The room clapped after Jane had finished, and she returned to her chair next to Lester. Liz stood, her heart hammering in her chest. She couldn’t remember the last time she was this nervous. She stood at the front of the mess hall and glanced out into the crowd. She opened her mouth to speak, but her mouth was so dry that she only coughed.
Liz held up her hand and then reached for bottled water. She drank half of it and then set it down. “Sorry about that. It’s been a few years since my high school speech class.”
There were a few chuckles, and Liz took that as a good sign.
“Some of you know me very well; others don’t,” Liz said. “But I’m here to talk to everyone tonight. I know Jane has brought up some very good points about what has transpired, and I thank her for the kind word she said about my family.” She looked to Jane, and nodded, and saw the narrowed, laser focus gaze from Jane.
“But how well you know me and my family doesn’t matter if you don’t trust us,” Liz said. “And the truth is we have betrayed that trust in some of you. And I’m sorry. But the burden of leadership has landed heavily on my family’s shoulders. And you know what? We would welcome more help from everyone here in the community. Because we can’t do this ourselves, and we know it. So let this be a new start for all of us. Let your voice be heard, and you choose who you want to be represented. Because my family, and especially me, would love the help.”
Liz then held up her finger and paused for a bit of dramatic effect. “And I will make this promise to everyone here this as well: No one gets a free pass. Not me, or my family, or my friends. All of us should be held accountable for our actions. I will always put my money where my mouth is. I have skin in the game, that much I think everyone can agree on.”
Liz paused to gauge the response from the crowd and couldn’t tell if she was winning anyone over or if it even mattered and people had already made up their minds.
“The path forward will be difficult,” Liz said. “But my family and I have gotten us this far, and we will continue to fight for this place no matter what happens. Thank you.”
The same amount of applause followed Liz’s speech, and she wondered if she had done enough. Once that was finished, they opened it up for anyone who had a question to ask it on the floor.
For a few seconds, no one came up, and then Liz’s stomach churned when she saw Wendy Sutton and Marty Schwartz approach the front. Wendy had lost her husband Jeff the day after the EMP when he followed Ben and a few others to the dam to stop it from being destroyed.
And Marty had lost his wife during the attack at Ted Bartman’s ranch. Both of them had a bone to pick, and this was the perfect scene for them to air their grievances.
“My name is Wendy Sutton, and the man standing next to me is Marty Schwartz,” she said.
Marty remained rigid like a stone, and he refused to look Liz in the eye. Wendy, on the other hand, didn’t have any qualms about that.
“My husband, Jeff, was killed following orders from the Riker family,” Wendy said. “No one trusted them more than I did, but Ben Riker left my husband to die.”
Liz started to stand. “Wendy, I—”
“You don’t get to talk now!” Wendy shouted, pointing at Liz. “You had your time. Now, this is our time!”
Liz held up her hands in apology and returned to her seat, realizing that she shouldn’t have said anything, to begin with.
Wendy cleared her throat and regained her composure. She placed her hand on Marty’s shoulder. “Marty lost his wife after she was assigned to a very dangerous post, killed by the same enemy that triggered the EMP that started all of this.”
Marty bowed his head, and Liz could tell he was barely holding it together. She knew how hard Ali’s death had been on him, but the man refused any help she tried to offer. And now he was dead set on focusing all of his grief on wounding Liz and her family, and indirectly, the compound.
“And the same enemy that killed our loved ones has been living right here, in this very building,” Wendy said, referring to Abe. “The Rikers have treated that man like a guest!” she scoffed. “He is an animal, and he deserves to be put down. Keeping him alive is an insult to everyone we’ve lost.”
Liz had thought Abe might come up in a discussion, but she had thought Jane would bring it up, but Wendy was doing all of Jane’s dirty work for her. All the while, Jane looked like she was taking the high road, just like Nancy tried to get her to do.
“I know what a lot of you are probably thinking,” Wendy said. “That our loved ones suffered unfortunate fates. The truth is that they should have never been in those situations in the first place. The Riker family has taken unnecessary risks, putting everyone’s lives in danger. Now, I have spoken to Jane Percy myself, and I am certain that she would never put anyone of us on the front line without proper protection and training.” Wendy straightened up and lifted her chin. “I have known Liz Riker for almost ten years. And I want everyone here to know that I will be casting my vote for Jane Percy.” She touched Marty’s shoulder again.
