“There is a plan, but it is constantly evolving.” Finn glanced at Alec for a second; a look of frustration was evident. “A small group of us will take out a couple guards, grab their weapons and take off.”
“That’s it?”
“That’s the basic foundation. I have a guy, Mick--he’s the really old guy that cleans up after the guards.”
Alec didn’t know him.
“He has access to places we don’t. The guards are convinced he’s a harmless old geezer, and for the most part he is, but he can get us a single key. A key that can open our cages at night and give us our chance.”
Alec felt the spark of hope ignite into something stronger. “When?”
“Not for a while.”
The fire died down. “Why?”
“Need more intel. There are a few Humvees on the mining side of the camp but I don’t know where they keep those keys. If I can figure out where they are and we can get our hands on a Humvee, things will be much easier. If I can’t, well, that means we need to get plenty of supplies because we are going to be in for a hell of a hike.”
This time Alec put his head back on the building and stared up the stars twinkling in the dark night sky. He knew it was unlikely but he had been hoping that Finn would say that tonight was the night, that Alec had spent his last day in this hellhole.
“We will need others,” Finn said. “The plan started with Walt and besides myself and Mick, everyone else who knew about it is dead.”
The pain of Walt’s death hit Alec again, a death he had caused, but one in which he hadn’t had much of a choice. Walt had been the leader of Rambo Camp and a good person. He had been one of the few that had reached out to Alec when he had first been thrown in captivity. Xu had noticed that friendship and had forced them to fight to the death. Alec had won. “How many?”
“Just a few. Mick wants to help but he doesn’t plan on leaving. He has a good setup here, or at least that is what he says.”
Alec thought about Steffan and Jon. “I have a couple people in Yankee that could help.”
“You have to be able to trust them.” Finn looked directly at him, his face tight with concern. “All it takes is one person saying something they shouldn’t and we’re all dead.”
“I trust them,” Alec said.
Finn nodded his head. “I will find two guys from my camp. We can start to gather some supplies from the gardens. It will take a while because we can’t take too much, but it will be something.”
“Are we talking days?”
Finn smiled. “Trust me when I say I want to get out of here just as bad as you do, but I want to live even more. We only get one chance at this. We screw it up and you better believe that Xu makes sure we die a slow death.”
“So weeks then?” Alec said half-jokingly.
“Find your guys, but be careful. I’ll do the rest.”
Ben
“Acknowledged, Command. See you in three,” Dex said as he sat back against the wall with a look of shock on his face.
Ben looked around at the others who shared this same look. “So we are leaving?” he asked.
“Sure as hell sounds so,” Crimson said as she put her fiery red hair up into a ponytail.
They had returned to the supply depot and confirmed their mission had been a success with Command and that was when they were told they would be picked up and taken to Command HQ. After being stranded in a never-ending battlefield, they were about to get some rest and relaxation.
“So does that mean we won?” Ty asked. Ty was similar to Ben in that he was just a civilian when the world went black and afterwards had joined the military. He had even less training than Ben, so he was raw, a little sloppy and wasn’t the best shot. Ty was a good person and a good friend but he was still working on being a good soldier.
Chavez began to pack up his bag to prepare to leave. “That means the fight in this area is over, or at least doesn’t need our help anymore. I’m sure there are more scuffles going around elsewhere in the States.”
“Yeah, but does that mean we have to go fight those too?” Ty asked.
Ben noticed the look of annoyance flash on Chavez’s face so he stood up and threw his pack playfully at Ty. “It means you get a few days to stuff your face and wipe your ass. So don’t waste them asking a lot of questions.”
Ty smirked at him and tossed the bag back at Ben, and it landed near his feet.
Ben scooped up his bag and began to take inventory. He didn’t have much so he couldn’t afford to accidentally leave anything behind.
Crimson came up behind him and gave him a strong slap to the back. “Chances are we are going to receive a hero’s welcome, you know that right?” she said softly, so that only he could hear.
“Think so?”
“We singlehandedly reduced the Chinese war machine to nothing more than useless metal, then took the lead in reducing it to fiery steel. That build-up was the biggest on the East Coast, if not the entire United States.” Crimson raised a single eyebrow at him. “Yeah, I think they might be appreciative.”
Ben zipped up his bag and allowed himself to smile. “Just in a day’s work, right?”
“They will want to debrief us. Not just about today’s OP and the EMP OP but our entire campaign out here. I want you to know that I plan on telling the truth..about everything.”
“What do you mean,” Ben asked, confused.
“I’m going to tell them about how a rookie soldier led hundreds of civilians out of New York City then came stumbling back into our group. I’m going to tell them about how this wet-behind-the-ears recruit didn’t back down and always did the right thing, even when that meant charging into a fight to save fellow soldiers.”
Ben laughed. “Strange, I remember not being the only one that went charging into that fight.”
“I’m going to tell them that when we were pinned down inside a crumbling school with the enemy all around us and no chance of survival, this snot-nosed recruit took charge and made sure we accomplished our mission,” Crimson said with a smile.
“You know it wasn’t that simple,” Ben said after a few moments of silence.
“You know I’m not making anything up.”
“No, but you’re leaving things out. You’re leaving out the things I could have done differently, things that might have saved our friends. You’re not mentioning that most of the time I was scared shitless.”
“There are always things we could do differently,” Crimson said and took in a deep breath. “Some of them may have saved our brothers, others may have just traded who died. And believe me, you weren’t the only one that was scared shitless.”
Ben smiled. “You can’t be brave if you don’t feel fear,” Ben said, mostly to himself. “Being brave means acknowledging you are scared but overcoming that fear.”
“I like that,” Crimson said. “I may use that.”
“It’s not mine. I was taught that by…a friend.” His thoughts turned to Mason for a moment.
“Smart friend.” Crimson stretched and gave him a gentler pat on the back. “Get your shit together; it’s almost time for us to catch a ride.”
They traveled through the deserted city blocks. The same ones that once held so much danger and threat were now nothing more than worn-down houses and overgrown yards. None of them said much, partly because they were all exhausted and also because they were all full of anticipation. They made their way to the abandoned park and waited. The sun set and night took over and just as it began to cool the sound of a helicopter joined the sounds of the wind blowing through the trees. As the helicopter stopped above them and began to lower to the ground, Ben realized he had no idea where they were going but he knew things were about to change.
Ally
She felt a pang of guilt when she saw his face. Adam opened the door and his face lit up.
“Hey Ally, welcome back.” He said.
He hesitated for a second like he was going to hug her but thought better of it. Ally was
working on fumes so she gave him as big a smile as she could and walked inside. In the kitchen Dena sat at a chair and her eyes turned teary when she saw Ally walk inside the house, but she didn’t say anything. In the corner of the living room Coby watched her walk in and waved, then went back to reading a book. He had gotten used to her coming and going. Ally took off her backpack and tossed it to Adam.
“What do we have here?”
“I found a couple of work boots and a bunch of plaid shirts in an abandoned office building,” Ally said as she took off her shoes and placed them by the door. “I don’t know what they were doing there. I also found an unopened bottle of vodka. You all should be able to get something good for that.”
“I can work with that,” Adam said, rummaging through the bag. “Anything in particular you’re needing?”
Ally thought about it for a moment. “I could use some more shorts if you can find some decent ones. My good ones have a couple of holes in them.”
“Consider it done.” Adam went into the other room to put away the supplies.
Ally made a point when she went out to look for supplies that they could use or trade. It wasn’t the reason she went out into the Wastelands but she kept her eyes open.
“Hey Ally,” Dena said from the kitchen. “Uh……you need anything? Hungry?”
Ally didn’t look over. “No, I already ate. But thank you, though,” she said at the last second.
A yawn escaped her lips and she got up to go upstairs. “I’m going to sleep for a few hours.” She didn’t wait for a response.
Her room was the same as she had left it, blank. She could remember a time before the world went dark where all she wanted was her own room. She wanted to put up posters and paint it pink and have her own radio. She had been such a child. She didn’t care about this room. It wasn’t even the fact that it didn’t feel like home; she wasn’t sure what home was supposed to feel like. She remembered liking the room she shared with Joseph when they had lived in the country with her father. It got cold at night but it had a bench near the window where she could sit and look outside. This room was just like any other; it just so happened to be the place where she slept whenever she was here. Ally collapsed on the bed and within seconds fell asleep.
She heard the door close downstairs and her eyes opened. It took her a second to remember where she was. Ultimately it was the fact that her back didn’t ache and that she had a pillow that reminded her of where she was. She had gotten so used to sleeping outside or in an abandoned building that it was strange waking up in a soft bed. Ally looked outside and saw it was light out. Either she had only slept for a couple of hours or she had slept much, much longer. She felt rested so figured it must have been the latter. On the nightstand was a military ration. It was torn open and half of it was missing. It had been awhile since they had gone to the rations. She wondered if Adam was having troubles with their traps. She would have to ask him about it.
Ally stretched and dragged her body out of the soft bed. As she left the room her eyes wandered to the far side of the room where Tiger used to sleep. Before it could take hold she replaced the urge to cry with anger. It washed away the feeling and gave her purpose. She hadn’t lost Tiger; he had been taken from her. As she made her way downstairs she could hear talking and one of the voices wasn’t Adam or Dena’s. Ally stopped at the edge of the stairs and listened.
“Nobody stuck around after that,” the unfamiliar voice said.
“I know,” Dena said. “But were people taken somewhere specific or-”
“We all just went our separate ways. They told us that campus was closed and most of us just left.”
“I know, but left where?” Dena pleaded.
“There were military places set up all around here. I went to find my family in Long Beach and there was a camp there. When it closed we came back north and that was how I eventually got back here.”
Ally peeked around the corner and saw the voice was coming from a young girl. She was college-aged with long dirty blond hair. She sat at one end of the table while Dena sat on the other side. Adam stood off to the side, staring at the window. He seemed to already know how this conversation was going to play out.
“Let me show you her picture again; are you sure you never saw her?” Dena asked.
“No…don’t. I swear I would tell you if I recognized her. You have to remember the campus was huge.”
“It’s not a bother, I swear, just look again-“
“Thank you for taking the time,” Adam said as he came up behind Dena and placed his hand on her shoulder. “We’ve been searching for a long time and just wanted to see if you knew something we didn’t. You can go.”
Dena’s body stiffened and she placed her right hand over her face and took in a deep breath.
“I’m…sorry,” the girl said as she stood up. “I really wish I could help more.”
“You have, thanks,” Adam said, his voice cracking just slightly.
The girl glanced at Ally as she walked outside. Coby came sneaking around the corner.
“She hasn’t seen her either?” Coby asked.
Adam shook his head and pointed toward the room that Coby had just come from. Coby scrunched up his face and then turned around, dejected, and walked into the back room.
“I can’t keep doing this, Adam,” Dena said. “I can’t keep sitting here looking for clues that don’t exist. She isn’t here anymore, so why are we?”
“Where do you want to go?” Adam asked as he sat down beside her.
“I don’t know, somewhere. I can’t keep just sitting around here.”
“We traveled across the entire country to get here. In that time she could have done the same. We can spend the rest of our lives traveling and still not find her.”
“Don’t say that,” Dena spat out. “How can you say something like that? How can you be content just sitting around here?”
“I want our son to be safe,” Adam said, anger evident in his voice. “I want to be able to provide and protect him. We can do that here.”
Dena laid her head on the table and Adam placed his hand on her back. Ally looked across the hallway and saw Coby staring at her. He pointed toward Dena and Adam and rolled his eyes. He peeked out at his parents and snuck across the room to where she was.
“Hey Ally,” he whispered. “You hear them fighting again?”
“I guess.”
“Mom goes crazy sometimes. Did you find any comic books out there?”
“No, but I’ll look for some next time I’m out.”
Coby smiled.
Ally noticed that his baby fat was starting to disappear. He was growing up. The boy was only a few years younger than her but mentally he was much younger. He still didn’t know how to take care of himself. If he was hungry he had to depend on Dena or Adam to feed him. If he was bored he was more interested in reading comic books or playing with his action figures. He needed other people to survive; Ally didn’t.
“I like the superhero ones best but I’ll try any of them,” Coby said.
“What?” Ally asked, forgetting what they were talking about.
“Comic books. I really like the superhero ones but I’ll read any. I’m tired of the ones I have now.”
Ally nodded. She heard Dena stomp out of the room, and Adam let out a long sigh then walked away in the opposite direction.
Coby watched them go and his face grew serious. “Ally?”
“Yes?”
“Mommy said when people die they go to heaven. What about dogs? Did Tiger go-”
Ally cut him off by getting up and walking toward the door.
“Where are you going?” Coby asked.
“Just out. I’ll be back later,” she said, opening the door.
“Ok,” Coby said just before she closed the door.
Ally took off running with no clear destination in mind. It didn’t make sense to talk about it. What was the point of constantly talking or thinking about the people that were gone? It
wouldn’t bring them back; all it did was bring back the pain. Ally was used to loss and she knew the best way to survive it, and sitting around thinking about it all day wasn’t the way. There were a lot of things Ally still didn’t know but the one thing she did know was how to survive.
Alec
The heat hung over him like a thick blanket he couldn’t shake off. Alec rested his forearms over his head and took in a deep breath of the humid air. All around him his fellow prisoners were fighting against the sweltering heat, some better than others. Steffan and Jon walked around slowly, like zombies, barely going through the motions, while Gerry seemed on the verge of collapse. The man’s shirt was completely soaked through and the amount of sweat running down his face made it look like someone had just poured a bucket of water on his head. Gerry saw him watching and gave a half-hearted smile. Gerry had been an emotional wreck when he first arrived and Alec had told him that if he wanted to survive he had to toughen up. The man had certainly done that.
Alec went back to swinging his axe into a downed tree just as a large gust of wind blew past and gave him a brief moment of respite from the heat. While his body was going through the motions of cutting down the tree his mind was focused on escape, more specifically who he was going to invite. Naturally he wanted everyone to come; the thought of people being stuck there gave him a pang of guilt but he knew there wasn’t a way for all of them to make it. Jon and Steffan were his closest friends in the camp and they were both in good enough shape to be able to contribute. Jon followed his lead more often than not and seemed like he would be willing to go along with the plan. Steffan was more mild-mannered and risk-averse but Alec didn’t think it would take much convincing to get him aboard. Between the three of them and the two other people that Finn was getting from Rambo Camp they seemed full, but Alec wanted to invite one other person. Gerry placed a piece of wood on the trailer and rested against it for a few brief moments. Gerry was out of shape, weak and still emotionally fragile. Chances were he would slow them down if they had to go on foot and he didn’t bring much to the table, but Alec knew the man probably wouldn’t survive in this prison for long.
The Wasteland: Book 6 of The After The Event Series Page 2