dark bat-like shape that seemed like it was only visible to her eyes as a shadow that blotted out the stars. There was a barely perceptible hum in the air. It had the same volume of an idling car engine. The form passed over her and landed softly in a small indentation of green and shadows between a squat building and more highways.
Molly instinctively crouched down and eased over the concrete dividers and let the embankment speed up her pace to the awaiting helicopter. The sound of the beast grew louder as she approached. A soldier casually had one foot out of the open side of the machine.
“Evening, Miss,” he smiled. “Nice night for a walk.”
She looked at him for a moment and wrinkled her mouth. This kind of cool never did much for her, false bravado, an almost casual one-uppance.
“Where are we going?” He started to straighten up a bit and prepared to leave.
“That way,” Molly pointed west without breaking eye contact.
“I need you to be more specific, Ma’am.” There was a nasty curl on his mouth. The eyes were hooded orbs.
“That way, will do for now.”
“Ma’am, we’re wasting time.” He leaned forward and raised his voice slightly. “I need to know where we’re going.”
“And I need to make sure you’re not going to kick me out after you’ve found out where Beauragard is.” Molly replied firmly. “So for now, that way will do.”
His mouth opened slowly as he shook his head and leaned back impatiently with a play of his hand to the co-pilot, an invitation to join in the conversation.
“Ma’am.” The co-pilot began. “I need co-ordinates to put into our GPS.”
“Good,” Molly nodded with a sly curve of her mouth. “Put in that way.”
“God damn it, Ma’am.” The soldier piped in and then paused long enough for Molly to cut in:
“Now, who’s wasting time?”
“Sir, we need to get a move on.” It was the pilot now.
The soldier Molly had been parlaying with sighed and made room for her in the entranceway. He took a spot in the rear compartment and looked away. He was done with her for now. As soon as Molly had found a seat and something to hang on to the co-pilot turned to her once again.
“Ma’am,” his voice sounded very young all of a sudden. “Which way did you say?”
“That way,” she replied in a neutral tone with a point of her finger.
The ground fell away as they gained altitude like an almost spectral phantom. As they passed over the bridge, Molly swore she saw a sentry look up to the sky in shock. His face was paper white against the darkness as his features were stone cold in their surprise. A second sentry broke away and fumbled with something on his belt. As he watched the soundless bird head west he raised a radio to his mouth.
In an instant they were both memories in the dark as the ribbon in the landscape that was the Ohio River passed underneath them. Molly eased back and let her head touch the slightly vibrating metal of the passenger wall. Her heart beat was returning to normal now. My god, her thoughts reflected on camo man and his partner. What was his name?
He died. He died right in front of you. She barely felt the vibration of the helicopter as she saw the shadow of the dead thing rise up from the grass in her memory.
His eyes...........Damn.........his eyes,
A chill passed over her shoulders. Molly crossed her arms for warmth and comfort. She’d seen so many of them over the years. But, it was always different. They were not a faceless horde. Their faces held individuality, the child on the road on the way to Elkin, the one who had grabbed her in Cleveland and the poor homeless man in Washington. Each face had distinct definition in her eyes. They were something to someone at one point in their lives.
Did they still have souls? Molly looked at the fine point between the landscape and sky on the horizon. The ever defining edge between the Earth and stars offered a clue. There has to be a cutting point between the living and dead. We just haven’t found it. Perhaps we shouldn’t go there just yet. Molly concluded. We might not be ready for what we’d find.
Evening Miss, nice night for a walk. She glanced at the soldier and tried to keep her mouth from wrinkling up in disdain.
When was the last time you had been afraid like that? She asked herself. Always, the answer was quick on the tip of her tongue. You are a woman walking at night through an unknown neighborhood. Fear came with the territory. It just came in varying degrees. But it was always there in the corner of your mind.
Fear......
The things you can’t see, the footsteps of someone behind you or the car passing by slowly. It all amounted to the fear of being a woman. You’ve felt it all the time. You just feel it more now. That’s right, the fear of being a woman. She chanced a casual glance toward the soldier. He seemed to be napping now. Just try to explain that to a man like him, just try to explain living with fear. She watched him now for a long, extended heartbeat.
Would he understand? Could he understand? She exhaled slowly. A closed mind is a closed mind, that’s it. They are the ones who say they never understand women, the thread of thought wound to its’ conclusion. But, we might have some level of understanding now.
These days, we’re both afraid to walk alone at night.
Her thoughts wandered from the star light to the pilot’s compartment as the control panels spoke in equations she could not understand. Molly sat up slightly and watched modern chronometer’s move with the pitch and feel of the machine. Molly’s memory recalled other airborne rides with troops in the last five years of struggle. The control panels had a more retro feel to them. They were basic, simple and straightforward. The odd upgrade had been bolted or cut into the control panel here and there but the feel was always the same, whirling metal blades that reverberated through the entire fabric of the vehicle and into your bones.
Her eyes explored the LED displays over the pilots shoulder. Molly tried to be nonchalant while taking in as much as possible. The smooth symmetry of everything in the cockpit was in a word futuristic. She placed her fingers carefully on the compartment wall and let her fingertips touch the non-metallic surface. The feel was different here. The jarring resonance of older machines had been replaced by an almost pulsing whisper. It was like a magic carpet ride.
In her mind’s eye she saw the machine earlier appear out of the darkness suddenly, barely visible in the night sky. As she came closer Molly saw a hub cap like device above the rotors, a deflector of noise by studious engineering. The roar of the machine had been reduced to a purr. There was the body of the airborne beast to be considered as well. It was sleek and black, like the muscular skin of an athletic race horse. There were no hard edges, just rounded curves wrapped in infinite black.
“This is a stealth helicopter.” Molly whispered suddenly. The soldier she had talked to earlier seemed to prick up his ears when she spoke.
“That is impossible, ma’am.” The co-pilot replied amicably, he was checking a dial or two and tweeking something on the control panel to his right.
“Really?” Molly raised an eyebrow.
“Stealth
