Page 27 of Empowereds

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C harity hiked behind Enzo down the road. The trees offered shade but did little to dispel the heat of the late afternoon sun. She resisted the urge to take another drink. The two needed to conserve their water.

The hike to civilization would take at least two days, maybe three if they ran into rough terrain. They’d only been able to fit a couple of gallons into their backpacks. Charity had a water filter, but that wouldn’t do them any good unless they came across a water source.

They’d hardly spoken all day. Talking would both alert anyone in the area of their position and mask any sounds they might need to hear.

The silence was unfortunate because more than ever Charity wanted to talk to Enzo about their relationship. What were they now? He didn’t still plan on annulling their marriage, did he? She hadn’t asked those questions last night—other things had been occupying her mind, mostly all the dreams she had of the two of them together. Last night, she’d been sure she loved him, he loved her, and they would grow old and have many chosen-one children.

This morning, he’d been so businesslike. She would’ve been happy to stay at the cabin longer, to curl up with him in bed.

He’d woken her before dawn and rushed her through breakfast so they could be out the door at first light. And now the silence. She couldn’t even walk beside him. He insisted on walking in front of her, tense and alert, with his gun in hand, in case they ran into bears, mountain lions, or raiders.

He’d said he was protecting her. It felt more like he was ignoring her, and as the day went on, she became more cross.

Did he regret last night? She’d given herself to him, laid her heart bare, and she had no guarantee he wouldn’t get an annulment. What would she do in the city by herself, alone and heartbroken?

Mile after mile of silence.

They snacked while they hiked but didn’t sit down to eat dinner until the sun sank so low over the trees that it forced them to make camp. They’d hoped to find a cave or some other secure shelter. Nothing like that was around. They would have to stay out in the open, vulnerable to man, beast, and weather.

“We’ll sleep in shifts,” he whispered to her. “Can you fall asleep right now?”

“No.” Not at seven o’clock.

“Okay. I’ll sleep first.” He handed her the Ruger. “Wake me at midnight. And don’t do anything that will keep you from paying attention to the surroundings—like reading on your phone.”

And then, maddeningly, he got into his sleeping bag and dozed off.

She perched on a small boulder, scanned the area, and listened to the forest growing quieter. The birds had finally stopped chiding each other, and the wind made a shushing sound as it slid through the trees. The stars came out, bright and dazzling without any other light for competition. Only the moon shone brighter, hanging there with its lopsided smile.

By nine-thirty, she was so bored that she felt drowsy after all. At ten, her head began nodding. She couldn’t let that happen. She got up and took slow steps around the area. Her boots crunched across leaves and twigs. The noise covered the sound of the wind. That was, until a louder shuffling noise came from the forest. An animal?

She gripped the gun, turned on her flashlight, and shined it in the direction of the sound. The noise stopped. The light revealed nothing except gray tree trunks. She increased the flashlight beam.

Still nothing.

The sound couldn’t have been a person, could it? If people roamed through the forest, they’d have some sort of light she could see. The noise had likely been some nocturnal animal. Mountain lions were nocturnal, weren’t they?

The shuffling noise came again. Same place. She flicked her flashlight beam in that direction. Nothing there.

She gripped the gun and considered waking Enzo. But what would she tell him—that she’d heard a noise in the forest? The forest always made noises. He’d think she was skittish. Besides, he needed his sleep. They would each only get five hours tonight and had another full day of hiking tomorrow.

She could handle this. She was armed.

When the noise came a third time, her flashlight caught a dark shadow darting away, a shape smaller than a mountain lion. Maybe a wolf. Whatever it was, it had fled.

For several long minutes, she heard no other abnormal sounds. She began to relax. She was glad she hadn’t wakened Enzo. She sat back down again, the gun in one hand, her phone in the other.

Half an hour later, another noise sounded in front of her, this time louder. As she stood up, she realized it was the sound of footsteps coming toward them from several directions.

She barely had the time to call, “Enzo!” before four soldiers emerged from behind the trees, dressed in battle gear and wearing night vision goggles. They held rifles, drawn and pointed at her.

Footsteps tromping behind her told her that she was surrounded.

Soldiers.

A man in front of her yelled, “Drop the gun!”

She hesitated. If the government captured her, they could give her truth serum and find out information about her father. Maybe it was better to let them shoot her rather than reveal his secrets.

Off to her side, Enzo called, “Thank goodness you found us!”

He thought this was a good thing? She dropped the gun and raised her hands. No point dying to protect information that Enzo could give them. Even though he’d promised not to tell the government about her family, he wouldn’t take a bullet to avoid truth serum.

He climbed out of his sleeping bag, the picture of relief. “I was afraid we would die out here. You can give us a ride to civilization, can’t you?”

His happiness felt like a slap. Of course he would see soldiers descending on them as a good thing.

“Hands up,” the soldier barked. His gun swiveled in Enzo’s direction. “State your name and national identity.”

Enzo raised his hands. “Enzo Vasquez. I’m a special ops officer from Kansas City. You and I work for the same government and have the same goals,” he emphasized, “So it would be nice if you didn’t shoot me.”

The soldier stepped closer. His night vision goggles made him look insect-like. “Is that so? Then you’ll have some ID on you, Officer Vasquez.”

“Normally, I would,” Enzo conceded, “but I’ve been working undercover with a group of harvesters.”

Would he willingly tell them everything? Charity swallowed and tried to push away the feeling of betrayal that twisted in her chest.

“Harvesters?” the soldier repeated without an ounce of belief. “We don’t run into many harvesters in the woods. We do run into scouts for the breakaway states, though.” He jerked a finger at Charity’s flashlight. “Careless of you to tell us your location. Now you can tell us where the rest of your division is.”

Her flashlight. They’d been near enough to see it when she’d been checking for animals. All of this was Charity’s fault. Again.

Enzo’s attention never wavered from the soldier. “Call the department of special ops. Director Schmitt will confirm my identity. Or his personal assistant Perry will, since I’m sure Director Schmitt is sleeping.”

The soldier grunted. “We don’t make calls out here that could reveal our position. But I’ll do something better. I’ll give you truth serum and see what your story is then.” He gestured to the soldiers behind Enzo. “Cuff them.”

The man stepped forward and clapped handcuffs on Enzo. Someone behind Charity did the same.

Enzo was right to fear cave-ins. Here out in the open, she felt as though the world was caving in. She’d brought the soldiers here, and now they were giving Enzo truth serum. In seven minutes, they could learn everything.

The lead soldier holstered his gun, pulled a vial from his pocket, and wiped the serum across Enzo’s cheek.

“Are you working for the breakaway states?” the soldier asked.

“No. I’m a special ops officer in Kansas City, just like I told you.”

The man cocked his head in surprise. “What are you doing out here in the middle of a war zone?”

“My wife and I were at her parents’ cabin. They were supposed to pick us up yesterday but never did. We decided to head out on our own before we ran out of food.”

“You went to a cabin in a war zone?”

“It wasn’t a war zone when we came. We’ve been there for over two weeks and never left the area.”

“Why were you at a cabin for so long?”

“My wife,” Enzo nodded at Charity, “she wanted to start a family. The trip wasn’t my idea. I was against it, in fact. We’ve been fighting, trying to figure out what our future will look like. She knew it would take a long time to convince me to become a father. But she can be pretty convincing when she wants.”

The man lifted his hand to stop Enzo’s monologue. “Do you have any intentions of hurting the US soldiers or hindering their cause?”

“No.”

“Are you hiding anything of importance?”

That question would sink them. She shut her eyes in anticipation.

“Yes,” Enzo said. “Many things. I don’t want to have a baby, but if it will keep Charity in my life, then I’m willing to do that. Because despite everything I’ve said, I don’t want to lose her. I love her. Although I still think her family is crazy, and I don’t ever want to see them again. Worst in-laws ever. Really, the worst. Her brother, Milo, is a complete idiot, and I?—”

The man cut him off. “That’s enough information.” He cast an uncomfortable glance at Charity and cleared his throat. “You and your wife can return with us to our camp and catch a ride back to the city with the next supply truck that comes.” In a lower voice, he added, “Sorry about making you say all that stuff about your in-laws.”

Charity’s mouth had dropped open during Enzo’s speech, and she clapped it shut. He loved her. He didn’t want to lose her. Why hadn’t he told her all of that last night? Or, for that matter, during the day? And how had he managed to keep the important secrets while under the influence of truth serum?

Enzo looked at the ground, seemingly ashamed of what he’d said.

The soldiers removed Enzo’s and Charity’s handcuffs. She’d spent two weeks wondering why the vision had made her marry Enzo. His guess about wanting to protect her might be right, but she’d realized another reason. If they hadn’t married, Enzo wouldn’t have been able to tell the soldiers she was his wife or that they’d talked about a baby. He would have had to tell the other truth—the one that would’ve gotten her arrested.

Why wouldn’t Enzo look at her? He’d just said he loved her and didn’t want to lose her. That meant he wanted a future with her, didn’t it?

“Gather your things,” the lead soldier said. “We’ll take you back to camp.”

Instead of picking up her things, she went to Enzo and threw her arms around him. He buried his head into her hair.

“I love you too,” she said. “We’ll work out the rest.”

She said the words softly enough that she didn’t think the soldiers would hear, but perhaps they wore enhanced listening devices. A collective, “Ahh” went through the group joined by a smattering of applause.

“Very touching,” the lead soldier said. “But we need to go.”

Charity and Enzo didn’t speak again until they reached the soldiers’ camp. She wondered if Enzo was really as relaxed in the midst of soldiers as he seemed. All of the guns made her nervous.

Half a dozen large tents dotted the area along with rows of tanks and armored trucks. Men with rifles guarded the perimeter. Once there, Shreeve, the head soldier, told them they would spend the night locked in the brig. Regulations. No one without proper clearance could move freely around the camp.

The brig, in this case, was a huge moving container in the back of one of the armored trucks. No chance of escape, even if they’d wanted to.

All in all, sleeping in the container wasn’t the worst fate. The place had cots, a small lamp, and a portable bathroom with a shower. They could stand up inside, and the room wasn’t that cold.

When the door thudded shut behind them, Enzo took Charity’s phone from her, turned on the white noise function, and whispered, “This will cover some noises, but I wouldn’t say anything you don’t want the soldiers to hear just in case the place is bugged. They already got an earful of our personal lives.”

“Yeah. Worst in-laws ever?” She put her hands on her hips in mock offense. “I think you’re seriously underestimating a lot of other in-laws.”

“I said some nice things too.”

“Yes, you did.” She smiled at the memory, glowed from it.

He took one of her hands from her waist, brought it to his lips, and kissed it.

“My brother isn’t a jerk,” she said. “He’s just protective, and with good reason.”

Enzo put her hand on his shoulder and slid his arms around her waist. “We’re not talking, remember?”

And so they didn’t.