Dog Blood

he says. “Danny short for Daniel?”
    “Yes.”
    “Put your full name in.”
    I do as he says.
    “What’s all this about? What are we doing?” I ask.
    “Killing you,” he replies without a hint of sarcasm.
    “Killing me?”
    “Thing about this war,” he says as he takes the laptop back again, “is that it’s made everybody’s priorities change. Everyone’s worried about their physical safety, and some of the things that used to matter now get forgotten about or overlooked. This is a prime example. This is just about the only national system that’s still running outside of defense, and anyone with half a brain can hack into it and make alterations.”
    “But what exactly is it you’re doing?”
    “Is that you?” he asks, angling the screen back toward me. I scan the details.
    “Yes, that’s me.”
    “Right,” he continues, working his way through various menus and submenus. “Ah, good, you’re dead already!”
    “What?!”
    “They’ve got you down as being dead. Tell me, did you ever have one of those neck tests or a mouth swab?”
    “Yes, why?”
    “Because that’s where most of this information comes from. They used it as kind of a census and tried to test pretty much everyone when everything first kicked off. It’s a “who’s what,” rather than a “who’s who,” if you get my meaning.”
    “Sort of. Anyway, I’m not dead.”
    “According to this you are.”
    He clicks a button and scans another screen.
    “Hunter’s Cross. Ring any bells?”
    “Doesn’t mean anything to me.”
    “It’s a gas chamber. They’ve got you down as being killed there.”
    “I ended up inside one of those places, but I got out when it was attacked.”
    “There you go, that explains it. They probably marked you off as being dead when they sent you down. Close shave, eh?”
    “Too close.”
    “That’s it, then,” he says, starting to close up the laptop. “You can go back to sleep now.”
    “Wait a second,” I say quickly, putting my hand on the lid of the machine and stopping him from closing it. “Can I…?”
    He seems to immediately know what I want. He’s probably done this for plenty of other people before me.
    “Be quick,” he whispers. “If Julia catches me letting you do this she’ll have my balls.”
    My hands are suddenly shaking with nerves. I look down at my details on the screen, but there’s nothing on there that I didn’t already know (apart from the fact that, apparently, I’m dead).
    “How do I…?”
    “Looking for family?”
    “Yes, my daughter.”
    “Start there,” he says, pointing at the bottom of the screen. I click on a button marked other people listed at this address. There’s a pause of several seconds; then a blank screen is returned. My heart sinks.
    “How old was she?”
    “Five.”
    “Either she hasn’t been listed or she’s listed elsewhere. Try searching on her name.”
    I enter Ellis’s details and press search. Still nothing.
    “Was she with anyone?”
    “Her mother and brothers.”
    “Search for them, then.”
    I try Elizabeth McCoyne-no match. In desperation I try my son Edward. He’s listed at an address I don’t recognize, as is his brother. They’re both marked as being dead, and, just for a second, I feel a sharp pang of pain. It quickly fades when Craven starts making noises.
    “Come on,” he whispers, “that’s enough. Julia will have a fucking fit.”
    “Wait a second,” I say quickly, desperate not to let go of the computer yet.
    “Now!”
    “Just one more…”
    I turn my back to him and cover the keyboard as I type. I search for Elizabeth Parker, remembering that Lizzie only took on my name informally for the sake of the kids. She always used her given name on official forms. I stare at a blank screen and frantically flashing cursor. Craven looks over his shoulder. The faster I need a result, the slower this system seems to get.
    “Come on,” he says, sounding agitated.
    It finally returns a screen full of results-eight Elizabeth Parkers are listed. I scroll down to the right date of birth and click on Lizzie’s entry. She’s listed at a hotel, and I quickly memorize the address. The Prince Hotel on Arley Road -I think I know it. Pressing my luck, I click the other people listed at this address button once more and just manage to scan down the first part of a huge list of names before Craven wrestles the laptop away from me and slams the lid down. I think I saw one of my cousins’ names, Mark