by HJ Lawson
“What, we are just going to let them take the girls?” Ali asks, confused.
“They already have them,” I add. Gérard is right. Ali slumps down into the barber chair. He knows we are right.
We watch silently as the trucks begin to move. I catch the eyes of one of the drivers through his gas mask. His eyes have the same haunting look as Junayd's when he’s smiling.
“Get down,” I yell, as I dive to the ground, wrapping my hands around my head. And just in time. The whizzing sounds of bullets fly past me, and shattered glass explodes in the air, covering me in tiny fragments.
As soon as they start, they are gone.
I pull my hands down from my eyes, and the fragments of the glass fall off my face.
Why is he still sitting? “Albert… Albert. Are you okay?” I hold my breath.
His gun slides down to the floor, and slowly his body begins to lean toward me. I move out of his way. His body lands with a thump, with his neck awkwardly bent backwards, forcing his eyes to bulge out of his head. A crimson line of blood drips out of his mouth and down toward his forehead. He’s dead.
I jump to my feet… they shot him in the chest. At least it was quick.
“Hurry. Get his keys,” Gérard yells, as he runs past me into the street.
I begin to rummage through Albert’s pant pockets, while Ali stares at me.
“Ali, we have to go. Take his gun,” I order, as I grab the keys.
I take off running like Gérard. We don't have much time to keep up with them; their trucks are already a black silhouette on the horizon.
“He’s coming with us,” Gérard states, as he looks down at the soldier on the ground. “Ali, get the truck!”
I throw Ali the keys. He catches them with one hand; the other has the gun firmly placed in it. Then Ali takes off running to the truck.
“Where are they taking them?” Gérard yells to the soldier I shot in the knee earlier. His body looks like an overgrown man, but his face looks like a younger kid. His round cheeks swallow up his eyes sockets—he is only a few years older than I am.
The young soldier spits at Gérard’s feet. “Why would I tell you?” he says with a heavy Russian accent. He looks at us with disgust, like we are the ones that are in the wrong. Maybe the rest of the world is against us? United in hatred and the thought of power.
Gérard stomps down on the boy's knee. “Arh!!!” The soldier’s mouth stretches outwards, and it looks like the devil's hands are trying to rip his lips apart, as he screams out in pain.
“Tell us!” Gérard yells.
I kneel down beside him. “Whatever happened to never leaving a soldier? Really, what are an old man and two kids going to do?” I shrug my shoulders and laugh. “We can drop you off at the hospital on the way. Can’t we, Gérard?” I say, looking up at him—but with one eye always on my prey.
“Sure. Can’t have you bleeding to death, can we?” Gérard adds.
“I know what you’re doing,” the soldier states.
“Good. So I can cut this crap,” I say. “You have a choice… tell us where they are taking them, or I will let him beat you until you tell us. Then we will leave you out in the street to die, and the radiation will poison your veins.”
“Gérard…” With my signal, Gérard stomps on the man’s knee. He screams out in pain once again.
I can hear the truck's engine roaring as Ali drives it over the grass.
“We could always let Ali drive over you…. He is pretty pissed off,” I say, as I move my head side to side.
“Get her away from me!” the soldier yells. “She’s crazy. Like Captain Reef!”
“Have you met Captain Reef?” I ask. He doesn’t respond. “I will take that as a no—not that important, are you?”
Headlights illuminate the street. “Gérard, he’s no good to us. It's just a kid soldier. He doesn’t know what’s happening.” I pick up his gas mask and start to walk away from him.
“Sorry, kid,” Gérard says, as he walks with me toward Ali’s truck.
“Fine, I will tell you!” the soldier snaps with his thick accent. “You have to take me to the hospital.”
“Sure,” Gérard says, as he rips the other two masks off the dead soldiers’ faces.
“Where are they heading?” I ask.
“They are setting up base camp, and gathering people as they go,” the soldier explains.
“Why?”
“To build their army and to kill the rest.”
Chapter 26
Childhood Memory.
ETHAN
Now I have everything. “Who told you to look for them?” I demand.
Christian falls silent.
I shake my head. Really, by now I’d have thought he would’ve learned.
“Please, no,” he begs.
“Tell me!” I yell.
Christian frantically shakes his head and body as he tries to get out of the chair. He must really care for this person.
“Last chance, Christian,” I say, as I squeeze the cord pliers together in preparation for his fingertip. Every other piece he gave me easily, as though he wanted to share his findings. But not this.
“Christian, you will tell me! Why not make it easy for yourself?” And hurry up!
“Please. Have I not given you what you need?” he begs.
“Why is it so difficult to tell me this?” I stare down at him, squeezing my pliers threateningly.
Christian shakes his head back and forth, and sweat drips down his face from fear. I don’t have time for this. I start tightening up the cords around his wrist and the arm rest. “Please don’t!” he cries.
I push my hand down on the back of his, and place the pliers under the tip of his fingernail and clamp down on it.
His eyes bulge out in terror. Rightfully so.
“Arh…!” he screams out in pain, as I rip back his fingernail. I hold it up toward my eyes for a better look.
Part of his flesh came off with the nail. I loosen my grip on the pliers, and the nail drops to the ground.
His screams continue.
“Shut up, or I will take the rest!”
Christian breathes in and out as he tries to compose himself.
“Tell me!” I yell through my locked teeth, as I wave the pliers in front of his face. Then I grip them around his nail once more.
Hurry! I’m not going to die from my own bomb!
He thrashes his body around as he tries to get out of his chair, screaming. “Stop… I will tell you!”
I loosen the grip, and he wiggles his fingers free.
“Gérard asked me,” he mumbles, ashamed to surrender so quickly.
“Gérard.” I laugh and shake my head. In all these years, his face is the one that I’ll always remember.
He was my driver on the day my life ended.
Today I will end your life…
Chapter 27
Soulless Soldiers.
JADA
Eek…! Rings out from Ali’s old breaks, as he comes to a sudden halt. Bet it's been a long time since that old truck has been driven that fast.
“Jump in!” Ali yells out the window.
“Ali, give me a hand,” Gérard orders.
The driver’s side door creaks as Ali opens it, and the humming sound of the engine dances in the darkness.
“We should leave him here to die,” Ali says, as he helps carry the overweight soldier to the truck with Gérard.
“I know. I wish we could,” Gérard says. “Jada, see if there's any rope in the back.”
“Yeah there is, I saw some…” I run over to grab it. “Here.”
Gérard takes hold of the soldier’s hands, pushes them behind his back, and quickly ties them together. Then he shoves him into the front seat of the truck.
“Ali, I will drive. You go in the back… hold on. Jada, with me.”
With that I get into the seat next to the soldier, with my gun in my hand. I can feel the truck bounce up and down as Ali jumps in.
Gérard begins to push the truck into gear.
Bang… Bang… What the? My heart jumps, and I quickly turn around. It's Ali banging on the window, giving me the thumbs up.
“Not so fearless?” The soldier smiles.
Looking into his soulless eyes, I point my gun to his injured knee. “I can shoot the other one for you too,” I state, smiling. His eyes don’t trail away from mine. They have taught him well, as though he doesn’t care if he lives or dies.
The engine begins to roar as Gérard speeds off down the road, hoping to catch up with the other truck.
“How far is the base?” Gérard asks.
“One hour.”
“What’s your name?”
“Boris.”
“Where are you from?”
“Russia,” he replies, as he stares out the window.
“How many of them are there?”
Boris lets out a roar of laughter, as if this is the funniest joke in the world.
“You Americans are so dumb.”
Gérard’s right arm swings up and he lands a punch right into Boris’s nose. The laughter quickly stops.
“How many are there?” Gérard repeats his question.
“There are more of Captain Reef’s soldiers here than there are American soldiers,” Boris replies smugly.
“How?” I ask.
“Your soldiers are in our country,” he says in a matter-of-fact way. “You are always involved in everyone else’s business. Too busy to even see what is going on under your very noses. Captain Reef is very good at that—he finds your weakness and uses it against you. Americans are simple people… they are all about money, and you can buy your way to the top. To the very top.” Boris pauses to laugh.
He then continues, “Captain Reef has lots of money, and the rest of the world is with us. You are unaware of what the real mission is… Captain Reef has been planning this before you were even born.” He smiles.
“What is the real mission?” Gérard asks.
“To take over America,” he says, like we are stupid.
The truck falls silent for the rest of the journey.
*****
“There,” Boris says, as he nudges with his head toward the road sign. We’ve driven past many towns; finally, we are heading to the one we need.
Gérard takes a left turn.
“That is it. I did what you asked, now take me to the hospital,” Boris orders.
Gérard turns to him and smiles. Then he pushes the truck’s sliding window.
“Hey, any tape back there?” Gérard asks Ali.
“Look in the tool box,” I yell out.
I can hear Ali rummaging around, then a roll of tape comes through the window. “Are we nearly there? Bloody freezing back here,” Ali adds.
“Yeah, kid, nearly there.” With that, Gérard slides the window closed and passes me the roll of tape. So far today Gérard has given me two gifts—a gun and tape.
“Gérard, you really need to work on your gift selections.” I smile.
I move the tape toward Boris’s mouth. He dives his head forward as he tries to head butt me. Luckily I react more quickly than him and move away.
“Arh!” Boris lets out a blood-curdling scream, as I see Gérard’s hand moving back to the steering wheel. “Leave my knee alone,” Boris begs, as his eyes fill up in pain.
“Sit nicely then,” Gérard says through his teeth.
Boris leans back in his seat, surrendering to Gérard’s request.
“Not too tight. We may still need him alive…”
Chapter 28
Ticking Clock.
ETHAN
Checking the clock on the car’s dash, I see I'm running out of time. I know I will survive today. My work is not complete.
Chapter 29
United In Hatred.
JADA
Boris wasn’t lying; there are hundreds of soldiers here… they have taken over a town. I can just make them out in the evening light as they walk around with gas masks on their faces and guns in their hands.
Gérard already told us to put ours on. The mask has a weird smell of rubber, and as I breathe in, the filtered air rushing through the ports makes a clicking and popping sound from the valves. I feel as if my face is being suffocated because of the pressure against my skin.
Gérard and Ali have tied Boris up in the back of the truck, so he cannot disturb us.
The soldiers are at every road into the town. About twenty green army trucks, like the one Faith and Kyra are in, are parked along the streets.
Gérard lifts up his gas mask. Ali and I do the same, taking in a big breath of air, probably filling our lungs with radiation. It's odd breathing in these things.
“There are too many of them down there. But there's a way in. Over there, there is no road in. Just rows of houses with a fence and woods behind them. It looks like a private, gated community. We could get in that way.” I look over to the section about which Gérard is speaking. He’s correct; the guards are mainly focused on the roads in and out. There are not enough of them to watch over every area.
“We need to go back to the towns we passed and see if we can round up any people,” Gérard informs us.
“Yeah, remember the Vice President told people to head to the police stations,” Ali adds.
“I was thinking the same. And we have a present for them.” Gérard smiles as he looks over at the back of the truck.
“Let’s get to the town, before any more soldiers arrive down there.”
*****
Boris is spending the drive back to the town in the back of the truck; Ali and Gérard tied him up so he couldn't jump off. Thank God for Ali—he was freezing, so as soon as he got into the truck, he turned on the heater to warm his hands.
For most of the drive we are silent, and Ali turns on the radio. Some country music is playing, and even though none of us like this type of music, he leaves it playing. It is clear we don't want to speak. We are all trying to come to terms with the different pain we are feeling for our loved ones. Is this what life is going to be like now for me without Zak? Am I always surrounded by war and loss?
“Gérard, how long will Kyra be okay without her insulin?” Ali asks.
An awkward silence follows. “I don’t know,” Gérard replies hesitantly. We all know at any time her levels could drop low.
“I’m glad Faith is with her,” Ali adds, as places his one of his hands on his head, and the other in his lap. I rest my hand on top of his, and he looks over at me and somberly smiles. He has the same caring eyes as Zak did.
“All right… looks like we are here,” Gérard announces. That’s a bit of an understatement. The scene in front of us is overwhelming; there is a huge, angry crowd of people outside the police station.
“Gérard, if we bring Boris out they will kill him,” I say.
“Would that be a bad thing?” Ali asks.
“Jada’s right. They will kill him. I believe he may have some useful information for the police.” Gérard stops the truck and slides the glass window open.
“Boris, stay down. They will kill you if they see you,” Gérard warns Boris. “Let’s try the back entrance.”
We start to drive toward the crowd of people. As we get closer, I can feel the tension in the air, and my lungs are tightening under the pressure. People are turning and staring straight at us, anger on their faces. It feels like they can see all the horrible things I’ve done, and they want to punish me.
“Can we go another way?” I blurt out as I look away from the angry mob.
“Not now,” Gérard says. We have to go slower to get through the crowds. I hope Boris has the sense to stay down.
We continue driving at a snail’s pace, and Gérard turns on a road as we get to the edge of the police stations.
“They’ve got one!” an angry voice screams out from the group.
“Damn… they saw him,” Gérard blurts out as he accelerates, swinging the truck around to the police station's
exit. “Quick, out. We need him alive!” He jumps out of the truck and runs to the back. Ali and I follow.
Gérard is already standing on the back of the truck, and he reaches out his hand for me. I take it and he pulls me up, and Ali leaps up to the other side. We stand united together, guns at the ready.
The angry mob comes rushing around the corner in a wave of hatred.
Bang… Bang! Gérard fires his gun into the air. The mob freezes. The police station door flies open, and officers arrive with their guns drawn.
“Who’s in charge here?” Gérard yells out.
“I am the Chief of Police.” A tall officer steps out from the group.
“They have one of the soldiers,” someone from the mob yells out.
“The man is correct, we have captured one of them,” Gérard tells the Chief.
“Is he alive?” he asks.
“Yes… and we believe he is a valuable asset to the country,” Gérard says.
“Officers, please escort them in,” the Chief announces, loudly enough for the mob to hear. “We can find out some information, from this man, on the attacks which have taken place today.”
“We can get the information out of him,” one of the people in the mob shouts.
“Yeah!” Cheers for his blood follow.
“I’m sure you can,” the Chief says. “But we are not animals like them. Bring him in.”
Some of the police officers quickly jump onto the back of our truck and begin to untie Boris. They lift him up to his feet. Boris looks like we dragged him from the back of the truck— his nose is still bleeding, there is tape across his mouth, and he is unable to stand on one of his legs.
The crowd lets out loud cheers, as though they are happy to see what we have done to him.
This makes me feel really uneasy… are we all turning into the enemy too?
Chapter 30
Power Collapsing.
ETHAN
