Blocks

by Tara Basi

  “This gear’s not going anywhere, we can come back anytime, just take what you need for now,” Mina said, trying not to laugh. They looked like one of her favourite classical bands from the old days, the cartoon kids from Gorillaz.

  “You’d better be right,” Pinkie said, wielding a knife that was almost as big as her.

  It took a while longer but eventually everyone left the store sensibly equipped. Tress and the children, clutching their loot, staggered back to Piglet.

  Grain and Sara decided to go on ahead and find the entrance to the underground facility while Mina, Tress and the children waited in Piglet. The complex was buried deep under Central Park, with enough resources to keep thousands of people alive for years. Cole had supplied Grain with codes Mina hoped would unlock the entrance. She watched as Grain and Sara slowly hacked their way towards the park until they disappeared from view. Mina felt good, enjoying being alive, sweating under the warm sun and being in the real world again, not wrestling with demons in an artificial hell. Wonderful smells of grass seeds and wild flowers filled the air, birds were singing again, after being scared away by Piglet.

  “I’m going hunting,” Battery Boy said clutching a bow he must have found in the shop.

  “What, it could be dangerous out there, there’ll be lots to eat in the base,” Mina said, startled by Battery Boy’s sudden announcement.

  “There lot’s to eat here, and we’re starving,” Jugger answered and moved to follow Battery Boy and Stuff who were already heading off into the undergrowth.

  “Wait for me,” Pinkie called out as she ran after Jugger.

  “Dangerous?” Tress said, and laughed.

  “Sorry, they’re not really kids are they,” Mina said, and felt stupid.

  “They’ve been hunting for years, and Battery Boy’s right, there’s lots of game around here.”

  “Of course, let’s go back to the store, get some camping gear,” Mina answered.

  Tress helped Mina retrieve a whole outdoor dining set, canvas chairs, fold out tables, plates, mugs, cutlery, even a bundle of paper napkins.

  As the sun started to set Mina began to get worried. The hunters weren’t back and she’d heard nothing from Sara or Grain. She was just trying to decide who to look for first when she heard Stuff calling.

  “Look what Battery Boy caught.”

  The hunters emerged from the undergrowth. Battery Boy had a small deer over his shoulder. Jugger was lugging a box of something. Stuff and Pinkie struggled under the weight of bulging rucksacks.

  Within the hour a huge bundle of branches were ablaze a short distance from the ship and the children were sitting around roasting the deer over the fire.

  It smelt good. Mina decided to relax and enjoy the night. Grain and Sara would be fine. Besides, they were all dressed for a good camp dinner. From somewhere the intrepid hunters had salvaged bottles of water and chocolate bars, all decades past their best-by-date. Battery Boy expertly carved chunks off the deer onto held out plates as they lined up to be fed. Moments later Mina was happily tucking into the best meal she’d had in a hundred years. Everyone was relaxed, chatty and smiling, even Jugger and Pinkie. It was as though their man made surroundings, even if it was overgrown, gave them confidence.

  “Do you mind if I ask you some questions about the census, do you remember anything?” Mina quietly asked Tress, not wanting to spoil the mood but curious to learn something about how the cities were emptied.

  “Sure, but I was only little, two or three, at the time. Most of what I know my mum told me, before the Van took her,” Tress answered, she was smiling but her eyes were wet as she recalled the events.

  “How did they get everybody, I mean some people must have tried to fight back, hide?”

  “Of course, people tried but the Blocks were brutal. They seemed to have a record of every living person. If someone went missing the Blocks threatened to kill everybody from the same neighbourhood unless the runaways were found, even if it was just their dead body. People turned on each other, to save themselves,” Tress explained, starting to well up.

  “It must have been horrible, but surely a few got away, hid?” Mina pressed, wanting to believe Worry and his band of ghouls hadn’t been the only free ones left.

  “Mum said it was like a storm of giant black locusts. In the last days, millions of Crawlers streamed out of the Blocks and swept up the remnants, there weren’t many,” Tress whispered, not wanting to disturb the children with the old horror stories.

  “Shit. Can I ask you something else, about the children?”

  “Sure, go ahead.”

  “Why were Battery Boy, and others, allowed to live outside the Block?”

  “But inside the fence, we still couldn’t get out. There’s millions of competing groups inside the Block, all trying to get the best QQ numbers and live a bit longer. It’s like some crazy free market set-up. One of the groups persuaded Tracy to let some of us live outside till we were… ready. Not many, a few thousand, living in schools circling the Block. QQ’s must have been good enough, so it lasted.”

  “You survived a long time, how old are you?” Mina asked, remembering it was the question everyone in the Block seemed obsessed with.

  “Nearly twenty-five, only a few days to go. Wow, never thought I’d live to say that. I don’t know why but Tracy took a shine to me and kept me around, but everyone goes when they reach twenty-five, even Tracy,” Tress explained.

  Mina tried to hide the fact that she was shocked, Tress looked much older.

  “I know, I look a lot older. I tried not to give in, to the Band, the earring. It wears you down,” Tress said quietly, her brow furrowed as she remembered her battle of wills with the Block.

  She still had her earring and so did Sara and Grain. Mina decided not to press Tress any more, not when everyone was in such a good mood. There would be plenty of time to ask questions later.

  A bobbing head torch caught Mina’s attention.

  “Hi, everyone ready, let’s go,” Sara called out as she walked out of the tall grass.

  Looking around, Mina saw that everyone had finished eating; the deer carcass had been picked clean. The fire was put out, and they set off into the park. It was a clear night sky, liberally sprinkled with talcum powder stars and a bright full moon to light their way. The flattened path of vegetation was obvious. Sara led them to an open manhole and a ladder ending in darkness. The children hesitated, reluctant to leave the fresh air and the safety they’d found. Tress led the way and immediately Battery Boy followed, dragging Stuff along, then Jugger and Pinkie climbed down with Mina bringing up the rear.

  At the bottom of the ladder was a small room containing ancient water pipes and pumping equipment. Sara accessed a hidden switch. A whole section of a wall slid back letting a bright artificial light spill out and flood across the floor of the damp pump room. As her eyes adjusted to the lights Mina saw a large goods elevator waiting for them.

  It took them all down to a brightly lit room with a single console. For the first time Mina could see Sara’s face clearly; she looked like she’d been crying.

  “Are you OK,” Mina asked quietly.

  “Yes, tell you later,” Sara whispered to Mina

  Another wall slid back to reveal the passageway to a circular blast door. It swung open as they approached and Mina was surprised to see three little golf buggies waiting.

  “Get in,” Sara called out as she got into the lead buggy,

  Everyone bundled into the little carts. There were no steering wheels, as soon as they were settled, the carts set off at a brisk pace, heading round the corner and along the tunnel which sloped gently downwards. On the journey, past unmarked smooth tunnel walls, they traversed another pair of gigantic blast doors before the buggies rolled to a halt in a huge hall. Most of it was filled by the snaking queue control lanes found at airport security. Mina guessed the hall was a reception area, designed to process thousands. Sara exited the buggy and called for everyone to follow her. S
he led them to a VIP lane which gave them a direct path to the back of the hall. There they found a long line of tall glass tubes.

  “They’re medical scanners,” Sara said with a tense smile, “they’ll diagnose and treat most conditions. Everyone needs to be processed before you’re allowed into the main part of the complex. It’s painless; Grain and I have already been done.” Sara looked at Tress and pointed at her own ear, “And look, no earring.”

  “Great, what do I do?” Tress shouted as she walked towards the nearest machine.

  Sara showed Tress how to open up the tube, step inside and then just relax as it slowly tipped back and started working. Everyone was different; Jugger was tipped out after only a few minutes, seemingly in perfect health. Others took longer, requiring various kinds of treatment. Pinkie and Tress spent nearly forty minutes in their tubes before being released. Finally, everyone was cleared to progress.

  “It’s really gone,” Tress whispered, tears rolling down her face as she gently touched her earlobe.

  Battery Boy put his arm around Tress’s shoulders as they followed Sara through more lane controls leading to another blast door, the largest they’d so far encountered. It swung back with surprisingly little sound as they got closer. A little way beyond, down a short motorway sized tunnel was an enormous elevator, big enough to hold hundreds of people. Sara herded them all inside and depressed a single round switch on the wall. As the floor started to drop a metal gate rose up from the floor. By the time the elevator had stopped and the gate dropped away again, Mina guessed they were several hundred metres underground. Ahead, more buggies waited. A short, silent drive, along another four lane tunnel took them into a circular space with a domed roof. It was as big as Grand Central. Large, khaki coloured, utilitarian buildings, constructed out of the same standard components, were dotted around the floor. Scattered around the circumference of the space were more tunnels, all big enough to take trucks. Mina thought it all looked very functional, military.

  “Over there,” Sara said, pointing at a low building a short walk away, “are living quarters. You should settle in,” she added, looking at Tress and the youngsters.

  “When you’re ready, come find us over there,” Sara continued, pointing at a taller unit in the opposite direction. “Mina, can you come with me?” Sara asked, “We need help with the base systems.”

  Mina followed Sara as Tress and the others headed away in the opposite direction. Sara didn’t seem to want to talk as she strode off, so Mina kept quiet as well. Grain was near the top of the building bent over a screen. He’d changed, the haunted looked she’d seen before had returned.

  “Hi, I’m struggling with these systems. We need to get comms up so we can talk to the Maxinquaye, and I need to find out what armaments they’ve got stored down here,” Grain said, his eyes looking dull and faraway in thought.

  “And I need access to bio weapons and the main medical system, so I can work up the blood poisoning,” Sara added, avoiding Mina’s gaze.

  “You want to tell me what’s going on?” Mina asked, hands on hips worried about what the two of them were hiding.

  “It’s personal, OK. I’ll explain when we get the Maxinquaye online,” Grain answered, and turned back to the console he was studying.

  Mina could see neither Grain nor Sara wanted to talk about whatever it was, so she decided to leave it alone and set about activating the different systems they needed.

  It took a long time to get everything working and then for Grain to assess the contents of the armoury and for Sara to complete her research on the blood bomb, as she started calling it. Mina worked on the comms and made a brief call to the Maxinquaye to tell Cole they were all fine and set-up a longer call for the next day. They ate and slept well that night. The accommodation was basic but comfortable and there was no shortage of supplies. Tress and Battery Boy couldn’t get enough of each other. Talking, touching, laughing, well into the night. Mina thought Stuff looked a little jealous and lost since Battery Boy had found Tress. Jugger and Pinkie exchanged private smiles from time to time. Grain and Sara kept their sadness mostly hidden. Mina felt alone, a bit like Stuff must be feeling. She didn’t have anyone.

  “There’s really no more to discuss, my men and I will lead the attack on the gateway with the moon-busters. There’s more modern stuff down here but we don’t need sophistication and we’re familiar with the ordnance up there,” Grain said quietly.

  “You’ll all die,” Mina said, repeating what everyone already knew but wanting to be sure there was no other way.

  “We’re dead anyway, a couple of months at most. Our last chance was the medical kit down here.” Grain shook his head, “There’s nothing it can do for us, just better pain killers.”

  Mina thought he looked better, relaxed again, accepting. It was Sara she was worried about. The woman seemed to be fighting to stop herself from screaming.

  “Are we sure about this, can we think about trying to live with the Blocks and not attack them,” Greg pleaded, still deeply unhappy about the plans.

  “Just shut up Greg, you’ve had your say,” Cole said, showing little sympathy.

  “Blood bomb’s ready. I can make enough for a couple of dozen of the loads those oblongs are ferrying up to the gateway,” Sara said, speaking slowly, deliberately.

  “In theory, we poison those blood loads, let them pass through the gateway and then we send in the moon-busters, is that right Lieutenant Grain?” Cole asked.

  “Yes Commander,” Grain answered.

  “So, how do we plant the blood bomb?” Cole asked.

  “We’ll have to use Trinity’s worm, assuming it’s still functioning,” Mina said and then gingerly enabled Trinity’s interface, “Trinity, want to comment?”

  “You’re mad, they’re mad, it’s a stupid plan, all of it. You’ve no idea what’ll happen. It’s not just Grain and his men committing suicide, you could kill everybody.”

  “Trinity, just answer the question, you don’t understand, you’re a machine, this is not just about logic and balance of risks,” Mina growled, getting angry with Trinity constantly questioning their sanity.

  “Jugger and Greg think I’m right.” Trinity said quietly.

  “Yes, and Greg, Jugger and Pinkie will be safe, they’ve made their choice, we’re not asking them to risk their lives,” Mina explained, trying to keep calm. “Now, answer the question.”

  “The worm is still active. We can get the poison into the Block but anything which impacts QQ numbers will need Tippese’s direct intervention. You’ll need to con him into doing it. He needs to add the blood bomb material to the loads going out.”

  “How the hell do we do that?” Mina asked, exasperated by Trinity’s answer.

  Unexpectedly Tress spoke up, “Tracy was always messing around with new additives, trying to improve her Quality numbers. If Tippese thought it was something secret Tracy was working on, and the reward was tempting enough he would authorise it.”

  “Can the worm fake up the data, something he’ll find and be fooled by?” Sara asked.

  “The worm can fake some data, he might buy it, he might not even notice, it’s impossible to predict,” Trinity replied.

  “If it’s too obvious, too easy to find, he’ll be suspicious. He’s heard of me, knows I worked for Tracy for a long time. I might be able to convince him she was onto something, something special,” Tress said quietly.

  “No,” Battery Boy shouted, realising where the conversation was heading.

  Grain watched through Piglet’s windscreen as Sara gave the kids, Tress and Mina a final hug. She turned away to join him on the ship, then paused for a moment, turned, and called back, “Don’t forget, keep this area clear. Piglet will be headed back on auto-pilot in a couple of hours. Bye kids, Mina, good luck Tress, speak soon.”

  Moments later Sara was at Grain’s side piloting the craft up towards the sun. A fuzzy sheen of hair covered her not quite so bald head; she looked tired. There had been a lot of tears
before the final decisions had been made and he still found Sara’s choice shocking. She could not be persuaded to change her mind. There were six moon-busters and five marines, including Grain: Sara insisted on taking the sixth bomb and going with them.

  After Piglet cleared the buildings Sara handed over to the auto-pilot, let out a long sigh and leaned back against her seat. Grain reached out and took her hand. Sara turned towards him and smiled sadly.

  Thoughts of what was coming, memories of the Block, holding Sara’s hand on the Vat rail and the feelings he had for her then washed over him. The words had a life of their own and squeezed past his lips before he knew what he was saying, “Let’s get married.”

  As soon as the proposal left his mouth Grain wanted to grab it out of the air before the words could reach Sara’s ears. But it was too late. Sara squealed in delight and grabbed Grain in a widely exuberant embrace. Just when he thought a rib would crack, she released him and stabbed at Piglet’s communication’s screen.

  “Captain Cole will you marry us,” Sara screamed excitedly.

  A startled Cole answered, “Of course.”

  “Mina, I’m getting married,” Sara shouted, “You have to watch, right?”

  “Wow, fantastic news, we’ll all be watching,” Mina shouted back with a big smile.

  Grain squirmed as Sara broadcast the news. He was getting married again, the second time in nearly as many days. This felt like something he really wanted to do.

  Chapter 12 – Bad Blood

  Tress stared out of Piglet’s cockpit into the night. The little ship had returned on auto-pilot a few hours earlier. Battery Boy stood in the circle of light cast by Piglet’s headlamps, shielding his eyes with his arm. The rest of the children stood at the edges of the light, only their feet visible, as though giving Battery Boy the space to say his goodbye. He wasn’t waving, his body was rigid, and he looked desolate, angry. Battery Boy had pleaded, threatened, offered himself, Mina, anyone but Tress. Only Mina’s promise to bring Tress back and Tress’s determination to go gradually persuaded him to relent.