Critical Measures

by Kip Nelson

  “She managed to slip away.”

  “Oh, that's just great! She just happened to slip away! Maybe you never wanted her to come back in the first place? Now she can go back and tell everyone in that camp about our plan,” one of the other soldiers said. Guns were raised against Diana and the others. Adam struggled to his feet.

  “This wouldn't have happened if you hadn't been so quick to walk on,” Diana said through gritted teeth. She looked toward where Lisa had run off and wanted to run after her, but didn't want to risk moving when a gun was pointed straight at her heart.

  “Don't try blaming us for this. I bet you've had this planned all along.”

  “We don't have time for this,” Tara said, rolling her eyes. “She's out there. We must find her. Believe what you want, but I'm going to look for her. You all can stick around here, or you can help us find her.”

  With that she, Adam, and the other two ventured into the darkness to try finding Lisa. The others had no choice but to help them. There was much consternation and Adam hated himself for falling over, blaming himself for what had happened, but there was no time for self-recrimination now.

  They heard a sound nearby. Peter went after it, but the two beady eyes of a fox gleamed back at him, and it bounded away. It was sometimes hard to remember the city still was teeming with life in all its nooks and crannies. They searched the buildings desperately, not believing that such an old woman could have gone very far, but time was of the essence. Suddenly, Adam had a strong feeling someone was watching them, following them. He swung around and pointed his gun into nothingness. He was afraid Lee would come back and give him the death that was promised.

  There was much cursing as the group split up and searched everywhere they could find, listening for any sound Lisa could make. She was an old woman, with her hands bound and her mouth gagged. Surely she could not have gone far. The plan had been going so well, and now it was in disarray. How could things have fallen apart so quickly? Adam's heart raced, and his head started to ache. It was beginning to feel as if they were destined to suffer, that this was some kind of hell designed for them all. The frantic searching continued for a little while until they finally found her, crouched in a dark hole. She had managed to twist free of the gag. She looked like a demon in the dim light.

  “You will all live to regret this,” she spat out. The men who had been leading the mission put the gag back in her mouth and grabbed her, pulling her forward. They took control of her and glared at Diana and Tara.

  “This time there won't be any mistakes,” the brutish one said. Tara and Diana only could glare as they trudged back in line and made their way back into the camp. It had been a close call, but they were back on track, and Lisa was secure once again.

  Chapter Seven

  Adam was surprised by how many people still were awake when they reached the camp. It seemed as though word had spread about the mission and everyone was eager to see the person responsible for all the sorrow they had endured. They walked through the gates, which were shut behind them, and were greeted by Matthew.

  “It's good to see you. I'm glad the mission was a success. Did you have any trouble?” he asked.

  “Nothing worth mentioning,” the brute grunted, pushing Lisa forward. He glared at Diana as he spoke.

  Matthew caught this look, but didn't say anything about it. He stood with his hands behind his back. There was a fire lit in the background, casting the area in an orange glow. The people had formed a ring around them and Adam wondered if the trial was going to start right away. He couldn't see Stan or Annabelle anywhere, and assumed they were sleeping. At least someone was getting their rest. Tara came to stand beside him and their hands found each other. It was strange to see Lisa before everyone else with her hands bound together and her mouth gagged. She looked so small, so harmless, it was almost unbelievable to think that such evil could reside in someone such as her.

  Matthew strode forward and stood before her. He inhaled deeply. “Lisa, you have been charged with many crimes against humanity. We have brought you here to stand trial.. It will begin tomorrow, and you will be made to answer for your crimes. Until then you shall be held securely, and you will be given some food and water, but you will not be able to roam free. You are a prisoner here.” He stepped forward and pulled away the gag. Lisa spat on the ground in front of Matthew and looked at him with wild eyes.

  “Do you really think you can hold me here? If you're going to do anything to me, you should kill me. That's what's wrong with the world. You're all weak, too weak to survive. This world was made for the strong.”

  Adam felt a surge of uneasiness around him. All of these people had suffered at the hands of this woman, but few actually had seen her in the flesh. Hearing her words made them all unsettled, and Adam wouldn't have been surprised if some of them wanted to take her up on her offer, but that wasn't what Matthew wanted. She was going to be put on trial, and she was going to have to face the people she had wounded.

  Matthew didn't respond to her threats. He remained calm, and Adam again found admiration for him. Adam knew that he himself would not have been able to remain so composed when confronted with the person responsible for such tragedies. “Would you like anyone to defend you?” he asked.

  “I can defend myself,” she said bitterly.

  “So be it,” Matthew said, and then Lisa was taken away under guard. Adam was glad he didn't have to be around her for much longer. The sound of her voice was like nails being dragged down a chalkboard.

  Though it was late at night the atmosphere was buzzing. People were excited that justice was going to be served, but Matthew was somber. He approached Adam and the others.

  “Thank you for all you have done tonight. I hope this will go some way toward you being accepted by the others who live here,” he said.

  “I'm not sure about that,” Adam muttered.

  “How long do you think it will be until they retaliate?”

  “I'm not sure. But we must be ready,” Adam said. Matthew inclined his head.

  “It's going to be a busy day tomorrow. I suggest you get some sleep,” Adam said, and then walked away. Adam thought he should take his own advice, but it seemed as though Matthew was going to stay up all night.

  Adam and the others went to their places of shelter and crawled into bed. When Adam closed his eyes, he saw Lee lying in bed, with Adam's gun to his head. At the time Adam had been sure he'd made the right decision, but now he wondered what his morality had cost. How many people were going to die because of Lee? He turned over and buried his head in the pillow, and eventually sleep came upon him, but not after a lot of anguish resided in his troubled mind.

  Adam awoke early the next morning and found that other people were stirring early too, all for the trial. He followed them to the large building in the middle of the community. The trial was being held in the building that had been burned. There was a huge hole where the roof had been, and ash still lay across the floor. The wind whistled through and everyone had wrapped up warmly. Many chairs had been brought in, but some people still had to stand. The lawyer, a wiry man wearing cracked glasses, stood before Matthew, who was sitting where the judge would be. There was a seat beside him where Lisa was going to sit. Adam wondered how she was going to react when faced with all the horrors she had committed. He sat alongside Tara and the others, and Stan and Annabelle joined them, too.

  Soon enough everyone was settled, and Lisa was brought out. She held her head high and looked confident, although maybe that was just to cover up the nerves rattling inside her. The lawyer stood up and walked into the middle of the makeshift courtroom.

  “Ladies and gentleman, we are here today because we are going to uphold the law. The world has changed, but we wish to hold onto those things that separated us from the animals. The right to a fair trial has been a common factor in our societies for hundreds of years, and it is important we see it continue. The defendant has been accused of many crimes, and if anyone would like to
offer testimony please form an orderly queue.”

  At this request many people stood up, including Adam. As this parade of people were brought up Lisa sat there in silence, her gray lips pulled back into a thin smile, waiting for it all to be over. She acted as if it didn't even bother her.

  “She has apartment buildings where she keeps people, taking them out when she needs to boost her numbers in the community,” Adam said. “She makes it seem like she only takes those who are worthy, but really she just wants people she can use. She's a control freak and she doesn't really care about anyone other than herself. She talks about wanting to make a better world, but that's not true. She just wants to make a world where everyone bows down to her.”

  When Tara was on the stand the lawyer walked up close to her. “Now, I understand that you actually lived in the same community for a long time. Did you never suspect that anything was amiss?”

  “I did suspect,” Tara said, trying to keep her voice even. It was difficult for her to be so close to Lisa again. “But I was scared. A lot of people were. I was a teacher and I tried to focus on that. It was a mistake. I think a lot of people are making the same mistake.”

  “What made you change your mind?”

  “I had my suspicions already, but I overheard her telling Annabelle that the attack on this community was unwarranted, and that it wasn't a retaliation at all. Then she took Annabelle captive. Later on, when we tried rescuing Annabelle, she took us captive too, and was going to kill us. We were moments away from being killed when we were saved. Lisa is very good at keeping things secret and vague. It was easy to not ask the hard questions, to maintain the illusion that everything she was saying was the truth. I wish I had done something sooner, but she is guilty of everything. She manipulates people and plays on their fears, and she is quick to remind everyone of the state of the outside world. I don't think most people want to follow her, they're just afraid of the alternative.”

  The lawyer thanked her and then a few other people took the stand. Many of them told harrowing stories about how their homes had been attacked, how they had lost loved ones, how their food and weapons had been stolen when they had done nothing wrong. They spoke of feeling hope that they had found another camp who they could trade with, only to realize too late that it was Lisa behind it all. She was like a mastermind pulling the strings, and had caused sorrow for everyone who was sitting in that room. Diana and Peter did not take the stand as they could not add to anything that Adam and Tara already had said. Annabelle was agitated throughout the trial. It was clear she had a lot to say, but Stan kept his hand firmly upon her shoulder until he himself stood up. He strode up to take a seat at the front of the room and glared at Lisa through his one good eye.

  “This woman is responsible for a lot of things. A long time ago I was making my way through the city with my family and we were attacked. I lost my wife, and my daughter had to run. I was separated from everything I had, and I didn't know why. They tortured me. They took my eye and my hand, and the only thing I learned was that they worked for someone named Lisa. It doesn't take a genius to figure out that it's the same person. She needs to pay for everything she's done. She's taken so much from all of us. She took my wife, killed her, and she almost killed my daughter, too. You're a monster!” he yelled, and spittle flew from his mouth. He staggered back down to his seat and let his head fall back, drained from the outburst.

  Beside him, Annabelle's heart burned with anger. She had known that Lisa was responsible for a lot of misery. However, up until that point she'd had no idea the people who attacked her family on that fateful day had been working for Lisa. It made Annabelle hate Lisa with even more righteous fury. She understood why this was all happening, but she really just wanted Lisa dead. She tried to think about what her mother would have wanted, but her mother wasn't there, and it was all because of Lisa.

  More people came forward with more stories, and all the while Lisa sat there, undisturbed. Her dark cloudy eyes looked at each of her victims with a cruel disregard and she acted as though this entire thing was just a nuisance to her. Matthew was an impassive figure, listening intently to everything, his hands making a steeple before him. The charred foundations of the building started making people cough, for the ash still rose into their lungs. Outside there were guards waiting for the retaliation. It could come at any moment, and Adam was a little surprised it hadn't come already. He wondered what they were thinking in that camp, how they reacted when they discovered that Lisa had been taken. When he looked at her he saw that harmless old woman he had seen the first time they had met. Back then he'd had no idea about the things she was capable of, no idea things would get this far.

  His heart ached for the others who shared their stories, and even though Adam had already spoke he stood up again.

  “Do you have more to say?” the lawyer asked. Even Matthew seemed surprised at this.

  “Not for myself,” Adam said, walking forward, “But I think it's important to give a voice to those who cannot speak today, to those who have lost their lives because of what this woman has done. I know many of you here don't trust me or like me, but when I joined Lisa's camp I thought I was doing what I needed to survive. We had been living in the apartments, where people are like ghosts. Maybe some of you have encountered them before. I didn't want to turn out like them.

  “I had a friend, Clark, who I knew from the old world, but he had changed so much. His wife had left him to join Lisa and the others, and Clark had been left behind. The people under Lisa's command beat him and humiliated him until he snapped. He attacked them, and they killed him. There have been others as well, all the people who were killed on the attack here, so many that I don't even know their names. And all that time Lisa has been sitting comfortably, laughing at everyone else.” With that he sat down again, hoping he had reminded everyone that there were those who had suffered even more than they had. At least they still had their lives, while there were those who were never going to have the opportunity to tell Lisa how much she had affected them, and how angry they were.

  The lawyer rose to his feet. “You have heard all of these testimonies and even I must admit they are quite convincing, but it would not be a fair trial if we did not give this woman a chance to speak. She has decided that she will defend herself, although I cannot imagine any defense for the way she has acted. But we will give her the opportunity to answer the charges against her. Lisa, it is now your time to speak.”

  He sat back down, surrendering the floor to Lisa. He looked just as curious as everyone else. Adam wondered if he had his own tale of sorrow too, one that went unspoken. He was sure Matthew could have added to the stories as well.

  There was murmuring all around Adam as people tried anticipating what Lisa was going to say. He glanced over at Tara and Diana, who gave him worried looks. Lisa had talked herself out of many situations before, and they were worried she'd find a way out of this one. She had a sharp mind, one that they needed to be wary of. All eyes turned to her and quickly the whispers quietened down as everyone strained to hear Lisa. She coughed to clear her throat and laid her hands out in her lap. Matthew now turned to look at her, and they all were engrossed as they waited for Lisa to speak.

  Chapter Eight

  Lisa's voice was soft and reedy. She deliberately spoke quietly so everyone had to strain to hear her. The building was like a mausoleum, and her voice was carried by the wind. She looked out of place set against the dark, scorched building. Her pale, wrinkled face was ghost-white, and her curled hair was silver. Her wrinkled skin was translucent, and her blue veins showed through the tight flesh. She was tired, but she showed no sign of it to anyone there.

  When she began speaking she addressed all of them, and her eyes moved throughout the crowd, although they most often rested on the troublemaker Adam and his friends. For once her instinct had betrayed her. Adam had not been as easy to control as she first had suspected, and he had proved to be trouble. He had managed to escape death a few times
and she hoped soon it would catch up with him, and his friends. She scowled at the girl especially, who was a willful child and had no respect. That was all she heard from these people, no respect at all.

  “Thank you for giving me the opportunity to speak. I applaud your devotion to human rights, although I can't say it will prove to be a boon in the future. After all, this is rather a sham of a trial isn't it? There's no real procedure here, no submitting of evidence, and you're all hostile to me. How can it be a fair trial when the judge is the man of the people who kidnapped me?”

  People shouted at her, hurling degrading epithets, but Lisa continued to hold her chin up and looked down upon them.

  “You all are children,” she continued, “squabbling, immature children. You do not know what it takes to survive in this world. You have only lived for the blink of an eye. I have seen so much more than all of you and only I know the way to true freedom. I've listened to all you have to say, and what it boils down to is that you're all whining because things haven't gone your way. Well, boo-hoo. You're all thinking that life owes you some kind of happiness. Well, it doesn't. It never did. You must take what you want in this world. If you want to survive, then you're going to have to work your asses off. There is nothing good in this world anymore.

  “I swear to you I have struggled every day to make my life on this planet as good as it possibly can be. I dread to think what the later generations are going to be like if this is your sorry excuse for a society. Do you really think you're going to build anything of worth when you're all too busy worrying about what's good and what's right instead of actually doing something? This building is going to be your world. It's going to be ash and death, and there's nothing you can do about it.”

  The crowd before her ranted and raved and all called for her head. The thin lawyer pushed his glasses up his nose as he stood up and tried quelling the crowd, but his pleas fell on deaf ears. It was only when Matthew yelled out for them all to be silent that they listened.