The Last Days_Conclude [Book 3 of 3]

by Chris Ayala

  Janice agreed with a solemn nod. "Pick him up."

  Gerard swallowed hard. Having served over a decade in the Capitol Police force and another decade in Secret Service, she found it amusing that holding a baby scared him. Timidly and cautiously, he lifted Colin from the crib. They gawked at each other in this sort of silent agreement. Then Gerard held the baby close to his shoulder and closed his eyes, savoring this moment. So many lies, misgivings, and lonely nights had he endured to get here? To this very minute where he could hold his baby. And how many deceits had Janice endured?

  "I'm sorry for -" She began to say, but was interrupted before her list of apologies started. Sorry for cheating on him with Adam. Sorry for sleeping with her adopted brother Marcel. Sorry for drinking too much. Sorry for partying and acting like a fool.

  "Don't apologize for anything," he said finally opening his eyes to stare at the giggly trophy in his arms. "Don't apologize ever. We make choices in life, whether they are good or bad, it doesn't matter. What matters is that we keep going."

  "That's inspiring," she nodded.

  "I read it in a Sports Illustrated magazine."

  Janice rolled her eyes and snickered. The three of them, together finally, felt right. She gazed into his green eyes as he melted into hers. Then she moved in and kissed his soft lips.

  Without an alarm or sunlight, Janice often depending on the internal clock to wake her, but most times Colin woke her demanding his bottle. Instead, this morning, she awoke by herself. Three uncanny occurrences happened.

  First, Colin didn't angrily cry. She thought the worse, until she turned over and saw Gerard feeding him. It was like watching a mechanic assemble a car without any knowledge, but just hope. The baby batted away the bottle while his father fumbled to keep it from falling to the floor.

  Second, Janice genuinely experienced happiness. Sleeping next to Adam meant either an empty side of the bed or an awkward conversation about the plans for the day.

  Third, she dreamt. Janice never had dreams. Theorists would say that's impossible, that some are better at remembering their night journeys than others. But she remained firm that her brain wouldn't allow dreams. Not until last night anyways. In it, Janice was with Brent and Victoria. They were on a raft, coasting along a quiet river, before ravishing waves took them on a wild rush. Grasping tightly to the edge, Brent and Victoria tried to paddle out of the mess. Water smacked her face so hard, she felt it even now. Victoria told her they'd have to lose someone off the raft, to keep it afloat; instructing Janice to push Brent into the river. Moments before they approached sharp rocks and an incline of the water, Janice looked towards Brent. Then she jumped into the freezing river.

  "You alright?"

  Janice snapped awake from the awful recollection of the dream. Or nightmare. "I told you yesterday, don't need to ask me that."

  Gerard nodded his head. "Yeah, but you look more pale than yesterday."

  Changing the subject, Janice pointed at the bottle. "You're holding it too vertical."

  Quickly, he adjusted his stance while Janice put on a robe hastily as though her husband hadn't noticed her naked body last night. "I've lost a lot of weight, I know." After she said, she immediately hated herself. Janice wasn't one of those girls who fished for compliments. The way Gerard touched her in the middle of the night, and the way his hands slide across her hips spelled out his attraction. They made love for over an hour. Men don't do that with women they find unattractive. So why did she need a compliment?

  "You look amazing," he said.

  With a smile, Janice grabbed a plastic box with shampoo, conditioner, and body soap. At one point in their lives together, she had a shower with four different shampoos and conditioners. Much had changed, but the idea still stayed the same.

  "Janice? Did you hear me?"

  She was holding one of the bottles in her hand, staring at it with no knowledge of holding it. Before she could ask what Gerard had just said, her throat tightened and stole her voice.

  "Janice?"

  The silo felt like it begun to spin, slowly at first. Judging by his lack of reaction, Janice assumed it was in her head. She held onto the shelf.

  "You alright?"

  As much as she wanted to react angrily that she was fine, Janice couldn't. Because she wasn't. Something terrible was wrong. The world around her spun faster and faster. Thoughts couldn't correlate. Everything began to sway like that precarious water ride. Her plastic box of bathroom essentials crashed to the floor, but she didn't remember letting it go.

  "Janice!"

  Then she lost consciousness.

  CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE

  Snow piled up enough to build snowmen. Not the snowmen Adam remembered from his childhood, but at least the children tried to have fun outside. The sense of urgency stepping outside the missile silo disappeared, thanks to his virus that corrupted the Union's mainframe. No longer did they have to worry about snooping eyes, because Adam knew the location of every Union Keeper in the world. Using chips to track their soldiers, the Union made a mistake in their confidence. In his back pocket, Adam kept a tablet Gerard gave him. The app he coded alerted him of any intruders nearby. There was peace in security.

  Adam attempted to help the children construct a snowman, but the gray stained snow didn't stick well and the head fell off. Just in time to break the awkwardness of destroying the kids' snowman, a van pulled up. The familiar logo of Willie's old electrician business was caked in mud. Willie slid open the door to reveal his vehicle stacked with grocery bags. Without the need to even ask for help, others rushed up to carry food inside the silo. "I take it the decoy chips worked," Adam asked, grabbing the lighter grocery bags.

  Willie, out of breath from excitement or from grabbing heavy bags, said, "Yep! And we didn't have to pay a dime or show ID."

  He followed him into the portal door hidden behind rocks and bushes, then through the entry tunnel Pierre guarded. "No chance you could find ammo?"

  "No can do," Willie answered, smiling at Pierre as they past by, "Marcel Celest's ban on weapons also meant a ban on ammo. Once we fry their guns with Project Syncope, we're gonna have to use what we got."

  Even the greatest of wars at least had bows and arrows. This news didn't settle well with Adam. After dropping off some of the bags in the kitchen, he snuck off to meet with the man in charge of their limited gun supply.

  Six levels down, he knocked on the door marked ARMORY with a sharpie over the knob. Knocking was useless, since he could already hear the sounds of gunshots inside. Adam walked in to see Bruno, ducking to keep his head from hitting the ceiling light, wearing earmuffs to block the sounds of the gunfire. In three separate rows, three men practiced shooting rounds at far away targets.

  "Bruno like your aim!" He clapped when the shooting finally stopped.

  Adam didn't like to interrupt, but he felt it was important. "You're using rubber bullets to practice, right?"

  "Of course!" Bruno said, slapping Adam's shoulder as a friendly gesture, but only leaving it pulsing painfully. "Bruno no idiot! I count! Not much ammunition."

  "And we can't get anymore. I'm going to trust you to come up with some good weapons to use on the field. Understand?"

  He beat his chest and nodded. "Bruno understand."

  One day, he promised to teach Bruno to stop referring to himself in third person, but today wasn't the day. He gave a polite nod and left the room.

  The next room down was a gym. Usually empty, Adam was pleased to see people inside using the equipment. Jogging on the treadmill, lifting weights, and boxing with a punching bag were all good techniques to practice before the war. Thinking about the war knotted Adam's stomach. The only obstacle, which Zharkova rudely brought to light, was their lack of organization. Now that hurdle had been overcome. There was no other path besides their march to the castle, so vividly dreamt in his precognition. It was going to be a bloody battle on both sides and there was a good chance someone in this room could be dead in a week. Adam gav
e a polite nod and exited the gym.

  Cackling and laughter could be heard in the room across from the gym. The area had been designated by Victor to build his weapon, a suit of fire cannons Adam had seen in his vision of the war. Scouts had brought what they could to the pyromaniac's request and he had been locked up in this room for seemingly weeks, only appearing to eat and refill his tumbler of coffee. Adam tapped on the door lightly before opening it. Victor stopped his welding and lifted the mask to stare at his visitor with wide eyes and drops of sweat from his nose.

  Victor had made quiet an advancement of the suit. Hanging from the ceiling via coat hangers and rods, the uniform would make Victor even tower above Bruno. Gas canisters had been welded onto the back, as well as a host of other wires and containers marked HAZARD.

  Wearing a welder's apron made of leather and that constant maniacal smile, Victor looked ready to cut up bodies. Always at odds of how to speak to the man, Adam chose his words wisely. "How's everything?"

  Suddenly, Victor busted into a sudden laughter making Adam jumped back a little. After the hilarity was over in the psycho's mind, he smirked, "I…burn…everything."

  Not turning around, Adam felt for the knob and quickly opened the door. "Good chatting with you, buddy." He rushed out into the hallway and slammed the door shut, the sound of Victor's sadistic chuckling continued through the thick walls.

  Adam walked down the circular a little further until the snickering noise stopped and was replaced by something more relaxing. A humming sound. It was coming from one of the classrooms. Adam looked at his watch and knew exactly what was scheduled. He couldn't help but peek through the window of the door, because no matter how many times he'd seen it…it wasn't enough.

  Dozens of people, sitting in mediation positions on mats, were glowing. They hummed in unison. Their skin brightened from whatever magic had been in left in the lake by the Light's teachers, Lloyd and Nina. Adam had experienced the sensation, the warmness of that inner peace as it expelled out of you and made your skin illuminate. He would've liked to join them, but it took concentration. Concentration he just couldn't do. Especially not with Janice constantly in his mind and the stresses of an upcoming battle.

  Across the hall, Adam stopped at the plant nursery. Perhaps Matley and her ingenious concoctions could carve up something to calm his nerves. She had become the premier medicine woman for the People of Bliss.

  Unfortunately, when he opened the door of the misty and humid plant room, he didn't find her. Instead, strolling through the aisles of plants like at a grocery store, Gerard held his baby. Little curious Colin tried to grab for one of the plants, but his father quickly snatched it out of his hand. "That's a no-no. Eating that will probably give you the urge to eat Funyuns and drink Mountain Dew."

  Seeing Colin sit so well with his actual father, Adam wished he felt jealousy, but he didn't. Because fate had placed everyone in the right positions of this immense board game.

  "Hey," Gerard said, noticing Adam. "Happy New Years."

  "Wow. I actually forgot that was today. So much on my mind." In fact, he'd forgotten almost every holiday. The only reminders he had was the different tastes at dinner time.

  "Me too," Gerard said, handing a dandelion to Colin he'd plucked from under a set of grow lights, which the child immediately put in his mouth. "Never saw the point of the holiday, except to make new resolutions."

  "I can only think of a resolution to end the Union, once and for all."

  Gerard wiped the drool from the baby's mouth with a cloth. "We finally got something in common."

  "We also have someone in common. How is she?"

  Even with the baby around, the mood went rapidly from cheery to gloomy. "She's in and out. Doctor says she'll be fine." Gerard said, swooping Colin over a series of plants like he was Superman. Colin's giggle made even Gerard laugh. Come to think of it, Adam couldn't remember ever seeing him laugh, the baby or Gerard.

  "You're really good at that." He said, feeling guilty immediately for ruining the mood between father and son.

  "What? Being a dad?"

  "Lying." He answered bluntly, sensing the spirit of Brent telling him to be bold and get answers. "She said you blink a lot when you lie."

  "Well, look who's balls are starting to grow in. Doctor says an infection. She's bleeding internally. But we are going to fix her." As if somehow Colin could understand, even though it was highly improbable since the child hadn't said it's first word yet, Gerard explained in that high pitched tone that rewarding fathers had mastered, "Mommy is going to be much better soon! She just needs lots of sleep. Even more than you do!"

  Adam touched the petals of a lilac flower, Janice's favorite. Their bond wasn't meant to be, but didn't change the way he valued her. "How do you do it? Remain so positive?"

  Gerard sighed, either annoyed by his presence or annoyed by the conversation. "Let me ask you something," He paused to wrap Colin in a sarong on a table, "What tastes better, kid? Water that has been wallowing in place, collecting impurities, and harvesting filth? Or water that's been rushing through difficulties, running over obstacles, and pushing forward to keep itself pure?"

  The answer was obvious. But easier said than done. "Thanks for being a friend, Gerard."

  He grabbed the baby, wrapped in the sarong and then secured the cloth around his waist and neck. Adam would've never figured that out with the help of a YouTube how-to-video. "Look, I know you lost your best friend, don't get me wrong I admire the friendship you had with Brent, but I'm not going to be the one to replace him."

  Placing his hands in his pockets, Adam's head bowed and shoulders sagged.

  Lip twisted and eyes squinting, Gerard said, "You're good at that."

  "What?"

  "Making people feel guilty." If that was an apology, it seemed the best Adam was going to get. Gerard added, "I mean, I get it. You want love. Family."

  "But every time that life starts for me, I feel like I'm not ready."

  Colin tugged at Gerard's beard. "You'll know when you're ready. I wasn't for a long time. But you'll just…know."

  Hands still in his pocket, Adam smirked. "It's not about the aim, it's about the timing."

  "Huh?"

  "Just something Royal says."

  The door swung open hastily.

  "There you are!" Willie shouted, grabbing Adam by the arm. "We gotta go! Now!" All the loud commotion and hurried energy made the baby began to cry. "Sorry," Willie immediately apologized, "We got one of them out there!"

  "Them?" Gerard asked, trying to bobble Colin to make him stop crying.

  "Union soldier!" Willie said, running out the door.

  It was impossible. Adam yanked his tablet out and checked. "No one is in the area besides us."

  Both of them immediately sensing their plan had failed, hacking the system of palm chips, went into a panic. Gerard, wide-eyed, said, "Show me where's the armory."

  After only a few minutes, chaos erupted in the silo. People rushed hallways into their rooms. Alarms blared over the speakers, something they've never had to do before. Finding a woman to babysit while Gerard joined the fight didn't take long, Matley took Colin and calmed him down as Adam and Gerard rushed to the armory.

  Inside, Bruno handed off magazines of ammo to men entering and exiting. Gerard went for the rifles section, handing Adam a long rifle with a sturdy wooden stock. "You ever shot a Ruger 10-22 with bump fire technique?"

  Adam shrugged, "Yeah, of course."

  Gerard rolled his eyes. "I mean, not in a video game."

  "Oh! Then no…"

  "Aim through both the front and rear sights, hold the butt of the rifle to the left side of your chest, and be mindful of the trigger guard."

  Panicked and already sweating, Adam hurried behind the other men up the corridor and to the entryway. Willie hung just below the ladder and exit door. "I don't see any men yet. It hasn't moved. It's just floating there."

  Being the leader of this establishment, Adam had to keep
the situation controlled and calm. Judging by his incoherent statement, Willie seemed the most worried of the group. "What do you mean its just floating there? What is it? Drone?"

  Willie didn't know how to answer, he stepped off the ladder and let Adam climb up.

  Peeking slowly through the slit of the ajar door, Adam tried to see what was out there, but his view was shaded by trees. This was his moment, surrounded by men who were on the verge of fighting for his promise of a better future without the Union, to show strength. Gerard gave him a nod.

  Adam climbed slowly out and squeezed through the door, remembering to put the rifle straight ahead and secured to his chest.

  Hovering just over the trees, the flying vehicle seemed like a billboard attached to the sky. No brushes swayed around it, meaning it had some type of propulsion system that needed little air. It didn't move. Surely, at first sight, anyone that saw it would think it was a UFO and alien soldiers were here to capture humans for testing. But it wasn't. Adam recognized it. Regardless of how many precognitions came to fruition, he always had the single chill climb up his spine when he recognized something from his visions. A smile formed on his face.

  The jet began a slow descent before landing on an open field, barely disturbing the corn growing on the field. Black with gray glowing lines and a sleek nose, it was exactly the way Adam pictured.

  From the top of it, a hood popped open and Nelson Celest stepped out. After he walked down the hill, he approached Adam. "Didn't mean to scare everyone."

  Adam immediately hugged him, his father figure was alive and well. People from the silo, including Gerard, came out to shake hands, pat backs, and hug the President of the United States. This was the second time today he'd seen abnormal reactions from the men he knew, Nelson was genuinely happy to receive this admiration. His grin slowly faded. "Where's Janice?"

  Just as his smile went away, so did everyone else's. He repeated, more concerned, "Where's my daughter?"