Chapter 20

Sheriff Sub Station:

Six miles outside of Driggs:

Mathew:

I turned towards the door and took a deep breath. I had noticed that Ana was only wearing her shirt. I remembered the man telling her to push and I just knew my daughter was dead because I didn't hear her crying. With another deep breath to clear my mind I walked to the door and looked inside. Ana was sitting on an ambulance bed with CodieAnn holding her. She was crying and Codie was rocking her.

Walking over to Ana, I sat down on the other side of her, and pulled her into my chest. She started crying as I held her tightly. Just as I was about to ask about our daughter, the other door opened and a man walked in carrying something in his arms.

He walked over to us and said, "Ma'am, your daughter is fine. I cleaned out her nose and mouth, and she's doing just great," as he placed the bundle in Ana's arms.

Ana looked up at the man, and tears started running down her face. She then looked down and gently uncovered the face of her daughter.

"Hello, Elsa Marie Davis," Ana said as she turned to show me our daughter.

I reached out with a shaky hand and touched our baby's face. Then I leaned down and kissed her gently on the top of her tiny head. I pulled back and looked into her tiny face and I felt my eyes start to water as I turned and kissed Ana.

"She is as beautiful as her mother," I replied as Elsa gave out a loud cry.

"She has a set of lungs on her," CodieAnn said as she leaned over and touched the baby's face.

"Yes, she does," I replied as I stuck my finger in my ear to clear the ringing from my ears.

CodieAnn started giggling as she hugged Ana and I. We looked at the baby again.

Then I looked at the man and asked, "Is she going to be ok?"

"She'll be fine. I estimate she's around eight and a half months. Two weeks early shouldn't be a problem. I'm just glad I didn't have to induce labor like that bastard wanted. I'm also glad that he's dead. You do know he was going to kill the child," he asked.

"What do you mean, induce?" I asked.

"He wanted me to help abort the baby. I was about to do that because they have my family in the next room and they were going to kill them when you opened fire on them. With them dead, I released my family, and then my wife Elma cleaned the baby up ... Ahh, here she is now with my children."

I looked over to where the man was looking and a woman around thirty with light brown hair that hung to her waist came in with two preteen children. The boy looked like his father but had his mother's hair while the girl was the spitting image of her mother. I estimated their age around ten and eleven years of age.

"Is she ok?" Elma asked as she looked at the crying woman.

"She's fine. Just happy to hold our daughter," I replied as I stood up and pulled one of the chairs from where it sat against the wall and offered it to the woman while the girl went to her father and hugged him.

"Thank you," she said as she sat down and pulled her son to her.

"You're welcome. I would like to offer my apologies for what happened to you and your family..."

"Oh, goodness, that wasn't your fault," Elma said as she interrupted me.

"Well, it kind of was. If we had dealt with Victor months ago, they wouldn't have kidnapped Ana here, which caused you and your family to be kidnapped to force your husband to work for them," I replied.

"Sir, that is not necessarily true, because that asshole for a deputy sheriff, Nick Bolton, would still have been in power from him murdering the sheriff and his family last month. Also, you didn't release the biological weapon in the world that has wiped out seventy percent of the human race and destabilized the governments of the world to allow the criminal element to get free to cause mayhem to the survivors," she said as she stood up and walked over to Ana to look at the baby before continuing, "Now you have a healthy baby here. Have you thought about how to get her home?"

"No, I haven't, because I wasn't expecting it," I said as I looked at Ana and our baby.

"You're going to have to keep both of them warm. As it is, Ana should be in the hospital at least ... if we had any that were up and running," Elma replied.

"I know," I said as Katie came in excited.

"Hey, there is a strange vehicle out here," Katie said excitedly.

"Oh?" I asked as I reached out and touched the baby's face.

"Yes, it's about thirty feet long with big ass tires and a big fucking gun on top ... can I fire it?" Katie said as she jumped up and down.

I looked at my other wife in confusion as I stood up. Walking over to her, I said, "Show me, and maybe I'll let you fire it."

Katie jumped once more, landed, grabbed my hand and started to drag me out of the room.

We walked out the door and I stopped in surprise as I looked at the APC and said, "Not only no but hell no you are not firing that cannon."

I walked over to the APS-3 'Anoa' infantry vehicle painted white with United Nations Peace Keepers painted on the side.

"Where the fuck did he get an APS-3 'Anoa'?" I said as I started to open the hatch door.

Climbing into the armored vehicle I noticed that it had a bed in the troop compartment. Lying on the bed was a young woman of around sixteen. She was naked with a cable attached to her left ankle and to a ring welded to the hull of the vehicle. She was unconscious I noticed as I knelt beside her. There were bruises on her body and I gently shook her but she didn't wake up. I did notice the track marks on her arms and I swore under my breath.

Turning my head, I yelled, "Katie, get the doctor out here, now!"

Turning back to the girl, I gently slapped her face as I said, "Come on, wake up."

The girl lay there and then groaned as her eyes started to flutter. Hearing people climbing in, and then hearing a gasp, I looked behind me. The doctor was half kneeling on the bed with a shocked look on his face as he examined the girl.

"What's wrong, Doc?" I asked.

"This is Maria Jennings, her family was found dead four months ago. We assumed she was dead, too," Hank Warren said as he took the girl's pulse.

"Will she be ok?" I asked.

"I don't know. I need to get her to my clinic, where I'll be able to work with her," Hank said as he checked the girl's eyes.

"Ok, let me get everything sorted out and then I'll get you over to your clinic," I said as I climbed out and looked at the girls.

"Get the Doc's family out here, and inside, with Ana and the baby. Judy and Katie, you take the two snowmobiles and follow us. CodieAnn and I will take the APS-3 and drive them to Doc Warren's clinic. We'll leave them there and then take the APS-3 back to our house with Ana and the baby nice and warm inside," I said as we went inside the building.

I still couldn't figure out how Victor got his hands on an Indonesian AFV, and a UN one at that. Katie let everyone know what was going on as I gathered up all the guns in the building. In one room I found hundreds of firearms and ammo. We started carrying them out to the AFV, because I didn't want to leave them laying around for the wrong people to get a hold of. When we were finished, we had the weapons stored around the bed with some of the ammo. The rest of the ammo we had in bags hanging from the turret.

After we finished cleaning out the weapons, we loaded up and I followed Hank's directions until we pulled up outside his clinic, where we helped them carry the girl inside. I then put a care package of weapons together and carried them inside. Hank was appreciative for the weapons and said he knew what to do with them. He told me while he worked on Maria that he was a former Navy doctor and knew how to work the M-16s I left them as back up.

With a final pat on the Doc's shoulder, we left them to their job and headed out towards our home. The six miles flew by and we drove through Driggs. I spotted a giant bonfire in the town square as we turned up the mountain towards our home. Behind us, the town was rejoicing from being freed from the tyranny of Nick Bolton.

"Matt, are you going to take the job they offered you?" CodieAnn asked as she sat behind me with the baby.

Codie was asking about the job the town people had offered me when we freed them from Bolton's men. "I just can't see myself as sheriff," I replied as I looked over my shoulder and saw Codie patting the baby's back, "How are Ana and the baby?" I asked as we drove around the bend and started up the pass to our home.

The big tires of the AFV dug deep into the snow as we climbed.

"I can, and I think you should take it. But let's ask the other wives first. Ana fed Elsa and she's now sleeping," CodieAnn said as she burped the baby.

"I wonder what they would think if they knew I was living a polygamist lifestyle," I wondered as we climbed one more snow bank, and I then turned the vehicle up the secondary road.

"They don't care, they said and I quote, 'We don't care if he has twenty wives as long as he can do the job, and loves his ladies, ' she replied as she turned in the chair and slid into the back to give Ana her baby.

"What?" I asked as I yanked my head around to look at CodieAnn.

"They said they don't care. Now watch where you're driving," she ordered.

"Yes, Dear," I replied as I drove around a snowbound car that had been abandoned in the center of the road.

I followed our old tracks towards our home. It was about an hour later when Katie and Judy shot around us on their snowmobiles. They quickly left us behind, and I saw them come to a stop at the road to the house. I wasn't sure which of the ladies it was, but they pulled the gate open and had the snowmobiles out of the way before I reached there. The snow was starting to fall again as I went through the opening towards our home. Driving up the road, I turned and came to a stop in front of the house as the doors opened and everyone came out.

Shutting down the Anoa, I turned in my seat I looked at Ana who was sleeping curled up on the blankets that the Warrens had laid out on the bed. Our daughter was curled protectively in her arms as she slept.

"She's exhausted. We need to get her up to bed," CodieAnn said as she climbed out of her seat, and walked over to the bed.

"You're right," I replied as I joined her.

Slipping my arms under Ana as Codie picked up our daughter I went to the door and waited as Codie hit the button to lower the rear hatch, as I had shown her.

"Mathew?" Ana asked sleepily.

"Shush, we're right here, and you're going to bed. Your doctor gave us orders on what to do," I said as I walked down the ramp and towards the house.

Judy and Katie were already telling them that she needed sleep and they had the door open for us as I reached them. Going in, I followed Katie, and carried Ana up the stairs to our bedroom. There I laid her down to sleep, covering her with the blanket and sheet that Katie had pulled back. I kissed her forehead as she snuggled down to sleep.