Chapter Text
“Long is the way and hard, that out of Hell leads up to light.”
― John Milton, Paradise Lost
It’s raining. Water droplets make a soft pinging noise when they hit the metal construction that Taiwo’s sitting on. Legs curled under him, elbows on his knees and a fist supporting his chin as he stares out over the small island and the river beyond. The sky is dark even though it’s midday. Swirling clouds, some lightning out in the distance. It is probably right above the Kingdom, moving towards the Sanctuary and barely missing Hilltop Colony.
It has been raining for days now, the aftermath of another big storm. It hadn’t hit any of the communities directly, but still dead trees came down, roofs had started to leak, some old buildings finally collapsed. Here in the city, the sewer system struggles with all that rain and the water had started to rise inside the tunnels.
After all these years, everyone knows not to be underground after such a long period of rain. Specific tunnels are blocked to keep the communities safe but despite all the safety measures, water seeps onto the tracks. The seals are getting old. Even at the outskirts, Taiwo had watched how the water below their train had started to rise. Nothing like in the center of course, but still.
Amaka had seen it as another reason to rekindle an old argument; to stay Above instead of the stations. More and more people joined her side. People had seen how they lived in the Kingdom, a little city on its own, and dreamt of a place like Hilltop; paradise on earth. With livestock, gardens and children’s laughter ringing out.
It’d hurt her when her own twin decided to switch sides and joined Mason’s instead. They’d fought for years, a decade, to live Above instead of in the dark of the tunnels, but Hilltop as paradise? Taiwo couldn’t see it. He knew the cost of it all and had watched how it had burned down in a single night. It’s a good place, but so is the city as it is because Mason is right; nobody has ever found them without their permission.
Taiwo’s the first to admit he’s not a soldier. Some nights he wonders what will happen when somebody does come for them. Will they be able to hold out like Alexandria has done before? Or fall like Hilltop did? To him, the Whisperers proved one thing: there are still Others out there. Their old argument of a peaceful future had burned, leaving the taste of ashes in their mouths.
And while Amaka sticks to the promise of resurrection, of bouncing back, of enduring, he knows that some things are lost even when communities are rebuilt.
Something on the bank of the river draws his eye. A figure moves clumsily over the rocks. He doesn’t need to grab his binoculars to check and see who it is. He knows it by the way they’re not wearing any armor, or suitable clothing for this kind of weather. Old sneakers almost cause them to slip on the temporary bridge when they make the jump.
He waits.
‘It’s cold up here,’ Felix says as he finally reaches the top and sits down next to his best friend. The hoodie he’s wearing is soaked, blond hair now plastered to his pale skin. Droplets stick to his near-white lashes. They fall when he smiles and blinks at the same time.
‘You shouldn’t be out there alone,’ Taiwo says with a nod to the city.
‘Your sister is angry, so it was facing that or running from the Xidachane. I liked these odds better.’
Taiwo runs a hand over his face and looks out over the river. ‘What is it now?’
‘She was supposed to meet with those White House folks but they didn’t show up. Bunch of freaks. They can’t even form a proper sentence, how can you expect them to understand: noon, Madison and 7th?’ Felix shrugs and scratches at his ear. ‘She wanted to try anyway. Apparently everyone was in a I told you so-mood, so she was pissed when she came back.’
‘She never listens.’
Felix looks at him. ‘Are you two still fighting?’
Taiwo rolls his eyes and shrugs, ‘she just can’t let it go. Now she’s meeting with those freaks? I bet she wants to secure the city Above, reinstate the borders or something.’ He sucks on his teeth. ‘If she wants to live Above so badly, she should move to the inner city. These are the Outskirts.’
Felix nods as he looks out over the city. He pulls his legs up, hugs them to stay warm. ‘She does want to secure the city Above, but a deal with those freaks? Everyone knows they can’t be trusted. It’s best to just leave them be.’ Then he shrugs, ‘maybe she’ll prove us all wrong, but I don’t know…’
Something loosens in Taiwo’s chest. The anger slowly leaves his veins. He’d never objected to Felix, his best friend, dating his sister, his twin, but somewhere in the back of his mind he’d feared that he’d lose this. That maybe Felix would always jump to Amaka’s defense, always take her side in every argument but that hasn’t happened yet.
They’re still best friends.
No matter what Taiwo mumbles in anger about his sister, Felix never passes it on. Just as how Taiwo never hears what his sister says about him in turn when they’re together.
‘Knowing my sister, she’ll probably prove us wrong,’ Taiwo admits eventually. Droplets drip down his face, his neck, under his armor.
Felix flashes him a brilliant smile. ‘Probably.’ Then the smile fades slightly. ‘Hilltop radioed, there’s something with the power grid, so I’ll have to check it out…’ His tone rises, almost sounding hopeful, like he’s extending an invitation.
‘Good luck with that.’
‘Ahw come on.’ Felix’ shoulders slump.
‘Amaka can take you,’ Taiwo says. ‘It’ll take her mind off of things here, so Mason will probably grant her leave.’
‘The roads have been secure for months now, I don’t need you two to protect me,’ Felix says. ‘I thought it would be fun. You haven’t been back to Hilltop since the fair! We could make a road trip out of it, hang out. Well,’ he glances up at the sky, ‘when the weather clears up anyway.’ He’s quiet for a couple of seconds. ‘He probably won’t even be there, you know. He travels a lot these days.’
Taiwo shoots him a sharp look.
‘Why else won’t you go to Hilltop, man?’ Felix asks with a laugh. ‘It’s pretty obvious you’re avoiding him.’
‘I’m not avoiding him. We ran into each other at the Kingdom. It’s fine.’
The blond man scratches some dirt off his sneakers. ‘It doesn’t sound fine. I thought you two were cool. I mean, it was pretty awkward in the beginning, but… he’s not being… weird, is he?’ Felix frowns and looks alarmed suddenly.
‘No. He isn’t being weird.’ Taiwo pulls at his ear and sighs deeply. ‘It’s peace time. He’s running errands, spending time with his family. He’s a different person, almost. Happier, lighter. You saw him at the Kingdom.’ Taiwo shrugs. ‘It won’t last. But sometimes I think, you know… maybe I gave up too soon.’
‘That you broke up, you mean?’
‘Yeah. Maybe if we’d stuck it out, I’d be with that Daryl now. It’d be better. Different.’
Felix nods. ‘I mean, he’d be down to try again,’ he says with a laugh but it fades quickly. ‘It’s what you said, right? It won’t last. He is who he is, and he did what he did, you can’t change that. There haven’t been any Others, hardly any walkers, the weather has been pretty good; he’s been able to relax some, but… I think you’d always be waiting for the shoe to drop.’
‘It’s not like he’s a bad person,’ Taiwo fires back, catching himself defending his ex-boyfriend. He smiles, shakes his head. ‘He’s a good guy.’
‘Oh, for sure,’ Felix agrees, ‘and I think you taught him to be a better boyfriend.’
‘To someone else.’
Felix snorts, ‘yeah, I guess so. Well, everyone had their money on him and Jesus getting it on by now, but he still seems pretty heartbroken over you, so…’ He narrows his eyes, ‘you’d think a year would be enough to get over the likes of you.’
Taiwo aims a kick at his leg. ‘Thank you.’ Then he looks out over the island again. ‘It’s stupid. I mean, it wasn’t perfect but it was good, and… I don’t know.’
‘It’s okay to miss him, you know, even if you were the one to call it off,’ Felix points out.
‘I miss parts of him, definitely. Just not the lying ones, you know?’
Felix snorts. ‘Yeah, okay. So… that’s a no on a visit to Hilltop?’
‘Hard pass for now, sorry.’ Taiwo scratches at his cheek. ‘Once this weather passes, Mason will want me to run the tunnels anyway, so I’ll be busy for the next few weeks. A couple of stations have shown interest in meeting the New World, he’s trying to set that up. White House Station still hasn’t answered though.’
‘White House station,’ Felix repeats with a huff of laughter. ‘What, radios are beneath them now? Bunch of stuck-up little know-it-alls. They’re not in the White House. They’re Below, like most of us.’
‘Joao is a good guy.’
‘No, he isn’t. He’s willing to sacrifice every other station and won’t lift a finger to defend this city. Do you remember how Alexandria arrived on our doorstep - remember we thought they were the Big Bad? Alexandria came for us and they sent Freya?’ Felix sounds incredulous. ‘They were like; go and see if they’re dead, Freya, and if they’re not, see if you can get in on that trade deal. Bunch of parasites.’
Taiwo smiles at the venom in his friend’s voice.
‘And every time; oh, you’re living in the Outskirts?’ Felix’ voice is high and girly as he pretends to giggle behind his hand, ‘oh no! They act like we’re living in a swamp out here! Remember those girls at that one party? Is that how they dance in the Outskirts?’
Taiwo looks at his best friend.
‘They were making fun of us.’
‘Yeah.’
‘It got better when they realized you and Amaka were with us, but…’ Felix sulks. ‘I hate White House Station.’
‘I’ve noticed.’
‘And I hate this fucking rain,’ the man grouses as he pulls his hoodie further over his hair and forehead to shield his eyes.
Taiwo smiles, ‘and everyone always thinks you’re the smiley, fun one.’
‘I am. When it’s sunny and I’m not sitting on a metal structure, freezing my balls off in order to spend time with the guy who calls himself my best friend but won’t even come to Hilltop with me. I have an important job. What if I die trying to get to the colony?’
‘I thought you said you didn’t need us to protect you.’
‘Well, it’s a perk of being your friend. You sort of have to keep me alive, especially if you want to keep living Below. Who else is going to maintain the lights?’
‘Literally anyone else on the electric team.’
Felix huffs. ‘Fine. I see how it is. You hate me.’
‘I don’t-‘
‘No, it’s fine.’ Felix curls his arms around his knees to keep himself warm. ‘You think I’m worthless, that my job is stupid, I’m replaceable, you don’t care about-‘
‘Fine,’ Taiwo rolls his eyes as he cuts him off, ‘I’ll go to Hilltop with you.’
Felix beams, ‘thank you. Was that so hard?’
‘You have no idea.’
The blond man grins. ‘Well, it’s a good thing you agreed to come because I already told Mason we’re going. Maggie’s excited we’re coming, too.’
‘You told Maggie? What if I’d refused to come?’
Felix pouts and leans in closer, looking very sad, ‘you wouldn’t want to break poor Hershel’s heart now, would you? Maggie already told him you’d come. That would have been my trump card. That kid has got you and the rest of the New World wrapped around his little finger.’
Taiwo groans. ‘You’re the worst.’ He’s silent for a moment, watches how the dark clouds drift overhead, feels how the rain starts to drip down his curls and onto his neck. Then he looks at his friend. ‘If Maggie knows you’re coming, then Daryl definitely knows we’re…’
‘You said it was fine! You said you weren’t avoiding him!’ Felix flutters with his hands before he jumps up. The hoodie is a darker shade now due to the rain, his hand shimmers with water as he holds it out, but he’s still laughing. ‘Come on, let’s get out of here.’
‘No.’
Taiwo looks up from the maps he’d been studying. ‘I’m sorry?’
‘You’re not going to Hilltop,’ Mason says as he goes through a stack of papers. They’re sitting at the table in his office, right behind the control panel for the radios, which are silent now. Most of the operators have gone to bed. In about an hour, three from the early morning shift will come in but for now, it’s just Taiwo at the controls.
Mason holds out his hand, ‘hand me the logs.’
‘What do you mean no? Felix said he’d already asked.’
Mason twitches his fingers impatiently as his hand remains empty. ‘He asked and assumed I would say yes. I haven’t. The logs, Taitai.’
‘He already told Maggie we’d come.’
Now Mason looks up with exasperation on his face. ‘I’ll issue a formal apology for you two not showing up. It got assigned to Eugene. He’ll leave as soon as the storm has passed. I’m sure Hilltop can hold out for that long. They’ll need to start thinking about training their own electricians anyway, we can’t come running every time the Prince doesn’t have hot water.’
Taiwo frowns. ‘There’s no way Daryl asked for us to come out because-‘
‘It was just a joke,’ Mason assures him as he leans forward, gesturing with his hand once more, ‘The logs, please.’
‘You never liked him, did you?’ Taiwo puts his hand on the thick book that serves as their logs.
Mason sighs and leans back in his chair, observing the young man sitting opposite him. ‘That is not true. I’ve always liked Daryl Dixon, and from the start I’ve respected him, but he’s a soldier, and I’ve seen soldiers come back from other wars.’ Mason shakes his head. ‘It takes a toll, on everyone. So few make it out. They’re stuck there, even years after. Sometimes for moments or nights but sometimes pieces of them are just different, forever.
‘So few couples make it, and it’s never easy. And if you look in my heart, ask me what I want for my son? I’d want it to be easy, your life to be filled with joy and happiness, and for you to be loved by someone who has never seen war.’
Taiwo’s fingertips dig into the logs as he braces himself. ‘Is that what happened between you and your wife? It took a toll?’
Mason’s eyes are dark but he doesn’t look away. ‘She stayed,’ he says, ‘when she probably shouldn’t have.’ His lips form a thin, white line when he stops speaking.
It’s clear that that part of their conversation is over. Guilt makes Taiwo a bit uneasy; he shouldn’t have pushed like that. The past is always such a sensitive topic for Mason, especially his marriage. Taiwo doesn’t know what happened to his wife but it’s clear that the topic is taboo. So he tries to shift the conversation towards lighter topics.
‘So maybe not Daryl then, but someone who’s never seen war?’ he asks, eyebrows high with mock surprise. ‘Come on… you want me to die alone?’
Mason relaxes again, even laughs softly as he leans back in his chair, ‘yeah, well, you’re my kid. Nobody is ever going to be good enough.’
‘If Daryl Dixon, the Prince of the New World, is not even-‘
‘Oh, come on,’ Mason rolls his eyes and laughs.
Taiwo sniggers.
‘I’m not too fond of Felix either, for the record,’ Mason states. Then he holds out his hand again.
With an exasperated sigh, Taiwo grabs the logs from the table he’s sitting at. It’s nothing more than a big binder which holds all their data of incoming calls. The edges of the paper are curling, ink tends to bleed through the pages but nobody has come up with a better system yet. They have logs dating all the way back to the founding of the stations.
‘Thank you, Taitai.’
He thinks about asking why the logs are suddenly so important, or what Mason’s hoping to find in them, but the radio behind him flares back to life when a call comes in from Oceanside. Taiwo swivels his chair back and puts the headset on to answer.
They work like that for a while, backs towards each other. There aren’t many calls though and Taiwo spends most of his time studying maps of the city. Even though he sometimes joins a patrol or particular mission, he’s considered to be a runner and isn’t kept up-to-date with the latest discoveries Above. New streets are now marked as blocked, more neighborhoods have been looted. Some have been reserved for the Kingdom since their first contracts, others were stripped by Hilltop during the winter months.
Little notes are tacked to the paper about new entries and exits of the tunnels, but most are crossed out. It’s been a long time since they changed the tunnel-system that they’re using. There hasn’t been any need. No station has been discovered and there hasn’t been a breach in years. Sometimes one or two Xidachane manage to stumble into the tunnels, they’re never fully cleared, but everyone knows to be on their guard in the dark.
‘Has there been a party lately?’
It takes a second for the words to register properly. Taiwo turns around with a frown on his face, ‘what?’
‘Those parties you all sneak off to. Has there been one lately?’
‘No,’ Taiwo says slowly.
Mason makes a noise of acknowledgement as he goes back and forth through the logs but he doesn’t look up, nor does he say anything else.
Taiwo huffs as he turns back around.
‘What?’
‘Nothing,’ the younger man says as he pushes the headphones off his right ear so he can hear Mason better over the static. ‘I was half expecting you to tell me to throw one. Or ask whether I’d found a better suited replacement for Daryl there.’
‘Oh.’ Mason doesn’t laugh. ‘No. It wasn’t that…’
Taiwo sucks on his teeth as Mason just trails off and falls silent. ‘Okay then,’ he says with a roll of his eyes as he pushes the headphones back in place. ‘Always a pleasure talking to you…’
Not long after, the operators arrive. Three in total because the morning shift will start soon; maps and radios will have to be handed out, patrols set out and coordinated, and one should always be by the radio at all times, just in case. So two of them slide into chairs at Mason’s table and the third holds out his hand for Taiwo’s headset.
The leader of their community barely looks up when his son clocks out and slips out of the room. It’s still quite when Taiwo walks down the metal staircase. The station is deserted. Out in the distance, behind the train, the first couple of lights have come on, soft orange to mimic the sunrise outside. They cast strange shadows on the empty platform.
‘So, what did he say?’
Taiwo nearly trips over a wire that’s been there for years. His hand lands on the handle of his trusted dao but he doesn’t pull it out. Instead he hisses; ‘Makie! Shit. Don’t do that!’ With his heart pounding in his throat, he lifts his hands to cover his eyes for a moment. Then he lowers them to glare at his twin sister who has appeared out of the shadows, grinning like a Cheshire cat. ‘I could have cut you!’
She lifts an unimpressed eyebrow and throws her long braids over her shoulder so they hit her back.
‘I could have,’ Taiwo insists but he’s glad that nobody’s around to snort at his whiny tone.
With her hand on her hip, she reminds him of their mother. ‘Sure. Moving on,’ she says with a pointed look. Then it morphs into curiosity, ‘so what did Mason say?’
He adjusts the holster of his dao so he won’t have to look at her. ‘I didn’t ask.’
‘You didn’t ask?’ Amaka echoes incredulously. ‘I told you it was important! How can you not think to-‘
‘I’m not one of your soldiers, okay?’ Taiwo hisses as he steps closer to his twin so they can lower their voices and not be overheard. ‘You don’t get to order me around all the time.’ He pushes further even though she’s already rolling her eyes at him. ‘I don’t want every conversation I have with Mason to be about tactics or strategies or trade-deals. Sometimes I just want to talk, but God-forbid… if it’s so important, go up there and ask him yourself!’
Amaka crosses her arms in front of her chest defensively. ‘I did. He told me to drop it.’
‘Then drop it!’ Taiwo glares at her.
‘I can’t,’ she says through clenched teeth.
‘Then figure out another way,’ Taiwo grumbles as he pushes past her and heads over to the train. Her footsteps follow him, of course. That just makes him irritated, there’s no escaping her, especially not since they’re still sharing a room. For a moment he thinks about childishly closing the door between them but it’s heavy and he wouldn’t be quick enough so he settles for an angry glare over his shoulder as they walk into their room.
‘I’m tired of being your errand boy!’
‘Oh please, I’ve asked you to do one thing,’ Amaka scoffs as she flicks the flights on.
‘This is your obsession, not mine.’
‘But you have to see what’s going on. Even the drop-points have been moved, something is going on, I keep telling you. This sudden shift isn’t because of the war with the whisperers, it only started about a month ago. So few of us cross the borders anymore, I mean, you’re lucky Felix needs to be in Hilltop or he wouldn’t let you Above either.’
Taiwo pulls a face.
‘What?’
‘This is not on Mason, it’s just Felix jumping the gun – Mason hadn’t even approved it, and it got assigned to Eugene anyway so we’re not going.’
‘It wasn’t assigned to Eugene!’ Amaka’s eyes are wide and her mouth hangs open in shock.
‘Yes, it was.’
‘What do you mean? I was there when the call came in! It got assigned to Felix before I even had to pull some strings and I was like; nice, you know? Because our friends live there,’ she adds pointedly. Then she crosses her arms in front of her chest. ‘You even got mad about it because I dared to insinuate you’d like to go there because of a certain someone. Don’t you remember? Well, I’m not surprised actually. You get mad like that these days.’ She snaps her fingers.
‘Yeah, well…’ he wants to bite something back but scratches at his upper arm instead and sits down on his bed. He sighs. ‘I know. I’m sorry.’
She sits down, too. ‘Talk to me.’
He runs a hand over his face. ‘Can you just leave Above alone for now?’
‘No.’
‘Ahw talk to me,’ Taiwo echoes in a sweet voice before switching back to his own, ‘and all I get is a no? You’re such an asshole sometimes, Makie.’
She shrugs, ‘just because you’re not getting your way, doesn’t mean we can’t talk. This isn’t what dad wanted for us. Mason’s not letting anyone visit the Kingdom, our trade is being delivered to our safehouses, nobody is coming here… He has changed the patrols, we’re not even dipping into the gray zones anymore. He’s closing the borders, Tai.’
‘Dad wanted us to be safe, so yeah, maybe we should close the borders.’
‘Safe from what?’ Amaka demands to know. ‘Nobody has reported any incidents, there’s peace. Safe from what, Tai?’
Taiwo hates that he doesn’t have an answer. He shifts on the bed. ‘Well, have you asked him?’
‘I asked you to ask him!’ Amaka hisses.
‘Aren’t you one of his generals now?’ Taiwo rolls his eyes at the title.
‘And he didn’t tell me, or any of us. It just all got changed overnight and he’s acting like nothing’s wrong. Says he just wants to shake things up, keep us fresh… like we aren’t noticing.’ She sucks on her teeth for second. ‘Well, you didn’t, obviously, but, you know…’
Taiwo gets up and throws the dao on his bed before taking his armor off. ‘Oh we’re starting it like that? What the fuck are you even a general of, by the way? That handful of fitness freaks who’ve never fought in a war? Good luck with that. See how long you’ll last Above.’
She shrugs and waves him off. ‘You just keep on running your little errands in the dark. Bye Taiwo.’
He hates how she gets on his nerves.
A week later, Mason gathers the runners in his office, tells them they’re getting a couple of days off. There aren’t any runs with high priority right now.
He hates how she’s always right, too.
Amaka’s sitting on her bed and pretends to study her nails when her twin walks into their room. An eyebrow raises smugly, she sucks on her teeth to produce that sound their mom used to make whenever he told her lies.
He puts his bag down, stands there for a moment.
‘Take your time,’ Amaka says.
‘I’m not going to say it.’
‘That’s fine,’ she drops her hand and leans forward as she becomes more serious. ‘What happened?’
‘He shut the runners down.’
For a moment she seems stunned. ‘The runners? You’re not allowed to - what? There’s medicine we need from other stations, food. He can’t just shut you guys down like that.’
Taiwo shrugs. ‘He’s not shutting it down. We’re getting a couple of days off.’ He rolls his eyes. ‘I don’t know what’s going on anymore. He wouldn’t even stay to explain, or talk about it. Just disappeared into the tunnels with a couple of guys from the coms team.’
‘Again?’
Taiwo frowns. ‘What do you mean, again?’
‘They’ve been down there for the past couple of days but nobody has a work-ticket, nobody’s talking about what they’re doing. Have you talked to Mason at all?’
He shakes his head. ‘I think he’s avoiding me.’
‘Well, he’s definitely avoiding me.’ Amaka purses her lips. ‘So…’ she draws the word out as she eyes her brother. ‘What’re we going to do about it?’
‘Not much,’ Taiwo says with a shrug. ‘He’s avoiding us because he doesn’t want us to find something out, so… ‘
‘So let’s go find something out,’ Amaka says with a grin that matches the one on her brother’s face.
It’s harder to sneak into Mason’s office than they’d thought. People are walking in to grab new batteries from the coms station, maps from the rack, or to leave their reports. Patrol leaders plan their routes at the big table and someone is always monitoring the radios. So it’s only when they schedule themselves on late-night shifts that they, eventually, get lucky and find the office empty and the station quiet.
Amaka is almost asleep in Mason’s big chair behind the dark oak desk when Taiwo slips in.
‘Get up,’ he hisses as he darts over to the big table. ‘You go through that desk, I’ll look here.’
‘What’re we searching for?’
He looks over. ‘Seven days. You’ve had a week to think about that and you’re… anything, Makie! We’re searching for anything that will explain why he’s secretly closing the borders. Letters, messages, notes, anything. This was your idea!’
Amaka laughs as she pulls the first drawer open. ‘I love riling you up, it’s too easy.’
Taiwo rolls his eyes and starts searching as well. They read notes and letters from different community leaders, messages from other stations, work orders, requests from people on the station, rosters and old records of the points they use as currency. There’s nothing on the maps, nothing strange about the letters, not a single note anywhere that seems a cause for any of this.
‘We’re running out of time,’ Amaka says. She’s standing at the head of the big table with her hands on her hips. A worried glance at the clock tells her that the shift change will be in about half an hour. ‘This is stupid, why won’t he just talk to us? Are you sure he didn’t say anything when you talked?’
‘I mean, nothing that stood out.’ Taiwo falls into the chair at the coms table. ‘He wouldn’t answer when I asked what he was working on, he talked right over it.’
‘But you were sitting right there,’ Amaka says, ‘so he wasn’t hiding it either. What was he working on, did you see?’
‘I didn’t really care, I was being polite,’ Taiwo flashes her a brilliantly fake smile before sobering again. He makes the chair swivel left to right. ‘He wanted to see the logs though.’
‘The logs,’ Amaka echoes with little enthusiasm. ‘Okay,’ she makes a gimmie-gesture with her hand, ‘if that’s all you’ve got... let’s have a look at it then.’
Taiwo grabs the heavy book and shoves it towards her.
‘Why am I suddenly the one reading?’ she grumbles as she sits down and flips it open. The logs are used to keep track of every radio call. Just a name, station or community, the time and reason for checking in. Soldiers calling for the gate to be opened. Runners approaching via the tunnels. There are almost a dozen names per day scribbled down.
Amaka flips the pages listlessly. Nothing seems out of the ordinary.
‘What’s that,’ Taiwo asks. He leans forward just as Amaka stops and squints at one of the pages.
One of the entries has been marked. A big green line that goes straight across the page.
‘Who’s-‘
‘It’s Daryl’s entry,’ Amaka says just when her twin asks. She looks up for a second and then starts flipping more pages. ‘Here – another one, and – all of them are Daryl.’
‘Why would Mason mark his entries?’
Amaka pulls a face. ‘I don’t know. I mean… it’s like he’s keeping track of him. Felix says Dare’s traveling a lot these days so I guess this is an easy way to figure out where he is at any given time? Why would he do that though? He can just radio him.’
Taiwo pulls the book closer to his side of the table but leaves it upside down for him. He starts flipping back further, ‘are there any – look! That’s yellow. Who’s that?’
‘It’s Jay. But this one is Poppy, and that’s yellow, too. Here, Susan, yellow, so…’
‘It’s all White House station,’ Taiwo points out. ‘Maybe yellow is White House station.’
‘I guess…’
They both lean back in their chairs while staring at the logs. Both pondering the same question.
Suddenly Taiwo sits up again. ‘Daryl’s log-in was from a week ago, look how far back we had to flip to get there. It makes sense because he only broadcasts to every community when he’s checking into one of them to let everyone know where he’s at. He’s at Alexandria so he’ll broadcast on their signal which we don’t get so that’s his last message to us, right? His check-in, a week ago.’
‘Yes…’
‘Look, White House station’s messages are even further back, that’s almost four weeks.’ Taiwo frowns as he looks at his sister. ‘We haven’t spoken to White House Station in four weeks? That doesn’t seem right.’
Amaka checks the book again. Her finger goes down every page until she reaches the latest entry. ‘It is though, there aren’t any other records of them.’ She worries her bottom lip. Then she pushes herself away from the table and gets up, walks over to the coms station. ‘Radio them now.’
‘What, now? It’s the middle of the night!’
‘So? Someone will be there.’
Taiwo reaches for the receiver, ‘yeah, that’s kinda the thing. What the hell am I going to say. Hi, just checking in? What’s up?’
Amaka swats at his shoulder. ‘Just do it, Tai.’
‘Yeah- yeah,’ he rolls his eyes and calls in. There’s no crackle on the line from anyone picking up, no call-back, no response. The line remains silent. Taiwo sits up, twists some dials and tries again. He grabs his headphones, switches to an emergency line and tries again. ‘They’re not answering.’
‘Shit.’
Taiwo worries his bottom lip but then throws the headphones down on the desk again. ‘Their operator is probably just sleeping behind the wheel – it could be nothing. Put the logs away before our relief gets here, make sure Mason won’t know that you went through his desk. He’s going to know it was us.’
Amaka slowly closes the book. ‘Shouldn’t we tell someone?’
‘Well, looks like Mason already knows. He’s on it. He’s probably already sent someone over, he’s just keeping us out of the loop. You know what he’s like.’ Taiwo tidies the coms station up and then heads over to the desk. He makes sure everything is in the proper place. ‘Makie, come on.’
‘Why would he keep us out of the loop?’
‘Because last time we were in the loop, half of Hilltop died, I had to zipline over a herd with a screaming child clipped to me and you were leading the actual troops. Poor man aged a hundred years that night.’
Amaka looks unconvinced. Still, she gives a little shrug and looks around the room. ‘All done?’
‘Not thanks to you, but yes.’
They return to their seats. Amaka behind the desk and Taiwo at the coms station.
Just ten minutes later, the next shift comes up the stairs. One of the men smirks when he sees the twins lounging in their seats. ‘I thought I saw double on the roster. You’ve been here,’ he says with a nod at Taiwo, ‘but what are you doing up here?’ he asks the sister. ‘Don’t you guards pride yourselves on being Above all the time?’
‘Pride myself on being asleep at this time usually,’ Amaka yawns theatrically. ‘But I was just keeping an eye on my little brother. He’s like a puppy sometimes; gets destructive when bored.’ She gets up, throws Taiwo a look, ‘might start pissing on the carpet.’
‘What? Hey, you take that back.’ Taiwo grabs the logs and pushes it into the man’s hands. ‘Here. Nothing to report tonight, we’re out. Hey! Makie! Come back here.’ They pretend to bicker while walking down the staircase, let their voices fade as they walk across the station and by the time they get to their car, they’re quiet.
Amaka closes the curtain between their halves so they can strip down to their underwear and get into bed. They listen to the quiet with bated breath.
The darkness devours everything. There’s no more warmth down here. The air is cold but strangely thick, her skin is clammy by the time she reaches the second corner. The noises of the station have faded by now. All she can hear is her own ragged breath and water that seems to be dripping into a puddle somewhere. It sounds near and far at the same time.
Even such a silly thing frightens her down here. She has always avoided the tunnels, and it’s why she’s fighting so hard to live their lives Above. This fear kills. This darkness shouldn’t belong to them. They shouldn’t be so comfortable in it.
‘Careful.’
The warning comes too late. She trips over a ridge and falls. Small rocks press into the palms of her hands as she catches herself, her knee blooms with pain as she bangs in on the tracks. A little way ahead, a light comes on and starts moving towards her.
It’s her brother. He holds out his hand, helps her up and inspects her hands. With a soothing gesture, he wipes the gravel from her palms. Then he nods to the light on his armor. ‘There’s a reason we use these things, you know. We don’t actually run in the dark. You’d be dead before you’d ever reach the halfway point.’
Amaka looks back at the dark tunnel that leads back to their home. ‘I thought they might be able to see. If they raise the alarm…’
Taiwo smirks and shakes his head. ‘You might be the big-shot general Above but these tunnels? They’re my territory. What were you thinking, going without me?’
‘Nobody would expect me to take the tunnels and our car is the last one. It’s easy to slip out. I feel like Mason’s keeping track of me, too. Suddenly there’s always someone shadowing me or tagging along. There’s no escaping them Above, so… Below it is.’
‘Below it is,’ Taiwo echoes. ‘Luckily, he didn’t think to shadow the lesser half. Guess everyone is just so used to me taking off… they didn’t bat an eye.’ He laughs but sounds a bit embarrassed. ‘Come on. Let’s get going.’
Amaka follows him. After a short while, she can’t keep it in anymore. ‘You know that’s not true, right? You being the lesser half.’
‘No, of course not,’ he says, even though he doesn’t sound sure.
‘That general thing? It’s just a title.’
‘Yeah.’
‘Taiwo…’
Taiwo sighs and turns around so his light shines in his twin’s face. ‘We’re going to talk about that now? You’re Amaka, the general of the Outskirts, and I’m Taiwo who runs, and delivers groceries. And that’s fine.’
‘You can be anything you want to be.’
‘I am something!’ Taiwo hisses. ‘Just because you look down on it, doesn’t mean I have to aim higher. This is what I’m good at. I like my job. And unlike you, I’m fine with walking into a room and nobody knowing my name.’
Amaka crosses her arms in front of her chest. ‘Sorry you feel that way, but I’m not looking down on anyone.’
‘Sorry you feel that way,’ Taiwo scoffs. ‘I’m always sticking my nose up and doing everything to make you feel that way, but yeah, sorry that you got your feelings hurt,’ he says in a high-pitched voice that echoes in the tunnel.
‘You need help,’ Amaka says simply, lifting one shoulder in a shrug. ‘Either get a different job or be confident in who you are, brother. Nobody thinks you’re the lesser half, and nobody is out to make you feel that way. Stop it.’
Taiwo glares at her.
‘That hasn’t worked since we got out of the womb,’ she tells him.
‘Can you just let me win for one time?’
‘Not until you start making sense.’ Amaka holds out her hand and smiles when her brother takes it. She squeezes, once. ‘Thank you for coming with me. How did you know I’d go tonight?’
‘Felix looked like he was dying to tell me something but couldn’t,’ Taiwo says with a smirk. ‘And we’re basically the same person, so I just knew. Like a sixth sense. Isn’t that what people think about twins?’
‘I don’t know about that,’ she answers, shoulders sagging with relief, ‘but I’m glad I’m never alone.’
Taiwo squeezes her hand and then drops it. ‘So where do you want to go? White House station?’
‘Yeah.’
Her brother takes the light and clips it to her armor. ‘You’ll need it more,’ he says with a teasing smirk playing around his lips. Then he turns on his heels. ‘Try to keep up, okay?’ And he sets off into the darkness. Feet sure and steady, pounding the flat earth, jumping over the tracks whenever they cross them. Sometimes they slow as he hears his sister stumble behind him but then they pick up the pace again, leading her on.
It takes them a couple of hours because Amaka can’t keep up the pace and needs to rest often. There’s sweat pearling on her dark skin as she walks beside her brother, hands on her hips as she tries to catch her breath. At least Taiwo’s breathing heavily, too, but he’s not gasping for air like her. It annoys her slightly. She’d thought she’d at least be able to keep up with her hours of training every week.
They turn a corner.
‘What the fuck is that?’ Taiwo holds his hand out to stop Amaka. They’re in the last tunnel before the station. The light on Amaka’s armor flits over the ground. It’s littered with body bags. Some black like the ones the army used to use, some just thick white garbage bags tied shut at the feet. There must be over fifty of them.
‘What the hell,’ Amaka whispers as she carefully edges closer. ‘Did White House station do this? Why would they…’ she trails off when her twin kneels down next to one of the nearest body bags and draws his sword. With the sharp point, he rips the bags open near the face.
The Xidachane wakes up. It starts to wriggle, opens its mouth, hands still caught in the plastic bag.
The face, even though half-rotten and turned, is familiar.
Taiwo stands, grunts softly as he pushes the tip of his blade into the brain to make the body still. Then he checks another bag. Ends that one, too. ‘It is White House station,’ he says sadly.
Amaka shivers. More bags start to move restlessly. ‘Why don’t they make any sound?’
Taiwo points at the neck of the corpse. ‘Throat sliced so deep, it almost severed their heads. Cut the vocal cords. Seems to have happened to all of them.’ He gestures to the couple of bodies that are moving on the ground. ‘Holy shit. What happened?’
‘I don’t know,’ Amaka breathes as she carefully steps forward. The eerie light bounces over plastic, makes it shimmer as she walks past. Then she draws her knife. ‘We should still them all.’
‘We should get out of here,’ Taiwo counters.
‘No, we need to get to the station. What if there are survivors. It can’t be everyone, right?’
‘They took the time to wrap them into body bags. There are no survivors, Makie.’ Taiwo takes a step back. ‘What if they’re still here?’
Amaka keeps walking. ‘We need to make sure. You start here, I’ll sneak through, get to the station-‘
‘We’re not splitting up!’ Taiwo hisses.
‘Then come with me,’ Amaka whispers back. But with every step she takes, more and more bodies start to wake up. The only sound they hear is the rustling of plastic but suddenly there are hands reaching for her ankles. Not every body bag has been tied shut, apparently. Faces become visible, friends, people they used to know; now just snapping teeth that frighten her.
‘Tai!’
‘Shit, I’m coming,’ he says as he jumps over the tracks, jabbing his sword left and right to get to his sister. She has her knife out, jabs it into a skull that’s getting too close just as a hand wraps around her boot. A shriek escapes her. A body pulls itself close by her foot, it scrapes over gravel-
With a grunt, she brings her boot down on the skull and the hand falls away.
‘We’ve got to get out of here,’ Taiwo says. ‘They’re all waking up, we’re never getting to the station. There’s an emergency hatch over there, go, go, go.’ He pushes her towards the wall but even with the light it takes her a couple of seconds to figure out what he means. There’s a ladder mounted on the wall, leading up.
The metal is cold to her touch. Her boot is slippery because of the blood and she almost loses her footing a couple of times.
‘Please hurry,’ Taiwo says as the bodies start to rise behind them. Body bags fall to the floor. The dead stagger towards him just as he starts to make his way up. Fingers try to grab hold of his ankle, boot and then just his heel but he manages to shake them off. ‘Push the – yeah.’
Amaka pushes the hatch open and crawls out onto the street. She’s breathing hard and is almost surprised when rain lands on her heated skin. It doesn’t matter that she’s in the gutter. She stares up at the dark sky and lets the rain wash the sweat off her skin.
Taiwo closes the hatch and sits down next to her. His bloody sword still in his hands.
‘Are you okay?’
‘Yeah,’ he pants.
‘We should get back, warn the others. Someone did this,’ Amaka says and she sounds like she can’t believe it. ‘Someone’s out there.’
‘Yeah.’
Still, it takes a little while for either of them to move. It’s only when her breathing becomes more regular and the cold starts to seep into her bones that she gets up. She turns, hold out her hand to her brother but doesn’t pull him up when he accepts. Instead, she stares at something right behind him.
‘Oh my God.’
‘What?’ Taiwo scrambles to his feet, dao at the ready. But who his sister was staring at, is already dead and no threat to them now. They came up right before the entrance of the metro station – it’s on the other side of the road. Between an old supermarket and office building, and in the old days only marked by faint lettering right above the entrance.
‘We have to call Daryl.’
‘No,’ Taiwo objects.
Above the entrance of the metro station hangs a body. It swings gently back and forth from the rope that has been tied around the neck. It can’t have been there for very long because the skin is still just that eerie white color of the dead. There’s no rot yet, no black except for the tongue that has pushed the mouth open. It’s still easy to recognize Joao, the leader of White House Station.
‘There’s someone out here,’ Amaka says as she grabs her brother’s hand. ‘We’ll need his help.’
‘Yeah,’ Taiwo breathes as he starts to back away. ‘Yeah – let’s – we’ve got to get out of here.’
Together, they run.