Fiction: Afterlife Volume 3 (Chapter 36)

If you’ve never read Afterlife before, click here to go to the first chapter.

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 35

Where:
The resistance win the battle for Rose City.
Ace and Abby grow closer.
The resistance fights to free the Disputed Lands from the IAO.

Find the Volume 3 Table of Contents page here.

View the Map here.

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Afterlife, Volume 3, Chapter 36

Carrie Turner turned to see her father standing behind her.  Her mom was in the hallway entrance, a look of concern on her face, and her brother Jimmy was on the couch, scared and confused.  Her dad rushed over to her.  “Get in the house,” he said as he looked outside.  The IAO had taken over their small village of Westwatch weeks ago and things had been awful since.  Carrie had noticed the IAO occupation had especially taken a toll on the women and the other girls.  She’d heard rumors about the town judge taking advantage of some of the town’s women recently, though she wasn’t sure exactly what that meant.  Carrie’s mom said it was because the judge had known the IAO would have his back.  Carrie’s mom and dad were often talking about how the IAO were doing everything they could to take away the consequences of bad and evil actions, especially when it came to how women were treated by men.  Her father told her this was the first step towards a complete breakdown of society.  Carrie noticed the fear in the eyes of the children in the streets, and her parents had constantly told her to stay away from the IAO soldiers because they all wanted to do bad things to her.  She noticed two of the men in leather outfits running towards her house.  “What’s going on?” Carrie’s father asked as they approached.  “I heard gunshots.”

“Don’t you worry about it,” one of the men said.  “That your daughter?”

Her father nodded.  “She’s ten.  Go on about your business and I won’t ask any more questions.”

“She’s ten?” the other IAO man asked.  “She’d make a perfect hostage.”

“No way they’d shoot at us if we had her with us,” the first man said.  “Hand ‘er over and there won’t be no trouble.”

“I’m not gonna hand my daughter over to you,” her father said.  Carrie could tell he was getting angry.

There were several loud cracks and the sound of horses running in the sandy street.  The two IAO men turned and aimed their laser rifles and there was another series of gunshots.  The two men dropped to the sand and blood started spilling out of their heads and chests.  Carrie’s father turned and looked at her with a frown.  “Don’t look.  Go back in the house.”

Carrie’s mother grabbed her arm but she pulled away and rushed to the door by her father to look outside and see what was happening.  She saw a beautiful woman on a white horse riding next to a handsome man.  Both were wearing cowboy hats.  “This town’s liberated in the name of the Southwest Resistance,” the woman said.  “You’re free now.”  She winked at Carrie.

“Thank you,” Carrie’s father said as he put his arm around her.

“Don’t mention it,” the handsome cowboy said.  He tipped his hat and rode off.  The woman rode off after him, holding an old-style gun with a wooden stock.  Carrie had never seen anything so majestic as the horse the woman was riding.  She looked like an angel riding away.  Carrie hoped to be like her one day.  She had a new hero.

<>

“They came because of you,” Abby said to Mavery as Big Ed and Della stood guard by the door.  “It was your words that brought them here.  Just average people.  Villagers from all around the Disputed Lands.  Townspeople and villagers.  Men and women, some teenagers.  They were inspired by your words to take up arms, join the cause.  And they just may have tipped the odds in our favor.  Don’t get me wrong.  The Warriors of Freedom definitely helped.  They’re seasoned fighters.  Skilled warriors.  But to me, what’s far more impressive and important was that we had farmers and average Joe construction workers taking up arms and joining us to defend their homes against the evil of the IAO.  And that evil, at least partially, was brought out into the open by you.  And it was you who convinced people that they could fight back.  And you told them how to do it.”

Mavery shrugged.  “They would have fought whether or not I’d done anything.”

“But give yourself some credit,” Abby said.  “You gave a series of speeches on air and sent messages out about Rose City and the battle that was happening here.  You inspired them.”

“But General Rodriguez and Foxtrot showed them how to fight,” Mavery said.  “They got them started at least.”

Abby nodded.  “But don’t sell yourself short.  Humility’s one thing, but give yourself some credit.”

“Don’t discount the role you played, either,” Mavery said with a grin.  “I heard our troops shouting ‘Prometheus’ after the victory.  And they weren’t talking about some guy who left some messages thousands of years ago.  They were talking about you, Abby.  All my messages, all my speeches…   You were at the center of all of them.  They were all about you.”

Abby smiled.  “Well we make a good team, I guess.”  She had been pacing back and forth, but she sat down on the bed as Mavery sat at the small desk.  They were in Abby’s hotel room which had functioned as her makeshift office.  She’d been in Rose City for months now, but she was still living like a nomad.  Maybe it was time for her to finally buy a house like Mavery and Big Ed had done.  She glanced over at Big Ed, who was standing by the door eating peanuts.  Della, who was standing beside him, put his hand over his mouth and yawned.  “Anyway,” Abby said, “let’s talk about the issues you brought up earlier.”

“Well,” Mavery said, “first of all, Mary’s Raiders found the Jupiter Diamond in a cave in the outlands.  So that’s another two hundred billion.  We have well over a trillion dollars in our treasury now.  That’s more than most of the other nations of the world combined after the latest financial meltdown brought down the banking systems.  Still, we need to find the best way to give that money back to the people.”

“So run this by me again,” Abby said.  “The IAO purposely brought down the financial system by removing all regulations from the banking industry?”

Mavery nodded.  “They knew exactly what they were doing.  It was just another way of causing chaos and unrest.  They knew the lack of regulation would cause derivatives based on failing debt to bottom out.  What they didn’t realize was that your fortune was in diamonds, not imaginary financial constructs.  So as a nation, we’re wealthier than even they are now.”

“Their fortunes come from illegal activities and black market dealings,” Abby said, “and straight-up extortion.”

“Yeah,” Mavery said.  “That’s pretty much what their taxes amount to.  None of that money ends up going back to the people, though.”

“Well it’s going to be different with us,” Abby said.  “Even if that fortune mostly came from my family, it wasn’t all them.  There were a lot of donations through the years.  And the whole purpose was to give the money back to the people.  To be Robin Hoods, so to speak, or, dare I say it, Prometheus.  But it wasn’t meant for one person, or even two people, to decide where the money goes.  We have to discuss this with the council.”

Mavery grinned.  “We all know the sway you have over them, though, Abby.”

Abby nodded.  “Well, I’ll have to try to back out a little then.  This was never meant to be a dictatorship.”

“Still,” Mavery said, “I’d like to hear some of your ideas regarding how we can give back to the people a little.”

“First of all,” Abby said, “you know I’m not someone who wants to wage perpetual war.  For me, this war with the IAO is a necessity, but once we win, I want to do everything I can to perpetuate peace rather than conflict.  So that means we have to figure out what to do with our military once the fighting is over.  The army in some ways can be thought of as the hands of the government.  It’s part of a government’s duty to look out for the poor and needy.  To help its citizens when they are in need.  To look out for those who, for whatever reason, are unable to look out for themselves.  If we can’t help them, who will?”

“Maybe churches and charities,” Mavery said, “but they can only do so much.”

“And they have to rely on the generosity of the people,” Abby said, “and though I like to be optimistic, we both know that won’t be enough.  So I want to change our military into the world’s largest humanitarian aid organization.  They’re our hands in defending our people, so once the fighting’s over, they’ll become our hands in helping the people.”

“Do you have any specific examples of what you have in mind?” Mavery asked.

Abby nodded.  “Water is life.  This world’s water supply is really messed up and undrinkable for the most part, as you know, and I’m surprised we’ve lasted this long.  Part of that was because of Rennock and his cornering of water markets.  He had no motivation to better our water supply because he only cared about his own profits.  But we need to clean up the oceans, so I’m going to push large sums of money into creating water converters that are much like our air converters.  I’m going to push money into irrigation systems and rainmakers, and I’m going to encourage research to see about getting the rain to fall all the way to the ground once again.  We’re going to plant trees and plants, and we’re going to do everything we can to make water free for everyone once again.  For everyone in the world.  This is the key to rebuilding our planet.  It’s the only way we’ll survive in the long run.  And our army will defend the water, but they will also help distribute it to those who need it.”

“We have to watch that we don’t become communists, though,” Mavery said.  “It’s not the government’s job to control the production and distribution of goods.”

“It’s not,” Abby said.  “But in some cases, such as healthcare and clean water, these products are necessary for the people to survive.  The demand is infinite.  You can’t follow the normal rules of supply and demand.”

“So how do we get the people to listen to us?” Mavery asked.

“You know the answer to that,” Abby said.  “But we never want to control them.  We always want them to have a choice.  We always want to try to do what’s right.  That doesn’t mean forcing people to think that what we’re doing is right.  That means figuring out what’s right and doing it, at all times.  So rather than force our will on the people, we need to try to follow the will of the people.”

“And while we’re on the subject of the military,” Mavery said, “what about the campaign?  The attack on New Atlantis and the liberation of Numurka and the world?  I try not to get involved with the military stuff as much, but how’s the planning coming along?”

“I’ll be meeting again with the generals soon,” Abby said.  “Leave that stuff to us.  We’re almost done clearing the land west of the Rockies of the IAO once and for all.  Once we’ve finished with that colossal task, we’ll meet the brunt of their army face to face at Vulture’s Pass.  Then, it’s a straight shot to New Atlantis.”  Abby grinned.  “I have a plan.  It’s not going to be easy, but I think we’ll make it work.”

Mavery smiled and nodded.  “I have faith in you, Abby.  We all do.”  She frowned.  “So there’s the racial issues.  The unrest has been steadily increasing.  We’re pretty solid here in Rose City right now, but in some places racial tensions are threatening to unravel things before we can even get a foothold.”

“And the IAO are trying to sow unrest wherever they can,” Abby added.

“There are actually people on both sides saying they’re being treated unfairly by the justice system,” Mavery said.  “On top of racial issues, many are saying our justice system, or lack thereof, is failing women in cases of rape and sexual assault.  We’ve been letting towns and villages settle their own issues, but I think it’s time we have a more centralized system, at least when it comes to justice, so we can try to even out some of these disparities.”

Abby nodded.  “I’ve been thinking about this and planning a lot.”  She glanced at Della and smiled.  “Della’s been helping a lot, but we still have a lot of work to do.  I want our system of justice to be one that will look out for everyone.  All races, all genders, all classes.  The millionaire and the little guy alike.  Fairness will be the foundation.  No more people in power taking advantage of the underprivileged.  Not if I can help it.”

“So who’s going to lead our justice system?”  Mavery asked.  “I think if we want things to be more centralized, we need to find someone.”

Abby smiled.  “I think I know just the person.”

<>

Eileen Traymont was sitting in her fake hotel room thinking as she stared at the white-painted stone wall.  She glanced at the garden painting when there was a knock on her door.  A knock?  In a prison?  Was this some sort of joke?  “Go away,” she said with a chuckle, knowing whoever it was would come in anyway.  The door opened and there stood Abby in the doorway, her old friend from middle school, now turned rebellious criminal.  She was wearing a navy blue skirt with a sky blue button down blouse, and her black hair was down to her shoulders now, much longer than it had been months ago when Eileen had last seen her.  Abby had the same piercing eyes Eileen always remembered.  Abby sat in a chair across from her and smiled.  “Here to personally sentence me?” Eileen asked, glaring at Abby through her glasses.  “Maybe you’ll have the guts to tell me you’re going to hang me, unlike these other weasels here.  Or is it going to be the electric chair?  Or you’ll pretend to be nice and kill me off with some drugs the way they used to in the old world.”

Abby looked into her eyes and shook her head.  “We don’t have the death penalty here.”

Eileen smirked.  “Of course not.  High and mighty.  Or at least you pretend to be.  I can’t imagine how good it must feel for you having the tables turned.  I would have sentenced you to death if you hadn’t escaped.”

“I told you that we don’t have the death penalty,” Abby said.

“Then why are you here?” Eileen asked.  “If not to give me my final sentence?”

“I’m here,” Abby said, “to ask you to do me a favor.  For old time’s sake.”

Eileen raised an eyebrow.  “A favor?”  She looked around at her prison cell.  “Are you crazy?”

“Maybe a little bit,” Abby said with a grin.  “I want to offer you something.  A deal.”

“A deal?” Eileen asked.  She was obviously skeptical.

“We need someone to lead our justice department,” Abby said.

Eileen laughed.  “I hear there are plenty of kangaroos available in the Australian Territory.”

“I’m serious.”

Eileen studied her face.  “I guess you are serious.  So let me guess.  The deal is that you’ll let me go if I accept your ridiculous offer.  I guess I don’t have much of a choice, then.  Or at least that’s how you’re expecting me to feel.”  Eileen smiled defiantly.  “But the truth is that I’d rather rot in this cell and die than ever do anything to help the resistance.”

“That’s not the deal,” Abby said.  “I’m letting you go no matter what you decide.  The deal is, if you accept my offer to lead our new justice department, I’ll give you a seat on the Lead Council of the Free Society Federation.  There will have to be a vote, of course, but I think with my help, you’ll do okay.”

Eileen chuckled and shook her head.  “Well this just keeps getting more insane by the second.  Why on earth would you do something like that for me, an enemy?”

“You were never my enemy,” Abby said.  “At least I never saw it that way.  I want there to be checks and balances in our system.  We need some people like you.  We need people who see things differently, some differing opinions.”

“Even if my opinion is that you’re a bunch of communists?”

Abby smiled.  “Especially if your opinion is that we’re a bunch of communists.  Regardless of what you think of me, I’d like to consider myself a centrist.  Center left, sure, but a centrist all the same.  I’ve always tried to be fair.  You know that.”

“But you were robbing Rennock’s banks for resistance rebels,” Eileen said.

“I could tell you some things about Rennock that may make you think differently about him,” Abby said.  “We have evidence on video that his army was murdering civilians in Primrose.  Under his orders.  And this wasn’t an isolated incident.  It was part of a pattern.”

Eileen bit her lip.  “So you’re going to let me go.  And I get to lead the justice department.  And have a seat on the Lead Council.”

“That’s right,” Abby said.

Eileen smiled.  “I don’t know why you’re being so nice to me.”

“We’re friends,” Abby said.

Eileen nodded.  “Maybe so.  All right.  I’ll accept the offer.  On one condition.”

“What’s that condition?” Abby asked.

“You let me investigate whatever I see a need to investigate,” Eileen said.  “That includes any of your past crimes.  And those of any other Lead Council members.”

“I’ve already put everything out in the open,” Abby said.  “That’s all fine, but you have to enforce the laws we already have in place.  Only to be changed by a Lead Council vote.”

“A kangaroo court,” Eileen said.

“You’re free to turn me down if you want,” Abby said.  “I’ll set you free either way.”

Eileen nodded.  “All right.  I’ll follow your laws.”

“With your spot on the council you can work to change those laws,” Abby said, “but your vote doesn’t carry any more weight than the others.”

“Fine,” Eileen said.  “When can I get out of here?”

“Now,” Abby said.  “You can leave with me now.  And if you want, we can grab some dinner.  Catch up a little.  Reminisce.”

Eileen smiled.  “Sure.  I have plenty of questions for you.”

Abby nodded and stood.  Eileen followed her out of the cell, ready to taste freedom for the first time in months.

<>

The military officers in the room were staring at Abby like she had two heads.  She cleared her throat as she stood before them with three dimensional projections of mountains and maps with dots and lines representing army battalions and armor divisions.  “I know it may sound crazy,” she said, “but remember my last plan.  Some of you thought that one sounded crazy at first, too, but it ended up working.”

There were several rows of chairs in the presentation room.  General Schmidt was sitting near the front.  He folded his cybernetic arms and glared at Abby with his intense green eye on the right and his cybernetic camera-like eye on the left.  “It may not have worked if the Warriors of Freedom and the nearby townspeople and villagers hadn’t shown up just in time.”

“But it did work,” General Rodriguez, who was seated at the opposite end of the front row, said as he glared angrily at General Schmidt.  “And nobody projected us to win that battle.  Let’s make this very clear.”  He looked at the officers behind him.  “We knew we were goners, and yet here we are.  And now we’re stronger and in a better position than we’ve ever been.”

“So I don’t get why we need to attack now,” General Howell said.  He was seated next to Javy with Foxtrot on the other side.  General Howell’s second in command, Colonel Trent, and General Schmidt’s second in command, Colonel Myers, were also in the front row.  Behind them were Della, Major Joe Rodeo, Ace who was also a major, Evileye Alphacore, Salvador James who was the leader of the Night Stalkers, and Ahmad Amat who was the leader of the Holy Avengers, a breakaway group from the Holy Warriors who’d joined up with the resistance.  Dozens of other lower level officers were seated in the rows of chairs behind them.

“You never want to attack,” Javy said to General Howell.

“We need to exercise caution,” General Howell said.  “We’re talking about men’s lives here.”

“It’s been moths,” Javy said.  “We’ve had plenty of time to build our forces and entrench our positions.  The lands west of the Rockies are clear of the IAO and we have leaders in all of the towns, working to make things better for everyone.  Things have never been better.  But the IAO is still a major threat.  We need to take them out once and for all.  Starting here in Numurka and then moving on to free the entire world.”

“I couldn’t have said it better myself,” Abby said.

“So let me get this straight,” General Schmidt grunted, still glaring at Abby.  “You want a decoy group to head straight for the pass while we split our army up into not two, but three parts, sending one group around from the north where the goat trail is barely wide enough for two men when it’s at its widest and treacherous and rocky with thousand-foot drop-offs in some places, and sending the other side around from the south where there’s a sheer cliff wall and not even a goat trail?”

“We’ll also control the air,” Abby said.  “They’re heavily entrenched in the pass and if we attack head-on with our entire army, they have the high ground.  If we outflank them from the mountains, we have the advantage.”

“But we have to get our troops up there first,” General Schmidt said.  “I don’t know if you understand the logistics of this whole thing.”

“The IAO forces in Vulture’s Pass make up the brunt of their western army,” Foxtrot said.  “As you all know, if we defeat them there, it’s a straight shot to New Atlantis.  We’ll have them on their heels.”

“The risk is definitely worth it,” Abby said.  “And I do understand the logistics.  I had my computer Einstein go over the situation and calculate all possible outcomes.”  She didn’t mention that the chance of success was pretty much fifty-fifty.  The chances dropped the longer they waited, though.  She hadn’t brought Einstein to the meeting because she didn’t need him mentioning any of this.

“So if we’re definitely going to attack,” Ace said, “are we sure we can’t use camo projectors to hide ourselves?  Gain the element of surprise?”

Abby smiled.  “Foxtrot, do you want to explain to Ace what you explained to me earlier?”

Foxtrot nodded.  “Our intelligence officers say we can’t use camo projectors or radar jammers at this time, and they usually have an accurate read on the enemy’s technology, but who knows now that the IAO has all of Rennock’s tech?  We don’t know yet whether they’re less advanced or more advanced.”

“For all intents and purposes we should assume they’re the same,” Javy said.  “They have all of Rennock’s technology and a lot of his former employees.”

“What exactly are you all talking about?” Ace asked.  “Why wouldn’t we be able to use camo projectors or radar jammers?”

“It’s a battle of technological development,” Foxtrot said.  “Rennock’s people invented camo and radar jamming tech.  We stole it, reverse engineered it, and developed technology that can detect when our radars are being jammed.  They developed tech that jams our radar jammer reading tech and it sort of went on and on from there.  Sometimes we’d backtrack if their current technology wasn’t backwards compatible and vice versa.  They did the same.  I don’t want to bore you with too much more tech talk, so suffice to say we have legitimate reason to believe that right now, our current camo and radar jamming tech is useless.  If we were to use it, it would only be a huge waste of time, energy, and resources.”

General Rodriguez nodded.  “And we don’t have time right now to develop new technology.”

“Not to mention,” Foxtrot said, “a lot of our best scientists, engineers, and programmers are either dead now or they’ve defected to the IAO.”

“Like Averil Jones,” Abby said.  “So we had to figure out another way to hide ourselves.  A way that doesn’t rely on technology.  So I came up with my plan, with Javy’s help, of course.”

“I did very little,” Javy said.

“She’s a genius,” Foxtrot said with a grin.  He nodded towards Javy.  “I think you now have some competition in the legend department.”

“I haven’t done much yet,” Abby said.  “We still have some battles to win.   And we need to be willing to take risks if we want to win them.”

“Our risks could cost men’s lives,” General Howell said.

“Our soldiers understand that,” Abby said.  “It’s war.  They know the challenges and the risks that entails.  They wouldn’t be very good soldiers if they didn’t.”

“The Warriors of Freedom are on board with your plan,” Evileye Alphacore said.

“As are the Nightstalkers,” Salvador James said.

“And the Holy Avengers,” Ahmad Amat said.

Abby nodded and clasped her hands together.  “Very well, then.  We can disperse.  I just wanted to give you all an overview of the plan.  We’ll have more meetings and also General Rodriguez and I will meet with many of you individually to go over specific details.”

With that, everyone stood and people started filing out of the room, a meeting room in a warehouse near the Phoenix Books store.  As Abby left the warehouse, Della and Ace walked with her.  “How do you think it went?” she asked as they walked on the cobblestone street.

Ace shrugged as they walked.  “Some were in favor.  Some weren’t.  It’s as to be expected.”

“What did you think?” Abby asked.

“Seemed like a good plan to me,” Della said.

“A little risky,” Ace said, “but there’s always risk in conflict.  I’ve always prided myself in finding ways to avoid conflict, but some fights can’t be avoided.”

Della stopped walking when he noticed a message on his communicator and he smiled.  “Looks like our people found Shelly.”

Abby’s eyes lit up.  “Where?”

“A little town just outside of Easterville,” Della said.  Ace had stopped walking next to Della.  He was distracted by something up ahead.  Della was now also looking on in awe.

Abby looked at the wall of one of the warehouses ahead of them.  A huge mural was painted on it depicting Abby’s profile with the red, white, and blue stars and stripes of the old world American flag superimposed over it.  “We will survive,” was written beneath the mural.

<>

Abby left her sand bike with her bodyguards and walked towards the front door of the small stone cottage.  It was nestled in a quiet nook between two foothills near the Rockies.  A desert view spread out behind Abby, the sunset spreading beautiful orange and pink across the horizon.  Della walked beside her, his eyes scanning the rocks and hills for any possible danger, and two saucer-shaped aerial assault vehicles hovered above, keeping tabs on the surrounding area.  Still, Abby felt a little uneasy as she approached Shelly’s front door and knocked.  She waited and thought she heard someone talking on the other side.  She glanced at Della, who shrugged.  The door opened, revealing a small Latina woman with long, dark brown hair and big brown eyes.  She was wearing sweat pants and a white tee-shirt.  She was holding a cute little baby boy who had light brown skin and curly brown hair.  Abby cleared her throat.  “Is Shelly home?”

The boy glanced at Abby and started fussing.  The girl rocked him back and forth.  “It’s okay Bobby,” she said with a smile.  She looked up at Abby suspiciously and nodded.  “She’s here.”  The girl walked away from the door and sat down on a couch inside.  Abby looked at Della as he stood beside her and he shrugged again.

Shelly approached the door, a smile on her beautiful face.  The first thing Abby noticed was that she had both of her eyes.  The blue eye on the right matched the one on the left, to Abby’s surprise.  Whichever cyberneticist had done it had done a marvelous job.  Abby also noticed that the scars on Shelly’s face had disappeared completely.  She was as beautiful as ever, her sandy blonde hair barely reaching her shoulders, and there was no sidecut.  She was wearing an off-white summer dress and Abby couldn’t help but notice how tired she looked.  Shelly smiled a weary smile.  “Abby.  It’s good to see you.”  She glanced at Della and smiled.  “You too, Della.  Come on in.”  She waved them in and sat on the couch as Abby and Della sat on chairs across from her with a wooden coffee table in the middle.  Abby noticed that there was an unlit fireplace across from the couch and there were crossed samurai swords above the mantle. The Latina girl leaned over and gave Shelly a kiss on the lips.  “This is Ramona,” Shelly said as she introduced Abby and Della.  “And little Bobby, my son.”  Abby noticed how much the baby’s face looked like his father’s.  Ramona stood and carried Bobby down a hallway, disappearing behind a door.  “So what’s up?” Shelly asked.

“I know you’ve been through a lot,” Abby said, “as we all have, but I need your help one more time.  I came to ask you for a favor.”

Shelly smiled at Della.  “Are you still singing, Della?”

Della grinned and nodded.  “When I find the time, honey.  Things are so busy now, though.”

“We’re going to attack the IAO at Vulture’s Pass,” Abby said.  “And when we’re done, we’re going to take New Atlantis once and for all.  I’d like you to come help us, if you’re willing.”

Shelly frowned.  “Willing,” she repeated.  She looked into Abby’s eyes.  “I have a baby now, Abby.  I have a girlfriend I love.  I have a reason to live again, so no, I’m not willing.”

Abby nodded.  “We could use your help planning, even if you’re not fighting.”

Shelly shook her head.  “I’m not a general, Abby.  You don’t need my help planning.”

“You’re smart,” Abby said.  “One of the smartest people I know.  And even if you aren’t a general, you are good at planning.  You’ve done it in the past.”

“Not on the scale you’ll need,” Shelly said.  She smiled.  “I’m done, Abby.  The war’s over for me.  And there’s nothing you or anybody else can say to make me change my mind.” Abby could tell in her eyes that she was very serious. “I am happy to see both of you and I’m glad you’re doing well, but I’m out. It’s up to the rest of you, now.  Or the rest of them, I guess I should say.”

“I’m gonna be in the thick of the fighting,” Abby said.

Shelly smiled.  “You be careful, then.  You aren’t afraid of anything, are you, Abby?”

“I wouldn’t be afraid of Satan himself,” Abby said.  “If he was standing right in front of me.”

“I know you wouldn’t,” Shelly said.

“You wouldn’t be either,” Abby said.  “You’re the bravest person I know.”

“I’m done,” Shelly said.  “Forget where I live, Abby.”  She smiled at Della.  “You too, Della.  Don’t tell anyone about me.  And don’t ever come back.”  She smiled at Abby again.  “It’s nothing personal.”

“I know,” Abby said.

“It’s okay,” Della said.

“We understand,” Abby said.

“I love you, Abby,” Shelly said.  “Both of you.”  She stood and Abby hugged her.

“I love you, too,” Abby said.

Shelly hugged Della also.  “I love you, too, girl,” Della said.

“Take care of yourselves,” Shelly said as the three of them walked to her door.

“You too,” Abby said.  Shelly opened the door for them and Abby and Della left and headed back towards their sand bikes as Shelly watched them from the open front door.  Ramona joined her with baby Bobby in her arms and they watched as Abby, Della, and her bodyguards rode off towards the orange setting sun.

 
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=78oSuSMmFsE] 

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Continue on to the next chapter:

Afterlife, Volume 3, Chapter 37
Where:
Ayman Ali and Ava Haddid spend time together before the next battle.
Averil Jones and the IAO leaders discuss how to deal with the resistance.
The Battle of Vulture’s Pass begins.

Find the Volume 3 Table of Contents page here.

View the Map here.

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