Without warning

by John Birmingham

  Tench hustled in, keen to be off the street. ‘S’okay, I don’t need a drink, Kip,’ he said. ‘Although a glass of water would be nice.’

  Barb wiped the last of her tears away and fetched him a glass from the cupboard. She drew the water from a five-gallon plastic bottle on the bench by the sink. It didn’t matter how many times Kip assured her that the water supply was all right, she refused to drink straight from the tap anymore. She handed the glass to Barney, who was abashed to see that she’d been crying.

  ‘Oh man, I hope I’m not interrupting anything?’

  Barb kissed him on the cheek. ‘Don’t worry, Barn. I’m just being silly. Ignore me, I’ll go look after Suzie. She gets lonesome in the dark after a while.’

  As his wife disappeared, Kip pulled out a couple of chairs from the kitchen table. ‘You sure I can’t offer you a drink, buddy?’ he asked again. ‘Wouldn’t mind one myself, the day I’ve had. Well, the week, really.’

  Barney sat down and said no. ‘I have to keep a clear head, Kip.’ He paused and looked his former boss in the eyes. ‘I’m sort of on the run.’

  ‘What?’

  ‘It’s Blackstone, Kip. There’s a warrant for my arrest… Oh man, I hope you don’t mind me coming here. I don’t want to get you in trouble.’

  ‘Don’t be fucking ridiculous,’ Kipper shot back. ‘You’re always welcome in my house. But what’s going on? Is this another one of his stupid fucking games? I’d have thought he’d learned his lesson after the last time.’

  Tench shook his head. ‘The warrant is for sedition and sabotage – for aiding the Resistance. Specifically, for cutting off the power to Fort Lewis last week.’

  Kip smacked his open palm down on the scarred oak table that Barb had dragged all the way over from New York. ‘Son of a bitch,’ he swore. ‘Those assholes at Lewis -’

  ‘Kipper, it’s true,’ said Barney, talking over the top of him. ‘I was part of that. In fact, they couldn’t have done it without my help.’

  ‘Oh.’

  An awkward moment followed, a hot uncomfortable silence broken in the end by Kipper.

  ‘Well, they’re still assholes… So why’d you do it, buddy? You would’ve known you couldn’t really hurt them – crews had that supply back on within hours. It’s like poking a wild bear with a stick. You’re gonna get your ass bit.’

  Barney rubbed his face and leaned forward, elbows on the table, a picture of desolation. ‘I did it because it was the right thing to do, Kip,’ he replied firmly. ‘Even if it seemed pointless and made things even worse for me. And my family. They cut Lorraine and the kids off support – did you know that? After I left the department, Lorraine couldn’t even get the food stamps that everyone else got. We had to live off the neighbours and her family. Church helped too, for a while. Then their stamps got cut off too.’

  ‘Damn, Barney. I’m sorry… I didn’t know.’

  ‘You wouldn’t, Kip. You’ve been too busy holding this city together. And I didn’t want to put you in the shit by contacting you. They’ve been watching me pretty closely. I meant what I said when I left: I can’t collaborate with a dictatorship. But I want you to know that I think what you’ve done for the city, for the people, that’s been great.’

  ‘Oh come on, Barney,’ Kipper said, with a hint of irritation. ‘Don’t piss in my pocket. That was my job. It was yours too. I respect your reasons for going, but I couldn’t agree with them – for myself, you know.’

  ‘I know. I… Look, I don’t want to sound like a nut, but do you think we could go somewhere I can’t be seen from the door?’

  Kipper was nonplussed, but Barney was so agitated and so genuinely concerned that he picked up the candle and led his guest through to the sitting room. He could hear Barb and Suzie playing tea parties upstairs, and thought about calling out that it was almost time for bed. But he kept his mouth shut. Barbara would probably put Suzie down in the next half-hour or so and crawl into bed with her. She’d been doing that most nights since the Disappearance.

  The sitting room was dark, and the curtains drawn. A small fire in the hearth threw a flickering glow over the room. Kip blew out the candle he was carrying and placed it on an old plate that was already scummy with melted wax. ‘Welcome to the new frontier,’ he said dryly.

  They took seats facing each other across a glass-topped coffee table, covered with Barb’s old magazines. Past editions of New Yorker and Vanity Fair, and the February and March issues of Vogue. None of them would ever be published again.

  ‘Okay,’ said Kip. ‘What have you got yourself caught up in, Barn?’

  Before answering, Tench rubbed his palms on the knees of a pair of jeans that looked like they hadn’t been washed in a long time. ‘Like the arrest warrant says, Kip – the Resistance. That’s what they call themselves. Frankly, I think it’s a dumb name, a bit too Secret Squirrel for me, but there’s a hell of a lot of them out there. Normal people, you know? Some, like me, worked for the city, some used to work for the feds, lots of business people too – but normal, Kip. Really normal people who just don’t like the way this thing, this fucking Disappearance, has been used as an excuse to mess around with stuff, to start cutting off people’s freedoms.’

  ‘But Barney, we’re not free to live as we did. You can surely see that?’

  Tench leaned forward. ‘We’re not free to run our plasma TVs twenty-four hours a day, no. We’re not free to gorge ourselves to death on junk food and Vanilla Coke, no. We’re not free to travel anywhere we want. We’re not free to fill up with gas and drive out to Disneyland. We’re not free from hunger or fear or the threat of being eaten alive by that fucking thing out there, whatever it is. You’re right. None of those freedoms are ours to enjoy anymore. But the basic freedom, Kip – the freedom to say what you think, and to act on it, the freedom to control your own life – that is being taken from us, too.’

  Kipper was going to protest, but he had been at the convention when that blow-hard mayor had moved for an amendment to reserve thirty per cent of the congressional seats for the military as an emergency measure. To ensure stability. He’d sniggered when he heard – and then been gobsmacked as one speaker after another rose to support it. And the fact was, the city was still locked down. People were living on handouts and doing as they were told. Food stamps were the new currency. The movement of people and goods was closely vetted by the military. ‘Production Committees’ had been set up to allocate labour and resources where they were most needed. And the local media, although able to work again, was heavily constrained by ‘D Notices’, issued by the Acting Governor but countersigned by General Jackson Blackstone.

  ‘Barney,’ he said, feeling very uncomfortable, ‘I work with these people every day. Some of them, sure, they’re sons a’ bitches. I wouldn’t trust them with three dollars in change. But I can guarantee you, man, they are not doing these things because they’re all little Hitlers in their hearts – they’re doing it because they’re scared. They’re scared we’re not gonna make it.’

  ‘We’re not. Not like this. We might survive, but as what? And what about you, Kip? Be honest – do you think it’s a good idea to just rope off a third of Congress for the military?’

  ‘Well, of course not, Barn,’ the chief engineer admitted. ‘It sucks the big one. But if you’d been there today and seen the chaos on the convention floor… Man, I really don’t know whether that’s the way to go. I just -’

  A thunderous hammering interrupted him. Tench blanched, visibly so, even in the poor light, and muttered, ‘Oh God.’

  ‘Open up,’ called out a harsh voice. ‘It’s the police.’

  The two men locked eyes and a whole conversation passed between them without a word being spoken.

  Kipper placed a finger to his lips and gestured for Tench to follow him, leading his friend into the hallway and pointing to a door under the stairs that led down to the cellar. Barney needed no telling. He hurried over to the door as the pounding began again.

 
; ‘Open up, please. Police.’

  ‘I’m coming,’ Kipper yelled back. ‘But I’m not breaking a leg for you, so you can just fucking wait.’

  Barb appeared at the top of the stairs and Kip waved her back, shaking his head emphatically. There was no time to explain to her any of what Barney had just said. He could only hope she wouldn’t give anything away. Kipper moved into the kitchen and deliberately banged his leg on the table, sending a glass crashing to the floor. ‘Son of a bitch!’ he yelled, loud enough to be heard outside.

  Then, reefing open the back door, he let his natural foul temper off the leash a little, surprising the two police officers who stood there, blocking his view of a small squad of soldiers. ‘This better be fucking good, and quick,’ he snarled. ‘I have to get up at about three in the morning tomorrow and drive out to Fort Lewis.’

  One of the cops actually blinked and said, ‘Oh.’ The other, older one didn’t take a backward step.

  ‘Mr Kipper, eh? My name is Sergeant Banks and this is Officer Curlewis. Sorry to bother you, sir, but we’re looking for agitators who’ve been reported in this area. We need to have a look around your place.’

  ‘What’s going on, dear?’

  Barb had appeared at his elbow. ‘I dunno, some crap,’ he told her. ‘They think we’ve got someone here. Want to search the place.’

  ‘Oh, that’s ridiculous.’

  ‘I’m sorry, Mrs Kipper, ma’am,’ said Banks. T have my orders. Do you mind?’

  ‘Well, I do, but that’s hardly going to make a damn bit of difference, is it?’

  The policeman didn’t bother replying to that, but he at least waited until Kip had opened the door properly, rather than forcing his way in. His partner followed and the soldiers moved up the path, until Barb held up a hand.

  ‘I’m sorry. I don’t mind the police looking around, but you boys have the filthiest shoes I’ve ever seen. Would you mind awfully just waiting for the officers to do whatever it is they have to do? You’re welcome to stand on the porch to keep out of that drizzle, and I could make you some cocoa if you’d like. It’s powdered milk, though, I’m afraid.’

  A corporal raised one eyebrow at the cops, who shrugged it all off. ‘Yeah, whatever,’ agreed Banks. ‘If you don’t mind us poking around, Mrs Kipper?’

  Barb smiled sweetly, firing up her long-dormant Homecoming Queen charm. ‘Well, if you could try not to wake my daughter. I’ve just put her down, and her sleep’s been very disturbed since… you know.’

  When James Kipper’s wife felt like it, she could be all eyes, tits and teeth. Even the older cop was taken in by the display. ‘We’ll try not to disturb her, ma’am,’ promised Sergeant Banks.

  They padded through the kitchen, and Kip watched with a lurching heart as the two of them headed towards the cellar door. Curlewis, the younger one, flicked on the lights as he went, forcing Kip and Barbara to flinch and squint at the fierce glow. They hadn’t had the place lit up in a month.

  ‘So, would you boys like that cocoa?’ she asked brightly.

  Kip’s heart was racing and he felt like his guilt must be writ large on his face, but the army corporal only smiled and nodded enthusiastically at the offer of a hot drink. ‘That’d be awesome, ma’am.’

  ‘Will you be out all night?’ Barb asked as she set about fixing up their cocoa. ‘It’s going to be terribly cold, I think. It’s been so chilly and awful, hasn’t it, since the Wave came?’

  Her husband tried not to look concerned as the police disappeared down into his cellar. He tried to imagine where Barney might have hidden himself away down there at such short notice. The place was a mess, with dozens of packing crates from their original move to Seattle still stored down there. But really, there weren’t many places a grown man could hide himself.

  ‘Who’d like a marshmallow?’ trilled Barb.

  His nuts felt like they were retracting inside his body as he heard the cops shifting boxes and talking to each other down there.

  ‘Mr Kipper? Sir? Could you come here?’ It was the older policeman, the sergeant.

  Giddy and shaking ever so slightly, Kip excused himself and walked down the hallway. He stopped at the head of the staircase. They hadn’t been able to find the light switch and the cellar was lit by two torch beams. ‘Something I can help you with?’ he asked, forcing the fear from his voice.

  ‘Yes, there is. Could you come down here, sir?’

  He trod carefully, descending the steps. ‘Something up?’

  ‘Yeah,’ said Banks. ‘You know there’s an emergency ordinance against hoarding, don’t you, sir?’

  Kipper almost stammered in reply. ‘What?’

  ‘You’ve got a lot of rations stowed down here, sir. I hope you didn’t stock up recently’

  ‘I… uh… I… no. No, I didn’t, Sergeant. I’m a hiker. I got those supplies about six months ago, in Spokane, when a camping warehouse closed down.’

  ‘Got receipts, Mr Kipper?’ Curlewis called out in the semi-darkness.

  Completely flummoxed now, Kip could only shake his head at first. ‘Uh. No… No, wait – I paid for them with my Visa. It’ll be on the statement, if you need to see it.’

  He felt like he was trapped in some absurdist Eastern European play, one of those fuck-awful theatre-of-pain things he’d seen with Barb when they first started dating. Man, the things you do to get laid.

  ‘Okay,’ said Banks. ‘That’ll be fine. If you could fax it through to me on this number.’ He handed Kipper a card. ‘I’m afraid I do have to report it, sir. But if you’ve got that statement you’ll be okay.’

  ‘Great,’ replied Kip.

  The cops gave the cellar another once-over but seemed satisfied and picked their way through the clutter back towards the stairs. Kipper moved back and aside to let them up. He could smell the heady aroma of cocoa wafting in from the kitchen and hear the muffled voices of the troops as they thanked his wife. Banks and Curlewis then checked every room on the ground floor before moving towards the staircase up to the bedrooms.

  ‘My daughter’s room is the first on the right,’ said Kip softly. ‘If you could just, you know, be quiet up there

  The three of them stepped lightly up the stairs and carefully pushed Suzie’s door ajar. She was wrapped up in her Barbie quilt, with just a tuft of hair poking out. He could see that her room, normally quite neat, was an utter shambles, with toys all over the floor and clothes strewn everywhere. Banks gestured to his younger, more agile partner to get down and check under the bed, which Curlewis did by shining a light under there.

  He shook his head. ‘No bogeymen. No terrorists.’

  The room had no cupboards – always a source of frustration to Barb – but every drawer in Suzie’s dresser was open, with items of clothing hanging out. The lid was off her jumbo toybox, which had been crammed full of furry friends, dress-up costumes and an inflatable Barney the Dinosaur.

  ‘Sorry about the mess,’ Kip whispered. ‘Kids, you know.’

  Banks rolled his eyes. ‘I got three.’

  The officers searched the other bedrooms and the bathroom, but without success. At last, with Kip’s heart fit to burst out of his rib cage, the sergeant flicked off his torch.

  ‘Think your wife has any cocoa left?’ he asked.

  ‘There’s always some to spare,’ said Kipper.

  * * * *

  They didn’t stay much longer. Just another five minutes, enough time for them to throw down a hot drink before heading out into the hard chill of the night. Barb smiled and waved them all the way down the drive, keeping her mask in place until she’d come back inside and closed the door. Then her act fell apart, and she rushed to the sink and vomited up a stomachful of warm cocoa.

  Kipper quickly flicked off the lights so that they couldn’t be seen from outside. ‘Holy shit,’ he breathed. ‘Where the fuck is Barney?’

  ‘Toy box, in Suzie’s bedroom. I stashed him in there. Covered in Barbies and fairy wings. God, he’s so fucking big, I didn’t
think he was going to fit in… Oh man, I have never been so fucking glad we got the monster-size toy box,’ she grunted before hurling again.

  Barb took a few seconds to gather herself. Kipper rubbed the back of her neck. ‘I told Suzie it was a game,’ she said, ‘that she had to pretend to be asleep… Oh my God, Kip, what the hell was that about?’

  ‘I’d better go get the Scarlet Pimpernel and let him tell you himself,’ he said.

  ‘Better wait a while first, honey,’ she replied, wiping flecks of brown drool from her chin. ‘In case they come back.’

  But they didn’t. Kipper peeked out once and saw them knocking on the door at Mrs Heinemann’s place. They seemed to be working the whole street, which gave him some confidence that he hadn’t been specifically targeted.