Lopez looked at Lucy uneasily.
“I told this person there would be reward if they proved themselves to me, and I am a woman of my word. Today, I am proud to welcome Maurice back into the new order as a fully-fledged citizen,” said the Queen.
The crowd cheered as the Canadian stepped forwards from the front row – aided by the guards – and bowed before the Queen.
“To all of you here today, take heart from this. There is redemption for your mistakes, and there is reward for your loyalty. Think what you can achieve today, that might make you a citizen,” said the Queen.
She ushered Maurice into the lift, with her guards, and entered after them, waving to the crowd as the door closed.
“Five minutes until roll call, five minutes, back to your quarters,” called a guard, dispersing the crowds back inside their glass cubicles.
Lucy and Lopez filed back into their cubicle after the Chinese. A guard shoved a basket of bread across the floor, and two bowls of water, then sealed the door. Two of the Chinese dived for the bread bowl, only to be beaten by the third. Clutching the prize, he handed a piece to each person, including Lucy and Lopez, then divided the remaining pieces into equal strips and shared them out.
Lopez went to wash his face in the water but the same man pulled the bowl away from him.
“What the hell?” said Lopez.
The Chinese man pointed to Lopez’s arm, then shook his finger. He repeated the gesture until Lopez conveyed he’d understood. They ate their bread while the other three washed their faces and armpits in the water, then slid the bowl over to Lucy and Lopez, who used the remainder.
The door slid open.
“Well, well, I guess you kids are with me today,” said Sergeant Adler, standing the threshold, Taser in hand. His thin lips were cracked in a sinister smile, and his penetrating eyes amplified by his thick glasses. Lucy grabbed her backpack and vacated the cell with the others. They headed downstairs, flanked by the Sergeant.
“Going hiking, Young?” said Adler.
“What?” said Lucy.
“Your bag,” said Adler.
“We’re looting, right? Gotta carry the stuff in something,” said Lucy.
Satisfied by the logic, Adler shrugged and ordered them out into the forecourt. They crossed under the razor wire perimeter and past the bus blockade to the street beyond, where a pickup awaited them. Lucy glanced into the open trunk of the crashed SUV. The father’s arm hung limply over the back seat headrest. His skin looked grey and moist. She tore her eyes away and hurried on to the loading area.
Several other groups were also being escorted to trucks and vans. The guards surrounding and driving the vehicles were armed with pistols and rifles. It wasn’t until Lucy’s group was loaded into the truck that the supervising guard gave Adler a pistol, to accompany his Taser.
As they drove to the hotel, Lucy’s eyes were drawn to the oxidizing blood stains in the snow, and the degrading bodies before them. Priestly had been telling the truth.
“The hotel’s worse. Just a heads up,” said Lopez, following her gaze.
They arrived at the familiar five story hotel with the other trucks. Adler ordered them all off and briefed them on the sidewalk. Lucy’s eyes flicked to the parked car opposite – it was the one she’d hidden behind yesterday, before taking the young girl hostage.
“Same drill. Food, drink, drugs, take ‘em. If you find a weapon, hand it to one of us immediately. Anything else, make a call. The better you do, the quicker you’ll get your citizenship. Alright, get going,” said Adler.
Lucy followed Lopez inside. Blood stained the walls and carpets as they traipsed through the lobby, where bodies were in the advanced stages of decomposition. They joined a train of other workers and guards pouring into the stairwell.
“We need to catch Willis’s group – go quick,” whispered Lopez.
Lucy pushed forwards through the other climbers, barging her way to the front with Lopez close behind.
“This one,” she said, peeling off on the third level, after the disappearing Willis.
Lopez followed her onto the corridor, where Willis stood guard among the dozen workers raiding the apartments.
“This ain’t your floor,” said Willis. His hand was still thickly bandaged.
“Hear us out. I saw you yesterday, I know you don’t want to be here. Neither do we. Come with us,” said Lopez, lowering his voice and getting close to Willis.
“And go where?” scoffed Willis, through his thick black beard.
“Somewhere you’re respected again,” said Lopez.
“I’d rather have food than respect,” said Willis.
“You used to have both, but your boys have turned on you. You think that’s gonna get better? You’re the runt,” whispered Lopez.
“Shut your fuckin’ mouth,” said Willis, reaching for his Taser.
“Woah, cool it,” said Lucy, raising her hands, as some of the other workers passed by, looking on warily. “Look at your hand. Your ‘friends’ stood by and let it happen. Now they’re treating you like crap to curry favor with the Queen. You really wanna keep on down that path? To hell with all of them, Willis. Take control again. Break out of here with us,” said Lucy.
“Where would we even go?” said Willis.
“South,” said Lucy.
Lopez’s lip twitched but he held his tongue.
“South?” said Willis.
“Like you planned. There’s nothing for us here, or north or west of here, so we wanna go south. We need warmth and food, and I’m reckoning Mexico has both,” said Lucy.
“I don’t need you two fuckers. If I go, I can make it on my own,” said Willis, straightening up.
“Then how come you’re still here? You do need us, Willis. Think about it – even stealing the car could attract hostiles. The driver needs at least one shooter to cover them. Plus with three of us we could drive almost continuously by taking shifts. We’d only need to stop for fuel. We’re your best chance of escape,” said Lucy.
“Even if I wanted to help, there are three guards down there, and you two ain’t even armed,” said Willis.
“We need to do this without guns anyway – if we fire shots, then our escape’s blown wide open. This has to be quick and quiet. Give us your Taser,” said Lopez.
“Fuck you,” said Willis.
“You’ll still have your pistol, to use as a club. But us two need something to pull this off,” said Lopez.
“Willis, if we’re gonna do this, it has to be now. The others will start coming down soon. Are you with us or not?” said Lucy.
Willis glanced around the corridor then un-holstered his Taser and handed it to Lucy. “Peters is on duty outside, on the third van. I’ll tell him Adler wants him, instead of me,” said Willis.
“Will he believe you?” said Lucy.
“He believe anythin’ if weakness is the reason,” said Willis. He waved his bandaged hand with a grimace.
“OK, so that’s one guard down, what about the others?” said Lopez.
“We s’posed to load the front van first. If you two find somethin’ to carry it’ll give y’all a reason to approach the first driver without lookin’ suspicious. Keep the Taser hidden, get the driver to open their door, then stun ‘em,” said Willis.
“Won’t the guard behind hear it?” said Lucy.
“I’ll get to him. Follow me,” said Willis.
Lucy and Lopez grabbed a duvet and some pillows each so that their arms were filled, then followed Willis downstairs and onto the street. Willis headed for the third van, where Peters sat behind the wheel, smoking.
“Serge wants you upstairs,” said Willis, waving at Peters.
“How come?” said Peters, opening the door and puffing out a plume of smoke, his whole face seemingly shrinking as he did so.
“He said something about me being a useless piece of shit,” said Willis, waving his bandaged hand.
Peters laughed, and got out.
“He ain’
t wrong. Hey what are these two doing?” said Peters, spotting Lucy and Lopez.
“The fuck’s wrong with you two? I told you, load the front van first,” snapped Willis, shoving both Lopez and Lucy down the sidewalk.
“So much for the ‘chosen ones’,” snorted Peters, heading inside.
Lucy adjusted her grip on the Taser as she approached the front van, shifting the duvet’s folds so the tip was poised, ready to fire. She reached the driver’s window and stared at the woman behind the wheel, vacantly.
“Put it in the trunk,” said the driver, her voice muffled by the glass.
Lucy frowned and stepped closer to the van so that the duvet touched the metalwork. Behind them, she could hear Willis engaging the second van’s driver in conversation.
“Jesus, are you two simple or something?” said the woman, opening the van door. “Stick it in the–”
Lucy pulled the trigger and the Taser embedded in the guard’s stomach. The woman snapped into a rigid contortion and moaned as the volts coursed through her body.
“Hey!” cried the second guard, but Willis silenced him with a pistol whip.
Major Lopez dropped the bedding and ran to the second guard, grabbing his pistol and Taser, while Lucy disarmed the first driver and hauled her twitching body onto the ground.
“Freeze!” came a cry from the sidewalk.
Lucy spun around, pistol in hand. A guard stood in the threshold to the hotel, registering his two incapacitated colleagues. Lucy recognized him as the father she’d seen on the Queen’s couch; the man who’d pledged his services to buy medication for his daughter. Armed, and in a rag-tag uniform, he looked nervous.
“Everything’s under control, just be calm, man, there’s no need to point that thing at me,” said Willis, hiding his pistol behind his back.
“What the hell’s going on?” said the father, anxiously.
“Li’l misunderstanding, that’s all,” said Willis.
“They’re escaping?” said the man, his eyes widening with panic.
“No-one’s escaping, man, just be calm,” said Willis, flicking off the safety catch.
“They can’t go – if they go, the Queen will punish us,” insisted the father.
“It’s cool, man, these two are heading back inside. Would you mind escorting them? I’m s’posed to stay with the vehicles,” said Willis.
“Hands in the air – you should all do that,” said the father, anxiously.
“My hand is straight-up fucked, man,” said Willis.
“Don’t screw with me, hands in the air, all of you!” stammered the father.
Lopez raised his hands, revealing the pistol and Taser.
“Drop them,” cried the father.
Lopez obliged.
“You too,” said the father, pointing at Willis.
“I’m on your side, god dammit,” said Willis.
“Then show me your other hand,” said the father.
The next second unfolded in slow motion for Lucy. Willis whipped his hand around, training the pistol at the father. But the nervous man was quicker. He fired first, hitting Willis in the shoulder. As Willis fell against the car with a cry, the father took aim at Lopez, but Lucy pulled her trigger, striking the father in the chest. The man collapsed to the ground.
“Go!” cried Lopez, running towards the front van.
Lucy tore her eyes from the father’s motionless body and leapt into the driver’s seat.
“You assholes, what about me? Hey, yo, help! They’re escaping!” cried Willis, reaching for his pistol.
Another shot fired, and Willis fell silent. Lopez leapt into the passenger seat and pulled his seat belt on, pistol in hand, as Lucy hit the gas.
FIVE
Doctor
________________________________
The van slowed to a halt. Heavy rainfall had cleared Boston’s streets of snow, and left the storm drains awash. They were somewhere in the metropolis – neither of them knew the city. They’d slept in the van that night, on the city’s outskirts, but the sleep had done nothing to alleviate their hunger. Lucy’s stomach churned. Her head felt light. She rubbed her upper arm. The lesions were spreading. Lopez’s were worsening too. Both of them knew it but neither said it: they were growing weaker by the day.
The van’s fuel was critically low. She always knew tracking the rumored doctor down was going to be a long shot, but only now, as they trawled the deserted streets, did she realize quite how desperate their plan was. For the past twenty minutes, they’d been honing in on two thin smoke plumes – the only hints of life so far.
“Of course,” said Lopez, slowing the van to a halt.
The street ahead – tantalizingly close to the grey stacks – was sealed off by overturned cars.
“Next block?” suggested Lucy.
Her optimism was soon dashed. Block after block was sealed off, using a mixture of improvised but heavy-duty barriers made of buses, concrete blocks, shipping containers, and sandbags. They followed the unyielding perimeter for at least a kilometer before it turned sharply and extended in the perpendicular direction. They followed the new stretch until they reached something resembling a checkpoint.
A line of concrete bollards spanned the width of the street like a highway barrier. Towering over them was a wall of sandbags two stories high. Behind that, Lucy guessed there must have been a scaffold platform, because guards were stationed amidst the upper row, staring down at the new arrivals along the barrels of their rifles.
Lopez left the engine running and they waited for a moment, but no greeting party came.
“Shall we do this?” said Lucy, placing her hand on the door.
“I guess if they were gonna shoot us outright, they’d have done it by now,” said Lopez.
Together they stepped out onto the damp street, hands raised.
“State your purpose,” called a sentry from above.
“We’re looking for a doctor,” said Lucy.
“Are you infected?” said the sentry.
Lucy glanced at Lopez. “We think so,” she replied.
“Then you need to move on,” said the sentry.
“We’re with the US Army. We need shelter,” said Lopez.
“You’re in the quarantined zone. No-one from the quarantined zone enters these walls,” said the sentry.
“What’s behind the walls?” asked Lucy.
“You need to move on now,” said the sentry.
“Wait, so we’re in the quarantined zone? What else is here?” said Lopez.
“A lot,” said the sentry.
“Are there any other military personnel in there with you?” said Lopez.
“Sir, you’re not coming in,” said the sentry.
“We’re the army, for Christ’s sake!” protested Lopez.
“No such thing,” said the sentry.
“I’ve been saying that for days,” muttered Lucy.
“Look at our uniforms, look at the damned flag. This is insane - we’re American soldiers, on American soil, and you’re shutting us out?” said Lopez.
“It ain’t about being a soldier, or an American. It’s about clean or infected. You’re the wrong one,” said the sentry.
“To hell with that. Who’s in charge? I want to speak to whoever runs this place,” demanded Lopez.
“Not gonna happen,” said the sentry.
“Is it a soldier? A cop? Some politician?” said Lopez.
The sentry said nothing.
“Mother fucker!” cried Lopez, slamming his fist on the hood. “I said we should’ve gone to DC.”
Lucy ignored Lopez and addressed the scout.
“Please, we just wanna see the doctor,” said Lucy.
“She’s not here,” said the sentry.
“But she’s real?” implored Lucy.
“Yuh-huh,” said the sentry, with a weary tone.
“You know her?” said Lucy.
“I tried telling her to stay, but she wouldn’t hear it. She’d made up her mind
– both of them had,” said the sentry.
“There’s two doctors?” said Lucy.
“Used to be. Only one now. We told them it’s what’d happen if they went into the quarantine zone, but they didn’t listen. They knew it was a one-way trip,” said the sentry.
“Is it true that she’s got a cure?” said Lucy.
“How would I know? I’m not sick,” said the sentry.
“Where do we find her?” said Lopez, tetchily.
“Look, I haven’t seen her in weeks, alright? As far as I know she goes where the sick people go. If you can find more sick people, like, a colony, wait there and she’ll find you,” said the sentry.
“Where are they?” said Lucy.
“Mostly north side. From what I’ve heard, it ain’t pretty,” said the sentry.
“Come on,” said Lucy, opening the van door.
Lopez opened the driver’s side.
“Hey, where did you guys come from?” called the sentry.
“A lot of places,” said Lucy.
“New York,” said Lopez.
“So the infection’s spread down there?” said the sentry.
“There are worse things there than the infection,” said Lucy.
“But how did you get infected?” called the sentry.
“Great fucking question,” yelled Lopez, slamming the door.
***
They drove for a few miles, leaving the wall behind as they headed north into the city. Lopez scratched his face and shuffled in his seat, exhaling heavily through flared nostrils. He made a point of examining his black eye in the mirror several times, tutting loudly. As the van spluttered to a halt, having exhausted the last of its gas, he finally snapped.
“This is bullshit,” he cried, slapping the steering wheel.
Lucy looked around and considered their options. There was nowhere in sight to refuel.
“It can’t be far to the outbreak zone – the sentry said it was several miles and I reckon we’ve covered a good few since the wall,” she suggested.
“Right, cos your judgement is just fuckin’ A,” said Lopez, getting out and slamming the door.
“Excuse me?” said Lucy, climbing out after him.
“If it wasn’t for you, I’d be in DC right now,” said Lopez.
Convulsive Box Set Page 42
