Atlantic Island (26 page)

All the streets were flooded up to Theo's waist. The rain continued to fall on them at a normal, steady pace, slowly adding to the massive pool that had risen on the island. He worried that the flooding would soon rise up over the porch of their house. All that water would not be good for the already weakened structure. Not to mention the concerns of mold and mildew. Plus, where would his people sleep?

It occurred to Theo that passage would have been even more difficult had cars still been on the island. The leadership had removed any vehicles that remained on the streets after the Event for recycling. Theo had an uncomfortable suspicion that those cars and trucks had become part of the armor and weapon stashes that had become his group's focus.
 

"What do we do when we get close to the rations station?" asked Bill. "We can't let the Security Forces see us, especially you."

"I'm actually not all too concerned about that," said Theo. "Think about it: why would Tiberius risk his men by having them out in the middle of a hurricane just to guard people that it seems for all intents and purposes he wanted dead anyway?"

"You make a good point, bud. So, what's the plan then?"

"Well, that's the other reason I'm not concerned about heading to the rations station. The storm took time to build up strength. I figure the women ran in our direction while they could, wanting to head toward home and their children. They would have only stopped when they needed to find shelter. They probably took cover not far from where we are now. We just have to figure out how to get to them."

Theo didn't know how he was supposed to find the missing women. He didn't want to think about a situation where he and Bill would have to wander through dangerous, partially collapsed houses.
 

Just as he thought they had walked far enough and was about to suggest to Bill that they explore the nearby buildings, Theo heard a scream for help. He turned to Bill, who nodded. He had heard it too.

They ran as fast as they could, which was not very fast at all due the rising waters. Theo only had a vague sense of direction. He thought he had heard the sound coming from behind an abandoned bank.
 

"Can anybody hear me?" he yelled. "I'm a friend, I'm coming to help you. Please tell me where you are!"

There was silence. "What the hell are they waiting for?" asked Bill.

"I think they are considering whether I'm somebody they can trust."

Just then, a response came. "We're in the library! Please help us!"

They waded and stumbled down the block. The library was in good condition, buffered as it was by surrounding structures and with very few nearby trees. It was not protected from the floodwaters, which were above the entrance to the building.
 

Theo and Bill pushed their way up the few stairs and into the building. It was pitch black inside. They were going to have to rely on sound.

"We're inside the building," Theo called. "Where are you?"

"Back here!" called a series of voices, overlapping each other in panicked enthusiasm.

Bill took the lead, pushing his way past floating chairs, tables, and countless books. Theo followed close behind, not wanting to get separated. In the dark, a room full of hundreds if not thousands of floating objects could be very dangerous.
 

They continued to communicate with the voices. Finally, they arrived at a room near the rear of the building. Inside were more women than Theo could count with any certainty in the near-darkness. Only the moonlight through the broken windows let him know they were there at all.
 

"Can you see me?" he asked.
 

"Yes," the voices responded.

"My name is Theo Essex. My friend is Bill Mansfield. Many of you know of us. For those who don't, we are part of a small group hiding from Tiberius and his forces. You all have been kind enough to let us stay in one of your houses. We are here to repay your kindness and get you out of here safely. Is anybody injured?"

"Only a few small cuts and bruises," said a voice. "Is it safe to go outside?"

"It's very wet, and very difficult to move," said Bill, "but it's safe enough. We need to move quickly though. The waters are still rising."

"Please follow the sound of my voice," said Theo. "Hold on to each other. We need to make a chain so nobody gets separated. Tell me when you are all connected and we will start walking. We're going to walk out of this building and take a route that Bill and I took to get here. We won't stop until you're back safe with your children."

"There's nowhere that's safe for us, Theo," said one of the women. "Tiberius has seen to that."

"You might be right," he said, "but that's going to change. This storm is going to keep Tiberius and his forces out of our hair for a while. It's too difficult for them to come all the way out here for no reason. We are going to use that time to our advantage. Now, please, join up and let's get moving."

The floodwaters rose several inches higher that day, but eventually they receded. The cumulative damage from the wind and flooding was impossible for Theo to comprehend.

Rations administrators returned to the center of town nearly two days later.
 
By that time what food was left in the safe house had run out. Theo was glad to not have to tackle the issue of feeding so many people. His mind was full of too many other things. The women he and Bill had successfully led back to the house were beyond grateful and had pledged loyalty to Theo in a way that made him profoundly uncomfortable. The few they had been able to save from some of the destroyed houses on their street were even more thankful. This made him feel worse, in large part because he knew there were other people he hadn't been able to save.
 

He met Dale's mother, and felt horrible being the one to tell her about her son's murder. He made sure she knew how brave her son had been. "He died a hero," Theo had told her.
 

He believed that he had a sense of right and wrong. He believed that he had some good ideas for how to fix the country, if only because of Sam Lucas's influence, and that he could help correct the evils of Paul Tiberius, if only because of the unwavering support from Kylee and his other friends. What Theo did not believe was that he had the strength of will to send innocent people into battle; to ask them to risk their lives knowing the odds of them returning unharmed were unfavorable.
 

He was determined to identify the location of Tiberius's armories. In his mind this was a first, crucial step to being able to mount any kind of offensive against the leadership. The hurricane had increased the separation between the parts of the island. Travel was difficult, and the Security Force and other representatives of the government were beginning to spread back into the Ventnor district. Theo didn't know what they were up to and suspected it couldn't be anything good. Of more pressing concern was the limitations this imposed on his ability to send out parties to hunt down the weapons Tiberius was hiding.

Theo sought out Ryan and Bill for their advice and counsel. As the willing participants in his hypothetical rebellion grew in number, he was more comforted by those who knew him best. He often wanted to consult with Kylee, but she was busy with training his army of women in hand-to-hand combat, skills she had learned while involved with the Security Force. Theo was proud of her natural leadership qualities, and had no desire to distract her from her newfound responsibilities.
 

One day nearly a week after the hurricane, Theo sat with Ryan and Bill on the front steps of the house. One of his few early orders was to position a rotation of volunteers at the ends of the street. He would know quickly if anyone was to approach, so he and his friends could hide. This was good. Fresh air helped him organize his thoughts and keep a clear focus on the road ahead.
 

"What's on your mind today, boss man?" asked Bill.

Theo laughed. "I've told you not to call me 'boss man.' Or 'chief' or 'El Capitan' or any of your other pet names."

"Sorry, dude, it's just that you're a little too important now to just be 'Theo.'"

"Well that's just it," Theo said. "I don't really want to be that important. I'm happy to lead and offer whatever guidance I can, but I'm not any more important to this island than any of the rest of you. That kind of thinking is what breeds people like Tiberius."

"Ugh," said Ryan, "can you not use the words 'breed' and 'Tiberius' in the same sentence? Nasty mental image."

"Good point," said Theo. "Anyway, so I'm thinking about the information we have on the weapons depots. We know they are supposed to be spread around the island. We can rule out the Margate farms because there aren't any permanent structures there. Likewise, most of Ventnor was in bad shape to begin with and is much worse now."

"The city is still strong though," said Ryan. "Plenty of places Tiberius would feel safe keeping his guns."

"Right," said Theo, "but that just makes the city too difficult. Plus it's not exactly friendly territory for us."

"Okay," said Bill, "So we're trying to figure out the hiding spots in Ventnor. Well, I don't think Tiberius would hide anything where people were living at any point since the Event. He's pretty secretive. Not really a 'hide in plain sight' type of guy."

"Very true," said Theo. "So we're thinking somewhere along Ventnor or Atlantic Avenues? More of a commercial zone."

"Makes plenty of sense," said Ryan. "Though you'd think he'd have some kind of security on the place. There's nowhere around town with any special security that I've ever seen. Just the guards at ration stations and the places where the government workers pick up products."

Just then Brian came running down the street. "Theo, guys, you've got to hear this."

He was out of breath, and struggled for wind as he forced out his story. "Tiberius has crews out all over the place!"

Theo felt panic slink into the back of his mind. "Brian, you're sure you weren't followed? What are we talking about here? Security Force?"

"No, no, I wasn't followed. I was never seen. Hid at a distance. And it's not the Security Force."

"Well don't leave us hanging here, Bri," said Bill. "What is it? Is the circus in town?"

"It's the construction crew… or something like it. They must have conscripted people for this job. Rarely seen so many people gathered in one place."

"What are they doing?" asked Theo.

"They are tearing everything down."

"Everything? What does that mean? Can you back up and walk us through what happened?"

Brian sat down on the step. Theo could tell the man was doing his best to process everything into a presentable report.
 

"I was doing some surveillance, just like I did yesterday," Brian began. "When all of a sudden this huge group of people comes storming down the street. All over the place like ants. In the core of that was that kid you all had trouble with…Barnard, was it? He started reading this proclamation from Tiberius."

"It's Bertier," said Bill, "I'm amazed that ass can read."

"Right, so he starts reading this whole thing that basically amounts to Tiberius kicking people out of the homes they won in the lottery. There's a lot of crap in there about condemned homes and unsafe conditions but it amounts to a bunch of people getting thrown out.

"He just said all those people were going to be provided emergency tents by the leadership. There wasn't much choice being offered. Then the crews start going to town tearing things down. All the people were being funneled out and down a side street to a makeshift camp on the beach. Tents overlooking the water. Not nearly as romantic as it sounds."

"Did the people protest at all?" asked Bill.

"Not that I could see," said Brian. "There wasn't much of the Security Force there but the ones who were there were heavily armed. I think people don't have it in them to fight. Many of them weren't doing well after the storm as it is."

"And the crews were tearing down all the buildings?" asked Ryan.

"Yeah, well, I walked around as best I could while keeping my distance. There's sort of a circle they are clearing out. So, not everything in the town but a big section in the middle. The worker bees are destroying all of that. Well, except for the old bank."

Theo jumped to his feet like he'd been stung. "The bank?"

"Yeah, the one by the library…well what was the library. Now it's just a bunch of water damaged books and they are tearing it down so—"

"That's it," Theo said.

"What's it?" asked Bill. Then his eyes widened as the answer hit him. "Oh man, the bank! Makes perfect sense."

"Why didn't we think of that?" asked Ryan. "It's exactly right. No random person on the island has the equipment or capabilities to get into the safe. The place is abandoned so people wouldn't think to look there. Where better to store something important? That's got to be the weapon stash."

Theo nodded. "Yeah, that's it. Tiberius is doing something to the town. There's some kind of plan in motion here to suppress the people but his plans got crossed up. He can't demolish the bank. And that, my friends, is the break we were looking for."