Strike

by D. J. MacHale

  The three of us fell to the sand and pressed our backs against the wood. We were all breathing hard as our hearts raced with fear. Nobody said a word. We just listened.

  The sounds of the fight between the prisoners continued.

  “They’re looking for you!” Scottie yelled. “Admit it!”

  “I think it’s you they’re after!” the man shouted back.

  “Enough! Stop it!” Bova shouted, sounding surprisingly frayed.

  None of us dared peek around to see what was happening. We could only guess from what we heard. There was a lot of scuffling and heavy breathing.

  “Grab them!” the woman supervisor yelled, which meant Retro soldiers had entered the dispute.

  “What is wrong with you animals?” Bova yelled, sounding flustered. He must have been trying to impress Feit with his total control of the camp, and having two prisoners punching it out definitely didn’t look good.

  “He’s not doing his share of the work,” Scottie cried. “He’s the one you’re looking for.”

  “Me? I’ve been doing my own work and yours too! If you want to take someone, take her!”

  The three of us exchanged looks.

  “They’re doing this for us,” Tori whispered.

  She was exactly right. We were the new arrivals, and just kids to boot. The rest of our unit knew that, even if our supervisor didn’t care enough to register us. Scottie had created a distraction so we would have a chance to do exactly what we did. Hide.

  I hoped those two wouldn’t suffer because of it.

  “You aren’t the ones we’re looking for,” Bova announced. “Control yourselves.”

  “Back in line!” the supervisor shouted. “Now!”

  The ruckus died down and I had to assume that everyone had dropped back into line.

  “My apologies for that, Colonel,” Bova said, his voice shaken. “Shall we continue? Please?”

  This was the moment. Would they realize the unit was suddenly three people short? The only sound we heard was the faint scuff of boots on the sand as Bova and Feit continued their inspection. I did all that I could to control my breathing so as not to give us away.

  I squeezed Tori’s hand. Kent pressed his head against my back with his eyes closed.

  A minute passed. I looked up, expecting to see Feit’s head looming over the top of the stack of boards. Another minute passed. Sweat dripped from my forehead into my eyes. It burned but I didn’t dare move to wipe them.

  Another few agonizing seconds went by and then we heard the sound of the jeep’s engine powering up and the vehicle driving away.

  We exchanged quick, hopeful looks.

  Tori cautiously peered around the end of the stack of boards and gave us thumbs up.

  “That’s it,” the supervisor bellowed. “Break’s over. We’ve still got two trucks to unload before noon.”

  The group walked past our hiding place, headed for the trucks.

  The three of us scrambled to our feet and melted into the moving crowd.

  I was relieved to see that Scottie and the guy she had shoved were still there. There had been no punishment for their fight.

  I took her hand and squeezed it, mouthing the words “thank you.”

  Scottie smiled and gave me a wink.

  I took a chance and put my hand over my heart. It was the gesture used by the mysterious Sounders. I thought maybe the prisoners might be part of the group.

  Scottie nodded and smiled, but didn’t put her hand over her heart. If she was a Sounder, she didn’t admit it. She was just a nice brave lady trying to help out a fellow prisoner.

  The three of us got back to work with the knowledge that we might have dodged a bullet, but we weren’t out of trouble. Not with Feit prowling around. He wouldn’t give up that easily. Sooner or later he would find us, and who knew what he would do once that happened? There was nothing I could think to do at that moment except continue unloading the trucks. We would have to come up with a new plan, fast. With Feit looking for us we couldn’t lay low and wait for an opportunity to make trouble.

  There was only one option: escape.

  For the next two hours we slaved in the hot sun. The whole time I kept glancing around, expecting Feit to return. Some workers passed out from heat exhaustion and were carried away, only to be replaced by other nameless workers. At midmorning we were given a short break and fed some kind of oatmeal-like gruel. It was disgusting but nourishing. Whatever was in it quickly filled my belly and restored some of my strength. I wondered if they had mixed in a little bit of ground-up Ruby.

  The reprieve didn’t last long. In no time we were back at it, lugging huge lengths of lumber and stacking them near the construction site. We emptied the trucks by noon, just as our supervisor wanted. When the last length of lumber was off-loaded, the trucks pulled away . . . only to be replaced by twelve more trucks that were packed solid with more wood.

  “And there’s our afternoon,” the supervisor announced. “Get to it.”

  Complaining wouldn’t have helped. All I could think of was the evening shower and the rejuvenating water. The day couldn’t end fast enough.

  I thought for sure that we’d be working until the sun dropped below the surrounding mountains, so I was surprised when the supervisor blew her whistle early.

  “Whatever you’ve got, drop it right there,” she announced. “Fall in line.”

  I didn’t think for a second that we were being given a break. Something was up.

  We all dragged ourselves into a raggedy line. When the supervisor was satisfied, she blew her whistle again and we trudged on, following her.

  “We gotta get outta here,” Kent whispered.

  “I hear you,” I said. “Tonight. After dark.”

  “I’d rather take my chances in the desert than with Feit,” Tori said.

  With that quick exchange, it was settled. We were all thinking the same thing. After nightfall we’d make a break. It wasn’t what I had wanted. Running away wasn’t going to get us any closer to the truth about the Retros, or finding my mother, but Feit’s arrival changed that. The first thing we needed to do was survive. Staying in that camp while Feit was hunting for us would make that impossible. It was time to go.

  The supervisor led us back to the clearing between buildings where Kent had fought the night before. A huge crowd of prisoners was gathered under the hot sun. They were encircled by dozens of Retro soldiers. Something was up. Something different. I couldn’t help but feel like a cow being led to the slaughter.

  Our unit was pushed into joining the crowd of prisoners. It was lucky that we had arrived late. The first people who got there were in the center of this mess, pressed together by hundreds more bodies that kept arriving.

  On the far side of the crowd was a military flatbed truck. Two Retro soldiers stood on the ground to either side of it. Though it was a huge crowd, it was eerily quiet. These people had been tortured into submission. They didn’t dare resist. At least not in any obvious way. The escape attempt the night before proved that there was a lot more communication and planning going on between them than the Retros knew about, or understood.

  “Here we go,” Kent whispered.

  I looked forward over the sea of prisoners to see Major Bova climb up onto the flatbed. He stood with his legs apart and his fists on his hips like some twisted version of Superman. He surveyed the tortured sea of humanity before him with an oily smile.

  “May I please have your attention,” Bova called out, like we had any other choice. His voice was amplified and sprang from unseen speakers.

  “An urgent matter has come to my attention that I must now bring to you,” he announced. “Please pay close attention. Your future will depend on it.”

  Bova stepped to the side as Mr. Feit, Colonel Feit, climbed up onto the truck.

  “This can’t be
good,” Kent whispered.

  Feit surveyed the silent crowd. Not that there was any chance of him seeing us from as far back as we were, but I crouched down just the same.

  All eyes were on him, silently waiting for a speech that nobody wanted to hear.

  “My name is Colonel Feit,” he began boldly. “I am one of the architects of your new future. Our new future.”

  I held back the urge to boo. I’d guess every last prisoner felt the same way.

  “You are all experiencing hardships. I understand that. It is the price that must be paid to build a better, safer tomorrow.”

  Tori whispered, “Right. They’re rebuilding what the Retros destroyed, just like every other war in history. It’s all about destruction until it’s about rebuilding. So pointless.”

  “I can assure you,” Feit continued. “The sacrifices you make today will help create a new and better world order for you and your children. Your children’s children. Hard choices have been made. Difficult choices. We are making them today in order to assure that mankind will not only survive, but thrive in the future.”

  Feit was a different version of himself than any I’d seen before. He was deadly serious and used his words sparingly. The easygoing beach dude was long gone.

  “Your cooperation and hard work are essential to guaranteeing your own safe future. You will not always be working in this camp. Soon you will be transferred to other parts of the country. Perhaps to your own hometown. From there you will begin your new, intelligently guided lives and take part in the transformation that will help ensure that we will pass on a better world to those who follow.”

  He was speaking as if he expected to get a round of applause after each statement.

  For the record, he didn’t.

  “However, there are those among you who want to end this important progress. They don’t have the foresight to understand that until we stepped in, the world was on a collision course with disaster. To those people I say that it’s entirely your choice. You do not have to be part of the new order. But be warned. If you are not with us, you are against us, and you will be treated accordingly.”

  Crickets. The crowd was deadly silent.

  “I must now make a plea,” Feit went on. “There are three criminals in your midst. They have committed crimes against the new order and must face judgment.”

  “Here it comes,” Kent said. “He is really pissed at us.”

  “I ask that you reveal these traitors to your supervisors. Once they are in our custody, you will be rewarded with a full day off from labor.”

  That finally got the crowd buzzing. A day off from work was a luxury that seemed impossible . . . until just then.

  We were in trouble.

  “Help me to purge the rot from this camp,” Feit bellowed. “Bring them to me.”

  There were murmurs as people looked around at each other, probably looking for us.

  We didn’t move. Where would we go? If we ran we’d have every guard come down on us and probably a few prisoners as well. Our only hope was that nobody knew who we were.

  I glanced to my right to see Scottie staring at me. Would she turn us in to get a work-free day?

  She smiled and subtly shook her head. She wasn’t about to give us up.

  “Very well,” Feit bellowed, the ragged edge of frustration creeping into his voice. “You are fools for not cooperating.”

  Bova stepped forward and announced, “Do you understand the opportunity? The reward for compliance is a day free of work. The penalty for not cooperating will be harsh.”

  “No,” Feit interrupted. “That won’t be necessary. I understand why they might not be willing to help us. They believe that by standing up to us, they are helping their own cause. They couldn’t be more wrong. We are here to help you! To save you! In time you will come to understand that.”

  Nobody was buying what he was selling.

  “Very well,” he continued. “If no one is willing to step forward, we will use another means to root out the traitors.”

  Feit gestured to someone. A second later another Retro guard climbed up onto the truck, along with an orange-clad prisoner. A woman. She struggled against the guard but was no match for him. He pulled her up onto the flatbed of the vehicle with ease, as if she were nothing more than an annoying little child.

  Tori gasped.

  My knees went weak.

  “You gotta be kiddin’ me,” Kent said.

  Standing next to Feit, holding her head up defiantly, was Stacy Pierce. My mother.

  TEN

  My mom looked more exhausted than I’d ever seen her. She squinted and held her hand up to block the bright sun as if she had been held in a dark cave up until that moment. Her long blonde hair was pulled back in a ponytail, making her look younger than her forty some odd years.

  But she stood there courageously, with her eyes fixed on Feit.

  Mom was alive. That was my first thought. The relief was so dramatic that for a moment I actually felt light-headed. The moment I saw her it was as if the thousands of other people in the clearing had suddenly disappeared. It was just me, my mother . . . and Feit.

  That was my second thought.

  Feit had her.

  I took a step forward but Tori grabbed me.

  “Don’t,” she whispered with urgency. “That’s exactly what he wants you to do.”

  I had some vague understanding that by my revealing myself I’d also be putting Tori and Kent in danger. I wish I could say that it mattered to me but in that moment, it didn’t. All I could see was my mother being manhandled by my enemy, and that wasn’t going to fly.

  “Feit!” I screamed.

  It was like a gunshot in an empty auditorium. Every last person spun to look at me.

  “And . . . we’re done,” Kent said with a sigh.

  Tori let go of my arm.

  For the first time since he had reappeared, Feit smiled. Even from that distance away I could see it and it made my blood boil.

  My mother’s reaction was much different. She deflated and dropped her head. She must have been hoping that Feit was wrong and that I had somehow escaped from the grasp of the Retros.

  “Let her go!” I screamed.

  It was a lame demand. It wasn’t like I could do anything about it if he refused.

  Bova leaned down to one of his soldiers and whispered something. Immediately after, several Retro soldiers started making their way around the perimeter of the mass of prisoners to close in on me. On us.

  “Hello Tucker,” Feit called out with his familiar, casual voice. “Good to see you again.”

  The guy must have been under some serious pressure from his superiors for having been outsmarted by a bunch of kids. It cost the Retros a thousand fighter planes. Having found me seemed to have instantly taken some of that pressure off.

  “If you want me, leave her alone,” I shouted.

  “How exactly do you figure that?” he called back. “I already have you! I trust my other good friends are close by.”

  That’s when it fully hit me that by revealing myself, I had also doomed Kent and Tori.

  “I’m sorry,” I said to them sheepishly.

  Kent shrugged.

  “This isn’t over,” Tori said with conviction. “We’ve gotten through worse.”

  It may not have been over, but in that moment it sure felt like it.

  There must have been over a thousand prisoners there, as well as dozens of armed Retro guards. They all stood silently, listening to our exchange. All but the handful of guards who were headed our way, that is.

  “Get out of here,” I whispered to Kent and Tori, without taking my eyes off of Feit. “Blend into the crowd. He doesn’t know for sure that you’re here.”

  Kent nodded quickly and started to move deeper into the crowd, but Tori stood s
till.

  “Go,” I insisted.

  She stood her ground.

  Kent glanced back and saw that Tori wasn’t moving. He deflated, rolled his eyes, and pushed his way back to us.

  “I don’t like being noble,” he grumbled.

  “But you’re still here,” Tori said with a smile.

  “Reluctantly,” he added.

  The Retro soldiers moved toward us, pushing through the crowd from both sides. Most of the prisoners didn’t budge, making it tough going for them.

  “Please,” Bova called out to the crowd. “Clear a path for my men. We don’t want to see anyone get hurt unnecessarily.”

  “What do you think they’ll do to us?” Kent asked nervously.

  I wished I had an answer to that.

  The soldiers finally reached us. There were six of them who stood facing us as the nearby prisoners finally backed away.

  One soldier raised his black baton weapon, ready to aim it at us.

  “Is there going to be trouble?” he asked.

  I wanted to say I planned on giving them as much trouble as humanly possible, but that wouldn’t have been wise.

  “No,” I said flatly.

  “Then walk,” he commanded.

  I didn’t hesitate and walked straight at the six soldiers, who had to get out of our way to let us pass. The prisoners pushed back and gave us a wide opening so we could move out of the crowd. Once we left the mass of humanity and walked through the ring of guards that held the crowd together, we turned forward and began the long walk to Feit.

  Kent and Tori stayed right behind me.

  The Retro soldiers were close behind them.

  There was no escaping this fate. Once again, we would have to face Feit. We had beaten this guy before. More than once. I had to hold on to the belief that we could do it again. It seemed impossible under the circumstances, but it was all I had.

  As we walked, we passed several Retro soldiers, who glared at us, stone faced, as if we were lower than all the other primates they had so much disdain for. Each look made me stand a little straighter, as if to show them I wasn’t afraid or intimidated, though I was both.