Then Came War Read online

  Swinging his feet to the floor, Brendan looked at the Meals Ready to Eat package and chuckled while thinking ‘warm meal.’

  “Sir, I have a question to ask you.”

  “Sure.” Brendan opened the pouch.

  “Where did you come from?”

  “Today or when I was born?”

  “When my men found you,” he said. “Where were you coming from?”

  “Oh, God. You’re not gonna believe this.”

  “Try me.” The captain pulled up a chair.

  “I was riding a train in New York. It crashed. When I came up with other survivors, everyone was dead. People in the street, in cars, everywhere I went everyone was dead.”

  “You know the United States was attacked, right?”

  “I figured as much and assume enemy is not friendly,” Brendan said as he took a bite. “Wow, this is good.”

  “You must be hungry,” the captain said with a smile.

  “I am.” Brendan took another bite. “Anyhow, they aren’t friendly; I was shot at nineteen times. But damn if I didn’t make it out of there.”

  “From New York City to Boston to the ocean is occupied territory,” the Captain explained. “They did have Philly for a while, but we took it back. But you were in New York City?”

  “Yes. For a couple days,” Brendan said.

  “I realize you were running and trying to get out of there, but you are the only person that has made it out of New York alive. We think they are using New York as their main hub. Did you see anything there that may indicate that? This is very important.”

  “Yeah, actually, I did. There were a lot of convoys, trucks, tents; it was a huge set up.”

  “Do you think you can recall what all you saw?” the Captain asked.

  “I can do better than that,” Brendan said. “I can tell you where it is.”

  On that, the Captain smiled.

  ***

  Foster hadn’t a clue how long he had been sleeping, but he woke with a start and to the sound of children laughing and playing. He sat up. A blanket that smelled kind of musty had been covering him and he was asleep on a sofa in what looked like a recreation room from 1950.

  A little girl looked up at him as he sat up.

  “You were snoring,” she giggled and ran off.

  Where was he? Where was Judith? He knew he was safe. After helping Manny and the others load the truck, they had driven somewhere beyond Brunswick, New Jersey. They had pulled into an underground parking facility. On the bottom level was a hole in the wall. It looked as if it were just made.

  “We’ll cover that with the box truck,” Manny told him, “after we get everything inside.”

  “Where are we going?” Foster asked.

  “Gonna educate you,” Manny told him. “I was recently educated myself. Back in the cold war, civil defense was ready for nuclear war. They built fallout shelters, stocked them and then the threat left and they were kind of abandoned. They weren’t cleared out though. Well, most weren’t; they were resupplied periodically.”

  “So you found one?”

  “Miss Betty told us about it. She works for the county. Our camp is occupying the three shelters in this area. We use the one under the court house as the main one. All of them can be accessed from this garage. We cover our entrances with trucks.”

  Manny explained to Foster that a lot of people tried to leave New Jersey when the attacks occurred. But then continuous airstrikes were killing a lot of people. Miss Betty lived in Manny’s apartment complex and she had given him the idea of going to the shelters to be safe. Within days, they were bringing more and people inside. That was the reason they had to go out to get more supplies.

  Foster was impressed.

  It was semi dirty, but they were cleaning it. It was old fashioned, but it was underground and safe.

  Foster was alone in the room but it was not long before three children raced in, followed immediately by a thin black woman, who looked to be in her forties. “Now, come on, the boy is …” she paused in scooting the children from the room. “You’re awake?”

  “Yeah,” Foster said as he scratched his head. “What time is it?”

  “A little after two. You just missed breakfast, but I can get you something.”

  “I’m good. Manny fed us when we got here. I have a friend.”

  “Judith?”

  “Yes. Where is she?”

  “She’s with Doc Baker.”

  “A real doctor?”

  “Yes. Are you sure I can’t get you something to eat?”

  “I’m sure. Thank you. I would like to see Judith.”

  “Sure, baby, come with me.”

  She gave him a gentle smile and he followed her. In route to where the doctor had his set up, she told him he was in Camp A. It was the main one and the bigger one of the three. She pointed to the door where he could get cleaned up and showed him where he could get clothes. She pointed toward the far end and told him that was where he could get his food rations from the infamous Miss Betty. Everyone had daily rations and it was up to him what he did with them. He could save a meal for later, if he wished. The only thing he wasn’t permitted to do was waste.

  That he understood.

  ***

  “What the hell?” Ben blurted as they walked on the side of the road with their bikes.

  “What? What is it?” Lana asked.

  “I just saw a man.”

  Lana heaved out a sigh and smiled. “You saw someone, are you sure?”

  “Yeah, just beyond that truck up there.” Ben indicated the truck parked in a gas station at the edge of the small town.

  Lana took a second to process the possibility of finding a person, a live person, and then it hit her. “Wait. Was it a soldier?”

  “Not unless they wear flannel shirts.”

  “Flannel?” Lana cocked her head back. “In April?”

  Ben chuckled and with a burst of enthusiasm they picked up speed, still refraining from riding the bikes.

  As they neared the parked truck the town came into view. Ben noticed it right away that every window and every shop in the town was boarded up. The only cars on the street were the truck at the gas station and one directly across the street from it.

  “Look at this place.”

  “You think the enemy was already here?”

  “Hold it!” a male voice called to them. “Just stop where you are.”

  Ben and Lana stopped.

  “Passing through or refugees?” the voice asked but they did not see anyone.

  Ben replied, “Passing through. We’ve been biking for days to get north. But if you have a place we can safely rest, we’d appreciate it.”

  “Well, if you’re staying a few days you’ll have to register with our refugee center.” Rick finally emerged from behind the truck, gave a short whistle and another man came from behind the other truck. Rick then turned and faced the town, waving his hand and doing a bird call.

  In the distance, a bird call responded.

  Rick faced Ben and Lana. He held a rifle.

  “Whoa!” Ben held up his hands. “Can you point that thing another way? We aren’t armed.”

  “Why not?” Rick asked.

  “Huh?” Lana replied, dumfounded. “Did you ask, why not?”

  “Yeah, why not?” Rick shook his head.

  Lana shrugged. “We don’t really believe in having guns.”

  Rick laughed. “Get the hell out of here. Really? Got a war happening, foreign country invading our land and you all are wandering the countryside unarmed? What the heck did you two plan on doing if you were faced with the armed enemy? Did you plan to lift your arms, asked them to join hands and sing Give Peace a Chance? Don’t answer that. That was one of those rhetoric questions.”

  “Rhetorical,” Ben corrected him. “You meant to say rhetorical.”

  “Here we are letting you into our home and you’re correcting my grammar?”

  “I’m sorry,” Ben shook his head �
�That was rude.”

  “It was,” Rick said, waving them to follow him. “But I’ll let it go because you two really can’t be all that smart if you’re wandering around without a weapon. Gees.”

  With Rick a good ten feet ahead of them, and confident he couldn’t hear, Ben leaned toward Lana and whispered. “Don’t get too comfortable. We aren’t staying long.”

  Lana only nodded her complete agreement.

  ***

  Judith looked good.

  Foster leaned in the doorway peeking in on her as the women finished up with her. Her hair had been washed, combed and pulled back neatly. She wore a plain colored tee shirt, a sweater and a pair of jeans.

  “Just remember what the doctor told you. Keep to the regimen he prescribed. The woman squeezed a bottle in Judith’s hand. “Oh, you have a visitor.”

  “Jimmy?” Judith called to him. “Honey, is that you?”

  “Yeah. You look good Jude,” Foster told her. “All cleaned up and stuff.”

  “Rosemary here did that for me. She said I looked a little worse for wear.”

  Foster snickered. “I guess I didn’t do too good a job picking out clothes for you.”

  “Don’t be silly, Jimmy, I am sure you did wonderful considering what you had.”

  “Well, you couldn’t see yourself, so I was good.”

  Rosemary smiled pleasantly at Foster. “You can take her back to the family room or to get food. I don’t believe she’s eaten yet. She needs to keep up her strength. Do you mind?”

  “Not at all.” Foster walked over to the table and laid his hand on Judith’s. “What did the doctor say?”

  Rosemary answered, “She sees light and dark, as you know. And she was able to distinguish that Doc was saving his hand in front of her. That’s a great indication that she can see shadows as well. Doc Baker says it may not be permanent. She may never see like she did before, but some sight will probably come back. She has to keep up the anti inflammatory medication.”

  Foster grinned. “Wow, that is awesome news. I am so happy. Did he say how long?”

  Judith replied, “When I met you Jimmy, I didn’t have dark and light and today I have shadows. He said a day, a week, a month. Who knows? But it will come back some and then I get to see your handsome face.”

  “You may wanna reserve that comment.”

  Rosemary chuckled. “Don’t let him kid you, Judith, he’s a very handsome young man.”

  “He’s been my angel, so he could look like the Elephant Man and I’d think he was Brad Pitt,” Judith said.

  “Ha!” Foster laughed. “Man, you’re old school. Elephant man? Brad Pitt? Plus, you know if you’re gonna go old school, then I’d rather be compared with a younger Denzel Washington. How’s that?”

  “A young black man helping an old blind Jewish woman make her way across a war torn America,” Judith said as she shook her head. “Isn’t that just the perfect tag for a movie of the week on Lifetime?”

  Rosemary laughed. “It’ll have the happy ending, too. I’ll let you guys go. If you get lost down here, anyone can help. Good luck.” She left the room.

  “Shall we?” Foster gave a squeeze to her hand.

  “We shall.” Judith slid from the examining table. “Then after we get something in our bellies, we need to talk,” she said seriously. “I need to talk to you.”

  Foster muttered, “Sure.” He didn’t know what Judith needed or wanted to talk to him about. Probably wanted to tell him thanks, but she didn’t need him hanging around her anymore since they were safe and there were others that could do it. He liked hanging around Judith. She was good people. He hoped that wasn’t the case, but he would understand if it was. It would be par for the course. Every grown up he actually did like being around always seemed to leave him.

  ***

  Tyler was hanging out in the refugee registration area. Actually, it was the library and they had school there in the back. Not that Tyler went to school, he didn’t. But he liked to listen in, and he was trying to find out about that rock. It was his personal puzzle.

  The refugee center was pretty fun, especially when people wandered in. Rick was a funny guy who gave every refugee a hard time. He joked and Tyler got a kick out of that.

  A lot of people had come through over the last day or two, especially after George got word out and sent men east to search out others. A lot of towns on the coast were burned out and people had no homes.

  George also was preparing the grade school a mile up the road to house people.

  It was temporary, he said, until the war was over. Something they all hoped wouldn’t take long.

  Tyler ducked behind the bookshelf when he heard Rick’s voice. He was joking with someone. “Because we have to know who is here. Don’t you want the government to know you’re alive?”

  “Don’t think the government really gives a shit about us,” the man said. “Do you?”

  “Oh, heck yeah. But we do need your names. We’re keeping track of everyone that comes through here or stays here, just in case.”

  “In case of what?” the woman asked.

  “In case someone, someday, comes a looking for you,” Rick replied. “Just humor us. What else do you have to do?”

  Tyler couldn’t hear the whispered conversation between the man and the woman, so he peeked.

  When he did, he gasped.

  Had he not recognized the woman, he wouldn’t have known the man. He had grown a beard, probably from not shaving, and wore a baseball cap. But the woman’s hair was pulled back tight and he could see her face. She had worn her hair like that on the train and after the wreck.

  The man, Ben, was the one who had helped Harry look for his father on the train.

  He helped Harry with his dad.

  Tyler would never forget that.

  He wanted to jump out and say, ‘Hey guys!’ but he didn’t. He remembered Harry had asked them all to stick together and those two had just left. And despite what he said in the car, Harry had looked mad at them for leaving. They went their own way on that bridge.

  So out of respect for Harry, he wasn’t going to say anything until he talked to him.

  “Oh my God. Look who it is!” Lana screamed out brightly.

  Tyler jumped.

  Busted.

  “Tyler.” Ben smiled.

  Tyler took a step, opened his mouth, and fearful that Harry would get mad at him for talking to them, took off running.

  Confused, Lana looked at Ben. “That was Tyler, wasn’t it?”

  “I’m positive it was.”

  Then they both noticed Rick was shaking his head.

  “What?” Ben asked.

  “Man.” Rick held a clipboard, shaking his head. “First you arrive without a gun to protect yourself, then you insult my grammar and then you scare away our young. You two are O for three.” He handed them the clipboard. “See if you can do this.”

  ***

  “Harry!”

  Tyler ran from the library via the safe route.

  He went down to the basement, out the back door, in the basement door of Della’s Diner, up to the diner, out that door, around the corner to the newly erected scaffolding and ran down that block. There at the end was a school bus, back door open. He ran through that into the back door of The Tap.

  There were a lot of safe routes set up. Scaffolds, buses, one basement to another, all provided the safety of minimal street exposure during the daylight, just in case.

  Then again, the men on the rooftops kept an eye out and would alert them if any planes were coming so some did not bother taking the longer, safer routes.

  But Tyler always took the safe route.

  Harry was supposed to be at The Tap, but Buzz told him he was at George’s old car garage. That was another two blocks through the alley. Tyler ran, staying close to the buildings.

  “Harry!” Tyler called out as he raced in the shop.

  “What in the world are you screaming about?” Harry said. “Shut the door.�
��

  “Sorry.” Tyler shut the door.

  “Why are you running the streets? I thought you were eavesdropping on school and looking up that piece of rock.”

  “I was and ...” Tyler looked around the garage; it was lit up, windows blackened. Four other men, including George, were at a table. They wore gloves and had metal things in front of them. Some looked as if they were measuring a black substance. “What you guy, doing? Can I help?”

  “No, you cannot help,” Harry told him. “And we’re making explosives. So just in case George’s old hands start trembling, you might want to get out of here.”

  “Whoa, cool. In case the enemy shows up?” Tyler asked.

  “Exactly.”

  “Whoa, that’s cool.”

  “Tyler.” Harry tilted his head. “You ran in here screaming. What’s up?”

  “Oh. You remember that guy, Ben from the train and his wife?”

  “They were the ones that left us on the bridge,” Harry said. “Yes, I remember.”

  “I knew you were mad about that.” Tyler nodded. “You didn’t say, but you looked it.”

  “I wasn’t happy.”

  “Are you holding a grudge?”

  “No. Why are you bringing them up?”

  “They’re here, signing in at the refugee center.”

  Harry stood up straight and his head cocked back. He laid his hand on Tyler’s back. “Then I should be the welcome wagon. Let’s go.”

  “You gonna yell at them, Harry?” Tyler asked, with rattling excitement. “Are you?”

  “Tyler...”

  “They left us, Harry. They made me cry.”

  “Now who’s the one holding the grudge?” Harry shook his head. “Let’s go.” He gave a pat to Tyler’s backside and left the garage with the boy, informing George he’d be back.

  CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

  They gave Brendan a change of clothes, jacket and personal hygiene products, and then told him he couldn’t go home.

  Not that Brendan wanted to, considering he lived just inside Brooklyn. But he had nowhere else to go.