Henry left Cafe Lyon and stepped onto the street outside. He could smell smoke in the air and he could hear a lot of strange noises like heavy machinery doing demolition work in the distance. It gave him a bad feeling in the pit of his stomach.
He rubbed his hands together. When he glanced around, he could see smoke rising into the sky from several parts of the city. He heard voices nearby, and then suddenly people were rushing past him in every direction. How could they all be going to the shelters if they were all heading in different directions? Henry didn't understand at all. He would go to the nearest shelter and hope that they could tell him what was happening from there.
He set off walking, being careful not to put too much weight on his swollen knee. Some of the streets were deserted, while others were overflowing with people. Streams of roaches formed convoys with containers stacked high on their backs. Henry hurried onwards, using his cane to balance, and choosing the back streets where possible to avoid the worst crowds. He couldn't risk being knocked over by fools who didn't look where they were going.
There was a sense of panic in the air. Already he could see children crying in the streets. Many rushed along beside their parents but some stood alone while people raced past them, oblivious to their plight.
Henry paused to catch his breath, and rest his throbbing knee. Big brown eyes watched him from across the street. A young boy was sobbing loudly and rubbing his eyes with hands that were covered with dirt from the street.
Henry limped towards him. 'Where are your parents?'
The boy was in floods of tears and his face was a bright shade of red. He made some babbling attempts at speech but Henry couldn't find a word amongst it.
'Come with me,' Henry said. 'We'll find your parents together.' He reached out a hand and the boy took it, but he didn't stop crying.
Henry shuffled down the street with the little boy stumbling along beside him. He kept one eye on the sky to make sure he wasn't getting too close to any of the places that were on fire. His palms already felt sweaty and there was a throbbing pain building along the length of his thigh.
Where were the security forces? He hadn't seen anyone trying to help the people so far. He walked a little further and felt his leg start to stiffen even more. There was nothing he could do about it now. He didn't have anything to take for the pain. Wiping sweat from his brow, he continued at a slower pace.
When he looked up, he saw a young girl sitting in the dirt, watching people rush past on all sides. Her eyes were wide and hollow but she wasn't crying. A lump rose in Henry's throat. How could the people be so heartless? They only cared for themselves. He shuffled across the street towards her, with the young boy in tow. The boy had stopped crying now, and when he saw the little girl staring up at him, he reached his free hand towards her.
'That's right, Henry said. 'Good boy. Help her up.'
The girl stared at the hand with confusion in her soft hazel eyes. She glanced at the boy before staring up at Henry as though he was some kind of towering monster sent to eat her up.
'It's okay,' Henry said. 'I'm a diplomat.'
'Dipowat?' the girl said.
Henry nodded. 'That's right. It means I'm a nice man. Where are your parents.'
The girl looked down at her hands. 'Don't know.'
'Well, I'll help you find them then.'
The girl looked hopeful for the first time since he'd seen her.
'Come along,' Henry said. 'Take his hand.'
The girl took the boy's hand and together they continued on their way.
It was a long walk to the Mekinet News building. Henry stopped often, sometimes to catch his breath and sometimes to ease the weight on his leg. He gathered up lost souls wherever he found them and made a detour here and there to check out places where he knew children would often play on their own.
By the time he limped around the final corner, gazing up at the Mekinet News building towering above him, with its bright red 'M' glowing in the sky, he had quite a collection of children gathered around him. He frowned at first, unsure what he was looking at, but hen he saw a bunch of security forces staring at him from the building's front lobby.
'Okay, this is the place,' Henry said as he led his entourage across the street towards the main entrance.
'Are they all yours?' a soldier asked from under his helmet. His wide sweaty cheeks formed a half smile.
Henry could hardly see the soldier's eyes because his helmet was pulled down so low over his forehead. 'They are not my children,' he said glancing down the line of linked hands beside him. Eight sad faces stared up at him with fresh tears ready to burst forth at any moment. 'But I will be looking after them until we find their parents.'
The soldier nodded and ushered them all inside.
The lobby's thick white carpet was covered in dusty footprints. The woman on reception was crying into her hands. Henry wondered whether she had lost her parents too until he heard her mumbling about the state of the carpet. Some people had strange priorities.
A soldier gestured for Henry to join a stream of people who were walking towards an archway at the end of a short corridor. Henry was dismayed when he found out that the archway led to a long set of stairs that led down into the depths of the building's underground levels. His leg was already very swollen. The thought of so many steps made him want to sit down and cry, but he was supposed to be the big grown up here. Sobbing and complaining it front of the children wouldn't set a very fine example, so he complied with the soldiers' insistent requests to clear of the entrance.
It wasn't safe so close to the street, they said. He had to keep moving, heading down into the deeper levels. Henry gathered his courage and ushered the children before him.
'I won't,' Christie said. She was one of the more vocal members of his new flock. She was three years old but had already formed a great many opinions about how the world should be.
'We need to go through that archway,' Henry said, pointing with his finger.
'It's dark and horrid and full of smelly monsters,' Christie said.
The other children regarded her with horror in their eyes. She had become their leader at some point during their collective walk. The others had all become her loyal subjects, even though several of them were almost twice her age. Henry wasn't sure what part he played in this strange new society.
'There are no monsters down there,' he said, 'but there are some outside on the streets. That's why we need to get away from here and go down there.'
That was enough to start half of the children running for the stairs. The others stared at Christie as though waiting for her to decide for them.
'No running,' Henry said. 'Wait for me at the top of the stairs.'
Christie looked up at him with a frown, folding her arms as she chewed her lower lip in contemplation. 'Is that really true, Mr. Wilbow?'
'My name's Henry Willow. There's more truth in my statement than yours, and a true diplomat knows how to use leverage to his advantage. Let's all go down stairs and see what we can find.'
'No.'
'There are cakes downstairs too.'
The rest of the children hurried towards the stairs leaving Henry and Christie alone.
'I'll come along for now,' Christie said, scrunching up her face, but if there are monsters down there I shall be very cross indeed.'
Henry nodded graciously. 'I'll bear that in mind. Shall we go now?'
Christie nodded and led the way as Henry hobbled along behind her.
It was a long slow journey down the stairs. Henry struggled down the first few steps, leaning heavily on his cane. He could already feel sweat running down his back, and his robe felt clammy across his ample shoulders. He could see more soldiers on the levels below. A couple of Squid Droids stood in the shadows with their long silver arms trailing by their sides.
'Monsters!' Christie said, pointing at the Squid Droids. Luckily the other children had gone ahead and were out of earshot.
'That's not a real monster,' Henry said. 'It's here to protect us.'
'It's a friendly monster?'
'You could say that.'
Henry glanced over the handrail, gazing down at so many underground levels below. Every staircase was packed with people, and everybody was walking further down. He took a deep breath and almost fell down the steps.
'Do you need help?' a young woman said, offering her arm.
Henry nodded and let her help him down the stairs as Christie walked ahead, turning back occasionally to watch him from under her brows.
It was all true, after all. Cinnamon City was under attack. None of their lives would ever be the same again. He had promised to find the children's parents but in the back of his mind he was already afraid that some of them might be dead.