ODIN'S WAR

Outlaws

Life out on the nukescape was difficult, though not impossible. Jeremy, Willoughby, and the two twins sat around the campfire, far away from every dwelling in the Argentinean survival community. The blaze cracked with a bluish flame. The pieces of old plants and trees, only just barely alive, made a rather miserable fire, and the greenish smoke was probably a bit toxic. Yet the desperation of an outlaw, unable to live as other men do, seems to sustain him on the gut level, and frequently defies the most essential mechanisms of life. As the refuse of society lives along a curb through the bitterest city winter, sustained by an impure form of alcohol and water, so the outcast revolutionary seems to live on hardly more than the smoke of his fire, poorly cured meat, and very often a similar intoxicant to that used by the ‘wino’ of days gone by. One may compare the persistence of a lichen or moss, surviving on a cold grey stone in the barren mountain air to a man out of his dear and cherished civilization - -yet the human may call purpose from his soul to raise a flower of achievement where a void might otherwise have been. For most, this is impossible in a lonely, forgotten state, but when hope is ignited by the presence of an outside power, a transcendent belief existence is indelible, and there can be found much beauty in the soul.

Marie now enjoyed the shield of protection by the edict of Spurion himself, as she was to be the heir to the martyred Hollow Hollow. But a new and strange sense of purpose had been shocked into her soul by the murder of her husband and the morally obscene treatment of Jensen, whose wife she knew well. The double shock, administered so quickly and unexpectedly, hurt Marie to the absolute pit of despair, from which a rebirth must come before the Hell which often follows becomes inevitable, and there is no hope or escape. The fortitude, strength of mind, and uncanny perseverance of a woman such as Marie comes out in unbelievable proportions under such duress. For the first time, she knew the greatness of her dead husband, and the secrets he had kept from her for her safety. The horror of her present situation, where Spurion perverted the memory of her husband in order to sustain the photographic negative of what he had really stood for, as she had known him in his most intimate ways, compelled her to seek out the very rebels who had cost her husband his life, though any acquaintance with them, if discovered, would surely mean her death.

When Marie arrived at MUSIC’s survival camp, accompanied by Linda, Jensen’s wife, several weeks after the revolution had failed, the four ‘outlaws’ were taken by surprise.

“How the hell did you find us?” said Jeremy, dumbfounded at the sight of these two women appearing in a desert he thought was reserved to himself and his surviving companions.

“We know your connections in the community,” said Marie calmly, “But you needn’t worry. We are sympathetic to your cause.” “Our cause is finished, Marie,” said Willoughby. “It died with our friends, our inside contacts, and our engineer.” He looked at the ground, and turned his back, feeling a sudden attack of grief.

“No”, said Marie, “You have not lost all. I will be your contact on the inside. As my husband’s replacement, I am above suspicion.”

Jeremy looked hard at her. “You know we are responsible, in a way, for your husband’s death?”

“Yes,” said Marie, a tear appearing in her eye, “but I know that my husband believed in his message of love and freedom, and God. I.C.C.E. is run completely by Spurion, who is a murderer, and filled with fiendish hate. He only uses the good name of others to feed his desires and prop up his hell.”

“What brings you to this?” asked Jeremy.

“Do you remember George’s wife?” she asked.

“Yes, of course,” replied Jeremy, “She was a fine, strong woman.”

“She is dead,” said Marie, “She died after a horrible illness. She first complained of excruciating pain in her feet and wrists, so that she was unable to walk, or to feed herself. Later, the pain spread to her whole body, including her jaw. The last time I saw her, she was lying on a bed, but she could not rest, and she strained to talk, but could not. She died shortly after.”

The four men were shocked and saddened by the news. Jeremy bowed his head, and all were silent. “What was the cause?” Jeremy broke the silence.

“I don’t know,” said Marie, “but all of the older people in the community are dying in the same way.” She paused a moment. Spurion says,” Linda broke in, “that it is God’s punishment for my husband’s treachery, and for. . .” She could not finish, but broke into tears. Willoughby stepped forward and put his arm gently around her shoulders. “You know how we loved him for the kind and courageous man he was, Linda,” he tried to console her.

“Spurion is trying to make me give proclamations in the name of my husband, saying that God willed them all to have a traitor’s death,” said Marie. “He is a sick, perverted man who is destroying my husband’s name, and me with it.”

“Do you think he is causing this plague?” asked Jeremy.

“Yes,” said Marie, “I do. Only I can do nothing now. They keep me under his eye constantly. He’s making sure no one tries to kill me, he says, like they killed my husband. I am out only now because I told him I needed several hours of prayer in secrecy, for the sake of my husband, and that I had a guard. He will be expecting me soon.”

“We appreciate the visit,” said Jeremy. “It will do much to keep us going out here in this lifeless desert. But please, take care of what you say and do. Your life may be in constant danger.” “I will try to keep in touch with you,” said Marie-. “Linda will keep me informed. She can meet with your contacts sometime in the future, when it’s safe.”

“Is it good for her to do that?” asked Willoughby, his arm still around her. She looked up at him.

“Yes,” she said with a sudden calmness. “I wouldn’t be worth a damn if I couldn’t help to fight against the animals that destroyed my husband and his friends.”

Jeremy nodded his head and lit his second cigar.

“All right”, he said, “We’ll stick with it. But it’s gonna take a long time to get everything together again. They are a lot more prepared now, and we’ve lost everything we had before.”

“We can wait,” said Marie.

“Yes,” said Linda,” We can wait.”