After the Day- Red Tide

by Matthew Gilman

  Wang tried to punch this western giant but to no effect. The third man grabbed Li by the wrist and pulled her through the doors.

  Wang tried following them out but was kicked in the gut and thrown back into the hall.

  “Li!” he yelled as the doors locked.

  The three men looked Li over.

  “She will do just fine.” the third man said.

  “Let’s get her back to the house.” the first man said grabbing her by the wrist.

  She went along with them knowing she would be killed or beaten if she resisted.

  As they walked down the street Li watched the fireworks going off. She remembered the New Year’s celebration and missed Wang. She knew after they were done with her she would be damaged goods. She never seriously considered his offer of being his wife but now feared he would not want her.

  “Where are you taking my prisoner?” a man said standing in front of the group.

  “Tonight is a party, we invited her to celebrate.” the first man said with the tan pants.

  “Really?” the man said, a black silhouette standing before them.

  “What the fuck do you care, she’s a chink.” the third man said.

  “Fuck it, you want a piece. Plenty to go around.” the second man offered.

  “I don’t like to share. Put her back before I put you down.” the man said.

  “Who the fuck do you think you are?” the third man asked.

  Fireworks went off in the sky lighting up the street for a split second. The man before them was John Adams, the commander in charge. One of the men pulled his sidearm knowing he was screwed.

  John had his out already and shot the man, and then he took down the other two. Li stayed still.

  The man who was shot first lay on the ground groaning.

  “You shot me over a chink.” he said, back arched in pain.

  “America doesn’t need men like you.” John said finishing the man with a bullet to the head.

  He looked at Li.

  “Come with me.” he said. He didn’t pull her along or force her. She followed him of her own free will.

  They walked down the street and came to John’s barracks. Two men watched the door and saluted him as they walked in.

  “Sit down, please.” he said standing behind his desk. She did as he said. “I’m not going to pretend we are friends.” he started. “We are in a difficult spot here. My men and I are leaving here in the morning. The last thing we will do is release you and your men. You are free to stay here and make a new life for yourselves. I know that your culture isn’t exactly prone to following a woman but I know you are the best chance for these people to survive.”

  John turned around and grabbed the Dragonov rifle leaning against the wall.

  “I believe this is yours.” he said.

  She nodded.

  “You will get this back tomorrow. When I leave you will have ammo left for you a mile outside of the city walls. This is the only rifle we are leaving here. This is for you to keep things in line. Understood?” he asked.

  She nodded again.

  “There is a store house a few blocks from here that is filled with seeds and tools for starting some crops. You’ll have enough food to make it through winter.”

  “Why don’t you kill us, why save me from those men?” she asked.

  “I’m done with killing. I was in Iraq before The Day. I was done with it then and now I have to out of necessity. I don’t want to kill you. Personally, I think you and your people are just as screwed as we are. Those men, we don’t need anybody like them breeding or adding to an already difficult world.”

  “I see.” she said.

  “Who is the young man that is always with you?” John asked. “Your boyfriend, right?”

  “He wants to be. He asked me to be his wife.” she said.

  “Life could be short. Do you like him?”

  “He has potential.” she said.

  “You should take him up on it. Anybody that would fight that hard to protect you when they don’t have to, that is a rare thing.”

  She nodded.

  John picked up a teapot on the desk and filled two cups with tea.

  “It’s jasmine pearl tea.” he said. “I used to like this before The Day and was happy to find it here.”

  Li picked up her cup. It was warm but not hot.

  “To our peace?” John said.

  Li nodded and sipped from the cup. They sat in silence. They were relaxed. Things felt like they were finally over and soon they would go about their lives. She wanted to get back to Wang and tell him about the peace agreement. She wanted to tell him she was safe.

  They finished their tea and John walked Li back to the Hall. The bodies of the men were already cleaned up. Except for the pools of blood that were still on the concrete, it looked like nothing had ever happened.

  “Thank you for earlier.” she said to him as they reached the door.

  John put his hand out.

  “I know it’s western but it’s how we finish our agreements.” John said.

  She shook his hand and walked back to Wang who stood up to greet her.

  “Are you ok?” he asked.

  “I’m fine, how is your stomach?”

  “Bruised, I’ll be fine.”

  “They are letting us go tomorrow.” she said.

  “Really?”

  “Really.”

  “What happens then?” Wang asked her.

  “I become your wife.” she said.

  The next morning the prisoners were lined up outside. John stood on the back of the Jeep looking over them. He held the Dragonov rifle in his hands and some of the prisoners worried they would be shot. He had Li brought forward and threw the rifle down to her.

  “You are in charge now.” he said. “From this moment on Sergeant Li is in charge of this city. If I find out anything happened to her or she is overthrown we will come back and eliminate this entire city. Sergeant Li, I leave you in charge.” John slapped the rail of the Jeep and Sergeant Brown started the ignition and drove out of New Beijing. A mile outside of the city Brown stopped the Jeep and John placed three cans of ammo on the double yellow lines.

  “Are you sure you want to leave them something to use on us?” Brown said.

  “I made a promise. Besides, she has more pressing matters with an army of mostly men who don’t take orders from women.”

  Brown bobbed his head around taking in what John had said.

  They hopped back into the Jeep and drove on catching up to the rest of the convoy that had left earlier.

  The first thing Li did when the Jeep left was walk the one mile out of the city. She found the three cans of ammo in the middle of the street and carried them back. She went back to her old apartment and stashed two of the cans away and opened the third. She took an old can opener out and pried the can open finding the wrapped paper packets of bullets.

  “Li,” a male voice said.

  She turned around and it was Wang.

  “How did you know to find me here?” she asked.

  “You think I would forget this place?” he retorted.

  She loaded the Dragonov and threw the rifle over her shoulder.

  “Some of the men are talking about taking over.” he told her.

  “I know. I’m going to take care of that right now.” she said walking past him.

  He grabbed her arm, stopping her in the doorway. He kissed her on the lips, the first time since New Year’s Eve.

  “For luck,” he said.

  “I don’t need luck,” she said walking away. “They do.”

  A group of men had the crowd’s attention. Almost everyone that was a prisoner stood in the square. Two men stood on a stage driving the crowd.

  “Who is she to tell us what to do? No man in his right mind takes orders from a woman. She is the reason we lost the battle on the dock that day. If we had a true leader this never would have happened.”

  Some people in the crowd knew these m
en were lying. Li was never in charge of the army, she was simply a sniper. They were mad that the American had put her in charge of the prisoners instead of someone else. She was the highest rank left but she was not in charge of the military.

  “If we are going to survive we need real leadership, we need true Chinese values, we need to take back this city and let our brothers know that we are not defeated.”

  A shot rang out. The man addressing the crowd dropped on the stage. The back of his skull missing and the contents of it emptied on the floor. A small hole was visible in the forehead.

  The crowd was silent. They turned around and saw Li standing fifty yards back with her rifle in hand.

  “Does anybody else have anything to say?”

  The crowd was silent.

  “We don’t have time for this. All of you have a job to do. Get to it.” Li said, rifle butt in her hip, the barrel pointed in the air.

  The crowd quickly dispersed.

  “I see you handled that easily.” Wang said behind her.

  “You, meet me back at the apartment. I have some stress to get out.” she said turning around and walking back to her place.

  The convoy stopped at the Canadian border as it had before in Detroit. John passed all the vehicles in the Jeep and met the border guards at the booth.

  “General.” the guard said.

  John was surprised at his sudden promotion from a foreign soldier.

  “Were you successful on your mission?” the guard asked.

  “The Chinese will think twice about coming back to America.” John replied.

  The guard went back to the booth and made a phone call.

  “My superior says congratulations. You may pass through as you did last time. You will have a full escort and no stops along the way so make sure all vehicles are topped off.”

  “Thank you,” John replied.

  Word traveled down the convoy to top off all fuel tanks and be prepared to drive straight through. Many vehicles already filled their fuel tanks suspecting the policy would be the same. John filled his jerry can for his Jeep and waited for their escort. An hour later two Humvees pulled up with Canadian flags.

  They saluted John and introduced themselves.

  The drive started and two hours later they were back to Detroit crossing the bridge into the United States. After Detroit they were back on I-94 and heading back to Fort Custer. Parts of the convoy broke off on the way. People were heading back to their own settlements and it looked like debriefing was out of the question. John still drove back to Fort Custer and said his goodbyes to the men of the base.

  “Looks like we lost our militia.” John said to Rock.

  “It’s a militia. I’m surprised they stuck around as long as they did.” Rock said. “Are you sticking around?” Rock asked.

  “My wife was pregnant when I left. She should have had the baby by now and I want to get home.”

  “What the hell are you waiting for? Get out of here.” Rock slapped his hand on the hood of the Jeep and John pulled away down the street and sped past the gate.

  Three hours later John was pulling up to the cabin. The drive was difficult having to get out and remove logs and branches from the old two track drive.

  The cabin looked like he remembered and there was smoke coming out of the chimney. Fatima had to be home.

  He stepped out of the Jeep and watched a little boy running towards him.

  “Dad!” the excited voice said. It was little John.

  John was surprised at how much he had grown in a little amount of time. He picked up his son and look around for his wife. Fatima walked out of the cabin looking as beautiful as ever. Her hair was longer and her pregnant belly was gone replaced with the baby in her arms. Her eyes lit up and John ran to her with his son in his arms.

  “John,” she said.

  He couldn’t say anything. He leaned over and kissed her.

  “I’m back,” their foreheads touched trying to get close while their children were between them. Wasimah came out of the cabin. She was now walking and grabbed Fatima’s leg. The whole family was back together.

  “Who is this?” John asked looking at their new baby.

  “This is our daughter,” Fatima said.

  “What’s her name?” John took her into his arms and held her.

  “I haven’t named her yet.” Fatima replied.

  “Li.” John said.

  “Li?” Fatima said. “A Chinese name?”

  “It’s a new world.” John said. “I met a woman named Li when I was away. We could be so lucky to have a daughter half as strong as she is.”

  “You’ll have to tell me about it.” Fatima said. The family went into the cabin and enjoyed their first meal together in a long time. They spent the rest of the day in the cabin and caught up on the events of the past few months.

  Before sunset John went back to the Jeep and brought a box into the cabin.

  “I have something for you.” John said. He opened the lid and pulled out bags of seeds. Each one was labeled and in the bottom was a set of books on Chinese medicine.

  “I don’t know how to grow these but I thought we could give it a try. It would be good for the clinic.” he said.

  “I don’t know how to grow these either but we do have a botanist now coming to the market.” Fatima said. “I think you might know her.”

  “How?”

  “She was at the cannibal camp when they were killed. Did you let one go?” she asked.

  He didn’t know how to respond.

  “She’s a blonde, young girl.”

  “I remember her. I couldn’t do it.” he admitted.

  “It’s ok. It was the right choice.” Fatima said.

  “How is she?” he asked.

  “She’s with Chuck.” Fatima said a big smile on her face.

  “I knew that guy was going to get around.” John said.

  “He moved in with her. She has a farm two hours north of here. She is always bringing new foods to the market.”

  “I’m glad to hear Chuck is doing well.” John said.

  “There were a lot of guys jealous when they got together. Once she got her health back on track she turned out to be quite a beautiful girl.”

  The next week John drove Fatima to Betty’s farm to get advice on growing the herbs.

  Betty recognized John right away even without the grey face paint. She had a sense of fear about her.

  “Hi,” John said.

  “Is it you?” Betty said.

  “The camp.” John said.

  Betty walked up to him and hugged him.

  “Thank you.” she said.

  “I almost killed you that day.” John said.

  “That day I wanted you to. Now I’m glad you didn’t.” Betty said.

  Betty turned to Fatima and saw the box of seeds.

  “Where did you get these?” Betty asked.

  “Some very nice Chinese people didn’t need them anymore.” John answered.

  They went into the house. Chuck took John around the house and showed him the garden and their expansion into chickens and rabbits. Inside Betty wrote down how to grow the herbs that John had brought back from his travels. Betty wasn’t surprised at all that the same two people that rescued her were married. She later learned that John was the guy that helped Chuck come into the community. After that day they made a habit to invite Fatima and John over to the house once a month. They both owed them for the new life that they shared.

  Returning home Fatima was able to start growing some of the herbs but had to wait for the next spring for the others.

  Chapter 20: Atlantic Ocean

  Captain Palahniuk found himself often thinking in his cramped quarters. He wondered about the name of the USS Nemo. He had already exceeded his expectations by being out at sea for as long as he had. He didn’t know if it was luck or skill that kept his men and himself out of harm’s way during the battle at New York City. The final count was China zero, or one if you count the S
tatue of Liberty, to many from the USS Nemo. He figured the carrier was a loss and the destroyer and other ships they hit were goners. He still didn’t know who was on shore that day but it was safe to assume they were the good guys.

  Palahniuk wrote in his notes their course and days at sea. He had the crew running evasive maneuvers but really he was biding his time to figure out what their next move was. In the end it was always the same conclusion: going home. The crew was from all over the United States. One guy was from Puerto Rico. It would be impossible to drop them off at home and wave them off. Just like anything else with the sub they would have to work together for one goal. He came up with two plans and decided he would let the crew vote as to which one they wanted.

  He turned his light off and fell asleep.

  Although the submarine worked on the same hours as the world above the surface, the atmosphere was artificial. They had the same clocks and worked the same hours, but things were still different. Time didn’t feel the same. The loss of sun and being boxed in caused people to lose themselves and their sense of time. While some men were waking up to morning others were going to bed for the night and with the lack of sunlight they were both right.

  When Palahniuk awoke he went to the deck and decided to gather the men as best he could and explain the plan. It would be the first time that he left the decision up to the men but this would be the last stop for the Nemo. They had seen their battles and survived under the hardest conditions. Now it was time to retire and start a new life.

  The crew arrived on deck and huddled close in the room. Palahniuk kept his head down. He didn’t say anything until the room was silent and many people thought they were going to hear more bad news, more nukes went off, the world was at war, or maybe they were spotted and the end was near. When Palahniuk raised his head all eyes were on him.

  “The reason I asked you to be here is because we have come to a time to make a choice. I don’t think it’s up to me to make this choice alone since it involves the future of everyone else in this sub. We have all been through a lot over the past five years and I’m thankful for having the crew that I did because I don’t think anybody else would have made it as long as we did. Having said that, I have decided that it is time to go home.”