“Hear what?” Josh asked.
“What they’re making us do. We have to help Dean and them clean out that lab. Hanging out with old people again,” Denny complained.
“Aw. That thing is probably really dirty,” Josh complained. “Why do they make us do that?”
“My mom said Dean rec . . rec . . .” Denny tried to remember the words. “Ellen?”
“Requisitioned you.” She walked into the dining room with her coffee. “That means since you really aren’t people yet, Joe can do with you what he wants.” She started to feed Brian.
Denny’s mouth dropped open. “That’s not fair… I don’t think.”
“Welcome to Beginnings.” Ellen told them. “In the old world we had laws pertaining to stuff like that. Rules. And when people like Joe broke the rules, people like you guys just wouldn’t do their work.”
Denny was surprised to hear that. “How did they get away with that?”
Ellen, between feeding a reluctant Brian and trying to get her morning dose of caffeine in, proceeded to explain to the two awestruck teenage boys about labor rules in the old world.
^^^^
Joe put out his cigarette and stretched some in his chair. Barely eight-thirty in the morning and he felt like he put in a day’s work. In actuality, he did. He never went back to sleep after the ‘prowler’ episode. He wanted to but hands were needed in the greenhouses to get ready for their harvest. Readying himself to make a walk through in town, Joe grabbed his coffee and stood from his desk chair. He took a clipboard and opened his door. Enjoying the welcome warmer weather of the fall season, he stepped outside, whistling as he stared up to the blue sky. About ten or so feet in his stroll, Joe paused, stopped whistling, and turned around. His hand went harshly down his face when he saw Denny and Josh. Sternly and fatherly he walked up to them. His one word sent shivers of fright through them, but they didn’t show it. Or at least they didn’t think they did. “Boys.” With a pointing index finger, Joe walked back into his office. He wanted to get to the bottom of how the two most ill-informed people in the community learned how to sit in a protest holding a sign that said, ‘Unfair child labor practice’.
^^^^
Ellen just wanted to gripe. Take this. Do that. Bring this. Move that. But since she was running around the community so much, she had no one to complain to. And she ran around without a jacket too, which irritated her. Since the whole reason for the rush was Henry’s secret tell-tale signs that the weather was getting bad. And Joe, swearing by Henry’s system, moved both the Cleveland run and future trip . . . up.
She got the files from down in the cryo-lab that would be needed for the mobile. With the files gathered in a box, Ellen moved through the tunnels. She hummed something as she walked, using her footsteps as a metronome. It made her laugh that she hummed a melody from some old sitcom. In her indulgence of laughter at her subconscious memory of useless tunes, Ellen wheezed in some of the dust from the box. Stopping to sneeze, the box tilted from the violent shaking of her body. “Damn it.” She bent down to pick the three files that had fallen to the ground. Grateful that they hadn’t sprayed out everywhere, Ellen picked them up and stood. As she did, she heard the footsteps behind her. They moved at the same pace she had previously done. Not knowing who it was, Ellen began to walk again. She stopped when she heard whistling of the same song she had just hummed. It was eerie, too eerie, but it had to be someone messing around with her. “Robbie?” She called out. “Frank?” The footsteps continued. “Joe?” The failure to receive a response told her it was time to run. And she did. Holding the box that jingled as her small body ran, she could hear the footsteps behind her meshing with the sound of her own. Before Ellen was aware, she had passed up the ladder to the top. Running faster, she knew where she had to head. Not much further was the escape hatch into containment. She arrived at that ladder and, box in arm, she climbed using one hand. Bracing herself and hearing the approaching person louder, she pushed up the hatch. Locked. “Shit.”
Louder and louder the footsteps grew, steady and taunting.
Ellen struggled with the hatch, pushing it, making it shake, grunting in her efforts. More violently she fought to get it open when she heard not only the footsteps stop, but the shifting of a gun’s chamber as well. Neck muscles protruding, frightened emotional sounds seeping from her throat, Ellen banged fanatically on the wooden hatch. “Help me!”
With the ‘crack’ of the hatch being lifted from its hinges and the ray of light from the skills room, Ellen tossed up the box. Her arms were grabbed, and her body was lifted with such a force, it seemed to eject upward out of the tunnel at the exact same time the sound of a bullet ricocheted against the ladder.
Out of breath, Ellen felt the gentle release of her body by Sarge. The other survivors gathered around.
“Watch her! And someone call Frank!” Sarge ordered out, tossed his weapon behind his back, and then leaped feet first into the escape hatch. His large feet landed with a thunderous crash against the echoing floor of the tunnel. He looked from left to right, zoomed in on the fading running footsteps, and raced in that direction top speed. He knew his efforts were growing futile when he could hear the clanking of shoes against the metal ladder. By the time Sarge reached the other ladder, he saw no one. He climbed topside with haste only to see the normal hustle and bustle of Beginnings. Whoever he had chased, whoever shot at Ellen, clearly used their residency in Beginnings as the perfect camouflage to their recent emergence from the tunnel.
^^^^
As if Henry wasn’t busy enough. He couldn’t even put his mini notepad away. He had to keep checking off things that he did. And the way he ran around, he figured his legs should have been cut like a marathon runner. And Henry had to hurry if he didn’t want to miss it. Not that he had to be there but as head of mechanics he wanted to be there. The metal tubing that would be made into a makeshift airtight walkway between the CDC mobile and trailer was being attached and welded. Rush testing had to be done and just to double check it was done properly, Henry wanted to oversee.
He supposed stopping to see Frank was actually on his route to the garage to pick up a jeep. Frank wanted to see him and Henry did need to tell him, though half ass, he attached hinges back on the escape hatch in containment. So he’d stop. Proudly Henry was midway through his list for the day and it wasn’t even noon. He hoped Frank didn’t hold him up too much.
“You wanted to see me?” He approached Frank who stood by a keypad outside of warehouse three.
“Yeah.” Frank placed the screwdriver in his back pocket and pulled a piece of paper from his chest pocket. “Here.” He handed it to Henry. “List of new keypad codes I’m reprogramming. Memorize them, destroy that.”
“Got it.” Henry looked at the list. “I fixed the hatch. Anything from Robbie yet?”
“Still looking for the casing.” Frank said. “It seared off that ladder. So it’s down there. That should tell us if someone snuck in and is living down there or . . . it’s one of us.”
“Keep me posted.” Henry shoved the list in his back pocket. “I’m heading up to the mobile. Anything else?”
“Yes. I’m thinking . . . I’m thinking about moving Ellen back with me.”
Henry’s eyes slowly lifted to Frank. “Can I ask why?”
“Isn’t it obvious? For protection.”
“She’s safe with me.” Henry said.
“Someone broke into your home last night, Henry.”
“That is unfair, Frank. I wasn’t there,” Henry snapped. “And I won’t let her be alone again. I promise.”
“Why are you arguing with me on this? She’s my wife and besides keeping her safe, I would like to get on with my marriage.”
“And you two are doing really well working it out slowly. Moving her back in and using protecting her as the excuse is going to just toss aside all your work. It won’t fix things. It’ll force things. And trust me, Frank. Please don’t force Ellen’s hand.”
Frank’s
eyes cased about the look on Henry’s face. “You know something. What is it?”
“All I know is that if you feel strongly about moving Ellen back for the right reasons, then talk to Rev. Bob. See what he tells you. As far as keeping her safe, I can do that. And besides, in a few days we’ll be locked in quarantine anyhow. Safe and secure.”
“True. All right.” Frank reached for his screwdriver. “Oh, Henry, before you dart off.” He pulled Henry back when he was trying to make an escape. “Moses said some whacked out things to Dean last night. Could you, without letting on, see if he has said anything to Ellen?”
“Sure Frank.” Henry said. “But even if he didn’t. I would bet he’s the one. We should just throw him out.”
“As much as I’d like, to my gut is saying he didn’t chase her. He’s too big. He wouldn’t move that fast.”
Henry laughed. “Please. I don’t remember Moses being . . .” Henry’s words slowed down when he noticed him. “Shit. Speak of the devil.”
“Literally.”
It was the first time for both of them since they had rippled time that they had seen Moses, or Rev. Thomas as the community knew him by. They watched as Reverend Thomas moved across the street their way, his long gorilla type arms swinging back and forth, his red hair bouncing with his every step.
Henry blinked long then swallowed the lump in his throat. “O.K. you’re right. He’s big.”
“He’s looking at you.” Frank said. “Want me to handle him?”
“Nah. I can. I’m not afraid of him. Watch.”
“You!” Reverend Thomas pointed in a heavy hand to Henry. “You are a messenger of death. Down shall thee fall by God’s hands, you and the other two.”
With a tilt of his head, Henry smiled. “Blow me.” He turned. “See ya.”
Frank watched Henry be-bop away as Rev. Thomas grumbled in anger before he stormed off the other direction. Nodding with a slight look of impressed, Frank lifted his screwdriver. “That worked.” With a shrug, he returned to the keypad.
^^^^
Fresh was the aroma of the CDC mobile when Ellen and Greg, both carrying boxes, walked in. So clean, crisp and chilly, it gave her excitement shivers. “Put that down over there,” Ellen instructed Greg then smiled at Denny and Josh who were on their hands and knees scrubbing. “Look at you boys go.”
Denny looked up at her with a pouting face. “You got us in trouble. Big trouble.”
“Yeah.” Josh added. “Joe pulled our ears.”
Denny grabbed his lobe. “Mine still hurts.”
Ellen shrugged and placed down her box. “Oh well, that’s a normal thing guys. People will pull your ears until you’re twenty. Where’s Dean?” She saw him come from the back room. “Never mind. Ask and you shall receive.”
“Hey, El.” Dean smiled then looked oddly to Greg. “Greg, this is a surprise.”
“Oh, I’m here to try to help move things faster along.” Greg said. “And watch out for Ellen.”
“Yeah.” Ellen nodded. “I was almost shot today.”
Dean’s expression dropped. “You’re joking?”
A ‘bang’ against the counter brought a moan from Henry as he stood and rubbed his head. “Nope. She almost was. First last night, then today. What’s next?”
“Death,” Ellen whispered in a joke.
“El.” Dean shook his head. “That’s not even funny.”
She waved him off. “I’m fine. This is Beginnings. And look, Greg’s my body guard until he leaves tomorrow. Huh, Greg? I trust you.”
“Thanks, Ellen.” Greg smiled. “It’s nice to be trusted and part of this.”
“You should be part of everything,” Ellen said. “Shouldn’t he Henry?”
“Yep.” Henry agreed as he untangled wires.
“And be a top dog in security,” Ellen added. “I am still so shocked you aren’t attached. Such a handsome fellow. Isn’t he handsome, Henry.”
“Very,” Henry replied.
Dean laughed. “El, why are you obviously buttering him up?”
Greg answered. “She wants something from Cleveland. A souvenir. All the women are being nice to me. Jenny Matoose showed me her breasts.” Greg’s head spun to the ghastly ‘UH!’ that came from Josh. “What Josh?”
“She’s not going to show us is she?” Josh asked.
“Oh my God.” Denny sounded panicked. “What if she does? What do we do?”
Ellen answered in a giggle, “Run. Really run.”
Denny curled his lip in disgust. “Greg, was it scary?”
“I’m afraid so, yes,” Greg spoke. “And I must get back to the trailer, you know. I have to get that vision out of my mind.” He gave a wink to the boys as he opened the door and walked out.
Denny shook his head. “How do women live with those things? Especially Mrs. Matoose, hers are so big. Hey, Josh, at least your mom’s don’t hang. I don’t think, do they hang or do you get them bound up Ellen?”
Ellen would have been insulted, especially with Dean and Henry laughing, but she considered the source. “No, Denny, I’m a free breasted woman. Mine don’t hang. That’s because God loves me.”
Dean snickered with a shaking head. “What does God have to do with your breasts?”
“Simple.” She saw she had the boys’ attention. “See, breasts are a curse given to women by God because the very first woman on this earth gave him attitude. So he gave her breasts to annoy her and a menstrual cycle but that’s another story. Anyhow, the more annoying you are, the bigger your breasts are. So there. That’s why Mrs. Matoose’s breasts are so huge.”
Denny opened his mouth with a nod. “Oh, I see. Ellen? Is this menstrual cycle like the motorcycle Frank rides around on?”
“Um . . . yeah sort of,” Ellen answered. “Only instead of looking cool when you’re on it, you look mean. Huh Dean?”
Dean raised his eyebrows. “Oh yeah.” He pulled Ellen away from ear shot, whispering. “Why are you misleading the only teenage boys in Beginnings?”
“Oh, it’s fun.” Ellen laughed and took a change of subject breath. “Dean? How long are we going to be in quarantine?”
“I don’t know. It all depends what the length of incubation is. Hopefully I’ll have had figured that out in the future and that part of our work will be done for us. With any luck, which I usually don’t have, we won’t be stuck together too long.”
“I don’t mind,” Ellen said. “Henry, do you mind being stuck with me?”
“No El. We’ll have fun,” Henry answered.
Dean turned and faced them. “Why is that? Why is that always the response? Why does everything always have to be fun?”
Henry shrugged. “I don’t know. Would you prefer a different mood?” He faced Ellen. “El, why don’t we be mean in quarantine?”
“Or, Henry. Bitter. How’s that?”
“We could be sad, El.”
“Or premenstrual.” Ellen laughed.
“Oh, I hate when I get like that,” Henry winced.
“Guys . . .” Dean wanted to shout they were not even in quarantine and they were starting. But Robbie walked in and became the saving grace.
Robbie raised the corner of his mouth in a half smile when he saw the expression on Dean’s face. “Getting on your nerves already, Dean? Henry, we’re about to attach that walkway.” He waited for Henry’s nod. “Hey El. You’re new house is all set up out there. See, one day from my long trip to Cleveland and I’m working hard to make sure things are done right for you.”
“You’re sweet, Robbie.” She tapped him on the cheek. Crossing her arms, Ellen moved to the window, peering out at the mobile home. She just wanted to get a good look. The smile quickly vanished when she saw John Matoose walk around the mobile home and into her view. “What’s John doing out there?”
Robbie answered. “Checking out the propane tank for leaks.”
“Excuse me.” Ellen, still holding her arms close to her chest, walked to the door and outside. She marched up to John. “T
hinking of ways to blow us up?”
“What?” John turned and faced her. “What in the world are you talking about now?”
“Don’t play dumb. You know this is a way for us to beat George. Curing the . . .” Ellen stopped when her quick wit kicked in and she remembered only a privileged few knew about the virus. “Cure the itch, yeah, that we have to be quarantined together to create a deadly biological weapon.” Ellen nodded with a ‘so there’. She was proud of her explanation, especially since a weapon was what everyone thought they were going into quarantine to work on.
John shook his head and squatted down to the tank. “You talk shit Ellen.”
“I talk the truth. And I’m on to you. I know you’re trying to kill me.”
John laughed at her. “Yeah right. Why would I do that?”
“Why not? I threaten you.”
“You irk me.” John tried to work on the tank.
“I know that was you in Henry’s house the other night. I know that was you following me in the tunnel, taking a close shot at me. Bet the reason they can’t find the casing is because you have it. Huh, John. You were helping Robbie search for it. You found it and . . .”
“Ellen! Go the fuck away.”
“Own up, John. The truth will set you free. George.” She whispered. “George.”
“Ellen!” John stood up storming and breathing heavy at her. “Keep it up with your big fuckin mouth and someone is going to shut . . .”
“John!” Robbie’s deep voice was so close, so unexpected. “Get out of her face . . . Now.”
John only shifted his eyes to Robbie. “Back off, Robbie. It’s between me and this bitch.”
“You were warned.” Eerily calm, Robbie reached out, the fingers on his left hand gripped tightly in a squeeze to John’s neck. Quickly he jerked John to him, then with a hard fast jab, Robbie landed his fist center on John’s face. He shoved John back. “Come on El.” Robbie grabbed Ellen’s hand and led her away from a bleeding and complaining John, who screamed, ‘ow you broke my fuckin nose’.
The Big Ten: The First Ten Books of the Beginnings Series Page 191