The Big Sleep (Duology)

Chapter Two - Bad Smells

The next morning, we set to the real work. While our dad tended to the fields and foodstores with the handful of farmhands who had reported for duty, Beth and I tackled the bulk of the filth. The house was disgusting. Everything in mine and Beth's bedrooms had to be tossed. As did most of the food in our cupboards. Luckily, my father's room and most of our living areas had avoided the physical filth, but the smell was everywhere. We opened all the windows and doors, bagged up all the trash, and cleaned every surface one hundred times. Once we were done, it still smelled.

"It will clear eventually," my father said, propping the front door open to coax through a breeze. "Bad smells are the least of our problems right now. It rained the entire time we slept and the fields are not looking good. Except for the cellar, most of the stores were raided by animals. So was the coop. It's a bloodbath in there. We have to get everything back in working order. It's going to take months."

"What about the Masters?" I asked, remembering the vision my Greyman had shown me in its eyes just before I woke. The Greyman invasion had not just been some unhappy twist of fate; they had been sent here. Sent by the Masters. As horrible as starvation seemed, the impending alien invasion was foremost on my mind.

My father shook his head. "Oh, Rain. Don't you understand? The Masters aren't real."

"What?"

"That was just another nightmare. Remember?"

"No. Dr. Farrah--"

"Made some serious errors in judgement. She manipulated children with her own delusions. It was wrong for her to involve you." He sighed. "I know it's confusing, Rain. Just remember that you're awake now, and you're safe. If you ever get scared, come talk to me and I'll remind you."

"Of course you'd say that about her," I said, scowling at him. "She's the only honest adult in this city, the only one who trusts us enough to tell us anything. Thank God the Speaker's coming to help her, or we might be stuck relying on people like you when the Masters come."

He sighed and wrapped one arm around my shoulders. "I do trust you, Rain. In fact, why don't you head on over to the Dragon and see if Kayle's there yet? I'm sure you have lots to catch up on. Beth and I will head to the festival later on. See you there?"

***

I joined Kayle and Billy in our usual booth. They both wore black, a style Billy had apparently adopted from our shared best friend. Kayle pulled it off a bit better, with her white hair and slender figure. The fluff of orange atop Billy's head and the paunch that hung over his belt took something away from the look. Well, he certainly made it his own.

"It's bullshit," Kayle said, slamming her drink on the table and sloshing its contents over the surface. "We all know the bond is real. What happened in the Green City was undeniable. We know the Masters are coming. Why ignore it?"

Billy nodded. "They just want to pretend it's all over and move on."

"They're going to get us all killed," I said. I drained my own drink, then continued, indignant. "They're pretending it was just another Big Sleep, that we won and that it's over."

"But it's just starting." Kayle rapped the table twice with her knuckles. "Think about what the Greymen did. How they did it. The Masters are their masters. They control that. All of it."

"They're too strong," I said.

"We're boned," Billy said, then he waved Perry over and ordered another round.

"You kids might want to head to the festival before it gets going. It'll be a good time. I'm closing up soon to head over myself," Perry said, wiping his hands on his apron. "Anyways, too much booze on your stomachs right now won't leave you feeling too good come morning. Might not feel it, but you've not eaten near enough to hit it like you normally do. Not just after a Sleep."

Kayle smacked Perry's hand away as he reached for her glass. "We're not done, Perry. Stop trying to dodge my tips. Take my damn money, you idiot."

Without another word, Perry nodded and disappeared into the kitchen, reappearing a moment later carrying a tray laden with drinks. He dropped the tray on our table, took the tips, and retreated to the kitchen once more. Kayle rarely got in any kind of mood, but when a bad one swept over her, the best recourse was to take cover. Perry had learned this lesson more than once. I, on the other hand, still hadn't.

"Wouldn't have expected Perry to be so into the festival," I said.

"It's just bullshit, you know," Kayle said again, taking a fresh drink from the tray. "Bullshit!" She slammed the glass down, sending another fountain into the air that splashed the patrons at the next table.

"Jesus. We hear you, kid," said a dark haired man who has gotten particularly soaked. "It's bullshit. Don't need to make bullshit for everyone else."

"I'm not the one making it all bullshit!" Kayle shouted at the man. "Blame the festival for that. Or blame yourself!"

"Blame myself for you pouring your drink on me? Nah, I don't think I will."

"Blame yourself for the state of the world, old man. If you idiots had figured out the bond thirty years ago, none of this would be happening. We'd be ready. Or at least we'd have been able to do something. Now we're all screwed and it's your fault! Don't try to pass the buck to me. You failed. Your whole generation failed--"

The man stood up and poured his drink over Kayle's head. "Now, that was my fault," he said and turned to stalk out of the bar.

Kayle leaped on the man's back, wrapping both arms around his broad shoulders and pulling him back into the bar. He fell back, onto her tiny frame. For a moment, I worried he had crushed her, but the screams that came from the pile on the floor were definitely a man's. Kayle tore at his face, his shirt, his chest, drawing blood as she whirled around the man on the floor, kicking and scratching like a wild mongoose devouring a slippery snake.

"Dammit. Kayle!" I shouted, grabbing at her. Billy leapt into the fray with me and we managed to separate the two, though Kayle was ready to pounce if we let her go.

"The hell?" the man said, wiping blood from his cheek. His clothes were a mess, and a single, short line of red welled with fresh blog on his arm, but he seemed fine. "I--I'm going to the police."

We laughed as he turned and fled. Our fair city had virtually no real police or court system, so any crime less than murder tended to be forgiven with little ado.

"You're stuck in the past, old man," Kayle shouted at his back.

Thoroughly soaked in cheap booze and our own sense of self-righteousness, we agreed that we would not stagnate as our predecessors had. Instead, we would go to the only other sane person in our city: Dr. Farrah. We would learn and we would fight. We would live.

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