Beauty and Dread

by Nicki Huntsman Smith

  “You may be right, young lady,” Amelia said with a grin. “Just don’t forget what I said, Pablo. Now get going. I’m sure Steven is wondering if you’ve decided to take Maddie and head for the hills.”

  “Yes, ma’am. Please watch over her. I promise I will think about what you said,” he added hastily. “Let’s just hope it doesn’t come to that.”

  Amelia nodded and shooed him out the front door.

  ###

  When he was gone, Jessie said, “Is it time to use my langthal on Maddie?”

  Amelia was exhausted. The ferocity from moments before drained away as quickly as it had arrived. She sat down on the same spot Pablo had been. Jessie plopped down next to her, taking a dark-skinned hand in her own small dimpled one.

  “Do we have to tell the Ancient Ones? Can’t it just be our secret?” Jessie asked.

  Amelia’s smile was sad but determined.

  “They will know, child. Something that disobedient can’t be hidden from them. Tung won’t go that far. So here’s what’s going to happen. When Maddie is asleep, you’ll use your langthal on her. Then you’re going to go with Tung to your new home, before the Smiling Man and his army arrive.”

  “I’m not going without you!”

  “Hush now. Yes, you will. After we heal Maddie, there will no longer be a place for me there and it will be time to get you out of danger.”

  The sea-green eyes glistened with unshed tears. “I thought you said I wasn’t ready?”

  “Time is a luxury we don’t have now. Remember what I said? About how rare you are? I can’t keep you in harm’s way even one more day. I’ve waited too long as it is.”

  “You waited so long because of Maddie and Pablo?”

  Amelia nodded. “Yes. I love them as much as I love you. But it’s time for me to put you first.”

  “What will happen to you? After Tung and I go below?”

  “With luck, I’ll survive the ordeal, along with the rest of the people here.”

  “I mean after that. Will you get old and die?” The tears could no longer be contained, spilling over the cherub cheeks.

  Amelia nodded again. “Yes. The sacrifice is necessary, Jessie. Do you understand why?”

  “No. I don’t understand why you have to get old and die. It’s stupid!”

  Amelia smiled. “No, it’s not stupid. It serves two purposes: first, Maddie will be well. She’ll have the baby that she and Pablo created and they will have a beautiful life. Don’t you want that? But even more importantly, the Ancient Ones will see my sacrifice and perhaps understand that humanity should be given more time. That many of those who remain are so extraordinary that I’m willing to exchange my own longevity – you know that word, yes? – so that not only Maddie will live, but that humankind...these people who are part of me, who share my blood...may develop and grow and someday create miracles. Does this make sense to you?”

  Jessie nodded slowly. “I guess so. Will I get to come visit you at least?”

  “Perhaps. It might be the Cthor will allow that. At some point they will want you to get a little older, which can’t be done down below, so you’ll need to come up again for a while. We’ll just have to see what happens.”

  “I’d still rather stay here with you. Tung is nice, but I feel like he sees into my head too much. I think he knows what I’m thinking sometimes.”

  Amelia smiled. “He might hear some of your thoughts, as many of our people do. Some of the survivors here do as well, you know. I hear some of your thoughts too when we’re holding hands.”

  “I don’t mind if you hear them. You’re my best friend.”

  “And you are my favorite of all the surface dwellers.”

  “Are Maddie and Pablo your next favorites?”

  “Yes. I love you all very much. So you understand why we must do this?”

  Jessie nodded again, but her frown was so exaggerated she looked cartoonish. Amelia was careful not to laugh.

  “Should we go check on Maddie now and see if she’s asleep?” Amelia asked.

  “Okay. Do I get to tell her and Pablo goodbye?”

  “You can tell Maddie if she’s asleep, but I’ll have to tell Pablo goodbye for you. They can’t know you’re leaving, nor about where you’re going and with whom. That’s the one secret nobody can know. Understand?”

  “I guess. I’m just not very happy about this. I’m not very happy at all.”

  Amelia couldn’t contain her laughter any longer.

  “You are so precious, child. I know you’re not happy, but you will be again soon. I promise. Now let’s get to work. Think how ecstatic Pablo will be when he sees Maddie all better. Doesn’t that make you happier?”

  The elfin grin took Amelia’s breath away.

  Chapter 46

  “Tung is gone again?” Steven said to Chuck, Liberty’s ad interim head of security in the absence of Dani and Sam.

  “Yep. After he built the IEDs you requested, he disappeared. Nobody can find him.”

  “Damn it.”

  “Yeah, well that’s not even the worst part. That little girl, the one that lives with Pablo, is missing too.”

  Steven felt bile rising in his throat.

  “My god. You think Tung took her?”

  “Yes, I do, although I never would have pegged him for a pedophile. What’s weird is how calmly that Native American woman is acting about the whole thing.”

  “How is Amelia acting?”

  “Not unconcerned exactly, but not as hysterical as she should be. Know what I mean?”

  Steven nodded. Something was wrong about that, but he didn’t have time to investigate it further. Not with Isaiah and his army breathing down their necks.

  “How is Pablo taking it?”

  “He’s so happy that his girlfriend is better that he’s not talking about much else. I saw him this morning. He seemed worried about the little girl but not totally freaked out.”

  “Good grief. This is crazy. I know Amelia and Pablo both love the child. It’ll have to wait, though. We’ll do a thorough investigation later.”

  “Later, as in if we survive the battle?” Chuck said with a grim smile.

  “We’ll survive. Or at least most of us will.”

  “Yes. There are going to be casualties no matter what.”

  “I realize that,” Steven snapped.

  “Whoa, back off. I’m on your side, remember?”

  It was amazing how dramatically the man had changed since the plague. The former plump grocery store manager was skinnier than just about anyone else these days, all sinew and scrawny muscle with a covering of pallid skin. Why he continued to decline when everyone else was improving wasn’t much of a mystery; he was giving much of his food rations to his son, the brutish Bradley with the untreated bi-polar disorder. After they defeated Isaiah that would have to be addressed, as would all the other unresolved problems.

  Like the fact that his sister had committed first degree murder.

  “I’m sorry, Chuck. I’m just a little tense at the moment.”

  “Understandable. I wouldn’t want to be in your shoes.”

  “No sensible person would.”

  “Except your co-mayor. He sure would like to have the reins.”

  “Yeah, well, maybe if we all survive this, I’ll let him have them.”

  “Don’t say that. You’re the right man for the job and you know it. All that religious nonsense is for fools...people who want to believe in fairy tales because the truth is too hard to bear. It’s bullshit and we both know it. No more talk of abdicating. Now let’s get back to business. Almost all the Punji traps are in place. We’re positioning Tung’s IEDs where you said to put them. And the basement in the municipal building has been secured and supplied.”

  “Did the drone work?”

  “Nah. The range was too far and the battery only ran for about twelve minutes before the thing crashed. It was a good idea, but it just didn’t pan out. We’ll have to risk real people on a scouting mission
if you really want to find out how close they are. Or we can just wait for them to arrive.”

  Steven nodded, processing the information. He knew the amateur drone plan had been unlikely to prove successful, but it was Calvin’s suggestion and had to be tested for appearances sake.

  “How many volunteers are we up to?”

  Only about ten percent of Liberty’s population had left town ahead of the arrival of Isaiah’s army. Those citizens who’d chosen to remain had been given the option to join in the fight or hole up in the basement of the municipal building until the battle was over. Children, the infirm, and the elderly got an automatic pass. Everyone else was strongly encouraged to fight, but weren’t forced to do so. Steven had stopped short of conscription, but only just; a reluctant soldier makes an unreliable soldier, and they needed full commitment from those who volunteered. Firearms training had been an ongoing process for several days but ammunition was precious, so practice at the hastily constructed shooting range was limited to twenty rounds per person.

  Winning a battle came down to numbers. The number of soldiers, the number of guns, the number of bullets, and the number of enemies those bullets found and eliminated from the equation.

  If Steven’s plan worked, very few of their precious bullets would have to be used at all. If the invading army breached the inner perimeter, their numbers would be diminished and therefore manageable; they would have to circumvent dozens of Punji traps and survive Tung’s IEDs first.

  If Isaiah proved reasonable, they could avoid bloodshed altogether. But Steven knew better. Everything Dani had told him about the man screamed delusional psychopath. On the day when they would parley on the outskirts of town per Isaiah’s demand, he expected to gaze into the eyes of a charming monster. The tricky part would be to collect Dani before Isaiah realized they had no intention of surrendering. It would require a flawless performance if he wanted to keep his balls intact.

  Julia had vowed to cut them off if anything happened to her daughter.

  Fortunately the strategy played into his plan anyway. Lure the invaders into a false sense of complacency, then spring the trap.

  Or rather traps.

  The Punji pits were non-mechanical, simplistic versions of the pivoting leg trap he had constructed at his house all those months ago. These types of traps were used extensively and effectively by the Vietcong. They were nothing more than sharpened sticks set in a hole in the ground, covered with latticework then camouflaged with leaves or trash; whatever debris was indigenous to the area. Oftentimes the Vietcong applied human excrement to the tips to insure infection and a lengthy delay before the victim could return to battle. They weren’t designed to kill American soldiers, just take them out of action, which is what Steven intended for the invaders with his sixteen-penny nail versions.

  Any that managed to avoid the dozens of pits set up on either side of the barricades at the four main thoroughfares leading into town would then face Tung’s IEDs. There were eight in all, placed in innocuous containers like refrigerator boxes and abandoned cars approximately a half mile from the town square. Inside the bombs were more nails and bits of broken glass that served as shrapnel. They were armed with detonators controlled remotely by a person who would be hiding nearby and waiting for the perfect moment to press the button. These devices were designed with more in mind than to disable. They were meant to kill.

  Whatever invaders survived both the traps and the bombs would then face Liberty’s armed citizens, including Jeff, who was deadly accurate with his Springfield, and the other sharpshooters, who made up a good percentage of the security crew. Steven’s stomach did flips when he thought about his son exposed to the invading army, but he would be in sniper mode...perched at a second story window of the municipal building. The other sharpshooters would be similarly positioned throughout town. Everyone else who wasn’t hiding in the basement of the municipal building would be near the greenhouse – their redoubt location since all avenues of ingress were blocked with razor wire that spanned Main Street on both ends as well as the alleyways between buildings.

  Steven hoped very few of the enemy made it that far. The defenders positioned here were the least skilled and had received less training than those who would be manning the detonators and the sniper positions.

  It was a good defensive plan. He doubted Dani could have come up with anything better.

  “Seventy-eight volunteers total, not counting the security crew. That’s not too bad actually,” Chuck replied. “More than I thought we’d get.”

  Steven shook his head. They would have gotten more if Calvin hadn’t spouted off about murder and their immortal souls. Everyone was scared about the approaching army, but some were actually more afraid of what they might face in the afterlife. If there was an all-knowing deity, surely he would understand the concept of self-defense.

  “Yeah, maybe we’ll get a few more between now and D-Day. We could use more bodies by the greenhouse,” Steven said.

  “Hmmm...no offense, but your word choice sucks. So what do you think about another scouting mission?”

  “I think it’s a superfluous endeavor. We have the cameras set up, so as long as someone is manning them twenty-four seven as usual, we’ll know when they arrive. We can expect it to be within three or four days from now. Why risk another hostage situation like we’re already facing?”

  “Agreed. Just wanted to make sure we’re on the same page, boss. Who are you taking with you for the parley?”

  “I haven’t decided. I won’t risk you. Worst case, if my ‘second’ and I are both killed, someone with leadership skills needs to follow through on the plan.”

  Chuck nodded. “True. Who is our least valuable person? He should be your second.”

  In unison, both men said, “Calvin.”

  Steven couldn’t remember the last time he had belly laughed. It felt good.

  Chapter 47

  “Steven must be quite pleased with himself at the moment,” Natalie said to Marilyn with an ingratiating smile. It was Natalie’s second day of helping in the commissary. She had wrangled the position by bribing Marilyn with the loan of several rare books from her own collection; a price happily paid since it got Natalie close to the competition she intended to eliminate. Despite the fact that almost everyone’s job was now focused on defending the town, people still needed food and supply distribution. Marilyn had been working long days and appreciated the help.

  There was Marilyn’s return smile, transforming the unremarkable face into one which was rather pretty. Still, the former librarian was no beauty queen and never would be. Yes, she was intelligent and even interesting in a bookish way, but she wasn’t beautiful, charismatic, magnetic, nor sexy...all qualities that Natalie possessed and which had served her well her entire life.

  Qualities which Steven would admire again once she got this unlovely woman out of the way.

  “Yes, almost everyone has decided to stay,” Marilyn said. “I think he did a brilliant job with the speech. Of course, I may be a little biased.”

  Marilyn was blushing now. Good grief, what woman in her forties blushed? Natalie felt a wave of nausea as she considered the relationship this woman shared with Steven. Her Steven.

  “Yes, I suppose. I don’t think Calvin was trying too hard to sway people to leave, so that helped Steven’s cause.”

  “He certainly seems to believe his own religious rhetoric.”

  “He does believe. At first I wasn’t sure. I thought he might be one of those Benny Hinn or Joel Osteen types...you know, in it for personal gain. From what he’s said, his ministry was gaining ground when Chicxulub happened. He has conviction in himself and his message. But the choice was a terrible one: stay and fight or leave town on foot in the dead of winter.”

  “Yes, it’s an appalling predicament, but tough decisions have to be made. Steven is very good at cutting to the heart of the matter. It’s one of the things I love about him.”

  “I imagine so.” Natalie forced an
other smile. “Let’s take a break, shall we? I brought some hot tea from home. It’s my little indulgence these days, and this is the last of my chamomile stash. I want to share it as a way of saying thanks for letting me work with you. Getting away from Cate and the hospital two times a week is wonderful. I’d so much rather be here in the library with you where I’m surrounded by books instead of sick people, and can have an intelligent conversation. That Cate woman is frightful.”

  Natalie pulled a thermos out of her bag and set two delicate bone china mugs next to it on one of the reading tables.

  “Oh, that’s so thoughtful. I’d love some tea.”

  Natalie handed a steaming cup to her rival, thinking how satisfying it would be never to see the woman smile again.

  Chapter 48

  “What do you mean? How is that possible? I just saw her this morning. She was perfectly fine.”

  Cate wouldn’t meet Steven’s eyes, a fact that would have made him suspicious if he had been clear-headed enough to notice.

  “I can’t explain it, Steven. It may be that she has some underlying condition we didn’t know about.”

  The woman’s close-set eyes glanced toward the hospital bed where Marilyn lay. She wasn’t dead. Not yet. But according to Cate her blood pressure was alarmingly low and her heart rate was only forty beats per minute. She hadn’t regained consciousness since Natalie had found her on the floor in the library commissary an hour ago.

  “Does she have any signs of trauma? Maybe she fell and bumped her head.”

  “Nothing that I could find. I’m sorry. There’s just nothing that can be done right now. We’ll continue to monitor her vitals. If the blood pressure continues to decline, she may slip away. I believe she may be in a coma, but that can be a good thing. It allows the patient’s body to rest and heal itself.”

  “But sometimes they don’t wake up. Right?” Steven’s jaw was clenched so tightly the words could barely escape. He would not break down in front of this woman. The anguish he felt surprised himself. He knew he had developed feelings for Marilyn, but hadn’t realized how deep they were. He thought he would never feel that way about anyone after he lost his wife to the plague. It was somehow fitting that he had fallen in love with her former friend.