Paul Kirk - Devastation Point

“The major and the president speculate we have four hours, sir. Over.”

Mark shivered at the thought. He extrapolated the potential carnage such an army would bring to the mountain and became angry. He knew this army had the easy potential to destroy what he had painstakingly built over the last five years. His community was a post-Sickness society, one that was successful. Admittedly, there was still much work to be completed on the mountain, but they were headed in the right direction—everyone was aware of the benefits of working as a community and their attitudes showed it. Mark became furious at the prospect of watching his burgeoning community being destroyed.

“This is my mountain. Who the fuck does Phoenix Justice think he is? C’mon up the hill, Phoenix—I’ll be waiting !”

“Sir?” Jake was concerned about his boss.

Mark’s eyes cleared of intense anger and he silently thanked his friend, Connor MacMillen for teaching him the technique of regaining control of his emotions. Mark was a planner. He would adapt and scheme for his successes. He raised the radio to his lips, ignoring Jake. “Fill me in with any other details when we arrive, Commander. I’ll issue orders once we’ve had a chance to discuss the situation. Over and out.”

Mark stared at the men around the table. Jake stood near, waiting for orders. “Jake?”

“Yes, sir.”

“Grab all the stuff in the secure room. Take some of these guys to help you. The pass code’s nineteen sixty-nine Cougar. That’s nineteen, sixty-nine, three, fifteen, twenty-one, seven, one, and eighteen. Okay?”

“Yes, sir.”

“Good. Go!”

“Yes, sir!”

“Jake,” said Harmon. “I want you to initiate the full defensive prep plan for the entire community. I need Brad here now!”

“He’s on his way, sir. We called him earlier.”

“Good. Let’s get moving, gentlemen,” said Mark. He studied the men as they checked their weapons and headed for the door. They were moving with purpose and excitement—all except for Andy. “Andy?” asked Mark. “Everything alright?”

Andy MacMillen stood like a statue, the bustling activity around him in deep contrast to his lack of motion. His face was pale and his eyes spoke of deep thought. At the news of Connor’s possible survival, he had paced for a few minutes before stopping abruptly, as if realizing something important. He turned to Mark Harmon.

“Leave it to Connor Mac to piss off an army and bring it into our back yard.”

“Andy,” reasoned Mark, “Mac wouldn’t do that intentionally.”

“Oh, I know, Mark. It’s probably pissing him off though—knowing he’s brought this enemy into a place where he’s spent most of his life thinking of ways to defend. He might try to lead that army somewhere else—have you thought of that?”

“We don’t know what’s going on yet, Andy,” he said, gently touching Andy’s arm. “C’mon, let’s go.”

“You might not know what’s going on, Mark, but I do,” said Andy, walking reluctantly with Mark.

“What’s that mean?”

“It means Mac’s alive. It means he’s coming home, Mark,” said Andy. He could contain his emotions no longer. “Damn!” he said. “What the fuck!”

Mark was taken aback by the aggression behind Andy’s words. He considered Andy’s perspective and understood his venomous attitude. Here was a man prepared to marry his brother’s wife in a few days. “Oh….” Mark’s face paled. “I see, Andy. Your situation….” Mark’s words faded.

“Right,” said Andy, chuckling at the irony. “I’m a dead man walking.”

“Not necessarily, Andy. Ten years ago, Mac and I spent a lotta of time talking about apocalyptic scenarios. Yeah, sure, it was mostly over too big a fire, too many beers, and too late at night, but we did it enough that it was nearly second nature. We reached the point where we knew how the other thought.” Harmon paused, thinking about what he wanted to say.

Andy maintained his silent disposition.

“You know, Andy,” continued Mark, “Mac might still be coming our way. In our talks, it was always my job to build an impregnable fortress. That’s what I’ve tried to do for the last five years and it’s worked out pretty well, don’t you think?”

“Yeah, Mark, it’s great. I know you’re proud of this place, and you should be. But Mac will never understand what I’ve done.”

Mark realized Andy had only heard half his words—the ones he wanted to hear. He began to understand with more clarity Andy’s sense of lethargy and paralysis—his friend Connor was on the verge of finding out Andy was within a few days of taking Connor’s wife as his own.

“C’mon, Andy… he’d understand. He’d hafta understand. It’s been five years, I think—”

“I don’t think so, Mark. I’m definitely a dead man walking!”

Ryan caught up to them, smiling. His smile widened when he saw his brother’s anxious concern. “He’s gonna kick your ass! You’re dead, bro!” The younger MacMillen hesitated and put an arm around Andy’s shoulder. “Don’t worry, man, I’ll explain it was the right thing to do. You waited five years, you know? Mac was in Australia when this Sickness came. We thought we’d never see him again— you thought he was dead.”

Andy continued his pace, head down, and didn’t respond.

“C’mon, bro… I’ll tell him you waited as long as you could. You know… outta respect.”

“It won’t matter, Ry. I shoulda listened to you.” Andy’s face experienced a flurry of emotions. Fear, pain, excitement, and loss fought for predominance.

“Andy, I know I got upset by it, I did, but after the initial shock of you and T being a couple… I have to admit, it made sense. It was a good fit. For sure. I’ll tell Mac that five years is a fair amount of time to wait.”

“Thanks, Ry.”

“You’re welcome. But, bro?”

“Yeah.”

“Mac is still gonna kick the living shit outta ya!” Ryan bounced away, checking with the others to make sure they had sufficient ammunition and their weapons were in working order. Despite his despair, Andy felt some elation over the news. His older brother was alive.

Mark heard the exchange between the two and he considered Andy’s predicament. He was glad that his own plans for wooing Terry had failed miserably. He raised the radio to his lips. “Commander, do you copy?”

After several moments the commander answered. “I copy, sir. Over.”

“I never thought I’d say this cheesy line, commander, but… head ’em off at the pass. Over.”

“Yes, sir. Your message is understood. Over and out.” The commander’s voice had held a hint of amusement.

A few yards away, Ryan grabbed Cam by the arm and motioned to JR to join them.

“What’s up, Ry?” asked Cam as JR sidled up to them.

“Hold here for a sec while I talk to Andy.”

“Okay.”

Ryan approached his brother. “Andy, we need to initiate H-4 protocol back at the clan.”

Andy stood distracted until the mention of ‘Hunker down at maximum level’, or H-4 as it was known in the clan’s yearly drills. His eyes took on a clear focus and he nodded immediately. “I agree, bro.”

“Okay.”

Andy raised his hand to delay Ryan from leaving. “Hold up a sec, bro. I want T and Mac’s kids over here.”

“You do? Why?”

“I need to talk with T before this shit gets any deeper. And I want to have her here when Mac shows up so we can… um, at least lay it out all together, ahh—”

“Okay, sure, I see. But why bring Liam and Shannon closer to the firefight?”

“That’s easy. ’Cause T won’t come over here without them once she’s instructed to come over. She won’t leave them to hunker down without her. I know how she is. Plus, having those two kids here might give me a few minutes to figure out Mac’s take on things.”