by Angel Lawson
“Good afternoon. My name is Andrea Miller and I’m the welcome liaison for the city of New Hope. Colonel Hamilton extends his warmest welcome and hopes you find a path to the future in our designated Safe City.”
A picture appears on the screen with the city’s logo. It includes an American flag and a seal that says “Safe City.” Andrea looks appraisingly at the image behind her and then turns back to face the crowd.
“I’m aware that many of you have struggled long and hard to get to this day. You have lost family and friends. You’ve lost your homes and jobs and sense of security. New Hope cannot replace the things close to your heart but we can offer you a home and future in absolute safety. Where running water and electricity are the norm and not something to fight and scavenge for. Believe it or not the government wasn’t totally unprepared for the ETR-Virus. The likelihood of biological warfare was well known and documented by agencies like Homeland Security and the CDC. With the advent of drone warfare anything was possible and what was once a vague outline became a fast moving reality. Six cities were finalized before the ETR-Virus wiped out the southern states. Ten more were planned that never came to fruition. Of these six three are fully functional. The other three are struggling and we’re in the process of assisting those get on their feet.”
The screen behind her flips through a series of images that look pre-crisis of apartments and single family homes. School children walking out of a classroom. The nostalgia is thick. I spot a small movement near the door. Hamilton is observing the presentation. I nudge Wyatt and gesture to the man watching.
“Now that you’re in New Hope we hope you take time to rest and recover. We’ll help you find a job and housing. You won’t have to sleep with weapons anymore or worry about your neighbors. This is truly a safe place to call home.”
“I have a question,” a voice asks from a couple of rows over. I can’t see his face but his hair is gray.
“Go ahead,” Andrea says.
“What kind of perimeter do you maintain? I saw the fence line but does it go all the way around the city? Have you had any breaches?”
Amanda nods, her face showing the right amount of concern. With the remote in her hand she flips forward a few pictures to a diagram of a tall fence. “The city of Cincinnati had the barricades in storage. As soon as Florida was cut off from the rest of the country the walls went up. Now, things weren’t perfect at first. Infected citizens were already here before the walls were secured. We lost people but our police and local National Guard were ready for them. They’d been trained for something like this.”
“How do you train for cannibals?” Another man blurts out. “And the panic and fear of not trusting your neighbors? Are you saying the government had a tip off that this was coming?”
Andrea’s calm expression falters, her lip twitching just a bit. “No, of course not—”
“I lost my baby girl out there. Not from the cannibals but from the bastards that hoarded and stole all the food in my town.” He nods to the boy next to him, he looks young, maybe ten or eleven. “My son had to see things he never should. Every day I wondered if we’d be better off dead.”
“Sir, I know you’re upset and we have many resources for you and your so—”
“Thank you, Andrea,” a rich, controlled voice says from off stage. Hamilton moves from this spot at the door and walks calmly across the front of the platform, into the seating area. Andrea is doing her best to stay calm but the man is right, finding out now that a safe place like this exists is a little too late.
It also hammers home that people do not know about my sister and the real cause of the ETR-Virus. I worry in a whole new way about her safety.
Hamilton does something surprising. He walks among the attendees and stops before the man. He’s wearing more casual clothing today, a V-neck sweater and olive green pants. Nothing about him reveals the deadly executioner we met last night.
“What’s your name?” he asks the man.
“Richard.” He nods at his son. “This is Liam.”
Hamilton offers his hand to the son first and they shake, then to the man. Wyatt hasn’t moved an inch watching the scene unfold.
“The fact you are coming to New Hope this long after the crisis began is proof of how strong you are. Did you know that when we first started the orientations for new citizens these rooms were packed with survivors?” He looks around the large room, compelling us to look ourselves. “Many were from the original city and suburbs but for months we had a large influx of people rolling in, happy to be out of the Death Fields.”
“We didn’t know you existed,” Richard says.
“I know and it was not widely advertised outside this area. It took months to get the city up and running. We welcomed in all the healthy people that came to the gates but we weren’t in a position to travel outside ourselves until very recently. Many of the other Safe Cities still aren’t.”
“That’s not fair,” Liam says. “Leaving people out there—with the monsters and bad people.”
“No, son, it isn’t.” Hamilton sounds sympathetic. His voice warm and welcoming. I can’t shake the feeling of watching something scripted, like a reality TV show or something. “But we’re doing the best we can and as a unified community, determined to eradicate the infected and dangerous, we’ll return as a country, stronger than before.”
He pats Liam on the head, who actually does look appeased, and walks up to the podium. He adjusts the microphone to his height and says, “Now that we’ve stabilized and have eliminated much of the threat from down south we will continue the cleanup of the countryside until we are free to come and go from the safe barriers of the city. It will take time and perseverance but we’ll get there with the help of capable soldiers and fighters.” He glances in our direction. “We have a plan and a mission—both for the greater good. Rest, heal and figure out the way you want to be part of the future of New Hope.”
Richard jumps to his feet and starts to clap. I’m started by the act but he’s followed by others in the room, many with a look of relief on their faces. Jude nudges my arm and stands with the others. I move to my feet and as a group we cheer on our new leader with the most recent citizens of New Hope.
I feel pressure on my elbow and Wyatt leans close. “Where have I heard a speech like that before?” he asks.
I keep my eyes fixated on Hamilton, who’s waving back at the small group, many who have left their seats to go greet him personally.
“In a room like this, back at PharmaCorp,” I reply. “From my sister.”
Angel Lawson Books
The Death Fields:
The Girl Who Shot First
The Girl Who Punched Back
The Girl Who Kicked Ass
The Girl Who Kissed the Sun
The Girl Who Broke Free
The Girl Who Saved the World
Creature of Habit Series:
Creature of Habit (Book 1)
Creature of Habit (Book2)
Creature of Habit (Book 3)
A Vampire’s Seduction (Ryan’s Story Book 4)
A Vampire’s Fate (Sebastian’s Story Book 5) Pre-Order
The Wraith Series:
Wraith
Shadow Bound
Grave Possession
Urban Fantasy
The Lost Queen
Vigilant
Contemporary Romance:
FanGirl-A Girl Who Shot First Companion Novel
For the Win
Table of Contents
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Part Two
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Part Three
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fiftee
n
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Chapter Twenty
Chapter Twenty-One
Chapter Twenty-Two
Chapter Twenty-Three
Chapter two