They looked shocked. Those words had never been spoken inside a moving vehicle before.

“Luke, you climb over the seats into the back. Get our go bags and weapons. Once we stop, we’re going to need to move quickly. Seconds are going to count. Seconds are going to mean everything.”

“Mom, I’m scared,” Luke said.

“We’re all scared, sweetie,” Victoria said. As she looked at his face illuminated by the orange lights of the distant dashboard, augmented by the flashing glimpses of the moon racing through the trees, she felt the approach of tears. She looked at Caleb, too. Might this be the last days of their young lives?

No. She couldn’t think that way. Dark thoughts during dark times were beyond useless. They were dangerous. She didn’t know if any of them would live through the next few minutes or hours, but she had to assume that they would. Otherwise, what would be the point?

Luke hoisted himself over the backseat and disappeared headfirst into the cargo well. “I don’t know which is which,” he said.

“We can figure that out later,” Victoria said. “Just hand everything over.”

He lifted the rucksacks carefully over the seat backs and handed them to his brother. Each contained survival gear, and each had a Ruger 10/22 Takedown rifle Velcro’d to the side, their carry slings carefully cinched to prevent rattling. When all three were accounted for, he climbed back over and joined the family.

“Assemble and load your rifles,” Victoria said.

McCrea whirled in his seat. Kids with guns. What could possibly go wrong? “Are they any good with those things?”

Victoria tugged first one Velcro strip and then the second one, and both halves of her rifle dropped into her free hand. “Don’t worry, Major. My kids are country boys at heart. They can shoot the wings off a moving fly at twenty-five yards. They know what they’re doing.”

McCrea watched through the dim light as the boys assembled their firearms. “Did you teach them to assemble their weapons in the dark?” he asked.

“Not because I thought they’d ever have to do it,” Victoria replied. “I wanted them to have intimate knowledge of all the working parts. It helps that the 10/22 is one of the simplest rifles in the world to take apart and put back together.”

McCrea’s phone squealed again, and he looked at it. “It just keeps getting worse,” he said. “Looks like India and Pakistan are ramping up to high alert. That means the Chicoms are gonna follow suit. Shit. There’s no way this ends well.”

“I think we’re going to be fine,” Caleb said.

“Your lips to God’s ear, kid,” McCrea said.

“One mile,” Copley said.

“All right,” McCrea said. “Once we’re out of the vehicle, if anyone finds that they’re lost, or even if they lose sight of the others, shout out.”