The Peacekeepers

Part Two; Chapter Ninteen

Leaving Home

He killed him. Right in front of God and everyone he blew this guy's brains out. Even more, why didn't Sheamas tell me he had a gun? Possibly the only gun left in North America.

"Well, that would have been useful a few minutes ago." I say to him calmly. He shrugs his shoulders, still looking at the corpse at his feet.

"Ammo's pretty scarce Drake. I've only got five rounds left in my little nine millimeter, and there's a dozen of them coming for us. Even if I could kill five of them, if what our friend said is true, the other seven would surely kill us all."

I sighed. There really isn't a chance in Hell of beating them is there? I should just take Alice and as many supplies as we can carry and run like Hell. Just leave in the dead of night. Find an abandoned house with some fertile soil and start over. I could do it with no problem.

What am I thinking? Alice loves it here. She has friends. She has people she cares about here. For the longest time Alice was the only person I gave a damn about. Now I have Sheamas, Gideon, and all the Peacekeepers I've come to know. I can't leave. I've come to terms with the fact that I've fallen in love with this place and it's people.

"We have to prepare, Sheamas. We need the Peacekeepers ready to fight these guys when they finally do get here."

Gideon stands up and stumbles toward us asking Sheamas for orders. This is one tough son of a bitch.

"Gideon, you're going to wait for your wounds to heal. We all need to. If we plan on getting better we can't afford hurting ourselves more than we already have. We need to bury our brothers too." Sheamas says to us both.

Sheamas had a point. We would have have to wait to train. Have to recover. Have to bury our fallen. About a week passed and all Gideon had left was a black eye and a mild concussion, Sheamas had a concussion and a bruised cheek and had to have a rear tooth pulled and I had a cracked rib and a few bruised ones. Burying the Peacekeepers that were killed was the hardest thing I've ever seen Sheamas do. And burning the bodies of the Fallen Kings they killed, whether some were truely dead or not, I try not to think of the ones that were bound and gagged, squirming as the flames claimed their bodies. The man with the crimson tattoo was at the top of the pile. Many of the Peacekeepers were hollering out in joy. I couldn't bear to watch personally.

We started training the Peacekeepers. Rigerous training exercises, sparring and even working out while others worked in the fields. Our normal rations didn't seem like enough anymore. We were burning so many calories that it was ridiculous.

I was so far ahead of everyone else. My speed, my strength, technique, everything. Gideon didn't have the time to spar with me because he was busy training the other Peacekeepers. I asked Sheamas to span but he refused outright.

"Well why the Hell not Sheamas? C'mon man, you've gotten tougher too. You and Gideon are the only ones that can go evenly with me. I wanna see what you're made of."

He laughed silently and shook his head. I'm trying to figure out the joke honestly.

"Drake, you and I both know that I can't compete with you anymore. You've advanced more than me or Gideon either one in so little time. I've accepted the fact that I'll never catch up with your progress."

This is not good. This is really not good. I'm still much slower and weaker than the guy that almost killed the three best fighters among the Peacekeepers. This is starting to piss me off.

"Okay asshole! Do you think we'll survive past this year?" I had finally snapped and lost my shit. I didn't know what was coming out of my mouth.

"I should just leave you! I should just take Alice and leave! I can't get any better with you weak fools training me!"

Sheamas gets closer to me and puts his hand on my shoulder.

"Well there is one thing. It'll be hard. The hardest training of your life but every second will be worth it. The benefits will be unbelievable. There is an old man about a day's travel north in an abandoned YMCA building. He had escaped the draft because of his age. I've only heard stories about him. I've been told his fighting skills are the best in the world. The man's a legend among those who've met him."

I don't even have to think twice about this. "I'll go in the morning." I say. "I need to do this Sheamas. Even if it kills me, I need to get strong enough to kick these guys asses when they come."

"I understand Drake. You can leave in the morning."

I'm glad he and I are on the same page.

I came home to tell Alice. She grown so big. I open up the door to see her on the couch reading. The second I step in she tosses the book down, runs up and hugs me around the waist. God she's gotten so strong and so big. I'm so proud of her. It pains me to do this to her. I don't wanna do this but I want to see her live. I know I have to.

We sit down on the couch and I look at her. In those bright green eyes I am reminded yet again why I do what I do. But it doesn't make it easier.

"Alice, I'm going to be leaving for a while. I don't want to but I have to do this."

"No! No! Damn it, Drake you can't just leave me like this!" She screams through her tears. He head falls on my leg and she weeps. Never heard her curse before. She's growing up too quick for me.

"Please... I don't wanna be alone! You're all I have! We've been through so much together! You can't go! You just can't." She continues to cry. She cries even harder when I tell her how long I'll be leaving.

"Alice, please don't cry. You know that I have to do this. It's the only way I can protect you." She sniffled and let out a meek "okay". We stayed just like that for hours. Savoring our last hours together. She fell asleep in my lap. I carried her to bed, laid her down and tucked her in. I went to my bedroom and the second my head hit the pillow I passed out.

I wake up at around five in the morning. I woke Alice up and she bolted up and squeezed me tight around the neck. We got dressed and went outside to the gate, where Sheamas and Gideon were waiting to see me off.

"Sheamas, Gideon, I want you to promise me something. Promise you'll watch over Alice while I'm gone. Train her in case the worst should happen." They both reassured me that she is in the best hands.

I shook their hands and said my goodbyes. I hugged Alice one last time and kissed her on the forehead. I smiled at her. I rub my thumb up and down her cheek trying to comfort her but I'm not exactly the best at comforting people.

"Don't worry about anything kid. I'll be back. I promise. I love you." I say with a sincere smile. She hugged me one last time before Sheamas opened the gate. I turned to the gate and began to follow the road north.

I'll be back Alice. I promise...