A red Persian rug with golden swirls was sprawled across the wooden floorboards. Several bookshelves surrounded the room, each overstuffed with literature. A large window overlooked the streets below, fitted with wavy amber curtains. A portrait of a man in a velvet suit hung on the wall beside me. In the middle of the room, a thick cream-colored couch stood beside a chestnut coffee table. Two blue books were stacked atop the table. Besides the books, there was a laptop. I crossed over the room and stepped up to the laptop. When I pulled the computer open, a chime sounded, and I was presented with a green screen. I scrolled through several different files and different texts. Nothing appeared out of the ordinary.
I scrolled through his search history. Aside from his seemingly endless array of pornographic searches, there wasn't a whole lot to work with. I looked through dozens of documents in his trash bin but didn't find too much of value. Then, I went to open his e-mail.
He'd maintained active communication with Marie up until a week ago. Their communication contained nothing too sensitive. I saw that he had talked with her about new genetic samples, but their conversations were overstuffed with too much scientific jargon. Aside from that, I found nothing useful.
I searched throughout the apartment. First, I scoured the kitchen and found nothing but some old food in the refrigerator. His sink was half-filled with water that was tinted a sickly green. I searched through his bathroom and then searched through his medicine cabinet. The man was stocked with dozens of painkillers, enough to kill an elephant. I shut the cabinet and proceeded into his bedroom.
The ivory sheets had been folded and tucked with neat precision on his bed. A singular oak bookshelf stood in a corner filled with massive texts wrought in old leather. Ahead of me was a singular desk.
I crossed over to the desk and searched through each drawer. When I opened the last drawer, I saw a black envelope. I picked it up, and several papers tumbled onto the floor. My eyes widened when I saw what was on the papers. Red lions, the same symbol that the protesters used. I bent down and picked up one of the papers. Folding the sheet back, I read the text.
7:30. Washington Bridge.
I searched through several more papers, all detailing the same cryptic information. He was meeting up with them and was certainly associated with them.
I searched through more papers and saw more cryptic notes and letters. They all had a time and what must've been different meeting places. They all had different dates written beneath them ranging from a few days ago to a year ago. Then, I opened up a letter and scanned through the text. The message talked about how Leon believed that Marie was growing suspicious of him. My eyes darted to the top of the letter. The message was addressed to Andy Barlow. My eyes widened.
I stuffed the letter into my pocket and made my way back to the door. It was time for me to pay the resistance another visit.
I didn't want to return to the protesters, but it wasn't as if I had much of a choice. Their leader, Andy, would probably think that I'd come back to join their cause. I'd just have to get in, find out where Leon was, and be on my way. I had no intention of staying there any longer than necessary.
But, then I thought of her. I reminded myself of why I was doing all this. My daughter was still out there. She had to be, and Leon might know something.
I parked in an old lot near the protesters. The dilapidated high rises towered over me, and I groaned. This is the last place I wanted to be right now.
I jumped out of my car and walked toward the protester headquarters. I gazed at the red lions that were painted on the alleyway. Walking through the alleyway, I kept my head held high and stared straight ahead. The last thing I wanted was to appear weak to these people. Then I walked up to two men in dirt-splattered tank tops. They folded their inked arms as each of them growled at me. They actually thought they were intimidating me, but I knew they were harmless. I wasn't a threat to them, and they knew that. Andy just had to have his men flex their muscles a little.
“I'm here to see Andy,” I said, stepping up to them.
The two men chuckled. “Andy? Andy. He don't want any visitors right now.”
“That was a demand, not a request,” I told them, rolling my eyes.
I wasn't in the mood to play these damn games. They were going to take me to see their leader, and I would make sure of that.
“Get lost, Quincy!” said one of the guards as he shoved his callused hand into me. I fell back, stumbled, and regained my footing. “You're wasting your time here. Andy don't want to see you.”
“If it makes him feel any better, I don't want to see him either,” I said, stepping back up toward them and reaching a hand into my jacket pocket. I wrapped my hand around my gun as I stared the man straight into his sunken black eyes. “But, I've got a job to do. Let me through.”
“No! Quincy, get the fuck outta here. You've got ten seconds.” He reached for the pistol in his holster, wrapping his thick sausage-like fingers around the weapon. “Nobody wants you here.”
I cocked my brows and almost laughed. They wouldn't kill me. To them, I was just the “Elite bitch boy,” but I still served an important function. I served a crucial role for the Elites, and I was good at my job. If they killed me, that would give the police more than enough reason to gun them all down.
“You're really going to kill me?” I said. “You may not like me, but the Elites do. If something happened to me, they'd come straight to you. Your resistance would be over, and it was all because you wouldn't let me see your boss. Is it worth it?” I lowered my hands and stared right into his eyes. Time had reached a standstill, and neither of us moved. Silence permeated the air.
“Abraham, let him go!” shouted Andy's voice.
The guard nodded and stepped back and holstered his gun. Then, Andy stepped through the alleyway with a big shit- eating grin on his face. There was just something I hated about him that I'll admit was irrational. It was probably that grin, though. Even in the face of despair, he never lost that grin. It was almost as if this world was a giant elaborate joke.
“How's my friend doing?” he asked.
“I'm not your friend,” I replied hastily.
He nodded as he placed a firm hand on my right shoulder. I shoved him off. I didn't care much for being pleasant with him. He'd give me what I wanted, no matter how nice I was. For some odd reason, this man took a strange liking to me. I didn't get it, but at least he'd be open to me. I couldn't complain about that.
“What brings you down to this neighborhood?” Andy said. “Have you come to finally join the right side?”
“It's about Leon,” I said. “Leon Bishopp. I believe he was in contact with you.”
“Oh,” said Andy. He stared forward for a few moments with lost, vagrant eyes. Then, he shifted his eyes back to me. “Y-yeah, but let's not talk about him here. Follow me.”
We walked through the dilapidated alleyways. Mangy people, young and old, all gazed at me with sour expressions. He led me into a small shack at the end.
The room was small and devoid of life. A single table stood in the middle of this concrete building, surrounded by four old wooden chairs. Andy stood in front of the table and turned toward me. There was something troubling in his eyes. He seemed to avoid eye contact with me, and his mouth remained ajar.
“I'm not here to play games, Andy,” I said. “I'm looking for Leon Bishopp. Any idea where he is?”
Andy shook his head. “I...don't know what happened to him, Quincy. I'm going to tell you the truth, okay? I know you'll just find out, anyway.” It was now that he felt more genuine than ever. “You already knew he worked for Genesis, right?”
I nodded. “Yeah, and he was giving you insider information, too?” Andy nodded. “Let me guess, he was giving away Genesis's information.”
Andy glanced away and sighed. “Yes,” he said. His eyes glared at the cracked concrete floor. “He was our man on the inside.”
“What information?” I asked. I wanted him to get on with it. The
sooner I was out of here, the happier I would be. “Just fucking tell me already.”
Andy turned back toward me and nodded. “He wasn't one of the higher-ups, so he didn't know everything. He told us about how there is this upper level, this ‘daycare.’ They keep a bunch of these children there. Commoner children. He doesn't know where they come from, but they're taken care of. They're well-fed, given shelter, and all that stuff. He also told us that-”
My eyes lit up. A daycare? I had to know more. I didn't even care what Andy had to say, besides that. He kept talking, though, until I had to interrupt him.
“You said a daycare?” I said. “What else do you know about that?”
“Did you even listen to what else I was saying?” he said.
“Answer my question. Leon knew about some daycare. When was the last time you saw him?”
Andy stared ahead He crossed over to me and placed a hand on my shoulder. This time he stared at me with those icy blue eyes of his, and I saw fear buried into his freckled skin. For the first time, there wasn't a smidgen of happiness across his face. He was afraid, scared. He swallowed hard and pulled me toward him.
“Be careful, Quincy,” he said. “You're my friend.” I was not his friend. “I don't want anything bad to happen to you. Things are getting dangerous and heated. They say that a war between our two people are on the horizon. I still know that I can stop it, though. If those Elites would-”
“I don't care about the war,” I said. “I don't care about the protests. I've got my own motives, Andy.”
Andy pursed his lips and nodded. “I don't know what you're looking for,” said Andy. “And I know you won't tell me. That's fine, but you've seen those protests. I'm sure you've seen what happened at the park. My people are angry and mad. I'm losing control of them, Quincy. When this all began, I wanted to change the world. I wanted a revolution. I wanted to do the right thing. Now, look at everything! There are Commoners out there murdering the Elites, lynching them like it's a fucking sport. They’re throwing torches out onto the street, and it feels like the whole city is going to hell.” Andy held me close, and I tried to squirm away, but his tight embrace made that impossible.
“Rumors have it that some of my own men are starting to turn on me, and I fear that I have awakened a monster within humanity, a monster that will engulf the city if we give it a chance. I never wanted us to be violent, Quincy. All I ever wanted was peace.” He finally backed away from me, but he still stared straight into my eyes. “The Elites see us as barbarians. They see us as violent and subhuman. I wanted to prove them wrong. I wanted to show them we're better than that.” He groaned and paced around the table, slamming his fists down onto the mahogany. Then he turned back up and stared at me silently for several moments. “And now, my people are going to kill me.”
He bowed his head. His breathing turned shallow. His hands shook. I wondered just how long he'd felt like that. I'd once thought that seeing his happiness shatter would be enjoyable, but this was just sad.
“You believe in a hopeful future, don't you?” I said.
“Cling to it. Don't let it go.”
He glanced up and smiled. “Yeah, there's hope. Everything's going to be okay, Quincy. I'm sure that everything's going to be okay.”
I nodded. “Now, tell me more about Leon. When was the last time that you saw him?”
“About a week ago. He was pretty panicked. I've never seen him like that. He kept going on and on about how they were onto him. He talked about how there were people trying to kill him, and then he told me that he was leaving. He said that he was never coming back.”
“Did he tell you anything about where he was going? Anything at all?”
“Well,” said Andy as he scrubbed his chin with his knuckles. “He did tell me that he was going to leave the city, but I doubt he got away. He wouldn't get past the city borders.”
I scrunched my face. “So, where could he be?”
Andy bit down on his lower lip. “Let me think for a moment.”
He muttered and stared off. I was just growing impatient, waiting for Andy to think. The longer that I waited for Andy to think, the longer my little girl was out there.
“Think harder!” I snapped. I placed a hand on his right shoulder and stared him dead in the eyes. “You have to think. I need to talk to him.”
“You're going to kill him, aren't you?” Andy said.
I shook my head. “No. That's not what I'm going to do. Not at all. I just need to talk to him. He might be able to help me find someone.”
Andy scrunched his brows. “Who're you looking for, friend?”
I paused and released a groan. “My daughter,” I mumbled. “It's a long story, but I think that he might know where she is.” Andy nodded. I had never talked about my daughter with him before, but he seemed to understand. Then, he sat down and released a heavy sigh.
“I can take you to him,” Andy said.
“You know where he is?” I said.
“Yeah,” Andy said, shrugging. “I know. I just thought you might hurt him.” He scratched his chin. “But you really don't want to hurt him, do you? Yeah, I believe you, Quincy.
You're not the only good judge of character.”
I flashed him a smile. “Yeah, so...where is he?”
Andy stood. “We've been holding him up in a bar called The Corkscrew. The bar's allied with the resistance. The owner, she's a good woman, but people there don't like outsiders. They certainly wouldn't take kindly to the likes of you, Quincy. No offense.”
I didn't take any offense to that. Commoners had good reason to hate me. After all, I'd proven time after time that I was an untrustworthy piece of shit. I'd sold my people out to get ahead in life. People didn't take kindly to their race traitor.
Andy stepped to the door. He turned around and folded his arms.
“Do you know why I'm helping you, Quincy?” I shrugged. “It’s because you’re not as bad as you tell people. People have told me that you're not to be trusted and that you're a traitor, but you're just like the rest of us. You're doing whatever you have to do to get by, right? I get it. You started working for the Elites because of your family, right?”
“Yeah,” I said, turning toward the ground. For some reason, I couldn't look Andy in the face.
“I understand,” said Andy. I looked back up, and he was opening the door. “Shall we go?”
I nodded, and we walked out into the alleyway. A force shoved into my right arm. I turned to my right and saw Max standing before me. He had his thick, furry arms folded as he snarled his ugly jagged face.
“Why you here again, Quincy?” he snapped. “Come to sell us out to your Elite buddies?”
I rolled my eyes and looked away. I didn't have time for this.
“I'm not with them anymore,” I grumbled and walked off.
“Ha! Like I believe that! You ain't with them, anymore? What the hell does that mean?”
I swung around. “It means I'm not with them, anymore,” I said, louder this time. “And, that doesn't mean I'm on your side. I don't work for anyone.”
Max smacked his lips together and shook his head. “Like I'm supposed to believe that!”
I rolled my eyes. “It doesn't matter if you believe it, Max. It's the truth.”
The man snarled his ugly nostrils. He tilted his head toward Andy. “You believe this man?”
“He's a good man,” said Andy, stepping forward. “Max, you will respect him when he is within our territory. Do you understand?”
Max spat out hoarse laughter. “Oh, I understand. I definitely understand.” He snapped a glare toward me. He growled. His eyes shifted once more to Andy. “It's one thing after another with you, Andy. One thing after a goddamn 'nother. I'm sick of this shit, Andy. We all are. You really think your peaceful protests are gonna do shit? Nah...we gotta fight those bastard Elites. Kill 'em all, and hang out on the fucking streets.”
“No,” said Andy, shaking his head. “That is not our way.”
He stomped off, and Andy stared at the ground. I turned toward the resistance leader and sighed. A part of me hated to see him like this. I could honestly tell that he really believed in what he was fighting for. Andy continued to stare at the ground. He mouthed some words beneath his breath, and I wanted to do something to help him.
“Let’s go,” I said. Andy stared forward blankly. “Maybe if we find Leon, I might be able to help you stop this war.”
He turned to me and his eyes lit up.
“Yeah,” he said dryly.
Chapter 15
Itrotted through the decrepit slums alongside Andy. The smell of filth and mold stung my nostrils. I glanced over to a few women who sat on a set of stairs. One stared at me with a lazy drooping golden eye. I just shook my head and turned forward, walking ahead.
“Keep your head straight,” Andy said coolly. “Then, they won't think of you as a threat.”
“Right,” I mumbled.
“You know,” said Andy. “Those violent protests, they're not us. They're not my resistance.” We turned toward each other. “A few dozen of my people abandoned us and went their own way. The media, though, tries to paint our whole organization as a bunch of violent radicals. That couldn't be further from the truth, and I will never abandon what I believe in. I still stand for peace, Quincy. I always have.”
“Yeah, I knew that wasn’t your words on the screen.”
“Mattis and his friends just tells everyone lies,” said Andy, shrugging. “And I know that if I can just get Mattis and the others to listen to us, we can end this oppression. We can make a better world for everyone.”
“I won't even share a dripping shit with those Elites,” I grunted.
“I know they have a bad rep-”
“They took my daughter,” I said.
Andy froze, and I turned toward him. He cocked his head toward me. “They took your daughter?”
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