by T A Williams
Whitford looked beyond Alec. “I don’t need your permission.”
“And if you attack them what then?” Freddie asked. Freddie had once been a part of a group that attacked and stole from others. He had actually been part of the group that kidnapped Alec’s sister and ended up killing Alec’s father, but he had left prior to that happening and had been instrumental in helping Alec free his sister. After Freddie left that group Whitford had taken him in and Alec could see it pained him to speak out against his friend. “Are you going to kill them all?”
Whitford took a step back either not expecting the question or not expecting Freddie to disagree with him. “Of course not, I’m not a monster regardless of what you all want to think.”
“Then what happens with those people strike back?” Whitford said nothing. “They are going to hit back and then what? Innocent people will be killed. It’s possible that innocent people here will be caught in the crossfire.”
For the first time the anger showing in Whitford’s face seemed to diminish instead of increase. He ran his hand through his hair and shook his head. “I can’t go through another winter like the last one. I can’t sit back and watch my people die.”
“There are other ways to get medicine.” Trevor said. “We can grow our own mold and there is a way to use that to make penicillin. I’ve never done it before but I know how to in theory. That alone will help out with infections.”
Whitford said down in one of the chairs and stared intently on the floor. He seemed lost.
“I’ve seen how slippery of a slope this is, Whitford,” Freddie said solemnly. “I’ve watched good people justify some horrible things. Trust me when I say once you go down that road there is no coming back.”
Alec sat back down in his seat and his anger dissipated. Whitford sat in his seat away from everyone else and looked defeated. He had gone from righteous to helpless in a matter of seconds. “We’ve both lost a lot since the world changed,” Alec said. Whitford looked up at him, tears in his eyes. “We’ve both had to make a lot of hard choices.” Alec felt Trevor’s eyes on him. “We can’t lose our values. We can’t lose our humanity.”
Whitford agreed he wouldn’t do anything brash. The council ended but Malcolm and Margie stayed around to talk to Whitford. Before Alec could leave Trevor pulled him to the side.
“I’m sorry,” Trevor said.
“What are you sorry for?” Alec asked.
“You know what for. I’m sorry for making what was already a difficult decision even harder. I’m sorry for avoiding you since then. I know it couldn’t have been easy.”
A weight seemed to lift from Alec’s shoulders and he felt himself relax. “Thanks,” was all he could muster.
“I never thanked you for saving my daughter. If you hadn’t been there,” Trevor paused and collected himself. “I don’t know what Clive would have done with Jamie. But you stopped him and instead of thanking you I gave you the cold shoulder. I still…I still don’t think we should have killed Clive, but I understand why you did what you did.”
It was something. “Don’t worry about it. We’re all in this together.”
Trevor smiled, they shared a handshake and then Alec walked out into the bright day. His eyes were still adjusting to the bright sun, and he was still trying to deal mentally with the conversations with Whitford and Trevor when Bethany appeared next to him.
“Hi,” she said.
His words caught in his throat but he managed to choke them out. “Hey.” He noticed a look of concern covering her delicate face. “Everything ok?”
“I just heard yelling. Is everything alright in there?” Bethany’s eyes shot behind him to the council doors.
“Yeah, he’s just trying to deal with….everything.”
Bethany smiled and Alec felt like he was floating. He looked around and didn’t see her father anywhere.
“He’s checking out your horses,” she answered his unasked question. “He’s always liked horses.”
“Oh.” Alec’s mind once again went blank. He could argue with a man twice his age about whether or not they were going to attack and kill an innocent town, but he couldn’t string together a series of words to have a civil discussion with a girl.
“Well,” she said trying to fill the silence. “Thanks.” And then she walked away.
Alec watched her go and the rest of the world didn’t seem to exist, only coming back once she disappeared around the other side of the house. He took in a single deep breath. “What a freaking day.”
Ally
She did her best not to smile, but it was a battle she could not win.
Ally towered above the ground on top of the brown horse as it sauntered across the empty fields. She hung onto Adam who was sitting on the horse in front of her and used him to hide the smile. She had always wanted to ride a horse. Spence was on the black horse and rode far ahead of everyone else, while Dena rode the paint with Cody sitting behind her. Tiger trotted alongside them.
“You doing okay back there?” Adam asked.
While Spence and Dena seemed to be enjoying themselves Adam was as stiff as a board. “Are you?” Ally asked.
“Uh, yeah,” Adam let out a nervous laugh. “I still haven’t gotten used to riding a horse yet….if you couldn’t tell.”
Ally smiled again. Adam’s fear made her feel brave. “What did you do before?”
“I was the manager of a bank, one of the bigger banks in all of Connecticut.” His voice lit up talking about it. “I started from the bottom and worked my way to the top.”
She thought about how he always seemed unsure of himself and couldn’t imagine anyone listening to him when he told them what to do. “What about Dena?”
Adam looked to his wife who was riding ahead and talking to Coby behind her. “We actually met at the bank. She was a teller there until we decided to have a family, then she stayed home with them.”
Them.
Ally didn’t like talking about what had happened with her family, she wasn’t going to make Adam do the same. “Where is Connecticut? Is it by Missouri?”
“Missouri? Is that where you used to live?”
“Yes.”
“Well, it’s not really that close. Do you know where New York is?”
Ally didn’t but she had watched enough TV to know about it. “Yeah.”
“It’s closer to New York.”
Dena slowed her horse down and came even to Adam’s horse. She gave Ally a smile. “How’s it going?”
“We’re doing alright,” Adam answered for her.
“If you ever want to switch you just let me know,” Dena said.
“Hey, I don’t want to switch yet, Mommy,” Coby whined before she shushed him up.
Adam looked up to the sun which was making its way slowly towards the horizon. “How much longer are we going to ride?” he said in a whispered voice.
Dena winced for a brief moment then tossed her gaze towards Spence who was too far ahead to have heard. “Until we find a place to stop for the night.”
“I’m just saying it’s going to be dark soon.”
“I know,” Dena answered testily.
Adam glanced towards Spence. “We don’t need him-“ Adam couldn’t finish because Dena spurred her horse on and it trotted ahead of his. The man dropped his head and didn’t say anything.
They rode for another hour until the sun began to kiss the horizon then stopped and began to set up camp. Adam, Spence and Dena all had large backpacks filled with stuff and each horse had large saddle bags full of supplies. Dena pulled out two small tents and began to set them up while Adam and Coby gathered wood for a fire. Spence had wondered off as soon as everyone else began their duties.
Ally watched Dena putting up the tents and realized she was the only one not doing anything. “If you want I can go hunting for squirrels.”
“You’re okay, hon. Spence does all the hunting for us, I’m sure he’ll find something. Even if he doesn’t, we still have plenty of fo
od in our bags.”
Night fell and they sat around a small camp fire with the stars shining brightly above. Ally looked up at them and for the first time in a long while didn’t feel completely alone. Spence had come back shortly before nightfall empty-handed and somehow in an even worse mood than when he left. Dena and Spence sat to the side looking over an old map while Adam sat alone staring into the fire. Coby, as he always seemed to be, was stuck to her side.
“Pretty cool, huh?” he asked.
“What?”
“This fire.”
“I’ve seen a fire before.”
Coby frowned for just a second. “Well duh, but I bet you don’t know how to make one. Spence showed my mom and he’s going to show me how. If I wanted to I could I could live out here all by myself like you did.”
Ally just stared at the boy realizing how little they had in common. To him everything was still a game. He hadn’t lost anyone or watched someone get killed or even went to bed hungry. They had protected him. She took in a breath pushing away the irritation and anger she felt. It wasn’t right being mad at someone because they had managed to avoid the bad things in the world. “It’s really not that fun you know.”
Coby paused and looked at her like she had just swallowed a bug. “What?”
“It’s actually kind of boring. Hiding from people all day, searching for stuff you can use and then hunting for food.”
“That sounds awesome,” Coby said.
Ally smiled. “Trust me it’s not that awesome.”
Coby returned the smile then began throwing rocks into the fire.
“Coby,” Ally whispered so the others couldn’t hear. “Why are you going to California?”
Coby instantly looked to his mother who was still going over the maps with Spence. “Looking for someone.”
“Who?”
This time Coby looked to his dad but the man had fallen asleep sitting up. “My sister,” he finally said.
Them.
“Your sister? What…what happened with your sister? Why is she in California if you all are from Connecticut?”
A shadow passed over Coby’s face. “We’re just going to find her. I’m not supposed to talk about it.” He stood up quickly and stomped over next to his mother. Dena looked up briefly than buried herself back into the map.
Ally ran her hand through Tiger’s fur and the dog snuggled up closer to her. They hadn’t been able to shield him completely from the world. Ally didn’t like Spence, and she was fairly certain he didn’t like her either, but the man was helping this family out. Dena seemed nice but her smile had a fragileness to it like a stiff wind could break it, revealing her true state of mind. And Adam, she wasn’t sure about Adam. The man always seemed nice but sad. He didn’t seem to fit in, not just out in the wilderness but also, strangely, in this group, in his family. She laid down using Tiger as her pillow and in moments was fast asleep.
The sound of raised voices woke her from her slumber. Ally opened her eyes and noticed the fire was nothing more than a red glow surrounded by burnt wood which had plunged the area into darkness. On the other side of the fire was Adam and Coby curled up in a sleeping bag they had fallen asleep outside, but they weren’t the source of the voices. Ally raised her head slightly and looked around but didn’t see Dena or Spence.
“We are not talking about this,” came Dena’s voice from the tent behind Ally.
The girl slowly turned around, doing her best not to make any noise or wake Tiger, whom she was still using as a pillow.
“The longer it takes to get to California the greater chance we are going to show up and there won’t be anything there,” Spence said. “You have a good heart, you always have. I understand wanting to save and take care of the girl but the more people we have the harder it is going to be.”
Ally tightened up when she realized they were talking about her. There was a small opening in the tent and she tried to see inside but the dying fire didn’t give off enough light.
“End of discussion, Spence. I’m not going to abandon someone else’s daughter in order to save my own. I couldn’t live with myself and I don’t know how you can live with yourself suggesting that.”
“Oh sure, make me out to be the bad guy in this situation. You know there is truth in what I’m saying, you just don’t want to recognize it.”
“This conversation’s over,” Dena said and the tent flap stirred but then stopped suddenly.
“Wait,” Spence said. “How is everything? How…..are you?”
“Good,” Dena answered and then the tent opened and she emerged.
Ally closed her eyes and pretended to be asleep. She heard Dena walk past her towards Adam and Coby. Ally risked slightly opening one eye and saw Spence peek out of the tent towards where Dena went. She could make out the anger on the man’s face even in the dim light. In a huff the man closed the tent and stayed inside.
The man wanted to leave her. He wanted Dena and the others to just leave her in the middle of nowhere. Ally should have felt anger but she didn’t. She didn’t like the man, and it was obvious even before she overhead the conversation that he didn’t like her, but the reason she wasn’t angry was because Dena refused to do it. Ally snuggled back into Tiger’s side and managed to fall back asleep.
Ben
The view was nothing short of staggering.
The sun wasn’t due to set for another hour but it was low enough that the skyscrapers blocked its light from reaching them. The closer they floated towards the island the larger the buildings seemed to loom in the sky and the clearer it became that this area had seen a lot of fighting. The top corner of one of the skyscrapers was missing, showing only twisted beams and jagged edges, while others had massive holes in their sides.
Ben looked to the faces of the men in the small boat with him. If they were awed it didn’t show in their faces. Bags hung under Zima’s eyes while Mason just stared straight ahead, focused. Also on the small boat with them was another man, or young man. Zima had introduced him as Ty, apparently he was the only one they were willing or able to part with to assist Zima in bringing them to the base. The young man was probably in his early twenties with a small, uneven afro, a peach-fuzz mustache that could only be seen in a specific light, and a dark green jacket that was zipped all the way up. He didn’t look like any kind of soldier that Ben had ever seen. Ty noticed Ben staring at him and gave him a quick nod before looking back towards the city.
They floated across the Hudson River in the small inflatable boat that Zima had brought with them. The cool night air blew over them and Ben kept his head down to prevent his eyes from watering. Winter was over but the warm spring air was taking its time arriving.
They pulled up to the dock and quickly got out. Zima led the way with his gun at the ready. He told them that the majority of the fighting had been contained to Long Island but the enemy had airdropped hundreds of soldiers all throughout New York and the surrounding areas. The men who had taken out their helicopter had been a part of that.
“Hey Zima, man, this area is pretty clear you can relax a bit.” Ty said.
Zima’s eyes kept scanning the area. “All it takes is one bad guy with a gun.”
Ty looked back at them and shrugged his shoulders. “Alright man, you do you.”
The trees which had once been contained to a small portion of the sidewalk had ripped free of their boundaries and were growing up alongside the buildings walls. Parts of the sidewalk had cracked or been lifted up by the roots as Mother Nature began taking back what was once hers.
The trip had been relatively quiet. Mason had asked Zima a few details about how far they had to travel but that had been the extent of it. Ben wanted to know more and it was irritating that no one else seemed to share that desire. “So are we winning?” he blurted out.
Ty tilted his head in Ben’s direction but didn’t say anything.
Zima glanced back for a second then went back to scanning the buildings. “We’re not losing. I have
n’t been on the front line so I can’t say a whole lot.”
“Don’t trip,” Ty said giving Ben a cheesy smile. “Them dudes hit us hard at first but they haven’t been able to get past Long Island since.”
Zima nodded. “Apparently we thought the attack was going to come primarily from the West Coast so our manpower was transferred over there. The main attack hit the East Coast instead. But all reports are that our Navy hightailed it back, cut off their reinforcements and now it’s just a matter of time until we take out what’s left of them.”
“How much of that do you believe?” Mason asked.
“The part about cutting off their reinforcements. Who knows if that was their main force. It either could still be on its way, hitting the West Coast as we speak or coming up through the gulf. Only thing we can do is focus on here.”
“Who is it?” Ben asked.
“Them Chinese man,” Ty answered before anyone else could.
This time Zima glanced at Ty but Ben wasn’t able to read the look. “Reports are the forces that hit here were Chinese. Rumor is the attacks on the West Coast have been North Korea, but that apparently isn’t intel that is pertinent to my current mission.”
So were they working together? Ben wanted to ask but stopped himself as they came around the corner where there were several American soldiers standing around outside a gated off area. Initially the soldiers began to reach for their guns but Zima raised up a hand.
“Friendlies. We’ve come a long way. It’d be a shame if you shot us down just outside the gates.”
Ben had been underwhelmed when they had made their way to the base in Kentucky. That place had been undermanned, undersupplied and in need of some serious repair. What lay in front of him made that place look like a Holiday Inn. The street was cut off by barbed wire fences and the buildings on each side were being used as the actual base. Some of the doors to certain buildings were torn off and in others part of the wall had been knocked out to allow a bigger opening. Soldiers in torn up uniforms walked about with a weary look on their face. Ben felt depressed just looking about.
