Mercy stood up and winced, “Christ, my legs, my back—”
Tawny grimaced as she swung her legs over the bench, “Forget legs and back, my tailbone and hips are burning—”
Flynn took a few steps towards the door and let out a groan, “Right now, this moment, I wish I was dead. I’m walking like a pissed penguin, this is not OK—”
“Bunch of wimps,” Barnes grunted and stood up, he frowned, a flicker of doubt crossed his face. “On second thoughts if there’s aspirin on offer count me in—”
They left the lodge in search of Maggie and the aspirin, the offer of hot water forgotten.
The next day dawned cold and grey. Fresh coffee thawed Mercy’s mood. She sat at the table in the lodge picking at a scab on her hand. Her hair was wet from the bucket bath she had just endured. At least the water had been hot. She sighed, the bunk beds were comfortable but could only accommodate one. Her mind wandered, she drank her coffee and thought about better days.
The door opened and Flynn walked in. He came over to Mercy and kissed her, “That bed, that sleep… was awesome.”
“I was thinking the same. Jesus, we sound like… old people,” Mercy said, recoiling in mock horror.
“Yeah, ain’t that so?” Flynn said. He poured himself a coffee, “I wonder what the old man’s gonna say this morning—”
“It’ll be about the attack on the prison,” Mercy replied. “I’m good with that, we’d never have got Rose back without these people.”
“Yeah, they’ve got a good set up here. Away from the tropes, a hideout in the mountains, fresh water, long horn cattle… and a community. I saw vegetable plots out there, they grow some of their own food—” Flynn said.
Mercy shook her head, “Can’t be much fun in winter. It’ll get pretty cold up here that time of year, but then there’s enough wood to use as fuel. Yeah… and they do their own preserving so maybe… maybe it’s a way of life for the long term. Who knows?”
Flynn sat down, “Do you ever think of, you know… the future? You, me, us?”
Mercy stared at the glowing embers in the grate, “No, no, I don’t let myself think of the future. It’s never there, it’s always just now, you know, living from minute to minute, day to day. There’s just too much bad shit around to plan for… a future. What even is that? The word itself no longer makes any sense—”
It has no meaning—
The door opened, Tawny and Rose appeared, their hair wet and faces pink.
“I scraped and scrubbed a ton of crap from my skin,” Tawny said.
“The water was black after I’d finished,” Rose seconded. “What’s to eat?”
“There’s bread, cheese, and some beef over there,” Mercy indicated the table on the side.
“Great, I’m starving,” Rose said. She marched over to the table and grabbed a plate.
“Brody’s outside, mustering the troops. They’re coming in here for a meeting, you ready for this?” Tawny asked.
“Yeah, absolutely. We promised to help out. They were true to their word, they helped us, took us in, we’ve got Rose back. I’m in—” Mercy eyed Tawny, “What about you?”
“Sure thing, Annalise and Jade put their necks on the line for us so I’m in—” Tawny replied.
“What do you think’s going through Barnes’s head? Reckon he’s on board?” Flynn asked.
“He was pretty silent after we saw that nuke go off in DC. I’m not sure what’s going through his mind, who knows? Maybe he was thinking about returning to Constantine’s forces? Maybe he’s got other plans, we’ve not had much time to decompress, to talk to each other—” Mercy said.
“To do normal stuff, to chew the fat,” Rose said, putting a plate piled high with food on the table. She sat down beside Mercy and started to eat.
The door opened and Brody, Jade and Annalise walked in, accompanied by six others. Mercy nodded at them and raised a hand in acknowledgement. Brody sat down at the head of the table and gestured at the others to do the same. He poured himself a coffee and looked around the table.
“Good morning everyone. I hope you’re all rested and ready for the day ahead,” Brody took a sip of his coffee and continued, “As you know the NSA militia have our people held in Charlottesville prison.” He looked around the room. “Our families, our wives, husbands and children, every one of you here will know who I’m talking about. My own wife Jessica, and my son Luke… they’ve been in there for six weeks now,” Brody paused and rubbed his chin.
“I know we tried before… and failed. But that’s all about to change, we have new people amongst us, new blood, new talent. We’ve had Annalise for some time with her gift, as many of you know she’s able to walk through tropes unmolested. Well, now we have these good people,” Brody turned to indicate Mercy, Rose, Tawny and Flynn, “and they can do the same—”
The door opened and Barnes walked in, he raised a hand in greeting and nodded at Brody.
“Not to mention this fine gentleman here,” Brody said, pointing at Barnes. “He works for the Resistance, which I must admit I thought was a rumour until I met our newcomers. And we all saw what happened to DC yesterday—” Brody paused, letting his words sink in. “There’s a power struggle going on in the world right now, there’s
