“But what happens to those who can’t pay?”
The deputy took a few steps over to one of the containers and pretended that he had not heard the boy’s question. After retrieving a piece of paper from the inside of his jacket pocket, he then muttered something to himself about how he always found it difficult to find the right one. Brenden did not follow the deputy and hardly even paid attention as the man drifted from container to container, checking whether the number that he had on his slip of paper matched that of the refrigeration unit before him. The boy did not even repeat his question.
“Aha!” exclaimed the deputy as he reached the end of one of the lines of containers. “Come over here. Come here, my boy!”
Slowly, Brenden traipsed his way to where the deputy was standing and watched as the man tore away a piece of paper that had been sellotaped over the side of the container’s door. The deputy then threw the door open to unveil ten drawers - one on top of the other - each of which contained five rows of blood pint bags.
“This one is to get you going,” said the deputy as he handed one of the bags to the boy. “I also have another one here for you to take, but it’s for you to deliver.”
After he had closed the fridge, the deputy delved into another container situated nearby. This one turned out to be just a shelving unit, from which the deputy removed a small cool bag. He placed the pints of blood in the bag, extended its strap and handed it over to Brenden.
“Who’s it for?” enquired the boy, who was becoming steadily more confused over what lay ahead of him.
“Oh, don’t worry about that. See, there’s a number on the bag. Just match the number to the person and you know you’ll have got your man. Right,” added the deputy before Brenden could ask any further questions, such as how he would find out about a person’s number, or to whom he would be delivering the blood. “We really must be getting on; we’re already running a little late.”
Without waiting for Brenden to respond, the deputy marched off towards the centre aisle. Brenden was still inspecting the bag that the deputy had given to him as the man disappeared around a corner, meaning the boy had to run in an effort to catch up. When he reached the corner, Brenden just about managed to see the deputy at the end of the aisle, but he soon disappeared behind a wall of containers.
“Just a little farther,” shouted the deputy from out of sight.
Brenden jogged past lines of buzzing machines to reach the spot where he had seen the deputy disappear only moments before and turned to see the white haired man speaking with a lowered voice into another intercom. By the time Brenden reached the deputy, the man had finished his conversation. But whatever curiosity the boy had with regard to the deputy’s words was wiped out by his discovery that he was standing before an enormous steel door, into which was cut a man-sized opening and several slits for peering into the space beyond. A loud clunk of a noise announced that a bolt was being withdrawn, and the smaller opening lurched forward.
“This is where we part ways, my boy,” said the deputy. “You’ve got your bag, and as long as you don’t cause any trouble, you’ll be fine. I think I ought to remind you - as I mentioned in our meeting after your decision to come down here - that it may be possible for you to return to the world above. It can be a tricky process, but it can be done.”
Brenden stared into the corridor beyond the steel door, which just like the stairway was a bare space, painted white and lit with oval lights. The area, which was about one hundred feet long, was almost completely empty, the only exceptions being two trollies which were covered with plastic cool boxes.
“Well,” announced the deputy as he stuck out his hand for Brenden to shake, “farewell and good luck.”
After having his hand pumped a few times by the deputy, Brenden found himself being guided through the opening. Before he really knew what was happening, he heard the jolt of the bolt locking him in. He spun around and saw the deputy’s eyes peering through one of the slits cut into the steel door.
“Just walk along,” came the muffled voice of the man, “and when you get there, they’ll open the gate at the other end.”
Brenden looked back over his shoulder several times as he cautiously made his way down the corridor; until he reached the halfway point, he could still see the eyes of the deputy watching him. After that they disappeared, leaving him finally alone in the strange hidden space under the earth that was to be his new home. The gate at the other end of the corridor seemed at first glance to be an exact replica of the steel door that Brenden had just passed through. However, as the boy got closer, he could see that there was one key difference: this one had no holes cut into it to enable someone to see what was beyond.
When Brenden reached the door, he was unsure as to what he was supposed to do. As nothing continued to happen, he looked around for an intercom to say he had arrived, but he could not see one. Instead, all he discovered was that it was possible he was being watched as he noticed the presence of a video camera to the side of the massive steel portal. He looked up into the lens and gave a tentative
