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started showing symptoms, I would think that something would have happened with your daughter by now.  I hate to say that, but there it is.  I know this is your family we’re talking about, and your baby girl.  But it’s been your family we’ve been talking about all along.”
    Joel nodded but was floored by what he felt was Mallory’s rather cavalier attitude about his family, specifically his wife and newborn daughter.  “I need to call Rachael and tell her before someone else does,” Joel said.  “She deserves to hear it from me.”
    Mallory gave him a small smile, “You can do it in here,” she said.  “Let me know when you’re done.”
    …
    Rachael was crying, holding Aurora in both arms, and trying to hold the stupid radio all at the same time.
    “I really wasn’t around any of the new folks that much,” Joel said, trying to calm her down.
    “Who knows how much it takes, though?”  Rachael sobbed.
    “I know, hon, I know,” Joel said.  “Ty is going to talk to Dan and have him set up some kind of isolation ward to keep things, well, isolated, I guess.  I don’t actually know how it works but I’m sure they do.”
    Rachael wasn’t in the mood to be cheered up.  “How long,” she asked.
    “I don’t know,” Joel sighed.  “Neither Ty nor the Major said.  I can’t imagine that it could go on for too long.  It’ll be ok.  There’ll be people to help take care of you.  I’ll insist on that.  I’ll find some volunteers to go into isolation with you if I can, ok?”
    “What about Maya and Josh,” Rachael asked.
    “They’re going to have to stay up here with me,” Joel said.  “We already have a tent for the three of us.”
    Rachael nodded and then realized that Joel couldn’t see her, and blew a snot bubble when she tried to laugh.  “Ok,” she said.  “You have to promise to follow the quarantine, all three of you.  Stay healthy so you can come home.”
    Rachael barely held back another sob when she thought about her other two children.  “Give them my love,” she said, “and keep them safe too.”
    “I promise.”

Chapter Five
    May 29, 2013 - Promised Land Army Base, Natchez Trace State Park, Tennessee
    “The raid on Ft. Campbell was two days ago,” Mallory said.  “We should have heard something from Ben by now.  Or at least something from one of the groups that evacuated before the raid even started.”
    “Major Weaver, from Bragg, did check in late yesterday,” Sergeant Evan ‘Sparky’ Lake said.  “They let a pretty large group go after a little over a day of fighting.  It’s possible they just haven’t been in a position to check in.”
    Mallory was visibly distressed about not hearing from or about Ben, and the fact that she was so overly interested in Ben’s well-being was driving Kyle nuts.  Every time she mentioned Ben, even indirectly, was yet another reminder that any possibility of a relationship between she and Kyle was slipping further and further away.  The thing that hurt the worst was that she didn’t even realize she was doing it, or seem to care.
    “Give them time, Major,” Eric said.  “They may just be laying low for the time being.  We have thirty Black Hawks and their crews to take care of now, it’s not like you don’t have enough on your plate.”
    …
    May 29, 2013 - Fort Rucker, Alabama
    Major Bradley Sanford was early for a meeting with Colonel Spencer Olsen and was about to knock on the door of his office when he heard the Colonel’s raised voice.  Apparently, somebody was getting chewed out inside.  Sanford wasn’t usually one to eavesdrop, but it was hard not to when you were standing right in front of the door, and you never knew when a piece of gossip may end up being valuable. 
    “I understand that, Sir,” Sanford heard Olsen say through the door.
    “Sir,” Sanford thought.  “Who is Olsen talking to in there?  For that matter, who could Olsen be reporting to?”
    “Realistically,”