As they approached the white double doors of the Presidential Suite, Eda felt the panic monster waking up inside her. A barrage of potential problems hit home like a sledgehammer – the most immediate being the thought that Shay had locked them into the apartment.
It was a terrifying thought. If they were locked in, it was over.
Eda’s forehead burned with endless streams of hot sweat. Her entire arm was trembling as she reached for the door handle.
It turned freely.
She almost cried out with relief as she pushed the door open and stepped out into the corridor with David close behind her.
So long Helen of Troy.
It was a small victory but it was far too early to get carried away.
The corridor was empty, thank God. Eda closed the door over but made sure it didn’t click shut. As she started walking away, Eda could almost hear the group of assassins breathing from somewhere inside the apartment.
How long before impatience forced them to abandon the routine and start moving towards the bedroom?
They made slow progress down the corridor. Eda and David’s feet gently kissed the worn-out Waldorf carpet and yet their caution wasn’t enough to prevent the occasional squeak leaping out of the floorboards. It sounded like a warning alarm, like the hotel had betrayed their trust. When this happened Eda and David would halt their advance. Eda stared at the white walls, not daring to blink in case someone lurking behind those walls heard it. As they started walking again, Eda expected those big double doors behind her to suddenly swing open. Shay’s enraged voice would chase the runaways down the corridor, ordering them to ‘STOP’.
And then all hell would break loose.
Eventually Eda and David made it to the top of the staircase. It felt like they’d been creeping down the corridor for hours. It was another small victory. They even exchanged a brief smile with one another as they slipped their shoes back on.
Eda looked down the first set of stairs. It was a long way down but at least she’d get to run. And as long as the staircase was empty they had a chance. Even if it wasn’t, there was no turning back now.
Eda and David charged downstairs as fast as they could. They didn’t talk, they just ran all the way with only a brief stop halfway down to catch their breath. Eda’s arms and legs were burning but it wasn’t enough to make her slow down. Nothing was. Her heart was thrashing in her chest, exhilarated and terrified by the escape. She had to keep going. They could rest later, somewhere safe, somewhere far away from the confinement of the Complex.
Her thoughts returned to the thirty-fifth floor. What was going on up there now? Had Shay and the others discovered the empty bedroom?
Were they already on the stairs behind Eda and David?
Eda turned the last corner of the staircase and she almost screamed with joy when she saw the laundry cart parked at the bottom step. As she raced downstairs towards the cart with David close behind, Lucia appeared as if she’d been waiting in the shadows all the time. An excited Frankie Boy walked on the leash at her side, his tail wagging as he tried to get closer to Eda.
Lucia looked at the exhausted escapees. She pressed a finger to her lips.
“There are two guards posted at the front door,” she said. “Lucky for us, it looks like they’re staying there instead of wandering around. They’re probably making sure that no one else gets into the building while there’s a man in here. C’mon you lot, get in the cart before I drop dead of a heart attack.”
“Thank you Lucia,” Eda said. She leaned over and kissed the old woman on the cheek.
“Get in!” Lucia hissed. “For God’s sake.”
Eda grabbed a hold of Frankie Boy and with David’s help, they lifted him into the cart and lowered him onto a thick pile of bed sheets and pillowcases. The dog tried to climb back out immediately but fortunately he didn’t bark. Eda jumped into the cart to calm him down and Frankie Boy quickly settled.
David looked at Lucia and then at the cart.
“Will you be able to push this with all three of us inside?” he said.
Lucia looked like she was about to slap him in the face.
“Get in there,” she said. “We’ve been through this already. Listen to me sonny boy, I was pushing heavier weights than this way back when you were a tiny little itch in your daddy’s pants.”
David nodded and climbed into the cart.
It was a tight squeeze and they curled up inside as best they could. As the cart began to move, Eda grabbed a handful of bed sheets and towels and flung them over their heads, hiding them from view if anyone were to look in. Frankie didn’t like that. He wriggled back through the sheets towards the surface and scratched at the side of the cart.
The dog began to whine gently.
Eda grabbed a hold of him and buried her face in his coat.
“Quiet Frankie Boy,” she whispered. “Please. That’s a good boy. We’ll be outside again in a second. You’ll feel the rain on your head and you can run as fast as you want, I promise.”
Eda felt the strange sensation of movement as the wheels turned underneath them. Lucia was covering the ground quickly, no doubt desperate to get it over with.
David lay curled up on the floor of the massive cart, his body as still as a corpse.
Eda tried to resist the panic monster. It was still there whispering in her ear, telling her that Lucia had cracked under the pressure and that she wasn’t taking the runaways to the back door – instead she was wheeling them to the front door where the guards and Shay would be waiting with swords and handcuffs. It would be sweet revenge for Lucia after Eda had pushed her too hard in the apartment.
No matter how much Eda resisted the voice, it wouldn’t go away.
Frankie Boy let out another soft whine.
“Shhh,” Eda said.
Eventually the cart stopped.
Eda’s fingers were wrapped around the handle of the dagger. She’d fight them to the end if she had to because she was never going back. That was never going to happen.
Somebody pulled the sheets away to reveal the three escapees underneath. Eda looked up, knife in hand, and saw Lucia’s leathery brown face peering down into the cart. The old woman’s forehead was drenched in sweat.
“Out,” Lucia said. “Quickly!”
Eda stood up and with David’s help, lifted Frankie Boy out of the cart. They jumped out after the dog.
Eda threw her arms around Lucia, kissing her on the cheek and forehead multiple times.
“I’m sorry I was such a bitch to you upstairs,” she whispered into the old woman’s ear. “You’ve been good to me Lucia. You and your songs and stories are about the only one thing I’ll miss about all this.”
Lucia cupped Eda’s face in her hands. “Good luck child.”
Eda looked at her. As much as she wanted to get away, she hoped the old woman would get away with helping them. Eda didn’t want to think about the consequences of Lucia being caught.
“Thank you Lucia,” she said.
“Yes,” David said. “Thank you. I’ll never forget this.”
Lucia’s hands slid down Eda’s face and dropped at her sides. She then turned back to the cart, grabbed the handles and turned towards the runaways one last time.
“You don’t have time to thank me you idiots,” she said. “Run for your life. Go on! Get the hell out of New York and don’t ever come back because as sure as it’s going to rain outside today, they’ll be coming after you.”
13
Eda, David and Frankie Boy ran down Lexington Avenue as fast as they could. They didn’t look back, not once.
Rain fell hard from a gloomy sky. The clouds were fat and puffy, lingering over New York like a supernatural fog. When Eda looked up that way, she had the strangest feeling that the fog was descending towards them.
Frankie Boy barked as they ran. To Eda’s ears, it sounded like a cry of pure joy and she laughed out loud with him, sharing in the feeling of one who’d bolted from the jaws of a trap
that had once seemed so final, into the arms of a second chance.
The city stretched out for miles, opening up to the three runaways like a pair of welcoming arms. They ran past a liquor store, the wreckage of the old Marriot Hotel, countless restaurants and storefronts that the rats had taken over since the end of the wild years.
Eda had seen all this in her dreams. She’d seen this journey down Lexington Avenue over and over again. Now it was here.
“C’mon Frankie Boy,” she called out. She’d stopped laughing now, realizing that it was still far too early to celebrate. The dog had stopped to sniff something near the edge of the road.
“Frankie Boy! Hurry up!”
Eda turned around to go fetch the dog from the sidewalk. She saw something that stopped her dead.
“They’re chasing us!” she called out to David.
Eda’s blood ran cold and she strained her eyes, peering through the crashing rain for a better look at what was coming.
She saw the towering figure of Lex and two other warriors, sprinting towards Eda as if their lives depended on it. A little further back, Eda could see the dim figure of Shay. She was running too but it was obvious that she was struggling to keep up with the impossible pace that Lex and the two warriors had set.
Shay was running – that’s how badly she wanted to get Eda back. It wasn’t enough just to give orders to Lex and then to sit back and wait. She had to get involved.
Eda watched them coming towards her, distorting the perfection of her dream. Behind Shay and the warriors, the Chrysler Building loomed large on the New York skyline like a futuristic space rocket waiting for take off.
Four in total, at least for now. More warriors would be dispatched soon. It was that important – Helen of Troy had escaped after all.
“C’mon!” David yelled over to her. “Keep running for God’s sake. We’ve got a lead on them.”
He ran over to Eda’s side and stared down the road at the small posse coming after them.
“Oh no,” he said.
There was a look of terror in David’s eyes and he began to pull on Eda’s arm, dragging her away, tipping her slightly off-balance in an attempt to encourage her legs to start moving again.
“Let’s go,” he said. “Eda! We can outrun them.”
Eda’s head was spinning but she turned around and tried to run at David’s side like he wanted her to. She was a little faster than he was and quickly slipped into the lead but even then, with the cold air crashing against her face like an invisible wave, something didn’t feel right. Frankie Boy seemed to pick up on this too; he’d been running at the head of the pack just moments earlier but he’d stopped again and was staring intently down the street at their pursuers.
Eda slowed to a stop and took a deep lungful of air. She turned around and with hands on hips, faced the direction they’d just come from. They’d made good ground in their initial dash from the hotel – the Waldorf was a mere speck in the distance.
It had been a good effort but it was obvious to Eda now – running wasn’t the answer.
“What are you doing?” David yelled, slowing down and coming over to her. “We’re nearly out of here.”
“No,” Eda said, shaking her head. “We’re not.”
As she stood there, waiting for them, Eda recalled a pocket-sized book of inspirational quotes that she’d taken from a bookshop in Times Square several years ago. It wasn’t her usual type of reading material but something had compelled her to pick it up. Now, as Eda stood under the cold rain, one of those quotes leapt out from the back of her mind.
The best way out is always through.
“Jesus!” David screamed. The power of the rain wasn’t enough to cover up the panic spilling into his voice. “Keep running! C’mon Eda!”
“No,” Eda said again. She looked at David and shook her head sadly. “They think I belong to them and they’re just going to keep coming and coming. We can’t outrun Lex. And besides for God’s sake, I’ve done nothing wrong.”
“Are you thinking about fighting them?” David said. “These women are killers – you know that better than anyone. You know something else? Those bandits I came to New York with were no slouches in fighting department and those women destroyed them. You can’t win.”
Eda walked over to Frankie Boy, knelt down and buried her head in his wet coat. The smell of dog and wet rain combined was beautiful. “It’s back to the old days boy,” Eda said, lifting her head up and looking into his chocolate brown eyes. “You’re on your own but I’m glad I got to know you. Real friendships are a rare thing.”
She kissed him on the head and stood up straight.
“Go!” Eda yelled, trying to shoo him away. “Run. Get out of here.”
Frankie Boy didn’t budge.
“Please,” Eda said. “Just go! I don’t want them to hurt you.”
She looked over at David.
“That goes for you too,” Eda said. “This isn’t your fight David. Why did you come back to the Complex anyway? Why didn’t you just take off after the battle?”
“And go where?” David said, holding both arms out so that his body formed a cross shape. “I knew there were people here. I guess I didn’t want to go back out there into the desert alone. ’Cos that’s what it is out there Eda – it’s a desert and it’s fucking depressing.”
“But you have to go back there,” Eda said. “And whatever you do David, don’t ever come back to New York.”
Eda let the backpack slide off her shoulder. She unzipped it and pulled out the dagger.
She pointed it at the four women in the distance.
“If I can just get to Shay,” she said.
David rushed over beside her. Streams of rainwater poured down his boyish face. His bottom lip trembled but he nodded like he finally understood what Eda had to do.
“Well I’m not running either,” he said.
Eda smiled and looked at him. She pointed to the empty scabbard hanging off his belt.
“Bet you wish you had that sword now don’t you?”
David looked down at the scabbard and smiled.
“So what now?” he said, as they both stood there watching Lex and the warriors catch up with them. “We just stand here in the rain and wait to get killed?”
“No,” Eda said, looking at David. “That’s the stupidest idea I ever heard. Why bother waiting?”
With the dagger in hand, Eda charged down the road.
She heard David yelling after her. She heard Frankie Boy barking too, all of these sounds merged with the gushing rain to form a single mosaic of chaotic background noise that she tried to blot out.
Further down the street, Lex roared a deafening command and the two women running alongside her suddenly picked up the pace, sprinting at full speed, moving past Lex and towards Eda.
Their samurai swords were drawn.
Eda didn’t even think about slowing down. She was dead already in her mind and everything in between now and then was just a bonus. If anything, she ran harder, determined to show Lex and the warriors no fear just like the Viking berserkers that she’d read about in the history books.
The best way out is always…
Eda crashed into the nearest warrior at full speed. As she’d been running, she’d braced herself for impact, knowing full well that she wasn’t going to back out of a collision. But it still felt like jumping into the side of a giant tower block. Eda’s aggression took the warrior by surprise. The katana sword flew out of the woman’s hands and she fell backwards, landing badly on the road with a painful groan. Eda went down with her and for a moment it was a wild scramble to see who would recover first. But Eda was the quicker of the two. Almost as soon as she was down, she regained control and seconds later found herself climbing on top of the stunned warrior.
In that moment, Eda Becker was herself again.
She raised the dagger and held it high above her head. Time stopped. Even the rain seemed to have frozen in mid-air as if what was about to h
appen would do so outside the boundaries of reality. Eda couldn’t see the warrior underneath her anymore – the woman’s face was a blur and it was like there was a revolving gallery of images where her features were supposed to be. The images moved in reverse and flipped past quickly, going from the everyday sights that Eda had known in the Complex – Grand Central, the Fitzpatrick, then onto Shay, Lex and Frankie, and finally the pictures went all the way back to the wild years where her earliest memories lingered.
The last thing she saw was the burned man trying to rape and murder Libby in that dark alley.
Eda stabbed the warrior in a vicious frenzy of strikes. It was like the adrenaline surging through her had given her superpowers and she struck fast, faster than anyone else in the Complex could ever have believed she was capable of.
The warrior screamed but it was the burned man’s voice that Eda heard.
Or maybe it was George Mitford’s.
She stood up and backed away from the dying warrior. The dagger was still locked in Eda’s hand and a steady waterfall of dark blood dripped from the blade onto her boots.
Eda could hear Frankie Boy barking in the background.
The warrior lay on her back, drowning in blood. Her fingers grasped at the myriad of fresh holes in her neck and upper body, trying to fix something that couldn’t be fixed. She let out a loud and wet choking noise, convulsed violently and then stopped.
There was a fierce clanging at Eda’s back.
She spun around and saw David wrestling with the second warrior. They were down on the wet road and David’s fingers were clamped tightly over the women’s wrist as he fought for control of her sword hand. With his other hand, he threw a series of wild punches at the woman’s face. After about ten blows in a row, one connected flush on her chin. The warrior’s head wobbled and David seized the opportunity by ripping the sword out of her grasp.
He didn’t need to turn the weapon against its owner. The warrior had already blacked out and she lay still on the road with her arms stretched out at the sides.
David leapt back to his feet with the sword in hand. He looked over and saw the dead warrior at Eda’s feet.
Mega Post-Apocalyptic Double Bill Page 15