Escape To Survive

by Ryan Gawley

  ‘I’ve been ready to leave this town my whole life.’

  Sam pulled on his helmet and gloves as Lucy jammed the screwdriver into the van’s ignition and started it up with a loud rattle and puff of thick black smoke. He started the bike and pulled up to the driver’s window indicating for Lucy to wind it down.

  ‘I’ll ride out in front; I’ll choke to death before we reach the gate if I’ve to follow this heap of junk. Stay close; we don’t know what’s ahead of us yet. Let’s go.’

  With Lucy and Kathy following close behind Sam plotted their route toward the southern exit but a thought nagged his conscience and he turned away from the gate.

  ‘What’s he doing? This is taking us back into the city,’ Lucy exclaimed as she turned the wheel sharply and followed the bike as Sam increased speed, quickly navigating the streets, easily weaving around the occasional car or startled pedestrian. He checked the bike’s remaining mirror and saw that Lucy was dropping back since the van wasn’t nearly as manoeuvrable.

  Blue flashing lights of Enforcer patrol wagons were visible up ahead now and along both sides of the street people were running from offices and shops fleeing in all directions from the sector barrier and the lines of Enforcers who battled to maintain order.

  Sam pulled the bike to the kerb a few hundred metres from the front line and removed his gloves and helmet as Lucy and Kathy pulled in behind.

  ‘Are you mad? We need to get out of here, come on Sam, we need to go,’ Lucy spoke with great urgency as she and her sister jumped down from the van.

  Staring at the chaos, hearing cracks of gunfire and orders being barked through megaphones and screams of fear and panic Sam felt sick to his stomach.

  ‘I wanted Kathy to see this for herself. So you know Kathy this is what we are so desperate to escape. Where we are going and the road that lies ahead will be difficult and dangerous but remember what you’re leaving behind. The Dregs are caged and enslaved then beaten like animals if they dare to fight the hand that holds them down.’

  Lucy put her arm around Kathy. ‘That’s enough Sam, I know what you’re saying but none of this is Kathy’s fault, it was that monster Henderson and his friends that brought this about. Leave my sister out of it.’

  ‘It’s okay Lucy,’ explained Kathy. ‘I understand why Sam came back here, I was locked away for so many years and what life I did see outside of that apartment was fake, none of it real, I know that. I see the city now for what it really is. Don’t worry Sam, this isn’t my home, it never was’.

  ‘I just wish there was something we could do about it, all those people in Rook City too, they’re being massacred. There’s no way we can help though. Sorry I brought you here Kathy, come on, let’s move,’ said Sam as he leaned to turn on the bike’s ignition while another Enforcer patrol raced past them to join the outnumbered ranks at the barrier ahead.

  ‘Wait!’ shouted Kathy. ‘Maybe there is something we can do. Look, I have this, maybe there’s something on here we can use to help?’

  She unzipped her jacket halfway and tugged Henderson’s tablet free from the layers of clothing and held it out for Lucy and Sam to see. Lucy took the device and slid it from its leather case then swiped across the screen as Sam dismounted his bike again and joined the girls to see what Kathy was so excited about.

  ‘It’s locked,’ said Lucy, ‘and Kathy, it’s wonderful you want to help but you heard what the woman back there told her husband, the news feeds aren’t showing anything about the riots. Even if we could watch the feeds what could we learn from them that would be of any use to us?’

  ‘No, you don’t understand, this is Henderson’s tablet,’ explained Kathy, her eyes bright with excitement. ‘He was watching something like this before. I saw it on the screen when I took his tablet after drugging him, I didn’t know why he would be watching stuff like that but he was. He might have some other files or information or something, anything. Maybe it could help us get out or help those poor people?’

  Sam though aloud. ‘Well, it makes sense that if the news feeds aren’t showing anything of this then Henderson’s tablet must be tied into the security feeds directly. He’s bound to have all kinds of high level access.’

  ‘Well it doesn’t matter anyway because as I was telling you, it’s locked, see,’ said Lucy turning the device to show Sam the screen with red capital letters “SECURED” against a black background. I’ve tried tapping the screen and pressing the buttons but nothing happens.’

  ‘Let me see it a minute,’ said Sam taking the tablet from Lucy. He swiped the screen again but all that appeared was the same “SECURED” message. He turned the tablet about in his hands and tilted it in various angles looking for a switch or button they hadn’t tried, maybe something that would indicate a key would be needed. ‘A key, yes, that’s it. Kathy, have you still got that chip you dug out of Henderson’s arm?’

  Sam took the plastic bag containing the RFID chip and waved it over the screen which came to life again but this time a green message stating “ID CONFIRMED” briefly appeared before dissolving away and revealing a complex three dimensional arrangement of electronic screens that could be rotated into position as required and tapped to enlarge and activate.

  ‘Ha, ha, we’re in,’ laughed Sam and he climbed into the van to sit down while he familiarised himself with the interface.

  ‘Budge over,’ said Kathy pushing in to sit on the other half of the long passenger seat beside Sam.

  ‘Let me see it too,’ said Lucy who had climbed into the driver’s seat again and was leaning over to see what secrets might be contained on the glowing screen.

  ‘It’s similar to the net-screens we have in the tower blocks but this is much more advanced. A completely new operating system and seems to be capable of much more than just communications and entertainment,’ said Sam, genuinely excited to tinker with the expensive device even though he rarely used the net-screen in his own apartment except for calling Lucy.

  ‘Typical man, it’s not a toy Sam,’ Lucy mocked and winked at Kathy who smiled back. ‘See if you can find anything useful so we can get the hell out of here.’

  Sam swiped the screen and flicked through several of the active panels Henderson had previously selected. ‘Wait a minute, what have we here?’

  ‘What, what have you found?’ asked Kathy as both she and Lucy snapped their attention to the tablet screen just as Sam covered it with his hand.

  ‘You don’t want to see that,’ said Sam laughing, just some hot naked chick giving Henderson the time of his life. He must have set up a camera to record the action. Gross!’

  ‘Ow,’ yelped Sam as Lucy drove her elbow into his ribs.

  ‘Stop messing about and find something or I’m driving us out of here now,’ snapped Lucy even though she could see the funny side and appreciated the break in tension.

  ‘Okay, okay, I’m looking. It seems like he’s plugged into everything; there are live security camera feeds from both cities, direct contact channels for all department heads in Central Control, there’s a load of emails sorted into a folder marked “The Brotherhood” but that name doesn’t seem to be mentioned in any of the actual email addresses. They talk about lab reports for some chemical compound; I mean this is all just the stuff he had opened on the screen.’

  Lucy was glancing from the screen to the street outside and getting more nervous with each passing minute. ‘Come on Sam, we need to get going. Is there anything useful in there at all or just a bunch of emails?’

  Kathy spoke up hoping to shed some light on the search. ‘I overheard some conversations he had with other men when he used his tablet in his study. I only heard his side because he talks very loudly after he’s had a few drinks. He often mentioned “The Project” and I heard him say “Clean Slate” a few times. I figured it was some new product he was developing.’

  Sam tapped a few commands into the screen. ‘Yeah, I just searched for Project Clean Slate and it’s returned several results. Mostly emails f
rom the same Brotherhood folder and a few of the lab reports. There’s an email marked “Update” that he sent. I’ll have a quick scan through that.’

  For a few moments Sam read the emails and documents on Henderson’s tablet quickly flicking from one file to another. He knew time was running out but couldn’t risk leaving the city and breaking the uplink between the tablet and Central Control. As the din from the violent clashes at the sector barrier continued to grow in intensity so did the feeling of vulnerability and imminent danger.

  ‘Holy shit! We have to get out of here now!’ exclaimed Sam.

  ‘I know, that’s what I’ve been saying for the past ten minutes,’ Lucy said exasperatedly.

  ‘What have you found Sam?’ Kathy asked, sure she didn’t want to know the answer.

  ‘This is bad, I mean really bad,’ Sam answered still staring at the screen.

  ‘What is it?’ the sisters shouted simultaneously.

  ‘Okay, from what I’ve read here, and understand I’ve just skimmed through a few things, but basically, Henderson and his Brotherhood friends plan on wiping out most of the Dreg sector so they can clear the city and build a new country when we’re gone.’

  ‘That’s insane, why would anyone want to do that?’ Lucy asked incredulously.

  ‘Whatever their motives are it says here they’ve been working on it for some time. The outline of the scheme says they introduced some mind altering chemicals into the welfare food rations and then combined that with neural programming hidden in regular broadcasts over the net-screens to trigger some kind of psychological breakdown. Henderson reported to this Brotherhood group that testing on human subjects they rounded up from homeless shelters and hospitals resulted in involuntary pathological violence.’

  ‘What does that mean?’ asked Kathy.

  ‘Well, I’m not sure,’ said Sam, ‘but it sounds to me like they infected as many of the Dregs population as possible and then when the time was right triggered the outbreak so we’d destroy ourselves. They probably planned for the violence to be contained behind the gates so they can walk in and mop up the survivors afterwards. I’m sure they figure they’d still need a few of us to pour their coffee and wash their cars.’

  Kathy shook her head. ‘I can’t believe my father was involved in something so evil. He’s a bastard and he murdered my mother but that was in a fit of anger. He’s a bad man but he’s not capable of this, he can’t be,’ she sobbed, not because she felt sorrow for her stepfather but because she felt her connection to Henderson meant she was somehow a part of this.

  ‘We all make our own choices and we all follow our own path. You’re my sister Kathy, remember that. He’s not your father, you have no ties to him and anything he does is not your fault,’ said Lucy trying to comfort Kathy and feeling as though the words helped to further cement the bond between them.

  ‘Hang on, I think I have something,’ said Sam readjusting himself on the seat. ‘Okay Lucy, start the van and get ready to drive. Fast.’

  ‘What have you found?’ Lucy asked turning the screwdriver and cranking the engine into a rough idle.

  ‘I’ve got into the city gate access controls. Henderson is hooked into the entire city network, he can do pretty much anything he likes from this thing,’ replied Sam.

  ‘What are you going to do?’ asked Kathy

  ‘I’m going to open every gate and sector barrier in both cities. If the Elites want to start a riot then it’s only fair they share the damage.’

  ‘But what about all the innocent people in the Elite sectors, they’ll be caught up in it too, you can’t do that,’ pleaded Kathy.

  ‘There are a lot more Dregs than Elites living on the other side of those barriers and they’re innocent too but with nowhere to run. At least opening the gates will give them a fighting chance and maybe even the playing field a bit’.

  ‘You better move over and let him out Kathy, he’s going do it and then we’ll really need to run,’ advised Lucy as she fastened her seatbelt.

  With the girls ready in the van Sam pulled on his helmet and started the bike. He slid the tablet inside his jacket and raised his hand making a horizontal circular motion in the air then rode the bike in a sharp U-turn so he faced away from the barrier and waited until Lucy had done the same and pulled up along the kerb in front of him.

  Accessing the tablet again he drilled down through various submenus until he found the command module he was looking for labelled “Sector Barrier Master Override”. He tapped on the button and selected the option labelled “Emergency Release and Open” but was presented with another black screen displaying capital red letters saying “LEVEL 6 AUTHORISATION REQUIRED”.

  ‘Shit,’ muttered Sam realising that of course such a weighty command would be locked to prevent accidental execution. He was about to abandon the plan and make a break for the south gate when he remembered the ID chip and pulled the little bag from his pocket. He pressed the Emergency Release and Open button on the screen again and when asked for authorisation waved the chip across the screen and was rewarded with a cheerful message in green lettering “AUTHORISATION ACCEPTED – THANK YOU.”

  Almost immediately the battle at the sector barrier grew more intense as the shocked Enforcers looked on helplessly when heavy electromagnetic locks popped open on the massive vehicle access gates. The screech of grinding metal filled the air and a gaping chasm widened as powerful hydraulic rams pulled a section of the huge barrier aside allowing the seething Dreg crowd to pour through en masse as a stampede of terrified citizens ran from the carnage in their own sector into a withering heavy fire from Enforcer shotguns and rifles. Not all of the surging crowd could be stopped and within seconds the defensive line was breached as hundreds of people stampeded over the bodies of the fallen and began to run freely in all directions into the Elite sector streets.

  Sam waited as the gate opened and felt a terrible pain in his chest as he watched the first wave of Dreg citizens slain mercilessly then felt hope as the growing stream of people broke through to either fight or run.

  ‘At least now they have a chance,’ Sam said to no one but himself.

  He pulled on his gloves then threw the tablet on the ground beneath him stamping the heel of his boot hard into the screen, destroying it. He slipped the bike into gear, revved hard and popped the clutch launching the old bike forward, swerving past the van as Lucy pulled out in his wake and followed close behind. They sped through the city as chaos erupted around them and easily cleared the open gate in the south perimeter wall leaving the city to ruin.

  CHAPTER 21

  As blackness gave way to light a sharp pain in Henderson’s arm began to insist on his fuller attention. He lifted his arm to check the source of his discomfort and saw the makeshift sling and bandaged wound above his left wrist. His mind was still muddled by the powerful cocktail of sedatives he had been administered and the sight of the injury served only to confuse him further. Feeling the cold tile under his body and focusing his clearing eyesight on the chrome lighting fixture on his kitchen ceiling he realised he was lying on the floor and so attempted to sit upright but found the task a huge effort; more than was usual even for a man of his considerable bulk. He managed with much grunting and sweating to manoeuvre himself to a sitting position on the floor with his back to a nearby cabinet for support. Initially suspecting he had fallen after perhaps one too many brandies he looked about for a stool or something else that might help him to his feet when his eyes cast over the bloodied short bladed knife lying on the tiles beside the kitchen island in the centre of the room.

  ‘Kathy!’ he shouted, remembering with sudden clarity the events of the previous evening. ‘Kathy you little bitch, get in here and help me up or I swear you’ll feel my hands around your throat.’ He listened intently for a moment and heard no sound other than the soft hum of the motor in the refrigerator and a distant tick from the antique grandfather clock in the main lobby of his living quarters.

  Burning rage was a familiar
feeling for Victor Henderson but a new intensity of fury began to rise in him fuelling his body and driving the fog further from his mind. On his feet now with legs barely responding he staggered to the sink and ran the cold water at a gentle flow while he unwrapped the bandage on his arm not wanting to see what he knew he would find. Holding his exposed arm under the trickling water the fresh blood washed away clearly showing the small ragged incision where his implanted chip should have been.

  Henderson exploded with a malice that spilled from a well of hatred deep in his soul. He roared with animal emotion and grabbing the first thing to hand threw a heavy iron skillet across the kitchen smashing it through the glass door on the front of the oven then continued to pull apart and throw down anything he touched until his hand found grip on the handle of a large kitchen knife. Breathing heavily from exertion he ran his thumb along the blade slicing a clean opening and savoured the feeling of the cold steel parting his flesh. A crimson line slowly tracked its way down the blade’s edge and turned to small red circles on the floor as his blood dripped freely while he lost himself in a private vision of retribution.

  Regaining some control he steadied himself then still carrying the knife charged out into the main quarters, scanning for signs of movement. He ran from room to room, searching for Kathy yet knowing she would not be found. All the same he searched, growing madder as the reality of his situation fully dawned on him. After checking the wardrobe in the last of the guest rooms and confirming that indeed he was alone Henderson knew he would need the services of his driver and personal guard Derek Stone.

  Before leaving the room he impatiently swiped a finger along the net-screen mounted on the wall. The sleek black screen was activated at his touch and glowing red letters requested ID authentication to continue. Out of habit he waved his left wrist across the screen but nothing happened. He waved again but still the glowing red message mocked him. Shards of plexi-glass and chunks of plaster fell to the floor as Henderson violently stabbed the knife through the screen then ripped the device from the wall and threw it across the room, destroying it as it struck and disfigured a priceless heirloom chest of drawers.