Chronicles of War
Part 1: Way of the Storm
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"Why is light given to him who is in misery,
And life to the bitter of soul,
Who long for death, but it does not come,
And search for it more than hidden treasures;
Who rejoice exceedingly,
And are glad when they can find the grave?
Why is light given to a man whose way is hidden,
And whom God has hedged in?
For my sighing comes before I eat,
And my groanings pour out like water.
For the thing I greatly feared has come upon me,
And what I dreaded has happened to me.
I am not at ease, nor am I quiet;
I have no rest, for trouble comes."
- Job 3:20
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Chapter 2: The People
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Ed Flemming was well over six feet tall, a massive man with wide
shoulders and arms like heavy construction equipment. His hands were
each large enough to cover a normal man's face entirely, and each were
graced by a dozen old scars. He wore his hair like he had recently been
in the Marine Corps, the black mop standing off his scalp like a wire
brush. He was far from the average dumb guard, however, his brown eyes
sparkling with vicious intelligence as the took in every inch of the
space before him.
James and Ed had been to high school together. They had not talked since
graduation, but had been close in the days of long classes and boring
teachers. They had been different people back then, more mice than
lions.
"Ed?" James asked.
"Uh... James?"
The pair shared a stare. In high school, James had been a scrawny boy.
Strong, but rail thin. Ed had weighed three times what James did. The
two looked not so dissimilar now, both hardened by the intervening
years.
"So, you're a security guard now." James finally said.
"Good pay." Ed replied.
The two shook hands, grinning widely. James slapped his old friend on
the back, slinging an arm around Ed's shoulders. "Long time no see,
man!"
Ed nodded. "So, what are you doing here?"
James held the radio up with his free hand, waving it in front of Ed's
face. "I'm your commander now."
Ed looked at James blankly. "Commander?"
"Yep. Some terrorists want me to hold on to their hostages for them.
They've planted bombs in the mall."
"Oh shit." Was all Ed could come up with.
"I know. I talked to your chief. Funny thing--I knew that guy back in
high school. Married a close friend. Cool dude." James looked over Ed's
shoulder furtively before continuing, keeping his voice low. "Anyway, we
need fifty hostages, no more and no less. That doesn't include you."
"I'm supposed to stay here?"
James looked apologetic. "Well, I can trust you."
James pulled his shiny new badge out and hanging it around his neck,
thinking it was nice of Mr. Whoever to add that little plastic loop that
was used to hold such badges. "Ed, you don't look well."
"I feel sick." The man answered simply.
"That might pass." James answered, patting Ed on the back. "I need to
take a leak. Remember, fifty people. Put them in... put them right
there." He pointed to a store with the sign reading "Camelot Music" over
the door.
"I'll come back and get you in a few minutes." He said, turning and
walking away.
"Wait, what are you gonna do?" Ed called to his retreating friend.
"Something unpleasant!" James answered with a yell.
----------
Kate Dogson watched from a distance as Ed was left to his own devices
amongst the holiday shopping crowd. Said crowd was quite pissed off that
their 'early' holiday shopping excursions were being forcibly put to an
end. No on knew what was going on, including Kate.
With Ed in her sights, she intended to find out.
Kate was a few inches shorter than James, and thus Ed was the kind of
person who would tower over her. She didn't mind him, though. She had
worked in the mall for several months, and had been friends with Ed back
when she was in high school. Ed was a nice guy, and though he was quick
to act once pushed to far, he was quite forgiving. If not for the
bizarre preoccupation with weaponry, his tactless way of deflecting
un-wanted question, and his aimless lifestyle, she would put him on her
'good catch' list.
"Hey Ed, what's up?"
The man literally jumped at the question, however slightly. "Uh, hi... I
think."
"It's me, Ed. Kat, remember?"
He narrowed his eyes. Kate watched him with a fighter's cool, seeing how
he shifted back, prepared for attack. One hand rested lightly on his
radio, the other loose at his side. "You look familiar."
Kate stood in place, impatient. She did want Ed to remember her by
himself, but his face was giving away his distraction.
"Kate Dogson. From high school?"
His eyes lit up. "Yeah, that's right." Pause. "You know James, too,
don't you. Weren't you guys..." His free hand waved in the air.
"Yeah, yeah. You didn't miss much there."
"Ah, figures. You know, I've seen you around here..."
"I work in the mall, Ed. I'm here almost every day. But enough about me,
what's up with this evacuation? Are we at war or something?"
Severe pause. He was hung on whether he should answer her honestly, or
get her out of the place pronto. Kate was a tough girl, short from his
vantage point, but tough. She was cute too, in a clean-cut tomboyish
way, with her hair pulled into a simple pony tail. It was utilitarian,
but nice. Fitting. As the silence grew in length, he had time to notice
that her green eyes seemed to shine with an inner light. Kate, Kat as he
knew her, was an honest person. True, they hadn't been close friends,
but he felt no animosity towards her, and surely she was smart enough to
know that screaming and panicking where not appropriate in their
situation.
Excellent.
"Come over here." Ed walked a few feet away, next to the wall. Kate
shrugged, then stepped up next to him. "There has been a bomb threat."
The way he said it was like he had been invited to a picnic. "James is
supposed to investigate, and the police are taking this very seriously.
So, that's all I know right now."
He halted, looking at her cautiously. She was sure taking this well...
"Right now?" She asked.
On the other hand, maybe she was in shock. "Of course right now, that's
why the mall's being evacuated? No short-circuit and piping problem?"
She asked, waving her own hands in the air for emphasis.
"That's a load of grade-A bullshit from the Chief. He knows what he's
doing. Our problem is keeping people inside the mall. Look, I'd like to
stay and chat, but you really need to get out of here, and don't tell
anyone this, I mean _anyone_, even outside, even after today, all
right?"
Kate raised her voice only slightly, but her features were darkened with
anger. "No, it's not all right! James is going to stay here and look for
bombs? Shouldn't we call the fuckin' bomb squad?!"
Ed shook his head. "Can't bring any cops into the building. Whoever set
them is watching right now." He chewed on his lower lip for a second,
then glanced nervously at his radio, which had been oddly silent. "Kat,
I can't escort you to the door, but if you need help getting out--"
"I'm not leaving!"
Ed actually stepped back the outburst. Several people passing by looked
at the pair curiously.
"I'm not leaving." Kate repeated quietly.
"You're leaving." Ed said, pulling the portable radio from his belt.
Kate caught his arm with the radio halfway to his mouth.
"Why?" She pleaded, holding on to his arm.
"Why what? I have to get people out of here."
Kate glared at him, her cute face suddenly becoming quite frightening.
"First you mentioned it might be hard keeping people _in_ the mall. You
just said that you had to evacuate most of the mall, not everyone, but
_most_. What are you not telling me?"
Ed looked down for a moment. *Be honest.* His mind urged him. "The
terrorist who planted the bombs and is watching us right now. He said
that James had to keep fifty people inside the mall. I'm staying in here
with him."
Kate shook her head. "I'm not a cop. Let me stay."
Ed felt his eyes nearly bug out of his head. "S-s-s-s..." He swallowed,
put his radio back on his belt, wiped his face with his hands, and tried
to answer her again. "Stay? Inside with James?"
"I can help him."
"Look, I don't mind if you're hung up on the guy--"
Kate decked him. "I want to help him!"
Ed recovered quickly, holding his cheek. "With that kind of help?"
Kate returned to the glare.
Ed glared back at her. He wasn't angry at the hit, but there was
something to her near-suicidal desire to watch over James. Good times or
not, the two had a history together and Ed didn't like it one bit.
In the end, he knew he wouldn't have the choice anyway. "Okay, you can
stay."
She didn't look happy, though she did stop glaring at him. She merely
folded her arms and asked what was supposed to happen next. "Okay. Now
what?"
He pointed at the music shop. "Into the store for starters. I guess you
get to help me with crowd control."
Kat nodded. A plan, a purpose, a direction. It was time to get something
done that was worth doing.
As Kat directed people into the music store that James had picked out,
she took a moment to consider their past together. It was a sordid
affair; brutally short but filled with enough emotion to taint her life
and color her perceptions for years to come.
----------
Eight years ago...
It was a cold October day. Bitterly, hatefully cold wind strode through
throngs of high school student foolish enough to journey outside during
their lunch break.
Kat Dogson was waiting for two of her friends, twins with short tempers,
to get something from their car. What could possibly be important enough
that it was _necessary_ for eating food was beyond Kat, but as usual she
had listened and agreed to wait for them. Waiting was okay; she had
plenty of time to eat lunch--what little she had brought to school with
her. It was the standing around in this frigid wind that was beginning
to bug her. Couldn't they hurry it up a little?
Walking by her was a boy about her age, another Sophomore braving the
wind. In a moment she recognized him; James, her lab partner in biology
class. Funny, she had never seem him just 'around' the place before.
A few steps past her he stopped in his tracks--literally stopped with
one foot up in the air and the other planted on the ground. He looked
like he was standing in a film that had been paused, arms frozen at his
sides.
His head turned to face her, then the foot came down. Returning to a
normal standing position, he pulled off his coat and held it out to her.
It was a big coat, large on his broad shoulders, easily able to cover
her like a tent. He was only wearing a T-shirt underneath, which meant
that he either used to live in Alaska or the coat was very, very warm.
She turned it away, however. "No thank you. I'll be getting inside
soon."
He persisted. "I can stand here and wait."
What? Stand there with her wearing his coat? It'd look like they were
going out or something. Besides, he was starting to shiver already.
Well, forget the Alaska theory.
She chuckled. "No, you should really go inside. I'm just waiting for my
friends." She tried to make it sound like they were but a few minutes
away. What was with this guy? He hadn't even put his coat on yet and
shivers were getting worse by the second.
"You have friends like that too, huh?"
Great. This was all she needed, and expert conversationalist freezing to
death while doting on her. "Put your coat back on!" She insisted.
"We should suffer together." He said with a grin. He flung the coat over
one shoulder like a model strutting down the walkway and stood next to
her, trying to look casual and not shake like he was catching
hypothermia.
Kat resisted the urge to smile at his silliness. "Please, just put your
coat on, people are staring."
He took the coat off of his shoulder, only to offer it to her again.
"Look, I appreciate--"
He pushed the coat into her hands. "Please, just take it. It's okay. I
may not trust you, but..."
Kat remembered that moment well and fondly. She was so angry and
embarrassed she could barely see straight. Sure, not trust her? How
arrogant! Back in those days, James was quite the ass.
Once she had regained her senses, she fired off a tart reply.
"And if you don't trust me, why let me borrow your coat?"
He looked at her. _Looked_ into her eyes, gripping her soul with his
gaze. "I have seen terrible things in this world, and many more terrible
things on the horizon. It is a simple indulgence to protect a pretty
girl at the cost of a mere piece of clothing."
Kat felt like the female lead in a romantic play. The dashing young hero
proclaiming his love did not come to mind when she looked at the boy,
and his message was certainly not about love. Yet there was something
about him she found alluring--when he was being serious, that is. She
noticed she was blushing and for the moment didn't really care. "You...
you really mean it?"
He tried to smile, with those cold gray-blue eyes. Eyes cold enough to
make the surrounding weather seem tropical by comparison. His eyes said
he wasn't joking about seeing terrible things, and she brushed aside his
insults. Any man who stood by his words so fiercely was a thing to be
protected, a great treasure that could not be lost to the world, for the
world's sake.
She felt like grabbing on to him and holding him tightly until she could
thaw that coldness in his eyes. She had never seen anything like before
in her life and it hurt to look at. James was such a nice guy. Quiet,
intelligent, skilled in the strangest things (which he demonstrated
regularly without boasting or showboating), but overall nice. For
something to have taken a stake in his heart at so young an age was
nothing short of an utter tragedy.
Whatever the meaning, whatever cog she played in that mad plan loosely
titled "The World," she fell in love with him that day.
A week later came the Home Coming dance. Kat had been preparing for a
month, committing herself to the act without the meaning. Her heart just
wasn't in the dance; there was no one she wanted to go with, no one who
would ask her. The one guy she did like was completely ignorant of her
feelings, and a jerk besides.
She was looking forward to the coming event like a prisoner anticipating
their execution. Dress and matching accessories picked out to flatter
the faceless drones she would walk past.
She didn't want to go. She didn't want to go so very much it hurt her
heart to think of it.
She just wanted to be with him, and he didn't have a clue.
"It's been oddly warm lately."
Kat jerked out of her revere. James, who had coincidentally been chosen
as her partner in biology class, was making some asinine comment while
he scribbled in micro-script, hunched over the microscope.
For a moment the comment threw her. Talking about the weather had gotten
old a month ago, not long after school started and the two didn't have
anything else to talk about. They had become something akin to friends
recently, since--
The coat.
He was talking about the coat and that cold day a week before Home
Coming. Funny, she hadn't mentioned it. In fact, she had all but blocked
that day from her mind.
Glancing at her lab partner, Kat noticed his face was flushed and his
hands were shaking. The normally infallible James, master of the written
word (or so he liked to think), calm under fire (that was certainly
true), was nervous about something.
"It has been warm lately." She said nervously, fingering her pendant.
After a moment she snatched her hand away, chiding herself for giving
into the force of that habit. She didn't want to appear nervous. Not
that he was looking, because there was work to be done after all. Even
though he hadn't so much as spoken to her in--how long?
Kat checked the clock. What time was it when he last spoke to her? She
took several deep breaths while trying to not be too obvious about it.
Why was she getting all hot and bothered over some guy? Kate Dogson
wasn't worried about men. She had dozens at her disposal... okay,
several... well, a few...
Okay, none, but that was beside the point.
"A damn shame." He said.
"W-w-what?" Don't act nervous! Kat criticized herself.
James finally finished making his observations, rubbed his eyes and
faced her. "At the dance. I saw you come in. Didn't have a date?"
She didn't answer. She didn't move; to do so would break the
concentration she needed to keep from crying. After a moment she
regained the ability to speak. James didn't seem to mind, and he was
probably too nervous to notice her pause.
"Yes. Well, the guy I wanted to go out with... well, I couldn't ask
him." She said quickly.
"Oh?" An eyebrow raised.
"Yeah. And, I didn't really want to, you know. But he already had a date
and I already had the dress..." Kat rambled on.
He looked hurt.
"And, uh... well, it's not the kind of thing you do, take another girl's
date away." She was twisting the trust a bit... okay, lying out right,
but he didn't seem to mind. In fact, he seemed to welcome the
suggestion.
"You'd normally do that before the dance." He prompted.
"Well, yeah." Boy, it was sure getting hot in here. Kat noticed she was
rubbing her pendant again and almost slapped her hand away. As she
picked up her speech again, the bell rang. "Well, I'm sure there were a
few guys there who would have liked to dance with me anyway, and I spent
all that money anyway and--oh, look at the time! Well, see you
tomorrow!" She grabbed her things and was out the door in what felt like
a matter of seconds. What was with that boy?
James' hands had been in motion since the bell rang. With blinding speed
had the microscope packed and every piece of equipment put away by the
time Kat was at the door. In a single movement that looked planned by
the Gods themselves, even to James, he swept his things into his bag in
a flash and literally ran after Kat.
Outside, the wind was picking up again. Despite the warming weather, the
snow was on its way. James knew it was just a matter of time. With the
coat clasped around him like a warm glove, an idea came to mind. "Kat!"
There she was, only a few feet away. She looked upset about something.
One of her friends stood nearby, yawning hugely. "Sure windy today." He
blurted out.
"Yeah." Kat said, not looking at him.
"Looks like I have to loan you my coat again."
Four pairs of eyes closed on James, who promptly began to consider
burrowing into the ground to escape their attention. Jack, the tall guy
he had another class with, apparently knew Kat and was looking at him
like he had just pulled his face aside to reveal he was an alien. The
other girl had been joined by her twin, and both had the same half-
angry, half-incredulous look plastered across their faces.
*Yes, burrowing into a hole would be a _very_ good idea right now.*
James thought.
"You're him, aren't you." Said one of the twins.
"Hey James." Jack said.
James nodded in Jack's direction as he answered the girls. "Yes."
He looked at Kat intensely. "It was me, wasn't it? The guy you wanted to
ask out."
It was a statement, not a question.
Kat was speechless.
----------
Of course it didn't last.
Few things in high school did.
After four weeks of bliss, they were at each other's throats. Death
threats were piled on James' doorstep by week's end. Of course, both had
other things to contend with. A temporary truce was erected until
classes and schedules could be changed.
They said exactly four words to each other between "The Breakup," and
the end of that semester.
Then nothing through the end of the school year.
Nothing at graduation.
Nothing, for eight years.
Eight years.
In that time she had grown and changed more than she might have imagined
in those days. She had matured; become a different person. And in that
time, she had learned not be angry at James. He was never angry at her,
or if he was, never showed it. They were both hurt by the entire affair,
but that was how those things went.
Today she planned to face him as an equal. What history existed between
them was so old and so buried by what she had been through to be
considered practically null.
It was time to meet the new James and say hello.
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