Commune: The Complete Series: A Post-Apocalyptic Survival Box Set (Books 1-4) by Joshua Gayou

Author:Joshua Gayou [Gayou, Joshua]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Aethon Books
Published: 2020-02-07T07:00:00+00:00

17

HOLY FIRE

J.M.—How goes your great work?

B.C.—So-so, I guess.

J.M.—Problems?

B.C.—Well, some people are a lot more talkative or… more forthright? I guess? Wang has no issue with any of this, and I almost can’t get Oscar to stop once he gets rolling. Others…

J.M.—Yes?

B.C.—Uh… well, Alish for one. She seems fairly resistant to the whole thing. One-word answers and the like, or she’ll just find somewhere else to be.

J.M.—I see.

B.C.—Yeah.

J.M.—She’s a rather striking woman, our Alish, wouldn’t you say?

B.C.—I’m sorry?

J.M.—Striking. Exotic, perhaps? Would you say that “otherworldly” is a fair assessment?

B.C.—I suppose.

J.M.—And what is it about her appearance, do you think, that yields this impression?

B.C.—Well… her eyes sure stand out.

J.M.—Rebecca has rather impressive eyes.

B.C.—Sure.

J.M.—Well, then would you say that Rebecca carries the same impact as Alish? Does she bear that same allure of “otherness”?

B.C.—No, I guess she doesn’t.

J.M.—What is it then, do you think, that causes us to see Alish in this light?

B.C.—I… ugh, it’s hard to describe.

J.M.—She’s Muslim, you know.

B.C.—Oh, come on! Nobody cares about that around here.

J.M.—Of course, of course. But might she care?

B.C.—What?

J.M.—Might we be seeing Alish projected to us through her own eyes, Brian?

B.C.—I… I’m not sure I follow…

J.M.—What’s the worst thing you’ve ever done in your life, Brian?

B.C.—I…

J.M.—After the fall, of course. When we were all scrambling for survival; I don’t refer to scorned lovers or cheated tests, yes?

B.C.—I’d rather not say.

J.M.—Yes. I suspect most if not all of us have some similar experience to one degree or other. Do you think Alish has her own such experience? Do you think someone looking like her would have had to fight harder, say, than someone like Gibs?

B.C.—Yes, that’s possible, I’d say.

J.M.—Why, please?

B.C.—Because… (clears throat)… the nature of certain people…

J.M.—Do you think she carries the experiences of the old world forward with her in this new life here?

B.C.—I think we all do, to some extent.

J.M.—And do you think she might have felt like an outsider of sorts, back in the old world? A form of outsider in the world such as it was?

B.C.—I… ah.

J.M.—Habit is a funny thing, Brian. It is a behavioral process, autonomic in nature and as enigmatic as the mechanism by which memories are formed. We needn’t be surprised, then, when those habits are held to; reinforced by our own fears… or perhaps demons. Alish works to kill hers, I’m sure, but it is a rocky process. How much more isolated must she feel, I wonder, viewed externally as she is through her own eyes; when her own secret knowledge is instinctively and mistakenly superimposed over the minds of those others who watch her?

“Jacob Martin”

Brian Chambers Interview Sessions, Notebook 9, Pg. 12

“Alan! Yo, Alan, wait a minute!”

Alan spun on his heel to face Greg as he ran to catch up to him. They were in the middle of the snowfield, halfway to the Connex homes. His mouth twisted in anger at the sight of his older brother; unwilling to wait for him to close the distance, he spat, “Sacrifice, Greg? Is that what you were gonna do?

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