To Be A Leader

Chapter 55: Your Cheatin' Heart

Not that I would ever know. I'd still be in America.

But that's the thing about the apocalypse. As years go by, nature reclaims everything bit by bit. I've seen it happen, although I rarely take the time to acknowledge it. A part of me wonders though, how much progress we could have made in these past seven years had the apocalypse never come. There were so many things that never even got to see the light, masterpieces that will probably never be recognized.

There was a man who was making a musical about Alexander Hamilton. I remember because I found out just after learning about him in history class. The musical was supposed to come out in 2015 on Broadway. A lady from my church was a big musical junky. She probably would have loved it.

Too bad it never got to see the light of day.

But a lot of progress has been made, in a way. AIs like A.N.N.I.E. did exist before the apocalypse, but so very people knew about them. The progress we've made is bringing out things that already existed into the light. Although, with all the trauma that's come with it, maybe it would have been best to leave it in the dark.

"Hey, Sam?" I ask softly, forcing myself to focus back on the mission rather than these fleeting, meaningless thoughts. "Do you think you could patch us back in?"

"You sure you want to hear what Sigrid's saying about us?"

"Couldn't be any worse than what Ian Golightly said about us in his broadcasts."

I hear him shudder. "God, please don't remind me of those."

"Sorry, Jerry."

"Five!" He yells, and I giggle, still having a hard time believing that Ian actually tried to convince people that Sam was head of Netrophil at one point. "Ugh, you can be so mean sometimes, do you know that? Anyway, patching you back in now."

"The dates and times here line up with our information. It looks as though it was Abel Township who stole fuel from you, as well." Jules laughs dryly. "They really have tried to frame us for everything.

"We've had a brief discussion here about what you've told us. We can't promise to become allies, Minister, but we are willing to parley."

Sigrid hums in approval. "As a show of good faith, I have a shipment of the cure at your northern border now. Parksdale crossing. I am willing to share it. I only have one thing to request."

"Go on?" She asks in interest. Her acting is amazing.

"You have allowed Abel Township to build a transmitter in your territory. There are several senior Abel runners in your territory running toward it. Capture them for me. We will exchange it for vials of the cure, and I very much hope this will be the beginning of a mutually satisfactory trading relationship."

Sam sucks in a sharp breath as he cuts the transmission once more. "Do you think Sigrid bought it, Janine?"

I don't hear Janine's answer, because there's a sudden woosh of air as something blurry flies by my face, lodging itself into a tree with a thud. I stumble, looking at the crossbow bolt that's now stuck in the tree.

"Looks like the Exmoore Militia are doing their bit to sell it," Jody says with wide eyes. "Tom, Five, we've got to play our part too. Come on. Run!"

With how close that arrow was to lodging itself into my brain instead of that tree, I don't hesitate. I run as fast as I can, more bolts flying towards us. None of them are wide shots, but none of them were as close to hitting something vital as that first one was. They still like to cut it close, though.

"God, Jody, did you give them lessons on shooting?" I ask, but she laughs.

"If I did, they wouldn't miss."