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1:15pm.
North Orchard, Chicago, Illinois.
USA.
Xander, Harper and Joel walked back to the main hall and found it teeming with more activity. People were gathering close to the school’s main entrance. Xander didn’t care and wanted to leave the school building but Joel held his hand and motioned for him to wait.
One of the soldiers motioned for the crowd to be quiet while another, most likely the leader of the team, spoke to the crowd with a loud voice. He used a funnel and not a megaphone. Xander guessed it was because all electronic equipment were jammed.
“Hello, good citizens of America. Can we have your attention please? Be quiet so that you’ll hear me. We are quite numerous here so please be calm.”
Soon the people got the point and began to quiet down. The leader continued speaking:
“On behalf of the military forces of the United States, we really want to apologize to you all for failing to protect you from the present onslaught. We may not know who is responsible for this yet. However, we assure you that our intelligence is actively working and none of this will be repeated. However, for your safety, the government has instructed all citizens to make their way to New York by whatever means they can. We understand that all vehicles aren’t working and that there’s even no way to fuel these things and so the best possible way for most of us is to walk. It’s approximately a seven hundred and ninety-mile journey. On foot, from here to New York will take roughly thirteen days of trekking and that’s how long you have before the next ship will leave for Spain with the next batch of citizens.”
Xander suddenly remembered the last information that had been given on the radio. He wondered what had happened to his mother and step dad. There was no way to reach them. What if they were dead? There was no time to think about such things though. If he, Nia, Prim and Grayson were going to make it they would have to leave with the next ship. To do that, they would have to leave with the others the next day. In other words, he had to find them today.
“In other words, you all are advised to begin to migrate to New York,” the leader said, as though to confirm Xander’s thoughts. “It’s best to do this as a group. Your strength is now in numbers. Support each other and ensure you take as many supplies as necessary because you don’t know where next you’ll find supplies. This is winter. The truth is that a lot of you are not accustomed to these conditions and might not make it but keep telling yourself this: if anyone can make it, I can. Finally, are there any questions?”
The whole place burst into an ocean of words as everyone began to speak and ask their questions at the same time. The soldier once again tried to calm them down and only succeeded to do so after another soldier shot a pistol into the air.
“Be quiet, all of you and raise your hands if you have a question. I will choose who I want to hear from and I’ll answer all your questions at once,” the leading soldier said. This time there’s no calmness in his voice. It was obvious that he had had it with the crowd.
This time, only three people had the guts to raise their hands, signifying that they had questions. The leading soldier motioned for one to speak. The man who spoke was an elderly man. Obviously, the man was angry.
“Well, why can’t they just come pick us from here? I’m over sixty years old. My legs don’t work as well as they used to. I can’t trek all the way to New York. Besides, it’s even so easy for me to trek from Chicago to New York. What about those all the way at the other side of America? What of those in Dakota like my child and grandchildren? What of my children in Wisconsin? Will they be able to make the trek in this cold? Definitely, the government can do better than this.”
The leading soldier nodded his head as a sign of acknowledging the question.
“Next,” he said and the next person piped up. It was a lady who was carrying a baby.
“Sir, couldn’t we just go to the neighboring countries like Canada. It would be so easy to reach and we don’t have to get there in fourteen days.”
The soldier nodded again and motioned for the last person to ask his question. It was a middle-aged man, probably in his thirties.
“Sir, what exactly is going on? We can’t pretend like this isn’t from the Russian government. I mean, the president blindly allowed freedom of movement from Russia into the American air borders without scrutiny. What exactly is happening? Tell us what you know so far.”
The soldier sighed at the question. Obviously, his patience was running out and he was just trying to rein his anger in.
“Okay, people. I’ve heard your questions. I believe you represent the opinions of a majority of the people here and your questions deserve answers, some more than others, though. So I’ll answer your questions. No, you can’t just go into neighboring countries because you don’t have legal permission to go there. You have no citizenship there and so you’ll not even be allowed to go through the borders especially in these times of uncertainty. However, the government has managed to secure the alliance of Spain. There you’ll be granted almost all the rights and freedoms of a citizen throughout this period where we’ll be trying to figure out the source of this terrorist attack and fix the mess that it has caused. There will be free entry as long as you’re going in with the vehicle provided by the government. This leads me to your question, sir,” he said, referring to the elderly man. “The truth is that this information was given to us only moments after the bombing in Washington D
C. Soon after, the bombings over Central America took place. That’s as much as we know because, from that point on, we lost all means of communication. We don’t know just how much damage has been done to America. All we know is this last command to take you to safety. I know it looks impossible now but take the journey one step at a time. It’s definitely better than remaining here to die. You will survive this if you try. Now, to the final question. I want all of us to avoid jumping into conclusions and making up conspiracy theories as much as possible. Let’s all focus on getting to safety, shall we? I feel like that’s enough work on its own without adding the burden of trying to figure out what you have little information about. We assure you that we are doing our best to resolve this issue. Thank you. I and my team will be moving to other counties and settlements to make this announcement. We do hope that by this evening, all of you must have left here. By tomorrow morning, a squad of soldiers will sweep over this entire area to ensure that no one remains. Believe me; you won’t want them to find you still here. Have a safe journey, folks. I pray we all meet at the other side of safety.”
With that, he turned and walked out of the school building.
A lot of thoughts were running through Xander’s mind however, only one was his priority.
“I have to find Grayson,” he said to Harper just before limping briskly towards the exit.
2:22pm
Lincoln Park, Chicago, Illinois.
USA
The trio arrived at the grounds of DePaul University School of Music where a camp had been created in one of the blocks. They had stopped by his wrecked car to pick up his back pack on the way. He looked forward to turning his laptop on in hopes that it wouldn’t have been destroyed. The smell of grilled meat filled the air. Xander could easily spot where it came from. Some men stood close-by over a grill. Xander guessed they were trying to feed as many as were in the shelter, a feat that seemed impossible. Then one of the men mentioned that it was pig meat that was on the grill. Xander decided he wasn’t going to eat of it. Hardly had they entered the before Xander heard the voice of a lady calling him.
“Xander! Xander! Thank God you’re alive!”
