Cry For Tomorrow

by Dianna Hunter

  “Yeah, really scary,” I agreed as I nudged the corpse with the toe of my boot. “I’ve got to talk with Jack about this—maybe he’s heard something about it before.”

  “Well, you know what? This little mystery is just going to have to wait for another time,” said Jennie with a deep frown, “‘cause if we don’t hurry, we’re going to miss the bus. Let’s go.”

  “Coming.” I shouldered my pack, but paused before following my friend and took a good look around me at the assortment of mostly abandoned apartment buildings and defunct offices and stores. There were only a few other people visible on the street, some moving with purpose, but most were just wandering as if they had all day to get where they were going. Two women bicyclists, riding side by side, parted to ride past me, the usual escort of phantoms swirling about their spinning wheels with little effect and less notice. I watched them for a moment before running after Jennie.

  I was still thinking about the phantoms as we hurried along the street toward the bus stop. When the ghouls had begun to appear en masse forty years ago, there were a lot of theories put out by the scientists and government, but no one had come up with a definitive answer. The best scientists in every country on earth had been called upon, but none had yet been able to find a way to communicate with, or affect the actions of, these phantoms. To the best of my knowledge, most of the phantoms were harmless, at least when there was only one to contend with. Problem was that they were drawn to the vibration created by motors of any kind and especially loved large gatherings of humans. If they’d appear one at a time they be dealt with, but they did not. They arrived in swarms, clogging the mechanical components of autos, airplanes and factories. Because of the danger they’d created, our world and way of life had been totally changed. There were no longer airplanes that could fly across continents or oceans, gas-powered vehicles were unable to function, and most of the giant, mechanized factories had literally ground to a halt. The only vehicles able to operate with a degree of freedom were those that moved huge amounts of air around them, such as hover-craft or helicopters.

  We reached the bus stop just as the big blue and red car squealed to a stop on the mono-rail that carried it above the damaged streets of the old city. Actually a trolley, it was powered by the electric cables protected within the mono-rail. With the deterioration of the inner-city streets, and the need to make transportation available to those willing to work, the city had had to find some safe way to transport the dwindling populace from one side to the other of the sprawling urban areas.

  As usual, the bus made a lot of stops at this time of day, and we knew it was going to take us the better part of an hour to reach our destination. We made ourselves as comfortable as possible, watching the news being flashed across a giant screen above the driver’s head. I was half asleep, barely listening to the steady patter, when something the announcer said snapped me fully awake.

  “The local police are investigating more reports of attacks by a rogue reaper. In spite of the accusations, the Company continues to deny any knowledge of—or connection with—the reaper that has killed at least two dozen of our citizens. His victims now include prominent business man Jordan Oaks, owner of the local food chain, Quik-Shop, as well as the thirteen vagrants discovered in the old city district two days ago.” The handsome thirty-something announcer blinked his large, brown eyes sadly, and smiled reassuringly before going on. “Again, we will have more information on the deaths discovered this morning as soon as our reporter on the scene, John Baines, is able to get a statement from the police commissioner.”

  “I wonder if that’s the same reaper you and Jake saw last night, or if there’s more than one of them killing like that?” Jen’s brow was creased with worry as she returned her gaze to the streets we were passing.

  “I don’t know, but I do know that no one was very interested in this rogue reaper until it started killing prominent citizens.” Scowling, I got to my feet. “Come on, this is our stop.”

  It was almost noon, and we were nearly sold out when a pair of elderly, but obviously very well-to-do women approached our booth. One was dressed in blue satin and pearls, the other in orange and cream gingham, and each was sporting a large, floppy hat adorned with some nauseating combination of chicken feathers and artificial flowers. An armed guard strode two paces behind the flouncing ladies.

  “Aw, here they come now,” sighed Jennie. “I was being to think Agatha and Mildred had forgotten us.”

  “Me, too. I worked for three days on that bowl I etched special for them, just so they’d have it for this big party they’ve been jabbering about for the last couple of weeks.”

  “Yes, the old girls each ordered a new necklace to impress their friends, too.” Jennie gritted her teeth and fixed her best salesman smile on her face.

  “Oh dear, we were soo worried that you’d already left,” sighed Mildred.

  “Yes, yes, but it was just dreadful, what happened,” puffed Agatha.

  Trying to be polite and mildly curious, I couldn’t help but ask, “What was so terrible?”

  Jennie gave me a nudge and rolled her eyes to tell me what a fool I’d been to let the old girls lure me into one of their silly and pointless discussions, but it was already too late.

  “Why, what happened at that house on the corner of Vine and Oak streets. It must have been just a short while ago too,” trilled Mildred.

  “Oh yes, you could see it even from the street. There was blood just everywhere,” added Agatha.

  I was un-wrapping the bowl for them and wasn’t really paying attention until the names of the streets sank in. I dropped the bowl and grabbed the hand reaching for it.

  “Which house? What happened there?” I demanded in a low voice.

  “Oh, my,” the old woman gasped as she pulled her arm back. “I-I believe it was that red one with all those strange symbols painted all over it.” When she saw the look on my face, her voice took on a tone of sympathy. “I am so sorry, dears, I had no idea friends of yours lived there.”

  “Do you know what happened? Were the people who live there hurt?” Jennie asked when she saw that I was too afraid to ask.

  “Oh, yes, I am afraid so,” fluttered Mildred. “You could see blood on the sidewalk out front, and there were policemen just everywhere.”

  Jennie was already grabbing up our things and stuffing them into the packs until she realized that dragging this stuff around with us was going to slow us down. Turning, she shook my shoulder to make me pay attention.

  “Halie, you’ve got to go without me. I’ll take care of things here and follow.” Seeing the glazed look in my eyes, Jennie gave me a little shove. “Go. Hurry!”

  “Thanks,” I gasped in a hoarse whisper. I left my backpack and everything else that might slow me down for Jennie to take care of and raced toward the street. The house was only a few blocks from here and I could get there faster by foot. I didn’t even notice the dog running at my heels.

  Rosa and Jack had chosen the large, rambling Victorian home on Oak Street because of the beautifully landscaped yards surrounding it and its location on the edge of the hundred acre city park. The neighborhood was run down, and most of the old houses were empty, but they loved it here because of the illusion of privacy it presented while still being so close to the hub of the business district and all of its activity.

  But today I wasn’t interested in the scenery. I sprinted the last few yards down the cracked sidewalk and leapt over the low picket fence. I was nearly to the front porch when a large, burly police officer grabbed me by an arm and jerked me to a stop.

  “Whoa there, young lady! Where do you think you’re going, now?” he demanded as he spun me around to face him.

  Dusty immediately lunged and snapped at the hand gripping my arm.

  “Hey! Easy there, dog, I’m not going to hurt her,” said the officer as he quickly withdrew his hand and took a step back.

  “Th-the people who live here—” I gasped in near hysteria, “where
are they? Are they okay?” I was going to be sick. I tried to dodge around him, but he boldly ignored the growling dog and stepped in front of me.

  “Hey! O’Brian, what are ya’ doin’? Let that girl go,” barked the grey-haired man that was suddenly standing at the top of the porch steps.

  “Thanks,” I managed to gasp as I took the steps two at a time. “Do you have any idea what happened?” I leaned from one side to the other but I couldn’t see into the deep shadows filling the open doorway or past the bulk of the large man in the rumbled suit.

  When I tried to step around him, he put a firm but gentle hand on my arm to keep me from entering the house. “Just a minute now, young lady, how about you tell me who you are before you go charging in there?”

  I could only stare at him, too terrified to even form words.

  Smiling sympathetically, the man led me to one side of the porch.

  “Okay, kid, first of all, let me introduce myself. I’m Lieutenant Brodsky, but my friends call me Ski, and I was kinda hoping you might be able to help me out here.” His gaze wandered over my frightened face and the tone of his voice said he understood my fear. “Now, let’s just take a minute here and find out who you are and what your relationship is to these folks, okay?”

  I was suddenly afraid of actually facing what might be waiting for me inside. My knees sort of crumbled and I was sitting on the old white wicker swing but my eyes were still locked on that dark doorway. I just couldn’t seem to focus them so well right now, guess it was the tears leaking from them blurring my vision.

  I finally stopped trying to avoid him and stared up into the man’s concerned face. “Are th-they all d-dead?” I finally managed to get the words past my frozen lips. “Oh God, they are, aren’t they?” I sobbed.

  The lieutenant lowered his eyes and sadly nodded his head. Taking one of my hands in his big paw, he patted it gently with his other hand. “Now, why don’t we start by you tellin’ me your name?”

  “I-I’m Halie Weston. M-my friends Rosa and Jack live here. There were six or seven kids living here too, kids they rescued from the s-streets,” I sniffled, “an-and my s-sister, Kelly, was here too.”

  “I see,” said the man softly. “Halie, do you know anyone that might want to hurt your friends?”

  “N-no,” I couldn’t stand not knowing another minute. “Oh Gods, is Kelly d-dead, too?” I sobbed. Slipping my hand from the man’s grasp, I ran for the door. I easily ducked past the fat, sluggish police officer trying to keep me from entering. I didn’t stop until I was standing in the middle of the big living area.

  It was difficult to remember the charming, homey room that had always been filled with sunshine, the smell of fresh baked goods and laughter. Now the room looked more like a slaughter house. Staggered by the sight, I grabbed hold of the back of a big, over-stuffed chair that I had once helped Rosa re-upholster and stared around the room. There was something sticky under my hand but I didn’t dare to look down. It could just be spilled jam, couldn’t it? begged my terrified mind, but the thick black stains spattered across the walls and floors screamed no!

  Of their own volition, my stiff legs carried me across the room to stand over one of the sheet-covered forms scattered about the room.

  “Damn!” growled the lieutenant. He cast a withering look at the officer that had let me pass before lurching into the room behind me. “You shouldn’t have come in here.” He put a hand on my arm and tried to lead me away but I jerked it away from him.

  “No! I have to know!” I slowly bent and grabbed one corner of the sheet and raised it.

  “This is Lanie,” I said softly. Letting the cloth drop, I moved on to the largest mass in the center of the room. “Rosa, Jake,” I sobbed, and looked back at the police officer. “They were the best people I ever knew—they were more loving and concerned for me than my own mother ever was.”

  I was nearly choking on the sobs caught in my throat and it was getting hard to see through the tears running from my eyes but I had to do this. On fear-stiff legs, I slowly moved from one sheet to the next, identifying each of the slain children from six-year old Keven to fourteen-year old Mandie. The slaughter of these innocent children was devastating, but my mind clutched at a single thought. Some of the younger children were missing—and Kelly wasn’t among the dead.

  Trying not to get my hopes too high, I dropped the cloth over the face of the last body and stood up. I let my gaze flash across the room—there had to be some kind of clue. I spotted a splash of bright red lying near the door to the kitchen beyond. I was holding the hat with its floppy red flower to my chest, sobbing softly when an argument erupted in the doorway behind me. A moment later Jennie burst past the policemen and charged across the room.

  “Halie, I’m so sorry,” Jennie whispered as she pulled me close and held me.

  “Shshsh,” I whispered through the tangle of our hair. “I don’t want them to know. Kelly’s not here, but I think I know where to look for her.”

  The big police lieutenant crossed the room and patted my shoulder. “Hey, I’m really sorry you kids had to walk in on this. They’ll be loading, hurrummff,” he coughed into his handkerchief and shook his head sympathetically, “loading the bodies up now and taking them to the morgue. As soon as the coroner is done with his examination, you and whatever family you have can claim them.”

  “Thanks f-for everything,” I managed to stammer through my tears. I didn’t protest when he led Jennie and me back out to the front porch and away from the bloody room.

  A hard-faced police woman came out after a few minutes and took down all the names and information I could give her. She never noticed that none of the names she wrote down matched mine.

  It didn’t take very long for the police to finish loading the black body bags into the ambulance and seal off the entrances to the house with strips of yellow tape. It was a battle to keep my anxiety under control. I needed to find Kelly, but I forced myself to stay huddled in Jennie’s arms until the last hover-cruiser disappeared around the corner.

  “Come on, I think I know where Kelly would hide if there was trouble!” I pulled away from Jennie’s arms and charged off the porch. Running so fast that I stumbled in the thick grass a couple of times, I raced around the end of the porch and through a narrow gap in the hedge that hid the rest of the house and yards from the street. Jennie and Dusty were right behind me.

  The yards behind the big old house were a maze of small vegetable and flower gardens interspersed with trellised berry bushes and grapes and fruit trees, all standing gaunt and naked in the winter sun. And in the midst of this stood a large shed sided with wood that had turned silver with age. A lean-to covered in wire-mesh hung off one side and housed Rosa’s prized flock of chickens. I’d spent many pleasant hours wandering the stone-paved paths, enjoying the flowers and nibbling on fresh-picked fruit but today that was all forgotten as I trampled through the dead flowers and brittle remains of the gardens to reach the door of the shed.

  The rusty hinges squealed in protest when I threw the door wide but I stopped there, frozen in the doorway. What if I’m wrong?

  “K-Kelly? Kelly are you there?” I called in a voice raspy with fear as I tried to see through the dusty half-light that was all that filtered through the one small, dirty window.

  My call was answered by the crash of cans toppling and breaking glass and the indignant clucking of chickens as they scattered to avoid the shadowy image of something larger bolting across the room. Before I could say anything, I was slammed back into the yard by the slender body wrapped around me.

  “Oh, Sissy, I was so scared!” sobbed Kelly, “and it was all my fault!”

  “Shshsh, it’s all right now, I’m here and I won’t let anyone hurt you,” I tried to reassure her but the sobs kept coming. At the sound of Jennie’s soft voice two other children emerged from the shadows and threw themselves into her arms.

  “How did you kids manage to get away?” Jennie asked the children gripping her like s
he was the only life-vest in a flood.

  “Mama R-rosa, she sent us out here to gather eggs,” gasped the little brown-haired boy.

  “W-we heard all the shouting and then there were some loud bangs, like explosions,” piped the little girl with long black ringlets and big brown eyes. “We were really scared and wanted to go to Mama Rosa but Kelly made us hide out here ‘til she went and looked in the window.”

  Kelly raised her head and sniffled loudly. “Th-there were some strange men an-and they had a real g-gun, you know, like the ones in the old vids.” The terror she still felt was in her eyes when she looked up at me. “H-Halie, I-I saw them shoot one of the k-kids and then the big man in the black suit, I think he was an a-agent—he hollered at Jack for him to tell him where you were or he was going to shoot another one of the kids, o-only h-he called us a b-bad name.”

  She wiped her eyes and nose on her sleeve and went on. “I was really scared and I was going to go in the back door and tell ‘em not to hurt anybody else ‘cause it was all my fault that I called Mama and she sent the agents b-but, it was like Mama Rosa knew I was out there. She was crying but she looked right at the window where I was and said real loud an-and clear, “We aren’t telling you anything”. I g-guess she knew they’d already broken so many laws that they couldn’t leave an-any witnesses,” Kelly stutttered. “That w-was when that man sh-shot her and the other men in suits started shooting too,” Kelly gasped out. “I-I couldn’t stand to watch anymore and I ran as fast as I could back to the shed and Merry and Jon an-and we hid really quiet-like so they wouldn’t find us.”

  “Yeah, really quiet, ‘specially when we heard the back door open and feet stomping around in the garden.” Jon whispered as loud as his little voice allowed him. “We were afraid they were going to find us, but then we heard the police sirens and the bad men ran away!” He buried his face in Jennie’s shirt and sobbed.