After The Event (Book 8): The Storm Read online

  “And if he isn’t willing to listen?” Trevor asked.

  Alec didn’t look at him or answer.

  Night came and passed but as the sun was just reaching up over the horizon, Landon arrived. Alec walked out by himself to the truck. Landon didn’t get out or turn off the truck.

  “You here to kill me?” Alec asked.

  “If I was you’d already be dead,” Landon yelled over the rumbling truck. “You know why I’m here; get in.”

  Alec came around and climbed in the passenger seat and Landon backed up and pulled out. For the first few minutes they rode in silence. Surprisingly, it was Landon who spoke first.

  “You know that was a dumb fucking thing that you did, right?”

  “One of them pulled a gun; we didn’t have much of a choice,” Alec said. “Those two had been itching to start something ever since they got here.”

  Landon sighed. “Those two aren’t are biggest and brightest but still-”

  “Is he mad?” Alec asked.

  Landon just gave him a look and turned back to the road. The rest of the drive seemed to take forever and at the same time not long enough. When they finally pulled into the compound, Alec still wasn’t certain what he was going to say. He decided the only thing he could say was the truth.

  Alec looked at the two men guarding the entrance and then spotted a man on the roof looking down at him, all of them armed. As he walked through the compound he saw dozens of people milling about. Some were on patrol but most of them were just hanging around. All of them were fully armed. New Hope’s militia were trained but none of them had actually seen real action. That wasn’t the case with Noah’s men. Each of them carried the scars of previous battles on their faces or in their eyes. Alec could train his militia for years but it was impossible to simulate what a real battle would be like. Because of that Noah’s men would always be more prepared.

  The compound was huge, with multiple floors, each containing dozens of rooms but everywhere Alec looked there were men. Even if their militia managed to fight their way to the compound, there was no way they would be able to clear it out. Each soldier he saw had multiple magazines, and his own militia barely had enough ammo to fill their own weapons. It was a war they could not win.

  When Alec walked in Noah’s office it was the first time the man hadn’t greeted him with a smile. While the look wasn’t one of anger, it was obvious that Noah wasn’t in a jovial mood. Noah saw him and gestured to a chair next to his desk while Landon closed the door behind him. Alec walked over and sat down.

  “I can explain everything,” Alec started but Noah raised a hand.

  “There is no need. I’m aware of how Slick is, and if Blood is his friend then he is probably just as stupid as he is.”

  Alec felt relieved but noticed the hard look on Noah’s face hadn’t softened.

  “The problem, Alec, is that you pulled weapons on my men. That is something I can’t allow.”

  “Your men, let alone those two, shouldn’t have been on our land in the first place,” Alec said as anger surged through him briefly.

  Noah’s gaze was hard but he was quiet for a moment. “Your demeanor and attitude didn’t leave me much of a choice. I’m not going to sit here and argue with you about whether or not my men needed to be there. This is about what you did to two of those men.”

  “You said yourself those two are idiots,” Alec said, changing tactics.

  “I also said what you did cannot be allowed. What you did undermines my authority. It makes me and my men appear weak. It emboldens your people and anyone else we are working with.”

  “We are sorry. I am sorry, Noah. That wasn’t my people’s intention. They saw someone about to pull a gun on me and they reacted. If you are willing to replace those two men, I’m sure something like this won’t happen again.”

  Noah leaned back in his chair and kicked his feet up on his desk. “It’s not that easy. It’s an image thing.”

  The sides of Alec’s vision shuddered. “What can we do?”

  Noah smirked. “I think that is for you to figure out, Alec. You see, the last time people pulled guns on my men their entire town was destroyed. I’m sorry to say that some of those same people are involved in this situation, so it seems they haven’t learned their lesson.”

  “This isn’t the same situation and you know it,” Alec said quickly, trying to recover. “To suggest as much is insulting the intelligence of your own men.”

  Noah shrugged. “It’s slightly different but no less serious. So how are you going to make this right? What can you offer me to stop my men from going in there and reducing your home to ruins?”

  The shuddering intensified. “I can increase the size of the food shipments.”

  “That’s a start,” Noah said. “I also think my presence there needs to double. At least sixteen or seventeen men and don’t worry, I’ll hand-pick the men myself to prevent another issue.”

  “You have to at least give us the illusion of independence,” Alec said after a few seconds. “Having men stationed at New Hope makes it feel more like an occupation.”

  Noah studied him for a moment and smiled. “So if I pull my men out then your people will feel free?”

  “It’s a start. You’re worried about my people striking back against you. Well, that only happens when they feel like they are being oppressed. Minimizing your presence will prevent that feeling. If there is something you need, send a single person to set up a meeting somewhere else. There is no need for a show of force. We already know we can’t stand against you.”

  Noah paused for a moment, thinking something over. “If you all know that and have no intention of betraying me, then you won’t need any weapons.”

  Alec’s stomach dropped.

  “We can protect you and this will also help to prevent any future…misunderstandings.”

  “You can’t take away our weapons.”

  “I can do worse,” Noah said, his voice dark and final. “And if at any point in time my men find a single weapon in your people’s possession then the entire place will burn, understand? No weapons and I’ll give you your independence.”

  “I’ll….have to talk this over with the Council.”

  Noah laughed. “Very well, ask them if they would prefer our demands over the death and destruction of everything they hold dear.”

  Alec sat there with the world swirling about. Noah was right; they didn’t have a choice.

  “That’s all,” Noah said loudly and Landon opened the door on cue.

  Alec used the cane to stand up and focused on putting one foot in front of the other. Just as he got to the door, Noah stopped him.

  “I nearly forgot, I need your Council to decide which of you to sacrifice. You all need to learn that every time you cross me someone will die. You have until tomorrow to decide. If by tomorrow you don’t have a name or if you try to negotiate, the demand will increase to two people.”

  Alec didn’t say anything.

  “And per our new agreement, we can meet up outside of New Hope. Landon will meet with you in what used to be Centralia tomorrow afternoon and bring you to a location I choose. Make sure you bring your sacrificial lamb with you. I’ll take care of them myself. I’ll make it quick.”

  “Why don’t we just meet in Centralia?” Alec asked.

  “It’s not that I don’t trust you, Alec, it’s just safer this way.” Noah nodded his head and Landon walked up and escorted Alec out.

  He barely remembered getting into Landon’s truck and for the first part of the ride he was lost in his head. They had built New Hope to prevent things like this from happening. He had tried to become the type of person who could protect others from people like Noah and he had failed. The prison camp had changed him. Instead of toughening him up, it had weakened him.

  “You’ve seen this before, haven’t you?” Alec asked.

  Landon said nothing but after a time he nodded his head.

  “I’m not an idiot. I know how it en
ds. Noah can send his people to New Hope to replace us. They will either fail and lose years’ worth of crops or maybe they will know what they are doing and manage to keep up. Either way, it is going to take men away to focus on something besides unifying Columbia.”

  Landon said nothing.

  “What we had before was a working partnership. The food we provided was allowing you all the opportunity to bring people together and provide stability, and you all were allowing us to grow and increase our productivity. But Noah is more interested in proving his power then actually building anything that will last. You can ignore me or you can pull your gun and shoot me in the head, but what he is doing is going to weaken us both.”

  Landon’s voice came out as a growl. “What the hell are you trying to say?”

  “How many loyal men do you have?”

  Alec

  It still smelled of ash.

  Broken brick, splintered wood and black charred ground surrounded them on all sides. This was all that was left of Centralia’s square. They had buried the bodies on what used to be a golf course at the country club on the east side of town. Alec still remembered how long it had taken. Digging people out from under the debris, hauling them over, digging the graves and then laying them to rest. It had taken days, and Noah’s people had destroyed everything in less than an hour. That was the kind of power they had. The remains of Centralia were a stark reminder of that power. That was why Alec had brought the Council here and explained his plan.

  “You can’t be serious,” Trevor said, the disbelief evident on his face. Alec had expected as much from him.

  Margie looked just as shocked but it slid off her face quickly. “If…if you think it would work,” she said uncertainly.

  “I do,” Alec said. He turned to Freddie. “Do you think you could gather enough?”

  Freddie’s face was a blank mask but there was a fiery intensity in his eyes. “Between us and what is left in Centralia, I don’t see that being a problem.”

  Alec turned to Jason. He didn’t know the old man well and wasn’t sure who he would support, but the plan wouldn’t work without him. Jason rubbed his chin with his hand for a few seconds but didn’t say anything.

  “You all can’t consider this,” Trevor said, looking around at all of them. “And Alec, how the hell could you even come up with this? You’re talking about risking everything. Everything we’ve built and every life within it. We have to protect these people.”

  “That’s what I’m doing,” Alec said sternly. “We do this and there is a chance we fail and this goes away overnight. We don’t do this and we will die a slow, agonizing death. We might get months, maybe even years, but the end will be the same.”

  “You don’t know that.”

  “Deep down you know I am right,” Alec said.

  Jason sighed and rubbed his hands over his face. “I’m in. I can do my part.”

  Alec nodded and Trevor stood up and stomped away a few steps before stopping and turning back to Alec. His face was red and his eyes were watery. “Even if you manage to pull this off, you’ll never be the same. This will change you.”

  Alec could feel the eyes of the others on him and he nodded his head. “I know.”

  Trevor walked over to where his horse was tied up and untied him. He pulled himself onto the animal and met Alec’s eyes. Alec didn’t look away but Trevor did. He turned his horse around and headed toward New Hope. Alec looked back over the destruction of Centralia. He was doing what needed to be done.

  Ally

  She caught up with Maclin and the rest of the soldiers just as they reached the outskirts of the mall. She kept her distance, not wanting to have the same argument with Maclin that she had just had with Adam. The mall seemed sparse, with only a few soldiers patrolling the outside and a single soldier patrolling on the roof. Maclin and his men moved from cover to cover as they approached the outskirts of the back side of the mall. She watched as Maclin snuck up on one of the patrolling soldiers and shoved a knife into the man’s throat. A second soldier walking a few yards ahead was taken down by one of Maclin’s men, and they entered the mall through the small parking garage, dragging the bodies behind.

  “That was easy,” Ally said to herself as she watched them gain access. She waited a few moments for the soldier on the roof to stroll by and then she darted out from safety and into the garage.

  It took a few moments for her eyes to adjust to the dark of the garage but when it did she saw Maclin’s group a hundred yards away, splitting up into two groups. One, led by Maclin, went into the mall on the main floor, while the other group made their way up to the second level. Ally pulled out her bow and followed Maclin.

  Ben

  The prisoners were moved over from the courthouse and housed in a makeshift prison that had once served as a furniture store in the mall. Locke arrived with them to oversee the transfer and make sure that everything was secure. The majority of the troops followed the President to the White House, leaving a few dozen to man the temporary HQ. Ben stayed around just long enough to welcome Locke back and then he and Ty began their search through the mall for Berger. The mall was a huge maze that had been secured and blocked off into sections but it was still possible for someone to slip past the unmanned barriers and go deeper inside of it. That is where they found Berger.

  The woman was on the second floor in the remains of a Starbucks coffee shop, only it wasn’t coffee she was drinking. She watched them walk in and raised a vodka bottle to them.

  “To democracy,” she said as she took a long swig. She wiped her mouth with her sleeve and sat back. “You all here to arrest me?”

  “She’s lit, B,” Ty said.

  “We are not here to arrest you. I’m Ben--we talked before.”

  Berger squinted her eyes and then smiled when he came over and sat down next to her. “I do remember you. You’re the one who thought everything was going to end peacefully.” She nudged him in the ribs with her elbow. “How’d that work out for you?”

  “The lady claiming to be Sylvia Carter said you knew the truth.”

  Berger sighed and pushed the vodka bottle away from her. “The truth about what?”

  “You know what.”

  “Is that the real Carter?” Ty asked.

  Berger snorted. “Of course it is. You hadn’t figured that out yet?”

  “The photos were fake?” Ben asked.

  “That old mountain base has power and where there is power there is Photoshop.” Berger laughed and pulled the vodka bottle back over and took a drink.

  “So Johnson is the pretender?” Ty asked.

  “He sure as hell isn’t next in line, but he has all the guns so he’s in charge.”

  “You knew all along?” Ben asked.

  “I knew she was the real one before we ever met. My job was to let her know Johnson didn’t give a shit who was next in line. If she was smart she would have just stepped down and let him take over, but she hid behind the laws of succession.” Berger emptied the vodka bottle and slammed it down. “It’s all about power. If she had just stepped down then no one would have gotten hurt, but like I told you before, no one gives up power by choice.”

  “But she was next in line; it was her right to lead the country,” Ty argued.

  “And how is that working out for her?” Berger said with a wink.

  “So what happens now? We just let Johnson control a country he has no right to lead?” Ben asked.

  “You think you can stop him?” Berger asked. “He has all the power. What is done is done.”

  “What about Carter? If we free her then we can gather the rest of the soldiers to her side and fight back,” Ty said.

  “She won’t be alive for much longer,” Berger said bluntly. “Johnson will meet with her today and if she doesn’t give the speech he has written for her, he’ll kill her.”

  “How do you know that?” Ben asked.

  “It makes sense,” Berger said. “What other use would he have for her?”
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  “What are you going to do?” Ben asked.

  “I’ve already pledged my allegiance to the man. I’m going to sit back and find my place in this new world he is building.” Berger’s voice dropped as she said this and then she closed her eyes. “Please leave and don’t say anything. He could have us killed with a single word. Don’t give him a reason to order it.”

  “We need your hel-” Ty started but Ben stopped him.

  “She’s made her choice and she’s right. There isn’t anything we can do,” Ben said. He pulled Ty away and they left the store.

  “Come on, B, you can’t be serious.”

  “I’m not, but she is going to sober up eventually and when she does, I don’t want her thinking we are going to try anything.”

  Ty nodded his head in understanding. “So what are we going to do?”

  “Nothing for now,” Ben said, checking the dark hallways for signs of movement. “The bulk of the forces are guarding Johnson at the courthouse while he talks with Carter. There is no way we will be able to get to her while she is there. We have to hope that Johnson brings her back here.”

  “What if he kills her?”

  “You have any other ideas?” Ben asked.

  Ty chewed on his bottom lip for a moment then shook his head no. “So we wait until he brings her back here and then set her free?”

  “He trusts us, me especially. We’ll wait for our moment and then we escape and use her as a rallying cry.”

  “Or you could kill him.”

  Silence. The thought didn’t need to be planted. It was already there but Ben had tried not to notice it.

  “B, if he trusts you then it should be easy. Just find a way to get him alone and finish him off. Cut the head off the snake and the rest of this should be history.” Ty noticed his hesitation. “Look, I know that shit might suck but you gotta admit it would be the best route. We can still free Carter and use her to gather the rest of the soldiers, but with Johnson gone these guys will be too busy trying to figure out who is in charge to hit us back. It’ll give us time to regroup.”