by Nate Phelps
“Is this where you’re going all the time?”
“Yeah, Dr. Henry didn’t agree with my demotion. He gives me assignments now and then. Now you know the secret.”
“What’s in those?” I pointed at the chests.
“Come see.”
She led me to one of them, opened it with a key from her pocket, and flipped back the lid. My jaw dropped. It was full to the brim with pistols, shot guns, and rifles. Sarah and her mom could have bought several houses for the price of these.
“How?” I asked.
“My team and I have been collecting them for years,” she explained, slamming the lid closed and locking it again. “That chest over there is all ammo, and so is that one. Swords and knives there and then body armor over there. We wanted to be ready. Crappy thing is, I couldn’t get any of my team off the wall. Dr. Henry got you off because you hadn’t been screened yet, so he was able to list you down with a contagious illness. The last thing they want is someone that gets everyone else sick.”
“That’s smart,” I said, still in awe of Sarah’s stash of goodies. “I’m super offended that you’ve never taken me here before.”
“Sorry dude. This place is a little bit less than official. Dr. Henry has to turn a blind eye. I didn’t want to get you involved, but everything’s gone to crap now.”
I went over to one of the large maps on the wall—it was impressively comprehensive. The four quarters were clearly marked with the river coming off the mountain behind the city and splitting it in half. The other border that crossed the river was marked with a long road that went from the west gate to the east.
“Where do we start?”
Sarah joined me and considered the map. “I have no idea.”
“What? You don’t have a plan?”
“Keep your shirt on. Where did you and Johnny find Thirteen?”
I turned back to the map and traced my finger along the roads. “Right here.”
“Hmm, that’s deep in the business district. Chances are they’ve relocated by now. It’ll be impossible to trace them. Crap!” She banged her fist on the map. “I need my team. They’re my eyes and ears. We need connections around the city if we’re going to hunt them down, but all the Enforcers are on patrols. There’s no one else.”
“So, you're saying we need someone who has lots of friends and and gets news before anyone else? Someone who seems to know everyone?”
“Yeah,” she agreed.
There was a pause. We looked at each other and grinned. I quickly pulled up my watch and made a call.
* * *
“This map is gorgeous,” said Ricky, running his hands over the large paper. “Why can I never find these?”
“Stop that,” said Sarah. “You’re getting fingerprints everywhere.”
“How’d you get off wall duty?” I asked.
“People gotta eat, bro. No one’s making me join the force unless I want to.”
“Huh,” said Sarah. “Want to join us in hunting down the idiots that are responsible for trashing our city?”
Ricky whipped his head around. “Heck… YES girl! What you got?”
We filled him in on everything we knew. He took it all very well for a typical street vendor.
“So, you need Papa Ricky’s help,” he said once we finished. “You need my connections and my sources.”
“We’re calling in the favor for not arresting you,” I said.
“Don’t make me laugh. You owe me a favor for throwing you the best birthday of your life.”
“He’s got a good point,” agreed Sarah.
“I’ll be honest, chicas,” continued Ricky. “My people are a bit discombobulated at the moment. Johnny getting killed has messed things up, but if you give us a starting point, we’ll blow your minds.”
“Yeah,” said Sarah, considering the map again. “We’re stuck there too.”
“No,” I said suddenly. “We do have a starting point.”
They turned to me expectantly.
“The Lutosian who was throwing grenades three weeks ago. They never finished questioning him.”
“Yes!” said Sarah. “How’d I forget about him?”
“So, we just get Dr. Henry to pop him out?”
She shook her head and rushed back to the rack of clothes, rustling through it.
“Maybe he could get us inside so we could talk to him then?” I suggested.
“Nope, they’ll have it on lockdown for sure. No way they’ll let visitors inside, even if Dr. Henry told them to let us in.” Sarah threw a jacket at me. I caught it, still thinking of solutions.
“Can you get us in jail?” I asked Ricky.
“Easy.”
“Without getting arrested?”
“Not so easy.”
Sarah hit me in the chest with a pair of pants and took some socks from a bag, tossing those over as well.
“What are you doing?” I asked.
“They’re going to be running on a skeleton crew,” she explained as she rustled through the hangers, holding up different shirts against her chest. “They’ll be desperate for anyone that can lend a hand. Seven years ago, after the last Crawler attack, they kept soldiers on the wall for several weeks just to be safe. I remember my father mentioning that they were offering over a thousand midcoin to anyone that could work shifts at the prison while they waited for the employees to get back. That, paired with the fact that they have more prisoners than ever before, means they’ll be even more desperate now.”
“That’s genius!” I said looking at the clothes she’d handed me.
“My cousin works there,” said Ricky. “He can help us get a few things past security. Let me make a call.”
I helped Sarah in her search for disguises.
“Stand still for a second,” she said. I complied as she held up some of her hair beneath my nose. She nodded approvingly.
“Lunch is ready!” Sarah’s mom tiptoed down into the basement and set a platter of sandwiches and drinks on the table.
“Hey, mom, what do you think?” Sarah held up a red shirt for inspection.
Her mom set a lemonade down and tapped her chin thoughtfully. “What’s it for?”
“We’re breaking into a prison.”
I froze as I reached for a sandwich.
Sarah’s mom didn’t react. “In that case, I’d go for the dark blue one.”
“Good idea.” Sarah grabbed the other shirt.
“You need a driver?”
“Yes, please, we might need to get out quick, depending on how it goes.”
“That sounds fine to me. Let’s plan on before eleven, dear, tomorrow is laundry day.”
Sarah’s mom patted me on the arm. “It’s so good to have you around. I’ve always loved your cheerful personality.”
“Uh… thanks.”
I shook my head as she scooted up the stairs, and wolfed down a sandwich.
“Ricky’s good to go,” said Ricky.
“What?” I said around a mouthful of bread.
“My cousin’s name is Ricky. Good name.”
“It’s set then,” said Sarah. “Tomorrow, we break into the jail.”
This was possibly the worst idea I’d ever had.
Chapter 17
Gerald left early that morning for the wall. When I told him I wasn’t coming, he looked like he might cry. He left me the keys to his place, explaining he wouldn’t be back very often and wanted me to be able to get in and out easier. A large bus swung by to pick him up along with a dozen or so more from the complex.
Once they were gone, I took the car to Sarah’s place. I could have flown, but I didn’t want anyone asking about Shania.
Ricky was already there and had dropped off the package for his cousin earlier. Sarah’s mom pulled up the floorplans for the prison and Ricky was staying behind so that he could guide us.
After I got dressed, we jumped into Sarah’s car and took off for the prison. Her mom’s driving did not match her personality, and I soon
regretted not putting my seat belt on faster.
“Here,” said Sarah, handing me what looked like a brown caterpillar.
“What’s this?”
“It’s a mustache. My mom made it with a clip of her hair. The adhesive should stick well, unless you sweat too much. So, don’t sweat.”
I oriented the fake mustache and smoothed it over my top lip. “How do I look?”
Sarah snickered. “Kinda creepy. I’d love to see a beard though.”
“You look very nice, honey,” her mom assured me.
“Thanks, Mrs. Charles.”
We pulled up to the prison and parked further out in the lot. My stomach clenched.
“You remember the plan?” asked Sarah. “If we need to bail for any reason at all, pretend you’re having a heart attack.”
“No one will believe that.”
“Sure, they will. People don’t mess around with that kind of thing. Let’s go.”
We got out and approached the prison. It was made of long grey buildings. The middle section was large and had two wings coming off the sides like arms. We approached the main entrance. The guards eyed us.
Sarah asked about the job openings and they directed us to the wing on the left. The guards at that entrance let us through and it was easy enough to find the line of hopeful applicants. I could understand, just by looking, why most of them hadn’t been enlisted as soldiers. They were either too old or sickly. I panicked for a moment, trying to remember the reason we’d created for why I hadn’t been called to duty. We’d invented characters the night before so we didn’t have to give our actual names. Sarah’s mom had even made us fake IDs. I didn’t want to imagine how many laws we were breaking. If we got caught, we’d never leave.
“Remember,” Sarah murmured out of the corner of her mouth. “You keep them distracted while I go find out where that guy is. What’s his name again?”
“Leon,” I whispered back. I’d remembered it last night. Hopefully that was enough to track him down.
“Have your identification ready,” said a guard as he paced up and down the line.
Judging by how fast the people were coming in and out of the office, we wouldn’t have to wait long to be seen.
“Ma’am, you dropped this.”
We turned and saw the guard holding a black purse towards Sarah. I hadn’t noticed his Hispanic features before. It had to be Ricky’s cousin.
Sarah took the purse. “Thank you! That was clumsy of me.”
He glanced at me and winked, before walking back up the line. Sarah pulled the bag open and we looked inside. It had my foam pistol and two ear pieces. She handed me one of the latter. I put it in my pocket and she snapped the bag shut.
The office door banged open.
“Next!” shouted the interviewer, a middle-aged woman with black hair and square jaw. A happy-looking man walked out of the office holding a folded guard uniform in one arm and a bag that jingled in the other.
The line quickly disappeared until the lady opened the door right in front of us and yelled “NEXT!”.
“Can we come at the same time?” asked Sarah.
“Even better,” she grumbled.
We followed her and she slammed the door behind us.
“Fill out these forms.” She directed us to some hologram displays on her desk. “Email a photo of your ID to the address at the bottom.”
We started filling out the forms as the woman slumped into the chair behind the desk and rubbed at her forehead. I glanced at the corner of the room and saw a pile of bags just like the one we’d seen earlier. It was more money than I’d ever seen in one place.
We finished the forms and took a seat in the provided chairs. I wrung my hands together nervously and tried not to sweat. How did you stop yourself from sweating?
The woman sat up and swiped through the information, looking extremely disinterested. “You ever kill anyone or commit a serious crime?”
“Well, I was born in Sanitatem,” I said nervously, trying to remember the information about my character. “I have three kids, but I’m recently divorced and uh…”
Sarah kicked me in the foot. “No,” she said. “No crimes.”
The woman looked up and stared at me. I sat back in alarm as I was scrutinized. Sarah let out a small groan.
“I divorced recently too,” said the woman. “I’m truly sorry.”
“Oh… it’s okay,” I said scrambling for a better answer. “She didn’t love me. She married me for my uh…” I glanced at the bags. “For all my money.”
“Unbelievable,” the woman shook her head angrily. “Money is meaningless. I’ve been giving it away like candy today. Does true love exist anymore?”
A devastated look came over her face. This was not going according to plan.
“Sure, there is,” I said. “We’ll find it again.”
Her look swung from devastated to something more ambiguous. She smiled at me.
Oh no.
“Ma’am,” said Sarah standing up and walking towards the desk. “I noticed you had some lint, just there.”
The woman waved a hand at Sarah, not even bothering to look.
“I’ll get it.” Sarah reached towards her shirt. Instead of lint she came away with the woman’s name tag.
My eyes widened. The interviewer paid Sarah no mind as she palmed the tag and sat back down again.
“What’s your name?” the woman asked me. She scrolled through my information. “Evan? What a nice name. What do you do in your free time, Evan?”
Sarah coughed loudly. “Excuse me. I need a drink.”
The woman ignored her again as she got up. I stared at Sarah in horror and mouthed, “Don’t leave me!”
She gave me an apologetic look as she slipped out the door.
The woman was still waiting for an answer. I dabbed at my forehead with my tie. “I… I do this and that. Depends on my mood.”
“Sounds versatile.” She continued to scroll through my file, giving me another grin as she did so. “I’ve had a lot of free time myself, recently.”
I tried not to cringe. How did I keep her distracted but discourage her at the same time?
“I’ll be honest,” she continued, closing my hologram and leaning forward across her desk. “Most of the guard positions have already been filled. It might be kind of hard to find a spot for you.”
“Oh?” My leg bounced anxiously. This wouldn’t do, either. We needed to get accepted so that we’d get the uniforms.
“Yes,” she said, staring at me. “I wouldn’t be too concerned, though. We may have an opening in the HR department where I work.”
“Ah…yes, uh…”
She stood up, walked around her desk, and leaned back against it. “It pays much better, and I think you would find it very… rewarding.”
“I don’t have any experience in human resources,” I said. “It may be difficult to train me. Maybe I could start as a guard, then work my way up?”
“Oh, don’t worry. You and I can work closely so that we can get you up to speed. I love your mustache, by the way.”
“I, uh… you see the problem is… I don’t know if...”
“What do you say, Evan?” She stood and walked towards me until I had to lean back in my chair. “Will you join the HR side?”
The door opened and Sarah sauntered in, sitting next to me. “What’d I miss?”
"Nothing," the woman said, looking perturbed. "How about you wait outside for a bit. We're not quite done with our discussion."
“My heart!”
I grabbed my chest and flopped back in my chair. Sarah grabbed my arm.
“What is it?” asked the woman, backing away. “What’s happening?”
“It’s my brother’s heart condition,” Sarah said, making a big show of fussing over me. “This happens if he gets too worked up.”
“Oh… oh, I see,” said the woman, watching me with a concerned look as Sarah helped me up. “Maybe he was feeling some sort of… strong emot
ion.”
“Aughh!” I clutched at my chest again.
“We really must go,” said Sarah dragging me towards the door. “Thank you for your time.”
Once we were out, Sarah led me towards the hallway.
“Don’t ever let me work in HR,” I hissed. “Sorry, I panicked. She was giving me the creepiest looks. Did I screw up the plan?”
“Nope, that was perfect.” She held up a uniform. “I already got everything we need.”
“How’d you…?”
“Got them while she was distracted. Get this on and put your ear piece in.”
She directed me towards a bathroom and I quickly complied. When I turned the ear piece on, Ricky was telling Sarah some story about running from the Enforcers when he was as teen.
“They cornered me on fifth street, but all I had to do was switch aprons and they didn’t even look at me when I walked by. Morons.”
I could hear Sarah giggling over the radio. When I came out, she was already dressed and waiting for me.
“How are you so relaxed?” I whispered as she led me down the long hallway towards the main building.
“Chill,” she said, louder than I would have liked. “They just hired a bunch of noobs. We’d have to say or do something pretty bizarre for them to see it as out of the ordinary. This cover is perfect. Now, get that guilty look off your face.”
“Yeah,” said Ricky.
I growled in annoyance and tried to change my face to something more normal and relaxed.
“Ew, no." Sarah grimaced. “Go back to the other one.”
We reached a security gate. The tall guard was so skinny he could barely keep his new pants up. Sarah pulled out the name tag that she’d stolen and placed it against a pad next to the lock on the door. There was a whir and then a loud buzzing sound before the gate slid back. She nodded to the guard, who nodded back and then had to grab his belt as his pants began to slip.
“Did you get the picture of the map I sent?” Sarah asked.
“Yeah,” replied Ricky. “Looks like it matches up pretty well with the blueprints Mama Charles left me.”
“Which way?”
“Izquierda.”
Sarah turned left. She looked more at home than any of the other guards there. They probably assumed she was one of the full timers that had stayed on.