“How long since you guys ate?” Ben asked Danny.
“We had some nuts the day before yesterday. I was beginning to get worried though, the windows were too high up, and we had been working on getting through the door but didn’t seem to be getting anywhere.”
Paul pulled out a bottle of water for each of them and we waited patiently while they had their fill. Probably not the most nutritious of meals for someone who hadn’t eaten in days but we didn’t really have a choice. When they were done, I closed the hatch of the Hummer.
“Okay, let’s get to the hospital and see if we can find these kids they put on the chain gang.”
Everyone started to pile in the back doors, but Ash and I found ourselves both at the driver’s door, his hand claiming the handle before mine.
“I’ll drive for now,” I said, firmly. “Thanks for helping me get it started though.”
I braced for an argument as he stared down at me challengingly. He held the door handle for a moment longer, then after an awkward moment or two released the handle and shrugged.
“Sure.”
I wasn’t sure if he was trying to intimidate me or not, but he did. He intimidated me in a different way than the way Ragg or Chen had intimidated me. Sure, he was big and there was something not quite right about his attitude, but he was also extremely good looking. He was a typical, square jawed, all-American boy and an insecure little part of me couldn’t help but worry how Indigo might feel about him if we took them back to the Valley.
I shrugged off my disquiet about him; it wasn’t fair to project my insecurities onto him. He had been a prisoner of the Chinese and starved for the last few days, so it was no surprise he might be a bit off. I just wished he could be a bit more like Danny.
I repeated the process Ash had gone through to start the Hummer and the diesel engine rumbled to life again. I exhaled silently in relief, aware he was watching me from his seat.
“Okay, which way?” I asked Danny.
“First, you drive to the intersection ahead, then take a right.”
I put the Hummer into drive and put my foot on the gas pedal. The vehicle jerked forward and I eased off the gas before rolling into the roundabout and swinging right onto the main street of Plymouth. We followed it a few hundred yards past empty stores and windows.
“Turn right here, just past the Post Office.”
The red brick Post Office was just as you would expect: picture perfect and quaint -- apart from the Chinese flag over the door. I felt a sense of loss wash over me. I guess the others did too. Everyone was silent. Plymouth represented a perfect American town but was strikingly different now, devoid of people and bearing the subtle signs of occupation.
“It’s just up this hill a ways and on the left.”
I drove the Hummer slowly up the hill, still wary. The town appeared to be abandoned but there were lots of trees and places to hide ... or set an ambush in this part of the town. I slowed the vehicle as we were passing the fire station, its bright red trucks still in their open garage bays waiting for a call that would never come. I pulled to a stop and glanced over my shoulder at Danny.
“How much further?”
“It’s the next block.”
I made a quick decision and put my foot on the gas. We jerked forward and I swung into the drive of the fire station screeching to a halt and throwing everyone forward in their seats.
“Sorry about that ... bit rusty. We’ll go on foot from here. If everything is okay, I will come back and get the Hummer. Danny and Ash, could you bring the bags of food?”
“Shouldn’t Danny and I be armed?” asked Ash, looking at me with an unreadable expression on his face.
“Three guns should be enough,” I said smoothly, and turned letting him know it wasn’t up for debate.
“Fucking jerk.”
It was a whisper, but I heard it and I’m pretty sure the others did too. I felt a stab of anger, but chose to pretend I hadn’t heard the insult and walked purposefully up the hill.
“No offense, Isaac,” said Ben loudly, clapping me on the shoulder. “But that was a bloody uncomfortable ride.” Then more quietly, “We’ll have to watch that one.”
I nodded and felt relief that I wasn’t the only one who was bothered by the sullen Ash.
It was late evening now and the shadows were lengthening. We crossed the road and stuck to the sidewalk as we approached the hospital. The carpark of the hospital wasn’t as big as I had expected, but it was just as Danny had described.
A chain link fence topped with razor wire enclosed the paved area. At the end we were approaching from, there was a gate with a guard’s hut beside it. Inside the perimeter and at the rear were three long, windowless portable buildings. There was no sign of movement, no signs of life. I began to get a sick feeling in my gut.
“Ben, can you take Paul and circle the perimeter? Just make sure there is nothing out of the ordinary and no breaks in the fence. They might have already escaped.”
“Sure.”
I watched them run across the road with their weapons in hand then turned to watch the buildings for any sign of movement. Nothing. The boys were back in a couple of minutes, also with nothing to report.
There was nothing else to do other than break through the gate and check the buildings.
“Come on.”
We crossed the road. I had seen enough so that I wasn’t concerned about the Chinese Army anymore, but after my experience in the library, I dreaded what we might find in the buildings.
The gate was secured by a heavy chain and padlock, which drove home the makeshift nature of the ‘camp’. If it had been a more permanent structure, I’m sure it would have had electric fences and perhaps lighting. I stepped up to the gate and scanned the fence again to make sure I could see no power boxes or cables. Better to be paranoid than dead.
I gingerly placed my hands onto the chain link, still wary and ready to snatch my hands away. Nothing but cold metal. I pulled the gate towards me, rattling it a little before grabbing the padlock and jerking it. The clinking of the metal was loud in the silence of the ghost town, but I was more concerned about how we would break it.
“Should I try shooting it off?” I asked, as I pulled my gun from my belt.
“Um, I’ve seen it in the movies, not sure it’s quite as easy as they make it look in James Bond though,” said Ben.
“Maybe the fire station has some bolt cutters?” said Danny, sensibly.
“Of course!” I smacked my forehead. “Good thinking, Danny.”
He grinned and looked away shyly. I found myself beginning to like him.
“Wait,” said Ben, and he went to the guard’s booth. After a few seconds, he yelled in triumph and walked out holding a bunch of keys.
“Might take a while,” he said, sheepishly. “There a thousand keys on this thing.”
“Well, the one thing we have plenty of is time,” said Paul.
We stepped aside and Ben began to work through the keys, one by one.
While we waited, I should have talked to Ash and Danny. It would have been an ideal time to try to get to know them and maybe start to integrate them into our group. I was too apprehensive though, the find in the library still haunting my thoughts. I had the unshakeable feeling that once through the gate, we would also find these buildings full of dead Americans.
“Yes!”
It seemed like an hour before Ben finally got the lock open and began to unloop the chain from the gate, but in reality it was no more than five minutes. It fell to the asphalt with a heavy clink and he pushed the gate open triumphantly.
We walked through tentatively. All was silent. I couldn’t hear anything from the direction of the buildings. I turned to the others.
“Wait here. I’ll check.”
“Who died and made this guy leader?” asked Ash, rudely.
“We did, as a matter of fact,” I heard the clipped tones of Ben’s annoyed voice. “I suggest you shut up.”
I ap
proached the first of the buildings, straining to hear any sign of life, my hand sweaty on the handle of my pistol, which was once again in hand. I could hear nothing. There was a set of three metal steps leading up to the door. I paused and took a deep breath before putting my foot on the bottom tread. It creaked and the building shifted slightly when I put my full weight on it. In response there was a squeal from inside. It was cut off so quickly that I wondered if I was hearing things.
“What was that?” Ben called from behind me, his question reassured me I wasn’t hallucinating.
With a sense of relief I reached up and pulled the door open. Darkness greeted me ... then a roar and a terrific collision. Suddenly, I found myself flying backwards.
I landed hard, the back of my head cracking against the asphalt as the full weight of my assailant came down heavily upon me. The breath whooshed out of my lungs and I lay there, stunned and gasping, as I tried to breathe. Something whacked me in the side of the face and I could feel a hand scrabbling to release the gun from my numb fingers. It didn’t bother me. All I was worried about was trying to breathe and figure out why everyone was yelling. I closed my eyes.
8
I tried to ignore the incessant patting on my cheeks. I felt so warm and comfortable I just wanted to sleep a little longer.
“Isaac! Wake up, mate.”
“Isaac?”
I struggled to resist the voices a little longer and then reluctantly allowed myself to float up into consciousness. I opened my eyes. Danny and Ben’s concerned faces framed the grey sky.
“Wha --?”
“He’s awake!”
I came to my senses and remembered where I was. I immediately tried to sit up, but Ben held me down gently.
“Easy, Isaac, you took a bad knock on the head.”
“I’m okay ... I think.”
This time he helped me to sit up and my gun fell from my fingers. I abruptly remembered how I’d come to be in the position I was in and twisted my head to look for my attacker. I turned it a little too sharply and the world spun. When it finally stopped spinning, I was able to focus. I saw Paul a few feet away, his gun pointed at the stranger who had charged me.
The boy was big and stocky, wearing a grey jumpsuit. He looked calm but defiant as he held his hands up. Ben helped me to my feet and picked up my gun for me.
“You’ve probably got a concussion; we’ll need to keep an eye on that.”
“I’m fine,” I said, touching my hand to the back of my head before raising it in front of my eyes. No blood. That was a positive. “How long was I out?”
“A few seconds,” replied Danny.
“Has anyone else come out?”
“No.”
I looked at the boy from the portable building. “We’re not here to hurt anyone. How many of you are there in there?”
Given his size, I was pretty sure it wasn’t him who had let out the girly squeal I’d heard before I opened the door.
He didn’t answer and just stared at me with a pissed off look.
I walked over to Paul. “If he makes a move, shoot him in the head,” I said, in a voice quiet enough not to carry to the buildings, but loud enough for our captive to hear.
I was rewarded with a wide eyed look from the stranger.
“Will do,” answered Paul, not sounding at all convincing.
I took a few steps towards the first building. “I know you can hear me in there. We’re not here to hurt you. We’re here to set you free and give you some food. I need you to step out of the building one by one, with your hands up.”
There was no sound from any of the buildings. My head hurt and I was a little impatient now. I stalked to the middle building and banged the metal wall three times with the flat of my hand. Someone inside screamed.
“I said come out with your hands up! No one’s going to hurt you. We’re American; the Chinese are gone! You can come out.”
We heard creaking and movement inside the buildings, before a blonde girl poked her head from the door of the building I had been so rudely ejected from. She looked about thirteen and her face was gaunt and pale and she wore the same grey jumpsuit as my assailant.
“It’s okay,” I said, smiling and motioning her to come out.
She didn’t move but looked at the guy who had jumped me. His mouth was grim, but he nodded. The girl stepped out and was followed by more as the doors of the other two buildings also opened. Pretty soon, we had a crowd of kids standing in front of us. They ranged in age from about ten to sixteen and represented a good cross section of our nation’s population ... former population. That was if you didn’t notice of the fact there weren’t any Asians.
“Ben, keep an eye on them. Danny can you do a count?”
I stepped into each of the buildings briefly to make sure there was no one left behind. The conditions they had been living in were appalling. Mattresses lined the floor with no space for sitting or standing. They told me later the Chinese pretty much made them work from dawn until dusk and, after an evening meal, eaten while sitting on the asphalt of the former carpark, they were locked in the buildings at night.
There was a sink in each of the buildings and a handful of foul smelling buckets. I tested the faucet in the first one and a stream of cool water flowed from it. At least they hadn’t gone thirsty. There was no one hiding. I checked the other two buildings, ignoring the stench from both the buckets and the latrine, a simple pit at the corner of the compound which the children had been forced to empty the buckets of waste into every morning.
I stepped out of the last building and squinted in the late afternoon light. My head ached a little, but I felt fine apart from that. It was then I noticed that Ash was gone.
“Where is Ash!?”
My friends, surprised, looked this way and that.
“He was here a few minutes ago,” said Paul. “I’m sure of it.”
“If you mean the tall dude with the bald head, he lit out of here when you were still on the ground,” said the boy who had knocked me out.
“Dammit!” I said.
I thought briefly of pursuing him, but that would leave us shorthanded here, as would sending Paul or Ben. “Not much we can do about it now. Danny, what’s the count?”
“Twenty-seven. Twelve girls and fifteen boys.”
“Okay, let’s give them something to eat,” I said, and turned to the crowd of kids. “I know it’s getting cool, but I’d like you all to sit on the ground and we’ll pass around something for you to eat.”
There were no arguments as Danny and Ben began distributing the candy and dried fruits they had managed to scrounge from the store. I walked over to our prisoner.
I was a little distracted. If Ash had absconded with the Hummer, it meant he had the small stash of weapons we’d left in there, too. I knew we could find more, but I didn’t like the idea of him running around armed to the teeth. Especially when there was a high chance we might run into him again. I put the thought to the back of my mind. Plenty of time to worry about that later.
“You can put your hands down now.”
“Thanks” he said, and lowered his arms gingerly. “Sorry about the hit you took.”
I smiled ruefully and held out my hand. “Don’t worry, I probably would have done the same thing myself. I’m Isaac.”
“I’m Jamal.”
“Ben,” I called out. “This is Jamal. Can you give him something to eat?”
“No, don’t worry about me, I can wait a little longer. Get the rest of them fed first. I’d rather know what you have planned for us?”
Despite our inauspicious introduction, I had a good feeling about Jamal straight away. He was built like an athlete, but I could tell he was a thinker too, and unlike my recent experience with Ash, I felt he was trustworthy instantly.
“You’re the leader of the group?” I asked.
“Not really ... I mean we never took a vote or anything. I guess I’m just the oldest and strongest.”
“Okay. Well, as
for plans, we don’t really have any. We didn’t know what we would find when we opened the doors. I was expecting the worst. I guess we have some options for you, but that will depend on a few things. Let’s sit down over there and have a talk. Danny, give that bag to Paul, you can join in this conversation.”
We went and sat down on a bench near the front of the compound. Danny handed two Milky Ways to Jamal as we sat down and, despite his earlier protestations, the boy did a quick job of demolishing them.
“I just want to say I didn’t know Ash was going to do that. I’m really sorry, he was always a little weird. He scared me sometimes,” said Danny.
“It’s okay. I could see he had some issues. Did you have any problems with him?”
Danny shrugged. “Well, he kind of bullied me. Usually after -–"
“After what?” I prodded.
“Well, sometimes one of the General’s soldiers would come and get him in the middle of the night and take him to the General. He would never say what happened but I knew it wasn’t good. He’d be really mean to me for days after.”
I thought I knew what had happened and it made me sick to my stomach. No wonder the poor bastard was so screwed up.
“Look,” I said to Danny. “I don’t blame you for him running off. I should have kept a closer eye on him. I knew something wasn’t quite right.”
He nodded.
“Where did you all come from?” asked Jamal.
I spent the next ten minutes or so telling them both about our group and the journey that had started back in Rhode Island, what seemed like an age ago. Hard to believe it was less than six months before. I only told them a little about the Valley, unwilling to risk disclosing too much even though I was almost sure they were okay.
“What about you and the rest of them?”
Jamal explained that he and most of the other kids in the encampment had been rounded up from all over New Hampshire, along with a handful from Massachusetts. Neither of us talked about the ‘Before Days’-- if he was like me, he also wanted to avoid the pain of those memories.
“What about you and Ash, Danny? Do you know where he was from?”
The After Days Trilogy Page 52
