Fight for Power (20 page)

“Don't you have enough guards?”

“I'm going to put more sentries out all along the walls. This is going to potentially draw more attention to the neighborhood. I want to be ready,” she explained.

“That's wise,” Herb said. “You might want to put some on the far wall as well. If somebody was going to attack, this would be a smart diversion.”

I hadn't thought of that. Probably nobody would have except Herb.

“Howie, I'd like you to arrange all of that, the extra guards,” she said.

“As good as done, Cap,” he said, and hurried off.

My mother and Herb rushed off as well and it was just Lori and me again—alone with a few hundred other people, watching as a whole condominium tower went up in flames.

 

17

As predicted by Lori's father, it started to rain in the middle of the night. I woke up to hear it rattling against the window. Lori and I had stayed longer at the wall until I persuaded her to walk back with me so I could watch the twins and she could take care of the horses. I lay in bed, listening to the rain hit the windowpanes. At the very least, the rain would help put out the fire—it would also fill rain barrels and swimming pools, helping keep our water supply steady.

As soon as the sky started lightening, I got dressed and went out to see the results of the fire. The umbrella I was holding didn't seem to give much protection from the blowing rain. As I got closer to the wall, the smell of fire was thick and wisps of smoke floated through the air. I could see the top floors of the condo had blackened, with gaping holes where windows used to be, but smoke was still coming out of the openings. Despite the early hour and the rain still falling, there were other people lining the wall, looking out at it. I wondered if I'd find Lori up here.

I scanned the crowd and saw her standing on the ledge of the wall closest to the condo, staring out intently.

I came up behind her. “Good morning.”

She smiled sadly. “Not particularly good for them,” she said, gesturing out to the building.

“I know.” I climbed up beside her and took her hand.

Even from this distance we could see a lot of people—men, women, and children—standing in the rain, partially sheltered by the building or under the thin cover of trees. Thank goodness they were far enough away that I couldn't make out the faces or expressions. The loss was hard enough at this distance without being able to see them as individuals.

“I wonder how it started,” Lori said.

I shook my head. “Probably somebody cooking inside or using a candle for light.”

I really wanted to believe that it had been an accident that spread, but in the middle of the night, in the darkest corner of my mind I couldn't help but wonder—did Herb do this? I'd heard him talking more than once about how he was worried that the building was there, offering a vantage for anybody looking into our neighborhood and now, suddenly, it wasn't going to be there anymore. Still, there was no way that Herb would have set the fire. I knew that.

“What's going to happen to those people now?” Lori asked.

“Some of them might be able to go back into their units after this,” I offered, although I didn't necessarily believe that.

“And some probably can't. Where are they going to go?” she asked.

“Maybe some of the people in the other units will take them in.”

“Or maybe they're too selfish to take them in, you know, the way we're too selfish to take anybody else in here,” she said.

I didn't know what to say. It wasn't selfishness—it was survival. We couldn't take in everybody.

“It just seems so wrong, standing here doing nothing. We should go out and see if we can help.”

“We can't go out without permission.”

“I don't need permission. Besides, it's not like there's anything to worry about out there.”

She was so wrong about that. Desperate people with no food, no shelter, no hope were probably the most dangerous people in the world. They had nothing to lose.

“I'm going over there,” Lori said.

Before I could say another word she climbed over the wall and jumped down to the other side. Without thinking, I hopped over and went after her.

We ran across the grassy boulevard and onto the street. There were a number of guards posted along the way and I was surprised to see Todd among them.

“What's going on?” I asked him.

“There were a few deaths, and lots of injuries. Mostly it's sprains, a couple of broken bones that happened when people jumped out of lower-level windows, and a whole bunch of people with smoke inhalation. Dr. Morgan set up a sort of hospital in the lobby of the building.”

“I guess it could have been worse,” Lori said.

“Worse is what's going to happen next,” Todd said. “Most of the building isn't going to be fit to be—”

There was a loud smash, and all three of us jumped and spun around. A whole bay window had tumbled down and shattered on the ground.

“Stuff keeps crashing down,” Todd explained. “It's been doing that all night.”

“That could have killed somebody.”

“Not could …
did
. That was one of the deaths. The kid couldn't have been any more than ten. At least it was fast. He probably didn't even know what hit him.”

Lori flinched. I didn't. That troubled me.

“Then this is as close as we should go,” I said to Lori, hoping to get her back inside the neighborhood.

“You can go around if you want a closer look,” Todd offered. “Nothing has fallen off the other side of the building.”

“Thanks,” Lori said.

I would have thanked him if he'd kept his mouth shut. Some things didn't change.

“Are my mother and Herb over there?” I asked.

“I've seen them both. Check in the lobby. That's where they set up a control center.”

We hurried off, coming up on the building through the woods where the crowd of people was clustered. They were dressed, or partially dressed, in a variety of clothes and pajamas, some with shoes, some with slippers, some in bare feet, hair all messy, some with smudges on their faces, all with expressions of grief, concern, or fear.

Lori stopped and bent down beside a little girl and her mother.

“You know, I have a teddy bear just like that,” she said, pointing to the one the little girl was clutching. “What's its name?”

“Snowball,” the little girl said.

“That is such a pretty name. My bear was named Sammy the Bear.”

“This is a
girl
bear,” the little girl said.

Lori laughed. “I can see that. Maybe someday your Snowball can meet my Sammy.”

The little girl smiled. So did her mother. Then she started crying and the little girl did, too. I was just happy that neither the bear nor Lori started to cry—or for that matter, me.

“I'm sorry,” the woman sobbed. “It's just that after all of this … all that we've been through … We have no place to go … We're burned out.”

“Maybe we can help,” Lori said.

I looked at her. What was she going to say? She knew we couldn't bring them into the neighborhood.

“Would it help if you had a big tent?” Lori asked.

I let out a sigh of relief.

“It isn't much, but it would get you out of the rain, at least for now. It would be like camping.”

“I like camping,” the little girl said.

“There are already a number of people camping in the woods, by the wall,” Lori said. “Right by the creek so they can get water.”

“I've seen them. That's where we get our water, too, but we don't have anything,” the woman said. “No clothes, or blankets. I don't even have shoes,” she said, pointing to her bare feet.

“I'm sure I can find all of those for you.” Lori turned to me. “We can at least do that,
right
?”

What could I say? That wasn't a question as much as a challenge. I nodded.

“But it's not just us,” the woman said. “There are at least three dozen families burned out.”

“Then I guess we need three dozen tents,” Lori replied. “There must be that many tents in the neighborhood.”

“I have a few sleeping bags in our basement,” I offered.

“And I'll bring you some of my clothes and shoes … You look like about my size.” She then said to the little girl, “And I'll also bring Sammy. Would it be all right if he comes and sleeps with you? He loves camping!”

The little girl sniffled back her tears. “He could come,” she said. “I'd take care of him.”

“I know you will,” Lori said.

“Thank you. Thank you so much,” the woman said, also sniffling back her tears. She gave Lori a big hug.

It made me feel selfish for wanting to stay behind the wall.

“Could you do me a favor?” Lori asked the woman. “Would you find out how many tents we need and try to get a list of what else is necessary? I'm going inside, and when I come back you can give me the list.”

“I'll do that.” The woman turned to me. “Your girlfriend is an angel.”

“Yes, she is.” I handed the woman my umbrella.

We started toward the building again. “Remember that,” Lori said. “What an angel I am.”

I pointed up at the building. “So you don't become a real angel, how about we stop, look up, and then run for the door together, just in case something does fall from this side, okay?”

“Okay.”

It looked solid enough up there and I didn't see any shattered glass on the ground, but it was always better to be extra careful.

“Okay, let's go.”

Still holding hands we raced across the opening and under the concrete awning over the entrance. We skidded to a stop and Brett was standing right there. He offered some slow, sarcastic applause.

“So you finally made it,” he said to me. “I guess that signifies that it's finally safe.”

“I guess it is if you've done your job correctly,” I replied.

“I've done my job. In fact, it's so safe your mother came over.”

I took two steps toward him. “What did you say?”

“I'm just joking around,” he said. “Don't be so sensitive. I'm sorry if I offended you by talking about your big mama.” He laughed. “Are you going to tell on me?”

I didn't answer, but that thought
had
popped into my mind.

“Your
captain
can take care of herself … rookie,” I said.

Brett chuckled. “Are you going to call me that every time you're annoyed with me?” He paused. “But I guess I understand. I wouldn't want anybody to say anything about my mother … or my girlfriend either.”

He gave Lori a long look, and then turned his gaze directly at me, daring me to say something. I didn't know what to say, but I wasn't going to look away. We stood there, a few strides apart, staring each other down.

“I'm going inside,” Lori said. “And you should come with me.” She grabbed me by the hand and dragged me through the shattered front doors of the building. Part of me was angry she'd done that. Part was just relieved.

“Like I said before, he's creepy,” Lori said.

Just inside the door, injured people lay on makeshift beds or sat against the walls. The air was foul and held a visible film of smoke. Herb was talking to one of the doctors but finished up and came over to us.

“I didn't expect to see you two here this early,” Herb said.

“I didn't expect to be here.”

“I made him bring me,” Lori said. “Is there anything I can do to help?”

“Please, feel free to ask around,” Herb said.

She walked away and immediately went up to a woman sitting against the wall.

“How bad is it?” I asked Herb.

“Better than I expected, although worse than I would have liked.”

“What does that mean?”

He motioned for me to follow him and we stopped at an empty section of the lobby.

“None of our people were killed or injured,” he said.

“That
is
good, but lots of other people were killed, right?”

“That's bad, but that's not the worst thing. By coming here we've become responsible for these people.”

“Do mean you're bringing them into the neighborhood?”

“You know we don't have the resources to do that. But the doctors have brought over medicine and bandages. The firefighters and two nurses have been administering first aid. Some of the women have even brought over blankets and pillows. I have no idea where these people are even going to go, but they can't come into the neighborhood.”

“They could sleep in tents,” I said.

“Tents?” Herb gave me one of those piercing looks. “Is that a suggestion or a plan?”

“Sort of a plan. We offered some tents, some clothing and blankets, even some sleeping bags. Just things that we can scavenge from the neighborhood that aren't needed.”

“You can never know what we might need someday,” Herb said. “Still, that might be the smart compromise. But remember, you can offer them nothing else.”

“Nothing else.” I paused. “They could probably pitch those tents in the woods beside the creek, right by our wall.”

“People are already doing that, so a few more tents won't matter,” Herb said.

I was glad that wasn't an issue.

“Now, why don't you take that young lady of yours back inside the neighborhood and start scrounging for tents and clothes and blankets.”

 

18

Four days later, Lori, Todd, and I visited the growing tent city outside our wall.

“Do you think it's ever going to stop raining?” Lori asked as the three of us stomped through the forest.

“It's such bad timing,” I said. “They're burned out of their homes and they get four straight days of rain.”