Fiction: Afterlife Volume 3 (Chapter 31)

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Afterlife is a sci fi/western action serial published every other week. Join us in a post-apocalyptic journey through a future where life has become little more than a struggle for survival. However, where there’s life, there’s always hope.

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Read the previous chapter here:

Afterlife, Volume 3, Chapter 30

Where:

Ayman and Ava go out on their first date.
The resistance leaders try to figure out their next moves.
Shelly walks out of a Denver town hall meeting.

Find the Volume 3 Table of Contents page here.

View the Map here.

Check out Afterlife on Goodreads and don’t forget to rate it.

 

Afterlife, Volume 3, Chapter 31

The sky was a stunning blue as Paul sat in the comfy leather chair.  The dusty ground was scattered with weeds, something unheard of in the world outside of Denver, at least in the deserts where Paul had spent his entire life.  There was a cool breeze and the weather was perfect.  Paul smiled and closed his eyes as he waited.  The setting would be downright serene if not for the hums and knocks coming from the garage next to the alley Paul was sitting in.  A mechanic was preparing a sand bike for Paul and Abby.  A trader had found it years ago and brought it back to town.  Now the mechanic was working out some kinks to make sure it could take Paul and Abby on their journey.  The air canisters were full and the breathing apparatuses were working properly.  It was just a matter of adjusting the engine for prolonged use.

Paul looked up to see Aiyana approaching him, wearing a beautiful white gown.  There was a white flower in her hair and she was as pretty as ever.  “So you’ve made your decision, then.”

Paul stood and smiled.  “I made it long ago.  Before I even came here.  Why don’t you come with me?”

“You know I can’t do that,” she said.  “I need to be here with my family.  My grandfather’s very old, and my parents need my help.”

Paul nodded and held her in his arms.  “You know I’ll be back.”

“Do I?” she asked.

“I’ll be back,” he said.  “When the fighting’s over.  I promise.”

“Make sure you keep that promise.”  She smiled and looked into his eyes and Paul couldn’t help but kiss her.

They were interrupted by voices as Abby and Sammy approached.  “I’d like to travel with you,” he said.

Abby shook her head.  “Paul will be enough.  You need to stay here and try to rally the people.  We need any help we can get.  Hold onto the communicator Paul gave you.  I’ll signal you when I’m in Rose City and you can make your way there with whoever you can get.”

Shelly had left shortly after she barged out of the town hall meeting.  Several guards tried to stop her.  Five were injured, one nearly fatally, but according to Aiyana, he had stabilized and it looked like they were all going to live.  The way Shelly manhandled the guards struck fear into many of the people of Denver and most now wanted Abby and Paul to leave.  There were still some holdovers, but Abby and Paul were going to leave as soon as the sand bike was ready, regardless.  Hopefully there wouldn’t be any trouble.  Paul hoped to just drive through any guards who tried to stop them.  He was excited about rejoining the resistance, but he was also excited about the prospect of one day seeing his family again up north in Adirondack City.  He wondered what his parents, his brother, and his sister would think of Aiyana.  “Well,” Sammy said, “good luck to you both.”

“I’ll signal you when it’s safe to come to Rose City,” Abby said, and Paul waved as Sammy walked away down the alley.

“Take care of yourself,” Aiyana said to Paul.

“I’ll see you soon,” Paul said.

She smiled.  “See you soon.”  With that, she kissed him one more time and walked away.  Paul watched her disappear around a bend in the alley.

“Is he almost done?” Abby asked.

“Huh?” Paul asked, still thinking about Aiyana.

“The mechanic,” Abby said.

“Oh, yes, ma’am.  I’m sorry.  Yes, he’s almost done.”

Within seconds of Paul saying that, the mechanic emerged from the garage holding a huge wrench, his brown overalls covered with oil and sweat.  “She’s ready.”

Paul and Abby walked into the garage and Paul got onto the bike.  Abby got on behind him.  The back of the bike behind Abby was packed with bags holding the diamonds and various other items Abby thought would assist them on their journey.  Paul started the engine and drove down the alley and out into the city.  He turned the booster on and the sand bike rocketed down the main street of Denver.  There were no guards in sight.  The people seemed to be in awe, many of them never having seen such a vehicle.  Paul drove past Aiyana and she blew him a kiss.  He waved as he turned towards the Highlands.  He drove past the last few farms, a fallen skyscraper, and overgrown homes and shops.  The landscape grew greener as he reached the outskirts of town and shot out into the foothills.  The road was gone and he was now following a wide trail.  “Keep going straight for now,” Einstein said from Abby’s wrist.  “Once you’re well out of Denver, I’ll let you know the location of a trail that will get you close to Valhalla.”  Paul stepped on the accelerator and the sand bike shot through the woodlands into the foothills, heading towards the mountains beyond them.

<>

The bar was called the Singing Cactus.  Mavery had no idea what the name was supposed to mean.  She looked at the cartoony green sign above the bar as Big Ed sat beside her, munching away at peanuts.  “You and those peanuts,” she said with a chuckle.

“What?” Big Ed asked.  “What am I supposed to do while we wait for our food?”

Mavery sipped her dirty martini.  She loved the flavor the olive juice added to it.  “I don’t know.  Talk, maybe?”

“You know I ain’t much of a talker.”

She nodded.  “I know.  I’m just so nervous about my speech tomorrow.”

“You’ve given them on the air before,” Big Ed said.

“Yeah,” Mavery said, “but this one’s important.”

“None of the others were?” Big Ed asked.

Mavery smiled.  “Yeah.  I know.  I’m probably being ridiculous.  This one’s a little different, though.”

“Different how?” Big Ed asked.

Mavery glanced at the pretty black blues singer who was standing near the piano.  The music blended into the bar atmosphere so well, she’d barely noticed it.  She started thinking about Michelle Hemingway.  Mavery wondered what had ever happened to her.  “I don’t know,” she said.  “This one’s about racism, for one thing.  At least partially.”

“You’ve talked about that before,” he said.

“Tensions are so high here,” Mavery said.  “Everyone’s worried, and for good reason.  And in the midst of it all, this whole racism issue is rearing its ugly head.  White supremacists are coming out of the woodwork.  They want to rebuild another Iron Town and we can’t let them.”

“That’ll never happen again,” Big Ed said.  “Especially not here.”

“People used to say that back in the day, too,” Mavery said as she sipped her martini.  “And yet it did happen.  Yeah, Rennock let it happen, and he’s gone now.  But who’s to say someone like him won’t pop up again?  And enable another Brevington?  And people turn a blind eye if they’re profiting from the situation.  They pretend it isn’t happening.”

Big Ed nodded.  “Yeah.  Well that’ll just be another battle for us to fight, I guess.  If it happens.”

“These people hide under the woodwork like cockroaches,” Mavery said, “waiting for their opportunity.  That opportunity was the apocalypse.  They used chaos and disorder in this post-apocalyptic world to thrive, just as the IAO has now.  The white supremacists built their society on hatred, just as they have throughout history.  We destroyed it once again and now we need to make sure it stays that way.  We can’t let another town or nation built on hate immerge.  Never again.  Never again will white supremacists be allowed to gain a foothold.”

“We need to stamp them out,” Big Ed said.  “Step on them, just like you step on cockroaches.  Find them in the shadowy places they hide and spray poison all over them.”

Mavery frowned and hit his arm.  “You sound like Evileye Alphacore.  We can’t just kill people.  We have to fight their ideology, though.  And replace it with a better one.”

Big Ed shrugged.  “You have your way.  I have mine.”

“Well thank God I’m the leader here, then,” she said.

“Oh you are, are you?” Big Ed ate some more peanuts.  He swigged from a big mug of beer in front of him.  Mavery noticed Della walking up to the microphone near the piano.  She nudged Big Ed.

“Look,” she said.  “It’s Della.”

Della was dressed in a shiny silver dress and was wearing her usual aphro wig.  She had an air of class about her, even more so than usual.  Mavery and Big Ed watched and listened as she started singing the jazz standard “All the Things You Are.”  Mavery had forgotten how beautiful Della’s voice was.  She was happy to see that Della had time to enjoy herself with the lull in the fighting.  When the song was over, Mavery watched Della go to the bar and start a conversation with a tall, handsome white man with short, blonde hair.  The bartender finally placed the plates in front of Mavery and Big Ed.  Mavery had ordered a plate of fried chicken with mac and cheese and greens and Big Ed had ordered biscuits with sausage gravy.  They ate and talked and Mavery glanced over and noticed that Della seemed to really be hitting it off with the tall blonde man.  The food was delicious.  It reminded Mavery of the food her mother used to make.  Thinking about her mother made her upset, though, since she had no idea what had happened to her since New Atlantis had fallen.  Mavery looked up and noticed Della and the tall blonde man holding hands as they walked out of the bar together.  She smiled.  “Looks like Della’s getting lucky tonight.”

Big Ed finished chewing a bite of food.  “Hopefully he’s not the only one.”

Mavery hit him in the arm.  “You pig.”

“Oink oink,” Big Ed said with a chuckle.  “I guess that makes you Misses Pig.”

“Oh?” Mavery asked.  “We’re not married yet, buster.  And you’ve got a lot of gall calling a woman a pig.”

“I didn’t mean nothin’ by it,” Big Ed said with a grin.  “You’re a very beautiful pig.”  She hit him in the arm again.  They finished their food, danced a little, and left the bar.  Mavery had gotten her speech out of her mind for a little while, but she was thinking about it again as the two of them walked home hand-in-hand along the cobblestone street in the moonlight.

<>

Mavery leaned towards the microphone.  The red light turned on, signaling that she was on the air.  Big Ed, Matt Lund, Francis Ford, and Victor Lowe were behind the studio glass, watching her.  Big Ed gave her a thumbs up.  She took a deep breath and closed her eyes, trying to get over her nervousness.  When she spoke, she spoke clearly and succinctly.  “I believe in the Southwest Resistance.  I believe in Rose City, and I believe in you.  I don’t believe we will fall to the IAO.  Not today.  Not ever.  The IAO are opportunists.  They’re criminals, liars and cheaters.  They’re barbarians who only think of themselves and their needs.  Survival of the fittest.  Every man for himself.  We’re families, mothers and fathers and children.  We’re hard workers.  We live life the way it was meant to be lived.  We work together and we cooperate with one another, and that’s what sets us apart, and that’s why we’ll win and the IAO will lose.  We have heart.  We have purpose.  They have none.”

She paused and took a deep breath.  “We’ve had hard times, lately.  I won’t lie.  It’s been tough.  I’ve been here living through it, right along with you.  It’s been a dark time for the world.  The IAO is trying to destroy us, but I believe we will win, as long as we don’t destroy ourselves.  We are all human, and we can’t let our differences define us, not when we need to join together to defeat our enemy.  Let’s try to remember one of the most important values we hold dear.  That all people are created equal and have equal rights under divine law.  Black people and white people are equal.  Women and men are equal.  Old and young, rich and poor, every gender, every race, every religion and culture, every sexual preference, all will be considered equal by our government and our policy.  Never will we impose a law that sets one group above another, and we will fight for the freedom of all.”

She thought for a second as she stared at the microphone she was speaking into.  “I’m a black woman and a Christian, but more importantly, I’m human.  We can embrace our cultures without attacking others.  We can live as individuals without separating ourselves from one another.  We can no longer afford to separate ourselves and attack each other with our words or actions.  I’m a strong believer in freedom of speech, but this freedom does not extend to speech that intends to take freedoms away from others.  This is freedom of speech turning against itself and becoming tyranny.  You will not be allowed to say things in any format that threaten the rights or liberties of any individual or group.  Freedom of speech does not cover hate speech, speech that incites violence, speech that supports terrorism, or speech that threatens physical wellbeing.  Those speaking, writing, or otherwise communicating in this manner will be prosecuted and stopped for the good of our people as a whole.  This means newspapers, groups, individuals, anyone.  Any gathering that is intent on the purpose of threatening the freedoms of others or doing any of the things I’ve just mentioned will be broken up.  Our very lives are being threatened by an outside enemy.  If we are to survive and flourish, we cannot attack ourselves.  We are one people, working together for our good and wellbeing.  And as I said before, I believe we will win.  We will win because we are fighting for what is right and what is true.  We are fighting for ourselves, for our children, and for our future.  We are fighting for the future of the world.”  She closed her eyes and shook her head.  “Nothing can be more important.  So it’s time for us to forget our differences and join together to defeat our enemy.  In the same spirit, we can then join together to build a new world, a new future where everyone is free to pursue life and happiness.  Thank you and God bless us all.”

<>

The prison didn’t look anywhere near as comfortable as the jail cell Della had found Ace in the last time he visited him.  Two guards escorted him to a window.  Ace was seated at the other side, his hands in chains.  He was still wearing a gray jumpsuit, and he sported the same bald head and goatee.  Della sat across from him and Ace smiled.  “Welcome to my new home,” Ace said.  “I wish I could be a better host, but my hands are tied.”  He lifted them, showing the chains, and grinned.

Della remembered hearing that Ace had escaped from many prisons and jails in the past, but he’d been waiting to see what happened with the trial, and also to see if Abby showed up.  “Don’t give up hope,” Della said, implying that he didn’t want Ace to try to escape.  That would definitely jeopardize any legal means Della had to get Ace out of the prison.  “Abby could still show up.  She’s very resourceful.  She’ll find her way here, and she won’t let you stay in here.”

Ace shrugged.  “You’re right.  Abby could still show up.  Pigs could fly down from the sky, also.  Anything’s possible, after all.”

“Some things are more possible than others,” Della said.  He frowned.  “I’m sure you know about what’s happening.  With the IAO and the siege.”

“I know enough,” Ace said.  “We don’t watch the news here, but every once in a blue moon a particularly benevolent guard gives me a slight morsel of information.  And if I’m lucky, a slight morsel of food.”

Della nodded.  “They’re getting desperate here, honey.  It’s not going to take long for them to realize that people like you would be more help in the army than you are locked up behind bars.”

“Don’t worry,” Ace said.  “I’m not going to try to escape.  Where would I go?  We’re all prisoners here right now.”

“I just know you,” Della said.  “I know your past.  And I know how you think.”

“I know you probably think I’m immoral through and through,” Ace said.

“Not necessarily,” Della said.  “I just think you have different morals from most other people.”

“Sure,” Ace said, “I’ve done some iffy things over the course of my life, but I’ve always been loyal.  I just need to find something or someone to be loyal to, and I’ve found it.”

“And what’s that?” Della asked.

“Abby,” Ace said.  “She saved my life.  I owe her mine.  Annabelle felt the same way before she died.  We would have been hanged by Nat Bigum if Abby hadn’t intervened on our behalf.  Sure, she had her own selfish reasons for doing it, but that doesn’t change that she did it.  And now I’ll follow her to the end.  Assuming she’s not dead.”

Della smiled.  “That sounds like it could be more than just loyalty.”  He’d sensed some feelings there in the past, also.

Ace shrugged.  “I always help people who help me.”

Della nodded.  “Well, you hang in there.  I’ll keep trying to convince the resistance leaders that they need you out there, not in here.”

“You’re probably wasting your time until Abby gets here.”

“Waste of time or not,” Della said.  “I don’t have anything better to do.”

“Go find yourself a man,” Ace said.  “Enjoy life a little.”

Della grinned.  “I found a pretty nice guy last night.”

Ace grinned.  “Really?”

Della nodded.  “Could be more than a one night stand.  We’ll see.  I’m going to have dinner with him later this week.”

“Sounds good,” Ace said.  “Is he a soldier?”

Della shook his head.  “He’s an accountant.  I met him in a bar where I was performing.”

“An accountant?” Ace asked.  “Very interesting.  Well, hopefully things go well.”

“Hopefully,” Della said wistfully.  “Anyway, my time’s about up.”

“Take care of yourself,” Ace said with a wink.

“You too,” Della said.  Two guards came to Ace behind the glass and helped him to his feet.  Della turned and was escorted out of the visiting room by the two guards.  Ace was putting on a brave face, but Della knew that if Abby didn’t reach Rose City soon, he was going to start looking for a way to escape.  If that happened, Della would probably never see him again.

<>

The rocks, cliffs, and mountains whizzed by as Paul increased the speed of the sand bike.  Both he and Abby were now wearing their oxygen masks since the air was no longer breathable.  There was plenty of oxygen in the tanks in the rear section of the sand bike, but Abby was still worried.  They were in uncharted territory.  No one knew how vast this area was.  Einstein had directed them onto a narrow trail and at the speed Paul was driving, Abby felt like her life was in danger as he made sharp turns at cliff edges and rocketed down into valleys, but he was proving himself to be the best driver she’d ever seen.  She thought Horseman, Digits, and Ace were all exceptional drivers, but none of them compared to Paul.  He was a pilot after all.

“Turn around the next bend,” Einstein said, “and you should be in Valhalla according the coordinates your father programmed me with.”

Paul turned around a bend around a huge cliff and rocketed into a sandy plateau the size of a small city.  He stopped the sand bike and let it hover down into the sand.  “Where to now?”

“According to the coordinates,” Einstein said, “this is it.  Make sure you keep using your breathing apparatuses.  The air here is far from breathable for humans or any other mammals.”

Paul turned off the engine.  Abby got off the bike, opened the back of it, and took out the air canister her mask was connected to.  She strapped it to her back and looked around.  There was nothing.  A cliff rose up above to her right, hundreds of feet above her head.  Another cliff to the left and straight ahead dropped off into a deep ravine.  There were no other trails, no other roads away, only the narrow trail they’d come in on.  The cliff was sheer and would be impossible to try to climb.  Besides, one of the boulders at the top of the cliff looked like it was about to fall.  There was very little attaching it to the ledge it was leaning off.  “There must be some mistake,” Abby said.  “There’s nothing here.”

“I only know my programming,” Einstein said.  “This place doesn’t appear on any maps.”

Abby looked around as Paul joined her, his canister strapped to his back also.  “There’s nothing here.”

Abby nodded.  “Yeah.”  She studied the cliffs and the ground.  No sign of human disturbance.  For all she knew, no one had been here for thousands of years.  There was no reason for anyone to come here.  She kicked the sand.  “Einstein, are you sure those coordinates are correct.”

“They were some of the first data your dad entered into my systems,” Einstein said.  “Highly secure.  There’s no chance the data was corrupt.  And he took great care to check that the coordinates were correct when he programmed me.”

“Maybe whoever gave him these coordinates was wrong,” Paul said.

Abby looked up at the sky.  Everything had been riding on this.  This was her ultimate destination.  And there was nothing here.  “God, what’s happening?” she asked the sky.  She’d show up to Rose City with nothing but the clothes on her back.  And the diamonds.  But what good would the diamonds do on their own?  The IAO would kill her and take them.  She’d been expecting some sort of great weapon or something.  Who knows what she thought she would find in Valhalla?  But she thought it would be something.  A breeze blew some sand into a little swirl.  The silence was maddening, as if it were mocking her.  She looked up at the sky, imagining God looking down at her.  “So what now?  Where to from here?  Are we supposed to just march on to death?”

“Could there be something buried underground?” Paul asked.

“I detect nothing metal nearby,” Einstein said.  “Only rock.  No other substances.  There are traces of metal in the mountain far above us, but they are small and probably just traces of natural ores.”

“So we have no way of finding something if there is something here,” Abby said.  “And something that small’s most likely insignificant, anyway.”  She let out a deep breath.  She felt like God and the universe were mocking her.  What had she been thinking?  She was just some girl, nothing special.  What could she do against an army like the IAO?  “Well this is it, I guess,” she said.

“What do you mean?” Paul asked.

“This is it,” Abby said.  “I don’t know what else to do now.”

“We need to head to Rose City,” Paul said.  “We need to at least show up.”

“What good are two people going to do?” Abby asked.

Paul shrugged.  “I mean, what else are we going to do, ma’am?”

Abby took a deep breath and sat in the sand.  “Just let me think for a minute.”  Paul nodded and walked back to the sand bike, where he sat.  Abby cleared her mind and started thinking of her father.  When she was in a rough spot, he’d always known what to say to her.  “The rock in motion is the one that brings about change,” she said, remembering her family motto.  “The others could stay in one place forever and no one would ever notice.”  She closed her eyes and pictured her father speaking to her.  “Always keep moving.”  She stood.  “Always keep moving.  Never let yourself stagnate.  Always look for the rock that’s teetering on the edge.  That should be your guide.”  She opened her eyes and looked up at the rock that looked like it was about to fall.  “That should be your guide.”  She walked over to the cliff.

“What are you doing?” Paul asked.  Abby walked over to the cliff beneath the boulder.  “Be careful,” Paul said.  “That boulder looks like it could fall any second.”

“Exactly,” Abby said.  She started feeling around the rocky cliff, but there was nothing there.  She looked up at the boulder as she stood directly beneath it.  It was several hundred feet above her head, but even from where she was, it looked huge.  She wished she had a laser pistol.  Or explosives or something.  She’d used her concussion bombs to destroy Warrick Baines.  She thought about what else was in her bag.  A camouflage projector, an electromagnetic force field projector, a portable charger which still had plenty of charge left, and a radar jammer.  She walked to the bike and opened her bag, taking out the force field projector.

“What are you doing?” Paul asked again.

“Don’t worry,” Abby said.  She walked back to the cliff beneath the boulder with the force field projector.  She pointed it at the mountain, touching the mountain with the projection amplifier.

“I don’t know if that’s a good idea,” Paul said.

“Get ready to move if you have to,” Abby said.  She pulled the trigger and a force projection shot into the mountain.  She quickly ran away off to the side.  Paul started the sand bike engine.  The boulder seemed to move slightly.  Abby walked back to the same spot again, pointed the force field projector into the mountain again, and fired again, running quickly to the side as she had before.  The massive boulder fell, loudly toppling down the cliff.  It smashed into the ground past Abby shaking the ground and making a crater, bounced, and rolled across the plateau as Paul drove away from it, landing near the center of the sandy space.  Paul stopped the bike again and got off.  Several more rocks fell down the cliff and Abby was worried about an avalanche, but they stopped and everything was still again.

She was looking at a section of the cliff bottom that had broken away when the boulder fell.  There was an opening where ancient stone stairs led up into darkness.  She stepped through the opening and started ascending the stairs.  Abby took a small flashlight off her belt and turned it on as she walked up into the mountain.

 

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D9ioyEvdggk]

 

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Continue on to the next chapter:

Afterlife, Volume 3, Chapter 32
Where:
Abby enters Valhalla.
Revelations from the past inspire Abby.
Abby and Paul head for Rose City.

Find the Volume 3 Table of Contents page here.

View the Map here.

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Check out Michael Monroe’s page on Amazon to find other stuff he’s written.
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