CHAPTER 10 - DON'T CALL IT 'REVENGE'. 'RETURNING THE FAVOR' SOUNDS NICER
(I would like to put in here that in the course of this chapter (and the whole story in general) I am in NO WAY indicating that Melanie is a stumbling lush, a secret drinker, a roaring drunk, or a bar crawler. Just the opposite, actually. The point when ever mentioning her name in a sentence that includes alcohol, is the simple fact that the minute someone in the room pops a cork, the woman get drunk. Not only can she not hold her alcohol, she can't even put it in a wagon and pull it behind her.)
Sprawled out on the sofa in the cabin one night, Layton was doing his best to concentrate on the reports he held in front of his eyes.
But he swore for the hundredth time that evening that he thought he could hear that lovely, soft bed calling his name. The mattress, pillows, and who knew how many nice warm blankets, all whispering his name in a soft, seductive voice.
He quickly shook off the image of himself happily curled up in that pure heaven on earth and determinately turned back to the papers in his hands. He had sworn he would make it to the last word of the last report before he went to bed that night.
He sighed loudly as his brain refused to focus on anything but the peaceful little warm nirvana that lay beyond the door down the hallway.
'Maybe you could read in bed?' his brain happily offered up.
Layton quickly shook off the thought almost as soon as it came up. He already had enough experience to know how that one worked out. Three minutes in that bed and he was up early the next morning having to read over the reports he fell asleep trying to read the night before.
And where was Melanie anyway?
He glanced at the clock for the tenth time that evening.
Her shift was over an hour ago. She usually came straight back to the cabin after that. Unlike himself, she wasn't much for socializing in the evening. If she was ever late she usually simply stayed to discuss something about the train with Bennett or Torres.
He, on the other hand, occasionally would stop by the Night Car to visit with a few of his new friends. Although he thought Ms. Audrey seemed to be working to destroy that relationship by insisting he pay to spend time with them now.
"But they're my FRIENDS!" He protested. "You don't pay to spend time with your friends!"
Ms. Audrey fixed a hard, cold stare on him. "Sad news." She stated. "Your friends have taken on a new title. It called 'Alcohol'. And now you have to pay to spend time with them."
Layton look extremely hurt. "That's just cheapening the beauty of the relationship, Audrey."
Audrey returned a pleasant smile. "Well, your friends occupy space under my bar and they need to start earning their keep." She replied.
Layton returned the smile with enthusiasm. "They can come stay at my place for free!"
Audrey frowned. "Really? You want to have alcohol in the cabin with Melanie? What if she mistakes the vodka for water?"
Layton considered the question. "If she mistakes vodka for water, she's already way past my worrying about her drinking vodka, Audrey. But I see your point. She does tend not to be the most aware person when she gets up in the morning. And I made her beef bourguignon the other night and had to put her to bed early."
Audrey still wasn't showing him any sympathy. "Four work credits." She stated, dropping a shot glass on the counter and filling it for him.
He sat back on the sofa with a sigh, glancing at the clock again.
Maybe he should go up to the engine to see if everything was all right. He could think up some plausible excuse on the way that didn't make it look like he was just plain worried about his roommate. Even though he was still likely to get a lecture all the way back to the cabin about nosing into her life.
He smiled at the thought. She was bossy to be sure. And infuriating and sarcastic and irritating and...and underneath it all, cared far too much for her own good about others.
As much as he worried about her sometimes, he knew she also worried about him. It was probably the part of their arrangement he liked the most. No matter how angry they might get at each other some times, how many fights they had, how many times she threatened to throw him into the hallway for the night..., ultimately, they did, each in their own way and on their own level, care about the other.
Trying again to concentrate on the reports, Layton nearly jumped a foot into the air when someone started banging on the cabin door.
"Mr. Layton! Open up! Please!"
Getting to his feet he raced through the cabin as the banging continued non-stop, Audrey desperate voice yelling through the door. "ANDRE! Open the door!"
He had barely activated the switch to open the door than Audrey pushed her way inside.
The first thing he registered was her panicked expression. Nothing but fear could be seen in her tear filled eyes.
"Audrey...!"
Audrey immediately grabbed the front of his shirt as she pulled at it. "It's Melanie..."
"Melanie?" Layton felt his own anxiety rise up several notches. "Did something happen to her? Is she alright?"
Audrey shifted her grasp to his arms, her well manicured nails digging into his skin painfully. "They came tonight to the engine room." She stated in a near blind panic, barely able to get the words out clearly. "Bennett told me. They took her, Mr. Layton." Her panicked tone switching to all out fear. "You have to do something! Please!"
Layton took hold of her arms, carefully disengaging her from his body before she started ripping off skin. "Wait. Slow down, Audrey." He told her, trying to keep calm, thereby calming her down. "Start making sense. Who took her?"
"Ruth!" Audrey cried. "Ruth Wardell and several others from first class. They told her she still had a pending sentence."
"What!?" Layton's whole demeanor changed in a second as he registered what she was saying. He thought this nonsense had gone away. Ruth hadn't said two words about Melanie's previous sentence since that one night.
But apparently she had simply been laying low, waiting for her chance to strike at her former friend.
"They took her to a cell, Mr. Layton!" Audrey's panicked voice went on. "They're planning to execute her in the morning!" Audrey grabbed his shirt front again in an even tighter grip. "Please! You have to do something!"
Again Layton carefully disengaged her iron hold on him. "All right." He told her in a firm, solid tone. "Just...go back to the Night Car. Don't talk to anyone about what's happened. I'll take care of this."
Sending a tearful and frightened Audrey back to her Night Car, Layton wasted no time in heading off in the opposite direction, forming his plan as he went. From Audrey's story, he had a good idea where she was being held. The train had few holding cells. But only one near that infamous execution room. Ruth would no doubt want her as close to it as possible, just to let her sit there all night and think about how close the proximity of it was.
But he knew he would need reinforcements. He didn't feel it was a good idea to go there alone. So his first stop was by Roche's cabin. After explaining things to him, they headed off together to gather Till, and then headed for the holding cell.
"WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON HERE!?" Layton burst into the room with all the subtlety of an arriving hurricane.
Everyone in the room jumped up at the man's entrance, including Melanie, who quickly got to her feet in the cell. She moved to the front, wrapping her fingers through the mesh wiring, but didn't make so much as a sound. But with a single, quick glance, Layton could see the utter fear in her eyes. Whatever Ruth was up to, she was serious about it.
One of the two guards in the room quickly stepped forward. "Ms. Wardell's orders, sir." He explained, not sounding entirely sure of himself. "Ms. Cavill is a prisoner and she's being held for execution."
Layton was glad there were only two. And apparently young men at that. If necessary, he, Roche, and Till could easily take them out.
Layton leaned in to the man, none of his fury dissipating. "And since when does Ruth Wardell have the power on this train to make such an order? To execute anyone? Let alone my chief engineer?"
The guard looked like he wanted nothing more than to turn and run in the face of the Chancellor's rage. "Sir, she said..."
Layton pointed to the cell door, cutting the man off quickly. "I couldn't care less what Ruth Wardell has to say about anything!" He bellowed at the man. "Get my chief engineer out of that cell. NOW!"
But, sir...
"Mr. Layton? Is there a problem?"
Layton immediately turned to the controlled, level tone of the voice of his new Head of Hospitality. Though he lowered his tone, none of the fury in his expression lessened in the least. "Yes, Ms. Wardell. There is a problem." He stated, getting directly in the woman's face. "You've locked up my chief engineer without any authority to do so."
To her credit, with her ever present calm outer demeanor, Ruth didn't back down one step as she faced off with the man. "Ms. Cavill is a prisoner of this train, Mr. Layton." She explained evenly. "As such, any 'citizen' has the right to request her incarceration."
Layton, on the other hand, looked nearly livid. "And order her execution?"
Ruth's controlled voice faltered just the slightest bit. "I didn't 'order' her execution, sir." She answered him. "That was the sentence handed down for her."
Layton wasn't ready to fight this battle with her right now. All his focus at present was simply on getting Melanie out of that cell. Once he had that accomplished they could make a plan. But right then, in his mind, she was in the greatest danger while she stayed in that cell and under Ruth Wardells' direct control.
"Get her out of there!" He all but yelled at the woman. "There's no need for her to be locked up."
Again Ruth's voice faltered just the slightest bit in the face of the man's anger. "Mr. Layton, she is a..."
But Layton cut her off with simple logic. "Where is she going to go, Ruth?"
The question indeed stymied the woman into silence.
Layton didn't give her much of a chance to figure out an answer either as he turned back to the guard standing by the cell. "Open that door. NOW!"
The guard paused, casting a nervous glance over at Ruth. But with a slight nod from her, he immediately pulled out a key and began opening the door.
Layton all but scowled at the exchange. He didn't like it one bit that the guards in the room were taking orders from Ruth, but let it go for now. His only goal at that point was getting Melanie out of that room and somewhere relatively safe. And he would go right through Ruth Wardell and all of her First Class if he had to to do it.
As soon as the door was open Layton was in the cell, carefully wrapping an arm around Melanie's shoulders as he guided her out the door. She never said a word or physically protested anything he did. If anything, she was utterly compliant to ever direction he gave her. Simply following along and remaining silent.
Layton only stopped briefly outside the door as he came up to Ruth again. He didn't want Melanie to spend one more second in that room than she had to.
"Ms. Cavill will be in her quarters tonight." He stated at the woman, then turned and left the room with Roche and Till in tow.
When they had put a fair amount of distance between them and the others, it was Roche who spoke first. "Risky move, going against Ruth Wardell, Mr. Layton." He said. "What are you planning?"
Layton briefly turned to Melanie, who was still complacently following any direction he led her in. To him she simply seemed shell-shocked. Too much happening too fast for her.
"Right now, just to get her as far from that place as I can." He replied. "Once I feel she's safe, then we can start sorting things out."
Till quickly spoke up from behind him, concerned etched in her voice. "Ruth is within her rights, Andre. And she has the support of first class. And the law is, unfortunately, on her side here." She informed him.
Layton gave a quiet sigh. He didn't want to discuss this in front of Melanie. She was, in his opinion, on the edge enough as it was. He truly did want to just get her away from Ruth and her band of vultures.
"Let's just get her safe for now." He answered Till. "We'll see what we can do after that. But right now I just need to know she's not in any immediate danger."
"It's 10PM, Andre." Till replied with a hint of warning in her tone.
Layton didn't know much about executions on the train. He hadn't heard of one since coming forward. And in the Tail they were simply told when someone had been executed, but no specifics. But he knew they were done at certain times.
"How long do we have then?" He asked.
Roche answered him. "Executions were always at 9AM."
Layton nodded. "Then we have 11 hours to think of something."
Walking on, Layton leaned down a little towards the woman next to him, who hadn't said or done anything since leaving the cage that he hadn't directly controlled.
"You OK?" He asked, but immediately felt it was a stupid thing to ask someone facing their execution in a few hours.
Melanie barely answered him with a slight, quick nod as she kept pace with him through the corridors. But she never said a word and to Layton her stare looked a vacant as...but he stopped himself. No. He wasn't even going to think of her that way. He would think of something. He had to.
He almost smiled when he thought once more about how much things had changed between them. A few weeks ago he was holding a scalpel to this woman's throat, seriously contemplating killing her.
Now they lived in the same cabin together, and laid in the same bed at night, discussing how best to make this new society work.
And now he was weaving their way through the corridors late at night, trying with everything in him to think of a way to keep her alive.
Directing her to the cabin, they made it there without any incidents and passing very few other passengers. Most just past them by, with a few giving them a curious glance before moving on.
Opening the door, Melanie seemed to react immediately to being back in the one place she felt safe. All but pushing her way out of Layton's hold, she made a beeline for the bedroom, her ultimate sanctuary, and closed the door behind her.
Roche and Till stood waiting to see what Layton might need from them now. But when he just stood staring at the closed bedroom door, it was Till would spoke up first.
"What now, Andre?" She asked.
"Ruth isn't going to back down this time." Roche added in his opinion.
Layton took a deep breath as he continued to simply stare at the bedroom door. What was she going through right now? What was she thinking? How absolutely terrified was she about the coming morning?
"This is all my fault." He stated in barely a whisper, though it resounded well in the silence of the cabin.
Till stepped forward and touched his arm. "That's not true, Andre!"
Roche stepped up to his other side. "How could you have known what Ruth Wardell was up to?"
Layton kept his focus on the door. "Because she told me." He answered his head of security. "Even you tried to warn me, Roche."
Layton had spoken to the older man about the first time Ruth had mentioned this nonsense, looking for advice. Roche had told him at that time they needed to plan for just such a possibility, since he knew all too well how tenacious the new Head of Hostility could be.
And he had gone to her that very day, planning to warn her. But instead it ended as their meetings tended to do sometimes, in a fight, and he had forgotten about his original intent on coming to see her in the first place.
And then somewhere in all the confusion of each passing day, the matter had been forgotten, and Layton had inadvertently left it laying by the wayside. A mistake Ruth hadn't waited too long to exploit.
"You tried to warn me." Layton went on in the same hollow sounding voice. "And I forgot. I was even going to tell Melanie about Ruth and her plan, but that night...we got into a fight...and I forgot. She's in this whole mess because we got into a stupid fight I don't even remember and I FORGOT!" He finished, raising his voice this time.
Both Till and Roche reacted to the outburst for what they knew it was. The man's pure frustration at a situation he currently didn't see a way out of. Not a person in the room wanted to see Ruth manage to go through with her plan. But Till and Riche knew it was reaching Layton on a deeper level. Loosing Melanie at this point would be like loosing a part of himself. An important part. They both knew the score with the two. That despite what others might see in the council meetings, Layton and Melanie were, for all intents, trying to work together in running the train. And they both knew it wasn't a smooth or seamless merger by any means. At some of the council meetings Melanie actually attended, the two had at times ended up directly fronting off against each other over various matters right in front of the others. Till had actually found Andre sitting in the Night Car after one such meeting at about three in the morning. When she asked him why he was there, he replied solemnly that 'someone's nose was still out of joint'. She had offered to let him stay at her cabin, but he waved the offer off with a note of thanks, stating Melanie had likely cooled off by then. That he would go back to the cabin, make breakfast for them, and they would talk about it some more.
But no matter how rocky the relationship seemed at times, it worked. And because of it, the train stood an even better chance of survival.
"You know that isn't true, Andre." Till tried to console him about the situation. "Ruth wasn't going to be stopped no matter who knew about her plans. The whole train could have known and it wouldn't have stopped her from trying."
Layton sighed as he lowered his head.
"We still have 11 hours, Andre." Till reminded him. "It isn't over yet."
Layton turned his attention back to the door. "You're right, Till." He answered in a quiet voice. "And I think our best source of a way to beat Ruth is behind that door. No one knows her better than Melanie."
"Kind of depends on her frame of mind for how useful she'll be." Roche replied, glancing at the man next to him. "She seems a bit...shaken right now."
"Then I guess it's time we find out." Layton answered as he headed down the hallway. Gently he tapped on the door, but not receiving an answer, turned back to Till and Roche.
"Give me just a few minutes." He told them, then opened the door and went into the room.
Layton had no idea what he would find when he entered the room. What he got was sort of a conglomeration of all of it.
The only thing he found utterly no explanation for was where he found her.
Inside the room, she was sitting on the bed.
On his side.
In all the time they had shared that bed, the one thing she had never done, even once, was so totally invade his side of it as to take it over completely.
Stepping over to it, Layton carefully sat down next to her.
For a few moments he just watched her. What he didn't like was she still had that frightened, blank stare she had carried all the way back from the cell Ruth had placed her in.
He had seen that blank stare before. To him, for her, it was almost normal. She got it when she went so deep inside herself trying to figure something out, it was like she went somewhere else and just left her body behind.
What he didn't recognize was the look of fear in those eyes.
He gave her a slight nudge. "You in there?" He asked with the smallest of smiles.
Not moving any other muscle than to answer him, she replied, "Yes."
"We're not giving up, Melanie." He spoke softly to her. "You know that."
This time she turned to him. Her question utterly surprised him.
"Why?"
He pulled back a little. "Why?" He gave her a questioning stare. "What do you mean 'Why?'."
"Why are you fighting this battle?" She asked him in the same flat level tone.
Layton leaned back into her space a little. "Because you are worth fighting for, lady." He told her. "And to me, you always will be."
Melanie rewarded his declaration with a small, tentative smile.
"I'm not giving up, Melanie." He told her. "And don't you give up either. We're fighting for you. Till, Roche, Audrey, and me. So don't give up hope."
She looked up at him, her expression utterly serious. "I'm not afraid, Layton." She told him in that same flat level tone that she held onto with a tight grip. "I always supported order on Snowpiercer. I'm not turning my back on it now just because it doesn't suit me."
When he finally got up from the bed, he wasn't sure what else he could say to give her even the smallest crumb of hope. Especially when he didn't have even that to give away himself at the moment. Currently all he had was a situation. But no solution.
"Try to get some sleep." He said, but immediately felt like a fool for the suggestion. Who wanted to spend the last 11 hours of their life sleeping? "Or whatever." He quickly added.
Either on instinct or out of habit, Melanie mimicked his moves as she stood up and followed him to the door.
At the door he stopped and turned back to her. It was time to go and work on a plan. But he simply couldn't move. Truthfully, he found he could hardly even breath. In 12 short hours he could possibly be watching them throwing her body from the train, likely over some ravine.
He would never see her again.
How was he going to run the train without her? How was he going to simply survive without this strong, capable woman helping him? How was he suppose to go on building this new society if he lost her?
Melanie reached past him and activated the switch to open the door. Till and Roche still stood a respectable distance from the hallway in the outer room, waiting for him. Turning, he stepped out of the door. But on a sudden impulse, he turned back to her and pulled her tightly to him, holding on as though his very life depended on it.
"Don't give up on me yet." He whispered to her. "If there's a way...any way...I'll find it."
When he finally pulled back, he found her staring up at him with tears in her eyes that she refused to allow to brim over. "We all have to pay for our crimes, Mr. Layton." She stated formally. "No one is above the law on this train. Not you. And certainly not me."
And with that, she pulled free from his arms and stepped back, shutting the door between them again.
Layton wasn't sure how long he stood there just staring at the door.
'No one is above the law.'
Very slowly a smile came to his lips.
He couldn't believe it. In her last hours, she was still helping him, even if she didn't know it. And she had just handed him the answer to their problem. Forming the plan quickly in his mind, he knew the first thing they needed were supporters.
Ruth had her army. It was time to assemble theirs.
Layton turned to Till and Roche, who were still standing in their respective places, waiting for him. They gave a curious stare to the smile forming on his lips.
"All right." He stated with more confidence than he had had since this had all started. "Ruth Wardell wants a war." The smile grew wider. "Then we'll give her a war."