Free Prisoner 3-57: Nuke Town by Simon Smith-Wilson

carriages.
    I
was looking for my sister.
    I
found Rose in carriage two. She was nursing Clay. Her boyfriend had
suffered a horrific wound to his face. He was alive, but now blind.
In my books that made him a liability, as he made us slow, but I
wasn’t going to say that to Rose.
    ‘ Can’t
sleep?’ I asked her.
    Rose
had been lost in her thoughts, as she watched the world beyond the
train.
    ‘ No.
Have you seen what is waiting for us?’
    I
nodded a reply.
    ‘ You
think we will make it?’
    ‘ Just
stay close to me,’ I told her.
    Rose
smiled a sweet soft smile. It was a smile I missed.
    ‘ You
always did take care of me, Brother.’
    ‘ That
is what a big brother is for.’
    ‘ No,’
replied Rose, ‘you gave up everything for me. It must have been
hard for you. I know I wasn’t normal. I had schizophrenia. I
was sick. I did horrible things. I forced mother away. I made fathers
life a living hell. I killed that doctor...’
    ‘ He
was touching you.’
    ‘ I
still killed him,’ she said, looking sad.
    ‘ What
happened to you?’ I had to know the truth.
    ‘ You
mean after I was raped by that mob?’
    The
very memory of it sickened me.
    I
had managed to kill six of the men, but one escaped with terrible
wounds.
    ‘ You
were sentenced to life in prison on the moon colony,’ continued
Rose. ‘I was shipped back to Earth. Father took care of me.’
    ‘ What
about the psychiatrist that you killed?’
    ‘ You
mean, why aren’t I in jail?’
    I
replied with a second nod.
    ‘ Dad
took the blame for it.
    ‘ What?’
    ‘ He
went to jail to protect me, but...’
    ‘ What
is it?’ I asked.
    ‘ You
have to remember he loved you, Christopher.’ Rose took a long
deep breath and paused momentarily. ‘Before he admitted to
killing the doctor he came to see you.’
    ‘ I
don’t remember that. I haven’t seen dad since we left
Earth.’
    ‘ That
is a shame. He did love you.’
    Why
did she keep saying that?
    ‘ Dad
was offered a deal by The Warden of the prison. He paid for my
treatment in exchange for you going into the Prisoner Program.’
    I
recalled the dream I had earlier.
    Was
that dream real? I don’t remember something like that
happening.
    ‘ In
the last five years technology has moved forward in leaps and bounds.
You would be amazed at some of the things that we could do. They
found cures to all illnesses, they built spaceships that could travel
faster than ever before, and we had low energy and fuel that actually
helped the environment. They found a cure to my illness.’
    ‘ Say
no more,’ I told her.
    ‘ But...’
    ‘ Dad
did what he had to do. I would have done the same thing in his shoes.
I was already going down for life. By putting me into the prisoner
program he saved your life. He gave you a second chance. That is all
I need to know. I am happy he did it.’
    Rose
smiled that smile.
    ‘ Thank
you, Brother.’
    We
sat in silence for a long moment.
    I
felt a certain sense of serenity to talk to Rose again.
    For
six years I lived without hearing her voice.
    ‘ So,
are you married? Do you have kids?’
    Rose
giggled.
    ‘ We
have no children, but I am married.’ She slipped her palm into
Clay’s hand.
    ‘ Good,’
I smiled. ‘That is good. Tell me everything.’

 
     
     
     
     
    Chapter Three:
Lily’s Memory

 
     
     
     
     
    It
was time to get ready.
    In
five minutes we would be meeting the alien horde. I didn’t want
to say anything to the others, but I didn’t rate our chances of
coming out of this one alive. I had fired off three quarters of my
ammo already and so far I haven’t even killed a single one of
those demonic bastards. They were just too hard to take down. It
didn’t matter if we had all the ammo in the world. If we
somehow survived we still had to deal with Prisoner X when we arrived
at Central City.
    ‘ Hey,’
said Arthur, as I walked through carriage number three.
    I
stopped in mid-stride and looked at the old man.
    He
looked like he had aged twenty