Mark sits on the dirty floor of the hallway just outside of the Shannons' apartment. This is always the most boring of the three shifts that he, Foster, and Reilly rotate around. Inside is his favorite because he can talk to Maddy. Outside is kind of boring, but at least there is some good people watching. But hallway patrol is always uneventful. People rarely even walk by.
Today is Tuesday and Maddy skived off of school again claiming she was sick, but really so she and Mark could watch Zoe. Now it is evening and the Shannons are eating inside. Mark was invited, as always, but he isn't hungry. He also knows how much it hurts to see an empty seat at a table, to know the person might not ever come home. However, as with anytime Mark thinks of his vacant father, he quickly changes the topic, switches to another thought.
Briefly, Mark reflects on the situation with Maddy's father, Jim. He somehow feels guilty that the last thing the guy told him was to looks after his daughters. Mark doesn't particularly like the other man, but he also doesn't think he deserves to be in Golad right now. Elisabeth spent the day at the Terra Nova recruitment office seeing if there was anyway Jim could be freed for the passage, but even though she didn't say it directly, the meeting didn't seem like it went well.
Mark leans his head up against the wall and closes his eyes for a moment before standing to stretch his legs. Tuesday. Fifteen days. In fifteen days the Shannons will go to Terra Nova and he will be back with his family. That length of time that Mark mulls over in his head seems long and short at the same time. Fifteen days to scheme a way for Zoe to get through the portal. Fifteen days for Jim to become a free man again.
The door to the apartment slides open and Mark turns with a start to see Maddy pulling on her jacket and rebreather as she steps outside. "Hey," she says politely but her usual cheeriness has evaporated since last night.
"What's up?" Mark asks.
Maddy simply shrugs. "I told mom I was going for a walk. Josh started firing twenty questions about her meeting today I just …" Maddy glances at the ground, "I can't take any more bad news." Mark nods slowly, remembering the other event of the day: Elisabeth informed them that Mrs. Young wasn't improving, and she didn't have any money to pay for treatments.
Maddy walks down the hall and to the stairs, taking her time. Mark follows. They get down to the lobby of the apartment, and Mark doesn't hesitate to keep walking around the building but Maddy stops moving abruptly. "Oh my god."
"What?" Mark asks, turning to look at her.
In response, Maddy raises a shaky hand to the windows near the door. Outside, a population control van pulls up, three men getting out. "Officer Randolph," she says quietly. "He's been here before. And once he's convinced someone is hiding something, he doesn't stop. It's the opposite of what my mom told Foster and Reilly: it isn't that he doesn't like my dad, so he abuses his power to search the house for a third child; he really thinks we have a third child, so he doesn't like my dad."
Mark locks eyes with Maddy. Officer Randolph isn't wrong.
"Run," Mark says. She turns on her heel without hesitation. "Where is she?" he whispers as they fly up the stairs.
"Bedroom," Maddy replies shortly.
Mark's mind runs wild. How will they get Zoe hidden in the vent before the officers get up there? And how will they do it without Reilly or Foster noticing? How can he and Maddy even tell Elisabeth the matter without Reilly or Foster, both of whom were inside eating dinner when they left, getting suspicious?
Maddy seems one step of ahead of him though, running into the apartment and dropping her stuff. Elisabeth glances up, doing a double take when she notices her daughter running like all Hell has broken loose. "I don't feel very well," Maddy says quickly. "Bathroom." She uses her excuse to dart back into the bedroom with Reilly and Foster going back to their meals without a second glance.
Elisabeth does seem suspicious, though. "Uh, Dr. Shannon," Mark starts.
She looks up casually, though her eyes show her concern, pressing him to go on.
"You'd mentioned that a population control officer had been here before, hoping to find something to peg on Mr. Shannon," Mark mentions as calmly as possible. "I think I saw a van pull up outside before Maddy wanted to come back."
Josh and the two other guards perk their heads up immediately. "That's ridiculous," Reilly says. "There obviously isn't another kid here. Is he really planning on searching this place?"
"They aren't necessarily coming here," Foster speaks up.
Elisabeth looks around the small apartment. "Well everything is straight and in order, isn't it?" she asks. "If we get house guests, we wouldn't want to seem impolite," she says coldly. Foster shakes his head at the matter in disbelief that population control would have the nerve to come up here. Elisabeth subtly eyes Josh and Mark.
Josh stand up from the table. "I'll go check on Maddy," he says. Just as he disappears in the back room, there is an intense pounding on the door that makes everyone at the table jump.
Elisabeth lets out a short breath. "I'll … I'll get it," she falters. Foster and Reilly exchange an unbelieving glance and Mark tries to match their indigence. The door slides open to reveal a large man with thinning hair and two others behind him. They are dressed in black and have the blue, population control insignia.
As the trio steps inside, they remove their rebreathers. "Population control," the almost-bald guy says smugly. "You are being suspected of possible violation."
"There must be some mistake," Elisabeth says.
The man, who by is name tag is the infamous Randolph, looks curiously around the room at the several different people. Reilly steps forward. "I'm sorry sir," she says, "but with all due respect, I think you have the wrong residence."
Randolph simply glares at Reilly.
"My name is Laura Reilly," she continues on, undeterred. "I along with Kent Foster and Mark Reynolds make up the security team for this family. The Shannons are going to Terra Nova."
Randolph rolls his eyes slightly. "Could everyone please step outside for a moment?" he asks commandingly.
"We have been here for over a week," Mark speaks up. "We would have most definitely noticed if there was another kid here."
Randolph walks up to Mark, arms crossed. "Move. Now," he says. "And if you know what's good for your client, you will get them to move too."
Mark glances at Reilly and Foster and the three make their way to the door. Elisabeth calls out for her other two children to join them, and Maddy and Josh emerge from the back bedroom.
"And where were you two?" Randolph asks.
"I … I felt sick," Maddy whispers, glancing at the floor. Josh keeps a hand on her sister as they walk out into the hall with the others.
With a glance at the family and menacing smirk, Randolph signals the two other men with a flick of the hand. The three then proceed to tear apart the small apartment. Elisabeth closes her eyes and shakes her head. Her lips move though no words come out, as if she's praying for this to be over. Reilly seems pissed that the men dare raid the apartment under the circumstances. Over and over on a loop, Mark keeps hoping and hoping they don't find Zoe.
Seconds turn into minutes, and Josh starts clenching his hands in fists. His mother rubs his shoulder soothingly. One of Randolph's men climbs up into the loft and tears the blankets off the bed. When Josh's guitar gets thrown carelessly from the loft, he curses until Foster gets him to calm down. The drawers of the meticulously organized desk are turned upside down, and the shelves and baskets upstairs are dumped over the railing onto the floor. "Hey!" Maddy yells when a box that's obviously hers is emptied with much clattering. "Be careful with that!" she snaps, taking a step forward.
Mark quickly reaches out, grabbing Maddy by the arm and pulling her back into the hall more. "Breathe," he whispers in her ear, though that seems an unlikely reaction. Her slender hands shake nervously and Mark loosens the grip on her shoulder. Without thinking, his hand runs down her arm, grasping her hand. Maddy lets out a small breath and clutches him back.
The group continues to watch in devastation as the three officers destroy the small home, breaking items without a second thought.
Be quiet, Zoe. Mark thinks. Just a little bit longer. Don't make any noise. Because Mark knows any small sound Zoe makes will echo in the vent. It is almost as if Maddy reads his mind because her grip on his hand gets stronger.
After several minutes, the officers slowly come to a stop. Randolph walks toward the hall looking incredibly disappointed until he turns back to glance at the disaster behind him. A small smile appears on his face, and Mark has to fight back the urge to punch him down. How could he take pride in destroying people's lives and property?
"Sorry for the inconvenience," he tells Elisabeth monotone as he walks past her.
As soon as the three men are out of sight, the security guards and Shannons walk back into the trashed place. Elisabeth sighs in relief of their departure. "Could you please give us some time alone to put everything back together?" she asks the guards.
"Are you sure you don't want help?" Foster offers.
Elisabeth gives a sad shake of the head in response.
"I'll take inside duty," Mark speaks up. "And I can stay out of the way." Elisabeth smiles gratefully and Reilly and Foster disappear into the hall. As soon as the door is locked, Elisabeth runs to the vent in the back room, pulling her youngest daughter safely into her arms. Since the curtain was ripped from the wall, Mark can easily see Elisabeth sitting on the edge of the bed, soothing her whimpering daughter. He can't imagine going through the pain as a parent; that would be torture.
Maddy also surveys the destroyed space, simply grateful that Zoe is safe. She sees Josh inspecting his guitar near the ladder to the loft and Zoe in her mother's arms. She then realizes that her hand is still in Mark's. "Uh … sorry," she mumbles. As Mark looks down at her and their hands finally separate, she can feel herself blushing. "I should … clean up," Maddy says.
"Yeah," Mark answers distantly. Before going to help, he looks over at Elisabeth and Zoe one more time. Thank goodness the little girl is okay. He can't imagine this family having to deal with anything more.
The Shannons really have been unlucky lately Tell me what you think!