Then Murphy's Law kicked in.
"Chhh, John, we're getting ready to hit the gas. You have two minutes." Mi
a’
s voice came from the speaker on my shoulder.
Shit!
The Zs stopped moaning, going completely silent. I could feel their red eyes looking directly at me before they all at once shrieked loud enough for even my bloody ear to hear them. Footsteps came charging at me in the dark. Now or never, I thought.
Flipping the switch, the strobe shot out bright. With each flash, they charged forward, seemingly in slow motion like a flip book that you'd let slowly slip through your fingers. All ten Zs moving a snapshot closer with each burst of light. There were men and women, even a small child charging toward me.
Flash! Nine still charging toward me.
Flash! A few dropped to the ground.
Nearly upon me. I started to step back, tripped over some debris on the ground and hit the ground hard. Lying on my back, another series of strobes went off, shooting directly at the ceiling as the shadows of the monsters edged closer. Pointing it back down the hall, I continued to pull myself in reverse as fast as possible with my free arm while kicking my legs frantically.
Squeezed into a small corner, I nearly closed my eyes as a final series of strobes dropped the last of the dead, just inches from my feet. Taking a deep breath in, I mashed the switch on the gun light to regular flashlight and looked down the hall. All of the Zs had dropped to the ground, violently convulsing.
I leaped to my feet.
With my hammer still drawn, I zigzagged around the twisting bodies. Hitting the door with my hammer, I screamed out, "I
t’
s John, the Zs are down. Open up
!”
It did
n’
t matter if Gordo
n’
s men heard me. Less than a single rotation left on the watch.
No answer. The fleeting thought that the creatures I'd just flashed were the very people I'd come to save passed through my mind. Not accepting that fate, I pounded the metal head of the hammer against the door once more.
"Open
up
!
”
Footsteps were echoing down the hallways in the distance. Banging on each door as they methodically moved through Avalon, Gordon's men were filling our home.
Standing at full attention, I stopped breathing before a creak came from the door. Letting out the breath, the door cracked open, exposing Claire's fearful, yet beautiful eyes.
"Come on, no time!"
Pushing the door in all the way, I reached out to Deanna and pulled Tyler to my chest. Grabbing Claire's hand, we started running down the hallway with Deanna and Olivia in tow. The cafeteria was just around the corner. Glancing down, I squeezed Clair
e’
s hand as I realized the watch had passed the seven-minute mark.
A few more knocks in the distance, then I heard a gunshot, a man screa
m…
then another series of gunshots. They'd found someone else hiding in their room.
"Come on, keep moving!" I nearly yelled.
Turning the corner, I peered down the hallway. The door to the cafeteria was closing automatically. The gas would be released in just moments.
"Go go go
!
”
Hearing me, Richards frantically tried to stop the door through the sliver that still remained open. However, it was too late, it was shutting and there was no override switch. We put on a last burst of speed.
Dropping the strobe light to the ground, I instinctively lifted my left hand forward into the crack of the door just before it shut. It would have to take my arm with it, but I wasn't going to let it shut without Tyler in there. No telling how this gas would affect his lungs. I wasn't going to chance it. Not for anythin
g…
not even my hand.
Coming to a grinding stop, the door halted its inexorable movement. I could hear the metal on metal sound of gears turning. My hand was being crushed, I was sure of it, but couldn't feel a thing.
"Come on, get that thing open!" I could hear Richards yelling from inside.
A number of men were wedging their guns into the crack, edging it back open.
Just as it started to budge, a swishing sound started in the air above us.
"The gas, come on, get that thing open
!”
Richards yelled out.
Prying the door open just enough to squeeze through, I slid Tyler and Olivia through first.
The rest of us dove in, with Richards and the group forcing it tight and locking it before I'd even hit the ground. My heart beating out of my chest, I winced at the thought of looking to my hand. I was sure I was in shock.
Holding it out in front of me, I opened my eyes.
Everything was fin
e…
except my wedding ring, which was slightly bent sideways.
Chapter 32
Sitting upright, I pulled Tyler into my arms and squeezed his tiny body into my chest hard enough to feel the rise and fall of his lungs. Not a whimper or a cry came from his mouth; he simply looked up at me, his father. Glancing down beyond Tyler's forehead, my eyes landed on my wedding ring as its bent frame rolled a little off center around my finger.
That vow, a simple object that had meant so much between my wife and m
e
…
Thinking back to her grave, where in a rage I'd nearly left it behind all those months ago, it turned out to be the sole object that saved us. Saved my son. I can't help but look back at that and be amazed, almost like she had something to do with it all.
Somehow, I really believe she did.
After what felt like ten long minutes of painful silence, as we impatiently waited to learn if BOHICA had actually knocked Gordo
n’
s army unconscious, a ma
n’
s voice finally shattered the stale air.
Looking up, I saw a group of people huddled around a TV monitor in the corner of the cafeteria, which appeared to be showing nothing but still images of darkness just outside our door.
"They're all down!" the faceless voice cried out.
"Are you sure?" Richards growled.
"Yeah, no movement in the halls. The
y’
re all passed out
!
”
“
According to Kyle, the gas should dissipate after five or six minutes
,”
Richards stared at the door, pausing as if taking a moment to calculate the time that had passed. Lifting his rifle across both hands, he slowly lowered his head for a moment before his eyes landed on the hatch.
In a near solemn tone, he whispered, "Open the door. I
t’
s time to finish this
.
”
I could feel it as I involuntarily slid Tyler back in Deann
a’
s arms. There was a madness still in the air. A thirst for blood that ran deep within our walls. Richards had said it best up in the Yard. W
e’
ll have to kill every last one of those bastards for us to survive.
Squeezing out the door first as it opened, I sensed a slight tinge of orange hanging in the air, from what I imagine was a remnant from the gas. I could taste it on my tongue and in the back of my throat.
With each step forward, my mind started to turn a little darker. Like a disease, I felt an uncontrollable rage begin to crawl across my body. Pumping madness through my veins, my mind started doing what I can only describe as place blame. I blamed disease, cosmic dust, terrorist
s…
it did
n’
t matte
r…
something had started all this mess. I blamed the politicians, the bosses, the corporate blowhards that ran our world, creating the perfect playing field for the disaster.
Filled with the rich that ate up all the money, the poor that let them do i
t…
I blamed all of them who fueled the monsters like Gordon, whether they knew it or not. I blamed the prophets and the futurists that spoke of a world w
e’
d never see, creating false hope in the minds of the feeble. I blamed cell phones, the Internet, TV, all the devices used to turn us into mindless drones, unable to think for ourselves ... breeding us to follow in the same ways Gordo
n’
s men would mindlessly follow him into this battle.
With my hammer lifted high, I stepped down the corridor. My eyes landed on a few passed-out bodies holding firearms. They were obviously part of Gordo
n’
s army. Less than thirty feet from us. I moved in with a determination for blood.
One foot after another, the blame grew. I blamed a homogenized planet, teaching us to stop thinking for ourselves, allowing us to follow celebrities and the false famous. I blamed the stupid as well as the intelligent. I blamed the wicked and the righteous.
With all that blame stewing inside, all I could think of was that this was our new world. Our new realit
y…
it was kill or be killed. It was
n’
t my fault that this was the way things were now. I had
n’
t created this. Gordo
n’
s men were the monsters, and we needed to make sure they never came back. I blamed them for following a maniac, for allowing themselves to be turned into pawns.
It would all justify my actions.
As I marched down the hall, with Richards and three other men in tow, I knew there was nothing stopping this lust for revenge. W
e’
d fallen too far.
I could feel it. I was falling too far.
Reaching the first body, I fell to my knees and grabbed Gordo
n’
s man by his hair.
I’
d be killing him in cold blood, while he was asleep, and in my very core I knew it was the right thing.
Raising my hammer in the air, flexing every muscle in my body, I prepared to finish it, when my eyes fell on the shoes. Those fucking Nike Pegasus shoes with the florescent green stripes running down the sides. The boy had told me that they were supposed to help him fly.
Letting Aida
n’
s hair slip from my fist, I felt like
I’
d been smacked in the skull as I heard his body hit the ground with a thump. Paralyzed in thought, I left my hammer sitting up in the air waiting for me to do something with it.
He was just a boy. A child who did
n’
t know who he was fighting or why. How many others passed out in these halls were exactly the same? Could I really blame them? Did they deserve to die in the name of Gordon Green? Were they really the true monsters? Or were they just a byproduct of the same hell w
e’
d all been through?
With my mind spinning, I found myself screaming something out loud. At first, it didn't register as the other men were prepping for their kills. Then I actually heard myself yelling at the top of my lungs
,“
STOP
!
”
Not listening, their lust for revenge was running too high.
Looking back down the hallway, I could see Claire covering Olivia's eyes. She was whispering something that sounded like a lullaby into her ears, as my shouts rang through the halls.
“
I SAID STOP
!
”
Looking up from his prey, I heard Richards scream out in a fury
,“
We need to destroy these monsters
!”
as a light reflected off the blade he was getting ready to bring down.
“
There will be no more death today
,”
I said, staring down the base of my hammer at Richard
s’
s head. My mind was resolute. Nothing was clearer to me. I would
n’
t allow myself to focus all that blame on these men.
I would
n’
t allow myself to fall that far. I knew
I’
d never come back. A pause filled the hall. Richards stood there, still with his blade held high.
“
W
e’
ve won. W
e’
ve beaten them
,”
I said in a near whisper. Lowering my hammer, I glanced to Aida
n’
s passed-out body, and then looked back up to Richards
.“
Nobody else needs to die today
.
”
As he looked at the three men surrounding him, I could tell that Richards was making a decision. The one that would blow with the wind. The politician in him would have to decide which the right move was to get him to the top. With Jarvis down, he was next in line. Which was the move that the people would want to see?
Which way would he land?
Slowly lowering his knife to his side, he looked again at the men standing next to him and said
,“
Le
t’
s get this filth locked up in the prison
.
”
A momentary pause from his counterparts had him screaming
,“
Now! You heard me, get them locked up before they wake up. John is right. W
e’
ve already won
.
”
With that, his shoulders slumped as he looked down to the boy at my feet. I could see it in his eyes, if only for a moment. He realized what we were about to become.
Bringing his red-rimmed eyes back up to meet mine, he stopped and peered into my face, examining what felt like my soul. I think he was trying to figure me out.
I’
d shown him something he had
n’
t expected. Keeping eye contact, I said
,“
We did the right thing here. You did the right thing
,”
before I slowly began to spin on one foot to turn back to the cafeteria.
As I stepped, one foot after another, down the hall, I heard Richards finally reply
,“
I hope yo
u’
re right, John. I hope yo
u’
re right
.”
He hit the microphone on his shoulders and started barking out the same orders to imprison the rest of the sleeping soldiers that laid across our floors.
Looking back down to my hand, the one with the bent wedding ring, I stepped through the hatch.
Forgiveness was nearly impossible to grant myself for letting Jenn die. Ultimately, I could
n’
t blame anybody but myself. So many errors leading up to her death, all of which were my own. Somehow, putting it all on the line for Tyler, and making sure that I was ready to trade everything for him, provided the tiniest bit of solace. We had all changed. We all had to adapt to this new world.
My biggest adaptation was for me to learn to forgive. If I did
n’
t change, did
n’
t let go of the past,
I’
d be swallowed up by this world.
I’
d be consumed and spit out just like so many others before me.
Forgiving myself is something I do
n’
t know if
I’
ll ever be able to do. However, sometimes things just are. Sometimes, you ca
n’
t place blame. I had to allow myself to trust that I did what I could to make it things right. Trust that I did what was necessary to protect those I loved.
Hearing Claire continue to sing small lullabies lightly under her breath as I entered the room, I set my sights on Deanna and Tyler who were just three shorts steps away.
Letting the fire breath out of my lungs, and pushing the tiny dark spot to the back of my mind, I placed my hands under his arms as I lifted him from Deanna, and held him up to see his face.
I could
n’
t help but think it. Think back to my wife. He looked so much like her. The same tiny movements, the same slightly slanted smile. I'll always look back at that moment in time and feel like everything I had done in my life led up to saving my son.
Isn't that what being a father is all about? The truest test of any man is his ability to protect his family. I'd failed once. It wasn't something I was going to ever allow myself to do again.