After The Event (Book 8): The Storm Page 12

  Alec

  Alec was already standing at the end of their driveway when Landon pulled up. The man was in a rusted-out truck that rumbled as it sat there idling. Jason stood next to Alec. The man fidgeted and shifted back and forth in place. Alec put his hand on the man’s shoulder to calm him and then got into Landon’s truck.

  Landon continued looking straight ahead. “You ready?”

  “Yes.”

  Landon turned around in the driveway and traveled down the gravel road. No one said anything. They already knew what was going to happen. Noah had picked a random place for them to meet for the exchange. Alec would hand over Jason while Freddie and his men delivered the three truckloads of food they had agreed upon to Noah’s base. That was what Noah had ordered.

  The gravel road gave way to the cracked asphalt of the main roads. The road twisted and turned for several miles, until Landon got off onto another gravel road. Within minutes they were pulling up a driveway where the burnt-out husk of a church sat in the middle of a field. Alec knew this place. Landon had told him the truth. At the end of the driveway sat six vehicles parked end to end, and thirteen of Noah’s men stood there, guns in hand. A moment of panic hit Alec for a brief second before he saw Noah get out of one of the trucks and walk over to the line of men.

  “This will work,” Alec said, more to himself than to anyone else.

  As they got out of the truck there was a rumble of thunder and Alec could make out the dark clouds from a storm on the horizon. He found it to be fitting. Noah watched them approach with his arms crossed and a smile on his face. Landon walked in front of them and took his place at Noah’s side. One of Noah’s men stepped forward and patted down Alec and Jason. They were unarmed, just as they agreed.

  Noah looked to Jason. “This is the sacrifice?”

  Jason kept his head down but nodded.

  “Did you get selected or did you volunteer?”

  “I volunteered,” Jason said softly.

  “That is very brave. Sacrificing yourself to protect others is a very noble act. Hopefully your people will learn from it and ensure your sacrifice wasn’t in vain.” Noah turned his attention to Alec. “Has the food been delivered?”

  “It should be getting there as we speak. They left a little before Landon came.”

  “Good.” Noah turned his back on them and stared over at the remains of the church. All that was left were three burnt-out walls and a single blackened cross that was affixed to the back wall. Waist-high grass surrounded the destroyed building, covering up the steps leading in. Noah gestured to this as he turned around. “This is all that is left of the old world. Burnt-out remains of something grand. Some people would pull up their bootstraps, grab some wood and begin rebuilding this church to return it to its former glory. I’m not interested in that. I think this building needs to be torn down and built from the ground up. I’m not interested in trying to rebuild someone else’s legacy. I am ready to build my own.

  “I used to think we were similar, Alec. I used to think you were just as willing and able to make the hard choices as I was, but I was wrong. You let the old world’s morality cloud you and prevent you from building something great. If you had been willing to make the hard choices, we would be standing here side by side instead of this.”

  “There was a time when I would have agreed with you,” Alec said calmly. “I thought I was weak. I didn’t think I could make hard choices to protect the people I love, but that’s not true. I have made hard choices. I have killed, and not just bad people. There was a man in the prison camp that had watched over me. I considered him a friend. He had a family, a wife and a son. One day we were forced to fight each other to the death. I killed him. I didn’t kill him because I hated him, I killed him because if I hadn’t I would never have had a chance to see my family again.”

  Noah folded his arms back across his chest.

  “Just because I wouldn’t have made the choices you did doesn’t mean I’m incapable of doing what needs to be done. What you’ve done isn’t hard, it’s easy. You attack people who are weaker than you. You kill civilians. You steal. There isn’t anything hard about that.”

  Noah laughed. “Is that all you think I’ve done?”

  “No, I’m sure you’ve done much worse, but don’t trick yourself into thinking they were things that had to be done,” Alec said.

  Noah’s face grew red and his right hand tightened into a fist. “You’re not this dumb, Alec. Was this your plan? To make me angry so I would kill you and save your friend here? How do you know I won’t kill you both?”

  Alec saw Landon take a couple of steps back from the corner of his eye.

  “You’re right, I’m not dumb. But becoming a sacrifice wasn’t part of my plan.”

  Landon had stepped back behind the line of men, along with four others. They all leveled their guns at their former comrades. One of Noah’s men noticed and reached for his gun. Before his hand wrapped around it, the bullet buried itself in his chest. As Noah and his eight remaining loyal men turned around to see their betrayal, Alec’s eyes never left Noah.

  “Landon, what the hell is this?” Noah yelled.

  “Drop your weapons,” Landon growled. Slowly but surely Noah’s men dropped their rifles and stepped back.

  “You think you can betray me?,” Noah screamed. “You kill me and return to my base and what do you think is going to happen? They aren’t going to accept you.”

  “You’re not as popular as you think,” Landon said, turning his gun on Noah. “Some of the men came up with you; most of them joined after you took over. Those men don’t have any true loyalty. They follow whoever has the most strength. I know the men who are truly loyal to you. By the time I return they will have already been dealt with. Now everyone turn around and get on your knees.”

  Noah’s men followed the directions but Noah did not. “You will destroy everything I have built. Fighting amongst ourselves is only going to weaken what we have.”

  “You’ve always underestimated me, Noah. There isn’t going to be a fight. The people that would have fought were dead by the time you got here.” Landon walked over and slammed the butt of his rifle into Noah’s face. The crunch of Noah’s nose and the spray of blood left little doubt as to what happened. Noah fell onto the ground and rolled onto his stomach.

  Landon stepped back behind the kneeling men and nodded toward his own. They opened fire into the backs of their former comrades. Their bodies fell forward and a pool of blood stretched out in all directions. Alec felt the world wobble and leaned into his cane.

  As the blood reached Noah he rolled on his side and pushed himself up to his knees. “You fucking idiot. You have no idea what you are doing. You can’t destroy what I’ve built.”

  Landon walked forward a few steps and put his rifle a few feet from Noah’s face. “I’m not destroying it. I’m turning it into something that will last.”

  Noah looked up to Alec. The once-strong man’s face was red with blood and contorted in anger. “So you’re trading one master for another? You think he is going to be any better than me? What do you think is going to happen when they begin fighting? You think you’re not going to be caught in the crossfire?”

  “I’m protecting my people,” Alec said. He let out a loud whistle.

  The meeting place was supposed to be a surprise to Alec but it wasn’t. Landon had told him where they were going to meet well before it happened. The burnt-out church had a crawl space underneath it but it was hard to see due to the high grass. New Hope’s militia had already begun crawling out during the commotion, and by the time Alec whistled over a dozen of his people were standing behind Landon with their guns raised.

  Landon turned and his face dropped. “What…what the hell is this?”

  “Drop your weapons,” Alec said.

  Landon turned to him. “You’re betraying me?”

  “Like I said, I’m protecting my people. Now drop your weapons.”

  Landon threw his gun on
the ground. “If we don’t return over a hundred men are going to show up on your doorstep and burn it to the ground.”

  At first it sounded like the crack of thunder in the distance, only larger. Alec knew where to look and as his men rounded up Landon and the four others he watched the skyline. In less than a minute he saw the smoke rising high in the air.

  Noah sat there laughing as he watched Landon being pushed onto his knees. He turned to Alec to say something and saw him looking at the horizon. Noah followed his gaze and stared at the rising smoke. “What is that?”

  “I don’t think you’re evil,” Alec said quietly as he watched the smoke. “I’ve seen evil. I’ve suffered through it. You’re not evil; you’re just selfish. You’ve convinced yourself that what you’re doing is for other people, but it is not. Everything you do is for you. You do it to satisfy a childlike need for power.”

  “What the hell is that?” Noah asked, his voice rising in intensity.

  “That is your legacy,” Alec said. “I’ve learned a lot of things since the world went dark. Did you know that we have over fifty bags of fertilizer pellets? Do you know what you can do with that much fertilizer?”

  Noah turned to him with a look of confusion on his face.

  “The three trucks did return to your base. They pulled into the loading dock but they didn’t contain food. They contained bags of fertilizer mixed with every last drop of diesel fuel we had. I understand if you didn’t know this, because I just learned it myself, but do you know what you can make with those two substances? A bomb, Noah. A bomb powerful enough to destroy a building.” He watched Noah’s face as the realization sank in. “Your legacy is gone. Everything you built has been destroyed. Your actions will be forgotten.” One of the militia handed him a handgun. Alec pointed it at Noah. “You will be forgotten.”

  Alec pulled the trigger. Noah’s head snapped back and his body slowly slumped backwards on the ground, where his lifeless eyes stared up at the darkening sky.

  “This wasn’t the agreement,” Landon said.

  Alec barely heard him over the ringing of his ears. He felt the warmth of Noah’s blood on his face and wiped it away with the bottom of his shirt. “No, it wasn’t.”

  Alec looked toward his own people and nodded his head. No one moved. They looked at him and then at the huddled men in front of them. They couldn’t do it. Alec couldn’t fault them. It was one thing to make the tough choice; it was another to actually follow through. Alec walked back behind the huddled men and approached one of his men. He recognized the face but struggled to remember the name. Scott, maybe? Soft features, young face--he couldn’t have been much younger than Alec but he clearly hadn’t been tested. Alec gently took the assault rifle from him and gestured for him to back away. The kid hesitated for a moment then took a few steps back.

  Alec turned and opened fire. The first burst took out the man kneeling directly before him. The force of the bullets slammed him forward into the ground, leaving only a slight red mist where he had been previously. The gunfire triggered Landon’s men to flee. The next burst took out Landon’s second man just as he was getting to his feet. The spray of gunfire stuck him square in his back and continued up into his right shoulder. Alec remembered hearing him scream and as he began to aim at the next man, he could already hear his lungs beginning to fill with blood. The third man was on his feet and had taken a few steps before Alec got to him. The bullets began peppering his body just below his neck and the recoil lifted his aim upwards until it popped the man’s head like a balloon. The fourth man was fast. He was nearly twenty yards away by the time Alec turned to him. The last of the assault rifle’s ammo took out his right leg, causing him to sprawl fall face forward onto the ground. Alec walked past Landon, who was still kneeling down and hadn’t moved an inch, and walked to where the fourth man was frantically trying to crawl away. Alec tossed the assault rifle onto the ground and pulled out his sidearm. One bullet into the head. Alec turned and saw Landon watching him with a weary [VLM3]look on his face. He could make out the fear, but it was overshadowed by something else.

  “Well played,” Landon said. “Noah underestimated me and I underestimated you.”

  The world jostled all around Alec but he focused on the man in front of him. He took one step forward and then another until he was only a few feet from Landon. “I’m sorry,” he said.

  “So am I,” Landon said.

  And then Alec pulled the trigger.

  Ally

  She heard the cries and hushed whispers as soon as the door was opened. The smell of unwashed bodies hit her next and as her eyes adjusted to the darkness she saw row after row of cells filled with soldiers and civilians. The soldier opened up one of the cells and shoved her in. She stumbled and was about to fall when one of the prisoners grabbed her and held her upright. Ally turned on the soldier who had pushed her and took his face in, hoping to meet him again.

  “Ally?” came a voice from deeper in the cell.

  Ally turned and saw Dena sitting with her back against the far wall. Her face was covered in dirt and there was a dark blue bruise covering the right side of her face. Ally ran to her and they embraced.

  “My God, Ally, is it really you?” Dena asked.

  “Are you ok?” Ally asked as she sat back and looked the woman up and down. The woman’s face was bruised, her clothing was torn in several places and Ally noticed she was barely moving her left arm.

  “She has a separated shoulder and is a little beat up, but I think she will be fine,” said a man in dirty t-shirt a few yards away. Ally thought she remembered seeing the man a few times in the White House.

  “Coby, Adam--are they ok?” Dena asked.

  “They’re fine. They’re safe. When I left they were headed with some of the soldiers to a remote location where they would be fine.”

  “Why did you leave them?”

  “I wanted to help the soldiers,” Ally said.

  Dena shook her head. “You know they are going to come back looking for you, right?”

  “No, they won’t. They know I can take care of myself. I told them I would meet back up with them once I rescued you.”

  “I hope you’re right,” Dena said, sighing. “I know I wouldn’t leave if you and Adam were caught.”

  Ally looked around at the huddled masses surrounding her. “What’s going to happen to us?”

  “I don’t know. What happened to you all out there?”

  Ally’s thoughts turned to her brother. She tried to reconcile the chiseled, dangerous man she had just encountered with the head-in-the-clouds brother she remembered as a kid. “I don’t even know where to start.”

  Alec

  Even if they hadn’t known the way they could have still found Noah’s base by following the red glow on the horizon. It wasn’t night yet but the approaching storm had rendered the sky a dark gray that blocked out all light outside of the blood-red glow coming from the destroyed building. They pulled their trucks up just outside the first checkpoint and, as expected, they found it abandoned. Where there had once been vehicles blocking the street, it now only contained a few barrels and scattered trash blowing in the wind.

  A single truck came rumbling down the roadway toward them. Alec and his men turned their trucks sideways, blocking the roadway and providing them with cover. By the time they had gotten out and were aiming their sights the truck had stopped twenty yards away and Freddie, along with two other men, had gotten out with weary smiles on their faces.

  “Everyone ok?” Alec asked as he walked around his truck toward Freddie. The man wiped black ash from his face and nodded. Alec pulled the man in and gave him a firm hug. “No injuries?”

  “No, everyone is fine. How about on your end?” Freddie asked.

  “We’re good.” Alec looked toward where the building once stood but all he could see were the tops of the flames. “Anything left?”

  “The basic frame and a few walls but there isn’t going to be any rebuilding that.” There was st
rain on Freddie’s face. “There were…a lot of people in there.”

  Alec studied his face for a moment and saw the far-off look in Freddie’s eyes. “You did what you were asked to do. What happened is on me.”

  The expression on Freddie’s face didn’t change but he nodded his head slowly. “Is it done? Are they gone?”

  “Noah, Landon and all of their men are gone.”

  Freddie took in a deep breath. “There were some men that weren’t in the building and they fled after the explosion.”

  “Are they going to be a problem?”

  “I don’t think so. There couldn’t have been more than a dozen of them.”

  Alec nodded. “Anything to salvage?”

  Freddie turned back toward the red blaze. “Probably not much but we won’t know until the fire dies down, and by then this place may be dangerous. This fire is going to act like a beacon, attracting everyone in Columbia. People know what they had here and everyone is going to come looking for a piece of it.”

  Freddie was right. “Load up. Let’s head home.”

  Ben

  Ben paced around the small holding cell like a caged animal. He didn’t know where Ally was. His sister was alive and was here and he had been torn away from her by his own men. If Locke laid a single finger on her head, he was going to kill the man. He had overhead the other soldiers talking when they took him to his cell. The enemy raid had failed. Most of the enemy had been killed but a few had been captured. He had no idea where they, or Ally, were being kept, as his holding cell was the only one in the small room. Hours passed with no word and it wasn’t until Ben had finally sat down with his back on the cage that the door finally opened. Ben jumped to his feet and ran to the door of his cage when President Johnson stepped in.

  The man stepped forward with a frown on his face. “Ben,” he said as he stopped a few feet from his holding cell. “Hate seeing you like this.”

  “Please, Mr. President. The girl they captured--that is my sister. She was kidnapped when she was little and somehow she ended up here. She didn’t know what she was doing; she’s not the enemy,” Ben pleaded.