Reckoning by Mark Tufo

Author:Mark Tufo [Tufo, Mark]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Tags: Adventure, Fiction, General, Science Fiction
ISBN: 9781468184259
Publisher: CreateSpace
Published: 2012-01-06T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 31

“Sir?” There was a quiet rap on the Paul’s door. It was soft enough but it echoed deeply through his migraine. “Sir, are you still awake?”

“What is it, Corporal?” Paul asked as he raised his head up from the cradle of his hands.

“Sir, there is someone here to see you, and he is very adamant.”

“Corporal, I’ve had a very long day at it doesn’t appear that it is going to get any shorter, can this wait until tomorrow?”

“No, Paul! It can’t wait until tomorrow!” Ron said as he pushed by the stunned corporal.

“Sir, you just can’t barge in here, you’ll have to make…”

“It’s alright, Corporal,” Paul said as he dismissed the man. “Ron, it’s good to see you.”

“Is it Paul? If it’s so good, why has it taken two weeks for you to do so?”

“Ron, you must realize what kind of endeavor this is. It takes everything I have to run this place.”

“Cut the crap, Paul. I’ve known you for a long time. I was the first person that found you lying in a pool of puke after your first run-in with Michelob.” Paul was visibly uncomfortable with Ron’s barrage. Leadership was a fragile existence; he didn’t need any stories like this leaking out and undermining his authority.

“Paul I cleaned you up and got you sober enough so that you didn’t spend the majority of your high school career grounded.”

“What do you want, Ron?”

“I want the truth, Paul. Where is my brother? Dennis has been giving me nothing but stall tactics. Every time I corner him on the subject, he turns tail and runs. What is going on, Paul? You owe me that much.”

“Do I, Ron? Do I owe you that much? What have I given you so far? Let’s see, the safety and well being of your family in this completely turned on its ear world. Is that not enough?!” Paul shouted. The weight of the day was beginning to collapse around him.

Now it was Ron’s turn to go on the defensive. “You know, Paul, that I’ll never be able to repay you for the sanctity you have provided for my family. I just want to know what has happened to my brother, your best friend.”

The fury drained out of Paul as fast as it had accumulated. “He was a spy,” Paul muttered.

“I… I can’t believe that, I won’t believe that,” Ron stammered as he backed up. Perhaps he was thinking that maybe, if he distanced himself from Paul’s words, it would make them less unbelievable.

“I couldn’t believe it either, Ron. If it makes it any easier, he wasn’t a spy in the traditional sense.”

“I… I don’t understand. What do you mean ‘in the traditional sense’?” Ron’s face had turned ashen with the realization of Paul’s words. Ron knew the fragility in which this encampment was set up. Extreme measures were constantly required to ensure the safety of the enclave.

“He didn’t know he was a spy.”

Ron’s face took on the look of a freshman trying to undertake his first trig problem.

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