Rock and a Hard Place 12 "The Wall" Two

The Wall  Two

            “Here it is.” Marla exclaimed as Hank and Jen approached a small two story brick duplex. The shutters were falling off and the railings needed a coat of paint but the roof looked sound. They weren’t able to walk to the home, Marla took them on a bus to a neighborhood that was closer to the outer wall.

            “This is all ours?” Hank was waiting for Marla to tell them they would be sharing with another family or something. He was surprised when she confirmed that this home was only theirs. “How do we pay for this?” He asked.

            “With your assignment. But that’s tomorrow.” Marla unlocked the door and handed Hank the keys, he noticed she had a set for herself as well. The house was sparsely furnished but clean. No cockroaches or rats from what he can see.

            “Can’t wait to see my room.” Jen said sarcastically and walked upstairs with all the excitement of a prisoner going to solitary confinement.

            “Teenagers.” Hank half smiled at Marla.

            “Well, you two should rest for the remainder of the day. Explore the city of you like unfortunately you can’t requisition a car yet until you have more credits but the buses and trains are free. Here…” Marla handed Hank a card with her name, address, and phone number.

            “The phones work here?” Hank asked in amazement.

            “Yes they do but only inside the city grid. Just call me if you need anything and I’ll be here tomorrow to show you to classification. Ten o’clock. Also, thanks…for saving me.” Marla smiled, turned and walked away.

            “You’re welcome.” Hank said quietly closing the door. His hand was still on the knob when a knock sounded from the other side. Thinking Marla forgot something Hank opened the door and was surprised to see Chuck Wells.

            “Hank! Nice to see you.” Chuck smiled and let himself in.

            “Charles Wells? What the hell are you doing here?” Hank smiled and hugged the friend he thought was dead. “I thought you were dead. We were told your group of runners were cut off from Union settlement, that there were no survivors.”

            “There was just me. Nice place you got here.” Chuck walked into the living room to the kitchen and opened the fridge which was his habit every time Hank invited him to his home. “Of course no beer. When I first got here that was the first thing I did with my little bit of credits, I went to the bar and had an ice cold beer. One of the benefits of being behind the Wall.” Chuck instead grabbed a bottled water and sat on the couch placing his feet on the crates that served as a coffee table.

            “So how long have you been here? Union settlement was 5 years ago.” Hank asked taking a seat in a chair opposite of Chuck.

            “I wandered around a bit for a year and a half then came here. Mostly for the beer and women.” Chuck laughed.

            “How’d you know I was here?” Hank asked.

            “I go to Processing from time to time to scope out the lists of newbies coming in. Saw yours and Jen’s name so I waited for you. I would have come up to you sooner but you were with your handler. So I just followed you until she kicked rocks.”

            “So…how do you like it?” A loaded question and Hank wasn’t sure if he wanted to know the answer.

            “It’s….different. Let’s just say, I haven’t had to kill a Zeek in all this time but there are rules, curfews, and jobs. Remember jobs? The one thing I liked about the world going to hell, I didn’t have to work. Now, they give you ‘assignments’ they call it. Just slave labor if you ask me.” Chuck snickered.

            “So what is your assignment?” Hank was interested.

            “Waste disposal.” Chuck growled.

            “Sucks.” Hank had a big grin on his face because Chuck worked for waste disposal before the world changed and he always commented on how he hated his job. Hank had to chuckle which turned into a full blow laugh.

            “What the hell is going on down here?” Jen stomped downstairs and stopped short. “Chuck? Chuck!” She ran and hugged her dad’s friend who was like a second father to her.

            “Jen honey, shit look how tall you are.” Chuck smiled. They may not have been blood relatives but they were family.

            “Where’ve you been, you ass?” Jen asked. Hank told her he got away in Union and has been here. “Dad I’m gonna wander around, see what’s what. Okay? I already got our phone number off the receiver so if I need anything or something….” Jen was speaking fast as she walked to the door.

            “Hold on. Hold on. Marla said there’s a curfew for minors, you need to be in by 10pm; you got it? Jen?” Hank stood.

            “Yeah, yeah, yeah. I’ll be fine.” Jen slammed the door behind her and was gone. A part of Hank wanted to lock her in her new room until he figured this place out, but he brought her here for a new life so he had to trust that she’ll be safe.

            “Teenagers.” Chuck mirrored Hank’s earlier statement.

            “Chuck, what can you tell me about the Dead Heads?” Hank got serious sitting back down on the chair.

            “Dead Heads? So you must’ve saw their work outside of Processing. Shit, I didn’t think they would take it that far.” Chuck shook his head.

            “Yeah, that’s what Marla said. What’s their deal?”

            “Come on, we need a drink on me.” Chuck exclaimed and they walked down the street to a little corner dive bar. The sun was shining and the streets were full of people coming and going. Patrons sat in the bar and drank beer, there were old flat screen TVs over the bar where they sat.

            “Tommy, one for me and my friend here.” Chuck yelled to the lone bar tender who didn’t look old enough to shave let alone tend bar. They settled on stools as Chuck continued.

            “No one outside of the Dead Heads know for sure, but from their flyers and graffiti they think the New Charleston government is controlling people’s lives.”

            “’There is No Life Behind the Wall’ that’s what the flyer said.” Hank told him.

            “Yeah. Rebels some call them. They find any way to disrupt life here. One time they took out an entire power grid. Scared the hell out of the Stiffs. That was funny.”

            “Stiffs?” Hank asked.

            “The people who’ve been here too long. Anything like the power going out, they start crying like babies. I tell you, they wouldn’t last 5 minutes outside this damn Wall.”

            The bar tender with red hair placed two golden glasses in front of them. “Chuck, keep it down, remember what happened last time?” He walked away. Hank couldn’t wait to take a drink of that beer. Living on the road, you need to keep your wits about you which is why he hasn’t had a single drop of alcohol since the outbreak but there was nothing he loved more than a cold beer after a hard day. When the amber liquid touched his lips, he smiled.

            “Good huh?” Chuck laughed at him. He knows Hank is a good guy and would never jeopardize his daughter by drinking while they were out in the open.

            “What did he mean about last time?” Nothing was going to get past Hank, not in this place.

            “Shit, it was nothing really. Just a bar fight. I don’t like to be censored and some Stiffs don’t like to hear the truth. Hell Stiffs wouldn’t know the truth if it bit them on the ass. I mean, look where we are.” Chuck gestured with his arms held up.

            “Umm, a bar.” Hank stated sarcastically.

            “No I mean look where they put us. The newbies are always near the outer Wall. The poor and unimportant are always the furthest away from the inner wall.”

            “There’s an inner wall?” Hank was stunned. “I didn’t see one.”

            “Processing is not close enough but there is an inner wall, it’s not as big as the outer Wall but it’s there; closing off where the city officials and the rich live. They call it a second line of defense but that’s bullshit. That wall has nothing to do with defense….against Zeeks. Just against us. Once you’re rich and important enough, they may move you up to the big times.” Chuck took a deep gulp of his beer.

            “I don’t want to be rich, I want to be alive. I’m just gonna keep my head down and my daughter safe, that’s all I want.” Hank drank his beer contemplating an inner wall. Why would there be an inner wall except to keep the people apart. Hank would have to learn more about the ways of this city if he planned on raising his daughter here. He knew he was already going to get an earful from her when he tells her about going to school. Jen’s going to have a real shit-fit.

            “Screeners!” Someone yelled from the other side of the bar near the windows. Hank looked out to see two men dressed in white slacks and white button downs with white lab coats coming into the bar. They had a squad of NCD boots behind them. Some of the bar patrons got up calmly and walked out of the bar on the other side. Hank thought, what the hell is going on.

            “Good afternoon gentleman, this is a random screen. If you would all cooperate this will go quickly and smoothly.” Lab coat smiled and proceeded to begin screening. The room was tense as everyone left sit still waiting for their turn. Even Chuck kept his mouth shut and his eyes were vacant.

            The screen finished up without incident. “Thank you for your cooperation.” Lab coat smiled that same smile and the team walked out. There was a collective sigh of relief from the entire bar.

            “What the hell was that? You mean they can screen you whenever they want? Why if we passed the screens at the outer Wall and Processing?” Hank asked.

            “Because that doesn’t guarantee you won’t become infected while behind the wall. Remember if you die, you turn to.” Chuck responded.

            “But no one here is dying.” Hank pointed out.

            “You think so. How do you think those Dead Heads got Zeeks behind the wall?” Chuck lowered his tone to barely a whisper. “They didn’t, it’s impossible to pass the screeners with infected.  Dead Heads created those Zeeks. They found some poor slobs and killed them, let them turn, and the rest is history. I don’t think they will stop. I think they’re just getting started.” Chuck was no longer smiling and Hank was now afraid.

To continue.