Chapter 1

“How'd it go, Sarge?” asked Corporal Jessica Montague as Sergeant First Class Timothy Miller entered the armory.

“Ah you know me. Expert again,” he replied locking up his trusty M-4 for the last time.

“Figures,” she replied. “Captain Clark wants to see you.”

Sgt. Miller knocked on his CO's door. “Come in,” came the reply.

“You wanted to see me sir?”

“Ah, Sergeant Miller. I have your discharge orders. Your terminal leave begins today.” Captain Clark stood and shook his hand.

“It's been an honor serving with you sir.” replied Sgt. Miller as he turned to leave. He stopped by the corporal's desk on his way out. “I'm freeeeeeee!” he practically shouted at her.

“And what will you do next?” she asked in her best gameshow announcer voice.

“I'm going to Disney World!” he shouted as if he'd just won a million dollars. He made sure no one was looking and hugged her. “I'm gonna miss you Jess.”

“Aww, I'm gonna miss you too. You sure you won't reenlist?”

“No way, 6 years was more than enough. Why? You gonna re up?”

“You're kidding right?” she replied. “You gonna be able to survive as a civilian?”

“Yeah, I've got some money saved up, plus I'm technically on leave for the next month.”

Sgt Miller hopped in his jeep and drove home. He made some calls to take care of his utilities, called the movers to come get his stuff, grabbed the duffel bag he packed a week earlier, hopped back in his jeep, and drove away wanting to put as much distance between himself and the base as he could. Timothy Miller had been a good soldier, but he had never been good at being a man. Being a green beret had taught him the skills he needed to blend in and hide his secret from the world, including his brothers in arms, for they don't take too kindly to anyone who's different, so he drove as fast has he could for Florida. Orlando to be specific. He had heard the people there were much more open minded than the people he knew, and thought he might be able to start the life he'd always wanted.

After half a day of driving he entered the state of Georgia. A place he wasn't a big fan of, but with 6 hours still ahead of him, he decided to stop for some food. He pulled off the interstate and into a truck stop. He entered the diner at the truck stop and his training immediately kicked in. When the hostess went to seat him, he requested the corner booth, and sat with his back to the wall taking note of all of the exits. He also took note of the people, mostly truckers just minding their own business, but one person stuck out like a sore thumb. There was a young girl, or was it a boy? Tim wasn’t sure, but she was maybe twelve or thirteen years old and sitting alone at the bar. The waitress came up and he ordered a cheeseburger and a coke. As he ate he watched the people come and go, but that girl was still at the bar. Just as he was getting up to leave a huge dirty man in jeans and a flannel shirt came busting through the door.

“There you are you little shit!” he yelled as he made his way towards the scared child at the bar. Tim made his way towards the commotion. The dirty man tried to grab the kid off the stool, but she managed to pull away from him. Tim got to him just in time to catch his arm mid swing as he attempted to hit the girl who was now crying on the floor.

“Sir, I'm going to have to ask you to calm down,” Tim said thinking that the special forces patches on his uniform would be enough to deter the man from doing anything stupid. He was wrong.

“Who the fuck do you think you are?!” the man screamed at him as he took a swing with his free hand. Tim spun the man around and slammed him into the bar, pinning him down.

“Sir, I will only ask one more time, calm down,” replied Tim. The man nodded, and Tim let him stand. The man backed up a bit and pulled a gun. Tim by this time had had enough. He took the man's gun right out of his hand, dropped the mag, and removed the slide. The man lunged at him, and Tim caught him in the throat with his elbow before slamming him head first into the bar again. The man, somehow still conscious, decided it was in his best interest to run as fast as he could out of the diner.

He turned to the frightened child on the floor next to him and offered his hand to the girl. She backed away from him. “I'm not going to hurt you,” he said with a friendly smile. She looked at him for a minute and then jumped up and hugged him. “Whoa, take it easy there,” he said as he helped her back up to her stool. He flagged down a waitress. “Can we get her a sundae please?”

“Sure thing,” the waitress replied winking at him. A minute later she reappeared with a sundae and the girl just sat looking at it.

“You know, it tastes even better than it looks,” Tim said trying to entice the girl to eat the sundae. Finally the girl let out a sigh, and started taking small bites of the delicious treat in front of her, or was it him? Tim examined the child closer while he ate. It was a boy, but you could hardly tell from the pink hello kitty shirt and long blonde hair he had pulled up in a high pony tail. He even had feminine bangs. Looking down he could see the kid was wearing a pair of white Keds, and what appeared to be lace trimmed socks peeking out from under the hem of his jeans.

“You got a name kid?” he asked. The boy just nodded and kept eating his ice cream. “Look, I can help you kid, but you gotta talk to me.”

“Justin,” replied the boy quietly

“Justin?”

“Yes, but I don't wanna be Justin anymore,” he replied

“Well who do you want to be?” asked Tim.
“I want to be Katie”

“That's a pretty name. I'm Tim,” he replied holding out his hand. Katie took his hand and was surprised when he pulled it up and kissed it like in those old movies. That was the first time Tim had seen her smile since he had entered the diner.

“You want to know a secret Katie?” he asked. She nodded. “I don't want to be Tim anymore either,” he said quietly, “I've always liked the name Cassandra.” Katie's eyes went wide with surprise when she realized that the big, tough soldier just said he wanted to be a girl too.

“Who was that man? How does he know you?” asked Tim.

“He's my dad,” answered Katie as she began to sob.

“Hey, don't cry,” he replied as he hugged her. “I'm not gonna let him hurt you. Do you have any other family you can stay with? Someone that won't tell him where you are?”

“No, and I won't go back to that house. I could live with my grandmother, if it weren't for my dad.”

“Don't worry, I have a plan,” said Tim as he flagged down a waitress and paid his tab. He took Katie by the hand and led her out to his jeep. “You're gonna stay with me until I fix this.” He pulled the jeep out of the truck stop and went farther into town. He found a rundown roadside motel and pulled in.

“We can't stay here,” said a scared Katie from the passenger seat.

“Don't worry I've stayed in many worse places,” replied Tim. “Now try to stay out of site while I check in.”

Katie ducked down in her seat, and Tim went up to the check-in window and got a room. Once inside the room Tim started pulling things out of his duffel bag. He pulled out a pistol, a pair of night vision binoculars, a lock pick set, a pair of black pants, a black t-shirt, a black jacket, a pair of black gloves, and black combat boots. He quickly changed into the black outfit. When he came out of the bathroom he checked the pistol, it was loaded. He went over to his duffel again, and pulled out a Kevlar vest. He walked over to Katie and put the vest on her. He wasn't taking any chances.

“Katie I need to go out for a bit. You should be safe here, but if anybody other than me comes through that door point this at them and pull the trigger,” he said as he handed her the pistol. “I know it's scary, but you can do this.”

Katie looked scared but nodded yes. Tim handed her his smartphone and asked her to put her address into the gps. She handed it back to him. “Keep the lights off and the TV quiet while I'm gone,” he said as he walked out and locked the door. He stopped by his jeep and pulled another pistol out of the glove box. He stuck that one in a holster hidden in his jacket. Looking around he spotted a convenience store a block up the road and headed out on foot.

Inside the store he was careful to keep his face off of the store's one ancient security camera, and bought a prepaid “burn” phone. On his way back through the parking lot he was approached by a scruffy looking you man.

“Hey man, you looking for that good shit?” asked the approaching man.

Tim thought about it for a moment. “You got any rock?” he asked.

“Yeah yeah man, back at my car,” he replied pointing at a beat up El Derado sitting in a dark corner of the parking lot. Tim started walking towards the car, and the drug dealer eagerly followed him. As they got closer to the car Tim let the dealer walk in front of him, and as he bent over to unlock his trunk, Tim noticed the imprint of a large caliber pistol tucked in the back of his waistband. He rushed the dealer, slamming him into the trunk and relieving him of his weapon. Putting the man's own gun to the back of his head, he eased the hammer back. “If you want to live, you'll do exactly as I say,” said Tim in a low menacing voice.

“Yeah yeah man, whatever you say. Just don't kill me,” plead the man as he contemplated his choice of lifestyle.

“Open the trunk,” he ordered. The dealer complied, opening the trunk to reveal that it was full of an assortment of drugs, mostly cocaine and heroin. “That'll do nicely,” replied Tim. “Now close the trunk and give me the keys.” Again the dealer complied. Tim then threw him to the ground and shot him in the leg. “You're gonna want to get to a hospital,” he said as he stole the man's car and headed toward Katie's father's house.

Parking a few blocks away, Tim got out of “his” car and started surveying the house. After determining the house was empty, he pulled the car up into the driveway. He didn't know how much time he had so he went with the least elaborate plan he had. He kicked the front door open, and moving room to room, cleared the house to ensure he truly was alone. He then proceeded to move the drugs from the car to what he assumed was the spare room of the house. He then stood in the front doorway and fired off several shots from the drug dealers pistol into the living room. He left through the back door, ditching the pistol in the tall weeds of the back yard before hopping the fence and running through the neighbors yard. Once he was sure he was safe, he used the burn phone to call 911.

“911 what's your emergency?” asked the operator.

“I just heard gunshots next door,” he frantically replied in his best female voice.

“Ma'am what's your address?” asked the operator.

“2214 Pine Street,” he replied.

“Officers are on the way ma'am. Did you hear anything else?” asked the operator, but Tim had already hung up the phone before she could finish.

To be continued...