New Reality 2: Justice (30 page)

Nothing.
 

When she wiggled it, it twisted slightly. Another turn and it opened the door.
This was going to take some getting used to.

As soon as she stepped inside, Marie was hit with a smell that was somewhere between dirt and wet dog. It was better than the reek of shit she'd had to endure on the way over, but it still stank. Once inside, she closed the door behind her.
 

It was quieter in the flat, but just being in the filthy place made Marie's skin itch. She was going to have to clean it soon.

The floors were carpeted, but every one of them was frayed and stained. It was the kind of home where you left your shoes on, although with the brown water from earlier… Marie flipped her sandals off and shuddered when the grit on the floor stuck to her bare feet.

Marie inspected the place as she walked around it. The wallpaper hung off the walls in strips. The paint on the skirting boards was peeling off. Some of the light switches were cracked and bare wires hung out of them. It was hardly childproof. Not that it mattered; she was hardly with child anymore.

What little furniture she owned had been set up. Because most of the stuff in her old place belonged to the landlord, her new home looked like a squat at best.

She found her clothes still in the removal company's boxes in the bedroom. In the middle of the floor was her mattress.
 

As she stood there in the bedroom, she held her stomach and waited. There was still no movement.

The flat was stuffy, so she walked over to the window to open it. The handle twisted, but when she pushed, the window wouldn't budge. The smaller one opened with ease. Then she saw the lock on the other side. There was nothing worth stealing in the flats, so it must be to stop jumpers, although no one seemed to care if they jumped
inside
—out of sight and all that.

***

The bathroom was so dirty that just being in it scrambled the thoughts in Marie's head.
How could someone live like this?
Yellow stains ran around the light blue sink and toilet. Marie heaved as she covered her mouth and flushed the toilet that had been left soiled for a while.
What was wrong with people?

Mould ran between the tiling around the bath, the corkboard floor was soft with rot, and lime scale caked the taps—it was impossible to see the chrome beneath it. The bathtub had a dark brown stain in it like someone had died there.

A deep breath and Marie closed her eyes. "It'll be
fine.
Everything will work out okay."

***

Marie emptied her clothes onto her bed, dragged the box into the front room, and sat on it. The view out of the window was of another tower block similar to hers. It was the same grey brick and dirty windows. If the windows had opened, it would have been close enough for her to touch.

A rub of her stomach still returned no response from the baby.
What happened when a baby died in utero? What was she going to do when it was time to give birth?

A sudden knock at the door made Marie jump. She stared at the back of it, held her breath, and remained perfectly still.
Surely, no one knew she was in there. What about Will hiding her information? Does that mean Doug knew now too? Was it Doug?

Knock, knock
!
 

Marie cleared her throat. "Who is it?"

Despite the door muffling her voice, it was clear enough. "It's
me.
"

When Marie opened the door, Gina was standing on the other side, a hood pulled up over her head. "How did you find out where I live?" After a pause, she added, "Again."

After stepping inside and pulling her hood back, Gina shrugged. "I went to your house and saw a removal man helping the new people in. He told me where he'd moved you to. At first he was coy about which block you were in, but I explained I was a friend."

When Marie stared but didn't respond, Gina started walking around the flat and took the place in.
 

"Horrible isn't it?" Marie said.

Gina shook her head. "No, it's all right."

"All right for a crack den maybe. It's fucking
horrible.
Don't try to pretend it isn't."

Gina didn't reply.
 

"Anyway, how did you manage to cross the estate without any problems?"

"I covered up. The last thing I want is to be recognised by someone from Rixon. Us being friends would most likely land us both in New Reality." Then she pulled something from inside her jacket. "Secondly, I brought protection."

Marie gasped. "A
gun?
"

"You need one on the estate, darling."

This was what life had come to; she needed a gun just to walk home.
 

When she walked into the kitchen and tried to open a cupboard, the handle came off in her hand. She put it down on the side and fished her teabags out. "Do you want some tea?"

As Gina continued looking around the flat, she nodded. "Yes, please."

It was impossible to stop her bottom lip shaking as she dropped the tea bag into the mug.
 

Gina walked over and put her arms around her. "There, there, darling. Everything's going to be okay."

"No, it's
not
. I can't make you any fucking tea."

"That's okay."

"No, it's
not
." She paused to collect herself. "I can't make you any tea because I threw Jules out of the window at the old place."

Although she looked like she was trying to suppress it, Gina smiled. "He was an annoying little shit though, wasn't he?"

She wanted to laugh but Marie cried harder than ever.

***

After Marie had stopped crying, Gina said, "Come and live with me."

"What?"

"Come and live with me. I have the space and the baby needs to be somewhere better than this."

There still hadn't been a kick. Marie shook her head. "No, it's fine. I need to make this place a home. I need to have somewhere for Frankie to come to when he gets out of New Reality."

"When he gets out?"

"Yes, I'm going to find a way to get him out, if it kills me."

"How?"

"I'm still going to find out what Doug's hiding from the government. When I do, I'll have the fat prick over a barrel."

Gina placed her gun on the worktop with a heavy
thud. "I'll do everything in my power to help. I'm going to leave this here for you. Make sure you carry it with you at
all
times."

Gina then removed a large torch from her inside pocket. "I thought you could use this too. It's pretty gloomy out there. I need to get going now, Marie. Will I see you Monday?"

Marie nodded and bit back her tears.

After Gina left, Marie picked up the gun and stared at it. It was heavy and cold. The horrible object was now an essential part of her life.

Chapter Forty-Six

As Marie watched Frankie on the screen in front of her, she yawned again. With each passing moment, her head felt heavier and her eyes watered. She'd have to move away from the screen at some point.

Huddled in a cold doorway with an old blanket wrapped around him, Frankie sat staring into space and shivering. Not only had they taken his child and partner, but they'd taken his home from him. How long would it be before they took his sanity too?

Another yawn took a hold of Marie and, even after rubbing her eyes, the image of her lover on the monitor remained blurred. The first couple of nights in the Single Mum's block had been rough. Last night a scream fell down the centre of the tower block and woke her up. The thud of the woman hitting the ground ran through the building and she felt it as she lay on her thin mattress. It was hard getting back to sleep after that.
How long would it be before she was leapfrogging the railings and hurtling towards the hard floor herself?

A shove crashed into the back of Marie's chair and she smelled fried meat. Why hadn't she noticed him sooner? She whipped her headphones off and spun around. She needed to focus more. It just wouldn't do to have the stupid idiot sneaking up on her.
 

As Doug picked at his teeth with the long nail on his little finger, he looked past her at the screen. "So you're watching him then?"

Although Marie's mouth opened and closed, no words came out.

"Don't worry; it's fascinating to see how we can break a man. I'd be watching it all day if I were you. This is a lull period where we let him pull himself from the gutters—literally—before we destroy him again."

As she stared at the vulgar man, Marie remained silent.

"Anyway, dear, we have another tour starting in five minutes and I want you to come with me again."

"But what about…?" She pointed at the screen while looking up at Doug.

"Don't worry; we're not going to do anything until tomorrow. Are you worried about missing out?"
 

"I am. I want to see the
rat
get what's coming to him." Just saying the words tore at her heart. "But I don't want to miss another tour with you. The last one was
masterful.
"
 

Doug stood proud and looked around the room as if he was making sure everyone heard her comment.

This was the opportunity she'd been waiting for. Doug was going to fuck up, and she was going to be there when it happened.

***

Another week and another inch added to her expanding girth and Marie felt it pressing on the corset as they walked towards the prison's entrance. It wouldn't be long before she was too large for it; this tour had to count. Marie wouldn't be here much longer, and she had to find something to blackmail Doug with. If they kept pushing Frankie, he wouldn't last in New Reality. If she was going to give birth to a dead baby, she needed him at her side.
 

When they arrived at the prison's front gates, there were two council workers waiting for them. Thankfully, it was two men; the last thing Marie needed was any more time with Florence.

With his usual broad grin and his loud and obnoxious voice bordering on shouting, Doug held his fat hand out. "Doug Rixon; pleased to meet you."

The smaller of the two men took his hand. "John Balmy and this is Samson Smythe."

What were they, a comedy duo or something? On another day, Marie may have smirked but there wasn't much to smile about at the moment, no matter how ridiculous these men's names were.

"Florence was
so
impressed with the tour you did for them, she insisted we come and look too."

After winking at Marie, Doug's smile broadened. "And I was mightily impressed with Florence, John.
Fine
woman!"

"Quite."

The silence hung awkwardly and everyone seemed aware of it except Doug, his usual shit-eating grin wrapped halfway around his head.
 

Finally, John said, "The tour?"

"Of course," Doug said. "Step this way."

Like before, Marie took up the rear, following the party through the large front doors into the first ward. It was the best place to be. If she kept her head down and let Doug do all the talking, she could focus on the ward and no one would pay her any attention.

***

Once they were inside, the reek of disinfectant was as strong as ever. She may have been watching the men, but Marie zoned out from their conversation and removed a kirby grip from her long hair. She then dropped it on the floor and kicked it so it was close to a wall. No one would see it there.

When the men set off, she followed them, smiling every time one of them looked around at her. For the rest of the time, Marie searched the occupied beds and looked for Frankie.

When they were nearly at the end, there was no Frankie, but the man with the tattoos was in the same bed as before.
Didn't they get that someone so identifiable could give the game away? Or was it a genuine mistake last time? Were there multiple wards? Was it a simple error that landed them on the same one three times in a row?
The odds were longer than the unemployment queues on the estate, but it was possible.

Marie looked up to see the three men had made it to the other end of the ward and were waiting for her to catch up.

***

Once they were in the food room, the loud whir of churning sludge made it impossible for Marie to hear Doug. Hypnotised by the giant whisk that slowly turned the liquid—which looked more like a huge vat of semen than it did food—Marie was hit with the memory of the chalky taste. If Doug made her drink it again, she was going to vomit it all over his shiny shoes. That would teach him.

After a minute or so, Doug handed out gas masks and moved on to the place where they incinerated the nappies. There was a mask for Marie this time, and when he pulled the door open, a blast of stale heat shot out. Despite the mask, the air still left an aftertaste of burned plastic on the back of Marie's tongue.

After the council workers had gone in, Doug held the door open for Marie to follow.

Instead, she removed her mask and twisted her face. "This thing isn't working. I'll stay out here."

A heavy shrug and Doug followed the men in, letting the door close behind him.

By herself in the large feeding room, Marie looked at the host of doors surrounding them. The muscles in her legs twitched, urging her to go through one of them. Any one of the doors could reveal Doug's secrets to her; she might even find Frankie.

Before she could move, the door to the incinerator room slid open, and Doug emerged with the two officials. They brought the smell of burned excrement with them.

Doug followed the same routine as before. Once they'd removed their gas masks, he spun the outside of the room and led them out into another ward. Marie took up the rear once again.
 

Now they'd left the room with the vat of food in it, Marie could finally hear Doug—not that she wanted to though.
 

"Once you've seen one ward, you've seen them all. We have several of these large rooms, housing all of the inmates in our care. Every ward looks
exactly
the same."

When Marie's eyes settled on the bald man with the tattoos, she bit her tongue.
That's because they are all the same, aren't they, Dougie? What are you hiding, fat man?