Them or Us

we do? I don’t know how to make batteries, and even if I did, I couldn’t get my hands on the right chemicals and equipment. But the information’s out there somewhere.”
    “It’s just that the way you talk about things makes everything sound a lot easier than it’s actually going to be. It’s not just reading, it’s making food, keeping warm, staying alive … Once everything’s gone we’ll struggle to get any of it back again.”
    “I never said it was going to be easy. Thing is, if I’m too honest with people too soon, I’ll lose their support. I can’t risk that. I need the numbers right now. It’s still early. When we’re more established here, we’ll start planning ahead. All that matters today is today.”
    Hinchcliffe slips all too easily into spouting bullshit and spin. Politics never changes, even after everything we’ve all been through. I guess it doesn’t matter how high the stakes are, to people like him, position and self-preservation are everything.
    “The trick right now,” he continues to explain, clearly mistaking me for someone who gives a damn, “is to let the people who matter think they’re in control. I give my best fighters everything they want, and the Switchbacks who work hard, they get most of what they need, too. Compared to the pathetic lives they used to lead, this is something much better. They’re free, uninhibited…”
    “For now, maybe.”
    “Lighten up,” he says.
    “I don’t want to lighten up.”
    “Things will improve, Danny.”
    “Will they?”
    “Of course they will. We’ll get that wind turbine working after the winter. Imagine that, constant power for the whole town again.”
    “It’ll never happen.”
    “Yes it will.”
    “No it won’t. One of its blades is broken, for Christ’s sake. Where are you going to get a replacement from? And how are you going to get it up there? Have you got anyone who knows anything about engineering and mechanics? Got a crane tucked away anywhere? Christ, you’ve just said you’ll be screwed when you run out of batteries.”
    “It’s all out there somewhere,” he says, starting to sound annoyed, “and there are bound to be people who used to know about these things. They’ll help if I give them food and—”
    “And if you hold a gun to their heads.”
    “If that’s what it takes.”
    “I think you’ve got to get the fundamentals right before you start talking about electricity and stuff like that.”
    “Is that what John Warner was doing?”
    “Maybe,” I admit, wondering if I’ve gone too far.
    “You’re wrong,” he says. “Warner was a thieving bastard who was trying to undermine what I’ve got here.”
    “All due respect, I don’t think Warner gave a shit what you were doing here.”
    “The fucker was interested enough to want to steal from me,” Hinchcliffe snaps, a hit of barely suppressed anger in his voice. He gets up and pours himself a drink but doesn’t offer me one. I think I’ve outstayed my welcome. That’s a sure sign I’ve pissed him off. Not a good idea.
    “Sorry, Hinchcliffe. I didn’t mean to talk out of turn.”
    He shakes his head and leans against a dusty window, looking out over the divided streets of Lowestoft.
    “You’re okay. Like I said, Danny, you’re not like the others. You’re always questioning, and I need that from time to time. Just don’t let me catch you talking like this to anyone else.”
    In for a penny, in for a pound. I’m taking a hell of a risk, but this seems as good a time as any to ask him something that’s been on my mind for a while.
    “So what about me?”
    “What about you?”
    “I don’t have any special skills. I can’t fight anymore. You’ve kept me onside to hunt out the Unchanged, but now they’re gone, what happens to me?”
    He thinks carefully before answering.
    “You’re not going anywhere, my friend. You underestimate yourself. You’ve proved your worth to me again and again over the last few weeks. There’s a lot of work still to be done to get this place how I want it, and I’m gonna need people like you.”
    I make a mental note to start fucking up more often.
    “You really think you’ll be able to do that?”
    “Do what?”
    “Get this place straightened out? Keep people in line? You think they’re just going to keep doing what you tell them to?”
    “Yes,” he answers without hesitation. “They won’t have any choice.”
    I stand there and stare at him, still unable to move, and