The After Days Trilogy

by Scott Medbury

  “Yeah,” I said. “Tomorrow night, or the night after, at the latest. I’ll let Sonny know.”

  “Let Sonny know what?” Brooke said, opening the door for us. “Here now, who is that?”

  “A damsel in distress,” Luke said with a grin. “Now move out of my way, so I can set her down.”

  “We are going to be leaving soon. Make sure you and Ben are ready,” I said, in answer to Brooke’s first question.

  After handing off the bag and half of the canned goods to John in the kitchen, I stopped by the bathroom and washed my face. I didn’t look any different, but I felt like a killer. I went to the main practice floor where Luke had lain the girl on a mat. Sonny was kneeling over her, checking her eyes, while Ben, Brooke, and Allie looked on. Luke was standing to the side, massaging his neck.

  “I guess she was heavier than I thought,” Luke said sheepishly, as I walked up.

  “Is she going to be okay?” I asked.

  “Sonny thinks she probably has a concussion,” Luke said. “We’ll know more when she wakes up.”

  I walked forward and knelt down next to Sonny and the girl. “How bad is it?” I asked the only living adult that I knew.

  “Can‘t tell yet,” Sonny replied. “Her eyes are dilated, but not too much. I don’t think the concussion is too bad, but once she wakes up, we better keep her awake for a while. Isaac ... Luke told me what happened with the Tigers, if you ever want to talk about it ...”

  “Thanks.”

  “Okay,” he said, as he stood up. “We’ll need to talk about the Tigers later. But, for now, I’m going to go get an extra blanket and pillow for our guest. Keep an eye on her and, if she wakes up, don’t let her fall back asleep.”

  “Can do,” I said, staying on my knees and looking at her face. I guess saying she was beautiful would be a stretch; she had an ugly purple welt on the side of her face and was covered with dirt and grime.

  Beneath the rain slicker, which looked fairly new, her clothing was ragged and threadbare and I wondered how she could have been surviving on nights such as this. The cold alone should have killed her. Her hair was chestnut brown and shoulder length and looked like it had been crudely hacked off by somebody with little sense of style or, rather, care.

  I checked her pockets, but found no sort of wallet or identification, just a key to what looked like a gym locker and a half-eaten bag of gummy worms. I put them back where I found them. About five minutes later, she moaned slightly and turned her head.

  “Is she coming to?” Luke asked.

  “Are you all right?” I asked, looking down at the girl. “Are you awake?”

  She opened her eyes and I found myself looking into the most beautiful green eyes I had ever seen. Then she smiled. And that is how I met Indigo.

  12

  Indigo, what can I say about her? I could tell from the moment her eyes looked back into mine she was something special. I guess I felt the beginnings of something right then, not love at first sight or anything, but something about her called to me.

  Of course, at first, she was scared, and who could blame her? Knocked unconscious during an assault, she woke to find a group of strangers standing over her, with my face looming in front of her own. When she was fully aware, her eyes widened in fright, the smile vanished, and her body tensed as she began to panic. I drew back slightly, so as not to alarm her more, and Brooke put a calming hand on her shoulder and made a soothing hushing sound.

  “It’s okay,” I said. “You’re safe. My name is Isaac. We’re not going to hurt you.”

  Slowly, she appeared to relax. She took in her surroundings as she looked around the room and I saw her eyes pause briefly on the door and windows, scanning for ways out. She doesn’t quite trust us, I thought to myself.

  “What happened?” she asked, when her eyes finally settled back on me. “Where am I?”

  “You’re at the martial arts academy, on Main Street,” I said. “My friend, Luke, and I were out searching for food when we saw you. We rescued you from those guys that were ... bothering you, and brought you here.” Her eyes widened at the memory; the fright was back.

  “You know those guys were Tigers, right?” she said. “If you messed with them, they’ll be looking for you. They’re killers.”

  “Don’t worry about it; I don’t think they know where we are.”

  “You better hope so. They killed my cousin Chloe.”

  I saw tears well in her eyes and I felt my icy heart begin to soften. I wanted to question her more about what happened to her cousin, but it could wait. First, we had to gain her trust and let her get over the shock of the attack. I changed the subject.

  “Are you hungry? We have some food here,” I said. I could see the calm way I spoke to her had begun to settle her fears, and I hoped my offer of food would allay them even more.

  “Yes, thanks ... I’m starving,” she said. I stood up and stepped back as Brooke helped her to her feet.

  “Brooke, I’ll go and get some food, if you want to stay with ...”

  “Indigo ... Indigo Buchanan.”

  “Indigo. Cool. This is Brooke. I’ll go and get you something to eat.” The others began to disperse as Brooke led Indigo to a sofa. As I left the room, I motioned for Luke to come with me, and he fell into step beside me as we walked out into the hall.

  “So, what do you think, man?” Luke said, as we walked toward the kitchen.

  “She’s alone, and scared,” I replied. “And really, who can blame her? She doesn’t know us from Adam; hell, for all she knows, we could be as bad as these ‘Tigers.’”

  “Do you really think they killed her cousin?” Luke looked troubled.

  “Yes. I believe her. You saw for yourself what they were like,” I replied. “Those guys were animals. Hopefully they never track us down or it’ll be a fight to the death.”

  “No kidding, Chief,” Luke said. “If they kill an innocent girl, what are they going to try to do to us for killing a couple of their people?”

  “I don’t ever want to find out,” I said, shaking my head.

  When we got to the kitchen, Luke and I looked through the supplies of canned goods until we found a can of SpaghettiOs. I put the SpaghettiOs in a bowl and grabbed a clean spoon, and we headed back to the main practice floor where we had left Indigo.

  Luke and I were silent on the walk back, our footsteps echoing on the tiled floors of the academy’s quiet halls. I found myself wondering where Sonny and his students were. When we got back to the main practice floor, Brooke was still sitting with Indigo on the sofa. They were quietly talking to each other.

  As cold and unappetizing as they were, Indigo was very pleased with the SpaghettiOs. She explained that it was her first meal in over 24 hours. She was almost finished eating when Sonny entered the room with Karen and Arthur following behind. Indigo’s eyes widened in horror when she saw Sonny and I quickly put my hand on her arm as she dropped the bowl and tried to rise.

  “It’s okay! Indigo, it’s okay! This is Sonny, he’s one of us.”

  Still looking wary, she slowly settled back into the sofa. Sonny wore a wry smile as I introduced Indigo to him and the other two, but he apparently chose not to comment.

  “We turned the supply closet across from the bathroom into a room for our guest,” Sonny said. “We put in a sleeping mat and some warm blankets, and you can stay there as long as you want.”

  “Thank you,” Indigo said.

  “Aren’t you worried that people will get jealous? Giving Indigo a private room when no one else has one?” Luke said.

  “No,” Sonny replied. “We all realize this young woman has been through a horrible ordeal and may need some time to adjust. Karen here can show you to your room, when you’re done eating.”

  Later that night, I was having trouble sleeping and wandered down to the academy’s kitchen. Following my late-night snack, I was on my way back to my sleeping mat when I heard voices coming through Sonny’s office door. One of the voices was Sonny
’s, and the other voice I didn’t recognize. It was a woman’s voice, with a Chinese accent. Intrigued and, I have to admit, a little alarmed, I stopped to listen. Now understand, eavesdropping is not really my thing, but once in a while curiosity and self-preservation will get the better of me. This was one of those times and you know what? I make no apologies.

  “Why did you come here?” I could hear Sonny saying. “How could you just show up here after what your government did?”

  “Not all of our people wanted this ... I didn’t ...” the woman replied. “Many of us are just as appalled by what’s happened as the rest of the world. Some in the upper echelons of government even tried to stop it, but they were brutally suppressed.”

  “How can I trust a word you say? You’re Chinese. Why shouldn’t I just kill you now?” Sonny asked.

  His thoughts echoed my own and I briefly thought of running to grab my rifle. I didn’t. I knew Sonny could handle himself and something in the woman’s tone stopped me.

  “Please, trust me. By coming here, I have placed myself in great danger,” the woman said, a hint of desperation detectable in her voice. “If you ever felt anything for me at all, please, just listen to me.”

  “Alright, Huian, I’ll give you five minutes,” Sonny replied. “You better make the most of them.”

  “Thank you,” the woman, Huian, said. “You and your students need to get out of here. The People’s Army is tired of losing trucks. They are planning to route an entire division to Worcester. In three days, if you are not gone by then, you will be rounded up and sent to a camp. That is, if you are not simply executed.”

  “So, that’s what you came here to do? To threaten me? How did you know to come to me? Who else knows?”

  “No, Sonny, that is not why I came here at all,” she said. “I came here to warn you and to help you, if I can. No one else knows. I am on the New England intelligence team. We track resistance and movement over the six states and there is a big red flag over this city. I saw the location and came here on a hunch. I ... I am so glad I found you alive.”

  “How do you propose to help us?” Sonny asked, his voice softening just a little.

  “I can provide you with a truck and I can promise it will not be reported missing for 72 hours.”

  “Why would you do this for me?”

  “What the People’s Republic of China has done is inexcusable. There are those of us trying to fight it, even now, or at least make sure that it never happens again.”

  “That still doesn’t explain why you would help me,” Sonny said. The woman responded with a whisper that I couldn’t hear.

  “What was that?” Sonny asked.

  “I said, because I love you,” she replied more loudly. “I have always loved you, Sonny, since the first day I met you.”

  “Then why did you go back, Huian?” Sonny said. “Why did you leave me?”

  “I had my duty and, back then, I put my duty ahead of everything, even love.”

  “And now? Isn’t your duty to turn us in?”

  “Now I hold my duty to be toward a higher cause,” she said. “It sickens me to think I ever put the needs of the People’s Republic above my own, especially given the way they abused that trust.”

  “Well, thanks for the heads up, at least,” Sonny replied. “I hope you are not too offended that I don’t welcome you back into my life with open arms. Too much water has passed under that bridge and, besides, you burned it down on your way out the door.”

  “I know ... Someday I hope to show you just how much you still mean to me,” she said. “Until then, I just hope you accept what aid I can provide you and keep yourself safe.”

  “If I decide to accept your help, where will you be leaving this truck for us?”

  “The same parking garage where you burned the last truck, but two levels above where you left the last one,” she answered him. “We’ve had the garage under surveillance since we tracked the GPS locator on the truck you dumped there. I will order the surveillance withdrawn at noon tomorrow. You can pick up the truck any time after that.”

  “What about the GPS locator on the new truck?”

  “Take this envelope; it has the keys of the truck, and instructions to disable the GPS unit. I already thought of that for you. When you’re through with the truck, park it out of sight. Without an active GPS unit, it should be a long time, hopefully, before the People’s Army find it.”

  “I don’t suppose the truck will be preloaded with supplies?” Sonny asked, and I could almost see the smile on his face in my mind.

  “The gas tank will be full, but that’s about the extent of what I can do safely. Once you get out of Worcester, stick to the more rural areas. The People’s Army is focusing on cities at the moment. They’re trying to get them ready for the first wave of repopulation; the government wants civilians to begin occupying North America within one calendar year.”

  “Damn them, damn them to hell.”

  “I must be going; the longer I stay, the more danger there is for me to be missed. I hope you and your students find a way to remain free. And if in the future I can help you again, I will,” she said.

  I moved away from the door and crouched behind a display case. It was dark in the hall, but the moon was bright outside and pools of light were cast through the frosted windows.

  I saw the owner of the voice, a compact Chinese woman in a black uniform, exit Sonny’s office. She glanced up and down the hall. If she saw me, her eyes betrayed no hint and then she hurried off toward the academy’s lobby. A few moments later, Sonny himself walked out of the office. He walked toward the kitchen, passing me without taking any notice. When he was gone, I hurried back to the room in which Luke, Ben, Brooke, and I had our sleeping mats.

  I was unsure of what to think about what I had just seen and heard. On one hand, I was excited about the prospect of a clean truck to escape in, but worried it might be a trap. I found a small argument going on within my own head. Why would the Chinese woman, Huian, create such an elaborate trap if she already knew where we were? Who can say? Perhaps these Chinese just have a different way of thinking ...

  I tried to think of everything I knew about China and Chinese history and, in the end, I decided the concept of logic was not foreign to them. Maybe there would be an extra GPS transmitter on the truck and Huian hoped we would lead her to other groups of survivors. Maybe she already knew about the safe haven and hoped to use us to find it. Or perhaps I was just overly paranoid and she really was doing this out of some sense of love for Sonny. I decided to ask him about her the next morning.

  The rest of the night passed uneventfully, if uneasily, and I awoke just as the first light of dawn came through the high windows overlooking our room. Brooke and Ben were already up and gone. Luke was awake but still lay snug in the comfort of his sleeping bag. I wondered if I should tell him about what I had heard the night before, but figured it could wait until after I talked to Sonny and got the whole scoop.

  “I’m surprised you haven’t checked on Indigo already, man,” Luke said, grinning, as I struggled to extract myself from my sleeping bag. “I saw the eyes you were making at her last night.”

  I felt myself redden, but didn’t bite. “She’s probably just going to sleep now,” I replied. “Sonny told Allie and Karen to stay with her last night, to make sure she stayed awake until morning as a precaution in case she has a concussion.”

  “Ah, that makes sense,” Luke said, making no attempt to get out of his own sleeping bag or to pursue his friendly ribbing.

  “Do you know where Brooke and Ben are?”

  “I think they had something to do with Arthur and John this morning,” Luke replied. “Looking for supplies in the office building across the street or something like that.”

  “What kind of supplies do they hope to find there? Office buildings don’t seem like a good place to look for food or survival gear.”

  “I couldn’t tell you,” said Luke. “Anyway, I don’t have any plans th
is morning so I’m just going to lay here, comfy and warm.”

  I stood on my tiptoes and stretched, working the kinks out of my muscles. Sleeping on the relative comfort of the practice mats had done me a world of good after my nights of sleeping on hard floors.

  “Stay comfortable,” I said to Luke, as I headed out to find Sonny. I wanted to talk to him about the conversation I had overheard well before noon, the time the woman said she would be removing surveillance from the parking garage.

  Sonny’s office was empty, so I wandered to the kitchen to find myself something for breakfast. Samara and Mark were already there, eating bowls of cereal moistened with condensed milk from a can. At 14, Mark and Samara were Sonny’s youngest students. They could hold their own on the mat, but Sonny chose to not take them on missions because of their age and smaller size. They were nice kids.

  “Is there any milk left in the can?” I asked, grabbing a bowl of my own from the countertop.

  “Yeah, maybe a quarter of the can,” Mark replied. He moved the can of milk toward me as I sat down. Samara did the same with the box of cereal.

  “Thanks a lot,” I said, fixing myself a bowl of cereal to eat. The condensed milk had a much stronger flavor than the two percent milk I was used to putting on my cereal at the Foster’s house, but it was still edible. Soon the sugars and cocoa from the cereal itself overwhelmed the taste of the milk anyway. “Have you seen Sonny?” I asked.

  “He went up into the attic early this morning,” Samara said. “That’s where we keep the training weapons. He likes to go there to be alone.”

  “Thanks,” I said, and took another bite of cereal.

  I found Sonny sitting in the lotus position, meditating in front of a stand holding a pair of nine ring broadswords of Chinese make. He looked up at me as I entered the room, his face placid. I looked around, taking in the racks of ancient weapons lining the walls.

  Samara said the academy stored its training weapons here, but all of the weapons in the attic looked frighteningly real to me. There were long staves, short fighting sticks, spears, strange pole arms, nunchaku, sais, daggers, and an assortment of Asian-style swords. A large corkboard on one wall held dozens of throwing stars and other shuriken.