Mercy

by Tara Ellis

  “Thanks for the tents,” James said as he approached with two bottles of beer in his hands.

  Tom was happy for the distraction, and took one of the bottles. He’d been busy working on getting a fire going in the backyard fire pit. It was already getting dark and the temperature was quickly dropping, plus it always seemed the best conversations were held over a campfire.

  “No problem. If you end up needing more sleeping bags or anything else, all the camping gear is stored in the same place as the tents, in the barn.”

  James gave a nod, picked up an ax, and began chopping wood from a nearby pile. He easily split the pieces with a one-handed swing, while drinking the beer. His men were all in the field behind the barn, setting up a couple of tents for them to stay in. It was the best form of security Tom could have, so when the three volunteers showed up after dinner to stand guard, he’d sent them home.

  Grace ran up and licked at his face as Tom bent down to blow on the flame he’d started. Laughing, he looked around for Danny. The dog’s appearance was a sure sign that she was close by.

  Sure enough, she was just stepping off the back porch and headed their way, a fresh, smaller bandage on her head. “Is it story time yet?” she asked, looking at both Tom and James. His mom and Sam were with her, looking a little apprehensive. “Bishop went to find Ethan and Chloe,” Danny explained. “I guess Crissy is going to stay in town tonight to help Patty.”

  Tom patted a stump near him for her to sit down, and then gestured at the box full of bottles that Sam was carrying. “You found my stash?” he teased.

  “I put these in the creek earlier. I didn’t think you’d mind,” Sam answered, setting the box down with a rattle of glass. Removing one, he raised it toward James. “I expect full disclosure now.”

  James dropped the ax and approached the fire, exchanging his empty bottle for a fresh one. “You were already going to get it,” he promised. He pivoted toward Tom, looking even more intimidating in the growing firelight. “I told my men to dig in for the night, and we’ll be patrolling the area near the main field and trail.”

  “I appreciate that,” Tom said, feeling more at ease than he had in a long time. Even though he knew there was a looming threat from Dillinger and perhaps the military itself, he finally felt like enough of the pieces of the puzzle were coming together. With all of them working on it, maybe they could get a clear view of what they were up against.

  “Where’s the senator?” James asked, addressing Sandy. “She needs to be a part of this conversation.”

  Sandy chose a stump in between Danny and Sam and then waved a hand towards the house behind them. “I got her settled into the girls’ room and she said something about making herself feel human again before meeting us out here in a few minutes. My guess is that involves both the clean clothes and bottle of wine I gave her.”

  Tom chuckled and tossed another log on the fire, building it up until it provided plenty of light around the firepit. Just as he figured, Senator Jenson and his mom had hit it off immediately.

  Lightning flickered to the east, though it was silent, which only made it more eerie. The alternating hot days and cold nights followed by bizarre storms was beginning to at least become a little predictable. Of course, as soon as Tom thought he had it figured out, it was bound to change again.

  Tom saw James stiffen before he even heard the footsteps approaching, and he looked away from the sky to see Hicks and Bishop leading Ethan and Chloe over from the barn. Tom chose to assume that they were covered in hay because they’d been working on stacking the last of the bales. Still, he’d have a talk with Ethan later, just to make sure.

  As they all got situated, Senator Jenson finally joined them, shooing Sam over so she could sit next to his mom. She appeared very sober and cleaner in the borrowed clothes. “Let’s get this party started,” the senator said as she sat down, rubbing her hands together with enthusiasm. Sandy offered her a beer, but she shook her head. “Thanks, but only water for me the rest of the night. I’ve decided I need to be clearheaded for this.”

  The fire snapped and flared between them as they all listened in rapt fascination while James described Cheyenne Mountain, Mount Weather, and the various missions ordered by General Montgomery. Although James explained the Survivor List, and Bishop gave more details on the seed vault, Tom still had plenty of questions. He could feel things speeding up and that Senator Jenson and James were now inexplicably a part of their journey.

  While Tom had always suspected Bishop was withholding things, he was shocked to discover who the man really was and what he was involved in. It was hard for Tom to reconcile his feelings toward him. While Bishop had been a huge help to both the farm and town, the look on his mom’s face made it difficult for him to be too appreciative. She obviously didn’t know and had to be struggling with her own emotions. The only reason Tom didn’t take his chances with the guy in another attempt to throw him out was because he believed Bishop when he said he was only doing what he thought was best for everyone involved. However, it was clear that the vault and their ability to access it was both a blessing and a curse.

  “How did this general know about the seed vault?” Sam asked. He was understandably ecstatic when he first found out about the seeds, but was smart enough to quickly grasp the danger of it.

  “He was part of the initial review board for the project,” Bishop explained. “After it was approved, his involvement was over, which is why he doesn’t know where they are. Nearly everyone involved was kept blind to every other aspect of it, other than what their specific assignment was.”

  “Do you know a Dr. Watson?” James asked.

  Bishop’s head snapped up and he looked at his son with enough apprehension that Tom leaned forward to hear the answer. “How do you know that name?”

  James frowned at his dad. “She was the first asset from the Survivor List we recovered.”

  Bishop stood and stared out at the deepening darkness, his concern palpable. “She’s at Cheyenne Mountain with General Montgomery?”

  “Last I heard. What’s the matter, Dad?” James stood with him and crossed his arms over his chest, reminding Tom of a grizzly bear.

  Shaking his head as if to rid himself of something, Bishop sat back down and gestured for James to do the same. “I might have been naïve to think I could keep the vault hidden. Dr. Watson was the lead geneticist on the project. We met several times, to go over the specs on the storage designs. She was never directly on-site, but the woman is smart. It wouldn’t be hard for her to figure out, geographically, the region the three vaults are in.”

  “There’s not a whole lot out here,” James replied.

  “And Mercy is already on their radar,” Tom said, feeling his unease growing.

  “Can they get inside?” Danny asked. “I mean, if they find the vault. How hard is it to get in?”

  “It can withstand a direct hit from a nuke, and there are only a handful of people with access,” Bishop said, looking again at James. “The president and top twelve successors, who are currently all presumed dead. Otherwise, just myself, two other top officials who are also likely gone…and James.”

  “Yeah,” James said with some sarcasm directed at Hicks. “I already found out about that. It’s some science fiction-like contraption you have to breathe on.”

  “Cool,” Chloe said, speaking for the first time. Other than glaring at Bishop, Tom hadn’t heard her say much the whole afternoon.

  “James was my failsafe,” Bishop said, spreading his hands. “I knew that if anything were to happen, if anyone could track me or this project down, it would be him.”

  “I’d say you were right,” Hicks said.

  “So, where do we go from here?” Senator Jenson asked, interrupting the growing tension. “What’s done is done, and at this point we have no control over General Montgomery and what he does or doesn’t know. The reality is that if Montgomery has the backing of the joint commanders behind him, I don’t even know if my reins
tating a civilian government will have any effect.”

  “Is that a possibility?” Sandy asked, her eyes wide.

  “I’m working on it,” Jenson answered with a wink.

  Tom’s eyes narrowed as he studied the politician with a new perspective. There might still be more questions than answers, but some things were definitely becoming clearer to him. “So we keep you safe until that has a chance to play out.”

  James shifted on his stump to face Tom and made a grunting noise, which he took as a sign of agreement. “We also need to keep you two alive,” Tom added, gesturing to both James and Bishop. “That’s why the access was designed that way, right? You have to be alive to breathe on it.”

  Bishop smiled then. “Yes, it was, and that is one aspect of the project that Montgomery is also aware of.”

  “That gives us a strong bargaining chip,” Hicks stated. “I mean, if it comes down to that, we let Montgomery know where you are, Bishop. He can’t risk doing anything that could kill you, and he doesn’t know James has access.”

  James turned and gave Hicks a look that made Tom smile. It was obvious the two men didn’t get along, but he thought the huge man was about to hug Hicks. The idea that they had an upper hand with something so valuable gave them the opportunity to move from being completely defensive, to the ones making the demands. If they handled things right, it might be just what the senator needed to shift the power.

  Danny leaned into him then, and held tightly to his arm. “It helps knowing that it was worth it.”

  Turning, he wrapped his arms around her, not caring what sort of comments or questions it might provoke from the others. “What do you mean?” he asked, her thick black hair soft against his cheek.

  Tilting her head up, she pulled back enough to see his face. “That everything we went through, Tom, especially at the FEMA shelter, was for a reason. This isn’t just about Mercy anymore.”

  As Danny rested her forehead against his chest, Tom felt the bandages and was reminded again of how close he’d come to losing everything. Was it all worth it? He saw Bishop staring at them through the dancing firelight. His son, against all odds, seated next to him.

  Tom agreed with what James had said earlier that day. It was more than a coincidence their paths had already crossed in so many ways. And while Danny was also right that it was becoming bigger than them all, it seemed that first, everything was converging on Mercy.

  Chapter 17

  CHLOE

  Miller Ranch, Mercy, Montana

  Chloe kicked at a crooked bale of hay and instantly regretted it as pain shot through her foot. There were only a few of the awkward bundles left to organize, but since Ethan’s dad pulled him aside for a “talk” when they were leaving the bonfire, she decided to finish the work on her own. Chloe had made a promise to Danny to help Tane with the water the next day, so she planned on having the chore totally done that night so they wouldn’t have to mess with it before leaving in the morning.

  Everyone else was committed to being at the barbeque setup at the crack of dawn. Even the new arrivals were going in to meet with Patty and the other council members. Tom said something about clearing the air before the festivities, but Chloe really couldn’t care less. She wasn’t in much of a mood for a party anymore.

  Why everything in her life had to continuously get turned upside-down just when she was getting used to it, she couldn’t understand. Was it too much to hope for more than two days without some new revelation or confrontation?

  “You’re still working on that hay?”

  Chloe froze at the sound of Bishop’s voice and didn’t turn around. “Someone has to,” she muttered, kicking the bale again despite the fresh flare of discomfort. He was the last person she wanted to talk to.

  When she heard Bishop approaching and saw him reach for the last bale on the ground, she turned on him. “I don’t need your help!” she yelled, yanking the grass from his hands, only to drop it. “Just go up to your secret lair and play with your radio.”

  “Chloe—”

  “No!” she wailed, startling herself with the anger suddenly coursing through her. “You don’t get to apologize. Not now. Not when the only reason you finally told the truth is because you had to.”

  “The truth?” Bishop countered. “You do understand what we’re talking about here, right? Because I know how smart you are, so don’t play stupid with me.”

  He wasn’t intimidated by her rage the way most people were, and that only made Chloe more furious. “You never cared about us!” she spat. “You don’t care about any of us. We were just a cover. I’m sure you couldn’t wait to get rid of us.”

  Bishop frowned. “You don’t really believe that.”

  Chloe took a step back, bumping into the haystack, and put a hand out to steady herself. Thinking back over the first part of the Trek Thru Trouble hike, her face flushed with humiliation at the understanding that none of them were even counselors. That the poor lost souls they were dragging through the mountains were nothing more than a means to an end. Chloe’s shame deepened with the acknowledgement that she’d actually started to fall for their charade, and remembered what Ripley had whispered to her right before she’d left for Helena. That things weren’t what they seemed.

  Scoffing, Chloe pushed away from the stacks of straw and staggered past Bishop. “Ripley was a part of this too, wasn’t she?” It was more an accusation than a question and Bishop’s only response was to briefly look away from her. “Well, at least she decided her family was more important than her duty.”

  A flash of anger flickered across Bishop’s face and his hands clenched into fists, giving Chloe a brief feeling of satisfaction. “That’s not fair, Chloe. I thought my son was dead, and my daughter-in-law and grandchild were well beyond my reach.”

  “Fair?” Chloe made an odd sound between a laugh and a sob. “My parents probably are dead, Bishop. You were supposed to be helping me find them! You made me believe you cared about me! I don’t have any—” A real sob escaped her then, and she clamped a hand over her mouth to smother it.

  Bishop was wise enough to not approach her, and instead raised both hands out to her. “You’re right. It was an assignment, but that doesn’t mean the relationships we built weren’t real.”

  Chloe looked away. She wanted to believe him. She knew Ethan and Crissy were her friends, and that if she could get herself to think rationally about it, she wasn’t alone. It was just that Bishop had been her one steady port in the storm. Chloe realized, standing there feeling like a part of her was being ripped out, that she’d come to think of Bishop as a father figure. The one person she could trust. The deep betrayal she was experiencing extended beyond the counselor façade and into something that represented so much more.

  “My own son grew up never knowing what his dad really did,” Bishop said gently. “My wife died in a car accident while I was overseas on an assignment she knew nothing about. James had to identify her body by himself because I wasn’t there. He was seventeen.”

  Chloe’s resolve faltered and she pivoted slowly to face him. She saw the same man she’d had meaningful conversations with for the past month. The raw pain on his normally neutral face made it hard to maintain her resentment, but the ugliness in Chloe that she fought so hard to control wouldn’t be denied. “Is the fact that you did the same thing to your own family supposed to make it okay?”

  Bishop flinched, and the familiar feeling of shame came quick on the heels of Chloe’s fury. “I’m sorry,” she gasped, finding it hard to breathe. All of the fight suddenly left her, and Chloe struggled to pull herself out of the darkness of her own mind. She turned to flee, to attempt to run from herself the way she always had before, but strong arms wrapped her up from behind, preventing her escape.

  “Not this time, Chloe,” Bishop whispered, close to her ear. “I care too much about you to let you go. We’re in this together for the long haul, kid, so kick me, hit me, bite me. Do whatever it is you need to do to get it off yo
ur chest, but I’m not letting you go.”

  Sagging, Chloe tried desperately to tap back into her rage. To retreat into the comfort of the numbness it offered. It was so much easier. It didn’t hurt nearly as much. Instead, she turned around and allowed Bishop to hug her as she sobbed. She cried for her mom, for her dad, and all the other people in her life she might never see again. As the tears finally began to subside, Chloe realized that Bishop was still there. He really wasn’t going to leave…and she began to believe that maybe it would be okay.

  Chapter 18

  EMILY

  Banff National Park, Alberta, Canada

  Emily was almost certain she was dying.

  The tent flap billowed gently in the soft morning breeze, a paradox for what it was hiding inside. Emily watched it move, mesmerized by the fluttering motion and the odd sound of a local bird. What had her father called it? A bitter, or something like that. It made this weird dripping sound followed by a whoop that reminded her of a plunger. Just as Emily started to drift off again, it startled her awake, making her think someone was approaching her through the marshy field nearby until she realized it was only the bird.

  Her dad never came back. He promised he would, after finding her mom and younger brother at the nearby town. They had gone there the morning of the power outage to get some more ice and hot dogs. Hot dogs.

  Emily’s mouth watered despite her severe dehydration, forcing her to stick her swollen tongue partway out of her mouth so she could smack her lips and swallow painfully. She hadn’t eaten for over a week. Maybe two.

  The nineteen-year-old girl had always considered herself to be strong and independent. Normally, that was true, but Emily had fallen apart over the past ten days. She’d been doing all right up until the first big storm. After finally catching a fish, the torrential rain flooded her fire so she was forced to eat it raw. She wasn’t desperate enough then to eat the whole thing. Now? She would have happily slurped down the eyeballs and innards that she’d stupidly tossed aside.