"Where are you from, Mr. Masters?"
"Solly, please," Solly said. "I'm from Texas but was living in New York when the Long Night happened."
"Ah, is that what you call it?" Harper said. "Well, I suppose it's as good a name as any. It was certainly a long night, and it didn't get any better by daybreak. I'm also from New York, by the way. I was visiting the hospital here, staying in this hotel, when it happened."
The coffee arrived, along with some delightful cookies that Solly immediately nibbled on. "Why didn't you set up there rather than in a hotel?"
"Good question," Harper responded, apparently delighted to be asked. "The answer's pretty pragmatic. I knew that the biggest need after that night would be for shelter. Some people would need medical help, sure, but most just needed somewhere safe to sleep and a community to belong to. You've seen what's happened to the other inhabitants of the city—they've joined together in gangs. This is a more civilized version of that, and we have more people here than any of the gangs. That keeps us safe. Good people coming together in common purpose. Not a bad phoenix to arise from the ashes, is it?"
Solly made positive noises and then decided to come to his point. "It's amazing what you've done here, but my little community needs help. Flu has broken out. We have a medic, but no antivirals. Do you have any here?"
"Sure we do. We had an outbreak here a couple of weeks ago. Pretty nasty strain. Lost a couple of old folks, but the Tamiflu saved a lot more. How much do you need?"
"Enough for fourteen."
Harper almost choked on his coffee. "Fourteen? I assumed it was just for someone you were looking after."
"It is, in a way. We have a farmhouse west of here, and only the medic and I got flu shots this season, so it's on us."
"A farmhouse? Where?"
Solly had a strange reluctance to reveal this to the man. Harper spotted it instantly.
"You don't want to tell me? Seriously?" he said, some of his bonhomie disappearing. "You expect me to give a sizable percentage of our antiviral stock to a stranger who won't even reveal where he's from?"
Solly sighed. He could see the doctor's point. "Look, we've kept our location secret all this time. We're a community of mainly the old and the very young. We have no defense other than anonymity."
Harper shook his head. "Not good enough, my friend. If I'm to trust you with such valuable stock, you have to show me the same trust. All I'm asking is for everyone who receives treatment to be registered with us."
"Registered? What do you mean?"
The doctor leaned across the table, disbelief on his face. "This is a medical facility, Mr. Masters. If we're to treat our patients properly, we have to keep records. We've got the technology all set up, so all you need to do is let us have their names and their location and we'll hand over the drugs."
Solly felt as though he were being swallowed by darkness. He didn't even notice as Doctor Harper waved at someone, or as a laptop was placed on the table.
"Look, it's just a simple form," Harper said, turning the screen to face Solly. "Some basic biographical details, any medical history they can remember, and their current location. All perfectly straightforward."
Solly glanced at the form. It looked legitimate enough and yet he hated the idea of it. There was also the practical problem that he didn't know the names of most of them. He was just about to explain this to Harper when his eyes swept up the screen and stopped. At the top of the page sat the logo of the Lee Corporation.
Thirty minutes later, he was being escorted from the hotel by Winters. It was absolutely black beyond the barricade, except for the odd hint of firelight out there in the city.
"Well, Solly, you've gotten me in a whole heap of trouble," Winters said as they headed into the hotel parking lot.
"I'm sorry, Aston, I really am. But I just can't do it. You may trust him, but the Lee Corporation is involved somehow, and they were the reason the Long Night happened."
Winters turned off his flashlight and Solly could barely discern his outline even though he was only feet away. "I know. If somethin' looks too good to be true, it's because it ain't."
Solly tried to untwist the tautology and failed.
"But Solly, I ain't running out on him. 'Cos as for right now, he's the only thing I got."
"You could come with me," Solly said, surprising himself.
"Nah, this here's my place for good or bad. But look, take this…"
Solly felt something like an envelope containing a metal object being placed in his hand.
"What is it?"
"Shh. Find yourself somewhere to hide tonight. Make it nearby, 'cos the gangs don't usually come close. Then take a look. I hope it helps, my friend."
Solly took Aston's hand and thanked him, though he wasn't sure what for. Then, with a change in the air, he realized Winters had gone.
He carefully skirted the parking lot looking for a hiding place. His mission had been an utter failure unless, by some miracle, the contents of the envelope held hope.
Chapter 3
"I don't see why we can't stay here," Skulls said, as he, Al and Bella sat around the table in their apartment. "You wanted a safe place for Maddie and this is it. And you're doing a great job; Elizabeth is thriving."
She reached over and touched his hand. "That's kind of you. And you're right, Maddie is safe enough, but Luke certainly isn't. If word that he's here gets back to his father…"
"Yeah, I know. But it ain't likely, surely?"
Bella shrugged. This had been a running topic over the ten days since she'd found herself appointed temporary mayor. She desperately wanted to put some more miles between them and those who hunted for Luke, but she'd found herself bogged down in the minutiae of running a small town.
"We can't take the risk," Bella said. "By the time the TLX rolls into town, it'll be too late to get away."
"I say we stick to the plan," Al added. "Help them get back on their feet, and then skedaddle. Though heaven only knows why they need us…"
Skulls chuckled. "They don't need us, Al, they need Bella. She was the first person to stand up to the old mayor and win. The townsfolk have faith in her."
"If only I could honestly feel that I deserved their faith," Bella said. "I'm just making it up as I go along."
"Well, it looks as though you're going to have to do some more making it up right now," Al said, pointing behind Bella.
They'd been sitting in the small staff canteen at the town hall, enjoying a brief break from their duties, but the peace was now being shattered by some familiar footsteps.
"Madam Mayor," said a gruff voice from over Bella's shoulder.
"Sheriff Moretti," Bella responded, turning in her seat to face him. Moretti was a dependable man who'd been elected to serve as sheriff by those deputies and cops who'd been least implicated in ex-Mayor Kennedy's brutal regime. It had been an unusual approach for unusual times, and it had been Bella's idea. She needed to be working with someone who had the sort of authority that comes from being chosen by his peers, someone who would appreciate the fact that he wouldn't be in that job if it weren't for her.
A dependable man, sure, but not the sharpest knife in the kitchen.
"Sorry to disturb you, Madam Mayor, but there's trouble down at the care home."
"Again?"
They called it the care home, but it was actually the detention camp set up by the previous mayor to house the "disposable" workers who didn't qualify for citizenship of Elizabeth. Bella's first act had been to free the inmates but it hadn't been as simple as merely opening the gates—these people had nowhere to go.
"It's Parkins; he says the rehoming isn't going quickly enough and the heating's broken."
"Can we do anything about that?"
"I spoke to Silvers and he said the generator's too inefficient. It burns fuel."
Bella got up and pulled her coat around her shoulders. "Well, you can tell him I don't care how inefficient he thinks the generator is, those folks need hea
t and he's to get it working. I'll deal with Parkins."
Bella had adopted the habit of traveling around town in a nondescript Nissan 4WD. At first, she'd used Al's RV, but that was far too distinctive, and she rarely got where she needed to go without being stopped by someone who'd inevitably add another problem to the pile on her shoulders.
So, Skulls was driving her to the "care home," safe behind the tinted windows. They turned off the road, through the now open gate and into the parking lot. An old man emerged from the front door and was practically at the car before Bella had time to get out.
"Well finally!" he said. "Madam Mayor sees fit to grace us with her presence."
"Don't be like that, Rufus. I was only here three days ago."
"And what's happened since then? A big fat nothing! There's people freezing in there!"
Bella walked past him and headed for the open door. She could hear the slap, slap, click of his sneakers and cane as he followed her. In his eighties, Rufus Parkins was still a man to be reckoned with, but she could move faster than him.
Her nose crinkled at the rancid smell of the building's dark interior.
"And there's no lights" she heard him say from behind her.
"I'm getting that fixed," Bella called over her shoulder. "And the heating." And, as she said that, the lights came on. That'll cement my reputation as a miracle worker, she thought, marvelous.
Large rooms, used as dormitories, lined the corridor on either side and she saw curious faces staring back at her from the metal beds arranged around the walls. Bella knew these people needed to be moved as quickly as possible but, as with so many liberations, the hard part wasn't giving them their freedom, it was what to do afterwards.
"We're doing our best, Rufus," she said as the old man caught up with her, "but you're probably going to have to clear some houses yourselves. We don't have the manpower."
Parkins made no effort to hide his anger. "Haven't we worked hard enough already? Do you know how many of the folk interred at the same time as me have survived? None. Just me left. The lucky one. And now we're expected to drag out the dead and take their homes?"
"Yes, and those of you that are fit enough will have to continue working in the fields…"
"Now just a…" Parkins began.
"…along with other members of the Elizabeth community. If we're to build a store of food for next winter, the fields must be tilled, the crops grown and harvested. Surely you see that?"
"We do."
Bella and Parkins both turned in surprise to see an old woman with white hair and brown skin emerging from the nearest dormitory.
"Now, don't you go interferin', Martha Kray," Parkins said.
The woman put her hand on the arm of Parkins. "Don't fret, Rufus. You've played your part and got the mayor's attention. She promised to fix the lights and they are fixed. I can feel the heating comin' on too. And she's told you what us folks has to do to be part of this town. Only those who is fit to help, though, ain't that right, Madam Mayor?"
"Of course. That'll be up to you to decide," Bella said, delighted in her unexpected ally.
"Well then, there you are. You can quit your haranguing, Rufus, and just remember that this here ain't that witch who locked us up. No, Miss Bella is the one who freed us. And now it's time for us to do our bit."
The old man went to open his mouth, but found he had nothing to say, so he merely nodded.
"Madam Mayor!" Moretti's voice echoed along the corridor.
Bella sighed. Every time she felt as though she was getting somewhere with one problem, another one presented itself. "Yes, chief?"
Moretti stumbled to a halt alongside her. "Trouble at the checkpoint!"
"What's happened?"
"You need to come and see for yourself," he said, looking at the other two. Clearly, he didn't think he could reveal any more in front of them.
Bella said goodbye to Parkins and Kray and half walked, half ran along the corridor to the parking lot.
"Now what is it?"
"There's hundreds of them, mayor, and it's getting pretty ugly."
Elizabeth had checkpoints at each of the main roads into town, but it had no wall and, aside from the river on one side, no other way of preventing people walking into it from the countryside. So, Mayor Kennedy had ordered the police to set up regular patrols to catch anyone entering the town without passing through the checkpoints and the good citizens of Elizabeth could also, in general, be relied upon to inform on those who eluded capture.
Bella had, with reluctance, continued this practice. Even though her instinct was to help as many people as possible, Elizabeth could only support so many and it was already at its limit without expanding into previously uncleared suburbs. The folks at the "care home" had discovered the consequences of that and would have to make room for themselves, but unbridled expansion was a recipe for chaos.
It was with this in mind that she approached the western roadblock, Skulls at her side, driven there by the sheriff.
A sea of people washed up to the checkpoint barrier as a dozen armed deputies held them at bay, shotguns raised.
One of them turned to her as she approached. "I'm glad you're here, mayor."
Bella recognized Suggs, the deputy who'd allowed them to enter Elizabeth in the first place and had inadvertently caused the chain of events leading to her being here now. Skulls's injury had healed because of that action, but pretty much everything else had gone awry. She couldn't help thinking they might have made it to DC by now if he'd turned them away.
"How many are there?" she asked as she scanned the crowd. It was a motley mix of men, women, and children. What they shared was an air of desperation.
"We don't know," Suggs said, "we haven't dared to cross the barrier. Hundreds, I'm sure."
A voice called from beyond the line of deputies. "Are you in charge?"
A woman was raising her hand as if to attract their attention. For lack of any better plan, Bella strode up to the barrier and then, ignoring the protests of the deputies, she ducked under it and approached the woman, hand outstretched.
"My name is Bella Masters," she said. "I'm temporary mayor of Elizabeth."
"Well, it's sure good to meet you, Madam Mayor. The name's Brida Beck, outta Pittsburg, Texas." She was a good-looking woman in her fifties with shoulder-length gray hair that retained a trace of color at its fringes.
"Do you speak for these people?"
"Heck no!" Beck said with a snort. "We met up with a coupla dozen headin' north, but more 'n more folks have joined. Safety in numbers, I suppose."
"How many of you are there?"
She shrugged and glanced over her shoulder. "Hard to say. Maybe two, three hundred."
"And what do you want?"
"A place to stay. Folks are starvin'."
Bella became aware of the people around them listening in on the conversation. "I'd like to ask more questions," she said. "Will you come with me and we can talk in private?"
"As long as I can bring my granddaughter with me. I ain't leavin' her, not for no one."
She gestured at a young girl who clung to her leg. Five or six years old, Bella guessed, with eyes that spoke of hunger.
Bella led them both to the car and sat in the back with her two guests and Skulls in the driving seat. "Take us to the town hall, Steve," she said. "Let's get these people something to eat."
Despite her grandma's protestations, the little girl abandoned all manners as she swooped on the food placed in front of her.
"Mary-Belle!" Beck said, "That ain't no way to conduct yerself in polite company." As she berated her granddaughter, however, Bella saw her eyes flit to her own bowl of soup. "And take care or you'll burn yer lips!"
"It's okay. Please, eat something, you must be hungry."
Beck resisted for a moment and then hunger overcame pride and she dunked a thick slice of bread into her vegetable soup. "Oh, that is mighty delicious," she said between slurps. "Where do y'all get the bread from?"
"It's baked here in town. The soup's also homemade," Bella said, before getting up and gazing out of the window to give the woman time to eat in privacy.
"You know we can't just let everyone in, don't you?" Bella said as she gazed down on the people bustling along the main street, hurrying to get home before the light failed completely.
She heard the sound of a spoon being lowered. "Well, Madam Mayor, you're gonna have to do somethin'. Us folks, we're desperate."
Bella came back to the table and sat down as Skulls delivered three mugs of coffee and a soda before taking a seat next to her. She could feel the pleasant thrill of his warmth against her flesh, but forced herself to focus on the issue at hand.
"Why did you leave…where did you say it was?"
"Pittsburg. Well, it's on account of the war."
"What war?" Bella said, feeling Skulls tense up.
Brida Beck looked from one to the other, unable to hide her surprise. "Whaddaya mean? The war between the TLX and Arizona of course."
"What?" This was the last thing Bella had expected to hear. "Is the TLX trying to expand across the whole of the south?"
Beck shook her head. "That's not what I've heard. Story is, Arizona declared war on us. And they got allies."
"Who?"
Beck looked left and right as if checking that they weren't being overheard. "Word has it, it's the Chinese. Some say they've taken over California and are fixin' to head east. Some of our boys found out the Arizonans were double-crossin' us and that's when it all went right to hell. First we heard up in Pittsburg was when the recruitment wagon rolled in and they started takin' away all the men and boys who could fight. That were bad enough, but they also took all our supplies and we were left with nothin'. So, we began walkin' north and east, and we found this crowd headin' the same way. Course, it's a helluva lot bigger now because others joined as we went. Then people started talkin' about this place where there was a free town and folk could be safe. So we kept walkin'. And now we're here."
The Long Night Box Set Page 51