The Calm Before the Storm

Izumi sat on Ralis’ couch, nursing her cup of tea. The party, the Charter’s signing, was tomorrow, and she had no idea what to do. She had nobody left she could trust, or at least, that’s what it felt like. Watson’s betrayal still stung.

She took a long sip from her cup and sighed.

“You aren’t going to leave us, are you?” a small voice said behind Izumi as she started toward the door.

She pivoted to face Maki, holding a small blue, stuffed, toy bear in her hands, hugging it close. “No,” Izumi replied quickly. “I’m not going anywhere, not right now.”

“Good thing, too,” Ralis replied from the hall where he was pulling a futon mattress from the closet. “Your calf needs to heal; you cut your soleus and almost got your ankle as well. I’m surprised you’re walking as well as you are.”

“It wasn’t that bad,” Izumi said, trying to shrug off Ralis’ suggestion.

“Are you a doctor?” the man shot back.

Izumi shrunk into the soft cushions of the couch. “No,” she whispered.

“Precisely,” Ralis replied. “Leave stuff like that to me.”

“Of course,” she said quickly.

Ralis glanced at her sharply, as if warning her, then dragged the mattress back toward a spare room where he’d said Izumi would be able to spend the night.

Maki jumped up excitedly, then tossed her bear on the couch, rushing to Izumi’s side. “Can we go outside and play? We didn’t get to play earlier.”

Izumi bit her cheek. What she really needed to do was get back to headquarters and sort things out. She made the mistake of looking into Maki’s eyes, wide and begging, and sighed. “Fine,” she said, looking out the front window, “but no more than an hour, it’s getting dark.”

Maki squealed a delighted sound and took off towards her room, which was past the kitchen. Izumi laughed to herself as Maki paused, then rushed back for her bear before running off again.

“Is it okay if I take her outside for a bit, Ralis?” Izumi asked as Ralis emerged from the guest bedroom he’d kindly set up for her.

He glanced at an old clock on the wall as he stepped into the living room. “Sure,” he said, sitting on the couch, “just do as you said— one hour. I’ll have dinner ready for when you get back inside.

Izumi nodded in confirmation as Maki marched back into the living room with her bear tucked under one arm and a colorful bucket hanging from the other. “Grandpa got me this,” she said, noticing Izumi’s look.

“It’s cute,” she replied, slipping on her shoes. “Let’s just stay in the yard, okay?”

“That’s fine,” Maki said, struggling to open the door without dropping anything.

Izumi finished tightening her boots, then opened the door for Maki, who gave her a quick thanks before rushing into the nearest pile of snow and throwing herself in. Izumi glanced back at Ralis. “You might want to get a fire going too.”

Ralis nodded, rose, and stepped into the kitchen. “Just keep an eye on her, I’ll have everything ready for when you’re back inside. I just can’t go outside much anymore, not in this weather at least. I fell last month; thought I broke my wrist.”

“Looks fine to me,” Izumi smirked.

“I got lucky,” Ralis said, waving her outside while he slipped an apron over his clothes. “Go have a bit of fun.”

I wish I could, Izumi thought, stepping outside, closing the door gently behind her.

***

“Was that wise?” Watson asked Reis as she fell back onto one of the many couches in Tez’s warehouse, the base of their operations.

“Of course,” Reis replied. He was sitting across from her in a rolling chair, chewing on a sausage link, “Do you doubt him?”

Watson rolled her eyes, pulling a cigarette from her pocket. “You’re asking me if I doubt him? That’s rich, coming from someone who barely knows him.”

Reis tossed her a lighter, which she deftly caught, flicked open, and lit all in the same movement. Once her cigarette was burning, she tossed it back. She took a breath of it, instantly regretting her choice as she jumped up, coughing. “These things are disgusting,” she said, tossing the thing to the ground. “Now I remember why I quit.”

Reis shrugged. “Didn’t have to do with the fact that they’re bad for your health.”

Watson glared at him until he squirmed. “Okay, fine,” he said. “Sorry, sorry. Beef stick?” he offered.

She shook her head, looking at the group gathered in the far corner of the warehouse, enjoying drinks, food, and watching something on the television. There were about twenty of them and together, they composed the majority of Tez’s group. “I’ve seen a lot, Reis. I may be young but I feel old.”

“Don’t go getting sentimental on me, Watson, it’s hard to tell when you’re lying.”

“You thought I was lying to that soldier?”

“I mean, maybe,” he replied, shoving the last of the sausage into his mouth.

Watson sighed. “I didn’t lie, but honestly, who cares. It doesn’t matter in the scheme of things who I’m related to.”

“It seemed to matter to her,” he said, still chewing.

“Shut up and swallow your food, Reis. That’s disgusting.”

“Sorry,” he said, gulping down the mouthful.

Watson rolled her eyes. “To be truthful, I didn’t lie about everything. My mother did find a home for me, she didn’t just leave me on the street. I don’t judge her for leaving me, I probably would have done the same at her age. I just hate the fact that it happened, that society has let things go this way.”

“Yeah, yeah, sob story,” Reis said, “let’s go get some food.”

Watson chuckled to herself as Reis skipped across the warehouse to the large table set by the television. Humans are so confusing, God whispered in her ear. What is it that you want? How is it that some of you are so sad while others are so happy? What is good, what is bad? Is this conflict just? I question myself every minute if Tez is right or if there is another solution. What would you do if you were him, Watson?

No idea, Watson replied. But it’s obvious to me that a coherent society cannot exist while there is such hatred, mistreatment, and lack of equality.

But what would you do?

I’d burn it all and start anew.

Ah, I thought so, God sighed. I was afraid you’d say that. It really is the only solution, isn’t it?

Of course, Watson replied, steeling her resolve and marching towards the television.

No regrets, she thought to herself, thinking of her sisters, her family, Izumi. This is for them. Once we’re made equal, we can all be happy.

***

As they finished dinner and moved to the living room, Maki wrapped herself in a ball of blankets and laid on the ground near the fire. “That was yummy food,” she whispered, looking into the flames in the fireplace.

“Thank you,” Izumi told Ralis as they sat across from each other on the couch. “It really was.”

Ralis nodded, watching Maki as she started to drift to sleep. He smiled slightly, reminded of how he’d sat in this same spot, multiple times, watching his children and eventual grandchildren do the same.

But now they were gone.

“She’s one of them,” he said after a moment.

“I know,” Izumi replied. “She told me, remember?”

“She did, didn’t she?” he replied, rubbing his head. “Guess I’m older than I thought,” he laughed, letting his eyes trail towards the fire.

“Don’t worry about it,” Izumi replied.

The fire cracked, sending sparks up the chimney.

“Does it bother you at all,” Izumi asked him suddenly, tearing away his focus.

“I’m sorry?” he asked, looking toward her.

“Maki being Revived. Does it bother you?”

Ralis shook his head. “It used to, but now that we’ve spent so much time together, it doesn’t.”

“Ah.”

Ralis took a deep breath. “Truthfully, I’m just grateful for another opportunity. Charlotte was so young when we lost her… still is, I suppose.”

“That was her name before…”

“Yeah,” Ralis replied, thinking of the day he’d heard the news. “It was about five months ago now. She and her parents had gone down to one of the streams, the center one. You know where it meets the farmlands, and the trees start to sprout up there?”

“The end of this concrete jungle? Of course, I know it.”

“It was there she died,” Ralis said solemnly, leaning forward to check that Maki was asleep. Once he confirmed she was, he continued. “Her parents drowned her. They were out of money, out of food. I guess they thought it was the only way.”

“That’s awful,” Izumi whispered, covering her mouth with her hand.

“I regretted living every day since then,” Ralis continued. “I felt it was my fault. I could have given them more, more money, food, whatever.”

“Did you know?”

Ralis shrugged. “Not really. They always said they were doing fine. Charlotte was always happy, but on some level, deep, deep down, I think I knew.”

Izumi reached out, grabbing his hand. “Second chance,” she smiled.

“For her,” he said, rising to his feet. “But not them. They weren’t Revived.”

“They died?”

“Killed themselves. Probably out of guilt. Lost the rest of the family earlier in a fire, years before all this. Maki’s the only one left.”

“I’m so sorry,” Izumi said, trying to console him.

He waved her off. “Don’t worry about it too much. She’s enough,” he said, gesturing to the sleeping child. “But what about you? What are you going to do? Rylie’s declared war, even if nobody is advertising it. Are you going to keep your promise?”

“Of course,” Izumi said, saluting him. “I plan on heading back to headquarters as soon as possible.”

“I thought so,” Ralis moaned. “When did you plan on leaving?”

“Tonight, if possible.”

Ralis shook his head. “No. I have a few things I need to get at the market tomorrow. We’ll come with you to the Wall then we can say our goodbyes. Anyways, Maki will be disappointed if you leave now.”

“But-”

“Look, Izumi. Rylie made his threat for tomorrow, right?”

“Yeah, but if I get back now, maybe I can help-”

“No. His announcement was made on television, right? I’m sure the military knows all about it. Let someone else handle this for tonight. Rest now and start again in the morning.”

“I suppose I could,” Izumi yawned.

“Good,” Ralis said, gesturing to the hallway. “Go shower and rest up. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“See you tomorrow,” Izumi said, starting down the hall towards the bathroom.

“Goodnight,” Ralis said, turning back to the fire and settling down again.

He waited there until the shower turned on then bent down next to Maki and picked her up, cradling her close as he walked towards her room.

***

“I’m done with this,” President Clay said, slamming the table, startling his council. “Rylie’s consistently ahead of us, he’s slaughtered our elite force, and Edwin is dead. Someone, right now, better suggest to me what the hell to do, because if nobody says anything within the next minute, I’m going to order our troops to flush him out. I will open every door in this entire city and search every house until he is found.”

“Sir, don’t you think that would undermine the charter?” one man spoke.

“Damn the charter,” Clay replied, shooting daggers at the man. “Rylie is out to destroy society.”

“What if we use them?” Jefferson replied.

Clay narrowed his eyes. “Who?”

“The Revived, Jefferson said, standing slowly. We’ve talked about their potential capacity as soldiers before, and Tez’s group is Revived, right?”

“Fight fire with fire then?”

Jefferson nodded.

“Then what?” Olivia, the Director of Public Affairs interjected. “Our whole purpose in passing this Charter is to promote equality. What will the people do if they see us pressing people into military service?

“What do you suggest?” Clay petitioned.

“Don’t worry about that,” Mire said, opening the door.

“Mire?” Clay asked. “What are you doing here?”

“I heard about the attack and came.”

“Mire, you aren’t a member of this council-” Olivia began.

“But aren’t I?” Mire said, taking a seat in Edwin’s old spot. “I am the head of the Council of Named and thus have the right to join meetings.”

“But this is a matter of state security,” James, Edwin’s Vice-Commander, said from his seat. “Surely you understand-”

“Just let him speak,” Clay said. “He usually watches all our meetings anyway.”

Mire tipped his head to John, thanking him, then spoke. “As you know, I possess approximately a quarter of the total wealth of the Named. I am willing to donate a significant portion of this to pay the Revived for services in protecting their country.”

“How much?” Olivia interrogated.

“Sixty percent.”

“Sixty?” James sputtered. “Just to pay these Revived. Shouldn’t they be protecting their homeland anyway?”

Mire raised his hand, silencing the man. “I will donate this amount to the state, who can do what they wish with it. Ten percent, however, I will require to go to the Revived.”

“Why?” Olivia quizzed.

“Because many of them are from the Lower District, people who are hungry, quite literally. They desire equality now more than they did when Rylie first appeared. Even if we were to stop Rylie now, I’m sure he’s convinced a majority of the people that they can’t wait for change. They’ll rebel at this rate, so, therefore, why not bribe them to stay on our side a little bit longer?”

“Sly,” Olivia replied, giving him a shrewd smile. “But I like it.”

“Will my forces receive a portion of this fund?” James asked, prompting several other questions from individuals around the room.

“Quiet,” John commanded, plunging the room into silence. He turned to face Mire, trying to express gratitude in his eyes. “We’ll do it,” he said. “Start recruitment immediately.”

“Of course,” Mire said, bowing slightly before backing out of the room.

John leaned back in his chair. “Bye this time tomorrow, Rylie will be dead or contained, the Charter passed, victory, peace, and equality secured. You’re all dismissed.”

He stayed seated as the rest of the council rose and started for the exit. As they did, he stared at the empty chair left by Edwin and reached for his pocket, searching for the pack of cigarettes he knew wasn’t there. He sighed. “I’m gonna miss you, friend,” he said, picking himself up and starting out the door.