Page 7 of Ablaze

The thick crowds on the streets are thinning as daylight begins to creep up. I try to quickly walk the few blocks to where the woman instructed. As I walk, I notice that heavy muscle men holding guns begin standing in front of door fronts that will be shaded from the sun. I haven’t seen this in other towns, but I’ve heard about it. People who are well off or establishments hire them to stand guard all day in the sunlight.

The most crime happening after the disaster was during the daylight hours. People weren’t used to the oppressive heat. They would go indoors to avoid it and stay shut up till nightfall. The looters started banging up doors, breaking in windows and terrorizing people who were seeking shelter from the sun. It still happens in some places, but not as often. I guess one way to guarantee it’s not happening is to have security.

It makes sense, and in a town like this I should expect to finally see it in action. I make it to the outside of the boarding house, and the door is closed. I look into the windows and can see a man cleaning things up inside. I knock on the door and test out the knob. It’s unlocked, so I turn the knob and let myself inside. The bar man is standing a few feet out from the bar and walks toward me as I enter.

“You’ll need to turn around and go right back out the door. We’re closed up for daylight. Come back when it’s nightfall,” he harshly informs me.

I hold up my hands to show that they’re empty. I don’t want to scare him since I did just let myself into his place. He seems startled, so I nod my head, acknowledging what he’s just told me. “I was hoping to acquire a room for the daylight. A nice lady serving soup down the street told me this was the place to come.” I pause because I can see he’s ready to cut me off. He’s a no-nonsense kind of man. I change my tactics and just come right out with, “I need a room, and I can pay you in trade. I have maps and water pills.”

That information perks the bartender right up. He smiles at me, and the beginning sunlight hits a gold tooth he’s sporting in the front of his mouth. “Deal! We’ll figure out the trade in a minute, Right now, I’m running behind in my schedule. Help me get these windows covered with the curtains and the door bolted,” he says as he rushes around the room. We spend the next few minutes closing off the place from the sun and securing the windows and door. When we’ve finished, he goes behind the bar and pours two glasses of water. He sits one glass in front of me on the bar and takes the other one for himself. “You said you’ve got some maps and water pills?”

“Yes, let me get them for you,” I say. I take my backpack off and sit it on top of the bar. I open it up and pull out several water pills and a few east coast maps that I’m willing to trade. He picks up the maps and begins inspecting them.

“You can put the water pills away. I’m in no short supply of them. These maps however, they will do. How many day stays are you looking to get out of them?” he asks.

“I just need one day, maybe two at the most. I’m not looking to stay around here. I’m just passing through,” I tell him.

“Ah, like so many others. Eager to leave our fair city. This town is one of the best ones in the country. We’ve got clean water, places to stay, food, and most importantly, security,” he proudly tells me as he stands there and sips his water. He turns around and points to a door on the other side of the bar. “Through that door is a stairwell, and it leads to the bedrooms. You’ll have to share a bathroom with other guests but during the daylight hours, I guarantee your safety. I’ll take all four maps for two nights. If you don’t stay the second night, I still keep the maps,” he says.

“Sounds fair enough,” I say in agreement. “I’m pretty tired so if it’s okay, I’d like to be shown to my room.” Suddenly, I’m so tired I can barely hold my eyes open. Maybe it’s the fact that my stomach is full of food, and I’ve travelled for so long. Days spent away from the sun are a luxury, and they’ve been few and far between for me since the disaster took place.

The bartender comes out from behind the bar and begins to lead me to the door. “I’m George. I own the place. If you need anything, just look for me,” he informs me.

“I’m Jesse,” I say. George holds out his hand and we shake.

We start toward the door, and he asks, “Where are you headed to next, young man? You know, a person used to be eager to leave here but once the city started getting rebuilt, everyone wanted to stay.”

I don’t see any harm in telling him where I’m going next. He’s been kind to me so far, and this might be an easy way to get some tips out of him on how to get there quickly. I did overpay for my stay, so it’s worth the risk. “I’m headed to Antelope Island. I’ve heard great things about the land, so I wanted to see it for myself.”

The bartender stops climbing the stairs and turns to look at me. I can’t place his expression, but he seems to be thinking. I don’t press him and for a moment, we are standing on the steps just staring at each other. His expression turns odd and he shrugs his shoulder. Finally, he starts climbing the stairs again without a word. I can tell he wants to say something but he’s holding his tongue.

“Did I say something to upset you?” I ask him. The last thing I need is to get kicked out of this place during the daylight.

“No, it’s just we don’t get a lot of people going to the island or asking about it, and you’re the second person I’ve had in a week,” he says.

We come to the top of the stairs, and he leads me down the hall to the right. George stops at the door across from the bathroom, takes out a key and unlocks it. He takes the key out of the lock and hands it to me. “You got a lucky room. This one has a working lock. Some of these rooms will only lock from the inside, but you’ll be able to lock up while you’re gone,” he tells me.

I get a strange feeling from what he’s told me about the island, so I decide to just ask him. “George, what do you mean someone was asking about the island recently? Is it not common for people coming through this area to go there?”

George leans against the wall beside my door in the hallway and folds his arms. He studies me for a few seconds before answering, “Not really, mate. I hate to break it to you if you don’t already know, but it’s been closed off since the disaster. I had to tell a young girl the same thing just a week ago. If you could have seen the look on her face, I think it about broke her heart,” he says.

My pulse quickens, and I can’t get the words out of my mouth fast enough, “A young girl was asking about Antelope Island?” I ask him.

He nods and looks at me like I’m an idiot. “Yeah, that’s what I just said. She showed up about a week ago. Told me she was passing through town and had a whole bunch of questions about the island. Wouldn’t stop until she got as many answers as she could.”

My curiosity is more than peaked right now, but I try to keep my voice even and calm. I don’t want to give off any indication that I’m seriously interested in this girl and who she could really be, but I have to know. “I’m curious. What did this girl look like?” I ask him.

Furrowing his brow, he unfolds his arms and points his finger at my chest while he talks, “Listen, this girl is a nice girl. I don’t want to cause any trouble for her. Why are you so curious about her?”

“I swear she’s not in any trouble. I just want to know what she looks like. She might be someone I know,” I lie. I can’t tell him the truth. I can’t let him know my real reasons for wanting to find her. Each second that I stand there waiting for him to respond makes me feel like I’m bursting out of my skin. Could this be her? Could she have been here only a week ago? If the Island is closed off, I’ll have to find out where she’s gone. This could be even harder than I imagined, finding her.

“Alright… but you swear you won’t be making any trouble for her?” he asks me.

“I swear, George. I’m just hoping she’s a friend of mine.” I try to convincingly tell him.

“Well, she has dark hair, and wore it up on her head the whole time. Dome accent, but I never asked her about it. Short. Looks about 18 or 19 years old. That’s all I can really think of,” he says, trying to remember.

I don’t believe my ears. My luck might actually be changing. I can’t let myself get too excited. It could be someone else… but it could be her. I know she’s from the Dome originally, so that would explain the accent. I know she has dark hair, and I know her age is around what George has said from staring at her photo for months. I try to hide the excitement on my face. If he was the last person to see her before she left town then I’ll need to find out everything I can from him. He’s been nice so far, but something about him gives me a bad vibe.

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