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.They may be wearing proper clothes rather than just their underwear, but…”“Shut up,” I said, not unkindly.He laughed again as I found myself sniggering.All right, it was a stupid joke, but it was funny.We hadn’t laughed much since the War.“We’re on an reconnaissance mission to find out what’s been happening outside our borders, not hunting hot chicks in their underwear.”“The men will be terribly disappointed,” Mac said, still grinning.“I’ve been telling them that if any of them spot a hot chick, they get to keep her.”I shook my head and led the way over to the small convoy.We’d assembled five vehicles for the trip; two SUVs, two trucks and a surplus jeep from World War Two that one of the residents had kept for some reason.The mechanics swore by it.They said that it was easier to maintain than any of the more modern vehicles and, of course, it hadn’t been remotely damaged by the EMP.We’d armoured the vehicles as best as we could, using skills that had been developed and honed in Iraq, but we weren’t looking for trouble.I just wanted to be prepared for it if it came.The team straightened up into some semblance of attention as we approached.We’d haggled over the team’s exact composition before agreeing to take eighteen of the new soldiers – the best of their class – and two of the nurses from Stonewall.I’d been reluctant to risk exposing them to any radiation or diseases that might be lingering around, but they had skills no one else had, or at least no one else that we could spare.In Iraq, we would have been better equipped, but unless we were lucky enough to locate a military base that hadn’t been destroyed or looted, we wouldn’t be able to match that.We’d just have to take extreme care with the women.The team had been outfitted in the best body armour we had and the nurses had been warned to stay firmly in the middle of the convoy.Mac and the mechanics had worked wonders on the vehicles, but I couldn’t help being reminded of the technicals that the Iraqi insurgents had used against us.They’d come to grim and unpleasant ends.“All right,” I said, once silence fell.I pushed a little drama into my voice, hamming it up for the benefit of the more nervous kids in the group.They hadn’t really been under fire before.“Our mission, should we choose to accept it – and you all volunteered, so it’s a bit late to back out now – is to advance to Clarksburg and find out what’s been happening there.If we’re lucky, we’ll run into other survivors.If we’re not lucky, we’ll carry out a brief search of the area, make notes for later scavenging teams, and then return home to the plaudits of a grateful town.Any questions?”“Yes,” one of them said.“When do we leave?”“Now,” I replied.I raised my voice.“Mount up!”We’d cleared one of the barricades slightly just enough to allow the convoy to slip through.Mac had insisted on driving the lead SUV – he had a qualification in advanced driving – so I took the other seat and studied the map as the remainder of the town waved us goodbye.I would have preferred to have left Mac behind, but he’d insisted on coming this time and I couldn’t say no.Walter and Richard, between them, could handle anything that might happen, even if the town was attacked again.There were enough veterans to fight off a second bunch of gang-bangers and the training of the conscripts was coming along nicely.I saw Rose standing with Jackson and waved to her.We hadn’t said much about our relationship since the first night, but everyone knew…and everyone was doing it anyway.Three girls had become pregnant since the war and there had been seven marriages, all between men and women who would probably not have married without the War.It had had the effect of focusing the mind a little, although I had a suspicion that some of the weddings had been effectively shotgun marriages
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