The Dragons of Men (The Sons of Liberty Book 2) (9 page)

“He’s too eager for his own good,” Sarah said. “He practically begged Eric to let him go and help.”

“It’s only natural for him to want to go,” Rick said. “I’m sure this is still somewhat of an adventure to him. Teenagers his age should be sneaking out after dark, wrappin’ their neighbor’s trees and bushes with a dozen rolls of toilet paper. Hell, men my age should be giving him pointers on nonsense like that, not instructing him on the schools of thought between burst shot and automatic fire.” Rick took off his hat and shook his head, anger lining his face as he hesitated. “I’m…sorry, Sarah.”

“For what?”

“For a shitty legacy,” Rick replied angrily. “This is what we leave them: nothing but a worthless contribution that his generation will remember us by. We were given every opportunity to make this world a better place; instead, we filled our days with bigger houses and newer things. Now, that’s all gone and we have nothin’ to give them but a war on the home front. I’m sorry, but it makes me sick. Truly does.”

“That’s still no excuse for him to want to run off and join that war,” Sarah replied. “He doesn’t need to prove anything. He’s still just a boy.”

“And I’m just a simple man, trying to enjoy retirement on the road” Rick replied with a frown.

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“It means that boy isn’t a boy anymore, just like I’m no simple man,” Rick said. “I hate to say it, but times like these make us all grow old real fast.”

“Well, he’s still our Judah, war or no war,” Judi said with a loving smile as she massaged the makeshift shoes they had constructed out of duct tape, leather, and cloth to cover her blackened, blistering feet. “And they’re still our little girls. Whatever happens, they’ll always be our babies. I’d die to save them.”

“As would I,” Rick replied gravely. “As would I.”

“Regardless, he’s a strong young man,” Elizabeth said. “I’m sure he’ll be fine.”

“He’ll be fine when we find more inhalers,” Sarah said. “The doctors said he’d be over his asthma by the time he was a teenager, but he just turned seventeen and it still creeps up on him every now and then. We only have one and I hate having to ration his medication.”

“Well, he did alright tonight,” Elizabeth said.

“And thank God for that,” Sarah replied.

“I already have,” Elizabeth replied with a smile. “Seventeen, you say? You must have had him young.”

“That’s quite the understatement,” Sarah said with a chuckle as she glanced at Rick and Judi. She took another sip of tea before setting the mug aside. “Adam and I married young. I say young, though I should say
really
young.”

“I still remember the night you two met,” Judi said. “He came home one night singing
Ave Maria
and going on about how he’d met the girl of his dreams. It only took five or six months for him to propose, if I remember correctly.”

“Well I remember you telling him not to mess it up,” Sarah said, a smile touching her weary eyes. “You two were pretty enthusiastic about us. Now my parents…not so much. They were pretty against the idea of marrying while in college.”

“Are your parents still alive?” Elizabeth asked.

“No. They died in a wreck about ten years ago,” Sarah replied.

“I’m sorry to hear that.”

“It’s fine,” Sarah said, turning to her in-laws. “Rick and Judi have always been there for me. I was married, pregnant with a honeymoon baby, and had Judah all before I was twenty.” Sarah paused, fighting back another urge to begin crying. “You know, I’m only thirty five. I’ve known life with Adam almost as long as I’ve known life without him.” Sarah fought back the tears that formed again, their saltiness stinging her tender cheeks. She took a deep breath and a long drink. “I can’t imagine going on without him.”

Judi sat down next to Sarah and held her hand as she struggled against the impulse to weep.

“Well I for one pray that man is still with us,” Elizabeth said with a grin, a warm and loving smile that somewhat soothed Sarah. Eventually, the older woman raised her eyebrows and stared down into her mug with a devious look on her face. “After all, he is a mighty fine lookin’ man if I do say so myself.”

“I beg your pardon,” Judi said with a playful chuckle. “My son is a married man.”

“Oh, I know he’s off the market,” Elizabeth said with a wry smirk. “Besides, my heart belongs to another.”

“And who might that be?” Judi asked.

“None of your business,” Elizabeth replied with a grin before turning back to Sarah. “You know, when I first met Adam Reinhart, I could tell he was a passionate man. He had a fire for justice in his heart, but I won’t lie—I could tell there was a little something else besides that flame. Yes, I could see he loved his family, but I also saw a darkness in him. Not a created creation of his, mind you. Rather, it was an absence of light, like a void of some sorts. He was lost and needed what he had let go of long ago. As great of a man as he may have been, I’ve noticed a shift in him during the little time I’ve known him.”

“What do you mean?” Sarah asked.

“I mean your husband isn’t just a great man anymore. He’s on the verge of becoming a
good
man. Now whatever has happened to your husband, know that he will always be a good man in my eyes, and for a man like that to have won your heart speaks volumes to your character as a woman.”

“I couldn’t agree more,” Judi agreed.

“Thank you,” Sarah said quietly. “All of you.”

Elizabeth paused, looking over at Rick and Judi, before glancing back down at Sarah. “But I want you to know that if…something has happened to him, it’ll still be okay. I know there is strength in the Reinhart family because I know God is in the Reinhart family. Remember that, no matter what happens. Remember that you all can and will continue life without him.”

Sarah smiled back at the older woman, thankful for her words of encouragement, before looking back out the window at the burning base. She thought about Adam; she thought about nearly eighteen years of love and joy. She reminisced about the time they had spent with each other, even on the run over the past few months. She had cherished every moment with him and loved watching him grow as a man, especially during those past few weeks while she witnessed her husband rekindling his love for God.

God, please,
she prayed quietly to herself.
Let him be alive. Bring him home to me.

The soft knocking on the door immediately pulled her attention away from her prayer. Rick stood up quickly, raising the rifle and pointing it at the door. Judah was already on his feet, raising his gun as well.

“It’s Eric,” a muffled voice said through the door.

Sarah rose as quickly as she could without waking the girls. Judah grabbed the knob and twisted, opening the door. Sarah’s eyes widened as a girl entered the room beside Eric. He held his arm around the teenage girl in a very fatherly manner, introducing her to the others.

“Alexandra, these are my friends. This is Sarah and her son, Judah. These two are Rick and Judi and that’s the sweet old lady I told you about, Elizabeth. You’re safe now. We won’t let anything else happen to you.” Eric looked up from the girl, a look of pain on his face that instructed all to remain silent. “Everyone, this is Alexandra. We’re going to help her out for a while. Elizabeth, why don’t you take Alexandra? Get her something to eat from our supplies. I’ll be right there.”

Elizabeth nodded and guided the young girl across the room. Eric’s gaze followed the girl for a few seconds until she was out of earshot.

“Her dad was at the base tonight,” Eric said, shifting his eyes back to Sarah and the others. “He was a security contractor. There’s no way he made it.”

“Why bring her here?” Rick asked coldly.

“Rick!” Judi said quickly. “How can you be so callous?”

“It’s the way things are, Judi,” Rick said defensively. “I don’t like it, but it is what it is. We can’t take everyone that might need help.”

“But you saw her,” Judi argued, “She would—”

“I’m sorry, Mrs. Reinhart, but Rick’s right,” Eric said. “If we take every scared kid we find, we’ll likely have a school of them within a few days. And Rick, I didn’t want to bring her, but I couldn’t just leave her there by herself.”

“What happened?” Sarah asked.

“Her twin brother had just been murdered by a few men,” Eric replied. “And by murdered I mean shot dead, right in front of her.”

“My God,” Sarah whispered, fighting back a flood of emotion that swept over her as she thought about the girl. “Does she…is there any other family nearby?”

“Her mom is in Europe,” Eric replied. “She says she has family out in Arkansas, but she hasn’t said much else. I had no choice. A girl that young, that desperate, and that attractive wouldn’t—”

“You did the right thing,” Sarah interjected. Eric nodded his head, though he continued to avoid eye contact. After a few moments of silence, he slowly pulled out a radio from his bag and cleared his throat.

“While we jogged, I managed to get some news about what’s going on.” His eyes finally rose to look at Sarah, Judah, Rick, and Judi. “You all might want to have a seat.”

Sarah sat back and held her son’s hand in silence, this time failing to fight back the tears that came with Eric’s news. Eric had listened in on military chatter for about ten minutes before tuning into a station called the Imperium Radio Network. Though the news was still trickling in, a few things had been made clear by whomever it was broadcasting from New York. Lukas Chambers was still in charge. The reports said he had dissolved the United States and a battle had taken place in DC, a battle that the news network claimed had been a triumphant victory for the new Imperium. Lukas’ forces had repelled the American army and removed every politician who didn’t kneel to him after the speech. Though they had yet to reveal an entire list of the dead, the two names they had disclosed were David Malcovich and Adam Reinhart.

“No,” Sarah mumbled. “You’re wrong. He can’t be—”

“I’m sorry, Sarah,” Eric said, putting his hand on Sarah’s shoulder. “I know they’ve got to be spinning everything for Lukas, but there were even sporadic reports from HAM radio operators out of Norfolk that a battle had been fought up in DC. Whoever invaded DC to stop Lukas lost everything and everyone up there.”

Sarah tried to argue through the sobs that Adam could have lived, but Eric powered on the tiny LED screen and revealed the images that had been broadcast of DC. The Capitol Building was completely in ruins and the city itself burned as brightly and hotly as Fort Bragg.

“We’ll stay here through today and leave in eight hours,” Eric said after a pause. “I’ll go find Elizabeth and tell her the news. I’m sorry. I really am. He was a good man and…I just wish I could have been there for him.”

Sarah nodded in response, unable to mutter anything.

Eric nodded and left to find Elizabeth. Rick and Judi both sat on the floor, rocking back and forth. Rick cried softly as he held his wife, failing to soothe her as they both wept. Sarah turned away from them to face Judah.

“I’m sorry, honey,” Sarah whispered. “I’m so, so sorry.”

“It’s fine,” Judah said, his face surprisingly blank of emotion and void of sadness. “He shouldn’t have left.”

“Judah,” Sarah said, fighting the sudden urge to yell at her son. “You can’t blame—”

“I said my goodbyes yesterday morning,” Judah said as he pulled away and hefted his rifle. “I knew he wouldn’t be coming back the moment he boarded that helicopter. He made his choice and I can’t…I
won’t
pause to cry for him again.”

Judah walked back over to the door and sat down, holding his rifle and glancing back the way Elizabeth and the girl Alexandra had gone as he sat alone. Eventually, Sarah walked over to the window by herself—stopping at the desk first to grab her worn Bible. She stared out through thick glass at the fiery landscape that dotted the horizon. She struggled—nearly shaking as she tried to avoid the panic-forged madness that kept creeping its way toward her sanity. She held onto her Bible for comfort, but it didn’t come. She wanted to scream—wanted to howl as a hysteria sank into her bones.

He’s gone.

As she leaned up against the cold glass, weeping for the husband she had lost, she thought back to Elizabeth’s words from earlier.

I know there is strength in the Reinhart family because I know God is in the Reinhart family. Remember that, no matter what happens. Remember that you all can and will continue life without him.

Sarah stepped away from the window and looked back at her daughters. They continued to sleep peacefully, oblivious to the news. She could already imagine the conversation she would have when they woke. Though she wanted to do nothing more than weep and lose herself in scripture, she’d need to be strong so her children could afford to be weak.

Judah’s right,
Sarah thought as she watched the girls sleep.
We can’t pause to cry.

She had a family to watch after, and she couldn’t afford to lose herself in grief. She might not be a warrior or a trained soldier like Eric, but she was a mother, and even the mother bear had to bare teeth and protect her cubs. The world had changed into a violent and dangerous place, and it wouldn’t wait for her to finish mourning before it threatened her family again.