Brewer threw in his thoughts: "Wow, ugly little thing, ain’t it?"
Johnny stared at the carcass and said, "I’ll indulge my curiosity and do an autopsy on our interloper."
The men stood about unaware that night-vision-aided crosshairs targeted the group, falling first on Dante Jones.
Nina blinked and moved the target away from that man. He was not the murderer. She knew who the murder was. She had seen him do it. She had a clear memory now.
The crosshairs fell on Trevor Stone.
Nina’s finger felt the cold of the trigger. Her heart beat in anticipation of killing the bastard — Stop! No! — who had murdered the man she planned to marry.
Her rage was absolute…it could not be satiated without blood, it- She eased her trigger finger and rested the sniper rifle.
"No," she spoke to herself. "No, this is too good for you."
An idea came to mind. An idea so perfect for vengeance that she wondered why she had not thought of it before.
I hate you Trevor Stone. I’m going to make sure you pay for killing my lover.
16. Betrayal
Trevor walked into the church basement.
Two teenage sisters worked behind the counter serving breakfast. Dustin McBride had painted a colorful caricature of Sal Corso in a chef’s hat stirring a pot on one of the kitchen walls. His artistic talents came from years of spray-painting tags for the "D.C. Boys."
Trevor crossed the hall to the counter, scanning every seat as he moved.
Dante Jones and Evan Godfrey conversed at a table. Two middle-aged men also dined in the hall but he did not know their names. While that made him feel guilty, he also thought it a good sign that the community grew at such a pace he could not keep track of names.
However, his eyes did not find what he truly sought: Nina. He felt a pang of disappointment.
As he moved toward the counter, Trevor overhead Evan Godfrey preaching to Dante.
"I’m saying this is a great chance to do things right this time. We can make changes so we don’t repeat the mistakes the Founding Fathers made."
"You mean, like having slavery when all men were supposed to be equal?"
"Yeah, sure, of course. But I’m talking about a functioning society where there’s true social and economic equality. No one is left out."
Trevor could not decide if Dante bought Godfrey’s gobbledygook or if he merely played a game, something he was apt to do.
"That sounds beautiful, man. So, like, universal health care and a chicken in every pot."
Godfrey said, "I’m talking about a government that ensures the people live as one with the environment, that balances the needs of the individual with the bigger needs of the entire nation, that reflects the moral standards of the community."
As Trevor waited at the counter for eggs and bacon he pulled his mental file on Evan Godfrey, remembering that Godfrey-a man a few years shy of his thirtieth birthday-was nearly shot by Nina during his 'rescue.' After, Evan retreated to an apartment above the garage. Recently, he started venturing forth and contributing.
More specifically, Evan worked with Kristy Kaufman and Lori following up with new residents, procuring items such as medicines, dietary supplements, and such. From what Trevor heard, if a person needed something Evan Godfrey found a way to get it.
Trevor realized that the estate-the community-required people like Evan. Nonetheless, as he listened, Trevor felt Godfrey needed a dose of reality.
"As we get bigger we have to establish electoral zones to create a representative government. Of course, there will have to be steps taken to ensure that we do not become divided by regional issues. You can’t have regional interests outweighing the overall good."
Trevor sat at the table where Evan and Dante planned the future of humanity.
"Good morning, gentlemen. Mind if I join you?"
Evan welcomed, "No, no, of course not."
Dante asked, "You figure out what that thing was we found last night?"
"Not yet," Trevor said. "Johnny is doing an examination."
Trevor turned his attention to Evan and, taking pains not to sound confrontational, said, "I couldn’t help but overhear your speech. Sounded like a politician."
Evan proudly answered, "I've worked on a few campaigns and was in the middle of earning a Masters degree in Political Science when everything changed."
"Yeah," Dante said. "He’s got some good ideas. You should listen to him."
Trevor spotted a glint in his friend’s eye. Dante loved to run experiments on human nature by letting the cars crash together and see what happened.
"Well, let’s hear your ideas, Evan."
Godfrey smiled, his eyes widened, and the ideas flowed forth.
"We have a chance to rebuild government and avoid past mistakes. Here’s a chance for us to create the perfect governing body and social structure."
"I see."
"The key is making sure that the common good is the focus. We need a strong central government that assures equal access to things like health care, education, and business opportunities. If we create a governing body of elected representatives now, we can lay a foundation to build a political structure that really serves the needs of the whole of society."
Trevor shoved breakfast into his mouth and spoke as he chewed, "I see you were well on your way to that Masters degree in Political Science. I bet you have all the bases covered."
Evan smiled smugly.
"I can provide a written proposal."
"All the bases, except for one tinsy-wheenie oversight."
Godfrey leaned forward, "Oh? What’s that?"
Trevor grew deadly serious. Nasty, even.
"The real world. Do you hear yourself? Health care? Education? Business opportunities? Are you kidding me?"
Godfrey drew back and blinked as if slapped. Dante laughed.
"I’ll bet you got straight A’s in political science but guess what, all the politicians are dead. The world you spent your life getting ready for is gone. I thought you would have learned that when a couple of aliens nearly had you for dinner."
Evan tried to interject: "I know that but we have-"
"The only health care you have to worry about is battlefield medicine. From this day forward, education is as much about the target range as it is A-B-Cs. Job opportunities? Sure, we'll need foot soldiers, pilots, and artillerymen."
Trevor tapped the table and locked his eyes on Godfrey who shrunk in his seat.
"You need to understand something that may save your life and the lives of people around you. The old games of politics and business deals on the golf course are done. We are at war. When I say ‘we’ I mean every man, woman and child. We are at war for survival. As a species. Billions of people around this planet have been slaughtered. We have no time for social structures and governments. I’m sorry, Evan, but all that time you spent lining up your political ducks was wasted. Welcome back to the stone age."
Godfrey found the strength to object. "So, what do we do? We just go along without a bureaucracy? If the estate continues to grow, it will become a city, then a state, and then a nation. The people have no say? It will all be led by Trevor Stone?"
"The bureaucracy you love so much failed us when Armageddon came. It sputtered, jammed, and fell apart like the big broken machine it was."
"But who will govern? What happened to democracy?"
"Democracy is a luxury we cannot afford. There is only one purpose for our lives from this moment until the end: To fight. The children born today are tomorrow’s soldiers. If that’s not enough, then our children’s children will take up arms and fight! We will kill every damned creature that does not belong on our planet. It will take decades; maybe centuries."
"That’s all I have to look forward to? War and fighting? That's not a life worth living."
Trevor said, "It's the debt you owe everyone who came before us. If we fail, then everything humanity ever was or ever could be is gone. We fight until we win
or die trying."
Dante broke in, "So, the handful of us who live here are going to re-take the world?"
"Don’t be an ass, Dante. We fight and expand. We do it smart, we do it slow. We find more survivors. We improve our food and weapons. Eventually we build industry. Don’t worry; there will be musicians to entertain the troops and playwrights to take the peoples' minds off the horrors for a while. But it will all be about war."
Godfrey sneered, "And Trevor Stone, what a terrible burden to be the despot charged with making all the decisions, leading all the battles."
Trevor felt the weight of the third gift: memories to give him the skill to lead but carrying the price of dying moments, lost dreams, and sad good byes. The weight of the world.
"Be thankful, Evan, that you will never know that burden."
– Trevor put his argument with Evan behind and took advantage of a dose of November sunshine that pushed the temperature to the high fifties and melted away the dusting of snow from last night. Of course, those temperatures would certainly drop come dark and more snow could come at any time.
Nonetheless, the break in the weather pointed him to outside projects around the estate, such as raking leaves off the driveway and replacing burned-out floodlights. Around noon, he turned his attention to the main gate, which had been operating sluggishly.
With a can of WD-40 in hand, he approached the gate. On the way, he saw Omar’s six-year-old son and eleven-year-old daughter kicking a soccer ball in front of their A-Frame home, Reverend Johnny drove past in a Humvee setting off to scavenge for supplies, and Jon Brewer sat against a tree cleaning his rifle.
As Trevor went to work on the gate mechanism, he spotted Jerry Shepherd closing in on the boathouse with a fishing rod, cooler of beer, and a shotgun. Trevor also noticed Lori Brewer returning from the K9 barn. Both change directions and joined Trevor at the gate.
"Funny weather, ain't it?" Shep said. "Snow last night; almost Spring-like today."
Trevor replied, "I'll take it. Winter is going to mean more than cold days; it's going to mean real problems. Think of it-no snowplows, for one, and we'll be burning through heating fuel fast. Probably end up cutting down half the trees around the lake by February."
Lori said, "On the bright side, look who's coming."
Nina hurried to the three. She wore an oversized grin and carried both a backpack and rifle. Her peppy speech sounded as awkward in her voice as the grin looked on her face.
"Hey, what’s up?"
Shepherd eyed her suspiciously.
Trevor volleyed with not a hint of suave, "What’s up with you?"
"I was thinking it’s such a beautiful day out. Well, I packed a lunch and thought I’d take a hike up the mountain. Sort of a picnic patrol."
Shepherd wiggled a finger in his ear. "A what?"
Nina spoke only to Trevor: "Thought you might like to join me."
"Oh," Trevor stumbled. "I, um, got to fix this fence here. Maybe later."
Nina wiped her smile away. "Well, I guess I’ll go it alone."
She walked off along the road with her shoulders slumped.
Shepherd shrugged and headed toward the dock. Lori punched Trevor in the exact same place she hit him two weeks ago.
"What the hell?"
"God damn it, can’t you see her reaching out? You’ve been an idiot in your lifetime but this takes the cake. For her to do what she just did…I mean, that is one shy girl."
"I don’t know-"
"If you don’t care about Nina, if she’s nothing more than a soldier to you, then let her walk away. But I know that’s not the truth. I see how you look at her. Go ahead, call her a killer and treat her like a hired gun, but you can’t hide your feelings from me. I know you too well."
Trevor slung his head.
"It’s…it’s not that simple. Ashley…"
"Ashley is gone. She’s been gone for months. You could die tomorrow. We all could. You’ve grieved enough. This is a miserable new world but maybe you have a chance to have a little happiness. Go, chase her down."
They watched Nina, trotting along the road toward the forest by herself.
"Don’t be afraid to take a chance on someone. That’s what being human is all about."
After a moment of silence, he offered Lori a slim grin.
"You know, you can be a real bitch."
"That's what friends are for."
He placed a peck on her head, then pursued Nina calling, "Hey! Wait up a sec!"
Shepherd heard the call and returned to Lori who watched from afar as Trevor and Nina shared some words then started toward the mountain together.
Shepherd-rod, cooler, and shotgun in hand-asked Lori, "What was that about?"
Pleased with herself, she answered, "Love. It’s all about new love."
"Love?" Shepherd shook his head slowly. "I’ve known Nina for a long time. I hope someday she does fall in love but I reckon when she does it won’t look like that. "
– Trevor followed Nina up the path. He could not help but eye her. She was…she was beautiful. He had noticed that before but always forced those thoughts from his mind. It did not seem right to think about someone other than Ashley, as if he were betraying her.
Now, as he climbed a few steps behind Nina, he allowed himself to look at her.
She had an honest beauty. Strong and oh-so shapely but subtle, like how she hid her attractive blond hair in a ponytail as if trying to hide from the world.
Maybe he could let himself go. Maybe he could forget Ashley.
After a ten-minute hike, they arrived at a clearing-a rocky meadow-on the face of the mountain, a great observation post above and behind the estate.
Nina placed her backpack on the ground and dug through the contents.
Trevor enjoyed the incredible view. The forested mountainsides had thinned from autumn’s erosion of foliage, but enough evergreens remained to keep some green in the walls around the lake. A crisp wind reminded that the sunshine offered only a temporary respite from the approach of winter. Small birds crisscrossed the sky, creating an illusion of normality.
He said, "What a beautiful day. Wait a second, what is that?"
Something flew overtop the hills, chasing away the birds. A creature? A ship? He did not see any wings, propellers, or rotors on the big green blob dressed in fabric the texture of skin.
Creature or ship, it raced above the mountains directly for Trevor and Nina’s picnic spot.
"Nina, do you see this? I think we have a problem."
He turned and saw her eyes narrowed to slits, her lip quivering. Trevor forgot about the approaching danger as Nina's expression of absolute rage completely surprised him.
She snarled, "I saw what you did, you murdering bastard."
Nina held something in her hand. It sparked.
"Now you’re going to pay for what you did to Scott."
"Huh? Scott?"
She slammed the stun gun into his gut. A jolt of electricity shot through Stone’s body, tingling and burning. His legs wobbled and he collapsed.
– Shepherd, on the dock, saw the ship-a blob-and realized it headed for the mountain face. At that same moment, a Humvee squealed to a halt on the lake road by the boathouse. Reverend Johnny called from behind the wheel.
"Ring the Lord’s bells and join us, Mr. Shepherd. There will be the devil to pay today!"
Shepherd ran to the Humvee where he found Lori and Jon Brewer already in the back seat. The car raced forward even before Shep closed the passenger side door.
"What is it Reverend?" he asked as others around the estate gazed upward at the thing.
Johnny answered only, "I fear the worst."
K9s barked and ran about the grounds with unfocused energy. Anita Nehru hurried her children inside; the forgotten soccer ball rolled to a stop.
"Won’t this blasted car go faster? Dear Lord, if only I had wings!"
The Humvee swung onto a side road, crossed a field, and found the mountain path; a path for peo
ple, not cars, but that did not stop the Reverend. The vehicle violently bounced over rocks and scraped against trees as Johnny drove with furious determination.
– The ship-as long as a commercial airliner but wider-descended upon the mountainside. Its sickly hide pulsated. Support ribs ran its length. Short and long tendrils sprouted from the body in no discernable pattern. The horrid vehicle rumbled as it hovered low over the meadow.
A membrane on the side of the craft drew open. Two humanoids-the shells of human beings-in dark robes with thin swords on rope belts jumped from the dark confines of the craft.
Nina watched as the intruders approached, her face alternating expressions of confusion, of anger, then confusion again, then anger won out. She pointed them to Trevor, who writhed on the ground nearly unconscious. They hauled him into the waiting craft.
The Humvee skidded to a stop among the rocks and grass of the mountain clearing, its tires going flat, side panels dented and ripped, and a trail of dust billowing behind. Jerry Shepherd leapt from the passenger’s side before the wheels had stopped turning.
"Nina! Get away from there!"
A bulge massed on the skin of the craft. That bulge formed a long barrel.
"Lord have mercy!" Reverend Johnny raced toward Shepherd. "Take cover!"
"He murdered Scott!" Nina yelled from the hovering ship. "He killed the man I loved! He killed the man I was going to marry! He's going to pay!"
Shepherd’s face corkscrewed and his mouth gaped not at the sight of the strange alien craft, but at Nina’s words. His confusion blinded him to the looming threat.
The organic protrusion on the ship literally spit its fire: the barrel curled and straightened, curled and straightened, at lightning speed. Reverend Johnny tackled Shepherd and the two rolled to cover next to the Hummer. Jon and Lori exited the car but a shower of pellets bounced off the hood and forced them to cover, too.
Nina climbed on to the waiting ship. The membrane closed. The covering fire of the side gun stopped. The monstrosity rose into the sky then flew south, taking Nina and Trevor away.
17. The Order
"Name: Bore Bug
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