A Thousand Nights with You - 25. The trump card

Day 299

I was never a difficult kid. Even mom said so. Since young, I was brought up mostly in the rural sides, moving from town to villages in different parts of the African continent. It was only in the past three years that we came back ‘home’. I was born here, but I never felt I belonged to this world where things are more important than people.

It was funny that it takes the whole world to collapse for people to realize that.

Christmas and birthdays are pretty easy affairs for me. A book, a hand-me-down from Tristan, a home cooked meal – they are more than enough to make my day. I never understood the craze over the latest toys or electronic gadgets that you can see everywhere in the store. I prefer to make my own toys. Tristan once joked that I would probably stay with our parents till I’m forty. On hindsight, what he said is true. In fact, I would give anything to be with my parents again. And I would stay with them till my very last breath if I could help it.

Every time we moved to a new place, it takes a while for me to feel that it is home. The stinging smell of fresh paint, the faint coat of dust from being unoccupied for months, and the first few sleepless nights when we moved in – it’s always the same thing for me. Tristan gets used to it much more easily than I do. He is like water; he fits in anywhere he goes.

Very often, even moving a few miles away could mean the locale speaks a totally different dialect. By the time I pick up a phrase to greet or to thank people, I have to start all over again. But somehow, I never felt different in Africa, despite the fact that I looked different from the other kids. Sometimes they can’t speak English, or even Afrikaans for that matter. But they grew up in hard times. And hard times make fast friends too. You share a little sweat and tears together and you will find strangers smiling at you even though you don't understand each other.

And because we can't really communicate with the locals, I find my family talk a lot more with each other than the others do in the city. A lot of my middle school friends thought that it’s a very dorky thing to do, if not weird, to want to tell my family everything that is going on in my life.

But like I said, I never asked for much. All I had wanted is my family. That’s why I can’t let anything happen to my brother.

The world is in shades of grey. I am no longer able to see things in colours. It’s like I’m stuck in one those black and white horror movies that we used to watch when we’re younger. Only this time, I am not the hero. I am the monster. Right now, all I can sense is the maddening scent of blood, the sweet aroma of flesh, and the sound of thumping heart.

We are getting closer.

The rubbles blocked the way to the barricade, and the haunting moans of the infected echoes throughout the mountains. There must be a million or more swarming the base, and the echoes made it impossible to hear anything that is beyond a few yards away. The horde ignored us as we moved among them. We have the same sterile scent as them. Only the dark ones can tell us apart.

We squeezed our way through the massive horde, trying to get up the mountain road. It reminded me of this time where Dad dragged us all into a stadium to watch baseball. He’s trying to get us to be used to city life again, doing the things that city boys do. Tristan loved it, but I hated it. You can hardly breathe with all those bodies pressing against you. This is a hundred times worse.

For a moment, I lost Mark. We are holding on to each other, but we are being pushed in all directions. Then it is sheer chaos. My heart is pounding as I struggled to stay in balance. It is impossible to stand still - the horde is moving towards the barricade. Mark is taller than most of them, but my eyes can’t see well enough to pick him out from the crowd. I had to rely on his scent instead.

I could find him through the hive mind, but it is too risky. They would know that we are here. And I know that they would be here too. A horde this size would not persist on a pointless onslaught unless they are leading them. They could be anywhere.

Out of a sudden, a hand grabbed me from the side. I panicked. I was being pulled in and almost lost my balance. For a moment, I thought they found me, or I am going to trip and be trampled to death.

“Thank God!” Mark said as he pulls me in real close to him.

He brought me to the side of the cliff wall where there is a small opening that let us stand still without being pushed forward. It is the only place where we can pause and see what’s happening ahead. I stepped on a stone as Mark lifted me up to sit on his shoulders.

“What do you see?” He asked.

It was a crazy sight. The infected are throwing themselves against the rubble. Those in front are already crushed to death. But as the front few collapsed, the ones behind stepped over their bodies and continued the push. Some smaller rocks were being pushed over this way. But when the second, the third and fourth wave died from the crush, they collapse and created another step to ease the climb for the ones behind. At this rate, they would breach the rubble easily.

“They are slowly getting up on to the rubble. No, wait -” I tried to focus my attention. I am starting to hear gun shots. “They are getting across.” I said.

I can see one or two crossing the rubble at a time. Many, who tried to climb, fell off the cliff or fell down from the rubbles. They aren’t smart enough to pick the right foothold. We waited until the crushing stopped. There are enough that fell to make it easier for the climb up the huge chunks of boulders.

Mark points to the rock in front and said, “We need to get up there quickly.”

About forty yards ahead, we saw one of the smaller boulders. We can get up and stay safe from being crushed. Every moment, a body falls to the ground and the horde just stepped over them. As we get closer to the rubble, more fell.

We made a dash. The moment we slow down, we would be caught in the stampede. I could feel the bodies beneath my feet. I stepped on a face with part of its skull crushed. It might be an eyeball that I stepped on but I tried not to look. Mark paved the way for me, standing in front and pushing off the infected that are blocking our way.

Ten yards more.

“Keep up!” He shouted without turning behind. With so many hands reaching out, he can no longer tell if I am still holding on to him.

We made it to the rock and pushed ourselves up. It is close enough to the barricade for me to survey the situation. We can’t dash straight in or we’ll be shot down like the rest. This time I don’t need Mark to prop me up. But it is not easy to tell between day and night for me when everything you see is in shades of grey. I know it is day time now, only because of the heat and the intoxicating scent of human sweat that it carries. It means fresh meat. The horde doesn’t need the dark ones to stir them into frenzy. I can barely stop myself from letting the red film descending on my vision.

Come on, don’t lose focus now.

From the scent, I can tell that there are at least a dozen soldiers holding the barricade. There are far more behind them. But they are not the worst of my problems.

They are here.

The dark, cunning ones that my brother calls the ‘super-blackies’, they are our predators. Each of them stands on a piece of rock, just like us. But they aren’t hiding or crouching down. They are standing as still as a statue, their eyes vacant, and their minds are totally lost in the hive. Both of their arms reached out to the sky in a ‘V’ shape. It looks as if they are praying or something. It was a harrowing sight to see three calm figures, standing almost zen-like in the midst of this mindless onslaught. With a horde of this size, there must be more around. But for now, these three are the ones that we need to worry about.

These dark infected ones run purely on instincts. They are like the alpha wolves of a pack. They know that we don’t belong to any packs and for that reason they would try to hunt us down. To them, Mark and I are like renegades, runts of the litter that have to be put down.

On the barricade side, the soldiers are building a fortified wall of stones and timber to block off the road entrance permanently. It stands at almost twenty feet high. A few infected bodies scattered on the road directly in front of the barricade. They are still getting across pretty slowly. But once the soldiers run out of ammunition, the settlement would eventually be overwhelmed. Numbers and time is not on their side. From where I am, every inch of the horizon is filled with the infected.

I observed their pattern of shooting closely. The soldiers are being prudent with their ammunition. They take only one shot to land a kill. And they only shoot if the infected cross the thirty yard line away from the barricade. It is the optimal distance to shoot. There is absolutely no waste at all. Every bullet counts for them, and I am counting on that to stay alive.

Staying on top of the rock protects us from the stampede, but it makes us more conspicuous to the dark ones. It is a good thing their attention is fully absorbed into breaching the barricade. Otherwise, they would notice us. The infected would never think of climbing a rock for their own safety.

“This is not a good idea.” Mark said.

He is right. I don't have a clear idea what I'm going to do to save Tristan. If he's caught stealing, how am I able to get him out? And that's provided if they hadn't hanged him already. Maybe I can pay them back for the things he stole? I don't really know, but I am desperate.

“It’s the only one I have.”

The plan is for me to get through the barricade to find Tristan. Mark is going to distract the dark ones away. Somehow, I will have to get across to the barricade alive. Those are not ordinary soldiers at the barricades. They are snipers. They never miss a single shot. After that, I will have to improvise.

“Thank you, Mark.”

He pulls me in for the longest hug. I buried my face in his chest, feeling the warmth that had protected me from the cold for countless nights.

“Please stay alive.” I said.

It was a lot to ask from him. It’s not because he’s risking his neck for me to find my brother. It is because staying alive seems to be the hardest thing to do these days. Sometimes, we wake up and find ourselves surprised that we are still lucid. Waking up every day seems to be a miracle by itself.

“You too.” He said, patting my cheeks gently.

I smiled. I’m glad that he didn’t say goodbye or anything. It would have been bad luck to do so.

I crouched on the rock, keeping a low profile as I watch Mark push his way through the crowd. He got close to the edge of the cliff, where there was an abandoned car rammed straight into the vehicle barrier. He got on top of the vehicle trunk and perched behind the back window screen. He casts a glance at my direction. One of them is only about twenty to thirty yards away from the vehicle.

It was too close for my comfort.

Normally, it takes both of us just to take down one. The dark ones are not like the rest - they are smarter, faster, and very unpredictable. If there are more than one of them, we would run as fast as our legs could bring us. Facing the three of them alone is total suicide. The only chance that Mark has is to lose himself in the crowd as soon as they start chasing him. Stay away from the hive mind at all cost. Use up all the moonshine if he has to. These creatures are probably colour-blind like us, they can’t tell us apart visually and our scent blends right in.

Mark’s eyes start to cloud. He is entering the hive mind and revealing his presence. Two turned around. One of them stepped down from the rubble, scanning across the horde to find him. He is still crouching low, making it difficult to spot his presence visually. He needs to get the attention of all three before he shows himself.

Come on, take the bait.

The last one turned around but he hasn’t moved away.

I retreated deeper into the shadows, watching Mark on the other side of the road. The two got down and made their way into the crowd, trying to get closer and sense his location. Mark hadn’t moved an inch. The third one is still hesitating to pursue or to carry on with the siege.

Hurry up. Please!

Suddenly, Mark hurled a rock and hit the last one in the head. That finally taunted it to get down but it revealed his location a little too early.

The infected starts to circle around the car. They are blocking off his escape until the three could reach him. They are controlling them. And they know Mark won’t be able to disperse them in time. Not when there are three exerting their wills on the horde. I can’t reveal myself now and even if I did, the two of us wouldn’t stand a chance against them. It is a battle of wills where we are outnumbered.

I have to trust Mark to do this.

He surprised me by jumping straight into the horde behind. He knows they won’t attack him. They are just crowding mindlessly to block his way. He leapt far enough for him to use brute strength to push the infected off the cliff. It created an opening for him to dash into the crowd.

I held my breath as Mark flees. The horde parted ways for the three while Mark pushed off the ones in his way. It didn’t take him long to disappear completely in the massive writhing sea of bodies.

I felt myself breathed again. No wonder he chose that spot to reveal himself. He knew it would be easy for him to escape.

This is my chance to get across to the barricade.

I look at the dead bodies lying before the barricade. If I stand still, they might shoot me even before I reach the line. Somehow I need to get their attention but the moaning would drown whatever things I said. I have to halt the attack, at least for a brief moment to introduce my presence.

I enter into the hive mind.

The red film descends before my eyes. The grey world becomes shades of red. It makes the physical world even harder to see, but I am connected to what the infected see, hear and feel. I can sense Mark. His heart is pounding hard from running, but that means they are still pursuing him.

I focus my attention on the surrounding horde and visualize an image of us at the Cathedral. I tried to imagine as vividly as possible, the scent of fresh meat, the tiny orphans, the fear and adrenaline in our blood. Soon, the infected horde crowding at the front starts to turn back and pushed against the ones behind. It confuses the rest. Some turned around and some stood still. But it bought me enough time to get up to the front of the rubble and I jabbed the last shot of morphine into my arms to snap out of the hive mind immediately. The three might have already noticed my presence.

The shooting ceased when the horde stopped approaching. I hoped that got the soldier’s attention. Before I reveal myself from behind the rocks, I lifted the white flag and waved it for a few seconds. It is the universal sign of non-hostility.

I slowly emerged.

All the rifles are pointing at me as I approach, and I am careful not to cross the firing line.

“One more inch and I will shoot!” One of the soldiers shouted. I could barely hear them at thirty yards. I realized it didn’t matter that I waved the flag. All they can see is my deathly white skin and strange amber eyes.

As far as they are concerned, I am one of them.

I had expected this, but it still cuts me anyway. But there is no time for that. And if I turn around now, they would see the fungal growth at the back of my neck and probably shoot anyway. There is only one chance that will get me safely across the barricades.

“Grey. I want to see Grey.”

The soldiers obviously look scared and confused. But this is not the first time they see someone walked through the horde unscathed. Tristan made that precedent. And it is also not the first time that they heard the infected speak as well. Both of which are my doings.

People are the most dangerous when they are scared. Grey is my only chance to get inside safely. He doesn’t get scared easily, and I hoped that he would be sympathetic, considering what had happened to his wife.

Above all, I believed that he was my friend. But now that I’m changed, I don’t know how he would react to me. He doesn’t owe me anything. We barely met each other for a month.

“Who are you?” They asked.

“Daniel Reynolds.”

My name stirred a reaction among them. Perhaps they know my brother and see the resemblances in our faces. Tristan told me that we are supposed to be famous because our fight at the cathedral had turned into some war propaganda video. Then I suddenly remembered that I’m supposed to be dead.

A figure approaches from the distance. It was a familiar masculine scent. My eyes aren’t as good as my nose so I tried to ignore the blood lust and focus on my vision.

Daniel? Can you hear me?

It is a familiar voice. The blobbing shades of red take a while to clear up.

“Daniel?” He repeated.

It is Grey. His eyes are wide in shock. He looked like he seen a ghost. Is he surprised to find me alive or is he frightened by how I look now?

“I-Is that really you?” He said. He looks like he hadn’t slept for days.

I lowered the white flag and nodded.

He breaks into a smile and hugged me.

I was surprised that he would do that. I expected him to be apprehensive, or at least keep a safe distance from me. Does he know what I had become? It must be obvious from the way I look. It was a simple hug, but for a brief moment, it doesn’t make me feel like a monster.

Behind the barricade, more figures showed up. This time, it didn’t take too long for me to recognize them.

Grace pulls down her surgical mask. A broad smile beams on her usually stoic face.

Peter and Felicia both lowered their weapons. The red-headed boy nods at me, almost proudly.

Sister Latoya was carrying little Adam, looking at me from afar. She made a sign with the hand holding the rosary. A tiny hand waved at me. I am surprised Adam still recognised who I am. He has grown so much since the last time I saw him.

They stepped forward one by one. People thought that they were crazy, going out in the open when the horde was creeping in only moments ago.

Get back!

I can hear the shouts behind the barricade. They didn’t get back, but they hugged me instead.

They brought me over to the barricade. A few rifles raise up immediately, confused whether they should fire. Grey held up his hand and commanded them to hold.

I didn’t expect them to react this way towards me. And I didn’t expect to feel this way either.

I could feel the lump in my throat. I should say something – an apology, a greeting, we haven’t seen each other for more than half a year. But I was too proud.

For so many nights, I lived in fear and hunger, clinging on to Mark, sleeping in the streets and the sewers. I was too ashamed to seek out Tristan, even though I had seen him sit by the cliff day after day. I would rather he thinks that I’m dead than to see me live like a ghost.

Despite the hunger raging inside, there is an even stronger feeling that holds back the instinct. I should have asked them to stay away. It isn’t safe to be that close to me. I was being selfish. I missed this feeling. The welcoming smiles, the hugs that are freely given; it’s as if I was never infected. It feels like home.

“We knew you’ll show up.” Grace said.

“Tristan… Is he still…”

“Yes. That idiot should have told us about you from the start.” Peter said.

“We tried everything to save him. This assault is a timely excuse to delay the execution. No one has the time to hang him. For now at least.” Grey said.

“God forbid. We won’t let anything happen to Tristan.” The Sister said. She puts a hand on Felicia’s shoulders.

I smiled. I realized something at that moment. It is what you have been through together that bind people. It isn’t time.

“Welcome home, kid.” Grey said.

Three simple words are all it took to make me cover my face with both hands, heaving for the longest time. It felt like only yesterday that Grace had told me to toughen up. And I did. I never cried for the past six months no matter how much I missed Tristan or missed my old life. There are times when it gets so tiring - all that running and fighting against the hunger – made it so tempting to just give it up. I kept it all in because of Mark depended on me.

Welcome home. I keep repeating those words in my head.

Home is where you are wanted. It is not a place. I realized that from being uprooted from village to country to continents every few years.

Our reunion is cut short by the continued assault. They had returned. Grace took me into the settlement while Grey went to see Major Payne. I had asked to see him immediately. He is the only person who can decide on the fate of my brother. After all, stealing supplies from the army isn’t a simple theft. It is treason. I should have known better to let him do it in the first place.

A much larger army is stationed behind the barricade. A few hundreds, or maybe even a thousand soldiers are in the open space where it once used to be a car park. There are so many beating hearts that makes it so hard to focus. The black zone commune is about ten-twenty hectares, Grace told me. Most of it are woods. It looks more like a fortress than a village with all that fortifying construction going on. Many tents were pitched and soldiers are patrolling everywhere. All eyes were on me wherever I go. Some even pointed their rifles at me, almost by reflex.

Everyone is on edge.

Grace told me that Tristan is locked up in the medical centre, which means he is safe for now - much safer than he would be if he is here. They are trying to build houses on stilts, using wood and mud. It might work against a few hundred infected, but once the entire horde breaks through. They would need steel to hold off a much larger number. But being trapped in this mountain, there are no way they can get that kind of supplies.

Grace took me to the medical tent where the injured soldiers are being tended to. There aren’t any injured soldiers around. They either die or they become one of them. By now, she must have seen the fungal growth at the back of my neck. I wasn’t too surprised when she asked all the medics to leave the tent immediately.

“We thought Tristan was mad when he told us about you. I found it hard to believe, to be honest.” She puts on a pair of rubber gloves.

“What changed your minds?”

“Grey saw strange things that day. The horde spoke, Tristan walking through them totally untouched. He claims that it was you. If Grey hadn’t seen it himself…” Grace shrugged and sighed.

“That SOS signal I saw, that was Grey?”

“Yes. Tristan told us about how you communicate through the flash lights.” She said.

I shifted uncomfortably as she assembles the medical kit, feeling conscious about the time I spent here. It is less than an hour, but I am already feeling the separation anxiety with Mark. I don’t know how he is doing out there right now.

“Can we do this another time? I want see Major Payne immediately.” I said.

She puts an arm on her waist and made me sit on the bed while she pulls out a syringe. “You are not going anywhere until I take a good look at you, young man.”

“You don’t understand. Mark is alone out there... It isn’t safe.”

She puts her mask back on and took off my shirt. “I need to make sure you are safe around Payne. Otherwise, you won’t do Tristan any favours.”

Grace traces her hand over the more recent bite marks on my body. “What happened?”

“It’s… not what you think.” I told her about the day I found Mark. None of us were bitten when we turned.

“And these bite marks are…”

“They are made by Mark.” I said softly. “We had to keep each other alive. And… we throw up anything else we eat. We can’t… We won’t resort to eat corpses. They aren’t many around anyway.”

Her eyes glimmer. She puts a hand on my head, watching me as my voice softened to a whimper, “We tried to eat whatever we can – spunk, nails, hair… Sometimes we get too hungry and…”

Grace holds me as I sob quietly in her breasts. “It’s all right, Dan. It’s over now. I’ll find a way to get your life back.”

“Really?” I wiped my eyes with the back of my hand.

“I promise. I know it’s not easy. And coming from me… But you have to learn to trust others from time to time. No one can survive on their own.” Then she said with a smile, “Not even you. Tristan didn’t call you the ‘roach’ for nothing. He keeps telling everyone that neither comets nor dinosaurs could kill you.”

I broke into a smile. “I thought Peter said that?”

Grace rolls her eyes and gasps, “Oh, your silly brother prints his own news and reads them. You can’t blame me for thinking that he is crazy.”

I laughed. And I looked at her and said, “Please don’t tell Tristan about this.”

She nods slowly. It will break my brother’s heart to know how I had lived. Then she said, “I am so proud of you, Daniel.”

A medic returned and told us that Major Payne would meet us at the ‘pen’, wherever that is. He is busy right now, with the horde incursion and everything. Grace told him that if Payne knows what’s good for him, he gets his sorry ass over there immediately.

The medic can barely hold back a snigger. Grace may be some famous researcher but she swears like a street whore. She drops some of the blood she drew from me and places it over the microscope.

“Just as I thought. There is no HRN7 in your blood.”

“What does that mean?”

“When Tristan told me that your mind wasn’t wiped out, I suspected that by some freak accident, Mark had caught the parasite but not the virus. It transmits through saliva, but the parasite’s spores are airborne, even though they can only live a few seconds in the air.”

Grace took another syringe and injects something into me. It didn’t feel like morphine, or any depressants that I had ever taken.

She looks at me, as if waiting for some signs to show. I didn’t know what to expect, and she looks like she didn’t either. Within a few minutes, something strange happened. My vision is starting to turn normal.

“I… I can see colours now.” I gasped.

“You normally don’t?”

I shook my head. And her eyes brightened when she asked, “Mark too?”

“Yes. How did you… What was that you gave me?” I said.

“A cocktail of RIs.” She said, smiling as if she had fully expected me to be confused. “Tristan said you took all kinds of depressants to nullify the effects of the parasite?”

I nodded. That’s why he had to steal them. Then Grace said, “Didn’t your parents teach you not to prescribe your own medicines?”

I shrugged. “So what the hell are those RIs you talked about?”

She tosses my shirt back to me and said, “Come. I will show you instead. We are meeting Payne there anyway.” She said.

Outside the tent, a small crowd gathered. It seems that news of my arrival had spread and I had caused quite a commotion. Some of the residents who came carried weapons with them. Curiosity, fear, amazement and even outright disgusts are on their faces. Peter escorted the way, shoving people aside to let us through.

Why isn’t he tied and gagged?

Did you see that? He just looked straight at me!

He gives me the creeps.

These are just some of the things they said.

“You should bare your fangs at them.” Peter said. “Trist would have thought it’s funny.”

“Oh… I want to do much more than that.”

Peter gave me a look, and I realized the joke is too true to be funny. The few times we encountered humans in the time when Mark and I were infected, they all reacted to us in the same way. It didn’t matter if we can speak. They didn’t just treat us like lepers; we are like monsters to them. I didn’t think here would be any different. It was tempting to believe I can stay with Tristan again, but I’m not sure if it is a good idea to see this every day. Sometimes, people turn into monsters simply because the others believed that they are one. At least out there, Mark and I still have each other.

Grace cocked her head to get me to follow her inside a tent. There is a metal cage holding a placid looking infected. It is a female, all chained up to the bars. She did not even get stirred up by the presence of Peter and Grace. And this is no ordinary infected. She had the pitch black skin and giant fungal growth sprouting all the way to her shoulders.

I stepped back in fear. This is one of them.

“Something wrong?” She said.

“They are dangerous! No wonder they are tearing down the mountain. You must kill her now! They can see everything!”

“Relax Daniel, she is in stasis. There is no brain activity whatsoever.”

“What did you do to her?” I asked, still not daring to get near the cage.

“I gave her the same thing I gave you. That’s how we used to capture the infected ones for research. We got this one when she pops her head over the rubble.” She took a blue tube and showed me.

“This is RI, or Re-uptake inhibitors - we used to treat mental illnesses with them by blocking off certain brain signals.” She said as she knocks on the metal cage. Still no reaction from her.

“Then… Why didn’t I turn into a vegetable like her?”

“It was a shot in the dark.” Grace admitted and shrugged. “It puts the parasite to sleep by blocking the neural transmitters that it sends to your brains. The HRN7 virus destroys the brain so that the Cordycep parasite can take over the mind completely. Since your mind isn’t destroyed, I was hoping that it will work differently on you.”

She holds a jar of a dismembered fungal tumour thing. I can’t believe I have this inside my body. I can see some of the brain stem was still attached to it.

While waiting for Major Payne, Grace told me more about her research. In some people, the brain is being wiped out completely. Those are the normal grey skinned, slow moving infected. Some retained their speed because their motor cortex is intact.

“This one”, Grace pointed to the female inside the cage, “had her frontal lobe of the brain unscathed. That’s why she is still able to think even though her memories and her personality is gone.”

The virus reacts differently to different people just like any other virus. Genes, lifestyle, immune systems, all plays a part which determines how much of the brain will be destroyed by HRN7. That’s why the parasite and the virus are symbiotic. They need each other to propagate themselves.

“It is the perfect storm.” Grace holds up the jar and shows me. “This parasite had been preying on insects for centuries. The virus made it possible for it to colonize humans.”

I stood in awe, trying to take all that in, and figuring what it might mean for Mark and I. We might have a real shot in living a life after all. But first, I need to worry about Tristan.

“When can I see Payne? Mark must be getting worried out there.” I said.

Grace sighs and shakes her head, “Patience, kid. I’m telling you all these so that you can save your brother.”

“What do you mean?”

“We study them to win a war.” Grace walks to the series of brain scan hanging on the whiteboard and point at one of them, “And to win a war, we need to take out their leaders. Now, we know who they are. But we can’t find them or even get near.”

She throws a glance at me. And I understood what she meant.

“But I can.” I said,

“That’s right.” Grace smiled and nodded. She looks at the dark one and said to me, “Offer Payne a deal he can’t refuse. Save the settlement in exchange for your brother’s life.”

I had came into the barricade without knowing how to get my brother out safely. I didn’t even have a plan to get out alive. What Grace said had gave me hope.

She puts her hands on my shoulders and said, “Stay here, Dan. You have family and friends.”

“Those people outside… They won’t welcome the likes of me. Or Mark.” I said.

“Maybe not now. But they will.” She said, and smiled broadly. “We had built houses here. But you and Mark can turn them into homes. Imagine the things you can do besides keeping us safe. We can scavenge choppers, gas, building materials, solar panels. The possibilities are endless. I know you’re worried about your conditions and all… but let me worry about that instead.”

Outside the tent, I can hear people approaching and talking. She walks to the entrance flap and look out. Soon, the flap opens and a paunchy middle-aged man comes in. His eyes are sharp like an eagle but he looks like those who keep their thoughts to themselves. He is accompanied by Grey and two other soldiers. And when he saw me, he was taken aback.

“W-What the hell? Who is this?” He said.

He is probably shocked that I am walking freely instead of being in a cage or something. Then Grace walks to my side, putting a hand over my shoulder and said,

“This is Daniel Reynolds.” And with a dramatic pause, she said to him, “He, my friend, is our trump card.”