by Judd Vowell
I went to the room where the twins and I had set up our living area. I lay down on the steel-framed bed and closed my eyes. Flashes of Jessica and Henry’s faces appeared, then Meg’s. Smiling, happier faces. Then the image from the street that morning took over. The black hoods being thrown onto their heads, the shackles clasped around their wrists, their bodies tossed into the waiting vans. I forced open my eyes to cancel the thought, temporarily erase the memory. But then something hit me. I shut my eyes quickly, bringing the last part of the morning memory forward again. Two vans. I saw them take Anna toward one of them. And then I saw it, and I felt a hint of excitement. It was something I had been too overwhelmed to notice before. Jessica and Henry had been put into the same van.
I sat up in bed as I understood what that meant. Wherever the ANTs had taken them, wherever they had been imprisoned, they were together. And the one thing I knew better than anybody else: Jessica and Henry were good in their own ways by themselves, but they were great when they worked as a team.
Goddam hope. There it was again.
4.
D aniel showed up in the doorway to my room an hour and a half after he had left me. “Sorry for the delay, Gordon,” he started. “Turns out we had a lot of opinions on how to handle this situation. Needless to say, it’s complicated.”
“I understand, Daniel, that it’s complicated for you. But it’s rather simple for me. I’m going to get my kids back, or I’m going to die trying. I just feel like I need to be clear about that before we continue.”
He took a breath before he spoke. We both sat down. “I had a feeling that’s what you were going to say. And believe me, that holds weight with us and our plan. And you need to understand something, too. Anna is the best asset I have here. Maybe one of the best in the whole Lefty organization. She’s as important to me as your kids are to you right now.”
Good. We were on the same page. “So, what have you got?” I asked.
“As we see it, there are two obstacles we’re facing. One: the ANTI- force at the grid is entirely too powerful for us to attack head-on. Just so you know, we were never planning on attacking the ANTs directly. We had hoped to develop a series of electronic disruptions over time to introduce ourselves, then draw them to us here at Overlord when we were prepared. That would give us the advantage in a battle. But none of that matters now.”
“And the second obstacle?”
“That one’s a little more complex. You see, we don’t know where Anna and the kids are located inside that grid, which is not a small area. Even if we do manage to get in, we’ll be lucky at best to find them.”
“You say that as if you’re going to do it anyway...” I said, trailing the thought into a question.
“It’s the only shot we’ve got, Gordon,” Daniel said, almost dismissively. “It’s risky and it’s stupid, but Anna’s worth it to us. And your kids are worth it to you, I imagine.”
“You’re damn right, they are.”
“Well, alright then. The strategists are finalizing the details as we speak. I only have one question left to ask, as if I don’t already know the answer.” Daniel stood up from his chair, as did I from the bed. We stood eye to eye. “Do you want in?”
I responded emphatically. “Daniel, there’s absolutely nothing you could do to stop me from saving my kids. Just tell me when we head out.”
5.
C amp Overlord’s strategic minds laid out their plans to those of us who were tasked with the rescue mission just as dusk was settling. We didn’t have much time, they explained, so we would only go through them once. It was imperative to listen closely, as there were multiple layers to the formulated operation.
There were eighteen of us involved. Daniel would lead us, as he had the night before. The entire group would trek to the grid, at which point Daniel would meet with the Lefty soldiers who had stayed behind to keep watch over the border. If they had any new information, Daniel would use it accordingly. If not, which was expected, two groups of four Leftys each would travel north half a mile, then separate to designated positions.
At 5:30, one hour before dawn, the two northern groups would provide distraction. They would detonate C-4 explosives at the two locations, each a former auto repair facility. The explosions should create significant shockwaves and aftermath fires and smoke, with the facilities containing leftover oil, chemicals, and tires.
Next would come the point in question. How would the ANTs react? The predicted response would be investigation. If the ANTs reacted as the Lefty planners thought they would, a significant number of them would leave their posts to scrutinize the explosions. That action would leave a vulnerability in the border, somewhere. It was up to the rest of us to exploit that vulnerability.
Timing was critical. There should be just enough darkness left before dawn to use as cover getting into the grid. But we would need daylight once inside to locate Anna and the kids. It would be up to us to conceal ourselves as we searched. We would split into five teams of two and hunt. We would rally at sunset at the central-most point in the northern border, at a designated intersection, with the hopes that one group would have rescued the captives.
At this point, the eight Lefty soldiers who had set the explosives the night before would be waiting on the edge of the grid’s northern border. They would then directly attack the ANTs in that area with small arms fire, luring them out and away from their posts. This should provide the rest of us a brief gap in the border to escape into the streets outside the grid.
We were set to leave in one hour and directed to eat and suit up beforehand. I pulled Daniel aside as the meeting broke up. I was apprehensive.
“Daniel, I’m gonna do this no matter what. You know that, and I know that. But, I’ve got to say, this sounds like a suicide mission for most of these guys.”
He responded with an air of clarity beyond normal comprehension. “You may be right, Gordon. But sometimes we have to go forward on faith, even when we know what the outcome will be.”
6.
T he eighteen of us moved through the darkness along the same path we had taken the night before, except faster. We passed the same empty gas stations and strip malls, the same deserted office buildings. But this time they seemed even more ominous than just twenty-four hours earlier. They seemed alive with warning and trepidation.
Daniel stopped us at the same rally point, two blocks west of ANTI-’s pulsating power grid. It was 3 AM, two and a half hours before we were set to put the mission in motion. He instructed us to hunker down and wait while he and another soldier went to meet with the Leftys watching the border.
I found a spot to myself and sat on the ground, resting against a large pillar that was helping support the monstrous building’s marble canopy. The others broke off into small groups and talked to pass the time. I watched them, admired them. They were young, like all of the foot-soldiers in the history of the world. Experienced men always made the decisions, but adventurous kids made the sacrifice. I silently thanked them for what they were about to do that day.
I had dozed into a light sleep by the time Daniel got back. I had not thought about how tired I was. Daniel told us that the surveillance team had not seen anything out of the ordinary since we had left that morning. They had no information on Anna and the kids’ location inside. The ANTs were still heavily manned along the western border, and we surmised that to be the case along the other three.
“Ok, everyone. The mission is a go as planned. The two groups heading north will need to move out immediately. We’ve got a small window of time, so get those explosives set and ready to blow at 5:30. Those of us going inside will establish a launch area just outside of the grid, underneath the surveillance team’s vantage point. They’ll send a runner down with intel on the weakened location in the border once the ANTs leave to investigate. That’s where we sneak through. Got it?” Everyone nodded. “Good. And remember: nobody do anything crazy...unless you have to. Let’s go.”
7.
&n
bsp; W hen you come to a moment in your life when you are prepared to die, it’s like the weight of persistent tension is lifted from your body. That tension that appears out of nowhere at some point in adulthood. It disappears. And what’s left is uninhibited freedom. And I don’t mean on your deathbed, with your family gathered about you, waiting to gasp your last breath. I’m talking about the willingness to give your healthy and able life if that’s what it takes. It can open your mind to so many wonderful thoughts.
I believed that I was prepared to die when the twins and I set out on our journey to save Meg. But I wasn’t. No, that was more like blind bravery. And in the hour before the explosions went off outside the grid, I recognized that. Because, in the pre-dawn of my second-to-last morning on earth, I reached that apex that so many never achieve. What I like to think of as true enlightenment.
8.
I didn’t know the first thing about C-4. But while preparing for the mission back at Camp Overlord, I had curiously asked how much the Lefty soldiers would be carrying with them. Five brick-shaped blocks for every backpack, eight backpacks. While I assumed that was sufficient, it seemed like a small amount for two buildings in my naïve mind. I realized at the zero hour of our rescue mission just how naïve I had been.
The explosions went off almost simultaneously. There were two succinct shockwaves that I felt milliseconds before I heard the giant roars of destruction. We were positioned inside the loading dock of a large downtown department store, just across the street from the grid’s border. Our view of the upheaval created by the Leftys who had gone north was blocked by the corner of the building, but we could hear it. ANTs shouting and moving haphazardly. We waited.
In the short time I had known Daniel, I learned that he didn’t reveal his emotions easily. An important characteristic of a good leader. But as the minutes ticked by rapidly and the sun seemed to push its preliminary rays through the city corridors in front of us, I saw him show impatience. Then frustration. One of his men leaned into his ear and said, “We’re losing our cover, sir.”
Daniel responded tersely, “I know, dammit. But we can’t go in there blind.” Then he looked up and said to the sky. “Come on, guys. Give me a way to go.”
Then, just as the second leg of our rescue mission looked to be falling apart before us, one of the Lefty spotters came around the back corner of the building. “South,” he said, catching his breath as he spoke. “Three streets south. But you haven’t got much time.”
“You heard him, everybody. We stay a block behind the line...and we run.” Daniel was already moving as he was saying it. We followed.
9.
T he intersection where we would try and slip into ANTI-’s grid was deserted. The ANTs stationed there overnight had moved north in curiosity, just as their counterparts one street south had done. That gave us two unguarded intersections and still enough darkness to conceal our entry. We could see a large group of ANTs gathered north of our new position, all with their backs to us and watching the huge infernos burning half a mile away. First step in the mission – distraction – accomplished.
We had divided ourselves into teams of two at the rally point earlier that morning. Daniel had instructed us then that we would cross the border one team at a time, so as to limit our visibility. Two people can be nearly invisible compared to ten trying to move in rhythm across an open space. I was paired with Daniel, and we were set to cross second.
The first team silently made it from one side of the intersection to the other, trotting in a crouched position the entire way. Daniel and I waited for a few seconds. I held my breath. I could feel my heartbeat in my ears and my chest. I heard Daniel whisper decisively, “Go!”
We were off, into the street and moving ever closer to the enemy grid. I had my eyes trained on the small of Daniel’s back, shifting as he did, keeping the same pace. I was so focused on him and on getting across undetected that I almost missed it. Two streaks of movement in my peripheral vision to the right. Across the empty intersection one street south of us. It happened just as we were reaching the edge of the ANTI- territory. And even though it was just a glimpse, a blur of motion, I knew exactly what it was.
10.
I grabbed Daniel by the shoulders the instant we were concealed by the buildings on the ANTI- side of the street. I turned him around and almost fell into him as I slowed my momentum.
“I saw them, Daniel.” I tried to control my breathing. I felt a huge rush of adrenaline flowing through my body.
“Saw who?” Daniel asked, concerned.
“The kids,” I barely got out of my mouth. I closed my eyes and focused on calming my nerves. The third pair of Leftys reached the relative safety of the corridor.
“What the hell are you talking about, Gordon?” Daniel pressed. I suppose he could see how critical the information was.
“I saw my kids. Crossing the street a block south. In the opposite direction. Leaving the grid!” I stressed. Now the fourth team was crossing.
“Wait a second. You saw your kids...how in the world?”
“I don’t know how, but I saw them. I know it. We have to go back!” The final team of two was starting their run. Dawn was coming on fast.
Leaders of men have to trust their instincts more often than not in time-critical situations. I could see that Daniel’s gut was telling him to believe me. As the last pair of Lefty soldiers made it safely into the grid, he adjusted the mission. “Change of plans, guys. Johnson and Carter, you two stick with Gordon and me. We’re going back across. The rest of you, proceed with location and extraction, same as before. But you’re only looking for Anna now.”
Carter spoke up, “But, sir, the sun. We’ll be going back in almost broad daylight.”
“Then, Carter, I guess you’d better do it quickly. On my mark!” And before I had time to think, we were running back across the gauntlet, with no more night left to hide beneath.
11.
D aniel peered around the corner of the former department store to make sure we had not been spotted. He turned to us and said, “We’re good.” Then he gave the three teams across the intersection a thumbs-up, and we saw them scatter into the grid. “Now to find those kids of yours.”
He directed Johnson and Carter to split from the two of us at the next corner and move a block south, then to continue west. We would all move in that direction with the assumption that Jessica and Henry did, too. One good thing – we didn’t have to keep our eyes out for ANTs, like we would have inside the grid.
We moved swiftly. Daniel on one side of the street, me on the other. We checked in doorways and underneath overhangs, on porches and inside below-ground entrances. You could never imagine how many subtle places there are to hide along an empty city street. The rising sun helped to illuminate our search area, but the taller buildings still cast dark shadows along alleyways and storefronts.
The church’s broken glass caught my eye about twelve blocks into our hunt. There were plenty of busted windows in the city from the early manic days of the Great Dark, but the stained glass next to the church’s giant wooden door looked freshly smashed somehow. For whatever reason, it begged me to investigate it.
The church was a grand structure, occupying most of a city block with its parish offices and fellowship halls and Sunday-school classrooms. It was a beautiful dark brown, with copper roofing covering its sanctuary and spires. It looked proper and out of place, all at once. I thought to myself, “If I was looking for a safe place to rest in the middle of this deserted concrete landscape, this would be it.” I hoped I was thinking like Jessica and Henry as I crawled through the shattered window.
I found myself inside a small vestibule with another doorway on the opposite side. The room was dark, but I could see that the door was halfway open. I eased into the giant sanctuary. It was better lit, with shades of blue and green and red streaking across the pews and hardwood floors. The morning sun coming through the pastoral window scenes brought about a sense of serenity. But that se
nse faded as I walked down the center aisle.
I saw the first body a few rows down. Prostrate on a pew, it was long decomposed and looked like some bad prop out of a bygone horror movie. But I knew it was all too real. There were more as I kept walking. I guess those poor souls had sought spiritual refuge in their last moments. I felt sorry for them.
I reached the altar at the front of the sanctuary with no sign of the kids. I started to think my instincts had been wrong, that I was wasting time looking in the church. I decided to call their names, if only just to hear myself say them again. “Jessica...Henry...” The sound of my voice echoed throughout the room.
Then, barely audible to me, she spoke. “Dad???” It came from behind me, I thought. The second time was louder and stronger “Dad!” I turned around and saw Jessica’s head rising above the pews at the back of the sanctuary. My heart leapt.
I ran back up the same aisle I had just come down. But when I got to the last pew, my excitement evaporated instantly. Jessica was kneeling, looking frazzled and scared. And Henry was lying flat on the floor, unconscious and unaware that I had found them.
12.
I wanted more than anything to trade places with him in the back of that church sanctuary. To let me be the one unable to wake. Most parents can relate. It comes with raising kids and bringing your own blood into the uncaring world. Unfortunately, the world had become something even less than uncaring. Downright cruel and unusual, goddammit. I just wanted to end the chaos and save him, no matter what it might take. And yet, there was nothing I could do to help Henry in the back of that church sanctuary.