Pulling up to building #155, they parked behind a dark green military Humvee. Getting out of the car, they were met by a man in jeans, a dirty grey t-shirt and a toolbelt around his waist. The man gave Rose and Jamie a wave as he exited the building. He was an older man, maybe in his late 60’s, his hair was the same color as his shirt, minus the stains.
“You guys are up on the top floor. Great pick, by the way. You guys got one of them move-in-ready types. Still got most of its furniture and all the windows are in good shape. Probably gonna wanna air out the fridge and stuff before you use it. I got the power on to your building and this block never lost water so you should be good. I wouldn’t use the elevator if I were you, there’s still brown-outs and you don’t want to be in it when that happens.”
Rose and Jamie gave each other a look and grinned. “Thanks for your help,” said Jamie. “That was some quick service.”
“Yeah, well everyone needs to do their job, right? They radioed me and I was in the area so you guys lucked out. I thought most of these types of apartments had been gobbled up but I guess not. The phone works but only to call the dispatch center. Call them if you have any issues and they’ll send one of us back out.”
With another wave, the man walked over to his truck but turned around before opening the door. “Almost forgot,” he yelled and tossed the keys to Rose who caught them in the air. The man then opened the door, pulled himself inside, slammed the door and drove off.
“Well that was easy,” said Rose as the truck pulled away.
“Yeah if I’d known moving to the Back Bay was this easy, I’d have come back years ago!” answered Jamie.
Leaving the car, they both walked up the front steps of their new building. Big grins on both their faces, they held hands excited to explore. The building was a pale gray with tall windows trimmed with black. The front entrance had two doors, both black and topped with glass half-circles with wood inlay resembling spokes on a tire. The lobby was modest and tan with bronze mailboxes, some still filled with mail. Continuing past the elevators to the stairs, they found them wide and sturdy, dark oak with tan trim. Rose and Jamie climbed the stairs up four flights and exited on the top floor. There appeared to be two apartments on the top floor with the hallway bisecting the building so both apartments were afforded street and river views.
Rose and Jamie walked the white, nondescript hallway to the first door, inserted the key and turned but found the door still locked. “If we’re locked out already, I’m going to be pissed,” commented Jamie sarcastically.
Giving Jamie an amused grunt, Rose moved on to the far door. This door opened easily revealing the large apartment beyond. The apartment was “open-concept”, airy and bright, decorated with whites and earth tones that seemed untouched by the years of disuse. The kitchen was large just off the dining room and was accented with wood, the stainless steel appliances taking Rose right back to the kitchen she’d shared so long ago with Kate. It was remarkable how similar the style was, at least in the kitchen. The previous owner, however, had decorated the walls with rugs and mats, some framed, instead of photos or paintings. That was not a choice Rose would have made and she made a mental note to take them down as soon as possible. This city was likely filled with piles untouched art that could easily take its place.
Rose made a quick sweep through the two large bedrooms before meeting Jamie back in the living room. “We finally made it, can you believe it?”
Jamie had tears in her eyes. “I never thought we would Rose. Not until this very second, I never allowed myself to truly believe it. But we did it. We made it. We survived.”
Closing the distance between them, Rose and Jamie embraced, meeting each other in the middle of the room. Both of them cried, their bodies filled with relief, happiness, fear, regret, joy...it all poured out of them. They had survived.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The weeks seemed to melt by as they fell into their daily routines. Jamie being trained at the hospital, Rose with the military, each came home exhausted and in Rose’s case, sore. Rose was nearing completion of her training and would soon be leaving the safety of Boston’s walls for the first time since arriving. From their apartment, they could see far into the distance, rubble and destruction slowly being overtaken by green as nature reclaimed what had been taken from it for so long.
The heat was not helping. When they’d left the hospital, it was the beginning of summer and the heat had very quickly become oppressive. Rose couldn’t remember a summer being hotter and that was just one more obstacle with her training. Rose has thought she’d fit right in. She’d survived two years out in the wilderness with only her wits and best judgement to keep herself and her companions alive, but being part of a military unit was a completely different animal than protecting a rag-tag bunch of survivors. For one thing, Rose wasn’t the leader and had started off being seen by the others as more of a liability than squadmate. Rose was told what to do and was expected to follow, her opinion was irrelevant. Of all the training, both physical and mental, that Rose was enduring, the loss of control was by far the hardest hurdle for her to overcome. To swallow her pride and do something she felt was not thought out or just plain wrong was...difficult.
Despite this, Rose was making progress. Rose hadn’t been overweight before, in fact, while in Quebec, they hadn’t eaten well and she’d likely been a touch malnourished. Now she was well-fed, strong, muscular and more fit than ever. Rose could run faster and longer, lift heavier things than she’d ever been able to do. Her accuracy with her rifle, while probably a little above average before, had also improved. AR-15s were what her unit was using so there was no transition for her, she continued to improve from day one.
There were ten people in her squadron, Rose and another woman, York, were the only females, all the rest were men including their Commanding Officer, Pointe. Rose was not particularly impressed with Pointe and while he was the one giving the orders, it was usually York who thought of them. York was quite skilled at making Pointe think he was the one giving the orders, a fact Rose had picked up on quickly. Their training missions were much more manageable and they suffered much fewer faux-casualties when York’s plans were followed. Sometimes though, Pointe would be dead-set on whatever decision he’d made and those were the times Rose struggled to obey orders.
Rose wanted to congratulate York for her clever subtle manipulations of Pointe; let her know Rose thought she had some great battle strategies, but that would require York to give Rose the time of day. Other than the occasional barked order, York nor anyone else in the unit socialized with Rose. She got it, she was too new. Rose hadn’t even been outside the wall with them yet, they didn’t know what she’d do or how competent she was. All they knew was that Dr Knight had personally appointed Rose to the unit bypassing the normal waiting list for such positions; positions other residents of Boston, particularly friends of her squadmates, were waiting for.
The day of their first deployment outside the walls started with an early morning phone call to their apartment. Rose was told not to come in for training, rather they would be deploying later in the afternoon on a scouting mission. Jamie was up and eating breakfast in the kitchen, already dressed in her hospital scrubs.
“Was that work?” she asked, her mouth full of cereal.
“Yep, today’s the day. We’re headed outside the wall for a patrol,” answered Rose, hanging up the phone and walking into the kitchen.
Jamie put down her bowl on the counter and walked over to Rose pulling her into a hug. “Are you ready? Nervous?”
“Yes to both I suppose. This will give me a chance to prove to them that I deserve to be there though. Just a scouting mission, out and back, but I really want to show them I can do it.”
“Look at you,” smiled Jamie pulling back from the embrace. “The Rose I used to know wouldn’t have cared about what they thought. Do we have, dare I say, a team player on our hands?”
Rose couldn’t help but laugh. “I suppose so. I
haven’t felt like this since before the infection, back in Green Forks. I feel like I’m that 22 year old rookie again headed in to my first day as a police officer.”
Breaking the embrace, Jamie moved up and picked up her cereal bowl. “Safety and routine have a way of doing that to people, bringing you back to yourself. It’s nice to feel safe again. I still can’t believe I can eat this breakfast of fresh milk and stale cereal again.” Jamie took one last bite of cereal before placing the bowl in the sink.
“Well I suppose that’s why we do these patrols...so you can have your cereal,” smirked Rose.
“Oh come on, you know what I mean. Look at this place, look at us. I pictured a good life for us, but never this good.” Jamie leaned over and gave Rose a quick kiss. “I gotta go or I’ll be late for work. You be safe out there okay?”
“It’s just a patrol mission,” said Rose.
“Just be careful, you don’t need to prove anything, just do your best okay? I love you,” said Jamie before turning toward the door.
“I love you too Jamie,” replied Rose.
Jamie was almost out the door before she stopped, spun around and jogged over to Rose. Pulling her into one last hug and kiss, Jamie gave Rose a wide smile before leaving for real.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Puttering around the house, Rose did everything she could to make herself busy. Cleaning, washing dishes, tidying up, anything to distract her from the upcoming patrol. Rose was finding it difficult to determine if it was the patrol mission itself or her desire to impress her squadmates that was making her more nervous. Jamie was right, pre-Boston Rose wouldn’t have thought any of these things, probably would have called her weak. But Rose now realized that the pre-Boston Rose was the weak one. She’d been driven by fear, by hunger, by hate; she’d been little better than the infected she’d been hiding from, cowering in the woods waiting for it all to go away. Now she was truly strong. Well fed, well-trained and most importantly, surrounded by others who were willing to stand up and defend humanity. Others willing to actively take back the world instead of waiting and hoping it would be handed back to them. Rose was once again on the front lines protecting those who needed her protection and preserving their way of life. It made her feel proud to be a part of it.
At long last, the clock showed it was time to go. Most commutes in Boston required a run, walk or bike trip as there wasn’t the infrastructure to get people to where they were going unless they did so themselves. Rose’s job was slightly different. After being picked up in front of her home, she was then driven by Humvee to the main military facility where they’d be briefed, suit up and head outside the walls. Supposedly no one knew where the main military facility was, but everyone did, people just pretended they didn’t. Rose had been told that 75 State Street was some fancy office complex back before the infection, but all she’d ever known it as was their home base. The above ground building was still used as offices for some of the higher ranking officers and others like Dr Knight. All of the underground parking structures, just like at the hospital, had been converted, but instead of cells, they’d been made into barracks, equipment storage, briefing areas, and troop deployment staging areas. It was cold and stark, but that was the new normal for the military. Ruthless efficiency, nothing wasted.
One level had been converted for each of the 10-person squadrons. They used the space for briefings, equipment storage, and bunking should they not be able to return home for some reason. The squadron levels started on the third level of the parking structure and continued down to the sixth level, the deepest level. Rose’s squadron, Liberty Squadron, was on the fourth. Justice Squadron was on the third, Freedom Squadron was on the fifth followed by Patriot Squadron on sixth. Rose had wondered in the past if the floor rankings were a testament to how good the team was, like first or second or third string. Now though, her thoughts were on the impending mission.
Rose was one of the first to arrive at her squad’s level but everyone else arrived within a short span of time. Her squad, familiar with their surroundings, paid them little mind and headed straight for the briefing area after arriving. Rose while not her first time at the facility, was still taken aback at the ingenious repurposing of the parking structure, having done most of her training off-site.
Rose followed the others into the briefing room and took a seat near the front. There were a couple of men in dress uniforms, “Captains,” Rose thought, standing at the front of the room. They were talking quietly to each other as people entered. There were several maps of Boston on the wall near the men which Rose studied and tried to get a sense of where they might be going or what they might be doing. However, being new to the city, her understanding of the the topography was still a work in progress. The two men separated and one stepped forward to talk.
Without introducing himself, the man dove right into the mission. “Our scouts have just reported back a large amount of Alpha activity in this area here.” The man was holding a wooden stick with a black rubber tip. He pointed the pointer at one of the maps of Boston. Rose concentrated on where he was pointing, but it just seemed like one big mass of buildings. She was suddenly glad she wasn’t leading the group.
The man continued, “Justice squad was just in that area and didn’t report any abnormal activity, but scouts in that area did.” There was some murmuring and snickering from behind Rose after this piece of information. Rose thought she made out “useless” and “losers” amongst the murmurs. The man up front ignored or didn’t hear the whisperings and continued on, “Normally we wouldn’t re-deploy to the same area right after another squad just left it, but those same scouts also reported another significant piece of information to us. According to our scouts, we believe we’ve located Giant.”
Any lingering murmurs stopped immediately. Puzzled by the silence, Rose glanced back at the other members of the squad. Stern, serious, pale, worried, their expressions ran the gambit as she looked from face to face. As the silence stretched on, York stood. “Sir, are we sure it’s Giant? Not just some other big guy? Giant?”
“Scout reports are never 100%,” the Captain continued. “But, from the information we’re receiving, it appears to be him. He is in the company of about fifty or so Alphas, but that number could be more or less, we can’t be absolutely sure. Captain Carter, would you like to take over?”
“Thank you, Captain Winters. Freedom and Patriot squads are receiving the same briefing as you. Liberty will be the point squadron while Freedom assists. Patriot will wait here and deploy as needed. So, as you likely already guessed, the scouting mission for Liberty is canceled. Instead you will be doing a capture mission.”
It was now time for Pointe to stand and object, likely because York had already done so. “Sir, we haven’t done any practice with capture missions in several rotations. We have new members who haven’t trained in one, let alone done a mission outside the walls. And with Giant…”
“Thank you for your concern Sergeant Pointe,” said Captain Carter cutting him off. “Like I said, Justice has just finished up in the field and will not be able to immediately redeploy. Of the remaining squads, Dr Knight and General Pease feel that Liberty is the most qualified so congrats on that. Based on the numbers being reported, one squadron should be able to tackle this no problem. You will have Freedom and Patriot in reserve to assist as I said. Now, you have about an hour to prepare before we deploy. Any further concerns?” There were none. “Dismissed.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Once the briefing broke up, Rose went to her locker and began to prepare her things like she did before every training mission. This was were Rose felt comfortable. She’d dressed and undressed so many times as a police officer, checking and re-checking all her weapons and tools, it was like a ritual.
Rose was almost fully dressed when she got a tap on the shoulder from behind. It was York. She seemed her normal agitated self, but dialed back maybe a notch or two. “Hey York. Big day,” said Rose as she secured a handgun in a dr
op-holster on her right thigh.
“Listen Rose, this isn’t going to be a training mission alright? This is going to be some serious shit, possibly the most serious Liberty has seen yet. Are you okay with that?”
Stopping her ritual and looking York right in the eyes, Rose replied, “I have been through a lot in the last two years, possibly more than most of the people in this squad. I may not know all the military codes and maneuvers, but there is one thing I know how to do, and that’s survive.”
York looked at Rose for a few long seconds, her gaze hard and piercing. “Good,” she finally said. “That may be tested today.”
York turned to leave but Rose stopped her. “York, what is everyone so freaked out about? Who’s Giant?”
“Giant is exactly that, a giant. One of the biggest Alphas anyone has ever seen supposedly. There’s a rumor he was an NFL football player, who knows, there are lots of rumors about him If the rumors are true though, the past two years will have only made him more muscular and deadly. There are only a few reports on him, some of the guys had thought he was a myth like Bigfoot, but two things you need to know if we find him and if the rumors are true: He’s the Alpha Male of our local Alphas and he is supposedly more intelligent than your average Alpha as well. Be ready for anything.”
With that, York turned and walked back to her locker.
Chapter 13
Jamie always liked to alternate the ways in which she’d commute to work, some days biking, some days running. Now that they were undoubtedly into the summer, it was too hot, even in the morning, to walk or run. Better to just bike to work and get there as quick as she could. Getting into the air conditioning was the goal, but it wasn’t on in every part of the hospital, actually most parts, but in the places with patients, it was nice and cool. One could almost forget the destruction that’d been visited upon humanity standing in those air conditioned rooms. But a look out the window, into the distance beyond Boston’s walls, made it quite clear how lucky she was.
Jordan Rose Duology (Book 2): Homecoming Page 16