Ten
theo
The clouds were almost black, the mood agitated.
Most of the crowd wore masks and bandanas, but some had chosen full face helmets and other more creative forms of protection.
The mass swirled around the front of the State Library, waiting for a man holding a bullhorn to give them the green light to move.
“This isn’t going to end well,” I muttered. The skeleton crew of police wouldn’t have a chance in hell of controlling the situation if it exploded.
“Theeooo.” Ellie’s voice rose from the street below.
I leaned over the wall and spotted her walking along the footpath with Owen, both wearing masks and carrying plastic bags from the service station down the block. She waved, her ponytail swinging in time with her steps.
“Hey.” I waved back. “Get anything good?”
“Chips,” Owen called out. “Just chips.”
“Are you coming up?”
He gave me a thumbs up, and the second they disappeared from view, I went back to watching the news.
The guy with the bullhorn gave the go ahead, and the crowd tightened as they kicked off their march. If all went to plan, they’d finish up outside Parliament House in under half an hour.
Would he still be with them at the finish line blaring instructions, or would it turn into a free for all? The only thing I could be sure of was that nothing good would come from their efforts.
Varesh appeared on the rooftop, wrapped up in a woollen coat and beanie. “Any luck with Dustin?” he asked, too engrossed in his phone to throw more than a passing glance my way.
“Not yet. He wouldn’t answer the door.” Three days now, and no one had seen him. “Are you watching the protest?”
“Mm. Going back and forth between that and some other videos I should be staying away from.”
The door opened again, and Ellie and Owen came through with their shopping bags. The extra people helped ease my restlessness and pull me out of my own head.
“What other videos?” I asked Varesh, leaning against the boundary wall.
He huffed at whatever he saw on the screen, then tucked his phone into his pocket.
“I’m driving Tim crazy,” he said, pulling his coat tighter.
“I went down a rabbit hole, and now I’m getting all tangled up in conspiracies.
They’re saying virologists and epidemiologists knew from the beginning this would completely wipe us out. ”
My heart thudded, and I shot a look at Ellie to gauge her reaction. She was basically still a kid, too young for this kind of talk. We knew it would be worse than Covid—they’d never kept that part secret—but wiping us out?
“You’re talking end-of-the-world stuff?” Owen asked.
Ellie opened a packet of salt-and-vinegar chips and held the bag out to me. “Are we all going to die?”
Her conversational tone brought a reluctant smile to my face, and I kept my tone light to match hers. “Not all of us.” I refused to believe it, no matter what they said. I reached into the bag and tossed a few chips in my mouth, crunching as tension all but crackled from the television screen.
Owen stood beside me, linking his hands on top of his head as he tracked the gathering.
“Over a thousand people were expected there today,” he said, “but it looks like more. If this kind of thing’s going on all over the world, who knows what impact it’ll have on us. Maybe those virologists are right.”
“Don’t listen to me,” Varesh said. “We just need to take care of ourselves and stay away from others.” He took a single chip from the offered bag, but it seemed to be more an unconscious response than an interest in food.
“I just wish Tim and Sadie would come back, so we know they’re out of harm’s way. ”
Ellie's brows shot up. “How long have they been gone?”
I dusted the salt from my fingers and checked the street again. “Coming up to an hour.”
“Is Tim answering texts?” Owen asked.
Varesh finished the chip and turned his attention toward the small portion of street we could see from up here. “I haven’t messaged him yet,” he said. “I’m trying not to overreact. It’s not going well.”
“I’ll check in with Sadie.” Ellie slipped her phone from her pocket and tapped out a message at lightning speed.
Varesh blew on his clasped hands and rubbed them together. “Are you worried about them?” he asked me, as if I were the voice of reason determining whether we should be concerned.
“Not at this stage,” I said. “It could just be an issue with payment terminals being down again.”
Still. I’d seen the fights on the news, and the trip shouldn’t have taken this long, even with a technical problem.
“I’ll give them five more minutes,” he said, “then I’m kicking off a search party.”
I checked my watch as a reflex.
The reporter’s voice rose in volume, commentating on the slow-moving walk as hundreds and hundreds of people chanted We-did-not-consent-to-prison-and-contempt. People held banners and flags, and although masks were hiding their faces, their body language said it all.
They’d had enough.
“Nothing yet.” Ellie monitored the screen of her pink glittery phone. “She hasn’t even read my text.”
“Thanks,” Varesh said. “I’ll try Tim.” He wandered over to the television as if the images were pulling him in against his will, taking his phone out and firing off a text.
A helicopter hovered above the crowd, the camera operator panning over the pack from front to back. Everyone was still moving at an orderly pace, but I doubted it would last long.
Just as the thought entered my head, four motorbikes rolled up on the protest.
The riders revved their engines and gestured at the crowd, ramping up the tension. The one at the rear raced around a couple of cops on horseback, while the rider at the front peeled ahead and performed a donut, balancing on one foot while smoke spread around him.
The on-scene reporter spoke rapid-fire, while the cameraman struggled to hold steady as the two of them followed the crowd’s progress.
The extra noise and activity seemed to flip a switch, and a few men at the head of the pack broke into a run to get to Parliament House faster.
As the group spread out and created gaps between each person, I picked up on a few weapons hidden at their sides. A baseball bat, a crowbar. The reporter frantically mentioned spotting an axe.
My breath stalled in my chest. Owen’s features tightened.
“It’s going to turn into a riot,” Varesh said in an offhand way.
“Still no answer from Sadie,” Ellie confirmed, her voice a little less confident now.
I nodded, my pulse thrumming away as I watched the TV.
As the protest continued along the planned route, several women splintered off and kept their children close. I wished I could make the others do the same and stay far away from whatever was brewing down there.
My eyes narrowed as one of the riders tore past the outer edge of the crowd and clipped a woman.
On purpose or not, I couldn’t tell, but she screamed and let go of her child’s hand a split second before she went flying.
Her young son ran to her crying, and I exhaled hard, thankful my sister and niece were nowhere near the more populated areas.
Ellie dropped the chip bag on the couch and grabbed Owen’s elbow as if he could help the woman. “Dad, look at her little boy!” she said, shaking him. “Look at his face.”
All we could do was stand there and take it all in.
The door to the rooftop opened again, and Laura came outside with Willow close behind.
No smiles today.
For some reason, her flat expression sent a trickle of alarm through me. It was like the shutters had been lowered, and she didn’t want to pretend anymore.
“Are you watching?” she asked, checking to see if the TV was on.
“I wish we weren’t.” Owen lifted his other arm for Willow to slip under, and she went straight to him.
Seeing all the blonde hair reminded me of Sadie, and it registered just how long she’d been gone.
My heart lurched, and I had to accept it wasn’t a delayed payment terminal.
Something had gone wrong.
I stepped away from the group and checked over the wall, rubbing the heel of my palm against my chest.
Why didn’t I just invite myself along on their trip instead of stopping by Dustin’s place? I could have been with them now, helping with whatever was holding them up.
The sound of an incoming engine drifted on the air, and I snapped to attention.
Come on, Sadie. Come home.
The vehicle appeared, and my stomach dropped.
A green Jeep.
Shit.
I glanced at my watch, and my pulse kicked up. Five minutes had passed.
“Tim texted me back,” Varesh said.
I whipped around and locked eyes with him, my heart in my throat. “What’s going on? What happened?”
“You tell me.” He strode the few steps toward me and shoved his phone in my face.
Sadies hurt needs help. Cars not wo in On Bradley St. Can’t muiss us.
I reread the message. “Car’s not… what? Working? Can’t miss us? What the hell does that mean?”
Sadie’s car looked like a thousand others in the city. It blended in everywhere.
Varesh’s eyes met mine. “I don’t know what he’s saying exactly, but Bradley Street’s close by. We could be there in two minutes.”
“I'll drive.”