Liberating Barriers

Liberating Barriers Page 7

by Roman Shepp

  “How did you escape anyway?”

  “In the days following Arthur’s death many of us were unsettled by what seemed to be a changing mood. Many of us were sent out on patrols to forage. Some of us just didn’t return. We have been hiding out here, waiting for Hugo to come and find us. Every day we live in fear that today will be the day when he sends people to slaughter us. We have women and children. All we want is to be left alone and live our lives in peace, but Hugo does not seem the type of man to allow that. We have taken to prowling the woods at night to preempt any attack on our camp.”

  “You can’t live like that, always in fear. That’s not going to do you or anyone else in this camp any good. Look, I get why you’re afraid. But there are other dangers as well, and if you’re going to make a good life for yourself in this world, you have to stand up for what you believe in. We can help you with that. These people aren’t your enemy.”

  “Were they part of the army as well? The only reason I allowed you to join us was because you wear the uniform. It shows you are a woman of honor. Can you say the same for them?”

  Rosa wasn’t even sure she could say the same for herself. The uniform she wore represented so much, yet it meant so little. “They’re as honorable as I am, maybe more so, and they’ve been through a hell of a lot more. Please, just release them and we all can talk about what we can do to help you and the rest of the people here.”

  Their conversation had lasted a while, and time drifted to the late night. Eventually, Andrew relented and told Rosa that he would let them go. Rosa wondered if he actually had chosen to be a leader, or if it had been thrust upon him because he seemed riddled with doubt and insecurity. They walked over to the cages, and to their surprise they saw that Phil was the only one left. The doors to Jane and Frank’s cages were wide open, the ropes that had bound the doors to the rest of the cages were on the ground.

  “What is this…” Andrew gasped, turning around in shock, a look of betrayal on his face. Rosa held her hands up and shook her head.

  “I have no idea what happened here,” she said. “I tried to tell them to wait.”

  Andrew marched up to the cages, looking amazed that anyone could break out. The commotion was enough to wake up Phil, who scowled.

  “Great. Am I the only one left in a cage?” he asked.

  “They’re gone, Phil. Jane and Frank escaped.” The look on his face made Rosa’s heart go out to him. They had left him behind. Without hesitation, Rosa walked up to Phil’s cage and began undoing the rope.

  “What are you doing?” Andrew asked when he noticed what she was doing.

  “I’m letting him out. There’s no sense keeping him in there anymore.”

  “We can’t—” Andrew began. Rosa cut him off.

  “Either you trust me, or you don’t. I trust Phil more than anyone else alive, and I’m letting him out. I don’t know why Jane left. I’m guessing Frank was the one who escaped first, and he wanted her to go with him. I thought she’d stay, though…anyway, they’re out there now. They’re probably in danger.”

  “They could be spies. They could be with Hugo right now, telling him everything they’ve learned about us.”

  “Get out of your own head. The world doesn’t revolve around you,” Rosa said bitterly, reaching in to help Phil up. Andrew stopped arguing.

  “What’s going on, Rosa?” Phil asked, looking beleaguered.

  “It seems these people are the last line of defense against Hugo’s little band of not-so-merry men. They’ve realized that fighting violence with peace is only going to end one way, and we’re going to help them.”

  “We have to,” Phil said, “it’s the only thing to do. Hugo has to be stopped, if what Martha and Belinda said was right.”

  “It was,” Andrew said. He still was staring absently at the empty cages. “I thought if we just held you, we could figure out what to do.”

  “One of the things you’ll learn is that the world doesn’t wait for you.”

  “Why would they leave?” Andrew said.

  “Are you really questioning why people would want to escape from being held in cages? I think you should work on your public relations,” she teased, then she led Phil back to the middle of the camp. “I think you should get the others out here, so we can talk this out.”

  Andrew nodded and began rousing everyone. Sleepily, they came outside and looked toward Andrew, but it was Rosa who stepped forward and began talking.

  “Many of you don’t know me. Maybe you’re afraid of me, but I promise you I’m not going to hurt you. You’re all afraid of Hugo. I don’t know the man, but I’ve heard some of the things he’s been capable of. I have to be honest with you, though, and tell you that there are more things to be afraid of. My friends escaped, and I don’t blame them. If they had asked me before I knew what you people were about, I probably would have left too. But I know that you want to stop Hugo from getting to the city. We want the same thing. We’re going to help you. I’m not going to leave.

  “I know that a lot of you want to stay true to your pacifist ways, but I don’t know if that’s going to be possible. Sometimes you have to fight fire with fire, and if you’re not prepared to do so, then it’s better you say so sooner rather than later. I’m going to fight until the end. I’m not going to let this man walk through the world and take what he wants without consequence. The future of this country is in our hands. It’s not going to happen by itself, only if we take it upon ourselves. You all were part of a community that was separate from the world. Tap into that passion, that determination, and we’ll be able to defeat Hugo.”

  When Rosa finished, she was left breathless. Never before had she spoken in front of so many with such zeal. Everyone was looking at her, rapt with attention, and her words were met with a strong round of applause. Even Phil was staring at her in awe.

  “I never knew you had it in you,” he said.

  Rosa smirked. She didn’t know she had it in her either. It felt good, though, to be part of something, and she wondered if this is what Steve had felt all the time. Silently, in her own mind, she told herself that she was doing this for her fallen comrades. Not just for Steve and Don, but for all the other soldiers across the country who had fallen prey to people like the masked man. These were troubling times for them all, and only by sticking together and forming alliances could they continue and prosper. Rosa may have been able to stay out of danger on her own, but she wouldn’t feel such a sense of pride at inspiring others. The people around her came up to her and thanked her for her words. Others made speeches about how they had to fight Hugo for the good of those who needed to be shown how evil he was.

  She let them have their moment, slipping away with Phil.

  “It sounds like you have a new home here,” he said.

  “I don’t know about that,” Rosa replied, “but I do believe in this cause. I just don’t know how to go about it. They’re not the most fearsome warriors.”

  “I don’t think any of us are at the beginning, but sometimes all you need is something to believe in and people can turn into warriors. Sometimes all they need is a good leader too.”

  It took Rosa a couple of minutes to realize that he was talking about her. She shook her head. “No way, I’m no leader.”

  “What you just said there sounded like a leader to me. It’s not always what we choose, but sometimes people need you to be something you don’t think you’re capable of.”

  Rosa nodded, contemplating his words.

  “Why do you think they left me?” he asked.

  “I know why Frank left you, because he doesn’t care about anything other than himself. As for Jane…well, she’s been different since she woke up. I guess what happened in the bunker hit her hard.”

  “It hit all of us hard,” Phi
l said. “I didn’t think she’d actually leave, though.”

  “Me neither. Especially not with Frank.”

  “Maybe he forced her.”

  “Without waking you up? I don’t think Jane would have left without causing a ruckus. The truth is, Phil, we might not have known her as well as we thought. What happened to us, it affected us all.”

  “Jane was close to Tony. She must be grieving. I still hate thinking that he’s gone. It doesn’t seem like the world is right without him in it. Sometimes I still expect him to come and be a part of all this.”

  “It was too much to ask, leaving him in there alone. We should have done more. I feel pretty useless myself, especially since the two people we rescued have run away.”

  “Then all we can do is try making up for it in the future. We have to help these people stop Hugo. It’s what Tony would have wanted.”

  “It’s what Steve and Don would have wanted as well.”

  “Then we’ll do it all for them,” Phil said.

  With that, they went to sleep. Rosa didn’t sleep well, though. Her mind was focused on the battle ahead. When the morning came she found that everyone was waiting for her, even Andrew, who seemed to have relinquished the role of leader to her. Rosa wasn’t sure how she felt about that, but it wasn’t as though she could turn away from it now.

  “I’ve been thinking a lot about the assault last night. What strategies have you been employing so far? What was your plan to attack?” she asked.

  “We just thought we’d go up there and ask him to stand down, and then if that didn’t work, we’d have a fight.”

  Rosa tried not to put her head in her hands. “This is what we’re going to do. I want all the fastest runners together. You’re going to gather up as many sticks as you can and make javelins. I want you running around the perimeter of the camp, flinging javelins inside. We’ve got to turn our weakness into an advantage. We have fewer people, which means we’ll be better at hiding. Those of you who are good at hand-to-hand combat will train others. I’ll give you some pointers as well. Do any of you have guns?”

  They all shook their heads.

  “Okay, well, I’m sure we can improvise. This isn’t going to be as scary as you think. What we really need to do is take out Hugo and the others who are advising him. Your inside knowledge is going to be crucial. If we can take out their power base, then the other people should fold. They probably don’t want to hurt people any more than you do, but Hugo has convinced them otherwise. Fighting people they know is going to be a much different proposition than approaching the city.”

  They all looked impressed, and Rosa even surprised herself with how much she remembered from her training. After she had sent them all on different tasks, Phil came up to her.

  “I want to be with you on the front line,” he said. “I know that I’m not the most useful person to have in a war, but I’ve waited my whole life to be a hero and I’ve seen too many bad things to not stand up for what I believe in.”

  Rosa put her hand on his shoulder. “Phil, I wouldn’t have you anywhere else,” she said. Phil smiled, and for the first time Rosa knew what it was like truly to be a part of something bigger than herself, to be a part of an army.

  “But are you sure we shouldn’t go and look for Frank and Jane?”

  “We have to choose our battles. They left us. I don’t know why Jane went with him, but she must have had her reasons. I wish we could, but these people need us more. Hopefully we’ll see them again, but we have a job to do.”

  Chapter Nine

  Tony led Quentin up the slope to the bunker door. Groot was growling continuously, not being as trusting as Tony was. Tony hoped Quentin had been broken like he had imagined. The huge man had to bend down as he walked up the slope. Tony’s breath caught in his throat with every step, knowing that if Quentin wanted he easily could snap Tony’s neck, even though his hands still were tied. Something told Tony that if Quentin really wanted him dead, nothing was going to stop him. So far, Quentin hadn’t made any move to kill him, and trust had been established.

  They had stepped over the dead bodies, which were starting to smell. Tony opened the door and breathed in lungful’s of fresh air. The sun was bright and warm. It took a few moments for his eyes to adjust. By his feet he saw Don’s dead body. The man only had wanted to find his sweetheart, but it was a quest he never would fulfill. His son would have to go his entire life without ever knowing what happened to his father.

  Tony stepped out, followed by Quentin and Groot. He’d half-expected the others to be waiting there for him, although that had been a forlorn hope. Tony had made the decision to lock himself in the bunker knowing full well that his friends would have left. That’s why he had done that in the first place. It was the only chance he would have to get through to Quentin, and it had worked. But now he was alone. Saeed, Jane, and the others all were elsewhere in the forest. Hopefully, they had found each other and were safe. Hopefully, he would see them again.

  “This is much better,” Tony said.

  “I don’t like outside. It smells funny.”

  “That smell is freshness,” Tony said.

  “Where are we going?”

  “I don’t know. Just for a walk,” Tony said, although he had a number of destinations in mind. He wanted Quentin to confront the things he had done. He’d managed to get Quentin to admit he was a bad man and to see the logical fallacies in his quest to balance the world, but there still was much work to be done if he was going to save the man.

  It wasn’t long before Quentin realized what Tony intended. They walked back along the river, retracing their path. They approached one of the campsites that Quentin had ravaged. He stopped and shook his head.

  “I’m not going there,” he growled. His voice was so coarse, like chalk crackling in his mouth.

  “You have to, Quentin. It’s the only way.”

  “No. They deserved what happened to them. They shouldn’t have been happy.”

  “We’ve talked about this, Quentin. That’s not the way to think about things. You have to see what you’ve done so that you don’t do it again.”

  Every moment Tony spent with Quentin was a moment that could end in death. If he had any sense at all, Tony should have run away as fast as he could, but he felt something of a responsibility for the welfare of this man. When Tony looked at Quentin he no longer saw a monster. He saw a man who had been damaged by life, who had been forsaken and cast away. If everyone did that to him, then Quentin had no chance at getting better. But if someone showed him compassion and a little kindness, it could make all the difference in the world.

  When Tony first had encountered Quentin, he’d thought the man was a villain, but now he saw that the world wasn’t as black and white as he first had thought. The comic books he’d read hadn’t prepared him for the shades of gray he encountered, and he hoped he would be able to bring Quentin fully back into the light, to enable him to have a fulfilling life, even after all the crimes he had committed.

  “I don’t need to see them.”

  “You do, Quentin. I know it’s difficult, but you have to do it. It’s the only way I can think of to get you to face what you’ve done. These people aren’t alive anymore because of you. In your mind you thought they were taunting you, that they had committed some great sin, but that’s simply not true. There’s only one reason why these people aren’t alive today, and that’s because of you.”

  “If you’re trying to make me feel better, it’s not working,” he said, his head hanging toward the ground.

  “We all have to accept what we’ve done, and who we are if we’re going to continue in this life.”

  “And what if I don’t want to continue in this life? I know what I am and what I can be. I’m a killer.”

  “You don’t have to def
ine yourself by what you’ve done. But if you really want to go down that route, then try adjusting your outlook. Try only going after the people who really deserve it, not the ones who are happy. I know of a few bad people who are taking advantage of others. If you put your efforts into stopping them—”

  “Everyone I killed has deserved it,” Quentin said bluntly.

  Tony looked down at the bodies, torn and twisted. Many of them had been torn apart by wild animals looking to get a free meal.

  “Did they?” he said. “Did Don and the other soldiers? None of these people have done anything to harm you, Quentin.”

  “Just seeing them happy was enough. What right do they have to be happy when I’ve had everything taken from me?”

  Tony shook his head in disbelief and then made his way back to the river. He sat down on the riverbank, feeling the soft grass under him. He rolled up his pants, took off his boots and socks, and dangled his feet in the water. It was warm and foamy, and deep under the surface he could see a few fish swimming by. Groot sat beside him, although the dog wasn’t looking at the water at all. He was fixated on Quentin.

  Tony gazed out at the water, wondering what he was going to do with this man.

  “I don’t know what to do with you, Quentin. I thought we’d made a real breakthrough down in the bunker. I thought I was starting to get through to you, but if you’re so locked in this mindset, I don’t know how much hope there is for you. I know that you’ve been damaged by life, but that doesn’t mean we have to be beaten down by it. I know a man like you, one of the others who was in the bunker. He lost his family on the night this all began. There wasn’t any sense to the crime. People had a grudge against him and used that night as an excuse to attack him. They ended up killing his wife and child. He lost himself. He had a death wish. There were days when I don’t think he wanted to wake up, but I didn’t give up on him and I’m not going to give up on you. I helped him get through it, and now he’s out there somewhere, hopefully taking care of Tara and the others I helped to escape.

 

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