Short Story: Refuge

By Max Masen

“Where’s dad?” my sister asks, her breathing still intense. Her pupils grow wide, her stare billowing deep into me.

How do I tell her what happened? I still don’t believe it myself. I take off my hat and hold it against my heart.

She takes in a deep breath and a strand of tears beats down her face.  

I grab her shoulders and she raises her head. Her eyes glow. “What do we do?” she asks.

“Dad’s gone. But we can still follow through with the plan.” I raise my body slowly and I peer over the concrete ledges. A patrol goes by, light shining in my direction. I shove my body back down and press it hard against the concrete.

“What was it?” she whispers curiously.

“Patrol. We need to move. Can you run?” I ask, examining the bruises lining her left leg. Her eyes match mine and she looks at her own leg.

“I think so,” she says. She tries to raise her body, growing it to a crouch, but the pain is too much for her to bear. She falls back and her body hits the concrete. She shudders and just barely restrains herself from releasing a yelp.

I hear footsteps. They’re moving intently in our direction. “Shit. They’re coming this way. We need to move.”

“You need to,” she says. Her body is plastered unreluctantly against the concrete.

“What do you mean?” My eyes grow wide. My throat dries.

“You know what I mean. We aren’t both getting out of here.” A look of acceptance grows on her face, an aura of serenity overcoming her. “But you can.”

“We aren’t seriously discussing this right now,” I reply, disregarding the notion angrily. “I can throw your shoulder around my back and carry you. I can-”

“You can run.”

A voice is heard close by, yelling for us to come out. They’re close.

“Go! Now!” she screams to me.

I take off running, adrenaline taking the place of thoughts of regret or sadness. I keep running until my chest hurts, followed by pains in my calves. Is that screaming?

A gunshot. Echoes chasing behind me violently. I keep running. The pain subsides. I feel nothing.

My feet slow down until they’re barely moving. I fall to my knees, the skin scraping hard against the ground. But I don’t feel it. I raise my head and scream into the dark of the night.

“You want me?! Take me!” I scream.

Quiet, curious footsteps turn into running. They’re growing louder, getting closer.

I need to run. They’re too close. I won’t escape now.

“There’s one there!” one of them screams. He raises a rifle, aiming it at me carefully. More close in from behind him, and three move from the other side. Then I hear more from behind me screaming to the others.

I close my eyes. This is it.

No pain overtakes my body. I feel nothing. I open my eyes and a light surrounds me. A man stands before me, holding his hand out for me to grip. I reach mine out to meet his and he pulls me to my feet.

He smiles and says, “You’re safe now. Your father and sister arrived shortly before you.”

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Revolution: A Hyena's Story (Part 1)

Hey, reader! Thanks for stopping by our story blog. I hope you’re going to like this one. The original novel that inspired this anthology was the first novel I had written. It’s a post-America trek through the ruins of the States. The novel, Marley’s Shadow, can be found right here.

This anthology, however, will follow the days before the time of the novel. It centers on the character of Marley, the unfortunate and sometimes reluctant leader of the revolution. That’s all I will say to avoid any spoilers.

Enjoy!

By Max Masen

-In An Underground Bunker-

A man looks over to his two advisors. They nod to him, giving him their approval and unspoken support. He nods back to them and tries to force a smile but none comes to his face. He's too nervous. He breathes in a heavy breath and pushes open the door in front of him. He steps into a dim room, the people in front of him wearing clean suits and other professional attire. In total there is twelve people in the room after the entrance of the man and his advisors.

The people hold mixed expressions. One of the men steps forward and says uneasily, “Marley, glad you could join us after…”

“After Peter was taken,” Marley says unapologetically, his head tilted down and his gaze locked on the table in front of them. “This obviously is going to speed up the process a bit. They're going to torture him.”

“We can save him!” a woman screams, fearing for what Marley is implying.

“Be my guest,” Marley says quietly and waves his hand to the door. He waits for a response from the woman but all that comes from her is a terrified, knowing glance.

“As I was saying, we don't have a choice. We  have to move things along quickly. They're going to torture him and get the information out of him in no time. The only way Peter lives is if we give our friends in the government an even bigger distraction,” Marley says. He raises an eyebrow and waits for a response. His eyes circle the room.

“No, we have more time than you think. We can save Peter. Give me a team. We can do it,” a man announces suddenly. He steps into the light and stares into Marley's eyes, hoping it will help prove he is serious.

Marley contemplates and tries to find a reason to disagree with him but nothing comes to mind. “Alright, John, you have my attention but not yet my approval. Explain.”

“I don't need your approval! You're a kid! I was a Navy SEAL for twenty years! Peter is my friend. I'm going with or without  your ‘approval,’” John says stubbornly, hoping to irritate Marley as much as he was by Marley's comment.

“Relax, John. I didn't mean to offend you or your service. I just want to make sure we're thinking this through as much as possible. I don't want rash decisions.” Marley steps back from the table and doesn't break his eye contact with John. “We're starting something huge right now. A revolution. We don't know how long this thing is going to last. If we lose, everyone in this room dies. Does that make sense to all of you?” Marley's face becomes stern and serious. He slams his hand on the table and yells, “I need answers!”

A unanimous yes sounds throughout the room. Many people cannot bring themselves to look Marley in the eyes.

John remains unmoved and says, “I do understand, Marley. But we can’t leave Peter behind. I’ve been thinking about how we can do this. It will be quiet. It will be safe. And most importantly it will be fast. The government will not know. Do you understand that?”

“I know you’re serious, John. Yes, it makes sense. We’ll discuss it further so that you can try to convince me. But for now, I approve,” Marley says definitively, turning to his advisors and signalling for them to leave the room. “Meet with me tonight at eight, John. I’ll be in my room.” Marley walks out of the room and slams the doors behind him.

-Later that Night-

Marley sits in a dark room with only a desk light shining on his hands. He holds a broken-apart pistol that he seems unsure about how to put back together. He attempts to clean out the barrel while also prodding for points to snap the receiver back on. A knock on the door takes his attention away from the pistol and he gets up to answer it. On the other end is John staring cold-faced at him.

Marley holds a serious expression and steps aside and motions for John to enter the room. He complies and brushes his shoulder against Marley’s as he enters.

“Small room you have here,” John says to Marley to agitate him.

“It wouldn’t be fair if I got to live in a mansion,” Marley jokes back. “Not that we have the budget or resources for that.” He laughs to lighten the mood but John still looks unamused. “Let’s get down to business. Shall we?”

“You want to start?” John prods. He raises a single eyebrow and scrunches his eyes together skeptically.

“You want to save Peter. I’m unsure about our chances of success. What else is there to say?” Marley says. He stands up and parts his hands and holds them at his side. “I want to save Peter as much as anyone else out there, including you, but if risking our lives for this endangers everything we’ve worked so hard for, then is it worth it? We don’t know if we can save him. We don’t know if you would get caught saving him. And if you do, that’s just another casualty and even more of our people that they will have captured and will be able to torture.”

“There’s nothing to lose. I’m only asking for five days. That’s not enough time for Peter to break and to reveal anything about our operation. I have my team ready to go. We can’t let Peter die alone. Please.” John breaks his eye contact from Marley and looks down to the ground. Images flash through his head of nights together with Peter, their families spending time together and enjoying a barbeque together. He repeats, this time more weakly, “Please.”

“I can’t say no. But if I felt that this would unnecessarily endanger us I would try to convince you against it. And I do feel it unnecessarily endangers us. But Peter was my friend too.” Marley waves John off, a relieved and almost excited smile appearing on John’s face.

“Thank you, Marley.” John hugs Marley tightly and Marley squirms uncomfortably during it. He backs off of him and stands back up adjacent to Marley.

Marley shakes his head, his eyes focused on the lamp on the desk. He reiterates, “Like I said, I can’t say no.”

NEXT>

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