one day, long-dreaded...

May 2083 - Cabe Deppiesse (41), Andy Bradshaw (56), Joel Harris (41), Alon Hutchins (27), Jeremiah Day (26), Keri Riley-Kim (22), Tyler Jackson (19), Stephanie Day (23).

*note: box of tissues warning!*

They felt it coming, there were rumors, there was an atmosphere in the news reports of preparation. They're getting ready for the first contact. They've built up the bases to support a troop surge, so now they need the troops.

Protect the planet is their mission, their first and most important order. They need all the help they can get, and they'll take it from every available unit around the globe. As far apart as they might be in culture or distance, they are all in this one together. Some units went ahead of them, and later more followed. Then last week, one long-dreaded day, there were these pamphlets in the mail: Your Loved Ones on Active Duty.

Soon after, Lake County unit 212 was called to duty.

- Be strong in spirit. Your bravery here at home is just as important as their bravery on duty. Be practical, have your account numbers and records in order. Good luck is better than goodbye.

Strong in spirit? Stephanie is not strong in spirit, but she can make a joke. "You look kind of like a Trekkie," she says with her fingertips on Jeremiah's collar. The fabric is synthetic, heavy like a rain tarp.

"It's radiation-proof, or something," he says. "You know, so we don't get cancer."

"No, don't get cancer," she says.

It's early, the grass still wet with morning dew. It isn't exactly cold outside, but Stephanie clutches her sweater tight around her forearms. In minutes the helicopters will arrive to transport them to the shuttle launch. Family isn't allowed at the launch, it would be too hectic, and what they need is calm. The families are anything but calm right now.

- Children need to know the truth regarding the events taking place and the active duty assignment. Discuss what you know in age-appropriate terms. Keep good communication with their school, and let your child's teacher know if a parent is away on active duty.

Stephanie left Willow with her parents this morning. Jeremiah took his time the night before, read her favorite bedtime story slowly, twice, and rocked her to sleep. She won't understand this anyway.

But other people have their children here. "Do you think we should have brought her?" he says. "I kind of wish she were here."

"She wouldn't know the difference," Stephanie says surely, as if pointing out the most important fact of his life. He doesn't need regrets right now. "She'd be scared of the helicopters."

"You're right," he says. "But you know, still."

They're too far apart, considering what little time they have left. He pulls her closer.

- If you're experiencing financial, legal, or emotional troubles, there are resources available for your assistance.

Time is running out. People are getting anxious. It's hectic and there's too much going on. Most people here are anything but calm. There are others she might like to say goodbye to, but here in these few last moments, Jeremiah needs her the most.

She watches all of them, as they group and exchange, as they shuffle around the yard saying things. All these voices, jumbled into one collective noise, and do they know what to say? Do they know what comes next?

"Hey," Jeremiah says, trying to steal her attention back. But just as she might have said, "What?" at 7:00 sharp, the helicopters land.

"I guess this is it," he says. "Love you. I'll miss you."

"Good luck," she says, which does feel better than goodbye.

It doesn't feel much different than sending him off to work yet. She should feel more, she thinks, like she's missing the point, like she's waiting for something.

In seconds they are parted, the ones that go from the ones left behind.

- Reach out to your community. Even if you're living off base, military spouses bond closely and can provide valuable services and support.

They're in this together, but not really. Stephanie doesn't know most of these people, these strangers sharing in such a foreign sacrifice.

Soon the helicopter is gone from the sky. Then after that, its dull rumble fades to nothing. No rain, no wind, no waves on the shore. Just voices of strangers, and this large collective question without any answer.

And one single familiar face. He is a beloved comfort, even if his eyes are red-rimmed and puffy. She says, "Are you gonna cry?"

"No," Justin says. "I already did."

"What now? I mean, what do we do?"

"I don't know," he says. "You wanna go get breakfast, pancakes?"

That's it then? Pancakes? She and Jeremiah weren't always very bold about their relationship, but he was her husband and that has to mean something. She isn't sure what it means, or what it will mean for the next however long he's gone. She hardly feels old enough to have a husband, but she has one, and then he's just gone. He's not coming home at the end of the day, and instead, he's been reduced to pancakes?

She starts laughing, an uncontrollable laughter. Her husband is a pancake. Her husband is gone, and here she is, this girl—a girl—with a baby and no husband, and she feels nothing inside like it is and has always been this way.

Justin looks at her puzzled. "What did I say, pancakes?"

She laughs and her body is rocked by it, convulsing with it, crippled by it. It isn't laughter anymore, and it was never very funny. She isn't laughing about the pancakes, or about Jeremiah. It's more than that. It's everything.

When she is finally still, her lips tremble and her fingers move up to cover her face as if she could hide behind them. He's watching her, and she wishes that he wouldn't. She wishes none of them would. There are people everywhere and they're all watching. Justin's face goes blurry in the crowd of watching eyes and she can't stop it—she cries.

She can't move, but he pulls her to his shoulder. She hides there between his collarbone and jaw. She buries herself.

"These people are watching me," she says.

He covers her more, he pulls her in, he wraps her up. "No one's watching you."

"Okay," she says.

"Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," she says, her sobbing buried in deep heaving sighs. "I'm fine. In a minute, I'll be fine, and we can go get some pancakes."

*******

notes: I'll have a separate gameplay/info post to follow with the details of where they actually are, and everything. Feel free to ask your questions though, and I'll try to include them in the update.

And then this - I'm a dork, I know, but I just thought they all looked so cool in their "uniforms" together. Look at Tyler in the middle all posing and smarmy! :)