The Divide_Legacy

by Mitchel Grace

  “You heard him. Now get off the kid, and let’s go,” Roger said.

  Alex nodded and stood. He reached a hand down to Travis and helped him up. The boy still looked afraid, but he was a bit calmer than before.

  “From this point forward, we’re going to be journeying through some dangerous territory, but I need to get her back, and this is partially your responsibility. Can we really count on you?” Alex asked.

  “Yes, sir,” Travis said more confidently than Alex expected. As he looked the boy over, he found that he at least had the build of a man with a six-foot frame and what looked like a little muscle definition. Maybe he’ll be useful in a fight with some mentoring, Alex thought.

  “All right, then do what I say at all times, and we’ll get Veronica back and get home safely.”

  He nodded, and the three of them walked back to the truck where their journey was finally beginning. Alex had never wanted to leave the walls again, but this was the most important thing he would ever do. For him, it would truly change everything.

  Chapter 2

  The Drive

  Alex had been driving for just under four hours when they started to hear a knocking sound coming from the back of the truck. He ignored it at first, but it only grew louder, making it obvious that something was wrong. It wasn’t until Travis spoke that he realized what was truly happening.

  “So did someone hitch a ride?” he asked.

  Alex sighed as he looked over at Sarah. They both knew who had tagged along, but why would he do this? Lee wasn’t prepared for the outside world, and even if he was, they had told him to stay. He had school and a future that didn’t involve any of the things Alex had to endure when he was young.

  They pulled off the road, and Alex walked to the back of the covered bed. When he opened the tailgate, as expected, he discovered his son waiting. Lee’s lips were cracked, and his skin was pale, considering how tan the boy normally was. Every vein on his body was sticking out, too, and it was no wonder. The temperature was over 110, and he had been back there all this time. He was severely dehydrated, and it was a miracle he hadn’t passed out.

  “Good Lord! What are you doing here?” Alex asked in half concern and frustration.

  “I . . . I’m sorry. I just had to come. She’s my family, too, you know,” he managed to answer through heavy breaths.

  “Come on. Let’s get you under the air conditioner,” Alex said and helped him to the back seat where Roger passed him a bottle of water. Lee consumed it in only a few seconds and took another.

  “What’s he doing here?” Lee asked and shot Travis a hard look as they got back on the road. The last thing he wanted to be doing was traveling with the man who was responsible for his sister’s capture. As far as Lee was concerned, things would have worked out completely different if Veronica had backup.

  “Exactly what he was asked to do by us, which is more than we can say about you,” Sarah said, clearly disappointed.

  “I had to come, Mom! What kind of brother would I be if I didn’t, and besides, now we have five people. That stacks the odds in our favor,” he said.

  “You don’t know what you’ve gotten yourself involved in,” Alex countered with.

  Lee only rolled his eyes. His parents acted like the outside world was hell, but it didn’t look like it to him. Sure, it was hot, and he hadn’t done very well in the back, but as far as the eye could see there were no people. In fact, it just looked like dead land to him. As long as the truck kept moving, then from what Lee could tell there would be absolutely no danger.

  “I know we’re a long way from Veronica’s location, but Lee being here changes things. What’s the plan?” Roger asked, breaking the tension.

  “The same as before. The four of us will ambush them in the night,” Sarah said.

  “Don’t you mean five?” Lee asked.

  “No, I don’t! You’ll be staying behind,” she said with authority.

  Before anyone else could say a word, Alex passed a suspicious looking vehicle parked on the side of the road. Sure enough, the car pulled onto the road and sped up behind them. Alex shook his head. Maybe it was all a coincidence, but his instincts said otherwise.

  “Did you run into any problems on the way?” Alex asked Roger as he glanced into the rearview mirror.

  “Not any serious ones, but we were followed by a car that looked an awful lot like that one during the night. I eventually lost them, and Veronica thought I was being paranoid, but you always taught me not to believe in coincidences,” Roger answered.

  “That was what I was afraid of,” Alex said and put the pedal to the floor.

  Just as he feared, the car increased its speed and pulled up behind them, only now it was obvious what was going on. These people figured they had goods or at least something valuable. They were thieves just waiting on the right victim, but they had picked the wrong people to go after because Alex was no victim.

  “What are we going to do?” Travis asked, sounding panicked.

  “Buckle up, and keep your head low. Things could get rough,” Alex said and watched as the car pulled up beside him.

  He saw two men, one driving and another in the passenger seat. They were young, and they had the eyes of youthful men, with no fear and the obliviousness that comes with never having considered that life could actually come to an end. Their car wasn’t big enough to force them off the road, and if Alex had his way about it, they would learn what fear truly meant soon enough.

  At that moment, Alex saw the man in the passenger seat lift his gun into view. Alex didn’t hesitate. He plowed into them and sent their car off the road and into a field. Then Alex immediately jumped out, pulled his gun, and took a step toward the car. Sarah and Roger fell in right behind him. After a second, so did Lee. Alex would have preferred that he stayed behind, but there was no time to argue now. They needed to act quickly. Otherwise, their attackers might be able to gather themselves.

  Alex watched as the man from the passenger side jumped out and started to raise his gun. He wasted no time on trying to talk him down. Alex fired a bullet into his leg in just the right spot. No major artery would be likely to be nicked in the lower leg, but it would certainly eliminate this threat. They watched as their would-be attacker fell down and dropped his gun. Then he cried out in agony.

  The driver stepped out next, gun in hand, but he didn’t look like he was ready to shoot. He seemed to be in shock. These two had probably pulled off a few robberies and thought everything would always be that easy. They hadn’t even considered that one of them could be hurt or killed, but now this kid knew. Death was all that awaited them if they continued down this road.

  “Drop it! If you don’t, your friend will die,” Alex warned.

  “Y . . . yes, sir,” he stuttered and threw the gun down.

  “How many times have you pulled this?”

  “What are you talking about?”

  “You know exactly what I’m talking about. How many times have you robbed and killed people?”

  “We didn’t kill anyone! I swear it! We just started doing this last year. I’m not sure how many; maybe ten or eleven, but that’s all.”

  “So you’re telling me you’re thieves but you never had to hurt anyone? I’m not stupid, Kid. Hell, I wasn’t that different from you a lifetime ago.”

  “Okay, we did what we had to, but it was only because we had no options. There isn’t work outside of the cities. Just don’t kill us, mister. I swear you won’t ever see us again if you just let us go.”

  “I better not! Keep pressure on your friend’s wound. He might not live, but if you can make it four hours to Raines, then he’ll get the help he needs. Tell them that Alex and Sarah Morgan sent you and to put any medical care he needs on our tab.”

  “You were the leaders of Raines. Why would you help us after what we just tried to do?” he asked in complete shock.

  “I don’t know. I shouldn’t, but I’ve been desperate just like you. Make your home there, and lea
ve this life behind. There’s work even outside the city, and we’re almost done with building a third indoor place for everyone. You can live the good life if you’re willing to work for it first. Otherwise, someone is going to kill the two of you.”

  “Yes, sir. Thank you!”

  Alex nodded and walked away. Everyone else followed, and then they got back on the road. The truck was already damaged, which wasn’t ideal, but it appeared that it was running just fine, so overall, he considered this a win. Still, he had been afraid. Alex didn’t want to show it because he didn’t know what anyone else would think. He had been fearless before he came into the city, but living the good life with his family had made him soft in so many ways. He was afraid to lose a family member, his life, or even just to pull the trigger when he needed to. Alex would have wasted those two kids before, but now killing when he didn’t absolutely have to seemed wrong. He didn’t view everyone else as a potential enemy any longer. They were simply two kids barely older than his son who were undereducated and desperate for what they needed. It was no excuse, but Alex couldn’t see how wasting the potential of what they could be would be the answer. That fact scared him, though. What if the time came when there was no choice other than to kill and he tried to cling to the idea that death wasn’t the answer?

  “We should’ve killed them,” Lee said from the back seat.

  “What are you talking about? We didn’t have to, so why would we have?” Sarah asked, sounding slightly off-put.

  “That doesn’t matter. You and Dad always taught us to shoot first and ask questions later if we were outside of the city.”

  “We had control of the situation, so there was no need to do that.”

  “When you’re alone you should shoot first, but your mother and I knew what we were doing. Follow our lead on this trip, but if you’re ever alone and don’t know what to do, shoot. It’s better that someone else dies than you,” Alex explained.

  “He’s right. They’re the most experienced people here, so we should follow their lead,” Roger said, even if he had some questions of his own. In the past, he knew what Alex would have done, but why hadn’t he now? Did he just not want to show that side of himself in front of Lee, or was that side gone? If so, what did that say about their chances on this journey?

  “Okay, but I have another question. Where were you during everything?” Lee asked as he glanced over at Travis.

  “I just didn’t know what to do. I stayed in the truck because I would have gotten in everyone’s way,” Travis said while looking out the window. He didn’t want to meet anyone’s eyes. He was ashamed that he had been a coward, and at the same time, he was also wondering why he had agreed to come along. Would taking a beating from Alex not have been better than coming with them on what could be a suicide mission?

  “So basically, you’re a coward,” Lee said and smirked.

  “Enough of that! You should have stayed in the truck, too. From now on, you’ll follow our lead, Travis, but you get a pass on this one. Everyone’s first time in a situation like that is tough. You’ll react better next time,” Alex said.

  Alex normally would have been angrier about Travis’s hesitance, but he remembered his first time on the road in a deadly situation. He hadn’t looked it, but he had been so afraid that it was hard just to keep his hands steady. Afterward, his dad and Jake had commended him on how brave he was, but his legs could have just as easily frozen in that moment. You never knew what you were going to do in a moment of danger until you were there. Alex was somewhat proud that his son hadn’t hesitated to act, but he was also worried. Was Lee brave, or was he a fool who didn’t grasp the concept that he could lose everything so young any more than the men who tried to run them off the road did?

  At that moment, the sky opened up, and the rain started to come down. It was a welcome shower in a way because it would cool things down for a while, but at the same time, storms were rough when they did come. Would it rain hard for minutes or days? There was never any telling in this world, even if things had stabilized somewhat.

  As time went on, the rain got harder, and the wind started to whip through the valley they were in. By now, they were seven hours into the drive, and they still had another thirteen to go. Alex didn’t want to stop, but he could barely see. When he looked over at Sarah, he could see that her determination to move on hadn’t wavered either. It was settled in his mind. Alex didn’t need to move quickly, but he had to keep going. Every minute they wasted was another one that Veronica could be suffering for all they knew.

  “Don’t we need to stop? There’s a city about ten miles north. We could . . .” Roger managed to say before Alex cut him off.

  “We’ll stop tonight in Eden,” he said.

  “Are you sure it’s safe. You always said . . .”

  “I know what I said, but this is different. Veronica’s life is at stake, and we need to cover as much ground as possible. I would drive all night if I could, but I know we’ll need to rest at least some if we’re going to be ready for what we have to do when we get there.”

  “Are you sure Eden is a good idea?” Roger asked doubtfully.

  “Why wouldn’t it be?” Travis asked curiously.

  “It was originally built as a safe haven for people who weren’t really wired to live in a world of kill or be killed, but if you gather a bunch of weak people in an outdoor town without protection, then you can guess what happens,” Roger answered.

  “So it isn’t safe then?”

  “Not especially. There’s no law there, and it’s a hotspot for criminals, fights, gambling, and prostitutes.”

  “It’s also the only place for hours that we’ll be able to stop tonight. We’ll keep to ourselves and be just fine. Trust me when I say I’ve stayed in worse places than Eden,” Alex said.

  Roger felt doubtful about staying in Eden, but he let it go. After all, it wasn’t like he wanted to stop either. He simply settled in and trusted Alex to get them there safely through the storm, and before long, the drive turned into a much more pleasant one. There was still tension in the air, but they were at least pretending that they weren’t worried sick about Veronica.

  They got to know Travis better. It turned out that his father had been born on the inside, which meant that he didn’t even grow up with stories about the outside world. For him, it had been a mysterious place that he knew nothing about besides what his teachers told him, and most of them had never left the safe city walls. Ideally, someone from the outside would have been teaching, too, but outsiders never did get much of an education, so it wasn’t realistic to think they could be teachers.

  With a better understanding of where Travis had come from, they could sympathize with his fear and even him abandoning the mission he had been called upon for. Oftentimes, the scariest things aren’t what people know are dangerous. It’s the great unknown that terrifies people most. What was the outside world like? Could it be desolate with harsher conditions than anyone could survive for very long like his teachers said, or could it be like his friends said? Sure, it sounded like gossip, but for all he knew, the outside could be filled with savages who would kill you for your boots and wild beasts that were like nothing he had ever seen.

  “I get it now,” Lee said thoughtfully.

  “What do you mean?” Travis asked.

  “We’re a lot alike, only my parents prepared me for the outside world. Still, neither of us knew what to expect. In some ways, we still don’t. It’s scary to think you could be hurt, but it’s absolutely terrifying to know that you have no idea what to expect at all. It doesn’t excuse you not helping my sister, but I get it. Who knows what any of us would have done if all we knew about the outside world was rumors and the terrible stories our teachers told us?”

  “Yeah, well, those terrible stories don’t sound so farfetched anymore. We’ve been out here for half a day, and we’ve nearly been forced off the road by people who might have killed us, not to mention the storm that’s making the road barely v
isible,” he said.

  “It’s just as bad as the stories you’ve heard, but it’s so much more than that,” Alex said.

  “I don’t understand.”

  “It’s dangerous out here, and there are bad people all around. There are also good ones who can help keep you alive, too. The truth is that this place is just like anywhere else, only without an air conditioner.”

  “I don’t recall people trying to kill us inside of Raines.”

  “True, but the society you live in didn’t come without a price. There was plenty of blood spilled to make a peaceful existence even possible.”

  Travis pondered those thoughts momentarily. Would he be okay out here? He thought so, as long as he stuck with these people. They seemed to know what they were doing, and while Travis didn’t really think he should be out there, he did have to acknowledge that this was his responsibility. Fair or not, Veronica had been tasked with trading for some incredibly important drugs, and he was supposed to be there with her every step of the way. Him being there probably wouldn’t have changed a thing, but nonetheless, he couldn’t shake the feeling that his fear was the reason she was captured.

  Time passed slowly as the conversation died down in the truck, and people started to get tired. Their exhaustion had more than to do with their need to sleep. It was hot, and no air conditioner could possibly hope to keep up very well. Given that they had all gotten used to the comforts of living indoors, it was a bit much for everyone. Thankfully, they pulled up to Eden just before exhaustion took over. It was a ragged town filled with huts, an old bar, and an inn that adjoined it that looked like it was half falling down. Still, no one cared how bad it looked. It was just time to get some much-needed rest.

  Unfortunately, Alex didn’t know one particular fact. Stopping in Eden would be more trouble than it was worth. There would be no rest for him on that night.

  Chapter 3