Rise the Phoenix

by Ely Page

  “Charley called us to his office last night to tell us,” Roland said.

  Dylan looked at the five people. They were all from Charley’s tribe. “OK then.” Dylan had to fight with himself to not say anything bad about Charley in front of the guys. “If Charley says we need supplies, I wish you luck and Godspeed.”

  Dylan left the group and quickly ran straight to town hall. Once he arrived, he wasn’t surprised to find that nobody was there yet. The sun was just peaking over the gray shell of the permanent cloud cover several miles outside Hope. Dylan debated whether he should go to Charley’s house and see what was going on. The debate didn’t last long; he found himself walking up Charley’s front steps before he knew it.

  He waited at the door after knocking for several moments. He heard some movement, and finally Charley opened the door just enough to stick his head through.

  “Dylan, what can I do for you this early morning?” Charley’s tone made it clear he was annoyed about the time of day. Dylan got it, and it made him realize that he was really mad at Charley.

  “What made you think that it was a good idea to send five people out on a mission to collect supplies without consulting me first?”

  Charley didn’t take Dylan’s tone lightly. “It was late when people came up to me and said we were getting low on things that we simply could not make ourselves, so I thought it was time to send out a party to gather what was needed.”

  That ticked Dylan off even more. “That is a military mission, and I should have been involved in planning it. I should have been involved in picking who went on it.”

  “Look, I don’t have to consult you on anything. I make all the decisions in this town, and if I send people out without talking to you, it’s because I’ve got it handled. Those are the five best people from my tribe. They know what they are doing without you getting involved.”

  Just then, the door opened a little more, revealing a half-naked woman standing behind Charley.

  “Oh. Hi, Dylan.” It was Andrea from Dylan’s tribe; she was now Charley’s wife.

  “If anything happens to those people, it is on your hands!” Dylan said through grinding teeth. He then stormed off.

  “What was his problem?” Andrea asked Charley, who didn’t respond as he shut the door.

  Dylan sulked around the training academy over the next several days, almost worrying himself sick waiting for the party to return with the supplies or, as Dylan hoped, at least with their lives.

  Leah came to the old school in the middle of the day; she brought some food for them to eat for lunch. She first went to Dylan’s office, which was the old principal’s office by the old school’s main door. He wasn’t in there, so she walked down the hallway until she could hear some grunting. She knew exactly where he was and headed right there.

  Leah walked into the gym. She watched as Dylan did pull-ups on a bar attached to the wall. Watching him gave her a flashback to when she’d first met Dylan in the living room at Frank and Alice’s house, only a little over a year earlier. She thought about how much he had changed since then. He’d been a scrawny little thing, and now as she watched him do a pull-up with sweat glistening over his muscles, she could hardly believe that this was the same man she’d fallen in love with—but she wasn’t complaining.

  When Dylan finished his set, he let go of the bar and jumped down to floor. He noticed Leah standing there watching him. He turned red with embarrassment at first, then he realized she was his wife and he had no reason to feel that way.

  “Hey, what are you doing here?” Dylan asked Leah as he reached for his glass of water.

  “I brought my big, strong, sweaty man some lunch,” she replied with sass in her voice.

  They went back to his office so they could use his desk as a table.

  “What did you bring?” Dylan was hungry. He dug through the lunch basket that Leah had brought, but she quickly slapped his hand away.

  “I will get everything out. You just sit down and take it easy.” She pulled out a couple of sandwiches and some potato chips. There were a lot of potatoes in Hope; they were the single biggest source of food the town had.

  “Chicken salad and potato chips. Yay.” Dylan had to laugh at Leah and her presentation of the same food they ate for lunch almost every day.

  Once they finished eating, Leah opened up the lunch basket. “Now it’s time for dessert,” she said, reaching in and pulling out a piece of cake.

  Dylan was excited. “Cake! How did you score that?” he asked before she handed it to him.

  “I got it because this is a special occasion,” she said, handing him a fork.

  “What’s special about eating lunch at my work?”

  She smiled widely. “Read what it says on top.”

  Dylan looked at the piece of chocolate cake with white frosting and almost dropped it. The frosting said, “Time for a baby.” With his eyes tearing up, Dylan got out of his chair and walked around his desk to give Leah the biggest hug he’d ever given anyone.

  They had baby John at home, but he was—and to Dylan would always be—Morgan’s son. This time Dylan was having his own child with Leah.

  “You’re pregnant! I don’t think I have ever felt so happy in my life. This—this is great,” he said, giving her another hug.

  Leah loved the hug, just not the sweat that came with it.

  With Jenny and Porter and Hanna and Ben also having babies again, plus Andy and his wife Gina having their first, new life was taking over Hope. It was the start of great things to come, with a town full of one-year-olds and newborns. The small, close-knit community was growing by leaps and bounds.

  Charley had avoided Dylan since the confrontation on his front porch a few days ago. He was avoiding Dylan because he was afraid Dylan was right. With each passing day that the supply party didn’t come back, it looked like Dylan had been right.

  Night was creeping up on Hope when the sharpshooter in the crow’s nest sounded the perimeter alarm, alerting everyone that something was approaching. Dylan ran to the base of the grain elevator to get the location of the breech.

  “East on the road!” Marty shouted through the little speaker system.

  Dylan and a few others ran over to the eastern wall’s elevated walkway.

  “We got two approaching,” Dylan shouted to the others around him.

  Charley immediately cringed when he heard that; he knew that they were what was left of the supply party he’d sent out, and he knew that Dylan had been right about all of it.

  “Looks like Roland and Hank. It’s the supply party.” Dylan lowered his voice. “Or what’s left of it.”

  Dylan put his binoculars down and turned to lock eyes with Charley for a moment.

  “Porter and Ben, come with me. We will go out and help them make it back,” Dylan said.

  The two men nodded their heads in acknowledgement. Dylan looked around and saw who he was looking for, Ben’s wife Hanna.

  “Get Chris and get the clinic ready. They may need medical attention!” he ordered.

  “Right away,” Hanna said as she ran toward the clinic.

  The three men walked out the gate and turned sharp left on what was left of the old highway. Dylan held back the fury that was boiling inside of him. He’d known this would happen. He vowed to himself that it would never happen again as long as he was alive.

  When Dylan, Porter, and Ben approached Roland and Hank, Dylan started asking questions. “First off, are you two OK?”

  “We’ve just got some cuts and scratches, that’s all,” Roland said as Porter and Ben grabbed the bags they were carrying.

  “We will get you into the clinic right away to have those looked at.” Dylan looked around for no obvious reason. He didn’t want to ask the question, but he had to. “What happened to the others?”

  Roland and Hank told Dylan the whole
ordeal. They said they were ambushed at a craft store when they were getting fabric and other materials for clothing and bedding. They said the wambei came in and surrounded them in the middle of the store. All five of them managed to climb up on top of the shelves, but the wambei could climb too. Laine was the first to fall; she was ravaged and torn to death. Recounting her loss made Hank cry. Eric was killed next when he tried to avenge the death of the woman he had just married. Roland recounted that Eric took out three wambei before they overran him. Eric’s act of love saved Hank, Roland, and Graham some time and allowed them to escape the store.

  The three of them had run from the city as long as they could, until they had to stop and rest. Just when they were getting ready to leave, Graham stepped to the side of a tree to relieve himself and disappeared without a sound. Roland and Hank had yelled and searched for him, but they ultimately felt it was a lost cause. They didn’t stop again until Dylan came out of the gate to meet them.

  Dylan walked Hank and Roland to the clinic and made sure they would be OK before he left.

  “Can I talk to you?” A voice came from some bushes behind Dylan after he left the clinic. Charley emerged from the shadows looking tired and defeated.

  They went to Dylan’s office at the training academy. Dylan sat down behind his desk, and Charley sat on the chair opposite him.

  “So, what do you want to talk to me about?” Dylan rigidly looked toward the lead elder.

  “I messed up, and you were right. I cost the lives of three people that I knew very well and had grown to love as if they were my own family. When you said their blood would be on my hands, you couldn’t have been more prophetic.” Charley was silent for several minutes; Dylan said nothing to alleviate Charley’s discomfort.

  Charley rose from his chair. “Tomorrow I will resign as lead elder and give up my place on the board of elders. I have shamed myself and irresponsibly damaged the tribe.” He started to walk out.

  “Charley!” Dylan yelled as he got up from his chair to walk after him.

  Charley stopped at the front door and turned to face Dylan, who had caught up to him. Charley’s eyes were bloodshot with worry and regret.

  “I think that you are doing the right thing,” Dylan said to him. “But don’t just give up. You are still an important part of the tribe, and we will need you. Just listen to what the rest of the elders have to say tomorrow, and they will help you decide what is best for everyone.”

  When the meeting of the elders ended, Charley did resign as lead elder. Jason, the leader of the Midwest tribe, was picked to replace him.

  Things calmed down for the rest of the summer and fall. While the town was always alert to any possible outside dangers, some rules were relaxed. Fishing became a new way to get food into Hope. There was a good-sized lake only two miles straight west of town, and a group of fishermen would go out every day to see what they could catch and bring back. Charley found a new job as a member of the fishing crew; he actually used to work at the fisherman’s wharf in Seattle.

  The first grain harvest was a complete success. Ollie led a group of volunteers to help cut down and harvest all the wheat, oats, and barley that he had planted in the spring. It was enough that once the wheat was turned into flour, the bakers would be able to make enough bread to last all winter. They could only imagine how much flour they could have made if the dragon hadn’t wiped out a twenty-acre field of wheat.

  As winter and the cold set in, most of the town’s activities slowed down. People started moving in together, as they had during the previous winter. This time, someone had the brilliant idea of putting the three couples that were expecting spring babies into one house. It turned out to be hormonal hell for Dylan, Porter, and Ben. Along with their children, Leah, Jenny, and Hanna ruled the house. There were constant foot rubs and hot baths, and diapers always needed changing. The men were always thinking of something to do so they could get away from the house as much as possible.

  Porter and Greg started teaching a history class to anyone who wanted to come. Dylan taught defense and attack classes to make sure everyone in town stayed sharp as they waited for the next attack from Hell’s minions. Ben volunteered to watch the crow’s nest as much as he could.

  Ollie slipped on some ice and hurt his back pretty badly, so Dylan started spending a lot of time outside the wall tending to the animals while Ollie recovered. He had help from Nick, who was from the Canadian tribe. Nick caught on with the animals pretty quickly, and he eventually took over most of the animal care from Dylan.

  During the winter, Dylan also began to learn karate. After his defense and attack classes finished, he stuck around with Zack and Aaron, two guys who were in his class. They came from different parts of the country, but they both were brown belts in karate, and they agreed to teach Dylan two-on-one style together. Zack and Aaron had conflicting views on how things should be done, but Dylan thought that helped him learn and improved his execution.

  It was late winter, and the three pregnant women were all about to burst.

  “Where is Porter?” Jenny shouted from atop the stairs of the house they shared with the other two couples.

  “He put Tank down for a nap and went for a jog,” said Ben, who had just walked into the house from a shift on the crow’s nest.

  “Well, someone better go get him and Chris,” Jenny said with intensity. “My water just broke.”

  Ben was about to sit down at the kitchen table, but he stopped himself and stood back up. “I’ll go,” he said, running out the door.

  “I’ll go too,” Dylan said, coming from the living room and running after Ben as fast as he could.

  “You go get Sarah or Chris; I know where Porter is,” said Ben as the two men split up.

  After a couple of minutes, Ben caught up with Porter and chased him down. Porter was jogging along the inside perimeter of the wall.

  “Porter, wait up,” Ben said in between heavy breaths.

  “What are you doing out here? I figured you’d be sleepingby now.” Porter said.

  “Jenny’s water broke. You need to get back to the house ASAP.” Ben hunched over and put his hands on his knees to catch his breath.

  Porter didn’t stick around to wait for Ben; he ran full speed to the house. Ben just waved at his back.

  Porter got to the house at the same time Chris and Dylan showed up. Dylan stayed outside; he did not want to go in there at this time. Ben showed up a few minutes later, taking his time. He sat down on the porch swing next to Dylan.

  “I don’t know about you,” said Ben, looking out at the old street in front of the house, “but I think we should ask if we can go back to our own houses. I don’t think I want to stay at Porter’s anymore, not with new babies coming.”

  Dylan smiled. Ben fell asleep on the swing as soon as he fished speaking. In fact, Dylan thought that Ben may have been talking in his sleep.

  “At least it’s a nice day for you to sleep outside,” Dylan said quietly, so as not to wake his sleeping friend.

  Jenny took care of that in a few minutes with a scream so loud and scary that Ben ducked down on the porch to take cover.

  “The wambei are in the perimeter!” he shouted.

  Dylan, never leaving the swing, almost fell out of it laughing. “You all right? It’s just Jenny having a baby. If there is attack going on, at least it’s not here.”

  The door opened and a very pregnant Leah appeared through it. “What are you doing out here?”

  Dylan opened his mouth to speak. “I . . . wh . . .”

  Leah cut him off. “Get in this house right now and help! We need some water! And you need to feed John.”

  Dylan walked into the house without even making eye contact with his wife. Ben started-to laugh at Dylan’s expense, but it was short-lived.

  “Benjamin! Get in here NOW!” Hanna couldn’t be seen from the porch, but she sur
e could be heard.

  The baby was born, a girl. Since Porter got to name their son Tank, Jenny picked the name of their girl, Serena. She looked just like her mommy.

  The board of elders agreed to let Dylan, Leah, and John, as well as Ben, Hanna, and their daughter Willow, to move back into their own homes. The special exemption was given because of the pregnancies and Porter and Jenny’s new baby.

  The day Leah and Dylan moved back into their house, Leah gave birth to their first child together. It was a boy. There was no doubt what the name of the boy was going to be: Frankie. Dylan cried tears of joy as Leah cried tears of pain and then, later, joy.

  “It looks like mother and baby are doing well,” Chris said to Dylan after the delivery. “I am going to go home now. I might get called up at any minute for Hanna, and Sarah is running nonstop caring for all these newborns. I need all the rest I can get. If you need anything, you know where I’m at.” She squeezed Dylan’s arm as she left.

  Dylan went into the bedroom where Leah was with John. Frankie was already laying in his bassinet. They all were sound asleep. Dylan walked over to the rocking chair next to the bed and stared at his family before falling asleep himself.

  The very next day, Hanna gave birth to a girl again. She and Ben named the little girl Anna after Hanna’s mom.

  With three new babies in town, the news of several other pregnancies, and the warmth of spring coming, Hope was a very happy place in a sad and desolate world. But that was only on the surface.

  It seemed that most people in Hope started to forget why they were there. Some stopped going to Sunday church service, and some began asking to start a monetary service instead a “work for goods and service” system. People stopped being nice, as they had been for the first year-plus of being together. It was disheartening to Dylan, who knew that this was not going to help and that if this continued, Satan would surely win and humanity would be lost.

  Dylan met with Pastor Jim and Rodan. The three of them were the most concerned with how the townspeople were acting. The concern came to a head after church one day. It was clear that there were people missing who normally came.