by Roman Shepp
Matthias stretched and stepped out of his cabin. People nodded to him as they tended the crops and went about their business. The community was growing at an astonishing rate, and it soon would be time to expand. Everyone had the same goal in mind. Hugo White had seen to that. They finally were focused. Hugo's predecessor had lost his drive. His pacifist views had made the community stagnant. Not everyone had seen that, though. Some had disagreed vehemently, but a night in the box quickly had changed their minds. Some had fled, but that didn't bother Matthias. As far as he was concerned, anyone who wasn't fully committed should leave. The community didn't need anyone whose whole heart wasn't devoted to the cause.
Raising his hand, Matthias waved to a group that was coming back from the river with washed clothes. The community ran like a well-oiled machine. There was no place for lethargy, and everyone knew their place.
“Morning, Matthias,” a gnarled old man said. Becket was looking more and more like the trees around him each day, his skin thick and craggy. He shuffled around with a stoop and moved at a slower pace than anyone else, but Matthias knew few were as dedicated to the cause as him.
“Morning, Becket. How are you feeling today?”
“The aches and pains still are there, but I'm getting used to them,” Becket replied. It was his standard greeting. Matthias smiled. Becket was one of the original members, and one of the few who fully had bought into Hugo's new vision.
“Take it easy. You've earned your stripes, old-timer. You can get a bit of rest.”
“Oh no, that's not the way I do things. You should know that by now. I always was brought up to pay my way and take part in the world. I'm not one of these freeloaders. The day I can't contribute to this community is the day I die. You know that's one of the reasons I came here in the first place. I couldn't abide the state of the world. So many people were just willing to throw their lives away and live off the state. Where was the pride?” he said, grunting as he leaned against a nearby tree for support. “I tried telling Arthur that we had to do more, but he wouldn't listen. That man was as stubborn as a mule. I was surprised when the illness got him. Never thought he would let something like that take him down.”
Matthias' eyes darted away. “Well, at least we can carry on his plan and improve on the foundations he left for us.”
“Indeed. Indeed. It was such a shame that so much pain had to be endured. You know, I told him we had to be more forceful in what we believed. Otherwise, the world was going to suffer. I respected the man for what he built. Hell, in a way, I loved him, but somewhere along the way he lost sight of the bigger picture. I tried telling him the world was going to end if we didn't do something. The broader society was blinding itself, putting its collective head in the sand, always being distracted by the new flashy things. We were the only ones who could see what was happening, but in the end, we were as useless as they were.”
“That won't be the case now,” Matthias promised.
“Oh no, Hugo is exactly what we need. He reminds me of a young Arthur in a way, so full of passion. It's a shame you couldn't have known Arthur during his younger days. You probably would have a different opinion of him. I wish he could have shown everyone his true face,” Becket said with regret.
“I do too, but at least we get to move forward in his name. We can make the world see what has to be done.”
“They need it now more than ever. You must have heard the stories from the city.”
“I have indeed. It's terrible what's happening, although it does make me realize how fortunate we are to have found this place, and each other. There's no rioting here. I refuse to believe rioting is a part of human nature, like some people think. If it was then, surely, we would be affected by it as well. No, people are choosing to act that way because they don't know what else to do. Their way of living has been taken from them. Once we show them there's another way they will calm down.”
“You're a good man, Matthias, a true believer. I'm glad men like you and Hugo found us. We've needed new blood to lead us into the future. I don't know how long I have left, but it gives me peace to know that the community will thrive even after I'm gone. I'm sure Arthur felt the same when he passed too.”
“I'm sure he did,” Matthias said, lying, “and thank you for your kind words, Becket. But, of course, we only are carrying on the example men like you and Arthur laid out for us.”
“And the new generation is learning as well,” Becket said, looking across at the children, who were paying rapt attention to the teacher. Matthias nodded firmly. “When do you think we will be making the final move?” Becket asked.
“All in good time,” Matthias replied. “I was just on my way to meet with Hugo to discuss these matters. There is still much preparation to be done, I fear. Sadly, if Arthur had seen the path we must take, then we would have been able to plan for it sooner.”
“We will get there in time. The world hasn't completely ended just yet,” Becket said, his eyes twinkling.
He put his hand on one of Matthias' broad shoulders and squeezed it. Matthias almost winced at the touch of the arthritic grip. Old age was just as much a sin as any kind of weakness. It disgusted him. He remembered how his father had degenerated rapidly, becoming a shadow of the man he used to be. Matthias didn't want that fate for himself. He nodded to Becket and moved away, walking across to Hugo.
The community had grown to encompass a large clearing in the forest. It was ringed with trees, providing a natural barrier, although with the way the trees had grown over the last decade or so, they were running out of room. There was a collection of tents in the middle that always had been the hub of operations, and Hugo was there now. From that vantage point it was easy to look around at the entire camp and revel in all they had built.
Hugo, a wiry man, was standing with his hands clasped behind his back. His black hair was pulled back into his customary ponytail, and his pale skin could be seen through the thin hairs that crept across his jowls. His slanted eyes scrutinized everything around him. He was the master of his domain. Matthias strode up to him and greeted him. Hugo White replied without looking at him.
“These are the days I love, Matthias. Anything feels possible,” he said.
“Indeed. It is a grand new direction, and it's pleasing to see how so many people are embracing the new way.”
“Well, we always did suspect that Arthur was holding us back.”
“Many of the older people are starting to be more open with their criticism of him. I was just speaking to Becket. He understands that the community is better off without Arthur.”
“All of them moved out here because they were wise, let's not forget that. But a few had lost their way. It still saddens me sometimes to think about how far Arthur had fallen, and how he had taken so many with him.”
“At least we don't have to worry about them anymore.”
“No, even if they wanted to challenge me, they do not have the strength. They have fled into the wild, and the wild shall deal with them. We cannot be concerned with such petty things as them. We have bigger things to worry about.”
“Becket was asking, ‘When are we going to go out into the world?’”
“All in good time. The world is not going anywhere. It is better that we are prepared, because we will not get another chance at this. Our numbers are not infinite. Although I do believe they will swell once we start gathering more people. In their desperation, they gladly will take the salvation we will offer. But at the moment they will be picking off each other, culling the weak from the herd. It is only making our inevitable rise stronger.”
“A united world will be a proud thing to see.”
“You and I shall stand before them, Matthias, as glorious as kings.”
Matthias' eyes focused on Hugo for a moment. Could he really mean that Matthias would stand next to him as an equal? So far, Hugo had claimed the leadership for his own and Matthias had been his right-hand man. It was the first time he ever had considered them as the s
ame rank. Matthias puffed out his chest a little, proud that Hugo held him in such high esteem.
“I cannot wait until we walk into that city like Caesar, ready to claim our new land,” Hugo said, licking his lips in anticipation.
“It will be so glorious, like nothing this country has seen before. We shall wipe away all the pain and show them the world as it should be,” Hugo said.
“Can you imagine what this place would be like if Arthur still was in charge?”
Hugo laughed darkly. “He would tell everyone to stay here and not think about the rest of the world. He'd probably say we should leave it to destiny, that whoever was meant to come here would find their way.”
“Do you not believe in destiny?”
“Not in the same passive way that Arthur believed. I think destiny is there to be seized. A man has to go fight for what he wants, not wait for it to come to him. A destiny is a prize to be earned, a treasure to be won. Do you know what the most overwhelming feeling I had when I came to this place was?”
Matthias shook his head.
“Disgust. When I met the emissaries in the city, I was thrilled at the thought of an ideal place, a haven for people who shared my beliefs. Yet, when I arrived I was faced with a meek culture, weak people who had been hiding from the world for too long. Of course they had tried to change, but since they had removed themselves from society, they had not adapted to the post-apocalyptic world. Their ideas were out of date. They had become stagnant, and it filled me with shame to think that someone as talented and passionate as Arthur could have let things slip away so easily. From what I was told of him I was sure he would be an impressive man.”
“I thought so too. I remember when I came and met him. I thought, ‘Is this it? Is this the man the others have spoken about so highly?’”
“I know. We never will make the same mistakes as him, Matthias.”
“He had made too many mistakes already,” Matthias said, his last memory of the man filling his mind.
“I never can thank you enough for that,” Hugo said. “It was a necessary step.”
“And it is right that your hands should not be tainted by the act. It needed to be done.”
Matthias told himself that, but it had been the first time he had killed a man. He remembered the look of surprise on Arthur's face as Matthias had crept into his tent and held the pillow over the old man's face. Arthur had writhed and struggled, but his old, withered body was no match for Matthias’s strength. The last thing Matthias had seen in the old man's eyes was disappointment. It was something he never would forget.
After that, things hadn't gone the way Matthias had expected. There was no lingering sense of guilt, and everyone had bought the lie that he had died in his sleep. Even his most loyal supporters didn't think he was murdered. As far as Matthias was concerned that was just another sign of their weakness. Their minds had become so conditioned to peace they couldn't comprehend that one man could kill another.
It unsettled Matthias that it had been so easy for him to do that, but in the end, he decided it spoke to his Scandinavian heritage. For much of history his ancestors had been fierce warriors, and now there would be much more fighting to come. It was a part of himself that he had to embrace, and it would serve the community well when the time came.
“Do you really think these people will be able to fight a war? They have not spent their lives being trained as soldiers,” Matthias said, concern creeping into his voice.
“They will do well,” Hugo said. Matthias often wondered if Hugo really was as assured as he sounded. “We are showing them the way, and this is not a fight in which people need to be soldiers. It is more of a philosophical war. As long as we can get into the city and begin converting people, we will win easily. Once we have the numbers, everything will be easy. It's not as if anyone in the city will be organized.”
“Are you sure?”
Hugo turned to face Matthias, glowering at him. Matthias immediately bowed his head. “Of course I am sure,” Hugo said tersely. “This plan was not borne of a whim. I have meticulously plotted every aspect of our future, and you would do well to remember that. Everything is occurring as I have foreseen, and nothing will go wrong. I have spoken to each and every person who has come to us from the wrecked city. All of them speak of a city in chaos, of people who have no direction, no purpose. That is their greatest weakness. They have thrown themselves into the madness because they have nothing else to fight for. They are scared. They are weak. These are things that we can take advantage of. All we need to do is to pick off little groups here and there, assimilate them into our collective, and then they all will fall like dominoes. Anyone who resists us will be met with force, and when others see how we strike out when challenged, they too will see it is futile to attack us. Then, the city will be ours.”
“So, you do plan to move everyone to the city?”
“Look around you, Matthias. This field is not big enough to contain us. We must think about the future, and I do not mean just yours and mine. I am talking about our children as well. We will leave a legacy that will spread like wildfire. The city is a hub, and in that shell, that tomb, we will make sure humanity rises again, stronger and better.”
When Hugo spoke passionately it made Matthias' skin tingle. A smile spread across his face. Hugo was an awesome presence. The man had a great mind and put it to use in intriguing ways. The future couldn't come fast enough as far as Matthias was concerned. He would take his place as a prince beside Hugo, and the world would be theirs to shape as they saw fit. Right now, their kingdom was merely a field, but soon it would spread to encompass the city, then the state, and beyond that Matthias only could dream. He was sure Hugo knew, though. Hugo had everything planned, and it all would go exactly as they wanted. After all, no other groups could challenge them.
Chapter Eight
Jane still was processing everything Martha had said. Learning there was another group out there wanting to harm people was mind-boggling, but at least now they knew what the skull meant to avoid that area. It was a shame they never would be able to go back to the city, but maybe it was for the best that they make a fresh start somewhere entirely new. Turning her back on the city might be the best thing for her, to finally get rid of her feelings connected to it. It felt as though a spider always was crawling over her skin, and all because she was in such proximity to Frank.
Coming to the bunker was supposed to have been the end of their quest. A safe haven in which they could live and thrive until it was safe to traverse the outside world again. It had turned out to be anything but. Jane already was getting antsy about wanting to leave, although she wasn't going to go unless everyone else came with her. The only thing worse than being so close to Frank was to be in this world alone. She didn't think she'd survive for more than a few days.
The others still were talking with Martha and Belinda, trying to find out more about Hugo and what he had planned for the world. It was just like Tony to want to try interfering, but sometimes it was more important to save yourself than anyone else. Jane never had been a bleeding heart liberal and, given the state of the world, it seemed as though you had to be out for yourself and those closest to you. Putting yourself in danger wasn't on the agenda anymore.
Moving away from the main group, she took a seat on a bed and leaned forward. Tara came over to her.
“Are you okay?” the little girl asked.
“I am. I'm just a little tired.”
“You should have slept with the rest of us.”
“Maybe I should have,” Jane said, smiling.
“Is this place going to be our new home, or are we going to go to a new place?”
“I really don't know. I think we're going to stay here for a little while. Do you like it here?”
Tara scrunched up her nose. “Not really. It's dark, and there's a strange smell. I like outside better.”
“Me too. Hopefully, we'll be able to find a farm somewhere. Would you like to live on a farm?
”
“Would I get to play with animals?”
“I should think that's a very important part of being a farmer,” Jane said. Tara clenched her fist and smiled. Jane chuckled to herself. Maybe the future wasn't going to be so bad if she could keep these people around her.
There was a knock at the door, startling everyone. Brian stood there, calling them all to the conference room because Frank wanted to speak to them. His beady eyes peered into the room and he tried to see what they all were looking at, but there were too many bodies for him to see the map. Jane was glad of that. The sooner they left the politicians behind the better.
As a group, they all moved back to the conference room where the politicians and the soldiers were sitting down, except Frank. He was standing in front of everyone, looking ready to give out one of his long speeches. Jane rolled her eyes and folded her arms across her chest, wondering why he had called them here. It was probably just so he could listen to himself speak. During their affair Jane always had suspected that Frank was more in love with his own voice than with anything else. Nobody seemed to be in a particularly good mood, but when they all were settled Frank clapped his hands to address them.
“Now, it's come to my attention that there's some tension in this bunker and I don't much like it. I don't think it's beneficial for all of us. If one of us is unhappy then we should all try and resolve the issue. I've tried to be patient and not get involved, but this has been going on for a while now and I fear that unless I intervene nothing is going to get done. Now, one of you soldiers is having a baby, yes?”
All eyes turned to Donald, who nodded.