Chapter 4
Interstate 75 - Near Piqua, Ohio
The two men had been travelling together on foot for about three days. The wind was cold, but Jason was still sweating. His skin had a sickly paleness to it.
"I'm tired," Jason said. "I gotta stop."
"There's a pickup truck up there ahead. You can rest up there."
They got about half way to the truck and Jason collapsed on the road, face first.
"Damn!" Elijah ran to help him. He took his pistol back from Jason and slung Jason's rifle over his shoulder. Elijah walked with Jason until they got next to the pickup truck.
"Oh hell no!" Elijah looked into the truck and saw that the previous owner had committed suicide with a bullet to the head. He thought about scavenging the truck for a pistol and some ammo, but the chances of success were small and he wanted no part of opening the door. That would be too much multi-tasking. "C'mon. That truck is too small. We can make it down the hill to that car over there on the northbound lane."
They crossed the median. It was becoming increasingly difficult for Elijah to help Jason. Jason was unable to help himself much anymore. They found a full-sized luxury car that was comfy warm inside with the solar thermal heat. Jason's eyes were shut. He was out of energy.
Elijah wanted to get a look at Jason's neck. He held up Jason's head so he could unravel the bandage. "Dang!" With all of the swelling, Jason really didn't have a neck. The bulbous swollen neck had a massive lesion that was seeping.
The infection was obviously too great for Jason's system to fight off without modern medicine. It was only going to be a matter of a short while before the malady claimed him. Jason wondered what he could do for his new found friend. Reason won out over compassion. Elijah made the conscious decision to abandon Jason.
If only Jason would have permitted him to look at that boil earlier, maybe he could have worked on it and improved his chances. Maybe. . .It was too late for maybe.
A small voice in his head said to leave the poor guy some water or something. Another cynical voice said there was nothing to put any of his valuable water in. "Dangitall." The only liquid container Elijah had was the one he was carrying. Elijah left Jason in the car and didn't look back. He had to avoid self torment by pondering something other than the poor soul he left behind.
Only a fraction of the journey was completed. There was comfort in the fact that the load he was carrying was heavy. Angel loaded him down with a heavy amount of drinking water from the well. Angel said that water was the most valuable commodity on a trip like the one Elijah was taking. Angel said the pack would get lighter soon enough.
Elijah couldn't help it. He thought about the people in Kentucky who would never see Jason again. But who knows? Maybe they were dead too.
Elijah continued the journey. He tried his best to put Jason's suffering out of his mind. Over the last couple years there was no practical way to have any empathy for all those who were truly suffering. He looked into the sky. It was blue. The sky was always blue behind the clouds. Millennia ago the sky was blue. It will still be blue tomorrow if he lived to continue his journey or not.
Captain Henry Miller chose Lt. Kowalski's Platoon-A and Lt. Murphy's Platoon-D for the expeditionary force to Shanesville. Platoon-B, the strongest, and most autonomous, was being held in Crawfordton.
There was no longer any Platoon-C. It was wiped out, to the last man, at the Battle of Crawfordton, only a few months earlier.
During the Battle there were also many civilian casualties, and irregular fighters. After the Battle so many homes were destroyed that they left for less brown grass anywhere else. Moving to nearby Delburg was always an option for anyone who was desperate. In Delburg, there was free housing, but that meant living under Gofinn rule. The local Gofinn government was tyrannical and unpredictable.
Platoons A and D and the Company Squad soon began the ten mile hike to Shanesville. The Shanesville Raiders were the Crawfordton Guard's best ally. The Guardsmen were ready and willing to return the help for past favors done for them by the Raiders.
Captain Miller did not pass along information about the strange fighting capabilities of their adversary to his men. The Guard was used to asymmetrical warfare, except they were the ones who were used to using the inferior force tactics. Miller did not want his men to underestimate their foes.
On the positive side, it was refreshing for the men to be able to leave the confines of the Crawfordton defense perimeter. They had spent weeks and even months at a time without seeing the outside world.
The expeditionary force took a break halfway through the hike.
Pvt. Ella Phipps, the Colonel's wife, who a short while ago was looking out the window with Amy Crawford at Ethan's scouts. She sat down on the damp ground with her pack. Next to her, was her best friend in platoon-A, teenager Martin Preston.
She told Preston, "Ain't you tired of doing this stuff? Don't get me wrong, it is great for us that you are dedicated to our town, helping thin out the baddies and all, but you are going to be a seasoned veteran before you even go into your mandatory OC service." All 20 year-olds had to go into five years of mandatory service with the Ohio Coalition Force.
Martin was staring into space. "I don't know. I don't really know any difference. I could be working on a boring farm or something, but you know how it goes. We will all end up fighting for our lives anyhow. At least this way I can make a little money for fighting."
Ella said, "Yea, I suppose so." Ella thought about what a geeky looking thing Martin was. When he volunteered for the Guard, he could barely carry the Mosin-Nagant rifle they gave him. Martin had been in several skirmishes and had seen comrades fall.
Now after a couple of years Martin carried his captured AK-47 with confidence. Otherwise, he was still a quiet young man, who at least on the outside seemed emotionally stable.
"Come on you lazy maggots, let's get going," Sergeant Yamakawa said to Ella and Martin.
"Shut up Ken!" Ella said. Ella Phipps was almost old enough to be his mother. The age difference made it all that much easier for her Sergeant to give her the business. Ella could have been promoted numerous times before, but she had no interest in getting into a bunch of politics, being the Colonel's wife. Ella was content to be the number one sniper in the Guard. They liked to tease her that she had a "built-in bipod" on her chest for when she was prone on the ground.
The Sergeant started laughing. "Get going Phipps."
"This pack is heavy, ass."
Yamakawa couldn't help it. "Yea, but you've got plenty of counterweight in front to balance it out."
Private Martin worried that the highly personal sex based goofing could turn serious. It sure wasn't the way he would run a squad if he were a Sergeant.
Ella yelled, "I'm gonna beat your skinny ass!" She hopped up and started to chase him. Quickness was not her best attribute.
The Sergeant hopped away and was laughing, "That's more like it Private!"
Martin and some others started laughing at the scene. He looked for Lt. Kowalski who was preoccupied with other soldiers.
The force began readying themselves to continue the trek. The typical grumbling started.
Lt. Murphy saw Captain Henry Miller inspecting a ring he held in his hand. "Oh! Is the Captain finally getting ready to make his move?"
The Captain stood there for a couple of moments pondering his answer to the question. "Yea. It's time. As soon as we get back. Tonight, I hope." Henry thought he better not wait any longer. He couldn't bear the thought of Tammy being with anyone else.
"Well that's great," Murphy said. "Life needs to go on, you know."
"Yes it does. That's what we fight for."