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

  “Hey Ally, plan on having any more squirrels or rabbits to trade here soon?” asked an old, grizzled man in overalls who went by the name Maurice.

  “Not today, maybe tomorrow.”

  Maurice gave her a thumbs-up. “Well, bring me your best catches and I’ll make it worth your while.”

  “I will,” Ally said as she walked past him. Dena walked next to her and Ally couldn’t help but notice her smile. “What?”

  “I didn’t say anything.”

  “Your face is saying something.”

  Dena laughed. “I don’t think I ever saw you talk to a single person at our old place. Now you’re Miss Popularity.”

  It annoyed Ally that Dena was partially right. She knew most of the people in the town, had traded with nearly all of them, and generally liked the majority of them. There was no way she was going to admit that to Dena though. “I have no idea what you are talking about.”

  They walked down the streets, with the White House looming just on the horizon, when Dena stopped at the one place that Ally didn’t want to stop at. The building had served as a library in the old world but served as a school now. Ally felt Dena’s eyes on her.

  “You know, it’s about time you started attending some classes,” Dena said with a sly smile.

  “No,” Ally said simply.

  “You have a brain in that noggin of yours; might as well start using it.”

  “I am using it.”

  Dena made the same exasperated sigh that Ally heard at least once or twice a day when they talked. “Ally, there are other things outside of hunting and running around in the wild.”

  “Hunting and running around in the wild allow me to trade with other people, which means more stuff for our house.”

  “My job at the White House and Adam’s handyman work give us more than enough to survive.”

  She was right again. Ally wouldn’t admit it, again. Dena worked at the White House, sewing for the President, her staff and the army personnel. It was the same thing that Dena did at the refugee camp but now she was doing it for considerably more important people. Ally was more surprised by Adam. When they first met she was certain the man didn’t know how to use a hammer. When they moved to their place in the refugee camp he began fixing up their house and working with the more handy-capable people in the camp; next thing she knew, he was a regular handyman.

  “Ally,” Dena said, interrupting her from her thoughts. “You can hunt better than anyone I know. You’ve learned how to survive but there are other things to learn. Give it some thought.”

  Ally stared at the old building and heard the sounds of people talking inside. She had distant memories of enjoying school when she was a child but that was a long time ago. She had no interest in playing with people her age and she didn’t think there was anything else worth learning in the world. She knew everything that mattered. Despite that she saw the hopeful look in Dena’s eyes and she nodded her head. "I'll think about it.”

  “That’s all I ask,” Dena said cheerfully. She looked up at the sun, which was nearly overhead. “I need to go in for a few hours today. See you tonight for dinner?”

  “See you tonight,” Ally said then watched as Dena walked down the street toward the White House.

  Once Dena disappeared from sight Ally watched the people walking through the streets and working in the stores. The adults joked and smiled while the children ran in and around the buildings playing. Ally didn’t remember much about the old world but she remembered enough to know this was how it used to be. Ally pulled her bow from behind her back and her hands found the familiar contours as the bow became one with her. She might not remember much about the old world, but she knew everything about the new one. Ally glanced at the school one last time before she took off toward the wilderness.

  Ben

  One of their first refueling stops took them to Springfield, Missouri, the home of the POW camp. They arrived just as the sun was overhead, revealing the prison in all its glory. While the HELO pads were on the southern side of the facility their pilot circled wide, showing the massive compound. There was a collection of nearly a dozen buildings, all interconnected, on the eastern and western sides, with a handful of buildings on the southern end and a massive government-style building on the northern end, all enclosed by a fence that reached the same heights as the buildings around it. As they passed overhead Ben could see what used to be a baseball field in the middle of the compound, and it was filled with dozens of people milling about. As they turned toward the southern side Ben could see fields upon fields of crops and dozens of inmates working in the fields, surrounded by dozens of heavily armed soldiers. Somewhere down there were Banner and his men.

  Once they landed Ben got clear of the helicopter and stretched his legs as the warm Missouri wind blew past him. The smell of corn hung in the air and the distant sound of talking passed by him. Locke and the rest of his men walked about, either going to the bathroom or finding a shady spot to settle down and eat some food. They still had a long journey and a lot of stops before they reached their destination. Locke and another man walked over causally to Ben and looked out with him at the POWS hard at work. The other man had short blonde hair and a diagonal tattoo across his neck that looked tribal.

  “Quite the place, isn’t it?” Locke said as he stopped next to him. The man stretched and then did a slow 360 degree turn to take it all in. “Once everything stabilized, this was one of the first places that General Wallace had us re-acquire.”

  “You got a bunch of Chinese and Koreans in there?” the other man asked with a slight sneer.

  “There are some,” Locke said, now watching the faraway group working the fields. “But we have some Americans as well. Men who decided to rape and pillage and act a fool when the shit went down.”

  While Ben knew that might be true, he was also aware there were men slightly less guilty working those fields.

  “The name’s Anderson,” the other man said, sticking out his hand to Ben.

  “Ben,” he said taking the man’s hand and giving it a firm shake.

  “Ben here was part of the group that fired the EMP on the East Coast,” Locke said.

  Anderson frowned and shook his head. “No shit? I heard that was some pretty mean jungle back in the day. I never had a chance to fight there but I’ve heard things.”

  “It was something,” Ben said as he turned his attention back to the workers. “How long have some of them been here?”

  “Some of the earliest are Chinese POWs, been here since it opened. Not too long after you all fired that EMP,” Locke said as he put a toothpick in his mouth and rolled it about once.

  “Anyone ever been released?” Ben asked.

  The toothpick stopped twirling in Locke’s mouth and his gaze paused for a moment on Ben. “Possibly. This isn’t exactly my main area of concentration.”

  “They can stay here until they grow old and gray as far as I’m concerned,” Anderson said. “Invading fucks can rot and the worthless low-lives that did nothing but cause trouble can watch us rebuild everything around them.”

  Ben looked over and saw a young woman, maybe in her early to mid-thirties, standing alone on the far side of the clearing, looking out over the prison. She wore a dark red blazer over a black top and her hair was held in place by a wire headband.

  “Who is that?” Ben asked, nodding toward the woman.

  Locked glanced over for a second. “That’s our official Ambassador on this mission. I think her name is Allison Berger or something like that.”

  “Ambassador?” Ben asked.

  “She’s the one that will be talking to this fake government on behalf of President Johnson. She’s the one that will be trying to talk sense into them.”

  “And if she fails we get to step in,” Anderson said, smiling.

  Ben walked away as Locke began to chuckle and made his way over to the Ambassador. She noticed him coming, looked away quickly, and Ben saw her take in a deep breath. When he
got within a few feet she turned to him, pretending that she had just noticed him.

  “Uh…hello.”

  “Hello, Ambassador Berger. I don’t mean to bother you. I just wanted to introduce myself. My name is Ben Irving.”

  “Allison Berger, nice to meet you,” she said quickly, then waited for more.

  “I…I understand you’ll be the one talking with...this other group?”

  Berger nodded her head as she turned back toward the prison. “That is the plan.”

  There was a beat of silence.

  “Well, like I said, I didn’t mean to bother you. I hope you’re successful,” Ben said as he turned away.

  “How long have you been with the military?” Berger asked, still focusing somewhere else.

  “Most of my life,” Ben said, stopping in place.

  “You join before or after the event?”

  “After.”

  “Whose squad are you with?” she asked.

  “Locke’s.”

  She nodded as if she already understood him.

  “I was just assigned to his squad. My squad was involved in the Florida mission.”

  Berger looked at him, again only slower this time. “Any particular feelings on this mission?”

  Ben thought for a moment. “Not specifically. If this woman claiming to be Sylvia Carter actually is who she says she is, that does mean she is the next person up to be president, right?”

  Berger opened her mouth to say something, then stopped and glanced over to where Locke and Anderson were standing and then looked away. “She isn’t the real President Carter.”

  “How do you know?”

  “I just do. Well, it was nice meeting you, Ben. Here is to hoping we have a safe trip.” Berger nodded at him and then walked off alone back toward the Helos.

  Ben watched her go, unsure of how to feel. The Helos were refueled within the hour and they once again loaded up and began their trip to California. They had another six stops and approximately twenty hours before they found themselves hovering over California ground. They landed in the predesignated spot, an old shopping mall that had been abandoned even before the power went out. Seconds after the helicopters touched the ground they were running about securing the area and preparing their defenses. They swept the mall, confirming, outside of some evidence that several people had once used it as a shelter, that it was still abandoned. Within the hour the mall was secured, locked down and operational. Ben walked up to the roof of the mall and looked out over the highway and into the surrounding woods. Somewhere out there was the person claiming to be President Carter and whether he liked it or not, soon he would find out if she was telling the truth.

  Ally

  She was a ghost in the wilderness. Her feet moved deftly over the ground, floating over twigs and rocks, not making a sound. An audible crunch came from behind her as Adam crashed his way through the forest. Ally stopped where she was and dropped her head to the ground. There was no point in trying to remain alert, as everything in a three-mile radius was now aware of their presence.

  “Sorry, was that me?” Adam asked, slightly out of breath.

  “Of course it was you, Dad,” Coby said, the irritation evident in his voice.

  Ally looked back at Adam, who had his hands on his hips as he caught his breath. Coby stood a few feet in front of him with a look of embarrassment on his face. She couldn’t help but notice how Coby was no longer a little boy. The baby fat had dropped off and the boyish features had been chiseled into something more resembling a young man.

  “Sorry Ally,” Coby said.

  “Don’t apologize for me; I don’t even think that was me,” Adam argued.

  Ally couldn’t help but smile. “Don’t worry about it. The traps are just past that ridge. You might as well go see if we caught anything.”

  Coby ran off toward the ridge and Adam came up beside her.

  “Seriously, though, I think that was a deer or something.”

  “That was an awfully loud deer.”

  “Shut up, Ally.” Adam squatted down next to her and rummaged through a collection of leaves.

  Ally had begun taking Coby with her occasionally when she went out to hunt and check their traps. As he was growing up, he had begun to lose interest in toys and comic books and Ally had begun to feel bad about always leaving him behind. While he still hadn’t mastered the art of using a bow, he was getting better at traveling quietly in the woods. Adam was not.

  “Are you going to make it, old man?” Ally joked.

  “It’s touch and go right now; give me a second.” Adam took a deep breath and stood up. “Sure is nice out here.”

  Ally looked around, letting the breeze wash over her. “It always is.”

  Adam spared her a glance and faked a stretch. “So, uh…have you checked out the new school yet?”

  “Dena already gave me her pitch.”

  “What? I don’t kno-” Adam started, then he smiled. “All right. And what do you think?”

  “I told her I would think about it.”

  “And have you thought about it?”

  Ally began to sigh but caught herself. “I’m still thinking about it.”

  “You were thrown into a dangerous world, Ally, and you developed skills that helped you survive. Well, that world is changing and you’re going to have to adapt again.”

  “Just because the world is changing back to what it used to be doesn’t mean I have to change with it. What if the power comes back on and then turns off again? What if something just as bad happens? What’s the point of learning pointless things when I already know everything that is important?”

  Adam looked out over the ridge and ran his hand through his hair. “You can be more than what you currently are. The world turned you into a weapon but you can be more than that.”

  “I know. Dena told me the same thing,” Ally said glumly.

  “What do you want to be?”

  “What?” she asked, slightly surprised.

  “When you grow up, what do you want to be?”

  Ally stared at Adam, unsure of what to say. The question didn’t make sense. For one, she was already grown up and two, what choices did she have?

  Adam saw the confusion on her face and gave her a sad smile. “You can do anything, Ally. You’re smart, you’re capable and you’re one of the most stubborn people I have ever known. You just happen to live right at the birthplace of a new nation and you’re on a first-name basis with the President of that nation. That can open a lot of doors if you are willing.”

  She didn’t say anything. She listened to the leaves blowing in the wind and the frogs croaking in the distance. She had never given any thought to being more than she already was. Life had been about survival. It had been about finding a dry place to sleep and having a warm meal in her stomach. Anything outside of that seemed unnecessary. Still, it was intriguing.

  “What do you think I should do?” she asked.

  “Anything you want,” Adam said as he put his hand on her shoulder. “And I know you will be the best at it.”

  Another sound joined the leaves and the frogs. At first it was just on the outskirts, barely noticeable, but within seconds it drowned out all other sounds.

  “A helicopter,” Ally said just as one screamed past them overhead.

  That helicopter was followed by another, and then two more after that. Within twenty seconds over a dozen helicopters flew past them toward the open forest.

  “Are those ours?” Adam asked, straining his neck to get another glimpse at them.

  Ally had overhead President Carter talking about their limited resources and on several occasions she had mentioned they needed more aircraft. She knew the President had been sending out personnel trying to reclaim lost military hardware but she also knew the woman complained that they didn’t have any pilots. Was it possible that they just so happened to find over a dozen aircraft along with the same amount of pilots? Ally already knew the answer.

  Coby came
running over the ridge, a look of fear in his eyes. “Is it trouble?”

  Ally looked to Adam who didn’t say anything. She looked back to Coby and nodded her head.

  Alec

  They sat alone in the kitchen of the old farmhouse that had served as Alec’s home after the power went out. Alec sat forward in his chair, staring down at the floor. The linoleum was stained and slightly curling from an old leak in the roof, one his father and Jack had fixed a few months after they began living there. Leaning against the wall on the other side was Freddie, and Margie stood at the doorway. They sat in silence for a few minutes.

  “They’re coming to Centralia for another shipment today,” Margie said.

  “I know,” Alec said.

  “They’re collecting the food now.”

  “Ok.”

  “Should they be?” Margie asked.

  “We don’t have a choice, not yet at least.”

  “I don’t agree with Trevor that we should just sit back and take it, but after seeing their forces…” Freddie began.

  “I agree. When we drop off the shipment in Centralia we can talk with Whitford. See if there are any other options we haven’t considered,” Alec said. “Should we be concerned about output? Are we going to be able to make enough food for us, Noah and help out Centralia when they need it?”

  Jason nodded. “Weather permitting, we shouldn’t have too much of a problem. We’ve been talking about converting the five acres over by Jack’s house into a cornfield, so we might go ahead and get that started. It doesn’t look like it was ever used for anything outside of a hay field but we have enough fertilizer to fix that.”