by Tom Lewis
“Can you unseal them?” Paige asked.
“They’re no longer here.”
“So the security forces took him?”
“I have no way of knowing, Miss Harding,” the nurse offered. “I’m very sorry about your friend.”
Paige nodded. “Thanks.”
“Thank your friend here,” the nurse said, nodding to Trish.
***
Paige stormed out of the infirmary, with Trish hurrying along beside her.
“Thanks for the help back there,” Paige said, trying to manage a smile for her short companion.
“You just have to be nice to people. Then they’re nice back,” Trish responded.
“I don’t feel like being nice,” Paige snorted. “They’re working for those things.”
“But it’s not their fault,” Trish explained.
“Stop making excuses for them,” Paige insisted.
“I will when you stop being mean.”
Paige stopped. Took a deep breath. Exhaled. Trish stood there, watching. “Okay, we’ll try it your way,” Paige offered.
Trish smiled. “You’ll see. People will be friendlier.”
The girls didn’t notice the infirmary door creeping open behind them, and Valerie stepping out. She stood beside the door, pretending she wasn’t doing what she was actually doing - eavesdropping on Paige and Trish.
“At least we know there’s a good chance your friend’s still alive,” Trish added, as she and Paige headed down the block.
“How do you know that?” Paige asked.
“Why would they seal someone’s records if they were already dead.”
Paige thought about it for a second. That actually made sense. She smiled, nodding to Trish. “You’re pretty smart for a kid.”
“I’m not a kid,” Trish responded. “I’m nine.”
Paige smiled at that, rubbed Trish’s head. She looked around, spotting one of the guards standing across the mall. She headed over.
“Hi,” Paige said, approaching him with the friendliest face she could muster. “I was hoping you could help me find someone.”
The guard turned and gazed at her through his dark sunglasses. “Why aren’t you in your uniforms?” he asked.
“Our what?” replied Paige.
This guy’s face was like stone, unsmiling. “Your uniforms,” he added, nodding to a handful of pedestrians walking along the mall. Paige followed his gaze, and seemed to notice for the first time that everyone was wearing those bland linen outfits she’d seen in the infirmary.
“All citizens are required to wear the uniform,” the guard continued.
“We are?” Paige frowned.
The guard tensed. Apparently people weren’t supposed to question the rules or orders.
Trish jumped in. “What she meant to say, officer, is that we’ll be happy to.”
“Uhm… yeah,” Paige nodded in agreement. “Just tell us where we get our… uniforms.”
“They’re available in the commissary,” he answered. “Follow me.”
“Oh, that’s okay,” Paige interjected. “We can find it.”
“Follow me,” he glared back through those dark tactical glasses. It wasn’t a request.
***
The guard marched Paige and Trish into the enormous commissary. Nordstroms it wasn’t. With its polished stone walls, it resembled every other building Paige had encountered in the city. She was beginning to feel like she was in a Flintstones cartoon, with the complete lack of distinction their “hosts” had designed into everything.
The interior consisted mostly of row after row of those same linen tunics, trousers, and shirts. Welcome to clonesville, Paige thought, as she and Trish proceeded down the aisles.
“Women’s clothing is on the right, children’s is in the back,” instructed the guard.
“How come they all look alike?” asked Trish, staring at the matching colors.
“Why wouldn’t they?” he responded, as if there had ever been anything different.
“What my friend meant,” inserted Paige, unable to suppress her natural sarcasm, “is how lucky we are that our hosts have such great fashion sense.”
The guard glared at her, still wearing those dark tactical sunglasses, and Paige thought for a moment she was about to be arrested or shot. “Kidding,” she finally added.
“You’ll be expected to be in your uniform at all times,” the guard finally continued. “The failure to do so will result in punishment.”
“Copy that,” Paige responded, nodding her agreement. What she wanted to say was Sieg Heil, but was pretty sure that would get her shot. And in all likelihood it would have.
“Dinner is in one hour,” the guard added, turning to leave. “Don’t be late.”
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
Enforcement
“Nice legs,” Drew smiled at Paige, as he and Randy approached Paige and Trish waiting in line at the dining hall. Paige’s new tunic, which stopped about three inches above her knees, was actually a giant step forward in femininity over her usual outfit of cargo pants.
“Don’t give me any crap,” she replied, but the sparkle in his eyes told her it had been a compliment, and maybe even a flirt. Crazy as it was, she actually found herself fighting back a blush.
Like the girls, Drew and Randy had been coerced into their “host’s” new male uniforms of linen trousers and shirts. In fact, so was everyone in the dining hall Paige noted, feeling even more like she was locked in a prison.
Dining Hall 12 where they stood was massive, once again carved from that cold gray stone, but Greek-like pillars and carvings along the walls broke up the monotony. Those pillars rose to a ceiling high above, and mostly masked in shadow. What illumination there was came from those same phosphorescent stones embedded in the walls and ceiling.
Wooden benches were arranged in rows spanning the enormous hall. Most of them were filled, as Paige and her companions roamed the aisles in search of a seat.
“Any luck finding your friend today?” Drew asked, as they squeezed onto a bench, setting their trays of food on their laps.
Paige shook her head. “The nurse at the infirmary said his records were sealed by the security forces.”
“What’s that mean?” Drew asked.
Paige just shrugged, fingering through her meal of mostly vegetables. “It means, those assholes took him somewhere.”
“Which means he’s probably still alive,” Trish added.
Valerie and a boy, a little younger than Paige, slid into the bench behind her. His name was Lucas, and like Valerie, was chess-club science geek all the way. Valerie tapped him on the arm, and nodded to Paige and her friends.
“So what’s the next step?” Drew asked Paige.
“I need to find where they’re taking people,” Paige replied. She thought about it for a minute. “Maybe we can follow a guard?”
Behind them, Valerie and Lucas exchanged a look.
“That’s gonna be hard to do,” Drew continued. “They’re sending me to the quarry tomorrow.”
“I know,” Paige nodded. “I get to go learn how to harvest corn.” Then, turning to Trish and Randy, “While these two get to sit in a classroom and learn all about our new hosts.” She made quote signs with her fingers to emphasize the absurdity of calling their captors “hosts.”
Valerie and Lucas had been eavesdropping this entire time. At this remark from Paige, Valerie rose and headed off across the dining hall.
“Oh joy,” Randy remarked, rolling his eyes at the thought of school. He, Paige, Trish, and Drew were still unaware that they were being monitored from the bench behind them.
Valerie approached a guard standing next to a pillar on the far side of the dining hall. He leaned over, as she whispered something in his ear. He glanced up, looking over in Paige’s direction. He whispered something back, to which she responded with a nod.
Suddenly a ruckus erupted in the middle of the dining hall. All around, people were scrambling to their feet, shuffling back from
some sort of commotion.
“What’s going on?” asked Paige, hopping to her feet. She and her friends climbed onto the bench, trying to see over the crowd. It looked like a fight had broken out, and was spreading as people were shoved and squeezed by others trying to get out of the way.
Then Paige noticed the guards were putting on gas masks. “Go! We need to go!” she shouted to her friends, hopping down from the bench, and squeezing off through the crowd. Her petite size made the task of squeezing between people a lot easier than it was for Drew with his athletic build. She stopped several times, turning back to make sure her friends were following.
“Keep going, we’re right behind you,” Drew shouted, as he shoved his way past people.
Then a piercing siren blared, causing everyone to cover their ears. The guards swarmed in, all of them in gas masks. They pushed and shoved their way through the crowd, beating people with batons.
At the same time, a mist drifted down from the ceiling. Paige was already starting to feel its effects, as her skin tingled and burned like her nerves were on fire. “Hurry you guys!” she hollered back to her friends, as her eyes began tearing over.
Several shots were fired. People screamed, as the entire crowd now pushed its way towards the exit. The mist had descended on the crowd, causing people to cough, and choke.
Paige’s skin felt like it was on fire as she finally poured out the door, and into the cool night air. She scrambled out of the way, as terrified people shoved their way through the exit, trampling over anyone unfortunate enough to have tripped.
Paige searched their faces as they stormed past, trying to locate her friends.
“Paige!” It was Trish. She spilled through the door, dodging between people’s legs. She rushed over to Paige.
“Where’s Drew and Randy?” Paige asked.
“I don’t know. Everyone kept shoving me,” Trish responded, turning to look back.
Just then Drew squeezed out the door, carrying Randy over his shoulder. “Drew!” Paige hollered, waving to catch his attention.
Drew raced over to Paige and Trish, plopping Randy down on his feet. More shots were being fired inside the dining hall.
“We need to get out of here,” Paige hollered.
Suddenly the heavy doors to the dining hall crashed shut, sealing in the rest of the crowd. Paige could hear the terrified people pounding on the door to be let out.
“Go!” Drew hollered, and they all raced off.
***
Paige, Trish, Drew and Randy raced into Paige’s small apartment, slamming the door shut behind them. Trish, Drew, and Randy, rubbed at their skin.
“Don’t rub it,” Paige instructed, “it’ll just make it worse.”
“What is it?” asked Trish.
“Tear gas,” responded Paige. Then, looking at Drew and Randy. “You guys turn around.”
“What?”
“Just do it,” Paige insisted. The boys shrugged, then complied. “And no peeking,” she added. Drew couldn’t help but grin.
“Get out of your clothes, Trish,” Paige then instructed, already slipping out of her tunic. “We need to shower, and get rid of these clothes. The boys can do it after us.”
“Sure we can’t join you?” Drew asked, that silly grin still on his face.
“Shut up, perv” Paige snapped back, but grinning despite herself. Even in the apocalypse, boys were still boys.
Paige and Trish quickly disrobed, then hopped in the shower and scrubbed off. When they had finished, they threw on clean tunics, and joined the boys in the living area. “Your turn,” Paige said to the boys.
“No peeking,” Drew teased.
“You wish,” Paige smiled back.
The boys repeated the process, and finally everyone was free from the tear gas contamination.
“So what’s the plan?” Drew asked, as he, Randy, and Trish plopped down on the bottom bunk. Paige had too much pent up energy to sit, choosing rather to pace the small room.
“You guys need to go back to the tunnels,” Paige finally added. “This place is way too dangerous.”
“Agreed,” responded Drew.
“Me too,” Randy chimed in.
“What about you?” Trish asked. “You’re not coming?”
“I still need to find my friend,” Paige responded.
“You want us to just leave you here on your own?” Trish asked.
Paige ran her fingers through her wet hair. “I don’t want you guys staying here and getting killed because of me.”
Trish sat upright. “Well if you’re not going, then I’m not going.” She folded her arms across her chest to let everyone know she meant it.
“Trish,” Paige said in frustration. She was touched by the young girl’s loyalty, but she was equally frustrated that this loyalty might get her killed.
“Then I’m staying too,” Drew added, folding his arms across his chest in imitation of Trish. “What about you, kiddo?” he asked, turning to Randy.
“I’m not going by myself,” was Randy’s response.
“You guys…” Paige pleaded.
“No,” interjected Trish. “You don’t go to the tunnels, we don’t go to the tunnels. End of discussion,” she added with a smirk.
“You heard the girl,” Drew added with a nod to Trish. “You jump, we all jump.”
Paige just shook her head. “Okay. But we need to be extra careful from now on. And if things get really bad, we bail. Agreed?”
“Agreed,” replied Trish, sinking back on the bunk.
“Agreed,” Drew joined in, sinking back on the bunk in imitation of Trish.
Randy just shrugged. “I guess.”
Paige was touched. She sat down on the bunk with them, and gave them an appreciative nod. “You guys rock.” Then, extending her fist, “To us.”
They all joined in bumping their fists. “To us.”
Then the tender bonding moment was broken, as a noise welled up over the city. It was that deep foghorn-like sound Paige had heard in the construction worker’s apartment while searching for his guns. The sound which had snapped his wife into that trance-like daze.
They all rushed over to the window, staring down at the mall below. The mall was filling with dozens of people shambling off into the distance. They all seemed to be headed in the same general direction, but none of them seemed to be aware of what they were doing.
“What’re they doing?” Randy asked. “They look like zombies.”
“It’s a summons,” Paige responded, recalling the words of that Patrol soldier she had encountered after leaving the construction worker’s apartment. “That’s what one of the guards called it the first time I heard it.”
“It might be a good idea if we all stayed in one room tonight,” Drew suggested.
The others nodded in agreement.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
Valerie
It was only Ten A.M. the next morning, and it was already feeling warm. Paige had arrived at the cornfield just before eight thirty, and sat through an hour of lectures from the task master about the use of tools, and harvesting techniques. This guy felt more like a slave driver, Paige thought, as he repeatedly emphasized that any disobedience would be punished.
The field they were in was enormous, and criss crossed with irrigation ditches, and rows of corn extending as far as the eye could see. Paige assumed it was used to supply corn to the entire city.
She had caught the occasional reflection of drones canvasing the sky, and knew they were there to keep an eye on any behavior that slipped past the task masters. It seemed they had all their bases covered.
The day had barely begun, and Paige was already feeling the strain on her muscles. Having never worked at a job, much less one involving manual labor, this work camp stuff was really starting to suck.
She took a second to wipe the sweat from her forehead, and assess her fellow slaves. They all seemed to be having the same difficulties, and Paige was pretty certain that none of them had previou
s farming experience. There just wasn’t a lot of farm work back in LA v1.
“Back to work, O’Connor.” It was one of the many task masters assigned to her particular section of the field. There were also plenty of guards armed with rifles on hand to quash any rebellion by the workers.
Paige felt like giving him the finger, but decided it would be better to just nod in agreement.
The next few hours were spent grabbing ears of corn, twisting them off the stalks, and placing them in crates. Several other workers had been assigned to stack these crates at the end of the rows, and carry back empty ones.
Periodically, Paige noticed a girl watching her. The girl, who Paige would later learn was named Valerie, seemed more suited for a high school chess club, or marching band, than for this grueling manual labor.
It was also becoming obvious she didn’t want Paige to know she was watching, as each time Paige glanced over, Valerie quickly turned away. Great, Paige thought, all I need is some chick crushing on me.
Lunch was barely enough to sustain a hamster. There was a sliver of meat, and a few scattered vegetables, which took less than a minute to devour. Paige found herself missing McDonald’s something fierce.
After lunch it was back to the fields. Her hands and arms were already feeling sore from the repetitive task. Luckily her slave drivers had provided them with gloves, or her hands would have been a scratched and blistered mess by then. Dammit Chad, she grumbled to herself. Why did he have to go and get himself captured. She planned on giving him an earful about this if she found him. Or rather, when she found him, she corrected herself.
Midway through the afternoon, and the heat was stifling. The invaders had picked the second worst time of year to destroy the world; the worst being summer. But Paige planned to be long gone by then.
Paige decided it was time for a rest, with or without her dark overlord’s permission. Most likely without.
Paige waited until they weren’t looking, then she slipped between the stalks. She removed the gloves, clenching her fists to ease the cramps. She stood there for a while, enjoying the shade from the stalks.
Then came a rustling. Paige froze, not even daring to breath. Then more rustling. Someone was coming her way. Paige thought about making a quick dash back to her row. She was quietly slipping on her gloves, when Valerie squeezed through the stalks.