by Holly Hook
The only thing keeping me from using violence was the two helmeted guys standing by the doors. I sensed their gazes on me. I glanced at one of them, the second one, from the corner of my eye. He had peeled away from the door a bit and approached.
There was a gun on his hip, a pistol that he had his hand near. We did not have the upper hand here.
So I backed away from Dr. Marson and forced a smile. It was the hardest smile I had ever done.
"That's great," I said. "It's a good thing the government was thinking ahead, right?"
"Right," Dr. Marson said.
He couldn't meet my eyes. Jerome lifted an eyebrow at me, then Tony, then Alana. I didn't need him to tell us that Dr. Marson was hiding something.
"Kids," the armed man said. His voice was flat and devoid of emotion, but at least he didn't have his hand near his pistol anymore. "This is going to be a long ride. We'll drop you off in a safer place. We weren't expecting to have so many passengers."
"Safer place?" Gina asked. "As in, maybe only an eighty percent chance of dying instead of a hundred?"
Nobody said anything because she was probably right. There was a whole lot of wrong here. I didn't feel any safer up in this helicopter than I felt on the ground with the approaching storm.
So we flew in silence. Dr. Marson made some really small talk with the soldiers while the rest of us had to stand. Poor Gina managed to sit on a closed metal case that was bolted to the wall, but there was literally nothing else to sit on and we had left all our supplies, including pain meds and water, in the trucks that were now being battered by sand and running low on gas. I wondered if anyone else would find them.
"At least we're out of the weather," Jerome whispered to me.
I jumped, but the two soldiers continued to stand against the door. They couldn't hear us very well.
"And into the fire," I said. "These guys don't want us here. Dr. Marson doesn't want us to know what he's working on with the government."
"I know they don't. It's probably some project to decide who gets to live and who dies. If I were him, I wouldn't want to talk about that. I mean, look. The man's all full of guilt."
I glanced at Dr. Marson. He was still holding the grab bar and leaning against a small round window that looked out on the night. There was still no light out there and might not be for a long time. The man was trying to look at anything except for us.
"We're not going to live, are we?" I asked.
"I don't know," Jerome said. "We might. They said they would drop us off. We're not going to the same place Dr. Marson is."
"They'll leave us in a riot, then," I said. "Or a forest fire."
"More like they'll dump us like a dog on the side of the road. Dr. Marson's worth saving. We're not. We're just more mouths to feed."
I agreed with Jerome. I knew better than to hope for anything different.
"At least we'll be closer to where we need to go," Alana said.
Jerome leaned against the wall and let me lean against him. He was warm and the air in the chopper was chilly. We were high up where the heat didn't live. I didn't mind, but I was also too tired to care.
I didn't want to care. Jerome was my friend, but things were too risky to even think of taking things any further. Well, on the outside he was my friend. I hadn't talked to him much in the last few days. It might be better that way.
And besides, he was just letting me lean on him because he was just as tired as the rest of us.
Gina continued to keep her leg propped on the metal case and even she had gone silent. None of us spoke again. These soldiers weren't our friends. I wondered how Tony and Mina hadn't noticed Dr. Marson calling or texting the government to come and save him, and why Dr. Marson hadn't told Tony and Mina to run for the helicopter when it was landing. The Pokemon blanket probably had something to do with that. He knew it was going to try taking off without any extra people, right?
Chapter Thirteen
We didn't have any time to see what the soldiers had planned for us.
Just as the sun was beginning to rise with its bloody announcement on the horizon, a gust of wind struck the helicopter and knocked us to the side.
One of the soldiers cursed and a loud beeping sound started as I fell right into Jerome's arms. He managed to catch me before we both went down on top of Alana, who was stunned silent for a second and then began screaming again.
"Descend!" one of the men shouted. "We're close to the refueling station. Dr. Marson. Hold on!"
The helicopter righted, only to get bashed to the side again by the evil force of nature. There was no dust here, but the wind was almost as fierce. I let out my own string of swear words, but I think it was more to feel tougher than what I really was.
We might go down, all right. Tony landed on me and I could barely breathe. Maybe I would pass out before we crashed.
But after what felt like an eternity, we righted again and the wind died down.
"Damn storms," the pilot muttered. "I'm getting really tired of them."
"They're everywhere," the first soldier said. I could hear them better now, especially as Tony managed to stand and get off me. "You can't avoid them anymore."
"Are we out?" Dr. Marson asked. His voice had taken on a higher pitch. He was even paler than usual as he clutched the grab bar. His legs were shaking and I wondered if he had wet himself, but thankfully I didn't smell anything.
I got up and helped Alana to her feet. She was seething and grabbing her ribs. "Ouch," she said. "I had four people on top of me. Maybe five."
"Three," I corrected her.
"Well, that was fun," Jerome said. "It was kind of like the time my dad made me get on that roller coaster I didn't want to get on when I was seven, and then we got stuck on the top of the hill for hours. Speaking of that, I really have to go to the bathroom. I don't think any of us have in hours."
I agreed. I felt as if I hadn't gone in a week, especially after that. My stomach rose a bit like we were going down that elevator to the Collider and I couldn't help but let a bit of panic rise up. Then I caught my breath as a sight formed outside the window.
The bloody glow was still there on the horizon just like it had been in the desert, but there were also...
"Lights," Alana breathed.
She was right. Most of the world out there was darkness, but we seemed to be descending towards an island of lights. Some were huge spotlights that illuminated low buildings that might be barracks, and others were small and orange or even red and green like Christmas had come early.
My spirit rose.
I hadn't seen working lights in forever. Whatever we were heading for looked like an island of safety in an expanse of black.
"Lights?" Gina asked, getting off the box she had just managed to prop herself back onto. "Who cares about my foot. I want to see."
We all crowded the little window while Dr. Marson continued to grip the hand bar on the other side of the chopper. I got smashed against the wall as the soldiers went silent and stood by the doors, waiting for us to land.
But the closer we got, the less rosy the picture looked. I recognized the square plus sign of a landing pad right ahead. The helicopter turned, taking that out of our view as the pilot faced it. Spotlights kept the long, low buildings and a few garages bathed in an intense glow that chased away the coming sunrise.
And the chain link fence.
I caught a glimpse of some beyond the low buildings. Just enough light landed on the fence, which had curled barbed wire on top.
And there were people.
More people than I thought could still possibly be alive.
There was a whole crowd of them gathered outside the fence, to where I realized a gate was closed. A few guards stood just inside the base, by a guard shack, chatting away like nothing was wrong. Both men and women tried to rattle the gates like an army of still-living zombies. I even caught a glimpse of a child, a boy who might be five or six, getting crushed against the fence by the panicked crowd.
They wanted into the base. They wanted away from the rising sun. They were scared and wanted safety.
The army was keeping these people out. They were people who only wanted shelter from the coming sun, the riots, or the lack of food.
I hadn't expected anything more.
And once we landed, we would be out there, too, to fend for ourselves when the sun came up. The army would kick us out and keep Dr. Marson.
Tony and Mina pulled away from the window, letting me peel myself away. There was no beauty left in the world. I wasn't even capable of having a positive thought anymore. The world was a pit of despair. It was sad and horrible. I just wanted to close my eyes and wake up back in life, where there was a chance to be happy.
Alana whispered something next to me.
"Laney, do something."
The helicopter drew closer to the ground. There was grass here. We were far away from the desert. In another region, actually. I wondered if we would live long enough to find out where.
"Please. They're going to throw us out into that crowd and then we're going to burn."
I had to protect Alana. She still had some hope. I remembered what that was like, how precious it was, and I broke away from everyone else and stormed up to Dr. Marson.
The soldiers looked at me for a second, and then I smiled at the guy. "Hey," I said in a happy, cheerful voice that was anything but what I was feeling. "Thank you for the ride, you know? We would have died in that dust storm if it wasn't for you."
Dr. Marson continued to stare out the window at the approaching ground and army base. The crowd vanished behind the barrack looking buildings as we descended. "No problem," he said, not really there.
"I'm sure they won't mind us staying here for a bit, right?" I asked. "I'm sure you talked to them about that?"
He flinched. I wished Jerome would be the one doing this, but it might work better coming from a girl. I could sense him watching me.
"I...didn't think about it," he said, "but I'm sure they will. Hey guys, you'll let these kids stay for the day, right?" He raised his voice and addressed the two soldiers.
They both shifted and the second one reached for his gun. Bad sign, but Dr. Marson was an important guy that they wanted to save. If these guys had braved the dust storm to pick him up, they sure weren't going to shoot him. The scientist needed a chance to redeem himself. I could see it in his desperate eyes, eyes that knew way more disturbing stuff than even I could guess.
"Just for the day?" I added. "I get it if you guys don't have the room, you know?"
"We'll leave tomorrow night," Tony added. "We need to keep going, anyway. We'll leave out of our own free will. All we need is a place for the day."
"They're right," Dr. Marson said. "The sun's rising. They can sit in a room or a barrack or something. I would really appreciate it if you'd let them. Without them, I would have been trapped in that dust storm and you guys never would have made it to me in time to pick me up."
The man had some dignity, at least. He wasn't going to tell them to throw us out. Maybe, if I could press him a bit further when the soldiers were gone, I could figure out what exactly he was up to. I hated to use the guy's guilt against him, but this was a survival situation. I didn't have time to be nice.
The first soldier waved his friend closer. The helicopter landed with a thud that made me jump and the blades quieted. We were in enemy territory right now. The pilot threw off his straps, stood up, and gestured to the door.
"Everyone, out. We need to sort out this matter."
"Hold it," Dr. Marson said, stepping forward. "Let the kids stay. I can show them to a rec room, or something. Then we can get to the important stuff. If they leave now, they're going to burn to death. So is that crowd out there."
"There's nothing we can do about that," the pilot said. "The crowd, I mean. But I'll to Commander McElroy about your request and I'll see if we can work something out." He paused and looked out the window. More lights shone on us. "Do you kids have any family members in the service?"
I remained silent. Maybe this place was reserved for military families and scientists and leaders and other useful people. Everyone else would have to fend for themselves. I thought, but Dad's military days were over as of ten years ago and Mom had only considered joining once when she graduated high school. I waited for someone else to answer, but no one did. There weren’t too many military bases around Colton. Anyone who had military family only got to see them around the holidays because they were off living in distant bases or worse, on a tour. We were built around coal mining, even though that was gone now along with everything else.
“Good to know,” the second soldier said. He seemed meaner than the first one. “Please exit.”
We were doomed. We’d be out there with that panicked crowd within a few minutes. The pilot opened the door for us and motioned us out. Dr. Marson stepped aside and waited. All of his bravery had dried up.
I stepped off first and Alana followed, silent. Now that we were on the ground, I could turn and see everything around me. It was very, very early, so much that the base was quiet for the most part. We were surrounded by barracks. The sky was even more bloody. The sun would begin to burn us within twenty minutes. The barbed wire fence around the base was higher than I thought and extended over a huge area, disappearing into the early morning fog. I breathed in moisture and dew that I never felt in Arizona. The people near the gate were shouting now, voices all mixing together in a high note of panic. Let us in, they were screaming. Chanting. Metal rattled. It sounded like it was coming from miles away. I couldn't see them, but I didn't have to.
There was nothing outside of the base except for long, rolling fields. We were somewhere in the Midwest, at the edge of the lethal radiation zone.
The people out there were going to start burning to death within minutes and they had nowhere to go. They must have left their homes and walked for the base, thinking that they would be saved, only to find out they had walked to their doom. I stepped to the side, leaving the helicopter pad and walking across worn grass that had seen many feet. There was a wide concrete road that led to the front gate, which I could see as soon as I got to the other side of a barracks. Alana and Jerome followed me, along with Tony and Mina.
We could see the front gate now, bathed in light. The people on the outside kept chanting and ratting the gate while the three soldiers backed away.
Tony muttered something.
A man was trying to climb over, followed by a couple of women.
“This way,” the first helmeted soldier said, appearing and waving us along. "You don't want to see this. I'll take you somewhere but we have to hurry."
But I couldn’t look away. The man got close to the top of the fence before two of the soldiers near the gate raised their weapons.
I turned away right before the shots rang out and screams pierced the air. The soldier slapped his hand on my back and hurried me along as if he was trying to spare me the scene. He ran along with us, not looking back, as tears streamed from Alana next to me.
* * * * *
We made it into an empty barracks near the edge of the fence. Dr. Marson had followed us. The first soldier closed the door behind us. The only thing that kept me from losing all the faith I had in humanity was the fact that when he took his helmet off, he had tears in his eyes.
He was a young man, maybe twenty, with a clean shaven face and short buzz-cut hair, but his eyes were like those of our group. Disturbed. Scared. Full of tragedy.
“Are all of you okay?” he asked.
I looked around the empty barracks and its row of beds with olive green sheets, all made with military precision. Shelves hanging above each bunk contained backpacks and cammo gear. I didn’t spot any guns. I was looking for weapons everywhere I went now. That was sad, too.
“I suppose,” I said. The numbness had taken over my body again, shielding me from the shock. It was better that way. The numbness was an old friend, something that was there to hold my hand
whenever people died—only it eventually let go, leaving the monsters time to come in and start eating. I hoped that it stayed longer this time. “Are we next?"
“No. No,” the soldier said. I could see his name tag now. Pvt. Hudson. He was the one who had helped us onto the helicopter, not the guy who had his hand near his weapon the whole time. “You’re not. I’ll tell General McElroy we made you leave through the back entrance so we wouldn't let any of the others in. If you lay low in here, they might not find you. These barracks shouldn't be filled for a while. I don’t agree with the orders coming from higher up. They’re…not exactly pleasant.”
Dr. Marson shifted next to him. I wondered what kind of story he'd tell for his running off. I hoped he had a good one. The man was very pale and sick.
I could almost see the soldier's story. He had graduated high school, hoping to get a career in the air, and landed in the military to start doing so. Then the pulse had arrived and his world and morals all went out from under him.
“What orders?” Tony asked. More distant gunshots fired from outside. “What orders? Tell us.” He glared at Dr. Marson. He was standing up against the wall between two of the bunks. I watched as he breathed out, waiting.
“We’re stockpiling supplies in the military bases,” Hudson said. “Only military families and some public officials are allowed to stay in them.” He checked the closed barracks door behind him. “The military is raiding food and clean water from all the stores they can and bringing them here. They're looking to bring in ten years' worth of food. The scientists are here to determine how long we need to remain closed off from the rest of the world and what we need to do to survive. This is why your friend Dr. Marson has been brought in.”
I glared at Dr. Marson. “So you’re supposed to help these guys know how long they need to steal from everyone on the outside."
They were taking supplies away from everyone else and giving it all to the important people. Out there, things were even worse than I had imagined. The government was making sure that us regular people wouldn’t have much of a chance to survive. We were too many mouths to feed.