The Girl Who Broke Free (Death Fields 5)

Chapter two

The bizarre feeling of normalcy only grows when we’re escorted to a nearby auditorium for orientation. The group we’re in isn’t big—maybe twenty people, of varying ages, all looking as tired and weary as I feel. I can’t imagine what they’ve been through—it’s clear the functioning, post-crisis world is very different than what I had in mind—but I doubt they just got in a battle with super-soldiers the day before.

“It’s weird being in a place like this, with electricity and everything,” Mary Ellen says. Her feet bounce on the ground, shaking her knees. I wonder if it’s nerves or side effects.

“Sometimes it feels like whiplash,” Jude says. “There’s no constant. One minute we’re living like survivalists, the next it’s like nothing has changed.”

I agree that it’s definitely hard to process, which may be why I’m itching to get out of here. I also know that I need to learn more about this place and Hamilton because if I’ve learned anything over the last year is power corrupts—now more than ever.

A slight woman pale brown hair and a wide nose walks to the podium. Her lips are painted bright red and I can’t help but notice her dress. It’s not the utilitarian kind that Mary Ellen wore as a byproduct of growing up with the Mennonites. No, it’s made of a silky black material with dotted flowers. It’s the kind of outfit that you can’t fight in. It, more than anything else I’ve seen today emits a level of luxury I am fully unaccustomed to.

A wide screen rolls from the ceiling behind her and she steps to the microphone.

“Good afternoon. My name is Andrea Miller and I’m the welcome liaison for the city of New Hope. Colonel Hamilton extends his warmest welcome and hopes you find a path to the future in our designated Safe City.”

A picture appears on the screen with the city’s logo. It includes an American flag and a seal that says “Safe City.” Andrea looks appraisingly at the image behind her and then turns back to face the crowd.

“I’m aware that many of you have struggled long and hard to get to this day. You have lost family and friends. You’ve lost your homes and jobs and sense of security. New Hope cannot replace the things close to your heart but we can offer you a home and future in absolute safety. Where running water and electricity are the norm and not something to fight and scavenge for. Believe it or not the government wasn’t totally unprepared for the ETR-Virus. The likelihood of biological warfare was well known and documented by agencies like Homeland Security and the CDC. With the advent of drone warfare anything was possible and what was once a vague outline became a fast moving reality. Six cities were finalized before the ETR-Virus wiped out the southern states. Ten more were planned that never came to fruition. Of these six three are fully functional. The other three are struggling and we’re in the process of assisting those get on their feet.”

The screen behind her flips through a series of images that look pre-crisis of apartments and single family homes. School children walking out of a classroom. The nostalgia is thick. I spot a small movement near the door. Hamilton is observing the presentation. I nudge Wyatt and gesture to the man watching.

“Now that you’re in New Hope we hope you take time to rest and recover. We’ll help you find a job and housing. You won’t have to sleep with weapons anymore or worry about your neighbors. This is truly a safe place to call home.”

“I have a question,” a voice asks from a couple of rows over. I can’t see his face but his hair is gray.

“Go ahead,” Andrea says.

“What kind of perimeter do you maintain? I saw the fence line but does it go all the way around the city? Have you had any breaches?”

Amanda nods, her face showing the right amount of concern. With the remote in her hand she flips forward a few pictures to a diagram of a tall fence. “The city of Cincinnati had the barricades in storage. As soon as Florida was cut off from the rest of the country the walls went up. Now, things weren’t perfect at first. Infected citizens were already here before the walls were secured. We lost people but our police and local National Guard were ready for them. They’d been trained for something like this.”

“How do you train for cannibals?” Another man blurts out. “And the panic and fear of not trusting your neighbors? Are you saying the government had a tip off that this was coming?”

Andrea’s calm expression falters, her lip twitching just a bit. “No, of course not—”

“I lost my baby girl out there. Not from the cannibals but from the bastards that hoarded and stole all the food in my town.” He nods to the boy next to him, he looks young, maybe ten or eleven. “My son had to see things he never should. Every day I wondered if we’d be better off dead.”

“Sir, I know you’re upset and we have many resources for you and your so—”

“Thank you, Andrea,” a rich, controlled voice says from off stage. Hamilton moves from this spot at the door and walks calmly across the front of the platform, into the seating area. Andrea is doing her best to stay calm but the man is right, finding out now that a safe place like this exists is a little too late.

It also hammers home that people do not know about my sister and the real cause of the ETR-Virus. I worry in a whole new way about her safety.

Hamilton does something surprising. He walks among the attendees and stops before the man. He’s wearing more casual clothing today, a V-neck sweater and olive green pants. Nothing about him reveals the deadly executioner we met last night.

“What’s your name?” he asks the man.

“Richard.” He nods at his son. “This is Liam.”

Hamilton offers his hand to the son first and they shake, then to the man. Wyatt hasn’t moved an inch watching the scene unfold.

“The fact you are coming to New Hope this long after the crisis began is proof of how strong you are. Did you know that when we first started the orientations for new citizens these rooms were packed with survivors?” He looks around the large room, compelling us to look ourselves. “Many were from the original city and suburbs but for months we had a large influx of people rolling in, happy to be out of the Death Fields.”

“We didn’t know you existed,” Richard says.

“I know and it was not widely advertised outside this area. It took months to get the city up and running. We welcomed in all the healthy people that came to the gates but we weren’t in a position to travel outside ourselves until very recently. Many of the other Safe Cities still aren’t.”

“That’s not fair,” Liam says. “Leaving people out there—with the monsters and bad people.”