It took Javier the better part of two days to reach the outpost, which was just north east of Meridan, which was still in the state of Wyoming. Javier had heard it said that the outpost was a former missile silo and it had that look about it; old and bureaucratic. The place was deserted now and after just a few minutes of poking around Javier didn’t find anything useful. No vehicles, no radios, no food.
This sucks. How am I going to get home? Where the hell is Bill? He knew his father in law would not have left him behind. What that meant, Javier didn’t really want to think about. Maybe I was buried and he couldn’t find me? It was better to think that than about the fact that the man might be dead. Nothing can kill him, I’ve seen him shot a dozen times, sliced so bad it nearly took his leg off and even impaled! Nah, Bill is okay, he musta just couldn’t find me. That probably meant Claire thought he was dead too. Won’t she be mad when she sees me? And then happy…I hope. She was used to him being gone all the time, but didn’t like it, especially with the kid to handle and all. The military was engrained in Javier’s life now, he knew he would never leave it, partly because he wouldn’t be allowed to, not unless he died for good and partly because he didn’t want to.
Before all this I would have been working some shitty job, behind a desk or unloading trucks. Now I never sleep in the same place twice. I get to do different things and solve interesting problems. Not bad for any kid with big dreams and no head for learning.
“What am I going to do now?” He said it out loud as he looked around the empty concrete structure. At least there was no signs of fighting here, so there was a possibility that the fighting was all over. High above him two jets flew over heading east. Javier made it to the open door in time to catch sight of them as they disappeared over the horizon. “Huh, well, I guess the fighting might not be over.”