"We can't stay here much longer," he said as he stood next to Bella. The car had been parked just inside the barrier and they walked through, a handful of deputies shadowing them as they went. "The sanitary arrangements are going to get out of hand pretty soon, and if disease breaks out, then you're gonna have a whole heap of sick and dying folks on your hands. At first, I figured that might be your plan all along, but now I've met you, I don't reckon so. When you've worked for a sociopath for as long as I have, you forget that not all leaders are the same."
"I'll take that as a compliment," Bella said. "And you're right. We're going to assign housing to the east of Elizabeth along with some manpower. You'll have to organize yourselves, though, and it'll take a lot of work to make those places habitable."
"You're gonna let them all stay, then?"
"It's the right thing to do," Bella said.
Bob grunted. "You ain't gonna be popular with all your people."
"It's still the right thing to do," she said. "And, in any case, I'm beginning to think that we need to get bigger if we're going to survive. More people are arriving every day and we need to be able to deal with them whether they're friendly or not. But tell me, what's happening in the TLX? I haven't had any news."
"I've been wandering a long time, but there's others who can give more recent tidings. Do you want to meet them?"
So she followed him into the heart of the camp.
Two men sat around the small camping table in the center of a large tunnel tent. Bella went in on her own, after instructing a reluctant Skulls to stand guard outside.
Suspicious faces looked up at her as she pulled up a camping chair and took a seat beside Bob.
"She's okay, fellas," he said as the two looked at him with suspicion. "This here's Mayor Bella Masters. Mayor, this is Wyatt and Carlos. President Murphy calls them deserters."
"We wouldn't do what we were ordered," Carlos said. He was a short man whose pronounced cheekbones resulted in a skull-like face. "I didn't join up to shoot unarmed civilians. Told my corporal I wouldn't do it and damn near got a bullet in the head for my troubles. He's a good fella, though, and faked shootin' me. Had to wait till dark, curled up like I was dead, before I could creep away."
The other man scratched his beard. "Did Bob get that right? Your name's Masters?"
"Yes, that's right."
"Your boy ain't Jake, is he?"
Bella felt her heart give a sudden thump. "What? Yes, Jake's my son. Do you know him?"
"No, I've never met him, but he's certainly made a name for hisself."
"What do you mean?"
Wyatt leaned forward, clearly delighted to know something she didn't. "Well, he brought back news of how those backstabbers in Phoenix were gonna betray us to the North Koreans."
"What? No, don't tell me—I want to know how he is!"
Wyatt shrugged. "I reckon he's doin' just fine. Last I heard, he was gonna get a medal from the president. Him and that sergeant he was with. What was his name, Carlos?"
"Woods."
"Nathan! He was with Nathan?"
Again Wyatt gave a shrug as if it was of no consequence. "Yeah, Nathan Woods is even more of a hero than your son. I don't s'pose the president's too happy about that neither."
"Where are they now?"
Wyatt's reply was cut off by Skulls's call from outside. "What are you doing here?"
The tent flap was thrust aside and a man came inside.
"Where you been, Carter?" Bob said, looking up at the thick-set newcomer.
Before he could answer, another figure ducked inside and stood looking uncertainly at the people in the tent.
"Luke!" Bella hissed.
"So, you went behind my back," Bob said, scowling at the newcomer.
"Sure enough. I found him and we had a little chat, man to man. He's here of his own free will."
Bella got up and stood in front of Luke, looking into his eyes. "Why are you here?"
"I'm going back, Bella," he said, quietly.
"You'll be murdered!"
He gave a wan smile. "Only if I'm caught. Say goodbye to Maddie for me. Tell her…tell her that I love her. I'll come back if I can, but she mustn't try to follow me."
"You can't go back. Where will you hide?"
"Oh, we don't plan on hiding, Madam Mayor," Carter said. "Every man here has had his life ruined by that monster who calls himself president. We may not look like much, but we're gonna do our best to right a few wrongs."
"I'm going back with them, Bella," Luke said and, for the first time, she saw the man this boy was becoming. "I'm going back to silence my father."
Chapter 8
Marvin and Luna had settled into a daily routine. She would ask how far there was to go, he'd explain that the sooner they got started that morning, the better, and, a few hours later, she'd complain about her butt hurting from sitting still.
Now things had gotten worse. Fifty miles west of Washington DC, the roads had become completely impassable. Cars and trucks had been abandoned—not on the Long Night but much more recently. Like an arterial clot, they were stemming the flow of traffic heading toward the capital. So, they'd been forced to abandon the trusty pickup that had seen them across the continent and to walk. Which meant she was now bellyaching about having sore feet.
Only Dany, the half-Alsatian, seemed to be as sanguine as she had been at the start of the journey. The dog had barely survived the lion attack back in Spokane and it had been Marvin's careful tending that had seen her through. Sure, Luna had been by the dog's side day and night, but it had been Tucker who'd made the tough decisions and Tucker who'd stitched her up after tying her jaws together. And the dog seemed to somehow appreciate what he'd done for her. She'd become his dog over those long days and the affection went both ways, to his surprise. Luna didn't seem to have noticed, as Dany's behavior toward her hadn't changed much, but something had changed between man and animal—a dog-shaped hole in his life he'd not known existed was now filled.
"How much farther today, Marvin?" Luna asked as they trudged along.
"I dunno, kid. We'll stop when we can, okay?"
The girl grunted and he could see her head dipping in exhaustion. "Will they let us go to New York when we get there?"
"All we can do is ask," Tucker responded.
"And what if they say no?"
Tucker chuckled. "Then we'll go anyway." They'd had this discussion dozens of time. Sometimes, talking to a kid was like chatting to a forgetful old relative—repeatedly treading the same paths.
They'd come across the first signs to the east of Hagerstown. They'd been heading northeast, ignoring the hand-painted notices directing them southwest toward DC. And then, finally, they'd found the road blocked. With a thrill of fear, Tucker had seen the Lee Corporation logo on the flak jackets of the people behind the barricade.
New York, it seemed, belonged to them now and they were forcing all refugees toward the camps around the capital. He'd spent the days since then trying to work out what they were up to, but he'd given up. He was the sort of man who preferred action to thought and so he plodded south with Luna. They would see what the situation was down there, perhaps learn something of what was going on in New York, and then work out how they were going to get there. Or—and this was a forlorn hope—Luna would see that their mission was hopeless and allow them to begin the long journey westwards, back to the other Washington.
"Look, Marvin, it's not far now!" Luna said, pointing at a sign that stood beside the road.
They were now part of a constant stream of people all heading in one direction and he was forced to push his way to one side to be able to see the sign properly.
Patriot Reception Center C, 2 Miles -> George Mason University, Fairfax
And, in smaller letters below:
The Federal Government welcomes all loyal citizens who wish to contribute to the reconstruction of our great nation. We ask for patience as we welcome and process you and your compatriots.
God Bless America
The sign pointed off to the right, so Marvin, Luna and Dany joined the flow of people heading that way. Some were continuing on a straight line toward the city center, but Marvin doubted they'd get much farther.
The lights on the Eagle Bank were like a beacon as dusk fell quickly at the end of a drizzly day. Marvin couldn't feel his feet, though he couldn't tell whether that was because he'd walked so far today or because of the cold that seemed to seep out of the ground. Luna was stumbling along, cuts on both knees where she'd fallen. He'd tried to catch her, but without those lights to follow, they'd have given up and found a bush to curl up in overnight. As it was, they crept toward the promise of warmth and food as part of a shuffling crowd.
They'd reached the looping road outside the arena when the crowd, which had by now compressed into a line, came to a halt.
A figure appeared out of the gloom and held up a megaphone.
"This facility is now closed for the night," he called. "Please return at 8am for processing. Please clear the road."
"Where are we supposed to go?" called a woman's voice from somewhere up front. But the figure had moved farther along the line and, a few seconds later, Marvin heard the message being repeated.
The people around them began murmuring angrily, but the line quickly broke up as others dispersed into the night.
"I don't know about you, kid, but I can't walk more'n a few steps."
"Me too. Let's just stop here and wait for the morning."
They found a space between two bushes and Marvin was just getting the cooking stove out of his pack when Luna announced that she needed to use the bathroom. Sighing, he snapped his camping shovel together and dug her a hole next to the wall of the arena. They'd almost fallen over people lying among the trees and when they returned they found their spot had been taken, and they were forced onto the sidewalk.
Marvin unfolded the tiny hoop tent they shared in emergencies as the drizzle became more insistent and he sat sheltering the stove as he tried to heat their last can of soup. Dany and Luna sat in the little tent and Marvin found himself miserably contemplating a night out in the rain since asking either of them to get wet was clearly out of the question.
He handed a mug of warm soup to Luna. "Yes, it's chicken," he said.
"I don't care," she responded, draining it in one gulp and letting Dany lick the mug.
"I was gonna drink out of that," Marvin said, lifting the camping kettle to his lips. "Look, we can't all fit in here. I'll go hunker down by the wall over there. Don't worry, I'll be able to keep an eye on you."
"We can all fit in here," Luna said, squeezing herself to the back of the tent and only serving to almost topple it while proving that there wasn't room for three.
"No need," Marvin said miserably, "I've been wet before and I imagine I'll be wet again one day."
He groaned as he got to his feet. Oh, what he would have given for a roof over his head tonight. As he turned to go, the bright lights of a car turned toward them and, blinded, he stepped back into the road. The car came to a halt inches from him and the driver sounded the horn. Marvin gave him the finger and got back onto the sidewalk, but the car didn't move off.
A rear passenger window slid down. "Are you on your own, little girl?"
It was a woman's voice and Marvin thought he could hear the mumbling of a man talking behind her.
Luna got up and approached the car. "I'm not a little girl," she said, "I'm ten and I've come all the way from Washington state."
Marvin moved to stand alongside Luna. "She ain't alone," he said. "She's with me."
The woman looked at him. She had a nondescript face with Latino skin, brown hair and matching eyes. Marvin knew he'd seen it before but couldn't place it.
"Who are you?" she said.
"He's my daddy," Luna said and Marvin only just managed to bite down his surprise in time. She'd shown many times that she was sharp beyond her years.
"Well, I was going to offer you a dry and warm place to stay tonight, but if you want to sleep on the sidewalk, be my guest."
Luna began jumping up and down in excitement as Marvin noticed other shapes emerging from the bushes. "Oh, yes please."
The door swung open. "Then get in."
"My mommy told me not to get into the cars of strangers."
"She was right," the woman said, "but I'm not a stranger. I'm the President of the United States."
That's where he'd seen her face. On the posters!
"I want my…daddy to come with me, and Dany."
"I'm sorry, poppet, but there's only room for one. Your daddy can come join you tomorrow."
"And how, exactly, do I do that?" Marvin asked, fear coursing through his veins.
"Register in the morning and my people will find you," she said, looking up at him. Beside her, on the passenger seat, the barrel of a handgun appeared, gesturing him to stand to one side.
"I don't want to go with her, Daddy," Luna said, looking up at him in alarm.
Marvin leaned down and gave her a hug. "Don't worry, kid. If they don't do what they say, I will come find you. Nothin' can stop me. Nothin', and no one."
He pushed her into the car, the door shut and, in moments, it had pulled away leaving him beside the road in possession of a tent and a dog, but more lonely than he'd ever felt in his life.
Luna sat in the car alongside the woman calling herself president. On her other side was a man in a black suit, a square head and a shoulder holster. Both her companions on the back seat had moved away from her, so she sat shivering in an accumulating puddle.
No one spoke. She got the distinct impression that her presence here had made the man angry. But what did that matter? The woman on her other side was the president. They didn't have to care who they upset.
"I am postponing my meeting at the arena, Charles. We need to get this girl some dry clothes before she catches her death."
From the driver's seat, a man nodded. "Yes, Madam President." So, it was true…
The car swung around the loop in front of the arena as the man beside her picked up a walkie-talkie to call off the meeting. My, he was cross. If she were president, Luna thought, she'd fire anyone who was so bad-tempered in her presence. And that would only be the start of it. She'd thought about this a lot over the time they'd been traveling, and she'd tried to get Marvin to talk about it. He said it was too late to do much good, but then he went on about boring things like making sure everyone got fed and was safe. Of course, she wanted all those things too, but where was the fun in them?
She'd read once that scientists wanted to bring woolly mammoths back to life by doing something science-y with the DNA and putting it in an elephant's egg. A bit like Jurassic Park, but real. So, she'd decided that her first presidential order—after all the boring stuff—was that NASA should resurrect unicorns. Using horses, not elephants. Obvs.
Marvin had almost wet himself laughing and she was so cross she'd stopped talking to him for almost a whole day.
Luna was nudged awake as the car came to a halt. "Come on now, let's get you upstairs."
"She's staying in the residence, Madam President?" the grumpy man said.
"Yes, that's the simplest option."
"But she's a security risk; we haven't screened her."
The President took Luna's hand and walked toward a door that swung open to admit her. "Don't be ridiculous, she's a ten-year-old girl."
Luna was barely able to keep up as the woman moved quickly through plush carpeted corridors. Occasionally a person would call a respectful greeting, but their only other companion was the man in the black suit who was pounding along behind them. Luna felt exposed and alone as she moved, with nothing but the cold and wet clothes on her back.
Finally, they arrived at a white door. The guard nodded, reached over and pushed the door open. Luna followed the president into a wide entranceway with checkerboard floor tiles, ornate furniture and walls lined with paintings. Without saying a word, she di
rected Luna into a room off to the right that contained a large bed. She closed the doors and stood leaning back on them, as if to shut out the world.
"Please, feel free to look through those drawers and closets," she said. "My predecessor had a daughter about your age, so you should be able to find something that fits."
"What happened to her?" Luna asked as she moved nervously to the nearest closet and threw open the doors.
The president took a seat by the bed. "The Long Night happened," she said. "Tell me, what is your name?"
"Luna."
"Oh, what a lovely name. I'm called Christine."
Luna emerged from the closet with a pair of jeans and a T-shirt. "Shouldn't I call you Madam President?"
Blaise shrugged. "Maybe, when we're in company. But when it's just the two of us, I think we should use first names. Agreed? I'm Christine Blaise."
"I'm Luna Ramos. My dad's a soldier in Afghanistan and my mommy's a sheriff."
"So, the man you were with isn't your daddy?"
Luna flushed. "He's as good as. That's Marvin, he's a deputy who works for my mom."
"And where is he taking you?"
Luna smiled at that. "Oh, he isn't taking me nowhere. I'm taking him. To New York."
"Why?"
"Because Mommy was in a helicopter that came from there. I figure that's where she's gone. Can I put this on?"
"Sure, honey. Do you want me to leave you alone so you can get changed?"
Luna began pulling off her wet clothes. "Oh no, I've gotten used to having no privacy. Though Marvin does his best. Always tries to give me my own space."
"He sounds like a good man."
"He's the best. When can I see him again?"
"Soon."
Luna paused for a moment, her eyes narrowing as she regarded this woman. "Why did you bring me here? Just to give me some clothes?"
"Not just that. You've been traveling on the open roads, haven't you?"
"Yeah, all the way from Washington state."
The Long Night Box Set Page 55