Greg Krojac - The Schrödinger Enigma

“Don’t even think about it.”

He slowly turned his head to see a short but very stocky man. Enak was unarmed but Shane looked at the size and the strength in the man’s forearms and imagined that the man could easily overcome him. He could shoot the man, but then he’d probably be killed by the woman. He was only sixteen and far too young to die. He slowly put his gun on the ground, before being marched inside the barn.

Now Jason’s little group had an ace up its sleeve – a hostage. Enak looked over Wayne’s pump-action shotgun that he had picked up off the ground.

“Primitive but effective, I imagine. Not my weapon of choice though.”

Jason called out to the house.

“Jacob? Are you alright in there?”

Jacob watched as his wife put a cold compress to the back of their son’s head. He shouted back.

“We’re all fine. Samuel will have a headache for a few hours, but he’ll live.”

Jason turned his attention to the two men concealed behind the rain barrel.

“We outnumber you, and now we have a hostage. This scenario can play out one of two ways; we can negotiate your surrender and get on with our business, or we can shoot it out right here and now. While you’re considering your options, think on this. We have four guns against your two. You’re hiding behind a water butt. You’re alive because I’m letting you live. I don’t really want to kill you, but I will if I have to. And, don’t forget, we have a hostage.”

He turned to Shane.

“Say something, lad.”

Shane knew what he wanted his father to do.

“Pa, [27] change if you decide to use “dad” instead give up. He’s not joking. Let’s just get out of here, while we can.”

Triggs knew that he had no choice. He’d lost his wife and daughter; he didn’t want to lose his son too.

“OK. We surrender.”

Jason nodded to his friends, before shouting out his terms for Triggs’ peaceful withdrawal.

“Here’s what’s going to happen. You’re both going to unload your weapons and throw the ammunition forward. Then you’re going to throw your guns behind you. Then you’re going to stand up and walk to the centre of the courtyard, hands in the air. Do you understand?”

Triggs called out that he did.

“Then you’ll turn around and start walking back down the approach road. Your bikes will stay here.”

“What about my boy?”

Jason turned to Shane.

“What’s your dad’s name?”

“James Trigger. But everybody calls him Triggs.”

The instructions continued.

“You’ll wait for us two hundred yards before the track meets the main road, wearing mothing but your underwear.”

Sitara whispered softly.

“Why have they got to be in their underwear?”

“Because it makes them vulnerable.”

“Oh, I see. Good idea.”

Jason gave the last of his conditions.

“We’ll be leaving here early tomorrow. [28] hm, so they’re trusting the men to not attempt rescue? they should probably at least post a guard? You’ll make yourselves visible when we approach you, we’ll pass you, and then – a mile down the road – we’ll let your son out of the car. Do you agree?”

Triggs reluctantly agreed, although he would have preferred to make a rescue attempt to get his son back.

“Will y’all be turnin’ left or right at the main road?”

“That’s for us to know and you to find out. Do we have a deal?”

Triggs had no choice.

“We have a deal.”

The group in the barn watched as the two men followed the instructions to the letter, before setting off along the side road in the direction of the highway.

Enak kept watch on the dirt road that led away from the farmstead, in case Triggs and his friend decided to do something stupid. When the coast was clear, Jacob let his rescuers back in the house. Jason touched Jacob’s shoulder.

“I’m sorry, but you’re going to have to come with us. We’ve got plenty of room.”

Jacob protested, echoing Burt Prentice’s sentiments, saying that he’d been born in that house and so had his children – it was their home, and it was part of them. Jason understood how he felt, but it was too dangerous for them to stay on their own.

“You’re not safe here. What’s going to happen next time some low-life decides to invade your property? You could get killed. Your wife and daughter could be raped. Think of your family.”

Ruth intervened, she and Miriam more comfortable now that they had washed the mess off themselves.

“Jacob. The Lord Almighty knows that I want to stay here, but we were lucky tonight. Who knows what might happen next time, when Jason and his friends aren’t here. We can’t stay here. There’s nothing here for us now. Only memories. And we can take our memories with us. And the Lord will be with us, wherever we might go. We know that.”

Later that same morning, at the crack of dawn, the overladen SUV left the farm, but not before Enak had disabled each of the Harleys, having spent the rest of the night keeping watch in case the two bikers tried to rescue Shane. As the car rumbled along the dirt-track, they could see that Triggs and his accomplice were waiting a couple of hundred yards before the road junction, just as they had been told to do, wearing nothing but their underwear. The SUV turned right and stopped a little over one mile further down the road, when they left their prisoner by the roadside. Free of the extra passenger, the Chevy continued along the road towards Washington D.C.

About ten miles before the capital city, Enak suggested that they stop. The SUV pulled into the next motel, and disgorged its passengers. Enak didn’t want to say what he had to say out in the parking lot. It would be better if they were all sitting down.

“We should go inside. I have more to tell you about what lies [29] is this incorrect purposefully b/c of translator? If not, should be “lies” ahead.”

The motel reception area was pleasantly furnished and surprisingly clean, with the furniture perfectly arranged in groups of four chairs around a low-level coffee table. Enak fetched three more chairs over to one of the tables so they could all sit down. Then he went over to a vending machine, ripped the door open, and returned with several bars of chocolate which he tossed into the middle of the table, and seven cans of Dr Pepper which he placed in front of each member of the group. Jason passed around the snacks.

“So, Enak. What do you want to talk to us about?”

Enak took a sip of his drink, enjoying the new taste, but then a serious look came over his face.

“There is something you need to know before we get to the city. You need to be prepared for what you may face in the days to come.”

They had an idea of what they would probably see – hundreds of bodies, in varying states of decay. But there would also be signs of civilisation; it may be mostly empty of living people, but the basic physical infrastructure would probably still be there. They might even find other Immunes, hopefully more agreeable than the four that had confronted them at the Amish farm. Enak continued.

“I have already told you something of my background, but I am not sure that you really appreciated the enormity of the situation.”

Miriam unwrapped a Mars Bar, took a bite and spoke with her mouth a little full.

“You mean that you’re from another planet? And that mother called you a demon?”

Ruth blushed, realising that she had misjudged the stranger. He had more than acquitted himself from that charge during the early morning’s attack. She felt embarrassed.

“I’m sorry, Enak. I was shocked and startled. It just came out.”

Enak smiled.