The Cause

by Clint Stoker

  Ganton set the remaining three bottles down. “You take care of these. I’ll get us inside.”

  Air threw another Molotov cocktail toward a window across the street. The window shattered and flames spread inside. Two more. He tossed another. The bottom steps burst into flames. The crowd cleared back enough for Air and Ganton to get to the door. Air saved the last bottle.

  “Open the door!” Ganton pressed his phone to his ear.

  Anna-Desi pulled open the heavy door. Her mouth dropped as she took in the turmoil. “What happened?”

  Air and Ganton slipped inside and slammed the door.

  “Now everyone knows where we’re hiding!” Anna-Desi snapped.

  “The Founder already knows! We need to get out of here.” Air pulled a heavy table across the floor. It vibrated against and scratched the tile. Air grunted and toppled it over against the door.

  “How is that possible?” Anna-Desi reached over the table and locked the library doors.

  “Surveillance, I’m sure. The fact is, the Founder knows a lot more about us than we realize.” Air wiped the sweat from his face. “Is there another way out?”

  Anna-Desi looked around and shook her head.

  “There’s a tunnel!” Ganton exclaimed.

  “Alright, get the babies and get them out.”

  “And then what?” spat Anna-Desi, “If the Founder can find us here, he can find us anywhere.”

  “Take them outside the city. You know the land well enough outside. The Founder won’t be able to find you.”

  “He’ll find us before we get out of the city!”

  “Trust me.” Air squeezed her shoulder and gave her a serious look.

  “I hope you know what you’re doing.” Anna-Desi turned and started up the stairs.

  “What’s the plan?” Ganton stood at attention.

  “I don’t know.” Air leaned against the door with his ear to assess the chaos outside. “Go with Anna-Desi. I’ll keep them here as long as I can.”

  “You can’t do this alone, Air.”

  Air cringed from the nagging pain in his forehead.

  A muffled crashing sound startled them, as if something large had toppled over in the street. It rumbled. Un-numbered screams merged into one.

  “It’s like déjà vu.” Ganton stared blankly like he had seen something awful.

  “What is?”

  “You were always good at starting a riot.”

  Chapter 24

  A blast blew a fist-sized hole in the door. Wood splinters sprayed over Air and Ganton. A second blast broke a larger section of wood from the door. Buck-shot ricocheted across the room.

  “They have a gun!” Ganton scrambled to the staircase.

  Air jumped back, lit the wick on the remaining Molotov cocktail and hurled it at the door. A fire ball crawled up the door. A man screamed and fired another round of buck-shot just over Air’s head. Air ran up the stairs after Ganton and they went into the study. Elena leaned over a square wheeled book bin, her face wet with tears. She knew about Fields, though nobody told her. She knew what would happen the moment he left the library to go after the infants.

  “How do we get to the tunnel?” Air felt bad asking Elena to do anything but grieve.

  “There’s an elevator in the back.” Anna-Desi laid a child into the large bin.

  “We’d better hurry.” Air looked back over the banister, the front door still burning.

  Elena set Eve into the bin and placed one of the crying babies on her little lap. “You’re a big sister now, Eve. Can you help us take care of them?” She smiled through her grief.

  “Where’s daddy?” She asked with a naïve smile.

  “He’s… Be a good girl, Eve.” Elena covered the bin with a thick blanket. She pressed a handkerchief against her nose.

  “We’re ready to go.” Anna-Desi slipped a satchel strap over her head. “Come this way.” She pushed the bin by the handle to the back of the study.

  A gunshot echoed from over the banister. Air slammed the door to deaden the sound, but it was too much for the infants. They started crying. He grabbed a chair and wedged the backrest under the door-knob. “Help me barricade the door!” He shouted to be heard over the cries.

  Ganton pulled a couch over by an arm. They propped it up long-ways and rested it over the door. Voices clamored outside the door. Air took the lighter from his pocket and put it to the plush cushions. The fabric melted into a black slime. Fire spread up the couch in seconds. Their pursuers kicked at the door.

  “There isn’t much more we can do here,” Ganton said.

  Air backed away from the rolling fire. “Okay, let’s go.”

  They ran to the end of the study where a door stood, cracked open. They followed the eerie wailing of the infants. Anna-Desi stood stuck with the bin in a stairwell. “Help us.” Fear in her eyes.

  Air lifted one end of the bin. With a firm push, the bin bowed in on the sides and fit through the opening. The stairwell was just wide enough to carry the bin through. They were careful with each step. The babies’ cries reverberated off the walls and the pain in Air’s head seemed to sharpen.

  “Is there any way to make them stop?” Air grunted from the pain now shooting up his knee.

  “They’re just tired,” said Elena, “we can try to calm them down once we get in the tunnel.”

  Two more flights of stairs seemed to pass in slow motion. At the bottom, a dusty elevator door stood in a small nook. Elena fumbled through her keys to find the right one. She pushed a key into the slot and with a turn the dormant elevator came to life. The doors glided open. They wheeled the bin inside and all filled in around it. Elena pushed the only button available and they descended.

  “Your face is all over the media, Air.” Anna-Desi spoke under her breath.

  “I wish I had brought my celebration mask.” Air made a quick head-count. “Where is Fenton?”

  “He said he had something he needed to do to make amends,” Anna-Desi said, “I’ve been calling him for hours but he hasn’t answered.”

  “Don’t call him again. I’m sure the Founder can monitor our phone calls.” Air pulled his phone from his pocket and dropped it on the floor.

  “But how is Fenton going to find us?” Elena sniffed. “We can’t just leave without him.”

  No one answered It wasn’t easy giving her bad news.

  “Well… How is he going to find us?” Elena’s face quivered. Thankfully, she knew what had to be done too.

  “He’s fighting for the cause.” Air held her hand for a brief squeeze.

  The elevator creaked to a stop. The doors opened to complete darkness. Air flicked the lighter on and cupped the flame. “Where does this tunnel lead?”

  “The administration building,” Elena’s voice cracked.

  Air thought of the layout of the city. “There’s a lot of ground between the administration Building and the edge of the city.”

  “We can stay under ground for most of the trip.” Anna-Desi patted at a book in her pocket. “We have the schematics for every tunnel in the city. We’ll have to go above ground between tunnels but if we’re fast, we can be out of the city before tomorrow morning.”

  Hope washed over Air. “Then we’re free?”

  “It depends, if anyone follows us and whether or not the Founder can find us we could be free or we might just get caught out there. But I know a place where we can stay. There isn’t going to be any food, so we’ll have to gather supplies, but it’s our best chance.”

  Air pushed the bin through the darkness. Anna-Desi and Elena spent time hushing and rocking each child while Ganton scouted ahead. The babies eventually quieted and the tunnel began to incline. Silence. Air wondered how long it would last.

  Ganton jogged back to them. “The end is coming up pretty soon,” he said.

  “Will you hold him for a minute, Air?” Anna-Desi handed him a sleeping baby swaddled in a white cloth.

  She pulled out the tattered book and flipped it opened t
o a dog-eared page. “The administration building is wide open, so we’ll have to be quick.”

  Ganton held the lighter close so she could see the page.

  “We’ll come up an elevator first. Then, we need to turn left and go out the nearest exit. The media building is two blocks away. There’s another tunnel in the basement.”

  They reached the end of the tunnel and the elevator. Elena’s key worked to activate the doors. Air returned the baby to the bin as they ascended. The elevator stopped at ground-level. They paused and inhaled, expecting a struggle. The door opened. The lobby was empty. Office debris scattered over the polished brown floor. There were signs of rioting but all the commotion had moved elsewhere. They hurried the cart to the exit.

  Ganton reached the door first then he stopped. “Oh, no…”

  “What is it?” Air stopped the cart.

  Ganton cracked the door, allowing the screams to resonate into the building. They pushed the cart out and continued with caution. A crowd gathered around an assortment of dead administrators. They lay sprawled out on the street among broken glass and garbage. People still threw bricks and rocks at the, already, bludgeoned bodies.

  “Come on, let’s go.” Anna-Desi pushed at Air’s back.

  The book-bin clamored across the rough textured asphalt. They dodged around a corner and ran. Garbage spotted the street. People climbed through store windows looting rationed items. Air pulled his collar up and ducked his face. They approached the media building. A large screen attached to the front displayed only a voided blue screen. They lifted the bin and carried it up the stairs.

  “The elevator is on the north end.” Anna-Desi pushed open a half-broken glass door.

  The reception area sat in the middle of a vast foyer. Stacked floors all lined with rails in acceding squares. A dyed glass sculpture hung over the reception desk. They rushed across the foyer to the north end. People scrambled on the floor above. Someone yelled like a fight raged on. As they passed under the rails of the second floor, something fell behind them with a crash. They all flinched and a baby began to wail.

  “There he is! He has the rebirth!” Someone yelled from higher floor.

  “Go, go, go!” Air pushed the bin over the elevator threshold. The doors closed behind them and they rode down. Elena started crying again.

  “We need a key to get to the tunnel.” Anna-Desi tapped the elevator keyhole.

  “Let me see…” Elena sniffed then shuffled through her key chain.

  The elevator stopped a floor too early. The doors opened and a man reached in for the bin. He caught a good grip of the cart and pulled it back hard. Air fought by pulling the handle on the opposite side. With a pop, the handle broke off half-way. The jolt woke all the infants and they began competing cries. The man stopped briefly, and lifted the blanket to expose the children. A puzzled look came over him. Ganton stepped out and kicked the man in the groin. With a sickening smack, the man fell over breathless.

  “Close the door!” Ganton pushed the cart back inside.

  “I’ve got it.” Elena fumbled to insert the key. She turned it and the elevator continued on to the basement.

  Using the tunnel system, they weaved from building to building. The riots rolled on above ground. The infants seemed to always be hungry. They rested in the sixth tunnel to feed the babies and make plans to get supplies on their next excursion above ground. They panted from exhaustion and stress, but they felt safe in the tunnels. For a few minutes it seemed like they might actually escape the city alive.

  Voices bellowed from down the long tunnel. Familiar and angry voices called out. “Air! We know you’re here! Bring back the rebirth!” The purgers were coming.

  Chapter 25

  Air pushed the cart further down the tunnel. The cheap wheels rattled and bounced off the ground. After straining to stay ahead, they reached the elevator minutes before the purgers could catch-up. Inside, they breathed heavily but said nothing until they surfaced in a warehouse. Aisles of shelves stacked twenty-feet high. Packaged grains and flour wrapped up on pallets. Canned fruits, vegetables and varieties of sauces and condiments.

  “This is only going to slow us down,” Air stretched his aching knee.

  “Well, we won’t get very far without food.” Anna-Desi tore open a shrink-wrapped pallet.

  “We should swap the babies.” Ganton jumped like the idea literally hit him. “That book bin is too big of a target to follow… Look.” He took a roll of plastic stretch-wrap from an adjacent shelf. “We can use this to strap the babies to us like a pouch. We’ll put clothes on over the babies and walk out of here.”

  “We still need food,” Anna-Desi insisted.

  “Carry whatever you can.” Ganton stepped behind Elena and fumbled with the roll of stretch-wrap until he pulled out a nice length, then wrapped it, diagonally, over her shoulder and around her body.

  Air’s main focus was to stop the purgers. He found a pallet-jack, and used it to lift a stack of bagged flour. He dropped the heavy load in front of the elevator door. The purgers must have still been trying to get the elevator to work without a key.

  “Even if we ditch the book bin, everyone is still looking for us. We can’t take the tunnels anymore.” Anna-Desi placed a squirming baby against Elena’s chest. She pulled the plastic wrapping to make sure the infant was secure.

  “It’s getting dark out,” Elena said, pointing up to a high row of windows across the massive warehouse.

  “It shouldn’t be hard to find cloaks and masks. It’s a good thing night is coming.” Ganton prepared to fasten a second infant to Elena. He seemed much more comfortable handling infants than Air.

  Air pushed another heavy pallet behind the first. “How much further is it to the edge of the city?”

  Anna-Desi shrugged. “It’s got to be another five to eight miles to the border… and probably another ten miles before we are a safe distance away from the city.” Anna-Desi held an infant against her chest.

  “There’s no way we’ll make it. They’ll find us before we can get out.” Air leaned back against the makeshift barricade and stretched his knee again.

  “What else can we do?” Ganton wrapped another layer of plastic around Anna-Desi and the infant.

  The elevator hummed. It seemed to be a reminder that they weren’t alone and there wasn’t enough time. Air looked back at the empty bin. He knew what he had to do, and the more he thought about it, the more he felt it in his forehead. “I’ll be a decoy. I’ll take the bin and draw them away.”

  “We still need you, Air.” Anna-Desi frowned.

  Air paused. A sharp pain made him feel light headed. “If we stay together, we are all going to die. They’ll find us within the next mile.” He pulled the blanket from the bin and spread it over the top.

  The elevator opened behind the stacked pallets. A man grunted and pushed a sack of flour off the top of the stack. “Air!” Dex screamed from the elevator.

  “It’s time to go,” Air said. With a flick of his hands, he motioned for them all to run to the other side.

  Anna-Desi turned and placed a gentle hand on Air’s arm. “Four hours, Air. Lead them on for four hours. By then, we’ll be far enough away and you can ditch the cart and meet us at the safe place.”

  Air gave her a look to disagree. He wanted to tell her he wasn’t planning on escaping but he couldn’t say a word.

  “We’ll be waiting for you.” She squeezed his arm.

  “Go,” he said.

  She turned and held the infant to her chest and rushed down the aisle with Ganton and Elena. Eve straddled Ganton’s hip. He smiled back at Air, turned the corner, and left the building. Air was alone.

  Flour bags spilled from the towered pallet behind him. Dex glanced out at Air and fired a semi-automatic rifle. Air ducked his head though he didn’t have to. The bullets struck somewhere in the rafters. Air grabbed hold of the cart and shoved it down the aisle.

  “He’s here!” The purgers fought their way out of the blockad
ed elevator.

  Air rushed and slammed the bin through a pair of doors. The street was relatively empty except for a few hopeless looking residents and trash blowing along the gutters. He turned left to the nearest intersection to gain his bearings. He leaned on the bin and favored his good leg as he headed west. Everything sounded too quiet to be the city. No celebrators. The north end was the industrial center of the city so people generally didn’t celebrate in the area, but even for the north-end, it seemed too quiet.

  A gunshot whistled past his ear. He flinched and darted left to an alley. The bin boomed with a plastic bellow as it bounded up the curb. A bullet punched into a brick wall before him. He ducked into the alley, rushed to the other end and rounded the corner. A transport station stood across the street with the garage gaping open. Air scuffled inside. There were no transports so he quickly dismissed the thought of driving away. He opened a tool chest, picked the heaviest wrench and ran back to the edge of the entrance. He peered around the corner and waited. Andre appeared from the alley. He held a black shotgun at his waist. Three more armed purgers came out of the alley.

  Air kicked the bin so it rolled deeper into the garage. The wheels rumbled. He sunk back into the corner near the entrance and held the wrench upright. One last stand, he thought to himself. Andre passed through the entrance aiming the shotgun at the bin.

  Air lunged out, swung the wrench with his right hand, slammed the blunt edge of the wrench against Andre’s wrist and reached for the barrel with his free hand.

  Andre’s forearm shattered and he fell to the ground in agony.

  Air pulled the shot-gun free and turned it on the purgers. “Get on the ground!” He yelled to project as much intimidation as he could muster.

  Two of the purgers actually lowered their weapons. The third took aim. Air fired two slugs though his chest and the purger fell down in a spray of blood. The other two dropped their weapons and surrendered.

  Andre held his arm against his chest and rolled on his back in pain. “Murderer! You pig! You murdering pig! I hate you, Air! You broke my arm!” He rocked back and forth on the floor.