by T A Williams
“I’m not about to turn them away.” She said sternly.
“I’m not about to let you put yourself in danger.”
“Danger?” Trevor glanced at Malcolm. “What kind of danger?”
“It’s town business, nothing that concerns you.” Malcolm grumbled.
Margie turned back around and a forced smile covered her face. “Let’s find you all a room to settle in.”
Malcolm let out a loud sigh and walked deeper into the house.
“What did he mean danger?” Trevor asked Margie.
“Nothing, he’s just an old damn fool.”
Trevor and Alec shared a look but said nothing.
“Follow me, let’s find you a place.”
Ben
“Hey, kid.” Mason said trying to get Ben’s attention. The look on Ben’s face caught him off guard. “Uh, was it something I said or did?”
Ben wiped the look of irritation off his face. “It’s nothing…I…I don’t like being called a kid.
Mason was laying on the couch in the living room and it was obvious the man hadn’t moved from that spot in quite some time. Plates were strewn about along with the odd end of tape or fabric they had used when they replaced his bandage.
The man took in what Ben had said. “Fair enough, how old are you?”
“Twelve,” the boy thought about it for a moment. It was almost winter and his birthday had been in September, had September already passed? “Or maybe thirteen.”
“So you’re at that age where you’re ready for people to start treating you like an adult? I remember that time. I felt like an adult inside but on the outside everyone saw me as a child.”
Ben didn’t feel like telling him that it wasn’t that simple. People saw him as a child because for the longest time that was how he acted.
Ben looked at Mason and even in his wounded state the man seemed formidable. He had a chiseled jaw that looked like it was made of stone and the man’s broad shoulders made Ben’s father’s XL shirts look like they were a size small. Ben couldn’t imagine anyone ever believing Mason wasn’t an adult.
“Don’t be discouraged it takes time. The people closest to you will probably always see you as a child but that isn’t because they’re trying to disrespect you. From my experience age doesn’t make you a man it’s your actions that earn you that title.”
“What if I’m the one who feels like I’m still a child” Ben asked softly.
Mason looked surprised but before he could reply Jack opened the front door and walked in. The man was covered in sweat and seemed to be on the verge of collapsing.
“Where have you been?” Mason asked concerned.
Jack looked to Ben and hesitated for just a second. “Providing your men with a proper burial.” He finally answered.
Mason’s face turned to stone not showing a hint of emotion. “Thank you for that.” He said after some time.
Jack walked over and fell into one of the old recliners which groaned in protest. “It was the least I could do.”
Ben fought back anger, yet he knew he didn’t have the right to be angry. If Jack had asked him to help he would not have wanted to but he would have. He didn’t want to see what had happened to the people in the helicopter but that didn’t mean Jack should have gone alone.
“I should have been the one that gave them their final resting spot.” Despite Mason’s stoic face his voice was tinged with emotion. “But they didn’t deserve to lay there while I healed…I owe you one Jack, a couple of those men were like brothers to me.”
Jack’s face was weary and his eyes seemed far off. Some of Ben’s anger melted away as he realized the ordeal had taken a lot out of the man and not just physically. If something like that could affect a person like Jack what would it have done to him?
“You’re out there fighting to protect us, we owe you, not the other way around.”
“Did you manage to scavenge any supplies?” Mason asked.
“I didn’t see anything, what did you all have?”
“Not a lot to be honest,” said Mason. “We were on our way to a supply cache when it went down. But our weapons should still be around there somewhere and some ammo. The most important thing is our radio.”
“Radio?” Jack asked sitting up quickly.
“Does it work? How do you have a working radio?” Ben asked.
Mason’s stoic face cracked for just a second and he gave them an amused smile. “Yeah it works or I should say worked prior to the crash. Each squad was sent out with a radio in order to maintain contact with command.”
“But how?” Ben asked again. “All of our electronics stopped working.”
“Command treated those things like they were worth more than our lives so I don’t think there are an abundance of radios. They might not have been affected by whatever happened or they might have been made after. I’m not entirely sure to be honest.”
The answer seemed to satisfy Jack who merely nodded. “I didn’t really search for supplies…give me a couple of minutes and I’ll-“
“I’ll go.” Ben was standing up before he had finished his sentence. Jack looked at him uncertainly but Mason just nodded his head slightly.
Age doesn’t make you a man it’s your actions that earn you that title.
“Uh, Ben I-“
“Is this area secure?” Mason asked.
“Secure?” Jack asked flustered. “You mean safe? It’s as safe as it can be, it’s just-“
“I don’t have a problem letting Ben search for the supplies if you don’t. You need to get some rest Jack and as long as it isn’t putting him in harm’s way I’m fine with it.”
Before Jack could give his blessing Ben was already getting his things together.
“Ben the radio is larger than what you’re probably expecting. It is attached to a large base about the size of a back pack. Grab that and any weapons or other supplies you can carry.”
Ben nodded, grabbed the keys and headed out the door before Jack could say another word. Mason was giving him a chance to show he wasn’t an emotionally broken child and he was going to take advantage of it. He would prove to Jack, and to himself, that he wasn’t a child.
Driving the mini-van wasn’t much easier the second time. As he was pulling out he hit the brakes too hard on several occasions causing him to once again go flying into the steering wheel. He prayed that he was far enough out of sight that Jack and Mason couldn’t see. By the time he got to the area where the helicopter went down he seemed to have the driving thing down pat.
He left the vehicle on the road and approached the site on foot. As he approached the realization of where he was going began to sink in. The darkness of night had hidden a lot of the horrors of what had occurred but he was about to see it in broad daylight. The fact that Jack had buried all the bodies gave him some solace but his stomach still felt queasy.
The thing that used to be a helicopter sat alone in the clearing. The twisted hulk of wreckage looked nothing like it was supposed to and Ben realized just how lucky Mason was to be alive. As he got closer Ben could make out the dried blood on the wreckage and what appeared to be dried pools of blood staining the grass.
His body froze.
He didn’t want to see this.
I never should have come.
Ben thought back to when he had heard the gun shots, when the bad people had found their house. He had been inside pretending he was an unstoppable robot but the sound of the shot had caused him to panic. He remembered running into one of the rooms and hiding under the bed. His first thoughts had not been of Joseph or Ally, he had only thought of himself. Even when they men came into the house and Alec and his father had fought them Ben had hidden. He watched the man sneak up and take out Alex, he didn’t try to help. He watched them drag his father outside, he didn’t try to help. His youngest brother, Joseph, tried to stop them from taking Ally and was shot and killed, and he was hiding under the bed.
Ben felt the tears running down his chee
k and felt his anger return. He could have helped but he hadn’t because he was scared. He didn’t want to be scared anymore.
The boy forced his body into motion again and tried to look at things from the corner of his eye. From time to time he would see something that looked like blood but he made sure he didn’t get a good look at it. At the edge of the clearing he found a large assault rifle that was intact, he threw it to the side to pick up later.
He noticed the opening to the helicopter that Jack had obviously used to get the dead soldiers that were inside, out. The streaks of blood that lead from the inside were fresh. Ben made a point to breath out of his mouth and went inside. There was no ignoring the blood inside the helicopter and the boy struggled to maintain composure. He took in deep breaths and kept moving. He found part of what resembled the radio that Mason had described to him but the device was nearly cut in two. He threw it to the side and continued searching. It felt like he had been in the helicopter for hours but it had probably only been a few minutes. By the time he had exhausted his search he managed to find another large rifle and a back pack with a bunch of supplies inside it.
He grabbed as much as he could carry and began to load the mini-van up. His hands were shaking and he felt light-headed but he had made it. For the first time he had faced his fear and fought through it. As he headed back down towards the helicopter to grab the rest of the supplies he allowed himself to smile, it wasn’t much but it was a start.
Jess
The humidity made the air feel heavy and the glare of the sun caused her to walk with her eyes constantly squinted. The truck had run out of gas two days ago yet Jess’s legs felt like she had been walking for months. At first Ally had been happy to finally get out of the small truck, Jess had to yell at her to stay close as the girl ran around like a curious cat. That had ended half-way through the second day, as the combination of the hot weather, the constant walking and the lack of water and food had caused the young girl to struggle just to keep up with Jess’s pace.
They followed the large road until it finally led them just outside a row of houses, the same kind she used to hate. The houses were exactly the same, same style, same color, same yard, any remnants of individuality had been yanked from them before they were even on the drawing board. For the longest time she convinced herself the reason she hated these type of neighborhoods was because they lacked character or any kind of identity, but in the back of her mind she knew it was because despite all their flaws she would have killed to be able to afford to live in this kind of neighborhood.
As they got closer she noticed there was something else all the houses had in common, they had all been broken into. Doors sat ajar or were hanging from the hinges, and glass covered the ground from the broken windows. With yards full of grass nearly waist high and vines creeping up the side of the walls she felt sorry for the buildings. Once they sheltered lives that took care of them and included them in their family, now they were abandoned and abused, left to rot in a world that was only interested in taking what was left inside them. Her stomach let out a rumble and reminded her that she should also be interested in what may be left inside them.
“Do you think any of them have food?” Ally asked.
The girl’s clothing was baggy and they had not been when they first hit the road. Even the girl’s cheeks seemed slighter then they used to be. She was allowing the little girl to starve.
Jess cleared her throat. “Let’s check, stay close.”
She continued walking until she found a few houses that seemed less abused than the others. Even in those houses she was met with an interior that had been turned over in search of food. Mirrors broken, furniture overturned and family photos that had once been reminders of the family’s happy memories, now served as grim unanswered questions hanging unevenly on the wall.
Their search through the first few houses turned up nothing more than dusty empty kitchens. They returned to the houses that took the most abuse and were met with the same thing. After each house the disappointment in Ally’s face grew and grew.
Jess walked through the kitchen of the last house on the block and opened and closed the last of the cabinets, outside of glassware, and evidence of mice, they held nothing. She fell back on the countertops and fought back the emotions surging in her. She should have known this was going to happen, she had never been able to take care of herself, what in the hell made her believe that she was going to be able to take care of another person. Her insistence on staying away from large cities and from any sign of humanity had led them to another abandoned town with no vehicle, no food, and no time. As the tears began to form she heard Ally moving around in another room and caught herself.
Don’t let her see you falling apart.
She wiped the tears from her eyes, stood up straight, took in a deep breath and went to find Ally. She found the little girl sitting in a room that had once been a little girl’s room. Pink posters containing characters from kid shows Jess had never seen lined the walls. A large pink bed sat in the far corner of the room and the floor was littered with stuffed toys and Barbie Dolls.
Instead of playing with the toys Ally was sitting in the middle of the room with her back to Jess. As Jess walked inside she saw the girl staring at a picture frame showing a little girl going down a slide on her father’s lap with what appeared to be her mother waiting to catch them both. The girl in the picture was smiling ear to ear showing unbridled bliss, while Ally’s was blank.
Jess walked up and knelt down next to her. “You okay honey?” she asked softly.
The girl shrugged.
Jess again fought back tears. The girl needed comfort which was another thing that she didn’t know how to give.
“I used to go to the park with my mom.” Ally said not looking away from the picture.
Jess opened her mouth to say something when she heard the sound of a car driving down the street. She grabbed Ally and pulled her against the wall.
“Don’t worry we’ll be ok.” She said more to herself then to Ally.
The rumbling faded as the car went past the house and continued slowly down the street. Jess realized she had been holding her breath and let it out quietly and started to relax when she heard the floorboard in the living room creak.
There was someone in the house with them.
She put her finger to her lips urging Ally to remain quiet then led her to the far side of the room towards the window. As quietly as possible she started to pull open the window when she heard a footstep at the opening of the bedroom door.
“Don’t move.” The voice sounded panicked.
Jess turned around and pulled Ally behind her. In front of her was a man dressed in faded military fatigues and he was pointing a large gun in her direction. She held up her hand, as if it could somehow stop a bullet. “Please don’t.”
The man shifted back and forth in his spot and glanced to his side. He looked young, probably in his early to mid-20’s, despite the fact that he was the one with the gun he looked scared.
“Is this your house?” he asked.
She shook her head no.
“Then…..looting isn’t allowed. Did you break into all these houses?”
“Calm down son.” The voice came from behind the solider causing him to tense up.
A large man, also in military fatigues, appeared in the door way behind the solider and put his hand on the young soldier’s gun. He gently pushed the barrel down so it was pointing at the floor.
“I don’t think they are a threat private.” The man said never taking his eyes off of them. “Is there anyone else in here with you?” he asked them.
Again Jess shook her head no.
The man patted the young soldier on the back. “Check out the rest of the house and rendezvous with the caravan.”
“Sir.” The young soldier said and turned away and headed further into the house.
The man stood at the doorway and gave Ally a warm smile. “I’m sorry about that. Private Jenks
is a little green and this is his first foray out into the wide world. My name is Washington, you can call me Wash.”
Ally peeked out from behind Jess, “Are you in the army?”
He gave her a warm smile and looked down at his military fatigues. “You’re an observant little girl.” Her locked eyes with Jess. “Yes, I am in the US Army and I’m not going to hurt you.”
Jess kept a firm hand on Ally keeping the young girl behind her. Just because the man was wearing a military outfit didn’t mean he was in the army.
He noticed her hesitation. “I’m sure you all have been through a lot but I can assure you we are here to help. We have several camps set up around here to help those that need it. We have food, water, and shelter.”
At the mention of food Ally pushed herself from behind Jess and came to her side. “You have food?”
Wash smiled and reached into his side pocket and pulled out a small package and tossed it at Ally’s feet. “It’s a candy bar, it’s military grade so don’t expect it to taste like a Snickers but it’s not half bad.”
Before he had even finished talking Ally had picked up the candy bar, ripped off the top and already bitten into it. She gave a bright smile and then dove back into the candy bar.
“What are you all doing?” Jess asked.
“We’re doing sweeps of nearby towns to search for survivors. If we find someone, and they agree to it, we take them to places where we can protect and feed them until we can get the grid back up.”
“So the government still exists?”
He smiled and nodded his head. “Very much so. We’re working on getting power back up across the board and maintaining order in the meantime.”
“What happened?” she asked.
The man’s face turned grim. “I have no idea and if my higher ups know they aren’t telling me.”
Ally’s face was covered in chocolate with a small piece of the chocolate bar’s wrapper stuck to her cheek. She smiled at Wash. “Do you have anything to drink?”