Day One (Book 2): Choices Page 3

  There in the distance, just barely above the far scorched trees, rose the fragmented pencil shapes of once glorious skyscrapers. There pointed and flat tops burned with yellowish balls of fire, resembling the tiki torches one would put in their backyard in the summer time for a party. But this wasn’t a party, and nor were those magnificent buildings of human engineering cheap side-show props. They were offices and homes to many people.

  I stood there watching in horror, unable to look away, unable to think of anything else but the depravity faltering before my very eyes. And as the moments slowly passed by, one of the proud buildings could take no more and bowed to the earth in a spire of manic flames and dusty debris, snuffing every living thing within it out.

  Kember pointed toward the reigning fire, even from her level she was able to see what I had and I wanted to pull her into my arms and never let her go. But this was the new life we were all facing now, so sugarcoating anything would only lead to more tragedy. I couldn’t shield her from this new horror for long, and letting her out into the world based upon lies would only inhibit her more than help. She needed to know the horrors of life and to be able to avoid them.

  Against my better judgment as a parent, I let her watch as untold scores of people were silenced in those fleeting seconds. I knelt beside her as her eyes lit with amazement at the sights before us. She had no idea what was happening. To her it was simply an impressive lightshow from afar and she smiled and pointed more intently at it, calling daddy several times in a row.

  “We lost the city two hours ago,” a voice said from behind me, which I rendered as Andrews even before turning to look at him. “There were simply too many of them to push back… they just kept coming and coming, so they had no choice but to pull out. What you’re seeing is what those things will eventually do to every city in this country before it’s over with.”

  “What city was that?” I asked.

  “It doesn’t matter anymore,” he replied. “From here on out, there is no name for any place. Everything you knew as a child, everything she would have learned, just go ahead and forget it. The only name that remains is this place. We lay our heads to rest here… therefore, it is home. That should be enough.”

  I looked at him through worn eyes. “It should be enough?”

  He nodded to me.

  “And what will this place be when they find their way here?” I asked snidely. “Because we cannot hide forever. They’ll find us sooner or later, that is unless we pick up and go.”

  Andrews was either confused at my words or offended due to his own pride. “Pick up and go?”

  “Yes,” I said.

  “Pick up and go, where?” He asked. “We are surrounded by them on every side. You drive west and you’ll run into them, east the same thing, west and so on and so on,” he added. “We have nowhere to just pick up and go too, son.”

  My mind was racing so far ahead of our conversation that I was unable to keep up with what we were talking about, where we were or anything of utter importance, and with that my mouth overloaded my ass, as usual, and I spoke without thought. “My son is out there somewhere, lost, alone, confused, and I’m here where it’s safe surrounded by hundreds of soldiers. Give me the means to go and get him, or at least try.”

  “Why ask me for something you already have in motion?” He asked.

  I looked up at him, a bit unsure of what I had heard him say. “What?”

  “Come on, Brandon. Please don’t think so lowly of me that I didn’t know what was going on under my own nose. I’m not that stupid,” Andrews said.

  It was a trap. That’s what this was, and nothing more. He was testing me, wanting to see if I would give any information up, which I was certain he knew nothing about. Perhaps he had overheard some of his men talking about us and put a few extra pieces into the puzzle. There was no way under the sun that Johnny had spilled the beans, I’d bet my life on that. There was something about him that told me he was one of the good guys. One of those men that would rather die than give anything up.

  It was a test. It had to be.

  “I have no idea what you are talking about, so apparently you’re mistaken,” I said in my perfect denial voice. Kember tossed a few more rocks and laughed. Andrews smiled back and crossed his arms, as he always did.

  “In case you aren’t aware, there are cameras everywhere on this installation, there isn’t anything that goes on that I don’t know about,” he explained.

  “That’s nice to know, although that tells me nothing,” I returned.

  “The hand written notes between you and Johnny when you first arrived, which contain ideas for escaping, does that ring any bells?”

  He wasn’t bullshitting me or trying to get me to tell him something he didn’t know anything about. He already knew everything, yet, if that were the case, then why wasn’t I being led away under arrest. As the man in charge it would be his duty to see to it that all of those that were against his way of life, or things in general, were detained or cast out in seconds. That’s what I’d do if I were in charge and learned about something like this.

  He put a hand up. “This isn’t the life that everyone can live without regret or misery, I understand that more than anyone, as I’ve been on both sides of the fence most of my life.”

  “And?” I asked.

  “You have family that is still out there, and if there is one thing I do know, its family comes first – above everything else,” he said.

  I diverted my attention to Kember a moment, knowing that if this was a game, the outcome could drastically go in either direction in moments. I had to be ready to run if need be, but first I would have to at least disarm Andrews or he would simply shoot me in the back as I tried to flee. A task that I was beginning to see was going to be easier said than done. “Look, I don’t know what it is you are going on about, but the last time I checked, I got in your HUMVV willingly, not while under arrest or anything like that.”

  Andrews nodded his head. “That’s right.”

  “Which means I am free to go if I so choose. So with that being said, why would I plan an escape when all I have to do is get my stuff, my daughter’s stuff and simply walk out?”

  “I don’t know,” he said. “That’s what I’m wondering myself.”

  I shook my head trying to give him the best look of confusion I could muster after watching so many people lose their lives in a fiery collapse of steel, metal, concrete, and glass. He didn’t buy the look, I could tell, yet still I stuck with my answer.

  “Then perhaps I was mistaken,” he said and I agreed with him. With that the conversation died and he slowly walked away. I watched him until he disappeared from sight and suddenly I could breathe again. It had felt like I’d been without air for almost an hour. I was worried that he would go and find Johnny, maybe lie and tell him that I had said something to see what he would say or do in return. I wanted to go back to the small room rather quickly, but if he had gone there, he’d know something was up the second I walked through the door and if we were on the verge of getting caught, as I was beginning to think. Then both of us didn’t need to go down for it.

  Are you seriously going to give Johnny up to save yourself? My mind asked me. The thought had crossed my mind, yet I knew that I wouldn’t. I couldn’t do that after all that he’d done for me and Kember. I might be a coward, which I was fine with, but there was no way in hell I was going to be a pussy as well.

  He knows what you two are planning, even proved that to you, yet still he didn’t say anything about it. What if he wants you to do that and prove you belong with them? My mind brought sharply into focus. It sounded stupid, although at the same time there was a lot of logic in it all. He knows we are up to something, there’s no doubt about that and he had every right to arrest us or kick us out, and he didn’t. Why?

  I stood there deep in thought as the world around me burned and more people died. I was fixated on rescuing my son and nothing else mattered, nor would it if I didn’t at
least try. I had that opportunity once before and I failed him. I had been far too acquainted with my own suffering to even see an inch in front of myself… that was then, this was now. I wouldn’t be that way again.

  I grabbed Kember. “Let’s go, daddy has things to get ready for.”

  I took my time getting back, but considering we were only a hundred feet from our room, it was hard to really take my time without looking like that’s what I was doing. I didn’t want to rush back, yet taking my time in an obvious way was just as bad.

  The two guards that normally stood outside our mobile home were nowhere to be found as I rounded the corner. I could feel the fear begin to spark and burst into flames. My palms got sweaty and my footing was as solid as usual. I made my way down the narrow hallway with Kember in my arms. At the door I paused only for a moment, frantic to get inside, but still hesitant about facing the so called music, if that were to be the case.

  The door slid open where I found Johnny still studying the map. He looked up as I entered and put Kember on my bed.

  “You alright?” He asked.

  “You had any visitor’s recently?” I fired back.

  The concern on his face slid into confusion. “Any visitor’s? What kind of question is that?”

  I wanted to grab the few things that Kember and I called belongings and make a break for the fence line. Instead, I just stood there looking out the window as though I knew they were coming for us, to which Johnny picked up on with little problem.

  “What’s going on?” He asked.

  “They know about our plans… not really sure how, but they know every damn detail we passed between ourselves,” I explained in a whisper. The tone of my voice and utter anxiousness itching me to continuously keep moving was more than enough for Johnny to realize that I wasn’t messing around with him. I was being serious… dead serious.

  He put the map aside and checked the window from where he was sitting. “Okay, here’s what we are going to do,” he said, taking another glance out the window before looking to see I was almost a nervous wreck. He stood and tried to calm me. “Wow, you need to calm down, man. I can’t get any of this to work if you’re running around like a crack-head in desperate need of a fix.”

  “And how the hell am I supposed to be cool after learning all of this shit?” I spat.

  “Are you sure he knew things, or was he asking you questions and going off of your reactions, because some people can do that without knowing anything,” Johnny asked quietly.

  I looked directly into his eyes and slowed my words. “He told me our plans. I said nothing nor answered any of his questions. He tried asking and I acted stupid.”

  Johnny placed both hands on my shoulders and held my gaze. “What exactly did he say?”

  I took a few deep breaths of air and tried to calm myself as much as I could, which wasn’t much, before answering. “He told me about the notes we passed last night. The ones where we were talking about escaping.”

  “How did he even get that far in the conversation?” Johnny asked. “You should have cut him off way before it got that close.”

  I was frightened out of my mind by this time. Not knowing if Andrews would come for us any second or if he’d send his troops instead. “How was I to know where he was trying to go with things? One second I was watching a building collapse in the distance, and then the next second he brought the notes up.”

  “There had to be something else said? Something you are forgetting to tell me,” he added. “Think hard and try to remember it all.”

  I was about to shake my head in disagreement when my words suddenly came back to me. I replayed them in my head, but still they didn’t lead in the direction Andrews had taken the topic. He must have known I’d spill something if he poured the pressure on and out of nowhere. I wouldn’t have the ability to think about a lie with him standing there staring me down. “I told him my son was out there somewhere and to give me the ability to go and get him.”

  Johnny locked his eyes on mine. “You told him that?”

  I nodded.

  He turned to look out the window. “And you’re positive you didn’t say anything else to him that he could take the wrong way and piece all of this together?”

  “No, not at all,” I replied.

  Johnny was stunned; you could see it in his eyes. “Why aren’t they coming after us then? I mean if he knows our plans, which you said he does, then why are we still free?”

  “That’s what frightens me,” I said.

  “He has to be up to something,” Johnny stated.

  “Like what?” I asked. Kember giggled about something and I held a finger to my lips to quiet her. It didn’t work, as I figured, but she wasn’t as loud the second time around.

  Johnny was slipping into deep thought. “I don’t know.”

  “I say we just go. Just pack up what we have and take off while we still have that option.” I said.

  “No!” Johnny said and spun around.

  “What the hell do you mean no?” I asked intently. “Are you insane?”

  “We stick to the plan. Nothing changes,” he said and went to the door, it slid open and he stepped into the hallway, instantly pointing in the area of the small thing in the corner of the room we had come to believe was a camera or security device of some sort. I knew exactly what he meant then.

  “Nothing changes,” I said in a normal tone and followed him into the hallway. Kember played on the bed as though nothing was wrong, as Johnny and I moved to the end of the mobile unit and glanced out to see no guards.

  Out near the fence line where Kember and I had watched the un-named city burn, far from any security cameras and open enough so that if anyone approached we would have sufficient time to change the subject and threaten any part of our grand plan.

  We changed what needed to be and altered the rest, so as to throw off any suspicion, yet continued to act as though we didn’t know they were watching. Later I could mention what Andrews had said to me on camera to go along with the… suddenly my thought process changed and I looked to see Johnny looking back with the same thought afire in his eyes.

  “Shit, they know we know,” Johnny stated.

  “What?” I asked.

  “The moment you ran into the room and told me about what had happened. If they were watching, which I’m positive they were, they now know that we are on to them.” He shook his head a moment and looked toward the darkened sky in the distance. “Maybe you’re right. Maybe we should just pack up and haul ass.”

  “No,” I stated pointing a finger at him and shaking my head. “Not no, but hell no! My son is out there and this has been the only chance I’ve had to go after him, so we aren’t bailing on this plan!”

  “We go forward with this and we’ll be walking right into a trap. The only thing they have on us right now is conspiracy at best, but the moment we initiate this plan, they’ll have us committing a crime on a military base. They can execute us for that.”

  My anger was coming to the surface and there was little I could do to contain it. “I don’t give a shit, do you understand that? My son is out there somewhere, in all of that shit you see right there… so either you help me, as we planned, or get the hell out of my way and stay gone!”

  Johnny looked at me in disbelief. “You’re a madman.”

  “No, I’m a parent that made the wrong choice, so now I’m going to correct it any way I can. And I dare someone to try and stop me.”

  “You do this… you’re on your own,” Johnny said.

  “I guess so,” I replied and walked away fuming mad. I was disappointed, pissed off at him for backing out on me, because like it or not, without him the plan that had been created would literally never get off the ground. As I walked I could see the choice I had made over a week ago and tried my best to play out the scenario in my head that went the opposite direction. Would I still be in this game had I went that way? Would Kember and I still be alive even? I could what if the rest of my life and
still come no closer to the truth than I currently was.

  I moved down the hallway, entered the room to find Kember still playing on the bed and grabbed the SBR from under the mattress. Problem number one. I had only two full mags, which was sixty rounds. Rambo himself could never make it with that few of rounds, although I’m sure if Hollywood really tried they could pull it off. After all, I had proven a lot of their ideologies to be plain out bullshit, entertaining of course, but bullshit nonetheless.

  Andrews words came back to enlighten me and even though I was feeling pretty down and discouraged about Johnny backing out on me, I still maintained a small amount of hope in the course I had before me. It wouldn’t be easy at all, but I didn’t care. Choices had been made in the spur of the moment, choices I wish that I could have changed. Unfortunately though, I cannot change them, but simply learn from them and pray I don’t make the wrong ones in the hours to come.

  “Stay here, baby. Daddy has to go and get a few things,” I said to Kember who ignored me as she continued to play with her toys and drink her juice.

  I crossed the base with a confidence in my step, a single thought burning in my mind, and the courage to undertake and face whatever lay in wait for me on the other side of those fences. I had to be, my son was depending upon me to find and bring him back to where it was safe. That’s what a parent does.

  “Captain Andrews told me to stop by the armory and pick up the gear I’d need to help defend this place,” I told the military guy sitting behind a small desk. He looked up at me with an expression upon his face that told me he didn’t believe a single word I had just said. “Call him and ask him, he’ll tell you,” I added.

  The guy picked up a small phone, wound it up and waited for someone to answer on the other end. “Yeah, this is Davidson over here at the armory. I gotta guy standing in front of me that said Captain Andrews sent him over to gear up,” he stated and listened to the voice on the other end give him instructions. After a few harrowing moments in which I did slightly feel the need to just take off running, the man placed the phone back into the cradle and stood up. “Come with me and I’ll get you geared up.”