Chương 83

Louis woke to the smell of pizza. Gladice sat in the chair nearest the door, eating pizza from the box. She looked over when Louis opened his eyes.

"Slept well?" she asked. Louis sat up. His head felt heavy, and his knee ached when he moved it. He ran one hand through his hair and found it damp with sweat.

"What time is it?"

"Eight," Angelique said from the curtains without looking back. She held one edge aside to watch the parking lot.

"We let you sleep as long as we dared."

"Thank you." He stretched, reached for the cane, and pushed himself to his feet. His knee was stiff, but he could put weight on it.

"Anything new?"

"I went out and bought us pizza," Gladice said around a mouthful.

"There will be curfew at ten tonight. They were already blocking roads when I came back." Gladice held out a slice. Louis took it and crossed to the table without asking what kind it was. The slice was cold and greasy. He ate it standing and looked at Willa, who sat cross-legged on the far bed with the Athena laptop open on her lap.

"Anything on the laptop?"

"The Collective launched another airstrike over Montgomery a few hours ago," she said, her eyes still on the screen.

"The Dixies shelled New Orleans in return and advanced through the western Florida Panhandle. The CU and the EU are calling for de-escalation. The Dominion and the Alliance are sending aid to the Collective." She swiped the screen.

"You guys were global breaking news all week. The war finally pushed you off the front page. Nobody knows you're alive yet." Louis gave a bitter smile.

"Good. I hope it stays that way." Willa glanced up at him.

"You think Hargrove will make you public if he catches you?" He shrugged.

"Not unless he wants to start another war with the Dominion."

"Maybe he does." She looked back at the screen.

"Power makes men stupid. He stages a coup, grabs the chair, and starts a foreign war before the seat's even warm."

"That's what dictators do," Angelique said, letting the curtain fall.

"They consolidate power through crisis."

"It's logical. My father would have done the same. But smarter." Louis took another bite of pizza. Gladice looked at him, amused.

"And less evil?" Louis wiped his mouth with a paper napkin and tossed it into the empty pizza box.

"Evil is subjective. Incompetence isn't." Angelique laughed.

"That's very Collins of you to say." Donya looked up from the second bed.

"Is that a quote from your father?" Louis gave her a brief smile.

"No. That's me." Donya laughed, then covered her mouth, looking at the others.

"Sorry. This whole situation is just so insane. We're all fugitives in a country that wants to kill us, and we're having pizza and talking about politics."

"Welcome to the end of the world," Gladice said.

"It's not so bad once you get used to it."

"You'll get used to it," Angelique said. She came to the table and sat.

"We all did."

"Alright." Louis shifted his weight onto the cane.

"Now we wait until nine. What do you think?"

"We should all go," Gladice said at once.

"The question is whether we go carrying half a bank on our backs like idiots."

"Half a bank is useful in a trade," Angelique said.

"Until he decides to rob us," Willa said.

"No," said Louis.

"I don't think he will. He's a businessman, and I guess he wants something more. But we should be careful with the money." The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.

"Divide it up," Angelique said.

"Each of us carries a small, separate share. In case something happens to one of us."

"Or we can leave most of it here," said Donya.

"And pick it up if we make it back."

"I don't like leaving money unguarded in a shitty motel." Gladice shook her head.

"Let's divide it like Angel said. And maybe I can keep a little extra in my bra." She winked.

"In case I need to bribe someone to touch my boobs." Angelique laughed.

"As if that would ever be necessary."

"You never know." Gladice shrugged.

"A girl should always be prepared." Donya looked from Angelique to Gladice, her cheeks flushed.

"Are we really going to hide cash in our bras?"

"Yes," said Gladice.

"We are. Because you never know what's going to happen. And I'd rather be safe than sorry."

"I don't have a bra," Louis said.

"I'll get you one," Gladice offered.

"It might look cute on you." Willa sighed loudly.

"Can we focus on the plan, please?"

"Fine." Louis looked at her.

"How much do we have left?"

"We have about two hundred and thirty thousand euros left." Willa looked at the money bag on the bed.

"I made a budget. We should hold back at least fifty thousand in case Ellington charges us for extraction. That still leaves enough for bribes, transport, clothes, and anything else we need to survive."

"That's a lot of money," Donya said.

"It's less than my allowance for a month," said Louis.

"So not that much." Willa looked up at him.

"Rich kid."

"Guilty as charged." He reached for the canvas bag on the bed and opened it. The euros had been counted and divided into bundles. He took out one bundle and split it into smaller rolls. The others followed his lead, peeling bills off the stacks and tucking them into pockets and backpacks. Willa and Donya slipped several rolls into their bras, and Louis stole a few looks at their cleavage. Willa caught him and glared. Donya flushed and turned her face away.

"What are you looking at? Pervert." Gladice slapped Louis's arm.

"I am just trying to see if you guys hid the money properly." He laughed.

"Sure." Willa rolled her eyes. Donya looked down and adjusted her shirt.

"I still don't understand why all of us need to go. Willa and I were compromised. We should stay here." Gladice snorted.

"Because I am not leaving our tech girl and our most visibly grateful refugee in a motel room under curfew in a city that just put your faces on the news." Donya made a face.

"I am not that grateful anymore."

"Still, we should stick together." Louis tucked away his share and returned the remaining cash to the bag.

"We are a team until we get out of this country. Then we can talk." He looked at Angelique.

"How do we look?" Angelique stood and looked each of them over. They were all dressed much the same, in jackets and jeans, except that Gladice had pulled a cap low over her face. Angelique nodded after a moment.

"Good. We are not obvious. But we don't look like locals either." She went to the window and checked the lot again.

"We need a story in case someone asks."

"War refugees trying to get to a shelter," Willa said.

"But the shelters are all full, so we're just wandering."

"That's believable." Gladice zipped up her jacket.

"The city is full of people like that."

"Alright." Louis checked the cane.

"We take everything with us. I doubt we will come back."

"Let's go then," Angelique said. Louis looked around the motel room one last time. Open pizza boxes and plastic cups remained on the table, and one of the blankets hung over the side of the bed. By eight forty, they were ready to leave. They left the room one at a time. The parking lot was nearly empty. There were few cars on the road. The first curfew announcement came from loudspeakers in the distance.

"By order of the county, under the authority of Almighty God, all civilians are to be indoors or in an approved shelter by twenty-two hundred hours. Anyone found on the streets thereafter must present identification and lawful cause. Return home now. Keep the peace, and may God watch over the faithful." Donya flinched. Willa did not. Angelique adjusted the strap higher on her shoulder and kept walking. Gladice moved half a step ahead, her eyes scanning the street. Louis kept pace with her.

As they crossed the street, Willa touched his sleeve and looked back. Louis glanced over his shoulder. Three militia pickups rolled into the lot. One stopped outside the office. Another pulled toward the ground-floor rooms. Men climbed out in work boots and armbands, their rifles held low.

"Keep moving," Gladice said under her breath. Louis did. He could not tell whether they had come for the group, and he was not going back to find out. They found the alley behind the closed chicken place.

"This is where we got robbed," Louis said.

"Nice."

"I like the symbolism," Gladice said dryly. Jacob was there, leaning against the wall beside the dumpster, smoking a cigarette. When he saw them, he dropped the cigarette and ground it out with the heel of his boot.

"Damn." He looked over the unfamiliar faces.

"Thought there were four of y'all."

"There were," Louis said. Jacob watched him for a moment but did not ask. Then he grinned.

"Well, now y'all look like a band. I'll call you the Fugitive Five." Donya giggled, then covered her mouth. Willa said, "You're not as funny as you think you are."

"No?" Jacob smiled.

"I think I'm hilarious. Come on. Boss waitin'." He gestured toward a van parked farther down the alley. It was black, with tinted windows and no markings. The rear doors were open.

"Everybody's here? Good. Get in." They climbed into the back of the van. There were no seats, so they sat on the floor. Jacob closed and latched the doors. It was dark. The engine started a moment later.

"What if they open the back?" Donya whispered.

"Then we pretend to be church supplies," Willa said.

"Or you can tell them God sent you." Donya frowned.

"That's not funny."

"Yes, it is." Gladice laughed. Louis laughed too. Angelique shushed them.

"Quiet." A moment later, she leaned against Louis and rested her head on his shoulder. He put an arm around her. In the darkness, he could feel her tension. He squeezed her shoulder. She sighed and settled against him. The first siren of curfew wailed somewhere outside.