The Hunter, The Dragon And The Smokey Mountain Angel

Julia opened her eyes and groaned. The details of her dreams had slipped away but her heart still pounded. She had been dreaming of the same people again. These were the same dreams she’d been having for the past year. When they started again each night, it was as if she had missed a day in one of their lives while she was awake and then when she slept again, she tuned back into their stories.

Sometimes she could remember every detail, as if she had really been there, as if she were the persons living these lives but the pain stole those dreams when her mind returned to her body.

She rolled over out of the shadow and into the sunlight. The light shined through the window like laser beams burning into her skull and her eyes snapped shut. She reached for her bag and fumbled with an outside pocket until she found her pain medicine.

The bottled shook in her hand but only a few pills rattled around. Panic began to build in her stomach and she started breathing deeply.

She thought,

What if I don’t get to a doctor in time.

She didn’t want the pain to immobilize her again. The last time it happened, just after one of the many times she had been moved into a new hospital, her bed had struck a doorframe. It felt like a line of fire jolting from her neck down to her left heel and all she could do was scream. The pain had made every muscle in her body contract until her bones started to break and she wished for death... They quickly pumped her with enough pain medicine to put down a horse and she forgot about the incident, until now.

That thought was too much; for now, all she needed was a cup of water.

The living room looked warm and bright but the image was very deceiving. The fire had died out and she knew by the sting of her ears and the vapor from her breath that outside the sleeping bag it was very cold. The pain in her body was only going to get worse. She had a lot of walking to do today before she would have her prescriptions filled.

Slowly, she stood up and dressed, found the tin cup and headed outside to the well. The snow was only a few inches thick and she could tell that it would melt by noon. The weather had always been like this, cold and snowy one day and then warm and sunny the next.

The pump on top of the well squeaked as she pushed down on the leaver. Shocks of pain coming from her right shoulder felt like lightning shooting down the length of her body and a flash of memory came to mind.

This memory had come before and she was sure it was from the day of her accident. She saw herself standing at a computer console, but this was no ordinary computer. It was a quantum computer hidden in a secret base located just northeast of Atlanta Georgia. She had visited many other sites like it around the world. She had used these computers for sending unbreakable coded messages to her superiors... and, they used them for other, classified purposes.

Then there was a flash, pain, a ringing noise in her ear and then nothing…

The memory faded. She didn’t even know what a quantum computer was… Something had happened at that time but she couldn’t remember what she was inputting. Whenever she used terminals like that, there were always extra levels of security and she had to follow exact instructions. She had used a variety of highly secret computers but there was something special about that one.

Julia felt the cold biting into her hands. She had been pumping the leaver and finally water had started trickling out of the spout. She released the lever and held her cup to catch the stream. The water ran dry when the cup was about half full and she started pumping again but this time something snapped at the hinge and the lever dropped on the ground. More water started coming out of the spout, enough to fill the rest of her cup. She held her shaking cup under the spout until the water stopped flowing and then she turned and hurried back inside.

After rebuilding the fire, she used a little of the water to clean herself up and then heated the rest in the fire. The MREs had little packets of instant coffee in them. After a few minutes passed, she poured some of the hot water into the coffee pouch and the rest into the MRE packet. She stirred both, drank the coffee black and then swallowed two pills.

As she sat in front of the fire, her mind teetered between pain and clarity of thought. Soon the pain medication would begin taking effect and her vision would blur but then all she would feel is good.

She took another sip of coffee and ate her MRE and then she started thinking about the money she had... She didn’t have any money. All of her money was in that bank account and the account was now empty...

Talking about putting all my eggs in one basket…

Then she remembered Noah’s college fund. She had been hiding money from Rand and saving the cash in a plastic bottle until the Air Force recruiter had told her about the bonus she would get if she joined. She thought,

Funny how a small idea like saving money for Noah had led me to go to war...

That jar was still in the sub–floor below Noah’s closet. She turned and looked at her son’s room and smiled, got up and walked to the closet. She noticed that it was less painful to move and she was grateful.

The floorboard in the corner of the closet had always been loose. She had noticed it the first time she moved into the house. She had been sliding boxes around in the closet when suddenly her left foot felt cold. Some lazy contractor must have miscalculated a cut, and thinking that since it was a board stuck in the corner of the closet, no one would notice...

As it had done before, the board popped up with only a little twist of the knife. She reached into the hole and pulled out a jar stuffed with cash and replaced the board. A short time later, she was bundled inside her sleeping bag dumping the contents of her investment onto the floor before her.

$320.89

She laughed, paused and then laughed again. It was hardly a college fund but it was a lifesaver now. Getting her checking account resolved with the bank could take days to sort out.

She would need a phone, clothes and perhaps she could rent a car when she knew where her son was.

An hour later, she was dressed, her medicine had fully kicked in and she was ready to leave. As she walked down the driveway she saw the mailbox, remembered how full it is and decided to check it when she returned home; she had a lot to do right now.

The sun had melted most of the snow and the wet asphalt was quickly drying. She didn’t really have a long way to walk but for her, injured like this, it seemed like a hundred miles.

Her mind kept returning to the empty account.

The Air Force had promised to deposit her money into my home bank account...

Where are my ex–husband and Noah?

She was sure he needed money and since her account was empty, either he had somehow emptied it or he had gotten little or no money from her. Then she started worrying about Noah.

Is he being provided for? Where did all that money go?

The pain in her body wasn’t as bad any more but she was still moving very slowly, so slowly that she was sure a zombie horde would have eaten her by now. She wondered where that thought came from and then she remembered her dreams from last night. Memories from her other dreams came and went and her mind buzzed. In one dream, she had been flying, not in a plane or rocket but she was in the air soaring over mountains and rivers... But she couldn’t remember any more and she looked up. Her thoughts cleared and she realized that she was standing in front of her bank.

Her clothes were a mess and her hair was flat and oily but she wasn’t here for a loan. She ran her fingers through her hair, pulled her shirt down and shook her head; it was no use–

I look like hell.

She raised her chin and smiled; she was here to get her money back.

A nice looking man in a wool sweater and dress pants opened the door for her. After asking how he could help her, she told him what had happened to her account and he walked her to one of the offices. She sat down in a soft chair before a small desk feeling a hundred years older and wondering how she had made it through basic training.

Actually, a walk like the one she had just taken was nothing compared to the miles she had run in the dead of night, through foreign jungles to reach a target. Even though her last mission was only a little over a year ago, that memory felt like one of her dreams.

“Hi Miss. Anderson. Thanks for choosing Bank 1, how may I help you?” said a sharply dressed woman as she walked around the desk and sat down in her seat facing Julia.

Julia handed the woman her ID and bankcard and then said, “My account is empty. There should be more than $300,000.00 in the checking and 85,000.00 in the savings.

The woman had a nametag that said Tonya. Tonya looked at her and shook her head as if nearly $400,000.000 goes missing all the time from her customers. Then the lady swiped her card, punched a few keys into the keyboard and said, “Your account is actually –$80.00. Someone must’ve made a mistake and forgot to close it for you.”

Julia started speaking but nothing came out. She realized that she was hyperventilating, so she took a deep breath and said, “The mistake is a $400,000.000 mistake not a –$80.00 mistake.”

Tonya smiled but it was not a warm smile. She typed a few more letters on her keyboard and said, “Your banking history ended a year ago. You have never had anything but NSF charges.”

Julia said, “I am a military officer who got paid! I have only deposited money into this account starting four years ago! How can I have NSF fees when I never withdrew money from this bank? Now, what happened to my money?”

“Well, Miss Anderson, it looks like Child Protective Services drew against this account but since there was nothing there you received the NSF fees. We put a hold on the account to stop the over draft.” Tonya said with a smile.

Tears started welling up in Julia’s eyes but she stopped them. She hadn’t come home from war to be defeated by bankers. Without another word, she slowly stood up, turned away from Tonya and started to walk out.

“Miss, how are you going to take care of these fees?” Tonya said from behind her.

Julia wanted to give her the finger but instead she said, “Don’t worry, you’ll be hearing from me very soon.” What they would be hearing, she didn’t know. Perhaps the Air Force could straighten this out for her.

She left the bank feeling dizzy and even worse than she imagined but still determined.

She was hoping she could pay some of her ex–husbands bills and give some extra money for... whatever Noah might need. Now she only had enough to get a cell phone and necessities. She looked across the street and saw a Walmart.

It’s not Macy’s but shopping at Macy’s won’t cover all the basics. I need a car but with the low funds, until absolutely needed a car can wait.

The line in the Walmart electronics department didn’t take long and after looking at all the smart–phones she chose the cheapest one that would let her search the internet. The Internet would be very useful right now.

The attendant asked her for her ID and he ran a credit check, handed her card back and said, “Miss that phone will be $400.00.”

Julia looked at him and then back at the tag on the sample phone. She said, “The price says $60 with a two year contract.”

“Yes, but your credit check came back negative. I can only give you that price with the two–year contract. The price of that phone without the two–year agreement is $400. Will that be cash or credit?”

Julia glared at him and he looked away. Then she calmed down remembering that this young man had nothing to do with her bad luck.

The clerk looked back at her and said, “Miss, I can’t hold up the whole line any longer.”

Julia glanced back. There were many people behind her.

The lady behind her smiled and said, “We don’t mind waiting on you. And thank you for your service.”

The lines around Julia’s eyes softened and she couldn’t help but smile back. Then she reached over to the display, snatched a $20 track phone and then paid another $20 in prepaid minutes. Then she left the counter.

“I guess I’m in survival mode,” she whispered.

She quickly made a list of things she needed to survive in a house with only a fireplace and a broken water pump. “Okay, let’s start with fixing that well pump, food, new panties, clothes to find a job in; just in case I don’t get this bank thing working anytime soon... And I need soap, shampoo and lots of soap.”

However, before she took another step, she dialed her ex–husband’s phone number and waited. A person she didn’t know answered, so she hung–up, checked the number and shook her head. The world felt like it was slightly tilted and rotating clockwise. She shook her head again, as if she might clear rainwater from an umbrella.

These meds sure do a number on the brain...

She dialed the correct number but the phone went directly to voice mail. She tried it again but got nothing, so she said, “Rand, I need to see Noah. I want to check in with his doctors and see how he is advancing with his Autism therapy. Call me back.” Then she left her phone number and hung up.

She stood still for a moment longer wishing he’d call back right away but after a minute passed, she used 411, the information service, and got the local Air Force office phone number. After calling it, she learned that they were closed today but would be open tomorrow morning at 10:00 am.

She said to herself, “I will be there at 10:00 am.”

As she walked through the store, placing only the essentials in her cart, along with more instant coffee and some chocolate, several people stopped her and thanked her for all she had done to protect the country.

It took two and a half hours to finish all her shopping and stand in line at the checkout. When it was her turn, she placed her things on the counter and the clerk totaled up everything but before she could pull out her cash, a man stepped forward and handed the clerk his credit card. He said, “It’s not much but God bless you Miss for all you have done for us.”

Tears started to come again, this time it was happy tears but she still needed to stay strong. If she let even one tear follow the first she doubted that she could stop the rest.

She said, “Sir, you don’t have to do that.”

“Already done Miss,” The clerk said.

Julia turned to the woman and then took her bags and placed them back into her buggy. Before she left she said, “Sir, you can’t know the blessing you have done for me today. Thank you.”

The man’s eyes and cheeks had turned red. He was about to start crying, so she smiled and then turned and headed for the door but she paused when the ground started trembling.

“That’s a big one,” someone said.

“That’s the biggest one since they started a year ago,” another person replied.

A woman said, “I wonder what they’ve found.”

Julia thought about what Frank had said about helicopters dropping something inside that mountain but the thought vanished. It was well past lunchtime and she needed sustenance. She quickly filled her duffel bag with the things she had bought and started up the parking lot heading back home.

Then just as she stepped onto the crosswalk, a black SUV pulled up next to her and stopped. The black tented window slid down, a man dressed in a black business suit, and dark sunglasses handed her a flier. Julia felt a vibrating coming from within her. The feeling connected her to a familiar presence within her and a wave of comfort settled in her mind. She took the flier from his outstretched hand, the window slid back up, and the SUV sped off and disappeared into traffic.

The vibrating ceased and the odd feeling vanished. A minute passed as Julia watched the SUV drive off and she wondered what that was all about. Then she looked down at the flier. It read:

A temporary health clinic is opening with free care for veterans without insurance. One day only.

The date shown was for tomorrow at noon and the place was located at the strip mall across the street from the Air Force recruitment office.

How convenient, she thought, I’ll go check in with the Air Force, get my papers and money straightened out but if there is a problem, all I have to do is walk across the street to see a doctor.

Her stomach growled, a little louder than normal and she started thinking about lunch again. It would be a long walk home and she was starving, so she decided on Waffle House.

It was going to take her over an hour to walk the mile from the Walmart to the Waffle House but she was proud of that time. She was in a lot of pain and she was out of shape from lying around in bed; sometimes only doing the minimum exercises her physical therapy required.

Nevertheless, she was feeling stronger. No one was helping her but she still had a will. That meant that there was still a way. When she needed the help, she believed God would send the right people at the right time.

There were many people protesting the war all over town but most of those people still thanked her or stayed quiet as they watched her walking by. Then, slowly, she remembered how Anna and Jerry had bought her dinner when she was hungry and they had driven her home when she had no ride. And the man who just paid for her things a few minutes ago came to mind. She guessed that help had already come and she was grateful.

Julia smiled to herself.

I’m going to turn this thing around and never forget those who helped me when I was in need.

She started down the main road toward her home. The Waffle House was calling. She decided to order the biggest meal she could and take the leftovers home for dinner.

As she walked down the side of the road, she ignored the staring people inside the oncoming traffic who slowed down in their cars to watch her odd movements. Some people honked and waved, gave her thumbs up and moved on. She tried to keep her eyes forward. She pretended that it was her beauty that was making everyone stare, but she could only laugh at that idea.

Singing always made long walks shorter, so she started humming a tune she had learned at basic training but the memories of her being able to jog and do general physical exercise made her stop. Songs she use to sing with Noah came to mind but those nearly sent her over the edge and finally she settled on the latest pop songs she had heard on the radio.

The time passed quickly and she entered Waffle House a few minutes faster than she had predicted.

A server shouted, “Welcome to Waffle House!” and then two other employees echoed the saying without looking her way.

Julia set her bag down at a booth nearest the restroom. A few minutes later a young lady approached her and said, “Hello Sarg–”

Julia said, “I’m not a Sgt. you can call me Julia.”

The lady smiled and said, “Julia my name is Betty.”

Two men were sitting in the booth in front of Julia. The oldest of the men turned to Julia and said, “Julia, make sure Betty doesn’t cook your Waffle. Let Andrew do it.”

Andrew, the cook, turned and smiled. He was a young Asian man. Julia thought he was cute and somewhat out of place here. Everyone seemed to brighten a little in the presence of his smile.

Andrew said, “Betty can cook a waffle as good as I can. She just got busy one night and let one get a little too crispy and this man never let her live it down.”

“All I’m say–en is, how do you screw up a waffle at the Waffle House?”

“Oh shut up Barney and drink your water,” Betty said.

“Well it’s even harder to screw up water, but she did it. Just don’t ask her for a cup half full with ice. This woman only likes full cups!”

Andrew laughed. He said, “Barney only picks on you if he likes you.”

Betty shook her head at Barney then looked at Julia and said, “Now miss Julia, can I take your order.”

Barney winked at Julia and then returned to his meal. Julia couldn’t help but smile as she turned her attention to Betty and said, “I need to look at the menu but for now, I’ll take a pecan waffle with chocolate chips and a cup of coffee. And I’d like it if you’d make the waffle.”

Barney turned back around and said, “Eat it at your own peril.”

“I’ll take my chances Mr. Barney,” Julia said with a smile as Betty turned and headed for the waffle makers.

Julia picked up the menu and started looking it over. So much has changed since she had last stopped at a Waffle House.

After a few minutes, Betty returned with a golden brown waffle stuffed with pecans and topped with melting chocolate chips.

“Wow, that looks perfect Betty,” Julia said.

Barney said, “I knew she could do it.”

“Oh shut up Barney!” Betty said with a smile.

Julia tucked the menu into the slot behind the salt shakers and said, I’ll take the Great Omelet Special but can you just bring me the Omelet on a plate and put the rest into a to–go container?”

“Yes mam, and how would you like that omelet cooked?”

“She wants it old fashion,” Barney snapped, “None of that blender stuff.”

Julia nodded and said, “Make it a stake omelet, old fashion and put everything else you can fit inside it too.”

Betty turned and spoke the order to Andrew who arranged condiments on a plate to indicate exactly how she wanted her order made.

Julia gave thanks to God for her food, took a bite into her waffle and moaned. It was so good she could hardly control herself. Then she sipped her coffee and devoured the rest of the waffle just before Betty set a plate down filled with the largest omelet stuffed with the most extras she had ever seen in her life.”

Julia looked down at her stomach as a low rumbling began vibrating her insides. At first, she thought that the strange sensation was something only she could feel but slowly the whole restaurant began shaking. Her eyes went wide as the trembling increased tipping over saltshakers and rattling glasses. Then, suddenly the trimmer stopped.

“That was a big–en! Been happening a lot more since last night. They must–of found someth–en.” Barney said.

Betty picked up all the fallen saltshakers and cleaned off the tables. She said, “Those guys are sure getting sloppy.”

Andrew flipped over a sizzling stake and turned around. He said, “They’re blasting all the time, day or night.”

“Hey,” Barney said as he raised a finger, “Don’t get persnickety young man. Those guys are employing lots of people in those mines. Not everybody can be class A cooks.”

“I applied to be a miner,” Betty said.

Barney put his fork down and said, “You aren’t no miner Betty.”

“Why do you say that, can’t girls be miners?” Betty asked.

“Perhaps some can, but not you. Why don’t you try for one of those computer type jobs they’ve posted in the paper,” Barny said.

“I can’t operate a computer. You see how advanced we are here,” Betty waved her ticket book to indicate the whole restaurant. Then she pulled out her flip phone and said, “This’s about as far as my expertise with technology goes.”

Barney shook his head. He said, “You’re going to last a hell of a lot longer learning spreadsheet then you will blasting holes in some damn cave.”

Julia’s eyebrows rose. She needed a job; she was very good with computers and many different kinds of programs. The Air Force had spent a lot of money training her with alternate cover stories, so her skills would fit the undercover–jobs she took. The mission would be accomplished.

While she was undercover, she could fly small jets and airplanes, helicopters, manage a small business, clean house, reprogram a computer or repair a cell phone; and dance...

Her heart sank as she realized she would never dance again...

Then she looked down. Her omelet was almost finished, so she withdrew two of her pain pills from her bottle, checked that she had four left and then replaced the bottle in her bag.

Betty took Julia’s extra food from Andrew and slid it inside a to–go bag. She placed it and a cup of water down on Julia’s table and she whispered, “I think Andrew likes you,” she glanced back at Andrew then she leaned closer to Julia’s ear and said, “I don’t know what was going through his mind when he cooked that omelet of yours but it sure was sweet.”

Julia looked past Betty. Andrew was good looking.

She shook her head and thought,

What would a man like that want with a girl like this?

This was going to be a long walk home. The thought of lost romance hurt even though it was the last thing she wanted right now...

She looked back up at Betty and gave the best smile she could and nodded. Then she took the glass of water, swallowed the pain pills and thought,

At least these pills numb more than just back pain…

The idea of interviews and painful walks reminded her that she might need a rental car tomorrow and she asked, “Does anyone know where I can get a rental car?”

Barny pointed toward the Walmart and said, “There’s a car rental place behind the Walmart.”

“Thanks Barney,” Julia said as she began stuffing her duffle bag with the to–go box.

She used the bathroom, paid for her meal and left Betty a big tip. Then she thanked Andrew and Betty for making such a great dinner.

She looked at the main road and she could feel every muscle and bone in her body begging her to find a place behind the restaurant and take a nap.

She paused at the front entrance and thought,

that was a crazy idea...

Then she smiled to herself,

The meds must be working.

She glanced back and saw Andrew watching her with a strange look on his face. He waved to her and she waved back like a teenager, dropped her hand quickly when she realized what she was doing, turned and started walking home.

The day was turning cold and that was the last thing she wanted. She should have gotten a jacket at Walmart but she gambled that spring would soon be here and she could just ware layers.

“I must have been high when I thought of that,” she said through chattering teeth, “Yea Jules, don’t buy a jacket the day after it snows...” She shivered as her right leg pulled her bum left leg forward. “What a dumb idea,” she mumbled to herself, “I needed to save what little money I have until I can get a job... or die. I know, I can just die of frostbite. There’s a viable alternative, another injury to add to the list; broken back, bum leg and frozen limbs. Good thinking ahead. GO ME! How the hell did I survive two years in theater?” She knew the meds were messing with her thinking, so she stopped b rating herself.

As she walked along the side of the road, she noticed cars slowing as they passed her by. She felt self–conscious about every odd movement her body made.

Ever since she had grown out of the tomboy–phase people had watched her every move. When she was a teenager, she had asked her uncle about this. He told her, “You’re a hottie sweetheart, get used to it. Now don’t go bringing home somebody I’m goanna have to shoot.”

The memory of her uncle made her smile.

Now people are staring at me for different reasons.

Another car slowed as the driver craned her neck to look at Julia. Julia glanced at the woman and then back down at the road– heard tires screeching, looked up and saw that the woman almost rear–ended the car in front of her.

A few minutes later, a plastic bottle flew past her. Julia flinched, turned toward the road and saw a man dressed in a plaid shirt looking forward with his middle finger showing. He yelled, “Serves you right! You bunch of baby killers!”

The truck behind him blew its horn but the man in the car just raised his middle finger into the air. A large, bearded man stepped out of his truck but the car pulled off the main road, made a U–turn at the light and sped off. The bearded man gave Julia a sly smile, returned to his truck and left.

Julia closed her eyes and remembered what it felt like to run. She wanted to run right now.

She was used to being the strong one, the fit one. After her parents died, her uncle never helped her do anything. He was a drunk but he was a nice, functional drunk. After work, he would come home and drink for hours as she worked on her homework. When they went hunting together, he’d tell her, “Julia, you’re not all alone but I won’t be around forever. You gotta learn to find your own way and don’t expect nobody to help you.”

Julia opened her eyes and traffic was at a standstill. To her right sat a car full of Children. Like fish trapped in an aquarium, the children stared at the unusual world outside made of gigantic Hollywood replicas and blazing lights. Eventually they settled on the most odd–looking thing they could see, her.

Julia couldn’t blame the kids for staring at her. She only wished their fascination with her were because of the way things used to be.

Having to admit to herself that she had a broken body was the hardest part. She hated it when someone held the door for her, not because she was a beautiful lady but because it helped her enter or leave a room. The sad thing was that it really did help; some doors were really big… But, she still hated it because every time she let someone hold the door for her, she had to admit to herself that something really had changed. To her, that meant she was weak.

She said to herself, “My body may be weak now but it will get stronger. My mind,” she wanted to say, “It has never been stronger!” However, she felt dizzy. “I guess I’ll have to work on my mind too.”

Then she wondered why she was talking to herself so much…

She looked back over at the kids who were staring at her from inside the car and she made a funny face at them. The two children laughed and then made funny faces back at her. Then the red light turned green and all the cars moved on.

At her current pace, it would be a very long walk home and she needed something more to get her mind off all the people staring at her. She sang the theme song from Sesame Street but forgot most of the words and began improvising with her own lyrics. After a while, when her lips started to tingle and go numb, she lost interest in singing.

It was getting very cold. The cold was its own distraction. She started fantasizing about standing in front of the fireplace. Then she imagined sitting in front of it eating the rest of her dinner, warm and comfortable curled up inside her sleeping bag listening to the fire popping and dreaming of a day when she could dance.

In her mind, she was already home and soon her body would be there too. For her, just like the many times she was deep undercover, this discomfort was just a passing moment, a cold moment but she would be home soon.

Julia pulled out her cell phone and tried her son again but she got nothing. A sense of panic started to eat away at her insides.

There had to be something wrong,

Rand may be a jerk but he would never keep Noah away from me like this.

Julia turned at the sound of a car slowing in the parking lot to her left and she readied herself to see another person staring at her. The driver side window rolled down and Andrew smiled back at her.

“Hi Julia, it’s a little cold to be walking like this; want a ride?”

Before she could think about it, she found herself nodding and walking around to the passenger side door. The cold had started to set in and it was only getting darker. Andrew had the door swinging open as she approached. He reached out a hand and wiggled his fingers and she instinctively handed him her bag. Then he waited with a smile as she very slowly climbed inside the cab and fastened her safety belt.

When she looked ready Andrew said, “So, where’re we heading?”

Julia relaxed a little when she felt the heat on full blast. Soft music, like the kind she heard on public radio, played quietly in the background. Drifting through the air was a distinct smell that she knew well from her high school days. She said, “Just go like you’re heading towards Dollywood but turn left just before the theme park.”

Andrew put the Jeep in drive and they started down the road. He reached into the ashtray and pulled out a joint. He said, “You’re obviously in a lot of pain. I don’t know what crap they have prescribed to you but I promise you this stuff will help all that without all the crazy side effects.”

Julia pulled out her bottle of pain meds and said, “Thanks but I just took two pills a few minutes ago.” Julia didn’t want to take any chances with the law when the government still had her money.

Andrew looked at the bottle. He said, “Oh, you have Oxie. That’ll do the job all right. But take this anyway; you might change your mind later.” Before she could answer, he reached over and put the joint inside her jacket pocket.

“I wasn’t born yesterday,” Julia said, “I know what that stuff is and you’re probably right but you can’t get a job in this state with that in your system. Even a doctor can’t prescribe that to you here.”

“You’re a veteran, right?”

“Yes.”

“Did you get those injuries in the war?”

Julia suddenly felt self–conscious. For a second, for just a moment, she was starting to feel like a normal person again. She said, “Yes, this happened while I was on duty.”

Andrew nodded and was quiet for a moment. He looked out the window toward the mountains.

Julia said, “What happened to me is classified Top Secret.”

Andrew looked back at her, “But, you’re going to tell me anyway.”

“I can’t tell you anything specific other than this, I was trained to spot the bad guys. I can fly small aircraft.”

“You’re a pilot!”

“I was a pilot. With the kind of drugs they have me on now it’s hard to think clearly. I’m not qualified to throw a paper airplane.”

Andrew laughed. He asked, “Is that how you got hurt, a plane crash?”

“There was some kind of electrical accident… Actually, I don’t even know what happened. I just woke up like this.”

“So you were a G.I. Jane?”

“I was more like a scout and when I had to, I made things go boom.”

Andrew glanced at her and then back at the road in front of them. He asked, “Did you ever kill anyone?”

Julia let out a deep breath. She said, “You’re the first person to ask me about this.”

“You gotta talk to somebody,” he replied.

Julia had so many things that had gone wrong swirling in her mind that her brain hurt. The pain medicine had the dual effect of giving her relief from the pain and allowing her a reprieve from heavy thinking.

She realized that she had spent the last year in a mental state of limbo. She had been so heavily medicated that she wasn’t even sure how she had gotten on that Greyhound bus. Now was the time for heavy thinking but her brain felt like mush.

Her ex–husband, her son and all of her funds were missing... She barely had enough to cover the basics. Those things, those few very important things at the front of her mind had allowed her to bury her deepest sadness in order to focus on the present. She had forgotten a great deal of things that she had sworn to herself that she would work out later. And as her mind skipped across disjointed memories, she realized that many of her most celebrated victories had come with a great cost.

Now this young man, a Cook from Waffle House, had asked her a direct question, a simple question that had an answer but all she wanted to do was cry.

Andrew watched as her body deflated. He said, “If you’re ashamed of what you did in the war you don’t have to talk about it to me. I’m not here to judge you… Sometimes I just talk before my brain has a chance to edit those thoughts.”

Julia answered, “There are so many things I regret but I’m not ashamed of being a soldier.”

Andrew nodded and said, “But you wish there were another way.”

Julia closed her eyes. She said, “I have dozens of confirmed kills. Actually, I only killed one person the rest were because of me.”

“So what about that one?”

“I was escorting a team of Sea… Soldiers to an enemy’s secret base. We had to clear the building next to the base. That means we had to go from room to room checking that all the rooms were empty of people. I was usually the last one to enter the room and it was the same this time. Somehow, the guys had missed the young man sitting in the corner with a rifle in his hands. They had already secured the rest of the family that was living in the house.”

“So you guys busted in those peoples house without a warrant?”

“This is war and we’re not in America. And yes, we just busted in this family’s house and started arresting everyone.”

“So they were like terrorists, right? You started arresting everyone because they were terrorist, right?”

Andrew turned down the road heading towards Dollywood and Julia pointed toward the oncoming sign that marked her road. He nodded, turned his left blinker on, drove the short distance and then turned left.

“That’s my driveway right there,” Julia said.

Andrew pulled into her driveway and stopped before the mailbox. Julia started to get out of the Jeep but then stopped and looked Andrew in the eyes and said, “The family living inside that house was not terrorists. They were just the family who happen to live in a house next to a building where a few men had been plotting to blow up bridges, mosque or anyone that didn’t agree with them. We needed that house cleared.”

Andrew nodded silently.

“The soldiers in front of me had cleared the first two rooms and were walking out of the third room when the young man standing just to my left raised his rifle. Without thinking, I pulled out my knife and threw it at him. It pierced his throat, severed his carotid artery and cut his larynx. He fired a single shot as his body hit the ground. His mother was screaming and crying. We almost had to kill his sister as she tried to get to her dying brother...

“I was in a state of shock. In that moment, I was only trying to protect the soldiers who were assigned to me; they were my family. They were my brothers...”

Andrew didn’t look away from her.

Julia continued, “I now know that the young man was only trying to protect his family whom we had arrested. I don’t know if he knew what the people next door were doing.”

Julia felt her heart pounding and she could hear her shaky voice.

Andrew leaned over and wrapped his arms around her. It was a good hug, a long hug that seemed to draw upon her sadness and replace it with his peace. He wasn’t condemning her and she felt no pity in his touch. Then without a word, he slowly released her and she opened the Jeep door.

The cold stung her face where tears had streamed down her cheeks. She wiped them aside. Now wasn’t the time for weakness; that time would come soon enough.

Andrew handed her the duffel bag and said, “Can I have your phone number Julia?”

“I don’t even know it,” she laughed as she pulled out her phone, “I just got this phone today.”

Andrew said, “Then called me, 555–515–1224.”

Julia dialed the number, waited for his phone to ring, then hung up her phone. She said, “Good night Andrew and thank you for the ride.”

Andrew nodded and smiled as she closed the door and turned toward her mailbox. He turned around and drove off. Suddenly she realized how dark it had become.

She opened the mailbox and saw it stuffed with bills, legal form letters and papers. She quickly closed the mailbox again.

This can wait until morning.

A few minutes later, she was inside the house building a small fire in the fireplace. She called her son again but got the voice mail. She said, “Noah this is mommy. Call me as soon as you can, I miss you so much. I’m staying at our house. Send me some word that you’re okay. Send me something. Let me know that you’re okay.” The phone clicked when she hit the end button. Then she unrolled her sleeping bag, took off all her clothes and fell asleep.

In her dreams, she felt as if she was rising. She was flying higher than she had ever flown before. A big tree stood in the distance. This was the largest tree she had ever seen. Its leaves were as large as clouds and it shimmered where its canopy touched the edge of space…