Julie shrugged. “Do you have a fourth choice?”
He didn’t, but he wasn’t going to execute them. It wasn’t their job. It wasn’t their place. As a prison guard, his job was to maintain order and make sure prisoners didn’t riot, kill each other, or escape, but in addition to that, he was there to make sure they were taken care of. He wasn’t the executioner. In Wisconsin, executioners didn’t even exist.
But did he need to look at this situation from a different perspective? The truth was, he wasn’t a prison guard any longer. At least not until the power came back on and the inmates were rounded up and brought back here.
“I suppose I could stay here and guard them,” Alex said. It was the first thing that came to his mind as a fourth option and he almost wished he hadn’t said it. Was he prepared to take on that kind of responsibility?
Julie laughed, and the noise echoed down the hallway. “There is no plumbing. We’re taking the food. They will survive for how long? A week? And that’s if they ration the water in their toilets.”
Alex looked at the floor and bit his lip. She was right in that regard. There was no sustaining the prisoners in this state. He didn’t know what to do.
“It’s not right,” Alex said. “You don’t know why they’re here. You don’t know who they are. You don’t know if they’ve rehabilitated.”
“Don’t give me that,” Julie said. “These are convicted criminals in one of the most notorious state prisons in the country. We can’t let them go.”
“How about we put it to a vote, then?” Trent said as he stepped forward.
“Well, there are five of us and four of you,” Julie said. “So if that’s really how you would like to go about it, then sure.”
Alex looked up at the people behind Julie. Two women and two men. “Is that really what you all want? To just kill them?”
Their silence was enough of an answer.
“We’re just two days into this mess,” Alex said. “We can’t do this. We don’t even know what’s happening out there. Help could come any day. And let me tell you, if it does come, and the authorities find out what you’ve done here, you will end up here with the rest of the prisoners. And they will know what you did. Do you really want to take that chance?”
“You know as well as I do that help isn’t coming,” Julie said. “We’re screwed. The whole country is screwed. We traveled thirty miles and didn’t see one police car, one ambulance. We saw two houses on fire, and there were no firefighters. If someone is coming to help, they won’t be here for weeks. And that’s assuming this isn’t happening throughout the whole country.”
“What would make you think it’s the whole country?” Bryson asked. “You can’t know that.”
“You’re right,” Julie said. “I can’t know that, but it’s a new world now.”
“It’s been two days,” Alex repeated. “Don’t you think we should wait and see if what you’re saying is true? Do you realize what you’re even proposing? We’re just going to open the cells of each prisoner and shoot them? Really?”
“You don’t have to be here,” Julie said. “We will do it.”
Alex felt a hand on his arm, and Gwen stood next to him. “Prisoners just ransacked Hope,” she said to Julie and her group. “We were able to take it back. But I’m thinking that these prisoners weren’t let out for a reason. Maybe they weren’t trusted enough by the bad ones because they wouldn’t go along with the takeover.”
“Or maybe they weren’t able to get them out in time,” Julie said.
“There was plenty of time,” Alex said. “I was here when the breakout happened. I was a guard here, and I was taken hostage.”
“So, do you know anyone in this hall?” Julie asked.
“I don’t know if I do,” he answered. “And what if I did? What if one of them was my friend? Or a family member? Would that change anything?”
“I’m not sure it would,” she said.
“I’m sorry,” Alex said, “but I can’t let you do it.”
“Or else?” Julie lifted an eyebrow. “Are you threatening me?”
“I’m keeping to the law,” Alex said. “Just because we’re in a disaster doesn’t mean law and order is gone. You don’t have a right to do this. Why don’t you just take the food and leave?”
“Because if we take the food and leave, then you will release the prisoners, and I don’t want to have to kill them in front of our children in Eastern Springs when they inevitably make their way toward us.”
“We’re talking about twenty or so people,” Gwen said. “And you’re thirty miles away. If they were going anywhere, they would go to Hope, and we’re prepared now. They aren’t going to Eastern Springs on foot.”
“I brought you here because I thought you might help us with a problem,” Julie said. “Clearly I was stupid to do so.” She nodded at someone behind them, and when Alex and his group turned, he saw three more of Julie’s group, their weapons aimed.
Alex and his group were surrounded. When Alex turned to look at Julie, his nose flaring, his chest heaving with quickened breaths, they all had their guns pointed at them.
“So, that’s it?” Alex said. “You’re going to execute us with them?”
“Of course not,” Julie said. “You aren’t convicted felons. I’m going to tie you up while we take care of them.”
With a command, Julie’s cronies took hold of Alex, Gwen, Bryson, and Trent.
“Tie them up,” Julie said.
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Leland didn’t like the idea of splitting up with Henry, and he hoped he wouldn’t have to. But he wasn’t here to find Henry’s brother. He was here to find Cora. They had traveled many miles and nearly lost their lives already. Now they were in the middle of Chicago, and it was apparent that the world was falling apart after just two days without power.
Leland had expected Chicago to be bad, but not this bad. Smoke filled the air, and he could see distant tanks in the direction where they were headed. They were losing the sun, and soon night would be upon them. Initially, he had wanted to get here, find Cora, then get out before it got dark, but it was clear that was an unrealistic desire. He wondered if it was unrealistic to expect to find her in a day. Two days. Was it possible to find her at all?
Everything depended on whether or not she had stayed put in her apartment. She might have had plenty of water and food to last her two days. He needed it to be true, but there was something in him that knew it wasn’t—that gnawing feeling that she had left her apartment to get supplies or escape the dangers of the city.
I need you to be there, he thought. I need you to be there.
Leland and Henry stood at the edge of the street and saw pandemonium in front of them. With the number of gunshots ringing through the air, it sounded like they were approaching a warzone. They were four blocks away from Sam’s neighborhood. Then Cora was another two blocks from there. Leland was fine with looking for Sam, but only for the amount of time it would take to go into his apartment and make sure he was okay. Every second counted now. He wished he could have gotten here a day ago, but the Jeep hadn’t been ready.
The two of them watched as a tank rumbled between buildings, then was lost from view.
“I have to say,” Henry said, “I didn’t expect military.”
“Something doesn’t feel right,” Leland said. “How would they have power?”
“We drove here,” Henry said. “It’s possible they were able to get things ready to go.”
Leland nodded, but he wasn’t sure. It was a strange sight. There had been no sound of impatient horns beeping throughout the streets or the roaring thunder of the busy interstate. Instead, tank engines reverberated through the neighborhood ahead of them.
“That’s Sam’s neighborhood?” Leland asked.
Henry nodded. “Yeah. Makes me a little worried.”
“I’m sure he’s fine.”
“But if the military is focused on his neighborhood, what does that mean? M
ore danger, right? More chaos. Sam is in trouble.”
“We’ll find out soon enough,” Leland said.
The two of them moved ahead. Their steps were steady and careful. Neither of them thought it would be a good idea to go running into the middle of what looked like a battle. Leland already worried about them brandishing weapons. You weren’t supposed to just walk through Chicago with a gun. It was the kind of thing that would get you thrown in jail or shot.
But things were different now, he realized. As they walked, people looked at them and crossed to the other side of the street or ducked into an alley. Block after block, no one wanted to challenge two men with guns in their hands. The only problem they might have would be if they came across another person who was armed and felt threatened by them.
Two more blocks.
Much of the screaming and yelling was coming from where the tanks were. Leland looked up and down the sidewalk and saw shops with their windows shattered, shelves empty of goods. Looters had already taken hold of this part of the city; perhaps that was what the military personnel were trying to contain. But where were the gunshots coming from? Were the soldiers just shooting at people who resisted or were the shots fired coming from citizens? He didn’t think the average person in Chicago carried, but from the sound of things, it seemed people were putting up a bit of resistance to the soldiers. Every few seconds there would be small popping noises followed by a much louder boom in response.
If Cora’s neighborhood was a warzone, she would have stayed in her apartment, Leland didn’t doubt it. Cora had a good heart, but she wasn’t the most daring person. This would be to Leland’s advantage.
“We need to get moving,” Leland said.
The two of them started jogging toward the tanks and the sounds of chaos.
“Everyone stay in your homes! A curfew has been implemented and no one is permitted to leave their homes. Violators will be arrested. Aggressors will be shot.”
The loudspeaker blared through the air, and Henry looked at Leland with worried eyes. “Aggressors will be shot,” he repeated. “You think maybe we ought to put the guns somewhere?”
Leland set his jaw firm and continued forward. “We put the guns down, they’re gone.”
“They might shoot at us.”
Leland slowed his pace until the two of them walked instead of jogged. Two streets ahead was a large group of soldiers surrounding a tank.
“We have to approach them,” Leland said. “I don’t know enough about the area to try to sneak through.”
“What do you propose?” Henry asked.
“We need to approach them with our hands up,” Leland said. “They aren’t concerned with Chicago laws specifically. They won’t care about our guns if we aren’t a threat to them. Just keep your hands up as we approach.”
Henry seemed skeptical of the plan, though he did what Leland said. Both of them held their hands in the air. Henry’s pistol stayed in his holster while Leland let his rifle hang on the strap over his shoulder. It only took a few seconds and another block before one of the soldiers noticed them and alerted other soldiers to their presence.
“Hold it right there!” one of the soldiers yelled. “Go back to your home!”
“We’re not here to fight you,” Leland said, his voice echoing off the buildings. “I’m looking for someone.”
“Go back to your home!” the soldier repeated.
“You’re blocking my home!” Leland said.
The soldiers looked at each other, then motioned for Leland and Henry to step forward. “Keep your hands up,” the soldier instructed. He reached for his radio strapped to his shoulder and spoke into it low enough that Leland and Henry couldn’t hear.
Curious that they have working radios, Leland thought.
The soldier held up a hand for them to stop when Leland and Henry were about ten feet away from the tank.
“I’m law enforcement,” Leland said. “I left my badge at home, but I am law enforcement.”
“Chicago PD?” the soldiers asked.
“Yes,” Leland said. He would know enough to fake it, and Leland guessed this soldier wouldn’t have enough information about Chicago PD measures to test Leland’s credibility.
“Where have you guys been?” the soldier asked.
Leland shook his head. “That’s a good question. I don’t know how you’re managing it, but our radios aren’t working. At least, not in my district.”
The soldier grinned. “We were prepared. I called you in to the boss. He should be here in a second. You’re just trying to get home?”
“That’s right,” Leland said.
“This your partner?”
Leland looked at Henry. “He’s my son.”
The soldier didn’t question the lie and started walking away when he got a call on his radio. Leland strained to hear the back-and-forth but to no avail.
He looked over the soldier’s uniform and was perplexed by the lack of a flag. There were ranks along the shoulders, which bore the same rankings as the US Army, but there was no American flag, which was unusual. There were no other identifying badges. Other than the rank, the only symbol he saw was a crude painting on one of the tank wheels between the tracks. At first, he couldn’t tell, but it looked kind of like a horse rearing up on its back legs.
Something felt off.
“Where are you based out of?” Leland asked, but the soldier ignored him and kept walking away. Leland tried asking one of the other soldiers, but they ignored him, too.
“I don’t like any of this,” Henry whispered.
Leland agreed with him. Everything felt off. The fact that they were using radios and driving tanks was weird enough. But these were not typical uniforms. He understood that there could be a special unit for times of crisis, but they would still need to be identifiable as US soldiers, wouldn’t they?
The soldier came back and Leland looked for a name tag, but there wasn’t one. These soldiers were completely anonymous.
Another soldier walked up to the first one. He stood taller and stared at Leland like he was annoyed by his presence.
“I was told you want access to the neighborhood?” the new soldier said.
“Yes,” Leland answered. “I’m trying to get home with my son.”
“We aren’t permitting access to this neighborhood at this time.”
“Who are you people? Where are your credentials? I don’t see a flag or markings.”
“I’m Sergeant Russel,” the leader said. “I’m instituting a blockade of this neighborhood under the direct order of my superiors in the United States Army.”
“I thought uniforms had a flag,” Henry said.
So, he noticed too…
Sergeant Russel stepped forward, towering over Henry. He didn’t have a huge rifle like the rest of the soldiers. Instead, he wore a pistol at his belt on one side of his hip and a large knife on the other.
“I don’t care what you think we should be wearing,” Russel said. “You’re not in charge here. We’re ordering you to turn around and go back the way you came.”
Leland lowered his head almost as if to bow in submission to Sergeant Russel. “Please, Sergeant, we aren’t here to make trouble. We just need to get to our family in there. They are without water, and we have some for them. They are scared and they need us.”
It wasn’t a complete lie. Their family was presumably in there somewhere, and they did need their help. There was likely no running water throughout the city, so they probably were without.
Leland was going to get through. It was just a matter of getting permission or sneaking through.
“You know you’re not supposed to have a gun here,” Russel said.
“As an officer of the Chicago Police Department, I understand what is permissible under the law and what is practical for my own survival. As an officer out of uniform, I’m just another man trying to protect his family in the middle of a crisis. I don’t want trouble. I just want to see my family safe.”
Russel stared at Leland with narrowed eyes almost as if he were studying him, evaluating every word for a lie. What did the soldiers have to gain from keeping Leland out? What were they even doing here? It didn’t make sense that they were forming a blockade rather than policing the streets and arresting those who were committing illegal acts. A blockade was simply for keeping someone in or out of a specific place, particularly during a search. Were they searching for something? Someone?
Russel finally nodded and tapped the soldier next to him. “Let them through. We aren’t here to keep people from their families.”
Leland felt a wave of relief wash over him. “Thank you! Thank you so much.”
“A word of advice,” Russel said. “Stay clear of any more soldiers. Most of them will not be as understanding as me, and we aren’t here to keep you safe.”
Leland nodded, but the soldier’s words didn’t sit well with him. Weren’t there to keep him safe?
He didn’t have time to dwell on Russel’s mysterious words. First, they had to get to Sam’s apartment. Then to Cora’s.
Leland prayed they were both home. Waiting.
He feared they wouldn’t be.
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Cora sat up with a gasp as a cool wind hit her cheek. The sun was fading from the sky, and she couldn’t believe she had fallen asleep. Michelle was in her arms, and the poor girl didn’t wake at Cora’s sudden jolt. Michelle was exhausted from the trauma of being separated from her mother, and there was no telling how little sleep she had gotten over the past couple of days.
Cora hadn’t been sleeping much either. The last two days had been filled with anxiety, confusion, hunger, and borderline despair. She wondered if helping Michelle was just a way for her to cope with everything that was happening. To Cora, the worst part about all this was not knowing what they faced. Maybe a terrorist attack? The American population had lived in fear of it. It was the kind of fear that settled at the edge of someone’s thoughts. The kind of feeling one got when they got onto an airplane and briefly wondered whether or not it would be the last thing they did.
Fallen Earth | Book 2 | Aftermath Page 13