Arizona, August 20th

"Sir, are you sure we should be trusting these people?" Lana asked, gesturing at the woman aiming a shotgun at us.

"Most certainly not, lieutenant." I replied, watching the young girl with a shotgun carefully.

"You the two that got out of that plane that fell yonder?" she asked, pointing the gun between the two of us.

"Yes, we were." I replied.

"Huh, well. Guess we should get going then. Earl's goons w'll be out here soon, we'll want to be gone by then." She said, lowering the gun. The Lieutenant and I shared a glance before looking at the girl standing on the slope above us.

The girl skidded down the slope to us, glancing between the Lieutenant and myself. "Name's Halina… you?"

"Andrew, Lana doesn't speak English." I replied as the Lieutenant looked at me helplessly. The girl started walking down the gully we'd just climbed out of, waving at us to follow.

"Huh, you folks ain't from round here. Where were you headed, before ya'll got shit down that is?" Halina asked as we followed her, Lana seemed displeased but followed.

"LA." I replied, opening the system shop and scrolling through to the military gear… I added an item here and there when I wasn't scrambling over rocks and Halina wasn't looking.

It's not like she'd see the system's display. But it's for the best she remain as oblivious as possible to what I was preparing. I glanced up at the sky as the roar of a pair of MiGs flew by at maybe a thousand feet.

"Lieutenant, fire a flare."

Lana grabbed her flare gun and loaded one of her flares, she aimed at the sky and then fired. Halina spun around, staring at the flare.

"The hell are you doing?" She shouted.

"You lead Earl right to us!" She turned and started scrambling away. I glanced at the Lieutenant with a shrug and we continued on our way, following Halina as she scrambled between rocks and then led into a chain link fence.

Above us the MiGs circled the flare for a few minutes before banking away. I wished we had a way to communicate with the pilots… but Lana's handheld radio never left her mig. Scattered across some hillside a couple miles away.

Halina led us to a chain link fence, scrambling under it and gesturing to a few warehouses a short distance away. "We can hide here for a few hours."

We followed her inside, it looked like some kind of mechanic shop, trucks with their hoods popped open and engines in varying states of disassembly. I looked over at the young girl, leaning her gun against a table, rummaging around before producing a few snack bars.

"Want one?" She chucked one at each of us and leaned against the table.

I caught the bar, eating the thing in a couple bites. I looked around the workshop, but everything was generic, vague. "Where are we?"

"Baghdad copper mine." Halina supplied.

I glanced around. "California?"

Halina chuckled. "That's about eighty miles west as the bird flies."

"Lieutenant, you think we could make it to LAX by air?"

"Sir, we can't risk traveling by air." Lana countered.

"Those aircraft shot us down effortlessly, they were cutting edge, yes? Our Migs are at least thirty… forty years behind?" Lana asked.

"So ground travel… a UAZ and a couple jerry cans, a pair of AKs and some magazines… Maybe a good radio?" I asked the Lieutenant.

She nodded. I looked at my little list, cutting the helicopter and adding everything else. The truck was 20 credits, the pair of AKSUs and their ammo was 4 credits, the box of MREs was 3 credits, the couple jerry cans and fuel was 3 credits, and getting a command radio was 5 credits. A whopping 35 credits…

Halina was watching the two of us. I shared a look with the Lieutenant. "Should we let her tag along?"

"I would recommend against it sir, but the Union needs all the people it can find. So far she's not proven to be a hindrance, proper screening can be done once we return."

"We'll offer, but it'll be up to her." I said after considering my options. Having someone that could guide us to the interstate would be helpful, but not necessary. 

I walked outside, making my purchase, that familiar blue circle appeared before me, the small jeep crammed with all the equipment. I glanced at the dirt road, sliding into the driver's seat and starting the truck.

I reached around the back and connected the radio to the power outlet, dragging the antenna and hooking it up. The two came out as I was screwing the antenna's base to the truck. "Lieutenant, there should be a hand mic on the dash, you plug that into the radio?"

Lana nodded and started rummaging through the truck while Halina gaped and stared. I finished tightening the screws and tossed the screwdriver back into the truck.

"Any station on this net this is Lion 11, radio check, over." Lana held the mic up while she inputted a channel frequency.

"Lion 11, this is Leo 1, I read you Lima Charlie, how me? Over." Came a quiet, gruff reply.

"Leo 1, this is Lion 11, you are quiet but readable, over."

"Lion 11,switch to channel 7709."

"Good copy, switching to channel 7709." Lana replied, changing the frequency.

"This is Lion 11, radio check, over."

"Lion 11, this is Hotel 7, is Seria 6 present? Over." A different voice asked.

I took the mic from Lana and she settled down in the passenger seat, grabbing one of the AKs and loading the rifle.

"Hotel 7, Sierra 6." I held the mic up, watching as Halina glanced between the three of us and our vehicle.

"Sierra 6, what is your location? Over."

"Baghdad, Arizona." I replied.

"Good copy Sierra, we'll scramble…"

I cut over the transmission. "Break break, negative. Do not deploy anyone to my location, break… has the identity of the hostile that shot down our aircraft been confirmed, break… inform SierraWhiskey that my return was delayed, over."

"Affirmative 6, Hostiles were positively id'd as elements of Black Horse that took over Edward Airforce base."

"Good copy, I'll give black horse a gift on my return journey. Break, do not stray from operation Iron Gauntlet. Over."

"Good copy 6, headquarters acknowledges." With no more traffic on the net I dropped the mic on the dash. I turned to the young girl, not saying a word.

"How… where?" She sputtered

"We're going to Los Angeles, are you staying or tagging along?" I asked. She shook her head. I sighed and grabbed the small handheld radio, tossing it to her.

"If any Soviet forces are nearby, channel 1170, that's monitored 24-7. We'll listen to it for a few hours, then we'll be out of range." I stepped into the driver's seat and shifted the Jeep into gear. I followed the winding road. Driving around the edge of what looked like a giant pit mine.

We came up to a small gate, its doors were wide open, so it didn't hinder us. The gravel road turned to pavement. I picked up some speed, following the winding road.

"I hope you're a better singer than me Lieutenant, we got at least two days, probably three before we make it back." I jested, relaxing as the little engine loudly hummed as we drove south east.