THEN CAME WAR

By

Jacqueline Druga

America’s Demise Series

Then Came War

By Jacqueline Druga

Copyright 2012 by Jacqueline Druga.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to any person or persons, living or dead, events or locales is entirely coincidental.

AMERICA DEMISE THEN CAME WAR PHOTO © Brocreative - Fotolia.com

Special thanks once again to Ann Cochran for all her help

CHAPTER ONE – The Riders

Present Day

Harry Hayward had performed the same routine for nearly fifty years. Although there were times he had to deviate slightly, it was never much and never for long.

No matter what time of day he had to get up, Harry always woke before the alarm. He’d lie in bed until it sounded off and then swing his legs to the side of the bed and say a short prayer. Always, before standing up, he’d turn to his wife’s side of the bed and thank her for all the years she had given him, the love they shared, the home they built.

Since the moment he moved into the house in Windsor, Connecticut, this had been his routine.

As time moved on and he retired, he didn’t have to rush his morning routine and always prepared himself for a new body ache before he stood. He’d saunter down to the kitchen, make and have his coffee, wait for his bowels to kick into gear and then he could freely start his day.

He had worked in New York as a claims adjuster for the railroad when he was first married. But he hadn’t wanted to raise his children in the confines of a concrete jungle. It was worth the two and a half hour commute to see them running in grass, walking to school and playing in the street. But then, before his third child was born, he got a job as a brakeman for the railroad and was able to move into the suburbs. The hours were longer than they’d been when he worked in the city, but the money was better.

Now the kids were all grown and not only had kids of their own but also grandchildren. They all lived in different parts of the country. Everyone had their own lives, but that never stopped Harry from getting in his car and intervening in their lives. Nothing like a good car trip, Harry thought. He had to go see them. The kids didn’t call much.

Harry was a good man and lived his life for his family. He was only sorry he had worked so much that he missed a lot of things.

It was early and he had to catch the 6:20 train this morning, so he didn’t have time for a big breakfast. He’d eat at the deli place when he got into New York, even though his stomach would pay the price later that evening. But the guys liked it and that was where they chose to meet for their monthly reunions. They were the remaining five members of their naval unit. They had all trained together, fought the war together and survived.

They used to meet twice a year when there were more of them. Then, as the years went by and their numbers dwindled, it was clear they had to meet more often because time on the earth for all of them was getting shorter.

Leo wasn’t looking good the last time they met; in fact, Harry had called him to make sure he was still alive and would be there. Harry had a gift for him. It wasn’t anything new, but Harry had wrapped it anyway because he was certain it was something Leo would like.

Toast finished, Harry tucked the wrapped gift under his arm, checked his wallet to make sure he had enough money and went into the living room to say goodbye to his wife, June.

“Have to be going here, Junie. I have a long day ahead. Probably see ya' at supper. Yeah. Yeah. I’ll be careful. No harping.” In all their years of marriage, Harry never left the house without telling June he loved her and kissing her goodbye.

He kissed her goodbye and told her of his love, but Harry had only a photograph to kiss. Six months earlier, June had suffered a heart attack while driving and died.

He put the photo back on the mantel, grabbed his car keys and left his home.

Harry didn’t have much in his life now and he really looked forward to seeing his friends.

***

It was going to be a warm day for April; TJ could tell by the dew on the windows. Even though it was barely light out, he gave a solid, waking swat to his eight year old son’s behind to get him up and out of bed. “You don’t have time to eat. Let’s go, Ty.”

Tyler grumbled. “I’ll bring pop tarts.”

TJ chuckled. “You do that; you can eat them on the train. Now, let’s go.”

“I’m ready,” the child said groggily.

“You’re in bed.”

“I’m ready.”

TJ laughed and flung the covers from his son and saw he was fully dressed, including his shoes. This made TJ laugh harder. He should have expected as much. Tyler was so excited about going to work with his father. It was no wonder he was dressed and ready to go, that he had done so before he went to sleep.

Instructing Tyler to get up, brush his teeth and meet him downstairs, TJ left the room.

He was dressed down, wearing a pair of tan pants and a golf style shirt. It was allowed on ‘take your child to work day. TJ was comfortable. He was a fit man in his thirties. His hair was thinning with just a touch of grey. He was confident and charismatic, but he had to be that way. It was part of his job as a salesman.

TJ’s wife was sleeping on the couch. She had dozed off waiting on them to leave. “Hey,” TJ whispered crouching down to her level. “We’re checking out of here. The train comes in a half hour.”

“God,” she groaned snuggling the pillow. “I can’t believe you’re taking him out this early. That’s too long of a day.”

“Nah, we’ll be fine. I’m cutting out after lunch. Will that work?”

She nodded.

TJ stood when he heard the thumping of feet on the stairs.

“Ready,” Tyler said.

“Where are your glasses?”

With an ‘aw’ Tyler ran back up the stairs, was gone only a moment before he raced back down.

“And what about your jacket?”

“But it’s gonna be a nice day.”

“It’s chilly now.”

“Dad.”

“Jacket.”

“Fine.”

Tyler was gone a few seconds longer, returning with his spring jacket and a foil pack of breakfast tarts. “Can we go now?”

“Yes. Kiss your mother.”

Tyler ran into the living room and skidded to a stop. “She’s sleeping.”

His mother replied, “My eyes are just closed. Have fun.”

“Love you.” Tyler kissed her on the cheek.

“Love you too.”

TJ kissed his wife as well, running his hand over her head before leaving his home. He was smiling and happy about spending time with his son.

It was going to be a great day.

***

The razor blade was new, purchased just the day before for the occasion. The shiny, sharp object was clutched tight between Abby’s forefinger and thumb. The edge was a millimeter from the skin on her wrist.

She was going to do it.

She had to; she just couldn't go on.

Twice before, she had failed due to her own weakness. No one knew she had made the attempt to take her own life. In fact, the blade to her skin was the closest she had been.

No one knew because no one knew Abby.

The people at Carl’s work did. They had been calling for months for her to pick up her husband’s things. But she couldn’t bring herself to go into New York to do it.

She wasn’t ready.

But they needed the items cleared out.

Quite simply, Abby didn’t want to live.

She was alone, completely alone in not only a new town but also in a new country.

She, Carl and their three year old son had traveled from England, so enthused about his promotion within the international company.

They had a picture perfect dream house.

In fact it still smelled of fresh new paint. Then not even three months into living in Connecticut, Carl and Landon went to the store and were killed in car accident.

Her life ended that evening.

Now she was a mere vessel carrying around her soul. The heartbreak and heartache were relentless. They pounded at her every single waking moment.

She carried an ache in her chest that wouldn’t go away. It was heavy and increased in intensity every single time she thought of her husband and son.

There wasn’t a night she didn’t cry herself to sleep or wake up sobbing.

At first everyone was around her, being supportive, and then as the days dwindled by so did the people who called or stopped by.

Abby was alone.

She had promised she’d come get Carl’s things but she just couldn’t face that.

It was her day to die.

She had gagged on the pills and couldn’t pull the trigger.

But the blade was there now. Right there on her wrist.

One cut, that was all it would take and no one would be around to save her. Hell, no one would find her for days.

She stared at her reflection in the mirror. Her brown hair was messy and short. She had tried to put on makeup before going into town to buy the razor blade, but the tears smeared it.

Abby thought she looked old, old and worn out. Her heartache was apparent on her face and it showed in new lines and dark circles.

She thought of her husband, her baby and her heartbreak.

Just as the blade cut and the first drop of blood appeared, Abby folded, broke down sobbing and dropped the blade.

Again, she couldn’t do it.

She hated herself for it.

***

‘I’m such an asshole,’ Ben thought. Sitting in the driver’s seat, his eyes went from his own reflection in the rearview mirror to the Starbucks’ entrance. He glanced at the time and then back at his reflection again.

He pulled a grey hair, not that it would do any good, but that particular one was wiry and stood up straight.

A huff, another look at the time and he muttered out loud, “I’m an asshole. Sometime today, Lana.”

He shifted his eyes to the Starbucks again and sat straight up when the passenger door opened.

Lana extended the drink carrier to Ben and then slid inside.

“We’re going to miss the train,” he said.

“We’re not going to miss the train,” she replied. “There was a line in there. I swear it went out the door. Why are all these people out and about this time of day? I got you a latte to enjoy on the train.”

“I didn’t want one.”

With a slight shake of her head and roll of her eyes Lana said, “Whatever.”

“Whatever? Unbelievable.” Ben backed from the spot. He tried not to get irritated; he didn’t have to stop when she asked. But that irritation grew again when he looked over and watched her sip her latte so prim and proper so she wouldn’t mess up her lipstick which matched her perfectly manicured nails. She sat in the car as if she were some sort of high class princess. Her business suit skirt was perfectly pressed, her shoes shiny and her hair pulled back so tightly it gave her a pseudo face lift.

They weren’t going to miss the train, not by a long shot, but Ben liked to play it as if they were cutting it close. He huffed at every stop sign and sighed when they caught a traffic light.

“You know, I could have driven to the station myself,” Lana said.

“You should have.”

“I would have.” She paused to sip her coffee. “But you asked. In fact, I believe you insisted, because you didn’t want me using the gas in your other car. Not my car, mind you. Your car.” She waved her hand in a dismissive manner.

“I paid for that car.”

“I don’t know where you think my salary has been going. Funny how the cars are yours and the house is half yours. I must own the utilities.”

“Enough.”

“You started it.”

“No, you started it when you asked to stop at Starbucks.”

“You didn’t have to stop.”

“Yeah, I know.” Ben grunted. “I’m an asshole.”

“Yes, Ben, yes, you are. And don’t worry; I’ll make other arrangements to get to the train until my apartment is done.”

“Good.”

Lana said no more. She turned her body more toward the window, gazing out, sipping her coffee.

Ben kept glancing over at her, not saying anything or wanting to. They had said enough in their twenty-three years of marriage and Ben was glad it was only a matter of days until they were finally apart from one another.

He hoped, as they rode to the station, that she was right and it was indeed the last train they’d ever take together.

***

His name wasn’t really Foster, it was James Mason. But Foster was the nickname that he acquired from his peers because he was constantly being shuffled from one foster home to another.

Of course his latest set of foster parents refused to call him that. His foster mother number eight said, “No, no, it’s so ugly.”

Okay sure.

He had been in and out of foster homes since he was three. The state told him his biological mother was a prostitute with an addiction, but Foster knew she was a crack whore. He knew it because he lived with her several times.

Each time he held high hopes of staying with his mother in Queens. But those hopes diminished each time she was arrested.

The latest stint kept her in county and, by Foster’s count, she was now out.

He was sixteen now, old enough to make his own decisions and he wanted to be the one to help his mother.

But no, the state kept moving him about.

The latest set of foster parents was the final straw. They not only moved him out of New York City, they moved him out of the state. How was that possible? He had been moved to a tiny cottage style house in Connecticut with these latest foster parents— working father, stay at home mother, bible studies and republican parties.

No.

Not him.

Foster homes kept him from being stereotyped as the typical oppressed black youth, actually, Foster considered him culturally diversified. He had stayed with white families, Hispanic, Greek, Jewish. But the Lawrence’s . . . they were too much of a cultural shock for Foster.

So he booked.

They weren’t mean; they were just weird.

1950’s sitcom weird.

When Mr. Lawrence stated he was on vacation and that he and Foster were going to do some fishing in a boat, then head down to work on Mayor Noon’s Campaign, Foster said enough.

He went on line, checked the prison status of his mother, saw she was released, and took off before Mr. Lawrence could pack the car for fishing.

He left a note of thanks, filled his backpack with snacks in case he had to live on the street and headed to the train station on foot.

He arrived before most of the commuters, and just in case the Lawrence’s woke up and went out to search for him, Foster stayed hidden in the shadows.

***

Harry was already on the train as it neared Hartford station. He had boarded in Windsor and was one of the first on board. He got a good window seat in the second car and sat there. His hands rested upon his gift for Leo which rested in his lap. He looked only briefly out the window and then closed his eyes again, never seeing those who stood on the platform waiting on the Number 141.

And they were there.

All of them were there.

Ben, Lana, Abby, TJ and Tyler all waited on the 141.

They weren’t standing together; other commuters separated them.

They never saw each other.

Certainly Abby never saw Foster sneak up to the platform when the train brakes squealed out loudly. He squeezed in and stood next to her.

TJ and Tyler joked around. They spoke about the things they would do at the office. They were happy and bubbly, unlike the other zombie-like morning commuters who seemed to be going through the motions of their day.

TJ and Tyler were a contrast to Ben and Lana who didn’t even speak. In fact, they didn’t even look at each other.

Ben did take that latte though.

Abby clutched her purse to her chest, mouth on the edge of it to stop herself from crying. Occasionally she’d pull her sleeve down to cover the small bandage from her self-inflicted wrist wound. Embarrassed by it, as if it screamed out, ‘Look at this. Look at what I have done to myself!’

It was an injury no one else would have noticed or paid attention to or even cared about.

Foster saw it. He knew exactly what it was, especially with her trying to hide it. But he didn’t know her and it was her business. He just wanted to get on that train.

The 141 came to a halt to pick up the next batch of passengers at the Hartford Station.

The train was bound for Penn Station in New York.

The lives of Ben, Lana, Abby, Foster, Harry, TJ and Tyler were so different.

The happiness of the perfect father and son contrasted with the miserable lives of the unhappily married couple, the lost young man who needed to get away, the desperate woman who wanted to die and the lonely old man who just sought a reason to live.

All of them were so different.

But on the morning of April 25, they all had two things in common.

They all sat in the second car and they all boarded a train that would forever change their lives.

CHAPTER TWO

Harry didn’t notice at first and neither did Abby. They weren’t all that experienced in riding the train. But TJ did.

“Something’s wrong,” TJ whispered.

Tyler looked up. “What’s that, Dad?”

TJ shook his head and stood up. “We’re picking up speed.”

“Maybe we’re running late.”

Another shake of his head and TJ looked at his watch.

“Do you feel like we’re moving faster?” Lana asked Ben. “It feels like we just kicked into another gear.”

Ben had his head back and popped open one eye. “I don’t think trains kick into another gear. There’s …” Suddenly he sat up. “We are.” He peered out the window.

The automated voice over the speaker in the car announced, “Approaching the New-Conn tunnel.”

“Wait a second,” Ben stirred more in his seat. “Why are we flying into the tunnel?”

Harry’s back felt adhered to the seat and he didn’t need to be a rocket scientist to know the train was flying faster than it should have been. It didn’t happen the last time he went to town. Maybe it was a new thing or the train was running late.

The rush of mumbling voices airing out concerns caught Harry’s attention and he looked around, trying to zoom in on what they said.

Total strangers, who not ten minutes earlier were quiet and didn’t speak, were now all asking each other questions about the train’s speed.

Something was wrong and a twitch hit Harry’s stomach with that thought. Aside from the speeding train, something else occurred that was odd.

Everyone’s phone started ringing.

The whole entire second car was filled with ringing cellular phones and people scurrying to find them and answer.

Why was everyone getting a call at the same time?

The voices of the passengers meshed together in their attempts to retrieve the calls.

“Hello.”

“Hello.”

“Mom? What’s wrong?”

“I can’t hear you.”

“What’s that?”

“I can’t hear. Our connection is bad.”

“What happened?”

“Hello.”

Squeal.

The darkness of the tunnel encompassed the train and the brakes hit so loudly the sound was piercing.

The sudden attempt to stop the runaway train created a rush of screams as those standing flew forward. Items were tossed about, cell phones dropped to the floor and Harry found his face pinned to the seat in front of him.

He couldn’t move back, he was smashed there by the force of the train.

It was trying to stop, but it couldn’t. It was still traveling full speed ahead, but not for long.

The train hit something and the force of the hit threw everyone into the air in different directions, tossing bodies about the compartment and causing even more screams and cries.

Harry heard the sound of crunching metal. He caught himself long enough to look up and come to the realization that it was over for him.

Car number two of the 141 jumped the track. It flew outward and smashed into the wall of the tunnel before landing on its side.

Harry went from one portion of the train car to another. When the car hit the wall he flew backwards and when it slammed on its side to the ground, he landed back first on top of a person. Cringing in pain, he opened his eyes and then raised his arms to shield himself as people rained down upon him.

The second car dislodged from the rest of the train and slid another hundred feet, creating sparks as the metal contacted the concrete at a high rate of speed.

Finally car two stopped and rested against a wall.

But it wasn’t over.

The rest of the train kept coming, each car jumping track, some rolling front over end, others side over side with each sequential train car coming to a devastating halt and smashing into the tunnel walls.

Train cars three and four rolled and landed length wise against the wall. The rest of the train cars piled up, barricading it in.

The entire 141 was like a collapsed house of cards, the cars smashed together, lying on top of one another.

That is, all of the cars with the exception of car two. The demolished and tossed train cars seemed to form a tepee and car two rested in the pocket of the wreckage. The only car not completely crushed.

CHAPTER THREE

There were some light dances of lights— sparks from broken wires, the flash of emergency lights that couldn’t stay on and the glow of the cell phones that weren’t beneath the mounds of people.

There were moans, not a lot, and Abby heard them. She was fortunate enough to be on top of the mound of people instead of buried beneath them.

She never lost consciousness. She may have lost her bearings when things happened so fast, but she was aware. She was so much aware that she clutched tightly to her seat. Her body flipped one way then another but she kept holding on until that final slam.

She was lying face down and she needed to get up. She could feel wetness on her chest but with her body so numb, she didn’t know if it was her blood or something else.

Using her hands as leverage, Abby lifted herself up some. Her mouth dropped open but she lost her breath. The scream she uttered was barely heard as she found herself face to face with the wide open eyes of another woman.

Clearly the woman was dead.

Panicking inside, Abby tried to lift herself from the woman. But she couldn’t get a footing.

“Hello,” she called out. “Is anyone else alive?”

“Yeah,” a man’s voice replied. “I’m stuck.”

“I’m trying to …” Abby stopped.

She heard it. At least she thought she did.

It was a loud and distant boom that was followed by another and then one more.

“What was that?” Abby asked, as if expecting someone to know.

“What was what?” the man asked. “I’m really stuck.”

“Are you hurt?”

“I don’t know.”

Then Abby thought she had it; her foot found a place and she was able to lift herself to her knees. When she did, the flashing light brought it into focus.

It was the little blue book bag.

“Oh my God,” Abby gasped.

The boy, the little boy that was on the train was carrying that bag. But where was he?

She looked around. So much was unrecognizable; she couldn’t get her bearings on where she was in the train.

“Little boy,” she called out. “Little boy.”

No answer.

Immediate panic consumed her. It wasn’t her child, yet she felt a mother’s pain over it. Her foot slipped some, but she was able to rest it upon something. Then she reached back, grabbing for a seat to hold on to. The train was on its side and as she pulled herself up she saw the people below her. They overlapped. Some moved; some didn’t. Everyone had just toppled together making it impossible for anyone to free themselves.

“Dad,” a young voice called out. “Dad?”

Abby gasped. It was the child. She knew in their car at least, there was only one child. But where was he? He was calling out for his father, but his voice wasn’t close.

Where?

The moment the train hit its breaks, Tyler’s father huddled over him, wrapping his arms around him. Tyler remembered burying his face in his father’s arms, holding on tight and his little fingers gripping his father’s shirt. But then they hit something and his father’s hold released.

Tyler flew out of his father’s arms, across the train car. He was so tiny he hit no one. He was like a perfectly thrown basketball, sailing in the small space. Just before the train  landed completely on its side, Tyler went seamlessly through the window.

Swish.

His hip hit the concrete first and, like the time he fell from his bike, his body skidded across the concrete and he rolled over and over. He could hear the train sliding against the concrete, the metal squealing loudly against the ground until it came to a stop.

Tyler was hurt. He could feel it, but couldn’t think about. Once his body came to a stop he looked up to see the remaining train cars careening his way, reckless, out of control with the cars flipping haphazardly.

Scurrying to his knees and then to his feet, Tyler was running before he was completely standing.

There really wasn’t anywhere to go, but he ran away from the certain impact that was headed toward him straight to train car number two. He slipped in a small space between the train car and the wall, brought his knees to his chest, covered his head and screamed.

His screams were buried beneath the crashing sounds of the tumbling cars.

How he escaped getting crushed was nothing shy of a miracle.

But he did.

Bleeding just a little from concrete rash burns that would radiate through him later, Tyler crawled out when everything stopped and grew silent.

He had to find his father.

“Okay, swell, I’m stuck,” Harry thought. He must have been knocked out because he had one doozie of a headache. He only hoped he hadn’t fractured his skull. His hands were free and he felt for his nose and then his ears. No fluid. Good sign. But then again, he was stuck.

Leo’s gift was digging into his chest due to the weight of the man on top of it, dead weight.

But had the gift not been there, Harry supposed he would have suffocated. Then again, Harry was a big man, tall, robust and strong too.

How he survived he didn’t know. Again he attributed it to his size. Of course, with his luck, at his age he probably had broken a hip and when the pressure of the bodies lifted he would be unable to move. Stuck in the wreckage, he would be one of those people emergency workers carried out on a stretcher.

But Harry wouldn’t scream. No way. No how.

That wasn’t him.

He took a second, took a deep breath and thought about his situation.

Peering left then right around the dead body on top of him, Harry assessed he was about six people deep.

Again, thinking, ‘swell,’ Harry looked for head room. He wasn’t packed like a sardine and that was a good thing. The car was on its side, but not completely. It was angled. If he could just slip out from the bodies, slide his back up against the wall, which was actually the floor, he could conceivably climb up. That was if his hip wasn’t broken.

He wanted to call out to those on top of him, he swore he saw one of them move. But he feared doing that would cause the perfect pyramid to collapse and crush him.

He just needed leverage.

What could he use for leverage?

The gift, Leo’s gift, was a strong box made of heavy metal. It already protected Harry once. It was possible it could save him again.

Harry wiggled his toes, twitched his legs and checked any and all body parts he would need to get out. They all seemed to be working rather painlessly and it was time to make the attempt.

Using all his strength, Harry gripped the box and inched to the right. It was a struggle, but he moved. Or at least he thought he moved.

He took a moment, got another breath, held the box and inched some more, this time backwards.

By God, Harry thought, it is going to work. It would take some time, but he’d get there.

“Dad?”

Abby’s head jolted quickly to the close sound of the boy’s voice. She saw him. He was peeking in the open door at the other end of the train.

“Dad?”

“Stop,” Abby called to him, holding out her hand. “Don’t come in here.”

“I need to find my Dad,” Tyler said.

“We will. Are you hurt?”

“I don’t think so.”

“Okay, then just …. Stay there. We’ll find him.”

Tyler nodded.

Abby was relieved, she lowered her head and released a single sob.

“Can you help me?” the voice, the same voice, the man who was stuck, called to her again. “I’m really stuck. This guy on top of me is huge.”

“Recite the alphabet,” Abby said.

“Is this a test?”

“No, I need to find you.”

He did.

To the left, his voice came from the left. Abby scooted over some. Where? Where was he?

By the time he got to the letter ‘W’, Abby had pinpointed the voice.

“Can you move anything?” Abby asked. “I know you’re here somewhere.”

“No. I’m pinned in.”

Abby looked around her. She was perched on the arm of a seat and when she looked down she saw the cell phone. Grabbing it, she played with the phone until it lit up enough for her to use it as a guide.

“Call out again.”

“Hello.”

Found.

The light cast a small hue on the almond colored face. His eyes blinked. It was reminiscent of the scene from the movie ET.

“You found me,” he said.

Abby noticed he was young. “I did.”

“When you were calling for the little boy, I thought you meant me.”

“You’re not that young.” Abby touched the dead body on top of him.

“No. But I’m too young to die. Can you get me out of here?”

“I’ll try,” Abby said. “Ok, let me think for a second.”

“What about if I push and you pull this guy,” he suggested.

“Then what?” Abby asked.

“Can we roll him out of the way?” he asked.

“We can try. Okay.” Abby took another breath. It was going to be difficult but she wasn’t a small woman. While her height was average, she always was a big boned gal and her body had held the extra weight from the baby, but she wasn’t anywhere as nimble as she wanted to be. But Abby was strong, she knew that.

Positioning herself belly down on the seat, Abby scooted up enough to get a good grip on the man’s body. “I’ll pull outward, you push and hopefully the momentum will move him. We start on the count of three. One, two …”

“Wait.” Another voice entered the equation.

They stopped.

The voice was close. Abby grabbed the cell phone again and used it as a light. Down at the bottom of the pile was a man, an older man.

It was Harry.

He was nearly free. He was still pinned from the waist down, but he had managed to get out some and was in a semi sitting position. “Just be careful. I don’t want all my hard work trying to free myself to be for naught,” he said.

“Are you hurt?” Abby asked.

“I ache,” Harry answered. “Then again at my age everything is gonna hurt.”

“We’ll be careful.” Abby nodded at Harry, put down the phone, grabbed the body of the man and made eye contact with the teenage boy. “Ready?”

“Yeah.” He nodded.

Abby counted. “One, two …three.”

It didn’t work.

They tried again.

The third time the rush of adrenaline aided in the task and Abby freed the man. Only problem was the force of the pull and push caused him to knock her back. She banged her shoulder on the other seat and the man’s lifeless arm flailed her in the face.

Abby would have fallen more had she not been quick enough to grab on to the seat.

“Here,” the young man crawled over the seat and aided her. “Thank you.”

“You’re welcome.”

He looked down at the three people below her; they all appeared dead. “We need to help the other guy and get off this train.” He extended his hand to her.

“I couldn’t agree more.” Abby took his hand. “What’s your name?”

“Foster.”

“Thank you, Foster.” Just as Abby stood, both her and Foster looked toward the shuffle bodies and the grunting sounds.

“I’m out,” Harry called. “Lifting that extra weight helped. Thank...” Harry stopped. He had inched out, used the wall as leverage and brought himself to a standing position. He was speaking as he climbed the mound of five bodies. He stopped speaking when he got a good look at all that transpired.

Below the bodies all he saw were people, darkness and blood. Once above it he saw the true devastation.

And all that Harry could muster was a gasping, “Oh my God.”

He was all the way at the other end of the train car and Ben could see people getting out. At least six people rose from the mounds and made their way from the wreckage. But Ben couldn’t go. Not yet. He could still hear moans and he prayed one of them was his wife.

Granted the last couple years of their marriage were rough. He couldn’t wait to get away from her controlling bitchy ways. But after decades of marriage, he still loved her and having her die at the bottom of a heap following a train wreck was not how he saw their marriage ending.

She was somewhere. She had to be. There were only about forty people in that particular car. She couldn’t be far from where he landed. There weren’t many bodies there.

But what was there was horrendous.

Crushed skulls, twisted bodies broken in more places than one could count. It was dark, too dark. The strobe effect of the emergency lights made it harder to see and eerie.

Then he spotted it. Hours earlier it was a major irritation and now it was a salvation. It was that hideous nail polish on those perfect nails.

And the nails weren’t broke.

It had to be Lana.

She was completely covered by a body except for her hand that extended out.

But Lana didn’t move.

Calling out, “Lana,” Ben dropped to his knees and grabbed her hand. It was limp, but warm and it only took a second for her fingers to grasp his.

“Oh, my God, you’re alive. I’ll get you out of here. I’ll get you out.”

Where to move the bodies?

There were two bodies that buried her and Ben moved them like a man on a mission. He moved them as best as he could, uncovering Lana, whose legs were still under someone.

She gasped, catching her breath and then coughed.

Ben sighed in relief and then reached for her, slipping his hand under her head. Her face was dirty and there was blood on it, although he didn’t know where it all came from. He was certain that the gash on her head supplied some of it. It was deep. “I’ll get you out.” He prepared to move her.

Lana then did something Ben couldn’t recall seeing her do in over ten years.

She cried.

Lana’s body shook and she audibly sobbed.

“Hey, it’s okay. I’ll get you out.”

She shook her head, crying harder.

“What is it, Baby, what is it?”

“My arm and I … I peed myself.”

Ben couldn’t help it. Perhaps it was the emotions. He was positive it had to be because he laughed. He laughed in relief and in gratefulness. He cupped her face, staring intently at her. “Baby, if that’s the worst that happened to you, then I am so grateful to God. It’ll be all right.” He planted his lips on her forehead. “It’ll be all right.”

Then Ben began to lift her out of there.

CHAPTER FOUR

It was a circle of protection, or at least a half circle of protection. That was Abby’s initial thought after emerging from car two. It was close, almost touching the wall of the tunnel, while the other train cars, smashed and overturned, surrounded it.

They over lapped.

The lead train car was compressed like a soda can and the last car was ripped apart. It and another car blocked the other end of tunnel completely.

She couldn’t even see the locomotive.

About 280 passengers were onboard the train, and from where Abby stood in a clearing amongst the wreckage, she counted maybe 30 people. In the hour or so since the crash only 30 people had come from the wreckage.

All of them were scared, moaning and crying. Some were hurt.

She felt helpless and didn’t know what to do.

He was trying not to cry and Harry knew it. Tyler stood by car two just staring at the overturned car, his little shoulders bouncing and the occasional sniffle emerging.

There was so much confusion. People were trying to see if they could get out. Others were going to wait patiently for the rescue crews.

But Harry focused on Tyler and he approached him from behind, laying a hand on his shoulder.

“Maybe he’ll be out, huh?” Tyler said.

“That what you’re waiting for?” Harry asked.

Tyler nodded. “That lady and guy came out.”

“And you’re right. You don’t know who else may emerge.”

“But what if he’s hurt and can’t.” Tyler looked up at Harry. “What if he’s hurt?”

“Tell ya' what.” Harry crouched down to Tyler’s level and did so with a grunt. “Do you remember what your dad was wearing?”

Tyler shook his head ‘no,’ and then stopped and nodded excitedly. “Yes. Yes. I do.”

“What was it?”

“He was wearing a blue shirt. I teased him that he looked like he worked at Best Buy.”

“Good. Good.” Harry squeezed his shoulder. “What kind of shirt was it? Was it long sleeved or short, business, tee shirt?”

Tyler shook his head. “Short sleeve, like the guys at Best Buy wear. Has a collar.”

“That helps. And what’s his name? Do you know his name?”

“It’s TJ.”

“Good.” Harry peered around and then he spotted him. After a short piercing whistle, he called out, “Foster.”

Foster came to an immediate halt. He was carrying what looked like two purses and a backpack. He set them down near a small pile of belongings.

“Yes sir?” Foster said.

“Can you help an old man up?” Harry raised his eyebrows.

“Sure.” Foster braced Harry’s elbow and aided him in standing.

“Thank you. I forget I just can’t get down and back up like I used to. What uh, what is that you’re up to?” Harry nodded his head to the pile.

“I’m not stealing or anything.”

“I didn’t say you were. I was just asking.”

“Well, kind of you know, grabbing what I can that’s lying around and seeing if we can find some food, water. Maybe stuff we can use for bandages. I originally went for my bag, but then I started thinking.”

“And that’s good thinking.”

Foster nodded. “It was embedded in me by my fifth foster father. He was one of those survivalist guys.”

“Well, Mr. Survival guy. How strong is your stomach?”

“Pretty strong, I guess. Why?”

“Somewhere in one of these twisted cars ….” Harry pointed. “My guess near the middle or end is the coffee car. Why don’t you take this little fella over there? Have him wait outside and you hand him water. Bet there’s some bottled water in that car and other stuff I suppose that ain’t so pretty. You may have to be pretty nimble.”

“Don’t know what that is.” Foster said.

“Wiry. Agile,” Harry explained.

“Oh, I can be that. Is that why you asked about the strong stomach?”

“That’s why I asked.”

“I’ll look.” Foster took hold of Tyler’s hand. “Come with me.”

“And Foster …” Harry called before he moved away. “Good thinking again on the purses and such. You may want to get some people to help finish that.”

“Yeah, it’ll be something to do until help arrives.”

Harry only nodded. As Foster and Tyler moved to the cars, Harry mumbled, “Yeah, until help arrives.” Then he turned to car two.

Ben found Lana a nice spot against the wall. He sat her next to an older woman who clutched her purse for dear life. The woman’s grey hair was dashed with red, her face dirty and her expression was shock.

Lana adjusted the way she sat.

“Comfortable?” Ben asked.

“I’m fine, thank you. How are you? Are you hurt?” she asked.

“Not at all. A scratch here and there, but that’s it. Look.” He set down the small green and yellow duffle bag. “That boy found your gym bag.”

She released an ‘oh’ as if the news of the bag was the greatest thing she had heard.

“I figured . . .” Ben opened it. “You may have something in here.”

“I do.” She reached in and grabbed a bottle of water. “I have two of these.”

Ben smiled. He reached inside and pulled out a sock.

“Oh, Ben, that’s dirty.”

“Who cares?” He poured some water on the sock and placed it on her head to wipe it clean.

Lana took a huge drink of the water and extended the bottle to Ben.

“No,” he said. “I’m good. You drink.”

Lana started to, but her eyes shifted to the old woman next to her.

The woman stared at Lana and Lana handed her the bottle.

She tried to smile and her lips mouthed the words ‘thank you’ as she took the bottle.

“That was nice,” Ben said.

She tried to joke, to make light of the heavy situation. “I wasn’t thinking. I’m sure if I did, I wouldn’t . . .” Lana’s eyes strayed.

“What? What’s wrong?”

Lana pointed. “What in the world is that old man up to? He’s going to get hurt.”

Ben turned and looked.

Eventually, Harry would make it up there. He was just having a hard time purchasing a footing on the tilted car.

“Sir?” Ben approached him. “Is everything all right?”

“Not really. If you can give me a boost I’d appreciate it.”

“You want a boost into there?” Ben asked.

“Yep.”

“Sir, I can’t let you do that.”

“Can’t let me do that?” Harry nodded. “Uh huh. And why is that?”

“Because you could get hurt. If you’re looking for something, wait until help arrives.”

Harry was mid attempt, leg lifted and he stopped. He moved closer to Ben and lowered his voice. “Help isn’t coming. Didn’t you notice that little odd thing where everyone’s phone went off at the same time?”

“Yeah, but . . .”

“Did yours ring?” Harry asked.

“Yes.” Ben nodded.

“Who was it?”

“My mom, but I couldn’t talk to her. The connection was bad.”

“How often does your mom call at 8:30 in the morning? Everyone’s phone was ringing. Something was happening. Something did happen, right there above us, and that’s why we crashed. Now I ain’t saying anything to anyone. I hope to God I’m wrong, but I’m not holding my breath waiting on help.”

“Okay, still.” Ben held up his hand. “You can’t go in there. You can get hurt. Or worse, something happen and you get killed.”

“Yeah, well, ain’t that a life is cut short at my age. No, son. I have to go in there. Not for me. But for him.” Harry pointed to Tyler who stood across the open area. “He needs to find his dad. He’s in this train and I’m gonna look for him. Better me than that little boy, right?”

Ben hesitated and then with an irritated and frustrated ‘fine,’ he reached for Harry. “I’ll help you in. But I’m going with you.”

It was starting to smell pretty bad in car number two. It was a sour smell caused by the blood mixed with spilled coffee and expelled bodily fluids.

But it was quiet.

The emergency light flickered and Ben gave a hard swat to it causing it to stay on.

“There ya’ go,” Harry said.

But somehow, Ben wished he didn’t get those lights on. Things looked worse in the light.

They could see the faces of those who had died.

There were looks of pain, fear, peace. Mouths open, pieces of faces missing.

It was a massacre.

And walking wasn’t easy.

They had to balance on the seats, using them as stepping stones.

“TJ!” Harry called. “TJ, you hear me?”

“TJ?” Ben joined in calling.

“TJ!”

Cough.

They stopped. Harry turned to Ben. “Where’d that come from?”

Ben shook his head. “Whoever coughed, cough again.”

Whoever it was tried, but it was strained and painful.

“Oh my God,” was Ben’s reaction when he finally saw him.

No one saw him before, not just because it was dark, but because no one looked up.

He was at the far end, pinned almost to the ceiling by a large piece of metal that protruded through his chest.

Harry didn’t need to know the man; he knew who he was by the well described blue shirt.

It was TJ.

Ben and Harry rushed as fast and carefully as they could to TJ.

TJ coughed and choked. “My … my son.”

“Tyler is fine,” Harry said. “Don’t worry. He’s just fine.”

TJ closed his eyes and released a single sob.

Ben examined the wound. “This goes right through him.”

“We need to get him down.”

“He’s not gonna make it if we remove the object.”

Harry whispered, “He’s not gonna make it either way. Go . . . go get a couple of the men out there. Let’s get him down and out of here.”

“Do you . . .” Ben strained to keep his voice low. “Do you really think that little boy needs to see his father like this?”

“No.” Harry shook his head. “But this man needs to see his son one last time, and that boy does need to say goodbye to his father. Trust me. Now go. Go get help.”

Ben took a deep breath and reluctantly agreed, finding his way out of that car.

Harry reached up and grabbed TJ’s hand. “I’m right here. Help’s on the way. You hold tight. OK.”

TJ barely opened his eyes. “I’ll try.”

“That’s right; you try for that boy of yours. You try.” Harry squeezed his hand. “It’ll be just fine. You’ll see. It’ll be just fine.”

Harry said those words with the utmost assurance to TJ, even though he knew from the bottom of his heart that they were far from the truth.

It took six men.

Two held TJ to the wall, two pulled out the metal and two were on hand to catch him when he fell.

They had to move fast, though. The second the impaled object was removed from his chest it was like unplugging a kiddy pool.

Everything just gushed out.

The wound went straight through.

TJ cried out in pain, but he lacked the strength to produce a loud cry.

He was weak and growing weaker by the second.

Using a dead man’s suit coat, they covered the front wound and carried him as best as they could to the door of the car.

Harry reiterated that they had to be quick and lay him down right away. They may have covered the gaping hole in his chest but there was no way to conceal the exit wound or the bones and ligament that hung from that hole.

Take him out, keep him covered and set him down.

That was the plan.

“And we found thirty-two bottles of water,” Tyler said excitedly to Abby. “I counted them.”

“Good for you.” She glanced at Foster. “Was this all?”

“For now, but I’m sure there’s more. It was kind of gross in there and I …”

“I understand,” Abby said. “Tyler, you’ll help me go through these things too, right?” she pointed to the purses and bags. “Maybe we can find useful items. We need other things besides food and water, like medication.”

“Sure,” Tyler said. “I’m a good finder. My mom used to tell me …” his eyes grew wide. “Dad?” He took a step and ran off as fast as he could yelling, “Dad!”

“Easy now, easy,” Harry instructed as the men gently placed TJ on the ground. “There you go. Thank you.”

“Dad!” Tyler broke through the wall of men, stopping cold in his tracks and immediately turning pale. His voice quivered and an abundance of sadness took over his voice. “Dad.”

Ben rubbed the corner of his eyes with his forefinger and thumb, and then extended a hand to Harry. “You did well.”

“Me? No, you. Thank you.” He gave Ben a firm handshake.

Ben nodded. “I’m gonna head back over with my wife.”

“That’s a smart thing,” Harry said. Then finally, he looked down at Tyler who was kneeling by his father.

“What happened to my father?”

“You father ... well, son, he was hurt pretty bad.” Harry strained and knelt down by Tyler.

“Will he be okay?”

Harry exhaled. “Sometimes things aren’t within our control. This is out of our control.”

Tyler sobbed and grabbed his father’s hand. He started to move the coat.

Harry stopped him. “Just . . . let that alone and look at your dad. Talk to him. All right?” Don’t worry about his injury.”

“Yes sir.”

“Now, listen to me.” Harry laid his hand on Tyler’s back. “I’m gonna give you some time with your father. You hold his hand and tell him you love him. Maybe share a story, okay?”

Sniffling, Tyler nodded.

Harry grabbed on to the train for support and started to stand.

“Mister?” Tyler called for him.

“Yes.”

“I’m scared.”

“I know.” Harry laid his hand on the boy’s head.

“Will you stay here with me?”

Tight lipped, Harry nodded and said, “Of course.” And he lowered himself back to the ground.

***

Lana had moved.

Not much, but away from the old woman, and she sat by herself against the wall. Others were gathered in small groups. Not Lana. When he moved closer to her, he saw why she had moved.

She had scooted away to change.

“You put your workout clothes on,” Ben said. “Now’s not the time for vanity. I know you hate being dirty.”

“It’s nothing to do with vanity.” Lana rummaged through her bag. “I was very uncomfortable. My shirt was bloody and if . . . no, when I have to help out, it’s a lot easier to do so in jogging pants than a skirt and wet pantyhose.”

“True.”

“Here.” She handed him a wetted tee shirt. “Wipe off your face; you have a lot of blood on it.”

“Thank you.”

“That was . . . I was … I was proud that you went into that train.”

“I was doing what I had to do.”

“You always do. You found his father.”

“We … we found his father, yes.”

“How bad was he?” Lana asked.

Ben only shook his head.

Lana peered around him to see Tyler. “That poor boy.”

“Makes me kind of glad right now we never had any kids.”

Lana bit her lip and gave a soft look to Ben. “I have a secret. I have never been glad we didn’t have kids.”

“Neither have I.”

There was a quiet moment.

Ben handed her the tee shirt. “How’s the head?”

“It’s fine.” Lana’s hand was in the bag. She stopped and smiled. “Ah.”

Ben tilted his head in curiosity. “What?”

“My cigarettes.”

“I thought you quit smoking.”

“I did. But occasionally, I have one or two when I go out with the girls for a drink.” She pulled one from the pack, found her lighter and lit the cigarette. It was apparent that she enjoyed that long hit and took another, releasing the smoke slowly. “Ben. Do you think we’ll get out of here?”

“Yes,” Ben answered quickly and without hesitation. “Yes we will. It may take some time, but we’ll get out. And then we’ll be back to our normal lives of not liking each other.”

Lana softly chuckled and rested her head on Ben’s shoulder.

Ben drew silent.

Immediately he thought about what Harry had said about no one coming and about the phones ringing. But he didn’t say anything to Lana because if he said it, it would make it real and Ben didn’t want that possibility to be real.

The scream filled the tunnel.

It wasn’t a scream made by someone scared; it was a cry of hurt made by a little boy. So much went into his single cry, “No!” It was filled with emotion, filled with sadness and with the revelation that his father was gone.

It echoed across the tunnel and there was not a soul who didn’t lower his head.

He yelled his father’s name two or three times before finally sobbing.

Abby wanted to go to him, wrap her arms around him, but the child found solace in the embrace of the elderly man who had never left his side.

He was probably better than Abby would ever be.

Truth be known, Abby wasn’t in the right frame of mind.

She questioned why she didn’t die in that crash. Why the little boy’s father had to go when Abby had no one to live for.

Abby would have gladly traded places with the father.

But for some cruel reason known only to fate, she was still alive and probably, aside from Foster, the least injured.

After Tyler’s father had passed on, the boy’s sobs softened. Abby threw herself into work.

No one else really wanted to except for Foster. He, too, wanted to stay busy.

They had a mound of purses and backpacks and briefcases.

They had found Ibuprofen and handed it out to those who needed it. They also passed out the water.

Foster divided up any and all food items that he found, including things from the coffee café.

Abby found herself following the teenage boy’s lead of passing out small amounts of food.

She didn’t want to be a worker or a Florence Nightingale; Abby would have preferred to go to a corner and sit there like everyone else, waiting. But she couldn’t.

She just couldn’t sit still.

Maybe later she would.

Time just seemed to drag.

When she thought about that, she thought about time and Abby walked over to the huge pile of cell phones that she and Foster collected. She sat on the floor by them.

What time was it? Surely a cell phone would tell her. There were so many.

Anyone who came across a cell phone tossed it in the pile.

A lot were broken but most were not.

Abby picked up a phone and looked at it. She pressed buttons to get it to light up and when it did, the words on the screen simply said, ‘searching for a signal.’

She grabbed another phone.

It was the same.

Every phone she lifted had nothing but a lit screen with those same words.

No signal at all. No indication of the time of day.

“Does anyone have the time?” Abby asked. “Is anyone wearing a watch?”

Somebody, she didn’t know who, called out, ‘Seven fifteen.’

Her mouth dropped open. “Seven fifteen?” She questioned softly then stood. Eyes focused ahead, Abby walked away from everyone. She moved past the coffee car, the smashed remains of cars five and six and stood by the last train car that blocked the other side of the tunnel.

That train car formed a wall.

“Is everything okay?” Foster asked.

Abby gasped and grabbed her chest. “Yes, why?”

“Well, you walked all the way over here like you saw something.”

Abby shook her head ‘no.’

“Then you’re fine.”

“It’s seven-fifteen.”

“I heard that.”

“No. Listen.” She leaned against the train wreckage. “Just listen.”

Foster did. “I don’t hear anything.”

“Exactly. Nothing. Just quiet. No noise. No saws or jack hammers. No welding. Nothing. It’s seven fifteen. We crashed ten hours ago.” She turned and faced Foster with a look of deep concern. “Where are the rescue crews?”

CHAPTER FIVE

The morning came but it was hard to tell. The tunnel was dark, and the emergency lighting had started to dim.

Most slept and waited for help to arrive.

It took Tyler most of the night to leave his father’s side. That was fine with Harry; he wasn’t rushing the boy, not at all.

He and Tyler moved away from the body. Harry covered TJ as best as he could and then sat with the boy off to the side. Then Harry watched.

Harry was a watcher.

He watched people.

The one woman, Abby, paced a lot, sat down and then paced again. But to Harry she looked indifferent. Almost as if she carried a huge burden and the train wreck was easy compared to what she had to face.

The man, Ben, who had helped Harry with TJ stayed close to his wife.

But to Harry, that teenage boy, Foster, had it the most together.

He was thinking at an incredible rate. The fact that he mentioned ‘third foster’ father told Harry that he had to be fast on his feet. He had obviously moved around a lot.

About four in the morning, Foster came from the south, the route that they had entered the tunnel. He informed Harry that it was completely blocked. He managed to slip through a six inch opening between a train and the wall, only to find more wreckage. He didn’t know how far it went back, but it was impossible to get through.

So Foster went north.

Harry looked at his watch. The teenager had been gone for nearly three hours, and Harry was getting worried.

The coffee café worker, a boy not even out of college, had some good theories to ease people’s minds on why the rescue workers hadn’t arrived.

There was a train behind theirs and, confirmed by Foster, that wrecked as well.

Café guy also said there was one in front of the 141. They were in the middle of all that wreckage. No matter which side, north or south, rescue workers were going to take time.

Each person had to ration water, and food would have to be rationed as well.

Wait it out. That it could be days was the general consensus.

But Harry kept going back to the fact that every phone had rung.

They all rang at the same time.

He recalled in his lifetime one other time that something like that happened.

Harry had to head to the main headquarters in the city that day. He was actually on his way there, when he stopped to get a coffee and was running late. In the coffee shop, everyone’s phones started to ring at the same time. The phones rang, texted messages bleeped. That was September 11. What happened on that train with the phones reminded Harry of that day.

There was also the triple boom that Abby swore she heard.

Then again, that could have been more wreckage.

Harry could sit there and think all he wanted, but there was nothing he could do about it until he knew if there was a way out.

For that, he counted on Foster.

Foster was gone a long while.

He glanced down at Tyler who had finally fallen asleep on his lap and then Harry searched for Ben. In a whisper, so as not to disturb too many people, Harry called, “Ben. Ben.”

It took Ben a few seconds and then he acknowledged Harry with a nod. He made his way over. “Everything ok?” Ben asked.

“I’m worried about that Foster boy.”

“Who?”

“The young black kid,” Harry explained. “He went up that way …” Harry pointed. “And that was a while ago.”

“Think he might be in trouble?” Ben asked.

“I’m worried.”

“Maybe he found a way out and is getting help.”

“That’s a possibility too,” Harry said. “But he’s a kid, Ben.”

Ben looked at his watch. “Okay.” He nodded. “Tell you what. We’ll give him until 7:30 and then I’ll go and look for him.”

“Thank you.”

Ben started to move back to his spot with his wife when it was evident he didn’t need to chase Foster.

Foster had slipped through. Oddly enough, he had a smile on his face.

Ben turned. “What’s going on? You okay?”

“I’m fine. I’m fine.” Foster took a deep breath. “I found a way out.”

***

“No. No. No. No. No.” A man named Leon, argued adamantly. “I say we stay right here. Stay put. We have cases of water, some food. We’re good. It won’t be much longer until they arrive to get us out.”

“And what if they don’t?” a woman asked. “Then what?”

Ben jumped in. “If we wait here and use up our supplies and then try to find our way out, we won’t have water for the trek or food. According to Foster, it’s not a short jaunt. We have to go up and around the wreckage and then we’ll hit a clear area. We still don’t know if that will lead us anywhere. We may have to turn around and come back. But if it does, it’s still another mile or two until we hit something near Penn Station.”

Foster added, “We’d have to take the old tunnels, the ones not used, once we get to the junction. We can’t take the chance of being on the tracks and having a train or sub coming. I know these tunnels well. I’ve run away down here enough times.”

Leon held out his hand. “There you have it. Let’s listen to the runaway.”

“At least…” Harry said, “he knows the tunnels and had the guts and motivation to find us a way out. And … damn it, he didn’t need to backtrack here. He could have kept going.

“Why didn’t you?” Leon asked. “Why didn’t you keep going for help?”

“I didn’t want to go out there alone. I didn’t know if people would take me seriously. I came back for him.” He pointed to Harry. “I was gonna drag him with me.”

“Can I make that journey?” Harry asked. “The climbing and stuff?”

“Yeah,” Foster nodded. “I’ll help you.”

“I will too.” Abby stepped forward. “I’ll go too.”

Leon raised his voice, “I say we stay. We have injured who won’t make it that far.”

Ben said, “That’s a very valid point.”

“How about this,” Harry spoke up. “You,” he indicated to Leon, “are obviously in good health and physical shape. You want to stay put. Coffee boy over there also doesn’t want to go anywhere. How about you two stay behind with the injured and of course anyone else who’d rather stay behind? And those of us who want to go can take just what we need and leave you guys the rest. We’ll go and we’ll get help. How’s that?”

“That …That will work,” Leon said and nodded. “You’ll stay back with us, right?”

“Oh, balls no.” Harry shook his head. “I’m going. I don’t think there is a rescue crew coming.”

“You’re crazy.”

“Maybe I am,” Harry shrugged. “But I’m not gonna stick around to find out if I was right.” Harry winked and went off to find Tyler.

He wasn’t going to make the boy go, but if he wanted to Harry would be happy to have him along.

CHAPTER SIX

It was more than likely going to be a hindrance, but Harry had to bring the box with him. It was more than just a gift he had to give to his friend. The box and its contents could not be replaced. In fact, it was important to generations, not just to an old navy buddy.

So he brought it along.

Ben had grabbed an emergency light and rigged it as best as he could. He explained that he didn’t know how long it would last, but hoped it would until they emerged.

Ten of them left the group in search of a way out and help for the others.

Hours perhaps at tops they would get to an area where they’d find someone, anyone to help them get out.

Harry envisioned what he believed was waiting on them. Not that he didn’t think they’d find help for the others, they would, but he believed what had happened was on a lot larger scale.

Maybe another building blew up, or a terror attack hit the city.

He envisioned emergency workers everywhere. The train station stood a chance of being sealed off or closed down.

They’d emerge, dirty and dusty, blankets would be wrapped around them, and they’d be given a once over for medical reasons.

That was Harry’s vision.

Of course, as they walked and climbed, Harry wondered why rescue workers couldn’t make it from that end. Something had to have happened up in the city.

Harry trudged on.

The next mound of twisted metal was about four feet high; parts of the train formed a semi stepping stone for him. He placed the box on top and stepped up.

Harry had to pause. It was a strain and he started losing his breath. He didn’t realize how winded he was until that moment.

His eyes lifted to the small dirty hand that extended to him.

“You need some help, Harry?” Tyler asked.

Harry smiled. “Tell you what. Take that box, will you? I’ll be fine.”

“You sure?”

“Yeah, I’m fine. Just taking a moment.”

Harry didn’t want to take too long. The last thing he wanted was for the others to feel he was dragging them down or some old pain in the ass. After a brief break, Harry climbed up and over that portion of wreckage.

Lana saw it. She was certain the others did too, but no one was saying anything.

She was tired herself, not so tired that she couldn’t go on, but she knew that Harry needed to stop for a few minutes to rest.

With a heavy exhale as she made it over the latest obstacle, Lana plopped down with her bag. “Let’s stop for a few minutes please.”

Ben walked over to her and whispered, “Are you all right?”

“Yeah.” She then nodded her head toward Harry.

Ben looked. Foster led the way by a good ten feet, Abby and another woman were keeping up, but Harry and Tyler were far behind them.

Ben hollered, “Foster! Hold up.”

Foster stopped and turned round. “The other tunnel isn’t that far.”

“Yeah, I know. But let’s break for a little,” Ben said. “None of us knows what’s beyond that last tunnel and we’re not gonna be any good if we’re worn out and have to face something unexpected.”

Foster shrugged and turned around and led Abby and the other woman back to the group.

It seemed most of them welcomed the break and chance to stop.

Tyler plopped down next to Harry. “Don’t tell anyone, but I’m glad we stopped.”

“Me too,” Harry replied.

“My legs hurt.”

“Mine too.”

Tyler pulled out his blue book bag. “I still have a peanut butter sandwich left.” He pulled the small plastic bag out. The sandwich was smashed and Tyler retrieved it from its plastic covering. He broke off a piece and handed it to Harry.

“I’m good. You eat it.”

“You sure?”

“Yes. Eat.”

Tyler didn’t. He stood and walked over to Ben and Lana. His little hand extended a small piece to Lana.

“Oh, honey, thank you. You eat it,” she said.

“No one wants a piece of my sandwich. I don’t usually share.”

Ben held out his hand. “I’ll take a piece, buddy, and thank you very much.”

Tyler smiled as he placed the piece in the man’s hand. “Anyone else?” he called out.

There were two other takers and Tyler felt better about eating the rest of the sandwich.

Harry rubbed the boy’s head when he returned to sit next to him.

“So, Ben,” Harry called over to him. “What do you do for a living?”

“I’m a theater manager on Broadway.”

“You don’t say.” Harry nodded, impressed. “How about you Ben’s wife?”

“Lana,” she said. “I’m a fashion editor.”

“Boy you look like one,” Harry said. “What about you, Foster? Got a job at McDonalds?”

Foster laughed. “No, I actually work in theater, too.”

Ben peered over at him. “Really?”

“Yeah. The movie theater, that is. I was working weekends at the Plex.”

Lana snapped her fingers. “I thought I recognized you. I go there all the time by myself.” She shot a look at Ben.

Ben shrugged. “I don’t like movies.”

Then Harry turned to Abby. “What about you?”

“I don’t work,” Abby answered.

“How long have you lived in America?” Harry questioned.

“Not long. Not even a year.” Abby spoke softly and shifted uncomfortably over being the center of attention for the moment.

Lana asked, “Are you between jobs? Or are you a homemaker?”

“Neither, right now.” Abby lowered her head. “I was a homemaker. Now I have no home to make.” She sniffed. “My husband and son were killed a few months ago. Now instead of working, I spend my days wanting to die.” She stood. “And here …” she held out her hand, “I was given a perfect opportunity and I missed it.”

Her words drew an awkward silence from the others.

Harry felt those words; he knew those words. With the help of Tyler he stood. “Well, it hurts like hell to lose a spouse. I know that. And there’s no pain greater than losing a child. I know that one, too.” He walked over to her and laid a hand on her arm. “I hope you find your peace one way or another.”

His simple touch brought an abundance of feelings to her that she couldn’t sift through. She gripped his hand and whispered, “Thank you.”

Harry nodded. “Well, Lana, you rested?”

Lana rose. “Rested and ready.”

“Good,” Harry said. “Let’s head on out. Foster?”

“Yes, Mr. Hayward?”

Harry winced. “Harry, call me Harry. What’s your estimate? What do you think?”

“Not long. We should hit the abandoned tunnel soon enough. But that’s as far as I got.”

“Then we’ll go even farther.” Harry noticed both Lana and Ben had their phones out. “Playing with those again, I see. Anything?” he asked.

Ben shook his head. “No, we’ll check again in a little bit. Lana? Anything?”

“Me neither.” She shut off her phone and put it in her bag.

Ben powered down his, as well. “Doesn’t hurt to keep trying though.”

“Good. But, uh…” Harry gave an up motion to his head. “Who you gonna call when you get a signal?”

Ben laughed as he put his phone in his pocket. “I haven’t even thought of that. Why?”

Harry shrugged. “Just wondering.”

Waiting on Foster to take the lead again, Harry, box in one arm and a hand on Tyler, continued on with the rest of the group.

And like the rest of the group, he was hopeful that it wouldn’t be long before they emerged.

CHAPTER SEVEN

It started out with just one. Tyler chimed out an ‘ew’ to make the announcement that he saw the dead rat.

“Ignore it,” Harry told him. “We’re in an old tunnel.”

No one thought much about the tunnel at all. The fact that it was dark was expected, but no one seemed surprised that there was no sound, not a single sound except for their footsteps.

Then the one rat turned into several, then dozens and that was when they took notice.

The light in the distance was small but it was a goal for them. But as they drew closer to the destination, the frequency and intensity of dead rats increased.

Harry knew right away that something was wrong. “Foster, bring me that light.”

Foster did.

Harry crouched down and illuminated the rat. “What in heaven’s name?”

Ben crouched down, as well. “They all look alike.”

“Yeah,” Harry said. “Never seen anything like it.”

“Were they poisoned?”

“City ain’t wasting their time on cleaning up the sewer rats, not yet. They were all running here from somewhere.” Harry moved the light. “The little ones, those that were faster, made it farther before they died. These bigger ones didn’t get as far.”

While some rats were on their sides, some were on their backs and they all had an arched body appearance, as if they had contorted in death. Their arms and legs were reaching out, their mouths wide open and each rat had a pool of blood around its head.

“Something bigger happened,” Harry spoke low, placed his hand on Ben’s shoulder and used him as leverage to stand.

“Like what you were saying before? Like an event?”

Harry nodded.

“You think there was a gas attack or a chemical attack?”

Harry shook his head. “I don’t know. I do think we need to haul ass out of this tunnel in case whatever killed these rats is still lingering.”

“Good idea,” Ben said. “You okay to pick up the pace?”

“Walking to get out is one thing, running to save my life is something else. I can do it.”

“Good.” Ben turned and raised his voice for the benefit of the group. “Hey everyone, we need to pick up the pace. Move as fast as we can. In fact, if you can, put your shirt over your nose and mouth.”

Tyler spoke in a muffled voice, his shirt over his nose. “I did that already; it smells.”

“Foster, set the pace,” Ben instructed.

“You got it.” Foster retrieved the light from Harry, peered down at the rats and started moving.

Abby walked alongside a woman named Monica. Neither of them said much as they held their shirts tightly over their noses and mouths. They moved at the pace Foster set but it was starting to get uncomfortable and tiring.

But worse than that, with each step Abby could feel the crush and squish of the dead rodents beneath her feet. There was no getting used to it at all. She shuddered inside, wanting to gag, knowing exactly what the feeling was.

But she trudged on. It wasn’t much farther. The tunnel had started to lighten, which wasn’t all that much of a good thing because she could actually see the rats more clearly.

“What killed them?” Lana asked as she walked alongside Ben.

“I don’t know.”

“Harry thinks something big happened above. Do you?”

“I’m starting to think that. I mean . . . where are the trains? Where’s the noise? Yeah, we’re in the old tunnels, but still, we should hear something.”

“I know. It could be a terror attack on the railways. You know how many people they can affect by doing that.”

“Hasn’t that been dinner conversation one too many times,” Ben said.

“Oh God,” Lana moaned.

“What?”

“I stepped on another one. I’m trying not to, but I can’t help it.”

“Just try not to think about it.” Ben stopped and faced her. “Lana, there is something I do need you to think about.”

“What’s that?”

“What we may face. If it was a railway hit or something right above, there may not be rescue workers cheering for us when we emerge. Okay? But it could be bad.”

Lana nodded. “After looking at those rats, I really am preparing for anything.”

Foster released an enthusiastic, “We made it!” and picked up his pace. “There’s a ladder that we can use to climb to the ledge. But be care …” he said as he ran. “There’s a…” his voice trailed off and the last word dropped to a whisper, “Train.”

“What was that?” Harry asked.

“There’s a train on the tracks,” Foster said. But he figured it wouldn’t be long before everyone saw that the train wasn’t moving. In fact, it was dark. The entire platform was darker, lit only by emergency lighting.

Foster waited at the rungs.

“Go on,” Harry said, bent over some catching his breath. “You go first.”

Abby spoke up, “It’s awfully quiet. They must have evacuated the station.”

“Go on.” Harry nudged Foster. “I want to get up there too.”

“Okay.” Foster had a bad feeling, he really did. In fact there was a weird smell that permeated the air and grew stronger with each step he took. He climbed the rungs and closed his eyes as he reached the platform. Because he knew what he was going to find.

His throat seemed to close and his heart dropped to his stomach. Suddenly, he was slammed with emotions that he couldn’t decipher. The sight left him unable to breathe. “Oh, God,” he cried. “Oh, my God.”

His hand shot to his mouth. He knew he was going to vomit and he tried with everything he had to keep it in. “Don’t … don’t …” he was trying to say not to let Tyler up on the platform, but instead of words, vomit shot from his mouth.

His regurgitation was over fast because he hadn’t eaten much and, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand, Foster turned, looking left and to right. The platform seemed to spin around him.

It was a nightmare. It had to be. It felt surreal.

Everywhere he looked there were people.

Whatever had happened, it had to have happened during rush hour because there were so many people on that platform. Men, women and children were lying everywhere.

Foster’s mouth stayed open as every face seemed to zoom into him.

There was a woman whose eyes had bled and her eyeballs were nearly out of their sockets. Blood encircled her head and, just like the rats, her face was sunken in, mouth wide open and she had a horrendous look of agony on her face.

Her body was curled as if she had died in the middle of convulsions.

In fact, everyone looked the same.

How long had Foster stood there, staring at it all in total shock? A minute, maybe less was all before a deep blood curdling scream snapped him out of it and he spun around to see Monica holding her mouth.

Abby emerged next, gasped in horror and then repeated Foster’s reactions and immediately threw up. Then the two other men came up.

Their reactions were the same.

Foster flew to the platform.

He was out of breath and peered down as Harry was helping Tyler climb. “Don’t let him up here. Someone cover his eyes. Please, cover his eyes.”

Harry asked, “What … what happened?”

Foster began to cry. His shoulders bounced with his sobs and he could barely talk. “They’re all dead.”

Lana backed up.

Ben’s eyes focused on Harry and Tyler.

Tyler looked so confused.

Ben turned Tyler from the ladder and braced his shoulders. “Look, I know you’re a big guy, if Foster says it’s bad, it might be too bad for you to see. How about I hold ya, you bury your head on my shoulder and I run us out of here?”

Tyler nodded.

“But first I need you to get up that ladder. You climb and when you get to the top, close your eyes tight, then turn around and face me. Okay?”

“Okay.” Tyler nodded, his lips quivering.

“Now you go.”

Harry stood by the ladder. “How bad is it?”

“My stomach wasn’t strong enough,” Foster replied. He stared down waiting on Tyler.

Ben was behind him.

Lana inched into Harry. “I don’t want to do this.”

“Just … just look ahead and don’t look around.” Harry instructed. “That’s all I can tell you. That’s what I’m going to do.”

Tyler’s eyes were closed tight. He could smell something really bad, but he was afraid to even look. If the grownups were scared, then he was too.

With Foster’s help he reached the level and turned around as Ben had instructed.

No sooner had he opened his eyes than Ben was rising from the ladder.

No amount of tears or warning prepared Ben for what he saw the moment he emerged eye level on that platform.

The magnitude of death before him was more than he even imagined.

He scooped Tyler up into his arms, held tight to the back of Tyler’s head and darted across the platform to the escalators. It was like a maze. He couldn’t run; he had to nearly tiptoe. It was worse than the rats. People took up every square inch, bodies over lapping.

But unlike the rats, Ben couldn’t bring himself to step on a body. He nearly tripped several times.

He arrived at the escalators which were not moving.

There was a pile of people at the bottom; they had apparently just fallen backwards. People hung over the railing and lay on the escalator steps.

He took the stairs instead; there was a lot less carnage there.

Surfacing topside to the main terminal, it wasn’t any better. There were just as many, if not more, bodies there.

Ben tried not to look, but he couldn’t help it.

None of them looked as if they had just dropped dead in the middle of what they were doing. Every person appeared to have been running or trying to get somewhere. Their faces all held looks of horror, as if they all had struggled for their lives.

Ben sought the salvation of the front doors. He could see the sunlight.

Out there it had to be better. Outside there had to be help, he thought. With Tyler in his arms he ran to the doors. But he didn’t have to open them; there wasn’t any glass, none at all.

Ben stepped through and the sunlight blinded him as if he had been in a dark movie theater.

He kept blinking to adjust. But one thing he knew for certain, there were no more sounds outside than there were in the tunnel. No cars, no birds, no horns or people. He didn’t have to see anymore to know something was very wrong.

When Ben’s eyesight finally adjusted to the light, Ben wished he couldn’t see.

***

Lana didn’t need help getting across the platform to the stairs, but she stayed close to Harry, directly against his back, hiding her face against him to keep from seeing. It was just like what she used to do with Ben when they were younger and would go to those haunted houses.

Harry was quiet as he trudged forward.

Was he scared she wondered? He didn’t say a word. Not a word.

There were three other men there, but Abby stuck close to Foster. The woman, Monica, was hysterical and needed help from others to even move.

Yes, she had vomited, that was Abby’s initial reaction, but she felt calm. It actually scared her how calm she felt. Had life made her so numb that nothing fazed her? Not even the massive amount of death around her?

By the time she reached the top level, there wasn’t anything she’d see that would surprise her. Or so she thought.

She believed that until she stepped outside.

Harry stopped about fifteen feet from the doors.

“What is it?” Lana asked.

“The sun is gonna be bright. You might want to shield your eyes.”

Lana nodded. “Harry, what do you think we’ll see out there?”

“Do you want my honest opinion?”

“Yes, I do.”

“Can you see your husband out there? He’s a shadow.”

“Yes.”

“What is he doing?” Harry asked. “He’s sitting down on the ground holding Tyler. At least that’s what it looks like.”

“Oh my God, it’s worse out there then.”

Harry only gave her a knowing look.

“Do I even want to go out there?”

“Do you have a choice?”

Lana shook her head.

Harry held out his hand. “Take it. It’s just as hard for me as it is for you.”

Lana laid her hand in his and Harry gripped it.

Together they walked outside to see what everyone else had already witnessed.

CHAPTER EIGHT

If a person kept their eyes straight ahead, Harry supposed everything looked normal. But shift them an inch and clearly life as they knew it, at least in New York, was different.

“Let the child see,” Harry told Ben. “He doesn’t have a choice anymore.”

Ben slowly turned Tyler from him, whispering that it would be okay. Tyler looked around.

“What happened? I don’t understand.” Tyler said. “Did the terrorists get us?”

“I think,” Harry walked to him and pulled him close. “I think this may be a bit more than terrorists.”

They had emerged in front of Madison Square Garden. Cars were everywhere, blocking the streets. Almost all of them had their doors open and people must have staggered out and died.

Bodies overlapped everywhere; it was the train station spilled onto the sidewalks.

A thick layer of broken glass, like a blanket of snow covered the streets.

But the eerie part was the sky line.

The smaller buildings, with the exception of broken windows, were unscathed. The taller ones were blackened on top and from where they stood they saw at least on divot in the skyline. It had happened between two skyscrapers.

Chunks of the buildings were gone. The remains were blackened. The buildings were crumbling not smoking. It was as if hell had been unleashed and took a fiery bite out of the buildings.

Breathless, Foster spoke, “Is this what nuclear war does?”

Harry shook his head. “Nah, there’d be nothing left.”

Foster chuckled sarcastically, “And this is better?”

Harry just shook his head. They stood in the street like tourists taking it all in. But he knew they had to pause and sort things out and then figure out what they were going to do next.

***

Because it was closed to the public, the group slipped into the Madison Square Garden where they saw only a minimal number of bodies.

Ben had placed Tyler on top of one of the concession counters as he went behind it. “So we can rule out nuclear attack, obviously. And radiation didn’t do this to these people.” He grabbed a bag of chips and gave it to Tyler. He then handed him a bottle of juice.

Lana added, “And this is obviously, like Harry said, bigger than a terrorist attack.”

“Biological?” Abby asked. “Chemical.”

“Could be chemical,” Harry said. “Biological weapons tend to generate illness, mass hysteria. Some people near the drop site may have gone all at once, but I don’t think everyone would have. Now a chemical agent … maybe it could cause what we saw.”

“How would they disperse it all at once?” Abby asked.

Harry fluttered his lips. “Maybe use a bomb. Again, thinking back to the cold war days, they did have missiles laced with chemical weapons. Whoever did this wanted the whole area wiped out at once.”

From the back of the group, almost as if he were speaking to himself, a man named Brendan spoke up. “Thermobaric. It had to be some form of Thermo baric weaponry.”

Everyone turned and looked at him. He was standing in the back eating from a bag of chips.

“It wasn’t nuclear or anything like that. There are no flames. It was like the people were snuffed out,” he said. “A chunk of that building is gone. I heard explosions three of them.”

“So did I,” Abby said.

“Yeah,” Brendan nodded. “So obviously there were at least three of those bombs. We just can’t see where the other ones hit. They would have to have hit New York with three in order to get it all. In fact, there may have been a fourth and we didn’t hear or maybe even more.” He shrugged. “Center, North, South and East.”

Harry blinked a few times taking in what he had said. “Okay. You’re just rattling off. What the heck is that? It sounds familiar.”

“Thermobaric,” Brendan said. “Small versions were used in the Iraqi war. Larger versions for cities such as New York were designed during the Cold war. Their purpose was to wipe out people and do minimal damage to structures and plant life. Not sure about the scientific angle, but they were designed to explode in the air, make some kind of pressure wave and somehow burn all the oxygen out of the air.”

Ben released an “Ah’ and nodded. “ I heard about those. Bunker bombs.”

“Yeah,” Brendan said. “Small ones are called that. Anyhow, theoretically anyone near the blast is incinerated. But for those who are at a distance, the air heats up so much it expands, creates a vacuum, the lungs rupture and living things like people suffocate. That’s why everyone’s eyes and ears were bleeding. That’s why their mouths were open and they all look like they were panicking.”

Lana’s head dropped. “They suffered.”

“Probably they suffered horrendously. The human rights people tried to have them banned,” Brendan added. “They say it doesn’t affect the brain so the victim is aware the whole time that they are dying. They called it inhumane. As if any other explosive isn’t. They all are inhumane.”

Harry gave Brendan a quirky look. “How the heck do you know all this? Are you in the army?”

Brendan shook his head. ‘No, they had a whole series about the weapons of the Cold War on the History Channel.”

“I’ll be damned,” Harry said. “I always skipped those programs.”

“This has to be bigger than New York,” Ben said. “If it were just New York, we’d hear helicopters looking for people. Someone hit the US and hit it big.”

“We can’t know what happened. There’s no electricity so there’s no television.” Lana said.

Harry snapped his fingers. “Radios. Car radios. One of them has to be working.”

With a flurry of excited voices, everyone raced outside.

***

“Found one!” Foster called out. He was sitting in a cab. “The battery is not dead.” He fiddled with the radio as everyone gathered around. Finally he hit music. It was the end of a 1970’s song.

“Where’s the news?” Harry asked.

“Good morning, New York and that was the Rascals,” the disc jockey said. “Beautiful Spring Morning. Hey, let’s hit another season with the Mama’s and the Papa’s.”

‘All the leaves are brown, the leaves are brown. And the sky is grey. And the sky is grey …. .’

Foster raised an eyebrow. “Something isn’t right.”

“Try another station,” Ben suggested.

“I went for a walk. I went for a walk. On a winter’s day.”

Foster turned the tuner and every station was playing the same song at the same time. “Oh, this is screwed up.”

‘California Dreaming’

Foster shut it off.

“The frequencies been hijacked,” Harry said. “This isn’t good. We need to head out of the city.”

“What about those left in the tunnel?” Lana asked. “We said we’d send help.”

“I can go back,” Foster said.

“No,” Brendan interjected. “I’ll go. I mean we’ll go.” He pointed to two other men. “We already talked about this.”

“Are you sure?” Ben asked.

“Yeah.” Brendan nodded. “We’ll head down there now. We’ll get them out of the city. You guys get to the outskirts and see if any survivors are there and if you can get out.”

Another man added. “It’ll be easier going to get them and bringing them out because we know what we’re facing.”

Ben extended his hand to Brendan. “Good luck to you.”

“You, too.” Brendan shook his hand, and then turned to Harry. “Good luck.”

“This is a good thing you’re doing, son. And thank you for the info on those bombs.”

“Not a problem.” Brendan nodded. He turned to the men who would go with him, instructed that they should get some supplies from inside Madison Square Garden, and then the group of men headed on their way.

“I feel bad that they’re doing this,” Lana said.

“We all can’t go,” Harry told her. “It’s easier this way.”

“So now what?” Abby asked.

“We start walking and try to get out of the city,” Harry said. “We aren’t getting a car out of here. Maybe we’ll find one the farther we get. But can’t say I’m familiar with this part of downtown.”

Ben raised his hand. “I am. I’ve been to the Gardens a ton of times. Let’s go this way.” Placing his hand on Lana’s arm, it was Ben’s turn to take the reins and lead the group on the next leg of the journey.

CHAPTER NINE

It had been decided that the best course of action was to get out of the city as quickly as possible. Somewhere just past Park Avenue, they found transportation. A man had been getting into his car and collapsed, briefcase and keys still in hand.

That was the easy part, but getting through the tunnel or driving across the 59 Street Bridge was impossible.

It was there they had to abandon the car and hoof it.

Not once during their walk or drive though the city did they see a single person, at least one who was alive.

The best they could see was that one of the bombs went off by the Empire State Building, another one further south and another one to the north.

Whatever hit New York hit every single person on the streets.

By the grace of God, their train crashed and they were shielded not only by the tunnels but also by the metal of the wreckage.

That’s what they deducted during the car ride.

The bridge gave no hope that on the other side they’d find anything different.

It was like an I am Legend world. They felt like Charlton Heston in Omega Man, racing about the streets of downtown Los Angeles. Just one car moving, nothing else.

They stopped the car in the dead line of traffic, gathered their belongings and began their walk across the bridge.

A lot of the vehicles had crashed into one another. Again, bodies were strewn across the road and hanging out of the cars.

Harry told not only himself but Tyler not to look. There were families in those cars with children and that ate away at Harry.

He wondered what was going through the child’s mind. Was he scared? Indifferent? To Harry, he seemed the calmest of them all. Well, almost. Abby had a weirdness about her. She showed not one ounce of sadness over what she was witnessing.

Lana went from being led by her husband to walking beside him clutching his hand. “This isn’t happening,” she said to him over and over. “Tell me this isn’t happening.”

“I’m sorry,” he said.

“I want to go home. I just want to go home, Ben,” Lana told him. “It’s in Connecticut. You know everything is fine there.”

“And we will. We will,” he assured her.

“My mother. Your mother, my sister.”

“We’ll find them.”

After walking through a maze of cars and bodies, they reached the end of the bridge.

Ben peered in each car, trying to start each one. Finally one started. “Here’s one.” He moved onward and tried another car and then another, until finally, success. “And here’s another,” he said and smiled proudly. “Both of these will work.”

“We don’t need two cars,” Harry said. “We should be able to squeeze into one.”

“And go where?” asked Abby.

“Out of this area and out of the city,” Harry answered. “Obviously, something occurred here and we have to find our way out and find out what happened.”

“Not me.” Foster said.

Harry turned to him. “What do you mean?”

“I was on the train to find my biological mother. She lives in Queens. It’s not far from here. My grandmother lives there, too. I’m going to head there.”

“Then what?” Harry asked.

Foster shrugged. “I don’t know. Then, I guess I’ll find my way out.”

“We’re taking one car,” Ben said. “Lana and I have family. We have to go and find her mom, my mother, our siblings. We just need to do this by ourselves.” He opened the car door for Lana.

Before getting in, Lana walked back to Harry. “Thank you for everything.” She embraced him. “Good luck.”

“Good luck?” Harry asked. “Aren’t we all headed in the same direction?”

“I’m going to go with my husband,” she said. “We need to find our families and then we’ll head home.”

Ben walked over and shook Harry’s hand. “Good luck, Harry.” Before he stepped back, he ran his hand over Tyler’s head.

Harry stood dumbfounded. How could they be leaving?

Foster extended his hand to Harry as well. “I would go with you, but I have to find my mom.”

Harry turned to Abby. “What about you?”

“Honestly, I just want to sit down on this bridge,” Abby answered. “I have nowhere to go.”

“You can come with me,” Harry suggested.

Abby shook her head. “I think if Foster doesn’t mind, I’ll go with him. It’ll give me something to focus on other than dying.”

“I would like that,” Foster replied.

“Let’s go then.” Abby started to walk away with him.

“Wait!” Harry called. “People, please. Do you realize we just had a national event wipe out New York? Hell, it could be global. Do you really think it’s a good idea that we separate and go our own ways?”

Did he really think he’d get an answer? Did Harry believe that somehow, suddenly the four of them would stop, smack themselves on the head and say, “What were we thinking?”

No.

Abby and Foster gave him apologetic looks and walked on off the bridge and veered left, never looking back.

Ben and Lana got in the car, gave him one more look and a wave and drove off.

They had all left, just left.

Just like that.

Harry stood there speechless until he heard it.

Tyler was crying.

He was really crying hard.

“Hey,” Harry said softly. “What is it? What’s wrong?”

Tyler looked up to Harry. His little lips were swollen from crying and his face was all red. “They left.”

“I know.”

“How am I supposed to find my mom? How am I supposed to get home?” Tyler’s head hung low. “No one asked me to go with them. They just left.”

“I know they did.”

Tyler peered up to Harry. “You’re not leaving me, too, are you?”

“Are you nuts? It never crossed my mind.” Harry grabbed his hand and walked him to the first car that Ben had started. “Don’t know how far this will get us, but let’s get started.”

“We’ll get out of here, Harry, right?” Tyler asked before getting in.

“Absolutely.” Harry winked. “It’s you and me, Kid, and we have a hell of a road trip ahead of us.” Harry closed the door and then walked around the car and got in the driver’s seat.

He was going to get on the road and head north.

He would head back to Connecticut.

That was the only plan he had.

CHAPTER TEN

Four blocks into their walk Foster and Abby stopped at a deli. While obviously there was no one there, they knew they had to find something to eat. The deli was the perfect place.

Everything in the freezer was still cold and they deemed it was safe to eat and wouldn’t make them sick.

The bread was still good.

Ignoring the bodies on the floor, they made sandwiches and went back outside heading for Queens, eating as they walked.

“Do you know where she lives?” Abby asked.

“I know where she used to live,” Foster replied.

“You said, your biological mother. Did you live with your father? Grandmother?”

“No. Foster parents. I was in and out of foster homes all my life.”

“So can I ask why you are wanting to find your mother if she gave you up?”

Foster stopped walking. “She didn’t give me up. They took me from her. She needed help. I’m older now, I can help her.”

“With?”

“Her addiction.”

Abby nodded. “And she lives in Queens.”

“Last I knew. She lived with my grandmother.”

Abby looked around. They weren’t all that far from Queens and still they hadn’t seen a soul. Only bodies everywhere they went. She knew the probability was low that his mother was fine, but she said nothing.

Abby didn’t really have a goal or purpose like the others. She was along for the walk with Foster, adopting his goal as her own.

How far was it? Twenty blocks. Foster told her that where his mother lived was probably the farthest point from where the bomb hit and that’s why he was encouraged.

They were talking about nothing in particular, when Foster suddenly stopped.

“Do you hear that?”

At first Abby didn’t and then it came into ear shot.

It was a car horn. It was steady, as if someone just held it down.

“Someone’s alive,” Foster said.

“Wait.” Abby grabbed him. “They could have just fallen on the horn when they died.”

Foster slowed his pace.

Then the horn stopped. But after a moment, it picked back up, only this time it was sporadic.

“That’s not a body,” Foster said. “Let’s go.”

The young man over ten years her junior took off running at a pace she found hard to keep up with.

The horn was far from where the bombs hit and it was conceivable that here on the outskirts, someone was a live and that someone was beeping the horn for help.

***

Where was everybody?

Just get out … get out of the city, out of New York and everything would be fine. That was the mindset of Ben and Lana.

They immediately got on the highway, dodging the cars that had crashed or pulled over. Outbound traffic was minimal, so it was fairly easy.

But the second they hit the New York state line, they started to worry.

Where was everyone?

The stream of halted cars was no more.

There wasn’t a single car on the road.

Nothing.

Pulling off the highway didn’t give them any more answers. There wasn’t a soul at the gas station and yet there had to be power.

Ben and Lana were deceived by the lit up gas station sign. They were enthusiastic as they pulled over.

Not a car in sight, but the door was open. The sign on the pump, badly handwritten, merely said, “Help yourself.”

The pumps were unlocked and they fueled up.

They searched for a newspaper, anything, but found none.

The radio still played the same music on every station.

That was their first stop after freeing themselves from the confines of the city.

About ten miles into Connecticut, they left the turnpike and headed to Lana’s mother’s home. She resided in a small, tree lined community with lush houses near the ocean.

Lana was confident that this sleepy residential area was just fine. It was about that point that Lana got a signal on her phone. She couldn’t access the internet, but she was able to dial out. She tried her mother, her sister and a couple of friends. No answer from anyone.

The picturesque small town square, more for tourist show, was the first warning that something had happened, at least in town.

The grocery store was dark and its doors stood open. Pewter Drugstore’s doors were open as well and items spilled into the streets.

“Pick up the speed, Ben, I don’t think we have to worry about another car,” Lana said.

Ben drove faster making the turns without slowing.

Lana’s mother and sister shared the same house. It was a Tudor and both cars were in the driveway when Lana and Ben pulled up.

Ben was quick to get out of the car, but Lana was more apprehensive.

Ben took hold of her hand and they walked inside. There was a smell that wasn’t fresh or pleasant. It wasn’t death, but neither Ben nor Lana could put their finger on it.

“Mom,” Lana called. “Mom! Lisa!”

They checked the living room and found nothing. It was in the kitchen that they noticed something was up. A bag from Pewter’s Drugstore was on the counter and an empty box of cold medicine.

There was a bottle of juice that had been opened but never put back in the fridge.

The entire sight was eerie to Lana. As she turned to leave the kitchen to go upstairs to search the bedrooms, she saw Lisa’s cell phone.

The alerts on the screen stated that she had four missed calls and three text messages.

“Read the texts,” Ben said. “Maybe they’ll tell us something.”

Lana lifted the phone, “They’re all from her friend Beth.” She read them aloud:

“First text – Ray is sick, so is Lynnie. How are you guys?

Second Text – can you get back to me to let me know you’re fine. You aren’t answering.

Third text – Everyone is sick, I swear I’m the only one who isn’t.

Fourth text – Ray just died.

The phone toppled from Lana’s hand and without hesitation she flew from the kitchen up the stairs, calling for her Mom the entire way.

She was scared to open the first bedroom door, her Mother’s. The house oozed silence and Lana stopped as she reached for the door.

“I can’t.” She turned to Ben. “I can’t.”

Ben nodded. “I understand. Do you want me to?”

“Yes.” Arms folded tightly to her body, Lana backed away from the door.

Ben knocked once and then entered.

A foot into the room, Ben’s hand shot to his mouth and he closed the door behind him.

Margaret was in the bed, covered completely to her neck. She lay on her side, a box of tissue on the nightstand along with cold medicine.

Her hand hung from the edge and tissues were gripped in her fingers.

“Margaret,” Ben whispered. But he knew he wasn’t going to get a response, not by the smell and especially not by the looks of Margaret.

Her eyes were open and grey, her skin was bloated and blotchy with purple spots and a thick substance encrusted around her mouth and nose. Ben grabbed the covers and lifted them over Margaret’s head.

Out in the hall, Lana waited.

It didn’t take long for Ben to emerge with a solemn, “I’m sorry.”

Lana crumbled and with a sob folded herself into Ben’s arms.

“It was a cold or virus or something.” Ben held on to her.

“Should we check Lisa?”

“I will,” Ben said. “Stay here.”

Lana nodded and Ben slipped away to Lisa’s room.

It was more of the same and that was all Ben had told Lana. He didn’t get into details or explained how decimated the bodies were from the illness. He just said it was an illness and they had to move on.

Before they did, Lana grabbed Lisa’s phone. Beth’s last text had come only three hours earlier so Lana tried to call her back.

Beth didn’t answer.

She sent a text to Beth, stating that Lisa had died and left her number, asking Beth to please get in touch with her when she could.

At least if Beth was still alive, she got get some answers.

Ben and Lana left the home, got in the car and continued on to check on Ben’s mother.

Another twenty miles would bring them to her house.

They hoped the boundaries of death and destruction ended before they arrived there.

***

Harry and Tyler weren’t as lucky as Lana and Ben. Their car ran out of gas before they even reached the Connecticut turnpike. Harry tried the few cars left behind on the highway but didn’t have any luck.

They’d walk, he told Tyler. Eventually they’d find something.

They located a convenience store just off the highway and the electricity was on. Harry had Tyler wait outside, just to avoid the bodies and he went in, hit the sandwich area and grabbed some food to take with them on their walk.

Tyler enjoyed the sandwich.

“Do you think my mom’s okay?” Tyler asked.

“I don’t know,” Harry answered. “I hope so.”

“You think she knows about my dad?”

“No, I don’t. I think you’ll have to tell her.”

“That’ll be hard,” Tyler said.

“Yeah, I know.”

“Will you help?”

“Absolutely.”

“Harry, can I ask you a question?”

“Sure can,” Harry said.

“How come no one else asked me to go? How come they just made plans to go? They made me feel bad.”

“Well …” Harry reached out and laid his hand on Tyler’s back. “I don’t think it was they didn’t want to take you. I think they just assumed I was taking you.”

“Did you tell them that?”

Harry hesitated before answering. “Actually I did. I said I was taking you home to your mother.”

“That’s good. I’m glad you’re taking me, Harry,” Tyler said. “You’re nice.”

“I hope.”

“Are you a grandfather?”

“Yes, I am.”

“Do your grandkids live near you?”

“No.” Harry shook his head. “No they don’t. They live all over the place.”

“Then maybe they’re safe.”

“I hope.”

“Do you mind me talking?” Tyler asked.

“Not at all. You just keep talking. It’ll make time pass faster.”

Tyler nodded; bit his sandwich and then after a brief pause asked. “What do you think happened, Harry? Do you think it was Aliens?”

“Aliens? You mean like Mexicans?”

Tyler laughed. “No. like outer space.”

“Nah, it wasn’t outer space. I think if it was, it would be worse. I mean if the aliens can travel here, then they can hit us a lot harder.”

“Then what was it?”

“I don’t know. I can guess. I think. . . I think some people may have gotten mad at us and they’re here to pick a fight.”

“Will it work? Will we fight?”

Harry took a deep breath. “I hope we do.”

CHAPTER ELEVEN

The honking horn led Foster and Abby. They followed the sound ten blocks from where they were initially headed in a totally opposite direction. The horn would start, stop, and do a pattern. It was without a doubt someone honking it.

Finally they locked in on a location on the horn. It grew louder as they turned the corner,

Had they not been so engrossed in running and finding out the source of the perpetual horn beeping, they might have noticed they had stopped seeing bodies.

They were not expecting what they saw.

Instead of massive amounts of bodies, there were massive amounts of people. Their moans and cries had been drowned out by the horn. Some held their heads and sat on the ground, while most wandered aimlessly, arms extended reaching at the air.

Foster and Abby slowed down their pace and walked to the car where a man still beeped the horn.

His back was to them and Foster reached into the car.

“Sir,” Foster called to him. “Sir.”

The man kept beeping the horn.

Abby reached out her hand, laying it on his arm. The man quickly swatted her way.

Despite the beeping, he spoke and did so loudly, almost unnaturally loud. “Whoever is touching me, back off! I’m trying to get help here.”

“Help for what?” Abby asked.

He didn’t respond.

Foster grabbed hold of him. “Sir!” he spoke loudly.

The man stopped beeping the horn.

“Sir, what’s happened here?” Foster asked.

No reply.

Again, Foster tried, only this time he yelled. “What’s happened here?”

Slowly, the man retracted his hand and turned around.

His eyes were not only blood shot, but stained with dried blood. Blood that streaked his face like tears.

His hand reached out and his fingers trailed over Foster’s face. “Can you see?”

“Yes,” Foster said. Then he noticed the man wasn’t focusing on anything, his eyes just blinked and shifted about.

“Speak up. I can barely hear,” the man, who was barely older than forty requested.

“I can see!” Foster said. “What happened here!”

The man sighed. It sounded almost like a laugh of excitement and disbelief. “Thank God. Thank God.” He touched Foster’s face. “Help us. Please. We’re all blind.”

Hearing his words, both Abby and Foster turned around to look at the people. How did they not notice, how did they not put two and two together? Everyone whether reaching out or sitting still had blood streaked faces.

What had happened to them all?

***

Ben recalled when he first introduced his mother to Lana’s mother. He suspected they would hit it off and become the best of friends. He was not wrong. Both women came from the same stock, the same well to do families.

They lived only a few miles from each other in mirror houses.

Ben often stated their relationship was stronger than his and Lana’s. That was why it came to no surprise to Ben that when he arrived at his mother’s home, she had gotten a text from Lana’s mom.

“Pray our kids are fine. God be with you.”

Ben’s mother didn’t respond. Of course the time of the text was shortly after the train crashed, so their parents knew something had occurred.

But were they as much in the dark as Ben and Lana?

Ben’s mother had passed away. She exhibited the same flu symptoms as Lana’s mother and sister.

Ben expected as much.

But again, the bodies gave no clue as to what had happened and Beth hadn’t returned the text or call to Lana.

Lana just wanted to go home to their own house and mourn.

What else was there to do?

“Get answers,” Ben suggested. “Find Beth.”

Lana knew where Beth had lived and they turned around and headed back.

Beth lived in an apartment complex just a few blocks from the shore. Lana had been there a few times and it took checking the mailboxes to figure out what apartment was hers.

The security doors were locked and there was no answer at Beth’s apartment.

Ben broke the glass on the doors and they entered the building.

The alarm blared, but they didn’t care. They hoped it drew attention.

It didn’t.

On the second floor they found Beth’s apartment and knocked on the door. There was no answer.

Oddly the door wasn’t locked and they walked inside.

The smell was far from pleasant. Death lingered in the air and was putrid.

The three bedroom apartment had a hallway just to the right of the main door and Ben and Lana took that hall.

The first bedroom was Lynn’s. They entered.

The bed was unmade but there was no sign of the teenage girl.

Next bedroom.

Ben knew before opening the door they were going to find someone. The smell was predominate and strong as Ben turned the knob.

Lana gasped, turned her head and involuntarily vomited right on the carpet.

Ben only got a glimpse before began to shut the door, but then stopped.

“Stay here,” he told Lana.

Lana held up her hand and conveyed through her motions that she wasn’t going anywhere. In fact, she couldn’t stop heaving.

Lifting his shirt over his nose Ben stepped in the bedroom.

Beth’s husband Ray lay in bed under the covers. On top of the bed next to him, wrapped in a quilt was Lynn. The coloring, the dried mucus, was the same as they had seen in everyone.

But Beth was different.

She too was dead, but not like Ray and Lynn.

She sat on the floor, her head on the foot of the bed, her one arm draped on the bed while the other dangled. Both of her wrists had been slit and a pool of clotted blood had formed on the bed and floor.

Beth was the reason Ben entered the room. He hadn’t seen it at first, but he did when he started to close the door.

A note hung around her neck attached to a chain necklace and the words were big, obviously written in her distress. Ben retrieved it.

He covered Beth and holding the note, left the bedroom closing the door behind him.

“You found a note,” Lana said.

“She left one, yes.” Ben handed it to her. “It isn’t much.”

“It’s enough.” Lana took the note and read it.

It was simple, very few words.

But the words said a lot. The meaning behind them though was still yet to come to Ben and Lana.

‘For those of us who died … please fight.’

***

“Look here and we get a full tank of gas to boot,” Harry had told Tyler when they found the car. He knew it was going to be a gold mine or at least a viable means of transportation when he saw the man on the hood of the car. It was a repeat visual of what they had seen before.

They were moving now.

Harry was driving and had to admit he was tired. His legs hurt, his body hurt but he couldn’t let Tyler know he was wearing down. Tyler sat up straight and anxious in the front seat; Harry’s wrapped gift to Leo was perched on his lap.

Tyler played with the edge of the paper.

“Held up pretty good, didn’t it?” Harry asked him. “I’m talking about the wrapping paper.”

“Yeah. You wrap nice.”

“Thanks.”

“What’s the present?”

“It’s something old for an old friend. Something I know he has been wanting that I had.”

“Didn’t you like it?”

“Oh, I loved it. It is very priceless to me.”

“So why were you giving it to him?” Tyler asked.

“Because I knew he’d want it. But …” Harry sighed. “I’m just gonna hold on to it now. Leo has probably passed on. He was in New York.”

“I’m sorry.”

“I’m sorry too.”

“What is it?”

Harry was going to tell him but didn’t. “You know what? Let’s hold off on knowing what it is?”

“Why?”

“Because you never know what could happen. You and I may be bored one day and there’s a whole story behind the contents of that box. Let wait.”

“So after you take me to my mom, you’ll come back and see me?”

“Without a doubt,” Harry told him. “We’re friends now.”

That’s what Harry told him. Of course in the back of Harry’s mind he had a different reason for saving the box.

Harry had a feeling he was going to be seeing a lot of Tyler and not just because they were friends. It was just a feeling.

Harry didn’t hold high hopes at all as they drove on the Connecticut turnpike.

Especially since they had gone twenty miles and hadn’t seen a car and the radio still played anti-war songs from the seventies on every station.

***

Brendan and the other men had left Madison Square Garden parting ways with Harry and the others simply to return to the subway to aid those who still remained.

They had gathered supplies of water and food and planned on how they would tell the others about what had happened. Or at least try to tell them.

En route to the wreckage, they cleared more of a path to make for easier walking.

They had found flashlights and the rescue mission was underway. What exactly they would do afterward remained to be seen. They supposed they would leave the city to look for help.

It took a little longer to get back than it had taken to get out. That was understandable.

But as they approached the wreck site, there was a new odor in the air.

They could smell smoke.

Had they lit a fire to say warm?

As they got closer the smell became actually smoke; it was thick and filled the air. Brendan and the men picked up their pace.

The flashlights were no longer needed as they made their way around the final train car.

Sunlight burst through, or at least that’s what they thought it to be.

And it was.

The thought that a rescue had occurred quickly evaporated when they arrived.

A huge hole had been blasted through the train wreckage. A new exit had been formed.

Those who had remained waiting for help were still there, but those who remained were merely unrecognizable and charred body parts scattered about.

Whatever or whoever blasted the hole in the wreckage had blasted through the survivors.

Brendan and the others didn’t have a clue what had happened or why, but they didn’t stick around to find out.

They left easily through the new exit.

***

“Right up here!” Tyler sat forward, nearly ejecting himself from his seatbelt with enthusiasm. “Turn here. Turn here, Harry. This is my street.”

“Are you sure?” Harry asked.

“Harry, I’m eight.” Tyler said as if to convey to Harry that he was old enough to know where he lived.

Harry turned.

“Oh, wow. That’s my friend’s house. There’s his bike. You think he’s in school?” Tyler rambled. “Bet he’s in school. I know he’s in school.”

Harry didn’t say much. The street was eerily quiet and for a weekday morning there were a lot of cars.

Not once in the trip did Tyler ever make a comment about not seeing a person or car.

Tyler was too focused on his mother and that worried Harry.

“Right there. It’s the house with the blue truck. That’s my house,” Tyler said. “You can pull in the drive way. My mom won’t mind.”

Harry continued to drive.

“At least she’s home. That’s her truck. She likes trucks. My dad has the little car. We left it at the station.”

Harry pulled into the driveway.

“Harry? How do I tell my mom about my dad?”

“Listen Tyler …”

“You’ll help me, right? Oh, wait, you already said you would. She has to be worried.”

“Tyler …”

Before Harry could say anymore, Tyler opened the car door and was out of the car and racing to the house. Harry called out,  “Wait.” But Tyler was too fast.

Harry got out of the car. The drive had made his bones settle and he was feeling the effects of the train crash. Plus Harry really didn’t sleep the night before and any rest he did get was on the cold concrete floor.

He wanted to talk to Tyler, perhaps warn him in a gentle way in case something was wrong. He thought he’d get the chance when he saw Tyler was waiting by the front door.

“Come on, Harry.” Tyler waved and opened the front door.

Harry rushed as best as he could but by the time he reached the stoop, Tyler had entered the house with a mad rush calling loudly, “Mom!”

Harry knew the second he stepped inside all was not well and immediately started trying to figure out how he was going to deal with the aftermath.

“Mom!” Tyler charged up the stairs.

Harry took only a few steps and he saw it.

It was a hand.

He stared at the back of the sofa and could see a woman’s hand reaching for the lamp on the table.

Tyler raced above him calling out and Harry walked over to the couch.

He sighed at the sight of the young woman on the couch. She was laying there, a blanket covering her, her mouth open, her face pale and covered with purple splotches that made her neck look swollen.

She looked different from the bodies they had seen in New York

She looked as if she had fought a long illness.

Harry reached for the blanket. His intent was to cover her completely and then explain to Tyler.

Just as he gripped the edges of the blanket the young voice startled him.

“I think she may have gone …” Tyler stopped speaking.

Harry turned to see the boy standing there.

“Mom?” He inched toward the couch. “Mommy?” He ran over to her body. “Mommy?” Gripping her hand, Tyler called her name

“Tyler.” Harry reached out.

“She looks sick.” Tyler shook her. “Mom? Mommy, wake up. Please wake up?”

Harry could only step back. He was crushed by emotions at that moment and tried to sort them out. He didn’t have a clue on how to handle the situation. “Son.” He laid his hand on Tyler. “Son, I don’t know why. But she’s gone, son.”

Tyler quit his attempts at getting a response from his mother.

He immediately dropped down, his head fell to his mother’s chest and he started to sob as he held on to her. He cried louder and harder than Harry was ready to hear.

There was nothing Harry could do. There were words he could say or comfort he could give. Not at that moment. All he could do was be there, wait and be ready for whatever Tyler needed.

He had no answers to give the boy because Harry didn’t have the answers either.

And Harry wished he did.

CHAPTER TWLEVE

Foster wanted to go to Queens. He needed to go to Queens but they were nearer to Brooklyn because the honking of the car horn had brought them in that direction.

They had found life but not as they knew it.

Those who wandered the residential street were on a tour bus headed to the Aquarium.

The bus had stopped for breakfast and they were all boarding when it happened. As a group, they held a rope, walking and trying to find help and get to a hospital.

There were forty people in all.

Most of them could not hear very well; some were completely deaf.

With the exception of a few who could see light and dark, every single person was blind.

Foster gave Abby the job of getting everyone together and calm while he went into one of the houses and gathered up water to clean their wounds and any pain medication he could find.

It took three houses for him to get what he believed was enough aspirin.

Stepping out of the last house, Foster had to label Abby’s job of gathering people a piss poor one. They still weren’t organized.

“Everyone!” he called out. “I need to know who can hear me at this level.”

A lot of people raised their hands.

“Ok, just stand still. We’re gonna get you seated and situated and help as best as we can.”

“We need medical attention,” someone said. “My eyes hurt.”

“I know,” Foster said. “But I don’t know where to take you. Whatever it was that happened, it happened all over or at least in New York. So… bear with us and we’ll figure something out.”

It took Foster a good hour to get everyone seated on the curb in lawn chairs and chairs he brought from houses.

Abby pretty much did nothing.

Foster tried to ignore that and kept moving. He gave Abby a pan of water and told her to start at one end of the line of people while he worked from the other end.

Foster wiped off faces, gave calming squeezes to hands and reassurance as best as he could.

Abby had helped only three people.

There was an older woman, at least to Foster she was old. She was maybe sixty years old. Her makeup was smeared; her reddish gray hair was all over the place. It appeared that she probably was all dolled up the day before. However, unlike the others she wasn’t crying. When Foster arrived at her side, he said, “Thank you for your patience.”

She grabbed his hand and said, “Thank you for your kindness. You sound young.”

“I am. I’m sixteen.”

“This is such a grown up thing for you to be doing.”

“I’m trying ma’am.” He wiped her face. “I’m glad you can hear me.”

“How many are out here?”

“I counted forty.”

“Oh, so five are unaccounted for,” she said. “My name is Judith. What is yours?”

“Foster.”

“Foster. Is that your given name or last name?”

“Nickname.” Foster smiled. “My real name is James.”

“Oh, you are a Jimmy. I always liked that name. Honey, I was with four people from my Synagogue. I have called out to them but no one is answering.”

“Some people can’t hear.”

“Can you look for them?” Judith asked. “They’ll be wearing name tags like this.” She reached for her chest, felt around and found the tag.

“Yes. I will.” Foster finished cleaning her face. “Judith, what happened? Do you know?”

“Don’t you?”

“No. I was on the train. It crashed. We came up from the subway to find everyone dead. You people are the first people alive that we found.”

“They’ll be more. If we lived, there has to be. I think we were far enough from the explosion not to die.”

“I think that too.”

“All I know is that there were four explosions. We heard them and looked up. We thought, my God, another terror attack. But the sky lit up as if it were on fire. Flames just …. It was like the sky exploded. I dove under the bus. Not an easy task at my size.” She nodded with a smile. “Then a few moments later, I’m expecting the fire, but instead it was pressure, a lot of pressure. My head felt as if it was going to explode. My eyes …. My eyes felt as if they were coming from the sockets. And then … I passed out. When I woke, I heard everyone sounding so confused. And none of us could see.”

“So you know pretty much as much as we do,” Foster said.

“I’m sorry.”

“I’m sorry too.” Foster stood. “I’ll find out though. And if you guys survived, other did too. We just need to get further from the city. Maybe there’s help there, a hospital, the military, FEMA, something.”

Aimlessly her hand reached out for Foster’s face. “Thank you, Jimmy. You’re a good boy.”

Foster didn’t know how to respond; he just squeezed her hand and moved on to the next person.

Abby didn’t see the point in wiping any more faces. She felt bad that these people were injured and blind, but she wasn’t a doctor or a nurse and she was pretty certain, wiping their faces wasn’t doing a damn thing. It was Foster’s juvenile thinking that made him believe a pan of water and a couple of ibuprofen would cure all.

Abby was thirsty and she set down her pan of water and looked around to see where she could forage some water.

She wasn’t in the mood. In fact, her whole entire purpose of going with Foster was so that he could find his mother. It definitely wasn’t to help a bunch of injured people wandering the street like blind mice in a maze.

Her attitude grew worse and resentment brewed inside her.

The day before, in the subway, she was scared and a bit in shock over the accident. She actually didn’t mind helping down there. Of course Abby hadn’t expected to get out of there. Not on her own at least.

She had come to grips with the fact that she failed her suicide attempt before the train wreck. She had come to terms with the fact that she didn’t die on the train but just as she started to believe she was meant to live, they had arrived at the train station to find everyone dead.

It was a slap in the face to her by God.

Abby didn’t want to live. She wanted to die. Yet all around her again was death and she kept escaping it.

Nothing that occurred made her want to stay alive; it just made her resentful that she wasn’t lucky enough to die.

Abby spotted a convenience store a block down the street. That was her focus. A part of her was thinking about walking there and then just keeping on walking.

But then what?

Maybe find a gun and blow her brains out or return to the river and jump?

Either way she was done.

“Abby,” Foster called after her as she started to walk away.

Abby exhaled and stopped. She turned around with attitude. “Yes.”

“Where are you going?”

“I’m thirsty.” She pointed up the street. “There’s a store.”

“Oh, good,” Foster said. “Good thinking. See if you can find something we can pass out to these people to hold them over.”

‘Hold them over until what?”

“Until help arrives.”

“Help isn’t coming Foster, or haven’t you noticed.”

Foster stepped back. “Why are you so angry?”

“Why are we doing this?”

“We? We? You haven’t really done much, Abby.”

“That’s because I don’t want to.”

“I’m sorry I asked.”

“Yeah, well, me, too.” Abby started walking again.

“Abby.”

She huffed and stopped. “What?”

“I’m gonna finish up here and go look for the bus. Judith says it is a couple blocks away. I’m thinking it’s probably closer.”

“For what?”

“I don’t know. Get them out of here and try to find help.”

“Foster, be realistic, okay? Why are you helping these people? There’s nothing you can do.”

“I can try. Abby …” He inched toward her. “Have you always been so mean and bitter?”

She stared at him for a moment. “No.” Without saying anything more, she turned and walked away.

***

There was no electricity, no gas, and no means of power at all. But there were lots of candles at the beach house. Frequent storms made Ben’s mother keep stocked up.

In fact his mother had stocked the house with plenty of supplies. Summer was coming. But Ben and Lana had opened the beach house early.

They went home to find more death on their street. They picked up their car at the train station, went to their home, cleaned up, gathered some belongings and decided to return to the beach house.

They’d go there for a few days, mourn their families, rest up and then figure out what to do.

They hoped that during the days they planned on spending at the beach house, answers would come.

They needed that time alone. Both of them were weak and the injuries from the crash were finally surfacing.

Lana’s leg sported a huge bruise from thigh to calf and she had her feet propped up on the railing.

Her phone was next to her and she heard the chime of the alarm.

At first she thought it was a text message, but when she lifted it, she saw the warning that her battery power was fading and she’d better recharge.

Recharging was going to be futile since they didn’t have any power.

It was then as she dismissed the warning and prepared to shut off her phone that she saw it. She had been looking for it all day.

It was the little symbol that told her she could connect to the network.

“Ben!” she summonsed him.

Ben was in the kitchen, using Sternos to make soup. He came out. “What’s wrong?”

“I can get on the internet.”

He quickly pulled up a chair. “Go immediately to the news.”

The news was her homepage so there wasn’t even a question of where to go. Every day, while others read the newspaper, Lana opened up her phone and read the headlines. If something grabbed her attention, she read the article.

The second the news page opened up, the headlines were bold. The first headline ‘Under Attack’ wasn’t a newsflash for them; it was rather obvious that it had occurred.

Images of the Statue of Liberty, partly crumbled and burned graced the page.

“Read it,” Ben said. “I don’t have my glasses on.”

Lana pulled up the article and read. “The United States struggles to organize following the surprise attack that has brought the country to a grinding halt. The extent of the destruction and invasion is still unknown and the President …”

Lana’s phone shut down.

“What!” Ben blasted. “No. Power up and see what happens.”

Lana tried, the phone only cycled through part way then shut down again.

Both Lana and Ben sat back with exasperated expressions and heavy sighs.

“So, we were attacked,” Ben said.

“And invaded,” Lana added. “We got that much.”

“Yeah,” Ben said. “But by who?”

***

Harry brought him to his home.

Tyler cried all the way and there really wasn’t much Harry could do.

He’d ask the boy later if he had any other family, telling him that if he did, then Harry would help him find that family. Tyler packed a small duffel bag full of clothes, his toothbrush, other things that were important and pictures of his mom and dad.

He told Harry he was glad to be going with him.

The bread was fresh and so were the chips. Harry made Tyler a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. He pulled the apple juice from the cupboard.

“Will you eat for me?” Harry asked.

“I’m not hungry,” Tyler said. “Thank you.”

“I understand. But I’d like you to try to eat.” Harry set the plate in front of him. “Please.”

Tyler nodded.

“Now you stay put. I’ll be back.”

As Harry passed him, Tyler spun in his chair. “Don’t leave me.”

“I’m just going down to the basement, that’s all.”

“Why?” Tyler asked.

“I have a radio down there. It’s an old one. I think I may be able to hook it up to the car battery I have in the garage. We can see if we can find out anything. I’ll be right back.” Harry walked to the basement door. He hadn’t even grabbed the handle before Tyler was right there.

“I’m coming with you.”

“It’s dark down there. No lights.”

“I’m okay.”

“Good. But when we come back up, you eat. Clear?”

“Yes, Harry.”

Harry gave a nod and headed down to the basement with Tyler.

Harry was a man prepared. On the wall of the basement stairs, hung a flashlight. He grabbed it and turned it on. “Boy, haven’t been down here since my wife died.”

“I’m sorry she died,” Tyler said.

“Me too.” Harry tossed the beam of the flashlight to the right. “It’s over here. Be careful where you step.”

“It’s cleaner than our basement.”

Harry chuckled and found the radio. “Dusty. Hope it works.” He found the antennae and wires and then he and Tyler took it upstairs and placed it on the kitchen table.

A second trip was needed. They went outside to the garage and on a shelf in there, Harry found car battery. He always kept a spare.

He wasn’t quite sure if he remembered how to power up an old radio with the car battery and it took him several tries as Tyler watched and, as promised, ate his peanut butter and jelly sandwich.

“Is this one of the radios you can talk through?” Tyler asked.

“Used to be able to, but can’t anymore. The input thingy went bad.” Harry pointed.

“How come you have this?”

“Well, my oldest son, Harry, was in the Boy Scouts when we got it. I don’t really recall now why. It’s was during the height of the cold war.” Harry spoke as his hands worked.

“How old is your son?”

Harry paused to think. “Let me see. Harry … Harry would have been 57 in June. Yeah, 57 or 58. Goddamn I can’t remember. Are you good at math?”

Tyler nodded.

“I was twenty-two when he was born. I was in the Navy. I’m eighty now, how would Harry have been?”

“Fifty-eight.”

“Fifty-eight.”

“How come you said he would have been fifty-eight?”

“Well, because Harry Junior died when he was twenty-five. He left a wife and a baby. My grandson is close to thirty now.”

“How did he die?”

Harry looked at the young boy so full of questions. “He was shot. He and his wife were going to a Broadway show. Walking to the subway he was robbed and shot.”

Tyler’s head hung low. “That’s sad, Harry.”

“Yeah, I know. It broke my heart.” Harry exhaled.

“My mom and Dad were thirty or something like that. My dad was older.” Tyler propped his face in his hands as he watched Harry connect the antennae.

“That’s mighty young to pass away. Say, Tyler …” Harry halted in his task. “Do you have any other family that is not from this area?”

Tyler nodded. “I have a grandfather and two grandmothers.”

“Know where they live?”

Tyler shook his head. “Not exactly, but I know the state. They’re all from Ohio; that’s where my mom and Dad are from.”

“Hot damn, Ohio isn’t far at all. We can drive there. We just need to find out their address.”

“Oh!”

“What?”

Tyler gave him a bright smile, slid from the chair and raced in the other room.

“What are you doing?”

Tyler returned with his duffel bag. He opened it and reached inside. “They sent me a card.” He pulled it out, still in the mailing envelope. “The address is there.” He handed the card to Harry.

“Columbus, Ohio. And we have a street. We’re good to go.”

“Will you take me there?”

“Without a doubt.”

“Where will you go after? Will you stay?”

Harry shrugged. “I’ll probably try to find my other son and daughter; they live out that way, too. We’ll try to find out what’s going on using this radio. We’ll rest up and head out in the morning. Will that work?”

Tyler nodded excitedly. “Yes.”

“Good. And … ha!” Harry smiled and cocked back when static emerged from the radio. “We have a signal.” He turned the tuner. “This is a shortwave. We’ll be able to find something out there, a station that’s reporting ….”

A rush of static, and then a male voice came over the airwaves. It sounded like a newscaster on an AM radio station.

“Now we have confirmed reports that the USS Bridgeport has sunk in its Mid Atlantic voyage back to the United States. The US is trying to recall all armed forces to America, but engagements in the Atlantic and Pacific are hindering those efforts. The British Prime Minister has gone on record as stating the strikes are in direct violation of the United Nations and is calling upon the United Nations to act and assist while the UK and the US both recover from the devastation. Meanwhile, Japan has expressed its outrage over the attacks, and while they are a sovereign nation, has promised to assist in any way possible. We’ll have more updates in the next half hour or as they come in. This is Stan Smith, Salt Lake City, Utah.”

The station went to static and Harry continued to search the dial.

“Harry? What does this mean? What’s going on?”

“Quite simply …” Harry looked at him. “Don’t know why, but some way, somehow, we are at war. And I think son, the war has come here.”

***

Foster found it. He kept going around the blocks up and down, until he finally got the bright idea to go to the roof of a nearby building and search for the bus.

After he did that, he was able to locate it.

It was parked by a diner and coffee shop about two blocks to the west. He loaded what he could from the coffee shop and then loaded all of them on the bus.

Foster had never even driven a car; he knew the basics and prayed he’d be able to drive the bus.

The keys were still in the ignition and he wasn’t even sure he knew what to do.

He started it and the gears ground.

Okay that wasn’t right.

He didn’t have to back out and that was a good thing. He couldn’t believe how hard the wheel was to turn.

It felt heavy as he drove. At least he didn’t have to worry about traffic or hitting another car.

He practiced braking before pulling onto the street where the injured were located.

Foster really didn’t have a plan other than to get everyone on the bus. He wanted to get them sheltered inside and then find a hospital. Not that he knew if there would be anyone at the hospital, but he could try. If that didn’t pan out, he’d try something else.

After taking his time and driving super cautiously, Foster arrived on the street, parking the bus close enough, but at a safe distance where he wouldn’t hit anyone.

He expected Abby would be gone when he returned. He was surprised to see her still there.

Of course Abby sat alone. He didn’t understand. If she didn’t want to help or be there, why was she?

Maybe it all an act and eventually Abby would turn.

Those were Foster’s thoughts.

But at that moment he couldn’t worry about Abby; he had to worry about how he was going to get all forty people on that bus.

His answer to himself was a simple one.

One at a time, that was how to do it.

And Foster started right away with that task.

***

Lana and Ben had an early supper of Campbell’s Chicken noodle soup. They ate it on the deck of the summer house. By early evening Lana was exhausted. She had consumed half of a bottle of wine and declared herself semi intoxicated.

Ben on the other hand sipped bourbon. He wanted to keep his wits about him and come up with a plan.

First and foremost they needed to know more of what was going on.

He and Lana decided that in the morning they’d go out and search for a radio or something. Maybe even a generator to charge the phone and get on the internet.

But for the evening, they were tired and sad and didn’t feel much like doing anything.

The shock of the two days had finally worn off and aided by her ‘drunk’ Lana cried. She cried a lot.

Ben wanted to cry, but stayed strong for his wife. He’d hold her hand, listen to her talk about her mother and sister, and then add his own memories of his mother.

They wondered about the virus or flu that had ravaged their families and friends.

Were they hit with the virus at the same time as the bombs hit New York?

They deducted it had to be some sort of large scale biological weapon. Perhaps it had been a warhead with capabilities of dispersing a germ over a wide area.

It hadn’t been released earlier than the New York attacks because Lana and Ben weren’t ill.

Neither were the others who survived the train wreck.

Perhaps it was the emotion of the past couple days, but Ben really wanted to bring up the fact that one week earlier they were fighting over who was going to get the flat screen television. Now they focused on more important things and the divorce seemed trivial.

He didn’t bring it up at all. But he did, however, keep looking at Lana, a woman he knew most of his life, and a woman he still loved very much.

He was glad he was with her.

There wasn’t another person he’d rather be with.

As they settled for the evening, Ben and Lana talked about the survivors who remained in the tunnel and the man named Brendan who went after them.

They wondered how they reacted when they emerged.

Ben and Lana knew how they must have felt.

The sun was starting to set and the temperature dropped as a breeze blew in from the ocean.

It was going to be a clear night.

Ben gathered up blankets and pillows, as many as he could find, from the house.

He got a genuine smile and laugh when he found them.

They were stored neatly in space age, plastic suction bags. He remembered when his mother heard about those bags. Calling him and saying, “Bennie, I can store five blankets without using any room.”

“Yeah, yeah, mom, I’m sure they work like that.”

And they did.

The blankets and pillows were air tight and sealed in colorful bags and stacked neatly in the hall closet.

Ben was impressed at how many items his mother had gotten into such a small space.

It was going to be a chilly night and neither he nor Lana wanted to stay in the house.

They had another long day ahead of them.

For the night, though, Ben pulled the Chaise lounge chairs close. He made them comfortable with pillows and they spent the evening out on the deck, emotionally and physically exhausted.

***

The hospital wasn’t even worth the harrowing trip. Foster was getting the knack of driving the bus, but it still wasn’t easy and he hit at least three cars.

But no one was at the hospital. Not a soul alive there. It did look as though people had been there. It was getting late and Foster decided it was better to wait until morning to look for help.

He just didn’t know what to do. He really didn’t. He was over his head and most of the injured just whimpered.

Judith said her eyes hurt, but she couldn’t speak for anyone else. She didn’t whimper; she was strong and Foster really wanted to speak to her. But she already had enough on her plate without listening to his woes.

They’d all sleep in the bus; it would be cold, but there wasn’t really much Foster could do about it.

He did his best to feed them and give them water. He moved nonstop and truth be known, Foster was tired. He just wanted to sleep.

Abby had found a bottle of booze in one of the houses and had taken to sipping that.

Foster didn’t want to deal with her. She wasn’t helping and didn’t say much.

She was almost a hindrance, at least mentally for Foster, she was.

Maybe she was tired like he was and maybe it was all just finally getting to her.

Foster sat in the driver’s seat of the bus. He could see her sitting outside, just sitting there. He couldn’t worry about her.

He turned his body some, getting as comfortable as he could and tried to sleep.

The next day, he believed, things would be different for everyone.

***

While Harry had a comfortable home and bed, he wasn’t venturing far from the door, the basement or Tyler. He made the boy a bed on the sofa and caught few winks in the chair. It wasn’t like he was doing anything new since Harry often fell asleep in that chair.

He had packed his bag with clothes and pictures and was ready to leave first thing in the morning.

The present for Leo, still semi wrapped, was placed in the car with his and Tyler’s belongings. They needed only to wake, wash up, eat a little and they would be on their way.

Harry figured with minimal traffic they’d be in Ohio by the next evening.

He hoped though, they would run into someone with answers.

After what he referred to as a strong nap in the chair, Harry did what he had been doing all night. He turned on the radio and waited for the Utah man to give a report.

Nothing was new, and the man in Utah was frustrated by lack of news coming from anywhere.

According to the Utah radio guy, a good part of America was in the dark, and people were told to stay inside.

The attacks weren’t over yet.

Harry figured whoever was doing it was hell bent on knocking the United States out of commission before invasion. They hit New York and probably Washington DC. Harry could only guess.

He prayed that he’d get more answers in the morning.

He planned on going north for a spell and then heading east, completely avoiding New York City or anywhere close to it. He needed to be cautious; he had a child with him. Harry was worried and he didn’t want Tyler to know that. In fact, Harry was worried as he sat in his own home that night. Something about everything, just didn’t sit right. For that reason, Harry dug out his old pistol that he stored in a lock box on top of his closet.

It had been years since he touched it and Harry wasn’t even sure if it still fired.

But something about having it near made him feel a bit more secure. Harry needed to feel that to get through the night and prepare for the next day.

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

Lana turned slightly on the chaise lounge and the pain in her back made her cringe and wake. She was cold, very cold. She lifted the covers as she turned to lie on her back. A blip of the sun made her blink. It was very bright and Lana sat up. “Ben, I think …”

One breath seeped from her body, hard and heavy as she gazed to the horizon.

“Ben.” She reached over blindly for him. “Ben.”

“What is it?” he asked.

“What’s happening?”

Ben sat up and rubbed his eyes.

On the horizon were ships. Five or six air craft carriers seemed to be moving closer.

There across the morning sky it looked like something from the Alfred Hitchcock movie, The Birds. Only they were planes.

More planes than Lana and Ben could count flew from behind the ships across the sky and toward the shore.

“Are they ours?” she asked.

“I don’t know. Probably.” And then just as Ben had delivered his response, a plane broke formation and within seconds, opened fire. Bullets hit the earth in a straight line from the beach toward the house.

Lana screamed.

Ben grabbed hold of her and pulled her from the chair to the deck. “Get inside. Go!” he ordered.

The crawled quickly as the bullets ripped through the deck.

The glass of the patio door shattered and Lana covered her head. She heard and felt the bullets as they ripped into the carpeting. “Ben!”

The sound of firing trailed off and then … Another plane, another set of bullets.

Ben grabbed Lana. “Bedroom!” he yanked her as hard as he could, pulling her to her feet.

She stumbled, tripping as she raced in a low crawl toward the back bedroom.

More bullets ripped through the windows.

“Get down. Now!” Ben told her and them both dropped to the floor of the back bedroom. It was a bedroom not facing the ocean, the blinds were still drawn tight, and Ben knew there was no way they could see them.

They couldn’t leave the house or go anywhere. Their only hope was to get some cover and even that was limited.

It was a tight squeeze, but Ben dragged Lana under the bed. He only hoped that the mattress and box spring would provide them some sort of protection.

He doubted it would, but it was their only chance.

Under that bed, they heard the massive number of planes flying overhead. More joined in, raining down bullets on their defenseless house.

Heads covered, shaking, confused and tightly squeezed in, Ben and Lana waited and prayed.

***

Harry was a smart man and was grateful he still had his quick thinking about him. He was also grateful that morning that he had gotten up pretty early.

Not that he had slept all that much, he didn’t. But he went down to the basement again, found the old camping stuff, pulled out the Coleman Stove and a tin percolator. He was going to have a cup of coffee, his first one in days.

The water in the pipes still ran, but he had a backup for washing the pot, the water heater.

He cleaned the pot and brewed some coffee.

Tyler was still sleeping and Harry kept the curtains closed in the living room, so the boy could rest. He’d need it. He’d had an emotional couple of days and more was ahead for him.

He’d wake him in a little bit, Harry thought. Heck, the sun had just come up.

Sitting and sipping his coffee he enjoyed the paper he didn’t get a chance to read before he left for the train. He searched for answers as to why the United States and England would have been attacked and by whom.

Salt Lake City guy said he’d be back on the air when he had an update, that government officials were asking him to refrain from delivering too much information and for the sake of his country he would oblige.

But what about those who were clueless, like Harry?

He rummaged through the news, trying to find some kind of warning, some reason that it happened. There were several little things, but Harry had a feeling in order to find out the ‘real’ reason, he’d have to go way back in the news. An attack on such a large scale took time, money, and planning.

Earlier, while the coffee brewed, he tried the phones. They were dead and the radio played nothing, which to Harry was much better than the hijacked station playing old anti-war seventies songs.

The anti-war songs—they were a piece of the puzzle, Harry knew they had to be. The anti war songs.

Maybe it was a message to the American people that they should have minded their own business on several occasions.

Harry couldn’t understand that mentality of ‘minding our own business.’ Not when he served in a war and so do his son.

He decided it a useless needle in a hay stack search, so Harry opted for the comics. Maybe something there would make him laugh.

It was then he heard it.

A soft rumbling mixed with a buzzing.

Harry stood slowly and looked out the kitchen window.

He didn’t see anything, but the sound grew louder.

Thinking the upstairs would give him a better view, Harry hurried up to his bedroom.

He didn’t know why he opted not to go outside; maybe he just didn’t feel like putting on his shoes. But it was a good thing he didn’t go.

The moment he peeked through the curtains of the bedroom window, Harry was glad he hadn’t gone outside.

Planes plastered the sky—an eerie resemblance to the photos he had seen of Pearl Harbor.

He didn’t have to question if they were American planes; he didn’t need to see them to know they were not.

The multitudes of planes were coming from the east and that told Harry they weren’t his country’s planes.

He shut the curtain quickly and backed out of the bedroom, steering clear of any windows.

He was a little frightened, not for himself as much as for Tyler.

By the time he reached the living room, the sounds of the planes’ motors were thunderously loud.

There was no ignoring them.

“Harry?” Tyler called out.

“Shh.” Harry put a finger to his mouth. He didn’t want to make a sound. Not a peep. Just on the chance whoever had arrived hadn’t just come by air.

He grabbed Tyler’s hand and led him to the basement. “We’re going down here,” Harry whispered.

“What is that noise?”

“Planes.”

“A rescue?” Tyler perked with excitement.

“I highly doubt that.”

Harry told him to go down first. Harry then followed him down and shut and secured the basement door.

In the basement they went to Harry’s work bench, an old wooden table top that Harry could never part with despite the number of times his wife asked him to.

He and Tyler inched under that bench. They waited there protected underground just on the outside chance there was another air strike.

Harry would keep them there until it was quiet and he felt the coast was clear.

He couldn’t take a chance.

***

There was a senior citizen’s recreation center in town that at one time had been an old school.

It was only a few blocks from the community medical center and Foster drove the bus there at the crack of dawn.

It was the best place he could think of to get everyone inside and comfortable while he devised a plan.

He had to get the injured people help and toting them all around was no longer an option.

A sign was posted on the wall of the center stating that it didn’t open until ten, which was good. The first attacks had occurred early.

Foster broke the glass on the doors and made his way inside.

It would work out just fine.

By 6:30 in the morning, having them all hold onto a rope, Foster was able to move them fairly quickly inside the building.

The small cafeteria had a case of the mini boxes of cornflakes and he passed them out to everyone.

There was bottle of water for each as well.

“What does it look like in here?” Judith asked.

“Like an old gym with tables,” Foster replied. “It’ll be fine.” He gave Judith her box of cereal; she was the last one.

“Jimmy, honey, you can’t keep doing this. You’re just a child. May I make a suggestion?” Judith said.

“Please do.”

“Leave,” she simply suggested.

“What do you mean?”

“We’ll be fine. How long would it take for you to go on foot out of the city to get help? Eight hours? Go. That is the best option.”

“I was thinking of that but I felt guilty about leaving you guys. Not everyone is like you.”

“We’ll be fine.” Judith grabbed for his hand. “Going to the bathroom is tricky, but we’ll manage.”

“I am probably going to have to …” Foster paused when he saw Abby’s hand reaching into the case of cereal. He stopped her. “Don’t.” he told her.

“Don’t what?” Judith asked.

“Not you, Judith. I was talking to Abby,” Foster said “She’s taking the cereal.”

“Oh, honey, she’s just hungry. Let her have some.”

“She’s well enough and fine to find her own food.”

“Don’t be like that, Jimmy.” Judith spoke softly. “Please.”

He didn’t say anything, but tossed a look to Abby that said he was allowing her to have the box of cereal under protest.

Abby took it and started to open it.

Foster stood. “You aren’t even going to say thank you?”

“Thank you. I don’t understand why it was such a hassle to let me have a box,” Abby said.

“Because it belongs to them, Abby. They can’t get their own food.”

“Yeah, well, you heard Judith,” Abby said sarcastically. “They can’t even go to the bathroom.”

“That was wrong.”

“It’s the truth,” Abby snapped. “Face reality Foster, you can’t help them. If you would have just told them to wait and gone on to get help you would have been back by now. But no, you’re a martyr.”

“Why didn’t you go and get help?”

Abby shrugged.

“Why are you here?” Foster asked. “Obviously this isn’t your cup of tea and you’re annoyed with these people.”

Again, Abby shrugged.

Foster tossed out his hand disgustedly. “I don’t need you to answer. You’re too lazy to go anywhere and I think you’re too scared to be on your own.”

“I’ve been alone for the past several months.”

“Yeah, well this is a little bit different,” Foster snapped “You’re not the only one mourning now. The whole world is mourning.”

Abby started to blurt out a sarcastic “fuck you’ but only the first portion of it emerged before her heard turned suddenly.

In fact, everyone started making noises and calling out in excitement over the sounds of planes.

“The rescue team is here,” Abby said.

Judith called out, “Foster, is that a rescue?”

“I’ll go check.” He held up his hand even though no one could see him. “Stay here.”

The blind started moving about, feeling their way. Their voices meshed with the excitement of the possibility of help finally arriving.

Abby was already outside when Foster emerged.

“We need to get back in or get out now,” Abby said calmly.

“Why?” And then Foster looked up. “Oh my God.”

There was such an abundance of planes. They formed their own masking cloud in the sky as they seemingly hovered overhead. But it wasn’t the planes that caused the concern in Abby or panic in Foster.

It was the fact that it was literary raining parachutes. Thousands upon thousands of parachuted soldiers floated in the sky, making their way down.

“It’s not a rescue,” Abby said to Foster. “It’s an invasion.”

***

Brendan knew more than he realized. He hated the fact that it was every man for himself but it was the way it had to be done.

He wasn’t so dumb as to not realize the hole in the train wreckage wasn’t placed there for a reason. They made their escape, coughing and choking over the smoke and gagging over the carnage of bodies.

People who depended on Brendan to send help were taken care of in a different way.

Once passed the wreckage, they followed the light but not for long.

The tunnel grew lighter and the brightness wasn’t from the sun.

It was lights and spotlights being brought in.

Art first he wondered if indeed it really was a rescue party that had made a fatal error and accidently killed the survivors. But he soon realized the error in his thinking when he saw military trucks pulling in. Tables were being set up and armed soldiers were walking about.

He had seen enough History Channel to know some sort of headquarters was being initiated underground in New York, tucked safely away and out of sight from any aerial attacks.

He knew they weren’t Americans and he didn’t know the language or recognize the uniforms. Brendan wasn’t sticking around long enough to find out. Before being spotted he took off running back the way he had come.

The others didn’t follow right away.

Brendan heard gunshots.

He kept going and didn’t look back.

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

Was the beach house still intact? It didn’t smell like it was and from his view under the bed Ben saw a lot of dust and smoke.

“You okay?” he asked Lana.

“Yeah. You?”

“Yeah.” Ben lifted his head, banging it on the bed. “I don’t hear anything.”

“Me either. You think it’s safe?”

“I don’t know.”

“Ben. What are we going to do?

“If I were to theorize, I’d say this house is one of the safest places to be right now. But ...we can’t stay here.”

“Who was it?”

Ben shook his head. “Stay here. Okay?”

Lana nodded.

Ben scooted out backward from under the bed. When he saw the bedroom, he whispered, “Oh God.”

The room was riddled with bullet holes. How they had escaped being hit, he didn’t know. He crawled to the window and peered out.

He didn’t see anything or hear anything.

“Come on out.”

Like Bill, Lana inched her way out. She gasped, covering her mouth at she saw the bedroom.

“I don’t even want to know what the rest of the house looks like.” Ben stepped over debris.

“Why would they shoot at us? We were two people sitting on a deck.”

“I don’t know. Maybe they were just being assholes at that second. Who knows? Maybe they couldn’t see us.” Ben took Lana’s hand and they made their way from the bedroom.

“I remember a fight we had.” Lana stayed close to Ben as they headed toward the living room. “We discussed America getting invaded. Remember?”

“I slept on the couch for two nights over that one,” Ben said and exhaled when he stood in the living room and look around.

“I said, no way could America ever get invaded.”

“And I said that most of our troops were overseas and … a world war had never been fought on our soil and we were long overdue.”

“I thought that was the hidden c\Conservative Republican in you talking.”

Ben shook his head. “I said it more to piss you off.”

They stood in the middle of the living room. The sun peeked with ease through the huge hole in the ceiling.

Ben cleared plaster from the couch. “Sit down.”

“I’m okay, really. I’m not hurt, just shaken.”

“Are you sure?”

Lana nodded.

“Good. Because I need to pack some backpacks. We need to get some items and head on out.”

“Where? How?”

“Well, we shouldn’t take the car. We’re gonna have to walk. Stay between houses, stay out of sight and be very quiet,” Ben said. “The planes were headed inland, so we head north and stay north for a while.”

“On foot?”

“Are you up for it?”

Lana exhaled. “I don’t have a choice, do I?”

“None at all,” Ben said and turned to start getting things in gear.

Lana reached out to him. “Ben, we’re going to make it, aren’t we?”

Ben swallowed. His jaw twitched as he sought the right words to say.

“You don’t think so.”

Ben shrugged. “I don’t know. But I do know this. We’re together, Lana. And for that I am so grateful.”

Lana pouted, her lips tightened and her face tensed up as she held in her tears. With glossed over eyes she grabbed on to Ben and embraced him. “Me, too. Trust me. Me, too.”

***

Every noise, every motor sound, every plane had disappeared and quiet had returned.

Harry figured it was safe to emerge from under the work bench.

“Can I talk now?” Tyler asked.

“Yeah, I think it’s safe.”

“What happened, Harry? What was all that?”

Harry led Tyler to the stairs and encouraged him to sit.

It had reached a point where all his years of living and all the experience he had would come into play.

Harry could make reasonable deductions and be correct on his guess as to what happened.

And while they had waited under that workbench, Harry had thought about it all.

But he had to explain to Tyler what he believed was happening before he moved forward with his plan.

After listening to the sparse reports from the Utah man, Harry pieced together in his mind a worst case scenario.

“What grade are you in?” Harry asked Tyler.

“Third.”

“My God, are you young. Have you learned about any wars yet?”

Tyler nodded. “Revolutionary. The Civil War.”

“What about World Wars?”

“Not much.”

Harry cringed. How could he explain? Tyler seemed like a bright boy; it wasn’t going to be too difficult. “Okay. When a country wants to take over another country, there are a couple of phases to do so. Are you with me?”

Tyler nodded.

“First, they know they eventually have to send in ground troops. But in order for the ground troops to be as safe as possible, the invading country has to clean house. Are you with me?”

Tyler nodded. The he shook his head.

“Okay. When the United States went to Iraq, before they sent our soldiers on the ground, they sent fire from the sky, bombed cities and military installations. They did this to shake things up, to remove the threat and make it safer for our soldiers. Following me?”

“Yes.”

“Okay. Good. So, the way I figure, there is a country or countries that want to come after us. They want to invade us. We ain’t had that happen since the war of 1812. The civil war doesn’t count because we were fighting against each other. But we haven’t had another country fight on our soil since 1812.”

“Except for now.”

“Exactly,” Harry said. “It think, like I said, countries wanted to take us over, but we’re the good old US of A. We don’t go down that easily. In order to do so, they hit us with some bombs, some chemicals and made us run in confusion, like chickens with their heads cut off. Following me?”

“So they hit us with bombs. We get confused and then they think hitting us with bombs makes their soldiers safe.”

“Exactly, only they’re going for the scattered effect. They cause some destruction and send us scattering. While we’re trying to make heads or tails out of what happened, they come in. That’s what I think we just heard. All those planes were bringing soldiers in.”

“To where?” Tyler asked.

“I suppose they set up a front line somewhere. But they’re gonna need more than soldiers. They’ll need equipment. That’s stuff they will have to bring in on boats.”

“We’re close to the ocean.”

“Yes,” Harry said. “Yes, we are. And because of that, we have to get moving. Now, I’m thinking that for a spell, it’s safe. The planes went somewhere and aren’t worrying too much about us. But those tanks and whatever, they’re gonna have to drive to the front lines. And chances are they’ll come right through here.”

“This is like a movie, Harry.”

“I know. So let’s go upstairs and get out belongings. We’ll go as far as we can in the car. Take the back roads and then play it by ear. Okay?”

Tyler nodded.

“I’ll do the best I can to get you out of this situation. But to be honest, Tyler, I don’t know how far all this goes. It could end in New York or it could go farther.”

“We’ll get out of it, Harry. I’m sure you’ll get us out of it.”

Harry felt pretty good about the vote of confidence he received from the young man. He took him by the hand and they went upstairs.

Even though Harry had the car already packed to go he wanted to get a few more things. He wanted to gather items he knew they would need to stay warm, to eat and to be protected, just in case they had to abandon their vehicle.

They didn’t waste much time in the house; they were out in just a few minutes.

Harry was a little timid when he started the car, looking about to see if the engine noise had drawn any attention. Then he pulled from the driveway and headed from Windsor ,planning to go directly north.

Harry knew he had two goals— stay focused and stay alive.

***

Was he insane? In fact, Abby yelled that question at Foster when he ran back to the building. “Foster? Are you crazy? Come on!” She waved him to come on as she backed up.

“I can’t leave them. I have to move them somewhere safe, maybe to the back of the building.”

Abby looked up. More parachutes were falling, but there were many that had already landed. Some were in the distance, but a lot were close. Too close. They landed on roof tops and in the streets. Men were everywhere and all of them were armed. “Foster. We have to run. Now.”

“Then run.” Foster tuned and went into the senior citizen center.

Abby did.

She looked over her shoulder to the five or six soldiers that had landed a block or so down from them and took off running.

She slipped through two buildings and then darted to the next street over. Carefully she peeked around the corner, but pulled back when she saw more soldiers.

It was hard to determine by looking at them where they were from. They appeared to have dark complexions, but it was hard to tell through their battle gear.

Battle gear, she thought.

They’re invading New York City like Normandy Beach.

Abby waited until she saw they all had passed and then she ran out from between the two buildings.

She saw the front door of a townhouse. It was standing wide open and Abby made her way in that direction.

Someone could have been in there, but she didn’t think of that. She needed to hide and stay hidden, at least until the wave of paratroopers had passed her by.

Abby made it up the stairs, paused in the doorway, looked back and ran into the house.

She wasn’t thinking about anything but hiding. Hide and wait it out. She stopped at the first room she came to, the living room. She saw the couch which was angled out from the wall and raced behind it for cover, huddling with her knees brought up close to her chest.

***

“We have to move! Everyone! Move now!” Foster yelled. He didn’t want to yell and knew it wasn’t the smart thing to do, but it was his only choice if he wanted to be heard by those who could barely hear.

He grabbed their hands, joining them to each other in an attempt to create a human train. Jumping in the lead, he grabbed Judith’s hand.

“Jimmy, what’s happening?” she asked.

“We have to hurry. We have to hide or something.” He pulled her and then noticed others were dropping off the chain and not moving with him. Frustrated he grabbed for them.

“Jimmy. Tell me what is happening.”

“Soldiers are everywhere and I don’t know where they came from. I think they are just dropping from the sky. Judith … there are thousands of them and they are all over.”

Judith gasped.

Foster and the group were almost there, almost across the gym. Holding on to Judith, he pushed on the door. “Come on. Open.” He had a dozen maybe more grouped at that door. The rest of the injured were scattered about, aimlessly moving.

“¡Manteno-o!” a male voice called out loud and strong.

Foster turned to look. Six soldiers had entered the building.

“Todo o mundo deixar!” another ordered, waving his rifle.

Then a third stepped forward and grabbed hold of one of the injured.

Foster was in the back behind everyone with Judith. He kept pushing on the door.

The soldier looked at the injured man he had dragged toward him. “El é cego” He stared intently at the man, then looked around. “¿Son to-dos ceros?”

Foster hadn’t a clue what language they spoke, or what they were saying. But by the look on the soldier’s face as he examined the injured man, he guessed it had to do with the blindness. The poor injured man was confused, turning left to right.

Then Foster saw it. Another just shook his head and he raised his rifle. “Mate-los todos.”

The meaning of those foreign words was abundantly clear to Foster when all the soldiers, raised their weapons at the same time and opened fire.

***

Abby felt safe even though her insides trembled out of control. She was behind that couch for a second, trying her hardest not to even breathe. Her eyes skimmed outward to the dining room and that was when she did she saw the little hand.

It wasn’t what she expected to see. Nor was it something she needed or wanted to see. It horrified her beyond belief.

The little hand belonged to the body of a boy no older than two years old. His other hand clutched a Sippy cup as he lay on the hardwood floor by the dining room table.

Abby wanted to scream. What built inside of her was agony and pain overseeing the child. It wanted to erupt from her vocally and it brewed within her gut. Both of her hands cupped over her own mouth to keep it in, She sobbed into her palms as silently as she could.

Tears streaming down her face, she had to get out of there. She had to run. Overcome with the horror of seeing the child, she closed her eyes tightly and jumped when rapid gunfire rang out close to her. Gunfire followed by screams of pain and terror.

Her hands tightened on her mouth as she fought not to cry out. Every part of her body shook. Her feet kicked forward, pushing and scooting her back until her trembling body hit the wall.

She knew what the shots were and she was pretty certain, she knew where they came from.

Whimpering out a whispered ‘Foster,’ she bowed her head to her knees and covered her ears to try to block out the shots and screams.

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

When they were young, in love and in college, they were pretty carefree. Lana and Ben believed they were going to school just to appease their parents and eventually planned to drop out, live off the land, be artistic people and change the world.

Then student loans and responsibilities kicked in. Lana got pregnant so they married because it was the “right” thing to do, but then she lost the baby at five months.

It devastated them both and zapped them out of their fantasy world. They stayed in reality for a long time, growing bored, working long hours and fighting all the time.

They aged but they remembered those times of biking for days, getting high in the woods and making love under the stars.

It was their past that made them believe they could have a future … alive.

They weren’t able to find backpacks in the beach house, but the general store had them along with the supplies they needed. They also were able to find bikes. Bikes would be a quiet means of transportation and easy to manipulate on and off road so they could stay hidden.

South was out of the question, since that would take them to New Jersey and surely if New York was hit, Jersey probably was, too.

They had to go north.

It was about eighty miles Massachusetts and they hoped that the virus or whatever biological weapon that was used hadn’t hit there.

Ben and Lana used common sense before taking off.

They tried to figure out what had happened.

It was big, and yet neither Ben nor Lana felt the attack wasn’t from a big country. Russia and China had the means to hit them, but no reason. Plus, they would have used nuclear weapons. Then again, nuclear weapons might have been used; they just did not know.

Whoever had done, it had to have been either a small country or at least one that was underestimated. The internet news source was still up and running so that told them a good part of the country was too.

If it was just the east coast that was hit, then New York, Boston, Philadelphia, Washington DC would have been the focal points of attack.

Connecticut and New Hampshire as well as parts of Massachusetts were entry points for invasion and hence the reason for chemical weapons.

Had it been a bigger country that attacked, then Connecticut would probably have been hit like New York. Instead they used biological weapons there.

They blew their explosive loads on the bigger cities.

Hit the United States, hit them big, cause confusion, chaos and while the United States scurried to pick itself up, hit with an invasion.

Hit them when they’re down.

Arriving at those theories, Ben and Lana realized they were smack dab in the middle of the point of entry. The first wave arrived; it would not be long before the second came.

Not that they believed Massachusetts was any better to be, but the small towns on the western side of the state were heavily forested and may have been spared by the grace of nature’s foliage. If not, if they ran into more of the same, they would just keep going,

Their intermediate goal was to get out of Connecticut into Massachusetts and try to find out what was going on.

But their long term goal was to be safe and stay alive. For that, Ben and Lana believed they only had one option and that was to keep heading north, get out of the country and head into Canada.

They didn’t look at it as abandoning their homeland in a time of need; they looked at it as just wanting to live.

***

Harry was too old to walk the twenty miles and smart enough to know that whatever the planes that passed overhead were heading east.

There were probably headed into New York and beyond.

He would have taken Mr. Hines’ horses had he been twenty years younger, but there was no way Harry was riding a horse that far. He had ridden when he was younger, but that was years ago. And Tyler didn’t have a clue about riding horses.

So, on a wing and a prayer, they took the car, staying on the road that followed the river north.

The road was a winding one and occasionally heavily tree lined. That afforded them some protection from anything that could spot them from the air.

Did he think they were a hundred percent safe? No. Actually Harry worried he was being foolish to drive, but he did have a destination in mind, a place he felt might be safe, if he could get there.

Just across the border of Connecticut, beyond the newly constructed housing subdivisions and two miles off highway159, was the town of Agabarn. It wasn’t big; it had probably more drinking establishments than business and most of its residents commuted to their work places.

Harry knew of the town because he knew George Miller. He met George by chance. Harry was with Leo having a cigarette while waiting outside to see Ronald Reagan speak. They got to talking and remained friends, especially after they discovered that their love of Ronald Reagan wasn’t the only thing they had in common.

George was a retired mechanic, but hadn’t always been a mechanic. He had been a fisherman who had loved his job. From sun up until sundown he fished for his living.

He did that until his oldest son drown and, consumed with grief, George swore he never wanted to see the ocean again.

He moved inland and put his other talents to work.

George lived in Agabarn and Harry hoped he was still there, that everything was fine and he’d find his buddy.

The drive wasn’t long or far and Harry inwardly wasn’t hopeful of finding anything different up north, especially since they didn’t see a car or person the whole trip.

Then again, it was only twenty miles.

Tyler was quiet.

Still a bit shaken after the plane experience, he didn’t say very much and his hand seemed to find some sort of security in resting on the Leo present.

Harry thought it was ironic, considering what the gift was.

They made the turn off from RT 159 and were a stone’s throw away from Agabarn. The McDonald’s, the landmark for the turn, was dark and empty.

No cars.

No people.

Harry was losing hope.

He swore he felt his heart hit his stomach when he pulled on the main street of the three block town.

Not that Agabarn was a bustling metropolis, but there were always people out and about. Cars were always parked on the street, especially in front of the grocer. But there were no cars and windows were all blackened and boarded up. It was a ghost town.

Harry pulled over. He needed a minute to get his bearings and think of a plan B. In his mind, the invasion force had swept through Agabarn, boarded up the place and moved on.

“I’m sorry,” Tyler said. “Maybe we should go to your friend’s house.”

Harry shook his head.

“Don’t you know where he lives?”

Harry did, but that wasn’t the reason. He just didn’t think he had it in him to see another dead body ravished by the flu or anything else for that matter. Especially if it was someone he knew.

Again, Harry shook his head. “I’d just rather not.”

Staring down, Harry saw through the corner of his eye that Tyler was gripping the box tighter. He lifted his eyes to see that Tyler’s head hung low as well.

“Hey.” Harry reached for him. “It’ll be okay.”

Thump, thump, thump!

The quick, triple hard hits on the driver’s side window made them both jump and scream.

Harry grabbed his chest and opened the window. “By God, it’s a living person.”

A younger man, probably in his mid-twenties, wearing a baseball cap was frantic. “Mister, ya can’t leave the car in the road. Ya got to move it now.”

“I’m sorry, move it?” Harry asked.

“Unless you’re going. If you’re going, you got to go. If not, you got to move.”

“Sweet Jesus,” Harry whispered out. “What in the hell are you saying?”

“Is you passing through or is you staying?”

“I’m looking for George Miller. Know him.”

“Everybody does.”

“Is he alive?”

“Last I checked.”

Harry grinned and turned to Tyler. “George is alive.” He returned to the young man. “We’re staying.”

“Ah, Gees, okay.” He adjusted his cap, shuffling some. “Head a block up, no gunning the gas, turn at the station into Mort’s storage units. I’ll run up. Meet you there, Ok?”

“Why am I going to Mort’s?”

“Mister, ya got to square away your car. Come on.” The young man darted a half a block, poked his head into the ‘Running Tap’ saloon, backed out and quickly ran in the direction he had told Harry.

Harry followed the dictate and when he arrived at Mort’s the young man stood by an open storage unit waving Harry forward.

Figuring the young guy wanted him to hide his car, Harry pulled forward and into the storage unit. He shut off the car and stepped out.

“Do you have belongings?” the young man asked.

“Yes, we do.”

“Can you hold off until dark to get them?”

“Well we’re just gonna head to George’s house.”

“Not until dark you aren’t. There’s a curfew right now, have to stay off the streets and inside.”

Harry blinked. “Aren’t curfew’s usually for night?”

“Not now, they aren’t.”

Harry nodded. “I understand. Should we just wait it out here?”

“No, you and the boy can come on down to The Tap. Lot of people are there, just hanging out, listening to the radio and waiting.”

“The Tap?” Harry asked. “Is that a bar? Because he’s a boy, can he go in there?”

“Don’t much matter now, does it,” the young man said.

“Guess not. Lead the way.” Harry placed his hand on Tyler’s back and kept the boy between him and the other man, just to be safe.

They were led from the storage area, quickly across the street and through the side door of a Laundromat. The windows were boarded up. A woman folded laundry and waved as if nothing was peculiar about them passing through.

From there they headed out the back door, staying close to the buildings and it was another half a block before they entered into the back of The Tap.

No sooner did they walk in than the young man secured the back door and led them down the hall.

Music playing at a soft level carried to Harry and Tyler, along with voices.

Tyler reached up and grabbed Harry’s hand. He held it tight.

“It’s okay,” Harry said to Tyler. “I promise.”

They then emerged into the back portion of the Tap. The interior lights were on, some red and blue. People played pool; some threw darts. Others filled the tables and there were children running around.

The man behind the bar gave an up motion of his head. “I see you got them, Rick.”

Rick nodded. “Didn’t quite understand about hiding the car, but they’re looking for George.”

“Miller?” the bartender asked.

Harry nodded. “Do you know him? Have you seen him?”

Another nod of his head and the bartender pointed.

Harry turned.

George emerged from the men’s room, a newspaper tucked under his arm. He wasn’t a tall man like Harry, but had a barrel chest and thick gray hair that was neatly combed and styled. “Harry? Well I’ll be a son of a bitch!” The man was a few years younger than Harry. He moved toward him and gave him a hearty embrace with a chuckle.

“George, can’t tell you how happy I am to see you and that you’re alive.”

“Me, too.” George reached out and rubbed Tyler’s head. “This your grandson?”

“No. no. But I’m gonna call him that from here on in. He’s my buddy.” Harry pulled him closer.

George tilted his head. “What brings you here?”

“Didn’t know where else to go. Gave it a shot and hoped things were better up here,” Harry explained. “Tyler and I were on a train. It crashed in New York. We were stuck underground, when we came up …”

George’s single, slow, knowing nod, told Harry he understood.

“George, we made it out of New York, into Connecticut...” Harry said with desperation. “What the hell happened?”

George motioned his hand toward table. “Sit down. Get comfortable. Let me see if I can fill you in.”

***

You are weak.

You’re such a coward.

What is wrong with you?

Those were the thoughts that ran through Abby’s mind as she huddled behind that sofa, holding her ears long after the shots had ceased.

She had run.

In a world gone mad, a boy not even old enough to know love had been kind to her and she had run.

She hid behind the sofa in a townhouse with a clear view of a child.

A dead child.

Her memories flashed to her son, Landon.

The corner said the car impacted the driver’s side at such a high speed that her husband and son never knew what hit them. They were crushed.

Decimated beyond recognition, Abby didn’t even get to see them. She couldn’t bring herself to identify the bodies. A coworker did.

She never got to say good bye to her son, hold him or tell him she loved him.

She couldn’t bear the thought of seeing him hurt.

But Landon had felt no pain; he had died instantly.

Unlike that toddler on the dining room floor of the townhouse, he never knew his life was ending.

How much pain that young child must have endured the final moments of his life was incomprehensible to Abby. He suffered, probably crying and screaming for help, and died alone on a cold hardwood floor.

She kept focusing on his little hand and then Abby couldn’t take it anymore.

She scurried out from behind that couch and crawled to the child.

His eyes were open, his skin white and his mouth frozen open as if crying out for help.

Scooping her arms under his body, Abby lifted the child into her arms and cradled him. She held him close, burying her head against the boy and sobbing from the depths of her soul.

For all that she lost, for all that other mothers lost, for every child who died without a pair of arms to comfort them, she cried as she held that child.

“I’m so sorry,” she whimpered and cried as she held him. “I’m so sorry for the pain you went through. I am so sorry.”

She rocked back and forth holding him and crying for the longest time. Then she stood and carried the child to the sofa. She laid him there and covered him with the blanket that was tossed over the back of the couch.

She stared at him and then covered him completely. She swiped her hand under her nose and took a moment to think.

A few days earlier she had stood in her bathroom, a razor to her wrist and wanting to die.

But she couldn’t do it.

The train crashed. Seventy percent of the passengers onboard died. But she lived. Why?

Foreign soldiers had barreled into town, guns blazing, shooting everyone and everything that lived.

Except her.

She still lived.

Why?

It dawned on Abby right there in that living room that for all her losses, all her heartache, for all the seconds she just wanted to die … she didn’t.

She was meant to live.

Somehow, someway, through her pain there was a greater purpose.

Whether it was to just get out of the city or to find others alive, there was a reason she was still alive.

‘The whole world is mourning.’ Foster’s words ran through her mind. Suddenly her pain was not singular, but multiplied by parents everywhere.

She broke down and cried again, thinking about Foster in that recreation center. She thought of the helpless blind that she so heartless disregarded because of her own pain.

An opportunity was given to her, a purpose for her life, and she had turned the other cheek.

With the body of the child on the sofa and Foster racing through her mind, Abby sobbed her last tear.

Her lips were swollen from all the crying and her face was wet with tears.

But she had turned an emotional tide. She vowed right there to turn over a new leaf. Running for her life, hiding, made her realize she truly didn’t want to die.

Abby vowed to make up for her lack of compassion and selfishness.

She would try.

First, she would head down to the recreation center even if it were only to find Foster’s body. Then she would apologize and promise the young man she would pick up where he left off.

If the bus load of people were alive, others were too.

It was quiet outside and Abby felt it safe to leave.

Sniffling and catching her breath, Abby peeked out the window.

She didn’t see anyone on the street.

Quietly she walked to the front door, opening it without a sound.

She pulled it closed behind her without latching it and stepped down the steps.

Shit.

She heard the sound of a weapon loading ammunition bullet in the chamber.

Abby stopped cold on the stairs. Turning slowly to her right, she saw a soldier.

He said something to her as he aimed his weapon.

Abby didn’t understand him. She lifted her hands in surrender, but she was not surrendering. As she reached the bottom step, the soldier neared her. Inwardly she almost felt invincible. She had escaped botched suicides, the train wreck and the paratroopers. She had a purpose.

And that purpose wasn’t to die.

She shifted her eyes. No other soldiers were around.

Arms raised high, she thought about running. The soldier was young; if he was twenty, he was lucky. He also looked scared, as if he didn’t know what to do.

“I’m not armed,” Abby said.

Again he said something.

“I don’t understand you,” Abby told him. “English?”

He motioned his weapon, ordering her to do something.

“I don’t know what you’re saying.”

He moved closer.

Abby thought, ‘Fuck it.’ She was going to run.

Standing there at the bottom of the townhouse stairs, she was aware of her will to survive. It was that same survival instinct that had led her to run into that townhouse and hide. She realized that she didn’t want to die.

But Abby’s revelation of the value of life came too late for her.

For all her failed attempts to end her life, all her near death experiences were just a tease to bring her to the realization that she wanted life not death.

In the midst of reasoning with the young soldier, he fired a single shot from his rife, an action for which she was ill prepared.

And the wish of a day or so earlier, her wish to die, came true when the bullet seared into her forehead and Abby dropped to concrete sidewalk and died instantly.

***

The blood went from warm and thin to cold and thick, turning sticky and sour smelling. But despite the transformation the substance took, Foster stayed still beneath the bodies and didn’t move.

He was prepared to get up earlier but then he heard that lone shot and he stayed still even longer.

He hadn’t a clue how long he was under those bodies; it could have been all day or ten minutes. But enough silence engulfed him and since there hadn’t been any outside noise in a while, Foster deemed it safe to get up.

He was by the door when the soldiers opened fire and was protected by the helpless injured around him.

He sat up, rolling a body away from him. Sitting there, Foster bought the back of his hand to his mouth, raised his knees, laid his head on them and cried.

What had happened? How did he fail these poor people that had depended on him?

Their bodies lay strewn about, riddled with bullet holes.

It had been nothing less than bloodbath.

A merciless bloodbath.

“Is anyone alive?” a female voice whispered.

Foster turned and looked. “Judith?”

“Foster?”

With a sob he looked around. “Say something else.”

“I’m underneath someone.”

He located her voice to his right. Then he saw a hand peeking out from under the body. By the ring on her finger he clearly recognized the hand as Judith’s.

Quickly Foster scurried to her and rolled the body from her.

Judith began to cry.

Her hands covered her face and her body shook. Like him, she was completely covered in blood, someone else’s blood.

“Are you hurt?” Foster asked. “Shot?”

“No. You?”

“No.”

“Oh my God, Foster. What happened?” she asked.

“I don’t know. Soldiers came in here and just shot. They just fired.” He helped her sit up. “But we got to get out of here. We have to go.”

“But where?”

“I don’t know.” Foster peered around as he helped her to stand. He really didn’t have a clue on where they should go, but he knew staying at the recreation center wasn’t an option.

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

“We were just going about our normal day when the word came,” George explained to Harry in the local tavern. “In fact, we thought it was just a test of the emergency broadcast system, but it wasn’t.”

He went on to tell Harry how the first news bulletin was about a small nuclear warhead detonated in Washington DC. It had been pre-planted, and there was no warning. Same thing had happened in London, a pre-planted Nuclear weapon. Everyone in the country thought it was a terror hit until four low flying planes were spotted in New York City, two in Philadelphia and another in Boston.

All were flying bombs.

They were bombs that set the sky on fire as they ignited the oxygen and burned all those on the ground.

People that were farther out suffered pressure injuries which resulted in blindness or brain damage.

The warnings that something was going to occur on the Eastern cities gave people only a few minutes to seek cover. But it was too late for most of them.

There was no place that was safe from the oxygen burning bombs.

“We huddled around the radio listening to the stories of devastation,” George said. “That was Tuesday morning. By afternoon, people in Connecticut and parts of New Jersey were claiming they heard explosions that sounded like loud pops in the sky. Everyone assumed it was paranoia until everyone got ill. Fast too.”

George went on to explain that people were experiencing cold and flu symptoms by mid day and stores and shops just shut down. Agabarn shut down too, just in case.

“Did anyone come in to help?” Harry asked. “The CDC? FEMA?”

George shook his head. “Not that we know of. Too many, too fast. By that first evening, while America scurried to get on her feet, while she rallied to get help into the affected areas, a first wave airstrike came in shooting anything that moved off the east coast. We heard it and stayed inside.”

“We heard on the radio that we were trying to bring troops home,” Harry said.

“Yeah, we heard that too. But now there are battles going on at sea trying to stop them from returning.”

Harry exhaled heavily. “Are there news broadcasts anymore?”

George shook his head. “A newscaster came on to say that they were not going to report anything because the enemy could intercept. So we are here, just buckled down.”

“The second wave came this morning,” Harry said. “I heard and saw it.”

“No, Harry. That was the third wave. That was the biggest yet.”

“Jesus.” Harry’s hand reached down and stroked Tyler’s head. Tyler had fallen asleep on his lap and he was glad for that. The boy didn’t need to hear anything he didn’t understand. Harry would explain it to him later. “So you’re in the dark now.”

“Not completely,” George said. “We pick up news from Ham operators. They send updates that are coded. We haven’t broken the code completely, but we’re getting the gist of it all. Before the major new hubs went off the air, the general consensus was that this wasn’t a terror hit, but rather a joint attack and invasion by a few small countries.”

“How did they have the resources?”

“Well, think about it,” George said. “Two nukes, pre-planted. Flying bombs, the most sophisticated they used were the bio weapons. We think they blew their wad on those. If they hadn’t, they would have dropped more and not had to resort to firing on anything that moved.”

“So you guys are just hunkered down?” Harry asked.

George nodded. “We survived three airstrikes, not one hit here, by boarding up and staying in the dark. They flew right over. We’re so close to Connecticut, they probably think we were hit with the bio weapons. We have men on roof tops.. They’ll sound alarms in case an attack is coming and we’ll all get below. That’s all we can do for now.”

Harry nodded his understanding. “Because you can’t pack up and move a town.”

“One town?” George asked. “Try three. We have refugees left and right; people are coming here because word got out we’re safe.”

“For how long?”

“Don’t know.”

“Any word whatsoever on what we are doing?’

“What do you mean?” George asked. “We, as in Agabarn?”

“No, we as in the United States. Have we started retaliating? Fighting back?”

“Nothing yet. Not that we heard but only we get bits and pieces,” George said. “But I’ll tell ya, Harry, if I don’t hear anything soon, I’m gonna have to assume, that we, The United States of America… laid down our weapons and quit.”

***

They made it to a house one block up and two streets over. It seemed pretty safe, at least to Foster. The blinds were old and wooden and he was able to draw them closed.

There were two things that Foster didn’t tell Judith.

One was that there were the bodies of a man and woman in the house, although he was pretty certain that she could smell them. And the other thing was that he had seen Abby lying dead in the street.

Judith, led by Foster, sensed something was up and conveyed as much.

Foster stopped when he saw Abby. She was lying on the sidewalk and had been shot in the head. A pool of her own blood surrounded her head. She actually looked peaceful to Foster. He didn’t stay long to look at her. He did pause long enough to say to himself, ‘May God have mercy on your soul. You are at rest,’ before he moved on.

Judith had asked if something was wrong. Foster had said no.

He did think about Abby and what went through her mind, aside from the bullet. Abby, when last Foster had talked to her, didn’t want to live.

Foster figured that Abby finally took advantage of an opportunity to die and stayed in the street until a soldier shot her.

He’d always remember Abby. He felt bad that she had died, but a part of him was happy for her because she was reunited with the family she had lost.

The house he found had been converted into apartments and Foster took Judith to the second floor to be safe. He dragged the bodies out and down the hall. He found clothing in the other apartments for him and for Judith.

What he found for her was a house dress. It was probably something someone much older than Judith would wear, but it was better than her blood stained clothes. That and a pair of cotton stretch pants, the type his second foster mother wore all the time to Bingo. He forewarned Judith that she was not going to be a fashion statement. To which she replied, “At least I don’t have to see what I look like.”

For himself he found a pair of jogging pants and shirt.

They both had started to smell sour and he knew it. He ran a bath in the second floor apartment for her. The water was cool, but not ice cold. He was able to use the gas line and a match to boil some water. He added that to the bath.

“Towel.” He placed it in her hand and then brought her hand to the toilet next to the tub. “Soap is to your left with the shampoo. Just reach out. Call me and I can help you if you want. I promise not to look.”

“Jimmy,” she said as she grabbed his hand. “You are very kind. For this God is going to reward you.”

“Let’s just hope his reward is getting us to somewhere safe.”

“Let’s hope.”

“I’ll let you be,” Foster said. “I’m going to head right next door and take a quick shower. I won’t be long, I promise. You soak. If you need anything, call.”

Judith nodded.

She undressed when she heard him leave the bathroom. Her blouse stuck to her body and she had to peel it from her. She removed the remainder of her clothes, felt for the edge of the tub, lifted her leg and stepped inside.

The water was hot and she couldn’t wait to settle down.

Her body sunk into the water and the instant it engulfed her, Judith wanted to collapse.

Her chest felt heavy and in the middle of reaching for the soap, she started to cry. Clutching the bar between her fingers, she didn’t move.

She couldn’t see a thing except for a change in lighting. How helpless she truly was. She couldn’t find her own food, her way; she couldn’t even draw her own bath.

It was at that instant it hit her that if everyone from the bus had died as well as everyone in the area, then chances were everyone she knew and loved was probably gone as well.

She was alive by the grace and compassion of a teenage boy who didn’t need to sacrifice his own well being for her, but did.

In that tub, body aching, Judith prayed for those she lost, for those alive and struggling and for the young man named Jimmy who had become nothing less than an angel to her. And while she prayed, she continued to cry.

***

The bikes were hidden in the bushes. Ben and Lana withdrew deeper into the foliage and huddled together under a blanket tent.

They had trekked a good fifteen miles and the final few miles were killers.

They weren’t teenagers anymore and the fact that they stayed clear of the road most of the time didn’t help.

The bicycle ride wasn’t easy.

They found a Wal-Mart just before they knew they were going to have to stop. There they grabbed some blankets and pillows, a small flashlight, water and food.

Deep in the wooded area, at least a hundred feet from where they hid the bikes, they laid down some blankets and using a darker one, made a makeshift tent. They hoped their attempt at camouflage would prevent them from being spotted from the air.

The tent hid the light from the flashlight and they huddled together sharing a can of Dinty Moore beef stew. They had grabbed a bottle of booze from the convenience store and sipped on that along with the water. The alcohol kept them warm, busy and numb to what was happening.

“We didn’t make much progress today,” Lana said as she inched closer to Ben, putting her spoon in the can. “You can finish that off.”

“Nah, I’m good.” He placed his own spoon in the can and set it down. “Maybe we can eat more later. And we have made great progress.”

Lana chuckled. “Hardly.”

“Hey, we’re chipping away at the miles.”

“And we’re safe.”

“That, too. I think though, we’ll remain safe for a while and more so when we get to Canada.”

“We don’t have any documentation; you think they’ll let us through.”

“I’m sure they have provisions for refugees.”

“Refugees?” Lana asked.

“That’s what we are, Lana, refugees. How many times have we seen it on the news? A country goes to war and people leave it. You see them by the masses making an exodus to the next country.”

“Ben? Let me ask you a question. Do you think we’re wrong for leaving?”

Ben shrugged. “I don’t know. How much can we do?”

“But how much can they do?”

“What do you mean?” Ben asked.

“It’s a big country. How much have they really taken or attacked.”

“I don’t know and that’s why our plan is to head into Canada. Play it safe, Lana, safe and alive.”

“For all the years we’ve had together, even the rough ones, I’m glad we were together the other morning. I’m glad I was on that train with you.”

“Me, too.” He pulled her to him, guiding her head to his shoulder. “Me, too.”

***

‘What’s in the box, Harry?’

Tyler asked Harry again and Harry explained to him that it was important, even more so with all that was going on now. And Harry also told him he could unwrap the box and look inside if he wanted to.

“I’m curious,” Harry told him. “I wonder if you can figure out what it is.”

Those words made Tyler curious, too.

He asked Harry again, when they went to the storage to get their things. Harry made sure he grabbed that box, stating it was far too valuable to leave in the car. He wanted it with them at all times.

What was in the box?

It was metal. Tyler learned that by knocking on it, and heavy. But was it the box that made it heavy or the contents? It didn’t feel like there was much in there. In fact, when Tyler moved the box, the contents moved too.

But he dared not shake it.

After all, it was valuable.

When they arrived in the small town, Tyler was tired and hungry. He didn’t want Harry to know he was hungry, Harry had worked too hard to move them and feed Tyler. Tyler didn’t want to come across as ungrateful.

But he was hungry.

Harry’s friend, George, gave Tyler some cheese crackers and juice while the old friends caught up. Somewhere in the middle of his crackers, Tyler put his head down in Harry’s lap and fell asleep.

It was his longest nap ever.

He didn’t get to hear much about what was going on. Harry filled him in over supper. He told him that people had come to the country and started a fight.

“The whole country?” Tyler asked.

“I doubt that,” Harry told him. He then explained it was a big country and that more than likely, whoever was starting trouble, was just taking a small piece as their own —just enough for them to have some sort of control over the United States.

Tyler didn’t quite understand it until Harry explained it.

“What’s your favorite toy besides a ball?” Harry asked. “Do you like cars, toy soldiers? Is there anything you collect?”

Tyler nodded. “Action figures. Especially wrestling.”

“Ok, now let’s suppose they only made a hundred, special edition wrestling figures. And suppose you found every one of them and had it all to yourself. Now let’s say some kid at school wanted to fight you for it.”

“I don’t fight, Harry.”

“I can tell that.” Harry winked. “And you wouldn’t fight that kid. It’s not worth it. Why bother. So … then he takes five of your dolls.”

“I’d be mad.”

“Sure you would. I’d be mad too. But suddenly, you know longer have all the collection, you have most, but he still has a piece of your collection. He has your stuff, even just a small amount, and by doing that, he controls a part of you, whether you like it or not. And you have two choices. Let him have them or fight him for them.”

“What if I just wait until he’s sleeping and take them back?”

Harry smiled. “That would work. No violence that way. Maybe that’s what the US is doing.”

While Tyler still didn’t get the entirety of it, he got enough. He wondered what the United States was going to do. He even asked Harry that, but Harry didn’t have an answer yet.

But he would, he promised he would. Then they finished their meals.

A lot of people sat in the fire hall and ate. It wasn’t a big meal, just something to tide them over. Harry was told, eventually, they’d sneak out to get more food and everyone in town was pulling resources.

George invited Harry and Tyler to stay with him. By the time they walked the secret path to George’s house, Harry was even more tired. He asked Tyler if he minded if he went to bed.

Tyler didn’t. He knew Harry was older and even though he looked strong, he was bound to wear out early, just like Mr. Newman who lived two streets over. Mr. Newman was Harry’s age; he sat on his porch all the time but went to bed early. When Tyler asked his mom about that, she simply told him that the older a person gets sometimes they just need a little longer to rejuvenate.

Tyler wanted Harry to get all the rest he needed. He wanted Harry to be strong.

Harry was all he had, at least until he found the rest of his family. Tyler couldn’t get his hopes up that they were alive. What if they were like his mother?

His mother.

Sipping on a juice box, as he stayed close to Harry, Tyler thought of his mother. And as he did he started to cry again. He loved his mother more than anything in the world and she was gone. She looked so sick lying on that couch. It wasn’t fair and it was cruel to make her suffer.

And his father.

What did his father ever do to deserve to die like he did?

When all the other kids in school complained about their parents, Tyler didn’t. He thought his parents were cool, a bit goofy at times, but cool.

He and his dad played Friday night video games when his mom went with the girls to the movies.

He loved his life and now it was over and everything had changed. Tyler didn’t know what to make of that and he wasn’t quite processing the severity of all that occurred. Somewhere in his mind he believed that it was all a bad dream and that it would change back at some given moment.

He wasn’t tired, not at all. He sat with his back against the bed listening to Harry’s heavy breathing.

What is in the box, Harry?

Tyler could see it sitting on the dresser. At one time that box was gift wrapped beautifully, but now it was tattered and torn.

It was time for Tyler to open that box. He had permission and looked forward to seeing if he knew what it was.

He lifted the box. It was heavy. Carefully and quietly he removed the gift wrap paper and folded it.

The box wasn’t as old as Tyler expected. It was silver and heavy and engraved on the lid were the words, ‘Freedom leads to prosperity. Freedom replaces the ancient hatreds among the nations with comity and peace. Freedom is the victor.’

“Wow.” Tyler read the words. He wasn’t quite sure what it all meant together, he’d ask Harry, but he knew the words Freedom and Peace, and even if he didn’t have a clue what was in the box, those words truly fit what was happening.

The hinge was a small silver knob and Tyler turned it.

He lifted the lid, the box had a black interior and it was thick. But he didn’t expect to see what he did.

There was an envelope and inside there were papers and a picture of a president and another of a man with a sledge hammer ready to hit something.

But those weren't what surprised Tyler. He could see those being important. But that other thing in there baffled him. Why was it there?

It was simply a small, fist sized, piece of rock.

How, Tyler wondered, was that so important?

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

Brendan considered himself a geek. Actually a lot of people did. He was a computer guy in his thirties who had maybe two girlfriends his entire life. He favored video games with his friends over nights out at clubs looking for girls. He loved the BBC America channel and wouldn’t think twice about staying up all night watching documentaries.

He attributed those documentaries to saving his life.

Civil war, Cold war, future wars, biological weapons, he loved those programs. He wanted to leave New York City, but he stayed an extra day, finding a great hiding spot in an office not far from the tunnel where the invaders were setting up what seemed to be a complex camp.

He dared not go into the tunnel, but he watched and took note of everything they brought it. He wrote it down in a tiny notebook.

When items and trucks stopped coming, it was time to make his way from the city.

He went higher in the building to see where they were and what direction he could take.

A car was out and by foot was his only means of travel.

Once he actually made it out of the inner city, Brendan found a bike and started to peddle.

From that moment on, he started to count how many times he was shot at.

In five days since emerging from the train wreckage, he made it out of New York City and New York state but not without being shot at nineteen times.

Twice on the bike he was shot at so he ditched it and ran. He was chased. He found a car but that wasn’t such a good idea; he was shot out there, too. While on foot … he was shot at. But the farther away he got from the state, the more he started to think he was safe, and he was. Despite how far he got, each passing day there were still the sounds of war. Gunfire, explosions, airplanes over head zipping by followed him.

He found a horse and deemed that his main means of transportation,

Then again, he had never ridden a horse and he fell off three times. He thought he might have broken his wrist.

But he kept moving on.

He ate only a minimal amount of food and had only sips of water.

Food was only what he could scavenge from homes and store, and most of them had already been ravaged.

He was trotting along on horseback when he saw the sign for Bethlehem, Pennsylvania.

He thought it ironic and began thinking of Jesus. In fact he prayed. Maybe Bethlehem was a sign. It was four miles outside of Bethlehem that he spotted a truck.

He pulled on the reins of the horse to move him from sight and as he did a plane flew over and fired at the truck.

The truck pulled off the road and soldiers jumped out, flying into the trees, taking cover. They began loading anti-aircraft weapons and firing.

But there was something different about the soldiers that fired at the sky.

They were Americans.

Brendan breathed a sigh of relief.

He had been lucky thus far in not getting shot and he wasn’t going to take a chance on friendly fire. He hid himself in the brush after securing his horse and waited for a pause in shooting before he called out.

He kept calling out until someone heard him, acknowledged him and eventually found him.

He did it.

He made it from an attack zone, into territory occupied by allied forces and he did that all in his homeland.

***

They did not travel far and they traveled at night.

Foster would say the hardest part of their journey was crossing the bridge. It was probably the scariest time of his life.

After he and Judith had survived the massacre at the senior citizen recreation area, they stayed at the apartment for a day, got cleaned up and rested, filled their bellies and then moved on.

But it was the next day that they started to hear shots.

Not occasional shots but continuous firing.

It was far in the distance and to the north of them, so they travelled away from the gunfire.

They didn’t know who was firing or what they were firing at. They just wanted to be safe and move forward.

The least amount of gunfire was at night and in the early morning. By moving at those times, it was easier to stay out of sight.

He held Judith’s hand and arm and led her. They stayed quiet while they moved. They had to.

The problem was they didn’t have a clue where they were or how far they had come. They also didn’t know how far they had to go.

On the fifth night they crossed the Goethal Bridge right off Stanton Island and made it into New Jersey.

It was dark, it was late, and the stars were hidden behind a veil of smoke that carried a stench in the night air.

It was time to stop for the night. It was pushing morning and daylight was hiding time.

There was a food warehouse just past the bridge near the underpass for the interstate. Foster saw the signs for it and thought it would be a safe place stay.

He brought them around the back to the loading dock area. One of the garage style doors was partially open.

“Are you sure it’s safe?” asked Judith.

“I don’t know,” Foster replied. “But it’s shelter and maybe food. We haven’t eaten since the day before yesterday.”

“I know. But the stores have already been hit. The soldiers are clearing them all out.”

“We have to try.”

In the days of journeying there were certain items that Foster had carried with him at all times. He carried them in a back pack. A blanket, can opener, water and flashlight. He also had a mini lantern.

He had a knife in his back pocket, but how much good that would do him, he didn’t know.

He told Judith to wait by the dock and he quietly climbed the stairs. Lying on his belly, he used his flashlight and peeked under the opening of the garage door. It seemed clear and he didn’t see anyone.

He opened it some, very slowly and almost without a noise and then walked down to Judith and escorted her.

“It looks empty. We can stay just inside the door, OK?”

Judith nodded. “I haven’t heard any shots in a while.”

“Me either. We can rest here.” Holding Judith’s arm he brought her up the six steps and to the door which he had raised about four feet. “You have to hunch down,” he instructed her. He did his best to guide her, holding his hand over her head, inching her inside. Then Foster slipped in.

He shut the garage door all the way and with flashlight in hand turned around.

The flashlight nearly toppled from his hand when he found himself and Judith facing a line of shotguns. But they weren’t soldiers. They were people in every day clothes, and most looked Hispanic.

Foster raised his hand. “We mean no harm.”

“What’s going on?” Judith asked.

“There are people here.” Foster told her.

“Soldiers?”

“No, they’re Americans,” Foster said.

The one man, possibly in is forties, and Hispanic, gave a nod of his head. “She blind?”

“Yes,” Foster replied. “She became blind in the attack. We just need to rest, to hide and to eat.”

Again, the man asked, “Anyone follow you?”

“No,” Foster said. “We were very careful. We move only at night.”

“Don’t we all.” He motioned his head to the others and then he lowered his gun. “I’m Manny.”

“Foster.”

“That your mom?” he asked.

“No, I found her.”

Judith spoke up. “And he has been nothing but a Godsend helping me.”

Manny sniffed. He was a barrel-chested man, strong and with no nonsense about him. His Mexican dialect was thick. “You can’t stay here.”

“Please,” Judith said. “Just for a spell, then we’ll be on our way. We need to stop and rest. Eat perhaps.”

“That’s not what I mean,” Manny said. “This warehouse hasn’t been hit by the Ranuelans. It won’t be long before they find it. They’re positioned about four miles north of here. We came to get what we could tonight. If you need to be safe, we can take you with us to our camp.”

“You don’t mind?” Foster asked.

“We’re all in this together, right?” Manny asked.

Foster nodded. “Thank you. We are.”

“For now, though, let the woman sit. I can use your help loading the trucks.”

“I’ll do what I can, but aren’t you afraid driving trucks at night?”

“We move slowly and we move without lights. We have a twenty mile journey, but we have to get this food. We won’t be spotted if we move fast. Like I said, they are four miles north of here. They don’t come at night. We do. Let’s move.”

Manny gave a swing of his arm to his men and turned. Foster had so much to ask, so many questions. He was in the dark in so many ways. And he was certain he would get the answers. But first he had to help these men with the trucks, get Judith to their camp, and then he would see what he could find out.

For the first time in days, he felt safe and a bit relieved that one leg of his struggles was over.

***

Utah Man was his code name and using a national FEMA frequency he was able to broadcast to those hidden or stuck. Anyone with a radio, any kind of radio, could pick him up.

His songs were clues; he took the idea from the New York radio stations that were hijacked from the enemy.

He was the one that put out the word to everyone, very early on, to only move at night. He used the song Maneater, and after the end of the song, he reiterated with a chuckle, “That’s right folks, only come out at night.”

Two nights prior, he announced a push from American soldiers, calling them Sam’s kids, and sending out a Matchbox Twenty song.

He played other stuff, too, to make sure no one took the songs as weird warnings. His code was precise.

So precise, in fact, that the Committee, as they deemed themselves at The Tap, were marking a map. Those in Agabarn relied heavily on what Utah Man said. They were deep into the newly occupied territory but they hadn’t heard any shots at all, only planes that constantly flew during the day.

Harry wasn’t on that committee, but liked to listen in. Everyone did. He wondered, after viewing the map, when the push would not only come from inland toward the occupied territory but from the ocean as well.

“If I decoded right,” George said. “They hit several of our airfields overseas. We lost a lot of planes. We’ll have to regroup.”

Harry peered at his watch. He knew Utah Man would be signing off soon; it was nearly six A.M. and he never aired after that time. Six A.M. was bed time. Sipping the last of his wine, Harry looked at Tyler. The boy never left his side.

“Almost bedtime you know,” Harry told him.

Tyler was drawing. “I’m not tired. I want to finish this.”

Harry peered at the drawing, the date was on there, and it showed a soldier with a gun. Behind him was a United States flag and the soldier was firing at the state of New Jersey. “Ah, you listened to Utah Man tonight.”

“I think he said we’re tight in those Jerseys. I took it as New Jersey.”

“We all did. Good boy. Good drawing.”

“Thanks. I’m putting them in the box with that rock.”

“Figured out that rock yet?”

Tyler shook his head.

“Did you read the paperwork in the box?”

Tyler gave another negative shake of his head. “Not yet. I was trying to figure it out on my own.”

“I see. Well, have Rick take you to Miss Sims. She’s been teaching the kids. Have her give you one of her history books.” Harry winked.

“Ah,” Tyler whined. “You said I didn’t have to do the school.”

“I’m not saying you do. But it will help you figure out the rock, and maybe make a friend.”

“I have you, Harry.”

Harry smiled. “Yep you do. But don’t you wanna play?”

“Not really.” Tyler shook his head. “It’s not fun playing inside.”

“Makes sense. But you need rest. How about finishing that drawing in the evening? Sun’s coming up now,” Harry said. “We need to rest.”

Tyler smiled with a shake of his head.

“Why’s that funny?” Harry inched to him.

“We sleep during the day and work and play at night. We’re like vampires.”

With a ‘hmm’ Harry nodded. “I guess you’re right. But let’s gather this stuff up. Maybe I’ll let you finish the drawing at the house.”

“Okay. That’ll work. Can I eat a cookie? That nice lady gave you cookies for me.”

“Just one.” Harry held up a finger and helped Tyler gather his things.

Everyone that was in The Tap was saying their goodnights, yawning and heading to the door to get home before the sun came up.

“Harry,” Tyler asked as they headed out the door. “You think everyone sleeps during the day now?”

“On this side of the lines,” Harry said. “My God, if they don’t, they’re fools or ill informed.”

Tyler yawned as Harry grabbed his hand. He knew he wouldn’t be working on that picture too long. Tyler had adjusted to the new ‘life’ schedule. He’d be asleep before the sun was fully shining.

***

Lana had hurt her ankle when her bike hit a divot and veered off to the left tossing her over the hill.

For three days it was swollen and both she and Ben feared it was broken.

But days of taking anti- inflammatory medication and staying off the foot had brought the swelling and the pain down and they were finally able to move onward again.

They continued to stay within the wooded areas where they felt a lot safer. Only a few times did they see a plane and not once were they shot at.

When they finally crossed over into Massachusetts, they celebrated vocally as if they had won the super bowl.

But unfortunately, it was more of the same. No people. No noise.

They had even found a radio when they were holed up in an old house while Lana was recuperating. But that didn’t provide them any information. They heard only one station and it played bad music.

There was no news and it was as if nothing had happened.

They were peddling in their own twilight zone.

Then they saw a McDonald’s.

They had gotten off the highway and figured, even if it was closed, they would find things in there they could eat. After all, they had found things like cookies, bread and juice boxes in other McDonalds.

But when they got there they found it had been wiped clean.

The McDonald’s still had electricity but nothing remained in the freezer— not a meat patty or a bag of frozen French fries … nothing.

Even the Apple Juice boxes were gone.

Someone had cleaned out the McDonalds and it was the first time they had seen that.

Who wiped it out?

As they were leaving the establishment they saw the sign for the small town.

Agabarn – two miles.

It was down a nothing road off the highway.

Did the people in the small town wipe out their McDonald’s?

Figuring it was two more miles and what would it hurt to check it out, Lana and Ben headed to Agabarn.

***

Brendan opened his eyes, not because his body had rested enough to awake him, but because the continuous calling of ‘Mr. Doe’ brought him to wakefulness. He wondered who this Mr. Doe was and why he wouldn’t respond.

Last he recalled he had run into Allied forces, American soldiers, and they had taken him with them in the back of their truck.

He had fallen asleep.

“Mr. Doe.”

It was when he fully opened his eyes that he realized the soldier standing above him was talking to him.

“Are you talking to me?” Brendan asked.

“Yes, sir.”

He groaned and sat up. “My name is Brendan Lane.”

“Mr. Lane, how are you feeling? I’m Captain Weurl.”

“Groggy,” Brendan responded as he sat up., “But good.” He looked around. He was in a tent, lying on a cot. “How did I get here?”

“My men picked you up yesterday.”

“Yesterday?” Brendan freaked.

“Yes, sir, you passed out. Are you hungry?”

“Very much so., I don’t know when I ate last.”

“Good. I brought you a hot meal.” The Captain said, laying a warm brown pouch on his stomach and handing him a fork. “Hope you like ham.”

Swinging his feet to the floor, Brendan looked at the Meals Ready to Eat package and chuckled while thinking ‘warm meal.’

“Sir, I have a question to ask you.”

“Sure.” Brendan opened the pouch.

“Where did you come from?”

“Today or when I was born?”

“When my men found you,” he said. “Where were you coming from?”

“Oh, God. You’re not gonna believe this.”

“Try me.” The captain pulled up a chair.

“I was riding a train in New York. It crashed. When I came up with other survivors, everyone was dead. People in the street, in cars, everywhere I went everyone was dead.”

“You know the United States was attacked, right?”

“I figured as much and assume enemy is not friendly,” Brendan said as he took a bite. “Wow, this is good.”

“You must be hungry,” the captain said with a smile.

“I am.” Brendan took another bite. “Anyhow, they aren’t friendly; I was shot at nineteen times. But damn if I didn’t make it out of there.”

“From New York City to Boston to the ocean is occupied territory,” the Captain explained. “They did have Philly for a while, but we took it back. But you were in New York City?”

“Yes. For a couple days,” Brendan said.

“I realize you were running and trying to get out of there, but you are the only person that has made it out of New York alive. We think they are using New York as their main hub. Did you see anything there that may indicate that? This is very important.”

“Yeah, actually, I did. There were a lot of convoys, trucks, tents; it was a huge set up.”

“Do you think you can recall what all you saw?” the Captain asked.

“I can do better than that,” Brendan said. “I can tell you where it is.”

On that, the Captain smiled.

***

Foster hadn’t a clue how long he had been sleeping, but he woke with a start and to the sound of children laughing and playing. He sat up. A blanket that smelled kind of musty had been covering him and he was asleep on a sofa in what looked like a recreation room from 1950.

A little girl looked up at him as he sat up.

“You were snoring,” she giggled and ran off.

Where was he? Where was Judith? He knew he was safe. After helping Manny and the others load the truck, they had driven somewhere beyond Brunswick, New Jersey. They had pulled into an underground parking facility. On the bottom level was a hole in the wall. It looked as if it were just made.

“We’ll cover that with the box truck,” Manny told him, “after we get everything inside.”

“Where are we going?” Foster asked.

“Gonna educate you,” Manny told him. “I was recently educated myself. Back in the cold war, civil defense was ready for nuclear war. They built fallout shelters, stocked them and then the threat left and they were kind of abandoned. They weren’t cleared out though. Well, most weren’t; they were resupplied periodically.”

“So you found one?”

“Miss Betty told us about it. She works for the county. Our camp is occupying the three shelters in this area. We use the one under the court house as the main one. All of them can be accessed from this garage. We cover our entrances with trucks.”

Manny explained to Foster that a lot of people tried to leave New Jersey when the attacks occurred. But then continuous airstrikes were killing a lot of people. Miss Betty lived in Manny’s apartment complex and she had given him the idea of going to the shelters to be safe. Within days, they were bringing more and people inside. That was the reason they had to go out to get more supplies.

Foster was impressed.

It was semi dirty, but they were cleaning it. It was old fashioned, but it was underground and safe.

Foster was alone in the room but it was not long before three children raced in, followed immediately by a thin black woman, who looked to be in her forties. “Now, come on, the boy is …” she paused in scooting the children from the room. “You’re awake?”

“Yeah,” Foster said as he scratched his head. “What time is it?”

“A little after two. You just missed breakfast, but I can get you something.”

“I’m good. Manny fed us when we got here. I have a friend.”

“Judith?”

“Yes. Where is she?”

“She’s with Doc Baker.”

“A real doctor?”

“Yes. Are you sure I can’t get you something to eat?”

“I’m sure. Thank you. I would like to see Judith.”

“Sure, baby, come with me.”

She gave him a gentle smile and he followed her. In route to where the doctor had his set up, she told him he was in Camp A. It was the main one and the bigger one of the three. She pointed to the door where he could get cleaned up and showed him where he could get clothes. She pointed toward the far end and told him that was where he could get his food rations from the infamous Miss Betty. Everyone had daily rations and it was up to him what he did with them. He could save a meal for later, if he wished. The only thing he wasn’t permitted to do was waste.

That he understood.

***

“What the hell?” Ben blurted as they walked on the side of the road with their bikes.

“What? What is it?” Lana asked.

“I just saw a man.”

Lana heaved out a sigh and smiled. “You saw someone, are you sure?”

“Yeah, just beyond that truck up there.” Ben indicated the truck parked in a gas station at the edge of the small town.

Lana took a second to process the possibility of finding a person, a live person, and then it hit her. “Wait. Was it a soldier?”

“Not unless they wear flannel shirts.”

“Flannel?” Lana cocked her head back. “In April?”

Ben chuckled and with a burst of enthusiasm they picked up speed, still refraining from riding the bikes.

As they neared the parked truck the town came into view. Ben noticed it right away that every window and every shop in the town was boarded up. The only cars on the street were the truck at the gas station and one directly across the street from it.

“Look at this place.”

“You think the enemy was already here?”

“Hold it!” a male voice called to them. “Just stop where you are.”

Ben and Lana stopped.

“Passing through or refugees?” the voice asked but they did not see anyone.

Ben replied, “Passing through. We’ve been biking for days to get north. But if you have a place we can safely rest, we’d appreciate it.”

“Well, if you’re staying a few days you’ll have to register with our refugee center.” Rick finally emerged from behind the truck, gave a short whistle and another man came from behind the other truck. Rick then turned and faced the town, waving his hand and doing a bird call.

In the distance, a bird call responded.

Rick faced Ben and Lana. He held a rifle.

“Whoa!” Ben held up his hands. “Can you point that thing another way? We aren’t armed.”

“Why not?” Rick asked.

“Huh?” Lana replied, dumfounded. “Did you ask, why not?”

“Yeah, why not?” Rick shook his head.

Lana shrugged. “We don’t really believe in having guns.”

Rick laughed. “Get the hell out of here. Really? Got a war happening, foreign country invading our land and you all are wandering the countryside unarmed? What the heck did you two plan on doing if you were faced with the armed enemy? Did you plan to lift your arms, asked them to join hands and sing Give Peace a Chance? Don’t answer that. That was one of those rhetoric questions.”

“Rhetorical,” Ben corrected him. “You meant to say rhetorical.”

“Here we are letting you into our home and you’re correcting my grammar?”

“I’m sorry,” Ben shook his head “That was rude.”

“It was,” Rick said, waving them to follow him. “But I’ll let it go because you two really can’t be all that smart if you’re wandering around without a weapon. Gees.”

With Rick a good ten feet ahead of them, and confident he couldn’t hear, Ben leaned toward Lana and whispered. “Don’t get too comfortable. We aren’t staying long.”

Lana only nodded her complete agreement.

***

Judith looked good.

Foster leaned in the doorway peeking in on her as the women finished up with her. Her hair had been washed, combed and pulled back neatly. She wore a plain colored tee shirt, a sweater and a pair of jeans.

“Just remember what the doctor told you. Keep to the regimen he prescribed. The woman squeezed a bottle in Judith’s hand. “Oh, you have a visitor.”

“Jimmy?” Judith called to him. “Honey, is that you?”

“Yeah. You look good Jude,” Foster told her. “All cleaned up and stuff.”

“Rosemary here did that for me. She said I looked a little worse for wear.”

Foster snickered. “I guess I didn’t do too good a job picking out clothes for you.”

“Don’t be silly, Jimmy, I am sure you did wonderful considering what you had.”

“Well, you couldn’t see yourself, so I was good.”

Rosemary smiled pleasantly at Foster. “You can take her back to the family room or to get food. I don’t believe she’s eaten yet. She needs to keep up her strength. Do you mind?”

“Not at all.” Foster walked over to the table and laid his hand on Judith’s. “What did the doctor say?”

Rosemary answered, “She sees light and dark, as you know. And she was able to distinguish that Doc was saving his hand in front of her. That’s a great indication that she can see shadows as well. Doc Baker says it may not be permanent. She may never see like she did before, but some sight will probably come back. She has to keep up the anti inflammatory medication.”

Foster grinned. “Wow, that is awesome news. I am so happy. Did he say how long?”

Judith replied, “When I met you Jimmy, I didn’t have dark and light and today I have shadows. He said a day, a week, a month. Who knows? But it will come back some and then I get to see your handsome face.”

“You may wanna reserve that comment.”

Rosemary chuckled. “Don’t let him kid you, Judith, he’s a very handsome young man.”

“He’s been my angel, so he could look like the Elephant Man and I’d think he was Brad Pitt,” Judith said.

“Ha!” Foster laughed. “Man, you’re old school. Elephant man? Brad Pitt? Plus, you know if you’re gonna go old school, then I’d rather be compared with a younger Denzel Washington. How’s that?”

“A young black man helping an old blind Jewish woman make her way across a war torn America,” Judith said as she shook her head. “Isn’t that just the perfect tag for a movie of the week on Lifetime?”

Rosemary laughed. “It’ll have the happy ending, too. I’ll let you guys go. If you get lost down here, anyone can help. Good luck.” She left the room.

“Shall we?” Foster gave a squeeze to her hand.

“We shall.” Judith slid from the examining table. “Then after we get something in our bellies, we need to talk,” she said seriously. “I need to talk to you.”

Foster muttered, “Sure.” He didn’t know what Judith needed or wanted to talk to him about. Probably wanted to tell him thanks, but she didn’t need him hanging around her anymore since they were safe and there were others that could do it. He liked hanging around Judith. She was good people. He hoped that wasn’t the case, but he would understand if it was. It would be par for the course. Every grown up he actually did like being around always seemed to leave him.

***

Tyler was hanging out in the refugee registration area. Actually, it was the library and they had school there in the back. Not that Tyler went to school, he didn’t. But he liked to listen in, and he was trying to find out about that rock. It was his personal puzzle.

The refugee center was pretty fun, especially when people wandered in. Rick was a funny guy who gave every refugee a hard time. He joked and Tyler got a kick out of that.

A lot of people had come through over the last day or two, especially after George got word out and sent men east to search out others. A lot of towns on the coast were burned out and people had no homes.

George also was preparing the grade school a mile up the road to house people.

It was temporary, he said, until the war was over. Something they all hoped wouldn’t take long.

Tyler ducked behind the bookshelf when he heard Rick’s voice. He was joking with someone. “Because we have to know who is here. Don’t you want the government to know you’re alive?”

“Don’t think the government really gives a shit about us,” the man said. “Do you?”

“Oh, heck yeah. But we do need your names. We’re keeping track of everyone that comes through here or stays here, just in case.”

“In case of what?” the woman asked.

“In case someone, someday, comes a looking for you,” Rick replied. “Just humor us. What else do you have to do?”

Tyler couldn’t hear the whispered conversation between the man and the woman, so he peeked.

When he did, he gasped.

Had he not recognized the woman, he wouldn’t have known the man. He had grown a beard, probably from not shaving, and wore a baseball cap. But the woman’s hair was pulled back tight and he could see her face. She had worn her hair like that on the train and after the wreck.

The man, Ben, was the one who had helped Harry look for his father on the train.

He helped Harry with his dad.

Tyler would never forget that.

He wanted to jump out and say, ‘Hey guys!’ but he didn’t. He remembered Harry had asked them all to stick together and those two had just left. And despite what he said in the car, Harry had looked mad at them for leaving. They went their own way on that bridge.

So out of respect for Harry, he wasn’t going to say anything until he talked to him.

“Oh my God. Look who it is!” Lana screamed out brightly.

Tyler jumped.

Busted.

“Tyler.” Ben smiled.

Tyler took a step, opened his mouth, and fearful that Harry would get mad at him for talking to them, took off running.

Confused, Lana looked at Ben. “That was Tyler, wasn’t it?”

“I’m positive it was.”

Then they both noticed Rick was shaking his head.

“What?” Ben asked.

“Man.” Rick held a clipboard, shaking his head. “First you arrive without a gun to protect yourself, then you insult my grammar and then you scare away our young. You two are O for three.” He handed them the clipboard. “See if you can do this.”

***

“Harry!”

Tyler ran from the library via the safe route.

He went down to the basement, out the back door, in the basement door of Della’s Diner, up to the diner, out that door, around the corner to the newly erected scaffolding and ran down that block. There at the end was a school bus, back door open. He ran through that into the back door of The Tap.

There were a lot of safe routes set up. Scaffolds, buses, one basement to another, all provided the safety of minimal street exposure during the daylight, just in case.

Then again, the men on the rooftops kept an eye out and would alert them if any planes were coming so some did not bother taking the longer, safer routes.

But Tyler always took the safe route.

Harry was supposed to be at The Tap, but Buzz told him he was at George’s old car garage. That was another two blocks through the alley. Tyler ran, staying close to the buildings.

“Harry!” Tyler called out as he raced in the shop.

“What in the world are you screaming about?” Harry said. “Shut the door.”

“Sorry.” Tyler shut the door.

“Why are you running the streets? I thought you were eavesdropping on school and looking up that piece of rock.”

“I was and ...” Tyler looked around the garage; it was lit up, windows blackened. Four other men, including George, were at a table. They wore gloves and had metal things in front of them. Some looked as if they were measuring a black substance. “What you guy, doing? Can I help?”

“No, you cannot help,” Harry told him. “And we’re making explosives. So just in case George’s old hands start trembling, you might want to get out of here.”

“Whoa, cool. In case the enemy shows up?” Tyler asked.

“Exactly.”

“Whoa, that’s cool.”

“Tyler.” Harry tilted his head. “You ran in here screaming. What’s up?”

“Oh. You remember that guy, Ben from the train and his wife?”

“They were the ones that left us on the bridge,” Harry said. “Yes, I remember.”

“I knew you were mad about that.” Tyler nodded. “You didn’t say, but you looked it.”

“I wasn’t happy.”

“Are you holding a grudge?”

“No. Why are you bringing them up?”

“They’re here, signing in at the refugee center.”

Harry stood up straight and his head cocked back. He laid his hand on Tyler’s back. “Then I should be the welcome wagon. Let’s go.”

“You gonna yell at them, Harry?” Tyler asked, with rattling excitement. “Are you?”

“Tyler...”

“They left us, Harry. They made me cry.”

“Now who’s the one holding the grudge?” Harry shook his head. “Let’s go.” He gave a pat to Tyler’s backside and left the garage with the boy, informing George he’d be back.

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

They gave Brendan a change of clothes, jacket and personal hygiene products, and then told him he couldn’t go home.

Not that Brendan wanted to, considering he lived just inside Brooklyn. But he had nowhere else to go.

They asked if he had family or friends, and while he did have a brother in Seattle, Brendan simply said he had no one. That way he could stay and see what was going on.

They had moved farther east to a former Home Depot warehouse which was being used as a base of some sorts for the US military. He’d stay there at least for a few days to talk to them, not that he had heard anything important while in New York, but he had seen a lot.

That’s what they told him.

Brendan was fine with that.

He was surprised that there was television. He had tried like hell to find a radio station on his journey out of New York.

He heard a newscaster discussing the situation, and Brendan slipped quietly around the partition that was set up around the television.

There were five or six soldiers sitting there, watching and eating.

An aerial view of New York was behind the anchorwoman. She shared the television screen with some professor from Oklahoma.

“And as you know,” the news lady said. “We are in a complete media blackout. We aren’t privileged to know what is going on with our military and our allies. And even if we find that information, we are obeying the media silence order.”

“Why is that?” the Professor asked. “Don’t the American people have the right to know? I want to know. I have family in the occupied territory.”

“A lot of us do…”

Brendan pulled a chair up next to a soldier. ‘Hey, I’m sorry to bother you. I’ve been out of the loop. Do we know why they attacked?”

The soldier lowered his spoon into his bowl, turned his body and extended his hand to Brendan. “Lewis,” he introduced himself. “You’re the train guy, right?”

“Yeah, yeah, that’s me.”

“Good going. Thank you.”

Brendan tilted his head. “You’re welcome, I think.” He scratched his head. “But do we know?”

“I’m sorry. Yeah. They want the president to resign. Step down. They were just discussing that. You missed it.”

“But I thought it was a media blackout.”

Lewis shook his head. “Not on that. That was clear when it all went down. You just missed some actor on this show saying we should open dialogue and negotiate before we raise arms... Can you believe that shit?”

“I know we’ve been fighting, I was in the middle of it.”

“Yeah, but the big push is coming.” Lewis winked. “We’re still bringing in soldiers and aircraft the back way. We have to have a lid on the media, can’t have…” suddenly Lewis stopped and stood up as someone announced, “Colonel in the room.”

Stand? Sit? Brendan stood.

“At ease,” the colonel instructed and walked immediately to Brendan. “I’m Colonel Hayes. I just wanted to come in here and shake your hand and thank you.” He extended his hand.

Brendan shook it. “Can I ask for what?”

“We didn’t know where they were setting up the main branch of operations. We figured New York, but thought they’d be smarter about it. We were able to lock in and confirm that Intel you gave us. It’s a pretty big Base of Operation. And in about …” the colonel looked down at his watch, “twenty-two minutes, we’re gonna have a pretty good foothold in our push, thanks to you.”

“Wow. Really? Cool. You’re welcome.”

“Glad you made it out of there, son.” He shook his hand again and, as fast as he had walked into the room, the colonel left.

To be honest, Brendan didn’t have a clue as to what was going to happen. What was the push? He gathered that they would be using the information he gave them to hit the base of operation.

“Largest ever,” Brendan heard one of the soldiers saying to another. “Tomorrow at this time, it’s balls to the wall.”

Brendan turned toward that soldier. “The largest ever what?” Brendan asked.

“Well, can’t say it’s an invasion. So counterattack, maybe?” Lewis replied. “I mean, yeah, a counterattack. We have guys out there on the front lines and in the occupied territory fighting, but we’re gonna do something big. We are gathering troops in warehouses like this until after the strike on New York. Keep us hidden until then and, man, when we hit them, they won’t know what they got themselves in for. They’re calling it the push.”

“What’s that mean? You’re gonna push them out?” Brendan asked.

“Sort of, yeah. Force them to surrender. Push back the front lines. We have to. We have to take this country back.”

Brendan understood that very well. He wanted that, too. He had only question on his mind. What would happen to the people on the other side of the lines, those trapped in the occupied territory? What would become of them?

***

Judith nibbled on a cracker spread sparingly with peanut butter. She had a half of cup of juice she used to wash it down. “Coffee would be better.” She smiled. “One day soon.”

“At least we’re sitting still, right?” Foster asked.

“Yes. And let’s talk.” She extended her hand across the table and patted his hand. “Have you eaten?”

“Not yet.”

“You have to eat.”

“I will.”

“Ok, sweetie. Here’s my question to you. What are you going to do?”

“Well …” Foster sat back. “Today I was going to look around the three shelters and see what was going on. Take a tour. Did you wanna come?”

Judith shook her head. “I think I’ll rest and not much for me to see anyway,” she joked.

“Sorry.”

“I’m joking around, too. But I wasn’t meaning the immediate when I asked that question.”

“Oh. Okay. Well, I was talking to that Manny guy we met when we came in. They need people to go on runs with them to get food and supplies. He says that have about 200 people in the shelters and everyday they pick up more.”

“What does that mean for you?” Judith asked.

“Well, I was going to go with them tonight on one of the runs. I’m fast, agile, and they don’t have people my age to help them. They’re either a lot older or very young.”

“Oh, Jimmy. Jimmy, honey, it will be dangerous. You heard them. They’re fighting not far from here. You can hear the shots, Jimmy, it’s dangerous.”

“I know, but I want to help. I want to pull our weight.”

Judith sighed. “I don’t want you to pull my weight. You don’t need to anymore. Okay?”

Foster’s head lowered. He liked taking care of Judith and he’d known that eventually she wouldn’t need him. “I don’t mind.”

“I know you don’t. That’s what I wanted to talk to you about. This war, this fighting, it won’t go on forever. Us being stuck on this side of the war … won’t be forever. Where are you going?”

Foster was taken aback by the question. “What do you mean?”

“Are you going to search again for your mother?”

Foster shook his head. “I doubt it.”

“Al right, well, listen to what I am going to say,” Judith said. “I realize you were a ward of the state for a very long time, most of your life, I’m guessing. I also realize that with all that’s going on, and your age, you’re not gonna be a top priority in finding a new set of foster parents.”

“I figured that. I’m old enough, Jude. I’ll be cool. I’ll manage.”

“I’m sure you will. But you are not old enough. And you shouldn’t have to manage. You’re sixteen. In what grade?”

“Tenth.”

“Tenth grade.” Judith nodded. “You still have to graduate high school, go to college …”

“I might join the Army.”

“Even then, to be a soldier you need an education. How are you going to do that when you’re out on the streets scrapping to get by? My point is …. I know you have lived in New York for a long time, your whole life, but I have a grown daughter who works as an accountant at a Casino in Vegas. I was thinking I need to see her. It’s time to give up New York and Vegas won’t be that bad. Are you game?” she asked. “No pun intended, but do you want to gamble on Vegas.”

“Are you asking me to go with you?”

“Absolutely. I know. I know that right now I can’t do much of anything. But this sight will come back. And even if it doesn’t, well, damn it, I’ll be on my feet. I’d like to take care of you, Jimmy. I’d like to be the one that makes you stay home and study, cooks your meals and drives you insane because I don’t like the girls you date.”

Foster stuttered, “Wh … why?”

“I never had a son. I always wanted a son. You know they say …” Judith waved her finger. “A mother and son have a bond. And I am a very good mother, ask my daughter. She cried when she got that job and had to leave me. You ask her.” Judith nodded. “And I raised her by myself all those tricky teenage years.”

“What happened to her father?” Foster asked. “I didn’t mention him in case he had died.”

“Oh, no. He left me when Linda was twelve for some twenty-one year old dancer. Hot shot lived in a huge apartment in Manhattan, the bastard.” She exhaled. “God rest his soul because he’s more than likely dead.”

Foster laughed. “You’re funny, Judith.”

“And you’re an incredible young man. Someone missed the boat on you and I’m not gonna miss that boat. Jimmy, I was hurt and scared. You helped me as best your knowledge allowed and some. You cleaned me, fed me, and kept me safe. I can’t see, Jimmy, and you made sure I got through a war zone.”

“You don’t owe me anything, Judith, really. I wanted to help you,” Foster said.

“I know. And I do owe you my life. But that is not why I want to take care of you. I have grown quite fond of you and want to try to give you a good life. So what do you say? Vegas?”

“Will you stop calling me Jimmy?”

“Not on your life.” Judith shook her head. “That foster business of going from one home to another, that stuff you told me, it ends with me. You hear? Vegas?”

“Vegas it is.” Foster sighed and embraced Judith. He did so suddenly and she was taken by surprise and grunted as they hugged. But it was a good grunt, and she held on to Foster.

***

“Well, look at what the cat dragged in,” Harry said as he and Tyler stepped into the library.

Ben and Lana went from looking irritated to happy when they turned and spotted Harry.

“Harry!” Lana walked to him. “And I knew that was you, Tyler. Why did you run?”

“Cause I didn’t know if Harry was mad and I didn’t want him to get mad at me if I was nice to you. Harry’s my friend, my new best friend,” Tyler said.

Lana crinkled her brow. “Mad?” Ben had approached her from behind and Lana inched into him.

Before Harry could say anything Tyler did. “Mad. Yeah. You left us.”

Harry cringed. “Ain’t you just the motor mouth anymore? First met you, you didn’t say a word and now I need duct tape.”

Lana stepped back with a sincere look on her face. “I am so sorry. I didn’t think you were upset.”

“Well I …”

Tyler interrupted again. “How didn’t you know? He stood there on the bridge yelling at you to not go. He asked you stay, to not leave, to stick together. You just waved your hand and left.”

“Oh, you’re exaggerating,” Harry said. “And you been hanging about with Slick Rick too much.”

Ben quietly asked, “Were you mad, Harry?”

“A little, yeah.” Harry nodded and then put his hand over Tyler’s mouth. “That teenage boy and English gal, they were going in the opposite direction. But you two were going the same way we were. I’m an old man and this is a boy. We were a weak team. You two were …. Well, never mind. It doesn’t matter now. Not that I couldn’t take care of us, I did.”

“No doubt.” Ben shook his hand. “Something tells me you would have given John Wayne a run for his money.”

“I would have.” Harry smiled. “So how has it been for you two?”

Ben shook his head. “Not good. Our families are gone. We were nearly killed when a huge wave of planes came over and shot at us. They destroyed our beach house.”

“Shame,” Harry said.

“Ha!” Tyler added. “We weren’t shot at once. Harry knew what to do. Harry kept us safe. He got us here nearly a week ago.”

Harry closed one eye. “Why’d I let go of that mouth.”

Ben smiled. “I’m glad you made it here safe.”

“And you did, too,” Harry said. “Glad to have you with us.” He gave a hug to Lana. “And this is a good place. It’s safe for now. We’ll get you a place to stay.”

“Thank you,” Lana said. “I’m really tired.”

“Well, we sleep during the day, except for our roof watchers. You came on a good day. We’re having a strategy meeting tonight at the fire hall over spaghetti.”

Ben said, “Spaghetti sounds good. What’s the strategy meeting?”

Harry lifted a waving hand. “Now don’t take my word as Gospel. I’m not running this meeting. Just attending and helping. But we got about twenty kids in this town and we need a game plan for them. We’re safe here now, but eventually the war will arrive. But don’t you worry.” Harry winked. “There’s not a soul here who won’t be standing up and fighting for our land.”

Ben looked at Lana and then back at Harry. “We won’t be staying, Harry. Not that long.”

“What do you mean? Where are you going?” Harry asked.

“Canada,” Ben replied.

“Canada!” Harry was aghast. “What for?”

“Escape Get out,” Ben answered.

“Don’t you want to defend your country?”

“They have people for that,” Ben said.

“Yeah, they’re called soldiers, marines and seamen,” Harry retorted. “And in war time, homeland invasion, just like the war of 1812, revolutionary war, everyone takes arms and defends their freedom.”

Ben shook his head and grabbed Lana’s hand. “We just want to be safe and away from this all.”

“Huh.” Harry nodded knowingly. “So you’ll leave your country.”

“If that’s what we need to do,” Ben replied.

Tyler tugged on Harry’s hand. “You aren’t gonna ask them to stay, are you? You aren’t gonna try to reason with them again, like you did on the bridge, are you?”

“No, son,” Harry laid his hand on top of Tyler’s head. “Not on this one.” He kept his eyes steady, shifting between Lana and Ben as he spoke. “These two lived a good life here in America. Well, they got what they could, the good life’s over and it’s time to bail. If they feel that way, then I’m pretty sure I don’t want to ask them to stay. Come on.” He turned Tyler around and started to walk out. “I’ll let you watch us make those explosives, from a distance.”

Lana slipped a little from her husband and turned to him. “Ben? Going to Canada, is it really the right thing?”

“Yes,” Ben said assuredly. “Yes it is. There is no other choice.”

Lana nodded, but her eyes stayed fixed on Harry and Tyler as they walked away.

***

There was a very nice woman named Angeline who gave Judith little things to do to help her learn to use her hands without her eyes. Angeline’s mother was blind. Actually her mother became blind when her diabetes took a turn for the worse and she recalled her mother had to learn to do things all over again.

Judith was pretty confident that her sight would return. At first it was dark and light, then shadows, and as evening rolled around and she hit her third dose of medication, she could see silhouettes.

She wasn’t tired, but she felt she should be since she had slept until noon. Of course, sleeping until noon was normal underground; the place came alive at dark.

Packs of men would go out to search for things, items that were needed.

She was worried. It was the first night in nearly a week that she would be without Jimmy. Such a young man and he was going out doing a grown up thing and to her it was too dangerous.

Manny assured her that he would watch out for the young man. He assured her that they weren’t going to gather items but to scout. They needed food and some more medications. There were people in the shelter who had long term medical problems and they needed things.

They were just going to scout out things, just that. He promised Judith he would do his best to bring Jimmy, or Foster, as Manny called him, back safely.

Judith accepted that. What choice did she have? And while she waited for his return, she would pray.

Pray for the teenage boy who so quickly had come to mean so much to her.

***

Ten million people.

That was the estimate George threw out as to the loss of American’s lives so far, but, in truth, he believed the number to be much higher. It had to be.

Ten million. More Americans lost their lives in one day than in all the wars combined. Fewer Americans had died during the Spanish Flu outbreak of 1918.

Using a computer and PowerPoint, George projected a map for everyone to see.

Two days earlier he had sent scouts out on horseback to the north, south, east and west.

Based on what the scouts had reported Massachusetts had not been touched yet.

The war was being fought, at minimal levels, with minimal American troops, farther west and to the north.

It was clear cut that Agabarn was deep within occupied territory.

They could only assume the east was secured by the enemy because they controlled the beaches.

One person asked why the fighting and number of troops was minimal. George could only give a guess and suggested it was because something big had to be on the horizon. There had to be. He hoped there’d be.

Were there allied forces helping out?

Their allies, like the UK, were dealing with their own destruction. Although by what was being picked up, they weren’t invaded.

Only the United States had been.

Then the big question came to George, “Do we know who invaded?”

The media blackout and coded radio transmissions made that question hard to respond to.

Hating to just say ‘No.’ George informed everyone that one of the scouts had spoken to an American soldier and the soldier referred to the enemy as the ‘Ranuelans.’

That was all the scout had learned before he was told he had to leave the area.

The scout told the soldier about their town and people there, and then returned. He could have taken a ride with the American forces to a safe camp. It was offered to him, but he had declined.

“Ranuelans?” a man asked. “What the hell are Ranuelans?”

“Has to be a combination of names,” said another. “You know, like the tabloids do for celebrity romances.”

Harry started thinking about it and breaking it down. It was as much a puzzle to him as the rock was to Tyler.

Then her voice emerged from the back of the room. “I don’t know who the second party is,” Lana stated. “But think about it. I was in the media, though fashion. When we gave code names, the first two or three letters belonged to the first party, in this instance that would be R…A…N. My guess would be Iran. We put those harsh sanctions on them. Someone said that the invaders want our president to step down. We tried to get their president to step down. The second half of the name, I’m clueless, but I’m guessing the bigger part is Iran. You realize their army is almost twice the size of ours.”

Someone else spelled the last portion and with the letters guessed it could possibly be Venezuela.

Everyone laughed.

The man who made the suggestion didn’t think it was funny. “They have two million soldiers. I saw that on the news a few weeks ago. All are rebels. We tried to oust their dictator. They claimed we incited a war there, too.”

“Wait a second!” An older guy called out, “Venezuela and Iran? What the hell is taking us so long to kick their asses?”

“Seven million soldiers,” Lana stated. “A combined force and my guess is they have North Korea helping them, would give them over 9 million soldiers. That’s a lot of manpower. Have we thought of that? If the combined forces send only one third of their forces here, they will have matched our army man for man.”

George added, “We don’t own the air yet. But when we do, I believe that’s when we’ll have the advantage. It’ll still be tough. They marched in and took three states.”

The meeting continued on. The identity of the invading enemy was still only a guess. Those in Agabarn were deep in a media blackout.

Once the meeting was over and the pudding had been served as desert, two of the women took the children to The Tap for arts and crafts and some karaoke.

One hundred and thirty-three people remained in the fire hall.

Each one of them was waiting to learn the tactical plan.

And that’s just what they were about to develop.

They wanted a plan in place in case the enemy invaded or struck Agabarn. Everyone felt that once the US started fighting back and pushing the enemy from the front lines, the front lines would move east.

It was inevitable.

The citizens and refugees in Agabarn could run or they could stay and fight.

There was no question about what they would choose to do.

An escape route was planned for the children.

Each person would have a post, be issued a weapon and told where go.

Some would have explosives.

It was an army of farmers, just like the revolutionary war.

Harry was on distribution, should fighting break out. His eyesight wasn’t the best anymore. He probably couldn’t fire a weapon accurately, and he certainly couldn’t toss a homemade grenade, but he could pass out things and dictate where people went.

Folks were lining up to register for duties based on their strengths. Harry was one of those people registering strengths and deciding if they were better on a gun, grenade or explosives. Or would they be better at just helping evacuate those who couldn’t fight.

After they had registered strengths, people were going to stick around, clean weapons, and work on separating ammo.

A full fight was planned.

Harry was surprised to see Lana in the line. She was three down the line when he noticed her. When she arrived at his desk, she smiled. It was a tired smile.

“This is a surprise,” Harry said. “Are you registering a strength?”

Lana nodded and sat down across from Harry.

“Where’s Ben?”

“He went to The Tap. He opted out of dinner and the meeting.”

“But he was okay with you being here?”

“I told him I was dying for spaghetti.”

Harry laughed. “And you stayed for the meeting.”

“Yes. He believed I was going back to the school to rest.”

Harry leaned back in the chair. “What’s going on?”

Lana folded her hands. “I come from a very rich family. When I was ten I had been shooting for a year. I took highest shooting marks in the junior competition. I was the youngest ever to hold that title. I held the championship for six years until Liam Wayne snatched it from me.”

“Wow,” Harry said. “Rifle? Shotgun?”

“You name it, I’m good with it. My father was president of the local NRA.”

Harry whistled. “Wait a second. Ben said you don’t believe in guns.”

Lana nodded. “I stopped believing in the right for every man to carry a weapon when some man with road rage unloaded a clip into my father. Harry, this is my country, despite what Ben says. I live here, I reaped its benefits and I’ll be damned if I am going to stand idly by or run to Canada without fighting for this country.”

Harry smiled. “What about Ben?”

“I love my husband. But I’m not going to run. I’m not.”

“Does he know this?”

Lana shook her head. “Not yet. He will. I’ll tell him. Hopefully, he’ll stay and fight, too. That’s what we have to do that’s what we should do.”

“It takes a lot of guts to do that.”

“My father … was a patriot. He would kick my ass if he even heard me mention Canada. From that he taught me, from all that he bestowed in me, I know this is what I should do for him, for me and for my country. There is no other choice.”

“Good girl.” Harry patted her hand. “Now you said you’re an expert shot.  If I were to ask you what I should do with you, what would you say?”

“Honestly?” Lana asked.

“Yep.”

“Put me in a sniper position.”

“Holy Be Jesus!” Harry chuckled. “You ain’t kidding around.”

***

Ben felt bad knowing that Lana was back in room 101 of the grade school, sleeping on a cot or reading. He left her note stating that he wanted to wander around the town a bit, visit The Tap. It seemed odd to him to walk into an adult drinking establishment and see children. But the woman in there told him that most of the adults were at the fire hall, working on weapons and learning what their part would be in case of attack.

Ben got a glass of bourbon and spotted Tyler sitting off by himself next to the jukebox holding a big tin box. He was keeping his distant from the other kids and Tyler just didn’t strike him as an antisocial child.

Then again, Tyler had lost both his parents.

Ben took his drink and walked over to the table where Tyler was seated.

“Can I join you?”

“Sure,” Tyler responded.

“Do you hate me?” Ben asked.

“No. You helped my dad.”

Ben nodded. “If I didn’t help your dad, how would you feel about me?”

“Why are you asking me?” Tyler questioned.

“Just making conversation,” Ben said.

“Harry said to be nice to you and stop bitching about you.”

Ben chuckled when Tyler swore. “I appreciate it.”

“Sure.” Tyler rolled up a drawing.

“What’s that you got?”

“You really wanna know?” Tyler asked.

“Yes. I do.”

“It’s a box. Harry says it’s very important. Well, the contents are. He was giving it to his friend Leo when the attack happened. Harry says the box is I …. I … ron …”

“Ironic?”

“Yeah, that’s the word he used.”

“Did he say how come?” Ben asked.

“Because of all that’s going on now.”

“What’s in the box?”

“It’s something special. And I’ve been adding to the box. Harry said future generations need to know about the box, especially now, because it deals with war. I’ve been making pictures to keep in the box. Just to add some extra stuff. The box is bigger than the contents. My plan is to pass it on. Harry says it’s a good plan.”

“It is.” Ben reached for the box. “May I?”

“Sure.”

Ben slid the tin box to him. “This is beautiful.” His hand ran over the wording on front. “Did Harry have this engraved?”

“Huh?”

“Did Harry have these words put on here?”

“Yeah,” Tyler nodded. “He made the box himself.”

Ben lifted the lid and smiled at the drawing inside. He reached in and lifted the stone. “Wow. How cool is this. It’s a piece of the Berlin wall.”

“The Berlin wall?”

Ben raised an eyebrow. “Yeah, the Berlin wall. See this.” He grabbed the envelope. “This is documentation. And this …” He lifted the photo of the man holding a sledgehammer and gazed at it. “This is a guy taking a swing at it, knocking it down. The Berlin Wall separated East and West Germany—Communism and Democracy. It truly stood for a divided world, especially during the cold war years when the use of nuclear weapons was a very real threat. The wall coming down showed the end of communism and the end to the threat of nuclear war, at least for some. It symbolized peace. President Reagan initiated the tearing down of the wall. And Harry’s right. It is truly ironic that this box and its contents have found their way to this time and place.”

Tyler just stared at Ben.

“What’s wrong?” Ben asked.

“Did you just tell me what the rock was?”

“Yeah, didn’t you know?”

“No. Gees. I was trying to figure it out on my own. You spoiled the ending for me. Like a movie.”

“But all you had to do was read the documentation.”

“I was trying to figure it out myself.”

“I’m … I’m sorry.” Ben put the rock in the box. “I am. But it’s really cool. Those pictures you made and your plan on passing this along, that’s a great idea.”

“Thanks.” Tyler grumbled.

Ben finished his drink. “Well, listen, I’ll let you alone. If you have any questions, you just ask me.”

Tyler nodded.

“I’m gonna head over to the grade school and be with Lana. I’m sure she hates being alone.”

“She’s not there.”

“Sure she is.”

Tyler shook his head. “She’s at the fire hall.”

“No, she was. She had dinner and went back home.”

“No, she didn’t. She stayed for the meeting. Or at least she was there when I left.”

“Are you sure?” Ben asked.

“Positive.”

“Okay, thanks.” Ben stood. “You think the meeting is still happening?”

“Harry’s not back, so I’ll say, yes.”

“Thanks.” Ben laid his hand on Tyler’s back. “And sorry about spoiling the ending for you, I mean, about that rock.”

Tyler shrugged. “It’s ok. Are you going to the meeting?”

“Yes,” Ben answered.

“So does this mean you’re gonna stay and fight.”

“No.” Ben shook his head. “But I need to find out why Lana is there.”

Leaving the boy alone with his art and box, Ben left The Tap. In his mind he was convinced that Tyler was mistaken. There was no way Lana was at the fire hall with a militia meeting taking place. No way. Not when she had agreed with him that it would be best for them to seek sanctuary in a new country.

***

Colonel Hayes made a special point to go to Brendan once more and shake his hand. There was a general air of excitement in the hours before dawn. Things were about to happen.

The strike was precise, the colonel told him.

They were able to use bunker bombs to get into the tunnel system and then Special Forces took out an extra two hundred plus soldiers not killed in the raid on the tunnel base.

The strike at the base camp in New York was the trumpet sounding off.

Things were going to change.

And they would change quickly, too. By dawn, a whole new phase of the war would begin.

Because of that, the colonel had Brendan transported by air to Ohio.

He apologized to Brendan for not being able to keep him close to the action, but it was uncertain how it would go.

The colonel was confident that the front lines would move east, but there was always that chance that things could go wrong.

Brendan understood. He understood a lot. He even understood why he would be kept at an Army camp. It was not only for his protection but also to guarantee his silence.

***

She did it in seconds. Perhaps that was a slight exaggeration, but Harry bragged to all about Lana’s ability to take apart a revolver, put it back together, lock and load a matter of seconds.

Lana was teaching a younger man how to properly hold a revolver and keep his stance when Ben came in.

He stared at her across the fire hall.

Harry saw this and approached him. “Hey, Ben. I thought you were at The Tap.”

“And I thought my wife was sleeping.”

“Nah, no one sleeps at night.”

Ben gave a single nod. “I see. What’s going on Harry?”

“She’s showing Bryan over there how to handle a revolver.”

“I see that. I mean, why?”

Harry scratched his head. “Maybe you need to ask her.”

“I will.” Ben walked to his wife. He was torn with emotions.

When last he spoke with her, she was on the same page as he was. They were leaving America. The attack on American soil was not their problem. It was poor politics.

War solved nothing.

Guns solved nothing.

Fighting was a waste of time.

But there his wife stood, holding a gun like a pro.

“Lana,” Ben softly called her name.

She didn’t look at him, but she did stop what she was doing. She whispered something to the young man and then took a deep breath and faced Ben.

“Hey, Ben.”

“What … what’s going on?”

“I thought you were at The Tap.”

“And I thought you were sleeping.”

Lana walked over to him. “I stayed for the meeting.”

“And they did what to you? Brainwash you into being a militant?”

Lana chuckled. “Hardly.”

“Lana, put down the gun. Let’s go.” He held out his hand to her.

Lana put down the gun, but she didn’t take his hand.

“What are you doing?” Ben asked.

“Ben, listen to me.” Lana stepped up to him. “I think … I think we need to stay here. To stay put and fight, if need be.”

Ben laughed. “You’re insane. You know what we planned.”

“And I know what we need to do,” Lana whispered. “Ben, listen to me. We are at war. If we don’t bear arms when needed and stand up and defend our country, what kind of message does that send?”

“It says we’re sane,” Ben stated. “Lana, listen to me. The enemy, whoever invaded and attacked the United States, took out two whole states. You want to stay here in this little town with two hundred people and lift your guns to the air, toss some homemade bombs and hope for victory? You saw how many planes they had. You saw what they can do. They aren’t going to come into this town to take it. There’s nothing here they want. They’ll come in to this town to kill everyone. Homes can be rebuilt but they can’t be rebuilt without people. People are our best resource. They’ll take out our resources.”

“It’s not about the town, Ben,” Lana argued. “That’s not the point.”

“And what is?”

“This is our country. It’s our land. Ours, Ben. They can’t just come and take what’s ours. And we certainly can’t just let them take it without a fight.”

“A losing fight,” Ben inched up to her. “Lana, this is ridiculous. They will wipe out this town. If you stay here, and if they come, you will die.”

Lana lifted her head. “Then I’ll die fighting instead of running.”

“Why?” Ben tossed out his hands. “Why would you take that attitude?”

“Why wouldn’t you?” she argued adamantly. “They killed my family and your family, too. They destroyed everything around us that we love. That’s why we have to fight. That is what this country is founded on.”

Ben shook his head. “Was all you said to me about Canada a lie?”

“I didn’t say anything, Ben. I just agreed. I was trying to be that good wife. Trying to be that woman you loved. I was losing you before this all happened and I didn’t want to keep losing you. But … if being a good wife means giving up what I believe in, then I can’t be that good wife.”

“I see.” Ben placed his hands in his pockets and turned away.

“Ben? Where are you going?”

“Back to the science room. I’ll stay a few days, but then I am going, with or without you.”

“I wish you would consider staying and standing ground.”

“I wish you would consider leaving.”

Lana walked up to him and grabbed his hand. “If you go, Ben, then we’ll end up being what we were before the attacks.”

“Why does it have to be that way?” Ben asked. “Why is it, if I go? How about this, Lana? If you stay here, we end up being what we were before the attacks. I’m not the one who changed my mind. I’m not the one who said everything and then changed my mind. You are. And maybe… maybe four weeks ago when we filed those divorce papers, it really wasn’t a mistake.” He pulled his hand away and walked out.

***

It was odd to Foster, being out on the streets late at night. No streetlights whatsoever. The street barely lit by the moon.

Ten of them went out and scoured the streets. They made only a mile worth of blocks. There wasn’t much there. They did locate a general doctor's office, a family planning clinic and a pharmacy where they might be able to find medical supplies.

Food and supplies would be easily picked from the two stores.

Foster wanted to pack up the supplies right then and there. Manny told him that wasn’t how things were done. They had to note where things were located first, then devise a plan, and only then go out and get the supplies.

Things had to be done carefully. Even though there wasn’t any indication of fighting or soldiers in the vicinity, one never knew.

Foster was a little done in and he felt useless when he returned.

He didn’t mean to wake Judith, but he was louder than he thought he was.

“If I go out there, I want to grab stuff, bring it back and not come back empty handed,” he told Judith. “I feel going out there and coming back without anything was a waste of time.”

“These people are alive because they do things a certain way. We are their guests, Jimmy.”

Foster nodded.

“Besides, did you know what to grab at the doctors’ office or pharmacy?”

“No, but if I grabbed everything …”

“Everything?” Judith spoke motherly to him. “You will be much more efficient getting what the doctor tells you to get. Manny said what? Tomorrow you’ll go out and get supplies. Tomorrow you will feel useful.” She patted him on the cheek. “Now, I know it’s late. What time is it?”

“Almost six.”

“And you haven’t slept. Get some sleep ….”

The sounds of people talking, calling, moving about carried to them both.

“Something is wrong,” Judith said.

“Stay here, I’ll find out,” Foster slipped by her and into the hall.

People were running about, all in the same direction.

“Excuse me …” Foster reached for someone. They kept moving. It was frustrating. Where was everyone going?

“Hey, Foster, come on.” One of the men who had been out searching with him tugged his arm.

“What’s going on?” Foster asked.

“Planes. Come look.”

Foster froze. “Should we be going up there, then?”

“Are you kidding? Yeah! They aren’t the enemy. They’re ours.” Excitedly, the man kept up with the others and raced down the hall.

He supposed they were running to the streets to peer up at the sky.

Foster wanted to go, but at that second he couldn’t. He felt bad. Everyone was running out to ‘see.’

They were going out to see.

Everyone but Judith was. She was in that room waiting to find out what all the commotion was about.

She couldn’t see and Foster knew she was probably scared and worried.

He retreated back to the room to let her know it wasn’t anything bad. In fact, it was more than likely a good thing.

Then, if she wanted to go, he’d walk her out to join the others and he’d describe the scene. So Judith, in some sense, could see the planes as well.

***

Harry had gone back and forth to The Tap several times to check on Tyler. Somewhere around four A.M. Tyler had finally engrossed himself in something other than the box. He was playing a video game with a teenager.

Though Harry wished Tyler would play with kids his own age, a teenager was a far cry from an old man.

After checking on him the last time, Harry had returned to the fire hall and helped everyone clean up and get things ready for breakfast.

Lana was lingering there, looking as if she were searching for a reason not to leave. Harry felt bad for her. She certainly was torn between the love of her husband and the love of her country.

Harry wasn’t really one for giving advice, but he did tell her, that he himself was a married for a long time and she just needed to find Ben and talk to him.

She nodded, thanked Harry and said she needed to sweep the floors and then she’d deal with it.

Harry guessed she was working it out in her mind.

Tired, Harry just wanted to go grab Tyler and head back to George’s to get some sleep.

He liked walking back when it was dark; there wasn’t any need for that darting in and out. Harry didn’t see the point in the daylight darting. Staying inside, yes, but surely a person would hear a plane long before they were spotted by it.

George challenged his argument against the need for daylight darting with his Satellite theory. He believed that they could be using satellites to watch them..

Harry doubted that.

He collected Tyler and the box and was just getting ready to leave The Tap when it sounded.

It was the alarm by the roof watchers. It wasn’t a buzz or blaring alarm; it was them barking like dogs.

That was their warning signal if planes were coming.

If planes came, they were to go immediately below and get hunkered down.

But then the barking stopped. It stopped quickly as the sounds of planes drew nearer.

The planes were loud and by the noise they made, there were a lot of them.

It was a simple yell of “‘Holy shit! Everyone! Come look!’ that caused Harry to stop heading toward the basement and pause to look around.

People ran to the doors.

Holding, Tyler’s hand, so did Harry.

Ben had just started to doze off. He had a couple drinks, he was tired and his mind was racing. But it wasn’t the odd barking that woke him; it was the sound of planes.

Tons of planes.

It rattled and frightened him. Immediately, Ben’s mind went to the beach house and the experience they had endured there.

Then Ben panicked.

Lana.

He didn’t think of himself or his safety, he thought of Lana.

She wasn’t there in the science room so she had to still be at the fire hall so Ben took off. He had only one thought in mind.

Find his wife.

When he got to the street, he saw everyone just standing peering up at the sky as the planes flew overhead.

Ben didn’t look to the planes, he looked for his wife. He spotted her by the fire hall door where she too was gazing up.

“Lana!” he called to her.

“Ben.” She smiled.

He rushed to her. “What are you doing? What’s everyone doing?” he asked. “Remember the last time. We were nearly killed.”

“This isn’t the same,” she said and then pointed to the sky. “Look.”

“Harry?” In one arm he clutched the box and his hand held Harry’s. “What’s going on?”

“Well I’ll be damned,” Harry said as he peered up at the morning sky. The sun had just caused a break in the darkness, and crossing through the barely lit sky were hundreds upon hundreds of planes, many more than he had seen that day back at his house.

“Are they gonna shoot?” Tyler asked.

“No. At least not at us, Tyler. Unreal,” Harry said with awe. “I was starting to worry, you know. Wonder.”

“Are they our planes?” Tyler asked.

“No, but close enough,” Harry replied. “It’s Her Majesty’s Royal Air Force. My guess, they’re coming from the east. Our guys are coming from the west. And all those guys in the middle…” Harry looked down to Tyler. “They’re in trouble.”

“But, Harry … aren’t we in the middle, too?”

“Yeah,” Harry peered up, watching the waves of planes. He clutched Tyler’s hand a little tighter. “I suppose we are.”

CHAPTER NINETEEN

They shared a small room, maybe ten by ten, just off the kitchen, and Foster and Judith made the best of it. He slept on a blanket and old mattress on the floor, and gave Judith the cot.

Judith was constantly cleaning up, claiming that the reason she and Foster avoided that cold that was passed around was because she kept the room germ free.

Liquid sanitizer was plentiful for some reason and Judith took advantage of that.

She was seeing much better, more shapes and sizes and even managed to step over Foster as he lay on the floor on his stomach going through his knapsack. Just the day before, she had stepped on him twice.

He was supposed to be writing in his journal. Judith had him writing to keep up his penmanship and literary skills. She made him read and then write a paragraph. All while she cleaned around him, stepping over him as she did.

“April 25.” Foster lifted the ticket to the train. “I forgot I had this in the front pocket of my book bag.”

“You’re supposed to be working,” she said. “You promised. You can go help the men, but first you study.”

“I know. I was pausing to go through my book bag and found it.”

“Found what?”

“My train ticket,” Foster said. “The date is on there. The day it all happened was April 25.”

“Oh, wow. Angeline just said this morning it was May 10. That’s over two weeks. My poor daughter is probably worried sick.”

“Do you think she thinks you were killed?” Foster asked.

“That’s a hell of thing to say.”

“Do you though?”

“Does she have me written off?” Judith shrugged. “Probably does. I would.” At that second, she hunched down and let out a scream. There was an explosion of some sort. It didn’t sound like it was so much above them, but nearby, near enough and big enough to cause dust to fall.

Foster’s whole body tensed. The gunfire was muffled by the walls of the bunker and only heard when they got close to the garages. It was something they could ignore.

But the random explosions were scary; there was no getting used to them.

There was another one and then they stopped. Judith felt her way to the cot and sat down. “I don’t know that I’ll ever get used to those.”

“Maybe it’s not a bad thing,” Foster said. “Maybe it means things will be over soon.”

“Let’s hope, Jimmy, because I’m running out of things to clean in here.” She tried to joke, making light of the situation. After all, they were stuck below. Because of the war raging above them, no one had left the bunker for days.

Cabin fever was starting to kick in a bit for everyone and Judith exhibited hers in the form of cleaning.

Standing, she grabbed the liquid sanitizer and the rag. She squeezed the sanitizer into the cloth using her thumb to feel and judge the amount. Feeling her way, Judith walked toward the door. Maybe the doorknob needed cleaned again. Just as she did that, two more rapid explosions rang out.

For a moment, Judith didn’t move. She couldn’t.

Every day there were more explosions. Every day they were closer. Judith wanted to believe that was a good thing, but something inside of her was just plain scared to death that it meant things were not going well.

To make matters worse, they were sheltered not only by the walls of the bunker, but from the world as well. There was no news, no radio.

There was no means of knowing who was exploding what.

All the way around, they were in the dark.

***

“There!” Ben peered through the binoculars and then lowered them and pointed, handing them to Rick as they stood on the roof of a town building.

“I don’t see it.”

“Look for the trail of smoke.”

“Got it.” Rick gave the binoculars back to Ben.

“Do you know where that is?”

“I know the vicinity.”

“Let’s go.” Ben raced to the ladder at the edge of the roof and quickly climbed down.

He wasn’t even supposed to be in town, much less standing roof watch, but he had abandoned his plans for Canada when the fighting grew worse and closer

The war used to be far in the distance. If everyone was very quiet, they could hear far off gunshots popping here and there.

Now, it was close. It came from all angles.

Early morning the sky was lit up as jets engaged in battle. Somewhere to the northwest, the enemy fired antiaircraft missiles at the American and British planes.

They had seen one go down.

It was an American jet. Ben and Rick wouldn’t have cared had it been a Ranuelan plane, but it was American and they had to find the pilot. Ben swore he saw him eject.

They moved with urgency, fearing the Occupiers would get to him first. Ben and Rick rushed from the roof top of Jerry’s Hardware, called for replacements and hopped in the pickup.

They would have gone on horseback, but decided to take the truck in case the pilot was injured.

It was the first US plane they had seen go down all morning.

***

Another explosion sent Tyler scurrying to Harry’s side, cuddling next to him for support.

He was scared.

The days of living a quiet existence were over.

Until everything calmed down outside, everyone was moved to the basement of the school.

It happened so fast.

One day they were fine. They saw the planes, but it remained quiet. Then suddenly the war wasn’t just west of them, it was at their door.

They didn’t even have time to relocate or move the children.

Where would they go?

Harry told Tyler that the gunfire wasn’t necessarily a bad thing, that it was all part of the war. The farther east the fighting moved meant the farther the United States was pushing the enemy out of the country.

“Could we die, Harry?” Tyler asked.

Harry didn’t want to answer that question, but he did. And he did so honestly. “We could But we’re gonna try not to. We’re underground in case they bomb us.”

“I heard George saying that the Utah guy said the enemy is storming towns and just shooting people and taking only a few prisoners.”

Harry nodded. “That’s what they’re saying. But I can guarantee you, if they try to storm this town, they’ll have a hell of a fight on their hands, that’s for sure. None of us, Tyler, none of us are going down without a fight.”

***

She screamed in pain and there was nothing anyone in the bunker could do to help her.

Her labor was intense and Judith could hear her crying.

The bunker was all that small, but it wasn’t big enough to hide the noise. Not even the fighting above them was big enough.

They had ventured from their own room into the recreation family room which happened to be just down the hall from the small medical office.

Doc Baker was summoned and made his way underground to assist.

But the young woman was still some time away from giving birth.

The doc stated he hoped he didn’t have to do a cesarean section, not that it looked like he would, but he was fearful.

The war was so close; the battle was right above them.

No one dared move.

Another cry and Judith closed her eyes.

“Are you all right?” Foster asked her.

“Yes, yes. I just feel so bad for her.”

“We all do, and in more ways than one.”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean, she doesn’t have the conveniences of modern medicine, and she’s having a baby in the middle of a war, literally in the middle of a war, Jude.”

“It sounds so close,” Judith said.

“I heard trucks when I was in the garage.”

Judith, who had been pacing, grabbed her chest, felt for the couch and sat down. “Let’s just hope those trucks are our men. I don’t want the enemy rolling down into the garage.”

“The garage and bunker doors are sealed. If anything, we’re trapped in here.”

“Oh, great,” she commented with sarcasm. “That makes it better.”

Foster chuckled. “Wanna go to the garage and listen?”

“To what?”

“Listen to the sounds of the battle.”

Judith shook her head. “No, that sounds ….” She winced at another cry from the laboring woman. “You know, what, sounds of the battle might be better. Yes. Let’s go.”

“In other words it’s better than listening to her?”

Judith hesitated before answering. “It’s just that as a mother, it’s a pain you quickly forget but when you hear sounds like that, you remember how bad it was. Does that make sense?”

“Not really.”

“It brings up bad memories.” Judith clarified and held out her arm. “Lead the way Foster. Shadows still all look the same to me.”

Foster took her arm. “I can’t wait to meet your daughter. You’re so funny. What is she like?”

“Linda …. Linda is sensible.”

Foster waited. Judith added nothing further. “Sensible? Just sensible?”

“Yes. She’s an accountant. She’s not a risk taker and that’s the reason I think she’ll believe I am dead.”

“If I were your kid…”

“You are,” Judith corrected. “I adopted you. It may not be legal but in my heart it is. Continue.”

Foster laughed as he led her. “Thank you.” Then he continued. “If I were out there as your kid and not in here, knowing you as I do, I would doubt highly that you had died.”

“Really? With all the destruction and death, you would believe I lived?”

“Absolutely, because you’re the strongest woman I have ever met in my life. You don’t rely on drugs or anything, just God and inner strength. To me, I wouldn’t doubt for a second that you weren’t kicking, screaming and fighting your way to stay alive.”

“Funny,” Judith said. “If I was out there and you were my kin in here, knowing you the way I do, I would say the exact same thing. Nothing would keep you down.”

“We’re a good pair.”

“No, we’re a great pair.” Judith patted his hand and continued her walk with Foster.

CHAPTER TWENTY

Judith’s one and only daughter, Linda Freeman, had a very good position. She was the Assistant Chief Financial Officer at a huge Vegas Casino put her in touch with the right people.

She had a lot of time on he hands, at least in the first week or so after the attacks. Air travel was suspended. No tourists felt like gambling and the sin city was a dead city.

She hoped it would not be so for too long. She expected things to pick up soon.

Linda was certain, felt without a shadow of a doubt, that her mother was alive somewhere in the occupied territory.

Her father, on the other, hand, she felt certain was gone.

She waited every day for the phone to ring. She also waited every day for the medical blackout to be lifted. Since the first attack there had been no word. Initially the media reported the attacks on the states and named the cities that were hit. Though her mother lived in New York, she was on the outskirts and in the area where they claimed people could have survived the attack.

The owner of the casino had received word from the head manger that Linda’s mother was in New York. He told her to have faith and offered to help in any way he could stating the standard, ‘if there’s anything I can do.’

And there was something he could do.

His brother was Senator Craig of Nevada. Surely a senator would know what was going on.

Linda called the Senator’s office every day to find out if there was any news of people coming out of New York. Was there any word of refugees making it out?

Some, she was told, but her mother wasn’t one of them

Her daily phone calls caused a friendship to form between her and the Senator’s assistant. Because of that, she learned things.

Linda knew of the ‘push’ before anyone else did. Linda knew that the ground forces were engaging the enemy even before the push.

And Linda received word before anyone else that the media blackout would be temporarily lifted at 6:00 PM Eastern Time.

One reporter was given information, created the broadcast and the clip would be edited for viewing before it was released.

Linda was given the access code to that clip and she watched it before America did.

The country was finally told that as many as 20 million Americans had lost their lives instantly in the original hits. Those hits included oxygen bombs and nuclear weapons as well as biological and chemical weapons.

Enemy forces were now taking some prisoners and using them as hostages. Before that, they were just killing the civilians, but after the push, they realized the importance of them.

The demand for President Williams to step down was denied.

A lone survivor escaping the occupied territory was able to provide the pentagon with information that allowed American forces to initiate a massive strike on the enemy’s main Base of Operations. This strike sent them scurrying and the ‘push’ had begun.

The largest ground and air battle in history began ….and it began on America’s own soil.

400,000 American and Allied troops along with fifteen thousand airplanes hit the enemy hard.

The initial the strike by the invaders had brought America to her knees and they seized the opportunity to take the northeastern part of the country. The enemy forces occupied and controlled territory from Portland, Maine to Delaware and as far to the east as Reading, Pennsylvania and Bingham, New York.

But seven days after the initial strike, the occupied territory was limited to Massachusetts, Connecticut and parts of New Jersey.

Like a pimple, the enemy was being squeezed.

The facts and statistics reported by the newscaster were bad. However, the worst part was the statement read at the end in which Americans were told, “When, not if, America reclaims her land, Pentagon officials are telling Americans to brace themselves. The war is far from over.”

It was going to get worse.

What could be worse than an invasion of America?

Linda realized it was the start of the next World War.

And this one, she feared, wasn’t going to end with parades in the streets.

This new World War would not end until people finally said, “Enough is enough. Enough people have died.”

Many already had died.

Many more would.

Linda prayed every single day that her mother wasn’t one of those who lost her life in a war that would never have a happy ending.

CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

To say she was worried about her husband was an understatement. But Lana was proud of him. Ben had not only stayed behind, but had been helping out. Now he had chosen to go with the group to search for the fallen plane.

He claimed the inability to leave was the only reason for his actions, but she felt it was more than that. She felt deep inside that he had remained there for her and for the cause.

She took the watch position on the hardware store roof and waited. She could see the smoke from the aircraft in the distance. It couldn’t have been more than a mile or so away.

Her main focus had been on the smoke until she looked up at the sky beyond the wreckage.

Lowering the binoculars, she lifted the radio. “This is Scout 3.”

“Got you, Scout 3.”

“Northwest, airborne, attack dogs.”

“Same direction as our people?”

“Roger. Keep it secure in case the dogs roll in.”

Then Lana lowered the radio and again peered through the binoculars, hoping that Ben and Rick would get to the downed plane before the enemy.

***

Ben knew it was coming. He could see them in the sky, like vouchers looking for food.

He could also see the plane wreckage in the field. The smoke was the telltale sign for them as well as a calling card for the Ranuelans.

Rick saw the parachute in the high weeds about two hundred feet from the wreckage. He pointed it out to Ben.

“The pilot can’t be far,” Ben said. “He’s got to be in those weeds somewhere.”

Rick must have felt or seen it coming because he suddenly made a strong turn of the wheel and veered off the road just as bullets ripped by them. He drove over the embankment and struggled to stop the truck before it hit anything.

He had both feet on the brakes and fought the steering wheel as they careened wildly down the embankment. But despite his efforts, the bed of the truck slammed into a tree.

“You okay?” Rick asked.

Ben nodded and opened the truck door. He assessed the damage to the truck. It was still drivable, but just getting out of there would be tight. They’d worry about that later. First they had to get to the pilot.

Both men hurried toward the road in a low crawl. They had to cross the two lane highway in order to get to the field.

The sky briefly looked clear; the planes were probably making another circle. Using the opportunity of the clear window, both Ben and Rick charged across the road and into the field.

“We’re Americans!” Ben called loudly. “We saw you go down! Are you hurt?”

Nothing.

The weeds and foliage came to their chest, keeping them somewhat hidden.

“I radioed for help!” a male voice called. “I’m injured. Stay down.”

Rick pointed to the left. He had locked in on the voice. Together they began a crouching run in that direction.

Ben could see him not far away, and then he heard the jet engines.

The sound of rapid fire rang out, ripping through the fields. In an open and vulnerable position, Ben did the only thing he could do. He dropped down and covered his head.

The bullets missed him by inches and he turned to check on Rick.

Rick exhaled with a relieved whistle and said, “That was close.”

The momentary break had allowed them the opportunity to get into the field it was just that, only momentary.

Jets now flew overhead. They fired not only down but at each other and as Ben and Rick reached to the pilot, they heard the sounds of trucks.

“Are you hurt?” Ben asked.

“My leg is broken,” the pilot answered. “The trucks, are they ours?”

Ben looked up. He could see the two Humvees approaching, moving at a rapid speed. “Yeah.”

“They’ll get here,” the pilot said as he breathed heavily, his eyes peering up. “Our guys are giving air support, but I don’t know for how long. We’ll get you out of here, too. What are you guys doing so close to the front lines?”

Rick answered, “We’re hunkered and stuck in a small town about two miles from here.”

Sheer horror spread over the pilot’s face. “Agabarn?”

Ben saw the look. ‘Yes, why?”

“How … how many people are there?”

“Hundreds,” Rick answered.

Immediately the pilot picked up his radio. Gunfire surrounded them as the trucks grew closer.  . Before the pilot made the radio call, he said, “Agabarn is the cutoff point. There are enemy forces coming across the Connecticut border as we speak. Our goal is to wipe them out in Agabarn.”

Ben closed his eyes and his stomach sunk.

Rick started to get up. “I gotta go warn our people.”

The pilot reached out for him. “I’m radioing now. We’re close to Agabarn than you are right now. We’ll get them out.”

A bang and explosion directly overhead caused Ben to jump. He looked up to see an enemy plane spin out of control and burst into flames. “My God, I didn’t even think the Iranians had an air force, let alone one that good.”

“Those planes aren’t Iranian …” the pilot said through painful breaths. “They’re Russian.”

***

The shrill cries of child birth pain were replaced with the tender wail of the newborn infant. The entire bunker cheered over the hope for new life, but it was short lived.

Foster was in the eating area with Judith and several others when Manny appeared in the doorway, waving his hand and motioning Foster to come forward.

“Manny is calling for me,” he told Judith.

“I hope everything is okay.”

“We’ll see.” Foster stood and walked over to Manny. “What’s up?”

“You can say no, if you want,” Manny said. “But Tina, the young woman who has just given birth, is not in good shape.”

“What’s wrong?”

“She has begun hemorrhaging. She is in need of a medication that we don’t have here.”

Foster realized what was being asked of him. “You want me to go find it?”

Manny nodded. “I’ll go with you. But you are my fastest man, you know where the clinic is and you can get in and out very quickly.”

From across the room, Judith yelled, “No.”

Foster turned.

“I can hear what you are asking of the boy. You can’t possibly want to put him in danger.” Feeling her way using the tables, Judith walked toward them. “Please, do not ask him, He’ll say yes.”

Manny exhaled. “The young woman is dying. The clinic is not far.”

“There is a war raging above us.” Judith was firm. “A minute hasn’t passed without the sound of a gunshot or explosion. It’s right above us.”

Manny nodded. “I know. But I already sneaked up to the top to see. We can sneak out, stay hidden, move fast. We don’t have time to waste.”

Judith reached out and her hand found Foster. “Jimmy, no.”

Foster looked at Manny and then faced Judith. “I helped you and others, what would you want me to do if that was your daughter in there?”

Judith lowered her head. “But, Jimmy, I am so scared for you. Do you hear that?”

“I do. And I am so sure, Jude, that I can go and get what is needed; I can get out and back here in a flash.”

“So you’ll go?” Manny asked.

Foster replied, “Yes.”

“Excellent. I thank you and her mother thanks you as well. I’ll be back. I must let the doctor know we are going.”

After Manny left, Foster faced Judith again. “Did you hear what he said? Her mother.”

Judith nodded.

“Judith, please, I need your support.”

“I don’t know what I’ll do, Jimmy, if something happens to you. You promised me you would go to Vegas. You promised me you would let me take care of you.”

“And I’ll keep that promise. And I also promise, after this one thing, I won’t take any more chances. Okay?”

Judith sobbed a single sob.

“Jude?”

“Please, please, please be careful.” She reached out for Foster. Gripping his shirt, she brought him to her. “I will be praying for you the whole time.”

“Thank you.”

Holding on to Foster, Judith’s body tensed and she jumped when a loud explosion rocked the bunker. “Please be safe.”

“I will,” Foster said. You aren’t getting rid of me that easy. I’ll be back, Jude.” He pressed his lips to her cheek and whispered, “There is nothing more in this world that I want than to have you make me stay in my room and study and give me a hard time about the girls I date.”

Emotionally, though her tears, Judith chuckled. “Hurry up and get yourself back here.”

“With everything I am,” Foster said as he clenched her tightly to him, his eyes focused on the ceiling at the sounds of war, “I promise to do my best.”

CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

Ben felt as if he were living a video game. The pilot had been loaded in one Humvee behind them. As the Humvee carrying Ben and Rick swerved to avoid the gunfire and grenades, and the Sergeant filled Ben and Rick in on a lot of things.

They had chosen Agabarn as an ambush or cut off point because air searches and satellites had never shown any movement on the streets of the town.

All their evasive running, all their efforts to stay hidden to keep from being spotted by the enemy had saved them initially, but it ended up being detrimental. Residents who remained in other towns had been airlifted days before. Agabarn, it had been assumed, was deserted.

But the Sergeant let Ben know they weren’t throwing Agabarn under the bus. They just weren’t sure how they could get everyone out in time. Two trucks and air support would be arriving there in minutes.

Ben and Rick were offered the chance to leave, to get to safety, but both men opted to go back and help.

“Are you guys sure the enemy is going to head there for you to ambush and cut off?” Ben asked.

“Positive,” the sergeant replied.

“How can you be so sure, I mean …” Ben shrugged. “It’s a small town located off the main roads.” He saw the Sergeant look at him and it hit him. “You guys set it up.”

“We fed them false information that we were setting up headquarters there and that there were civilians.”

Ben closed his eyes. “What are the town’s chances?”

“We expect them to storm in, not air drop troops. We have Intel that is leading us to believe that is their plan. We planned on waiting on the ground and in air. But that has changed now.”

“You didn’t answer the question. What are the town’s chances?” Ben reiterated.

“If we don’t get there before them …” the Sergeant said. “Not good.”

***

People scurried.

At first, George informed everyone to hang tight.  He thought it could be a trick when they heard a man with a bull horn announce, “This is the United States Marine Corp and we are evacuating the town. STAT. Trucks are waiting and helicopters are arriving for the elderly, sick and young.”

“Hold tight,” George radioed his roof watchers to ask what they could see.

Lana answered. “I see trucks, quite a few of them,” she replied. “Yes, they are American.”

When George heard that, he escorted the people who waited in the basement of the school to the steps outside. He encouraged order, but so many just flew to the staircase that it made it impossible to keep the exodus totally panic free.

“What is happening, Harry?” Tyler asked.

“Well, sounds like the military is here to get us out.”

“Why?” Tyler asked, as he and Harry walked slowly through the cramped stairwell.

“My best guess is something might be going to happen, or maybe they are just being cautious. Either way, they’re getting us out of this town and taking us somewhere else.”

“Oh, no.” Tyler said with panic in his voice.

“Oh, no what?”

“I didn’t think when we came to the basement we would be moved out by the military.”

Harry was lost as to why Tyler was so upset. “Okay, what’s wrong? Are you scared?”

“A little, but that’s not it.”

“What is it?”

Tyler looked up at Harry and then looked toward the staircase filled with people. “Don’t leave without me.”

“What? What are you …” Before Harry could ask anymore, Tyler had released his hand and slipped his body with ease through the hoards of people. “Tyler!”

“I forget the box!” Tyler yelled, his voice growing fainter as he moved farther way. “I’ll be back. I have to get the box!”

“Damn it.” Harry yelled. “Tyler. Stay put!”

“I’ll be back.”

“Son of a bitch.” Harry had to follow him. He had to. While he was confident that the military was right above and they would get him, he couldn’t take that chance. He tried to squeeze through the stairwell, but he wasn’t as small or nimble as Tyler. The best he could do was keep repeating ‘excuse me’ and force himself through the people and up the steps.

***

It had been the first time in a long time that Foster had been above in the sunlight and it burned his eyes. He took the sunglasses offered to him by Manny as they reached the top level of the parking garage that would lead them out to the street.

It sounded like every war movie he had watched and any newscast of war.

Gun shots, both rapid and single, rang out. Explosions blasted.

It was obvious the battle out there was a major one.

“If you want to change your mind, now is the time to do it,” Manny told Foster.

“No. No. I’m good. I’m good.” Foster nodded, taking a breath. “It’s three blocks down and across the main road. We can do this.”

“Stay close to the buildings and move quickly.”

“I know. I know.” Forster was nervous. He didn’t have a gun; he didn’t have any kind of weapon. If he was found by the enemy, being unarmed was thought to be best. He just need to move, stay focused and move.

Manny did have a gun. He kept it under his jacket.

They inched to the garage entrance and looked out.

Buildings burned and the smoke was thick, but they didn’t see any soldiers. They saw trucks, some parked and some that had exploded.

At the entrance, with nod to one another they took off.

The plan was to just run. Run in the direction of the clinic. Once there, Manny would wait outside and Foster would get the items asked for by Doctor Baker.

He was schooled rather quickly on what he needed to get. If he couldn’t find them, then he’d have to call for Manny. But the doctor had written down all the names the IV bag he needed could possibly have on it. He was looking for Oxytocin, a drug that would help the young woman stop bleeding.

They raced as fast as they could down the sidewalk. Foster never looked back to see where Manny was. He assumed he was there.

Only twice did they see enemy soldiers and both times the enemy didn’t see them.

Foster’s heart pounded when he ran into the clinic. He literally had to stop to not only catch his breath but also to get his wits about him. The continuous shooting had him trembling.

He was certain that after this adventure it wouldn’t be hard to keep his promise to Judith.

He heard Manny outside telling him to hurry. Manny had kept up and that made Foster happy. The abortion clinic was on the second floor. The building had not been seized by either United States forces or the enemy.

It took longer than Foster expected.

He found one of the operating rooms and searched. He must have been there for a while because Manny sought him out.

“What’s going on?” Manny asked.

“I … I can’t find everything.”

“Okay, no panicking. Okay?” Manny swung his rifle around his shoulder. “Let’s look together.”

And they did.

It took several minutes, but they were able to find all of the items that the doctor told them he needed. At least they hoped they had. They shoved them in Foster’s back pack and raced out of the operating area, down the stairs and to the front lobby.

It was quiet.

The gun fire was minimal and what they did hear was in the distance.

Foster felt safe. In the lobby he nodded to Manny.

Manny peeked out, opened the door and pulled out his weapon.

Foster followed.

The moment they took a single step to the sidewalk, two shots rang out.

Manny’s body jolted from the hit. One shot struck his chest, the other his head and Manny fell instantly to the sidewalk.

Foster screamed and ran to Manny. As he knelt to check his friend, he saw eight enemy soldiers all aiming their weapons at him.

Foster dropped the bag, raised his hands and slowly stood.

***

While the roof top wasn’t that tall, it still gave Lana the advantage of seeing a good distance. She watched the United States Forces roll into town. At first it was just a couple of Humvees and then two huge trucks.

In the distance she heard helicopters. Who they belonged to, she didn’t know.

The trucks stayed in the back of the town. She watched soldiers ushering people from the school into the trucks and down the road at The Tap another truck was loading people. But people at the school had begun mobbing the truck, making any sort of orderly evacuation impossible.

Then she spotted Rick. He was trying to reason with the people and calm them down.

Where was Ben?

Did Ben get hurt when they went out? Where was he? She was frantic as she scanned faces, trying to recall what he was wearing so she could look for that.

Her reason for being on the roof was to be a lookout and in a sniper position should the enemy arrive. Lana forgot that duty as she visually searched for her husband and the incoming forces took her by surprise.

Binoculars scanning, looking for faces, she turned and caught a single enemy soldier in her sight.

“Just one?” she thought. She moved her binoculars a little more and let out a huge breath as she tried to access the situation so she could convey it accurately.

Behind her she saw the incoming hostile soldiers making their way forward. In front of her, she saw the United States forces were too consumed with evacuating people to see what was about to arrive.

She lifted the radio. “This is Scout 3, anyone. Is anyone there?”

“Go on.”

“We have hostiles, an entire brigade, too many to count. Trucks, tanks, all armed in battle gear are heading south. They’re hitting the gas station now.”

She received a confirmation, and then looked again at the enemy. Suddenly, their steady slower pace increased and they charged forward.

They had spotted the United States forces and town’s people.

She hurriedly switched views back to the town’s people and it was evident word had reached them. The soldiers stopped putting people in the trucks and instead, those who had not been loaded in were being ushered back into the school.

The first shot was fired. Lana took her position to shoot.

The truck by The Tap full and as a final person jumped in, it pulled out. As it did, she saw Ben and sighed with relief. He had been helping get people on that truck and she just hadn’t seen him.

But there he was out in the open and then …. Ben was shot.

He took a hit to the chest and stumbled some before taking another hit.

Lana screamed.

Sniper position be damned, she thought. She hurriedly shouldered her weapon, raced to the edge of the roof to the ladder and climbed down.

“Get down. Get inside!” someone shouted.

Lana heard that and the shots that followed. Not a second into her feet hitting the sidewalk, she heard a shot sing by her head.

“Get down. Get down!”

Screw that, she thought, she wasn’t listening to them. She had a block to go to get to Ben.

Screaming inside, “Oh, God. Oh, God, don’t let him be dead,“ Lana ran as fast as she could to cover the short distance.

When she arrived a soldier was dragging Ben inside The Tap and Lana followed.

The soldier moved quickly, laying Ben on the floor and ripping open a field bandage and pressing it to his chest.

Lana didn’t even get to call out his name. The soldier told her as soon as she entered The Tap, “Hold this tight.”

He referred to the bandage on the chest.

Quickly, Lana knelt down next to Ben, her hand compressing the bandage to his wound.

There was blood on the floor all around Ben.

The soldier secured another field dressing to Ben’s leg and then stood. “Stay put. Stay here. Keep pressure on that.”

Lana nodded.

The soldier rushed to the door, the bright sunlight absorbed the soldier as he disappeared into the mayhem outside.

“Ben,” Lana wept his name. “Please.”

He opened his eyes and groaned. It wasn’t a groan of pain, more one of defeat. “I’m sorry.”

“For what?”

“This can’t be good,” he said. “It doesn’t hurt.”

Another sob and Lana lifted his head onto her lap. “It’ll be okay, it really will. You're just in shock, that’s why it doesn’t hurt. Someone will be back to help. I promise.”

“I’m not holding my breath,” he said.

“Why didn’t you go to Canada?” Lana asked. “Why?”

“Because I wouldn’t be here with you, right now,” he said.

Lana held him tighter.

His eyes shifted to look at her. His eyes were red and his face had grown pale. “You know, if I had gone, I would have never known that you were a closet Sarah Palin.”

Lana laughed and cried at the same time. “Now is not the time for jokes.”

“No, now is the perfect time for jokes,” he coughed. “We stopped joking the last couple of years. We stopped talking, too.”

“And I need you to stop talking now. Save your strength.”

Ben shook his head. “I know how bad I was shot. It’s okay. Because this moment, right now, makes it okay.”

Lana lowered her head to meet his.

“I need you to leave me,” Ben said. “Go below. Leave me.”

“No.” Lana shook her head. “I’m not leaving you. I am right here.”

“Listen to it out there. It’s war. It’s a nightmare. Listen to it.”

“I hear it,” Lana said, pausing as the pockets of thunderous explosions rang out. “And it doesn’t matter. I love you.”

It was at that second, on hearing her words that Ben sobbed. His hand reached up to her face and his fingers ran down her cheek leaving a bloody trail. He tried his best to keep his hand on her, but couldn’t. “I have loved you since the moment I met you. I have no regrets about our life. None.”

“Me either.” Lana sniffled. “And it’s not over. Our life is not over. Someone will come. Someone will come in here and …”

The door opened and the sunlight burst though.

“See,” Lana said of the shadowy figure. “See, someone is here to help.”

It was soldier and he walked in. But he wasn’t there to help, he was aiming at them.

Lana breathed out heavily. “Oh, God.”

“What?” Ben asked.

The soldier shouted something in a language she didn’t understand.

Quickly Lana reached for her weapon, but it was awkward since it was behind her and Ben’s head rested on her lap. “Don’t shoot,” she pleaded and then saw his face.

He was just a boy, no older than nineteen.

“My husband is hurt.” Lana’s free arm reached around and she felt the rifle.

But Lana never got a chance to bring her weapon forward or to engage the chamber.

The soldier fired. More than he needed to. He fired a rapid spray that was aimless and wayward, sending bullets into the floor, then into Ben and finally ripping into Lana.

She peered down, then lifted her eyes and looked at the soldier. Then Lana fell forward onto Ben.

***

Harry had made it to the top of the stairs, pushing his way through and into the hall of the school.

He was beyond frantic. He hoped above all hope that Tyler was grabbed by a Marine, but he didn’t see him. And when he was told to get back into the school, Harry took another way out.

He had to find Tyler.

The bus that was loading people was still in the back of the school and Harry slipped by it, calling out, “Tyler! Tyler!”

But was he heard over the gunfire?

It was all too reminiscent to Harry, memories of street wars that he had seen in his life. He was in the back of the school and he could only hear the battle. Thus far, it hadn’t reached there and Harry felt safe to keep calling for Tyler.

Tyler said he had to get the box and the only place it could be was George’s house. He had brought it home the night before from the library.

George's house was close, just a short walk or run.

He ran from the school, taking the long way around to avoid town. Harry was certain that when he found Tyler, he’d have to hide with the boy. It was far too dangerous to go into town.

“Tyler!” Harry yelled. It was getting tough. His legs were tiring and he was getting winded.

But he got to George’s street and his calls were more easily heard. “Tyler! Harry had to slow down. He limped some, catching his breath as he neared George’s house. “Tyler!” On George’s lawn he bent over to stabilize his rapid breathing, rest just a few seconds and then go into the house.

“Harry!” Tyler yelled.

`Smiling, Harry lifted his head. Tyler was standing at George door.

“I found it.” Tyler grinned. He used his body to push open the screen door and the big box was wrapped in his arms. “Look, Harry, I got it!”

“Stay there.” Harry lifted his hand. “We have to get inside.”

“Why?” Tyler asked, racing down the steps of the porch to Harry. “I got the …”

Bang.

Harry’s eyes widened at the sound of the shot and he watched in horror as Tyler was hit so hard by the bullet, it sailed his small body back ten feet and the child landed on the ground with a thump.

Harry raced to Tyler, screaming out a heartbroken and deep, “No!”

CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

He wheezed and his chest hurt worse than when he got hit with a ball during the last little league game. And when Tyler lifted his head, it hurt, too. He was afraid, really afraid to look down at his chest. He had played enough video games. The last he remembered was feeling a tremendous hit to his chest and flying back. He passed out when his head connected to the ground.

But he had to look. He had to see how bad it was because it really hurt.

He opened his eyes, but had to keep them squinted. Wind whipped around him blowing dirt in his face. It took him a moment to realize it was a helicopter.

Then he lifted his head and peeked.

Nothing. His hands felt his chest. No bullet hole, no blood. It hurt like heck, but why was he not bleeding? Then he saw it.

The box.

It lay next to him and Tyler rolled to his side. A grin wide and bright smeared across his face when he saw was sticking in the top of the box.

It was a bullet.

Harry said there was something about that box and there was.

“Harry!” Tyler called brightly. “Harry, check this out.” He scurried to his knees, then got to his feet and grabbed the box. “The box saved my life. Look here’s the bullet.”

Tyler spun to look for Harry.

He saw him.

Not ten feet from where Tyler had fallen, Harry lay in a pool of his own blood, motionless. His head was turned to the side facing Tyler, his body bloody and tattered, ripped to shreds by bullets.

“No.” Tyler whimpered and ran to Harry, dropping to the ground. His knees slid in the blood and he let go of the box. “No. Harry?” Tyler shook him. “No. Wake up, Harry, wake up.” His little heart broke right then and there. He grabbed on to Harry, lowered his head to Harry’s chest and sobbed.

Harry was all he thought about, he couldn’t be gone. He just couldn’t.

Then Tyler felt someone grab his arm.

“Son, we have to get you on the chopper. Now!”

“No, I can’t leave him.” Tyler shook his head and then looked to the soldier who reached for him.

“I’m sorry, you have to go.” The soldier reached for Tyler, but the moment he tried to lift him, Tyler started fighting.

“No!” Tyler screamed. He grabbed hold of Harry and held on for dear life.

“Let go. We have to go!” With a hard jerk, the soldier yanked Tyler into his arms. He held his arm around Tyler’s waist.

Tyler kicked, his hands reached out, the entire time. “Harry! Harry!” he cried, lacing the name with deep sobs.

He was placed in a seat in the helicopter.

“This yours?” the soldier asked and handed him the box.

“It was Harry’s.” Tyler sobbed.

“I’m sorry,” the soldier said solemnly and strapped Tyler in and closed the door.

Tyler could still see out the window. He held onto the box, his vision blurry form the tears, his hand reaching for the window. As the helicopter lifted, he kept watching Harry

***

Judith may not have been able to see very well, but she could hear. It wasn’t long after Foster and Manny left to get the medication, maybe a half an hour, before the young woman died. Her infant son was crying in the arms of a stranger instead of in the arms of a mother he would never know.

The explosions went from constant to occasional, the gunfire from rapid to slow.

Then soon there was only a pop of a gun here and there until suddenly it was silent.

After hours upon hours of gun fire, there was silence at last.

The silence was broken when a lone voice began singing The Star Spangled Banner. Then everyone joined in. Judith couldn’t sing. More so than ever before, the song made her cry. She sat alone in the corner of the room, her head down, her arms folded close to her body and cried.

Foster never returned.

Manny never returned.

She heard someone say it was well after three AM, and she was sick to her stomach.

She kept asking, “Has anyone seen Foster? Did he return?”

No one had seen him. Foster would have found her if he had returned.

She allowed herself to feel hopeful when she heard the eruption of cheers in the shelter. But the hope was short lived. It was US soldiers and allied forces saying that the battle above them was over and they had pushed the enemy back.

They were evacuating the bomb shelter.

Angeline took hold of Judith’s arm and told her she was helping her out. As she started to go, Judith stopped. “I need the notebook. Can you go see if Foster left his notebook in our room please? He wrote in it all the time.”

“Sure,” Angeline said. “I’ll be right back.”

Judith rubbed her arms. Her entire being ached for a boy she had met not long ago but ended up loving as if she had known him a lifetime. They had shared quite a bit.

“Here,” Angeline said. “It’s right here.” She placed the notebook in Judith’s hand.

Judith embraced it as if it were Foster and placed her lips to the edge of the pages.

“Let’s go.” Angeline guided her.

Judith only nodded. She was guided by Angeline out of the shelter. The entire way out, instead of cheering like the others, Judith wept.

CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

THREE MONTHS LATER

Las Vegas, NV

‘And this whole place smells like hand sanitizer.’ Foster had written in the notebook. ‘I wonder if she’s drinking it to get a buzz.’

Judith laughed at that line. She adjusted her glass. They were thick as coke bottles but at least she was able to see. Every day she read a little of his journal and prayed for Foster.

Her daughter Linda was unbelievably thankful that Judith was alive and grateful to a boy she didn’t get a chance to thank.

Linda used her connections to try to locate Foster’s body.

But a lot of civilians were burned in the air raids that day and a lot of bodies had been placed in mass graves.

It was just after two and Judith had finished her late lunch. She shut off the television. She was tired of hearing about the war. Russia said this, United States said that. Iran did this. England did that.

It was nonstop fighting.

Nothing was new, at least not in the last week or so.

Taking the last state back seemed to be the most difficult task as one country against the US became three, then four. In fact, there was a time when the enemy forces actually regained a piece of New York.

Judith felt safe on the west side of the country. Excluded from the war, it gained momentum and size every day. Ground forces were in every state.

How long would it be, Judith wondered, before the west was pulled in and hit?

The doorbell rang. That was nothing out of the ordinary, since Linda was always getting packages, things for the bunker she was building.

Grabbing a couple of dollars for a tip, Judith opened the front door.

His back was to her and he wore a baseball cap.

“Hello?” Judith said.

When he turned around, she knew who it was.

She was blind when she met him, but she didn’t need to know what he looked like to know it was him.

She whispered his name with surprise and emotion. “Foster.” Her hand reached for his face and she whimpered.

“Jude. They … I was held prisoner in Jersey,” Foster spoke nervously. “I …told them I had to find you. I had to find Judith Freeman. She had a daughter names Linda in Vegas. They helped me. I ….” he breathed out. “Please tell me the offer still stands.”

Judith sobbed and grabbed him. She didn’t answer. She didn’t need to answer. She hugged him to, pulling him inside and held on.

She held on for the longest time.

CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

Twenty-Six Years Later

Gaithersburg, MD

“Drink your water.”

“Yes, Daddy.” The little boy was about eight and looked up to his father and accepted the canteen. He took a drink.

“More.”

The little boy took another drink.

“Good boy.” Tyler took the canteen and placed it in his pack. He looked around; He remembered the last time he was in this town not far from Washington DC. It was before is son Joshua was born. Tyler was fighting in the infantry. That was where he gained the nickname ‘Falcon’ for his keen ability to spot things. A name that stuck with him. Gaithersburg was suburbia then; now it was flat. There were remains of buildings long since fallen. No way to find direction, no landmarks.

The road wasn’t overgrown, because nothing really grew. It was dusty and grim.

On this day the sun was bright, but it still didn’t make things better.

Tyler swiped his hand over his forehead; the heat was almost too much to bear and no shade to be found.

“Are you hungry?” Tyler asked.

“No, I’m good.”

He ran his hand over the boy’s hair. His hair was longer and dirty. They hadn’t seen a bathing station in days and knew they probably wouldn’t for a while, at least not until they returned to Virginia. Even there, they were few and far between, but there were more water stations for transients in Virginia than anywhere else.

Eventually Tyler would return home with Joshua. They had a small home in Kentucky, and he had a daughter there. She was with a keeper. But they had a mission to complete first. This was stage two of the mission, and not Josh’s first time leaving the safety of his home.

Tyler’s wife died of the plague when Joshua was two. The plague brought an end to the long war. Everything just stopped.

The fighting ceased.

There was actually nothing left to fight about or over anymore.

Tyler did well that first year after the war, farming tobacco. But a wild fire took a good bit of that from him.

Wild fires took a lot from people the first few years. The wars raged for so long. So many bombs were exploded that the entire ozone layer was compromised.

It was dry everywhere with only small pockets green. People just had to find them and access was limited.

It was time to move on. Travel the roads, eat what they could barter. Stay in transient camps, as most of the United States did. Tyler gathered most of the world lived like that.

Gone were the days of television, computers, electronics, and cars.

There was no more gasoline, because there was no way to get it.

The only way to get news was word of mouth.

Tyler had another purpose and another plan and took his son along to implement it. It was a father son thing. On the first part he took his daughter, on this trip, it was just the men.

The horses ‘nay’ got Tyler’s attention and he poured some water from the water camel into a bucket. “Here you go, Sampson, drink up,” he said as he gave it to the horse. “We’re almost there.”

“Are you sure we can get in there?” Joshua asked. “You said people couldn’t go there for a long time.”

“Yep. I’m pretty sure. And what we’re looking for is still there. Mostly intact, too, I have heard.”

“Did you see it Daddy? Did you see it during the war?”

“I did. And I told you all this, Joshua.”

“I know. But tell me again; tell me about the city, Daddy.”

Tyler chuckled and lifted Joshua onto the horse. Tyler mounted the horse behind him.

“Once upon a time,” Tyler said. “There was a great big city and all the buildings were white.” He snapped the reigns and the horse began to walk slowly. “And in that city, many men, often great men, made decisions that built this country. They were called Senators, Congressman, and Presidents.”

“And you’re really gonna leave it here, Daddy?”

“Yep.” Tyler nodded.

“But you had it for so long. Since you were my age, you kept it.”

“And I said I was gonna pass it on,” Tyler told his son. “And I am. I’m passing it on to the future. Harry said it was important.”

“Then we should keep it,” Joshua said. “I mean we took that trip to get this box. It means so much to you.”

“Nah,” Tyler shook his head. “The trip with you and your sister meant much more. This box ceased being important now. Maybe, Josh, maybe in the future it will be. Maybe far in the future, maybe not, but maybe in the future, that box will mean something. Maybe it could even stop this from happening again. “

“Can I see the inside one more time before we leave it?”

“Yeah, yeah, you can.”

Joshua smiled and held on to his father as they rode on in their journey.

They’d drop off the box in what once was Washington DC, the box that Harry years before had given to Tyler.

And then father and son would move on.

They would just ride on together as they had done for years.

There wasn’t really anywhere to go but back home.

They would just keep going until they got there.

EPILOQUE

2575 AD

Marquis had just fallen asleep.

The brightness of the moon made sleep difficult as it reflected on his bedroom wall.

He lay in bed with his new wife staring up at the ceiling. A breeze cut through the curtains and he counted the flaps of the fabric as the wind as they softly struck the window sill.

He counted them in hopes that it would help him sleep.

He was an old soldier and had finally returned home from the war out west. He knew eventually he would have to return to fight. He had to fight to protect the fertile soil of his homeland. He had no problem with that.

His homeland fertility was the ultimate upper hand that they had over many nations.

The war had raged for thirteen years.

Some say it was a repeat of history. But it was a history of which no one had solid proof.

It had been said that the man who possessed the knowledge of the past would prevent the disaster of the future.

Many believed that no such knowledge existed. Marquis knew better. He had seen the evidence across the forbidden lands. The forbidden lands were labeled that by the elders as the property of the demons.

Marquis knew better.

He knew that the elders were only protecting the truth.

And within that truth was the wisdom of the past that Marquis so diligently sought.

He had been asked many times what he expected to find.

Marquis didn’t know, but he was certain he would know it when he found it

It was a four day journey by foot to reach the forbidden land that started just beyond the Otoma River.

When Marquis was seventeen he had left his father’s home, crossed the river and headed into the White rock field. He knew then that going any farther would require a horse.

A year later he rode a horse for six weeks. It was then than an earthquake had opened up the land and Marquis, by the fortune of the Gods, had discovered the existence of a previous civilization.

From that moment on, the warnings of the elders were discarded and everyone traveled to the forbidden lands for answers.

What had happened? What became of this civilization?

What was the wisdom of the past that would prevent disaster of the future?

Everyone knew if that answer was uncovered then perhaps the war would be stopped.

But the complete irony of it all was that men fought for portions of the land where they believed this fortune of knowledge existed.

For years Marquis searched, and as he worked and saved his money, he hired men to search for him. He would fight for the buried knowledge if need be.

A few men’s lives would be worth the price to save all mankind. That was his reasoning.

Lying with his new bride, just two days after his thirtieth birthday, Marquis was stirred from the sleep that he fought so hard to find.

“General!” a voice called.

Marquis heard the call and the stampede of horses.

His wife mumbled in her grogginess, “What is it?”

“No worries, my Love, I’ll handle it.” Marquis got up from bed and went to the window. “You call my name with urgency,” he said to the younger man on the lead horse.

“General. We found it.”

Marquis didn’t need to ask what. He knew. This was the latest team he had sent on a search of the land a hundred miles north of the White Rock field.

Grabbing his robe, Marquis hurried from his bedroom and out to the first floor of his house.

“Enter,” he said as he opened the door.

The young man dismounted, instructed the others to stay behind and then reached into his satchel and grabbed something.

Marquis patiently waited inside for the young man to enter.

“We uncovered this.” The young man laid a metal box on the table. It had to be at least a foot long and eight inches deep. “We found a stairwell and it was buried below.”

Marquis gasped at the beauty of it. “What are these markings?” he asked as he softly touched the top of the box.

“They are words, General. Someone took great care in etching them in the box. They are like a title or an introduction. These words mean the answers to the past are in here.”

“What do they say?” Marquis asked.

The young man held up his hand, went to the door and summoned another person inside.

The man was old, perhaps seventy or more.

“This man,” the young man said, “is an interpreter of ancient language.”

“Please,” Marquis said. “What does this say?”

The old man ran his hand over the markings and said, “Freedom leads to prosperity. Freedom replaces the ancient hatreds among the nations with comity and peace. Freedom is the victor.”

Marquis drew breathless and reached for a chair. “I have heard of words spoken like this. This box must contain the mythical magic stone that holds the key to peace.”

“One way to find out,” the old man said. “Open the box.”

Marquis did.

Thank you for taking the time to read, Then Came War: America’s Demise.

Table of Contents

Then Came War

CHAPTER ONE – The Riders

CHAPTER TWO

CHAPTER THREE

CHAPTER FOUR

CHAPTER FIVE

CHAPTER SIX

CHAPTER SEVEN

CHAPTER EIGHT

CHAPTER NINE

CHAPTER TEN

CHAPTER ELEVEN

CHAPTER TWLEVE

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

CHAPTER NINETEEN

CHAPTER TWENTY

CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

EPILOQUE