by James Hunt
“It’s impossible to avoid that these days.”
Mike held up his part of the bargain. He brought them to the location. Now it was time for the lieutenant to hold up his end of the deal.
“All right, I brought you to the factory. Now, you get me and my family out of here,” Mike said.
The lieutenant nodded and radioed the unit watching Mike’s family.
“We’re good here. Take the Grants and the others across the river.”
This was it. Mike was so close to getting out of here, getting his family somewhere safe.
“What?” the lieutenant asked. “Well, find them.”
“What’s going on?” Mike asked.
“Your kids ran off.”
***
Freddy and Kalen kept to the outskirts. Kalen didn’t want to turn deeper into the city until she absolutely had too.
They finally made it to the cross street where their hotel was located. She could see a few military vehicles sitting out front.
“They know we’re gone,” Kalen said.
She knew how much Freddy wanted to get that watch, but this was too risky. There was no way they were going to get inside that building. It was locked down.
“Freddy, we should go back. We can’t—”
Kalen turned around and he was gone. She panicked. She looked down the street and could see his figure sprinting down the sidewalk toward the hotel.
“Shit.”
He was fast for a kid, but she was gaining on him. She could feel the stitches on her forehead throbbing. It felt as though they were going to burst and blood would just pour out of her, but she pushed through it.
Freddy was fifty yards from the hotel, and Kalen was ten yards from Freddy. The soldiers had their backs to the both of them. Kalen reached out her hand and grabbed Freddy’s shoulder.
She yanked him into an alleyway, concealing them from the street. He squirmed, but she had a good grip on him.
“Are you crazy?” Kalen asked. “Those soldiers are there because of us. If they see you, you’re a goner.”
“I’m not leaving it behind.”
Freddy pushed Kalen off him. She recognized that stubborn look and realized he wasn’t going to give up.
“C’mon then,” Kalen said.
Kalen led Freddy down the alleyway of the building with the fire escape next to the hotel.
They climbed the metal stairs, as quickly as Freddy’s legs would let them, and when they made it to the top Kalen walked to the edge of the roof.
“We’ll have to jump for it,” Kalen said.
Freddy tiptoed to the edge and peeked over. His eyes were as wide as watermelons. She knew he wasn’t going to jump.
Freddy took a few steps back and when Kalen walked over to him he sprinted off.
“Freddy, no!”
Before she could grab him he leaped over the edge and barely landed on the other roof.
Kalen’s feet skidded to a stop right before she reached the edge herself.
“Jesus Christ! What were you thinking?”
“You said we had to jump. So I jumped.”
His answer was so innocent and matter-of-fact that she had to chuckle a little bit. She backed up and jumped over to join him.
Kalen tussled Freddy’s hair and shook her head.
“You’re one crazy kid.”
The two of them descended the stairs and found the window where their dad snuck in. Kalen poked her head through first to make sure the coast was clear then went back for Freddy.
Once they were in the room Freddy made a beeline for the table next to the bed and pulled the drawer open.
“Got it!”
“Okay, now let’s get the hell out of here. Mom’s probably losing her mind.”
When they made it back to the window to leave, the sirens went off. Kalen wasn’t sure which direction it was coming from, but when the gunfire echoed in the distance she was afraid that she and her brother missed their chance to get out of the city.
***
“Concentrate fire on the west side!” the lieutenant ordered.
The moment Mike heard that his kids disappeared he ran back toward the river, but the lieutenant stopped him.
“I have to get back to my family,” Mike said.
“I can’t let you go in the middle of this.”
“It’s not your decision.”
“You see that!”
The lieutenant pointed over to Bram’s forces who were gathering at the end of the road. Some of the vehicles were being mobilized.
“I need every available man to stop those bastards from getting to us. And you’re available.”
He shoved a rifle into Mike’s chest. Mike flipped the rifle around and aimed it right at the lieutenant’s head.
“You gonna shoot me, Mike?”
“That’s why the gun’s aimed at your head.”
“You’re not gonna shoot me. If you do that you’ll never see your family again. But they’ll see you, or what’s left of you after my soldiers pump you full of lead.”
Mike’s finger itched over the trigger. He wanted to pull it. He was sick and tired of the shit that he had to go through in order to be with his family. Maybe this was the only way out.
No.
He lowered the rifle and the weapon was taken from him. His hands were tied behind his back and he was shoved down onto the ground, hard.
“Now, we can do this the easy way, or the hard way. You help us, and I make sure to get you back to your family as quick as possible. The sooner that building is rubble, the sooner you can find your kids.”
Mike knew what Anne would want him to do, so he just decided to go along. And he figured if he managed to take out some of the soldiers who would be looking to hurt his family, then that was a plus.
“I’ll need both my hands to help,” Mike said.
***
Bram spotted the rebels through the streets on his way to the factory. He radioed for soldiers immediately and almost crashed through the gate when he arrived.
Beth met him out front with a group of men and immediately started to mobilize against the rebels.
Bram made his way into the factory and met with the head engineer.
“Where are we at with completion?” Bram asked.
“We weren’t scheduled to load the missiles until tomorrow, sir.”
“Well, I want them loaded now! Do you understand me?”
“Sir, we don’t have anywhere to take them.”
Bram grabbed the engineer by the throat and slammed him against one of the piles of missiles. He was choking the life out of him, and the engineer clawed at his arm.
“Anywhere but here will do just fine.”
***
Joey had the radio close to his ear. He was waiting for any sign of action. Cain never assigned him a post. All he was told to do was scour the city and look for any signs of the people from Carrollton.
He wanted to find them more than his mother did. He was consumed by it. Ever since he killed Jung’s children he needed more.
When the radio call went out for soldiers to head to the hotel to gather the Grants, Joey followed them to the address given.
His short legs pumped as hard as they could against the pavement and his rifle was tucked tight under his shoulder.
It took him twenty minutes to make it to the hotel. The soldiers were already out front when he arrived. He recognized a few of them, but when he saw Bram he knew it was serious.
Cain had introduced him when they first arrived. Out of all the people Joey met, including Cain, Bram was the one who frightened him the most.
He couldn’t put his finger on exactly why. It was the combination of his expensive clothes, the massive apartment, the way he spoke. Bram embodied a way of life that Joey had never seen before. He didn’t like it.
Joey tucked himself in an alleyway two buildings down from the hotel. He was glancing north when he saw Freddy, running as fast as he could toward the hotel with his sist
er right behind him, and then they disappeared in an alleyway themselves.
Time to hunt.
***
The artillery from Bram’s forces blasted the buildings the rebels had scattered to for cover on their march toward the factory.
Dust, concrete, and rebar scattered the ground. Chunks of asphalt were sent flying into the air, landing on cars and smashing through windows, when the explosives hit.
Mike was covered in dust. He could barely keep the rifle in his hands. His fingers felt as if they were made of steel. He wasn’t even sure if he’d be able to pull the trigger.
“We need to get the hell out of here now!” Mike said.
The lieutenant was still by his side, barking orders to his men.
“We can’t turn back now,” the lieutenant replied.
“You told me you’ve never lost a man in your unit. We’re sitting ducks here. We need to get out.”
Mike could see the turmoil in the lieutenant’s eyes. He could tell the man wanted to pull out, but his orders overrode his instincts. They couldn’t retreat.
Mike crawled over to the front of the building. The military trucks were pushing forward down the street. It wouldn’t be long before they were right on top of them. He went back over to the lieutenant and grabbed his shoulder.
“Have one unit stay here to continue pressing fire. Tell the rest to retreat to the rear of their buildings and head up the streets behind us to the factory,” Mike said.
“Our building doesn’t have an exit. We checked,” the lieutenant answered.
Mike yanked one of the grenades off the lieutenant’s belt and put it in his hand.
“Make one,” Mike said.
***
Once the sirens went off Anne pulled Sam to the side. She begged the soldiers to go in and look for her children, but they wouldn’t budge.
“I have to find them, Sam,” Anne said.
“We don’t even know where they went,” Sam replied.
She had to do something. She couldn’t just sit there and wait, not with everything that was happening.
“Sam.”
“All right. Where do we start looking?” Sam asked.
***
Beth was right up front, leading the soldiers and vehicles down the street. Her rifle was up, firing into the group of rebels to the left.
She picked off as many as she could. That focus that fueled her was still burning slow, steady. It marched over her, stepping in unified rhythm.
Each time she pulled the trigger the burn intensified. With every bullet that flew from the rifle’s barrel the desire to kill grew.
The pieces of lead flew through the air, slicing the flesh of the rebels. In her head she pictured the faces of all the people she’d ever wanted to hurt. All of the individuals who belittled her, any who thought they were above her.
Every rebel that fell to the ground was someone from her past. Now she was in control. Now she had the power and she wasn’t afraid to use it.
But when she heard the gunfire behind her that power she held so dear began to fade. The rebels had flanked them from behind, and while some of her men ran for cover, Beth moved forward to meet them head on.
The succession of her shots became faster. Her heart was pounding. In between each pull of the trigger she could hear screaming. It wasn’t until her clip was emptied that she realized that the person screaming was her.
***
Kalen didn’t know why she ran toward the sound of the gunfire, especially with Freddy still with her. As soon as they heard the sirens go off she grabbed her brother’s hand and jumped onto the fire escape.
She knew whatever was happening must have been bad when the soldiers at the hotel drove right past them and didn’t even stop to wonder why a girl and young boy would be headed in the same direction.
“Slow down, Kalen!” Freddy yelled.
She heard him, but she couldn’t stop. She had to keep going. If she slowed down she felt she would be caught. And she couldn’t let that happen.
The gunfire was becoming louder. She could feel the blasts from the artillery that shook the ground.
Then there was another gunshot that sounded as though it came from behind them. Freddy’s grip went limp in her hand and she felt herself get pulled back from the weight of Freddy hitting the ground. When she turned around there was a red stain on his back.
“Freddy?”
He wasn’t moving. She bent down and flipped him over. His face was pale. His skin was clammy.
“Kalen?”
His voice was quiet, weak. Before Kalen could do anything another shot rang out that ricocheted off the ground next to them.
Kalen looked up and saw Joey a few blocks down the road behind a car. She picked Freddy up in her arms and carried him into the store next to them.
She laid him down gently on the floor and ran her hand along his cheek. His small body started to shake. He was going into shock.
“Hang on, Freddy.”
They were in an old electronics store. Kalen looked around for anything she could use to stop the bleeding. She found a pack of cleaning cloths used for computer screens and tore it open. She tilted Freddy on his side and stuffed the small rags into the wound.
“I feel cold,” Freddy said.
The tears rolling down Kalen’s face landed on Freddy’s shirt. Her arm was shaking as she tried to keep pressure on the wound.
“It’s going to be okay. You’re going to be okay.”
“Where’s Mom? I want Mom.”
“She’s on her way. She’s looking for us right now.”
The shock was wearing off and the pain was starting to set in as Freddy started wailing. Each time his body convulsed from the cries, Kalen could feel more blood spill out of the wound.
The boy who was always so filled with laughter and love was experiencing the most painful moment of his life and she couldn’t do anything to help.
“Kalen?”
She wiped the tears from her face, trying to compose herself.
“Shh, it’s okay.”
“Don’t tell Dad about the watch.”
Kalen couldn’t help but smile. Through all of this, Freddy was still worried about disappointing their father.
Freddy’s eyelids started to flutter. Kalen grabbed his hand.
“Freddy, stay awake. You have to stay awake, okay?”
He didn’t respond. He closed his eyes and his hand and head went limp in her arms. Kalen shook him.
“Freddy!”
Her brother, whom she loved and fought with so much, was no longer with her. He would never date a girl, learn how to drive, go to prom, graduate from high school, or experience anything in life again. His future was gone.
Kalen’s breathing accelerated. She could feel the rage burning through her, igniting every cell inside her body. A chain reaction had been set off that couldn’t be stopped now.
Whatever commitment tied Kalen to the rest of the human race was severed the moment Freddy’s heart stopped beating.
Kalen closed her eyes, took a few deep breaths, and kissed her brother on the forehead. She set him down gently and grabbed the watch out of his pocket.
***
It wasn’t hard tracking them. When Joey realized what they were running toward it was pretty simple. When he saw them heading down the street he parked himself next to an idle car and brought Freddy into his crosshairs.
He knew if he could bring him down, then it would slow Kalen up. Wound the weak, and the strong will follow. Those words from his father echoed in his ears.
The moment Joey squeezed the trigger and Freddy hit the ground he knew he had them. They wouldn’t be able to go anywhere, and he knew the sister would stop to save him.
That’s when he realized what Cain was trying to tell him. That type of love and attachment is weakness. It was a weakness he didn’t have, and that’s why he was so strong. That’s why Cain chose to bring him here. To purge those that had weakness.