by Ryan Gawley
Near the main lift sat Harper’s rusted van which he always left open since it was common for one of the girls to need fresh cleaning materials or sometimes to discretely retrieve another item they needed to satisfy a client’s more unusual fetish. What she had also learned was that he kept a spare key in the ashtray for times when he needed to send a girl on an errand.
Biding her time and concerned that the guards may still watch her Lucy opened the back of the van and gathered some cleaning materials into a plastic caddy. She quietly closed the door again and slid the caddy under the van then darted to the wall opposite the van and out of any line of sight from the guard hut. Crouching behind the line of parked cars she crept up beyond the point at which the overhead lights were extinguished and whispered into the dark at each covered car desperately hoping to hear her sister’s reply.
She had reached the end of the row and crossed over to begin working her way back along the wall toward the lift. At the second car from the top she heard a faint call.
‘Lucy? Is that you?’
‘Kathy? Yes it’s me. I came back for you.’
‘Is it safe?’
‘Yes, but we have to go, where are you?’
Lucy detected some slight movement in the dim light from the next car down as a slender figure appeared from under the dust sheet. She rushed to hug her sister immediately but stopped short. It was overwhelming for both girls, they had only recently learned of each other’s existence and until now had never seen one another. They couldn’t even be sure each was who they claimed to be but here now some deeper instinct told them the truth.
Crouched in the dark, unseen between rows of stored antique cars the two sisters held each other and silently wept tears of joy. Both had known great pain and now that pain dissolved as a family bond that had never been was forged for the first time.
‘Great place for a family reunion eh?’ said Lucy laughing off the emotion.
Kathy wiped the tears from her cheeks. ‘I knew you would come back for me but now you’re here I don’t know what to say except thank you.’
‘Don’t worry, we’ll have plenty of time to catch up soon but first we’ve got to get out of here. I have a friend waiting for us and he’ll be getting pretty worried by now. Come on.’
They scurried along between the wall and rows of cars, feeling exposed as they entered the fully lit section of garage but kept going, time was short and they had to keep moving. Pausing by the last car Lucy looked to the guard hut at the top of the ramp to check for signs for movement but there were none so she took Kathy by the hand and led her across the open gap to Harper’s van.
‘Get in the side door and lie down between the seats,’ said Lucy climbing into the driver’s seat. As Kathy clicked the sliding door closed as quietly as possible Lucy pulled open the ash tray in the van’s dash console.
‘Shit, there’s supposed to be a key here.’
‘What’s the matter, don’t you have the keys already?’
‘Does this look like my van?’ asked Lucy beginning to panic.
‘Well, how would I know, I’ve only just met you,’ snapped Kathy.
Lucy took a moment to compose herself. ‘Sorry, bickering like sisters already eh? It’s just that this is my boss’s van, well, ex-boss. He was supposed to have a spare key and it’s not here.’
‘Maybe you could hotwire it or something? Isn’t that what people do in situations like this?’
Lucy anxiously checked the van’s side mirrors and glanced at the lift, her gut tightening, expecting at any minute for a guard or Harper to appear and find them. Then she had an idea and got out and opened the back of the van franticly searching for a tool kit she had seen Harper store in the load space. She found it and unfastened the lid, rummaged around and selected a long narrow flat bladed screw driver.
Back in the driver’s seat she slotted the point into the worn ignition and slapped it hard with her palm but it only slipped in a little way and hurt her hand. She looked around for anything she might use to encourage the screwdriver deeper when a claw hammer appeared from over the seat behind her.
‘Would this help?’ asked Kathy handing over the tool to her sister.
‘Perfect, thanks,’ said Lucy taking the hammer and striking the handle of the screwdriver and driving the shaft between the grooves of the ignition lock. The noise echoed around the concrete space and drew the attention of the junior guard who was standing out of the hut smoking a cigarette. He stood looking at the van but didn’t see any movement.
‘Pray this works Kathy,’ said Lucy grabbing the handle of the screwdriver and turning the shaft. It turned freely and the dash lights came on. Another turn and the engine fired into life and Lucy could feel a cold sweat trickle down her back as her heart pounded in her chest.
She reversed the van then drove slowly up the ramp toward the guards.
‘Hi, remember me?’ she said to the junior officer who quickly dropped his cigarette and ground it under foot.
‘Yes miss, leaving already?’
‘Well, Mr. Harper asked me to run back for some supplies. I’ll miss making my tips but if it keeps the boss happy maybe I won’t lose my job, you know?’
‘Sounds like you might just get away with it,’ said the older guard as he appeared at the doorway of the hut.
Lucy smiled and batted her eyelids at him. ‘Yeah, I think I just might.’
The barrier was raised and she slowly drove out. The guards watched as she stopped a short distance down the street and pulled into the loading area of a nearby building before reappearing a moment later and passed them this time driving in the opposite direction and waving as she went by. The guards cheerfully waved back as Lucy, Kathy and Sam sped off into the maze of streets never to return.
CHAPTER 20
‘You must be Sam,’ said Kathy when they were a safe distance from Henderson’s building.
The big scruffy stranger flashed a friendly smile and thrust a large rough hand toward her in greeting. ‘Hi Kathy, nice to meet you, let’s hope we live long enough to get to know each other,’ laughed Sam as they both bounced around in the rear of the van with cans of cleaning products and disinfectant falling on top of them from the narrow wooden shelves lining the sides of the load space.
‘Excuse me a moment, I just need to speak to the driver,’ said Sam stepping over Kathy and trying to steady himself as he made his way toward the front and peered out from between the seats through the cracked windscreen to the city streets ahead.
‘How’re you doing up here?’ he asked Lucy. He knew she would be fine but she was gripping the wheel so tightly her knuckles were white.
Lucy felt nervous, scared and excited all at once. ‘So far so good,’ she replied, ‘except I haven’t driven in years so this old heap is a bit of a challenge.’
‘You’re doing well, just keep the speed down and hopefully we’ll make it to the gate without being stopped. Head back to where we stashed the bike; I’m not leaving it behind now.’
‘Why don’t we just keep going? We’re on the road now, let’s get out of the city and away from here. You don’t need the bike anymore do you?’
‘I’m not leaving my bike, it’s on the way anyway and I might never find another. Besides, it looks like we’ll need to get some fuel.’
Lucy glanced down at the fuel gauge and saw Sam was right, they had only about a quarter tank left and that wouldn’t get them too far when they got past the city perimeter. After a few streets more Lucy pulled the van to a halt by the kerb under a tree adjacent to the alley where she and Sam had ditched the motorcycle.
‘What’s happening?’ Kathy asked nervously as she poked her head forward between the seats.
‘Are you okay Kathy?’ asked Lucy suddenly feeling guilty for excluding her sister. ‘We have to pull in for a little bit but we won’t be long. Sam wants to pick up his bike and we need to find fuel for the van before we leave.’
‘But what if my father orders the Enforcers to come l
ooking for me, they’ll find us and he’ll have us all killed. I’d rather die than go back but I don’t want anything to happen to you two.’
‘I thought you’d sedated him?’ asked Lucy
‘He’s out cold, I gave him a huge dose but I don’t know how long it’ll last. I suppose he can’t get out of the apartment without this,’ said Kathy holding up the little plastic bag containing the blood smeared RFID chip from Henderson’s arm implant.
‘What the hell is that?’ asked Sam
Kathy handed the bag to Sam so he could examine it more closely. ‘It’s a little chip from my father’s arm; he uses it to access the controls for the lift to his apartment.’
‘I knew it!’ exclaimed Sam. ‘Didn’t I tell you they were experimenting with chipping people? I figured they’d chip the Dregs for tracking and control but I guess they have other plans for us if the Elites are beginning to implant themselves. Do you have a chip as well?’
‘No, I was never implanted and he disabled my access after he killed my mother. The door to the lift won’t work without a chip or an authorised thumbprint, that’s how he held me captive.’
‘What a bastard,’ said Sam shaking his head.
‘Come on, we can’t sit here for too long, we’re already getting attention from the locals,’ said Lucy returning the stares of some passers-by who were obviously more accustomed to a better pedigree of vehicle on their streets than the rusty van in which the trio were riding.
Sam began to rummage through the equipment and supplies in the rear of the cleaning van and set aside several five litre cans of industrial cleaning solution which were simply marked as solvent. He pulled a long length of clear tubing from a carpet cleaning machine and coiled it before stuffing it in his jacket pocket. Finding the small tool kit Lucy had used in the parking garage he searched through it but couldn’t find what he needed.
‘Damn it, I wish I had the crowbar from my rucksack now. I need something to use as a lever but there’s nothing useful here.’
‘What about this?’ asked Lucy passing back a large screwdriver.
‘Yeah, that might work thanks.’
‘Just don’t lose it, that’s our ignition key.’
Sam slid open the van’s side door and stepped out onto the pavement as Lucy hopped down from the front seat and joined him.
‘Kathy should come with us,’ Lucy said to Sam as he unscrewed the metal lids from the solvent cans and worked quickly setting them on their sides spilling the noxious smelling liquid under the van where it ran along the kerb and began to pool in a dipped section of road that was long overdue for repair.
‘If anything happens I don’t want to get separated from her,’ she said smiling at her sister who was sitting in the side opening of the van and covering her mouth and nose with her sleeve to try to avoid the powerful fumes rising from the solvent.
‘Okay,’ agreed Sam, ‘but we all stick together, and everyone has to carry a couple of cans each. Here, take these,’ he said screwing the lids back onto the first two empty cans and handing them to Kathy.
When they each had two empty cans they shut the van doors and hurried off along the street in the direction of a long line of residential buildings. The grand structures were four stories tall and large enough to house several families but each occupied by only one. Outside many of the homes were expensive cars, high-end models all of which had been preserved from destruction by their owners who had paid a huge contribution to Central Administration for the privilege of ownership. Now they were like trophies, gleaming but mostly unused, a status symbol proudly displayed on the driveways of those rich enough to afford the luxury.
As Kathy, Lucy and Sam walked quickly along the streets they would have raised suspicion from anyone who cared to notice but it seemed anybody they met was in a great hurry to be somewhere else. Several people rushed by with panic on their faces, some could be seen shooing their children inside before slamming and locking doors and closing blinds and drawing curtains. Sirens from Enforcer wagons wailed along the neighbouring streets but none passed by the three figures as they scurried from house to house, stopping out of sight for several moments alongside expensive Audi, BMW, Mercedes and Jaguar vehicles before moving to the next.
Sam spat a mouthful of petrol on the ground as the fuel ran freely from the tubing he had inserted in the tank of a silver Mercedes S65 AMG after prising open the fuel filler cap. He quickly moved the open end of the tube into the neck of an empty solvent can and coughed as his throat and nose burned from the taste and fumes of petrol.
‘Oh, what I wouldn’t give for a packet of mints now. Thankfully this is the last can. That’s makes four gallons of diesel and two of petrol. I’ll take the petrol for the bike, you girls take the diesel for the van and we’re set’.
As they sat crouched between the car and a thick border hedge lining the garden waiting for the trickle of fuel from the thin tube to fill the remaining can they heard the slap of leather soled shoes on pavement and heavy breathing as a man approached the house at a run. Sam and the girls froze, sure they would be found out but the man ran past and up the driveway to the front door. He was out of breath by the time he reached out and began repeatedly pressing the doorbell.
Eventually an attractive middle aged woman wearing a light blue dressing gown and with wisps of her blonde hair poking from under the white towel wrapped around her head opened the door with a scowl. Before the man could get a word out she began scolding him.
‘Robert, what are you doing here? I was in the bath and it’s freezing out here. Look at the state of you, what’s this about?’
‘Shut up Patricia!’ said the man firmly while still struggling to regain his breath. ‘Where are the kids?’
‘They’re upstairs in bed, Kevin came down with some bug and Sally wasn’t feeling well either so I thought it best to keep them home. What’s this about? If this is some stupid attempt to get to see them you can forget it, you know you’re only allowed to see the children every other weekend.’
‘Patricia, listen to me. I have to come in. There’s some kind of trouble in the Dreg sectors. I don’t know what it is but it’s serious. I haven’t seen so many Enforcers on this side of the barricades in years. We were watching it all from the office window this morning. They’re trying to get over the walls, the Enforcers are keeping them back but it’s like a warzone along the sector barriers.’
‘Look Robert, I’m sure that Central Control knows what they’re doing. There has been no mention of any disturbance on the news feeds and you said yourself that the Enforcers are at the barriers and are keeping them back. A few angry Dregs are nothing to get so worked up about. I honestly don’t know how I put up with your silly dramas for so many years.’
‘Alright Patricia, have it your way, I’ll go but please, for the sake of the kids, please, lock all the doors and windows and close the curtains. Keep a low profile and don’t go anywhere until all this has been sorted out.’
As the three friends hid behind the car they heard the conversation end with the door slamming and the man turning to walk away quickly. ‘Stupid bitch,’ he muttered angrily before running back the way he came.
‘Do you know what he was talking about?’ asked Kathy remembering the distressing images she had noticed on Henderson’s tablet screen when she grabbed it before leaving the penthouse.
Sam and Lucy looked to each other and knew the trouble they had witnessed at the sector gates earlier was escalating and their time was running short.
‘We saw some rioting or fighting earlier and our friends Arthur and Alice mentioned they saw some horrible things begin to happen in the Dreg sector in Rook City just before they got out. Whatever it is we need to get moving,’ answered Lucy.
Sam felt cold fluid run over his fingers and looked down to see the last can had overflowed so he secured the lid and pulled the tube from the car’s fuel filler. They lifted their full cans by the handles on the tops and moved as quickly as they could while being c
areful not to spill too much fuel from the poorly fitting lids.
Spooked by the story they had overheard from the worried man they understood the urgency of the people they passed as they weaved their way back to the van. Some people obviously hadn’t heard of the trouble or perhaps felt assured that their leaders had everything under control as they continued to walk their dogs, casually stroll with shopping bags or jogged along in sports gear just as they might do on any other day. If anyone found the trio to be suspicious and reported their presence to the Enforcers they would have been wasting their time. Even though security cameras had detected their movements the operators in Central Control were more concerned with the images being fed to their surveillance HQ from the Dreg sector and from along the sector barriers.
Back at the van Sam found a small plastic bottle and cut it in half to form a makeshift funnel which they used to pour three of the four gallons of diesel into the van’s fuel tank. He took one of the cans of petrol into the alley way and found his motorbike hidden behind the dumpster just as he’d left it. His helmet and gloves were stashed between the bike and the wall and he was almost as happy to see the bike again as he was to see Lucy but of course he’d never tell her that. He topped up the tank and left the can in the alley then rolled the bike out into the street without starting it so as not to draw any more attention than necessary.
He found the sisters standing by the van hugging and with tears streaming down both their faces. ‘What happened? Are you okay?’ he asked, worried something else bad had happened in his absence.
‘We’re great Sam, really, we are. It’s just not every day you get to meet your sister for the first time,’ replied Lucy smiling.
Kathy wiped tears from her cheeks and laughed. ‘I must be making a terrible first impression.’
‘Ah, there’s nothing to worry about and we’ll have plenty of time to start over later,’ Sam assured her. ‘Are you ready to go?’
