by Simone Pond
Somewhere between the third and fourth floors, I blurted out, “I’m in love with you.”
He just smiled in that casual way he always did and gently touched my cheek. I didn’t regret telling him my feelings, even though he didn’t return the sentiment. I was happy to get that barrel of wet cement off my chest. I was much lighter. It didn’t matter what he thought.
The elevator door opened to the fifth floor––the one reserved for the top execs––and he led the way. The entire floor was dead quiet, but I knew it was only a matter of time before the lunatics would make their way up. We stood in front of the CEO’s office. The door was locked and neither of us had the access code. Crow took out a credit card-like object from his wallet and plugged a cord into it, then attached the other end to the access panel. The card lit up and numbers flashed like ticker tape along the top part. I didn’t know where he got the jammer thingy, but I was grateful he was prepared. When the lock clicked and the door opened, I let out a cry of jubilation––I was on the winning team in the game of survival.
We stepped into the CEO’s office and I lost my breath. The grand space looked like a palace built for a billionaire princess, not a place of business. The wall-to-wall windows overlooked downtown, all the way out to the Bay Bridge and beyond. There wasn’t a desk anywhere in sight, just white leather couches and different seating areas. A giant fountain sat in the middle of the room, surrounded by fireplaces along the interior walls. Endless rows of alcohol lined the bar, taking up an entire wall. At the far end of her office, Asian-styled partitions sectioned off an area. While Crow worked on re-jamming the lock to keep out the nut-bags, I wandered over to the private area in the back.
It turned out to be a master bedroom, with an extravagant king-sized bed, a small cocktail table, and hundreds of candles in varying heights, placed along the edges of the windows. I doubted much sleep took place in that bed. Off to the side, gleamed a white marble bathroom, which I used before Crow made his way back.
He stood in the doorway while I washed my hands. “Nice digs, huh?”
“How’d you know about it?”
“I have my ways.”
A flash of jealousy pierced my chest. Did he know about this place because he’d been here with the CEO? She was best known for her ability to seduce a man in less than thirty seconds, and get rid of him even faster. They called her “the Succubus.” She had turned many young men into VPs over the years, while the rest of us females struggled to get a two-percent pay raise.
Crow widened his dark eyes and reached out to touch my shoulder. “Not what you think. I’ve never been one of her victims.”
“Too low on the totem?”
“Too smart.”
“I wonder if she’s coming back to get her things?” I asked.
“She’s long gone by now. Off on some island, far away from the final stages of the Repatterning.”
“How do you know all of this? And if I’m stuck with you during this insanity, I need more than ‘I have my ways,’ okay?”
Crow smiled and pulled me close against his sturdy chest. I wrapped my arms around his waist and listened to the sound of air going in and out of his lungs.
“Okay.” He pulled away and walked to the bed. “Sit down.”
“You think the sheets are clean?” I joked, dropping down onto the fluffy comforter.
“We’ve been hanging out for what, six months?”
“Eight,” I said. But who’s counting?
“I told you a while back that things were going to get ugly, didn’t I?”
I nodded.
“I knew about these final stages because I’ve been spying on the Succubus for the last year. I’m part of an underground team who has been around for decades. Our job is to keep close watch on the elites. Most of my people are scattered, and I lost touch with my main contact about a month ago. Not sure what happened, but he’s off the grid. He’s the one who told me about the real rollout plan, which is why I was stationed in San Francisco––to keep an eye on the firm. The project we’ve been working on at the firm is not some gala event, or fundraiser, or whatever horseshit they’ve been saying. It’s a mass genocide. Starting with Los Angeles.”
I laughed because he sounded nuts. “This isn’t the holocaust, Crow. We’ve moved beyond that brainwashed mindset. We’re a little more civilized than that.”
“You think?”
I wasn’t sure what I thought. I had just lost my job and I was sitting on the CEO’s sex slave bed, while the office and possibly the entire city crumbled around me. “It’s all so fantastical. Why would the elites want to kill off everyone? They need us.”
“What do they need us for?”
“To buy and sell their products. It’s called capitalism.”
“You think they give a monkey’s tit about capitalism? They don’t need us. We’re vermin to these people. Just a bunch of unruly rats that need to follow the Pied Piper into the Weser River. The Repatterning is the Pied Piper, and we’ve entered the river phase of the plan.”
My stomach twisted up and I needed a drink. I didn’t want to listen to his paranoid ramblings. I walked over to the tray of crystal bottles containing various types of alcohol and poured a tall glass of vodka. I drank down a few hard sips. “What the hell does that even mean? The river phase of the plan? You sound insane.”
“They begin the final phases of the Repatterning in Los Angeles tonight. They’ll start with the low-income neighborhoods. Taking them out one by one. They’ll collapse what’s left of the local economy, and by the end of the week, the whole grid will be burned to the ground. They’ll say it’s for the greater good. That they’re cleaning up the mess the virus left behind. But they’re just clearing out the remaining people. They’ll keep a handful of them to finish working on the Los Angeles City Center. Some will be shipped off to plantations to work for the elites. And then they’ll start rolling out to other major cities and all the places in between.”
“And you’re planning on fighting these bastards?”
“They’re too powerful to fight, but there are groups going underground. We’re hiding in the woods and staying put until the worst of it is over. Eventually, we pool together our resources and fight back. I’m offering you a spot.”
“In the underground?” I glanced at my black pencil skirt and high heels and laughed. Not exactly the underground type.
Crow pulled out another weathered cigarette from his jacket and lit it up. I walked back over to the bed and took the cigarette, taking a long drag. I would’ve rather kissed him, but the timing felt off. Sure, we were all alone, sitting on the most exquisite bed I had ever seen, but we were talking about the end of society and rats jumping into a river. Kissing seemed inappropriate.
The sky had shifted to black as the fog rolled in over the city. Crow leaned over and stubbed out the cigarette in one of the nearby candles. Then, without even asking, he pulled me toward his body and kissed me, easing me back onto the bed. I wanted Crow more than I wanted anything. More than I wanted to live to see another day. I didn’t care what was happening in the world, or that Los Angeles was going to burn, or that every city would eventually topple to the ground. I just wanted Crow.
But he stopped.
“Why?” I muffled into his ear.
“We need to focus.”
“You just made that impossible. I’ve been waiting a long time for this. You can’t stop now.”
But he stayed stopped.
“We have to get ready. Prepare.”
“Can’t we just stay here until it’s over?” I kissed his neck, wanting him to finish what he started.
“None of this will be here much longer. The whole city will go down. We need to start gathering provisions, pack up a car and drive the hell out of here.”
“Right now? You made it sound like we had time.”
I didn’t want to leave the city without my family photo album, or my guitar. I hadn’t touched either in over two years, but I still wanted th
em. I also needed my pillow and the quilt my grandmother made before she passed away. I wanted to get my favorite coffee mug––the one with the illustration of the little girl holding a red balloon. What about shoes? I needed better shoes. And my toothbrush and hair products. I couldn’t live without my daily inspiration book.
“My stuff . . . I need to get home and pack.”
“We don’t have time. We can get some clothes on the way.”
“Where in the hell are we going?” I yelled, feeling like the fog had seeped into the room and was suffocating me.
“South.”
“Toward the mass genocide? That makes no sense.”
“No, we’ll head to the Central Coast. There are some people camping near Lake Nacimiento.”
I couldn’t respond because I was still thinking about my apartment and all of the things I didn’t want to leave behind. I had spent the last seven years in my charming one-bedroom by Alamo Square. My little home was a sacred place. I loved sitting in my breakfast nook, sipping hot coffee and staring out over the picturesque vista. I had a great view of the “Painted Ladies” and the city beyond. I’d read from my daily inspiration book, thinking about the possibilities that lay ahead. How one day I might even buy a pretty pink Victorian. I slept peacefully at night. I walked around the park on the weekends. I liked my routine. Crow was screwing up everything.
“I can’t go.” I stood up and walked toward the front of the office. “I’m going back to my apartment and hiding out there until this shit blows over.”
As I reached the double doors, I heard glass shattering and heavy objects being smashed against the walls and other office doors. Then I heard a gunshot. I spun back around, bumping into Crow.
“This is crazy. Why is this happening?” I pounded on his chest as though it were his fault.
He stayed calm. “If it’s really important to you, we can stop by your place before we jet. But let’s wait here until things calm down out there.”
“Think I’ll take a shower.”
It might’ve been the booze, or all the end of the world talk, but suddenly I didn’t feel self-conscious about anything. As I walked to the bathroom, I removed my clothes, leaving a trail behind me. I turned around when I got to the door. For the first time since I had met Crow eight months earlier, he looked stumped.
“You coming?” I asked, grinning.
He ripped off his jacket and headed my way.
###
After the shower, we went to the bed. The room was dark, along with the entire city. The fog laced between the tall buildings and lurked all around us. Crow eased me down onto the soft comforter.
“You sure about this?” he asked, kissing my wet hair.
“I was sure about this a long time ago.”
He pulled me closer and kissed my forehead, my cheek, and finally my mouth. His lips were soft and fresh from the shower. I melted into him as we pressed together. His warm tongue touched mine and every fiber in my body pulsated. No more waiting. I started to climb on top of him, but heard the soft sound of someone snickering. Crow yanked me down and threw the comforter over my body. I had no idea what was happening. He jumped out of bed and stood in front of a man I didn’t recognize.
“How’d you get in?” he yelled.
“Same way you did,” he said, patting Crow on the shoulder.
“What the hell are you doing here, Denson?” Crow shoved the man.
“Thought I’d come find you in person. Time to get down to the lake.”
By that point, I was irritated beyond belief. The kind of irritated that blurs your thinking, making you see red. His friend Denson had just ruined the second almost perfect moment in my life. I was starting to think Crow and I had bad timing. I sat up, keeping the comforter around my shoulders. “Are you serious? We were in the middle of something.”
“Serious as a straight line, missy.” He smiled at me.
Crow smacked the back of Denson’s head. “Keep your eyes to yourself.”
I wrapped the comforter tighter, very unhappy about the turn of events.
“I’m sorry I interrupted, missy, but Crow and I got business to take care of,” Denson said.
“You could’ve waited a few more minutes,” I said.
“Yeah, that’s probably all the fella’s got in him anyways.” Denson laughed.
“Cool it.” Crow put his pants back on.
It was over.
“So that’s it? We’re done?” I asked.
“I already offered you a spot.”
“Yeah, but do you want me to come with you?” I know I sounded like a whiny love-struck teenager, but that’s exactly how I felt and I needed some validation. After all, I would’ve been uprooting my life to live in the forest with Crow and a bunch of strangers.
“Whoa, just a minute there. We never said nothing about no lady friend tagging along. This one looks like a bag of trouble.”
“You don’t even know me.”
“Don’t need to.” He laughed. “I can tell by your taste in men.”
Crow pushed him out away, ordering him to wait by the bar. “Sorry about him. He’s a little rough around the edges.”
“He’s a jerk,” I said. “And I totally have blue balls now.”
“Ladies don’t get blue balls.”
“You know what I mean.”
“I want you to come with me.”
That would’ve been enough to convince me to go along, but like a greedy child, I wanted more. “Why do you want me to come?”
“You make me feel like I can do anything.”
I smiled in spite of my pent-up frustration. That made up for him not saying anything back when I had blurted out that I was in love with him. In fact, that trumped love by a thousand fold.
“Okay, I’m coming with you. But I need some clothes.”
“I’m sure we can find you something to wear.”
He began opening panels in the walls where the CEO had stored a bunch of items, ranging from business suits to sex toys. Crow handed me a pair of yoga pants, a matching top and hoodie, and some running shoes. I got dressed while he chatted with Denson over by the bar. I stared out at the dark city, where the layers of fog embraced the buildings and sifted through the empty streets. It felt like a dream, or that I was living someone else’s life. How could this be real? I was running away to join an underground team of Repatterning survivors. Just a few months ago, I was giving presentations in boardrooms. I had been too consumed with my job to notice the end was coming. But I was right in the heart of it––a cog in the machine that had contributed the end of times. My job was to make it look good. That crushed me more than anything. More than leaving my apartment in Alamo Square, and the pretty Victorians that lined the streets. It hit me that I’d never see my mother or my older brother again. The last time we got together was during the holidays, months ago. We hadn’t stayed in touch because their cell phones had been turned off. I didn’t even know if they were still in the Bay Area. I had been so involved with my work, I had lost track of everyone important in my life. Including myself.
“You ready?” Crow came up behind me and massaged my shoulders, then he kissed my neck.
“You’re only making my blue balls worse.” I laughed, wiping away some tears.
“I promise you once we get settled by the lake, I’ll make up for it.”
“So, this is it? Just leaving the city? Leaving everything behind.”
“We can stop by your place if you still want to get your things.”
If I had to leave behind my life in the glorious city by the Bay, I wanted to take some tokens with me. Otherwise, it would be as if I never really existed. And I wasn’t about to let the Repatterning erase everything.
“I’d like to get my photo album. And my grandmother’s quilt. Maybe a toothbrush.” I zipped up my hoodie and walked with Crow toward the double doors.
Denson nodded. “It’s ugly out there,” he warned.
“Don’t worry about me,” I said.<
br />
And I meant it.
- The End -
The Avenue
THE SMELL OF bread baking drifted through his bedroom, and Tiger Saparito sat up, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes, ready to start another morning on his beloved Arthur Avenue. He didn’t have much on his agenda. First breakfast, then check the books for any outstanding debts that needed collecting. Other than that, he planned to sit in his cafe with a few of the goombas, playing cards and grumbling about the state of things.
“The neighborhood’s gone to the birds.” Tiger had been saying this since the turn of the century. Only now, twenty-seven years later, it was actually true. The once charming Italian neighborhood had become a wasteland. Along with the rest of the Bronx. In fact, the entire Big Apple had gone rotten.
“The Worms got to it,” Tiger would tell the fellas and they’d nod in agreement.
The Worms was the nickname he had given to the Planners––the task force assigned to execute the Repatterning––who had burrowed their way into the core of society and ate through everything. In the early days of the Repatterning, many families on Arthur Avenue had been able to stave off the new laws because the Planners had steered clear of most mafia territory. But over the last six months, things had changed.
The real shift happened with that bullshit Law of Conscription taking the young guns off the streets and shipping them to God knows where. Then the prick bastards infiltrated the police force and dismantled the system that had taken almost two centuries to build. The Planners claimed they were ridding the city of corruption, but all they did was put their own corrupt people in power. These new officers didn’t understand the long-standing code of business partnerships. Instead they started taking down everyone, from small-time petty thieves to the biggest dons. Tiger had stayed off their radar, running his books out of his cafe. He guessed the Planners wanted people to gamble away the rest of their money. It was only a matter of time before they got to him. But until that time came, he enjoyed what was left of his city block. There were still a few places standing, including his favorite bakery, Bella Donna’s, Big Al’s butcher’s shop, and Sammy One Punch’s cigar joint. His place, Cafe Saparito’s, remained open, although he had stopped serving food about five weeks earlier because the shipments were too expensive. He kept the cafe open for the fellas to play cards and complain about how everything had gone to shit.
