“I can promise that I will always be truthful. I won’t lie to you. This crisis will not last a season, or even a year. It will take several years before parts of the power grid are running again or the national supply chain restored. We will pull together. We will endure. And together, we’ll figure it out…”
Once it was over, Hamilton switched it off. “Not bad, right?”
“Still sounds like a politician,” Liam said, not impressed. But then, he despised politicians.
Hamilton beamed at him. “Right you are. But I think we found ourselves a unicorn—a politician who genuinely cares about her constituents. And you know what they say about unicorns.”
Liam rolled his eyes. It was the only part of his body that wasn’t hurt or numb.
“Lieutenant Colonel Hamilton,” Hannah said.
“Please, call me Charlie. You’ve earned it.”
She rewarded him with a radiant smile. “Charlie, then. The General told Liam that the EMP attack started World War III. The world is at war, and our government has kept it from us. Is that true?”
Hamilton cracked his knuckles, not speaking for a moment. “It’s been rumor and hearsay up to this point. Brass has been tightlipped about the whole thing, but it’s finally getting out.”
He sighed. “Here’s what I know. Russia and China colluded to attack us. They had plans to weaken us with the EMP, then put boots on the ground and eradicate our people. Russia just wants us obliterated; China wants to destroy our political power and cripple us for good.
“The entirety of our military assets stationed outside the EMP’s range have converged on the Middle East. We’ve wiped Iran off the map. The entire world has been impacted. No one has officially called it World War III, but a rose is a rose by any other name.”
“Or a steaming pile of cow dung,” Liam said.
“That, too.” He shrugged again. “Sorry I don’t have more details beyond that.”
Hannah shook her head, at a loss for words. For several minutes, no one spoke.
“Are we winning?” Bishop asked.
“We’ll win,” Hamilton said gravely, no joy or satisfaction in his voice, “but at what cost?”
Liam imagined an entire country razed by nuclear warheads—cities reduced to rubble, cars melted, millions of bodies incinerated in an instant. The devastation of a war over America taking place on another continent.
Everywhere, people suffered.
“We’ve already paid,” Liam said.
“Right you are.” Hamilton looked at his watch again. “I’ll check in again soon. Turns out, keeping Michigan from being overrun by hooligans is a full-time job. Who knew?”
Bishop shook Hamilton’s hand. “Thank you for everything you’ve done, Charlie.”
Hamilton nodded. He winked at Charlotte and saluted Liam. “Stay frosty, friends.”
“Always,” Liam said.
Bishop walked the lieutenant colonel out.
After they left, Hannah turned to Liam. “What do you think? About what’s happening out there.”
“It’s the way it’s always been,” he said. “Those with the power vie for more, destroying the innocent in the process. It happens everywhere—Venezuela, Iraq, Syria. Our job is to survive the here and now, to outwit and outlast the enemies at the door, not the ones an ocean away. Our military will deal with them, of that I have no doubt.”
“You’re right.” Hannah leaned in, a fierce intensity in her gaze. “Our world is here. Everything is here. Everything that matters.”
Liam didn’t look away. “I know.”
75
Liam
Day One Hundred and Twenty-Three
That night, Liam slept peacefully for the first time in a decade. No nightmares. No dreams.
On day eight, the pain returned with a vengeance.
Like a thousand needles puncturing his flesh. Molten lava poured into his spine. An ice pick hammered through each vertebra.
On day nine, he could twitch his toes.
On day ten, he could move his ankles.
On day eleven, he could hobble out of bed with the aid of a cane—Molly’s cane.
The pain was a monster—a constant, living thing inside him, eating him alive. His nerves scorched raw. His feet like concrete blocks dragging behind him, incredible effort put into each battered step.
Without access to top-notch x-rays, MRIs, CAT scans, and other tests, Evelyn couldn’t confirm whether his injuries were permanent or whether he might regain significant mobility with months of rehabilitation.