The Dragons of Men (The Sons of Liberty Book 2) (18 page)

“Yes, he would have,” Sarah said with a smile as she turned to gaze back out the window. “I find myself…not mourning him like I thought I would.”

“You’re in survival mode.” Eric turned to the window, leaning one arm up against the glass as he gazed outside. “That’s natural. But your mourning will come, and I hope you’re ready for it when it does. It will gnaw away at your sanity, causing you to shed an endless ocean of tears if you’re not ready for it.”

Sarah looked over at him, though he remained focused on the world outside the window. She knew he was right. She knew a time of anguish would come when the road had finally passed beneath their feet and they found safety. As terrible as it would be, Sarah actually looked forward to facing the demons she was keeping at bay.

“Eric, thank you for being here for me,” she said, though he continued to stare out the window. “Without you, I don’t know—”

Eric grabbed her by the shoulders and shoved her down to the floor, shouting a whisper for her to stay quiet. Sarah’s heart immediately lumbered inside her chest like a galloping beast initiating a chase, her eyes darting around the dark corridor and looking for trouble. He met her eyes, holding a finger to his lips, and motioned outside.

She raised herself slowly and peered through the window—searching the landscape for whatever he had seen. All she saw was the moonlight casting shadows from behind the clouds overhead, darkening the already blackened landscape. She looked to him confused and he pointed his finger south across the base.

“There,” he said quietly, “A drone. You can barely see it. Near the low rectangular building. Maybe a half a mile south.”

Sarah narrowed her eyes, looking at the distant building, before spotting it. A light moved in the distance, originating from a source that hovered ten feet off the ground. A few flashlights scanned the ground beneath it, mimicking the light of the moon in an eerie fashion.

“We have to get back to the others,” Sarah said quickly.

“I know,” Eric said as he rose, backing away from the window before jogging back toward the others. “Whoever they are, they’re heading for the Base Exchange.”

“How do you know?”

“Cause I looked at a map earlier and planned on going there next,” Eric replied.

“You think they’ll leave us alone?”

“We’re not staying to find out,” Eric replied. “Hopefully they’re nothing but some lost men looking for food. Even then, they might try this building when they’re done and there’s no telling what they might do if they find us. I know everyone’s exhausted, but we need to leave now.”

They ran quietly through the hallways and made their way back to the room the others had hunkered down in. A few minutes passed, Sarah’s eyes constantly searching for any other patrols, before they entered the room where the others slept. Rick snored quietly and Eric grunted his frustration, approaching the old man and shaking him awake.

“Rick, we’ve got trouble,” Eric said. “There are other men in the base. We need to wake the others and—”

Sarah’s eyes widened as she suddenly found herself struggling with a suffocating fear.

“Where are Judah and Alexandra?”

Rick’s eyes went as wide as hers and he sat up, looking dumbfounded. Panic nearly seized Sarah and she struggled to breathe.

“Rick, where are they?” Eric demanded.

“I…don’t know,” Rick said. “They were just here.”

“Damn it Rick, you were supposed to stay awake!” Eric shouted.

“I’m sorry!” Rick shouted back as he leapt to his feet. “Oh God, they might be out there. We’ve got to find them before—”

“Alright, we can’t panic,” Eric said. “They know better than to go far. They’ve got to be close. We just need to—”

“Alexandra said she was hungry,” Eva said, her eyes weary with exhaustion. “Grandpa was asleep so she said she was going to find food.”

“Where is Judah?” Sarah asked quickly as she lowered herself to Eva. “Where did they go?”

“He tried to stop her, but she found a map on the wall and left. He followed her with his gun.”

“Did you hear where they were going?”

“Yeah,” Eva said, “She said the Exchange.”

“Oh God, no,” Sarah said as she looked over to Eric, tears already obscuring her vision.

“It’s okay,” Eric said in a strikingly calm manner. “You and Rick stay here and get the others ready to move.”

“I’m coming with you,” Sarah said.

“There’s no way you’re—”

“You can’t go alone. If Rick goes and you both die, then we’re left with no man to help defend my girls.”

“And if they lose their mother?”

“They won’t,” Sarah said, racking the slide and loading a round into the chamber. “You’re going to make sure of that.”

“Fine,” Eric said after a short pause. “Take the gun but we don’t shoot unless we absolutely have to. I want to draw as little attention as possible. You wake the others and get them ready to move. And if we’re not back ten minutes after the killing stops, get them the hell out of here.”

Judah walked beside Alexandra as they made their way into the Base Exchange, watching her silently as he tried and failed to avoid losing himself in her stunning eyes. Her dark hair was pulled back into a loose ponytail that swayed behind her as she strolled forward, head held high and eyes focused on anything and everything but him. She tugged at the half hinged door and turned toward him, looking him in the eyes for a quiet moment before entering the building with the shake of her head.

God, she is beautiful,
he thought—not using God’s name in vain, but actually complementing God for what Judah perceived as the prettiest girl he had ever seen.

She glanced back at him again, almost as though he had spoken out loud, and sighed. His face grew red and he smiled back at her, thankful for the darkness as they entered the building.

Inside the Base Exchange, a draft whirled about the sprawling room. The north side of the building had taken a direct hit by whatever had attacked it days earlier, causing many of the shelves to scatter across the floor. Nothing moved in the blackness—nothing but them as they made their way toward the part of the building that was still intact.

“So tell me about yourself,” Judah asked.

“Why?” she replied quickly.

“I don’t know. I’m just trying to have a conversation.”

“Why would you want to have a conversation?” Alexandra asked. “So we can be friends?”

“I guess,” he replied as they began moving through the south side of the large store, searching for food. “I’m just trying to talk.”

“And I’m not,” Alexandra replied coldly.

“Okay,” Judah said slowly as he shook his head. “You just haven’t said three words to me since we left North Carolina. I just figured—”

“Well, here are five words for you,” she cut in sharply. “I don’t want to talk.”

“That’s actually six if you count the contraction as a…,” Judah trailed off and shut up as Alexandra glanced back at him flatly, daring him to continue. He had waited for days to finally have a conversation with her, and now she wanted to do anything but talk.

“You didn’t have to come,” Alexandra said after a few more moments of silence. “You don’t have to watch over me like a hawk. Eric can take care of me.”

“Well, Eric’s not here,” he replied, though she shot him back another blank stare.

“Let me guess. Your mom told you to look after the orphan girl?”

“No,” Judah said defensively.

“Your grandparents? Elizabeth? Your sisters, maybe?”

“No one told me to watch over you,” Judah replied.

“Then why follow me?” she asked.

“I don’t know. To make sure you’re safe.”

“Really?” she said. “We’ve barely seen a soul since we left. We’ve been to a few bases already and they’re all the same. Empty and bombed.”

“Doesn’t mean there’s no one out there,” Judah said. “I’m just trying to—”

“You sure this doesn’t have to do with the fact that your eyes are always wandering in my direction?”

“What?” Judah asked nervously. “No, I’m not—”

“I’m just wanting to make sure you don’t try to do something stupid,” Alexandra said, turning to him with a wry grin.

“Like what?” Judah asked.

“Oh, I don’t know,” Alexandra said. “Maybe you’re just trying to whisk me away from the others so you can kiss me.”

Judah’s face flared up red as he stumbled over his response.

“No! I don’t…I’m not,” he shook his head, dumfounded that she would have the audacity to say something so blatant. “I’m just trying to look after you.”

“So you don’t want to kiss me then?” Alexandra asked, placing a hand on her hip.

“No…I mean, I didn’t say that.” Judah tried to steel his shaky voice. “But no, I’m not going to try to kiss you.”

“Good,” she replied. “I just wanted to make sure so we could avoid an awkward moment.”

“An awkward moment?” Judah replied with a laugh. “I’m curious what you call this?”

“I call it making sure.” Alexandra grinned and turned, resuming her walk.

She moved over to the second aisle and Judah followed. She sighed as she saw the shelves barren of nearly everything. He knew they wouldn’t find anything on the shelves, but he didn’t want to argue with her again. She was determined, and if he tried to undermine that determination she’d likely never speak with him again. So instead, he told her what he had wanted to say to her since the day they had met.

“I’m sorry about your brother and dad.” She paused, looking back at him with blank eyes before turning back and scanning the disarrayed shelving. “I’m sure we’ll find your sister. We all really want to help you get through this.”

Alexandra hesitated briefly before nodding to him with half a smile. “Thank you,” she said before turning away again, leaving Judah a few moments to smile himself.
Even half of her smile was invigorating. A few more moments of silence passed before she rotated back around suddenly, her smile gone as she looked him in the eyes. “I’m sorry about your dad.”

Judah’s smile vanished and he simply nodded his head in return.

“He was…a good man, I guess,” Judah replied. “At least everyone keeps saying that. Must be true if enough people say it, right?” She smiled again, the beam on her face soothing him. “He almost took Lukas Chambers down, you know.”

“That would have been great,” she said, smiling again as she turned and resumed her walk.

She paused as they rounded the final aisle, lowering her flashlight with a defeated groan. It was empty as well. She looked back at Judah, searching his face with her dark, beautiful eyes.

“Do you think about it much?” she asked.

“About what?”

“Them,” she said. “Your dad…the others who died.” She hesitated, glancing to the side and wiping a tear away before looking back at him. “Death.”

“Sometimes,” he said quietly.

“But I haven’t even seen you cry,” she said. “I mean, he was your dad. How can you not cry?”

Judah stared back at her silently, noticing the pain on her face as she fought back more tears. Eventually, he swung his gun off his shoulder and set it on the ground next to him before leaning up against the back row of metal shelves.

“I begged him not to go to DC the morning he left,” Judah said. “I don’t know how, but I knew he was going to die. I wept, pleading with him to stay. But he said it was all almost over. He was almost finished with what he had to do. He said he’d be right back. And then, he gave me this.” Judah unbuttoned the leather sheath on his belt and removed the knife his father had given him, handing it to her. “He had it made for me while we were at Fort Bragg.”

“Aryeh.” She turned the knife over in her hands, examining it with her flashlight. “What does that mean?”

“It’s lion in Hebrew,” Judah replied. “He said…he told me to never forget the real Lion of Judah. It was the closest I ever felt to my dad. He and I were always so different. He grew up the star athlete and I grew up reading books. He was always the talker in a group and I was the introvert. He never said it outright, but I could tell he was disappointed that his only son wasn’t more like him. So I did things like try out for the rugby squad, run for student council, and learn how to shoot a bow just to make him proud. But every time I did something to make him happy, he only wanted more. It was always him attempting to draw me into his agenda and his likes. It wasn’t until that final moment when he gave me something so small—something as insignificant as that knife—that I actually felt like my dad had done something just because he loved me for who I was.” Judah paused, looking to the side with a small smile on his face as he thought about the final moments he had shared with his father. “Then he got on a helicopter and traveled to his grave. I stopped weeping for him when he left because he had made his decision and there was nothing I could have said or done to change his mind. Personally, I’d rather die than ever do that to someone I love.”

Alexandra looked back at him, tears pooling in her eyes. She wiped them away and handed the knife back. She leaned up against the empty shelf opposite Judah, breathing misty breaths into the cold air.