"The Center Pointe" Chapter 15

Chapter 15

She was nameless, unknown, just another face in the crowd before the fall.  So many in the world are unknown, just faces, but she still had a good life.  A loving husband, a beautiful daughter and a decent job keep her occupied and content.  That was before the fall, before the arrival of that planet in the sky that sent the world over the edge and into hell.  On that day her world like so many nameless faces was shattered, she was not essential to the planet, her life did not make a deep impact in the global community.  But her life was hers, her family were hers.  Her experiences were hers.  Now it was all gone. 

The one thing she had in this world was her daughter, they had survived together.  But now even her daughter was gone, murdered by men, men who use their power to destroy rather than to build.  Why was the world like this?  One would hope that human society was evolved enough to act rational in any catastrophe, but this was not the case.  As in all of history the strong and the evil see any crisis as an opportunity, an opportunity to gain for themselves what they could not before.  This is the action of dictators and politicians.  "Never let a crisis go to waste."  She would hear them say on the news.  The sad thing is she would be agreeing with them.  She was the good citizen, who was anti-gun and had faith in her government.  But where did they go when the world fell apart?  They ran and hid leaving the rest of the people who were not elite to fend for themselves.  Her faith in her government had went unrewarded when the faithful had needed them the most. 

She and her daughter had sought help at National Guard stations and military outposts but were turned away at every place.  They were left alone in a hostile alien world.  No one was going to help them, they would have to survive on their own.  If she and her daughter wanted to survive it would have to be by their own sweat and will.  Trust was no longer a thing given without merit, it was earned.  She trusted no one.  But even such extreme measures to protect her and her daughter failed in the end.  they were captured and her daughter was used as leverage against her while she submitted to rape and torture to try and protect her but in the end it was to no avail and her daughter was murdered and fed to her in a stew.  It was a horror this woman could not have imagined, then the very next day she was strapped with a bomb alongside several other woman and young girls and told to run at a building full of what she knew were innocent people.

          This is where she finally took the opportunity to escape, in the wild confusion of them running at the hospital she knew the soldiers would be hiding to escape the blast.  That was her chance to slip away undetected.  She made it into the woods and was able to slip out of the bomb, it dropped to the ground with a clank.  She didn't care if it had exploded, at this point that would have been a godsend, a reprieve from her suffering.  But it did not go off and soon she had disappeared unnoticed into the thick wood.

          She wandered the entire day and into the night, silence finally came as the sun went down, the fighting had ended and she assumed the general and his men had taken the hospital and now a whole new group of innocent men women and children would be victimized by these savages.  She wished she had the strength to have stopped that but she was just a woman in a world of barbarians.  At least now she would have time to grieve for her daughter.  She climbed a tree and wedged her body between a couple of branches.  She drifted off to sleep with memories of a better world running through her mind.

          The woman awoke with a start a few hours later, the tortured face of her daughter jerking her from sleep.  It was now morning, the sun was rising through the trees cast a golden hue on the deep green of the oak leaves and branches she had nestled herself between.  The beauty of a new day, a beauty she could no longer feel,  she used to sit on her porch in the morning as the sun rose, she would sip coffee and feel the warmth of rays of light.  It was heaven for her, now all it reminded her of was another day, another day trying to survive in a world she desperately wished would kill her, and she didn't understand why she was even trying to survive.  What was driving her?  Try as she might she couldn’t explain it.

          She was about to climb down from the tree and use the light to search for food when she halted her descent and remained as still as she could.  The rustling she heard was faint but close, it sounded like something dragging itself through the underbrush.  Straining her eyes through the dense leaves and branches of the oak she could just make out movement coming toward her hiding spot, she was relieved that it would be extremely difficult to spot her in the tree so it would be better if she just kept silent and allowed whoever or whatever it was to pass her.

          Of course that is what she would have liked to happen.  But it seems fate had finally decided to throw her a bone, when the figure finally came into view her surprise almost gave her away but she was able to cover her mouth to keep from crying out.  The figure was definitely human and injured, they dragged themselves through the underbrush and came to rest at the base of the very oak where the woman had hid herself.  She watched the person intently hoping the recognition of the person was a reality and not a figment of her imagination but after some time observing them she was sure it was real.  At the base of the oak severely injured and unarmed was the General himself.

          He had done it!  He had survived Hal’s attack, but he awoke with severe pain in the back of his head, his face and hands were caked in his own blood and the ground was still wet with it, but he was alive and they thought he was dead.  “They think they defeated me!” the General thought to himself as the fog cleared from his eyes and head and he was able to take in his surroundings.  He was in the same spot he had dropped obviously, he guessed they thought he was dead or that the Static would get him.  Whatever the reason, he was alive.  When he was healed and strong enough he would take that place and make them pay for what they did.  He had to admit to himself he was overzealous in his campaign against the hospital and in his vain he had underestimated its inhabitants.  He would not make the same mistake again, He still had more men back at the camp if he could get back there he could strategize a better assault and avenge his defeat.  But for now he had to survive.

          When the haze finally faded he was able to begin moving, walking was out of the question.  The sun was setting and walking would make noise that could attract unwanted attention from the Static or other animals that may be looking for a quick meal.  He would have to move a bit at a time crouched or on his belly, it would take the better part of two days to get back to his encampment but at least he would survive.  His head was pounding, he knew he had to fight through the pain, he most likely had a concussion and the fact he had been unconscious did not help his position, he would have to stay awake.  If he blacked out again he may never wake up.

          He dragged himself for hours through the mud and muck of the forest floor, pine needles, leaves and bugs got into his clothing digging into his skin and causing more pain and discomfort, but he was determined.  He had a goal and he would see it through.  These would not be his last days.  Finally after a long night of dragging himself through the underbrush, the rays of the morning sun began to poke through the trees and penetrate to the ground warming hi body.  The night had been so long and dragging himself through the wet underbrush had left him soaked and chilled to the bone.  He had to rest.  He could see a small clearing up ahead where a giant oak dominated the forest, he pulled himself up to the tree and finally was able to rest his sore bones against the large trunk.  He drank in the morning rays and could not stop himself from drifting off into sleep, his last thought was.  "This is gonna cost me but I'm too tired to care."  Within seconds he was out.  He was completely unaware of the woman hiding in the tree above him.  He did not see her descend, he did not hear her run away.  He did not hear her come back.  He did not know who she was or what was about to happen.  But he would.

          General Washington awoke to darkness.  He tried to move but found his arms to be tied behind his back.  He struggled for a moment before settling down to take in what was happening.  The darkness wasn't from night it was from a blindfold that had been applied while he was sleeping.  At this point he was sure he had been captured by the people inhabiting the hospital.  He strained to listen for any sound that might betray who was around or who may have taken him.  In his fatigue he did not remember the woman who had descended from the tree as he had passed out.    The General had been too exhausted from his crawl through the woods to have remembered anything that happened after he had stopped at the tree.  The blindfold had been affixed securely to his head and try as he might he could not see the slightest sliver of light.  He was bound tight, he knew he was going nowhere and if he wanted to get out of this alive he had to know who his captor was and what they wanted.

          “Is anyone there?”  He called out.

          “Yes.”  A voice said quietly, it was a female voice but her tone was almost like a low growl as if the Static had achieved speech but the General knew better.  Whoever this woman was her tone told him she was one not to be trifled with.  He could hear her moving around messing with sticks and leaves as if clearing the area to make a fire.

          “Are you from the hospital?  What do you want?’  Only silence greeted his query and after a moment his captor began moving around again clearing brush and debris from the immediate area of the tree.  Why were they playing the silent game?  What did she want he thought to himself and for the first time since the world went to shit Washington was scared.  He had no idea what this woman wanted but it was nothing good.  General Washington sat in silence for the next hour not daring to ask any questions that might provoke a violent response from his captor.  He sat quietly listening as she finished clearing away the debris, after this she moved many rocks, he guessed she had made a fire pit.  He was soon validated as he heard the clicking of a lighter and the light burst of the flame catching the kindling and then growing to a bigger fire, he could soon feel the warmth on the front of his body.  It felt good for he was still damp from the long nights crawl.  He was content at least for a bit to sit quietly soaking up the warmth.   The numbness of his arms had given way to a sore pain, he had not been able to feel his hands since he awoke do to the tight binding holding them together.  There was no wiggle room in his bindings, she had done well.

  The woman finally broke her silence after the fire had been going for a while and she had accumulated a good amount of branches to keep it going for the night.  The General could feel the chill of the night descending.  “I want to thank you.”  She began in a low voice he could feel her breath on his face, she was inches from him. 

                   “You coming to me was a gift from god, I thought I would ever see you again, I had hoped they had killed you but this is better.”

          “Who are you?  What do you want from me?”  He said now beginning for the first time to panic.  Who was this woman and how did she know him?  “Whoever you are you must know I can give you anything you want.”

          “What I want you don’t have the power to give.”  She said a distinct tone of anger now entering he voice.  “But we’ll have a lot of time together to discuss what you can do for me in the future.”  With that he could feel her move away back toward the fire, she began to fiddle with something and a few minutes later he could smell the roasting of meat over the flames.

          “Soon I will remove your blindfold and we can get reacquainted, after that we will discuss what I want from you.  If you do as I say I will let you live.”  She moved back over to him and put something hot against his lips.  The smell entered his nostrils and he opened his mouth to receive the meat she was offering.   It tasted good, and he was hungry.  He gobbled as much meat down as she was willing to give.

          “You need your strength for what we’re going to be doing so get your fill.”  With this she fed him a good amount of meat filling his belly.  Soon he felt a bit better and more aware.  The heat of the fire combined with the meal had rejuvenated him, he was ready to meet this woman who knew him now.

          “It’s time to remove the blindfold, I am also going to unbind your hands so you can move a bit.”  She moved behind him and he could feel the bins being cut, soon the feeling would return, and when he had regained his strength he would take her for his own. 

          She sat down in front of him ready to remove the blindfold.  “Before you see who I am.”  Came the low guttural voice again.  “It is weird how when your hands are bound tight enough you lose all feeling in them, they become as if they were dead and you cannot even feel if they are still there or not.”

          Washington was confused at this remark.  He was beginning to feel the blood returning to his extremities.  But then it dawned on him, he did not feel his hands, the numbness had not subsided.  But a low throbbing pain was beginning to reveal itself. Then she removed his blindfold and as his eyes adjusted to the dim night and the light of the fire.  When he face came into focus he knew all too well the woman who now had him captive.  It was the same woman who he had served dinner to a couple of nights ago.  The dinner in his delight had been the woman own daughter.  At the time it was a rush of power control and lust that had motivated him to do such a horrible act.  He loved the way it made him feel, and now he was at the mercy of the very woman who he had committed such a heinous crime against.  He knew at that moment if he didn’t take advantage of his loosened bonds he would die at her hands.   She stared him down as if daring him to make a move.  She turned back toward the fire and he took his moment.  He reached for her, but he could not grasp her.  The pain in his wrists now became as clear and intense and one could imagine.  He now saw why she had loosened his bonds.  She wanted him to feel it.  She wanted him to experience the horror and the fear and the loss of control.  To feel hopeless and weak.  He could see now.  His hands were gone and as she turned back to him she held in her hands his own hand charred by the heat of the fire.  She looked him dead in the eyes and raised his former hand to her mouth and began to strip the flesh from the bones.  Over her shoulder he could see what she had fed him.  Hanging on a stick over the fire were the skeletal remains of his other hand, He had eaten himself.  General Washington began to scream.  The woman looked at him with amusement and a moment later she raised her head to the night sky and joined him in his screams of agony.

          The woman had lost everything to the rapists and murders that now inhabited this new Earth.  She had done everything she could to protect her daughter from what society had collapsed into.  But in the end she could not protect her and her daughter had been fed to her unknowingly by the very man who was now at her mercy.  It had given her great pleasure to cut his hands off and feed it to him, eating his other one in front of him. Seeing, feeling his screams of terror had awakened an animal urge inside her, a primal instinct that took over her very soul and drove her to heights of rage and strength she had previously thought unimaginable.  In the old world she had been a simple wife and mother.  A soccer mom opposed to guns and violence.  But when the world had turned and her husband became feral she was forced to take her daughter and flee.  She never looked back to see if he was chasing her, she ran clutching her daughter in her arms.  She had had no idea where she was going.  At long last when she could run no more and her legs were as two stalks of rubber, her breast heaving with exhaustion she was forced to stop and take measure of her surroundings.

          She stood alone in a field, the grass shielded her from anyone who might be chasing or following her.  She held her daughter tight to her breast shielding her eyes from the breaking world. She raised her head to catch her breath, and that’s when she saw it.  Hanging in the sky like a dim second sun.  A planet that had not been there the night before was now partnered with the rising sun.  In the distance she could hear the chaos the world was descending into.  Screams, moan and the unique sound of twisting metal filled the air like something out of an apocalyptic movie.  Society was falling apart.  Half the population had gone feral and her husband was one of them.  There was no reasoning with them, no talking, just run or kill.  In her retreat she had seen neighbors whom she had known for many years chasing and attacking each other.  They were taking chunks out of each other with their teeth like crazed zombies.  The scene was horrific, the once peaceful and vibrant look of her tiny suburban neighborhood was now like a scene out of Hollywood.  What were once good neighbors were now eating and tearing each other apart.  She had shielded her daughter's eyes from the horror so she would not have to witness people whom she trusted killing each other and chasing them in an attempt to make them the next meal. 

          This whole experience had been too much and the woman slinked to her knees in the field clutching her daughter to her breast, she closed her eyes and just listened to the sound of their hearts beating and their chests rising and falling in unison as if they had become one being.  In all the chaos she knew that least at this moment the most precious thing in her life was safe.  For the moment.

          She has lost everything that day except her daughter.  She had done everything to keep her safe but in the end she did not have the strength to protect her from the chaos and evil that had infected the world.  She lost the only thing left in this world that mattered to her and the one who had taken that from her was now at her mercy.  He had broken her mind and her heart.  She would take so much more from him.  As she looked to the night sky and joined her screams with his she took a new name, a new identity. She was Lilith, the woman who would not be a slave to Adam.  She would never be a slave again.  She was the master now and General Washington was the slave.  The irony did not escape her notice.