Confusion
CJ Day
Smashwords ebook published by Fideli Publishing Inc.
© Copyright 2011, C.J. Day
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ISBN: 978-1-60414-385-0
Prologue
The Avengers brought their planes into the hangar that was buried deep inside the mountain. At the same time, canopies popped open. Their occupants jumped to the floor, and the young pilots ran into the operations room.
“sir, did you see where Kelly went down? Can you track her?” Jamie Adams ran to the satellite image on the wall screen. His wife’s jet had been shot down in a fierce battle. She had already taken down the four jets that were on her six. Then from out of nowhere, a missile was launched and hit her plane.
Commander David Martin turned to his son-in-law with tears on his face. His seventeen-year-old daughter had just gone down in a war zone. There was no beacon flashing, only a jet in flames on the desert floor. “We haven’t found her, son. We’re still looking.”
Kevin stood behind his wife, Teri, and caught her as she passed out. “Ah, Teri ,” he sighed. “I’ll be back, Dad.” Kevin picked Teri up and ran to the medical floor. Kevin was Kelly’s older brother. Teri was Kelly’s best friend.
Keith met them and groaned. “They haven’t found her?” he cried. Keith was Kelly’s baby brother. They spent Keith’s first ten years of life inside a bunker that their father bought and refurbished. A mutant virus had been released as a biological weapon. Their mother died of that virus at the foot of that mountain delivering Keith. Kelly (KJ, for short) had been Keith’s surrogate mother. At the age of six, she took over caring for an infant born with the disease, and she and Kevin both contracted the virus while caring for the baby. They spent three years in isolation — three long years of fighting a disease and bonding as a family. They were different. Kelly has survived several exposures. When they relocated to Nevada, she almost died from the side effects of newly exposed mutants. The government was at it again. They were creating a super army now. Their warriors were eight foot tall and lethal. Kelly did become powerful — more than any of the other avengers — but she never grew. She was five foot tall and almost ninety pounds of pure muscle. She was lethal. She was known as the “avenging angel” but she was so much more than that. She was a friend, a daughter, a wife, a mother to their eight-month-old daughter and guardian to even more. She made the avengers the unit that they needed to be …
“No, brother” Kevin ran into medical and lay Teri down on a gurney. “Sarah, Kelly is down and Teri passed out. Can you take care of her for me?”
Sarah stared at Kevin. Both brothers looked like they were in shock. “Go boys, I’ve got her!” she said quickly and took over while the brothers ran to get back to the operations room. “Teri, come on honey. You need to wake up now,” Sarah said gently. The avengers had been in a heated battle, and Teri had given it everything she had. All of the kids were exhausted both mentally and physically. Teri and Kelly were like sisters. Sarah understood. When they lost Kelly’s mother, Cara, it about killed her. She and Cara had been like twins. Kelly was the very image of her mother, and Sarah loved her dearly.
Teri woke and realized that she was down in medical and sat up abruptly. “KELLY!”
“Teri, calm down. This isn’t going to help, honey. Jamie and the children are going to need you guys.” She quickly gave Teri a booster shot and had her take a pain wafer. “Let’s go see what’s going on, okay?” Sarah studied Teri’s face for a few minutes. “Are you going to be okay for that? The children are still in classes, and we still have time to do be part of the rescue effort.”
“There was no beacon, Sarah! Kelly’s gone! Oh God, I’ve lost my sister!” Teri sobbed as Sarah held her. Sarah stared at Jamie’s mother, Julie, and Teri’s mother, Lora, who were standing in the doorway.
Lora ran to her daughter’s side. “I have her, Sarah. They need you in the operations room. Some of the guys have injuries that they are ignoring right now.”
“I will stay with them, Sarah. Go ahead honey.” Julie said gently. She could see that Sarah was torn. “The other avengers need you”
Sarah nodded and turned Teri over to her mother and ran for the door. “I don’t feel like she is gone, Teri. I don’t know why,” she whispered and ran to the elevator. When the door shut, she stared at the wall and continued speaking to herself. “But I just know that she hasn’t left us yet.” She didn’t notice the tears streaming down her face. She didn’t care. Kelly had too much to live for. She wouldn’t have gone down that easily.
* * * * *
“Everyone, please sit down, and we will replay the mission.” Harvey Hunter, the second in command and Sarah’s husband stood at the head of the conference. “We will begin the search, but let’s listen one more time to what went down while Sarah treats your injuries.” The avengers and the elders sat down as one of the Navajo ladies ran around serving coffee and high protein snacks. Kelly’s father sat with his face in his hands, trying to regain his composure. To hear it all over again was going to be a nightmare…
The commander looked at the kids solemnly. “Avengers, those missiles were being shot from the ground. All of the jets in the area had been shot down. That’s why I called you back. I’m sorry, but we have to know where the silos are that hold all of those missiles. It was like you were flying in a mine field.” David saw that Jamie was shaking. It had to be the hardest thing in the world for the young man to turn back and follow orders. Harvey hit the replay on the mission and fast-forwarded it to where the mission went wrong:
“Angel One, bank left,” the commander ordered, and Kelly quickly corrected her position. He had never seen anyone fly at such speed with so much accuracy until the avengers were formed. Kelly made the turn and then flew at a mountain at mach one. “Pull up! Pull up now, Angel One!”
“I’m pulling up NOW!” Kelly answered. She shot a missile into the mountain and went vertical. The flying debris almost caught her. The two jets behind her exploded into one another. “FACE, you cretins …!” They heard her yell, and she went back into action. She hurried to catch up with her little brother who was trying desperately to outrun one of Hawthorne’s tricked out jets. Jamie flew beside her. “I’ve got this one, Jamie, go help Kevin.”
“Copy.” Jamie broke off and watched as Kelly shadowed the jet below her. He was pretty sure that they weren’t even aware that Kelly was behind them. Man, she was good!
“Go vertical, Keith!” She yelled and grinned when her baby brother jerked his plane upward, and then she released the missile and took the plane out.
“Thanks!” Keith wheezed.
“Keith, use your inhaler!” Kelly told him quickly. So many of the kids that had been born with the disease were asthmatics.
“Copy!” he answered as she pulled away and continued the chase.
They flew over Nellis AFB and dropped bomb after bomb. Everyone was yelling as the many planes that Hawthorne had accumulated went up in flames.
“CRAP!” Kelly cried as she saw four jets dead on her tail. “Guys, I might need some help here.”
“We’re coming,” the avengers answered in unison.
In the operations room, the elders watched, holding their breath. “Angel One, get out of there! Do not engage! Leave now!” The commander yelled into the com.
“Don’t … think … I have a … choice … Dad.” Kelly’s speech was broken.
“Angel One, have you been hit?” Jamie yelled as he closed the distance. He saw in horror as two of the planes went down in flames. Kelly was maneuvering and going vertical and coming back from behind and blowing the jets out of the sky. She didn’t answer.
“Kelly! Have you been hit?” He cried again.
They all watched as Kelly went down. She had taken out the last two planes, but from somewhere a missile had been lodged from the ground. “NO!” Everyone yelled in unison. The chatter was rapid. Everyone talked at once.
“AVENGERS! Return to base now!” David Martin yelled over the uproar. Missiles were flying from every direction and the commander knew if he didn’t get the kids out of there, they would all die. “That is an order! Return to base!” He watched in relief as the planes made the turn and headed back. No one spoke until they were outside of the bunker.
“Base, this is Angel Three. Permission to enter, sir.” Kevin said quietly.
“Permission granted. Come to the operations room as soon as you land, and the maintenance crew will go over your planes.” David slammed his fist into the wall as he lost it for a moment. He knew it was hopeless, but he couldn’t give up hope.
“Angel One, do you copy?” Harvey was on the com. “Angel One, can you read this?”
The only answer was radio static. Kelly never responded.
Jamie stood up and walked over to the monitor. The avengers watched in silence while he tried to regain control. His wife was out there somewhere — injured and alone. He shook his head and turned around in tears. “I know what it looks like, but I still feel her. I don’t know how; I don’t know why. I just know that Kelly is not dead.”
The others quietly looked at him and said nothing. Sarah had treated the last avenger and then walked over to Jamie. When she turned to look at the others, she made a decision. “I think Jamie is right. Cara and I had this connection, okay? We were like sisters, and Kelly has become a daughter to me. I have felt it stronger on each mission. I know when Kelly is hurt, and I think I would know otherwise. I felt when Cara left us.” Sarah looked at her husband. “Harvey, you know that I’m telling the truth. I fell in the middle of the clinic and knew instantly that Cara had left this world.” Her chin quivered but she jutted it out and tried to control her tears. “She’s hurt — she’s hurt badly — but she is alive, and you have to go find her!”
Jamie wrapped his arm around their favorite doctor. He pulled her close and let Sarah cry for once. She had always been there to patch them up and comfort them when they needed it. Now she needed the comfort. Jamie sighed. He understood that Kelly meant a lot to their community. “I’m going after Kelly, sir.”
Kevin stood up and joined them, and Keith followed. His sons were pale and shaken. He knew that the avengers would be united, but the three of his kids had a bond that was not something breakable. They were always there for one another, no matter what. “Sorry Dad. We’re going too,” Keith whispered, and his father stared at them. He remembered losing his wife. He was there, delivered his youngest son and watched as his wife faded away from him.
“We have to get her back, Dad. She’s injured.” Keith added.
“I know there is no reason for you to believe us.” Kevin hated to go against his father.
“No, Son. I feel it too. We need to be smart though. We will keep scanning and looking for her. All of you need to shower and spend time with family. Take a nap. We’ll get started as soon as the sun starts to fade.
“She could die by then!” Jamie roared.
“Yes. She could die by then, Jamie. But if you take a plane out now, you will be gone also. The sky is full of Hawthorne’s planes, and they are looking for you. I don’t know how to get you there any quicker.” David walked over to the monitor again. “We will scan every image, and we will find her if she is out there.” They left the operations room angry. They knew that the commander was right, but it didn’t matter. Jamie left them all and ran to get the kids. He was going to make this quick and talk to Mika. He was not waiting until dark. He had to do something.
CHAPTER ONE
The first thing I felt was pain. My head, my back, arms, legs — everything hurt. I tried to sit up and couldn’t. I looked up at the sky and saw jets flying over. Where? I looked to my left painfully and then back to the right. I had to be in a desert somewhere, but why? What am I doing here? Why am I in pain? Hell. Who am I?
I half crawled to a boulder and painfully pulled myself into a sitting position. I looked down at my legs and there were burnt packs strapped to them. As I pulled them off, I carefully stripped off the flight suit to look at the dive suit that was under them. What? I looked into the charred packs and found containers. One container said, “inside heal,” so I took one. Another was called “no pain wafers.” Hey! That sounded like a winner, so I popped two of them in my mouth and studied the rest of the contents. There were antibiotic wafers and “outside healing” wafers. Wow! Whoever I am. I carry some cool stuff.
It was hot. Man, the sun was killing me. Since I was feeling a little better, I couldn’t figure out why I was wearing a diving suit. What the heck? I stripped down to a suit that was dark green and had gold wings and the name “Angel” stitched on the left side. I’m an angel? Huh? I don’t think so. Maybe that’s my name. It doesn’t sound right, but oh well. The suit was coming off. No wonder I was so hot! Jeez! Underneath the suit, I wore a tank top and shorts. It was a relief to strip down to the bare essentials, but exhausting. I saw a little cavern about thirty yards ahead and quickly picked up what I had with me and half walked, half crawled to the cavern.
There was a pack of glow sticks in the survival kit, and I wasn’t sure how I knew what they were. Somehow I understood now that the green suit was some kind of bulletproof armor, and I knew what each pack meant — what it was for. So, why didn’t I know who I was? Where did I live? Was anyone looking for me? I snapped one of the glow sticks and a light green glowed inside the small cavern. I found a flat spot around the curve of a rock and somehow knew that I didn’t want to be found by the wrong people. Okay…who were the wrong people?
There was a survivor pack, and there were syringes with dark fluid in them. The food looked the best. I had no idea what the injections were for and decided to not use them. The needles were mean looking. They were stainless steel, short and looked like something you wouldn’t use on a human, more like on some animal with a tough hide. I ate and took some more of the wafers and lay myself out flat and straight. I’m not sure why. Somehow, I thought I would heal while I slept. That would be nice. I found myself chuckling at my joke and grinned at the ceiling like an idiot. “Maybe I’m a comedian,” I laughed and told the ceiling. “Yeah right!” My eyes closed and I fell into a deep sleep. The pain was gone and so was the confusion for the moment. The darkness was welcomed, and I was at peace. I dreamed of an ocean and a big boat. There was a really handsome man in my dreams. Young and handsome, and he had the most beautiful aqua colored eyes that I had ever seen …
I seriously had no idea why I was dreaming of a man. I had no idea how old I was, but I knew I was small. Was I kid? I doubt it. Maybe I am a midget. The dreams were full of mystery. There were guys with brilliant green eyes and white blonde hair, and there were girls that seemed to be friends. One was a brunette that was petite and pretty. She seemed like my best friend in the whole world, but I didn’t know her name. How weird. The others were pretty, and all of the others had brilliant sapphire blue eyes that were beautiful but different. There were children in my dream and a little bitty thing that called me “mama.” Isn’t that a kick? She was so pretty! She looked like a little angel with blonde curly hair and brilliant green eyes. She had long dark curled eyelashes, high cheekbones, a turned up little pug nose, big dimples and a beautiful little mouth. She talked! Now, this is really a dream folks! This little baby talked! Her voice sounded like crystal bells and chimes not of this world. Somehow, I could see into this child’s soul, and she was beautiful to the core, filled with love. There were other children too. A little brunette girl with big blue eyes, a little brunette boy with the same big blue eyes who could be her twin, and then a little boy that was full of energy. These children? They looked like that beautiful man that I had dreamed about. The eyes were different, but he had to be their brother or Dad. This is so strange! Why am I dreaming of people that I don’t know?
* * * * *
I woke abruptly and listened. I thought I heard something outside of this cave that I had crawled in, maybe hours ago. Man, I am so confused! Who the heck am I?
I heard shuffling, and braced myself against the wall of the cave and reached for the gun that I had laid next to the glow stick that was not radiating any light now. I had to be out for a while. How long did those things last? It was dark inside the cave, and no light was shining from the outside. Obviously, I had slept for hours.
“Dirk, I don’t think the angel could survive that. Ghost or not, nothing lived through that crash!” a deep voice said quietly.
“Hawthorne wants her body.” The guy called “Dirk” answered. “I say ‘good riddance,’ but no, the jerk has to have the proof.”
“This is bull, man. Is he out here in this godforsaken desert looking for the charred remains of an angel? Come on. Let’s go back.” The guy stomped into the cavern, and I held my breath. He turned and walked right back out. “She isn’t here!”
“Okay, let’s keep looking then.” The voices faded as the guys walked away from the cavern. I sat quietly and listened, but before long, I didn’t hear anything else. I broke another glow stick and threw it out in the middle, and then tried to stand up.
“Pop, pop, pop!” Whoa, is that me? I looked around, and evidently, I was the one making all of the popping sounds. Crap! I stretched and popped, first one way, and then another, and when the popping finally stopped, I started laughing hysterically. Yeah, I was a little sore, but the excruciating pain was gone! How cool! I actually healed in my sleep! Maybe I am an angel! I sat in the middle of the floor and laughed like a total idiot. “You are losing it!” I told myself out loud, and then laughed even harder. I wiped the tears from my face and picked up my pack. I stood up lost in thought. Obviously, it was not going to be safe around here, and I needed to get out of here while leaving was still possible. I still had a watch on, and it was two o’clock in the morning. I had three hours before it started to get light outside, so I needed to move in the shadows and get as far away from here as possible. I had another object on my right wrist, and I couldn’t figure out what it was. There was a flashing light on it. For lack of a better idea, I decided I would attempt to head toward the beacon it produced and see what the flashing light represented. It may be a trap, but I didn’t have a better idea, so — oh well!
As I eased outside, the air was actually pretty cold. I hurried and pulled on the angel suit and carried the rest of the stuff. The flight suit that I had been wearing was pretty charred but I figured I could use pieces of it for something. I was warmer and I thought once I got moving, I would warm up even more. I jogged a little ways and realized that moving felt pretty good, so I ran. Then I ran faster and faster. Holy Crap! The desert floor became a blur, and the mountains that were far away from where I woke up were right in front of me! No wonder they were looking for me! I was some kind of freaking comic book character like wonder woman or superman! This is so cool.
I decided to test out this newfound power, and I took off running and jumped — and was shocked. I was on top of the first ledge on the mountain. Whoa! I had to be thirty feet up from where I had stood! That’s really not possible, is it? Am I dreaming? Who the hell am I? What am I?
I heard helicopters and quickly found a crevice to hide in. Whoever Hawthorne was, he sounded like someone that I didn’t want to find me. I looked down and saw six huge human beings. Hey! Am I still on planet earth? People weren’t that big, were they? I don’t know, but maybe I am this fast because I’m supposed to be able to outrun those things down there. If not, that’s what I’m going to be using the speed for because I’m pretty sure those monsters down there can break me like a toothpick. It doesn’t matter if somehow I heal quickly or if those healing wafers are wonder drugs. Those guys are just too dang big!
I leapt from one ledge to another because it looked easier than climbing. The time flew by, and I was shocked when I looked at the watch again to see that it was already five o’clock. It was still dark out, and clouds covered the sky and then lightning started lighting up the sky. I heard a rumble, and then the sky opened up dropping bucket loads of ice water down on me. I grabbed the flat container and made a funnel out of the plastic in my backpack quickly. I used the survival pack, found the collapsing cup, filled it up and drank cup after cup of water, freezing my insides as well as my skin; but I was so dehydrated, I just didn’t care. The rain stopped almost as abruptly as it started. Still, I had managed to fill a gallon jug and four water bottles, so I was pretty happy with myself. As the sun started to rise, I stood on the top of the mountain and looked around. The beacon on the wrist unit still seemed far away, and I knew that I would have to find somewhere to stay as I headed toward it. All that I could think of was that the beacon represented whatever base I came from, like a homing beacon — and home was far away from here. It was going to take a long time to get there — forever on foot. So, I needed to find somewhere to stay during the daytime until I got out of this desert. Then I needed to travel at night to try to avoid those huge men that seemed to be tracking me. I was pretty sure that they weren’t the good guys. I wasn’t about to ask them for directions, okay?
Suddenly, I felt something or someone behind me. I turned quickly and then forgot to breathe for a while. Six of the biggest wolves that I had ever seen were sitting there and staring right at me. Wait! Have I actually seen wolves before in person? “Um ... Hello. I come in peace,” I whispered. I was too afraid to move. The big gray one walked toward me, and I didn’t know whether to run or stay put. Frozen on the spot, I just stood there like an idiot. Was I lunch? The gray wolf sat in front of me and then — I kid you not — held out a paw to shake. Okay, now this is just too weird. Am I “wolf girl” or something? I squatted down and looked the big dog in the eye. Hey, I figured if he were going to eat me, he already would have. Correct?
“They called me angel, and I really don’t know who I am. I evidently crashed a plane or something, but I don’t remember anything.” I sat on the ground and stared at the wolf. “And I’m talking to a wolf, I have to find a place to hide in during the daylight hours.”
I realized the other wolves had come and sat behind the big gray. This wolf had the most intelligent eyes. It was like he understood me. He got up, barked and then walked toward the side of the ledge on the mountain. The other wolves followed him. He turned and looked at me again and then took off running, so I followed the head of the pack. I’m not sure that they were all that easy to follow but it didn’t take too much effort to keep up with him. We ran — well I jumped a lot — down into one valley and into the other and kept going. I listened for planes and kept an eye on my watch. I had to get to cover soon.
I realized when the gray wolf tucked behind a rock that helicopters were coming. I followed the wolves quickly and eased inside a cavern. Six helicopters whistled past us. They were really quiet and looked like something futuristic, not like any helicopters that I had in whatever memory that was left. The things whizzed by like jets. Maybe I am on another planet, one that has wolves on it. Let’s face it — the size of those guys that I saw? They were not normal human beings. If they were, I am a midget, and I’m in big trouble here.
The wolves stared at me for a few minutes. I don’t know if they know who or what I am either, but they seemed to be dodging the Incredible Hulk guys down there as much as I was.
The big gray barked again and jogged into the cavern and through to another tunnel-like space that went on forever. I stayed behind them. It was dark inside, but every so often, there were small openings letting in light. I was finally getting tired. I stopped under one of the lights and realized it was already noon. We had run in and out of one cave to another to another.
“Guys, I have to stop for a minute.”
They seemed to understand, but the big gray came over and pulled on my weapon strap on my leg.
“Not here?” I asked. Man, I was tired, confused and thirsty, but boss dog wasn’t going to let me stop yet. I grabbed one of the water bottles and downed it. Great! It was already hot, but at least it was wet.
“Lead on, boss,” I sighed, and the wolves took off again. We went through another six caves, and my butt was dragging. Finally, the big gray took a tunnel that led downward and then circled back and down again, and then I saw them. There were — Indians? Maybe. There was a whole colony of people down there. One old man looked up and saw the wolves, and then he saw me and grabbed a gun.
“Stop where you are!” The old man yelled.
“Yes, sir,” I answered, and held up my hands. “The wolves led me here. I am sorry for the intrusion. I’m trying to get back to wherever I came from.” I was wheezing and sweating. I had been moving since I woke in the first cave and heard the men that were looking for me. My head was banging like it had a bunch of drums in it. My muscles were pulsating and cramping, and I was too exhausted to even care anymore. “I don’t know who I am. Heck, I don’t know what I am. I was shot down in the desert, and huge men are looking for me. I don’t know why. I don’t know crap,” and I went down. The whole place went dark, and I don’t remember anything. Whether my body finally shut down or I dropped of exhaustion or went unconscious because of all of the injuries, I just don’t know. I didn’t hurt right now and that’s all that matters.
* * * * *
A young man ran up the path of the cave and stood over the small girl. He squatted down, checked for a pulse at her neck and yelled back. “She is alive! Hey! She has on an avenger suit, Able!” He looked closer at her, and then he saw the name stitched below the angel wings on her suit. “Able! I think the Angel is alive!” He reached down and scooped the limp girl up in his arms. “She’s really in bad shape, Able. We need someone to get the medic and send for Sadie!” He carried the small girl down the path to the main living area. They had long-cushioned couches made out of local woods that surrounded the fire, and he placed her gently down onto the soft cushions.
Able walked quickly to his side and looked down at her. “I believe you are right Jonah. I believe that Kelly Adams is alive. The mountains are full of searchers. They have searched Nevada and most of Arizona already. They have already passed us, but they may be back. We will have to be careful with her; and since she does not seem to know who she is, we need her to stay and heal. We will contact her family as soon as it is safe.”
“Able, she needs to know who she is. She has family, sir.” Jonah looked at the old man quietly. “She has a husband and a child. People depend on her. We have to notify them right away.” They heard the helicopters again as they whizzed over.
“It is not safe for any of them yet, Jonah. Let us get her healed and her memory working again before we send her back out into the world. She is the Avenging Angel. She has a whole planet that is depending on her. We are all her family, Jonah. The whole world mourned her death, and they will rejoice when she is returned.”
Able had one of his “it is spoken” looks on his face, and Jonah knew arguing further wasn’t going to help. He looked up and was glad that Sadie and Pala were already there. Sadie knelt beside the small girl and cried, “She is alive! Jonah, carry her into the clinic, honey. Please hurry and let me get her cleaned up and see to her injuries. Pala grab her things/”
They quickly headed into the tunnel, and Jonah carried the Angel carefully. She was so small compared to Hawthorne’s militia. The legends about this young girl had all of the children in the cavern staring in awe as they passed by them quickly. Whispers came from the kitchen area, and people stood in the small cavern room openings, watching and whispering. They lived in a small community within the mountains. Many of the young children had never been outside until recently, and they were still very careful with them. There weren’t as many mutants, but those that lived now were huge monsters. They could not be allowed to take the children.
Pala, Jonah’s young wife, reached over and touched the Angel’s matted curls. She was covered with dirt, and her hair was full of dried blood and burned hair. “Sadie, let’s take her to the bathing cave.”
“Do you need me to carry her, Pala?” Jonah asked. Pala was a beautiful Indian girl several inches taller that Kelly.
“Yes. Someone bring some of Anna’s clothing to change her into.” She followed as Sadie grabbed her medical bag, and Anna came running with jeans and a t-shirt for the fallen angel.
“I will help with her, Jonah,” Anna grinned. “We better take off her watch and the wrist unit though. I don’t know if water will damage them.”
Jonah walked swiftly and watched as the girls dressed down into tank tops and shorts. Pala was laughing at him as he tried to look away, but he kept staring at his young wife, grinning. “Now, get out of here!” Pala giggled, and Sadie and Anna laughed at Jonah when he blushed.
“I will take her things to Able.” He growled and turned quickly and walked away. “Send Anna if you need me to carry her back to the clinic.”
“Thank you!” Pala grinned at him.
“Okay, we need to ease her out of this suit, Pala.” They slowly stripped the unconscious Angel, and Pala gasped. The bruises were still vivid and the burns had healed to a bright red already, but the young girl in her arms didn’t look anything like Anna. She was tightly built and muscled in the way that women shouldn’t be muscled, but she was also well built and very beautiful.
“I’m glad Jonah didn’t see her like this,” She sighed. “They all said she was beautiful. I thought that it was an exaggeration, but they were right. Do you know how badly she had to have been hurt? It’s been — what — two days since she went down in the desert?”
“It’s a miracle that she survived,” Sadie said gently. Pala held Kelly in her arms as Sadie gently shampooed her hair. “We are going to have to cut a lot of this.” Kelly’s hair had about been destroyed. “We’ll cut it really short so that it will come back in evenly.”
“Do you really think that she doesn’t remember anything?” Anna asked. She thought at first that Kelly looked like her — another twelve-year-old. But under those clothes was not a child. She only wished that she could look like that when she grew up, only taller.
“I’ll cut her hair, Sadie. It looks like she is healing on her own, though.” Pala turned and looked at her sister, Anna. “I don’t know if she remembers anything or not, honey. Her plane exploded in the air. It’s a miracle that she is even alive. Hopefully, as she heals, everything will come back to her.”
They finally had Kelly clean and carried her out to the bench beside the bathing pond. Pala toweled her off gently, and they eased clothes onto her small form. “Anna, just bring sleep shorts for her. We need to be able to see her healing as much as possible.”
Anna ran out and was back in a matter of minutes. “Here you go! Jonah will be here in a few minutes,” she wheezed. Anna had every intention of staying close to help. She and the other girls in the community thought Kelly was the coolest person in the world. They wanted to be like her, and they were all envious that Anna was asked to help.
“Knock, knock. Is everyone decent?” Jonah asked from the hallway.
“Yes, come in, Jonah,” Sadie answered. “Take her back to the clinic and get her comfortable. I’m going to go talk to Able.”
“Good luck with that one.” Jonah growled.
“What’s wrong?” Sadie turned and looked at him.
“He doesn’t want to tell her anything until she heals. He’s afraid that she will run out of here after them or they’ll come here and bring in the enemy. Her family needs her, Sadie, but the man is not listening.” Jonah reached down and scooped Kelly into his arms. “We’ll take care of her until you get back. See if you can talk some sense into the old man. I tried and failed.”
“Jonah!” Pala and Anna said in unison.
“Yeah, I know. He’s the Chief. So, shut the hell up. Got it? I would like to know if you were alive and okay. Can you imagine how her husband feels not knowing?” Jonah griped but continued walking toward the clinic. “I would be going crazy right now, Pala. You think their love is less than ours?”
“No Jonah, I don’t. Able has his reasons. He doesn’t want to endanger the community, and he doesn’t want Kelly to go back out until she knows what she is doing. We’ll make sure that her family knows where we are.” Pala put her hand on Jonah’s back as they walked down the hallway. She understood what he was talking about, but you just couldn’t disrespect your elders. They had the wisdom to do what was right for all of them.
* * * * *
Sadie found the chief talking with the elders. She stood quietly and waited until he noticed her.
“Able, I need to talk to you when you have a minute.” She said quietly. Sadie joined this community after her family had been destroyed down in the valley. They took her in eleven years ago, and she had survived when so many had not. She owed this tribe of Navajo her very life, and she always remembered that and followed the rules and the traditions of their ancestors. Sadie was not Navajo — she was Irish, red hair, green eyes and all. In her heart, she was Navajo, though, and that was what counted.
“Come and sit, Sadie. You are one of us.” Able motioned to a bench. Sadie went and sat down and waited. “How is the Angel?”
“She is still unconscious. We have her bathed and back in the clinic, Able. She was broken and burned but it seems that she is healing quickly.” She replied.
“Able, I mean no disrespect, but from a medical point of view, Kelly needs her family to get her memory back.” Sadie said quietly.
“I understand that. We will try to bring her back through the spirits, Sadie. We cannot endanger all of the tribe for the Angel. While she heals, we will remain in the mountain and care for her. When she is healed, we will get her back to her people,” Able said, and Sadie saw the others nodding in agreement.
“We need the Angel back to herself. This war has not been won yet. The way that I understand it is that the avengers are like a family and Kelly is the heart of that operation. For them to operate efficiently, don’t they need her back?” Sadie knew where Jonah was coming from. Able had made up his mind.
“If she had died, they would have to learn to function without her. It will only be a blessing when she is reunited. They will be stronger because they had to function as a unit without her.” Able was being logical.
“What about her husband, Able? Her brothers and her husband are a big part of the avengers and so is her best friend. Can we at least tell her about them?” Sadie pressed.
“We will see, Sadie.” Able nodded at her. “Let us play this out and see how the Angel heals. Then we will do what is necessary.”
Sadie had been dismissed, and she knew it. Jonah was right, Able had made up his mind, and the rest of the elders agreed with him. She stood up and sighed. “Part of healing is family, Able. Just try to remember that.” Sadie quickly left the room.
*****
I woke in a very strange place. It looked like a hospital — in a CAVE? What the heck? I looked around. No one was in the room, so I eased over to the side of the bed and put my feet down on the floor. I looked down and saw the bruises and big reddened areas. I had no idea where my clothes were or my shoes. I stood up carefully and was glad that I didn’t feel any pain. That was a definite improvement. I walked over to a mirror and stared at my reflection. Someone had cut my hair. I had short blonde curls tight against my skull. There was a big red scar on my forehead and my cheek, but it looked like I was healing. I turned and saw more healing red areas and bruises. I was curious as to what I looked like without all of the scars and bruising, I probably didn’t look too bad. I reminded myself of someone. Idiot! Yourself? The dream that I had with the little baby — she looked like this, didn’t she? I looked at my left hand and gasped. “Oh my God!” I held up my hand and stared. A beautiful gold band with inlaid diamonds was on my left ring finger. I was married? Was it to the man in my dream? “ARGH!” I growled. I can’t remember crap!
“Angel?” A young man stood in the doorway, and I flew across the room and crouched behind the bed in a blur. Not bad! “Please, don’t be frightened. I am Jonah. This is my wife, Pala, and her sister, Anna. Can we come in?” They seemed normal enough. Yeah, I know, look who’s talking.
I stood up slowly and stayed behind the bed. “Where am I?”
“You are in our Navajo community. You don’t remember the wolves?” Jonah asked. He was still marveling at the speed that the Angel had flown to behind the bed. He wouldn’t want to go against her.
“Wolves…” I stared at him, and then I remembered. “Yes, they led me here, didn’t they? Why?”
“Because they knew that you would be safe with us. You need time to heal.” Pala answered. I studied her for a minute. “You are safe here, Angel.”
“Why did you call me Angel?” I asked.
“It was the name on your suit.” Jonah said a little too quickly.
“Do you know who I am?” I demanded.
“Don’t you?” Jonah came back just as quickly.
An old Indian walked in behind the young people. “You are awake,” he said quietly.
“I am?” I studied him for a minute. Oh, yeah. This is the guy that held the gun on me. “Thanks for giving me shelter and seeing to my injuries. I appreciate that. I think I need to go though, sir. I think I have a family looking for me.”
“It is not safe yet. Hawthorne’s men are all over this mountain. The wolves are keeping them away right now. If you leave here, they will capture you, and then they will come in after our family for protecting you.” He studied me carefully. “I am Able, and I am the Chief of our tribe. You are welcome here while you heal, but I am asking you not to draw attention to my people.”
“Why do they want me, sir?” I asked. Seriously, I know I have some badass skills. Okay? But am I worth all of this trouble? Don’t they have something better to do that to chase after one person? I didn’t understand and since I couldn’t remember crap, I needed some answers.
“You are the Avenging Angel. Your people believe you to be dead. Until the search stops, you need them to keep thinking that. There are hundreds of giant mutants patrolling Nevada and Arizona and soon New Mexico. They are too close.” He was watching my face. “Promise you will stay, and we will tell you everything you need to know.”
“How long do I have to stay?” I asked.
“I am not sure. Until it is safe for our people at least and you get your strength and your memory back. You need to know where you have been so you can go where you need to be. You are not ready to face the mutants again.” This old man was not going to give me a straight answer.
“I will decide when I leave,” I growled at him. “But I will not endanger your people.”
“That is fair enough.” The man turned and walked out. I stood shaking my head.
“Do you know who I am?” I demanded from the young girl — Pala?
“Yes, I do.” She smiled. “Anna is bringing you more clothes, and I will see you to your room. Please follow me.”
“Great. Follow the wolves, follow the Chief, then I have to follow the…” I looked up and saw the young man laughing at me. “Jonah, is it always like this around here?”
“Pretty much. What do you want to know?” He laughed, and I knew finally someone was going to tell me who I was. “First of all, you are Kelly Adams. A lot of your friends call you KJ. You are also the Avenging Angel. Hawthorne hates you because you and your group have made the man’s life a living hell. You personally have killed the man a couple of times. Yeah, I’m serious.”
I know I had to look shocked. I killed someone — twice? And the man is still coming after me? “We are still on planet earth, right?”
“Yes this is our life now, unfortunately. Hawthorne is alive due to a lot of technology. He has artificial limbs, exists on a ventilator and talks through an electronic voice box. He is still running the show. His grandson, Hawthorne III, is helping to run the government and so is his favorite scientist, Dr. Ian Charles. They still move around a lot, and you haven’t had a shot at him for a couple of months but you have taken out a lot of mutants and air bases.” Jonah was grinning from ear to ear.
“So, I’m like his worst enemy, right?” I grinned back.
“Yeah, most definitely, you are the man’s living nightmare!” He laughed.
“Cool!” I followed him into the small room and had to smile. The room was definitely Navaho with a woven southwestern design bedspread on the bed. The furniture was homemade, but it was all so neat, clean and colorful that I thought it was beautiful. “This is really nice, thank you.”
Pala studied Kelly’s face for a few minutes, and then she went over and sat in the rocking chair in the corner. “Is there anything else that you want to know?”
“I keep dreaming of a man and children. Am I married? Do I have a child?” I held up my left hand and showed her the ring.
“Jonah, leave us with Kelly while we tell her what we know. We’ll meet you in the dining room, okay?” Pala smiled at her husband, and he smiled at her. “She does know. You were right, honey.” He waved and headed out the door. Pala sighed and looked at Kelly. “You ask the questions, and we will tell you what we know. If your head gets too painful, let us know and we will take a break. Jonah knew that you would want to know about your family, but Able decided not to hit you with too much at one time. Jonah, like his grandfather, was right. He will be a great Chief one day.”
CHAPTER TWO
David Martin finally made it to Jamie and Kelly’s quarters. There was an all-out manhunt for Kelly. David had no idea how she survived. The jet exploded midair. They didn’t see the seat eject. He was sure there had not been time. He had scanned every inch of that damn desert over and over again. No Kelly. He knew that she was out there somewhere though. Did she find a cave? Was she drug off by wolves? He just didn’t know what to think, but everyone felt that she was still alive. Hawthorne’s men were still searching, so obviously he also thought she was out there somewhere.
Julie opened the door to the quarters, and he looked at her eyes. She had been crying. His hand automatically went to the side of her face to calm her.
“What is it, Julie? We’ll find her. It’s just going to take a while.” David looked around and then at Jamie’s mother. “Where is Jamie?” He looked again. “Where is Noah?”
Little AJ waddled over to her Papa and hugged his leg. He reached down and picked up the tiny angel. “What is it, honey?”
“Daddy and Noah went to find Mama.” Angel said solemnly. “They will take care of each other. Mika went with them. Papa, they will find Mama and bring her home to us.”
“AJ,” David moaned and then looked at Julie. “It’s true? You let him just take off? There are hundreds of mutants on that mountain!”
“Papa!” AJ trapped David’s face between her little hands. “Daddy couldn’t wait until it was safer. Mama needs us now.”
David stared at the little girl and then at Taylor’s stoic face and decided not to rant and rave — just yet. Levi and Bella sat in the middle of the floor and the kids looked united. He wouldn’t win the argument here because they all missed their Mama. Funny, he felt like Taylor, Bella and Levi were their real kids too. Kelly and Jamie had assumed responsibility for them after their families were killed by the mutants. David felt like these kids were his own. He gently hugged AJ and sat down by Taylor. “Are you okay buddy?”
Taylor looked at him seriously. “Daddy Jamie is right, Papa. We can’t live without Kelly. Don’t go getting all mad at him.”
“I’m not mad, Taylor. I’m concerned. Jamie is taking a heck of a chance. If Kelly has found a place to hide or people to hide her, Jamie could be leading mutants to them.” David sighed and messed up Taylor’s dark curls. “We’ll just have to watch over him, won’t we?” He stood up to leave.
“David, have dinner with us.” Julie told him.
“Send it to the operations room, Julie. Our kids need us,” he said as he headed out.
“I’ll bring it personally, David.” She smiled and headed out to get the radio to find someone to stay with the children, and then she looked at them. “No, I think we are all going. Jennifer, if you and Jake will help me with the children, we’ll have Nola and Norah bring our dinner there while we help.” She grinned when her other two children jumped up to help.
“I’ll call Keith, Mom. He’ll want to help.” Jake ran to the door.
“Where are you going?” She laughed.
“Heck, he just went into his quarters. I’m going to get him. We’ll be right back, okay?” And he was gone. Doing something was better than waiting. Jamie never could have sat still and waited. He tried. It lasted about twenty minutes. He called Mika, and then he was gone. The children seemed to understand completely. Amazing.
* * * * *
“Jamie, my friend, we need to slow down and think this out.” Mika looked at his new friend as Jamie Adams scanned the desert with his binoculars. The young man had barely spoken to anyone since his wife went down, and they had been out here for hours. “Listen. Let’s stop and make a campfire, and Noah and I will try to communicate with the wolves. We have to take a break.”
Jamie sat down in the Jeep and sighed. “She could be anywhere, Mika.”
“Yes. But we know that the militia has scanned the whole area where Kelly went down, and that saves us some time. We’re halfway through Arizona, and my guess is that the angel is heading home but keeping under the cover of darkness.” Mika had found a spot to pull the Jeep in tightly between two boulders. They were going to cut across the mountains before too long, and then they would be on foot.
Jamie helped unload the Jeep and got a fire going quickly while Mika pulled out food to prepare. Noah stood on the first ledge above them, scanning the horizon. The white wolf looked so majestic up there. He looked like an artist’s visualization of a beautiful white wolf standing on a red clay ledge with the midnight blue sky full of stars in the background and a huge full moon beaming light down upon him. It was obvious he was searching for Kelly.
Mika studied his friend as he put the grill over the fire and placed a coffee pot on it. They needed this break, and they needed to start thinking together. He understood that Jamie’s thoughts were all over the place, but they had to calm down and think rationally or they would never find her. “What are you thinking?”
Jamie laid the two venison steaks across the grill after he wrapped some potatoes in foil and buried them in the fire. He was staring into the fire for a while and finally said, ‘I can’t reach her, Mika. She is either so hurt that she can’t reach out to me, or she’s …”
Mika reached over and put a hand on his shoulder. “She is not dead, Jamie. We all feel her in here.” He pounded his fist on his chest. Suddenly, Mika jumped up and looked down at Jamie. “There could be another explanation, my friend. She may not remember who she is, and she may not know that she can communicate with her mind.”
Jamie stared at Mika for a moment. “That has to be it!” Then a total look of panic flew across his face. “Mika, she has to be in danger, man! She could walk right up to one of Hawthorne’s men and not even know it! Can you imagine how confused she is right now? Oh, man! I don’t know if this is a good thing or not.”
“We would have already been told if she surrendered, Jamie. Think about it. She was probably hurt pretty badly. She had to know that she is different. She has to be healing fast, and I’m pretty sure that by now she realizes that she can move fast also. I think her natural instinct would be to remain low and hidden. I bet she is trying to get back home.” Mika looked up and saw Noah tense and looked closer, toward the mountain.
“She might not know where home is, Mika!” Jamie moaned. He got up to pace and tried to think how he would act if he was faced with the same situation. He just didn’t know. Kelly could be wondering around in the desert with no direction and terrified.
“All of you wear a wrist unit, right?” Mika asked, and Jamie nodded. “And the base location is still flashing on your unit?” Jamie looked at his and stared at Mika, trying to follow his line of thinking. “Aren’t those things practically indestructible?”
“You think that she would just follow the beacon, not knowing what it is, Mika? Isn’t that a little too trusting?” Jamie looked at him as though he had just grown horns.
“For a lack of a better direction, wouldn’t you want to check it out? I said that she might have amnesia, Jamie. You have to remember your wife is brilliant and she has been trained by the best. Maybe small things are coming back to her as she heals, but I think her reasoning skills will send her toward the base.” He grinned at his friend. “Sit down and eat and then we’ll get going again.”
Suddenly a bloodcurdling howl radiated from the ledge and another howl far away in the distance seemed to answer, then another. Jamie watched as Mika jumped quickly to the ledge and knelt down by Noah, watching him intently.
“What is he doing?” Jamie asked, as he looked up at the intensity of the wolf. Noah stood and repeated the howl, and many wolves from greater distances answered.