by Cage, Zion
“Well, we are all over there,” he said as he helped her get up and led her to where his family was. His family consisted of his parents and a boy of about twelve years. There were all seated around a smolder, eating from cans. Some other friends sat around too. They all lit up when they saw Marcia.
“Granny!” Elizabeth, Ted’s mother, said as she got up and hugged the elderly woman. Ted piped up.
“Hey, mum. Please let Ms. Marcia get something to eat. I’ll go find her granddaughter.” He said and jogged off. Marcia called out after him;
“She headed into town.”
Chapter Two
“Fear is an illusion …"
17thNovember, 2021
7:15am
Belfast, Maine. USA
Aaliyah trudged quickly through the snow, grateful for the alone time. She desperately needed to clear her head and fix her emotions. She remembered the words of, Ando Lee, her karate master.
Don’t let your emotions rule you… fear is an illusion holding you back from what you must do… don’t be a sympathetic fool; even hard decisions must be taken.
A tear rolled down her cheeks.
This wasn’t how I planned to spend thanksgiving. The last thing my family remembers of me is my rejecting them. They never knew why. I had never told them.
She pulled her lock picks from her jacket pockets and slipped them into the keyhole of the door to the house closest to the travel route. Clearly, the army had emptied that place before they had reached her neighborhood. She hoped she could quickly find some supplies and head back to camp.
Now I’m left with grandma and she’s sick. Only God knows if she’ll survive the journey. I’ll be left all alone with no family.
She had to stop and suck in her breath to stop herself from crying. Her grip around the doorknob tightened. Managing to pull herself together, she walked into the house and went straight to the kitchen. She checked out the fridge. There was a carton half-filled with milk… most likely spoilt. She put it into her backpack. Apart from that, there was nothing of much value. She checked the cabinets. There were two loaves of untouched bread as well as a jar of mayonnaise. She slipped those in too. She found some empty plastic bottles in the trash can and she filled them with water. The water was very cold - just the way she liked it. She decided that was enough house-shopping. As she was about to leave the house, she noticed a book on the ground close to the chair. She picked it up and looked at it. It was a novel. She smiled. Finally; something to keep her mind busy.
As she stepped on the snowy streets again, she noticed a sandy-haired guy running towards her. She dismissed him for one of the other people who were ‘hunting for supplies’ and continued to head towards camp. It was almost time for their journey to continue. When the guy shouted her name, she stopped in surprise. She hadn’t been expecting that. She waited for him to get close enough so she could get a good look at him.
“Whew! I’ve been looking all over for you,” he said, stopping just in front of her. She looked carefully at him. She knew she had seen him somewhere before but she wasn’t sure where from.
“Do I know you?” she asked bluntly. She watched the smile on his face get exchanged with formality.
“Oh, you probably might not remember me. I go to the church your grandma used to attend.”
She didn’t look like she was catching on. He tried again.
“I play the lead guitar there.”
Her face lit up.
“Oh, I remember you. You’re the weird guy that never finds the right key for any song,” she said as she continued to the camp.
His face saddened a bit.
“Well, that’s not exactly accurate,” he said before following her.
“What do you want?” she asked, sounding weary of him.
“Your granny asked me to get you. She’s having breakfast with my family. She wanted you to join her.”
Aaliyah stopped, turned, and shot Ted a death-glare.
“What’s my grandmother doing with your family?”
“Well, we’re friends of hers. We invited her over.”
Aaliyah let out a breath in anger.
“I thought I clearly told her to stay put!” she said more to herself than to Ted. Ted wasn’t sure of what to say. He had never seen her that way. He raised his hands.
“Hey, you don’t have to be angry. And you don’t have to do everything on your own. We can help.”
“Oh, shut up! You can’t help. Give your help to someone that needs it.” She placed her face in her palms as she exhaled.
“Hey, we’re just trying to be nice. If you don’t want to join us, knock yourself out. It’s cool.”
Aaliyah rolled her eyes.
“You know what?” Ted continued. “I don’t want to judge you but it seems you’re exactly what people say you are - rude and snobbish - the very opposite of what I remember. I guess my memory must have mistaken you for someone else.”
“Do I look like someone who cares? Go hug a live wire or something. I have some hunting to do,” she said straight to his face before turning away and heading further into town. Ted stared after her wanting to have the last word but he restrained himself.
Aaliyah knew he was still standing where she left him. She wished he’d just go away. Not even thinking of where she was going, she took a turn so that she could clean the tears that ran down her cheeks without him seeing. She took a moment to breathe then she put herself together and walked on, trying to decide the next house to raid. She hadn’t gone too far when she saw two men and a woman. They were typing into white phones. Aaliyah didn’t recognize them from the camp and it was weird that they were using phones at such times. Even if their phones weren’t broken, there was obviously no mobile network available. The whole place was deserted. Being alone with them was spooky. She turned to go away.
“Hey, young lady,” the woman called. Aaliyah turned to face her.
“Yes?”
“Um, we’re having a problem finding our way to the migrant camp. Ours left just yesterday and we missed them. You’re the only person around here. Did you see them,” the woman said as she walked towards Aaliyah. Aaliyah shook her head.
“No. I don’t-“
She couldn’t speak anymore. The woman had brought out a perfume and sprayed it over her face. She immediately began to lose consciousness. Falling, she felt herself land in the woman’s arms.
The ground seemed to swim beneath her. She couldn’t get herself to be coordinated. She tried to shout but no words came out.
Though hazy, she heard the woman say;
“Nine. Today seems to be our lucky day.”
Chapter Three
“you need to follow instructions …"
10th October, 2006
12:16pm
Seattle, Washington D.C. USA.
Vivien sat on a bench in the park, waiting for the emissary from the bosses. She checked her wristwatch. The meeting was supposed to begin at noon on the dot. However, this emissary had succeeded in wasting sixteen minutes of her precious time. She wasn’t even supposed to be here. She could be sanctioned at work for negligence due to her leaving the job for no reason. She had been called the moment she got to work that morning. She didn’t want to go but Daan had shown up in her office by 11:30 am to ‘remind’ her of the meeting.
A black car stopped across the road. At first, she didn’t waste any special attention to it. When she noticed the person who got out of the car, her heart stopped. She stood up immediately, even before the man crossed the street and entered the park.
“Vivien, you look more beautiful than ever. The United States is taking good care of you,” he said to her in Russian.
“Thank you, sir. I’d say the same of you it’s just that you live in Russia.”
He laughed at her joke.
“You know you don’t have to call me ‘sir’. We’ve gone beyond that.” he said before kissing her gently on her lips. He trailed his fingers over her dark skin.
Vivien shook h
er head sadly.
“Adrik, we need to focus on the job. We can’t be doing that here,” she said in Russian accented English.
It took a second but Adrik to straightened up and nodded at her with a straight face. He sat on the bench she had been sitting on and motioned for her to join him. She obeyed.
“So, I’ve read through your report and I’m so pleased that I sent you here.” They had reverted to speaking Russian.
“Thank you, sir. As I said before, I just needed time to act without causing any suspicions.”
Adrik smiled and nodded his head.
“So, everyone thinks you’re from Wisconsin?”
She smiled and nodded.
He pulled out an A4-sized brown envelope from his jacket and handed it over to her.
“We are moving on to the next phase now. The organization has decided on the people they want to fill up the positions. Your job is to steadily promote them till they get those seats. This should be done over a long period to avoid suspicion. We aim for fifteen years. Work towards it. Remember, no slacking.”
Vivien opened the envelope and pulled out the papers inside. She read through the names on the first sheet. She raised a brow.
“Really? We’re going to let Alexei take this position?”
Adrik narrowed his brow.
“You have a problem with that?”
Vivien sighed.
“Well, I don’t. It’s just that I feel the job description requires so much tact and strength. I know him. I doubt he can do it.”
Adrik laughed.
“Vivien, my love. Ever so opinionated. So, who do you think can do it? You?”
Vivien mentally rolled her eyes and said nothing more. Adrik became serious.
“Vivien, this is not the council where we make our suggestions. Your wisdom indeed brought us this far but you need to follow instructions. If this is what we say we want to be done, do it without any questions. Is that clear?”
Vivien nodded.
“Yes sir.”
“Adrik.”
“Yes, Adrik.”
“Good.”
There was silence for a while. They sat staring at all the activity on the field. Vivien wished he hadn’t come. He had a way of upsetting her. She asked;
“Why did you have to come from Russia? You could easily have sent someone to do it. I was told I was awaiting an emissary. I never thought it would be you.”
“I just wanted to see you. I’ve missed you, Viv,” he said, still staring at the people.
“Oh,” she said and he turned to look at her.
“But, you don’t seem happy to see me. You smile but it’s obvious your heart is far from it.”
Vivien tucked a stray strand of hair behind her ears. She didn’t say anything.
“Viv, I know you think of me as a hard man, incapable of emotions but I’m only doing what needs to be done to achieve our aim. We’ve been at this for years now without getting anywhere. Five years ago, because of your brilliance, we finally began making headway. We can’t afford to ruin this for reasons as fickle as emotions.”
Vivien looked up at him and nodded.
“You need to get back to work so you won’t be missed,” Adrik said as he stood up and held out his hand for a handshake. Vivien took it before turning and walking across the grass back to the road where she planned to take a cab. She didn’t look back but she knew he was watching her.
Chapter Four
The Spirit of Survival
17thNovember, 2021
7:50am
Belfast, Maine. USA
“Quickly! Lift her up and let’s get out of here before anyone spots us.” The woman who had abducted Aaliyah said and the men moved to take Aaliyah out of her hands. They had only carried her a little way when a sandy-haired young man made the turn and saw them with Aaliyah. They all froze. The woman lifted her head in anger.
“Well, would you look at that? We’ve been spotted.” She said as she pulled out a pistol from her pocket and pointed it at him. “It’s such a pity that I’d have to waste such a pretty boy but you just saw what you simply weren’t supposed to see.” She pulled the trigger. Immediately, the boy ducked behind the wall and the bullet lodged itself into the bricks.
He shouted out: “Everyone, Aaliyah is being abducted. Come here now!”
The woman cursed. There were sounds of response. People around had started gathering. She looked at the girl.
“Well, since we can’t have her, neither can they.”
She pointed her gun towards the girl.
“I’m sorry, baby girl. Mummy didn’t want to do this.”
Before she could pull the trigger, the young man emerged from behind the wall with the cover of a trash can.
“Hey!” He called and flung it towards the woman. She looked up just in time for the cover to hit her squarely in the face. She lost her bearing and fell to the ground unconscious. Men pulled out their guns and began to fire at him. He dropped to the ground and tried to roll away but a bullet hit his left leg. They were getting closer. The two men decided to cut their losses. One picked up their female accomplice while the other pointed his gun at Aaliyah.
“Don’t shoot her. If you do they won’t stop looking for us. Let’s just go. We already have the burden of carrying Niki,” the first one said as he ran away, disappearing around the first turn. The other one followed suit.
People gathered to see Ted rolling in the snow because of the pain and Aaliyah unconscious.
“Let’s get them back to camp. It’s almost time to move,” an elderly man said to the others around him.
18th November 2021
7:00 am
Outskirts of Vermont. USA
Aaliyah zipped her hoodie up and laced her boots. Tying her black hair into a bun, she threw the hood over her head. Slipping her bag over her shoulders, she stood in the ankle-deep snow, deep in thought. The movies had always warned them about it. Even her novel had mentioned it in passing. She wondered why the EMP had to happen in her generation. Suddenly, walking to New York wasn’t what bothered her the most. She could do that. Her mind ran over the events of the previous day. She could hardly believe she had almost been abducted. There was a war looming. They were in danger zone. Americans had turned on each other and the spirit of America had now become the spirit of survival. She didn’t know if she could handle it.
Marcia, her grandmother came to stand beside her. She hugged her grandma - the only other surviving person in her whole family. They had shared her loot from the previous day with the Hankins.
“We’re going to be safe, Granny,” Aaliyah said. Marcia coughed in response and sadness filled Aaliyah. Time was running out.
“Aaliyah just stay back. The Hankins will take care of us. Why do you insist on blocking people out all the time? You are loved.”
Aaliyah shook her head.
“Granny, you won’t understand. And it’s okay if you’re going to rely on them. But I don’t want to. We’ve already seen firsthand how that turned out.”
“But Ted saved you yesterday.”
Aaliyah’s eyes widened.
“And he’s now walking with crutches because of that. He shouldn’t have bothered.”
“If he hadn’t bothered, you wouldn’t be here by now. Who knows where those people would have taken you? Did you not hear that some families in our community are looking for their children?”
“I can take care of myself, granny. As I will today.”
“But I don’t want to lose you, my child.”
Aaliyah sighed and bit back her tears. She didn’t want to talk about losing anyone.
“You’re ill, granny. I need to find drugs for you. I’ll just check if there are any pharmacies around and see if I can get some something. I’ll also try to get bandages for Ted if that’ll make you happy but I have to go now. We’ll be moving in an hour. That’s hardly enough time for me to get what I need to get.”
She turned and headed out.
�
��You don’t want to be indebted to Ted or to anyone for that matter. That’s it, right?”
Aaliyah stopped. She wanted to turn and reply but she forced herself to go on. Her grandmother had always been able to read her. As she walked on, she came to the path that demarcated the highway through which they made their journey from the main town. A couple of guys sat around, talking. Ted was one of them. Aaliyah pretended she didn’t see them and walked past. Worry crossed Ted’s face and he moved to get up.
“Hey, bro. Don’t tell me you’re going after the witch,” Jackson, one of his friends, said while holding him back. Jackson was quite a bit younger than Ted. The only reason Jackson hung out with the bigger guys was that his father was the manager of the local bank. Sincerely, Ted wasn’t sure he liked the boy too well. He raised a brow.
“I am. Is there a problem with that?”
The rest of the guys laughed.
“When are you gonna learn a lesson, boy? That girl dun’ care about you one bit. Besides, you don’t need anyone to tell you that she’s a black cat. She’s got bad luck on her. Your leg is a testimony,” Jackson said.
Ted laughed.
“Y’all don’t know her. And you’re delaying me. I’ll be back.”
He limped towards her. She didn’t stop when she noticed him coming. He didn’t stop following her either. When she couldn’t ignore him any longer, she stopped and turned to face him.
“Why are you following me?”
He smiled at her.
“Where are you going? Did you need something? You know you could just have asked my mother, right?”
“I’ve made it clear that I don’t need any help. Especially not from guys who feel they are everything a lady needs. I’ve got to go.” She turned to walk away but Ted limped closer to her and stood right in front of her.
