“I’m on the edge of my seat.”
Carpenter raised his eyebrows in happy surprise. “What a coincidence. So is he.” He swung another backhand, this one even harder, and Bing’s head whipped around as he fell to the floor once more. Ellie heard only her own roar as she leaped from her seat, hands bound, and body-slammed Carpenter. Together they crashed into the wall, her knees pounding at him, her feet stomping down, until two guards rushed in and threw her back into the chair.
Carpenter smoothed his clothes, and Ellie could see more than a few of her blows had hit home. She saw he favored his right leg as he stepped over Bing, who remained on the ground. Carpenter smiled and cleared his throat. “As I was saying, number three is my favorite. I’m going to keep your little buddy around, and every time you piss me off,
he’s going to get another beating. As much as I would enjoy pounding the shit out of you, Ellie, it seems your psychological profile suggests this is a more effective method.”
Ellie felt her mouth go dry. “What do you want me to say? I told you I stole them. There’s no conspiracy. I was pissed. I stole them.” The words tumbled out fast, but Carpenter held up his hand to silence her.
“No reason to get windy now. You’ve got plenty of time to come up with a good explanation. I’m going to have my men cut your bindings, and you and Gilligan over there can cook up any fish story you like. See this?” He pointed to a jeweled Feno logo pin on his lapel. “This means I own you. You’re going to be here for a long, long time.”
A heavyset guard held Ellie by the elbows as she lunged uselessly at Carpenter. She could hardly make out the words he was saying. All she could hear was Bing’s labored breathing mixing in with the rushing sound of her own blood in her ears. He laughed at her distress and pulled the recorder out once more.
“I don’t suppose you’d like to make a statement before I go?”
“I got a statement for you.” Carpenter grinned and held the recorder closer to Ellie, who stopped struggling against the guards and spoke very clearly. “Is it recording? Because you’re going to want to remember this. Fuck you. Fuck Feno. Fuck Flowertown. I am going to get out of here. Count on it. I will get out of here if it means killing every last person in this compound. I don’t care what it costs me, I don’t care what happens afterward, but I will get out of here, and when I do, I’m going to find you and I’m going to kill you. You have my word on it. Is that enough of a statement for you?”
Carpenter stared at her for several seconds, his face unreadable. Ellie tensed, waiting for a blow to the face. Instead he laughed, a real laugh, and slipped the recorder into his pocket.
“I couldn’t have written it any better myself.” He headed to the door and spoke to the guard there. “Cut their restraints, get him some bandages. They might as well be comfortable for the duration of their stay.”
Ellie rubbed her wrists when the plastic was cut away and dropped to the floor to get to Bing. His face was bruising and swelling, but he looked more angry than hurt. He shook off her attention, using his shirt to wipe at the blood. Before the guards closed the door, Ellie could hear her voice echoing in the hallway from Carpenter’s voice recorder. As the door locked, she could just make out the sound of Carpenter laughing again.
Bing wiped at his lip with the last clean inch of his T-shirt. “I don’t suppose there’s any happy ending to this part of the story.”
“Oh, Bing, I’m so sorry.” Ellie knelt beside him, and this time he didn’t push her away. “I don’t know what to say. Taking those files was a stupid thing to do.”
“Agreed.”
“There wasn’t anything in them except death records of locals. I was just so mad.”
“Imagine that.”
Ellie sat back on her heels and looked Bing in the eye. “Go ahead. I know you have things to say to me. You might as well do it now.”
He shook his head. “What’s the point? You don’t hear anything, Ellie. You’re like some subterranean troll that just covers itself with leaves until someone steps too close, then you lunge up and tear them to shreds. You have two emotions—apathy and rage—and nothing in between.” Ellie wanted him to stop, but she could hear the truth in
his words. She closed her eyes for his killing blow. “It’s like you’re not even a person. You’re an…organism.”
“That’s not true.” Ellie forced her eyes open. “I am a person. I’m just not good at it.”
“Yeah, well, why don’t you work on it?”
Ellie sighed and sat back, sliding backward until she rested against the bare metal bunk bed. Bing moved away from her, resting his back against the front wall. They sat in silence, listening to doors opening and closing up and down the hallway until Ellie had to speak.
“I’m going to tell them anything they want. I’m not going to let them hurt you.”
Bing looked up at her, his left eye swelling nearly closed. “I just slid my ass through a puddle of my own blood. That can’t be a good sign.”
“I mean it, Bing.”
“I know you do, but it won’t make any difference. You really are dense, aren’t you?” Ellie started to protest, but he waved her down. “I’m pissed because the troglodyte part of my brain still thinks ‘Me man, her woman’ and it’s somehow my job to protect you. Instead I’m being used as a punching bag because you’re so goddamn tough they know I’ll break first.”
“I’m not going to let that happen.”
“What are you going to do to stop it?” Bing swung his hands out, sweeping the room. “We are locked in a room on the Feno compound. There are armed guards outside. Trust me, there’s nothing I’d like better than to kill that Mr. Carpenter, and by that I mean let you kill him, but I think we’re kind of outnumbered.”
“Then let’s get out of here.”
“And do what? Catch a movie? Go to the beach?”
Ellie got to her feet and surveyed the small room. There was nothing in the room except the beds, which were bolted to the wall, a stack of flattened cardboard boxes, and the two metal folding chairs. “Let’s break out of here. I meant what I said, Bing. I am getting out of here. I don’t care if I get shot doing it.”
“Speak for yourself.” But she could see his eyes searching the room, thinking.
“Why on earth would anyone try to escape? Right? Where would you go?” Ellie crouched down in front of Bing. “They’ve got guards out front, but it’s just for show. I’ll bet you a can of chili they don’t have anyone in the back. It’s nothing back there but barrier fencing. All we have to do is stay in the shadows, make it out of the compound and back to town.”
“And then what?”
Ellie shrugged. “What difference does it make, Bing? I’m going. I’m not going to stay here and watch them beat you to death because they’ve got something against me.”
“Well, when you put it that way.” Bing got to his feet. “Any ideas for how we’re going to get out of here? Going to punch your way out?”
“Sort of.” Ellie listened at the door and, hearing nothing, gave Bing the thumbs-up. She picked up a flattened cardboard moving box off the pile in the corner. “We’ll use this.”
“We’re going to ship ourselves out of here?”
Ellie laughed, happy to see Bing back to his usual smartass self. “Got a better idea?” She carried the box to the window and then stopped, turning back to her friend. “Why is
this room empty? All these rooms? This building is almost completely empty.”
“I don’t know. Off season?”
“I’m serious. Since when are there empty rooms in Flowertown? Even for Feno?” She drummed her fingers against the cardboard. “Like that classroom where they took me before. It was empty. The file cabinets were empty, just old crap left behind. And these boxes. Where is everybody? Are we missing something?”
Bing glanced at the door. “I can tell you where some people are, big people with big guns, including Mr. Carpenter, who looks like he’d be more than happy to show you how crowded this place can be. If we’re going to do something, let’s do it soon, okay?”
“Yeah, right. Okay. Hold this.” She held the cardboard in front of the window. Bing took it from her, pressing the box with both hands against the glass. “You might want to move to the side. Way off to the side.”
“What?” Bing looked over his shoulder and saw Ellie hefting a metal chair. “Wait! What the hell?”
“Just hold the box by the edges so it covers the glass. That will help muffle the sound.”
“Are you going to hit me with that?”
Ellie grinned. “Trust me, Bing. Chair-slamming is one of my specialties.” She swung the metal chair over her head, hoping she had the precision she had promised Bing, and brought it down with all her might. The glass, the cardboard, and the chair flew out of the room. Bing caught Ellie as she nearly sailed along behind them and her right hand scraped along the jagged glass in the bottom of the broken window.
They froze where they stood, listening for any commotion that might arise. Ellie pressed her shirt along the bleeding cut on her right hand and leaned far out the window. She tried to count to twenty but only made it to ten. “There’s nobody coming. Let’s go.” She heard Bing swearing under his breath as she swept the glass away with her wrapped hand and climbed out the window. He folded and unfolded himself through the opening and pressed himself beside her against the building. She could see his eyes widen in the darkness.
“We are going to get shot out here.”
Ellie could hear her heart hammering in her chest. “Think we’ll do better inside?”
“Not now,” Bing hissed. “Now that we’ve tried to escape.”
“Well then, let’s not try. Let’s escape.” She led him along the edge of the building. At the corner, they ducked behind a dumpster loaded with trash and boxes. Ellie peeked inside the metal container, pushing aside some of the cardboard boxes on top.
“What are you doing?”
“Looking for something to use.”
“Like what? A car?”
Ellie climbed up and leaned deep into the dumpster, then slid out with a thud. She held two boards from a broken loading pallet and handed one to Bing.
“What’s this for?”
“In case somebody tries to stop us.” She hefted the board in her hand. The wood was rough, and she could feel splinters in her palms, but it felt solid. At three feet long, it would also give them a little swinging distance. “I told you, Bing, I’m getting out of here no matter what.”
They dashed across the narrow opening between buildings, staying low until they had a building at their backs. Bing held onto the wood as if it would turn on him. “I guess I should be glad you didn’t find any guns in there. I’d probably shoot myself.”
“Don’t worry, Bing. I’ll do the hitting. You just keep that as backup.”
“Great.” They ducked beneath the windows of the classroom building. “Any idea where we’re going?”
“If memory serves,” Ellie peered around the corner to check for guards, “the building where Guy questioned me should be straight ahead. Past that was the picnic area where we waited for the trucks. So that must be the road out of the compound. Shit!” She ducked back, flattening herself against the wall. She and Bing held their breath as footsteps approached. They were farther from the barrier fence and the grounds were well lit. Ellie was counting on their sliver of shadow to conceal them.
A radio crackled and a tinny voice asked a garbled question less than three feet away from where they stood. Ellie drew back the board, ready to swing, then forced herself to exhale as she listened to the guard answer. “Unit Nine checking in. Everything’s quiet. Over.” She heard static as he turned off the radio. “Of course it’s quiet, you dumb piece of shit,” he muttered to himself. “It’s always quiet in this filthy hellhole.” He took a step closer, and Ellie could hear the sound of plastic rustling. The guard was leaning against the wall just around the corner, inches from her face.
A light flared and Ellie could smell the unmistakable smell of a joint catching fire. She risked a glance at Bing, who rolled his eyes in disbelief. Smoke your bone and go,
she urged the guard silently. She heard a few soft coughs and a whistling exhalation as a long plume of smoke caught the faint light. There were footsteps and gravel crunching and Ellie started to relax, hoping he was heading away from them. Instead the lighter flared once more, directly in front of them, as the guard stepped around the corner to take another hit.
He saw Ellie half a second after she saw him, dropped the joint, and reached for his weapon. Ellie swung the board around hard, catching him on the ear and jaw before his weapon cleared its holster. He staggered, gripping his head as he hit the wall, and Ellie brought the board down hard on the top of his skull.
She felt like she was moving through mud, and she had no other thought than putting the man down. He fell forward from the blow to his skull, and Ellie brought her knee up hard, smashing into his nose. She had a vague sensation of wetness as she clawed at the back of the guard’s shirt. He fell to the side in a heap, and Ellie kicked him hard in the gut, doubling him up. She wanted to stomp him again and again, but Bing pulled her off.
“He’s down. Ellie. He’s down.” He shook her by the shoulders until she focused on him.
“Okay. Let’s go.”
She had to consciously fight to relax her grip on the bloody board. She didn’t plan on leaving it behind, but she knew her grip would tire. She could hear Bing breathing hard behind her as they ran, crouched low, from the classrooms to the freestanding cinder block building. Trucks were rolling close by, and Ellie heard several voices in the picnic area.
“Shit,” Bing whispered, peering over her head. “Don’t these people ever sleep?”
“They’re busy. They’ve got a long night of arresting people.” Ellie spied another squat cinder block building to their right, away from the activity in the picnic area. She and Bing hurried across the shadowed space between buildings and ducked against the wall. Ellie listened for voices or movement. She was getting very good at hearing over the sound of her own heartbeat. Rising up a bit, she peeked in the window of the little building. It, too, was empty.
Bing had crept ahead and rounded the corner of the building. Ellie followed him and saw a row of Feno trucks ahead, their cargo holds open and at varying degrees of fullness. She had no doubts anymore: Feno was on the move. That didn’t help them right now, however. Ellie looked around, trying to find a way out.
“There.” Bing pointed to a row of smaller trucks lining the road out. “If we can get to them, it doesn’t look like there’s much activity beyond.” Unfortunately, between them and the trucks was fifty feet of open, well-lit space, with a dozen or so black-clad guards running around talking into radios. Bing looked at Ellie. “Do you trust me?”
“Do I have a choice?”
“We are going to stand up and walk right across that field.”
Ellie stared at him. “And then what? Shoot ourselves?”
“No, listen to me.” Bing grabbed her arm. “These guards are busy, but they’re alert. They’re going to be looking for anything suspicious. If we creep around in this light, they’re going to see us. We need to act like we belong here, like we have all the time in the world to stroll over to those trucks.”
Ellie peered out once more at the guards and at their large guns. “I don’t think we blend.”
“Trust me. These guys respond to authority and smell fear. If we act like we belong, they won’t look at us twice.”
“Can I bring my board? I’m not going without my board.”
Bing nodded. “Yeah, just keep it to your side, out of sight along your leg. Just in case, you know…”
“Yeah, I know.”
“Ready? Wait.” Bing reached into his pocket and pulled out a bent cigarette pack. “This will make us look more at ease. Like we’re not trying to hide.” Ellie saw his fingers tremble as he brought the lighter to the tip, but when he exhaled he did look more relaxed. “Okay. Now.”
Ellie followed his lead, standing tall and trying to take relaxed steps out into the pool of light. Bing kept his head down, but not too far down, and gestured with his smoking hand as if he were making a point. She felt her neck stiffen up as she resisted the urge to look in every direction. Bing kept his voice low, urging her to relax and slow down, but all Ellie could hear was the alarm she was sure would be raised at any second. The board against her leg reassured her, its splintery thickness solid in her hand. She knew it was an illusion, but the row of trucks seemed to be moving away from them the more steps they took.
And then they were there. Ellie was afraid to breathe as they passed the bumper of the first small truck. The shadows were darker here, but still Bing urged her to stroll. “Just a little further.” Two trucks, three trucks, and they could see the road opening up before them. When they were four trucks down, they came to a gap, and Bing blew out a nervous breath.
“Holy shit, I can’t believe that worked.”
“Now you’re uncertain?” Ellie asked, collapsing against a truck. “I’m having a heart attack here.”
“Tell me about it.” Bing scanned the shadows. “We’re not out yet, but I’ve got to take a piss.”
“Are you kidding me? Now?”
“Well excuse me, Mr. T. I’m not used to watching my friend beat a man to death with a board. It’s taking its toll on me.” Bing turned his back and unzipped his fly.
“I’ll skip this part, if you don’t mind.” Ellie peered into the shadows up the road. A grove of young trees clustered ahead, blocking out the light. “I’m going to look ahead and see if there’s any kind of gate. Meet me up there.” She could hear Bing relieving himself as she muttered under her breath. “And I didn’t kill that guy. I just hit him.”