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any girls.”  He shook his head in disgust.  “All we know is some dude and his buddies got shot up and he said something about a sister we don’t even know exists.”
    “He seemed pretty upset when he told us about her,” Jackson added quietly.
    “What about the other two?” asked Jen.
    “We don’t know who they are or where they are,” Sgt Procell interjected.  “You’re not really suggesting we hang around here and go traipsing through the woods looking for phantom survivors?”
    “And your answer is ‘to hell with everybody else’?” Jen asked, the anger rising in her voice.
    “No,” replied Sgt Procell.  “I don’t mind helping people, but this is crazy.  We don’t know who’s who.  We don’t know why that merc hit those folks.”  He looked at Mr. Love.  “We’re responsible for those kids.  You want to throw them in the middle of this?”
    “No,” Mr. Love said curtly.
    “And you,” he pointed at Jen.  “How long do you think these medical supplies are gonna last if we get into a shoot-out with a bunch of bad guys?”  He spoke directly to SSgt Brown:  “This is going to end badly, and we are going to lose people.  How many of us are you willing to sacrifice for a rumor?”
    No one spoke for several minutes.  The young NCO had hit a nerve with his last statement.  How many of this new family were expendable?  How many should die to save a couple of strangers?
    “I don’t know,” SSgt Brown replied quietly.  He looked around the room.  He saw the faces of people he’d grown to care for.  Some had saved his life.  He’d had to save others.  He realized it was more than caring.  He loved these people.  They were the closest thing to a family he had left.  He didn’t want to see any of them hurt.
    He looked each one in the eye.  He could see the pain, the sadness, the anger, in all of their eyes.  Then his eyes fell on Theresa.  The 14 year old girl’s eyes had something different in them.  It wasn’t anger or sadness.  He’d seen the look before.  She was pleading with him.  It was the same look the wounded give to a medic or buddy on the battle field right before they started crying out for mamma.  It was the look his mother had given the doctors when his father was in the ICU. Don’t let this happen, their eyes said.
    “We’re going after them,” he announced. 
    Several of the engineers groaned.
    “If it were one of you, I’d expect someone to pull your asses out of the fire if I was gone,” he barked at them.  “Let’s not forget who stuck their necks out to save your asses.  It would have been real easy to drive by that church and leave you to rot.  Now, you Screaming Eagles get to put a little back in the old karma bank.”  He looked at the rest of the group.
    “Teachers and kids are stayin’ here. Soldiers are going.  The rest of you are welcome to come along if you want.”
    Theresa, Jen, and Kerry all raised their hands in unison.  “I’ll speak for Mike,” Jen added.  “He’s in.  So, I guess we’re all in.”
    “Ok,” he said with a smile.  “Sgt Procell and Jackson stay here.  Everyone else help get the supplies cross loaded.  Keep the Humvee empty for now.”
    Jen climbed the ladder to the roof.  Mike didn’t look at her.
    “Hey Mike,” she said.
    “Jen,” he answered.
    “They found more survivors.”
    “So did I.” he said quietly.
    “What,” she asked.  “How did you find somebody?”
    “Don’t make it obvious, but look between those two pine trees just left of the little dirt trail.  There’s a black guy and a white guy.”
    She walked along the edge of the roof, trying not to be too obvious.  There, there they were, about 200 yards away.  They were hidden pretty well, but she could see them now that Mike had told her what to look for and where to look.  Wait, the black guy, what was he wearing?  All black.  Shit!
    “Mike, I think we have a problem.”  She continued to tell him