Displaced

by Drake,Stephen

  “What are you doing?” Burns screamed at Metzger as he pulled the machete from Burns’ arm. “You sta — “ Burns’ words were cut off as Metzger stabbed him in the throat.

  “You see that?” Whittier yelled. “Murdock killed Burns. I told you he was a killer!”

  Murdock’s temper rose hearing Whittier. Don’t let him get to you! Focus, he thought.

  “Never could abide a coward,” Metzger said, covered in blood, as he got up.

  “Does that mean you’re going to fall on your machete?” Murdock mocked. “It takes a brave man to kill someone who is unarmed and to beat and rape the defenseless!”

  Metzger made a few low passes at Murdock with the machete, but Murdock was just out of reach, dancing back a few steps each time.

  Even though he wasn’t making contact, Metzger was backing Murdock away from Burns’ machete, which still lay on the ground a few yards behind Metzger. Murdock faced away from Rose, Collier, and Mei Lee. Without warning, Metzger threw his machete at Murdock’s face; Murdock ducked, and Metzger ran to grab Burns’ machete before Murdock could move in.

  Murdock, focusing on the armed man in front of him, had no idea where the thrown machete went.

  #

  Part of Rose’s mind saw the machete coming her way; her brain hadn’t registered that she should move.

  #

  Collier saw the machete sailing toward Rose. Instead of thinking, he reacted. With the last of his meager strength, he jumped across Rose’s field of vision, arms outstretched as he tried and failed to catch the machete. The blade slammed into his throat.

  #

  The sudden flash of an object passing in front of her, the sudden thumping noise the blade made as it slammed into Collier’s throat, and the sound of his body hitting the ground in front of her startled Rose, and she yelped. Mei Lee called out to Collier.

  #

  Metzger, hearing Rose yelp, focused on Rose. Murdock saw Metzger’s loss of focus and moved, slipping to the outside of Metzger’s machete-wielding hand. As Murdock grabbed Metzger’s wrist with one hand, he broke his elbow with the other. Metzger screamed in pain. Murdock then kicked his knee to the inside, dislocating it and dropping Metzger to one knee, the other leg outstretched behind him.

  As Murdock slowly approached the other man from behind, he grasped Metzger’s chin with one hand and the back of his head with the other. Murdock snapped his hands apart and Metzger’s neck cracked. Murdock let him drop to the ground onto his belly; Metzger’s face turned to the sky.

  Only then did Murdock realize that Mei Lee was wailing. He glanced up and saw Mei Lee kneeling in front of Rose. Rose remained in her guard position, showing no signs of an imminent threat. Murdock checked Burns; he was dead, having bled out during Murdock’s fight with Metzger.

  As Murdock walked toward Rose, he noticed a burning sensation in his hand. One hand was sliced across the palm. The palm bled some, but with the adrenalin rushing through him, he hardly noticed. No one in the crowd spoke or moved. They were all in shock.

  When he reached Rose and Mei Lee, he saw Collier lying dead on the ground with a machete in his throat. Mei Lee held his head and rocked back and forth, sobbing. Murdock looked questioningly at Rose.

  “When Metzger threw the machete, I was too focused on the crowd and Metzger and didn’t see it,” Rose explained. “He did see it . . . and took it for me,” she said, looking down at Collier’s body, tears running down her cheeks.

  Murdock looked down at Collier. Regret and remorse ran through him, as much for taking Metzger’s life as for the loss of Collier.

  “Debt paid,” he said softly to Collier’s corpse. “Debt paid.”

  15

  As Murdock, Rose, and Mei Lee said their last good-byes to Collier, the onlookers kept their distance, remaining respectfully silent. After a few minutes, Murdock went to the supplies, which were stacked where he had left them, and selected a shovel head. Then he found a tree of the proper size and cut it. After finishing a handle and affixing the shovel head to it, he returned to Collier’s body. Rose saw her husband standing there, leaning on the shovel. As she studied Murdock’s face, the only sign of emotion she could detect was a single tear rolling down his cheek.

  “I’ll do that,” Rose murmured, voice trembling and cheeks wet with her own tears.

  Murdock shook his head and said nothing. He focused on Mei Lee, who still sat on the ground holding Collier’s head in her lap, gently stroking it and brushing stray hairs from his face. Her tears ran freely, though her wails had ceased, but her deep grief was evident. After a long time, Murdock knelt beside Mei Lee, gently helped her to her feet, and moved her out of the way.

  Murdock and Rose did their work silently. First, they removed the machete from Collier’s neck. After studying the lay of the land, Murdock and Rose carefully moved Collier’s body off to the side, then dug his grave where he had fallen. After that, Murdock dug another, smaller hole at the head of the grave site. While Rose stripped Collier’s body, Murdock went to Metzger’s body and removed Collier’s thumb from Metzger’s shirt pocket. After lowering Collier’s naked body respectfully into the grave, Murdock placed the nub of Collier’s thumb on his chest, under his crossed hands. Then Rose led Mei Lee to the side of Collier’s grave.

  Mei Lee, still wearing Collier’s shirt, bruised, beaten, and covered in her husband’s blood, stood proud and silent for a few seconds.

  “Good-bye, my husband,” she said softly. “You were a good, loving, and caring man. I was proud and honored to be your wife.”

  “When his time came, Collier faced it with great honor and sacrifice, without a thought for himself,” Murdock said, still leaning on the shovel, the handle of which was now covered in the blood from his cut hand. “His sacrifice was not requested of him, but he freely gave it. We should count ourselves lucky if others can say the same of us when our time comes.”

  “You are gone,” Rose said, her voice shaking with emotion, tears flowing down her cheeks, “but you will never be forgotten. Your sacrifice will always be remembered with honor and respect.”

  As Murdock, Rose, and Mei Lee stood silently beside the grave, the others made no sound. After several minutes, Rose led Mei Lee away, and Murdock filled in the grave. When he finished, he took the machete that had taken Collier’s life and drove it into the binding pole, using the shovel as a hammer. Then he dropped the pole into the small hole at Collier’s head, and then filled and packed the dirt around the pole. Finally, he set the shovel down and sat with his wife and Mei Lee, who had moved about fifty feet away from the grave.

  After an hour of silence, throughout which the two women cried, a male colonist that Murdock didn’t know came over.

  “Excuse me for intruding on your grief,” the man said quietly and waited.

  “Yes?” Murdock responded gruffly, his mind still on Collier.

  “A few of us were trying to find Mei Lee’s clothes,” the man continued. “One of the women said that the clothes are inside the transport pod, but we can’t get them.”

  “Why not?” Murdock asked with more anger than he had intended.

  “Looks like sometime during your fight with Metzger and Burns, Whittier and one or two of his friends locked themselves inside the transport pod,” the man explained. “He has all the food inside with him and all of the water skins.”

  At the thought of Whittier, Murdock said with venom, “They can die in there, for all I care.” Murdock took a good look at the colonist. The man was emaciated and looked as if a strong wind would lift him and take him away. Murdock stood and inspected the rest of the colonists. All were in much the same condition. Some were worse than others, but generally, all were in the same state of emaciation. The group looked as if they wouldn’t last another day.

  Murdock gently touched his wife’s shoulder. “We need to get something for these people to eat,” he said when she had turned around.

  “I know,” she said, looking around at the others with compassion.<
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  “Get someone to sit with Mei Lee,” he told the man, “and we’ll see what we can do.”

  The man nodded and walked away. A few minutes later, a gaunt woman came over and assumed Rose’s position of comforting Mei Lee. Lost in her grief, Mei Lee seemed unaware of anyone around her. Rose got up and followed Murdock as he walked toward the stream. After crossing it, they retrieved their equipment.

  “Can you get them some fish from the stream?” he asked as he re-hung all the equipment on his belt and about his body.

  “I’m not as good at it as you are, but I think so,” Rose said as she followed his lead.

  “Do what you can,” he told her as he handed her the water skins. “Give small bites to them raw. I don’t think they could take a lot of food at one time. I’ll be back as soon as I can with more and bigger ones. But be careful! I still don’t trust any of them, and you’ll have to be on your guard with Whittier still on the loose.”

  Rose nodded as she accepted the water skins. Murdock had turned to leave when Rose stopped him.

  “That was a foolish and dangerous thing you did,” Rose scolded. “But you were wonderful!” She threw her arms around his neck and kissed him, “Wonderful and brave.”

  “I did what I had to,” he said, shrugging. “There was nothing wonderful or brave about it. I’m sorry if I worried you. That wasn’t my intention.”

  “I understand,” she said. Then taking a deep breath, she went on, “I’m just glad you’re okay. Knowing you, there are going to be more times like that in our life. I’ll always trust your judgment, though.”

  They smiled at each other as they parted. Murdock trotted through the bower toward the river by the falls as fast as he could. He hadn’t gone far when Beron blocked his path. Murdock stopped and, catching his breath, tried to tell his friend that he was in a hurry.

  “We know,” Beron flashed. “Other way shorter/faster/better!”

  Beron took Murdock on a mental flight starting where he was now, but flying over the stream and the transport pod in the opposite direction he had been traveling. Murdock saw the transport pod and the field of grass in which he had killed the snake. Then he saw small stands of trees, herds of deer, and a river lined with larger trees. From the perspective Beron showed Murdock, it appeared to be half the distance he had yet to go. This way was much flatter and smoother, as well as easier to travel quickly. The snakes concerned him, as they struck quickly, with little or no warning.

  “Emergency! This time only! They not interfere!” Beron flashed.

  Feelings of safety and protection flooded Murdock. After thanking his friend, he turned to leave, but thinking of something he wanted to ask, he turned back. Beron wasn’t there. Had Beron really been there or was he projecting himself onto my senses? Murdock thought. He decided to file it away to ask later and began running in the direction his friend had indicated.

  By the time he reached the stream, he stopped for another breather. Rose had thrown several fish on the bank and was gathering them up when he arrived.

  “That was quick!” she said, shocked.

  “I was advised to go the other direction,” Murdock told Rose, hoping that his choice of verbiage would indicate his source to her. “I’ll explain later,” he said as he ran off.

  Murdock passed the transport pod without stopping. After he could no longer see the transport, he felt less winded, and his pace seemed to be too slow. Faster. Run faster, he thought as he broke into a run. He covered ground — with a lot less effort — faster than anyone else could have. Soon, he saw the riverbank and slowed as fast as he had accelerated.

  As he reached the river bank, he saw several fish flopping on the ground. This has to be Beron helping, he thought. He quickly strung eight good sized fish. He set off and, as before, ran fast, for him, and effortlessly. Once again, he didn’t slow until just before he saw the transport pod. By the time he arrived there, he had become very tired, with the fish growing very heavy. Yet his sense of time told him he was only gone thirty minutes, though it should have taken three or four hours for a round trip.

  Rose arrived back at the transport pod shortly after Murdock left her. She dispensed water and the fish she had caught. Then she started a fire. Not long after, Murdock returned laden with fish, which shocked everyone, including Rose. Murdock, however, was too exhausted to explain himself.

  After he had rested a while, Murdock cleaned the fish and began cooking some of it on the fire. The colonists smelled the fish cooking and gathered around Murdock and the fire. Murdock saw them all drooling at the smell. Mei Lee, however, sat covered only with Collier’s shirt, staring at her husband’s grave.

  Murdock let Rose distribute the fish as she saw fit while he buried Burns and Metzger. After digging a larger grave, he dragged each body to the hole, stripped them, and dumped them into it. Then he filled in the hole. I’m finally finished with them physically as well as emotionally, he thought. After all the work and his run to the river, Murdock found he was famished.

  After Rose had apportioned all the fish she had brought, she joined her husband and continued to supervise distributing the cooked fish. Murdock ate more than Rose had ever seen him eat, but she decided she would explore it at a later date. Dusk had fallen, and dark would come soon. Some of the stronger colonists who had eaten and had gotten back some of their strength had gathered wood; using Murdock’s fire, they got their own fire started.

  After everyone had eaten, Murdock saw two additional fires going, with all the colonists gathered around these fires. Rose and Mei Lee stayed by Murdock at their fire. Mei Lee was either indifferent or oblivious to everything around her. Rose had to try several times to get her to eat in order to keep up her strength. I don’t know what season it is — mid to late summer if I had to guess, I must’ve lost track of the days — these people are going to be in trouble when winter comes, he thought watching the others. Since his and Rose’s informational sharing with Beron, Murdock had been forced into thinking in the long term. I know winter is coming, he thought, but how bad is it going to be? I know some won’t see spring. If it’s too hard none of us may see spring.

  The next day, Murdock cut a tree that was about six inches in diameter, then removed all the limbs. He braced the ramp to the interior of the transport pod, trapping those inside. Then, with the help of the stronger of the colonists, Murdock showed them how to enclose the legs of the transport pod with some of the tarps. Finally, he laid sod inside of the tarps. Meanwhile, Rose showed some of the weaker ones how to fish.

  Before night fell, Murdock set up a tent of sorts for Mei Lee. She needed it for her grieving.

  At dusk, Murdock called all the residents together and announced that he and Rose would be leaving to hunt deer for them all.

  “Mister Murdock, we have all decided that you should be the new leader,” one of the colonists said after Murdock’s announcement.

  Murdock was stunned. “Why do you need a leader?” he asked after a moment.

  “Someone has to make the decisions that affect us all,” the spokesman replied.

  “So, you’re saying that none of you have learned anything from what Whittier did to you?” he asked, disbelieving. “None of you can get along in life without someone telling you what to do or how to do it?

  “We need someone to settle disputes — someone for protection,” the spokesman pleaded. “No one can agree on what to do first!”

  “Like a federal marshal back on Earth?” Murdock baited the man.

  “Yes, someone who will stand up for what’s right even against unfair laws or rules.”

  “You think I would be above such laws?” Murdock asked.

  “I think you would do what’s right without regard for them.”

  Disturbed, Murdock addressed the group.

  “No one is above the law,” he stated. “Earth history should have taught you that! If you don’t want unfair laws, then don’t pass any, and don’t be afraid to get rid of the ones you think are unfair. Don�
�t any of you have any common sense? Don’t any of you remember the Patriot Act back at the turn of the millennium? How it diluted rights for so-called security? After more than fifty years, the people of the United States still didn’t have their old rights back. You can’t trade freedom for security. If you try, you won’t have either!”

  “But what about Whittier?” the spokesman asked.

  “You elected him, so, you can depose him,” Rose chimed in.

  “I have neither time nor inclination to be your leader,” Murdock said. “I do what I feel is right for me and mine. If I don’t like a law, then I avoid the jurisdiction it’s in until it’s repealed, but that’s something I do, and I don’t encourage others to do the same.” Murdock paced back and forth in front of the fire, thinking. “In the days of the expansion of the United States, settlers came together in common cause. They didn’t need someone to tell them that they needed a house or a barn. They just built it, either by themselves or with neighbors. So if you can’t agree on things, then maybe you need to learn to cooperate with each other. But you have to take responsibility and live with your decisions, good or bad!”

  “But what about Whittier?” the spokesman repeated.

  “I didn’t come here to depose Whittier,” Murdock told them. “I came here to give a few innocents justice. Nothing more. What you do with him is your affair. I don’t think he would be foolish enough to venture into my territory, though, because then I would deal with him.”

  “But we lack the knowledge to know what to do,” the spokesman countered.

  “So, figure it out,” Murdock chided. “How do you think humans advanced as far as we have? We did it through trial and error. Learn from others who do know something about it. Take a chance. Experiment. Do whatever it takes. Sure, you’re going to make mistakes, but learn from them and quit repeating them. Doing something, even if it’s wrong, is always better than doing nothing or leaving it for someone else to do. For those of you who like to complain and blame others, stop it. You’re adding to the problems when you do that.”