The Long Road - A Post Apocalyptic Novel (The New World)

by G. Michael Hopf

  They all just looked at each other.

  Wilbur broke the team’s silence. “Mr. Vice President, what happened today might give us a boost with Australia and our South American friends. Knowing that we have lost a large portion of our backup supplies, they might now come to our aid out of sympathy. So, I will also suggest we don’t undertake any type of retaliation unless we have solid intel and we run it by them.”

  Frustrated and tired, Cruz stood up. He started to pace around the large rectangular table.

  “So we exploit today’s attacks?” Baxter asked.

  “I wouldn’t use the word exploit. We can’t change what happened today. We have to use what happened to our advantage. Do you have an alternative?” Wilbur fired back.

  “As a matter of fact, I do!” Baxter responded.

  “Enough, enough! Stop! There are two things we need to know. Who did this and how? Any thoughts?” Cruz asked. He continued to pace the room.

  “These attacks all had similarities outside of the obvious. They were directly targeted at our underground facilities. Whoever did this knew what they were doing and wanted to disrupt our COG plan,” Baxter stated before being interrupted by Dylan.

  “COG?”

  “Continuity of government. Seriously, Dylan, why are you in here? You don’t seem to know anything,” Baxter said mockingly. His even temper and patience were gone.

  “I’m here because . . .”

  “Dylan, stop,” Cruz ordered him.

  “Mr. Vice President, this attack was designed with the sole purpose of preventing our government from reorganizing.”

  “But why now? Why not do this before? It’s so strange,” Cruz muttered.

  “Does it matter to know why?” Baxter attempted to answer.

  “Yes, it does matter. Why not here? If we ask these questions, we gain some control and eventually find out who did this,” Cruz said.

  “Sir, I think whoever did this might have left us alone because they are showing us that we aren’t in control, they are.”

  Inside unknown military installation

  Knowing that his window of opportunity was shrinking, Gordon didn’t stop to reload or gather more ammunition from the dead guards. He hurried past their bodies down the hall with Hunter in his arms.

  When he turned the corner, he saw Derek leaning against the wall holding his shoulder.

  “How are you?” Gordon asked.

  “I’m good.”

  “You okay to move?”

  “Yeah, I’ll be fine,” Derek said, slowly getting up. The shoulder wound was painful and would need treatment, but escaping Rahab’s grasp took precedence over the pain.

  They raced down the stairwell and exited into the hallway.

  “Take the lead,” Gordon ordered.

  Obliging, Derek walked in front of him and began to make his way toward the main entrance.

  In their haste, they hadn’t noticed the gunfire outside had stopped.

  Carefully looking around the corner, Derek didn’t see anyone.

  “Seems clear.”

  “Good, from here, let’s get to the hangar where the cars are,” Gordon said.

  Sticking his pistol straight out in front of him, Derek led them down to the main double doors.

  Gordon watched Derek closely; he knew how much pain the other man was in. Only weeks before he had suffered from several gunshots. The respect you have for people comes not from who they say they are but from what they do. Derek had proven himself to be a good man. How strange, Gordon thought, that all these events would lead him and Derek to work side by side. They may not have agreed on everything politically in the pre-attack world, but they were kindred spirits in this new world. Gordon looked forward to having Derek be a part of his group once they escaped this hell they were in.

  Derek stopped just outside the doors and took a deep breath. The pain in his shoulder was immense. All he had to do was make it another four hundred feet to the hangar. He knew they weren’t out of the woods, but they were closer.

  “Hey, thank you so much for helping me get my son. I can never thank you enough,” Gordon said.

  “Well, you can thank me with a drink when we get outta here. Let’s go,” Derek said, grimacing from the pain.

  He pushed the doors open, exposing the bright light from the outside.

  The loud crack of several gunshots rang out.

  Gordon saw the bullets rip through Derek’s torso.

  Derek fell to his knees; he tried to shoot the pistol, but it was more of an involuntary reaction than a deliberate action.

  Gordon stepped back from the door. He slouched down, still holding Hunter.

  Hunter tightened his grip on Gordon’s neck. His whimpering grew louder.

  “Sshh, it will be okay,” Gordon softly said, but doubt filled his mind.

  The double doors closed, leaving Derek out front.

  Gordon saw his shadow cast on the doors.

  More shots cracked. Two of the bullets went through the glass doors and hit the far wall of the lobby.

  Gordon stood and looked at the doors; he saw Derek’s shadow disappear as he fell down.

  “Hunter, hold on as tight as you can.”

  Gordon started to run back toward the elevator. He remembered seeing another exit. He turned the corner, jumped over the dead guard near the elevator, and stopped just outside the exit door.

  The main doors burst open, and voices echoed down the hallway.

  Gordon placed Hunter on his feet and said, “Honey, I can’t carry you. When I open the door, come out behind me. I’m going to be shooting and running. Just follow behind me. If something happens to me, you keep running, okay? Don’t stop, just run and run.”

  “No, Daddy, I’m scared.”

  “I know you are, but I need you to be that big man I know you are. Here, take this. Shoot anyone who comes near you,” Gordon said, giving Hunter the pistol.

  Hunter perked up a bit and wiped the tears from his cheeks and eyes.

  Gordon kissed him on the forehead and said, “I love you.” He then stood, kicked the door open, and ran out.

  Outside unknown military installation

  Nelson observed the guards shooting random people and gathering others up. The Army’s feeble attempt to secure the base had been a total failure. Nelson still could not explain why so few troops were utilized.

  “So who are those people down there?” Nelson asked.

  “Some religious guy named Rahab and his fucking wacko followers,” Lexi answered with disdain. Looking bored, she kept picking up small rocks and throwing them.

  “How did you come to be captured?” Samantha asked.

  “My sister and I ran out of gas out on the 15. Next thing we know a truck shows up, these fuckers jump out and take us. That simple.”

  “So what happens down there?” Samantha asked.

  “What doesn’t? Rape, murder, you name it. It’s horrific. They murdered my baby sister,” Lexi said loudly as she threw a rock.

  Samantha could feel her eyes tear up.

  “So you never heard of a man named Gordon or a boy named Hunter?”

  “Listen, I told you no! They kept us, they kept the women separate. We would see the men but never interacted with them.”

  Nelson kept scanning, hoping to see something glaring that would help him identify Gordon or Hunter.

  More gunfire sounds came from the base.

  Moments later Nelson saw a man and child run out of the back of a building. He only caught a glimpse because a large hangar stood in the way. He waited to see them pop out the other side, but they didn’t.

  More gunfire erupted, then silence.

  Nelson was straining his eyes to see. Was that Gordon and Hunter? he asked himself. He kept waiting for them to reappear on the other side of the hangar, but nothing. It was like they just vanished. He contemplated telling Samantha, but he hadn’t gotten a good look. Not wanting to give her false hope or now, with their disappearance, a sense that someth
ing bad had happened to them, he kept quiet.

  Samantha looked at her watch, then the sun, as it was already on its slow march toward the horizon.

  “Let’s get you back to our camp and get you cleaned up,” she said to Lexi.

  “Sam, I’ll stay here till the sun sets,” Nelson said.

  “No, you need to come with us.”

  “Please, let me stay. One of us needs to be watching this place. This place. I don’t know. This place might be where they are. I need to study it to figure out how we can find out if they’re in there.”

  “Okay, we’ll leave Mack’s car,” Samantha said, reaching over and rubbing his arm.

  He looked at her and smiled.

  “Come on, Lexi, let’s go meet the crew,” Samantha said to Lexi, giving her a nod.

  Cheyenne Mountain, Colorado

  Julia was happy to be back in her room with her things. The only thing she couldn’t stand was how boring it was. She had always kept herself busy before. Being locked underground for weeks now was starting to wear on her.

  As she paced her room, she thought of some of the activities and groups she could form. She imagined there were so many other women who could use support. She had the influence and needed to have a purpose.

  All over her residence were signs of Brad. His clothes still had his smell. On the counter was a pen he’d used to take notes the last time he was there. It hadn’t been moved since he placed it there.

  She walked into the bedroom and saw on the chest of drawers a comb he’d used. She picked it up and looked at it carefully. Some of his fine black hairs were stuck in the teeth. She put it back down. Next to it was a pile of loose change he’d had in his pocket from when they arrived at Cheyenne Mountain. It still sat there where he’d laid it. The last person to touch those pennies, dimes, and quarters was him.

  The same questions popped into her head: Where are you? Why can’t we find you? Cruz and Baxter had kept the special ops teams out in the field looking for him. Every day they would report—Nothing found. She knew they couldn’t keep up the search forever; eventually she too would have to say good-bye to him.

  She started to feel emotional for the hundredth time. As the sadness filled her up, she sat on the bed. Even sitting up took effort, so she fell back and lay there. She then thought about how much they had reconnected just before he left. She hadn’t had those schoolgirl feelings for him since college. Attempting to be positive and mature, she thanked God that if Brad was never coming back she at least had those final moments with him.

  “Arghh!” she said out loud. She sat up and again blurted out “Arghh!” Her feelings were like a seesaw. One minute there was hope, the next despair. “Pull yourself together, Julia.”

  Sitting on the edge of the bed, she began to fidget with her wedding band. She twirled it round and round her finger.

  Then like a light bulb going off, she had an idea. She walked out of the room to an internal phone. She picked up the handset and dialed the four-digit number to Cruz’s room.

  It rang and rang but no answer. She hung up. She picked up the handset again and dialed a different number. A voice suddenly answered.

  “Hi, this is Julia Conner. I need to speak with Andrew Cruz; sorry, I need to speak with the vice president. It’s urgent.”

  “Mr. Vice President, I have the first lady on the phone, line two,” the lieutenant said to Cruz, who was meeting with his secretary of state.

  “Tell her I’ll call her back,” he answered, not looking up from a stack of papers before him.

  “Sir, she says it’s urgent.”

  Cruz looked at Wilbur and rolled his eyes. “Do you mind?”

  “Go ahead, I’ll take the break to go get something to drink. I’ll be back in five.”

  “Thanks,” Cruz said, then picked up the receiver and touched the line 2 button. “Hi, Julia?”

  Cruz relaxed in his chair and listened to her explain how they could help identify one of those bodies found in that abandoned house. She knew there was a chance that Brad’s ring would be gone, but if it hadn’t been removed it could be an identifying factor. She explained that it would help all if they knew for sure that was his body. While she acknowledged that it would be hard, she needed to know.

  Cruz agreed and told her he would order the teams back to that location ASAP. He hung up and dialed Baxter.

  He explained to the general everything she had told him. With this new information, they could had a chance to move past the unknown. Cruz didn’t want the shadow of Conner over him anymore. He missed his friend, but if this could provide closure, then so be it.

  Inside unknown military installation

  The bucket of water tossed in Gordon’s face woke him up. He shook his head and spat out the tainted water that had gone into his mouth. His vision was blurry and his head hurt. Being knocked out is an odd experience. It’s similar to a deep sleep. All he remembered was he and Hunter were running away from the main building. When he heard Hunter scream, he turned and saw that he had fallen and one of Rahab’s men was on top of him. Gordon remembered shooting the man, but from the hangar others came at him. He remembered being tackled to the ground, and the last thing he saw was his son screaming and reaching for him. Then the darkness came when Gordon was hit over the head. He looked at his arms and legs; he was bound on the cross. They had him tied to the cleansing cross.

  “Fuck,” he said to himself, feeling defeated.

  Looking around, he didn’t see anyone. They had placed him on the cross that faced toward the south foothills. The base was behind him. He heard people talking and some commotion, but he couldn’t tell what was happening. The heat of the sun beat down on him. He cursed to himself that he was so close. He’d almost made it. Now, he would die.

  “Gordon.” The voice of Rahab was behind him.

  “Rahab? Where’s Hunter? Where’s my boy?”

  Gordon heard the sound of Rahab’s shoes on the gravel. He moved his head back and forth to see from which side his nemesis would come.

  “Rahab? Where’s Hunter?”

  Rahab was still silent except for the sounds of his footsteps.

  In the distance Gordon could hear footsteps. They were loud and accompanied by the sound of something being dragged. Fear gripped him as he thought of Hunter. Are they dragging his poor, fragile little body?

  Soon Gordon knew; two men brought Derek around and placed him against the cross.

  “Derek. You’re alive?”

  Not a word fell from his mouth. Derek was alive but barely. Blood covered his entire body.

  Gordon looked at his friend. His chest had three more wounds, from which the blood poured freely.

  His limp body just hung. He didn’t have an ounce of strength to hold himself up.

  An additional person had to support his body so they could tie him to the cross.

  Once they’d affixed him to the X, Rahab came into view.

  He walked in front of Derek and looked; then he turned his attention to Gordon.

  “Gordon, I had a sense about you, but I fought this urge. You have committed a crime against God’s messenger, and today you will pay a dear price. But before, I will send your friend here to hell. He will burn in the fiery depths with Lucifer himself.”

  Gordon had witnessed only one of these executions, but this was different. When Rahab had killed before, he had looked at it as a way to send people to God. This was not what was about to happen to Derek.

  “Derek? Derek? Thank you. If you can hear me, thank you!” Gordon shouted.

  Derek’s head moved slightly.

  Seeing that was enough for Gordon; he felt that Derek had heard him.

  Rahab faced Derek, removed his large knife, and plunged it into Derek’s chest.

  Derek let out a slight groan, but that was it.

  Not satisfied with knifing him, Rahab then cut off his head. He turned to Gordon and said, “This is what happens to those who defy God. You see, Gordon!” Rahab said, holding Derek
’s severed head in his face.

  “Fuck you! You’re a fucking coward! Show me that you’re God’s instrument and fight me. Come on. If you have God on your side, you can’t lose!” Gordon screamed, disgusted by the evil man who stood before him. Gordon didn’t care what he said. He knew there was nothing he could do now; he was dead.

  Rahab tossed Derek’s head and ordered his men over. “Take this man’s body and dispose of it. Toss it where we empty the latrines,” Rahab said with a grin.

  “Come on, big man. Cut me down and fight me. Show your followers you are God’s instrument! Come on! If God is on your side he won’t let you die!” Gordon taunted.

  “Brother Rahab!” a man said from behind Gordon.

  “Come,” Rahab ordered.

  The man walked up to Rahab and whispered, “The cars are assembled. We have taken care of the others. We can leave when you wish.”

  “Very good, my brother. Oh, bring the boy,” Rahab said, touching the man on his shoulder.

  Gordon knew who they were talking about.

  Soon he heard more footsteps behind him. He could tell one was lighter and smaller. Shortly he saw that it was Hunter.

  “Hunter! Hunter! Are you okay?” Gordon called out.

  “Tie him to the cross,” Rahab ordered.

  “Don’t do this! He’s just a boy. Don’t do this, Rahab! Rahab! He is a boy, he had nothing to do with this!”

  Rahab watched as they tied Hunter to the cross. After the boy was secure, he turned and walked up to Gordon.

  “Gordon. You made one big mistake when you thought you could challenge me. You are a man of this earth and you follow earthly rules and laws. You see, I’m a man rooted in the spirit, not this world. I have different rules, and those are of our messiah.”

  “Rahab, he’s a boy. He has done nothing! Don’t do this!” Gordon said, then turned his attention to Hunter. “Son, you’ll be okay. He’s just trying to scare you. Nothing will happen to you,” Gordon said, desperately trying to reassure his son.

  Hunter didn’t answer him. He just looked at Gordon with youthful and brilliant blue eyes.

  “You killed many of my men today, but now you ask me to forgive or forget that?” Rahab challenged. “Your boy here is of this world too, like you. His body might be young, but his soul is no different than yours. Were you aware that of all the men you killed one was my son?”