“You know where it is?” Jude’s eyes lit up. “So you can bring us there?”
Pete nodded. “Aye, but we have ta wait ‘till mornin’ when da Dogs leave ta hunt. Yeh could find it by climbin’ the mountain, but there’s a shortcut down the hallway over yonder.” He nodded to the far end of the room. “This place used ta be a storage room, so they built a tunnel that leads right outta the lab.”
“If this used to be a storage room, how did it turn into…this?” Gabe asked.
“I ain’t no angel.” A sly smirk crossed Pete’s face. “Them vampires left one person in charge up there, an’ when they stopped comin’ ta visit, I took their food an’ equipment for myself.”
One of the military guards named Nine spoke up, his demeanor completely unreadable. “So there’s someone still in the laboratory we need to be concerned about?”
“He ain’t there anymore. It’s empty.” Pete solemnly shook his head.
Jude, Gabe, and I all exchanged uneasy glances. We were all thinking the same thing: Dante. But where did he go?
“I go there once a month to fill out the order form, them vamps must think he’s still up here an’ alive.” He raised aneyebrow. “Yeh didn’t answer my question: will everyone eat filet?”
I laughed and nodded.
“Good, I’ve been savin’ these fer a special occasion.” He grabbed a rectangular black remote control and pressed the bright red button in the upper right corner. The television on the wall flickered to life with a soft hum and a static hiss. “Why don’t y’all get cozy an’ relax. Watch a movie while I cook dinner.” He turned to me and winked. “I’m limited on entertainment. See anything you like?”
On the TV were four rows of digital movies, which must have been downloaded over sixty-five years ago. I mean, they had to be; the internet hadn’t worked since the societal collapse. We’d tried to get it back online, but nothing worked. At least, that was what my father told us, but he’d clearly figured out some way to have the computers communicate with the Dogs.
“Oh my God,” I breathed. “I haven’t seen Mamma Mia in years!”
If they didn’t know I was gay, I fear my comment made it obvious.
“Me neither,” Gabe laughed. “Remember when we were in high school, and you forced me to watch it with you?”
I rolled my eyes. “Yes, you said it was the worst experience of your life because I quoted the movie the whole time.”
“And you did interpretive dances to all the songs!”
Tears welled in our eyes as we laughed together at the shared memory. I noticed Jude scowling at us from the corner of my eye, but I didn’t care. This was a happy memory. A memory before all of this. Back when my mom was alive, and the world was so carefree. At least to me.
How I yearned for those days back.
“I think we found a winner!” Pete clicked the remote, and the screen shimmered to life, displaying the glistening blue waves of Santorini. “Takes a few minutes ta load, but it’ll get there.”
One of the plush couches sank under the weight of the three military guards whose names were all distinguished by numbers—Fifteen, Nine, and Four—their heads tilted back.
“You knew my brother, didn’t you?” Four’s kind eyes looked toward me, legs spread wide on the couch. “Three?”
My mouth dropped as I looked at the man before me. He was a very tall, muscular man with a bald head and a black bushy mustache sitting on top of his lip. I stared, dumbfounded, at the uncanny resemblance—the same eyes, the same smile—it was as if I were looking at his brother. The last few seconds of Three flashed through my memory as I remembered how he valiantly saved me from a Dog right before his death. My lips formed a straight line, and I looked toward the ground, nodding. “I did, he was a good man.”
Four wiped the top of his head, which was beading with sweat. “Hewasa good man, the best brother.”
A pang stabbed through my heart, and I had to look away before the pain deepened. The television screen held Jude captive, its mesmerizing glow reflected in his wide, wonder-filled eyes. I suppose it never dawned on me that humans had never watched a movie before. In Elysium, each of our living quarters contained a device that housed every movie made before the collapse. Now that I think about it, there aren’t TVs in Silvertown at all, so this must be an otherworldly device to them.
I picked up the three snowmobile batteries. “Where can I charge these?”
“Wherever yeh can find a plug,” Pete waved his hand. “When yer done, come help me prep dinner for all o’ yeh.”
I knelt on the ground and attached the three rechargeable batteries to the wall. Each device emitted a small, warm light,indicating the start of the charging cycle. I stopped to glance at the television before heading into the kitchen to join the old man. This was a movie my mother and I watched together. It was our comfort movie. I smiled as the main character, Sophie, and her best friends ran around Greece, reading her mother’s diary. Gabe looked at me while sitting at the dining room table, far away from Jude, and smiled as I mouthed the words to the song they were singing. “Dot, dot, dot.”
I met Pete in the kitchen, where he maintained a perfect mise en place setup in front of him, complete with knives, produce, and cutting boards. “Where do you want me to start?”
“I’ll help too!” Jude stood abruptly from the couch, interrupting Donna’s mid-song lament about her financial struggles.
“Me too!” The chair Gabe was sitting in screeched backward.
