by Greg Dragon
“She was helping me with my bandages when it happened. We thought Maria was asleep, but when we heard her scream, we ran out and there they were, assaulting her for the food.” Tracy’s anger seemed to be building when she said this and James looked around to make sure they were alone.
“That sounds like two people, Tracy. Why do we have everyone out here being punished for it?”
“Because they all watched it happen! All of them stood there, letting it happen. Not one of them tried to fight for this poor child.”
James was not surprised by what he was hearing. He had seen family members sell one another out in the war, along with a number of other atrocities that made him question the good of humanity. When placed into a corner, some people would look out for themselves and themselves only. What he was used to was looking out for his brothers and sister in arms, keeping them safe, and worrying about himself last. But assault or no assault, a collective of cowards did not need to be executed. Tracy, as injured and tiny as she was, was letting her anger take it to another level. He pulled her in and whispered something to her. She pushed him off, frustrated, but then brushed her hair back and sighed.
“Okay, fine. We’ll do it your way,” she said.
James didn’t appreciate the shove, but he looked at the people and relaxed his grip on the pulse rifle.
“Here’s how it’s gonna work. Emotions are running high right now on both sides but we need to focus. They’re asking for everybody to get into the bunkers and I would suggest we do it as soon as possible. If you want to live, you will go to the bunker at Wharton. That’s northeast of here – just follow the red smoke. As you travel, I would think about what happened here and know that most people would have killed you all for what you did. Now get up and get moving, and get out of my sight.”
When he said this, they stood up and began to walk quickly towards the street. Some of them stopped briefly to apologize and plead their case with Angelica, but the mother was not hearing any of it. When the two that had attacked Maria made to follow, James motioned for them to stay and then turned towards the rest and told them to keep walking.
“Mom, Tracy, this is your call. What do you want to do with these two?” he asked, and as they went to plead their case, Tracy pistol-whipped the woman to the ground, the momentum causing her to fall as she did it. When the man made to retaliate, James picked him up into an arm lock, then switched it to a wristlock and held him steady as Tracy worked him over with a series of punches. When she had worn herself out on the pair of them, James checked them for weapons and then left them retching on the ground.
As he made to check on Maria, Tracy ran to him and hugged him tightly. It was strange and unexpected, but he stood for a moment as she did this before moving an arm to return the hug. “We need to get going,” he said finally and Tracy released him and went over to hug Angelica. “Anything left upstairs?” He asked them, and little Maria lifted her head from her mother’s shoulder to look at him.
“No, the bad people took it away from me,” she said, her voice tiny and cute. It made him think of Alysia when she was just a child.
“The bad people are gone now, big girl; you don’t have to worry. We won’t let them hurt you again, I promise. Are you okay?” he asked, and she nodded at him with tears welling up in her big brown eyes. She reached out to him and he took her from Angelica, shifting her around to sit on his shoulders so that he could continue to use the pulse rifle. “Listen up, Maria, you’re gonna be my little soldier, okay?”
“Can I have a gun?” she asked, and he laughed at her innocence as her mother yelled “Maria,” as if embarrassed by the question.
“No gun, soldier; your job is recon. When I tell you to hide, I want you to close your eyes, hold on tight, and tuck your head. Okay?”
“Okay.”
“Let’s practice it. Maria, hide!” he yelled and she quickly clutched his big neck tightly, and buried her head into his shoulder, closing her eyes tight. “Awesome. I’m very proud of you, Maria. Okay, since there’s no supplies and three of us have injuries, we should get to the bunker fast so that we can be taken care of before the late comers rush in tomorrow.”
“How far away is the base?” Angelica asked as they walked away from Maria’s injured attackers.
“I would say about eight and a half miles on foot,” James said as if it were nothing, even though he noticed that Angelica balked at his answer.
~ * ~ * ~
The reunion between Alysia and her father was bittersweet. It was a boost of elation to see the other alive, but it was also a reminder of their loss. After the hugs and tears came the stories, each relaying the events of the last two weeks to the other, and then came the painful conversation about mom.
Tracy had come over to see Alysia with James but when she saw the conversation veer towards the mother, she let them be so that they could talk and catch up. When she went back to the rooms that she and Angelica had picked out, she knocked on her door to check in on her.
Angelica opened the door after some time and after greeting Tracy, she locked it and then walked back into the tiny kitchen. Little Maria was on the bed playing and Tracy saw that Angelica was cooking something.
She felt strangely out of place, as if she was invading on their little family, not unlike how she felt with James and Alysia. It made her want to leave but there was no way she could explain the sudden departure. She went over to the bed to play with Maria, who was scribbling on a stack of paper with a red pen.
“You don't have family in Jersey, Tracy?” Angelica asked and Tracy wondered if she should ignore the question or answer truthfully. She decided to give the truth a chance.
“No, not here. My family is down south in Texas. How about you, Angelica, any family here?”
"Ahh, I see, you don't like to talk about it," Angelica said. It was as if she picked up the awkward feelings in Tracy’s tone. She stopped stirring the food inside of her pot to look in her direction. “I'm so sorry, Tracy. I don't mean to pry into your business. I’m just … you know, just making conversation.”
“It's no problem, Angelica, don't worry about it. I don't really get along with them. My parents, I mean. So that's why you don't hear me talking about it. I see how Alysia is with her dad and it reminds me of how things used to be with my own. We all went our separate ways a long time ago and I haven’t spoken to them in ages.”
“Have you talked to them since all this started?”
“All what started, Momma?” Maria asked, interrupting Tracy’s answer. She had grown tired of drawing and had hopped off the bed to talk.
“Maria Georgiana Morales, you get your little butt back in bed and lay down, now. I am not going to tell you again,” Angelica snapped, giving the little one the evil eye.
Maria stuck out her lip in a pout but like the ‘little soldier’ that James had dubbed her, she took her orders and climbed back unto the bed.
“That one. What a handful,” Angelica said to Tracy and jabbed her finger in the direction of Maria.
“She's a good girl,” Tracy said and then walked back to the doorway as if she meant to leave.
“No, no, Tracy, you stay,” Angelica said when she realized what was going on. “I am making this for you; a real home-cooked meal. You kept me and my daughter alive and we owe you everything, so please stay and eat. Okay?”
Tracy nodded, as she was indeed starving. However, the awkward conversation that Maria had saved her from still lingered fresh in her mind, and memories of a broken past with her family held her attention. She sat at the table and Angelica produced a triad of bowls, spoons and a large pot of soup.
The spices made it smell delicious and since her meals had only been chips and water for the last two days, Tracy wanted to dive right in. Maria was invited to the table where they all held hands while she said grace. Angelica was a Christian, so it was important to her that they blessed the food and Maria as the youngest member was elected to do it.
“Father, than
k you for the food we are about to eat and that Mommy made for us. Bless Auntie Tracy and keep her happy, and protect Poppa, too so that he can come home. Amen.”
Tracy smiled at the prayer and kissed Maria’s hand, which made her giggle and snatch it back, embarrassed. Everyone ate the soup until they were full and even Maria went back for seconds. Afterwards they sat over empty bowls, chatted a bit, and then little Maria went to bed. Tracy decided to help Angelica with the dishes.
“This is nice,” Angelica said, when they were finished washing up.
“You mean the house, or just the peace that we are getting away from those things?” Tracy asked.
“Everything, since you came into our lives. I never thought I would ever get the chance to make soup for Maria in a normal place like this again. The monsters ruined everything, and when we got in with those people to raid the hotel, I thought we would be on the run forever.”
“So you weren’t staying at the hotel when all of this hit?”
“Oh, girl, no,” Angelica said, wiping her hands on a cloth and draping it over the stove. “We couldn’t afford to stay there, are you kidding? We just followed John and the other people because he said that a hotel gave us the advantage of being up high and that would keep us safe from the monsters.”
“John didn’t think you and your baby would be worth a share of their food though, huh?” Tracy asked and Angelica noticed her sarcasm.
“I am not stupid, Tracy. I joined with reassurances. It’s just that he wanted other things that I was not willing to provide. He told lies to the other members. They all hated me and punished Maria for it.”
When Tracy was sure that Maria was asleep and that they were alone, she motioned for Angelica to come over by the door to join her.
“Everything alright?” Angelica asked and Tracy nodded, then looked intently into her eyes.
“It's about our conversation earlier. You said men did something to your husband. Was it the same ones? The couple who attacked your daughter?”
Angelica looked over at the bed where Maria lay, and her tiny form was a silhouette beneath the nightlight. “No, not them, but people like them. When the monsters came and started to attack everyone, there was a man that my husband owed money to. He was going to leave the country but came around to make his collections first. Javier didn't have it, so they took him away. I woke up to my bed empty and him gone. It was a nightmare.”
“That's freaking terrible! What about the police? Ugh, never mind. Sometimes I forget how lawless things got when all the craziness happened. I hope he's okay—”
“You don't have to say that, Tracy. I know better. Javier got caught up in a lot of bad business with his gambling. He was a good man and the best father, but it caught up with him and now we are out here alone.”
“Well, thanks for dinner, and thanks for a great evening, Angelica,” Tracy said and she exited the room and stepped out into the strange world that was their underground city.
The high ceiling of the bunker was now displaying a graphic of clouds sitting against a sky that represented dusk. Tracy thought it was interesting, being that it almost tricked her mind. If she were to forget for an instance that she was underground, she could technically pretend that she was in a suburb in the outside world.
She walked past a few people talking and a number of soldiers patrolling and helping people move their belongings. It was different seeing so many people being helpful when a month earlier they probably would not have even looked at one another.
~ * ~ * ~
When Tracy finally made it to her doorstep, she hesitated for a moment, trying to decide whether it would be appropriate to check in on James. She knew that he was hurt, though he had not said anything about it. There was something primitive and attractive about his silent acceptance of the pain and it reminded her of the old movies that her father loved.
There was always a large, muscular, man—macho, they used to call it—and they would try to be like machines instead of speaking up to get their injuries mended. The men she knew on the force were very different from that. They would try to outdo one another in their complaints: “I tripped and skinned my knee on the curb chasing some perp today.”
It was what they all did. Yet here was a soldier, older, out of place in the modern age, who exhibited kindness, selflessness, and so much love and understanding for little Maria. But he had experienced a massive loss; the woman he loved taken away by tragedy. She knew it would upset Alysia if she acted out on her feelings and she wondered if he would reject her.
She unlocked her door and stepped inside. It took a few breaths for her to accept that the space was hers, but even after forcing herself to accept it, it still felt odd.
“You’ll get used to it,” a voice said and she turned around to find James. He was in a clean tank top with black cargo pants stuffed in his boots, but he had bandages visible beneath the shirt.
“Alysia wrap you up?” Tracy asked as she stepped outside to stand in front of him. She had forgotten that she had removed her shirt, and was in a sports bra with her police pants on.
James noticed that she was nearly topless but the black bra could have passed for quirky fashion; and she had bandages around her abdomen just like him. They looked like a pair of wounded space marines swapping war stories.
“CeeCee didn’t do this, the medics did. They recognized me when I got here and forced me to get looked at right after I finished talking to her.”
“Is she alright?” Tracy asked.
“It was a pretty big blow, losing her mom. She’s a tough girl but you can’t tough this out; you know what I mean?” He said.
“You seem to be handling it well.” Tracy said.
“Don’t get it twisted. I have a gaping hole in my chest with that woman gone. But I don’t want to put that on you, just wanted to check in on you and make sure you’re good.”
“Are all ex-Special Forces this sweet?” Tracy joked, and gave him the slickest smile she could muster.
“Sweet? Ma’am I don’t know that flavor, and how do you figure I’m Special Forces?”
“It’s written all over your face, Jimmy, not to mention I know what the hell that frog tattoo implies. The one you have stamped across your heart.”
He didn’t reply but smiled and then made to walk back to his place. “They want some volunteers to hold the door, just in case those things make to pull us out,” he said as he walked backwards, staring at her.
“Is that an invitation for some action?” she asked and James nodded, causing her to smile. “Will you be there?” she asked.
“Yes, ma’am.”
“Then so will I. Just come get me when you’re ready,” she said and watched him turn and walk back to his room and wondered if he had noticed her flirting. Did it matter? she thought. He said that there was a big gaping hole in his chest.
“The ball is in your court now Jimmy,” she said under her breath and then walked back inside to clean herself up.
And Then There Was Darkness
Chapter One
When the alarm sounded throughout the bunker, it was well past the 24-hour mark that was expected. It sounded like one hundred angry birds, screaming as loudly as they could at the world, forcing every living thing to wake up and pay attention. The people of the underground city assumed the alarm would have come during the earlier half of the evening, but it was now 2:00 a.m. and at a time when they were not prepared to hear it.
Alysia’s tears from crying over her dead mother sat like tiny, silver lakes beneath her eyes, dry but still visible to the world. She had gone to bed late, a side effect of those silver lakes, so the alarm woke her up amidst darkness and she wondered if she was in a nightmare. The sound was deafening and she got up angry, and slipped on her shoes to peer outside. Masses of people were in the “street” looking up at the television screens. The film of the hour was a newsreel that showed a bird’s eye view of New York. There was a frantic reporter giving a blow-by-blow of the events, a
nd a number of aircraft were firing rockets down at the monsters.
Alysia stepped out onto the street and walked up next to the boys. Jaime was in a long black robe with bunny slippers and Debdan was in his boxers. She wanted to laugh at how funny he looked—since he wasn’t fully awake or aware of his attire—but she had no place to laugh. She was in pink pajamas like a little girl, her dried tears adding to the effect as if the only piece missing was a teddy bear or her safety blanket.
“What’s going on?” she asked them, her voice sounding irritated and angry.
“Your friends are attacking the bunkers,” Jaime said.
“What? Then what the hell was the point of putting us down here?” Alysia yelled. “Weren’t they supposed to bomb them, or wipe them out, or something?”
“I think they tried and failed, CeeCee.”
She looked up at the screen as a giant reached down for a bunker lid and tugged hard at it, causing it to bend. A number of FAA Spitzer jets flew past him with machine gun fire and he backed away while fanning at them, holding the wounded area they’d shot.
“That’s the biggest giant I have ever seen,” said Debdan.
“I didn’t realize they could get that big,” Jaime said, his mouth agape in apparent surprise.
“You do realize that is our bunker, right guys?” Alysia said, and the creaking from above them confirmed it.
Alysia looked around for her father. Maybe he could explain what was going on. Some soldiers had congregated near the area where the street led up to the lid. James and Tracy were standing with them, each brandishing a rifle and an assortment of weapons. Tracy had not spoken much to Alysia since they rendezvoused inside the bunker. She had kept mostly to herself or with James and the family that had come in with her. Alysia wondered why that was. Did she do something to offend her, or did she just not like her?
“What happens if that lid pops open?” Alysia asked.
“We all die from the radiation they are using to kill the creatures, I suppose,” Jaime answered.
