Midnight, Anna Dove [ebook smartphone .TXT] 📗

the winner grabbing the piece from the water with a long, eager neck. Haley tossed more crumbs, one by one, and inch by inch the birds neared. They were eight feet away now, seven, six, within tantalizing distance but too far to capture, and besides, they still regarded her warily, watching her every move.

Now they dared to retrieve pieces five feet away. A few shy ones hung back, unwilling to take the risk, but the braver ones came closer and closer with every crumb. Haley continued to toss the crumbs.

At last, the crumbs fell just barely at arm’s reach. Haley waited as the bravest of all the geese came forward, eyed her with its black beady eyes, and then reached out its neck to scoop the crumb from the water’s surface.

In a flash, she grabbed its neck, and immediately there was a mass of honking and wings and splashes from the entire flock. The captured goose gave a great lurch, and Haley, caught off balance by its weight and strength, fell into the shallows. The water was no more than a foot deep, and she soon recovered herself, coming up to her knees and then her feet and dragging up the goose, flapping and writhing, behind her. Elizabeth could not help but laugh a little at the spectacle; Haley was dripping wet again but victorious with their dinner in tow.

When she reached Elizabeth, she grinned.

“Got him.”

“We have to kill him now,” responded Elizabeth. “He’s making a lot of noise.”

“Yes,” agreed Haley, and snapped the goose’s neck with a twist of her wrists.

Elizabeth shuddered, but said nothing, and they turned back the way they had come, following the markers of broken branches until they reached Carlos and the horses. Carlos’ face lit up when he saw the bird that Haley held.

That evening, they roasted the goose over a small open fire, and the fat drops sizzled in the flames. As they ate, the meat fell tenderly off the bone, and they ate until they could not take another bite.

They took turns sleeping as the light faded and the moon rose into the sky. Haley slept first, and when Carlos awoke her for her shift on watch, it was three in the morning. The moon shone brightly above her, and a warm spring breeze whispered in the leaves of the trees, as if the wind was telling a precious secret to the trees and the trees were vowing to keep it, a clandestine tryst between the elements.

Quite awake, Haley sat against the riverbank, with her two sleeping companions to her right and the horses dozing to her left. She watched the soft ripples of the current pattering in everlasting succession across the reflection of the moon on the surface of the water. There was a pleasant gurgling sound as the water flowed by, almost like a song.

She wondered if they would reach their destination. Right now, the world was at peace, as the river rippled by, the trees and the wind whispered softly, the moon shone reassuringly, the stars twinkled as if to remind her that they were rooting for her. Yet even as she sat still and took in all the beauty around her, fear sat down beside her, and she felt the chill of its presence.

Are you safe, really? It said. Are you protected? You’re exposed. You don’t know what lurks in these woods, whether it be man or beast, friend or foe. You don’t know if you’ll find your family, or if your friends will stay with you, or if you’ll be able to survive.

Haley felt the chill spread down her back and up her neck and shoulders, the hair rising on her arms. She took a deep breath and focused on keeping her senses sharp.

As the sky began to lighten and dawn approached, Haley got up, and woke up the others. It was time to move on.

+

The round table in one of the meeting rooms in Chimaugua Bunker was full. The President, the Senator, Snyder Reed, General Braddock, Secretary of Defense Roger Simons and ten other military and government officials had seated themselves solemnly. NSA Director Damion Perkins had arrived and was seated across from Snyder Reed.

“I want the latest from the Pentagon,” said President Gilman as they all settled into their seats. He has dark circles under his eyes and his hands were clasped in front of him.

“Sir, I don’t have good news,” replied Simons. “While we have been actively calling to service all of the bases and the National Guard, it seems that more than three-quarters have abandoned in pursuit of self-preservation. The remaining units are on standby awaiting orders, but the more men leave, the stronger the incentive to act in self-preservation. Legal and financial consequences are of no use in the face of life or death scenarios. They are leaving by the droves, and we can’t stop them.”

“Should we engage the remaining units in policing the domestic cities?” queried the president. “What has happened to the police?”

“Sir, it’s the same story, from the reports I have. The state, county, and local police, as well as sheriffs, have left their jobs in order to save themselves and their families.”

The president seemed to ponder this.

“Sir,” interjected Reed, “Engaging the remaining units would be counterproductive in my opinion.”

“Why is that?”

“Well, what will they do? They will go into the cities, the counties, and attempt to prevent people from killing each other over food. Sir, it would be foolish to underestimate the incentives of the populous here. Their only goal is to stay alive, and they will now necessarily do so by means of brute force. They will kill each other. They will plunder and destroy in the name of feeding their families. And Sir, forgive me if I speak too bluntly, but you at this moment can do nothing about it. You