by Jeff Olah
A familiar voice flooded the interior. “Archer… move them out.”
Standing between Archer and her people, Vera reached back and slapped him with an open hand. “What did you do?”
“What I needed to do to survive.”
“So, you sacrificed everyone that you’ve ever known to that murderous sociopath to save yourself? Like father like son, I guess.”
He turned to strike her and then lowered his hand. “Just get outside. It was over for you and the others the moment you allowed Benjamin Rath into our mountain.”
“I’m not willing to believe that you brought everyone here, simply to just let us die. You’re a disgrace. Not only to the people who trusted you, but to our race as a whole.” As Vera turned and walked into the daylight, many residents had already begun to turn back the moment they noticed Boothe’s men striding toward the aircraft.
Through the passenger bay and out into the sand, Archer moved around and passed the former residents of the Patch, as they were being herded back toward the dune. He marched through the packed sand toward Boothe and eyed his target, Benjamin Rath’s wife.
Many horrified and frozen in place at the sight of the four casualties tried to run, only to be brought down with a hit from a well-placed stun baton.
. . .
As his men lined the residents three deep, just feet from the fallen prisoners, Boothe stood between the two women as Archer joined them atop the dune. He ordered the six children removed from their families and taken inside the facility. Three boys and three girls were torn away from their mothers and fathers at gunpoint. His lack of compassion for the children proved just how far Emerson Boothe had traveled from his former self. One of the fathers was hit with a stun baton continually until his limbs went rigid and he lay face down in the sand, blood running from his left eye.
The three girls trailed the boys toward the facility as Lauren finally lifted her head from the ground below. She recognized the whimper of her little girl and tracking the sound, laid eyes on her as she passed behind the last row of residents. Without asking for approval and unfazed as the men in black shouted for her to stop, Lauren ran to her little girl. “CHLOE!”
The guards turned to Boothe for direction and he motioned for them to stand down. His patience wearing thin, he turned to the hushed crowd as they watched the mother and daughter reunite and began his tirade. “I’ll keep this short…as most of you know by now, the world is changing. I’m sure Vera has given you all the unpleasant details of why she assumes I left you behind, to perish in the mountain. I’ll give you the truth; it’s callous, although it’s also reality. The new home I’ve built wouldn’t sustain everyone for the length of time we’ll be locked away. We ran the numbers hundreds of times and one glaring fact stared back at us every single time. If we took with us, every single resident, we would have run through our supplies years too early. We never—”
Out from the third row, Samuel moved to Vera’s side and in speaking, interrupted his former mentor. “Boothe, you’re lying to these people. Why don’t you tell them how you’ve also killed off most everyone living in the Districts over the last few months? How you’ve randomly chosen to murder husbands, wives, and their children, tearing down their homes and letting them fight for their lives among the wastelands. Emerson, you’ve slipped…you are not the man you once were; the person we praised is gone. Tell them what you’ve done, these people deserve it.”
“Samuel, if you’re looking for the reason you and so many like you weren’t asked to join us, you’ve already answered your own question. You see…if people like you, people who question my every step, people who cause trouble, people who cannot follow simple orders were allowed to share my new home, how long would it be before chaos ruled our lives? How long before people were forced against one another, how long before something had to be done to gain back control?”
Boothe continued, although focusing only on his former head of technology. “Samuel, the time you spent trying to lock me out of the network here today only made my job easier. While you and Tyler were working to keep me from getting my hands on that drone, you became too distracted to see that I was already controlling it through Archer. I also recorded every word of every conversation. I just wish you could see the look on your own face. Not on my bucket list, although still very satisfying.”
Vera had heard enough and finally stepped forward; trembling as she began to speak. “Emerson, what has happened to you and why are you doing this? Why not give us all a chance to live? ”
“Vera, you’ve always been loyal, loyal to a fault. The reality is that our new home will be locked at the bottom of the Pacific Ocean for twelve years. And for twelve years, there won’t be an option to open the back door and throw potential lawbreakers out. Once we’re locked in, that’s it.”
“None of these people have ever given you anything to worry about. You need to rethink your decision; these people are your family.”
“Family? None of you are my family; you’re just the people who I’ve taken care of for most of your lives. It was me…I built the facility that kept all of you from freezing to death. I was the one with the foresight to stockpile supplies and find a proper location to make surviving the end of the world possible. Now that nature has decided to change its terms, you again expect me to come to your rescue?”
Emerson Boothe paused and took a deep breath before continuing. “To each and every one of you…three decades ago, our planet was knocked off its axis. No one came to help, not the government, not even the local authorities. When God himself turned his back on you, it was me…I took you in, I gave you life, and for the last thirty-two years, I’ve been your God.”
He tried to continue, although the respondent outcry drowned any chance of following the same train of thought. Growing tired of the back and forth with the very people he was about to leave to die, Boothe reached in to his waistband, pulled his nine millimeter pistol, and fired two shots into the air. The crowd quieting, he pointed to the hills between the beach and the reviled city of Presidio.
“Go,” Boothe said. “We are done here. It looks like the man I’ve been waiting for didn’t make it here alive. Benjamin Rath is the reason my son was murdered.” He motioned to Archer. “He also killed this man’s father in cold blood. When I learned that Mr. Rath’s wife had been picked up by one of our transports, I realized that karma had evened the score. She’s here as payback for her husband’s sins, as are all of you. You took him in and then decided to betray me by not handing him over.”
Sarah turned to Boothe and spit in his face. “My husband is not a murderer.”
He didn’t react. Boothe removed a white handkerchief from his pocket, wiped his face, and turned to Archer. “She’s yours; I no longer have any use for her.” Turning back to the crowd he said, “Or any of you.”
Grabbing a thick handful of Sarah’s hair, Archer pulled her to her knees and then down the face of the dune. Struggling, she managed to get ahold of his wrists and with her fingernails, tore into his flesh. Blood ran down her hands and onto her palms as he writhed in pain and instinctively released her. Sarah turned away from Archer’s right cross just in time to witness Boothe ordering the execution of everyone left on the beach.
. . .
Sarah couldn’t distinguish whether the gunshots preceded the massive explosion or if it had been the other way around. Taking four consecutive blows to the head from Archer’s right fist, blood began to pour from the corner of her eye and into her mouth. She lay on her back fighting for her next breath and upon regaining focus, she watched the soles of Archer’s boots take flight as the nearly two hundred pound man was blown backward more than fifteen feet.
The explosion had rocked the entire beach, as residents of the Patch—including Samuel, Vera, and Tonya—gathered the others and started back toward the drone. The hillside to the right of the beachfront facility breathed fire and thick black smoke poured out of a cylindrical cavern, the obvious source of the explo
sion.
Boothe’s men, the few that remained standing, moved toward the site of destruction as the smoke began to clear. As the earth began to shake, the men, in unison pulled back and at the sight of the first Andro, turned and started to run. Andros moving out onto the beach appeared to discriminate, choosing Boothe’s men over the weaker women and children from the Patch. The men in black were plucked one by one from the beach and tossed over the shoulders of the beasts exiting the tunnel.
Sarah moved to a sitting position, and in attempting to stand, dropped back to her knees. As he walked through the fading black smoke, her husband was flanked by two of the largest beasts she’d ever seen. Standing at least two feet above the man she’d been waiting for, these Andros were different. They were both women and although that would have been enough, they also appeared to be walking with him and not attempting to devour him.
Scanning the beach, Rath had yet to find her, although upon locating and pointing out Emerson Boothe, the two gargantuan Andros appeared incensed. They moved on him without regard for personal safety, and although the self-proclaimed deity fired multiple shots, not one found its intended target.
He was hit hard, taken to the ground, and finally dragged away by the large female Andros. He attempted to use his remaining breath to curse Benjamin Rath, although he was quickly silenced with a crushing blow to his mid-section. Within minutes, Emerson Boothe and his men were made prisoners of the Arkuss, his fate completely resting with the sub-set of Andros that he’d been trying to eliminate for years.
. . .
Finally standing, he found her. Sarah began toward him and with each step, the throbbing in her head pushed more blood down her face. He didn’t appear to have fared much better, although he was moving at an increased pace as the two moved in a straight line toward one other.
Pausing to wipe clean her eyes, Sarah was taken from her feet with an elbow to the back of the head. She spun to the right and was knocked back into the sand as he knelt over her with a raised fist. Archer…he had been spared the fate of Boothe’s other men, as he wasn’t initially targeted and was void of the requisite black uniform, although his time had come.
As Archer swung, his balled fist was intercepted along its path by an inversely destructive force. The six-pound lead pipe came through exceptionally quick for being brandished by a man using only his right arm. The sound made by the two colliding was nearly as painful as the decimation of every bone in Archer’s right hand.
Flat on his back and coughing up sand, Archer looked up at Benjamin Rath, unable to fathom the events that lead to their confrontation here on the beach. The blows came in quick succession and although every muscle fiber in his wrecked body screamed for him to stop, the picture of his beautiful wife pushed him on. Bending forward, he used his right hand to clamp down on Archer’s throat and as he struggled, Rath leaned in.
The younger man now motionless and with air rapidly escaping his lungs, Archer’s eyes began to twitch and close. “Let me die,” was all he was able to get out before Rath released his grip and moved to his wife.
15
As the cloud cover rolled in and the first signs of the new winter began to overtake the area, they moved to Boothe’s yacht, fully loaded and waiting to transport the seventy plus residents to their new home. Accommodations would have to be made upon arrival, as those in Boothe’s inner circle who already occupied the submersible habitat would need some sort of explanation for the change in leadership.
Benjamin Rath marched through the soft sand with his wife. They leaned into one another and followed Vera, Lauren, and Chloe onto the vessel. He moved to the main quarters, helped her onto the bed, and made sure she was comfortable. “Sweetheart, I’ve missed you more than you know and cannot explain what these last few days without you have been like. That’s over now, we’re going home.”
Before allowing Samuel and Tonya to captain the powerful, one hundred-foot yacht into the building storm and attempt to use the navigation to find Halo, the group shared a moment of silence for those lost in the battle with the Andros. Women cried softly for their husbands and comforted their children as they pulled out of the jetty and into the open sea.
The women each took turns tending to Sarah, giving Rath time to have Symon set and bandage his left arm. Men who braved Presidio and were reunited with their wives and children thanked Tyler for helping get everyone safely to the beach and beyond. The mothers and children moved to the kitchen and started preparing meals for the hungry and exhausted.
Still not herself and unable to string more than a few cohesive thoughts together, Lauren took her daughter’s hand and made her way to Sarah. “This is my baby girl, her name is Chloe. Your husband kept her alive just like you did for me. Sarah, my little family owes you everything. I will be here for you always… thank you.” She started to cry and sat with Sarah for the remainder of the trip as Chloe curled up next to her on the makeshift bed and fell asleep.
. . .
Within sight of their destination, Rath moved to the wheelhouse and was greeted by Vera and Samuel. “Is that Halo?”
“Yes,” Vera said. “We’ve already made contact and explained our situation.”
“And?”
“Let’s just say that they were noticing the same personality defects with Boothe as of late.”
“Are we going to have any problems?” Rath asked.
“I don’t think so,” Vera said. “They currently number just over one hundred and said they’d be able to accommodate twice the amount we have on board.”
“So,” Rath said. “Twelve years locked away at the bottom of the ocean, seems like it may become a bit claustrophobic?”
“Well, as crazy as it sounds, I believe we’ll be fine. One thing about Boothe, he made sure to think of everything. I’m not sure how he did it, although Halo was built as a city and there are areas that simulate being outdoors. This was his most perfect creation.”
“I guess we don’t really have a choice, do we?”
“No, not really. Now go be with your wife; you’ve more than done your part. You’ll be in your new home in less than three hours. Get some rest, you need it.”
He kissed her on the forehead and hugged her gently. “Thank you, Vera…for everything.”
Attending to the business of captaining the colossal ship, Samuel turned to Rath as he was exiting the wheelhouse. “Hey…one thing I can’t figure out. How on earth were our men spared by the Arkuss? I’ve never seen or heard of anything like it.”
Rath turned and smiled. “Short answer is that they wanted Boothe and I knew where and when he’d be the most vulnerable. We simply made a deal.”
“And the long answer?”
“For years, Boothe has been steadily eliminating the Andros. Recently he upped his game and began going to Presidio and targeting the Arkuss. All but twelve were slaughtered at last count and with their backs against the wall; they started fighting back, although until today they never were able to get close enough and in such numbers to have a real chance. They wanted him; I just showed them where to find him.”
He turned and strode out the door and down onto the main deck, sharing a moment with Symon and the pair acknowledged their newfound trust for one another before parting. Symon made his way back to his family as Rath moved to the main quarters and his wife.
Entering the room as Chloe exited with her mother, he smiled and gave her a high five. She turned back to Rath and said, “Mr. Rath, you’re still my protector, but you’re also still very stinky.”
Feeling somewhat like herself and unquestionably excited to see him again, Sarah sat forward as he moved to the bed and greeted him with a kiss. She shared the plate of food she’d yet to finish and a small glass of cold water. While he ate, she detailed her time without him, leaving out the darkest times where she felt most alone. She instead focused on the impact his memories had on her surviving the terrible ordeal. He listened for as long as he could keep his eyes from closing and when they final
ly did, she held him close and watched him sleep.
Sixteen Years Later…
The sand between her toes and the warm spring air pushed her hair away from her face. Peering out over the shoreline, Sarah watched her husband’s hand carve the large piece of driftwood. He’d been working since sunup and today was determined to break the halfway point. She sat on the last step with her seven-year-old son, enjoying the day and answering questions about his father, the man who saved the last remaining humans, those who would repopulate the earth.
“Mom, how old is he today?”
“He won’t admit it, but he’s fifty-six.”
“Are you getting him a present?”
“Yes, I am and so are you.”
“We are? What are we getting him?”
“Just before the sun goes down, we’re all taking him to the cemetery to visit Aunt Vera. Then tonight, a barbeque for his birthday, on the beach.”
