Minutes ticked by. Cassie’s legs ached and she needed to sit. Elijah crossed the room with heavy footsteps. He was walking towards the bathroom. His steps got louder. Oh my God, he’s coming in! There was nowhere else to go. Once the light came on, he’d find her. She’d be at his mercy.
A knock sounded on the front door. Cassie almost screamed. She stuffed a hand in her mouth and bit down. What is he knew she’d hidden in the bathroom, had known the entire time?
He veered away, the footsteps receding. Elijah went to answer the knock.
“Thank you kindly,” he said to someone. Here’s your payment.” There were more steps, and a slamming of a cabinet. “Two protein bars, as you asked. Two more next week.”
The front door closed
A chair scraped on the floor.
Papers rustled, and the sound of Elijah chuckling.
Cassie waited, her legs growing weaker by the second. She desperately needed to sit. Her legs ached all the way from her heels to her hips. She had to move, and soon. If she lowered herself carefully, she’d not make a noise. When he did come in the bathroom, she was caught, regardless. With that reasoning in mind, Cassie slid down the wall.
Time passed slowly in the shower cubicle. Elijah kept busy in the other room. From the little noise filtering through to her, she thought he’d sat at the table, rustling papers for a long while. Then he must have gone to the kitchenette. Cabinet doors banged. He went into the bedroom, moments later he was back in the living area. More things banged and clattered in there.
Cassie was squatting. She’d crouched down earlier, thinking this would be the best position. She’d spring up and with the element of surprise on her side, she might just get past Elijah and out the front door before he even worked out that she’d hidden in his flat the entire time. Now she realised this hadn’t been such a good idea. Her knees ached from maintaining the squat. The pain in her legs had subsided for a while, but the aches were back, shooting up her legs. Her bum had long ago gone numb. She’d never get past him at a run. Most likely she’d simply fall at his feet in a heap.
If she lowered herself down and stretched her legs out for a little while, then later on she could try standing again. Cassie decided this was the thing to do, and sat her bum on the base of the shower and hung her legs over into the rest of the bathroom. So many hours had passed since she first hid in here. It sounded like Elijah was back at the table, papers moving again. Did the man ever sleep? A little longer flexing her legs, and she’d get back on her feet. Eventually she was going to have to do something. Maybe she should burst from the bathroom, and race out the flat. Despite her initial fears, she’d decided he had no clue she was still hidden away, here at his disposal.
She was preparing to jump up and run out when the door opened.
Cassie froze under Elijah’s surprised stare.
“Girl!” he said. “Thought you were gone, thought Elijah would have to go hunting for you tonight, like all the others.” He smiled at her, not as wide and open as earlier. He lowered onto one knee and reached out a hand. “Come on. Elijah has big surprise for you.”
Behind Elijah, the front door beckoned. Cassie could see it over one enormous shoulder. He had planned to search for her, she thought. He was going to hunt her down. The colour in her face drained. She held one cold hand up to Elijah. Like she was already dead.
“Why you hiding in the shower? Want a towel, want a wash?” Elijah babbled.
Cassie thought of the dirty feeling down below. The need to scrub her body, down there, hadn’t lessened any. He didn’t seem to care that she wasn’t answering.
“Presents for you. Many things for your journey.” His smile widened, slowly getting back to the open innocent grin he’d had when she first arrived.
He dragged her past the front door, one hand clamped firmly around her wrist.
“Look!”
Cassie tore her gaze from the exit – freedom – and turned to where he was pointing.
Elijah dropped his hold on her, but instead of bolting, she gaped at the collection on the table.
“What’s all this?” Cassie stepped closer.
A canvas bag hung from one of the two chairs. On the table was a hoard of strange things. A bundle of papers. A folded pamphlet. An enormous pile of protein and fruit bars. A change of clothing – both trousers and shirt dyed a matching dark blue.
“I don’t understand. What’s this all for?” She dared look at him, but carefully, and without innuendo. Her skin crawled to have him so close.
“For you. For your trip!” Elijah grabbed the bag and started tossing the food bars in the bottom. “Rations – energy. Long way to go. Don’t want to starve before you get to the greenhouse. You need a watch so you always know the time. Can’t be raiding greenhouses when you can’t time the shifts.” There was a canister next to the watch. “RatAway. Drives rodents mad. Protects girl from nasty nibblings.” He handed that to her before picking up the clothes. “Have an extra shirt and jumper, cold nights now. Don’t want Cassie cold. Also, blue shirt and trousers, greenhouse workers wear these. Cassie will blend in. Steal food, and not get captured. No needles for a beautiful girl.”
He reached out, as if he intended to stroke her cheek. Cassie grimaced and waited for his touch, but Elijah thought better of it and lowered his hand.
“In the bag.” He placed the clothing on top of the food. “I made some pictures for you. Sketched all the foods you can eat.” While she was hidden away, he must have been working on these. He’d drawn a dozen plants for her, and their fruit. Labelled each with what she could eat, named the parts, all in meticulous detail. “Those berries are poison. Used for medicines. Make pretty girl sick if she eats them.” He handed her another pile of papers. All had a big black ‘x’ in one corner. “More bad plants to avoid.” He repeated and picked up the last item. He had a huge grin as he opened up the pamphlet. “Do you know what this is?” Elijah wiggled with excitement.
“No,” Cassie said, and shook her head.
“This is a map. Elijah traded lots of rations to make a deal. Came from secret place, where the police don’t know. The police find, they take. Here.”
He spread the map out on the table. Lines criss-crossed the paper in several different colours.
“We’re here.” Elijah pointed near the top edge of the map. “Pretty girl wants to go there.” He showed her a place further down, near the right hand corner of the page. “These are roads, these blocks are the greenhouses.”
Cassie took a little more interest.
“This is the directions you want to follow.” Elijah had drawn lightly on the map, showing her where she needed to go. “Police map,” he said. “They find it, they inject you. No alternative. Don’t be found.”
“Why are you doing this for me?”
Cassie watched as he folded the map and placed it in the bag. He fastened the buckles and handed the bag to her.
Elijah gazed at the floor for a moment, then said quietly, “John would want me to.” He grabbed her by the wrist again, and pulled her towards the door. Escape from Elijah was so close. He shoved her against the wall. Cassie let out a shriek, and waited for the pawing to start. He wouldn’t stop with his hand this time. He’d use her. Tie her to the bed and make her a slave.
But he wasn’t assaulting her. He fell down on one knee and undid her rough knots and retied her laces.
Cassie clutched the bag to her chest.
“Now you won’t trip.” He stood up and beamed at her.
For a moment, just a merest of moments, Cassie considered leaning in for a hug. Instead, she gave an awkward pat on the side of his arm. “Thank you,” she said.
“Stay until the sun comes up,” he said. “Look, sun not above the buildings yet.” Elijah dragged her to the bedroom and showed her the pale light growing on the horizon.
“No, I really think I should get going.” Cassie nervously glanced at the bed. Surely he wasn’t changing his mind. She stepped back into the living a
rea. “Look, Elijah. I’ll be fine. I’ll stay away from the patrols until the curfew lifts, and then I’ll be able to get to the greenhouse in a few hours.”
“A day’s walk,” Elijah said absentmindedly. He was focussed on the changing colours of the sky.
It doesn’t look so far on the map, Cassie thought. The halfwit hasn’t a clue what he’s talking about. She shouldered the bag and turned around. “I’m off.” She swallowed hard and forced the next words out. “Thank you for my things and for helping my feet heal. And for the water and everything.” She prayed he’d not take that as an invite to rape her properly this time. She walked across to the front door. “See you around,” she said, although she had no intention of ever setting eyes on him ever again. And with that she left.
Chapter 10
Truth was, if she’d had a choice, Cassie would have waited until later in the day. Even she knew being out on the street at this time was incredibly dangerous. If a police patrol came, she’d have nowhere to hide. At night, there were shadows to dip into. The sun crept above the buildings, the yellow sheen of pollution made the sun twice the size it should be, Cassie thought, but duller. This was supposed to be a late summer sun. She had a suspicion the sun used to be brighter years ago.
Cassie checked her new watch. Five o’clock in the morning and cold. She shivered and took out the jumper. No sensible person would be out right now, the curfew forbade it. Only the police walked the streets – with their dreaded needles. Even if they had mercy long enough to perform a search, the contents of her bag gave reasonable cause to send her back into the food chain, pulped and ready to fertilise some crop in one of the greenhouses she was trying to find.
Ominous looking clouds blew out from the west. She’d have to wait until the sun got higher to find out whether rain was on the way. Storms almost always rolled in during late August. Cassie found an alley and after walking down to the end and back, dipped into the only shadow available. From behind a dumpster, she waited for activity to start on the street.
Thank God she’d escaped Elijah. She’d never dreamed her leaving would be so easy. The thought of being a sex captive sent a shiver down her spine. If he’d changed his mind… she shook the thoughts away.
A large brown rat crept into view. The rodent inched towards her.
“Get out of here,” she said in a hoarse whisper and flapped her hands. The rat scampered off, and she crossed her fingers it wouldn’t return. She’d heard about the rats, how the rodents scavenged off anything they found, whether the thing in question was dead or alive. And Elijah talking of nibblings. She shivered again, and mentally chastised herself for frightening too easily.
To pass the time, Cassie took out the map and set about memorising the route she needed to take. Once the day had begun properly, and the streets filled with citizens, she wouldn’t be able to check for directions.
The rat had come back. The little bastard lingered on the edge of the shadow she hid in, up on its hind legs and twitching its nose in her direction.
“Piss off,” she whispered. On impulse she stamped her foot. The rat darted out of sight. “And stay away,” she muttered and returned to her map.
A slight noise made her glance up. Two rats approached her with cautious steps. The first had come back and brought a friend. Fantastic, she thought. The new rat was huge, almost a foot long if she didn’t count the tail, and the same tawny brown colour. They squeaked, as if in conversation. Then the pair of them crept forward.
“I said, piss off.” Cassie stamped the ground, but this time neither ran. “Go away.” She lunged at them. “Yah!” she yelled and watched as the rats scatted.
“Right then,” she said, and raised the map.
Something squeaked nearby. The bloody rats had come back. Cassie lowered the map, ready to charge at them. God they were tenacious. Her mouth dropped open, this time four rats stopped within a few feet of her. They chattered constantly, black marble eyes fixed on hers… As if planning an attack? Rats simply aren’t that smart, she decided.
Cassie stamped her foot.
Rather than running off, the rats crept forward a few steps.
“Get out of here!” Cassie kicked dust up into the air, but they kept coming.
One of them jumped at her and landed on her thigh. Immediately pain exploded in her leg. “Jesus!” She clocked the rat on the head. It fell off, stunned. A spot of blood grew where the rodent had bitten her. “Go away!”
Suddenly she was angry. The authorities took her son, she’d been expected to die in his place, a man had taken her in and tried to rape her, and now these bloody sewer rats wanted to eat her? Well not today. Cassie drew back one foot, waited for one of the rats to pounce, and then she kicked. Hard enough to surprise her, her shoe connected with it – dead centre of its chest. The rodent barrelled into one of the others. “Come on, you little buggers.” She swayed on the spot, waiting for movement.
Another jumped. She caught this one square in the face. The rat let out a squeak and hit the wall opposite. The remaining two regarded her for a moment before all four disappeared down the alley. Like a pack.
“Oh Jesus.” She put a hand on her chest. The blood stain on her leg was still growing. Cassie grabbed a spare pair of underwear from her bag and stuffed them into her trousers. Something tickled the dark recesses of her mind, something she should remember. She delved into her bag again, and came out holding the can of RatAway. She smacked her forehead lightly. The little buggers wouldn’t come back with the scent of this on her. She sprayed her clothes and the ground around her. “We’ll see if you get through all of that,” she said, and put the can away. She prayed RatAway actually did work.
The leg that stupid rat bit throbbed. She didn’t think it was a bad wound, as she applied pressure. But if she got sick now, there was nowhere she could go for treatment. No Id. No ration card. No medicines allowed. Any doctor would hand her over as soon as they identified her. They’d never endanger themselves for her benefit.
What was the point? She sighed and pressed harder against her leg. It seemed everything and everyone wanted her dead. A hollow sensation grew in her gut, slowly consuming her with doubt. Why not go to the nearest police station and turn herself in? Even if she found her way to the greenhouses, she’d probably not get in. What a fate – to starve to death while a wealth of food grew on the other side of a wall.
She clutched the map to her chest and turned her head towards the lightening sky. Tears threatened, she felt the burning sensation building behind her eyes. Why do it, why try so hard to stay alive? And then what? Even if she found a way into a greenhouse, was that to mark a pattern until the end of her days? Sneaking in and out, eating whatever she managed to steal, sleeping rough and avoiding the police and their needles? Cassie brought the image of her son forward, remembering him as she always would – as a newborn suckling at her breast.
At least the rats seemed to have gone. Should thank somebody for small wonders, she supposed. The map was memorised as much as it ever would be. Cassie folded and hid it at the bottom of her bag. A yawn caught her unawares. For a moment, she rested against the side of the dumpster. Her eyelids were suddenly far too heavy to keep open. She decided closing them wouldn’t hurt, she needed to sleep so badly, and she’d just doze, listening for the rats in case they did come back. With that logic in mind, Cassie fell asleep.
Seven o’clock came quickly. The sound of footfalls on the street echoed up the alley and woke her. She stretched, amazed that somehow the little sleep she’d caught had refreshed her. The black thoughts became mere memories. The greenhouse beckoned. What happened afterwards, she didn’t know, but she couldn’t allow herself to be trapped in the life of an illegal. Something would come up.
After a quick pat down, and smoothing of her hair, Cassie touched her leg where the rat bit her and winced. The wound hurt, but not too bad. She put all her weight on the injured leg and didn’t feel much. If anything, the scabs from the blisters ached more, but only a lit
tle. That would have to do, she thought. She had a long way to walk today.
Somehow, she caught most of the blood with the underwear she’d stuffed inside her trousers. She pulled the undies out and tossed them back in her bag. Cassie found a few brown spots on the fabric halfway down her leg. Last thing she needed was to stand out in a crowd. Nothing should make her appear unusual. At least the rats didn’t return as she dozed. With any luck, the two she kicked were injured enough to make her too dangerous a prey, she supposed the RatAway she sprayed everywhere helped as well. Cassie wondered for a moment how often rodents found illegals and ate the person as they lay unconscious. She’d not allow that to be her fate. If she ever became so weak she couldn’t fight off a rat attack, she’d hand herself in to the authorities, even if she had to crawl.
Chasing the morbid thoughts out of her mind, Cassie emerged from behind the dumpster. Not many citizens seemed to be walking past the end of the alley at this time of the day, but soon the street would be crowded with travellers, most on the way to the nearest distribution centre. Those she saw wore a tired look, hugging thin clothes about them in the chill morning air. Cassie tried to match their expressions and cuddled her body, although despite the hours dozing on the ground, the cold didn’t bother her too much, and the jumper helped keep her warm. Her bag created a huge liability. Elijah had thought enough to provide her with a worker’s bag – on a normal day an end product would fill it, to be swapped for more raw materials at the factory. Hoping desperately no one would call her out on it, she fixed her gaze on the ground and left the alley.
Slow and steady, she matched the gait of those around her. Up ahead, Cassie noticed the distribution centre. She pictured the map in her mind, and veered off three streets early and kept going. Elijah wrote a series of notes along with the drawings, wonderful nuggets of information teaching her things, such as looking out for the greenhouse workers, how they wore dark blue overalls, identical to the ones secreted in her bag, and how those workers were better fed. Elijah told her the authorities discovered if the gardeners were given larger rations they stole less from the greenhouses. Cassie couldn’t understand how they took anything. Surely a search team examined all the workers at the end of a shift? She guessed she’d find out when she arrived at the greenhouse. With a spring in her step she was simply unable to suppress, Cassie increased her pace.
The Ultimate Choice Page 7