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

  The man turned toward her, then stumbled and fell to the ground. Ally was next to him within a moment and as she lifted his face she saw the left side was swollen and bloody.

  “Ally,” he said weakly. “Get out of here.”

  “Are you hurt anywhere else?” Ally asked, helping to flip him onto his stomach. She searched with the help of the limited moonlight and while his shirt was spotted in blood she couldn’t find anything else. “Can you move?”

  Maclin didn’t answer but he turned and pushed himself up onto his knees. Another round of gunfire came from the White House and Ally saw the top floor light up. She pushed up under his armpit and helped Maclin get to his feet, and together they slowly made their way back toward the town.

  Ben

  He knew they were out there but they were smart enough not to attack. Ben looked out from the second story window toward the woods and the town behind it, searching for enemy soldiers. They had expected an immediate counter-attack but it never came. The other side knew they had the pretender and didn’t want to risk injuring or killing her in the attempt, so now there was only quiet.

  Ben walked down the stairs and went into one of the large meeting rooms, where Locke and a few other soldiers were. Locke noticed him walk in and gave him a quick nod before returning his focus to the glass of scotch in front of him.

  “Any sign?” Locke asked as he picked up his glass and swirled around the liquid inside.

  “No,” Ben said as he took a seat on the far side of the room. “They’re out there but they’re staying back. Think they’re waiting for reinforcements?”

  Locke threw back the rest of the scotch and slammed the glass onto the table. “General Wallace knows what he’s doing. We hit the three other bases they had out here. And unlike this one, there weren’t any VIPs so there isn’t much left of them. They don’t have any reinforcements; they’re all they got. Stay vigilant but don’t get worried. That problem will be resolved soon.”

  “What do you mean?”

  Locke waved it away. “You want a glass?” he asked, gesturing toward the bottle of scotch.

  “No thanks. Where is…the person pretending to be Carter?”

  Locke started to reach over for the bottle of scotch then stopped and sat back in his chair. He rubbed his face and let out a long sigh. “The civilians and soldiers are in the main holding cell in the basement and the wannabe Mrs. Carter is in our VIP holding cell all to herself.”

  “Has she said anything? Apologized?”

  Locke snorted. “No, she is still refusing to admit defeat. We’ll see what she says after we get rid of the opposition.”

  “Do you mind if I talk to her?” Ben asked.

  Locke frowned and sat up in his chair. “Why?”

  Ben shrugged. “Same reason I wanted to talk to that albino psychopath down in Florida. I want to know what in the hell goes through their minds.”

  Locke let out a single laugh. “Yeah, I remember that freak out in Florida. You can go talk to her for a few, but don’t expect to get much out of her. She’s dedicated.”

  Ben made his way downstairs and the single guard at the door let him in without raising an eyebrow. There was a central desk where Ben imagined actual guards used to be stationed but it now sat empty. Farther down the hall were several cells on each side. Most were empty but two of them were filled with the civilians who were caught during their raid. He heard a gasp and a few murmurs but they didn’t say anything to him and he didn’t look at them. Past three more empty cells was a soldier sitting on an old wooden chair with a moldy magazine in his hands. He had watched Ben make his way over and had a glint of hope in his eye.

  “You taking over?” he asked.

  “No, I’m here to see Carter.”

  The soldier dropped his head while digging through his pockets. He pulled out a single key and then unlocked the large metal door behind him. The door was thick, with a single slot in the middle that was closed. The door unlocked and he opened it up a few feet.

  “How long you need?” he asked.

  “Just a few minutes,” Ben answered.

  Ben walked into the cell and the soldier closed it behind him. The little light that had made it into the cell from the door was extinguished and Ben had to stand near the door until his eyes adjusted. A single flame came from the far corner of the room and a few seconds later a candle was lit, filling the cell with its warm light. Carter placed the candle on a nearby table and stood up. The woman had a large blue bruise on the right side of her face and her blouse was partially torn. Despite that, she stood tall and seemed to look down at him.

  “I’ve already told you I have nothing else to say. I will not lie,” she said.

  Ben paused for a second. “I…I’m not here to get you to say anything.”

  “Did they send you to beat me? Kill me? Or simply scare me?”

  “None of those things,” Ben said firmly.

  Carter looked at him again, this time slower and more intently. “Then why are you here?”

  “I want to know why. Why did you pretend to be someone you’re not?”

  Carter took a few steps back and sat down on a bed that was partially covered in shadow. She pushed her back up against the wall and stared at him. “I didn’t.”

  “I know you’re lying. I saw a picture of Sylvia Carter. You look nothing like her.”

  Carter scrunched her forehead. “Who gave you this photo of me?”

  “Does it matter?”

  She smiled. “Let’s pretend for a moment that I’m not the bad guy. Let’s pretend that this President Johnson is actually the one pretending to be in charge. Don’t you think it’s possible that he falsified documentation to make it look like I’m not who I say I am?”

  “He wouldn’t do that. He doesn’t even have the means to do that,” Ben argued.

  “He would, and he does. I know where his headquarters are. I know the resources he has at his disposal. Obtaining a generic photo and relabeling it would be very simple.”

  Ben shifted in place and then shook his head. “That wouldn’t make any sense-”

  “That makes perfect sense if he is the one refusing to give up his power.”

  “Then where is your proof? If he can make fake photos then where is your real photo?”

  She dropped her head slightly and ran her hand through her hair. “Why don’t you ask Ambassador Berger? She had the proof.”

  “If she had the proof she would have given it to us. She would have shown that Johnson was the fraud,” Ben argued, feeling his temperature rising.

  “She knew the truth from the beginning.” Carter lay her head back on the wall and stared up at the ceiling. “She wasn’t sent here to clear up a misunderstanding; she was sent here to buy time until Johnson had enough power here to remove me.”

  It couldn’t be true. She had every reason to lie. He saw the picture of the real Sylvia Carter; it had to have been the real her. “I don’t believe you.”

  She laughed. “It wouldn’t matter if you did. He has seized control.”

  Ben didn’t move. “Berger knows the truth?”

  She looked at him and nodded her head.

  As Ben turned to leave he felt a vibration in the ground that he recognized within a second. He paused, trying to be sure, and a few seconds later he felt another one.

  It was an attack.

  Ally

  She listened to the steady dripping of water from the browned and cracked ceiling above her. This building was one of the few in the town that hadn’t been retrofitted into something else and as Ally looked over the rotted and warped floor, she understood why. The former bookstore was still fully stocked but the books provided more mold than knowledge now. The windows were boarded up, only letting in a few rays of sunlight and leaving the majority of the room in a soft darkness. Maclin and three other soldiers lay on cots on the far side of the room while Ally and a nurse named Susan watched over them. Maclin had a fractured orbital bone and Susan had placed a
large bandage in front of his left eye and wrapped it up tightly. Ally thought he looked like a dollar store mummy, a thought which, despite their current predicament, caused her to smile occasionally. The two other soldiers also had minor wounds, a bullet wound to the leg and a broken arm. They would all make it.

  Maclin sat at the edge of his cot with his right leg bouncing up and down uncontrollably. The man was on edge and for good reason. The others had taken the White House. Their men now stood at the windows and patrolled the grounds outside the building. They had expected the others to sweep through the town but instead they stayed hunkered in the building. Maclin believed they were waiting for reinforcements.

  Ally had helped Maclin and the other soldiers back to this building. This wasn’t the only building where soldiers were hidden, and Susan made her way to all of them, treating their wounded. Ally spent most of her time here after she had returned home and realized that Dena wasn’t there. She had then went from building to building searching for the woman, to no avail. There was only one other place she could be.

  “How many wounded do we have?” Maclin asked Susan as the woman began to mess with his bandages.

  “Nine, including yourself.”

  “How many able to fight?”

  Susan shook her head. “I’ve been too wrapped up with those who weren’t able.”

  Maclin looked around Susan to Ally.

  “Around fifteen or sixteen that I’ve seen,” Ally said, thinking hard. The soldiers were smart and made sure to hunker down and stay out of sight. Whenever Ally went searching for Dena it was only after it was announced she was a civilian that the soldiers allowed their presence to be known. “There could be more, though.”

  Maclin didn’t say anything and allowed Susan to rewrap his bandages. He nodded at her quickly when she asked if everything was fine and as soon as she walked away, he began talking quietly to himself. He stopped for a moment and looked to Ally. “And you said they haven’t left the White House yet?”

  “Not that I’ve seen.”

  “They haven’t transferred any prisoners?”

  Ally shook her head no. “I think Dena is in there.”

  Maclin’s face softened a bit. “I’m sure she is fine. They came in with a purpose. They were after the President. I didn’t see them attack any civilians.”

  Maclin had told her how he fought hand to hand with one of the soldiers and killed the man but barely managed to escape when the rest came charging in. All the dead bodies she had seen outside the White House had belonged to their own people.

  “What are we going to do?” Ally asked.

  “We’ll strike back. They can’t wait in there forever. We’ll gather our strength and then we’ll strike.”

  Ally waited for more but nothing else came. That wasn’t a plan. “And when more of them come?”

  “More of us are coming,” Maclin said, more to himself. “This is our home turf.”

  Susan gave Ally a quick glance, then stood up. “All right, all good here. I’m going over to the Heralds’ to take care of Vin and Keller. You all need anything?”

  Maclin didn’t say anything.

  “No, we’re good. Thanks,” Ally answered.

  Susan opened the door and Ally heard the whipping sound of helicopter blades. Susan stopped at the door and Maclin and the other two soldiers popped to attention. The sound grew louder and louder until it was all they could hear. Ally ran past Susan outside and saw nearly a dozen helicopters hovering over their town.

  “What the hell-” Maclin started but the sound of the first missile being fired drowned him out.

  The streaking object hit a house in the middle of town and the explosion nearly knocked Ally off her feet. Debris soared into the air and rained down on the surrounding buildings. The second missile came from a helicopter on the opposite side, and the resulting explosion shattered a nearby building’s window. After that all the helicopters let loose. Ally didn’t wait to see what happened next. She grabbed Susan’s hand as she ran back inside the building.

  “Everyone in the basement now!” Ally screamed over the explosions.

  Maclin slammed his body into the basement door and nearly tripped as he ran down the basement steps. Ally followed after Susan and the other two soldiers, and just as her foot hit the basement floor she heard a crash up above and then the world turned to fire.

  Ben

  Ben knocked at the door and after what felt like hours the soldier unlocked and let him out. Ben slipped past him and ran down the hallway and up the stairs, where his ears were met with the sound of explosions. He ran toward the nearest window and looked out toward the town, where he saw the red glow of fire in the distance. A helicopter hovered in the distance and he saw the white streak of a missile shoot out and dart toward the city. Ben turned to leave when he nearly ran into Locke, who was also heading toward the window, but his face was covered in a huge grin.

  “No worries, Ben. Those Helos are on our side; they’re the good guys.”

  “What the hell are you talking about? They are killing civilians,” Ben screamed.

  Locke laughed. “That town is filled with the enemy preparing for a counter-attack. The few civilians that didn’t evacuate when we took this place over are assisting the enemy. And in my book that doesn’t make them civies anymore.”

  There was another explosion and Ben felt lightheaded. Dozens, if not hundreds, of people were losing their lives right now. He didn’t know who was good; he didn’t know who was bad. Everything was a sharp shade of gray. Ben turned and began to walk away.

  “Everything fine, soldier?” Locke asked from somewhere behind him.

  Ben didn’t answer. He had to find Berger.

  Alec

  “Headaches?” Trevor asked.

  “Only when I’m stressed out, or tired or awake,” Alec said with a smirk.

  Trevor sighed and dropped his notebook on the kitchen table. Summer was turning into fall but the room was still muggy and the breeze somehow managed to get lost before it found its way through the open windows. Alec sat kicked back in one of the chairs as Trevor did another of his weekly checkups.

  “How about your balance?” Trevor asked.

  “You know what I said about the headaches? Pretty much the same.”

  “Seriously though, Alec, does it feel like it’s getting better?”

  “Yeah, it’s not as bad as it was before.” It was a partial lie. The headaches weren’t as common as they once were but the world still insisted on wobbling about whenever he was under stress.

  Trevor knew the truth but he dropped it. “I’d be lying if I didn’t say that I was hoping those…issues would have been gone by now, but it doesn’t seem to be slowing you down, I guess.”

  “Nope, no stopping me,” Alec said softly. He watched as Trevor started putting his medical supplies in his pack. “How’s your daughter?”

  Trevor stopped what he was doing and when he turned around the worry and the stress were gone from his face. “She’s not a little girl anymore, Alec.”

  “I hope you’re not just realizing this,” Alec said with a chuckle.

  “Is it wrong for me to admit I kinda am? It seems like just yesterday she was running around playing in the dirt or playing pretend. Now she is talking about the day when she has her own place and she won’t admit it, but I’m pretty sure she is seeing that Stratford boy--you know the one I’m talking about?”

  Alec smiled but shook his head no.

  “I don’t know how I feel about that. That kid doesn’t seem to have a lick of sense in him.” Trevor ran his hands over his head but soon the smile returned. “She’s growing up. She’s going to have her own life and that’s thanks to what we’ve done here.”

  “I’m happy for you, man.”

  Trevor watched him for a moment. “I’ve been seeing someone as well.”

  Alec’s eyes widened.

  “It’s not really serious yet. But we’ve been talking and…I don’t know.”

&n
bsp; “Do I know her?”

  “She lives here now because of what happened to Centralia. I can introduce you to her. I think you’d approve,” Trevor said sheepishly.

  “I don’t know if any girl is good enough for my little Trevor.”

  Trevor kicked the leg of Alec’s chair and grew quiet for a moment. “You should get out there. I know of a couple of ladies here who would be interested.”

  “Oh God,” Alec said, sitting up and shaking his head. “Don’t know if I’m ready for something like that quite yet.”

  “There something you’re waiting on?”

  “Maybe until this crisis is over.”

  Trevor snorted. “When this crisis is over another will just take its place. Life is short, Alec, you know that.”

  “Yes, I do.”

  There was a knock at the door and Freddie stepped inside. “Alec, Trevor, Landon is here and he’s brought company.”

  New Hope had come to a standstill. People hid in houses; others behind whatever was near. The three trucks were parked at the end of the driveway and Landon, accompanied by nine others, all fully armed, made their way up. Alec, Trevor and Freddie met them halfway.

  “Landon,” Alec said, trying to keep the anger and irritation out of his voice.

  The large man stopped a few feet from him. His face was a blank mask. “These men will be stationed here from now on.”

  It hung in the air for a second.

  “What the hell did you just say?” Freddie asked.

  Landon kept his attention on Alec. “Noah thinks it would benefit all if a small group of our men set up shop here. They can provide protection and make sure…everything runs smoothly.”

  “You can’t be serious,” Alec said through gritted teeth. “I need to speak to him.”

  “He thought you might ask that. He’s busy and his mind is made up. Talking to him won’t help. I know you all have a little housing shortage so they’ve brought some tents. They’ll do until you can arrange something a little more permanent.”