all god's orphans

It was mid morning when they finally found the camp. The trees were so thick in this part of the forest that they almost walked right into the fence before they saw the tents. Millie allowed herself a moment of self-congratulations. She had planned it perfectly. They had approached the camp from the opposite side of the park and had found its back side, where there was hardly any sentry presence. They found a hidden spot atop a rise beside a small gulch from where they could see almost the entire camp. Millie had not seen this type of encampment before. The army had always stuck to parking lots, usually in front of a Wal-Mart. This was something new, but it had the vague familiarity of a distant cousin. She still knew it.

She saw the scaffolding in the center and the bright lights at the top, though they were off for the moment. There were about five sentries posted up in the trees, but most of the time they were looking down into the camp instead of out into the forest. It made sense to her. There wasn’t much to see in the woods and the trees were thick enough that it wouldn’t have mattered much anyway. This was good. Millie noticed right away where the women’s section was. Conveniently, it was just below them and the tents backed almost all the way up to the fence. All they had to do was get past that and they’d be in. She knew enough about how the women in the camp operated…shit. Millie shut her eyes. She had been so preoccupied with finding the place that she hadn’t given much thought to what would happen after that point. She slid into the gulch motioning Kite and Grey to follow her. When she was sure they were far enough away, she turned the volume on her machine all the way down and started typing.

“We have a problem.” She said. “I can’t go in there. Neither can Kite.”

“Why not?” Asked Kite without the slightest clue. Millie tried to think of the best way to explain it.

“You’re a woman.” Millie informed her.

“So?”

“Women in the general’s army just don’t get the same treatment. Trust me. It’s not going to work for a woman. Grey, you’re going to have to go in.” Grey fought back the fear and swallowed hard.

“Okay.” He said. “What do I have to do?” Millie then realized they had yet another problem.

“You will have to find the general’s office and once inside, you’re going to have to find the letter.”

“How will I know which letter it is?” Millie’s head was starting to hurt. Grey couldn’t read. How would he know which letter? Millie knelt down on the ground and drew in the dirt with a stick.

“What you’re looking for is a square piece of paper with handwritten numbers and letters on the back like this.” She drew concentric rings of random letters. “There won’t be anything else like it, do you understand? It will be the only one written in circles like this.” Grey studied the drawing and nodded. He didn’t think identifying the letter was going to be the hardest part.

“How will I know which office is the general’s?” He asked. Millie didn’t look at him when she answered.

“It will be the only one with guards.”

“Guards?” He almost squeaked with fear. “How am I supposed to get past guards?”

“You’ll have to think of something.” Said Millie. “Create a diversion or find an open window or something.” Grey was silent for a moment.

“I can’t do this, Millie. It’s impossible.”

“You have to do this.” She typed, wishing she could stress urgency with something other than her eyes.

“I can’t.” Millie sighed and wished she knew what to say.

“I don’t know what to tell you, Grey. This has to be done. Do you know what’s going to happen if you don’t get that letter?” Now it was Grey who averted his eyes. “The next time we run into one of these fuckers, they’ll kill Kite. Just like they tried to do last time.”

“You don’t know that.” Grey said, trying to convince himself that he was right.

“Yes. I do.”

“So we’ll just stay out of their path.” Millie shook her head.

“We can’t.” She didn’t know how to convince him. “They are growing and soon they will be everywhere. Our only hope is to find the government safe zone. Even then it might be risky.” Grey wanted to argue that point. He wanted to decline the mission. To give into the fear. He looked at Kite. Her brown eyes were kind and forgiving. She wasn’t going to force him to do this, he knew. If he turned tail and ran, she would be with him, but he knew he would never be able to look her in the eye again if he didn’t do everything he could to keep her safe. He looked back in the direction of the camp and held his breath.

“How will I get back out again?” He finally asked. Millie shifted her tone. She wasn’t so sure, but she didn’t want to say that.

“Wait until nightfall.” She said. “Then slip back out the same way you came in.” Grey thought about her words as he glanced up at the sentries in the trees. True believers. He envied them. He took several moments to gather his thoughts and then they all moved back up the rise. Kite squeezed his hand and then kissed him.

“Good luck.” She said, her eyes trying to hide the worries.

“We’ll wait here for you.” Millie tried to look reassuring. “When you get in there, they usually keep the girls separated. You’ll have to be discrete when you look for Sarah. She’ll most likely be restricted to one side of the camp. Be careful.” Grey nodded and then began making his way down to the fence near the back of one of the larger tents. He kept an eye on the sentries, but they didn’t seem too concerned with anything in the forest.

As he neared the fence, he could hear women’s voices coming from inside the tent. There was an opening on one side so he made his way to the other side to avoid being seen. Deftly, he slid under the wire and stood up making sure the guys in the trees hadn’t seen him. When he was sure they hadn’t, he sighed with relief. Just as he did so, he realized a woman had been standing to the side. Had she been there the whole time?

“Can I help you?” She asked. Grey’s spine became an icicle.