Cry For Tomorrow (7 page)

Dusty didn’t even seem to mind riding in the noisy elevator this time. We were stepping from between the open doors when Carl and Zack emerged from the work rooms. They were so deep in conversation that they would have gone right on by if not for the slam of the elevator doors.

“Oh, hey, Halie,” Zack greeted me, but he was frowning and cut his eyes away as if he’d been caught doing something he shouldn’t be. “Is everything looking cool outside?”

“No, not really,” I answered as I studied his face, trying to figure what was making him so uncomfortable. “I saw something really strange out in the street. There was a new phantom. It was short and stumpy and it had fangs and—”

“Hey, lots of these phantoms have teeth,” Carl interjected and gave me a look that said he thought I must be getting simple-minded.

“Yeah, but how many of them attack and eat monkeys,” I shot back in annoyance, “and have gremlin care-takers that show up with chains and drag it away?” He really could be an ass sometimes. Glaring at Carl, I turned my back on him and stomped off toward my own room.

“Come on, Dusty, let’s get some sleep.” I slammed my bedroom door behind me.

* * * *

“You are just Mr. Popular tonight, now aren’t you,” Zack commented with an angry look at his friend.

“Yeah, yeah, you know how women are, always pissed about something.” Carl slapped his friend on the shoulder and nudged him along the hallway. “Remember, now, I won’t be going with you in the morning. I’ve got business at the University. I’ll catch up to you later.”

“Right, funny business.” Zack shook his head and deliberately turned his back on his friend before entering his own room.

“What’s wrong with Zack and Halie?” asked Jennie as she moved past Carl.

“Nothing much,” he growled and stalked down the hall in the direction of the spare bedroom. It didn’t look like Halie had any intention of letting him share her bed this night.

Morning brought with it the usual hustle and bustle of everyone getting ready to head out for the day. Ducking and dodging through the confusion with practiced ease, Jennie and I were busy loading our backpacks and the collapsible, two-wheeled shopping carts we used to transport our trade-goods. The small handcarts were easy to handle and could be taken with us on the buses or auto-walks without any problems.

“Okay everybody, listen up,” Jake interrupted. “Today’s my day to be
mom
, so everybody tell me where you’re going and when you’re planning to be home.”

My roommates and I had agreed early in our relationship that we were the only family we each had. It was up to us to keep track of, and go looking for, anyone who didn’t show up where, or when, they said they were going or didn’t come home at night. The policy, as well as our true concern for each other’s safety, had been responsible for saving all of our lives at one time or another. Last night was just one example. Jake had tried to be discreet about it for the sake of my pride, but I knew he’d been out looking for me because I was overdue.

“Right,” confirmed Jennie. “Today is market day at Dockside and Halie and I are headed there to sell the crafts. After that, I was planning on heading over to the University to do some research on jewelry patterns. Wanna’ come too, Halie?”

“Thanks, but I think I’m going to run over to Rosa’s and check on Kelly when we finish at the market. I want to talk to Jack about that new phantom and its little friends that I encountered last night, too.” I sent a meaningful scowl at Carl. We usually finished selling our stuff by noon, and Rosa and Jack’s house wasn’t very far from the docks, so I’d be able to spend a couple of hours with my sister before I had to head back home.

“Good,” Jake nodded his head as he marked everything down in a small notebook he kept in his pocket. “Now, what about you, Carl? Zack and I are going to drop off that order of perfumes at the Ladies Shoppe, and then we’re headed for the north side of town in the hopes of liberating a few pieces of electronics from Ace’s warehouse.” Ace was a fat, slovenly man, perpetually in need of a good bath. Unfortunately, he was also as dishonest as he was dirty, but he possessed the largest warehouse full—wall-to-wall, floor-to-ceiling—of discarded electronic appliances and parts in the city. The worst part was that he kept his business in even worse disarray than his person, and it could take you days to find what you wanted.

“Umm, no, thanks.” Carl hesitated and looked away when Zack glared at him. “I-I have business at the University and I probably won’t be finished ‘til late.”

That was odd. I cast a puzzled, questioning look at him but all I got back was that closed, keep-away look that Carl seemed to wear on his face so often lately. He had stopped attending classes at the university several months ago, saying he had better things to do with his time than listen to a bunch of old men and women lost in the past lecture him on how to survive in the future, so I was a little surprised that he had any reason to be there.

I shrugged in resignation but, still, I couldn’t quite shake off the chill his words and attitude had brought. He hadn’t
really
said anything incriminating, there was just something about the way he said it that
felt
funny
,
like something wasn’t quite right between us. But then, I had been under a lot of pressure lately, and maybe Carl’s strange and kind of cool behavior was just a reaction to my own mood.

I did notice that Carl had cut his eyes away when the others cast curious looks his way. His face was creased in defensive lines when he snatched up his backpack and slammed his shoulder against the door to the staircase. “See y’all tonight,” he grumbled without actually looking anyone in the eyes as he disappeared into the nearly dark stairwell.

Jennie and I exchanged puzzled glances but neither of us wanted to put our discomfort about Carl’s odd behavior into words. Even his sudden preference for using the staircase the last few weeks seemed odd to me. It only took him as far as the fourth floor and from there he would have to use the fire escape to reach the ground. I’d questioned him about it once, but he’d been so defensive about it, saying that he just wanted to get a little exercise, that I hadn’t mentioned it since.

I shook my head, trying to clear away the dark thoughts. “Come on, Dusty, it’s time to go.” Snapping the leash I had braided from some heavy cord I’d found in our assortment of craft items to the dog’s collar first, I shrugged into my backpack and headed to the elevator door. I patiently waited for Jennie to maneuver her own cargo on board before following, and I tried very hard not to let it bother me that Carl had not kissed me good-bye or wished me a good day.

The glare of the harsh, winter sunlight made me reach for the sun-glasses I kept in my jacket pocket as we emerged into the street. I was still fumbling with them when the dog darted past me and into the street to check out the crushed remains of the monkey.

“Hey Dusty, slow down,” I called. I dropped my baggage and released her. She’d been staying close and responding well enough to walk free. She immediately went to the place where the monkey’s remains lay in a small, stained area of the street. Curious, I followed her.

“Wow, it’s really scary to think that some of those phantoms might actually be dangerous,” gasped Jennie as she joined us. “Here I’ve been trying to convince myself that I didn’t have any reason to be afraid of them, and now this—and what about those gremlin things you saw?”

“Yeah, really scary,” I agreed as I nudged the corpse with the toe of my boot. “I’ve got to talk with Jack about this—maybe he’s heard something about it before.”

“Well, you know what? This little mystery is just going to have to wait for another time,” said Jennie with a deep frown, “‘cause if we don’t hurry, we’re going to miss the bus. Let’s go.”

“Coming.” I shouldered my pack, but paused before following my friend and took a good look around me at the assortment of mostly abandoned apartment buildings and defunct offices and stores. There were only a few other people visible on the street, some moving with purpose, but most were just wandering as if they had all day to get where they were going. Two women bicyclists, riding side by side, parted to ride past me, the usual escort of phantoms swirling about their spinning wheels with little effect and less notice. I watched them for a moment before running after Jennie.

I was still thinking about the phantoms as we hurried along the street toward the bus stop. When the ghouls had begun to appear en masse forty years ago, there were a lot of theories put out by the scientists and government, but no one had come up with a definitive answer. The best scientists in every country on earth had been called upon, but none had yet been able to find a way to communicate with, or affect the actions of, these phantoms. To the best of my knowledge, most of the phantoms were harmless, at least when there was only one to contend with. Problem was that they were drawn to the vibration created by motors of any kind and especially loved large gatherings of humans. If they’d appear one at a time they be dealt with, but they did not. They arrived in swarms, clogging the mechanical components of autos, airplanes and factories. Because of the danger they’d created, our world and way of life had been totally changed. There were no longer airplanes that could fly across continents or oceans, gas-powered vehicles were unable to function, and most of the giant, mechanized factories had literally ground to a halt. The only vehicles able to operate with a degree of freedom were those that moved huge amounts of air around them, such as hover-craft or helicopters.

We reached the bus stop just as the big blue and red car squealed to a stop on the mono-rail that carried it above the damaged streets of the old city. Actually a trolley, it was powered by the electric cables protected within the mono-rail. With the deterioration of the inner-city streets, and the need to make transportation available to those willing to work, the city had had to find some safe way to transport the dwindling populace from one side to the other of the sprawling urban areas.

As usual, the bus made a lot of stops at this time of day, and we knew it was going to take us the better part of an hour to reach our destination. We made ourselves as comfortable as possible, watching the news being flashed across a giant screen above the driver’s head. I was half asleep, barely listening to the steady patter, when something the announcer said snapped me fully awake.

“
The local police are investigating more reports of attacks by a rogue reaper. In spite of the accusations, the Company continues to deny any knowledge of—or connection with—the reaper that has killed at least two dozen of our citizens. His victims now include prominent business man Jordan Oaks, owner of the local food chain, Quik-Shop, as well as the thirteen vagrants discovered in the old city district two days ago.
” The handsome thirty-something announcer blinked his large, brown eyes sadly, and smiled reassuringly before going on.
“Again, we will have more information on the deaths discovered this morning as soon as our reporter on the scene, John Baines, is able to get a statement from the police commissioner.”

“I wonder if that’s the same reaper you and Jake saw last night, or if there’s more than one of them killing like that?” Jen’s brow was creased with worry as she returned her gaze to the streets we were passing.

“I don’t know, but I do know that no one was very interested in this rogue reaper until it started killing
prominent citizens
.” Scowling, I got to my feet. “Come on, this is our stop.”

It was almost noon, and we were nearly sold out when a pair of elderly, but obviously very well-to-do women approached our booth. One was dressed in blue satin and pearls, the other in orange and cream gingham, and each was sporting a large, floppy hat adorned with some nauseating combination of chicken feathers and artificial flowers. An armed guard strode two paces behind the flouncing ladies.

“Aw, here they come now,” sighed Jennie. “I was being to think Agatha and Mildred had forgotten us.”

“Me, too. I worked for three days on that bowl I etched special for them, just so they’d have it for this big party they’ve been jabbering about for the last couple of weeks.”

“Yes, the old girls each ordered a new necklace to impress their friends, too.” Jennie gritted her teeth and fixed her best
salesman
smile on her face.

“Oh dear, we were
soo
worried that you’d already left,” sighed Mildred.

“Yes, yes, but it was just dreadful, what happened,” puffed Agatha.

Trying to be polite and mildly curious, I couldn’t help but ask, “What was so terrible?”

Jennie gave me a nudge and rolled her eyes to tell me what a fool I’d been to let the old girls lure me into one of their silly and pointless discussions, but it was already too late.

“Why, what happened at that house on the corner of Vine and Oak streets. It must have been just a short while ago too,” trilled Mildred.

“Oh yes, you could see it even from the street. There was blood just everywhere,” added Agatha.

I was un-wrapping the bowl for them and wasn’t really paying attention until the names of the streets sank in. I dropped the bowl and grabbed the hand reaching for it.

“
Which
house? What happened there?” I demanded in a low voice.

“Oh, my,” the old woman gasped as she pulled her arm back. “I-I believe it was that red one with all those strange symbols painted all over it.” When she saw the look on my face, her voice took on a tone of sympathy. “I am so sorry, dears, I had no idea friends of yours lived there.”

“Do you know what happened? Were the people who live there hurt?” Jennie asked when she saw that I was too afraid to ask.

“Oh, yes, I am afraid so,” fluttered Mildred. “You could see blood on the sidewalk out front, and there were policemen just everywhere.”

Jennie was already grabbing up our things and stuffing them into the packs until she realized that dragging this stuff around with us was going to slow us down. Turning, she shook my shoulder to make me pay attention.