The Hourglass

by Donaldson, Casey

  April shrugged. “Fair enough then. Um, I know pretty much what everybody else knows, I think. They were started early on when the first of the worst zoonoses infections broke out. They were a research group, focusing on cures and vaccines. Now they’ve branched out into war weapons, especially biological weapons as well as their original research.”

  “That isn’t what everybody else knows,” said Finn, eavesdropping shamelessly. “Most people just know that they created the beserkers.”

  Sarah shivered involuntarily. She had heard about the beserkers, of course. Everybody had. They were chemicals used by the zealots in the army to improved their strength, speed and increase their aggression. They didn’t feel pain. You could stab or shoot a beserker multiple times and it wouldn’t even break their stride unless they bled out. Of course, this came with a downside; not everyone who took it would survive. In one in fifty people the body was incapable of keeping up with the demands of the chemical, causing the user’s heart to burst in their chest as they sped towards the enemy. Even those lucky enough to survive were never really the same again. There were reports of people going mad with grief when the chemical wore off and they saw the carnage that they had caused. A rumour went around Sarah’s city a couple of years ago that the beserker chemical was now available on the streets. For two months people would only travel in groups, and no one went outside at night. Everyone was petrified that they would turn a corner to find themselves face-to-face with someone high on the chemical. You wouldn’t survive an encounter with a beserker. Everybody knew that. Yet no reports emerged of even a single attack and so slowly people returned to their normal routines and activities. Sarah remembered the fear though and she still felt a sliver of it every time someone mentioned the chemical. She didn’t want the symbol of the group that made that sort of weapon on her body. She had a sudden urge to scrub at the scar as if she could wipe it off.

  “What does the symbol mean?” she asked instead.

  “Something about time running out, obviously,” said Justin.

  “I was hoping for the real meaning,” replied Sarah.

  “Cure the disease before they die?” offered Colt.

  “Study the diseased before they die,” corrected Toddy.

  “Kill them before they kill you,” supplied Heather.

  “I can’t believe we’re practically working for them,” said Finn, disgusted. He dumped the box he was carrying as if it had offended him personally.

  “What do you mean, practically?” asked Marland, her face despondent. “They pretty much own us.”

  There was a dull silence as everybody pondered that one over.

  “April,” said Marland, “what does your uncle do for the government, exactly? You never told us the other day.”

  April blushed and shrugged in a vague, non-committal way. “I don’t really have much to do with him.”

  “For not having much to do with him you hear an awful lot,” replied Finn.

  “He talks to my parents, not me.”

  Marland grinned. “You eavesdrop! You sneaky little cheek! I hope you tell everyone what you find out. People need to know what’s happening.”

  “It’s usually not that interesting.”

  “Not to you, maybe, but I bet there are other people out there who would love to hear some of the things you know.”

  “Wait,” said Finn, holding out his hands as if to physically stop everyone. No one stopped moving, but they stopped talking. “Didn’t you say that you used to sell contraband fruit?”

  “It was my friend, really. She sold the stuff. Her usual partner was sick so she asked me to step in. I did and that was the day we were caught. Terrible timing on my part,” she gave a weak smile.

  “I bet your uncle was pissed,” said Marland, impressed.

  “Oh yes,” said April, nodding. “He was.”

  “What happened to your friend?”

  “She managed to get away before they could tag her. I wouldn’t tell them who she was so they upgraded my crime. My uncle nearly killed me.”

  The others laughed but Sarah was still thinking about the Hourglass Group’s symbol.

  “Have you ever heard about people marking themselves with the Hourglass Group’s symbol?” she asked April, her voice low so that none of the others could hear.

  April frowned. “Do you mean like a tattoo?”

  “Something like that.”

  “I don’t think so,” said April, considering the question. “Although there was something…” she trailed off. “Nope, sorry, it’s gone. It’ll come to me later when I’m not thinking about it.”

  “No worries,” said Sarah, trying to hide her disappointment. “Just… just let me know if you remember.”

  “Yeah, sure thing,” said April, giving Sarah a funny look. Sarah understood why. It was a weird question if you didn’t know about her mark, and she wasn’t going to tell anyone about that. Not even Marland or Finn. The symbol of a group of people who make drugs such as the beserker chemical is not something that you want to be associated with. She had wondered about it before, of course. How could something like that just appear on her body without her knowing how or why? But she had never linked it to anything. The Hourglass Group’s symbol wasn’t as well known in her city as the name was, but now that she was surrounded by it she couldn’t ignore the link.

  But what, thought Sarah desperately, does it mean?

  “Change the topic,” said a voice near her ear. She looked up to see Mr Wall. Damn, she thought, he could move quietly for a portly guy. To her surprise she realised that he wasn’t looking at her. She followed his line of sight felt her stomach drop as she spotted the Warden standing on the deck above them. Silence descended amongst the other prisoners as they too caught sight of her. There was the briefest of pauses before they returned back to the task at hand, moving quietly and efficiently as they stacked the very last of the boxes into their correct piles. As Sarah moved her last box she glanced back up at the Warden. A gold broach pinned to the Warden’s chest glinted in the sunlight, catching Sarah’s attention. When she realised what it was Sarah almost dropped her box. The Warden was wearing a small, gold, stylised version of the Hourglass Group’s symbol. The Warden’s eyes shifted to her and she lowered her head, concentrating on the task at hand and trying to look as inconspicuous as possible. Once the boxes had been categorised the group stood there awkwardly, no one brave enough to start a conversation in hearing range of the Warden. Without a word or change in expression the warden turned away and returned indoors. The group relaxed visibly and conversation started up amongst them. They stood there for ten more minutes before some men in overalls brought some trolley carts from somewhere for them to load the boxes onto. The prisoners did it at a comfortable pace, each understanding the unspoken agreement that they should try to stretch out their time outside as much as they possibly could. Justin had pointed out that they didn’t know the next time they would see sunlight again, and the thought of this was beginning to even overshadow thoughts about the Hourglass Group.

  Chapter Thirteen

  A Queen’s Bargain

  The next few days repeated with the same monotony their first morning had given them a taste of, without the release of working outside on the deck. The same tasteless food, the same seating at the same conveyer belt on the factory floor…

  “Sarah!” Finn’s urgent tone finally cut through the haze Sarah was in. Sarah blinked slowly and raised her gaze from the tube she held in her hand. Both Finn and Boulder were staring at her.

  “What?”

  “I called your name five times,” said Finn.

  “What?”

  “You’ve been holding that tube like it’s the most fascinating bloody thing in the world for five minutes,” said Boulder disparagingly. “Do you want a guard to knock you out?”

  Sarah glanced back at the tube. Her hands were trembling slightly and she dropped it.

  “Holy shit,” said Finn. “Sarah are you alright?”
>
  “They’re all the same,” she said, a feeling of hysteria rising in her chest. “They’re all the same.”

  “Yeah, no shit,” said Boulder.

  “No.” She slammed her palm down on the edge of the conveyer belt. The two boys looked alarmed. “You don’t understand. These are all the same tubes we’re looking at. The exact same tubes. We’re not building anything. This whole thing is… it’s pointless! There’s no purpose to any of this!” She was hyperventilating now and she felt tears threaten to spill down her cheeks. Even as she was speaking she knew that it was insane. She could even see the damn machine that made the tubes, but the idea had taken hold of her in a way that seemed completely beyond her control.

  “Sarah,” said Finn, his voice low and urgent in case a guard was starting to notice her behaviour. “Snap out of it. It’s not true. They’re all new. They’re all different.”

  “But how can you know?” whispered Sarah back, something Finn and Boulder were grateful for. Her previous loud, anxious voice had made a few heads turn. “All the boxes are the same. They all have the same, damn, symbol on them.”

  Finn glanced across the room to where the boxes lines the walls, all stamped with the Hourglass Group logo. She had a point. Everything that came in was packaged exactly the same as everything that came out.

  “Look,” he said, “I’ll prove it.” He sorted through the next lot of tubes, picking each up and examining them all much more thoroughly than he had ever done before. Sarah frowned, confused as to his motives. Finally he seemed to find one he was satisfied with. With a grimace he used a small, jagged section of metal that protruded from the chosed tube and cut himself across the base of the thumb. Sarah gasped as blood started to trickle out.

  “What-” she began, but was cut off as Finn started to smear the tube all over with his blood.

  “See? I’ve marked one of the tubes. Now I’ll just send it down the conveyer belt. If we see it again then you’re right. If not, well, then you’re just crazy.”

  Sarah snorted. “Thanks, that makes me feel so much better,” she said sarcastically, but even as she said it the anxious, hysterical feeling that had been all but erupting from her chest slowly died away. She felt like she could breathe again. Unfortunately she also felt like she had just succeeded in making a huge ass out of herself. A blush spread across her face as she fumbled with the bottom of her shirt. She managed to tear off a strip without doing too much damage to the rest of it.

  “Give it here,” she said, beckoning to Finn’s hand. He had been trying to stifle the flow of blood by pressing his hand against his pants. This was mostly succeeding in getting his pants bloody. Finn blinked but passed his hand to her under the cover of the conveyer belt.

  He had nice hands, she thought. They were large with long fingers and somewhat calloused. She quickly wrapped her strip of cloth around his hand, tucking the end of it back into the wrapping.

  “Thanks,” he said.

  Sarah gave a small smile in reply. She still felt like an ass. Not that it was going to stop her looking for the bloodied tube though.

  “Does, er, does anyone else go crazy here?” she asked Boulder. She chuckled nervously and immediately hated herself for it.

  “Most people do. It’s fragging tedious, is why,” replied Boulder. “And it’d be more fragging tedious if they didn’t,” he added unhelpfully with a small, self-satisfied grin.

  He was right. Sarah wasn’t the only one who was affected by it. Justin had been getting increasingly withdrawn and uncommunicative over the last few days. Finn’s theory was that Justin just couldn’t cope with not being outside. They tried to involve him in their conversations, but lately the best they could get out of him were monosyllable responses. It was worrying but they had no idea how to deal with it. On their eighth day Gretel, Sarah’s silent roommate, who had since their first meeting had ignored her completely despite sleeping less than a metre away, waylaid her on her way back to their cells that evening.

  “Don’t bother going to our cell. The Queen’s expecting you.”

  “What?” asked Sarah, alarmed, “why?”

  “Why would I know?” replied Gretel, before leaving Sarah to join up with another girl.

  Sarah turned back to face April, who she was walking with.

  “Have you heard anything?” she asked the younger girl.

  April shrugged apologetically. “No, sorry.”

  “But she hasn’t talked to you after that first day, right?”

  April shook her head. She wished Sarah good luck as they entered the cell block and separated. Sarah took a deep breath and headed to the Queen’s cell. She knew, of course, which cell to go to. The Queen had a corner cell that was slightly larger than the others and despite containing a bunk bed, the Queen was the sole occupant. There were always a number of girls milling outside the entrance as well, as if they were trying to absorb some of the power and magnetism that the Queen emanated in waves. The girls also functioned as bodyguards, intimidating anyone who dared to come too close to the Queen. Heather was one of them. She was standing slightly off to the edge of the group. She was pouting. Sarah got the feeling that Heather wasn’t quite getting along with the others.

  She could guess why.

  About three metres away from the entrance to the Queen’s cell a girl purposely stepped in front her, blocking her path. The girl was approximately the same height as Sarah, with light brown hair and a nasty burn that marred half her face. She was the same girl who had saved April from Ferrit on their second day.

  “Where do you think you’re going?”

  “I was told the Queen wanted to see me,” replied Sarah bluntly. She didn’t want to seem afraid and she instinctively felt that a polite enquiry would be met with scorn.

  The girl gave her a disbelieving look but turned back to look into the cell anyway. Sarah saw a small white hand make a gesture that approximated ‘approach’.

  “Don’t keep her waiting,” snarled the girl, as if it was Sarah and not her who had been the cause of the hold up.

  Sarah walked past her and into the cell. The Queen was sitting on the top bunk with her back resting against the wall, so that Sarah was forced to look up at her. The Queen stared at her appraisingly. Sarah said nothing. It was for the Queen to make the first move.

  “I hear you steal things,” said the Queen eventually.

  “That’s what I was sent here for,” replied Sarah cautiously.

  “Are you good?”

  It dawned on Sarah with a certain amount of horror where this conversation might be going. “Terrible. After all, I’m here, right?”

  The Queen jumped down from the top bunk in one fluid movement. Sarah, who had already been standing with her back against the wall of the cell, found herself nearly nose to nose with the girl. The Queen was nearly exactly Sarah’s height. Seeing her cold, dead eyes so close only seemed to enhance their unnaturalness. Sarah suppressed a shiver.

  “That’s unfortunate,” said the Queen softly. “You’ll just have to get better.”

  “And if I don’t want to?” whispered Sarah, dreading the answer.

  “Then one of my girls will gouge out one of your pretty eyes with a butter knife, and after that remove the eyes of one of your friends’ as well. The crazy one, I think. The one with all the conspiracy theories.”

  Sarah swallowed. “I wouldn’t like that.”

  “Then you better do as you’re told, yes?”

  Sarah nodded. Then, much to Sarah’s combined surprise and horror, the Queen stood on her tiptoes, leaned forward and kissed Sarah softly on the forehead. “Good girl. We’ll talk again soon.” She shoved Sarah gently on the shoulder in the direction of the cell door. Sarah took this correctly as an indication to get out, which she did as quickly as she could. Somehow she found herself back in her cell, breathing deeply.

  “So, you’re still alive,” commented Gretel, as if she was observing a particularly interesting bug.

  Sarah ignored her a
nd headed to the bathroom to wash her forehead. It felt dirty and she wanted the feeling of the Queen’s lips off her. After scrubbing for a few minutes she returned and sat on her lower bunk.

  “She’s mad,” whispered Sarah to Gretel, running through what had just happened in her mind and not believing it for a second.

  “Shut up,” hissed back Gretel. There was a pause before she added, “and whatever it is she wants, leave me out of it.”

  Chapter Fourteen

  Finn’s Hair

  Marland caught up with Sarah as they made their way to breakfast the next morning.

  “Morning,” said Marland. “So am I just crazy or did I actually see you voluntarily walk into the Queen’s room last night?”

  Sarah sighed. “It wasn’t really voluntary,” she grumbled.

  “Eek. What did she want? Or should I be asking what did you do?”

  “I didn’t do anything!” protested Sarah in self-defence. She glanced around and then pushed Marland to the side of the crowd so that they were away from inquisitive ears. If anyone was listening in they would now have to stop to do so. Sarah guessed that the Queen wouldn’t be too happy about her sharing what had happened, but right now she didn’t care. Her anxiety had kept her up all night and she needed to get it off her chest. “Out of nowhere I get summoned to her room. She’s acting all creepy and bossy. She tells me that she wants me to steal something for her, but doesn’t tell me what, kisses me on the forehead and then shoves me out the door. It was seriously the weirdest and scariest thing that has ever happened to me.” Much to Sarah’s horror she felt tears well up in her eyes. She blinked them away as quickly as she could and hoped that Marland hadn’t noticed. She needn’t have worried. Marland was giving her a weird grin.

  “She kissed you?” she said.

  “I know!” exclaimed Sarah. “Why would anyone do that?”

  Marland giggled. “Maybe she thinks you’re hot?”