Chapter 45 We are not the prison 

At a fork in the road where the paths diverged, until then the assembly point and the freight yard had gone in the same direction. They came across a large group of survivors, all from their school, led by the principal. Luke saw Bill in the group as well. 

They walked towards the assembly area, the principal stopped when she saw Luke walking towards the freight yard.

"Luke, let's go with them," came from Eddi.

Luke stopped and turned to face him.

"I'm going to the freight yard, I'll follow my instructions." 

He walked on and the principal stood in front of him.

"The assembly point is in the direction of Mr. Schornsdorf."

He looked at her.

"Then go there."

" Ey you ass!" Bill came towards him with long strides. Luke pulled the gun out of his pocket and pointed it at Bill. Everyone froze, including the principal.

"I'm going to the freight yard, I don't give a shit where you go. I have my instructions on where to go, and yes, I know how to handle this sort of thing."

He increased the distance.

"Where did you get the gun?" came from the principal.

"From a corpse," he turned around and continued walking.

He heard footsteps behind him, looked over his shoulder and saw Leonore following him. After a while he looked behind him again and saw the principal with the group behind her, he cursed inwardly. So much for dodging large groups.

He reached the freight yard, which looked deserted, now he knew what he had forgotten to ask, where to go in the freight yard. He crouched down and cursed quietly to himself. He heard the large group arriving and their whispering.

"Enough playing around, Mr. Schorndorf, give me the weapons," came from the principal. 

Luke stood up, weapon in hand, thinking. Laser dots wandered over his body. He resigned himself, got down on his knees, put the gun down in front of him and put his hands behind his head. The principal looked at him in confusion. 

"Very wise young man," came from under a helmet. 5 soldiers came out of nowhere, guns pointed at them. The one speaking raised his gun.

" Where from?"

" Dead security guard up by the road ..."

" No second one there?" 

" Only this one and he had a bullet wound."

The soldier mumbled something into his radio and then turned to the group.

" They're in the restricted zone, they're being taken away now."

"Restricted zone?!" came from the principal.

A lock in the wall of a power distribution room opened with a squeak. 

"Everyone inside!"

"What?! We wanted to go to the assembly point."

"You have entered the restricted zone, you will be taken directly to quarantine here, your ID will be recorded and now get in." 

Luke stood up, looked at the director and walked towards the opening with his hands behind his head, there was a staircase leading down, at the bottom he could still see an airlock and firing systems. His heart pounded and he walked on.

When everyone was inside, the upper airlock was closed and the lower one opened after the soldier hammered on the gate. Behind it was a hall with containers that served as offices and the like. 

They were greeted by soldiers, a major with a thin beard looked at the group.

"Where did you get this, Sarge?"

The soldier looked at the major.

" They just came, seriously, what did they set up the assembly point for?"

" For human treatment Sarge, boy put your arms down we're not in prison here."

Luke put his hands down.

"Information for you all and let's move on. First of all congratulations you are safe. They will all be examined first and their IDs will be checked. Then they will be taken to the security zones." 

The principal pushed her way to the front.

"He's got a gun on me!"

"Actually at Bill..." muttered Luke.

The major looked at Luke.

"Why did you do that?"

He took a deep breath.

" I didn't want to go to the assembly point, my mother told me to come here."

" Your mother told you to come here?" The Major continued to look at him and held out his hand. Luke took out his ID and gave it to him. The major looked at it.

"Sarge, let the search party know, they can stand down."

The soldier nodded and mumbled something into his radio.

The principal stared at him, the major looked at her.

"You are on military property, all evacuations take place in the assembly points. These are secured like fortresses and full of security personnel. Of course it takes longer there, but they are treated and cared for like refugees, and now it's time for the investigation."

They were separated by gender and had to be examined naked by doctors. Afterwards, they had to wash and put on sportswear. Luke was allowed to keep his cell phone and tablet like the others. He sat down on a bench and took a deep breath. Someone sat down next to him, he looked up and it was Leonore.

"I didn't get a chance to thank you Luke..." she began. 

" It's all right Leo. "

She hugged him. "Thank you." Then she stood up and hurried to the group of girls where Lina and Lisa were sitting. 

He sighed and rested his head against the wall, a shadow falling over him. He opened his eyes and Bill was standing in front of him with 3 of his friends.

"You motherfucker tried to kill me! I'll smash your face in!"

Luke looked at him.

" And you ran off like a coward and left your girlfriend behind. "

"You!" He lashed out, his fist stopping in front of Luke's nose, he didn't even have a chance to blink or flinch. The fist was held tight by Sarge. Bill pulled desperately, but he couldn't get it off.

"There's no fighting here, anyone who doesn't follow the rules goes to solitary confinement."

"That fucker tried to kill me!"

The helmet looked at Luke.

" I was defending myself."

Sarge seemed to be thinking. 

" You two take care of this, come with me."

Luke was led to the center of the hall, where he faced Bill, who grinned.

"When I say stop, you stop, understand?"

Luke nodded and Bill grinned too.

When it started, Bill punched Luke. He was surprised by Bill's speed, Luke felt his nose being hit, he tasted iron in his mouth. He punched and kicked Bill with karate moves, thundering him to the ground with judo holds.

Bill threw him to the ground with brute force, Luke hammered him in the side, causing Bill to cry out.

He rolled to the side and stood up, Bill holding onto his side. He was just trying to get up when Luke clenched his fists and hammered them hard against his temple. He lost his balance and felt dizzy. By the time he could see properly, Bill was lying on the ground, screaming in pain and holding his head, which was dripping blood. 

"And stop," came from Sarge. 

"Man man man you guys really fight like sissies but victory is victory."

Luke saw Sarge crouch down next to Bill and examine the wound. 

"You go straight to the doctor and get a plaster, your stink with him is over, alright?"

Bill stood up, just nodded and was escorted to the doctor by his friends. 

Then the sergeant looked at Luke.

"Just a bloody nose."

"Just a bloody nose?" came from Liz and the sarge winced. 

"You and I will talk about that later." 

Luke looked at the Sarge, he was a head taller than Liz.

"Later? I'm on duty..." 

Liz looked at the Major, who grinned. 

" I told you to be careful."

" But sir, she's going to give me..." 

The major looked at him.

"Sarge, for how many times?"

" Um, twenty-three..." 

He resigned and hung his head. 

Luke felt Liz squeeze his nose.

"Good, nothing broken. "

Then she took him in her arms. Now he felt somehow safe. 

"He was aiming at me!"

The principal didn't let up.

Liz looked at her.

" Aimed?"

They looked at Luke.

" He was aiming a gun he took from a dead body at that woman over there. Because he didn't want to go to the assembly point," came from Sarge.

Liz slapped Luke on the back of the head.

Luke looked at her, then at the principal.

"I'm sorry..."

"Good, Sarge take him away." 

"Aye aye!" came the less than enthusiastic reply. Luke got his things, Sarge's hand was on his back and he was led away.

"Wait a minute! An apology..."

"Yes. You want him punished, he's being taken away now. Major your verdict?"

"Um, since he pleaded self-defense, surrendered to the forces without resistance. Punishment 4000 points and suspension from classes. " 

Luke thought about how much he had left on his account, yes, he could take that.

"Satisfied?"

" No!" 

" Good, then he'll be expelled from school. You keep the payment for this year."

Luke looked at the principal.

" Good, I'm fine with that."

Liz typed something into her tablet and pocketed it.

"Good is registered, he's no longer your student. Take Sarge away!"

Luke kept walking.

When they got to the subway, he heard footsteps behind him.

"What's happening to Luke now?" asked Leonore, Luke looked at her. There were a few other students behind her, he saw Lina and Lisa, Tom and Eddi.

Liz looked at the group.

"He," she put a hand on his head. 

" Now take him to a safe place so my sister can come down. And the "

She looked at Sarge and grinned. 

" Well, I won't tell."

He hung his head.

" Um, can we come with you? "

Liz raised an eyebrow, looking at Sarge.

" Are they over there, Imune and the parents are in the security area."

"Um, you have a good eye..." 

" Uhh no the docs gave them bracelets."

Only now did Luke see that everyone standing there really was wearing one of those bracelets on their wrist. But he hadn't seen any on Bill or the principal.

Liz sighed, picked up Luke's cell phone and speed-dialed.

"April, give me Dad..." she looked around.

"Hi Dad, yeah I've got him, yeah... just a bloody nose, got into a fight with a guy. Yes ... I've got two things ... " She listened.

"Well, he's not a boarder anymore, yeah. No, the principal wasn't happy that she was safe, yeah, so he pulled a gun on her because he didn't come along. Yes ... Good. Then on the other point, here are a couple of imune from his school, they want to go to the safe zone instead of with the big group. Okay... fine, thanks." She hung up and handed the phone back to Luke.

"If you're coming with me, you listen to me or Sarge. If you have another friend you want to take with you. This is your chance to get your stuff too. You have 10 minutes."

The group dispersed until Liz was alone with Luke and the Sarge.

"So Sarge, take off your helmet."

He reluctantly did. Luke, as the helmet came off, saw the unshaven George.

" Uhh, I can't see enough of this" Liz grinned.

He just sighed.

"Aunt Liz, who's that?"

" Uh, that's my ..."

" The other boys think I'm your lap dog Liz. Whenever you're rolly..."

She grinned mischievously.

"And can you check on my motorcycle? It's making funny noises." 

He sighed again.

"You and I have an open relationship..."

" I see..." Luke had wondered what his aunt was into anyway. 

The group came back, six more had joined them. 

"Good, is that all of them?"

"Yes. The others said they were staying with the principal."

" Good, then get in." 

They obeyed, just before the door closed, another girl came running in crying, she only just made it inside.

"The principal said we're all being kicked out..." she said through her tears. 

" Huh? Why?"

The girl wiped her tears away. 

" Because you didn't stay with the group."

" The woman really has a shot until she can open her school again, that takes time..." Liz pressed the start button. 

"And why didn't you stay with her then?" asked Lina.

"I just wanted to see my mom..." she said. 

Liz looked at the group, pulled out her tablet and opened a program.

"I'd like each of you to put your hand on here in turn and the system will make sure your parents are there at the arrival point."

Everyone did so one by one and took their seats. Only Luke didn't. 

"Why isn't Luke joining us?"

"His mother is already waiting at the destination station anyway."

The journey took 50 minutes, during which the young people chatted or sat there exhausted. Luke watched his aunt clicking away on her tablet. Suddenly it became light and the car stopped. 

"On up, we're here."

Liz stood up. 

"We're getting out in an orderly fashion, stay together."

Luke followed Liz, they were in an underground station, he had never seen so many trains, it was busy. Trains were being loaded and unloaded. Soldiers were hurrying around. They went to an escalator that took them upstairs, and they arrived in a station concourse. Luke saw groups of civilians coming out of the checkpoints with suitcases in their hands. 

They went to a checkpoint where they were waved through and entered a waiting area. Some adults were waiting there. 

Some of them broke away from the group, ran up to them and hugged them. All of them had their parents with them. Luke himself was hugged by his mother.

"Sue, let him go, he can't breathe," came from his grandfather and Luke was able to breathe again. He ran his fingers through his hair. Everyone looked at him. 

"Shelters are being provided. We're working on clearing the outbreaks, but it's going to take a while." 

Liz handed him her tablet, which he read through.

"One more point, the points will be returned to you. Since the principal has run amok and thrown the children present out of the boarding school."

The parents looked at him, then at their children, who nodded.

"What will happen to the other children?"

" They'll be taken to their parents too and the principal will put them in an assigned area until it's all over." 

" What about our work?"

" As some of you know, building work was carried out last year and the press asked why. There are places and workshops where work can be done again. You will receive an email for an introductory event. But first have a rest with your children." 

They left one by one, leaving Leonore alone. She hung her head.

 Hastily and completely out of breath, a Jamaican rushed in, he looked very much like her, apart from the extra pounds, behind him a woman in high heels, also out of breath. Luke saw Leonore light up and run over to the two and hug them. 

They walked over and the man finally gasped.

"Sorry Alex, it was chaos in the workshop, I lost track of time."

Leonore looked at him.

"Workshop?"

He laughed.

" The old plant blew up treasure totally broken. "

"And the estate?" she asked. He laughed.

" Burned down, your mother set it on fire when half the staff turned."

"So we're broke?"

He laughed.

"No, we still have something, but your mom and I are starting over, honey. Alex was nice enough to organize us. "

She looked at her parents.

"Since when?"

Her mother looked at her husband.

"Two weeks ago."

"And what kind of house do we have now?"

"A small one on the beach, like our first one when we were still in Jamaica." 

She just hugged them both and then they left. 

So Luke was now alone with his family, but they also went to Hawaii, where his mother now lived in a house next to his grandfather's. Where they always lived anyway. Where they always stayed when they were in Hawaii anyway, so it was his second home.