Anarchy on Earth

~11~

"The greatest leader is not necessarily the one who does the greatest things. He is the one that gets the people to do the greatest things."

-Ronald Reagan 

12 DAYS LATER

We thought Jackson would come back. It had been awhile, and he still wasn't back.

"He isn't coming back." Miranda said, when she caught me on the roof of Greenway, staring down the road from where he had left.

"He will." I said, for the hundredth time.

"Jack! Get a grip. We haven't heard from him in days! He's dead!"

"He isn't." I said, getting off the useless generator on the roof. It had run out of gas a few days ago.

"We haven't seen one person since the last radio transmission went out 10 days ago." She said.

It was true, sadly. Not 10 days before, the last radio transmission had gone out, saying the city had been overrun, and that the government was establishing a safe zone in Riverside North, almost 3 districts away from Pinedale.

"We could always go to Riverside North." She suggested.

I groaned, and shook my head. "We'll never make it."

I picked up my sword scabbard from the ground, and strapped it around my back. I began to walk towards the hatch to come back into the store, when we heard a large bang from inside. I flung open the hatch, and screamed.

"HENRY! STOP TRYING TO GET THE PLAYCENTER 5'S TO START WORKING!"

"I'M SORRY!" He yelled back.

Miranda laughed as we climbed down into the lobby where the shopping carts used to be. Now, it was the defense area. Sandbags from the back of the store lined the metal guard doors stopping strangers from getting in. It was a good setup. We had food and water in the store, but no weapons or ammunition. Once the supplies ran out, we would need to go scouting.

We all had our own little worlds in Greenway. Miranda sat in the anime section, day and night, reading manga's, and watching seasons and seasons of anime from battery powered movie players. Henry tried to entertain himself with whatever he had, and that was a lot. Maybe one day, he was tinkering with broken machines, other days he was trying to get the generator set up. Me, I listened to old 1900's records on a crank operated record player, while continuing to write the story I had been working on. That is, when I wasn't on the roof, or guarding the store

As I walked through the emptying shelves of the store, I thought about what we would need to get after we ran out. My thoughts were interrupted by Henry's sharp yelling from the roof.

"JACK! WE HAVE SURVIVORS APPROACHING FROM THE EAST SIDE!" He yelled.

"East?" I shouted back. "That means they came from Brookevale... far out of the neighborhood."

"Should I go see who they are?" Miranda asked.

"Let's not rush the welcome wagon. We don't know who they are."

Miranda wrinkled her nose in thought, and then looked up. "It could be Jackson."

"HENRY! LET THEM ONTO THE ROOF, AND HAVE THEM COME DOWN THROUGH THE HATCH!" I yelled.

"OKAY!" He yelled.

There had to be a better way to communicate. I was losing my voice.

I walked, warily towards where the hatch was, as Henry descended from the ladder. He walked towards me, grinning his bloody head off.

"You're gonna love this." He said, gesturing towards the hatch.

"Is it Jackson?" I asked.

"Nah, but I bet you you'll be happier when you see who it is."

"Why?" I replied.

I didn't get an answer. Out of the hatch first, was a boy, about our age, with short black hair, and a long face. He looked serious enough, tired, and looked like he was always anxious for something to happen. Pretty common at this point. Secondly, a girl climbed down. She had long brown hair that wouldn't stay straight, and had a permanent look of sarcasm, and... malevolence? She walked forward slowly, awkwardly shuffling, and went to go stand next to the first boy. Finally, the last kid dropped in. He looked strangely familiar. He looked around, a spark of intellect in his eyes. His face was covered in black soot, like the others, and he had a rolled up paper in his hand.

"Hey." He said to me, and unrolling the paper. "I found a design flaw in that catapult of ours... maybe Kyle and James should have won."

I broke out into a sharp smile.

"Well, where have you been?" I said, walking up to him, and punching his arm.

TK obviously looked pleased. "I've been making my way through Brookevale on foot, looking for this place. Some kid in a white hoodie told us you were here.

I gasped. "Is he with you?"

"No... he brought us here, but then he ran off, saying he had places to be." TK said, shaking his head.

I swore, and turned around.

"Why? Did you know the guy?"

"His name is Jackson. He brought us here. I've been looking for him. He said he'd be back." I said, irritated. "Who did you pick up along the way?" I asked, referring to the two new people, who still stood uncomfortably a few feet away.

"That's Auden, over there. A bit shy... but, he's a good fighter. The girl is Jordan. She's friggin' Satan. Just letting you know now. Anything she says is either incredibly pointless, or satanic.

"I like knives." Jordan said, nonchalantly

"Oh yeah, she likes knives. Forgot about that last one. You got any knives?"

"Yeah-" I started.

"Get rid of them." He said, laughing. "She'll kill us all."

"Noted." I said, looking over at Jordan. "Hey."

"I DIDN'T STAB ANYBODY!" She screeched.

"She's a unique one." TK said. "If it's not too much to ask, do you think we could hole up here for a bit?"

"Ha... hole." Jordan said, raising her eyebrows multiple times.

"Jordan..." TK said, giving up.

"No, it's no problem. Stay here as long as you like. We got plenty of room."

"Hey Jordan! Do you like manga?" Miranda asked.

"DO I?" Jordan yelped, and followed her down the aisle.

"Well, I suppose she hasn't changed." TK said, nodding.

"You got I phone I can play on?" Henry asked.

"Neither has Henry." I said. "Hey, Auden?"

Auden looked over. "Yeah?" He said, in a somewhat high voice.

"You good at anything?"

"Not really."

"Cool. You'll fit right in. Pick any aisle in the store, and make it your home. TK, I'm guessing you're gonna hide out in the historical fiction book section?"

He nodded, greedily, and ran off, Auden following close behind. I grinned, and shook my head. Some things never change