As the anchor spoke pictures and short videos appeared in a box on the side. They showed the homeless lining roads leading to nowhere. Vehicles and pedestrians turned off packed freeways onto open fields and crossed heedlessly toward mountains in the distance. Mobs charged across borders. Border guards tried to stop floods of people and eventually fled themselves.
✹✹✹
In those days and hours lines dividing countries and continents stopped existing in the eastern hemisphere. Vacant shells of countries sat deserted waiting for someone to re-draw the lines, and restore order. Governments called it a crisis, and people termed it a tragedy. No matter the label, everyone saw desperation, panic, and fear. In the end, the hours leading up to impact, everyone who might have kept any sense of order intact had vanished. Those who should have been in charge, but had opted for abandoning their people, told themselves that they had a duty to come back, regain the survivors’ confidence, and help rebuild when all the dust had settled. The people cried foul, but there was nothing anyone could do.
✹✹✹
Ron switched the news off and stared at the black screen without blinking. “Shit.” His mouth hung open and his forehead was a ball of wrinkles. He slowly set the remote down and got up to look out the window. What a difference! Jesus, could that happen here? He leaned against the window and buried his face in his arm. No, not here, it can’t. The future’s so cloudy. He walked over toward the TV and reached down for the remote and then pulled his hand away. I don’t need to see that again. He forced himself to wait and whipped his hand away from his mouth when he realized he had started biting his fingernails. He turned and looked over at the bottle of whiskey sitting on the kitchen counter. The light dappling through the brown drink made him smack his lips, but he pulled his cell phone out of his pocket and frowned at the time. Just past noon, too early, later tonight.
He pulled a list out of his pocket and scanned it up and down. “Do I need the car again? No, cover it.” He started for the front door when his cell phone rang. Looking at the screen, he pursed his lips when he saw a coworker’s name. He chewed his bottom lip while his thumb hovered over the ‘Answer’ button. The display showed the name, Ann Freestone, who worked in his department.
He always found her attractive, and they had talked enough times for her to have his number, but they had never gone out on a date. She had never been married but knew a lot of men, so Ron never thought much of their passing conversations. Recently she had broken up with a boyfriend who had managed to stay with her for over six months, nearly a record for her. Ron did not know whether she got into bed easily or not, but people talked. Gossip spread quickly in such a small town. The predominately espoused, conservative community frowned on promiscuity, which they assumed naturally applied to her since she tended not to settle down with one man for very long. In reality nobody knew for sure. She did not flaunt it, and Ron never heard stories about different men staying the night at her house on a regular basis, or anything of that nature. In his opinion she had bad luck with relationships, slept with the men she liked, and probably had a lot of dates that never amounted to very much. However, he stayed out of the limelight of gossip and usually just listened without taking a turn at the rumor mill. She seemed to admire him for that, but every encounter thus far had hinted that she wished to maintain a platonic relationship.
Recently, since the last breakup, he caught her stealing a few glances at him and quickly looking away when spotted. She occasionally invented some reason to stop by his desk and talk to him. She knew how to illicit conversation from a man, and drew out a humorous side of him that he could not explain, or maybe she just laughed too hard at his pitiful attempts at wit. Either way he knew he felt natural around her, but never asked her out because she intimidated him with her beauty and carefree nature, too far out of his league. For a long time he had convinced himself that any woman of Ann’s pedigree did not talk to him because of any sexual desire but rather out of friendliness or even pity. Now the phone rang with her on the line calling him, and he could only wonder why. Maybe she’s scared.
Despite his closed off and secretive life the one saving grace that Ron did possess, in terms of meeting women, was a certain aura he projected of dangerous unpredictability. Many people could sense that he could take care of himself in a fight. He exuded a kind of quiet power that so few possess, and it always attracted a few stray women who needed to feel safe. This felt like one of those times. Where it normally would have been an easy call to take, he hesitated specifically because his preparations were all designed to accommodate himself and Cassius. Why is she calling me?
He tapped his finger on the phone while massaging his temples and it stopped ringing. Moments later it vibrated and message notification appeared on the screen. This is why you’re alone you idiot! A beautiful, well-natured woman calls, and you did not pick up the phone! He set the phone down but his hand seemed to hover over it of its own free will. He sighed and quickly scooped it up and returned her call. Can I take her in? Does she have shelter from the disaster? Could I actually invite her into my life? What would happen the moment she saw one of my guns, one of my illegal guns? All at once the web of protection Ron had so delicately weaved felt unstable. At the same time a flurry of primeval instincts welled up inside him, and the churning of his insides reminded him of an active volcano. Maybe she needs help.
At the age of thirty-three Ron knew his personality fairly well, strengths and weaknesses, and a damsel in distress fell into one or sometimes both of those categories. She probably just wants to talk. He knew all too well that to open up could mean inviting disaster and heartache or bring true happiness. Each ring gave his mind time to drift a little farther away. What if she does need help? He heard a click and forced himself to focus. Just don’t sound anxious!
“Hello?” Her voice sounded guarded and a little shaky underneath.
He opened by clearing his throat loudly into the phone, and then rolled his eyes. An awkward pause ensued and Ron closed his eyes. “Ann, it’s me Ron. You just called? Is everything all right?” Stay casual. He bit his lower lip and looked at himself in the hallway mirror. Good lord! You’re talking to a woman not disarming a bomb! Loosen up!
Ann’s voice sounded quiet and subdued. “Yeah, I’m fine, just fine. I was just watching the news and everything—God this stuff’s crazy—and I just wondered what you were doin’.”
Ron kept his voice level. “Oh not much, I was just watchin’ the news myself and thinkin’ about all this madness. Did you know that most of Asia has totally panicked and gone crazy?”
“Yeah, I saw that, terrible isn’t it?”
“It’s crazy. I feel so lucky to be here.”
“Listen…Ron.”
The tone of her voice changed and he thought it sounded like a plea. “Yeah?”
“I don’t know who else to talk to about this.” She exhaled before starting again. “I’m actually not holding up so well.”
“Really?” She had more friends than anyone he knew, fair weather friends, but friends nonetheless. In his younger years Ron had always assumed that popularity and a great social life acted like a security blanket, but recently life had proven him wrong. Now she sounded like the one who lived alone, practically a shut-in outside of work, instead of him. “I thought you would be the last person who would feel alone at a time like this.” Over the speaker he heard her stifle the urge to cry with a sharp breath, barely holding it back.
“I’m sorry I called you. Maybe I made a mistake. I think I gotta go.”
Crap! He planted his palm on his forehead. This is why relationships never last! Why didn’t I just offer to help? He dug the tow of his boot into the floor. Now or never, Ron, make a move! “You stay right there, okay? I’ll be over in a minute.” Before she could respond he hung up the phone, went out to his car, and drove to her house. What the hell am I doin’? Yeah, like you could resist, sucker.
Ron pulled into Ann’s driveway ten minutes later.
He reflected on how he had run out so fast he would have had to call her for directions if she had not invited him to her last New Year’s party. Smooth. He went up and knocked on her door. While he waited for an answer he took in the neighborhood at a glance. He noticed a lot of boarded up windows and doors, similar to his own neighborhood. Probably because of that rumor about the air blast hitting here. Just before he turned his head back toward Ann’s house he thought he saw a man encased in shadow staring at him through two boards over a window, and he could have sworn that the guy had a gun trained on him. It put a knot in his stomach to experience the other side. Get this over with and get back home you idiot.
The door opened, and Ron smiled. “Hi, Ann.” His expression suddenly dropped when he laid eyes on her, and his eyes widened. She had on a navy blue, cotton bathrobe, wore her hair in no particular way, looked unwashed, and tear tracks had dragged mascara down her cheeks. However, her disheveled features could not hide her beauty, even in such a state of disrepair. The swell of her full breasts tested the folds of the lightweight robe. Her hazel eyes and angelic face still looked pleasing under the rumpled mask, and her sash, fastened tightly, flaunted a slim waist despite her sonsy figure. He looked her up and down with his eyes. I wonder if her body accidentally looks so good in that thing considering her state.
He dragged his eyes up from her bosom and his face went tomato red when he met her eyes staring back at him. She’s already appraising me, searching me out for weaknesses, and I just got caught checkin’ her out big time!
“Hi, Ron.” While waving her arm out to beckon him inside she maintained her stare as he slinked through the doorway.
Ron managed a dopey smile as he stepped inside. Well this has gotten off to a great start. Why don’t you just stare at her tits the entire time, Ron? She won’t mind. God, I don’t need this sort of pressure right now.
“Thanks for coming over.” She closed the door and sniffled while wiping her nose with a tissue that quickly disappeared into the pocket of her robe.
She shuffled back to her couch and Ron noted her moping gait, head not held high like usual, and the box of tissues on the coffee table with several used wads scattered on the table. She did not sound or look sick, only pitiful. As she entered the wash of light allowed by the dimmers on the ceiling, he noticed that her tightly bound sash rested below her lower back and accentuated her backside rather perfectly. His eyes became slits as he forced down a little smirk. I gotta stop checkin’ her out. He furrowed his brow and knelt close to her. “Hey, are you all right?”
“Do I look all right? Look at me. I can’t believe I let you see me like this.”
Hmmm. Maybe not just friends after all. “It’s okay. You don’t have to feel embarrassed on my account.”
Her face turned redder than it was already. “I’m not embarrassed! Just…” She softened her eyes, but it looked forced.
Ron scratched his eyebrow with his thumb. Damn it. Now she knows you’re a perv, and you’ve offended her, nice job.“So what’s up?” Please just start talking, so I can shut up.
“I don’t know…” She dragged out the end of the sentence, as if trying to string it up to another word that she failed to grasp. “I don’t feel so good.”
“What is it?”
“I’m just feelin’…” She paused and exhaled. “Have you ever made a mistake and wished you could take it back, at least for a while?”
“Sure.”
“I wish…that…wish that I didn’t feel alone right now.” She nodded her head as she spoke.
“Well I’m here. You can talk to me.”
Half her mouth rose up in a sardonic smile. She smoothed her robe out over her legs with delicate fingers and continued. “I guess I wish I didn’t have to go through this disaster thing alone. If I had known this was comin’ I would not have broken up with Daniel.” Daniel was her most recent boyfriend. It was rumored that he might have asked for her hand in marriage had she not broken up with him first.
“Oh, yeah…right.” Ron shuffled his feet. The one time they had met he had saluted Ron instead of shaking his hand, then proceeded to comment about his buzzed hair and called him a Private, or some rank, while unable to wipe off a huge grin. Daniel, what a douchebag.
Ron looked up and forced a smile. “I wouldn’t worry about it. I think it will mostly spare us on this side of the world.”
“Well don’t be so sure. I swear, nearly every scientist they’ve talked to has said something different.”
“Well you know what they say about opinions? They’re like assholes, ev…”
“Everybody’s got one.” She cut him off and raised her eyebrows. “Yes, I’ve heard that too. Doesn’t make you feel any safer does it?”
Damn. Ron scratched the back of his head and stared at the floor. “They exaggerate a lot. You know most of that stuff just gets them better ratings and more clicks. They're even happy to lie for clicks.” Ron paused and thought for a second, and decided to just say it. “Listen, do you want to stay at my house tonight? You know burglary’s gone up a lot since all those people started comin’ into town.” He noticed that the hand resting on her thigh squeezed part of her robe into a wad then quickly released it. He made sure not to look directly at it as she smoothed it back out and maintained eye contact. “You know I make a mean burger.”
She gave a small chuckle, and he smiled.
Then she sighed. “I don’t know.”
Here we go with the hard to get part. Ron never understood this about women. They would ask for help and not take it. They never knew what they wanted only that they did not have it, whatever it was, or they just wanted to manipulate it. He wanted to blurt out, so what did you call me for? That’d only push her away. Women mystified him. He never stayed attached in a relationship for very long largely because he would get tired of playing emotional Hide and Go Seek. Then of course there was the fact that he kept secrets. Women could smell secrets. When he was single, he would imagine that he just had not met the right woman yet, but, when locked in a power struggle such as this, he would remember why the right woman had never come along.
He realized that his countenance betrayed his thoughts, so he tried to soften the wrinkles furrowing his brow, and soften his strained face, but he knew that intensity still burned in his eyes. Then, in one instant rush of realization he stumbled on why many women did not want him, why he had never been one of ‘those’ guys, but rather a backup man when all else failed. Just as Ann could sense it in him now, so did others. He could not hide that his libido dominated the way he approached women. The posture of his head, his wandering eyes, everything gave it away. She had probably caught him glancing at her breasts and legs at least five times since he walked through the door. He had not once approached her personality, met her gaze with sincerity, or made an authentic effort at real conversation. His actions thus far displayed a distinct lack of emotional confidence, and she knew it. It dawned on him that a majority of the women who had been in his life up to that point had been willing to trade emotional maturity for physical security.
Ron stood up and took a step back and opened his mouth to speak, but only a paltry “uh” came out.
Ann looked at him sideways. “Ron, are you okay?”
“Ah.” He could feel his armpits heating up and did not need a mirror to know his face must have turned red. He lowered his head and cupped his forehead with his hand then snapped his fingers. “I just thought of something I forgot, something important.”
“What?” She suppressed a little grin as her eyes beamed.
“I just realized I stocked up on a ton of food for myself but forgot the dog. He doesn't have enough.”
Her eyebrows rose. “Really?”
“Yeah, and I have a big dog, so he needs a lot of food.” He began backing toward the door.
“I love dogs! I didn’t know you had a dog. Can I meet him?”
“Ummmm…”
“If that’s okay?”
“Yeah…sure.”<
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“Here have a seat.” She gestured toward the couch. “I’ll be out in a few minutes and we can go.”
“Okay.” Ron’s brain felt like a cloud with streaks of electricity skittering across its surface without forming connections. He sat down like she said and frowned. “Okay, I’ll wait for you to come out then.” Once she walked out of the room, he let out a long breath. I just lost the upper hand. Did I ever have it?
Inside her bathroom, Ann took a quick shower and applied a little makeup, just enough to accentuate her color but not change it, and she touched up her straight, red hair. She looked in the mirror and shook her head—no—at the reflection. The damsel in distress who turns out to be a needy, little princess? You’re better than that, Ann. You can meet a new man and impress him with personality whenever you want. Why should this be any different? She sighed. It’s different. dammit.
As she applied the finishing touches to her makeup she considered where this was going, and did not want to admit to herself that she knew the answer. But, an important goal had been accomplished because she had decided not to stand on ceremony in a time more suited to self-preservation. She did not, more than anything, want to spend this night alone. And with just a little extra push you won’t. She stuffed her toothbrush, toothpaste, and a small box containing a fresh bar of her favorite soap into her purse, smiled at herself, and walked out.
The Inroad Chronicles (Book 1): Legion Seed Page 7