The Departed

by Chase McCown

  Chapter 75

  February 6th, 2026. A warehouse near Birmingham, Alabama.

  Robert stopped and looked around. The room was nearly as black as pitch, and he could hardly see his hand in front of his own face.

  “And what if I refuse?” Robert asked.

  “I’ll blast a crater through your skull,” Peter said, placing his bulky revolver at the base of Robert’s neck. “And if your friends don’t want to see your gray matter splattered across the wall, I recommend they do the same.”

  They begrudgingly complied, and Peter bound their hands. He paced back and forth, deep in thought.

  “You know, I’ve always wanted to witness the infection take hold…first hand. Now, it appears I’ll have my chance,” he said.

  He produced a syringe and proceeded toward Susan. Simultaneously, the intercom crackled to life. “Thirty seconds remaining.”

  Peter laughed as he stuck the syringe in Susan’s arm.

  *

  The warehouse boomed, red lights flashed, and a voice rang out, “Three minutes remaining.”

  “Tell me you know how to turn this thing off,” Howard said.

  “Okay. I know how to turn this thing off,” Fred repeated.

  “Oh boy. You said you’re a demolitions expert, didn’t you?” Howard asked.

  “Well, ‘how to disarm an ICBM’ isn’t exactly in the manual, if you know what I mean.”

  “Fair enough,” Howard said.

  They reached a terminal in the middle of one of the side rooms, and a timer was visible on a monitor above it.

  “This must be it,” said Fred. “Oh, good. Lots of buttons with no labels. Just the way I like it.”

  Fred worked frantically, searching for a clue, anything that might show him how to stop the launch, but nothing presented itself.

  Time continued to tick away. Two minutes, one minute thirty seconds, one minute.

  Finally, the intercom marked the thirty-second mark, and Fred began frantically pressing buttons based on nothing more than blind guessing.

  When the timer got into the single digits, Howard decided to take a gamble. “Three, two…” Howard took out his knife as it counted and sliced the power cord in half.

  “What are you doing?” Fred gasped.

  The machine went quiet, and the slow opening of the launch bay and gradual release of smoke halted.

  “Wait, did that actually work?” Fred asked.

  “I-I think so,” Howard stammered.

  *

  Peter slowly injected the syringe into Susan’s arm. She could feel the infection coursing through her bloodstream, and a sense of finality closed over her like a casket.

  A voice, though, jarred her.

  “Stop!” Howard yelled.

  Peter turned, shocked by the voice, and a bullet pierced his chest. Blood gurgled from the hole, and he dropped to his knees. Terror crossed his eyes, along with pure surprise. He fell to the floor, the light of life snuffed out. At last, he was gone.

  “Are you guys okay?” Fred asked.

  “I… He…” Susan stuttered.

  “Cut me free,” Jacob said.

  Once he was loose, he took a syringe out of a pack he carried and injected Susan with it.

  “You’re good now, Susan,” Jacob said.

  “Is he really gone?” Susan asked, rubbing the shoulder where she had been injected.

  Robert bent down to check his pulse. “Yeah,” he said.

  “Then, it’s over?” Susan asked.

  “I hope so,” said Robert.

  *

  The infected continued to come at the defenders, but by now they were visibly fewer and farther between.

  From the dense woods around the hill, the sound of machine gun fire rang out, and between the crossfire, the horde was cut to pieces.

  They began to lunge desperately at the front line defenders, but the defenders raised riot shields to thwart their attacks. Fire erupted from the front, and flame throwers drove the horde back. A few escaped behind the hill they had crested for the attack, but most lay dead in the valley.

  At last, the battle was over. The city was safe.

  Epilogue

  July 23rd, 2026. On a farm in rural Virginia.

  Jacob sat on his porch staring out over the fields of vegetables as the sun began to set.

  This wasn’t exactly the ending he’d had in mind. In fact, he’d always expected to be in an upscale New York townhouse by now, with butlers and servants and perhaps a chauffeur.

  But now, he decided, it was the ending he preferred. He’d had enough adventure to last ten lifetimes, and getting away from the chaos of the city suited him well.

  “Jacob?” Susan called.

  “I’m out her,” Jacob answered.

  “What’s wrong?”

  “Nothing. I was just thinking. Where’s Howard?” he asked.

  “Working in the fields with Mike,” Susan said.

  “Still? It’s getting late.”

  “Yeah, you know how Howard is. Plus, he said he wanted to talk to Mike.”

  *

  “It’s getting dark. We’d better head back before Jacob and Susan send a search party,” Howard said, uprooting a large turnip and placing it in the basket he carried.

  Mike nodded and walked alongside him back toward the house.

  “You know, Mike,” Howard said. “I know things haven’t been easy for you.”

  Mike didn’t say anything, and instead kicked a pinecone down the road.

  “I mean, losing your parents— Well, I know how you must feel. It hurts, right down to your bones. But I just wanted to say, we’re family too. I mean, I feel like you’re the grandson I never had, and you know how much Susan and Jacob both care about you. If you ever need to talk, we’re right here.”

  Mike smiled, looking up at Howard. “Thanks.”

  “Well,” Howard said, “it looks like they waited for us.”

  “Hey, guys,” Howard said. “Any news?”

  “I just heard that they’re treating the final cases of the infection, and it sounds like they’ve been able to restore power in some areas already. It’s funny, things seem to be finally going back to normal,” Susan said.

  “Normal,” Jacob echoed, shaking his head. “Do you think it’s ever going to be normal, Howard?”

  “I don’t know,” Howard said. “Even if it is, I don’t know if that’s a good thing. I just hope we can all learn something from an experience like this. Maybe it’ll remind us how short life is and teach us what’s important and what we should let go of.”

  Jacob nodded, and the four sat there on the porch watching the sunset.

  “You know,” Howard began, placing his hand under his chin, “I’m not very tired yet. And I seem to remember something about a game of baseball I owe you,” he said, turning to Mike.

  Mike’s eyes grew wide, and he grinned from ear to ear. “I think I saw some bats and gloves downstairs! I’ll get everything ready!” he said.

  Mike disappeared into the house and reappeared minutes later with a baseball, gloves, and bats.

  The four played baseball in their yard well into the night.

  This wasn’t the ending any of them pictured, but somehow it fit after what they’d been through.

  Howard went out every day Monday through Friday and preached the gospel to anyone who’d hear him. He didn’t have a church to preach in, but he didn’t mind. He felt that now, more than ever, there were people out there who needed to hear the good news.

  Susan let go of her pain, her sadness, and her loss. She moved on from the death of her husband into the mystery of the future. Whatever it brought, though, she was ready for it. For once in her life, she was truly happy.

  Jacob didn’t get the Hollywood ending he’d always dreamed of, but he wasn’t sure that he even wanted it anymore. He was content, something he had never been before, and he focused on bringing up Mike and being there for him.

  As for Mike, it was a fresh start. He
had a new family, one who loved him and cared about him. His eyes now shone with hope for the future, and the troubles of his past were behind him. Sometimes, late at night, he still thought of Charlie. He wished he could have known him better, but he decided to be grateful for the time he did know him.

  And Charlie had become the hero he’d never dreamed of being. His statue stood proudly in the capital of the New Union as a reminder of courage and sacrifice, and he was commemorated as the nation’s hero. He was also Mike’s hero, and Mike decided to honor Charlie’s sacrifice by living his life as well as he could.

  About the Author

  CHASE MCCOWN studies business at the University of Alabama. His greatest passion is storytelling, especially telling stories that captivate people. He also loves the process of watching characters mature throughout a story. He is the oldest of five children, three of which have special needs. One of his brothers suffers from cerebral palsy caused by a traumatic brain injury prior to birth, another brother suffers from a severe seizure disorder, and his sister suffers from a congenital heart defect. These last two siblings also share a mitochondrial disorder.

  In his spare time, Chase enjoys playing video games and watching college football. Chase especially enjoys video games with strong story elements. He believes that videogames have the potential to be the most immersive storytelling medium if utilized properly, because they allow users to interact with the story in a way that is impossible with books or movies. He would love to play a role in creating characters and stories for video games that inspire others.