Fiction: Afterlife Volume 3 (Chapter 37)

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 36

Where:
Abby offers Eileen Traymont a position in resistance leadership.
Resistance leadership begins planning their final offensive against New Atlantis.
Abby says goodbye to Shelly.

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 37

Ayman watched as Ava approached the podium which the imam was standing behind, dressed in a dark blue robe and cap.  She was more beautiful than ever, her hands and feet decorated with elaborate henna tattoos, her body dressed in a long red and gold gown, and her eyes decorated with Arab eye liner.  Ayman was saddened by the fact that neither of their families could be there, but he smiled as he looked behind him and saw his close friends, Major Joe Rodeo, Buckaroo Billy, Chief Raj Abbas, and the other former members of Wild Joe’s traveling show all sitting in the rows of chairs along with other friends and acquaintances.  The men were all sitting to the left of the center aisle and the women were to the right.  Ayman couldn’t stop smiling.  He felt goofy with the perpetual smile on his face, but it truly was the happiest day of his life.

To Ayman, everything was a blur as he listened to the imam read the Fatihah from the Qu’ran.  Ayman and Ava said they accepted one another’s hand in marriage according to the Qu’ran and Ayman gave Ava the ceremonial gift, which was a beautiful gold necklace.  They exchanged rings and the imam pronounced them man and wife.  Once they signed the certificate in front of their guests to make it official, Ayman felt like a new man.  When they kissed for the first time, it was a simple, quick meeting of the lips, but Ayman felt like his dreams were coming true.  The guests showered Ava with coins as they walked down the aisle together, laughing and smiling, and it was on to the reception, where they danced and had the time of their life.  Everyone around them disappeared and Ayman felt like it was just the two of them in a crowded room.  On their wedding night, they made love in the new house they’d picked out and purchased together, and it was awkward but beautiful.  They were in bed together naked and Ayman looked into Ava’s eyes and said “I hope I’m not a huge disappointment.”

Ava smiled at him.  “I’m sure you will be,” she said.  “But what do you care?  We signed the contract now so it’s not like I can leave you.”

“People get divorced all the time,” Ayman said.

“Not on their first night,” Ava said.  “I’ll at least give you a year.”  Ayman smiled at the joke and they made love, but when they were done, Ayman couldn’t sleep.  He stared at the ceiling in the half-darkness wondering how much time they would have together.  Things in the world were fleeting, especially the good things, especially when there was a war raging.  Still, when he turned and looked at Ava as she slept, looking at her closed eyes and her long, black hair, all of the bad things disappeared, at least for a little while.  He closed his eyes and thought about how lucky a man he was.

<>

Averil Jones was becoming more and more wary of the people sitting around the table at the IAO leadership meetings.  Criminals and politicians sat around what had formerly been one of Rennock’s board room tables.  Floor to ceiling windows on three sides of the room provided panoramic views of New Atlantis and the desert beyond.  “We want to ramp up the propaganda,” the Duke of Weston said with a grin on his handsome face.  He was wearing his usual fur coat.  “I need everyone at this table to make sure your people are helping on this one.  Regardless of how you feel personally, this will help our cause and ensure that we stay in power.  The Duke is a bit of an expert on this.  He’s used this as part of his operation for a long time, and he can assure you that it’s invaluable.”

Long John, who was sitting next to him nodded, his silly gray cowboy hat bobbing up and down along with his head.  “The unrest we’re stirrin’ up between the races and sexes is showin’ itself to be a great asset.  So keep with messages that target white supremacists and misogynists.  And messages that target nationalists or any racial militants.  Make them suspicious of foreigners.  Make them suspicious of people of other political parties, other nationalities.  Make them suspicious of feminists and progressives of all types.  Feed on the suspicion that’s already there.  Bring it out and exploit it.  We have inroads into alternative news outlets that can hit the resistance as well as our other enemies.  Don’t be too obvious about it, but keep up with the campaign.  Dog whistles, not megaphones, if you know what I mean.  It’s really workin’.  These white supremacists are easier to manipulate than a starvin’ hooker.”

Averil shook her head.  “This is making me sick to my stomach,” she said, surprised to hear herself speak up.  “How do you think all this sounds to a black woman?  I mean you’re Hispanic, Long John.”  Lonnie Fox, the man in charge of IAO’s technology who was sitting to Averil’s right, turned and glared at her through his glasses.

“I am Latino,” Long John said.  “And I don’t believe a word of this crap.  But it’s helpin’ us defeat our enemies.  You need to get on board, Averil.”  He leaned forward and grinned his sinister grin, showing gold teeth.  “Or would you rather walk the plank?”

Averil frowned.  “I’m on board.”  Her stomach was turning.

“Whatever it takes, Averil,” the Duke said.  “Whatever it takes.”

“You’re going to get us both killed,” Lonnie whispered to her.

A man sitting at the other end of the table cleared his throat as the others around the table murmured about what had just happened.  “I’ve been directing a very successful disinformation campaign in Rose City,” the man said.  He was a chubby man with graying brown hair.  His face was scarred and pockmarked.

The Duke of Weston grinned.  “For those of you who don’t know him, let the Duke introduce you to Kevin Banton, the lead editor and writer of Banton News, Rose City’s premiere alternative news source.”

Kevin grinned and nodded.  “Thank you, Duke.  So we’ve been pushing the angle of Abigail Song being a criminal.  We’ve had several stories about her and Ace McCoy robbing banks together.  We’ve even published a story about her murdering two of her coconspirators, Annabelle Rose and Digits O’Reilly.  According to our story, Abby and Ace had a secret relationship, and she manipulated him into helping her murder Annabelle and O’Reilly so they could take all the money they stole for themselves.  Now, according to the story, they’re planning to rob the resistance and skip town.  Her whole leadership role is just a big con.”

“Is there any truth to this story?” one of the African leaders asked.

“Some,” Kevin said.  “She did rob banks with Ace McCoy.  We sort of took that angle and ran with it, though.  Feel free to spread the story yourselves.  I can have my people send out details.”

“Sounds great,” the Duke said.  “The more distrust we can sow the better.  If we can get the people to turn on Abigail Song, we’ve almost won.”

Kevin nodded.  “Plus if we can get people to focus on Abigail Song’s criminal past, it distracts them from our own criminal activities.”  People around the table chuckled and Kevin grinned.  Averil wasn’t amused.  “We can control the narrative,” Kevin said.

“We’re also trying to infiltrate their Lead Council,” Long John said, nodding towards Averil.  “Just like we did with you, Averil, and just like Rennock did with Judith Israel.”

Averil grunted and nodded.  “Yeah.”  She was regretting her decision more and more each day.

“The more eyes and ears we can get on our enemies,” the Duke said, “the better.”

The talking went on for a while longer until the Duke of Weston called an abrupt end to the meeting, saying he and Long John were needed elsewhere.  The leaders stood and filed out of the room.  Averil found herself walking down a long hallway towards an elevator.  Her mind was racing when she noticed that she was alone in the hallway with Long John.  This was a situation she’d been trying to avoid.  She picked up her pace when she felt a hand grab her arm and stop her.  She turned to see Long John towering over her, smiling a wicked grin full of gold teeth.  “It’s time for you to prove your worth.”

“What do you mean?” Averil asked nervously.  She tried to pull away but Long John pinned her against the door of a nearby janitor’s closet.

“I’m sure you know what I mean,” he said.

Averil cleared her throat.  “Let me go.  I have a lot to do.”

“Don’t fight it,” he said.  “It’ll only make it worse.  You may even enjoy this.”

“No!” Averil shouted as he pushed the door open and pushed Averil into the dark, cramped closet.  “Help!” she shouted as he closed the door behind them, erasing the last bit of light.

<>

Abby wasn’t sure why, but something seemed different about the dunes and the desert as she stood with Della, Mavery, Big Ed, and Matt Lund.  A videographer was recording them in 3-D while the sun blasted the white sand with heat and light.  There was a creek snaking its way between the dunes, manmade, but beautiful all the same.  The source of the creek was a nearby underground spring, and grass had been planted on its shores.  It was just a touch of green in a sandy abyss, but that made it even more beautiful to Abby as she dropped her seeds into the hole dug in the soil, smiling at the videographer.  “These seeds are symbolic,” she said, “but they will bring real trees.  One day, this will be a grove, even a forest.  But this is just the beginning.”

They returned to Rose City, where Abby and Mavery were meeting with Evileye Alphacore to discuss racial issues.  Abby, Mavery, Della, and Big Ed walked along the cobblestone street, past the timber-framed sandstone houses.  Matt had other business so he left them once they reached Rose City.  Abby thought about her date with Ace later that night as she walked and she frowned.  She’d asked God to forgive her for her lustful thoughts and her advances.  Ace had turned her down, but she still felt like she’d let her desires get the better of her.  It wasn’t a good feeling.  She wondered if she’d ever be free of the part of herself that was constantly moving towards self-destruction.  Part of her knew Ace would be horrendously bad for her image, but she was drawn to him all the same.  She remembered things Pastor Earl had said to her about God’s grace and forgiveness and that she really needed to forgive herself, but for her, that was always the hardest part.  She realized she was looking down at her feet as she walked along the cobblestones, so she looked up and noticed a man approaching.  She smiled, trying to put on her best “brave leader” face.  “Keep up the good work,” he said.  He was an older man with a black collar with a strip of white showing in the center of his neck.  A priest, Abby realized.

“Thank you,” she said.

“There are those here who don’t realize,” he said, “but I see who you truly are.”

She saw kindness in his eyes.  She turned to Della, who shrugged, then looked back at the man with confusion.  “And who is that?”

“You’ve been chosen by God,” he said, “to unite the world under his watchful eye.  To unite the world against sin and evil.”  He smiled at her.

Abby frowned.  “I’m a sinner just like everyone else.  There’s nothing special about me.”

“But there is,” he said, “and you know it.  You’ve ushered in a new age with your words and actions.”

“I didn’t make any of this up myself,” Abby said.  “Thousands have done and said these same things before me.”

“But not in the way you have,” the priest said.  “You know you’re special.  I know you’re special.  The whole world knows you’re special.  But most important, God knows you’re special.”

Abby looked at Mavery, who was nodding.  “Well I guess I’ll do my best,” Abby said.

He smiled.  “Good day to you, and God bless you in all your future endeavors.  And remember, no matter what some people may say, we’re behind you.  And we believe in you.”

“Thank you,” Abby said as the man walked past.

“Crazy man,” Big Ed said as Abby and her companions continued walking towards Phoenix Books, where their meeting with Alpha was supposed to be taking place.

“Not as crazy as you might think,” Mavery said.

They reached the bookstore and walked through and up the stairs to the meeting room.  Alpha was already seated with two black-clad bodyguards wearing black berets standing beside him.  Alpha looked humble as ever, with a plain gray shirt and closely-cropped hair.  Salvador James was seated nearby with two black-clad bodyguards of his own.  Salvador’s gold necklaces shined beneath the lights and his cornrows were tightly bound with no visible lose hairs.  His eyes were hidden behind silver sunglasses.  There were also several resistance soldiers lining the walls, there to keep the peace between the two rivals. The meeting room was small and cluttered, like the other rooms in the store, but this room was cluttered with furniture and pictures of various great leaders from the world’s past. Abby noticed Abraham Lincoln behind Alpha and Theodore Roosevelt behind Salvador.

From what Abby had heard, after Razor beat Alpha in a one-on-one fight to see who would determine the fate of Phillip Brevington, several of Alpha’s men challenged his leadership and he fought them all, defeating them easily.  Salvador was among the vanquished, but he took many of the Warriors of Freedom and left, forming a splinter group which he renamed the Nightstalkers, which was the original name of the group.  Now they were all in Rose City, and both leaders were meeting with Abby and Mavery to discuss concerns regarding the sudden rise in white supremacist groups in Rose City.  “I won’t lie,” Alpha said.  “It’s been rough these past months.  Before we came here, I had some soldiers leave because they thought we were going too far, especially in Iron Town.  And I’ve had other soldiers leave because they didn’t think we were going far enough, like my friend Sal here.”  He nodded begrudgingly towards Salvador.  “It’s been a juggling act trying to keep my men together,” Alpha said.

“Well you ain’t been goin’ far enough,” Sal said.  “That oughta be obvious now.  I mean, look what they’ve been doin’ to our people since we got here.  A nigga was hanged in the south district!  This is serious, and y’all ain’t doin’ nothin’ about it.”

“These acts of terror are in response to what happened in Iron Town,” Mavery said.  “Now obviously I’m not saying it’s right.  But racial tension’s been simmering here, like it always has been in this place, throughout history, and when you attack them, even the white supremacists, you’re just feeding into it.  Hatred breeds hatred breeds more hatred.  Don’t let their hatred of you feed into your hatred of them.  The hate has to end somewhere.”

“The hate never ends,” Sal muttered under his breath.

“He’s right about that,” Alpha said.  He looked Mavery in the eye.  “And you know it.”

“The IAO is feeding into this,” Abby said.  “We’ve discovered ties between them and some alternative news sources here.  They’re basically pumping white nationalist propaganda into our city to try to stoke division so we implode and destroy each other.”

“They’re doing this with both sides, actually,” Mavery said.  “They’ve been fanning the flames of black nationalism, too.  The easiest way to destroy a nation is to attack their unity and stoke racial divisions and other deep seeded divisions that run under the surface.  Bring them to the forefront and all hell breaks loose.  The IAO knows this.”

Abby looked into Alpha’s eyes and then Sal’s.  “We’ve brought you both here because we need your help.  We’re starting a new nation that emphasizes freedom for all people.  We protect the rights of all individuals equally and fairly, regardless of race, gender, religion, or any other demographics.  This is what we’re trying to do here.  What all of us have always wanted.  The IAO is trying to stop us.  They want to hold their control over the world.  They do this by fanning the flames of division.  Causing chaos.  We need to fight this at all costs.  And we need to punish those responsible.”  Sal nodded.  “But we also need to stick together,” she said.  “We need our people to unite like they never have before, and we need the leaders of all groups to promote this unity.  If we don’t, you get more of the same.  More of the same racism you’ve dealt with throughout history.  And with the IAO, it’s only going to get worse.”

“So what exactly do you need from us?” Alpha asked.

“Like she said,” Mavery said, “she needs both of you to preach a message of unity and stick to it, no matter what’s happening out there.  Let us deal with that.”

“This is for unity in the community as well as in the army,” Abby said.  “We’re about to start a campaign to take New Atlantis and destroy the IAO leadership once and for all.  And then we can hit other IAO centers around the world, with the help of people from all nations.  But it starts here.  The unity starts with us.  So I’ll need you to buy into our message, hook, line, and sinker.”  She glanced at Alpha.  “That means doing things like changing your image.  Changing your flag.  In combat, the Warriors of Freedom have been using red, black, and blue stars and stripes.  I ask you, for the unity of the army, to use red, white, and blue.”  Alpha frowned and shook his head.  “It’s the flag we’ve decided to represent our budding nation,” she said.

“It’s a flag that represents centuries of racism,” Alpha countered.  “Centuries of white supremacy and oppression.  We’ve taken it and made it our own.”

“Now it’s going to represent our new nation,” Abby said.  “Our new hope.  The future, not the past.  It doesn’t belong to one group.  It belongs to everyone who lives here.  The Declaration of Independence of the United States of America, the foundation symbolized by that flag, is centered on equality for all people.”

“They didn’t always hold to that,” Alpha muttered.

“But it was a great idea,” Abby said, “whether they lived up to it or not, and we’re going to base our nation on those same ideals.  That’s what that flag represents.  And that’s what we’re going to fight the IAO with.”

Alpha nodded.  “We’ll use your flag.  We’ll repaint our symbols.  But you’re gonna stick to your promise.”  He looked at Mavery.  “New Atlantis is ours, or we leave.”

Abby glanced at Mavery.  Mavery had told her about the promise she’d made to Alpha to get him to join the fight.  “If you stay with us,” Abby said to Alpha, “you follow our rules.  This is a democracy and our people vote for our leaders.  You’re people can settle in New Atlantis, but there will be other groups there, of all races.  If they vote for you to lead them, you’ll lead them.”

“That wasn’t the agreement,” he said.

“Then leave,” Abby said, glaring at him.  “Run away from the fight.  Join the IAO.  You’ll be joining the very forces who are trying to destroy you.  You’ll be a hypocrite, working with people who are pushing a white nationalist message to promote chaos.  Stay with us, and you can defeat them, but you have to follow our rules.  You have to accept rule of the people, and by that I mean all people.  But you will be a major part of it.  I only ask you use the symbols that will unite us.”

“We’re with you,” Sal said, glancing at Alpha.

Alpha smiled at Abby and nodded.  “We’re with you, too.  At least for now.  I guess we’ll see how this all goes.”

“I guess we will,” Abby said.

<>

The mountains to the south and north seemed quiet, and they spread out like ripples in a huge rocky lake.  From thousands of feet above the mountaintops, the desert was a featureless mass of white.  From his aerial assault vehicle, Paul looked down to the west of the mountains at the resistance positions, noticing three levelers.  There was the one Evileye Alphacore had brought, along with one that Paul helped steal from the IAO, and there was one damaged one that they’d been able to repair.  There were hundreds of resistance hover tanks which looked like pinpoints and soldiers which looked like indiscernible tan masses.  In the center of the pass were the IAO fortifications.  Paul couldn’t spot the resistance soldiers in the mountains, but he knew they were there somewhere.  He just hoped they arrived in time to spring the trap.  He looked at the mountains to the Northeast again and thought about Aiyana McGowan and Denver.

Paul tried his best to focus on the task at hand.  “Be ready,” he said to the other pilots.  There were about a dozen of them.  The saucer-shaped aircraft were spread out in four three craft triangular formations.  “We know the IAO have some aerial assault craft but we don’t know where they are, and they can be tricky.  Be on the lookout.”  Paul had been granted the rank of colonel just before the battle, and he was in charge of the resistance air forces, which didn’t amount to much as of yet, but they hoped to start building more aircraft of their own now that they had the facilities.  The AAV Paul was in was a Rennock model similar to the one he’d flown in the previous battle over Vulture’s Pass.

“Bogey at ten o’clock high!” one of the pilots shouted.

“There’s one on your six!” another pilot shouted.

Paul rotated his AAV in its current hovering position to see what the last pilot was talking about.  There were some barely visible shapes behind them, just above the horizon.  Paul couldn’t make out how many.  The scanner in front of him wasn’t picking them up.  “They’re using jamming tech.  We’ll have to use our eyes.  Frank, Stan, your groups take the bogey at ten.  Bill and I will take the sixes.”

“Roger,” several voices said over the all-formations channel.

“Bill,” Paul said, switching to one to one, “On three, take your group due east of their positions.”

“Roger,” Bill said over the comm.

“Lock onto me,” Paul said to his wingmen.  “One,” Paul said.  Timing was everything.  “Two.”  He paused his counts to give Bill time to react.  “Three.”  He zipped to a position west of the bogeys with his two wingmen following in formation.  Lasers were coming at him from what seemed like all directions.  It was a trap.  Paul watched as the AAV to his right was hit and plummeted to the sand below.  He only had one wingman left.  “Scatter and surround!” Paul shouted, referring to a well-known emergency reactive formation.  He zipped backwards one hundred feet or so and started firing his laser blasters at the enemy ships.  He quickly looked down at the resistance forces and noticed that they were engaged and surrounded by IAO forces.  “They were definitely ready for us.”

<>

Ayman was on the ground on top of a high dune, his new wife Ava to his right, and Major Joe Rodeo to his left.  Billy, Mary, Belle, and the Chief were there with them on the dune, also in their squad.  Big Bob and Jimmy Thumb had been transferred to leveler duty with Bud Johnson.  Ayman knew that he and the other soldiers with him were meant to be decoys.  The real attack was going to come from the flanks of the pass in the hills up ahead.  They were expecting an IAO attack, though.  There was no sign of enemy troops in the dunes that surrounded the resistance positions.  All Ayman could see in any direction was white sand.  “Something doesn’t seem right,” Ava said.

“I’m with ya on that,” Joe said.  “These IAO riffraff are tricky characters.”

Ayman aimed his assault laser rifle at some movement on a nearby dune which appeared to just be some sand blowing around.  “It’s hard not to fire at everything I see moving,” he said.  “You know they’re out there somewhere.”

“Don’t get trigger happy,” Joe said.  “We need to stay focused and alert.”

“Focused and alert,” Billy said.  “Not frantic and paranoid.”

“I’m all right,” Ayman said.  “This isn’t my first fight.”  He noticed some more movement.  Still looked like blowing sand, but like Ava said, something didn’t seem right.  Several laser blasts came their way, hitting the dune beneath them.  Others flew over their heads.  Ayman crouched lower.  He heard Ava grunt next to him as a laser hit her.  Ayman quickly checked on her.

“I’m okay,” she said, holding her bleeding, burnt left arm.  “I’m okay.  It hit my arm.  It’s not the end of the world.”

Lasers were coming from everywhere and Ayman saw IAO soldiers on the dunes all around them wearing white ponchos that matched the desert sand.  They were appearing and disappearing, using some sort of cloaking technology.

“Those ain’t normal camouflage projectors,” Billy said.  “Our detection systems would have seen them.”

“And they have some sort of new radar jamming technology, too, it seems,” Mary said as she started firing at the IAO troops surrounding them.

Ayman also started firing, though it was hard to hit anything with the IAO soldiers fading in and out of view.  He looked around to see that the resistance army was surrounded.  Things weren’t off to a great start.

<>

“Where are General Schmidt’s group and Major McCoy and Major Luscious’ group?” Javy asked as he scanned the nearby hills and the mountains beyond them through his binoculars.  Foxtrot hadn’t gotten any messages form them for hours now.  The last he’d heard, they were still at least a mile away, and in mountain terrain, that was a long way.

“I don’t know about General Schmidt,” Abby said, “but I can guarantee you that Ace and Della won’t let you down.”

Foxtrot frowned as he watched the laser fire from the dunes all around them.  They were in a command position in the center of the resistance army, seemingly safe for now, but things were getting ugly quick.  “We’re going to have to hold this position at least until they get here and start attacking the IAO positions in the pass,” Foxtrot said.  “At least we know they’re weakened if they’re attacking us here.  We’re the decoys, remember.”

“But what good will taking the pass do if our army’s decimated?” Javy asked.  “We’re hoping to move on to New Atlantis, remember.”

There were some tents surrounding them along with dozens of other commanding officers.  It was one of the highest dunes in the area, so it was a good place to observe the action from.  “We need to start moving towards the pass,” Abby said.  “We need to move the army so we can join with the others when they get here.”

“We’re surrounded,” Javy said.  “I’m always one for attacking the enemy when possible, but we can’t ask the men to move from entrenched positions when they’re surrounded.”

“If we concentrate on one position I think we’ll be okay,” Abby said.  She pointed to a dune just outside the resistance perimeter that was even higher than the one they were now standing on.  It was the highest visible dune in the desert.  “Let’s take that dune,” she said, “get the high ground, place the levelers and the artillery there, and move on to the pass.”

Foxtrot glanced at Javy, who was shaking his head.  “I’ve always liked the way you think, Abby,” Javy said, “but even I think that’s a little crazy.”  General Howell and his officers were back in Rose City leading the soldiers they’d left behind for defense.  Foxtrot knew he’d have also rejected Abby’s idea had he been there.

“We need to do something,” Abby said.  “They’ll destroy us if we stay here.”

An orderly approached Javy and saluted him.  “Sir,” he began, “I’ve received news from Major Duncan that some of our troops are already deserting and others have been captured.  Morale is dropping quickly.  Word from the front lines is that we’re not going to be able to hold this position.  Our men are fighting bravely, sir, but things are getting bleak.”

“I know,” Javy said.  He looked around.  “Where’s Abby?”

Foxtrot hadn’t noticed her leave, but she was gone.  His attention had been on the orderly.  “Well maybe we should start drawing up plans for a retreat just in case,” Foxtrot said with a frown.

“Yeah,” Javy said in a dejected tone.  He frowned and swigged from his flask.

<>

“We may have to fall back,” Joe said as he lay next to Ayman, firing his assault laser rifle at the illusive enemy targets.  The red lasers seemed to be coming from all directions now.  Ayman was convinced the IAO had them surrounded.  He looked for resistance soldiers on the nearby dunes and couldn’t see any.

“If we fall back,” Ava said, “they’ll get that much closer to attacking our command center.”

“We’re taking heavy fire,” Billy said as he fired at IAO troops on a nearby dune.  “We won’t last much longer like this.”

“We have to fall back,” Joe said, biting his lip.  “The soldiers in the mountains should have been here by now.  I think somethin’ may have gone wrong.  We need to try to save ourselves, though.”

Ayman noticed somebody scaling a nearby dune.  It was the highest of all the visible dunes, and the person climbing it appeared to be a girl in a tan resistance uniform.  She was holding what appeared to be a flag.  “What on earth?” Ayman muttered.

“It’s Abagail Song,” Joe said as he watched.

Lasers started hitting the large dune as Abigail Song reached the top and started waving the flag back and forth.  Ayman recognized the red, white, and blue stars and stripes of the old world United States of America.  Abby waved the flag as lasers came at her from all directions.  There was a whoosh sound and a wave shot out from Abby, sending the lasers scattering away from her.  Ayman ducked as one of the lasers hit the dune near him, spraying sand across his face.  The lasers continued flying at Abby, who was holding a cone-shaped force field projector.  She continued using it and the lasers flew away from her.  A few lasers hit the flag as she waved it and it caught fire.  She waved it some more and the fire went out.  “Prometheus!” Ayman heard the shouts on the dunes around him.  He watched as several resistance soldiers ran down the side of a nearby dune, making their way towards Abby’s position.  “Prometheus!”  The shouts were getting louder and more frequent.  “Prometheus!” Joe shouted as he stood and ran down the side of the dune Ayman was on.  Mary and Billy followed him, as did Belle and the Chief, firing their assault laser rifles at IAO soldiers as they ran.  Ava also stood and made a fist in the air.  “Prometheus!” she shouted.  Ayman stood and smiled as lasers flew by.  “Prometheus!” he shouted and he followed Ava as she ran behind Joe and the others.  Ayman noticed that hundreds of resistance soldiers were now scaling the sides of the dune Abby was standing on as she waved the burnt and battered flag.

<>

Evileye Alphacore was standing in front of the Ruff Ridah.  The flag on the side of the vehicle had been repainted red, white, and blue like Abby had asked him.  Things didn’t look good, though.  The black-clad soldiers standing with Alpha were ready to flee the battle.  Alpha was considering leaving and splitting off from the resistance.  The Warriors of Freedom had been fine before they’d joined the resistance and they’d be fine after.  Alpha wasn’t about to die and let his men die for a lost cause, though.  Resistance soldiers were falling back all around him.  And now it seemed they weren’t even going to give him New Atlantis like Mavery had promised.  Alpha wasn’t even sure what he was fighting for anymore.  “What should we do?” Roy, Alpha’s second in command, asked him.

Alpha frowned.  “We’re gonna fall back.  Retreat.  And leave the resistance.”

“For good?” Roy asked.  Other black-clad soldiers standing nearby were eavesdropping.

Alpha nodded.  “For good.  We can fend for ourselves again.  Beats dying here, and…”  Resistance soldiers were running past them on all sides.  “What’s going on?” Alpha asked.

He noticed several Middle Eastern men in white uniforms running by.  They were with Ahmad Amat and the Holy Avengers.  “Prometheus!” several of them shouted.

“Prometheus!” a nearby Warriors of Freedom soldier shouted.  Several of Alpha’s men were running north.  He looked ahead and saw Abby standing alone on top of a dune, waving a battered American flag as lasers flew at her from all sides.

“She’s got guts,” Roy said.

Alpha nodded.  “That she has.”  He had no idea why, but he decided then and there that he’d fight for Abigail Song.  He’d always known there was something special about her, but her courage was now on full display.  She was someone he could follow.  He felt like she might be the one to finally lead the world to peace.  Even peace between Africans and their former oppressors.  “Prometheus!” he shouted with a smile as he led his men towards her position.

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

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Continue on to the next chapter:

Afterlife, Volume 3, Chapter 38
Where:
The Battle of Vulture’s Pass rages on.
Eileen and Mavery deal with problems in Rose City.
The campaign for New Atlantis begins.

Find the Volume 3 Table of Contents page here.

View the Map here.

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