Free Point Apocalypse by Alex Bobl Page B

sleep with all that racket downstairs?"
    I could see the owner wasn't angry, just keeping up appearances in front of a client. The anthem-bawling voices ceased. I could catch a few words.
    "We've got new guests. Is the water tank full in room three?"
    "Yes, Madame," C laudie tucked in a few loose hairs away from her face, rearranged her homespun frock and looked up at the owner. "Uncle Vanya filled it today as soon as the room was vacated. It's cleaned and the sheets have been changed," the girl said in her melodious high-pitched voice it as she glanced at us with a smile.
    "Oh well," the owner turned and handed me the key. "Make yourself at home."
    Her hand on the key lingered. "Get them their dinner now."
    "Yes, Madame," the girl jumped up and hurried to the stairs.
    Rita gave us another studious look and walked away without saying a word. I waited for her steps to die away, then unlocked the door.
    The room had three beds lined up against one wall, each with a bedside cabinet. Above one of the beds, the filmy pane of a tiny window let in the weak glow of a streetlight. To the right of the door, one corner was partitioned off with a plastic curtain. I pulled it aside: it was a shower, or rather a rusty water tank under the ceiling, with a bent shower head and a faucet. Plus a few slivers of soap on a shelf, three white towels on a rack and a drainage grate on the floor.
    "And what do they do when they need to take a-" Wladas started and stopped when I turned round. "No more questions," he waved me off. "Outdoor plumbing, I suppose. I'll hold it."
    " You sure you can?"
    He shrugged and mumbled it could wait till morning , then stretched out on the bed under the window.
    Wong pulled off his shotgun and sat on the bed to the left of the door. He inspected the bedside cabinet, took off what looked suspiciously like an old-fashioned oil lamp and started studying it. I had a look around. The walls were lined with laminate panels. The same kind of fluffy matting covered the floor. You could barely hear what was going on downstairs.
    Someone knocked. The Chinese placed the lamp back and took up his gun. Wladas sat up. I lay one hand on the gun under my belt and opened the door.
    "Dinner," the voice chanted on the doorstep. The drunken patrons downstairs started a new song.
    The girl walked in holding a tray with two pitchers, three mugs and three platefuls of food.
    "Why are you sitting here in the dark?" she looked around.
    "Actually..." Wladas rose. Claudie shoved the tray at him and crouched by Wong's bed with her back to me. The Chinese watched as she fiddled with the lamp on the cabinet. In a second, something clinked. The room filled with a soft white glow.
    Wong passed me a meaningful look and gave the girl a wink.
    "Thanks a lot, Claudie, " I nodded at the door. "I hope for some peace and quiet till morning."
    "Depend upon it," the girl left the room. In the hallway, she turned around and added, "If you need anything, I'll be at my desk."
    " And if you're not?"
    "Ask Uncle Vanya."
    "Which is who?"
    "He's got a beard like this big. He fills in for me."
    "Will do," I locked the door and walked to the last vacant bed. Wladas kept standing, tray in hand, staring at the lamp.
    "What're you standing here for?" I leaned the shotgun against the backrest, shoved the pistol under the pillow and started unlacing my boots. "Time for some grub, a shower and some shut-eye."
    "Time to be making some plans," Wladas placed the tray onto his bedside table and brought two of the plates to Wong and me. "We need to decide what to do next. Don't you think?"
    "Let's eat first," I reached to my plate for a greenish fruit that looked a lot like an unripe plum. "That's not too bad," I mumbled munching it whole. "Tastes nice."
    Wong nodded, smiling, and attacked his dinner.
    I placed the plate on top of the cabinet, kicked my boots off, peeled off the tank top and my pants, threw the belt and the holster onto the bed and headed for the shower. I