Mark watched the chaos from the bell tower through the night vision scope. The other group in his sight had stopped and was reluctant to move ahead. He didn’t see any form of communication from them. Each group was working on a plan but couldn’t communicate if things changed. The leader of the group appeared to be ordering the group to march ahead in Mark’s direction. The man pointed down the street and Mark could hear the muffled echo of the man’s voice. This was about to get interesting. Mark grabbed his rifle and looked down the scope. He didn’t have night vision on the rifle. Instead he relied on the light of the moon. Shadows moved and clouds shifted. A minute went by before the moon was clear of cover and the street was lit up. Mark placed the group leader in his sights.
“Let’s see if they want to move any further now.” Mark said pulling the trigger.
From the ground the group watched their leader drop to the ground. Blood soaked into his shirt and he was unable to say anything before he fell face first to the ground. Everyone scattered as far away from the dead man as they could get. Nothing is scarier than a sniper during a battle. Many people have to die before anyone is able to figure out where the sniper is. Nobody wants to be one of those casualties.
Mark watched through the scope as the group dispersed and retreated away from his position. Two groups now were taken out of the fight. Mark liked to think of his strategy as shock and oh shit. Mark looked around the other streets to figure out where the other two groups were but it was useless from this vantage point.
The Reverend waited to hear any news from the group that had experienced the bomb. When no one showed up at the command post to give an update he assumed the worst. Then he heard the shot ring out. At first he wasn’t sure if he had heard it right but when he saw the flash from the bell tower he knew right away where his adversary was.
“Did you see that shot?” The Reverend asked Collins.
“The bell tower.” Collins confirmed with him.
“Get that piece of shit out of there.”
Collins pulled the bolt back on his M16 and moved down the street toward the church. One of the groups was still moving ahead of him and he quickly caught up to them knowing the street was so far clear of traps. Collins took over as group leader and instructed the group to break into two parts. Moving on opposite sides of the street they moved down toward the church. Collins had the bell tower in range and instructed the others to move to the doors on his signal. Collins aimed and fired a burst toward the tower creating cover for the assault team to enter the church.
Mark watched the streets and tried to get a fix on where the other groups were. He wondered if he should leave the tower and finish the assault from his home. From there he could use the cameras and remotes to make these people think twice about invading his territory. The gonging of the bell above him almost gave him a heart attack and made him immediately cover his ears. The ringing didn’t stop with his ears covered and he crouched down trying to keep the high pitch out of his head. If they were going to come after him in the church they were in for a surprise. Mark waited. Even the man shooting at him would soon regret it.
A man and woman both reached the doors of the church first. They waited for the others to get behind them before they kicked the door in and funnel into the building. The man looked at the woman and nodded. She nodded back and he stepped back before kicking the door. As his foot pushed the door he was blown back across the street. The doors exploded out turning into shrapnel. The bushes lining the front of the church exploded. Ball bearings and nails flew into the rest of the team. The car left to rot in the parking spot in front of the church exploded sending more shrapnel into the air. Across the street on both sides of the church the front of houses exploded sending glass and wood into the air like a giant shotgun blast. All the windows of the church imploded from the blast.
The bombs were set up to make sure Mark had an exit once it went off. He was hoping to exit now back to his house without having to go through a fire fight. He didn’t know if his plan had worked or not. He would soon find out.
The Reverend stood by himself and watched as the house of God down the street wiped out his chief commander and another quarter of his congregation. One group was left and if he was able to he would march them to their deaths. Unable to call them he instead stood at the end of the street and waited to see what would happen. For once he felt helpless. His days of leading were over. This finally struck him as the end of his reign. God had fired him. No flock, no family, a long walk home. He felt like Job. Was this the ultimate test for him? Did he still want to love God? What else did he have left?
He didn’t know if the other group was still going to carry out their mission or go home. He didn’t wait to find out. The Reverend, defeated, turned around and started the long march home, alone.
Mark coughed and covered his eyes walking down the stairs. The dust from bricks, mortar, and plaster hung in the air. He tucked his face into his shirt and tried to filter the air while pointing his rifle around checking for any hostile activity. Tripping over broken boards and bricks he slowly made his way outside. In one way he thought he would be shot at as soon as he came out into the open. To his surprise, everyone was down. Some moved and groaned. Others were dead. He didn’t look too long, instead he ran as fast as he could to his house. This was the point of the battle he hoped it would never get to. He planned for this far in advance but never believed he would live long enough to see it through to the end.
Entering the house, he locked all the dead bolts and placed the 2X4 across the frame to make sure no one could get in. He placed his rifle next to the computer desk and sat down. Looking at the monitor he checked all the screens trying to find the last group. Shifting through the feeds he finally found them. They were retreating. Some slowly walked away and others ran as if they were going to be run over by a steamroller. He was surprised. He thought for sure these people were going to see their mission to the end. He didn’t know who they were but to use that much man power and give up less than an hour … it told him they were unorganized and unprepared for this mission, and he was glad. He didn’t want to blow up any more houses. He would have if it saved his life but the more he could preserve the more he had to work with later.
Mark didn’t leave the computer until the next day. He wanted to make sure they were not regrouping and coming back to seek revenge. Maybe they had enough. He did wipe out half of their force. He couldn’t figure out why they would spend that sort of resources on trying to get him. What was the point? Were they desperate for food? Did they know about his stock pile somehow? It didn’t matter. They were done and he hoped they would never come back.
Isabel woke up the next morning with her ears still ringing and a headache. She remembered similar sensations after spending a night at a club. She still had all of her equipment and she stood up to see parts of a house smoldering from the explosion that tore through her team. Torsos and limbs laid strewed about in the street, sidewalk, and yards. Everyone was dead but her. She wondered if her father was dead. Hadn’t he tried to find her? Did they ever find John?
She looked around and figured out which way was the exit. John wasn’t here, he never was. This was a last ditch effort by her father to keep order. He had been losing control for weeks. The word of God will only control people for so long. In the end we are all still animals. To animals any man with a gun can be God.
Isabel swung the rifle over her shoulder and checked her compass. If anybody wanted to get away, to hide, they would go north. She wondered if that was where John had gone. A part of her didn’t care anymore. She wanted to get away, start over. She was tired of being daddy’s little girl anyway. If her dad was dead that life was over. It was time to move on. Become her own woman. She wanted to find out what this new world was all about.
Collins woke up to the sun in his face. He remembered seeing the front of the church explode. The assault team disappear in a bright flash. The car behind them exploded. He remembered covering his
eyes as they were blinded by the bright light after working in complete darkness. Then something hit him in the back flinging him into the street. He looked around trying to figure out where he was. He noticed it was later in the morning. He was cold. He tried to move his legs only to find they didn’t respond. He tried to move them with his arms and noticed he didn’t feel his hands touching them. He moved his legs around to find them useless. He looked around to find help. He didn’t know if he should call out or not. The man that blew his crew up could still be around and come out to finish the job. He pushed up off the ground and tried to sit up. That was when he found it, or noticed it. A wooden board that was pierced through his body. It stuck out where his stomach would be and went through his spine. How could he not feel this? Was he already in shock? How much blood had he lost?
He sat in the street, for how long he didn’t know. The more he thought about it the less he worried. There was no help for him. No hospitals, no medic could do anything short or getting him high to help the pain, but there was no pain. He thought that was the strangest part. A piece of housing had become a part of his body and yet he couldn’t feel it. Maybe this was God’s punishment for him and yet a blessing. Maybe God was saying “Yes you have been bad and I’ll punish you but I’ll make sure you don’t feel it.” If this was hell then he knew where he was going anyway.
He found his Berretta in his swat vest pocket and pulled the slider back. He was going to hell, no getting away from that. One way or another he was going to die. At least God thought ahead and made sure he was able to shorten the misery. He placed the barrel in his mouth, closed his eyes, and pulled the trigger.
Chris was the leader of the fourth group. When the first bomb went off he stopped the line. He waited. Then the shot rang out in the distance. He waited more. Then the church blew up. He turned around to his squad.
“Fuck this. We are out of here.” Chris said walking through the group and marching in the opposite direction. He didn’t care where he went as long as it was as far away from people who made poor choices like the one to assault this neighborhood tonight. Chris had been to Iraq and thought he had seen bad decisions before. The Reverend made the military look like a league of Einstein’s. He didn’t think anybody could be worse than the men that sent him into Iraq. Now he was finished taking orders. He would take care of himself and only do what he wanted form now on. He didn’t need any authority to tell him what to do. He had seen what happens when someone is in control of others and that person normally doesn’t care about the people they are ordering. The world had already gone to shit. So why did he feel like he kept getting flushed to a new level of hell?
Chris walked non-stop until evening of the next day. He wanted to get as far away from these people as he could. To his surprise he turned around at times to find that most of the squad was still following him.
“What are you doing?” Chris asked. “You’re free. Go where you want.”
The people looked at one another. Then they looked back at Chris.
“What are you staring at? Why are you following me?” Chris demanded answers.
A woman spoke up.
“We don’t know what to do. We don’t know where to go.” She said.
“I don’t know where I’m going. I’m just going… away.” Chris said.
“I’m ok with that.” A man said from the back.
“Sounds good to me.” Another added.
“Ah!” Chris groaned frustrated.
He sat down and swung his back pack in front of him and opened it pulling some food out. Hard tack was something he remembered reading about in old books like Moby Dick. He didn’t understand how bland it was until now. As he broke pieces off he glanced at the group following him and watched as they removed their packs and started eating their lunches in their packs. They had made him their new leader. As he placed the chalky bread in his mouth he started to cry. The realization of his new responsibility was almost too much to deal with. These people for whatever reason had chosen him as their new leader. He decided that after he ate the little food he had they would do a supply check and figure out what their supplies looked like, then it was a matter of deciding what to do next. He didn’t know how it happened but he had been promoted and now he could start making the smart choices that could help keep people alive instead of getting them killed. While he liked to bitch about the people that always placed him and his friends in harm’s way he realized how hard this was going to be. He prayed that he wouldn’t mess up, too bad.
Chapter 27: Four years after the Day
Isabel had traveled through the winter bunking in houses she found abandoned along her trip north. It was a slow process and one that forced her to learn patience. It wasn’t something that came easy but when there was no other option having patience came easy. It was like learning a new language, when no one speaks your language you pick up the new one quickly so you can survive. She still had her rifle and used it occasionally to hunt rabbit and other small game. The .223 round was a little over board for things like squirrel but it worked just the same.
Her hair was longer now, she was thinner and noticed her ribs were showing when spring came and she was able to bathe again in the local streams and lakes she came across. She found herself following a river to stay close to fresh water and keep a steady supply of food around with fish. She didn’t know what she was looking for anymore. She traveled for the sake of traveling. Her nomadic lifestyle had kept her mind off the loss of her father. She realized how much of a spoiled brat she was.
She was sick with herself for framing John for raping her. He had only played along with her little game and when he was done playing he left. Why had she taken it so personally? She had a hard time dealing with the fact she had sex with Collins when she hated him. She couldn’t remember what had brought her to think that was a good idea. She remembered the feeling to revenge and anger, now none of it made any sense.
As she pushed through the brush and tall grass along the river she spotted a rabbit bolting out of a bush. She aimed and fired. Pushing through the thorny brush she pulled the rabbit out and carried it to her next camping spot. Houses were growing far and few. Lately her nights were spent out doors with a fire and a lean-to. She cooked the rabbit, finding some oak branches to add a smoky flavor. She picked every piece of meat off she could find and went to sleep.
The next morning she followed the river a few miles and smelled smoke. In the wild a smell like that could carry a long way. She had no idea how far it was in the distance but wanted to follow the smell up wind. The smell traveled down the river valley and soon she saw a cabin on top of a hill. A man was carrying fish up the hill. He looked familiar.
When she realized she was looking at John her heart skipped. She ducked back behind a tree and watched as he disappeared over the hill. She slid down the trunk of the tree. She cried and wondered why. What was she to do now? Should she keep walking north? Should she walk up and say “Hi, I was in love with you, sorry I didn’t grow up.”?
She pondered her situation. The only thing she could think to do was to watch him more and see what was happening. She climbed the hill hiding behind trees and brush. When she reached the top she kept the cabin in view but stayed far enough back to not be seen. She spotted a field and some various plants growing. Moving in closer she could see young tomatoes, onions, rows of grain, and other plants she didn’t recognize. Something was moving in the field, she didn’t know if it was John or not.
She moved closer. It was a woman. Black hair, large brown eyes, tan skin, she was beautiful. The woman stood up, the round bump of her belly was unmistakable. She was pregnant.
Isabel heard the closing of a door. John was walking out of the cabin carrying two glasses of water. He handed the woman one and stood behind her sliding his hand around her body and caressing her belly. There was no mistaking, it was his baby. The woman turned around and kissed him. They were happy.
Isabel turned around and ran through the woods as f
ast as she could. She felt guilt about how she tried to destroy this man. She ran to get away, far away. Where was there to go? She already was far away from everything and yet she was still running into her past.
She ran down the hill to the river. The same path she had been traveling. Maybe there was another reason she kept the river within reach. The other way to forget her past, for good.
Isabel looked at the water and walked in. She left her gear on hoping it would drag her down. She laid back and floated down stream. She kept floating and found it hard to drown. How could this be so hard? She read about people doing this all the time before the Day.
She felt the water speed up. Then a hard smack. She was out.
Chapter 28: Four years after the Day
Bruce flung the fishing line into the water flicking it back and forth. He was starting to get the hang of fly fishing. He didn’t understand the idea of catch and release. These days it was purely for food. He looked over at Aurora and watched as she flung her line into the water. She was already doing it better than him and yet she was still a child. He was surprised at how fast she was growing. The skills that Norah and he were teaching her came quickly. It wasn’t the same as school but these were things she really needed.
Again she pulled back on the line and had another fish. This was the sixth in the last hour. He had dealt with this before. They would go fishing on the lake and she would catch fish after fish and he was barely able to keep his line in the water.
“Daddy I got another one,” she said. .
She pulled the line in like before and he stood waiting for the fish to come out of the water. He would remove the hook from the mouth and add it to the rest if it was big enough. She was having trouble with it. The fish was pulling her toward the water.
After the Day Page 16