Page 31 of Benedict’s Rejuvenation (Dark Patriots #5)

After a shower that left both of us weak and ready for a nap, we forced ourselves to join the others downstairs. By the looks of them, I was sure Beau and Keeley took advantage of that hour to do the same thing we did. Heath smirked at me and winked. Justin was more circumspect.

It became clear that no one was in the mood to cook, so we had food brought in.

There was a massive variety of ethnic foods available here that were not found in all the mainland states, especially in Montana.

Due to Hawaii’s history of large plantations and the constant need for laborers, it developed accordingly.

Many immigrants came from Portugal, China, the Philippines, Vietnam, Thailand, Puerto Rico, Japan, and Korea.

If you were a lover of Asian cuisine, this was the place to come.

We discovered, as we debated what to have for dinner, that we were all lovers of a variety of Asian cuisine, so it was heaven for us.

We chose to go with Chinese tonight. Who knew how many we’d eat before returning home?

Out of the vast selection of dishes, the one food that I wasn’t too sure I’d choose to eat was Spam.

I had it growing up, and it was often eaten because it was a relatively inexpensive source of meat.

Where I grew up, with the number of large families and our isolation from others, we raised most of our food, but there were times it was bought, and Spam was a rare thing.

Personally, I didn’t get what the raving was about, but if you were hungry, it would keep you going.

In Hawaii, Spam was almost a staple for many families.

It was served in restaurants. The first time I saw it, I was struck dumb.

Dinner was boisterous as we ate and discussed our favorite foods and those we disliked.

Spam was on the list as edible, but not desired by anyone.

There were some childhood memories interspersed throughout our talks.

I told one of mine, without going into detail on where I grew up and what else happened there.

Heath knew my history. I hadn’t told the others.

I knew eventually, I’d let Kensy know. However, since none of those people from my past were part of my life, I didn’t see the need to dwell on it.

We didn’t get into anything related to the mission until we were done eating.

We were outside, gathered around a fire pit, enjoying the warm night.

The frogs and other night creatures were loudly singing and calling to us.

We watched in amazement as Keeley and Kensy mimicked so many animals and birds that if you hadn’t seen them do it, you’d think they were the real thing.

“How did you learn to make all those calls? And why? Just for the fun of it?” Justin asked.

The women exchanged grins, and it was Kensy who answered him.

“It was our dad, and it wasn’t something we had a choice in.

He wanted to ensure we knew how to identify and call pretty much any animal that could be used as food by us.

He said there was no need to spend money on those store-bought fancy animal calls.

We either made the sounds with our mouths or made our own call devices.

Then he’d take us out hunting, and we had to bring the prey in with our calls.

If we didn’t, guess what? You didn’t eat that night. ”

“He actually made you go to bed hungry?” Heath asked in disbelief. I thought it rather harsh myself. Sure, teach and practice, but what if you just weren’t lucky that day?

“We had water and jerky that was so tough it took forever to chew it enough to eat it. However, by the time we put all our energy into eating, we were tired and only wanted to go to bed. Kensy and I got good at tracking quickly, so if we didn’t bring something in with our calls, we still found dinner or breakfast. And we learned to fish, so that was good, though you could get tired of eating nothing but fish every meal,” Keeley further explained.

“Is it true that he taught you how to survive an apocalypse? I heard you can build shelters and live off the land and know how to survive almost anything,” Justin followed up.

“We can. I always hated those lessons because I thought Dad went too far with them. Keeley was always way more into them than I was. After I was taken, I swore I’d practice what he taught us, sharpen my skills, and hone my physical strength.

I won’t allow myself to be so easily caught again,” Kensy replied.

Her remark dampened the mood, and she took note of it.

“I’m not saying that to make you guys sad or to pity me.

It’s a statement of fact. I appreciate so much more what Dad taught us after that horrible experience.

It’s why I’ve been having Dickie, Arnie, and Reed teach me things whenever they’re around.

Stuff that Dad never got to, or I didn’t pay attention to like I should’ve.

Of course, Keeley was always the good child and excelled in all of them.

She showed me up every time. I thought about kicking her off the side of a mountain a few items, but I figured she’d just find her way back and kick my ass, so I resisted.

” Kensy shot an evil smirk toward her sister.

“Oh really, you did, did you? I thought about leaving you in a cave with the bears more than a few times. Or with a den of wolves. Dad kept telling me that you would corrupt the poor things with your bad influence if I did, so I resisted,” Keeley quipped back.

Their remarks set them off, verbally jabbing back and forth. They were funny and had us all laughing uncontrollably at times. When they ended their sparring, Keeley sent a serious look Kensy’s way.

“I know you think you didn’t do well, but you did.

Dad was proud of us both. Yes, I tended to enjoy his and his friends’ lessons more than you, but what they taught us wasn’t for the faint of heart.

The fact that we learned them at all was a huge accomplishment.

We were given what was the equivalent of advanced Marine Recon and Navy SEAL training,” Keeley told her.

The guys and I whistled at this revelation.

I hadn’t questioned Kensy closely about what she knew about self-defense and offensive fighting.

It was a touchy subject for her, so I chose to leave it alone.

That was a mistake. The others were muttering their respect for them. When they were finished, I spoke up.

“We’ll have time this week where we won’t be constantly planning or setting up the mission for next Saturday.

I figured there would be some relaxing and exploring of the island.

Additionally, I’d like to suggest that we assess the skill levels of the ladies.

We need to be prepared for anything to go wrong.

I know I’d feel better knowing what Kensy can do versus what one of us may need to do to get them safely out of there. ”

“I agree with Ben. I’ve seen some of what Keeley can do, but not all of it,” Beau tacked on.

“If we do that, and I’m not opposed to it, I’d like to see a demonstration of your fighting expertise, guys. I know you’re professionals, but I’d still love to know how skilled you are. Who knows, maybe we ladies can give you some pointers,” Kensy said, smirking.

Keeley chuckled and nodded in agreement as she said, “Damn right we would.”

“I’m good with it, but be prepared to be dazzled. Beau, Ben, don’t be mad when I show your asses up, and Keeley and Kensy want me. I’d take them both, but if they can’t share me, I’ll let them mud wrestle to see who wins the honor of being mine,” Heath boasted.

I knew what he was doing, and it often got him in hot water, because people didn’t know how to take his jokes. He could unintentionally offend people. Both women rolled their eyes at him.

“Heath, you’re so full of it. I can’t understand how you don’t just become a pile of shit. You can pretend all you want, but I know you’re not that big of a dickhead or chauvinistic ass,” Keeley told him.

“And I might not know you as well as my sister, but I agree with her. Besides, there’s nothing you or anyone else can do that’ll turn my head and make me give up Ben,” Kensy stated.

The loving look she gave me made it impossible for me to resist. While Keeley was essentially saying the same thing about Beau, I had my mouth on her sister’s, giving her a thank-you kiss.

I wondered if she felt the underlying love in it.

I hadn’t told her that I loved her yet, but it was definitely there.

I was deeply in love with Kensington Mills.

I was giving her time for her feelings to grow for me before I told her. It was hard to hold back.

I unwillingly ended the lip lock. Her face was flushed, and she gave me a dreamy smile. I wasn’t any less affected.

“Christ, warn us. You’re corrupting our innocence,” Justin piped up.

“And making us horny. If you’re kissing like that in front of us, that’s cruel.” Heath had to tag onto Justin’s remark.

“That’ll be enough talk about our women and stealing anything. You’re my brothers, and I love ya, but attempt to take them and see what we do,” Beau growled.

This remark made us all sober. It was something to be called a brother or sister.

Even when in the service, we didn’t necessarily consider everyone in your unit a brother or sister, even though you’d fight and die for them.

It was a deeper thing to be considered someone’s sibling.

We all nodded, indicating that we agreed with his remark and shared the same sentiment.

“What’s on the agenda tonight and then for tomorrow?” Keeley asked, bringing our focus back to the mission at hand.

“Tonight, we should check that we have everything we need in the equipment category. You saw the large totes that Heath and Justin picked up. It’s time for us to go through them and list anything else we might need, so we have time to gather it,” Beau recommended.

His suggestion was what I planned to say, and the others agreed.

Rather than carry them into the house, we got up and went out to the garage, where they were stored.

We left the vehicles outside so we could use the garage for this.

We didn’t have a neighbor close by, but no use leaving them where someone might snoop and find them.

We went around opening the lids on all of them.

I watched to see how the women reacted to what they saw.

It was no lie to say we were equipped to fight a small war.

We hoped to avoid that and bring Wynne and his associates down quietly.

Gunfire and explosions tended to get the attention of the police.

If we were on Oahu, the military would be rolling up on us if it were loud enough.

The population of Hana was estimated at fourteen hundred.

You had to take into account that tourists came and went, inflating those numbers, but for year-round residents, it was a good estimate.

Our computer experts, such as Makayla, in Virginia, conducted research on topics like this.

They provided us with a thorough dossier on the people and places we were heading into.

The more information, even what some would call inane, the better prepared you were.

I watched the women’s faces as we removed the items. There were explosives like C-4, as well as a variety of other things. We all had favorites that differed slightly when it came to our regular rifles, sniper rifles, and handguns. That was represented in the selection.

There was an M320 grenade launcher and an SR25 sniper rifle, which was the one used the most when I was a Ranger.

There were M39 EMR and SPR (M12), which were designated as marksmen rifles.

If things went completely to hell and it became a battle for ultimate survival, the grenade launcher and the MK46, a machine gun, would be deployed.

A couple of AR-15-style guns and then handguns were in the mix as well.

When it came to handguns, we tended to lean toward Sig Sauer P239 and a variety of Glocks, mainly 21s and 30s, since they shot . 45 mm bullets.

Everything was laid out on the tops of the totes’ lids.

Kensy and Keeley walked slowly down the line, eyeing all of them.

Then we watched as they went back through the line and picked up various guns.

It was immediately clear that they knew how to handle them, and they ensured that for each one they handled, the weapon was unloaded. When they were finished, they nodded.

“You’ve got a decent selection here. It should cover most situations. And the knives are also good choices. There are only a couple of problems,” Keeley told us.

“What’s that?” Heath asked.

“Assuming a silent kill needs to be made, breaking necks can work, or a knife, but what about a garrote? It’s always good to have those.

Punch knives are another addition. And you don’t have anything for survival.

I know we’re in civilization, but if things go to hell, we might have to go into what passes as the wilderness here.

We’ll need to be able to sleep, eat, build fires, and so on.

It’s better to prepare. If the primary extraction point, which I assume we’ll learn about, is blown, we’ve got to get to the secondary as fast as we can, with who knows how many hostages.

Or if you plan to question them here, we’ve got to get them to a place that can safely be done,” Keeley further explained.

Before any of us could answer, Kensy added to it.

“Don’t worry, my sister and I brought our bug-out bags.

We can get you the essentials so you can create a basic one.

The larger items, we’ve got those covered in ours, so no worries.

When you mentioned how heavy that one trunk we bought was, there was a good reason.

It wasn’t shoes.” She rolled her eyes at Heath.

He’d been the one to smart off when unloading it, that they probably had a thousand pairs of shoes in it.

As what they said sank in, there was only one thing to say. I looked at the others and shrugged. “It sounds like we’re going shopping. Let’s see what you have in your bug-out bags that we need to replicate. And when we get home, you can teach me what else to put in mine,” I told Kensy.

Her proud smile made me smile back. She thought she wasn’t as strong as her sister, but she was. Even if I didn’t want her in the middle of any fighting, I would make sure she was prepared if she had no choice.