by Ann Pino
“Galahad’s being mean to you, isn’t he?”
Cassie cried harder and Leila put a hand on her shoulder.
“They’re all that way, the ex-Kevorks. You have to be patient with him, like I am with David.”
“No,” Cassie said, choking and sniffling. “It’s not right for him to treat a person this way.”
“What way?”
“You know. Hot, cold. Love you, hate you.”
Leila nodded in sympathy and lay down beside her. “Just give him time. He really likes you. David says so.”
Cassie refused to be comforted. “What does he know?”
“He knows they all did some pretty bad things when they were with the KDS. David has nightmares even though he says he enjoyed doing all those things they did. Think what it must be like for Galahad, who never wanted to be that way at all.”
“That’s just an excuse.” Cassie swiped at her runny nose and rolled over so she could see the outline of Leila’s features in the glow of their new lantern. “He wants me when it’s convenient for him and I can rot the rest of the time for all he cares.”
Leila put a hand on her arm. “I don’t think he’s that way. I mean, I don’t know him like you do, but from the things David says, I think he’s just a guy with a good heart who got caught up in some bad things and is confused about his feelings now.”
“So he takes it out on me, like I need it.”
Leila stood up and found Cassie a tissue. “You’re right. With what we’ve all been through and knowing we’re going to die soon, you’d think people could be a little nicer to each other.”
Cassie blew her nose. “That’s what I don’t understand. Galahad talks like he thinks we need to make this a good world again, but he acts like he can’t make up his mind if he really believes it or not. We don’t have time for games.”
Leila agreed. “One or the other of you might be dead tomorrow.”
Cassie had been starting to feel a little better, but this thought depressed her more than all the others. She reached for the lantern. “Do you need this any more? I’m ready to get some sleep.”
EXCERPT FROM CASSIE’S JOURNAL:
No one is listening to me about Paul. Doc gave me an expired pill and brushed me off. Galahad acted like I was making unfair accusations just to piss him off. And when I remembered, just before turning out the light tonight, that I needed to warn Leila to stay away from him, she laughed. She said Paul was a nuisance, but no way was he any danger to anyone. “Too skinny and holy,” she said. “He wouldn’t hurt a cat, even he thought it was possessed by the devil.”
Fine. I’m the crazy one. When Paul gets back from wherever he disappeared to tonight, everyone will see what I’m talking about and know I’m right. At least I hope so.
In addition to keeping my distance from Paul, I’m going to stay away from Galahad. It’s too painful the way he makes me think he likes me and then ignores me. Haven’t we all been through enough pain without giving each other more? Besides, he won’t like me any better for being one of those girls who follows a boy around pestering him, letting him treat her any old way. I may not have a future, but I can at least have my pride.
Pride hurts. If I let myself remember how it felt when he touched me, I want to run down the hall to his room and—
Yeah, that would be dumb. I bet he’s not there, anyway. He’s probably on his mysterious upstairs errand again. I bet he’s got another girl hidden up there. Bastard.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
Someone was tapping on the door. It was a soft, persistent sound that wove itself into Cassie’s jumbled dream of burning buildings, Kevorks, and chocolate chip cookies. From the other bed, Leila muttered a curse, pulled a sheet around herself, and padded to the door. Cassie sat up, still foggy-headed but dimly aware of danger. She was about to call out for Leila to check who was knocking, but it was too late. Leila opened the door without looking out the peephole, then took a startled step back.
Julilla pushed her way into the room. “Good morning, ladies. Sorry to wake you up.”
Cassie tried to smooth her hair. “Is everything okay?”
“Sure. Well, sort of.” She came to the foot of Cassie’s bed. “I know it’s short notice, but there isn’t much time. I think I know who’s got the laptop and I was wondering if you could go with me to get it.”
“Go with you where?”
“Don’t worry about that right now. Just tell me if you can get away for the day.” She glanced at Leila. “You can weed potatoes and whatever else it is she does around here, right? Some trade goods may come out of this. If all goes well, you’ll be compensated.”
“But why me?” Cassie asked. “I’m not a trained guard.”
“You’re good in a tight spot, like when those kids attacked us on the way back from May’s. And more important, you’ve got tact. Most of our guards are in it for the glory, you know? They’re full of testosterone and just want to kick somebody’s ass. This isn’t that kind of job. It’s not likely we’ll need to fight anyone. It’s going to be all about subtlety.”
“Go ahead, if you want,” Leila offered. “I don’t mind covering your chores if maybe something good will come out of this.”
Cassie considered. It was an honor to be chosen for an important mission, and by Julilla, who had no patience for fools. Galahad would be furious when he found out. Cassie thought back to his reaction on the day she accompanied May to her shop. If he thought she was taking risks then, he would think she was out of her mind now. But who was he to dictate what she did or didn’t do? “I’ll go. What’s the plan?”
Julilla’s eyes lit up with approval. “Wear something sturdy but that you can run or fight in, if you have to. Wear your Regents gauntlet, bring your pepper spray and meet me in the kitchen as soon as you can get down there. Sandra will give us an early breakfast.”
Cassie wanted to ask more but Julilla was already moving toward the door.
“Be quiet, and try not to let anyone see you,” Julilla added, before she slipped into the hall. “Alex wants us to keep this mission off the books, in case it doesn’t work.”
* * *
To Cassie’s surprise, there was something approximating a real breakfast waiting for her in the kitchen.
“It’s our dirty secret,” Julilla said as they sipped real coffee and ate powdered eggs. “Actually, it’s not that big a secret that a person needs calories in order to train and fight, but….” She looked away, suddenly embarrassed.
“Most of us suspected,” Cassie said. “We just didn’t know the details. That would be hard to deal with on a bad day.”
“The little bit of extra we get is barely enough on a hard training day. I’d hate to try and do it on your starvation rations.”
Cassie finished her coffee and accepted a Little Debbie oatmeal cake for dessert. A breakfast like this was almost worth the possibility they might have to fight.
They left the hotel as the sun cast its first glow over the skyscrapers, making patterns of light and shadow on the ravaged streets. They moved around an improvised barricade and stepped over the bodies of children sleeping with the deep oblivion of heavy drink and drugs. An early-rising mutt chased them for a block, yapping, but Julilla didn’t bother trying to shoot it.
“Where are we going, exactly?”
Julilla looked at her out of the corner of her eye. “Watercrest Lofts.”
Cassie shook her head. The name didn’t ring a bell.
“One of those fancy converted brownstones near the warehouse district.”
“You mean the whole urban renewal thing?”
“I mean where they raised the rents so the poor people would have to move out.”
“What’s supposed to be at the lofts?”
“If my sources are correct, it’s where Thing One and Thing Two live.”
Somehow, Cassie wasn’t surprised. “Why do you think they’ve got the computer?”
Julilla stepped around a mangled bicycle frame, stripped o
f wheels and gears. “Remember the night they got into the hotel? I spent some time looking at how they climbed in our third-story window.”
Cassie remembered the way Julilla had stood at the window, running her hands across the sill, examining nicks and gouges.
“I saw the exact same types of marks on the window to Dr. Brody’s office yesterday. I know I’m no detective….”
“It’s better than no lead at all.”
“We’ll see when we get to the lofts.”
By the time they reached the warehouse district, the mysterious figures who had lurked in the shadows at dawn had given way to sleepy-eyed urchins lolling on curbs and their more enterprising brethren seeking to buy, sell, steal, or trade for breakfast. A group of dirty girls rushed Cassie and Julilla and tried to interest them in perfume and silk scarves, but went away when they found they had no food to trade. Some Pharm children chanted their medical offerings from a storefront kiosk. On a corner, a tall boy in dirty robes shouted passages from the Bible and sang snatches of hymns while a girl in similar garb sat at his feet strumming a guitar.
Cassie was trying to take it all in when a rangy brown-skinned boy ran up to them. “Hey, babes, nice morning! You going somewhere? Want some coffee? I know a place where a pretty girl is always treated right.”
Julilla cocked an eyebrow. “Get out of here. You’re making a fool of yourself.”
“Don’t be like that, pretty lady. We all got to stick together and help each other out, you know. Let me show you—”
“I got something to show you.” Julilla drew her Glock.
The boy raised his hands and took a step back. “Now come on, friend, no need to get all Telo on a guy.”
“You’re not my friend.”
He turned appealing eyes on Cassie. “Tell her I’m one of the good guys.”
By now Cassie had drawn her pepper spray. “How would I know if you’re one of the good guys? Go away.”
“Why are you being this way?” He lowered his voice. “You don’t fool me. You’re not from this side of town. You need a guide. You need a friend. You need—”
Julilla fired into the ground at his feet. “You need to find another mark, you little shit.”
The boy leaped back with a snarl. “Fine, bitch. Be that way.”
Cassie and Julilla watched him slouch across the street where he started chatting up a girl in blue face paint. “I wonder what that was all about,” Cassie said.
“No telling. Probably some sort of pimp deal. Food, sex, you know…the basics.”
“I couldn’t do that,” Cassie said as they started walking again. “Especially not to put off dying for a few more months.”
“I couldn’t either, Telo or no Telo. I’ve seen what bastards men can be and that’s one area where I’m not compromising. But a lot of girls give it up, and for dumber reasons than just to get by for another day.”
“There was a girl from my school who was selling her services outside the Wal-Mart last winter,” Cassie said. “Me and Leila used to see her there and sometimes we’d try to talk her into quitting, but she said she could get canned peaches and Hershey bars doing what she was doing and no way was she quitting so she could eat rice and beans with us.”
“I hope it worked out for her.”
“It didn’t.” Cassie looked away. “We finally quit seeing her there and later someone said they saw her body in a ditch. Just her body. Her head was never found.”
“I’m sorry.”
Cassie gave a small shrug. “It wasn’t like she was a friend or anything. I just hope those Hershey bars were worth it.”
They were nearing the renovated district now, which was scarcely distinguishable from the slums which had been there prior to gentrification. Brick walls were pitted from gunfire and blackened from the smoke of blazes set in loft apartments, and in an empty corner lot, someone had set fire to a pile of tires and the smoke rose in a long black plume. A pack of children and yapping dogs ran past, their cries shrill in the morning air.
Julilla pointed. “I think that’s it up there. The one with the gargoyles.”
Cassie squinted, then laughed. “Whose idea was it to put gargoyles on an old warehouse?”
“That’s developers for you. Anything to make someone think he’s getting something special instead of a recycled sweatshop.”
As they approached the converted warehouse, Julilla urged caution. “I don't know if it’s booby-trapped or what. I don’t even know if they’re here, but we were told these two like to sleep late, so we should be able to corner them if we can catch them by surprise.”
“Should we go in disguise?”
“Damn.” Julilla stopped in her tracks. “That’s a good idea. We should’ve gone to the Thespians and asked if we could borrow something.”
Cassie pondered. “We could check some of these other buildings for something to put on that would look…I don’t know, less like we’re on a mission?”
The girls ducked around a corner and sat on the stoop of a brownstone to think. Finally Cassie had an idea. “Remember those religious people we saw a few blocks back? I wonder if they’d loan us their robes for a good cause?”
Julilla patted her Glock. “We can always use the persuader if they won’t cooperate willingly.”
“So you’re game?” Cassie got to her feet.
“Hell yes.” Julilla gave an uncharacteristic giggle. “Jesus saves.”
* * *
Cassie took a deep breath and knocked on the door. She thought she heard someone moving around inside, but no one answered. She knocked again. “Voice in the Wilderness Ministries!” She darted a glance at Julilla, who was struggling not to laugh. “Jesus loves you!”
More scuffling, then a male voice. “Go away. We’re not interested.”
Cassie tried again. “Let us share the good news with you, brother!”
“Hope and salvation!” Julilla added. “And food!”
There was a sound of keys turning in locks and bolts being slid back. The door opened a crack and an eye peered out. “What kind of food?”
“Loaves and fishes. Manna from Heaven. The fruits of the Lord’s creation.” Cassie wedged herself into the doorway as the young man tried to slam it shut. “Jesus loves you and wants—”
“We’re pagans, goddammit,” he said, trying to force the door closed. “Satanists. Heathens. We spit on Jesus.”
Julilla added her weight against Cassie’s. “Satan’s cool. The devil you know, and all that.”
The door fell open and the girls stumbled into the room. They didn’t have time to recover before they heard the sound of a pump-action shotgun. They looked up to see a girl standing on the other side of the room, training her weapon on them. She was dressed in black and her skin was startlingly pale without her gray face paint. Her thick black hair lay coiled at the nape of her neck and the look in her eyes was almost as lethal as her weapon. “Put your hands up, nutjobs.”
By now the young man, also in black, equally pale and with the same glossy black hair and eyes had drawn a semiautomatic. “We’re not interested in salvation, but we don’t mind helping you get to yours.”
“Now, be cool,” Julilla said. “We aren’t here to make trouble.”
“If you didn’t want trouble, you shouldn’t have forced your way in here.” The girl motioned with her gun. “Stand over there.”
Cassie and Julilla edged in the direction indicated. “Do you do this to everyone who wants to talk to you about God?”
“You’re risking your eternal soul,” Cassie added.
They looked for some means of escape, but the boy trained his gun on them and the girl came forward and motioned for Cassie and Julilla to remove their robes. When they moved too slowly to suit her, she patted them down and found the Glock.
“How many people have you sent to the Kingdom of Heaven with this?”
“It was for protection on the street, not to hurt you.”
“No bullshit, please.” She took away
Julilla’s knife and disarmed Cassie of pistol and pepper spray. Then she bound both girls’ wrists and ankles with rope. When she was done, she stepped back and admired her work. “So,” she said, “why don’t you tell us what you’re really after?”
* * *
Several hours later Cassie and Julilla sat on the sofa, rubbing the rope burns on their wrists. Convincing the strange young couple to untie them hadn’t been difficult, but being allowed to leave was another matter. As for the laptop, the “twins” as they called themselves, flatly refused to part with it, claiming it held the key to the “fountain of youth.” Cassie and Julilla found themselves watching Danica, otherwise known as Thing Two, scroll through documents on the computer, occasionally stopping to read something aloud and shake her head. “I understand little bits of it, but not enough to put all the pieces together.”
Thing One, Danny, lay on the floor at her feet, flipping through a book of scientific terms and gazing up at her from time to time with a look that was pure adoration. “You can do it. We already established that the thing that looks like an E means ‘sum’ and the triangle means ‘change.’”
“Delta,” Danica said, still staring at the screen. “You’ve got to call these things by the right words.”
Danny jumped to his feet with the lithe move of a cat, took her narrow chin in his hand and forced her to look at him. Then he planted a lingering kiss on her lips and slipped his tongue into her mouth.
Cassie and Julilla recoiled in disgust.
“You kiss your sister that way?” Cassie said.
“You got another way in mind?” Danny traced a finger down Danica’s throat toward her breasts. “Maybe someplace else?”
Danica pushed his hand away. “Stop teasing them.” To Cassie she added, “He’s not my brother.”
“But you said you’re twins,” Julilla pointed out. “How can you be twins but not siblings?”
“Don’t you just love a mystery?” Danny slipped his hand under Danica’s shirt and she shifted in her chair to give him better access.