World in Tatters Ch. 38

“I want to rescue Aunt Nora.” I continue.

“Excuse me?”

“Well, uh. Last I heard, she’s still being held captive by Drum in Atlanta. Is that true?”

“I believe so, yes.” Skepticism in her demeanor. I appear to have caught everyone off guard. I look around to see strange looks I’m getting from each of them.

“What’s with the weird looks? I told Alice we’d help her. Seems as good a time as any. Especially since we now have a militia behind us.”

“Steven. Dude, I don’t think you understand the situation we’re in.” Richard says, bewildered. “I mean, for one, we’re still at least two days ride from Atlanta.”

“I’m aware of that.” Waving him off, “But I’d assumed we’d be heading to Atlanta soon, anyway. I was hoping that my mother would be gracious enough to lend us a few extra pairs of hands.”

“Do…Do you…have any sort of plan?”

“Not yet. Can’t exactly form one until I know who’s coming.”

“Are you nuts?” Richard blurts. “That’s suicide at best!”

“Steven?” Charlotte pinches the bridge of her nose frustrated and grumpy. That was always her go-to gesture when she tired of my childhood antics. “Let’s talk about this in private.” Charlotte and I walk several yards away from the others, far enough where there’s no way they can hear us. “My answer is no.”

“Pardon?”

“I will not be authorizing you to go on any rescue mission.”

“Authorize me?” I sneer. “That’s a joke right?”

“No, son. It is not a jo—”

“Last I checked,” I bark, “I’m not one of your soldiers. I don’t take orders from you or anyone else here.”

“Why are you so hell bent on this?”

“I made a promise to Alice that I would try to rescue her mother. I intend to keep that promise. The only reason I told you, is because I can’t do it alone, and was hoping you would help.” I pause a moment before continuing, “Besides…You and I both care about Aunt Nora. I know you do.”

“That doesn’t matter.”

I detect something in her voice. Apprehension? Fear maybe? Fear for my safety? No, that’s not quite it. Does she not want Aunt Nora back? I push the thought out of my mind, refocusing on my objective.

“Of course it matters.” I snap.

“No. It doesn’t. Don’t you understand what’s going on here? We’re fighting a war. War has casualties. As far as I’m concerned, Nora Falstrom is dead.”

“I don’t believe you.”

“Believe what you want, Steven.” I’m taken aback by the coldness in her tone. “There will be no rescue mission. That’s my final word on the subject.”

“No.” Mustering a chill of my own. “As I said, I’m not one of your soldiers. When the militia gets to Atlanta, I’m going after her. If Rachel and Alice want to go too, I’ll take them.”

“You would take your sister on that fool’s errand?”

“As if I could stop her.” I scoff. “And if you won’t lend us any backup, so be it.”

“Then so be it.”

That…wasn’t the response I expected.

Charlotte shoves past me, an icy wind following in her wake. I stand puzzled for a moment before steeling my resolve. I meant what I said. We will get Aunt Nora out or I’ll die trying.

Preferably not that, though.

I take a breath. Having calmed myself, I walk back to rejoin the others.

Glancing around at each of them, “So…we’re on our own.”

“What the hell was that?” Alice snaps.

“I told you I would get your mom back. So, that’s what I’m working towards.”

“Um…” Richard groans, “Sorry to interrupt, but I should probably catch up with Charlotte. I’ll find you guys later.”

“Thanks, Richard.” Without another word, Richard jogs off after her.

“Hey, Steven,” Rachel prompts. “Can you explain please?”

“You know,” Alice barks, ignoring Rachel’s question. “I never expected you to…I was never going to hold you to that.”

“Yeah, I know that, but I was. I wouldn’t have made the promise otherwise.”

Stumbling to find words, “Well…I…How? How exactly do plan to do that?”

With a flourish of my hand, “Don’t know yet!” I turn on my heel heading toward the soup kitchen to get something to eat.

“Is someone going to fill me in?” Comes Rachel’s bewildered commentary.

*****

Throughout breakfast, Rachel gives me the third degree. She’s freaking out that I don’t seem to have a plan going forward. Alice, on the other hand, barely says a word to me. It’s not long before she up and leaves us to head back to the hospital. Honestly, I can’t tell if she’s just upset with me for what I said, or if something else is on her mind. I’m sure bringing up Aunt Nora stirred up some emotional baggage.

After we finish up, Rachel and I find Jedd. We offer to help clean up some of the damages. We end up spending the day doing repairs on one of the scorched tenements. We work alongside several of the residents to clear out the charred remains of their belongings.

By nightfall, we’re exhausted. After dinner, we meet back up with the gang at our room. Turns out, after Chris and Jason got separated from us post-rally, they ended up out in the militia camp feeding the soldiers.

Alice is conspicuously absent. I’m actually a little worried about her. The rest of us get our gear packed up and ready to move out in the morning. Before heading to bed, Rachel tries to reassure me that Alice will be alright. Even though she still hasn’t returned.

Even with my body aching from the long day’s work, I can’t fall asleep. Instead, I end up lying with my back against the wall, eyes wide open. When Alice finally gets back, it’s after midnight. She quietly walks right over to me, taking a knee in front of my face.

“I know you’re awake.” She whispers. “Let’s take a walk.”

“It’s late. You sure you don’t want to wait ‘til morning?”

Even in the darkness, I can see her glare. Without another word, she stands back up and heads toward the door. Right as I sit up, I realize that Rachel’s goofy cat is curled up against my shins. I carefully extricate myself, trying to let him sleep. I don’t understand why he likes me so much. I barely give him the time of day.

Once free, I follow Alice out into the night air. “Hey, I’m sorry to catch you off guard this morning. I…uh…didn’t mean…”

“Shut up.”

“O…kay…”

“Look, I appreciate it. I really do, but I can’t let you do it.”

“Alice…I made you a promise. I am a man of my word.”

“Screw the promise!” She shouts. “You…It’s not your responsibility. I’m the one…!” Alice pulls back.

“‘You’re the one’ what?” I prod.

“I’m the one who failed her three years ago.” Her voice is barely above a whisper.

“Failed her? You didn’t fail her.”

“Of course I did.”

“You think she would see it that way? You think anyone else sees it that way? Because I can guaran-freakin’-tee you they don’t.”

“But I do!” She explodes. “Don’t you get that!?”

“Of course I get it.” I retort. I reach out, gently gripping her shoulder. “Alice, from what you told me, you did everything you could to get her out.”

“That’s not…” She flinches away from my hand.

“Then what?” I urge. “Please, tell me.”

“I ran away. I couldn’t handle the pressure. Everyone was looking to me. I tried. Failed once, and just gave up. I can’t face her.”

“So what?” I snap.

Speechless.

“Look.” Calming my tone. “Your mother…someone Rachel and I also consider family…has been a prisoner for years in a city she used to run. I’m going to get her out. Not just for your sake. Not just because of my promise. She needs us. Nora needs someone to step up and get her out. She needs you. Her daughter. Now, I will do this without you, if I have to. But, I don’t want to do that.”

Alice is stunned by my outburst.

“If you think you failed her then, do something about it. Help me to do something about it now.”

What Alice does next takes me completely by surprise. Honestly, I don’t really know what do think about it, because my brain is complete mush.

She kisses me.

Something I’ve wanted to happen in some way since we were kids, and I can’t even enjoy. Not like this.

I push her back, “Stop. Stop, please.” I take in a deep breath, “I can’t…We’ve both been through a lot recently. We’re both in an emotional place right now.”

“I can’t lose you too.”

“What?”

“I don’t want to lose you too. I lost my mom. I lost my home. I’ve lost friends. I thought I lost you for good. I’m not going through it again.”

“You haven’t lost your mom. She’s just not here right now.” I reach out again, but she flinches. “We can get her back. You and me. Together, you and I are unstoppable. We can take on Kilik. Butch. Drum. Hell, throw Rachel in the mix, and we could take the entirety of Atlanta and come out without a scratch.”

“We might have to.” She chuckles.

“So, are you in?” I nudge.

Slugging me on the shoulder, “Yeah, I’m in.”

“Good.” I’ll be honest, it’s actually quite a relief. Not that I ever expected that she wouldn’t help me, but I was nervous for a second. “Now, we have an early day tomorrow. You wanna get some sleep? There’s still a while before sunrise.”

“Nah. I’m good. I’m gonna walk around for a while.”

“Oh, okay.” I start to walk back toward our building. “I’ll, uh, leave you to it then.”

“Do you…wanna walk with me?”

“Yeah, sure.”

Alice and I walk for hours, eventually coming to rest on a hill just outside the city. We find a large live oak sprawled out at the center of a large clearing. By the size of it, it must have started growing here more than a century ago. For all I know, it may have been here for generations before the world collapsed.

She and I take a seat on one of the massive branches that dip low to the ground. We sit there, together in silence until the sky begins to brighten on the horizon. Alice leans her head onto my shoulder as we watch the sunrise. The bruised sky slowly gives way to the fires of a new dawn.

Honestly, it would have been perfect if it hadn’t been for the oppressive heat and fetid stench of a skunk wafting through the air.

“We should probably get back.” I say. “The others are probably getting worried by now.”

“Unlikely.” She nudges, “They’re most likely still asleep. I’m sure we have some time.”

“I wish. Militia’s supposed to be packing up right about now. Meaning Richard’s probably sent someone to get us already.”

“So, let them wait. We can catch up.”

“As tempting as that is—” I sigh, leaves rustling as I rise from our branch. “and it is tempting— We really should get going.” I offer my hand out to her, smiling gently, “Come on.”

Alice hops off the limb, rattling the leaves and deliberately ignoring my offer of assistance. “Then let’s go.”

As we start the trek back into town, I notice the shift Alice’s demeanor for the first time. When it was just the two of us out on that hill, she was calm, at peace even, but the farther into town we get, the more the contentment fades from her eyes. Tension visibly returns to her shoulders. Before we’re too far gone, I grind to a halt.

“Hey, Alice.”

She stops a few feet ahead of me, turning at the sound of my voice. “Hm?”

“About what happened earlier—”

“We don’t have to talk about that.” She interjects.

“Have to? No. But maybe we should?” I urge.

“Like you said, we’re both in a weird place. It was just…”

“What?” I say, “OH! Not that!” Feeling my ears start to burn. “I…uh…meant about… the rescue mission.”

“Oh. I thought…” Her eyes widen with the realization.

“Yeah. I guessed.”

Sheepishly, (which is strange, because I’ve never known Alice to be sheepish), “Oh.”

“So? Um… the rescue? Are you sure you’re in?”

A sly smile dances across her lips. Walking right up to me, Alice releases a quick jab into my shoulder, “Of course I’m in. I told you last night.”

“Yeah, I know. But I—”

“Can’t let you go in alone. You’ll screw it up. ‘We can take on anything together.’ That’s what you said, right? Besides, you were right. My mom needs us. And we may need her.”

“What do you mean?”

“Look around.” She gestures at the charred cityscape around us. About a dozen yards away, a group of new soldiers, most no older than Chris and Rachel, load gear into a cart. “No offense to your mom, but this so-called resistance militia is pretty screwed up. They need better leadership. Better morale. Maybe some hope will help with that. I think seeing their former president freed from prison might be just the thing.”

“Point taken.” I concede. “Now if only we had some idea how to succeed.”

“We’ll think of something. We always do.”

“It would make it easier if my stubborn mother would agree to help.”

Alice and I spend the rest of the trip brainstorming how we might get Aunt Nora out of Atlanta. Unfortunately, between the two of us, we know nothing about what awaits us inside the walls.

We need better intel. We have to convince Charlotte to at least give us that. We have two days on the road to do just that. Two days, then with or without my mother’s help, our mission begins.