-1-
Grayson
I do a bad thing.
But I have to because I’m the only one who can find Daddy.
Adults never believe kids so if kids want to do something they have to do it by themselves.
First, I have to hide.
It’s easy to hide because Luce and Ms. Sara and Ellie aren’t good at finding me like Daddy. Hiding is boring because I don’t have anything to play with but I do it anyway or else it will take longer to go get Daddy.
I go a whole day hiding in a big cabinet and the only one who finds me is Mr. Kenji. He makes me promise I will come out for dinner and I say yes.
After dinner I don’t go to sleep at night and when it is the earliest I get out of bed, take Ruby and a bottle of water and one snack and leave. I can open all the doors in the house by just pushing them and there are no locks or alarms like at home.
I hide in the shuttle in the front yard. First I hide behind the back seat but then I see I can fit under the seat and no one will see me.
I have to hide there a long time but I practiced all day yesterday and I just pretend Ruby is real and we have a conversation. In my story she’s a robot from the satellite and she came to life when we went past electromagnetic waves and I have to teach her all about being on Earth.
When Mr. Isaac comes to drive the shuttle to the train station no one notices me.
There are kids my age on the shuttle with their parents and their big brothers and sisters. When I get off the shuttle and on the train I walk right behind another Mommy and Daddy with yellow hair so the other adults don’t think I’m alone.
I find a seat in the back of the train and fall asleep with Ruby and nobody bothers us.
I was scared to be alone and I didn’t want Luce to be mad but I have to go. Nobody was listening to me. I know Daddy is at home waiting for us to come back and when I get there he’ll be happy to see me. It was the only place he’d go without me.
The train makes a beeping noise when it gets to the stop and it wakes me up.
Daddy and I take the train everyday and I know how to get home from the station. Sometimes I even lead the way and Daddy follows me because I know it so well. I follow everyone else off the train and to the platform.
I take the stairs and start walking down the street that goes to our apartment but it looks different.
Everything looks different.
There are too
many people and all the buildings are too tall and too shiny and too pretty.
There isn’t traffic in the street or smoke or people yelling or cyborgs.
But I keep walking because maybe everything changed since we ran away. I read the signs, but none of them are the same and I know how to read signs. I turn back to get back on the train and try another stop but the train is already going away.
I don’t know what to do so I keep walking, looking for something that is familiar or somebody who I know but everything is so different now.
One time Daddy let me pick a book and I picked one about a about a little girl in the olden days who was selling matchsticks on the street so her family could eat amd everyone ignored her and then she died on the street. Then everyone cared about her. I didn’t want to die.
I want to ask for help but I’m scared if I ask a stranger Luce and Daddy will be mad at me for talking to strangers.
Then I remember Daddy gave me a syn.
Daddy said I was supposed to call Aunt Isla but she would be mad at me too and I didn’t want to get in trouble.
I tell the syn to call Sky instead. He’s Daddy’s godson. He doesn’t pick up so I tell it again. This time he picks up.
“Skylark Prescott,” Sky says, he sounds sleepy. Time is different on the satellite where he goes to school.
“Sky it’s me,” I tell him.
He doesn’t say anything.
“Sky ? It’s me.”
“Oh, hey, buddy,” he yawns. “Your Dad got you a syn--”
“Daddy’s gone and I’m lost--”
“Um….wait, what ?”
“I didn’t mean to get lost. I was just going to find--”
“Grayson, what’s going on ? Where are you ?,” he asks. He sounds like my teacher when she gets mad at the other kids and it makes me cry because the teacher never gets mad at me. I want to hang up but I don’t.
“I-I-I don’t know. They were scared and we had to leave but then Daddy came back without me and nobody let me go get him so I went to get him but when I got off the train everything was different--”
“Where is everyone else ?” he asks.
“I left them. I just wanted to go back home where Daddy is. I got all the way--”
“Okay, um...okay find a place to sit down,” Sky tells me. “I’m going to call your Dad.”
I sit down underneath the steps of a shiny building. A big girl Ellie’s age asks me if I’m lost and I tell her no and that I’m talking to Sky on my syn and she leaves me alone.
“So…he’s not picking up,” Sky tells me. “Maybe I can figure out where you are. Your syn isn’t registered so I can’t geolocate you. What do you see ?”
“People and buildings,” I say. “I saw a sign that said ‘4th street’ and one that said ‘shops this way’ and one said ‘Gibson Avenue’ and I saw another one that said--”
“Never mind, stupid idea. I don’t know the Sprawl enough to guide you out. That’s if you’re even in the Sprawl,” he says. “You need to find a police officer.”
“No,” I tell him. “I’ll get in trouble--”
“It doesn’t matter,” Sky tells me. “You can’t be out on your own, someone could take you. I’m too far away to get you. I’m calling the local authorities. They’ll take you home.”
“I don’t want to get in trouble---,”
“You won’t. I’ll take the blame.” he tells me but he doesn’t sound like he promises it. “Send me a picture of what you see. I’ll send it to them so they can find you.”
“I don’t know how.”
“Just blink three times really fast and it will trigger a picture.”
I do what he says and I hear a small click in my ear.
“It worked. I’m getting help. Please stay where you are.”
“Okay,” I say quietly.
I sit and hold Ruby tight so I don’t lose her. We sit for only a few minutes before a police officer approaches us. He’s old and has a round face and brown beard. He kneels down to look at me. He seems friendly but I know not to talk to him.
“Are you Grayson ?,” he asks.
I bring Ruby closer so he doesn’t take her.
“I’m Officer Grant. I talked to your friend Sky. How about I take you home ? We can talk to your Dad. You’re not in trouble, kiddo.”
Officer Grant talks to Sky and then I follow him to his car. I start crying because I know Daddy is going to be mad at me for going with the police.
The policeman drives and after a long time the streets start to look familiar and I know where I am. I try to open the door so I can go home by myself but the door is locked. When we get to our street he lets me out but holds my hand tight. I want to get away so bad.
“Are you sure this is where you live ?,” Officer Grant asks.
I nod my head but when I look at what is in front of me I’m not sure.
It’s Daddy and I’s apartment but everything is different. The building is gone. The apartment is all burned up and there are people walking around in the leftover burnt up parts.
“Did you…did you run away from this ?,” he asks me but I don’t know how to answer.
A woman I don’t know runs up to us. She’s screaming my name.
“Oh, Grayson! Oh my god !” she says hugging me. “Look, you still have Ruby!”
I look at her but I don’t recognize her. But she knows Ruby.
“Ma’am, do you know him ?,” the officer asks.
“Yes, I’m his nanny,” she says but I don’t have a nanny. “The fire happened a few days ago while he was inside. He’s parents are in the hospital and we think he’s been suffering from PTSD. He keeps running away. We were so scared we lost him.”
“Did you file a missing child report ?,” Officer Grant asks.
“I was going to,” she says. “But you know how the police in this neighborhood can be. A bunch of us were looking and we thought we could find him.”
Now that she is talking more I realize I do know her. She worked for Mr. Zacharias and Ms. Charlotte as a guard. I remember because one time the big girls gave her a makeover even though she didn’t want it.
The lady holds out her wrist to the officer.
“Scan my ID chip,” she says. “You’ll see I have custody of him.”
When the officer takes the scanner of his belt she takes out a gun and shoots him in his head. His insides fall out and something wet and hot hits my face. I scream and try run but she holds me back.
She hits me in the head with something hard and I scream louder get someone to help me but all the people have run away. It’s hard to move but I try. She hits me in my head more, this time harder and it hurts so bad. I saw on the news that you can die from getting hit hard. I don’t want to die so I stop fighting and let her carry me away.
***
She puts me in a car and we drive for a long time. I don’t say anything because I don’t want her to shoot me too. She says I have to look at the floor and if I don’t she’ll hurt me. I still have the snack in my pocket and I eat it because I’m hungry. I don’t ask if I can eat it but she doesn’t stop me or tell me not to.
When the car stops it smells like ocean. She opens my car door and we are at a building that looks like a place where adults work and it has big words. Mr. Zacharias’s nephew is waiting by the door of the building. He said his name was Kenji but I don’t think that’s his name. He made me feel scared.
“Hello, little one,” he says. “I have something special to show you.”
He wants me to hold his hand but I don’t want to. I don’t want to go with him at all but the lady still has her gun so I let him take me into the building. It has lots of hallways and lots of men with guns. They all stare and some of them even laugh at me. I’m scared and I want to stop but I’m scared of that too.
We walk down lots and lots of steps and when he scans his eyes at a big door, it unlocks and we walk into a big bright room and there is someone sitting in the corner and suddenly nothing hurts anymore because I’m so, so, so happy.
“I found you!,” I shout
***
Alan Gray
-2-
At Minnow's 50th birthday party, Luce Grace helped himself to a second slice of her birthday cake, looked me in the eye and said.
“How the fuck are you still here ?,”
“I always have a plan,” I’d quipped, helping myself to a third slice of cake that had been made with far more rum than cake.
And it was true.
Almost 40 years ago I’d been dragged out of the glittery life I barely remember and tossed into dangerous stupid fucking situation after dangerous stupid fucking situation. I walked away from each one with a story to tell, some horrific bruises and a little less faith in the future of humanity.
But I always walked away.
Because I had a plan.
But for the first time I don’t have a clear plan. There are too many balls in the air.
If I tried to rebel against Kian Donnelly, he would kill Minnow.
If I stayed in his good graces and pretended to be okay with what he’d been doing I’m not sure I could live with myself.
And now there was Alex Haley.
I didn’t know what Kian’s end game was with Haley. He’d been here two days and nobody had questioned him.
I didn’t know if he believed Haley’s claim of not knowing anything or if he was trying to break him. But what Kian didn’t know is Alex Haley had been hardened a long time ago and was unbreakable.
The door to the small bathroom in the corner of the room opens and Haley stumbles out with Thad Jens, a former Washington bodyguard and one of Kian’s more zealous followers, coming out behind him. I remember Thad working for Rayne in his early 20s right before he died. He never seemed particularly evil but he knew Haley’s past and wasted no time getting what he wanted from him.
“Hey, I need more plastic shunts and preservation liquid,” I call after Thad. “I can’t finish--,”
“You just want to go out,” Thad spits. “We just got you supplies--,”
“That cheap shit won’t work for what Kian is asking. These kinds of operations are intense. I need to mix the preservation liquid solutions myself of you’ll all die the first time you use your mods. Either take me to the store or let me go to one of my black clinics for the day.”
Thad just smirks and walks out.
Haley staggers for a bit and I feel an uneasy shame when my eyes accidentally meet his. I turn back to my operating table. Kian wanted at least a dozen of his soldiers turned into fully healed and ready street samurai for whatever he was planning. I’d been working on them as slow as I could to buy time.
“Can you…” Haley trails, rolling up the sleeve on the scrubs shirt he’d been wearing when he was put down here.
I quickly pick up the morphine drip and slide it into his pulsing vein. I didn’t have much in the way of psychiatric drugs down here but the morphine seemed to take enough of the edge of to stop him from spiraling. Thad had started coming in his first night here and when the others realized Haley wasn’t going to fight they’d started coming too.
“Has Minnow said anything ?,” he asks, his words coming out slower as the morphine took it’s effect.
“Hey, are you oka--,”
“Yes--”
“Most of his men are to chickenshit to actual shoot their weapons. You can probably say no--”
“No,” he says staggering over to touch the two-way glass where the girls were being held. “Better me than them. Has Minnow said anything ?”
“The usual. She doesn’t think you should talk,” I tell him. “She doesn't want him to get El. When they let me out I’ll see if I can bribe someone to send a message directly to Arkham.”
“How ?,” he asks. “They’re always watching you.”
“I’ll figure it out.”
A few more guards come for him and I busy myself disposing and wasting the supplies while also looking hard at work.
When all the guards finally leave Haley stands in the corner and watches me working with curious interest. He’d done this when I was working on Grayson too. He liked to know everything and he understood basic medical principles. I think if he cared a little less he’d made a good ripper doc.
The next
afternoon I think I’ve finally made it through to someone about letting me out
for supplies because there’s a knock on the door. Nobody ever knocked, they usually just walked in.
I look over to where Haley is sitting in the corner and then turn to the door as Kian strides in.
And he’s not alone.
***
-3-
I can hardly believe what I’m fucking seeing. It was like Kian had dug around in Haley’s worst nightmares and then made this happen.
“I found you, I found you, I found you! I knew it!” Grayson squeals, bounding towards Haley.
He’s happy and excited, which doesn’t track with the blood smeared across his face and stuffed robot.
Haley crosses his arms and backs away from Grayson as he reaches for some kind of physical contact Haley won’t give.
I wonder if Haley thinks he is a morphine hallucination. But then I see the murderous look in his eyes as he makes direct eye contact with Kian.
Kian just looks amused as Grayson wraps his arms around Haley’s leg. He’s talking about how he got here and Haley shushes him, pinching his arm until it reddens and pulling him behind him.
“I’m sure your son has had quiet the journey,” Kian says. “Why don’t you show him to the bathroom ?,”
I didn’t know what game Kian is playing, but it was better for me to blend into the background of it. Let him forget I’m here.
“Come on.” Haley says, gripping Gayson’s arm again, he cries out because it’s the same place he’d just pinched him but he still happily follows his father toward the small bathroom.
“He’s a big boy who made it here all by himself. I think he can handle it himself,” Kenji says when they reach the bathroom door.
Haley nods and once Grayson closes the door behind him, Kian gestures towards the closed bathroom door with his hand and his pack of guards aim their firearms at the bathroom door.
Whatever that unbreakable thing I thought I’d seen in Haley breaks, his legs seem to give out and he holds on to the wall to stop from falling.
“No.Please--,”
“Fun surprise, isn’t it ?” Kian bites. “Tell me, Alan… If I shoot the boy’s brains out you could still just make Alex another one, right ?,”
He was being a facetious dick so I say nothing.
“Please don’t--please,” Haley begs, his voice cracking.
Some of the guards laugh.
“I didn’t plan on taking the boy but I actually like the way this turned out,” Kian muses. “Because I fully expect my own heir, Alan and I’m sure you can use him for parts.”
“Just to be clear,” I say for some asinine reason. “It doesn’t exactly work that way---”
“You’ll figure it out. As you’ve seen…I know how to motivate,” Kian turns back to Haley. “You either tell me where Eloise Washington is right now or instead of cleaning cum off those walls you’ll be cleaning your son’s brains. I’ve killed a child before, they don’t go down easy and they always beg for mommy.”
“They’re at Arkham,” Haley says quickly, silent tears streaming down his face. “They’re hiding in the freshman dormitory. It’s break so the rest of the school is empty. They should be in there. Please, I swear. Please.”
Kian smiles and motions for is guards to put their guns away. A few of them look a little relieved at the order. I make a note of that.
“Good boy,” Kian says and walks out the door.
A/N
Okay, so we're now caught up to the timeline. This is how Kian knows to bomb Arkham.
Also, I promise this is the last time I'll be writing from the perspective of a child.