2nd Disclosure by L M Glomar

Author:L M Glomar [Glomar, L M]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2021-08-10T00:00:00+00:00

Night falls. The mayor comes to see them. The pastor of the church, also. They pray together while Lavie watches from the side. He knows scared people grasping at any straw of hope when he sees it.

But that’s not what the fugitives look like and it’s not what Monroe looks like. They look nervous. She looks mildly impatient.

“Bring everyone to the chapel,” she tells the mayor. “All the children inside. Everyone who can fit. The rest of them as close to the building as they can get. Everyone should be praying. Heads bowed. Eyes closed. No matter what they see or hear, they shouldn’t look up. Tell them to bring blindfolds if they think they might.”

“Are they...” the mayor wants to know, “In danger?”

“Not physical danger,” Sierra says. She lets them see the baby and then sends them on their way.

“I feel like I need to say this,” Lavie says when—way too late—Sierra is finally not needed to comfort or direct, “but having everyone packed together might not be the safest arrangement.”

“It’ll be okay,” she tells him. She looks exhausted. Irritated by the heat and the weight of the day and the interminable waiting. “You can get us to Israel? You have a plane ready? Crown doesn’t know?”

“It’s all ready,” he promises. “Your parents are already there waiting for you.”

She glances at him. Studies his face. “You don’t think we’ll make it.”

“I don’t know what to think,” Lavie says honestly.

She nods. “It’s okay.” She forgives him for his lack of faith. Finds it understandable. Doesn’t care. “You’ve killed people?”

“Some,” Lavie says.

She wants to ask questions about it. Doesn’t know the questions to ask. “Did it bother you?”

“That is a complicated question,” Lavie says. “No. Mostly. I did it in defense of myself or my country. The men I killed were not good people.”

She nods.

“Some of them bother me.” He tells her.

She nods again, staring out at the dark horizon.

“Are you...? I understand you...” Hm. “Philip told me you’d hurt some people you

encountered in the Exclusion Zone.”

She looks at him and laughs softly. “He told you that? That I hurt people?”

“Well. He didn’t say ‘hurt.’”

“I upset Philip,” she tells him.

“I’d say so,” he says. “I’m not... I mean I don’t know you at all. I’m not qualified to help or anything, but if you want to talk about it, I promise—whatever you say, it won’t upset me.”

For a long, silent moment, nothing. Then she nods slowly, not looking at him. “Did you enjoy killing?”

“Never,” Lavie says. “I was proud of the work I did protecting people I care about. I was relieved when it was done. It was exciting, sometimes. But no. It’s not the kind of thing you enjoy.”

“When I was thirteen,” she tells him, “The aliens took me. They took things from my body. They tortured me. Traumatized me.” She shakes her head. “You know what hurt way, way worse than that?”

No.

“My parents,” she says. “They couldn’t deal with it. I mean, of course they didn’t believe it. But they just couldn’t deal with me falling apart.

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