Chapter Thirteen

Half a Good Man

Agloff stopped before a dead end. He batted away Memphis and Ariea’s shouts that he was wasting time and extended a hand to the right side of the wall. He patted down against the panelling. It beeped, and the wall folded back on itself and, an unguarded lift awaited them.

Agloff jumped inside. Merry, Memphis and Ariea followed bewilderedly.

‘That’s so cool!’ exclaimed Lady.

‘HEY!’ A guard spotted them from the plaza, ran headfirst for the lift.

‘EIGHTY! EIGHTY! EIGHTY!’ Agloff yelled, spamming his hand against the cage’s buttons and the panels shuttered back into place. The trill of the guard’s shouts rang down the shaft.

‘Fall’s private lift,’ Agloff said then, quietly smug. ‘Marty showed it to me. Didn’t think the guards would know about it.’

‘Genius!’ said Merry.

‘Coulda thought of that one thirty floors ago,’ said Memphis, laughing.

Agloff turned to Ariea. ‘You okay?’ She looked lost. She patted down her bob of hair and brushed the dust from her arms.

She managed a faint smile. ‘Yeah, I’m okay. You did good.’ Those last three words meant the world, even as they caught in her throat. The lift then beeped again, and the panels unfurled.

Marty Naples stood in front of them. His face split into a wide smile and he stepped in to join them. He reached his arms around Agloff. Oxford and Alice Blue followed grimly behind, having traded their wedding wear for khaki boiler suits.

‘I’m sorry about Miller, Oxford,’ Alice whispered, her hand against his arm.

Oxford nodded. ‘Yeah. It’s weird- you get so caught up, it doesn’t occur to you what might be happening to the others. But if I knew Olivia Miller, it would have taken ten of those sons of bitches to send her to hell, and she would have dragged each of them right down with her.’ Oxford bowed his head. ‘Lieutenant.’

Agloff thought better than to say anything. He had met Miller only once, but he imagined she fought well at the barricade.

Marty puffed his cheeks. ‘One hundred!’ The cage began to roll down the shaft once more. ‘I assume you were at Eighty for me, right? Or…?’

Agloff nodded.

‘Fall’s summoned me, so I have to abandon the barricade.’ Marty’s face soured. He spat and cursed under his breath. ‘It’s an insult to those men and women. I should be up there with them.’

‘You’ve done all you could.’ Agloff was determined for Marty to not blame himself. ‘And why’s Oxford here?’

‘Closest thing to a right-hand man I have. Fall’s summoned his council, which means he expects the Underground to fall today. No one summoned Winter here. No one let them in. But Fall will suspect betrayal; he will point the blame anywhere but himself. And as his Keeper of War, I am the person most responsible for the Underground’s defences.’

‘Oxford’s your bodyguard then?’

‘If Fall gets sour grapes. I wouldn’t dare to know Fall’s mind right now. My best guess, he will have his men defend the barricade as long as they can, to give Fall time.’ Marty chewed on his words. ‘He will seal off the bulkhead at Eighty-Five, above Maintenance. Nothing in or out after that. And hide in the bunker to wait Winter out.’

‘He’s abandoning everyone?’ Agloff said, aghast.

‘Does that surprise you? Because it wouldn’t surprise me. His only thought will be his own survival. Fall can’t look past his own arsehole when it comes to shitting over people.’

The wall folded into itself and opened into Jask’s palace. It was silent. Agloff wondered if Fall’s cooks and guards and house staff might have been dispatched to the battle above, even Osara, his handmaiden. Everyone was a sandbag between Fall and Winter’s men.

‘Alice, if you would.’ Marty pointed to Agloff and the others. ‘Take them down to the bunker but stay out of sight.’ His face seemed to wither. ‘I am sorry to all of you for what you’ve had to go through. If there was another way, I… Or if I could save more.’ His head shrunk into his shoulders, consumed by half-spoken thoughts. ‘Know the way?’ he added.

‘Oxford’s told me.’

‘Marvellous.’ Marty’s joy was feigned. ‘Oxford and I have an appointment with Fall. I’ll see you soon.’

‘Marty—’ Agloff began.

‘I promise.’ Marty left Agloff with a knowing wink and headed with Oxford in tow toward the banquet hall. But that wink did not placate Agloff. He had had enough of being shunned. He would not allow Marty and Fall to debate his fate while he slipped below and accepted whatever they concocted.

Agloff bounced from toe to toe as he walked, snapping at Alice’s heels. The bride turned to her followers and warned them to follow in strict tones. Agloff’s eyes traced Marty’s shadow to a doorway opposite the hall that must have been Fall’s council chamber.

Now, he thought. Agloff span, darted the other direction, back across the landing as Alice took a staircase down. She shouted back with scolding cries, to come back at once, of how stupid he was. Ariea shouted something too but Agloff didn’t listen.

‘I know the way!’ he called back. ‘I’ll catch up!’ but he had no idea or care for if they heard. This was more important.

Agloff stooped his back past the banquet table, snatched a knife up his sleeve and headed back into his bedchambers. He gathered the only personal belonging that meant anything to him- his mother’s letter- and stuffed it into his jacket pocket. He then followed to where Marty had vanished and stared at Fall’s barren doors. Agloff’s focus narrowed. The door stared back at him temptingly and, in its gaze, he felt no time and all time. Every step in this cursed place was a movement towards Jask. In Marty and Fall, he sensed some great knowledge beyond him, stolen from him.

Agloff held his face to the wood.

‘—Should we not just give the boy to Jask now?’ a woman said. ‘A good will gesture?’

‘The children are a good will gesture, Kellin,’ Fall’s voice said. ‘Uppers are disposable. As they are every month. Ashborne must stay. He is everything.’ Agloff could hear footsteps as one of them stood.

‘I agree with the Governor,’ Marty Naples said. ‘Agloff is our chip.’

There was protracted silence and Agloff could hear the chime of footsteps circling. ‘How did this happen!’ Fall roared. ‘The Underground is built to withstand everything.’ Every syllable was fierce. Each word, an accusation. ‘I was told this was a fortress. Impenetrable! I was told we could survive a siege for YEARS! Years! And they will reach us in an hour. The boy was a guarantee, that something like this never happen.’

Still, footsteps prowled. ‘Naples,’ Fall said softly. ‘It was your idea to bring the boy. This was your doing, no?’

‘Governor. I concede I miscalculated— underestimated the enemy’s… resolve.’ Marty almost begged.

‘I wanted a deterrent for Jask. You brought me a magnet.’

‘Governor, I sincerely—’

‘Your defences were… inadequate. A Confederate commander, you told me! Veteran of the Battle of Allgahar. You give me nothing.’ Agloff heard a noise, like a cuffing across the cheek. But its victim stayed silent.

‘Governor,’ a fourth, more considered voice said. ‘The Underground was built to withstand nuclear attack. It wasn’t built to keep people out. There were a small number of men on the surface, Sir, but nothing that could have resisted a well-resourced militancy.’

Agloff could sense Fall’s sneer. ‘It hardly seems reasonable, Hornfell, to blame misfortune.’

‘I would do no such thing, Sir.’ Agloff could sense the condemnation in Hornfell’s voice, at Fall. ‘This attack was not entirely premediated, Sir. We were simply… under-resourced. If it were, I would have heard well in advance. My sources are well-placed, oft the very children you described.’

‘Not well enough,’ Fall snarled.

My Governor,’ Hornfell said. ‘With thanks to Naples’ barricade and his promptness in suggesting we seal the bulkhead, it would allow us to undergo a siege. For years. Even without the solar array, we have a nuclear generator in Maintenance. We could… do it, Sir.’

This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

‘He knows we have the boy,’ said Fall, ignoring his counsellor. ‘Why now? Jask would never take the risk. He would know the boy was at March Town. He would know he came here. So, why act knowing there’s a risk we could kill the boy. He needs him alive, no?’

Marty spoke up. ‘He also knows, My Governor, that were you to kill the boy, you would kill any leverage you have over him. It’s a stalemate, Sir. Neither of you can act against the other.’

‘But he did act, and I repeat, what changed?’ Fall’s voice was obsessive, like he were hunting for any excuse.

‘His brother’s condition may have deteriorated, Sir, prompting Jask to act decisively. I hear he has had winged fever for some time.’

‘Jask’s brother?’ Fall pressed confusedly.

‘No, Ashborne’s.’

Agloff’s eyes flared and a shot of adrenaline pulsed towards his extremities. He nearly choked, then leaned harder into the door.

How can I be immune to fever, if Eron has it? He’s my twin.

Marty’s voice boomed. ‘Why did you not tell me you had information on Eron, Hornfell?’ he yelled.

‘Calm yourself, Matthew,’ said Hornfell. ‘I am the Governor’s Keeper of Secrets. My information is for no one but the Governor. Like my sources, I am merely its purveyor. I understand you’re fond of the boy, but I trust you won’t share what I may or may not have said with him.’

‘I can’t guarantee it, Hornfell,’ Marty growled.

‘I want him brought here. Now!’ Fall screamed. ‘Get him!’

‘He’s not in his room, Sir,’ said another voice. ‘He hasn’t been all evening. He went to that wedding on Two.’

The room crashed twice under Fall’s fist and deathly silence followed. ‘So, I’m being told he could be anywhere in the Underground, right now?’

Silence.

‘I want him found.’ Fall tempered his voice. ‘I want him brought here. We’re going to Wilson.’

The door creaked on its hinges and Agloff shuffled back into the wall. It flung open and four men and two women flooded from the chamber, led by Fall’s golden robes. Agloff waited for the party to pass before following.

He watched their shadows dance across the walls in muted, frenzied discussion. But there was no one to eavesdrop. The steamy refuge of Maintenance had been purged. Its grey-boiler-suited workers banished to the war above. Even Fall’s personal guard must have been scattered. It looked different, somehow. The lights had been dimmed to a faint gold. They cast shapes that seemed almost living. Like they were judging him.

Four floors later, Agloff stopped at the far end of the corridor to Wilson. The way was dark, and the air dead. Guided by an outstretched palm, Agloff brandished his knife in the other. If Marty knew Fall was coming here, why would he have sent Alice and the others here too? Fall would never allow that.

Unless Marty planned for one party to be disposed of.

The grating chattered beneath Agloff’s feet, but he knew there was no chance of anyone hearing. He stopped at the door and fumbled for the lock in the wisps of light cast from the stairway behind. He muttered the code to himself, ‘1-9-0-5-1-2’, as he saw Marty enter it before.

Agloff waited a while before he turned the handle, occupied by a heady dread. Then, he hauled it down. The door swung open, and a shaft of light fell onto a dozen figures below the steps. Heads swung in his direction, and he felt each stare cut through him. Ariea’s cut deeper than most.

They were parted into two. Fall amongst his councillors on one side. Alice and Oxford marked Merry, Memphis, Lady and Ariea on the other. Merry’s longsword was still clasped between her shaking hands.

Marty Naples stood between them all. The folds of his eyes narrowed at Agloff, but he said nothing. Agloff could sense their disdain.

‘Agloff!’ exclaimed Fall. He reached out an arm with a practiced smile between his cheeks. ‘My boy, you’re here. Come.’

Agloff extended his blade at the Governor.

Fall’s smile shirked into a snarl. He reached a hand to his robe and produced a golden revolver.

‘Come,’ Fall repeated, and he gestured the gun.

In his lapse, Marty stuffed a hand to his pocket and before Fall could turn back, his and Oxford’s weapons were trained on the Governor.

Still, Agloff did nothing.

‘Miss Finland,’ said Fall. Ariea looked from Fall to Agloff. She waited for his intervention. But it didn’t come. And then she shuffled to Fall’s side, the end of his weapon prodded into her waist, and looked at Agloff again.

‘We lost today, Norm,’ Marty said, lowering his arm to Fall. ‘But you can just walk away. You get in a pod, pick a random day. Wake up and walk away. No one else has to die. Too many. Far too many. Let the girl go.’

‘I just want the boy. I need him. Can’t you see that, Naples?’ Fall’s stare wandered to Agloff again. His hand twitched against Ariea. His voice faint as air. ‘Please.’

Agloff’s legs carried him, step-by-step, down and into the chamber.

The corners of Fall’s lips writhed in a pained smile. Agloff looked for a long time at Ariea. Her eyes said nothing, but her hand reached to her pocket, and Agloff saw the glint of the tip of her blade.

Suddenly, Ariea yelled. Her narrow fingers scrabbled for Fall’s arm and her teeth sank into his flesh. She shrieked, dropped, and the blade from her pocket flashed across the Governor’s knee. Fall lurched backwards, tumbling.

Agloff leapt for Ariea, but a hand clutched at his waist. He couldn’t see. He grabbed Ariea’s knife, then thrashed it back. Each blow, the enemy’s grip slackened.

The arm fell and Agloff gathered Ariea from the floor and turned. Behind him, a woman spluttered blood where he had lashed blows at her gut. Agloff dropped the knife and his first thought was to make sure she was alright. Ariea held him back.

Fall struggled to his good knee, laughing. There was no poise in his movements. He turned to his downed colleague who begged silently and pointed the gold-laced gun between her eyes and ended her.

Agloff flinched, but still Ariea held him back. Two more of his councillors watched behind Fall in horror. He turned to them next, growled embittered curses under his breath. In the last second, they seemed to realise. Two more shots lashed the air and their bodies hit the ground in a pair of dull thuds.

Fall mumbled. ‘I just need the boy,’ he repeated after a long pause.

Marty waved his arms in exasperation. His sleepless face strained, and he raised his own firearm to Fall.

‘This is how you want our work to end?’ Fall pleaded. ‘A decade of work. All of us here: we made the Underground something great.’ He clenched his bloody fist. ‘A civilisation in and of itself. Something Malvo Jask dare not touch. And you’re tearing it down.’

Marty looked at the bodies behind Fall. The lines in his skin seemed to ache. ‘Norm,’ he whispered. ‘Don’t kid yourself, please. On tonight, he’ll be wishing he didn’t try sooner. We were undermanned, Norm. Unprepared. Do you think Jask stayed away because he feared the Underground?’ Marty scoffed. ‘You’ve convinced yourself that’s the truth. But really, we’ve just been bribing him to stay away.’ Oxford’s heads sunk into his shoulders. He knew what Marty meant, as Memphis had known.

The lie of the Underground.

Agloff bit his lip. His only hope was that Marty might have been ashamed. He was as complicit as Fall. His plot didn’t excuse that, Agloff supposed. This was the man Ariea had always seen.

How readily he had deserted the barricade on Eighty and answered Fall’s cowardly summons, in the face of all the lives lost. It was duty before morality. Marty would have said it was for the greater good. But he was only half a good man.

‘Jask never had reason to waste men and women on us,’ Marty said. ‘We gave him the kids, he got what he wanted. It was only because of Agloff that he came. He stayed away because we were beneath him. That’s the truth.’

‘And it was your idea to bring him,’ Fall said manically. ‘This is your fault.’

‘That was my mistake,’ Marty conceded. ‘But we killed thousands today, Norm. We did.’

‘Enough,’ Fall snapped, his face reddening. ‘I was a finer man than you, Naples. Respected during the war. Happenstance brought me here, and I made something of it! You came to me a wreck, from that dead end. I made you. Me!’

‘You were the finer man,’ Marty repeated. Fall straightened his back. Marty lowered his gun a fraction. ‘But look at us now. So far deep we’re holding hands with hell already.’

Fall chuckled. ‘You’re right; I’m selfish. If I can’t have the boy… Who can?’

He rolled on his heels and the golden gun swivelled from Marty to Agloff.

Agloff’s impulse to run never came. His legs turned to sticks of wax. Then, Fall’s finger tightened across the trigger and Agloff felt the world give way from under him.

For the most imperceptible moment, nothing happened. Time became timelessness and Agloff took an age to fall. Then his shoulder crashed against the concrete. He saw the black of his tuxedo smeared maroon at his shoulder and a neat hole torn through the seam.

Energy drained from him, as surely as his blood soaked the concrete. Was this what dying felt like, he thought. He knew it hurt, but his body shunted the pain into a throbbing numbness that he was scarce aware of. He forced his eyes open on stalks.

Then came a second shot; deader than the first as Agloff’s ears rang like bells.

Agloff’s head flopped to the side.

Marty fell to the ground as Agloff had, his fingers outstretched. A line of blood cut through his insides like a dagger. Screams rang round them and Agloff’s friends froze into inaction. Fall just laughed. But it was a defeated laugh. A spiteful laugh. He knew what was going to happen next.

A final shot came, and Fall faltered to the ground in eccentric motions. Agloff rolled over and saw the fizzle of smoke at the end of Oxford’s gun.

Agloff turned again and Marty’s lips were pressed to his ear. The old man fought on scarce breaths.

‘I am proud,’ he panted. ‘Eron… alive. Fort… Wilder.’ The old man’s face slackened, calmed at last. The ghosts in his ringed eyes faded from this world, onto the next.

Agloff screamed. It couldn’t have happened. It couldn’t have happened. But here it had, like a waking nightmare, Marty Naples was gone. Surely the world was over now.

Agloff wanted to reach for Marty’s body, but his limbs were pegged down as shadowed faces encircled his vision. Ariea’s palms pressed against his wound. She was still in her neat, silver dress, he in his tuxedo leant by the man beside him. This notion amused his riddled brain somehow. He was numb to everything but Ariea’s hands pressing down against him. He felt reassured in its pain.

‘Sorry!’ she exclaimed, but Agloff didn’t care. He was grateful they were all there. Oxford cleaved his sleeve into a tourniquet.

Agloff tried to move but Ariea shushed him, moving the backs of her fingers across his cheek.

‘Stay still,’ she said. ‘You’re such an idiot. Don’t think you’re getting away that easily,’ she said, her words punctuated by timid laughter. ‘There.’ She tightened the tourniquet across his arm. ‘Now you owe me twice.’

Agloff stuttered. ‘I…’ he whispered weakly.

Ariea placed a finger to his lips. ‘You’ll ruin the moment.’ She smiled, cradled his cheek in her palm.

He flickered between consciousness and half a dream. He felt two pairs of hands guide him to his feet but all he wanted to do was stumble and fall back down.

Rest, he thought. Yes, rest. Agloff did not resist though. The arms guided him up the steps and into one of the pods. He heard a hissing sound as belts tightened across his body. He looked out to see Ariea, Oxford, Alice, Memphis, Merry and Lady staring back at him while Marty and Fall lay at right angles to each other, limbs splayed and lifeless. Oxford lowered himself to Marty, gently kissed his forehead and straightened the streaks of greying-blonde hair.

‘Whatever you thought of him,’ Oxford said to the room. Agloff caught him bow his head to mask the sheen of his eyes. ‘He tried to be good.’ He raised Marty’s body into an empty pod, drew the shield across and left him to stand guard forever, as their protector. ‘Today was a real shit day,’ Oxford whispered.

‘Will the machine heal Agloff?’ Ariea asked then.

His voice fractured. ‘No. He will need tending to when we wake. He will be just as weak as he is now, worse potentially.’

‘And what about Winter?’

‘There’s no way through the bulkhead,’ replied Oxford firmly. ‘Winter’ll have to wait it out.’

Agloff heard Oxford give Alice a kiss, and each said, ‘I love you.’ One-by-one, each of them then strapped into their pods, hoping the world might somehow transform from the one they occupied now.

‘Wilson,’ Oxford called, muffled through the glass of his pod.

‘Special Operative,’ Wilson acknowledged.

‘Wake us when it’s safe.’ The pods hissed and Agloff could feel a numbness rising up through him from below, and the pain in his shoulder deaden, as the pod began to fill with some strange fluid.

‘Certainly, Oxford.’

‘However long that may be.’