Chapter 120: 120 Cash House Phone, Part Three

Zapville, six weeks after the twelve left

Irene watched the proceedings. The young people were foolishly under-dressed, their limbs exposed to the cold. They laughed as if their union was a joyous occasion, bound to bring prosperity. But there was a piece of cold metal on her ring finger that reminded Irene how marriage really ended.

In the crowd Willow skulked about, smaller without her brother next to her. Ibrahim clapped at Antoine's rambling words, his stops and starts, then clasped Milo's hand in his. Eleanor Kim stood by the happy couple, holding a small bouquet of origami flowers made from the entire remaining craft paper in the camp.

"I don't understand why they do this," the machine said as it stood next to Irene, watching just as she did.

"Sometimes you and I are uncomfortably similar," Irene said.

"What is the point to such a marriage?" it asked.

"Shared misery. That's always the point."

But in her peripheral view her son was safe, healthy if not entirely whole.

*

Josephine had never been to a wedding before, but she was pretty sure they weren't usually like this – a loose assortment of people standing on a patch of gravel as two people were joined with improvised vows and rambling speeches by a military guy who sometimes trailed off sentences to clutch at the wound that still plagued him after the cyborg zombie invasion.

But Gemma and Theo looked happy enough. Their smiles were wide and their cheeks wet with tears.

There was no party after. Josephine found Yong Jie, silent and sad-faced against the hospital wall, and stood next to him for a silent moment.

The walls of their trap had grown closer still, warping into a different shape than it had been two weeks prior. Every day the edges seemed to be closing in on the hospital. The supply shed was gone, as were all the empty tin shed rooms at the edges. The evidence of the aircrafts that took them there had disappeared. Soon only the dormitory buildings, the hospital and the cafeteria would remain. And then what?

"I don't get it, either," Yong Jie said.

"It makes a kind of sense if I think about it. But I don't really know them," Josephine said.

The doors to the hospital swooshed open, not far from where they stood. Even as the hospital stood safe from destruction, fewer people went through it than ever – and that day, only Niall dared to go in and out.

"We could find Eleanor," Josephine said. "I know she's friends with them but I bet they'll want to be alone eventually. And she's nice..."

Yong Jie nodded, and followed her lead.

*

The cafeteria experienced its dinner rush, with Ibrahim in charge of portioning out what food there was, but Josephine waited for Eleanor to arrive.

Eleanor finally appeared, wearing one of the dresses Tabitha left behind. Her smile was faint when she saw them and her nod small, but that was a start.

"Hi," Josephine said, hopeful.

"Did you want something?" Eleanor asked.

Josephine stood straight, then clenched a fist and raised it high, trying to look strong. "I should warn you, I have decided that you must also become friends with Yong Jie. Let us all develop friendship together."

Eleanor laughed a soft laugh and put her crumpled papers down on the table. "I did miss you talking like that. Okay. Let's all be friends and make the best of this."

*

Northern Constructed Territory

Jin looked at the email Maria had sent him once again. Once he looked through the several layers of obstruction created by the various shell companies and fake names, most of the orders for large food volumes going through the gates came from less than 30 companies, and only two of those matched names in his spreadsheet dedicated to the lights and industrial equipment orders. He jumped out of his seat and almost yelled, he was so excited at the breakthrough.

He pushed a hand through his sweaty hair and sat back down.

He didn't have the location of Zapville. All he had was potential clues about who was involved in setting Zapville up. And that was if Zapville was still being supported by food and equipment supplies.

His hands shook as he wrote down a note on a scrap of paper and deleted the email.

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His next clue was either in North Korea or the United States of America, and he had to pick one to pursue first.

*

All flight booking websites were down. There was still a state-sponsored travel agency three suburbs over, but he had to get past the blockades first.

He found the agency but its doors were closed, its lights off, its window blinds down. He banged on the glass door and got no answer. There was no movement inside. Not even when he yelled. Not even when he broke in.

He wiped the sweat from his face and fixed the door as much as he could in a hurry.

Then starting running to find another.

*

Jin could tell he was being followed. The regular tap, tap, tap of feet.

He kept his eyes forward and kept walking until he found a large, loud crowd – big mistake, the streets were full, the police severe on top their horses. He ducked into a lane way to get away from the pro-democracy protest. The crowd continued to yell.

The further he stumbled away, the more sure he was that he hadn't shaken his tail.

There were empty store fronts and vacant houses all along the street, more than there had been last time he'd walked down this way. He ducked into one empty yard and broke in to the house through a side window. He only stood still long enough to catch his breath.

The unpolished wood floor creaked below his feet. Behind him steps again.

He turned around, ready to fight, and froze.

"You need to be more careful," Freya said.

"Somebody's following me," he said.

"I followed you."

She was beautiful in the blue light that filtered through the window, no matter how serious her face looked. Freya wore that uniform well. He let his body go loose and faced her front on, refusing to let himself be awkward or unsure.

"I can't get a flight out of here," he said. "And I know this time that I have a lead. I traced something that will lead somewhere this time."

"Is that why you quit your job?"

He scowled. "I was fired. But what of it? It's stupid work." Okay, maybe it wasn't entirely stupid but he couldn't settle into it. It made him feel like he was the wrong size for his skin.

"Construction is important work."

"I was moving rocks around. That's all."

She stepped closer and he bristled all over. Her face glowed as she stepped all the way into the light. Her eyes were bright with amusement and her lips quirking at the sides.

"Your first mistake was trying to get a civilian flight," she said.

"My first mistake?"

She got close enough to touch. Her smile was warm. He didn't know if he could trust that.

"You need a mission, Jin, and I'm going to give you one. You can look up your lead but first I need you to find someone." She pressed a piece of paper into his hands.

"And how do I get out of here?"

"Jin, did you forget that you can fly a plane? I've written the whole plan down. Look at it when you're alone, memorise it, and destroy the paper so nobody catches you." She leaned up and kissed him on the cheek like she used to when they were dating. "Go get our girl."

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