“You didn’t look for her?” he said brokenly. “There was… nothing?”
“We didn’t dare, Mister Atchley. You saw what the world is becoming. We were almost killed more than once on our way to town. One of our friends did die saving the rest of us. Including your kids.”
He buried his face in his hands and started sobbing.
“I’ll go get your kids,” I said. “Actually, I’ll send someone. I’ll sit with you.” I stood up and stuck my head in the tent.
“Dave, front and center. Get out here in two minutes or you’re fired.” I ignored the sounds of protest at my voice.
Atchley was still crying when Dave walked blearily into the sunshine.
“What is it, James?” he said, before he noticed the weeping man. He gave me a confused look.
“Go to the dining area, and tell them Sally and Billy’s dad is here. Bring them back with Mike and Samantha, please.” I gave him a ‘get going’ gesture and he nodded and started off.
Several minutes later, Mike, Samantha, and the kids arrived. I stood and gave Atchley a gentle nudge on the shoulder. He looked up and saw his children, and ran to them, sobbing.
“Daddy, daddy!” shouted Sally, and then he swept them up in a giant embrace.
Samantha looked at me sadly. “We’ll talk to him, James. Go get something to eat.”
“Thanks, Samantha,” I said quietly.
“You can’t do everything,” she said, and gave me a faint smile. “So stop trying.”
“Yes, ma’am” I said, and she smiled a little broader.
Before I went inside to find out if anybody else was hungry, I looked around. The world had changed so much, and something told me it was barely getting started. We were safe, for the moment. But if we wanted our lives to be anything more than huddling in the Exclusion Zone forever, we were going to have to go back out there.
We had Credits to earn, Levels to gain, friends and family to find, and a world to take back.
And that started today.
End of Book I.