After The End

by Jamie Campbell

  “I probably haven’t,” I admit. “This group of yours is the biggest I’ve seen.”

  “We’re careful too.”

  “No doubt.”

  Philip stops and holds his chin as he thinks. At least he’s not glaring at me anymore. That’s something. He stands abruptly. “We still need proof of who you are. Callum!”

  The door opens and the big guy returns. His bulky frame seems to take up the entire room. “Yes, boss?”

  “Cut her.”

  Those two small words invoke a world of panic that flushes through me. I reel back in my seat but don’t get the chance to stand before Callum grabs me in his hold. He pulls a small knife from a holder on his belt and holds it above me.

  “Keep still or it’s gonna hurt worse,” he snarls right next to my ear.

  “I’ve told you everything I know. Don’t kill me.”

  I receive no response. Callum uses his enormous arms to pin me against him and stop my struggling. It’s useless. Is he made from steel? It certainly feels like it.

  He holds the knife against my arm and slices through my skin. Red blood oozes from the wound in a perfectly straight line. I’m waiting for him to slit my wrists so I’ll bleed to death but he pulls the knife back.

  Callum forces my arm down so Philip can see where he cut me. The old man purses his lips again. “Red blood. Good. Congratulations, Maisy, you’re human.”

  “I told you I was,” I grunt back.

  The man of steel releases me and pushes me to sit back down again. I plonk onto the seat and cradle my injured arm against me. The bleeding eventually stops as the blood congeals.

  Callum is dismissed and we are left alone once again.

  “Now I know you’re not one of them, the question is what do I do with you?” Philip asks. I suspect it’s a rhetorical question and he isn’t after my input, but I give it to him anyway.

  “My friends and I are on our way to Washington DC. We suspect the former government might still be there. We’re going to ask them to form an army to fight against the aliens as we can take back our planet,” I say quickly, so he doesn’t interrupt me.

  His eyebrows shoot to the ceiling. “That’s quite an ambitious plan.”

  “We’ve got to try.”

  “Did I say ambitious? I meant foolish. There is nobody left here. We don’t still have an army.”

  I’ve shrunk down to feel two inches tall under his gaze. “You can’t tell me the government didn’t have a plan to stay safe before the meteorite struck.”

  “Oh, I don’t doubt that. But their plan would involve them being holed up in a very comfortable and spacious bunker for the rest of their lives. You’ll never find them.”

  “We plan to.”

  He scoffs and rolls his eyes. His sarcasm only makes my resolve stronger. I want to prove him wrong now. Even if it’s the last thing I ever do.

  “Here’s a newsflash, girly, the government don’t care about you anymore. If they are still alive, all they care about is themselves. They proved it to all of us before the strike and haven’t changed our minds since.”

  Arguing with him about it isn’t going to change anything. All it’s doing it getting me riled up. I change tactics in a way I think would make Garlind proud. “We need an army. The only way we are going to get these aliens off our planet is to fight them. We can do it if we can find the numbers.”

  “You can’t kill those bludgers. Their skin is made of armor. There is no way we can beat them.”

  “We’ve seen a dead one. It’s very possible to kill them if you know where to strike.”

  His eyebrows rise again. “I don’t believe you.”

  “I’m telling the truth. Put it to your people. Let them decide if they want to join our fight or not. We are building an army, even if you think we can’t.” There, I said it. I placed exactly what we were doing on the table and showed all my cards.

  Unfortunately, Philip is not convinced. “I’m not telling my people nothing. We’re safe here. I look after them. I’m not going to start dishing them out wild tales about killing aliens. They wouldn’t buy it, anyway.”

  “Then where’s the harm in letting them decide for themselves?” I challenge.

  For the first time, I see some doubt flicker behind his eyes. “These are my people. I speak for them.”

  “I wish you’d reconsider. We need numbers and you have a lot of them.”

  His jaw twitches but he doesn’t say another word. He leaves me in the interrogation room and closes the door. I have a chair here and my wrists are untied so it’s more comfortable than my cell was. I guess I’ll sit here for as long as they want me to.

  Which seems to be a really long time.

  I’ve counted the number of rocks in the stone wall by the time the door opens again. It’s Callum and his big muscles. He doesn’t so much speak, as grunt. “Get up. Follow me. Don’t try anything or I’ll smack you upside the head.”

  I resist the urge to salute him and march like a soldier in an army. Instead, I walk a few paces in front of him with his bulky figure looming large behind me.

  The corridors all look the same as we wind through them. I know there is no point in asking him about Garlind and the others so I keep my mouth shut. At least then I won’t get a whack to the head from behind.

  All the doors to the side look the same. This place must have been carved out decades, or even centuries, ago. It would have taken forever to find all the stone to form the structure. I doubt Philip and his group created it. They’d still be working on the first room if that were the case.

  We arrive at a dead end with only a single door. I think we’re back at my cell until Callum pulls open the metal door. It squeaks on its hinges as he puts his back into moving it.

  This cell is much larger than mine was. It also contains the three faces that I wondered if I would ever see again.

  I run straight into Garlind’s arms.

  “Thank goodness you’re okay,” he sighs, holding me tightly.

  “I could say the same about you,” I reply. I pull away from his chest long enough to study the others. Sarah and Rhys appear to be unharmed. Cranky, but not hurt. “What did they do to you all?”

  Sarah frowns. “Asked me a lot of questions and then cut my arm. They thought I was one of those aliens!”

  Rhys, Garlind, and I all show our matching cuts. We each bear the mark from meeting with Philip. He must have interviewed all of us in turn in the same way. Our stories would have matched, considering we would all tell the truth.

  I direct my questions at Garlind. “Did you tell them about Washington?”

  He nods. “The guy didn’t care. He wants to live out his life down here. He thinks it’s the safest place on the planet.”

  “He won’t think that when the aliens eventually find him,” Rhys interjects. “They will be trapped down here with nowhere to run to. The aliens will love it.”

  “I tried too,” I say. “Got the same response.”

  “It’s a pity,” Garlind adds. “The number of people they have here are staggering. If they agreed to fight with us, we might stand a chance. We might not even need the government’s army.”

  “There’s no chance of it happening.”

  “No, I agree.”

  We sit along the single bench seat. Our shoulders touch. I’m squeezed between Sarah and Garlind with Rhys on the end. At least there is a seat in this cell. Maybe they’ve deemed us worthy enough of some furniture—now they know we’re not aliens in disguise.

  “What are they going to do with us?” Sarah asks. It’s the question we’ve all been wondering but too afraid to get the answer to.

  If Philip lets us go, he runs the risk of us telling others his location. We know where the front door is which could be the single piece of information that can be used to destroy him and his group.

  He’s not going to just let us go. In the very best outcome here, they might allow us to join their group and become a part of their community. That
’s the absolute best scenario.

  The worst…is death. If they don’t want to take a chance on us, they will simply destroy the threat. I’m sure they will be able to justify our murder easily. We came into their territory, we posed a threat, they defended the group.

  I’m sure Callum will take great pleasure in killing us. He seems like the kind of guy Philip would use to dispose of us. Just one good knock to the head from him will be enough to turn my lights off for good.

  Nobody answers Sarah because I’m certain we’re all thinking the same thing. If someone says it out loud, it makes it more real. None of us want it to be real.

  “We have to find a way to escape,” I finally say. It’s our only option. I just wish it didn’t seem so absolutely impossible. There are no windows to sneak through, no air conditioning ducts to crawl along. The only way out is the door that is very firmly locked and bolted from the other side.

  “Even if we can get the door open,” Rhys starts, “That guy is built like a brick wall. They took our weapons. We have nothing to fight him with.”

  “I doubt he’s out there,” I reply. They all look at me so I have to explain further. “Like you said, we don’t have our weapons. I’m guessing that door is absolutely solid. They will assume we can’t get out so we don’t need a guard to stand by and watch the door.”

  “They’re probably right.”

  My mind reels as I flick through all kinds of possibilities to find one that might actually work. But no matter how much I stare at the door, I can’t figure out a way we can open it from in here. It’s solid metal, heavy, and doesn’t even have a handle on this side. There are no gaps around the edges and we have no tools to pry it open anyway.

  “We have to wait for them to open the door,” I decide.

  Once we have the start of a plan, we talk it through until we have something more solid. There are so many things that can go wrong and no way of knowing all the variables, but at least it’s something. It’s a start.

  It probably won’t work. But we have to try. At least forming some kind of a plan makes us feel like we’ve taken back some power over our fate. If we had nothing at all, we’d be solely at the mercy of Philip and his people. If things go our way now, we will be able to get back up to street level and flee.

  There is nothing more we can do right now except sit and wait. Rhys and Garlind move to the floor and I shuffle over to Sarah can lie on the bench seat. It’s hard metal and cold but at least it’s something.

  “Maisy?” Sarah asks, sounding more her age than I’ve ever heard her before.

  “Yeah.”

  “I don’t like being down here.”

  I brush her fine hair from around her face. “Neither do I. It won’t be for much longer, though. They’ll come for us soon and then we’ll make our move.”

  “Do you really think we’ll make it?”

  “We have to. We’re survivors. We always make it. Get some rest and don’t worry about it. Leave it all up to us.”

  “My parents never taught me what to do in situations like this. They never thought we’d ever be locked up. Everything I learned can’t be used right now.” It’s like the little girl has the world weighted on her shoulders. She’ll never accept that this isn’t her responsibility.

  “None of us know what to do in this situation. We can only try our best and I know that’s exactly what you’ll do. Now get some rest so you’re strong when the time comes.”

  She blinks up at me with those big blue eyes and then closes them. I continue brushing her hair through my fingers. I think it makes us both feel better.

  My eyelids grow droopy as I find myself exhausted. It’s already been a long day and I have no idea what the time actually is. It feels like we’ve been locked up for days but it could be only hours. Who knows? There is no sense of day and night time down here, no way to see outside.

  I nod off and it’s a sweet relief from the tedium of sitting around. Once again, I don’t know how much time passes.

  I’m woken by a rattle on the door. All four of us jump up to stand and wait expectantly. My heart pounds a fast rhythm as I think about our plan and how we have to take every opportunity we can get.

  The door swings open and Callum stands there. He glowers at us. “Stay where you are or you won’t get any food.”

  A slight girl steps around him and places a stainless-steel tray of food on the ground. She doesn’t look at us, just scampers back out again and is quickly hidden by Callum’s large frame.

  The Hulk goes to leave. I have to do something. Now could be our only chance. We need to get out of this cell. I don’t know what I’m going to say until I open my mouth. “I need to use the restroom.”

  Callum stares me down as if he’s trying to detect what I’m up to. I play my part innocently, doing my best to look like I have a very urgent issue to deal with in my bladder.

  “Please, I’m busting,” I beg. That’s right, I’m not above begging. We are in a desperate situation.

  “Me too,” Rhys adds. “Dying to pee.”

  Callum points to me. “Just you. Come with me.”

  I must be his favorite.

  This was not part of the plan so I’m running on the hop as I try to figure out what I can do to help save us while I’m out of the cell. Callum is my shadow as he directs me around the corridors and orders me about.

  We reach a door with the familiar female stick figure on it. “You’ve got two minutes. If you’re not out then, I’m coming in and grabbing you. Whether you’re finished or not. Got it?”

  “Sure,” I reply.

  I push in through the door and use the restroom quickly. I don’t really need to go but I take the opportunity anyway. While washing my hands, I drink directly from the faucet. It’s been a long time since I’ve had anything to drink.

  There are six cubicles in total. The end one has a picture of a shower on it. This must be just one of the many restrooms they have down here. This single room couldn’t handle the population I’ve seen this group have.

  The door to the restroom opens and I expect to see Callum taking up the doorway. I have a remark ready on my tongue about the two minutes not being up yet when I see that it’s actually a woman standing there.

  Her black hair is long and straight. She couldn’t be too much older than I am—perhaps in her early twenties. Her brown eyes are wide as she stares at me. I guess they don’t often have outsiders down here.

  “Hi, I’m Maisy,” I say to break the silence. “I’ll be out of here in a minute.”

  She unfreezes as she approaches cautiously. “There were rumors of Philip discovering some new people. What are you doing here?” Her tone is friendly, curious, the opposite of how Callum speaks to me.

  “We were just passing through the city. We didn’t mean to step into your territory. We really just want to be let go so we can continue on,” I reply.

  “Where are you from?”

  “South Dakota. We’re going to Washington DC to see if there is anyone left to help with the whole…situation.”

  “I lived in Seattle before heading this way. You’ve come quite the distance.”

  “So have you.”

  We share a smile and I can’t help but like the woman. She’s shown me far more kindness in this one conversation than any of her group members. If only she held some position of power so she could advocate for us.

  Maybe she does. “We really want to leave but they’ve got us locked up. Do you think you could—”

  I’m cut off as the door bangs open and Callum does his trademark glare in my direction. “Time’s up.”

  The woman gives me a sympathetic look before he hurries into a stall. I make a show of drying my hands on the towel before I leave the restroom.

  We pass a few other people on the way back. I look at everything, trying to commit it all to memory. Any of these doors could be an exit but none are marked. The restroom was the only one with a sign on it.

  Callum shoves me back into th
e cell and then takes Rhys. A few minutes later, they return. Neither of us has any information which is useful. So much for planning our great escape. I feel like I’ve let them all down. I should have discovered something to help us while out of the cell.

  We divvy up the food on the tray and start eating. I take my time, relishing every bite of the fresh bread. I’ve never had any kind of fresh food before. Everything I’ve ever eaten was made before the world ended.

  Perhaps it’s not so bad down here after all.

  “They’re feeding us. That’s a good sign,” Garlind says once he’s finished eating. “They wouldn’t waste the resources if they didn’t plan on keeping us alive.”

  I take one of the four bottles of water and sip on it slowly. My stomach is as close to satisfied as I’ll ever get. I’d love to see what their kitchen looks like down here and what else they make. They might even be growing fruit and vegetables in the untouched soil beneath us.

  The light to our cell switches off without warning. I guess that means it’s nighttime. Everything is completely black in an instant. My eyes can’t adjust to see a thing when it’s such an absolute darkness.

  There is nothing we can do except try to sleep. My body clock is so mixed up I’m not sure if I’ll be able to. My nap earlier helped me stay awake and now it might keep me up when there is nothing to do.

  I grope around in the darkness until I find Garlind. He whispers in my ear, “Close your eyes. Everything will be better in the morning.”

  I appreciate his lie.

  We curl up together on the cold, hard floor and it’s just that little bit better knowing I’ve got him at my side. For a long time today I thought they might have killed him. Hearing his breathing near my ear is a relief and comforting.

  Maybe things really will be better in the morning.

  I drift off with that thought fresh in my mind. There is always hope right up until the last minute. We don’t know what they are planning for us so we might be jumping to all the wrong conclusions.

  Maybe they have no intention of killing us. We do know a fair bit about the aliens, that’s got to be valuable to them. Plus, we’ve survived outside all this time. We could help them to do the same.