Critical Measures Read online

  “Lisa, I do not see how this is helping your defense. This is your opportunity to tell your story. If all you're going to do is threaten us, then I'm going to have to bring this to an end”

  “Oh, it will come to an end soon alright,” Lisa said, narrowing her eyes.

  “Do you really think you can just sit here? My people will come for me. But, of course, if you want my story, then you shall have it. I was like anyone else in my youth, filled with hopes and dreams that were ground down by the wheel of time. I had children, a family. I thought I was lucky, and when I retired I thought the world was at my fingertips. I could bask in the warm glow of love and see out my remaining years in peace. Then my husband died, taken by cancer. One by one, all my friends were taken from me as well, falling like dominoes, until I was the only one left. My children had forsaken me. As soon as they could, they shipped me off to a retirement home and waited for me to die. They said they didn't have enough room, that they couldn't afford to keep me around, but I could see it in their eyes. They were lying. They thought I was fool, and that I had no worth to them...the idiots.

  “Good riddance to them I said, but it felt as though I had wasted my life. What had I actually accomplished? I was living in a prison, surrounded by gaunt people, shuffling around, staring at me like zombies, watching their TV shows. We were the forgotten ones. We were told we had nothing more to contribute to society and that we just had to live out our lives until we felt the cold embrace of death. Was that fair? Was that something a just society would do? You all think you are so superior to me, but believe me, I've seen it before. You're a bunch of talkative liberals who endlessly discuss the state of the world without ever doing anything about it.

  “Then it all fell apart.

  “Oh, I'm sure many of you here were sad and worried and frightened. Many of the people who were with me experienced the same things, but I didn’t. I watched the world fall and I couldn't have been happier. I knew things had to change. They couldn't have gone on the way they were. The world needed a fresh start. Cleanse the heretics!”

  She sat back and felt the surge of emotion rush through her. She loved seeing them quake in their boots. They all were so young, so naive. None of them understood the true nature of the world, or what had to be done. They all were going to die. They all were weak, and she was strong. She was the only strong one in the room. They already had made their first mistake by not killing her. They should have put a bullet in her brain when they had the chance because she was now going to make them suffer. Everyone who had said something against her was going to be killed. Their blood was going to stain the world, just like so many others, so many worthless souls who had not been able to prove themselves to her.

  “My story is the same as any other,” she said, keeping her voice steady, showing no hint of the raging river that lay below the surface, of the hot blood that was pumping through her withered old veins.

  “The nurses rushed us out and tried to get us to the hospital, but it was no use. We were cut off at every turn. That night so many died. So many weak people. It was just the excuse they needed. In truth, they hadn't been living properly for a long time. I and a few others moved through the city. The remaining nurses took care of me, trying to make sure I was comfortable. They thought I was going to die. They were wrong. I knew in that moment it was a new beginning and I was going to take full advantage of it. I wasn't going to let anyone cast me away to some dingy retirement home. I wasn't going to let anyone judge me for being old. I was going to show them all I still could contribute, that I still was a force, and I was going to make up for an entire lifetime of wastefulness.

  “You can sit here and whine about everything I've done to you, but did you ever stop to ask yourself why? You say that you're scared and that I haven't been a good person. You call me evil and mean and say I must die. All I've done is survive. The rules of the world never have changed. Oh, sure, people like to think that they can be a good person, pay their taxes, go to church once in a while, and they'll have earned salvation, but that's not the way it really works, and deep down we all know it.

  “You, the pirate,” she said, gesturing to Stan, “are you going to tell your daughter the way the world really works? The way it has always worked? You only get what you take in this world. You can spend your life giving and being kind and generous, but in the end, you're going to be left with nothing. There's no room for kindness. I saw an opportunity and I took it. I created a safe community where people do not have to worry for their lives. I took them in as my children. I gave them a home. I gave them shelter from the cold, food in their bellies, and you tell me that I'm wrong? You come to me and say I've betrayed some secret pact between humans? No, no, no, no, I have done no such thing. You all are just upset that I've played this game better than you have, that you've been proven to be second best to an old woman.

  “I have protected my children. That is all I have done. I have defended my home and I've made sure no harm will come to them. You can call me anything you want, but the fact is I have shown you how to live well in this world. I have been a good mother. If you think my children just are going to sit by idly and leave me to rot with you, you are woefully mistaken. You have made a grave error by challenging me and it will not go unpunished. All you had to do was swear your loyalty to me and you could have been spared all of this. You have all defied me, and that shall be your final mistake.”

  She settled into her chair and almost welcomed the abuse people were throwing at her. In truth she wasn't sure if Lee and the others would come. After all, Lee was unpredictable and often selfish, but she wasn't about to tell the crowd before her that. She didn't know what her punishment would be. Although it seemed these high-minded intellectuals were not in favor of the death penalty, so she was confident there would be other opportunities for mistakes.

  She still was annoyed at herself for not being able to sneak into the darkness the previous night. Her body was old, and it betrayed her at times. Even now she was subjected to great aches and pains, but there still was so much to do before she died. She had assumed that when she reached a certain age she would be at peace, ready to meet with her beloved again, and she happily would close her eyes and let the sweet embrace of death usher her along to the afterlife. Now it was not the case. She clung onto life bitterly and would have done anything to lengthen her days. She wanted to make sure people accepted her as a great leader, that they could see all she was trying to do, and the only way to do it was to conquer. Once their homes had fallen and everything they loved was turned to ash they all would see her for what she really was; a visionary, a hero of the broken world.

  There was much consternation around the room and it took all of Matthew's efforts to keep everybody calm. Lisa's words had been incendiary, and it was a wonder everyone had managed to stay under control.

  “I believe we have heard all we need to,” the lawyer said, then sat down, visibly shaken by Lisa's testimony.

  Matthew exhaled deeply and bowed his head as he thought. Lisa's destiny, and indeed the destiny of the entire community, rested with this decision. He was their leader and he would guide them into the future. It was only one decision, but it would shape the course of things to come, and despite what Lisa had said he knew they were not weak. They were strong, and he was going to be strong now. He was going to stay true to his convictions. He raised his hand, and everyone grew quiet. Only the whispers of the dead could be heard through the burned hall.

  “There has been much spoken today, and we have stayed true to what we have promised. We have given Lisa a chance to speak, and laid out all her crimes before everyone in this community, which is more than she has done for a lot of people. She is responsible for many deaths, and I know a lot of you would like to see her pay for those with her own blood. But we stand together, and if we choose to kill her, then that is a sin that will stain our souls forever. There has been too much killing, too much death, and if we are not careful, we will not be able to change
the course of our lives. I am sentencing Lisa to life imprisonment. She will be forced to watch the people she has deemed weak prosper, and her views of us shall be proven wrong.”

  The decision was met with angry yells from a lot of people, their faces twisted in anger and hate, but he hoped once the intensity of the moment had faded they would see things clearly, as he was seeing them. The only surprising reaction was from Lisa, who laughed.

  “I knew you wouldn't have the balls to kill me,” she said.

  Matthew looked at her and wished he could find a way through the hatred that had poisoned her heart. She was escorted away, and people began filtering out of the hall. Matthew lingered inside a while longer, placing his hand against the ruins of the building. He hoped he had made the right decision. It was so hard sometimes when so many people depended on him...

  Gunfire sounded in the distance. The yells of a rampaging army thundered through the camp and, everyone called for help. Matthew shook himself from his melancholy brooding and ran outside to see everyone trying to grab a gun.

  “They're coming for her!”

  Chapter Nine

  A fierce battle raged. Adam should have been more prepared. After the trial he had been reeling from everything he had heard. Lisa's testimony had been chilling, and he couldn't quite believe she was going to be so deluded until the end. Her heart was like ice and she was completely mad if she thought she was making sense, and that she was right. The people around him all had been baying for blood, and he couldn't blame them. Of course, he had been privy to Matthew's decision beforehand, so it didn't come as a shock to him. Although others were disappointed in their leader, and it wasn't hard to imagine why. There had been so many awful things spoken about Lisa, it was quite hard to actually process that she had been responsible for destroying the lives of so many other people. It was almost as if she was a one-woman apocalypse, and if anyone deserved anything in this world, then she deserved to die.

  While she had been talking Adam had been felt a cold shiver run down his back. He knew he was in the presence of pure evil, and he wondered if it was the same feeling that people had had whilst in the presence of Hitler. Lisa showed no remorse at all, even when faced with the people who had suffered. They all had told their stories, shared their pain, and she had merely laughed at them dismissively. He understood Matthew's position and knew it was a good thing to be better than Lisa, and to imprison her for life, but at the same time part of him felt it was a mistake. While she was alive there still was a chance she could hurt other people, and she would be a further drain on their resources as they had to give her food and water.

  One woman was not too much of a burden, but if there were more out there like her...what if the fight went in their favor and they ended up capturing Lisa's guards? Were they all going to stand trial? Were they all going to be kept prisoner? It was a logistical nightmare. Once again Adam was glad he was not the leader since he didn't think he had the capabilities to deal with things such as that.

  When the gunshot rang out he had been walking back to his apartment with the others. They had lingered behind in the building after Lisa had been escorted away, talking about the trial. Others saw them in a new light after hearing their testimonies and it had gone a long way to ensure they were looked upon favorably, although some suspicion still remained. Adam wondered if the tension between them and Matthew's people would go away completely. Stan had been standing with his hand over Annabelle's shoulder. The young girl barely had said a word. Stan had wanted to keep her out of it and hadn't let her testify, which Adam understood, although he wasn't sure Annabelle did. Her eyes were burning red and she glared in the direction of where Lisa had been taken. It wasn't fair that Annabelle should be subjected to such horror, but he hoped that now she was with her father she could start having a normal life again, or something close to it anyway.

  With Lisa imprisoned it felt as though something real had been accomplished. Adam hadn't felt that way in such a long time, and although he knew things weren't over yet, it felt as though they were on the way to getting better. Tara came over to him and he placed his arm around her shoulder. There still was so much they needed to talk about, but it seemed as though they never were going to get a chance. Something else always got in their way. He kissed her on the cheek and was intending to have a conversation with her when they heard the thunder of the army and knew they had to fight. The color drained from their faces as they knew their lives were in danger again, but this was inevitable. They knew this would happen when they first started formulating the plan to kidnap Lisa, but now their lives were on the line again as they raced to the armory.

  They fought in the same place, but they were on a different side this time. Adam glanced at Tara. She was a teacher and not bred for war. He wanted to tell her that she should go and hide somewhere, but before he could she already had grabbed a gun and given him a sharp nod. He wished he could tell her that he loved her, but it didn't seem like an appropriate time.

  “No getting separated this time,” Adam said. Tara gave him a grin.

  “Just try to keep up,” she replied.

  Adam grabbed a gun, checked that it was loaded, and then his heart sank as he heard the cries of battle raging around them. It took him back to the night of the first battle, where the camp had been laced with fire and everything had been so confusing and messy. They already had taken Lisa away, cut off the head of the beast, but it had yet to die. There were already people yelling for revenge and they poured out of the armory, leaving it bare. The supply of guns had been depleted and there were barely enough for everyone to be armed. Adam took a deep breath as he and the others ventured out onto the field of battle, hoping he would be able to remain composed, and remain alive.

  When they emerged, everything was chaos. It was different fighting in the morning. The dim sun filtered through the cloudy sky. They could see everything. The sharp sound of gunfire ripped through the air around him, accompanied by the shrieks of people getting shot, of others sounding out a death cry, of orders being given. At one point, Adam saw Matthew sprint across the field, leaving three men in his wake, but then Adam lost track of the man. Peter pushed him to the side of the building. Adam's chest already was burning. Sweat beaded at his temples and the gun was feeling heavy.

  “Stay with me,” Peter said. Adam nodded.

  He knew his best chance to stay alive was to follow Peter's lead. He remembered how Peter had been that first night, like a warrior who knew exactly what was needed, not like Adam, who was lost. He peered around and looked at the enemy who poured through the gates. The battle wasn't like what he had seen in the movies. It was messy and staggered. There was no clear delineation between the two sides, although he did recognize some people who, like him, had been reluctant to fight. However, this time the faces of those from Lisa’s camp were twisted in righteous fury and they were eager to wage war. Adam wondered what they had been told. They were too blind to see the truth, in that Lisa deserved to be captured, deserved to be punished. That was their sin, and many of them would die for it that day.

  Peter raised his rifle and shot a few oncoming people. They dropped to the ground, all the momentum taken from their bodies. Their screams were silenced, and they would have no more effect on the battle. They were people with hopes and dreams, just like Adam, and probably a whole load of regrets as well, and they died because they thought Lisa was someone she wasn't. It was all so sad and pointless, and he wondered how many people throughout history had made the same mistake.

  From his vantage point he had a few moments of safety, waiting until the time was right to lean out and fire off a few shots, picking off the enemy. He was not as accurate as Peter, though, and many of his bullets flew wide. So he used them sparingly. The ground was riddled with shells, which glinted in the soft morning light. Most people were a blur to him but, there was one man who stood out before all the rest, one unmistakable figure who was like a Viking warrior. He stood in the middle of the battle, s
triding forward, pointing his rifle this way and that. He seemed invincible as no bullets found him, and it was he who was directing the army. They swarmed around him and he threw his head back in cackling laughter, reveling in the chaos of war Although Adam wanted to be better than to descend into mere hatred, he felt the blood lust rising again. Maybe this was the excuse he finally needed to kill Lee. Killing him in cold blood was one thing, but there were different rules for war, at least that's what he told himself.

  “I've tried to be a better man. I don't want to kill him, but the way things are working out it's like something is telling me I have to,” he said.

  “Sometimes it's the only thing to do,” Peter said as the two men moved forward. Adam smiled at Tara as he passed her, a sad smile, for he knew he was taking a risk, and that by moving away from his safe position he was exposing himself, but Lee was too powerful. He had to be challenged.

  Peter laid down covering fire as Adam made his way to Lee. Lee was caught up in the chaotic haze of war and, at first, he didn't see Adam, but then his gaze fell upon him and he smirked. He glistened with sweat as the battle raged around him. In that moment Adam knew it wasn't enough that Lisa had been put on trial. Lee had to be punished as well, but it would be a trial by fire. All the horrible moments Adam had witnessed flashed through his mind, the beating of Clark, the sneering attitude, the way Lee had killed innocent people without hesitation, the lack of remorse shown when he killed Clark's wife. It made Adam's blood boil and he roared as he flung himself forward and wrestled Lee to the ground.

  Peter kept low to the ground and picked off his targets methodically. He hated being back in war, but it seemed as if he couldn't escape it. Maybe this was who he always was meant to be, and if his friends were in danger he was going to do all he could to keep them safe. He watched Adam move toward Lee and felt sorry for the man. Adam was so confused. He was using Lee as a focal point of all his anger, which was quite natural. Many people did it in the senselessness that was war. It helped them focus their rage and give them something tangible to fight, like a big bad villain, when in truth there were few good guys in war. Everyone had shades of gray within them.