Amy Cross - Persona

“He’s starting to divide the community,” Deckard suggests.

“But why would he do it like this?” Carly asks. “If what you’re suggesting is true, why wouldn’t he just kill everyone and get it over with?”

“Because he enjoys his work,” I tell her. “That’s what Ben was saying earlier, anyway. Harold seems to get a kick out of slowly tightening the screw, and I guess he figures there’s no risk involved. If everything goes wrong, he probably has a back-up plan to kill everyone quickly enough.”

I wait for Carly to reply, but she seems lost in thought, as if she’s still struggling to believe that I’m right.

“What we need you to do,” Deckard says firmly, taking a step toward her, “is be our eyes and ears in the town. We don’t have long to come up with the rest of the plan, but it’s vital that we know what Harold is telling everyone. Carly, can you come back out tonight and give us an update? As soon as the sun has gone down, meet us right here, near the caves, and tell us everything you know.”

She still seems unable to answer, as if she’s torn.

“Please, Carly,” I add. “Even if you don’t trust me , you have to trust Deckard.”

“I suppose so,” she says cautiously.

“So you’ll help us?” I ask.

She hesitates for a moment longer, and then slowly she nods, albeit with a hint of uncertainty.

“You should hurry back to town,” Deckard tells her. “Keep your ears open and take note of anything that seems even slightly out of place. Then come back and meet us later, and let us know exactly how things are developing. My guess is that he’ll be starting to put his plans into action soon.”

“Okay,” she says, taking a step back. “I… I mean, I’ll try…”

“And Carly…” He pauses. “It goes without saying that you mustn’t tell anyone about this. We have no idea who we can trust in Steadfall right now, so keep this arrangement to yourself. Can you do that?”

She nods, although she still seems extremely nervous, as if she’s not entirely convinced.

“Now go,” he adds. “There’s no time to lose.”

As she turns and hurries away, I can’t help feeling as if this plan isn’t going to work. Of all the people in Steadfall I’d choose to help out with something like this, Carly is pretty low down on the list. When I glance at Deckard, I swear I can see doubt in his eyes too.

“Do you really think we can rely on her?” I ask.

“I think there are three possible outcomes,” he replies. “The first is that she’ll do what we’ve asked, and we’ll learn more about what Harold’s planning. The second is that she’ll betray us and lead them straight to us. And the third is that she’ll try to help, but she’ll be utterly conspicuous and she’ll lead them to us by accident. We have to be ready for all three eventualities. We need a plan for each of those eventualities.”

“What kind of plan?”

“For one thing,” he continues, “why do you think I specified that she should meet us right here?”

“I don’t know,” I reply. “Maybe—”

Suddenly I realize what he means, and I turn to look at the nearby caves.

“She’s late,” I whisper, as we sit several hours later in the mouth of the largest cave, watching the moonlit clearing where we’re supposed to meet Carly. “Maybe they found out what she was doing and they killed her.”

“It’s possible,” Deckard replies, “but I’d say it’s more likely that she simply had trouble getting away. You know how—”

“There!” I hiss, spotting movement in the distance. Sure enough, a figure is heading this way through the forest, and a moment later I see that it’s definitely Carly. She looks terrified, constantly glancing over her shoulder, as if she’s worried she’s being followed. “I think she’s alone.”

“We can’t be sure of that,” he mutters darkly. “Do you remember the plan?”

I nod. “I still think I should be the one to go down and talk to her,” I tell him. “Let me take the risk.”

“I think she’ll be more talkative if it’s me,” he replies, getting to his feet. “No offense, Asher, but there’s a danger you’ll just spook her, and she seems to trust me a little more. Remember to give me a signal if you see any sign that she’s got company.”

“Be careful,” I whisper, watching as he makes his way down the sloping incline that leads away from the caves and down toward the clearing. Looking toward the forest, I keep my eye out for any sign that Carly has been followed, although so far it looks as if she came alone. A moment later, I hear her and Deckard talking, although from this distance it’s not easy to make out exactly what they’re saying. Carly sounds agitated, though, and nervous, as if she’s got bad news.

For the next few minutes, nothing changes. Deckard and Carly continue to discuss the situation, and I remain in place, constantly watching the dark tree-line in case there’s any hint of movement. Finally, however, I see Deckard heading back this way, while Carly remains loitering in the clearing below. As Deckard gets closer, I get to my feet, waiting for him to let me know the latest news.

“She says more people are sick,” he says as soon as he’s close enough. “It’s up to ten cases now.”

“But do—”

“And she didn’t betray us,” he continues, interrupting me, “or at least, not on purpose. I believe her when she says she kept her mouth shut. She’s nervous, though. Hell, she’s almost rattling, it’s hard to believe that no-one in town noticed her acting like that.”

Looking past him, I watch as Carly heads back toward the tree-line.

“Now what?” I ask, turning back to Deckard. “Do you have any idea what Harold is planning? Is it possible he just wants the whole town to die off from the disease?”

He shakes his head. “You heard what Ben said when he was talking to the mainland. He thinks Harold’s some kind of psychopath, and I have no doubt that he’s right. The sickness is just a way for him to weaken Steadfall so that he can do whatever he wants. It almost sounds like he’s waiting for something, though, as if—”

Before he can finish, we both hear voices shouting in the distance. We turn just in time to see a figure racing this way from the trees.

“Help!” Carly screams. “They’ve got—”

A shot rings out and a flash of light slams into her back, sending her tumbling forward until she hits the ground face-first.

“Guns?” I stammer, as I spot Ben and Leanne heading over to Carly’s prone form. “Where the hell did they get—”

There’s another shot, and a flash lights up from Ben’s gun as he shoots Carly in the back of the head. For a moment, all I can do is stare in shock. I haven’t seen a gun fired since the war, but I think I’m starting to remember my time on the battlefield. In the moonlight, the blood leaking from Carly’s shattered skull looks as black as oil.

I’ve seen something like this before.

“Get down!” Deckard shouts, pulling me back into the cave just as more shots are fired, this time straight toward us. Several energy bursts hit the cave’s entrance, blasting sections of rock away.

“Where the hell did they get guns?” I hiss, trying not to panic.

“The same place they got that communication device,” he replies, as we hear footsteps heading this way. “I’m sure they have plenty of other surprises up their sleeves, too. Come on, this way.” Turning, he starts hurrying into the depths of the cave.

“We should fight!” I call after him. “Running won’t—”

“Just trust me!”

Figuring that I can’t afford to hesitate, I turn and scramble after him, and to my surprise I find that the back of the cave gives way to a steady drop that seems to lead deeper and deeper underground. I can hear Deckard making his way down, so I take a leap of faith and go after him. The incline is steep and I can’t see a anything up ahead, but I quickly reach a cold, damp rocky shelf.