The End

by G. Michael Hopf

  “You’re an idiot, Brad. What were you thinking?” he said to himself.

  Closing his eyes and lowering his head, he prayed that everything was going to be okay. Never again would he go on a fool’s errand, he promised himself. It had only taken him thirty minutes to break the promise he had made to Julia. A knock on the window startled him.

  Feeling relieved that he’d be on his way out of this sad situation, he started to speak as he looked up. “I really need to learn how to start one of—” He stopped talking as soon as his eyes gazed upon who was standing there. Covered in blood and sweat, the large bald man with the rifle stood towering over the window. Conner’s reaction was of absolute fear; he jumped out of the driver’s seat and crawled over to the passenger side door. A blast from the man’s rifle blew off the driver’s side door handle. The man threw open the door and stopped Conner’s attempt to escape. The man grabbed his ankle and with brute force pulled him from the vehicle.

  “I am the President of the United States, I am the president!” Conner yelled as he was dragged out of the vehicle and onto the ground. Dozens gathered around him like locusts. He knew his fate would be that of the two women. “Wait, I am the President of the United States!”

  “Do you think that means anything here?” replied the bald man with a deep and raspy voice as he leveled his rifle at Conner’s face and pulled the trigger.

  San Diego, California

  Gordon, Samantha, Nelson, and Nelson’s parents, who had arrived while Gordon had been out, had been packing the truck and trailer since the night before. Wishing they could have more privacy was impossible. Under the watchful eye of every neighbor they loaded box after box of supplies, food, water, medicines and gear. The next morning they would finally leave Rancho Valentino and head east to get as far away from major urban centers as possible. Knowing they could encounter “road agents” or bandits, they planned on traveling during the day.

  They couldn’t pack quickly enough, neighbors kept walking by and looking. The word had spread that they were leaving with Jimmy, Simone, and four other families, the Pomeroys, Thompsons, Behrenses, and Jerrod’s wife and child. Gordon was also happy to have the two Marines, Sergeant Holloway and Lance Corporal Fowler, join their group. They had provided a lot of good information and had managed to secure two operational jeeps with trailers. Holloway also had a wife and little girl. One family notably missing was Eric’s. They all had tried to convince her to come but she was staying. She believed Eric would return. The prospect of Eric returning was slim, as it had been a long time since his disappearance.

  James, the elderly neighbor who lived a couple doors down, kept watching them. Others would walk by, whisper to each other, and point. Gordon didn’t like it and made his displeasure known by asking them rhetorically, “What are you looking at?”

  Gordon was back inside the house loading a box of canned food when the door opened and Nelson rushed in.

  “Gordon, come outside quick!”

  Stopping what he was doing he followed Nelson out into the garage, where he ran into a sweating and exhausted Jimmy.

  “Jimmy, you okay? What’s up?” Gordon asked, concerned.

  He put his finger up to indicate he needed a second to catch his breath, then managed to say, “Eric’s back.”

  “What?”

  “Damn, I thought losing a few pounds would make running easier. Yeah, he’s back. Speaking of losing a few pounds, he lost some weight and he’s tortured, but he’s home.”

  “Nelson, sorry to leave you with this, but I want to go see Eric.”

  “No problem, you go. I got this,” Nelson said, looking around at all the boxes in the garage.

  Gordon started running toward Eric’s house. His injuries prevented him from keeping a good pace and a heavy feeling started to creep up on him. Not wanting to overdo it, he slowed down to a quick walk. He thought back to the day of the attack. He had been out for a run that day. That was the last day the neighborhood looked manicured. Most of the houses now looked like something out of an impoverished third world country; the hanging tarps and clothes, the strong smell of feces, the dead plants and grass, cars covered in a thick layer of dust. The clean and manicured feel of the community was gone. It had turned from a cute, beautiful family neighborhood to an unkempt, worn survival camp. Houses were no longer homes, they were shelters.

  Gordon arrived at Eric’s house and banged on the door for what seemed like minutes. Melissa finally answered and didn’t look happy to see him.

  “Gordon, hi.”

  “Hi, Melissa; I just heard. Can I come in and see him?”

  She didn’t answer right away; she turned around and looked back into her house. Gordon could hear Eric say something but he couldn’t make it out.

  “Yes, come on in. He’s in the kitchen.”

  Gordon walked directly back to the kitchen. First seeing Eric was shocking. He had lost a lot of weight and his face and arms were covered in a mix of fresh and older wounds.

  “Eric, I can’t say how good it is to see you. I have to say when I woke up and heard you hadn’t made it back, I feared the worst,” Gordon said.

  “It’s good to see you too. I feared the worst too,” Eric said slowly.

  “Listen, I don’t want to put pressure on you but I have to. We have to leave tomorrow. Everything has gone to shit here. It’s too much to explain now, but we want you to go with us.”

  “Okay, we can do that,” he said, looking at Gordon with his sunken eyes.

  “You can ride with us, we have a camper trailer. I need you to pack up everything that is useful. We’re never coming back.”

  “Okay.”

  “Gordon, can we wait a day or two? He needs to rest and get back on his feet. Look at him,” Melissa said, concerned for her husband. She walked over to Eric and put her arm around him.

  “Melissa, we don’t have time, we—” Gordon was saying when Eric interrupted him.

  “Mel, he’s right, we have to leave. Gordon I have some bad news. It’s a big problem. The guys who attacked us, well, they captured me. I managed to escape a few days ago but had to live in the shadows to make it home.” Eric paused to take a drink of water and a breath. “Gordon, they know about our community and plan on coming here for our resources soon. I overheard someone when I was there. I think he’s their leader, his name Pablo. They weren’t happy about that day. They lost a lot of people.”

  “How do they know where we are?” Gordon asked.

  Eric looked at Gordon again with those dark sunken eyes.

  “You don’t have to say anything. Really, don’t worry about it,” Gordon said, anticipating Eric’s answer.

  “It wasn’t me, Gordon, it was Dan. I overheard them talking about capturing Dan weeks ago. He apparently spilled the beans and promised to take them to us because we had stockpiled tons of food and water.”

  “So that son of a bitch led us into an ambush. He wanted us out of the way to make way for them.” Gordon grew angry.

  “Gordon, you’re right; we need to leave as fast as we can,” Eric said as he reached over and grabbed Gordon’s arm. “We have to go, they’re coming and they have an army of people.”

  “Melissa, please start packing all food, water, medicines, batteries, gear, equipment, et cetera that we will need,” Gordon said in a commanding voice to Melissa. He then looked at Eric and said, “I’m taking everyone to Idaho. We have a place there, we can live off the land and start over.”

  Eric just nodded.

  “We leave at seven a.m. tomorrow. If you need any help packing, let me know. We’ll be over in a few hours to pick up your stuff.”

  “Okay Gordon, we’ll be ready,” Melissa said.

  • • •

  Gordon’s day would be full of surprises. When he turned the corner onto his street he saw that the small crowd of people outside gawking had grown i
nto a large unruly crowd. Nelson was standing his ground with a shotgun trained on them. As he got closer, he saw Dan and Mindy at the front of the crowd.

  Gordon reached the crowd and pushed his way through till he reached Dan, who was yelling at Nelson. Grabbing Dan’s shoulder he pivoted him and struck him in the face. For Gordon, the look on Dan’s face was priceless. Dan fell to the ground with Gordon following by jumping on him. Gasps came from the crowd as they backed away from the two men fighting. Seeing what had happened, Mindy started yelling. Gordon heard her, but chose to ignore her. He gave all of his attention and rage to Dan. After a series of punches Gordon saw blood. This encouraged him to hit more. Feeling his own wounds reminded him that Dan was the cause. The street justice he was serving to Dan made his pain worth it. Finally, a few in the crowd took action and grabbed Gordon. Resisting vigorously he kept swinging but eventually his resistance was not enough. It took four men to pull Gordon off of Dan, who lay on the sidewalk covered in his own blood. Gordon took pleasure knowing he had broken Dan’s nose, which lay flat against his face.

  “You son of a bitch!” Dan said, shaking his head back and forth.

  “Fuck you, you’re lucky. If these people hadn’t stopped me I would have killed you! You fucking piece of shit!” Gordon yelled back.

  “You son of a bitch, I will get you! I promise I will get you!” Dan yelled slowly sitting up. He brought his hand to his face to touch his broken nose.

  “You won’t be doing anything. I am leaving with my family and others; we’re done here. You wanted this community, you can have it,” Gordon screamed, still struggling to break free from those who had grabbed him.

  “You can leave, Gordon, but not until you give us what you stole,” Mindy said.

  Gordon turned and looked at her. “What are you talking about?”

  “All the food and medical supplies you have stockpiled are not yours, they belong to the community. We intend on taking them so we can redistribute to your neighbors.”

  “You’re not taking shit, Mindy. This is my food. I got all of this before any of this happened.”

  “That’s not true!” yelled James from the middle of the crowd.

  Everyone turned and looked at James.

  “I was here the day of the attack and saw you and your friend come back and forth with food; hell, I even saw you the day after unloading stuff,” James said loudly.

  James’s comments brought on lots of side conversations with many in the group.

  “I got some of this food the day of the attacks and even more the morning after, plus I always kept a decent pantry full of food before the attacks. I can tell you that none of it came from our scavenger missions. Whatever you all are thinking is wrong. You have been misguided by Mindy and Dan,” Gordon cried out in his defense.

  “Gordon, we believe you came by this food illegally and kept it when it should have been disclosed and shared with the rest of us,” Mindy shouted at Gordon.

  “I don’t give a shit what you think, Mindy, you’re not taking anything.” Gordon finally shrugged off the last person holding him and stood facing the crowd and Mindy. “James is right that I went out the day of the attack and found food, I was smart, I thought ahead. I didn’t stand around like most of you attempting to get your stupid phones to work and complain that you were missing the next American Idol. I knew something was wrong and I went out to take care of my family. It’s not my responsibility to take care of you, you, or you!” Gordon said pointing at Mindy and others in the crowd. “If you didn’t think and react appropriately, that’s not my fault. Mindy, you can talk a big game but you’re not taking anything from me or my friends, period!”

  “Well, Gordon, I disagree; you’re not leaving nor are your friends till you give us our share of the food you have taken,” Mindy said defiantly. “We have met with many in the neighborhood and we have their support. Everyone must open their homes for inspection. Anyone who has more than they need will have that taken and spread out.” Mindy was not just talking to Gordon; she had turned around and was speaking to the crowd which continued to grow larger.

  “You will not enter this house or any of my friends’ homes. This is my food; I secured it before we came together as a community. If you plan taking it, then you better bring an army.”

  Mindy turned around and walked up to within a few feet of Gordon. “Gordon, you and your friends will not be allowed to leave through any of these gates till you have surrendered the food you took from us all. I mean what I say, so please be here, ready to open your house for us to inspect and yes, we will have an army; look around me,” Mindy said, staring at Gordon intently and holding up her arms to acknowledge the large crowd behind her.

  “If you or any of you out there plan on coming into my house, plan on dying!” Gordon yelled out to the crowd.

  Mindy began instructing the crowd to back off. She announced that the situation with Gordon would be handled in the morning. Slowly, one by one or in small groups, the crowd dispersed. Dan was helped up and walked off without saying a word.

  Gordon watched and turned to look at Nelson, who still held the shotgun.

  “Are you ready for this?” Gordon asked Nelson.

  With his typical shit-eating grin Nelson laid the shotgun barrel on his shoulder and said, “Son, I was born ready.”

  Cheyenne Mountain, Colorado

  Sitting on her toilet, crying, Julia was expressing not tears of pain but joy. In her hands she held the physical proof that supported the feelings she had been having for a couple of days. She was pregnant. Overjoyed, she could not wait to speak to Brad. If only he were here, she thought; seeing the look on this face would have been special for her. Wiping the tears from her eyes she placed the testing strip carefully on the counter. Washing her hands, she looked down at the “positive” sign on the strip to make sure she wasn’t mistaken. It all didn’t seem real in some way. Looking in the mirror, she saw a different Julia; she saw a youthful woman who would soon bless the world with a new baby. Her mind had already started the process of nesting as she went through everything she would have to do for the pregnancy. Then thoughts of what they would name the new baby came to mind, too. There was so much to plan, she thought.

  Leaving the bathroom, she heard a knock at the front door.

  Dylan was at the door. She was not expecting him, but didn’t take notice of the somberness in his face.

  “Hi Dylan, how are you?” she asked. “Come on in.” She turned around and walked back into the room. Walking into the kitchen, she asked, “Can I get you anything?”

  “No thank you, ma’am,” Dylan replied, stepping into the room and not moving far from the door after he had closed it behind him.

  “Mrs. Conner, can I speak with you?”

  “Sure, one second,” Julia said as she grabbed a glass of water and walked back into the living room. She was startled when she finally noticed the look on Dylan’s face. “Dylan, is everything okay?”

  “Mrs. Conner, I am sorry, but can you sit down?” Dylan asked, pointing to the couch.

  “Dylan, what is it?” she asked, the joy of moments ago now gone.

  “Please sit down, Mrs. Conner,” he said, this time not asking but making a point about it.

  “Dylan, I’m old enough to know that when someone says to ‘please sit down,’ it’s not good news.”

  “Mrs. Conner, I am sorry to be the one and believe me, I don’t want to be here.”

  “Just spit it out, Dylan!” she said as tears began well up in her eyes.

  “Ma’am about forty-five minutes ago the president and his convoy went off course on their way to the air base. They diverted to address an urgent situation when they came under attack. When we received word of the attack, we immediately dispatched reinforcements.”

  “Is Brad alive?” she asked, her voice trembling.

  “Ma’am, when the reinfo
rcements arrived . . .”

  She stopped him again and asked, “Is Brad alive or not?”

  “Ma’am, when they arrived . . .”

  “Answer the damn question, Dylan!” she yelled at him.

  “We don’t know, Mrs. Conner.”

  “What do you mean you don’t know? How can you not know?” Her entire body was now trembling. She braced herself against a table.

  “When the reinforcements arrived they found all of the convoy dead, and the president was not located. We believe this to be a good sign that he may be alive, but we do not know for sure.”

  Julia’s body became weak and she fell to her knees next to the couch. Dylan rushed to help her up.

  “Please rest, I’ll go get a doctor.”

  Julia stopped Dylan by grabbing his arm. She pulled him close and said, “I don’t need a doctor, I need my husband. Go find him, do what you have to do. I don’t want to hear from you until you find him, do you understand me?” She let go of Dylan’s arm and her body gave way as she fell into the couch.

  Looking down at her he declared, “Mrs. Conner; I will find him; I promise you. I will do what I can.”

  She didn’t look at him or respond. She just lay on the couch and sobbed uncontrollably. Dylan stared at her for another moment before he turned and left the room. When he closed the door he heard her wail in grief. A tear came to his eye, but he quickly swept it away and briskly walked down the dimly lit hallway toward the command center and his new mission.

  January 5, 2015

  This is not the end. It is not even the beginning of the end. But it is, perhaps, the end of the beginning.

  —Winston Churchill