Beyond the Brink_Toward the Brink IV
Page 32
The tires screamed as the car stopped abruptly. Chuck bounded from the driver’s side, the engine still running, and ran to meet Elliot. He wrapped his powerful arms around Elliot in a bear-hug that would have squeezed the air from Bigfoot’s lungs.
“Elliot, Elliot my boy!” James Goodwin came running up behind Chuck tears streaming from down his cheeks.
“Dad!” Elliot pulled an arm away from his clasp with Chuck, allowing his father to join in and make it a three-way embrace.
Soon Riley, Chess, and Sam joined and a tearful but joyous reunion was had.
“Where’s Tom and Tristan?” Chess asked as he slapped an arm on Elliot’s shoulder. “And what’s with the eye patch? You look just like Snake Plissken.”
“Yeah, I was going to ask about that,” Chuck added.
“They didn’t make it, Chuck. I got caught in an explosion.” Elliot dropped his head for a moment. “I’ll fill you in on the details later, okay?”
Chuck nodded. He understood there was a right time for everything. “Fair enough. It’s good to have you back, Elliot.”
James nodded in agreement, tears still running—it was too difficult to talk.
“How the hell did you get back? Chess asked, but Elliot didn’t hear. He had more important questions of his own.
“Where is everyone? Where’s Cindy?”
“Well, you’re looking at all of us. All that’s left, anyway.”
“Wh-what are you talking about, Chuck? Was there another foamer attack or—”
“No, nothing like that. The others have left the island, they’re all okay. There’s a few more of us back at the motel, that’s our home now. But everyone’s all right.” Riley’s explanation was less in-your-face than Chuck’s.
“Left the island?” Elliot truly didn’t understand and panic set in. “How do you just leave the island? I mean—”
“It’s all good, Elliot, I promise you.” Chuck placed a large hand on Elliot’s shoulder. “Let’s go get a coffee and I’ll give you the details.” He then gave Elliot an understanding smile. There would be time later when information from both sides could be exchanged. Elliot trusted Chuck—with his life in fact—but it was all too confusing.
“What about Cindy? Is she-she…”
“Considering her condition, we thought it would be best she leave with the others. This isn’t the best environment to bring a newborn into.”
“Wait, just wait a minute. You’re telling me that everyone just left and went…somewhere? Where? I don’t understand any of this.” Elliot had forgotten about the injuries to Chuck, about Tom and the others, and—with the excitement of the reunion—all about Jerry; alone in the Cessna. Elliot wanted answers for the sudden departure’s.
“Come back to the motel and we’ll explain everything.” Riley put an arm around the teenager—who was acting like one who wasn’t getting their way. He had been with Elliot since this diabolical malady had taken hold of the world—and led him to the car. Perhaps he could calm him down.
Chapter Twelve
Reunions and Departures 1
An hour later, Elliot sat back in a comfortable lounge chair in the office of the former motel. With a second hot coffee in hand, he stared around the room, at the walls, at his feet, and at the faces of those remaining—Chuck, his father, Riley, Chess, Sam, Morris, and Cleavon. He couldn’t believe the story he’d just heard, along with the shock of Allan’s death—it was far from the happy reunion he’d hoped for. But a submarine. It was utterly fantastic. Now he understood why Allan and Cindy appeared underwater in his dreams. He remembered he had discussed this very possibility with…
“OH SHIT!” The coffee in Elliot’s hands flew across the room as he jumped from his seat.
“What is it, Elliot?” Chuck instinctively reached for his Desert Eagle.
“Jerry!”
“Who the fuck is Jerry?”
“He’s the guy who flew the plane I came here in. I fuckin’ left him there!”
The Wrangler raced back out to the airport, this time with Chuck, Sergeant Morris, Chess, and Elliot.
“So in the end, you decided to stay just in case, eh?”
“Well, your girl made some pretty strong points. Though logic told us we all should get in the sub and go, it was the illogical aspects of love, trust, and loyalty that made Riley, your dad, Chess, and me stay. The others volunteered to stay, too.”
“But you made Cindy go?”
“Yeah. Kath, Riley, Bob, and I made that decision for her. She wanted to stay and damn-well nearly made us all miss the boat—literally. But for the sake of your unborn child, we made her go—we had to.” The Tall Man watched Elliot’s reaction for a moment before he continued. “It won’t be long. The captain, Mayer, we made him compromise and he said he’d come back this way in five months and pick us up. You’ll still get to be with her before the birth. Now, tell us about your pilot friend.”
In the five minutes it took to get back to the airport, Elliot gave them a rundown of how Jerry had rescued him after the chopper he was on went down. He’d told them back at the motel the reason he remained in the plane was because of a broken sternum.
When Mayer left, he handed over a supply of medication from the USS Louisiana for those who stayed, which included morphine. Sergeant Morris volunteered to stay because the sub had several medically trained personnel on board. He could look after the administration of any of the opiates if required, and in the case of Jerry Reihne, it was.
Chuck drove right next to the plane and Elliot got out first.
“Hey Jerry, I’m back. I found my friends, we’ll get you out now!” Elliot said as he opened the door to the cockpit.
“I knew you’d be back, Elliot. I knew.”
Within minutes, Morris had sedated Jerry. The others all got in place with a makeshift stretcher and eased Jerry out. It wasn’t entirely painless, but a much better outcome than it would have been without the morphine or the extra assistance. Jerry was placed in the backseat for a slow ride to the motel with Chess and Morris in the front. Elliot and Chuck decided to walk back.
“You know, after everything I’d gone through since leaving here—losing Tom and the others—the one thing that kept me going was seeing everyone again. Especially Cindy.”
“I understand, but it’s for the best. Five months will go fast. We still have a lot to do here. You’ll see her and everyone else again. And what’s more, they’ll all be healthy and with no foamer threat hanging over them. We can all start to live without fear again.”
That was it, what it was all about—live without fear. All they ever wanted to achieve and if they could, it would be a success. If only life had been that way in the beginning to “live without fear” instead of the “want more than the other person” mentality. Then perhaps all of this—this holocaust and other horrors—could have been avoided.
No, five months wasn’t long to wait, not at all. For a chance to live with friends and loved ones and hopefully where others had learned that greed and the desire for more is not the way it was meant to be. That love, respect, compassion, and tolerance is what life was truly all about. Would what remained of mankind be able to function? Would they employ these lofty goals? Could mankind return from the brink?
Elliot thought about this as he walked with Chuck. Though some of those he loved and were no longer with him, they would always be in his heart.
Greed, fear, hatred had brought the world toward the brink and beyond. But were there enough good men and women left to change it?
“I think it’s going to get dark soon, Chuck.”
Chuck looked up at the clouds, the wind felt like ice on his face. “I think you’re right, we’ll be back before then,”
They walked a few more steps before Elliot grabbed Chuck’s arm. “But I believe there’s light on the other side.”
Chuck looked at Elliot for a moment, his eyes moistened over. What Elliot said, had little to do with night or day. Chuck embraced his young friend,
his brother, then stepped back.
“I do too, Elliot. I do too.”
The Tall Man kept his arm over Elliot’s shoulder as they walked calmly back to the motel.
“What do you know about Australia?” Elliot looked up and asked.
“I once met the future prime minister—”
“You’re shittin’ me?
As the Tall Man told his story, Elliot had a vision—a vision of hope and of their destiny… toward the future.
The End
Also by Craig A. McDonough
Tom’s Rescue: Back from the Brink.
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Toward the Brink Series
Toward the Brink 1
Toward the brink 2
Toward the Brink 3
Beyond the Brink (Book 4)
The Forgotten Battles
Pestilence Series
Pestilence: The Infection Begins
Pestilence: 2 The Infection Spreads
Pestilence: 1&2 Box Set
Short Stories
She Said: A Short Story of a Vampire
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