Fire in the Ashes

“I didn't like shots of penicillin when I was sixteen, either; but I had the clap."

Chase grimaced, then laughed. “You do turn such a delicate phrase, boy. All right. You've got approximately six thousand people in this area. We're going to rebuild. But what are we going to rebuild, Ben? Ben ... your people more than love you—they worship you. You're like a god to many of them."

Ben heard himself saying, “That's a little strong, Lamar.” But he knew it wasn't.

“Ben, I heard some little boys and girls talking the other day. They were talking about you being infallible. ‘You can't die!’ they said. ‘You fought a monster and killed it.’ They talked about how many times you've been shot and hurt and blown up. And they have to get it from the parents.” He pointed to Ben's old Thompson SMG. “And they constantly refer to you and that weapon as one and the same. Put it up, Ben. Retire that old Chicago Piano. Get yourself an AK or an M-10 or ... anything. I mean it, Ben."

This time around Ben could not believe it about his Thompson. His laugh was genuine. “Lamar, it's just an object."

Chase did not share in the humor. “So was, I believe,” he reminded Ben, “Baal."

* * * *

The killing of the mutant became a fading memory in the mind of Ben. It was something that had to be done, it was over, so don't make a big deal of it.

And to him, it was not.

But to his followers, it remained vivid, much more so with each telling.

As summer drifted on, and much of the hard work was over, Ben became restless. He would find himself looking about, seeing nothing but images in his mind. Remembering his lonely but satisfying traveling and wandering of ‘88 and ‘89. And it filled him with longing.

Those whom he would allow close to him sensed this, but did not know what to do about it. Only the brash little Rosita had the courage to confront Ben.

“You walk around here looking like some stone-faced Mayan god, General. What's the matter?"

He did his best to glare at her, but all she did was stick out her tongue at him and screw her face up into some awful-looking mask.

“That's the way you look, Ben. You could make a living frightening little children.” She reached out and tickled him.

Ben laughed and playfully slapped her hands away. He looked around to see if anyone had observed this behavior—definitely out of character for him.

“Let's take a trip, Rosita. Get the hell out of Dodge for a few days."

“So where are we going, General?"

“Let's see what Little Rock looks like."

* * * *

If Ben thought he and Rosita could slip off without company, he should have known better. He was reminding himself of that as the caravan pulled out early the next morning.

A full platoon of the Rebel army accompanied them. Guards to the rear, guards in front.

“No band?” Ben had sarcastically asked Ike.

“I always wanted to see Little Rock,” Ike sidestepped the question.

“Yeah, ol’ buddy,” Ben said. “I just bet."

* * * *

Little Rock was a dead city. Twelve years of neglect and looting had reduced it to blackened girders, stark against the backdrop of blue skies and burned-out buildings. Dead rats lay stinking in heaps on the streets.

Ben drove by a high school that looked somehow familiar to him. Then he remembered why. Troops had been sent to this high school back in the ‘50s, to integrate it.

He told Rosita as much.

She did not seem all that interested.

“Aren't you interested in history, Rosita?” he asked.

She shrugged. “It don't put pork chops on the table, Ben."

“What?"

Her smile was sad. “Ben—I can't read much."

“Dear God,” Ben muttered. He glanced at her. “You must have been about eight when the bombs came. Right?"

“Nine."

“How much schooling since then?"

“Plenty in the school of hard knocks."

“Don't be a smart-ass, short-stuff."

“Not much, Ben. I read very slowly and skip over the big words."

“You know anything at all about nouns, pronouns, adverbs—sentence construction?"

“No,” her reply was softly given.

“Then I will see that you learn how to read, Rosita,” Ben told her. “It's imperative that everyone know how to read."

“I've got by without it,” she replied defensively.

“What about your children?” Ben asked. “Damn it, short-stuff, this is what I've been trying to hammer into people's heads. You people are make-or-break for civilization. I don't know why you can't see that."

He stopped the truck in a part of the city that appeared to be relatively free of dead rodents. They got out and walked.

“So I and my niños can learn to make atomic bombs and again blow up the world, Ben? So we can read the formulas for making killing germs? I..."

“Heads up, General!” A Rebel called. “To your left."

Ben and Rosita turned. Ben heard her sharp intake of breath.

"Dios mio!" she hissed.

The man approaching them, angling across the littered street was the man in her dreams. Bearded and robed and carrying a long staff.

He stopped in the middle of the street, and Ben looked into the wildest eyes he had ever witnessed.

And the thought came to him, the oldest.

“My God,” someone said. “It's Moses."