Chapter three (2)
When they got out, he took her hand and they ran along the Maze platform Logan pushed the key into a callbox on the platform. A Maze car sped out of the darkness and stopped. The door opened and they climbed in.
"Where to?" asked the car.
"Sanctuary," said Jessica. The car sped through the Maze tunnels. When it stopped, Jessica didn't move. "They can change the color of a man's eyes but they car change the man inside. You aren't my brother," she said. "He's dead," Logan told her. Jessica's face became hard. "You killed him." "No, but I saw him die. He gave me his key. He wanted me to have it." Jessica started to cry quietly. Logan didn't know what to say. A Sandman doesn't feel sorry. He does what he has to do.
"Listen. Your brother's dead but we're alive. And if we want to stay alive, we can stop moving." "Please exit," said the car. They got out and the car sped away. They looked around slowly. This wasn't Sanctuary. But where was it? Why were they here? It was a dark, ugly, dirty place. Trash lay everywhere. What now? Logan asked himself.
"Listen!" Jessica said.
They heard a small child's voice in the Maze tunnel, singing a children's song. Sandman, Sandman, go away!
Don't come back another day! A small girl in a dirty dress walked slowly onto the platform. Her face was dirty and her hair was a mess. She had thin little legs and wore no shoes.
"Don't be afraid," she said. "I'm Mary-Mary 2." Logan stepped out of the shadows. "What are you doing here?" "Oh, he told me to meet you." "Who did?" Logan asked.
The little girls eyes became big and round. "He did! The old, old man!" "What old man?" Jessica asked
"You know' He's the oldest man in the world!" Ballard! The little girl took a key from her pocket. "He told me to give you this." "Do we use it now?" Logan asked her.
The little girl didn't speak. She put her hands up and showed ten fingers. A yellow flower shone in her right hand.
"Ten o'clock," said Jessica. Logan checked the time. "We have twelve minutes." Jessica looked into the little girl's eyes. "Where do you live, Mary-Mary?" "Here," answered Mary-Mary, smiling. "Why aren't you in a Nursery?" "I'm very smart!" "But don't you get hungry?" "You can catch things to eat. I'm really fast! But I never go upstairs. The bad people are there. They chase you!" Cubs, thought Logan.
"Goodbye now. You're a nice old lady!" Mary-Mary said to Jessica, and she walked away.
"She shouldn't be here," said Jessica. "Alone in a place like this. She should be in a Nursery with other children. A Nursery - can protect you." "Did it protect you? Were you happy?" asked Logan.
"Yes!" Jessica answered. "Of course!" She sat on the ground and rested her head on her knees. "No, I wasn't, she said after a minute. "I thought that everybody lived that way. I was never really happy there. Children should be with their parents. Brothers and sisters should be together She looked up at Logan "And you? When did you begin to think that Sleep was wrong?" 'I don't know, really. I heard the stories, of course." 'About Ballard? And about Sanctuary? Oh, I wanted to believe those stories when I was a little girl." Suddenly there was a scream from the tunnel Mary-Mary ran out, chased by a gang of Cubs. A wild-looking thirteen-year-old was at the front.
"Bad people! Bad people!" she shouted, and ran into Jessica's arms. "What do we have here? Runners!" said the oldest Cub.
Five minutes, thought Logan. We only have five minutes.
"You're older than the others, aren't you?" he asked to the boy at the front. "You'll be twenty-one one day. What will you do then? You'll run. Just like us." "I'm not a runner. Never will be!" The boy took something out of his pocket and put it into his mouth. Muscle! He ran toward Logan.
"Kill him! Get him!" the other Cubs shouted.
Four minutes.
Logan couldn't fight them all. He had to use the gun. He took it out and shot a nitro. It exploded into the group. Body parts flew everywhere.
"You're a Sandman!' shouted Jessica. There was hate in her eyes.
Two minutes.
Logan ran to a callbox and put his key in. A Maze car sped toward them, stopped, and opened its door.
"Get in!" Logan shouted to Jessica.
He pushed her into the car and it raced away into the night.
