She Bleeds for Us: The Galactic Consortium 3

Chapter 34

Gabriel awoke in the darkest part of the night, his bladder full. It was a trick that Devaki he had taught him. On their way back to Freetown from the border of Guinea, she would have him drink a large glass of water right before bed. She would do likewise. "Trust me, you'll never oversleep after this."

Today he was glad of this trick. He slid himself carefully and cautiously off the sleeping mat that he shared with his grandma. She moved in her sleep and he froze. But then she rolled on her side and settled back into a deeper sleep.

He crawled across the floor of their house, careful not to bump anything and wake her. Outside he hurried to use the privy. Afterward, he went to the bushes and found the tool belt that Devaki had rigged for him during their journey. He'd already reloaded it with a few precious things that he would need for his journey. The small metal ring that purified water fit on the top of a collapsible canteen. He had a sheet of some incredibly thin material that could be used to construct a shelter if he needed it.

There was a device that would let him see around corners and through walls. Devaki had tried to explain how it worked, something about hacking the nano grid, but Gabriel hadn't quite understood. But he knew how to work it and that was enough.

The front of the belt, where it buckled together, was his kinetic shield. He double-checked the battery and switched it to standby just in case.

Finally, he had eight ration bars. It wasn't much. It would be a long lean journey, but at least he wouldn't face the horrible hunger pains he had the first time around. And it wouldn't be that much leaner than it was around here.

Which was why he had to go, even if it meant sneaking out in the middle of the night and even if it meant leaving without grandma's permission. They needed the supplies that the kurgara had promised them.

And Gabriel knew the way, he knew the dangers and he knew he could do the journey. Grandma and Uncle Issa thought that Lee could squeeze through the drainpipe at the southern end of the ghetto. They thought he could get around the guards and make the long journey North.

They thought. And it was better to send an adult that they thought could do it than a boy who knew he could do it.

And so when Devaki had contacted him about the first drop, he had conveniently forgotten to mention the fact that grandma didn't want the kids used as messengers anymore. He'd simply taken down the information and promised he'd be there.

The ghetto was dark and still as he made his way down the streets by memory. As he reached the edge of the ghetto he found one of the guards with his head down, fast asleep. Some guard, he thought. But peering down the alleyway he saw no sign of the police and he assumed they too were probably sleeping on the job. In fact, he very nearly decided to sneak out that way. It would save him a few steps and he would get all dirty crawling through the drainpipe. But in the end, he decided to stick to his plan just to be safe.

His spy device had a night vision setting and he's spied down the pipe to make sure there was nothing else in it before he started down. Minutes later he was out the other side and heading down the streets of Freetown. He used his device to check around the corner and see if there was anybody at the police checkpoint.

They were awake, barely. There were two of them in folding chairs with coffee, their attention drifting as they fought to stay awake.

Gabriel turn the other way and was gone down the street before they noticed. By the time he walked around the ghetto and was back into the north side of the city proper, dawn was starting to light the distant horizon. And the city was slowly coming to life around.

A bus paused on a busy street and Gabriel clung to its back bumper, catching a free ride most of the way down to where the ferry was. There was a small crowd waiting for the early morning very and this time Gabriel didn't have to sneak on board. He had a small collection of tokens that Devaki had given him their last time through.

The crowd was mostly adult men and Gabriel listen to them talk as the ferry headed across the wide bay. They were mostly working-class or middle-class men. In the rich section of the city, there were protests almost every week. Protests with food and dancing, Gabriel added in his mind. The ghettos were still mostly barricaded off, the poor trapped inside. But for these men, life went on. They talked of work and life in everyday things, as though the country wasn't on the edge of civil war.

And they paid Gabriel no mind. That is what Devaki had understood and grandma had failed to. There is no way one of the adult men could have taken the ferry without somebody noticing or asking questions. There was no way he could hike the whole distance to the northern border without attracting attention. He would end up being relocated to some refugee camp in the ghetto would never get it supplies. But a kid was ignored. And that, he said in his mind speaking to his grandma, is why I had to go.