“You’re not a god. You’re barely a man. You walk around here like you’re a powerful man, like you are important, but you are not,” Alec met the man’s eyes and channeled all his anger into his glare. “If you were important you would be leading your war; instead, you’re here.”
Xu’s sneer slowly disappeared and his face went blank.
“You’re not even worth putting on the front lines of the war; instead, your country chose to hide you far away from anything of importance.”
Xu’s face remained blank. “I am in charge of this important installation. Our supplies feed the war machine, without it-”
“Don’t,” Alec interrupted. “Even you know that isn’t true. How much coal do you all really get from those camps? Enough to heat a few dozen homes for close to a year? Or is even that too much? You’re not a soldier, you’re not important, you’re an insignificant prick running a meaningless camp in the middle of nowhere that contributes nothing of importance.” Alec’s dry throat caused him to stop for a few seconds to compose himself. “Only you could be dumb enough to convince yourself that you are anything more.”
Xu’s face changed. The blank expression contorted to a look of pure anger and hatred. The man stood up and began to bellow out a string of sentences in Chinese while waving his arms all around him. Alec didn’t care. He didn’t have the energy to maintain his anger but his fear had left for good. He wouldn’t survive this and he sure as hell wasn’t going to die pretending to be afraid of this man.
“Hey dipshit,” Alec yelled out and Xu stopped and looked at him. “I don’t speak Chinese, you worthless fuck.”
Xu’s kick connected right to Alec’s temple and the world went hazy. His ears rang and he felt himself fall over onto his back. He tried to yell something out to Xu but wasn’t able to connect the words together. Something connected again with his head--it felt like another kick--and he seemed to pull away from the world. He was aware of Xu standing above him, screaming something that didn’t sound like English or Chinese while he continued to kick Alec over and over. Alec didn’t try to block anything. He couldn’t feel the impact and didn’t think he had the strength to stop them in the first place. With each one the world became more distant and more faint. Through it all he took solace in the fact that he had finally managed to get under the psychopath’s skin, and then he let go.
Ben
His cheek still throbbed from the stitches but it felt like he was walking on a cloud. He had never really talked to a girl before; he had never had the desire to. Sure, there had been cute girls in his class before the world collapsed but he had never really tried to talk to them, at least not like that. Ben walked into his room and closed the door behind him. He was making this into a bigger deal than it was. Elly was just being nice; there was no way she was interested in him. She would show him around the area because he was a soldier that was protecting her and her child. That was it. Right? He didn’t bother to go to the Mess Hall for dinner. He didn’t have an appetite. Instead, he sat in his room and thought about what was going to happen tomorrow. He probably would have continued doing that until he fell asleep if it had not been for the knock at his door. Ben opened the door and was met with General Wallace’s grim face.
“Yes, sir. Is something wrong?” Ben asked.
Wallace shook his head no. “The President would like you to join him in his office.”
“Is everything okay?”
“Follow me and find out; that is an order.”
The General stepped to the side and Ben stepped out and followed him down the empty halls. After a few minutes of walking the General glanced back at him and slowed down so they were in step with each other.
“As you can imagine, President Johnson has a lot of pressure on his shoulders. He is trying to finish off this war and rebuild this country, and that duty falls squarely on him.”
“I understand,” Ben said, still not entirely sure what this was about.
“Because of this pressure he sometimes needs to take a…break to unwind.” The General looked to him for a second and then returned his gaze to the hallway in front of them. “His means of unwinding is to have a few drinks. For some reason he has taken a liking to your…modesty and would like for you to join him for a few drinks.”
“I…don’t really drink…sir.”
“Then don’t drink. All I ask is that you remain discreet. This is the leader of the free world and he has the right to unwind but not everyone feels the same. The last thing I need is for one of my soldiers to go around babbling about how the President was drunk. Understand?” The General asked.
“Yes, sir.”
They walked into the President’s office and the man was lounging on the couch with a glass in his hand. On the couch directly in front of the President sat Crimson. Her body was rigid and while her face remained blank, Ben could read the irritation in her eyes. She saw him and her face softened, just barely. As Ben came in Locke was walking past him to leave and gave him a nod. The President saw Ben and jumped to his feet.
“There he is! My young hero, the embodiment of what this country is going to become. Please come in and get comfortable.” The President slapped him on the shoulder and led him to sit down next to Crimson. “I was just getting to know your squad mate a little better.”
Ben sat next to Crimson, who didn’t say anything.
“Wallace, get our friend a drink here,” the President said.
“I, uh, I don’t really drink, Mr. President,” Ben said sheepishly.
“Your fearless leader here tried to tell me the same thing. When the President tells you to drink, you drink,” he said with a laugh.
General Wallace poured a glass of some yellowish substance with a single ice cube and handed it to Ben, who just sat there with it.
“You may have already told me this, but how long have you all known each other?” the President asked Crimson.
Crimson cleared her throat. “For a while, sir. We met up in New York City and fought together well before we got the EMP mission.”
The President looked to Ben and his glass. “Well, what do you think?”
Ben gritted his teeth and took in a deep breath before he took a sip. The foul liquid set his throat on fire and he felt that burning all the way down his throat and into his stomach. He coughed and felt his face contort into a look of disgust.
The President laughed and slapped his knee. “That’s why I like you, son. You’re a beacon of pure innocence but you won’t hesitate to step into danger for your country.”
Almost immediately Ben felt lighter and most of the tension in his body floated away. He sat back on the couch but still kept the glass as far away from his face as he could without being obvious.
Ben recognized the President’s behavior. Slightly slurred speech, glassy wandering eyes. He remembered those same things from his father. Alec didn’t think he remembered because he was so young but he remembered how his father used to be: the glass permanently attached to his father’s hand, things being knocked over, the shouting and the fights.
“Well, it was good talking with you,” the President said to Crimson. “Get some rest because tomorrow the General here will tell you about your next mission.”
Crimson stood up quickly and glanced down to Ben. “Thank you, sir.”
Ben started to get up and the President waved him down.
“You just got here. I’ve taken up too many hours of your leader’s free time. I’ll only take one or two of yours.”
Crimson gave him a reassuring nod, then thanked the President, and General Wallace walked her out of the room.
“So what do you want out of life?” the President asked.
“I never really thought about it, sir.”
“Come on, there has to be something you want.”
“I was too young to know what I wanted when all this happened,” Ben answered truthfully. “Then I joined up with the military so I could protect people.”
The President r
aised an eyebrow. “Is that really why you joined?”
“Yes sir,” Ben answered immediately. “My family was destroyed because of bad people so I wanted to try and stop that from happening to anyone else.”
President Johnson shrugged his shoulders and took another drink. “All right. Well, you need to start thinking about what you want when I return this country to its rightful place. You’re friends with the President now.”
“Thank you, sir, and I will.”
For the next hour he sat back and listened to the President talk about the struggles of trying to rebuild the country, the pressure of being in charge of what was left of the United States and the lack of food variety in their base. He bounced from topic to topic without Ben having a chance to say anything. Finally the President paused and went to pour himself another drink. That was when Ben decided to ask him something that he had been wondering.
“Sir, do you know what happened? I mean, do you know what caused all this?”
President Johnson paused for a moment, then finished pouring his drink and came back and sat down on the couch. He took a short sip, sat his glass down and then stared at Ben for a long moment. After what seemed like an eternity he nodded his head.
Ben sat up instinctively.
Before Johnson could say anything General Wallace walked back in.
“President, we have an important meeting tomorrow, shouldn’t you get some rest?” He spoke to the President but his eyes were on Ben. “And Private Irving here has a briefing in the morning for his next Op.”
Johnson turned to the General and a look of annoyance was evident on his face. “I’m sorry, is a General trying to tell the Commander-in-Chief that it’s time for bed?”
“Not at all, sir. I’m more concerning about the Private here. His next Op is a big one and I need him to be sharp so he doesn’t lose his life or the lives of his fellow soldiers.”
Johnson studied the General for a few seconds then rolled his eyes. “We need to have a long chat sometime, Ben, you understand me?”
“Yes sir.”
“You keep doing what you’re doing and we’ll build this country back up to what it was.”
Ben stood up and thanked the President, then walked out with the General. Once they closed the door to the President’s office the General stopped him.
“Remember what I said: no one else needs to know how the President unwinds.”
“Of course, sir. Do you all really know what happened?”
The General’s jaw clenched. “No one knows what happened, soldier. You worry about the here and now.”
Ben didn’t buy it. “Yes sir. You said we have another Op?”
“You’ll find out about it tomorrow but yes. The intel you all gathered from the prior Op pointed to a rather large base we were not aware of. Some mining facility and prison camp. They had been using it to supply the war effort.”
“Where is it located?” Ben asked.
“Ohio.”
Alec
He felt like he was floating over a great abyss with no clear destination in mind. He heard his father’s voice but couldn’t make out the words. His father’s voice was firm but kind and pulled at him, beckoning him toward it. Alec didn’t know if he wanted to go to it. It was easier just floating and not being a part of anything in particular. The voice continued and began to resemble actual words, even if the meanings couldn’t take shape in his mind. Alec let go and let himself go toward his father’s voice. He was tired of fighting, tired of hurting and tired of constant death. The pain hit him in waves and he cried out in agony, and then things went silent again. His father continued to talk and he recognized the tone as one of encouragement. The pain hit him again, only this time he held himself together; he fought to remain where he was. Wave after wave of agony hit him until it finally settled. The pain continued to lap at his shores but it didn’t engulf him; it didn’t take him away.
“That’s it, stick with me,” It was the voice that had been calling to him, but it wasn’t his father’s.
Alec felt a wet cloth being rubbed gently against his skin. His skin felt tight, like it was ready to rip open at a moment’s notice, but the cool moisture it left behind felt good.
“Keep hanging in there,” the voice said. “You aren’t getting out of this so easy.”
Alec reached deep within himself and found the strength to open his eyes. He caught the shape of someone sitting over him but then the world twisted and spun so violently he fell into darkness.
When the world was normal, time had been such an important thing. He had to be up before 6:30 in order to make it to the bus at 7:30 and then school didn’t get over until 3:00, then he had five minutes to get to the bus. When they got home he would make sure that Ally and Joseph had snacks so when his mother got home around 4:30 she wouldn’t feel like she had to rush and get dinner ready. Then she died and the world disappeared. Time still mattered then, just not as much. Daybreak meant finding food for breakfast. You still needed to get all the chores done before nightfall because no light meant no work. Now time had an even smaller meaning. He wasn’t sure how long he stayed wherever in the hell he was. He would still hear the voice from time to time. Sometimes it came through clearer than others. Sometimes he would become aware of water being poured gently down his throat. A few times he remembered choking as someone attempted to feed him food. Each time he was only aware for a short period of time and then he returned to the darkness.
A cool splash of water returned him to his strange state of semi-consciousness.
“Are you with me today?” the voice asked. Alec felt his head being lifted gently and then felt the cool water going down his throat. It felt more real today for some reason. “Today I have your usual glass of water but I thought we might switch it up and try a side of yellow corn goop. You up for that?”
Alec again reached down deep and fought to open his eyes. The darkness receded slightly and a picture of a hazy world started to take form. This same world once again refused to remain still and at first simply shook before it began to spin completely. Alec closed his eyes and let out a moan as he fought to remain tethered.
“Whoa, hang on there, buddy. What are you trying to do?” the voice’s hands touched his chest and held him in place. “You’re ok, it’s just me.”
Alec could barely find a way to open his eyes so he knew talking was out of the question; instead, he let out a grunt.
“I don’t disagree with you,” the voice said. “But I’m the only choice you have so you’re going to have to deal.”
Alec relaxed and fought just to remain conscious. The person behind the voice began to hum and Alec used that sound to tether himself in the here and now. After what felt like a few moments but easily could have been seconds or hours, he felt the person lift up his head and he felt the familiar taste of the horrendous corn porridge. It was hard but he managed to get down a few bites before his stomach began to ache and he resorted to moaning to get the man to stop, which he luckily did.
“Good deal, even better than yesterday,” the voice said.
Alec recognized the voice. It was Miner. The same man that he had taken care of for all those weeks was now doing the same for him. He wanted to try and open his eyes again but they wouldn’t listen. He suddenly felt like he had run a marathon. He relaxed his mind, only this time instead of falling into the endless darkness he gently lay back and fell into the closest thing to sleep that he had had in a while.
Ally
They had the same idea. The soldier had begun to dig through the debris on his side but it was slow going, partially because there was so much debris, and partially because the soldier kept glancing over his shoulder at her. He was convinced she was going to rush him at any moment. Ally had to admit she had been considering it. The soldier still limped around but was considerably more mobile. She may have already missed her best chance.
Her stomach rumbled again, only this time a painful ache accompanied it. It was a pain she remem
bered well. Back when she was with Jess they had many days without putting anything substantial in their bellies. The painful ache she felt now used to be her constant companion. Ally pulled out her canteen and heard the sloshing water inside. She had two, maybe three swallows left inside. She looked up at the light streaming through the ceiling. If it rained hard enough water should be able to get through to them, but it was going to have to be a lot. On the other side of the room the soldier pulled out his canteen and took large swig of water. He wiped his mouth with his forearm as he watched her and then turned back around and began to work. She knew he had water but she was beginning to suspect he also had food. The last few nights she could have sworn she heard the sounds of crunching and chewing coming from his corner.
The soldier let out a cry of joy.
Ally looked over and saw him bend down and look through a hole in the debris. The hole was too small for even her but he had managed to break through to the other side. The soldier looked back at her and smiled then caught himself and turned back around and began to move the debris. Minutes passed and with each the hole got larger and larger. It was hard to see from where she was but behind the hole seemed to be a large tunnel--freedom. The soldier peered through the hole, glanced at her, and then began to go through the hole, feet first. A tightness in Ally’s chest disappeared as she realized she was going to make it, she was going to get out of this cave and…and then what? She couldn’t go back to Adam and Dena; there was nothing else out there for her. Maclin and the soldiers were nice but she doubted they would let someone just hang around their base all day, and she wasn’t old enough to join, not that she wanted to. She was about to escape but she didn’t know what she was escaping to.
The soldier was nearly halfway through when the debris collapsed on top of him. One second he was fine, the next everything below his waist was covered in the debris. He let out a pain-filled scream and thrashed about trying to get free. Their cavern was filled with his cries and the sound of him frantically trying to get free. Before she even realized it she was standing a few feet away from him, the sharp rock in her hand. The soldier stopped pushing away chunks of concrete when he noticed she was close to him, and he looked up at her, his eyes filled with fear.
The Wasteland: Book 6 of The After The Event Series Page 10
