Chapter 8
“Ma’am?” Steve knocked hesitantly on the Minister’s door.
“Come in, Steven.” Her voice was cold. It sent a little thrill through his chest, as well as other places. He rather enjoyed a woman in power and, at the moment, Sigrid was one of the most powerful. He caught his breath and opened her office door.
Sigrid was at her desk, and, as usual, barely glanced his way as he approached. She was flipping through papers and maps, scribbling rushed notes in the margins. He couldn’t see the maps clearly but he could tell they were not maps of the UK.
“Are you going to stand there or ask me something?”
“Ma’am, I wanted to speak with you about Ian. He has once again cut rations to everyone. People are barely eating once a day. How long will we allow this-” Sigrid slammed her pen down.
“What exactly do you mean we?”
“I’m sorry, Minister. I misspoke. Is it a good plan to continue cutting food rations?” Sigrid locked her eyes on his. Instinct would have had him look away. Her stare was bitterly uncomfortable. And yet, he held her gaze, feeling oddly turned on by the exchange.
“I really don’t care, Steven. And you should not concern yourself with this either. I’m surprised at you. Coming in here to tattle on Ian like a small child.”
“I was only concerned with the amount of work we are expecting from everyone. It is getting difficult to-”
“I have heard this all before and I am not interested in hearing it again. I have delegated control of the people to you and Ian because I have work to do. If you cannot handle this, I can have you replaced in five minutes. Most people would do anything to be running this place with me.”
Does she really believe that? Steve managed a grin.
“Yes. Sorry. It wasn’t my place. I’ll see to it that I communicate directly with Ian from now on.”
“Yes. Do that.” Sigrid sighed and looked back down at her papers. “Is there anything else I can do for you?”
“No. Unless…” Steve trailed off and Sigrid looked up. He winked. “Unless you need anything.” Sigrid rolled her eyes but he could see the shadow of a smile on her lips.
“Goodbye Steven.”
Steve shrugged and walked out. He needed to get rid of some of this energy. He went to the only place that made sense.
The hospital tent only had a few people in it today. One person with a fever. One person with a turned ankle. And two with signs of dehydration. Dr. Labotse was setting an IV for one of these patients. Her face was scrunched in concentration and worry.
“Hi, Kefi.” Steve pulled up a stool next to the bed. “Can I help with anything?”
“No.” She said, her voice short but gentle. “Thank you.”
“It’s been a long day. Have you been taking care of yourself?”
“I’m fine, Steven. Please. I need to work.”
Steve moved from the stool to her office chair in the corner. He leaned back carefully and watched her work. She was beautiful when she worked - she wielded her power in a different way. Sigrid sat behind her desk, calculating how to gain more power. Ways to control the people around her, making sure that only the strongest survive. Kefilwe worked with patients, holding hands, talking softly, giving everything to make sure everyone survives.
One he was infatuated with. The other he loved completely.
Kefilwe finished with her patient and made her way over to where Steve was.
“Do you have a minute for a break?” He asked. She gave him a soft smile.
“Yes. I have a few minutes.”
He took her hand and led her to the back room, where supplies were stored in careful order, stacked in rows and columns. Paper products, bandaids, gauze, scrubs and gowns, tubes, and basins. He stopped at the wall of carefully rolled towels and linens and faced her. One hand still holding her hand, he put the other up to caress her face gently. She closed her eyes and leaned into his touch.
“Hi.” Steve said.
“Your eye looks better.” Kefilwe relaxed and put her arms around his waist. Steve pulled her in for a kiss. “Steve,” she whispered. “I’m working.”
“You’re always working.” Steve groaned, playfully. “You do important work, but it shouldn’t be the only thing you do.” He started to nibble gently on her ear, working his way down her neck.
“Steven.” She breathed. It was halfway between scolding him for being so brazen and moaning for him to continue.
“Kefi, I miss you.” His kisses continued lower, down to the v-neck of her shirt.
“Help!” Someone was screaming near the hospital beds. “Dr. Lobaste! Please!”
“Cameo?” Kefilwe pushed Steven to the side. He followed her out to see Cameo holding a small figure. “What happened?”
“Ian.” Cameo’s voice shook with fear. “Scarlet asked for bread. Just one small piece of bread.” Steve looked as Kefilwe’s gentle hands searched the small body for injuries. Scarlet was one of the teenagers in Abel. She used to be strong and athletic. Loved working in the barn. Lately nobody had seen much of her. Ian barely tolerated the adults and had no patience with the teenagers or small children.
“She must have been desperate to go to Ian.” Steve said, to nobody in particular.
“He doesn’t understand that the children need more to eat. He’s killing them.” Dr. Lobatse whispered. Cameo sniffled, holding back tears. “I was going to go check up on Kytan. I know I shouldn’t. I know he’s done some awful things. But I went to Ian’s office and Scarlet was there, begging for just a little food. She looked ready to pass out. He just…he….” Cameo swallowed. “He just hit her. Hard. Right across the face. She went down like a sack of potatoes. I couldn’t stop it.” She took a breath. “Ian and Kytan…they just…walked away. They just stepped over her and walked….I don’t know how Kytan can do that. He…that’s not him. So when they left I scooped her up and just brought her here and…”
“Say no more. You did the right thing, Cameo.” Dr. Lobatse put Scarlet in a bed and got right to work.
“Cameo, come with me.” Steve reached for her arm to take her outside but she wrenched it away.
“I’m sorry. I really don’t want to be touched.”
“I understand. Come. Let’s get some air.”
Steve and Cameo ended up walking the perimeter of Abel, sticking close to the fence. They mostly walked in silence, deep in thought. Drowning in worry.
“How much more of this can we take?” Cameo finally whispered. “What are we going to do?”
For once, Steve had no response. Nothing clever, nothing promising. He had no word from Janine since a rushed message days ago that they were taking the team to Finland.
“I know the, uh, Noah Team is working on it. They really are. I just can’t say when they’ll finally-”
“I can’t just sit here and wait for other people.” Cameo threw a furious look at Steve. He actually leaned backward as if her words hit him.
“What are you thinking?”
“I want to blow something up.” Cameo’s face was set in determination, but Steve laughed.
“That’s my line, love.”
“Yeah, well. Help me. I want to get this statue of Ian.” Steve stopped laughing. He looked up. He hadn’t realized where they were. About 20 paces in front of them was a large, gaudy stone statue of Ian. At least, it was labeled ‘Ian Golightly.’ But that was the only way to tell who it was supposed to be. It was created from a large slab of stone dug up by the machines trying to dig into the labs. Ian decided to threaten some of Abel’s stoneworkers to carve it into a statue, despite their protests that it wasn’t the right kind of stone and that it was far too thin. In the end, they either had to carve it the best they could or sit in the cells for a week.
It was the ugliest statue anyone had ever seen.
Ian loved it.
Nobody knew whether he loved it because it had his name on it, because he truly thought it was well done, or because he couldn’t admit that the stoneworkers were right.
Either way, he loved it.
“This statue?”
“Yes.”
“You want to blow up this statue?”
“Yes.” Cameo’s voice did not waiver.
“You’re crazy.”
“Yes.”
“I love it. Come with me.”
Steve led her to his stash of explosives. Cameo ran her hand over the labels on the crates.
“I always liked Owen.” She whispered. Steve watched her silently. “He was the worst flirt. He tried flirting with me once. Only once. He never made that mistake again.” A hint of a smile crossed her face and dissolved. “He was just awful. Came on too strong. But he just…he really just wanted to be loved. I learned that after. Watching him with Nadia. He didn’t want to be alone. He definitely loved her, I think, in the end. But he…he was always afraid of being alone. I’m glad he wasn’t. You know…at the end.” She blinked tears from her eyes. “Uh. Sorry. Anyway, I liked him. And Ian killed him. And he’s turning Kytan into…I won’t let him take Kytan. I won’t.”
It wasn’t clear if Cameo was still talking to Steve or to herself. She swiped a hand across her face and took a deep breath.
“You know he’s going to know it was me.”
“Nah.” Cameo shook her head. “I’ll admit to it. I don’t care.”
“That’s…not a good idea, love. I can’t let you do that.”
“If he kills me, it could save someone else. After he killed Owen, he laid off everyone for a bit. It’s like - it’s like he needs a place to put his anger. So let him put it on me. I don’t care.”
“Cam-”
“No, Steve. Just tell me what to do. What do I need to use?”
Steve started to protest again, but he could see in her expression it would be useless.
“It’s suicide.”
“I know.” She breathed and inhaled determination. “It has to be tonight. The only question is - am I going alone or with you?”
It was silent for a few beats.
Steve turned.
He walked to the door.
Cameo’s heart sank. He’s leaving. He won’t help you.
Steve turned at the last minute and pulled a crate off the pile.
“Come on. Let’s get back to the statue. It should be dark enough now.”
Steve and Cameo ran for cover as the statue exploded. Small bits of shrapnel hit the shed they were hiding behind.
“How long before he comes running?”
“Not long, I imagine.”
“You run.” Cameo said forcefully.
“No, I can’t let you-”
“Go, Steve. You need to be loyal to Sigrid to help. But me…I can’t help anymore. Go.”
Steve wanted to protest. He opened his mouth, but she was right.
“You are really something.” He held her gaze for a moment until he heard Ian’s shouting in the distance, but getting closer. “Be safe.”
“Safe as I can be.” She grinned. She looked peaceful. She made her choice.
Steve ran.
He heard Cameo step out from behind the shed.
“How do you like your statue now, Ian? I borrowed a little something from Steve and decided to do a little redecorating.”
The last thing Steve heard before disappearing around the corner was Cameo’s mirthless laughter.
When Steve went to visit Kefilwe later, she had a new patient.
“I’m not sorry.” Cameo whispered.
“You have nothing to be sorry for, love.”
After two weeks, Dr. Lobatse finally cleared Cameo for regular activities. Her bones and skin, at least. Her eyes had lost any light they once had. She moved like she was wading through quicksand. Her breath caught frequently as if she saw something terrifying. She was barely talking. Refusing help. Steve had detached himself from her. He couldn’t help her. And Sigrid and Ian were growing suspicious over his concern for her.
“I feel responsible, ma’am.” He had explained when asked about it. “My explosives weren’t properly stored.”
He wasn’t sure they believed him anymore. Steve was getting restless. There had been no word from Janine. Sigrid was constantly pouring over maps of what Steve now recognized as Finland. She was making multiple phone calls a day to shady contacts with names he didn’t recognize.
She trusted no one.
She was eyeing Steve carefully.
He couldn’t breathe.
He couldn’t move around Abel without the feeling of being watched.
Because Cameo had confessed to blowing up the statue right away, nobody had gone back to check recordings from the cameras around Abel. Still, Steve was fearful that someone had seen. Someone knew. They had him marked. He could feel it. It was only a matter of time.
Sigrid called him to her office on a chilly, sun-filled afternoon. It was one of those days where he should have been taking Kefilwe out on a picnic in the gardens, covered in blankets, listening to the birds. Stomach filled with the world’s smallest finger sandwiches and carefully rationed sips of water instead of a stomach full of dread, worsening with each step up to Sigrid’s door.
He took a deep breath and turned the knob.
The door opened slowly, creaking.
Sigrid looked up as the door clicked closed.
“Afternoon, Ma’am.”
“Steven. So glad you could join me.”
“Was there really a choice?” Flash a little grin. Cool. Collected.
“I have an update for you. I know where they are. I found your Runner Five.” A smile spread across Sigrid’s face - unsettlingly wide and tight. “I found all of them. And you’re just in time for the broadcast.”
“The…what?”
Sigrid laughed.
“You think you’re clever. You think you can keep things hidden from me.”
Steve’s blood turned to ice.
“Like what, ma’am?”
“You’ve been in contact with some ghosts, Steven. You’re a liar. A traitor. You come in here with your ‘ma’am’ and smile and think you can look me in the eye and lie your way out of trouble. It’s over, Steven. It has been for a long time.” Steve couldn’t move. He closed his eyes and tried to plot his next move. Lying would make it worse. Saying anything at all, actually, would make it worse.
He knew whatever was coming was going to be unimaginably horrible.
“The broadcast, Steven, is to a flight on its way back from Finland.” Steve’s eyes flew open. “Oh, yes. The whole Abel cast of characters is on the flight. Even Amelia Spens. Sam.” Steve felt goosebumps spread over his arms, the hair standing on end. “Runner Five.” His stomach flipped. Sigrid’s eyes locked into his, unblinking, bitter cold. “Tom De Luca.” Steve’s heart started to pound. “And, most interesting of all -” Steve’s pulse raced. “Maxine Myers and Janine De Luca.” Her voice was flat. Anger bubbling below the surface. “You aren’t surprised to hear that they are alive.” It wasn’t a question.
“No, ma’am.”
Another beat of silence.
Two beats.
Three.
Steve didn’t realize he’d been holding his breath while she held his gaze in the silence.
She turned a few dials and lifted a microphone to her mouth. Spit had collected in the corners, small white specks on blood red lips. She licked at it and spoke pointedly, her eyes never leaving Steve’s. “Hello, crew of the Wakend Land jet 132. This is Sigrid Hakkinen, the Minister for Recovery. I had to check several security cameras to make sure you were who I thought you were. But well…Runner Five. I had thought you were a zombie. And Janine De Luca. What a jolly surprise to find you’re still alive, my dear.”
She paused for effect and finally took her eyes off Steve. He collapsed into the closest chair, almost as though Sigrid’s gaze had been holding him up. He put his elbows on his knees and his head in his hands.
The game was over.
He had played his best hand.
And it wasn’t the winning hand.
“You must come for lunch, Janine.” Sigrid continued. “And in the meantime, I must have a word with Mister Sissay.” His whole body went numb. He tried to picture what Five must be thinking - feeling - but couldn’t. There was a buzzing in his brain. It was impossible to think over the sound. The clatter. The vibration. “I do think there are one or two things he’s been keeping from me. Still, a little chat should iron that all out. And then I can turn my attention to you.”
Sigrid released the button.
Steve raised his head.
She called for Ian.
***
As Steve was ascending the steps to Sigrid’s office, Five was on an eerily silent flight home from Finland. The mood was somber. They were returning with one less team member - Evan gone as quickly as he came back. Five couldn’t get it out of her head.
The way he just…gave up.
Go back to England.
The world is depending on you.
Make me proud.
Run!
The first time she met him, he was telling her to run.
The last time she saw him, he was telling her to run.
Sam held her hand.
“I hate flying.” she whispered. He kissed the crown of her head gently. Maxine and Amelia were still arguing about the baby serum she had stolen. Amelia was loudly justifying her actions. Five wanted everyone to shut up. Her head hurt. Her eyes were heavy. Her heart was heavier. She squeezed Sam’s hand.
Her eyes started to close.
Sam’s voice whispering a song in her ear.
It was nice.
Gentle words of comfort sung so only she could hear.
She was falling asleep.
Sigrid was saying hello.
Wait.
What?
“...well, Runner Five. I had thought you were a zombie.” Five’s eyes flew open. She shook her head. She looked at Sam who was looking back, pale. Mouth forming a fearful frown.
"What’s happening?”
“She’s broadcasting to the plane.” He whispered.
“Oh crap.” Five heard Maxine say.
“You must come for lunch.” Sigrid continued. “In the meantime, I must have a word with Mr. Sissay.” Five’s heart stopped.
Shit.
Steve.
I should have been checking in.
I should have helped him more.
Five couldn’t hear anything else over her own thoughts.
She heard vague sounds of Janine and Amelia contacting Jamie. She heard echoes of a plan to ditch the plane at sea as soon as Jamie could get military forces on the water to rescue them.
It was risky.
And it was going to send Five falling from the sky.
Again.
Five went through the motions numbly. Her body was in full panic. The plane went down as smoothly as it could, but crash landings are never perfectly safe. Five held her breath, she swam for her life, she called out for Sam and grasped him with everything she had when she found him. Together, they found the life raft that would pull them up and on the boat. They reunited with their team in silence.
The whole way home was silent.
Jamie provided transport back to Noah, keeping them secret. Keeping them safe.
Sam knew there was a Lord of the Rings joke in there but for once kept it to himself.
Back at Noah, everyone retreated. But nobody went to their usual rooms. Amelia immediately shut herself in the bathroom for a long soak. Sam and Five followed Maxine down the hall. Sam needed to cuddle Sara. Maxine found Paula and disappeared behind their bedroom door while Five and Sam made a nest of blankets on Sara’s floor. Not waking her, but close enough to her bed to hear her shallow, rapid baby breath. Tom knocked softly on Jody’s door and was let in with a whisper and a smile. Peter and Janine went through the same door as well and wouldn’t come out until late the next day.
Whatever rooms they went to were dark. Silent. Sleepless.