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Vivien looked up at him and nodded.
“You need to get back to work so you won’t be missed,” Adrik said as he stood up and held out his hand for a handshake. Vivien took it before turning and walking across the grass back to the road where she planned to take a cab. She didn’t look back but she knew he was watching her.
Chapter Four
The Spirit of Survival
17thNovember, 2021
7:50am
Belfast, Maine. USA
“Quickly! Lift her up and let’s get out of here before anyone spots us.” The woman who had abducted Aaliyah said and the men moved to take Aaliyah out of her hands. They had only carried her a little way when a sandy-haired young man made the turn and saw them with Aaliyah. They all froze. The woman lifted her head in anger.
“Well, would you look at that? We’ve been spotted.” She said as she pulled out a pistol from her pocket and pointed it at him. “It’s such a pity that I’d have to waste such a pretty boy but you just saw what you simply weren’t supposed to see.” She pulled the trigger. Immediately, the boy ducked behind the wall and the bullet lodged itself into the bricks.
He shouted out: “Everyone, Aaliyah is being abducted. Come here now!”
The woman cursed. There were sounds of response. People around had started gathering. She looked at the girl.
“Well, since we can’t have her, neither can they.”
She pointed her gun towards the girl.
“I’m sorry, baby girl. Mummy didn’t want to do this.”
Before she could pull the trigger, the young man emerged from behind the wall with the cover of a trash can.
“Hey!” He called and flung it towards the woman. She looked up just in time for the cover to hit her squarely in the face. She lost her bearing and fell to the ground unconscious. Men pulled out their guns and began to fire at him. He dropped to the ground and tried to roll away but a bullet hit his left leg. They were getting closer. The two men decided to cut their losses. One picked up their female accomplice while the other pointed his gun at Aaliyah.
“Don’t shoot her. If you do they won’t stop looking for us. Let’s just go. We already have the burden of carrying Niki,” the first one said as he ran away, disappearing around the first turn. The other one followed suit.
People gathered to see Ted rolling in the snow because of the pain and Aaliyah unconscious.
“Let’s get them back to camp. It’s almost time to move,” an elderly man said to the others around him.
18th November 2021
7:00 am
Outskirts of Vermont. USA
Aaliyah zipped her hoodie up and laced her boots. Tying her black hair into a bun, she threw the hood over her head. Slipping her bag over her shoulders, she stood in the ankle-deep snow, deep in thought. The movies had always warned them about it. Even her novel had mentioned it in passing. She wondered why the EMP had to happen in her generation. Suddenly, walking to New York wasn’t what bothered her the most. She could do that. Her mind ran over the events of the previous day. She could hardly believe she had almost been abducted. There was a war looming. They were in danger zone. Americans had turned on each other and the spirit of America had now become the spirit of survival. She didn’t know if she could handle it.
Marcia, her grandmother came to stand beside her. She hugged her grandma - the only other surviving person in her whole family. They had shared her loot from the previous day with the Hankins.
“We’re going to be safe, Granny,” Aaliyah said. Marcia coughed in response and sadness filled Aaliyah. Time was running out.
“Aaliyah just stay back. The Hankins will take care of us. Why do you insist on blocking people out all the time? You are loved.”
Aaliyah shook her head.
“Granny, you won’t understand. And it’s okay if you’re going to rely on them. But I don’t want to. We’ve already seen firsthand how that turned out.”
“But Ted saved you yesterday.”
Aaliyah’s eyes widened.
