Theia put a hand on Mercy’s. “…I’m sorry, Mom. Can you help me?”
“…Of course.”
–––––––
They drove the short distance to Fallon’s base of operations. The school was already flooded with officers and civilians. Word must have spread fast, she thought. Theia didn’t exit the car until Mercy had, and she followed directly behind Mercy until they were inside. Mercy had told Theia on the way over that Ethan would most likely be there, to which Theia had no response.
Sure enough, Mercy saw that Ethan was present. Not only that, but he appeared to have been charged by both Corwins to watch over their younger children while they attended to business. Ethan above their usual babysitters? That’s some trust… Never had she seen someone look more like a fish out of water. It was amusing. The girl, who Mercy often forgot the name of, was being rambunctious, pestering the adults in the hall with questions about the end of the world, of all things. The boy kept to himself fine.
“Ms. Mercedes!” called Fallon from further down the hall. Mercy had Theia follow as she went to her boss. Theia kept close to her left side as they passed Ethan. Ethan tried to look at her, but didn’t say anything. When they came up to Fallon, she said, “We’re keeping all kids in the hall.”
Suddenly, Theia wasn’t so shy anymore. She stepped closer to Fallon and said, “I want go in! I want to watch.”
Mercy was impressed that Theia would even be interested. She looked at Fallon and shrugged. “She won’t be a hassle.”
Fallon looked at Theia. “You’re impossible to say ‘no’ to. Alright, as long as you keep quiet like the rest of us.”
Some minutes later, the meeting began. It was a relatively small room that a few dozen were fitting into. There was no seat available for Theia, so she remained, willingly, in the back of the room. Mercy accommodated by being in the back row. Ethan was nowhere to be found, so Mercy figured it was because he was already detailed on the plan.
“Please be seated everyone, we don’t have a lot of time,” said Fallon. Colonel Corwin sat beside her facing the congregation.
She began:
“Community leaders, commanding officers, humble parents… Our situation is more dire than it’s ever been. In May of 2012, martial law was declared in multiple counties across the East Coast and Midwest as more and more US citizens openly rebelled against the government. Soon, it broadened from counties to states, and from states, to the entire nation. By August, under General Allan Braun, it escalated into a second civil war, only this time, the sides were not divided by geographic location, but by ideology. Half of this country sought to eradicate the other half. Those who remained neutral, and there were many, were forced into conflict when not fighting was no longer an option.
“The war has continued to this day. Even though we live in the information age, miscommunication and falsehoods were rampant, and only fueled the hostility of both sides. Now, it’s nearly impossible to know what the truth is. When General Allan Braun was assassinated by a rogue member of his own regiment, although it wasn’t pretty, nor preferred, the troops loyal to our citizen-elected government and the commander-in-chief gained the upper hand. We have reclaimed territories all across the country, but only in scattered pockets, while many areas remain in complete anarchy.
“My husband, Colonel Tyson Corwin, has served in the armed forces his entire adult life, but he remained neutral in the conflict until General Garrett Alexander called upon him to prevent the fall of this great city of Portland. He promised my husband soldiers and supplies, and most importantly, no interference from either side of the military infighting. His task was simple: restore the peace. My husband has done just that, I believe, until Alexander saw the success as an opportunity to breach his agreement. The General not only interfered, but seized control of all operations. My husband now found himself forced to serve a side, in a city that had remained relatively untouched, neutral, and peaceful beforehand.
“Now, at this moment, the people have sided with mobsters – professional criminals and outlaws – to lead them against our troops. Those who command them have proven they will stop at literally nothing to win this war. My husband’s forces are now either scattered, imprisoned by the enemy, or killed. The truth is clear, though… We cannot remain in Portland. Also, as his wife, it seems to me that my husband wants nothing to do with the General who manipulated him to become involved. As much as I hate to admit it, Portland is a lost cause at this moment, and we feel we must let time decide what should become of it. General Alexander’s forces can continue to fight, but my husband refuses to fight any longer.
“The worst of our people, led by the worst of the city’s criminals, are fighting to seize more territory every day, and we have reason to believe they will soon move against this protected zone. Before we’re attacked, we must evacuate. We must evacuate and not plan to return to this city, for … years, probably.”
Fallon’s listeners reacted to this. A few people asked questions, and both Corwins answered to the best of their ability. Eventually, Fallon finished her address.
“We have contacted residents of Cannon Beach, and they are prepared to welcome us all. The residents of this zone vastly outnumber the residents of Cannon Beach, but we believe this choice is the safest bet. It is the only place that is both capable of taking our people, and willing to. You will need to tell the families you preside over to plan living in crowded buildings, or even their cars, until more adequate living spaces can be constructed. It won’t be easy at first.
“This is not hiding, everyone. This is starting over. We have one chance to keep ourselves safe and happy. If we can keep the peace here, we can keep it anywhere.”
The people took a moment to assess what they were informed. Someone stood up and asked, “What about the rest of the city? Are we just going to abandon it to these lunatics?”
“The General has plenty of troops at his disposal. He will need to promote new officers when we leave, but we cannot stay. We understand how it appears for my husband to leave his comrades like this, but as I said, he wants no part in this fight. He cares only about American citizens, not any political party, not the government, not corporate interests, or anything else that started this war. His job is to protect, and this is the only remaining option in which to do that.”
The man retorted, “But what about the hundreds of thousands who don’t live in this zone?”
“We can’t save everyone,” said Tyson himself. “We can only save who we can.”
“So, we’re starting a whole new society? Is that the point of this speech?”
“That’s correct. Anyone who objects is welcome to stay. We only ask that you don’t get in the way of those who choose to leave.”
Mercy elected not to stay for the remainder of the meeting as they discussed the logistics of the evacuation. She discreetly stood and headed to the back of the room, and as she stepped up to the door she expected Theia to follow, but was wrong. Theia was stationary, and focused. Mercy had to call for her. When the two came to the hall, Mercy asked her, “Daydreaming?”
“Nope. I found it kind of interesting, actually.”
“Really? Which part?”
“All of it, I guess.”
Out in the hall, Ethan was exactly where he was before, except that he was having a conversation with Fallon’s youngest son. The girl was playing hide-and-seek with the other kids in the hall and lobby. Theia hid next to Mercy again, but Mercy opted to sit in the hall, closer to the meeting room than the exit, and Theia sat opposite of her to be invisible to Ethan.
Mercy looked to Theia, who was strictly not looking to her left, but occasionally glanced at the meeting room doors. “Tell me, Theia,” she said to her. “What interests you about that meeting?”
“It just looks fun, I guess. Wait, no. Not ‘fun,’ exactly. I don’t know what the right word is. It just looked like something I wanna do.”
“And what’s that?”
“I wa
nted to be up there with Fallon, planning things and telling people what to do.”
Mercy laughed. “Oh. So, you want to be bossy, is that it?”
Theia didn’t laugh though. “I’m serious.”
“I know, honey. I just find it unusual to see a girl your age wanting to listen to politics. Most adults don’t even want to do that.” Before Mercy had even finished speaking, Theia seemed to have lost attention on the conversation and had leaned slightly forward, a splinter past Mercy, to seemingly look at Ethan down the hall without him being able to see her. “You going to talk to him now?”
Theia didn’t reply. She turned her back to Mercy, facing the room doors. Mercy, on the other hand, turned her head and looked at Ethan. He was still talking to Fallon’s son. A short while later, he looked up at Mercy, then she saw his eyes shift slightly to see Theia, who he fixated on much longer, then returned to his job.
“Find what you were looking for?”
“I’ve hit a dead end,” she remembered him saying.
“What’s this child doing with you?” Ethan had asked her.
“He was being used as cannon fodder.”
“Sick.”
Looking at him brought back all the memories. Like a flood, they rushed in all at once, and sank her into the past. There were the things Ethan had said to her, and there were things she had seen him do. Neither contradicted, nor supported, the other.
The nightmare jolted her awake. She found herself lying on her back in an empty convenience store, with someone’s arm around her. It was Ethan’s. Had he been keeping her comforted while she thrashed about in her sleep? Or was he simply being affectionate?
A man who killed everyone in his way as he searched for his baby. The things he had done just to get back to her, only a monster could do. But would a monster care for his child so much? Would a monster have a child to care for? Would he surrender his child to another for any reason?
Mercy looked at Theia again, who was sitting with her feet on the chair, her arms wrapped around her ankles, and head resting on her knees. Such a beautiful, bright, compassionate, and fierce little girl. This girl adored her father, even if she forgot that for the time being. Undeniably, there was something more to Ethan.
“Hey. Is your dad coming for one last goodbye?” she had asked Theia the moment she had walked away from her father that day.
“No. I already said goodbye.”
Mercy smiled nervously. “We’ll see him again.”
Reluctantly, Theia said, “I trust him.”
“Do you trust me?” Mercy had asked.
Theia nodded. “Yeah. I think you’re a good person.”
“I’ll take care of you. I promise.”
Theia stepped up closer to Mercy. She paused, then asked, “Why can’t you and my dad take care of me together?”
Mercy was taken aback. The thought hadn’t yet crossed her mind. “W-Well… He feels he needs to stay away from you. It’s … not that he can’t do it alone. He can’t really do it at all right now.”
Since that day, when Mercy first met Theia, the girl told her about numerous fond memories with Ethan. Even the memories she shared that didn’t directly involve Ethan, she somehow found a way to make about him too. Some days, Theia was optimistic she would see her father soon, and some days, not so much. Only now did Mercy realize Theia was deeply in denial about the pain his absence brought her. She had seen those two holding each other in the field near the hospital, and when Theia came up to Mercy without Ethan, she carried no tears. She was already burying the pain deep; too deep to remember it was there.
Ethan’s not a bad person, thought Mercy, but he believes he is. And Theia… She’s broken. Mercy looked glanced again at Ethan, and then at Theia. They need each other, she thought. From what she saw in Ethan’s eyes, he was equally unprepared as he had been when Mercy adopted Theia. The solution to the problem was to submit to the problem itself. They could only be in each other’s lives, by being in each other’s lives. The only way for either of them to heal, to be restored, to be resurrected, was to do that which they were both unprepared for.
Like first becoming a parent, Mercy thought.
“Mom, can I ask you something?” said Theia, turning around.
“Honey…” she began. “I’ve been letting you get away with calling me that for a while now, but please, it needs to stop. No more.”
As if it killed her inside, Theia’s energy drained. “Okay…” she said faintly.
“What do you need?”
“I was wondering if my friends could come with us when we leave.”
“Which friends? The kids you used to play with on our street? You haven’t hung out with them for a while.”
Theia shook her head. “No… I mean Sophie and Jeremy.”
“Who are they? Do they live in this zone?”
Theia paused a moment, scratching her head as she thought hard. “I think so. Jeremy lives with the other special-needs people, and I don’t remember what Sophie said. Can we find out if they live here? Can we bring them here so they can move with us?”
“What are you asking, honey? That they live with us after we move?”
Theia shrugged.
“Well, Fallon’s hands are pretty tied up right now. Everybody’s trying their best to keep calm right now. I’m sure once everybody knows the evacuation plan, they’re going to implement it right away. If your friends live here, I’m sure you’ll see them when we move.”
The doors flung open, and people started pouring out in a panic. Mercy stood so swiftly she hadn’t even noticed. She looked back, seeing that Ethan was still present, which gave her solace enough to not panic either. Once the bulk of the crowd fled, she saw Fallon and Tyson leave as well. “What’s going on?” she asked Fallon.
“They breached the perimeter.”
“We’re not ready!” she said to herself as everyone but Theia ran past her. “Nobody’s ready!” Mercy ran to Ethan, who had just gathered up the young ones he watched and led their parents to them. Theia was right behind her. “What do we do?” she asked him, since the Corwins were nowhere to be seen. “We thought Lilith needed more time to recuperate. This is too soon.”
“MERCY!” shouted Ethan, grabbing her shoulders. “Where is your car? You need to get Theia out of here!”
“It’s here. The border’s barricaded, though! How are we going to get through?”
“Can’t worry about it. Let’s go!”
Clutching Mercy’s shirt, Theia stepped out between them. “What about everyone else? We have to help!”
“You’re getting out of here, Theia,” her father replied. “Take us to your car, Mercy.”
Mercy obeyed without question. With Ethan at the lead, they entered the crowd and attempted to push through. Ethan was a lot more forceful than the others. Everyone was tripping, pushing, even attacking each other just to get through the doors.
Once outside, Mercy heard an explosion in the distance, but didn’t see it. Additionally, there was gunfire and a screaming mob visible in the near distance coming their way. “Hurry, hurry!” she screamed. She pushed ahead of Ethan to reach her car.
When they all got inside, the parking lot was still far too crowded to pull out. Ethan looked at Mercy, and then at his daughter, and said, “Stay low.” He got out faster than Mercy could question or object to it.
“Stay low, honey,” said Mercy. Theia crawled from the back seat onto her lap and Mercy held her close. “God… Oh, God…” She was trembling more than Theia.
Her terrors returned at full force…
“Dad, stop!” screamed Mercy to her father. “Don’t leave! They’ll shoot at us too!”
“Someone has to fight! Stay inside with Haley, and don’t leave no matter what!”
“DAD!”
It was too late. He was already outside, shooting at the soldiers in the streets. Carlos and Eduardo ran after him, to support him rather than bring him back inside. Her mother, hysterical, then followed in a p
anic. Mercy couldn’t leave her family out there, nor could she join them. An impossible decision. Then, the choice became clear, when little Haley tried to save her family.
After having stood there at her bedroom door watching everything unfold, Haley came flying out, screaming. Mercy didn’t think. She grabbed Haley and, despite her struggling and failing, carried her toward the basement.
“No! No! They’re gonna die! We have to save them!”
Mercy didn’t let go, no matter what. Once they were below, Mercy shut off the lights, went to a corner, and held her hand over Haley’s mouth. There was no choice but to remain there, as she listened to the screams on the street above. It seemed to escalate, from merely her family, to many others. Amidst the noise, Mercy could identify the screams of her loved ones. It lasted for an eternity – she wished it would come to its end, regardless of the outcome. It just needed to end.
“Mom, you’re choking me!” said Theia. Mercy realized she had been embracing Theia too tightly and let go. “You’re shaking so much…”
Looking at her hands, what she saw was far worse than trembling. It could have been mistaken for a seizure. She opened her mouth to speak, but couldn’t. She wasn’t sure if she was even breathing.
“Mom? MOM?”
Mercy put a hand on Theia. Using all her willpower, she managed to finally say, “I’m okay.”
The two waited patiently for a few more minutes. The lot had cleared up only mildly. Ethan reappeared as the noise started to escalate to a deafening degree. He opened the passenger’s seat, moving Theia’s legs aside as he sat in. “We have a chance. Drive.”
Mercy looked at the keys, the steering wheel, and through the windshield, but her mind drew a blank.
“I’ll drive,” said Ethan.
“I-I’m sorry…” breathed Mercy.
“Just move.” Theia returned to the back seats and Mercy frailly swapped places with Ethan. “Get down, Theia,” he ordered. For a moment Theia didn’t listen, but when Ethan nearly pulled her down himself, she finally obeyed.
Ethan paid no mind to the people still in the lot behind the car. He pulled out swiftly, forcing everyone to clear, and even hitting one person in their side. Like some others had, he drove over the curb instead of the ramp, heading west on Hawthorne.
Resurrection Page 34