They walked up the stairs and Amir was standing in the living room with the fire still burning. He was holding John’s M4 rifle across his chest. John stopped when he saw it and glared at Amir. The tension between the two of them was immediate.
“I hope you know I will be getting that back soon.” John said pointing at his rifle.
Amir replied something in Arabic that made Fatima’s head turn in shock. She turned to Amir and started yelling at him also in Arabic. The two went back and forth, the argument escalated quickly. Fatima slapped Amir across the face and Amir went to strike her back.
John stepped in putting distance between Fatima and Amir. Still angry, Amir pulled the M4 up from its sling and in the same motion John pushed the barrel toward the ceiling and pulled Amir towards him slamming Amir’s face into the barrel. From there John threw Amir on the floor and John unhooked the M4 and stepped back pointing it at Amir.
“You side with him, the one that helped those that killed your sons? You are an infidel like them. Allah will slaughter you all!” John turned the M4 around and slammed the butt stock into Amir’s face, two more times and he was knocked unconscious.
“What was that all about? Is he your boyfriend or something?” John asked Fatima.
She was hesitant to say anything then John realized he still had the rifle against his shoulder pointed at Amir. He lowered the rifle and asked again, slowly this time.
“What were you two fighting about?” John asked.
“He said you were the devil and that he should kill you on the spot. Then I said you were good and trying to help us. He said I was your slut and that you spared me by spreading my legs. That was when I hit him.”
John could see she was still tense. He reached out to touch her shoulder and she pulled away.
“Ok, look I wasn’t kidding about the Lord’s Army coming back looking for you. I never said anything about seeing you and I’m tired of these guys thinking they rule this place. I’m leaving this city with or without you. I don’t know how you got this far with this guy but I know how to get to someplace better than here.”
“Where will we go?” Fatima asked.
“We can go east, there is a large Muslim population in Detroit. They can’t all be dead. It might be a safe place for you.”
“Why would you take me there? Why do you want to help me?”
“I have some sins to make up for.” She didn’t ask and he secretly thanked her for that. “We should leave before this guy wakes up.”
She grabbed her bag and John grabbed his. John took the sling off of Amir and then saw the bolt action rifle. He picked it up and handed it to Fatima. At first she declined.
“Could you carry it for me, it might come in handy.”
She took it from him then told him about the ammo in Amir’s bag.
John dumped out the bag and placed the packs of bullets in cargo pockets and Fatima’s backpack.
“You have food?” John asked her.
“Always be ready to run, that was our rule.”
“Ok let’s go.” John opened the door to the pitch black night. They stepped out of the house, the fire still burning and Amir lying on the floor with his things spread out around him.
John and Fatima moved slowly down the street. To go east they had a few options, they could go around the city and go east or they would have to travel straight through the city center and pray they were not seen.
“The Lord’s Army is going to think that I’m leaving town. They won’t look for me in the city if they come after me.”
“But you said they were going to start hunting for the rest of the Muslim’s right?” Fatima added.
“I have a feeling I might take priority for a day or two. I didn’t leave on the best of terms with some people.” He knew daddy’s little girl was going to be pissed he left and she still had a lot of pull with her father.
As they walked they talked in a low whisper. It was unlike John to do such a thing. He never did this in Iraq. It put the group at risk. Of course that didn’t stop guys who were bored on patrol.
Chapter 14: Three years after the Day
The splitting headache felt like a nail had been drilled through his forehead and out the back of his skull. Amir grabbed his face and pulled his hand away to see a mix of wet and dried blood. He looked around the room but somehow already knew the two infidels that attacked him were gone. Of course they were gone. She had been with her pale lover and they secretly plotted to abandon him. That was fine. The blonde man could have her. She was already ruined in his eye. Two children out of wedlock. Only in the west does something like that happen. He thought about all the horrible things that she deserved to have happen to her. He hoped the barbarian would butcher her. After everything she would leave him alone. He looked around the room and saw his rifle was gone. The only weapon he had to fight off the Lord’s Army and they took it. He rolled over and started to gather the items on the floor. He still had his knife and his food was still on the floor. He moved to the kitchen and placed boxes and cans in his bag. His head throbbed and he stumbled around walking back to the living room. He threw open the door and looked into the black void. Spit and dried foam flew from his mouth. He cursed the earth they walked on.
Throwing his pack over his shoulder Amir walked out of the house. He saw the direction the sun had set and starting walking in that direction. He used the moon light to navigate through the streets. He didn’t know where he was going or what his plan was now. At the moment it was the same thing it had always been, survival.
John and Fatima were downtown when the sun started to peak on the horizon.
“We should hunker down during the day. We travel in light and we will be picked off.” John said.
Fatima nodded.
John looked around and noticed a library that had been ransacked. He pointed to it and they walked over checking their surroundings. John moved along the wall and turned the corner, his M4 matching his every move. He saw the large picture windows were broken. He assumed it was from riots or looters. He had hoped this might serve a few purposes.
They quickly moved into the library and John moved around the floor space looking for signs of people staying there, smoke, light, the smell of food.
The main floor was clear and he noticed there was a rotating stairway that ran from the basement all the way to the fourth floor. Just to be safe he moved up the flight of stairs and checked each floor the same way he did when he first walked in. He moved back to the main floor and then into the basement. There he found empty shelves. It was the audio visual section. With no power people still stole the DVDs and blue ray discs. The CDs were partially still there since most music was downloaded at the time of collapse.
He didn’t know where to look for the card index drawers if the library even had one anymore as a backup.
“Ok I think the non-fiction is on the second floor.” John moved back upstairs still keeping his rifle trained on the space in front of him. Fatima followed close by. They moved up the stairs to the rows of book shelves.
“What are we looking for?” Fatima asked.
“What would be the most helpful in a time like this?” John looked at the rows of books with his flash light. He passed cookbooks of all kinds. At the end of the row he looked left and right, he chose right. Quickly glancing he found the row he was looking for. He pulled a book out called Organic Gardening.
“Ok we can set our bags down. Get comfortable, we will be here until sunset.”
“Why garden books?” She asked dropping her bag to the carpeted floor.
“Civilization was founded on agriculture. If we are going to start over and be civilized again this is where we start.”
John pulled more and more books out to see which one was the best for his future life. Fatima looked around and also flipped through some but didn’t know what she was looking for.
“What were you before the shit went down?” John asked.
“I was a doctor. I worked at the hosp
ital a few blocks away.”
John stopped looking at the books.
“Seriously?” He really didn’t question what she was saying. He never suspected her being a doctor.
“Yes, I worked in the ER.”
“Well I’m glad you’ll be around if things go bad on this trip.”
“Ok,” she said still looking at the books on the shelves. “I don’t know what I’m looking for.” Fatima said frustrated.
“A few rows that way there should be a section on edible wild plants. Could you bring those here and I can tell you what to look for. Is that ok?” John said hoping she would feel helpful.
She stood up and moved down the hall. For the first time since he had seen her again he was watching her not as a member of a team but as a desirable woman. He watched her walk away and took it in until she disappeared. He exhaled and wondered how things might be later if he didn’t keep his head straight.
Picking up the next book, he found something promising, Backyard Homesteading. He flipped through and it appeared to be exactly what he was looking for. It covered anything he could think of, making alcohol and butchering cattle, farming, saving seed. There wasn’t much that wasn’t covered in it. This was his road for starting his new life. He wanted something quiet. A life that he could be proud of. So far he couldn’t die and still be satisfied with how he lived. He was sad about choices he made because he knew that he could make things right and live how he should have. He just had to find the place to make it happen.
“You need to sleep. We will be heading out at sunset.” He said to Fatima as she came back with a stack of books.
She nodded her head and fluffed up her bag trying to make the bulky items inside more bearable to lie on. He handed her his jacket.
“It’s ok I’ll manage,” she said.
“I’ll make a fire. I doubt anybody will see the smoke.”
“Don’t, I’ve done this for a long time. We will be fine. But no fire.” she said lying down and appearing comfortable.
It was new for John to think about how the others where living out in the world without the help of the church. It should have been no surprise. He had taken ranger training and knew what it meant to be behind enemy lines. To do it for two years was something that he couldn’t imagine. He had read about a Japanese soldier that had survived in the Philippines until the 70’s and was finally ordered to surrender almost thirty years after the war was over. Maybe two years wasn’t much but to survive any period of time in hiding would feel like an eternity. She wasn’t a fighter, she was a healer. She wasn’t meant to live this life. She should be helping people, not running. She deserved much better than what this world was providing.
He sat with his book, ears listening, and keeping watch while she slept. He had done three days and sometimes more without sleep. This would be nothing. He wanted to make sure she was safe. She could live as comfortably as she could in this world that wanted to kill her. He hoped soon they could be in a place where they no longer had to worry about people chasing them. As the hours went on and she continued to sleep he left to go find maps for them to use to get out of town the safest way he could find. He had his compass and wanted to find maps that he could use it for navigation but all he found was a series of road maps. They would work fine but it still wasn’t what he was hoping for.
As he flipped through the pages he was getting more paranoid about leaving her alone only a few rows over from where he was. He was still on the second floor like she was but being separated was never a good idea.
He pulled out a few more oversized books and looked over the pages. The hardest thing he was trying to do was make up his idea about was where they would travel to begin with. In the end he decided they would have to discuss this together and so he grabbed all the books to have them both look over.
From the spot they set up camp he heard the rumble of books hitting the floor. He didn’t hear anything else and hoped she was having a nightmare at the worst. He grabbed the books and moved quickly to the aisle she was sleeping. Peeking around the corner he saw two men standing around her.
“See I told you I saw a woman walk in here. And she is pretty.” The man said while cupping her mouth and holding knife to her throat.
“You said there was a man with her.” The other said trying to look through the books into the other aisles.
“He got what he wanted and left, like we will, ain’t that right sweetie?” The grimy sweaty forehead of the man touched hers as he talked to her. The stink of his breath reminded her of hospital bedpans. His teeth, half rotten, and filled in the cracks with food that was as old as the collapse. She could tell he had not tried to shave or take care of himself in any way. His clothes were torn and soiled as a child would be if mother didn’t take care of them. These were not men that had mothers they remembered.
“Ok, I do this then you watch.” The man standing said.
“I’m sure we could both enjoy this.”
She tried to wiggle away and he pressed down grinding his teeth.
“You fight me bitch and I won’t mind fucking a corpse.”
She started to cry. She shut her eyes and tried to think of anything that would give her comfort. Maybe she should have stayed with Amir. Would things really have turned out different? It was only a matter of time before Amir tried something with her and who would stop him? Where was John? Did he leave her? Did he hate her so much he would let these men have their way with her?
She looked up at the man standing and a knife appeared at his throat. A hand covered his mouth and the knife sliced every muscle and artery to the spine. A spray of blood covered the shelves and the back of the man that threatened her now. The man didn’t have time to struggle as he bled out. His eyes rolled back into his skull and as he slid to the floor John appeared. She felt hope again, and trust. She trusted he would get her out of this.
“What the…” The second man said looking at the blood on his sleeve.
“Get the fuck up” John said holding his knife under handed with the other man’s blood still on the edge.
“You couldn’t let us have some fun? She’s just some sand nigger, nobody cares what happens to them.” The man stands up and holds his knife overhand, arms spread trying to make himself look bigger.
“You’re wrong, I care about her. You’re going to die now.” John said waiting for the man to make the first move.
“Fuck you,” the man said stepping over the body of his dead partner. John took the chance and threw a punch with his empty hand. His fist landed in the chin of his attacker. He was instantly angry and threw his fist out with the knife to get revenge. John dropped his blade into the forearm and pulled back. The man cupped his injured arm and stumbled back. John didn’t expect it but the man lunged at him and tried to shove him to the ground. John screamed, unleashing a wave of anger that he didn’t know he had. He had not screamed like this since boot camp. He drove the knife into the soft tissue of the man rapidly and did not stop unit the body was lying on the floor and not moving. At times he felt the man being lifted off the ground and into the air with the thrust he gave. Then in a moment the man had stopped. John’s arm was drenched with blood and his hand trembled holding the blade in his hand. It was slippery and covered in pieces of flesh and blood. The man’s hand lost its grip on John’s shirt and he finally let go as he fell to the floor lifeless. A pool grew under the body as John stood looking at what he had done. He had never killed a person close range before this, man to man. He had taken out sentries like the man standing lookout. But they never had a chance to fight for their life. Somehow this was different.
He looked at the body, the blood on his arm, then at Fatima. She was still on the floor. Fear in her eyes. Panic.
John didn’t know what to say. He stood still. What do you say when you kill a man?
He dropped the knife. She relaxed, only a little. It was the right move. He caught his breath.
“I’m sorry, I’m so sorry, I’m sorry.” He repeat
ed until she said something, but she didn’t.
John dropped to his knees and started to weep. He never did this before, not in Iraq or Afghanistan. He never felt ashamed before. He never had innocent eyes watch him before. She moved over to him and slowly placed her arms around him. She held him in her embrace comforting the man that had just saved her.
“Are you alright?” John asked her.
She nodded into his shoulder and clung to him.
“We need to go, they could have friends. Are you ok to go?” He waited for her response.
She didn’t have any other answer than yes. Even if she wasn’t ready there were no other options for them and she knew it. She took a deep breath and moved back. John looked her in the eyes and made sure she was stable.
“I’ve been through worse.” She said to him, trying to reassure him that she was able to leave.
John didn’t like the sound of what she had said. He couldn’t imagine what she might have been through before. It would take time. Maybe he could get more out of her. He couldn’t push it and didn’t press for information. Instead he took the lead and grabbed his bag. He fastened the straps and waist belt, picked up his M4 and looked around while she gathered her things. She lastly picked up the rifle they took from Amir and she followed him out of the library.
John moved around the library the same way he did when they had entered earlier. He was clear and concise looking around every corner and making sure the area was clear before they both ventured through. It was slower and more difficult traveling down the stairs. Fatima felt they were more exposed as they travel down to the floor below than when they went up the stairs. John got them to the entrance and he looked around outside. Mid-afternoon, the sun was bright over the city giving anybody who might be watching the best view of them walking around.
“You’re going to have to stay close to me and make sure you don’t stray away. Keep your rifle loaded. If we are shot at then shoot back. You don’t have to aim at them the bang from this will scare the shit out of anybody, including me.”
After the Day Page 10