by D B Bray
He rested the barrel against Jack’s forehead, his finger twitching against the trigger. As Red was about to fire, a hand came down and broke his wrist. The gun fell among the rubble and landed near Jack’s hand. Jack snatched it off the ground, shot the lock off the cage door, and then flung it open.
“Fight, fight your way out!” Jack shouted to the other slaves.
The slaves poured out of the cage and overtook the guards, their grimy bodies in a desperate fight with itself from lack of nourishment. The young woman Jack saw earlier carried Toby over her shoulder and ran toward Jack. He stopped her and pushed them both onto the rubble.
“Give me my brother, and I will let you live,” he yelled, raising the gun.
“Fine, but I’m going with you,” she said.
Edward stood behind them and pointed to a monument. “Go!” he roared, pushing them all forward.
“What are you doing here?” Jack asked as he jumped over a pile of concrete.
“No time for questions, run!” Edward shouted, knocking two more guards down.
The slaves drove Red’s men out of the square with heavy casualties, the few that remained scattered into the surrounding woods. As Jack’s group ran through the woods, they could hear Red’s men shouting as they recovered from the surprise attack. A monument appeared in the distance; the oxidized copper dull.
They followed Edward through the trees and foliage, then into a clearing where a lone withered maidenhair tree stood. Edward rushed them to the tree and pulled a branch. A piece of the trunk lifted, revealing a spiral staircase leading into the ground.
“Get in,” Edward said.
He followed them in, then pulled the lever inside the tree trunk to close it. The staircases wooden planks that wound down into the darkness were rotted and cracked. Toby’s leg fell through one as he descended. As he fell, Jack caught him, and Edward pulled them both back.
“You okay, Tob?” Jack asked, brushing him off.
Toby nodded.
They made it to the bottom of the steps and into a large cavern. Jack looked up at the stalactites, the length of tree saplings with water dripping from them.
“What are these?” Jack asked.
Edward chuckled. “Stalactites, I think, but I’m not positive. I only saw a picture in a book.”
“What’s a stalac, stallactive?” Toby asked.
Jack glanced in his direction. “Sta-lac-tite.”
“That’s what I said,” Toby retorted.
Edward came over and said, “Stalactites are formed from dripping water mixed with earth. As the water drips, it creates a stalactite, which is what you see.”
“What is this place?” Jack asked, staring at the ceiling.
“This is a fallout shelter my family dug before the war. They lived down here for a few years until the radiation levels lowered, then moved back into the city,” Edward said.
Jack nodded and then shrugged. He turned his attention to the girl who escaped with them.
“And what’s your name?” he asked.
She ignored him and finished stretching. He noticed her cold blue eyes were distant, weary in a way. “My name is Lucille, but my Poppa called me Lucy.”
“What tribe did you come from?” Jack asked.
“Can’t remember, been so long. I’ve been a slave for most of my life. My Poppa died a long time ago, and I never knew my Momma,” she said. “So, who are you?”
“I’m Jack, you know Toby and the giant over there is Edward,” he said.
Edward smiled and gave a lighthearted wave. She just nodded and observed the cave. “It’s cold in here.”
“Yes, it is. I’ll start a fire,” Edward said.
The ceiling of the cavern was twenty feet high, and along the walls were broken appliances stripped of anything valuable. Scavenger’s hunted metal, but the one worth the most was copper. It fetched a fortune when it was melted down. Jack walked among refrigerators, air conditioners, stoves, and microwaves.
He looked at the microwave and said, “What does this thing do?”
“That’s a microwave; it re-heated people’s food after they cooked it,” Edward said.
“Wow,” Toby said, touching it. “Does it still work?”
“No, it operates with electricity, which we have been without for over a hundred years,” Edward said.
“So Jack, what’s this about a Constitution?” Edward asked, warming his hands over the fire he started.
“You told him?” Toby asked incredulously.
“Yeah.”
“What about no one needs to know our business?” Toby asked.
“We need his help,” Jack said, picking up a cast iron skillet and putting it in his pouch.
“You said you needed to get to Christ Church cemetery. You gave me the bible in trade, so I’ll lead you there,” Edward said.
“Really?” Jack asked.
Edward nodded with a smile
“Where ya’ll going?” Lucy asked, her steel eyes focused on the fire.
She doesn’t need to know. We don’t even know that much about her.
“So, what’s a Constitution?” she asked, cutting her eyes at him.
Jack swallowed and looked at Edward, who wasn’t paying the slightest bit of attention to them. He was rummaging through the junk scattered on the wall, humming a melancholic tune.
“I’m really not sure what it is, but it’s supposed to help the remaining tribes unite to form something called a government,” Jack said.
Lucy laughed.
“What’s so funny?” Jack asked.
“You’re not the guy I would pick to be a hero. You’re scrawny,” she said.
Jack made eye contact with her for a moment, his facial features like stone. He walked over to Edward, his face reddening.
Toby walked over to her and said, “Lucy, my brother helped you escape. Why were you mean to him?”
“I don’t need anyone's help to escape, Toby. I’ve survived more than my share of rough places,” she said.
“Yeah, but we don’t know you,” Jack said, walking back over.
“Enough squabbling,” Edward said, coming over and stepping between them. “We sleep for a few hours, and then we go to the cemetery. Any problems with that?” he asked.
“Nah, no problem,” Jack said, walking away.
Edward looked at Lucy. “And you?”
“No problem,” she said, lying down.
Jack was the last to fall asleep. He walked around the cave, rooting through the trash along the walls. Finding nothing of interest, he went back to the fire and laid down.
Figures, this place would have nothing to trade.
Chapter 5
Edward was hunched over the fire, warming some dried meat when Lucy woke up the next morning.
“What are you cooking?” she asked.
“Possum,” he said, offering her some.
She took a bite and coughed. “Tastes like chicken.”
Edward grinned. “Everything tastes——.”
“Like chicken,” she said, finishing his sentence.
Jack rubbed the sleep from his eyes and walked over to them. “So, where’s this cemetery, Edward?”
Edward shouldered his pack. “It’s a few miles from here, but we have to move in the shadows. I’ve never been in the burial ground myself, so I don’t know what gravestone you’re after, or where it is.”
“I have a map,” Jack said.
“Then let’s get moving,” Lucy said.
“Why are you coming again?” Jack asked, picking up his rifle.
“Cause, I want out of here. When we get to the next city, I’ll leave you, but until then, I’m stuck with you. Besides, if Red’s men catch me…”
“They’ll what?” Jack demanded.
“They’ll kill me,” she whispered.
Edward touched her shoulder. “Let’s get you out of here then. Follow me.”
They reached the secret door, and Edward pulled the lever. The sun blasted through
the opening, blinding them.
“Ouch,” Toby said, stumbling out into the glade, covering his eyes.
A group of howls broke through the crisp air. Jack tackled Toby to the ground and looked around the tall grass.
“Get off me—-!”
Another howl cut Toby off as Jack pulled his rifle to his shoulder. Edward dove into the dirt with Lucy and whispered, “Wolves!”
Jack gave a sharp nod before scanning the terrain. The howling stopped, and the group looked at one another and waited.
“Why did they stop?” Toby asked.
“Don’t care as long as their gone,” Jack hissed. After a tense few minutes, he got to his feet, his rifle snug to his shoulder. “Move,” he said.
They found a road through the underbrush, the broken concrete making it difficult for them to navigate. Lucy walked along the path and tripped over a log jutting out of the ground. Jack knelt and gave her his hand. He helped her up with a smile.
“You ok?” he asked.
She brushed her hair behind her ear. “I’m fine, just tripped,” she said, pushing by him.
“Come on, you guys,” Toby said, pushing a low hanging branch out of his way.
“It’s a little bit further,” Edward said, pulling a veil of thorny vines out of the path and waving them through.
The group walked another mile, listening for the calls from wild animals. Coming over a hill, they saw the abandoned cemetery in front of them. The large wrought iron gates were parted, cobwebs shadowing the opening. Jack stepped forward, and Edward put his hands across his chest.
“You’ll need this,” he said, handing him a mask with one of the eyes sewn shut.
“What am I supposed to do with this?” Jack asked, trying to hide his amusement.
“It’s a plague mask I found years ago. I read that they were used to protect people during the Green Plague to stop the spread of disease after the Cataclysm,” Edward said.
Jack looked at Toby.
Toby rolled his eyes. “I know you’ll be right back.”
Jack smiled. “I promise.”
He pulled the mask down over his face and stumbled a few times, trying to use one eye.
Downtown Philadelphia had taken a direct hit during the war, turning the cemetery and all the surrounding areas into a radioactive wasteland. As he slid across the soil, he noticed how warm it was.
Man, it’s hard to breathe in here.
A yellow biohazard sign with bullet holes hung at an angle at the entrance. Approaching it, he saw the thick gray cobwebs dangling down like long thin fingers. He pulled the gate closest to him open, and the sign fell to the ground. It shattered the silence of the cold air around him. He froze and scanned the underbrush, but nothing moved. He took the barrel of his rifle and pulled the cobwebs down. The spiders that fled were the size of his fist.
Yuck.
They scurried across the destroyed webs as Jack slipped through the gate. The early morning mist was barely past his knees as he walked a little further. The hair on the back of his neck stood up, and instinctively, he brought the rifle to his shoulder. With only half his vision available, he spun in a complete circle.
I hate this place. Something doesn’t feel right.
As he walked through the mist, running his hand across the smooth black and gray headstones as he passed by them. He looked at the map and traced his finger around the different rows of markers.
The sun rose over the horizon, making it difficult for him to see. He put his hand to his brow and walked forward slowly, his feet uncomfortably warm. He walked past a flat stone buried in the ground near the fence line, the name Benjamin Franklin etched on it.
Is this the bridge guy?
He glanced around, and a headstone caught his attention. It was half broken, and all that remained were the letters Mad. He could hardly contain his excitement as he looked around for any other clues.
Can’t be that easy, well maybe it is.
He knelt and ran the tips of his fingers on the etched lettering. Satisfied it may be something, he pulled the shovel off his backpack and dug into the earth. Steam rose from the soil as he dug deeper and deeper. Digging foot after foot, he finally hit something. He cleared the dirt away and tapped his foot on the box.
What the…
“Need some help?” Lucy asked above him, a bandanna tied over her mouth.
Jack yelped in surprise, saw her, and then scampered out of the hole. He ran over and tried to push her back, his words muffled.
Finally, Lucy pushed back and said, “Ain’t nothing in here going to kill me. By the way, there are holes in the back of your mask, you idiot.”
Jack touched the back of the mask with a sigh and took it off. She handed him a bandanna with a smile and walked over to the hole to view the casket.
Jack watched her eyes drift along the ground. She knelt and picked up a handful of soil. It slipped between her fingers and blew away with the wind.
“The earth is irradiated, and there is nothing we can do to hide from it,” she said with a loud sigh.
“Is that why the dirt is so hot?” he asked again.
She nodded. “My papa always said this place was one of the parts that were utterly destroyed.”
“Then let’s get in, get what we need, and get out of here,” Jack said.
They jumped into the hole and saw the padlock. Jack hit it a few times with the shovel head and snapped it off. They pushed the lid back and saw that the skeleton was in near perfect condition, his mustache and hair still attached.
“Why is his hair still attached?” Lucy whispered.
“How should I know, but it’s creepy. Now, where is this Constitution thing?” he asked, searching the corpse.
Lucy noticed the skeleton's hair was raised a little in the front. She moved past Jack and yanked the toupee off.
“Here you go,” she said, handing him the piece of paper.
Jack eyeballed her as he gagged, shook his head, and opened the letter.
Ugh.
“What’s it say?” Lucy asked.
He read it out loud; The government destroyed the Constitution, but we got the pieces out, and if you have found this letter, I suppose you are looking for it. To start off, it isn’t here.
Jack ground his teeth and continued; I buried it in another location, not far, but not to close. You’ll find it buried where it was signed when the Framers wrote it in 1787. I only had one piece; the others were split among my friends. We called ourselves “The Saviors.” We are a group of resistance fighters who fought against the administration, the last of the Framers descendants.
I hate to be cryptic, but I can’t risk this falling into enemy hands. If you seek the truth, so shall you find. Good luck and Godspeed. Remember, the Framers believed in Independence, do you?
“Great, now what?” Lucy asked.
“Let’s get back to Edward and Toby, and we’ll find—-.”
They heard a howl, then another, until a cacophony of sounds from the wolves drowned out their thoughts. Jack pushed her out of the hole and leaped out behind her.
A large white wolf with blood-red fangs knocked him down as he crawled and pinned him to the earth. His rifle tumbled behind him, well out of his reach. The wolf’s saliva dripped on his cheek as he tried to squirm away, eyes shut.
This is going to hurt.
The wolf growled and chomped his incisors inches from his throat. All Jack heard was a thump and a whine, or howl, he couldn’t figure out which. The white wolf rolled back and came to its feet. Lucy grabbed Jack’s hand and pulled him up.
They sprinted for the nearest tree, a look of terror on their faces. Jack held his hands together and lifted her up. With no time to climb, Jack backstepped, never breaking the wolf’s gaze. The other wolves circled him, a look of hunger dancing across their brilliant blue eyes.
I’m dead.
He saw his gun by the grave.
I wish I had that.
Jack’s heart thumped in his chest
; a lone tear fell from his cheek.
One last trick.
He glanced around, concentrating on anything that would help them. There were a few rocks at his feet, and he threw them in every direction. The wolves held back after he pelted a few of them.
Lucy yelled at the top of her lungs from behind the wolves and fired. One of them yelped and ran away. A bullet missed another one and ricocheted at Jack’s feet, sending dirt into his eyes. A heartbeat later, she shot another one and it dropped where it lay. She drew a bead on another one as it reached the tree line. The other wolves turned and barked, some roaring as they charged. She killed another one as she advanced, one foot in front of the other, never backing down.
“Lucy, don’t!” Jack shouted, wiping his eyes.
Oblivious to Jack’s pleas, she fired and worked the bolt action rifle as if she had been born with it in her hand. The other wolves scattered and headed for the woods as she dropped another one.
“Thanks for saving me,” Jack said.
She thrust the rifle into his chest and said, “Just returning the favor.”
She walked past him and dragged the wolf carcasses into a pile. Edward and Toby came sprinting over the hill and down into the cemetery.
“What...what happened?” Toby asked, staring at the wolves.
“I would think that was obvious, Toby,” Jack said, fetching his pouch from the grave.
“Did you find the Constitution?” Edward asked, handing his makeshift skinning knife to Lucy.
“No, but it’s close,” Jack said.
“How close?” Edward asked, attempting to hide his annoyance.
Jack handed Edward the note. “Not sure. I don’t think the note tells us anything, though,” he said.
Jack walked over to Lucy. “Can I help you with anything?”
She glanced up with the knife between her teeth and shook her head. Jack walked back over to Toby, who was sitting on a stump.
“You alright?” Toby asked.
“Yes, I think so.”
Edward walked over and trailed his finger across one word. He muttered, “Independence…”
“You find something?” Toby asked.
“Don’t know, but this may be something,” he said.
Edward handed the note back to Jack and pointed at the bottom of the page.