by ES Richards
“You ready?”
“Yep,” Walter nodded to Luc, who was preparing to hold his legs again. This time Walter was going to immerse the top half of his body in the hole, lowering himself just enough so Kendra could grab onto his arms and they could both be pulled back out. “Hayden, are you good to help out?”
Hayden nodded and took up his position beside Luc, the two of them quite literally holding Walter’s life in their hands. If they let go of him, then he was hurtling head-first through the hole and into the dark pit alongside Kendra. It was dangerous, but as Walter lay on the ground and began to lean forward into the hole, he felt safe. He trusted Luc and he knew they would all be standing on solid ground again very soon.
“Hello,” Walter greeted Kendra as he hung upside down in the hole, cracking a smile. “Nice place you got here, might be time to move on though, don’t you think?”
“Yes please,” Kendra replied, grabbing onto Walter’s arms. “This okay?”
“Perfect,” Walter said. “Okay guys,” he then called up to Luc and Hayden. “Start pulling!”
It was a strange sensation being hoisted backwards out of a pit, clinging onto a woman he’d known only half an hour at most. But more than anything, it felt good. Walter was finally actually helping people – he was doing what he knew he needed to do and saving lives that otherwise could very well be lost as a result of what had happened. This was what all the people left in New York should be doing, working together and carving a new future out of the ruins, not bringing down more of the city and leaving the rest to burn.
Just as he emerged from the hole, Kendra dangling from his arms, Walter heard panicked cries around him. His first thought was that there’d been another cave in, fragile brickwork giving way once more and crushing innocent people beneath it. Luc, Hayden and Kendra must have all heard it too, but they kept pulling – Kendra hanging on for a few more seconds as her body was finally lifted out of the hole.
“Oh, thank you,” she murmured as she hugged Hayden. “Thank you, thank you, thank you.”
Walter smiled at her as the woman accepted that she wasn’t going to die that day, but his mind was elsewhere. People were starting to run in various directions, no obvious cave in or second cause of trouble on the wreckage apparent to either Walter or Luc. That was until they saw Taggy rushing toward them.
“They’re coming!” Taggy cried out as she raced over, hopping across the uneven terrain with remarkable ease. “It’s the Gov,” she continued, “they’re almost here!”
Walter froze, the hatred and anger he had felt earlier bubbling up inside of him again. He didn’t know what he’d do if he saw Captain Banes or Philip McManaman again. He wanted to see them both pay for the harm they’d brought upon this city, the very city he had watched Captain Banes take an oath to protect when he was promoted to his position. The man was a fraud and a liar and Walter felt like he needed to be knocked down a peg or two.
“We’ve got to get out of here!”
“What?” Walter responded to Luc’s suggestion, furrowing his brow. “Why?”
“Come on Walt,” Taggy urged, “we don’t need to cause any more trouble. Who knows what’ll happen if they figure out we are all here.”
“What do you mean?”
“They know about our group,” Luc explained quickly. “And they don’t like us.”
“What?” Walter repeated, confused by what was happening. “I don’t get it.”
“Just come on,” Taggy pulled at his arm. “Let’s just get behind something and then we’ll explain. We don’t want them to see us.”
Just as Taggy finished her sentence, a couple of cars screeched onto the street. Men and women in matching uniforms burst out of the doors before the vehicles had come to a complete halt, rushing over to the wreckage like soldiers with weapons in their hands. Walter’s eyes had barely focused on them before Taggy was pulling him away, forcing him to flee the scene with her, Luc, Kendra and Hayden. The latter two tagged along looking equally as confused as Walter. Taggy led them off the pile of wreckage and down a side street where they could hide behind a wall.
“What’s going on?” Walter asked as soon as they stopped running. “Why are we hiding? We should be confronting them! They should be held responsible for what they’ve done!”
“Just shh!” Taggy snapped at him, peering around the side of the wall just like Walter, watching what the Gov were doing. “Wait.”
Walter could only watch in silence as the Gov stormed the area, marching across the debris and sweeping over the area. They moved with little regard for any people who were still trapped beneath the rubble, not seeming to care if they disturbed something and sent another ton of rocks crashing down on someone’s body. But why would they? They were responsible for this in the first place, what was a couple more bodies to add to their list of dead? Walter’s bottom lip curled in disgust as he watched them, then he saw something that nearly made him lurch forward and attack the Gov where they stood.
Some of them from the cave hadn’t been able to escape in time – those who had stuck around after given the chance of fleeing to save themselves or continuing to save the victims of the explosion. If the Gov had arrived five minutes earlier, Walter and Luc would be among them, but for now they only watched as the volunteers from the cave – the good people who were doing everything they could to help save others – were rounded up and held at gunpoint.
“What are they doing?” Walter exclaimed, moving to step out from behind the wall where they hid until Luc placed a hand on his shoulder. “We have to stop them!”
“They’re making us the scapegoats,” Taggy explained quietly, one eye still on the Gov’s actions. “You didn’t think they were going to take the blame for this, did you? Oh, no. That honor falls to us I’m afraid. We’re the group that the public will blame for this.”
“You can’t be serious?” Walter shook his head, finding it hard to believe what Taggy was saying to him.
“It’s been happening for some time now,” Luc nodded apologetically. “They’ve been putting out propaganda about our group all over the city, calling us criminals who hide in the shadows. They blame us for the zones they’ve had to put in place and no doubt they’ll blame us for this explosion, too. There’s only one hero who’s walking away from this today, and it’s not going to be us.”
“That’s insane. Surely people won’t believe that?” Walter clasped his hands behind his head in total shock. “They’ve seen us helping. How could we be the bad guys?”
“I know,” Taggy replied, “but whatever they’re doing, it’s working. Look.”
She directed everyone’s attention back to the Gov, the group of them rounding up those from the cave who were still out in the open and cuffing their hands behind their backs. They were actually being arrested. And what was worse – those they had rescued were just standing by and letting it happen.
Walter couldn’t believe what he was seeing. They had saved those people, lifted them up from the jaws of death and now they were just letting their rescuers be taken away like common criminals. The Gov paraded around like they were a gift to the community, the vast majority of people unaware that they were the very ones who had set the bombs and caused all this destruction. That was the real criminal act, and they were getting away with it.
“We can’t let this happen,” Walter murmured with a shake of his head. “We can’t let them get away with this.”
“I know,” Taggy sighed. “But what can we do?”
Chapter 9
“People, please. Please!”
Finally, as Henry Packham raised his voice to a shout, the throng of angry people around him quieted. Walter and his friends were among them. They had managed to make it back to the cave after reuniting with Lin once the Gov dispersed again. Kendra and Hayden had chosen not to come back with them, heading in the opposite direction to a friend’s house elsewhere in the city. The walk back had been a somber one, everyone unable to forget what they had jus
t witnessed.
All in all, the Gov rounded up eight of the volunteers from the cave. Eight people who had put their lives on the line to save others. Eight people who were completely innocent of the supposed crimes the Gov blamed them for. And yet, eight people who had been carted away as criminals, taken to who knows where across the city and locked away just for doing the right thing.
As he’d watched it, Walter had needed to be physically held back by Luc and Taggy. He caught sight of Philip McManaman and almost lost it. Red clouded his vision and he could think of nothing more pleasing than smashing his fist into McManaman’s face and making the man feel some morsel of the pain he had caused hundreds across the city. Had Luc and Taggy not been there, Walter was certain he would’ve been among those taken away from the wreckage in handcuffs. He was grateful for what his friends had done for him, but at the same time he was furious. Something needed to be done. They could not let the Gov get away with this ever again.
“I know what a lot of you saw today has shocked you,” Henry Packham addressed the room, well aware of the events which had unfurled. “And first of all, I want to reassure you all that we are not just going to roll over and let this happen. Good people, our people, were taken. Up until now we haven’t fought back against the Gov, but up until now their attacks against us have been subtler. This has gone too far, and I will not stand by and let it happen.”
A roar of applause and agreement erupted across the room, the people of the cave agreeing with Henry and stomping their feet as he paused in his speech. He was a brilliant speaker and performer, watching the room and biding his time, knowing exactly when to continue to keep the crowd interested and give them the satisfaction of responding.
“Some of you will be aware of the propaganda the Gov have been spreading about our group for some time now. Others of you might not have heard it yet, but rumors are traveling around the city which place us as the responsible party for everything that has happened in recent weeks. We are being painted as the guilty ones and somehow, the people are listening.”
This time grumbles of disagreement rippled through the audience, the same anger and hatred Walter had felt earlier when Taggy explained all of this to him coursing through the others who were just hearing this for the first time.
“I just want you to know,” Henry Packham continued, “that it has not gone unnoticed. We’re not sitting back any longer and letting those people who think they control this city control us, too. All I ask is that you give me a couple of days before any of you do anything rash. I understand that you’re angry, I understand that you’re hurting. But before you charge out there and put yourselves in even more danger, give us some time to do it right.”
“But what about the ones they took? What about Peter and Isaac?”
“And Olivier!”
“Tiffany and Milo!”
“Raul!”
More voices erupted from the crowd, people shouting out the names of those who had been taken by the Gov. Henry waited until everyone had spoken, the eight names hanging in the air as everyone looked to him for an explanation.
“Keep saying their names,” Henry nodded. “Keep saying their names and keep their faces in your thoughts. They will not be forgotten, and they will not be taken from us. I promise you,” Henry paused and looked at the audience, making eye contact with as many people who had spoken that he could. “I promise you we will get them back. The Gov might have them for now, but soon we will rise up and not only get our friends back but get our city back, too!”
Henry continued to speak, telling the group that he would do everything in his power to make things right in New York again. The room listened as they always did, but it was obvious there were plenty around that were tired of the talking and ready for something more. Those who had been close to the men and women the Gov had arrested were the most eager to take action, keen to avenge their friends and save them from wherever they had been taken to.
But Henry Packham, like always, was right in his method. Not only did they not know where their friends had been taken, but they also didn’t currently have the firepower to get them back. They needed a plan before they could just charge into a full-blown fight, because if they went down that route, they would lose.
Once the short meeting was over, people filtered out of the room and went about their individual tasks. Walter was exhausted from his day, but much like his friends, preferred the idea of sticking around to discuss their options instead of sidling away to rest. Grabbing a few chairs in the corner of the room near a fire pit, they made themselves comfortable and began to reflect.
“You were great out there today,” Walter said to Lin with a smile. “I don’t think we’d have saved half as many of those people if it wasn’t for you.”
“Don’t be silly,” she shrugged off the compliment. “I was just doing what came naturally – it was just lucky that was what I’d been trained for. We all pulled it off together though. We should all be proud of the people we saved.”
“What about the one’s we couldn’t?”
“We did what we could,” Lin was quick to continue, Taggy taking it the hardest out of the four of them about the poor souls they had left trapped under the rubble. “You can’t beat yourself up about something you couldn’t control. Focus on the thirteen people we pulled to freedom. That’s thirteen people that get to wake up tomorrow and see the sun rise. Thirteen people that get to continue living through this hell until we make it out the other side. Think of them,” Lin addressed Taggy directly, placing a hand on her arm softly. “You helped save those people. You did something incredible today.”
“Do you think Henry really has a plan?” Luc asked, changing the subject quickly as he read Taggy’s expression. He was so familiar with her mannerisms now that Luc could tell she needed to be distracted, otherwise she would just keep fixating on the people still trapped under the rocks. The best way to make Taggy feel better was to focus her efforts somewhere else and so that was what Luc was doing.
“I don’t think he does yet,” Walter answered honestly. “I think that’s part of the reason why he asked for time. He needs to figure out what to do.”
“We have to fight back somehow,” Luc nodded. “But I just don’t know how we’d even come up level with them. Did you see them today? They were packed to the nines with guns and ammo. I reckon they could’ve taken us all out in twenty seconds flat if they wanted to.”
“Bodes the question really,” Lin murmured, “why didn’t they?”
“I doubt they want us all dead,” Walter replied, still some part of him that liked to think Captain Banes wasn’t entirely evil now. “They’re not animals.”
“Aren’t they? They were happy to plant explosives and kill people that way. Why not just pepper us with bullets?”
“It’s all part of their propaganda,” Taggy finally spoke up, joining in the conversation. “It’s like Henry said, they’re painting us to be the bad guys in all of this. If they can place the blame on us for the explosions and the zones and everything, then by default they’ll get everyone else on their side and they won’t even need to fight us. They’ll have won without even squeezing a trigger.”
“It makes me sick,” Walter sighed, picturing the people he had once called friends gathering together in his old precinct and plotting all of this. “How does someone even come up with this.”
“The scariest demons are often the ones inside us.”
Walter looked over at Lin as she whispered the line, making everyone sit back for a moment and think of the terrible things that had happened recently. How many of them had been avoidable? Walter tried to remember the good deeds he had done in his life, but in a surprising moment of self-recollection, he realized how much easier it was to remember the bad. There were things he’d done which might not have been intentional, but that was what he remembered as he looked back on his life. All he could do was keep fighting for the good things now and hope that eventually, they began to outweigh the
bad.
“Hey,” Luc nudged him on the arm, snapping Walter out of his thoughts. “Isn’t that the crazy guy we met on the street the other night? The one rambling about getting medication for his mom or something?”
Walter turned and looked in the same direction as Luc, seeing a group of men and boys walk through the door, all of them pausing just inside and looking around.
“Yeah,” Walter exclaimed, “I think it is. Hey!” Walter called over to the man he recognized in the group as he stood up and walked over to them, causing all of them to look in his direction. “Austin, right?”
“Hey! Yes! I knew it,” Austin beamed as soon as he saw Walter walking toward him, turning to Dante and pointing at the former police officer as Luc, Taggy and Lin all gradually got up behind him as well.
“These are the people I told you about,” Austin explained to Dante and the others. “The ones I met the other night.”
“You were pretty out of it that night.” Walter smiled. “Kept going on about your mom being sick. Is she here? Is she okay?”
Dante’s face fell as Walter spoke, his gaze dropping to the floor and his shoulders slumping forward. Austin swallowed, putting an arm around his husband apologetically.
“My mother-in-law,” Austin replied awkwardly. “She…she didn’t make it.”
“Oh no,” Walter immediately put a hand over his mouth. “I’m so sorry, I didn’t mean to…”
“It’s okay,” Austin brushed over the topic quickly, not wanting to dwell on any thought of Meghan. It was still too painful for Dante and Austin knew it was better to just move on. Besides, there were plenty of other questions he had and things he wanted to know about this place they were now in. It was so much more than he had ever imagined, and he was keen to learn all about it and what the people were doing there.
“Thank you for telling me about this place,” Austin continued, holding out his hand to shake Walter’s. “And I’m sorry, I don’t even remember your name.”
“It’s Walter,” he replied with a smile. “Don’t mention it – looks like you’ve brought quite a group with you. Why don’t you come and sit down and we can have some proper introductions? Have any of you eaten yet? I think supper will be happening pretty soon.”