by Jeyn Roberts
“They won’t,” Janey said.
“We hid really well,” Casey said. “I was so scared, but we hid and they didn’t find us.”
“Who?” Michael asked.
“The Boogeymen,” Casey said.
Nothing
All shapes and sizes. Colors. Forms. Big ones. Little ones. Funny ones. Thin ones. Ones that go bump in the night. Ones that lie in the sun and chew up your insides. There is a circle of life, a cycle of death, and it goes around and around and around and around. Where it stops, nobody knows.
Chaos.
The world was created out of chaos. And it doesn’t matter what you believe. Which tale you’ve been told to believe. It all comes back around in the end.
In the beginning there was darkness.
Always darkness.
And bang, then there was light.
Goodness? Why is light good? Whatever did it do to deserve that title? It’s not like light really did anything. The sun didn’t consciously decide that it would be the very thing that makes all things warm.
At the same time, it’s not like the moon wanted to shine only at night.
In the cosmos, there are millions of suns and moons. Galaxies and universes that contain billions of planets. And perhaps, somewhere out there, cells came together and divided and multiplied just like our little planet.
And you can bet your sweet ass that there’s light and dark on that planet too. Because one cannot exist without the other.
Light and dark.
Good and evil.
But what happens when there’s just evil and eviler?
What are the monsters that evil fears?
I’m standing at the edge of existence. I’ve been here before. I’ve stood and watched everything around me crumble. I did nothing.
Because I am nothing.
But I am changing. Constantly changing. As more of me disappears into the abyss, I’m forced to live with everything I’ve done. My moment of clarity has become one long never-ending nightmare.
I will wait for redemption, but I fear that chance has passed.
I can’t undo the things I’ve done. But I can move forward.
Please don’t let it be too late.
Mason
Mason slowly made his way closer to the stage, hoping to get a better view without looking obvious. Discrepancy was always key. The last thing he needed to do was get the attention of the Baggers. The majority of them might be mindless goons, but they weren’t all that stupid. They were very good at noticing anything that could be used against oneself. Weaknesses. Having friends in this world, well, that was the quickest way to get people killed. And knowing Mason personally wasn’t a good thing. Leon still watched him like a hawk. Mason wouldn’t put it past the head Bagger to constantly monitor everything Mason did.
Way to be paranoid, Dowell. What’s next? Radio waves going directly into your brain? Leon hiring psychics to see into your dreams? Maybe you should consider getting some tinfoil from the kitchen so you can make a nice hat. A nice pair of boots would match nicely. You never know, they might be able to put computer chips in your toes to figure out where you’ve been walking when you can’t sleep at night.
“What’s wrong?” Chaplin caught up with him. “Who is it?”
Mason swore under his breath. He should have known better than to rush the stage like that. He’d given himself away.
“His name is Raj,” Mason said. “He’s a friend of Aries.”
“Which one?”
“Third from the right.”
“That’s a real shame. Hope it goes well for him. He looks healthy enough. Doubt they’ll kill him.” Chaplin turned from the stage and gave Mason a hard look. “Was this part of some plan you haven’t told me about?”
“Jesus. What the hell? Want to try and talk a bit more loudly? I’m sure some people in the back didn’t hear you. You’re going to get us all killed.”
Chaplin shrugged but didn’t apologize. “Sometimes it’s nice when you let others in on your tactics. Did it ever occur to you that our lives are on the line too?”
“No one is going to die,” Mason said. “And no, this isn’t some sort of diabolical plan. Aries and the others know better than to try and get me out. If she’s working on something, she would have told me.”
“If I recall, you weren’t informed about the last prison break either.”
That wasn’t totally true. Clementine had tried to warn him, but he’d still been surprised when they stormed the Plaza of Nations. It had been such a frenzy of unorganized chaos; he’d made Aries promise to never do it again.
“Yeah, well, I put a stop to it.”
Chaplin looked like he wanted to argue, but too many people were beginning to push up against them. They were prisoners too, but even Mason and Chaplin knew that being captive didn’t mean completely sealed lips. Trust only went so far when squealing could be the one thing that kept a person alive. The Baggers made it clear that snitching would be rewarded with special treatment like decent food and better shelter. They did it because it made everyone paranoid. A group of untrusting people wouldn’t be able to work together to overthrow their rulers. They would remain passive and solo instead. People have breaking points and Mason knew he was no different. Leon knew it too. The day would come when Mason would reach his. He didn’t want to think about what he might give up when he could no longer control the words coming out of his mouth.
“I’ll trust that you know what you’re doing,” Chaplin finally said. “And that when the time comes, you’ll keep me in the loop.”
“You’re wrong.” Mason wanted to say more, but Chaplin already turned and began making his way through the crowd. Everyone would hear any additional conversation if Mason shouted after him.
What was Raj doing there? And with Colin showing his face earlier, none of this could be a coincidence. They were up to something and they hadn’t bothered to let Mason in on the plan. Not cool. Mason glanced back at Raj, but the British man wasn’t doing anything suspicious. In fact, he stood there, his hands shaking by his sides, staring straight ahead, a look of pure panic on his face.
If Raj had volunteered to get captured for some reason or another, he wasn’t doing a good job of keeping it together. What was he thinking, putting himself on the stage like that? Raj had been part of the raid back in December. What if he was recognized?
Mason held his breath as one of the Baggers walked right up to Raj. He shouted something that was lost over the murmuring of the crowd. Raj shook his head, his eyes wild and panicky. He stepped back, almost tripping over his feet and for a moment, Mason thought Raj might pass out right there on the stage. If this was part of some plan Aries had hatched, she should have picked someone stronger.
But the Bagger was only interested in getting Raj to move over to the side where they lined everyone up. It didn’t take very long. Either the Baggers weren’t doing their jobs very well or it was getting harder to find survivors. Good thing the Baggers weren’t working on a quota.
Less than twenty people. Mostly men and a few women. No children. All in decent shape and middle aged. That could work both ways.
The Baggers would weed through the new recruits, pull out the ones of good health and age, and send them off into the camp to be assimilated. The ones deemed useless would be executed. The valuable ones would be taken into the casino where they’d be kept under lock and key. The whole thing was a performance and attendance was mandatory.
It kept everyone in line, both on the stage and off.
Mason had stood through a lot of these events. Someone always died.
How had Raj been captured? The more Mason thought about it, the more convinced he became that it wasn’t some sort of plan. There’s no way Aries would risk one of their own like that. It had to be by accident. Raj obviously hadn’t been with any of the others or they’d be up there too. Clementine, Aries, and Michael caused too much trouble. Leon would have been overjoyed to parade them around the prisoners before
executing them. Unless they’d been taken inside the casino to be tortured first, but then why just put Raj alone on the stage? Mason glanced over at the dark building off to the side. No, he’d been watching the whole morning ever since Karen mentioned seeing Colin. He would have noticed if anyone had been brought through the doors. No one had come in or out. Mason had made sure of that.
What about Colin. Did he rat out Raj? No, that made no sense either.
“I don’t think they know who your friend is,” Chaplin said quietly. He’d come back up to join Mason.
Mason nodded. He watched as the closest Bagger walked past Raj, eyeing him carefully to search for signs of weakness. Raj didn’t move. He didn’t look down at the audience or give away the slightest hint that he knew Mason was there. Raj stared straight ahead and didn’t even flinch when the Bagger yanked the older woman beside him and pulled her to the front of the group.
Mason didn’t watch as the Baggers drew their weapons. He stared at the ground until the guns fired.
Two people chosen to die.
The rest were free to join the camp. Yeah, free. The Baggers pushed the remaining survivors off the stage and let the audience swallow them up. Some of Chaplin’s friends went over to talk to them. They would introduce themselves and do their best to help. From the corner of his eye, Mason watched as an older woman handed Raj a blanket and pointed him over towards the direction of the tents.
Chaplin touched Mason’s arm and nodded solemnly. Mason understood. As much as he wanted to rush over to Raj, that was the last thing he should do. It would only make the Baggers suspicious. Besides, Raj knew Mason was there. And Raj was smart. He’d wait until all the commotion died down before saying anything.
“I hate that. I hate that so much.” Karen came up and joined Mason and Chaplin as they headed back towards the food tent.
“It’s never fun,” Chaplin said. “Come on, we all need to help. These people will be hungry.”
“Just what we need,” Karen said. “More mouths to feed. We don’t even have enough for ourselves.”
“Remember,” Chaplin said as he turned to head off towards a group of newcomers. “Greed is what got us this problem in the first place.”
Karen watched him leave, her lips pressed tightly together in a pout. “You know, I really don’t like that guy sometimes. He can talk in riddles all he wants. Why should I feel bad because I don’t want to give up my lunch?”
Mason shrugged. “Food is all we’ve got to give. They’ve taken everything else.”
“What about love and hope and all that crap?” Karen gave him a grin. Chaplin was fond of preaching about turning the other cheek and loving one’s neighbor. The speech might work for the few people lucky enough to still have family members at their side, but the majority of survivors were alone.
“Love is the one thing likely to get you killed these days,” Mason said.
Sadly, those words were true. Mason didn’t doubt for a second that his days were numbered. And if he didn’t die first, it was only a matter of time before the people he loved did.
* * *
Mason stood over by the washing area, pretending to try and remove a particularly stubborn stain from his hands. After about ten minutes, he was positive the women peeling potatoes at the end of the table probably thought he had some sort of obsessive-compulsive problem. Mason grinned at her and she frowned back. Looking down at his hands, he grabbed the soap again and went for another round. Casually, he glanced up every few minutes, trying to appear as if he was merely daydreaming and not looking for anyone in particular. His fingers were red from scrubbing by the time Raj finally noticed him. Mason gave him a small nod as he dried off. Tossing the towel beside the bucket, he casually wandered off towards the fence behind the stage.
It didn’t take long for Raj to appear. Hopefully he’d been smart enough to make sure no one was watching.
“What the hell?” Mason asked.
“Well, cheers, to you too, mate.”
Mason peered out across False Creek, searching for signs of people. Were they across the water, tucked into the condos or hiding in the once manicured bushes? Was Aries there? Was she waiting for some sort of signal? If so, she’d be going home disappointed. He’d told her repeatedly to forget about him. Why couldn’t she do him that favor?
But if she ever did give up, would he be okay with that? No, it would probably destroy him.
“She’s not out there,” Raj said. “Just me. They’re not coming either. I’m all by my lonesome.”
“Why?”
“Why what?”
“Seriously?” Mason waited but Raj didn’t elaborate. The chemistry major looked down at the ground and spent far too long studying his shoes. He almost appeared to be blushing. Raj was in full-blown ‘sheepish’ mode.
“Look, it’s stupid,” Raj finally said. “I made a mistake. I’m not supposed to be here. Right now, I’m supposed to be on the other side of the wall, preparing to break you out. I had tools and everything. But I screwed up.”
“What do you mean?”
Raj went back to studying his shoes. “Really dumb. There was this dog. I couldn’t help myself. Real friendly like. Poor pooch came right up to me and licked my hand. These big brown eyes. Looking at me like I was her bloody savior and knew I was the only one willing to help. There was a pet shop a few blocks back. I went to go get her a bit of food. She followed me without any fear. And that’s where they found me. Knee deep in kibble. At least they didn’t catch her. That would have been even more depressing.”
“You got caught because of a dog?”
Raj nodded. “Like I said, stupid. But come on, anyone would have done the same thing. She was a really friendly dog. If we get out of here, I need to go back and get her.”
Mason couldn’t say a word. You simply couldn’t fault someone for wanting to help an animal. On the other side of camp, they’d found a mother cat with kittens. Pretty much everyone, including Mason, had given up bits of their food over the past several weeks to make sure that the mother didn’t starve. A dog. Mason hadn’t seen one in ages. The ones that had survived had most likely gone feral by now. Finding one that wanted to interact with humans, Mason would have done exactly the same thing.
First things first. Mason needed to keep Raj on track. “You said you’re supposed to be on the outside of the gate?”
Raj nodded. “I came to break you out. That kinda backfired on me. Wish I had a Plan B. Never dawned on any of us that I’d get rounded up. Shot, yes. Dying in the street. Yep. But not caught. At least not so quickly.”
“You’re lucky they didn’t kill you.”
“I nearly crapped myself on stage. Especially when they grabbed that lady beside me. Is that what they do every time?”
“Pretty much.”
“But you’re right. I’m alive. Good. I can work with this. Just a small setback. How difficult can it be? Just a fence. A few Baggers. I honestly don’t understand why you’re still here. Why anyone is here. How hard can it be?”
Mason found himself grabbing Raj by the arms and shaking him. Anger bubbled up inside him. “I told Aries no. I’m not doing this. Why the hell won’t you people listen to me? Do you have any idea how lucky you are? If they’d gotten the slightest hint of who you are, they would have shot you dead. And then they’d kill me too.”
“Relax.” Raj shook himself free. “No one knew. I’m invisible that way. That’s why I chose to come. They don’t know me.”
“You were at the last jail break. They could have recognized you.”
“It was dark. I’m dark. I blend in.”
“This isn’t a joke.”
“I’m not laughing, mate.” Raj ran his fingers through his hair. “Look. They asked me a bunch of questions. Took me to a compound where they keep all the people before bringing them here. They wanted to know my past history. Where I’d been hiding. What I did for a living. I told them I’d been shacked up in White Rock in a house with about twenty family m
embers. I said I was out scrounging for food. I told them I worked as a cab driver. I mean, come on, I’m Indian. They bought every lousy stereotype. Bunch of racist idiots.”
“You all need to stop underestimating these monsters. Leon knows a hell of a lot more than any of us. He knows how to get the right information. Like Colin. Did you plan on that too? He’s inside the building right now. Is that his job? To distract Leon while you apparently free me?”
“What? Colin? He’s here?” Raj backed up against the fence.
“You didn’t know?”
“No way. The last I saw him, he was sitting on a tree stump whinging about the lack of, well, whatever the hell he was lacking at that particular moment.” Raj shook his head. “He’s not part of anything.”
Mason peered around the wall, half expecting to see a group of Baggers heading straight towards him. But the Plaza grounds were empty. Most of the people had settled down into doing their daily chores. A group of people worked in the garden. Smoke drifted up from the cooking area. Mason spotted Chaplin hanging around the dinner tents, his favorite spot for the middle of the afternoon. He chatted animatedly with his usual group of friends.
Nothing looked out of the ordinary so far.
“If he’s not supposed to be here, then we’re in a lot of trouble,” Mason finally said.
“I knew it,” Raj said. “I told Aries that bloke was bad news. We all said it. But I never thought he’d rat her out like that. Steal off into the middle of the night with the entire battery stash, but not this.”
Mason glanced around the wall again. The casino doors were still closed. If Colin told Leon everything, it would still take time to organize a raid. But how long did they have? Not long.