Moses grinned then cautiously moved closer. Blood was dried to his face and matted in his crimson locks of hair. His nose was crooked and his eyes puffy but he’d gotten what he wanted.
“What was that, what did you want to say?” Moses asked. “Faith says you’re repentant but I don’t believe her. I think you knew exactly what you were doing, I think you mean to kill us all.”
Alistair tensed up as MJ and Daniel tightened their grip on his arms. Moses grinned then reached out and placed his hand on Alistair’s shoulder as he leaned into his ear.
“Choose your next words carefully,” he whispered. “These are still my people.”
“Are they?” Alistair replied in a dark voice then pulled away from Daniel and MJ’s grip. He turned toward the crowd and cleared his throat. “Please forgive me. My actions have offended you and as a prophet of God I beg that you all show mercy and let me shepherd you to the place our lord has commanded.”
There was a long, echoing silence. No one moved, no one even acknowledged that he’d spoken. Moses smiled and slowly turned to face Alistair as he teetered back and forth.
Alistair looked away as he struggled to contain his anxiety. He folded his arms across his chest, waiting for the crowd to decide his fate. After what seemed like hours, a man stepped out from the mass of dirt-smudged faces and coughed into his arm.
“Take us to our God,” he said.
CHAPTER 29
CAN YOU HEAR ME
“They’ve been gone too long,” Melinda said and pulled a chair out. “Somebody has to make a decision, Thomas. We can’t wait any longer.”
Thomas stepped around the table and leaned forward. He had a serious look on his face and a nervous twitch in his leg. He frowned at Melinda then nodded his head and turned toward the door.
“What do you want me to do?” he asked.
“There is nothing you can do, we have to leave.”
“You know we can’t leave.”
Thomas swallowed and turned to look at the monitor behind him. The bar that measured the amount of oxygen left was barely visible. Beside it the bar measuring carbon dioxide was climbing higher with every minute. They toxic gases were filling the facility faster than Max had anticipated, in less than 48 hours the egg would be out of air.
“Have you tried to reach them again?” Melinda asked, her voice laced with frustration.
Thomas shrugged.
“You need to take this serious! They left you in charge, it’s your job to make the right call.”
“I know what my job is, I don’t need you to fucking tell me!”
Melinda took a step back and gasped.
“Sorry! Sorry! I didn’t mean to lose my temper. It’s just, I know what I need to do, it’s a lot of stress. This isn’t what I do.”
“It is now, Thomas.”
Thomas frowned then walked over to the control station. He grabbed a headset and slipped it over his ears. “This is base, Max…Craig, are you receiving this?”
He waited in silence as static crackled in his ear. His heartbeat echoed in his chest and he could feel Melinda’s eyes beaming at him. He knew no one was going to answer. That didn’t mean much, since Max wasn’t certain he could figure out why communication wasn’t working in the first place. But it meant everything was on him. He couldn’t defer any longer the decision was his to own.
Clearing his throat, he called their names again then turned to Melinda and shrugged. She frowned and looked away, trying to hide her frustration.
“We need to get everybody together,” Thomas said after a few minutes had passed. “You’re right, we have to go.”
The door swung open and Cynthia walked in with Trevor behind her. She stopped just shy of the table and cleared her throat. Trevor rolled a chair out and fell into it then looked back at Cynthia.
“Melinda, Thomas,” Cynthia started. “What are we gonna do?”
“We’re gonna get the hell out of here,” Thomas replied.
“You know we don’t have enough suits, right?”
“We don’t have enough air, and we’re all out of ideas. We still can’t reach anyone on the radio and this place is turning into a box of poison. So, suits or no suits, we’ve gotta get the hell out of here.”
Cynthia turned to Melinda. “You’re okay with this?”
“What choice do I have?”
“You have a choice…you have a choice for your kids.”
“Don’t you dare!” Melinda snapped.
“Cynthia, where is all of this coming from?” Thomas jumped in. “You know just as well as I do what’s gonna happen when this place fills with carbon dioxide.”
“I don’t know, Thomas. But I know what’ll happen when we walk out that door and breathe in whatever toxic gases are out there.”
Thomas clenched his jaw and squeezed his fingers together. Part of him said she was right but the other part wanted to side with Melinda and he was already struggling to make an impossible decision.
“At this rate we’ve got two hours of oxygen left. We shouldn’t spend it arguing, we need to come up with a plan,” Thomas said in a soothing voice.
“You have a plan, Thomas. You don’t need to change it now,” Melinda replied and cast a scathing glance at Cynthia.
“I’m not trying to argue,” Cynthia mumbled.
“That’s all you’re trying to do. You’d rather us sit around and die because you’re too scared of making the wrong decision. So, your answer is to make no decision at all?”
“Melinda, I…we don’t need to run blindly into anything. Think about your kids.”
“Bitch! Mention my kids one more time!”
“I didn’t mean anything by it. We just need to look at the bigger picture. Everyone who’s walked out of those doors hasn’t returned. Everyone thought they knew what was out there, thought they could handle it and here we are by ourselves. Let’s not be like everybody else.”
Melinda grumbled and turned back to face Thomas. “I’m leaving, before I do something that Cynthia is gonna regret.”
“Wait. Melinda, we really need to figure this out.”
“You already had it figured out. Now she comes in here and you can’t make up your fucking mind? I’ll make it easy for you, I’m leaving and so are my kids. Cynthia, you say one word about them and I swear to God.”
“I’m just trying to help, Melinda.”
“Help yourself.”
With a loud huff, Trevor stood up. He shook his head from side to side then let out a deep breath. “It’s good to see I didn’t miss anything,” he started. “You guys can keep talking in circles, until you suck all the air out of this place, or you can do something before we all die.”
“We can handle this, Trevor,” Thomas said condescendingly.
“No offense, Thomas, but you haven’t done shit since we got here. Who do you think has been keeping this place going? Who’s been keeping all of you alive while you fight to tear this place apart?”
“Who kept you alive?” Thomas stabbed. “Certainly not yourself. Don’t preach to me about how to lead when you tried to kill yourself you fucking coward.”
In a flash, Trevor rounded on Thomas and decked him in the face. Thomas stumbled backward and caught his balance against the wall.
“That was for Alistair, you asshole!”
“You little shit,” Thomas snapped and started forward.
Trevor clenched his fist and braced himself but before they could face off the radio crackled to life and a familiar voice broke through the static.
“Thomas? It’s Max, are you receiving this?”
CHAPTER 30
CHASE THE RAIN
“I think I have it working!” Max shouted.
“Can you hear them? Is anyone responding?” Craig replied.
“Thomas? Thomas, do you hear me?”
A staccato whooshing sound played then a few garbled words popped before fizzling out.
“I need to get outside to get a better signal.”
&
nbsp; “I’m not going outside,” Craig said and looked back at the door.
Max surveyed the warehouse then started toward the empty rows of shelving. “Maybe I can get high enough on one of these.” He stepped onto the first shelf and it snapped in half beneath his weight. “You can help,” he called out to Craig.
“What the hell do you want me to do? I can hardly stand up.”
Max grumbled then climbed onto the next shelf. It was a bit sturdier and he was able to ascend it until he was on the top shelf, balancing on the wobbly structure. He swallowed then pressed the transmit button on his radio.
“Thomas? Thomas, can you hear me?”
“Holy shit, Max!” Thomas barked.
“I got them on the radio,” Max called down to Craig.
“Is everybody okay?”
“Thomas, how is everyone?”
“We’re running out of air, Max,” Thomas said in desperation.
“What? No, that can’t be right. We had nearly a week of air left. Check it again, it’s gotta be an error.”
“It’s not, Max.”
“Just check it again.”
“Max! Listen to me, damn it. Something went wrong with the venting system, the carbon dioxide is building up, and we have about an hour left. Can we breathe outside?”
“What?”
“Can we fucking breathe the air outside? We have to get out of here.”
“We’re coming, we’re coming back,” Max said in a panic then looked to Craig. “We’ve gotta get back.”
Craig was already gathering their gear and loading his rifle. “Get your ass down from there and let’s move.”
“Max!” Thomas’s voice barked. “Can we breathe the fucking air? We don’t have time for you to make it back here. We’ll all be dead by then.”
“They can’t go outside,” Craig warned. “Those things will tear them apart.”
Max started back down the shelfing. “Listen to me Thomas, the air is breathable. Turn the vents on bypass. It’ll expel the carbon dioxide and filter the outside air as it comes in.”
“Bypass?” Thomas echoed.
“Yes, but don’t go outside. There’s things, creatures outside.” Static crackled in his ear as he spoke.
“Max? Repeat your last, you’re breaking up.”
“Don’t go outside! Do you hear me, Thomas? Don’t go outside!” Nothing but static crackled on the other end. “Damn it!” Max snapped and climbed the rest of the way down the shelves.
“We’ve gotta get back there,” Craig said and hurried toward the door with a slight hobble.
Max strapped on his bag and clenched his rifle with a hardened face. Craig nodded at him then turned toward the door and pushed his shoulder against it.
“Let’s go!”
CHAPTER 31
MARCH TO FREEDOM
The caravan of people moved like a river across the barren land. Alistair and the rest of the team were at the front, doing their best to navigate back toward the egg without any electronics. They’d discussed trying to get at least the GPS from their suits but they knew Moses would turn that against them since the Earth God was supposed to be leading the way.
Instead, they walked into the emptiness with no sense of direction. But being lost was better than their alternative. Even though they might die out in the desert, it wasn’t the pit, it wasn’t the Vees. So, they took their chances and prayed for a miracle.
There were no landmarks or trails, just red death as far as they could see. Alistair wondered how long the world had been like that. If a group of savages were still alive then somewhere, someone else had to be too. Or maybe savages were all that was left.
“What’s next?” Alistair mumbled without thinking.
“What?” Daniel asked.
“Never mind.”
“It’s a long walk…what else are we gonna do? You might as well say what you were gonna say.”
Alistair glanced over his shoulder. Moses was lockstep with Barnaby and his other guards. They weren’t as anxious as they’d been before. Barnaby seemed aloof, his hands swinging at his sides, his gun dangling from a strap around his shoulder. The other guards carried themselves the same way and Moses was staring into the nothingness with a half-witted smile on his face.
“If we survive,” Alistair started again. “What then? It’s like…. we’re responsible for the world now.”
Daniel wanted to laugh but the gravity of what Alistair said was too heavy. Somehow, they’d become humanities last, best hope. The world was suddenly black and white and picking a side had never been easier. At least of what they’d seen, there was either Moses’ way or their way.
Daniel walked for a bit in silence as he considered what that meant. He’d spent the last five years surviving, he wasn’t sure he knew how to live anymore. What would life become up on the surface? What was he supposed to become?
For years he thought he had some idea of what his future would be. College, a job, at some point a family, but that was the old societies plans. Now, the world had changed and the people left alive had to change with it.
“I guess we need to figure that out, huh?” Daniel finally replied.
“I didn’t graduate,” Alistair said simply.
“Me neither.”
They looked at each other and laughed. But eventually the comedy died and the laughter turned to sadness. Alistair swallowed and rubbed his hands across his face.
“I really wanted to graduate.”
Daniel twisted his face and laughed again.
“What?”
“Nothing, it’s just…I really wanted to graduate too. But I look at this shit now and what does it matter. That life, the way we used to live, it’s gone.”
“I wish it wasn’t.”
Daniel gloomed and turned his attention back to endless desert. Every step they took looked just like the last. But there was a sense of excitement at the idea of going home. Days had crawled by since they first left on their expedition. At that time, they didn’t know what to expect out in the new world but what they found, if they looked past Moses and his band of zealots, was a world that they could live in, a world they could come back to. That was worth fighting for.
Another hour slipped away but time had become a foreign idea. Their lives were no longer dictated by such trivial things. All that mattered was the now and the endless stretch in front of them.
“What happens if we can’t get back to the egg?” Cindy asked as she slowed a bit to keep pace with the others.
“They’re not taking me back to that pit,” MJ replied. “I’d rather die out here.”
“Nobody is dying out here,” Daniel added. “We’re gonna make it back.”
“But what if we don’t?” Cindy asked again.
“We will.”
They were all exhausted, stumbling through the dry desert like pioneers of old. Moses’ people seemed like they could walk forever though. Their steps were powerful with long strides that gobbled up the landscape with ease. They’d become accustomed to being nomads, to a life that wasn’t weakened by the creature comforts of the previous world. Vehicles were scarce, technology was non-existent, and what was once tame had become feral and wild.
Daniel looked back at the swarm of people trailing them. He could sense they were growing impatient. Their scowls and looks of discontent were warning enough but they were starting to gripe between each other, speaking louder and louder like cackling hyena’s stirring themselves into a frenzy.
“I hope we’re going the right way,” Daniel said in Alistair’s ear. “If not, these people are gonna eat us.”
Alistair frowned. “Come on, we need to speed up.” Grimacing, he put his head down and started to power walk through the sand.
The weather was hot and muggy. Smog blocked out most of the sun’s rays but none of the heat. Beneath the faded glow was a bog of sweltering death that followed them everywhere.
MJ was starting to second guess the direction they’d taken. It was too lat
e to turn around but the further they went the louder the voice in her head screamed. That and the scathing looks by Moses had her on edge.
“Look!” Cindy suddenly called with excitement in her voice.
Everyone paused and looked into the distance, following Cindy’s finger. Up ahead they could see the warehouse they’d taken shelter in during the rain. Alistair’s heart quickened and he smiled.
“We’re close,” he said.
MJ nodded and glanced over her shoulder. Faith caught her eye and there was an understanding between them. It was almost time.
CHAPTER 32
END OF THE ROAD
Barnaby knelt and picked up a handful of dry soil. He rubbed it in his hands then let it fall slowly through the cracks between his fingers. Sucking yesterday’s dinner from his teeth, he looked up at Moses and shook his head. “Maybe another three hours tops,” he said in a hushed voice.
Moses gave him a blank stare. He leaned his head back and took a slow, deep breath, running his hands through his hair, and grumbling as he exhaled. “How long to get back?”
“For us? An hour if we leave now.”
“Twenty minutes, then we drop the dead weight. I don’t want to be out here in the rain.”
“Understood,” Barnaby replied then stood up and left to catch the rest of the group.
Moses turned and looked back toward the horizon. With his hands on his hips he smiled then swept his hair back. This was his world, his domain, and he knew it better than anyone. He’d bled and sacrificed, lost things that he could never replace. No one was going to take that from him.
Still grinning, he made his way back to his people and fell in line with Barnaby. They marched on in silence, all the while getting closer to a conclusion that would cement his leadership once and for all.
The sun was beginning to wane but it was hardly noticeable behind the dense vapor. The days had nothing more than subtle changes in light, different versions of gloom until darkness suddenly swept in. Moses knew they had a few hours left and he also knew better than to be away from the pit once the sun went down.
Deconstruction- The Complete series Box Set Page 99