“I must admit, I miss this place. I miss most of the people and what it stands for. But Oak Ridge is my home now.”
That brought a few smiles, but there were also a couple of sad expressions, and it was damn near impossible to tell, but Zach would’ve sworn Fred’s expression saddened as well.
“Pardon the interruption.”
It was Connie Nelson, looking splendid in a pair of steel gray slacks, a starched white shirt, and a navy-blue blazer. Zach was always amazed the man still had nice clothes so many years after the apocalypse.
“What can we do for you, Senator?” Kate asked.
“I was hoping to speak to Zach, in private,” he replied.
Zach wiped his face and stood. He first focused on Radar.
“After y’all get a good meal, prep the vehicles and check the gear. We’re leaving in two hours.”
Chapter 55 – An Invite from Connie
“Let’s go visit your old home away from home,” Connie said.
Zach said nothing and followed as Connie led him to the elevators. They eventually ended up in Zach’s old office. It was locked. Connie used his key card to gain access. He flipped the light switch and stepped in.
“Come on in,” he invited. “I believe it is just as you left it.”
Zach walked in a couple of feet, stopped, and looked around. His infallible memory told him nothing had been disturbed, save for a couple of papers lying on his desk that appeared to have been shuffled through.
“Nobody took over after I left?” he asked.
“Our former president believed this position made one too powerful in the Mount Weather hierarchy,” he said. “For what it’s worth, I felt the same way. You made our jobs unnecessary.”
“Speaking of unnecessary, where is VanAllen?” Zach asked.
“He has locked himself in his office,” Connie replied. He gave a casual shrug. “We’ll leave him be. He’ll come out in a day or two and we’ll deal with him then. I would say we’ll send him back to Marcus Hook, but they have ceased relations with us.”
“I’ve heard,” Zach said.
“Yes, that is something we’ll certainly need to address,” Connie said and then stared pointedly at Zach. “I’ll come straight to the point. Would you like your old job back? You will have the same authority and responsibilities as before, perhaps even more.”
“I don’t think so,” Zach said. “There are more than a few of you I think should be banished from here.”
Connie nodded thoughtfully. “I understand and I know you probably think I’m being gratuitous, but if I were in your shoes, I’d feel the same.”
“Does Rhinehart know about this conversation?” Zach asked.
“Yes, he does. He was supposed to join us, but he was feeling a little under the weather and went back to his room. I believe I know what you’re thinking; why would William Rhinehart want you back? The fact is, he respects you, Zach. I do as well. A lot has happened in a short time and frankly, we need you back here to help straighten things out.”
“Let me guess. You want me to negotiate with Marcus Hook because Mount Weather is almost out of fuel,” Zach said.
“You can add Roscoe and Johnny G to the list of people who have enormous respect for you. And yes, we need fuel. It seems as though Oak Ridge has found an alternative solution to petroleum though,” Connie said.
“Yes, they have,” Zach said. “There are some applications where diesel is still the more viable of the two, but they are still experimenting with different things.”
Connie gave a slight, thoughtful nod. “They’ve never shared any of their knowledge with us. If you came back, perhaps that will change.”
“Honestly, until I told them about the original Patient Zero and showed them the video, all of them were convinced the pandemic was a new world order conspiracy perpetrated by puppet politicians.”
Connie chuckled. “I’ve heard several variations of that theme.”
Zach gazed at the walls of his office where his maps were. He wondered how much damage Gil had caused in his brief time as president. After a minute, he turned to Connie.
“I would suggest calling Marcus Hook on the radio as soon as possible. It may take a while, but they will answer. Tell them what has happened and ask for forgiveness. As for me, I must go back to Oak Ridge. I’ll discuss your offer with my wife and my friends. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I promised Fred and a couple of others I would speak with them before I leave.”
Chapter 56 – Invasion
“Passing phase line Hotel One,” Zach said into the microphone. “Negative SITREP.”
“Roger, out,” the staticky voice replied.
Zach placed the microphone back on the hook. Phase line Hotel One was the intersection of I-81 and I-64, which meant they were roughly halfway back to Oak Ridge. He had mixed feelings about leaving Mount Weather, but his wife and kids were at Oak Ridge and that is where he was going.
Zach tried to adjust himself in the seat, searching for a better level of comfort, if it even existed. There simply was not enough leg room and the seat was not designed for his broad shoulders either. Getting comfortable was difficult. He glanced over at the driver, Radar, whose real name was Xavier.
“When we get back to Oak Ridge, I’m going to modify this damn seat where it’s more comfortable,” he grumbled.
“Are you going to grab some shut-eye?” Radar asked without taking his eyes off the road.
“Yeah, I thought I would,” Zach replied.
“You know what I think?” Radar asked, and then answered his own question. “I think you’ll be going back.”
“To Mount Weather?” Zach asked. Radar nodded. “Yeah, I’ll go back from time to time. Now that I’m not a wanted felon,” he added with a wry grin that did not reach his eyes.
“No, that’s not it,” Radar said. “You’ll be going back to live there. Those people look up to you. More than one of them said they need you back there.”
Zach grunted,
