“What’s on your mind?” Miner asked. “Looks like you’re trying to carry the world on your shoulders.”
“Nothing,” Alec lied. “Just tired.”
“Things still tense out there?”
“Yeah, not sure what it is but Xu’s on the warpath.”
Miner looked down at his bowl again as if he had forgotten to clean it entirely. “Well, not much we can do about that besides staying out of his way.”
Alec sat back but his body refused to relax. Instead his mind raced with the different possibilities of what the night could bring him. As tired as he was he didn’t think sleep would find him tonight.
“I might try that mouse trap thingy you told me about tonight,” Miner said. “I could use a little something extra every now and then.”
“Well, all right,” Alec smiled. “Not everyone is willing so quick.”
“We tried to catch them over at the mine. We...we just didn’t have anything to use as bait.” Miner aged a decade in just a few seconds. The life disappeared from his face and he stared off into nothingness.
“You…you don’t have to say anything but...how bad is it over there?”
“Bad,” Miner said quickly.
“How long were you over there?”
He shook his head. “I don’t know. We would go into the mine before the sun rose and sometimes when we came out it would still be dark; other times it would be light out. After a while things seemed to melt together. Too long.”
“Things are bad here but-”
“How you seen the field?” Miner asked.
“The field?”
“Where they bury all the bodies?”
“The white flowers.” Alec thought back to the field filled with bright white flowers as far as the eye could see. He had helped bury bodies there once. Simon had told him what that field was for.
Miner closed his eyes. “There is more than one field. One in between our camps and another on the north side of the mine. They’re both the same.”
Alec would escape. He would escape and bring back help to burn this place to the ground. “We just need to survive a little longer.”
Miner yawned. “That’s what I’ve been telling myself every day since I got here, but you’re right.”
“You ready to tell me about what you did before the world ended and before you got here?” Alec asked.
“You first.”
“No, it doesn’t work like that. I asked you first. You tell me something about yourself and I’ll tell you something about me.”
Miner laughed. “It’s hard to talk about those things, but we’ll have to play that game sometime.”
“Yeah, yeah, we will.”
“Thanks again for dinner,” Miner scooted down onto his back. “Tell me if I snore.”
Alec laughed. “You’ll know you were snoring if you’re woken up by a kick to the head.”
“Good night.”
“Good night,” Alec said, knowing that sleep wasn’t going to come willingly.
Ally
Outside it was quiet; inside her head it was deafening. Ally sat on a second story fire escape with her feet dangling over the side and her brow furrowed. Why was she upset? She knew this would happen eventually. She had only stayed with them initially because she had nowhere else to go, and the reason she didn’t leave was because they wouldn’t have survived without her. They weren’t her family, so she shouldn’t care. Why was she upset, then?
Ally picked up a large piece of a broken flower pot and tossed it across the street toward four large apartment buildings that looked exactly the same. She had traveled farther into the Wastes than she had ever before, past the pure destruction she usually trekked, until she found herself here. There were still buildings that held scars from the bombings but there were also many that remained untouched. It was a place she might be able to call home.
The sound of footsteps echoed down the empty streets and Ally’s hand went to her bow. Someone was running. Ally got to her knees but stayed low and soon caught sight of what was making the noise. A Chinese soldier turned the corner and began to jog toward the buildings across the street. He ran with a slight limp and his military uniform was caked in mud, but there was no mistaking he was one of the bad soldiers. Ally started to turn back inside when she noticed something else. His hands were empty and there wasn’t anything slung over his back. The soldier was unarmed. For a split second she saw the image of Tiger lying on the ground all alone, dying. As the soldier entered one of the buildings Ally made up her mind and followed. She was tired of hiding all the time. She was quick, she was smart and she knew how to use a bow. From now on they were going to hide from her.
Ally used the cars in the parking lot to remain hidden as she approached the buildings but there was no sign of the soldier. She approached the large arched opening of the building and on both sides were small golden nameplates with the words ‘Metro 417’ on them. As Ally made her way inside the building the ground suddenly shifted under her feet. Ally had just enough time to realize she had fallen onto her back when she felt like someone had grabbed her and was shaking her violently, but there was no one there. There was a large chandelier on the ceiling that was being tossed all about, and that was when she realized the entire building was shaking. The sound of rumbling filled her ears as the ground shook beneath her and pieces of the ceiling fell down all around her. Ally let out a scream but could barely hear it over the sound of the ground being ripped up all around her. She struggled to get to her feet several times but each time she lost her balance and fell back to the shaking earth. Just as she thought it couldn’t get any worse the ground disappeared from under her feet and she fell into darkness.
Ben
Ben lay on the ridge with the cool morning air blowing across his face as he stared out over the enemy base. He could still remember the initial attack on New York. He could hear the explosions going off all around him, he could see the wall of smoke covering everything and he could feel the heat from the fires raging all around them. Most of all, he could remember the fear. That same fear followed him when he had returned to New York looking for Mason. It had been suffocating. Hiding in the ruins of New York City, waiting for the sound of bullets or the scream of a missile fired from one of the drones, he had felt overwhelmed and outgunned. Staring out at the enemy base, he realized they were feeling the same thing.
The base was as wide and as long as a football field. There was a barbwire fence surrounding the base that looked like the slightest wind would knock it to the ground, and then there were the soldiers. They were thin. They looked more like prisoners than soldiers. Their uniforms hung off them and they sat about with a look of loss in their eyes.
“This is it?” Ty asked from beside him. “It looks like they’ve already given up.”
“I count two dozen outside,” Ben said, peering through his binoculars.
“Yeah, sounds good,” Ty said quickly. “What happened to them?”
“Supply lines cut, no support and probably no contact with their HQ.” Ben put his binoculars down. “They know it’s only a matter of time.”
“And I thought we had it bad back in NY,” Ty said.
They stayed low and met up at the rendezvous point. Crimson and the others arrived shortly after and almost all of them had a look of pity on their faces.
“Count?” Crimson asked.
“I saw about two dozen outside; could be another dozen or two in the buildings,” Ben reported.
“Yeah, I counted 23 outside,” Dex said.
The rest nodded their head.
“Four Humvees on the south end, but it wouldn’t surprise me if only one or two of them actually run,” Vick said.
“Looks like they are bingo on supplies and are already laying down for us,” Chavez said. “I know we are supposed to report to Command first but I doubt we’ll need any backup. I don’t see them putting up much of a fight.”
“Vick, radio it in and get our orders,” Crimso
n said. “Even if they surrender we are going to need more people to keep them in check.”
Chavez reported in to Command and Crimson sat near him, listening to their new orders.
Ty plopped down next to Ben and sat his gun on the ground. “I know this might sound bad, but I kind of feel sorry for them.”
“If the roles were reversed you think they would feel sorry for us?” Ben said with more anger in his voice than he intended.
“Probably,” Ty said. “I mean they’re human too.”
Ben opened his mouth to say something but stopped. Ty was right. “You can feel sorry for them but it doesn’t change what we need to do.”
“Yeah, I know. Hopefully they’ll surrender, though.”
Ben couldn’t help but agree.
Crimson came back and sat down in the clearing, waving them all over. “Reinforcements are on their way.” Crimson unfolded her map and sat it down in front of them. She pointed just south of the town they had passed through. “Vick, you will meet up with the reinforcements there and lead them back here to us. You’ll head out in three so I’d get some rest if I were you.”
“Sir,” Vick said.
“The rest of you, check your supplies and get some rest. We’re hitting them tomorrow.”
Alec
He had fallen asleep. Alec wasn’t sure how long he had been out; all he knew was that when he first heard the soft footsteps coming down the hallway his eyes had been closed and immediately shot open. Whoever was coming down the hallway was trying to be quiet but each step echoed throughout their small prison. Alec glanced at Miner, who was still sound asleep, and gently turned and stared out of his cage into the inky blackness of the hallway. After a few seconds Finn’s face appeared just outside his cage. Stress lines were carved throughout Finn’s face but there was a look of hope in his eyes. Finn held up a single finger to his lips and then unlocked Alec’s door. Once out of his cage any leftover fatigue fled Alec’s body and was replaced by anticipation. This was actually happening. Finn pointed at Alec and the exit and then pointed at himself and pointed down toward where Steffan and Jon were held up.
Alec silently walked down the hallway and exited his prison. Every day for what felt like a decade he walked out of this building and into the same yard, but for the first time he realized how beautiful it was. The moon shone brightly overhead, giving everything around him a soft warm glow. The cool night air danced across his skin, while the sounds of the night washed over him. For a brief second he took it all in and was at peace, then the fear returned. Alec ducked down and made his way to his hiding place. Just behind their building on the left-most corner was his hiding spot. Within a few minutes he had dug up his toothbrush and comb shiv, hoping he wasn’t going to have to use them.
Jon turned the corner and all but ran up next to him. The man’s face was full of anticipation. “We’re doing it!” he said in a hushed tone.
“Hold the celebration until we are on the road,” Alec said.
Finn came out with Steffan and from around the side of the Rambo building came two others from Rambo Camp. Both of them also showed signs of excitement and pure terror. They all gathered around the backside of Yankee Camp with their makeshift weapons in hand.
“All right, this is the dangerous part,” Finn said, gathering himself. “The Humvees are in the mining camp, so that is where we need to go. My guy said that most of them have the keys inside so we should be able to take off from there.”
“What about guards?” Alec asked.
“They still have a few on patrol. I’ve only noticed one or two guys in our area but I have no idea how well guarded the mining camp is. If you spot someone close by don’t be afraid to use your weapons.” Finn looked over his own shiv for a moment, then put it back into his pocket. “If we take someone out, take their weapon but only fire if we need to. Once someone fires all bets are off. These guys are under a lot of stress and haven’t seen any real combat in a while but they are still trained and there are a shitload more of them than us.”
“And if things get out of hand?” Steffan asked.
“Then just run into the woods. Run until you can’t run anymore, and then run another mile or two,” Finn said.
“We can still get others,” Jon said, looking at all of them. “We can get Simon and Gerry.”
“We can’t,” Alec said. He had been the one to argue for Gerry but he knew that wasn’t the smart choice. “The more we have the less chance we have to get out of here.” Jon’s face dropped. “Make sure you make it out of here so we can bring back help.”
Jon nodded.
“All right, stay low,” Finn said, then stood up into a crouch and took off toward another building.
They ran from building to building, staying low and attempting to stay quiet. Each step seemed to echo across the camp. Within minutes they were outside of their camps and making their way up the hill toward the mining camp. For a brief second Alec stopped and turned toward the place that had been his prison for so long. He looked over the worn buildings and the dirt roads that led to the farms and the logging area. It was a place filled with so much suffering and so much death. He would return to rescue the others and then he would make sure everything here was turned to ash.
“You okay?” Jon whispered next to him. The man had stopped and come back to him.
Alec forced a smile. “Yeah Jon, I’m okay.”
They followed the others over the hill where dozens of other buildings stood filled with guards and prisoners who were in much worse shape than them. Just beyond the buildings half a dozen Humvees sat alone. Finn didn’t slow down and kept making his way toward the vehicles.
“I wish we could have saved more,” Jon whispered next to him.
“So do I,” Alec answered.
“Gerry may not have been able to make it but Simon was in good health.”
“I don’t know if I would trust Simon,” Alec said.
“Why?”
They came up to the first building and the sounds of people talking in Chinese floated to them from a distance. It was far enough away that it wasn’t a direct concern but it was still a reminder of what was out there. Finn paused for a moment and surveyed the area, then took off again to the next building.
“I’ve been around Simon longer than you and he is afraid and just trying to survive,” Alec finally answered.
“We all are.”
“Yes, but we stick together. I think Simon is only looking out for himself.”
Jon was quiet as they rounded another corner and saw the Humvees less than a hundred yards away.
“You’re wrong,” Jon said. “I invited him to go with us.”
Alec nearly stumbled but caught himself at the last moment. He stopped and grabbed Jon. “You did what?”
Jon held his hands up. “A week or so ago I asked him to come with us and he said he would think about it. But he didn’t turn us in or say anything to anyone else. He’s not a bad person.”
Alec looked back toward their camp and didn’t see anyone giving chase. “Jon, that was really fucking stupid.” The others were getting farther ahead so Alec let go of Jon. “We’ll talk about this later.”
They caught back up with the others but Alec was hanging on by a thread. The night suddenly felt dangerous and every window seemed to have someone just out of sight watching them. They needed to get into a Humvee and get the hell out of there in a hurry.
Finn approached the first Humvee and stopped. The man’s entire body froze. That’s when Alec knew. Out from behind the row of Humvees came over a dozen soldiers, all with the guns raised in their direction. Alec turned to run and behind them stood another dozen soldiers. The sound of clapping filled the air and Xu stepped out from behind a building with a large smile on his face. Another soldier followed behind, dragging Simon by the arm. Simon’s head was hung low and bruises covered his face.
“No,” Jon said from beside Alec.
Xu stopped clapping but the smile didn’t stray
from his face. “You think you can escape me? You believe you are smarter than me? Which of you thinks you smarter?” Xu looked to all of them. “Hmm? Which one thought of this?” They didn’t say anything so Xu stepped forward, pulled out a sidearm and fired it into one the Finn’s friends. The bullet took off part of the man’s head and he was dead before he hit the ground. “I ask again, who thinks they are smarter than me?”
He had vouched for Jon and the man had inadvertently betrayed them. Alec stepped forward. Fear threatened to take him but he kept it at bay with all the anger and hatred he had for this man and this place. “I thought I was smarter than you.”
Xu smiled even wider. “The hero. It is time for me to show you what happens to heroes.”
Ally
The world all around her was white with dust and debris, so much so that all she could do initially was cough. Once her lungs had expelled as much of the dust as it could Ally’s eyes began to focus and she found herself staring at a large concrete wall with the words Metro stamped on it. She couldn’t remember what had happened. Had she fallen? Ally began to get up when pain coursed through her body, causing her to scream louder than she ever had before. She looked down at her right ankle and there was a large chunk of concrete sitting on top of it. Every time she tried to move it the pain went from a slight throb to an uncontrollable tidal wave of pain. Ally’s head began to swim and she threw up.
Her eyes opened again. She had no idea how long she had been out but the contents of her stomach, which were only a few inches from her face, had dried up. Ally gently sat up, making a point not to move her ankle and looked around. Several rays of sunlight came from the ceiling onto the surrounding area but it was still nearly pitch black. The ceiling was nothing more than a layer of rubble that hadn’t yet fallen in on her. As she looked around, the rest of the room was about the same. The floor of the apartment complex must have fallen in and now she was underground. As her eyes continued to adjust to the surroundings she realized there didn’t appear to be a way out. The rays of light revealed a room that was about the same size as her old elementary school classroom. Behind her was a wall of debris and while the other side of the room was covered in shadow, it appeared to be more of the same.
The Wasteland: Book 6 of The After The Event Series Page 7