"The Center Pointe" Chapter 12

Chapter 12

    Not trusting anyone had gotten General Washington to where he was now, when this hell had started he was the first to embrace the new world.  He relished in the struggle and the misery this world had caused to others, but to him it had been a blessing.  A chance to live the way he wanted to without the repercussion that so called civilized society had forced him to adhere to.

          When the world had went to hell he had rejoiced in the new world with the most violent and bloody of celebrations,  he was the alpha male in this world and others had flocked to him in response, he loved the admiration and power he had received in this new world. He promised his followers a world made by them where they could take what they desired and answered to no one but him.  The General was the purest form of a sociopath there was and he rejoiced in his own knowledge of this fact, he loved who he was and made no apologies for the pain and suffering he inflicted on others.  The screams and pain of the weak brought him a shudder of orgasmic bliss.  He felt like god in this world and he wanted everyone to know it. 

It was mid-day at this point and the general sat in his throne, one day he would be called king, he thought to himself as two women danced for him as he ate a stew consisting of the daughter of one of them.  He loved the power he felt and the desperation to survive that people would do anything to keep themselves from harm, later he would make her eat the stew he thought to himself as the woman danced nude gyrating her hips trying to please him.  She did not know at this point what he was eating or the fate that had befallen her young daughter.  Later he would feed her the stew and watch as she shoveled the meat into her mouth, he would wait until just the right moment to tell her the meat that had been used to make the stew and he would revel in the pain and suffering this woman would then endure, the horror that would play out on her face as he told her would give him endless delight, maybe he would rape he next to the stripped bones of her daughter.  He smiled to himself at this thought.

The Generals line of thought was broken when his second in command entered the tent.  He motioned for privacy and the women moved from dancing for the general to the side of the tent, they sat on the ground eyes downcast in submission while the second in command approached to give the general his report.

“Sir we have been following the newcomer like you asked.”

“And, what have you got to report” The general said, his interest peaking at the news.

“Well he was spying on the hospital like you asked then we saw him get captured by two men that had snuck up on him.”

The General was interested in this because he had not really expected the hospital to have any inhabitants let alone a couple of armed men, his line of thinking had been that within the first dew days the hospitals would have been emptied and then overrun by the infected.  It should have been a hot bed of death but with his forces he felt he should have been able to easily take the building and use it as a base of operations for himself and use it to lure in more men and slaves.

His second in command continued to speak.  “When we saw him get captured we decided to sit tight and try and observe anything we could see.  It looks to us as if the hospital is decently guarded, there are snipers on the roof and guards at the entrances.  It seems to be a community there.”

The General was delighted at this news.  He did not feel that any survivors would be much of a threat to his force and if the hospital was occupied at this moment then that only meant there were more slaves and men he could add to his own forces when he took the place.

          His second in command continued.  “From what we could observe it is a community of men women and children and it seems that they are still clinging to the old world notions,  they have a woman as a lookout on the roof, and female guard watching the towers, they should prove an easy take for us.”

General Washington was slightly disappointed that the hospital had such a weak force protecting it he was looking forward to something more glorious in an occupied situation.  But this could also be a cloud with a silver lining because a community at the hospital meant there was food and supplies that would greatly benefit his forces.  This was a great opportunity to advance his power and set up a central headquarters for his future kingdom.  A place he could control and reshape the new world to his vision.

“If we muster up all our forces we should be able to take the place easily.  Also they let our new recruit go so that should make for an interesting battle, he should be able to give us more information when he arrives back here.”

Weakness, this only disappointed the General more, he was hoping for something much more lucrative in this upcoming venture.  But on the bright side this would be a great opportunity to observe the skills of his men so when a real war was presented to his army they could crush their opposition.

“Ok get the men mobilized, when Hal gets back here send him straight to me.  We move out tomorrow.”

          His second in command saluted a smile spreading across his face, he turned on his heels and left the tent in a hurry to address the men.

As Hal approached the camp he could see the a bunch of men scurrying around, the camp was full of activity, the gate guard let him in as soon as he was sighted and told him the general wanted to see him immediately.  As Hal made his way to the tent in the center of the camp he could see that all the activity was centered around the armory tent, it was immediately obvious that the men were preparing for a battle, Hal was not an idiot he knew that they knew what had happened to him, they must have sent another team to keep an eye on him.  He would have to be honest about what had happened to him or he would end up like the inhabitants of the hospital would soon be.  Trying to protect them was no longer an option and Hal felt a slight sense of relief that the weight of his knowledge was no longer on his shoulders, he had been afraid that his better sense would betray him and he would lie to the General but now it was obvious that if he had he would have sealed his own fate.

He entered the tent, as his eyes adjusted to the dim light he could see the General sitting in the makeshift throne, eyes staring intently at Hal as he approached the General, out of the corner of his eyes he could see two women kneeling in the corner of the tent eyes downcast tears brimming in their eyes, bruising was obvious all over their bodies and he knew that this was the future of the people had had shown him kindness and mercy.  There was nothing he could do for them so he decided the best thing to do was to be honest with the one person who could ensure his survival.

“So Hal, it is nice to see you made it back safely, I hope my assignment wasn’t too boring, did you learn anything at the hospital?”

Hal knew immediately that the General was testing him.  He knew what had happened to Hal but wanted to see if Hal would be honest with him, a test.  But the generals test was also an indication of the generals ignorance for it would be obvious to anyone with even slight intelligence that the general was testing him because of the increased activity in the camp, at that moment Hal could see the truth of the man before him, he was a sociopathic egotist whose pride went far beyond his intelligence.  It saddened Hal that in this world a man so undeserving of the power he wielded could rise to such a level.

“Well I was trying observe the place to see if it was inhabited, at first I thought I had selected a spot that had a good view of the building while also being inconspicuous.  From my position I was able to see that the building was indeed inhabited. I was able to spot several guards and a rooftop sniper before, I felt a gun in my back.”

At this information the general’s body seemed to relax and he began to recline in his seat satisfied that Hal was being honest with him.  He beckoned Hal to continue with the report, lighting a cigarette with a match and throwing the still lit fire at the women in the corner when he had lit up.

Hal tried not to show his concern for the women on his face as he continued with his report. He uncomfortably shifted from foot to foot as he recounted how the men had been able to sneak up on him and get the better of his, he told the General how they had confined him to a cell for the first few hours but had treated him well and had fed him and introduced him to the community they were building.  He described the building and the people, he recounted his conversation with the female sniper he had first spotted on the roof and how she had taken it upon  herself to escort him around the hospital introducing him to the people there and trying to play on his sympathies to keep their existence a secret, while there they had let their knowledge of the threat of the generals army slip and let him know they were aware of them, but they were hoping they could convince him to keep quiet upon his return back here.

The General seemed very pleased with the honesty of the report Hal had presented, if he was wary of Hals loyalties Hal could tell that those worries had been alleviated. 

When Hal had finished his report the general stood and approached him, he rested a hand on Hals shoulder,  He looked into Hals eyes for a moment as if searching his soul for what was in his mind, after a moment he seemed satisfied and patted his shoulder before turning and going back to his seat on his throne.

“Join the others, get a weapon, tomorrow we attack the hospital.”  The General then motioned Hals dismissal.  As he was leaving the tent out of the corner of his eye he could see the general approaching the women who began to shake with renewed vigor. 

Hal stepped outside the tent into the dying sun, he should have felt proud that this group of men had taken him in and trusted him, but all he could feel was a knot in his stomach turning and nauseating him.  Hal was on the verge of a realization that although he had been the bad guy in the old world, in this world he felt a need to protect the very people he had victimized.  He could not sleep that night the thought of what the renewed day would bring kept him awake, the face of the innocent men women and children kept flashing before his eyes, the horror of what they would experience in short order kept playing out in his mind like a demonic play and for the first time Hal realized he could not be a part of this evil.  After a while he made the decision that during the battle he would slip way and make for another town or place,  the weapon he would have would at least give him the ability to defend himself during his flight, It became clear to him that he wanted no part of this new world.  He did not want to witness the suffering of the weak at the hands of the strong and he did not want the ghosts of the innocent to haunt him.  He would run.  There was nothing he could do for the people of the hospital.  He would run and try to forget.

This was a night unlike any other general Washington sat in a chair by the bed in his tent smoking a cigarette.  He had just raped the woman whose daughter he had eaten earlier in the day.  She still had no idea what had become of her child and she lay in the bed silently crying and trying to endure the pain that had been forced on her by the general.  The General like to watch the pain and suffering he inflicted on people, the power he had over them gave him strength.

He crushed out the cigarette with his foot.  “Go to the table woman.” He ordered.  “It is time you received your reward for your obedience.”

The woman looked at him hopefully her eyes widening.  “Will you let me see my daughter then?”  She asked sitting up and looking at him expectantly.

“I think that can be arranged.” The general said with a disarming smile spread across his face.  “You have pleased me and I think you have earned the right to have your daughter back.” He said as he gently took he hand and led her to the table.  He had asked the table to be set with a candle and a fresh bowl of stew to be placed on it.  He motioned her to sit down and he took his place in the seat at the opposite end.  “Eat he said you have earned it.”

“When do I get to see my daughter?”  She said looking at him hopefully.

“After dinner, go eat.”  He said with a friendly smile.

That was all he needed to say, the woman dove into her meal with vigor stuffing as much as she could into her mouth almost choking at one point in the meal, she ate every last drop of the meaty stew and licked the bowl clean, it was a wonderful feeling to have a warm meal fill her belly for the first time in weeks, for a moment she could almost forget the horror as she got lost in such a simple act.  In the old world, food was so abundant it was easy to take it for granted, a warm meal was nothing, but in this world it was the difference between suffering and happiness.

When she had finished she looked across the table at the General who had been sitting there the whole time with an amused look on his face.  He seemed to enjoy watching her eat and this confused her and made her nervous.  This woman did not have a sociopathic mind so she could not have understood the joy that he got from exerting his power over her.

“Would you like some more, you look so hungry.”

“I would like to see my daughter sir.” She said quietly looking down at her empty bowl as if trying to decide what she wanted more.

At this point the general’s pleasant smile turned to one of madness and he let out a laugh that would curdle the blood of the devil himself.  “Oh my dear did you not see her, she joined us for dinner, your little girl has been here under your nose this whole meal, in fact I think some of her is still caught in your teeth.”  He laughed and laughed at the woman as she sat there trying to comprehend the joke.  It took almost a full minute before the realization of what had become of her daughter and what she had just eaten washed over her.  She sat for a moment in silence before a seizure of despair overtook her and she fell from her chair collapsing on the floor and losing control of her belly, she could feel her meal, her daughter rise from her gullet and go all over the floor.  She vomited uncontrollably shaking and choking sobs in between heaves.  The realization crushed her after two minutes of convulsing and vomiting the woman thankfully passed into unconsciousness.  The General sat there for a bit soaking up the despair in the room, he ordered another bowl of stew from the guard at the front of the tent and ate the woman’s daughter happily as her mother lay on the floor passed out from what he had done.  The power was like heroine to him, he kept trying to top his actions to keep chasing that high he would get.  In the old world he never would have been able to achieve the things he had done since the arrival of Nibiru. 

He could not wait until they had taken the hospital and established their new more permanent base in which to expand his power, he could not wait until he had some new play toy’s, he was getting tired of the women and children he had at his camp, he and his men had long ago worn them out and killed many of them so it was time to refresh his stock, plus many might catch a fair trading price to other groups his men may come across.

General Washington called on the guards to remove the woman who had since regained consciousness but was laying on the floor eyes open but obviously in shock.  The men were not able to get her to move even after kicking her in the stomach repeatedly, The General reveled in the fact he had broken her and told them to take her back to the prison cells, they would bring the prisoners with them tomorrow to the battle. 

No one knew it but the General had developed a plan he thought was a genius move.  He was going to use the mercy of the men at the hospital to take them down, he lay down in his bed taking a long drag on his cigarette proud of himself and his planning.  Tomorrow would begin the next stage of his rise to power, when they had taken the hospital he would declare himself king and appoint his second in command as general, he would secure is legacy in this harsh new world.  He would be king and the world would be his victim.  That night General Washington slept well.

"Man in the Wood" part 5

The stranger whom I knew took a seat beside me on the cliff rock, He seemed shaken.  It was an emotion I could sense from him as though I were feeling it myself.  There was a sense of confusion and fear emanating from him I could easily pick up on in this place.  He sat in silence for a few minutes before he spoke only four words repeating what I had said. "Man in the Wood" He then stood and beckoned me to follow.

We descended the stairs toward the city, the wood was elegantly carved with innumerable depictions of scenery from the city, I was sure if I had the time to examine these carvings they would reveal a great story.  The wood was a deep hue oak almost burgundy in color.  I held the rail as I descended, the wood was as smooth as glass yet soft.  This who new world was a contradiction in logic.  I could not fathom the laws of physics that ruled this place.  I followed the man I knew down the stairs I could still feel the worry that had become evident now in his movements, he looked weak and tired as if the mere mention on the man in the wood evoked a kind of fatigue that drove to the very core of his being.

We reached the landing and proceeded across a stone bridge that was equally covered in depictions of city life.  Every stone that made up the structure was covered in chiseled out depictions of stories and sayings and artwork,  I had never witnessed such a thing.  There were not words to describe the intricacy and detail I was seeing. I was a man out of time and space seeing the true world for the first time, I felt as though my mind could barely handle what I was witnessing, the complete melt down in common logic was enough to drive the average human to insanity.  I found myself having to constantly imagine I was in a dream just to be able to stay focused enough to continue following the stranger I knew.

After passing over the stone bridge we passed through the gates beyond the city wall entering a town square centered by a opulent fountain that seemed to shimmer gold in the dying light.  Marble statues inset with clothing of silver gold and jewels held jars in their hands where the water flowed from them sliding into the pool below with barely a sound to be heard.  As we passed the fountain making our way across the square I peered in.  There was layer of gold and silver shimmering coins sitting just below the water.  There was a sense of beauty and wealth about this place.  I looked about me to see the villagers stopping to look at me, the stranger who had come.  They were so familiar,  I felt as though I knew them all but when I tried to focus the memory they faded.  There was an immense sense of tranquility I felt coming from all direction as if silently welcomed by the inhabitants of the village.  They wore clothing of loose fitting silk.  Men and women dressed alike there seemed to be no distinction in the genders, men and women alike had long and short hair.  None wore makeup.  The beauty myth was non existent here.  There was a subtle beauty to the atmosphere.  I felt at peace.

We left the square and I followed my new companion down an alley soon arriving at a large house seemingly carved from a single chunk of marble, no seems were visible.  It was a work of art unparalleled in my world.  The heavy oak door was adorned with a polished copper handle and matching knocker.  There was no locking mechanism visible and I got the distinct feeling there were no locked doors in the entire village.  We entered into the foyer carved out and beautifully decorated with shelves of tomes and candelabras.  At the center was a reading desk with two chairs on either side.  My companion motioned me to take a seat opposite him.

"This is troubling."  He began.  "The man in the wood is a myth, I would love to believe you invented your memory of him or misunderstood what you were witnessing, but sadly this is not the case.  In our world there is no deception."  He sat back in his chair causing a slight creak of wood on marble.  Although I could not see his face I could tell he was in deep thought.  I could feel it.  Here there could be not deception.  Everyone seemed to be linked.  My emotions were his and his were mine.  What was done to me was done to everyone here and vice versa.  A collective consciousness.

"If the man in the wood has indeed returned I fear for the future of this place.  He was a myth, a story told by mothers to children.  An apocalypse of Bimini in which your world would invade ours shattering the collective and eventually imploding our universe."

"Imploding?" I questioned.

"Yes the prophecy states your world and ours exist in tandem, a dance of lovers across the multi-verse occasionally bleeding through the fabric of space time constantly influencing the course of one another's history.  In your world Bimini would be referred to as Heaven.  Many from your world cross over all the time almost all are sent back.  A few are invited to join our world, but.... your arrival was unknown to us.  When we heard of your arrival I was dispatched to meet you.  We have never had a person from our sister world appear without notice."  You were not an accident of a temporal bleed through.  You were sent her purposefully and I only know of one being capable of this level of power."

"The Man in the Wood." I stated

"On Earth he would be known as GOD, here he is known as Beyond, a literal term describing his ability to be outside of the gravitational pull of the time and space that controls our worlds.  You world has many stories of him written by men across the globe throughout the eons.  But here time is different, space is different and we can understand him in the literal sense as opposed to the mythical.  If he has returned then both worlds are in danger."

"In our world, God is good and wise." said I.

"Of course, there is a wisdom and intelligence about this being so great, that just his presence is enough to shape the very fabric of our worlds which can result in untold cataclysm.  If he has indeed returned and it seems as though he has then all both world know is about to change."

"The Center Pointe" Chapter 11

Chapter 11

Hal was taken through a back side door to the emergency room down a small corridor to what used to be the hospitals holding cell but had been converted into storage.  It took a few minutes for them to clear out the cell and place him in it.  Once he was locked up securely the two men just walked out and left him there alone.

It was several hours before anyone returned to the room making Hal wonder if he was going to be left there to die.  When the door did finally open again one of the men that had apprehended him came in with a plate of food and a small jug of water.  The man then handed the food and the water to Hal and left the room again.  Hal was amazed and confused.  He expected much harsher treatment.  The plate consisted of some canned ham mashed potatoes and canned vegetables.  He did not care if the food was laced with anything; he was hungry and wolfed down the food in a few minutes.  A few minutes after he was done eating the man that had delivered his food came back in and had a seat at the table adjacent to the cell.  The man was about 5’11, 200 pounds with short dark hair and a goatee on his chin.  He had dark green eyes that just gazed at Hal like a curious animal.

“My name is Rich, I am one of the leaders of this community.  I just wanted to come down here and introduce myself.”

“What are you going to do to me?” asked Hal becoming nervous about his predicament.

Rich looked at him for a moment sizing up Hal, trying to figure out what his purpose was.  “We’re gonna let you go.  I came down here to release you.  You can leave anytime you like.  All of your things will be returned to you.  But before you leave I urge you to spend some time with this community and see these people. There are good people here that don’t deserve to experience the horrors that exist beyond these walls.”

“Why are you just gonna let me go, that doesn’t make any sense.  I don’t believe you.”

Rich sat back in his chair thoughtful.  “Look it is obvious that someone sent you here to scope us out, I don’t know the reason.  But weather it is noble or insidious intentions there is no control we have over it.  You know we’re here and if you don’t return your friends are going to want to know what happened to you and they will come here.  Were a peaceful community and don’t want trouble from anyone but we can also defend ourselves if It’s necessary.  I only hope that when you go back to your friends that you tell them it is not worth it to come here.  I guess I’m just hoping that your humanity will shine through at the right moment and you will think about the innocent people here and try and protect them.”  With that short speech Rich got up and opened the cell and left the room once again leaving Hal alone.

This was not at all what Hal expected when they had captured him.  He thought there would be torture or at the very least some hard questions, but so far all they had done was to feed him and release him.  Maybe he should spend a bit of time among these people, but on the other side of the coin, he knew these people were no match for the brutal men that wanted this building for themselves.  The only other hospital in the area had been razed by the army when it had been overrun with the creatures.  The general wanted this building badly and he would not care about the people in it, he would order his men to enslave the women and children and either put the men to work or serve them for dinner.  Hal did not want to chance being on the receiving side of the general’s wrath.  He decided he would gather Intel to report back and maybe he would be rewarded for his efforts. 

He waited for a few minutes before carefully opening the door almost expecting to be accosted when he stepped through.  But there was no one there.  The door he walked through opened into the main waiting room of the hospital’s ER.  There were several people sitting in the chairs chatting and laughing.  They barely even noticed him as he came in.  Some smiled at him others just ignored him.  He kind of just stood there confused until a young attractive looking female with big hazel eyes and long black hair walked up to him and introduced herself.

“Hello my name is Karen, I’ve been asked to give you a tour of the hospital and introduce you to everyone, so if you’ll come with me well get started and be done just in time for lunch.”  Karen had a very kind and loving smile on her face as she gently reached her hand toward Hal’s.

Hal looked at her nervously then looked at the door, it was so close that he could reach out and touch it.  If he wanted he could just run.  He could run all the way back to the general and tell him of this place, but there was something in Karen’s eyes that kept him fixated almost in a trance like state.  His body could not move and eventually he gave in and slipped his hand into hers and allowed her to guide him.

Karen spent the next hour showing Hal around the hospital taking special care not to let him see anything sensitive that might give his friends an edge in taking the hospital.  Hal was amused by their secrecy.  They were trying to get him to stay but in case he didn’t they made sure he had nothing he could use against them.  Hal at one point had to admit to himself that he would rather stay here than go back to the general but he quickly dismissed the thought when he had to remind himself of the fate that waited for these people.  It had always been known to him even at a young age that the world was ruled by those willing to exploit others for their own success.  The good died young because the evil drove them to an early grave but as Hal had learned from his father the evil live forever because they hold on to life in a vise grip, the fear of dying is so much stronger in a bad person than in a good one, because in Hals experience the evil knew exactly where their deeds were going to land them.

Hal always felt atheism was an attempt to escape responsibility for ones actions.  If you believed there were no consequences for your actions then there was no need to feel guilty for the things you do to others.  Hal had spent most of his adult life excising guilt from himself but eventually you grow numb to the things you do and your guilt is buried enabling you to do things you never thought you were capable of.  Eventually you either wind up in prison for the remainder of your life or in a box.  Hal was spared death but after years in prison he had come to long for it.  Now it seemed as though he was given a second chance at life and although he desperately wanted to change he did not feel as though he had it in him to make that leap.

 Hal spent the next couple of hours being given the grand tour from Karen.   Hal could not help but feel that they were trying to play on his sympathies by showing him the emergency room and the sick or injured inhabitants. Karen took him to the makeshift school there the children were engaged in school lessons administered by an old man in a disheveled suit.  They all were split into groups sharing only a few tattered books while the teacher scribbled lessons on a dry erase board that had seen way to many lessons and not enough cleaning.  It was amazing that these people still tried to cling to the old world in hopes that it would someday return, Hal thought if these people were to see what was waiting for them only a few miles away a sobering reality would set in and they would not be even trying to educate the children, to Hal this all seemed like a futile effort.  Karen sensing his thoughts spoke softly while they watched the children learning their lessons.

“It may seem to you to be a futile effort but education is never futile and it helps keep the children’s minds off of the reality of the world for a little while. 

They have to be able to be children sometimes.”  As she said this to him she grabbed Hal’s hand and squeezed them gently looking into his eyes as if she were searching for a soul deep in his passive face.  Although Hal felt emotion he rarely showed it, and this was one of the times he felt it better to keep his feelings to himself.

After Karen had finished showing Hal around the hospital and introducing him to the people currently residing there she brought him to the cafeteria for a fresh meal before Rich and Brian were due to escort him back to the main road.  It was midway through dinner and the cafeteria was filled with people and children.  Conversations filled the air which was already heavy with cheer.  Hal thought to himself how different it was here from the generals camp and secretly he envied the joy these people felt and for a moment he all most broke down and decided to stay but he had to keep reminding himself that this was a fleeting situation and if he wanted to survive he would have to side with the general.

     After dinner Karen brought Hal to Rich and Brian who were busy in the corner by the door stuffing a bag with provisions.  For a moment Hal thought they were coming with him, an escort because they didn’t trust him but when Rich stood up and handed the pack to him while Brian opened the door it was hard for Hal to comprehend the behavior of these people.  This was a world now in the depth of hell and these people we acting as if the world were still spinning normally and they were just helping a fellow man down on his luck, what made him feel even worse was that he had a feeling that they knew his true intention but yet they still let him leave.

It had been a couple of hours since he had left the hospital and Hal was well on his way back to the Generals camp.  He had taken many pit stops to observe if he was being followed but found no tails.  These people obviously were relying on him to do the right thing.  So many times he almost turned around and headed back to the hospital to tell them the truth but had to stop himself and keep reminding himself those people were doomed and if he didn’t want to follow them then he needed to think about himself.  As he neared the location of the Generals camp images of the innocent men women and children kept flashing through his mind and for the first time since he could remember true guilt entered his heart and he could barely raise his feet to put one in front of the other.  He had never felt such a high level of guilt in his life and now he had come to the realization that the lives of so many people rested in his hands and in the end it would be him who chose weather they lived or died.  As far as Hal knew the General and his men had no idea of the existence of people at the hospital and if Hal were to keep his mouth shut and tell them that the area was crawling with the infected then he may be able to save the lives the people there, but on the other hand, if he did say that and later they were to go to the hospital they would find that Hal had lied to the General at which point Hal would join the dead that were there.  Hal had lived a harsh life and he had seen plenty of suffering but he was able to take it in stride because there was nothing he could have done to present it but now he was at a fork in the road, the nexus of a point in time that someday if he survived he might wish desperately he could return to and change, for the first time in his life Hal found himself thinking of other before himself.  It was a new sensation, not one he was used to and not one he particularly liked the experience of.  He wished he could just forget it and move forward but as the camp began to loom in the fog it became clear to Hal that in the next few minutes the weight of the world and the lives of so many rested on his shoulders.  Would he do what was right like Karen and Rich believed he would or would he just think of himself and that would be that.  So much stress could be relieved if he just submitted and told the General the truth about the hospital.   

"The Center Pointe" Chapter 10

Chapter 10

          Hal Moore sat in a dense thicket of bushes about a hundred yards from the Monroeville hospital with a pair of binoculars carefully watching the building and taking notes on the movement of the inhabitants.  During the first days of Nibiru’s arrival the world had seemed so alien from the day to day routine he had become accustomed to.  Then again you don’t really have a choice in prison weather or not to adhere to a regular schedule.  Hal had been serving a life sentence for the rape and murder of a young girl when Nibiru had first arrived in orbit.  When everyone around him started losing their minds and began to eat each other, he thought he had died and had gone to hell, he had sat in his cell for three days thinking that his prison mates had turned into demons and it was only a matter of time before they would get into his cell and tear him to pieces.

           Three days he spent in that cell wondering when those things would finally get him. But they never did, when the power failed all of the locks in the prison disengaged and all the freaks had made their way outside forgetting about him.  Eventually his hunger got the best of him and he slowly made his way to the exit of the penitentiary and disappeared into the woods.  All that he had for defense was the sharpened end of a broom stick he had broken in half.  Hal spent six days in the woods hiding in trees and trying not to be noticed by the crazy people trying to eat each other. 

          At one point three of them, one he recognized from the prison had attacked a dear that was grazing just beneath where Hal was hiding in the tress.  He would never admit this to anyone, but as he watched those three freaks tear that poor dear to pieces not four feet below him he became so terrified of what they would do were they to find him that he had urinated in his pants.  He was almost discovered when some of it dripped on the head of one of the freaks. It had jumped up and looked around frantically, but in the end it had not looked up and seen him.  It had been a miracle for a man who deserved no miracles.

 He wandered until his feet were raw and bloody looking for another living soul that was not infected with whatever this sickness was.  One night Hal took refuge in an abandoned Laundromat, it seemed to be the only safe place.  Those things never came in here; they mostly stayed around areas with a lot of food like grocery stores or restaurants.  Sometimes he would get lucky and find a safe place to hole up that had a snack machine or a drink machine and he was able to get something to eat, but he became painfully aware one night as he stared at his reflection in the toilet bowl water he was drinking that he was losing weight at an alarming degree and he was not getting the food necessary to keep his weight up.  He was not even getting the protein he needed.  He was getting weaker by the hour and there were not enough safe places to get food.  He realized that if he did not find a place that had food and water soon he was going to die.  That was a thought he could not fathom.  It was not death that terrified Hal it was the thought what those things would do to his body if they found it.

Hal was sure that any day would be his last so he made the effort in this abandoned Laundromat that this would be his final refuge, he would either make a safe place for himself here or he would die trying.  That night he laid his head down on some laundry he had found in the lost and found and tried to sleep.  After about an hour he finally drifted off to sleep.  He was awoken a few hours later by a loud crash in the front of the store.  Almost out of instinct from his time in prison Hal was wide awake and aware of the situation, he moved from under one of the baskets in the back of the Laundromat to behind one of the washing machines that he had pulled away from the wall in case he had to conceal himself, at this point he was very happy he had taken the time to do that.  He sat in silence and dared not make a sound, waiting to see if the creatures had finally come for him.  His heart was beating so fast he felt as though he would have a heart attack right there. 

All of the sudden out of the silence and the darkness came voices talking to each other.  Hal could hear them clearly.  They were discussing the need of a group that they belonged to and how their supplies were running low.  They were raiding shops in hopes of finding vending machines and canned foods.  Hal sat for a few minutes listening to their conversation before he mustered up enough courage to stand and make himself know to the other people in the shop.  The two men were startled upon hearing the unexpected voice coming from the far end of the shop.  Hal slowly walked toward them, his hunger and exhaustion overwhelming his fear of them, he put his life into their hands at this point and even as he moved toward the men who were now shining flashlights around the store looking for him he was not sure what would happen next.  When Hal heard the men cock their guns he had to resist an overwhelming urge to run but he was sure if he did that at this point the men would probably shoot him.  He was too hungry and scared at this point so it was time to take a chance. 

The two men held their guns steady on him as he approached them.  As Hal got closer he could see beyond the brightness of the flashlights to the two men standing behind the light.  The front man who seemed to be the leader of the two had a large rifle pointed at Hal.  He was a tall white man that seemed well muscled with a light beard and short hair that looked as though he had been trimming it with a knife.  He had small cruel looking eyes and he did not seem to be a very friendly person.  He was wearing military camo that looked to have a large quantity of dried blood around the chest and midsection.  The other man was a small black man that looked to be no more than eighteen or twenty years of age.  His hair was overgrown and disheveled.  In his hand he held a small revolver that looked almost too old to fire. Hal did not want to take a chance and put his hands up in surrender to the two men. 

When they both realized he was alone they lowered their weapons and asked him what he was doing here.  Hal then recounted his story to the two men hoping that telling them about his prison time would help him seem tougher than he looked at this moment, plus with the rough and tough look of the leader of the two Hal was placing his luck on he had also served time and might see Hal as a brother.  The two men looked at each other for a moment before telling Hal to follow them.

After leaving the Laundromat the three of them made their way down the street of the small town that was only a few miles from the prison that Hal had escaped.  The two men kept Hal between them, the bigger man stayed behind him with his gun up in case Hal tried to make any threatening moves.  In the distance the three could hear the creatures snarling and at one point in there walk they heard the screams of a person being attacked.  The two men leading Hal did not look concerned or interested in trying to aid the poor soul they all knew would be torn apart. 

Eventually he could not take it anymore and asked the two men where they were taking him. The black man explained they were taking him to the leader of their group and if the leader decided to allow Hal to join the group then he would be given food and water in exchange for his loyalty to the group.  If the leader was not interested in him then he would become food for the group, this was the way they had done it for months and they have stayed alive and safe for all this time.  Hal’s heart sank.  In his condition he did not look to be of any use to anyone, he only hoped that their leader would think him to be to scrawny for food and give him a chance to earn his keep.  At least these people seemed to be more like him and not some pussy group that would be picked off by stronger groups later on down the road.  If they allowed him to live Hal could see a decent future among these like minded people. 

A few streets later they came to a row of turned over cars that had been set to make a protective barrier around the inner camp.  Several armed men lined the tops of the cars looking intently into the night for any movement.  Hal’s two captors led him through a small opening between the cars that were guarded by two more armed guards, after a brief exchange and an explanation of Hal’s presence they were directed to an old worn military looking tent on the other side of a rather large bonfire.  Tables were set up on either side of the tent one had food the other had weapons.  Next to the bonfire was a large metal barrel filled to the brim with water.  These guys were clearly organized and well taken care of by their leader.

 As Hal got closer to the main tent he could see some torches off to the left of the tent that to Hal’s surprise was illuminating a makeshift cage made of wood guarded by a couple of men.  What really piqued Hal’s attention was the occupants of the cage were all women and young girls? They all looked disheveled and scared in the torchlight and many of them had faces covered in bruises.  Many of the young girls were just children and were softly crying being comforted and held in the arms of the older women.

Upon entering the tent Hal was hit by a flood of candlelight that lit up the whole interior.  There was a bed in the left hand corner that was made of oak, clearly taken from a house. There was a form covered by the bed sheets. On the other side of the tent there was a folding table with an old looking kitchen chair behind it.  On the table were open packages of junk food and stacks of papers. In the corner of the table sat an old time typewriter.  The most striking feature of the tent was a high backed plush leather chair set in the center of the tent that looked like a throne.  At the moment the chair was empty and Hal stood there in the center of the large tent with his two escorts on either side of him.  They ended up standing there for almost ten minutes in silence before the flap of the tent opened and in walked a very large black man with a bald head and very menacing looking face.

Without saying anything he walked over to his chair and sat down and began to study Hal.  After a couple of minutes he had looked at the larger man and asked for a report. The man told him how on the food run they had come to the Laundromat and found Hal hiding in the back; they then described what Hal had told them about the prison he had escaped from.  After he was finished with his report the leader stood up and walked right up to Hal.

“If you’re going to stay with us you will be required to pull your weight and do everything you are told to do without question.  Do you understand this?” 

Hal nodded vigorously.

“If you fall behind or do not follow an order you will end up being dinner instead of eating dinner.  Follow my orders and my laws and you will have a good life in this hell that we are living in.”  He looked at Hal for a minute but Hal remained silent waiting for him to finish, not wanting to jeopardize his chances at staying alive.

“My name is General Washington, we have built this encampment and this army in the attempt to survive and build a new world, a world free from the oppression of the government a new world where the people control their own lives.  We will build this new world on the backs of a huge labor force where the strong will survive and the weak will serve us.  If you do what you’re told you can be part of our vision for the new world.  If you are not with us in this struggle then you are against us.”

Hal had no qualms about following what this man said, he could tell by looking at this man that he was not a real general and his title was most likely self-given.  He was not about to ask the man any hard questions he was just happy that he was not going to be the main course at tonight’s dinner.

“Ok tonight go out get something to eat and drink, feel free to take a woman or girl for yourself and tomorrow we will speak more.  I will have your first orders tomorrow morning so be ready.”

Hal had nodded and thanked the General for his generosity and was then escorted from the tent.  His escorts directed him to the food and water and then departed most likely to return to their regular duties.  As Hal sat down on the ground by the fire he was now able to take the time to take in the full view of the camp.  From what he could see at his vantage point there were at least twenty different men guarding the camp, he could see that the line of cars stretched around the camp for a least a hundred yards in every direction with armed guards posted every few yards. As his eyes adjusted better to the dim light of the fire he could see the cage better that held the women and the children.

Every so often one of the guards would open the cage and drag one of the women or young girls out and take them off into the woods and more darkened area of the encampment.  Then he would hear the screams of the women and girls as the guards raped them.  Hal may have been in prison for a sex crime but this seemed too harsh for even him, but if he wanted to stay alive he better keep his mouth shut and follow orders. 

Some of these guards were no more than children themselves and he wondered how they felt about what was happening here.  He thought they were doing what they were told to avoid becoming victims themselves, but on many of the other soldiers faces there seemed to be almost a joy on their faces that they had so much power over others.  Hal had to wonder to himself that if this were some kind of judgment from the heavens then why were so many bad people benefiting so well from the situation, he almost forgot for a second that he was one of the bad people benefiting from this situation.  He had to admit to himself that he probably didn’t deserve to still be alive, but he was and now his life seemed to have thrown him a curve ball.  If this was the order of the new world Hal felt himself fortunate to now be aligned with a strong group capable of surviving and no matter what their drawbacks he was glad to be a part of them.

Hal pulled himself out of his head and now refocused his attention on his task.  The general had come to him the next day and told him about the hospital that was a few miles away from the camp and that if Hal wanted to be a part of this army he was building then his first task would be to head to the hospital and see if there was anyone there whether it be the creatures or people.  If it was occupied he was to stay there and get Intel on the situation to report back.  The general wanted the hospital and if it was occupied he was determined to take it for his own benefit and ambitions.  He had been given food rations a couple canteens of water and a rifle for protection.  He was scared out of his mind to do this but he wasn’t about to argue.  It had taken him several days to make the journey having to constantly avoid the creatures that hunted for food night and day.  He had finally arrived at the outer grounds of the hospital in the dead of night.  He was not able to light a fire because he did not want to be discovered.  He had gotten a few hours of sleep before daylight and was grateful for the rations he was given.

As the sun began to rise over the horizon Hal was able to take in more of the complex.  The hospital was not a huge place it was conservative by comparison to most hospitals.  It seemed to be in good condition and untouched.  At first it looked to be abandoned there were no signs of life.  He scanned the property for any kind of movement.  As he looked carefully over the building he almost missed the slight movement in the upper left hand corner of the roof.  Hal focused his binoculars on the figure and was surprised to see a female peering back in his direction from behind the scope of a rifle.  Hal ducked quickly behind a tree praying he was not spotted.  A person on the roof with a scope most likely knew how to use the weapon and he did not want to be on the receiving end of that rifle.

Luckily he wasn’t spotted and eventually the woman turned her gaze off into a field adjacent to where Hal was hiding.  He took a few minutes to himself before he resumed his observation of the building.  No one was out around the ground and he could not see in the window because whoever was occupying it had drawn the blinds in every window to keep a low profile. As he scanned the building he found the same thing in every window until he came to the emergency room, there was a barricade in the front but not much in the effort to cover the windows.  Maybe they only used that front room during the day so there wasn’t a huge need to cover the window.

When Hal looked in through the windows he was amazed to see at least a dozen people, men women and children laughing and conversing and although he could not hear them from this distance he could tell that they were happy and well fed. “The general would love this place.”  He thought to himself as he watched the happy looking people through the window he could not help but also imagine what would be done to them.  He felt guilt for the first time in a long time at that point, he felt it would be no use to warn them from what he saw he didn’t feel they would have any chance against the military style might and cruelty that the general would deal to them.  For a moment he had the urge to make himself known and tell them about the people that had sent him but he knew that all that waited for him in the end was death.  These people would be destroyed by the general’s force and the women and children would become sex slaves and the men would either be forced into labor or served up for dinner, Hal did not wish to share their fate.  He would report what he had seen to the general and stay on the side of those who would let him live.

After a bit more of watching the building Hal felt it was time to leave and make his way back to the encampment.  He gathered his things together and got up to make his way back, he intended to move off slowly so he would make little noise and avoid the attraction of attention from the sniper on the roof. He backed up a few steps and ran into something he thought was a tree but as he turned around to move beyond it he realized what he had run into.  He was so startled he dropped his rifle on the ground.  He didn’t know how long they had been there but he knew they had him dead in his place.  Standing before him were two men with rifles pointed directly between Hal’s eyes.

Immigration and Integration

I am a big believer in the value and advantage of assimilating other people and cultures into our own. I admire the path our nation has taken in the pursuit of immigration from all countries and nationalities. 

 "Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free..."  

This quote has been a huge influence on my life and given me the understanding that we all have immigrated from somewhere.  There is nothing that triggers my patriotism like these words, they give me a great feeling for the potential this nation has and the hope it used to illicit from the masses worldwide.  But alas we have lost our way.  Immigration has become a negative connotation invoking hatred and fear across not just our nation but many others around the world. Why?

I love the idea of immigration.  Bringing new cultures in is a way of expanding the greatness and diversity of a country but this benefit is not without its drawbacks and I believe it is important that these drawback are addressed and corrected if we still want to have immigration to keep in line with our over nostalgic society.  We in many ways see the past through rose colored glasses, believing things were better and more wholesome in the past while the present is some decayed cesspool of filth and depravity.  We are blind to the progress of the world and allow the media and government officials to play fear games with our minds convincing us the world is much more dangerous and depraved than we can imagine.  They like to ignore the fact that crime and violence are at an all time low.  This is the perfect time in human history for mass migration yet we fight it with violence, bigotry and condemnation.

Now bear with me here, I am sure you have already decided which direction I am going but I assure you there is more to this.  Yes I believe in immigration, I believe in the value of mass migration and giving people looking for a better life the chance to earn that life.  I would like to emphasize the word "Earn"  We have created a system where people who come to this country and others expect to be handed everything and do not want to attempt to insert themselves into the culture they have come to by learning the language and customs of the host country.  I have time and time again see these people who say they just want a better life asking for handouts and expecting our culture to adapt to them instead of the other way around. The more we feed into these negative expectations the more we will lose what made us great instead of immersing these people into our culture thus making us a richer and more diverse nation.

I do believe in respect of peoples culture and tradition and language to a point, but when they attempt to force the host country to capitulate to their culture it makes me take a pause and examine the truth about the situation of immigration we face.  It has become evident the way of life Americans have become accustomed to is eroding away and every transition must have a period of birth pangs before a new culture can truly assimilate into an existing one but it seems that the arriving cultures have no interest in assimilation instead they expect us to assimilate to them.  

When I was young I had the opportunity to meet many people who had immigrated to the United States from other countries and it was their contention they assimilate to the culture of the host nation, they learned our laws language and culture.  They were proud to become Americans and although they were able to maintain their own set of culture and beliefs they did not try to force their cultural beliefs on others.  Do we really want the influx of Syrian refugees to bring their harsh treatment of women into our culture or do we want the freedom of our culture to influence them? This is a question we must ask ourselves.  Is the timing right for immigration? I believe yes.  But we must watch the cultural impact on our own nations very carefully.  Each of these immigrants must be made to understand we do not believe in many of their ways and we will not tolerate their behavior or we risk turning our world into theirs.

We must also understand that it is in the best interest of corporation that we fear the incoming cultures because then they are more easily able to exploit those cultures.  It is beneficial for them to hire people who do not understand their rights and therefore cannot defend themselves from dishonest and corrupt business practices.  By allowing illegal immigration we open these incoming masses to be exploited by a system that will take advantage of every weakness they can.  They practice enforcing long hours and low wages.  Make no mistake illegal immigration makes victims of us all save corporate interests.  It is nothing more than a new age of slavery and that is why immigration and assimilation is so important.  So the strong cannot dominate the weak.

Now with a huge influx of refugees businesses are foaming at the mouth to take advantage of the naivety of the new additions to their culture.  They have no interest in education these incoming people of how things work in their country and are only interested in their exploitation.

The victims are all of us who allow hatred and bigotry to guide our thoughts.  Immigration is a great thing if done correctly but by allowing unchecked masses to cross borders with little or no oversight only opens the victims and host nation up to victimization by overbearing governments and abusive corporations.