Free A New World: Conspiracy by John O'Brien Page A

his breath coming in ragged gasps,
and kneels down. Gonzalez meets his eyes, pats his shoulder, and
rises.
    Through his sobs, Drescoll utters, “Oh,
Allie…why? You were the only bright light in this world. Why did
you have to leave?”
    Drescoll places his arms underneath Allie’s
limp form, and gently, with great tenderness, he scoops her up. His
tears splash on her vest and, turning, he carries her slowly to his
Humvee.
    Watching, I feel my heart fill even more
with a great sadness, grabbing hold of it and squeezing. More tears
fill my eyes and spill out, marching down my cheeks. Gonzalez wipes
her tears away, leaving more dirty streaks, and joins Drescoll
where he is laying McCafferty’s body in the vehicle. Gonzalez
helps, smoothing out Allie’s hair and, together, with gentleness
and caring, they make her seem more at peace.
    I watch as Drescoll falls to his knees
outside of the Humvee and takes Allie’s hand. He holds it to his
face and I see his shoulders begin to shake anew. Gonzalez remains
with him with her hand on his shoulder.
    I look down at our prisoner. I kept him here
hoping that the scene would appeal to his humanity in some regard –
that he would see what he caused and for his façade crumble, but he
just looks on with the same expressionless face.
    Drescoll gingerly, and ever so gently,
places Allie’s hand in her lap and turns in our direction. The
incredible sadness etched across his face turns into a storm of
rage when he sees our prisoner – the transformation startling.
Pulling his sidearm, he marches across the waist high grass, making
a beeline in our direction.
    Gonzalez catches up to Drescoll and grabs
his arm. He shucks her off, but she reaches out again, more firmly
this time. He turns angrily toward her and she begins talking.
After a moment, he lowers his head and holsters his Beretta. He
then resumes his march, coming to a halt directly before the
kneeling prisoner.
    “You are on borrowed time. You get to live
for now but, know this, at some point, I will hurt you. I will hurt
you bad!” Drescoll states.
    The man, staring defiantly at Drescoll,
utters his first words. “We all die sometime, mate.” The accent is
unmistakable.
    “Who said anything about dying?” Drescoll
says with soft menace.
    Drescoll stalks back to the Humvee, stands
next to it, and strokes Allie’s hair.
     

Payment Comes Due
    Climbing into the helicopter a short time
later with Lynn in the left seat, I call back to the compound and
give them a brief synopsis that includes Lynn’s rescue, the loss of
McCafferty, and the subsequent capture of her killer. As the rotors
spin up overhead, I look over at Lynn and give her a smile. I’m
thrilled beyond measure that she is safe and back with us. I don’t
know what I would have done if I had lost her. I feel like
everything is hanging on edge as it is. To say the last few months
have been stressful would be the understatement of the century. I
know the others feel it as well and it’s only a matter of time
before that spills into our group.
    During the short hop back to Cabela’s, I
talk with Frank and Bannerman about emptying one of the smaller
shipping containers and having it brought into the loading dock.
Setting down in the parking lot, I see a multitude gathering
already. Shutting down, Lynn steps out to be greeted by a host of
people; some shaking her hand, some clapping her on the shoulder,
while others wrap her in quick hugs, welcoming her back.
    I continue sitting in the right seat
watching the others greet her with warm smiles. Frank and Bannerman
give her the biggest of hugs and then step to the side, apparently
waiting for me. I give them a head nod and remain in my seat. I’m
joyous to have Lynn back and can feel the uplift in energy from our
group of survivors. However, I also feel drained. It’s normal to
have a post-adrenaline letdown, but I feel like I have no energy
left at all. I’m tired and don’t want to move from the seat…and