Paths of Righteousness

by Ryan King

  He stood and let them watch Jacko for several long minutes before he stepped forward and picked up the scalpel again. He pressed it into the edge of the right lung and pierced it, allowing the air to escape. Then he did the same on the other side.

  Jacko's face became even more frantic now as he slowly suffocated.

  "It's almost over," Givens said feeling disgusted with himself.

  Finally Jacko stopped struggling and hung limp from the wooden beam.

  Givens stood in front of the people. "Tomorrow morning we go east into the Shawnee National Forest. We're going to look for a good place to cross back over into Kentucky and to the Land Between the Lakes. If you go with me, you will obey my rules and commands. If you can't do that, then stay here, or go somewhere else. Frankly, I don't care which."

  He turned to his shocked soldiers nearby and pointed at the bodies. "Leave everything as it is. Make sure everyone comes by and gets a good look." Not waiting for their answer, he walked off the stage and into a nearby building. It was the first open doorway he saw.

  There were people huddled inside for warmth, and they stepped out of his way as if he were on fire. He continued down the hall opening doors until he found an empty one. He entered and closed the door.

  Givens turned and vomited all over the floor, heaving again and again. There wasn't much food in his body, so it was mostly bile. When his retching finally stopped, he sank to the floor where he closed his eyes and wished he were somewhere else.

  Chapter 8 - Crumbling Edges

  "Gone?" asked Harold Buchanan not sure he had heard correctly. "How could it possibly be gone?"

  General Butch Matthews sighed. "David stopped them, but couldn't carry both the girl and the bomb. He did what he could to render it unusable and took Alexandra by boat to the dam for medical attention. By the time he returned to the earlier site, the nuke was gone."

  "Any ideas where it could be?" asked Harold with forced calm.

  Major Luke Carter cleared his voice. "Sir, I would say the best guess is that other infiltrators we didn't know about looped back around and took the nuke with them. All indications are that they were very well trained and good at what they do."

  Harold slipped a finger under the patch over his vacant socket and rubbed. It always seemed to itch when he got irritated. "So you're telling me we have a one kiloton backpack nuclear device inside our borders?"

  Butch nodded. "That's about right. David said Alexandra disabled it, but we don't know how permanent that was. It might have rendered it unusable...it might not."

  "Besides," Luke added, "there's no guarantee they don't have more of them down south or even other teams within our borders."

  "What do we do about it?" asked Harold.

  "Nothing," answered Butch. "There's nothing additional we can do. We've beefed up security as much as we can. All we can do is hope one of these doesn't get through and go off."

  "Hope," said Harold looking out the window. "I had thought we were at least done with nuclear weapons."

  Butch moved to a map on the wall. "That's one contingency we can't do anything about. We have plenty of trouble wecan address."

  Harold sat down in front of the map. "Go on."

  Nodding, Butch pointed at the map with a ruler. "Our northern and eastern borders are secure. Allies there keep anyone from sneaking up on us. They likely couldn't withstand a main enemy assault, but we're counting on them to at least give us warning."

  "Can we trust them?" asked Harold.

  "As much as we can trust anyone," answered Butch. "They get electricity from us. That keeps them from freezing or having to cut wood all day. It keeps lights on at nights and lets them use their stoves and music players. I don't think they want any of that to go away."

  "Okay, got it," said Harold.

  Butch continued. "The western edge is secure for now, but they keep trying to push across the bridges. It may be necessary to take drastic steps."

  "I don't want them blown," said Harold. "We'll never be able to rebuild them."

  "I know that, sir, but there may be a time when it comes down to a decision on whether we want to keep the bridges or our lives."

  Harold dropped his head and then after a moment looked up. "Okay, go ahead and rig them. But I don't want any explosive-happy nutjob getting antsy and doing anything we don't have to do. As a matter of fact, why don't we say no one blows the bridges without my permission."

  "Sir," protested Luke, "that might not be a good –"

  Butch cut him off with a look. "Done. We're also keeping skirmish lines and response forces on the western shore just to watch for boats crossing at night. Most of the time it’s civilians thinking we have more food than they do other there, but every now and then it’s enemy intent on sabotage or infiltration."

  "What do we do when we catch them?" Harold asked.

  "We question them and then kill them," said Luke. "We don't have the food to feed prisoners or the manpower to guard them."

  "I don't like it," scowled Harold.

  "Sir, with all due respect," said Luke, "they shouldn't have been trying to cross in the first place and they'll do the same to ours if they're caught."

  "Ours?" asked Harold looking sharply at Luke.

  Butch frowned at Luke before going on. "Sir, we need to know what is going on. There are recon teams out there on the other side. They pass us information by radio and disrupt the enemy's rear lines."

  "By disrupt rear lines, you mean blow stuff up and assassinate people?" asked Harold.

  "Exactly, sir," answered Luke.

  Butch turned back to the map. "Moving on to the south. This is our greatest threat and our most vulnerable point. The enemy has massed most of their forces there and are steadily pushing up the peninsula. We are giving ground as slowly as we can to buy us time."

  "Time for what?" asked Harold.

  Butch and Luke looked at each other.

  "Anything," said Butch. "For them to run out of gas or food or fuel. A nice bout of cholera or dysentery would be nice too. Sometimes troops just lose heart or interest and melt away. Maybe the weather turns bad and they freeze to death."

  "But what if none of those things happen?" asked Harold. "What if they keep on coming?"

  "Then we'll lose," answered Luke. "They have superior manpower, supplies, and weapons. We have electricity and superior position, but they don't seem concerned about sustaining casualties. They're taking far more than us, but they just keep throwing them our way. It's almost as if they don't mind the loses."

  Harold thought about what he'd been told concerning Vincent Lacert from Conrad McKraven. "They likely don't. General Lacert probably thinks every soldier he loses is one less mouth to feed and one less bullet we have. How long till they get here?"

  "We're falling back slowly," answered Butch. "We have a series of trench lines stretching across from Lake Barkley to Kentucky Lake about every hundred yards. The able women and teenagers are digging day and night."

  "I know," insisted Harold, "but how long?"

  Butch looked at the map thoughtfully for a few moments. "At their current rate of advance and our ability to slow them down...this is just an estimate mind you...I believe they will be here no later than a few weeks, maybe only ten days."

  "But the enemy could break through at any moment," said Luke. "Our men are trying to fall back slowly, but it's a dangerous game. If there is ever a penetration of our lines and they roll up the flanks, there will be a mad chaotic retreat. Hopefully, they'll reorganize at one of the subsequent defensive lines, but our men might not stop running until they get to the dam. They're good men, but they're not career soldiers."

  "Do we need to start thinking about moving the women and children north to the dam for safety?" Harold asked.

  "We've already moved some," answered Luke. "The reality is most of those able to help we need to help. They take what little ammo, food and water we have to the men on the front in addition to helping dig trenches and fighting positions.
If they get to the dam, we're likely cooked anyway."

  Harold rubbed under his eye patch again and looked at the map. "Any chance we could ask for a ceasefire? Maybe even a truce? We could offer them electricity."

  Butch shook his head. "Any entreaties should come from a position of power or at least stalemate. They know that given enough time they will roll over us and they don't care how many casualties they sustain. Only option they'll be willing to accept is surrender."

  "That's off the table," said Harold.

  "Damn right it is," said Luke.

  "So what do we do now?" asked Harold.

  "Keep doing what we're doing," answered Luke. "We make them pay dearly for every inch of ground."

  "And pray for a miracle," said Butch.

  Chapter 9 - Alexandra

  David watched Alexandra as she slept. An intravenous needle fed her badly needed fluids and nutrients. The doctor said she would likely be okay. She hadn't sustained any serious injuries, and was only suffering from severe exhaustion and dehydration.

  Only, thought David wryly.Her face looks nearly skeletal...and somehow still beautiful.

  He stood up and stepped away from her sleeping form. The girl obviously loathed him for what he'd done at the slave camp when his family had saved her in eastern Kentucky. She might even loathe him for who he was. To have feelings for her was ridiculous and dangerous. Besides, she was with Joshua. Shouldn't he feel guilty about his attention to his brother's girlfriend, if that was even what she was?

  "I haven't done anything wrong," he said out loud.

  Alexandra moaned, turned her head toward him and slowly opened her eyes. Her face looked around the room and then back at David questioningly.

  "You're fine," he said sitting down again reside her. "Orwill be fine. Nearly killed yourself out there."

  "Did you get them?" she asked in a hoarse voice.

  "No," David answered, "but we chased them off."

  "Was it really a nuke?"

  He shrugged. "We think so. Didn't get a chance to examine it. They must have doubled back and taken it when my men gave chase and I was taking you to get help."

  Her eyes got wide. "They still have a nuke out there somewhere? How in the hell did they get their hands on it?"

  "Hey, we stopped them from blowing up the dam and saved your life," David answered testily. He had been dealing with plenty of people second-guessing him for the last few days and was frankly sick of it. "Let's just leave it at that."

  She closed her eyes and turned away.

  David shifted nervously. "You played a big part in that. Probably wouldn't have caught them without your warning."

  Alexandra smiled without opening her eyes. "Thanks."

  He wanted to touch her. She wasn't like anyone he'd ever met. Wild as any animal and free from others' opinions of her. The very essence of life itself seemed to radiate from her skin.

  She opened her eyes and gazed at him. David felt as if she were looking inside him and he shifted nervously. "You could have gotten yourself killed," he said. "Why would you keep following them after you'd warned someone?"

  "Now you say that," she said. "It was you who convinced me to go on. Not to give up the chase. Never to give in."

  "What?" he said.Maybe she isn't yet in her right mind.

  She sighed and gazed at the ceiling. "I was hallucinating. My mother and Joshua told me to stop. To go get some rest and food, but not you. You stood there and made me feel bad. Like I was a failure if I gave up when it really counted."

  "Why would you care what I think?" he asked without considering.

  Alexandra looked up sharply as if the thought had never occurred to her. Heat rose to her face and she cast about for something else to regard. "I don't know. Maybe I didn't like you looking down on me."

  "I'd never look down on you," he said and then turned away himself.

  She observed him and tried to determine if he was making fun of her. "Well, your imaginary self in my head was and I didn't like it."

  "Sorry," he was not sure what else to say.

  "I accept your apology," she gave a slight smile.

  He returned it tentatively. "You could have gotten yourself killed," he repeated.

  "Like you would have cared," she snickered.

  "I would care," his voice was soft and he forced himself keep eye contact.

  Her humor turned to curiosity. Quietly she asked, "David, do you have feelings for me?"

  Her question stopped his breathing. It was several long moments before he remembered to take a gulp of air. His first impulse was to lie and turn it into a joke.That's fear, he thought.Fear of rejection. He forced himself to reach out and take her hand. "Yes."

  She didn't pull her hand away. "I thought you disliked me."

  "And I thought,think, that you hate me," he said, "but I don't dislike you. I'm not sure exactly what I feel about you, but it isn't dislike."

  "None of this matters," she said looking away.

  David wasn't sure how to answer. "Of course it matters. What are you saying?"

  Alexandra shifted and frowned. "I don't know. Nothing. I'm with Joshua," she said. "That's what matters. It's good that we can get along for his sake, but I'm not sure anything more is a good idea."

  "Do you have feelings for me?" David pressed.

  She slipped her hand out of his. "Whether I do or not makes no difference. I'm with your brother."

  "Joshua," David said with bitterness. "Always Joshua. Everyone's favorite."

  "Self-pity doesn't become you," she said.

  His face clouded. "How would you know what becomes me? You don't even know me. No one knows me."

  She sighed. "David, I'm tired and I don't want to fight. It would be good if we could be friends. For Joshua's sake."

  "For Joshua's sake," repeated David. "You do know there's a good chance he's never coming back. That he's already dead."

  "Don't say that," her cry trembled. "How can you say that as his brother?"

  "I'm not saying I want it to be true," said David, "but the reality is that it's likely. Same with my dad. I would love nothing more than for them to walk in that door safe and alive, but in my heart, I don't believe it's going to happen."

  "You can't give up hope," she said.

  "It's not about hope," he grasped her hand again. "It's about living. Now. In the world we have before us. We could die tomorrow. Even today. Happiness is hard to find, it's not something to turn your back on. Maybe we could be happy together."

  "And if Joshua comes back?" she said softly.

  "He won't."

  She clasped his hand and tugged David closer. "But what if he does? Let's say you and I are together and happy and then Joshua walks back in. What would you do?"

  David shrugged. "Then you'll have a choice to make, that's all. I reckon Joshua would understand."

  She shook her head. "You wouldn't give me a choice. Joshua might understand, but you never would."

  "What are you talking about?"

  "I'm talking about you, about your nature."

  He dropped her hand and stood. "My nature. Like I said, you don't know me."

  "Oh yes I do," she said. "We're a lot alike, so I think I can understand. You have something inside you that cannot submit. It will have its way, no matter what."

  "So you think I would throw you over my shoulder and run off with you?"

  "No," she answered. "I think you might kill Joshua."

  He stared at her stunned. "You're crazy."

  "Am I?" she asked leaning up on one elbow. "You're saying that if you and I are together, we're lovers and happier than either of us have ever been, that if Joshua comes back and I chose him, you'd just walk away?"

  "You could choose me," he answered.

  She nodded. "That's my point. I won't have a decision. You'll put me in a position where I either chose you or you kill your brother. I won't be a part of that."

  David threw his hands up in desperation. "He's probably not even coming
back."

  "Don't you at least hope he does?" she asked.

  He started to sayof course, then paused. "I honestly don't know. He's my brother, and I love him, of course I love him, but we've never been close."

  "Well I do hope he comes back," she answered. "That's why it can't be that way between us. Would you really want to be with me knowing I was hoping every day Joshua was coming back?"

  "I want to be with you in any way I can."

  Her face softened. "David, it's not for us to be together. I might have feelings for you. Given time maybe I could love you, but neither of those things would change the fact that we'd be betraying Joshua."

  "We're not betraying him if he's not alive," David said angrily.

  "Yes, we are," she closed her eyes and lay her head back on the pillow.

  He felt his pulse in his veins and wanted to scream at her. To make her see sense. To make her love him like he loved her. For just once for someone to choose him over Joshua.

  Instead he turned and left her. He wandered through the passageways of the dam interior. David didn't really notice where he was going or who he encountered. After nearly an hour he found himself at a supply closet for which only he possessed the key.

  Scanning both ways to ensure no one was around, David unlocked the closet, slipped inside, and turned on the interior light. He whipped aside the tarp he had thrown over the large rucksack.

  David leaned against the shut door and squatted down in front of the bomb.

  Chapter 10 - Into the Forest

  The tall majestic trees hovered over them, dampening sound and protecting them from snow and wind. Ernest Givens liked the forest. It felt safe. It also made it easier to avoid the sidelong looks he drew now. No one wanted to meet his gaze, but everyone watched him when he walked by and gave him plenty of distance. It was not respect but fear they felt toward him. Givens would give anything to walk away from this mass of humanity, but he couldn't.

  They had entered the Shawnee National Forest three days before. Givens intention was to march straight through, but word spread from the rear of the long column that food had been discovered. He made his way to the rear to find an old woman with authority directing hundreds of people to dig large holes in the ground and then fill them with water. Then people were tossing something from off the ground into the pools.