by Justin Clay
I turn my attention to Cari who stands similar to Sanders and remaining just as stone-faced. “Aye,” she agrees matter-of-factly, of course. “You’re skilled with the bow, Rian, there’s no denying that…But what about a gun?”
“I’m fair,” I say and Lena shakes her head.
“No, she’s better than fair,” she says on my behalf, when she doesn’t have to really. “I’ve seen her shoot firsthand…And the girl’s good.”
“There you have it sergeant!” the commander boasts, nodding but Cari doesn’t seem as convinced. In fact, I can’t tell that her expression changed at all. Maybe, the I’m-sucking-on something-too-sour face is just permanent. Born with. What have you. “I don’t see a reason for any further demonstration.”
“I, however, do, commander,” Cari objects, smirking. “If she’s going to be one of us, I want to make sure that she’s as good as you claim her to be, Lena…Surely, that’s understandable, commander, considering our current circumstances?”
Commander Jed seems at a loss for words and only nods, stepping back, a bit crestfallen. Why does Cari have to be such a bitch all the time? Is it that necessary to exert your dominion over these people constantly? Maybe, for her it is. Maybe, she get’s off on having so much power here in their own small, fragile bubble. Which could, by the way, pop at any moment, trust.
“We’re going to do something a bit different for this demonstration, I’m afraid,” Cari says, moving forward mechanically, looking straight at me with eyes sharp enough to cut to bone. “You’re going to shoot the target as normal, but I will be standing in its way.”
“You can’t be serious?” the commander shouts, and clears his throat, knowing he’s overstepped his bounds. “I — I mean, you can’t just put your life in the hands of a child.”
Cari frowns and shrugs. I am a little offended to say the least. A child...
“If you say she’s that good, I want to see it for myself,” Cari says earnestly, “and…in the best means possible…If you pass this test, Rian…Then by all means, you’ll be one of us. If not…Then — well for your sake Rian, let’s hope it doesn’t come to that…And Rian, you’re going to shoot the target with a gun this time…Not your arrows.”
I look to Lena who’s face is flustered by now, either regretful or furious or both with Cari. Who could blame her? We all watch silently as Cari walks slowly, and decisively before taking position on the other side of the room, before the suspended brown sack. The sack is hanging high enough where the red circular mark is still visible, but only barely. If I should make the slightest error, it could mean Cari’s life. Although I have to say, I wouldn’t be that mortified — I know — it’s horrible of me. But I can’t let it end up like that…It could mean Lena and Eli are thrown out of here too…And Cari wouldn’t be able to help Eli or any body; she’d just be dead. And Eli’s entire life mission would be for nothing.
On second thought, I have to be dead on — there is no other option here.
I’m presented with a nine-millimeter pistol by the assistant, a young thin girl with long brown hair she has tied up in a ponytail, much like Cari, but hers is longer and her face is much prettier. Not so edgy. I hand over the bow and arrows in exchange for the handgun. I think her name is Emmy but I’m not so sure. So I just say thanks, grasping its handle, hovering my finger over the trigger.
Taking a deep breath and releasing it, I raise the gun, narrowing my eyes.
“Whenever you’re ready, Rian!” Cari shouts from afar. I had to give it to her; the lady has more balls than some men I’ve met in my life. Gutsy, for sure.
I close my eyes, thinking of my father. Whenever you shoot, keep both eyes open. So I do. Staring straight at the red mark, I envision myself hitting it perfectly, and in the next moment I pull the trigger, hopeful.
There is no clapping this time. In fact, everyone is dead silent. Stunned. I blink, making sure it truly happened. I could barely believe myself. I hadn’t missed. I hit the sack, and the bullet ripped through, spilling out lumps of seed, tinkling against the flooring, until there is a rush of seed, and the bag splits open, emptied, hanging limply. Cari doesn’t seem phased at all. Just as expressionless as ever. Is she even human? I’m beginning to really question it at this point truly.
“Good job, Rian,” Cari says, after approaching me. A hint of a smile lingers on her thin lips briefly. “Now that you’re one of us…You should meet the others, and be debriefed on what we actually do here as Protectors — ”
“Sergeant!” someone shouts urgently, and we watch one of the Protectors dressed in the old Safe Zone guard outfit bustle into the room.
“Gallagher what is it? What’s going on?” Cari asks, her brow furrowing.
Gallagher a twenty-something boy with curly brown hair and blue eyes looks about at us hesitantly before divulging. “There are bandits, sergeant — They’ve infiltrated our borders!”
Cari’s eyes widened, shocked. “First thing’s first,” she says, “I want you and Halls escorting all of the civilians to the basement, and wait there for further orders; guard them with your lives, understood?”
“Right, sergeant,” Gallagher pipes, saluting, before taking off where he came.
“Everyone else,” Cari says, addressing us. “Follow me.”
Cari eventually takes us outside into broad daylight, after scaling a few flights of stairs; it’s so bright for a moment, I’m blinded. We climb the steps leading up to their makeshift metal wall, which seems to be constructed on top of the smaller gray building in front of the main complex, where two towers are positioned overlooking the massive rolling landscape ahead. A great portion on our left is consumed by rushing waters of the Missouri against the dam’s concrete fortification. On our right, running along the long-stretching road — how we arrived — lies the rest of what we can see: undulating terrain covered with dying brown grass and spotted with hardwoods that are already losing their leaves. We meet a tall black man stationed at the first tower; he seems to be looking intently. His sniper rifle is kept ready at his side.
“What’s the status, D,” the captain asks and D, simply raises an arm, directing her attention to where he’s staring.
“There, on the road, just about two hundred feet out — their contraband,” he says, his voice cavernous deep. “They’re in two banged-up Jeeps, and they’re moving fast.”
Cari squints her eyes, putting a hand over her brow. I try and look to where D’s talking about — and all I can see is that there are two vehicles approaching swiftly, but I cannot make out more than just that. “And you’re sure they’re Scavengers?”
“Positively,” D responds nodding. “The scope doesn’t lie…The skull marking on the truck is a dead give away.”
“Very well…Lay low until they arrive; do not fire,” she commands. “Let them approach us…Once they’re all completely out and off guard, reveal yourselves and fire until they’re all dead…Better yet, keep one of them alive, for questioning. Understood?”
“Yes, sergeant!”
Cari raises a walkie-talkie from her utility belt to her mouth, and repeats the same order to everyone else. She then looks at me first, before Lena.
“As for you lot,” she says turning to the commander, “see to it that they are taken to the armory and armed with their best weapon…I want you positioned at the main entrance in case we have a perimeter breach…It’s highly unlikely, but the vehicles heading for us just may be a diversion…And commander, I want Aaron to go with you as well.”
I hadn’t thought about it, but Cari is right. She truly is designed for the military and their strategic way of thinking. Commander Jed makes an agreeable response, and motions with his head for us to follow him. On the way to the armory, we happen to run into Terek who is wild-eyed while the commander is contacting Aaron via his walkie. Terek asks us what’s going on. The commander quickly fills him in on the way; Terek decides he will accompany us to the armory, which is apparently at the very end of the building, undergr
ound. I ask Terek where my sister is, and he told me safe with the Caretaker ladies, assisting the rest of the residents here now in hiding. We had to take two flights of stairs down just to reach it after making the five or so minute walk.
The armory door is labeled with a red and white caution sign reading for authorized clearance only. Supposedly, this is also where they are keep our real weapons, since turning them over upon our arrival. The commander punches in a series of numbers into the lockpad on one of the doors. There’s a ding, and the door opens when the commander pushes on it. We scuffle inside where the light is dimmer, and someone’s shadow flickers against the smooth flooring. Aaron, a thirty-something man, by his looks with a shaved head and deep-set eyes has been waiting on us. He’s prepared a selection of weapons on one of the long tables occupying the square-ish room cramped with a ton of weaponry. Every type of gun you can think is suspended on the wall; on other tables, dangerously sharp edges of hatchets glint, along with an assortment of daggers, police batons, and at least twenty handguns. The table Aaron stands behind, dressed in his greenish guard uniform is a bit more familiar.
My hand hovers over my bow and quiver of arrows, before donning them, and buckling my holstered belt on with the pistol — that’s loaded now, intact. I remembered to check beforehand. Out of my periphery, I notice the others regaining their weapons. Lena and her crossbow. Eli and his shotgun. Terek grabs a hatchet — the horrifying things he could do with that, the thought races through me like lightning. Luckily, he’s on our side. I think.
“Everyone ready?” Commander Jed asks us and we all nod. “Good, follow me.”
The wait at the front entrance is one that seems much longer than it actually is. The tension rises without stop, as time drags on and on; everyone keeps their weapon, raised…prepared for the worst. Then instantly, we hear the muffled chaotic sounds of gunfire — from above, raining down. It doesn’t last more than a minute, before cold silence takes over. I swallow, hesitant to what’s happened. There’s a rustle of static from the commander’s walkie, and we hear Cari’s voice loud and clear:
“Commander Jed — Commander do you copy?”
“Ten-four, we’re in position, and ready,” he says. “What’s the status?”
“Our defense was successful without causality; all hostiles are dead; I repeat all hostiles are dead except one,” she says, and I feel us all sigh in relief, as the tension dissipates. “Your team’s assistance will not be needed…But thank you. We’re bringing the Scavenger into custody for questioning; we need to know more about their reasoning for attack.”
“Understood,” the commander replies.
“Meet me in the atrium ASAP,” she says, and the commander responds that he will. “Your team can disassemble once their weapons are returned…Have Aaron see to that.”
“Ten-four,” the commander concludes, and that’s the end of that.
In all honesty, I’m a bit disappointed in how anticlimactic the assault turned out to be. Then again the Scavengers didn’t stand much a chance to begin with. I wanted to be in action again. I suppose I’m too much of an adrenaline junkie for my own good.
We are escorted back to the armory, where we are asked to leave our weapons until we will need them again. When others make their way back the commons on the second level, I assume, I decide to trail Commander Jed. Cari’s meeting with him has spiked my interest. And I want to see this Scavenger for myself, with my own eyes. And I’d bet more than anything, he’ll be there in the midst of it too.
I wonder if it’s one of the Ravagers from Cheyenne. But would they really travel all this way? For some misplaced revenge’s sake? I doubt it…It could though still be possible. Managing to catch up to the commander isn’t exactly the easiest, but I do — allowing myself enough space between us so I’m not noticed.
The narrow, dank hallway I follow him within is empty, save for us; when he disappears around a corner, I watch his shadow cast by the flickering paneled lights above, throw itself onto the wall. Continuing, I eventually end up on the first floor where the atrium, the largest of the chambers in the dam complex, is located. It’s a room I’ve only been in once, and that was when Cari was giving us her how rules and regulation spill, mumbo-jumbo. The room is hexagonal in structure and its various six-feet wide columns support windowed walls into a vaulted ceiling lost in shadows. I watch the commander closely as he departs through atrium’s gaping entrance, and I press myself up against the wall, attempting to listen as carefully as I can. Controlling my breathing, I focus.
I can hear Cari’s voice; that’s for sure. She’s greeting the commander. They’re having small talk about the assault, and now I think they’re discussing the fate of the Scavenger. Is he in there with them? I have to know.
Inching myself closer, now only a few feet from the pathway inside, I hear distinctly heavy breathing. But it’s not coming from either one of them. Not the commander or the sergeant. It has to be from the Scavenger. There’s also whimpering. The painful sobs doesn’t sound too much like a man at all, really…Now that I think about it. Could it be a woman? And a Scavenger wouldn’t be acting this way at all…
“She’s saying that she isn’t a Scavenger,” Cari reveals. “That in fact she is a Survivor from a Ravager attack in Cheyenne…But I’m not so sure, myself…”
“The woman, Scavenger or not is wounded; that needs to be dealt with.”
“She was shot in securing an interrogation, but our doctors will see to her privately,” Cari goes on. “For the time being, I think it’s best for her to be isolated until we learn more…We’ll get to the bottom of this…Part of me has much to believe this is the result in our acceptance of our new guests…She kept spluttering about knowing all of them…Eli…His girlfriend, Lena, Rian…And the lot of them…but, she could be lying.”
“Would she though? If she knows all of this information…It seems unlikely — ”
“No, you’ll do as I command,” Cari snaps. “I want you to see to it that this woman is guarded in the Isolation Unit with your men…We have means of making her tell the truth.”
“But — I am — I’m not lying! I HAVE NO REASON IN LYING TO YOU! I swear it,” the woman begs, and my eyes widen terribly. “My husband is here! I KNOW HE IS! HE HAS TO BE!”
“Silence her, before anyone else can hear,” Cari orders and there’s a powerful WHACK! — a following groan, and she quiets.
I have to cover my mouth to not gasp loudly. She is no Scavenger at all. She is telling the truth, and Cari’s pride won’t let her see it. I know the woman’s voice. A voice that I had surely thought had been lost to death.
It belongs to Terek’s wife, Sondra.
I lie there on my pathetic mattress that night consumed in my thoughts with June curled up beside me, per usual. Lena can’t sleep either. She remains sitting up against one of the walls, her head bowed, hands clenched together. She’s been like that for awhile now, completely silent. I bite my lip, not sure what I should do. Should I reveal that I’m awake? Should I comfort her about Eli’s absence?
He’s been gone for too long now, but I don’t want to say that. Lena said he was talking negotiations with Cari about their reasoning being here, and if she’ll help in Judas’s capture. Eli had left some two hours ago. This is becoming strange, and I don’t want to admit it to Lena. Her nerves are already racked. I realize my hands are shaking. I swallow, trying to gather enough courage.
I hadn’t said a word about Terek…to anyone. And I feel awful for it. I just ran afterward. I ran away like a coward. I should have stayed; I should have shown myself, and attested on Sondra’s behalf. But…I didn’t. I became weak. Unsure of what exactly to do. Just like now. I froze up and became a child again. There have been a few times that this has happened. And I have regretted each one. Sometimes, I am such a fool.
There is so much I should have done. And not just with Sondra. There’s been too many times in the past where such situations have arose, and like an idiot I fled just like
recently. So much doubt fills my head. Would Terek even believe me? Would he? Truly? Or would he snap? Would that just push him into full-fledged madness? I have to tell someone. There is no denying that. But who? I won’t be able to hold this in much longer, without bursting.
Someone has to know. Someone I can trust. Someone I can confide in and come up with a plan safe enough to rescue her and somehow keep us alive. We might even have to escape this place once it’s done. But that’s skipping too far ahead. I need to focus on now and what’s happening.
I decide to get up regardless of what reason says. My conscience forces me otherwise.
Lena looks up, curious. “Rian, why are you awake? You should be sleeping?”
“There’s something I have to tell you.”
Consternation takes over, and her brow crumples. “What is it?”
“Okay, I know I probably shouldn’t have, but instead of going to the commons with everyone else,” I spill, “I decided to follow Commander Jed…once the attack was over…He met up with Cari…They were discussing what had happened and then the fate of the Scavenger they captured…But the thing is…She isn’t a Scavenger; we know her, and she knows us…”
