by T A Williams
Noah nodded toward his men and they began to pull the rope. Just before it became taut Whitford’s eyes met Alec’s. They were welled up with tears, and beyond those tears was regret and an apology. Alec opened his mouth to say something when the rope was finally tight and the force pulled Whitford back. The man backpedaled and managed to stay on his feet until he was finally directly underneath the tree limb, then for one painful moment his body fought against the force and gravity itself before he began to rise in the air. The man’s eyes bulged and with his hands tied behind his back, his arms tightened as they struggled to get free. He let out a gurgle as he continued to rise and his body jerked, causing the rope and in turn his body to sway back and forth.
Alec heard the gasps and the crying coming from behind him. He wanted to close his eyes, he wanted to turn away, but he didn’t. He owed that much to Whitford. The man’s gurgling intensified and the spasms became more frequent. His eyes began to grow red and glossy and large tendrils of slobber hung from his mouth. Tears ran down Alec’s face as he silently begged for it to stop. Every second he prayed for the struggle to end and for Whitford to die, but he didn’t. It could have been minutes, it could have been hours, but when Whitford’s struggling finally ended and all that was left was his body gently swaying and his blood red eyes, Alec was on his knees. The world spun all around him and the darkness nipped at the edges of his vision but he stayed awake. He didn’t move from that spot. Even when Noah’s men loaded up, allowing the people of Centralia to free the body of their leader, he didn’t move. He was aware of Freddie covering up Whitford’s body and trying to comfort him, but Alec couldn’t find words.
“Alec, please,” Freddie said. “What do we do?”
Alec pushed away his grief and focused on his anger, but all that came to the forefront was despair. “Send word to New Hope. Tell them to bring every vehicle we have. We need to bring whoever is left back home.”
Ally
She crouched under the bushes as another helicopter screamed past her and hovered over the abandoned mall. It floated there for a few minutes then slowly lowered and landed in the parking lot, allowing the soldiers inside to get out, each of them armed and carrying bags. That made fifteen helicopters in the parking lot. She saw three soldiers patrolling the rooftop of the building and several more patrolling the grounds outside. They were American, which should have made her feel better, but for some reason it didn’t. Ally slowly got up from under the bushes and ran back into the forest.
She moved quietly but quickly. The base was only ten miles from the White House and their town. The bulk of the helicopters had arrived yesterday and as far as she knew there hadn’t been any communication between this new group and President Carter. This new arrival, as expected, had brought the town into a frenzy, which was why Ally had decided to come and take a closer look. As she got closer to the town she noticed two birds taking flight twenty yards from her. Ally immediately stopped and crouched down. A rabbit took off from the same area, running from something. Ally unhitched her bow and took out an arrow but before she could notch it, she saw Maclin along with two other soldiers walking toward her. Ally put the arrow away and stood up. One of the soldiers jumped and turned his rifle on her but Maclin quickly pushed it aside.
“Calm down, she’s on our side, thank God,” Maclin said, smiling at her. “Ally, is there a reason you are out here?”
“Probably the same reason you all are out here,” she said as she hooked the bow on her back.
“We’re out here because we’re the U.S. military. You, on the other hand, are a civilian.”
Ally raised an eyebrow.
“Not a normal civilian, but a civilian nonetheless.” Maclin stopped a few feet from her and gestured them forward. “You know it’s not safe out here with the most recent…development.”
“They’re stationed at the Oak Side Mall. I saw fifteen helicopters, three soldiers on the roof and another four on the ground. They’re unloading supplies. It looks like they are setting up a base.”
Maclin’s brow furrowed. “Head back home. Try to keep this quiet.”
“They’re American. So that means they’re on our side, right?”
Maclin was quiet for a moment. “That should be the case, but until we know for sure you need to go home. Stay safe.”
Ally started to argue but the look on Maclin’s face changed her mind. Instead she merely nodded. “Are you going to talk to them?”
Maclin looked toward where she came from and shook his head. “No, just scouting. Now head home, Ally.”
It didn’t take her long to get home. She traveled through the town, which had gone from a buzzing hive of activity to a near ghost town. Most of the shops were closed and the few people in the street were close to the buildings with wary looks on their faces. Everyone could feel the tension. Ally cut through the town and made her way home. She could hear Adam’s voice before she even opened the door.
“They can’t expect you to go to work under these circumstances,” Adam yelled. Dena was in the kitchen putting on her jacket and Adam was pacing around it like a caged animal. “Until they figure out who they are and what the hell they want, you need to stay here.”
Dena stopped what she was doing. “Until we know they are a threat, there isn’t anything to worry about.”
“The fact we don’t know they are a threat gives us plenty to worry about,” Adam said, throwing his hands up in the air. He opened his mouth to say something else when he noticed Ally standing there in the doorway. Dena followed his gaze and for a moment they both grew quiet and composed themselves.
Dena walked over to Adam and placed her hand on his chest, steadying him for a moment. “Honey, I’m going in and if I get a hint there is going to be an issue I’ll come back home, ok?”
Adam’s jaw clenched but he didn’t argue.
“I shouldn’t have much to do. I’ll probably be back in a few hours.” Dena gave him a kiss on the cheek and walked over to Ally. Her face grew serious. “Everything ok?” she asked quietly.
“So far. Still checking them out.”
Dena nodded then smiled and bent down to give Ally a kiss. “Watch over him.”
“I always do.”
Ally
Ally rested her back on the brick wall in the alleyway and watched as three members of the unknown army walked out of the White House toward an old, broken, beat-down truck. Two of the men were clearly soldiers but there was a woman who was dressed in normal clothes and walked casually, while the soldiers were stiff and alert. They boarded the old truck and drove past the checkpoints and down the roadway. Ally saw Maclin walk out of the White House and watch the truck as it disappeared from view. The young soldier yelled something back inside and then walked down the roadway toward the town. Ally left the alleyway to meet him.
He saw her coming but for the first time ever he didn’t smile. “Hey Ally, now isn’t a good time.”
“What was that about?” she asked.
“Pretty sure I’m not supposed to say anything,” Maclin said as he walked past her.
Ally turned and walked beside him. “Maybe not to the regular people but I’m not regular people.”
A smile formed at the edge of Maclin’s face before he brushed it away. “What are you doing here? Shouldn’t you be at home or hunting?”
“I came to pick up Dena. Now quit changing the subject. What was that about?”
Maclin spared a quick glance behind him before he finally sighed and turned to her. “Just between us?”
“Just between us.”
“You won’t say anything to anyone?”
“Not a word.”
Maclin shook his head. “They’re U.S. military.”
“Figured that from their get-up,” Ally said.
“Yeah, well, the military is supposed to follow the orders of the President.”
“Ok.”
“They don’t believe Carter is the real President.”
Ally stopped in place
for a second as she tried to reason that out in her head. Maclin stopped for a moment too.
“That doesn’t make sense. How is she not the President?”
“There is some guy across the country claiming to be the real President.” Maclin turned and began walking again.
Ally ran to catch up. “So what does that mean? What do they want?”
“They want Carter to step down and give power to this other guy.”
“What would that mean? What would he do?”
“No idea,” Maclin said. “But I know he wasn’t the next in line to become President, which means he’s attempting a power grab.”
“So when we tell him no-” Ally started.
Maclin nodded. “We already have.” He stopped where he was. “They’re coming back for further negotiations soon. There is no legal reason for Carter to step down. So if she doesn’t…and they push the matter…”
“Can we take them?”
“We?” Maclin said raising his eyebrow. “I don’t know what their capabilities are. I do know they were able to mobilize a decent-sized force across the entire continent in a short period of time. That collection of Helos at their temporary base is more than we have working in our entire inventory. We expended next to everything against the Chinese and we’re still in the process of gathering our strength.”
“So you think they could beat us?” Ally asked.
“I think they may have a lot more than we do,” Maclin said. “Get your mother and go home. The President thinks she can negotiate some kind of peace between the two sides, but if she can’t I don’t want a bunch of civilians caught in the crossfire.” Maclin gave her a swift pat on the shoulder and quickened his pace.
Ally slowed down and let him walk past her. As she walked back to the White House her head was swimming. They had just managed to repel the Chinese; it didn’t make sense that they would begin to fight amongst themselves. Was this other President power-hungry or did he really believe he was the next in line? Did it really matter? When Ally finally came to she was near the last checkpoint at the White House and Dena was walking out with a tote bag over her shoulder.
“Hey, everything ok?” Dena asked. When Ally didn’t say anything, her face grew serious and she nodded. “So you heard? How in the hell do you know already? Come on, let’s go home.”
Ben
Ambassador Berger stepped out of the beat-up pickup truck, her shoulders slumped and her head down. The only thing missing was a storm cloud following her overhead. Locke and two other soldiers hopped out and causally followed her toward the Mall entrance. Ben let Berger walk past him but stopped in front of Locke.
“No luck?” Ben asked.
“You didn’t think it was going to be that easy, did you?” Locke said with a smirk.
“What did they say? Do they have any proof?”
Locke’s back stiffened slightly. “Remember your place, soldier. You keep an eye out, protect the base and do what I tell you to do. Berger is the one dealing with this, not us.” Locke smacked him on the chest and walked past.
Ben stood there for a moment, trying to let the frustration pass through him. He was tired of sitting around doing nothing. He went back inside the mall entrance, past the soldiers posted watching the entrance, past the temporary HQ they had set up complete with tables, maps and long distance radios. He nonchalantly turned around to see if anyone was watching him and when he noticed they weren’t, he turned and headed deeper into the mall. The mall had a skylight overhead that provided a small amount of light to navigate through. Ben kept to the shadows and used the light to guide himself deeper into the mall. The smell of mildew and decay flowed throughout the nearly empty building, and he passed empty storefront after empty storefront. As the skylight came to an end he entered the darkness and used the last of the light to make out an Army recruitment sign above one of the storefronts. Ben pushed up against the door, confirming it was locked. He took the butt of his gun and gave it a swift jab into the glass, causing it to shatter. He stopped for a moment, waiting to hear footsteps heading his direction, but it appeared it went unnoticed or at least ignored.
Ben stepped through the broken glass and was met with stale air and darkness. He gave his eyes a few moments to adjust to the darkness but even once they did, it was difficult to make anything out. He saw poster after poster of men in fatigues imploring people to do something with their lives and to defend their country. He stumbled through the nearly empty room until he got to the back, where there was a desk covered in recruitment pamphlets. Ben leafed through the pamphlets on top and then rummaged through the desk. Surely somewhere there had to be something with a picture of Sylvia Carter that he could use to either prove or disprove the woman claiming to be her. By the time he had finished, he was dripping in sweat and the room had been turned over. He had nothing.
Ben made his way back to the front of the mall and spotted Berger sitting in one of the empty storefronts at a table with her head in her hands. Ben tapped at the entrance of the shop and watched her jump.
“Sorry, I didn’t mean to startle you,” Ben said.
“No need to apologize. Can I help you, soldier?” she said rubbing her hands over her eyes.
“It’s Ben. I just saw you sitting in here and wanted to know if you needed anything.”
“Ben, yes, from the POW prison, right?”
“Yes ma’am.”
“No Ben, I’m fine, thank you.”
“It sounds like it didn’t go well,” he said, still standing at the door.
“No, no, it didn’t,” she said with a sigh. “But that was to be expected.”
Ben took a few steps into the storefront and stopped. “Why do you say that?”
Berger looked up at him and her eyes danced back and forth between his. “People in power are rarely willing to give up that power, at least not easily.”
“Is it the real Sylvia Carter?”
“Does it matter?”
The statement felt like it slapped Ben across the face. Why wouldn’t it matter? “Of course it matters. Either she is the real Sylvia Carter or she is an imposter. Either she is next in line or she isn’t.”
Berger gave him a sad smile. “Like I said, Ben, people in power are rarely willing to give up that power.”
Ben heard footsteps approaching and turned to see Locke coming toward him. The man gave Ben a weary look and then glanced at Berger.
“Everything all right, Ambassador?”
Again she sighed. “Yes, everything is fantastic.”
Locked nodded then turned to Ben. “Something you’re needing?”
Ben paused for a moment and kept his gaze on Locke. It passed through his mind for a second then he thought better of it. [VLM2]“No sir. Nothing at all.” Ben turned and walked out of the storefront and back toward the entrance with the ambassador’s words still echoing in his head.
Alec
There were seventy-eight survivors and they didn’t have shelter for even half that number. They set up tents outside and turned supply rooms into temporary bedrooms, with makeshift beds covering every available space. Their infirmary was maxed and the Council shed had been taken over to assist with the overflow. Everyone in New Hope was in motion helping, while the feeling of fear was thick enough to cut.
The Council met outside on a picnic table on the far side of the settlement, where there were few people to overhear. Jason and Margie sat at the end of the table with looks of anger on their faces. Trevor’s forehead was wrinkled in thought and Freddie’s mind seemed to be in an altogether different place than his body. For a long time it was quiet.
“How long will it take to have a place for everybody?” Jason asked.
“Months. We’ll need to take some people away from farming to help build,” Trevor said.
“Do we have the supplies for it?” Jason asked.
“We technically still have a deal with Noah. They are supposed to keep providing building materials. If they keep that up for a few more mo
nths and we send some people to salvage what’s left from Centralia, we shouldn’t have any issues,” Freddie said after a time.
“What about food?”
Freddie nodded his head. “We won’t have a lot of room for mistakes between the deliveries to Noah and the extra bodies, but we can make it work.”
Again quiet.
“What about Noah?” Margie asked finally.
Trevor’s jaw clenched. “What about him?”
“After what happened…what do we do?”
“There is nothing to do,” Trevor said quickly.
Margie looked around the table but no one said anything. Alec met her gaze but didn’t respond. “He just destroyed an entire town, his second in less than a week. Is that something that can go unpunished?”
Trevor stood up. “What do you want to do? Attack him? Take some of his men hostage? It worked out really well for Whitford.”
Margie jumped to her feet. “I sure as hell don’t want to just sit back and wait for him to do the same to us. Jason, didn’t you tell me awhile back that you could turn all those fertilizer bags and our leftover diesel into a bomb big enough to destroy a four-story building? ”
“If we stand up to them we will die!” Trevor screamed. “He will kill everyone here and barely break a sweat.”
Margie pounded her fist against the table. “I’m not going-”
“Stop,” Alec said softly but firmly. “Trevor’s right. We’ve been to their base. The road there is well guarded and even if we managed to make it there, the base is heavily fortified and we would be outgunned and outmanned. It’s unlikely we would even make it within fifty feet of the base.” Alec watched as the anger fled Margie’s face and she sat back down and covered her face. “We don’t have a choice. We have to keep these people safe and to do that we have to continue the deal and not make waves, understand?”
