Read Online Empire's End by David Dunwoody - Free Book Online Page B

kept in line. So they take
credits from local businesses and use them to buy booze. So they
pimp—don’t you think a streetwalker is safer with a pimp watching
her back? I know it sounds wrong, Voorhees, I know we’re supposed
to cling to this ideal that says no crime can go unpunished, but
for God’s sake that’s not the reality we live in!”
    “We’re supposed to try and make it that way!”
Voorhees yelled, pounding the table. Neighboring patrons tried not
to stare. “So we can’t bring crime down to zero. Does that mean we
sit on our hands or, worse yet, help them? This is
fucking depraved.”
    “But like he said, it works.”
    A middle-aged woman with light brown hair and
a sash around her overcoat slid into the booth beside Blake,
flashing her P.O. badge. “Emily Halstead. Hey there, partner.”
    So now it was going to be two against one.
Voorhees threw his hands in the air. “Forget it. I’ve gotta put in
my resignation. This funny farm can find another fake cop.”
    “Blake, would you mind letting us get
acquainted? That is, unless you two are already joined at the hip.”
Halstead winked at Blake, who sighed and got up.
    “Like I said, I’ll get the check. Think
before you walk, Voorhees.”
    Halstead took Voorhees’ plate and looked the
sandwich over. “You gonna eat this?”
    “I don’t have an appetite.”
    She nodded and took a bite. “Mustard.
Pricey.”
    “So you want to preach to me, too?” he
muttered.
    She shook her head, chewing. “The system’s
been broken from the beginning. Nothing makes sense inside these
walls.”
    So she wasn’t nuts. Voorhees leaned forward,
taking up his coffee. “Don’t drink that,” Halstead advised.
    “Why do you do the job, then?” he asked.
    “In hopes that things will start to change.
This is still America, right? You read the history books, you know
change is possible. If not here, not anywhere.”
    “What’re we gonna do? Go on strike? Let Finn
Meyer put his own cops on the beat? Or do we lobby the Senate to
shake up their precious sandbox?”
    “How long have you been inside the Wall,
Voorhees?”
    “About five months.”
    “You catch on pretty quick, you know that?
I’m guessing you tend to resist this whole notion that the world
out there no longer exists.”
    “Of course.” He picked a wet French fry off
the plate. “I’m thinking about enlisting. I’d rather deal with
rotters than this.”
    “You’d still have to live here,” she said.
“Why not fight the system from the inside? You may feel helpless
right now, but believe me, you’re in a position to make a
difference.”
    “You really think so?”
    “I do. It just means pissing Casey off now
and then. Maybe he’ll dock your pay, maybe Meyer’s boys won’t want
to be your buddies anymore. I’ve been threatened more than once and
I’m still here.
    “Like Blake said, think before you walk.”
     
    * * *
     
    Voorhees made the mistake of visiting Casey’s
office and trying to be rational.
    “If you’d rather live in the badlands, get
your shit and go,” the S.P.O. snapped. He wheeled himself out from
behind his desk and asked, “Did they tell you how I lost my legs
yet?”
    Voorhees shook his head. Another mistake.
    “I came north early on to help with
construction. On my way up here—didn’t have a military convoy
flanking me like the later ones—my friends and I were held up by
badlanders. Highwaymen. They shot me. You can’t see it, it’s above
me hairline, but yeah, they shot me and left me for dead.
    “Then they came back.”
    He kneaded the stumps of his knees, sweat
running down his brow. “They came back that night and took my body
to their camp. They were sure I was dead, you see. And they were
hungry.”
    He narrowed his eyes to fiery slits. “They’re
just like the rotters, those people—lawless, godless animals. Take
society away and that’s what you’re left with. The human
animal.
    “It was my screams that alerted a nearby