I said something brilliant like, «Come on.»
«What’re you doing? Where’re we going?»
«Takin’ you outta here.»
Jade seemed scared, confused, but she came along with me all right. The judge was nowhere in sight, just his robe thrown on the floor. Somebody was poundin’ on the door we had just come through and yellin’ the way oinks do. There was another door to the room and the judge had left it half open. I had no way of knowin’ if that toxic spill was real or not, but I knew that the oinks would be after us either way so I dashed for the door, Jade’s wrist still in my grip.
«You’re crazy,» she said, kind of breathless. But she came right along with me. And she smiled at me as she said it. If I hadn’t been wound so tight I would’ve kissed her right there and then.
Instead we pounded down this empty corridor and found an elevator marked JUDGES ONLY. I leaned on the button. Somebody appeared at the far end of the corridor, a guy in a business suit.
«Hey, you kids,» he yelled, kind of angry, «you’re not allowed to use that elevator.»
Just then the doors slid open. «Emergency!» I yelled back and pulled Jade inside.
When we got down to the street level everything seemed normal. Nobody was runnin’ or shoutin’. I guessed that the toxic spill was a phony. I couldn’t imagine Big Lou doin’ something like that just for me, but maybe he needed his bomb gizmo bad enough after all. Anyway, I told Jade to act normal and we just walked out into the central courtyard nice and easy, me in my shabby jeans and sneakers and her in her workin’ clothes: spike heels, microskirt, skintight blouse. They had washed off her makeup and her hair looked kind of draggled, but she was still beautiful enough to make even the women out there turn and stare at her.
The work crew was still tryin’ to tug that fallen window sill outta the cement when we walked past. I steered Jade toward the boarded-up entrance to the old subway.
«We’re not going down there!» she said when I pushed a couple boards loose.
«Sure as hell are,» I said.
«But—»
«Hey, you!» yelled a guy in a soldier uniform.
«Come on!» I tugged at Jade’s wrist and we started down the dark stairway underground.
The steps were slippery, slimy. It was dark as hell down there and it stunk of [urine]. The air was chilly and kind of wet; gave you the shakes. I could feel Jade trembling in my grip. With my other hand I fished a penlight outta my pocket. What? I always keep a light on me. And make sure the batteries are good, too. You never know when you’re gonna need a light; trouble don’t always come at high noon, y’know.
«Vic, I don’t like this,» Jade said.
«I don’t either, honey, but we gotta get away. This is the best way to do it.» I clicked on my penlight; it threw a feeble circle of light on the filthy, littered tiled floor. «See, it ain’t so bad, is it?»
Jade was right in a way. The subway tunnels really were dangerous. We had heard stories since we were little kids about the hordes of rats livin’ down there. And other things, monsters that crawled outta the sewers, people who lived down there in the dark for so long they’d gone blind—but they could find you in the dark and when they did they ate you raw, like animals.
I was kind of shakin’ myself, thinkin’ about all that. But I wasn’t gonna let Jade be taken away by the Controllers and I wasn’t gonna play with no bombs for Little Lou or Big Lou or anybody. I was takin’ Jade and myself outta the city altogether, across the bridge and out into the housing tracts on the other side of the river. I’d take my money from the bank and find a place for us to live and get a regular job someplace and start to be a real person. The two of us. Jade and me.
Okay, maybe it was just a dream. But I wanted to make my dream come true. Wanted it so bad I was willin’ to face anything.
Well, there ain’t no sense tellin’ you about every step of the way we took in the subway tunnels. There were rats, plenty of’em, some big as dogs, but they stayed away from us as long as the penlight worked. We could see their red eyes burnin’ in the dark, though, and hear them makin’ their screechy little rat noises, like they was talkin’ to each other. Jade had a tough time walkin’ on those spike-heel shoes of hers, but she wouldn’t go barefoot in the sloppy goo we hadda walk through. My own sneaks were soaked through with the muck; it made my feet burn.
Jade screamed a couple times, once when she stumbled on something squishy that turned out to be a real dog that must’ve died only a few hours earlier. It was half eaten away already.
No monsters from the sewers, though. And if there was any blind cannibals runnin’ around down there we didn’t see them. The rats were enough, believe me. I felt like they were all around us, watchin’, waitin’ until the batteries in my light gave out. And then they’d swarm us under and do to us what they had started to do to that dog.
All the subway tunnels meet under the city hall, and I sure as hell hoped I had picked the right one, the one that goes out to the river. After hours and hours, I noticed that the tunnel seemed to be slantin’ upward. I even thought I saw some light up ahead.
Sure enough, the tracks ran up and onto the Ben Franklin bridge that crossed the Delaware. It was already night, and drizzling a cold misty rain out there. No wind, not even a breath of air movin’. And no noise. Silence. Everything was still as death. It was kinda creepy, y’know. I been on that bridge lotsa times; up that high there was always a breeze, at least. But not that night.
At least we were out of the tunnel. On the other side of that bridge was the housing tracts, the land where people could lead decent lives, safe from the city.
I knew the bridge was barricaded and the barricades were rigged with electronic chips that spotted anybody tryin’ to get through. Those people in the tracts didn’t like havin’ people from the city comin’ over to visit. Not unless they drove cars that gave out the right electronic ID signals. But I had gotten past the barricades before. It took a bit of climbin’, but it could be done. Jade could take off her spike heels now and climb with me.
But in front of the barricade was a car. A dead gray four-door with government numbers stenciled on the driver’s door. Only the guys standin’ beside the car weren’t government. They were Little Lou and his goon driver.
Lou was leanin’ against the hood, lookin’ relaxed in a sharp suit and open-collar shirt. His hair was slicked back and when he saw Jade he smiled with all his teeth.
«Where you goin’, Sal?» he asked, real quiet, calm.
I had to think damned fast. «I thought we was in the tunnel for the Station! I must’ve got mixed up.»
«You sure did.»
Lou nodded to the goon, who opened the rear door of the car. I started for it, head hung low. He had outsmarted me.
«Not you, stupid,» Lou snarled at me. «You sit up front with Rollo.» He made a little half bow at Jade, smilin’ again. «You sit in back with me, spiff.»
Jade got into the car and scrunched herself into the corner of the backseat, as far away from Little Lou as she could. I sat up front, half twisted around in the seat so I could watch Lou. Rollo was so big his elbow kept nudgin’ me every time he turned the steering wheel.
«You was supposed to be at the Thirtieth-street station at nine o’clock,» Little Lou said to me. But his eyes were on Jade, who was starin’ off at nothing.
I looked at my wristwatch. «Hell, Lou, it’s only seven-thirty.»
«Yeah, but you were headin’ in the wrong direction. A guy could lose some of his fingers that way. Or get his legs broke.»
«I just got mixed-up down in the tunnels,» I said, tryin’ to make it sound real.
«You’re a mixed-up kid, Sally. Maybe a few whacks on your thick skull will straighten you out.»