by Sean Grigsby
For fuck’s sake. Was everybody going to choke up today?
“We can worry about the details later. We need to find Farica. Let’s get everyone loaded up.” Lena rubbed her tired eyes. “And we need to go get Grindy’s body.”
They looked for Farica, in all of the typical areas and then the not-so-obvious. The Amazons’ dwellers were gone, too, so there was no one to coerce into giving up the last of their leadership. No one hid in the Core, or in the sewers under the Amazon ganghouse. It was as if Farica and her minions had found a way off Oubliette, just when the Daughters were in desperate need of the same. It took a lot for Lena Horror to call it quits on the search. Time was a’wasting, for Sarah, for them all.
They dragged the dead Amazons from the stairwell and fished the other out of the bottom of the elevator shaft. The last one had made a bigger mess than they’d bargained for, and it was going to take a lot longer to clean up – yet another reason to get Pao back. But Lena figured if they were leaving Oubliette anyway, what was the point? Unless it began to smell.
Ava and Hurley Girly put the dead Amazons on the back of their cyclones while Dipity gave Sterling much more care and laid her on the back of her seat. The Daughters of Forgotten Light took the ride slow and steady, both to keep an eye out for the OC and Farica, and so the bodies wouldn’t fall into the street.
When they got to Grindy’s, Lena waited in front of the door with Rory asleep in her jacket. “I need at least one of you to help me. But if the rest of you want to stay behind, I’d understand.”
Lena’s sheilas looked at each other.
Ava spoke for them. “No. We’re all coming in.”
The front door was still a wreck from when the runaway cyclone burst through, and the already dark shop seemed even dimmer than before, probably because they knew what they would find. But something was different.
Carrying a light, a woman in a white shirt and jeans roamed the shelves like a ghost. Lena had to rub the fog from her eyes and remember there was no such thing as ghosts. It was Taylor. She was humming, but it wasn’t a song.
“Taylor,” Lena called, low enough not to startle the dweller.
“Huh?” Taylor said, moving closer. “Who’s that?”
“Lena Horowitz.”
“Oh. Hi, Horror.” Her eyes were red, cheeks wet. But her face was blank.
“We’ve come to take Grindy,” Lena said.
“She’s not here.”
“What? Who took her body?”
Taylor laughed and shook her head. “She’s at the shipment. She’ll be back in a little while. Why aren’t you sheilas there?”
The sight of Grindy nailed to the wall must have snapped Taylor’s crackers. This was no time for the dweller to go loopy. She was probably the best chance they had to get off the city.
“Come with me,” Lena said, moving toward Grindy’s office.
“What are you…” When Taylor saw where Lena was headed her face widened, like she’d suddenly become aware. She snarled. “No!”
Lena grabbed Taylor in a headlock.
“Oh, shit,” Ava said. The Daughters got out of Lena’s way.
“No!” Taylor screamed again, swatting her arms and stumbling on her feet as Lena dragged her to the office.
This whole city brims with brats like this, Lena thought. Someone had to do some fucking growing up around here and face the hell in front of them.
She kicked the door open and shoved Taylor inside, onto her knees.
“Look!” Lena said, pointing at the body parts stuck to the wall.
Taylor cried, the way Lena thought Hurley Girly was going to earlier, reaching her hands out to Grindy’s remains. She bent down to her knees and sobbed, the sound muffled by her folded body.
“Grindy is dead,” Lena said. “We can’t change that.”
“I loved her!” Taylor wept into her knees.
“I know you did. And I swear to Christ we’re going to make sure Farica gets what’s coming to her. But we’re going to need your help. And we’re going to need you focused.”
Taylor lifted her head, casting glimmering eyes at Lena. “What could I do? Grindy–”
“Put a lot of faith in you. Hell, you practically run this shop.”
“Used to.”
“No,” Lena said. “I think you have one more big job in you. And this one’s going to be a doozy.”
“Like what?”
“We’ll talk about it later,” Lena said. “Let’s give Grindy the sendoff she deserves.”
The Sludge River was not just the waste collected from every unfortunate resident of Oubliette. It wasn’t just the means by which every woman’s waste got recycled underneath the streets by the same energy that lit the city’s dwellings and gave gangs the means to blast each other to oblivion. It was also where the dead were put to rest.
The Daughters rode to the river bank opposite the OC’s glass hill. They’d brought Taylor along on Lena’s cyclone. It was only right for her to be there. If anyone could find a shred of happiness on Oubliette, it had to be cherished. And if lost, it had to be honored, remembered. Whatever hatred Lena thought she had for Taylor, it was gone with the truce. And Lena needed her.
Ava and Hurley Girly unceremoniously chucked the Amazons into the dirty water. Lena would have spit after them, but she didn’t want to ruin the farewell to the dead she actually gave a shit about. She grabbed Sterling while Taylor and the others each took a piece of Grindy. They stopped at the Sludge’s edge and put the dead Daughters into the river.
“Even though she’d left the gang a long time ago,” Lena said, “Grindy was a Daughter. And once a Daughter…”
“Always a Daughter,” the others said.
“She was our greatest friend,” Lena said as the current picked up the bodies. “The Earth forgot her, but her sisters will always keep her here.” Lena put a fist over her heart. “Her light will go on forever.”
How many times had she said this same thing for all the others? It was second nature now. Like waking up and eating. She wondered if it would be the last time she had to do it. She’d do her damnedest to make it so.
“Grindy was the most important person in my life,” Taylor said. “A genius engineer, a visionary, and a tornado in the sack.”
That put a smile on Lena’s face, on the rest of the Daughters’.
“I’m going to try and make her proud,” Taylor said.
“Sterling,” Lena said. “She was the most level-headed of all of us. I never thought I’d see her…” Lena took a slow breath and started again. “I always thought she’d be the one saying something about me as I drifted away. She couldn’t talk, but she had more to say than any sheila on this dump. I don’t know much about Islam, or what she believed. But she was the heart and soul of this gang, and she will never be forgotten.”
They all pounded fists against their chests.
Lena squeezed her fist as tight as she could, feeling the pain, committing it to memory and seeing Farica’s ugly face in her mind. “Her light will go on forever.”
Chapter 40
Sarah found it funny how time could be lost when you were in a dark place and had nothing to orient yourself to besides muffled voices and drowned-out laughter. If the OC gang member who had opened the door told Sarah she’d been in there for a thousand years, she would have believed her.
Instead, the short, black woman grabbed her by the arm and led her to the main room. The overhead lights stung her eyes, and she had to squint until they adjusted. Others in the OC surrounded Shamika, who had her foot propped on the arm of a chair like some general at the front of a boat.
She turned her head to Sarah when she entered and tossed over a manna loaf. “Here you go.”
Sarah dug into it. She never thought she would have been glad to see the tasteless muck, but she chewed on it like it was steak. The OC watched her eat, faces slack with indignation. One sucked on her teeth. Another’s right eye twitched. Five of them, including the one who’d brought
her out of the dark room.
“Thank you,” Sarah said. Someone had to change the mood, and being rude would get her nowhere. Not yet.
Shamika laughed. “Damn, I can still smell the new on you.”
The others laughed, too, their faces softening, if only a little.
“What do you mean?” Sarah asked.
“This city hasn’t changed you, not completely. Your eyes are still wide with wonder. Your face hasn’t aged with the stress of day-in-and-day-out fighting and struggling.”
“I guess I got here at the right time.” Sarah relaxed a little. It was good to hear from someone else that she hadn’t yet dropped into the deep end of whack-job-itude. She was still the same person, no matter the things she’d had to do. Balance, she thought.
“Yeah, well if you hadn’t noticed, the truce is fucking gone. Done. You’ll get plenty of opportunities to lose your head, little girl.”
“I’m seventeen,” Sarah said.
“Oh,” Shamika raised her hands in mock apology, “my bad. You’re grown. And we’re just a bunch of crazy bitches floating out here in space.” She dropped her arms. “You don’t know shit.”
“That’s not what I meant,” Sarah said.
The gang resurrected their hateful faces, and Sarah had the sinking feeling that no matter what she said, they already had their minds made up about her, what she thought, and who she was. They’d probably dare her to say they were wrong.
Sarah put down the manna loaf. “What are you going to do with me? Am I in your gang now?”
The way Shamika reacted, Sarah thought she should have become a comedian. Her head snapped back and she cackled like it was the funniest thing ever said. “If your gang doesn’t show anytime soon to trade you for the baby, I’m afraid we won’t have a use for you.”
Sarah swallowed. She knew they didn’t mean she could walk out the front door. One of the OC stroked their rang, making Sarah’s skin crawl. She wanted to throw up.
The sixth OC member came through the front door. “We’ve got visitors,” she said.
Shamika turned. “The Daughters?”
“Yep. And they’ve got the baby.”
Shamika was in Sarah’s face in two steps. “Come with me, little girl.”
The OC sure liked to grab arms. Shamika squeezed at the spot the other OC had left sore, and forced Sarah out under the stars. They hustled behind one of the barriers soldered to the glass ground, and Shamika held Sarah out to the side, poking out her head for a quick second.
Lena stood there, where the path up the glass mountain curved around to the OC ganghouse. She held Rory cradled in her arms, easing her way toward them on foot. The other Daughters waited farther away, sitting on their cyclones.
“Stop right there, Horror,” Shamika yelled.
“I’ve come to make a deal,” Lena shouted back.
“We won’t shoot unless you say something stupid,” Shamika said.
“We’ll trade you for Pao.”
“Who?”
Me, Sarah thought. Shamika had never cared to ask her name.
“Sarah,” Lena said. “The only one over there not hiding behind glass like a bitch.”
“Easy there, Horror.” Shamika put the end of her rang gun at Sarah’s head.
A flash of what had happened to Dandelion crossed Sarah’s mind and she tried to keep absolutely still.
Lena raised her left palm and nodded once. “My mistake. I’ve just had a long night.”
“So we get the baby?” Shamika asked.
“I’ve got something a lot better.”
Ava got off her bike and hustled toward Lena.
“I only want the kid,” Shamika said. “But what would be better?”
Lena laughed through a sigh, shaking her head. “I’ve got some information. Something big. We’ll let you in on it if you give us our Daughter back.”
“Motherfuckers,” Shamika said under her breath. Then, loudly, “The baby for your sheila. That or nothing.”
Ava grabbed Lena’s shoulder and the two bickered silently until Lena decided to stop talking. Ava finished whatever she was saying with hard eyes that seemed to say, “Don’t screw this up.”
Lena groaned and turned as Ava walked back to her cyclone. “We’ll give you the baby for Pao, and your help.”
“Help with what?” Shamika asked.
“We can talk about it after we’ve made sure no one is going to get shot.”
“OK,” Shamika said. “But we talk about it here, in our ganghouse.”
“Shall we trade, then?” Lena said.
Shamika came out from behind the barrier, still holding onto Sarah’s jacket, but dropping her rang. Lena walked to meet them, and when they were feet away from each other all three women stopped. Lena stared at them, not moving. When Shamika cleared her throat, it brought Lena back into motion. She kissed the baby and held her out. Rory croaked gentle whines.
“Now let Pao go,” Lena said.
Shamika huffed and released her hold. Sarah stood there in a haze. It was too easy – all of this. Lena was giving up the baby, something she would never have done, even if it meant her and all the Daughters would die. Something must have been going on, something worth Lena using a little sanity for a change.
Sarah trembled, despite her whispered chides for her body to cooperate. She was walking like a shit-faced snail.
Lena had to pull Sarah the rest of the way over. “Alright, then,” she said. “Are we all happy?”
Shamika cooed and nuzzled Rory. “She’s where she belongs. All’s right on Oubliette once again.”
“Well, that’s where you’re wrong,” Lena said.
Icy tension gripped Sarah right in the gut. Oh, God, please don’t let her do something stupid. Sarah held her breath, waiting for Lena to draw her rang and bring down every OC ball of death on them. Shamika looked up, glaring at Lena. She must have thought the same thing. Her right arm twitched.
But Lena remained calm and kept her arms where they were. “Let’s talk about it inside. OK?”
Shamika nodded and entered the ganghouse with Rory. Lena waved for the other Daughters to come up.
“Thank you,” Sarah said. She sincerely thought she’d be dead by now.
“Don’t mention it,” Lena said, keeping her eyes on the approaching Daughters. “You’re our sheila. And that shit you pulled with the dweller in that cage was legendary.”
Sarah smiled. It lasted about as long as it took to see there was someone missing amongst the Daughters.
“Where’s Sterling?” Sarah asked.
No one said anything. If they weren’t coward enough to look at the ground, they just stared at her with blank faces. All Lena could do was shake her head.
Sarah thought she was going to cry. She felt the surge come up, but what left her mouth was a roaring scream toward the green Veil, one that made her throat sore and dropped her to her knees. The tears did come then. But she felt more like beating someone to death than wallowing in despair. Shamika had been wrong. Oubliette had changed her. It had only taken until that moment for it to show.
Sterling. Why Sterling? Sarah couldn’t even bring herself to ask what happened. She didn’t want to know. It would be worse to know. Maybe later… maybe later. No, now!
Ava patted Sarah on the shoulder. With a spin, Sarah clutched Ava’s arm and flipped the woman onto her back. She bent over to start pummeling her face, but Dipity moved in, and Sarah had to take her down with a sweep of her leg. A reared-back fist sent Hurley Girly stumbling backwards with her hands up in supplication.
Lena. Where the fuck was Horror? Sarah would show her what terror really felt like. Turning, Sarah spotted Lena standing in the same place. Sarah was going to tear her smug-ass face off!
Huge arms wrapped around her before she could get close to Lena, and her gang’s head stared at her sadly, as if she pitied her. Goddamn it, she didn’t want pity, she wanted Sterling back. Sarah lost any will to fight as Dipity’s arms tightened a litt
le more to hold her still. She hadn’t noticed it until then, but a ringing filled her ears, and as it faded she heard Dipity repeatedly tell her it was OK. But it wasn’t.
When Sarah’s eyes had dried up and she promised the Daughters three times she wouldn’t attack them, they walked – some limped – into the ganghouse. Shamika twirled Rory around the main room, holding the baby under the arms. Lena stopped short and glared at Shamika. Maybe Sarah wore a similar disposition. But fuck Lena. The baby was alive. Sarah had truly lost someone she cared about. Lena had no right to feel anything. She hadn’t cared about Sterling at all. Not like Sarah had.
Every so often, over the next half hour, Sarah felt bad about how she was thinking, that it wasn’t Lena’s fault. But she quickly argued it away. Sarah had the right to be angry, and Lena should have protected Sterling. The way Horror had beaten Sterling the other day, it would make sense Lena had let her die.
Shamika handed the baby to an OC and took a seat. “So what’s this shit about?”
The other Daughters sat too as Lena spoke, but Sarah remained standing. This wasn’t the time to relax. She didn’t even catch most of what Lena said. Something about a flying drone. All of them needing to get off Oubliette.
Good fucking luck, she thought. She stared at a piece of glass wall, feeling hollow and too warm inside.
Lena said something about Farica being the only Amazon left. Well, that was a comfort at least.
Sarah really needed to hit something.
“How do I know you’re not full of shit?” Shamika asked after Lena finished. “I mean, I feel awful about what happened to Grindy. And that fucks it up for everybody. But this thing about a drone spying on us, it’s way too crazy. Even for you.”
Hurley Girly came forward with something in her arms. Sarah hadn’t noticed it until then. She hadn’t even caught what Lena had said about Grindy. What had happened to Grindy? Her anger was steadily subsiding. She couldn’t afford to drift off and miss anything else.
The hunk of metal Hurley Girly dropped on the floor was charred around the edges and had a big eye with a cracked lens.
“Looks like a robot sperm,” one of the OC said.