Everything I need to know, mate.

I woke up in my room again. With one hell of a headache. Body pains and this insatiable urge to spit my guts out on the floor. I felt like I had been hit by a train, twice.

I had to see Jerry. That fuckin' weirdo. I wonder if he could make sense of any of this shit. I took a shower, grabbed a bag of chips and walked out the door. I headed out in to the streets of deadville again. No one there as usual. As much as i hated this place, I was glad to be back in it after my trip to 'the room'. Wherever the hell that was.

I ate my chips as I walked down the street to the tram station. The tram station was empty. I walked up to the gate, scanned my montly pass card, and walked up to the platform. I took a seat and waited patiently for the tram to arrive.

A couple of minutes passed and another person stepped on to the platform adjacent to me. It was a girl. She was wearing a thick brown jacket and boots. It was cold outside, but it wasn't snowing. She seemed overdressed. She had gloves on too, I know, cuz I was watching her reach in to her pocket and pull out a pack of cigarettes. She searched her pocket looking for a lighter.

Then she looked over and spotted me. She gave me a nervous smile. She was kinda cute, sexy in her own way. Mysterious sort of.

"Do you need a light," I asked.
"Do you have one," she replied.

I smiled my grin of confidence and reached in to my pocket. I don't smoke, but I carry a lighter around with me for this specific reason. She was on the other side of the platform, so I had to throw it across.

She caught it with one hand. "Thanks," she said.

"Where you headed," I asked,
"Downtown," she replied, "you?"
"I'm headed down to Orville."
"Orville, huh," she smiled, "you live around there?"
"No, I live around here. I'm gonna see a friend."
"I see."
"Why are you going downtown?"
"I have my reasons," she smirked.
"I'm sure you do."

She tossed my lighter back over the track. I caught it, put it back in to my pocket.

"Thanks," she said, "I really needed a smoke."
"I understand the feeling."
"You want one?"
"No, thanks, I don't smoke."
"Then how do ou understand the feeling?"
"I'm addicted to chips," I gave her my suave smile.
"Right. It's not the same you know?"
"I've been told that before."
"I'm sure you have."
"You have company Downtown?"
"No, actually, I don't."
"You want some?"
"Maybe. What about your friend?"
"He doesn't even know I was going, besides, it's not safe for a girl like you to wander around downtown alone."
"I can take care of myself."
"I didn't say you couldn't. You just might need some back up is all."

She thought about it a minute.

"Besides, someone needs to light your smokes," I said.

She looked at me and nodded her head. I ran down the steps so I could cross over to her side. I headed through the station and then up to her side.

She wasn't there.

I didn't hear the train come. Where the hell did she go?

I crossed back over and waited for my train.

Jerry.

I walked in to Jerry's office. He was sitting behind his desk face planted in to a bowl of chips.

"Jerry," I said, "are you okay?"

He wasn't moving I walked over to him. I nudged him, he didn't move. Fuck, I thought, the fat shit choked himself!

I tried to lift him up. Smacked his back. Nothing.
All of a sudden, he leaped at me. I fell back, freaked out.
He burst out laughing.
"You dumb s.o.b." he laughed.
"That's not funny, man."
"Sure it is. You fucking pussy! Hahaha!"
"Damn it."
"Get off the floor you bum, this ain't your house, mate."

I stood up. Took a seat in front of his desk.

"Now, what seems to be the problem with you today," he asked, still smiling.
"This is serious," I said.
"Erectile dysfunction can be helped, there's nothing to -"
"No, you fuckin' mook, lemme explain."

I told him the story, everything except for the girl at the tram station.

He sat back in his chair. He was trying to take it all in. After a long awkward silence, he leaned forward.

"It's them, mate."
"Who?"
"Them," he said, "the name that can't be uttered."
"Will you just tell me?"
"I can't. They'll come for me too."
"Fine. What do 'they' want?"
"They want you, mate. You and everything about you."
"Great."
"No, mate. it's not great. Not great at all."
"Jerry," I said, "tell me who they are."
"I can't."
"Jerry."
"I'll show you who they are."
"Let's do that."

Jerry led me to the back of his office where he pulled on a book on his book shelf.
"Where's the secret door," I asked.
"Fuck you, mate."

He pulled on another book, and another. Eventually just about every book on the shelf had been removed. He put them back in a different order, and voila, nothing happened.

I looked at him. He turned and looked at me. "Now, I'll show you," he said.
"I'm sure you will," I answered.

His desk began to move. It was sliding across the room. The floor below it slid open and a poof of dust blew in to the room.
I moved over and looked in to it. It was too dark to see anything really, but, I knew it led somewhere.

Jerry walked over to me. He put his hand on my shoulder and forced me to look at him. For the first time ever Jerry was dead serious about something.

"Mate, what I'm about to show you doesn't leave you.You tell no one, you deny it's existence, you utter not one word, or so help me God, mate, I will kill you," he said. He was dead serious. It was scary.

"Give me the card you found, mate," he said.
I reached in to my pocket and pulled out the business card.
It still had name: written on it.
"Okay, now, hold the card, and repeat after me," Jerry said.

I held the card, and waited for him to start.

He began : "Name. Zero One."

I repeated what he said. The letters on the card changed again, this time reading : Please verify.

"Say it again, mate," Jerry said.

I said it again.

The card changed and read : Thank you. Please insert the card.

"Insert where," I asked.
"Bend over, mate," Jerry said smiling.

He pointed to a slot, right next to the hole he had unravelled earlier.
I put the card in. Lights filled up the hole, it was a tunnel. It curved so I couldn't see where it led.

"Jerry, what the hell is down there?"
"The answers to everything you need to know, mate."