CHAPTER FOUR 

Even though Hank was much older than Jacob, he was immensely stronger. To Jacob’s bewilderment, Hank appeared to be quite skilled at close quarters combat. He broke Jacob’s hold on him in one brisk move. Raising his hands next, he pushed hard against Jacob’s shoulders. Jacob stumbled backwards several feet before coming to a halt.

“No, I haven’t!” Hank spat. 

Hank reached for the metal triangle on the porch. He grabbed the bracket that hung from it and struck the triangle’s insides several times. The device rang loud and the boys came running to the porch. A few of them already had weapons in their hands—rifles by the looks of it. Hank grabbed one of the M16’s from the boys. He tossed it to Jacob. 

“Leon, Atlas!” Hank ordered, “accompany Jacob to his shack. Eliminate the threat.” 

Armed with a pair of rifles more augmented than the rest, the two boys turned and headed for the fenceline without hesitation. Jacob didn’t bother to wait for instruction. He chased after the boys and hurtled the fence shortly after they did. By now, the shooting at the shack had ceased. Whatever was happening there now, Jacob prayed Emily was all right.

“Jacob!” Hank called from the porch. “Those are my boys! You listen to them! Do not fire until they fire! They are trained. You are not! Follow their lead!”

Atlas and Leon were sprinting through the brush at a pace Jacob could not match. When they came to the edge of the field alongside Jacob’s shack, they skidded to a stop and crouched low to the ground. Jacob barreled to a stop close beside them.   

Jacob’s eyes were wild with alarm. Staring across the field to his home, he could see Godiva’s limp body resting on the ground. At the front of the shack, three black horses stood without riders. Sounds of scuffling could be heard coming from inside the dwelling. 

“She killed him!” a man shouted angrily. "What was that! What the hell was that!"

The door to Jacob’s shack burst opened. Two men could be seen dragging Emily by her hair toward the horses. Jacob instantly raised his rifle to fire, but Atlas jerked the barrel of the weapon down to the ground. 

“You’ll hit her—wait!” the young man commanded.

Jacob clenched his teeth together in frustration. 

“Kill the horses!” he said through his teeth.

Leon and Atlas seemed to agree. The three of them raised their rifles, aimed, and fired. Two of the horses collapsed to the ground. The third took off running into the woods. The shock of the sight caused one of the men holding Emily let her go. The other pulled her out of sight behind the shack. Jacob, Atlas, and Leon opened fire on the man standing by himself. One of them hit him. He fell to the ground limp as a ragdoll.

“Let go of my wife!” Jacob called out while standing to his feet. He advanced upon the shack with his weapon raised. 

Atlas and Leon got up as well and hurried toward the back of the shack. Everyone kept their guns pointing straight ahead as they moved. It wasn’t until Jacob saw Emily being carried away on horseback that his mouth dropped open in disbelief and his weapon fell loose from his hands.

“No!” he yelled. “No! Not my baby! I’ll kill you!”

Apparently, there had been a fourth sentry hidden out of sight. He had scooped Emily up from the other sentry before fleeing to the city. Atlas and Leon pursued the third sentry on foot while Jacob watched the fourth disappear down the dirt road that ran alongside his home. 

Jacob realized he couldn’t just stand there and do nothing. Forcing his attention away from the heartbreaking sight, he directed it to the weapon at his feet. He retrieved the rifle and sprinted towards his shack. As he trekked across his field, he passed by Godiva’s body. He couldn’t tell exactly what was wrong with her, and she still wasn’t moving. 

Once inside the shack, Jacob stepped over the body of one of the sentries. Emily had gotten the better of him before being overpowered. He was proud of her for that, but he couldn’t think about her right now, either. To think of her was to feel panic, fear.

The pistol they had found in the ground lay on the floor at the sentry's head. Jacob plucked it from the floorboards. Rushing to his cache of weapons next, he threw everything he could onto his body. The pistol went into the back of his pants. Two rifles hung from straps on his shoulders. A third he carried in his hands. Several ammo clips went into a satchel along his hip. A MRE, med kit, and a bottle of water went into a knapsack around his back. After that, he darted out the door. He took off jogging for the city. Behind him, he could hear gunfire breaking out. No doubt, Atlas and Leon had tracked down the third sentry and brought an end to his existence. Now, there was only the fourth sentry to deal with, and he had Emily. Driven mad with anger, Jacob hurried as fast as he could for the cesspool that was the city.

The city had started out as a grand utopian experiment designed to blend man and nature harmoniously together. Roads were little more than dirt trails. Houses were painted bright colors to reflect heat back into the atmosphere. Trees were interspersed between buildings. Vines grew widely everywhere and on everything. Many homes and businesses were covered over with dirt to make use of the thermoregulation the Earth provided. Energy came from countless windmills and biofuels. Water came from wells. Waste was eliminated into selected areas for biodegrading. Neighborhoods maintained stinking compost heaps for future farming. And food came from vegetable gardens, orchids, and farms. Animals were off limits, though. The most one could do to them was milk them or collect their eggs. Consequently, everyone was either a strict vegetarian or a lacto-ovo vegetarian. 

For a time, the cities succeeded in achieving harmony with nature. Everything ran smoothly and the people were able to rest and relax, for all was self-sustaining. But when the population began to grow, leaders worried about a return to humanity’s old ways. Therefore, strict requirements were placed on family size, and a campaign was initiated to woo young women into self-sterilization for the purposes of reducing mankind’s carbon footprint. Unfortunately, the movement evolved into an overarching attack on the nucleus of society: the family. People were encouraged to forgo the standard man-woman monogamous relationship. As a result, gender roles were erased, social norms evaporated, and promiscuity and STDs sky-rocketed.

Ultimately, the goal of the movement failed, for the population continued to rise. Voluntary sterilization became mandatory after a woman or a family had their first child. Drugs used to reduce a person’s libido became daily requirements by the State. Most people ignored the pills, though. The damage was already done. No one knew how to conduct themselves anymore. Sloth and debauchery became the mainstay. 

The windmills broke down. The gardens stopped growing. The compost heaps grew larger and filthier. People ignored the utopian ideals. They abandoned them for a return to modern comforts. The only problem was, no one knew how to build and maintain those luxuries anymore. Stepping into the cities now, was like stepping into a shanty-town. Everything was stacked on top of something else. Trash, like the vinery of the city, was strewn all over the landscape. Laws were ignored, for people did as they pleased.

Jacob entered the city in time to see the golden sun above begin its daily descent into the Western horizon. It was hard to tell exactly where the city started and the forest ended. At first, there were houses and business hidden sparingly among the thick brush of the woodland. But after a while, Jacob found himself surrounded by shacks stacked 3 or 4 stories high with mounds of trash stretching off into the distance like a hedgerow. 

By now, Emily had been in the hands of the sentry for over an hour. He knew time was of the essence. One malicious kick to her stomach is all it would take to kill their child and shatter what remained of Emily’s mind. Jacob’s stomach turned at the thought. 

Darting quickly around the trash piles and the shacks, Jacob approached a series of brightly colored buildings that had been created at the city’s founding. A lone horse was waiting outside the building that belonged to the sentries. A boy was holding the horse by its reins while feeding it a carrot. It was unlawful to tie the horse to a post as some had done in the past since doing so would violate the animal’s rights.

Jacob rushed toward the white building. His weapons bounced loosely around his thin frame as he went. Several people took notice of him as he moved toward the modern-looking structure. Jacob paid them no mind, though. All he could think about was Emily and their unborn child. Sure, he was exhausted from his run. He was breathing loudly and his malnourished body was covered in sweat. But his mind compelled him forward. Before he knew it, he had burst through the door and drawn his weapon on a man sitting behind one of the desks in the main room. 

“Where is she!” Jacob shouted between gasps of air. 

The man furrowed his brow. He dropped his gaze to the weapon in Jacob’s hands. The look he gave conveyed confusion, uncertainty. Several people behind the man suddenly stood to their feet. They reached for the nightsticks and advanced toward Jacob. 

“Don’t make me shoot you!” Jacob threatened. “Where is she!”

Option 1: fire a warning shot.

Option 2: shoot to kill.