by Amy Cross
“I understand. I just want to speak to her.”
As I join Edward by the door, I feel as if I'm trapped in the headlights. I have no idea what to say, and I'm terrified in case I accidentally trigger a fresh wave of shooting.
“Lizzie?” my father calls out. “Are you there?”
“Yeah,” I reply, my voice sounding faint and uncertain. “I'm here.”
“Are you okay? Has he hurt you in any way?”
“No.”
“Is there anything you need? We can arrange for food to be delivered.”
“I don't need anything,” I reply, trembling with fear. I know Edward has the gun pointed at the back of my head, and while I was feeling a little braver earlier, now I'm terrified.
“What about Natalie? Is she okay too?”
“She's fine.”
“We're going to get you out of there,” he continues. “We're going to talk to the man who's holding you, and we're going to come to an agreement. I promise, you'll be okay. You understand that, don't you?”
I nod, with tears in my eyes.
“Lizzie? Tell me you understand.”
“I understand,” I reply, before pausing for a moment. “Dad, I don't want you to hurt him. Despite everything he's done, Edward is -”
“That's enough,” Edward says, pulling me back and shoving me across the room before turning back to the doorway. “If you think you can tug at my heart-strings,” he continues, “and get me to come out with my hands up, you've got another thing coming. I've got three demands, and you can either choose to give them to me, or you can choose to face the consequences of your current actions. There's not going to be any picking and choosing, no negotiations. I'm not asking for the world. I just want what's fair.”
“And what exactly is that?” my father asks. “My name is John Marter, and one of the girls you're holding is my daughter. I've been empowered by the governing council to negotiate with you and -”
“First,” Edward replies, cutting him off, “I want all those barriers and fences torn down, so the people outside the city can come inside.”
“That's a very -”
“Second,” Edward says firmly, “I want the people who come into the city to be treated equally and fairly. This is their city too.”
“And what's your third demand?” my father asks, already sounding as if he knows he can't possibly agree.
“Third, I want your goddamn council to be disbanded and replaced by a democratic, elected group made up of people from the city.”
“It has always been our intention to reinstate democracy here,” my father replies. “The council is just a temporary -”
“So do you agree?” Edward asks. “To all three of my demands?”
“They're an interesting starting point, but before we discuss things further, I need a show of goodwill. Let your hostages go, put down your gun, and come out so we can discuss this like civilized people.”
“That's not how it's going to work,” Edward replies. “I'm not letting anyone go until you prove that people from outside the city have been allowed back in. I want to speak to specific people, I'll give you their names and you can bring them here so I can verify that they're here and that you've kept up your end of the deal!”
“Out of the question.”
“Do you want me to kill these two girls?”
“This isn't how we do things.”
“It's how I do them!” he shouts. “Since I'm the one with the hostages, maybe you should listen to me!”
“Try to stay calm.”
“Jesus Christ,” Edward says, turning to me. “That's your Daddy. Are you proud?”
“He's just trying to end this without any more bloodshed,” I reply. “Don't you get it? He doesn't want anyone else to die.”
“Your daughter's in here,” Edward calls out. “Why don't you tell her the truth about the helicopters you sent to Lake Erie?”
Silence for a moment.
“There's not much to tell,” my father says finally. “Helicopters were sent, nothing of note was found, and -”
“Bullshit,” Edward snaps back at him. “The other girl in here, Natalie, was part of the crew on one of those helicopters. She told us everything. For God's sake, you people are even more bloodthirsty than I realized. You really will just kill anyone who doesn't fit in with your brave new world, won't you?”
“You're making some very strong accusations.”
“Then deny them.”
I wait, hoping against hope that my father will confirm there's been some kind of misunderstanding. As the seconds tick past, however, I'm starting to realize that everything Natalie said was true. Worse, my father clearly knew about it. Taking a deep breath, I look down at the floor and try to fight the sensation of nausea in my belly.
“This isn't the way to go about changing anything,” my father says finally.
“So what would you suggest that I do?” Edward asks. “I watched your men kill my brother and four other innocent people. Should I just head back past that fence and starve to death for you? Would that be more convenient?”
“Violence solves nothing.”
“Says the man with all the helicopters and soldiers.”
“Let my daughter -”
“This isn't getting us anywhere,” Eddie snaps, as if he's suddenly lost patience. “I'm not releasing anyone until you agree to my demands. If you try to burst in, you'll get to kill me but you'll also guarantee that these two girls die. I know full well that you won't agree to anything unless I force the issue, so I'd suggest that you do the only thing that will result in no more bloodshed. Go open the fences and let those people into this city. You have a deadline, too. Midnight.”
“That's not going to happen.”
“Then we're at an impasse. What's your big idea? Are you going to storm the place? Let me promise you, that would end very badly.”
“You can't possibly think you're going to get out of this,” my father replies.
“Of course I'm not going to get out,” Edward says with a faint, bitter smile. “I know you won't allow that. The only question is whether, when I die, you've at least opened the gates... or these two fine young ladies die with me.”
“I'll need to speak to the other members of the council.”
“Take your time. We're not going anywhere. But if you don't give me what you want by midnight, I'm going to have to assume that it's not happening at all.”
Hearing footsteps heading away, I turn to Natalie and see that she's got her eyes closed. She's muttering something under her breath, almost as if she's saying a quiet prayer, but after a moment she stops and opens her eyes, before turning to me.
“What?” she asks.
“Nothing, just -”
“Were you praying?” I ask, surprised by the idea.
“Go to hell.”
“Okay,” Edward says, interrupting as he comes over to us. “It looks like we're going to be spending a lot of time together, at least a few more hours, so I want to set one thing straight.” He pauses for a moment. “I don't want to kill you, but if those assholes come bursting in, that's exactly what I'll have to do. I'm saying this now because I likely won't get a chance later. I also know that my odds of surviving this mess are pretty much zero, so I hope you'll understand that I have my reasons. You might not agree with them, but this isn't just some random attack or an act of greed. I'm trying to make things better.”
“I know,” I tell him.
“Loser,” Natalie mutters. “You're never going to achieve anything, Eddie. When this is over, they'll make you out to be a complete psychopath. Hell, they might even be right.”
“They might,” he replies, holding the gun up as if to remind us of its presence, “so maybe the pair of you should be a little more considerate. And if by some miracle you two end up getting out of here...” He takes his business card and slips it into my shirt pocket. “Remember me,” he adds with a faint smile. “Try to make sure they don't paint me out to be a
total nut. Try to tell people that everything I did was because I believe the new world can be a better place.”
“Is that why you shot Alison?” I ask bitterly. “To make everything better?”
“She's the enemy.”
“She was a good person!”
“Good people can be the enemy,” he replies. “Trust me, the world isn't black and white!”
“I guess we're enemies,” I point out. “It's almost like a war.”
He stares at me for a moment, before heading back over to the door. “It's not like a war,” he says finally. “It is a war.”
“So what happens at midnight?” I ask.
“If they're smart, they'll have opened the barriers by then. They'll have started letting all those sick, starving people get inside to have some food and water.”
“And if they don't do that?”
He glances back at me.
“You'll just shoot us?” I ask, my voice trembling as I realize that he's deadly serious. “And then what? After you shoot us, what will you do next?”
“I have a plan.”
“We're dead,” Natalie says, staring at him with a hint of poison in her eyes. “They won't give in and he has to go through with his threat, otherwise everything else he's said will seem weak. He'll put a bullet in our heads and then the soldiers'll come storming in, and then they'll kill him, and nothing'll really change. Your father'll stand over your body and my father'll stand over my body, tears will be shed, and this goddamn city will become more fortified than ever. Oh, and there'll probably be some reprisals for the people beyond the barrier, but Eddie doesn't care because at least he'll have proved his point.”
“No,” I reply, “there has to be -”
“And it's a good thing,” she adds, turning to me. “I mean, do you really want to keep on living with the world like this? I'd rather go out fast, and in a way that's memorable, than...” She pauses, as if she's imagining all the terrible things that could happen. “Rather than rotting, or starving, or just getting old and fading away. You know what they say, right? Live fast, leave a good-looking corpse?”
I shake my head.
“You don't agree?” she asks. “Well, I guess in your case it'll be more like... Live fast, leave a semi-decent-looking corpse.” She leans closer to me. “You could use some make-up now and again, but the good news is that funeral directors usually take care of that for you.”
“I don't want to die,” I tell her.
“Then you obviously haven't seen some of the things I've seen,” she replies. “Take a trip on one of those helicopters some time, see what they do when they find groups of survivors.”
“Why would the council want to get rid of groups of survivors?” I ask. “I doesn't make sense.”
“It makes perfect sense if you want to make sure no other power bases start to develop.” She smiles. “Keep everyone else weak, and you'll be stronger. That's why those helicopters are in and out all the time. They go and check on every other city within reach. New York, Washington, Chicago... They go and attack anyone they can find, so that those cities don't get strong like Boston. Sure, the council can try to justify everything they do, but at the end of the day it's cold-blooded murder, and whether you like it or not, this is the world we're living in now.” She turns and looks toward Edward. “And there's only one way out.”
For the next few hours, we mostly sit in silence. Natalie seems to have withdrawn into her own thoughts, although I can't help noticing that she's staring at Edward a lot, almost as if she's willing him to turn his gun on her. With the clock on the wall counting steadily through the hours of the evening, meanwhile, I can't help wondering what's going on outside and why my father hasn't come back yet. Part of me hopes that he's got some kind of plan, but another part of me hopes that he's decided to at least meet Edward halfway. I don't see why the barriers couldn't be opened to allow other people into the city, and despite all the fear that I know my father carries, I'm convinced he'll see the truth eventually. Feeling exhausted and terrified at the same time, I look up at the ceiling tiles and finally I feel my strength starting to fade away.
“Not long now,” Edward says eventually.
Glancing at the clock, I realize that he's right: five minutes to midnight.
“They're gonna storm the place,” Natalie says after a moment. “I give it four minutes and then they'll burst through, screaming their heads off, guns blazing... If by some miracle Eddie here doesn't kill us, we'll probably be taken down by friendly fire.”
“You don't know what you're talking about,” I tell her.
“You don't negotiate with terrorists,” she replies with a smile. “Everybody knows that. And that's what this guy is, you know.”
“They don't want anyone else to die,” I point out.
“There are seven people on the council,” she continues, “when you includes all the auxiliary members. That means seven votes. Your father and my father are only two voices. At best, the vote will be 5-2 in favor of storming in. The other members will just see us as collateral damage, as something to be used so they can manipulate the aftermath.” She smiles. “It's a good thing. Think how sweet it'll be to no longer have to worry about surviving. Give in to the inevitable, and these final few minutes can be real -”
“Shut up,” Edward says suddenly. “I think I hear something.”
Listening, I realize that he's right. There's the faintest scratching sound coming from near the doorway.
Checking his gun, Edward makes his way over to us.
“I hope you're not going to try anything,” he calls out, aiming the gun at Natalie's head. “It'll take me two seconds to get the job done in here. We all know I'm dead either way, but these two can still be saved if you're smart!”
“Do it now,” Natalie whispers to him. “Surprise them!”
“Three minutes!” he shouts. “You're not gonna just go silent on me, are you?”
The scratching sound continues, until suddenly a plump rat scurries into view.
“Oh, just kill me now,” Natalie says with a smile. “I want to get out of this hell.”
“What are they doing?” Edward mutters, looking around at the rest of the room. “They're planning something.”
“Maybe they're just leaving us,” I say after a moment, starting to feel a sense of fear rising in my chest. “Maybe something went wrong out there and there's nothing else they can do for us.”
“Ever the optimist, huh?” Natalie replies, her smile getting broader.
“You can't really want it to end like this,” I tell her. “There has to be something better!”
“So long as I don't ever have to go on one of those helicopters again,” she replies, “I'll be happy. So long as I never have to look down and watch screaming, running people getting mowed down by bullets...” She seems to forget her smile for a moment, allowing it to fade as she stares into the distance. “There's no way we're recovering,” she adds finally. “Even this place, Boston, is just a breather. The human race is done. God speed and all that, but I want to move on to the next place.” She looks up at the ceiling, where the solitary electric light is flickering slightly. “You see them?”
“See what?” I ask.
“The flies.”
Looking up, I realize that there are scores of dead flies trapped in the light's plastic casing, their corpses silhouetted against the buzzing glare of the filament.
“That's us,” Natalie whispers. “That fly that was bugging us earlier... He crawled in there and died. I watched a little while ago as he landed, and then he crawled closer and closer, and I just waited until he made his way in there, and then he couldn't get out. He fried himself against the light. At least he's with his friends now.” She turns to me. “That fly has it better than us. Sucks, doesn't it?”
“One minute,” Edward says, his voice tense as if he's expecting an attack at any moment. He has the gun aimed straight at Natalie's temple now, and his finger's on the trigger.
“Heaven,” Natalie says, smiling at me. “Seeya there.”
“You believe in that stuff?” I ask.
“I do,” she continues, as a tear runs down her cheek. “Maybe not the angels and the fluffy clouds, but I believe there's something, and it has to be better than this. Even hell would be better than this, but I think God'll forgive me for my sins. I was in that helicopter, but I wasn't one of the ones who -”
“Thirty seconds,” Edward says, interrupting us. “I just want you to know that I hoped it wouldn't come to this.”
“You still have time to change your mind,” I tell him, while trying to work out how I can stop him. I figure I can maybe throw myself onto him and knock him away from Natalie, but I'm not sure she'll help me after that. “Please, don't do this...”
“Five,” he replies, staring at Natalie. “Four, three -”
She closes her eyes.
Suddenly a shot rings out and Edward cries out, lurching back as he drops the gun. Seeing blood on Natalie's shoulder, but a look of shock in her terrified eyes, I grab the gun and pick it up, aiming it at Edward as I see more blood flowing from a wound that has blasted his hand apart.
“Are you okay?” I ask, turning to Natalie.
Day 60
(Mass Extinction Event 4.7)
Elizabeth
She reaches up and feels the side of her head, as if she's checking to see that she's still alive.
“Are you okay?” I ask again. “Natalie, say something!”
As voices shout in the distance and several soldiers run into the room, I look up at the clock and watch as the second hand ticks around to midnight and then continues.
“Oh God,” I whisper, as my hands start trembling.
“Secure him!” my father shouts, hurrying into the room and coming straight over to me. He reaches out and takes the gun from my hands, before passing it to one of the soldiers and then putting his arms around me. “It's okay, sweetheart,” he whispers, kissing the top of my head. “We got him.”
“How?” I ask, hearing a cry and turning just in time to see two soldiers hauling Edward to his feet. “What did you do to him?”
