Chapter 4: The Birth of The Hub - Part 5

Chapter Summary: In this chapter, we see Angus and Killian part ways after an incident at a small town called Benning, where Angus meets up with Abby once again. Then, we see some time with Abby and Angus, where Angus learns what happened after he left Pine View.

27th of May 2093 - Oregon, Benning:

It has been two weeks since Angus and Killian left Pine View. Since then, they have been travelling east, stopping at small settlements and towns that had life in them. They were also searching any post offices or vans for letters and packages.

During their travels, Killian asked why were they going east and why was he putting a lot of work into what was meant to be a con? Angus admitted that he wasn’t sure, but if he had to think about it, he was doing this out of boredom. After so long alone doing nothing, he found something interesting to do other than just doing the same old plays every so often. This was something that allowed him something to keep him going at the end of the day. After thinking about it, Killian could understand where Angus was coming from.

So, for the last two weeks, Angus and Killian were searching for lost mail and delivering it wherever they can. Not saying it was easy for them, dealing with hostile people, or people and places that are no longer around, along with mutated creatures, but it was interesting.

Right now, they were in a small town called Benning; fences made from either wire or/and sheets of metal protected it. They told the people of Benning the same story as Angus told and they believed them.

So, here we are, Killian at the cart at the entrance, was taken to a movie theatre where he stood in front of a torn screen. He was standing next to the town’s Mayor, who was smiling, hoping to get some glory by association.

As Angus stood in front of the ruined scene, the ragged people of Benning started to enter the theatre and clamour in front of it. There were a few kids there, smiling at Angus and the mayor.

“Thank you all for coming, in a second our new postman will call out names, and if your name is called come forward and get your mail.” explained the mayor, “And if a name is called and they aren’t here or they are dead, I’ll correct the mail and give the letters to the people later or give them to family members if there are any.” Here, the townspeople nodded at this before the mayor turned to Angus, and said, “You may begin, Mr. Postman.”

And so, Angus began to call out names, “Rachel Clark! Charlie Sykes!” Both of these people were here, then he called out a dozen or so names, a few were there, a few that weren’t, were either working or busy. Finally, he called out, “Graham Druitt!”

”G.D. died last winter of the flu.” explained the mayor. Angus nodded and handed the letter to the mayor.

Once checking to make sure there were no more letters for the town, he placed the remaining letters back in his bag.

“I’m afraid that’s all the letters for now, folks.” explained Angus. “There should be more either if I return to this town myself or once a real system is in place, if things go as planned.”

“Tell us about the Acting President Alenko!” called out one man.

“Unfortunately, I haven’t met the man, so I can’t tell you anything about him, other than he is trying to rebuild some sort of government.” explained Angus

“What about New York City? Did they survive the Great War?” asked an elder lady.

“Unfortunately, I don’t know. The person who hired me told me that they had no information about the east yet.” explained Angus.

The lady sobbed at this news. Angus suspected she was hoping that a loved one was still around. He could have lied about it and they would never know, but he couldn’t bring himself to do so.

“How much is it to mail a letter?” asked another man.

“They haven’t figured out the new currency yet,” explained Angus., “for now, I’m trading mail for a meal for my friend and I or other small supplies. I’m not saying a meal or whatever for each letter, but a bulk deal. Say you only have a few letters it would only be one meal for us or a few supplies, same as if you handed me lots of mail. It would only cost more if it is an important item or mail that needs to be protected.”

The townsfolk had to admit that this wasn’t a bad deal, trade wise. They were hoping to find out that there was some sort of currency now, instead of the sort of trading that they have been used to up ‘til now. At least this new postman wasn’t asking for much, just a meal for him and his bodyguard or a few supplies for delivering whatever mail the town gave them. All in all, it was a great deal for the town.

Before anything else could be asked or said, the town’s siren went off, and so they rushed to the gates to see what was going on.

o0OoO0o

27th of May 2093 - Oregon, Benning - short while before, Abby:

Young Abby was having the worst two weeks of her life, ever since the postman left her town. At first, things were fine, but then, about two days later, the Holnist Army came along with General Bethlehem leading them. It all started when the general saw that the U.S. flag was flying in front of the post office. When no one would take responsibility for who put the flag up, he told her husband, Michael; he was going to take responsibility for the flag.

General Bethlehem had Michael burn the flag and throw the burning flag into the post office, whilst telling everyone that the United States did not exist anymore. To make up for having the flag up, he asked for a tribute before he was willing to leave. Whilst they waited for the damn general to say he had gotten enough tribute, the general spotted her and wanted to have sex with her. But Michael wouldn’t allow the general to have her, so he killed him for it.

Normally, the townsfolk would back down in fear and do nothing, thanks to the postman’s arrival and his words about dreams and hope, and a possible restored United States, they tried to fight back. It didn’t work out, of course. It forced Sheriff Briscoe to tell General Bethlehem about the postman. Hearing this, Bethlehem got angry and asked where the postman went. Briscoe honestly admitted that he didn’t know, as the postman told them all, that he and his bodyguard were searching for post offices and post vans for lost and forgotten mail to give to people.

General Bethlehem asked if Sheriff Briscoe saw which direction the postman took. Brisco admitted that he wasn’t sure, but the last time he saw the postman, the postman looked like he was going west. Bethlehem didn’t believe the sheriff fully, so sent men east, north and south as well as west. After that, Bethlehem tied Abby’s hands together and then tied the rope behind a cart, forcing Abby to follow or be dragged along. They also took three other women with them.

Abby saw that Bethlehem’s men used the other three women, whilst Bethlehem used her. Bethlehem tried to have with her, but he couldn’t get it up, which he blamed her for, so he beat her and used sexual toys to have fun with her. Whilst they set the other women freed after a week, Bethlehem kept her until he could have his way with her. Right now, her face was bruised, and her bottom lip split.

Whatever the case, here she was, in front of a town called Benning. Bethlehem was here to get protection offerings to keep the town safe.

Abby didn’t know what was going on, but the gate wasn’t opening for Bethlehem’s men. Instead, a siren went off as a sentry kept watch.

As Bethlehem’s men were setting up a quick camp, Bethlehem rode to the front line to see what was going on, dragging Abby along with him.

“Report!” ordered Bethlehem, as a soldier came from the town’s gate and saluted.

“They won’t open the gates, sir.” reported the soldier.

“What?” the general asked in anger.

“They say they got a representative of the restored United States in there.” explained the soldier, “They say this army is illegal. They say -”

“Drop dead and go to hell!” the sentry called out to finish what the soldier was about to say, before taking cover.

“That, sir.” said the soldier, glad that the sentry called out, so that he didn’t have to.

Bethlehem remains controlled, but his manner becomes deadly.

“The Romans had an expression they used to scare their children. ‘Hannibal ad portas!’ - Hannibal is at the gates. Do you know who Hannibal was?” Bethlehem asked Abby, who had a blink look at this statement, “Of course not. A pretty girl like you wouldn’t know a thing.” then turning to Getty, he said, “Colonel Getty, get some men up there and open that gate.”

However, as Colonel Getty sent two of the Holnists to scale the gates, but as they got near the top, another sentry appeared. He fires an arrow at one of the soldiers, which hits their shoulder, making him the Holnist fall. The other jumps out of the way.

“Everyone, fall back!” Bethlehem orders his men to pull back. The general shakes his head as a quiet rage starts to build. With no military threat around, he was planning to take his rage out on the town. It was going to be a massacre.

For Abby, she could think of only one representative of the restored United States and that was the postman. It would seem that whoever this postman was, he had once again created problems for another town/settlement.

o0OoO0o

27th of May 2093 - Oregon, Benning - short while before, Angus:

As Angus followed the mayor, he saw two sentries in the guardhouse, hearing one of them calling out, “Drop dead and go to hell!”

Then, as the mayor climbed up into the guardhouse, which had an open back, he saw the mayor say, “What the hell are you doing?! Open the gates!”

“Governments restored! We don’t have to take their crap anymore!” said a sentry, as he shot an arrow.

“Idiots!” the mayor called out, “The postman told us that they are working to restore the government, not that they restored it.”

“They’re gonna kill us all.” said a scared citizen.

As the Mayor peers out through an observation hole, Angus and several others join him.

“No! Let’s fight them!” said one of the sentries.

“With what?” the mayor asked the idiot, “We got five guns, maybe twenty rounds of ammo in the whole town! How do we fight them with that?!”

Angus watches as the Holnists prepare for battle.

“You don’t.” Angus told them, not wanting these people to die, “You negotiate a settlement. Give them extra supplies.”

The men look at each other. Before the mayor agrees. It sounded like a reasonable idea.

“Okay. You’re a government rep. You go and tell them.” the mayor told Angus.

Angus knew that he was screwed here. He had no way out but to agree to this plan. So, with a nod, he went down from the guardhouse and left through the gate to talk to the general. All he could hope was that the man didn’t recognise him. Sure, he used his powers to change his and Killian looks, but he didn’t make the change too much. At least not for him, just added a few scars and other minor details, so he was slightly worried about being found out. But he had no other option but to do this.

So, by himself, making sure that Killian stayed behind, Angus left the town to talk to the general on horseback.

o0OoO0o

As Angus crossed the land that led to Bethlehem’s command post, Angus was nervous. He wasn’t sure what was going to happen. He was waving a white shirt like a flag, to let them know he was coming in peace and didn’t want to fight. Once he got to the command post, Angus found that Bethlehem was studying a rough map of the town.

“Make it quick.” demanded the general as he looked up from the map, “I’ve got an attack to coordinate.”

“General, um, they’ve asked me to negotiate a peace treaty.” Angus informed the man.

Thankfully, thanks to the illusions that he placed on himself; Bethlehem couldn’t place the person in front of him. But that didn’t mean that the general didn’t feel something familiar about the man, as he asked, “Do I know you?”

“I don’t think so, sir. I -” Angus began, but Bethlehem cut him off, after he scans the uniform that Angus was wearing,

“You’re the Postman that I’ve heard about, aren’t you?”

Little did the two men know, but Abby was watching the going on of the talks from the flap of Bethlehem’s tent. But when the guard saw her, he shoved her back inside.

Bethlehem flicks at the uniform flag shoulder patch as he scoffs and says, “The restored United States. Do these people really believe that shit? Who are you really?”

“I never said that the United States has been restored. Instead, people are trying to restore the government.” explained Angus, hoping to make sure the man in front of him wouldn’t attack the town. He would like to confess everything he knew that could make things worse, at least for him, he decided to playthings out and hope for the best. Angus went on to say, “As for who I am, I’m a United States Postman. Authorised by order 417 of the restored Congress to -”

“I was near to Washington when it was hit by the bombs.” General Bethlehem told the postman, “So, don’t try to sell me on any of that restored U.S crap.”

“Who said it was still in the same place?” asked Angus, “From what I’ve been told, the new capital is based somewhere in Kansas.”

Bethlehem nodded at this. He had heard the same rumours about this, where a man was asking about what was going on in this area. It was said that the man was here as a group that he belonged to was thinking about rebuilding the government. Bethlehem put the rumours as that, rumours. In Bethlehem’s mind, why would they think about rebuilding the government after all these years?

Whatever the case, it was highly likely that this postman heard the same rumours and so used them to his advantage by pretending to be a postman to get what he needed. As if the government was back in some sort of form, there would be more of these postmen or/and other people from the government.

Whatever the case, wanting to hear what this postman had to say, he asked, “So, what are their terms?”

“They’ll open the gate and give you double what they usually give you.” explained Angus, “All they ask in return is that you don’t hurt anybody. This was all a big misunderstanding.”

“I appreciate their offer, Postman.” Bethlehem told the postman after thinking about it for a few moments, “But the problem is that you’re in no position to negotiate. These people made it through the bugs, the riots, the radstorms and the years of non-stop winter. But they’re not going to survive you.”

And with that, the general looks over to Getty and nods at the man. Here, Getty signals to a gunner, where they fire at the town. Instead of bullets hitting the town, they were explosives that hit the gates.

All Angus could do was watch in horror as another round of explosive rounds hit the gate, breaking it down. He saw that the mayor of the town was behind it, dead. He tried to step forward, to do anything to prevent this, but the soldiers had their rifles and spears pointed at them.

“Law six, justice can be dictated.” Bethlehem informed the postman, before turning to his soldiers and ordered, “Kill him. And kill any hope of the United States being rebuilt with him.”

Bethlehem turns his attention to the battle. People of Benning were running about, trying to escape, in fact, Angus saw Killian using their cart to escape with some of the children and woman. Some of Bethlehem’s men tried to prevent this, but the men there stopped them as best as they could, giving them enough time to escape, or so they hoped.

As this was happening, one of Bethlehem captain’s steps forward with a gun raised and ready to kill Angus.

“In accordance with law eight and by the authority of Emergency Order 46, you are hereby -” the captain began to say, but there was a sound of a rifle being fired and then the captain’s forehead exploded, and he fell to the ground.

Shocked at this, Bethlehem whirls around, searching for the source of the gunfire. It shocked both Angus and Bethlehem to see her shooting from a position behind a supply wagon, for. For Bethlehem, it was because she escaped somehow, and for Angus, he was shocked that she was there in the first place.

But, as Bethlehem turns, an arrow, fired from one of the town’s sentries, hits and lodges in his arm. This made Bethlehem bellows in outrage and pain. But before he could do anything, he had to take cover behind some tin barrels, as Abby began to shoot at him, to give the postman cover.

Upon getting shot at, the general called out to his men, “Shoot the bitch!”

As this was happening, Angus took the long stick that was helping to keep a tent that was close by up and swung it at a Holnist rider who was passing by to get to Abby, hitting him off the horse. The knock on the ground knocked the rider out. Angus then grabs the fallen Captain’s gun and swings into the saddle.

As Angus rode towards Abby, he had to shoot two men who were running towards Abby. Angus killed the first one, as the other turned and tried to shoot him, but missed as Angus killed them, too. Then, riding toward the tent that Abby was shooting at, he reaches down, takes Abby’s arm and swings her up behind him. Then digs his heels in for all he’s worth.

Getting out of cover, Bethlehem snaps off the arrow shaft and shouts, “Colonel Getty!”

Here more Holnists on horseback arrived, but it was too late. Abby and Angus were already gone. So, the Holnists were forced to follow them into the woods.

o0OoO0o

Whilst she was a bit angry at the postman, seeing that she believed that he was behind what happened to her town and the town that they just left, she was also glad that he was once again around. Like it or not, the bastard had helped her again. This time, it was to escape from Bethlehem and his men. She didn’t know how much longer she would be able to last with Bethlehem. She feared she might end up killing herself and her unborn child. To get away from Bethlehem’s nightly fun with her.

So, it wasn’t surprising that when the horse started to slow down to a trot, that she became concerned, not wanting to be caught and sent back to Bethlehem. “We can’t stop now. They might still be coming after us.”

However, Angus couldn’t hear her. Unknown to him until now, he got hit when he was making a run for it back at Benning, and up to now he was running on adrenaline. But now he was beginning to calm down, thinking he was somewhat safe. The adrenaline was leaving him, and he was beginning to feel the pain. So much that he leaned forward against the horse and blacked out.

Seeing this happen, she felt the postman’s side and found that he had been hurt, that his sides were bleeding. Somehow, he got shot in his belly.

Then, before Abby could decide what to do, she heard a sound somewhere in the woods. Worried who it might be, Abby urges the horse off the road and into the thicket.

When the thicket grows too dense, Abby jumps down and carefully pulls the postman down to the ground. As she did, the postman moaned, “Abby...” but Abby had to silence him, so as not to attract anyone. It was a good thing too, because as she forced the horse onto the ground, a Holnist rider entered the woods and went past where they were.

Unfortunately, Abby’s horse made a snort that alerted the Holnist rider. Hearing the horse making a sound, the rider jumped off the horse and searched the area.

As Angus lays there unconscious on the ground. Abby sits beside him, rifle in hand, ready to fire. When the rider entered the thickets to search for the sound of the horse. But, as he got close to Abby and the postman, Abby called out, “Don’t move!”

The rider hesitated at first, worried that the woman would shoot him. However, he soon realized that as he dismounted his horse and moved toward her, that something wasn’t right.

But as he got too close to Abby, she cocks the rifle, aiming at the rider

But the rider only smirked at this, as he said, moving closer, “If you’d had a bullet, you’d have used it by now.”

“You’re right.” admitted Abby with a smirk. What the soldier didn’t know was that Angus had regained a bit of consciousness and saw what was going on, so he pulled back a branch known to the rider. When the rider was in the right place, where Angus let go of the branch where it hit the man and knocked him down.

Abby then dashes towards the rider, rifle in hand, and she swings it at the man. The butt catches the side of the rider’s head. Knocking the man out.

The last thing that Angus saw before blacking out again was Abby pilfering through the soldier’s gear, taking everything of value: a knife, bullets, a canteen. Once she found these things and, knowing that they were going to be followed for a while, she decided to go east to Mt. Hood Meadows. As she heard from some old wanderers that there was a hut around there, not only that, but it was cold thanks to the snow around there. So, very few people would enter the mountain area, which meant that it would be very unlikely that the Holnist Army would follow her.

Another thing about this area which stops most people going there. Whilst before it would often snow a lot, but after the Great War, there was an anomaly where it snowed much more than before. Not only that, but it seemed to have a mind of its own, even some kind of snow monsters. So, whilst it was a dangerous place to go, it made it the safest place for them, as long as they were careful. Because no one would expect them to go there in the first place.

So, with this in mind, Abby worked hard to put the postman back on the horse, before getting back on herself and as safely, but as fast as possible, she went to Mt. Hood Meadows. She just hoped that there was somewhere for them to stay in, as they would be dead either way. The cold would do Bethlehem’s for him.

o0OoO0o

23rd of June 2093 - Mt. Hood Meadows:

It has been over two weeks since Abby saw the battle at Benning, where many died and she was forced to escape with the postman to Mt. Hood Meadows, all the whilst hiding from the Holnist patrol. It took her a few days to get to Mt. Hood Meadows, as she fought through the blizzards that appeared until she was able to find an old wooden snow lodge.

To Abby, it looked like it was a place where a lot of people used to live in, seeing how many rooms there were. But seeing how damaged the place was, and that it was just the two of them, she put them in one of the smallest rooms on the ground floor. This was so she could keep the heat in one room, so not needing to go out so often. She had to block a window that was broken with an old blanket that she found in another room, so that the wind and cold couldn’t get to them.