by John Davis
“For what?” he asked, turning to her. “Rebuild for what? The next time Ancients decide to show up?”
“What other choice do we have?” Alicia asked.
“Live our lives and stop cheating fate.” he said.
“Jackson, you need to try and understand that these people are depending on us.”
“These people aren't my concern.” Jackson said firmly.
“You're a soldier.”
“Not anymore,” Jackson replied. “The people who mattered to me, they're all dead. Each of them laying topside, face down. For me, it's time to start over.”
“We're all starting over, that's what I'm telling you,” she said, doing her best to convince him. “Rebuild Washington City the best we can.”
“Alicia,” Jackson replied. “When we get topside, I'm gone. I don't plan on staying in Washington City. You need to understand that.”
His words stuck to her like daggers, each moment following his statement piercing her soul.
“But you have to stay.” she pleaded.
“No,” he replied. “No I don't. Ace and Tanner are both with me. We plan to go our separate way once we get back up there.”
“Jackson, you don't know what might be out there.” Alicia said, pressing him a bit.
“That's what made the decision easy. There could be towns out there, or others that need my help more than a group of militarized survivors. If I stay here, I know what will happen,” he said, referring to his past with Alicia. “And that can't happen again.”
“Is that so bad?” Alicia asked. “Is a future with me so damned terrible?”
“Alicia, listen,” he said in reply. “I thought my wife was dead. I got over her and then fell in love with you – only to find out she was still alive. I fell in love with her all over again the moment our eyes met,” he added. “I can't get over her again. I made the decision to be with her, and I won't back away from it just because Katie was gunned down.”
“Jackson,” Alicia said. “She didn't love you.”
“I know,” Jackson admitted. It nearly killed him, but Jackson finally came to the truth about the disconnection with his wife. “But it doesn't change the fact that I was in love with her.”
“I see.”
“I can't be tied down here. Before their fleet arrived, it was my job to protect these people. Now, I don't have a job. Or a home. Or a family. I just want to walk away and find something else.” Jackson replied.
“And you've thought this through?” Alicia asked.
“Of course,” Jackson said. “What else is there for me to do down here? I either focus on what the Ancients have taken from me, or I focus on my life moving forward. That's all I at this very moment. The unknown seems a lot better than the known.”
“Alright, well,” Alicia replied. “I supposed your mind is made up then. I won't stand in the way. Good luck to you.”
As she stood to walk away, Jackson grabbed her hand softly – his touch nearly electric.
“You understand I'm leaving because I still love you?” Jackson asked. “And I can't. I just can't.”
“Well maybe you'll change your mind one day, who knows?” Alicia replied.
“Maybe.”
“We're going up.” Alicia announced to the group, turning away from her conversation with Jackson.
“We are?” Perk asked. “I thought we were staying a while longer?”
“Well, you thought wrong.” she lashed.
You crazy bitch. The rough soldier thought, though his glance hid his thoughts well.
“The citizens need to remain here,” Alicia said. “We'll send a small group to the surface and have a look. If everything seems good, we'll bring everyone else up.”
The group seemed excited and terrified at the same time. Grabbing their few belongings and preparing for an exodus of sorts from the vault.
“You'll want to leave your things here,” Jackson said. “The first few days after going topside you'll want to remain close to the vault just in case something goes down and you need to come back. Make this place a base of operations.”
Alicia exchanged looks with the man, happy to see him step up with his soldering.
“He's right,” Alicia replied. “Perk, you stay put and run it down here in my absence. You and you,” Alicia said, pointing to Ace and Tanner. Both mid-level soldiers in what was the Rise of Allies. “Come with Jackson and me. We'll go up and scout the immediate area thoroughly and send word back.”
Her order was enough to catch Jackson's undivided attention – forcing him to begin a panic of soul-searching.
“Understood.” Perk replied.
Alicia sifted through their box of weaponry, finding two pistols of gunmetal black. Both of them the widely-popular 9mm models used so heavily before the war. Immediately slapping a live clip into both and grabbing a couple of spares. Jackson pulled his trusty .45 pistol to the ready, though he did check its clip for a moment before snugging it back inside of the handle. Ace and Tanner both seemed content with the standard issue battle rifle.
“Let's do this.” Alicia said.
“Thank you.” Jackson replied with a whisper, his heart at ease for once.
“Just don't forget where Washington City is, you hear?” she asked with a smile.
“Just give me time to get away from this city and grieve in my own way. Katie deserves that. I'll be back one day soon enough to see you again. You deserve that.”
“After you.” Alicia said with a smile.
Jackson led the group up the narrow ladder which capped off with a thick blast door. Tanner and Ace following behind with Alicia to the rear of the group.
“We'll scout it and let you know.” Alicia said, turning to Perk for a moment.
“I'll make sure everything down here stays locked up tight.” Perk replied.
Jackson gasped for a moment – nerves shooting through him like electricity. Wondering what perils awaited him on the other side of the door, while beginning to fill with grief for his wife as well.
Slowly detaching the four bolts which locked the door in place, the entire group prepared.
-
It took nearly an hour. Rubble piled onto the door beneath the barber's chair. Finally, however, several men were able to push the door open, sliding the barber's chair over in the process.
It's amazing the heat sunlight will provide when you've been away from it for weeks on end. Warming your skin and providing a glow of life, as eyes begin to fixate and adjust to the sudden burst of light flowing in, Jackson was the first to deal with such a punishing-comfort. The sunlight welcoming them above ground once more, though it seemed like an alien planet.
The walls of the barber shop itself were crumbled down into nothing – no roof above. Staring from the massive holes which gaped between what now constituted the barriers of the shop, Jackson could easily see that Washington City was now a wasteland. Much worse than they could have imagined.
Dozens of miles of rubble. Some of it burning long after the Ancients have departed; black smoke billowing to the clouds. It was if an epidemic of natural disasters had laid into the once-proud city by the hand of Gods. Distributing punishment and death across the board.
The smell of death was also thick in the air, forcing Jackson to pull away for a moment. Covering his face with a utility rag from the bulky pockets on his pants before continuing.
Finally, however, Jackson pulled himself completely up. Assisting his team one at a time, hoisting them to the surface with a strong arm.
The others began dealing with the same issues. Bright light only heightened by their long stay underground – coupled with a stench of war crimes.
“My God.” Alicia said, looking across the city she'd considered home for so long.
A skyline of humanity now leveled to rubble by the superior weaponry of Ancient technology.
Jackson immediately pulled her close. Doing his best to comfort the woman he loved dearly not so long ago. His heart still filli
ng itself with her embrace.
“I'm sorry.” Jackson replied as Alicia began to cry hard. Simply at a loss for words.
“It's gone. It's all gone.” she finally managed to reply.
Her words were spot on. Though it lay as smoldering rubble, Washington City looked as though it had been abandoned for thousands of years. Ash laying on what few buildings remained half-standing.
“We'll find a way to rebuild,” Jackson replied, letting her know that he was committed to the city and its survivors. Committed to their love for one another growing stronger. “Somehow.”
As she pulled from his embrace to begin searching the surroundings. Soaking up the horrific sight of the devastation, Jackson noticed a glimmering light. A reflection bouncing toward them, perhaps from a mirror.
What the? He thought, walking slowly to the exit of the barber shop to investigate.
That's how the life of Jackson would end. A single rifle shot sinking into his forehead and exiting swiftly. The distinct clicking sound of an Ancient rifle to blame.
“No!” Alicia yelled, rushing to him without fear of her own death. Grabbing onto his laying body and sobbing heavily. “No, no...No!”
It was no Ancient soldiers left behind by elders, their race had grown tired of our filthy planet. But a small group of German soldiers led by Certes. An Ancient once considered to be loyal to Alicia and their cause of survival.
Considered a traitor by his own race, Certes had long been an outcast, as were the soldiers around him. Scavenging the dead throughout Washington City after living for nearly a year in its surrounding areas.
An outcast by Alicia's own order, banishing the Ancient soldier and his German born warriors to live outside of their gates. Broken under the punishment of death.
It was Jackson's death, however, that would come from Certes' banishment. The Ancient himself taking the shot which killed the only man Alicia had ever loved.
Loved so deeply.
There was a skirmish as Tanner and Ace exchanged gunfire with three Germans and Certes himself. Their ringing gunfire seemingly a dream in the background of Alicia's grief. Her entire world falling as swiftly as Jackson's lifeless body.
Standing up without hesitation, Alicia gripped both of her pistols tight. Hell-bent on punishing those responsible for the pain.
Both Tanner and Ace seemed to back off of their gunfire a bit – unwilling to believe that Alicia would simply walk into their line of fire to get her revenge.
It was a moment that neither man would ever forget – a moment to be spoken of for centuries to follow. Alicia Lucard walking patiently toward the Germans without regard. As if their bullets could not bite into her, which, from every sign of the event playing out if front of them, they couldn't.
The Germans fired several shots, all of them missing the guardian angel of humanity below. As if she were an angel walking among men.
Holding both of her pistols out, Alicia ended two of the Germans directly, snapping several bullets from each pistol and using her arm to follow their path of retreat.
As the third German fired and missed, his shot zooming wide right of her face, Alicia spun around and used her right hand to empty its pistol into the soldier. Immediately dropping the pistol and lightly pitching her other into her right hand.
Spinning a bit, Alicia took aim on Certes – or so she had hoped. Though he had vanished from a spot he'd stood only moments before.
Before Alicia could begin searching him out, however, the stock of his Ancient rifle cracked across her face, knocking the woman to her back in pain.
Shots rang out once more, this time from Tanner and Ace. Both soldiers doing their best to save the defenseless woman. A slug hit Certes, though it did so in the lower area of his torso. Not nearly enough to down an Ancient – only angering him further.
Bolting his own shots from rifle, Certes gunned Ace down to an honorable death, also hitting Tanner twice and injuring him badly. Turning his attention once more to the woman in trouble, Certes was surprised to see her gone. His questions quickly answered by several swift punches to the face.
Meanwhile, Tanner did his best to crawl back to the barber chair which concealed the blast door.
“Now you will understand who is in charge of moving forward.” Certes angrily said, though he did so in taunting fashion. Quickly pulling a thick shirt of armored-black material from his upper body. Throwing the Ancient-made material to the ground.
“You were never in charge.” Alicia replied.
Reaching down to one of his own fallen soldiers, Certes pulled a combat blade from its sheath and tossed it near Alicia's feet. Quickly pulling his own blade as well.
“The surviving will need a strong leader moving forward. Someone who has the backbone for the job. So I plan to take my time with you. Using this knife to remove your spine and return it to the survivors below. Show them,” Certes said. “You are not that someone.”
“Do you plan to use that Ancient-made piece of shit,” Alicia replied, speaking of his blade. “Or is the plan to bore me to death with empty words?”
“Oh, make no mistake,” the Ancient warned. “This blade will carve into you. Slowly.”
As he shined a grin of vicious teeth, Certes leaped to her, hoping to pummel her to death with both fist and blade.
He had underestimated the woman.
Alicia spun a bit, digging the German masterwork blade into the monster's ribcage and ripping out both meat and screams as she pulled away.
With his pain came a screech of anger that Alicia had never heard before. Bloodcurdling and forceful.
Dropping his knife to the ground, Certes gave a swift backhand to Alicia, knocking her to the ground once more. A trickle of blood began to drip from her nose, as did adrenaline from her body. Alicia fought the Ancient for several moments, using the grief of Jackson's death to her advantage. An advantage that Certes had smacked from her so easily.
“Now,” the demon said, standing above her as his large hands clamored a bit. Thirsting for the blood of the last hero of humanity. “I will show you why I am fit to lead those who remain. Slowly.”
Preparing to make his move, the right side of Certes' skull split open, instantly killing the monster.
“I always hated that son of a bitch.” Perk commented, standing twenty yards away – smoking rifle in hand.
Alicia eased her head back to the ground. Thankful for the save, but hurting. Both physically and emotionally.
-
In the days that would follow our encounter with the Germans, we began to find pockets of other survivors throughout the rubble of Washington City.
It's as if the apocalypse of biblical stories had come and gone, leaving us here to pick up the pieces. Many of these people look to me as their leader, though I would rather not be. I'm no hero – no guardian angel. I, too, have lost, and curse the Gods above every single day for it. Though I begin to question everything.
Perhaps God has spared me for a reason? I've always heard that true character comes in the moments where faith is tested. Though I begin to think that perhaps my faith has not been tested, but found.
Several of the survivors from within the vault have started a daily prayer session. Though I thought it useless in the beginning, I now find myself looking forward to it at day's end.
Perk has embraced the role of leading the military-trained, seeming to only question my own judgment. We've not sat down and established a chain of command, or any sort of government for that matter. We're simply survivors trying to help one another.
Still, the military-trained seem to answer to Perk – and Perk to me. It is an opportunity that, quite frankly, I would have told everyone to shove up their asses a month ago. But now things are different.
I see the need on the faces of these people. Mothers and children with very little hope beyond my leadership and a love from their God above.
I feel a responsibility to those who look to me for answers. I've come to accept it, feeling as th
ough God has placed this onto me, not as a burden, but an honor. He feels I can handle it.
Perhaps I am growing mad with delusion – perhaps I have lived an entire life of delusion up until this very moment. Maybe I have finally awaken to my purpose in life?
I truly don't know.
What I do know is there has to be other survivors out there. Scattered across what remains of our world – also searching for answers.
Eventually it will fall to me. The time will come to organize and begin looking for others just like us. We must do our part in rebuilding humanity. That much is certain.
I deal with the loss of Jackson daily. Hourly. But I've found my way past the despair of his loss through prayer and responsibilities within our camp. It helps knowing Jackson hand-selected each person here. They must carry with them qualities he found important, which is enough for me.
One day, people must know about the war which took place here. Future generations must know about the Ancients, so our next fight with them has a better chance of success.
I often wonder if the Egyptians of ancient times were not trying to warn us with their paintings of strange beings. Maybe the pyramids were their attempt in trying to give themselves a fighting chance during the next great war, and we ignored them? More concerned with our shiny tech gadgets than we were in preparing for a war that eventually we all knew was coming.
I remember a long time ago. Thinking it silly to believe there was life beyond our very own – up there in the stars. Now, I stand here thinking it silly that I did not prepare for the Ancients long before they came.
Deep within my heart, I've always known life out there existed. We all have. I only pray that next time we are prepared, because, make no mistake, they are coming. A hundred of years – perhaps even thousands of years from now. The Ancients will descend once more onto our planet. A rock they've come to accept as a feeding ground of resources.
They'll not find an unsuspecting race oblivious to their return when the time comes. I'll make sure of that. I will do everything in my power to lay the foundation of a society that prepares for their return and welcomes it, if for no other reason than revenge.
