by M C Rooney
Ash came over and held her sister in her arms as she cried and cried for a long time. Lily had a flashback of crying when she was a child, and Ash was holding her in her arms even way back then.
“The cycle continues,” Lily said when she had finally stopped sobbing.
“No, Lily,” Ash said. “I’m sure there will be no more deaths. Tom will get back somehow.”
“It’s not that,” Lily replied. “I was brought up by only one parent.”
Ash leant back to look at her sister’s face. “What do you mean?”
“At least I have something to remember him by,” she said as she placed her hands on her stomach.
“Oh, Lily,” Ash replied with tears in her eyes. “I am so sorry.”
“I’ll be okay,” she said as she wiped her eyes. “Give me a few days, and I will be as right as rain.”
Ash thought Lily was looking just like her Nan right at this moment.
“The Butler genes,” Ash said quietly, but she knew Lily would need more than a few days to get over Locke. She would need time, a lot of time.
“The Butler genes,” Lily replied.
“Well, I’m staying the night anyway, Little Sister,” Ash said firmly. “And I think Jesse and Rachael need to know what has happened.”
“Yes, they do,” replied Lily, who was starting to look like the mayor again. “I’ll get Daltrey to ride south with the news.”
“And I’ll get lunch ready,” Ash said as she stood up.
“Thank you, Ash,” Lily said. “I don’t deserve a sister like you.” She was a wonderful woman, her big sister. Perhaps Ash was what Lily’s mother had been like.
“Yes, you do. And as Father said, ‘Never forget’.” With that, Ash kissed her cheek and walked out of the room.
Lily felt like crying again. ‘Never forget that I love you,’ were the last words their father had said to them before he had left on that ill-fated journey so many years ago.
She sighed and looked out the window to her hometown of Hobart. She knew it would take a long time to get over Locke, no matter what she had said about being a Butler. But right now, she had to think about the baby, and she had one more pressing concern on her mind.
Come home, Tom, Lily thought pleadingly. Please come home safely.
The Tasmanian Midlands
The sun was rising, and Tom and his companions were all attacking their morning’s breakfast of rabbit with gusto.
“What does horse taste like?” asked Ian.
“Don’t even think about it,” replied Tom.
“Why?” replied Ian. “I mean, look at the size of that thing. It could feed you for weeks.”
“We don’t eat horses.”
“Why?”
“We just don’t, Ian,” replied Tom. “There are some animals for eating and some for …”
“Riding,” finished Ian.
“Exactly.”
“I could ride a cow,” said Ian.
“Well, you could,” replied Tom, “but you wouldn’t get far.”
“They would call me a cowboy,” Ian said.
Sam and Alex rolled their eyes at this, but after all the books he had read, Tom found this amusing and gave a loud laugh.
“You know, Ian,” said Chris.
“Yes, Chris?” replied Ian.
“If all the village idiots from all over the world were to gather in one village,” Chris said.
“Yes?”
“In that village full of village idiots …”
“Yes?”
“They would need a village idiot.”
“Yes?”
“I think I know where this is headed,” Tom interrupted with a smile. “Do you have any idea how far we have to go?” he asked Sam.
“Not too far now,” Sam replied. “We should get there—”
Sam was interrupted as three riders came crashing out of the nearby bush.
Tom and his companions reached for their weapons, but one of the riders, a young girl with blonde hair, called out to them. “Please, we mean you no harm,” she said. “We just got lost and needed to find the road.”
Tom looked at her companions, who were two young men, one in a green robe and the other in a purple one, and just for a moment, Tom thought he could see something moving to the left of them.
“Where are you headed in such a hurry?” asked Sam, who still looked in agony from his burns.
The three companions looked at each other, deciding whether or not to tell them the truth.
“We had to escape from an army coming from the east,” the man in the green robe said.
This earned him a glare from the blonde girl. “You didn’t have to tell him that,” she said.
“Well, it’s the truth, isn’t it?” he replied.
“An army?” Tom said. “What do you mean by army?”
The one in the purple robe spoke up. “The east has survived and flourished whilst everywhere else seemed to have suffered.”
Flourished, what did he mean by that?
“How big is this army?” Tom asked.
“Two thousand,” the purple man replied.
Two thousand! Tom thought in astonishment.
“And where are they headed?” asked Alex.
All three companions looked at each other and also seemed to glance to their left for some reason.
“The tower,” the girl said. “They are headed to the tower.”
The four Westerners stood still in shock for a moment.
“We’ve got to go,” Chris finally said and then started running northwards.
Alex came forward and clasped Tom’s forearm, then started to run as well.
“See ya, Tom,” Ian said as he headed after Alex.
Sam waited a moment, then nodded his head at Tom in thanks and went running northwards as well.
This left Tom with the three strangers.
Suddenly, it was four strangers, as a Lightning Lord appeared out of thin air.
Molly stood in silence as she and her three companions stumbled upon the recognisable bare-chested warriors from the west, except they were not all Westerners. One of them had a horse and was wearing a green jacket and a black hat and was one of the biggest men she had ever seen.
She glanced again at the Westerners and saw two of them were badly burned, but her eyes seemed to be pulled back to the big stranger, and whenever he looked in her direction, she felt a slight flutter in her chest.
She listened as her friends basically told them of the oncoming attack and watched as the Westerners ran north in defence of their tribe. She felt an overwhelming urge to talk to this stranger, and when she revealed herself, she was taken aback by his anger.
“Who are you?” he growled at her as he moved his sword into an attacking position.
“She is our friend,” pleaded Michelle.
“A friend!” the stranger said with a tight grimace around his mouth. “My leader was attacked by one of these things. Did you not see the burns on my Westerner friends as well?”
“That wasn’t her,” the purple-robed man said.
“What do mean her?” he asked in anger.
And what did he mean by that? Molly wondered and got so upset that this stranger thought she was a man that she took her helmet and goggles off.
“I am a girl, by the way,” she announced.
Tom had gone from pure anger, which he had promised himself that he would never do again, to absolute amazement as one of these Lightning Lords turned out to be a girl, but not just a girl, she was the most beautiful girl he had ever seen.
“I’m s-sorry,” he stammered as he sheathed his sword and looked down at his feet. “It’s just, the last time I saw one of those suits it wasn’t a pleasant experience.”
“What happened?’ Molly asked, wishing that he would look at her again.
“A man, by the name of Rodent I believe, killed a lot of people.”
“I have battled him many times before,” Molly said. “He is not very bright.”
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“Battle?” he said, still looking downwards.
“It’s a long story,” Molly replied.
“Well, he won’t harm anyone anymore,” Tom replied.
“Why?” she asked.
“I killed him,” he said. “With Sam’s help, of course.”
The four strangers shared a look. Tom wondered what they thought of him, but he decided to tell them his name anyway. “My name is Tom Dayton. I am a ranger from the south.”
“Well, my name is Molly,” she said, trying to smile at him, which was impossible as he kept looking at his shoes. “These are my friends, Roland, Jeremy, and Michelle—wait, did you say Dayton?”
“Are you related to the Daytons who killed all those zombies?” asked Roland suddenly in excitement.
I wanted to ask that, Roland, you bastard, Molly thought with a frown on her face.
“Yes, my grandfather, Jon Dayton, killed all the red ones, and then my Aunt Lily removed all the pale ones.”
Molly noticed that he was looking at all of her companions except her, and for some reason, she found that incredibly annoying.
“And what are you doing so far north?” Molly asked.
“Well,” Tom mumbled as he went back to looking at his shoes, “I was sent here by the mayor to report back about this electrical tower.”
“It seems everybody is after the tower nowadays,” said Michelle with a sigh.
“You mentioned an army before,” Tom replied, looking at her face. “Why is an army moving on the tower?”
“They want to secure its power,” Molly stepped in to say and almost screamed when he looked at his shoes again.
“My friends mentioned a professor,” he said to the ground.
“Yes, that is the man who raised me from when I was a little girl,” she replied to the top of his head.
“It’s said that he knows how it works?” he asked his shoes.
“Yes, he does,” she replied and walked right up to him so he had no choice but to look at her.
“What do you want him for, Tom Dayton?’ she asked, looking up into his eyes.
Tom looked down at those beautiful blue eyes and felt his confidence almost completely shatter. He was never any good talking to pretty girls, let alone beautiful ones, but he suddenly remembered all of his aunt’s lessons, especially the training swords and all the women in the sports hall and felt his confidence return a little.
“People in Hobart are dying from a disease,” he said quietly, this time to her. “We have all the equipment for keeping people healthy, but we have no electricity to work them. My aunt sent me here to provide us with some hope.”
So he doesn’t love power, Molly thought with relief and felt an almost overwhelming urge to kiss him there and then.
“An army of two thousand is headed to the tower now to kidnap the Professor,” she replied just as quietly. “The tower provided them with power for the last forty-seven years, and they only just realised that’s what it was, because of me. The Westerners will fight them, I have no doubt. He could be killed.”
“Can’t the Easterners simply ask him for the knowledge?” Tom asked, looking from her eyes to her lips.
“No, they are led by people who believe in threatening not asking,” she replied. “They believe the Westerners are just savages who could destroy the tower.”
“Then we better get there first,” Tom replied, thinking how crazy it was to be so attracted to someone he only just met.
“Yes, we better move now,” Molly said, standing still and looking into his eyes. She barely noticed how ragged her breathing had become.
Prince Charming indeed.
“Love at first sight,” Jeremy whispered.
“Looks that way,” Roland whispered back.
“Let’s hope she doesn’t drink any wine,” Jeremy replied.
“Of course, the Easterners are led by Edward Abercrombie, and he really hates Molly,” Michelle piped up loudly with a grin.
“Shut … up … Michelle,” Molly said in a tight voice as she turned to face her.
“Why does he hate you?” asked Tom.
Molly looked back at Tom in panic.
“Oh, she kissed him then knocked him out last night,” Michelle said, laughing.
“It was not like that at all!” Molly cried out to Michelle and noticed that Tom had now moved away from her and went to check on his horse.
Something special just happened to her, and she wasn’t about to let Michelle or Edward Oddball ruin it.
“That’s not funny,” Molly said to Michelle furiously, stalking towards her as she sat on her horse.
“Yes, it was,” Michelle replied, chuckling to herself. “Anyway, I had to break you two love birds apart; otherwise, who knows what would have happened.”
“Oh, I know all right,” Molly said as she turned to Roland. “Michelle is pregnant,” she said, and as she walked back to Tom to explain the whole story, she heard Michelle and Roland begin to argue.
The Westerner’s Camp
Buzz adjusted his headscarf as he watched two thousand people in the camp pack up to head west. It had only taken them an hour to be ready to go.
“The joy of living in tents,” said Cheng with a smile. “Here today, gone today.”
“Just be thankful we haven’t got any cows or sheep with us,” said Gaul. “It would have taken hours to round those bastards up.”
“Still, eating kangaroo and rabbits every day got to be a bit much,” replied Begovic. “I’m looking forward to a big steak, or maybe a lamb stew.”
“Are people happy to be moving, do you think?” Buzz asked his friends.
“Yes, I think so,” answered Fergus. Just like his father, he had a good head for working out the wants and needs of the tribe. “I think the idea of living by the ocean appeals to most people.”
“And reclaiming our old town,” said Bronson as he crossed his huge arms. “Ancestors mean a lot to our people, and the time before the Collapse holds a certain mystery to us all.”
Everybody looked at Bronson in surprise. He was the toughest looking of them all, so when he came out with such articulate insights, it always was a bit of a shock.
“How many people are still alive in the other camp?”
“About two hundred are left, Buzz,” replied Fraser. “Our fathers are still alive.”
“I need to first see the Professor, Fraser,” Buzz said kindly, “and then we can go and say our goodbyes.”
Fraser nodded his head and then looked over at his brother Fergus sadly.
“Here he comes,” the professor said as he watched the strong young leader of the tribe stride towards him.
Do you have all that he needs? the voice asked.
“I think so.”
What do you mean, you think so? the voice snapped.
“Well, it has been such a long time since anything has been moved,” the professor replied.
Like that banana.
“Shut up.”
I think that boy is a builder, not a destroyer.
“Let’s hope so.”
“Professor,” Buzz said with a smile as he arrived at the tower, “do you have all the knowledge we require?”
“Yes, we do,” the professor replied.
We?
“I … I do, young Buzz,” stammered the professor.
“Well, where is it?” asked Buzz.
“Two places, Buzz … Firstly …” The professor brought out a small piece of plastic with lots of shiny lights on it. He hit a button, and the mini-tower began to make a squeaky noise.
“What’s happening?” asked Buzz.
“It’s been a long time,” said the professor. “God only knows what has grown down there.”
And all of a sudden, the mini-tower started looking a bit shaky.
“You see,” the professor said, “the mini-tower is three metres high, but also three metres underground. That noise you hear is the underground steel coming up above ground and—”
&n
bsp; It’s going to fall, you silly old fart.
“And can you get your friends to help, otherwise it may fall on us,” finished the professor with a frightened look as the small tower rocked unsteadily right next to him. It was three metres high, but it was surprisingly light and unsteady.
“Boys, quickly,” Buzz shouted to his friends, and soon the tower was steadied then gently lowered to the ground, much to the professor’s relief.
It would take a lot of carrying to get it to the west, the professor thought, but some of these Westerners were quite strong.
“And the other,” Buzz said. “I hope this is easier and safer.”
“Yes, it is,” the professor replied, who then began rummaging through his toolbox.
“Oh, look at this,” he said, surprised.
A Holophone, the voice said, and an encryption device.
“Let’s see if it still works,” the professor said as he began dialing up various numbers, then hacking into its surveillance.
This is exciting.
“No response, too damaged, nonexistent.”
What! Do you mean the pizza shop isn’t open anymore?
“Shut up. Oh, here we go.” Finally, the professor brought up an image of the inside of a very old and empty house.
Do you remember that house?
“No, should I?”
That’s good, the voice replied.
“What is that?” Buzz said in awe. His friends had all gathered around now.
“This is live, young Buzz,” the professor replied with a grimace. “This Holophone is connected to all the others still working in a distance of one hundred kilometres.”
Yes, somewhere in the Midlands, there is a house where absolutely nothing is happening.
“Such wonder,” Buzz said quietly as he looked at the image on the Hologram.
“Yes, the Holophones were wondrous, I guess.” The professor was still grimacing.
Except, the Holophone worked when it was not on, and only the Government knew that.
“So they watched us.”
Yes, they watched us.
“To protect us, of course,” he said drily.
Oh, yes, of course.
“Here, Buzz, you can have this,” the professor said as he handed a spare Holophone over to him. “For a day when electricity has returned to our island.”
