by Amy Cross
"See you tomorrow," I say quietly, fixing my eyes on the house.
ELIZABETH
Manhattan
With the light beginning to fade, I look up from the book and realize that I'm going to have to go to sleep soon. Gone are the days when reading into the night meant flicking the switch on a lamp; these days, even light is a precious commodity.
I'm sitting in Harrison Blake's apartment, reading a book about the history of New York. While this might seem like a strange place to start, my reasoning for choosing this particular book is actually quite simple: I want to see if there are any old or forgotten parts of the city that might be useful, particularly underground. Over the years, I've heard various stories about the sewers and about how there are large caverns buried beneath the city; although I don't know exactly how these might help, I figure it'd be useful to know what's down there. Closing the book, I look over at the shelves and realize that I've got a huge job on my hands: I need to work out which books are going to be most useful, and then I need to find as much time as possible to read them. I'll never get through everything, of course, but I feel as if I need to cram my mind with as much knowledge as possible. I was never much of an avid reader before; things have changed, though, and my priorities have shifted. Frankly, I think I need a bigger head.
In theory, there's no reason why I shouldn't tell Henry about Blake's library, but I know he'd just go and tell Bob. I get the feeling that Bob's the kind of person who'd just see the books as something to be burned for warmth. It's probably too much of a stretch to think that I can keep the library hidden from him forever, but I figure I can do my best for now.
Slipping quietly out of the room, I head along the corridor and into the stairwell. I go down to the foyer, which is already pretty gloomy, but there's no sign of either Henry or Bob. Walking to the door, I look out into the empty street and I can't help thinking about Harrison Blake, walking away from the city on his journey to find a new place. There's a part of me that thinks it might have been a mistake to stay behind, but there's no way I can leave until I'm certain that my parents aren't coming back. Besides, there's no way Henry would come with me, so I guess I have no choice but to stay. Now that he might very well be my only family, I can't contemplate ever leaving him, even if staying seems like a mistake.
"Where the hell have you been?" Henry shouts suddenly, emerging from the stairwell.
"Busy," I reply, turning and seeing the worried look on his face.
"We thought something had happened to you," he replies, storming over to me. "We thought you'd gone outside and got lost, or worse!"
"I was fine," I reply. "I don't have to tell you everything I do". I smile, thinking back to the argument we had yesterday when Henry went off with Bob. Henry kept telling me that I had no right to demand to know his whereabouts all the time, and now the tables are turned.
"You have to tell us when you're going out," he continues. "We need to know where you are. We're a unit now. We have to stick together".
I stare at him for a moment. "Do you realize how much you're starting to sound like him?" I ask eventually.
"Like who?"
"Like Bob".
"You don't know what you're talking about," he replies.
"What have you been doing?" I ask, trying to change the subject.
"Come on," he replies, with a slight grin crossing his face, "I'll show you". He leads me through to the office and then to a store-room at the back of the building, where Bob has set up a small gas-powered stove. A small, slightly dry-looking steak is sizzling on the grill, but the smell is amazing: having sat upstairs for so long, I kind of didn't notice how hungry I was getting, but now I have to force myself to keep from snatching the meat away. After a few days of eating dry, pre-packaged goods, the sight of a steak is kind of overwhelming.
"It's yours," Bob says, standing in a nearby doorway. "We saved it for you".
"Seriously?" I reply. It's weird, but even this simple gesture seems hugely important right now.
"Tuck in," Bob says with a smile.
I hurry over to the grill and slip the steak onto a plate, before grabbing a knife and fork and starting to eat. It's the best thing I've eaten for days; in fact, it might be the best thing I've eaten in my entire life. Juicy and filling, it feels like life itself. Even as I'm eating it, though, I can't help but worry about whether it'll be the last steak I ever eat. Putting the last piece into my mouth, I take a moment to savor the taste.
"Sorry if it's a little dry," Bob says eventually. "We had to keep it cooking when we couldn't find you. Where'd you get to, anyway?"
"Just around," I reply, speaking with my mouth full.
"Good meat?" Bob asks.
"The best," I reply. "Thanks for sharing it".
"My pleasure," he says. "Feel free to lick your plate if you like. We're not standing on ceremony here. I figure we might as well eat it while it's still fresh. I've got a nice little stash from the convenience store, but I'm afraid we're gonna be eating mostly tinned food for a while. I just wanted to offer the steak as a kind of token of my appreciation for your efforts. You've both been very useful today, and I think we have a really good chance of making this work".
"Harrison Blake's gone," Henry says, staring at me.
"I figured," I reply.
"Fucking idiot," Bob adds. "The guy thinks he can just walk out of New York and find some new paradise on the other side of the fence. God knows what's got into his head, but I guess we're probably better off without him. People like that just end up slowing things down. I've seen his type before and they always end up causing trouble. He's just an idealist who doesn't realize how hard it is to do a proper job".
"Exactly," Henry says, sounding as if he's desperate to agree with anything that Bob says. "He's an idealist". He spits that last word out, almost as if it's poison.
"It was really good food," I say, thankful for the meal, "but I'm tired. I think I might -"
"Should we show her?" Henry asks excitedly, turning to Bob.
"I don't know," Bob replies.
"Come on!" Henry continues. "You said we're in this together! She deserves the chance to see this, doesn't she? I know what you're thinking, but she'll prove you wrong". He turns to me. "You'll prove him wrong, won't you?"
"I have no idea," I reply. "What are you talking about?"
"Let's hold up a moment," Bob says. "Henry, do you really think your sister's ready for something like this? The last thing we need is to have her making problems. It might be better to keep some things behind closed doors".
"Show me what?" I ask, starting to get the feeling that there's some big joke that they're not sharing with me. I wait a moment, but they just seem to be enjoying my confusion. "Henry, what's going on?" I continue, turning to my brother. "What's this all about?"
"Okay," Bob says with a sigh, turning and walking through to the next room. "Come and see it. But I'm not gonna let you cause any trouble".
"What is it?" I ask Henry as soon as we're alone.
"Before we go through," he replies, "you need to understand something. Everything we do is for the good of the building as a whole. Bob's right. We have to look after ourselves, and that means treating outsiders as potential threats, at least until they've shown that we can trust them. We don't know how the world works right now, but we have to be careful".
I stare at him. "You sound more and more like Bob every time you open your mouth," I say eventually.
"Stop saying that," he replies. "Just accept that what you're about to see is totally necessary". He leads me over to the door. "I know what you're like, Elizabeth. You'll get funny about this at first, but once you think it through, you'll understand that it's the only way we can be sure that we're safe. When we meet someone new, we have to do this. It's not like the old days, when you knew you were safe from other people. Even the smallest mistake could be a total disaster".
"Someone new?" I ask.
"You'll see".
I follow hi
m through to a room at the back of the building, where the last remaining sunlight is streaming in through a large window on the far side. "Henry," I say, starting to get really worried, "remind me to sit down and talk to you later about this hero worship thing you've got going on with Bob, okay? You're really starting to creep me out".
"There's no hero worship," Henry says. "I just recognize when someone understands the nature of the changing world dynamic. You'll see".
The nature of the changing world dynamic? Those words don't sound anything like something Henry would say. It's pretty obvious that his head's full of regurgitated ideas and phrases from Bob.
"Okay," Henry says as we walk through to yet another back room in this labyrinthine rear section of the building. "Get ready for it".
Finally, I spot Bob over in a far corner, and I see to my shock that he's got someone tied to a chair. At first, I assume it must be Harrison Blake, but as I get closer I see that it's actually a girl. In fact, it's the girl from earlier; it's the thin girl who came out of the pharmacy, and she's tied down with a series of thick ropes, while a white bandage is tied over her mouth to keep her from speaking. There's genuine fear in her eyes, and she stares at me as if she thinks she's about to be killed. I don't blame her: if I was tied up by a bunch of people I didn't know, in a place like this, I'd be scared for my life as well.
"What are -" I start to say, my heart racing.
"Now before you ask any questions," Bob says, interrupting me, "let me make one thing clear. It was not my idea to show you this, Elizabeth. I assumed that you'd be unable to grasp the realities of our situation, but your brother assures me that you're a little more mature. He told me to trust you, so I'm going to be completely honest here and tell you in no uncertain terms what we're dealing with. This is a very delicate situation, and it's something we need to handle with tact and grace".
"What are you doing to her?" I ask, turning to Henry. It's hard to believe that his adoration of Bob has reached the point where he's willing to be an accomplice to something like this.
"I believe we have a spy in our midst," Bob continues.
"A spy?" I turn back to him, stunned by the way he's talking. It's as if he thinks he's in the middle of some kind of war movie.
"Someone who came to acquire information about us," Bob adds, "and who is then going to feed that information back to others".
"No," I say, swallowing hard as the girl continues to stare wide-eyed at me. "No way. You can't be serious. Look at her, she's not a spy!"
"Yes way, I'm afraid," Bob says. "Now, as long as this nice young lady has nothing to hide, she'll be free within twenty-four hours. My concern, however, is that she's been sent to observe us and to gather information. Someone wants to know what we've got stored up here, and how many people we've got guarding our supplies. I don't know who's watching us, but we've attracted some serious attention, and I'm not gonna let anyone compromise the security of our stockpile. I will not be the first one to make an aggressive move, but I will certainly defend myself if I feel that I'm being threatened. That's just the kind of man I am".
"Where did you find her?" I ask.
"She was poking around in the street outside," he continues. "My reckoning is she must have followed us back here earlier. I kept an eye on her for a few minutes from one of the windows, and then she came into the foyer. She was being very quiet, very careful, like she didn't want anyone to know she was here. Just prowling around like she wanted to get the lie of the place. Fortunately, she didn't get very far".
"Bob's gonna make sure she's safe," Henry says. "It's a necessary evil".
"I'll be loosening the gag shortly," Bob explains.
"Let me save you the trouble," I say, stepping forward and reaching out to untie the girl.
"No!" Henry shouts, grabbing my arm and pulling me back. "Let Bob do this!" he says, holding me firmly. "This is a life or death situation. Don't embarrass me, Elizabeth!"
"Embarrass you?" I stare at him, finding it hard to believe that Bob's managed to indoctrinate him quite so successfully in such a short period of time. It's less than four full days since this situation started, and already my brother seems to have become part of some kind of armed group. "Are you serious?" I say after a moment. "Look at her! She's not dangerous. She's just like us. She's terrified. You can't tie people up when -"
"This is not a normal situation," Bob says, sounding like some kind of military textbook. I'm starting to think he's gone off the deep end, and that he's living in some kind of fantasy world in which he's the general in charge of a small army, facing a potential war. "We're effectively in a state of martial law," he continues. "Now, I'm going to suggest that all three of us interview this young lady and ascertain that she means us no harm. Seems to me, there's gonna be no trouble provided she's honest with us and provided she doesn't give us any cause for concern".
"Elizabeth!" Henry hisses. "You have to understand -"
"You have to untie her," I say. "You have to untie her right now!"
Bob stares at me for a moment, before wandering over and stopping right in front of me. "I fully understand why you might not like this situation," he says, "but some things just have to be done, whether any of us like them or not. I'm giving you the opportunity to prove yourself by participating in this process of discovery, but I assure you that you're totally at liberty to just go upstairs, go to sleep and pretend that none of this is happening. Just remember one thing. Anyone who's not fully committed to the cause is, effectively, a drain on our resources and that's not a situation that can be tolerated in the long-term. I'm going to keep this building and its occupants safe from outside threats, and I'm willing to use extreme measures in order to do so". He pauses for a moment, looking deep into my eyes as if he wants to see right into my soul. "So what's it gonna be, Elizabeth? Are you with us or are you against us?"
Turning to Henry, I see a look of total contempt on his face. It's as if he's seeing me through Bob's eyes, and agreeing with every word that comes from Bob's lips. For the first time, I start to realize that if Henry has to choose between the pair of us, he might not choose me.
