Eva shook her head in disgust. ‘It’s not a joke. And you still need to go to work. I might still change your mind and save your life.’
‘Oh, calm down with all the melodrama.’ Kaide snorted. ‘It’ll be fine. Dom never met a basketball game he couldn’t win. He’s just one of those guys. He wins stuff. Golden boy.’
Dom was surprised. He had never thought of himself as any sort of winner. He had never thought his sister saw him that way. Surely he was much more a wrong-place-wrong-time kind of guy.
‘Let’s go. I want to see more of this city. I’ll come to work with you. You can explain the minutes thing on the way.’ Kaide jumped to her feet and walked to the doorway. Dom noticed a slight limp in her stride. ‘How do I open this thing?’ She pushed at the shape of the door and felt for a handle.
Eva reached out a hand and it vanished at her touch. She met Dom’s eyes as they walked down the narrow stairs to the street. Dom’s heart sank. This was not going to have a happy ending, he could see it in Eva’s eyes, in Kaide’s tired frame and the limp that got worse as they walked through the alleyways to the orchard. She didn’t say anything about it, she was busy exclaiming over interesting things and asking Eduardo question after question. It was Kaide as he knew her, excited about everything, always wanting to learn, trusting everyone to be ultimately good. This was what he had wanted, his sister with him, someone who he loved, who loved him. That was what was supposed to happen after death, wasn’t it? Then why, once again, did he feel unsatisfied? He had a purpose and he had people around him to protect him. He fought off the feeling, shrugging his shoulders to free himself of the weight of it. He just had to figure out how to save Kaide. There had to be a way if she wasn’t actually dead. Perhaps his mother was right, she might one day wake up. Healed. The weight of reality hit him again as Kaide stumbled a little in front of him. Her left foot had started to turn in slightly and it dragged as she walked. She smiled at him softly, gripping Eduardo’s arm briefly to steady her gait.
They walked across the square to the Workhouse gates and lined up. It was still early and the lines were short, only a couple of bewildered newcomers stood in front of them with their Guides. One middle-aged woman glanced around constantly. She was olive-skinned with dark hair salted by grey. Her clothes were expensive and well-made. She looked over her shoulder and stared unseeing at Dom. Leaning back towards her Guide she spoke in a staccato burst. ‘I don’t understand. Where is Joel? If I am dead, he must be too. Why is he not here?’
Her Guide tried to soothe her, holding her forearm and speaking softly, but the woman would not be calmed. She wrenched her arm free and walked out of the line, back across the square. She spoke over her shoulder. ‘I’m not working any more. I spent forty years working. I have to find Joel.’
Kaide was next in line at the door. The voice did not speak her name however, and there was a lengthy silence. Eva stepped forward. ‘Enoch, we have some questions. May we enter please?’
The door puffed out of sight and they walked into a courtyard. It was not the same corridor Dom had entered when he first came to work. This was a small garden with columns around it. Tall-stemmed, swaying wildflowers grew haphazardly and there were a few benches scattered around a tiny fountain. Enoch sat on one and gestured them over.
‘Dominic, Eva.’ He nodded. ‘And Eduardo, always a surprise.’ He looked knowingly at Eduardo who bowed theatrically. ‘But who is this? I had no knowledge of your arrival, young girl, and that is a very rare thing.’ He seemed interested, but not concerned.
‘It is my sister, sir, Kaide Mathers.’ Dom spoke quickly. ‘Satarial went through the Glass to get her and he brought her here. She isn’t dead. Do you know how we can save her?’
‘Save me?’ Kaide shook her head. ‘I’m fine, Mr Enoch. I just want to work like everyone else and earn my minutes.’
The ancient man smiled at her gently. ‘I’m afraid that just as there is little place for the dead on Earth, there is no provision for the living in the Afterworld. I cannot give you a job, Kaide. There are laws that govern the way Necropolis works and death is the first rule.’
Eduardo held his hand up lightly to stop Dom from interrupting. ‘Enoch, you seem unsurprised. This has happened before?’
‘Not for a very long time.’ The man stared into the softly sputtering water. ‘But, yes. It has. I do not know how Satarial crossed over, but I have heard of the living arriving in the Necropolis early. Just once. A man who had been very close to death, who had recovered from death several times and still lay dying, crossed over and was found by the lake by one of the Guardians.’
‘What happened to him?’ Eva asked.
‘We managed to heal him at first. He seemed whole and we assumed he must be ready to join the Afterworld, but his body was still mortal so his injuries returned and I could not save him here either. His form fell apart and he perished.’ Enoch paused. ‘Your sister is fortunate to be in fine physical form, I do not have any idea how she crossed over.’
‘I’m not really,’ Kaide said softly. ‘I had a lot of injuries.’ She brightened. ‘Ariel healed me though, when he brought me over.’
‘Perhaps he did.’ Enoch smiled. ‘And you do not seem at all distressed by finding yourself in the world of the dead.’
‘It’s all so fascinating.’ She smiled. ‘And weird.’ She was serious for a moment. ‘My life was far worse down there, Mr Enoch.’
‘It is very rare for siblings to find one another in the Necropolis,’ Enoch continued. ‘I’m sure you have noticed that time is different for every soul. People might die together and never pass each other in the Afterworld at all. Strangeness seems to follow you, Dominic.’
Dom sighed. ‘Doesn’t it? Is there some way we can help Kaide get back to life? Satarial seems to think he can do it.’
‘Or some way I can just stay here and work like everyone else?’ Kaide countered.
‘I am not sure. This place is ruled by belief and belief is incredibly strong. The Afterworld is held together by the thoughts of people thousands of years ago just as much as people from your time. Things change slowly and it is difficult to do anything “unnatural”.’ The way he said the word ‘difficult’ sounded to Dom as though he meant ‘impossible’, but the old man relaxed his face into a calm, reassuring smile.
‘I will commune with the Awe for guidance. Until then, Kaide, you are welcome to work in the orchard with your brother and while I cannot pay you, I think your brother and his companions can provide for you. Eva and Eduardo, I am asking you to protect her while she is here. The people of the City will treat her as they do each other, as though she is immortal. And she is not. I don’t think anyone would intentionally harm her, but . . . it can be a rough place. People who stay here, Kaide, often have demons to exorcise. That’s what this place is. A time to face oneself before one moves on. Some people don’t find the courage to face themselves for thousands of years.’
He stood up with the fluid movements of a much younger man and gestured for them to follow him.
‘What you mustn’t think, my young friends, is that anything at all is wrong or out of place. Everything that happens is meant to be. Everything that causes change is needed and everything that needs to be changed will. It is the way of life and it is the way of death as well.’
He led them to the door and as they left he leaned closer to Eduardo and whispered. The Angel gave a gentle nod of understanding. Eva opened the door.
Kaide gasped. ‘Oh, what? Wasn’t this a hallway?’
They were facing the orchard, which was bustling with carts and crews of fruit pickers. Rows of trees and shrubs stretched all the way to the horizon.
Dom turned to thank Enoch.
He anticipated Dom’s remark. ‘You are welcome, my young friend. I have been waiting for quite some time for you and I am happy to be of any help at all. There has been a need for you here.’
Dom didn’t have the energy for any more expectations. He turned to Eva.
‘See you
later. We’ll meet you after work?’
She was uncertain for a moment. ‘Ah, sure.’
‘Unless you want to stay.’ Dom tried not to sound eager.
Eva looked down. ‘No. I have other things to attend to. See ya.’ She turned and walked away briskly, disappearing into one of the strange doorways of the building.
Kaide gazed out over the field. ‘It’s beautiful.’ They walked down the nearest row together. It was the usual weather of Necropolis, so non-invasive that it was barely noticeable, no sun, but soft light, no wind, but air so clean it almost stung the nostrils.
Once they arrived at their station, they worked more slowly than Dom had become used to. Kaide had once been fit, but climbing the ladders and hauling baskets of fruit around exhausted her much more quickly than Dom and the other pickers. The other crewmembers watched her with suspicion. Even Glass-addicts had more endurance than her. Unlike the usual soft understated conversation of the place, Kaide chatted loudly with anyone who would talk to her, and occasionally broke into a theatrical song from the top of the ladder. When she spattered Dom with ripe fruit when he wasn’t watching it was his first real moment of happiness. A sloshing wet fruit, a mango, hit his temple and oozed across his face and he heard the rustling laughter of his sister as she hid back in the branches of the tree. The other workers, most of whom had been in the City for hundreds of years, looked up in alarm. It had clearly never occurred to them to throw the fruit. And now that it had occurred, they had no idea what to do with the information. They stared at Dom, the juice dripping from his chin to stain his shirt. He roared at Kaide and sprang up the ladder, his new dexterity allowing him to leap across to the tree branches and balance opposite her, a handful of fruit poised to strike back. She laughed and tried to hide behind the leaves. He hit her fair in the chest, fruit splashing everywhere. Then it was war and the two threw everything they could reach. Below them the crew stood completely still watching them. Kaide edged out onto a branch until she could pull another piece of fruit down. It was a huge ripe thing, something he hadn’t seen before, red and almost pulsing with juice. He read his sister’s mind.
‘Don’t. They won’t think it’s funny.’
‘Yes they will. They need a good laugh, look at them.’ She gazed down at the faces that stared up in bemusement. She lifted it, took aim and threw it down, through the branches at the group. The fruit hit a low branch and exploded, showering the entire crew with red pulp and juice. It dripped through their hair and left their stunned faces striped with crimson. Nobody moved. Kaide exploded with laughter.
‘You should see yourselves! I can’t believe you ever get any work done – this is so much fun.’
One of the crew, an older man in rough peasant trousers tied with rope, wiped his face with his hand and licked a finger. ‘I’ve never tasted this before. It’s good.’ He licked another finger full of pulp off his face and the side of his mouth lifted in a minute smile. Then the group carefully wiped their faces clean and got back to work.
Kaide turned to Dom in surprise. ‘I thought they’d join in. Have some fun.’
Dom snorted. ‘This isn’t really a place that fosters fun. They’re dead after all.’
Kaide wrinkled her nose. ‘Boring. Is it nearly time to go yet?’
‘No. We’ve been working for about two hours, Kaide, we’ve got six or seven to go. And I get paid by the amount of work I do, so we’d better stop throwing and start picking.’
‘You’re boring too.’ She pulled a face at him and returned to putting more fruit in her basket.
They worked for another hour before Dom noticed her starting to falter. She had been resting every ten minutes or so, leaning against the tree to get her breath or rubbing her ankle when she thought he wasn’t watching, but now she was swaying as she climbed the ladder and she had to reach a couple of times to grab the fruit, her hand wafting in midair and grasping nothing.
Dom thought about what Enoch had said. The other man who had been alive had been temporarily healed when he came here. What if it was the same with Kaide? If she started to experience her injuries again she was in big trouble. He had seen her lying in her bed, all but dead – broken spine; skull, face and brain injuries. He remembered his first couple of days here when he had hoped that maybe he had been in a coma, imagining all of this. There was irony in everything here.
‘Come on, let’s pull the wagon.’ He turned to the other workers who gestured to him to go ahead. It wasn’t a favourite job. He showed Kaide how to stand in the traces and rock forward until the momentum got the heavy cart moving. She puffed and swore and gave him a dirty look.
‘I know I said I wanted to die, but working me to death isn’t the way I want to go!’ She leaned forward with her arms out and shut her eyes. Dom adjusted his position to the centre of the cart and pushed it easily; the hardest part was making his sister feel as though she was doing anything at all. They trudged up the rows silently this time, making their way to the great shed where the fruit was collected.
Dom marvelled again at the size of this place. Proportions didn’t make sense the way they did on Earth. On Earth you could measure distances with your eyes, here they were shorter, longer, non-existent. Places were larger than they appeared, closer than they seemed. He couldn’t trust his eyes anymore. It was just another way he felt out of place. He supposed it would eventually change, that he would become accustomed to looking at things differently. Perhaps that was why so many people ended up staying here. They figured the place out and could exist comfortably. They weren’t going to die. But if they moved on, they had to learn new rules, do dangerous things, find a whole new footing. It was probably just too much for them, once they had been here a while. That was the trap of the place. It took so long to save up the time needed to leave that people settled in, they found their place, however boring it might be, and it was easier just to stay. He thought about the people he worked with. The Glass-addicts were different of course, they spent all their time gazing backwards and eventually they transformed into whatever those creatures were outside the walls. But everyone else had the slow, bland look of people who just put one foot after the other and existed. That was probably why the Trials were so popular. It was the only thing that really happened. People worked, a few of them even worked for themselves. They might even be making enough minutes to ‘live’ well, but there wasn’t much point to ‘living’ in Necropolis. He tried to put his finger on why. There wasn’t any future. Without kids, there wasn’t any change or growth. And without death there wasn’t any reason to hurry, no reason to do anything at all. He smiled wryly to himself. Maybe he’d just discovered the meaning of life: death and kids. It wasn’t a fancy philosophy, but it made sense.
‘What are you smiling about?’ Kaide said, panting.
‘I’m mentally philosophising.’ He grinned.
‘Oh, what a surprise, Dom is thinking about life.’ She laughed. ‘I’m just surprised you’re smiling.’
‘Whatever. I’m a fun guy!’ He was mildly insulted.
‘Yeah. You are.’ She waved a hand at him. ‘But you’re hardly a light-hearted kind of guy are you?’
He just shook his head. ‘Thanks.’
They reached the shed and he pulled the cart inside. He was strong enough to do it by himself quite easily, but he let Kaide think she was helping. There was a line of people leaving and he saw Kaide looking hopeful.
‘Are we done?’
It was only around midday. He knew he should work a few more hours. Every minute was valuable. If things went badly at the Trials maybe Eva or even Kaide could use them.
‘Do you know your way back to the apartment?’ he asked. ‘You could go back there and I’ll meet you later. We can go and get tofu together.’
She laughed and nodded. ‘Yeah, I think so. If I get lost I’ll come back here.’
He handed her the key that Eva had given him. ‘Don’t lose this or Eva will murder me.’ He amended that, ‘Hurt me, anyway.’
Dom worked for another six hours before he decided to call it quits. He got into a rhythm and fell into his own thoughts. He found he was quicker after his encounter with Eduardo, as if his brain was synthesising even small details like the mechanics of fruit-picking more rapidly. He was stronger too, though he couldn’t imagine the Angel had been able to do that. Perhaps it was his breathing that made the difference. He had noticed several times that his breathing was deeper and slower; sometimes he barely needed to take a breath in a minute. That couldn’t be normal, even for a dead person. It had to be another by-product of the new information swirling through his brain. He spent most of his time thinking of the challenges that could confront him in the Arena. He had seen the warrior fighting the elements; fire and ice and water, but he imagined the Nephilim designed different Trials for each competitor so he couldn’t count on that. Perhaps he would have to fight other people. That wouldn’t be a problem, but if Satarial threw in anything strange like the moving ground he had no idea what he was going to do.
The last wagonload was finally delivered and Dom collected his minutes. Thirty-four. He was impressed with himself. That had to be some sort of record. At this rate he would have enough minutes to be out of here in about a year. That would be bearable. He wandered out into the busy market square. Everyone was finishing work at the same time and there were dozens of small stalls set up selling food and beverages. The smell of pastry and stew filled the air, and the chattering of people, while subdued, was almost cheerful. Dom’s eyes scanned the faces for Eva and settled instead on Deora, who was draped against one of the columns that ran along the edge of the Workhouse. The black stone made her white skin more luminous and Dom caught his breath again at how beautiful she was.
Afterworld Page 17
