The Forgiven The Fallen The Forsaken (13 page)

“Helen, that
sounds nuts.”

“You need to
look at who benefits.  Treat it like a crime investigation.  Who ends up
smelling like a rose, always coming out on top no matter the situation?  You
can usually spot the manipulations when a person or group manages to duck most
of the shit that hits the fan.”

Julie thought
for a minute.  “That sounds a lot like us.”

“And here we
are being trained by a special ops or maybe an agency team.”

“Uncle Jim’s a
civilian.   He’s never been government.”

“He’s up to his
ears in government contacts.  He’s much better known than you’ve ever
realized.”

“Where do you
come up with this stuff?”

“Have you
noticed how your dad’s people treat him?  They’re pros, and they treat him like
he’s a lion.  Friendly, but still a lion.” 

“Come on!”

“How many ways
do you know how to break a neck?”  When Julie shrugged, Helen said, “I’ve
counted 37 so far.

“What I’m
saying is that we are being trained to be soldiers and assassins.  Your dad and
whoever sent him out here are thinking a lot more about next year than about
next month.  We’re along for the ride and this is the team I’ll be staying with
for the long haul, but understand that the game is a lot bigger than surviving
the manmade pandemic.  There will be a new system in place at the end of this
process, and we’ll either be indispensible to it or we’ll be slaves of it in
every way that matters.”

“So what do we
do?” 

Helen looked
her in the eyes and said, “We study and train hard.  We fit in.  We prepare for
the next steps while everyone else is still focused on breakfast.  We keep our
mouths shut.  And we don’t make big mistakes.  Same as it’s been for humans
since the beginning of time.” 

Julie would be
thinking about that for a long time to come.

FEBRUARY 3
^rd

Jim was pleased
to see a comfortable routine fall into place.  He was teaching hand to hand and
weapons classes six days a week and Julio was teaching combat shooting, small
squad tactics, and sniper training five days a week.  Some of the students were
doing better than others, but all of them would be competent in another couple
of months. 

Rita avoided
everything buy basic combat pistol training, insisting her place was in the
kitchen anyway.  After eating many of the amazing meals she prepared, Jim
couldn't agree more.  He was sitting on a stool in the pub kitchen watching her
work and nibbling on some of the veggies she was prepping.  She was skinny as a
rail and never stopped moving.  She was from Honduras and Jim always enjoyed
listening to her stories.

"So, what
I'm thinking is we need a church," said Rita 

Jim swallowed
the celery he was nibbling.  "I'm not crazy about religion, but you can
use whatever building you would like on Sundays."

"No,"
she said, casually pointing the butcher knife at him.  "I mean we need our
own building for proper church services and it needs to be big enough to fit
everyone."

He had to stop
himself from criticizing the idea.  He thought,
If a chef that good wants a
church, she'll get one
.  "Then we'll build one.  I'll have to see what
supplies we have and bring the others in on it, but I don't see any reason we
can't."

"Good. 
And how about you getting me an apprentice in here.  We need to have more than
just me doing the work."

"I'll ask,
Rita, but try not to eat them alive, okay?"

She laughed
deeply.  "That's how you make a chef.  There's no time for nice in the
kitchen until it runs just right.  That's one of the secrets."

"I won't
argue with a master.  I'll see what I can do.  I need to get back to work. 
Thank you for taking such good care of us."

"My
pleasure, Mr. Mayor!"

Jim waved as he
walked out. 
This mayor thing is going a bit too far,
he thought.

He tracked down
Rob in the headquarters building.  "Rita wants a church."

"You
realize that if she gets a church, then she's going to want people to
go to
church,"
said Rob.

"You want
to cook your own meals?"

"Where do
you want to build it?"

Jim thought for
a moment.  "Someplace I don't have to see it.  How about next to the boys'
fifth wheel?"

"Perfect!"

FEBRUARY 8
^th

Stewart took
charge of the church project and did a job on it that was far better than
anyone had imagined.  He chose a design out of one of the books Denise had
bought for the village library. Instead of being just a project for the boys,
most of the camp joined in to prepare and place the logs.  It took two days to
complete the basic structure and to complete the raw roof, but the building
looked like something out of the old west.  It was beautiful.

They built a
fireplace in one corner and put in a couple of windows and doors from the
construction supply containers.  The cement floor was plain, but somehow that
added to the appeal. 

For the final
touches, Susan dug out curtains from their former home and Frank taught the
boys how to build wood furniture.  Frank also made a large cross for the front
of the room.

Jim asked Rita,
"How do you like it?"

Rita said,
"I love it!"

"You can
lead services on Sunday."

Rita looked at
him like he was nuts.  "I'm no preacher!  I just wanted a church to go
to!"

Jim looked at
her in disbelief, finally saying, "I've got to go check on some
things," and leaving.

Rita waited
till he left and had her best laugh in months.  

CATALINA
ISLAND, SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA

"
I
can't fucking believe this
!"  Sandy and her friends watched Brad take
the boat out of the Avalon Bay marina without them.  "He's leaving us
here!  He's ditching us."

Her friends,
Pam, Andrea, Maria, Lisa, and Sonya were equally outraged. 

"I told
you he was a creep," said Pam.

Lisa said,
"What the hell are we supposed to do now?" 

Greg ran up
behind him.  "That's my fucking boat!  I'm going to kill that
asshole!"

The group of
them had been partying at Greg's parent's place when the virus broke out and
the town's leaders quarantined the island.  Greg wouldn't take them back to the
mainland and the ferry trips stopped.  They were stuck. The worst of it was
that Greg and his friends were jerks.  The molly and coke were good, but that
ran out weeks ago.  Now they were just stuck with a bunch of dickheads.

Greg looked at
the girls and screamed, "How are we supposed to get out of here
now?!"  He turned around and stormed off back to the small house up the
street.

They all
watched him leave.  Sonya said, "We're in deep shit."

The local police
had already told them they weren't welcome and had threatened to shoot them if
there were any problems with the local population.  Now they didn't even have
the option of leaving.

The young women
were all in their mid twenties and attractive, but that didn't mean anything in
a world without resupply of basic needs.  They walked back to the house,
dreading the situation that could only get worse.

They entered
the house to find Greg and his three friends drinking in the kitchen.  Greg
looked up and said, "Ladies, we need to have a talk."

Lisa asked,
"About what?"

"This is
my house and my food.  You're not eating for free anymore."

Pam turned
toward the door but found the way blocked by one of the men.  "I'm leaving
now!"

Greg said,
"Not till you pay for the food you've eaten."

Pam tried to
push her way past, but the man slapped her hard across the face.  She looked
back and judged by the look in his eyes that he desperately wanted to do it
again.

Greg looked the
girls over and continued, "You don't have any money and that's not any
good now anyway, but I do know what you can do."

Andrea said,
"Fuck you, chicken shit."

Greg reached
behind him, pulled out a pistol, and shot her in the head. "Anybody else
have a problem paying their bill?"

The girls were terrified.

"Larry,
get that bitch out of here.  Put it on the patio till we can bury it."

One of the men
dragged the body out of the house.

"Okay, bitches. 
First you clean up that mess you made me make.  Towels are in the
bathroom."

Maria and Sandy
went to grab towels.  Once the gore was cleaned up and the towels thrown in the
garbage, Greg said, "Now, strip." The women hesitated until he
reached for the gun, then all the clothes came off quickly. 

"Now,
blowjobs for starters.  Remember, there are four of us and five of you.  That
means we got one extra we don't need, so make it good, or else."

Things only
deteriorated from there.

FLAGSTAFF,
ARIZONA

FEBRUARY 20
^th

Julie was
partnered with Luke for this class.  Jim was insistent that they avoid having
the same partners all the time, but she still would have preferred one of the
others.
The little shit hits hard,
she thought.

Jim addressed
the group, "So far all of you are getting the most basic concepts down. 
You've probably noticed that this looks nothing like wrestling or mixed martial
arts.  That's because your only goal is to hurt or kill an armed opponent, not
to make them submit.  But before that, your goal is to get the hell out of the
way of what's coming at you."  He reached into a bag and said, "
Roll
!" 
He pulled out a pistol and started firing at head level.

Everyone rolled
and stayed low except for Angie who just stood there in shock. 

Jim said,
"Everyone up," as he changed the magazine.  "Those were blanks,
fortunately.  Roll!"  He repeated the exercise.  This Angie was the first
one out of the way.

"Very
good, Angie!"  He put the pistol away.  "Understand how fast
everything happens.  Experience the pain and fear here in training so you don't
freeze up out there.  Ok, partner up and work through the warm up.  Remember,
treat rolls as stretching."

Jim walked over
behind Angie and put his hands on her shoulders and whispered to her. 
"Sorry about that, kiddo, but it's important training.  Go change and come
right back.  If you don't come right back I'm going to come get you. 
Understand?"

"Yes,
Sensei."  She ran out the door and back to her trailer. 

If anybody
noticed she wet herself, they'll be good enough to pretend they didn't see it,
I hope,
he thought.

In ten minutes
she was back in an identical pair of sweats.

"You need
to understand that your
only
goal is to finish the situation
quick," said Jim.  "If you need to kill your opponent, you take the
quickest route to opening them up and interrupting some vital function.  Dave,
attack."

Dave flew at
him and Jim lightly moved out of the way, struck the arm, and then stepped on
the back of the closest knee.  Dave's chin rose as he started to fall, and Jim
struck his throat lightly and twisted Dave's head to the right and up.  He let
go and stepped back.

"Dave,
what did you feel?"

"I punched
and missed, and then I don't know what the hell happened."

Jim said,
"That's what I'm looking for.  Take it slow.  Get the concept down.  Help
your partner learn."

Later in the
class, Jim asked Dave to make sure that Angie was doing alright.  "Will
do, Mayor," said Dave.

After class Jim
would sometimes meet at the pub with any of the students who were free and
interested.  Today it was just Julie and Helen. 

He sipped a
soft drink and asked, "What did you two think of today's training?"

"I almost
wet myself, too," said Helen.

"Good,"
said Jim.  "Just be sure to let Angie know that at some point."

Julie asked,
"Do you always train like this?"

"With this
level of intensity?  When I had students who were leaving to go into combat,
yes.  For the recreational students, no."

"It's
appropriate," said Helen.  "I hate to think about what we're going to
be stepping into once we leave here."

"I'm very
sure it won't be pretty," said Jim, "whatever the situation is. 
Unfortunately, our mission won't allow us to hang out here till everything is
back to normal.  As soon as there is a vaccine, we're up.  I expect that it's
not going to be the safest of occupations."

Julie asked,
"Do we know anything about the outside yet?"

"Just a
few shortwave broadcasts from Europe.  It doesn't sound good.  The virus has
been just as lethal as we expected, but they have done a better job at keeping
people home to slow down the spread."

Helen looked at
him and asked, "What do you think things will look like when we get back
out there?"

"I'm
thinking that having too many people won't be the problem anymore," said
Jim.  "Beyond that, I'm preparing for the worst and hoping that the
reality is somewhat better than that." 

Julie said, "Well,
on that note, tell Aunt Susan we're playing
The Holy Grail
in the
theater tonight.  The popcorn maker is working great."

Jim smiled and
said, "We wouldn't miss it."

MARCH 27
^th

It had taken a
while, but the armed group Rob had been expecting finally showed up in a bunch
of old trucks and was gathering in front of the embankment blocking the road. 
Matt and Luke were on watch and called it in, and Rob called an alert over the
radio.  Everyone had hardened snipers nests to go to and even the back sides of
the camp were well covered.  Julio and Frank made a quick stop to grab extra
hardware.  Rob, Jim, and Ann remained in the communications room watching the
monitor.  All of the children were taken to one of the shelters and where they
were guarded by Angie and Rebecca while Rita kept them calm.