came home on leave, a surprise. It was my mother’s birthday. I found her in her trailer curled in a tight ball in a corner, bloodied. She was dead but hadn’t been for long. I was an hour late...one damn hour. It was almost as if she had been waiting for me, trying to hang on as if she had known I was coming. I’ll spare you the gory details about her suffering, but she was beaten up pretty bad before he...before he stabbed her.”
Aidan stopped as Sarah put her hand to her mouth and closed her eyes. Ethan put a comforting hand out to cover hers and smiled at her, she offered a weak smile in return.
“I was devastated,” Aidan said. “She was the only family I had and she was stolen from me. As I stood by her grave, alone, I realized I was all she had too. Looking at her birth date, the same day as her death, carved into the cold stone, I grew incensed. We had never had anything except each other, and even that for not too long. Now she was gone, my entire family was gone. It was an angry heartless and soulless fury that possessed me.
“I wanted revenge in the worst way. I used my position and the resources I had available and I tracked down the animal that killed her. I hunted him with less compassion than a rabid wolf. I made him scream out an apology, made him beg like my mother must have. Then I shot him and put him out of my misery. I turned myself in later that day, handed over my weapon to my commanding officer. I gave a full confession and was sentenced.”
He was done. It was out. Aidan waited for their reaction; he waited for them to order him out of their old bomb shelter. Ethan’s grandfather or great-grandfather must have put it in during one of the world wars. Someone must have added to it later because it had three small rooms. It was still full of canned food, old canned food if the dust was any indication. It had a woman’s touch that made him smile; his mother had liked knick-knacks. Useless things, he thought, but she liked them.
“Would you like more tea?” Sarah asked him.
Aidan looked at her stupidly, he had just spilled his guts and she wanted to get him more tea? Then he realized her hands were working nervously. The tea wasn’t really for him it was for her. Poor woman, I’ll bet she’s never killed a spider. I’ll bet she asks her husband to shoo them out of the place.
“More tea sounds great,” Aidan answered, and suddenly it did.
* * * *
Later, Aidan and Ethan sat alone. They talked about their childhoods, their jobs, the turn of events, and finally their situation. They both agreed there wasn’t any army coming in to save them. Aidan had been walking for two months, keeping track of the dismal days by notching marks in his ‘acquired’ belt. Sarah, Ethan and Ricky were the only people alive he’d seen. Aidan had lied to Ricky when he said he hadn’t seen bodies, he suspected there were thousands. He thought it a cruel irony his cell had kept him alive. He had ended up in solitary for sure, a different and crueler solitary, he thought with bitterness. Two months of unending death, fear and confusion, he felt he had more than served his time.
“No one’s left to clean up the mess out there. Cities lay in ruins. Bodies buried under tons of debris or worse, out in the open left rotting. Flooding, lots of flooding. You’re lucky you’re high on a hill. Not far from here cars are buried higher than their hoods under water,” Aidan said after a long sip of brandy, his eyes closed, he thought he held heaven in his mouth at that moment, trying to rid his mind of the devastation he had witnessed, though not succeeding. He knew the images would remain with him until the end of his days.
“It’s that bad?” Ethan asked again, he was becoming agitated. He had been hoping it wasn’t that bad, hoping there would be more people, doctor people, specialist people, hospitals, some kind of help.
“What’s wrong with her?” Aidan quietly asked.
Ethan became taciturn, he
Aidan stopped as Sarah put her hand to her mouth and closed her eyes. Ethan put a comforting hand out to cover hers and smiled at her, she offered a weak smile in return.
“I was devastated,” Aidan said. “She was the only family I had and she was stolen from me. As I stood by her grave, alone, I realized I was all she had too. Looking at her birth date, the same day as her death, carved into the cold stone, I grew incensed. We had never had anything except each other, and even that for not too long. Now she was gone, my entire family was gone. It was an angry heartless and soulless fury that possessed me.
“I wanted revenge in the worst way. I used my position and the resources I had available and I tracked down the animal that killed her. I hunted him with less compassion than a rabid wolf. I made him scream out an apology, made him beg like my mother must have. Then I shot him and put him out of my misery. I turned myself in later that day, handed over my weapon to my commanding officer. I gave a full confession and was sentenced.”
He was done. It was out. Aidan waited for their reaction; he waited for them to order him out of their old bomb shelter. Ethan’s grandfather or great-grandfather must have put it in during one of the world wars. Someone must have added to it later because it had three small rooms. It was still full of canned food, old canned food if the dust was any indication. It had a woman’s touch that made him smile; his mother had liked knick-knacks. Useless things, he thought, but she liked them.
“Would you like more tea?” Sarah asked him.
Aidan looked at her stupidly, he had just spilled his guts and she wanted to get him more tea? Then he realized her hands were working nervously. The tea wasn’t really for him it was for her. Poor woman, I’ll bet she’s never killed a spider. I’ll bet she asks her husband to shoo them out of the place.
“More tea sounds great,” Aidan answered, and suddenly it did.
* * * *
Later, Aidan and Ethan sat alone. They talked about their childhoods, their jobs, the turn of events, and finally their situation. They both agreed there wasn’t any army coming in to save them. Aidan had been walking for two months, keeping track of the dismal days by notching marks in his ‘acquired’ belt. Sarah, Ethan and Ricky were the only people alive he’d seen. Aidan had lied to Ricky when he said he hadn’t seen bodies, he suspected there were thousands. He thought it a cruel irony his cell had kept him alive. He had ended up in solitary for sure, a different and crueler solitary, he thought with bitterness. Two months of unending death, fear and confusion, he felt he had more than served his time.
“No one’s left to clean up the mess out there. Cities lay in ruins. Bodies buried under tons of debris or worse, out in the open left rotting. Flooding, lots of flooding. You’re lucky you’re high on a hill. Not far from here cars are buried higher than their hoods under water,” Aidan said after a long sip of brandy, his eyes closed, he thought he held heaven in his mouth at that moment, trying to rid his mind of the devastation he had witnessed, though not succeeding. He knew the images would remain with him until the end of his days.
“It’s that bad?” Ethan asked again, he was becoming agitated. He had been hoping it wasn’t that bad, hoping there would be more people, doctor people, specialist people, hospitals, some kind of help.
“What’s wrong with her?” Aidan quietly asked.
Ethan became taciturn, he
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