The Apocalypse: Life After Death

Chapter 9: Peices of the Puzzle

“Did you have any idea how long you and your men were planning on staying to help?”

“Is the original agreement not long enough?”

“I’m not sure to be honest,” I pause, grabbing a notebook from my desk and opening it. “We’re having a hard time finding people who are willing to join us after what happened. Even with the pay and housing arrangements in order, people would much rather stay where they are at this point then risk their lives to an unknown enemy.”

“Still no idea who could be behind all this?” I sigh and sit back in my seat.

“We’ve questioned every single guard no one has caved and copped to it.” I shake my head. “We’re running out of options.” It’s hard when you have a job to protect so many people and you feel like you’re not doing a good job at it. I can’t help but wonder if I had been here that night would all those people have died, could I have done something?

“I know you blame yourself Ashley, you know, for what happened to your guards. But you can’t because if you do the guilt will just eat you up inside.”

“Yeah, I know a little about that.” I speak up quickly.

“You feel guilty about something?” He asks and it catches me off guard.

“A lot of things.”

“Anything in particular you want to talk about?” He asks. I narrow my eyes and him, why is he prodding so much? “Did you cheat on Spencer or something?” He chuckles and I shake my head, the mood changing.

"God no, I would never do that to Spencer.”

“Love of your life huh?”

“Yeah, pretty much the only person that I care about as much as Kyla. Can I ask you something Eric?” He nods. “Do you love my sister or did you just hook up with her because you wanted to-“

“Yes.” He cuts me off quickly. “I did… I do love your sister but I kind of knew deep down that she’d never leave Angel. “I think they have that epic love thing going for them.” He half smiles.

I nod, “Yeah, they are good together when they aren’t at each other’s throats. I don’t think I can remember a time when my sister was so happy.” He drops his head and I feel a little bad for saying it. “I’m sure she cared for you too.” I add. “But like me and Spencer, she and Angel are kind of just soul mates.” He nods and stands up from his chair.

“Yeah, you’re probably right. My group and I will stay as long as you need us.”

"That’s amazing, thanks Eric. I don’t know how to thank-“

“Madam Vice President you have Angel on line two for you.” Jason sticks his head in, he never interrupts a meeting, something’s not right.

I grab the phone and push the two, “Angel?”

"She’s not here, she wasn’t here Ashley. Spencer says she hasn’t seen her since yesterday morning. Jace said he dropped her off at the house, but she wasn’t there Ashley, no one has seen her.” Angel tells me frantically and I beg her to calm down. I’m sure there is a reasonable explanation to this.

“Don’t worry about it, I’m sure she’s just somewhere cooling off. Have Jace and a few guys drive out to the new housing developments, some of them are nearly complete, maybe she just wanted some time to herself to think things over. “

“Something doesn’t feel right to me, Ashely. Kyla would never-“

“Don’t worry about it.” I cut her off. “We’re gonna find her.” I assure her. The last thing we need right now is to panic. I’m sure Kyla’s just off somewhere being Kyla. “I’ll get some guards out to search outside the city just in case she went crazy and decided to go for a walk or something.”

“Okay.” She releases a breath. “I’ll help Jace and just know that when we find her, I’m gonna kill her.” Angel adds, trying to remain serious but I see right through it.

“Okay,” I chuckle. “Get back to me to me with any info.”  I tell her and we hang up the phone.

“Kyla is missing?” He asks, concern evident in his tone.

“I’m sure it’s nothing.” I wave him off. “She was probably just upset about the fight and needed some time to think.”

“I can get a few of my men on in search.” He says quickly.

I smile, “Thanks but we need your guys keeping guard, I’m sure we’ll find her within the hour, no need to cause a panic.” He sighs and nods.

“I should be getting back. Let me know if you find her?” He asks and I nod before he heads out of my office.

I sit down in chair and sigh, shaking my head. Kyla always has been a dramatic one. She used to do this when she was a kid. I’d get mad at her and she’d disappear somewhere in the house to make me worry so I’d come looking for her and by the time I found her I wasn’t mad at her anymore. I thought I stopped falling for it as we got older… I guess not.

I roll my eyes as I think about where Kyla could be and how much I was going to scold her when we found her.  And suddenly Eric’s words replay in my head. He said to let him know if we find her, not when…

I jump up from my chair and call Jason. “Yes Madam Vice President?”

“Is Eric already gone?”

“Oh yes ma’am, he got out of here in a hurry. Did you want me to try to catch him?” He asks but I’m barely listening. I’m going over everything in my head trying to make things make sense. I’m trying to put together the pieces to a puzzle and I don’t know what the big picture is.

“No.” I shake my head. “Have my detail meet me outside, I need to go somewhere.” I tell him. He nods, scurrying out my office.

I’ve always had this instinct about people, you know… the one that tells you whether they are inherently good or not… I’ve never been able to really read Eric. I mean, I didn’t trust him when he first came into our camp but he explained all that away… maybe a little too conveniently. I close my eyes, trying to take in everything my brain is screaming at me right now. It doesn’t make sense. None of this makes sense. I don’t see how the pieces fit.

“Your detail is ready.” Jason peeks his head in again. I nod once, going back to my desk to grab something I have a gut feeling I may need. I check the clip for bullets, then stuff in into the back of my pants.  I’ve gonna get to the bottom of this, one way or another.