The Carrier

Drew stumbled down the staircase, pulling his shirt over his head to meet the matching pants that made his R5 Postal uniform. Region five had 3 Carriers. They worked 8 hours a day, 6 days a week.

Nancy was in pursuit, buttoning her blouse and slipping her heels on as she yelled after him.

"Andrew Schwerstein" she bellowed, "how do you expect to build a relationship when you're always working? It's bad enough you work six days a week, but you get the worst shifts."

"Jesus, Nance, giving the house a real show aren't you?" Drew shot back. "And you know my name isn't Andrew! I've told you, Drew isn't short for anything."

"You have." she said, pausing. "I don't believe you. Stop avoiding the point. You work more than anyone in the region and you live in this dump."

Her insult was met with a chorus of curses and grunts from Drew's flatmates.

"At least I don't work on Emperor's Day, like the Guardians." Drew argued, "And they work 10 hour shifts."

"Four days a week. The Delegation actually funds the Guardians. Have you seen where they live?" She looked around at the people leaning out of doorways to catch the drama or pacing around downstairs preparing dinner. "Have you seen the people they live with?"

More curses.

Drew stopped and turned, "I have to go to work."

"I know." she said with a sigh. "I know your work is important. We just need time alone."

"Get some sleep." Drew told her. "I'll come to your place after my shift." He stepped up and kissed her before rushing down the stairs and out the back door.

Drew took his bike from against the house and swung his leg around, pushing hard at the peddles for a few rotations before settling into the seat and steadily working himself down the hill towards the Post Office.

Carina was still getting her things together when he pulled up, skidding to a stop in front of the door. Drew chained the bike to a rack near the door and went inside.

"Hey, at least you weren't waiting outside for me today." he said.

Carina smiled on the left side of her mouth. "I planned ahead." she said. "It's five minutes after."

Drew checked his watch. 20:08. She was being generous. "Hey, I'm sorry. Not trying to make it into a regular thing."

"Better not," she said, smiling a little more. "those minutes add up. At the least I think you owe me a coffee."

"Definitely." Drew felt his palms start to sweat. "What, uh, what kind of, um, drink do you like?"

Carina chuckled. "I can order for myself. Are you free after work?"

Drew stood as still as he could; as if he could stop time by refusing to participate in it. "Yeeeah." he said. "Yeah, I have a bit of time after work. You want to meet here?"

"Sounds good." Carina zipped up her backpack. "It's been quiet around here again today. Maybe the war is coming to an end. Or the front is moving away. Whatever it is, I've only had a couple of messages pass through and they both looked like they were headed to employment. Boring stuff."

Carina left, unlocking her bike from the rack and heading up the hill. Drew thumbed through the notes for the last two shifts: there was one letter in the afternoon Carina hadn't mentioned from Region 3 to the front line that got dropped off at the North wall. Dennis, the third Carrier, had done the same route in reverse, taking a letter from the North wall to Region 3.

A light flashed in the corner, followed by a quiet beeping that got steadily louder until Drew keyed in his code on the monitor. A small, thick paper printed out below the monitor and Drew pulled it off to read the assignment:

21:35 Arrival : Region Seven

22:00 Drop Off : Region Six

Drew looked over the assignment, flipping it over in his hands to see the back that he knew would be empty. There was nothing strange about the instructions themselves. Most letters go to and from the North wall. Region 6 was still on the front lines, as far as he knew, and they were constantly receiving intelligence from around the country. Drew looked down at his watch: 20:21. It took around 45 minutes to ride from the Post Office to any of the transfer points. It would be at least that long to get from the East gate to the North gate where he would transfer the package to Region 6.

Drew keyed in a few words on the keyboard in front of him and sent a message to the Region 7 Post Office: Leaving now; if you can get to transfer early I'd appreciate it.

There was no use waiting for a response. No one could change the deadline, he just had to hope that the Carrier from Region 7 would be early. Drew was pushing open the door when the light on his monitor went off again, followed by its quiet beeping. Drew typed his code, tearing the note from below the monitor.

21:40 Arrival From Region Seven

22:30 Drop Off at Region Three

"Bloody hell!" Drew said. "So much for a quiet night." He checked his watch again, 20:25.

He shoved both assignments in his pocket and ran out the door to start riding to the East gate. Drew was quicker on his bike than Dennis and could probably out peddle Carina most days; it still took an hour and a half to get from one side of the region to the other. The only way that these packages were going to arrive on time would be if the Carrier from Region 7 was early.

Drew knew most of the Carriers in that region and found himself mentally ranking them as he rode. Hopefully Samantha would have his packages. She moved more packages than anyone else in the country. If it was Sam, he could count on her being there waiting for him when he arrived. Most of the others would get the packages there on time. If Stan had his packages, Drew would be lucky to get his deliveries done before midnight.

Drew checked his watch as he came to the East gate. 21:11.

Walking up to the monitor on the wall, Drew keyed in his code and inserted the first of the assignment cards. A light on the wall turned green and the monitor lit up, showing a view to the opposite side.

"Hey, Drew! Got your message." Came the voice from the other side, "I got here as quickly as I could."

"Samantha, thank gods. I appreciate it! I'm ready to receive if you want to insert the letters."

"Right," Samantha's face went from excitement to discomfort. "Well here's the letter I got from HQ, going to the front lines." She put the letter in a compartment next to the monitor and shut the door. As she did, the door on Drew's side of the wall unlocked for him to retrieve the delivery.

"And the other one?" Drew asked, the voice in his head answering the question for him before Samantha had the chance.

"Two assignments, two Carriers." Samantha said flatly.

"And the other Carrier..."

"It's Stan." Samantha said. "I'm sorry. I don't think he ever saw your message. He probably doesn't realize you're in a hurry."

"Don't worry about it." Drew said unconvincingly. "You should finish your route."

"This is the end of the night for me, actually." she said. "Things have been quieting down the last few days. Maybe the war is ending."

"Right, that's what I've been hearing."

After 20 minutes of waiting, when Stan still hadn't arrived, Samantha excused herself and wished Drew luck. Drew checked his watch; 21:35. The letter from Damien was addressed to Region 7, which meant that Stan had the package for Region 3. He wouldn't be late for another five minutes.

Drew had hardly taken a breath in five minutes when Stan finally pulled up to the wall with a smile, ringing the bell on his old bike.

"Hey, right on time." Stan said with a chuckle, checking his watch.

"Yeah, that's great." Drew tried not to sound irritated. "Let's get this letter transferred. I have a short turn around."

Stan's smile faded and his shoulders sank, "Understood," he said softly, "places to be. We have a job to do. Very important."

Drew watched him wave the package around as he talked. The door on Drew's side was still locked; or he would have pushed his body through the compartment and grabbed that letter out of Stan's stupid hands.

Finally, Stan closed the letter in the compartment and Drew was able to retrieve it.

"Thanks, Stan." Drew said. "I gotta get going, have a good night."

Drew pushed hard at the peddles. He had 20 minutes for a 45 minute ride. There was no way that he was going to make it; until he was coming around the last corner and still had two minutes left. Drew went back over the trip in his head. It didn't make sense. His watch had to be broken.

"Sorry I'm late." Drew said hurriedly after he keyed in his code and the monitor lit up.

Jason was on the other side, looking confused. "You're a minute early, Drew. You need to get some sleep."

"Right." Drew said. "Let's get this done; I have to push it to get my next delivery on time."

Drew slid the letter into the compartment and latched the door, releasing it to Jason before getting back on his bike and taking off towards the West gate.

It should have taken 45 minutes from the North gate to get through to the West gate. Drew made it in 25 minutes.

He ran to the monitor, not trusting the time on his watch.

Drew put in his code and watched the monitor light up. Standing on the other side of the wall was the Emperor and his guard.

"You've done well, Drew." the Emperor said. "You have a letter for me?"

One of the guards that Drew recognized as a Carrier from Region 3 walked up and inserted an assignment card for transfer.

"Julie." Drew said. "Julie what's happening?"

The guard stepped back out of view.

Drew took the letter from his bag and placed it in the compartment, latching the door shut.

The Emperor took the envelope and lit a match, holding the flame to the corner until the flame consumed the letter. "You have questions." he said. "There is no time." He took a blank card from his pocket the same size as an assignment card. The Emperor inserted it into the wall. The lights on both sides turned green and the doors unlatched. "You are different. And your country needs you."

Julie stepped up and handed a package to the Emperor, which he placed carefully into the compartment. "Time doesn't have the same hold on you as it does for everyone else. You can get into the enemy territory without them seeing you. We couldn't be sure until tonight."

Drew took the package into his hands and marveled at what he was being told. The package was simple. It was a cube wrapped in plain brown paper. The sides were taped and it was wrapped efficiently with a thin brown ribbon. It had no address written on it. No assignment card. This was a package that had never been sent. A parcel that never existed.

"It's a weapon." the Emperor went on. "A new weapon. All we need you to do is deliver it."

"How does it work?"

"Just get it into enemy territory. That's all. We do the rest."

"So I'm not coming back." It wasn't a question.

Drew got on his bike and began to peddle. Pushing hard at the peddles.