After the Day

by Matthew Gilman

  The next hour was the most intense, passionate lovemaking either of them could remember. The hours passed without leaving the bed for anything more than a snack from their backpacks. In a sense this was their honeymoon. The hike, an unusual courting session. The cabin is their future together. Nothing excited them more than having a future and something to look forward to. Fatima had found him attractive at first. Her fear of him and what he symbolized had changed when he started taking care of her. He gained her trust over time. She was able to rely on him and soon he was the man she needed in her life, a rock. He was a foundation that she could rely on and someone that would keep her safe.

  For John, Fatima was a life of peace that he wanted when he came back from the war. He worried at first that seeing her would remind him of all the pain and fear he experienced in Iraq. Instead he grew to know her as the woman she was, an individual that sought to be her own person. She didn’t see herself as Persian, or a Muslim. She simply wanted to live her life how she wanted to, the promise that America offered everyone. They both had dreams that were taken away. Now they could reclaim them with one another.

  Chapter 24: Three years after the Day

  The Reverend sat in his study and over looked the records of supplies that the camp had left. Rationing had taken a new low and food was becoming scarce. The search for John had turned up nothing with little hope remaining of finding him. His daughter was no longer the bright star in his world. Instead she hung out with the hunters and fighters of the camp, learning all kinds of skills. He didn’t know what she was up to. He was afraid that she would leave on her own to hunt down the man that had raped her. He felt like a failure as a father and it started to show. He was snapping at the crews more often. His temper grew shorter and the stress of controlling everything was taking its toll.

  Looking over the papers again he tried to think about what needed to be done. The salvage jobs they were doing were bringing up nothing. The city was dry. They couldn’t remember the last time they saw deer in their parts and even squirrel had become scarce.

  As he sighed at the numbers he heard the bell ring. When a party came back to camp the bell was rung and everyone could greet their loved ones.

  The Reverend left the table and walked out on the porch watching two men walking back. He had sent five and already felt a knot in his stomach. More bad news was not what he needed. He was losing control and he knew it.

  He noticed his daughter walking back to the camp carrying a bow. She was becoming more muscular and losing weight. Her baby fat was almost gone and was becoming less of the little girl he remembered.

  The men were greeted with hugs and handshakes. One woman asked about her husband. She kept repeating the same question. She started to become louder and louder until one of the men walked up to her and hugged her. He whispered in her ear and she dropped in his arms crying. Some of the women held her and took her away.

  The Reverend whistled and everybody looked up at him. The Reverend waved them up to the house and said, “I need your report, now.”

  Even with the low supplies the Reverend thought it wise to keep a stash of luxury items like coffee on hand to bribe information out of people. He set a kettle on the stove and heated up a pot as the men sat down at the table. The Reverend walked up and took the papers from his seat not wanting the men to see the bad news they had come home to. So far, nobody in the camp knew exactly how bad the situation had become.

  Sitting down the Reverend cleared his throat and composed him-self for the meeting.

  “I see that you have come back with three men less than how you left.” The Reverend pointed out.

  The two men looked at each other.

  The one on the left, Joseph, spoke first.

  “Yes, we were ambushed.” Joseph said.

  “Ambushed? By whom?” The Reverend asked.

  “Well, Marco thought it might be where John was. We came across an old man that told us to not travel any farther south, to change course. He spoke of land mines and booby traps. It sounded like the kind of thing that John would know how to do being former military. So Marco decided to check it out. We moved two blocks south and we came across a trip wire. We stopped and looked to see if we could disarm it but it was detonated by someone else. Terry thought he heard a gunshot when the bomb exploded but my ears were ringing so bad I don’t know how it was set off.” Joseph finished.

  “Is this true? You heard a shot?” The Reverend asked Terry.

  “I swear I heard a shot. Somebody had to of been watching to know when to set it off. Even if it wasn’t shot at we were watched to know when to detonate it if we didn’t trip it.” Terry said.

  The Reverend sat in silence. Over one of the cupboards pinned to the wall was a map of the city. He stood up and looked at it.

  “How far south was the spot you were ambushed?” The Reverend asked.

  Joseph stood up and walked over. Looking over the map he ran his finger down the lines recalling all the land marks they had traveled past.

  “About here. The old guy said it was a large area. A couple of blocks with warnings posted.” Joseph said.

  “What is someone protecting there? There has to be supplies.” The Reverend said to himself.

  He thought for a minute. He was desperate. Things were going to fall apart. This was the perfect opportunity to set things right again. It was exactly what any country does when the economy goes to shit, you start a war.

  “Gentlemen, get the troops together. We are going to war.” The Reverend said.

  “The Lord works in mysterious ways. While we could sit and ponder why things happen the way they do I will say it is better to use the gifts he hands you instead of questioning them. As you know my daughter was attacked by one of our members before he left to live a life of sin with the enemy. Now we know where he is, we know he has supplies, and we know he is willing to kill to protect those supplies.”

  “I could stand up here and ask for revenge for what happened to Isabel. Instead I will encourage you to fight for your own welfare. Winter is coming, and while I wish I could say that supplies are plentiful and we have enough food, that is simply not true.”

  “I believe God has given him back to us now for more than one reason. I believe it’s his time to answer for what he did to my daughter. I believe he was sent as our answer to our food problem, and I think it’s time that this nation is brought back to the God fearing people that it was meant for.”

  The congregation cheered in the yard as the Reverend ended his speech on the back porch, arms raised and praising God. He was leading the people on a crusade that served more his purpose than anyone else. The officers went into the house to make their final plans for the next day’s attack.

  Chapter 25: Three years after the Day

  John worked the fire. Sparks kicked off the wood and he could feel the heat on his exposed skin. It was a pleasure to not wear several layers of clothing all the time. When the fire was back to burning brighter he laid back down next to Fatima. Her back pressed against his chest. He could smell the shampoo she used at the river earlier. He knew it wouldn’t last. The bottle was partially used and even if it was full he still would have to get more. You don’t simply walk into a store anymore and buy whatever you want. Her body was warm and smooth. He wasn’t sure he would ever feel anything like this again. Even when they were sharing the sleeping bag they were clothed. He didn’t know what their relationship was then. He didn’t want to scare her off and be alone again. He felt like being in the Lord’s Army was much like Iraq. Now he felt like he was finally home.

  Fatima never realized how much little things could be the greatest luxury. She used the shampoo and soap she found to clean up by the river. John said he went out hunting but she knew he was watching over her from the top of the hill. It wasn’t uncomfortable. Instead she felt safe with him looking over her as she bathed. She wasn’t sure the place was completely safe yet. After what happened at the library she preferred him to keep an eye o
n her. She brought her rifle down with her but left it on the river bed. The water was cold. Hot water was a luxury she missed. She hoped John could create something to use later for bathing. When she was finished and climbing back to the cabin John slipped back into the woods and finished hunting lunch. He had to admit that squirrel wasn’t the most appetizing animal but better than nothing. He looked for spots that might have rabbit and really hoped to get a deer but had no luck.

  The freedom to love John how she wanted was overwhelming. The fear in the back of her mind was always there but it grew smaller every day. There was no one here to enforce Shia Law. Her family was gone. She could recreate herself as someone else if anyone did stop by. She knew they would not always be alone and she hoped by then that her fears would have no reason to exist anymore.

  Lying next to John she enjoyed their new life together. She would see the surprise in his eyes every time she would take over on top. Did he assume because she was Persian that she was submissive during sex? That thought quickly left his mind. Here at the cabin they were free to be who they wanted. In John’s mind, Fatima was his wife and he would treat her and protect her in the same way. For Fatima, John was like a husband. Not the tradition husband her father was, instead he was caring and thoughtful, plus protective. He would bring flowers back to the house for her, help her with the chores around the cabin, and hold her tight whenever he had a chance. She loved it when he would walk up behind her and play with her hair, it usually lead to other things.

  Dates would involve scouting for places to find supplies. Some were very successful and other times it was a matter of finding unusual items and talking about them. One day she found a kitchen full of electronic cooking tools, all useless now. She thought it was funny she could do all the same things with a knife. John found some old fishing gear and brought it home. That night he started making fishing lures with the hair from squirrel tails he saved.

  Winter didn’t turn out to be as hard as John had initially thought it would be. Meat could be stored outside. They had enough canned goods to get them through. They even found a fifty pound bag of rice at a nearby house. Their supplies were good and he was looking forward to turning the soil in the field in the spring. Fatima would often find John by the fire place with his copy of The Backyard Homestead. He would underline things and write notes in the margins. She didn’t have any fear that he wouldn’t be able to take care of her.

  Chapter 26: Three years after the Day

  The Reverend and his lead troops were able to figure out the perimeter of the house they were after. They figured that the neighborhood surrounded the main house by two blocks. It was a large space but the Reverend was confident that they could pull off this mission and take whatever supplies were at the house. He had fifty people divided into four groups. They worked their way around the neighborhood and got into position. It was early morning and the sun was not up yet. Stars still speckled the sky and a full moon guided their way. The groups shined flash lights toward one another as the ready signal. The Reverend pulled his flare gun out and shot the start signal into the air.

  From inside his house Mark slept well with his wood burning stove and alarm system turned on like it always was. This night he didn’t need it. The light shining through his window woke him. He worried it was a flash light and someone had gotten through his security without tripping it. He pulled the .45 auto off the night stand and stood up. He quickly realized the light was descending. Either aliens were now invading or it was a flare.

  Mark checked the computer monitors and didn’t see anything yet. Some of the cameras were set up with night vision but not all. His system, created by salvaging parts from multiple houses and buildings, was better than he had hoped but not perfect. The houses that had cameras also were equipped with solar panels and a battery system in the basement that ran everything. The signal was sent back to his house through a series of lines that he ran with the non-working power lines. His own house had two wind turbines and a series of solar panels. It wasn’t hard to figure out how to hook everything up especially when you found the items already hooked up. After that it was a matter of disconnecting and reconnecting all the parts like they were.

  Mark had already replaced the bomb that was set off a few days ago by the first group of men that had tried to venture into his domain. He figured now the two men that had escaped were back with friends. He dressed quickly then checked the monitors again. The house was a fallback position and not really meant to fight a war, but it would do if need be.

  He grabbed the M14 and a bandolier. He had a pack next to the door for night time patrols and grabbed that as well. He walked down the street to the church again and slid his knife between the doors, hearing the click he opened the right door and reset the trap for anybody that might come in unannounced. Using a head lamp he moved up the stairs for the bell tower and turned it off before he reached the top. Placing his pack down he removed a night vision scope and scanned the streets around him. It wasn’t a perfect spot and really nothing would be except for a plane. He could see two groups coming from opposite directions. He counted ten or more people each. He didn’t know why anybody would use these kinds of resources for someone like him. Maybe one of the guys was someone important? Who knows? He wasn’t about to run out and apologize to them for not reading a damn sign. It was a matter of seconds before a trap went off. All he had to do was sit back and watch the fireworks.

  The Reverend stayed back and watched his men move forward towards their target. They didn’t know what house it would be, after a few searches they would find it. They didn’t have lights and instead worked by moving when the moon came out and their eyes adjusting to the dark.

  Isabel was part of the group coming from the south. She wondered if she would see the man that left her. She was still pissed that he would have the nerve to leave her after she had picked him from the group. He had satisfied her and somehow she wasn’t enough for him. That was what she couldn’t get out of her mind. Somehow she wasn’t enough woman for him. He could have been her first. She thought about it. She didn’t know if her dad would ever have approved of John. If not she would still keep him as a toy to go back to. It wasn’t up to him to end things, she did that. She wasn’t through with him. She didn’t know if she wanted him dead anymore but she wouldn’t be sad if that’s how things turned out.

  She carried her M4 rifle along with some other weapons in case things got hairy. She had a knife and a longer machete in case she ran out of ammo. Her nerves were shot and nothing had happened yet. Her heart raced and her breathing was trying to catch up. She stayed at the end of the row as her father instructed. The group moved staying close to the houses. They stopped often and checked for trip wires. They had only moved in half a block when they found a trip wire. Again it was attached to a trash bin and they were able to move around it. Isabel was curious as to what was in the bin but didn’t touch it.

  Moving to the next house the leader hid next to a bush by a porch and crouched down he looked behind and made sure everyone was moving around the bin. He looked forward again and took one step. He felt something stag his boot and heard a click. An arrow with a broad head tore through his shirt and stuck in his torso. He didn’t scream. In the dark he wasn’t sure what had happened. He felt the arrow puncturing his skin and cut his hand on the razor sharp broad head. The pain was too much. He couldn’t catch his breath. It took a few seconds for others to realize what had happened.

  “Bill? Bill? You ok?” A woman whispered behind him. He went to touch his back and brushed up against the end of the arrow. “Oh my god Bill, are you hit?”

  People panicked. How could someone be hit when they didn’t hear anything? That added to the fear of the mission. Not hearing it coming was more frightening then knowing what was coming. Isabel stayed back and even moved back towards the side of the house to get away from the scene. If this was part one of an ambush, she hoped she was moving away from part two. Word spread quickly and Bill’s wife,
who was toward the back of the row, ran up to check her husband. She forgot everything including the trip wire. Running past everyone in the group she moved to the opposite side of the trash bin and tripped the wire. The blast was instantaneous. The five people closest to the blast never knew the blast happened. The night sky lit up sending a signal to the other groups that traps were still set and active. Bill was thrown away from the blast and landed on the arrow, the head stuck in the ground. He didn’t think about the arrow anymore. He was content with dying now. His wife of 20 years was blown to pieces before his eyes. He didn’t know if this was God’s will or not. Didn’t sound like anything God would do to people he loved. He was happy it would be over now. He was surprised he lasted this long.

  Isabel was thrown back from the blast and landed in the backyard. The grass was tall and over grown. Over four feet high she stayed where she was and hid. She was done with the mission. It was too much for her. Contrary to what she told herself she was not a badass. Her ears rung and she didn’t know if there was anything making noise around her. Her own voice sounded muffled and she lay back waiting for the ringing to go away. She didn’t feel any injuries other than being knocked around. Nothing felt broken and she could only find a few cuts and scrapes.

  The Reverend saw the blast and then heard it a few seconds later. He knew it was Isabel’s group and immediately held in the ball of anger that grew in his gut. He wanted to scream and yell and charge to the man’s house that did this and cut his throat like so many heathens he killed in the past. He stayed silent.

  “I want that fucker’s head on a stake.” The Reverend told Collins.

  Collins wondered if he was now permanently in the clear. If Isabel was dead nobody would find out he was the one that slept with her that night. It didn’t matter. She started it. It didn’t matter if she was using him to get back at John. It made her look bad and if the truth came out, the Reverend would have his head on a stake. He hoped he would never see her again.