Absolution

by Mark Campbell

  Teddy slowed his pace when he noticed that the man was still weakly gripping a fiberglass riot baton.

  The officer had a dispirited, defeated expression. He glanced at Teddy once, but paid him no mind as he tottered awkwardly along the pathway.

  Teddy gave the man a wide berth and then broke out in a jog once again.

  There was an explosion somewhere behind him that shook the ground and shattered a few windows.

  He wondered if that was the end of the convoy—he wondered if the launchers had finished the job.

  Unfortunately, his answer came as he heard the gunners give a deafening response.

  When he finally managed to get to his dorm, he found Zoey pacing back and forth, whining and whimpering with her tail and ears lowered.

  “Zoey?” he called out. “How did you get out?”

  Zoey looked over at him, but she didn’t have her usual exuberance. She trotted towards him and continued to whimper.

  When he realized that her fur was mattered with blood, his heart sank.

  “Oh no…” he muttered.

  Teddy ran to her, bent over, and ran his fingers through her coat to find out where the bullet had struck.

  Zoey gave him a timid, sorrowful lick as he did.

  Teddy stood back up, confused—it wasn’t her blood. He started walking towards the dorm and noticed that the door had been broken in just like so many others. “What happened, girl?”

  Zoey trailed behind him as he entered.

  Teddy stepped inside and stared ahead at the harrowing scene before him.

  Perry, or what remained of him, lay twisted in the middle of the room. His red armband hung out of his mouth like a lolling cotton tongue. His eyes had been gouged out. He had been stabbed multiple times—the piece of rebar that had done the job still lay beside him.

  Teddy, speechless, did the only thing he could think to do. He grabbed a sheet off of one of the empty bunks and covered the man’s body. He watched as the blood seeped through and formed crimson stains on the fabric. “I’m sorry…” he whispered.

  The gunshots outside seemed to get closer and the sound of police sirens seemed to come from everywhere.

  Teddy stood back up and looked at the open door as snow blew inside. He knew he couldn’t stay out in the bunks—if an officer saw him when they passed the open door, they’d kill him. “Come on girl… Let’s go hunker down somewhere until this passes.”

  He grabbed a couple of blankets, led Zoey into the communal shower, and did what he had done most of his adult life—he waited.

  CHAPTER 18

  Throughout the day Teddy heard skirmishes between the rebels and the police outside. The thin walls did little to mask the noise. Small-caliber gunfire was answered with the mechanical roar of the .50 CAL automatic turrets. There were a few explosions—some so close that bits of plaster shook loose from the shower ceiling—and they were given a thunderous response from heavy artillery and mortar rounds.

  As Teddy listened, he entertained the thought that perhaps the rebels were winning, but he knew better. He reflected back to what he had told Ein on the train: we will fight and we will win. What a damn fool he had been to believe his own bullshit. Anger only got a man so far—how could he stand against an entire battalion when he was armed with nothing but a bad attitude and… what had Hock called it?

  “Grit…” he said to himself with a humorless grin.

  That hadn’t gotten him too far, had it?

  He tried to turn his thoughts to something more purposeful. He may not have been able to stand up to the new regime, but he intended to keep his promise to Ein and get him out of that place even if it cost him his life. It was a fool’s errand, but he owed it to the kid and he owed to Jane and Danny.

  Perhaps, he thought, his twisted mind considered saving Ein as some sort of penance for leading Jane and her boy to that fucking stadium.

  Either way, there was no way he would make it very far waltzing out in the middle of a warzone.

  Teddy managed to wash most of the blood out of Zoey’s coat and she seemed grateful if a little cold. The two of them sat in the corner of the shower covered in blankets.

  Zoey slept lazily across his lap—she never ventured more than a few feet from him.

  Teddy knew that dogs had a funny way about them. They seemed to know things. As odd as it was, her presence brought him comfort and he figured she must’ve sensed that on some animistic level. He sat content under the blankets with the mutt across his lap, tucked away from the cold air that whistled inside the dorm through the open doorway, and listened to the radio traffic as he stroked her damp fur.

  The radio told him some interesting stories.

  Just as Teddy expected, the armory got hit during the onset of the madness, but it didn’t sound like they had picked up anything especially useful besides the launchers.

  While the convoy was busy chasing after everything that moved, a group of rebels broke into the food storage warehouse and helped themselves to whatever they could carry. By the time the officers got their shit together and responded, the rebels—and the food—was gone.

  The news about the food wasn’t taken very well by some of the cops. A couple of the SUVs took off and Jayhawk Control sent another two SUVs after them, but none of them returned.

  Three of the dorms went up in flames.

  Jayhawk Control spotted a number of holes in the fences where people had cut through and escaped, but nobody bothered to secure the holes and mend them despite being ordered to do so.

  Sometime in the afternoon, Jayhawk Control went radio silent when one of the rebels fired their launcher up at the tower and sent it toppling down.

  With the tower out of commission, the radio traffic devolved into a pissing contest between Hock and the sergeants over their next move.

  Finally, there came a message from a radio call sign unfamiliar to him: USNORTHCOM hailing Jayhawk Command on all frequencies—we have no available units in your region to respond to your camp’s distress beacon. Begin decampment protocols.

  It was the last meaningful transmission before the battery died.

  The sudden silence put Teddy’s already fragile nerves on edge. He got up quite a few times—much to Zoey’s annoyance, and peeked into the dorm to make sure nobody wandered in.

  By the time sunset came around, the gunfire waned.

  By nightfall, the sound stopped altogether.

  It would’ve been the perfect time to slip outside and survey the damage firsthand, but exhaustion and hunger had taken a heavy toll on Teddy.

  As darkness fell, he sat slouched against Zoey who lay beside him, unmoving. Both of them were fast asleep.

  CHAPTER 19

  DECEMBER 20th

  2:41 AM

  Teddy’s eyes shot open at the sound of a train horn. He looked around the shower in a sleepy daze and saw that Zoey was awake as well; she stared at him with her ears perked up. How long was I out? He rubbed the crust out the corners of his eyes. It suddenly dawned on him that he had probably slept through the night and missed his chance to work in the cover of darkness.

  His eyes widened. “Shit!”

  He threw the blanket off of him in a panic and scrambled up on his feet. As soon as he peered through the open doorway and saw that it was still nighttime, his nerves settled.

  Zoey wagged her tail and walked up beside him. She cocked her head up at him and stared at him.

  Teddy looked down at her and became a little heartsick… He hadn’t even factored her in. “I’m sorry girl, but you have to stay here.”

  She tilted her head goofily and kept her eyes on him.

  “I’m serious,” he said in a tone that was not too convincing. “You’re on your own now… I’m sorry—really.”

  Zoey lowered her ears and gave an unsteady whimper.

  Teddy ran a hand over his face and let out a sigh. “Fine, girl… You win.” He zipped his jacket, ensured that the FEMA access card was still in his pocket, and headed toward
s the door. “Come on.”

  Zoey’s ears perked up and she gave a happy little bark in response as she started walking alongside him.

  Outside the temperature had dropped considerably. The melted snow formed a thick sheet of ice across the footpath and large icicles hung precariously from the rooftops. The camp’s sodium-vapor high-mast lamps were without power, but the full moon cast a cold light across the grim landscape.

  Teddy stared down the footpath at the hundreds of people who lay frozen half-buried in the ice. “Dear God…”

  As he walked further down the pathway, the destruction caused by the day’s battles became evident. Multiple dormitories had been reduced to heaps of rubble while others further away gave a flickering orange glow as fires spread unchecked. The bullet-riddled guard towers stood empty with their searchlights shattered. Plumes of black smoke billowed from the skeletal debris on top of the concrete pillar where Jayhawk Control once stood.

  Teddy continued to walk forward, treading carefully across the slick path, and marveled at just how drastically things had fallen apart.

  Zoey kept close to him and sniffed at the half-buried corpses they passed. Her eyes were low and her tail lay flat.

  A few shell-shocked civilians were still wandering aimlessly in the snow, searching the dead for whatever they could find, but they took off running as soon as he approached.

  He thought about calling out to them, but what would be the point—how could they help? After the horrific trauma they experienced he figured that anyone left alive would be damned lucky to escape with their sanity intact.

  Teddy was grateful that there wasn’t a single officer in sight.

  They took a detour around the charred remnants of one of the Humvees from the convoy. The vehicle had smashed against a dorm and had burnt down to nothing more than a skeletal husk.

  He hadn’t seen any of the other vehicles patrolling the streets and alleyways, and wondered if they were still bothering to search for people to kill or had they already written everyone off?

  A train horn blared again—he jumped and turned towards the jarring noise. “Those idiots are still bringing people here?” he asked aloud. A morbid answer formed in his mind: yes, but this time they’re bringing cops… and lots of guns. He shuddered at the thought, but, judging by what he had seen, he knew that they had already taken off and left whatever civilians behind to freeze and starve. The way he figured, either the train was simply passing through or the conductor hadn’t heard that news that the Wall of Jericho had fallen and that everything had gone to shit.

  In the distance, he saw the administration building sitting unscathed on top of the hill. It still had power and was lit up like a Christmas tree with every rooftop halogen floodlight powered on and pointed at the ground below.

  Teddy maneuvered past a heap of concrete debris that had blocked off most of the pathway. He turned towards Zoey and smiled. “We’re almost there, girl.”

  She gave an agreeable bark and wagged her tail.

  The footpath opened up to the main avenue that ran from the train station and intake facilities towards the administration building.

  Teddy stopped and took cover at the corner to peer out at the clearing. He held a hand out and signaled for Zoey to wait—she obeyed.

  The chain-link perimeter fence stood mostly intact aside two areas where vehicles had flatted the entire section. A FEMA police SUV sat on flat tires next to an overturned Humvee that had most of its drab olive paint burnt off. Both of the vehicular sally port gates were open and three military flatbeds rolled out of the camp each loaded with officers and crates of supplies. A little further in the distance, Teddy saw the taillights of four more flatbed trucks as they headed down the dirt road as fast as they could—the beds were crammed with officers and forced many to hang dangerously onto the sides of the moving vehicles. “That’s right… Cut and run, motherfuckers,” he said with smile.

  He turned his attention towards the hill and became somewhat dismayed to discover that a skeleton crew of officers had stayed behind.

  The officers escorted a steady procession of researchers and nurses out of the administration building and towards the waiting Amtrak train at the intake dock. The medical and research staff all carried document storage boxes that were piled high with papers and reports stacked in a helter-skelter manner. Many were still wearing their white-suits, sans the hood and respirators.

  Teddy didn’t see Ein or any of the other human test subjects, but he figured that they were being left behind to die.

  “We’ll wait for them to finish and then get the hell out of here,” he told Zoey. He got back in cover and leaned his back against the wall.

  Zoey looked up at him and licked the back of his hand.

  Teddy swatted her away playfully. “It’s too cold for all that, girl. Your drool is going to give me frostbite.”

  Zoey stepped side-to-side, lolling her tongue. She barked at him happily—she was ready to play.

  Teddy crouched down and tried to calm her. He placed a finger on his lips and gave a gentle shush, but she barked again and wagged her tail.

  One of the escorting officers stopped. “Heard that?”

  Another behind him paused and turned towards the noise. “It could be another roach with a gun trying to pick a few of us off—let’s check it out.”

  The two officers clicked on their rifle’s tactical flashlights and headed towards Teddy while the others continued escorting the medical staff to the train.

  Zoey lost her cheerful expression and turned her head towards the approaching men. A warning growl rumbled at the back of her throat as she raised her hackles.

  Teddy peeked around the corner and saw the officers coming towards him with their guns ready. “Shit…” He patted Zoey and turned back the way that he came. “Come on, girl, we gotta go.”

  Zoey turned abruptly and followed him. She kicked up fresh snow which was caught in the tactical light’s beams.

  “Movement!” one of the officers shouted. “Someone’s back there!”

  Both of the officers started running.

  Teddy squeezed in between a pile of concrete debris and a dorm and shimmied through as fast as he could manage.

  Zoey clambered up and over the pile and scurried ahead of Teddy. She turned towards him and leered down the pathway, growling, as the officers neared.

  Teddy pressed through the passageway and went towards one of the open dormitory doors. He hurriedly waved at Zoey. “Come on!” he urged.

  She followed him inside.

  An earlier mortar strike had left the dorm in serious disorder. It had knocked a large hole in the roof and left a gaping crater in the middle of the floor. Mangled civilian corpses lay spread around the crater and hung halfway inside.

  Teddy took cover behind an overturned bunk. He pressed his back against the steel. He brought Zoey close to him and held her against his chest. He leaned down and whispered in her ear. “Easy, girl, just be quiet…”

  Zoey kept her head low and sniffed the air vigorously. She didn’t try to pull away, but her body remained tense, ready to spring at a moment’s notice.

  Judging by how violently she was reacting every time she saw the uniforms, Teddy wondered if one of the officers had lashed out at her during the unrest. He recalled the blood that was matted in her muzzle and considered for the first time that perhaps it wasn’t Perry’s blood after all.

  Teddy stroked her back to calm her, but it didn’t seem to have much effect. “Easy,” he whispered.

  “Split up and check the dorms,” one of the men said outside the door. “I’ll take the right, you take the left.”

  “Got it,” the other responded.

  “Watch your ass—I guarantee that they’re armed.”

  One of the officers stepped inside and scanned the room cautiously with his rifle’s tactical light. He crept slowly across the board and batten flooring. The wooden planks creaked under his boots.

  Teddy remained motionless w
ith his arm around Zoey. He could smell the cordite that clung to the man’s uniform as he got closer. Please just go away he silently prayed.

  The officer slipped past the bunk where Teddy was hiding and kept walking. He reached the end of the dorm, swept the inside of the communal shower with his light, and then lowered his weapon. “We’re clear in here!” he shouted.

  As soon as the officer turned, he locked eyes on Teddy who sat motionless with his back against the bunk and Zoey in his arms.

  The officer’s eyes widened and he jumped back, terrified. All he managed to emit was a high-pitched Ooooo as he swung his weapon up at Teddy.

  “Easy!” Teddy exclaimed. “I’m unarmed! I was looking for Lieutenant Hock!”

  Zoey tore away from Teddy’s arms and bounded towards the startled officer. She leapt up, shoved her front paws against the man’s breastplate, and bit down hard on the front of his throat.

  The officer pulled the trigger as he jerked backwards and twirled around the floor with one hand on his rifle’s grip and the other above his head like a demented danseur. He kept firing until the rifle gave a defeated click—his gunfire struck the roof and ricocheted off of a few lockers but failed to hit its target.

  Zoey clamped down harder and didn’t let go. Crimson flew freely from her jowl as her teeth sank deeper. She spun around with the man as he tried to knock her off—she wouldn’t be deterred.

  The officer fell down on his back, dropped his gun, and started hitting the assaulting mutt. He kicked his feet wildly as blood spurted from his mouth.

  Zoey crouched atop of him and took his dying punches in stride. She started thrashing her head side-to-side as she kept the man’s throat firmly in her mouth.

  The man’s eyes rolled up in his sockets. His arms and legs fell limp and his head slumped back. His body’s final undignified act was the release of his bladder.