by Pike, JJ
Dominic grabbed her by the arm and held her fast.
“You idiots can duke it out,” she hissed, “but you need me alive so I can patch your stupid asses up once you’re done.”
Triple-H laughed. “The lady has a point.”
Jeff nodded. Once. Didn’t even change the direction of his stare.
Dominic, who had his beady eyes on his boss, dropped Patrice’s arm like a hot potato. Fascinating. How did Jeff do it? Wield power like that? He hadn’t even spoken and the man who Jacinta thought of as the smartest man in Down was paws up, tongue out, practically panting to do his bidding.
Patrice marched to her surgery, her head held high. “Try not to shoot anyone, Jeff. We’re set up for peaceful cohabitation. I don’t want you numbskulls eating my antibiotics like they’re M&Ms.”
Jeff still hadn’t taken his eyes off Jacinta. “Like the lady said, let’s keep hostilities to a minimum.”
“I’m not the one pointing the gun,” said Jacinta.
Jeff’s upper lip curled as if he’d stepped in something and couldn’t get it off the bottom of his shoe. “You were promoted above your ability. Alistair knew it which is why he never officially named you as his successor. It’s time to step aside and let the big boys make the hard decisions.”
“We’re not going to let you do this,” said Triple-H.
Christine Gasberg was by her boss’ side in an instant. “You and whose army?”
Good point.
Jeff pointed Jacinta and Triple-H toward the exit.
The prisoners turned, hands aloft, and marched. Jacinta was out of ideas. They had no weapons, no tools, not even a stick. She wanted to kick herself for being caught with her pants down. Men with guns always win.
Even though he had the upper hand, Jeff couldn’t stop himself from crowing. “You’re weak, Jacinta. I just want to do what’s right by my brothers and sisters who’ve been abandoned by this administration.”
She struggled to drum up a smart comeback but had no luck. Her brain was in the outer chamber with the children. So many weapons. So many angry people. She couldn’t let this go sideways.
“We’re going to open those doors, eliminate the trash, and bring our people home.”
The final three steps to the chamber that housed the back door were the longest, heaviest steps of Jacinta’s life. The air was filled with molten metal, singed fibers, and the leaden weight of the souls who were about to die because of her. Tamsen was right: it was her fault for holding back, waiting for someone else to make the decisions, and not stepping out from behind Alistair even after he was long gone.
The deaths that were to come would be by Jeff’s hand, but they’d still be her fault. This standoff had been brought on by her reticence. Her indecision. Worse yet, there were children in the mix. Jeff planned to go through those doors with lethal force.
Which meant now was the time for deciding.
She and Triple-H rounded the corner and were met by a firing squad.
The children were ready. Armed. Fingers on triggers. Had no one schooled them on gun safety? Fingers on triggers? Someone would die before the doors were opened
“Don’t harm them,” she said, twisting so she could see Jeff. “They’re only doing what they think is right.”
Jeff elbowed his way past Jacinta and Triple-H but stopped dead. He raised his hand. Jacinta couldn’t believe what she was seeing. Had Jeff Steckle done the decent thing and surrendered? He turned to his crew. “Don’t shoot. There are kids in there…”
Theo Prosser was at the front of a gaggle of children, all of them facing the incoming assailants. He raised his rifle, looked down the barrel and lined up the sights. “Step back.”
“You’re not going to shoot me,” said Jeff. “You know good and well your momma would never allow that. You’re going to be a good boy and stand down so we can take care of this mess.”
The shot came from behind Theo. It winged Jeff but hit Dominic square in the chest.
Triple-H grabbed Jacinta and dragged her in front of the children. He held his arms as wide as he could, making himself into a human shield. Jacinta did the same.
Dominic was on the floor, gasping and clutching at his chest. Jeff hung over him, swearing and dripping blood. Though she couldn’t hear him he must have ordered his men not to shoot back because there was no return fire.
Tamsen stepped in front of Jacinta. She had a gun in each hand. “Theo might not shoot you, but I will. I will shoot anyone who tries to come past me. I don’t care who you are. I will shoot you dead. I am done listening to you. You’re nasty, two-faced morons. You don’t listen to us so we’re not going to listen to you. The end. Go away. Go home. Go to bed. Whatever, I don’t care. But don’t think you can come here.”
Carl—jumpy ADHD can’t-stay-still boy—joined her on the front line. “Me too.”
“Me too.” It was the kid who’d had the teddy bear, the one who’d been going to cry but who’d been brought under control by Theo. He’d swapped his bear for a handgun. Jacinta wished she could remember his name, but she was blanking. The gun was too big for his tiny hands, but he had it pointed in the right direction. She counted five, six, seven weapons primed and pointed at Jeff and his men.
“Tom…” Jeff took a step toward the children. His left arm was bleeding freely, blood splashing down his pants and onto his shoes. His gun was at his side. He fixed Teddy-Bear Tom with the same stare he’d pinned Jacinta. The man was single-minded, she had to give him that. If looks could immobilize, Tom would have been frozen on the spot. “Put the gun down. Your mommy wouldn’t like it, little man.”
Tamsen fired at the ceiling. “Last warning.”
Jacinta looked between the little kid and Jeff. The blond hair, the blue eyes, the thin lips…they were almost identical. Was the child his? How had she never put that together before?
“Guns on the ground,” said Tamsen.
Jeff, sweating and grunting, lowered his gun and placed it at his feet.
“All of you.” Tamsen wasn’t taking any chances. She was leveraging the situation like a pro. Jeff’s people put their weapons down. “Hands on heads,” she said.
They complied.
“We need to get Dominic to the surgery,” said Christine.
“Leave him,” said Tamsen. “If you want to work on him you can, but if you try any funny business I’ll shoot you.”
Christine Gasberg dropped to her knees, tucked her hair behind her ears, and tended to Dominic.
“Can I make a recommendation?” said Triple-H.
Tamsen nodded.
“Get those losers out of here so we can work.”
Tamsen pursed her lips. She was thinking and Triple-H was letting her.
“I get it,” he said. “You want them in your sights so you can control them, but it would be just as easy to lock them in Jacinta’s office and put a guard on the door. That way we can keep them under surveillance but not lose the manpower up here.” He waited. “Totally your call, though. This is your revolution. You tell Triple-H what you want and he’ll make it happen.”
Tamsen sniffed. The kid was crying. Not the ugly-angry tears she’d shed when she was screaming at Jacinta. These were tears of gratitude. “Take them away. We’ll keep working.”
“While Triple-H is doing that, we should get the kids out of here.” Jacinta shooed the smallest children away from the door.
“You don’t learn, do you?” Tamsen didn’t turn to Jacinta but her remarks were definitely for Down’s leader. “We’re not going to be pushed around. We voted. We decided. We’re doing this.”
Jacinta didn’t know what “this” meant. Tamsen had done a brave thing, true. She’d stopped Jeff and his gang, also true. But once they cracked those doors all bets were off. Tamsen hadn’t thought it through. The girl was doing the “big, noble thing” that made them all feel good, but it would be a disaster to open the doors with the little ones clustered about like this.
“It’s so dangerous, T
amsen. We don’t know what’s out there. They’re going to be mad at us…” Wasn’t that the truth. “We left them outside…” Now she was saying it out loud and in front of children Jacinta had a surge of guilt that she’d followed the rules but done something so…so…so…unethical. She’d hidden behind Alistair’s mandate to relieve herself of the need to make a decision. It had all been about not carrying the can. Ever. Time to pick it up for real. “I can’t let you do this…”
Tamsen swung around and faced Jacinta. “You can’t stop me.”
“They are children,” said Jacinta. “And out there…” She pointed at the huge steel door which stood between them and the outside world. “…out there is death.”
A kerfuffle broke out in the corridor leading to the exit.
“Theo?” Abbie was screaming. “Theo Prosser? Are you up here?”
The color drained from Theo’s face.
Abbie stepped around the bleeding Dominic, pushed past Jeff, and walked into the crowd of children. She took Theo’s rifle, shook her head, and pointed toward the exit. “Home. Now.”
Theo stood his ground for a couple of seconds but relented when Abbie raised her eyebrows. It was that simple. She was the law.
“What’s happening?” Abbie looked to Triple-H rather than Jacinta.
“The children have staged a coup,” he said. “They’re in charge now.”
“Bullshit,” said Abbie. “Who? Who thinks they’re in charge?”
Tamsen coughed. Even she was cowed by Abbie’s show of strength. “I am.”
“Tell me what you want.” Abbie handed the rifle to Triple-H but stayed engaged with Tamsen.
“I want to open the doors and save the people.”
Abbie nodded. “Anything else?”
“I want to save Wolfjaw Down from the flood.”
“Okay. Anything else?”
“I want everyone to get along.”
Abbie snorted. “And you’re going to do that by pointing guns at people?”
“They wouldn’t listen.” Tamsen was petulant, no longer strident and commanding.
“I’m listening.” Abbie touched a couple of kids. It was an odd gesture—hand to the head with a gentle push—but they all seemed to know what it meant. “Find your buddies. Make a caterpillar.”
Abbie issued orders the kids understood and they lined up neatly and awaited more instructions.
“We’re going to open the doors Tamsen, because we must. The leak means it’s a done deal. So, you have one of your goals met, right there. As for saving Down from the flood, that’s going to depend on how fast we move and how fast the water moves. I’m not going to lie to you, we might not succeed. But we’ll try.”
Tamsen lowered her guns.
“And as to your last demand. Well…I do my best. I want people to get along, too. But we do that by talking and listening, not by ordering them around and telling them what to do.”
Tamsen nodded. “Will you let everyone in?”
“Only if you evacuate the immediate area. I want to create a quarantine zone so we can slow the spread of MELT. You may be willing to gamble with your life, but I’m not letting you gamble with my children’s. It’s corny but true: you are our future. I’m not letting you squander that. Take everyone into Down, stay to the west of the water. Do you know where that is?”
“Yes.”
“We’ll decide if we need to evacuate once we’ve processed the incoming and secured the sick bay.” She scruffled Tom’s shock of blond. “You, young man, need to give me that gun and get going.”
Tom parted with his gun without a word of protest. Tamsen was last to relinquish her weapons but even she stacked them by the wall. Before she left she collected Jeff and Dominic’s weapons and added them to the armory.
The children filed out and away.
Triple-H busied himself with the rebels, issuing commands and putting them to work to get their own people to safety.
“I’m going to talk to Patrice.” Abbie didn’t look Jacinta in the eye. “You know how to work a blowtorch. Keep going.”
Alone by the door to hell, Jacinta fired up the torch and pointed it at the seam. The oxy meant she could use both hands. Her wrist was throbbing, but not screaming. There was a horrible comfort in being told what to do. All that struggling to be the leader was exhausting. She was a second, not a first; a follower, not a leader. She could make things happen, but she was useless at rallying the troops, forming coalitions, and decision-making. A sad laugh burbled up and out. She hadn’t even been able to convince a twelve-year-old that it was in her own best interests to step away from the door.
An hour passed. Then another. No one came to relieve Jacinta. She didn’t dare leave her post. Abbie had told her to unseal the door. She could at least succeed at that one thing.
Finally, Abbie and Triple-H returned. Jacinta turned off the torch and joined them in the middle of the room.
“Here’s what’s going to happen.” Abbie folded her arms and stared at the floor.
Jacinta had never wanted someone to look at her as much as she did at that moment.
“We’re going to finish unsealing, turn the locks, but leave it to the Outers to let themselves inside. We’re going to retreat some distance so we don’t come into direct contact with them. That way we can limit our exposure to MELT…”
“But…” Jacinta was having trouble formulating her thoughts. “How will they know what to do? Once they’re in won’t they want to come all the way in? What’s to stop them?”
“We’ve stocked the sick bay with food, water, and medical supplies. We’ll leave instructions on what they can and can’t do…”
“But…” Jacinta imagined a hundred ways the plan could go wrong.
“But what?” Now that Abbie was looking at her, Jacinta wished she wasn’t. “I didn’t think so.”
“Sorry.” She was sorry on so many levels she didn’t know where to start.
“Too soon,” said Abbie. “Keep working. There will be time later.”
Then Abbie was gone and Triple-H was moving the weapons out of the chamber where she was working and there was nothing to do but keep at it with the torch. The leather gloves only reached as far as her wrists and her arms were stippled with small burn marks. Neil’s funky, steampunk glasses had kept her eyes safe, but her face was a little tanned from the fire. She worked until the solder had been stripped out of the seal, then went looking for her colleagues.
The outermost sick bay was a hive of activity. It had been transformed into a one-stop survival shop. There was a “WELCOME” banner hanging from the ceiling, desks lined up against the wall with dry goods, and a small Coleman Stove in the middle of the room.
Trish and Jon were each in a corner, sorting. It did Jacinta’s heart good to know that two of her council members hadn’t gone to the dark side. They were working for Abbie now, but that didn’t matter. What mattered was that more people were on the side of good than bad. They wanted what she wanted, a peaceful life, far from harm.
Lila Nawrocki had her acting troupe running supplies into the room.
Kim Kennedy and Marcus Hart organized the clothes, leaving a neat pile on the foot of each bed.
Triple-H hailed her. “Fear not, Jacinta Baule. This is only the battle, not the war.”
She shrugged. She’d lost and she knew it.
“Abbie Prosser was magnificent, was she not?”
She had been, he was right.
He threw his arms around Jacinta in a bear hug and lifted her off her feet. “Charis Erlichman, now Mrs. H, is doing well.” He released her but not before planting a kiss on her cheek. “We shall move her into Down. Not into Triple-H’s apartments. They are not deemed ‘sanitary’ by the ferocious Nurse Patrice. Charis will be cared for in her own rooms, by Triple-H. It will be his honor.”
“Jacinta?” Abbie walked by, “with me.”
Jacinta scurried after her dear, dear friend.
Abbie inspected the door’s seam. “Okay.
Now I want you to bang on the door to get their attention.” She handed Jacinta a small hammer.
“Bang on the door?”
“Seems unambiguous to me.”
“What am I supposed to say?”
“Nothing. Don’t be ridiculous. You can’t hear through this door. All I want you to do is bang so they know we’re opening up.”
Liam would get it. If he was still alive. Same with Bokerah and Bill. The Downers she’d allowed to stay out in the cold would understand that a noise from inside meant a change was coming.
Abbie scanned the room. “I’ll have Triple-H come and get the torch. We don’t want to leave that out for them. They’re going to be angry enough as it is. There’s no point arming them.” She was going to leave. With nothing said but all this horror hanging between them.
“Abbie?”
“Save it, Jacinta. I’ve already told you. I’m not ready to talk to you as a person. Do your job. Don’t make waves. Help me keep things calm. And if we make it to the next stage without drowning in civil war, we can talk then.” She didn’t wait, didn’t give Jacinta a chance, didn’t want to invite further comment.
Jacinta raised the hammer Abbie had given her and banged on the door three times.
A knock came back immediately.
She banged again.
The reply was an avalanche of knocks. They’d heard the blowtorch. That was the only explanation for them being there so fast. They were on the other side of a thousand pounds of solid steel.
Jacinta stopped knocking, but the Outers didn’t. Not for an hour. Triple-H came and removed the blowtorch and oxygen tanks. Abbie did yet another sweep of the area, leaving a stack of papers by the wall. She’d said she would leave instructions and she had. She said what she meant and meant what she said. No wonder people were willing to do her bidding.
“Give me three minutes to clear sick bay, then turn the locks and run like hell.” Those were Abbie’s last words to Jacinta.
She waited, counting off the seconds in her head. She turned one lock. Then another. Then leaned into the huge wheel and spun it as hard as she could.
But she didn’t run.
She didn’t have time.