Chapter 3: Fallen Soldier Fallen Enemies

“The burdens Jo-Laina must carry seem heavier than any I could bear. My only hope is, when I do find her, I can make her ready. But I fear I may not live long enough to accomplish it.”

Excerpt from the diary of Panpar

∞

“Whitney!” Kam called out. Whitney was on her knees, hands flat on the ground in front of her, chin so close to the ground, it nearly touched the floor, and she was crying so severely that even if her ears could hear him, they wouldn’t.

Kam bolted through the recovering crowd, sliding his way to her as he made the final approach, and wrapping his arms around her when he got there.

“Whitney,” he said again. “Are you okay?”

It must have taken her a second to figure out it was him. She kept her position and her tears seemed to overtake her. She lifted, slowly at first, gaining momentum, until her arms were around him.

“T, t, t, ommy,” she forced herself to say.

“Tommy what, Whitney. Tommy what?” he said as he began to rock her in his arms.

“Tommy. The bomb. Tommy was...”

She cut herself off, practically leapt from Kam’s arms, spinning back toward the entrance to the mall and a second later, Tommy came running around the corner.

Tommy didn’t stop running as he rounded the corner, nearly stumbling over the little blonde girl, who was being dragged away, eyes covered by one arm of her mother, as the other arm tried desperately to move gawkers out of her way. Tommy quickly apologized to the mother, recognizing who she was, but not dwelling on it. His attention quickly went back to Whitney who was standing there with her arms held out to him.

He closed the distance and hugged her tightly as Agent Ceiphart grabbed them both by the shirt collars and started to haul them away from the scene.

Did we do something wrong? Whitney asked Tommy as the agent continued to thrust them toward the bathroom.

No, Tommy thought back to her, I’m not sure what he wants.

Tommy signaled Kam to follow and Kam, seeing the agent meant for them to go into the john, pointed to Kat and his mom. Tommy nodded yes.

Ceiphart opened the door, shoved them in and said, “Stay here. Don’t talk to anyone. I’ll be back as fast as I can.”

“Where are you...” Tommy began.

“I’ll be back,” he repeated, but his shoulders were slumped and his eyes looked heavy. “I have a bad ... Just wait here,” he finished and he disappeared back into the hall.

Kam, Kat, and their parents replaced him in the doorway. Kam and Kat’s mom had a horrified look as she tentatively stepped through the door, but her husband quickly ushered her inside.

Tommy watched Kat’s mom do her level best to make do with where she was standing, taking up residence next to the sink, folding her hands in front of herself like a timid mare, wondering what they were doing in there. Kat and her mom shared a lot of similarities. She had the same slightly wavy blonde hair, same soft shoulders, demure posture, and bright eyes (at least bright as he remembered how Kat used to be), same bubbly personality, but Kat’s mom wasn’t looking so bubbly. Her eyes were red as if she had been crying for hours.

I did that to her, Whitney thought to herself, I brought those tears to her eyes.

Whitney, Tommy thought back to her, you have to stop blaming yourself. We only did what we had to.

Did I have to make that necklace for her? She asked him, reminding him of the scar on Kat’s chest and forcing his eyes over to Kat, to her chest, and to the imprint, in the shape of the handmade owl, peeking above her shirt-line. I don’t think I did have to. I think I wanted to. I think I cared more about having a new friend than I did about protecting her.

“What in the hell is going on here,” their father asked. He was looking directly at Tommy and he had a militaristic way about him. Kam’s dad was used to having his questions answered, and answered right this very second. Those eyes said, “If you don’t answer me now, boy, and give me the answers I want to hear, then I put the answers I want down your throat so you can spit them back, nice and proper, for my ears to hear.”

“Terrorists,” Tommy croaked, “terrorists were going to kill everyone in the mall.”

He stood there silent for a second as if he were checking some mental file in his head, some file telling him if he were being lied to or not. Whatever the file said must have checked out because he didn’t argue. Surprisingly he didn’t ask how they knew about the terrorists either. He simply wrapped one protective arm around his wife, and the other around Kat.

“You came here to protect them,” he said nodding first toward Kat, and then to Kam, “didn’t you?”

Tommy nodded, taking note the man standing before him seemed more informed than he expected him to be, and then walked over to Kat. He put his arms around her. At first, she just stood there, like a child hugged by a visiting aunt, the type of aunt that likes to pinch your cheeks too hard. She seemed to drift back into the world they were living in, just a little bit, the slightest smile bringing the very ends of her lips upward a touch, her eyes sharpening with a hint of knowing, and then her arms did cross against Tommy’s back, followed by a sniffle, before her head went to Tommy’s chest. Tommy tightened his embrace on her while her dad’s posture stiffened. He didn’t say anything about his daughter’s embrace, but it was obvious he wanted to.

Whitney was so engrossed in Kat and Tommy she didn’t realize Kam had walked over to her. Her mind was sliced in two, held still in Tommy’s mind, perceiving the thoughts, emotions and physical sensations he was sensing, and the other half gripping her own physical sensations as Kam wrapped his arms around her. She was again taken by how strong he felt against her and her arms went immediately to his back, her head to his chest, and her mind instinctively trying to wrap around his. She had to stop herself from hugging him with that part of her as well because her mind and his weren’t compatible that way.

“I should have let you kiss me again,” Whitney said without thinking. “At the end, before we left, while Margraves was still watching.”

“Again,” his mother cut in. “I didn’t think they allowed that kind of thing at the...” she began to say, but Kam’s dad grabbed her by the arm.

“I was going to until you threatened to kick me in the nuts,” Kam replied.

“What? It wouldn’t have been worth it?” she asked him slyly.

Kam reached up and guided Whitney’s chin up toward his. She couldn’t tell if his eyes were open or closed, (she immediately withdrew herself from Tommy’s mind) but she realized it didn’t matter whether or not she could see into his eyes. She wasn’t supposed to. It was a woman’s place to trust the man she kissed and she was supposed to have her eyes closed. She let him guide her lips toward his, softly puckering in anticipation. Her heart fluttered in her chest as his lips pressed against hers. Her entire body ached with the pain from the bullets and she had to stifle her urge to cry out, but as much as it hurt it didn’t matter. She wanted Kam as tightly as she could have him.