The mattress had slid down to the floor, and they lay on it in a very disorganized way. Perry lay with his head on SarahBeth's stomach, leaning on her breast. Daphne lay next to Perry, her head resting on his shoulder, his arm around her. SarahBeth's hand was on Daphne's belly.
Daphne took SarahBeth's hand in hers and held it against her. "SarahBeth?" she said, and they both jumped a little. It was the first word they had ever heard her speak.
"Mmmmm," SarahBeth said, her eyes rolling back in her head.
"Do you like my belly?"
"Mmmmm," SarahBeth murmured. "Yes. Pregnant women are sexy as hell, I said that before."
"So, you want one of your own?"
"Hmm?" She opened her eyes. "What do you mean? I'm not fat."
"I noticed you're not taking precautions."
SarahBeth raised her head a little, then let it drop back again. "Why bring that up when I'm feeling so nice?" she asked. "I'd be really pissed, if I had the energy. Besides, how do you know I'm not on the pill?"
Daphne sniffed a few times. "I rely on my nose. Dogs do that. You're not taking any precautions. Do you really want to end up where I am?"
SarahBeth tried again to raise her head. "Hey," she said, poking Perry, "defend me here."
"Well, I was thinking the same thing. I'm not ready to be a father, so I'm hoping we can start doing something about this."
"Oh, God," she said, her eyes still half-closed. "Remind me to get pissed when I'm up to it." She poked Perry again. "Why aren't you a girl? If you were a girl, we wouldn't even have to think about this."
He took her hand in his and kissed it. "You didn't win me in a raffle, my dear one. You had a pretty good idea I was male when you broke into my house."
There was a knock at the door and SarahBeth called, "Come on in and get nekkid with us!"
The door opened and Katherine came in. She stopped and looked at the scene in front of her for a moment as Perry scrambled to find a corner of the sheet to cover his crotch.
"Well," Katherine said, walking over to Daphne, "I put you in the hall and tied your leash to the doorknob, so Pete and I could have a little private time, and you got loose and came here and bothered SarahBeth and Perry like a bad dog." She squatted down. "What do you have to say for yourself?"
"They're ganging up on me," SarahBeth said plaintively. "I'm weakened by about nine hours of orgasms, and they're taking advantage."
"Taking advantage?" Katherine asked.
"We're ganging up on her about birth control," Daphne said. "I'm really here with the most noble and benevolent of intentions."
Katherine rubbed Daphne's head. "Sure you are." She looked at SarahBeth. "I was going to ask you about that myself yesterday, but I chickened out. Are you being careful?"
SarahBeth rolled her eyes. "Oh, God, not you, too. Is Pete going to come in and talk about it next? Or maybe Jan and Marshall? Will Vic and Finch show us some diagrams?"
"Maybe you'll do it for me," Perry said. "I'm really not ready to be a father."
She drew in a deep breath, rallied all her remaining strength and punched him in the side.
"Okay," she said. "I'll do it, but only because I'm kind of fond of you." She looked around and let her eyes close again. "All of you."
Katherine stood up. "Come on, Daph," she said, clapping her hands twice. "Time to go."
Daphne rolled over and made a face. "Where's my underwear?" she asked.
SarahBeth collapsed back onto the mattress as the door closed behind Katherine and Daphne.
"You remember yesterday morning, when I said I was really sore and you weren't going to get any action last night?" she asked.
He nodded. "I remember something like that."
"Well, today I really mean it. Definitely no more punishing of my tender parts. Plus I'm exhausted. And I'm about to get my period." She looked at him. "You get to carry the tampons today, by the way."
"What?"
"Tampons. You know what they are, you went and bought them for me last month. Katherine and I stocked up when we were at the drugstore."
"Why do I have to carry them?"
She grinned. "Hey, you're a boyfriend now. You have a girlfriend. And having a girlfriend isn't all boobs and blowjobs." She gestured at her body. "It's also the miracle of life and birth and hormones and stuff. And blood."
"But why–"
"Your pockets are bigger."
He sighed. "Well, I guess if you're getting your period, that means we won't be having the miracle of birth after all. Just the other stuff."
"Exactly. So, be cheerful and carry my tampons like a good boyfriend. I promise not to embarrass you in public." She grinned. "You know, yelling, 'Hey, honey, I'm bleeding like a stuck pig over here!' that sort of thing."
"Thanks."
"Plus, you'll be glad to know that fucking is the best thing for cramps."
He rolled over and put his arm around her. "It's pretty good in general."
She smiled. "Well, you got more into it as we went along, and that always helps."
(Katherine and Daphne talk as they return to their room)
K: I really don't know what Pete's going to say.
D: (bark)
K: Well, I remember Raymond said that one of the things you can do to maintain a good mood is to do "rhythmically regular pleasurable activities." He talked about walking and running and dancing, and I kept waiting for him to mention sex, but he didn't.
D: (bark)
K: I know. I couldn't tell if it was because he was embarrassed, or because he just didn't think of it. I mean, does he ever have sex?
D: (emphatic bark)
K: Well, I know he doesn't have sex with you, but people do sometimes have sexual activity which doesn't include you.
D: (bark)
K: I know, we'll have to work on that. But do you really want to have sex with Raymond?
D: (two emphatic barks)
K: Exactly. But there must be somebody out there who would want to. Anyway (laugh), so how is your mood, after all that rhythmically regular pleasurable activity?
D: (bark)
K (leaning over to whisper in Daphne's ear): Yeah, me, too.
Katherine straightened up and asked, "So, are you going to leave us and go be their dog now? After all, they–"
She was interrupted by Daphne grabbing her legs and holding her, looking panic-stricken.
Katherine stroked her head. "I was kidding."
Daphne made a face, making it clear that she didn't think this was funny, and it took a minute for her to let go of Katherine's legs.
Then, as they approached the door, Daphne slowed down and
growled.
Katherine's hand fell to the butt of her revolver. "What is it, girl?" she whispered. Daphne continued to growl deep in her throat, crouching slightly, looking at the door. Katherine tiptoed to the door and listened.
She smiled. "Sounds like Pete's got a girl in there. Let's see."
She opened the door, and Pete did indeed have a girl with him, sitting cross-legged on the bed. She was well under four feet tall, with high pointed ears and long dark hair, and was dressed all in black, including a leather jacket.
"Vicki," Katherine said as they came in. "How have you been?"
Daphne trotted over to the bed and barked happily.
"Keeping busy," said Vicki with a laugh, scratching Daphne's head. "I see you found your dog. Where was she?"
"With Perry and SarahBeth," Katherine said. "I went to wake them up, but she already had."
Daphne went to a folded sleeping bag in the corner and collapsed on it, after drinking a little from her water bowl.
"Was she bothering them?" Pete asked.
Katherine smiled. "Not exactly."
Vicki held up her hand. "I'm afraid of where this is going to go. Maybe you could wait to get into the details until after I leave?" She glanced at Daphne and smothered a giggle.
"Whats so funny?" Pete asked, lighting another cigarette.
Vicki shook her head. "I hadn't realized Daphne was expecting. And I know someone who has a huge fetish for pregnant women."
Pete's eyes got wide.
Vicki said, "Let's get back on track, so I can get going and you can get into the details without me. Katherine, please have a seat. We're talking about food."
Katherine nodded as she sat on the edge of the bed and lit a cigarette. "I am kind of hungry."
Vicki nodded. "Me, too." Daphne barked from the corner. "And that's the point. Everybody's divided up into the four teams, but we have to continue to eat while we work on those projects, and Perry told me that we're going to have a lot more trouble going over the bridge from now on. So, as I often do when I need to learn things about U-town that I never knew, I came to Pete."
"And I'll bet he helped," Katherine said.
"Well, maybe," Pete said, shrugging. "I was just reminding Vicki about the Undertown people."
Vicki nodded. "Doc's policy about them was always very hands-off. They didn't want to be part of our thing, they made that clear, so she left them alone. I remember once a couple of them came to meet with her, and they started by announcing that they wouldn't reveal their real names, and they couldn't discuss any details of their projects. She just laughed and said, 'I didn't ask'." Vicki shook her head. "God, I miss her. Anyway, so I don't know much about what they were up to, but my policy, under these circumstances, definitely isn't hands-off."
Pete nodded. "Three things. One, I haven't heard a word about them since the explosion. Two, based on what I do know, I'm sure at least some of the tunnels have collapsed. Three, they never admitted it, they never admitted anything, but they had to be hoarding food." He shrugged. "They were expecting some sort of disaster, something they were going to have to hide from and ride out underground. How were they going to do that without hoarding food?"
"Did you know the details of the tunnels? Where they ran?"
"I know a couple of entrances, the ones that a lot of people knew about. I knew people who were very friendly with them, but I wasn't. And then they got mad at me when I brought starling down there one time." He glanced at her, and they both smiled a little.
"What?" Vicki asked with a laugh. "Did something funny happen . . . Katherine, you're blushing!"
Katherine looked sheepish. "We just both remembered the same thing." She took Pete's hand. "That was the first time we ever held hands. Because we could pretend that it was so we wouldn't lose each other in the tunnels."
Vicki smiled. "So, Pete," she asked, "how's the ankle?"
He shrugged. "It's okay. I can get around."
"Can you check out the tunnels and the food question today? And then let me know what's up?"
He nodded. "Sure. I'm hoping you don't mean I should go alone, though."
"Oh, no. With Katherine and Perry and SarahBeth, of course. I'm not breaking up the team, I'm just adding you to it." Daphne barked from the corner. "And Daphne, of course, if you like." She stood up. "How does that sound?"
"Sounds great. I'm more than ready to get out of this room and see things for myself, I can tell you that. I'll let you know what we find."
Vicki moved to the door. "Good luck," she said as she left.
Pete and Katherine were still holding hands, and as the door closed he leaned over to kiss her. She closed her eyes, and he put his arms around her, cradling her head in his hand, feeling the shape of her skull under her fine, soft hair. He felt her body shift as she took off her gunbelt and shoulder holster and dropped them gently to the floor, then they lay down together.
He held her close as he kissed her, and she hugged him tightly.
Finally, she drew back a little and smiled. "It was nice, when we were first together, but I'm glad it didn't stay that way. I look at Perry and SarahBeth, and it always looks like the whole thing could explode at any minute." She hugged him and he felt her cheek against his. "I'm glad that's not us."
"Plus, apparently she had a fling with Sarah Little after the alternatives meeting last night." He shook his head. "That sort of thing never happened with us."
She smiled. "And when I went to wake them up, Perry and SarahBeth, they were naked on a mattress on the floor, with you-know-who." She jerked her head in Daphne's direction.
"Wow," Pete said with a laugh. "We'll be lucky to get SarahBeth to do anything today. It sounds like she didn't get any sleep at all."
"Well, she's young. They have more energy at that age."
Daphne barked, her hands on the edge of the mattress. Then she jumped up and lay down behind Katherine, putting her arm around both of them.
Katherine laughed. "I scared her before, asking her if she was going to be their dog now, since they don't kick her out when they want to have sex. She indicated she'd rather stay with us."
Pete reached over Katherine to rub Daphne's head. "I guess we're more stable and reliable, even if we're not as much fun."
Daphne barked and squeezed them tightly.
In the dining room, Pete and Katherine got food and coffee and came over to the table where Perry and SarahBeth were sitting.
"May we join you?" Pete asked with a smile.
Perry laughed. "I think that would be fine." They sat down, and Pete put a bowl on the floor for Daphne. She went and licked SarahBeth's hand, and then drank some coffee from the bowl.
Pete drank some of his coffee. "I used to work in a coffee and tea store," he said, "and I like tea pretty well, but there is nothing like a cup of good coffee."
Katherine nodded. "I miss it on the days when there isn't any."
"It would be nice to have milk," SarahBeth said, sipping hers.
Pete shook his head. "We all got used to doing without milk a long time ago. Supplies of perishables like that were always uncertain, even at the best of times."
"So, what's on the agenda for today?" Perry asked. "I dropped by the meeting room, and Jan said that Vicki was talking to you."
Pete nodded, and he explained about trying to visit the Undertown and see if there was food stored there.
SarahBeth made a face. "But then I'll have to miss the alternatives meeting this morning."
Pete shrugged, "Me, too, but Vicki said this was more important."
"Well, God forbid I should disagree with her, but there was something which came up last night that I want to bug Ray about, since I know he'll never do anything about it if I don't. Would it be okay if I went to the meeting instead?"
Perry looked startled. "What?"
"Weren't you listening? Is it okay if I go to the meeting instead of going out with you guys today? You'll have Pete and Daphne with you."
Perry nodded slowly. "I understood what you said, I just couldn't believe you were asking my permission about something."
She laughed and punched him in the arm, then she hugged him. "I'm not asking your permission, you big stoop. I'm asking your opinion."
"That sounds more like you," he said, and she poked him again. "That will be fine, we'll miss you, but we'll do what's needed."
Daphne went over to SarahBeth and leaned against her leg.
"You want to come with me to alternatives, Daph?" she asked, and Daphne licked her hand.
"Is that okay?" SarahBeth asked Pete, rubbing Daphne's head.
He laughed. "Are you asking my permission or my opinion?"
"Permission. She is your dog."
"Well, I think it would be fine. Dogs aren't much for climbing up and down ladders anyway. But I'm wondering why you're asking permission for this, but you didn't ask permission for last night . . ." He waved his hand as his voice trailed off.
SarahBeth laughed as Perry looked sheepish. "You're here, so it's polite to ask. Last night was sort of a 'what you don't know won't hurt you' thing, except that Kath caught us in the act."
"It looks like it's about to collapse," Perry observed as they approached the bar. "Was it damaged in the explosion?"
Pete shook his head. "No, it's always looked like that."
"Do you think anybody's actually in there?" Perry asked as they came up to the door.
Pete didn't get a chance to answer, because as soon as he opened the door, there was a chorus of "Petronius!" from inside.
As they stepped into the gloomy interior, Pete waved a greeting at the people at the bar. They were regarding the new arrivals with interest.
"Archibald," he greeted the bartender. "It's been too long. Do you remember–"
He had barely started to indicate Katherine when the chorus went up, "Katherine the Great!" and everybody raised their glasses.
Katherine looked stunned, then she glanced at Pete, as if he might have somehow arranged for this to happen.
Archie came out from behind the bar and put a mug of beer in her hand. "I apologize for my patrons, who have been drinking without interruption for several days, but you are highly regarded in these precincts, miss. After all, there was a time when this establishment was closed down, and you reopened it."
"Single-handedly!" cried somebody from the bar.
"Single-handedly and naked!" someone else called, though he was quickly shushed.
Pete pointed behind the bar, where, on the top shelf, in the middle of the most expensive bottles, there was a tiny newspaper photograph of starling, with a small wilted flower next to it.
Archie moved back behind the bar, and Katherine looked down in surprise at the mug of beer in her hand, as if she didn't remember him handing it to her.
"On the house," Archie said expansively. "Your money won't be any good here."
She smiled. "Thank you," she said, "but we really can't–"
"Oh, we can take a minute," Pete said, climbing up on a stool. Archie drew one for him as well, and Pete added, "Everybody, I'd like to introduce my friend, Perry Nelson."
The greeting to Perry was perfunctory, so Pete quickly started to introduce the patrons to his friends. "On the first stool, with the busted wing, is Matthew." Matthew hoisted his beer in salute and drank. "I can see that one arm is all you really need anyway," Pete continued. "On the second stool is the Professor–"
"Who is restraining himself from expressing his opinions of young Mr. Nelson's writing out of deference to you, I suspect," said the hawk-faced woman with the jet black hair on the third stool. "He has held forth on that subject in the past from time to time, sometimes with dramatic readings to make his points. In fact, he made up a little song once–"
"And this is Fiona," Pete said quickly, as Perry sat on the final stool, behind Pete, and tried to look inconspicuous. This left no stool for Katherine, so she stood next to Pete, drinking her beer.
Pete regarded the younger woman with the short hair on the stool between him and Fiona. "I'm sorry–" he began.
"Carly Stein," she said, holding out her hand.
"Pleased to meet you," he said. "I'm Pete and this is Katherine." He looked around. "Where's Bill?"
There was a pause, then Archie said, "He didn't make it. We drink periodically to his memory." He moved to refill Matthew's mug.
Pete nodded. "A lot of people didn't make it." He held up his mug. "To their memory!" he said, and they all drank.
"You haven't been visiting us, Petronius," The Professor said to Pete, "so we were concerned about you also, in a rather trivial way, but young Fifteen assured us that you were fine. He said you were too busy with your new and more famous friends to come and visit with us."
"Actually, I twisted my ankle," Pete said, "so I've had some trouble getting around. But I have no complaints. I'm one of the lucky ones."
"And I trust you have spoken firmly to young Mr. Nelson about the limitations of his themes and his prose style?" The Professor continued.
Pete laughed. "We haven't–"
Katherine squeezed his shoulder and put her empty mug on the bar. "We should probably get going," she said.
Pete drained his beer and stood up. "Very true. Archie, we require access to the tunnels."
Archie's eyes widened, and after a pause Matthew said, "Oh, I think we're all aware of what's behind the bar by now, Archibald."
"Archie," Pete said, "the old rules no longer apply. Vicki said we need to go down there. Have you heard anything from that direction?"
He shook his head. "Not a thing." He leaned over and pulled open the trap door. Pete, Katherine and Perry came around the bar and started to climb down the ladder into the darkness.
As they reached the bottom, Perry asked Katherine, "Naked?"
She laughed. "I'll tell you about that later."
"Can I point out something?"
"Sure."
"It's kind of dark down here."
"'Kind of dark' as in completely pitch black and impossible to see anything."
"It is as black as the inside of a cow."
"Fortunately," Pete said, "Fifteen gave us one of the few working flashlights." He turned it on. "That way," he gestured," is the way we went when we were here the other time."
There was rubble on the floor, and a couple of boards hanging from the ceiling.
"That looks a little dangerous," Perry observed.
Pete nodded. "We may have to chance it, or figure out another way. But there is another corridor." He swung the light around. "And this one is going away from the river, where the explosion was, so that's a better bet anyway. Let's go."
They started to move down the tunnel. The ceiling was low, made of boards, and the air was close. The floor under them seemed to be tightly-packed earth.
Perry glanced up. "It's a good thing none of us is tall. Jan or Tammy or Marshall would be bumping their heads."
Pete nodded. "Plus, I know I shouldn't smoke down here, so of course I'm desperate for a cigarette. I should have had one when we were in Duffy's."
Suddenly, Katherine's guns seemed to jump into her hands and Pete shut off the flashlight.
"Who are you and what do you want here?" a man's voice demanded.
"My name is Pete."
"Pete the bass player?"
"Yes. I've come from Vicki, and we have some questions."
"Who is 'we'? Who's with you?"
"Katherine diGregorio, and Perry Nelson."
"The novelist? Yeah, right."
"Are you armed?" another voice demanded.
"Katherine is, and her guns are drawn, but we just want to talk."
There was a pause.
"By 'Katherine,' then I assume you're talking about starling."
"Yes."
"She's not welcome here."
"This is an official visit, and we need to talk. Nobody is going to start anything."
"Official? Did Doc send you?"
"Doc is dead, and Jack, too. Ray survived, and he and Jan Sleet are assisting Vicki, who is in charge."
There was a snort of laughter. "That little freak? Is she even human?"
"Yes," Perry said suddenly, "and the question is irrelevant anyway. She is in charge, in a desperate situation, as I'm sure you're aware, and we need to talk to you, possibly to our mutual benefit. And I hope we don't have to do it standing up in the dark. Can we get some light and something to sit on, and discuss this? Katherine is armed, and I have an idea that you are armed as well, but that doesn't mean we have to use guns when we've barely started to figure out what we can accomplish with words."
No one spoke, so he continued. "If Vicki wanted to strongarm you, she wouldn't have sent a novelist and a bass player, she'd have sent some of the Jinx, or she would have come herself. Oh, and I am Perry Nelson, as you will immediately be able to tell once you turn on a light, and if you have issues with my writing, I'll ask you to table that subject until a later time, since my artistic shortcomings have already been discussed by the folks in the bar upstairs."
The man laughed out loud. "We'll leave that to the Professor. And yes, we'll get some light." It sounded like someone with him started to protest, but a faint light started to come on.
The room was small, and the two men were a lot closer than Perry had realized. One was holding a strange lantern with a black sleeve around it, so that if the sleeve was lowered, the light was completely hidden.
Perry glanced at Katherine and saw that she had holstered her guns, though her posture was tense, and it was clear that she was ready to draw again in an instant if needed.
The younger of the two men held a rifle, the older held the lantern. The younger man's expression made it clear that he did not approve of this development.
"Is there someplace we can go and sit?" Perry asked, in what he hoped was an amiable voice.
"I don't think–" the younger man began, but Pete interrupted.
"Leon, this is–"
"How do you know my name?" he demanded.
Pete smiled. "You play bass, you were in that band, I can't remember the name, with the woman singer. You opened for us at the park once." He looked thoughtful. "You had a Jazz bass, a nice one, sunburst, pre-CBS. You still have it?"
The man nodded slowly. "No power and no amp, so I can't play, but I've got it."
Pete smiled. "Consider yourself lucky. My rig was blown up in the basement of the Quarter."
"That was messed up that they did that," the man said, holding the rifle more casually. "One of the tunnels collapsed and we lost three people." He spat. "Fucking Novak. He still around?"
Pete shook his head. "No, I killed him."
The older man laughed. "You? Come on, Pete."
"It was to protect my life," Katherine said. "Novak had set a trap for me, so he could write a book about having killed me. He had Pete for bait, but Pete killed him."
"And the moral of all this is that, if you look at the big picture, we are on the same side, we are not enemies," Pete said. He looked around. "You got any chairs down here?"
The older man gestured and they went into an adjoining room where there were four folding chairs and a small table. The room was as small as the other, with rough stone walls and a dirt floor. Katherine leaned against the wall, and the others sat on the chairs.
"The most critical situation is food, as you can imagine," Pete began. "We're scavenging what we can, but that's not much. We were going over the bridge–"
"What is the situation in the city?" the older man asked, leaning forward.
Pete gestured at Perry, who said, "Katherine and I have been part of a medical team–"
"That's rich," Leon muttered.
"–mainly collecting medical supplies from abandoned drugstores. The first day it was fine, we collected a lot, and we found out that the army has been rounding people up in the city, taking them to a stadium. A lot of people are hiding, though, and some of them started to come to U-town. The second day, we were challenged on the bridge, but we talked our way out of it. We collected more supplies, but we saw tanks securing the area.
"The third day the bridge was blocked, and I understand the other one is blocked as well. So, the food and medicine we and the other teams have collected is all we're going to have."
"To be blunt," Pete said, "we're hoping to pool our supplies, our knowledge and our efforts. Because, as I said, we are fundamentally on the same side."
"So, you want our food."
Pete shrugged. "As I said–"
"You assume we're better prepared for this situation than you are, and you want us to share. Because, to be blunt, there's not much we want or need from you."
"If you need medical–"
"We don't."
"This is something that happened to all of us, the explosion and now the blockage, it affects us all."
"If we do have food, how long do you think it would last if it was divided up among all of your people? What can keep us alive for a year might last you only two days–"
"If you could give us two days of food, that might be doubling the life expectancy of everyone up there, twice as much time to figure out how the hell we're going to get off this concrete island and to somewhere where there will be the possibility of getting more food."
The man shrugged. "The fact remains that–"
Katherine leaned forward. "Listen, a while ago, when Pete and I came down here, you didn't want me to be here, and I understand that. But, in a few days, if you keep your food to yourselves, each of you will have killed more people than I ever have or ever will."
The younger man started to interrupt, but she continued.
"Everybody has to live with what they've done, and there are a lot of things I would change if I could, but I can't. But you have a decision to make now, one that's going to have a huge effect on how you look at yourselves from now on. The decision is not made yet, you can make one choice or the other. But, whatever that choice is, you will have to face it every morning for the rest of your lives. And that's no small thing.
"Also, after the explosion, I was in the hotel, where the medical stuff was going on. I was waiting to hear how Pete was, but there were a lot of more serious cases, so I waited. Could I have forced the few medical people to look at Pete right away? Of course, and Pete matters more to me than anybody in the world. He was hurt, the man I love, and I wanted to draw my guns and say, 'No, look at Pete! Look at him now!' But it wouldn't have been right, so I didn't. I had to think beyond me, beyond what I wanted.
"I'll tell you one more thing about that night. One of the volunteers came over at one point and asked if I was really starling. I said yes, and he took me to see a woman.
"The woman's name was Claire. She was dying, and in terrible pain. She'd been injured, but she was sick, too. I don't know what she had, but she was going to die, and they couldn't do anything to help her, not even make it hurt less.
"She wanted me to kill her. She seemed to be clear-headed, she was obviously in pain, and she wouldn't live out the night. I never found out what she had, but it really didn't matter. She'd asked the volunteer to do it, but he was just a kid. He could barely deal with the rest of it, let alone that.
"I sat and talked to her for a few minutes, to make sure she was thinking clearly. I held her hand, and I'm not ashamed to admit that I cried a little. Then I killed her.
"Now, I want each of you to ask yourselves if you're prepared to go up and give that same mercy to the people who are going to start dying in a few days if you don't share your food with them."
"You keep talking about how we're going to look at things for the rest of our lives," the older man said quietly. "Do you really think we'll be around to worry about that? Any of us?"
"Yes, I absolutely do."
He turned to Leon. "We need to talk," he said. The younger man started to protest, but he stood and said, "Come on."
They left the room, closing the door behind them.
After a minute, Perry said, "If we wanted to, we could force them to give the food to us. We have Vicki, the Jinx, and a couple of thousand hungry people."
"And they know it," Pete said. "But, as Doc used to say, never twist an arm when you can bend an ear."
He stood up and took Katherine's hand. "And you," he said softly, "you are the most wonderful person I know."
She smiled sadly. "No, I'm not. But I am better than I was."
Pete looked over and caught Perry's expression. "What's up?" he demanded, laughing.
Perry chuckled. "Don't mind me. I was just thinking how lucky you two are that my girlfriend isn't here."
"True," Katherine said, "she'd be rolling her eyes and sticking out her tongue by now."
Perry nodded. "She does hate romantic stuff, that's for sure."
Katherine shook her head. "But think about her. She read your books, Perry, and ran away from home. She traveled for months to find you. She knew, just from your books, that you were the one for her." She shook her head, smiling. "That's about as romantic as you can get. And, from the fact that you've ended up together, I guess you think she was right."
"Otherwise, you'd probably have called the cops," Pete said.
Perry laughed. "Well, don't tell her how romantic it was."
Katherine mimed locking her lips and throwing away the key.
Pete moved one of the other chairs over next to his. "We might as well sit, this might take–"
The door opened and the older man came back in.
"We're leaving," he said. "From what you've told us, and what we've seen, we agree that there is no future in staying here, above or below ground." He sat down in the remaining chair. "We're going to take as much food as we can transport. You're welcome to the rest. We'll leave a map of the storage rooms with Archie before we go."
"When you say you'll go," Pete said, "do you mind telling us how? Do you have boats or something?"
The man laughed. "Pete, you disappoint me. I always heard you were pretty sharp."
Pete shook his head. "I am not about to believe that you've dug tunnels all the way to . . ."
He voice trailed off and his eyes got wide.
The man laughed again. "You see–"
"Oh. My. God," Pete said. He blinked his eyes a few times.
"What is it?" Katherine demanded.
"I am really dense. Incredibly fucking dense," he said slowly.
"Do you want to see?" the man asked. "Do you want to show your friends?"
Pete blinked as if waking up. "Yes," he said, standing up quickly. "Yes, definitely. Is it nearby?"
"Very near. Go out the way you came in." He gestured toward the door. "But take a right instead of a left when you get to the corridor. Walk until the corridor turns left, then about ten feet beyond that, there will be a ladder going down. Take that."
Pete took the man's hand and shook it. "Thank you," he said. "Thank you very much, for everything."
"Good luck," the man said as they left the room.
Pete turned on his flashlight as they reached the corridor, calling, "Good luck to you, too," back over his shoulder.
"Pete, what's going on?" Katherine demanded. "What did he–"
"You'll see," he said. He took her hand and squeezed it, nearly pulling her along the corridor. Perry trotted behind.
They took the left turn as the man had said, then they saw the ladder mounted against the wall, going down into a hole in the floor. The floor had become concrete when they had turned the corner.
"You did this," Pete said to Katherine. "You convinced them. You get to go first."
He shone the light down into the hole, and Katherine climbed down. Perry followed, and then Pete.
Perry looked around as Pete stepped off the ladder and shone the flashlight around.
"It's a subway station," Katherine said slowly.
"An incredibly dirty and deserted subway station," Perry added. He turned to Pete. "I don't get it. The subways won't run–"
"But people can walk through subway tunnels," Pete said reverently. "Hundreds, or even thousands of people can walk through a subway tunnel right out of U-town, past the blockades, into the city. And, from the subway tunnels we can go right into the train station, and onto the commuter tracks, which are also underground, right out of the city if we want. We'll need a map, and hopefully somebody will remember which lines go elevated and where, so we can stay away from those." He shook his head. "A lot of things to be figured out, as usual, but this will work. I'm sure of it." He took Katherine's hands. "And you did it, you convinced them. You are wonderful, no matter what you say." She started to protest again, but he said, "Have you ever thought about getting married?"
"Yes," she said quietly.
"Because I . . . You have?"
"Of course."
"Really? You've never mentioned it."
She smiled. "Neither have you."
He looked uncertain. "Well, do you think–"
"Pete," Perry said quietly, "It looks like there's a map on the wall down there. Give me the flashlight, and I'll go look at it and get out of your way." He squeezed Pete's shoulder. "But if you're going to propose, propose. Don't ask whether you should or not."
Pete squeezed Katherine's hands as Perry moved away. He smiled. "Katherine, will you marry me?"
She nodded, and came into his arms. "Yes, of course," she whispered in his ear as she held him.
"If it's okay with you," he murmured, "I'd like to have the ceremony, whatever ceremony we decide to have, as soon as possible. Because, now that we know we can get out of here, I think we're going to be separated for a while. You'll be part of that stadium thing, and who knows where I'll be." He squeezed her. "There are other near-sighted, obsessive-compulsive, former bass players out there, and I'd prefer to have you officially out of circulation before you meet them."
She laughed. "I know how worried you've been that SarahBeth would rub off on me."
"Oh, yes, that's been a big concern . . ." Pete was laughing so hard by then that he had trouble speaking.
Perry tapped them on their shoulders. "I think this is supposed to be a bit more solemn."
Katherine giggled. "Hey, when you propose to someone, you can do it your way. We're doing it our way."