The Sabbath Read online

  There was little hope of a meaningful conversation with him when he was closed off like this. She resumed staring out the window into the darkness. Before long, memories of that first raid flooded in again.

  ***

  “I saw your face - you were about to pull that trigger when he mentioned what he would do to her! Well, at least now I know how to get a reaction out of you - all I have to do is threaten the Princess,” Jeremiah joked as they walked to the back of the truck.

  Reaching for the latch, Jamal said, “David’s bro should be inside, but in case he’s not, be prepared to attack.”

  The back door of the truck opened and Mike jumped down.

  “Ahh, my brothers,” Mike greeted, “What’s up?”

  Jeremiah smiled, “Just out here hustling, getting the bread to feed the fam.”

  Lana and Cory opened the truck door wider and peered inside. There was so much food. It was a mobile grocery store, except they didn’t have to pay. Lana wanted to jump for joy, but she controlled herself, remembering whom she was with. When they had taken all they wanted, Mike instructed them what to do next.

  “I already called in and told them I’ve been hit. Reinforcement should be here in ten. I’ll be fine. You guys go on now, and be careful,” Mike said.

  As they all settled inside the van, David hopped back out and walked up to Mike, “Hey, you forgot something.”

  He punched Mike in the face. Mike stumbled backwards then smiled.

  “You’re always so eager to do that,” Mike said as he spat out blood.

  “Got to make it believable, don’t want you to get fired or anything,” David said as he hopped back into the van.

  “All right kids, the same thing this time, except everyone gets fucked up in this truck. And change of plans, the princess gets a special job. She’ll deal with the guard in the back first,” Jamal ordered.

  Lana swallowed. She was prepared to do what she had to, but if they were expecting her to turn into a savage, they would be disappointed. She wasn’t going to sacrifice her humanity for the entertainment of a few sickos. But her knight in shining armor saw her distress and spoke out.

  “She isn’t doing it,” Cory said.

  The van stopped and everyone went quiet. David looked at Cory’s face, then glanced down at his hands. Cory was gripping his gun, with his index finger twitching. He recognized Cory wasn’t playing games, and neither was his friend. He had to diffuse the situation before it escalated.

  “Okay, okay, I’ll let Lana lead. But I take the guy out. Cool?” he said.

  “Yeah, whatever,” Cory replied.

  David let out the breath he had been holding and nodded.

  They did everything the same with the next truck they stopped, except this time Cory knocked out the servicemen and Jeremiah handled the driver. Walking to the back, they let Lana lead.

  She was trembling with fear and adrenaline. Her gun was in her hand, but all she wanted to do was hide behind the four men with her.

  Jamal broke the lock then eased the back door open. There were two servicemen, but just one was armed and ready in the back. Without hesitation, Lana shot the serviceman in the arm, causing him to drop his gun. He cried out in pain as Jeremiah laughed.

  “That won’t do anything,” Jeremiah said.

  Before he could tell Lana to shoot the man in the head, David shot the serviceman in the stomach and then in the chest.

  “I don’t want brains all over the water. I want to be able to drink it,” David shrugged.

  The second serviceman was sitting with both hands up in the air and his gun by his feet.

  “Well, do the next one now,” Jamal ordered Lana.

  “No,” Lana boomed. “He’s not armed. He threw his gun away.”

  “You’re right, Princess, but he still gets it,” Jeremiah added.

  Cory couldn’t take the blatant disrespect any longer. He raised his gun, aiming it at Jeremiah’s head.

  “Lana, watch my back,” he ordered. “Now, I told you motherfuckers, she ain’t doing shit!”

  Guns pointed in every direction while Jeremiah had his hands up, begging the others not to shoot. Things were getting ugly, and might have exploded if it wasn’t for the serviceman.

  “Wait, don’t shoot,” the serviceman implored. He tried to stand, but his knees buckled.

  Everyone turned to gawk at the serviceman who would have been caught in the crossfire.

  “Look, my name is Doug… I-I have a proposition,” he stuttered.

  “What about it?” David demanded, now pointing his gun at Doug.

  Doug took a loud gulp.

  “Look, you guys are risking your lives for plain food and water. I can hook you up with the exotic foods, fancy water, and a whole bunch of stuff that the Government has kept from you. You’re doing small time stuff; I’m here working on the big-time. I have inside connections, where you’ll never have to fight with anybody again. Let me be your inside man. If I don’t deliver, then you can do whatever you want with me.”

  Doug finished his speech and no one said or did anything.

  “Listen, if you don’t believe me then let me get the crate and show you what I have inside,” Doug coaxed.

  “Okay, but let me pat you down first,” Jamal said.

  “Fair enough,” Doug replied.

  That was the first time they had met Doug, and Cory knew how he would capitalize on this. He needed an inside man of his own, and he wasn’t comfortable with how David and his friends handled things. Blowing people’s brains out was never his style.

  At first, they didn’t trust Doug, but he delivered every time and eventually, Mike had been promoted and moved the crew away, leaving Cory and Lana to work with Doug alone. Lana thought they needed to build a better business relationship where Doug had mutual respect for them and wasn’t doing things out of fear. She decided to give some of the money from her grandmother to Doug as a token of their appreciation.

  ***

  Blinking away the memories, Lana realized Doug aided them in a big way. He made it possible for them to have so much more than anyone she knew - in particular, the people living in their neighborhood. Because of Doug, they could live a decent life and now perhaps find Cory’s mother.

  Cracking a smile, she was content with the events of this evening. She dozed off thinking about what kind of information the devices they’d found might have and all the insight it could give them.

  She woke as Cory parked the car at the house.

  “C’mon, Lana. This stuff needs to get unloaded before it gets light.”

  “You did good with Doug tonight,” she said. His head whipped around, his eyes drilling into hers. She flinched and said, “I mean with the deal you made.” Lana sighed and rubbed her eyes.

  “Thanks babe. I thought you’d like going over to his new house. But don’t think for a minute I’m going to leave him with you alone. I don’t trust him.”

  Or me either, Lana thought. It seems these days the only time he paid attention to her was when he needed to protect her, or was working up a fit of jealousy. Lana exhaled loudly, picked up the small crate and followed Cory inside.

  “And, Cory, don’t call me ‘babe,’ you haven’t earned that back yet.”

  11

  Cory woke up the next morning to the sounds of Isabel preparing bath water in the kitchen.

  “Morning, Bell. How are you feeling today?” he asked, stretching his arms.

  Isabel looked into the living room and chuckled at the sight of her brother on the couch.

  “Much better, thanks - but why are you sleeping on the couch?” she asked.

  “Lana’s tripping again,” Cory responded.

  “You’ve got to treat that girl better, Cory— “

  “Not now,” Cory interrupted as he got up and walked toward the kitchen.

  “Uh-huh, you better listen before she leaves you, then you’ll be the one crying,” Isabel teased.

  “Yeah, so I’m guessing you slept thr
ough all the commotion then, huh.”

  “Why, what happened?” Isabel asked sounding more intrigued.

  “Oh, nothing,” Cory said, changing the subject, “but you remember that old man that’s always on our street? Yeah, well, he was here the other day.”

  “Huh? Why?”

  “Just to talk. Some of the things he said made a lot of sense. He even said that the Government took mom.”

  Wrinkles of surprise appeared on her forehead. It was the first time Cory had mentioned their mother in a conversation that wasn’t an argument.

  “Well, do you believe him?” Isabel asked.

  “Not sure, but I’ll find out. I got something from the raid last night. Lana’s looking at it; hopefully it’ll give us some answers.”

  “We’ve got to bring her home, Cory,” Isabel said as she carried her bath water to the bathroom. Smiling, she was happy her younger brother was finally taking initiative to look for their missing mother.

  Cory had arranged a meeting with Doug for six p.m. That gave them plenty of time to investigate the contents of the crates. It was already ten, and Cory wanted Lana to analyze the devices and blueprints as soon as possible.

  Walking toward his room, he grabbed the doorknob and to his surprise, it wasn’t locked. No one was inside. He headed to the basement where Lana liked to work. He was pleased she had already examined the device. When Cory walked in, Lana’s face was stuck to her microscope, and she didn’t even bother to acknowledge his presence.

  “Hey, you’re up early. What time did you get up?” Cory asked.

  “Four hours ago,” she replied, without moving her head.

  “Any news on what we’re looking at?”

  Lana rolled her chair back to the computer behind her, and pulled her research up onto the screen.

  “Well, one thing’s for sure - the blueprint you got yesterday is for that device. It’s not giving me much, though. My guess is that the blueprint highlights a certain function that the chip does. What that function is…well, I still need more research, but the chip itself is amazing.

  “It appears to be biometric, by the looks of it, and check out this silicon hidden inside the chip! It’s a picture of the sun, and inside the sun, there’s a picture of a human’s brain. Maybe they’re trying to control us. You think they’re trying to control us?” Lana was speaking too fast, and before Cory could answer her, she changed the subject.

  “Well, I took the image of the silicon and compared it to the blueprints you gave me and check this out! It’s the same. Well, not the picture of the sun, but the brain inside the sun, the blueprint is in the shape of a human brain.”

  “Okay, hold up. What do you mean by ‘it’s biometric?’ And what’s all this talk about control? And why is there a picture inside a freaking computer chip?” Cory asked.

  Lana palmed her forehead, realizing she was speaking in a foreign language to Cory.

  “Sorry. Well, biometric means a sophisticated device that can identify you. But instead of using ID cards, it can use your physical characteristics - like your face, fingerprints, irises, or veins, or even behavioral characteristics like your voice, or handwriting to know who you are.

  “I’m willing to bet this chip will control our behavior or something along those lines. And they usually create images inside computer chips for authenticity. Something to tell the difference between the real and the fake. But I need more time and more information. I’m not going to get much more from this blueprint and device.”

  “Okay. Maybe I’ll mention this to the old man and see if he knows anything. But I’ll leave you to your work. We have to head to Doug’s in a few, so don’t overdo it.”

  “All right, be up there in a bit,” Lana said as Cory climbed the stairs.

  Poking his head out the living room window, Cory saw the old man was preaching on the street corner. He thought about inviting him over to talk again, but figured he’d wait until Lana finished her research. However, he hadn’t thought it would take her five hours to do so.

  *

  Cory was in his room when Lana walked in and judging by her facial expression, he could tell she was drained.

  “How did it go?” he asked.

  “Ugh, I can’t figure it out. I tried running a diagnostic, but there’s an encryption on it that’s like impossible to crack,” she replied.

  “Don’t worry, we’ll get more info.”

  “Yeah…how’s Isabel?”

  “She’s doing much better; she ‘s in her room right now.”

  “Well, let me get something to eat, then we can head over to Doug’s,” Lana said as she walked out and headed into the kitchen.

  She fixed herself a bowl of noodles, and as soon as she was done, she grabbed her bag of equipment while Cory snatched the keys to his mother’s old silver Nissan from the kitchen counter.

  It was a warm afternoon. Music blared from knots of people on the corners. Occasionally, a scream for help was heard, but no one seemed to care - including Cory and Lana. The only way to live in peace was not to meddle in the affairs of others.

  Trash and dirty, used needles littered the sidewalk. Prostitutes streamed in and out of abandoned buildings and shadows struck fear in anyone who walked near them. Ragged children with swollen bellies were running and playing, looking like they hadn’t bathed in ages. People wandered outside their homes doing anything and everything to escape reality. A stench of rotten flesh, dead rodents, alcohol, and cheap sex hovered over their neighborhood.

  Strangers stood out like nuns at a bar. After The Sabbath, the people in Cory’s neighborhood made it their business to get to know those living around them. Anyone new entering their neighborhood got noticed at once - especially females. The folks who belonged there earned the right to roam without harassment from others.

  Cory glared at anyone who dared to meet his gaze. Ever since Lana had been attacked, word spread that Cory wasn’t one to be tampered with. They climbed into his mother’s car and drove to Doug’s house. He lived just twenty minutes away in a cottage in the middle of the woods; completely isolated from the dangers of the city life. The worst thing he had to worry about would be a bear knocking on his front door. Doug was already outside doing yard work when they pulled up to his house.

  “Ah! Welcome to my humble abode!” Doug hollered with his arms opened wide.

  “Wow, this is your new place? I’m jealous, Doug,” Lana responded, embracing the scenic view.

  “Well, you don’t have to be…you’re more than welcome to stay,” Doug flirted. Cory laughed it off.

  Inside, Cory felt like a ghost floating around in the background - just what Doug wanted. After a quick tour, they gathered in the living room. Lana was still in awe of Doug’s home, filled with state of the art furniture and appliances, but Cory was not nearly as impressed.

  “Looks like being a corrupt government official really does pay off,” Cory said.

  Lana gawked at Cory, disgust in her eyes.

  “Mind your tongue boy! Your life would be shit if not for me,” Doug fired back.

  Doug made a valid point; they were a lot more fortunate than most people he came in contact with, and a great deal of that was because of Doug.

  “Sorry, Doug,” Lana said, trying to soothe him. “I have no idea what’s gotten into him.”

  They continued to talk, leaving Cory quiet in the background. After thirty minutes had gone by, Cory wondered when Lana would get to work on the security system. Grabbing his phone, he messaged Isabel to make sure everything was all right at home and gave them another ten minutes. Time flew by as Cory sat and watched Lana and Doug talk about everything except the security system.

  “Yo! Can we please get to work?” Cory interrupted, reminding them why they were there.

  Lana had been so caught up in the conversation, she had forgotten the purpose of their visit, and even forgot Cory was sitting right beside her. Cory looked irritated, but he had waited long enough before his outburst, so, instead of la
shing back, she concurred with Cory’s request.

  “Well, I don’t have a security system installed right now; just have the equipment in the basement laid out for you. I was wondering if you could set up the cameras today, and then we’ll go from there,” Doug said as he led them down. “How long will it take?”

  “Well, first I need the blueprints of the house, then you need to show me where you want the cameras installed. Depending on how many cameras and what kind of system you want, I need a couple of hours at least,” Lana replied.

  Cory sighed at the idea of being in Doug’s house that long. His annoyance caught Doug’s attention.

  “Hey,” he drawled. “you can leave and come back to get her later if you like.”

  Cory thought about leaving Doug alone with Lana.

  “Nope,” he answered, “I’m good.”

  They sat and watched Lana toying with the equipment. Cory’s phone rang. It was Isabel calling.

  “Bell, what’s up?”

  “Cory,” Isabel whispered, “there’s strange guys outside the house.”

  Cory’s body stiffened, “What do you mean by strange guys? What do they look like? What are they doing?”

  “There’s about six of them roaming the streets, they’re all wearing black uniforms and have guns…they look like they’re searching for something,” Isabel said with a trembling voice.

  “Isabel, have they come to the door?”

  “Yes, they knocked. But I stayed quiet, and they moved on to other houses.”

  “You did good, Isabel. I want you to go down into the cellar and stay put, I’m on my way right now.”

  “Cory,” Isabel said with her voice cracking, “please hurry, I’m scared. They started picking people off the streets and everyone ran inside.”

  “Keep your phone on you. I’m on my way right now!”

  Cory hung up, and Lana was right in his face.

  “What’s going on, Cory?” she asked.

  “I don’t know, but I have to go back home to check on things.”

  “I’m coming with you,” Lana said.

  “No, no, stay here,” Cory said, not wanting to put Lana in harm’s way. “I’m sure it’s nothing, keep your cell on you, I’ll call.”