Jacqueline Druga - What Tomorrow Brings

“I am, too.”

They were her brothers; yet, Kit could only get so close. She just couldn’t bring herself to look. It pained her to think of how they died, how they suffered at the end, and for all their struggles, to have their bodies desecrated by animals, just seemed cruel and wrong.

It would be dark soon, Kit knew staying wasn’t an option. There was no way to dig a grave. Catherine retrieved a tarp from her truck, they covered Regis and Mark with that, then buried them beneath debris. It was the best they could do. Then Kit silently said her goodbyes.

The only thing that made it bearable was that the two of them had healed the rift between them and they found peace. Their entire lives they had their ups and downs, like most siblings. Still, they were brothers and dying in each other’s arms was their final symbol of that brotherhood.

Kit still had a hard time believing there was an occupation. She hadn’t seen any signs of one. No foreign soldiers, military trucks, none of that until they nearly reached Seattle.

There, thirty miles outside of Seattle, at an interchange for the town of North Bend, a road barricade was erected and Kit and Abe were forced to leave their car behind.

They turned around, parked it on the side of the road by the other vehicles that were moved, took the keys and hoped that it would be there when they returned.

At the check point, they were asked their names and if they were trying to return home.

The soldier working the gate wasn’t friendly, but he wasn’t mean either. When Kit told him she was searching for her family, he informed her there were over forty camps set up on the outskirts between Seattle and Olympia.

If she had to, she would check them, but she wanted to check her mother’s home and Jillie’s apartment.

The thirty mile hike wasn’t going to be easy because they were forced from the street when the sun set. They were stopped, loaded into the back of a military truck and taken to a fishing depot, where she and Abe sat inside the emptied store with ten other people while a guard stood on watch.

The only positive thing about that was they didn’t have to use their rations, they were given food.

No one in the store knew what was going on and no one talked much except to say they were all looking for people. They all, like Kit and Abe, were waiting for sun up to move on.

When morning came and the guards opened the door, they all filed out.

“It’s amazing,” Abe said as they walked.

“What is?”

“How is anyone going to find anyone if they’re all out looking.”

He had a valid point.

“You know,” Kit said. “No one ever thinks these things will really happen. You imagine they could, you hope they don’t and think they won’t. So no one really plans. It’s not like people going about their daily lives stop and somebody says, “Hey, in case of a catastrophic event let’s meet here”. I suppose some people might. Realistically, they don’t. We also kind of think… the nukes fall, but no one’s left so why prepare.”

“I think in time we’re going to find out the pre-war thought process was pretty skewered.”

“Why do you say that?” Kit asked.

“I mean, bombs fell, people lived… but I think the vision of a barren world is something that will eventually happen. The days of operating as a society as a whole are over. People will eventually fraction off. There’s no coming back from this, no matter how hard we try.”

“But they are trying,” Kit said. “Look around.”

Abe chuckled. “I see what looks like, to me at least, any scene we saw on the news after a disaster. Think major earthquakes, tsunamis, Red Cross comes in, nations send help, but this is too big.”

A strange voice joined the conversation. A husky male voice, slightly out of breath. “You’re right.”

Both Kit and Abe stopped walking and looked.

A man, probably in his sixties, stood right behind them. He had stopped as well. He was a tad overweight, probably was much bigger before the bombs fell. Oddly, he wore a white button down shirt that was loose on him, and a pair of tan pans with a belt pulled tight to keep them up. He had a full head of gray hair that was just wiry and everywhere.

“Mind if I walk with you?” he asked. “My name is Jonas.”

“Um, sure,” Kit said.

“Thanks.” He walked next to Kit. “They notice you more when you are alone.”

“Who notices you more?” Kit asked.

“The soldiers, workers, citizen patrol, whatever the hell they are.”

“I’m Abe, she’s Kit,” Abe said. “I saw you last night in the store.”

“The holding. That’s what I call it.” Jonas said. “This is my fourth time through this passage.”

His words made Kit pause. “Fourth time?”

“Yeah, I make it so far then I get moved out. I get taken to the Agrarian border, that’s all the area outside of the safe occupation,” Jonas said. “I think the occupiers see a Mad Max world out there. It’s not. Not yet. It will be in time. When people get desperate.”

“Why do they escort you out?” Abe asked.

“For refusal to work. Pretty much if you are healthy and not relatively old they put you to work. It’s not a bad deal from what I saw, as long as you do your job. Just everyone has to work. Whether it’s clearing out rubble, finding bodies, distributing rations, street patrol, refugee placement… all jobs that are supposed to get things as close to normal. I don’t have a problem with working, I just need to find my wife and get her out of the area.”

“Wouldn’t working help you find your wife easier?” Abe asked.

Jonas shook his head. “No, because you have to stay in your area, that’s the only way to keep track. You sign up and if you change your mind, it becomes like a prison sentence. You don’t sign up, they take your food and drive you out. Half these people,” Jonas indicated to those walking. “Will be picked up the first time they set foot in a camp.”

“You seem to know a lot,” Kit said.

“I talk a lot, as you can tell. I talk to people. Second time through, I asked a lot of questions to any workers who would talk. You’ll check camps as well. Everyone does.”

“I plan on checking my mother’s house and my daughter’s apartment.”

Jonas lifted a finger. “That was my first thought. Go to the house. Hell, I was certain we were far enough away. But the house was empty. Here…” He pulled a map from his back pocket and opened it. Areas were crossed out. “These are the sections they have done, that I know of. Even if the houses are still standing, they have been hitting viable neighborhoods, seizing property. They moved the owners out, inventory the home, then redistribute the property to refugees of the bombs. Sometimes two or three families are placed in one home.”

“That’s insane,” Abe said.

“That’s the new America.” Jonas folded the map and put it into his pocket. “There’s a chance that your mother’s house wasn’t seized, and she could be there. If it was seized like my home, she was moved to a camp and given a job. Only I haven’t figured out which camp my wife is in, and I have to before this all falls apart.”

“Why do you say that?” Abe asked.

“Goes along with what you were saying when I interrupted. It’s too big. Right now, those soldiers, they are coming from about twelve different countries. There isn’t enough, that’s why they’re only focusing on the coastal cities and relying on civilian help. Pretty soon, the civilians are gonna say, “Hey why am I doing this?” and they’ll stop. These countries sending boots here, they don’t have the resources to keep sending. They don’t. I haven’t seen a single Russian soldier. Wanna know why? They have just as big of problems as the US. Bet me a dime for a dollar these boots here, are there as well. So that’s why I said you were right, this wasn’t an occupation like an invasion, it is a short lived aid initiative.”