“Is he the one that decides the fights? Hears the cases?” Mac was now leaning over the couch speaking intently.
“Well, yes, I suppose.”
“Would he ever turn anyone down? Or recommended it not be taken to the arena? Can he be reasoned with at all.”
Violet’s eyes squinted a bit as she appraised her. “Not that I know of, on all accounts.”
Mac shook her head, then hiked up her pack a bit, stepping away from the couch. “Garret told me you had my dried.”
Violet’s eyes widened a bit at the sudden change of subject. “Yes, I’ve been holding it for you in my room.”
“I’ve come to collect.” Mac wouldn’t even look at Violet anymore.
Cara was watching her, trying to figure out the change in demeanor. She knew Mac was looking to tie up loose ends. She didn’t like calling herself and the Block a loose end, but she understood Mac’s need to fix and make right for those she deemed worthy. While she felt thankful she’d considered them that, she could see the toll it was taking on her. Everything Mac had done for them up until now had eaten away at her. And Cara felt like being here, chipped away more. A knock at the door broke her train of thought.
“Dr. Simms?” a soft voice called as the door to the room opened slowly to reveal a girl who looked to be twenty at best.
“I’m no doctor, dear, call me Violet,” the woman said sweetly.
“Well, you’re a doctor here, now, Violet,” the girl joked, but she was right. She was the best they had there, for this.
Violet chuckled a bit. “I suppose you’re right.”
“Can I speak with you for a minute?”
The girls manner suddenly changed, and her eyes began to well up. Violet got right up from her chair, and headed over to the girl, guiding her to one of the couches. She turned back to Mac, “Go to the last door on your right on your way out of blue. Melody will take you to my room and give you your due.”
Cara got up, and joined Mac at the door.
Mac looked back at Violet. “Thank you.”
Violet looked at Mac for a long time, really studying her. “No, dear. Thank you. Until we meet again.” She said the last phrase more like a prayer than a farewell. Then she looked over at Cara and gave her another huge warm smile.
“Nice to meet you,” Cara said politely, and then followed Mac out the door, closing it behind her. “I’d guess that’s gonna make sixteen.”
Mac’s jaw tightened, but she didn’t respond, continuing down the hall. She stopped at the last door on the right as instructed, knocked, and waited for a moment. They heard a bit of movement behind the door, then a sweet voice spoke.
“Just a minute.”
When the door opened a baby faced girl stood there, another woman behind her sat forlornly on a repurposed massage table at the center of the small room, a small bump just noticeable at her belly on her small frame. When the young girl at the door took in Mac, her mouth began to quiver a little, her eyes shining, but she recovered herself. She blinked her eyes a few times to clear away the moisture, then she stepped in and hugged Mac like she thought she would never see her again. Cara realized that that was probably exactly what the young girl had thought.
“I am so happy to see you,” Melody said as she stepped back from her after the hug. She shook her head a bit again and looked up at the ceiling, willing the tears back into her body. “I’m so glad you’re ok. I didn’t think- I just didn’t know if-“
“I’m fine,” Mac said, giving her a tight lipped, quick smile. “And I’m glad to see you are too.”
“Much better,” the girl grinned proudly. “I can help these woman. I can do something here, in Blue.”
“You did plenty out there too,” Mac said this to her with a finiteness that almost dared the girl to contradict her. Melody’s eyes went wet again, but this time her face fell a bit at her time ‘out there.’ She gathered herself together, and nodded.
“So what can I do for you? How long are you staying for?” Melody asked, moving away from the last subject and memories.
“Violet said you could get my dried from her room. That’s why I’m here, to collect some things. I won’t be staying much longer once I get them all.”
“Oh,” Melody said, her face falling a bit in disappointment. “Sure, let me just finish up real quick in here, and I’ll be right out.” She politely closed the door again, reemerging with her patient just shortly after. “Let’s go then,” she smiled, and led the way back out the main door, shrouded in curtains.
Out in the hallway, Jack and Joe sat waiting next to Violet’s door. They quickly got to their feet when they saw the women exiting from what was once the Spa area.
“Everything ok in there?” Jack asked, looking at each of them, then at Melody.
“Hi, I just need to get in there,” she said, pointing to Violet’s door both of the men were standing in front of.
They scrambled out of the way, and she pulled a key from around her neck. Melody unlocked the door and entered, inviting them to follow her into the tight space. It was definitely used as an office before it became Violet’s residence. A desk was pushed into the far corner covered with a few trinkets and notepads. A few worn gym mats in the other corner with a thread bare blanket over it, and a folded up towel in the position of a pillow seemed to make up a bed. Melody pulled open the large bottom drawer of the desk, and began rummaging to the bottom of a few pieces of clothing, coming out with a large, gallon sized ziplock bag full of dried strips of meat.
“We reversed the truck half way down the front path when we got back here. Dragged it in, and had Tabitha butchered it, and prepare it the whole way. Some how, nobody had anything to say about it when they saw we were back, and how we looked,” she said it proudly.
“This is too much. You were all supposed to get your share.” Mac shook her head at the girl.
“No. This isn’t even close to what we should give to you.” The girl pushed it into Mac’s arms, and now it was her turn to dare her to say something to the contrary.
“Alright then,” Mac said, her face still showing she didn’t fully agree, but she wasn’t going to waste their time. She passed the bag to Jack. “Here,” she said simply.
“What is this?” Jack asked, examining the meat.
“I’d said it’s about ten pounds of smoked deer jerky. From when we first met.”
He looked at her confused. “Wait. This is the deer Harrison shot?”
“Yup,” she said, turning to leave the room. “Put it in your pack.”
Jack flashed back to seeing the green truck speeding down the dirt road away from the storage units as they tried to escape again, right before he saw Mac running through the woods. It was the same green truck he saw at the entrance to the path here. He looked over at Melody again when he realized she was one of the woman they had been keeping there. Then he snapped out of it, and followed the rest of them out of the room, Melody locking it behind them. She had to be about nineteen.
“I have to get back,” she said looking over her shoulder at the doors with the blue circles on them. “I’m so happy to know you’re ok. And know that I will keep fighting here.” The girl gave her one more quick, tight hug, and then returned to her work behind the doors.
Mac closed her eyes slowly and sighed at Melody’s last few words, but she turned and started back down the hallway.
Joe looked to Cara, and whispered, “What the hell was that place back there?”
Cara dropped her eyes to the ground, and gave him a little shake of her head. He didn’t quite understand it, but he got the message that she didn’t want to discuss it. He shut his mouth, and they continued until the hall met back up with the main market again. It was around lunchtime now, and the place was much busier than it was when they first arrived. More stands were set up and people where haggling over product. They saw a few skewers lined with dried frogs and one with baskets of carrots. Joe’s eyes caught a stand that looked like it was selling some kind of
moonshine or hooch, and Cara had to elbow him in the ribs to keep him on track. They could just make out the exit when they noticed a sudden drop in volume.
The community didn’t go all together silent, but it was like they were suddenly on their best behavior and watching their backs. They noticed a small group walking through the center. Carmichael, dressed in barely aged khakis and a pristine white polo shirt, sauntered through the crowd, picking things off of the stands to munch on as he walked, not giving anything to the proprietors as he went. Next to him were two armed guards and a young man who followed him around like an assistant.
Mac’s body tensed, but she followed the lead of everyone else, and put her eyes to the floor as they continued to the exit in silence. As they passed the group, she heard Carmichael speak to his assistant.
“Keep an eye on her. She looks like a good candidate. A few more months perhaps. Solomon will be pleased.”
Mac turned her head slightly to see if she could spot who he was talking about. She caught sight of him, and followed his sight line. When she saw it, her stomach tightened along with her fists. He was talking about a girl who looked to be about eleven, helping her father stack radishes at their stand. She was just a couple years older than Susie. She started to twitch, fighting the urge to lunge at him.
Cara elbowed her gently in her side. “Mac, let’s go.”
She hadn’t even realized she had stopped dead on the outskirts of the market. She calmly took her backpack off and handed it to Cara. She looked at the three from the Block.
“Take the seeds and meat back to the Block, no matter what happens. Just get out of here.”
“What?” Jack said, alarm building in his system.
She turned and headed straight for Carmichael, without hesitation. They all froze, Cara watching in sheer panic after learning how this place ran.
“Sir?” Mac asked meekly again, not making full eye contact with Carmichael. “I’m sorry to bother you, but-“ she stammered a little, “I- I have to come back with meat.”
“Excuse me?” he said, almost disgusted by her even approaching him.
“Meat. I was sent here to get meat for my group, but I, can’t. I don’t have the means.”
A knowing smirk slid across his face like she was a child who just admitted to not doing what she was told. “Well, there are ways to work off certain things here.”
She looked up at him hopefully, “Really? What could I do for fifty pounds of meat?”
“Fifty?” he scoffed at her.
“Of any kind!” she quickly clarified as if the type was the strange part of her request. “I have carriers, and-“ she pointed back to Cara, Joe, and Jack who stood a few yards behind her, watching.
“Sweetheart, you might as well just move in here, if you’re planning on working off fifty pounds worth of meat.” His assistant gave a forced little laugh as Carmichael looked at him for acknowledgement of his stupid joke.
“What?” she gave a panicked shake of her head.
Jack noticed one of the guards looked at her with confusion. Mac and the guard’s eyes met, and she quickly looked away. He must know who she is, and saw through her play.
“I have to make it right. I have to. I spoiled a whole deer my husband shot. I didn’t know what I was doing with the meat. It all rotted. Please. I’ll do the work, I just have to get it back.”
Carmichael looked back to Joe who realized his role was basically babysitter for this character Mac seemed to be playing. He stood tall, and puffed out his chest a bit, rolling his eyes at her so Carmichael could see. The man looked back down at her desperate face after seeing Joe’s feigned exasperation with her and smirked.
“Sweetheart, for that amount, that quick you’d have to fight in the arena. Send your man in to fight my top fighter. If you win, you get your pick of any fifty pounds of meat you want, and leave with it free and clear.”
She turned back to Joe timidly, his eyes widened slightly, but he caught himself.
“I can’t,” she almost whined. “I have to solve my own problems, or I won’t have made it right.” She looked back up at the man and pretended to unconsciously run her fingers over her yellowed cheek.
He gave a snort of annoyance. “I don’t know what to tell you, but I have to be on my way.”
He started past her and she screamed out, “I’ll do it!”
Carmichael paused and turned slowly back around to her.
“Miss, are you saying you want to go against my top fighter in the arena?”
She let out a shaky breath and with a quivering voice answered, “I have to try. Whatever will happen to me here can’t be worse than what will happen if I go back with nothing.”
The man began to laugh hysterically at her. The guard who recognized her looked at her with disbelief, trying to figure out her end game. Then the assistant nudged Carmichael in the side.
“Sir, I think Solomon would be pleased. Easy win. He can decide what he wants to do with her and being that it’s not a normal day for the arena, we won’t be wasting a fighter from another fight. It’s a simple gain for all involved.” He turned to Joe with hard eyes and warned, “As long as an angry husband doesn’t come here looking for his wife, because that wouldn’t end well for him.” The squirmy kid remained standing there, turning his attention back to Mac as Carmichael thought it over. As always his greed won, even in this new world.
“Fine. Go run it by him and see if he cares to bother. Where is he?” he asked the other guard that was just going through the motions of his job.
“I believe he’s still asleep at the red market, Sir.”
Carmichael exhaled loudly and rolled his eyes before turning back to his assistant. “Tread lightly. Go on.”
The young man went off down the hallway they had first traveled.
“Take her to the Arena to wait. If he says yes, we can get to it as soon as he’s ready. If no, send her to market. She has to at the very least work off the time I’ve wasted on her.”
The other guard took her by the arm and began to lead her down the hallway with the sign pointing to gym. The other guard walked with Carmichael as he went on his way. Her three companions were lost, not knowing what to do or what was going on. She looked back at them for only a second, a resolute look on her face. Then she was gone.
“What the fuck is going on?” Joe whispered harshly to Cara like she would know.
“I don’t know. This place, it’s fucking terrible. I don’t know what she’s trying to do. The arena,” she whispered to him and Jack. “It’s a fight to the death. And the guy they’re going to put in there is a goddamned monster.”
“Fuck!” Joe spat, thankfully the din was rising from the market once again in Carmichael’s absence.
“Who the hell was that guy then?” Jack asked.
“The owner of this place, the leader I guess. I don’t know. He works with the Solomon guy. Only cares about using these people to get himself more.”
“Wait, so it’s basically she fights that guy, possibly to the death, or he gets to keep her or something?”
Cara sighed, “Or something.”
“Shit!” Joe exclaimed again. “What do we do?”
“I don’t know,” Cara said rubbing her eyes hard with her hands. “She told us to go, but-“
“We’re not leaving her here!” Jack was looking at Cara like she had two heads.
“I didn’t say we should!” Her last word sounded loud in the center again. The volume had dropped down once more at the entry of the same young man that scampered off to find Solomon.
He stopped dead center in the market and held up one of those cheap little gongs you’d see on an end table in a yoga studio or a hibachi place. Then he hit it firmly with a small mallet, silencing the market place completely before he spoke.
“To the Arena.”
CHAPTER 30
The Arena
He said it plainly, with no inflection and matter of factly, like someone wasn’t about to die. Then h
e turned and made his way down the hall. A faint repeat of the phrase with another ridiculous gong hit was heard as he receded.
The rest of the crowd immediately began to pack away their goods like it was just another day. The customers started to shuffle down the hall they had taken Mac down. The Block three looked at each other and followed the crowd. None of the community spoke, just wandered along looking defeated and beaten down.
They made their way further, past the gym. Inside the facility were a few guards standing around with a handful of overly muscled men, clad in faded black clothing, doing rep after rep. Weights banged together, grunts sounding out. Joe saw one of them using a punching bag in the back corner and realized there was no way that even he would be able to fight him and make it out alive. They all looked at one another, having the same thought.
They watched as the river of people in front of them started to bear to the side. The hallway veered off to the right, up around the fitness center through a door that lead outside to another section. In front of them, at the end of a ramp, were two wide open doors, an armed guard at each side. The sign overhead read: Welcome to Carmichael Field. When they entered, the first thing that hit them was the height of the space rolling up into the white dome of the covered stadium. At the entrance were a few batting cages, three of which now held a man each, waiting for their turn in the arena on another day. One was already keeled over, clutching his knees, his face swollen and bloodied before he even started the fight.
Slowly they made their way to the edge of the field, a three foot tall wall stopping them. People were veering to the left and right, seating themselves on the stack of bleachers. Jack looked over the side and saw a table set up, a high backed and padded office chair sitting empty behind it looking out to the field beyond the cage of the backstop. Cara veered to the right and sat one row back. They followed and sat with her. Jack looked over his shoulder at the crowd.
Each person sat despondent. There was no excitement, no interest, just dejection. The ridiculous announcement of the fight showed that even though outsiders enjoyed the blood sport, the community of the Center did not. The announcement declared their mandatory attendance to view one of their own being brutally murdered.
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