Miriam had been trying to sum up the courage to tell her parents that she wanted to leave the community and the religion for some time, and now she had been robbed of the chance to be honest with them. She hadn’t wanted to hurt them, but she had to think of her own life, her own future. Added to that, she now had no idea if Hannes was dead or if he was still alive. She had no idea what his blood type[41] was; it wasn’t the kind of thing that you talked about while making love. She prayed – she still believed in God, even though it wasn’t in the way that her parents would have approved of – that Hannes was alive, that his blood group was B Negative. She hadn’t had the chance to fetch the phone from its hiding place before they left the farmstead, not that it would have helped much even if she had it with her. There was no electrical power and, ipso facto, the cell phone networks were down. Plus, the phone battery wouldn’t have lasted forever. The group had passed a few shops in their travels where she could have stocked up with spare batteries, enabling her at least to look over past messages and the dozens of photos of the couple that were stored in the phone’s memory, but it would also have meant admitting the tryst to her parents and almost certainly led to a full-scale argument[42] – something she wished to avoid. She would have told them about Hannes when the time was right, but the right time had never arrived. Now it never would.
Sitara had abandoned her Ramadan fasting, not through choice but by necessity. It was impractical to not eat during the day – nobody could be sure where the next meal was coming from – and practicality trumped religion in these circumstances. She was certain that Allah would forgive her; he knew what was in her heart and would understand that changes to how she followed her faith had been necessary. A long conversation with Roger Nelson and Jason had diminished but not erased the guilt that she still felt at having been instrumental in the spread of the pandemic. She sometimes wished that the Bering Sea had swallowed her up and taken her down to a watery grave, but obviously that hadn’t been Allah’s will. But had it been the will of Allah to sentence ninety-eight percent of the world’s population to a torturous death? Surely he couldn’t have wished that upon his children. What had they done to deserve that? It was becoming more and more difficult to reconcile the fact that Allah had allowed the Argons to send the plague to destroy humanity so cruelly. Jacob had said that Argons were also Allah’s children – had he really chosen them over mankind?
The survivors, those who weren’t on lookout duty, slept the broken sleep of those with troubled minds. Occasionally someone would awake with a start, escaping a nightmare. Others would continue sleeping but the twitching of facial expressions betrayed the dark thoughts and memories that were racing through their sub consciences. Mercifully, Jasmine’s mind protected her from these nightmares, allowing her the sleep of the innocent.
Jason opened his eyes without warning as a Marine shook him awake. He blinked three times and then saw Geeky standing above him.
“Jason. You need to come look at this.”
He followed the Marine into a perimeter office that looked out onto North Moore Street and beyond towards downtown Washington DC. The Marine pointed out of the window, handing his binoculars to the Brit.
“Look towards the Key Bridge.”
Jason did as he was told and almost physically felt his chin drop. Up to one hundred Argon warriors were gathered on the DC side of the bridge, preparing to cross from Georgetown to Arlington.
“Shit!”
The Marine pointed downwards.
“And look down there.”
A lone figure had just emerged from Gateway Park, part running, part staggering. Jason focused the binoculars on the figure, thankful that they were top-grade high-powered military issue. He took the binoculars away from his eyes before returning to look at the obviously frightened man. He’d seen the man before and audibly showed his surprise.
“I don’t fucking believe it.”
He handed the binoculars back to Marine Geek before leaving the small office and kneeling down alongside Enak. He shook the Argon awake.
“Enak. Enak, wake up. I need to show you something.”
Enak stood up and followed Jason to where the Marine was patiently waiting. The Marine handed the binoculars to him. Jason whispered.
“Look at the Key Bridge. The other side. That’s not good.”
Enak nodded.
“No, it is not good. News of what happened to the scavenger party has obviously got back to Argon Control.”
“Now pan down to the figure that’s just come out of the woods.”
“Where?”
“The road that we used to come here. The one that passes what used to be the hotel.”
“I see him.”
“That’s not an Argon.”
“You are correct in your appraisal. It is a human.”
“Take another look. Can you see his face?”
Enak focused the binoculars on the man’s face, realising what Jason’s next question would be, and understanding the can of worms that was about to be opened.
“I see his face and can identify him. It is the human that calls himself Triggs.”
Jason turned around and punched the door, hard enough to express his frustration but not hard enough to wake anyone else up.
“Fuck, fuck, fuck!”
Jason turned back to see the Marine and the Argon waiting for his next move. Marine Geek didn’t understand the problem.
“Who’s Triggs?”
Jason leaned against the wall of the office.
“We met him – I say met, but really we were attacked by him and his gang – when we spent the night at the Millers’ farmstead –“
“The Amish family?”
“Yes. The Amish family. Anyway, he and his mates turned up during the night with plans to rob the place and rape the women. Maybe even kill everyone. But they hadn’t reckoned on me, Enak, and Sitara being in the barn and stopping them.”
“So what do you want to do?”
“I don’t know. My instincts tell me he’s a no-good son of a bitch, and to just leave him there to his fate, but he’s still a human.”
Enak looked from the Marine to the ex-paratrooper.
“Indeed you have a problem. Empathy brings problems with it. And it is a problem that must be resolved quickly. The Argon warriors will not stay on the far side of the bridge forever.”
Jason pulled his body away from the wall.
“Wait here. I’ll be back in a minute.”
He disappeared from the room and quickly returned, flanked by Sitara, Samuel, and Miriam. Unsure of how the three newcomers would react to the news, he paced around the small room. He had to say something; he hadn’t brought them into the room to admire the view.
“There’s someone heading this way. A human.”
Miriam didn’t think twice.
“Then we must let him in.”
Jason pulled his lips tight.
“It’s not that simple.”
“Why not?”
“He could be working with the Argons. Could he be working with the Argons, Enak?”
The Argon shook his head.
42
I’m not sure how to address the use of British terms when in the POV of someone who is an American character. up to you