by Judd Vowell
I held my breath. I didn’t know if I would hear the sound of the shotgun’s blast before its shot hit me. Turns out, I heard something else instead.
“Henry???” It came from my left, from one of the peripheral guards who was dressed more like us. “Are you kidding me? Is that you?” The man stepped between the raised shotguns and us. He was young, only a few years older than my kids. He walked up to Henry and grabbed him by his shoulders.
“What the hell are you doing, Anthony?” the lead guard asked, still holding his shotgun in a firing position. It was obvious that he was an authority over the young guard who was blocking his aim. The stress of the situation had not dissipated much.
“It’s alright, guys,” Anthony said. “I know him. He’s exactly right. He’s Jess’s brother.”
The lead guard lowered his gun, but just a little. “Are you serious?” he asked. “Jess’s brother? Here?” He used her name as if he knew her well. He used it with an air of respect.
“As I live and breathe, this is him,” Anthony said, smiling broadly.
The other guards lowered their shotguns, and the mood lightened.
“Sorry, folks,” the lead guard said. “Protocol, that’s all.”
“No problem,” Henry said, trying to sound unfazed. I could tell that he was anything but. He stuck his hand out to Anthony. “So you survived the Overlord attack. Good to see you again. And thanks for this.”
Anthony shook Henry’s hand hard. He still had a look of disbelief on his face. “Nah, man, good to see you. We never knew what happened to you. And now here you are.”
Henry gestured in my direction. “Let me introduce you to my mother,” he said. “She’s the reason we met in the first place.”
“Hello, Anthony, I’m Meg.”
The young man took my hand in his, then dropped his head in a slight bow. “I’ve heard all about you,” he said. “But I never thought I’d see you alive.”
He acted almost reverential. But he didn’t even know me. I didn’t let my confusion get in the way of relief for long. Because whoever this Anthony was, one thing was for sure: we would have been killed on that interstate without him.
7.
I found out that Anthony had been part of the group that helped Gordon, Jessica, and Henry get to Nashville safely, so long ago. It had been pure serendipity that he was working as a guard in Texas when we arrived.
Anthony escorted us from the interstate to the old Spanish mission that the Leftys had transformed into their southernmost camp. The other guards stayed behind at the mobile home barrier, cordially saying good-bye to us as we left them. It had been flat-out weird to watch their personalities shift once they knew who we were. I was beginning to see that Jessica had made quite the name for herself among the rebel Leftys.
The evening’s darkness made the camp difficult to see as we got closer. Anthony led us to a building that sat outside the actual mission. It was more modern than its surroundings, a characteristic I could still recognize in the limited visibility.
“I’m sorry you guys got here so late in the day,” Anthony told us. “This place is beautiful. Centuries-old buildings. A church that’ll take your breath away.”
“What’s this building?” I asked as we approached the glass door with a metal frame.
“This was the visitor center. Texas made all these missions into state parks. Now we’re using the center as a headquarters for the camp. It’s equipped with the proper electrical infrastructure needed for our computers.”
“So you guys are connected like before,” Henry said. “Running on power, just like Overlord was.”
“You know it,” Anthony said. “It’s a fully functional operation, exactly like Overlord.”
“And I assume this place has its own name, just like Overlord did,” Henry said. “What is it?”
“What else?” Anthony asked jokingly. Then he held open the glass door that led into the former visitor center, like a tourist guide would have in times past. “Welcome to Camp Alamo. Now let’s see if we can find that sister of yours.”
The building was sparsely lit, but enough so that we could make out walls and doorways.
“My apologies for the lighting,” Anthony said. “Now that we know ANTI- is using drones, we’re trying to limit what they can see. Even at night.”
“Oh, you don’t have to worry about them flying at night,” Henry said with conviction.
Anthony turned and gave him a bewildered look. “Is that right? And what makes you such an ANTI- drone expert all of a sudden?”
Henry realized he had said too much. There was no need for anyone to know the whys and hows of our presence. Dad had told us they weren’t flying drones after dark, but no one here needed to know that. And they certainly didn’t need to know about Dad.
“Just the science geek in me,” Henry said. “Drones don’t do much good at night, unless you’ve got somebody who really knows what they’re doing behind the controls.”
“Ah, ok,” Anthony said with a laugh. “I forgot about that brain you’ve got.”
“Nice recovery, Henry,” I thought to myself.
People were busy throughout the inside of the building, most of them working on dimly lit computers. We worked our way to a central room, large and open and lively. There was a gathering in the center of the room, nothing formal but a meeting nonetheless. Anthony was so excited about our arrival that he didn’t hesitate to interrupt.
“Anybody know where Jess is?” he asked loudly. The room’s chatter stopped.
“Who’s asking?” said a female voice from the crowd.
“I’ve got guests, family of hers here to see her,” he answered.
The crowd separated slightly, and someone started walking toward us. In the limited light, I could tell that it was a female figure, but not much more. My heart began to pump faster at the prospect. Was it my baby girl Jessica, finally so close to me again? I held firm until I knew for sure. When the figure spoke, I knew it wasn’t her.
“She’s out,” the woman said. “Hunting expedition. Should be back soon. Who do we have here?”
The features of the woman’s face became clear as she finished speaking and walked into a small area of light emanating from a fixture nearby. She was definitely younger than me, even though she appeared older than she probably was. She was pretty, but almost against her will, like she didn’t put any value in such a thing. There was a seriousness about her that most women were afraid to display. I didn’t know who she was, but Henry did.
“Hello, Anna,” he said from beside me.
The woman’s face softened at the recognition, then turned to surprise. She reached for Henry, and they embraced. I remembered her name from the story about his journey to the grid in Nashville. And even though I knew they had not known each other for long, there was an evident bond between them.
“Henry,” she said while she hugged him tightly. “The boy who became a man, and we didn’t even see it happening.”
She said it with a maternal tinge in her voice. She was proud of him. I could have felt a mother’s jealousy, but I didn’t. Instead, I liked her immediately.
“Anna, I want you to meet my mom,” Henry said as they broke from their hug.
The bottoms of Anna’s eyes were glistening with fresh tears as she turned her face to me. She spoke with the same reverence that the guards had used.
“The famous Meg.” The way she spoke made me uncomfortable, but I remained still. She stuck her hand out to me, and I took it in mine. “I can’t imagine how excited Jess is going to be. She doesn’t even know that you’re still alive.”
“I have a feeling that the excitement will be mutual,” I said with a smile. “Nice to meet you, Anna.”
“Alright, you two,” she said. “Jess will be back anytime now. How about you let Anthony take you over to the main tent on the mission grounds? My tent. I’ll send Jess straight there when she gets back. We’ll give you three some time alone.”
Chance barked
at her exclusion. “Shhh, Chance,” I said. “Calm down, girl.”
Anna had not noticed her in the dim light. She squatted on one knee in front of her. She put her hand behind Chance’s ear and scratched. “Sorry, Chance. Won’t leave you out again. Promise.”
ΔΔΔ
We followed Anthony out of the visitor center and through the entrance to the mission’s main grounds. There was a structure next to us as we entered. Anthony stopped abruptly.
“Detour, guys,” he said. “You gotta see the church. Just for a minute.”
He took us around to the back entrance of the mission’s humble church, built so many centuries before that I wondered how it was still standing. As we stepped inside, I saw lit candles lining its walls. The church’s ceiling was low, and the candlelight flickered back and forth across its dark wooden beams. Set in rows along the floor in front of us were small pews. They were simple, hand-made benches with thin crocheted cushions. There weren’t but a few of them, and yet they took up most of the room’s space. The church’s altar was barely visible from where we stood, but I could see that it held a multitude of short candles, their flames bouncing in all directions.
“We keep the candles lit all night,” Anthony whispered. “In case anyone wants to pray.”
He had been right when he described the church before. The scene it created was breathtaking. Because of its plainness, it shouldn’t have been so powerful, but it was.
“It’s beautiful,” I said softly.
I walked gently down the center aisle to the front of the room, where the altar stood. Henry and Anthony stayed where they were with Chance. I didn’t know what I might do when I reached the altar, but I felt the urge to go to it.
I had lost my childhood religion as I struggled through life’s inevitable inequity. I had prayed to God many times, but I had cursed him just as much. I had given up on Him through miscarriages and death and cancer. But despite everything I had been through, I felt an inspiration to pray in the front of the church that night. I lowered myself slowly until I was on my knees, and I let my body go, much like I did in yoga. And that’s when it came to me, in that tiny church in what used to be San Antonio, Texas. It’s all the same. We’re all striving for the same thing. Enlightenment. Transcendence. In short, The Answer. It took the world falling apart for me to realize that we’ll never know what it is we seek. And yet we are all seekers, in our own ways. My search had led me to Camp Alamo. And back to Jessica.
I rose up, feeling renewed. I was ready to see my daughter.
ΔΔΔ
The first tent we came to was huge, covering a much larger area than the normal-sized tents nearby.
“Your holding area,” Anthony said dramatically as he laid his hand out toward the tent’s opening. “I’ll stay close by until Jess gets here. You guys relax, if you can.”
We went inside by ourselves to wait. The interior of the tent was expansive. There were four cots spread across one side and a meeting area with a table and chairs on the other. Henry sat down, but I couldn’t. I walked around the tent with nervous energy for what felt like hours, Chance keeping pace with me the whole time. Finally I heard a fast shuffle of footsteps outside the tent’s entrance.
Henry stood and grabbed my hand in his and whispered, “You gonna be alright, Mom?”
“As soon as Jess comes through that opening, I’m gonna be just fine,” I said, grinning.
But it wasn’t Jessica coming through at all. When the flaps of the tent flew open, it was an Omega XT soldier who appeared, his giant frame covered from head to foot in menacing military garb. As he came rushing toward us, I couldn’t process what was happening fast enough. And in the confusion that followed, I questioned everything that had led us to that moment and everyone who had put us in such a vulnerable position. And I desperately wondered if I would ever see my Jessica again.
EPILOGUE: REUNION
I ran faster than I ever had before, first through the mission entrance, then around the old church and straight toward Anna’s tent. I heard Anna’s voice, her screams trailing off as I left her behind. “Jess, no!!! Wait!!!”
My left arm was badly hurt, slashed deep across the shoulder muscle in my struggle with the first Omega XT soldier I had encountered, but I barely felt it. I focused only on running, and reaching Mom and Henry as fast as I could.
It was so dark that I didn’t see Anthony just outside the tent’s entrance. I tripped over his body and fell to the hard ground. He was unconscious, maybe dead. I didn’t take the time to check. I jumped back up on my feet and opened the tent’s flaps.
The Omega XT had gotten to them, just as they had gotten to Anna and the others inside Camp Alamo’s headquarters. But the scene inside the tent confused me. I held up for a moment to catch my breath and clear my head.
Two people were on the ground. An Omega XT soldier lay on his back, blood gushing from a gruesome wound in his neck. My mom was the other, as still as the soldier next to her. Henry was kneeling over her, his hand cupped around her face. And a large dog stood at her feet, barking at me with a viciousness that put real fear into my heart. The yellow fur around the dog’s nose and jaws was soaked a dark red, bloody from the dying Omega XT on the ground.
“Henry!!!” I yelled over the dog’s primal yelps. He turned his head, a slight look of recognition on his face, but not enough to overpower the desperate concern he had for our mother. Then I saw his eyes change. From concern to alarm, just as the dog showed more of her red-tinged teeth.
Someone had entered the tent behind me in silence. He grabbed my body sharply, one arm around my neck, the other around my waist. The squeeze of each took the breath from my throat and pushed a wave of pain up through my abdomen at the same time. I tried to suck in air, but couldn’t, stirring an immediate rush of panic in my head. My vision began to fade and tint pink, but I could still make out the dog as she started into a run toward me and whoever had me in their grasp.
Before everything in the tent went black, I saw one last series of motions. The dog, now only a few feet from me and my assailant, leapt into the air, her front legs extended and aimed at my chest. Her mouth was open and turned sideways, ready to clamp down on her target with a death grip. Another shot of panic lit my senses again, and suddenly everything brightened. But the lack of oxygen in my brain was too powerful, and the darkness came back quickly.
It was only a second or two more before I fell into complete unconsciousness. And as I did, fear was the last emotion I felt, and the image of animal teeth and tongue and terror was the last that I saw.
About the Author
Judd Vowell is a writer and musician who studied history and religion at Auburn University. He lives in Huntsville, Alabama, with his wife and son.
The novels in the Overthrown Trilogy are his first.
