by Kip Nelson
He sneered, opening his palms and gazing around at all the people who were on their knees. His men laughed. Matthew stood with a resolute look on his face, knowing that if he flinched in weakness that would be the end for him and his people, and the ground would be coated in their blood.
“I always wondered who was going to win between me and her. Guess that just will be another mystery unsolved.”
“What do you want?” Matthew asked.
“I want a lot of things.”
“Specifically? You said you made a deal with Lisa, maybe we can make a deal as well.”
The man wagged his finger with a malicious smirk. “That's smart, but no dice, I'm afraid. I'm done with making deals. Lisa managed to do that because she knew how to play people. I can tell you're not the type for that. You haven't got anything to threaten us with, so don't try insulting me by claiming you're our equals. Besides, I kinda feel as if I owe it to Lisa to make you pay for what you did, we were kind of in the same fraternity. She and I understood; you, not so much. I'm going to make a display now, and you're going to see the new world order. This is your future, right here, right now,” he said, and then gestured to his comrades.
They walked in among the cowering people and grabbed a few, hauling them to their feet and bringing them to the leader, who stood there with a smug look on his face. Matthew's heart sank because he knew what was about to happen. Everything in him wanted to plead, wanted to offer this man everything he had, but he knew that it would do no good. This was inexorable and there was nothing that could help Matthew, or the people who were being lined up to die. All he could do was watch and bear the sorrow and pray that the Lord would fill him with righteousness to smite the evil men, and make them pay for this vile display of wickedness.
His eyes passed quickly across the camp, although he was careful to not let his gaze linger upon anyone, lest the enemy see it and think they meant more to Matthew than the others. But in his cursory glance he saw that Tara and Peter were together, scared, trembling as a man walked behind them and lingered over them before moving on. Matthew's mind turned to Adam and Diana, and the other envoys that had been sent out. He hoped that they would be safe and would see what was happening here. If they did not, they would be walking right into a trap. He did not dare to hope that they would come to the rescue, though, because he wanted them to be safe. The best thing was for them to run away and flee the city, find somewhere safe...although Matthew worried that there were no safe places left in the world.
When there were five people lined up before the master he unsheathed his ax and held it aloft. The dull metal was as dark as the sky, and it promised just as ominous a fate. He wrapped his huge hands around the shaft and lifted it above his head.
“There is only one power in this world,” he began, and brought the ax down on the first person, cracking his skull.
The man trembled and then fell to the ground as the leader extricated the ax. Brains and blood seeped onto the ground as he moved to the next one. Screams of horror filled the camp and many people looked away, but not Matthew. The least he could do was watch.
“And you all shall bow down to this power, just as you have bowed down to me,” he said, and hacked off the next person's head, their eyes freezing in place as the head fell to the ground.
With the momentum gained from pulling his ax back, the leader swung it across and sliced through the next person's neck. Blood spurted out and gushed over the ground. “The power is one at my command. I have given myself to it, and you will, too,” he said, and the fourth person fell to the ground, their eyes lifeless.
“The power is death.” With a mighty swing he killed the fifth and final person, and as the body collapsed to the ground everyone fell silent.
Blood had splattered up the leader’s clothes. Brains and skin clung to the edge of his ax, and he wiped it against the ground. Matthew felt nauseous. Other people had not been able to hold in their vomit and it spewed over the ground. Matthew looked around now. Behind him he saw that Stan was holding Annabelle and whispering something in her ear, probably telling her that nothing will happen to her, or that everything was going to be okay. It was a promise he couldn't be sure of keeping.
They all waited there, unable to fight back, too frightened to make a sound as the leader and his minions moved through the camp, making sure there were none who would make any trouble for them. They pulled in a large cage, which they had brought with them from their own camp, and set it in the middle of the community. The living were herded into the cage like animals. It was hot and cramped. People were panicking. They didn't know what to say or do. They looked to each other. They looked to Matthew, but he didn't know what he could tell them other than to stay patient and stay strong. Their hopes, however, were not looking good. For a day that had started out with such hope he was afraid that it would end with a bleak acceptance that they never were going to be safe.
In time, Matthew moved through the crowd and found Tara, Peter, Stan, and Annabelle. The four of them were huddled together. They talked a little bit about Adam and Diana and all of them agreed that they hoped the two of them were far away. Peter tried coming up with a plan, but there didn't seem to be one to get them out of this. The cage was in the middle of the camp and any commotion would be seen easily. None of them had weapons, and they weren't skilled enough fighters to take on these warriors.
It seemed hopeless, but while the adults were talking Annabelle was looking around herself. She noticed that by the edge of the cage there was a patch of soft ground. She reached out her foot and prodded it with her toes. It fell away. She sidled away from her father and started to dig her heel in, clearing away the soft soil. She worked quickly and diligently. Nobody noticed her because they all were too focused on what was happening outside. She bent down, pretending she was fiddling with her shoe, but really she was hauling away huge chunks of dirt with her hands until the others started to realize what she was doing. She shared a glance with her father, but before he or the others could say anything she wriggled underneath the cage and was out the other side.
Chapter Fifteen
Adam, Diana, and Oscar walked frantically toward the next camp. Adam's heart was beating frantically in his chest as he looked around, wondering if there were any enemies nearby. He dreaded to think of what could be happening to his friends, and Tara most of all. It was such a horrible thought to think they had come so far together and been through so much, only to have it all end like this. From what Oscar had said the people who had attacked the camp were vicious, armed with jagged swords, and Adam didn't know how they were going to fight again. He was tired of fighting. Every part of him just wanted to lay down weapons and live in a better world, a world where people could talk about their problems and where things could be resolved without resorting to violence.
Perhaps that was too much to hope for, though. He and Diana tried to calm Oscar down, but it was clear he had been shaken by what he had seen, and this didn't fill Adam with hope. After Lisa he thought everything would have been easier, that without her the world would be a safer place and the only thing they would have to fight would be the weather, which was an imposing enemy itself. Yet, as soon as Lisa was gone this new threat arose. It was clear to Adam that they must have been keeping an eye on what had been happening to act so quickly when there was a power vacuum to exploit. This only made them more dangerous since they were prepared, whereas Adam knew nothing about them.
He worried as they walked, and he could tell Diana was worried, too. She was normally unflappable, but with the information that Oscar had given them they knew it was unlikely their friends would survive for too much longer. Time was of the essence. They walked as quickly as they could, and Adam found himself wishing for sort of public transportation again. It would have made getting around the city far easier. The camps they visited were made of people who had sequestered themselves away in sets of buildings, making barriers to set aside their own little place of the world. They wer
e spread across the city, some nearer than others, and the three of them traveled to all of them to tell them of this new threat.
These camps all were surprised to be visited by other envoys from Matthew's camp. Indeed, some of the envoys still were there, talking with the leaders of the camp. Adam and Diana took turns telling the story, and by the time they reached the final community they were tired of having to repeat the tale. Oscar still was too shaken to tell a reliable story. Adam didn't want to scare these other people.
While they were surprised, the people of these camps were friendly and welcomed the three of them in. Many of them had had dealings with Lisa, and some were surprised that she had turned out to be a villain, since they only had been in the early stages of a relationship with her. Others knew her all too well, though, and were glad to see she had been dealt with. There were not too many tears shed when people found out that she had perished.
Visiting these camps, Adam learned a lot about how different people lived. Many of them still were gaunt, which wasn't surprising since Lisa had hoarded most of the food in the area. It would be a while before a proper food distribution method could be established. Most of the camps had a single leader, but some had a group who made all the decisions, and another camp was just a collection of individuals who happened to be living together. They were offered water and a little food, for which they were grateful, and in the discussion, they learned about how people were living through the apocalypse.
Many were trying to live off the land, and had some ingenious solutions to get moisture from the air and turn it into water. Some of what he learned was remarkable and Adam hoped that eventually they all could share this knowledge and benefit from the ingenuity of different people. He could tell there were many, though, who were feeling the rigors of survival. They looked frail and tired, weak, as though they were done with life and just wanted it to end. They reminded him of the shadow people living in the apartments, and once again he was filled with pity for them.
When they repeated Oscar's story many people were surprised, and they gasped when they heard about these men, but others were not. It seemed that some of them already were aware of this group and what they were capable of. One camp in particular seemed to know a great deal about the politics of the area. They were led by a grandfatherly man who always moaned in pain whenever he moved. The cold could not have been good for his aging bones.
“I have encountered these people before. Savages they are, with no sense of right or wrong. They worship death, and think their role on this Earth is to send people to the afterlife. They think we all were supposed to die when the world went dark and it is their role to be the Grim Reaper's assistants.”
“But that doesn't make any sense,” Diana said, “What happens when they get rid of everyone else? Are they going to kill themselves?”
The grandfatherly man did not say anything, he just looked at Diana and Adam with sad eyes.
Another person told them that this group was sadistic. They didn't just like killing people, they wanted to torture them and make them suffer. At least, Adam thought, there still was a chance everyone he loved was alive. He also learned that Lisa had played an instrumental role in keeping them at bay. She had made some sort of deal and that is why there was a conflict regarding her relationship. Some of the people he spoke to actually respected her for what she did, for they had suffered the brunt of the death cult's attack. Their numbers had dwindled dramatically until Lisa had made a deal with them.
However, it seemed as though now that Lisa was dead that deal had expired, and the death cult was released. It made Adam sick to his stomach. They seemed more savage than Lisa. If she hadn't died, then maybe they would have been happy to be at peace as well. Was ridding one evil from the world a good thing if it only meant that another evil came forth? He also wondered if that was why Lisa had been so confident even when she had been on trial, because she knew there was another evil out there, one that would come forth and wreak havoc on those who defeated her. As far as Adam knew that never had been part of the deal Lisa had struck.
For such a long time his world had been small. He had been concerned with his friends, those closest to him, and while he had spared a passing thought for the outside world, he had not given it a great deal of consideration. Now that he had spoken to a number of different camps he realized the city was a throbbing, living organism with a delicate ecosystem that still was developing. There were different factions all trying to make it in the world, all with their own problems and their own priorities. He was thankful, however, to see the vicious people were in the minority. Most people merely wanted to survive and live life. They wanted to work on growing their own crops and rearing animals again, so they could eat things such as eggs and have a steady supply of milk. It was a reboot of society in a way, sending people back in time to the years when hard manual labor was the way of the world, and the only way to survive.
Adam also had been plagued with feelings of worthlessness, feelings that he wasn't meant to be in this world because he just wasn't capable of surviving. Although now he had seen so many people who were just like him, and he knew that as long as they all were in it together they could make it through these terrible times. Sadly though, like him, most people were not fighters, and the thought of taking on this death cult terrified them. The first few camps were the most difficult to persuade because with just himself, Diana, and Oscar, he hardly could promise the strength of numbers. The ones he spoke to were reluctant to send their people into battle. He understood why, but he also knew that if he was going to save his friends he would need the help of all of them.
“I know you're all scared. Believe me, I am too. I've been in a war with Lisa, and it wasn't pretty. In fact, I never thought I'd ever be pushed to doing something such as that, but that's what this world does to us. It changes us in ways we can't even imagine, and before we know it we're not anything like the people we used to be. But I know that we can fight for good reasons, to defend ourselves and the people we love. There are a lot of things in this world that want to tear us down and make us doubt ourselves and our place in this world, but we cannot let them. We cannot falter. Look around. There are people here who you've come to love that you never would have met if the world hadn't gone dark. A wise person told me that life is about the people you haven't met yet. Think about all those other people out there, the ones who are counting on us to do the right thing here and now.” He paused, taking a moment to look around at the eyes on him, seeing them looking uneasy, and he knew that his words were getting through to them.
“This death cult is scary, but if we all work together we can defeat them. I know it won't be easy. I'm asking you all to put your lives on the line for each of us here and for people you don't really know. But I think in your hearts you know that it's the right thing to do because if we don't all stand up now, together, we all will die alone. The death cult isn't going to stop with our group. It's going to come for all of you and work its way through the city until there's nothing left, and who knows if anything can stop them.”
His words hung in the air until gradually people stepped forward and joined the cause. Oscar began calming down when he saw people actually were listening to them and were willing to help. Adam recited versions of that speech in the first few camps, and it worked every time, even though some people needed more persuading than others. Some countered with the argument that they just could leave the city and find a new home somewhere else. Adam replied by saying that no matter where they went, there always would be people like this, and if they ran now, then they would be running forever. Soon enough, people agreed and they said that for the sake of their future generations they had to make a stand and show that this treatment was not going to be tolerated. It pleased Adam to see so many people were willing to fight for the future, and in turn it gave him more hope that humanity had a future.
It became easier to persuade the later camps since by then he had a large following with him, and wh
en he left the last camp he had a small army. This short journey had opened his eyes to a bigger picture. He now understood better what Matthew was trying to do, and Adam realized he wanted to be a part of it. It wasn't enough to survive anymore, they needed to build for the future and make links with other people. For a long time, Adam had been scared of new people because of the unknown, but he knew that fear was irrational. People were kind, and good, and willing to help. They were brave and ingenious, and the only way they were going to make it through the rest of the post-apocalyptic days was to work together and share their ideas. Adam always had liked the internet because the entirety of human knowledge was accessible at the click of the button, but it still was accessible now, all he had to do was talk to people and learn from them.
He and Diana walked the army back through the city. They armed themselves with whatever weapons they could find, although Lisa’s effects still were evident. She had hoarded most of the supplies to make herself the superior force in the area. It was hard for Adam to admit that Lisa had been the one holding the area together in a fragile peace, but it didn't make her a good person, even though he wasn't sure what 'good' was anymore. All he knew was that people he loved were in danger and he had to do all he could to stop them. If that meant going to war again, then he would go to war, although one day the wars would stop and they all could focus on surviving. He wanted to learn how to grow crops, and in that moment, he thought of Annabelle and how she probably could teach classes about how to survive in the bleakest of conditions. A smile played upon his face. Diana noticed, and thought it odd.
“What do you have to smile about?” she asked.
