Chapter 4: Old Friends

Sunday, March 26th, 10:06 AM

West Side — High Street Ruins

Santa Cruz, California

For a few minutes, neither girl said a word while they cried once more and held one another tightly.

After they had calmed somewhat, Joe carried up two bottles of water he’d found in the basement and offered them to the young women.

“Those… are ours!” The shorter woman’s high, tired voice snapped while she snatched them away. Her shaky hands dropped one into the mud before she ducked to retrieve it.

“Yes, I know. We’re not here to rob you or hurt you. I’m Joe, and that’s Mike.” He offered her a half-smile while showing his hands in a placating gesture.

She indicated herself with a muddy bottle, “Siobhán, and the quiet one is Joy. Sorry. And thanks—for saving us, I mean…” Joy nodded emphatically along with Siobhán’s words but wouldn’t look up.

The brunette folded her arms across her stomach while her small hands maintained a white-knuckled grasp on the top of each bottle. Her slightly-disheveled brown hair shone red in the sun as looked askance toward their rescuers with her large brown eyes.

Joe gave her a slightly-pained smile, “You’re welcome.” He shrugged slightly at Mike.

“I’ll go get the kids.” Mike chuckled, waving behind him as he headed back in the direction they’d come.

Siobhán’s mouth twitched a little and she amended, “Wait. You guys have children, and you still… Even leaving them alone just to… I mean, really, thank you. Sorry. Still kinda freaked out, you know?” She chuckled nervously through a frown.

“Heh. Don’t mention it. They’re actually around your age. It’s a good thing you screamed so loudly, or we never would have known.”

The corners of Siobhán’s frown deepened as her eyes watered. She hugged Joy and buried her face against the tall girl’s skinny chest.

“Look, I know things have really gone to shit, but the country can endure as long as good people stick together. What can you tell us about this individual? Was he also hurting you?” Joe asked, holding his hands out to the sides in a placating gesture before indicating their captive with a nod.

Siobhán pulled away from Joy to stare holes through the young man sitting in the mud. Her lip curled into a sneer and she growled, “that one’s… He’s a fucking coward! He could have tried to stop them, but he whined about it when they hurt us! Their leader slapped him one time and he just ran away… like a little bitch! He left us there with those animals!”

She dropped the water bottles and launched herself forward, kicking the man in the right side of his abdomen with one of her sharp-toed hiking boots.

Sio was winding up to kick the groaning man again when Joe grabbed her arms and gently pulled her away.

“Whoa, now! Easy! If he didn’t hurt you and he tried to tell the others to stop, then don’t take it out on him. He was just one scrawny kid against four men. Besides, they can’t hurt anyone ever again.” Joe nodded toward the line of bodies after he released her.

“Yeah, well I don’t—oh, God!” Siobhán’s eyes went wide at the gruesome sight of the bloodied corpses and she shuffled back to Joy’s side.

“What’s your name, son?” Joe nudged the bound man with a large combat boot.

“E-Emmanuel Gonzales. Please, sir. I tried. I didn’t want Dalton to hurt the ladies. But I just—” The young man pleaded.

“Do I need to worry about you, Emmanuel? Are you going to become a problem if I cut you loose?” Joe cut him off.

“No, sir! No problem. I only do what Dalton says because…”

“Because?” Joe grew impatient.

“Dalton—he was el Diablo. If I said no to him, he—” Emmanuel gulped and shuddered. “His talk was pretty. Made people trust him. But then…” The young man trailed off with a haunted look.

“How did your group survive?” Joe rumbled.

“We were on a job. Down inside a basement when the bomb—”

“On a job—you were robbing someone’s house?” Joe frowned down at Emmanuel.

“I… yeah.” Emmanuel looked up at Joe for a moment with his eyebrows climbing, then he hung his head as he finished weakly.

“I not proud of it, but I done… a lot of bad things since Dalton start to give me work, you know?” Emmanuel’s accent thickened somewhat as a whine entered his voice.

“Please, sir! I’m being honest with you because I—I want to live!” Tears leaked down his bruised face as he gazed imploringly up at Joe.

“Well, I appreciate your honesty,” Joe remarked.

A bird call sounded from nearby, and Joe responded with a tuneful whistle of his own.

Mike returned with Michael and Rihelah in tow.

---

“Oh, my God… Joy Peterson? Siobhán Killarney!” Rihelah broke her grip on Michael’s hand and rushed forward. She stopped mid-stride when she was around halfway to her friends, freezing up at the sight of the dead men. She turned away with her arms covering her stomach.

“Rihelah? I don’t believe it! I thought—Mnnn!” The little brunette threw herself at the half-Afghani woman and wrapped her in a miniature bear hug just before Joy trotted over to enfold them both in her long arms.

“Ouch! Easy, Sio!” Rihelah Grunted. “Damn, you’ve always been strong for such a little… I mean, it’s good to see you! I’ve missed you both since I graduated!” Rihelah beamed up at the tall blond, who replied with a pained, toothy grin.

“Joy! Wait… are you okay?” She snaked one arm around the taller girl for a moment for a good squeeze. “Was that you guys screaming?” Rihelah pulled back and listened while Siobhán explained.

Oh, God—the men who did this…

The corpses lay a few feet away, to her left.

Churning unrest bloomed in Rihelah’s stomach at the sight of so much blood, so she inched herself steadily away from the bodies. She was grateful when Siobhán seemed to notice and dragged both her friends a few steps further away, much to Rihelah’s relief.

Rihelah’s eyes searched out Michael.

Back near the basement entrance, Mike, Michael and Joe were discussing what to do with the dead men’s equipment, and Rihelah found herself stealing occasional glances at Michael as Siobhán talked.

Rihelah missed the feeling of his hand in hers.

After a few minutes, Rihelah couldn’t stand it any longer. “One sec, Sio.” She held up her index finger, then bounded over and grabbed Michael around the waist.

“This is Michael.” She grinned as she dragged him toward Joy and Siobhán.

“Wait. No way! He’s the one you were always telling us about? The mantis-man who can sing? Ahhh!” Siobhán made a long, silly face, crossing her eyes as she made mantis-like gestures with her tiny arms and sang a piercing high note with forced vibrato. Her cringe-worthy attempt at mimicking opera was choked off by a hoarse cough.

“Yup, he’s the best singing nature-dork there ever was! Wait until you guys hear him!” Rihelah beamed and punched his arm while Michael rolled his eyes and grinned quietly.

The unrest in her stomach eased a little with him next to her.

“Sio and Joy studied Biology with me at UCSC,” She told Michael.

“Oh! Papa Mike there is Michael’s dad, and Uncle Joe is Mike’s Marine Corps buddy! He’s not actually that much older than me and Michael, but we call him Uncle anyway, ‘cause Big Joe’s earned it! They’re good peeps!” Rihelah grinned while she indicated each in turn.

Joe and Mike paused their conversation to look over after their names were spoken.

“Yeah. I mean, they did save us, so…” More tears welled in Siobhán’s eyes as she gave a radiant smile and stared at Joe.

Uncle Joe looked stunned.

Rihelah raised her eyebrows when Sio scrambled forward to give Joe a warm, tight hug for a long moment, pressing herself firmly against his immense, muscular body.

“Seriously, thank you,” she whispered while Joe visibly tensed up.

---

Joe’s tension ebbed when he felt Siobhán’s surprisingly-tight embrace loosen.

But she didn’t let go—her arms remained around his torso, and her chest pressed against Joe’s stomach with every breath as she beamed up at him with her big hazel eyes.

Despite the urge to push her away, Joe decided to be kind after her traumatic ordeal, so he forced a half-grin.

A moment of silence followed as he found himself locking eyes with Siobhán, her gentle expression reminding him of Anna.

Joe’s guts twisted in anguish, but he couldn’t look away.

He breathed a sigh of relief when Mike interjected with a hand on his shoulder. “I hate to cut things short, but we still have work to do. We need supplies and there’s someone we’re searching for.”

Mike looked at Joy and Siobhán. “Since you’re both friends with Rihelah, you girls are welcome to come with us. That basement door isn’t going to lock again.”

Siobhán nodded vigorously and Joy shrugged noncommittal assent with a shy smile.

Mike replied, “Right. Grab whatever you think you can carry. It’s several miles back to camp after we finish our search, so take that into account.”

Joy and Siobhán quickly descended into the basement, followed by Rihelah.

“Right; one more thing.” With a deliberate look down at Emmanuel, Mike turned to Joe, “Your assessment?”

“Salvageable.” Joe rumbled with a shrug.

“Okay, kid. Don’t make me regret cutting you loose.” Mike took a tactical knife off his belt, cut Emmanuel’s bonds, and hauled the young man to his feet.

Mike took a firm hold on Emmanuel’s shoulder with his left hand, meeting the young man’s eyes with a calculating, wizened stare while looming half a head over him. “You work with us and help everyone out, and you get to eat. Don’t work, and you’re out on your own. You harm a hair on anyone’s head or steal anything from us, you’ll end up like your buddies.”

Mike nodded sideways at the corpses. “Do you understand?”

With a slight glimmer of hope trickling into his terrified expression, Emmanuel nodded vigorously.

“Good. Then show me what you’re made of, son. Take this opportunity to work on yourself, and we’ll get along just fine. Just remember, you only get one chance.”

“Okay.” Emmanuel trembled nervously.

The women emerged from the basement, each wearing an expensive hiking pack loaded with supplies.

“Where’d you find all of that?” Joe asked while raising an eyebrow and rubbing his right temple to try to ease his headache as it continued to worsen.

Siobhán grinned, “we’ve thought about leaving for almost a week. Food and water were running low, and my parents had all this gear in a hidden compartment. Hah. I used to think it was a pain in the ass living down there whenever… when they’d…” She tapered off. Tearing up, she stared ruefully at two partly-eroded mounds beside the burned remains of the house.

“At least they went together, like they always… hoped they would…” Sio sobbed quietly while Joy hugged her.

“Oh, Soybean, I’m so sorry!” Rihelah teared up, embracing both the other girls awkwardly around the hiking packs.

After a moment, Siobhán snorted. A smile snuck in among her tears. “You can be so obnoxious—” she rolled her eyes while a grin split her youthful face, “and you’re the best Halfghan-senpai I ever had.”

“The only Halfghan you’ll ever need, you adorable Otaku.” Rihelah flashed a radiant smile back.

Mike’s expression firmed up along with his stance and he called out with the practiced, authoritative voice of a Senior Drill-Instructor as he paced slowly in front of the others, “O-kay! Let’s form up. Schimpf, you’re on point. Emmanuel, you’re with me. Siobhán and Joy, you follow. Michael and Rihelah, you’re bringing up the rear. I’m trusting you to watch our six. I want everyone’s eyes open! Siobhán, Emmanuel, and Joy, if you spot anyone who’s not with us, you quietly notify Michael and he will notify me.”

Mike passed a hard gaze around at everyone, “Do I make myself clear?”

“Sir, yes sir!” Siobhán’s tired high soprano voice rang out. She saluted as smartly as she knew how, while the others simply replied, “yes.”

Joe winced.

The gray camping backpack Siobhán wore, with its carbon fiber frame that loomed behind her auburn hair shifted back and forth a few times, making the slender woman’s breasts wiggle when the straps tugged at them from either side.

Joe smothered his mouth with a huge hand in a vain effort to stifle a laugh.

Mike inhaled slowly as his expression tightened.

Michael’s eyes went wide, and Rihelah tensed up.

Emmanuel shrank away when Mike’s leathery fists make an audible tightening sound.

Siobhán’s jovial expression decayed rapidly as she looked around and seemed to notice the collective mood.

Mike Elliott shut his blue eyes and drew a long, calming breath. He rubbed his temples for a moment while tension continued to mount.

Finally, he snapped his eyes open toward Siobhán, and she flinched.

His tone amplified the chill in the air. “Yes, I’ve seen that movie. But don’t you ever salute me, girl. You’re a civilian, and it’s inappropriate. But more importantly, we mustn’t let any potential threats know what our training and capabilities could be. Since this morning, we’ve been forced to send nine unfortunate souls to an early grave.” He frowned at the line of bodies before continuing.

“We’re lucky none of them were combat-trained, or it might be some of us pushing up flowers. People are desperate all over after what’s happened. Desperate people sometimes do terrible things in an effort to survive. That’s especially true when there’s no functional society with proper consequences for criminal acts. Look around us. Think about the situation we found you in. This place is a literal hellscape, and it’s gonna be like the Wild West out here until things get put back in order. Survival has to be our top priority, so I need you to listen and follow orders so that we can all stay alive. Agreed?”

“I—yeah.” Siobhán nodded vigorously, staring at Mike’s boots while tears flowed freely down her cheeks.

“Good! That’s settled, then. Let’s move out. We’ll return to bury these four after we get what we came for.” Mike’s tone softened back to normal.

Joe barely caught her words when Rihelah put her arm around a sniffling Siobhán and whispered in her ear. “I know Papa Mike can be harsh, but he means well. He scared the shit out of me too, when I was little. But after you get to know him, he’s a big softy. If he didn’t care, he wouldn’t have said anything.”

Rihelah gave Siobhán a quick peck on the cheek, then passed her off to Joy while they all moved into formation beside their respective partners.

With the questionable shotgun in his hands, Joe led them back out to High Street.

Joe’s gut churned furiously while he moved forward with a heavy heart. From their current location, less than two blocks separated Joe from the ashen remains of the home he had shared with his beloved wife, Anna.

Without warning, the air warped around them for an instant. Every one of the group stopped in place and felt their body hair stand up involuntarily.

Joe spun around to face the others.

“Michael, what’s happening?” Rihelah whispered as she locked eyes with him, grasping about blindly with her hand until it found his.

Joe turned away, shielding his eyes when a potent blue light flashed into view near the area near Santa Cruz Harbor.

“Find cover!” Mike cried out as he headed toward a cinder block wall that still stood. With that, Joe moved immediately while the others snapped out of their relative state of shock and they all headed toward the same location.

The mysterious radiance ebbed slightly as it ascended into the sky at incredible speed, then began to twinkle as it slowed to a hover high above the beach.

Siobhán and Emmanuel were the last two to make it to cover, where they all huddled together. An unexpected tingling feeling washed over them all as unfamiliar symbols scrawled across every surface that faced the strange phenomenon and the light passed through the concrete wall.

“So pretty…” Siobhán’s fingertips rubbed lightly at a vaguely snake-shaped symbol taking shape on the pale skin of her left forearm.

Joy’s eyes were wide as she stood frozen, like a deer in headlights.

The unknown light winked out abruptly, but despite its disappearance, the unearthly runes that strange spectacle had created lingered for a long moment upon terrain, clothing and skin. Then, one by one, those symbols sank into every surface they had touched.

The places where the strange, luminous writing had come into contact with Joe’s skin instantly felt as cold as ice. Simultaneously, every single one of them clutched at their heads—except for Joe, whose existing headache mysteriously vanished.

The sudden change elicited a flurry of scratching and groans of displeasure.

Emmanuel howled in fear, his voice rising so high that he sounded like a screaming child. He clawed fiercely at the skin of his hands, drawing blood in a vain attempt to rip the remaining runes free before they could enter his body.

“The fuck was that?” Joe rumbled with a deep frown, rubbing his tension-free temples in wonder as their group huddled together behind the wall.

Mike just shook his head with haunted eyes.

---

AUTHOR’S NOTE — Siobhán is pronounced: Shiv-on, with emphasis on the second syllable. It’s a Gaelic name for girls.

Rihelah is pronounced: Rye-ell-ah, with emphasis on the first syllable. It’s one variation on English spelling of an Afghani name for girls.