Cry For Tomorrow (6 page)

This time our persistence paid off. Evidently we’d been the first to climb all the way to the top, because both of the penthouse apartments we found were intact and still furnished with the best pre-disaster furniture, including plasma-screen televisions and state-of-the-art stereo equipment. But it wasn’t the furnishings, or even the closets of expensive clothes, that excited us—it was what we found on the roof-top.

The large greenhouse we discovered had only a few broken glass panes and was filled with rows of containerized gardens that were overflowing with volunteer plants, and then there was the pair of enclosed pools, one for swimming and the other still containing enough tilapia fish to re-establish the stock. Realizing that we’d finally found the perfect place for our new home, we’d left everything where it was and hurried off to gather our friends.

We were all pretty resourceful, and it didn’t take us long to re-establish the power connection and get the stubborn old elevator working again. Of course, Carl’s paranoia had us taking a lot of extra precautions, like securing the doors to the staircases and upper floors with bars and locks, before we could even get to the task of restoring our new home. One of the first, and most firm, of our self-imposed security measures had been to prohibit the use of all electronic communication items such as cell-phones and internet hook-ups for the computers while we were in the apartments. Sometimes, one or the other of the roommates complained about the loss of the convenience of the communication systems, but the complaints were hollow, for we were each well aware that there was good cause for the restrictions. It was a well known fact among the dwellers that the Company and military were using the cell-phones and internet connections to track and spy on the general population.

Most times this was only a minor annoyance, but in the last few months the level of interference had been escalating by a serious degree. Warnings came from several sources and the most alarming were those Jack had passed on to us. The rumors spoke of an increased activity and co-operation between the Company and military. The word was that they were pooling their resources to extend a research program that was supposed to change the world. Alerts had gone out into the streets and the depths of the old city, warning the young psis to beware the agents scouring the city, seeking
recruits
to test this new research.

“Hey! Halie, pass the bread, please—unless, of course, you were planning on keeping it all to yourself.” Zack was smirking in a way that told me I’d missed his first call.

“Oh, sorry.” I passed the basket of sliced bread. “Guess I was still thinking about the attack on the freaks.”

Zack looked up from his plate and cleared his throat. “I know you’re pretty upset and all, and you probably don’t really feel like talking about it, but I sure would like to hear a little more about that sonic-zapper you saw them use to disrupt the freaks’ shield tonight. Did you get a good look at the thing?” Zack was our most talented electronics engineer and the one who missed the internet access, and the information it made so easily available, the most.

I had to cut my eyes away a moment while I tried to compose myself and collect my confused memories of the attack. “Yes,” I answered finally, “I did get a pretty good look at it. That biker with the orange hair pointed a silver-colored object the size of a television remote at the group of freaks, but there was nothing really unusual about it.”

“From what you’re describing, this hand-held sonic-zapper sounds like something the Company may have passed onto the bikers to test against the freaks,” said Zack, with a hint of excitement in his voice. “It may even be the reason for the presence of the reaper.”

Jennie noisily scraped the legs of her chair across the tiled floor as she got to her feet. “Okay, I did the cooking. So whose turn is it to clean up?” She collected her own plate and eating utensils and headed for the kitchen.

“Guess it’s mine,” volunteered Jake as he began collecting the serving dishes.

I toted a load of dirty supper dishes to the kitchen and made sure that the leftovers were fed to Dusty before joining Carl and Jennie in the main room of the second apartment. The first apartment was where we all ate and slept; the second was used as a common work and storage area. Here was where we created the jewelry and other crafts we sold in the marketplace twice a week. Jennie was currently stringing beads with small, crafted pieces of gold and silver. She sold most of her elegant necklaces to the trendy techs working in the upper city.

In addition to our crafting, all five of us spent a large part of our time scavenging through the abandoned buildings of the old city, collecting anything of value, most especially if it contained precious metal or stones. The items we found were brought back to the apartments where it was decided how best to utilize them.

“Everybody better take a deep breath, I’ve got orders to fill and deliver tomorrow,” Jake warned when he joined us.

“Well, I guess it’s a good thing we can close the door to our studio then,” laughed Zack as he and Carl passed through the main room on their way to the computer room.

“How’s the new movie coming along?” I asked. Their passion was the creation of animated adventure movies, and I knew that it would take a lot more than a little perfume to distract them.

“Pretty good,” smiled Zack. “We’re going to connect the main segments tonight and give it a test run.”

“Yeah, right. I want to talk to you about that, ‘cause there’s just one more thing that I wanted to try before we get started,” Carl put his arm around his partner’s shoulder and gave me a quick wink before leaning close to Zack’s ear. They were lost deep in technical jargon before the door to their studio swung shut.

I couldn’t help laughing at the face Jake made at his friends’ enthusiasm before retreating to the kitchen. I watched him collect his assortment of jars and jugs of liquids from the cupboards and line them up on the counter before reaching for the box of small, elegant bottles he’d collected to hold the scents he had so painstakingly developed.

The Company controlled most of the factories in the country, but the work force and resources were limited. Women’s perfumes and cosmetics were deemed of minimal importance, which meant that they were willing to spare very little of their precious human workforce for such frivolous demands. As a consequence, the mass produced perfumes that were available from the automated factories were pretty mediocre.

With this in mind, and the space to finally work, Jake had applied his aptitude for chemistry and several weeks of his time into combining a collection of scents and oils he’d scavenged until he’d created three really outstanding perfumes. He couldn’t bottle the stuff fast enough to satisfy the women from the upper city.

I laughed when Dusty sneezed on the dust he was stirring up. Curling her lip in disgust, she retreated to the space under my work table. Settling on the tall stool at the table, I flipped the covering cloth off the copper bowl I was currently working on, took my etching tool in hand and began working.

The room had grown quiet except for the sound of bottles rattling and the scratch of the tools, but I just plain couldn’t concentrate. Tossing the slender wood and metal bar I’d been holding aside, I cussed softly under my breath, angry that I couldn’t keep my mind on business.

“What’s wrong?” Jen queried in concern.

“Aw, I guess I’m just too distracted to work tonight. The etching tool keeps getting cold because I can’t concentrate long enough to keep the heat flowing consistently from my hand.” Tossing the dust cover over the bowl, I got to my feet and headed into the foyer between the apartments to check the bank of computer screens. “Come on girl, maybe you’d like to go for a little walk in the back alley before bedtime. .” The dog promptly popped her head out from her hidey hole to see what I was up to. I patted her side as I pushed a series of buttons on the keyboards. The screens promptly lit up, revealing green-tinted images of the street and alleyways surrounding the building. A flicker of movement on one of the lower floors caught my eye, but I immediately recognized the bulky frame and mop of gray hair and beard of our self-appointed custodian, O’Malley. I watched the tiny image until it disappeared through the doorway of his apartment, leaving the hallway empty.

“Looks okay to me, let’s go.” I closed the cabinet doors and reached for the elevator button.

Nervous about the strange surroundings and sounds in the narrow alleyway at the side of the building, Dusty hurriedly did her business and was back, wagging her backside and waiting to return to the relative security of the big building.

“Good girl.” I patted her silky head and was about to head back to the metal side-door when I heard a scuffle in the street beyond the gate followed by a pathetic howling.

The dog’s body was rigid under my hand as she dropped to a crouch, teeth bared and snarling at whatever was out there.

“Easy girl,” I whispered. Keeping one hand on her, I went to a narrow crack in the wood fence and pressed my face against it, hoping to see what was going on without opening the gate. When I still couldn’t see anything, I stretched to my tiptoes and pressed my eye against a knothole to get a better view of the street. I nearly jumped out of my skin when another pathetic shriek of pain erupted from the dark almost directly in front of me.

“Damn!” I had to grab at the fence to steady myself. When my breathing returned to normal, I focused my eyes on the dark street until my eyes finally locked onto the source of the racket.

A phantom creature of a sort that I’d never seen before was stomping about in the center of the street. Almost translucent, the thing stood about three feet high at the shoulders and resembled a picture I’d once seen in a children’s picture book of a troll, except that this creature walked on all fours and had a set of fangs like some pre-historic tiger. Gripped between those teeth was the torn, bloody body of a monkey.

In spite of my general dislike of the pesky little animals, I was feeling sympathy for the helpless monkey’s suffering and considering going to its aid when it emitted a sharp gasp and stopped struggling. Snorting, the troll tossed its head to get a better grip on its grizzly prize.

“Oh, yuck,” I groaned when I heard a sharp crunching sound. My stomach did a flip-flop. It suddenly struck me that there was a strong possibility that the little troll creature might decide to explore the depths of my building’s lower floors in search of more snacks.

I was fumbling with the latch, intending to open the gate and try to scare the creature away when the hiss of escaping steam made me freeze. I quickly slammed the gate shut again and pressed my face to the crack to see what was happening. Much to my surprise, I discovered that the street outside had grown almost bright with the fluorescent glow being emitted by a dozen streams of vapor that were now erupting from deep cracks in the paving between me and the troll. I changed positions, trying to get a better view of what was going on but my line-of-sight was just too narrow to really see.

“Well, damn!” I cussed softly. “What
is
that thing?” Ignoring the dog’s persistent growl of warning, I slowly eased the gate open a few inches. I knew I was taking a foolish chance but I just had to get a better look at what was happening.

By the time I had it opened enough to give me a clear view of the street beyond, the spouts of vapor had faded to a mere mist of fluorescent light, but it was more than enough to reveal a dozen short, hairy gremlins rising from the cracks. The creatures were small but the pointed fangs protruding from the sides of their leathery mouths and the long, curved claws of fingers and toes certainly looked dangerous enough to do some serious damage if they were provoked.

I knew that now would be a really good time to shut and lock the gate and get back inside the building but my curiosity got the better of me—again. Carefully easing the gate open a little further, I watched incredulously as the last of the small creatures jerked its rear leg and clawed foot out of the crack and joined the others swarming about the feet of the troll.

I was surprised to see that each of the gremlin creatures carried a slender chain that sparked with energy every time it was flexed. The troll growled softly and shook its trophy as it tried to trudge away, but the gremlins persisted. Squealing and scolding, they spun the glowing chains overhead, letting the loops fall across the troll’s back and around its legs. When it was totally entangled and trapped within the glowing chains, one of gremlins grabbed the dead monkey dangling from its mouth and tried to snatch it away, but the troll stubbornly locked its jaws and squalled in protest. Abandoning their effort to get the troll to release its prize, the jabbering gremlins began jerking the creature toward the steaming gaps that their arrival had left in the pavement.

Like an errant child resisting its guardian’s authority, the troll grumbled in complaint, but it never offered more than a minimum of resistance. When the gremlins finally had the reluctant creature standing over their entry point, they formed a circle around it and began chanting. As the chant grew in intensity the troll began to fade until it had become totally translucent. Jabbering in tones of relief, the gremlins tightened the circle and began sinking into the street, drawing the ghostly troll with them.

For just a moment, the troll’s thick jaws and the mangled monkey clasped between them snagged on a chunk of concrete. The head bobbed back into view and was snatched downward again—the head and gasping jaws disappeared from sight, leaving the bloody monkey corpse sprawled on the pavement.

I was suddenly aware that Dusty was growling and jerking at my pants leg, trying to drag me away from the fence. “Yeah, I get it, it is most definitely time to get out of here,” I whispered. Suddenly remembering that I was alone and unarmed and not really very anxious to find out just how dangerous these new ghoulies might be, I leaned my shoulder into the gate and securely latched it.