Chapter 14
"This station is a dead end too...dammit..." Hal remarked as he stopped trying to dig in the rubble. "Maybe we should find place to camp for the night." Hal remarked as the sun began to set.
"What's the matter Mason? Almost your bedtime?...I say we look until we're done...if this place isn't going to be our stopping place for the winter we don't have any time to waste when it comes to finding another..." Pope remarked.
"Alright...let's move on to the next then..." Hal remarked.
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Weaver approached Tom as he looked out in the darkness towards Philadelphia.
"Maybe we should've sent more people with them." Tom remarked.
"Well you didn't really expect them to cover all that ground in one afternoon did you?" Weaver asked. "Come on back to the tent, let's get you something to eat."
"I don't think I'll ever get used to it...sending my son out into the unknown...I know he can take care of himself but..." Tom started to head back to the tent with Weaver.
"But he's still your child, no matter how old he gets." Weaver added. "I have to remind myself daily that Jeanie isn't a little girl anymore."
Tom and Weaver both entered the tent. Jeanie smiled at both of them and handed each a bowl of food. "You both need to eat something." She remarked.
"Thank you Jeanie...Captain...what's the next move if Philly is a dead end?" Tom asked.
"That's what we need to figure out Tom..."
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Tector and Lyle returned to camp around midnight. They pulled up by the med bus and woke up Lourdes banging on the door.
Lourdes rubbed her eyes as she opened the door. "What is it? What's wrong?"
"We brought back medical supplies..." Tector told her.
Soon Weaver and Tom approached, both looking exhausted.
"Lyle, Tec...where are the others? Hal?" Tom asked frantically.
"Roads are rough...it would've taken us too long to try to get the truck through the city so we split up...we went for supplies and they went to search the subway stations." Lyle told him.
"But they're alright?" Tom asked.
"Last we saw..." Tector replied.
Weaver looked in the back of the truck at all the medical supplies. "Good work guys...I can't believe you got so much..."
"There's more where that came from, we just took what we could carry..." Tec answered.
"If there's more we need it." Lourdes remarked as she started to unpack the truck.
"Maybe we should go ahead and start moving the group into Philly...even if we can't use the subway there may be some place else we can set up camp. If they got this many medical supplies in one shot, imagine what other supplies we can find there." Tom remarked.
"I agree...as soon as the sun's up let's roll into the city..." Weaver agreed.
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Hal, Maggie and Pope all stared up into the night sky towards the statue of William Penn on top of the City Hall Building tower. The moonlight cut across at an angle only allowing a sliver of a side to be visible but it was enough.
"It's beautiful..." Maggie remarked.
"I can't believe it's still standing...it almost looks like they dropped this whole building down after the attacks...it's barely damaged." Hal remarked.
Pope pulled out the diagram Lyle gave him and studied it for a few moments. "There's an access point on 15th Street, let's check it out and see if it will lead us to the access inside the building underground..."
The three of them quickly headed towards 15th Street.
"We can't be this lucky..." Maggie stated as she hopped off her bike after riding a short distance to the 15th Street station.
They stood at the top of the staircase at the street and stared down into the darkness.
"Well this won't be the least bit creepy..." Pope joked as he pulled out his flashlight and started to head down the steps. Maggie and Hal followed, careful to avoid the fallen rubble on the steps. Although it wasn't completely clear, there was still plenty of room to make their way down.
They stepped onto the subway platform. Pope shined his flashlight all around them for signs of anyone or anything but it was quiet. He pointed down one of the subway tunnels with his light. "The building should be that way...".
Pope hopped off the platform and onto the tracks. "Guess we should be glad the power's not on..." He turned back towards Maggie, gripped the flashlight in his mouth and grabbed hold of her hips to help her down as she jumped. Hal glared at Pope as he jumped down as well but Pope just grinned at him as he removed the flashlight from his mouth and started walking.
Walking in the darkness of the tunnel felt like it went on forever even though they knew the distance wasn't that far. Pope noticed a few subway trains just up ahead as the area began to open up.
"Looks like we made it...the track's clear...at least this far." Pope remarked. He struggled slightly as he climbed back up onto the platform then reached his hand towards Maggie to help her up.
Hal laughed a little to himself and shook his head.
Pope turned back to Hal once Maggie was up and reached out for him. "Come pretty boy...I'll hold hands with you too so you don't feel left out..." He smirked.
"Pope!" Maggie scolded him.
Hal locked eyes with Pope and squeezed his hand hard as he helped him onto the platform. Both men stood in front of the other, squeezing as hard as they could as they both glared at one another.
"Are you two going to hold hands all night or can we get on with this!" Maggie asked.
Pope released Hal's hand and motioned for him to lead the way. "After you your Highness..."
"Don't start Pope..." Maggie scolded him again.
Hal didn't say a word but Maggie could see he was fuming with anger as he walked up the stairs. At the top of the stairs, they walked into the courtyard surrounded by the building.
"This is absolutely amazing!" Maggie couldn't help but remark. There were many over turned and broken statues in the area that they had to step over while heading towards one of the doors to the building.
"This place is perfect!" Hal stated as his eyes wandered all around.
"Well before you two start picking out draperies and china patterns you need to take a closer look..." Pope barked.
Both Maggie and Hal turned around and stared at him confused. "Isn't that what we're doing Pope?" Hal asked.
Pope pointed above them and Hal turned his flashlight towards the side of the building.
"Not with your flashlight you idiot!" Pope scolded Hal.
Hal dropped down his light quickly and looked up the side of the building with Maggie to the second floor. They both could see the small flicker of light in one of the windows.
Pope stepped closer and spoke. "Apparently we aren't alone here kiddos..."
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The three of them cautiously made their way to the second floor and started searching for the source of the light. They noticed the glow from beneath double doors at the end of the hallway. Quietly the pushed forward with their weapons ready until they got to the double doors.
Cautiously Pope slowly pushed one of the doors open, aiming his weapon as he looked around but didn't see anyone. A few candles were burning at the opposite side of the room and Pope couldn't help but think things were too quiet. He motioned for Hal to check the other side of the door and Hal nodded as he quickly stepped in and turned to look behind the open door. Maggie followed fast behind him and kept her eyes searching the rest of the room.
Pope entered and quietly shut the door behind them as they slowly started to step forward and look around the room. It looked like a courtroom of sorts, lined with pillars and wooden pews leading up to an open area with tables and chairs and what looked like a judge's bench.
They all jumped then quickly took cover as they heard a loud blast followed by the sound of splintering wood.
"THAT'S YOUR ONLY WARNING SHOT! DROP YOUR WEAPONS, RAISE YOUR HANDS ABOVE YOUR HEAD AND WALK RIGHT BACK OUT!" The female voice ordered.
"Holy shit where did that come from?" Maggie whispered as she looked stunned as they laid on the floor behind the pew.
Pope looked around for the hole in the wall then raised his head just enough to see the balcony adjacent to it.
"Balcony to your left..." Pope replied softly as his eyes continued to search the room.
"I DON'T HAVE ALL DAY AND IF YOU TRY ANYTHING FUNNY I SWEAR I WON'T MISS NEXT TIME!" She ordered.
"WE DON'T WANT ANY TROUBLE..." Hal called backed.
"WELL LOOKS LIKE YOU FOUND IT ANYWAYS!" The woman replied.
Pope smirked. "Sounds like my kind of girl". He whispered.
"Really? You're making jokes at a time like this!?" Maggie glared at him.
"WE DON'T MEAN YOU ANY HARM...WHY DON'T WE BOTH PUT DOWN OUR WEAPONS AND TALK?" Hal stated which was quickly met by dirty looks from both Maggie and Pope. Hal shrugged back at them.
"I'VE TOLD YOU WHAT TO DO...IT'S NOT NEGOTIABLE!" She hollered.
"I think I see the access to the balcony...I can make it and disarm her up there..." Pope told them.
"What if there are others?" Maggie asked.
"I'd think we'd have heard them by now or have more guns pointed in our face...I'm betting she's alone...which would also explain the hostility..." Pope whispered.
"I think he's right...she's not asking us to surrender...she's wanting us to leave...we've got her out numbered, we just have to get an advantage..." Hal agreed.
"Be careful..." Maggie whispered as Pope began to crawl toward the balcony entrance.
"LISTEN...I'M SURE WE CAN HELP EACH OTHER SOMEHOW...WE ALL WANT THE SAME THING...TO FEEL SAFE...THAT'S ALL WE WANT AND I THINK THAT'S ALL YOU WANT TOO!" Hal continued speaking trying to keep her occupied and focused on him.
Pope made his way to the stairwell underneath the balcony and quietly crept up. He got to the open doorway at the top and could see the woman crouched down with a shotgun pointed in the direction of Hal and Maggie. Her black hair was messily pulled back, halfway in a bun and half out wearing military green pants and black military style sweater. He heard Hal calling up to her as he quietly crept towards her as her back was turned. Pope raised his weapon and walked close enough to almost touch her before she realized he was there and quickly looked over her shoulder. She started to turn towards him with the shotgun but he cocked the hammer back on his gun.
"I don't think so now put it down..." Pope ordered.
The woman glared at Pope but slowly did as she was told.
"Now slide it away from you..." Pope gestured with the gun to his left. "Stand up, keep your hands where I can see them.
The woman slowly rose to her feet.
"Don't hurt her..." Pope heard a young voice call out.
He turned slightly to his right, the gun still pointed at the woman and squinted slightly to see a young boy, not over the age of 14 pointing a gun at him.
"Relax kid...nobody needs to get hurt here...why don't you..." Pope hadn't even finished speaking when he saw the muzzle flash and heard the shot ring out. He felt a sharp stabbing pain rip through his left abdomen and couldn't help but drop his gun and look down at his side. He clutched his wound as blood quickly began to soak through his shirt and he looked back up at the boy in shock.
The boy stepped closer towards him, his hands shaking as he tightly gripped the gun as he stepped more into the light.
Pope's own eyes widened as he saw the boy's face. "Brandon?..."
Pope's knees buckled out from underneath him as he crashed onto the floor. He could hear the woman's voice echo through his head as the room started to spin. "Brandon no!...Give me the gun!"
Pope wanted to get up but his body refused as the pain in his side burned. He could hear shouting below the balcony but couldn't make out the words. Soon he saw the boy's face step into view as the kid stared down at him, stunned and shocked by his own actions. The woman wrapped her arm around the boy as she raised the gun towards the stairwell and started to pull the boy away from Pope. The last thing Pope heard before everything turn black was the boy screaming in disbelief..."My dad...I shot my dad..."
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