Early Release

by Jason Michelsen

  "Yeah. I mean, kind of. We haven't lived here that long, but I know a few people from school and church."

  Adam walked to the corner and peeked back toward the school where folks still milled around the entrance. Some were armed, but all looked lost.

  "Eve, can you come here for a second? I think I might get shot if I yell to them, but they know you. Just call out that your mom is hurt and needs help."

  The girl seemed to consider this for a moment, weighing the idea against the desire to stay by her mother's side. Thankfully, reason fought through the tears and the impossibly tough side of the little girl--the side he had seen earlier--rose to the occasion. Once on her feet she moved quickly to where he stood and poked her head out cautiously. He watched as she scanned the crowd, presumably seeking out someone she knew and trusted. Finally her eyes lit and her breath caught; the ghost of a smile played across her mouth.

  Stepping out of the shadow, she shouted, "Mr. Austin! Mr. Austin!"

  From the gloom, Adam saw an older man with close-cropped salt and pepper hair turn with a startled expression.

  "Evelyn? Is that you, dear?" he called in a voice reminiscent of a favorite grandfather. "Come over here child, it's alright now."

  "My mom needs help! Please, hurry!"

  Several men and women from the crowd heard this, and every one of them burst into a sprint--well, some were no more than a waddle--toward the kid. Rachel was clearly a well-liked member of this community. He went to kneel next to her, his gun discreetly tucked into his belt, before the crowd arrived.

  When the first man rounded the corner, Eve sat across from him, once again stroking her mom's hair. The moon cast a silvery glow on the scene, somehow turning a tragic picture into one of sad beauty.

  "Who are you?" a well-armed man asked as he approached.

  "Adam. I'm with Saul. Who you probably don't know either. How about the nurse? Do you know her? I'm kind of with her, too." He briefly wondered how he had stumbled through the introduction without being executed.

  "Okay, where are they?"

  "Actually, probably getting themselves killed right about now. Sorry, Eve, I'm exaggerating. Still, we need to get to them before they run into some tragically bad odds."

  "We need to take care of Rachel and Eve first, then--"

  "Go help them. You're not a doctor, only Lisa can help my mom right now."

  The new arrivals stared at Eve. I guess they haven't seen her strong and wise grown-up impression before, he thought.

  "She's right," Adam said before they could recover from their shock. "Leave half your guns here guarding these two, the other half comes with me to find them."

  Webster's citizens were so shell-shocked they obeyed without hesitation. The splitting of forces took only a minute, and then Adam was setting off after the man who had saved him so many times.

  "Adam?"

  He paused at the entrance to the alley, looking back to Eve.

  "Thank you, for everything."

  The lifelong screwup just nodded, then ducked around the corner before anyone could notice the tears in his eyes. Is this what doing the right thing is like? Is this the feeling I've been missing all my life?

  106

  Chips flew from the corner just inches from Lisa's head; bullets whistled past angrily. She ducked back for just a second before leaning out and returning fire. Her target was Hutchins, but two men with him were making it difficult to get a clean shot at the monster.

  The pursuit had been fast and reckless, fueled by rage instead of rational thought. Brittsen had chased them back to Main Street, now she worried that if they crossed, she would lose them.

  The pistol clicked, prompting the nurse to dig her last magazine from her pocket and clumsily reload. Hurried feet pounded across pavement as her quarry tried to escape into the maze of destruction that was the south end of town. Seeing her window of opportunity close, Lisa darted around the wall and gave chase, firing at the dark forms as they entered the shadows across the street.

  Her left leg kicked out from under her when what felt like a massive hypodermic needle slammed into it. Tumbling to the dirt, Lisa suddenly had a very clear recollection of the two smallish figures she had seen fleeing, and realized with cold dread that neither one could have been the Prophet.

  Quiet laughter drifted with the faint aroma of distant bonfires, adding a surreal quality to an already fantastic situation. Matthew Hutchins slowly strolled out of a recessed doorway, chuckling in contrast to the demonic glint in his black eyes. A revolver that looked too small to cause any damage hung loosely in his right hand, tiny tendrils of gray smoke still wafting from the barrel.

  In a bleak moment of despair, Lisa knew her own gun was somewhere in the damp grass, where it would be of no help to her. She scanned her memory for an adventure novel that featured a heroine escaping from a jam like this, but found no realistic scenarios. Given the circumstances, she was willing to pass on the realistic piece, but even still her chances seemed slim at best. As the Prophet approached she steeled herself for the obligatory taunting, and finally, the bullet.

  He stopped just outside of arm's reach, cocked the hammer back and coldly raised the gun.

  "Wait!" she cried. "Aren't you supposed to brag about how you beat me and all that?"

  "Sweetheart, I've seen the movies too, and that never ends well."

  107

  David raced through the slick grass; the sound of Lisa crying out forcing him to abandon his cautious pursuit. She had to be close, but this neighborhood was mazelike in its complexity. He caught a hint of a familiar voice on the wind and redoubled his speed as he rounded a corner toward Main Street.

  Immediately in front of him was a scene he was unprepared for: Lisa propped against the firehouse wall, with the Prophet standing over her, gun drawn. The towering man swung the gun toward David and only a well-timed slip on the wet lawn saved him from the booming shots that flew past where his head used to be. Hitting the ground with a bone-jarring crash, old habits kicked in and he returned fire, keeping it high to avoid the nurse.

  As if providentially guided, one round struck Hutchins' right ear, drawing a savage roar and spinning the beast to the ground. Brittsen dragged herself back around a corner, and David quickly gained his feet and ran to meet her there. He barely made it before the injured Prophet resumed his enraged assault, firing rapidly at the wall that sheltered his enemies.

  It was only a matter of seconds before Saul heard the click of an empty chamber and could safely pop out to engage the other man. When he did, Prophet was fleeing across the street, still holding his destroyed ear as he ran. David gave chase to the far sidewalk, but pulled up short when he heard more frantic voices mingling with a strangely familiar, rhythmic clapping sound.

  He quickly ducked into the deeper shadows of town hall, a building he had feasted in what must have only been a day ago. The mysterious sound was soon revealed as a trio of horses galloped into view; two ridden by men David recognized as some of Prophet's most trusted henchmen, the third led to their leader. He mounted confidently while the others peered into the darkness, guns drawn and begging for a target. There was a quick, hushed conference, then all three wheeled around and headed back the way they came.

  The Prophet paused before leaving the alley and gave one last look down the corridor he had been chased down. Even in the pre-dawn gloom, Saul could see the flash of hatred in those black eyes. At that moment, as he looked into the devil's eyes, regrouping with the others seemed like a much better idea than this solo pursuit.

  As his adversary took his mount away at a trot, David suppressed an involuntary shudder, then turned and sprinted back to where he had left the woman who came through hell with him.

  108

  On the third day after the rebirth of Webster, David and Lisa found Eve in the loft where she had helped prepare for a battle she was too young to have to fight. Her eyes were rimmed in red, but for the moment the tears had stopped; probably for the first time si
nce Rachel's burial earlier that morning.

  Final counts revealed over two dozen townsfolk dead at the hands of the Prophet's gang. Most were buried the previous day, but Rachel and John were given a special service in honor of the key roles they played in taking back the town. The body of Eve's father was also recovered and laid to rest next to his wife.

  The kid had had an incredibly tough morning.

  "Hey sweetie," Lisa said softly, sitting next to the girl and pulling her close. "Everybody's been looking for you, they're worried about you."

  "They don't even know me," was the bitter reply. "Most of them had never said a word to me until mom and dad...."

  Lisa looked helplessly at David over Eve's head. They had both made attempts over the past days to convince her that this was her home now, but the poor girl refused to accept that. She was too new to the community, and losing both parents here had infused the place with horrible memories.

  "Eve, I know you hate this place right now, but these people truly care about you." David himself hated the place for what it did to her, but he had the advantage of age and maturity; he was not taken off guard by yet more proof that the world was unfair.

  "David promised you that he would look for your Aunt Lea when he gets to the coast, and you know he will do that." Eve nodded despite the tears as Lisa did her best to console her. "When he finds the rest of your family, we will find a way to get you reunited with them. But for now, it's best for you to stay here. You understand that, don't you?"

  Eve wiped at the tears on her cheeks, apparently deciding to go back to her grown-up role. The ease of the transition said too much about what she had been through this week; it left a pain in David's heart.

  "When are you leaving?" the young girl asked him.

  "In the morning. It will take me months to get there, I can't afford to wait another day, as much as I'd like to stay with you and Lisa for a little while longer."

  With eyes that held no surprise at being left again, she just looked at him. No accusation, no judgment; just the look of a young child who kept getting left behind by the adults that took care of her. Again, Saul weighed all the different concerns in his head. Why am I leaving this to chase shadows of a happiness I don't remember?

  As if sensing his thoughts, and refusing to allow them, Lisa prodded Eve to her feet. "Give David a hug and go get ready for dinner. It's getting late and we'll need to get to bed early tonight."

  Like a dutiful daughter, the skinny blond hugged the Soldier fiercely, then made her way out of the loft.

  For a time they just sat, watching the town through the loft window. In just three days the people had made substantial progress toward rebuilding, and the attitude was one of cautious hope.

  "How's your leg?" David asked quietly, interrupting the comfortable silence.

  "Hurts, but it makes me look tougher. It's easier to get people to do what I say now."

  They both smiled as another silence settled in. For a moment David mourned the old Lisa; the lighthearted, talkative, easily smiling nurse. Experience told him that she was gone for good, replaced with a quieter, darker woman. The forge of life had once again sacrificed beautiful innocence for necessary strength and resilience.

  "Any news about Adam?" she asked.

  "Nothing. I think he's gone, and has no intention of coming back."

  "He did the right thing in the end, why would he run away after all that?"

  "Because he did the right thing. After years of indecision, he finally put all of himself into a cause; he finally made a stand for what he believed in. In the stories that leads to happy endings, but in the real world...."

  Lisa needed no further explanation. The losses she had felt in the past week were enough to convince her that sometimes you didn't fight to win a prize, sometimes you just fought to not quit. She still wasn't completely sold that the young man would continue on the right path--especially without the guidance of David to keep him on track--but she was still grateful for his actions in crunch time.

  "And what if he goes after Prophet?" she asked.

  "I don't think he even wants to see him again. I think he's found the right direction now, all we can do is pray that he finds someone else out there to help him to the next level. Nothing is ever certain, except the certain need for hope."

  "Is that why you're going back east?"

  David was silent for a long minute. Images of his daughter and wife ran through his head. All he had left of them was hope that he could find them and be allowed a chance to redeem himself. "Yes," he started quietly, "that's exactly why I have to go back."

  Lisa smiled at him, a look full of more emotion than he ever should have been able to read in the face of someone he barely knew a week ago. But they did know each other now, and better than he had known anyone except Marta in his entire life. He saw the regret in her smile, mixed in with the gratitude, fear, and understanding. Maybe there could have been something between them if he stayed, but they both needed time to come into their own. For David, that meant going back to his family and putting as much energy into fixing things as he had put into breaking them down. For Lisa, that meant leading in peacetime as well as she had led through battles. The girl was special, and he marveled at how far she had come since she called him slow.

  "So I guess that's the final answer. Part three of the puzzle is solved?" David raised an eyebrow as Lisa started speaking in riddles.

  "We already covered who you were and who you became, so this is who you want to be? A quiet family man, living out his golden years watching the sunrise over the Atlantic, surrounded by grandchildren and cats?"

  They both laughed at the mental image. "Maybe not cats, I'm still a bit traumatized over the death of my first cat, Midnight. She always thought she was tough, but taking on a Subaru wasn't her brightest move."

  "Okay, so without the cats. That must have been quite a talk with Mr. Austin."

  Mr. Austin, the man Eve had been clinging to when David and Lisa returned from chasing the Prophet, turned out to be a retired Army Chaplain. After a long conversation on the nature of grace and redemption, Saul could confidently say he must have been one of the best Chaplains in the service. It was during that talk that he decided that the dream he had of reuniting with his family was an actual possibility, and not just a fantasy in his broken mind.

  "It definitely was. I highly recommend one of his talks when you get a bit overwhelmed. If he can convince me I still have a chance to be a family man, he can probably have you running for President within the week."

  "I don't think we're doing Presidents yet, and this Mayor thing is already crazy enough!"

  "Well, Miss Mayor, I for one think you'll do a great job. As long as there aren't too many rats."

  Lisa rolled her eyes, but couldn't help smiling. "That was one time, and you just won't let it go, will you? If you don't stop, I'll appoint you Sheriff and you won't make it out of town."

  David held up his hands in mock surrender. "Sorry Ma'am, it won't happen again."

  Looking back out the window as dusk approached, the laughter ebbed. "You know Lisa, I'll be passing through Midling on my way out of here..."

  The unspoken question floated between them for a moment, but only a short one, before the nurse shook her head. "I would love to see my parents, but this is my place now. Maybe I'll make it over there once things get settled here."

  "Well I didn't think you'd be running off, but I did think maybe I could stop in and check on them for you. Maybe let them know you're okay and one of the rising stars in post-apocalyptic politics?"

  Her eyes shone in the diminishing sunlight, and David decided she had not lost any of her beauty through these trials.

  "Could you deliver a letter for me?" she asked excitedly.

  "I don't know that I can live up to the high standards and efficiency of the Tanlau mailroom, but if you can dig up a stamp, I can probably make that happen."

  "Thank you so much!" she said giddily, attacking him with a
hug. He barely had time to get his arms around her and return the gesture before she was pulling away and scampering for the ladder. "I'm going to find something to write with, I'll see you at dinner!"

  Saul suppressed a laugh as he watched her run across the lawn in front of the barn, heading for her office in town hall. His eyes shifted to the other people in town, all slowly milling around images of destruction and ruin. None of them looked without purpose anymore, the scared girl he had met in the depths of hell had grown into an inspiring leader that gave these people purpose again. He hoped he had just a tenth of their willpower.

  He knew he would need every bit of it for the upcoming journey.