Sifters

by Shane Scollins

  “Entech and CoreCo became Cortech.”

  Rotus wiped his forearm over his forehead. “Holy cow, how didn’t I know that?”

  “Cortech became the supplier for the entire military complex, and they are the number one lobby hand in politics. They’ve bought every election since. They own the school system in every city and every politician in Washington.”

  Rotus looked at him, cocked his head. “Who are you? What’s your full name?”

  “Tallon Washburn.”

  Rotus searched the steel-beamed ceiling with his eyes. Dia looked up reflexively, thinking he was looking at something in particular, but he wasn’t.

  “Why do I know that name?” Rotus asked.

  Dia looked at Tallon, curious. She knew nothing about this man, really. All she knew was that he was Chloe’s brother, and she didn’t even know who Chloe really was. Yet something about him made her trust him.

  Tallon shrugged.

  “Yeah—yeah, I know.” Rotus pointed with his finger, moving it up and down. “Tallon Washburn, I know that name, I know you. You were one of Larouche’s men. You were special-forces, part of the Diamond Dagger. You guys were famous in the intelligence world after taking down the Siberian Rebels.”

  Tallon didn’t respond.

  “Yeah, in fact, I know someone who knows you, that hotshot medic. Alice, Alice Ebota. I ran across her at a speaking engagement.” He smiled fondly. “I had such a crush on her.”

  “Rotus,” Tallon interrupted this pondering, “I need your help.”

  “Right, right. What with?”

  “I was told you know how to deactivate a DNS.”

  Rotus nodded. “I should, I created them. I made the first neuro stimulator when I was at MIT. It’s what got me into intelligence.”

  “I don’t understand,” Dia said. “How come you’re out here? Why aren’t you living in some high-rise in the city?”

  “That’s a good question,” Tallon agreed. “A man like you, with your knowledge, would be invaluable.”

  Rotus raised his chin, ran his fingers over his neck. “Come with me.”

  They followed him to the end of the gymnasium and into a small office. Rotus closed the door behind him. He sat on top of the desk cluttered with microchips and electronics, wires and other things. “I chose not to become part of the establishment. I lived my whole life having my soul sucked away piece by piece.” He reached into his pocket and took out a wallet-sized picture. “Her name was Jael, we were going to be married the week of the big Chicago meteor hit. She was Mexican, and they refused to let me bring her into the city, so I refused my golden ticket. But certain people didn’t want to take no for an answer. They didn’t want me out here, knowing what I do, with my skill set. I’m too dangerous to their agenda. But I refused an offer they were sure I wouldn’t refuse. Big money, big house, big status, I told them no.”

  Rotus looked down, sniffled. “About a week after the last annex, Jael was murdered. We were living in one of the communes that popped up. I woke up to a noise in the house. Two men were in our bungalow. They tied us up and executed Jael in front of me. I could never prove who did it, of course. But about two days later, I got another offer. They made it clear that if I refused again, I wouldn’t live to tell about it.”

  Tallon nodded. “That’s how they work.”

  “I didn’t want it. It killed every good part of me. It crushed me. Jael was the love of my life. So I did something to make sure they’d never come looking for me again.”

  “You faked your death,” Tallon said.

  Rotus nodded. “I came across a fresh lot of bodies. Some soldiers had been killed in the skirmish with the locals. I found one that had similar build, put my ID on him, and put him in my car just inside the annex one-zero-zero outside Newark. I burned the car up with some kerosene. I disappeared. Which is why I can’t help you with your problem. I vowed to spend the rest of my days making the government pay. Helping anyone from the city is not on my agenda.”

  Dia said, “You have to help.”

  Rotus shook his head. “I’m sorry, I can’t take the chance. I can’t go into the city, ever. They might spot me with one of the facial recognition cams, and if that happens, I’ll never get away again.”

  Tallon narrowed his glare. “How’d you know she was in the city? I didn’t say anything.”

  Rotus laughed. “What am I, a fool? I know who you are, and no one on the outside would have a neuro-stim in their heads.”

  “She’s my sister. She’s only twenty years old, she’s just a kid.”

  “Not my problem.”

  “I can make sure you’ll be safe,” Tallon insisted.

  “How? If you’re out here, begging for my help, you’re obviously in a load of trouble yourself.”

  “I still have a ton of friends inside. I’m friends with cops, all of them. And I plan on making Cortech pay for messing with my family.”

  Dia looked at Tallon. “You didn’t tell me that. You’d better not be screwing me over. We made a deal.”

  “If he doesn’t help, there is no deal.” Tallon balled his fist and raised it up. “If my sister dies, I’m going straight after the neck of the beast, I’m cutting it off, and I’m leaving town never to be seen again.” He stormed out of the office.

  Dia stood there. She was furious and wanted to punch someone.

  “I’m sorry,” Rotus said.

  Dia didn’t want to punch someone, she wanted to punch him. Lucky for this clown she wasn’t one to beat on someone for no reason. “You don’t care.”

  “I do care.”

  “No, you don’t. You’ve got nothing to lose, you’re already dead. And now my brother is too. And so are all those kids those scumbags own.”

  “I wish I could help.”

  She faced him, folded her arms below her chest. “You can. You can help. You don’t have to be a selfish prick like everyone else in this world. Don’t you care?”

  He shrugged. “I’m not selfish, I help countless people.”

  “Then why won’t you help us? You troll around out here in the ruins, helping these people.” Dia smiled. “Oh, I get it. You just won’t help because this is about Juicers. My brother, though he should have been out here with us, ended up a Juicer. But you know, that wasn’t his choice, he was a little kid. That was my father thinking he was doing the best thing for his child. He thought he was giving him a better life. If only we knew.”

  She turned and walked to the door, stopped as her hand touched the J-shaped lever. “If they had allowed you to bring Jael with you, would you’ve gone?” She didn’t turn around to look at him, and he didn’t answer. “I think we both know the answer to that one. Sifters, Juicers, it’s all bullshit. We’re all just one slight twist of fate from being the same.” She opened the door and left the office.

  Dia looked up to the rafters of the gymnasium. There were several purple and gold banners still hanging from years long gone. One in particular was hanging askew. It said New Jersey State Champions. Dia wondered what it was like to be a student rooting for the Roxbury Gaels. She never got to experience high school. She vividly recalled her last day of school. They tried to keep schools going as long as they could, but eventually it just got lost in the shuffle.

  Tallon stood at the far side of the gym. She walked over to him. “I’m sorry.”

  “It’s not your fault.”

  “Guess we’re both screwed.”

  “No, we’re not screwed. Chloe and Ray are. And all those kids who are unfortunate enough to be enrolled in any of the Cortech owned schools.”

  “Growing a conscience all of a sudden?”

  Tallon shook his head slowly. “I’ve spent too much time keeping the secrets of Cortech. Before that, I dedicated my life to defending a country I no longer believed in. Most people inside don’t even know this is out here. Those of us who do, feel better to ignore it. It’s hard to maintain that hard edge to do the jobs I have to do, and feel sorry for anyone. The world has
not forsaken America, the people haven’t, but the government has.”

  “Profound.”

  “When we were walking in here, I saw all those kids playing. It made me think. They looked so carefree, not like the kids in the city who are always going somewhere and doing something. The kids in the city are like zombies walking down a path they don’t even care about and probably never will. They’re forced into a life they don’t want, and the only way they will ever be able to cope with it is being married to their drugs.”

  “That’s the way people seem to want it, all whacked out on drugs.”

  “They don’t have to be. The kids are losing their innocence, their wonder, and the world is losing the unique things that used to make us great.”

  “Okay,” A man said from behind them. They both turned to see Rotus standing there. “I’ll help.”

  Dia met his eyes, and he nodded.

  Chapter 21

  The explosion ripped the wall apart, just as Rotus said it would. Tallon was definitely impressed that such a small amount of charge turned a two-foot thick concrete wall into rubble.

  “Just like that,” Rotus said as they started removing the few large blocks that would be in their way.

  “What is that stuff?” Tallon inquired.

  Rotus threw a large block. “It’s called C-8, compound eight. It was derived from C-4 but has several other compounds added into it. It allows you to have both the charge and ignition in the same package, no detonators or electric charge required. You need only twist the two compounds together, press them into the surface and stand back.”

  Tallon hefted a huge block. “The ignition is delayed. How’d you engineer something like that in?”

  Rotus blew a breath. “It was a lot of trial and error. It’s heat activated, the two compounds have oppositional properties. But you have to be careful. Depending on the temperature and weather conditions such as humidity and barometric pressure, you get a slight variation in the ignition factor. That makes it tricky. Sometimes you think you have two seconds when you only have one, so don’t trust it.”

  Tallon clapped his hands together and brushed them clean of dust. “Still a handy little compound.”

  “Here.” Rotus handed him three sticks. “You just pull the plastic divider strip, twist the compounds together and get back.”

  Tallon examined the three-inch pencil thin strips before securing them in the ballistics pouch on his vest. He then yanked the final piece of stone from the opening to allow Dia to slide her trim body through the fissure and gain access into the building. Tallon watched Rotus follow her, just as easily.

  He sucked in a deep breath and wedged his way into the crack. It was a tight fit around his chest area but he managed to scrape through.

  Tallon looked back outside. “You sure none of those Preppers are going to hear that blast?”

  “Doesn’t matter if anyone did,” Rotus said. “The Preppers don’t mess with me. I know most of the clans from this area. The Jonas Clan, the David Clan, the Job Clan, they all owe me.”

  “What is this place?” Dia asked as she looked around the large building.

  “This was a police impound bunker.”

  Tallon looked around at the cars in the garage. “We just need something small, something that won’t look out of place trying to drive into the city.”

  “There,” Dia said when they came upon a small silver hatchback.

  “An old Honda, that’s perfect,” Tallon said.

  Rotus opened the door. “Easy to hotwire too… but hey, keys are in it.”

  “Great,” Tallon said. “Now, we just need something to make a hole.” He shined his light and saw an old police cruiser. “Follow me.”

  Tallon got into the vehicle, and it started right up. Amazingly, the old battery still had enough juice to fire up the big beast. They were not as lucky with the Honda, but after a quick jumpstart, both cars were running.

  Tallon put the old Ford in gear and aimed at the breach in the wall. He planted the pedal to the floor and slammed into the concrete as hard as he could. It blasted apart, the car crunched and vaulted into the air. It nearly flipped over as it twisted to the side and came to a stop.

  He got out and went back to remove the large pieces of concrete so Rotus could pilot the small Honda through the debris.

  Back to his motorcycle, Tallon sped off with the Honda in tow.

  * * *

  Dia looked out the window of the car, up to the sky. Counting the stars was something she used to do with her father when she was a little girl. He would humor her, though it was an impossible task. Just a small sliver of the nearly full moon appeared from behind the clouds. It looked like the sickle of The Grim Reaper. It was ominous.

  “You impressed me,” Rotus said.

  Dia looked to the driver seat. “With what?”

  “You made me think. I’ve been resenting everyone in the city for so long that I forgot how close I was to being one. I’ve long ago accepted my identity, I embraced being a Sifter.” He smiled at her. “You should too.”

  Dia didn’t know how to reply.

  “You have to stand for something, or you’ll fall for anything.”

  “I stand for me and what little family I have left.”

  “You’re a smart girl.”

  She was kind of staring into space. “Not that smart.”

  Rotus laughed. “Don’t sell yourself short. I know people. I have a sense about them. It’s what’s gotten me by out here. I’m assuming that same ability has aided you.”

  “If I was so smart, I wouldn’t have gotten myself thrown in jail and booted out of the city in the first place.”

  “I said you’re smart. I didn’t say you weren’t impetuous.”

  Dia looked at him. She kinda knew what he meant, but she wasn’t sure of that word. “Impetuous?”

  “It means rash or hot-headed.”

  She nodded. “See, told you I’m not that smart.”

  “Intelligence is ultimately not quantified by the knowledge one has gained from books or teachings. Intelligence is the ability to understand a situation and solve problems as they arise in an expedited manner. Albert Einstein said, it’s not that I’m smarter than everyone, it’s that I stay with things longer. Einstein was a relentless workhorse. He never gave up. He refused to be denied by even the most complex issues. His persistence is what set him apart from his peers. Most people give up when things get too hard. One or two roadblocks and they jump off the trail. They look for the easy way out, and when they can’t find one, they just decide they didn’t want it bad enough.”

  Dia nodded. She’d not heard anyone talk like him since her mother. Her mother was very smart. She used to lecture her all the time. In Japan, people didn’t talk down to children, they treated them as equals, and because of that they were able to grasp more complex things at a younger age.

  They came up to the checkpoint and stopped when the traffic backed a couple cars deep. Tallon quickly got off his bike and came back to the car to her window.

  “Here.” He held out two silver cards. “These are temporary resident cards, he handed them each a small piece of paper. Here are your identification numbers, memorize it.”

  Dia took the cards and handed one to Rotus.

  “What if they ask our names?” Rotus asked Dia.

  She shook her head. “They won’t. These resident cards aren’t done by names, they’re done by number. As long as whoever has this card says the right confirmation number, it’s all good.”

  Rotus nodded and turned the card in his hand. “So they don’t care who’s coming in and out, as long as this card is tracked.”

  “Yup. It’s purposely vague. The truth is they don’t care about the people, they just care how many of these cards are in the city. These cards are the residents.”

  “So they want unlawful acts.”

  “They know that no one gives these things away while they’re still alive. People guard them with their soul.” Dia lea
ned out the window and glanced at the cityscape. They’d be up at the checkpoint in a matter of seconds.

  The line went fast, and before she knew it there was a guard at her side of the car with a mobile card reader. Dia handed him the card, he scanned it and handed it back.

  After a long beep issued from the device the guard asked, “Recite your confirmation code please.”

  Dia said, “Three-four-nine, eight-two, five-nine.”

  The guard waved his arm. “Pass through.” There was no fuss, and they were driving into the annex.

  Chapter 22

  Tallon pressed the red button on the intercom box, the buzzer sounded, and he waited for a response. The speaker crackled and he replied, “It’s me.” After a few seconds, the lock clicked open and he yanked the handle. He let Rotus and Dia step past, then locked the door behind him.

  The building was only one main room, all beige, with a small office to the rear where Ebo stood by the door near a gurney. Chloe lay there surrounded by machines and other medical equipment. It tugged at his heart to see his baby sister like that. “How’s she doing?”

  Ebo placed the stethoscope on a rolling cart near the gurney. “She’s stable.” She looked at Rotus, scrunched her brow, and bobbed her finger at him. “I remember you.”

  Rotus nodded. “We’ve met in the past.”

  Ebo turned her head and then looked back at him. “I met you at MIT. You were part of the faculty lecture group.”

  Rotus nodded. “I never forget a name or a face, especially not yours. You left quite the impression on the medical advisors.”

  Ebo smiled. “I try to leave my mark.”

  Tallon interrupted, “Small word, good times, could we get on with this?”

  Rotus placed his leather bag on the stainless steel table next to the gurney. He pulled out a device with a touch-screen and attached alligator clips to the two steel posts protruding from the top. He looked at Ebo. “I need you to attach an EKG, and an EEG. I’m also going to need the paddles charged.”