Without warning

Barney the Dinosaur. So I’ll share mine for real with Sophie and Anna. Because they’re sad.’

‘That’s very generous of you,’ said Kip. ‘That’s very good, darling… You go have a play now, and let Mommy and Daddy talk, okay?’

The little girl flicked on her Scooby Doo flashlight, turned on a dime, and shot away up the darkened hall to set up a tea party with her stuffed toys.

‘Any chance she won’t scoff them all down tonight?’ asked Barb sceptically.

‘Oh, she’s pretty good. She did share that army chocolate with her friends.’

‘And she got in trouble for it, Kip. Remember? That asshole ration Nazi at the school had her wait outside his office for an hour. A fucking hour …!’

‘Okay, honey, calm down,’ he said. ‘It’s a good thing, you know. She gets so little now. And she’s so good about it. It’s nice that we can still get her these little things.’

‘Nice for her, Kip, but you’re not here every day dealing with the neighbours and the school moms.’ Her voice hitched. ‘The th-things they say…’ Tears welled up in Barb’s eyes and her face creased as she leaned forward into his chest, sobbing. She was like this so often now. Brittle and prone to emotional collapse.

They stood like that, in the soft, guttering light of a half-melted candle, for nearly a minute. The house did have power, for the next two hours, but like most people they kept their energy usage to a minimum. Barb had the rice cooker plugged in on the bench, with some vegetables in the steamer basket, but that was it for appliances. They would turn on the battery-operated radio at nine for the Emergency Broadcast update, and then switch it right off again.

His wife was just calming down when three hard knocks rattled the door leading out to the porch and made them both jump. Kip left Barbara to compose herself and peeked through the curtains to see who’d come by. Visitors were a rarity these days, because of the shortages. Everyone stayed close to home. There was no mistaking the mountain-sized moonlit silhouette on the porch, however. It was his friend and former deputy, Barney Tench.

‘Holy crap, Barn, what are you doing all the way over on this side of town? How’d you get the gas?’

‘Can I come in?’ asked Barney, with a hint of urgency.

‘Sure, buddy, come in. Hey Barb, look – it’s Barn. Reckon we could break out the emergency bourbon?’

Tench hustled in, keen to be off the street. ‘S’okay, I don’t need a drink, Kip,’ he said. ‘Although a glass of water would be nice.’

Barb wiped the last of her tears away and fetched him a glass from the cupboard. She drew the water from a five-gallon plastic bottle on the bench by the sink. It didn’t matter how many times Kip assured her that the water supply was all right, she refused to drink straight from the tap anymore. She handed the glass to Barney, who was abashed to see that she’d been crying.

‘Oh man, I hope I’m not interrupting anything?’

Barb kissed him on the cheek. ‘Don’t worry, Barn. I’m just being silly. Ignore me, I’ll go look after Suzie. She gets lonesome in the dark after a while.’

As his wife disappeared, Kip pulled out a couple of chairs from the kitchen table. ‘You sure I can’t offer you a drink, buddy?’ he asked again. ‘Wouldn’t mind one myself, the day I’ve had. Well, the week, really.’

Barney sat down and said no. ‘I have to keep a clear head, Kip.’ He paused and looked his former boss in the eyes. ‘I’m sort of on the run.’

‘What?’

‘It’s Blackstone, Kip. There’s a warrant for my arrest… Oh man, I hope you don’t mind me coming here. I don’t want to get you in trouble.’

‘Don’t be fucking ridiculous,’ Kipper shot back. ‘You’re always welcome in my house. But what’s going on? Is this another one of his stupid fucking games? I’d have thought he’d learned his lesson after the last time.’

Tench shook his head. ‘The warrant is for sedition and sabotage – for aiding the Resistance. Specifically, for cutting off the power to Fort Lewis last week.’

Kip smacked his open palm down on the scarred oak table that Barb had dragged all the way over from New York. ‘Son of a bitch,’ he swore. ‘Those assholes at Lewis -’

‘Kipper, it’s true,’ said Barney, talking over the top of him. ‘I was part of that. In fact, they couldn’t have done it without my help.’

‘Oh.’

An awkward moment followed, a hot uncomfortable silence broken in the end by Kipper.

‘Well, they’re still assholes… So why’d you do it, buddy? You would’ve known you couldn’t really hurt them – crews had that supply back on within hours. It’s like poking a wild bear with a stick. You’re gonna get your ass bit.’

Barney rubbed his face and leaned forward, elbows on the table, a picture of desolation. ‘I did it because it was the right thing to do, Kip,’ he replied firmly. ‘Even if it seemed pointless and made things even worse for me. And my family. They cut Lorraine and the kids off support – did you know that? After I left the department, Lorraine couldn’t even get the food stamps that everyone else got. We had to live off the neighbours and her family. Church helped too, for a while. Then their stamps got cut off too.’

‘Damn, Barney. I’m sorry… I didn’t know.’

‘You wouldn’t, Kip. You’ve been too busy holding this city together. And I didn’t want to put you in the shit by contacting you. They’ve been watching me pretty closely. I meant what I said when I left: I can’t collaborate with a dictatorship. But I want you to know that I think what you’ve done for the city, for the people, that’s been great.’

‘Oh come on, Barney,’ Kipper said, with a hint of irritation. ‘Don’t piss in my pocket. That was my job. It was yours too. I respect your reasons for going, but I couldn’t agree with them – for myself, you know.’