Black Flag | Book 1 | Surviving The Scourge

by Klapwyk, Dave

  They made their way to the end of the line, which only took them a couple of steps. An officer walking by noticed the dog. “Sorry guys, no animals allowed in here.”

  “Really,” said Monique, “have you looked around?”

  The officer took a second look at the dog. “Wait a second, is that Mike’s dog?” He knelt to pet the dog. “Hello, Roxie.” The dog’s tail wagged as the officer gave the dog a thorough rub down.

  “Janice left the dog for us to look after,” said Monique. “She left with her daughter to live with her parents.”

  “I’m Hal. I worked with Mike. He was a good guy, and he loved this dog. I’m glad someone’s looking after Roxie.”

  He finished petting the dog and walked away.

  It was over an hour before they finally made it to the front of the line. They stepped up to the counter. A sweaty overweight policeman with red-rimmed glasses was behind the plexiglass. “How can I help you?”

  “We’re looking for my friend, Joe,” said Kevin. “He was arrested two weeks ago.”

  “What’s his name?”

  “Joe.”

  “Last name?”

  “Um… I don’t know. He was arrested for hitting a man in the park and was taken to St. Jude’s.”

  “I’m going to need a little more information than that, sir.”

  “Garret,” said Monique, “the man he hit was Garret Kavanagh, his wife was Lily, and they had a child named Mason.”

  “And those are the names of the victims?”

  “Yes.”

  “I’m going to need more information…”

  “Can’t you just look up Garret Kavanagh on your computer?”

  “Let’s see.” The officer made a few mouse clicks and pecked on the computer. “Looks like I have a Garret Kavanagh who was a complainant.”

  “What about the guy that hit him?”

  “That would be Joe Lortier.”

  “That’s the guy.” Monique was a little excited now. “Where is he?”

  “Looks like he’s been sent up to the Abitido Jail just outside of Commerce City.”

  “I was told the charges were to be dropped!” said Kevin, his voice rising in frustration.

  “That could be.”

  “We talked to the Kavanagh’s,” said Monique, “We were there when they told the policeman that they weren’t going to press charges.”

  “Sorry, but that’s not what it says here.” The policeman pointed at his monitor.

  “Where is the officer that arrested him?” asked Monique, “Can we talk to him?”

  The heat in the room was making the policeman sweat, which caused his red-rimmed glasses to slide down his nose. He pushed them back up. “The arresting officer…was…oh! I’m sorry it looks like Officer Bryson is no longer with us. He died a couple of days ago.”

  Monique was getting impatient, as was little Olivia. “Well, who is the officer in charge of this case now?”

  “I don’t know. You’re going to have to wait for his arraignment hearing.”

  “Well, that’s…” Monique was not able to finish her sentence.

  A single gunshot rang out and echoed across the lobby. Instantly, everyone dropped to the floor except for one large angry woman. She stood at almost two metres tall and wore a flowered one-piece dress. Somehow, she had managed to steal one of the officer’s guns and was swinging it around like she was going to spray paint the room with it.

  One policewoman was laying on the ground behind her, she started to get up, but the woman swung around and pointed the gun at her. “Don’t you dare, you scum. You’re all scum. This stupid Scourge is going to kill us all, and you all act like nothing’s going on!”

  Monique lay on the ground, her body covering the baby. Kevin lay down close by, his hand holding Monique’s. Roxie sat next to them like a sentinel, watching the woman with the gun as she kept shouting at her captive audience.

  “You know we are all going to die anyway…” she stopped suddenly when she thought she heard a noise in Monique’s direction. She whirled around, and when she saw the dog watching her, she shot in their direction.

  Monique heard the thump of a body falling behind her. Roxie sprang forward towards the woman. Monique watched with trepidation as the dog leapt over the people lying down. Roxie used the prostrate prostitute as a springboard and leapt into the air. Her jaws clamped down on the woman’s arm, and she fell backwards. The gun fell from her hands, and blood sprayed out of her wrist. Roxie had a lock-tight grip and was not letting go.

  Monique handed the baby off to Kevin and ran to the dog.

  “Roxie!” she yelled, “Let go!”

  Roxie was still attached to the woman’s arm as the woman flailed and cried out.

  Officer Hal ran over. “Off!” he yelled with an authoritarian voice.

  Roxie immediately released her grip and sat down by Officer Hal.

  Four other policemen cuffed the large bleeding woman and dragged her through the rear double doors.

  Hal handed Monique his card. “Here’s my card. Call me, and I can go through some very useful commands for this dog.”

  Monique thanked him and ran over to hug her husband and daughter. As she hugged them, she noticed a stream of blood flowing out from behind the reception counter. She released Kevin and Olivia from the hug and peered around the counter. The large man behind the counter was lying on his back, not moving. He had a red hole in his chest, and his red-rimmed glasses were lying on the floor in a pool of blood.

  “Help! We’re going to need some help here!”

  Chapter 14

  The previous night Ayesha lay on her back on the top bunk, sweating. She was staring at the ceiling when she heard a voice from below. “You awake?” It was Zach. He was having the same problem she was. Neither of them were able to sleep with the stifling heat. The top floor was hot and humid, and the Flagenmeyers insisted on keeping the windows closed ‘in case someone tries to steal you’.

  Their foster parents weren’t bad people, but this was not how Ayesha pictured her perfect family. When she lived with her mother, she was often ignored or yelled at. Most of the time, her mother was either sleeping or at work. No one ever told her about her father, except that he left when she was born. At least when she lived at Joe’s apartment, everyone liked her.

  She longed for a family like they had in the movies - one with a father, mother, brother and sister. Joe felt like a father, although she wasn’t sure what having a father felt like. The Flagenmeyers seemed to dislike both of them. Zach said it was because they had twin girls that had both died of the virus. When they tried to replace them with Ayesha and Zach, they ended up resenting them because they were not as good as their own children. She was glad Zach was here with her. Zach was her best friend, and they made a good team. Right now, all they had was each other.

  Ayesha rolled over and hung her head over the side of the bed. “Yes, I’m awake. It’s way too hot up here to sleep. Why don’t they have an air conditioner?”

  “They say it’s too expensive to feed us and pay for an air conditioner,” answered Zach.

  “I hate it here,” she said.

  “Me too.”

  “I miss Joe and Blender.”

  “I miss chocolate.”

  “Why don’t we go back to Joe’s apartment?”

  “I wish, but I don’t think that’s going to happen. Besides, that place was trashed.”

  Ayesha thought for a moment. “Joe said he wanted to rebuild.”

  “I think he was joking.”

  “Maybe, but I still want to go back.”

  “I don’t think the Flagenmeyers are going to bring us back, and neither will Child Services.”

  “But what if we just left?”

  “What?” he said, his voice rising, “you want to just leave?”

  There was a loud banging on the door. “Shut up in there and go to sleep!”

  She reduced her volume to a whisper. “You want to stay?”

 
“No, I do not,” he whispered back.

  “Why don’t we pack our bags, sneak out and take the bus back to Joe’s? I bet he’d be happy to have us back.”

  “Are you serious?” His voice started to rise again.

  “Shhhh,” she replied, “I hate it here. They won’t even let us watch television.”

  “They won’t give me access to a computer.”

  “We should leave at night, so they don’t see us leave.”

  “Okay, let’s do it. What night do you want to leave?”

  “Tonight.”

  “Really?”

  “Yes, why not?”

  “Okay.”

  They got changed out of their pajamas and packed their backpacks with some of their clothes. The television downstairs wasn’t on, so they assumed the Flagenmeyers had gone to bed. Once they snuck past their room, Ayesha and Zach ran down the stairs. Ayesha tip-toed towards the front door, but Zach veered into the kitchen.

  “Where are you going?” she asked.

  “I’m packing some food and looking for chocolate,” he answered.

  They both heard a door open upstairs.

  “No time!” said Ayesha.

  Zach stuffed a box of Cheerios in his backpack and followed her out the front door. Behind them, they could hear a voice calling. They ran across the driveway and down the sidewalk without looking back. It was dark out, but the street lights lit up their path.

  “Can we slow down, please?” Zach was panting and had to slow to a walk.

  Ayesha looked behind, no one was following them. “Okay, we can slow down now. What time does the bus run around here?”

  Zach was still catching his breath. “It only runs twice a day now. Once in the morning and once in the afternoon.”

  “So, we have to wait till morning? What are we supposed to do all night?”

  “I don’t know, this was your idea. Maybe we could…”

  Several dark figures seemed to materialize in front of them. They all wore dark hoodies and black baseball caps.

  “Oh crap, we have to run again, don’t we?”

  Ayesha pointed down a side alley. “This way.”

  They both ran down the alley. The streetlights weren’t able to light their way, and they almost tripped over some garbage bags. They could hear footsteps behind them, and they ran faster. Ayesha was quicker on her feet, and she led the way taking random turns down streets and alleys. She noticed a basement window, in a red brick building and ran to it. Zach helped her push it open so that they could squeeze through.

  It was pitch black inside, and Ayesha hung from the window sill, but her feet still didn’t reach the floor.

  “I can’t reach the floor,” she called up to Zach.

  “Just let go and bend your knees. It can’t be that far.”

  She squeezed her eyes shut and let go. The drop was not as far as she was afraid it might be, and she landed gently on a concrete floor. Zach dropped down from the sill but tripped when he landed and fell on his butt.

  “Ouch, that hurt,” he said.

  “Did you bend your knees?” she asked.

  “I think I bent my butt. Where are we?”

  “I don’t know. Do you have a flashlight?”

  He fished a flashlight out of his pack and flicked it on. The basement was full of kegs and bottles. A large wine rack ran along the sidewall.

  “Now what?” asked Ayesha, “Should we go upstairs?”

  “I guess. If we have to wait here all night, I don’t want to sleep on this concrete floor.”

  They climbed the stairs and opened the door at the top. The room was lit only by the lights under the glass shelving behind the bar. There was a pool table, dartboard and three large-screen televisions.

  “Is this a bar?” asked Ayesha.

  “Yes, I think so.”

  “It looks like Joe’s apartment.”

  A leather couch and some plush chairs sat in the corner by the pool table. Ayesha lay on the couch, and Zach took one of the chairs.

  “At least this is not as hot as upstairs at the Flagenmeyers,” said Ayesha.

  “And no one’s going to bang on the door yelling, ‘shut up?’”

  “Do you think Joe misses us?” asked Ayesha.

  “I think he does.”

  “Are you glad that we left the Flagenmeyers?”

  “Yeah, that place sucked, but you know what would have really made me happy?”

  “What?”

  “I would have been really happy if we had broken into the basement of a chocolate factory.”

  “No, a candy-floss factory.”

  “A sausage factory.”

  “A cake factory.”

  “A laptop factory.”

  They laughed and talked till they were both too tired to keep their eyes open.

  Just as they had both fallen asleep, the sound of keys rattling in the front door lock woke Ayesha. She sat up and listened. There were voices outside.

  “Wake up, Zach.” She shook him by the shoulders. “There’s someone here.”

  He opened his eyes and was about to say something when Ayesha covered his mouth and put her finger to her lips. She pointed to the front door.

  He realized what was going on and followed her lead when she ducked behind the pool table.

  The door opened, and a little bell hanging above the door dinged. They could hear two people entering and talking to each other.

  “I don’t know Bill,” said one of them, “all I know is that the silent alarm went off. You check the basement, and I’ll check the washrooms and office.”

  As they both left the room, Ayesha motioned Zach to follow, and they ran to the front door. As silently as she could, she turned the handle and opened the door. The tiny bell above the door dinged, and they ran.

  The street had a few brightly lit stores, streetlights and a couple of cars were driving by. They were close to downtown, and there were a few people out. Once she checked that they weren’t being followed, Ayesha slowed down to a walk.

  Zach was out of breath again. “Why do we have to keep…on…running?”

  “Maybe if you didn’t eat so much sausage and chocolate, you would be in better shape,” she said with a smile.

  “Where are we now?” he asked.

  “I think I know where we are,” she said, looking up and down the street, “and stop looking so scared.”

  “I am scared.”

  “People are looking at us, and someone is going to call the cops, so just pretend like we know where we’re going.”

  They kept walking.

  “Do we know where we’re going?”

  “Yes, it’s just down here.”

  They walked down the sidewalk, towards the brightly lit corner restaurant called, “Nevil’s All-Night Diner.”

  “Wait!” yelled Zach when they were a few metres from the entrance. He pointed down the sidewalk where two police officers were walking straight towards them.

  Ayesha and Zach stopped and looked in fear. Just before the officers were about to walk into them, they turned into the diner.

  “We need to wait till they’re gone,” said Ayesha.

  “Can’t we just go somewhere else?”

  “No, this is where my mother works – or used to work. Penny works here, and she’ll help us.”

  “I don’t know…”

  “She might give us free chocolate shakes.”

  “Let’s wait.”

  A few minutes later, the policemen led a large angry woman in a flowered dress, who was yelling, out the front door.

  Once they had left, Ayesha and Zach went into the diner. There were a few diner patrons including a grey-haired man at the far end of the diner bar who was slumped over and appeared to be sleeping. There was also a group of noisy teenagers at one of the booths.

  A waitress in a striped dress walked over to them. “Ayesha? What are you doing here?”

  “Hi, Penny,” said Ayesha.

  “Come, sit down over here,” she
motioned them to an empty booth. “Who’s your friend?”

  “I’m Zach.”

  Penny looked at the other customers to make sure she wasn’t needed and then sat down opposite them in the booth. “I’m really sorry about your Mom, Ayesha.”

  “Thanks.”

  “So, what are you doing here in the middle of the night?”

  Ayesha decided to tell her part of the truth. “It was really hot in the house, so we left for a bit.”

  “Where are you staying?” she asked.

  “We’re at a foster home,” Ayesha answered.

  Penny pointed at them. “You’re going back, right? Otherwise, I will have to call them.”

  “Of course,” chimed in Zach, “We’ll be back in the morning. Do you think maybe we could get a chocolate shake?”

  “Absolutely, big guy. Did you guys need some food too? The cook back there is bored anyway. What do you want?”

  Zach rubbed his hands and licked his lips in anticipation. “Do you have a menu?”

  After they ate too much food and drank too much chocolate, Penny came to take their dishes and garbage. “Are you kids going back now?”

  “It’s kind of scary out there,” said Ayesha, “would it be okay if we stayed here till the morning so we can take the bus?”

  “Won’t your parents – foster parents be worried?”

  “I can text them,” said Zach.

  “Okay, come with me.” Penny led them to the break room in the back. They managed to get a few hours of sleep before the sun rose the next morning, and Penny’s shift was over. They washed the sleep out of their eyes in the bathroom and walked to the nearest bus stop. They used the tip change that Penny gave them to pay for the bus that took them to Pochatok Street.