by Adam Steel
Jon Li extended his arm towards Drago and said. ‘Deal?’
Drago eyed the open hand and then the grip of Mary (who lay motionless on the desk).
Lucian caught his breath.
Drago paused to consider. The silver key lay on the table next to the gun. It shimmered in the low light.
Jon Li thought that he could hear it whisper.
“You’re selling me out – FOOL.”
The Brig: Union City: The Wastelands
Morning: Sunday 29th July
Ellie had no idea how long she had been in the cell. It had felt like forever to her. There were no windows to indicate whether it was day or night and it was silent in the cell. Her captors had come to the cells a few hours after she had been incarcerated. They had given her some water and something which resembled food but she hadn’t eaten it. Her only relief had been the dim light that had flickered from the candle outside. Her wrists were bruised and raw from the rope that had bound them earlier. She had a horrible notion that perhaps the Dustmen would take them one by one for their evil purposes. Then her mind turned to Jon Li. Fear and dread overcame her at the idea that he was being tortured as she waited for her turn. She pictured the row of torturous implements that Drago had shielded under his coat. The idea of his fingernails being pulled out and needles being stuck into eyes, or his teeth being pulled out with pliers, filled her with a kind of horror. It forced her to think of ways of ending her own life before they got to her, but her survival instinct was strong enough to end the train of thought before it crashed.
Her mouth was so dry that she found it hard to swallow and her whole body was flooded with adrenalin from the fear of what might happen next. She heard someone unlocking the cell door. The door opened and light spilled into the cells and she backed into the far corner of the cells.
This is it. They’ve come to get me. It’s my turn now. Let it be over quick, she thought.
The door opened wider and two figures entered the cells. She felt her knees go weak. Her legs wouldn’t move. Her body was rigid. It seemed to be out of her control. She looked like a wild rabbit that had been cornered and was about to be torn apart by a pack of hunting hounds.
‘Out,’ one of the figures said in a firm voice.
Ellie was so petrified that she did not move. The figure got closer and she recognised him. It was Lucian. He put his hand out and she retreated, folded her arms across her chest and backed up against the wall of the cell: terrified. Lucian grabbed her by the arm.
‘Time to go. I’m taking you to see the boss.’
She struggled with him and protested.
‘What are you going to do to me? What have you done with Jon? Is he alive?’
Lucian ignored her protests.
‘I want to see Jon!’ she begged.
‘Soon,’ he said abruptly.
She heard a commotion outside of her cell. The dustmen were pulling Max out of his cell and he was venting his considerable anger on them. When she was pulled from the cell, she saw Max. He was sweating profusely. His lip was split and he was still bound at the wrists. She noticed that he had picked out the splinters that had been stuck in his arm. He stopped shouting when he saw that Ellie was alive. Ellie realised that Max was alone and that Jon Li had already been taken. It panicked her.
‘Where is he? What have you done with Jon?’ she ranted at Lucian. ‘Where’s Jon?’ Ellie directed the question to Max.
‘They took him earlier,’ he answered, and added, ‘Where’s Aya? What have you…’ he started to say, until he got a thump in the back from one of the Dustmen.
Ellie recognised him as being Red. It winded Max and he looked as though he might explode at any minute. Red and the other Dustman, who Max had been shouting at were standing back from him.
‘Where is she? What have you done with her? Max ranted. ‘If you’ve done anything to her I’ll kill you! Understand? Kill you!’ he threatened at the top of his voice.
‘That’s enough,’ Lucian interrupted.
Lucian put himself between Max and the two Dustmen. Lucian’s cool blue eyes drilled into Max. There was no malice in them or in his voice. There was only a sense of control. Lucian pulled back his long black coat. He put his hand on his belt where he had a short pistol tucked away.
‘Cool off. We haven’t done anything. But you won’t get any sense from her. See for yourself,’ he nodded towards the cell next to Ellie’s. The door was already open.
Max looked at Lucian’s pistol and then at Red who cowered behind Lucian, and then back at the other Dustman who was standing in front of him. Sweat was running off Max’s bruised and dusty face. He stepped back. Lucian glanced at Ellie. He conveyed a silent message to her that he knew something was seriously wrong with Aya. Max stormed into the cell. Red followed him and held a burning torch, so that Max could see Aya more clearly. Aya was sat upright on the edge of the bed. She was motionless.
‘Aya. It’s me Max. You okay honey?’ Max asked, kneeling down in front of her.
Aya did not reply, or look at him. She remained motionless and staring into space. Ellie peered into the cell. She could see that Aya wasn’t looking at Max. She was looking through him. Aya’s eyes stared impassively ahead. Ellie knew what was wrong with her.
Max shook Aya by the shoulder. Aya made no attempt to resist. A thin trail of drool, spilled from one corner of her mouth. He turned around and glared at Lucian who was standing in the doorway of the cell.
‘What have you done to her?’ he demanded to know.
Lucian did not reply. He watched as Ellie went into the cell and kneeled down next to Max. Aya’s blank eyes stared through them both. Her head was at a slight angle: where it had come to rest from Max’s shaking.
‘She’s gone Max. Her body is here - but her mind is gone - she’s in some kind of stupor. There’s nothing we can do for her now,’ Ellie said gently.
Max flinched and withdrew his bound hands. He was distraught at seeing Aya’s face with its wiped clean expression. She looked like a pale china doll – unreal.
‘Aya?’ Max tried again.
It was hopeless. The doll stared back with blank eyes. Its mind blasted and wiped clean by the horrors of the last few days. Ellie got up and looked at Lucian, and for a fleeting moment, she thought that he looked sad.
‘Sorry,’ said Lucian, simply. ‘We need to go now. We’ll look after her.’
Max thought about the giant that they had called ‘Irish’ who had carried Aya over his shoulder. He thought about the chants of “Fresh Meat” and the ugly leering faces of the crowds as they pushed their way through them on the way to the cells and he turned on Lucian with fearful eyes. Lucian caught the expression perfectly.
‘That won’t happen, he stated flatly. ‘You got my word.’
Lucian’s face said all that Max needed to know. Max knew a man who valued his word when he saw it. Max hadn’t seen any evidence of deceit in Lucian’s steely gaze.
Ellie put her hand on Max’s shoulder and helped him to his feet. Max’s hand slipped from Aya’s and her hand fell to her side. It was warm, but lifeless.
‘I’m sorry honey,’ he whispered.
Max got to his feet and walked out of the cell. They left the china doll (which was once Aya) behind.
Red looked at Aya without showing any emotion and then followed them out.
Max could feel Aya’s vacant stare bore into him as he left.
Lucian, Red and the other Dustman, marched them back up the tunnel towards the main cavern.
‘Where are you taking us?’ Ellie said to Lucian.
She thought that Lucian had seemed genuinely sad about Aya. It gave her a faint hope that the dustmen might not be as monstrous as she had first imagined. She held on desperately to the spark of hope.
‘We’re going to see Drago,’ Lucian replied. ‘He’s with that friend of yours.’
Ellie swallowed hard. She wondered if Jon Li was still in one piece.
‘And him. What’s it with you
and Soldier-Boy anyway?’ he said, nodding at Max.
‘Nothing. I hardly know him, or his girlfriend, Aya,’ she replied cautiously.
Ellie and Max were taken through a series of tunnels until they reached a side tunnel which opened out into a large chamber filled with people. The people had made small camps which sprawled across the chamber. Like the main cavern, this one was entirely lit by candlelight and small fires. Somewhere in the distance, Ellie could hear the rumble of a generator. Max and Ellie walked through the chamber to the suspicious stares of its residents.
Ellie heard a familiar whooping noise, followed by a stream of gibberish talk. Birdman peeked out from inside of his makeshift shelter. He grinned at Ellie as she went past, and then retreated back inside. He had stretched some barbed wire across some wooden slats to make a small wall. The heads of birds and other small animals adorned the spikes, along with torn pieces of paper. On one of the spikes he had place a pink ribbon. Birdman sat inside of his shelter, surrounded on all sides by dozens of shelves. Each of the shelves contained a dizzying assortment of different baubles that he had collected. There were used batteries, animal bones, bits of debris, broken pencils and children’s books. They all decorated his home. His home had a kind of a distorted order. It had been arranged in line with his insane filing system. It pleased his deranged mind.
Birdman was busy sorting out his new pieces of broken wood into small piles. In one hand he was stroking a stuffed weasel. He had removed the creatures head and replaced it with the head of a magpie. It was a hideous work of art. He chattered to it constantly, while he sorted the wood.
‘Yes, Mr Gribbles! Look sees what daddy finds!’ he chattered.
He held up a tiny piece of splintered wood and looked pleased. He carefully inserted it into the ear of a squirrel, which had been on one of his shelves.
‘Much better!’ he exclaimed.
He gave the hideous creation a quick kiss on its back. Lucian looked in on Birdman. There was no disgust in his eyes, only pity. Red looked uncomfortable and pretended to look elsewhere.
‘Hey Bird,’ Lucian quipped. ‘We’re going to see Mother Esme. You got anything for her?’ Lucian asked.
Birdman grinned over the makeshift wall and dived into a pile of junk behind him. He rummaged frantically.
‘Yes! Here somewhere,’ he muttered.
A cascade of junk and bones flew out of the entrance to the bizarre hut. He dug around for a few seconds and then popped his head out grinning triumphantly.
‘This!’ he said happily.
A dead magpie hung from his scrawny hand. It was headless.
Lucian nodded.
‘This too! I made her a present!’ Birdman said enthusiastically, thrusting a child’s doll out of the opening of his shelter.
It was missing an arm. He had replaced it with a twig. The dolls head had been replaced by that of a soggy rat.
Red coughed behind them and Lucian smiled down at Birdman.
‘Very nice Bird. I’m sure she’ll be delighted. Now come on. We don’t have long.’
Lucian walked on, leaving Birdman to leap along behind them ‘whooping’ excitedly. After a few minutes, Ellie and Max came to another cave dwelling. The cave dwelling had been formed from the basement of an old school. It had once been the boiler room and some of the heating pipes still ran along the ceiling. They were being used to dry washing above the warmth of a fire.
‘Mother Esme?’ Lucian queried, as he looked inside.
Ellie and Max were ushered forward into the comforting warmth of the dwelling. The warmth was coming from the fire, which burned inside an old, cast-iron stove. The flue had been re-directed into the heating pipes to warm the whole room. Blackened saucepans and old cookery books were stacked against the wall behind the stove. An old sign hung on the wall. It had been hand knitted.
It read: “Home Sweet Home.”
Ellie gasped in surprise. She thought that the dwelling radiated homeliness and she could smell something pleasant coming from the black pot on the stove. There were several small children sitting around the warm fire and in front of it, was a rickety rocking chair which creaked forwards and backwards. Its occupier was an older, black woman. Her ample body spilled out through the rails of the chair. Her clothes were worn and tired. Her curly hair had greyed prematurely and she had it tied it up with a ragged, red and white spotted headscarf. She wore an oversized pair of white pearl earrings which covered the fat lobes of her ears. Her aged face shone in the firelight. She had eyes that were as black as the cave dwelling in which she lived. Her lap was covered by an apron which had deep pockets that bulged with wool and other knick-knacks. She held a tattered book in her plump hands. A silver charm bracelet dangled from her podgy wrist and twinkled in the flames of the fire. The book that she was reading from was a fable and it had a picture of a fox on the front. The children were sitting quietly and listening intently to the story.
Mother Esme looked up at the new-comers and smiled broadly. She had clean, white teeth.
‘Lucian! How nice of you to drop by,’ she said warmly.
Birdman leapt into the circle and sat down in-between the children.
‘Me too!’ he jabbered. ‘I brought you this!’ he said, and thrust the dead bird under her nose.
Mother Esme smiled kindly at him.
‘Hello Arthur. It’s nice to see you too. What a delicious looking bird! I’ll get that one cooking right away!’ she said.
Mother Esme took the bird from him and placed it off to one side.
‘This too!’ Birdman exclaimed.
He gave her the doll and then he leaned in to whisper in her ear.
‘It’s a present for you, but it’s a surprise so don’t say anything.’
Mother Esme chuckled.
‘Thank you, Arthur. You’re very kind – and I won’t say a word,’ she said, taking the doll from him.
Birdman looked pleased.
Mother Esme looked at Ellie and Max. Her warm black eyes, masked a sharp mind behind them.
‘Lucian. Mind your manners. You haven’t introduced our guests yet.’
Lucian coughed and Red hung back outside of the dwelling. He looked awkward.
‘Uh yes, they’re visitors. From the surface. I uh… don’t know...’ Lucian stuttered.
He wasn’t often lost for words, but with Mother Esme, he often struggled. He had been like the children sitting by her feet. A scrap of humanity that had been lost and abandoned. He had arrived in Mothers Esme’s care as a teenager who had been beaten half to death. His innocent face had born the ugly scars of violence. When Mother Esme had found him and brought him to the safety of her cave dwelling, he had been close to death. She had been the only mother that he had known since the Day of Reckoning.
Mother Esme had worked as a dinner lady in a school when her world had gone to shit. The remains of the school were still above her the cave dwelling. Her own children had been in her home country with their father on the Day of Reckoning and she had never seen them since that day. She never spoke of them.
Lucian stroked the purple raised scar, which snaked its way down his face and thought of those days. Mother Esme and his scar would be intrinsically linked forever in his mind.
His memories were halted when Ellie stepped forward and offered her hand to Mother Esme. Birdman sniffed at it.
‘My name is Ellie. This is Max. You’re the first person who’s actually asked,’ she said politely.
Mother Esme took her outstretched hand warmly and placed her other plump hand over it, patting it gently. The silver charms jingled over Ellie’s wrist.
‘I’m pleased to meet you, my dear. I’m afraid manners aren’t what they used to be,’ she chuckled.
Lucian interrupted, ‘Mother Esme. We have a young woman in the cells. She is very sick. It’s one of their friends. We thought perhaps you’d take care of her for us?’
Max looked puzzled and confused at Lucian’s change in manner.
Mother Esme
nodded quietly.
‘Of course, my dear. I’ll be on my way in a minute. But Lucian! Aren’t you forgetting something?’ she said, staring at Max’s bound hands.
Max caught the notion and held out his hands. He turned his wrists upwards and faced Lucian.
Lucian slid a large and very sharp knife out of its hiding place in his clothing and warned, ‘You won’t give me any reason to regret this – WILL YOU?’
Max grinned broadly and Lucian slit the ties to his hands.
Max rubbed them hard and turned to Mother Esme and said, ‘Thanks Misses.’
Mother Esme smiled at Max and then gave Lucian an approving look.
‘You can run along now son. I’m sure you have a lot to do,’ she said to Lucian.
Lucian nodded and ushered Ellie and Max out of the dwelling.
Mother Esme picked up the book and continued with the story of the fox. Birdman stayed behind to listen to the story. As they were leaving, Lucian caught Ellie’s look of surprise and relief.
‘You thought we were animals didn’t you?’ he said.
Ellie stared at the floor feeling ashamed. Mother Esme had been a humbling experience for her and even Max, who had been stuck for words, had been surprised at the outcome.
We’re just people. Like you,’ Lucian stated.
‘Come on. Drago’s waiting with your friend.’
He paused for a second and said, ‘And yes. He’s still alive.’
Chapter 39: Truth is Stranger than Fiction
The Tunnels: Union City
Morning: Sunday 29th July
Ellie and Max left the warmth of Mother Esme’s cave dwelling and followed Lucian down the dark winding passages of Union City. Red remained at the rear of the group, keeping to himself. He had shied away when they had gone to mother Esme’s cave. Ellie got the impression that Red did not like Mother Esme. The idea made Ellie uncomfortable. She thought that Red seemed cowardly when he was not in control of a situation. The other man that had been with them, had departed when they had gone to see Mother Esme. Ellie was thinking about the dead magpie and remembered the line of trolleys in the abandoned car park. It made more sense to her now that she had met Mother Esme. Birdman was trapping fresh meat for food. That was his role in Union City.
