Chapter 17: The Road Home

They had left on schedule a few hours before sunset in Willow's truck, the three of them on the bench seat with windows down and wind blowing across their bodies on a warm evening in November. Hitch and Kieu-Linh had bought gold with their credits along with a few supplies. Hitch bought his wife a new rifle with a scope and it thrilled her to talk about going hunting again. They'd picked up ammunition and clothing, food and a small camp stove to use on the journey east.

He'd worried a bit that they might find trouble at the checkpoints heading out of Denver, but Willow's identity made it easy to proceed without incident. They were approaching Kentucky a couple of days later, all of them in a rush to get to their destination.

South of Lexington, they decided to park the truck and bury the gold and any supplies they couldn't carry with them on the hump south. Willow's small fortune had meant a heavy load, and used some of the credits on jewelry and other valuables which weighed less and might be useful to barter with the mountain traders. They packed heavy rucks and tied clothing onto straps, burying the rest, and headed on foot through the hills of Kentucky.

They camped the first night under the stars. It was warm for November and the air was perfectly comfortable as Kieu-Linh and Hitch cuddled together, Willow a few feet away. Without thinking, he started to kiss his wife passionately, the romantic mood broken only when he remembered that his daughter was just to his side.

Still, he let his hands play over Kieu-Linh's chest, unable to keep from touching her gently, her quiet sighs making him grow hard despite Willow's presence. He whispered to his wife, "wish we were alone right now..."

Willow could hear them kissing and knew that she was listening to something which deserved privacy. When she heard her father's words, spoken in a whisper but still audible enough to make out in the still air, Willow knew what she should do.

"You don't have to stop because of me," her voice said softly. "I'll go for a walk."

"No, no, it's ok, Willow, we just ... uh..." her dad started.

"It's alright. I'm not sleepy right now. And I like to think about things while I pace around. Does me good." Willow pulled out of her sleeping bag and stood, stretching. She walked down the edge of the field in which they'd made camp, the night warm despite the late month.

It was odd to think about her father being intimate with a teenage girl. Girl, she thought, no, she's not a girl anymore. She's a veteran and a hero. Kieu-Linh is a woman. Still, other than the time she'd encountered them in their tent weeks earlier, the young woman with a drop of her father's cum on her face, she'd never thought about whether her father had those urges.

Willow herself had suppressed those needs for a long time, only once in the last couple of years so much as masturbating. She let herself fantasize a bit as she walked, wondering what else might await her in the future. Might she find a lover or at least someone who felt about her what her father felt for Kieu-Linh? She didn't need a man, to be sure, but the idea of it was nice and left her with thoughts about her own life and those in it which had little to do with the way she'd been cold and methodical as a leader of men and women fighting for their lives.

Willow stopped along a tree line and leaned back against a thick oak. She sighed and let her fingers draw down over her crotch, the sensation pleasant, and she slipped her pants down to her knees, bearing her private flesh in the warm, still night.

She played with herself idly, not seeking orgasm. Willow had only rarely done such things, and when she did, it usually was rushed and more for release than sexual pleasure. Now, suddenly without the overriding stress and responsibility, she found her movements almost cautious, exploring her flesh like she hadn't since she had when she was a girl, touching herself in a light, carefree way that made her feel young again despite her sore hips and tired legs.

Willow dipped a finger into her vagina and drew back her wetness. She sniffed her scent, found it as pleasant as she remembered, then tasted her juices, the sweet, pungent cream no longer the delicate flavor from her youth, but still wonderful on her tongue.

She spent long minutes doing nothing more than sliding her fingers through her slit, dipping into her opening and spreading wetness onto her erect clit. She heard pleasant moans from the camp and knew she was hearing Kieu-Linh's cries as the young woman orgasmed. It made her horny, more than just enjoying her own touch. Another cry from her father's wife made her circle her clit rapidly, soon bucking against her finger, stifling a long moan as she started to cum.

"Mmmmmmm ... mmmmm ... mmmmm ... mmmmm..."

Willow's vagina dripped light cream into the crotch of her panties before she sank down onto the ground, not caring that her ass was pressing into the soil at the base of the tree. She laughed to herself, feeling very good suddenly, flushed with her orgasm. Willow let her hand move around her own crotch, teasing out old feelings of desire and enjoyment. Maybe she might find a lover again, maybe she might even share her bed and her private flesh with someone who wanted it. It didn't need to be love, she imagined, only a kind man who would share in her pleasure.

She thought about the way a man's penis looked and realized that almost all of them she'd seen had attached to her men in the brigade, either seen briefly in showers, or, more frequently, below cut away pants as a medic tended a wound.

Willow pushed those thoughts aside, remembering her last lover and how his cock had felt in her hands, in her mouth. She remembered taking it inside her body, but the memory was fuzzy and hard to recall. She slid a finger into her pussy, and soon added a second. She humped against her own penetration, soon shuddering into a second orgasm and flooding her fingers once more.

Hitch had stayed inside Kieu-Linh again when he came, filling the teen's vagina with his seed, knowing it was the middle of her cycle, her most fertile time. They'd not talked about it, but after the events in the west, they'd both accepted the risk, that they wanted that shared experience, and if his seed found purchase in her egg, Hitch found himself becoming accepting and even excited by the prospect of having a child with his young wife.

Regardless, as he slid from between her legs, he knew his semen had flooded her channel and left them both shaking and very satisfied. Kieu-Linh slid onto her side and kissed him, then rested her head on his chest. They breathed together deeply, quietly, listening to each other and the noises of crickets and bats and critters scurrying through the field.

Kieu-Linh was asleep quickly, but Hitch stayed awake until his daughter returned some time later. She walked up quietly, practiced in the silent movements, but he heard her from a distance and smiled in the darkness at her return. He whispered, just loud enough to be heard, "thank you, Willow."

Her reply was just as quiet, "anytime, Dad. I love you."

"I love you, too."

It was the forth day in when Kieu-Linh's leg began to throb in pain. It was still healing fine, but the exertion was taking its toll and it left her walking with a limp which she tried to hide as much as possible. Willow noticed it first and without asking and without being noticed, took on some of the young woman's load while Kieu-Linh went to urinate nearby. If Kieu-Linh had noticed that her pack was lighter when she picked it up again, she didn't mention it.

During another stop later that day, while Kieu-Linh leaned against a tree and closed her eyes, Willow pulled her dad aside and whispered, "she laboring on that leg."

"I know."

"We need to take more rests. Otherwise, she'll be lame and we'll have to figure out another way to go south."

"Agreed. It might slow us, but she needs to rest. I'd rather not bring it up. She's pretty stubborn and proud, she'll be a bit defensive if she thinks we're doing it because of her."

"Sounds a lot like someone else I know," Willow stated, looking at her father.

"That makes two of us," he grinned.

"You doing ok?" she asked quietly.

"Yeah. I'm hanging in. We haven't hit the hard parts yet. Moving into the big mountains below us will be tough, but I'll manage."

His hand rose to touch her neck gently, tracing over the Marine Corp symbol she'd had tattooed on her skin when she was sixteen. "Never could have guessed you'd become a Marine in all but name. You'd have done the Corps proud, Willow. I know you made me proud."

She smiled, the innocent touch enjoyable and welcome. "Thanks, Dad ... I was always proud of you and Mom for what you did. I always wanted to live up to your example." Willow glanced back at Kieu-Linh, and added, "she's good for you, you know."

"You have no idea how deep it goes. She's helped me deal with ... myself."

They started to walk back into the woods a bit so that they could talk, Kieu-Linh snoring softly where she rested against the tree. "What do you mean," Willow asked.

"After the war ... it can hit you what you've done, Willow. The deaths, the sounds, the terror ... the 'what ifs.' You don't think about that too much, if your lucky, when your fighting, but it creeps up on you and can hit you hard. Some people ... it happens quickly, while they're still on the line. Some, like me ... it happens later ... I ... I sometimes space out ... I remember ... people who died in my arms ... decisions I should have made ... the way it felt ... that rush of combat and death and blood and fear and the thrill of the fight ... it can be overwhelming."

Willow was quiet a while, staring out into the dense trees surrounding them. "I worry about that, Dad. Sometimes ... I feel it in me ... I know it's there ... like a shadow ... growing thicker and darker. I'm scared of it." She exhaled slowly, calming herself. "Imps I can kill. And I can face my own death. Those don't scare me anymore ... but what's in there," she said, tapping her head, "I'm scared I can't control it."

"I thought I could ... for a long time. I didn't notice what was going on, when I ... went away ... Linh noticed ... I think it scared her, at first ... but she didn't let it scare her away, and she didn't make me aware of it until we got to Denver ... I think it was time, then. She seemed to know, and she told me what she saw me do, the way I stared and muttered. I didn't really remember it. But now that I know ... it scared me for a while ... maybe, when we are home and I have time to think about it again ... It might scare me again."

"Does it ever get better, Dad? Remembering?"

"I don't know. I can't really judge it. I mean ... some days, I'm fine, and since we joined the fight, I don't think I've gone there again, not since those days. But ... I know it's in me ... I know it's all there..."

Willow felt sad. Not for herself, but for her father. She didn't like to know that he struggled with his trauma, that he suffered for his sacrifice in the war. "Maybe it's better to die on the field. Maybe it is more honorable ... less ... of a burden on others to go down in the fight..."

"I used to think that ... until her," her father said, a small smile on his face. "She didn't solve everything, Willow. She wasn't a magic pill which cured me. But the essence of it is there ... the way she knows how to talk to me when it comes on ... her patience ... her persistence ... her love ... all that adds up and it can ... take the edge off. It makes a silver lining in the darkness, not enough to clear out the night, but enough to find my way back. And she's made me happy, too, Willow, not just being my nurse when my mind went back to the memories..."

"I know she's good for you, Dad. I see it. I'm so happy for you." Willow looked back to where Kieu-Linh had roused and was rising to her feet. "We should move on." She paused and looked into her dad's eyes. "I think it will help, Dad, talking to you. You always gave me an honest answer when I asked you questions as a child, even when you didn't really want to tell me why I felt funny between my legs, or why the dogs were stuck together." He laughed and so did she. "Really, I always appreciated that honesty ... hearing you talk freely now ... I hate that you deal with this ... but it helps me understand myself better, and you as well ... thanks, Dad."

"It helps me, too, Willow. Believe me, coming to find you was worth all the effort." He took her arm and she held onto his elbow. "Shall we?"

Hitch knew Kieu-Linh was struggling after they had started into the mountains. They were stopping every hour or so, and reduced to ten or twelve hours a day of a measured pace. Hitch was carrying her pack himself, but she was wearing down. They were only about seventy miles from the cabin, but it had reached the point, when their hump would be at its most difficult up into the higher elevations, where they made a decision to stop and stay in place a few days.

Kieu-Linh didn't argue, which said a lot about the pain she was in. Willow had swiped a carton of morphine lollipops in Denver and insisted Kieu-Linh take one as they made camp. It took effort to get the young woman into the tent and into her sleeping back as the opiate kicked in strongly. They weather had grown cold in the first week of December, and while no snow fell, the wintry chill had Hitch aching, as well. He and Willow made a quick meal, a half ration each, as they huddled together for warmth around a small fire. They used a tarp stretched between trees to block the wind, and used ponchos around them to help add layers.

"How long do you think she needs?" Willow asked.

"No idea," Hitch replied, "hopefully just a couple of days. We'll need to hunt, regardless. We're almost out of food."

Willow nodded, warming her hands over the fire and pushing herself against his side in an effort to conserve body heat. "Been a long time since I've hunted."

"I seem to recall," Hitch said, "that you weren't much on killing animals."

"Still don't care for it. But ... I'm willing to do what it takes not to starve."

"That's the only reason I ever hunt. I eat what I kill, and I make clothing or blankets or shoes out of what's left."

"Good. I'm looking forward to it, actually. I ... I rarely fired my weapon the last few years, being the Colonel and all. Might be a little rusty with a rifle."

"I'm sure you'll find your aim true. You were a sharpshooter even when you were twelve. I remember you knocking over one can after another, barely patient enough to wait for me or your mother to set up more."

Willow laughed, "yeah, I remember. At least the can wasn't shooting back, right?"

"Amen to that. Neither will the deer, though if we find a bear, they can be a bit more dangerous if they get agitated or a mama bear is protecting her young."

"Suppose that's understandable, really. I'd have done the same..."

They were quiet a moment as Hitch dished out the canned soup into their field cups. He asked his daughter, "ever think you might want a child, Willow?"

She shrugged, spooning the hot soup into her mouth. "Maybe ... not something I've thought about since I was a girl. I kinda thought it might be fun, then. Now ... I'd be scared to bring a child into this world as it is."

"I know what you mean."

Willow turned to him and asked, "are ... are you and Kieu-Linh ... wanting a child?"

"Wanting? Not specifically..."

His daughter pressed, "but ... not exactly avoiding the chance?"

Hitch shook his head. "We were, for a while ... avoiding what would cause that ... at least ... the greatest risk, but ... now ... after what happened out west..."

"I get it ... just wondering."

"If it happens, Willow ... I'll welcome it, you know ... I know I'm getting old and won't be around long in his or her life, but ... I gotta admit ... I think I would like for Kieu-Linh and I to have at least one."

"I'd have a sibling. Never had that. Might have liked a brother or sister," Willow replied.

"You were spoiled, you know. Your mom and I spent what little time we had with you, no one else to crowd you out." He smiled at her, finishing his soup quickly. "I think you turned out all right."

She grinned, "I suppose. Depends on which side you're on." She shivered against him, running her hands down her legs and brushing his thigh. "I'm freezing, I think we should huddle tonight in one tent. It's going to be very cold otherwise."

"Agreed, I'll take down yours while you get in next to Linh."

"Gonna pee first," Willow said, "then I'll be in."

By the time Hitch had taken the tent down and stored it with their gear, Willow had pulled her sleeping bag into the tent he normally shared with Kieu-Linh and had slid in beside her. He could see his wife was sleeping and had turned onto her side, curling against his daughter as if she was Hitch. Willow had an understanding and kind smile on her face. "Keeping her warm," she told him.

Hitch squeezed in and zipped up the tent, quickly into his sleeping bag and pressed into Kieu-Linh from behind, throwing a blanket over them all. "Good night, Willow."

"Good night, Dad."

Willow went with her father hunting deer on their third day in the camp. They'd kept Kieu-Linh on the morphine as needed, but didn't want to try having her put too much weight on the leg for another day or so, hoping they'd be able to make the last few dozen miles before she needed to stop for more than the night. Kieu-Linh had said it was feeling better that morning, but Hitch felt it was smarter to take one more day and give it just a bit more rest.

They were down to their last can of potted meat, a good-sized stick of hard salami, and just a few late-season berries they'd picked earlier that morning. They were in need of fresh meat.

Willow crept behind her father slowly. They'd picked up tracks down the slope from where they were camped. Her dad had voiced a concern about being behind enemy lines and firing in unfamiliar territory, but they needed to eat and the risk had to be taken.

The trail led them along a steep bank before turning down to where they could hear a stream rushing below. A klick downhill, they spotted a buck and doe together, the doe drinking while the buck stood vigil nearby. Her father dropped to his knee, whispered back, "do you want the shot?"

"Take it," she hissed, not wanting him to miss the opportunity.