Manifest Destiny: Part One: Lost In Limbo

by Kay, Sabra M.

  Manifest Destiny

  Part One: Lost In Limbo

  Sabra M. Kay

  Copyright © 2015 by Sabra M. Kay

  All rights reserved. This book or any portion thereof

  may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever

  without the express written permission of the publisher

  except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

  This is a work of fiction. All characters and locations in this book are fictitious,

  and any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, is coincidental.

  ********

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  Chapter One

  “You’re an idealist,” Nat said as she draped her wet laundry over the line. “Face it.”

  “Right. What does that even mean?” Selah snorted and rolled her eyes.

  Nat laughed. “It means you are nothing like any of these people.”

  She gestured across the cluttered, dusty landscape. Trailers, run down homes and abandoned cars lined the side street where Selah, her brother Kent and her best friend Nat lived.

  “So, not wanting to shack up with a disgusting, toothless moron that likes to get drunk and smack me around makes me an idealist?”

  Nat laughed. “These days, yes.”

  Selah hung the last of her garments on the line, then looked around the little yard behind the house. Nat had tried to make it pretty. She collected interesting stones, shells and a couple of small statues, and arranged them into what she called a garden. She had also planted some tomatoes and squash, in the hopes that their limited water rations and the occasional rain would be enough to keep them growing. They did surprisingly well, but as soon as they were ripe, someone came through and picked them all. Nat had shrugged it off, saying that whoever took them must have needed them more. Selah cried like a baby, sitting in the dirt next to the bare plants. Kent didn’t bother getting angry. He thought trying to grow anything in this shithole was pointless.

  “Grow us some guns, some bombs or some chemical weapons. Then I’ll be impressed,” he said.

  That statement pretty much summed up Kent’s aspirations for life. Guns were hard to come by, and even if you managed to find one, the chances were better than average that it would be confiscated. Guns were against Worldcorp rules, and Limbo was a Worldcorp authorized settlement. Selah's younger brother was hell-bent on running off to fight the Voraks, the aliens who shot up the planet and then retreated to their ship to hover over them. Their only other presence was the dome.

  After a brutal wave of attacks leveled much of the country and most likely the rest of the world, the Voraks holed themselves up in the enormous steel-gray dome that had no visible way in or out. Machine guns and bombs didn’t have any effect. The size of a small city, it was constructed practically overnight. The Voraks didn’t venture out on the ground but occasional shuttles were seen coming and going, presumably to transport aliens and their supplies to and from their main ship.

  On a few occasions, resistance soldiers had successfully shot down shuttles, but no alien survivors or bodies were ever found in the wreckage. No one knew what went on inside the dome, or the numbers of the enemy.

  Selah looked up, shading her eyes from the afternoon sun. The ship was there, far away, looking almost like a second moon. It was an ever-present reminder, and sometimes it was easy to forget that it had not always been there, a menacing presence watching over the Earth, letting humanity know they weren't done with them yet.

  Nat broke her thoughts. “So, are you going?”

  She took a deep breath. There were days that walking out the front door was enough to have her in a cold sweat. The very thought of climbing aboard the bus out of town was excruciating.

  “I have to. She’s my sister. She’s had to have had the baby by now.”

  “What are you doing tonight?” Selah changed the subject.

  Her visits to the Skirts were a sore point and resulted in arguments with Kent, Nat and others in the settlement. She had made up her mind, though. The bus would come through in a few days, bringing supplies to Limbo and some of the other authorized settlements. She would catch it, go to the city and visit Nieve and the baby -- if it had survived. If she had survived. Out in the settlements, babies and their mothers died all the time. But Nieve lived in the Skirts, a Worldcorp-run community with medical care and luxuries like running water. She was probably fine.

  “Read my books, drink the last of my wine. You?”

  Nat paused a moment to stretch, and smiled. It struck Selah as a tired smile. With her silver hair pulled back, the dark circles seemed more pronounced. She was still a beautiful woman, but age, lack of good food and the not-so-small matter of an alien invasion had taken their toll.

  Selah sighed. She spent most of her nights at home. Sometimes she played cards with Kent, when he wasn’t brooding or wandering around with Zack and his buddies, looking for trouble. She hadn’t seen Kent all day, but he would wander in, sooner or later.

  “I don’t know, maybe I’ll go to the bar, find a husband and knit a pair of booties.”

  “So, you’re staying in?”

  Selah sighed again, and nodded her head. Wandering around town invited trouble, and trouble was not her cup of tea.

  “Maybe you should go in now.” Nat gave a quick nod of her head, eyes on the street. “Don’t turn around, just go in the house.”

  Selah didn’t have to turn around to know what Nat was talking about. She could hear the rowdy laughter getting closer.

  “Garrett.” Selah made a face, and took a step toward the back door of their tiny house.

  “Hey, what do you say, Selah? Am I going to get lucky tonight or what?”

  Garrett was the Corp-appointed sheriff of the settlement. His father was an administrator, working for Worldcorp, living in the Skirts. He sent his boisterous, arrogant and often-violent son to keep order in Limbo, to uphold the rules set down to help things get stable and promote the survival of the species. He ignored many of those rules, and viciously enforced the ones that suited him.

  “I don’t know, Garrett, why don’t you ask your wife?”

  Selah hated Garrett and his crew with a passion, but she was frightened of him, as well. It was no secret what happened to the last girl who spurned him. She jumped a little as the words left her mouth, and her heart started pounding in her chest.

  “Ruthie’s on the rag. Again. I’m starting to think she can’t even get pregnant, which means I get me another wife.”

  Garrett looked her up and down. He stepped across the crumbling sidewalk and into the yard. His crew, which today consisted of Sal, Tommy and David, hung back, making vile jokes and encouraging their leader.

  “Maybe it’s you,” Nat observed.

  “Screw you, you gray-haired hag.” Garrett glared at Nat.

  “That’s no way for a sheriff to talk.” Nat smiled pleasantly in his direction.

  “I don’t know what the hell makes you think you're so high and mighty, Selah. You aren’t even that hot, so just get that out of your head right now.” He turned his head and spat on the sidewalk.

  “Then why don’t you just leave me alone?”

  She was tempted to add a ‘please’ to the end of her sentence, but bit her tongue. If she showed too much weakness, it would only make things worse.

  He smiled, abruptly losing his menacing stance. He shrugged his shoulders and cocked his head. “Now, why would I do that? This place isn’t safe for a young girl like you. If you were with me, all these other losers would leave you alone. I’m just looking out for you is all.”

  He looked back at J
im, Tommy and David, waiting for their confirmation.

  “Yeah, bad shit happens to girls when they’re all alone,” Jim said.

  “Besides, don’t you want a baby?”

  Selah felt tears build up behind her eyes, but they didn't fall. She hated herself for being so emotional. As much as she despised the trashy, loud, stupid girls of the settlement, at least they didn’t seem to struggle the way she did. They laughed and joked and danced like life was one big party.

  “Maybe you want to run off and join the goddamn communists over in the Skirts? Eh? Or, maybe you want to go try your luck with the True Believers if you think it’s that bad here?”

  The “Commies” as they were thought of by many in the settlements included his father, his only family after a wave of death strikes decimated their block.

  Selah stood there, face burning and arms crossed protectively over her chest. Confrontations with Garrett were becoming more frequent. She looked to Nat, who was maddeningly silent.

  Garrett smiled, seeming to enjoy Selah’s discomfort.

  “Hey, I have an idea. If you won’t have me, why don’t you hook up with Tommy here? He ain’t got no one right now, not since Amy, right?”

  Tommy barely winced at the mention of his dead girlfriend’s name. Three weeks ago, Amy wandered outside the settlement for God knows what reason and died from a snake bite.

  Garrett spared no one’s feelings, not even his closest friends.

  The laughter of young girls broke the tension.

  Oh, that’s just great. Tilly.

  Tilly was Ruthie’s younger sister, fourteen and every bit as brash and vindictive as her sibling. The girls slowed as they passed Garrett and his boys. Tilly glared at Selah and Nat as they walked by, and gave them the finger.

  “Get your asses down the street, you little brats!” Garrett waved them down and turned back to Selah. “Don’t you worry about them, Selah. Now, let’s see. Oh yeah...you need to figure out what your plan is, girlie. You need to get yourself a man and do what you’re supposed to do.”

  Selah took a deep breath and stuck out her chin. She glanced at Nat, who seemed to sense she was about to open her mouth. She shook her head slightly.

  “I don’t want you or any of these other losers.” The words tumbled out of her mouth, weak and unconvincing. She tried to meet his gaze, and shoved her fidgeting hands in her pockets. It was useless. She was no good when it came to confrontation.

  “Oh yeah? Then what the hell are you doing here, huh, Selah?” He stepped toward her and she backed up, hair getting tangled on the clothesline. He chuckled.

  “Look, you want to stay here and enjoy the protection of this settlement, then you need to play by the rules. My rules.” He paused a moment, tapping his chest. “Now, the goddamn aliens and their traitor henchmen or whatever you wanna call them, have wiped out millions -- no -- billions of people. We’re barely hanging on here, you get that?”

  He poked a finger at her chest. She flinched and could feel her eyes welling up again. Shit. Don’t cry, don’t you dare cry, not in front of him!

  “So, you need to get a husband. You need to start popping out babies, and you need to stop being such a snobby little bitch. You ain’t nothing but a damn girl, and you need to do your part. 'Cause if you aren’t making either me or one of my boys happy, and helping us put our shit back together, then you aren’t worth shit and you need to get the hell outta here like your sister did.”

  He turned to walk away, leaving Selah heaving with anger, fear and a deep sense of hopelessness. Halfway across the street, he turned back to her.

  “If you don’t, then that means you’re fair game for all of us, you catch me?”

  The men, if you could call them that, made their way up the street, laughing, joking and shoving each other as they followed the younger girls.

  Selah stood, tears of frustration rolling down her cheeks. Nat put a comforting arm around her and sighed.

  "Why won't he leave me alone!" She cried.

  Nat shook her head. "He's angry at Nieve for leaving."

  "That makes no sense. She wasn't his wife!"

  "Doesn't matter. He decided she was his, and men like Garrett don't like it when they don't get their way."

  "It's bullshit." Selah wiped her face and glared up at the distant Vorak ship. None of this would be happening if it weren't for them.

  "What do you think they are doing up there? Why don't they just leave? Or finish what they started? It's like they are taunting us."

  "I don't know Selah, do you really think that's what they are doing?"

  "What else could it be? They could have wiped us out already. They just send their brain-dead soldiers to take us out a little at a time, slowly. Like a cat playing with a mouse."

  Nat looked up at the ship, her hand shading her eyes from the sun.

  "It would seem so."

  *

  Selah lay in bed, eyes open in the darkness. She spent the evening with Nat, sitting in their tiny dining room, looking through her recent haul of books and drinking homemade wine. She always enjoyed Nat’s company, although their relationship was sometimes more mother-daughter than friend.

  They spent many nights sorting through the books they had both been collecting, and their home had become a lending library of sorts. Selah loved to read, and although there was little support given for education in Limbo, she did her best to make sure the settlement's children had access to stories, from picture books to classic literature to mysteries. She and Nat both held storytimes for the younger children, and Nat assembled a small class once or twice a week for older children who showed an interest in subjects ranging from American history to mythology. Books were Selah's saving grace. They kept her sane and gave her hope that things might get better.

  Books hadn’t fared well in post-invasion America. Libraries had been bombed, books were left behind in homes in favor of other possessions, left to the rain and wind and debris. Books had been burned in huge bonfires by the True Believers, who cried out that Armageddon was upon us, and that now was the time to be cleansed of our sins, and that all of the knowledge we needed could be found in the words of the Holy Scripture.

  She thought back to the exchange with Garrett and his boys. They were becoming more frequent and threatening. She remembered when it had been Nieve they were after. She remembered the brutal attack—not by him or his crew—but it was hinted that her rejection of him had brought it on. Then Garrett’s visits, throwing the unlocked door open, drunk. She remembered the resigned look Nieve bore every time he came around. Selah knew that it was Nieve's way of protecting her from Garrett and his friends. Nieve didn't leave the house for months, not until the day she left the settlement for good. Naive ran down the street with her bag as Selah gathered up the day’s water rations. She watched her big sister run right up to the transport that would take her away to the Skirts, a place where each “citizen” was assigned a number, a dwelling and a job.

  The Corporation was all that was left of the society that the aliens were steadily destroying. The military was wiped out, the soldiers who were left were in hiding. The government was destroyed. A handful of powerful, resourceful people rose up and took the reins, forming their own privately-owned government. They controlled some of the major cities and worked to keep the power on and transportation running. They sent out caravans to all authorized settlements once a month. Anyone who wanted to join the Community was welcome, they just had to get on the bus.

  Selah waited a few months to go visit. Partly because she knew she would suffer through a long lecture from her sister, and partly because she became weak-kneed just thinking about it. Despite that, she had to know her sister was okay. She was angry with her for leaving, but what kind of life was she to lead here? Putting up with a disgusting, violent man like Garrett, who viewed her as his property? Scraping by on thin rations, hoping no one stole them from you? Watching babies born, only for them to die or kill their mothers on their way out?

/>   She sat on her bed in the darkness, staring out the window, as she often did. There was no moon, only billions of stars. With no lights to drown them out, they shone brilliantly. Nat said that before the lights went out, you had to drive out of town to see the stars. Selah had only a vague recollection of what it was like to have power or running water, but she fantasized about those luxuries often.

  There was little chance of that in Limbo. To Selah, life in Limbo was just an act, a shoddy imitation of what it was supposed to be. It seemed to revolve around scraping for food, fighting to keep what was yours and watching your back. And, in the back of your mind, wondering how long it would be before the bombing started again, or before you were hauled out of your bed at night by the Black Soldiers, or something else.

  This is my life. This is it. She fell asleep with tears drying on her cheeks.

  Chapter Two

  Clattering woke her from a restless sleep. Kent was in the kitchen, going through cupboards and looking for breakfast. The floor was cold on her calloused feet as she made her way into the kitchen.

  “Morning.”

  “Hey.”

  “I didn’t hear you come in last night.”

  “I just got here.”

  “Oh. Well, never mind, then.”

  Kent muttered under his breath and came away from the cupboard with some dried fruit and the powdered stuff you mix with water, creating a thick, tasteless beverage that was somehow good for them.

  “Some fruit?”

  “No, not hungry yet.”

  “Okay.”

  Selah hated the tension between them. It had been that way since Nieve had left.

  Selah wasn’t sure where Nat had gone off to. Maybe she was already at the well getting the day’s water rations. If so, she would find her in line. But no, she had told Selah under no uncertain terms that it was her task now. She needed to get over her anxiety, or not. Either way, it needed to get done. Get it together, Selah. Nervousness was already forming a knot in her stomach and a lump in her throat.