His Name Was Zach (Book 2): Her Name Was Abby

by Martuneac, Peter

  “What are we going there for?” Hiamovi asked.

  “You two need to get your hands on a copy of a shipping schedule, daily log, and convoy routes,” Hector replied. “A good source told me that the warehouse in question will have all three of those documents in its main office. This same source also tells me there’s some important shipments heading this way soon, but we don’t know anything more than that. So I need you to go there tonight, sneak in, get the information, and get out. Will you do it?”

  Hiamovi looked at Abby first to see if she was up for it. Her face showed some concerns, perhaps some doubt, but then she nodded her head, so Hiamovi said, “Yeah, for sure.”

  “Excellent. I’ll leave you alone then to come up with a plan,” Hector said as he got up to leave.

  “So what do you think?” Hiamovi asked Abby once Hector was gone.

  “Well, for starters, we can’t just steal the documents,” Abby replied. “If the documents are gone, or compromised in any way, they’ll just change the routes, change the times, and probably even change what shipments they’ll make. We need to get the information without them knowing we have it.”

  “Good point. I can borrow a video recorder from Jay.”

  “That would work, yeah. Next thing we should do is find out when they rotate out their guards.”

  “You want to avoid their shift change because there will be more people, right?” Hiamovi asked, but Abby shook her head.

  “The best time to go would be just before or after their shift change,” Abby explained. “Outgoing guards, by the time there’s twenty minutes or so left on their watch, will be tired and become complacent. They’ll pay more attention to the clock than their sectors. Oncoming guards, especially the overnight ones, will be frustrated that they are going to have to be awake and alert all night, and will spend the first twenty minutes or so being annoyed instead of vigilant.”

  “Huh, I hadn’t thought of that,” Hiamovi admitted.

  “So do you know when they do shift changes?”

  “No, they change it every day,” Hiamovi said. “I might be able to find out if I ask around. I have more than a few contacts around town. But it might be difficult for you to get some information. Unless… ”

  Hiamovi’s voice trailed off as he ran a possible scenario through his head. Abby waited for him to continue his thought, but after waiting for several seconds, she said, “Unless what?”

  “I think I know how you could find out for us, but you probably won’t like it. In fact, I know you won’t.”

  “What is it?”

  “Well, suppose you head down to the warehouse in a bit. Suppose you chat up a guard whose shift will be over tonight. Suppose you get him to believe that telling you when he is done for the night will be in his best interest,” Hiamovi said.

  “What, you mean threaten him? How the hell is that supposed to help?” Abby asked, not seeing the awkward point that Hiamovi was driving towards.

  “No, actually I was thinking you could… charm him.”

  Abby gave Hiamovi an indignant look. “I might take umbrage at that if I thought you were serious,” Abby said, but Hiamovi just shrugged his shoulders. “That has got to be the stupidest idea you’ve ever had,” she said, her voice containing a harsh note of derision.

  “Amazingly, it’s not,” Hiamovi replied. “But think about it, Abby. You’re... very attractive. If you can find a young guy at the warehouse, a guy who probably won’t make the best judgment call, and flirt with him a bit, you’ll be in! Make him think he’s getting lucky and he’ll tell you whatever you want!”

  “Getting lucky?!”

  “Not actually getting lucky, of course! You know I wouldn’t ask you to actually do anything like that. Just give the impression that you would. Be flirty.”

  Abby threw her hands up in frustration. “I’ve never been flirty. I don’t even know how to be flirty!”

  “It’s not like it’s a skill you have to be taught,” Hiamovi laughed. “Just be… complimentary.”

  “Will this even work? Do you really think the soldiers over there will spill their guts to some random, flirty girl?”

  “Well, I wasn’t going to mention it because it wasn’t relevant, but that particular part of town is rife with… flirty women, let’s call them.”

  “Fine. I’ll charm someone,” Abby spat out in reply, making a face at Hiamovi.

  “Oh, come on. Don’t be such a martyr,” Hiamovi said. “I’m gonna go ask around for a while, then I’ll meet you back here at two. We can come up with a more concrete plan then.”

  Once Hiamovi was gone Abby went back to her bedroom to change. If she was going to charm someone, she would have to look charming. She put on some clothes that Nora had bought for her that she had never worn before. They fit, but were pretty tight so Abby didn’t like them. But they flattered her figure and that was the point. Once she had gotten dressed, she went to look at herself in her bathroom mirror.

  She leaned forward, pressing her palms against the countertop, and stared at her reflection. There was a warm glint in her eyes that she had not seen in a long time, not since Zach had died. Her body had long since recovered from being shot, and being able to exercise and eat healthy, regular meals again was making her fit and trim. She’d packed on a lot of muscle, adding half her weight again to the sick and starving 80 pound frame that had been smuggled into the city.

  But on the flip side of all this, she looked much older than she was. All the stress and trauma she’d faced had left enduring marks. She was barely sixteen, and she still had a youthful glow to her complexion, but there was a heaviness in her face that aged her. At this point, she could easily pass for a twenty year old.

  She messed around with her hair a bit, trying to make it behave. Make-up probably would have enhanced her facial features, but Abby had sworn off ever wearing any kind of cosmetic after what had happened at Henry’s farm. After deciding there was nothing else to do about her appearance, she tried practicing some sultry smiles and poses, which, even in the solidarity of her own home, had her feeling embarrassed.

  “Stupid Hiamovi,” she muttered. This was a dumb idea. Abby knew that she was considered pretty, but she had never thought of herself as being particularly attractive. And even if she was, there was no way she could pull off this act. It was not even close to her normal behavior. But she had to do it, or else she and Hiamovi might not be able to complete their mission.

  Abby left her apartment and headed for the warehouse, though she took a rather indirect route. Ever paranoid, she did not want to arouse even the slightest suspicion by going straight to a government facility. So she instead poked around the market for a bit, purchased and ate a small snack, and eventually snaked her way towards the warehouse, giving the impression that she was just a girl taking a stroll on a beautiful day.

  As she came nearer to her destination and to District 3, Abby noticed more and more graffiti on the buildings around her. Tags that ranged from genuine works of art to indiscernible messages covered seemingly every surface. A common trend that Abby noticed in the graffiti was a message of rebellion. ‘ReFounding Fathers’ or ‘RFF’ was on almost every building, along with slogans that cried for freedom: ‘we are not sheep’ and ‘Washington weeps’ seemed to be popular choices, as did simpler, more vulgar messages like ‘fuck Arthur’ or ‘decode the bullshit’. Abby had seen these anarchic graffiti tags before around the city, but never in such dense quantities as they were here, out by District 3.

  She finally spotted the large warehouse looming at the end of the block. There was a fence around the property but it was old and damaged in some places. It was flanked on its south side by a large, abandoned building, which also displayed several anti-government graffiti tags, but to the east, west, and north there was open road, making it difficult to pass by without being seen. Several soldiers roamed about the property, both inside and outside the fence.

  She was approaching from the south, meaning she would not be
noticed until she was right up next to the property. She found a wide alley to her left as she approached the end of the sidewalk, separating the warehouse from the last building on the block. She looked down it and saw a bunch of trash, a couple dumpsters, and, to her delight, a lone soldier on the other side of the fence. He looked young, no older than eighteen, and had probably been assigned this sector because of the offensive odor coming from the unmaintained dumpsters.

  Abby glanced around briefly, making sure that she could have a minute alone with the young man. She saw some other soldiers patrolling around, but they were on the other side of the property. Abby took a deep breath, then entered the alley. She didn’t approach the soldier directly, but instead sauntered in his general direction, getting herself just within talking range while still looking innocent. The soldier watched her carefully as she approached, standing up a little straighter, but not really expecting trouble from a young lady.

  Abby waited to make eye contact with the man until she was very close to him. When she did, she smiled at him, pretending that she thought his stare was flattering. “Hi there,” she said as sweetly as she could manage. The soldier nodded his head but said nothing.

  “Lost your voice?” Abby asked, chuckling as if she had just made a joke.

  “Not supposed to talk to civilians while I’m on duty,” the soldier responded.

  “Psh. Have you ever seen the other soldiers around here? You’d be Employee of the Month if all you do is have a nice chat with me,” Abby said teasingly. The soldier looked uneasy, but he didn’t shoo Abby away, so she pressed forward. “You been doing this a long time?” she asked, inching closer towards him.

  “No, I just joined. I’m only eighteen,” he responded.

  “Oh, me too! I turned eighteen last month. Yay for being adults!” Abby said with a surprising amount of spirit.

  “It’s cool, I suppose,” the soldier said, then he lapsed back into silence.

  Abby worried that her window was shrinking. She decided to pull out the big guns. “Hiamovi owes me big for this,” she thought.

  “You know, you’re pretty cute for a soldier,” she said.

  “For a soldier?” he asked.

  “Well, yeah. I mean, most of you guys are a lot older and rougher looking. They can be handsome…in a way. But you’re actually a pretty good looking guy.”

  “Hm. Thanks, I guess,” the soldier mumbled, blushing badly.

  “Hey,” Abby whispered, leaning in so close that she could smell the young man’s breath through the fence, “I don’t suppose you get a break while you’re on watch, do you?” The soldier raised his eyebrows at Abby, who hoped that the look she was giving him was mischievous enough to make her point known without having to go through the agonizing process of spelling it out for the guy.

  “N-no, but… ” the young man stammered. He looked around to make sure he wasn’t being watched before going on. “But my watch is over at ten, if you still wanna… ”

  “Ten? But that’s when curfew starts,” Abby said, looking disappointed. “Well, can’t blame a girl for trying.” Abby started to walk away but the soldier called out.

  “Wait. Look, come back here at a quarter to ten. I’m a soldier so my curfew is later. I’ll end my watch and then you can come with me to somewhere private,” he whispered.

  “Now that’s a romantic escapade if ever there was one,” Abby whispered as she flashed a devilish smile. “I just hope it isn’t too long of a walk from here.”

  The soldier chuckled nervously and motioned for Abby to go now. She blew him a kiss as she walked back the way she came, feeling self-conscious, embarrassed, and even a little scared. Showing off her looks like this reminded her of the way Henry had leered at her in his house. She would rather look plain and receive little attention from guys than to look good and receive compliments. But with the mission accomplished, she headed back towards her apartment, although this time she took the most direct route possible.

  Apparently Hiamovi’s work had been quick, for he was already back at the apartment complex by the time Abby returned. He was standing outside the main entrance, smoking a cigarette. Abby walked up to him with her hand out, demanding one for herself. Hiamovi fished a cigarette pack and a lighter from his pocket and tossed these to Abby.

  “So what’d you find out?” he asked as Abby lit up.

  “Their shift change goes at ten o’clock tonight,” Abby said after blowing out a puff of nicotine-laced smoke. “Right at curfew, so we’ll have to camp out in a building next to the warehouse for a couple hours before then. That way we only have to risk wandering around after curfew once, on the way back. You owe me, by the way. That was the most awkward shit I’ve ever done.”

  Hiamovi laughed and said, “Okay, how about I pay you back tonight after everything goes down? I think I could scrounge up a fair reward.”

  “That’ll work. So did you find out anything important?”

  “Sure did. A buddy of mine knows a guy who used to work in that warehouse, and he was able to tell me exactly where the main office is. There’s a service door on the south side of the building, and the office is just inside and to the right. We can get this done in a matter of minutes, if everything goes right.”

  “I wouldn’t count on that. The best laid plans and all that, right?”

  “Yeah, I know. But there’s not many moving parts to this. I really think we can knock it out of the park.”

  “If you say so. I’m going up to my apartment to get ready. Stop by in a few minutes and we can come up with a plan. I gotta get out of these stupid clothes.”

  “I wouldn’t call them stupid. They look real good on you, if you don’t mind me saying so.”

  Abby was walking by Hiamovi as he said this, but she stopped to tap his cheek with her fist, gently enough so as to not hurt him, but hard enough to emphasize her point. “I do,” she said quietly before walking away.

  “Oh. Sorry,” Hiamovi said. That girl confused him sometimes. One day she’s open and inviting, and the next she won’t even take a compliment.

  Abby was thinking roughly the same thing as she climbed the stairs up to her apartment. She knew that she flip-flopped a lot in her relationship with Hiamovi and that she was sending mixed signals, but she felt like there was nothing she could do about that. Regarding her emotional state, she had good days and bad days, just like everyone else. Some days, Hiamovi was all she needed to make her forget everything from her past. On other days, he only intensified the pain in her heart and made her feel alone. She didn’t know why she was this way, and she certainly did not like it, but it was just the way things were.

  As soon as she got inside her apartment, Abby pulled her clothes off and stuffed them in one of her drawers. She changed into her old cargo pants and a hoodie before laying down in her bed, using these few minutes alone to empty her head of all her negative thoughts and memories. She needed to be focused on the task at hand tonight, not distracted by things she could not change.

  About ten minutes later, she heard a knock on her door. “It’s open,” she called, and she heard a quiet creek as her front door turned on its hinges and then a tap as it was gently pushed shut again. A few seconds later, Hiamovi appeared in her bedroom, wearing all black clothes and carrying black gloves and a black beanie.

  “I guess that works if the goal is to look conspicuous,” Abby said as she gave Hiamovi’s long-sleeved shirt a gentle tug.

  “Trust me, going out at all in the evening will make us conspicuous,” Hiamovi retorted, playfully pushing Abby’s hand away.

  “On that note, what do we say we’re doing if we’re stopped?” Abby asked as she walked into her living room.

  Hiamovi followed right behind her and said, “Nothing. We run. And you might want one of these to hide your face, should it come to that.” Hiamovi reached into his pocket and pulled out a folded-up bandana and handed it to Abby, who took it and stuffed it into one of her cargo pockets.

  “Doesn’t seem like mu
ch of a plan.”

  “We have no legitimate business on that side of town, especially not at night. We don’t have the time needed to forge papers, so if we’re stopped, we’re screwed. If any soldiers try to question us, we split up and try to get back here. And for the love of God, don’t take a direct route back here.”

  “Yeah, no shit.”

  “And if any Tories try to stop us, we run hard. They’ll actually mount a serious chase.”

  “You know this from experience?”

  “Maybe. Now let’s just assume that we’ll get to the warehouse without incident and talk about how we’re gonna get this job done.”

  They spent almost a full hour going over different ideas for infiltrating the warehouse, eventually settling on what they believed to be a solid plan of action. After coming to an agreement, Abby suggested they head back to the warehouse now and scope it out for the next few hours from a tall building near to the warehouse, an idea that Hiamovi supported. So they both did one last check of themselves to make sure they had everything they might possibly need and left Abby’s apartment, heading back towards District 3.

  They managed to reach their destination without incident, nor did they draw any unwanted attention. Abby pointed out the abandoned building along the south side of the warehouse property. They went inside and made their way up to the roof, being careful to stay low and quiet. Once on the roof, they laid down next to each other on the north side to watch the men guarding their target.

  They did not speak for a long time as they concentrated on the guards’ patrol routes. Abby mapped them out with a pencil and some paper, trying to pinpoint the areas of the warehouse that received the least attention. She also mapped out objects that she could use for cover and concealment once she was inside. Several crates were scattered about the property, some in neat stacks, others in disarray, and Abby also noted a few small forklifts left in the yard.

  Hiamovi was doing the same, but he was making slower progress than Abby. Something was on his mind and he was having trouble pushing it away for a more appropriate time.