by T S Wieland
“Sorry,” she replied as the two of them began following the gang of misfits.
“I’m assuming you have a plan?” asked Sem.
“Yes. Well, somewhat.”
“Somewhat? Fine… You get an hour. If we find out they can’t help us after that, we’re doing things my way. We ditch the dog and the troublemakers and start searching where we first arrived.”
“Alright. Deal.”
Chapter 19
Friends in High Places
The polished, raised sidewalks of the skyways gradually cleared of hurrying pedestrians and wandering tourists. Sem and Ally followed their new acquaintance and his gang of misfits, accompanied by their lost canine companion, down along the winding pathways to the lower levels of the city.
The day began drawing to a close with several uniformed maintenance androids now fixing cracks in the stone sidewalks and performing safety checks on the skyways. Ally and Sem watched the bright and bustling side of the city transition to something drearier and depressing as they followed Teech, Kyle, Twig, and Zip to their home.
The number of people sleeping out front of the rundown shops on the frigid ground, desperately trying to keep warm in the shadows, was staggering. Ally tried her best not to stare, but the sight of a mother cooking a small can of food over a skyway heating vent for her starving child was too heart wrenching to look away from.
The number of homeless families worried Sem. The thought of finding a missing traveler in such a place of intense poverty was nothing new to him, but he knew how difficult the task would be.
Teech finally stopped in front of an abandoned clothing store. The words above the shop had all but eroded away, but their pale mark on the wall remained, spelling out the name “Early Risers” in bold letters. Each window to the shop was boarded shut and tagged with graffiti, complemented by the building’s cracked, water-stained exterior. Kyle punched at the window nearest the main sliding double doors at the front, dislodging the screw that held the barricade up. Twig climbed up and slipped through the makeshift hole and replaced the barricades before disappearing into the dark and gloomy shop.
Sem and Ally listened as they could hear Twig making his way over to the door inside. He unlocked the broken, metal barricaded, sliding glass door and pulled one of the doors open.
“Home sweet home,” said Twig.
“Thanks, Twig,” said Teech patting him on the shoulder as he entered.
Sem followed the rest of the group inside, with Ally and her lost dog right behind him. Twig let go of the door after they entered, allowing it to slide shut on its own.
“Welcome to our humble abode,” said Teech. “Or as I call it, our pleasant eyesore on society.”
Ally wandered around the shop, seeing that the makeshift home was even more dismay than Sem and Otto’s home. Spread throughout the small side rooms of the clothing shop sat a variety of damp, moldy, dirty, and abandoned articles of clothing on fallen or broken shelves. Ally could only imagine how the site would break Vila’s heart.
In each corner lay a sleeping bag or worn-out mattress, each serving as a bed for one of the boys to sleep on. At the very back of the shop in the center, behind the counter, lay a mattress for Teech, the leader of the gang of misfits.
Teech leaned down behind the broken and dusty counter and started to search through his personal items. Kyle sorted through the dirty pairs of clothes around the shop for something to wear. He picked up a white and red shirt that looked far too big for him, but the baggy style seemed to appeal to his sense of fashion. Sem struggled to hold back his urge to cough smelling the damp, humid smell of dust in the room.
“Twig, you still have those plastic cups?” asked Teech, still searching behind the counter.
“Yeah, somewhere around here,” replied Twig, looking around his sleeping bag through his collection of junk.
The lost dog stayed close at Ally’s side, until it caught the scent of a dead mouse in the corner and decided to investigate.
Finding what he was looking for, Teech stood up from behind the counter and brushed a thin coat of dust off a champagne bottle in his hands.
“Ah, been wondering when a good time would be to open this,” he said, looking at the label.
“Hey, that’s mine! I was wondering where that went,” Zip hollered, leaping over the counter to confront Teech. Teech placed his hand on Zip’s chest, stopping him from coming any closer as he admired the bottle. “You know how much trouble I went through to get that?”
“It’s for all of us. Now, help Twig find the glasses.”
“Found them!” replied Twig from his corner. He brought over five plastic dirty cups and set them down on the counter.
Teech popped open the champagne bottle with the palm of his hand and began filling the cups.
“After you,” said Teech, handing Sem the first two cups of champagne.
“Hey! Why do they get the plastic cups?” whined Zip.
“I didn’t see you drop-kick Marcus's ego to the lowest floor. Matter of fact, I recall you cowering behind Twig trying to act tough,” said Teech. “Besides, they’re guests, and we always serve guests first.”
Zip sighed and waited impatiently for a cup. Sem took the cups from Teech and handed one to Ally. Ally looked down into her cup and hesitated to drink from it. A pungent, sour smell drifted up from cup.
Teech finished handing out the cups to Kyle, Twig, and Zip before keeping the rest of the bottle to drink on his own.
“To sweet revenge,” said Teech, raising his bottle into the air. “And may Marcus’s nose forever be scarred with humiliation.”
The young men all cheered before drinking back their champagne like shots of cold whiskey. Ally and Sem both pretended to drink. Ally put the cup close to her face, never allowing her lips touch the rim.
“Now, feel free to stick around if you guys would like, or leave. Doesn’t matter to us. Our door is always open for you,” said Teech. He turned around made his way to the back windows of the shop with his back to Sem and Ally.
Sem tapped the screen of his communicator and read the time. They had eight hours left. Sem subtly nudged Ally with his elbow. Ally was casually dumping out the champagne onto a shirt beneath her on the floor, holding the cup down at her side when she felt Sem’s nudge. She looked over at him and noticed him tilting his head towards Teech trying to direct her with his eyes.
Ally handed him the now empty plastic cup. She proceeded to walk over to Teech, still looking out the window as he drank from his bottle. The sight of the tall skyscrapers looming over the horizon once more captured Ally’s attention. She was unable to look away from the vast web of skyways strung back and forth from one building to the next over a vast ocean on the horizon. The cars on the skyways reminded her of small insects trapped in the heavy traffic.
“Disgusting isn’t it?” said Teech, taking a swig from his bottle. Ally looked at him out of the corner of her eye, confused.
“Oh, it wasn’t that bad actually,” she said.
“Not the champagne. The city. All they ever care about is making life easier and making more money. And they don’t give a second thought as to who they hurt to do it.”
“Who?” asked Ally.
“The upper class.” He pointed to the skyway packed with cars above them. “Each day, McNeal’s androids replace another thirty workers across the city, and another business falls to the tin man army. First it was the police, then it was the city’s maintenance service, and now the paramedics. Soon the corporate virus they’ve created will spread like an infection. They’ll replace every job they can until the only people left are those on top while the rest of us are left dying of hunger at the bottom.”
“Nice to see nothing changes,” Ally replied.
“Zip, Twig, Kyle, and I are each victims of their new android revolution. Each one of us has lost something or someone we care about. Only now we don’t plan on going without a fight.”
Ally could see the determination in Tee
ch’s eyes as he continued to sip from the champagne bottle.
“Teech, we need your guys’ help with something,” said Ally. Teech looked over at her. “We need to find a friend of ours who’s lost in the city.”
Teech raised one of his eyebrows. “What do we look like? Tour guides?”
“No, but I’m guessing you guys know this part of the city better than anyone else,” replied Ally, trying to sweet talk Teech into helping.
“Ha! You bet we do,” Teech replied as he took another drink and considered her request.
“How did you lose track of your friend?”
Ally looked back at Sem for a moment. “It's… a long story.”
“Alright. First thing tomorrow, you guys meet us in the fountain square, and we’ll help you find your friend. Least we can do since you saved Kyle from spending his next twelve years in the birdcage.”
“Well, the thing is, we need to find them today. And sooner rather than later.”
“Ha! You guys really think you're going to find someone lost in this city in one day? Good luck! There are ten million people living in this city, half of whom are hiding in all the cracks.”
“I know it sounds crazy, but we just really need your help before it’s too late,” said Ally, losing hope.
“Hey, we all got our problems. If you want our help, it’ll have to be tomorrow. Otherwise, tough luck.”
Ally looked back at Sem and shook her head with a look of disappointment. Sem shrugged at her, unsure what to say. She walked back over to him, with Teech still staring out the window, sipping champagne. “Twig. Get the door for them.”
Ally whistled to her lost dog, still rummaging through the corner for more mice to eat. The border collie lifted its head up and looked over at her before returning to her side without hesitation.
Twig stood at the front door, ready to open it for Ally and Sem to leave. He glanced outside through the boards on the window. “Uh, hey Teech?” said Twig.
“What?” Teech replied, still gazing out the window.
“Looks like we have more company outside.”
Teech looked back at Twig and set his bottle down on the counter. He made his way over to the front door and peered through the window cracks, scrunching his eyes to get a better look. Sem and Ally both turned around and looked through the windows behind them next to him.
Out front of the shop stood six androids at attention, each wearing different uniforms with the same small McN logo patch on their chests. The androids stood in a perfectly straight line blocking the entrance to the store, unshaken by the now-stirring winds of the high-rise city.
“What are they doing?” asked Kyle. Zip stood on his toes and peered through the window crack below him.
“The more important question is what do they have in their hands?” murmured Sem.
“They must have followed us back here from the square,” said Teech.
“You think Marcus sent them?” asked Kyle.
“No doubt in my mind,” Teech replied.
Minutes passed as the androids continued to watch the shop with their lifeless, glowing, obedient stares. They made no movements of any kind.
“I don’t like this. I got a bad feeling,” said Zip.
“What are we gonna do, Teech?” asked Kyle, biting his lip.
“Just keep an eye on them. We can still get out through the escape elevator. If they try anything—”
Teech stopped. The androids lifted their right arms in unison, revealing the small metal canisters they were holding.
All at once, in a single volley, they pitched the cans at the windows of the shop. Each can burst into flames as it spiraled towards the windows.
“Get down!” shouted Teech as a can hurtled directly towards the crack in his window.
Teech pressed his hand against Twig’s head, forcing him to the floor. Ally dropped down and grabbed the dog. She wrapped her body around him, as Sem dropped prone to the floor at her side. Kyle slammed his body down on top of Zip to protect his young friend, covering his head with his hands. The canisters all broke through windows, unleashing an intense blast of heat as they passed over everyone's heads. The canisters bounced across the back wall of the store before spreading the flames across the stacks of clothing around them.
Sem and Ally both looked up at Teech from the floor. He laid on top of Twig with a shocked and frightened look on his face. Slowly, the flames began to consume the clothing shelves at the back of the shop. Teech and Sem scrambled to their feet and turned towards the window. The androids were guarding the shop to prevent anyone from exiting.
“We need to get out of here!” shouted Sem.
“Kyle! Get everyone to the elevator!” shouted Teech.
Kyle stood up and grabbed Zip off the floor by his shirt. He began dragging him by the arm towards the adjoining room at the far end of the shop. Teech rolled off Twig and waved for him to follow Kyle, keeping low to the floor. Twig stood up as the room started to fill with smoke, accompanied by the powerful smell of burning wood and fabric.
Sem grabbed and pulled Ally to her feet, breaking free her grip around the dog. Frightened and panicked, the dog rushed towards the shop corner in the opposite direction, away from the two of them. Teech ran with Twig ahead of him into the far doorway at the other end of the shop.
“Come on!” shouted Sem. He tugged at Ally’s arm, trying to make a break for the far room with the others.
“No, we can’t just leave him!” Ally shouted back, brushing his hand off.
Running over to the dog in the corner, Ally could see the flames at the back of the room now gaining ground on her. Sem waited impatiently for her to hurry and pick up the dog, ducking lower as the shop became cloudier with each passing moment.
The dog pushed back away from Ally, whimpering in fear. Seeing that it wouldn’t follow her on its own, she knelt and scooped it up off the floor, lifting it with all her strength. The dog fought against her grip, trying to scurry back down to the floor.
Ally hurried over to Sem with the dog struggling in her arms as quickly as she could. The sound of the shop’s supports groaning and buckling echoed all around them in the dense smoke. The shelf next to Sem started to sway, obscured from his vision by the smoke.
Ally yelled. “Sem, lookout!”
Sem looked over at the last second to see the metal shelf topple down on top of him. Ally watched in horror, unable to do anything. Sem collapsed beneath the weight of the shelf, face down.
Ally ran as fast as she could over to him and placed the dog down on the floor. The dog darted away from her towards the far doorway, leaving Ally with Sem stranded under the large, metal clothing shelf.
She knelt to see him lying unconscious under the shelf. His eyes were closed. She moved towards the end of the shelf and grabbed hold of the edge. She struggled to lift it off him, only to fail with each attempt.
The heat in the shop began to boil, as the smoke robbed her of each breath she took still trying to lift the shelf. She started to panic. Her eyes watered as she coughed from the smoke. Her fear was beginning to take over, draining her of all her energy. Ally grunted trying once more to lift the shelf.
She let go and looked down at Sem. Her own self-doubt told her to run. But she wouldn’t. Not anymore.
She clenched her teeth and shouted, yanking upward on the shelf with all her might. A pair of dark figures appeared in the smoke next to her. It was Teech and Kyle. Ally felt a small sigh of relief pass over her. Together they both grabbed the edge of the shelf with both hands and lifted with her.
All three of them growled in desperation over the burning, groaning building, using every muscle they could muster to lift the heavy shelf.
The shelf rose off the ground by a few feet.
“Kyle, grab him!” shouted Teech.
Kyle let go of the shelf, leaving the weight for Ally and Teech to hold up. Kyle pulled Sem out from under the metal death trap by the arm.
Ally and Teech dropped the shelf with a l
oud thud. Teech and Kyle bent down and picked Sem up by both arms and dragged him over to the far doorway. Ally hurried behind them, hoping Sem was okay.
Twig and Zip waited for all of them in a small, metal elevator at the corner of the staff room with the dog, waving for them to hurry. Teech dragged Sem into the elevator as Kyle turned to help Ally climb in before piling into the crowded elevator himself.
“Pull it, Twig!” Teech shouted through the smoke.
The group huddled together in the tight metal box. Twig reached up and pulled down on the red emergency handle on the ceiling, releasing the elevator brakes.
Everyone felt the elevator give way with a swift drop before plummeting down the elevator shaft. Clinging to the metal walls in the weightless rush, everyone shouted in terror, watching each floor of the city flash by beyond the metal gridded windows.
Ally clutched the dog tightly in her arm, desperately trying to hold on with the other hand. Teech held Sem down as best he could as he rose up from the floor, waiting for their free fall to come to an end. The light from the outside gradually faded as they fell, transforming into a deep, damp, green darkness. The grinding metal gears of the elevator continued to squeal loudly all around them.
The rusted emergency brakes clamped down around the shaft railings, emitting a loud high-pitched squeal as the elevator slowed to an abrupt stop. Altogether, the group slammed into the bottom of the elevator with a loud thud against the metal floor having reached the bottom of the elevator shaft at the bottom of the city.
◆◆◆
Sem groaned as he opened his eyes. The haze cleared from Sem’s mind as the outline of a girl with flowing auburn colored hair looked down on him with in a warm, bright glow around her. He could feel her cradling his head in her lap, whispering to him.
“Sem,” she said in a soft voice that soothed his heart and warmed his soul. “Get up, Otter. If I can’t sleep on the job, neither can you.”
“Aria?” Sem asked, looking up at her.
He could hear screams echo from off in the distance. The woman's warm smile faded to sadness as the shrieks grew louder and more terrifying. Her vibrant green eyes changed to a vibrant hazel, as her hair faded to a light reddish brown. He felt a warm wetness brush across his nose.