by Connor Mccoy
He tried standing up, but an ache in his back stopped him. “Ow!” He clung to the armrests to anchor himself in the chair. “Damn.” Perhaps he shouldn’t rush it. This chair wasn’t exactly the most comfortable place to have slept and it probably had done a small number on his back.
However, someone else must have been more impatient for him to rise. Not more than two minutes later, there was a knock on the door. Jacob sighed. “You really think I have to give permission for you guys to come in?” He instantly wondered if he should have cracked that sarcastic response, as he was not sure if his “hosts” possessed a sense of humor.
Fortunately, as the door slid open, Jacob’s worst fears were not confirmed. A more benign presence, in the form of Doctor Hien Nguyen, strolled inside. Although relieved that he was not greeted by a muscle-bound brute who could plant his head through a wall, Jacob couldn’t help but mentally itch with irritation at the sight of the doctor.
“Morning,” Nguyen said, “I’m sure you would agree that Armageddon is no excuse for ignoring good manners, correct?”
Armageddon. Well, that wasn’t quite what had happened, but the outside world certainly had taken one hell of a bad turn. Jacob replied with, “I’d feel better about good manners if I wasn’t being held prisoner.”
“That’s a rather unfair way to put it,” the doctor said as he stopped at the desk.
“You’re safer in this room than out there. And, we do provide for our workers.” Nguyen dropped a granola bar on the table, then reached into his coat and pulled out a plastic bottle of water. “This is yours, all of it.”
Jacob’s anger melted a little. “Thanks.” He unscrewed the cap and dumped a swig of water down his throat. Once he finished, he turned his gaze directly at Doctor Nguyen. “So, shall we take this from the top?”
Nguyen lifted his chin. “How about we start with your concerns?”
“Are you the power behind the throne? Is that it?” Anger rose in Jacob’s voice. “Just what the hell are you to this town?”
“One of its best doctors,” Nguyen answered with not a hint of irony or joviality.
“Dammit, don’t play games with me. You didn’t give me a straight answer last night and I damn sure want one before I go off, probably to my death, in Pleasantville.” Jacob barely kept his voice calm, though he would have been justified in shouting, out of anger and confusion.
The previous night’s events flashed quickly before his eyes. Jacob’s new friend, Doc Sam, had told him Doctor Nguyen, a good friend of many years, might be able to provide him medical supplies to compensate Doctor Sam for treating Jacob’s fifteen-year-old daughter. Jubilee, who had been outside on Jacob’s ranch with her brother fishing for bluegill, had been struck with a hunting arrow from a trespasser. After thrashing the idiot for invading his land and hurting his daughter, Jacob and his family had driven off to the hospital where his sister worked to get his daughter treated.
And then everything changed.
Instead, the Avery family was diverted to the town of Trapp to find Doc Sam to help Jubilee. In exchange, Jacob would take a trip to Middleburg to contact Doctor Nguyen to get the supplies to pay off Doc Sam. Instead, Jacob found a city under the rule of a hooded figure, who just happened to be Doctor Nguyen’s younger brother, Trang Nguyen.
Jacob immediately demanded answers to all of this, but the only reply forthcoming was a punch in the face from one of the henchmen who labored here. Then he was dragged into this room for the night. After entertaining thoughts of breaking through the window and escaping, curiosity and fatigue got the better of him and he decided to stay.
Of course, if his search for answers came up dry again today, he reserved the right to change his mind about sticking around.
“I suppose you could call me a mentor. My brother was actually a software technician. When people had problems with their computers, they called him.” Nguyen laid his hand on top of the computer monitor, which was inactive. “Naturally, there’s not much call for that these days.”
No kidding, Jacob thought as he started gnawing on the granola bar. He took note of the dark ceiling lights and the stopped clock on the wall. The phone on the table would be silent if he picked up the receiver, with no dial tone at all. No need for computer technicians, the cable guy or the power company.
“But my brother had a gift for the tongue. I was the intellectual one, while he was the go-getter, the man who could reach out, speak to others, interact. When all the lights went out, when all the cars stopped, I recognized what was happening, and I decided he could serve Middleburg in another way.”
“By taking it over? Pushing out the mayor?”
“The mayor was not equipped to handle this disaster. We brought the leadership this town needed.” Doctor Nguyen tilted his head back as if in deep thought. “I spent years working across Asia, trying to bring civilization to locales even worse off than we are now. I observed how men struggled for power, how they controlled others, kept the people in line, prevented panics and riots when food and water were scarce. So, I taught Trang, very quickly, what he should do.”
Jacob blanched. “You’re teaching your brother how to be like those monsters you encountered in Asia?”
“I’ve been teaching him how to handle what is to come.” The doctor turned his eyes toward Jacob. His next words sent chills down Jacob’s spine. “There were some techniques used by those militias and juntas I encountered that proved to be quite useful to us.”
Jacob could not believe this was the man who Doc Sam had called a good friend, not if he was willing to draw inspiration from mass murderers. It didn’t even make sense that Nguyen would want to emulate the horrors that Doc Sam claimed drove Nguyen back to America. So, what was Doctor Nguyen’s game? Jacob said, “Doc Sam told me about what happened when you found those people beheaded.”
A tremor shook Doctor Nguyen’s face. “Yes, I suppose he would have.”
“Then why would you want to be like those people who killed them?”
“I am not.” Nguyen said, with a flash of anger. “I said, I learned from them. They visited their horrors on innocent women and children, on doctors, schoolteachers, journalists. We will visit our wrath on men who would do such things here, on our shores. And if that thought discomforts you, Mister Jacob, then who else is going to keep you safe when the anarchists of our society realize they can act as they please? How else can you meet brutality, except with brutality?”
Nguyen gazed out the window. The sunlight continued getting brighter. “I thought I could live my days in peace here. When the lights went out, I realized I never truly had left those jungles behind.” He turned to Jacob. “And now I never will.”
Jacob wasn’t sure how much he ought to sympathize with this man. His experiences overseas had broken him, yet he was trifling with something dangerous. “These men who follow you and your brother, how do you know they won’t get any ideas and turn on you? What are they following you for, security, or making sure they still will have a bite to eat?”
“Power corrupts?” Nguyen chuckled. “I don’t expect any less, but as you say, most of these men understand that they have no choice. Everything they knew, the convenience of the 24-hour store, the fast food, the doctor’s appointment, all of it is gone. That’s why we first must secure all the resources from the town as quickly as we can. Of course, my brother will be in full control of those resources. If you want to eat, you will have to act within certain guidelines.” The doctor clasped his hands behind his back. “And there are other ways to keep the men in line. I won’t be divulging those, of course. I can’t have my secrets leaking out.”
Jacob took another drink of water before answering. “Look, the only thing I care about is getting back to my family with the supplies I owe Doc Sam. I don’t want to be here any longer than I have to. So, if you want me to keep your secrets, fine. Now, where is my backpack with the supplies and my gun?”
“It’s safe, and it will be returned to you once you hav
e completed the resource run into Pleasantville. I give you my word,” Nguyen said.
Jacob squeezed the now empty water bottle hard. “I guess I don’t have a choice.” He had gathered those supplies from a Middleburg pharmacy, but could not make it out of town before Trang Nguyen’s men had captured him. If he wanted his gear and supplies back, he would have to play along.
After placing the bottle on the desk, Jacob stood to full height, overshadowing Nguyen. “You sure I can trust you on this?”
“Of course.” Nguyen nodded. “I know where those supplies are going. I would be happy to compensate my old friend.” He sighed. “I suspect our paths from this point forward will go in much different directions.” Nguyen looked back through the window. “A shame. We never did get to finish that last round of Rummy.”
Doctor Nguyen led Jacob out the back door to the rear parking lot of Middleburg’s town hall. The whole area was cordoned off with chain-link fences. Blue tents occupied much of the enclosed area.
Jacob glanced through the open tent flaps as he followed Doctor Nguyen. He spotted boxes and boxes of supplies within each tent. This staging area must be where Doctor Nguyen’s brother had ordered the stuff from the town’s stores and clinics to be brought. And with the flock of men patrolling the grounds, Jacob guessed the poor soul who tried sneaking in there wouldn’t live long after penetrating the fence.
Jacob bristled. Almost every face he passed was covered with a ski mask. Why were these men determined to cover their faces? They weren’t outside of the perimeter. This was supposed to be the “safe” area, the headquarters of the town’s leadership.
For the most part, the men kept to their duties and did not pay Jacob any mind. Jacob wondered if they thought he was one of them. With the number of tattoos lining his arms and chest, and with many of them visible to these men, Jacob probably came off as just another tough guy, perhaps a new recruit.
If they knew I was a homesteader from the base of the Blue Ridge Mountains, they never would believe me.
The mystery persisted as Nguyen stepped into the tent farthest from the town hall. The two men inside, also wearing masks, were sitting on top of sealed boxes but stood up as Nguyen walked inside. One of them was holding a magazine and tried hiding it as soon as he spotted the doctor.
Doctor Nguyen, however, did not let the periodical escape his eye. He marched up to the man and took hold of it. The man loosened his grip, though reluctantly. Nguyen flipped through the magazine. Then, with a raised eyebrow, he looked up at the reader.
“Hustler,” he said, “your preferred reading of choice?”
“Hey, what else can a guy do nowadays, huh?” The reader laughed.
Nguyen shut the magazine with a loud slap, then tossed it over their heads. “I hope you got your fill of it because I need your heads in the game. You’ve been told about the resource run today.”
“No sweat,” said the Hustler reader’s companion. “We loaded up on ammo. We are ready to kick ass.”
“Remember, your first priority is coming back alive with the goods,” Nguyen said. “If you think you’re going to have a fun time in Pleasantville, you might discover twenty more guns pointed at you all of a sudden. The point, my friends, is that you do not know what’s waiting for you. So, do not start anything. Am I clear?”
The two men shrugged. Nguyen seemed to take that as a yes. The porno reader then jabbed his finger at Jacob. “This guy, he’s Jacob Avery?”
“Yes,” Doctor Nguyen replied. “You will be escorting him to Pleasantville. He is working off a little debt. I expect you to bring him back in one piece as well.”
Jacob grimaced. These two were going with him to Pleasantville? The idea hardly was a heart warmer. The guy who had been reading Hustler wore a ratty Pink Floyd T-shirt with cargo pants slashed at the knee to make them cargo shorts. His hair hung off his scalp in messy, greasy strands. Jacob could smell it from where he stood. His companion fared better in the looks department, with a sleeveless flannel shirt, cheap cargo pants and leather boots, and much shorter hair.
Although he didn’t care to hang around these two, he figured he should show some courtesy, so he extended his right hand. “Nice to meet you.”
The two men looked at each other as if Jacob had performed a strange foreign greeting. Jacob let his hand slide back down. The man who had been indulging in the Hustler did speak up. “Goat. That’s what you call me.”
“Pummel,” spoke up the other guy.
Goat? Pummel? Jacob hid a smirk. Tell me your moms didn’t actually name you that.
Nguyen rolled his eyes. “If you don’t want to use your real names around Jacob, fine, but at least take off those masks around him.”
The two men complied, pulling their hoods loose to unveil their faces. Goat revealed a face with a nearly toothless grin, while Pummel wore a five o’clock shadow. With their countenances uncovered, Jacob took a quick measure of the two men. Goat was expressive, while Pummel appeared stern and cold. Neither of these two seemed particularly bright. Jacob had the feeling the wheels didn’t turn very fast inside their heads.
He also didn’t fancy the idea of going to Pleasantville with them. He spoke up, but gently. “You know, it’d probably be quicker for me to go there myself. I do have a bike. I’d be there and back within a day.”
Goat and Pummel laughed. “Really? You just go off, fly free, and we let you?” Goat elbowed Pummel in the chest. “Hey, this guy wants to be on the honor system.”
Pummel’s lips thinned out into an icy grin. “No deal. There’s nothing to stop you from turning and going home. We’re keeping a close eye on you all the way.”
“But it would take a much longer time on foot,” Jacob said.
“We have bicycles,” Pummel said. Goat laughed, but Pummel remained serious. “We’ve gathered a lot of shit from the town. We’re ready to handle whatever comes our way. So yeah, you’ll pedal, but we’re pedaling too.”
“And if you, shall we say, try to make a break for it.” Goat extended his forefinger while curling back his other three fingers. “Boom! baby. You are dead as dead can get.”
Doctor Nguyen quickly chimed in. “I’m sure Jacob will be fully cooperative. He strikes me as a man of honor and he has a debt to pay, both to this town and to my friend. So, I wouldn’t recommend you getting too trigger happy. In fact, I will be accompanying you, at least as far as the boundary of Pleasantville.”
Doctor Nguyen is coming with us? Relief dared to fill his body, but Jacob still didn’t fully trust the man. Why was he coming along? And why not go into Pleasantville itself? Did Nguyen not fully trust Jacob either, or did he have other business there?
“You’re coming along?” Even Pummel sounded a bit surprised.
“Yes. I have a task to take care of and I might as well use this opportunity. I suspect I won’t be traveling very much in the days to come.” Nguyen turned to Jacob. “We’ll be fortifying Middleburg. That’s why we need to get these resource runs done as quickly as possible.”
Jacob was not about to go off with Goat and Pummel without getting some more information out of Doctor Nguyen. As the doctor turned to leave the tent, Jacob insisted on tagging along for a moment. Nguyen, though appearing a little annoyed by Jacob’s demand, allowed it.
“I need to see my brother, so this had better be quick,” Nguyen said as he and Jacob stepped back into the yard.
“What is the deal with those two? Why do they call themselves “Goat” and “Pummel?” And why are these men all wearing ski masks? They look like a gang of criminals.”
Nguyen stiffened up. “Anonymity is important if you’re going to serve a strongman. Many of them eagerly accepted it, though I advised against certain ‘colorful’ aliases.”
“It’s also important if you’re going to do some terrible things to others and you don’t want your name or face in their mind,” Jacob said darkly.
“True.” Nguyen turned away slightly. “Like I said, I’m not blind to those possib
ilities, Jacob. Now, if you’ll excuse me.”
The doctor stormed off quickly. Jacob reached out to him, not quite done with questions, but decided to drop the matter. Like it or not, he was about to embark on a trip to Pleasantville with the doctor and two men named Goat and Pummel.
Chapter Two
Domino stirred. Soft sunlight struck the bridge of her nose. She twitched at the sudden heating of her skin. Turning to her side, she murmured, “Jay, you there or did you get up early again to feed the chickens?”
No response. Perhaps Jacob had been up early. Then, as her eyes fluttered open, she remembered that she wasn’t in her bed inside the confines of her bedroom. No, she was lying on a cot inside a small guest room. Jubilee was resting nearby in the room’s bed.
And Jacob was in another town altogether.
Domino sighed. So, this all wasn’t a bad dream after all. The events of the past two days ran before her eyes in a quick flash, starting with that morning when she heard Jubilee’s piercing scream that drove her and her husband outside to find her daughter with a small arrow sticking out of her arm.
They should have made it to the hospital in the nearby city, where the arrow could be removed, and her daughter treated. Instead, their whole world changed in an instant. Their truck had come to a sudden halt, as had every other vehicle on the road. The electronics across the state and perhaps the entire country had shut down. The news for the past few months had been inundated with accounts of increased solar activity, which could possibly lead to an electromagnetic pulse.
The EMP did occur. Without the help of a running vehicle, the Avery family was forced to trek on foot along the side of the road to reach this small town of Trapp. They were told about a doctor, popularly known to the citizens of Trapp as Doc Sam. The doctor was able to remove the arrow and patch up Jubilee’s wound. However, Sam required some compensation for his efforts, which Jacob and Domino readily agreed with.
