Story Market Day

LawPoet

Contributing Member
Cool! Would this be another case of Divine Aid about which these heroes are unaware?

And let the angel of the Lord chase him … And let the angel of the Lord pursue themLet the destruction come upon him unexpectedly.” (Psalm 35:5-8)

BTW: Such aid to the righteous transcends fictional circumstances--as we, ourselves, may see in the near future.
 
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ComCamGuy

Remote Paramedical pain in the ass
Finally, Jesse knew the feeling wasn’t going to go away. He stuck his head out the door. The daylight and twilight was gone, the moonlight was illuminating what it could.

“Zed, come on in. I think we have a problem.” He turned to Doug who was sitting on the porch. “Doug, collect your nuclear bunny and come in here. I think we have a problem.” Jesse realized as he said it, he was repeating himself. He knew he had a tendency to do that when he was stressed.

Once he had everyone around the table, Jesse laid out what he had determined.

“OK, guys, I’ve been listening to the radio and it sounds like something is going on, some sort of combat type action. I don’t know who is fighting who, if the guys we are after are involved, if it’s still going to be happening tomorrow, none of it. However, my gut tells me if we wait, the bad guys will be more alert the longer we wait. If they are getting hit, or are hitting someone, then they will be on the lookout for retaliation or another attack soon. I think we need to move into position tonight, and hit them first thing in the morning, just as it gets a little light so we can see.” After Jesse laid it out to them, he felt better, this felt right. He hoped they saw it that way as well.

The group looked around the room. They looked at each other. Emilia was scared, Jesse was amped up, Doug was worried, but committed, and Heidi, Heidi’s look was unreadable to all but Jesse. He had seen that look once before, long ago and far away. It was the look his Gunnery Sargent had just before they went into the Cartel’s village all those many years ago. It was a look that said volumes, if you could only read the language. It was sad, and fierce and despondent all at the same time. Heidi spoke. Her voice was quiet yet held everyone’s attention.


“Hit them before they are ready. What else do we need to get done before we move out? If we can get it all done, we can leave in about an hour, and catch a nap at the jump off points near the objectives. It beats screwing around and overthinking it for another day.” She looked at the faces of everyone. They were all in agreement.


“Zed, you got the stuff to make up a batch of your god awful energy drink? With the rest cut short, we might need it by the end of the morning.” Jesse’s voice cut the silence.

“Sure. Emilia, if you could give me a hand, we have some mixing to do. Jesse, my gear is already in the truck. We will mix up about oh…three quarts of the drink. One for me and you and the kids can take the other two.”

Doug, spoke up.

“This feels right. I’ll get the ATV out and finish loading my gear. Heidi, can you get yours and Emilia’s?”

Heidi’s reply was quick and to the point.

“Our gear is already prepped, I just have to grab it off the bed. I’ll give you a hand when I get outside.” As she walked past the table, she saw a pencil sketch Emilia had been working on. It was of Heidi, all kitted up as she was right now. Damn, she thought to herself. ‘If I look this fierce, they might just die from fright’. She looked a moment more, then on impulse, she grabbed a pencil and made a quick addition to the jacket on the picture on the right breast, where a name tag would be. Emilia saw her do it and shot a questioning glare at Heidi.

“What?”

“What did you add?”

“She needed a name tag”

“OK, but who is ‘Engel Van die Dood’”

“Someone my father told me to not be afraid to be.” Heidi strode out of the kitchen area to the bedroom for their gear.

Emilia turned back to where Zed was paused in pulling stuff from the cabinets and freezer. She saw he had a funny look on his face.

“What’s up, Zed? How can I help?”

“OK, we are making my secret recipe for an energy drink. Grab that big bowl over there. We are making a big batch.”

“Wouldn’t it be easier to just have a case of red monster or whatever?”

“This old school recipe has a bit more, and is much healthier for you and lasts longer.” Zed smiled, all the time telling himself he must have misheard what was written as a name tag on the drawing. He will look at it in a little while.

“OK, Zed. What are the ingredients so we can mix this up?”

“So, since we are making a large batch, we start with three cans of frozen juice concentrate.” He points to one can each of pineapple, orange and grapefruit concentrate on the table. “Dump those in the bowl. Next we take some water I have over here on the stove coming to a boil and dump in about 20 tea bags.”

"Isn’t that a lot? There’s only about two cups of water in the pot. Shouldn’t we add more?”

“Nope,” Zed shook his head “we want it to be very concentrated. We let that boil for about five to seven minutes, then take out the teabags and add two cups of sugar. While that dissolves, we come back over here.” Zed turns towards the bowl on the table. “We mash up six frozen bananas. Fresh ones would be better, but I didn’t have time to shop.” He smiles at Emilia. “To this, we add a sixteen ounce jar of fresh raw honey.” He starts stirring the gloppy mess. “Emilia, here, stir this. As it breaks up and thaws, we stir, and can start using the whisk.” He holds up a large whisk, “It will stir easier after I add the tea and sugar mix from the stove.” He pours the still steaming pot into the big bowl, melting the last of the frozen components. Emilia starts whisking away, trying to get everything smooth and combined. To this he added four scoops of Gatorade powder, fruit punch flavor and four scoops of egg based protein powder.

Zed grabs a small bottle from the spice cabinet. “The next thing we add is about ten drops of clove oil.” Finally, Emilia can’t take it anymore and has to ask.

“OK, Zed. Explain how this is an energy drink.”

“Sure. The fruit juice is short term and some medium burn sugar. The honey is longer burn. The bananas are for the potassium for the muscles. Tea is for the caffeine. Tea has more than coffee. The raw sugar I mixed in the tea was to boost the caloric content. Gatorade for the electrolytes, and protein powder for the protein.”

“And the clove oil?”

“Clove oil is a natural mild anesthetic to reduce feeling pain, like from burns, bruises and such. But more is not better in this case. If you put too much clove oil in, you will shit like a goose for a week.” Zed thought about what all they had put in, then remembered one more ingredient. He went to the pantry and pulled out a liter bottle of tonic water. Opening the lid, he poured it all in as Emilia stirred and whisked. “Quinine, for muscles.”

When Zed thought it was mixed enough, he pulled out six one liter water bottles. To these he added ice cubes from the fridge. The two of them proceeded to ladle the mixture into the bottles. The leftovers he placed in a pitcher in the fridge.

“When we get back, we can add a little Gin to it, and have a good post workout drink.” While he was telling Emilia this, he was looking at the drawing on the table.

“This is a great likeness. You have a real talent.” His finger traced the name on the jacket. “Where did you say your grandfather was from again?”

“Originally, somewhere in Africa. I don’t remember where.”

Zed was a bit puzzled. What kind of father tells his only daughter to not be afraid to be ‘Angel of Death’?
 
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ComCamGuy

Remote Paramedical pain in the ass
Heidi was thinking as she was out running up and down the creek bed. She was finally free enough to stretch her muscles and move. This made her feel good. It was like keeping a kitten in an aquarium; she was all claustrophobic and stressed. Now she was just stressed. This was the first time in a long time she was going out on a real combat mission. Worse, this wasn’t a ‘go along and protect them if they get attacked’ mission. This was honest to god “go here and kill these ****ers’ stuff.

Heidi was remembering a talk she had with her father not long after she moved back with Emilia. It was late at night, the only time he seemed to want to talk. She thought it was because he had already put the day’s work problems to bed. They were talking of war and faith. She was still not sure how he felt about her volunteering to go away to war for all those years. He fought because they were coming into his lands his country. She went somewhere else. He surprised her be telling her how proud he was of all she had done, how she was willing to leave safety and security to protect others. He said to her she had the strength to be right. This confused her so she asked him to explain.

“You have the strength of will and the focus to do the right thing for God. Many people I see in my church seem to think praying to God is like buying lottery tickets; ‘let me win the lottery’ I want a new car’, save me from this danger.’” At this last one he was silent for a moment. She remembered he had asked for that very thing as a soldier in his youth. He continued “Give me this material thing is not the way it works. I learned this, even though I fell into the same trap to some extent. He is not like a parent giving a child a toy. Rather, he is a parent wanting his children to learn and grow. I know you, I have seen you grow and prosper. I have seen you stumble and fall. Yell scream and curse? Sure. Beg for a hand-out? No. You, I know you. You asked for strength and wisdom to find solutions, the strength to endure. You used your strength to protect others at the cost of yourself. You chose hard ways so others did not have to.”

He poured himself another glass of wine before he continued.

“Young, impetuous and angry. You were all these things, but you were never malicious, cheating, or blasphemous. Even your artwork,” he gestured towards her shoulder “was something so personal and was something to never be ashamed of. You merely gave the world a way to see what I have always seen in you. Now however I know what a double-edged sword I blessed or cursed you with. I could not help it. I named you from my heart, Sera. Angels end up doing all of God’s dirty work, and no one thinks of the toll on the angels. To be the cherub bringing joy is easy, to be the angel bringing wrath is harder, and to be the Angel of Death, the Engel Van die Dood, is a horrible burden. I have had to kill, as have you. Always remember, necessity, not anger, always for others, never yourself. You have always had the strength to do the right thing. Do not fear the hard jobs, you were made to handle them. To us Engel Van die Doods.” He raised his glass in a toast.

“Heidi! Heidi! Come in. Jesse needs us.” She heard Doug’s voice through the trees. She went up the small ravine towards the house. Just before she crested the rise, she paused a moment.

“Thanks Dad. I hope your right and I’m strong enough for what is coming.”
 

Texican

Live Free & Die Free.... God Freedom Country....
CCG,

Been busy on a project and just got to read several chapters.

The gang off to fight the bad guys with the next chapter?

Thanks for the story.

Texican....
 

Sportsman

Veteran Member
Thank you. The energy drink formula sure looks interesting, and your personal testamony insures that some of us will try it out. Thanks for that as well.
 

ComCamGuy

Remote Paramedical pain in the ass
Zed and Jesse were fairly quiet for most of the drive north and east. They passed a bottle of the ‘energy drink’ back and forth between them. After on such drink, Jesse spoke.

“Damn, this stuff tastes awful!”

“You asked for it.”

“I know, it works but it’s not very smooth.”

“Could be worse. I didn’t put any Gin in the kid’s bottles.” Zed grinned.

“Oh, that’s just mean.” Jesse chuckled.

“Jesse, I got to tell you some things.” Hearing this, Jesse looked over at his friend.

“Is now the right time for a deep philosophical discussion about the Loss to the tennis world when Wimbledon changed from white balls to green? I thought we covered that ground already.”


“I’m serious, Jesse.”

Jesse tightened his grip on the wheel.

“Ok, Zed, what do you want to tell me?”

“There’s a packet of paperwork on the dresser in my room. It shows you inheriting the cabin and land if anything happens to me.”

“Wait, what do you mean me inheriting the cabin? That has to go to family, or it goes to the government. What are you talking about?”


“Marta and I spent about a year and a half working with lawyers to get this done. Its all legal. Actually, with the precedent and providences we were able to,” he paused, looking for the right word “enumerate and elaborate, the whole thing is actually yours and you are letting me live there.”

“Alright Rickey, you got some explaining to do. This all sounds shady. What did you two do?”

“You were and are a family member. You didn’t divorce Karen, she died. You were never separated from the family. She was my older sister. On her death, it didn’t sunder your rights.”

“Yeah, but it wasn’t hers, it was your fathers at the time. That’s how it came to you when he died. I still don’t understand.”

“You know Karen was spending more and more time out here and was staying here while you were gone.”

“Yeah.” This was bringing up some painful memories for Jesse.

“Her plan was for the two of you to live there full time, at least when you were at sea, and when you could She had set everything up with dad, laid out plans for a remodel and the ‘homestead vacation home’ would become her permanent residence. This would seal the deal and even when you two were at other assignments, this would be the home address of record.”

Jesse was stunned at all of this. He could see the signs in hindsight, but he didn’t realize what she was up to at the time. They were unhappy at the apartment in town, but she told him she had a solution and would tell him when he got back.

“Slick plan, but how does this escape the part about her dying?”

“We were able to show enough official documents and application copies to show a train of elements. This, along with a healthy stack of money to lawyers, and we have this taken care of. There is also an addendum in there. All you have to do is sign it, and it wills it to Paige, skipping the ex-wife, and your son, and putting her the next in the line of legal succession. There is another version, blank of name if, instead, you want to give it to a son or daughter if you marry again. After fighting and killing for this land. I don’t want it just given back to the government.”

Jesse didn’t know what to say. He was stunned. Part of his mind was racing down the path that might have been. Him and Karen, here. Raising kids, with the whole forest as their backyard. God, it would have been wonderful.

“Zachariah, I don’t know how to thank you.”

“Karen loved you with all her heart. I had to do this for her and for Marta, and for me. You have been more faithful to this family than anyone could ever ask. You are and will always be family.” He took another swig of the energy drink, then held it out to his oldest friend. “Another hit?”
 

ComCamGuy

Remote Paramedical pain in the ass
The little eight-wheeler and trailer were navigating down side trails and gullies, Emilia at the controls. Doug’s thinking was she could remember the route better if she drove it rather than as a passenger. Heidi agreed with him and added the fact Emilia would be so stressed out from the night drive, she would be tired enough to sleep for a few hours once they got to their hole-up point. All of this was discussed right in front of Emilia. Finally, she had to say something.

“Guys. I’m right here. You want to include me in this decision thing? Don’t I get a vote?” She looked hopefully at the two of them. They both looked at one another, then at her. Simultaneously, they both replied

“No” This got a chuckle out of Doug and Heidi, and even a smirk out of Emilia. Once they were through laughing, Heidi continued talking.

“”I know, kinda mean to do that, but If you drive, he navigates, then when we get there, you two rest while I keep an eye out and scope what I can find. This gets you two some more rest and better for tomorrow.”

“Yeah, mom, but when do you get to rest? You need to get some rest as well.”

“I’m not trying to recharge my batteries from a head injury and burns like Doug, nor am I on my first mission and amped to the gills, like you, and I don’t need as much rest.”

“You have to rest some, you are the one doing all the running around up close.” Emilia’s tone was worried again.

“I’ll have plenty of rest, I’m napping in the Stokes basket on the way down. So, as long as you drive smooth, don’t hit anything on the way down there or roll this thing, pitching me out, I’ll get plenty of rest.” Heidi smiled, hoping she alleviated Emilia’s fears. The kid was stressed out enough. She didn’t need to add more to her load.

Doug was in tour guide mode, directing Emilia where to go, what landmarks to use to remember their path, how fast to go, how to get the most out of what they had. He tried to immerse himself in this to avoid thinking of the next steps and the impending killing. He looked over to the basket. Heidi was sprawled, seemingly asleep. How did she do that? The person who couldn’t stay asleep in a perfectly good campsite with sleeping bag, pad and such, here she was, asleep on a backboard in a rescue basket, bouncing down a trail to meet up with killers and attack them. How does that work? He wished he knew. Another voice in his head told him he didn’t, that it came from where she has been and what she has seen and done. And what she knew she was going to have to do. Was he a coward for giving in and letting her do the up close work, using his health as an excuse, or was it giving in to logic? If anything happens to her, he knew he would hate himself and second guess himself for the rest of his life.
 

ComCamGuy

Remote Paramedical pain in the ass
Emilia was thinking to herself as she lay there ’mom sure knew what she was talking about'. She was wiped out and ready to sleep. She was on the ground next to the ATV. Next to her was Doug. After they stopped, the three of them had a bite to eat. That is, after waking Heidi up. The meal was fairly silent other than a couple technical points like ‘I’ll put your bag here, and, ‘where do you want to set up?’ Heidi looked like she just had a relaxing day at the spa. Emilia still didn’t know how she did it on three hours of sleep, much less now, when it was in the back of a moving vehicle in the dark on the way to a gunfight.

Emilia looked over at Doug, who was curled up next to her, his head resting on his small pack and rifle. She was watching him through dinner (if you could call it that) and he seemed different than when they were driving down. Along the way, he was very outgoing, talking about this and that as they passed it. He was always saying something about what’s down a particular trail or how to find this location, or how much or how little throttle to use. After they stopped, he was more like a beaten puppy. It was a hell of a contrast to the over the top, bouncy mom. She seemed to have all the energy, while Doug seemed to have run out of gas or something.
 

ComCamGuy

Remote Paramedical pain in the ass
All through the drive, Doug kept trying to find that one piece of extra data to point out to Emilia. How to find the trail from the other direction, how to conserve the fuel on board by coasting and using less throttle until she really needed to go fast and so forth. All of this was a smokescreen in his mind. He was still trying to reconcile himself with the fact he was letting Heidi take the most dangerous part of the job coming up. Who was he kidding? It wasn’t a ‘job’ unless he worked for the mob. It was a premeditated murder they were going to commit. The group had hashed all of this out several times. There was to be no warning, no shouts for them to surrender, nothing. Just start unloading from the dark and cut down people in cold blood, without a chance. What kind of lawman was he? And what kind of boss was he to let his ‘junior ranger’ do the dirty work he wasn’t even comfortable with being done, much less not necessarily able to do himself? He prided himself that he never asked nor expected his troops to do anything he hadn’t done or been willing to do. He was breaking the shit out of that rule now.

As he sat thinking about this through the brief meal, he also told himself he needed to be honest with himself. Some of it was also because she was a woman. He was brought up to be a gentleman. Although he knew and believed in the abstract that women could fight and could pull their own weight, it still grated on him to have her doing the tougher job than him. He also felt ashamed that a part of him was glad she was doing it instead of him. The same person who could rappel down a six hundred foot cliff in a thunderstorm in the dark of night to rescue someone, was a coward and letting the new girl do his job. It hurt. He had to find a way to pull his weight and redeem himself of this in the future, otherwise, shaving would be hard not being able to look in the mirror.
 

ComCamGuy

Remote Paramedical pain in the ass
Heidi was glad those two finally laid down, they were wearing on her nerves. She got a decent snooze if not real sleep as they drove down to their hide site. She wolfed down some food, and was ready to go do some exploring. She wanted to get a decent lay of the land early and make sure nothing was going to completely screw up their plan. She was a little worried about Doug. He seemed to be a bit off while they were eating. He was mostly staring at his plate and wouldn’t look her in the eyes when he was talking. That in its own right was a little disturbing. She was used to people staring at her eyes, not necessarily onto her eyes, but at her eyes. The two color thing usually either freaks people out or it fascinates them. He had this look but she wasn’t sure what it was. It wasn’t embarrassed per say, it wasn’t sheepish. She wasn’t sure what it was, but it looked out of place on him.

She had to remind herself this was the first time Doug or Emilia have ever willingly traveled towards a combat site, much less with the intention to engage in the fighting. Doug may just have a case of nerves. He may be overwhelmed with all of this. She remembered being so wound up before her first patrol she had to go pee a dozen times in the half hour prior to rolling. Doug has been in a firefight, but it came to him and he didn’t have any time to process the implications other than fight or die. He can rise to the occasion, she was sure of it.
 
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