Particle Z (Book 1) (22 page)
Mike presumed Julian and whatever scheme he was cooking up was waiting for him and his commitment or rejection. What could a man like Julian really want? He reached down to turn the door’s knob. Was he opening the door to his future or his end of days? Ironic, he thought; when one door closes another opens.
It wasn’t supposed to be this literal
, he chuckled to himself at the thought of it all.
The door opened, revealing a decadent and expansive room. The far wall was comprised entirely of glass, revealing a lush outdoor patio with breathtaking mountain views. Mike was now confident of his current location. It was on this patio, with his back turned, where Mike found Julian staring out into the early morning mist of a shrouded tree line. Hearing Mike approach, Julian cocked his head and silently waved him over to stand by his side.
“I trust you’re rested and ready to listen to my offer?”
“What choice do I have?” Mike replied, thinking Julian’s statement rhetorical considering he was a captive audience.
“If you had no choice would I be standing here about to let you in on what I’m planning and be asking for your help?”
Mike paused for a moment, thinking over Julian’s words. The man had a point. If he were going to use them, he would simply leverage each against the other to obtain his desired outcome. “Okay, you have my attention. I have no idea if we can trust you, and before we go any further I want to see Marlee and my friends.”
“Of course, Mike, I would have it no other way. It’s that loyalty to your people that makes you the perfect person to stand by my side during these difficult times.”
Mike’s eyebrows raised at that statement. Not so much the loyalty comment, more that Julian considered the end of the world as simply
difficult times.
“Where are they?”
“Davis,” Julian barked.
Mike bristled at the name. Davis had knocked him senseless and Mike felt betrayed by someone he had considered a brother-in-arms. Davis walked into the room, careful to avoid Mike’s withering gaze.
“Please bring Mike’s people up. He needs reassurance they’re being well-cared for,” Julian ordered Davis, who was clearly uncomfortable and would not look directly at Mike.
“Yes, and don’t hit me in the back of the head with anything on your way out,” Mike said, angrily glowering at the man. For his part, Davis looked really sorry and started to say something to Mike, but must have decided bringing Marlee and the others back should be the first order of business.
“Don’t be angry with him, Mike. He was only doing what was required and honestly, it was necessary to save your life. Everyone’s, in fact. You know as well as I, no matter how well an operation is planned there are always outliers that shift the objective and sometimes the outcome itself. Losing the medical and scientific staff after landing was a major setback, as was running into such a well-organized group of fanatics the other day.”
“It seems you have things well under control now,” Mike said, waving his hand around at the opulent suite.
“We’re secure for now, and we have the bunker, but my objective isn’t to bury myself in a fortified tomb for the remainder of my days. We have a rare opportunity here, one that almost never occurs in the history of a species.”
Mike wasn’t a stupid man, but he thought it better to let Julian continue speaking. He wanted to know what he was really after. “I’m listening,” was all he said.
Julian took Mike’s apparent interest as a positive sign and did just that. “Like I was saying, we have an opportunity to build a new society on moral and sound principals. This will not happen overnight and without opposition. The first thing we need to do is secure the area around the bunker before we make our next move.”
“The place looks pretty secure from where I’m sitting. What next move?”
“The bunker itself is almost impenetrable, as you’re aware, but if we don’t secure the surrounding area what good will that do us? Again, I have no interest in spending my days locked underground. Dream big, Mike … always dream big. I plan to take the underground rail into D.C. to see what talent still exists and look for any semblance of a functional centralized government.”
“If there is?”
“Then we see what direction our remaining political class is headed and what we can do to assist, if deserved. If not, or if they are undeserving, then we decide where to settle, claim the land, and start a new America.”
“All the secrecy and that’s it? That’s the plan; rebuild America in your image of how it should be?” Mike said incredulously. He wasn’t sure if the guy was serious or had lost his mind. Wealthy people were crazy, Mike decided.
“So you think I’m crazy, do you?”
Mike laughed at that; his private thoughts must’ve been painted all over his face, “What makes you think you get to decide something like that for others? We still have laws and a Constitution even if the government’s decimated. There’s a succession plan and I have no doubt some officials survived. They’re like cockroaches.”
“You want some career politician who’s done nothing other than propagate their own slimy and corrupt existence each and every election cycle taking the lead in protecting you and those you care about? Rationing life-sustaining supplies, providing security? Rebuilding this great nation and deciding your future?”
Mike paused. He really had not thought about it that way. The scary thing about this conversation was the fact Julian was making a shit-load of sense. The last election cycle was particularly brutal. The Conservatives melted down when an outsider attempted to insert himself into a system of professional cronyism and back-door deal-making. Then Candidate Crowder persevered, cementing a long-shot bid to become President Crowder even after enduring an intensive smear campaign funded by just about everyone within the political spectrum regardless of party affiliation. President Crowder had just been entering his second year in office when the assassination occurred. They eventually arrested a radical who spent his days as a professor at the University of Kentucky. It was a bloody execution as executions go. They hit President Crowder while he was visiting an elementary school in Texas, blowing the entire school to oblivion. Thank God the school wasn’t in session yet or the carnage would have been catastrophic. Mike recalled the headlines as if it were yesterday. The Vice President was elevated to the Presidency, where he made an effort to quell further violence, primarily by caving on many of the opposition’s demands, gun control a primary target. Many heavily democratic-leaning states such as New York and Californian saw guns banned entirely. The country settled down with President Schott winning a halfhearted reelection bid. He was the sitting President when the apocalyptic shit hit the fan, and no word of his survival was made public before media started to falter and go dark.
“I think we need to figure out what’s happening elsewhere in the county before we make any long-term clandestine plans,” Mike said, starting to come around to Julian’s way of thinking.
There came a smart rap on the door and, without waiting for a response, Davis opened the door and walked in with Marlee, Eric, and Reid in tow. When Marlee spotted Mike standing outside on the balcony with Julian she broke from the group and ran to him, giving him a hug that almost squeezed the breath from him. Eric calmly gave Mike a once-over to make sure he looked well, and Reid was more interested in the over-the-top furnishings and design of the suite. Davis hung back, keeping a wary eye on the entire group.
“They’re all doing well as you can see. Now can we get down to business?” Julian asked Mike.
“What kind of business are we discussing?” Eric asked as he came up and stood by Mike’s side looking squarely at Julian.
Mike answered before Julian got started. “Julian’s a huge prepper and wants to start his own country, but he needs us, Marlee to be exact, to get things going.”
Julian smiled at Mike’s oversimplification of his plans, partly because he was correct. “Mike is right in the sense I plan on taking control of my own destiny. My suggestion to all of you is to do the same, and yes, Marlee is vital to our survival.”
“How so?” Eric asked. Mike knew Eric enjoyed the back and forth of a negotiation and didn’t mind if he stepped in to drill down to what it was Julian wanted to accomplish, where they fit in
and
what was in it for them.
“Her change is considerably more advanced than mine, but make no mistake, we will encounter others that have similar enhancements. Some, like us, will be good people; others, like them, will be pure evil,” Julian said as he pointed at a point off in the distance.
“What’s more evil than the Changed?” Reid asked.
“For starters, the leader of the church band we encountered. They believe I’m some sort of Second Coming, so I’ve been able to use them to clear out the Greenbrier and the surrounding area. I spoke with Marcus and he seems to think Brattleboro’s founder was affected like Marlee and me. The problem is he considers his Change a gift directly from God.”
“How’s that our problem?” Mike asked.
“We need to pay a visit to D.C. and see what remains. If nothing, this is as good a place as any to start over, and a religious fanatic with even a small group will be nothing but trouble. Some of the people his followers
cleansed
were not even Changed; they simply didn’t accept his spiritual leadership. This makes him a very dangerous man, Mike, not only to us but to any survivors still in town or people passing through looking for safety.”
Marlee, who had been standing at the edge of the balcony looking off into the peaceful quiet of the morning, turned and looked at Mike and Julian. “Maybe he’ll leave us alone. We should let his people go before they figure out Julian isn’t what they think he is.”
Julian smiled. “That’s the kind of critical thinking I’m looking for. We let his people go earlier today; all except for Marcus, who surprisingly wanted to stay.”
“Can you trust him?” Mike asked.
“Not sure yet. I have supplies and equipment stashed everywhere, but one thing I don’t have is people. This isn’t the kind of event where most employees stick around afterwards looking for their paycheck. Most are dead for all I know, and we will need people, good people.”
“For what?” Reid asked.
“All the guns, provisions, and equipment in the world are worthless without people. Like it or not, safety will only be found in numbers from this point forward.” Julian paused before continuing, “The Changed, organized groups of people with bad intentions, will pick off individuals or small groups from here on out. It’s always that way after a disaster, and humanity has never experienced shit like this before; people will be as dangerous as the Changed. We need to find the good ones and save them because they will be what saves us.”
Julian’s words were brutally honest, hushing everyone for a moment as the reality of it all sank in. Mike was starting to develop an in-depth understanding of Julian’s motivations. What Julian wanted was no different from what the rest of them wanted.
Survival.
Julian was wealthy, but wealth meant nothing anymore. Julian was prepared but not for the extent of the chaos engulfing the world. Julian had resources but not enough people to accomplish his goals. Mike suddenly realized Julian’s offer wasn’t really an offer at all, it was a plea propositioned as a business offer from a man that was used to making things happen and getting whatever he wanted. This revelation leveled the playing field and cemented Mike’s decision.
“Julian, we’ll partner with you.”
Julian looked a bit surprised by Mike’s sudden statement, then smiled warmly, understanding Mike recognized his offer for what it truly was. “Partners then till the end.”
“Partners then till the end,” Mike replied evenly. Eric looked at Mike, but knew enough not to ask any questions at that moment.
Mike held up his hand and started ticking off their to do list. “So we need to deal with a religious fanatic who may have enhancements similar to or more advanced than Marlee’s, who is also likely on his way here as we speak. After dispatching that minor problem, we skip over to D.C. in a secret tunnel to check on what’s left of the government. We do all this while gathering people, stockpiles of supplies, and eventually establish our own self-governed safe zone while we combat the Changed and shitty people. Meanwhile, we hope whatever caused this mess, be it prophesy, Rapture, or shitty luck, doesn’t toss any more shit sandwiches our way.”
“So when do I get one of these fancy rooms now that we’re all chummy?” Reid asked impulsively, inciting laughter from everyone and breaking the tension in the room; sadly, they would all learn in the days ahead how rare moments like this would be.
~ The End ~
Tim Scott is a father of two, works full time in Tampa, Florida, and served in the United States Air Force for close to a decade prior to that. Tim is lucky to have met a wonderful woman after his move to Tampa and hopes to get married someday. Currently he is in a perpetual state of engagement while he works out some kinks in his personality (for her). Tim has always dreamed of writing a novel and in early 2015 decided to make it a reality. His first full-length novel, Particle Z, is waiting on you to read and enjoy. When Tim isn’t working, raising kids, or writing, he enjoys reading and looking for ways to avoid the honey-do list
.