LeRoy Clary - Humanaty's Blight

Behind her was the hillside, and on top was the city of Everett. Not large, but two or three hundred thousand people had lived there. It seemed that many were up there again. I heard music, cheers, and even the shouts of a few children.

She leaned even closer. “Do you even see what’s happening?”

“No.” I had no idea what she was talking about.

“Yesterday, these people were killing each other. The ships with the troops… and you pulled them together. If you don’t do something, tomorrow things will be like they were yesterday.”

“She’s right,” Steve said. “They look up to you. Your name is on all their lips. Do something to help them.”

Now, there was a stalemate. How had it become my responsibility to do something to help them? Because I’d stolen a sailboat and made myself captain? A week ago, I’d been living in a cave by myself.

“Like what?” I asked.

“Compliment them. Congratulate them,” Steve said. “Tell them it’s all going to be alright.”

Sue said, “Am I going to have to be your spokesperson again?”

“I don’t know what to tell them.”

“Follow me,” she said as we walked back to the Ford. Because of the flat tires, she stepped up on the fender, the hood, and then the roof. “I need your attention!” she bellowed as loud as any longshoreman who had ever worked on the dock.

Hundreds of people stopped whatever they were doing. The pier became oddly quiet. She raised her voice and shouted, “You all saw what happened here. And you know who is responsible for leading you to this great victory. Captain Bill has sent word to the rest of the country to repel the invaders that are at our shores.”

A cheer went up.

She waved her arms and called for silence, then continued. “Those who sent the blight to kill all of us will pay. This is not over. We must find out who killed our families and friends and return the favor.”

More cheering.

She called for quiet again. “We need someone to lead us. One man has stepped up and saved us all. I nominate Captain Bill to be voted in as the next president of the United States!”

The cheering went on for what seemed like hours. The radio operators spread Sue’s words to the entire country. I couldn’t stop them or her. Steve stood to one side and grinned.

The radio operators kept us informed of the battles in other places. In Oregon, at the small town of Newport, seven ships had attempted to disgorge troops and equipment. People from all up and down the coast had arrived and by sheer force of numbers, drove three ships back out to sea. Of the other four, two sank in the harbor by unknown means, and two were overrun by citizens.

Down the coast in California, four separate fleets had appeared the same day as ours. One had been destroyed by locals who had access to an army depot with large weapons. Three more, the largest fleets, all with small warships accompanying the troopships, found themselves fighting hordes of people, so many that they were prevented from landing their troops. At San Diego, two naval destroyers crewed by ex-sailors had engaged in a furious battle at sea with the enemy before they landed.

While the news coming into the radio shack was positive, my name was thrown around in about every third sentence, from as far away as San Diego. We heard of no invasions in Texas or the east coast. However, there was a rumor of a large fleet near Greenland, waiting at sea for the right time to attack. How it had been discovered was unknown, but the word of the attempted invasion of the west coast spread and convinced those on the east coast to work together.

Also, the information that the pandemic was intentional, spread faster than good news. The simple CB radios on the pier had been replaced during the night with short-wave, and the operators were talking to people nation-wide, and around the world.

Any ship crewed by foreigners and arriving on our shores would meet with massive crowds of armed, angry citizens. Instead of fighting each other, people pulled together within a single day, and everyone had the same objective: Find and defeat the enemy that unleashed the blight on our nation.

The information from the radio operators continued to pour in. Militia from Wyoming wanted me to tell them whether to deploy to the Gulf states or the west coast. I sent them to the Gulf.

Think about that. I sent militia to the Gulf. Me . How can that have happened? While thinking about that, consider that Sue, who was still fourteen, set up relief centers in three western states, instructed survivors in the northeast to gather at West Point, where they would be housed and fed at the military academy. She had appointed a retired general to be in charge.

Steve sat with the radiomen and continually used my name to order new sanctuary cities to be formed in the middle of the country or to direct ragtag troops to where a defensive position could keep enemies from our shores. He wanted order restored, continually suggested mentioning my name as the one person with the authority to pull us all together.

I’d quit trying to stop that talk hours earlier, not because I wanted such a position, but because I couldn’t stop them. The joke had turned into a reality over which I had no control. Besides, the average person needed someone or something to look up to. It wasn’t that we had fallen so far from civilization. There simply had to be a figurehead, no matter how inept or awkward it was, even if it was me.

I strode around the navy pier watching the crowd part before me. At the edge of the pier, I looked into the bay where it was hard to see the water because of the flotsam from the ships that had sunk. Seagulls and ravens were feasting. I refused to look at what they ate.

Turning, I looked over the pier, at the thousands of people gathered there and on the hillside. Fires burned. Food cooked. People rested, talked, and made friends.

I convinced myself it was all going to be okay.

LeRoy currently lives in Washington State with his wife, and a dog named Molly. He spends his time doing what he loves the most: writing about an action-packed fantasy world of dragons, and magic. LeRoy spends his leisure time traveling and exploring the beautiful countryside in the Pacific Northwest from high desert to forests to coastal terrain.

Writing has always been one of LeRoy’s favorite past times and passions; mostly fantasy and science fiction. He’s been a member of several author critique groups both in Texas and in Washington State. He collaborated on a project in Texas that produced the book Quills and Crossroadswhich includes two of his short stories.

In recent years, LeRoy has published over a dozen fantasy books including a book called DRAGON! Stealing the Eggwhich began the idea of how to live and survive in a world where dragons are part of the landscape. The Dragon Clan Seriesis unique in that it introduces a new main character in each of the seven books of the series. The book entitled Blade of Lies: Mica Silverthorne Storywas a finalist in an Amazon national novel writer’s contest in 2013.

Facebook: www.facebook.com/leroyclary

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Email: Leroy.clary@gmail.com

Good books are written by several exceptional people, all of whom have my thanks. This group sets my limits and helps establish the foundations for my books, keeping me on track as they progress.