Impetus (12 page)

“
Something happened today,” Mick said, turning back to Chester. “And I’m not sure what to make of it.”

A look of concern grew on Chester
’s face. He remained silent and listened.

“
I met someone while I was out on my walk today.”

“
Oh?”

“
His name is Solomon.” Mick quickly replayed his encounter in his mind so he could fully tell Chester the story. It was at that moment he remembered the bunny that Solomon had given to him. He reached up to the table to his left and grabbed his pack. He unhitched the buckle and removed the stuffed animal, handing it to Chester. “He gave me this. It’s for the kids.”

Chester took the stuffed rabbit and looked it over.
“This little guy has seen better days.” He handed it back. “I’m not sure the children will find much use for it.”

He
stared at the bunny on his lap, a reminder of the good soul he’d left with the wolves. “He showed me where food was. Or at least he tried to.”

Chester perked up.
“What, are you tired of canned meat?”

Mick
laughed softly. Chester had a way with warming up a conversation. He had a certain purity that ran through his veins. Mick had spoken with him at length over the years. The topics varied, as did the hour at which they occurred, though rarely at this hour of the night. Their most recent discussion, maybe a month or so back, had been in regard to the meteorite that had caused the entire mess. The scientists had given Colossus a probability of hitting the Earth of 95 percent. There were those that clung to that other 5 percent, got on their knees and tried to pray away the doom that hurdled toward them unfathomably quickly. Chester had been in that 5 percent. By the time the population realized that the 95 percent was actually 100, it was already too late.

The
elected leaders had chosen the never-ending profits of war over scanning the dark skies for things such as cataclysmic rocks. There was not enough money in the budget for both, they’d said. And as per the norm, they had chosen incorrectly. Even if they had detected it, Mick was not sure there would have been anything that could have been done to save the world from disaster.

“
Where is Solomon now?” Chester asked, bringing Mick back to the present.

“
I don’t know.” And that was the part that troubled him the most. For all Mick knew, Solomon was dead, smacked in the head one too many times.

“
I needn’t tell you this, Mick, but these times we live in are much different than the ones we grew up knowing. The problem, I find, is separating the feelings we grew up relying on from the reality we now inhabit, as they are constantly battling the other. And as much as we both wish it were true, you cannot save everyone, Mick. You’ve already done more than your share by taking care of all of us for all these years. Every group needs a leader if they are to be successful. And you have been a fine one. You saved me from that unholy band of thugs six years and seven months ago. If you hadn’t come along when you did, I’m sure there would only be seven in this shelter, not eight. There are too many good deeds to be done but not enough good people to do them.”

Of course Mick
could not save everyone. But Chester made him think. Was there anything to save Solomon from? Mick had witnessed a small sliver of Solomon’s world, a few minutes in a stranger’s world. It was impossible for him to put together a view of Solomon’s life from one simple interaction. However, the look of fear in Solomon’s eyes as the Rubble King shouted for him to come out of the yellow house was very real. There was no way he could fake such a primal reaction. There was no mistaking it. Mick was sure there were others out there in need. Probably many of them. But he was no superhero. He was a man, ordinary in almost every facet.

“
Well,” Chester said, “what does your heart tell you?”

“
To go after him. But I can’t do that.”

“
Why is that?”

“
That’s the part of this whole thing that bothers me the most. Solomon wasn’t alone. There was this guy who came to get him. He called himself the Rubble King.”

“
The Rubble King?” Chester repeated in a sarcastic tone.

“
I know. It’s a stupid name. And there was something really off about him. He brought some armed muscle with him, too.” Mick snickered. “Though I use that term loosely. He said he owned everything that I could see.”

“
So you did the right thing by coming back, Mick. It’s a fool’s errand to rush haphazardly into a situation without thinking it through. And I know you don’t need reminding of how there are those that need you to stay alive. Two in particular.”

Chester was right. But why then did it feel so wrong?
Solomon aside, he knew he needed to return to the yellow house. If there was food there, and he had no reason to doubt that there was, then he had to get it. It was doing him no good to talk the night away. He had to try and force his mind to quiet down a bit. Sleep, in whatever quantity, is what he needed most. It would help to clear his mind.

Mick
pushed himself back upright and gave his legs a minute to get the blood flowing. He then reached over to put the stuffed animal back by his pack. He caught sight of the vibrant red of the treasure box inside his pack. He had completely forgotten about it. Everything had sped up since he’d found it. Much more so than his typical days.

“
What’s that?” Chester asked as Mick removed the box.

“
A treasure box the kids left for me the other day,” Mick said. “I forgot about it. They haven’t done this in years.” He searched for a seam in the box where it would be easiest to open. “Remember they used to leave these things all over the place?”

Chester nodded.
“That may be their best one yet. I wonder where they found the red paint.”

“
Beats me,” Mick said.

“
Here. This may help,” Chester said, taking a switchblade from his pocket and flipping it open with an amount of precision that seemed odd for a man of the cloth.

Mick reached out and grabbed the knife with a look
of confusion on his face.

“
It’s quite helpful when opening some of the older cans. Sometimes they need a little nudge.” He smiled.

“
Fair enough,” Mick replied. “I’ll have to watch what I say to you from now on.”

He cut the box through the word
open
, down the middle and with only the tip of the knife. He had no clue what the kids had put in there, and he did not want to damage anything with a careless swipe of the blade. He pried the top of the box open and looked inside.

“
What did the kids leave you this time?” Chester asked.

Mick removed a white case about the size of his hand. Attached to it was a folded piece of paper
with a printed message, something he had not seen in a long time. He read what was written. His eyes grew wide in surprise. It became readily apparent that this was not from the children.

CHAPTER 13
 

Robert returned the next day. He crept into the police station and sat down with those who were eating what they could, trying to avoid being noticed by King. Each day he listened to the men around him. And each day his resentment grew.

“
Where have you been?” asked one of King’s men across the dilapidated table.

“
Out,” was all Robert offered.

“
Out where?”

Robert looked over angrily from the small portion of scraps he
’d procured.

“
Robert,” King yelled.

Robert glanced angrily at the man who ruined his private moment. He
scarfed down what remained of his pile and then walked over to King.

“
I found out where that guy Mick is living,” he said, swallowing what he could.

“
Do tell.”

“
He went to the far side of town by the hills.”

“
Was he alone?”

Robert shook his head.
“I saw two others. I think one of them was a guard or something. He was on the roof with a rifle. The other one was a woman he spoke with before entering a busted-up building. I had to stay far enough back so they wouldn’t see me, so I couldn’t hear what they were saying.”

“
Interesting,” King said. It was one of the rare times that someone actually did exactly as he had asked. “You did well.” Far better than his son would have done.

Robert smiled. He stood there looking at
King as if waiting for something else.

“
You can go now,” King said, shooing him away with his hand.

Robert
’s face sank and he sulked away into the darkness.

While it was true that
King had let Mick walk away, it was not out of the kindness of his heart. He sensed that Mick wasn’t the type of person King kept around: mindless and subservient. He knew right away that Mick was headstrong and a man of moral fiber. And that disgusted him. Who else would try and save Solomon the dolt? He had been certain that all those types of people were long since gone. But now one had surfaced and walked into his life. He couldn’t simply leave it at that, have this man wandering his streets. He could become a cancer if left unattended to. He had Robert follow him to see where the cancer lived so he could remove from it from his world.

King
stood. “Clyde,” he said into a crowd at the far side of the room. Clyde shot up and walked over. “We’re going on a short trip to see our new friend.”
 

**
 

“
Where did you find it?” Sarah asked, eyeing the red box in Mick’s hand.

He rotated the box slowly, while at the same time looking around at the group.
“Outside the door,” he said. “I figured it was one of those treasure boxes the kids used to make for me.” He smiled. “Remember those things? I’d find the craziest stuff in there.”

“
I think we’re a little old for that, Dad,” Nate said as he brushed a tuft of hair from his eyes, pinning it behind his ear.

“
Yes, Nate,” Mick said, laughing to himself. “I thought so, too. But you can’t blame me for thinking it. I half expected to find another collection of”—he paused—“drawings.”

“
Anatomically correct ones at that,” Laurel added.

Nate blushed.
“I didn’t know,” he said. “I drew what I saw.”

“
Don’t you listen to them, Nate,” Sandeep said. “It was a fine and accurate drawing.”

“
Says the man depicted as half man half elephant,” Mick said. He then put the box aside and held up the white case in his hand. “It does this,” he said, prying the case apart. The top piece appeared to be nothing more than a protective outer shell. He put that aside on the ground to his right. The other piece was more intricate. But for all of its delicate-looking features, the device seemed to be quite sturdy. It had a clear plastic tube at its rear, measuring close to a quarter of its length. A translucent blue, bubble-filled gel moved slowly inside the tube as Mick shifted the device in his hand.

“
What is it?” Sandeep asked.

Mick handed it to him.
“According to the letter, it’s an immunization auto injector. Whatever that is.”

Sandeep studied it at arm
’s length before bringing the object in closer. “There is no needle. This must be a high-pressure subcutaneous injection device.” He looked up from the device to the confusion on the others’ faces. “It basically pushes the liquid through the skin. No need for a needle.”

“
I could have used that at the hospital,” Laurel said. “You’d be surprised how many people are afraid of needles.”

“
But what is that blue goop?” Greg asked. “And why would someone expect me to inject that into my body? I’ll tell you all right now—it’s not going to happen.”

“
I have a lot of questions, too,” Mick said. He unfolded the piece of paper that accompanied the auto injector. “This was also inside the box. I’ve read it a whole bunch of times. It may be stranger than that little white thing,” he said, pointing to the device in Sandeep’s hands.

“
Immunization auto injector,” Sandeep corrected.

Mick nodded.
“Right.” He cleared his throat and then read the letter after showing the group that it was typed out. “Dear Fellow Bostonians, We are a collective brought together before Impact, with the intention of restoring Earth to its former self. Our team has been working diligently to glue the pieces of our shattered world back together again. In our endeavor to improve humanity and restore what was taken, we have discovered a virus, one we believe will eventually finish the job the meteorites started. This virus is airborne, and, thusly, it is impossible to avoid. It is our belief that Colossus carried this pathogen to our planet and reacted with some subset of microorganisms to form what it is now. It is likely that many of you are already infected. It is also our belief that the virus, CV-1, has spread globally. At present there is no cure. We are working around the clock to find one, if one should exist at all. However, in the interim, we believe it best to immunize the population to stop it from spreading further.

“
Please find an immunization auto injector included in this package. The injector contains enough serum for forty-five injections. Simply press the injector’s tip, highlighted by a blue ring, against any exposed skin, preferably on either arm. Once against the skin, press the green injection button and wait three seconds. An audible beep will sound once complete. This procedure can be followed for each person needed. The device remains sterile between shots.

“
We do realize you must have questions. They will be answered in due time. However, now is the time to act to prevent those of you that have not been infected from contracting the virus. We will be in touch shortly after you have inoculated yourselves. With warm regards, Phillip E. Jones, MD, PhD, Executive Director, The Initiative.”

Mick finished reading and
passed the letter to Laurel. She looked a bit unnerved.

“
Who the hell is The Initiative?” Greg asked.

Mick shrugged.
“Your guess is as good as mine.”

“
The fact that the letter is typed is remarkable,” Chester said, taking it from Laurel’s outstretched hand. “Actually, it looks printed to be more accurate. Typewriters push the letters further into the paper. You can feel the indentation. I should know, being the oldest of us all. There were many days when my bottle of Wite-Out ran dry.”

“
What’s Wite-Out?” Kathryn asked.

“
You sure do know how to make a man feel old,” Chester said, grinning. “We used it to correct mistakes we made while typing. There was no Backspace key when I first learned.”

“
What’s a Backspace key?” Nate asked, showing that age no longer played any part in the world having passed them by.

Kathryn and Nate looked at one another and shrugged.

Sandeep handed the auto injector back to Mick. “Say this Initiative was able to find a computer and a printer, which I find highly unlikely, they would still need to power both the devices. I don’t see how that’s possible. You cannot fake power.”

There was an uneasy silence
in the room.

Mick
’s stomach churned uneasily; his mind swirled to the point of light-headedness. Who were these people? Better yet, where were they? They had clearly been watching them to know where they lived. It felt as if they had a million eyes on them at that moment. He figured they were somewhere within the city, which meant there was technology somewhere, too. The world was apparently not as primitive as they had been led to believe. This quick thought brought a multitude of others with it. Technology still existed. But was it contained to a small pocket of people? Were other parts of the world better off than they were? Had they been living in a nightmare unjustly?

“
I don’t think we should use it,” Kathryn said. She gently took the device from her father’s hand. She held it loosely and away from her body as if it was the cause of the virus and not its prevention.

“
I’m with Kathryn,” Nate said. He shook his head. “I can’t believe I just said that.” He looked at her with a smirk. She gave him a quick shove. Nate then looked to his dad. “You told us to trust nobody outside of our group, right? And this seems kind of shady to me.”

“
It seems shady to me, too, Nate,” Mick said. “Listen, I’m not saying any of us should do what this letter is asking us to do. I want opinions, like yours.” He looked around at the group one by one. “All of your opinions. This isn’t something for me to decide. This has to be a group decision. We are a family. And our family sticks together.”

“
All right,” Sarah said, now holding the letter. “I’ll play devil’s advocate. Say this is all true, and there is some sort of virus in the air that we didn’t know about. The feeling I’m getting from that letter is that not everyone has the virus. Right? Why else would they want to immunize us?”

“
That would make sense,” Laurel added.

Greg said,
“If it’s even what they say it is. We don’t know these people. We don’t know what that stuff is.”

“
Right,” Sarah replied, handing the letter back to Mick. “But to make things simple for the time being, let’s assume that this Initiative group is who they say they are. And they do have our best interests in mind. Is there really much more harm we could do to ourselves that the planet hasn’t already done to us?”

“
We could die,” Greg said. “That would be a pretty bad outcome.”

“
True,” Sarah replied. “But wouldn’t that be a roundabout route to get it done? It seems to me like they have a bunch of resources that we didn’t think existed anymore. It would be a waste to go through all of this just to trick us into killing ourselves. Don’t you think? They have to know what conditions are like out here, right? They must know.”

“
I have a hunch they know quite well how it is out here,” Mick said. “They obviously knew where to leave the box so we would find it. The fact is, we have avoided the eyes of the others in the city by being hidden away up here behind the hill. But maybe there are some eyes we can’t avoid.”

“
Yeah,” Greg said. “Apparently we aren’t as hidden as we thought we were.”

“
And that’s my point,” Mick continued. “They know we are here. That much is obvious. But how long have they known? How do they know? It’s a bit unnerving when you start to think about it. We’ve been going about our business every day, ignorant to the fact that we have been watched this entire time.”

“
And that is part of my point,” Sarah added. “If they wanted us dead, then they could have done it already and in a more direct way. If they are watching us, then they must know that Greg is up on the roof every day watching out for us. They must know that Mick goes out each day in search of supplies. They probably know more than we can even imagine.”

“
This whole thing is creeping me out,” Kathryn said.

“
You’re not the only one,” Greg said, standing. “You know how I feel about this. I have to get back up top. I don’t like not having an eye up there. Especially now. That damn note got me all kinds of paranoid.” He walked out of the room and toward the maintenance shaft that led to the roof. “You know where to find me.” He then vanished into the inky darkness.

While Mick didn
’t say it, he felt the same as Greg did. The situation did not feel right in his gut. And this time he was going to follow that feeling. He took the injector back from Kathryn and replaced the hardened plastic cover. He then folded the note up and put them both back in the red box.

“
We’ve survived this long without needing to inject ourselves with a foreign material. Let’s not rush things now. I don’t feel sick. And you all look fine to me. So let’s just think on this for a bit.”