Роберт Уилсон - Days Since... - Thomas - Day 758

James leaned back against an A/C unit, removed a thick, white portion of a deer’s antler from his rucksack and began carving—he started to hum a tune that Thomas couldn’t quite place in his head. “What is that?” Thomas nudged him. “I know I know it.”

“You’ll figure it out.” James looked up for only a moment to give Thomas a teasing grin, then resumed.

He isn’t going to change. It’s probably wrong for me to expect that already…

“We sleeping up here tonight?” James asked.

“No.” Thomas pointed. “That’s the hatch that goes straight down into the maintenance room connected to the library offices. That’ll suffice for the—” Thomas jerked his binoculars to the right. James perked up, setting the antler to the ground.

A lone traveler approached the park on a bicycle that whined with each revolution of its wheels. The small trailer attached to the back teetered from loose books that shifted about as the man squeaked his way from the parking garage adjacent to the college.

This is what they had waited for—someone to interact with the camp—someone to give them an idea of how they ran shop. Thomas was certain the men from earlier had made their way into the camp, but they didn’t observe the process.

“What’s tha—“

“Shush.”

The man approached—the guards patted him down—he was allowed to enter. Not a lot to that, huh?

A few hours passed. James had prepared food from some cans (which consisted of opening them and putting a fork in each.) He set two aside for Thomas, but the spectacle of arrival after arrival had kept him away from his meal. The scattered caravan of strangers didn’t stop. After a slow start, now, they were in business, managing to spot them from all over—men, different in appearance, but similar in this strange, menacing eagerness by which they came.

Each traveler arrived as peasants with a tribute for a king or simply payment. It didn’t matter. They came and left—most of them with much less than when they arrived—only one case broke the pattern. A woman, tethered, she trudged alongside a man and child. After an hour or so, only the man and child left, pulling a bounty of food and ammunition in a cart they hadn’t arrived with.

The occasional shadow of clouds that cooled them throughout the day became lost in the slow descent into night. It seemed to signal the end of the Butcher’s operations for the evening. A parade of men filed out of the park, many of them Thomas couldn’t recall seeing. He set his binoculars and notepad down. The watch was over. In the early evening light, he was unable to make out the details needed to justify this any longer.

He took the cans James had prepared and began to eat.

“What’s the plan?” James asked.

“We have to hit them at night.” Thomas took a bite and chewed as he reflected on their next move. We really need more time to properly scout these guys. I’m going to have to get in there and get some better details. I can’t think of any other way to do it. “There’s just too much foot traffic during the day. We don’t need extra enemies. Even if they don’t want to fight, these people will be in the way.”

“What’s the count?”

“Of civilians or guards?”

“Civilians.”

“Sixteen men that I saw come and go, but maybe twenty more just now that I had no idea were in there. Tomorrow after the meet up I’m going in.”

“By yourself?” James’s eyebrows knitted with disbelief.

“We aren’t going to learn enough from the outside. The bulk of their forces have to be on the inside if that many people are coming and going. That’s where all their valuables are—everything they want to protect. We could sit out here for weeks, and we aren’t going to know anything.”

“I’m going with you,” James insisted. “If things go bad, you aren’t going to want to be by yourself, especially with the one guard patting everyone down.” James locked eyes with Thomas. “You’ll never get a weapon in there.”

He’s right, but… Am I going to be able to trust him? Thomas couldn’t risk going it alone among these fanatics—these people willing to disfigure themselves for some unknown purpose. He could possibly meet the same fate or worse if he were found out. He drew in a hard breath, looking straight at James. Damn it, I don’t have a choice.

“I…” James threw his hands up and shook his head. “I get it, man, but I’m owning it. I’m not gonna do anything stupid. You have to give me a chance to prove it.”

Thomas lifted his eyes toward the fading sky, unable to immediately agree to this. Not knowing how sincere this plea was is what turned his stomach. He knew he might not have a choice but to give into James—their trials ultimately tied together. I was told I’m in charge… But even then… I can’t to do that to him even though I probably should. I’ll let him stew a bit. See how that sits with him. See how he reacts to that. Then… Then I’ll make the choice.

“I know.” A lump cleared James’s throat. “I got you, man.” James nodded swiftly. “I know I messed up before, but like I said, I’m following your lead now. I need this too.”

“Let me sleep on it.”

The two men gathered their belongings and scurried toward the hatch. Their bodies hunched over as they moved, doing their best to remain undetected. James took hold of the hatch’s wheel and began to turn. A clunking noise prevented it from moving beyond a quarter turn. Thomas took hold, but it gave no more than James’s attempt. He took his rifle and lodged it in between the spokes of the wheel and cranked. The wheel started to give—the metal squealing for him to stop. A sharp crack. The momentum took Thomas forward and on top of the hatch as it finally gave. Several bangs followed as whatever had held the wheel in place fell to the ground.

“Damn.” Thomas gave a half-hearted laugh. “I guess we’re good to go.”

Thomas lifted the door. Inside was black. Absolute. The sun was past the point of helping—only an hour or so until it gave way to the moon. He took his flashlight and pistol and cleared what he could see, working his angle around the different sides of the opening. Nothing, only more unknown.

“Down the rabbit hole?” James joked.

Thomas found the first rung of the ladder, then one after the other, he continued his descent—his eyes caught between what waited below and James peering over the edge. He found the bottom and quickly cleared the maintenance room, a large supply closet, and the library office of any threats. “It’s clear!”

The office was orderly—everything in its place as if tomorrow someone would hit the light switch, plop down with a coffee, and begin doing whatever it was they did for a living. A collection of candles burying a computer desk caught his eye. He clicked his flashlight off, retrieved his Zippo, and lit a few of them. He cleared some papers and coffee mugs from a ledge and spaced the candles evenly across it.

“Setting the mood, huh?”

Thomas didn’t respond—his attention now completely affixed to what lay beyond the three large windows that separated the office and the library’s stacks. He moved past a couple of computer desks and a large conference table to get a better look. James followed. The two of them stood only inches away from the glass—just staring. James’s flashlight barely penetrated the glass as it reflected most of it back upon them.

“Cut your light, man,” Thomas said.

James slowly turned his head toward him and spoke, “Doesn’t this seem odd?”

“Come on, man.” Thomas took the flashlight from James’s hand and switched it off—James clearly lost between thought and reality.