From Within

by Brian Delaney

  “How long have you all been living out here in the forest?” Marcus asked.

  “We just got here,” Will said. “Why?”

  “So you know about the CMA camps all over the place?” Marcus asked.

  “Yeah. We’ve decided to avoid them. I have a bad feeling about them. Historically, camps like that are a good way to pick up some nasty sickness.”

  Marcus nodded. “I suppose they are. However, that is not the main reason you want to avoid them at this point in our history.”

  “Why?” Alejandro said as he leaned forward, now more interested in the conversation.

  “Because they are going to be slave labor when this whole transition of the country is done,” Marcus said.

  “What!?” Will exclaimed. “Slaves?”

  “That’s not the worst of it,” Marcus said. “The goal is to annihilate pretty much everyone else that didn’t go to the camps. I’ve seen a list of bombing sites. It looked like every major population center in the United States.”

  No one spoke. Everyone was now in shock from the conversation. Jaws dropped open. Eyes were stuck open wide.

  Marcus broke the silence. “I found those things out and I guess they didn’t trust me. Rightfully so. I was spying for a group that is planning on fighting them...somehow.” He paused. “If you all just got up here, where were you before?”

  “Uh,” Will began. He was still processing the information. “Uh, we were down the mountain a little closer to Oakhurst.”

  “Oakhurst? Where’s that?” Marcus asked. “And why’d you leave there?”

  “Oakhurst is near Yosemite,” Will said. “We-”

  Marcus cut him off, “Yosemite?” he said with a surprised tone. “I’m in California?”

  “Where did you think you were?” Will asked.

  “I guess I had no idea,” Marcus answered. “I was headed from Colorado to Los Angeles. I assumed I wasn’t that far from Colorado Springs. I didn’t know how long I was out from the drugs. Anyway, I interrupted you. Why’d you leave?”

  “No worries,” Will said. “We were actually at our homes. My mom and I live outside of town on some property and Lewis is just down the road from us. We’ve all been holding out there. A large group came in and sent us on the run. We had been in town a couple of times since all this started and that group went through the whole town. They destroyed it. Raided everything they could find and then burned it down. There’s a good chance when we go to check out our homes that they will be a pile of charred ruins too.”

  “Well that makes sense,” Marcus said.

  “What does?” Will asked.

  “I had also found out just this week that millions and millions of people have already died,” Marcus said grimly. “Disease, rioting, you name it. The CMA doesn’t care because they want most of the people dead anyway. They are just telling people that they are fixing everything.”

  “Wow,” Alejandro said.

  “We had wondered why no one showed up to the town. Not even the news,” Will said.

  “They aren’t going to allow something like that to be on the news,” Marcus said. “They started censoring what I’m allowed to say the day after they took over the country. I had to go along because I was spying for the ARF.” Marcus paused for a moment. He realized he hadn’t told them about the ARF in full. “The ARF is the American Rights Foundation. I think they have some patriotic military forces that have joined with them. Anyway, I had no idea so many people had died. I had no idea that cities all over the place are destroyed. They kept it all from me. They probably assumed that I would say something about it on the news. I’ve been running around covering stories about CMA operations and how much they are helping people and other worthless stories. The whole country is crumbling around us and we are broadcasting rainbows and butterflies. Anyone watching probably thought I was an idiot.”

  “We were wondering if it was just our town or if it was more widespread,” Alejandro said.

  “With that amount of people dead it sounds like it’s widespread,” Will said and then turned back to Marcus. “You probably don’t have to worry about anyone thinking you are an idiot.”

  “Why is that?” Marcus asked.

  Will forced out a laugh. “I bet the only people watching are the people in the camps.”

  Marcus thought about that and laughed as well. “I bet you are right.” Marcus paused for a moment and shook his head. “Those poor souls. They’ll be slaves to a new government.”

  The news of annihilation ate at Will. He didn’t want the conversation to move on to anything else.

  “So, this bombing,” Will began, “when is it going to start? Are they just nuking the all the big cities? Do you think we’ll be safe here?”

  “Whoa, whoa whoa,” Marcus said. “One at a time.”

  “Sorry,” Will said.

  “It’s supposed to happen in the spring or summer,” Marcus said. “The document I read didn’t have any specific date. The reason I was in Colorado Springs, though, was because all the important people in the CMA were going to Cheyenne Mountain. It’s a military base that’s inside of a mountain. I was told it was for some big meeting. I have my worries that they are hiding out there while the bombing starts.”

  “Oh,” was all Will said in return.

  “It won’t be nuclear bombs,” Marcus said. “The document specified that. It makes sense. If they want to use the people in the camps to rebuild things how they want then they wouldn’t nuke the country. It wouldn’t be habitable for them either.”

  “So, what about people like us? People hiding out in the wilderness?” Alejandro asked.

  “No idea,” Marcus said. “My best guess is that they’d eventually try to find everyone they could. The document talked about ‘reeducation’. I assume that means that people like you all that avoided the camps and probably people in the camps that don’t want to go along with their plans will be indoctrinated. If it didn’t work...they’d be killed. They don’t want a rebellion on their hands. If you think about it, they must have been waiting for the country to be in the situation it was in.”

  “What do you mean?” Will asked.

  “Huge division in beliefs across the country,” Marcus said. “People wouldn’t just protest, they would riot. Every single issue would polarize people in some way. The economy has been bad for years. States were broken apart. I don’t think they could keep track anymore of newly created states...or regions. There were plenty of areas here in California that claimed to no longer be a part of the state or even the country. See, it’s all prime for what the CMA is doing. They started off by presenting everything as a solution. Once that step is complete, they remove what they don’t need and hit reset. Boom. Now there is a more manageable amount of people and the Central Management Authority is the new government and they control every aspect of everything.”

  Marcus had become a bit too animated and held his chest at his cracked ribs for a moment.

  “There has to be something we can do,” Will said with a growing look of panic in his eyes. “We can’t just let them kill all these people. It’s almost as if everyone is making it too easy for them.”

  “Maybe they are,” Marcus said. “I’m sure people ran to those camps. How could they have known?”

  “What about that other group you said?” Will asked. “They might have military on their side. Are they doing something?”

  “The ARF. I hope so,” Marcus said. “I was only told so much from them. They didn’t want me to know too much if I was found out. I assume they have something planned.”

  “What if they don’t?” Will asked urgently.

  “Don’t what? Have a plan?”

  “Yeah!” Will said. “We have to do something. We can’t just let them kill off nearly an entire country. There are hundreds of millions of people here.”

  Will’s urgency made Marcus shift in his seat. At this point, he had written it off. Here he was, stuck in the woods after being in a plane crash. H
e had given up on the possibility of being apart of the fight anymore. Now there was a gung-ho young man sitting by him with such a great fire within him. He could tell Will would do anything he possibly could to stop this from happening.

  “I do know they had plans to eventually announce the CMA’s plans on the news,” Marcus said. “They were going to hijack the broadcast and I was going to tell everyone.”

  “That’s it!?” Will asked.

  “Will, give the guy a break,” Alejandro said. “He just survived a plane crash.”

  “I’m not giving him a hard time,” Will said. “If the ARF is the opposition, shouldn’t they come up with some kind of action to counter the plans of the CMA?”

  “I agree,” Marcus said. “When I passed the information about the bombings on to them they already had some idea about it. I’m sure I wasn’t their only spy. Now that they have the details that I gave them, I’m guessing they can finalize their plans.”

  “But you don’t know if they have a military?” Will asked.

  “Um...I don’t know for sure. I don’t remember if he told me that,” Marcus said.

  “He?” Will asked.

  “Oh, Thomas Allen. Thomas is who I was always in contact with from the ARF.” Marcus said. “I think he is the overall leader of the ARF.”

  The conversation started to wind down and move to other subjects. Marcus could tell that Will was still frustrated and anxious to do something. He could see him across the fire, now sitting with Lea. It was obvious to Marcus that Will was still talking about the news he had given the group. He could see Will shaking his head as he and Lea whispered to each other. He thought that Will was quite passionate about people and his country. Marcus turned from them and stared into the fire. He was going into his mind now, deep in thought.

  What could they do?

  Chapter Twenty-Nine

  The cool early morning air hung low over the mountain. The glow from the low sun pierced through the tent. The growing light began to rouse Marcus. He sat up. The chilly air hit him instantly and he reached for his shirt and put it on. He sat for a moment. He was still processing all the events of the last few days. He still didn’t understand how they found him out. He thought it may have been the General, but why wouldn’t he have called him out then and there? That was the best scenario he could come up with and there was no point in dwelling on it much more. There was no way for him to figure it out from where he was. What did it matter? The CMA thought he was dead.

  Despite dreaming of close call spy work and crashing planes, Marcus still rested well. It had probably been the best sleep he could remember getting in a long time. He was sure his brain had longed for a reprieve last night, especially after the events that happened during the day. The moment his head laid down his brain had shut off.

  Marcus finally got up and stretched. He finished dressing and stepped out of the tent. He felt odd wearing a suit out in the middle of the wilderness. He couldn’t see anyone else around the clearing so he assumed everyone else was still sleeping. He stayed quiet and went to sit by the fire pit. A small amount of smoke continuously rose from the remaining hot coals.

  He got back up and picked through the wood pile that sat near the fire pit. He took some smaller kindling sized pieces and placed them around the hot coals. He gathered some dry grass that had been set aside for starting fires and placed it directly on top of the coals. With a small stick he found as a fire poker, he moved some of the coals around to better expose the grass to the heat. More smoke began to billow up. Marcus blew into the coals. A small flame appeared and quickly spread through the dry grass. He pushed some of the kindling pieces closer and they started to light up and crackle. He grabbed a couple of larger logs and placed them onto the small fire and took a seat again by the fire. He had been living downtown Manhattan city life for such a long time that he couldn’t remember the last time he built up a fire like that. His high-rise condo lacked a fireplace.

  Marcus remained by his lonesome for about fifteen minutes before Lewis emerged from his tent. He gave a quick wave and walked directly to the bed of his truck. He opened a cooler and pulled out a few items and brought them over to the fire.

  “You already got a fire going,” Lewis said. “Thank you.”

  “Not a problem,” Marcus said. “I’m just glad I remembered what to do. It has been years since I’ve been camping and started a fire.”

  Lewis laughed and then began cooking some of the deer meat in the fire. They both sat in the quiet while the deer meat cooked.

  “What do you think about Will?” Lewis asked, breaking the silence.

  “You mean about wanting to do something to stop the CMA?”

  Lewis nodded. “He’s a passionate young man. Always been very smart.”

  “Well,” Marcus began and then paused, “I was thinking about it last night after his and my conversation. I’m sure there is something that we could do. And he’s right. We don’t really know if the ARF had some kind of plan.”

  “Do you have a plan?” Lewis asked.

  “The best I can come up with is to stop them in Cheyenne Mountain,” Marcus said.

  “Whatever the plan is, I’m in,” Will said.

  Lewis and Marcus jumped. They hadn’t realized Will was standing behind them.

  “Whoa!” Marcus said. “When did you get there?”

  Will laughed. “Sorry. Just been here a minute. I was up fairly early and went walking around the area. I didn’t expect anyone would be up when I got back to the camp.”

  “What do you mean you are in?” Marcus asked.

  “We need to stop them from killing millions more people,” Will said. “They brought the country to a grinding halt. You said millions and millions have already died from what they did. Now they are going to kill millions more. We have to stop them. Whatever it takes. They already tried to kill you. We can’t just sit around in the woods waiting for them to come looking for us.”

  Marcus pursed his lips and nodded. A smile formed on his face. Will raised an eyebrow in confusion.

  “What is it?” Will asked.

  “They think I’m dead,” Marcus said.

  “Yeah?”

  “I have a plan,” Marcus said, still with a goofy smile on his face.

  *****

  The rest of the group had awoken and joined Marcus, Will, and Lewis by the fire. Marcus had started to tell Will and Lewis his plan and had to start over as the others arrived. He had to pause many times to ask them questions about the area and their town and if he was going to be able to use a vehicle. Will told him that his Jeep was hidden in the woods near their house. He also warned him about the group that moved onto their property.

  “Do you think we could get the Jeep back to the main road?” Marcus asked.

  “I’m sure we could find a way,” Will said. “I don’t think a single tank of gas will get us to Colorado Springs.”

  “We don’t need it to get us to Colorado Springs,” Marcus said. “We only need to get to one of the camps outside of Fresno.”

  Everyone looked confused.

  “Why to the camp?” Will asked.

  “I’ll be able to get us some better transportation there,” Marcus said.

  “Won’t they be surprised you are alive?” Beth asked.

  “I have a plan for that too,” Marcus said with another large smile forming on his face.

  *****

  “Why do you need to go?” Lea asked.

  Will could tell her anxiety was building again. Will had taken her aside after saying his goodbyes to everyone else. He and Marcus had decided they should leave right away. Tears were forming in her eyes.

  “They need to be stopped,” Will said. “If they get to go through with their plan, they will eventually be up here in the mountains looking for people. If that happens, there won’t be much we can do to stop them. If we stop them now, before they can kill millions more people, we’ll have a chance. They’ll be cut off at the head.”

  �
��Can’t Marcus do this?” Lea asked. “It’s his plan.”

  “He will be doing it,” Will said. “He needs my help. He’s still injured. I can’t just stand back. Not after knowing what they are planning on doing. If they find us up here we will have to be their slaves too. Otherwise, if we don’t go along with their plans, their ideology, they will probably kill us.”

  “I want to go with you then.”

  “No!” Will said too loudly. He immediately regretted his seemingly harsh reaction. “I just don’t want anything happening to you,” he said more calmly and quietly. “You need to stay here with your parents, my mom, and Lewis. We can’t bring too many of us.”

  “I don’t want anything happening to you!”

  “I don’t either. I will be careful,” Will said.

  Lea lowered her head. She stared at the ground as tears flowed from her eyes. Will thought that this might be a good time to tell her that he loved her. It would still seem like an act of desperation. He was about to fight an uphill battle. It would probably be the riskiest and most dangerous thing he would do in his lifetime. He needed to comfort her in some way. He took hold of her and held her tightly. They stood there embracing each other for a few minutes. Lea pushed back slightly and looked up at Will.

  “Will, I need to tell you something. I-”

  “Don’t say anything,” Will interrupted her. “Not yet.” He knew what she was going to say. He didn’t want it to be an act of desperation on her part either. “Save it. I will be back. And I will have something to tell you as well.”

  He pulled her in again and hugged her tightly. He let go and turned away. He could hear her sobbing. He walked over to his mother. He had said his goodbyes to her earlier but he needed to give her one last hug. After doing so, he shouldered his pack and joined Marcus at the edge of the clearing.

  He and Marcus now made the over ten-mile hike down the mountain to retrieve Will’s Jeep. As they walked, Will described the layout where his Jeep had been left behind. He told Marcus how he thought they’d be able to get it out of there undetected by the new inhabitants of their property. He was planning on passing the Jeep by and remaining in the woods all the way down to the road to make sure they’d be able to drive down it. He thought there might be a chance that the group would put up a roadblock. After verifying they could use the road, he’d return to the Jeep and then drive it further up the mountain to pick up the four wheeling trail. They’d waste a lot of time, but driving it down near the property could easily attract the group’s attention. Once reaching the main road, they’d have to race by the property as fast as they could.