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Peter headed for the door in a mad rush. Rachael followed quickly. Soon the world would be in utter chaos and only he and Rachael would stand tall. He doubted she understood his mad speech a minute ago and he didn’t really care. He understood and remembered, and that was all that mattered.
The emotions charging through him felt great. He hadn’t felt like this since...since he took out No Neck and the girlfriend. It almost matched his excitement with Terry, exploding into her as he sliced her neck. This was so perfect he felt himself growing hard.
Briefly, he wondered what the impending feeling would be like when he handed over the people on this god-forsaken rock.
Ecstasy? Overwhelming? Exaltation? Ultimate bliss beyond his wildest dreams?
All that and more, he reasoned. Not having a base to work from, he could only guess. But he considered them educated guesses nonetheless.
Then again, it could be his worst nightmare. He had no idea what would happen after the first paragraph was read. But it didn’t worry him in the least, nothing could be as bad as being locked in the dagger and he doubted that would happen again.
He only had two concerns as he jumped down the steps of Steve’s house. The more important of the two was finding his computer and the second was how much opposition would he have to face?
He kicked open the gate and stepped onto the road. He waited for Rachael to catch up. If he knew where to go there would be no need to wait for her. But Area City was a complex maze of streets, alleys, bridges, and houses, all built inside the dome for their protection. Which was down and obviously hadn’t been repaired, since he could clearly see the sky and jagged white lines of electricity jumping up from disconnected poles and biting the clouds.
Far off in the distance a black dot was heading this way and growing larger. He watched it closely as Rachael reached him. She stood next to him and wrapped her arm around his waist. Peter stepped forward, letting the arm fall from him. He didn’t recognize the cruiser coming this way, but as it grew closer he thought he recognized the person behind the controls. And wondered how it was possible to fly with the dome down.
Watching the cruiser advance quickly, he remembered what Rachael had said before the crash: “Only government and emergency services can fly and use the Net during a possible dome problem.” “Emergency power source? Like a generator?” he asked. “I guess so,” she’d answered.
Telly’s a resourceful man, he thought. How does one find an unmarked government cruiser?
The excitement Peter felt was slowly being replaced with anger. He was growing more and more pissed off. His nerves were tense and his joints hurt. Rachael put her hand on his shoulder. The sudden touch shocked him like a spear driven into his side. He spun around and faced her.
Rachael’s eyes were watery. A solitary tear dropped from her left eye, it ran down her cheek and disappeared under her chin.
Peter’s anger vanished. He put his hands on both sides of her head and softly said, “I’m sorry. This is very important and I can’t fuck it up. One shot, that’s all I have.” He watched her nod. “For us,” he added. “This is all for us.”
Rachael moved into his arms. Her hug was tight around him. He responded in kind and silently sighed, frustration exiting with the breath.
“We’re not the good guys, are we?” she said against his shoulder. Her voice was small and soft but the words were clear.
“The good guys don’t always win,” he responded.
The sound of the cruiser’s landing jets shot up around them.
Without looking up, Peter said, “Telly’s here.”
Rachael pushed herself away from Peter as he turned to face the landed cruiser.
The driver’s door slid away and Telly struggled out of the control compartment with a look of accomplishment.
“I said I would find you,” Peter said. “Not the other way around.”
Telly’s smile faded slightly. “I thought you’d want to know,” he said, shooting a glance at Rachael. His eyes quickly ran down her body and returned to Peter.
Making a note of the scan Telly gave Rachael for later punishment, Peter said, “I already know. Take me to her.”
“That’s the thing. She’s not alone. There’s like four or five others and it seems like the entire population of the city is heading there also.”
“Of course they are.” Peter smiled. He could feel the anger returning, but it suddenly dawned on him and he realized it wasn’t anger, it was hate. Hate for all of God’s creatures.
He now knew who and what he was.
––––––––
Ami held Dennis’ hand. They slowly walked along the road. Dennis was staring at the white painted centerline. Some cruisers still smoldered from the night before while others looked like they been in an earthquake of extreme proportions. Torn and sometimes burnt paper blew against their legs, along with junk food wrappers and a mixed jumble of other rubbish. Some houses had torn off shutters and smashed windows.
Ami had been lucky. One of the few, she was sure. Having an apartment on the third floor had possibly saved her from the gangs and crazies. Unfortunately, the lunatic sounds had ruined the life Dennis once knew. How many others were suffering, all because of Williamson and his warmonger stance?
“Pick up your feet,” she said.
“Why?” His voice sounded spiteful.
“There are a few emergency centers in the city. We’re going to the only one I know of.”
“I don’t want to go there.”
“You have no choice.”
Dennis stopped walking. “Yes, I do,” he spat. “You’re not my mother.”
“That’s right. I’m not your mother. Your mother is dead. D-E-A-D. Right along with your father. They are both gone, Dennis.” In a softer voice she said, “Please try to understand what that means.”
The boy looked at the ground. “I know what that means.”
“But can you understand what it means?”
“It means they are dead,” he said in a loud voice. “That’s what...” His voice choked on the last word. “That what it means,” he managed through sobs.
“Honey,” Ami said, kneeling down to be at eye level. “It means they are gone forever. You can’t speak to them, listen to them, or fight against them.” She reached for his hand and he let her take it. “My friend Father Michael can help find your relatives. He’s at the emergency centre. Until then, you have to trust and listen to me. We don’t know what the city will be like. Remember the bombs?”
Dennis nodded.
“Shall we continue?”
He nodded again.
“No more tantrums, okay?”
“Okay.” His voice was small but clear. He looked up at her. His eyes were red and shiny. “Gone,” he said.
It was Ami’s turn to nod.
“I have an uncle,” he stated.
“And my friend will find him.”
Standing up, Ami searched the road ahead. The closer they got to the city, the worse everything looked. The road was smashed apart. The houses and fences around that section were destroyed. Bits of wire and wood fences lay on the road and only parts of houses remained. Shattered glass glistened on the torn and jagged concrete.
“We have to watch our footing from here on,” Ami said. And watch for crazies, she thought but did not add.
They walked in silence, hand in hand. Quickly they neared the curve. The torn concrete was worse than she had first thought. They had to leave the road and push past ripped fences, edge around a large hole in one property, and in one case they had to use the backyard. The house next to it was destroyed. To get back to the road they had to climb over rubble and pieces of steel bomb casing.
Reaching the end of the curve, Ami searched the top of the only significant hill in Area City. On top of it, standing proud and looking untouched, was Father Michael’s church and emergency centre.
It was at least an hour walk with Dennis at her side. She wanted to get there as quickly as possible. Being on the streets was dangerous. She was tired from the walk and mentally tired from constant searching. Continuously keeping an eye out for anything remotely suspicious. But she hadn’t noticed anything. She had checked bushes and shadows closely and warily of any place where a person could hide and found nothing, nada, zip.
At the base of the hill, where a driveway led up to the cemetery, Ami saw an extremely large gathering of people. It didn’t seem possible. Why would so many people come to this emergency centre? There were a dozen she could think of, not including schools and community centers.
“Come on,” she said to Dennis. The boy was sitting on an upraised sheet of concrete. “I know you’re tired, we’re almost there. I promise—” She crossed her chest. “—and hope to die if I tell I lie.” She smiled. Dennis followed. She knew he didn’t know that expression but that didn’t matter, he understood what she meant and that was all that mattered. Right?