THE LIT FUSE

  Liza: Holy shit. What did the letter say?

  Hank: It seems sick now when I think about it, what we had to do to survive. This was one of those scariest moments for us, simply becuase of the unknown, we had never lived like this before and the world still was trying to be normal, people still walked their dogs, but they carried bats, we still went to the grocery store but the store had less and less food. Pops and I had a very strong belief that everything was going to be okay, and that the world would restore itself to normal again. We didn’t have the popular opinion in our family, that was for sure, so we often just kept our mouths shut. So we just lived day to day… waiting. For a long time normal life was just on hold, schools were closed because of gang violence and the riots. As a teacher I didn't have any work to get to or be stressed about. I worried about my students, all the time. I worked in a inner city, very underprivileged school and I knew that if we were struggling some of my students were straight up starving… it made me physically ill every time I thought about it for too long. Your mother worked from home a lot even before The Fall, but most businesses had slowed down, temporarily stopped or shut down completely… so your mother didn’t have much to do either. She always had trouble sitting still, the house never looked cleaner and we all had new crocheted blankets by the end of that first couple of weeks.

  Time started doing that weird thing where you’re not 100% sure what day it is or how many days life is taking. You start to wonder if I’ve already done that chore today or was that yesterday, how many times can a man simply wander around his house before he goes insane. Good thing we had you, you kept us all present and focused in the midst of that pressure cooker of craziness. All 5 of us locked into that house, I love my parents but no one felt comfortable leaving to go anywhere, except for dire esssentials, so it meant that we were locked in. Gun shots, screams and blasts could be heard regularly outside, some far away and some close by. I knew things had to change. Our lives couldn’t remain like this. Plus we knew that eventually, we were going to run out of food.

  Liza: Dad! The letter!?

  Hank: Im getting to it. (Laughs) You’ve opened the flood gates now darling. I can’t guarantee whats gonna come out. The letter had revealed a lot and nothing all at the same time. Jack explained that he couldn’t add much detail for fear of the letter getting intercepted or read by the wrong person. However, the bombshell was that Jack was alive! Gma cried for at least an hour after she heard the news. He was with a small band of The Brothers, close by, and that's all he could tell us for now.

  Liza: Band of Brothers?

  Hank: The Brothers or the Brotherhood. The name of one of the groups that was fighting against The AI. Your Uncle Jack was one of the founding members. I was proud of him and mad at him all at the same time. It was wholly selfish what he did. He knew it was going to drive a stake into our family. It nearly killed Gma when she found out. We didn't hear from him either, after a month of no contact, we saw his face on the news as a wanted criminal against the state. Federal Agents were harassing Gma and Pops for weeks, luckily they truly knew nothing. After Jack's first arrest he went to jail and then never contacted our family again. Until now.

  Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

  In the letter Jack had told us that trying to get in touch with him was too dangerous. Jack and I never really saw eye to eye on a lot of things. He was always more career focused, obsessed with politics and everything that was happening in the government. He never once put family first, even his first marriage failed because he couldn’t give her the time she needed. She was a nice girl that Jack just trampled over. Why does it feel like in order to save the world you have to sacrfice hurting those that love you the most? The cause is noble and I'm not saying that it’s the wrong thing to do but abandoning someone you claim to love for some shot at glory. That was not my path, I needed to hold onto those people that I loved and make sure they made it through this, alive.

  Jack made it clear however that he was close, close enough to keep an eye on the house if we ever needed some fire power. I laughed out loud when I read that, fire power, who says that? Gma shot me a strong look when I chuckled reading the letter. She will always love Jack no matter what, and hold him in the highest place. According to her Jack’s wife was just simply too needy. Jack also had a plan just in case we needed his help. He asked us to set up a light in the top attic window of the house. This would let him know that we got the letter. Then if ever we needed help from him and the brothers, he told us to put the light in the top window again. If the brothers saw it then Jack would bring the cavalry. All I could think about was how badly I wanted to punch Jack in the face for his arrogance and how badly I never wanted to put up this silly signal.

  We did what we were told. Pops followed the instructions to the letter. I followed Pops up to the attic.

  Pops: I’d like to say something. Jack if you’re watching please stay safe. Oh lord please keep this precious family safe. Both the ones inside and especially the ones outside fighting the good fight.

  Hank: (Silence)

  Pops: Please watch over us and help us find some peace in these tough times.

  (Silence)

  Hank: Sound immediately came out of my mouth, “I, I want... I hope that we all can find comfort in one another. I dream that one day we look back on this moment and smile, us all together now holding hands with a candle lit. This is a beautiful moment right here and now. I love you all.”

  Pops went back down stairs, I stayed up there, I rarely came up to the attic so I think I was rummaging through some boxes when reality hit me like a ton of bricks. There was a very real possibility that we were going to have to defend ourselves with more than just bats or car doors. Nothing scared me more than the idea of armed conflict. It was a concept that was like a distant planet, alien to me and it sent shivers down my spine.

  Just that small little tussle at the ATM left me rattled and shaken for days. Guns and firearms weren’t even in that equation. I was trying to imagine what I would do, what would be my reaction if someone with a gun ever tried to enter this house or was already in the house. I could picture myself doing everything, being the hero, sacrificing myself to save everyone. I could also see myself being the coward, the guy who hid paralyzed with fear while his family was slaughtered.

  I prayed that that level of violence never reached this house, never touched this family… God must have been a little busy at that time that day because little did I know that The Fall was still just getting started. There was still so much more to face before we’d see peace ever again.