He flipped the lid away, and when he saw what was inside, Eric gasped in horror, and started screaming.
Marshal and Luca, who had arrived at the apartment just in time to hear Corporal Vandermeer’s screams, now sat at the bar with Brad, doing their best to empty a bottle of Remy Martin. Gladys, who had arrived at the corporal’s bedside and added her own shrieks of horror to the choir, had been packed away to nap off her scare. God had been scolded severely, but after they’d heard his explanation, they’d all backed off with uncertainty, and even looked at him with a hint of newfound respect.
“Maggots,” Luca said, swallowing half his glass in one gulp. “Who fucking thinks of shit like that? Fucking maggots!”
“And how’d he know where to find them?” Marshal added, shaking his head. “I mean, when we cleared the area and dropped him off, he went into a women’s clothing store and returned with a purse. Were they having a sale on maggots five weeks ago?”
“I asked him about that,” Brad said, waving his glass to be topped up. “He said that he knew about a dead police horse that was rotting out behind the store. Apparently, it had thousands of the things. That big, black, leather bag was just the best way he could think of transporting them back here.”
Luca shivered, then grudgingly topped up his own and Brad’s glass.
“However he thought of it,” Marshal said, “it was a pretty smart thing to do. The maggots only eat away the dead flesh, as sure as any scalpel, leaving the healthy tissue clean. All those antibiotics we gave him kept infections from spreading, but as long as the dead flesh was still attached to his body…”
“Let’s just drop it,” Luca said. “It looks like it’s working and that’s good enough for me. But the sight of those little buggers, eatin’ away at him like that, just inches from his junk… Marone!”
He drained his glass in one gulp.
Valerie appeared suddenly at Marshal’s elbow.
“Welcome back, O mighty leader,” she said, holding her notebook up to read. “How’d things go at the gymnasium?”
“Excellent,” Marshal said. “We now have a much-needed basketball court to mess around with. It’s still a little way from becoming a health spa, but don’t be surprised if that’s what happens down the line, complete with working showers and exercise equipment.”
“I rejoice in the knowledge that I may someday be able to find a good mud bath and sauna,” she answered. “On your list of updates, both Brian and Torstein want to talk to you about starting up the takeover of First Canadian, as soon as the hospital is renovated. With winter coming, he says that if it’s to work, it’ll need to be insulated, so it’s best to get started as soon as possible.”
“Tell him that I’ll try to stop by tomorrow night to work out the details,” Marshal said. “The whole crew will be moving over, so it’ll take a little planning. Oh! Make a note. Luca’s crew is using Crapmobile overnight, so it’s going to be off-limits tomorrow morning while it recharges. And when you’re calling Brian, tell him that I’m moving Albert over to Luca’s crew, at least for tonight. They’ll pick him up at around ten, so he should get some sleep.”
“Will do. Also, Elizabeth, our newest pain in the neck, wants to have a one-on-one with you.” Valerie smiled sweetly. “Apparently, it’s unacceptable that we’ve given her a space to share with her ex-hubby, and she wants the situation rectified. She’s also wondering about gender parity, and why it’s all men in charge around here when there are clearly so many competent women. What’s the word?”
Marshal sighed. “Offer Steve the chance to join Luca’s crew in the gymnasium. We’ll be setting it up, for the time being, as a Crapmobile factory, so there will be plenty of space for him there. As for her other demand - quit laughing! - remind her of the meaning of the word ‘dictator’, would you?”
“Which means, love?”
“It means,” Marshal said through gritted teeth, “that, from a historical perspective, if she doesn’t like it, I’m entitled to blow her fucking head off.”
“I… think I’ll put a more diplomatic spin on it,” Valerie said with a half-smirk, “but I’ll make sure she understands the gist of what you’re saying.”
“And also point out that,” Marshal added, “since you’re installation as my personal assistant, you’re effectively number two around here, outranking even Luca in matters not pertaining to security, which is about all the time I have to spend on that sort of nonsense.”
“Oh Marshal,” Valerie said, smiling, “I’m your Vice-Dictator? So soon? I’m so touched! And being used as your gender shield against Elizabeth Stewart is like a dream come true. Now, I know…”
She wiped a fake tear out of her eye.
“I’ve finally arrived.”
“Is there anything else?” Marshal asked, glaring at Luca and Brad, who were having difficulty keeping straight faces.
“Kumar says that one of the ISU’s you put up along College has picked up what looks like a Swarm on the U of T campus,” Valerie went on, examining her notepad.
“Really? Tell him thanks, and we’ll steer clear.”
“Oh, and Krissy wants to have a private word with you regarding a personal matter.”
“Krissy?” Marshal blinked. “She came back with us for the night. Said she missed the hot showers, but didn’t say anything about wanting a word.”
“Really?” Valerie made a face. “Gee. Must be that…”
She consulted her notepad, and then nodded.
“Yes, then it must have been a private word she was looking for then. That is what I told you after all.”
Marshal cocked his head. “That notepad’s totally blank, isn’t it?”
“Ooh,” she said, smiling and showing him the empty page. “Smart and good-looking. Anyway, what shall I tell her?”
“Tell her to meet me at Crapmobile for five o’clock,” Marshal said. “I’m taking a short nap, and then going out with Angie to put up a few more ISU’s. Whatever she wants to talk about, she can talk about in there. It doesn’t get much more private than that.”
Marshal knew there was going to be trouble the second he arrived in the Front Hall for his appointment with Krissy.
“You!” said a woman, her face red with rage. “You’re not going to hide behind your secretary a minute longer! We’re going to talk! Or rather, I’m going to talk, and you’re going to listen!”
“Excuse me, Ms. Stewart,” Valerie said through a crisp smile. “As I have told you, I am nobody’s ‘secretary’. Mr. Einarsson has taken me on as his personal assistant, and-”
“Trust me, honey,” Elizabeth said, “I know who you are. I see you still dress like a slut, by the way. And you are a secretary, dear. You worked for Fred Livingstone at Olympia Fields, and yes, thanks to you, a simpleton walked upright in the world. But you were still a secretary. You can get a bricklayer to make sandwiches, but that doesn’t make him a chef. So don’t talk to me about-”
“Did you want to compare reputations, sweetie?” Valerie said. “Fine with me, Ms. Stewart, of Thompson, McAdam, and Wolfe. That’s right. I know all about you too. Your legal firm dissolved, didn’t it? With Thompson and McAdam being called to the judiciary service? That left Wolfe, didn’t it? And what was the reason-”
“You bitch!” Elizabeth seethed. “How did you know about that?”
“That you were going to become a named partner,” Valerie said, “but were instead forced into to early retirement because the other partners produced evidence that you were having a licentious affair with Margaret Wolfe? My dear Elizabeth, it was my job to know little nuggets like that one. Especially when your dismissal and Margaret’s embarrassment cost your firm its two best remaining litigators, and allowed my company to win a lucrative decision in court.”
Elizabeth stared white-hot daggers at her.
“I believe the lesson we learned here today, Beth,” Valerie said, smiling like a hostess, “is that we should be careful who we bite. Does that sound about right?”
“Th
ank you, Valerie,” Marshal interrupted. The familiar coldness in his mind and heart eased somewhat by her whip-like response. “I’ll try taking it from here. Krissy? If you wouldn’t mind waiting just a little while longer, I think this needs to be addressed.”
“No problem, Marshal,” Krissy said, eying the irate woman next to her. “I’ll just stand here then.”
“Very well, Ms. Stewart,” Marshal said, turning to her. “You have my full attention. I believe this gentleman beside you is your husband, Steve?”
“My ex-husband,” Elizabeth declared, glaring at Marshal, “who wouldn’t even be here if he hadn’t stopped by the house to drop off the final papers.”
“Oh, right,” Marshal said, blinking at the memory. “Sorry. I do recall being told that. In any event, please feel welcome to-”
“Tell me, Mr. Einarsson,” she interrupted. “Do you think it’s ethical to make a sick person sleep on the floor while you sleep in a comfortable bed?”
“Excuse me?”
“I’ve seen the town doctor, lying comatose on his mattress,” Elizabeth said, “and I’ve visited your injured soldier. I just find it interesting that they sleep on the floor while the supreme leader in this joke of a community sleeps in a bed with clean sheets and linens.”
“My bedroom is also my workroom, Ms. Stewart,” Marshal answered, “and in any event, the mattresses are more than-”
“An easy excuse,” she said. “Why am I not surprised? You’ve already shown what sort of man you are by sending that sweet little girl out into danger every day. But then, haven’t tyrants always abused their power at the expense of their victims? Why should the Apocalypse make any difference?”
Marshal bit back his anger.
“You object to my leadership,” he said, nodding. “Well, Ms. Stewart, you’re not the first, nor are you likely to be the last, but your position is noted. Was there anything else?”
Elizabeth’s eyes narrowed.
“I object, Mr. Einarsson, to an unelected, petty, tin-pot dictator, making decisions that impact on the lives of others. I object to being relegated to a patch of floor, while men sleep like kings in the available bedrooms. I object to a man setting himself up as ‘above the law’, while women do all the work. Who have you placed in charge? Well, there’s Kumar, who runs the computer programming department. Then, there’s ‘Torstein’s Crew’, running construction, and ‘Luca’s Crew’, running the vehicle factory, and soon there will be ‘Brian’s Crew’, managing the hydroponics. Oh yes, Mr. Einarsson, I’ve done my homework. And wasn’t Luca also your Chief of Security, before I started complaining, and suddenly – presto! – we have a female Vice-Dictator! Your secretary, no less! How wonderful! But the stench of tokenism is strong enough to choke the undead.”
Cold anger arrested Marshal’s consciousness, and it felt as if he was back at Rothman’s, coolly measuring all the molecules that separated him from Beth.
“First of all, Ms. Stewart,” he said in a calm voice, “I do not answer to you. You have no foundation for making these wild accusations, nor would this be the time to make them if you did. As a species, we are on the brink of extinction, and if I trample a little over your finely crafted sensibilities in establishing a meritocracy, then that is something you’re just going to have to live with. Kumar is one of the best programmers I have ever seen, and Torstein runs construction because he’s an experienced, intelligent, multi-talented tradesman, the best we have. Luca, on the other hand, is a mechanic capable of building new vehicles for everyone in the community. Can you do any of that?”
“Of course not,” she snapped.
“Then step aside and let those who can do their work,” Marshal said. “Meanwhile, you should try leaving your twenty-first century, victim-seeking politics in the past where they belong. We don’t have time for them at the moment.”
“Another convenient excuse,” Elizabeth seethed, pointing an accusative finger at him while her other hand was still tucked into her purse. “Well, I’m not buying it. I think-”
“Ms. Stewart!” Marshal said, raising his voice to drown her out. “You and your ex-husband have been rescued from certain death. You have been provided with shelter, safety, food, water, and many of the benefits of technology. In the future, assuming we all survive, you will be provided with your own luxury accommodations, means of transport, and whatever support networks our community has evolved. At such time, if you still wish to start a war of words, you will be welcome to do it. In the meantime, while we are still under threat, you will be expected to shut up and cooperate. Am I making myself absolutely clear?”
The tone in his voice turned heads from every direction, and expressions of concern varied from face to face. It wasn’t that he sounded loud or even very angry as he spoke, but there was an edge to his voice that froze the blood. Valerie reached out to place a gentle hand on his shoulder, and Kumar appeared in the doorway, drawn by the noise of the argument. For her part, Krissy, who’d been watching the entire altercation very closely, covered her mouth with both hands in an expression of alarm.
“Did you just tell me to shut up?” Elizabeth asked. The hand in her purse stiffened, and her fidgeting stopped.
“Beth,” Steve said uneasily, placing a hand on her arm. “I really think you should let this one go. Honestly, Marshal, we’re both grateful-”
“Shut up, Steve!” Elizabeth shouted. “You always were spineless! He can’t be allowed to get away with this… this travesty of justice. The day that I back down from a trumped-up, strutting, little-”
“I am the dictator of New Toronto, Ms. Stewart,” Marshal said softly, as if he was only making conversation. “I am the strongest, and the strong support me. You’ll either need to come to terms with that or be pushed aside. And yes, I’m ‘above the law’. Our civilization has fallen. If we’re to recover it, if we’re to restore justice over barbarism, then it will have to be imposed in the beginning.”
He took a deep breath and tried to soften his gaze.
“But you’re right about one thing: strength alone won’t save us. Real salvation lies in ten thousand years of civilized progress, and the common bond we share in seeing it restored. We are not enemies in this, Ms. Stewart. Lend me your cooperation and your obvious strength of will, and we’ll restore as much as we can. Afterwards, we can go back to being as brilliant or as foolish as we have always been.”
He looked down at her purse.
“Which reminds me,” he said. “Give me your gun.”
Elizabeth’s eyes, which had become uncertain during his speech, widened with surprise.
“Don’t try to deny it,” he said, smiling grimly at her. “I’ve seen you playing with it during our conversation. The only people who are allowed guns in this community are myself and others delegated by me. Luca is also entitled, though he’s seldom carrying. He prefers to be a little more hands on.”
Elizabeth took a step backwards, pulled out her gun and pointed it at him.
“Don’t move,” she said, quavering slightly, “or I’ll blow the head off your whole fucking regime.”
Marshal’s expression didn’t change.
“Give the gun to me, Elizabeth,” he said. “It gives you no power here, and I don’t want to have to kill you.”
“I have all the power,” she said, gesturing with gun, “as long as I have you. I want you to slowly remove your gun from its holster, throw it on the ground, and back up against the wall.”
Marshal didn’t move. Instead, he looked sad.
“Elizabeth,” he said. “Your gun doesn’t have a suppressor on it. If you fire it in here, even our soundproof walls and floors won’t manage to hide the noise. You will effectively be telling the undead exactly where humans are hiding.”
“Then, you’d better do as I say,” she insisted.
“They will kill everyone here,” Marshal continued. “All the men, women, and children. I will be forced to kill you. Please. I’m not your enemy.”
“Oh… wow
…” Krissy murmured, crouching down close to the floor.
“Elizabeth!” Steve shouted. “Put down the gun! This won’t gain you anything.”
“I will not tell you again,” Elizabeth repeated, staring down the barrel of her gun at Marshal. “Drop your gun and push it towards me.”
Marshal hesitated. Then slowly, he reached up to his holster and with two fingers, removed his gun.
What happened next happened so quickly, most of the room had to replay it in their minds just to believe that it had actually happened.
In a blur of motion, Krissy sprang up off the floor and closed her left hand over top of the gun. In the same move, with her right, she seized the nerve in Elizabeth’s firing hand and squeezed, causing it to spasm open and release her grip on the weapon.
Just as fast, Krissy’s right hand shifted, cupping Elizabeth under the chin and pulling her over backwards. Elizabeth slammed into the floor hard on her back, with Krissy’s knee pinning her across the shoulders and the gun pushed up against her nose.
“Get off of her!” Steve shouted, stepping forward.
Suddenly, the gun was pointed at him.
“Step back,” Krissy barked. “Sit down. Now!”
The authority in her voice was so intimidating that Steve complied.
“What… what…” Elizabeth was stammering, her eyes wide with fright as she stared up at Krissy’s knee.
“Welcome to New Toronto, Ms. Stewart,” Marshal said. “I think we can let her up now, Krissy. I have a feeling that Ms. Stewart will be a very important member of our community. Even so, I think it would be prudent if we placed her in handcuffs for a little while, don’t you agree? Just until she cools down and gets a sense of her situation.”
He smiled hard at Krissy. “You do have handcuffs, don’t you, officer?”
Looking just a bit guilty, Krissy reached into a hidden, inside pocket of her jeans and removed a set of handcuffs. Elizabeth gaped as her wrists were secured.
“Come on,” Krissy said, lifting her up off the ground by the arms. “Let’s find a place where you can sit for a while.”
From Oblivion's Ashes Page 32