Through the Eyes of the Phoenix

by Martin W Francis

  “Wow! What was it that Frank said that was so bad it got everyone riled up?”

  “That part is for adults only. Also, just to be clear hun, Frank may have an ugly opinion now, but not seeing his daughter for a long time might create a guilty conscience that will make him realize his mistake over time. We can only hope. In the meantime, we will all be here for Sandra. She is welcome and wanted here for as long as she wishes.”

  The following days went by as if nothing had happened. The only change was Sandra was now living with us. My last day of school for the year in April passed slowly. The rain outside poured heavily while the strong winds battered against the windows endlessly. Half way through the day Jessie came into the classroom throwing open the classroom door which slammed loudly against the wall.

  “Sorry! Everyone to the shelter now. There’s a rotating funnel cloud near town.”

  I quickly grabbed my bag having an awkward Déjà vu feeling. I followed Jessie outside to her truck. Sandra was sitting in the passenger seat holding Ally.

  “What about Amy and the rest of the family?”

  “They are all heading to the shelter right now. Most everyone was told over the radio band. I made quick calls to make sure the family had heard. Officers were personally placing calls to citizens according to Emmett when I spoke with him driving over here. The city tornado siren should have already gone off, but hasn’t for some reason.”

  Half of what she said was spoken while speeding through town towards the shelter. We arrived in a matter of minutes. Just as we got out, we saw the sky was becoming a wall of darkness. The city siren finally went off as a funnel began forming nearly overhead. The wind and hail were extremely strong. We rushed down into the large community bomb shelter finding people crammed together with little space to move around. Not much after we arrived a couple of men pulled the shelter doors closed sliding a large solid plate of steel in place to secure them before heading off to their families. As we waited in tight quarters, the lights inside the structure began to flicker before going out completely. Agitated voices and screams of fright were the immediate response.

  “Everyone calm down! The generator will kick on in a minute,” Jessie nearly had to yell so that she could be heard.

  Less than thirty seconds later the lights came back on. The earth seemed to rumble as a loud crash came from above us. A long crack formed on the ceiling of the shelter as dust drifted down on everyone. Many frightening sounds followed from outside as we huddled together. It seemed to last forever, but the storm eventually calmed about twenty minutes after it began. We waited another ten minutes just as a precaution. Jessie being closest to the shelter doors climbed the staircase removing the steel bar. A couple other men had gone up the stairs behind her. The three of them tried to lift open the doors finding they would not budge.

  “Something is blocking the doors. Need our strongest up here to try to lift whatever in in the way,” Jess hollered down the staircase.

  Word spread quickly as everyone glanced around searching for those who should try to help. Eventually about seven men worked their way through the crowd. I was not surprised to see Uncle Dan among them. He stopped long enough to give me a quick hug before cramming up the stairs with the other six. They pressed their shoulders into the door using their legs to lift. They strained for a full minute turning red before the doors even slightly lifted. Jess called out for others to help. Many quickly rushed up filling small spaces to help lift. Others formed in great numbers helping those lifting to keep their balance while pressing their own weight against them to add strength and support. The doors finally lifted halfway open with something sliding off making many in the group fall forward as the doors partially flung open striking something solid. The doors now stood propped almost upright by themselves as a light rain drizzled down into the shelter. Those that had fell were helped up. The population began funneling outside slowly. They drifted forward up the stairs as if in a trance.

  Glancing around outside I saw the shelter doors had been previously blocked by large slabs of concrete with reinforced steel rebar protruding out of them. In every direction I turned where structures once stood all that could be seen were massive piles of rubble that had been torn asunder. The devastation was horrendous beyond belief. I had never seen the total destruction that nature was capable of until now. I had read horrific stories, but they don’t prepare you for actually being part of a natural disaster. Many buildings were completely destroyed, others were simply half-missing, and a few here or there appeared miraculously unscathed. Vehicles were tossed about laying on their sides, upside down, and one was even facing straight up in a huge oak tree. Speaking of trees, they were everywhere broken or completely uprooted. The most worrisome thing for everyone was the fencing and walls constructed to keep out the Fallen. Large portions of the thick braced metal plated walls as well as the brick ones were strewn all over the place. Almost all the tall cyclone fencing that I saw lying about looked bent beyond repair. Basically from what I saw there were no walls anymore. There were several nearby visible Fallen that had been tossed about during the storm. They appeared to be crushed, pinned, or ripped apart. None seemed an immediate danger in their conditions, but with the walls down it would not be long before we faced the danger of other Fallen coming inside possibly in large numbers.

  Jessie sprang into action immediately after seeing the total devastation. She sent groups to the armory to salvage what they could find. She sent others to gather up food and water supplies. Another group she sent to scout for the most secure structures to facilitate the population. Overall damage assessment and reconstruction of the walls was assigned to a burly group of construction workers and engineers. Groups were sent to examine the infrastructures of the power plants and other important facilities. Some were assigned to obtain what medical supplies could be found. Others were sent to find blankets and essentials that would be needed. Among the last group mentioned, Amy went with them after telling us to stay safe. The children and elderly were told to head back into the shelter until a secure location was found to move them. Sandra left Ally with an old woman that had been a neighbor until recently. Jessie and Sandra began walking around observing damages nearby. I assumed I was to be among those cowering in the shelter until Jessie looked over in my direction.

  “Ember, you coming with us or what?”

  I hurriedly ran to catch up with them. Looking back, I saw a few ugly glares from kids that unhappily had to go back into the shelter. We found Jessie’s truck on its side a block from where it had been parked. Jessie crawled up on it busting out the passenger door with her steel-toed boot. She climbed inside rummaging through the contents for a few minutes. She unmounted the shotgun above the back window handing it out to Sandra before handing me a black backpack and a couple holsters with pistols. She pulled herself out hopping down to the ground. Jessie then took the shotgun for herself having me hand one of the pistols to Sandra. She rifled through the backpack I now wore on my back pulling out several clips for the pistols that she divided between us and a box of shotgun shells for herself. The bag was a bit heavy, but I needed to start building some muscle too so that I was more reliable. For that reason, I did not complain or suggest someone else should carry it. I attached the pistol holster to my belt situating everything else as best I could. Seeing me struggle a little Sandra without a word assisted me with adjusting the straps on the backpack before we started following behind Jessie.

  We walked the residential areas for a couple hours followed by the business section looking for survivors. We set supplies that we found out to be collected later by the other groups when they came along. Jessie suddenly had a thought occur to her.

  “Did either of you see Peter down in the shelter? I don’t recall running across him when I was handing out assignments.”

  We both shook our heads that we had not seen him.

  “Hmm, we should go check his block next then.” Jessie looked around seeing a nearby Jeep. “Help me m
ove the tree branches off of it.”

  There were several large broken tree branches that we had to work together to move before attempting to start it. There was of course no key inside, but we knew it would have no problem running since it was often used for delivering supplies to the business district. If it were just some random vehicle outside the walls, it would definitely not start because the fuel had gone bad long ago. Having our own fuel refinery was the only reason we still had transportation other than the few electric powered vehicles we had acquired.

  “Sandra, time to try out some of those skills you have been learning. Hopefully there is plenty of gas to get us around.”

  Sandra climbed inside ducking under the dashboard with a small flashlight she pulled from her pocket. Moments later, I heard the Jeep trying to turn over.

  “Pump the gas pedal a couple times.”

  “You taught her how to boost cars?”

  “A few. Although it won’t help much if stranded outside the walls or what’s left of them I suppose I should say. It does come in handy to know though.”

  “You haven’t shown me how.”

  “Hun, you were too young forever and I’ve been too busy the last couple years. When you are done with school, I will happily do the same with you. You are always more than welcome to ride along for the same things Sandra is currently learning when you don’t have homework or studying to do.”

  “Well lucky for me that today was the last day of school.”

  “For more reasons than you know. Your school appeared to be missing I noticed. We all have our work cut out for us for quite a while. I’m sure you will get to learn plenty over the next several months from many different people.”

  “My brain still can’t process all the devastation. How are we going to rebuild so much?”

  “I understand, but it’s what humans do. We could move to another town, but that would be just as much work. Plus honestly, Alpine is one of the most secure cities from the Fallen because of the surrounding mountains, forests, and rivers.”

  “Ever consider the slow ones have it programmed into their brains to stay in certain locations or follow old routines for the most part? At the same time, the smart ones seem programed to hunt for us outside of any specific boundaries. They seem to have an internal compass directing them to us or something in my opinion. And what if the smart ones found a way to communicate or directly influence the slow ones to following them? It hasn’t happened yet from all the stories I’ve heard, but anything is possible.”

  “Em, you seriously scare me sometimes with your thinking. Most of what you are saying is probably true, but let’s hope the smart ones never become capable of influencing the others. Although they may be slow, they have incomprehensible numbers that would simply overwhelm the living. Walls would not hold them back. There would likely be absolutely nothing we could do to stop them. I would rather not even think about such circumstances. Bringing up the topic alone to others would only incite panic which is the worst thing a leader can do unless absolutely necessary. As a leader it is my responsibility to assess situations, weigh and consider the best actions to deal with those situations, and above all handle anything that could or does happen without causing panic or strife to the community at large. I’m not saying that keeping the information or problems to myself is the solution, far from it. You just have to be careful who you tell and how you express the problems to others in carefully chosen words. You have to know who to trust with any information and who can handle what you have to tell them.” The Jeep started up roaring to life. “Anyway, hop in. We need to go check on Peter. Let’s deal with the problems at hand before worrying about other things that could happen in the future.”

  “Half a tank of gas Jessie,” Sandra said after rolling down the window.

  “Awesome, you drive on the way there. You need more practice. Ember can drive on the way back.” We both got into the Jeep. I was super excited that I would get a chance to drive for the first time. “Not so fast this time. You nearly killed us last time. Plus there is debris everywhere.”

  “Yes ma’am. You’ll have to give me directions the last part of the way since I’m not really used to that area.”

  Crawling along at a slow pace to occasionally bypass debris we eventually made it out to the somewhat secluded block Peter lives on. Most of the houses were intact with little damage. Peter’s house appeared to be one of the unlucky few that looked like a bulldozer had plowed into it. We scurried from the Jeep digging through the rubble while calling out to Peter. A few minutes later Jessie put up her hand to silence us. We froze barely breathing as we listened. A slight whisper came from somewhere near Jessie.

  “Over here! Help me dig through this area, but walk lightly.”

  We obeyed moving light-footed as we moved wood, bricks, broken furniture, and everything else you could possibly imagine. We kept at it until we saw a hand protruding from the massive pile of junk. Jessie took his hand squeezing it gently.

  “Have you out in a sec Peter. Just hang on.”

  We quickly dug him out simply throwing things a small distance away. Completely uncovered he had many bruises and cuts that were visible. On inspection, Jessie concluded that Peter had three broken ribs, a broken leg, and a large laceration on his back that required stitches. In pain but alive, Peter gave us a smile reaching out his arms for me to give him a hug which I complied as gently as possible.

  Jess and Sandra helped carry Peter with his arms draped around their shoulders to the closest guest house still standing (passing a few with multiple broken windows and one that had a large tree piercing through the roof). Once inside we were not surprised to find that the electricity was out similar to everywhere else we had been since the storm. Having Peter lay on his stomach on the plush carpet, Jessie rifled through the backpack pulling out a first aid kit. She cut open the back of his shirt with a pair of surgical shears before cleaning the wound with a small flask of whiskey. Peter cussed loudly I might add. Sandra and I held him down the best we could while Jessie stitched up the laceration with a needle and fishing line. Peter passed out half way through, his screams going silent. While he was out Jessie reset his broken leg. She had us hold him up while she wrapped a thick gauze around his broken ribs. Then we half carried, half dragged him to the nearest room with a bed. We piled up pillows from the other rooms before putting him onto the bed.

  “Hard part is over. Just need to radio for some help to take him to wherever the hell they are setting up the temporary medical facility. There is no way we can carry him while he is passed out.”

  She dug out the radio turning it on only to find it was completely dead. Changing the batteries had absolutely no effect on it working again.

  “Dammit,” she threw the radio against a wall. “The two of you are going to have to stay here while I go get help. Watch over him, but be vigilant of your surroundings. The walls are down which means nowhere is safe.” We both shook our heads that we understood. “Be back as quick as possible.”

  -4-

  Staring out the front bay windows at the neighborhood from the living room ten minutes after my mother left, I was lost in thought or daydreaming perhaps. A blur of grey and red ran past the front yard waking me from my distracted state. Immediately snapping back to reality I realized what most likely had ran past. I slowly began backing away from the window whispering for Sandra who was in the bedroom watching over Peter. She popped her head through the doorway just as I was starting to turn around. A moment later, her eyes got huge staring right past me towards the bay windows. I could feel tiny goosebumps tingling on my body, but refused to look back at the danger peering inside behind me. Before Sandra could even speak the words to run, I took off flying down the small hallway from the living room. I heard glass break behind me. The second I passed through the doorway into the bedroom, Sandra slammed the door closed locking it for good measure. Our minds worked in tandem without speaking. We both rushed over to a heavy dresser pushing it in front
of the door just as the doorknob turned. We began moving a computer desk next as the Fallen started throwing itself against the door. The pounding intensified, but the door held as we pressed the desk tightly against the dresser. We moved everything else we could find that was the slightest bit heavy into a pile blocking the door. At some point Peter woke up.

  “Girls, the window.”

  We both turned finding glowing blue eyes staring in at us while banging on the door continued. Both of us grabbed our pistols that were nearby directing them at the window. The Fallen ducked down vanishing out of sight. About a minute later, a brick came crashing through the glass startling all of us in the room.

  “We need to block off the window somehow quickly,” Peter frantically said.

  Sandra motioned for me to keep a close eye on the window. She handed her gun over to Peter, whom I am pretty sure from the look he made had never held a gun before. She scrounged through the backpack I had tossed on the floor pulling out a screwdriver. Sandra ran to the closet door quickly popping out the hinges. Pulling the door loose, she carried it over in front of the window. She reached in the backpack bringing out a small hammer and a handful of nails.

  “Em, you have to put in the nails while we hold the door. We need all the weight against it we can get in case that thing tries to force its way in.”