Awakened: The Story of Maxwell Cain

Chapter 13

Chapter 13

Chicago

Max had never ridden in a helicopter before and the noise was overwhelming.  He attempted to clear his thoughts but couldn’t get the whirling blades above him out of his head.  Will and Chloe were both in the cockpit making conversation over the radio in their headsets, but Max couldn’t understand what they were saying.

 He saw Chloe gesture to something to their left and Will nodded.  Then he turned around to yell at Max, “We are about ten minutes away from Chicago.  The refueling station is on the outskirts of the city, so we should fly through undetected.  Still keep your eyes open!”  Will turned back around following Chloe’s instructions for their coming landing procedures.

Max kept looking for the station, but due to the overgrowth of trees, could not see it until they were directly overhead.  Everything had been skillfully camouflaged, and the single opening through the trees was a narrow space only big enough for their helicopter.  He saw a small building to one side of the empty space, and a larger building built amongst the trees. Max could see the strained look of concentration on Chloe’s face as she descended through the foliage surrounding them.  He saw the tail of the  helicopter get very close to a branch, and was going to cry out to Chloe, but thought it best not to distract her.  Instead, the spinning rotor cleaved the branch easily and did not hinder their landing a bit.

After they touched the ground, all three of them heaved a sigh of relief and stepped out of the chopper and stretched their legs.  Immediately, an older man and woman came running out to them, determined to be put to work.  The two toiled like clockwork, rolling out a hose from the large container inside the small building and refueling the aircraft.

Chloe went over to the older couple and exchanged some quick words, then came running back to them.  “It will be about twenty minutes until we are topped off and ready to go.  They offered us lunch inside their home, so we might as well rest for now.”

They walked to the larger building and   entered through the front door.  It was a smaller home, just big enough for Frank and Joslyn Walters, the older married couple helping them with their fuel outside.  There was a plate of sandwiches made up in the kitchen with bottles of water next to it.  They each grabbed a handful of food and a bottle and walked into the living room to relax for a while.

Max looked around the living room and saw the couple in a lot of the photos along the wall.  They seemed very happy and content with their little home in the middle of nowhere.

“Wouldn’t it be nice to live out here without a care in the world?  All you have to worry about is food.”

Will looked up at him, “What are you talking about?  This would suck.  You would have nobody to hang out with, and it would take hours to get to the closest city.”

Max smiled.  “That’s the point.  You could live out here without a care in the world.”

Will laughed.  “Whatever, man.  I could never do it.”

After twenty minutes, Frank walked through the front door followed by his wife, Joslyn.  There were quick introductions followed by quick goodbyes.  The couple understood the urgency of the departure and didn’t want to hold them up any longer.  As they left, Joslyn gently placed her hand on Max’s shoulder and said, “We both love Damon and hope you succeed.”

They exchanged one last goodbye and stepped back into the helicopter for another long journey.  The takeoff went smoothly, and off they went again.  Max took one last look at the hideout below them, and saw a strange looking girl, seemingly standing among the trees.  Max looked up at his friends, but they didn’t seem to have noticed.  The girl couldn’t have been more than sixteen, but the Walters never mentioned they had a daughter or a granddaughter.  Max shrugged it off.  If he had a child nearby, he wouldn’t let her play with the equipment, or get involved in their quest in any way either.