Waiting... This is what soldiers do most of the time. Not shooting, not having our mates' backs, not jumping out of a plane with a parachute, diving deep in the sea, working out at the gym or dealing with state-of-the-art equipment. Most of the time, we wait... We wait for new orders, we wait to get on a plane or a boat, we wait for the right day and time to start a mission, we wait for other teams to be ready to join us in an operation, we wait for the signal to attack... No matter if it's hot or cold, day or night, squatting behind a military truck or taking a nap in an airport lounge. The first thing a soldier learns in the army is how to be patient and deal with boredom.
So, here I am, in the back seat of a SUV, waiting while cradling my rifle in my arms like a baby, with my eyes shut, controlling my breathing and the heart rhythm the way my instructors taught me. I try to keep my mind blank like I've done a thousand times before, ignoring the traffic noise on the road and my Commander's breathing while he's sitting behind the wheel. But it's difficult because this is not a normal day: it's the day I'll have to rescue my pregnant wife from the clutches of her kidnapper.
There're so many things that could go wrong, so many ways in which Ruby and the twins could get hurt and I couldn't do anything for them... Even in the middle of a zombie apocalypse, I had more control over the situation, I was with them most of the time and was able to protect them. This situation sucks but, if I have a nervous breakdown, things will get ugly for them so I swallow my fear and trust my mates, my training and my skills, the way I always did. A bullet from this rifle will end up inside that asshole's body and my wife will come back home safe and sound. And these are facts.
"I've got them," Kat's voice echoes inside the vehicle and I open my eyes, surprised. Gabriel turns the speaker volume down and turns around to look at me smiling before asking.
"Do you know where they are?"
"The signal changed from one antenna to another at the same time a black van was driving down the SR261 close to Orchard Hills. I've seen it on the cameras, it's the same we spotted in the footage from the surveillance cameras at the airport only this time the plates were clean. The vehicle belongs to Theodore Clifton, but there's a problem: our friend Theo is on the list of bodies removed from the Orange County when the soldiers cleaned the streets getting rid of zombies. He still had his wallet in a pocket, apparently. Mr. Clifton had two children: Oliver and Benjamin, I bet these are our kidnappers... They both have a long criminal record that started when they were teens, although they weren't violent: they broke into houses and used to shoplift, they stole cars, fought with a drunkard in a bar, they were low level drug dealers too..."
"Two gems," I hear Adrian saying through the phone. "We've arrived at the zoo and we're waiting close to the door for the area to be clear before leaving the bag in the trash can. Nat will stay close sitting on a bench, eating an ice cream cone and pretending that she's not a well-trained green beret capable of kicking the butt of a Clifton boy."
"Wow, this is interesting..." I hear Rick mumbling while typing. Kat is waiting with him in another SUV parked somewhere between the Orange County Zoo and Irvine Regional Park, the area where we suspect the hostages will be freed, to coordinate the mission from their laptops. "Theodore Clifton was the owner of a house in Limestone Canyon and had a problem with his neighbours years ago, the guy had a temper and was reported for harassment and threats, this is why he asked the city council for permission to surround his property with a high wall in order to isolate his family from them... I found the blueprints of the house in the archive. It has a big basement, I think we know were they kept their victims locked up..."
"That's the same place where they hid during the zombie apocalypse," I reply and Gabriel nods. "They don't seem very smart, I guess this is why they don't know Ruby Rose, the famous actress and model..."
