“Why the hell did you leave?” asked Tim.
“To bring food back to the others. We didn’t plan to stay in the warehouse forever.”
“And you think the guards will let you back inside?”
“Of course. We left men behind.”
The next tactical move was obvious. The only question was who would approach the warehouse and who would remain behind. And while they stood there, deciding how to proceed, Thomas heard someone else approach. This turned out to be Billy.
After a brief discussion, Billy announced a plan that did not go over well with Seth.
“I think we put together a small team and approach the warehouse at their mercy. Jimmy out front and the women behind him. Me and Seth and Thomas will each follow one of you.”
“Are you out of your mind?” Seth said. “I am not sending my wife out in front of me.”
“Finding this guy is a stroke of luck,” said Billy. “They aren’t going to shoot him, and they aren’t going to shoot women, either. Especially not her.”
He thumbed in the direction of Skylar.
“What if he’s lying?” said Seth. “Using us somehow?”
But Thomas knew Jimmy wasn’t lying. That sort of unearned plot twist would be a cheat.
“If he’s lying,” said Billy, “he’s the first one down. We’ll jump in front of the women before the sniper can shoot again and pull them back to safety. But that’s not gonna happen. I just spoke to their leader and he’s about to bring food to the crowd. They’re giving up.”
“Then why don’t we go out front with the rest of them?” asked Seth. “Instead of this chickenshit approach?”
“Because as soon as that idiot wheels supplies out the front door, he’ll have a riot on his hands. Those hungry people ain’t gonna wait in line. If we want any chance at the food, we have to do this now.”
Seth glared at him. Larry looked relieved, like he was happy to sit back while others put themselves in harm’s way.
“I think Billy is right,” Natalie said. “I don’t think they’ll shoot unarmed women. And anyway, I’m ready to help. So far I’ve barely done anything.”
“Same here,” said Skylar. “I’m happy to be out front.”
“But someone will need to stay with the boys,” Natalie said.
“Miguel and I will make sure they’re safe,” said Tim.
“Me, too,” said Larry.
In The Pulse, a character like Natalie would never have left her children behind, let alone put herself in harm’s way. This was where Thomas had gone wrong, and why Skylar had flown here to correct him. Just because women were less physically strong than men didn’t mean they wanted their safety gift-wrapped for them. Most healthy humans longed to be valued, to be needed by someone else. Whether you were a man or a woman didn’t matter. You contributed where you could, even if it meant putting your own safety at risk.
A minute later they marched out of the woods in the order prescribed by Billy. Jimmy first, the women next, Thomas, Seth, and Billy in the rear. As they marched, Billy yelled their demands in a loud and commanding voice.
“We are not here to fight! But we deserve a right to eat the same as you! We are not here to fight, but we must protect our families! I repeat: We are not here to fight!”
Thomas was so nervous he could barely put one foot in front of the other. He watched the roof of the warehouse and eventually saw movement. There appeared to be two snipers. One scrambled toward the side of the building while the other held a gun trained on the approaching group.
Ahead, Thomas saw at least twenty docks where semi-trucks had parked trailers to be loaded or unloaded. And, tucked in a corner, there appeared to be an employee access door. Billy also saw this door and led them toward it.
“We are not here to fight!” he yelled as they reached the building. “We were in the woods behind the warehouse and discovered this man approaching from the east. He says he’s been here before. He says you supplied him with food and water. Why shouldn’t we be treated the same?”
“Where are your other men?” someone yelled back.
“Watching from the trees. They have orders to attack if this doesn’t go well. We are well-armed. I advise you to help us.”
Thomas couldn’t see who they were speaking to because of a long semi-trailer that stood between them. That meant the guards couldn’t see them, either.
“Approach slowly,” the man said. “Make any sudden moves and my sharpshooter will be forced to take you down.”
“We are aware of your sniper,” said Billy. “We are not here to fight.”
When Billy pushed Jimmy around the corner of the truck, Thomas cringed. But no one shot him. Soon all six of them, with Skylar and Natalie now in the back, were standing in front of two men and one woman. The woman held her rifle in a near-ready position.
“I am Anthony Williams,” said one of the two men. He was thin and composed amid all this chaos. “Manager of this facility. Paige and Aiden have been helping protect our interests.”
“Billy Pate,” said Billy. “This here is Thomas Phillips and Seth Black.”
Jimmy, who until then had appeared semi-conscious, jerked his neck to look backward at Seth.
“So your name is Seth Black?”
Thomas wasn’t sure why this mattered, but he could sense it coming, the big reveal, the unexpected twist that would propel the story into its final act. Did he believe it now, finally? That none of this was happening, that somehow he was living in a reality that wasn’t real?
“So what if it is?” Seth said.
“You here from Tulsa? Have a wife named Natalie?”
“I’m Natalie,” said Natalie.
“How do you know us?” Seth asked.
Jimmy turned directly toward Seth and smiled. There was blood in his teeth.
“I’m Jimmy Jameson,” he said. “You owe me $213,000.”
The look on Seth’s face, upon hearing this news, was something close to horror. Whereas Thomas was forced to suppress a smile. Because the twist was even more obvious than he might have imagined, this incongruous meeting of two men separated by geography and sheer population. What was easier to believe? That Seth and Jimmy had somehow found each other by pure chance? Or that it had been the guiding hand of an author determined to confer meaning to a random celestial event that had ended the world?
Life without order, without a narrative, was pointless. To desire order was to be human.
To believe you could alter that order was foolhardy. Hubris.
But Thomas planned to try, anyway.
HARD EIGHT
THIRTY-EIGHT
Hi, there. It’s Aiden again. Shit is getting real, don’t you think?
You probably remember Anthony and me speaking to one of the heavily armed men in the crowd, who you now know as Billy. When he told us about the soldiers in the helicopter taking pictures, Anthony decided to send food outside. I went back to the roof just in time for Paige to spot Billy and the others walking out of the trees. My mind had become a universe of chaotic, screaming nonsense, and even as we met the new people, I was working out how to get back to the roof. Without Paige.
269 rounds, remember?
After introductions, during which a strange exchange passed between Jimmy and a man named Seth, Anthony led everyone into the warehouse.
“I need to go back to the roof,” Paige said as we walked toward the common area. “And Aiden should probably come with me. I could use another pair of eyes. Something is different this morning.”
“I’ll send him up shortly,” said Anthony. “For now, I’d like Aiden to stay here while we get to know our new guests.”