The Aegis Solution

by John David Krygelski

  Day 83

  Still no sign of Trent. People are taking turns up on the roof, in the cold, watching for them.

  Day 89

  None of us think they'll be coming back. They would have by now. The people who were going up to the roof to watch have stopped. No one else is talking about leaving. Jay welded the back door again.

  Fewer and fewer people are showing up for the cross-training classes. I think that they don't believe we're going to get out of here.

  I quit playing chess with Keith. I just couldn't concentrate on the game anymore.

  Day 101

  Milton took the board of governors on a tour of the food lockers today. It isn't looking good. At the current rate of consumption, we are going to run out in less than two weeks. After we looked at the small amounts left, we had a meeting in private, supposedly to discuss a contingency plan. But none of us had anything to suggest, not even Wilson. Seriously, what kind of a contingency plan can we come up with? It isn't as if we have any options. Milton had one of the medical staff join us and talk about how long people can last with no food. It was depressing.

  Wilson suggested that we keep the status of the food a secret from everyone else. He couldn't see any benefit in telling. We voted on it and his suggestion won. I voted with him, but wasn't sure it was the right thing to do.

  Day 102

  I had a horrible nightmare last night, after our meeting about the food. In the nightmare, Milton suggested that we needed to prioritize the value of the residents at Aegis, in terms of how much they will contribute to the new society when we get out, with the most valuable at the top of the list, down to the least valuable at the bottom. Then we would kill the last one on the list and eat him. We would work our way up the list until the wind stopped. He was so cold, so pragmatic, in the dream, with flow charts and everything, showing us how much longer we would live under this system. I woke up right after I punched him in the face.

  Day 111

  Down to the last few days of food. The word got out. I don't know who talked, but everyone in Aegis knows that it's almost gone. Sweezea had the security team ready for something to happen. He put extra guards on the food around the clock. People freaked out at first. There were quite a few angry confrontations between the residents and the board. But all of the anger was because we didn't let them know before. To our surprise, after the initial blowup, everyone settled down and, I think, is handling it fairly well. No screaming mobs made a move on the food. Nothing like that. Guess we were wrong about not telling them sooner.

  Day 112

  The board is having daily meetings now. I'm not really sure why. We don't have anything new to say, but we all feel that we should be doing it. At today's, Elias and Leah dropped a bombshell on all of us. They want to pull a Trent and leave Aegis. I'm afraid I lost it when they told us. But I managed to calm down and listen to what they had to say. Elias said that maybe he and Leah could make a run to the closest place, maybe Yuma or even Tacna, and find some food to bring back.

  I said that the wind hadn't stopped. We didn't have any reason to believe that the bug was gone from out there. He just looked at me and smiled that smile of his and said that if we didn't try something, we'd all be dead soon, anyway.

  That's when I said I'd go. Sweezea said the same thing, at the same time. Wilson insisted that he should go since he was the oldest and didn't have as much life to live as Elias and Leah. By the time everyone was done shouting, every single person on the board had offered to go instead of Elias and Leah.

  After we were all quiet, all of us staring at the two of them, Leah thanked us. I could swear that I saw a tear coming out of her eye. She said that they had made up their minds. They were going whether any of the rest of us went or not, so there was no reason for anyone else to go, since it wouldn't keep them here.

  Nobody knew what to say for the longest time. I wanted to think of something…anything which would change their minds, but I couldn't. And even if I did, what difference would it make? Elias was right. If we didn't try something, we would all be dead soon, anyway.

  If there are any future folks…and if you are reading this…I want all of you to know that each and every one of you is alive because of Elias and Leah Charon. Please don't ever forget that…ever. And, if no one ever reads this, then I guess what I'm saying doesn't matter.

  Mathilda Tulley

  CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

  Tillie and Wilson were standing at the corridor intersection near the exit door. There was no longer any sign of the damage from the exploded grenade. Clements, and the crew he had assembled from Aegis, had repaired the walls and repainted.

  Tillie, her eyes fixed on the hallway in the direction Elias and Leah would soon appear, said quietly to Wilson, "This isn't right."

  Wilson, much thinner than he had been a mere four months ago, gently placed his hand on her shoulder. "Elias is correct. We need to do something before we all starve."

  "That's not what I mean."

  "What do you mean?"

  "Every step of the way things happened…things all designed to get us here, keep us here, save us from the bug. You've talked about all of the incredible coincidences which had to happen in precisely the right sequence, just to ensure that Aegis survived while the rest of the world died. After all of those, and I don't care if you want to call them coincidences or miracles, where is our rainbow…where is our dove with the olive branch? Why is it…after everything else has been so carefully orchestrated, that we are now out of food…that the damn wind hasn't stopped? Why haven't we gotten a signal, a message, that it is safe to leave? Why do Elias and Leah have to go out there, the way Trent and the others did, when we don't know if they'll come back?"

  In a soft voice, Wilson answered, "I don't know."

  She whirled around to face him, her face flush. "You can't say ‘I don't know'! You never say ‘I don't know'! Why don't you know?"

  The moment the words left her lips, she wished she could take them back. She knew that Wilson had taken this question more seriously than any other he had ever tackled in his life. For weeks he had forsaken needed sleep and countless meals, as well as any casual interactions with his friends, to devote himself obsessively to finding the answer. She knew him better than anyone in Aegis…anyone alive, in fact…and she knew how hard it must have been for him to admit that he did not know the answer. His face, already worn and haggard, his eyes sunken, seemed to slump even further.

  "Wilson, I'm sorry. I am. It's just that I can't stand to see the two of them walk out that door."

  He stepped forward and held her. "I know, Tillie. I know." She allowed him to hold her for a moment, then backed away, too anxious to be confined.

  More people began to arrive. She saw Sweezea, Matt, Lisa, Sam, Hutson, and even Kreitzmann come in with the others. The intersection was filling rapidly, backing up into the hallways in all directions. The mood was somber and subdued.

  To her left, the crowd parted and, in a moment, Elias and Leah worked their way through to the front. As soon as she saw Leah, she ran forward, throwing her arms around her friend. Despite her earlier promise to herself, Tillie began to cry, her shoulders heaving with each sob. Leah responded in kind as Elias stood quietly to the side.

  After a minute or two had passed, Tillie took a step back from Leah and looked at Elias, tears streaming freely down her face. Taking a deep breath, trying to calm the spasms in her diaphragm, she finally spoke. "I wanted to tell you…you're off the hook."

  Elias, momentarily confused, answered, "Off the hook? What…?"

  Dragging the sleeve of her shirt across her face, she explained, "Your promise. It's over and done. I'm releasing you from it."

  "Tillie, I still don't understand."

  Valiantly trying to put a smile on her face, she replied softly, "You don't have to try to be Bruce Willis anymore."

  In his eyes, she could see that he was flashing back to that day, so long ago, in her den. He tried to speak but the effort w
as derailed by the quivering in his lower lip. Without waiting another moment, she rushed against him, wrapping her arms around his neck and holding him tightly. He held her in a bear hug.

  They stood together for a long time, neither wanting to break the moment. When, at last, they parted, Elias reached up and held her face in his hands, finally finding his voice. "I will be back. I…I promise."

  Tillie only nodded, afraid to say another word. Elias turned to Wilson and shook his hand. "I will see you soon, my friend."

  "Be safe, Elias. Both of you."

  Leah gave Wilson an emotional hug. As she did, she whispered in his ear, "Please keep an eye on our friend here, will you?"

  Wilson nodded.

  Elias and Leah moved toward the exit, which was now wide open, the frigid wind whipping into the enclosed space with a howl. As they proceeded, all of the friends they had made during their days in Aegis were lined up to shake their hands, hug them, and wish them luck. It seemed as if the entire population of Aegis was crowded into the hallway behind Wilson, having come to see them off.

  When they reached the door, Crabill was standing in the wind, a forced grin on his face. "I went out to the parking lot and found the truck with the most gas and jumped the battery. She's running and all warmed up for you."

  "Jay," Leah said, "you shouldn't have gone out there."

  He shrugged and answered, "It's the least I could do. Besides, I didn't want the two of you wandering around in the cold, trying to get one started."

  "You didn't go near the circle of vehicles the outside people used, did you?" asked Elias.

  "No, sir. Just the parking lot."

  Elias smiled at him. "Thanks. And stop that ‘sir' stuff, will you?" They shook hands and Crabill moved back, pausing at the doorway. Tillie was jammed next to him in the tight opening, shivering in the cold and staring at her two friends, a look of profound sadness on her face.

  Elias and Leah both waved. Tillie, and the others visible through the open door, returned the wave. The two turned and climbed into the yellow SUV parked near the door, its engine running.

  Tillie stood clutching Crabill's arm, watching her two friends as they pulled the doors closed. She had to fight off the urge to run to the truck and jump into the back seat. She knew that if she did that, Elias would only make her get out. After a minute's hesitation, the truck pulled away, slowly skirting the perimeter of Aegis. She leaned out farther and farther from the door, watching the receding taillights for as long as she could, until they disappeared around the gradually bending arc of the wall.

  She felt a hand on her shoulder and turned to see Wilson, standing behind her and gently trying to pull her inside so the door could be closed. Reluctantly, she gave in, not taking her eyes off the last point where they had been visible. Crabill closed the steel door with a loud slam, dropping the crossbar into the new saddles he had welded on the frame.

  None of the gathering had yet dispersed. They were all standing as if rooted to their spots, unsure of what to do next. Tillie, in a daze, worked her way through the people. With a silent nod of her head, she accepted the occasional comment of reassurance that she would soon see Elias and Leah again. Once she cleared the back of the group, her pace quickened and she walked briskly. After putting another turn of the corridor behind her, she broke into a full run, dashing down one hallway and then another, until she reached the access ladder she was seeking. Almost flying up the rungs, she found herself in the mechanical system. Running again, she sprinted all the way to her old den…her, now empty, home for many years, where she collapsed to the floor, sobbing.

  

  Tillie stood alone at the west end of the roof, her body pressed against the inside face of the parapet wall, which stopped at her shoulders, her eyes fixed on the distant point where the road from Aegis disappeared at the horizon. Before coming to the roof, she had added extra layers of clothing, and found some heavy gloves and a parka with a thick, furry hood; yet, the cold still penetrated, chilling her and making her shiver. With the constant roaring of the wind, she did not hear Sweezea approaching, startled when she felt a sudden touch on her arm. Turning, she saw him standing beside a fifty-five-gallon drum, which he had rolled to her spot on the roof using a hand truck.

  "Hey, Tim." She had to shout to be heard.

  "Brought you a present." He slid the flange of the hand truck out from under the barrel. Tillie glanced inside and saw that it was full of chunks of wood. It looked like dimensional lumber, rather than something simply cut from trees.

  "Where did you get the wood?"

  He smiled sheepishly. "I took apart a few pieces of furniture, mostly sofas, a couple of bookcases." As he spoke, he pulled what looked like an old-fashioned oilcan out of his jacket pocket, removed the rubber stopper, turned the can upside down over the barrel, and squirted a fluid onto the wood, soaking it. Setting the oilcan aside, he pulled out a book of matches he had been carrying from his last MRE, lit one match and tucked it into the rest, igniting the entire book, which he dropped onto the wood. In spite of the wind, flames leapt up instantly.

  Sweezea gave a lopsided grin to Tillie. "I know we can't talk you into coming inside tonight, so we did the next best thing. Now you can warm up."

  Before she could thank him, she saw Hutson approaching, doing an impersonation of Santa Claus, with a huge bundle over his shoulder.

  Despite her mood, she managed a smile at her two friends as he dumped the bundle next to her feet, spilling out a mound of additional wood for the fire.

  "Guys, thanks."

  "Least we could do," Hutson shouted. "Sure you won't let one of us take a watch for you?"

  She shook her head. "I'm sure."

  "Suit yourself. This should hold you through the night."

  She thanked them again and they retreated to the access hatch, rolling the empty hand truck with them. The metal side of the barrel was now radiating heat generously, and she stood as close as she dared, not wanting to ignite the fur on her parka. After she had absorbed enough of the warmth to stop her shivers, Tillie turned back to face the west, again remaining as close to the barrel as possible while keeping her vigil. She watched the sun set and the stars come out for the night, moving occasionally to capture a bit more of the heat from the fire on one side of her body, then the other.

  Her wristwatch was under far too many layers of clothing to bother with, so she had no idea what time it was when she felt another tap on her shoulder, startling her once more. This time it was Wilson.

  "Hi," she barked over the wind.

  Leaning close to be heard, he shouted, "Hello, Tillie. The others told me you were up here. I don't understand why. You know that Elias and Leah won't come back sooner than twenty-four hours from their departure."

  She shrugged. "I know. They want to give the bug time to kill them, if it's going to, before they come back. I was thinking they might change their minds, that's all. Anyway, it'll be twenty-four hours in the morning."

  Wilson began to argue with her, then decided against it. He turned and gazed out to the west, resting his arms on the top of the parapet wall.

  They both stood without speaking for several minutes before Tillie broke the silence. "They aren't coming back, are they?"

  "Of course they are," he replied quickly, trying his best to sound sincere.

  "Why? Why would you say that?"

  "Elias and Leah are two of the most clever, resourceful, and adept people I've ever known. If there is a way to gather food from an uninfected origin and bring it back to us, they will find it."

  She did not respond for quite some time. Finally, she said, "Thanks." With a single word she conveyed that she did not believe him for a moment.

  Wilson fumbled to find something else to say, when she placed her hand on his arm. "Wilson, I'm fine. Okay? There isn't anything you can say that will make it any better. And there isn't anything you can say that will make me decide to come inside. Please understand, this is where I need to be. I tried it insi
de and I couldn't stand it. Looking at walls with no windows…knowing Elias and Leah might be driving up while I was in there and I wouldn't know about it the minute…the second it happened…was driving me crazy. Besides…what difference does it make, anyway?"

  Wilson began to speak, but Tillie put a gloved finger to his lips. "Please don't. You might say something that'll turn on these water pumps behind my eyes again. And as cold as it is out here, I'd have icicles on my cheeks. So go back down where it's warm. I'll be fine."

  Despite the fact that much of his face was covered, she could see the concern he had for her. She knew that he was desperately trying to think of the right thing to say that would change her mind. And she could see the exact moment he gave up. "Do you need anything?"

  She shook her head to indicate that she did not.

  "I'll check on you later."

  Tillie nodded.

  Resignedly, he squeezed her arm once and turned to walk away. She did not watch his retreating figure cross the roof back to the hatch. Instead, she bent over and picked up an armload of the wood piled at her feet and dumped it into the barrel, causing an explosion of glowing embers to burst from the top and swirl out into the night. Turning her back to the frigid, unceasing gale, Tillie resumed her vigil.

  

  The day was warm. The sun was bright, casting its rays upon the gently rippling waters of the pond, and scattering them into a million sparkling pinpoints that seemed to caress her eyes instead of hurting them. She was wearing a yellow cotton top, navy blue shorts, and a pair of black Keds. Her tanned legs pumped up and down with each rise and fall of the foot pedals on the paddleboat, each push creating a soft whooshing sound as the paddles at the rear of the boat turned shallowly in the water, easing it forward. A steady, shrill chirp…chirp…chirp from an unseen bird almost synchronized with the motion of her legs and the pedals.