The Quell

by E S Richards

  “We are not,” Harrison replied honestly, looking slightly over his shoulder at Len who stood behind him. Observing the slightest nod of the head from his friend, Harrison took it to assume the exchange was going well and continued. “We are heading in the direction of Toronto and wondered if you had any information about it? In return, we have knowledge of how other places have been affected that might interest you.”

  “Very well,” the second official replied after a moment, considering Harrison’s suggestion and trade deal on information. “Please remove all your weapons. We will send someone down to open the gate.”

  At that statement, one official from each of the guard towers disappeared from view, both the men who had spoken remaining in position. Harrison did as he was told and removed the Remington A3 from across his back, placing it and his rucksack on the ground before turning to face the rest of his group. He felt uncomfortable turning his back on the guard towers, but knew he had to act in a certain manner to make the officials believe that neither he nor anyone else in his group was a threat. Smiling at his companions, he encouraged them to copy him, removing their weapons and placing them on the ground by their feet. Harrison did the same with his Glock, though made no attempt to remove the hidden knife from his boot that would hopefully remain unnoticed.

  “Just act natural,” Harrison spoke to Len and the others as they waited for the gate to be opened, keeping his voice low so the officials in the towers couldn’t hear him. “It seems like everything is in order here.”

  Though he said it to everyone else, Harrison didn’t truly believe his statement. Now that he had interacted with a couple of people from the camp, his suspicions had increased slightly and he was more wary of making his way inside. They didn’t have a choice though, as the gates finally swung open and two men in uniform walked out, pistols unmistakably present at their waists. Hopefully they could get in, discover what information was available to them, and get out as quickly as possible. Harrison didn’t want to spend any more time than absolutely necessary in the camp.

  “We’re going to have to pat you down for weapons,” one of the men—Harrison wasn’t certain whether he would call them soldiers—spoke. “Please hold your arms out to the side.”

  Doing as he was told, Harrison held his breath slightly as the man patted him down, running his hands along the seams of his pants and T-shirt. As he reached his right boot, Harrison prepared an excuse about forgetting the knife was there, silently chastising himself for not removing it. To his surprise, the man didn’t notice, giving Harrison a polite nod and moving over to check Maggie. Hiding his sigh of relief, Harrison instead grew more suspicious of the camp, knowing that a proper soldier wouldn’t have missed the hidden knife in his boot.

  “All good,” the man who had patted down Harrison nodded to his partner, Maggie and everyone else cleared of weapons. “Please could you follow me? You can leave the bikes and weapons outside for now.”

  “Thanks,” Harrison replied with a smile, though he certainly didn’t feel happy or thankful about having to leave his weapons behind. Not wearing his Glock at his waist felt unfamiliar and unnatural; it had barely left his body since the very first sign of the solar crash happening back in Chicago. He knew he had to maintain an appearance though, willingly following the two men through the gates and into the camp while he tried to offer Amy and Maggie both reassuring looks. Walking into the camp had to be bringing back some bad memories of what had happened to them in the previous one. Perhaps everyone was now doubting stopping at the camp after all.

  “You can wait in here,” one of the men spoke as he led them into a small tent, set up with a few camp beds, chairs, and closed trunks inside. “I’ll go and get the captain.”

  Harrison nodded to the man, finding the choice of title for whoever was in command of the camp slightly strange. He had expected a general or at least a lieutenant of some description; “captain” didn’t quite seem to sit right. The man who had frisked them outside waited with their group, pulling out a chair for himself and making no attempt to communicate with any of them. Harrison was fine with that, perfectly happy to wait and speak to the captain when he appeared.

  It only took two minutes for the man to return, accompanied by a woman in her mid-thirties. She was dressed in casual black pants and a white shirt, an insignia present on the breast panel. She was clearly the captain, though Harrison noticed straight away she was a member of the Air Force rather than the Army, USAF printed next to her last name: Watt.

  “Captain.” Harrison offered her his hand to shake immediately, determined to make a good impression, get the information he came for and leave. “Thank you for your hospitality here, it’s good to see this place still under military control.”

  “Yes,” Watt replied, shaking Harrison’s hand firmly for a second. “My man said you’d come across one of our other camps. Please, could you explain a little more about what you found there?”

  “Of course,” Harrison nodded, “though the women might be better prepared to tell you. They were both kidnapped and imprisoned there.”

  “Really?” Captain Watt pulled out a chair of her own, dismissing both the men from the tent with a shake of her wrist. “Please, go on.”

  Harrison nodded to Maggie, who after a brief moment picked up the conversation and started telling her tale about the camp. She explained how she had been taken and what the men had made them do, the trips out to nearby towns to scavenge for any and all valuable items. Harrison was perfectly happy for Maggie to tell the story, though he stopped her short just as she was about to bring Amy and the others into her narrative.

  “I was wondering, Captain,” he interrupted, warranting a turn of the head from both the talking women. “Whether you had any information of your own which you could trade for this? We’re more than happy to tell you everything we know, but in the interest of time, I actually had a question for you.”

  “Yes?”

  “Canada,” Harrison continued, “or more specifically, Toronto. Do you know anything about the state of it? That’s where we’re trying to get to; that’s where my daughter is.”

  “Yes,” the captain repeated slowly, “I’ve heard some things about how Toronto has reacted to all of this. Though if your daughter is there, I imagine it’ll be quite a struggle to find her. The city is certainly not what it used to be.”

  “Please,” Harrison urged, leaning forward in his chair slightly. “Tell me everything you know. I need all the information you can give.”

  Chapter 9

  Sitting on his hands as the captain finished speaking, Harrison made up his mind. They shouldn’t have come to the camp. Everything she had just told him about Toronto was the opposite of what he wanted to hear; it was information he’d rather not have known. Apparently, the city was completely destroyed, brought down by airplanes that had fallen to the ground. Annoyingly, it was a believable story—Harrison was surprised they hadn’t experienced more plane crashes on their journey so far. With over eighty-seven thousand flights crossing America every day, it was to be expected that planes had caused a lot of damage when the power went out.

  “I’m sorry to be the one to have to tell you all this,” the captain was finishing her speech, the conversation between them all finally coming to a close. “But I’m afraid what family you had there is probably gone. For your safety, I think you should stay here. We can protect you in this camp and we could definitely use your knowledge of the outside world. What you’ve already told us has been very valuable.”

  “Thank you,” Harrison forced himself to say, refusing to acknowledge on the mention of his family. His daughter. He had to believe Nina was alive. She was his daughter, after all—if anyone was prepared for this, it was her. “I’m afraid we can’t stay though; we need to see Toronto for ourselves.”

  “Not even for the night?” Captain Watt questioned, “I’m sure you’re all tired. It would likely do you good to rest up for a while.”

  “No, really,�
�� Harrison started to argue back. “We’re fine. We need to get back on the road.”

  “Staying for the night won’t hurt,” Amy piped up to the side of Harrison, reluctant to leave the camp immediately now they had discovered it was safe. “Thank you.”

  “Well, that’s settled then,” the captain clapped her hands together once and stood up, ignoring the glare that Harrison shot to Amy. “I’ll have Douglas come collect you and show you around the camp. Back in just a minute!”

  In a flurry of activity, Captain Watt was on her feet and out of the small tent, leaving the five of them behind in silence, waiting for someone to come and get them. Harrison rose from his seat as well, turning to look back at Amy, who sat between Maggie and James. Her face was a mask of innocence, but Harrison couldn’t resist questioning her.

  “Why did you say that?” His tone was lined with annoyance, his feelings about staying in the camp clear to everyone. “We shouldn’t stay here any longer than we have to.”

  “It’s only for the night,” Amy sighed in response, her patience growing thinner with every day that was spent on the road. “It’s safe here and I don’t want to drag James around on a motorcycle if we don’t have to. You heard what she said about Toronto. It doesn’t really sound like there’s very much left.”

  Harrison opened his mouth to argue and then closed it, huffing out a long breath of air and pinching the top of his nose. He didn’t want to argue with Amy, but he had to make her understand his point. He had risked his own life to save her; why couldn’t she make even a small sacrifice for him?

  “You already have your family back, Amy,” he spoke slowly, choosing his words as carefully as possible so to get his point across without offending the woman. The last thing that Harrison wanted to do was create any friction within their group, but he just didn’t feel comfortable about staying in the camp and he knew he was mostly right about those sorts of feelings. “Which probably wouldn’t have been possible without my help, might I add. I, however, am still without my daughter. I’ve come all the way from Chicago to find her and now that I’m so close, surely you can understand why I don’t want to waste another night sitting around? Plus, I don’t like this place. I don’t think it’s as safe as it might seem.”

  “Hello!”

  Amy didn’t get a chance to reply to Harrison, the appearance of a man in black cargo pants and a white T-shirt interrupting their conversation. The tent quickly fell into silence, Harrison immediately worrying that what he had just said about not liking the camp could have been heard.

  “I’m Douglas,” the man continued, thankfully not picking up on the uncomfortable atmosphere in the tent. “But everyone calls me Doug. Welcome to Camp Flint. I doubt the captain gave you a proper greeting.”

  At the end of his sentence, Doug laughed slightly, making a joke about the personality of the captain in some way. Harrison awkwardly smiled in response, not knowing what to say and not wanting to be the person to answer Doug. He wasn’t the type of man he would have ever interacted with in the past; he seemed so cheerful and enthusiastic, quite different from the captain and the men who had apprehended them at the gate. The more people they met within the camp, the more suspicious Harrison seemed to become.

  “Hi,” Maggie was eventually the one to reply, stepping forward and shaking Doug’s hand. “Thank you for that proper greeting,” she smiled slightly at the joke, “it’s very nice to be here.”

  “You’re more than welcome, miss,” Doug replied with a wide grin, showing off his pearly white teeth as he did so. “I didn’t quite catch your name though?”

  “Oh,” Maggie blushed slightly, “I’m Maggie. And this is Amy and James, Len, and Harrison. It’s very nice to meet you.”

  “And you, miss,” Doug nodded to each person in turn, looking back at Maggie again once he had finished. “If you’d all like to follow me, I’ll show you where you’ll be spending the night.”

  “Will our things have been taken there?” Len questioned as they started to file out of the tent, asking the question before Harrison had a chance to. “We had to leave them outside when we arrived; will they have been brought in for us?”

  “I would imagine so,” Doug nodded, “it won’t take long to find them though if not. Camp Flint is a safe place but it’s not very big,” he laughed. “There’s not a lot that goes on here that everyone isn’t aware of.”

  “How many people are here?” Maggie asked quietly as she walked beside Doug, the two of them leading their group.

  “Just short of a hundred, I would guess,” Doug replied, glancing around the camp as he did and bringing everyone’s attention to the people milling around. “Probably about twenty official founding staff and then the rest of us are civilians.”

  Harrison processed all the information carefully as he walked. He was glad Maggie had asked how many people were in the camp, as the knowledge that only a small proportion of them were government or military in some way was interesting to him. Though he still couldn’t place his finger on it, there was definitely something about the camp that made Harrison feel uncomfortable. As they were escorted into the sleeping quarters, a tent that looked unmistakably like the one that he had rescued Amy from, that uncomfortable feeling intensified.

  “Our things aren’t here,” Harrison remarked immediately, his quick glance around the tent assuring him that their rucksacks and weapons hadn’t been delivered to them. He wasn’t surprised about the weapons—though he would definitely be tracking them down—but he had expected their bags to have been brought in, at least.

  “Oh, aren’t they?” Doug replied innocently, not slowing his pace as he led the group over to a row of empty beds, pointing out their place for the night. “I’ll go and ask about them for you right now. Why don’t you make yourselves comfortable, and I’ll be back in a second to show you around if you’d like?”

  “That’d be lovely,” Maggie responded again with a smile, “thank you.”

  Keeping his mouth shut until Doug was out of sight, Harrison scanned the rest of the tent they had been brought into. There were several other people inside, talking quietly amongst themselves in pairs or just simply sitting alone. One was reading a book, while another older lady seemed to be knitting something, a task that seemed utterly trivial to Harrison in times like this, but also didn’t warrant him wasting his breath to talk about. It was only once he was sure Doug could no longer hear them that he opened his mouth.

  “I don’t like this.” The statement was directed to Len, though everyone else in the group could hear him too. “Something doesn’t seem right.”

  “What, because the people are friendly?” Amy argued, her mind made up on the walk that she wanted to spend at least the night at the camp. She had to look after her son, and this seemed like a place where he could be safe. Perhaps for even longer than just the night. If Len was comfortable with it, Amy was happy to stay at the camp long-term. “I think it’s nice here. I think we need to give it a chance.”

  “I agree,” Maggie replied reluctantly, refusing to make eye contact with Harrison as she spoke. “I think it’s nice too, much nicer than the other camp. I’m happy to stay here for a bit.”

  Harrison sighed, rolling his eyes slightly at the two women. He knew he had to keep his frustrations under control; neither of them had the training or the skillset that he did. They didn’t know what they were looking for in order to determine whether Camp Flint was safe or not, but he did. No matter how comfortable the women felt there, he felt otherwise, and he wasn’t going to wait around for Doug to return to fill their day with more nonsense.

  “You’re more than welcome to,” Harrison replied after a moment. “But my gut tells me we shouldn’t stay here and my gut is not often wrong. Len, what do you think?”

  Len had known he’d be asked his opinion eventually. He had kept quiet since they arrived at the camp, carefully formulating his judgment from everything that he saw and heard. It wasn’t ideal that Amy and Harrison were already bu
tting heads over the decision to stay or not. He knew Amy was only arguing things for the safety of James, but Len had watched his boy experience so much. He was confident James could handle himself out on the road and in other situations by now; he was immensely proud of what his son had become. Harrison’s argument, on the other hand, seemed to resonate more with Len. As the only person who hadn’t wanted to come to the camp in the first place, Len was more than happy not to stay very long either. After all the lessons Harrison had taught him, he too could feel that there was something wrong with the camp. Their welcoming had been strange, and ever since that, it felt like the people they interacted with had been carefully selected. Despite Doug’s cheery disposition and friendly attitude, Len didn’t trust him and he was sure Harrison was feeling the same way.

  “I’m with Harrison,” he replied eventually, offering Amy an apologetic look. “I don’t think we should stay for long.”

  Harrison grinned at Len’s statement, delighted that his friend had taken his side.