by Jeremy Mac
Lathan uses a piece of one of the dead men’s clothes to wipe the blood off his katana and then sheathes it.
The girl stands on wobbly legs, holding her torn clothes together, trying to cover herself as best she can, relieved but still a bit frightened.
“Thank you,” she says, her voice shaky.
Lathan turns to leave.
“W-Wait,” she says, and starts after him. “You saved my life.”
“You owe me nothing.”
They step out of the alley and Lathan immediately scans the area for any threats.
“Well, maybe we can help each other,” she says.
“I don’t think so.”
“Then maybe you can just help me.”
“I already did.”
She persists. “I can really use your help again.”
As they come to the SUV Lathan turns and deadpans, “Look, I don’t have time to play keeper or hero to a girl who obviously doesn’t know any better than to be wondering around alone while unarmed –”
Frustrated, she shoots out, “I wasn’t by myself at first!” And then all at once, as if the emotions have become too overwhelming, the floodgates open and she begins to unravel as the tears roll down her face. “The Maddick’s, they took them, Stan and Jonsey, but I was able to get away, and now all I’m trying to do is get back home.” Her bottom lip quivers with the last word.
Christ, this is all he needs.
He processes everything for a moment, then says, “Where is home?”
“A few miles up the north end.”
That got his attention.
“Is there someplace safe I can keep my vehicle?”
With spirits bloomed anew, she says, “As a matter of fact, yes there is.”
5
During the drive the two exchange names, but little else, and most of what is said comes from Taya which are mostly questions that Lathan mostly ignores.
After a considerable moment of silence Lathan finally says, “If you’re leading me into a trap, you’ll be the first one I kill.”
Taya pauses momentarily from tying the torn halves of her tank top together and regards Lathan with an open mouthed stunned expression and says, “You have trust issues, don’t you?”
“Trust will get you killed as fast as anything else. Regardless of how well you think you may know someone.”
Amused, Taya says, “I take it that this is bitter experience talking. Someone close to you broke your trust and now you have a problem trusting anyone.”
“From the look of things now days, it’s in my best interest for survival sake not to be too trusting. I don’t understand how you haven’t by now at least adopted that same mindset.”
“Where I live, we can’t afford not to trust one another. It’s how we survive, and it’s how we’ve been rebuilding, by trusting each other to take care of each other.” Taya looks ahead. “It’s right up here.”
At first glance he doesn’t give it much thought, it’s been so long since he’s been in the city, but everything now looks different in its desolate state. There’s a building a couple of hundred yards up the street and he’s thinking that she should be telling him to turn off somewhere. The closer they get, the more the building at the end of the street looks less like a building and more like a walled and gated entrance. High walls of brick and cinder block connecting both buildings on either side are built into a high gate in the center of the street. This was not here years ago, it’d been built here since then.
Two men on post with rifles stand on high planks behind the wall make the alert and take their positions when they see the oncoming vehicle.
“Stop here,” Taya says. “I’m going to let them know that you’re cool. It may take a minute because we have to call James to get permission to open the gate for you, but don’t worry, he’ll do it for me. So don’t go anywhere, okay?”
“How long?”
“Just long enough for me to explain the situation. Five minutes.Ten minutes, tops.”
Lathan glances back at the gate. The guards at the top of the wall steady their crosshairs on them. A few more appear and take position. He’s unable to see very much beyond the gate except for a handful of others moving briskly here and there from the excitement of a new visitor.
“Okay,” Lathan says. “I’ll wait.”
She steps out of the SUV and closes the door. She approaches cautiously, waving her hands at the guards and calling out to them, letting them know who she is.
One of the guards hollers out behind himself, “It’s Taya!”
She goes to a door made into the gate and someone unlocks it from their side and lets her in.
Lathan shuts the engine off to preserve gas. He reaches into the back seat and retrieves a duffel bag full of food, unzips it, takes out a piece of jerky and munches on it as he waits. Several minutes later the gate parts in the middle, moving within the sidewalls. Once it is clear, Taya appears in its entrance and waves him in. He starts the engine and drives through.
He stops to pick her up and after she hops in she says, “Drive straight ahead. We’ll park it and then I need to take you to meet James. And don’t worry about your vehicle, it’ll be safe. You’ll see.”
6
It’s nothing like he expected. It’s nearly like what a civilized city should look like, but with some vast exceptions. Many of the buildings that were damaged beyond repair were shelled for parts that were used to build the front gate and the wall surrounding the perimeter of this colony. The people (men, women, and children) appear to be cleanly clothed. The only vehicle on the street is his own, all other transport is by bicycle, rickshaw, or the occasional skateboard or rollerblades. Concession stands are set up throughout both sides of the street; clothes, arts and crafts, produce, miscellaneous items, Marionette puppet shows, everything organized in neat and simple order. Like stepping into a centuries old village market made modern. A broken society mending itself and trying to get things back together. Although Lathan is impressed, he shows not the slightest of hints that he is, he stays impassive throughout the snails-pace drive.
“Right here.” Taya points to a tall handsome building with underground parking. A sentry armed with a submachine gun waves them through. There are other vehicles within, forty-three to be exact, along with a few motorcycles and ATV’s and most of them are covered with sheets or tarpaulin. Someone with a flashlight signals to them, directing him exactly where he is to go. Once parked, Lathan begins checking things inside his SUV.
“No one is going to mess with it,” Taya says. “I promise.”
They exit the vehicle and Lathan presses a button on his keychain and the doors automatically lock. They are led to an elevator bank guarded by another man armed with a submachine gun. Certainly not lacking security, Lathan thinks to himself. He’s somewhat surprised when the elevator button is pushed and the door opens. He assumed the whole city is without power, but obviously it isn’t. The building has many floors, Taya pushes the button for the top floor. On the top floor Lathan follows Taya down a dimly lit hallway until they come to a man sitting behind a desk reading a paperback novel. Taya and the man exchange pleasantries and then Lathan follows Taya through a door just behind the desk.
They enter a short hallway that opens up into a large living area immaculately decorated with plush carpet, all leather furniture, tribalistic sculptures, and paintings from modern abstract to renaissance. One wall is completely windows with an intense view overlooking the city.
“Taya. C’mere girl.”
Taya practically jumps into the man’s arms.
“I told you I was okay,” Taya assures the man, her words muffled by his shoulder.
“And we owe thanks to this man, is that right?”
“Yes.” Taya regards Lathan. “This is Lathan. Lathan, this is my uncle, James Grant.”
“Pleased to meet you, Lathan.” James eases out of his nieces embrace and offers his hand to Lathan. A firm, strong handshake; a warm welcome. Grant is a
bout Lathan’s height, about average, with a lean build, piercing blue eyes, and dark hair with a touch of gray along the temples. Save for a scar under his left cheekbone that still holds the fresh white newness of maybe a few years, James has the kind of winning face that can sway people’s hearts with a simple smile.
“Nice to meet you,” Lathan says. “So you’re the one in charge around here?”
“If there is someone who is responsible for this place, I guess you can say I am that someone.”
“My uncle is a very modest man,” Taya says.
“And you, my dear, are very rebellious.”
And to that Taya rolls her eyes as she takes a seat on one of the couches. James then waves Lathan over to have a seat as well and asks the two if they will join him in a drink as he goes to the wet bar. “I’m fully stocked, so it’s whatever you like.”
“Whatever you will be having is fine,” Lathan says.
“Well if you ask me, Jack has always been a good friend. He’s walked with me through some good times, and has carried me through some bad times.”
“And I’ll have a glass of Crown, please,” Taya says. And then she leans over and whispers to Lathan, “It’s not often my uncle is so generous with his alcohol, so when he is I take full advantage of the good stuff.”
“And the times I’m not generous with it, you help yourself to it anyway,” James says matter of factly, carrying a silver tray with three glasses, each filled a third of the way, over to Lathan and his niece. He places the tray on the glass table before them and hands each their own drink.
James takes his seat, has a sip of his drink, and says, “Now that we are settled, Taya, will you now please explain to me with a little more detail than what you told me over the phone earlier about what happened out there?”
She gives her uncle a recap of everything she’d gone through from the time she and the other two, Stan and Jonsey, who’d left two days ago scouting the city up to the point when Lathan literally saved her tail.
Once she is finished James gives Lathan his best sincerity when he says, “I cannot thank you enough. I will always be indebted to you.”
“It was nothing, really.”
“It may be nothing to you,” James retorts, “but it is everything to me.”
“I didn’t mean it like that. I only meant –”
James holds up a hand. “I know what you meant. No need to explain. But I want to tell you something, this I’m sure you already know, but I want to say it anyway: You did something not many people out there will do. Most everyone will turn a blind eye out of fear. And then there are those who are completely capable and equipped with weapons but will not lift a finger to help if it doesn’t concern them. Except for you, for whatever reason, you did help, and for that I am forever in your debt.” James now directs his attention on his beloved niece, and as if an expression veil has been pulled over his face, the compassion that was burning in his eyes as he was speaking to Lathan now turns into a stern inflection. “Now do you understand why I was so dead-set against you going? Now do you understand what could have happened to you?”
“Yes, but I’m not a child anymore. I’m an adult who can make adult decisions. Why can’t you understand that?”
“It doesn’t change the fact that we are family and we are the only family we’ve got anymore. I can’t lose you too, Taya. Why can’t you understand that?”
Taya sits there staring at her uncle with plenty more that she wants to say, but she doesn’t want to give her uncle anymore grief than she already has, so she refines by taking a breath and saying, “I understand.”
Pleased with her response, James suggests a refill of their drinks.
7
James retrieves the bottles of Jack Daniel’s and Crown Royal from the wet-bar and replenishes each of their glasses.
“If you don’t mind me asking, Lathan,” James says, “where are you from?”
Lathan seems to weigh the question for a thoughtful beat, then says, “Nowhere really.”
“Fair enough. I can respect that. But let me ask you this; where are you going? Anywhere in particular?”
Lathan weighs this question even longer, as if giving it some extremely careful thought.
“Forgive me if I’m making you uncomfortable,” James says. “That is not my intention. I’m only curious to know if there is a particular place you are trying to get to, because if so, I’d like to know if there is any way I can help. But if there isn’t in fact nowhere you need to be then I would like for you to consider staying here.”
“That’s very generous of you, but I’ll have to pass.”
James holds a considerable gaze on Lathan for a moment, and then simply says, “I see.” With drink in hand, James stands and goes to the center window of the room. Keeping his eyes toward the outside world James says, “Lathan, will you please join me? I’d like you to see something.”
Lathan glances at Taya and she nods her head. He goes to stand next to James and peers out the window. The view is magnificent. Much of the city can be seen for what seems like miles. The surrounding area in the north end is barricaded with high walls built with brick and mortar, cinder blocks, large concrete blocks, fencing and barbed wire enclosing buildings and squaring off the perimeter and manned by several heavily armed guards keeping out the unwanted.
“I was a lawyer before it happened,” James says as he stares off into the city below and beyond, remembering the days of yore. “Had my own law firm in this very building. The Law Offices of Grant, Hinder and Kimble,” he says in what is to be a serious media commercial tone of voice. “It was quite successful. I started out like any new lawyer with big dreams would, from the very bottom and slowly worked my way up. I took great pride in building what eventually became my very own firm. And within a blink of an eye, Poof, it was gone. Just like that. I lost my wife, my only son, my home, everything except for Taya. Kelly Hinder, one of my firm partners, and her entire family were killed by pillagers. No one knows what happened to Larry Kimble. Probably fled to one of his getaways. Who knows? So I was left with two choices: go on hiding and die living in fear, or fight back and work to rebuild and help others. I brought people together and showed them that we can get through this and can prosper with what we have left. It’s been a struggle but we’ve built what you’ve seen down there and we will continue to build. So you see, Lathan, this is our pinnacle, the only place we now have and I must do whatever it takes to protect it.”
James’ features suddenly go solemn. “The Maddick’s are making it harder for us. They’re mostly criminals, straight scum from what’s left of the old world. People who only know to steal, rob, rape, and murder. They came out of the woodwork when the shit hit the fan. Of course they weren’t known as Maddick’s then. They’re named for the man who leads them, Vincent Maddick. A mean, sadistic bastard who seems to’ve come straight out of hell itself and brought them all together and convinced them all to follow him by proving to them how malicious he can be if they don’t abide by him. At first they were only a nuisance, wreaking havoc here and there in the city, but he’s grown strong in numbers very quickly and he’s only gotten meaner and more sadistic. We’ve created and acquired plenty of resources over time like fuel, food, clean water, and weapons. Because of this, Vincent has been trying to infiltrate us.”
“Where did you get all of the artillery?”
James grins. “Compliments of Claxton’s finest. Many of the men you see securing this place were once cops. Just like the two who were taken by the Maddick’s two days ago. I intend to get them back.”
“What makes you think they are still alive? From what you’ve just told me it’s likelier that they’re dead.”
“Yes, and it sickens me to think it. They could very well be dead. Or worse, they could be tortured. Which I think is more likelier, thinking that Vincent will want to keep them alive to try and extract any useful information out of them about this place, where everything is, where the weak points are, thing
s like that. The Maddick’s are scattered all over the city but their main quarters are on the south end. Vincent has taken up residents in a hotel there. It used to be one of the finest in Claxton but all it is now is a four star shithole. From what I understand the entire basement is a torture chamber. That’s where I believe he’s holding my men.”
“Why are you telling me this?”
James turns to face Lathan directly and says, “I was hoping that you would be up for the job.”
“To bring your men back?”
“Yes.”
“You have plenty of men here who are probably capable enough to do it, why not get a few of them to do it?”
“Capable in trying to do it? Yes, definitely. But stealth enough to pull it off? Very unlikely. These men are mostly common police officers with nowhere near the training you obviously possess. I mean for Christ sakes, you killed two men with a sword like some kind of samurai out of a movie and I bet that you’re just as good at hand-to-hand combat. I can only imagine what you can do with a gun.”
“Look,” Lathan says, “I’m sorry about your men but I have my own problems so there’s really nothing I can do to help.”
“Maybe we can help each other.”
“And I made it clear to your niece that we cannot.”
James chews on a thought for a moment, then says, “Will you at least stay for a little while and take advantage of our hospitality. You can visit our town below and if there is anything you like, please don’t hesitate to accept it on our behalf. And I’m sure my niece would love to show you around anyway. Isn’t that right, Taya?”
Taya has been utterly engrossed in their entire conversation while sipping her drink, and while in mid swallow, she chokes from her uncle’s putting her on the spot, suddenly bringing her into the conversation. She tries to cough it out while trying to affirm her uncle by nodding her head. “Yeah,” she barely manages to say, and then coughs some more. “Sure.” Still trying to clear out the pipes. “I’d love to.”
