5 Years After

by Richard Correll

  “I didn’t catch your name.” Maggie turned to the guy in the aviators.

  “Eric Reid.” The answer was a flat line, without welcome or any other emotion.

  “Alright, Mr. Reid,” Maggie decided not to have a ball busting competition with him. They needed to get moving. “I’d like you on point.”

  “Point?” His mouth seemed vertical, a rejection of something new.

  “You know this neighborhood, right?” Maggie pressed home her advantage, her voice quickened. “You’ve done this before, right?”

  “Yeah…..”

  “Good,” Maggie had him singled out. It was time to give him a role he was comfortable with. “I need you about thirty yards in front of us. If there is a problem, you will see it way before the kids are in danger.”

  “Good idea….” Someone whispered.

  “Look,” Maggie decided to play to his ego, people like this were always obsessed with what others thought of them. The aviator glasses were just another thing to hide behind. “I need someone I can trust, you’ve done this before and you know the neighborhood. You’ll be able to see trouble better than anyone.”

  “Sure,” he was in.

  “Let’s meet the kids.” Maggie tried to sound like sunshine and failed. It was time to get moving.

  Children always pick up on an environment. It is an animal thing, after all. The silence of the landscape seemed to envelope them as the fire door on the school house snapped open with a single, metallic report. Eyes scanned to the right and left. Were they being taught this? Maggie had no idea as she remembered the nursery rhyme from a few hours ago. Adults and children assumed their places as the daily business of staying alive continued. The children gravitated to Mrs. Chen’s smile and almost lyrical voice. Gurpreet was right. She would be perfect for protecting the rear. On second glance, Maggie caught Mrs. Chen watching Gurpreet.

  Mr. Gupta, you stud. Maggie decided to keep an eye on how that developed.

  “Is this where you say, move out?” It was Reid. While walking by he couldn’t resist one more poke at authority.

  “No Mr. Reid, I don’t.” Maggie replied in an even voice for others to hear. “You see, I have a few years combat experience…..”

  “I say, let’s keep our eyes open and be careful………..”

  “I must say that was diplomatic,” It was Wellington. It had been a few minutes since they had gotten under way. His tone was low and whispery, for her ears only. “That way you handled the man with the sun glasses.”

  “I won’t be here tomorrow. I don’t need to put up with his shit.” Maggie kept her eyes scanning the square houses and fence lines that marked the passage of time with ruin and rot. “I just need him and the rest of these people to buy into a plan so we can get home safe.”

  “Agreed, good leadership,” The professor observed, his eyes cast downward for a second. Maggie felt strange at the compliment. Why do you always feel that way, do you feel it’s untrue?

  “So why are you here?” Maggie changed the subject.

  “I was delivering a report to Tom Roberts, he’s a government official.” The professor followed the change of conversation course without a pause. What he said made Maggie turn his way for a second.

  “Yes, I met with him as well….”

  “He’s quite capable,” Wellington kept his eyes to the left. “He really seems to want to know what is going on.”

  “We could use more of that.” Maggie agreed. The professor spoke with a command of language that made you want to listen. You could learn something here.

  “My dear Miss Hunter,” there was a touch of the acerbic in his voice. “Truth is the new Latin. It is a lost language, we don’t speak it anymore.”

  “That’s a hell of a thing to say.”

  “Yes, it is.” The professor apologized with a long sigh. “It has taken us just a few short years to get where we are.”

  That’s true.” Maggie kept her answers short, she was in listening mode. “Is that what your report said?”

  “No, I am studying the history of this event.” The professor turned slowly with a smile that seemed to brighten as each moment passed. It was like she was looking at a man who knew exactly what to say at the right time. “Can I tell you something that is good news?”

  “I could really use some good fucking news, right now.” Maggie had a flashback to her melt down earlier. It was crushing, embarrassing and killing her day by day. The fight or flight switch was on permanently inside her. Is that what PTSD is really all about? It was an intriguing concept that she laid aside for the moment.

  “I have found evidence that this has happened before in our history.” His hands were clasped behind his back. It appeared to be his favorite body english for thoughtful conjecture.

  “This happened before?” Maggie tried to tag along on his train of thought. “Like maybe, a hundred to a few hundred years ago?”

  “There was an outbreak I was studying in Marseille in the 15th century.” The professor paused and offered a new approach to help her understand. “Look at the way we bury our dead.”

  “You mean funerals?”

  “Every culture cremates the body to destroy it,” The professor continued as his eyes performed the duty of observant protection. “Saxons from the middle ages used to cut off the feet of the dead before burial, Indigenous people in North America do what we do now, decapitation.”

  “We have always buried bodies six feet under the earth.” Maggie was looking at something strange now. It was a new idea that needed to be observed, touched and toyed with for complete understanding.

  “Yes we do,” The professor nodded. “But not before we put them in a sturdy pine box. Then, we nail it shut for good measure.”

  “This has happened before?”

  “Yes, there is overwhelming evidence to suggest this is a cycle.” The professor watched a child meet their parents halfway up the walkway before stepping into the safety of home. The parents waved and he waved back with a smile. It faded only slightly as he continued: “The way all cultures treat their dead betrays a fear of them. Now we know why.”

  “Whoa………”

  Maggie and Wellington turned toward the new voice. It was Anton, behind him a squat woman with dirty blond hair was listening as well. The professor nodded to them slowly with a look of understanding. Yes, Maggie ascertained. He probably felt that way too when all of this started to make sense.

  “So, this has happened before, yet we’re still here.” Wellington was trying to let the logic line slack a bit so others could catch up.

  “You are going to have to fill in the blanks, professor.” Maggie tore her eyes away for a second as she watched Reid continue his forward progress. Gurpreet was carefully pivoting his head around, looking for movement. All was still safe and well. “It’s been one Hell of a day, so far.”

  “Of course, sorry I’m not trying to drag things out.” He lowered his head and kept up his walking pace. When he looked up again, the right words had formulated. “All of this that we are going through has happened before. It has a beginning, a middle…………..and an end.”

  “You mean all this stops?” The woman blurted out.

  “Exactly,” The professor even turned and pointed at the woman as if she were a brilliant student. “All of this returns to normal after a time.”

  “The dead stop rising……..” It was Maggie, she was hearing herself speak. The words were new to her.

  “Exactly,” The professor repeated.

  “When?” Anton had to ask the question.

  “That is my next area of study.” The professor nodded to Anton. “But make no mistake, this will end.”

  “All we have to do is survive………”

  “Wow. That is one fuck of a lot to think about.” Maggie finally spoke after a pause.

  All we have to do is survive. The phrase was like a turn of the screw to a darker meaning. Like someone saying the devil was in the details after you’ve signed your li
fe away. All we have to do is not starve with a harvest becoming a walk through the valley of death. What was it like cutting corn by hand if you ran out of gas? The thought was petrifying. All you have to do is survive when a walk around your neighborhood is terrifying. Maggie fell out of her reverie quickly……..

  Reid had just paused and waved his hand. Maggie quickened her pace and closed the gap between them.

  “We’re coming up on Dufferin,” Reid seemed nervous, agitated. Clearly, he had just stepped out of his element. “I didn’t know if I should mention it….”

  “Go ahead.” Maggie made eye contact and nodded her approval.

  “The Benson kid, his name is Liam.” Reid started again. “That’s where he lives.”

  “Let’s go back and find Liam Benson,” Maggie started back toward the children. Reid hesitated and then followed. Maggie tried for conversation, “When was the last time you saw him?”

  “Damn it, I can’t remember.” Reid spoke after a frustrated sigh. The agitation he was feeling was in his walk now. He’s done this a few times remember? Maggie felt a chill. He might know where this going and it doesn’t sit well. Join the club. Maggie felt her breath go cold.

  “Liam?” Reid called out to the class of children who were perfectly still now. They looked like rabbits in an open field, trying not to move as the hawk circled above. “Liam, c’mon bud, this is no time for games.”

  “I didn’t see him today,” It was Mrs. Chen, coming up from the rear. Gurpreet and the man in black jeans turned their backs to the conversation and watched the path they had been walking for anything that might be following.

  “I haven’t seen Kate either.” The large woman with blond hair offered.

  It was like slow motion, watching a few heads at a time turn toward Dufferin Avenue. How many times in your life did you see the answer and not want to know it? Maggie carefully stepped closer to Reid. She tried to remember his first name.

  “Eric,” Maggie began in a low voice that hopefully escaped young ears. “I need you to do something.”

  “Yeah?”

  “I need you to take care of the children.” Maggie kept her eyes on the road while they conversed. He wore those old work boots you sometimes see, the ones with laces undone and scuffs from being up on furniture than at a job sight. Still, he grasped the gravity of the situation and his role within it. She continued; “Go to the next few stops, we’ll catch up.”

  “Okay, you got it.” He was stone cold stoic now. He walked toward the children and muttered to the large woman with blond hair. She looked at Maggie and then nodded to Reid.

  “C’mon kids, we have to get you home.” Reid’s voice sounded confident, even if his smile was cold. After a few seconds, the aviator glasses came off and he stuffed them in his shirt.

  “Take care,” Maggie thought she heard him whisper in her direction.

  “You bet,” She replied to whatever he said. Maggie turned toward Anton. “Mr. Brisbois, do you know Liam and his mom on sight?”

  “Yeah,” Anton nodded slowly. His eyes were wider than normal. Yeah, he feels it, too. “My kids and Liam play together all the time.”

  “Okay, you’re with me.” Maggie waved a hand and jerked a thumb toward her location. Gurpreet nodded and solemnly made his way over. Maggie felt a hollowness edge up around her soul. Maybe it’s nothing. Maybe they just have a cold or something stupid like that. Maybe this, maybe that. It was hard to look at anyone now, they all seemed robotic. Their eyes were fixed forward with feet moving to the next destination.

  All we have to do is survive until then…….

  “What’s the address?” Maggie’s voice was firmer now as Gurpreet gave his rifle a visual once over and walked with her.

  “43 Dufferin Avenue.” Anton replied quickly.

  “Okay, let’s go.”

  The house was quiet like a trap. One of those two storey semi detached boxes that went up like crazy during a housing boom. There was siding around the second floor that was the color of white that hadn’t seen a paint brush in years.

  Did you just see something?

  An un-curtained window in the back of the house allowed light into what Maggie assumed was the living room. The sunlight from the back window seemed to blink for a second, like something had passed in front of it? Her fingers were cold, suddenly on the safety of her rifle. Maggie tried to tell herself not to be so jumpy, scrutinizing every little thing and making it dangerous, larger than life. But what if that’s how you miss something? The paranoid side of her replied. Maybe that interruption of light was something else. Then again maybe not, the house loomed closer.

  “Gurpreet, did you see anything just now?” Maggie asked the large man without taking her eyes from the living room window. They were just across the street now.

  “No, did you?” His eyes strayed from the house to their surroundings. They could be anywhere.

  “Maybe…..”

  “Ma’am, there is no such thing as over cautious in this situation.” Gurpreet advised as he returned his attention to the house. Brisbois stayed close. Like a fish in a dangerous sea, he decided the best place to be was in close company.

  “Excellent advice that I intend to follow,” Maggie began to cross the road with Brisbois and Gupta a step behind.

  “What can you tell me about the people in this house, Anton?” Maggie paused before stepping on the sidewalk. For a second, she was aware that there was wetness on her neck. Sweat, maybe from the heat. Maybe not……

  “Kate Benson is a real nice neighbor, good mom, too.” Anton had his rifle pointed toward the ground and toward the house. He was nervous, but everyone was like that outside these days. Yeah, it was like that now. Maggie felt a line of sweat trickle down her back. We were the hunted, this is how it feels.

  “Was there anyone else in her life?” Maggie was remembering the blink in front of the window. “I mean, aside from Liam?”

  “She had a boyfriend, they had some kind of accident,” Brisbois’s eyes strayed from the house to Maggie.

  “Accident?” Maggie queried. They had time to wait this one out.

  “They were attacked one night. A couple of them were banging on her door or something.” Anton took the cue to go into detail. “In the confusion, I heard she shot him by accident.”

  “Yeah, that happens.” Maggie nodded. The most dangerous people in the world were the ones who thought they knew how to handle a gun.

  “There was some talk after that, but not much.” Anton concluded. “Kate was popular, the guy was trash.”

  So maybe Kate just pretended she didn’t know how to handle a gun, Maggies mouth arched downwards on one side. She picked up some stones and turned them over in her fingers. After a few seconds of calculation, she threw them at the living room window.

  “Let’s see if anyone’s home.”

  A few of the stones found their mark and bounced off the window while producing enough noise that would create a reaction if anyone was home. Gurpreet threw a few at the upper window. Maggie noticed his aim was far better. He pinged both upstairs windows, one after the other. They paused, listening, watching for shadows. Even the leaves on the trees were motionless. Maggie took a few steps forward.

  “Anton, if you knocked on the door and called out Kate’s name, would she answer?” Maggie was watching the front door now.

  “Yeah, she’d know my voice.” Anton answered. “Our kids played together all the time, just like I said.”

  “Can you cover us?” She glanced back at Gurpreet and he nodded firmly.

  “I want you to stand on the right side and reach over to bang on the door, okay?” Maggie explained slowly, pointing at the spot where she wanted him to stand. “Stand away from the door, understand?”

  “Why?”

  “If something is wrong,” Maggie tried to choose her words carefully. “I want you safe and Gurpreet will need a clean shot.”

  “Yeah, okay.” He swallowed.

  Maggie carefully checked Gu
rpreet‘s line of fire before crossing towards the house. She was extra cautious to stay to the far left. Besides, it gave her a chance to check the window and the interior a second time. The room appeared absolutely still, like someone had left several days before. There was a big Laz-e-boy at a forty five degree angle in the living room. A matching green couch and low slung coffee table.

  “Go ahead.” Maggie nodded to Anton. He held his breath and then leaned forward with his fist double striking the door.

  “Kate! Kate! Neighbor calling on you,” He paused before continuing. “It’s me, Anton.”

  Maggie watched the door for the slightest motion of the handle twisting. She checked the interior, the sunlight blinked once, then twice. She felt her breath fill her lungs in shock. It was the face Maggie saw at first, the two orbs were intense and demanded eye contact. The eye brows were curved in predator concentration, the mouth was drawn up in an expression that exceeded hunger. It was animal satisfaction.

  …………Been waiting for you to be this close……….……….

  She was through the glass in a splash of sparkle with hands that were covered in glistening shards. Maggie brought the C7A2 up instinctively and caught Kate in the chest. The mouth snapped at Maggie a few inches away. Her hands felt like snakeskin, without warmth of a soul and ice cold grey. Maggie pivoted her body and pushed out ward with the C7A2, forcing Kate into a new center of gravity. She stumbled to the ground and was up far faster than Maggie thought possible. Hunter fired twice without aiming at the rising figure.

  It was really like stop motion photography. Kate stood in front of Maggie just 10 paces away. There were two holes in her chest. One was near the heart and the second cleanly between her breasts. Fascinated, Kate touched one of the bullet wounds. She even wiggled her finger inside it. Maggie had a cold sensation of time freezing to a stop as Kate looked up. Her mouth dropped open and the world became unhinged.