Pedestals of Ash (36 page)

Nick stretched and shifted position behind the wheel. He was trying to buy time to think of a response. Terri interpreted his movement as a squirm and decided to playfully pounce on the man sitting next to her. “I mean you’ve got to admit, it’s not just Kevin’s future we’re talking about. It’s everyone’s. Let’s take you
,
for example. You think Diana is an attractive woman - right?

Nick started to protest Terri’s observation, but she cut him off, “Don’t you think it would be easier to get her attention if she wasn’t fighting a war?”

Nick wasted no time in formulating what he thought was a safe response. “Oh, come on now Terri, you can’t think that Ms. Brown would have any interest at all in a broken down old war dog like me.”

The corners of Terri’s mouth rose only slightly as she tried to disguise her grin. She immediately knew that Nick was fishing to find out if Diana had said anything
about
h
im. Terri decided a little good-
natured teasing wouldn’t hurt
.
She, probably a little too quickly, fired back her response, “Why Nick, you wouldn’t want me to break a confidence between girls
,
would you?”

Nick was beginning to get the feeling that he was mentally outgunned, so he decided to go for broke. “Yes, I would expect you to break a confidence if it meant keeping a dear
,
old friend from being embarrassed.”

Terri was pleased with herself. Nick had taken the bait. “Embarrassed? Did I just hear the big bad Green Beret say ‘embarrassed’? I thought all of you
hard-core
warrior types expected the girls to fall all over you. Don’t tell me that a big
,
strapping man like you is nervous over a little old preacher’s daughter?”

Nick, using all of his warrior’s instincts, finally saw a way out of Terri’s verbal ambush. “Jesus
,
Terri, no wonder Bishop runs off on all these adventures. They must be a vacation after bantering with you!”

Bishop
guided
the leader of the free world from
the airport grounds and headed toward
Alpha. He
elected to avoid the road leading to
town,
as it would be logical for the
g
houlish to keep an eye on all common approaches. His intention was to use the same basic route through the berg as David
and he
had followed a few days before. This meant circumventing around the eastern edge, a detour that would add a mile or so to their journey. As the first structures came into view on the horizon, Bishop went on alert
,
and their progress slowed
.
That was fine with the president
, as the older man didn’t exactly consider himself an avid backpacker,
especially
when
carrying his
newfound
companion – an M4 rifle.

It was during their approach to Alpha that it dawned on Bishop just how many things he took for granted. The president was obviously an intelligent individual with an advanced education, yet
struggled
with
basic military and security jargon
that seemed second nature to Bishop. This became evident when Bishop turned and said, “Sir, I’m going to scout that outbuilding ahead. Please stay here and watch our six. When I have verified it’s clear, I want you to vector into my position from 4 o’clock.”

The commander of the most powerful military in the world simply stared back at him with a blank look. After a moment, he shook his head and in an annoyed tone, said, “In English
,
please.”

Bishop, realizing his error, tried again. “My apologies, sir. Let me try again. I’m going to move ahead of you and scout that building up there. I want you to stay here and watch behind us. When I have verified the building is clear, I will signal you. At that time, I want you to come up to where I am, but I want you to approach me from an angle like this.” When Bishop held up his arm to indicate the direction he wanted the president to take, his action was met with a grunt and another blank
expression
.

“Why wouldn’t we go check it out together? Why do you want me to approach from a different direction? How can I stay here and watch behi
nd us and still see your signal?
What will the signal be?”

Bishop held up his hand to stop the questions. It was his turn to be annoyed and
with terse voice instructed
, “Just stay put
,
sir. I’ll come back and get you.” Before the president could protest, Bishop was running  toward the structure.

By the time Bishop returned to retrieve his companion,
the younger man
had cooled off.
He’s just trying not to make a mistake and
is
overthinking everything – don’t be mad at him.
The president wasn’t
accustomed to being treated
like a novice and protested, “I know you don’t think highly of my experience in the field, but if you would take a moment to explain things, I assure you I’ll catch on quickly. Why, for example, do you not want me to use the exact same route as you lead with?”

Bishop took a deep breath and
explained, “Sir, if a sniper is
watching this area, he would see me run up to that building. He would be trained to watch for the next guy to follow me. I might be out of sight before he could zero in and get off a shot, but he would be ready and waiting on the next guy - you.”

By the time the duo had progressed to the outskirts of town, the president was actually beginning to catch on to how Bishop wanted to move from point to point. Since they would now be traveling through an urban area, Bishop hated to do it, but had to change their pattern. “Sir, now that we will be moving through all of these buildings, I want you to stay closer to me. I want you to go exactly where I go
,
and stay about
10
steps behind me at all times. If I stop at a corner or intersection, then come up directly behind me, but other than that, stay about
10
steps back. I’m the front of the accordion, you are the rear.”

The
prez
looked puzzled, “Why do you want me to follow in your footsteps here, but not out in the open? Wouldn’t the same logic apply?”

Bishop looked at the man and smiled, “In here sir, it won’t matte
r – the distances are too short to make any difference.”
Bishop pushed off
,
and after a bit, the pair reached the football stadium where Bishop had found the medical equipment on his last visit. Bishop pointed out the ghostly marching band formation spread across the football field. The band had been practicing when the gas cloud had
exterminated
them all. Their bodies and instruments had fallen in straight rows and columns. Now, the grass had grown high, partially obscuring the remains. To the chief executive, it made the scene appear even more melancholy
.
Bishop then proceeded
with
a
somewhat eerie
tour of the Alpha State campus – sans students or other signs of life.

While they were
expl
oring the ruins of what had once been a picturesque small town university, Bishop had to stop several times and shepherd his traveling companion. The politician seemed entranced by his surroundings and couldn’t help but
pause
and stare.

On one such occasion,
Bishop c
rossed a street between the hull
s of two abandoned cars. When he reached the other side, he expected his companion to soon join him. After an inordinate amount of time, Bishop looked back to see nothing but the empty street.
What now
,
thought Bishop, as he hustled back, searching for the other man. Bishop found the President of the United States on one knee
, staring spellbound
into the
front glass
of a photography studio. The window display contained
a joyful collage
of wedding pictures, family portraits, student activity photos
,
and even some pets. The
overwhelmed
president looked up at Bishop with a dark expression, “They’re probably all dead
;
aren’t they
,
Bishop?”

Bishop only nodded, not being able to think of anything to say. He gave the older man a few moments and finally said, “Sir, we need to get going.” The
man
looked up and s
ignaled he
was ready
,
and the two crossed the street together.

Bishop worked his way to the ice cream shop where Sarah
Beth
had been living when he rescued her. When it was explained how the
airtight
freezer had saved her life from the poison gas, the president could only manage a grunted
, “A
mazing.”

Bishop decided to hold up and rest in the ice cream shop. They had been moving very quickly
,
and he could tell the older man was beginning to tire. Before long, they would be traveling through the most dangerous section of Alpha
,
and he wanted both of them as fresh as possible.

Bishop sat two chairs upright in the trashed dining area. The floor was still sticky
,
where gallons of ice cream had melted and drained out of the display freezers. A trail of ants appeared to
be
working on cleaning up the mess. The president
sat, mesmerized by
the back room where Sarah
Beth
had lived for several weeks. “I can’t believe that girl you told me about survived in here all that time. She is a hero by some measure, I’m sure.”

“She climbed the trees in a nearby park and s
c
av
enged bird eggs to survive. When I met her, she was about to be gang raped by several men, but I helped her avoid that situation.”

The president detected a flash of violence behind Bishop’s eyes. “I’ve no doubt those men won’t be a threat to any
more young women.” Bishop looked off into the distance and then back at the man beside him. “No sir, they will not.”

“Bishop, if you don’t want to talk about it, I’m okay with that. I am curious though, why do you think those men resorted to such evil behavior?”

Bishop scratched hi
s chin and thought for a bit before his pensive reply
, “Well
sir, there are no doubt several contributing factors
. A lot of people were on prescription medications for mental
issues
like depression. The economy had stressed a lot of people
,
and I remember hearing newscasts reporting more and more Americans being dependent on
those drugs. If I recall correctly
, the newscaster said six percent of the country took these medications? When the shit hit the fan, they could no longer go to the
community
drug store for a refill. I’ve never taken drugs, sir, but I can’t imagine their sudden withdraw
al
was easy. The combination of that dependence and the added stress of the world falling apart all around them
,
probably pushed many folks over the edge.”

The man beside Bishop looked at his hands and then around the room again. He cleared his throat and replied, “I
know
I could use a drink.”

Bishop smiled, the remark bringing him back to the
state
s
man
’s original question. “Yes sir, I imagine all of this is quite a shock. Speaking of drinking, have you considered the people who had an addiction problem with alcohol? Suddenly, there’s no more
neighborhood
liquor store. Most people probably handled it reasonably well, but I’ll bet there were plenty
of
others who didn’t. I’ve seen
people who got out of hand when they overindulged
, but they normally pale in comparison to someone with
a problem who can’t get a fix
.”