Finn kept his attention on his bowl. “Some issue with the mines. Xu has been spending the majority of his time over there lately.”
Alec cleaned out the last of the porridge from his bowl but didn’t move. The mines were the main reason the entire prison facility existed. The mines provided coal for the Chinese Army and Rambo and Yankee Camps provided food and supplies for the mining camps. If the mines were struggling and Xu was in charge of it all, then the man was probably under a lot of stress. Xu didn’t strike him as the kind of guy that kept that stress to himself, which was probably why the rest of the guards were walking on pins and needles.
A prisoner got up and left the table, leaving only Finn, Alec and Jon at the table. Finn glanced around casually. “I have an update.”
Jon’s eyes got as wide as saucers for a moment then immediately returned to normal size.
“What is it?” Alec asked.
“My person on the inside believes he can get steal one of the cell keys. We just have to give him a day’s head notice and he can grab it before he returns to his cell at night,” Finn said.
“Then he can get out and start letting the rest of us out,” Alec finished.
Finn nodded and shoved the last of the porridge into his mouth.
“So when are we going to do it?” Jon asked quickly.
“Still gathering supplies and trying to see if I can get my hands on car keys,” Finn said.
“If we can get car keys why are we gathering supplies?” Jon asked.
“There is no guarantee we can get our hands on a set of car keys or even make our way to where they are stored. So plan B is to hoof it and in order to do that we are going to need a lot of food.”
Jon nodded his head, disappointment written all over his face.
Alec didn’t blame him. While the thought of attempting to break out filled him with fear, he wanted to attempt it tonight so he didn’t have to spend another day cutting wood and eating yellow gunk.
“If we can manage to get a car I would like to bring Gerry,” Alec blurted out. He had planned on bringing it up causally and when he was alone with Finn but hadn’t had the chance.
Finn looked up for a moment with a concerned look on his face. “The fat guy?”
“He’s in better shape,” Alec tried.
Finn scanned the area for Gerry and found the man sitting at a table with his head in his hands. Once again the man’s shirt was soaked in sweat and he was pale. Finn shook his head in disgust. “You know that is not going to work.”
“What about Simon?” Jon asked. He saw the looks on both Finn and Alec’s faces. “He’s actually not a bad guy.”
“We’re full,” Finn said. “Even if we manage to get our hands on a vehicle we will be short on room for all of us and the supplies.”
Alec saw Gerry sitting there, once again at his limit. The man was barely surviving and chances were the man would be long gone by the time he managed to gather enough firepower to return, but Finn and Jon were right. The man would only slow them down.
The sound of a Humvee driving from the mining camp hit their ears. All of the prisoners stopped what they were doing and watched as the vehicle crested the hill and stopped at the edge of their camps. Two soldiers got out and dragged two bodies from the back of the Humvee and threw them on the ground beside it. The soldiers yelled something and then got back into the Humvee and drove off. For a second nobody moved.
“Castoffs from the mining camps,” Alec whispered to Jon as he stood up and made his way over.
It had only happened a few times since he had been there. The conditions of the mining camp were rumored to be horrible and the work was backbreaking. Even the strongest of the mining prisoners ended up either dying or being driven into the ground and then brought over to Yankee and Rambo Camps. None of them ever survived long.
“Finn, can you all take one?” Alec asked.
“No problem,” he said.
Alec walked over to the men and saw their clothing and skin were caked in black coal. The one on the left stirred for a second; the other didn’t move. He bent down to the man on the left and gently turned him over. He used his shirt to remove some of the coal from the man’s face and behind the gunk were dark red burns that covered the entire left side of his face. Alec paused for just a second and the man opened his eyes for a brief moment and then closed them again.
“Jon, I need some help,” Alec called out.
Jon and Alec brought the injured man into Alec’s cell while Finn took the other over to Rambo Camp.
“You sure you can take care of him?” Jon asked.
“I’ll do what I can,” Alec said.
One of the guards brought over a bowl of porridge and dropped it on the floor next to the man. Some of the contents spilled on the ground and Alec quickly scooped it up and put it back in the bowl. The guard walked out, not caring if the injured man actually got the food or if Alec and the others took it for themselves. Alec saw this same thought run though Jon’s head.
“Thanks Jon, I’ve got it from here,” Alec told him.
Jon hesitated for a second then nodded his head and left the cell.
Alec cleaned off most of the coal from the man’s face. The man had broad shoulders and had at one point in time probably been quite fit. His time at the mine had clearly taken its toll on him. The man was thin--they all were--but his hands were calloused over and the coal had seemed to fuse with his skin, making it impossible to clear it off completely. Alec looked him over for open wounds, not finding any, but he did see the burns weren’t limited to his face. They covered most of his chest and extended down his left leg. The skin was twisted and melted but it didn’t seem like it was recent, more of a scar from a time long past. Alec completed his inspection and sat back. No apparent injuries, which just meant the man had probably been worked near to death and was badly malnourished.
“Hey, you still alive in there?” Alec asked gently. The man didn’t stir. “You need to get some food in your body if you’re going to make it. I’m going to give you some of this porridge; let me know when you’ve had enough.”
Alec took a tiny scoop with his hand and put it up to the man’s mouth. He didn’t open it. He spread it over the man’s lips and after a few moments the man’s cracked lips quivered. It took several hours but Alec managed to force-feed the man a few scoops before fatigue took him off. He placed the last of the porridge to the side in case the man woke up and asked for more. His stomach pleaded with him to take a few scoops as a reward but Alec managed to put that to the side. Alec lay down next to the man, wondering if the man was going to survive. He only had a little while to get the man back on his feet before they attempted their escape, and then he would be all by himself.
Ben
Ben sat back in the cushioned lounge chair with the warm sun on his face, the cool breeze blowing through his hair and a cold glass of water in his hand.
“Hey B,” Ty said with a big grin on his face. “I’m pretty sure this is what heaven is like.”
“If it’s better than this, then I can’t wait to get there,” Ben said with a laugh.
Before them were miles upon miles of untouched forest. The military base had a small presence outside of the mountain but the bulk of the forces were lodged deep inside the maze of passages within the mountain itself. There was a small town that had been created outside of the mountain, most of which was hidden underneath the trees. It consisted primarily of civilians that worked for the military. A few miles south was a much larger community that consisted of several thousand civilians. They were technically on their own but in reality they provided the military with food and in turn the military provided them with protection and basic healthcare. Ben hadn’t been there yet but he was told it was like the towns of old.
“So you got to talk to the President of the United States?” Ty asked.
Ben had not realized until recently that only he, Crimson and Vick had been given the pleasure of meeting with the President. H
e wasn’t sure why or how they were chosen but it had given them an aura of importance around the base.
“Yeah, he was…seemed nice.”
“Nice,” Ty said with a snort. “I guess that’s cool. Did he give you anything? Like a medal or a really cool gun or something?”
“What? Why would he give me something?”
“Oh, I don’t know, maybe because you helped save the country.”
Ben shook his head. “No, he did not give me a medal for doing my job.”
Ty was quiet for a moment. “He should have at least said that once the country is back we don’t have to pay taxes…or that we get a sweet crib on the beach or something.”
“You have severe issues, Ty.”
“Did he at least tell you what was going on?”
Ben thought for a moment. There were a lot of questions he had regretted not asking but he had been caught up in the moment.
“He said that the Chinese are on the defensive. Wiping out that base really hurt them.”
“What about Mason?” Ty asked. “Did you ask them if he was still alive?”
“I didn’t, but his name did come up.”
“If our operation was so successful you would think the least they could do is help you find him.”
It made sense.
Ty sat up. “Did you ask him what happened to the other President and all the other people who were in line for it?”
Ben threw his hands up. “Ty, I’ve told you everything that was said. I didn’t ask them anything.”
“I’m just saying that Crimson said something about him being the Homeland Security guy before all this happened, which is supposed to be at the bottom of people who could become president. So if he is the president then all those other people are dead.”
“Which is probably something that he wouldn’t want to talk about, at least not with a regular soldier,” Ben said.
“But you’re not a regular soldier,” Ty said, sticking a finger up. “You are one of the Special Forces that singlehandedly took down the Chinese invasion.”
“You have completely lost your mind,” Ben said, shaking his head again.
They were quiet for a moment, just enjoying the sounds of the wind blowing.
“You hear that Vick and Chavez got news on their family?” Ty asked. “They were at military bases somewhere in the country and they’re supposed to be transferred over here soon. But they were safe and sound.”
Ben smiled. “That’s great.” He hadn’t known the men that long but he had fought alongside them, which made them brothers.
“You ever think about heading back home?”
Ben was caught off guard. “Go back to the old farmhouse?”
Ty nodded.
“I never really thought about it. Eventually, I guess.”
“What if your brother came back there, and what if he found your sister?”
That was the dream. The dream that his brother managed to find a single person in the destroyed ruins of American. That he had managed to find her and return home without being killed while the country was under invasion. It was a dream that he tried to have every single day, but he knew the truth. There was no way he could find her; he had to have known that when he left. Alec was barely a teenager when he left. He didn’t have any survival training, he had next to nothing for supplies and he had no idea what he was heading out into. Ben had been trained and was able to take care of himself now and chances were that not even he would be able to survive out there on his own. His brother was dead and his sister was lost somewhere in this giant country, at best.
“I don’t want to talk about this,” Ben said.
Ty took in a deep breath and looked off in the distance. “All right. You got to admit it would be pretty cool if they knew what you had done though. If they found out what you had become.”
That idea did put a smile on Ben’s face but he hid it well.
“I know my moms wouldn’t believe what I’ve done,” Ty said with a sad smile on his face. “Ain’t nobody in my family ever amounted to anything, let alone do something to save the United States. I think she would have been proud, though.”
Ben watched the shadow pass over Ty’s face. Ty had been through a lot even before the world went dark. “I know she would have been proud. Any parent would have been.”
Ty met his eyes for a brief second then quickly turned away. “Damn, B. Quit getting all sentimental on me.”
“Work’s not done, though,” Ben said.
Ty nodded his head. “Yeah, you’re right. We still got some heroic shit left to do.”
Alec
The helicopter arrived just as the sun was beginning to set.
They had already begun their trek from the worksite to their campsite to eat dinner when the sounds of the helicopter invaded their ears. Alec’s ears were used to the rhythmic chopping of wood, or birds calling or wind blowing through the trees. The whoop-whoop-whoop of the helicopter seemed like something out of another world. The eyes of the guards widened and they began yelling for Alec and the others to hurry up. As malnourished as they were, and due to being at the end of a long work day, the best they could manage was a quicker walk back to the site.
By the time they had arrived the blades of the helicopter were coming to a slow halt and the guests had already gotten out and were standing there. There were several Chinese soldiers, their clothing recently pressed, without a speck of dirt anywhere on them, and a single Chinese man, older than the others in a somehow even cleaner uniform. Stars ran down the man’s shoulders and the breasts of his uniform were full of various medals. Xu stood directly across from the man with his shoulders drooped and his head lowered. This man was clearly in charge. The older Chinese soldier watched Alec and the others arrive with a look of disgust on his face. He yelled something and Xu and the other soldiers jumped at the command and began to lead him toward Xu’s chambers. After a few minutes of silence the prisoners looked at each other and finished their walk toward the grub.
As Alec stood in line Jon walked up next to him. “Who the hell do you think that is?”
“Some big shot, and he didn’t seem happy to be here,” Alec said.
“Why? You think there are issues at the mine?” Jon asked.
Alec shrugged his shoulders. The only people who had been over to the mines were Xu and Alec’s new roommate. But that man still hadn’t been conscious long enough to string together more than a few words. Still, he had done better than the miner that went to Rambo Camp, who had only lasted two days.
“Maybe it’s about the war,” Steffan whispered next to them. “Maybe they are getting their asses kicked.”
“Hell yeah,” Jon said excitedly. “Maybe they are talking about tucking in their tails and making a run for it.”
A cold shiver ran down Alec’s back. “If that happens, what do you think they’ll do to us? You really think they will just let us go?”
Both Jon and Steffan’s faces dropped.
“Finn has got to hurry this up,” Jon said.
Alec reached the front of the line and the guard handed him two bowls. He grabbed both and left Jon and Steffan behind as he walked into Yankee building and entered his cell. The smell of unwashed bodies always hit him when he walked in the building but the smell was especially strong in his cell, only with a mix of Sulphur from the coal. The man lay there on his back but Alec was surprised as he saw the man’s eyes were open. The man noticed Alec and his body stiffened for a second before it relaxed again.
“It’s just me,” Alec said softly. “I don’t know if you remember but I’ve been the one force-feeding you for the last week.” The man opened his mouth to talk and a rough cough emitted instead. “Don’t worry about talking. Let’s work on you eating first, then we can work on talking.”
The man smiled, with the clear side of his face moving and the burnt side barely budging. Alec sat next to him, wiped his hands off as much as possible and scooped out a small portion and put it up to the man. He
raised his head gently and took the small mouthful, running it around in his mouth and then swallowing it with a look of satisfaction on his face.
“All right,” Alec said. “Getting easier every day.” Alec picked up the water bowl on the floor of his cell and gently helped the man get a sip of water.
After a few more minutes of eating the man had consumed over half of the bowl of porridge and shook his head when Alec tried to feed him more. “We’ll try some more before we settle in for the night.”
Alec sat there next to the man eating his porridge and enjoying being off his feet.
“Thank you.” The voice came out frail and weak.
Alec stopped what he was doing and smiled. “Not a problem.” He ate another handful of porridge. “Now that you can talk I might as well ask, you got a name? We’ve just been referring to you as miner.”
“Miner.” The man cleared his throat but his voice still came out weak. “Miner is fine.”
“Well, nice to meet you officially, Miner. My name is Alec and you’re still locked up but you’re on the other side of hell.” A dark shadow washed over the man’s face and Alec realized he had probably just taken away the man’s hope that somehow he had managed to escape. “They dragged you over here to us. They do that every now and then but we’ve never had one of you guys survive this long.”
“Wouldn’t have…without you.”
“Don’t thank me yet. Once you get back up on your feet you owe me your rations for the next month. I’m gaining a spare tire out of this deal.” Miner chuckled a few times before he broke out in a coughing fit that left him red-faced. Alec sat down his bowl and helped to steady him. “Sorry, maybe I’ll hold off on the bad jokes for another week or two.”
The small amount of life that Miner had on his face disappeared. The coughing fit had taken his meager energy reserves and depleted them in seconds. The man laid his head back all the way and closed his eyes. For a brief second he opened them again and looked to Alec. Before he could say anything Alec spoke up.
The Wasteland: Book 6 of The After The Event Series Page 5
