Chapter 2

Glancing around, Joel looked at where his distracted steps had brought him. It wasn’t surprising he guessed, never underestimate the power of habit. Well, since he was here, why not go and see Cal, he always provided an understanding ear.

“So, how’s it going, baby brother?” Joel used the term that never failed to get a rise out of him. Of course, as always recently, any response from Cal was muffled by six feet of densely packed earth, a fact which wasn’t to be taken for granted these days, it had cost Joel everything he had to ensure that his brother stayed out of the communal grave. Every last penny had gone on buying him his own plot and even a marker. He wouldn’t go as far as to call the marker a gravestone, that would imply stone for a start, this was simply a piece of hardboard with his name and dates written on. It’d be lucky to last the winter. As always, Joel traced his finger along the letters of Caleb’s name and the two dates, two dates that simply didn’t have enough years separating them. He had been little more than a kid and it was Joel’s job to look after him, to protect him, but how can you protect him from something choking him from the inside? How can you protect him when the poison is all around being breathed in every moment of the day? Still that didn’t stop the waves of guilt that washed over Joel, threatening to claim him completely.

Pulling himself together Joel rose from his position, he wasn’t sure how long he’d been there, but the screams of protest from his muscles indicated that it had been too long. However bad he felt, he knew it would do Caleb no good to wallow in self pity and recriminations. The best thing he could do for Caleb was to help others like him, to ensure that no-one else lost their lives because of this poverty: To work to free his people. To that end, he should get back to headquarters and work with them. Nathan had power, influence, all the things Joel lacked. He could get things done; Joel had to help, for Caleb’s sake.

Nathan watched as Joel re-entered the building, he looked more confident than when he left. He’d tried to follow him once, to find out where he went when he disappeared like that, but Joel was born in this environment, he moved through it with an ease born of familiarity, weaving through back alleys and derelict buildings, he’d lost Nathan in seconds. Even other tails Nathan had sent after him had failed to keep him in their sights, so whatever Joel did remained private, a fact which bothered Nathan a lot more than he liked to let on. Knowledge was power, if he could just know a little more about Joel he would find it easier to control him. He suspected that on some level Joel realised this and was intentionally ditching any followers to maintain his secrecy. As usual Nathan questioned Joel as to where he’d been, trying to sound interested rather than interrogative, but Joel responded, as always with simply the word “Out” and retired to his bunk.

Taking a quick look at the time, Nathan decided he should get some sleep too and entered his room. He was of course the only member of the group to have a room to himself, the others bunked in cramped quarters which held as many bunks as was physically possible. No one challenged Nathan's need for his own room to give him a place for contemplation and planning, he had explained this to them in a way that had made them even feel guilty that he didn’t have more space.

As usual, waking in the group's headquarters wasn't exactly a pleasant experience. The whole structure was trembling from the proximity of the early morning lorries heading out on deliveries. People were shouting, dogs were barking and this morning, to make matters worse, there was torrential rain, which on the tin roof was horribly amplified and sounded like a bad steel band practising at full volume. Joel stumbled from his bed and dragged himself up to get ready for the day. As he passed Nathan he noted that as usual he looked immaculate and alert. No matter what time of the day, Nathan seemed ready for anything. A brief pang of jealousy tweaked at Joel, but he pushed it down. What good did envy do? It wasn't going to accomplish anything, in fact it would probably hinder the work of the group.

The next week passed fairly slowly, everything seemed pretty mundane, in fact many people were beginning to feel bored and restless, just wanting to do something, anything almost, just to have some activity and break from the tedium. As Nathan had anticipated he had swelled the ranks of the committed by a healthy number, they were getting to a point where they could really make people take notice of them. The problem with the increase in numbers was the increase in tension. These were not all the kind of people who played well with others and putting large numbers of people in small spaces like this was a sure-fire way to have conflict, add in a feeling of restlessness and chances are it will become violent. It was easy to see how wars started when you saw grown men brawling over something as simple as a nudged elbow.

Nathan was able to stop most of the fights with just a few words. He was fairly adept at turning their hostility towards each other outwards, deflecting it onto the commuters, increasing their level of hatred for them. So not only was it their fault that the conditions were bad, it became their fault that a roommate had stolen a blanket or that someone had eaten their piece of dessert.

Gradually the unit settled into a pattern where they lived and worked around each other without too much aggravation. Although it seemed likely that a lot of anger and aggression was being repressed, held onto until a time when it could be let free on the target of their hatred.