“We’re almost there. Just a little further,” she encouraged. Ahead, a wide archway with the word HOSPITAL engraved in it spread across the entrance to a two-way driveway leading up to a sprawling building. A closed wrought iron gate fit into the archway.
As they got closer, she noticed two teenage boys standing on either side of the archway. They did not move to help as she and Aaron staggered up to the gate.
“We need a doctor right away, it’s an emergency,” Lareina explained, nodding toward Aaron’s leg. Neither of the boys moved to unlatch the gate. They turned to each other and chuckled.
“How much money do you have?” one guard, tall with black hair, challenged.
She looked at Aaron and he shrugged, unsure of how they should respond.
“If you give me a second, I can scrape together a few dollars,” she offered.
That sent the guards into a fit of hysterical laughter. Every time they looked at each other, the laughing started up again.
“Let’s get out of here and find another hospital,” Aaron urged, trying to pull her away from the gate, the frenzied cruelty, and their final hope.
She noticed the guns swinging from each guard’s belt. Any other day she would have backed away, but she was too tired and desperate to fear their weapons. “No, wait, I want an explanation.”
“It doesn’t matter what you do,” the other guard, short and blond, snickered. “No hospital is going to let you in for less than fifty dollars. This city is now a territory of The Defiance. Join our movement and we’ll think about helping you.”
“Let’s go,” Aaron insisted. He leaned forward, applying all of his force to move her forward, but she had more leverage with two feet on the ground.
“You think we would join a movement that allows people to die on the streets?” she shouted. “Maybe you should rethink what you’re fighting for.”
The short guard took a few menacing steps closer to her. “We take care of our own. Otherwise, hospitals are for those who can pay for care. If you can’t pay, then we can’t help you,” he growled. “Now get out of here.”
She wanted to scream at them, lunge at them, and force her way through the gate, but a sinking feeling in her stomach and the tightness in her throat zapped any strength she had left. She could do nothing but turn and walk away.
Defeated and out of options, Lareina wandered down the empty sidewalk, pulling Aaron along with her. Any hint of November sun hid behind the buildings, allowing a winter chill to sweep through the city. She despised the cold weather, the constant rain, and the cruel, selfish people taking over everything around her.
“Where are we going?” Aaron asked, trying to hide the pain in his voice that she couldn’t ignore. Every step they took had to feel like fifty nails stabbing his leg.
“I don’t know,” she admitted. “I don’t know what to do anymore.” She wanted a safe place to rest, but everything she thought she knew about city life no longer applied if The Defiance ruled. The dread and caution of everyone she’d met made sense now. Terrified people on high alert filled the city. Breaking into a home or business, where citizens of Dallas lived, could be dangerous, but choosing a structure seized by The Defiance would be a deadly mistake.
“Let’s find a bridge or something,” Aaron suggested. “It’ll probably rain again tonight.”
After three more agonizing blocks, they found an overpass. Too exhausted to be picky, they hobbled under the concrete shelter and chose the highest section, where there were no puddles, as a place to rest.
Leaning back against the cold concrete wall, Lareina reached into her bag for something to eat before she remembered they were out of food. They had finished everything they had on their slow journey into Dallas. If she didn’t do something soon, the two of them would end up starving before anything else could kill them. Shadows slanted across the road as light quickly vanished. The wind whistled as it funneled under the overpass.
“We’re out of food,” she apologized. “I’ll get us something to eat tomorrow.”
“It’s okay, I’m not hungry anyway.” He sounded brave, but his voice rose in pitch slightly at the end of his sentence. Although her body didn’t complain, she knew she had to be hungry too. She just nodded and leaned her head against Aaron’s shoulder. He sighed and rested his head against the concrete wall behind him.
“Aaron,” she whispered after a few minutes. But the slow even breathing of sleep was his only response. She propped their backpack behind his head to act as a makeshift pillow and closed her eyes. Despite her exhaustion, the steady drip . . . drip . . . drip of water from above kept her awake. Squeezing her eyes tighter, she listened for the distant rushing of trains, a blaring whistle. Nothing. Had The Defiance suspended the trains? Maybe trains were being diverted around Dallas because of The Defiance.
Lareina pulled her hands into her coat sleeves and drew her knees up to her chest. She imagined thousands of people lying awake in darkness. Hunger, fear, and desperation stalked the streets. Everyone had their own family and friends, their own little world to fortify against collapse. A thin cloud revealed the outline of one twinkling star, dimming and brightening, laughing at her huddled on the cold concrete until she closed her eyes.
Chapter 36
Pale pink light stretched across the horizon, announcing a new day. The world blurred into patches of dull color through Lareina’s half-open eyes. Her body begged her to rest for a few more hours, but they needed food and transportation out of the city. She sat up and rubbed her eyes with the back of her hand. Fuzzy colors became roads, bridges, buildings. Not wanting to wake Aaron, she slid away from him and stood up. Fear gripped her until she noticed his chest moving steadily up and down with every silent breath. He slept sitting up, his back against the concrete wall, head tilted toward his left shoulder, injured leg stretched straight out, blood crimson against white bandages. Their backpack had slipped to the ground beside him.
Kneeling down, she pulled the bag toward her, and silently dug through the contents, feeling for the smooth cylindrical outline of a pencil. She had always carried pencils and paper in her old bag, but minutes of rummaging resulted only in a pen with a crack in its plastic body. Painstakingly, she scraped the pen against the cement. It didn’t work at first, but after dipping it into some water and scribbling on her arm, she eventually managed to scrawl went for food on the smooth pavement near Aaron’s hand.
Taking a few steps out of the monstrous shadow cast by the road above, she stopped, unable to convince her feet to venture any further away. Aaron coughed, and she darted back to his side. His eyelids fluttered slightly but didn’t open; his even breathing indicated a deep sleep. Leaving him behind, out in the cold, unable to protect himself or even run, felt like a betrayal, but she had to get food soon or they would both be too weak to move at all. If she waited much longer, the city would be swarming with people and she couldn’t even guess what kind of obstacles The Defiance might create. Aaron needed rest and even if she waited for him to wake up, he would only slow her down and make stealing impossible. Taking a step away from him, she stopped and for a second held her hands over her bleary eyes. In slow motion, she let her hands slide back down until they dangled at her sides.
“I won’t be gone for long,” she whispered. Aaron didn’t stir and she decided he would be safer asleep under the overpass than he would be in the city with her.
As her feet traced cracked sidewalks, she thought about how she had planned to be out of Texas months ago. Meeting Nick and Aaron slowed her progress to that of a snail making a cross-country trip. A snail would be faster, she decided, which brought a smile to her face. Despite all of the complications they had caused, she owed both of them a little bit of credit for her survival.
Her smile sagged as worry for Aaron returned. She knew the severe injury to his leg wouldn’t heal on its own, and every minute that ticked by tugged him closer to death. The bellow of glorious train whistles serenaded her as she walked, announcing they came
to the city after all, and as if hypnotized she followed the much-anticipated sound to its origin.
With any luck, she thought, we’ll be able to sneak onto a train heading north. Her feet crunched over glass scattered across sidewalks from shattered display windows, doors to shops hung open on broken hinges, and a thick, acrid smoke curled up from the next street over. Trying to hold onto any shred of hope, she ignored the sick feeling in her stomach and kept walking.
Blaring whistles, warning everyone in Dallas to clear the tracks, grew louder. She followed those sounds to a set of tracks and then followed those tracks to a train station. The station, unlike the rest of the city, turned out to be a bustling place. She watched, fascinated by the hundreds of people boarding and exiting trains. Trains with more cars than she could see lined six sets of tracks.
“Tickets, present your tickets here,” men in uniform yelled at the base of steps leading up to the train cars. Train security guards walked up and down the platform, watching the trains to prevent stowaways. Nearby, teenage boys, members of The Defiance, supervised the commotion, mingling near the ticket booths, the lines of people boarding trains, and the workers unloading boxes and crates. The Defiance had seized the railroad and control of all shipments entering and exiting Dallas.
Curious and cautious, she walked along the train. Toward the back, she passed cars with large open doors and watched men and women swarm in and out, rolling carts full of boxes. The entire scene reminded her of an anthill with constant activity and confusion. But the cargo cars gave her hope. If they could board one after it was fully loaded and hide behind some of the goods, they might not be caught. Of course sneaking injured Aaron and herself into the car fast enough that no one would notice made her rethink that plan.
“Can I help you?” a deep voice threatened from behind.
Lareina turned quickly, not sure at first if the man spoke to her in the bustle. He wore the blue uniform of the railroad security and stared down at her with an impatient glare.
“I’m sorry, sir,” she said, forcing herself to be polite. “I’ve never been to the train station before. I’m supposed to meet my sister here, but I can’t seem to find her.”
“So you weren’t thinking of sneaking onto one of these trains,” the man accused. Three boys dressed in the signature uniform of The Defiance stepped forward, closing a tight circle around her.
“No,” she lied, smiling, forcing her voice to remain steady. “I’m just looking for the ticket booth. That’s where my sister said she would meet me.”
The man stared at her but didn’t say anything. His hand moved at his side, and for a minute she thought he might strike her. Instead he lifted his arm and pointed over her head. “You can buy tickets down there.”
“Thank you, sir,” she replied, striving to retain her smile a little longer.
She backed away then hurried in the direction the man had pointed. Crowds of people surrounded a short building with glass windows. Everyone who had the money to travel scrambled to escape the city under siege. Standing at the back of a line, she stared up at large signs plastered against the window. Each square of the chart listed a destination and below it a train number, time of departure, and stops along the way. She scanned the timetable for a train passing through Nebraska.
Dallas, TX to Sioux Falls, SD
Today
Train #16 2:00 P.M.
Train #25 9:00 P.M.
Tomorrow
Train #1 8:00 A.M.
Train #19 8:00 P.M.
Stepping up closer to read the tiny black print, she poured over a list of cities and towns where the train would stop. After Dallas there were a few more destinations in Texas, several in Oklahoma and Kansas, but only a few in Nebraska. Please be there, she thought over and over. Please still exist. The third stop in Nebraska brought a smile to her face. She couldn’t take her eyes off Maibe, NE, it’s listing insignificant to most travelers but essential to keep her hope alive. The only home she’d ever known still existed and the train could take her there.
Lareina repeated the numbers and times over and over but wished she had paper to write them down. People in front of her gave destinations and train numbers to smiling women behind the glass.
“Two tickets to New York City,” a tall man in a black suit requested.
“That’ll be one hundred and three dollars,” the smiling woman prompted from behind her shield of glass.
The man pulled five crisp, green bills from his pocket and slid them through a slot under the window.
The woman’s blond curls bounced slightly as she thumbed through the money. Satisfied, she turned and tore two white rectangles of paper from a roll behind her and slid them under the window.
“Be sure to board fifteen minutes early, sir. How can I help you, ma’am?” the woman asked with a smile as the man moved away.
Lareina glanced in both directions. She had been so preoccupied with the activity around her, she didn’t realize she had reached the front of the line. Doing her best impression of the others she walked up to the window.
“What would two tickets to Maibe, Nebraska, cost?”
The woman looked down at some numbers printed on a sheet of paper. “That would be sixty dollars.”
She took a sharp breath. “Do the tickets ever get any cheaper?” She had a dollar in her pocket, and maybe a few quarters in the bag she’d left with Aaron.
“No ma’am, I’m sorry.” The woman sounded sincere.
Nodding, she walked away from the window before the impatient customer behind her could shove her out of the way. She found an empty bench near the platform and sat down. For a long time she watched people and trains, contemplating how she would get herself and Aaron out of Dallas. His injury, combined with their lack of money, made the entire situation impossible. Hundreds boarded trains, few disembarked. Workers loaded boxes, unloaded crates, paced up and down the platform. She didn’t move.
She barely noticed the commotion, the vanishing clouds, or the passage of time until she felt warm light on her face. The sun gleamed directly above her. Noon. Lareina jumped to her feet. She had left Aaron before sunrise. Her stomach growled as she drifted away from the chaotic train station toward the inevitable peril of a desperate city.
For five blocks, she surveyed shattered windows, smoldering skeletons of buildings, and abandoned belongings scattered in the streets. Among the belongings were discarded signs protesting The Defiance. Together, the scene suggested there’d been a riot recently. She wandered the maze of a broken city for hours searching for food until she heard whispering on the breeze, a barely audible hint of faraway voices. Straining her ears, she tried to identify the exact direction they came from. One block forward, two to the left, a right down an alley, then straight ahead again. Indiscernible conversations lifted over rooftops and skipped down sidewalks. Verbalizations of civilization mixed with the familiar aromas of baking bread, ripe fruit, and meat on a grill. One more block and she entered a stretch of the city that swarmed with people. The only operating market area she’d encountered, it consisted of several buildings lining the street, all specializing in different types of food. Signs above doorways and display windows announced: Bakery, Fresh Fruit, Soup and Sandwich Shop.
Someone bumped into her, shoved her out of the way, and murmured in annoyance. She decided soup would be comforting for Aaron. A bell tinkled above her when she pulled the door open. Warm steam, smelling of vegetables, wrapped around the little room with its clean tile floor and dainty white tables and chairs. Lareina shivered when she noticed a table surrounded by four teenagers, members of The Defiance, who glared at her as if to say Follow our rules or you’ll have a problem.
Ignoring the suspicious stares, she approached the counter to view a menu above her. Soup of the day: $6.00. The cheapest sandwich cost $4.00. She couldn’t find anything on the menu priced below $3.00. With The Defiance commandeering everything in town she knew the lone dollar in her pocket held the same value as a single sock.
Frustrated, she left and continued down the street. She stopped in front of a window with clothing on display. Cupping her hands against the window, she stared in at the rows and rows of shirts on hangers and shelves of jeans. She looked down at her dirty jacket and torn jeans then back at the crisp blue shirt and flawless skirt in the window. She wanted the new clothes more than anything, even food, but with price tags of $25.00 and $42.00 that wasn’t going to happen. Remembering Aaron, she felt guilty even contemplating the risk of being arrested for stealing a shirt.
Taking one last look at the outfit in front of her, she turned away and followed the aroma of freshly baked bread across the street and into a bakery. Glass cases all around the room displayed loaves of bread, decorated cakes, cookies, and brownies. I don’t need anything fancy, she thought. A simple loaf of bread can’t be expensive in comparison to all of that frosting. She gazed into a display case filled with different shaped loaves of bread.
“Is there something I can help you with?” a man’s annoyed voice declared behind her.
Lareina spun around to face a tall man in a white apron and hat. He glared down at her but kept a fearful eye on a teenage boy slouched against the wall with his hands in his pockets. The boy looked about her age, wore jeans and a jacket like she did, but like every teenager in The Defiance, his eyes watched the world with resentment.
“Do you sell anything that costs less than a dollar?” she asked, ignoring the man’s obvious agitation.
He laughed. “Of course not. I would go out of business for selling anything that cheap. If you can’t pay then get out of my bakery.”
The man blocked her from walking any further into the shop, so she had no choice but to turn back toward the door. Frustration and anger increased her courage with every step she took toward the exit. In small green print, $3 was written on a sign above a basket next to the door. She had to get back to Aaron and she couldn’t go without food. Looking around to make sure no one watched her, she reached a hand into the basket and pulled out a bag of rolls. Holding it in front of her, against her jacket, she thought no one had noticed.
Hope for the Best Page 28