"You alright?" Chloe asked.
"I think so," Amanda said.
Rudy stirred on his bunk, looking over at them, his eyessquinted closed like Jabba the Hut, lying on his side. "What's goingon?"
"Go back to sleep, Rudy."
Rudy's feet lifted into the air as he struggled to getenough leverage to sit up. He grunted and groaned, fighting gravity and his ownrubbery bulk. "What the hell happened to your face?" Rudy saidpointing at Amanda's jaw.
"Nothing happened," Amanda said, feeling asense of embarrassment that she knew she shouldn't feel.
"A soldier tried to rape her in the bathroom,"Chloe said.
"What?" Rudy asked, unable to believe his ears.His face became red, and he bounded to his feet, quicker than Amanda or Chloecould believe. "Where is he?"
"He's already taken care of," Chloe said.Amanda again felt a sense of dread at Chloe's words... the coldness. But shehad saved her. She had kept her from something even worse than a punch to thejaw.
"We have to tell someone," Rudy said.
"The man is dead. If we tell someone, then we'renext. Who do you think they're going to side with? It's martial law out there,Rudy."
Rudy shook his head, refusing to believe it. "It'snot like that. These are soldiers; these are good guys."
"Wake the fuck up, Rudy. We're not safe. We mightnever be safe again."
Rudy sat on the cot, and it held his weight, despite thefact that it bowed heavily in the middle. Amanda was sure that it was about tobreak at any moment.
"What do we do then?"
Chloe looked at both of them. "We play it cool. Actlike nothing happened. When they start asking around, shrug your shoulders andplay dumb. In the meantime, no one goes anywhere without someone else. We'refine down here, there's enough people around, but we don't go anywhere withoutsomeone else."
"Even me?"
"Especially you, Rudy. You couldn't fight your wayout of wet paper bag."
Rudy looked offended.
"Don't worry, Rudy. I'll be your shit buddy,"Amanda said.
Rudy's face went red. She loved when it did that. EvenChloe laughed a little at him.
Chapter 29: On Notice
Zeke shot upwards at the sound of the Coliseum's PAsystem crackling to life. He rubbed his eyes as he looked around, and he knewthings were not right as soon as he noticed an armed soldier standing at theexit to the concourse. His rifle was not hanging loose; it was trained on thearena floor.
"This is Major Miller of the United States Army. Ineed all civilians to move down onto the floor of the arena."
There was a sluggish response. It did not sit well withthe unseen Major Miller. "Now, people! This is not a suggestion. This isan order."
"What the hell is going on?" Lou asked.
"Trouble," Zeke replied.
The speed of the civilians was still not fast enough forthe Major. "If any civilians refuse to move to the floor of the arena,they will be given a warning. If they still refuse to move, they will beshot."
Zeke and Lou rose to their feet. To their right, they sawBrian pick up his youngest and begin the awkward march down the steps with anear comatose child bundled in his arms. June followed, rubbing the sleep fromher eyes. All around the arena people were moving, bounding down the stairs ina rush.
When Zeke and Lou reached the floor of the arena, Zeketurned in a slow circle. At each entrance was an armed soldier, their rifletrained on the floor of the arena.
The PA system crackled again, and Major Miller said,"Thank you for cooperating. I have a message for you." The crowd ofrefugees looked around at each other, questioning looks on their faces. Zekecould feel the tension of the crowd rolling over his body.
"Up until now, it's all been cake and gravy. Butthings are changing," Major Miller's voice had a hard edge to it."This morning, we found one of our men dead in a bathroom stall. His skullhad been bashed in."
The Major let his words hang in the air for a second.Zeke scanned the faces of the crowd around him. One face in particular stoodout to him. It was the face of a young girl, she couldn't have been much olderthan twenty, and there was a fresh bruise along her jawline. A hollow look offear filled her eyes. She dropped her gaze to the floor as he watched.
"We can't have that. We are here to protect you. Andnow, we have to protect you from yourselves. Vacation is over, people. We arein a tenuous situation at best. The protocols are going to be different now.There are no more free rides. Citizens will work for their food, or they willnot eat. You will help yourselves, or you will all die. And for those whokilled our soldier, we have a message for you. We will find you, and you willbe dealt with. For anyone who doesn't like the new protocols, you are notprisoners. You can climb the fence out front and leave any time you wish. Wewon't stop you."
Zeke scoffed at the man's words. The man was giving thema choice that was really no choice at all. You can either do things the armyway, or you can kill yourself. It wasn't a choice at all.
Zeke watched the young girl as she kept her eyes lockedon the floor. The fat man next to her, who couldn't have been much older thanthe girl, kept looking at her and another woman. His face had turned beet red,and Zeke could see the same look of fear in his eyes that he had seen in thegirl. Something was going on there. It could be just your run-of-the-mill"I'm afraid for my life" fear, but he thought it was more than that.
"... so get your rest while you can. At dawn, wewill give you all jobs, and we expect you to do them."
The Major's speech ended without ceremony, and the peopleon the floor of the arena milled about, while the soldiers disappeared from theexits, drawing
