by Rick Kueber
“Now, don’t have a hissy. Just stick around for a while. You can stay safe here and you can rest up or whatever while we go to the bakery. I’ll talk to some of my friends at work tomorrow and have a few friends over tomorrow night. You might decide you like it here.” Jenny tried to calm Elle.
“Fair enough. I won’t run away tonight.” Elle half smiled. “Besides, Tanner is coming to find me here, so I should stay, at least for a little while.”
***
Jenny and their crew worked only six hours a day, but they worked seven days a week and never took a day off. Every week or so, the driver would take the bus to one of the local mega-stores and load up on all sorts of necessities and drop them off in the high rise lobby. In the beginning, many of the tenants were overly selfish and hoarded more than they needed, but after the first few months passed, most became very thrifty and the morning after the shopping trip, there would still be some goods left in the lobby.
Over the next weeks, Jenny had guests over every evening after work, two or three at a time. Some were very reserved and Elle felt like she was on display, like some shiny new car that everyone wants to come see. Other visitors were genuinely interested in Elle’s story and in exchange, told her every detail they could remember about the day the Titan’s arrived.
Every evening, and every morning, Elle stood at the window and looked west and south, scanning the distant horizon. Each moment she spent searching, filled her with hope, but every search ended in dissatisfaction and at times, even depression. Jenny tried, unsuccessfully, to distract her on a daily basis. Her heart broke for her new friend, whose fatherless child’s birth drew closer with each passing day. Jenny decided something needed to be done to cheer Elle up.
One evening after dinner, no one came over. Jenny scurried around, cleaning up the apartment, making sure the dishes were all washed, dried, and put away. She tidied up the bathroom and even dusted... Something Elle had not seen done since she had left the CCC. Because of their relentless work schedule, no one knew what day of the week it was, but Elle was pretty sure it was late February or possibly early March and she liked to believe it was a Friday.
The next morning Jenny woke Elle before she left.
“Rest up today sweetie. I have several friends coming over tonight for dinner. I thought a dinner party might cheer you up a little.” Her intention was to give Elle something to look forward to, but there was a hidden agenda. She also thought that if Elle knew that there was a dinner party, she would keep the apartment neat and clean and not even leave a dirty glass in the sink.
When Jenny left, Elle sat down on the couch and thought about the dinner party planned for the evening. It brought a fleeting smile to her face, but her thoughts of the future dinner quickly spiraled to memories of the Genesis Day feast and she missed her friends and sweet little Maddie and the man she had fallen in love with. There was a physical ache in the pit of her stomach and her heart felt empty. She had been in hiding for nearly two months and she could not sit idly by and let her life and time slip by with no purpose or meaning.
Elle nearly leapt from the sofa and rushed over to the window just in time to see the last bus load of workers pulling away through the sheer curtains. She studied the assemblage of Takers and Ahsushas that had guarded the exiting human worker drones as they loaded onto the bus. The group of enforcers did not budge after the bus pulled away and Elle began to wonder if they stood in place all day until the workers returned each evening. She stepped away from the large window and was headed to the kitchen for a glass of water when a sound caught her attention. She scrambled back to the window and peered out as the drab colored bus returned and its door opened up. The apartment guards lined up in a single file line and one by one they vanished into the transport and when they were all aboard, the bus pulled away and turned in the opposite direction than if it were headed to the bakery. The gears began to turn in her adventurous brain as she slipped on her sneakers, something she hadn’t had to do since she first arrived at Jenny’s place.
Elle snatched up the local phone book and flipped the pages to find the street map. Carrying it over to the large window, she located the bakery through the window and on the map. Her eyes jutted back and forth between the city and the map until she could recognize street names by looking at their location out of the window. She knew where she was headed, at least she believed she did.
Leaving the door unlocked, she crept out into the corridor and stopped in front of the shiny stainless steel elevator. Her eyes whipped back and forth between the elevator and the door to the stairway. Was there anyone left behind that might be alerted to her movements by the sound of the elevator equipment engaging? Could she make the long trek down the numerous stairs? Flat ground or a few steps here and there would be no problem, but this was many flights and countless steps. Elle held her breath and pressed the down button. When the doors opened, she instinctively took a step back, but the elevator was empty. She stepped in and her finger touched the button marked ‘L’, but she did not press it. Instead her finger moved over and pushed the second floor button. Her stomach fluttered when the elevator dropped and fluttered again when it came to an abrupt stop at the second floor. She poked her head out and scanned the corridor. It was as eerily silent and empty as her heart. Quietly, she slunk down the stairwell to the first floor. Elle found two doors at the base of the stairwell. She pressed her ear tight against the door with the exit sign that hung overhead.
Chapter 6
Diversion
The child had grown and her belly was awkwardly protruding, so large, in fact, that she had resorted to only wearing oversized sweat pants and men’s t-shirts, but the burden did not deter her from her plan. Opening the door, she stepped out into the open air and felt the warmth of the sun on her face for the first time in months. Elle carefully let the door close behind her, but before it latched, she slid the folded phone book cover in between the latch and strike plate. The fresh air and open sky above filled her with a renewed energy and she carefully tried to find the path back to the home where she had left her belongings. She remained hidden as well as she could, sneaking though backyards and darting across streets. There were moments that Elle was certain she had made a wrong turn and was lost, but each time she found something familiar and continued until she made it to the house. The front door was still unlocked and the interior of the home remained untouched since her departure. After a quick scavenging through the kitchen cabinets and commandeering a few items, she strapped on the holster, checked the 9mm to make sure it was ready to fire and then donned her backpack. Before leaving Elle found a bucket of crimson paint in the garage and left her mark on the driveway of the home: a 10 foot capitol ‘L’ and an arrow that pointed in the direction of the apartment building. She also left a vague note taped to the inside of the front window.
Tanner,
I’m alive. Follow the arrow to the high rise. Find me there.
‘L’
Elle was afraid that if the ‘L’ and arrow on the driveway were found by the Ahsushas they might also find the note and any specific details might lead them directly to her. The journey back to the high rise was less hesitant, even though she was slightly more cautious. She had a better bearing and did not hesitate on choosing her direction.
She had made it safely to the rear entrance to the apartment stairway and for a brief second Elle’s throat tightened and panic over took her. There was no sign of the folded piece of the phone book cover and she was afraid she was locked out of the building. Hidden in the shrubs behind the apartments, she turned side to side; her eyes darted about searching for any movement, any sign of life. After a minute of dead still silence, she stole away to the door and grabbed at its handle. Giving it a swift jerk, it flew open with ease and the cardboard shim fell to the ground below. Her only explanation was that it must have slipped just enough to be hidden from sight. Regardless of the reason, she was thankful to have regained entry to the apartment building. Pulling the doo
r tight behind her and making sure it latched, she breathed a bit easier. Two dozen steps and she exited the stairway and crept down the corridor to the elevator. Depressing the ‘up’ button, the doors opened immediately... Yet another reason to be relieved.
Her biggest relief was when she closed the apartment door behind her and dropped her backpack to the floor, but before she sat down to relax, she picked it back up and hid it and the 9mm in the bottom of the hall closet under a bulky, folded blanket. She hit the couch like she had just finished a marathon ...partly because of her nerves, partly because of the danger, but mostly because of her physical state.
“This prego crap is for the freakin’ birds!” Elle exclaimed to the empty apartment as she rubbed the soreness that encompassed her entire lower back.
She laid down with a decorative pillow behind her head and dozed off for a short nap, which turned out to be a bit longer than planned. Jenny and three of her friends came home from their short day at the bakery and found Elle still fast asleep on the couch. It was only when the clambering sounds began to drift from the tiny kitchen that Elle awoke, startled that there were people in the apartment.
“Hey... What’s going on?” Elle realized she was becoming too comfortable when she called out the question before she even sat up.
“A couple of friends are over to help me start dinner. Remember? Dinner party...” Jenny answered back from the din of the kitchen noise. “You remember Tina and Haley, right?” The two dark skinned women leaned around the corner and waved to Elle. She remembered meeting them a few weeks back and that they were sisters who were born and raised in Phoenix. “And this is Bailey.”
“Hey. Nice to finally meet you!” A short, spunky woman popped into the living room to say hello. The twenty-something girl was about Elle’s age and though she was a bit curvier, they were close in height. Bailey had ginger locks as curly as a sheep and from the country twang in her voice, Elle guessed she was originally from the south east. “Jenny’s told everybody so much about you. So how the heck did you end up here in Phoenix? Do you like music? Tonight’s country music night on the radio station. You like country music?” The bumpkin rambled on without pause. “HEY JEN! Can I turn on the radio?”
“Well, aren’t you just a bottle of rainbow sparkles and sunshine?” Elle said sarcastically and rolled her eyes.
“Totally!” Bailey grinned at her, mistaking her sarcasm for a compliment. “MUSIC?”
“Whatever...” Elle flopped back to her laying down position just as the radio lit up and a classic 1960’s country ballad began to fill the room the ballad of one woman’s crazy and broken heart.
“You have any toothpicks, or maybe a couple of skewers?” Elle called out to the kitchen as she sat up again.
“I got tooth picks.” Jenny replied while she slaved away over the stove, trying to finish cooking before the electricity was cut off.
“Cool, I need something to jab in my ears.” Elle mumbled.
“You’re funny.” Tina chimed in from the kitchen. “Yeah, I heard that.”
In the midst of the battle of wits and the witless, Elle stood up and a sudden pounding on the door brought a silence to the banter. Jenny rushed in from the kitchen, wiping her hands with a towel.
“GO! Lock yourself in the back room.” She whispered to Elle. “I’ll come get you when it’s safe.”
“I’ll take her.” Bailey grabbed Elle by the arm and rushed her to the back bedroom.
Bailey and Elle ducked into the room and closed and locked the door. Bailey took her to the far side of the room and crouched down behind the bed.
“I’m fine. You didn’t have to escort me.” Elle’s patience was growing thin and her liking of Bailey was decreasing by the second.
“But what if they bust in here?” Her whispered voice seemed genuinely concerned. “I can stand up and maybe they won’t find you. I’m supposed to be here...you’re not.”
“Okay...” Elle didn’t know what to say. How could she be angry at someone who was trying to protect her.
The two stayed hidden behind the bed for what seemed like an hour. In reality, it was only about fifteen minutes. When Elle thought she would be better off to make a run for the hall closet and her 9mm, a ‘knock, pause, knock-knock’ came at the bedroom door.
“It’s just me.” Elle recognized her roommate’s voice. “You can come out now.”
The two women exited the room, much better friends than when they entered and Elle felt like something was amiss. The kitchen light was still on, but the living room was dark. Her worry was distracted by the aroma of a dozen spices rising from the steamy meal that had been prepared.
“SURPRIZE!” A dark room-full of people shouted out as Elle entered the living room. The light flashed on and revealed nearly twenty people crowded together with smiles on their faces and boxes wrapped in a variety of brightly colored paper.
“What the hell is going on?” Elle’s hormones were getting the best of her when she realized she had softened her feelings for the most annoying girl she had ever met, over a complete and utter fabrication... There was no danger. It was all a set up to get her out of the room.
“Um ...well...” Jenny wasn’t sure how to answer. “It’s a dinner party-slash-baby shower.”
“We thought it might cheer you up.” A familiar male voice chimed in from the back of the crowd. It was bus-driver Bob.
“Well then...” Elle felt like a complete idiot. “Let’s eat before it gets cold.”
Her statement was met with a roar of agreeing voices. A plethora of food covered the dining room table. Paper plates, napkins and plastic-ware were crammed into a small corner of the kitchen counter top beside two pitchers of iced tea and red Kool-Aid, and red plastic cups. The couch was saved for Elle, Jenny and much to Elle’s displeasure, Bailey. The other, nearly two dozen people, covered the floor of the living room, crowded around the coffee table, end tables and the entertainment center. Others stood in the kitchen or dining room and spilled into the hallway.
Stacks of gift-wrapped boxes and bags surrounded the couch in a rather large pile. One unwrapped box displayed a picture of its contents: a playpen. Elle was overwhelmed by the thoughtfulness of so many friendly strangers. Conversations chattered throughout the small apartment, between bites. When the meal was finished, and the paper plates had made their way to the over-sized trash bag, Tina and Haley started sifting through the mountain of gifts and handing them one by one to Elle. More than once, while she opened her gifts, her eyes met Bob’s and the kindness in them spoke to her heart. He stayed quiet and all but hidden in the darkest corner of the room. The boxes and gift bags were filled with the typical baby-shower gifts: diapers, formula, bottles, onesies, a diaper bag and baby-shoes... With each gift the women would call out a name and who ever had chosen that as their gift would wave or otherwise alert Elle to who they were. The playpen was from Jenny and Bailey had given her a baby-book, complete with a kit for making hand and foot ink-prints.
“One more present.” Haley held up the last gift. It was wrapped in Christmas paper and appeared to have been wrapped by a ten year old. “I don’t know how much use you’ll get outta this one.” Everyone chuckled at the sight. “But ...the guy that picked this one out, is the guy who really deserves all the credit.” She looked across the faces in the room until she spotted him. “Bob ...he’s the one who stuck his neck out and picked up a few baby things here and there when he’d go to the store. Sure, we all told him what we wanted, but it was up to him to sneak them back here.”
“Thank you.” Elle tried not to tear up, but her emotions were about as easy to control as her hormones or her bladder. Her glassy eyes met Bob’s and she smiled at him. Haley placed the disaster of a wrapped gift in what was left of Elle’s lap. She peeled back the layers of paper and found a well-made, papoose. The kind of papoose that holds the baby tight against its mother’s chest. It was a thoughtful gift in more ways than one.
“Everybody said it was a useless gif
t, cause you never get outta this apartment, but the way I see it...” Bob spoke as soft as the dim light from the living room floor lamp. “You were a traveler when you found us, and no matter how much we all want you to stay ...someday, I think you’ll be a traveler again.”
“Oh don’t be silly.” One of the women spoke up. “That’s insane to think of her out there on her own with a little helpless baby.”
“I was out today.” Elle silenced the room with only four words.
“No you weren’t.” Jenny hoped it was just a joke.
“I was. I went to the edge of town and got my backpack and...” She hesitated for a second and caught the eyes of everyone staring at her. “and I have my gun.”
“What the hell are you going to do with a gun?” A 40-something year old man blurted out from the kitchen.
“Defend myself, if I have to.” Elle calmly replied. “Have none of you ever thought about putting up a resistance, or just walking away?”
“They gave us a choice when they took the city. Stay here and they would protect us, or load into one of those giant things, and leave.” Jenny spoke softly and lowered her eyes. The kitchen and hallway stragglers began to crowd into the room and everyone closed in on the couch where Jenny, Bailey and Elle sat. “They took so many friends and neighbors away. They took my family.”
“Mine too,” Bailey whispered to Jenny and gave her shoulder a squeeze. Elle could tell by the demeanor of the group, the answer was the same for almost everyone.
“I heard a rumor that they have them all locked up somewhere like slaves.” An older lady said, adjusting her wire rimmed glasses.
