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by Richard Stephenson

  “Kathy, you okay? Tell me what happened.” Max handed her a towel and put his hand on her shoulder.

  “Thank God we made it here. That was the scariest thing I’ve ever done in my life. Thought for sure we wouldn’t make it. Got some bad news for you. You want the bad news first or the really, really bad news?”

  Max frowned. “Surprise me.”

  “Well, first the power went out, pretty sure all over town. I think a tornado passed behind the station. It’s a wreck, probably demolished by now. Blew half the roof off and destroyed your office. Windows blew out and wrecked everything. We waited it out in the armory and headed straight here. Charlie make it here? Where is he?”

  “Charlie’s not here, what happened to him?”

  Kathy started to cry, “Oh no! No, no, no! He left before I did! I stayed behind when these people came to the station for help. He has to be here!”

  Max hugged Kathy. “Hey, take it easy, you’re safe. I’m sure Charlie’s just fine. I bet he’ll be walking in the door in no time at all. You get in there and get out of those wet clothes. There’s a tub full of clean gym clothes in each locker room.”

  Kathy smiled through her tears. “Oh fun. We get to look like high school kids.”

  “Kathy, hold on a second. Was that the bad news, or the really, really bad news?”

  “Oh yeah, I already told you the worst part. The bad news is I completely smashed up my patrol car getting over here.”

  Max smiled at her. “Oh, that’s fine. I’ll just take it out of your next check, if we ever start getting them again.”

  Kathy wiped the tears from her cheek and with a smile, gave her boss a playful slap on the arm. She disappeared into the girl’s locker room. Max knew he had probably just told Kathy a lie. If Charlie left before she did and she didn’t pass him getting here, his car probably blew off the road. At best, he got lost in the storm and couldn’t find his way to the gym. Max hoped Charlie pulled over and was riding out the storm somewhere safe. They would have no way of knowing until the storm cleared. Going to search for Charlie in the raging storm would be a bad call. As much as Max hated to admit it, Charlie was on his own.

  Max walked back into the locker room to check on Elizabeth. She was resting on the cot as the doctor cleaned up at the sink. “Well, Doc, what can you tell me?”

  “She’s going to be fine. I stitched up the holes and bandaged her up. She has two bruised ribs. I’m monitoring her blood pressure. I don’t think she lost enough blood to require a transfusion.”

  “Thank God for you, ma’am. I mean that. Thank you.” Max caught the woman off guard when he wrapped his arms around her and gave her a big hug. “I don’t know what I would have done if you hadn’t been there. You saved her life.” Max released her and wiped tears from his eyes. “I’m so sorry that I yelled at you; please forgive me.”

  “You are very welcome, sir. And please don’t apologize, it’s not necessary. I can tell that woman is more than just a co-worker to you, am I right?”

  Max wiped his eyes. “Is it that obvious? Ma’am, I just realized that I don’t even know your name. I’m Chief Harris.”

  “Chief Harris, it’s very obvious that you care for her a great deal. My name is Diana Stone.”

  “Dr. Stone, it’s a pleasure to meet you,” Max extended his hand and smiled, “a real pleasure.”

  Dr. Stone returned the gesture and asked, “Are we safe in here?”

  “Yes, ma’am, it’s the safest place in town. The far side of the east wing was built into the side of a hill with one side of the hallway underground, including the locker rooms. The only thing we have to worry about is the gym, which I’m certain is going to come down. Here in the boy’s locker room the bathroom exits out into the hallway. We can get out that way if we need to.”

  “May I call you Max?”

  “Please do.”

  “Max, tell me about your injury. I’d like to know if we’re going to be spending time together.”

  Just then, Elizabeth opened her eyes and gazed at Max with a look of love and compassion. He saw the trust in her eyes and figured it was time to finally talk about it. He smiled at her and said, “Hey, you.”

  “Hey yourself.” She smiled and laid her head back down on the cot.

  “Feeling better?” Max’s eyes lit up when he saw the smile on her face.

  “A lot better. You give me some of the pills you hide in your pocket? I feel fantastic.”

  A look of worry dawned on his face. “What? How long have you known?”

  “That you’re an addict? Pretty much figured it out the day I met you.”

  “Hold on now. I’m not an addict; you have no idea the kind of pain I’m in.”

  “You’re right. I have no idea because you never talk about it. It’s okay, sweetheart, answer the doctor’s question.”

  The doctor smiled and sat down next to Elizabeth. “Elizabeth, my name is Dr. Stone. It’s a pleasure to meet you; I’m glad you’re feeling better. I gave you some pills from the medicine cabinet that will help you deal with the pain. I stitched and bandaged you up. Two of your ribs are bruised. In order to breath comfortably, you’ll need to take two of these every six hours.” Dr. Stone handed her the bottle of Tramadol. “It will be a few days before you can breathe without pain. Max was kind enough to leave you with most of the bottle.”

  Max hung his head in shame. “I’m sorry. Didn’t think you’d noticed.”

  “I can tell by the way you’re walking and the ugly scowl that never seems to leave your face that you are in constant pain. I figured you were digging in there for something. The bottle should be completely full. Anyone stocking an emergency medicine cabinet would ensure that everything in it was topped off.”

  “I needed something. Only have ten pills left. The rest of my pills are, well, out there.”

  “Vicodin?”

  “Yes.”

  “How long?”

  “Three years.”

  “You know that Vicodin isn’t meant to be taken for that long. Elizabeth is right; whether you believe it or not, you are an addict. If you don’t want to explain how you were injured, I understand. But I would like to know the nature and extent of your injuries.”

  “No, it’s fine. Elizabeth deserves to know. I’ve kept it from everyone for a very long time. The only person in my life who knows the entire story is my father. I don’t know where to begin.”

  “Its okay, honey, take your time,” said Elizabeth.

  Max sat back in his chair and leaned against the wall. As he recalled the memories, torment and anguish washed over his face. Pain and sorrow gripped Maxwell and kept him silent for a very long minute. He stared at the ceiling and was terrified to speak. Dr. Stone and Elizabeth were patient, they started to doubt if Max would say anything at all. Max closed his eyes and feared the words that were about to escape his lips. The words were going to hurt him far worse than the pain he felt in his hip and knee.

  “Before I came to work in this town, I was a Texas State Trooper. I had been with them for twelve years. I was a rising star, destined for great things. I was in charge of my own station faster than anyone had ever been before me. Then, I was given my own region. Nine stations were under my command. It was only a matter of time before I made the move to Austin as a deputy director. I had such ambition! So much was ahead of me. My career was more important than anything; I gladly gave up my marriage, thinking my ex-wife was doing nothing but holding me down. Part of me still believes that, but I can’t help but wonder if I would still be married if I had actually slowed down and made my marriage a priority. I even fooled myself into thinking that the only thing I had to do to be a good husband and father was to pay the bills and provide a good life.”

  Max paused for a long time. Dr. Stone and Elizabeth looked at each other. Elizabeth had no idea that Max had a child. He didn’t have photos on his desk and never mentioned his ex-wife or his child. They remained silent and waited for Max to continue.

  “O
ne Friday night I was off duty. About the only thing I enjoyed doing outside of work was going to high school football games. I played ball in high school and still loved it. So much fun supporting high school kids. When the game was over I pulled out of the parking lot in my truck. As I was driving home I heard a call go out over the scanner. A good friend of mine had pulled over a vehicle for a routine traffic stop. He didn’t know it at the time but the vehicle had just been stolen. The owner of the vehicle had actually called it in when David was on the stop. He walked up to the window… It was just for a … a busted brake light! The guy shot him in the head and drove off, left him there on the side of the road, like a dead dog!”

  Max was sobbing. David had been his closest friend. They had been through the Academy together and stayed close even when Max was quickly promoted up the chain of command. Elizabeth wanted to go to him and wrap her arms around him. She knew she couldn’t and started to cry. She looked to Dr. Stone, who understood immediately. The doctor sat down next to Max and held his hand.

  “I dug in my glove box for my pistol. It wasn’t there. I’d been to the range that morning and forgot to put it back in my truck. I was in the area where David made the stop and was going to stop by and talk with him; it had been a week or so we last talked and I wanted to catch up. Another patrol arrived on the scene and announced on the radio that David had been shot in the head. I had never been so enraged in my entire life. I screamed so loud my throat hurt. I knew what road they were on and headed off to find those assholes. Lucky me! They raced past me, and I turned around and chased them. They were about to head into a residential area when they took a corner too hard and skidded off the road. I had them right in front of me. The driver’s side door was directly in front of me. I didn’t have my gun and no way in hell was I just going to let them get away. I stepped on the gas and T-boned their car going sixty miles an hour. My airbag didn’t go off and my leg was crushed. I broke my hip, my femur, and shattered my knee. I almost died. I don’t know how, but I stayed conscious the entire time. I didn’t think I’d be able to walk again. I looked down at my leg and could see bone sticking out in two places.”

  “Max, honey, you did the right thing. You stopped them. You can walk and you stopped them!” Elizabeth was trying as hard as she could to find the words to comfort Max.

  “I may have done the right thing, but not without paying a price much too high.”

  Dr. Stone looked into Max’s eyes. “So you regret killing them? Or is it because of the pain you’re still in?”

  “God no,” Max laughed, “I’ll live with this pain for the rest of my life knowing those pieces of shit are rotting in hell.”

  Elizabeth looked at Max and could tell there was something else, something much worse. “Then what is it?”

  Max didn’t know if he could speak the words. He was almost ready to stop talking and leave things as they were. He hung his head and closed his eyes. After a minute, he decided he needed to tell Elizabeth everything. “When they slid off the road, a mother and her little girl walked over to the vehicle to see if they were okay. I killed them, too.”

  CHAPTER FIFTEEN

  Florida Governor Lori Prince sat in the reading room of the governor’s mansion, better known as “The People’s House” in Tallahassee, Florida. The mansion was a popular tourist attraction and was open to public tours free of charge during normal business hours, Monday through Friday — at least it had been open to the public before Hurricane Luther.

  Governor Prince was born and raised in Florida and was no stranger to hurricanes. When she took office, the first order of business was to upgrade the mansion to make it hurricane-proof. She was shocked that her predecessors had not made the issue a priority.

  When Hurricane Luther finally moved out to sea for good, Lori Prince was ready to get her hands dirty and get to work. She contacted the state liaison of the Unified National Guard to coordinate relief efforts. For the better part of a week she was given the runaround with empty promises and vague declarations of upcoming relief efforts. She finally gave up on the Unified National Guard and took the matter straight to the White House. Prince had worked with the president’s Chief of Staff, Stacy Reid, and used their relationship to her benefit. Stacy arranged a private meeting with the president. President Powers was shocked by the lack of support and promised her that help was coming. All she needed to do was be patient.

  Upon her return to Florida, the governor made arrangements to be flown to the disaster area so she could survey the damage firsthand. What she saw was nothing short of complete and total catastrophe. City after city was demolished. Towns close to the coast were wiped completely off to map as Luther swallowed them up and carried them out into the Atlantic. It was as if the state of Florida was not only devastated by a hurricane but a tsunami as well. Governor Prince wept as she envisioned the death toll. The body count would not number in the hundreds or thousands, but tens of thousands, probably much higher.

  When she returned to The People’s House and secluded herself in the private residence quarters, Prince attempted to contact Stacy Reid via vidcon. A few minutes later she was looking at her former employee, desperately pleading her case to the Floridian who was the president’s closest advisor. Convincing Stacy to help her wasn’t difficult for her since her own home town was near the coast and no longer existed. Stacy’s parents had both died many years ago, and the rest of her family had moved away from Florida. When Stacy presented Governor Princes’ concerns to the president he dismissed her, choosing to close himself up in the Oval Office to devise a plan. Stacy found it odd that Malcolm would make the plans without her, but she trusted her boss to do the right thing and went about the business of running the day-to-day operations of the White House.

  Malcolm called Stacy back to his office around dinnertime, and the two joined Governor Prince in a vid-con. The president told the governor that he was going to institute a full lockdown of the disaster zone and feed the press a story about a chemical spill and a quarantine zone. The cover story was to prevent widespread panic. The president told Governor Prince that the only truth the press would be told was that an aircraft carrier was en route to the Florida coast to begin search and rescue missions. Governor Prince was pleased.

  Several days later at the infamous meeting when she cussed out the president, Lori Prince was anxious to get to the bottom of things. The promises made to her had yet to even begin to happen. A great many soldiers in the Unified National Guard stationed in Florida had been killed right along with the citizens. Governor Prince called in every favor she had accumulated during her political career, calling every governor she knew well and other she only knew by name. She begged and pleaded with them to send every guardsman they could spare to try Florida. Not one governor was willing to help her. They all had their own states to look after. Their guardsmen were busy maintaining law and order in their major cities. To make matters worse, every governor she spoke to told her to be patient; the White House was sending help. Since President Powers was sending an aircraft carrier to render aide, their guardsmen would be wasting time in Florida when they could be at home. Governor Prince left the White House enraged. She returned to Florida, resigned to the fact that she was on her own and powerless to do a thing.

  Twenty-two years prior, Governor Prince had been in her senior year at the University of Miami and followed the horrors of the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. Kathleen Blanco, then governor of the state of Louisiana, failed miserably at handling the crisis. In Lori Prince’s opinion, President Bush and the Federal Emergency Management Agency were more to blame. Watching the news footage of people stranded on their rooftops waiting for rescue was the most heart breaking and outrageous thing that the college senior had ever seen in her life. Lori was already a political science major and had aspirations of going into politics. She believed in democracy and had a strong desire to serve the people and make their lives better. She would spend her political career ensuring that the gross negligence s
een during Katrina would never be repeated.

  Twenty-two years later, she was governor of the fourth largest state in the country and considered herself a total failure. History would forget Kathleen Blanco and her poor response to New Orleans in 2005. History would brand Prince as the worst governor in the history of the United States.

  Governor Prince sat on the balcony outside her bedroom and looked at the bottle of Ambien in her hand. She was contemplating taking the entire bottle and falling into an eternal, peaceful slumber. The only thought that gave her pause was that of Malcolm Powers. He had betrayed her and hung her out to dry. He’d sat behind the Resolute desk in the Oval Office and lied to her face. Her hatred for the man was the only thing that saved her from taking her life.

  *

  Benjamin Black was quickly amassing a large fortune and formidable power in the greater Orlando area. His experience at the Kissimmee Super Wal-Mart opened his eyes to the opportunity that the wasteland of Florida had to offer. Where other people saw chaos, Benjamin saw a chance at power. Once they took Chester Stephens’ retail store from him, they stripped it clean of everything that would help his group survive and prosper. Benjamin quickly fled from the fallen Wal-Mart, the dead bodies inside not something he wanted to answer for should law and order be restored. A week after they left the Kissimmee Super Wal-Mart, his group returned to move in and set up shop. If Benjamin Black had any doubts about civilization returning to the way it was, the passage of time removed any lingering hope. The former Jiffy Lube manager knew that in this new world, he would be king.

  Benjamin thought back to the battle he had with Chester Stephens and reversed roles with the slain manager. What would he have done to repel his own attack? If he were Chester, how would he have done things differently? Benjamin corrected all of Chester’s mistakes. The pedestrian entrance to the loading docks was camouflaged and barricaded from the inside. Benjamin completely closed off the door so it could never be used again. The next order of business was to draw up a rotation for guard duty. Sentries were posted on all four corners of the roof and would contact Benjamin by radio if anything suspicious was happening. The south entrance that Benjamin’s people had plowed into with a makeshift bulldozer was now fortified. A twenty-four foot truck was tipped over on its side directly in front of the entrance. Two armed guards sat atop the U-Haul truck, and another two sat inside the sallyport. A champion sharpshooter was happy to pull double shifts sitting on top of the U-Haul. He relished the opportunity to repel an attack. Every few days a band of thugs would try to shoot their way in, and he gleefully dropped them like flies.