by Mark Church
✽✽✽
Hannah boards the crowded bus and takes a seat in the back. The commotion going on around her proves to be a good distraction. The sound of people talking and laughing brings a sense of normalcy, which is the perfect antidote to her continued rumination. As her mind quiets and her tension begins to fade, she closes her eyes and allows a calm to settle over her.
The moment, while peaceful, is all too brief. The bus stops abruptly, throwing Hannah forward in her seat. Startled, she looks to the driver who has thrown his hands up questioningly while looking out the front windshield. Moments later, the driver opens the door and three soldiers board the bus. The people on the bus become very quiet. One soldier remains at the front of the bus while the other two begin walking down the center aisle. They pause at each row of seats to inspect its occupants. Hannah begins to get nervous. She begins to worry that it may be her they are after. Maybe they know about her rendezvous with the resistance. Her mind begins concocting terrifying scenarios, one worse than the other.
Just when Hannah thinks she’s going to pass out from anxiety, the soldiers pause well before her near the fifth row of seats. They extract a sheet of paper, possibly a photo, which they reference while looking at one of the passengers. After a brief discussion with the male passenger in question, the lead soldier orders him to stand. The man protests so the soldier repeats his order using a more commanding tone. The man slowly rises to his feet before shoving the soldiers away and bolting for the back of the bus. The soldiers right themselves and chase after the man who is making a break for the open back door. The fleeing man makes it out the door only to be quickly intercepted by two more soldiers positioned outside. Grabbing him roughly, they throw him to the ground. When the pursuing soldiers reach the subdued man, they begin to beat him mercilessly. They verbally taunt him as they take turns delivering punishing punches and kicks.
Hannah can overhear the soldiers berating him about speaking out against the government. Thankfully, it’s not long before the man loses consciousness.
The passengers on the bus remain quiet. The grim look on their faces says all that needs to be said. The quiet is finally interrupted by one of the soldiers whistling at the bus driver before motioning for him to proceed.
As the bus pulls away, Hannah turns and looks out the window. She sees the soldiers drag the unconscious man to a military vehicle before opening the rear door and throwing him inside. All she can do for the man is offer a silent prayer.
At the conclusion of her prayer, Hannah is left wishing that she could do more, and then it hits her, she can do more – much, much more. This revelation is her new beginning. It’s the moment that she unofficially becomes a member of the resistance, and the moment that will change her life’s course forever.
✽✽✽
The rest of Hannah’s day is uneventful. She successfully goes through her daily routine without missing a beat. She answers children’s questions, presents lessons, and smiles at colleagues. The events of last night and this morning are banished to the deep recesses of her consciousness. She knows it is a coping mechanism, but that’s what she needs right now, a way to cope.
It’s not until the school day ends that she allows those exiled thoughts to reemerge. She immediately recognizes how different she feels. Instead of being anxious, she is calm. Instead of feeling doubt, she is emboldened. Her lack of consternation doesn’t surprise her. She concedes that she has always been one to fret over decisions. However, she also acknowledges her ability to boldly move forward almost immediately after that decision is made. This aspect of her psyche will be put to the test over the coming months, in ways that she could have never dreamed possible.
✽✽✽
The same van from last night pulls to the curb near the park bench where Hannah is sitting. Eva exits the vehicle and begins walking towards her. Hannah looks past the advancing woman to see the driver. It’s Carl. He gives her a wink before turning off the motor.
Eva reaches the bench and takes a seat. Looking into the horizon, Eva says, “I wasn’t sure you’d show.”
“Neither was I,” Hannah admits ruefully.
“So…do you have an answer for me?”
“Maybe. But before I give you that answer, I have a few conditions that I want you to agree too.”
“I’m all ears.”
“First, and most importantly,” starts Hannah, “I will ‘not’ hurt anyone. Second, my sponsors, the two kind people who brought me to DC, are not to be involved in any way. And third, I want your promise that I can end my involvement at any time.”
“Your first condition will be more of an issue for you, not us,” Eva acknowledges. “I accept your second condition, and your third condition, while it may be inconvenient should you decide to leave us, I’ll allow it if that’s what it takes to get you onboard.”
Hannah overlooks the fact that Eva didn’t explicitly agree to her first condition. “Then I guess you have yourself a recruit.”
“I had a good feeling about you from the beginning. Welcome to the right side of history.” Eva looks even less like a revolutionary conspirator than she did the first time they met.
“Now what?”
“First, I need to go over protocols. For now, I’ll be your primary contact. If you need to reach me, use this.” Eva takes a small phone from her pocket and hands it to Hannah.
Surprised by the phone, Hannah comments, “Wow, I haven’t had one of these since the war started.”
“It helps to have the right connections.”
“How does it work?” Hannah turns the small device over in her hands.
“The phone has been modified to work much like a two-way radio,” explains Eva. “And it scrambles the conversation unless you have a compatible phone like the one I have.”
“So, I can only call you?”
“That is correct. My number is pre-programmed.”
“Can I call anyone else?”
“Not at this point, though you’ll likely get more contacts down the road.”
“I guess you can call me too.”
“Yes. But it will only vibrate. For safety reasons, the ring function has been disabled.”
“Pretty cool.” Hannah is obviously impressed.
“Don’t let anyone see the phone,” instructs Eva. “It’ll raise a lot of questions we don’t want you to have to answer.”
“Understood. Should I carry it at all times?”
“As much as you safely can, we need to be available to each other as much as possible.”
The two women sit quietly for a few minutes watching the traffic roll past the park as people navigate the evening rush.
“What next?”
Eva smiles at Hannah and suggests, “Make nice with Congressman Klinton.”
Hannah knew this was coming but the thought still makes her stomach turn. “I knew you were going to say that.” Hannah grimaces with a hint of disgust.
“It’s important. Access to him will give us a direct line into the inner-workings of the government.”
“I’ll try to develop a ‘friend only’ relationship with him,” Hannah stipulates. “If he expects more than that – well, I refuse to go there.”
“I guess that’ll have to be good enough. If I had your youth and your looks, I’d do it myself, but those days are long gone. I just hope you can string him along long enough to get the information we need.”
“Don’t worry, I can manage the ‘playing hard to get’ thing.” Hannah continues confidently. “Besides, men are easy. All I have to do is play to his ego while making him think that he has a chance. He’ll fall for the quiet-teacher-being-too-shy-to-move-faster act.”
A bit taken back by Hannah’s cockiness, Eva flashes a wry grin, “So you do have a devious side. You should let it out more often. It becomes you.”
Eva shakes her head, much pleased at this side of Hannah, “Now I’m beginning to feel a bit sorry for the congressman.”
Hannah and Eva talk for
another hour about the IRC’s long-term strategies and objectives. They also discuss risks and penalties for participating in IRC activities. Needless to say, it doesn’t end well for those who are found to be IRC members—no matter how beautiful they may be.
When the conversation comes to a natural end, the two women say their goodbyes. Eva walks to the waiting van as Hannah watches her go. After reaching the vehicle, Eva opens the door and climbs in as Carl fires up the motor. And then, just as quickly as they arrived, they are gone.
Now that Hannah’s alone, she begins to fret about her decision. As she contemplates her role in the IRC, self-doubts struggle for legitimacy. She wonders anxiously if she has done the right thing.
Any hesitancy about her abilities are soon nullified as she reflects back to the bus incident, as well as other abuses she’s witnessed, not to mention that horrible Ultimate Warrior contest.
As Hannah’s concerns fade, her confidence grows. She is spurred on by the belief that she is doing the right and noble thing. Assured in her decision, she stands and begins her short walk home. It’s a cold but welcome walk. The cool, clear air is invigorating, she has never felt more alive. Walking with purpose, her courage and determination grow with each step. Like a butterfly leaving its cocoon, she leaves her old self behind as her new self prepares to fly.
Hannah never imagined herself as a heroine, but then no aspect of her life has gone to plan. For her, the war and its aftermath ended any possibility of a traditional existence. Now all she can hope to do is improve things for future generations.
If that means risking her own life, she is willing to make that sacrifice.
✽✽✽
A newly formed SF exploratory squad, traveling west from their northeastern garrison, encounters a group of burned out military vehicle at the entrance to Eads Bridge on the Illinois side of the Mississippi river across from the ruined city of St. Louis. As the slow-moving military vehicles coast past the wreckage, they see burned out vehicles marked with an NE, which indicates that the platoon originated from their garrison.
It’s clear that whatever happened here, happened months ago but the scene still evokes fresh emotions, mostly because the soldiers in the passing convoy were comrades of these ill-fated soldiers.
Decayed corpses are strewn about haphazardly. Opportunistic scavengers appear to have removed most of the fallen soldier’s edible parts. It’s a macabre scene to say the least.
“They must have been ambushed.” The sergeant surveys the scene.
Only seeing the bodies of soldiers, the lieutenant frowns. “It doesn’t look like they were able to put up much of a fight.”
“Maybe the attackers took their dead,” suggests the sergeant.
“Maybe. I can’t believe an entire platoon was wiped out. Whoever did this must have been well-trained.”
The sergeant nods his head in agreement and queries, “Should we stop and bury them?”
“Bury what? Scattered bones? Leave them where they lay, it’ll provide motivation for the rest of the garrison. When they come through here and see this, they’ll be eager to kick some ass!”
The convoy cautiously proceeds across the mile and half long bridge that spans the river separating them from the city. When they reach the St. Louis side of the bridge, they encounter an equally gruesome scene. Predation and decomposition make it hard to discern soldier from civilian, man from woman, or adult from child though it does appear that there are far fewer dead soldiers than civilians.
The sergeant evaluates the field, “It looks like the fight may have started here. That would be my guess. And based on the ratio of soldiers to civilians, I’d say they won this fight.”
“Which makes what happened across the river even more of a mystery.” The sergeant can’t make sense of what occurred here. How could such a well-trained and equipped unit have been so totally destroyed?
The lieutenant gazes back across the bridge and grimly pronounces, “How it happened is not as important as making those who did it pay. And I can assure you, the price will be steep.”
10 new town
The three-vehicle caravan has been driving for about twenty-minutes, following the same asphalt road since leaving town. The terrain is fairly level with mountains closely flanking the left and, at a much greater distance, additional mountains profiled to the right.
The lead vehicle turns left onto a gravel road that leads towards a narrow opening in the mountain face. The two trailing vehicles follow closely.
The road begins to climb as the valley widens. The landscape changes from a wild grass and brush prairie into oak and pine forest. Not long after the transition, the vehicles pass under a crudely fashioned wooden sign, hung with rope between two trees, that reads, ‘New Town’ in large, red hand-painted letters. Two armed men step out of the shadows and wave as the trucks pass.
The road begins to level as the dense trees give way to an enormous valley situated between the mountains. The valley is primarily level grassland with mature trees dotting the landscape. In the center of the valley is a large lake, at least a hundred acres, with buildings spaced evenly around its perimeter. The structures appear to be organized in a way that provides some level of privacy while preserving community. It’s reminiscent of lake resort developments that were popular long ago.
People are working in fields, building new structures, and fishing on the lake. It’s almost as if the clock has been turned back to a simpler time.
It’s not long before the road forks. The lead truck guides the caravan to the right before proceeding down the north side of the lake. People near the road stop what they are doing and wave as the trucks go past.
The lead truck slows as it approaches a large building on the backside of the lake. It turns in when it reaches a gravel driveway. The other two trucks follow. Arranged back to front, all three trucks roll to a stop and turn off their ignition. In unison, the vehicle’s occupants exit.
Jake nods at the surrounding development and expresses his admiration to Tim, “Your community is impressive.”
“It is but we can’t take all of the credit.”
“No?”
“We got lucky. It was pretty much like this when we found it. We suspect that at one time, the valley and lake was a recreational area where people could rent cabins and fish. It was in bad need of a facelift when we got here but nothing a little elbow grease couldn’t sort out.”
“Well, it sure looks good now.” Kate casts a woman’s appreciative eye over the tidy compound.
“That’s an understatement. Are there any fish in that lake?” John remembers happy days spent fishing from his youth. Also, the amazing taste of fresh fish grilled over an open fire afterward.
“Plenty of fish, and it’s deep,” offers Brian. “It’s also spring fed so we have plenty of fresh drinking water too.”
“Is the spring under the lake?”
“No, it comes from over there.” Kara directs Jake’s gaze by pointing to a nearby bluff. “The steady flow forms a small creek that feeds the lake. A spill way on the opposite side maintains the lake’s water level.”
Tim adds, “We also use the spring’s water flow to generate electricity.”
John offers a low whistle of appreciation. “That’s impressive! I’d like to see your setup if we have time.”
“Sure, but first, let’s go inside and talk for a while.” Tim strides off towards a nearby, low slung building.
The inside of the building is spacious. The main room is equipped with a massive fireplace, currently adorned with a large Christian cross proudly displayed over the mantel. Rows of seats face the fireplace.
“This building serves as our church and meeting facility.” Tim explains. “We even have a minister in our community.”
“I haven’t been to a formal church in years,” confesses Jake. “I really miss the fellowship.” He is comforted by the thought that this community is Christian.
“I know that it’s a long way to travel, but
we’d love to have you and your group join us for services any time.” Tim’s invitation is offered swiftly and sincerely, warming Jake’s heart with its welcome.
“I’d like that, and I’m sure the rest of my group would too.”
Motioning towards a large conference table located in the back of the room, Tim leads the way. “Let’s take a load off.”
Brian fetches a pitcher and six glasses while everyone is taking their seats.
When he returns, he pours amber liquid, and asks, “I hope everyone is alright with beer? We brew our own and, I’m proud to say, we have the best brew master this side of the Mississippi.”
Kate smiles broadly. “You won’t hear any complaining from me, I haven’t had a beer in months.”
Her sentiment is similarly expressed as the filled glasses are passed around the table.
Raising her glass to the group, Kara declares, “Here’s to new friends and new possibilities.”
They reach towards the center of the table as is customary for a traditional toast. After clinking glasses, each takes a sip. The Refuge representatives follow with sighs of delight.
“That is good –my compliments to the brew master.” John is the first to express his appreciation.
Jake and Kate express similar sentiment as they discuss ingredients and how it’s brewed.
The small talk eventually gives way to their primary purpose for meeting.
As they delve into more serious personal and tactical topics, they soon discover that they have very similar goals, with safety and security topping the list. Hesitancy melts away the more they discover common goals and intentions.
Their newly established trust allows for a more open and honest discussion with both sides willing to help and be helped. They share thoughts, as well as hopes and dreams.
It’s not long before the prevailing sentiment is one of good will and brotherhood. The bond between the two groups is growing in fertile ground, nurtured by common goals and aspirations.
They take turns narrating their own personal stories as they get to know one another’s history. They discover that the road that brought them to this place, while different for each of them, was in some ways, very much the same.
