Absolution

by Mark Campbell

  Others milled past him, bundled up tightly in jackets and blankets. They spoke in muted tones and their conversations had a certain surreptitious undertone that he hadn’t noticed the morning before.

  Teddy noticed a stark change in the atmosphere that had seemingly happened overnight—a nearly palpable nervous tension that seemed to pervade the very air itself. He first noticed hints of it during dinner, but it seemed worse as the sun rose again. He didn’t think that he was the only one who noticed since most of the officers avoided the footpath and stuck to the catwalks that connected the guard towers.

  The officers leered down below and walked in pairs.

  Maybe, Teddy figured, people were starting to realize their own precarious predicament, and the government’s façade of being a shelter in a storm was starting to chip away like bad plaster. Still, he didn’t think the civilian population was much of a threat. He pegged the vast majority of them as weak, broken creatures who longed to feel safe again even if it meant giving up their very freedom. Sure, they were annoyed and irritated, but they weren’t the type to do anything other than bark and yelp like irritable lapdogs.

  What he did fear was the officer’s response to any perceived hostility or aggression since most of them appeared to be little more than trigger-happy rookies. He didn’t want to get caught or find Ein caught in the crossfire so in his mind it was all the more reason to get out sooner rather than later.

  Teddy heard a pchit pchit noise next to him and smelled chemical vapors. He glanced over and saw two men hastily spray-painting something on one of the dormitories in an adjacent alleyway. The words said, in sloppy sprawling lettering: DON’T BE A SLAVE! RI—

  Their message was interrupted when one of the men saw him staring at them and quickly alerted his friend.

  The other man dropped the can and then both of them darted off down the alleyway.

  Just a lot of ineffective barking and yelping, as Teddy had guessed.

  He looked away and kept walking with the crowd towards the dining hall.

  “Hey!” a voice called out from behind.

  Teddy turned around and saw Roger lurching towards him while Zoey trotted happily at his side.

  Zoey barked and ran towards Teddy, tail wagging.

  Teddy crouched down, smiled, and patted her head. “You’re a happy girl, aren’t you?”

  She licked his cold fingers and then sniffed his hand greedily. After realizing that he didn’t have any treats to offer, her excitement ebbed and she looked up at him with reproachful eyes.

  “Naw,” Roger said, rubbing his aching forehead. “She’s just a furry mooch.” He whistled at her. “Come on, girl. Stop begging.”

  Zoey lowered her ears and then turned back towards Roger.

  “I swear, she thinks the world revolves around her,” Roger said, chuckling. His face was pale—his eyes bloodshot. He looked down at her and wagged a finger. “You’re a mess, do you know that?”

  Zoey tilted her head and looked at him, ears perked up.

  “I don’t know… She looks better off than you do right now,” Teddy said with a grin.

  “I’m not arguing with that one.” Roger groaned. “My mouth feels like sandpaper and I feel like a truck ran over me.”

  “Drinking doesn’t agree with you…”

  “Maybe, but I don’t plan on quitting anytime soon,” Roger replied defiantly with a goofy smile. “How are you holding up this morning?”

  “I’m fine.”

  “That’s not good then.”

  “How so?”

  “Because that means that you didn’t drink enough!” Roger slapped him on the back.

  Teddy chuckled, turned, and continued walking down the footpath.

  Roger and Zoey followed.

  “I drank enough to make an ass out myself last night,” Teddy said.

  “That tends to happen when good alcohol is involved. I don’t remember much after you stormed off… I, uh, didn’t mean to piss you off. Being tactful was never one of my finer qualities.”

  “It’s frustrating—that’s what this whole fucking situation is.”

  “I understand, hoss,” Roger replied with a nod. “If you are worried that you made an ass out of yourself, then don’t think twice about it. I had no business flapping my lips. ”

  “It had nothing to do with you,” Teddy said. “When I went back inside, I acted stupid and went off at Perry.”

  Roger thought for a moment and then raised a bushy brow. “Old Perry? The orderly?”

  Teddy nodded. “I grabbed him and demanded to know more about that damn building you told me about… I was sloppy drunk and stupid… Could hardly stand.”

  “How did that go?”

  “About as well as can be expected,” he said with a shrug. “He denied knowing anything and then scolded me about spreading rumors or something.”

  Roger laughed. “Old Motherfucking Perry.” He shook his head. “World-class liar and world-class snitch.”

  “It seemed to me that he was telling the truth,” Teddy said.

  “Good liars always do.” Roger spat on the ground with disgust. “I already told you about that one… He’s a coward who wouldn’t leave this place even if you paid him. If the fence ever fell down, he’d be the first one out there trying to put the bitch back up—never trust a collaborator.”

  Teddy chuckled.

  The men turned a corner and followed the crowd down the main footpath leading past the gallows towards the dining hall.

  Teddy looked over at the gallows and noticed that a fresh batch of corpses were swaying in the wintery air. He turned towards them, took a few steps off the footpath, and stopped.

  Two officers were posted in front of the gallows and watched him with their rifles across their chest.

  Teddy ignored them and studied each one of the corpses. The burlap sacks made facial recognition impossible, but he was sure he’d be able to spot Ein’s lanky frame.

  “Is he up there?” Roger asked as he walked off of the footpath and joined him.

  Zoey followed.

  “No,” Teddy eventually said with relief evident in his voice. “He’s still out there somewhere.”

  Teddy and Roger stared up at the hanging corpses for a few moments before Zoey barked impatiently and looked up at them with her ears raised.

  “Yeah, yeah, I’m going, girl,” Roger said as he reached down and patted her head. He stood back up and slapped Teddy on the back. “Old girl is hungry.”

  “We better grab something before they close it down,” Teddy said as he turned back towards the footpath.

  “Not too excited for cabbage stew or whatever garbage they’re serving. That’s why here lately I’ve been on a liquid diet,” Roger said with a grin.

  “Judging by how bloodshot your eyes are, I’m not sure that’s working out too well for you.”

  “Hey, whatever doesn’t kill you, right?”

  Teddy and Roger laughed as they walked past an officer who was on his way to relieve one of the men stationed at the gallows.

  Zoey trotted beside them.

  “Morning, officer,” Roger told the man as he tipped an imaginary hat.

  “I warned you before to get rid of that mutt,” the officer said sternly. He stopped walking and glared down at Zoey. His grip tightened around his rifle.

  Zoey lowered her ears and growled at the man.

  “It’s alright,” Roger said as he stepped between them. He smiled at Zoey. “It’s okay, girl. Just calm down.”

  Zoey stopped growling. She rose to her haunches, and planted her front paws on Roger’s chest. She started wagging her tail and licking his face.

  Roger laughed and pushed her off of him. “Easy! Easy!” he exclaimed jovially. “You’re embarrassing me!”

  Zoey barked happily and circled around him, wagging her tail.

  “Get back to the ally and I’ll bring you some scraps after work,” Roger said as he patted her back and then gave her a gentle swat on the rump. “Go
on! Scooch!”

  Zoey barked a final time and darted off towards the footpath, disappearing into the crowd.

  Roger chuckled and started to head towards the footpath, but was suddenly blocked by the officer’s gloved hand.

  “Dogs are illegal,” the officer said coldly as he glared at Roger.

  Roger beamed a smile, reached inside his jacket, and pulled out a small plastic bottle of off-color liquid. “Yeah, they are, but so is hooch…” He handed the bottle to the officer.

  After giving Teddy an uneasy glance, the officer grabbed it, unscrewed the top, and took a whiff. Satisfied, he put the cap back on and allowed Roger to pass.

  “Pleasure doing business,” Roger said as he walked past the officer.

  “I don’t want to see that mutt again,” the officer halfheartedly warned, but Roger and Teddy kept walking.

  Teddy followed and glanced over his shoulder.

  As the two men joined the others on the footpath towards the dining hall, Teddy spoke.

  “Are you sure it’s wise to show your hand to them like that?” Teddy asked.

  “They’re not getting paid,” Roger dismissed. “Retention rate is horrible—cops walk away from details just as often as civilians. At the end of the day, they’re working for food and the promise of a paycheck yet to come.”

  “Let me guess... Alcohol isn’t something the government readily provides.”

  “Nope, but it helps me grease the wheels when I want someone to look the other way. A lot of these cops challenge you with some bullshit regulation just to see what you’ll offer… I oblige them. Life is easier that way.”

  Teddy chuckled as he followed behind him. Judging by how well Roger seemed to have adapted to the new way life suggested that the man would’ve done quite well back at Tucson.

  The crowd grew denser as they walked, and Teddy fell silent as his mind wandered back to Ein.

  Roger looked at him and was able to guess that something was bothering him—it didn’t take much for him to figure out what it probably was. “I could be wrong about what I said last night.”

  Teddy glanced at him, but didn’t answer.

  “Maybe he’s not in that building,” Roger suggested. “Maybe he’s hiding out in one of the dorms and you just missed him.”

  “Maybe.”

  “Your friend, uh, Dan, could be—”

  “Ein,” Teddy corrected.

  “Ein, right, sorry,” Roger said. “Well, Ein could be out there looking for you, too.”

  Teddy offered a thin smile and a faint nod, but said nothing.

  The two men continued walking and the sound of shouting echoed from the distance, but neither paid it any mind.

  Teddy scratched over his coat where the RFID chip was implanted and an idea occurred to him. He turned towards Roger. “Could one of your cop buddies tell you where Ein is?” he asked with a glimmer of hope in his eyes. “They can look up the location of the tracking chips, right?”

  “The ones up in the tower could, but I think it’ll take more than a few bottles of shine to get them to tell me,” Roger said. “If I still had some cigarettes, then maybe, but I ran out a long time ago… I’m sorry, hoss.”

  “It’s fine,” Teddy said with a sigh. “I’ll just keep looking after work.”

  “Even during a snowstorm?” Roger asked as he looked up towards the clouds. “It looks like we’ll be getting our first snow soon.”

  “I won’t let that stop me,” he said defiantly.

  Roger chuckled. “I like your spirit, hoss. Heck, I ain’t doing nothing tonight anyway after work so I’ll help you look for him. Maybe I’ll turn Zoey into a bloodhound!”

  “I appreciate it, Roger.”

  “Ain’t nothing, but I may have to bring some shine to keep me warm out in this cold.”

  “Just keep that stuff away from me,” Teddy said. “Just one cup had me seeing sideways.”

  “Too hard for you?” Roger asked, grinning.

  “Apparently so.”

  “Aw, that’s too bad… I guess I’ll bring you a blankie and a juice box then.”

  “Fuck you, old drunk bastard,” Teddy said with a smile as he lightly punched Roger’s arm.

  They laughed.

  “We’ll work together and we’ll find him,” Roger assured, nodding. “You betcha!”

  Teddy entertained the idea, but he didn’t think that they would find Ein unless they got inside that administrative building.

  The crowd on the footpath came to a stop and a large group was gathered at the dining hall’s doors, shouting and jeering in frustration.

  Teddy and Roger stopped as the others around them craned their necks and pushed forward trying to see what was going on.

  The dining hall doors were chained shut.

  A group of officers stood on the dining hall’s roof and anxiously pointed their rifles down towards the crowd. They swept side-to-side, randomly aiming at people who were busy shouting profanities and throwing their fists in the air in frustration.

  Sgt. Mayville, his cheeks red from frostbite, stood behind the officers holding a pistol in his trembling hands. As the growing crowd became more clamorous, he cowered further back.

  A recording boomed over the camp’s PA system: Community Notice—due to a temporary inventory issue, contingency protocols have been implemented. Winter rationing is now in full effect—return this evening for your daily meal.

  The crowd became more vociferous and a few started pelting small stones and handfuls of dirt against the front of the building—even in their anger nobody dared hurl anything up towards the officers.

  Teddy wasn’t surprised.

  The recording repeated: Due to a temporary inventory issue, contingency protocols have been implemented. Winter rationing is now in full effect—return this evening for your daily meal.

  Some gave a few more shouts for good measure, but eventually obeyed the PA’s commands.

  It was just as Teddy had expected—a weak, broken population.

  However, what surprised Teddy, were the twenty or so stragglers who continued their protest and shouted all manners of profanities towards the officers on the rooftop.

  Teddy was unsure of what would happen next.

  It looked like the officers were just as surprised at the show of defiance. They kept their rifles pointed down towards the small crowd, anxiously taking a few steps back.

  A few looked behind at the sergeant and waited for his orders.

  Mayville’s eyes darted around angrily as he tried to think.

  Suddenly, feedback warbled from the row of loudspeakers that crowned the large concrete control tower erected at the center of the camp.

  Everyone fell silent and looked towards the ominous tower.

  Lt. Hock’s rough voice reverberated through the tower speakers: Civil disobedience will not be tolerated in my camp! Disperse and go to your work details at once—or I will authorize my men to use deadly force!

  The people gathered around the front of the building fell silent. They scattered down the alleyways and footpaths like roaches.

  Emboldened, the officers stepped towards the edge of the roof, and aimed their weapons at the civilians as they scuttled away.

  Mayville relaxed, took a step forward, and holstered his pistol with a smug satisfied grin.

  “Come on,” Roger said as he grabbed Teddy’s shoulder. “Let’s go before Gomer Pyle up there shoots an eye out.”

  Teddy frowned up at the young sergeant, turned, and followed Roger away from the dining hall.

  The mood was sour and tense; there was no more playful banter.

  As they walked, Teddy couldn’t help but wonder if his initial assessment of the camp’s population had been wrong.

  Maybe, he thought, they were now bent to the point of breaking.

  CHAPTER 10

  Without breakfast, the bus ride was especially grueling.

  Teddy sat slouched at his window seat with a hand on his sour stomach. He felt the acid b
ubbling inside and crawl up his esophagus. He felt slightly lightheaded.

  Even worse, the heaters weren’t emitting any semblance of warmth.

  All the passengers sat shivering with their arms across their chest. At the front of the bus, past the grille, Salguero manned the wheel and Vue sat silently across from Parham.

  A wiry, nervous looking man with olive skin and jet—black hair sat next to Vue. He was wearing a white dress shirt, grey slacks, and scuffed dress shoes. A briefcase sat in his lap and he anxiously fiddled with the handle as he stared down at the floor.

  Teddy thought that the man looked ridiculously out of place—he looked like a college kid applying for his first job.

  The sergeant announced back at camp that they were headed out to some godawful town about thirty miles away to get a power substation back online.

  The Topeka settlement was experiencing brownouts and that just wouldn’t do.

  Teddy didn’t know much about electrical shit, so all he could do was hope that he did not end up electrocuting himself.

  He supposed that this was the reason why they had a Middle Eastern man in ill-filling business casuals riding shotgun.

  If he had to guess, the man was some sort of engineer.

  People with knowledge like that were worth more than a whole truck full of food in this new world, he imagined.

  Back when Teddy boarded, he noticed a military Humvee idling behind the bus. A masked officer manned the .50 CAL gun turret on the roof and swept it menacingly towards the crowd.

  Teddy didn’t understand why they had an escort at first, but after seeing their unusual travel companion it wasn’t too hard to put it all together.

  If he listened closely, he could hear the Humvee’s rumbling diesel engine tailing close behind.

  His mind wandered back to the day’s task that awaited him at the substation.

  God, it was going to be a lot of work.

  Outside work.

  Cold work.

  No gin rummy today, Teddy thought sadly.

  It was going to be a long day.

  Teddy was hungry, tired, and so fucking cold—the prospect of forced labor intensified his pain and discontent.