WORLDS END

by Marshall Huffman

  “Sure.”

  “Why are you looking out for me?”

  “Vivian that’s pretty easy to answer. You survived. Fingers survived. I survived. We all have that in common. We are all that is left of a huge portion of the human race. If we can’t look out for each other, who is going to do it?”

  “You’re a good man JD.”

  “No better than anyone else I'm sure,” he said.

  “You’re wrong about that.”

  “Anyway, we go in sixty minutes. Will you be ready or do you need time?”

  “Heck, I’m ready right now.”

  “We should start up so that we have time to catch our breath before we have to start walking.”

  **

  “Nice to meet you Captain Gills. I’m JD. This is Fingers and the lady is Vivian Flower.”

  “Fingers?”

  Fingers held up his hand.

  “Ah,” the captain said.

  “Is this all that you intend to take with you?”

  “Are you kidding? It’s our total worldly possessions,” JD replied.

  “Sorry. Stupid question. Are you all ready to go? DC is a pretty far ways to go but we are in no hurry. We can take breaks if someone feels like they can’t go on. I wish we had other transportation but so far we haven’t found anything that is serviceable.”

  “I think we are as ready as we will ever be,” JD said.

  “Alright, mount up. We are headed back to DC,” the Captain said to the others.

  Vivian was happy to see at least four of the soldiers were women.

  **

  “Well, we survived day one,” JD said as they finished their meal and started trying to find a place to settle down for the night.

  It was a lot cooler up on the surface and none them had the kind of gear the military people had.

  “Gonna’ be damn cold,” Fingers complained.

  “Want me to see if they have anything we can use?”

  “No. I want to just lay here and freeze my ass off.”

  “Hey dude. Give me a break. You can go ask them yourself. I don’t need for you to piss on my parade. All you seem to do is moan and groan. You don’t want to walk, you don’t like the food, and you’re cold. You’re welcome to go sleep someplace else if you don’t want to be around us,” JD said.

  Fingers started to say something when the Captain walked over and threw down three jackets.

  “Thought you might need these. I saw you didn’t have much in the way of protection. It was alright down in the bunker. Up here it gets kind of cold at night,” he told them.

  “Boy are those welcome. I appreciate the thoughtfulness Captain."

  “Glad we could help,” he said walking back to where he had laid out his gear.

  “Well, this should keep us pretty warm,” Vivian said, slipping on one of the jackets.

  Fingers didn’t say anything. He just picked one up and put it on. JD shook his head and took the remaining jacket. It felt darned good against the cool night.

  JD didn’t know how long he lay there thinking about everything that had transpired the past few days and what the future might be like. He realized it was an exercise in futility. He didn’t even know what tomorrow would bring. He fell asleep by letting his mind go totally blank.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT

  While America was still under attack in various locations, the rest of the world had to face the same fight for survival. Second and third world nations were easily destroyed with little or no difficulty.

  It was the major countries that had advanced weapons that they were finding difficult to deal with. Most worlds that they had encountered had been conquered and scorched to bare rock in just a matter of days.

  They still did not have many areas defeated and that was a serious concern. The Expedition Force Supreme Commanders had only recently discovered that one of the command ships had been brought down by a coordinated attack. This had never happened before. They decided to halt the attacks until they could have a meeting to discuss the next phase of the operation.

  The overall Expedition Force Supreme Commander had called all of the ship commanders to his ship. They were in one huge hall that ran up both sides of a raised hovering dais.

  “Never has our planet failed on a mission. I do not understand how this could happen. We should have been finished with our work here a quantum ago and yet we are still being held up in far too many areas. This is unacceptable. I demand to know why we are not finished with this puny planet,” Baajal screamed at those seated.

  No one wanted to be the first to speak up. They all knew the wrath of Baajal, the Expedition Force Supreme Commander. He had always been the type to kill the messenger.

  The only sound was the slight rush of air as the dais floated on the pressure stream.

  “Answers,” he suddenly shouted, “I want answers.”

  Still no one spoke up.

  “Here are my orders. From this point on, you are to attack everything on the planet. Any rubble, person or structure is to be ground to dust. I do not want to hear about being attacked or any reports of damage to our vessels. You are all weak and the only important thing is this mission. I want this planet wiped of every living organism. Any Commander that does not finish their assigned area on time will be relieved. You will sacrifice as many drones as necessary. I do not care if you lose every single one. The only thing I care about is results. RESULTS,” he screamed at the top of his lungs.

  The others sat, stoned face. They had seen him angry before but this was quite a display even by his standards.

  “I am ashamed to be leading such an ineffective force. I want you all off my ship and back on yours immediately. I will be monitoring the progress of each and every ship. If I do not feel you are moving at the expected rate, you will be immediately removed from command and held for trial on the home world,” he said, his voice rising with each word.

  The dais lowered until it disappeared into the floor below. The Commanders all began to file out of the assembly area.

  **

  “Trial when we return to the home world. None of us has even seen the home world and I doubt we ever will,” Dakmala said.

  “Quiet. Baajal has the ship covered with listening devices. He doesn’t even trust his own crew,” the other replied.

  “Still. He wants to finish up but we are wasting time by coming here and having him make useless threats.”

  “He is right about one thing. It is hard to believe we lost a ship. That has never happened before. How could a Commander allow something like that to happen?”

  “I seriously doubt he allowed it to happen. The inhabitants of this planet are like none we have encountered previously. They may be primitive but they have a unique ability to adapt. No matter what Baajal says, I think we are going to be here for some time trying to sanitize this planet.”

  “You actually believe they can stand up against us?”

  “They brought down one of our ships didn’t they? You heard Baajal. That has never happened before. I think the worse thing we can do is to assume that they are incapable of figuring out how to resist. I’m not saying we won’t defeat them in the end, but do not be surprised if they bring down more of our ships.”

  “Dakmala, what you are saying is treason. You can be misted for saying such things.”

  “Yes I can but it won’t change the facts. You mark my words. More of our ships will be brought down.”

  His friend was glad when they separated. He wanted to pretend he had never had that conversation.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE

  President Coaler was struggling with his decision to banish Tony Spears from the bunker. He had knowingly sentenced the Secretary of Defense to death. Was what he had done any better than Tony’s actions?

  What bothered him the most was that he had acted more as a dictator than a President. There had been no trial, no evidence submitted.

  Walking down the hall he saw Gunny Baker and went up to him.

&nbs
p; “Do you have a minute Gunny?”

  “Yes sir. Nothing much is going on. A diversion from waiting would be welcome,” Baker told him.

  “Good. Walk with me.”

  The two men started off down the long tunnel. The President had his hands clasped behind his back and was walking slowly. Gunny had been around long enough to recognize the weight of a difficult command decision. He just waited.

  “Gunny. If someone knew about the imminent assassination of a world leader but didn’t speak up, what should happen to that person?”

  “Sir. That depends on the circumstances.”

  “The circumstances? I’m not following you.”

  “Well sir. Let’s say for example a terrorist was planning to kill the Queen of England or any other head of state. Furthermore, let’s say that we have the possibility of capturing him and bringing him to trial or simply eliminating him. The question becomes, which is the most effective. By that, a trial sends one message to those that might consider a similar act while elimination sends quite a different message. Not to be too crass Mr. President but nothing says we mean business like a bullet to the head of a terrorist.”

  “I follow that but what if it is one of our own people. Aren’t they guaranteed a trial by our very own constitution? Simply killing them is not what this country does,” the President said.

  “I guess if we lined them up and shot them without a trial that would be one thing. That would pretty much be cold blooded murder. There are no easy answers here. The Bible, Matthew 5:38 it says: ‘you have heard an eye for an eye and a tooth of a tooth but I say to you, that you resist not evil: but whoever shall smite you on your right cheek, turn to him the other also, but Exodus 23:25 also says: ‘and if any mischief follow, then you shall give life for life, eye for eye, hand for hand, foot for foot, burning for burning, wound for wound, stripe for stripe’. It doesn’t mention anything about turning the other cheek in those verses so what are we to do? One thing I do know is that we each have to walk our own path and determine what is right for us.”

  “But what about the Constitution? We have it in writing that everyone is entitled to a trial by a jury of their peers,” the President said.

  “Sir, I'm just a simple solider. I don’t sit in a lofty place and make policy and judgments but in all honesty, everything in our Constitution has been changed over time. What is freedom of speech? Do we have it? Not really. I can’t very well express an opinion about my government in a public place without having someone censure me. The Supreme Court can hold people in contempt if they don’t like what they say or do. Mr. President we kissed the original intent of the Constitution goodbye the minute we gave the Supreme Court the power to become the new interpreters of the Constitution. Mr. President, in my opinion, the worst thing the United States ever did was to appoint them as members of the Supreme Court for life. That way they don’t have to care what the country thinks. They sit there like Kings and Queens and not even the President can do anything about it. Sir, I don’t know about you but I don’t think that is a very smart way to run a nation. When the courts have more power than the nation’s leader, something is wrong.”

  The President turned and looked at this old warrior. He shook his head and started laughing. Gunny stood there wondering what had brought all of that on. The President tried to stop two or three times but tears continued to stream down his face. Finally he gathered himself together.

  “Gunny. You are the first truly honest man I have ever run into. What a find. I wish I had a Cabinet full of men like you. Thank God I didn’t ask you what you thought about my performance so far. I’m not sure I could stand the honesty.”

  “Oh hell sir, pardon my French, I like you. You are a darned good man. You picked some losers for the Cabinet but on a scale of 1 to 10, so far I think you’re a good 8+.”

  “Lord. Help me to remember to ask questions that I really want to know the answers to,” Coaler said.

  “Sir, if this is about Baker. You did not put a bullet in his head. You did not execute him without a trial. From what I understand he told you point blank that you were to be assassinated if you happened to get re-elected and he neglected to warn you. You gave him more of a chance than he was willing to give you. What happens to him outside the bunker is not on your head. He put himself out there. Mr. President, I think you should put him out of your mind and give some thought to how we are going to resurrect this country. We aren’t licked as long as we have men and women ready to fight,” Gunny told him.

  “You know Gunny, about the time I start to feel sorry for myself I should come and look you up. Nothing like a good ole dose of honesty mixed in with wisdom to make you look at things in a different light. Thank you,” President Coaler said shaking his hand.

  “I’m available at any time Mr. President.”

  The President walked back to his office feeling better than he had in days. It did make him stop and wonder about the Constitution. How far had we come from the original intent? He laughed again. What Constitution? What Supreme Court? As far as he knew, everything was gone and they were going to have to start all over.

  He vowed right then and there to use men with a more common sense approach, not some lofty idealism. They needed more men like Gunny Baker and less like Tony Spears. For the first time since he had banned the Secretary of Defense, he didn’t feel guilty.

  CHAPTER THIRTY

  James walked up to the Lieutenant and said, “I don’t think our group can make it with you. It’s just too far to go and we would only slow you down. We have all talked it over and while I don’t mind tagging along, I simply cannot go off and leave them.”

  “That’s unfortunate. I know it’s a long way and honestly, it would slow us down. It’s hard enough on us and we are pretty physically fit. So you are going to stay here I take it?” Lieutenant Swanson asked.

  “What I was wondering was if there was any way you could perhaps spare a couple of men to lead us back to Washington?”

  “Split our group?”

  “That’s one way of looking at it. You said last night you were looking for military people and survivors. We certainly fit into the survivor category at least. You have ten soldiers with you. Sending back two isn’t going to change the parameters of your mission one way or the other.”

  “James, our primary mission is to locate the military members that may have survived. Survivors are our secondary concern. I don’t mean to be a hardass but dividing my troops is not a good tactical move,” Swanson replied.

  “Then can you supply us with a map, compass, and a briefing on how to get to the bunker?”

  “Yeah, I can do that. We will also give you food, water, and anything else you can think of that you might need.”

  “A couple of weapons?”

  “I don’t know about that.”

  “Look, I’m fully qualified if you are worried about that. I can demonstrate it if you feel it is necessary,” James said.

  The Lieutenant pulled on his lip for a second.

  “I can do that. What the hell difference does it really make? I doubt it will do you much good against one of those pods but if it makes you feel better, I can live with that.”

  “Thanks. And yes, it would make me feel better.”

  “I’ll have one of my people round up everything you need and give you a briefing before we head out. Can you be ready in a half hour?”

  “We are ready now.”

  “Give me time to get everything organized,” Swanson said hurrying off.

  James walked back over to the group.

  “Well?”

  “I tried to talk them into giving us a guide back to DC but that is a no go. They will provide us with maps, a compass, and a briefing on where the bunker is. They are pulling out soon so we need to be ready to travel as well,” James told them.

  “Nice try,” Joe said, “It’s more than I expected.”

  “So they are going to just go off and leave us to our own devices?” Linda said.
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br />   “Pretty much. Look, we have been on our own anyway. I’m sure we can do this. They are giving us food, water and warmer clothing along with the other stuff so we should be just fine,” James told her.

  **

  “James, this is Sergeant Medion and Corporal Hollister. They have rounded up everything you will need with one small change,” Swanson said.

  Crap, James thought, the weapons.

  “They are going to lead you back.”

  James jaw must have dropped open because the Lieutenant looked amused.

  “As James reminded me our mission is twofold. Find our military if they survived and to help any survivors. He is absolutely right. While I have a primary objective I shouldn’t overlook the second one. If you accept their help you are under obligation to let them be in charge. Sergeant Medion will get you back unless the pods somehow interfere. If attacked, he is the man I expect you to obey. God forbid, if something happens to him then Corporal Hollister becomes the leader. She will be the authority. If you can’t agree to that, you need to tell me and we go back to giving you maps and equipment but no guides,” he told them.

  “No problem from me,” James said quickly.

  “I’ll go,” Linda replied.

  “Us too, Joe said speaking for him and Beatrice.”

  Alice was the last to speak up. Why she was hesitating was very strange to James.

  “Alice?”

  “I supposed so. It’s just that you have gotten us here pretty darn well. You stood right there and didn’t even move. If we start trying to shoot it out with these things we will never make it.”

  It was a valid point. The first reaction of almost any military person was to shoot first and ask questions later. Unfortunately under these circumstances it would be the end of them.”

  “She has a point,” Joe said, while Beatrice was shaking her head in agreement.

  “So what are you saying? You want to go on your own?”

  “I’m saying that James knows more about these pods than any of you. Have you even seen one? Have you come up against one? Your guns are no match for them I can assure you that. We saw what happens firsthand when someone didn’t listen to James. He became nothing more than a vaporized body. Not so much as a hand or foot to bury.”