Among the Enemy

Chapter Seventeen

Tiddy parked the car at a reckless angle and hollered over to one of the guards by the front door, "Hey, fill out the paperwork on this car for me, will you? We requi^ sitioned it from the enemy. It didn't come with a key."

Some of the guards chuckled, and Matthias heard one of them snort, "That's Tiddy for you."

"Come on, kid. You stick with me," Tiddy said to Matthias as they got out of the car.

"You requisition the kid, too?" one of the guards teased.

"Nope. He saved my life," Tiddy said, bounding up to the door.

"Yeah, sure," the guards muttered. "Can't wait to hear that story."

Matthias followed Tiddy into the imposing headquarters building and through a maze of halls and stairs the way he had once followed Samuel through the reeking, traslvstrewn streets of his city. He didn't feel like he had much choice. It seemed like he'd cast his fate with Tiddy's when he'd shoved the officer into Mrs. Talbot's car. And, strangely, staying close to Tiddy helped staunch the fear pounding in his head: This is Population Police headquarters! Everyone here is evil!

Then a guard standing before an interior door in a grand hallway planted himself firmly in front of Matthias, blocking his way.

"Officer Tidwell!" the guard chided, cutting his eyes dis' dainfully toward Matthias. "Surely you understand that it wouldn't be proper—"

"Proper?" Tiddy looked from the guard to Matthias. "Oh, relax. This is our newest Population Police member. He's been too busy perpetrating acts of heroism to get his uniform yet."

"Still, to go in there—," the guard persisted.

"Oh, very well," Tiddy said. "Send for a uniform. Size extra small."

Tiddy waited with Matthias until someone came with a uniform. It was gray, not black like Tiddy's. And it was at least three sizes too big.

'That's the best they can do down in the uniform room?" Tiddy asked, glancing at the sizing tag. "Oh, well. Just put it on over your clothes. You could use the extra bulk."

Matthias pulled the pants over his pajama bottoms. He had to make an extra hole in the belt to get them to stay up. He stuck his arm into the first sleeve. His sweater bunched up and rubbed uncomfortably.

Oh no, he thought. I was planning to give Alia my sweater, way back before Percy was shot.… In his rush to find shelter, tend his friends' wounds, and go for help, he'd totally forgotten. What if the man in the tree didn't take Alia someplace warm? What if she freezes to death because of me?

Matthias's knees threatened to give out at this horrible thought. He sagged back against the doorway.

Tiddy gently pulled the uniform shirt the rest of way around Matthias's body. He pushed Matthias's other arm through the other sleeve.

"You don't have to button it," Tiddy said. "Come on, it's time to see the commander."

Numbly, Matthias followed Tiddy past the guard and through a doorway that seemed, just by itself, to be taller and wider than most normal houses. The room beyond was so vast and awe-inspiring that Matthias came to a dead halt. A row of ornate chairs led up to a wooden desk that seemed as big as a car. The windows — all ten of them — stretched from the floor to the ceiling and were studded with colored glass.

And between the windows were black banners, just as tall and even wider — banners showing children dying, Population Police officers cheering.

It's like a cathedral, Matthias thought dizzily. A cathedral where people worship evil.

"Sir!" Tiddy was saying, snapping his arm into a salute.

Belatedly, Matthias thought he ought to salute too. He lifted his arm, and the excess material of his uniform sleeve swung against his cap, knocking it off. Tiddy noticed and swung his hand down, smoothly catching the cap before it hit the floor. And, in spite of the fact that Tiddy was a Population Police officer and therefore Matthias's worst enemy, Matthias felt a surge of gratitude.

'At ease. Approach," a creaky old voice said from the far end of the room.

Tiddy and Matthias walked past all the empty chairs, toward the massive desk. The oldest man Matthias had ever seen in his entire life was sitting behind it.

"I am saddened to report the loss of my men, Commander," Tiddy said.

The old man looked down at a paper on his desk.

"That would be Sullivan, Grimes, and Hathaway?"

“Yes, sir.”

The old man — the commander — bent over and slowly made three notations on his paper.

"Explain," he said.

"We were patrolling in the endangered territories," Tiddy said. "We had just come across this boy" — he pointed toward Matthias—"who was journeying to enlist in the Population Police. And then suddenly we were set upon by the enemy. There must have been thirty or forty of them, at least. All armed."

Thirty or forty? Matthias thought. How could that be? He knew for sure of only one man in one tree.

"Sullivan, Grimes, and Hathaway were murdered in the first strike," Tiddy continued.

"Indeed," the commander said. 'And how is it that you escaped?"

Matthias wondered if Tiddy would lie about that as well. But Tiddy turned and pointed to Matthias again.

"This boy — this, this hero—he contrived a plan to steal us away to safety in a requisitioned car. We've come for reinforcements."

'Ah," the commander said. He leaned back in his vast leather chair and focused his attention on Matthias.

"How many of the enemy did you see, young man?" he asked.

Matthias forced himself to stare straight back at the commander. But what was he supposed to say? He didn't want to lie or even to back up Tiddys lies indirectly. But he felt a strange sort of loyalty to Tiddy.

"I don't know, sir," Matthias finally said. "They were hiding. There were a lot of bullets, though."

"Cowards," the commander said, biting off the word as if it left a horrible taste in his mouth.

"You see the blood on his sweater, sir," Tiddy said. "It was mayhem."

And then Matthias had to choke back his anger. The blood on his sweater was from carrying an injured Alia, from tending Percy's gunshot wounds. As far as Matthias was concerned, those bloodstains were practi' cally sacred.

But the commander didn't even look. He was sliding papers around on his desk.

"You'll get your troops," he told Tiddy. "Dismissed."

"Thank you, sir," Tiddy said.

He turned and strode away from the commander, down the aisle with all the empty chairs. Matthias had to rush to keep up with him. Out in the hall, Tiddy winked at Matthias.

"That went well, don't you think?" he said.

Matthias waited until they were several paces past the snooty guard. He glanced around to make sure there was no one else within earshot. Then he said quietly, "There weren't forty people shooting at us."

Tiddy shrugged and kept walking. "Sometimes you have to exaggerate a little to get the commander's attention. Besides, how are you so sure there weren't forty? Or fifty? I don't know about you, but I didn't have time to stop and count. Twenty, forty, fifty, a hundred — who cares? This way, I know the commander will give me enough men to take care of the problem in that sector."

Problem? Matthias thought. He was pretty sure Percy and Alia were hiding out with the "problem." What would happen to them? How could Matthias possibly help them when he was stuck at Population Police headquarters and they were so far away?

And then Matthias knew.

'Are you going back right now?" Matthias asked. "I want to come too!"

Tiddy laughed.

"You're an eager one, aren't you?" he asked. "Much as I'd appreciate having you around to watch my back — or steal cars for me — I don't think there's any way I could get approval to take a new recruit with me into that sector."

"But I was just there!" Matthias argued desperately. "What's the difference?"

"Procedure," Tiddy said with a shrug. "Got to follow the rules, you know?"

They were descending a set of stairs, then stringing their way through an array of twisty hallways. Finally they came out in front of another huge door in the middle of a bustling lobby.

"Give yourself six months, maybe a year," Tiddy said. "I'll make sure you're signed up for all the necessary training. If you do well, and if we still have enemies left to fight then, I promise, I'll take you with me every battle I can."

"But—," Matthias protested. Where would Percy and Alia be in six months or a year?

"No 'but's' about it," Tiddy said. "Now, I have to go back to the field, and you get to have a delicious meal courtesy of the Population Police. Honestly, I think you're getting the better end of the deal."

He led Matthias through the doorway, which opened into a huge eating area. Dozens of uniformed men, women, and teenagers were sitting at long tables, hunched over trays. And there were all sorts of heady aromas in the air: freshly baked breads, simmering stews, baked potatoes… In spite of his worries, Matthias couldn't help closing his eyes and inhaling deeply.

"I knew you'd like this part," Tiddy said, chuckling.

He said something to a woman sitting at the end of a serving line at the side of the room, and the woman handed Matthias a tray.

"Fill up your stomach, and I'll check up on you when I get back," Tiddy said. "Ciao!"

Matthias stood there numbly, watching Tiddy walk away.

What do I do now? he wondered. He wanted to chase after Tiddy, but that wouldn't do any good if Tiddy wouldn't take him back to the cabin.

If only Percy and Alia were here to help me think.. Matthias remembered a story Samuel had told him about a strong man who lost all his strength when his hair was cut off. That man had been captured by his enemies too. Matthias felt just as weak and stupid and useless without his friends. How was he ever going to escape from Population Police headquarters and get back to Percy and Alia?

"Bean soup, sir?" someone asked.

Matthias swayed a little. He was hungry. Starving, actually. He hadn't eaten since — when? The broth back at Mr. Hendricks's house? That seemed like several lifetimes ago. Would it be so awful to eat something now, so he'd have energy to think of a plan?

"Okay," Matthias said.

A woman placed a steaming bowl of soup on his tray. Another woman put a plateful of rolls beside the soup, and a girl added a cup of mixed fruit.

Matthias hadn't seen fruit like that in ages, and he loved it.

"Thank you," he said, looking straight at the girl. And then he looked again. The girl had a white papery hat covering her hair and a sanitary mask covering her nose and mouth, but there was something oddly familiar about her brown eyes. She looked like… No, she was—

"Nina?" Matthias whispered.