Fallen Earth | Book 2 | Aftermath

by Morrow, Jason D.

  Henry turned back to Leland and breathed hard as sweat trickled down the side of his face. “Does the motorcycle work?”

  Leland shrugged. “I’m not sure.” He started toward the motorcycle and pointed at the two men. “Keep your gun on them, and I’ll check it out.”

  The motorcycle fired up when Leland tried to start it. One of the men was still unconscious, but the other watched them with fury in his eyes. Leland and Henry gathered as much of their possessions as they could. Leland had a rifle and his pistol, as did Henry. He wasn’t sure what had happened to their other guns.

  They wouldn’t have room to carry the gas cans. That certainly didn’t solve the issue of getting back home, but maybe the motorcycle would make it to Chicago.

  They took anything potentially useful for their trip.

  Leland glanced back at the men and sighed with relief. Leland and Henry were alive, and that was more than they could’ve expected at this moment. He revved the motorcycle engine and took off. They weren’t even close to Chicago yet and already the world was falling apart. How bad was it in the big city? How bad was his daughter’s situation? How are any of them going to survive this?

  Chapter Sixteen

  The screams throughout the night were bad enough, but when a little girl started crying, it was too much for Cora. It had been hours since the crying started, and even though her apartment was high up, Cora could still hear crying in the street below. There were a lot of screams throughout the night that had continued on into the morning, but this cry seemed different. It was younger, more innocent. And when Cora looked out the window, she couldn’t see the little girl, but she heard a small voice calling out for her mother. The girl was lost. Neither of them could find each other. And the situation wrenched at Cora’s heart like nothing had ever before.

  Cora let the crying continue for another hour, but that was as far as she could let it go before doing something. She figured her pursuers had long abandoned their quest to catch her, but that didn’t mean she was safe to go about as she pleased. The streets were still dangerous. For a city with so many gun restrictions, there sure was a lot of gunfire. With every sound of shattered glass, with every booming echo, with every scream and shout, she knew she couldn’t let the girl stay in the street.

  Cora was only twenty-two and hadn’t even started thinking about children or the commitment that came along with them. She had never been particularly good with kids. But there was still something in her that understood the innocence of a child. The crying made her stomach churn, and she started packing her things into her backpack. Water. Snacks. A kitchen knife. She knew she needed to take these things in case she couldn’t come back. If the men who were after her before saw her again, she didn’t like her chances of trying to go back into the apartment complex.

  When she had all of her things gathered, she pushed the couch away from the door and set her hand on the doorknob.

  She hesitated. What was she thinking? She couldn’t just go out there and risk her own life. Surely the little girl’s mother was out looking for her somewhere. The little girl was not Cora’s responsibility. Not to mention, if Cora went out there and the mom was looking for the girl, what good would it do to move her away from the street?

  She shook her head. No, something was wrong. If the girl was in the right spot, she would’ve been found an hour ago. Something was terribly wrong. Perhaps the girl’s mom had been killed in the riots. If that was the case, then there was no one to take care of her.

  Since Cora couldn’t see the child from this distance, there was no way to tell how old she was. She could have been six years old, or she could have been twelve. Cora hoped the girl was a little bit older so she would at least be able to understand what was going on. Maybe she would be able to give a name or a description of what her mom looked like. Perhaps the girl would even be able to give an address to where she lived.

  This is what defined humanity. The willingness to help others. If Cora wasn’t willing to step away from her safe apartment for a helpless child, then what was the point of all this? She was either going to have to leave now or in the next couple of days, and she didn’t think anything would change between now and then. The only comforts she found these days were the distant squawking loudspeakers and the low rumbling of tanks in the distance. She had thought of these things as a comfort, but the soldiers weren’t declaring that everything was okay. They were just there to make their presence known. Her comfort of seeing them faded when she realized that they weren’t there to help so much as to make sure the rioters didn’t go too far. But she had seen a man shot down in front of her for his water. The soldiers hadn’t provided law and order yet, and for some reason, they remained fixed in a certain part of the neighborhood.

  Fear crept into Cora. She wasn’t like her dad. She didn’t want to jump into the fire to save someone. She didn’t want to have to chase off bad guys or run away from them. Her instinct was to stay right where she was and listen to the girl cry until she gave up.

  No, Cora had to go. It was ingrained within her to help the innocent. It was something her father had always told her. It was why he had become a cop. It was why she had become a nurse. What good was the world if there was no one to help the innocent? What good was the world if people didn’t help each other? Cora had her differences with her father, plenty of them, but that was one sentiment they shared. Her dad had an unrelenting passion to protect his family, even if he didn’t understand them or pursue them all the time.

  Cora unlocked the door and made her way into the hallway. She didn’t see anybody, so that was good. With her backpack secured to her shoulders and the kitchen knife in her hand, she opened the door to the stairwell and made her way down to the first floor.

  Each step seemed to echo off the walls like an alarm that declared her descent. She still had no idea whether or not the man with the scar and his companion were looking for her. She doubted it, considering it had been a few hours since they had chased her into the building. Still, there was a good chance that there were other bad people outside.

  When she opened the door, she saw several people running. The loudspeakers seemed closer than when she was in her apartment.

  “Everyone remain in your dwellings. It is unlawful for you to be out of your homes during this time. Go back to your homes.”

  A small part of Cora wondered if it would be better for her to be arrested by the military. Maybe then she would have some food and shelter.

  She tried to shake away all of the other noises and sounds that she could hear throughout the city. There were gunshots in the distance, the same chaos that had been going on for the last two days. She needed her hearing to be focused. That little girl was around here somewhere.

  Had she stopped crying? Had someone picked her up? That thought terrified Cora almost as much as the thought of being confronted by the man with a scar over his eye. There were some bad people in the city. There were bad people all over. People who would take advantage of a vulnerable little girl and steal her away never to be seen again. She looked left and right and made her way to the corner of her street, then finally she saw a girl lying against the windows of a shop. Her eyes were closed but she seemed peaceful. Her face was red and wet from tears, and it seemed like she had exhausted herself from hours of crying and calling out for her mother.

  The girl’s eyes shot open, but then she started screaming out again, fighting against her tiredness so she would not accidentally miss out on finding her mother.

  It was the same scream, the same girl who had been crying out for help for well over an hour. This was the girl Cora had been looking for, and now all she had to do was reach out.

  Cora almost didn’t do it. She almost turned back to her apartment to forget about the girl and remain safe as long as she could.

  She felt rotten even considering it.

  Cora walked to her and knelt in front of her. The girl was probably eight or nine years old, hopefully old enough to communica
te information that would help Cora find her mother.

  “Hey, hey, everything’s going to be okay,” Cora told her. She wanted to reach out and hold the girl, but she also understood that she was a stranger to her and didn’t want to scare her, so for the moment she decided to keep her distance. “Who are you looking for?”

  Through sobs and attempts to catch her breath, the girl said, “Mama.”

  “Can you tell me what your mama looks like?”

  The girl didn’t say anything and just whimpered. Cora swallowed and looked around her. “What’s your name?”

  The little girl looked up at Cora with big wet brown eyes. “Michelle.”

  That’s a nice name. My name is Cora. When did you last see your mama?”

  Michelle shook her head. “I don’t know.”

  “Did you lose her here? Did she run to get something and tell you she would be back?”

  Michelle shook her head and started rubbing her eyes. There was no telling how long she had been awake. For all Cora knew, Michelle had wandered onto the street after losing her mother more than a block away. If that was the case, there was no telling where her mother might be.

  “We need to get away from the street right now. I can get you something to eat and something to drink if you come with me.” It sounded like something a predator would say if they were trying to lure the child away. But the truth was, Cora was trying to get her away from the streets. She had been crying for more than an hour and a half, which meant either her mom had abandoned her or was in trouble somewhere else. Either way, they needed to get off the street.

  “Are you hungry?”

  Michelle looked at her and nodded. Then she pointed at her leg.

  Cora studied the girl’s leg, then gasped. There was a large gash above her ankle that was bloodied and swollen. Puss oozed from it, and Cora could tell immediately that the wound was infected. It wasn’t something to be ignored. If she didn’t get this taken care of, not only could she lose the leg, but she could also die.

  “What happened?”

  “I was running,” Michelle said. “A couple of days ago. I climbed over a fence and my leg caught on the way down.”

  “Are you able to walk?” Cora asked.

  “I can try.”

  “Okay, then will you come with me?”

  Michelle thought for a moment, then nodded. Then she reached out her hand for Cora to take. Cora hesitated for a moment, happy that Michelle was trusting her. She had never had this type of responsibility before, and the feeling was invigorating. Not only did she have to figure out survival for herself, but now she also had to make sure this little girl got medicine. And, if they could, they would try to find her mother, too.

  The two of them stood together and turned toward the apartment building. Cora’s stomach dropped when she saw the man with a scar over his eye blocking the entrance. He hadn’t seen them yet, but he was standing there waiting, probably in case Cora showed herself.

  “No, no, no, no, no, no, not that way,” Cora said. “Let’s go up that way.”

  She pointed in a different direction, but it was too late. Just as she started to turn, the man looked over his shoulder and started walking toward them. It was as though he thought she wouldn’t have noticed him, or that he was the man who had been chasing her just hours ago.

  She felt for the knife hiding in her sleeve. She wasn’t sure she could pull it out and do what was necessary to take care of them. Could she really stab a man?

  Cora pulled the knife out from under her sleeve without letting Michelle see it. It pressed firmly against her wrist under her palm, where she could instantly reach up and slash if she had to. She quickened her pace, pulling Michelle to a trot. The girl was limping, and Cora knew her leg had to be killing her, but when she looked over her shoulder, she saw the man was jogging toward them.

  Cora didn’t hesitate. She picked Michelle up in her arms, careful not to nick her with the blade, and started running as fast as she could.

  Thankfully, Michelle didn’t weigh much for an eight or nine-year-old. Cora didn’t look over her shoulder again. Instead, she kept running, dodging in and out of groups of people. When they turned a corner, she saw a large group outside a sporting goods store, smashing in its windows. She decided to run through the middle of them.

  “Help! Help! That man over there is trying to kidnap me!” She pointed at the man as she turned around, and the would-be looters suddenly became protectors of the innocent. They wanted violence and chaos, and they were happy to dole it out to someone who was trying to kidnap a woman and a little girl. Immediately, two men, one with a crowbar and one with a baseball bat, stepped in front of Cora and faced off against the man with the scar. The man stopped in his tracks, wide-eyed and suddenly unsure of himself. He glanced at Cora and Michelle, then in a flash, turned on his heel and sprinted in the opposite direction. Cora wasted no time in running away from the looters, but she knew she couldn’t go back to her apartment. The man with the scar would no doubt be looking for her there.

  When she felt like she was safe enough, she set Michelle on the ground and kneeled next to her, trying to catch her breath.

  “What just happened? Who was that man?” Michelle asked.

  Cora looked up at Michelle. “I don’t know who he was, but he was a very bad man. Right now you can’t trust anybody but me, okay?”

  Michelle nodded and wiped her nose with her sleeve. “I don’t think we’re going to find my mama.”

  Cora looked at her for a moment, then shook her head. “Why do you say that?”

  “She’s gone. She ran away.”

  Cora swallowed.

  “She said she would be back.” Tears started welling up in Michelle’s eyes again. Then silent sobs came.

  Cora didn’t want to give the girl false hope, but she also didn’t want the girl to feel confused or scared.

  Cora looked down at the girl’s leg, then she looked down the street. In the distance, she saw the hospital where she worked. Michelle needed antibiotics, and the only place she would find that was at the hospital.

  Cora shuddered to think about the hospital’s current state. She would know soon enough.

  Chapter Seventeen

  Sam wasn’t dead yet, but the Horsemen were after him.

  He managed to reach the fire escape on one of the buildings on his street and climbed to the roof where he could see at least portions of the streets and what was happening. This vantage point wasn’t high enough to get a good look at the neighborhood, but it would be enough for him to get an idea.

  He only saw one tank, but that was enough to send chills down his spine.

  Was that tank here for him? It wasn’t Army. It looked like an Army vehicle, and the soldiers surrounding it were dressed like Army, but he was positive that it was Blackleaf and his mercenary thugs.

  All Sam could think about was the message Blackleaf had sent.

  “We are narrowing in on you. Though the lights may go out, we know you aren’t far away.”

  Was this group of soldiers really after Sam? He gripped his backpack straps and thought about his computer, hard drive, and the SD card in his shoe. The Horsemen knew he had something. Something damaging. Something that threatened them. Otherwise, they wouldn’t still be coming after him.

  He hoped he wasn’t being paranoid, but there were just too many coincidences. They were after him, and they were using soldiers to search for him.

  What they didn’t know was how little Sam knew. He had some information, but the rest of it was on his computer and storage devices. He supposed they wanted to kill him before he had a chance to look through it all.

  What Sam also didn’t know was how widespread this EMP attack was. From what he had read prior to the EMP, it seemed like it was going to be a large attack, presumably over the entire country, but there was no way to know if they had been successful or if Chicago had merely been a test run. If Chicago was the only place affected so far, that would mean there would sti
ll be time to warn somebody, which would also mean that Blackleaf was not done hunting him and would do everything he could to kill him.

  Sam went to each side of the building roof and tried to look as far as he could over the neighborhood. After a few minutes, he started hearing loudspeakers from several directions. Then he saw another tank. Not only were the soldiers moving closer, but they seemed to be creating a perimeter around his neighborhood.

  He wondered if he could be safe here, but he knew it was only a matter of time before he would have to move again. He needed to get out of this neighborhood before the soldiers completely closed in on him. Even if this wasn’t Blackleaf, and it was actually just the National Guard trying to restore peace and order, Sam didn’t need to be stuck here. He needed to get to a place where he could sift through the information.

  Sam shook his head. He couldn’t believe that he had stumbled onto something so terrible, so secretive.

  In a way, it was to Sam’s advantage that the attack had already occurred. Mostly because no one could track him by phone or by any other method electronically. That said, he wasn’t very far from his home, so if they were zeroing in on him, he was running out of space. That was why staying on this rooftop wasn’t an option, and he needed to get away as quickly as possible.

  He got back onto the fire escape and made his way down to the street. Surely, they hadn’t closed off the entire neighborhood yet. He knew he had to avoid contact with the soldiers. He swore under his breath as he thought about the fact that he should’ve gotten a hat and worn some sunglasses. But perhaps if he remained as inconspicuous as possible, he would be overlooked.

  The streets were crowded. The soldiers would have a lot of faces to look at and a lot of people to stop. Maybe Sam was overthinking this. As he walked down the street and saw an SUV completely engulfed in flames, he realized that a military response was a very normal thing in a time such as this. The only thing he couldn’t wrap his head around was that they had working tanks. It wasn’t impossible to believe that the tanks were stored within a facility that protected them from the EMP blast, essentially creating a Faraday cage whether they intended to do that or not. Or it could be Blackleaf and his Horseman who were at the ready with their tanks and communication devices.