by Sean Patten
“Hopkins would be pissed as shit if he heard that we offed some guy he knew.”
“Maybe he’s lying,” said another of the men. “Knows how much weight Hopkins’ name carries.”
“How would he know Hopkins’ name if he hadn’t met him before?”
The effect of throwing out Hopkins’ name had been like tossing a small bomb into the room. No one seemed to know what to do.
“I say we kill them anyway,” said another of the men. “Hopkins won’t know they were here if none of us tells him.”
“And you want to deal with the bodies of these dumbasses?” asked someone else. “Killing people’s all fun and games until you realize you got hundreds of pounds of rotting meat to deal with.”
“Yeah,” said another. “You remember that kid from Tulsa who OD’d down here and none of us found him for a month? You remember that smell.”
“Shit,” said another. “I had to swipe a dozen bottle of air fresheners to get that smell out of my clothes.”
“Will all of you shut up for a second?” called out the first man. “I can’t hear myself think over you dumbasses clucking like a bunch of goddamn hens.”
The rest of the men dutifully shut up and the first man turned his attention to us.
“You said you know Hopkins, right?” he asked.
“That’s what I said,” I told him. “And he’s down here somewhere with my brother.”
“Your brother? He one of us?” asked another.
“If his brother was one of us that’d have been the first thing out of his mouth, don’t you think?” shouted the first man over his shoulder. “Now, shut the fuck up!”
He turned his attention back to me.
“Why does he have your brother.”
“It’s…a really long story,” I said. “But my brother got hurt and Hopkins went out to find him. Then he left me a note that said to come here.”
“You don’t have that note, by any chance?” asked the man.
I took a brief second to internally chew myself out for not bringing it, then I spoke.
“No,” I said. “Didn’t think I’d need it.”
“That’d solve this whole issue nice and fast,” he said.
“Or you could just take me to him,” I said. “Once he sees me he’ll confirm everything that I said is true.”
“Maybe so,” said the man. “But that’d mean we’d have to trust you enough to let you come into our homes with us.”
“Please,” I said. “I need to find my brother.”
The man glanced away for a moment as if thinking the whole thing over.
“Okay,” he said. “Here’s the deal. You come with us and we’ll take you to Hopkins. But if we find out that either of you were lying—”
“You won’t like what happens,” said another of the men.
“Will you shut up and let me talk?” said the first man over his shoulder. “But yeah—if it turns out that you’ve been blowing smoke up our asses, or if you try anything funny… Well, I’ll leave what might happen up to your imagination.”
“Would be very, very messy,” said another man.
I glanced back at Kelly, who was close enough that I could make out her face through the dark.
“You ready?” I asked.
“Ready as I’m going to be,” she said.
The first man outstretched his arm, gesturing towards the leftmost pipe.
“Little bit of a hike,” he said. “But you both look good and tough.”
A few of the men moved into the pathway, others waiting behind, their eyes on us.
“Come on,” said the first man. “I don’t feel like waiting around.”
I nodded to Kelly, and together the two of us started towards the hallway. Once we were in it, the first man and the rest of the men formed up behind us. We were between two groups, and if they were to decide at any moment that we were a threat, there’d be nothing we could do. The eyes of the men and women who’d been waiting in the hall flicked onto us, sizing us up.
“Turn that flashlight off,” said the first man as we all started down the hall.
“You serious?” I asked.
“Serious as it gets,” he said. “Down here we like fire. That artificial shit’s like hell on the eyes after you go awhile without seeing it.”
“Uh, sure,” I said.
I clicked the light off, panic gripping me for a moment as I realized that we were walking in total darkness. But before too long, the sounds of lighters igniting gave way to small torches being lit. The men at the front and back of the hall, as well as the first man, who was now at our side, now held small torches.
The warm, orange light flickered in the hall. It was dim, but there was something to what he’d said—the firelight was easier on the eyes than the hard glare of the flashlight. And I realized that once the last batteries died over the next year or two, firelight would likely be the only sort of illumination that anyone would know.
“So,” said the first man. “You saved old Hopkins’ life?”
“Something like that,” I said. “Might be more accurate to say that I provided a distraction.”
The man let out a snort of a laugh.
“Whatever gets the job done, I suppose,” he said.
“I saved his life—kind of—and then he saved mine. Brought me down here and helped me get back up onto my feet once.”
“Sounds like Hopkins, all right,” he said. “That motherfucker and his going up to the surface. Never understood why he did that.”
Before I could say anything else, he called out to one of the men.
“Yo, Marley!” he asked. “When’s the last time you’ve been topside?”
“Uh, last time I drew the short straw. Maybe three months?”
“And Randy,” he said to another. “What about you?”
“Haven’t been up to that shithole since I last year.”
The man turned back to me, his face glowing from the flames.
“Now, you might think it’s a little strange that we like it down here, but we do,” he said. “And we don’t appreciate people like you all intruding on our territory. So consider this a gift.”
“Thank you,” said Kelly. “We appreciate it.”
“But…you’re right,” I said. “About the people from up top coming down here. Once word gets out that it’s safe and cool under the city you’re going to have to deal with hundreds, maybe thousands of people trying to get in.”
He nodded.
“I know,” he said. “When I heard about what happened I figured that this little setup we’ve had wouldn’t last much longer. But I’m going to defend our way of life for as long as I can.”
We continued on. Other than the crackling of the torches and the plodding of a dozen pairs of feet on the ground, the sewers were just as quiet as ever. Before too long, we reached another junction room.
“That way,” said the man, pointing down the hall. “We keep going and we’ll be at Hopkins’ place. Come on.”
He nodded to two of the men, who formed up at our sides. The rest of the group stayed behind, and I could feel their burning stares on my back as we continued down.
As we made our way further down the hallway my stomach began to tie up in knots. All I could think about was finding Hopkins with Steve’s body, or without Steve at all.
Kelly seemed to sense my fear, taking hold of my arm and giving it a soft squeeze.
Before too long I spotted a soft glow at the end of the hall. I picked up the pace, not wanting to waste any time in seeing who was down there.
“Come on!” I shouted.
I took off into a trot, Kelly at my side as the rest of the group followed close behind.
I eventually reached the end of the hall where, sure enough, I found Hopkins’ familiar room.
And what was inside made me drop to my knees.
Chapter 22
It was Steve.
“Holy shit,” he said, his wide eyes on me.
I
didn’t know what to do. All I could do was sit there on my knees, my gaze locked onto him.
Then his eyes turned to Kelly.
“Double holy fucking shit,” he said. “Kelly?”
“Oh my God!” she cried out. “It’s you!”
She rushed across the room, her heels clattering on the metal floor.
Hopkin was there, seated on his dingy couch, his face illuminated by the hobo fire that burned in the green metal barrel in the center of the room. He glanced up over my shoulder at the men behind us, giving them a nod. They left and were soon gone.
“Hey, little brother!” shouted out Steve once Kelly had nearly smothered him with hugs. “What are you doing just sitting there. Get over here!”
I heaved myself up and made my way across the room, feeling like I was in a daze. Steve sat in one of Hopkins’ chairs, a thick padding of gauze wrapped around his leg. He looked better. The color had come back to his face, and the wound looked like it had been well taken care of.
It felt like it wasn’t real, like I’d come to any moment and be back in the city, laying in the middle of the street about to die of a gunshot wound. When I finally approached Steve, I reached out hesitantly, as if touching him might confirm that this was all nothing more than a hallucination.
But my hands landed on his body. It was him, in the flesh.
“Steve,” I said, wrapping my arms around him and pulling him close.
“Ow, ow, ow!” he cried out as I jostled his leg. “Easy now!”
“Those stitches aren’t exactly hospital quality, but I did the best I could,” said Hopkins. “Might want to take it easy on him for a week or so.”
I let Steve out of my grip as I stepped back to take another look at him. It was really him. He was here and he was safe and he’d been treated.
I turned to Hopkins, who was still seated on the couch. He watched the reunion like it was nothing to be surprised about, like it was something that he’d been expecting and that he knew it was only a matter of time before he witnessed it.
“Hopkins,” I said, stepping over to him as Kelly and Steve chatted. “I don’t know what to say.”
“You don’t need to say anything at all,” he said. “I did what needed to be done.”
“You saved his life,” I said. “There’s no way I can even think about repaying you.”
“Thinking about ‘repayment’ is the wrong way to go about all this,” the older man said. “Things are going to get smaller now that society’s crashed down to the ground. Trust and cooperation are going to be the real currencies. Think of this as an investment—I get your back, you get mine, then back again. That’s how we’re going to rebuild this world.”
“Does that mean…you’re going to be a part of it now?”
“Haven’t figured it out yet,” he said. “But when I went to get your brother I saw a hell of a lot of fixing that going to need doing. None of that’s going to happen if we all hunker down and wait for someone else to take care of the problem for us.”
I stuck out my hand. Hopkins’ regarded it for a long moment before taking it and giving it a firm shake.
“Thank you,” I said. “I mean it.”
He nodded before patting the couch next to him. I sat down, my legs crying out in relief. Hopkins got up and went into his storage area, returning a few moments later with a bottle of booze and four mismatched glasses. He poured four shots and passed them out to me and Steve and Kelly.
“Here’s to none of us being dead,” said Hopkins, raising his glass.
“I’ll drink to that,” said Kelly.
“Hear, hear,” said Steve.
We tapped our glasses and took sips. Between the sitting down and the booze I felt for a moment like I was in my own private slice of heaven.
“So,” said Kelly, her eyes flicking from me to Hopkins. “You going to get us introduced?”
I cleared my throat and sat up.
“Kelly, this is Hopkins—the man who saved my life. Hopkins, this is Kelly. My, ah, ex-wife.”
The two of them shook hands.
“Well, technically we’re still married,” she said.
“I think things are about as official as they’re going to get,” I said. “Legal system turned off with the power.”
“Good point,” she said with a smirk.
“Well, well, well,” said Hopkins. “And you found each other in all this shit?”
“Believe it or not, we did,” I said. “Found her in a casino in the middle of the city—one where the power was still on.”
The same shocked expression flashed on Hopkins’ and Steve’s faces.
“Whoa,” said Steve. “There’s a casino that still works?”
“Worked,” I said, correcting him.
His drink in his grip, Steve looked down and waved his hands in front of his face.
“Okay, okay,” he said. “Let’s back up. Obviously you’ve gotten into some shit since I last saw you. What the hell happened?”
I laughed and shook my head.
“Don’t even know where to begin with that one.”
“Easy,” said Steve. “Just start at when you left me behind and go from there.”
I polished off my booze and held out my glass.
“Think I might need another one of these if I’m going to be getting into all that.”
“Happy to oblige,” said Hopkins.
He poured me another drink and I went into it. I told Steve about the trip into town, the mall and meeting Hopkins, who advised me to try my luck at the rehab center. I told him about Carlos and our trip through the city, the trip that involved getting chased by a tiger before seeing the last of the Vegas PD get taken down by a mob. Then I told him about the Troika and finding Kelly and what happened to Carlos.
It took a while, and by the time I was done I felt drained as hell.
“That…all that happened to you?” he asked. “Holy shit, little brother.”
“Yeah.” I paused, running a hand through my hair. “The worst part is that I actually found you the supplies I needed. Lost those along the way, though.”
Hopkins cut in, then.
“Lucky for Steve, all it took was a little booze and some thread to get him all patched up. He was lucky—any deeper and there might be a much different mood to this little meeting.”
The idea of what he’d said caused a shudder to run through me. I sipped my drink, considering how differently this day could’ve gone. It was only through sheer luck that I’d managed to get here in one piece. And not just alone—with Steve and Kelly, too.
“What about you?” asked Kelly, turning her attention to Steve. “What happened to you today?”
“I stayed in that damn shed, or whatever it was, all day. Place got hot as hell by the time the sun was high in the sky. Leg hurt like a motherfucker, and I could hardly move without it feeling it was going to tear in two.”
He sipped his drink and went on.
“It was quiet at first. But as the day went on, I started hearing noises—gunfire, explosions, that kind of thing. I realized that the chaos in the city was getting closer, and that it’d only be a matter of time before the mob was on top of me.”
Steve paused, taking another swig before he continued.
“I must’ve dropped to sleep at some point because I woke up to the sound of the door opening. This kid came in, some punk asshole.”
“Holy shit,” I said. “What happened?”
“I played dead. Then, when he got close, I put that piece of metal you gave me to use. Not the most honorable thing in the world, but I didn’t exactly have a lot of options, you know?”
“Damn,” said Kelly.
“I hit the kid hard right in the leg, hard enough to scare the hell out of him and send him running. But I knew it was only a matter of time before more assholes showed up.”
“They did,” I said. “Showed up at about the same time I did.”
“Shit,” said Steve. “What happened?”
&
nbsp; Kelly and I shared a look. The savage beating that I’d given the guy was obviously on her mind as it was mine.
“Same thing,” I said. “Kicked some ass, sent them running.”
“There you go,” said Steve.
Hopkins freshened his drink and he went on.
“A few hours later, the door opened back up and in steps some bearded motherfucker who looked like he’d just crawled out of a dumpster.”
He flashed Hopkins a smile.
“No offense, bud,” he said.
“None taken,” said Hopkins. “It’s a cultivated aesthetic.”
Steve laughed and went on.
“I had my steel bar in my hand, ready to do some major damage. And that’s when he tells me that he met you, Justin, and that he was here to patch me up. I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. It was like I’d died and gone to heaven and the first angel I saw looked like a lumberjack.”
“I patched your boy up and we got the hell out of there.”
“Shit,” I said. “I don’t know what to say.”
“Don’t say anything,” said Hopkins. “Just be happy that it all worked out for the best. Right now, we need to get ready to move forward.”
“Right with you there,” said Steve. “What’s our next move?”
They looked to me, then, and I realized we’d all gotten so wrapped up in the thrill of being reunited that we hadn’t even begun to plan out the days ahead. Sure, I had some vague plans about getting back to my shelter, but that was easier said than done.
“First thing is we need to get out of these tunnels,” said Kelly. “Like we said, it’s only a matter of time before the entire city comes down here for shelter.”
“And it’s not just that,” I said. “These pipes are built pretty solid. But without maintenance they’re eventually going to give way. And when that happens this whole place will turn into a disaster zone.”
“Damn,” said Steve. “People are going to come down here. They’re going to think they’re safe, get settled in, think that maybe they’ll be able to rebuild underground. Then…”
He was right. There was every likelihood that that was how it was going to play out. But there was nothing to be done about that.
