The Outsiders

by L. J. LaBarthe

  "'Well then. If you've read this, you're alive. You weren't the only ones with access to cryo. Now that we're all awake—come and get me. If you can find me. I'll give you a little hint. I'm not where you left me—North Korea, that whole area, is gone, drowned in the sea by all the pretty bombs. I've moved on after enjoying the hospitality of Pyongyang. Nepal and Tibet were nice. I've left there though. A bit north, a bit west, a bit south. Catch me if you can, kiddies. Kiss, kiss from Kieran Rees.'"

  "I'm copying that out," Nisha said. "I want Paul to read every word."

  "Is there anything else?" Arkady asked. He had recovered his composure, although his fists were clenched.

  Matty slowly unclenched his own and scrolled down the screen. "He last checked in two weeks ago, IP hidden, because of course it is."

  "Did you think he'd be so stupid as to leave it visible? He's one of us, after all, trained like us, knowing as much of how to hide himself as us." Nisha had returned with her notebook. "I've nearly finished with that other book, by the way," she said, as she started copying down Kieran's message.

  "I found a few more maps that we can take, though now I think I might need to grab some of all the cities in the world," Arkady said.

  "That'll be too obvious. We've all been around, we know how to make our way. Just grab the ones we don't know too well." Matty said.

  Arkady grunted. "That narrows it down considerably."

  "Finished," Nisha said. "He's a fucking child," she added.

  "Arkady?"

  "No, Matty, not Arkady, I like Arkady, he's a nice young man, just like you are. I mean Kieran. He's a fucking lunatic! How did none of us see this?"

  "Gina." Matty's eyes grew wide. "Holy shit. She had an affair with him."

  "Oh God," Nisha said with a gasp.

  "I think now we know why we can't find her down here. She either doesn't want to see us because she's embarrassed or because she agrees with him."

  "Either way," Arkady said as he returned, "we are going to find her."

  "Agreed." Matty turned back to the computer screen. There were no other messages, and the chat box sat empty, almost mocking him. "Shall I leave him a note?"

  "Tell him 'Toodles'," Nisha said.

  "Why?"

  "Because it'll irritate him. He'll think we don't take him seriously, although we do. I heard him say once to Lucy how much he hated that word, more than any other word in the English language."

  Matty chuckled. "Perfect."

  "Shut it down," Arkady said. "Let's finish up and eat what you have brought and then let's make our way back to the city."

  "We'll have to be careful, though," Matty said, as he logged out of everything and shut down the computer. "Thank you," he said to it, giving the monitor a little pat.

  "A person who thanks his computer is a good person," Nisha said.

  "It worked bloody hard for me today, and it's not been maintained or anything." Matty shrugged and stood up. He stretched, muscles aching as he moved. "I felt a bit sorry for it, that's all."

  Nisha said nothing, instead returning to the map-strewn table. Matty followed her and placed his backpack on a clear surface and pulled out the food and water he'd brought.

  "Thank you," Arkady said. "I was growing hungry and thirsty."

  "Me, too. More than I thought." Nisha flashed Matty a smile.

  "Welcome. You know Paul's going to have a conniption." It wasn't a question.

  "He'll get over it. Maybe we can see if there's anything about Gina here in the library." Nisha took a bite of her apple.

  "I doubt it. No one uses it, remember? That information will be somewhere that Paul will have to access, not here." Matty leaned back against the nearest shelf.

  "You're probably right," she said.

  Matty grabbed one of the maps that was nearest him and glanced at it while he ate, making sure not to drop any crumbs. The map was of the eastern seaboard; he saw at once that someone had marked in red long lines in land from the sea. There was a notation that read, "Safe land, not under water," he looked at it closely, seeing that all the small islands would now be submerged. Rivers too, he thought, would have risen, that would have taken a toll on communities that were close to the riverbank. He wondered how Australia had survived, if Tasmania was under water, what Sydney looked like now, if the Opera House was submerged and if the Harbor Bridge was passable.

  So much change and because of one man. The real reasons for Kieran's scheme weren't obvious, yet Matty had no doubt they'd figure it out. They could hypothesize forever, make guesses about his motives, in the end, they would only learn from Kieran himself what had pushed him to such an extreme. Wanting to create a new world was one thing, to do it so violently and with such a catastrophic method was another.

  The climate would have changed too, more than what they had hoped when Paul had first called them together on that warm, sunny day in Singapore. They had all been striving to limit the amount of damage done to the planet by acting quickly and without the wishes of their governments. In the end, it had been one man with a grudge who had manipulated a small nation with nuclear capabilities to unleash the power of those weapons and do more damage than anything else. Winters would now be colder, summers hotter. Some parts of the world would get little to no winter at all, while others would get little to no summer. In Australia, a land of sun and heat, Matty imagined that the long, hot summer would now be a constant for most of the year, with water being scarce and probably used as a form of currency because of that scarcity.

  "Let's go." Nisha's voice cut through his thoughts. Matty nodded, set the map aside and packed up the remains of their meal in his backpack. He shouldered it and slid his gun into the waistband of his jeans, feeling the cool metal against his stomach.

  They left the map room in silence, Arkady palming off the lights. Matty wondered briefly at the two men who had been checking the place out not noticing that the lights were on. He silently berated himself for not thinking to get Arkady or Nisha to turn them off when they'd hidden themselves away. It was done now, though, if the men had really found it unusual, surely they would have remarked on it.

  They made their way out of the library the same way they'd entered, using the dark tunnel and disused, forgotten subway. Just before they were to emerge into the occupied areas of the underground, they stowed away their flashlights and each of them took deep breaths. Matty wasn't sure he was really ready to return to the subterranean society, however there wasn't much choice, at least not yet. He steeled himself and stepped out boldly, Arkady and Nisha a step behind him.

  Together, they entered the Concourse levels and stopped short. People were rushing every which way, the area crowded and full of jostling bodies, as people ran about. Matty grabbed one man as he dashed by, and asked, "What's going on?"

  The man seemed not to realize that Matty was a newcomer. His eyes were wide and his cheeks were stained pink with emotion. He stared at Matty and said, "Where have you been, friend? There's been an announcement. One of us has been found guilty of treason to the city and its people—to us."

  Matty let him go and he dashed off.

  "That doesn't sound good," Arkady said.

  "I've got a bad feeling about this," Nisha said.

  Before Matty could reply, a high-pitched noise filled the area and they all winced. A voice came across a loud speaker, an authoritative voice.

  "All citizens come to the Mezzanine level. All citizens come to the Mezzanine level."

  "We'd better do what he says," Arkady said.

  They joined the press of bodies flowing towards the Mezzanine like a sluggish snake. As one, the populace of New York City Underground left the Concourse and other locations and headed up several flights of shallow stairs. This was still part of the subway, Matty noted, recognizing the spacious area as where commuters would dash towards their trains or head downwards to catch other trains. It was the level just before the street, the old ticket booths and transit cop areas had been changed to small office-
style rooms. There was a large raised platform at one end of the space, on that stood a man in front of a microphone. Behind sat a dozen other men, all of them wearing dark colored suits, all of them looking grim, not a single smile on any of their faces.

  The crowd came to a stop and Matty, Nisha, and Arkady clustered close together, watching and waiting. The man at the microphone cleared his throat and began to speak.

  "Good citizens, thank you for your attendance. There has been treason afoot here in our wonderful home. A man has been found guilty of breaking the law and of misleading others, first his family, who are now in our care to recover from this terrible crime committed against them, second, his friends and coworkers, whom he tried to lead to revolt against the rule of order we have here.

  "Many of you know this man, he works in the agriculture unit and has been a pillar of our society for many years. He was, in fact, due to retire and spend the rest of his years with his family, enjoying his life. Now, thanks only to himself, he cannot. He has been found guilty and must pay the ultimate price. Bring him forward."

  As they watched, two young men brought out an older man who struggled against them. He wore worker's overalls and had silver hair and beard. Matty couldn't hear what he was saying, though his attitude was one of defiance and anger, not repentance.

  "This man is Joseph Coombes. He used to work in the dairy sector. He has been found guilty of harboring a sexual deviant, right here in our midst." A shocked murmur rippled through the crowd at that. "Indeed it is true. As is our custom and rule, that individual has been sent to the clinic for reconditioning and treatment. His is an illness, not something to be condemned, only to be pitied. He should have been taken there as soon as his proclivities were known. The individual did not register or apply for permission as per our laws to live in this fashion." He looked around the crowd, a serious expression on his face. "We cannot allow unregistered and unmonitored homosexuality or any other variant of norms to take root here, to avoid traditional family values and the creation of a family with children to continue our generation and legacy. The clinic will take care of him, and he is to be pitied, fellow citizens, pitied and helped, not treated as a criminal.

  "I have faith that the good doctors in the clinic will be able to fix him and cure him of his ills. They are masters of the arts of medicine and illnesses of the brain and mind. So we must be grateful that our poor, deluded friend will soon be recovered from his deviancy and able to return to a good, normal life here as a productive citizen."

  A cheer rose from the crowd at that. Matty felt his blood boil. The gun was hard against his skin, and it took every ounce of self-control he had not to pull it out and start firing, to tackle the man on the podium and to release the older individual who was still struggling against the two that held him. He wanted to go and help the guy in the clinic, for he could well imagine what sort of "help" he'd be getting there—things that Matty knew full well could damage the brain or even kill. For being gay, of all things. Unregistered and unmonitored? Hadn't fear and bigotry and treatment such as this been eliminated?

  He remembered what Paul had said, that being gay wasn't really an issue here, and his anger grew. Paul didn't know as much as he thought he did about how this place worked, certainly not about how it viewed anything called deviant. He didn't realize he had his hand on his gun until he felt his fingers curl around it.

  "Stop." Arkady's voice was a soft breath in his ear, Matty felt Arkady's hand on his elbow. "I know you are raging. So are we. We cannot do anything right this minute."

  Matty growled, unable to speak.

  "I know, my Matty. I know. I am as angry as you. We must not do anything right now. It would be the end of everything. We will help this young man, I promise you. We must do so with clear minds and planning, not rush these people with our weapons."

  Arkady was right, Matty knew it. He relaxed a little and let his hand drop from his gun. Arkady gave his elbow a gentle squeeze.

  "We will do what we can," Arkady repeated.

  "We better," Matty managed to choke out. "This is fucked."

  "Completely," Arkady said. "Look at Nisha. Is she not a study in rage? She is holding onto herself, for she knows that here and right now are not the time or place."

  Matty shot Nisha a quick glance and saw that she did indeed look furious. Her brow was furrowed, her eyes narrowed, her full lips were pursed and her body was as rigid as stone. He leaned into her a little, taking comfort from that small touch, and she looked at him quickly and sighed. The three of them stood there, close together, touching, as the horror continued to unfold before them.

  "Mr. Joseph here had been hiding the unwell man, we can understand why, it is his son, after all. If that were the worst of his deeds, it would be worth nothing like this sort of meeting. He has also sought to find a way to leave this place, to abandon this home we have and to go outside into the remains of the city, to clothe himself in protective items to survive the toxicity above ground and find some way to return to live there. There is no way to exist above ground. It is death to leave this place."

  "You're all fools," Joseph yelled. His voice was loud and carried well, though it trembled with emotion. "You all let yourselves be lied to by these idiots, you'll pay the price for it. They don't care about your welfare, they only care about controlling you. My son, my poor, dear son…" he broke off, taking a gulp of air. "You will rue the day, you mark my words."

  "As you can see," the man with the microphone said, looking entirely unperturbed, "he is quite deluded. Usually in these cases, we would hang him until he was dead, but he is old and sick, so now it is up to you, the people. All those in favor of hanging, say yay, all those in favor of exile, say nay." He took a breath. "Hanging?"

  The cries of "yay" weren't very loud, Matty was pleased to note. Perhaps not everyone believed what they were being told.

  "Exile?"

  The "nay"s were much louder this time, and the man at the microphone nodded.

  "As you decree, so it'll be done. Our excavators will take him out through the tunnels and he can make his way as best he can outside, without the protection or safety of our underground civilization."

  A round of applause met that statement. Matty shook his head, sickened by the whole display. Joseph stood tall and proud. As the applause died down, he spat at the man's feet.

  "You and your kind are filth," he said. "All of you who sit there, looking so serious and wise, when you're just power hungry and pumped up with your own sense of self-worth. You think you govern benevolently, but you don't. In the end, dictators, even benevolent ones, meet their downfall."

  "Take him away," the man at the microphone said. Joseph was dragged away, still struggling, and the rest of the crowd ignored him. Matty, Arkady and Nisha watched until they couldn't see him, and Matty wondered what would happen to him now.

  "This plot and the deviancy could not have been dealt with as smoothly without my beloved daughter," the man said. He gestured at the other side of the podium. "Linda, I want to thank you."

  Matty stiffened. "What the hell?" he breathed.

  Linda, the young woman he'd met and spoken to on several occasions, bounced up to her father, on her lips was a smile so broad that it nearly split her face in two.

  "Linda has been instrumental in uncovering this plot. It must be said, of course, that she did not know that we have discussed changing the laws only last week regarding sexuality, so her revelations about our good friend, Joseph's very ill son, were not made with any malicious intent, nor, indeed, were her revelations about Joseph himself. She merely spoke out to protect our society and to protect our home. I am very proud of her."

  "Hooray Miss Linda," some in the crowd shouted, and the chant was picked up.

  "She thinks I'm gay," Matty hissed to Arkady.

  "I know." Arkady was scowling.

  "You and I had better start pretending we're dating. Seriously," Nisha whispered.

  Matty nodded, although he felt sick to his
stomach. It wasn't fair to Nisha to have to do this, it wasn't fair to Arkady, and it wasn't fair to him, either. He was angry and confused, and he wanted to talk to Paul. He also wanted to punch Paul hard—for letting him think that it was okay and not illegal to not be strictly heterosexual here in this society beneath the ground.

  "In thanks for all that has been done, we, the bosses, decree that the rest of the day is a day of rest. Take time to spend with your family and loved ones, rejoice at the uncovering of this terrible plot and pray for the young man. Return to work tomorrow with a full heart, sure in the knowledge that your home here is protected and that our way of life will not be damaged or attacked."

  There were more cheers and applause and people started to disperse. Matty turned away, moving towards the stairs that led back down to the lower levels of the subway. He wanted to go to his apartment, shut the door, swear and curse loud and long. Of course, he thought, he couldn't do that either because there might be devices watching and listening to him in there.

  Well, screw that. He was going to find them and destroy them. He was going to start to plan two things, first, how to rescue Joseph's son, and two, how to get the hell out of this place and up above ground.

  "We need to find Kieran, too," Arkady said, walking close beside him.

  "What?" Matty was startled.

  "I could practically read your thoughts. You are angry. You want to leave, save the boy they took. These things we can do. We must also find Kieran and deal with him."

  Matty huffed but nodded. "For a very short moment there, I forgot that he even existed."

  "You should tell him that when we next meet him. To him, it would be the ultimate insult."

  Matty barked a laugh, surprised that he could actually laugh after what he'd witnessed. "That's a good point."

  "This is all disgusting," Nisha said. "Paul better visit tonight. I want to have words with him."

  "Take a number, Nisha. I've got first dibs."