EXTINCTION
CHAPTER 4
Shelter
Back in London Jay was on the streets figuring out his next move. He knew that people are out there to get him and now he also has Police looking for him.
Now the question was where to go. His first priority was clear: to get off the streets of London. The Police clearly didn't have his description when they were sent to the Hotel- the officers in the lobby didn't recognize him. As he walked the streets a memory came to Jay and he quickly navigated his way to a bench before he lost his balance and dozed off.
In the memory, he was walking in a warehouse, his footsteps echoing on the concrete floor. The aisle was lined with cubicles enclosed in milky-white sheet plastic. He could hear the faint sounds of EKGs and could just make out hospital beds inside the isolated cubicles.
Plastic bags filled with some strange liquid hung beside the patients, who appeared to be of all races, ages, and genders. Why were they here, in this makeshift hospital?
Workers in biohazard suits shuffled in and out of the patient cubicles. Up ahead was a cart stacked with body bags. Two workers carried another bag and tossed it on the heap.
Jay was also wearing the suite. It was warm inside and he didn't like the feeling of being enclosed; he couldn't wait to rip it off.
The memory shifted, and he was standing in an office with plate glass windows and bright lights and lots of desks. People were standing in the office with their backs turned towards him and everyone looked at a giant screen with world map and red dots on almost all the major cities. Arced lines spread across the map connecting all the dots.
A man with scars on his face and long blond hair stood before them, speaking slowly.
"Fellow believers. Do you know why you are here?"
He paused and walked towards the crowd.
" You are here because you are the best of the best in your fields. And you believe that this world can also be the best version of itself."
"Soon the world will change. Stay the course. Coming days will the most difficult of your life. But when this is finished, the world will know the truth: we saved the entire human race from Extinction."
As quickly it had come, the memory ended and Jay was back on the bench. He desperately wanted to figure out his next move. From his pocket, he took out the only clue he had about who he was: the coupon for the locker.
He then got in a cab and showed the driver the coupon from Safe Lockers. "Do you know where this address is?"
The driver nodded.
"Perfect. Let's go there."
Twenty minutes later Jay stood outside the locker house, which was a narrow store with plane glass windows with advertisements all over them. The buildings along the street were run down, but the area was bustling; the sidewalks swarmed with younger people.
Behind the counter in the shop, he found a short, bald Asian man.
"I need to pick up."
"Tag?"
"I don't have a tag"
The man slid over to the keyboard and monitor on the counter. "Name?"
"Jay Patel." He spelled it.
As he typed, the shopkeeper said, "ID?"
Jay stood silently as he contemplated what to do.
Jay held up the police Id he'd taken from the officer in his hotel room.
"This is a police investigation. We are looking for Jay Patel."
The Asian man raised his hands slightly. "Okay, okay."
The shopkeeper finished typing the name, " There's a locker. 205. Here I'll show you."
Jay followed the man scanning each and everything that he passed. The shopkeeper pointed towards the locker and handed Jay the keys to it.
Jay moved past him and opened the locker. There were an envelope and a phone. He took both of them and made his way out. On the street, he moved with throngs of people, trying to stay out of the line of the cars passing by. Two blocks away he spotted a mobile phone store, where he bought a disposable smartphone. They were common in London; tourists and temporary workers often used them to avoid roaming charges for calls and data. The phone and a prepaid sim have severely depleted Jay's cash supply. Money was going to be a problem. He made a note to only use mobile data in an emergency.
He bought a kebab from a street vendor, wolfed it down, and slipped into a crowded coffee shop with free WiFi. He locked himself in a single toilet bathroom. His first instinct was to search himself, to dig into the mystery of who he was- and to look up Mehak Rajput. But first, he needed to cover the bases of survival. He needed to get off the street as soon as possible.
He searched for places he could stay. There were tons of flats and rooms for rent but many of the sites reacquired him to register and pay with a credit card in order to rent. That wouldn't work. He found a site that required to pay-to-list, and begin bookmarking suitable accommodations. Luckily there were quite a few, most were run-down, but they were cheap.
He dialed the number listed for a promising flat nearby. He spoke excitedly.
"Oh, hi, I saw your ad for your flat. Is it available today?"
"Yes, that is my ad and it is available." The women's voice held a little emotion.
"Good. I would like to book it for the next three days."
"Yes, sure."
"Listen, I was in London for business, and I could really use some help. I took a train in and when I woke up it was all gone- I mean everything: my luggage, laptop, wallet, passport, money, credit cards, you name it, gone. The rascals even slipped my wedding ring off! Anyway, my wife wired me some money and I am looking for someplace to rent. Can we meet."
"Well, okay." The woman said it would be three hours before she could reach her flat. Jay agreed and ended the call. Assuming it worked out he will be off the street soon.
He opened the browser again and scanned the news articles. A breaking news banner caught his attention: London Police has launched a city-wide search for an Indian man wanted for murder and assaulting two police officers.
They were about to turn the city upside down looking for him. Jay desperately wanted to search for more information but his appointment with the landlord was important and he needs time to figure out a safe route.
He made his way to the meeting spot and found a young woman in her mid-twenties, standing in front of a three-story run-down building.
"Are you Martha?" he asked.
"Yup," she said accepting Jay's hand when he extended it eagerly.
"I am Peter Dsouza. We spoke earlier. Thank you so much for meeting me on such short notice."
She led him inside, up a winding staircase, and into a flat, which was tiny but clean.
"It's perfect," Jay said. "Now listen I am running low on cash. Those thieves stole everything from me."
The woman shook her head. "If you cannot pay, you simply cannot stay here."
"I've got enough for one night." He handed her the folded-up notes. "I'll get you the rest. I promise."
Martha glanced away from him. "All right. I'll come again tomorrow with my boyfriend. Please pay or be gone."
"No problem. Thank you again."
.................To be continued.
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