Chương 137

A medic hurried past, her red armband stained with blood. She stopped at the far station and began unwrapping a dressing from a man whose arm was burned. Cherish finally looked up. Her face was chalky with dust.

"Are we safe?" she asked.

"Not yet," Louis said.

"But we're together." Savannah kept her arm around him. Her body was warm against his side, and he could feel her breathing. Angelique looked at the people crowding the shelter.

"Do you think that was the Authority?" Gladice gave a harsh laugh.

"Who else? They want their prisoners back."

"Or they want to make sure no one else has them," Willa said. She was leaning against the wall, one hand pressed to her side.

"You hurt?" Louis asked. Willa shook her head.

"I ran too fast."

"You're not built for it," Gladice said.

"You're a thinker, not a runner."

"Shut up, Glads." Willa pressed her lips together. Donya was stroking Cherish's hair.

"It's over now, sweetie. We're okay." Cherish flinched as another muffled blast came from above.

"I don't like this."

"Nobody likes this," Donya said.

"But we're safe for now." Savannah looked at Louis.

"Guess we ain't getting out of here anytime soon."

"No," Louis agreed.

"But we're not dead."

"Thanks to her." Savannah inclined her head toward Maeve, who stood near the shelter entrance, arguing with another officer.

"She saved us," Angelique said.

"There's no denying that."

"And why would she?" Gladice asked.

"What's in it for her?" Willa looked at Maeve.

"Maybe she's not as committed to the revolution as she claims."

"Or maybe she's just an idiot with a conscience," Savannah muttered.

"Either way, we owe her one."

"Speak for yourself," Gladice said.

"I don't owe anybody anything."

"Glads," Angelique warned.

"Not now." The bombing continued for another hour. Each nearby impact stopped the talking and made people look toward the ceiling. The lights flickered but stayed on. Gradually, the explosions sounded farther away, and people began to sit down and pass water along the benches. Someone began playing an old Appalachian hymn on a guitar, using new verses about workers, struggle, and the mountains. Others joined in quietly. Gladice stared at the guitar player.

"Of course they sing about work. Even in a fucking shelter."

"It's better than silence," Willa said.

"It's better than being blown up," Angelique added.

"I'll take the song." Louis felt Cherish shift against him and looked down at her.

"Are you okay?" he asked. She kept her eyes on the floor.

"I was so scared."

"We all were."

"No." She shook her head.

"I thought I was going to die alone. I thought God had left me." He put his arm around her shoulders.

"You weren't alone." She looked down and whispered, "I was praying the whole time. Even when the bombs fell." He said nothing. She looked up at him.

"Did you pray?"

"I don't pray."

"But what did you do?" she asked.

"When you thought we might die?" He thought of Savannah, Angelique, Gladice, and the others. He remembered running toward the explosions because they were still inside. He had not prayed. He had refused to lose them.

"I decided not to let it happen," he answered quietly. He sat down. She laid her head on his shoulder. He kept his arm around her and kissed the top of her head without thinking. She curled closer and took his hand. He held it. Savannah watched them and gave Louis a small nod. He nodded back. Willa rested her hand on Angelique's knee. Gladice watched the soldiers playing cards. Donya listened to the hymn with her eyes closed. The song ended, and another began while distant explosions continued outside.

In one corner of the shelter, an old veteran had set a chessboard on an ammunition crate. He sat behind the board with a gray blanket over his shoulders and a red armband tied around one sleeve of his field jacket. His left hand shook when he reached for a piece, but it steadied as he moved it. One man stood beside him with a cigarette tucked behind his ear and watched the game. Another sat across from the veteran and frowned at the board. A red-handled Swiss Army knife lay on the crate beside the chessboard.

Willa saw it first.

"Louis," she said.

"Look." He saw the knife at once, then looked at the veteran. The man moved the pieces without hesitation. Support the creativity of authors by visiting the original site for this novel and more.

"Are they betting?" Louis whispered.

"Looks like it." Willa squinted.

"And that knife is the prize."

"Can we play?" Gladice asked.

"We could use that knife." Angelique raised an eyebrow.

"How? We have no money."

"I have some euros hidden in my bra," Savannah said.

"I thought we might need them."

"Holy shit," Gladice said.

"You're a genius." Louis looked at her.

"How much?"

"Two hundred."

"Enough," Angelique said.

"But who plays?"

"I will," Willa said.

"I was on the chess team in high school."

"Then you go," Louis said.

"We will back you." Savannah pulled the zipper of her jumpsuit down a few inches and reached into her bra. Louis glanced at the strip of cleavage before looking away. She caught him and rolled her eyes, then pulled out two folded fifty-euro notes. She handed them to Willa, who slipped the notes into her pocket. Willa stood and walked to the crate with Louis beside her. The veteran looked up as they approached, then returned his attention to the board. He moved a bishop and leaned back.

"Your turn, Rick," he said. Rick frowned at his pieces. He pushed a pawn forward one square. The veteran captured it without hesitation. Rick stared at the board, then sighed.

"Damn it, Henry. You are a devil."

"No, just patient." Henry smiled.

"Hand me the whiskey." Rick passed him the flask and left muttering. The other man walked away too. Henry took a long drink and set the flask on the crate. Then he turned to Louis and Willa.

"Here to watch the slaughter?"

"We are here to play," Willa said. Henry looked from Willa to Louis.

"You have something to bet?" Willa took out the two notes. Henry glanced at them and raised his eyebrows.

"Where did you get those?" he asked.

"Does it matter?" she said.

"No." Henry turned back to the board.

"The buy-in is a hundred. You win, you take the knife. You lose, I keep the money."

"Fair." Willa sat across from him.

"Shall we play?" Henry glanced at Louis, then at Willa.

"White or black?"

"White." He gestured to the pieces.

"Set them up." Willa began setting up the board. Her hands were steady. Louis watched her work. She was as calm and focused as she had been while hacking the megachurch system in Atlanta. When she finished, Henry nodded.

"Your move," he said. Willa moved a pawn, and Henry answered at once. At first, Willa did well. Louis could follow the position and saw Henry begin to take her more seriously. He stopped joking and spent longer on each move. Willa traded two pieces and gained more space on the board. Then Henry moved the rook. Willa paused and looked up at him before returning to the board. Henry took a sip of whiskey and waited. Over the next ten moves, Willa lost her advantage.

Henry stopped each of her attacks and forced her onto the defensive. Louis could see that Henry had several chances to finish the game, but he kept taking pieces and closing off her remaining moves. Willa leaned closer to the board and continued playing. Five minutes later, Henry reached across and tipped her king over with one finger.

"Good game," he said.

"You play well for a kid." Willa stared at the board and said nothing.

"Hand me the money," Henry said.

"And don't take it personally." She pulled out the notes and held them out to him. He took them and slipped them inside his jacket. They returned to their group. Willa sat down without speaking, and Louis sat beside her.

"Well?" Gladice asked.

"I lost." Willa looked toward the knife across the shelter.

"He's very good."

"Fuck," Gladice said.

"Now we have nothing." Cherish had been watching the chessboard with her head lowered. She had clasped her hands tightly in her lap. She looked at Henry, then at Willa.

"I can try." Everyone turned to her.

"You play chess?" Louis asked. She nodded.

"I learned by myself. I have read books."

"Can you win?" Angelique asked.

"I don't know. But I want to try." Cherish looked at the knife again.

"For us." Savannah said, "That's all the money I got left." She reached into her bra again and pulled out the remaining two notes. Cherish accepted the notes.

"Thank you." She stood and walked toward Henry. Louis followed. Henry was resetting the board. He looked up as they arrived.

"Back for more?" Cherish sat down without answering. She placed the notes on the crate beside the board. Henry looked at the notes, then at Louis.

"Your little sister wants to lose too?" he asked.

"Let her play," Louis said.

"Black or white?" Henry smiled.

"Lady first." He gestured to the white pieces. Cherish reached for a pawn, and her hand shook. Louis knelt beside her and put one hand on her back. She took a breath, then moved the pawn forward. By her next move, her hand had stopped shaking. They played the first ten moves in silence. Henry left his whiskey untouched and focused on the board. Cherish did not look up from the pieces. Henry captured one of her knights. Cherish answered with a bishop exchange that opened the position. Henry leaned back.

He studied the board for a moment, then made a quiet move. Cherish immediately pushed a pawn forward. It took Louis a moment to see the trap. Henry hesitated, then moved a rook to defend. Cherish sacrificed her knight for a pawn and a stronger position. Henry took the knight. Cherish moved her queen. The position became more complicated, and Henry began to talk.

"Where did you learn this?" he asked.

"Books," Cherish said.

"Who taught you?"

"Myself."

"Your father didn't play?"

"He..." She hesitated.

"No."

"That's a shame." Henry advanced a bishop.

"He missed out." The next several moves came quickly. Cherish pressed an attack on the kingside. Henry defended carefully. Sweat appeared on his forehead, and he did not touch the whiskey. Then Cherish moved her queen deep into Henry's position and left it open to capture. Henry studied the move, then took her queen. Cherish moved a bishop without pausing. Henry stared at the board. Louis needed a moment to understand the threat. Henry cursed under his breath and moved his king one square.

Cherish moved a rook across the board.

"Checkmate." Henry sat back in his chair. His left hand began to tremble. Henry looked at her for a long moment. Then he reached across the board and shook her hand once.

"Damn fine game," he said.

"What's your name?"

"Cherish Nowak."

"Cherish." Henry smiled.

"I will remember it." He picked up the red-handled knife and slid it across the crate, handle first.

"You earned this." She took the knife by the handle. Louis stood. Cherish turned and gave him the knife without a word. He folded the blade into the handle and slipped it into his pocket.

"Thank you," he said to Henry.

"No. Thank her." Henry picked up his whiskey and drank.

"And tell her to practice. She could be a champion."

"I will." Cherish pushed the notes toward Henry anyway. He looked at them, then laughed.

"That is not how winning works."

"Please keep them," she said.

"For not telling anyone." Henry looked at the money, then glanced at the guards by the door. They were arguing with a shelter marshal. He picked up the notes and slid them into his jacket.

"Alright, girl," he said.

"This one's between us." She nodded. They walked back to their group. The others watched her return in silence. She sat beside Louis and stared at the floor, her cheeks flushed.

"You won?!" Donya whispered.

"Yes." Cherish kept her voice low.

"Holy shit," Gladice whispered.

"You're a genius." Cherish shook her head quickly.

"I just like to play." Savannah touched her arm.

"You did real good." Cherish looked up.

"We have the knife now."

"Yes, we do." Louis took out the knife and handed it to Savannah.

"You keep this." Savannah turned it over in her hand, then slipped it into her pocket.

"Thank you, Cherish." Cherish nodded.

"I'm sorry I gave up your money."

"Don't be." Savannah smiled at her.

"You won something better." Willa leaned forward.

"Now we have something."

"Yes." Angelique looked at Louis.

"We have a start." Maeve walked over. The conversation stopped. She glanced from Savannah to Cherish, then toward Henry.

"Having fun?" she asked. Savannah looked at her.

"We were." Maeve said nothing for a moment, then turned toward the shelter entrance.

"Good." An announcement came over the loudspeaker.

"All clear for inner sectors. Labor groups remain assembled. Movement by classification. Repeat, all clear for inner sectors." People began rising, gathering their things, and helping children. The shelter marshal shouted for lines by work unit. Guards moved toward the door. Louis stood with the others. Savannah kept the knife hidden in her pocket. Cherish stayed beside Donya and looked ahead. Willa glanced back at the chessboard as they moved. Gladice leaned close to Louis.

"Think we can get out?" she asked.

"Not yet," he said.

"But we're closer." Louis looked at Cherish. This time, she walked with her head up.