The Triad" problem.
"I want these fuckers off our backs!" said Chastity forcefully; "What are we going to do to get rid of them?"
"Miss, I think we will have to threaten their children and spouses," a deputy said; "We can start with Julia Summers. She has no spouse to protect her, so she may be vulnerable."
"She's also the 'SpineSplitter', you dope," Chastity said. "She not intimidated by threats to herself. She'll protect her children at all costs. Next!"
"Her youngest child is eight years old," another deputy said; "She was born prematurely and may have trouble keeping up with her older and healthier siblings. I think we should target the weak link in the family."
"I like it," Chastity said; "And how are we going to target the weak link?"
"She goes to a nearby elementary school, we could snatch her at school," the deputy suggested.
"The schools there are too well protected," Chastity said; "That's Draiman's fault. Then the Interim President Christine Collins-Ross made it a law that schools are to have security measures in place to prevent what you're suggesting. No, we'd have to get her at home." She paused, thinking her usual evil and self centered thoughts, then,"Perhaps, we could threaten to kill her if her mother doesn't agree to stop working for the CIA. No one's going to miss a sickly child."
"The girl's name is Rachel Regina Summers," a female deputy said; "She was born July 1, 2026. As was mentioned, she was premature. Her original due date was September 30th. She's small for her age. She currently attends Sixth Street School as a fourth grader."
"And our agents in Chicago are ready to put this into motion?" asked Chastity.
"Yes, miss," the female deputy said; "They're just waiting on word from you."
"Tell them it's a go," Chastity said. "Start immediately. I want that girl gone or her mother sufficiently intimidated in thirty days. Fail, and they know what will happen."
"Yes, miss," the deputies replied.
Chastity ended the meeting. She had no idea that she was about to be faked out by the best.
Julia, Nik, and Jeremiah coordinated their children's training schedules so that if, say, Zach needed to train with the crossbow, then the instructor Julia had contracted with could be there when he needed to be.
The three of them ran their training like a business. Everyone had the same start time, 5am, and training would last up to three hours. Older children could then opt to train longer (especially those who were being homeschooled), or have a full day at school and train for three hours after school. Homework and class projects still could get done after that.
And just like their guardians before them, Julia, Jeremiah and Nik would train the best weapons handlers and survivalists in the country.
Julia was very pleased with Zach's progress with his crossbow training. His instructor, a former Resistance assassin named Jorge Valenzuela, was one of the best archery instructors in the country, and came highly recommended. The crossbow was his specialty, and he found Zach to be an eager and serious student.
"I can't say enough about how good that boy will become, Julia," Jorge said; "I can tell he's practising his lessons because he comes back day after day and blows my mind. I expect that from adults, not from a ten year old boy!"
"He keeps asking me how to get certified," Julia said; "I tell him that he's got plenty of time. As long as he continues to do what you tell him, he'll probably be able to be certified by sixteen."
"If he keeps up at the same pace he's at now," Jorge said; "he'll be certified before that! He'll be among one of the youngest in the country, if not the youngest."
"He likes it, and developing his skills gives him confidence," Julia said; "Not that he didn't have confidence before, but he's definitely his father's son. Ryan was like that, too, except with his computer skills."
"Nik and Jeremiah have been good male role models for him, then," Jorge said.
"Definitely. We treat each other's children like our own," Julia said; "So if one of my kids act up with either one of them, I'll hear about it."
Meanwhile, Zach was out in the woods with Nik, showing his uncle what he has been learning from Jorge.
"Wow, Zach, that's impressive!" said Nik. "And only after a month of training. You really like using the crossbow, don't you?"
"Yes, I do, Uncle Nik," Zach said. "So I can use firearms and archery skills, too, if they're needed."
"It will come in handy with survival training if you have to kill your own dinner," Nik said; "A well placed arrow can bring down even a large buck, and there's no buckshot to remove first before you dress it."
"What about with people, Uncle Nik?" asked Zach;
"An arrow can cause a lot of damage in a human being, Zach," Nik said; "but the goal is to not need to use them to bring down people. If you have no other choice, just like with firearms, if that will get the person who's your adversary to slow down or stop."
"The skills are good to have," Zach said; "I hope that I'll never have to use them against a human adversary."
"I hope so, too, Zach," Nik said, knowing that might not be true for much longer.
III
"David, you're not going to like what I found out about this American Republic Movement," Dan Donegan said.
"Dan, whatever it is, we can deal with it." David said.
"Okay, brother, but you asked for it," said Dan. "Their official literature reads, and I quote: A.R.M. is dedicated to restoring the government that was in place during the first two decades of this century. We believe in the ideals that were set forth by The Committee to Advance the New Government in the year 2000. All members must adhere to these ideals.
"We believe that the bastardization of the Republic is this country's downfall. There are too many mixed race and mixed faith unions, and the children produced from these unions are inferior to children produced in White, Christian, and completely heterosexual unions."
"What the fuck?" David said, interrupting; "So they're saying that people who are not of the same faith or race are inferior to those who are? That's bullshit! That's Hitler's Third fucking Reich!"
"David, I warned you," Dan said; "Shall I continue?"
"Yeah, go ahead," David said. "What else do these weirdos have to say?"
Dan continued: "Our goal is to have a completely Christian state, and anyone who is not Christian, White, or heterosexual will be severly dealt with.
"The so-called 'documents' that supposedly are the blueprint to governing this country are archaic, useless, and meaningless. Our documents will replace those outdated theories, and will govern the country and place it on the right path with the rest of the world.
"In order to do this, we must band together and eliminate the architects of the downfall of the previous incarnation of our movement. Any and all leaders still living will be dealt with by way of harsh punishment for their crimes against the Republic of America.
"We thank you for your interest in the American Republic Movement. The end," said Dan sarcastically. "We've got targets on our backs again it looks like."
"These people are a couple bricks shy of an outhouse," David said. "Don't they know that what the Occupational government did was a misguided attempt of a coup against the legitimately elected government?"
"Doesn't look like it," Dan said. "But maybe we should keep this name on our radar anyway. The leader of this group of misfits is a woman named Chastity Edwards. She's described by several websites as being 'unstable', 'sexually depraved', and 'misguided'."
"You ready to fire up the intel machine again, Danny?" asked David.
"I don't think I have much of a choice," Dan said; "We're the 'architects' of the downfall of the previous incarnation of this group."
"What does Nicole think?"
"I haven't told her about this yet," Dan said; "however, I do know this: there are three people who may have to take up arms again against these morons."
"Julia, Nik and Jeremiah?" asked David; "I know; Julia went with Nik and Jere to Washington about a month ago to speak with the CIA."
"What for?" Dan asked.
"To do just what you said; being pressed into service as assassins again," David said.
"Great," Dan said sullenly. "Like they can't have a life and raise their families in peace?"
"That's what concerns me," David said. "Especially Julia since she's a single parent. That one of these misguided morons will try and exterminate her and her family."
"I'll keep an eye out for anything about this A.R.M., Chastity Edwards, or threats against our families," Dan said. "I just wish this wasn't necessary. I'm too fucking old for this bullshit."
"You and me, both," David said; "Some days, it's a wonder I get any work on my book done, between Niki's illness, and grandchildren, and getting the boys ready for college."
"How is Niki?" asked Dan; "Any good news?"
"She has two weeks left on this chemo cycle, then six weeks off," David said. "So far, other than losing her hair and the treatments making her sick, she seems to be making good progress."
"Well, Justin and Maya wanted me to tell you that if Niki needs a bone marrow transplant, they'll get tested," Dan said.
"Thank them for us," David said; "This has been hard on all of us."
"I'll bet," Dan said.
Dan later ended the call with David and walked back to his study. This shit is getting old, he thought. If I wasn't sixty-six years old, I'd take these creeps out myself.
Niki must have picked up the phone a hundred times to call her sisters to tell them of her illness, and a hundred times, she hung up the phone.
She even rehearsed what she would say to each of them. But she couldn't gather up the courage to tell them.
All I want to do is sleep, she thought as she lay down on the bed, under the thick down comforter that she and Drake used during the winter months. Maybe one time, I'll fall asleep and not wake up.
"Niki, love, what do you want for din..." Drake said as he walked into their bedroom, only to find Niki asleep.
He pulled back the comforter and watched for the rise and fall of Niki's chest as she breathed. Drake always worried that one time he was going to walk into the bedroom and find that Niki had died. The idea of having to tell her parents their daughter was gone terrified him. The idea of Niki no longer being in his life terrified him.
During her six weeks off from treatment, Drake decided he would ask her to marry him. He had bought the ring months before her illness began, because he had planned to ask her in San Antonio before she lost their baby. The ring was too big for her now, but it could be resized if she wanted it to be.
I need you, Niki, he said to her in his thoughts; Please don't leave me here alone without you...
IV
The A.R.M. operative arrived in the woods near Julia's house shortly before sunrise. He just wanted to observe the goings on at the Summers home before he put a plan together.
What he didn't expect was a ten year old boy with a crossbow taking target practice. He was hidden well away from where the boy's target was set up, and watched in awe as the boy hit the target again, and again, and again with accuracy.
In studying his information about Julia Summers, she had one son, Zachary, age ten. Could this be that boy?
He stayed out of sight as an adult came to join the boy. The adult male removed the arrows from the target and praised the boy for his success in achieving accuracy. The adult male addressed the boy by name. Zach.
So this is Julia's only son, the operative mused; He's pretty damn good with that crossbow.
The boy and the man left the area, taking the target with them. Soon, however, the operative saw the familiar form of Julia Summers, followed by two little girls: a tall, biracial girl about nine; and a smaller, petite girl with french-braided red hair. They were soon joined by a very tall, very blond man, who appeared to have military bearing. It was just in the way the man stood that told the operative this.
"Nikolai San Marco," the operative said under his breath.
But, who was the biracial girl, he thought. He then remembered that Jeremiah Donovan was biracial, as was his wife. They had four children; three daughters and a son, just like Julia Summers did. The youngest was a girl named Aaliyah.
What the hell kinda name is Aaliyah? he asked himself. Was this Donovan's youngest daughter?
San Marco handed each girl something and gave them instructions that the operative couldn't hear. Before he knew it, he heard a gun cocked in his ear and a young woman say, "Okay, buster, who the fuck are you and why are you hiding in the woods?"
He turned around to see a dark haired teenage girl wearing military style fatigues. Two teenage boys were with her as well as a younger girl who was about thirteen.
"What should we do with him?" the girl with the gun asked.
"Maybe we should take him to Dad and find out," one of the teenage boys said.
"Look, kids, I'm new around here and I got disoriented," the operative said; "I mean no harm to anyone."
"We'll take you to our father and uncle, mister," the other teenage boy said. "He'll be happy to see that you get on your way."
"I'm much obliged to you," the operative said. "My name's Trevor."
He saw that the four teens in front of him were all business. Then, the younger girl said, "Well, come on. Let's get you out of here."
Nik turned around to the sound of branches being crunched underfoot and saw Daniel, along with Adam, Jaime and Miri with a man he didn't recognize.
"How may I help you?" Nik asked, thinking that the man was stalking Julia's property.
"My name is Trevor Green. I just moved here about a month ago," the operative said; "I couldn't sleep so I came out here to walk around and lost my bearings. I didn't know I was on private property."
"It's not marked as such, but it is," Nik said; "don't worry about it. It happens. Gets very dark in these woods at night and it's very easy to get lost. It's about quarter to six and the sun's just starting to come up."
"I'm on the other side of the highway. I crossed to walk on the other side of the road and went a little deeper into the woods than I was comfortable with," the man calling himself Trevor Green said. "If you'll just point me in the right direction, I think I'll be all right."
"Aaliyah, which way is north?" Nik asked.
Aaliyah looked at her compass and pointed in the direction of north; back towards Julia's house.
"Go south following the treeline," Nik said; "The main road is about a mile and a half from here."
"Thanks, man," Trevor said. "I'll try not to wander onto private property again. I wasn't expecting to have gun-toting teenagers questioning me."
"All the kids here are getting survival training," Nik said. "So we're out here every morning for about three hours. They're just doing what they've been taught."
"It's a good skill to have," Trevor said in agreement; "I'll be on my way. Thanks for setting me back in the right direction, Mister..."
"Nik," Nik said; "Nik San Marco. And you're welcome, Trevor."
Soon the stranger was headed back towards the main road. Nik, however, had his doubts about the man's story. It was that sixth sense thing again.
He got out his pocket tablet computer. He typed the name the man gave him into the search engine, and Nik was surprised that so many entries came up. Trevor wasn't a common name.
"I knew it!" he said under his breath.
Nik saw a picture of the man he just sent back through the woods; clicking on it brought up a familiar website.
It was the website for the American Republic Movement; Trevor Green, which was the man's real name, was a member of the movement to restore the Occupational government.
"Jules?" he called to Julia.
"Yeah, Nik?"
"You're being stalked," Nik said as he showed her the picture of the man who had been "lost" in the woods.
"Shit!" Julia said so that Rachel and Aaliyah couldn't hear. "That means he'll probably be back at some point."
Nik then saw something he hadn't seen in nearly sixteen years.
Julia allowing the assassin within her to emerge.
No comments:
Post a Comment