by E S Richards
“Yeah,” Mike’s face fell slightly, worrying about Chase and the others again. “Do you think they’ll be okay, Dad? Do you think they’ll make it out of the city?”
“I hope so,” Jackson answered. “Two of my best guys have gone with them, after all. If anyone can get them out of the city, it is Blake and Vic. It’s a bit of a blow to lose the both of them, to be honest with you.”
“Oh.” Mike looked up at his dad, curious where the old man was going. “Why?”
Jackson returned his son’s stare, holding his gaze for a moment before glancing back down at the papers on his desk. He had called his son to his study for a reason and even though things might not have worked out the way that he’d wanted in the past, Jackson knew he had to trust his son now and he had to count on him for his help.
“The Authority appears to be strengthening again,” Jackson explained, picking up the papers and tapping them together on the desk. “We’ve had a handful of reports come in throughout the day. They’re rebuilding their numbers and trying to take over the city again. But this time starting from further afield and rounding up the adults as well.”
“The adults?” Mike questioned, furrowing his brow in confusion. “Why? The whole time we were in there, they told us it was for a breeding program. That because we were younger, we’d be less affected by the toxic air or whatever and that we were the best chance for survival. Has that changed now?”
“I’m not sure,” Jackson shook his head. “I don’t know whether it’s just so they can have more control of the children if the parents are there too, or whether it’s so the adults are less likely to join us and revolt. Either way, it strengthens their numbers and has the possibility of weakening ours.”
“You don’t think people would leave here, do you? This isn’t really the sort of thing where you can just pick and choose sides.”
“Well, I’d like to agree with you,” Jackson nodded. “However, if I put myself in the position of some of the men and women in here, I’m not so sure. The Authority undoubtedly has more resources than we have. If some parents start to believe that they can offer them and their children a better way of life, they might jump ship and join up with the other side.”
“I find that hard to believe,” Mike argued back. “Anyone who had kids who were inside the pit won’t want to go back there. I wouldn’t even consider it, not in a million years. I don’t believe that anyone would just walk back in. Sorry Dad, but I think you’ve got it wrong there.”
“I hope you’re right,” Jackson knitted his hands together and placed his elbows on the desk, allowing his chin to rest in his hands as he looked at his eldest son. “Whether we’re losing people or not, one thing is for certain: we need to prepare for battle again. I know this isn’t something you want to do, son, and I respect that—it’s your choice. I’m asking you to help me. I need your support here, and that of your friends too. We’ve got to prepare to fight back against the Authority and for that, I want you by my side.”
Mike regarded his father for a second, a part of him wondering whether this was a lucky break for the man. All his life, he had been a military leader and he had been forced to stop that when his sons reached an age where they needed a father figure to be around more permanently. He had still retained a position in the military, albeit behind a desk like where he sat now and it hadn’t taken a genius to see that doing so stifled Jackson. He was a man of action first and foremost, and he needed an enemy to defeat. It almost felt like the Authority trying to take over Houston was too perfect for him. He had a way back into the action now and also a way to try and get his sons involved. Mike knew it was all completely a coincidence, but he couldn’t help smiling a little at the fact that no matter how hard his father had tried over the years, all he’d needed to do was sit back and wait for disaster to claim the city. Because, of course, there was no way Mike was ever going to say no now. He had watched his mother die at the hands of the Authority and then both he and his younger brother had been kidnapped by them. It didn’t matter how against the lifestyle he was, Mike had been thrown into it now and he wasn’t able to turn his back on it—even if he wanted to.
“Of course, Dad,” he replied with a nod, knowing that this was his only option. Mike was going to help his father because it was the right thing to do. He was going to defend his city because it had to be done, because it would save lives, and allow his family and his friends to have a future. He was going to do it all because it needed to be done, not because he wanted to—his father didn’t need to know that. Mike could see how much it meant to Jackson as he stood up and shook the old man’s hand, solidifying their agreement in the way a man would. Mike had always been proud of his father for what he did; perhaps now, he could make his father proud of him as well.
“What do you need me to do?”
“Well,” Jackson looked down at his son, knowing this was the difficult part. He had asked a lot of people to put their lives on the line for him throughout his career, but it was different when he asked it of his own family. His own bloodline. “Like I said,” Jackson explained, “we think the Authority is rounding people up again and trying to get the same thing started. I have a couple of volunteers set to go in and be my eyes on the adult side of things. We need something more than that. We need someone under the age limit. We need you.”
Mike froze where he sat, processing what his father was asking of him. He was asking him to do the one thing he had just said he wouldn’t even consider. The one thing he had declared he wouldn’t do, not in a million years. And yet, as Mike looked at his father and saw how much was resting on his response, Mike found himself doing exactly that: considering it.
“You want me to go back inside?” he asked, needing to make sure he understood his father correctly. “You want me to walk back up to the Authority—the same people who killed Mom and took me and Rylan away from you—and just be like, ‘Hey guys, remember me? Can I come back and be a part of your sick breeding program while you go out and murder innocent people who don’t comply with your rules?’”
“I know it’s a lot—” Jackson started, but Mike was already on his feet, his chest heaving after his short rant as he started to breathe heavily and make a scene in his father’s study.
“A lot?” Mike raised his voice. “Yeah, Dad. It’s a lot. What happens if this doesn’t go to plan? Did you think of that? What happens if you can’t break me out this time?”
“I won’t let that happen,” Jackson replied, also rising to his feet and walked around his desk so he could reach out and grab hold of his son’s shoulders. “You know if I had any other option then I wouldn’t be asking you. It’s just that we need someone on the inside. We need someone to feed information back to us so we can always be one step ahead. Gemma has already agreed to be one of the other people in there with you. You won’t be alone, Mike. I won’t let anything happen to you.”
Mike shook his head, his emotions spinning him around in a whirlwind. He didn’t know which way to look; he didn’t know how to feel or how to react. One second he was angry with his father, the next he understood the logic of what he was being asked and felt like he should do his duty for his family—his city—the world.
“I love you, son,” Jackson continued, his voice lower and softer now, almost gentle. “And I want you to grow up in a world we can all be proud of. In a world where you’re not concerned about your next meal or what might be waiting around the corner. I want you to live well into your old age, get married, start a family, and grow old with the woman you love. I want all of that and more for you, and trust me when I say that none of it will happen if we let the Authority—the criminals—have their way. I’ve seen situations like this before and the only way to stand up to the enemy is to crush them. We can win this battle, but we need you to be a part of it. Can you do that, son? Can you help create a future we can all be proud of?”
Mike looked up at his father again, understanding that a lot more than just the next five minutes rested on the an
swer to his question. This wasn’t the path that Mike had wanted; it was one he had deliberately tried to avoid from a young age and yet—after all of that—it looked like it was exactly the path that he needed to take. Because considering everything, Mike knew there was only one answer to the question. He couldn’t walk away from his father now and he couldn’t let the city fall to the Authority. Looking up at Jackson, Mike nodded and opened his mouth.
“Yes. You can.”
Chapter 16
Deb didn’t know what she could do to make things better. She looked to Stuart for support, except he was far too weak by now to be able to offer much. She suspected it was something they had eaten which caused it, one mouthful of toxic food dooming them to death. They had already lost Billy several days ago, Miles forced to watch his friend fade away and leave him behind. Now the same had happened with his father. Ethan was dead, and it looked like the rest of them wouldn’t be far behind.
For some reason, Deb and Miles didn’t seem to be as badly affected as Stuart and Ethan had been. Deb guessed that they simply hadn’t consumed as much of whatever caused it, knowing she was entirely grasping at straws for an explanation to it all. With each passing day she knew their situation in Tanner got worse and worse. It was too cold to go outside and scavenge the houses now, even though they had ticked almost every one of them off of their list. The diminishing group did very little other than sit inside around the fireplace and try to keep warm, reminiscing about the good old days before Yellowstone had erupted and doomed everyone to death.
“I wonder how Mia and the others are doing,” Deb mused, mainly to herself but hopeful that either Stuart or Miles would reply. “They should have made it back to Houston by now. I wonder what the weather is like all the way over there. Better, I hope. Nothing can be much worse than this.”
Stuart coughed, listening to Deb’s words from his position on the oversized armchair across the room from her. He was trying to save his strength because he knew they would need to bury his friend soon. Ethan had died in his sleep upstairs, but if they left the body for very long it would start to smell and make their living environment even more unbearable. With the ground completely frozen outside, giving Ethan a proper burial as they had with Billy was out of the question. Instead, they would be forced to simply drag his body over to one corner of the garden and lay a tarp over it, hiding it from the naked eye and turning their backs for good. Ethan would be in the company of Corker, the small dog passing away just a couple of days earlier. Their group—both human and beast—was quickly declining, and Stuart knew that he would be the next one to be dragged out underneath the tarp.
“I’m sure they’re fine,” Stuart wheezed. “Mia knew how to take care of them all.”
“She did, didn’t she?” Deb beamed in response, grateful for both the conversation and the memory of her friend that rushed back to her. She was a proud woman, and Deb knew that Mia was the same. It had meant that even though they hadn’t spent much time together, they had understood each other and trusted one another.
“Do you think they’ve got to her parents’ house?”
Stuart coughed again, forcing himself to his feet with a sudden surge of energy and then grabbing the arm of the chair as he got dizzy, his eyes struggling to focus on anything. “I bet they have,” he replied once he didn’t feel so faint anymore, aware that there was work to be done. “They’ll be living a better life than us, I have no doubt. We never should have stayed in this godforsaken place. Cursed, I told you. The place is cursed.”
“Oh, come on, Stu,” Deb tutted at her friend, conscious that even after everything that had happened, they still had to keep the faith. Miles still needed looking after and Deb was determined not to let the boy suffer any more than he already had. Even if they all were going to die, she didn’t want them to just sit around and wait for the day to come. “We talked about this, remember? The place isn’t cursed; we’ve just been unlucky. We can’t go around thinking like that.”
“All right.” Stuart held his hands up in defeat. “I know, Deb. I’m sorry. How is Miles anyway? Where is he?”
“Upstairs,” Deb replied, “in his room.”
“Oh no,” Stuart gasped, not fully understanding what Deb was implying. “He’s not with him, is he? He shouldn’t have to see that.”
“Oh, jeez, no,” Deb quickly shook her head. “Miles is in his own room. I don’t think he’d set foot in Ethan’s even if his life depended on it.”
“Good.” Stuart sagged in relief, putting a hand to his chest and leaning back against the wall to rest for a moment.
“Are you sure you’re up for this?” Deb asked as the two of them prepared to move their friend’s body. She could see how weak Stuart looked and she didn’t want to cause him any more pain or cut his remaining days even shorter.
“I’m fine,” Stuart insisted. “Besides, you can’t do it on your own, can you?”
“Well,” Deb paused and looked at her friend with a knowing expression. It was one that they both knew meant that she would probably have to in the next few days. When Stuart passed, Deb would have to deal with that on her own. It was something that made the man feel guilty and made Deb herself feel nervous and frightened. The fact that she knew it was coming made it worse in a way, the pressure building up each day until eventually she felt like she was going to break. If it weren’t for Miles and the knowledge that she had to protect him, she probably would’ve cracked already.
“Let’s try not to think about that, eh?” Stuart said with a grimace, his impending death far from what he wanted to focus on. “Ethan first. Then, who knows?”
Deb frowned in response, though she was forced to agree with her friend. Together the two of them made the slow climb upstairs to Ethan’s bedroom and walked inside, covering their faces as best they could with scarves to avoid the smell that was starting to collect around the body. Neither of them spoke to Miles as they passed his room, the door ajar, which meant the young boy took notice of what they were doing. Thankfully when Deb and Stuart bumbled back out with the body wrapped in bed sheets, Miles had pushed his bedroom door closed so he didn’t have to see what had become of his father.
It was not a pleasant task, carrying their friend’s body down to the bottom of the garden. As soon as they stepped outside into the cold, frosty air, Deb noticed the lump under the tarp that was formed by her beloved dead dog, Corker. Saying goodbye to him had been hard enough; doing the same with Ethan was on a whole other level. How she would manage with Stuart was a question with an impossible answer. Deb didn’t want to think about it, though the scenario kept circling around in her head every time she looked upon Stuart’s pale face.
“Do you want to say a few words?” Deb whispered once they had covered the body, looking to Stuart for support, as he had been just a bit closer to Ethan than she was.
“Uhh, sure,” Stuart coughed, wrapping his arms around his body a little bit tighter for warmth. Coughing again to clear his throat, he finally started to deliver a short eulogy. “Ethan, buddy. I’m sorry it had to end like this. You were a great man, an incredible friend, and an even better father. We give you our word that we will watch over Miles for the rest of our days and we will always remember you in our hearts as you were, not as this disaster made you become. I’ll see you soon, old friend. Rest in peace.”
It was short, sweet, and all that needed to be said. Turning to walk back inside, both Stuart and Deb looked up to see Miles’s face pressed against his bedroom window, watching the scene unfold below. It was gut wrenching. A sight no child should ever have to bear witness to. Deb opened her mouth under the cover of fabric she wore around her face, but swiftly closed it again. Even if Miles could hear her, she didn’t know what she would say to him. The boy had just watched his father be buried—not even properly buried at all—there weren’t any words that could make that pain go away.
“Miles?” Deb called up the stairs once both she and Stuart were back inside, with the door closed firm
ly behind them. The young boy appeared at the top of the stairs, hanging over the banister to look down. “You okay?” Deb asked, the words sounding stupid as they came out of her mouth. Of course he wasn’t, but through all the challenges the eruption had thrown at their group, a basic human decency was something Deb refused to lose or leave behind.
Miles shrugged in response. No matter how difficult it was for Deb and Stuart to deal with Ethan’s passing, they both knew it was a thousand times worse for Miles. “Yeah,” he answered quietly, his body language and tone of voice giving the complete opposite message. “I’m fine.”
Deb regarded the boy with a heavy heart, wishing there was something she could do to make things easier for him. “Do you want to come down and sit with us? I’ll find us something to eat soon. You could help.”
“Sure,” Miles replied with yet another shrug, dragging his body around the corner of the stairs and starting his descent.
Stuart was already on his way back into the front room, planting his body back down in the armchair in front of the fire in an attempt to warm up again. Being outside had taken a lot out of him, both physically and emotionally. It was incredibly difficult laying one of your friends to rest, when you knew you’d be joining them in a matter of days. On top of that, the physical exertion had taken a lot out of him. He felt like there was no strength left in his body, even his head lolling forward as he sat down.
Finally Stuart understood the conversation that he and Ethan had shared the night before, at the time struggling to make sense of his friend’s words. Now they were clear. Ethan had been talking about what it felt like to be dying, something that Stuart hadn’t then been in touch with. But he was now. Stuart felt like a switch had been flipped inside of him. Up to a couple of hours ago he’d felt incredibly ill, but he’d still had hope that he would survive and bounce back. Now he knew that death was coming and in an instant, Stuart accepted it. There was nothing he could do to change the future, so he just had to remain focused on the hours he did have left.
