by T A Williams
“General Gao says this happen if disobey,” the man said in broken English.
The General pulled out a sidearm and pointed it at the translator’s head.
“No, please!” the translator cried slipping into English before he went back to Chinese.
Whatever he said didn’t matter to the General because the man pulled the trigger causing the left side of the translator’s head to explode. Screams once again arose but this time the crowd scattered. Alec didn’t move he just stood there looking at what was left of the skinny translator. The General turned and said something to the other soldiers who began to pack up into the Humvees as if nothing had happened.
Alec felt Freddie’s hands on him trying to pull him away but Alec pulled away and went to Whitford who was still kneeling on the ground. They had left him behind. “Whitford, are you okay?”
“It’s….it’s my fault, I killed him.”
Alec followed Whitford’s gaze to the translator’s body. “You didn’t kill him, they killed him.”
“I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have said anything.” Whitford’s voice sounded small and broken.
Alec started to pull the man up when the sound of an approaching helicopter met his ears. The soldiers had not yet pulled away and heard it too and instantly went into a panic. One of them pulled the General into a Humvee and took off towards their base on the fairgrounds while the others jumped out of their Humvees and took up firing positions around the square.
The helicopter appeared over the top of the nearby trees and smoke was rising from the rear and was sucked up into the blades and dispersed throughout the air. It swayed side to side and came to a rapid decline just behind the row of Humvees. Just before it hit the ground it shot up quickly and then came crashing back down causing the left landing skid to break off and the main blade to chip against the road until it finally came to a stop. Only then did Alec realize the helicopter had markings on it clearly showing it was a Chinese helicopter. The soldiers noticeably relaxed and ran up to help. Alec took a few steps forward and could make out bullet holes all throughout the helicopter. The thing had been under fire.
“Alec, we need to get him inside and looked at,” Freddie said.
He watched the soldiers pulling the pilot and a few others out of the crashed bird then turned and helped Freddie bring Whitford inside.
The only light in the community center were from the candles aligning the room causing their shadows to dance about as they carried Whitford in and sat him on a nearby table. Their resident doctor, an old man that went by the name of Dr. Frank hobbled in with a look of concern in his eyes.
“Was he shot?” he asked.
“No, they just beat the hell out of him,” Alec answered.
Dr. Frank grabbed a candle and handed it to Freddie who held it near Whitford so the doctor could get a look. The skin on Whitford’s face was tight and stretched thin, his left eye was completely closed and the right one struggled to remain open.
“He has a concussion,” Frank said as he opened Whitford’s right eye. “What hurts, Whit?”
Whitford stared past Frank and shook his head no.
“Yeah, he’s out of it.” Frank turned to Alec. “You think you can send over Trevor to help out?”
Alec looked to Freddie who nodded his head. “I’ll keep watch here and find you if something changes.”
He didn’t want to leave but was well aware that Dr. Frank’s age limited what he could do. “I’ll be back if you need me.”
He was lost in his mind on the ride back. Their worst fears had been realized. The soldiers had no intention of leaving and they had no desire to help them out. Alec had gathered everyone together to protect themselves from outlaws and thugs but he had no idea how they were going to protect themselves from this new threat. Everything they had built and fought for was on the verge of being taken away. The people he had grown to love were going to be in danger and he had no idea what he was supposed to do.
He came back in a daze, found Trevor and explained everything that had happened. The man grabbed some supplies and headed out towards Centralia while Alec went onto the back porch and stared out into the night sky. They couldn’t leave. Even if they managed to find another empty town all their supplies, their livestock, their crops, everything they had built was here. They couldn’t fight back. All they could do was hide.
“What happened?” Alec turned to Bethany. Her soft features were hardened with worry but to him she was still beautiful. “I saw Trevor leave, did something happen?”
Alec told her about the incident in Centralia and her face dropped.
“If, when, my father finds out, he’s going to want to leave.”
Alec looked at her and thought about what Mark had said. The man wanted to protect his daughter and the last thing Alec wanted was for Bethany to get hurt. The way things were going he couldn’t say with any certainty that she was going to be safe here. “Maybe you should.” He instantly saw the hurt on her face. “I’m just saying, things aren’t going to get any safer around here.”
“Do you want me to leave?”
“No.”
She laid her hand on his arm. “I told you before, I don’t need you to protect me. You ever think that maybe you need someone to watch over you?”
“I’ve lost too many people in my life,” his thoughts turned to his mother and father, Joseph, Ben, and Ally. “People I’ve cared for have been taken away from me. I….I couldn’t stand it if the same thing to happen to you.”
Bethany stared back at him. “I choose not to worry about losing the people I love. Instead I just focus on loving them.”
Butterflies scattered in his stomach. “Bethan-“
Her mouth was on his before he could finish. He pulled her closer and took refuge in her soft embrace. The worry, the hurt, the scars, they all disappeared and for the moment she was all that mattered. They went inside and for the first time since the world ended everything else faded away and the only thing that matter to Alec was the moment.
Ally
She didn’t say anything.
She thought maybe she should have but she wasn’t even sure what she would say. Hey guys, I found the bloody backpack of the strangers we spied on. Then what? Dena would begin to worry, Adam would stare down at the ground and shut down, and Spence would probably find a way to blame her. It had to have been a different bag. There couldn’t be that many types of bags in the world. It was a similar looking bag and she just hadn’t noticed the difference due to the poor lighting. The excuse felt hollow.
They packed up and traveled through the deserted town, then another, and another. It wasn’t until they found themselves in the small city of Cleveland, Texas that they saw their first signs of life. As their horses approached the town Ally noticed a Welcome to Cleveland Texas Population 7,900 sign that was hanging half-way to the ground. They had expected it to be as empty as all the others until they heard the sound of a car driving down the road. They all sat there dumbfounded for a few seconds as their brains struggled to connect the sound to what could have caused it. Luckily the car was far enough away they had plenty of time to get off the road and out of sight before it got close enough to see them.
“We need to set up somewhere so I can scout the area,” Spence said as he led them through overgrown yards.
They eventually found themselves just outside a row of rundown shops. The parking lot had a few broken down cars and the weeds had nearly overtaken the concrete. The shop fronts housed everything from a Family Dollar Store, Aarons, to an old Subway. Each store bore the scars of being broken into in the past, but they were quiet now. Spence led them to the rear of the store so they had trees at their backs and the rear of the stores in front of them.
“Alright, tie the horses up and stay out of sight. If you hear a car coming go into the woods and I’ll find you later,” Spence said.
Dena and Adam agreed, as they always did, and Spence went about his way. The rest of the day consisted of them
checking over the remains of the stores. Outside of a new pair of pants and a couple of shirts Ally didn’t find anything of use. Before nightfall Spence returned with a plastic grocery bag of meat.
“What the hell is this?” Dena asked.
“A chicken and a goose.” Spence said as he tied up his horse and came into the Family Dollar where they had set up. “There is a lake just outside of town and there was a whole flock of geese out there. Should have gotten more but I spooked them and they took off. The chicken was just out running around the town.”
“You see anyone else?” Adam asked.
Spence shook his head. “No. I’m pretty sure I heard another car but I didn’t see anything. I definitely don’t think we’re alone here, but there doesn’t seem to be anyone nearby.”
They cooked up the birds. Ally didn’t realize how much she had been missing the taste of chicken until she had her first bite. The warm meat slid down her throat and her taste buds danced for joy. Adam saw the smile on her face and offered her his. When she turned him down he insisted.
“I’ve never been a chicken man. My taste buds won’t enjoy it as much as yours.”
Ally thanked him and greedily snatched it away and consumed it.
“Oh, I have a special treat for you.” Spence said to Dena and started rummaging through his backpack. He pulled out a half full bottle of Johnnie Walker and handed it to her.
“Well look at what we have here,” Dena said smiling.
“What is it?” Adam asked.
Dena handed the bottle to the Adam and that was when Ally saw it. A bright red sticker was on the side of the bottle that read MERLE’S LIQUOR STORE. Her stomach dropped. It was the same bottle that the man had in the deserted town. The same man whose bloody bag she had found in the woods that morning.
“Ally, honey, you ok?” Dena asked.
Ally wasn’t sure what kind of face she was making but she quickly wiped it away. “Yeah, sorry….just having a bad daydream,” she offered.
“Hey, don’t let that get far.” Spence hollered reaching for the bottle.
Ally got up and started to go outside.
“You sure everything is fine?” Dena asked her back.
“Yeah, I just need some air,” Ally said not turning around.
She walked outside and walked straight into the woods. It wasn’t possible. It couldn’t be the same bottle. But what if it was? Did Spence find the same backpack in the woods before they left and he took the liquor out of there? And if he did why didn’t he say anything about there being a bloody backpack in the woods near them? Tiger had followed her outside and rubbed against her leg. She ran her hand through his soft fur and took a deep breath. Merle’s was obviously a liquor store in the town they were in. It was possible that Spence had found the same liquor store when he was out scouting and grabbed a bottle. That made the most sense. Ally collected herself and went back inside.
She was met by the contorted face of Adam who had just taken a drink of the liquor bottle.
“Nope, nope,” he said through clenched teeth. “That isn’t for me.”
Dena laughed at him and threw a rock in his direction. “You’ve never had the stomach for a good scotch.”
“If that’s a good scotch then I don’t want to try a bad one,” Adam said as he shook his head back and forth.
“This is a real man’s drink,” Spence said as he took the bottle from Dena and took a long swig. “I didn’t expect you’d be able to handle it.”
Adam ignored the jab but Dena gave Spence a look, which he chose to ignore.
“Where did you find it?” Ally asked. Spence didn’t hear her at first so she spoke up. “Where did you find it?”
“Just out. There is a liquor store not too far from here. Pretty much picked clean but I found this in the back.”
“What was the name of the store?” Ally asked trying to sound causal.
Spence crinkled his brow. “Fuck if I know.” Dena shot him another look and he couldn’t ignore this one. “I don’t know I wasn’t looking for the name,” he said a little softer.
“You’ve had enough, sugar, the name is on the bottle,” Dena said pointing at the bottle in his hand.
Spence held the bottle out to the side. “Well, what do you know? It looks like this comes courtesy of good ole Merle.”
Ally dropped it and went over to the side and sat down next to Coby who was coloring in an old coloring book they had found in the back. She didn’t know anything about liquor stores so it was possible that Merle’s was a franchise of stores in the area. She had to believe that. What was the alternative?
Sleep didn’t come easy that night and she tossed and turned until Tiger finally got up and laid down next to Coby. That’s why she was awake when Spence got up and snuck out of the back of the building before dawn. Ally followed. The darkness on the horizon was slowly giving away to light but the sun had not yet appeared. The cool night air found its way around Ally’s clothes causing her to shiver.
Spence got on his horse and Ally followed on foot. The horse strolled slowly down the backside of the shopping area and Ally kept to the trees moving as quietly as she could. Spence always left early to scout their surroundings but she couldn’t remember him ever leaving before the sun was up. He made his way through the town past the abandoned businesses, empty houses and broken down cars, until he stopped suddenly, got off his horse, tied it up and began walking down the street on foot. After a few minutes he walked over to a large group of bushes next to an old white church and reached inside them. He pulled out a large metal bat. Ally ducked behind a pole as Spence glanced around, but he didn’t spot her.
The man then crouched down and quietly made his way towards a brick building with faded white letters that read Betsy’s Diner on the side. Spence glanced inside the windows a few times then quietly opened the front door. Ally ran as quickly and as quietly as she could until she was at the far side of the window. There she could see Spence standing at the door, bat in hand. Laying on the ground were the shapes of two people sleeping. As Spence approached, one of the shapes stirred and without a moment of hesitation Spence cleared the open space between them and brought the metal bat down hard on the body. Ally’s yelp was partially drowned out by the sound of metal hitting flesh. A loud shout emanated from the shape of a person and the second person began to stir. Spence quickly came down again with the metal bat and then turned his attention on the second shape. Ally saw the second person’s arm go up just as the bat came down and a loud DING rang out followed by a man’s scream of pain. The man pushed back against the wall and held his hands up in the air.
“Don’t hurt me, man! Take whatever you want!”
Spence pointed the bat at the man and glanced back towards the first person he had hit, but they weren’t moving. “Where is your stuff?”
The man dropped his arms and covered his hurt arm with his good one. “Over there by Jerry.”
Spence slowly backed up to the backpack and kicked it away from the already downed man. He made his way to the far side of the room and began rummaging through the backpack, glancing up at the hurt man every few seconds. Ally watched him toss out several items. “This it? Where’s the rest of your stuff?”
“That’s all we got, man. This place has been picked clean.”
“Where is your food?” Spence asked menacingly.
“We got shit for food, man. We ate the last we had last night. I swear.” Spence got up and walked towards the man who tried to push himself even further into the wall. “I swear, man. We ain’t got shit.”
“Don’t lie to me,” Spencer said pointing his bat at the man’s face. “I saw you two yesterday. You all had a bunch of those Army MRE’s. Where the hell are they?”
Ally noticed the man glance behind the counter for a spilt second. Spence noticed as well and began to make his way over there when the man lunged out and grabbed his leg.
“Please man, don’t take them all. We’ll starve to death. Take anything else b
ut leave our food.”
Spence turned and lifted the bat high in the air. Ally felt the scream at the back of her throat, as the bat plunged and connected with the man’s head she managed to bite it back and stumbled back from the window. Before her butt had completely hit the cold ground she had already bounced back up and looked back into the window. The man Spence had hit was lying on the ground but his body was shaking uncontrollably. Without a second thought Ally turned from the window and ran back to the others.
Ben
Smoldering ruins.
That was what the base had been reduced to. The buildings that had once housed hundreds of soldiers was now nothing more than smoking pieces of concrete and debris on top of blackened ground. The strikes within the city seemed to be random; this one was precise.
“They knew exactly where to hit us,” Ty said staring ahead at the debris.
Ben said nothing.
Zima and Mason came jogging towards them from the debris. Mason’s face was always like stone but Ben had known him long enough to tell when something was bothering him. The man’s eyes were distant as if they were staring at something miles away. Zima was easier to read. His face was ashen and it drooped as if his world had fallen apart. Behind them a little over a dozen soldiers, all bruised and battered, came walking up slowly.
“Anything?” Ben asked Mason.
The man’s eyes softened. “There isn’t anything left. We went down further and checked out the coast.”
“And?” Ty asked.
“Ships as far as the eye could see,” Zima said slowly.
“Well, hell yeah! Time to take it back to these bitches!” Ty shouted.
Zima dropped his head. “They’re not ours.”
It hit them hard. Ben stepped back and tried to comprehend what it meant.
“We thought we had fought back their main force.” He took in a deep breath. “Ends up it was still on its way,” Mason said.