Part V

Summer, 2070

When Reed arrived at the door of his 4th floor apartment he was tired, dirty, and hungry. With mail in one hand and a bag of groceries in the other he tried the door and found it unlocked. That's weird, he thought, as he never left it unlocked. He didn't exactly live in a bad part of town but he had certainly grew up in one. The door hadn't been forced as far as he could tell, the lock didn't look broken, so that meant that someone had picked it; or did he really forget to lock it this morning?

As an off-duty cop, he was required to carry his badge and his service weapon at all times, regardless of his outfit. Dressed in his T-shirt and jeans he didn't have many places to hide a weapon, so he had long ago invested in a waistband holster, where he kept his 10mm pistol. He stuffed the mail in the grocery bag, retrieved his weapon and opened the door.

Inside was his dark, more or less clean living room. His memory told him that all the lights in the place should have been turned off, all the doors open, and shades closed as not to raise the temperature in the house. So far nothing out of the ordinary.

Reed stepped inside and closed the door with his foot. He waited a moment. Nothing moved. With his elbow he flipped the light switch and saw sitting in his living chair, waiting patiently, an indifferent calico named Marcus. He stared at Marcus and Marcus stared back for the briefest moment before electing to groom himself.

"Anyone else home Marc?" he asked, not expecting an answer. Reed went further into his apartment and put the grocery bag down onto the coffee table; this seemed to annoy the cat, who then glowered at the bag before he leapt across the gap between the chair and the table. As the calico went from the chair to the table to investigate, Reed turned on the light to his bedroom. It was empty, so he went to the kitchen, then to the laundry room, then his office. Nothing. Still a little on edge, he replaced the hammer on his 10mm and didn't relax until after locking the door to his apartment.

To Marcus' further annoyance, Reed picked up the grocery bag and went back to the kitchen where he went about the business of fixing dinner and putting away his haul. Marcus, ever the curious kitty joined Reed in the kitchen by sitting himself on the corner of the island counter where the empty bag and a cutting board now sat. "How was your day, Marc?" he asked the cat who watched him silently, "Catch any mice?" Reed went on with his cutting and soon the smell of cooking ham filled the kitchen, "The door was unlocked," he said retrieving a plate from an upper cabinet, "Was that you?" Reed sliced up the ham and some bread before adding cheese, "Chasing flies?" Marcus just watched as Reed made his sandwiches, waiting for his share. "Alright, fine," he said, throwing a slice of ham to Marcus who reared up and swatted it out of the air and brought it down under his paw.

Satisfied with his cooking, he took a beer and his food and went back into the living room where he turned on the TV, threw his holstered weapon and badge on the table and sat on his green loveseat. On TV the talking heads were discussing the war with China and the invasion in Alaska. Reed watched while he ate.

It was three in the morning when he read his watch . The sound of the city at night filtered into the dark bedroom. He could hear Marcus purring on the corner of his bed and the ceiling fan creaking and clicking above him. Swinging his legs out of bed he stood and stretched before journeying to the kitchen for a glass of water. Eventually he found himself standing at the window of his living room looking out.

He could hear a couple arguing above him, what they were saying wasn't clear, but Reed figured it was Able and Kelly Cates. Kelly had probably caught Able in his gambling addiction and by now and was probably attempting to save both her husband and their money. They were nice to Reed the last time he stopped by and he liked talking to him. He and Able had even shared a table on his day off at the diner across the street. Shame, he thought, Hope they work it out.

He left the window, went into the bathroom and showered, shaved and put on his uniform. He poured himself a bowl of cereal and for Marcus he opened a can of cat food. They ate together on the kitchen counter top as the sun began peeking through the windows. He washed out his bowl, put fresh water in Marcus' dish, and went out of the apartment, double checking the lock he left for work.