Sophie Littlefield - Rebirth

Except that this wall wasn’t meant simply to keep the Beaters out. It also kept the people inside.

Past the old bookstore-there were still pennants and T-shirts and plastic mugs in the display windows, though sun-bleached-toward a pair of low-slung, pebble-walled buildings, among the older ones on campus, built fifty years earlier when they favored odd angles and small windows. Wheelchair ramps led up to the door of each building. Someone had spray painted words on each building, an inexpert job with paint drips along the bottom of the blocky letters. Infirmary was written on the side of the building on the left. Pace led the way up the ramp of the other building, which was labeled Ellis.

“I suppose it’s a little sentimental,” he said. “Ellis Island and all that. Mary can be…what’s the word. Grandiose? Well, you’ll see. She’ll probably come by tonight or tomorrow.”

“Who?”

“Mary Vane. You know. She’s in charge.”

Cass had heard about her back at the library; Smoke and the other guards passed along rumors about her, bits picked up from travelers, from the few who’d encountered the Rebuilders and not been recruited. She was supposed to be some sort of brilliant scientist, a visionary. People said she had worked for the government, or a drug company, or that she taught at the university. A few said she’d been serving time. Really, no one knew for sure.

“What’s she like?” Cass couldn’t resist asking.

Pace hesitated, his posture stiff. “Extraordinary, of course. A natural leader. Gifted…passionate.”

Euphemisms, Cass figured, trying to guess what he was really saying. It was no surprise that he was giving her the party line.

“Who’s in the infirmary?” Dor asked.

“When people arrive here with conditions that cannot be treated quickly, or if they are contagious, they stay there while their case is considered.”

“So it really is like Ellis Island,” Dor said. “What happens to the ones who don’t pass the test-you throw them overboard? Send them back where they came from, like they used to at the real Ellis?”

“We have a clinic,” Pace said, ignoring his tone. “You’ll be amazed. I mean, of course our hope is that you never need it but they do amazing things there. Full triage and emergency facilities, and they can do certain types of surgeries. They’ve done an appendectomy, a cesarean birth. Set lots of broken bones. If people can be cured, they cure them.”

He opened the door with a key and ushered them in.

Little natural light made its way through the high transom windows, and in the large open room a single floor lamp was lit. Two men sat at a dinette table in the semi gloom. They got to their feet, one nearly knocking over a plastic tumbler, and Cass saw that they were armed, guns and Tasers on their belts.

“Hey, Pace,” the taller one said. “Heard you’d be coming by. We’re ready for ’em.”

“These gentlemen will take good care of you,” Pace said. “Kaufman and Lester, this is Cass Dollar and David MacAlister. They’ll be with you overnight. The young lady’s name is Ruthie.”

“Nice to meet you,” Lester said, giving Ruthie a slight bow and a crooked smile. Cass liked him immediately, then chastised herself for it.

“I’ll be going, then. I’m sure I’ll see you tomorrow.”

The door shut with a resounding click, followed by the sound of a dead bolt sliding home. Pace, locking them in. Cass automatically looked for another door; there it was, through a narrow kitchenette, the bold-lettered Exit sign still in place above. No doubt locked, as well.

“We’re glad to have you folks,” Lester said. “Kind of dull around here today. Sometimes we’re full up and sometimes it’s like this. Ain’t a whole lot going on, and we get sick of each other’s company, mmm-hmm.”

“Thanks, man.” Dor shook hands with both men. Cass watched the way he stepped closer than most men would, the way the quieter Kaufman hesitated, the way Dor pretended not to notice. His grip was hearty, overly so, and Cass knew she was the only one who could tell this was another variation of himself, slipped on for reasons known only to him. “Appreciate it. Nice, the way you have it rigged. Got to say I’m looking forward to a decent night’s sleep. Been a while.”

“’At’s a shame, ain’t it.” Lester shook his head, making a gentle tsking sound. For some reason Cass thought of the skycaps lined up at the airport with their scanners and auto-taggers. The ones like Lester who had that old-fashioned way about them, a retro courtliness, really cleaned up in tips. “’Specially when you got the little ones. I think we have something for her round here. Got some games and puzzles. Let me look, now. Little lady, you want to see what we have back here?”

Ruthie nodded without making any move to let go of Cass. Lester chuckled.

“Well now, maybe in a minute. I think you’ll like what we got, though. This used to be a preschool for kids ’bout your size.”

“A preschool? On campus?”

“Yes, ma’am,” Kaufman said. “Little kids here. The infirmary next door was K through three. Student teachers from the School of Education did their practice teaching here. Worked out good for us, since the other one’s got the separate classrooms, which is better for the, uh, communicable type people.

“And we got the one big room,” Lester added. “Not much privacy but most folks are only with us a few nights before they get their more permanent-type arrangements.”

A dozen narrow beds lined the wall, neatly made up and far more uniform than the accommodations in the Box, which were cobbled together from raids on houses and an army surplus store.

“Got those from the FEMA warehouse outside town,” Kaufman said, noticing where they were looking. “Back during the fires in ’14 when they set up a Central Valley supply depot. They never used them all and they’ve been sitting there ever since. Tip-top shape. New as can be. Gotta love the federal government, right?”

Across from the beds, forming small conversation areas between the windows, were easy chairs and love seats clustered around coffee tables to form several conversation areas. Books and games were stacked on the tables; a half-finished jigsaw puzzle was laid out on one of them. In the pool of light cast by the lamp, two people sat silently. A pale, thin young man lay back in a recliner, a blanket pulled up to his chin and tucked all around his slight body. He appeared to be sleeping. Next to him a middle-aged woman sat with her feet tucked under her in the corner of a love seat closest to the young man, a ball of green yarn spinning slowly on the cushions next to her. She didn’t look down at the flashing needles, at her fingers working the yarn, but watched Cass and Dor and Ruthie carefully, as though she were forming an unfavorable opinion of them based on criteria knowable only to her.

“Just the five of you tonight,” Lester said with manufactured cheer. “David, Cass, this is Malena and her son, Devin. Guys, this little one is Ruthie.”

Malena nodded; Devin didn’t stir. Lester turned away from them and spoke quietly: “You might want to just keep to yourselves. I’d say she’s got a fair number of, you know, anger issues. I know you’ve been on the road-no need for you to have to deal with that right now. Why don’t you just relax. Dinner’ll come around in-” he checked his watch, an expensive old gold one, the sort that wound itself “-another half hour or so. There’s towels in the bathroom if you want to clean up. If you need to go to the bathroom, just let one of us know and we’ll escort you. It’s right in back so at least it’s not far.”

After another moment’s settling in, Cass took Ruthie to the bathroom and cleaned as much of the grit from the journey as she could, Lester waiting patiently outside in the darkening evening of a tiny courtyard, as though he was her prom date, and she was feeling a little more comfortable. A night in a bed with clean sheets, secure in the knowledge that nothing bad would happen at least until morning, would be nice, especially since the presence of the others meant she wouldn’t have to interact much with Dor. Discussions about their next move would have to wait. Cass felt a little guilty about that, knowing he must be even more anxious about Sammi now that they were so close, but there was nothing to be done about it. As nice as Lester was she had no doubt which side he was on.