"Scott!"
Solly spun around to see Ross slapping Lee's unconscious face.
"He keeps doing this. I think he must have a head injury," Ross said.
"We need to find a safe place to help him out."
Paulie pulled her gun from her pocket as the helicopter hovered over the grass. "First, we need to get out of here. I can't believe this place is left unguarded."
As if in answer, the cracking of gunshots rang out from a position above them and to their right. Solly grabbed the back of his seat as Alison rotated the helicopter on its axis. There was a small control tower, a hundred yards or so away. A figure stood, silhouetted against the fading sky, firing on them.
The helicopter shuddered as a short burst of rounds emerged from its undercarriage and shattered the railings of the tower. When the flying debris had cleared, there was no sign of the shooter.
Alison landed the helicopter with barely a jolt and Solly and Paulie leaped out, scanning the surroundings for any other security forces. Alison's cylinder was stowed in his backpack.
"Look out for a car!" Paulie called.
Ross struggled out of the back of the helicopter with Scott's arm around his shoulder. Lee was awake again, though unsteady on his feet. "Is there a private jet here?" he said, his voice betraying utter exhaustion. "There should be."
"How would that help? None of us can fly it," Solly said.
"Alison can. Probably. We have to go to New York. We have to find Khaled. He is the only one who knows the full truth. He is the only one who can help us stop the second wave."
"I thought you said Alison was the key?"
"She is the weapon, but he knows where to strike better than any of us."
This was too much for Solly. "Then why did he give her to me in the first place? Why didn't he simply use it?"
"Because he feared being captured. And it is not time yet—Alison must be used at the right moment or all is lost. She should not have been exposed to Annabel at Seattle. We can only hope they don't work out the full implications."
"Put your weapons down!"
Half a dozen figures in black uniforms emerged from the shadows, carbines pointing at them. There was no escape. After all the struggling, they'd finally been caught because they'd spent too long trying to work out the crazy.
Paulie and Solly dropped their handguns as the figures approached. Then, quite suddenly, the helicopter's engine fired up and, moments later, the rotor blades began to turn.
"Get out of the aircraft! Get out, or we will open fire."
The force of the wind was pushing them down, their ears ringing with the deafening roar of the engine as the feet of the copter lifted off the ground.
"Drop!" Solly screamed.
The security guards opened fire on the helicopter, shattering the windshield as it swiveled to face them. Paulie grabbed her handgun and began firing at them. Dirt exploded over Solly's head as rounds landed inches from him. He rolled to the side to where he'd dropped his gun, grabbed it and pulled the trigger.
And then, from above and behind them came the staccato thudding of machine gun fire. The whole exchange had lasted no more than a few seconds and yet, when Solly looked up, the guards were lying on their backs looking sightlessly into the heavens.
"More are coming!" Paulie called as she got to her feet. Solly followed her pointing finger to see vehicle lights in the distance.
"Find a plane!" Scott said. "Come on, Ross."
The two of them began to stumble towards a low, metal-roofed hangar. "There!"
Three private planes sat on the tarmac.
"Quick!" Solly called, grabbing Scott's arm and, with Ross, dragging the injured man towards the nearest one. They were all pure black in color with Lee Corporation painted white on the fuselage.
"Yes, this one," Scott said, panting. Steps led up to the door and they pushed him up, flung the door open, and bundled him inside.
Solly sat in the pilot's seat and brought the cylinder up to the portal. "Are you there?"
"I am now," Alison said.
The cockpit displays burst into light.
"This is different. Hmm, there's someone else here. But I have shut him down."
"Can you fly it?"
"I think so, Father."
"Then get on with it! Bad people are after us."
"Oh, and this plane doesn't seem to have any weapons. How boring. Okay, powering up. Where are we going?"
"It doesn't matter!"
"Well, I need a flight plan. Shall I use the one that's already programmed in?"
"Would that be quicker?"
"Much."
"Do it!"
With that, the engines fired up and Paulie pulled the door shut. "I hate flying," she muttered.
Solly leaned back in the pilot's seat as the plane lurched.
"Sorry. It might be a bit of a bumpy ride."
It was like being in the passenger seat alongside a driver using a stick shift for the first time but, yard by yard, Alison seemed to be familiarizing herself with the controls and, by the time they got to the grass runway, she'd mastered it. Solly found himself wondering whether this would apply when they were airborne, and then swiftly shut down that thought process.
"They're coming along the landing strip!" Paulie called. She had dropped into the copilot's seat.
Solly looked out. The headlights of three vehicles were heading towards them.
"Do you have enough runway, Alison?" Solly called.
"I think so, Father. Let's find out."
Solly's insides turned to ice, but they were committed now. The people driving towards them in what looked like military vehicles certainly meant them harm, so they had no choice.
The whine of the jet engines got louder as the plane picked up speed, heading straight for the lights.
"If they know we've got Alison on board, they won't fire on us. If they think we're here to steal a plane, well, would they destroy it to stop it being taken?"
"You know what your trouble is, Solly?" Paulie said. "You think the world works by logic. You should have learned your lesson by now."
Solly gave a weak smile, and then turned to see that Ross was buckled up with the semi-conscious Scott Lee lolling in the seat beside him.
The headlights got closer and closer. Surely Alison wouldn't be able to pull up in time.
"Alison!" Solly called, instinctively covering his head with his hands as the lights were almost on them. And then, at the last moment, they scattered.
"Chickens!" Alison called as, finally, the plane took to the air. "Oh, this is easy!" she called.
Chapter 12
The office of Mayor Kaitlyn Kennedy was warm, bright, and welcoming, but the crocodilian smile on the mayor's face chilled Bella to the bone.
"Thanks for coming in," she said, shaking hands with Bella, Al, Maddie, and Luke, then gesturing them onto a long couch before sitting down opposite them. The mayor smoothed away the creases in her navy blue shirt and leaned forward to pour them each a cup of tea.
"You can go, Matthew," she said, reinforcing the command with a dismissive wave. She waited for the muscle-bound guard who'd fetched them at gunpoint from the RV to leave, before turning back to her guests.
"Now then. I am told that you know the man who disrupted our lawful proceedings yesterday. In fact, I believe he was one of your party. He even received medical treatment in our hospital, did he not?"
Bella nodded.
"Well, he certainly seems to have recovered quickly, doesn't he?" Bella made no response. She felt like a trapped mouse waiting for the cat to strike.
"Unfortunately, our officers have been unable to locate him, or the condemned criminal he helped escape. They will be captured, in time, but it would greatly aid our efforts if you could provide some insight into this man. You will find the community of Elizabeth very generous to those who help it. Many wish to join us here permanently, but room might be found for cooperative people."
Bella shrugged. Stayi
ng here was the last thing on her mind after the brutality she'd witnessed the previous day. It was interesting that the mayor thought what she was offering was so valuable that Bella might betray her friend for it.
"You know, it's a rare thing in this fractured world to find safety and security such as we have here. Every day, newcomers arrive with tales of destruction and bestiality, and we can offer only temporary respite before sending them back out into the nightmare. They often find us by chance, before heading off in search of another Nirvana."
She lifted the porcelain tea cup to her lips and sipped delicately.
"Please, drink your tea. Help yourself to something to eat." She indicated the cups in front of each of them and the tempting selection of cookies arranged on a plate next to the tea pot.
"Where were you heading, may I ask?" she said as Bella put her cup down.
"D.C. They're rebuilding the federal government."
Kennedy's eyes narrowed. "Then you were on a fool's errand. I hear that Washington and the area around it is choked with refugees, camps springing up everywhere on the approach roads. And as for the government? Just a bunch of Yankee power grabbers who couldn't organize a fire in a match factory."
Bella was taken aback by the venom in her words but decided not to interrupt.
"Elizabeth is an example of a town built from the ground up on the right principles of community and a respect for the law. Washington is just the last twitches of the old federal system that never worked and now never will. You're much better off here, with us."
Bella could think of nothing to say, so she merely took another sip and waited for the mayor to continue.
Kennedy was looking at her now, as if appraising her. Since they'd sat down, she'd ignored the others entirely. "You feel our justice is brutal?"
"I saw a respected priest who'd been accused of theft being dragged to the gallows," Bella said. "It seemed disproportionate."
The mayor held her gaze for a few moments before nodding. "I understand that it might seem that way, but he had betrayed the faith placed in him by the community. He had stolen the food from their mouths."
"But the community didn't want him to be executed."
"That's why we have to have leaders," the mayor snapped.
She put her cup down and sighed. "This new world is living off the remains of the old. We scavenge for food, materials, and fuel. At the moment, these things are relatively commonplace, though we find that we have to travel further and further from the safe zone to obtain what we need, at great risk to those concerned. One day—one day soon—we will have to begin sowing new seed, standing on our own feet. And, to begin with, the resources we grow or create will be scarce, and there may come a crucial moment when the old supplies are running out and the new cannot yet sustain us. My job, as mayor of this town, is to make sure that doesn't happen. Do you understand me?"
"Perfectly," Bella said.
"We have over two thousand souls in this town, most of whom have come from outside. Perhaps I should have stopped accepting incomers before there were so many of us but, then, maybe I am soft," she said with a sarcastic smile.
"So, in order to give us the best chance of surviving until we can stand on our own feet, we have strict rationing and severe punishments for those who flout our policies. For those who steal, we are, as you would say, brutal. If everyone acted as the priest did, we would all be dead in months. It must be stopped before it becomes endemic. That is our law."
"But didn't someone in the crowd say he'd stolen the food to give to some children?" Al said.
The mayor turned her smiling face on him. "He would claim that, wouldn't he? He'd make up any story to clear himself of this unforgivable crime."
"He's a priest!" Al said.
"Which makes the betrayal all the greater," the mayor responded, before turning her attention back to Bella. "Now, tell me about this criminal you harbored."
"I honestly don't know very much. We met him a few weeks ago, and he's traveled with us since. He saved us from an escaped convict but was injured. That's about it."
The mayor shook her head. "No, that is not enough. You say he's traveled with you? Then you know much more than you reveal. Or you are hopelessly naive."
Bella shrugged. Now that she came to think about it, she really didn't know much about Skulls' background and history. He'd proven himself in the rescue of Luke, then in the escape from the community at the intersection and again in the woods. But aside from his love of the work of Hopper, she had no idea of what his life had been like to lead him to where he was now.
"Do you refuse to help us capture him?"
"I don't see what we can do. We barely knew him."
The mayor leaned forward and fixed Bella with a predatory stare. "Do you understand the principle of collective responsibility?"
"Of course," Bella responded, feeling Al tense up beside her.
"Our little community is an island of civilization in a sea of barbarism and it will only survive if we are accountable for not only our own actions, but also of those we have influence over. That friend of yours has jeopardized us by openly defying our justice, and he must be re-captured and punished or our cohesion is lost."
She rang an ornate china bell that had lain unnoticed on the coffee table. The muscled guard who'd fetched them from the RV walked in and took station beside the door. The mayor gave him a brief nod and he moved forward.
"You will help us find this man," she said, "and, when he is safely in our custody, I will return this boy."
The guard grabbed Luke by the arm and hauled him to his feet.
Maddie jumped up and pulled on his other arm. "Get your hands off him!"
"Now, now," the mayor said, "he is in no danger. He is simply our surety against you making a run for it. You may abandon your friend, but I don't think you'll leave this boy behind."
"What do you expect from us when you've got your entire police force out looking for him?"
Kennedy's face hardened. "I expect help! Now, I have other important matters to attend to. If you'll excuse me."
Luke gave Maddie a quick hug and allowed himself to be led away.
As they reached the door, Mayor Kennedy looked up from the sofa. She had a white envelope in her hand. "Oh, and do hurry. I'm sure the president of the TLX would be very pleased to receive my message that we have his son here."
The bright sun shone on row after row of white single story houses. People were cutting lawns, taking out the trash or walking; all the routine activity of suburban America as if the Long Night had never happened. Al was driving, while Maddie and Bella scanned in each direction.
It had been Al's plan, such as it was. Given that they had next to no chance of finding Skulls, his idea was to be as conspicuous as possible in the hope that Skulls would find them.
Bella felt utterly wretched. The last thing she wanted to do was hand Skulls over to face a certain and very public death. But if Kennedy sent that letter to the TLX, they'd not only lose Luke, but also have a president out for vengeance on their tail.
Maddie was an emotional wreck. Bella had known they were close, but it was now obvious that her daughter had fallen deeply in love with Luke. Bella herself had never felt the teenage passion that she'd seen in others, but it tugged at her heart to see her daughter in such pain.
Bella had felt passion, certainly. Or was it lust? She'd given poor Todd so little thought since that first night. He was a good man, and he'd certainly thought the world of her, but had she been in love? Truly? Not as Maddie was, that was for certain. She was too old for that, she decided. But she wasn't too old to fall for another so gently that it was only when she was faced with losing him that she truly understood.
That was how she felt about Skulls; about Steve. It wasn't a physical thing, at least not entirely. She'd first made a connection with him over a Hopper painting when she realized that there was a depth to him that could easily be missed beneath the tattoos and dyed yellow beard.
So they drove along the quiet streets of Elizabeth for want of any other plan. In her heart she desperately wanted to see Skulls again. In her mind, she wanted him to be a long way from here by now.
Her heart won out. They were moving slowly along another row of bungalows when, quite suddenly, he was there in the road, waving his arms. When they stopped, he waved them into a driveway and under a carport. He put a finger to his lips and gestured them into the little house.
A single candle sat on a low table in the center of the main room. All the drapes were closed and beside the candle, his grim face warmed by the amber glow, kneeled the priest.
"I am so sorry to have brought this upon you," he said.
Bella ignored the kneeling man and stepped into the strong embrace of Skulls. He smelled of stale sweat and cigarettes, but she didn't care.
"I'm sorry too, but I just couldn't let them kill this old boy. Where's Luke?"
"The mayor's got him," Maddie replied, her voice trembling. "She'll only release him if we hand you in." There was something accusatory about her voice, and she treated the priest to a venomous glance.
"This is all my fault. But I want you to believe that I didn't steal for my own sake. The church helps the families of those who haven't been granted citizenship here but have nowhere else to go. Mainly children, and some who are disabled or frail."
"The mayor turns away people like that?"
The priest looked surprised. "Yes, of course. She accepts only the strong and the young. I would not be admitted if I were to present myself today, but I was already here."
With a sudden flash, Bella realized that she'd not seen a single old person since they'd arrived here. Why was that? Had she assumed they were hiding behind curtains or were they simply invisible to her?
"Why did they allow me in, then?" Al piped up. "I'm no spring chicken."
The priest shrugged. "You were not applying for citizenship and, in any case, you had others with you who were strong. There is work to be done in the fields and out there scavenging the neighboring towns and cities. Did you know that the mayor's slogan is ‘No Deadwood’? I believe she thinks it's funny."
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