by C. G. Cooper
“Ryker, Ma’am,” I said politely.
“Do you have your consent form?”
“No, Ma’am. Actually, I was told to ask for The General.”
Her reaction wasn’t as pronounced as the skinny clerk before, but she did look up at me through squinted eyes. Then she turned to the guard behind her and beckoned him closer. She whispered in his ear and then turned back to me. “If you’ll have a seat right over there,” she said, pointing to a row of wooden benches, “I’ll have someone come fetch you soon.”
Soon turned out to be just over one minute. A soldier came running and when he saw us at the benches inquired, “Ryker?”
“That’s me,” I said, rising with my family.
“If you’ll come with me, please.”
We rushed to keep up with the soldier’s pace, and Andrew was even running to stay at my side. He didn’t complain though. He was too consumed with looking up at the humongous fortress. I had to remind myself that he’d never seen anything like this in his life. In his short six years, the extent of civilized exposure he’d had was in Franklin proper.
“Please keep up,” the soldier said.
We did not go all the way through the tunnel that led to whatever was inside. Instead, the harried soldier led us into a small side tunnel that looped around in what felt like a perpendicular path to the giant structure. We passed door after door, and elicited curious stares from workers and soldiers alike.
It smelled and looked like every military base I’d ever visited, and it was the tidiest building I’d been in since before The Collapse. Jane wouldn’t like me to say that, considering the pains she’d taken to keep our humble cabin clean, but there was no substitute for government/military order and discipline. It was like traveling back in time, and the shock of recognition made it feel like an out-of-body experience.
The soldier finally stopped and whirled around. His eyes were wide like he was about to tell us something so profound that we should hang onto every syllable.
“The General will see you now.”
He opened the door grandly, like he was presenting us to the Lord of the Manor. The General was facing the opposite direction when we entered, and he didn’t turn to face us until after the door closed.
“Did you have a change of heart?” he asked, still facing the opposite direction.
“My kids are sick,” I said quickly, desperately.
Now he turned. Gone was the warrior wrapped in camouflage. Now he wore form-fitting black utilities. He looked like a General.
“Ma’am,” he said, nodding to Jane.
“Please, General, can you help us?” she asked.
“What are their symptoms?”
Jane told him, methodical and robotic.
“Have you been tested yet?” he asked me.
“Tested for what?”
His face twisted in frustration. I knew what was coming.
“They didn’t test you? No samples?”
I shook my head.
“And you didn’t enlist?”
“No, sir,” I replied. I felt an ass-chewing coming.
The glare disappeared as fast as it had come, replaced by a thin smile.
“I’d love to know how you accomplished that feat,” he said. There was no getting around it. I wasn’t ashamed to admit it.
“I told them you said to come. I used your name like you told me.”
He gave me a nod. Approval?
“Look, despite your roundabout way of getting here, and, yes, I will be having a little chat with my staff about this, we have rules. No one comes in unless they’re in custody or signing up.”
The fear welled inside me, churning.
“Please, General, I’ll do anything,” I said.
“I need as many good men as I can get.”
He didn’t ask me to join. He didn’t have to. It was the obvious thing to do, but my hard-won freedom wasn’t for sale. At least that’s what I told myself until I looked down at Sybil in my arms and then over at Charlie. My gaze shifted to Jane. I could see the fear there, but she nodded, the choice no longer mine.
“Okay,” I said, “Tell me what to do.”
Chapter 7
We were taken straight to the clinic. If I thought the hallways of The Headquarters were clean, the silver shelves and waxed floors of the clinic were immaculate. The doctor was courteous, yet cold - all business.
“How long have they exhibited these symptoms?” he asked.
Jane gave the doctor the same detailed report she’d given The General.
The doctor’s eyebrow rose.
“Have you done this before?” he asked.
“I was a flight nurse, doctor.”
His focus fixed squarely on Jane. I didn’t like it.
“You know, we’re looking for nurses. You’d have to go through testing first, of course, but if you have experience….”
“Doctor, I’d be happy to talk to you about that later, but can we please focus on my children?”
If the doctor was offended, he didn’t show it. His eyes lingered on Jane for another moment, then he returned his attention to Sybil and Charlie on the gurneys. He pulled something out of his pocket that looked like a pen. Jane leaned in to see what he was doing.
The doctor pressed the instrument to Sybil’s temple, clicked the button on top, and then repeated the same actions with Charlie.
“This should only take a second,” he said, staring at what I now realized was a tiny screen on the side of the pen-shaped instrument.
“Is that for their temperature?” Jane asked.
The doctor grinned.
“When was the last time you’ve been to a place like this?”
“It’s been a while,” Jane answered.
“Well, this fine tool not only measures temperature, but it also samples a microscopic amount of blood and tissue to tell us exactly what’s wrong with our patients. Beats having to run tests and spend a whole day in a hospital.”
He said it like it was the most natural thing in the world. Jane was obviously curious, but my thoughts went to the dead, the tens of thousands who had perished after The Collapse. And that was only in an area that I knew. What had happened to the rest of the world, the rest of America? Did it all look like The Tennessee Zone?
And here was this doctor with his sparkling clinic and high-tech tools. How much could he have done if he’d just gone out into the real world and helped the people who hadn’t enlisted in whatever scheme the new government had concocted? Then I remembered that I was one of them now, that I was again a cog in the machine.
A barely audible ding sounded from the miracle instrument and the smug doctor looked down at it.
“Ah,” he said, then clicked the top again, and a holographic display appeared on the closest wall. It showed a staggering amount of information. All I could decipher were the temperatures, 102.4 for Sybil and 101.9 for Charlie. “Fungal meningitis,” the doctor announced, like it had been obvious.
Jane gripped my arm. She’d always been worried about meningitis. The wrong type could be contagious and most times lethal without proper medical care. I didn’t know the difference between the types, and I waited for the doctor to cut the suspense and just tell us. Were we too late?
“It will take them a couple of weeks to fully recover, but with the proper medication, and plenty of rest, I don’t think they’ll have a problem.”
The relief almost dropped me to my knees.
The doctor called for someone in the next room, and a moment later an older woman appeared in a spotless white nurse’s uniform.
“Yes, doctor?”
“I’ve submitted the drug orders for these two patients. Would you mind running down to the dispensary to get them?”
The nurse smiled and left the room.
“Now, is there anything else I can do for you?” the doctor asked, his attention completely on Jane.
+++
“I don’t like that guy,” I told Jane when the doctor
left after giving Sybil and Charlie their injections.
“Don’t be that way,” Jane said. Andrew was sitting on her lap. He’d been a real trooper, but I could tell from the way he was swaying that he needed to get to bed soon. “He’s just doing his job.”
“I don’t like the way he looked at you.”
“Are you saying you’re jealous?” Jane asked. She smiled at me mischievously, like I was being ridiculous. She didn’t know how beautiful she was, even in the comparatively shabby clothing she was wearing set against the backdrop of the spotless clinic and its perfectly dressed staff.
Jane reached over and grabbed my hand.
“You have nothing to worry about, honey. I promised my mother that I would never date a doctor.”
It wasn’t Jane that I was worried about. We were in a strange place and the doctor seemed sort of like The General, a master of his domain. Those types of characters tended to get what they wanted, or at least did their best to twist the system to their needs.
I was about to toss a snarky jab back, but The General walked in, with the kid from the farmhouse raid marching in right behind him.
“How are the kids?” The General asked.
“Much better, thank you,” Jane said before I could reply. There were tears in her eyes now, and the look on her face showed the depth of her appreciation.
“I’m glad we could help. Now, if you’d like to follow me, I’ll show you to your quarters.”
“But the children,” Jane said.
“Eli here will stand watch, at least if that’s okay with you,” The General said, motioning to the kid soldier behind him.
Jane looked at me to answer.
“Is it close?” I asked.
“A five-minute walk, tops,” The General said. “I’ll bet that young man right there would like to take a shower and catch some zees.”
Andrew’s eyes went wide. “A shower?”
“Yep. With all the water you want.”
“Dad, can we go? Please, can we go?” Andrew pleaded.
I couldn’t remember the last time I’d had a shower. The kids had never had the luxury. Since being born they’d had to make do with the river a half a mile from our old home. At least it was running water. Most people didn’t even have that.
The room was tight and looked like an exact replica of a ship’s berthing areas, but it was clean. There was a bed for everyone, and there was a shower. Jane and I let Andrew go first, and we laughed as he sang while the hot water washed over him.
“Pretty nice, right?” I asked Jane.
“It is.”
“But…?”
She didn’t want to ruin the moment; I could see that. But we’d built our marriage, our family, on telling the truth, no matter the cost. It was one of the few possessions we had.
“Are you sure we should be doing this? I mean, it’s a change from what we’ve gotten used to, but what’s the catch?” she asked.
“I’m not sure I want to think about that just yet. Why don’t we enjoy it for now, and we’ll deal with the aftermath tomorrow?”
Jane nodded, but didn’t look convinced. That was fine. I wasn’t convinced either. In fact, I was having serious second thoughts about my promise.
Chapter 8
After showers (yes, it was one of the most glorious things I’ve ever experienced), we headed back down to the clinic to see Sybil and Charlie. We fit in with the rest of the base personnel now, dressed in our starched khaki uniforms. They reminded me of prison uniforms, but at least they were clean. Mine were a little baggy, and we had to roll up the pants for Andrew. Jane’s fit like she’d been measured by the seamstress.
I was surprised to see The General waiting outside our room. Why didn’t he have one of his men escort us around? The answer came a moment later.
“I’ll get you back to the clinic, and you’re welcome to stay with your kids,” he said to Jane, “but you’ll need to come with me for testing,” he said to me.
“Testing?” Andrew asked. “Did you study, Dad?”
I chuckled and tousled his combed hair. He slapped my hand away, trying to smooth his hair back in place.
“I’m sure your dad will do just fine,” The General answered for me. “It won’t take long, I promise.”
The General was true to his word. After dropping Jane and Andrew at the clinic, he led me to another part of the gigantic complex. I didn’t ask any questions on the way, and The General didn’t offer a guided tour. I did see how the other inhabitants looked at The General, mostly with respect and deference, but others with anxiety.
The test was simple. A guy wearing thick glasses produced a stick with a cotton tip, ordered me to open my mouth, and swabbed the inside of my cheek. Then he put the swab into a sort of rectangular box, pushed a button, and something popped up on the screen.
“Security,” the man announced.
The General grunted in what sounded like approval. “Thank you,” he said, and then he ushered me to the far wall where a holographic file was waiting.
There was a picture of me. I had no idea when they’d taken it. Maybe when I’d walked in the testing room, because I saw the khaki shirt I now wore. It made me wonder if the entire complex was crawling with hidden cameras. Probably.
“So, you’re probably wondering what that was all about,” The General said, swiping through my file.
“I think I’ve got too many questions to ask in the time allotted, General.”
“That’s understandable, and there will be time for that later, but right now we need to nail down what you’re going to do here.”
“Are you referring to a job?”
“Exactly. Now, that test we just performed predicts within a hairsbreadth, pun intended, an individual’s innate aptitudes. It’s effective in selecting the best man or woman for the job. Don’t ask me how they do it, because that tech is way over my head, but I will say that I’ve never seen it go wrong.”
“So what does Security mean?”
“I know it’s a fairly broad term, but it means you have a high aptitude for security and military service.”
“Is that all it predicts?”
The General shrugged. “They test for a lot of things, track population trends, that sort of thing, but The Fed handles that.”
“Did you say The Fed? I thought they were gone.”
The General’s astonished look was genuine.
“How long have you been out there?”
“Since it all started.”
“And you’ve never wondered about the real world?” he asked, incredulous.
“I can’t say that I cared much. I had my family.”
“But you served —”
“That was a long time ago, General.”
I didn’t want to talk about those days, and thankfully, he didn’t press.
“Okay. Let’s call it a clean slate then, a fresh start for your family. I think you’ll find that it isn’t so bad here. Better than where you came from, right?”
I wasn’t so sure. Our living situation hadn’t been perfect, but I’d loved that one-bedroom cabin. It was where we’d made and raised our kids. I’d always look back on it fondly, despite the attack that led to our departure.
“You were saying that The Fed still exists. Where are they now?”
“How much do you know?”
I searched my memory bank, but I didn’t have to look far. I would never forget that last newscast, the one that had changed everything.
“The last I heard was the announcement about the break up, that each state would become its own Zone, and that the state’s delegates in Washington would return home to oversee the orderly reconstruction.”
The General nodded. “Then you have missed out. Did you know that shortly after the announcement in that newscast, the fifty Zones reorganized and became ten Zones?”
“I didn’t.”
“It was bound to happen. Some Zones just collapsed under the strain. They’d been beholden to Washington fo
r so long that independence was near impossible for them to achieve,” he explained.
“But we’re still The Tennessee Zone, right?”
“We are, but now we stretch virtually from coast to coast.”
“General, are you saying we invaded those states?”
It was much worse than I thought. I imagined my children being conscripted for some enormous land grab that would benefit whoever was running The Zones now.
“Not exactly. We saw a weakness and moved in to help. I obviously use the word help loosely, but most of it happened without a single shot fired.”
“So, which states are now part of The Tennessee Zone?”
“Here, let me show you.” He moved my holo file aside and swiped a map into view. “Nevada, Utah, Colorado, Kansas, Missouri, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Tennessee and West Virginia. Roughly.”
“But why those? Why cut the country in half?”
“Why not? It had already been divided into fifty pieces again, so some brain upstairs came up with what they call The Tennessee Line.” He traced his finger from west to east and back again.
“What now? Is the plan to keep growing?”
“That’s above my pay grade, Ryker.”
“But everyone seems to defer to you. Why is that, General?”
He grinned. “Let’s just say I keep most people at arm’s length. Also my people and I have been known to take on some…exciting adventures.”
“Like the farmhouse takedown?”
“Nah. That was just routine. Normally we get the B and C teams to do that, but I was a little bored and figured my new guys needed some time in the field.” He glanced at his watch and then said, “I only have time for one last question.”
Jeez. One question? After I sign my life away again, he tells me all these things about The Fed, about The Tennessee Zone, and I get just one last question? I decided to ask the most pressing one.
“What do I have to do for this Security assignment, General?”