by T A Williams
“Yeah, it sucks,” Ben said simply.
The sound of footsteps echoed down the street outside and both Ben and Ty picked up their guns. Crimson and Ghost strolled in to the storefront.
“You’d be dead if we were bad guys,” Ghost said with a smile.
“No fuckin’ way,” Ty said, standing up. “You would have caught a bullet before you took two steps down the block.”
Crimson ignored him and looked to Ben. “No sign of the convoy yet?”
“Nothing. They’ve been pretty inconsistent on this route lately. Not sure if they have alternate routes or if there isn’t a need to keep resupplying their base in south Brooklyn,” Ben said.
“They could ship everything by boat,” Ghost said as he sat down near them. “Would probably be safer than using the streets but I don’t know how dangerous those streets are lately. If they’re dangerous it’s not because of us.”
No one said anything further but they all thought it.
“Where are Dex and Reaper?” Ty asked.
“They should be here soon,” Crimson answered.
The scream that came down from the heavens was unmistakable. Ghost had told him more about the drones they referred to as Screamers. They didn’t seem to be nearly as high-tech as the ones the United States used prior to the world going dark. Ghost said that the ones used in the initial attack on New York were only fitted to carry two missiles, didn’t have a long flight life and weren’t very maneuverable. That said, all it took was a single well-placed missile to take out a squad of fighters. The scream had returned and they all braced for impact.
The explosion hit several blocks away but the force of the blast still rocked them, sending them all either willingly or unwillingly to the ground.
“Negative impact,” Ghost said the obvious. “You think Reaper and Dex were the target?”
“The hit was north; they should be coming up from the south,” Crimson said as she crawled toward the opening of the shop and looked up into the sky.
“Another group?” Ben asked.
“Possible,” Crimson answered.
They waited for a few minutes and watched as black smoke rose above the buildings into the sky. A second missile never came.
“I got Reaper coming in from the side,” Ghost said as he pulled away from his scope and lowered his rifle.
Reaper entered the room and looked over them. “Not us?”
“No sir,” Ghost answered.
Reaper nodded. “We’ll wait until nightfall and see what we can find.”
That night the moon was obscured by clouds, causing the already-black city to become even darker. Reaper, Dex and Crimson went to check out the blast site while Ben, Ty and Ghost hung back.
“There are other squads out here, right?” Ty asked.
“We haven’t been the only ones hitting the supply depots, so yeah.” Ghost was leaned back against the wall and staring up at the ceiling. “There should be quite a few of us, but I haven’t seen any signs.”
Ben thought of Mason.
“Think there are some on Long Island and Brooklyn?” Ty asked.
“Possibly,” Ghost said.
“What about reinforcements?” Ben asked.
Ghost took his attention from the ceiling and turned it on Ben. His face wasn’t readable. “I wouldn’t count on seeing any.”
“Why not?” Ty asked.
“Because they would have been here by now,” Ben answered for him.
Ghost pointed his finger at Ben and nodded.
“So, what, we just get back to blowing up their supply trucks and hope they get frustrated and take off?” Ty asked.
“No, we continue to make supplying their bases difficult. We cause them to divert resources and hope that other groups across the nation take advantage of that,” Ghost said matter-of-factly.
Ty looked to Ben, who nodded. It made sense. It was a purpose.
The sound of debris being knocked over came from outside and all three of them had their guns at the ready within seconds. It hadn’t been long enough for the others to have checked out the site and returned. Through the darkness of the night emerged a broken figure. At first all Ben could see was a man limping across the street using his gun as a makeshift cane. As he got closer the man’s tattered and burnt fatigues became more evident.
“Looks like we have a survivor,” Ghost said, creeping forward with his gun still at the ready.
The soldier noticed movement from the street and stopped but didn’t try to pick his gun back up. “I’m not a threat,” he said, defeated.
Ghost crept forward but lowered his gun. “No worries, we’re on the same team.”
The wounded soldier limped forward a few more steps until he could make out Ghost and then he fell to his knees. “Oh thank God.”
They brought him inside and treated his wounds, some old, some new. The newest ones were burns along the right side of his body. Ghost cleaned and bandaged those. His limp seemed to be just a sprained ankle and a temporary splint was used to assist. The old wounds covered the rest of the man’s body; evidence of old bullet holes, cuts, and old burns.
Ghost noticed. “You’ve been fighting for a while.”
“Yes sir,” the man answered.
“Anyone else in your squad still alive?” Ben asked.
“No,” the man said. “We lost a few in a skirmish a few days ago and that is the second time we had been hit by the Screamer. I was buried under the debris for hours. When I managed to get out I was the only one still breathing.”
“What’s your name, soldier?” Ghost asked.
“Watt,” the man said and stared off at nothing in particular.
“Resistance?” Ghost asked.
The man’s eyes focused and he sat up straighter. “No, our mission is--was--to detonate an EMP on Long Island to neutralize the Chinese Base.”
“EMP?” Ty said, stepping forward. “You got an EMP on you?”
“No, the EMP is on Long Island. A squad was able to get it there but was hit by a Screamer before they could use it.”
“Was it destroyed?” Ben asked.
“Unlikely. The squad was in communication with Command prior to being hit. They were scouting the main base when the drone got them. The device should still be where they were holed up.”
“There is still a Command?” Ghost said. the surprise evident in his voice.
Watt just nodded.
“Can’t you just remotely detonate?” Ty asked.
“Negative,” Watt said, taking in a deep breath and then wincing. “It has to be done manually.”
They were all quiet for a moment, taking in what was just said.
“How powerful of an EMP are we talking here?” Ghost asked.
“It goes off on Long Island and everything the Chinese have here goes dark. Every drone, plane--you name it.”
Ben looked to Ghost and saw a glimmer in the man’s eye. “You’re saying if we get that thing to work then we can take out the Chinese army?”
For the first time a smile came to Watt’s face. “They’ve built up their entire force on Long Island. We hit them there, we cut the head off the snake.”
Ghost stood up and walked to the front of the shop looking out toward the street. Ben got up and came over to him.
“We can do this,” Ben said.
Ghost nodded. “Reaper and the others should be back soon.”
“And then what?” Ben asked.
Ghost looked over to him and smiled.
Alec
Spring was in the air. Flowers were blooming, birds were singing and the warm winds had begun to replace the chilled air. In a different place and a different time, Alec would have enjoyed the change, but in his current hell he couldn’t find the strength for enjoyment. On this warmer day, just like on all the previous days, he found himself toiling away in the woods. Sweat soaked his already-hardened clothing. Despite his lack of fat, his body had gotten used to the constant cutting of trees and stacking of wood. Cal
luses covered his hands, providing a hard shell that protected him from the saw’s hard handle.
The soldiers all sat around watching them, just as they did every day, but when Alec sat up to catch his breath he saw the group of soldiers jump to their feet and stand at attention. Alec turned his head and watched as Xu, along with a group of four other soldiers, made their way toward them. Xu walked as if the ground was put there just for him, as if he didn’t have a care or a struggle in the world. It had been obvious when Alec first arrived that Xu was the leader of this camp but during his months there he had realized that it wasn’t just the prisoners that were terrified of him. Everywhere the man went the soldiers stood straighter, eyes always cast downwards, and whispers followed in the man’s wake.
Xu stood at the edge of the woods, watching them all. His eyes were those of a predator watching his prey. Two of the soldiers that came with him spoke to the others in Chinese and one of them walked up and grabbed Alec and pushed him forward. They did the same to Simon. They both stumbled forward and stopped in front of Xu. The man’s eyes floated over them and he walked past them toward the others. The soldiers that had pulled them out of place pushed Simon and Alec forward and they began to walk through the woods.
Fear gripped Alec. He looked to Simon but the man seemed calm. For a second he considered asking him where they were going but knew it would only cause one of the soldiers to strike him, so he remained quiet. They walked through the woods and over the hill and for the first time Alec caught sight of the mining camp. Dozens of metallic buildings sat just off the dirt road, and that road led to the mine. The place seemed abandoned outside of a few soldiers standing around and a few prisoners covered from head to toe in black grime.
The soldiers again pushed them forward toward the buildings until they came upon a wheelbarrow, and inside the wheelbarrow were two bodies. Both bodies were obviously those of prisoners. They had pallid, leathery skin that sagged over fleshless bones, all of which was covered in the black dirt. The one on the bottom’s neck was bent at an awkward angle, while the one on top had evidence of a black liquid oozing from his mouth. A soldier walked over and threw two shovels on top of the bodies.
Simon looked to him. “We bury them.” He went to one of the handles of the wheelbarrow and gestured for Alec to take the other side.
Together they pushed the wheelbarrow east past the mining camp and into an empty field that stretched as far as the eye could see. In the middle of the field were the most beautiful white flowers Alec had ever seen. They were a bright white with a soft pink border along the edges. They stopped just before the white flowers, and Simon picked up a shovel and began to dig.
“Deep enough so the animals can’t dig them up.” Simon said as his shovel pierced the ground.
So together they dug and dug until the holes were wide and deep enough for the bodies to fit. It was sad but Alec enjoyed it. For the first time in months he was doing something different in an entirely different place. If he closed his mind it was almost like he was free. They dumped the wheelbarrow and he dragged the body of the broken-necked man into his hole and filled it. Simon was still filling his hole so Alec looked out at the white flowers. They were so bright they lit up the field like a second sun. If he ever returned to New Hope he would make sure his front yard was full of the flowers.
The sound of Simon’s shovel stopped and Alec saw the man was finished and watching him. “They are beautiful,” Alec said.
Simon nodded his head sadly and picked up the wheelbarrow and placed his shovel in it. “They grow easily out here.”
Alec looked back over the field and confirmed there were a few white flowers scattered farther out in the field but the majority started fifty yards out and ended where they were standing. “Why is that?”
Simon had started to push the wheelbarrow back toward the mining camp but stopped and turned to him. “Because this is the place where we bury all the bodies.”
Alec looked to the two fresh graves they had just dug, then back to the open field filled with flowers. Soon the displaced dirt they had created would fill with white flowers, just as they had every single time before. As he looked out at the field he wondered how long and how many bodies it took to fill the field with as many flowers as he saw before him. When he finally turned and walked away he decided the flowers no longer looked as beautiful as they once did.
Ally
The city was nothing more than miles upon miles of ruins.
Entire blocks had been reduced to nothing more than rubble. Where buildings still stood very few were untouched. Most had gaping holes in the side or entire walls that were missing. The streets were covered in a thin layer of dust, with another layer of debris over top of that. And over it all was an eerie calm. Ally looked over at Adam and the man’s face was showing the same shock she felt. Even Tiger, who normally ran ahead of them, slowed down and marched side by side with them.
They had searched everywhere. Their safe zone was one of many in the area and none of them contained the person or the information they were searching for. A few still had students who had attended USC but none of them knew Adam’s daughter or had any idea where the students had gone after the power went out. Yet still they searched and that searching was what led them to the wastelands formerly known as Los Angeles. While Los Angeles had once been a main battleground the majority of the fighting between the Army and the invaders had shifted north of them, near Bakersfield, and south of them, on the Californian and Mexican border. Once the city was all but destroyed there was nothing else to fight over, or hide behind. Still, the wasteland was supposed to be off limits. Shells still found their way to the city, and not all the soldiers had moved on to the new battlefields. And when the Army and the peacekeepers pushed the gangs out of the safe zones some of them returned to this city. That was why it was just Adam and her. Gunfire erupted in the distance, far enough away to not be an immediate concern but still a reminder of what the city also contained. Adam glanced at her nervously but they pushed on.
Pockets of good people were said to still be hunkered down in the ruins of the city and that is what they were looking for. While they were out Ally kept a lookout for supplies she could scavenge and bring back to the safe zone to trade. Their building, which had started as just a safe place for them to sleep, was turning into something closer to an actual home. They had cleaned it up, made some repairs and scavenged enough furniture to furnish it. Dena had even started sewing for the peacekeepers and the few soldiers that were still around in exchange for extra rations. Since Dena and Ally’s talk the woman had put on a better face but it was obvious she was still in pain.
“In here?” Adam asked, motioning toward a three-story brick building.
Tiger went in first with his nose in the air, while they followed behind. The hair on the dog’s back didn’t rise and he didn’t give any indication that anything was wrong; still, Ally kept her bow at the ready. They searched room by room and turned up nothing. No sign of people and no sign of anything useful. Most of a wall in one of the rooms on the top floor was missing and Adam stood before it looking out at the destroyed city.
“So much destruction,” he said.
Ally looked outside but didn’t see anything different from what she had been seeing. The only difference was that they were a little higher up. On the far side of the room was a dart board so Ally walked over and pulled out her throwing knives. The first throw went end over end and stuck in the wall next to the dart board. At first she couldn’t even get the knives to stick so she was making progress; now she just needed to teach herself how to aim.
“You think we should stay here for the night and search more in the morning or just head back?” Adam asked.
Ally threw another knife and this one hit the edge of the dartboard. “Doesn’t matter. We have enough food and water?”
Adam rustled through his pack for a few seconds. “Enough for tonight and probably enough for lunch tomorrow.”
The third
one hit the wall again and Ally cursed in her head. “I have a couple of those really nasty Army granola bars in my bag, so we’re good.” She walked over and got her knives from near the dartboard and as she walked back to try again she saw him still staring off in the distance. “Do you think she is out there?”
“I hope so,” he said, still staring out. “Maybe not out there but somewhere safe.”
Ally thought of how far they had traveled and how big the world seemed to be. Finding one person seemed impossible. "Do you think we’ll find her?”
“No,” Adam said and turned around. He noticed the look of shock on her face and gave her a weary smile. He walked over and sat down with the wall at his back.
“Then…why are we doing this? Why are we searching?”
“You do what you have to do for your family.”
“That doesn’t make sense. If you don’t think we can find he-”
“Maybe we will,” Adam said, letting out a sigh. “Maybe we will wake up in the morning and in a building just a few blocks from here she will walk out and I’ll see her again. We’ll hug and cry and then I can bring her back to her mother. Then Dena will be ok again.”
“But you just said-”
“I know how long it has been since the power went out. I know how far we have traveled since then and how many times we have gotten into spots where we almost didn’t survive. To think that she not only survived but decided to stay in the same place this whole time would be….naive.”
“But you think she is still alive?”
“I hope with every ounce of my heart she is. That she is alive and well.”
Ally walked over and sat down in front of him. The man adjusted his glasses but his eyes were fixed squarely on the dirty floor in front of him. When she had first met Adam she thought he was weak and out of his depth, and in most ways she was right. The man barely knew how to take care of himself. He had lived in a world where his only concern had been to make money to buy stuff he wanted while never having to worry where his next meal was coming from. But she had been wrong about him being weak. After all that had happened he remained strong and did everything he could for his family.
