The Journey to Freedom: Path to WW3

Chapter XC

It is almost impossible to orchestrate the farewell you desire. That is something only a few people manage to do.

Edwin van der San

The following morning I wake up from the couch and go to the restroom and take a shower. I get ready and put on some shorts and head downstairs. I put on my cargo pants and polyester black shirt. I strap on my solar pistols and pick up Genesis and strap her on my wrist. I take my hunting knife and strap it on my back.

I pick up the backpack, the bow, and the quiver that Horacio made for me and pass by the computer room and Eve was already booted up and she says, "No goodbye for me?"

I walk in and say, "I didn't get to say goodbye the last time, I just didn't want to say it again and feel like I wasn't coming back. Going to war, there's no guarantee that anyone comes back alive."

Eve replies, "Some people do. Others come back damaged. But I know that you will come back. You're Nicholas Santiago. The most immovable object that I've ever known."

I look at Eve and say, "How about instead of saying goodbye, I say, I'll be back in a few months."

She smiles on the screen and says, "We'll go with that."

I wave and say, "I'll be back, take care of my girls. Call me if you need anything."

She replies, "I will...Jet."

I smile and walk out of the computer room and head upstairs.

I go upstairs into the house and the girls were already awake. They were groggy but they were awake. Karen was in her bathrobe making breakfast. I look at everyone and see all my girls crying, including Karen. I put my backpack and bow down and the twins come running to me and beg me to stay.

I start to tear up and say, "I can't babies. I have to go and take care of something. It's going to take me a while to fix it but once I am in DC, I will call for you all, and ya'll can meet me there and finish what I needed to finish what started 6 years ago. Lydia tells me that by the time they go to DC, she will have my new uniform ready.

I look at her confused and ask, "New uniform?"

She replies, "Yes, I have been working on some thin fabric that is bulletproof. Hopefully, they will be ready by the time we get to DC."

I ask, "They?"

She looks at me and smiles, "Yes, they. I am going to make uniforms for your whole team. You will all be invincible and nobody will get hurt. I heard all the stories of you getting shot and saving everyone. I just want to make sure that you will be ok this time."

I smile and ask her who told her all those stories and she tells me that Eve told her all the war stories. I laugh and say, You better believe everything that Eve tells you because the day that you get a boyfriend, he will have to impress me. And I don't impress easily."

She laughs and says, "Right now, I'm more worried about keeping you alive than to have a boyfriend. I smile and tell her to keep it that way.

Jasmine walks up to me and says, "At least you're saying goodbye this time."

I reply, "Its not a goodbye sweetie. It's more of a, I'll be back in a few months."

She hugs me and tells me that I should wait until the food is ready, so I can take it with me on the trip. I tell her that anything to spend another minute with them would be my pleasure.

I walk into the kitchen and Karen was making some fresh flour tortillas. I go in and take out the eggs and she tells me that she could do it. I tell her that I was going to help out one last time before I left. She starts to tear up and I cut some ham into small squares and mix the eggs. I put them in the pan and mix them together until they were cooked. Karen makes the tortillas and cooks them and as soon as one comes out, I make a taco. I make a dozen tacos and wrap them up in aluminum foil and take them to my backpack and put them on the side.

Karen walks up to me and says, "Thank you for my birthday dinner. No one has ever done that before for me. I know that you don't want another relationship but I wished that you would accept me as a partner. I would take care of you and the girls."

Jasmine looks at her and says, "Karen, I know you mean well, but dad has more important things to think about right now. The man that killed billions of people is alive and it's his job to bring him to justice."

Karen continues to tear up and says, "I know."

And she walks away and goes into her room.

I hear a knock on the door and I open it.

Josh asks me if I was ready and I say, "Yeah, let's go."

Lobo comes running to me and starts barking.

I look at him and say, "Yeah, yeah, I haven't forgotten about you."

He walks out of the house and I follow him outside. I see that everyone in town was there to see me off. I smile and they tell me to have a safe journey. Most of the families give me bags of tacos that they made for us. I laugh and tell Josh to tie some on his backpack and I tie some up on mine. Roberto tells me that he was going to drive me to a place where the water was low but that it would get me across the river to Eagle Pass. I thank him and we get on the truck and start driving off. The girls chase the truck and wave goodbye to me.

I wave goodbye to them and we drive through town and most of the town members wave goodbye to us and I yell, "Keep my family safe! I will be back in a few months!"

They yell back, "We will! Be safe and go with god!"

We drive to a part of the river where the tide was low. I thank Roberto for the ride and he tells me that it was the least he could do for me.

I tell him that he saved me at least a day of walking and he tells me, "You'll need to save all your energy for the long road. It's a hard one."

I hug him and he tells me to have a safe journey.

We cross the river and start walking towards Drew's house. We get there in about three hours. I knock on the door and he comes out without a shirt.

He hugs me and says, "It's been a long time."

I smile and say, "It sure has. But now, we need to finish what started years ago. The president has to go down and we need to make sure that he goes down hard."

He tells me that he needs to get his clothes and his backpack ready. I tell him not to pack anything because Josh and I already had everything that we needed for the trip. He gives me his backpack and I put in all the bags of tacos inside of it. Lobo sniffs around and I give him two tacos. He eats them and I tell him that I would give him more food once we hit dinner time. He barks and Drew comes out and says that he's ready. I ask him about Fito and he says that Fito won't be coming because he has a kid and he doesn't want to leave the family alone. I tell him that I understood.

We walk out of the house and I tell everyone, "Let's go. We have a long way ahead of us."

Drew asks me, "Where are we going?"

I reply while walking towards the highway with Lobo next to me, "Montana. We're going to set up a base of operations there. Then we must find people that are willing to fight...On this Path to Freedom."