Free Hold Fast by Olivia Rigal, Shannon Macallan

on the top shelf of the safe, and I snatch it up along with three spare fifteen-round magazines and two boxes of 9 mm cartridges.
    Rifle’s a tougher call. What am I going to take with me? I’m not expecting trouble, but it’s pretty standard practice around here to have a rifle under the back seat of a truck, or on a rack in the back window. My fingers linger over the cold blue steel of the old Winchester I used to take down my first deer when I was ten, but then I skip over it to the next option, an AR-15.
    It looks a lot like the M4 I carried as a SEAL, but the Colt AR-15 is a civilian weapon, not a machine gun like its military cousin. It’s also a little longer to meet minimum-length laws. This should suit my needs perfectly – the M4 was my closest companion for six years as a Naval Special Warfare Operator, and the AR is close enough that I’ll be okay with it. Five magazines, thirty rounds each, go into the bag with my pistols mags, and a half-case of cartridges come along for the ride, too. Five hundred rounds should be enough to handle anything short of Canada invading. Might get some time for a little practice out in the wilderness, too.
    Packing the truck is easy – my camping gear was all carefully stored before I left for the Navy, and the bags go in the back of the Blazer in a specific order I still know from long practice even after long years away. I’m as ready as I can possibly get.
    Mom was right, though: it is getting late, and four in the morning will come far too early. I need to get some sleep. When I finally close my eyes, I know I’m heading straight back to that alley in Sadr City, again.
    Maybe this time it’ll end differently?

    * * *

7
Courtney
    Friday Morning, 12 August 2016
    “ C ourtney ! Courtney, wake up!”
    Startled out of my sleep, I jerk up and hit my head against the frame of the upper bunk.
    Upper bunk? What upper bunk? I’m in the women’s dormitory. Why’m I not at home with Daniel? I rub my sore forehead and shift on the bed. As I sit on the edge, mindful of the metal frame above me, flashes of yesterday come back to me.
    Kneeling next to me, little Jennifer covers her mouth with a chubby hand. She’s trying very hard to hide a giggle. You are too sweet, so innocent. Seeing you smile always fills me with joy.
    “It’s okay, baby,” I tell her, grinning ruefully. “You can laugh. When I was little, I’d have laughed at a grownup who did that, too.” I look around, but no one else seems to have noticed my presence. The other girls are walking to or from the bathroom with their toothbrushes and towels. The teenagers are chatting away and the younger girls jumping around, oblivious to anything that could come and spoil this wonderful summer day.
    “What are you doing here?” Jennifer asks. “You never stay here in the summer. You say it’s too hot in here at night!”
    “You’re right! It is too warm,” I say, grabbing the little girl and tickling her. “There’s almost fifty little monsters like you in here and that’s just way too many people in this small space!”
    “So why were you here last night?” She’s not one to be easily distracted, my little Jennie. She gets hold of a question, she’s not letting go.
    It saddens me to realize that her inquisitive nature will be dangerous for her, growing up here. “Daniel couldn’t come home last night,” I tell her. “He was doing something important and had to stay out very late.” Is that the truth? I hope it’s the truth. I want it to be. Please, God, let it be the truth. Let him come back today, safe and sound. “I didn’t want to be alone so I figured I could spend the night here and count on you to give me my morning hug,” I finish, holding out my arms to her.
    Jennifer’s smile grows as she jumps on my knees and we snuggle.
    “I swear you must have been a cat in your last life!” I laugh, rubbing her back.
    “Meow!”
    Jennie’s parents are not bad people, they’re just… they’re