by HJ Lawson
“I… I heard Captain Reef saying once you return, you will take his place. At Abulafia’s side,” he quickly responds.
“Where is Abulafia now?”
“No one knows,” he replies nervously. “But people say he is here.”
I stupidly look around, as if he means right here.
“Where?” I ask.
“In the USA… with Captain Reef.”
“Then where is Captain Reef?” Is everyone stupid?
“He’s at one of the bases; they move around,” the man replies.
“Agh!!” I grind my teeth, angry.
“There is a map in the truck,” he explains nervously. This man is a useless soldier, giving me information without my even asking.
“What do you know about Abulafia?” I demand.
“He spent his life looking for you.”
I shake my head. I know what you are doing… trying to play nice.
“Well, he didn't try hard enough… did he?” I spit in his face. Don’t try to play me.
“He found you, but—”
“What!?”
“Captain Reef said you were more useful on the field,” he blurts out.
Playtime over. I raise my gun toward his face. “Please no, I can tell you more,” he begs.
I tilt my head toward him, and wave my gun up and down. “Go on…”
“Mmm… mmm,” he stammers, panicked.
“I thought not.”
Bang.
Chapter 12
The Face in my Nightmares.
JADA
“How long have the phones been down?” Gérard asks Pearl.
“Not sure. We just tried calling when your plane crashed.”
“Do you mind if we switch the television on?” Gérard asks. She looks a little bit confused by his request. It's clear she's not aware of what is happening outside her home.
“Sure. The remote is over there. We haven't used it for years. Not sure if it works.” She points to where I’m sitting. There is a small table with a stained, yellowed, lace table cover, and an ashtray piled high with cigarette butts in the middle of it, like a decorative piece.
Kyra reaches over to the dusty remote, and our eyes meet for a moment. I can feel we both want to burst into tears. We quickly look away, and she passes the remote over to Gérard.
He glances at the remote for a second, and then begins flicking through the channels to get to the news.
“Oh, fuck,” I blurt out… He is here. The room feels like it is swimming as I notice everyone is staring at me and not the television. I raise my hand from Zak’s head and point toward the screen.
Caption Reef is standing there proudly with his red beret on. He is on our television with Mansur and Junayd by his side.
Ali lets out a shocked gasp.
Reef begins to speak directly to the camera. “People of America, you enter our countries… You destroy our cities, and you take our lives from us. Today it is our turn. The rest of the world is no longer going to be bullied by your ways. We have united to rise against you…” He pauses for a moment as he looks over at Mansur.
“Unlike you, we will give you a choice—stand with us, or against us.” Then the screen goes black and the room falls silent.
Where is he? He didn’t have a mask on, so he probably is not nearby. My body slumps back in relief… death follows that man.
“Was that Captain Reef?” Gérard asks me.
I nod my head shamefully. I wish I’d taken a better shot last time I saw him, and killed him.
Gérard looks at his phone again and shakes his head. It must still be down.
“Albert, have you got it working?” Pearl yells.
“No!” he shouts back.
She shrugs her shoulders. “So you know that man?” she asks as she wheels closer to me.
“Yes, ma’am,” I reply quickly.
The television news reporter starts to talk, breaking the next line of questions which I knew would follow.
“Ladies and gentlemen, that report came from Captain Reef. He wants to make it clear this is your only chance.” Her voice trembles as she speaks. It's clear they are making her say this.
“Several bombs have gone off today. They have more planned if we don’t listen to their warning,” she says directly to the camera. I wonder where the other bombs have detonated.
“Please listen to it. Stay in your houses and protect yourselves,” she adds. Clearly that part wasn’t scripted, and her eyes bulge with fear. God only knows what is happening behind the camera. The television screen goes blank again.
Gérard places his head in his hands as he tries to think. “Where are we? Do you have a map?” he asks Pearl.
“Albert, get the lad a map,” Pearl instructs her husband.
“We are on the edge of Morristown, about twenty miles from New York City,” she adds. We would have been further away if we had stayed on Long Island this morning.
“Fuck. Is that all?” Gérard curses.
Albert enters the room with the map. “Here,” he says, as he passes it to Gérard.
“Thank you very much, sir… I noticed your picture on the mantel. You were a solider,” Gérard comments, as he points to the picture of Albert in his younger days wearing his Army uniform.
“Yes, I was,” Albert says proudly.
“I was a nurse there, that’s how we met,” Pearl adds, smiling fondly.
“I’m a doctor,” Faith says. “Gérard is also a doctor, and he was a soldier before that.” Within a moment I can see the atmosphere change as Albert and Pearl relax and seem to warm to us being in their home.
“So what do you need the map for?” Albert asks, more interested now.
“Not sure if you heard, but there was a nuclear bomb in the city today,” Gérard explains as calmly and quickly as possible.
“What, like in Japan?” Albert asks, his eyes wide.
“Yes.”
“Oh, Lord. The world really is crazy. See!” Albert says to his wife. Pearl just shakes her head at him.
“I need the map to work out a radius of the fallout,” Gérard explains, as he unfolds the map onto the old carpeted floor.
“So we are twenty miles from the blast,” he mutters… “and none of us are sick.” He looks around the room, and then stops at Zak’s body. Then he looks back at the map.
“Okay, so let’s assume it’s either a small nuclear bomb... or the wind has not brought it here yet,” he adds as he studies the map. “If it's a big bomb, which it easily could be, it will cover an eighty- mile radius. Okay… we need to get in touch with Christian. He will help us,” Gérard says in a matter-of-fact way, like we are going on some fun road trip.
“Albert, do you mind if they clean themselves up?” Gérard asks politely.
Albert looks over at us, making me feel very conscious of how I must look. Peering down at my clothes, I see they are ripped and covered with mud and blood.
“Of course. You can change into our children’s clothes. They don't need them anymore. They have children your age.” Pearl smiles fondly.
“Use soap and water… scrub any trace of the radiation off you. Clean out any wounds,” Gérard orders. “Do you have a garbage bag to throw away their clothes?”
“Sure,” Albert replies. His tone has really changed, like he’s almost happy to help. Guess one soldier helping another—that never dies.
Chapter 13
Reunited On The Other Side.
ETHAN
“Goodbye,” I say to Samuel, as I light the match and throw it onto his petrol-covered body. I step back, in case any rogue flames come toward me. I don’t want to set myself on fire.
Samuel’s skin begins to crackle as his body starts to cook, and the chargrilled smell of death fills the air.
May I see you on the other side, my friend.
I stand there for a moment longer. Then I turn back around.
Now what?
All these years I thought I was doing this for my father,
and all this time I was just a puppet on a string for him and Captain Reef. How long have they been watching me? Who else knows he’s alive? Have they all been lying to me?
I need to know!
Creak… I open the car door.
The man wasn’t lying. There is a map for me with the different locations circled. I turn on the light inside the car to take a better look at the paper, unfolding it in front of me. They have six camps, all outside the range of the radioactive fallout.
Ha… ha… I laugh to myself. I'd better get out of here, or I will be killed by my own bomb.
I take another look at the map and see there is a location close to here. I will go there first.
Glancing out the window, I watch as the flames rage high into the sky. Today was meant to be my greatest day. Instead, it is filled with confusion and betrayal.
Chapter 14
I’m Sorry.
JADA
Like zombies, we follow Gérard’s orders. It feels weird wearing someone else’s clothes. Luckily they have shorts and T-shirts, which I know Kyra will hate wearing.
I sit back down next to Zak. We will be leaving soon… what will we do with Zak’s body? I hate to leave him, but I know we cannot take him.
I stroke his hair, savoring our last moments.
Gérard walks back into the room with Albert. They are chatting like old friends.
“Okay, everyone. It's time to go,” Gérard says.
“How?” Faith asks.
“Albert’s going to drive us into town. Pearl needs a medicine from the pharmacy. Hopefully one of the paid phones in town will work,” Gérard explains.
“What… what about Zak?” I ask, not wanting to know the answer.
Faith places her arm around me. “We will call for help once we get to the town. We have to keep moving.”
“We think Liquorice should stay. Just for now, that is… in case there’s anything going on in the town,” Gérard adds. “Pearl and Albert have decided not to come with us. They have lived here all their lives and they are not going to let any terrorists take their home from them.”
“Dear child. We will watch over him. It is time to get you all safe. This is no place for children,” Pearl says. A little warmth fills my heart.
“Come on, kids, sometimes the old cow is right,” Albert says as he walks out the door. Is this what old love is like? No ‘I love you’… no kiss goodbye?
Faith says goodbye to Pearl, telling her to lock the doors and windows and block out any gaps. Kyra follows them, leaving the rest of us in the room.
Gérard places his arm around me. I move in closer, and his other arm wraps around me, giving me a loving hug—something I have longed for since my father left me.
Ali walks over to Zak’s body and lifts the blanket off his face. I squeeze my lips together as I try to hold in my tears.
“I will hunt them down for you,” Ali says angrily. “I will find Father and watch over Jada for you,” he adds. And I know he will—I can feel the tears begin to well up in my eyes.
“I love you, little bro. Give Mother and Tilly a kiss from me.” Ali bends over his brother’s head, toward his body.
His eyes meet mine as he raises his head. Like mine, they are full of tears. I sniff deeply, wiping my hand across my face as I try to hold it together.
Ali walks slowly out of the room, patting me on my shoulder as he leaves.
I pull away from Gérard’s warm embrace and look up at my new father. “Please, can you give me a minute alone with him?” I ask.
Gérard nods. “We’ll be the in car.”
I’m alone with Zak for the last time. My body doesn't want to leave… I feel frozen to the ground, like a statue stuck in time.
I take Zak’s cold hand… all the warmth has left him now. The electric spark is gone forever—and nothing will ever replace it.
I brush my fingers between his, stroking each of them as he would do to me—praying that my touch will bring him back.
“Zak, I’m sorry about Tilly. It was all my fault. Please forgive me.” I can finally tell him the truth, without him stopping me. Tears roll down my face onto his.
“If you’d never met me, you would both be alive today,” I sob. My heart feels like it's going to stop beating… the pain is unbearable.
“I will not let them take Ali. I will find your father for you! They will not take them from you!” Anger warms my veins. It was not I who killed him and Tilly, and I didn't fire the gun—it was them!
I stroke Liquorice. “I will come back for you.” Liquorice doesn’t move. It's as though his job is to watch over Zak’s body.
Leaning forward, I kiss Zak on the forehead, the way he did to me in the kitchen back in Syria. Our first kiss.
“I will get them for you!”
Chapter 15
Piece to the Puzzle.
ETHAN
Not knowing is eating away at me. I have to know more. “Feda?”
“Mohammed?” Feda’s voice sounds confused, rightfully so. This is not the plan.
“Yes.”
“Wait—”
I can hear Feda walking, like he’s moving away from his current location, and away from prying ears. Its sounds like he is in the police station.
“Mohammed, what do you need?” he asks a few moments later when it’s quiet.
“Did you know Abulafia was alive?” I ask.
“What?” Feda sounds so confused, I know he is not part of the betrayal. “Really? I thought he was murdered years ago. But I’m glad you called… I have some information for you.”
“What?”
“I continued to work on the names you gave me of men who were… involved in your father’s murder.” Feda sounds pleased that he solved the one of the pieces of the puzzle, and annoyed that maybe it was all for nothing, since my father is not actually dead.
“Thank you, Feda, for looking into that. Which one did you find?” I got the names from the last Uncle Sam as he pleaded for his life.
“Christian, their intelligence specialist. He wasn’t there on the day… he was not a field agent.”
He’s not as intelligent as he likes to think.
"I’ve been waiting for this one—he is the key to everything.” Do I need him now.
Let his location make my decision for me. “Please tell me where he is.” I pull the car over and take a look at the map, at the address he gives me. The address is near the base camp. I glance at the car’s clock. I have enough time to get there… and to the location, before the nuclear fallout reaches the base.
I just hope my new Uncle Sam hasn’t left.
Chapter 16
Who’s Laughing Now?
ETHAN
All these years I was taking revenge for my father's death, and he was alive. He abandoned me... I am merely a puppet in his and Captain Reef’s games.
...Now I will take my revenge on them.
Chapter 17
Old Friend in My Hand.
JADA
Silently we drive to town in Albert’s old truck. I’m sitting in the open back with Ali and Kyra. They are cuddled up together, as Zak and I would be. I pretend that they are not there, and instead look up to the vast, open sky. The last part of the sun is disappearing as we enter the night…
Will I survive another day?
The last of the warm summer breeze blows as we move along… the smell of freshly cut grass fills the air. I wonder if you can smell radiation.
I place my hand over my nose—we could be breathing the poisons without knowing. If Gérard’s worst fears are correct, we will find out sooner rather than later.
The truck begins to slow down; we must be here. Suddenly the road goes dark. Albert has turned the headlights off.
Gérard’s head turns toward us, as he slides the glass divide. “Something’s going on in the town. Albert says it's never this busy. I don’t want to risk taking you all in there. We are going to drive toward the woods. Stay down and stay quiet.” Gérard glances ove
r to me as he finishes speaking. I give him a fake smile in return.
With that, Albert turns the truck off the path and onto the bumpy grass, slowly heading toward the woods.
“Jesus. For once can we get a break?” Ali snaps.
“Sshh. Did you not hear what Gérard said?” Kyra says.
“He’s bloody right!” I add, frustrated.
“We could have been driving in a nice limo tonight, but oh no… instead we are in a rickety old truck. And look,” Kyra squeals, in her old girly voice I haven’t heard since the school bus this morning. “Look what I am wearing.” She pulls on her top.
The truck comes to a halt, and Albert quickly slides the window open. “What part of "quiet" do you not understand? You can get out and walk, little princess.”
“What—” Kyra begins, but Ali’s hand blocks any more sound from coming out of her mouth.
“Son. Try to keep her quiet,” Albert adds, as he slides the window shut and starts driving again.
Ali removes his hand from Kyra’s mouth and wipes it across his pants.
“Never do that again!” she says, shaking her finger at him. And then she quickly stops and stares at her hand, then at me. “I looked like my mother just then, didn’t I?”
“Kind of,” I admit, not really sure what’s the best answer. Kyra tilts her head, as if she's remembering something nice, not the moment a few hours ago when she watched her mother die.
“So… what do you think is happening in town?” Ali asks, trying to change the subject for Kyra.
She smiles up to him warmly, and he holds her tight. Each time they share their little moments, I feel more alone.
“We’ll find out soon enough,” I say, as the truck grinds to a halt by the edge of the woods.