SALT: A Post-Apocalyptic Thriller

by Colin F. Barnes

  Chapter 25

  The footsteps kept up even as Eva increased her speed. She desperately wanted to turn around, but every fibre of her being told her to keep going, get to engineering. She could almost feel the person behind her now. She clenched her fist, ignored the ache in her ribs, and readied to spin round to confront her stalker.

  “Hey, Eva?”

  She spun round. “Brad? Shit, you scared the hell out of me.” It was one of the younger men who worked in engineering. He stood there smiling at her.

  “Oh crap, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to. It seems we’re going the same way. Heading to see someone in engineering?”

  “You’ve not heard the news?” she asked.

  He shook his head. “No, I had to get some parts for Stanic. What’s happened?”

  Eva waited for a moment to analyse his reaction. He seemed genuinely sincere.

  “I’ll fill you in on the details a bit later, but to answer your question, yeah, I’m here to see Stanic.”

  “I’ll let him know you’re here.”

  “Thanks. I’ll wait here. I don’t want to interrupt anyone’s work.”

  “Right, okay.” Brad smiled, passed her, and went inside.

  Eva watched him as he approached Stanic and then got to work at a workbench. Her inquisitive nature took over as she looked through the windows into the engineering department. The sound of metal and industry vibrated against the panes of glass. Inside, she saw Stanic, with his bandaged hand, going from station to station, inspecting the work of his various engineers—five in all, three men and two women. She noticed a close bond among the workers; they seemed happy in their jobs, laughing and joking with Stanic.

  She waited for a few moments, wanting to have Duncan’s backup, but she couldn’t wait any longer as her desire to question Stanic overwhelmed her sense of caution.

  As she walked toward the door, she had a look at their footwear. None seemed to wear anything but steel-toe-capped boots. Not the kind of boot that left the print—that was more of a fishing boot. Though that didn’t mean a lot. Anyone could have changed their boots when they arrived to do their work.

  She opened the door and went inside, feeling like an outsider entering some secret domain. The sound of metal on metal, saws, and chatter assailed her. She wondered how they could work with such noise all day. Stanic turned to see her enter, gave her a warm smile and a wave. He was with a young woman on a stationary bicycle set up to provide power to some of the machines. Although she’d seen it a few times before, this was the first time up close. It never ceased to grab her imagination.

  A middle-aged man with grey hair stood over an electronic circuit board. It was hooked up to the battery that the young woman was powering. The ingenuity brought a smile to Eva’s face. It was like something out of a Victorian steampunk story, only with less steam and more bicycles.

  The remaining staff seemed to be two men, one a teenager, the other at least in his late sixties, and an older woman who Eva knew was the older man’s wife. It would be evident even to a stranger given the looks they shared as they worked together on a large drumlike device.

  “One of the desalinators,” Stanic said as he approached Eva. “We’ve identified the issue caused by the sabotage and are finding replacement parts. Some of Jim’s crew are breaking up a small fishing boat that we’re hoping to salvage the electrics and hardware from.”

  “You guys seem very busy at the moment,” Eva said as she scanned the room. Long workbenches were full of half-broken machinery and hardware. A rack of batteries, recharged by human-power, were stationed at the end of each bench, providing power for soldering irons, multimeters and other various tools.

  On one of the long benches, running along the back wall, lay a number of pieces of sheet metal shaped into what looked like aeroplane propellers. Stanic must have seen her confusion.

  “New parts for a wind turbine. The other was so badly damaged we’ve had to essentially create one from scratch and use whatever we could salvage from the old one. If you ever find out who did this, I’d like permission to send them over.”

  “Not if I do it first,” Eva said, giving him a grim smile. Although she meant it as banter, she felt a burning anger inside at the thought of someone purposely jeopardising the two essentials that helped the flotilla survive: power and bacteria-free water.

  “Come into my office. We can chat better in there.” Stanic led Eva around a number of large machines that she couldn’t identify, like giant snails with their iron shells. The office was much quieter once the door was closed. Inside, Stanic had a desk littered with drawings and plans. A two-way radio transceiver sat among a number of chipped mugs.

  An old calendar hung on the wall, the dates changed to reflect the new year. Duct tape held the pages together. Stanic sat behind the desk, facing a window that looked out on the workshop. He gestured to an empty chair on the other side.

  She sat down and noticed a pair of shoes—oil-stained sneakers—in the corner. Again, not the kind the killer was wearing.

  “I’m really sorry about Dr Singh and Mike,” Stanic said. “I know you were close. It’s terrible business after Jean and Ade. This place has been like a morgue lately, despite the veneer of a good mood out there. Selene was in pieces this morning as she took over Ade’s role.” Stanic gestured to the girl on the bike. “We all miss him greatly. Such a wonderful man, a true loss to this community.”

  “How you holding up?” Eva asked, thinking it rude to expect him to handle all this without any feelings of his own. “What happened to your hand?” she added.

  The engineer shrugged, holding his hand up. “I’ll live. Of course, it’s not easy to lose someone I worked with for so long. As for the hand, I cut it on a sharp edge of that fin over there. I was shaping it for a turbine and slipped, cutting my palm. As for the other stuff, I don’t know. I feel like I’m numb to it, you know?”

  Although she didn’t, it was a common reaction. Often, while she was on a case, the victim’s relations retreated to a numb state, burying their emotions. It was as good a coping mechanism as any, she thought. Better than getting angry about it and doing something stupid like seeking immediate retribution. Murder begets murder.

  It was why it had to be nipped in the bud so that it didn’t grow and entangle more and more victims. It could spread like a disease. And there were no winners on either side.

  “I don’t really have an easy way of putting this,” Eva said. She knew she should have probably waited until she had backup, but in her experience, she knew that going right to the issue often shook things out of the cobwebs.

  Stanic leaned forward on his elbows, looking serious. “What is it?”

  “I think the killer, and there is only one, I’m sure of it, either works here or has worked here in the past.”

  His eyes widened. “Are you sure? I don’t mean to doubt you, but I know everyone in this department, and I just can’t see how anyone would resort to killing other members of the flotilla. Without sounding like a dick, do you have evidence?”

  Eva passed him the handmade key. “In your opinion, would you say this was created here?”

  Stanic held the key up to the porthole. Weak yellow light reflected off the key, detailing the tooling marks. He turned it over in his fingers, rubbing his thumb across the grooves.

  “I think it was. This metal is likely from a piece we salvaged from one of the transport ships. You can tell by the mix of colours, the blue and white on the edge. And the way the teeth and grooves have been cut, that looks like the tooling marks made from our drills and bandsaws. That was when we still had the fuel to run the generators.” He indicated the snail-like machines out on the shop floor.

  “When did you stop using the generators?”

  “Last year…” Stanic stood and retrieved the calendar from the wal
l and flipped back through the pages. Running his finger across the days, he came to a date eleven months ago. “Right there. I marked it, because I remember I argued with Jim about it. He was right, of course; we had to severely ration the fuel for more important things. At that time, we moved to human power with the batteries. If this was made here, it would have been back then.”

  “How many of those out there were working here back then?”

  “All of them, including me and Ade.”

  “If I gave you a list of names, can you let me know which ones worked here during that period.”

  “Of course, anything I can do to help.”

  Eva took a copy of the manifest and handed it to him. Stanic took a pair of battered glasses from the top pocket of his oil-stained shirt and put them on. Using a pencil sharpened with a penknife, he ran down the list of names, his lips moving as he read, checking off those who did and didn’t work in engineering during that time.

  While Stanic continued with the list, Eva turned to watch the work on the shop floor. The guts of the desalination unit were spilled out on the workbench like the intestines of a beast. The workers were working on the parts like vultures, hunched over, prodding and picking at the flesh and muscle of the machine.

  Duncan, accompanied by Annette, passed the long windows on the corridor side.

  “I’ll be right back,” Eva said as she got up and opened the office door. Her ribs made her slow down as she moved over to the door that led out of the workshop. Despite being a near constant pain in her side, it was surprising how easily she got used to it and, if sitting for too long, forgot it was a problem until she then tried to do something.

  Duncan opened the door before she could reach it, and Eva stepped out, closing it behind her. Annette looked as though she had recovered a little from her discovery earlier that morning. Her face wasn’t as red any more, though Eva could still see the sadness in her eyes.

  “Hey,” Eva said. “You took your time. Problems?”

  “Just some business with Faust’s people causing trouble again. Nothing that wasn’t handled. Anne’s brought the samples. Have you spoken with Stanic about your theory?”

  “Yeah, he’s been pretty helpful. Confirmed that the key was likely made here. Even narrowed it down to a potential date. He’s helping me identify which workers on the manifest were around then.”

  “How’s he taking it? I know he’s proud of this place. Must be a shock to know that the killer was working right under his nose.”

  “He’s not happy about it, but who would be? At least he’s cooperating.”

  “Must make a change from dealing with Marcus Graves,” Duncan added, with no lack of venom hidden among the accusation. Eva ignored it, not wanting to give him the satisfaction. Although she had a great deal of respect and admiration for Duncan, she didn’t like how he seemed to be trying to make her feel bad for associating with Graves. It wasn’t as if she were making a deal with the devil. And even if she were, at least it was proving fruitful.

  “Sorry,” Duncan said, reading Eva’s expression. “Are you ready, Anne?”

  “Sure, it won’t take long.”

  “How exactly do you want to do this?” Eva asked.

  “I’ll take a swab from each person, and when the medical facility is relocated, or at least the supplies, I’ll run some tests.”

  “How long will it take?”

  “Depends on how long it takes to get everything from the facility moved over, but the tests themselves take about a day. I’ll do them as quick as I can, though. I want you to nail the bastard that did this.”

  Eva liked the girl’s spirit. Professional, driven. Annette reminded Eva a little of herself when she first joined the police. She held the door open for them and followed them to Stanic’s office.

  “Hey, Duncan, Annette,” Stanic said, looking up from the sheet of paper. “How you doing, Annette?”

  “I’ll be fine. It’s just such a shock still. I don’t really know what to feel.”

  “That’s understandable,” Stanic said. “What do I owe the pleasure of your visit?”

  “Sorry, Stanic,” Duncan said. “This seems like we’re all descending on you here, but we need to take screening samples from everyone here.”

  “It’s just for elimination purposes,” Eva added.

  He handed her the paper. “There’s a list of everyone I know of from that period. Some are no longer with us, unfortunately.”

  “Thank you.” Eva counted eight potential suspects from the list. She folded the paper neatly and placed it in her jacket pocket. “We won’t take up much more of your time. We just need to take the samples, and we’ll be out of your way.”

  “Is it really necessary?” Stanic asked. “Everyone here was working with me since late last night. We’ve been working around the clock.”

  “I know it seems unnecessary,” Eva said, “but it’ll make my job a lot easier by ruling everyone out.”

  “Okay, I can’t stop you, I suppose, and if it does help, then why not, but I don’t think they’ll like it. We’re a tight group, and they’ll feel persecuted.”

  Duncan clapped Stanic on the shoulder. “I know, mate, I get it. I’m sure I’d feel the same way if the Bravo’s crew were under suspicion too. But we won’t be long.”

  “Fine. You want to start with me?”

  Annette stepped forward and took a swab out of a plastic tube container. “I just need you to rub this on the inside of your mouth and place it in the tube.” Stanic took the swab and did as he was asked, handing the tube back to Annette. She smiled nervously at him and wrote his name on the side with a marker pen. “Thanks,” she said.

  Stanic called each person into his office individually to take the swab, not wanting to let the workshop potentially pollute the sample. Everyone gave the sample without too much bother except Brad Dempsey, a former oil-rig engineer.

  “I don’t see why I should,” he said. “I’ve not done anything. Stan, you’ve been with me all night and day. How could I have possibly gone over there and killed Mike and Dr Singh? And why would I? Mike was one of my best buddies here. You can vouch for that.”

  Eva kept her demeanour calm. She was fully expecting at least someone to get upset with this. People always did, even those with an alibi. There was a fear of corruption when it came to the police, unfortunately. Especially those in her district. They had a problem with some rogue cops fitting people up to cover for their scams. It hurt everyone: the public and the police. She couldn’t do her job properly when the public didn’t trust her, when they considered the police as potential enemies.

  “I get that, Brad. I really do,” Eva said. “But think of Mike. Your cooperation will help lead us to the killer faster. No one here is a suspect, so help us make sure that stays that way. Even aside from this, you’re getting an extra infection screen.”

  “I ain’t got no infection,” Brad said, his face getting redder with frustration. “This is crazy. I’ve done nothing wrong. One of my friends and another colleague of mine are dead, and you think it could be me. That’s a fucking joke.”

  Eva checked his shoes: flat-soled work shoes. Not the right type.

  “Calm down, Brad,” Stanic said. “No one is saying you’re the killer, dammit. Just give the sample, and you can go about your work.”

  Annette stepped away from Brad as he clenched a fist and leaned forward closer to Stanic. “You’re on their damned side? I thought you were one of us, Stan. How could you betray us like this? People are dropping like flies around here. We should be looking out for each other.”

  “Okay,” Duncan said, stepping in front of Brad and placing his palms on the engineer’s chest. “Just calm it down a bit. Right now, you’re looking pretty guilty. You realise the situation we’re in, right? Everything so far points to this
place, and of everyone here, you’re the only one refusing to help. Have a think about how that makes you look.”

  “Fuck you, Reynolds.” Brad pushed Duncan back, making him knock into Annette. She slipped and fell against the desk, banging her head on the way down with a scream. She rolled on the floor, grabbing the side of her face.

  “You god damned fool,” Stanic said as he bent to help Annette.

  Duncan grabbed Brad by the lapels of his shirt and slammed him up against the wall. “Seems like you’ve got something to hide. Want to tell us something, Brad?”

  Eva went to Annette and checked on her. No cut, just the beginnings of a swelling. “Are you okay?” Eva asked, helping her to her feet. The sample tubes lay on the ground. Stanic picked them up and handed them to the girl.

  Annette stared at Brad, fear in her eyes. “I want to go,” she said.

  Eva turned to Brad. It was all she could do from taking her anger out on him for scaring the poor girl. “Just wait a moment,” Eva said to her. “We’ll be done in a minute.”

  “Brad,” Stanic said, “just calm down and cooperate before this gets any more out of hand.”

  The young engineer squirmed under Duncan’s grip. He kicked out, catching Duncan in the crotch. Duncan loosened his grip as he doubled over and staggered back. Brad pushed him further and, before storming out of the engineering department, gave Stanic a look of disgust. He slammed the doors as he went, catching his colleague’s attention.

  “What the hell was that about?” Eva said as she helped Duncan up. His face had turned red, and he breathed heavily.

  “I don’t know,” Stanic said, “but despite all that, I can vouch for him. He’s been here with us all night. You can confirm that with everyone else. We’ve all been working around the clock to get the desalinators back up and running.”

  Eva knew it would be no good. With such a close group, even if one of them did leave the workshop to commit the crimes, the others would provide suitable alibis. It was common pack mentality. She’d seen it a thousand times with gang members and business colleagues.