The Pure: Book Three of the Oz Chronicles (8 page)

“I turned to retake my position at the
front of the line. April had stopped crying. I had either scared the tears out
of her , or she had replaced abject fear with abject anger.

“Carl lifted his hand again and our band
of captives and captors continued our journey through the woods.”

***

“We walked for hours. Bobby never
uttered another word. His silence was deafening. Each minute that passed
without him speaking was a reminder of what I had done to shut him up. I told
myself that it was necessary, but it never made me feel any better.

“I tried to get my mind off it by
studying our captors. They were more than a gang of thugs and punks. They were
disciplined. They did what Carl said without hesitation. They worshipped him. I
got the feeling he could kill one of them and the others wouldn’t question him.
What’s worse, the crueler he was the more they seemed to love him. I wasn’t
optimistic about our chances.

“We reached a clearing near a water
inlet. The smell of sweet grass and pluff mud was almost overpowering. We were
forced to break into a slow jog. Bobby stumbled and fell, but Tank quickly
helped him up.

“On the other side of the clearing was
an enormous house. It must have been 10,000 square feet. The front yard was as
big as two football fields and nearly every of inch of it was covered in tents.
There must have been three hundred of them, every size and color.

“A girl of about thirteen poked her head
out of one of the tents. ‘They’re back!’ she screamed.

“With that, hundreds of people descended
upon us. They greeted their returning comrades like heroes. The chatter
exploded, hugs were exchanged. A few small children ran to Carl. Their parents,
or who I assume were their parents, quickly retrieved them and apologized
profusely to their fearless leader for the children’s behavior. He tried to
smile, but couldn’t quite manage.

“He watched the excitement of the others
with disinterest and growing impatience. When he felt it had gone on too long,
he leaned over to Jerry and whispered something in his ear.

“Jerry stiffened and quickly ran to the
driveway of the house. ‘Formation call! Formation call! Now!’

“The group’s chatter came to a sudden
halt. They hurriedly formed rows and lines until they were in a tight, clean
formation standing at attention. It was apparent each person had an assigned
spot in the formation and they were in place within seconds. It was amazing and
frightening at the same time.

“Jerry spoke, ‘Listen up, people! We
left here nine soldiers strong, but we have returned with only seven. Janet and
Preston died in an ambush by the Bashir. They let Carl down. He trained us
better than that, and I for one am ashamed of the way my fellow soldiers died.’
He turned to Carl. His eyes welling up with tears. ‘I’m so sorry, Carl. You
don’t deserve to be disrespected like that.’

“‘Please, forgive us, Carl,’ the crowd
said in unison.

“He raised his hand and faked a
sympathetic grin. ‘They were weak,” he shouted. ‘We are stronger for their
loss!’ “The crowd roared. ‘We are stronger!’

“Carl caught me glaring at him with a
look of disgust. For a second I thought he looked embarrassed, but then I
thought better of it. He wasn’t embarrassed. He was furious that I dared to
look at him.

“‘I’ve brought you entertainment.’ He
motioned to us, and every set of eyes focused on us. ‘Tomorrow we test their
usefulness.’

“A unified cheer went out across the
crowd. I examined the faces of April, Bobby, and Tank. We were not as
enthusiastic as the crowd.

“Carl walked to the house, and Jerry
addressed the crowd. ‘Break it up and get back to whatever it was you were
doing. Those on kitchen duty should begin preparations for Carl’s dinner.’

“Jerry approached our group, and paced
back and forth in front of us. He became more and more agitated as time passed.
‘You follow Carl now.’ There were the telltale signs of a lump forming in his
throat. His voice was hoarse and his breathing irregular. ‘He is all. Do you
understand me?’ Tank and I shared a glance. This infuriated Jerry. He bolted
forward and rammed his forehead into mine. I began to tumble backwards, but he grabbed
the back of my head and pulled me toward him. ‘Eyes on me, puke! I’m talking
about Carl. You show him respect by listening to me!’

“April whimpered. Something she
shouldn’t have done. Jerry growled like a mad man and shoved her to the ground.
‘Shut up!’ He raised his leg as if he was about to kick her. I stepped in front
of her and pushed him back. I don’t know what possessed me. I’m not a hero. I
had no aspiration to be one, but something I can’t explain took me over at that
moment.

“‘Leave her alone,’ I said. My mouth was
dry and I clenched my fists in anticipation of putting up a meaningless fight.

“Jerry snapped his mouth shut, clicking
his teeth. He looked like a wild animal about to devour his prey. I stood my
ground, clenching my fists tighter.

“As I prepared to be beaten to death,
Jerry’s mood suddenly changed. He grinned and turned to his friends. ‘This one
dines with Carl. Throw the others in the pens. Get the doc to check them out.
They’ve got a big day tomorrow.’ He turned to me and lightly slapped me on the
cheek. ‘I hope you’re ready for this.’

“Confused I said, ‘Why me?’

“‘Because Carl only dines with leaders.’

“More confused, I chuckled. ‘I’m not the
leader.’

“He smiled. ‘Your actions say
differently.’ He reached around and grabbed April by her shoulder and pulled
her to her feet. ‘Otherwise, she’d have a couple of broken ribs by now.’

“April buried her face into my chest and
wrapped me in a bear hug. The girl in the group pulled her away from me.

“‘Don’t leave us,’ April begged. ‘Please,
Archie.’

“‘Everything will be all right,’ I said
as the others were led away. I had a real fear I would never see them again. I
never realized how much they meant to me until that moment. I vowed to myself
to do everything I had to do to make sure we would be back together.”

***

“The dining room was in pristine
condition. It had none of the modern amenities I was used to, electricity or
air conditioning, but it was as unfazed by the end of the world as anything I
had seen before. The rest of the mansion was in disarray, but the dining room
was eerily inviting.

“I sat at the head of a large dining
table. Fancy china and silverware had been set around the table, twelve
settings in all. I was alone for the moment. There were two entrances to the
dining room, and I could hear conversations coming from both doors. Running was
not an option.

“Hours passed before anyone else joined
me. I had nodded off and awoke to the sound of people coming into the room. My
captors, minus Carl, were among the group. They took their seats at the table.
Five other people, three girls and two boys, took the remaining seats. All of
them were young. The oldest may have been my age, and I put the youngest at ten
years old. They talked amongst themselves without acknowledging me.

“Carl entered and they all stood at
attention. I looked on nervously, not knowing what to do. The redheaded girl to
my left signaled to me to stand. I did. She smiled approvingly.

“Their leader circled the table
inspecting his troops. He held a scowl until he reached his seat at the other
head of the table. The group kept their eyes down. He gave the smallest smile
and sat down. Only then did his soldiers dare sit. I awkwardly took my seat and
grew more nervous with each passing second.

“The door to the kitchen erupted and a
staff of servants filed in carrying piping hot bowls of soup. The bowls were
placed in front of each dinner guest. Another team of servants filled our
glasses with crystal clear water.

“No one started dinning until Carl
slurped up a spoonful of his soup. The tension in the room slowly evaporated as
we all ate. The soup was perfectly prepared homemade chicken gumbo. My eyes
rolled back in my head after the first taste. I thought I was going to pass out
it tasted so good. Bits of laughter rang out as people broke off into private
conversations. Only Carl and I didn’t engage in conversation with anyone. We
both sat silently and ate. Freshly baked bread was brought to the table. It was
warm and buttery and nearly melted in my mouth. A hint of guilt pinched my
brain as I greedily gobbled up the food that was put before me. I had a gut
feeling April, Little Bobby, and Tank weren’t eating nearly as well. They were
staying in pens after all. I wasn’t exactly sure what gruel really was, but I
imagined they were becoming intimately familiar with it as I ate one of the
best meals I had ever had.

“The main course was rack of lamb
stuffed with goat cheese over a bed of garlic mashed potatoes. It was
impossibly good. After the first bite, I stared at my fork like it was a magic
wand. I couldn’t be experiencing what I was experiencing. I heard a chuckle.

“The redhead was wiping her mouth with
her linen napkin. ‘It’s real,’ she said. ‘It’s real good.’

“I was embarrassed that she had caught
me staring in disbelief. I just nodded and stuffed a fork full of potatoes in
my mouth.

“The dessert was a slice of caramel
apple pie with a mountain of homemade vanilla cream. I was guessing it would
have been ice cream if there had been any way to cool it. I ate it as if it
were the last course of the last meal I would ever have and, for all I knew, it
was.

“We all leaned back in our chairs and
began the process of digesting the gourmet meal we had just consumed. By my
calculation, it took us approximately thirty minutes to eat the entire meal,
and as a result of eating so fast, every mouthful was lying heavy on our
stomachs.

“Carl took a sip of water and dropped
his napkin on his plate. He scanned the faces in the room. They looked away as
his eyes traveled from face to face. Without warning, he picked up his plate
and threw it against the wall behind my head. It shattered into little pieces.

“Everyone in the room jumped, but
remained seated. ‘Our existence, boys and girls, is as fragile as that plate,’
he said calmly. ‘I don’t think you people really get that. Am I wrong?’

“No one answered, but I snickered
unintentionally. The redhead looked at me and shook her head, warning me to
shut up, but it was too late.

“‘What’s your name?’ Carl asked me.

“‘Archie,’ Jerry answered for me.

“Carl shouted, ‘I asked him!’ He
breathed deeply to settle his nerves. Through clenched teeth he said, ‘What is
it you find so funny, Archie?’

“The redhead lightly kicked me under the
table. I got the message. Ask for forgiveness and hope I receive it.

“‘Nothing,’ I said. ‘I didn’t mean...’ I
stopped myself. I looked at the redhead and she gave me a look that reminded me
of my wife. It was a fleeting look that flashed through her eyes in a split
second, but I saw it and couldn’t shake it. I cleared my throat. ‘I... I
lost...’ I couldn’t find the words to say what I wanted to say without making
Carl even madder. ‘I’m twenty-one. I know that’s not very old. Although, in
this room I’d say it makes me the second oldest guy here. I’ve seen how fragile
life is first hand. I lost my family. I had a wife, a son... I had plans for
the next fifty or sixty years of my life... I don’t know what happened to them.
I imagine what happened to them every day. I try not to, but I can’t help
myself.’ I saw a tear running down the redhead’s cheek. I smiled and turned to
Carl. ‘At the risk of really pissing you off, I think that telling these kids
they don’t know how fragile life can be is... well about the dumbest thing I
ever heard. Just because they were strong enough to survive the end of the
world doesn’t mean they’re not broken into a million little pieces like that
plate.’

“The oxygen was sucked out of the room
as each member of the dinner party gasped at my unabashed insolence. I had
challenged the unchallengeable. I got the feeling they fully expected to see me
be beheaded by the sheer will of Carl’s anger.

“He sat silently, twirling his fork in
his hand. His eyes fixed on me. I could feel the heat of his stare. ‘Jerry,’ he
said still looking at me. ‘Assemble everyone in the library.’

“A quick glance at Jerry revealed a
seething, sweaty soldier anxious to choke me within an inch of my life.

“‘Jerry!’ Carl shouted.

“Jerry turned to him. ‘Sir?’

“‘Assemble our captains in the library.’

“Carl’s second-in-command stood, eyes
back on me. ‘Library,’ he shouted. ‘Now, double time!’

“The others quickly scooted their chairs
back and trotted in an organized fashion to the hallway. The redhead looked
over her shoulder at me before she exited. I prayed for her that nobody noticed.

“The room was empty with the exception
of Carl and me. He stood with his glass of water and moved to a chair next to
mine. His posture was relaxed and unthreatening. He crossed his legs and leaned
back in his chair. ‘Why didn’t you save your family?’