Robot Love

Chapter 9

Chapter Nine

I sat there looking at the pile of stuff Damien and I had gathered in the past couple of days. The pile was small but we could only take what we could carry on our backs. I had no clue how long we were going to be in the North or if we were even going to come back here. We probably can't come back after we leave unless we want to be executed for conspiring against the government.

I jolted out of my thoughts when there was a harsh knocking at my door. I quickly threw a green tarp over the pile of supplies we had stashed in the attic before making my way down the rickety attic stairs. I folded the stairs up and flicked the latch to lock it, then went to the front door.

"I'm coming!" I yelled when the knocking became more persistent. I could feel the pounding of someone's fist on my front door vibrate through the walls and I wrenched the door open about to give somebody a piece of my mind. My tongue froze before I could utter a syllable when I saw it was Gringer on my steps though.

"Gringe!" I exclaimed. "What are you doing here?"

He gave me his signature crooked grin and shrugged with his hands tucked deep into his jacket pockets.

"Just here for a chat." he said.

From the tone of his voice I knew this "chat" would be more than just talking about the weather so I quickly stepped to the side to let him in and he shuffled forward into my house.

I took a look outside to see if I could spot anybody listening in on us before I shut the door quietly.  "We're being listened to" I mouthed to Gringe. He nodded in understanding before I led him up into the attic where Damien and I knew it was the only place not bugged. We had checked top to bottom up there but found nothing.

As soon as I shut the trap door Gringe grabbed me into a huge hug and squeezed the life out of me.

"Geez Gringe!" I coughed. "For an old man you sure have a lot of strength."

He abruptly let go of me and cleared his throat awkwardly.

"We need to talk." he said sternly.

I crossed my arms over my chest and cocked my hip to the side. "Yes we do." I sniped. "What's with you letting Crazy Tom sleep in your house at night?"

Gringe shrugged his old shoulders in a dismissive gesture. "It's cold outside Sophie."

"They don't call him Crazy Tom for nothing, Gringer!" I exclaimed. "He's dangerous."

Gringer was silent for a few moments, his expression soft yet unmoveable. "That didn't stop you from talking to him a few weeks ago, now did it?"

I sighed in frustration, feeling a headache coming on. Gringe always knows how to turn things back on me. Why can't that old man be wrong just once?

"I needed answers. It's different."

"Forget about that. Who I let into my house at night is none of your concern. We have more important things to talk about. Rumour has it that all of the co-leaders and the Leader himself are all coming into town in two days time."