by Jordan Ervin
God, she is beautiful, he thought—not using God’s name in vain, but actually complementing God for what Judah perceived as the prettiest girl he had ever seen.
She glanced back at him again, almost as though he had spoken out loud, and sighed. His face grew red and he smiled back at her, thankful for the darkness as they entered the building.
Inside the Base Exchange, a draft whirled about the sprawling room. The north side of the building had taken a direct hit by whatever had attacked it days earlier, causing many of the shelves to scatter across the floor. Nothing moved in the blackness—nothing but them as they made their way toward the part of the building that was still intact.
“So tell me about yourself,” Judah asked.
“Why?” she replied quickly.
“I don’t know. I’m just trying to have a conversation.”
“Why would you want to have a conversation?” Alexandra asked. “So we can be friends?”
“I guess,” he replied as they began moving through the south side of the large store, searching for food. “I’m just trying to talk.”
“And I’m not,” Alexandra replied coldly.
“Okay,” Judah said slowly as he shook his head. “You just haven’t said three words to me since we left North Carolina. I just figured—”
“Well, here are five words for you,” she cut in sharply. “I don’t want to talk.”
“That’s actually six if you count the contraction as a…,” Judah trailed off and shut up as Alexandra glanced back at him flatly, daring him to continue. He had waited for days to finally have a conversation with her, and now she wanted to do anything but talk.
“You didn’t have to come,” Alexandra said after a few more moments of silence. “You don’t have to watch over me like a hawk. Eric can take care of me.”
“Well, Eric’s not here,” he replied, though she shot him back another blank stare.
“Let me guess. Your mom told you to look after the orphan girl?”
“No,” Judah said defensively.
“Your grandparents? Elizabeth? Your sisters, maybe?”
“No one told me to watch over you,” Judah replied.
“Then why follow me?” she asked.
“I don’t know. To make sure you’re safe.”
“Really?” she said. “We’ve barely seen a soul since we left. We’ve been to a few bases already and they’re all the same. Empty and bombed.”
“Doesn’t mean there’s no one out there,” Judah said. “I’m just trying to—”
“You sure this doesn’t have to do with the fact that your eyes are always wandering in my direction?”
“What?” Judah asked nervously. “No, I’m not—”
“I’m just wanting to make sure you don’t try to do something stupid,” Alexandra said, turning to him with a wry grin.
“Like what?” Judah asked.
“Oh, I don’t know,” Alexandra said. “Maybe you’re just trying to whisk me away from the others so you can kiss me.”
Judah’s face flared up red as he stumbled over his response.
“No! I don’t…I’m not,” he shook his head, dumfounded that she would have the audacity to say something so blatant. “I’m just trying to look after you.”
“So you don’t want to kiss me then?” Alexandra asked, placing a hand on her hip.
“No…I mean, I didn’t say that.” Judah tried to steel his shaky voice. “But no, I’m not going to try to kiss you.”
“Good,” she replied. “I just wanted to make sure so we could avoid an awkward moment.”
“An awkward moment?” Judah replied with a laugh. “I’m curious what you call this?”
“I call it making sure.” Alexandra grinned and turned, resuming her walk.
She moved over to the second aisle and Judah followed. She sighed as she saw the shelves barren of nearly everything. He knew they wouldn’t find anything on the shelves, but he didn’t want to argue with her again. She was determined, and if he tried to undermine that determination she’d likely never speak with him again. So instead, he told her what he had wanted to say to her since the day they had met.
“I’m sorry about your brother and dad.” She paused, looking back at him with blank eyes before turning back and scanning the disarrayed shelving. “I’m sure we’ll find your sister. We all really want to help you get through this.”
Alexandra hesitated briefly before nodding to him with half a smile. “Thank you,” she said before turning away again, leaving Judah a few moments to smile himself. Even half of her smile was invigorating. A few more moments of silence passed before she rotated back around suddenly, her smile gone as she looked him in the eyes. “I’m sorry about your dad.”
Judah’s smile vanished and he simply nodded his head in return.
“He was…a good man, I guess,” Judah replied. “At least everyone keeps saying that. Must be true if enough people say it, right?” She smiled again, the beam on her face soothing him. “He almost took Lukas Chambers down, you know.”
“That would have been great,” she said, smiling again as she turned and resumed her walk.
She paused as they rounded the final aisle, lowering her flashlight with a defeated groan. It was empty as well. She looked back at Judah, searching his face with her dark, beautiful eyes.
“Do you think about it much?” she asked.
“About what?”
“Them,” she said. “Your dad…the others who died.” She hesitated, glancing to the side and wiping a tear away before looking back at him. “Death.”
“Sometimes,” he said quietly.
“But I haven’t even seen you cry,” she said. “I mean, he was your dad. How can you not cry?”
Judah stared back at her silently, noticing the pain on her face as she fought back more tears. Eventually, he swung his gun off his shoulder and set it on the ground next to him before leaning up against the back row of metal shelves.
“I begged him not to go to DC the morning he left,” Judah said. “I don’t know how, but I knew he was going to die. I wept, pleading with him to stay. But he said it was all almost over. He was almost finished with what he had to do. He said he’d be right back. And then, he gave me this.” Judah unbuttoned the leather sheath on his belt and removed the knife his father had given him, handing it to her. “He had it made for me while we were at Fort Bragg.”
“Aryeh.” She turned the knife over in her hands, examining it with her flashlight. “What does that mean?”
“It’s lion in Hebrew,” Judah replied. “He said…he told me to never forget the real Lion of Judah. It was the closest I ever felt to my dad. He and I were always so different. He grew up the star athlete and I grew up reading books. He was always the talker in a group and I was the introvert. He never said it outright, but I could tell he was disappointed that his only son wasn’t more like him. So I did things like try out for the rugby squad, run for student council, and learn how to shoot a bow just to make him proud. But every time I did something to make him happy, he only wanted more. It was always him attempting to draw me into his agenda and his likes. It wasn’t until that final moment when he gave me something so small—something as insignificant as that knife—that I actually felt like my dad had done something just because he loved me for who I was.” Judah paused, looking to the side with a small smile on his face as he thought about the final moments he had shared with his father. “Then he got on a helicopter and traveled to his grave. I stopped weeping for him when he left because he had made his decision and there was nothing I could have said or done to change his mind. Personally, I’d rather die than ever do that to someone I love.”
Alexandra looked back at him, tears pooling in her eyes. She wiped them away and handed the knife back. She leaned up against the empty shelf opposite Judah, breathing misty breaths into the cold air.
“I’m sorry,” she said. “I’m sure he was—”
“Well look what we’ve got here.”
> Judah spun toward the deep and unfamiliar voice, his hand quickly reaching for his rifle. Instead, he grabbed a fistful of air. His eyes darted to where he had set the rifle down on the ground ten feet away, though it might as well have been a mile out of reach. Two uniformed men held their guns up—flashlights off and faces indistinguishable in the darkness. Judah grabbed Alexandra and shoved her behind him, holding his knife up between him and the armed men.
“You two kids are about as quiet as a boulder crashing down a mountain,” the stranger said. “Well, come on now, we’re not here to cause trouble unless you’re looking for it. Keep your hands where I can see them and get on your knees while we search you.”
“Don’t come any closer!” Judah shouted as they began to back up, his voice hoarse and his breath unusually shaky.
“Now son, I want you to set that knife down and tell me what you love birds are doing here at this base.”
“I said…stay…away!” Judah’s breath came in uneven gulps, his lungs constricting with asthma as they began to thirst for air. He struggled to breathe, holding the blade out in front of him as his hand shook.
“A knife? At a gun fight?” the man said with a grin. “Boy, you have a lot of learning to do and not a lot of time to get it done. Bag ‘em.”
Hands grabbed Judah from behind, quickly twisting his arm and causing him to drop the knife with a cry. Alexandra screamed as well, the man behind them holding her by her hair and shoving them both to the ground. Judah tried to scream, but there was virtually nothing in his lungs. He began to gasp for air—looking over at Alexandra, horrified. He tried to force his muscles to move, but he felt like he was swimming with lead gloves under water. The man finished zip-tying Alexandra’s hands and began to tie Judah.
“He can’t breathe!” Alexandra shouted, tears falling from her eyes as she tried to kick the man.
Her big, stunning, terrified eyes, Judah thought.
“Please….” Judah strained to pull in even a tenth of the air he needed.
“What a shame,” the man said as he knelt down in front of Judah. “The Imperium could have used a young man like you.” The man shook his head before hauling Judah up and turning to the black-clad soldier next to him. “Contact the others. They should still be outside with the drone. Tell them to search the nearby area for—”
A silvery object flashed inches from Judah’s head, passing with a slight breeze that ruffled his hair and thudding behind him. The man who had been tying Judah’s hands slumped forward onto Judah’s back with a grunt, blood pouring from his pierced eye socket and onto the tiled floor.
The man who had been talking barely had time to glance over before Eric leapt from the shadows, his hand moving in a blur as he sliced cleanly through the stunned soldier’s neck with a black machete. Eric rose in one fluid motion and sheathed the long, bloodied blade in the final man’s chin, yanking it free as the man began to collapse with a spurt of crimson. He knelt down before Judah and Alexandra, a gloved hand covering her mouth and the other holding the deadly edge up before his mouth like a finger, silencing them both.
“Stay quiet,” Eric whispered. “There’s at least twelve more next door and they have a weaponized FOD.” Alexandra’s eyes went wide, though she nodded her head quietly. Eric looked at Judah—his eyes concerned as he wheezed. Eric glanced back over his shoulder as Sarah came sprinting into view as quietly as she could.
“Judah,” she said, running forward as she pulled something from her pocket. She stuck the digital inhaler in his mouth and pressed the button on the top. Cool mist filled his lungs, immediately opening up the constricted airways. He drank in the soothing, invigorating bliss—happy to breathe again.
“I’m so sorry,” Alexandra said. “I shouldn’t have left.”
“Now’s not the time to be sorry,” Eric said, grabbing Judah’s rifle and handing it back to him. “Those men were outside just a few hundred feet away. We were quiet, but if they heard a thing then they’ll be here any moment.”
“Are you okay?” Sarah asked, her eyes searching Judah’s.
“I’m fine,” he whispered, his breath smoothing out. “We can—”
“Hey Sergeant, you guys okay?”
The stranger’s voice echoed from the front of the building, causing Judah and the others to duck down behind an upright shelf next to the main corridor. Eric cursed, raising his weapon as Judah did the same.
“Get ready to run,” Eric whispered, glancing at Sarah. “Take Alexandra and—”
“Freeze!”
Bullets cracked the air above them and struck the shelves to their left. Eric let loose a blind volley of his own around the corner—the thunder from their guns booming through the building. Judah was vaguely aware of Sarah and Alexandra as they screamed—diving behind a fallen shelf, sinking into the shadows on the floor.
“Sarah!” Eric shouted when the others stopped firing at them. “Get ready to—”
Eric’s voice was completely drowned out by the rapid hail of bullets that came next, raining sparks and debris down on them as they backed away. A FOD—retrofitted with three small automatic weapons underneath—lowered itself through the gaping hole in the ceiling fifty feet away, casting moving shadows across the wall as it entered the building. Multiple voices filled the large room as more men poured in, shouting as they demanded Eric and Judah to surrender.
“Stop!” Eric shouted, repeating himself twice in an effort to break their shouts. “We have kids back here!”
“Throw your weapons down and come out with your hands up!”
“Okay!” Eric shouted, unholstering his pistol and throwing it to the floor in beside of him. He grabbed two of the dead men’s weapons and tossed them out on the floor as well.
“Now come out with your hands up or we’ll send in the drone.”
Eric looked over at Judah and Sarah anxiously. “There’s no way we’re letting them take us. I’ll lay down covering fire. You three get ready to run.” Eric stood up and approached the center aisle. He paused next to the aisle, taking a deep breath before shouting. “Alright, we’re coming—”
Before Eric could raise his weapon, a squall of hissing, cracking, and popping filled Judah’s ears as the room seemed to explode with a rapid barrage of bullets. Judah dove onto Alexandra and shut his eyes, covering her body with his own and anticipating the pain of searing metal ripping his flesh to shreds as they both screamed. More gunfire quickly followed as the shrieking of the strangers at the front of the store struggled with the rumbling thunder overhead for dominance over the nearly unbearable decibels.
And just as soon as it had begun, the firing ceased, followed by the whirling sound of something crashing to the floor.
Judah slowly sat up, glancing down at Alexandra underneath him. She opened her eyes slowly and looked up at him, stunned. “Are you alright?” he whispered. She glanced down at her body before nodding her head. Judah glanced over at his mom and Eric—both of them just as dazed as Eric pushed himself up from atop Sarah. Eric rose to a crouch, glancing around and grabbing the gun he had dropped in the mayhem before holding up a cautioning finger to them, urging them to remain quiet. He held his rifle ready and motioned for Judah to do the same. Fifteen seconds of an astonishingly powerful silence followed before a quiet, nearly laughably meek voice called out from the front of the store.
“Hello?” The voice was not anyone from their group, and Eric motioned for them to stay quiet. “Is anyone alive? I saw you two kids enter earlier.” The voice paused again before speaking ecstatically. “I don’t know if they’re still in here. Fall in on me at the Base Exchange and check your fire. Those kids didn’t look Imperium.”
“Copy,” a voice replied over a radio. “Did it work?”
“You bet your ass it did.”
Eric’s eyes narrowed as he quickly peeked around the shelf, pulling his head back with a curse.
“You!” the voice cried out. “It’s okay. It’s safe now. They’re all dead. You can come out
now.”
“Who are you?” Judah bellowed before Eric shot him an angry glance.
“We’re United States military,” the voice shouted back.
“Bullshit!” Eric shouted. “What outfit?”
“Seventy-Fifth Ranger Regiment out of Fort Benning,” the unknown man shouted back.
“How many of you are there?” Eric asked.
“Just me and three others,” the man shouted back. “It’s okay, I got them all. My Rangers will be here in a few moments and I’m not armed. You can see for yourself.”
Eric peeked around the corner twice before taking another deep breath, stepping into the center aisle, and aiming at the stranger.
“Whoa!” the man shouted. “Come on, put the gun down; I said I’m not armed!”
“Keep your hands where I can see them!” Eric shouted.
Judah rose as Eric began moving down the main aisle toward the stranger.
“Stay put,” Judah said to the girls. “I’ll be right back.” Judah stepped out into the aisle with his rifle raised before his mother had a chance to argue. As he did so, his jaw nearly dropped.
The front of the store had become a bloodbath. Even with nothing but the low light that came from the moon, Eric’s flashlight, and the sparks that danced from the smoldering wreckage of the drone, Judah could see dark stains splattered on the walls and white floor. Thirteen men lay dead on the ground, and a frail-looking man with a glowing screen attached to his forearm stood in the middle of the carnage, holding his empty hands before him to show he was not holding anything.
“It’s okay,” the man said as Eric slowly approached. “We were here for them.”
“Who are you?” Eric demanded. “You don’t look Army.”
The man nodded his head. “My friends are, but I’m not.”
“Then who are you?”
