by Jack Hunt
“It would have but Sebastian is taking matters into his own hands. He believes that I can no longer handle the responsibility of being a leader. He wants me removed from power.”
“So he can handle district one?” Baja asked.
Ethan didn’t even need to reply.
“How long have you been butting heads with him?” I asked.
“For as long as I have worked alongside him. You have to remember. This is not new. Before the apocalypse people were vying for position. Nothing has changed.”
“But he’s already ruling over his own district. Why the interest in yours?”
“Every district leader is assigned a task. As you know, mine is protecting the main access points and working alongside Annora studying the immunes.”
“Look, I don’t care what your disputes are over. What I care about was burned up today,” Baja said. “Someone has to pay for that.”
“And they will.”
“Like today. Sebastian.”
“Unfortunately we cannot make that decision as leaders. It falls on the people to decide.”
Baja went to leave. “Well that’s pretty simple. Most of the people who were killed today were someone’s brother, sister, friend, or parent.”
“Not exactly,” Ethan said pouring more liquid into his glass to calm his nerves. “You see, for the past six months, Sebastian has been making the rounds. Influencing the people’s views. Some of which have been making it clear that I’m not fit to protect this community.”
“But it’s not down to you.”
“No. But I oversee what needs to be done in order to keep people on the walls, and us safe from the outside.”
I snorted, shaking my head as I walked around the room. “He was behind the men starting that fire.”
“We can’t prove that and such an allegation is liable to land you in deep trouble.”
“While you mention trouble, no doubt Sebastian will make it known that he was attacked today by Ben, Elijah and Baja. So what is the punishment? Exile?”
“We don’t exile people, Johnny. But you are right. They will demand something. An attack on a leader will be taken seriously.”
“What about an attack on Izzy? At least he has his life,” Baja said.
“I understand your pain.”
“Do you? Cause all I see is you hiding behind these walls. Barking out orders while we do the grunt work.”
“Someone has to oversee.”
“And that someone is seven people who tell others to go place themselves at risk.”
“I know you lost someone today but...”
“Don’t you even dare…” Baja said.
“I’m not the enemy here, guys. I would have never given the order for you to go out there. It serves no purpose except to start a war that we don’t need.”
“Believe me, a war has already brewing.”
Ethan stared back, set his glass down and ran a hand over his tired face.
“I knew it would come to this eventually.”
“What?”
“Maybe Sebastian is right. Perhaps I do need to step aside and let him run things.”
“Are you out of your mind?” I said. “If. Just if, he is working alongside those men, you can be sure that this is just the first of many attacks.”
“Like I said, you will have a chance to voice your concerns this evening. Until then you need to be careful what you say. Do you understand?”
“I understand that what we are building here is unlike what you said in the beginning.”
Ethan rubbed the sides of his temples as though a headache was building.
“We aren’t doing anything different to what we said, Johnny. But things evolve. We find areas that aren’t working and so we improve them. That in turn means we may find areas which would be better governed by someone else.”
“So you are just going let him turn the people against you?”
“This is not a dictatorship. One man doesn’t get to call all the shots around here. That’s why there are seven of us. No matter what Sebastian has planned for this evening, the other five will need to agree before it will be accepted. I’m pretty certain Annora isn’t going to agree with him. She already has her issues with the way he is handling his district and the anomaly.”
“He has one in his?”
“Yeah.”
“Have you ever thought this is all about the cure? Has he ever spoken to you about that?”
“He’s mentioned it a few times. You know, brought it up in discussion briefly.”
I nodded and said, “Then this evening we’ll bring it up. I think it’s time we got some answers.”
Meetings were held on the green of Shinnecock Hills Golf Club, an expansive area that could hold more than enough people. While the meetings occurred every three months, and one wasn’t due for another three, they had pushed this through due to the recent loss of lives.
More than usual turned out that evening. A sky of darkness enveloped us. Dotted around the green were tall fire torches. A platform had been created for the seven leaders. Everyone took a seat and looked on while they waited for it to begin.
“I’d like to see how the hell he’s going to squirm his way out of this. To think he has the nerve to say that Ethan shouldn’t lead. We have seen more people die under his hand than Ethan’s.”
I stood quietly by one of the many trees taking in the sight of people talking among themselves. Jess and Rowan showed up. She still didn’t look herself. People would always wonder how we could manage to focus on anything after losing someone but the truth was, it was out of necessity. There were only so many tears that could fall.
“Keep it down,” someone said from up the front as the seven leaders took their seats like kings and queens. A megaphone was handed to Ethan. He thanked the person and stepped up to the podium.
“Thank you for coming out this evening. As you are aware we have suffered another loss and this evening we are here to discuss how we move forward from that. There will be things that you disagree with, we realize that, but we would ask that you show respect for the decisions that will be made this evening. No matter if they support your beliefs. What we aim to do is for the good of everyone.”
He handed over the megaphone to Sebastian who stepped up looking around and soaking in the view as if assessing his kingdom. Everything about him was wrong. The way he dressed, spoke and acted around others. It was if he thought he was destined to become the next president. If it wasn’t for the fact that he had such a way with words, and would follow through with any promise he made, people wouldn’t have liked him.
“Good evening. I know that many of you are worried about the safety of Paradise in light of the recent tragedy. But I’m here to reassure you that things are going to change. That what has occurred will not be repeated. As you know, you are the ones that choose your leaders. We are not involved in the decision process, except in the need to agree on changes to be made. This is not a dictatorship run by one man, and nor will it ever be that way. You are the ones that decide the fate and future of Paradise. So I would ask you to carefully consider what must be done here this evening.” He moved around the stage eyeing the other six leaders. “There must be consequences for what occurred in section A. It is my belief and from what I have learned from others that the majority of people believe it is time Ethan stepped down from leadership. It’s unfortunate that it has come to this but the fact is, over sixty people have died under your hand.”
“And what about under yours?” Baja yelled out.
“Who said that?”
People’s heads turned towards us.
“I did.” Baja stepped out from the darkness with zero fear. “People of Paradise. Sebastian would have you believe that Ethan cannot do his job. But if we are going to discuss a lack of oversight then let’s not forget today’s loss of lives. Or has that even been made known?”
“Silence. You will get your time to speak after we have dealt with the most pressing
matter. The security of Paradise.”
“Oh don’t mind me,” Baja said slipping through the crowd. “If security is what you are concerned about, let’s look at that, shall we. You, Sebastian gave the command for a team of people to go after those responsible for the deaths in section A. You knowingly sent us and others into hostile territory for what? For what reason?”
“I won’t tell you again.”
“Oh settle down, you stuck-up prick.”
Sebastian’s nostrils flared and his eyed widened. He turned to the other leaders but they were keen to hear what Baja had to say.
“It has come to our attention that most of you don’t know what happened in the city today. Sebastian will say that news travels slowly inside the walls but that’s not the case. You all know that there are runners who distribute news to the seven districts. Anything related to the loss of life receives priority. But according to those of you who we have spoken to this evening, that wasn’t the case.”
“I will not be spoken to in this manner. Guards, arrest this man.”
“Arrest?” Baja pulled out two Glocks from the front of his pants. “The only one who should be arrested is you.”
Even I wasn’t aware that he had shown up at the meeting with handguns. It wasn’t permitted. All weapons had to remain at the gates. It was just precautionary due to the number of heated discussions that the community had got into, that and to prevent anyone from taking out a leader.
“Come on. For what reason did you send us out there?”
Ethan didn’t try to prevent Baja from speaking. He already knew his neck was on the chopping board. At least Baja’s outburst might delay whatever Sebastian had in mind.
“People of Paradise. Your brothers, sisters, family members were slaughtered today because of this man’s need to bring to justice those who set off the explosion in section A. Now he will have you believe that it was necessary. That he didn’t know about the ambush we walked into but he did. Of that I’m sure. The message they sent us back with was strange. Concede or suffer, they said. Now I have to ask myself. Why would this group start a fire and then leave unless their actions were guided by someone else? Someone who is behind the curtain pulling the strings and trying to make Ethan look incompetent.”
“Arrest this man now,” Sebastian yelled pointing at Baja.
Three security guards muscled their way forward towards Baja. He raised the Glocks at them. “I wouldn’t do that if I was you. Believe me, I don’t want to kill you but after what I’ve just been through, I won’t think twice.”
I rushed up close to Baja. I leaned into him. “What the fuck are you doing?”
“Raising a little hell, brother. Raising a little hell.”
Sebastian could see this was getting away from him. He raised the megaphone to his mouth. “It does not change the fact that over sixty people died under Ethan’s leadership. What we are calling for is for him to step down.”
Annora walked up to the podium. “We?”
“All those in favor?” Sebastian bellowed.
Hands went up all over the place. Hundreds, that then turned to thousands. He turned back to her. “The people are calling for this.”
“Without the vote of the other leaders it doesn’t matter how many you get,” she said.
“Then let’s see, shall we. Who is in favor?”
One by one their hands went up. The only two who didn’t agree were Annora and Alexander from district four.
“Four votes against three. I’m sorry, Annora, but it is what it is.”
Baja pushed through the crowd until he was near the stage area. I stayed with him casting my eyes over the guards who were military personnel. Good people who just followed orders.
“This is a mistake. If you allow this man to rule over you, you will see this place fall.”
“Don’t listen to him. Guards, take him away.”
“For what?”
“An assault on a leader is a punishable offense.”
I piped up. “When was that law brought in?”
Sebastian ignored my question. “Go ahead and take in Ben and Elijah as well.”
I cast a glance over my shoulder. Ben stared on in utter disbelief. Guards pushed through the crowd until they reached them. Within a matter of seconds, they had them cuffed with zip ties
“What is the punishment?” I asked but again he ignored my question. I was beginning to grow tired of his bullshit. I couldn’t believe they were doing this. I bolted up the stairs that led to the stage to confront him. “What is the punishment?”
“That will be determined. For now, they will be held until further notice.”
“You can’t do this.”
“No? Watch.”
I went to grab the megaphone to speak to the people but he pushed me back. Big mistake. I swung at him and cracked him right on the jaw. He went down and the megaphone let out a garbled sound as it hit the ground.
Before I even had a chance to do anything further I found myself thrown to the ground and zip tied.
“Take him away with the others.”
“Sebastian, don’t do this,” I heard Ethan say.
“It’s already done. And you are no longer a leader.”
“This is not what we agreed on when we founded this place.”
“No it’s not but we must evolve if we want our people to survive.”
Ethan tried to have a few final words but he too found himself being hauled away by guards. “You can’t do this.”
“I can and I have.”
CHAPTER 9
PARADISE DIDN’T HAVE A PRISON. There was no jail, so to speak but there were holding areas that were used by the four police officers. It was a cargo box from the back of a large truck. A steel container that had sections removed at the sides to allow air and light to seep in. In hot weather it was pretty much like a torture chamber. A person would literally sweat their balls off. More often than not people would only be in there overnight until they sobered up.
“How ironic,” Ben said as he slumped down.
With the steel doors sealed tight, we each handled incarceration differently. Baja beat on the side with his foot. And at the rate he was smashing it, he was liable to break a toe.
“Let us out.”
Ethan still thought he could negotiate. He pressed up against the side and was speaking to a guard who’d been posted outside. Elijah was moaning about how he should have never left Salt Lake. Ben agreed. I just paced back and forth trying to make sense of Sebastian’s actions.
Frustrated that he wasn’t getting anywhere with the guard, Ethan smashed the side of the container with the palm of his hand.
“I knew he would do this.”
“Really? If you knew why didn’t you get him removed?” I replied.
“It’s not as easy as that.”
“He sure made it look easy.”
He took a seat on the ground. “You told me when you came into Paradise you didn’t like rules and yet you have seen how important they are. But with rules and power there is the opportunity to abuse them.”
I lay back against the side unable to grasp that it had come to this. On one hand he was right. Without rules to govern a society, chaos would occur. With rules, people could turn into dictators. It was a fine line and one that I wished we didn’t have to walk.
“We should have stayed at the Fortress,” Elijah said.
“Now you agree with me.”
“Okay, I admit I’m a sucker for a warm bed, safety and food. But who isn’t?”
Logic would tell a person that once you were safe, why would you want to walk away from that? In this new world where everywhere you turned danger was lurking behind a corner, you tried to make anything work. We’d spent so much time on the road searching for a safe zone that when we found it, we had just resigned ourselves to stay even if it wasn’t an ideal situation. But that’s the thing. It’s hard to domesticate those who don’t wish to live by rules.
“Were you aware t
hat large sections of Manhattan had been cleared by this group?”
Ethan shook his head.
“Whose decision had it been to expand beyond the walls?”
“Sebastian’s.”
“Perhaps he wants to move back into the city.”
“And you think killing seventy-five people was his way of convincing people? We are missing something here. I don’t think Sebastian knew about those men. I do think he was an idiot for sending us out after them but smart enough to arrange a coup against the rest of the leadership? I highly doubt it,” Ethan said.
“Maybe not. But let’s face it, if you are playing a game of chess and you want to win, you can’t immediately go for checkmate. You start taking out the pawns.”
“I’m not following you,” Ethan replied.
“I’m just saying. You take the route with the least amount of resistance. Where is the real danger for them? Our numbers. The armory.”
Ethan shook his head. “I think you are overthinking this, Johnny.”
I blew my cheeks out.
“How is Annora getting on with her testing?” Ben asked.
I’d given blood in a less brutal way than what I had experienced in Rikers. As it stood they had found a way to inject people who had been bitten by a Z and in turn keep them alive but it was temporary. Anyone who got bit needed to be injected on a weekly basis otherwise they would turn. She’d been searching for a permanent solution. We still hadn’t discovered what that was but the answer was to be found in us, the anomalies. With only six of us in the camp immune to a bite, there had been a lot of pressure on Annora to find a solution fast.
“She’s still working on it.”
“And if she finds it?”
“Well, then we can turn the tide on this whole thing. It would still mean wiping out those who have turned. For them there is no hope. But for us, and future generations, it would help.”
“I still can’t get over that they managed to clear the streets in the middle of Manhattan,” Elijah said looking dumfounded.
“I don’t think they have. Flamethrowers or not. There were thousands of infected in the city.”
“It’s possible that they have moved on.”
“True but I don’t think they migrate like birds,” Baja chuckled.