“Sit, please,” Ray said. “Hands on the table in front of you.” The aluminum table and its matching chairs had been scavenged from the employee lounge before he’d converted it to Lizzy’s prison. Now the table was mostly used for folding laundry. He preferred eating meals in his room.
“Would you mind fetching the flask from my jacket?”
There should be no harm in letting the man have his booze, but Ray wasn’t about to drink from the flask of a stranger. Even if it weren’t drugged or poisoned, there were surely germs inhabiting its interior and exterior.
“No problem, but I won’t be joining you.”
“A teetotaler, are you?”
“No. I just prefer you keep your cooties to yourself.”
The deep chuckle bounced off the ceiling and throughout the facility. Lizzy must be beside herself with curiosity.
“Good thing I’m not easily offended. Now about that dinner...”
“Your choices are Irish Stew or Asian Beef Strips.”
“That’s a no-brainer. You may have guessed my heritage.”
Ray smiled. “The red hair tipped me off, and I detect an accent. What part of Ireland?”
“Dublin. I taught at Trinity College before moving to the states. I was at Dartmouth prior to the pandemic.”
An academic. The day was definitely taking a turn for the better.
“New Hampshire. That’s some pretty country. What subject?”
“Music theory. You?”
“Georgetown. M.S. in Health Systems Administration.”
“I see. You ran this place before, didn’t you?”
“How did you guess?”
“Just a feeling. I’d heard of these types of national stockpiles. You Americans like to be prepared, don’t you?”
“Nothing wrong with that.”
“Indeed. Smart folks hope for the best and plan for the worst.”
“Tell me about the children, Fergus.”
The blue eyes twinkled. “They’re fine, Ray. But I should tell you that you’re being taken advantage of. Just a wee bit.”
“So they’re not starving? Who’s taking care of them?”
“It’s not my place to say. Just know that they’re healthy and happy. And safe,” he added with a meaningful look.
“So there are plenty of adults looking after them?”
“No worries there.”
Ray sighed. He realized at that moment just how much he had been fretting about the children. “That’s wonderful to hear.”
“They’re trying to extort candy from you.”
“Yes, I saw that. I have some, but it will take a bit of digging to get to it. When communities suffer a catastrophic event — tornado, flood, hurricane — the people who often suffer the most during the aftermath are the children. Their worlds have been turned upside down, and unlike the adults, they’re usually helpless to do anything. So as part of our national disaster preparedness plan, we decided to include items meant to comfort. Stuffed animals, cozy pajamas, candy.”
“That’s brilliant. You probably have enough candy here for a thousand children.” The blue eyes took in all the wonders that were visible from their vantage. But Ray was no fool. The pharmaceuticals and firearms were secured at the far side of the building, well beyond the visual range of this stranger.
“It think so, too. So how did you find me? And why exactly did you come looking?” Best just to get that out in the open. He could only guess at the horrors people experienced during the pandemic and what followed: complete societal collapse. He had been safe and well-fed throughout. How bad had it gotten out there? What had people been reduced to? Had this man sitting before him committed atrocities? Ray gave a small, involuntary shiver. It wasn’t missed by his dinner companion.
The small man took a deep breath, then said, “I’m not starving, Ray. I’m just a bit peckish from the hike over. I’m in good health. I have no desire to take anything from you, nor does anyone I know. The children and their...group...are fine. They’re better than fine,” he added. “They’re quite happy with their primitive lifestyle. I’m not saying they would turn down any gifts you were so inclined to offer from your vast reserves, but they don’t need anything. At least not yet. In many ways, their lives are more satisfying now than before. Maybe that’s the key to happiness — not having everything you could possibly want or need at the press of a button or with a dash to the corner store.” He gestured to the warehouse contents.
“Maybe,” Ray replied. “But there’s something to be said for not having to worry about where your next meal is coming from. Why are you here, Fergus?”
“Simple. The kids told me about your drone and your benevolence. I had to make sure you weren’t a pedophile.”
“I’m a lot of things, but pedophile is not on the list.”
“I can see that. But I bet lonely is. When was the last time you had a conversation with another human being?”
Ray’s laugh was bitter. “You should qualify that statement by adding sane before human being.”
At that moment, Lizzy’s voice echoed down the corridor. Her timing was perfect.
“We are tired of waiting, Ray! We want dinner. We want to know who is inside here with us. We can smell hiiimmm.”
Ray watched the expression on the newcomer’s face transition from mild concern to surprised alarm.
“What the hell, Ray? Who is that?”
“That would be Lizzy,” he said.
“Tell me about her.”
“I’ll tell you about her while we eat. I’ll leave out the gory parts until you’ve finished.”
***
“Hello, Lizzy. My name is Fergus.”
They stood in the corridor several feet away from the steel mesh wall of Lizzy’s prison. She had been standing just on the other side of it when they arrived with her dinner. She was expecting them.
“Are you a leprechaun?” she said in the voice that always made Ray think of tree limbs creaking in the wind. In a cemetery. At midnight. It was her witch affectation, the one she’d been using for
