Push. Pull. [Vasco / Mourn]
Apr 11, 2022 1:10:13 GMT -5
Post by marguerite harvard d2a (zori) on Apr 11, 2022 1:10:13 GMT -5
v a s c o
Yeah, I don't wanna fall asleep, I don't wanna pass away
I been thinking of our future, 'cause I'll never see those days
I don't know why this has happened, but I probably deserve it
I tried to do my best, but you know that I'm not perfect
I’d checked my watch for the fourth time. Six and fifteen. Not a knock yet, but maybe the drizzle of rain had slowed them down. I flipped through the pages of yesterday’s paper and listened to another Saturn City ad come over the radio. I sipped at the espresso in my cup. I couldn’t remember the last time I got to have a piece of toast with butter. Savoring my coffee seemed a luxury I’d forgotten, done away with in exchange for a mix of insta-beans and a disappointing aftertaste.
By now, there should have been at least three peacekeepers at my door. Sometimes knocking slowly, others letting themselves right into the house, still others honking the horn of their jeep until I arrived at the porch to greet them.
When it was nearly seven, I tucked away the newpaper and clear my plates into the sink. I grabbed an umbrella from the bin by the front door and start out from the porch and down the gravel road. I shook it out under the awning of the bus stop and gave a wave to an older woman waiting along with me. Heard it might flood again in the lowlands. (Oh?) Well you know how they are down there. (Underwater.) We laughed and chattered about how years ago it’d be hours between buses, but now they came like clockwork.
I didn’t take credit for the buses running on time, or pouring money into something that made lives easier. The reward was seeing the silver double decker come to a halt in front of us, and the man behind the wheel wave us both aboard.
I watched the farms roll by. The waves of cornfields and curves of sprinklers overhead sprawled across the horizon. A great expanse of life growing up out of the ground we till. Farmers already hard at work to make sure the coming rains didn’t damage their yield. We passed some on horseback heading the other way, ambling along with some cows, slow and steady.
The justice building came into view after an hour and a half, and part of me wondered what kind of scolding I’d be getting for heading out on my own. Except when I’d gotten through the double doors and approached the metal detectors, only one white armored guard was working.
“Is Lt. Harlow in my office?” I asked. I could see my reflection back in the guard’s helmet. For a second we stood facing one another as though they were still processing anything had been said at all.
‘Lt. Harlow has been temporarily reassigned. He has instructed me to tell you that your curfew is still in place but that you have been granted travel access while the eleventh battalion has joined him on his business in district –.’ The radio crackled and echoed through the hall until he cut himself short. ‘… until he returns from business.’
“Uh huh.” I nodded. He handed my wallet back to me, and I inched down the hall. I turned to stare at the guard as though he might decide to finish whatever he had to say.
The office had been cleaned out of all their things. The files they’d carelessly strewn about in attempts to start witch hunts on various districters, the constant stack of Styrofoam cups scattered about, and always an extra pair of boots lying next to the couch against the wall for no reason. Gone.
He was gone.
Even if it was only a temporary reprieve (since what could possibly keep him from returning on his investigation into my ‘traitorous activities’?), I couldn’t help but let out a laugh.
I threw myself back into my old chair behind the desk and put my feet up. I put my hands behind my head and stretched.
And as the drops of rain slid down the windowpane beside me, I knew that I didn’t have time to waste.
As no one else had declared in eleven, it meant I had a chance to reach out to all those who’d be running in other districts. Even if the phones were bugged, I didn’t have the monster breathing over my shoulder with his hand on the holster of his gun.
But who to call first?
I’d heard the whispers about who intended to run. One and two were out, at least for now – somehow it didn’t seem as though they’d have been receptive. Who was running in three? And four felt a longshot. I started dialing for six but kept getting a busy signal. I set down the phone and tapped my fingers against the wood of the desk.
“Hello… I’m looking to speak with Mr. Adroxis, please. It’s Mayor Vasco Izar.” I spoke slowly into the phone. I found people were more receptive when they didn’t feel as though they were getting run over by your words. Especially if the call had come from the deepest recesses of my brain.
No that it should’ve been so surprising – their name held weight across districts. I could still remember the stories about the old man who’d emerged a victor before I’d been born. The work he’d done for his district. The pride he’d had in nine. And how the family had been reminded to pay a price. Though I suppose that was so many of our stories, now.
Mourn Adroxis had backed Shiv the last election, and it could not hurt to make sure both knew what my intentions were, come win or lose.
“I hope you don’t mind me calling. I've wanted to talk to you... about you, and your family. And nine.”