Revelations | The Reason Military Thriller Series

2 – Unexpected Guests

Fourteen months ago – West Virginia.

“Lexi, let your mom watch Jennie for a sec. I want to talk to you both. Don’t give me that look,” Bret said, chuckling, as he pulled a chair out from under the dining table. “It won’t take that long and won’t be too painful. I prom…” Lexi interrupted her dad before he even sat down.

“Dad, if this is some political…” Lexi started.

“Lexi, please.” Bret gave her a tired look, the kind only a father can give his daughter when she’s already pushing back. And reactively at that. Mark, Lexi’s fiancé, sat at the table, quiet. His demeanor said, “The sooner we start, the sooner we’ll be done.”

“I have it on good authority, not just my own observations but multiple sources…” Bret looked from Lexi to Mark, taking his time like he needed the words to sink through bone, “…that we’re looking at an invasion.”

“From who?” Lexi asked incredulously. “Who would have the gall to try that? Not that our government hasn’t begged for trouble.”

Bret frowned and paused, noting a change in his daughter and wondering if this had been such a smart choice. “The main one? Most likely… China.”

“Dad, please. How?”

“When?” Mark simply asked.

“How?” Bret stared at Lexi. “To start with, Lexi, that border you think shouldn’t be restricted? Bad actors crossed it. Embedded themselves. Insurgents. They’ll start something here, something there. Something meant to pull our focus away from the real objective.”

Lexi stopped listening. Her attention drifted toward her baby girl, Jennie. She folded her arms.

Mark didn’t.

He asked again. “When?”

Bret locked eyes with him. “Most likely within the year. Maybe a year and a half, depending on how China keeps moving geopolitically and how robust their proxy network is.”

Mark nodded and leaned back in his chair.

Bret could see he’d lost them both in different ways. Lexi didn’t believe him. Mark only wanted a timeline. “One last thing. Please keep this handy.”

Bret handed a business card to Lexi. “If you need to relocate and you can’t get in touch with us, use this.”

Already up and moving toward Jennie and Grandma, she placed it on the table, face down. “Okay, whatever,” she muttered. “I should get Jennie,” she said, walking away from the table.

Bret watched her leave, concerned. Then stole a look at Mark, still at the table. He just raised his eyebrows and gave Bret an almost imperceptible shrug.

***

Present day.

We should have listened.

Lexi lets the statement rattle inside her skull while watching Jennie play. She’s twirling the card with her fingers. The one her dad laid on that table over a year ago. It took up residence in the junk drawer until shortly after the first attacks started.

Her thoughts continue. I didn’t care what one country thought about another. I had a little one to take care of while putting in sixty hours a week at the vet clinic. I didn’t have time to think that something like that could actually happen. At the time, it wasn’t important cause it didn’t affect me directly.

But Dad was right.

And here we are.

A civil war.

An invasion by China.

Violent men are starting fires everywhere for us to chase.

Men I once thought people like Dad only called dangerous because they didn’t understand them.

I was gullible.

Mark and I started believing and began preparing what we could and planned an escape route for the right time to act.

We thought that since our driveway was naturally hidden, our house would be easily missed. We’d keep to ourselves and stay quiet, living our lives on our 50 acres of land. That was our plan.

From what we gathered from chatter on Mark’s ham radio a couple of months back, the Democratic socialist group NESSA, which includes Virginia to Maine, began a push into West Virginia. I believe they hoped to take the state quickly. Their actions came to an abrupt stop as hunters and gun owners took a stand against them. I think they found it more difficult to get a foothold than they expected, causing them to reevaluate their plan. We stayed put for as long as we felt it was safe to do so. The fighting crept closer. At that point, we decided we had to leave our home.

***

With their day of departure quickly approaching, “Babe! A military truck just came down our drive.” Lexi yells at Mark while discreetly looking out their family room windows.

“Mum, up.” Little Jennie asks, arms reaching up to her mother.

“Not now, Peanut.” She raises her voice over their three dogs’ barking. She ushers the dogs into a room to keep them contained. Then she’s back at the window.

People begin to come out of the truck. No weapons are visible, but they’re wearing military gear.

Mark’s voice booms from their back porch, “Stop. Don’t move!” She sees their arms shoot up.

If this weren’t such a serious situation, it would be comical.

But it’s tragic what’s unfolding here and across the nation. It’s becoming the norm. Who would’ve thought ideas could turn into checkpoints, gunfire, and people hunting each other?

One of the passengers exclaims, “Whoa! We’re friendlies! Friendlies! We’re here to get you out of here.”

Lexi tucks her pistol into her waistband at her lower back, while turning to face her daughter. Making sure it’s secure she picks up Jennie on her way through the kitchen, then goes outside to stand behind Mark.

“Friendlies?” Mark asks, confused. “How can we be friends when I just met you? Who sent you?” He yells back.

Lexi notices the rifle Mark is holding is the pellet rifle he keeps near the back door to scare off groundhogs and the like.

He’s pulling a large bluff.

“Greg McDonnel sent us! To bring you to the militia in Kentucky!”

“Greg who?” Mark asks before Lexi speaks up.

“Babe, that’s my dad’s friend. The one he told us to go to if anything disastrous happened. The business card?”

Mark stares back at her. His face is devoid of any recollection.

“You forgot.” Lexi throws her empty hand up in the air in exasperation. Letting out a small growl.

“That was like… a year ago,” he says sheepishly. “Are you sure, though?”

“Dada, dada f’got,” she says, giggling. Then she repeats dada to infinity, wanting her father.

“Yes!” She tells Mark. Showing him the card she was twirling minutes ago. Then asks the arrivals, “Who’s Greg’s best friend and my dad?”

“Bret Gordon!”

“Okay, Mark, we should be good.” She assures her fiancé.

Before Mark lowers his rifle, “Should be?” he asks out of the corner of his mouth, keeping the pellet rifle pointed toward their guests.

“Yeah. How else would he know my dad’s name?” adds Lexi.

While still not 100% sold on the idea, he gives Lexi a sideways look. “I hope you’re right,” he tells her quietly. Mark glances down at the pellet rifle like he knows exactly how long it would last in a real fight. He then lowers it and addresses their guests. “Okay, you can come inside! Just you and one other,” he says to the visibly relaxing men, lowering their arms. Two walk toward the house as the others perform assigned tasks.

***

“So, who are you and why isn’t my mom or dad with you?” Lexi starts in on their guests, her arms folded in front of her. She has her .45 caliber XD pistol prominently displayed in her jeans’ waistband.

“Ma’am,” the man says, glancing down at Lexi’s pistol, “I’m Bernard, your escort team leader, and this is Stephen, my driver. There are six of us on the team.” He glances over briefly at Mark, who’s standing in their living room still holding the pellet rifle. Jennie is standing against his legs, looking the two men over, a finger in her mouth.

“Greg thought it, uh, prudent not to involve them. Being emotionally involved, they may not be 100% mission-focused,” Bernard says, then shifts uncomfortably on his feet. “Ma’am, with respect, we should get moving soonest. Minimal belongings. Emergency life and death stuff: food, water, a set of extra clothes, preferably moisture-wicking. He points at her pistol. Any weapons, hiking type of stuff and medications.”

“Okay, we do have a couple bags ready, from my dad’s suggestion. We have some things to grab and tell Mark’s mom to get over here so we can leave. Quiet!” She yells at her barking dogs.

“Ma’am, we were told to bring you, Mark and your child to EAFA.” Bernard points out.

“Where?” Lexi asks.

He rolls his eyes. “Sorry, EAFA is our militia group in Kentucky.”

“Well, good for you, but we’re not leaving until Joanne gets here. Quiet down!” she snaps at the barking dogs.

“Fine, is there anything you need help with? Anything to carry to your vehicle?”

“No, I think we can manage.”

“If it’s okay with y’all, I recommend one of my men take your vehicle. Just in case we run into trouble. He’s trained for evasive driving.”

“I don’t see that as a problem. We’ll get moving.”

“Oh, ma’am. One more thing. In case my team buys it, and you survive, here are the radio freqs for our HQ. You can contact them for help if the worst-case scenario happens.”

“Great! Let’s hope it doesn’t come to that.” She takes the radio frequencies with a smirk.

“Mom will be here in about 45 minutes,” Mark announces.

“That was quick! I didn’t hear you leave.”

“Yup, she was sitting near the radio when I called her, so…”

“Ma’am, we’ll meet you outside. Oh, and Mark? I’d leave the pellet rifle here.” Bernie smiles, grabbing the door from Stephen, who was out the door first, “I have one just like it…Well, I used to. Nice bluff though.” Bernard gives him a nod and steps out the front door.

Lexi closes the door and hisses at Mark, “WTF?” throwing her hands up in the air.