Innocence Lost (8 page)

              Alec tried to sit back and enjoy what was in front of him. His home had transformed into their homes. People who had once been nothing more than prisoners were walking around free. Fences had been built, animals were being trained, and everyone had a place to rest their head at night. But Alec couldn’t enjoy it. As he sat on the back porch looking out at the busy field, his mind was full of the memories that his family had made on this very porch. Ally chasing Joseph around the yard, Ben cutting in and out of the woods in his own little world, and his father trying so hard to make everything up to him.

              That time was gone, as were Joseph and his father. They would be nothing more than memories for the rest of his existence and he was learning to accept that. He still had not been able to find acceptance with Ally and Ben. They were out there somewhere. They were still a part of this world but just out of his reach.

              Jack opened the back door and paused. “Sorry, I didn’t realize someone was back here.”

              Alec felt a pang of guilt. “You’re ok Jack, take a seat.”

              He stood there for a second as if he wasn’t sure Alec was being genuine, then slowly made his way out. The old man let out a small groan as he sat down in the chair.

              Alec had a choice when Ally was taken from him. He convinced himself the choice was either search for her or let her go because that made his choice easier. In reality he could have taken Jack and Ben with him, or Ben and someone from Centralia, but he didn’t. Part of him didn’t want Ben to be there. Yes, it was dangerous, and by leaving him here, he kept him out of harm’s way, but Alec wasn’t sure that was why he chose to do what he did. Having Ben around was going to be a constant reminder of what he had lost. A reminder of the mother that suffered in front of him before dying, a reminder of the younger brother he was unable to protect, and a reminder of the father that he had not given another chance to, until it was too late. And yet still Alec had known, and even partially accepted, before he left that he may not return alive, and had felt more willingness than fear.

              “I’m sorry Jack.”

              The man dropped his head. “You don’t have anything to be sorry about.”

              “You know better than that. I left Ben here. I know how I felt being here after everything that had happened, I should have known how Ben felt.”

              “You didn’t have a choic-“

              “Regardless of the circumstances it was not fair blaming you. Just as I made a choice so did Ben. You protected him when I left. So I’m sorry for blaming you and I’m sorry I didn’t thank you sooner than this. Thank you.”

              Jack’s eyes moistened but he just nodded his head and waved his hand at Alec like it was no big deal. Alec stood up and held out his hand to the man. Instead of shaking his hand, Jack used it to pull himself up and give Alec a hug.

              “You’re a good man Alec. You do what is right even when it’s not easy.”

              Alec started to say something when he heard shouting in the distance. As the shouting escalated in intensity he found himself running towards the trailers where the sounds were emanating from. What he saw froze him in place.

              Freddie was on his knees and Clive stood above him with a gun in hand. Freddie rubbed his face where he had obviously just been struck; the man’s face was filled with anger but he appeared calm in spite of the circumstances. Clive on the other hand seemed possessed. Fury shown on his face and his hands were red from how tightly he was holding the gun.

              “You’re not so fucking smart anymore, are you? Where is your psycho-babble now?”

              Alec took a step forward and Clive turned the gun on him.

“Clive, put the gun down,” He tried to sound calm but the tremor in his voice was obvious. “Whatever this is about it is not worth killing someone over.”

              Alec was vaguely away of Jack rounding the corner and stopping just to the side of him.

              “Jesus.” the old man said under his breath.

              “Don’t you fucking act like we’re buddies. You always acting all high and mighty because you saved a bunch of old people and brought them to a patch of land, but that doesn’t make you better than me.” Freddie started to move and Clive trained the gun back on him. “One more move and I’ll make sure you never leave that ground again.”

              “Clive, listen to me. You still have a chance to step back, you don’t have to do this.” Alec said.

              Clive began moving his weight from foot to foot causing him to sway back and forth nervously. The anger in the man’s eyes seemed to be tinged with confusion, as if he wasn’t really sure how he had gotten to this point.

              “This is the only law now,” he said, waving his gun in the air before pointing it back at Freddie. “All this make believe shit you all are doing out here doesn’t matter. The person holding this is the one that makes shit real.”

              Trevor’s head poked out from the other side of the trailer behind Clive. Slowly the man crept around the side and started to approach Clive. All it would take was for Clive to turn around, and there was no doubt in Alec’s mind that he would shoot Trevor dead.

              “Clive,” this time his voice came out cool and calm. “What we are trying to build is a place to call home, a place that is safe. You have helped us get this far, you are a part of this.”

              The gun lowered just slightly. “No, you all think you’re better than me. I see the way everyone looks at me. You don’t respect me. But I’ll make you give me respect.”

              A determined look appeared on his face and the gun rose. Trevor slammed into the back of Clive, causing the gun to fire wildly and for the man holding it to fly forward. Without a second thought, Alec rushed Clive and sent the already off-balance man spinning sideways to the ground. As soon as the man hit the ground, Alec jumped on top of him, pinning him to the ground. Clive started to twist the gun towards him but Freddie’s foot pinned his hand to the ground. Clive left out a soft whine and went limp.

              Alec looked around and confirmed everyone was standing around unhurt; the bullet hadn’t hit anyone. Freddie and Trevor met his gaze and both gave him a nod.

              “What in the hell happened?” Malcolm asked.

              Freddie rubbed his jaw again and shook his head. “He came up, got in my face shouting about how I thought I was better than him. I told him to back the fuck up and he swung on me and pulled the gun.”

              They were in their makeshift meeting room while the bound Clive was in the basement. Margie and a few others were down there making sure he didn’t try to untie himself.

              “He would have killed Freddie and who the hell knows who he would have went after next.” Malcolm said.

              Despite the confused look Alec had caught on Clive’s face for just a moment he also had no doubt the man had every intention of killing Freddie. After that he wasn’t sure what would have happened.

              “He can’t stay here.” Trevor said.

              “If we let him go, he will try and kill us.” Malcolm said.

              There was a long silence.

              “So what exactly are you proposing?” Alec asked.

              Freddie glanced from Trevor to Malcolm. “Seems we got two choices. Kick Clive out and tell him never to return or….kill him.”

              Trevor threw up his hands. “You can’t be serious? You’re talking about murdering someone?”

              “No,” Malcolm said looking directly at Trevor. “He’s talking about protecting this place. Something’s not right about Clive. You let him go, what happens when he returns?”

              “If he returns, we kill him.” Jack added flatly. “And we let him know that. He’s used up all his chances here and he did try to kill Freddie, but I don’t see how that warrants the death penalty.”

              Freddie let out a long sigh. “If he does return, chances are he will try to hurt someone. He could come back with a gun and people could get hurt.”

              Alec ran a hand through his hair and tried to wrap his mind around the situation. “I don’t think any of us denies the man is a threat. He has been a huge headache before and today he became dangerous. He wasn’t great before but outside of today do we believe he is capable, or willing, to come back?”

              “The man is convinced that everyone hates him and is judging him. This pisses him off and causes him to go into a rage. When he’s like that you see what happens. You kick him out, chances are he will take that personally.” Freddie said.

              “I can’t allow us to kill him.” Trevor said angrily. “The world has turned to shit but that doesn’t mean we have to.”

              “We created this council for reasons like this.” Jack kept his focus down at the table. “We vote.”

              “And what exactly are we voting for?” Trevor asked.

              “You damn well know what for. Either vote to kick him out or….kill him. I vote to kick him out.” Jack said.

              “I vote we remove the threat.” Malcolm said.

              Another long sigh from Freddie. “I vote we kill him.”

              Two to one. Trevor shook his head at the both of them. “Jesus, I vote we kick him out.”

              Jack turned to Alec. “I’m sorry, it’s tied up, you’re the deciding vote.”

              Alec’s mouth turned dry. Freddie and Jack were focused on the table directly in front of them, while both Trevor and Malcolm stared at him intently. He saw the look in Clive’s eyes, the man was going to kill Freddie. And for what? Because Freddie had told him to back off? The man was dangerous but did that mean he had to die? His thoughts turned to his family. If they were here what would he do? The thought of trying to meet Ally’s eyes after sentencing a man to die made up his mind.

              “He’s banished. If he shows up anywhere around here, we’ll kill him.”

              Malcolm slammed his fists down on the table and left in a huff. Trevor ran his hands over his face, and Jack gave him a small pat on the back as he got up.

              Freddie looked at him with no judgment on his face. “I hope we made the right decision.”

Ally

              The thunder rumbled in the distance, warning of the coming storm. Ally had noticed the drop in the temperature and was aware of the storm well before the thunder spoke up, but she wasn’t concerned. Usually the rain came without a break in the humidity so the only relief she found was in the cool rain that fell from the sky, so she relished the cooling that came with this storm.

              Tiger was asleep across her lap and woke up briefly when the thunder rumbled, but quickly fell back asleep. Ally ran her hand over his head and through his hair. She looked around her hidden room and noticed her clothing scattered throughout, arrows that she hadn’t put up yet, and bones from their last meal. Her mother always used to get onto her about cleaning her room before, and even then she managed to avoid cleaning her room. Without someone to constantly remind her, she tended to let it get pretty bad before she begrudgingly went about cleaning.

              She had avoided going into town for the last couple of weeks. Partially because they were doing well on supplies and partially out of fear. After what she saw in the woods that night, she didn’t feel comfortable going back around people. She had walked right past a man that had stood there and allowed another man to get stabbed to death. He hadn’t said anything, didn’t cry out, he didn’t try to stop it. Ethan and his friend where still out there.

              The thunder got louder as the storm got closer and Ally figured she might as well watch it approach. As soon as she stirred Tiger shot up ready to see what new adventure they were going on. She gave him a pat on the head as she pushed open the plank and went into the shed. The cool wind caused her to shiver as soon as she stepped out of the shed. There was still a little bit of blue sky in front of her but it was quickly being devoured by the pitch black storm that was approaching.

              Tiger growled next to her.

              “It’s alright boy, it’s just a storm. Mommy always said the thunder can’t hurt you, it’s just loud.”

              Tiger growled again and she felt him push back into her.

              “Tiger, I said it’s just-“

At that moment she saw the man standing between her shed and the old house. He was looking right at her.

She recognized him instantly. A look of recognition shown on his face. “Hey, I know you. It’s me, Ethan.”

Her options flashed in front of her. She could run back into the shed and grab her bow and arrows, but then what? What if she shot at him and missed? She glanced behind her to the woods. She could try to outrun him, he looked fast but she might be able to zig-zag through the trees and lose him.

“And this is Tiger, if memory serves.” He took a step forward and Ally took a step back. The man didn’t seem surprised. “Now I have no intention of hurting you, we’re practically old friends.”

This time when he stepped forward, Ally turned to run but stopped right in her tracks. The other man, Roy, the one who had murdered the slender man, was standing there behind her.

He looked mildly annoyed. “And what the fuck is going on here?”

“This is my old friend….sorry darling, what’s your name again?”

Ally didn’t say anything.

“You’re old friend whose name you don’t know?” Tiger started to growl. Roy pulled out his knife and pointed towards the dog. “You gonna take care of that or do I have to?”

Ally didn’t take her eyes off of Roy but she patted Tiger’s face to quiet him down. The loud growl dropped a few decibels but didn’t stop.

“So where are your people?” Roy asked.

“Don’t think she has any,” Ethan answered. “I watched her leave down a month or so back and she just wandered into these woods by herself.”

“Nobody makes it alone anymore.”

“I’m not alone.” Ally lied.

Roy smiled as he seemed to catch her lie. “Well shit, guess I might be mistaken.” He glanced over at the large house. “You mean to tell me you’re living here all by yourself?”

He was blocking the way to the woods. Her only option was the shed.

“You know what? I think I know some people who would like to get their hands on a little girl like you.”

Ally moved all at once. She sprinted towards the shed and heard the men start to follow after her until there was a shout. She glanced behind and saw Tiger’s mouth clenched on the knife hand of Roy. The man was twisting about trying to kick the dog but kept missing. Ethan ran up to the struggling pair and kicked her dog right in the rib cage. Tiger let out a yelp and flew back. Without thinking, Ally charged Ethan and slammed into the side of him. He barely budged and shoved her to the side, sending her onto her back. Tiger bounced back and went after Ethan, grabbing the man’s left leg in his jaw and pulling him away from Ally. She glanced about for anything she could use and found nothing. She was going to have to get her bow and arrow to help.

She turned and made her way into the shed when she heard Tiger yelp out in pain. She looked back and saw Roy’s knife sticking out of Tiger’s hind legs. The man pulled out the knife and went to plunge it back in when Tiger took off towards the woods. Roy could have caught him but instead he turned his attention to her. Ally ran back into the shed, tripping over some of the loose tools and fell smack onto the floor.

“Don’t hurt her Roy, she’s my friend!” Ethan yelled.

Ally got back to her feet and ran to the loose plank in the wall, but before she could pull it back, Ethan grabbed her from behind. She lifted her feet up and kicked off the side of the wall, sending both of them sprawling back. Ethan threw her to the side as they fell back and her world went upside down and all she could see was the concrete floor rapidly approaching.

Then the world went black.