In Another Life

by Liesel Browning

  “It’s been really nice,” Sadie said.

  “Not as bad as you thought it would be, was it?”

  “Not even close,” Sadie said. When Sophie glanced up at her, she made a point of flashing her a friendly smile. “But I do think I’m going to head on home now.”

  “You gave it a good shot tonight,” Pastor Travis said. His smile was apologetic. “Troy isn’t the…brightest, I don’t think.”

  “He’s very nice,” Sadie said quickly. “Maybe a little young…?”

  “Don’t you worry,” Pastor Travis said. “Sophie and I will find a good man for you. Someone who can help you take care of your child and your brother.”

  “Thank you so much,” Sadie said. Saying this made her want to vomit (or was that morning sickness?), but it was all part of her plan, thrown together during the previous sleepless night. She wondered briefly when she’d have the chance to sleep again.

  “I’ve been a little tired,” Sadie added, hit with a sudden stroke of inspiration. She could kill two birds with one stone, make the past hour much less of a waste. She put a hand to her belly. “I just…with everything that’s happened, I was really hoping I could get up early tomorrow and go see my brother at the lab.”

  When she looked up at Pastor Travis, he was pouting sympathetically. It was almost a mocking pout, but not quite. “Well,” he said, “I’d be happy to speak with someone at the lab for you.”

  “That would just be…oh, wow,” Sadie said. “It would really be a comfort.”

  “Why, of course it would,” Pastor Travis said. “I know how important your brother is to you. You visit him a lot, don’t you?”

  Sadie nodded. She wouldn’t have been surprised to learn that Pastor Travis had access to whatever sort of surveillance was taken at the lab, the creepy, smarmy fuck.

  “I’ll ride up in the morning before I go to the church,” Pastor Travis said. “Just ride on up when you’re ready.”

  “Wow,” Sadie said again. “You’ve been so kind.”

  Pastor Travis checked his watch. “It’s just a little after nine, isn’t it? Let me write a pass for you.”

  Sadie nodded. She took the pass when he handed it to her, putting it in her pocket slowly. “Good night,” she said.

  “Good night, Sadie,” Sophie called, sounding a little uncertain. Sadie granted her a friendly little wave.

  “God bless you,” Pastor Travis called. Sadie nodded and headed for the door. She resisted the urge to start running, to never look back at those horrible people, at that horrible dining hall where she’d been subjected to so many disgusting meals.

  She couldn’t exactly start running once she got out of the dining hall, either. She didn’t really need to hurry, she just needed to be purposeful in her route. The pass might work on one, maybe two guards, depending on how diligent they were. She didn’t have much time to make a lot happen.

  *

  Sadie didn’t get home until the sun was starting to rise. There were already a few people out on the streets at that point, so the curfew was no longer in effect, and Sadie wasn’t accosted by any guards as she rode home, her bundle packed carefully into her large basket.

  Sadie thought that she’d be nervous as she packed all her necessary things into the back of her bicycle. The bundle of quilts, hiding the modest arsenal she’d stolen from the bomb shelter. The bag of weed from Johnny, which she hoped would serve a purpose. And the canvas bag that Johnny left behind, stuffed comically full of some clothes, food, and Sadie’s family pictures, minus the frames. But as Sadie stood next to her bike and examined her possessions, the only things she’d have left in the world after today…she felt determined.

  She was taking back her destiny.

  Sadie’s first stop was to the lab. The guard at the gate didn’t question her when she pulled up, just gave her a friendly wave and brought up the gate. Sadie didn’t even have to stop riding. She hoped getting out of the lab would prove as easy.

  Instead of pulling her bike up to the front of the building, she took the road that looped around the back of the hospital. If she didn’t see one there, she didn’t know what the hell she was gonna do…but there. At the small loading dock, there were two armored trucks, their engines running loudly, parked to be unloaded. She’d have to hurry, but this might just work.

  Sadie didn’t park her bike in front with the others. She might not have time to retrieve it again. She hopped off and walked it around to the side of the building, not too far from where the armored trucks rumbled at the loading dock. She went around to the front entrance. It was starting, and yet she wasn’t shaking. She was calm and focused. This could work.

  None of the white coats took notice of familiar Sadie up in the virus wing. Sadie went to her brother’s room, going in without knocking. She held her breath during her entire walk down the corridor, not releasing it until she saw that Christian was alone.

  “Hey,” she said. Christian looked up at her.

  “Sadie!” he cried. He sprang up from his chair and ran to his sister. She wrapped him in a tight, brief hug. “I didn’t mean to get in trouble, they said I wouldn’t be able to leave if I…”

  “Chris, we don’t have any time to talk about that right now,” Sadie said, whispering. She didn’t know who might be listening, how quickly they might be able to act. Out loud, she said, “You gotta do what you’re told, kid.”

  Christian only looked puzzled for a moment before he picked up on the game. “I know,” he sighed loudly. “I was just curious…”

  “Well, the scientists and staff don’t need you getting in their way,” Sadie said. “You’re lucky, remember? Not everyone’s been cured like you have.”

  “I know, but…”

  “They’re right,” Sadie said. “You gotta learn before you can live in town. If you’re good, they’ll let you come stay with me.”

  Christian’s frown was a genuine one. “What about Mom?” he asked.

  Of course, Christian wouldn’t have heard of his mother’s pending expulsion. “We need to talk,” Sadie said. “Come on, let’s take a walk in the garden.” In a whisper, Sadie added, “Just do as I tell you, kid.” Christian nodded solemnly.

  The lab staff didn’t seem to take notice of Sadie and Christian heading downstairs. If they even thought of it, they’d just assume she was taking him down to get in some time on his bike, something that he hadn’t gotten since his last quarantine began. That’s all they needed to think.

  But before they reached the bottom floor, they came face-to-face with Sophie, who was coming up the stairwell. She looked up at them, startled for a moment, before smiling. “Hey,” she said. “You came.”

  “Yeah,” Sadie said. She was too worked up to be polite. “We’re just…”

  Sophie narrowed her eyes suspiciously. “What’re you up to?” she asked.

  “Nothing,” Sadie insisted, and she knew she sounded lame and unconvincing. She couldn’t fake her way past Sophie this time. So she gave her a hard look, and whispered just loud enough for the intern to hear, “Get the hell out of our way.”

  Sophie stared a Sadie for a moment, then nodded. She pressed herself against the wall and let Sadie and Christian pass by. Sadie again fought the temptation to run. Sophie might have let them pass, but she might not keep her mouth shut.

  When they got outside, Sadie wordlessly gestured to the other end of the building. They hurried along the outer wall until they came to Sadie’s bike. “Wait here,” Sadie whispered.

  “What’re you…?”

  “Chris, I’ll tell you everything later,” Sadie snapped. “But this is important, and we have to move fast!”

  Christian shut his mouth and nodded. Sadie didn’t have time to feel bad. She reached into her basket and grabbed out the ridiculously big bag of weed. She stuffed it into her jacket, where it bulged out awkwardly. Holding the bag in place, she gave her brother a brief look. He stared back at her, pale and wide-eyed…but trusting. Whatever she asked him to do, he’d
do it.

  Sadie gave her brother a quick nod and went around to the loading dock. She only had so much time…

  Only one of the trucks was still there, still idling. Sadie climbed a short flight of stairs up to the loading dock, and found a single dock worker unloading boxes from a truck. Like Zach, he appeared to have recently shaved off a beard, the bottom of his face significantly paler than his nose and forehead.

  “Hey, man,” Sadie said. The dockworker paused as he picked up the last box from the truck.

  “You’re not supposed to be back here,” he said. He grabbed that last box and came out of the back of the truck, putting it down with the others.

  “I thought you might be able to help me out with something,” Sadie said. She beckoned the dockworker closer. He wore a jumpsuit similar to the ones worn by mechanics in the auto shop, and his name was stitched above his heart. Michael. “Mike,” she said in a whisper when he was close enough to hear her, “I need this truck.”

  “Huh?” Michael asked.

  Sadie shushed him. “Keep your voice down,” she said. “I need this truck.” She showed him the bag of weed for a moment, and his eyes got wide. “You’d like that, wouldn’t you? All you gotta do is tell them I threatened you with a gun.”

  “How would you…?”

  Sadie shushed him again. “Haven’t you learned to keep your voice down, man?” Sadie asked. “Take the weed, tell the lie. They’ll believe you. That’s it.”

  Michael looked uncertain for a moment. He glanced at the idling armored truck, and glanced at Sadie. “Make it quick,” he mumbled, and Sadie thrust the bag of weed into his hands and ran back around the side of the building to get her bike and her brother.

  Both were still there, and Sadie was starting to believe that she’d pull this off, somehow. “Go climb in the truck,” Sadie said, grabbing her bike. “Come on, quick!”

  Christian took a moment to look at his sister, then at the big armored truck. “What about my bike?” he asked.

  Sadie’s eyes widened. She wanted to grab the kid and throw him in the back of the truck. “Don’t worry about it, we gotta go!” she insisted. “You can have this one, okay? I don’t even care.”

  “No, I want my bike!” And for the first time, Christian directly defied his older sister. He ran off towards the front of the building.

  Sadie didn’t yell after him. After a moment of indecision, she left her bike…but took one thing along. She was glad that she did, because when she came around to the front of the building, she found that Christian had stopped short. Three uniformed guards stood between Christian and the bike rack, where his ridiculous bike was waiting.

  Sadie aimed her handgun at the guard in the middle. “Back off,” she said. “It’s loaded.” This was no bluff. Down in the bomb shelter, she’d found hundreds of guns, hanging on the walls or laid out on tables. Beside each gun was the ammo to go with it. It was so well-organized, Sadie thought someone from the council (perhaps Bob himself) went down there frequently and took inventory, the way Amelia used to obsess over the food in the pantry.

  Sadie had a couple of handguns and a couple of rifles. She’d made her selects based on the amount of ammo she could get for each. She had a whole box of bullets for the little gun she now pointed at another human being. She didn’t want to kill anyone, but she aimed right at the guard’s head.

  The guards didn’t have weapons, of course. They put their hands up and backed off. Sadie stepped up to them, not taking her eyes off the one in the middle, her target. The poor young man looked terrified. Just stay back, and it’ll be okay for all of us, Sadie thought.

  “Get your bike, Christian,” Sadie ordered. Christian was frozen beside her. “Get your fucking bike, now!” she cried. She wasn’t worried about security anymore. Her cover was blown, and she had to move faster.

  Christian grabbed his bike, and he hurried back around the side of the building. Sadie still aimed her gun at the young man as she backed up. “Go back inside,” Sadie said. “Leave us alone.”

  She didn’t turn and run until she’d gotten around the corner of the building. When she ran towards the dock, she saw her bike was gone. She panicked…until she saw Christian closing the back of the truck. “It’s in, let’s go!” he cried, clamoring down the short set of stairs. Sadie helped him into the big truck before she got in on the driver’s side.

  As she pulled the truck away from the loading dock, she saw a few more uniformed guards coming towards them. Sadie pressed on the gas. She’d driven plenty of armored trucks before, of course, transporting them from the warehouse to the auto shop and back, but never at any considerable speed. She didn’t want to hit anyone, either, but…

  The other guards jumped aside as the truck, picking up speed, headed for the road leading to the gate. One guard tried to stand ground, and as the truck barreled down on him, Sadie squeezed her eyes shut, not wanting to see…

  “Sadie, he jumped aside,” Christian assured her, putting a gentle hand on her arm. Sadie opened her eyes, and it was a good thing she did, because she nearly drove the truck off the paved road.

  With the radio system, the guards at the gate already knew they weren’t meant to allow the truck through. The guard on the lab side of the gate came around to the driver’s side of the truck as Sadie pulled to a stop in front of the steel doors. She couldn’t just run over the gates, of course. But…

  She took a chance by hopping out of the truck. Before the guard could approach her, she pointed the gun in his face. “Open it.”

  “Come on,” the man said, his hands up. “I’ve got a family.”

  “So do I,” Sadie said calmly. “Open the fucking gate.”

  Sadie was already back in the driver’s seat by the time the gate was open. As soon as the truck could pass through, she gunned the accelerator.

  “Sadie,” Christian said timidly beside her, “What’s going on?”

  “A lot,” Sadie said shortly. She added, “Don’t worry. Everything’s been all wrong, and I’m making it right for us. Just…just do as I say, all right?”

  Christian nodded.

  “Thanks for getting the bike in,” Sadie said. “We gotta get your mother, and then we’re out of here.”

  “We’re leaving?”

  Sadie nodded. “We gotta find another life somewhere else.”

  *

  When Sadie was first planning out her escape from Sanctuary Coast, she imagined taking her handgun into the council building, demanding that Amelia be handed over to her, and taking off in the armored truck with her lover and Christian, going off to…Sadie still didn’t know where. The armored truck only had half a tank of gas, and she knew enough about it to know that it wouldn’t get them too far.

  Now that Sadie was driving through the narrow streets of SC, laying on the horn to get terrified bicyclists out of the way, she was starting to think that her entire plan was crazy. She was gonna get her family into serious trouble, maybe even killed, before this was all through. If she’d only left things alone…

  But she couldn’t let Amelia die alone out there. Even this was better.

  Sadie was surprised not to find a whole swarm of guards waiting at the council building as she pulled up. She left the truck idling. “Stay here,” she said to her brother. “Keep the doors locked, don’t do anything.”

  “Sadie?” Christian said timidly.

  “Yeah?”

  “Be careful.”

  Sadie nodded. She leaned in and gave her brother a brief kiss on the forehead. “I love you, kid,” she said. “Stay right here.”

  Sadie walked into the council building. As soon as she stepped through the open doors, she was surrounded by council members, staffers, and guards, holding various rifles and handguns from the underground arsenal, all aimed at her. “Put it down, Sadie,” Nancy, holding a rifle that was about as big as she was, demanded.

  Sadie swallowed a lump in her throat. “Go ahead and shoot.”

  When Nancy fired the rifle, Sadie g
asped involuntarily. Though she was about 98% sure of what would happen, that 2% of uncertainty was terrifying. So she also sighed with relief when the rifle clicked uselessly.

  “Did anybody actually check to see if their gun was loaded?” Sadie asked. Because she had. She’d spent hours the previous night down in the arsenal, checking each weapon and dumping the bullets as fast as she could. She’d taken all the boxes of ammo and stacked them under the beds in the bomb shelter. “Ammo’s still down there, so if anybody wants to go and take the time to load, I’ll just shoot a couple of people in the face. Or you can get my lover and let us go.”

  “Sadie,” Bob said, stepping forward with his hands up, “You’re acting like we’re the villains in this. All we want to do is protect people and begin civilization again. We’ve tried to protect you.”

  “Look, you can have your gold mines and your crazy church and your shady science lab, I don’t fucking care,” Sadie said. She aimed her gun at Bob. “I’d shoot you. Someone get Amelia.”

  Bob nodded to the councilman, the fat one, beside him. This guy went up the stairs to get Sadie’s lover from wherever they’d been holding her the last couple of days. No one else moved, no one spoke, as Sadie kept her gun aimed steadily on Bob, the leader of this insane community. It felt like forever before Amelia came rushing down the stairs. The fat ass didn’t come back.

  “Sadie, don’t do it!” Amelia cried as she saw her lover with the gun.

  “Christian’s out in the truck,” Sadie said. “Go.”

  Amelia didn’t hesitate. No one tried to stop her as she ran out the door. When Amelia was finally out of the council building, Sadie said, “They’re gonna let us out at the gates.”

  “We can’t let you steal from us,” Bob said, bold for having the only loaded gun in the room aimed at him.

  “I’d say we’re evening things out,” Sadie said. “Unless you can give me back my truck, and all the shit we came in with, I’d call it even.”

  “We gave you a home, and fed you…”