The Beginning of An Apocalypse

Cas wasn’t allowed to ask any more questions. She opened her mouth to say something whether in protest or agreement, but she was not able to say because Gabriel nudged her arm and walked her out of everyone else’s ear range. He told everyone else to wait for only a second as he would be right back.

“You are great at listening to people,” Gabriel said as he got her to walk beside him. Gabriel urged that she speed up like they had an important place to be at this particular moment.

“She’s not here for her opinion. For what she wants, seriously?” Cas asked. “I thought this was going to be quick and easy. I go in and get my brother and you heal him. But yet you want me to bow down to those pinheads when they haven’t been able to do anything in a day.”

“They are trying to keep people’s lives,” Gabriel said. “Not make any more orphans.” Gabriel knew exactly what he was saying and how it would choke Cas. She only stopped walking for a minute before she re-collected her thoughts and moved past Gabriel’s words.

“I do not care what they want, clear the area and put me on that bridge. Marcus would never hurt me so I’ll be fine.” She didn’t think that even if there was a danger that she would be harmed. She knew she could easily get what needed to be done easily, the only thing they needed to get out of her way.

“It’s not that simple,” Gabriel said.

Cas looked over and saw Gabriel looking every which way as if he was looking for something. Or someone. She wanted to ask, but she didn’t believe that he would give her an answer. Not that that stopped her and she asked it, but all he said was, ‘someone.’ At least she knew it was a someone and not a something.

They did not have time to be looking for something. Not when her brother was cornered on that bridge. Scared. Alone. Sick. He needed help not to be forced into a corner and murdered.

“Zachery. There you are.” Gabriel walked over to a man who was carrying something in a big white box. It didn’t seem to be heavy though.

“Is this the–” Gabriel was intrupted from finishing his question when he started to cough. He hit his chest a few times and shook his head. He finished coughing and got himself to remember what he was doing in the first place. “Is this the suit?”

“Yes,” Zachery said still shocked that Gabriel had called for him. He didn’t expect him to be there. Cas looked at the way everyone they passed looked at Gabriel. People rushed out of the way. People rushed to find something to do if he was walking by them. They rethought all their words before they said something.

Cas realized why. They were scared of him. Everyone was even higher ranking than him. Why was that?

Cas knew he was messy, greedy, and self-involved but what did he do to make them all think they have to stay out of his way? That he is untouchable. She didn’t know and she especially didn’t want to see why. That would give her more problems that she didn’t need.

“Thank you,” Gabriel said after snatching the box from Zachery’s hands. He held it against his side and nodded his head. “Let’s go, Cassidy.” He turned around and she walked beside him.

“I’m putting you on the bridge with two other men. You will distract your brother so we can hold him and get him somewhere safe.”

“Why can’t I just go alone?” Cas asked. “It’d be easier for me to go by myself and get him back without two bowling pins behind me.”

Gabriel shook his head, “it’s too dangerous.” He stopped walking when he made it twenty steps from the tent with all the military officials that were doing nothing but arguing with each other. “Take the radiation suit. It doesn’t protect from a touch of death but it’s better than going in there with nothing. Then when the sun comes up I’ll come and find you and then we can get ready.”

“Why not right now?” Cas asked. She looked at the bridge and the moonlight above him. “Better late than never.”

“I didn’t think you’d be this much of a problem, Cassidy. Go over there and talk to the woman named Liza Locken, she’ll show you where you can get some shut-eye and leave the rest to me. Got it?”

“Fine,” Cas said. “Okay.” She raised her hands in surrender. She grabbed the box from Gabriel and went to go find Liza. The woman with long red hair that she was supposed to find. Cas looked back to see if Gabriel was still there, he had gone into the tent of military generals and scientists to join in the arguments.

Unfair.

“Are you… Liza?”

The woman took one look at Cas and stood up. She grabbed her water bottle and took a few gulps of the water down. She closed the water bottle and threw the bottle on the table she was sitting on. “You must be the alien-sickness boy’s sister.”

“He’s not an alien,” Cas said. “He’s just sick.”

“Well aren’t you naive,” Liza said. “Anyway, I’m sure I’m supposed to lead you somewhere, so?” She clapped her hands and moved to stand beside Cas. “Where to?”

“Somewhere to… sleep or something. That is what I was told.”

“Not only a civilian but you got a bedtime too, aww.” Liza laughed thinking her words were funny. They were just annoying, to Cas at least. “Come on, I’ll show you to where you can rest. No one rests here, but since you aren’t important I’m sure we can put you in somewhere.”

“Wow, thank you,” Cas said. “Such kinds words.”

Cas looked all around the area as Liza got her to follow her. She barely heard anything Liza was blabbering about while she looked around to see what this area laid out for her. There were military everywhere. Some were moving boxes that seemed to be not just clothes and supplies. There was a big truck coming in and most of the attention was brought there.

She looked around to see that some of the patches were left with no one to guard them. She continued to look at that same spot. She saw the abandoned truck that was there and if you went behind it there was a small grass-covered path that went around everyone else and the blockades they had there. If you were a smaller person you could get through and you could get onto the bridge.

She kept an eye on that till all she saw and heard was fingers being snapped in her face. “Hello. Daydreamer?”

“Yes? Yes.” Cas shook her head and looked back at Liza. She remembered why she was here. She was being escorted to a place where she could get some rest upon Gabriel’s command.

“What are you thinking about while you’re holding up traffic? Doing that here will get you kicked into the dirt,” Liza told her.

“Yeah,” Cas said. She wasn’t sorry so she wasn’t going to apologize. The only thing she wanted to do was get this over with. Get Liza off her back and for this day of new surprises to end. This day was a constant up-and-down rollercoaster of different actions and revelations and she didn’t want it.

She wanted to build a time machine, jump back in time and find out how Marcus ended up like this. She would have called in sick from work for just that one day if she could prevent it.

That was all she thought about the entire time Liza held her arm and dragged her to a small storage tent that had a bunch of crates and radiation suits. She was also sure that there was a crate with a few guns in there.

“Cozy,” Cas said as she walked through the tent door

“Yeah, it’s all we got. I don’t know why Mr. Know It All Gabriel doesn’t just put you in some hotel somewhere. That’d be easier.”

“Yeah, but that would require him to focus on something that didn’t push his career forward.” Cas set the white box down on a small table that she found.

“Be careful, Ms. Tyler,” Liza said. “Everything you are saying about him is true, but it’s best not to go against him.”

Cas turned around and asked her what she’s been wanting to do since they met. She looked at Liza and she didn’t see someone who would do what she was saying.

“You don’t seem like the kind of person who would take orders from a man like Gabriel,” Cas said. She hoped she didn’t push too far but it was hard not to think so when Liza looked at her as if she were asked her about her whole life story.

“Why do you think that?” Liza asked with that serious expression still on her face. Her eyes trained dead center at Cas’s eyes. “Because I’m a woman in the military, bigger build, and have a worn-down face?”

“Uh… No, I was–”

Liza snorted a laugh. She waved her hand as she pushed herself to lean against a table covered in boxes. “I’m just messing with you. Don’t worry.” Liza shook her head and the seriousness returned. “I’ve seen what he can do when he wants something. You can be the type of person to never follow anyone and I don’t follow him, but I’m not stupid so I don’t get in his way. Go by the book or it won’t just be you paying for it.”

Liza looked Cas up and down and nodded her head. “Goodnight,” she said with a smile like she didn’t just give her a deadly warning. “See you tomorrow.”

“Okay…” Cas said. She watched Liza turn around and leave her alone in this small tent of supplies. The words that she said continued to run through her head. She could tell that whatever Liza was talking about she experienced firsthand, but what was it? What did he do?

Was he worth working with?

Was he worth putting his trust in? Even if she was able to get Marcus back, was it ever a guarantee that he would be able to save Marcus? That he was even going to consider it?

He has everyone under his thumb because of the fear they all have. Because of his reputation for getting what he wants and when he wants it.

And she knew firsthand too, not from herself but from her parents who worked with him. Her mind wandered back to her parents and one of their countless fights.

“We’re so close Damion,” Lana said. “All we have to do is sign the papers.”

“Sign the papers?! Are you serious Lana?” Damion scoffed and stomped to the other side of the room. “Did you see what he did to the Albert family? All because they said no one time? It’s dangerous. For me, for you, and especially for our kids.”

“It will be fine,” Lana said. “All we have to do is get results and then we will not only be famous but have more money than we can dream of.” Lana grabbed the papers Damion threw once before and gave them to him. “This is only if we fail. Think of it as protecting our children.”

“Putting them through this too? That’s your big plan?! To tie them into our work? Out of all your crazy ideas, this is number one,” Damion said. “I can’t believe this. I get the work, but it’s dangerous so we can’t.”

“Is that your actual answer to Mr. Everett’s proposal?”

“Yes,” Damion said. He stood his ground and he knew he wasn’t going to stand for this. There were so many things he put up with. So many things he could take. But this crossed the line.

“Then that is what I will tell Gabriel. I’ll cut you out of the project entirely.”

“Lana…” Damion stood there looking at her. He looked at her and how she didn’t doubt in her mind. Her work, fame, money, and power were the only things running through her mind.

Younger Cas who stood there behind the kitchen door listened to it all. Listened to her mother and her father and tried to understand what they were fighting about. She never figured it out, but all she knew is that almost a month and a half later her parents were gone together.

Cas stood up from the small table and moved to the big white box that she had. She didn’t know why she thought of that particular moment but she knew she wasn’t going to sit around and think anymore. She wasn’t going to trust someone else to find Marcus and save him.

Especially not Gabriel Everett.

She opened up the box to find a radiation suit. But it was different. It looked different from all the ones she’s seen and it was a lot heavier. She wasn’t going to wear that entire thing. From as much as she knew, the disease that Marcus had wasn’t airborne. It was spread through touch, as long as Marcus didn’t touch her.

Instead of grabbing the entire suit, she grabbed gloves she found and a small strapped mask and put them on.

Good enough, she thought.

She looked outside the tent she was in and saw that most of the people were still standing near the shipment car. She looked back at the small area that had no one. The place that she saw before that was just behind the blockades. She could easily slip through without anyone knowing she left. Marcus was still on that bridge hiding somewhere.

And she had to get him before they got him and killed him because they thought that’s what they were supposed to do.

She looked over and saw liza standing with another woman and laughing. They were drinking and not guardian the parameter from civilians getting in or people getting out. Cas crouched down and moved to hide behind each crate that was forgotten about.

She only had to walk past a few more blockades until she was sure that no one would see her and she could stand. She’s snuck around an area many times before, but it was not for something like this. It was for stealing medicine or food for Marcus. It was to get things she didn’t have the money for.

Not to get through the military and onto a bridge that had a sickness plaguing it with her brother being the cause. She didn’t know if she could do this but she was going to try with everything she had.

“What are you doing?”

Cas froze. She had been sitting there behind a crate for a lot longer than she thought she had been and now she was paying for it. How did she play this off? What did she say? Cas thought of a million reasons why she could be doing this right now, but did she think of a good excuse?

And thinking of one was only half of what you had to do. She had to sell it to, act like the fake story was the truth.

Cas took off her gloves and left the mask on the ground. She stood up and turned to the man who held a gun and stared at her with a raised eyebrow.

“H-Hi,” Cas said. She cursed herself knowing that she was already failing before she had even begun. She cleared her throat and gave it another try. “Hello.”

“You people don’t understand we are trying to help you. Come on,” The man said.

Cas realized he thought she was just another civilian trying to push herself through to see what was going on. Or a reporter trying to get a new story. She had to convince him she wasn’t.

“My name is Cassidy Tyler,” Cas said. “I’m here with–”

“Scientists Gabriel Everett,” the man said. He nodded his head when he looked at her more than one time. They all were briefed on her and who she was and why she was here. And they knew she was under Gabriel Everett’s control so they knew they had to be careful with dealing with her. She was under his protection for now.

“What are you doing in the dark, Ms. Tyler.”

“I’m looking for… my things. My purse,” Cas said. “I lost it and I need it.”

“Do you need some help looking for it?” The man said. She could tell he was hoping that if he helped her and if things ever got heated for him she would remember this time. But she didn’t have time to deal with the way this entire military acts around a self-involved scientist.

“No, no thank you. I’m sure I’ll find it.”

“Okay…” The man said with a sigh. “Well, I’m going to go. Don’t wander off too far and when you find your purse make sure to tell me so I know that you aren’t looking anymore.”

“Okay, got it,” Cas said. She stood there with a smile and waited for him to leave her alone. He quickly walked off and when he was gone she crouched back down to grab her things. With the purse story in effect, she was sure she had a few more minutes before she would be suspected again.

Gabriel thought she was going to rest. He wouldn’t go looking for her, she didn’t believe.

Cas pushed herself through the old truck that she saw from before and hid behind it. She looked up one more time to see if anyone was there and if they saw her.

No one was there and only a few more steps and she would be at the edge of the bridge. The once beautiful bridge.

She looked and saw the many guards with guns that were standing there in front of the entrance. They wouldn’t let her go through if they caught her. Her being the person that Gabriel himself brought in to help would mean nothing. Especially if they thought they were protecting her and everyone by keeping her back.

She stared at them and the entrance of the bridge. They were also behind the blockades, they weren’t behind it. There were at least seven feet between them and the bridge. She looked up and around the areas that gave her a clear path to the bridge.

It gave her a clear path but it didn’t give her a way to hide till she got to the bridge. If they were good at their job they would see her in an instant. She could tell herself that they were stupid and not good at their job and maybe she could build the confidence to force herself to the other side, but she wasn’t stupid. She couldn’t assume and she had to be careful.

If every general, leader, and scientist knew she tried to go behind their backs, it would be bad. A mere civilian like her going against what she was told would not be good for them. Possibly because she was A, just a civilian. B, because they wanted to be the ones to do everything. Any one of the two worked.

Cas lifted her head from the truck she hid behind to see if there was a miracle and at least half of the seven men that were there had gone. But there were no miracles. The seven of them stood there walking about two inches from their original stance every few seconds. They all looked bored but sharp. They checked behind him every other free second they had and spun their bodies around to check all around them.

Cas hid when she saw them move even though it was highly unlikely they would see her because she wasn’t under the lights that were stationed all around the area in one big bright circle.

“Well, that ain’t going to go well.”

“What’s not going to go well?! Before Cas could shout and blow her cover Liza kicked her boot off the truck’s tire and laid against the truck.

“Liza?!” Cas whispered.

“Yeah,” Liza said. “So again, what isn’t going well for you?”

“Nothing,” Cas said not at all convincingly. She smiled and before she said anything else she stood up to make sure the guards didn’t know that she was there. She looked and saw them acting indifferent to their surroundings. She let out a long-held breath and turned back around. “I’m just… looking for my purse.”

“Yeah, sure,” Liza said. “You told that to Rodney. He’s not the smartest so he didn’t know you were trying to pull something, but I’m not stupid.”

“As you’ve said,” Cas said. She felt Liza was trying to get to the same point with everything she said. Like she was giving out a code that Cas didn’t know if she could cipher.

Liza shrugged without replying to her. She pushed herself up and looked to see what she had been looking at before. The guards didn’t let anyone on or off the bridge. “So tell me what you are doing with a small part of a radiation suit and standing here in the dark like a bat?”

“I’m–”

“Don’t even try to lie,” Liza said. “I already know what you are doing but I want to hear you say it. So go on.”

Liza looked like she didn’t realize that she was putting Cas in an almost awkward position. Cas looked both ways and back at the guards before she looked at Liza. She studied her and wondered if she could trust her.

Liza seemed like someone who didn’t follow the rules of the game she was in. But Cas couldn’t figure out why she chose to play this game when it was obvious all the rules were wrong.

She was caught already. Cas could try to lie, but she was never the best at it. And what else did she have to lose? Her brother is on the bridge sick and hurting people. She’s homeless working at a crappy store.

What was this going to change?

“You know exactly what I’m trying to do,” Cas told her. “I’m going to save Marcus before you all let him die.”

“Yeah, you’re right,” Liza said. “They’ll probably find a way to kill him the second they have him.”

“That’s exactly why I need to get him now.”

Liza stood there and looked at the gloves that Cas had and her mask. She saw that there was no way Cas was going to back down. If it wasn’t now then it was going to be later. Liza smiled and nodded her head. “Those people are like robots though, they will see you immediately.”

“So you aren’t going to say anything to Gabriel or anyone?” Cas asked ready to do something if she decided she would.

“No,” Liza said. “What would you do if I were to?”

“I’d have to find a way to stop you,” Cas said. She never thought that she’d have to act in a place of violence, not now or ever before, but there was a feeling inside of her and it was telling her she had to do whatever it took to get what she wanted. To do whatever she needed to get to Marcus.

“Cool,” Liza said. She moved closer to where Cas stood and looked at the men guarding the bridge better. “Yeah, there is no way you could get in there quietly.”

“Tell me about it,” Cas said. She turned around and focused on the mission instead of anything else. “But I have to get on that bridge now. Not only is every second important but I’m sure Gabriel is going to be himself and find out I’ve gone somehow. Probably how you found out.”

“Do you know Gabriel personally or something?” Liza asked as she loomed over her to see what she was seeing.

“No,” Cas said. “I just know him from my parents. They were scientists too.”

“Oh, yeah, right. Tylers,” Liza said. “It’s still weird that you call him by his first name.”

“Why? Because everyone else is scared to look at him?” Cas asked with an almost laugh. “He’s the least of my problems.”

Liza didn’t say anything and it made Cas wonder if she said something wrong. But she remembered she didn’t have time to wonder about that. She had to push past every little thing and focus on the main goal.

Marcus.

And no one and nothing was going to distract her from that.

“Anyway, I’m going to help you,” Liza told Cas. She stood up and pushed her pants up a little bit. “I’ll go distract them enough to have you sneak through. Let’s test your theory and see if everyone is scared of Mr. Everett.”

Liza walked backward until she was at the clearing between a concrete block and the truck. “Good luck,” was the last thing she said before he turned around and left. Cas moved to the front of the truck to see what Liza was planning to do.

She wanted to look away and focus on her way of sneaking into the building, but all she was wanting was to see what Liza was going to do. She was failing what she had already convinced herself. Not to be distracted by anyone or anything else.

Cas watched Liza walk up in the middle of all of them without a thought or fear. “We’re doing a rotation of men,” she said. “You all are ordered to go over and help at the main base. I’ll stand here while we get the new men ready to guard.”

“You are not cleared to give us orders,” The middle, taller one said holding his gun tightly.

“I’m not, but Mr. Gabriel Everett is. He asked me to tell you himself, I’ll just go tell him you’d like to hear it from himself and not me. Which he sent.”

Liza turned around and as she turned around, she glanced over at Cas and gave her a nod and a smile. Liza walked only four steps more before the taller man said for her to wait. Liza looked back and crossed her arms. She rested her weight on one leg and waited to hear what they had to say.

“Fine,” The taller man said. “We’ll go.”

The taller man jerked his head to all of the men beside him and they walked away leaving Liza alone by herself to stand there.

Liza waited for only a second longer before she got herself over to stand near the truck that Cas hid behind. “You got one shot at this. You need to go.”

“Won’t everyone find out you did this? You’d get… arrested or something right?”

“Don’t worry,” Liza said with a confident smile. “There’s no way I’m getting in trouble. Now go before I call them back here for the fun of it.”

Cas was starting to realize that maybe putting her trust in Liza wasn’t the best idea. She wasn’t playing on anyone’s side and she looked for fun in dangerous places. She was not the kind of person Cas believed she needed.

To find her brother, to get on with her life, she had to avoid the people and the things that would bring her down.

Even though Liza helped her immensely and she never would have been able to do anything without her help, Cas couldn’t try to make her an ally.

“Okay,” Cas said. “Thank you and if you do call somebody, at least let me be on the bridge first.”

“Here take this.” Liza grabbed a flashlight from her belt and threw it at Cas. “Now I’ll give you… twenty seconds before I call someone.”

Cas stepped away from the truck because she couldn’t tell if Liza was being serious or sarcastic. Even if she was being sarcastic, she felt like she did only have twenty seconds to do this. To get this over with.

Cas put on her mask and she ran from the truck to where the men used to stand. She slipped through the cement blockades and got to the entrance of the bridge. It was dark so she had to turn on the flashlight as soon as she stepped away from the lights.

The first thing she saw was a parked car. The door was almost shut and no one was inside. People got out of their cars and ran out of fear.

She couldn’t believe what she was seeing. This wasn’t a movie. It wasn’t a book. This was real and her brother was here and he was the cause of this.

Cas looked forward and saw that there were many more cars like this. Purses and suitcases are scattered on the ground.

She looked back and saw the safely blocked area that nothing could get in. Not the sickness. Only a few ounces of fear could seep through.

Cas turned back and saw the unpredictable fearful place that she had to get through. She didn’t know what was in there and if it would harm her. All she knew is that Marcus, who may or may not be her brother. He’s still in there whether he’s alive or dead. She had to find him.