by Sam Ryder
“Later that night, I was walking through the parking garage. Henson was waiting for me, blocking the door to my car. He yelled at me, screaming about how I needed to help him because he couldn’t go to prison. Said I was the only one who could help him.
“He pulled a knife on me, pinned me up against the car, and held it to my throat.” She placed her fingers on her neck, revisiting the feeling in her mind. “The steel of the blade was so cold. I’ll never forget it. He held my head back by yanking on my hair. I just stood there, shaking, helpless.”
“How did you get away?” I asked.
“There was a security guard on duty. Took him a few minutes to get there, but he saw it go down on the monitor. Pulled out his gun and put a bullet in the guy’s back. He fell to the ground, and I slid down the side of my car, sobbing.
“After that day, I told myself I would never again be put in that position, that feeling of helplessness. I signed up for self-defense classes and learned how to kick ass. The security guard saved my life, but if he had been even thirty seconds later than he already was, Henson could have cut off my head. So I took my protection into my own hands. Thank God I did because that training gives me a hell of a lot of confidence out here in the Ends.”
I couldn’t argue that point. She could throw a vicious kick. Half the cowards in the wasteland were just assholes who talked a big game. Stand up to them and they folded like pieces of paper. They were like middle school bullies.
For a while, we didn’t talk. The two of us just sat on the windowsill, staring out at the stars. It was so peaceful, I almost forgot the pain in my knee and the violence our future would likely hold.
I thought Geneva would be the safest place to be. The Rising and the Enders coexisted here. But even then, because of Hannah’s status as a First, we drew attention. I didn’t see that coming. Too many people were pushing against us.
“We can’t linger here,” I said, breaking the silence. “We have to get going.”
She looked down at my knee. “Then we need to find you a ride.”
I crossed my arms over my chest. “Fine,” I said. “But it needs to be big enough to hold all of us. I will not be the only one riding. It’s all or nothing.”
“Deal,” Hannah said. “Now get back to sleep.”
Chapter 13
Beer and the Grid
I slept like shit that night.
The skirmishes we had gotten into made me uneasy. I didn’t have an issue with getting into a few fights. But now we were being targeted. No longer were we passing through, just trying to stay out of everyone’s way. People were finding us, seeing a First Tier walking around with an Ender. Word was getting out, and it was a problem.
We couldn’t just walk freely. Now, we would have to stay alert and be on guard. And we needed to get the hell out of there.
The stabbing pain in my knee prevented that from happening. I was a liability, and it didn’t sit well, not when the lives of the two beautiful, capable women I was traveling with were affected by it.
When the sun came up, I sat up and clutched my knee. There was definitely some serious damage done to it.
I got up and hobbled around the room. I could put a little pressure on it. But I wouldn’t be able to make the trek all the way to Rome on foot, that was for damn sure. Hannah was right, and I had to admit it to myself—we needed a ride, and fast.
It was still dark out, so I awoke the women, who were once again nestled on either side of me. “We need to go…now,” I said, a feeling of urgency washing over me.
I wasn’t sure why or if I was overreacting, but then Gehn said, “I agree. Something’s not right.” Hannah might not trust my instincts yet, but she trusted her sister’s.
“Fine,” she said. “We’ll figure something out.”
Though I hated to burden them further, I had no choice, roping an arm around each of their shoulders so they could support me as I hobbled down the stairs, slipping out of the bar’s front door and onto the deserted streets.
“You’ve been to Geneva,” Gehn whispered. “Where would we find a mode of transportation?”
“Hell if I know,” I replied as we walked. I’d never needed a ride before—my legs always worked just fine. Though I had been here a couple times, I rarely did anything here beyond drink at the bar. I never had to go into a shop or speak with someone about renting transportation.
It seemed like a simple problem—just find any local and see if we could get them to give us a little direction. But now that we were known around town for all the wrong reasons, it wasn’t so simple.
I spotted a light rimming the edges of a door to a carpenter’s shop. It was early morning bordering on still being night, but someone was clearly inside getting an early start to the day. I gestured to it. We didn’t know what waited for us behind the door, but we didn’t have many options. “You sure about this?” Hannah asked.
“No,” I said, but I led them toward the shop anyways. I suspected the door would be locked, but I didn’t want to risk the noise of knocking so I tried the handle first. To my surprise, it opened. Inside, a middle-aged man was building a table, sanding down the top, the shh-shh-shh-shh-shh-shh sound masking our entrance. Sweat glistened from his forehead since he was doing this all with hand tools.
“Sir?” I asked. “Can I ask you a question?”
Startled, he looked up, his eyes flicking between us. Maybe he hadn’t heard about us. Maybe he could help.
“Get the hell out,” he said. Maybe not.
“Please. We’ve got coin. All we need is a ride out of town. Geneva can forget all about us.”
The man scoffed. “You’ve brought violence to our peaceful city. The Council has a long memory.”
I considered telling him off, contradicting his bullshit about a ‘peaceful city.’ The peace here was false, fabricated, built on laws, yes, but not in the hearts of the inhabitants.
So we left. Back on the streets, I spotted a lone form heading in our direction. I tensed, and I could tell Gehn did too. I remembered what she’d told me about her violent urges.
I squinted into the gloom, trying to determine the identity of the form. It was an old man. His gait was unsteady, a clear sign that he’d been heavy on the drink, and recently. He was so skinny his bones protruded out of his skin. He had yellowed, rotting teeth and a buzz cut.
He stopped when he saw us watching him, his head cocking to the side in surprise. “
“Hey, y’all,” he drawled. “What can I do ya fer?”
“Let’s go,” Hannah said. “He’s just a drunk. He’ll bring us nothing but trouble and attention.”
I couldn’t disagree, but for some reason I hesitated. We were desperate and a drunk man, at least, might not care about our current reputation. I turned to Gehn. “You getting any vibes?”
She shook her head. “He seems okay.”
I nodded and turned to face the man. “We’re looking for a ride.”
“Yeah, yeah,” he said, waving his hand. “I can help you with that too. Come on!”
I stood up to follow him and Hannah grabbed me by the arm. “What the hell are you doing? You don’t even know this person. He could be a kidnapper or a murderer.”
“We have no leads right now,” I said. “Just roll with it. Stay behind me and you’ll be fine. I’ve got my girls handy.” I patted the holster on my hip.
We followed the man, who ducked into an alley behind a general store on the corner of the street. He looked like he was about 135 pounds soaking wet. His appearance was ghastly. But he was offering help, and we were out of options.
After several minutes of weaving in and out of the streets and alleys of Geneva, we reached a decrepit cellar door behind a small house.
My stomach sank, and I put my hand on Alpha.
“We’re not fools,” I told him. “Don’t try to pull anything.”
The man chuckled. “I’ve got something in here that I want to share with you.” He bent over to pull open the doors.
>
I slipped Beta out of her holster above Alpha and gave her to Hannah. “How are you with guns?” I whispered.
“Decent,” she replied, though I got the sense it was an understatement.
“Decent is good,” I said. I handed Beta over to her. “Just keep it hidden until he pulls something. I’ll make sure you know when to pull the trigger.”
Hannah seemed to enjoy the feeling of the gunmetal in her hands as she ran one thumb over the weapon. I flipped my attention over to the man again.
“What’s your name?” I asked.
“Name’s Gunner,” he said as he unlocked the doors.
“I’m Cutter,” I replied. The duality of our names made me laugh. “Why did you bring us here?”
“Because I’ve overheard conversations you’ve been having. I wanted to help. Open these cellar doors and you’ll like what you see inside.”
This was beginning to feel like a mistake. I palmed Alpha in my hand, ready to use it if necessary. I winked at Hannah. She was ready too.
“You’re being a little too creepy, Gunner,” I told him. “Tell us what’s inside.”
“Beer.” Gunner grunted as he pulled open the creaky wooden doors. The dark blue paint had chipped off every inch of the wood, leaving a cracked, worn, and disposable set of doors in its place.
Beer? Now this guy is speaking my language. But that couldn’t be possible.
With a slam, he dropped the doors on each side. I leaned forward and gazed down the steps. It was all darkness beyond the first few steps.
Hannah kept her hand on the gun as it stuck out of her pocket. She was ready and waiting.
“It’s at the bottom of the steps,” he said. “I’ll step over here away from the doors, so you don’t have to worry about me locking you in. Take your gun out if you want. It’s just beer down there.”
I didn’t want to pass up the chance that this was actually beer. It had been a decade since I had beer. I held Alpha out in front of me and slowly stepped in.
“If you hear anything, you shoot this guy,” I told Hannah.
Humor him and maybe he’ll show you where to get a ride, too.
I reached the bottom of the staircase and squinted to make out the different shapes in the darkness. Stepping forward, I bashed my right shin on something metal—and big.
“Ow!” I yelled. “Hey, you got any light down here?”
“Nope!” he howled back.
Like a blind man, I felt the metal with my hands. My stomach fluttered with excitement when I figured out what it was.
“My God,” I gasped.
“What is it?” Hannah shouted.
With my gimpy leg, I dragged the massive metal cylinder to the base of the steps. Wide-eyed, I stepped up until I peeked out of the cellar.
“It’s a keg. There really is beer down here, unless it’s filled with something else!”
Gunner laughed.
“Buddy, give me a hand with this thing!” I said to him. “I have a bum knee, I can’t hoist it up these stairs.”
“Oh, no,” he said. “That stays down there. I don’t want anyone else seeing it. I’ll go get us some cups.”
What a random encounter. This weird dude walked right up to us, and now we were about to be drinking honest-to-God beer.
“Is this really a big deal?” Gehn asked.
I hobbled up a few stairs to look her in the eye. “Have you ever had beer?”
She smirked. “I was nine years old when the Blast hit.”
“Damn,” I said, doing some quick math in my head. Shit, she was kind of young, but at least she was legal. “If you’re a drinker, then this is a huge deal. I haven’t had a beer since the Blast. I didn’t even know it existed anymore.” Gunner waltzed in with four cups. “How do you have a keg here?”
He tossed me a cup. “Hell, I came across it a few years ago. My brother and I ventured outside the wasteland to see what we could find.” He handed a cup to Gehn and Hannah, then walked down the steps. “Stumbled on an old home that was leveled, but the basement was intact. Family had a home bar, and this beauty was sitting there, untapped. It hyped us up, man. Nobody gets beer anymore. My brother sifted through the bar and found this. It’s probably a little funky after all this time but it’ll do the job.”
Gunner disappeared into the darkness, then came back into the light with a small pump tap.
“Where’s your brother?” I asked. “Shouldn’t he be here then? How have you not already tapped this?”
The smile on Gunner’s face fell. “My brother didn’t make it back here,” he said. “We had an altercation with some Enders, big male ones. I got away with the cart we were pulling, but not before they got him.”
I glanced up at Gehn, who wore a nervous look.
“You hate Enders?” I asked.
“Nah, man,” he said. “Those guys gave us shit, but I don’t have a problem with Enders as a whole. My brother had a big mouth.” He pointed at Gehn. “I know she’s an Ender. We all know it.”
Gunner bent over to screw the tap onto the top of the keg.
“So why are we tapping this now?” I said. “Why would you bring us here?”
“Was waitin’ for a special occasion, I guess,” he said. “I’m by myself now. Wanted to share it with somebody. How many chances am I going to get to split a keg with an Ender, a First, and a...” He squinted one eye, trying to figure out what I was.
“I don’t like labels so much,” I said. “Well, we’re happy to help you with this. How much?” I knew the man was playing it off like it was his treat, but nothing in this world was free.
He didn’t answer right away, pumping up the pressure on the keg and soon he was filling up each cup with the beautiful amber elixir I hadn’t even seen in a decade. He was a good salesman. Even the whole drunk thing had been an act to lure us here and sell us his shit.
“Eighty cents per cup,” he finally answered.
“Steep,” I said. “For old, warm beer? Try forty cents a cup.”
“Seventy.”
“Fifty.”
I expected him to counter with sixty, but he said, “Deal.” He was fair.
“Thanks,” I said. “We’ll take three cups to start, more if it’s any good.” I handed over the coin. He palmed it and stuffed it in his pocket.
“It’ll taste like shit,” he laughed as we raised our cups.
“I don’t even care,” I said.
We toasted and took our first swigs. It wasn’t terrible, but it wasn’t fresh. Still, rancid beer was better than no beer at all. That familiar taste of barley and hops brought back so many memories.
“Didn’t expect to see you all back here. The Council is looking for you. They already made a proclamation to arrest you if you ever set foot in the city.”
“Sounds about right,” I said. “We didn’t have much of a choice.” I gestured to my leg.
“Hurt bad, eh? Fair enough. So what’s your deal?” Gunner asked us. “Everyone around here is wondering why you’re all together.”
“We have to get to Rome,” I said. “Our friend here says we’re fated to go there to work out a peace between the Enders and the Rising. Trying to figure out what that looks like.”
“Peace between the races?” he said. “Sounds like fool’s gold, but I respect you for tryin’. Been violence in the Ends for far too long. I say live and let live. You guys trying to get a hold of the Grid?”
I paused drinking and looked at him with confusion. “The Grid?”
He nodded. “If you control the Grid, you run all this shit.” His voice took the tone of a conspiracy theorist. “See, the Rising? They’ve got the Grid. They’re figuring it out. That’s why they’ve been kidnapping all the Guild’s Firsts.”
I looked at Hannah for confirmation. “It’s true,” she said. “We’ve lost several in just a few months. Ambushed by the Rising and taken away.”
“Why?” I asked.
The man continued. “The Firsts have all the brains. Old technolog
y folks, lawyers, surgeons, etc....they know how to figure shit out. So they’re forcing them to bring it back. And once they do, they will run everything—more than they do already. If somebody else steps in and takes it, they leap right over the Rising and they run the Ends.”
“Wait,” Hannah jumped in. “What is the Grid? You mean like power from the old days?”
“Yep,” he said. “Elec-freaking-tricity.”
That was huge, I knew. As far as I’d heard, all major systems had been damaged too badly to repair in a hundred years, not with the limited resources we had. But if the Rising had a connection to a source of viable power that could be repaired in our lifetimes…this man was right. They could control our portion of what was left of the world.
“You could come with us. Be our guide,” I said after I’d finished my fifty-cent cup of stale beer.
“I’m flattered,” he said. “But I can’t leave. Promised my bro I would guard this keg and make my fortune off it.”
“I understand,” I said, though I wasn’t certain I did. It was sad, in a way.
He nodded and walked back into the cellar. With a jerk, he pulled on the inside handle of each door. The doors popped up and swung inward, closing him in.
“Wait,” I said. “What about finding us a ride?”
“Beer’s callin’ me. I’ve been waiting to answer a long time.” Then he shut the door.
I pounded on the door a few times, but he’d locked it from the inside. I could hear him pumping more beer out of the keg.
“Have either of you heard of the Grid before?” I asked the girls. They shook their heads. “What about you, Hannah? He said the Firsts were working on it. You know anything about that?”
“First time I’ve ever heard of that,” she said. “It’s true the Rising has been abducting Firsts, but the rest could be bullshit.”
Maybe. Or maybe he was on to something. We’d figure that part out.
I didn’t get us any closer to finding a ride, but I did enjoy some beer.
