The Shift of Numbers (21 page)

Isabella and Sophia – 23:46

Had a great evening!

Oh my god. Wasn’t it good?

Yeah. W
e spent the evening drinking on the b
each. The weather was perfect. W
e had a fire going and Sunny was played the guitar.

He was
so
good! I love him.

We watched the sunset over the island…

You mean you and Gordon watched the sunset.

What you smiling at?

You. You know?

What?

You and Gordon.
Oh my god. Y
ou
’
r
e
so right for each other.

I don’t think so.

Come on! Where are you sleeping tonight?

Don’t say that. Not on here.

Why not, silly?

I don’t want this to go out and certain people see
ing
it.

Who? What does it matter?

Okay
, look.

What’s that?

It’s a ring.

Oh my god!

I’ll tell you outside.

You’re eng…

Shhh, outside.

Isabella – 01:12

Oh my god! Do
I have some gossip for you lot?
Sophia has a fiancé! She said she
ain’t
seen him for a while but they ain’t broke it off or anything. I feel so bad for Gordon. Why wouldn’t she say? And lead him on like that? S
he still loves him or something.
It’s mad! She reckons Gordon’s just a friend. I can’t tell anyone
. Even Sunny.
I’m sure he would tell Gordon. Oh dear.

*

Gordon was sitting in the mock production office as he had taken to doing of
late. Just sitting and thinking -
mainly wondering about how on earth he had arrived at this point in his life. Try as he might he was finding it more and more difficult to remember his past life. He could reminisce about cleaning plates in the café or attending school many years befo
re but the time he spent on
Bill’s carrot farm and getting to this place was becoming a blur. Like watching a home movie through someone else’s eyes and every time he pressed play on the memory
,
another sheen of Vaseline was added to the lens. He realised he had created this place amidst all the lies but
,
for all his self-analysis
,
he couldn’t remembe
r where they started or stopped. It was
an enormous ball of tangled string with no obvious beginning or end. A saving grace was that if he thought for to
o
long
,
Sophia’s face would occa
sionally pop into his mind, creat
ing a smile and erasing all other thoughts. A p
olite knock on the door caused
all
further contemplation
to cease.

“Come in.”

Joan opened the door, entering the small room. Gordon hadn’t really spoken to her that much in the last 2 and half weeks. She peered a
t him over her half spectacles.
“I have something for y
ou,” s
he said happily.

“
Okay
.”

“First,
I would like to thank you for including me on the TV show
. It’s been really good –
well
,
apart from the odd argument. I’ve made some really good friends.” She smiled
and tears seemed
to well up under the surface of her eyes
, m
agnified to Gordon under the lenses.

“That’s
okay.
I’m glad you’re
getting something out of it,” r
eplied Gordon
,
professionally.

“Here. I want you to have this.” Joan placed a thick envelope on the desk that Gordon was seated at and swiftly exited the room, closing the door behind her. Gordon opened the package and spilled out the contents, creating a pile of dirty and well-used banknotes on his desk. He smiled, genuinely touched.

"Money can’t buy friends, but it can get you a better class of enemy.
”

Spike Milligan

He pushed with both hands. The doors creaked
and m
oaned
under their
palatial vastness. The mess of ornate gold carvings and antique polished wood moved slowly, causing him to slow his approach. Inside, now, he jogged forward, the heels of his expensive shoes clattering on the polished marble. He shuffl
ed rapidly down the corridor.
The guards nodded, helping him with the last door. As it swung inwards, he realized that this room always took his breath away with its circular design, the walls dripping with gold leaf and complex cream cornicing, vases, busts and art placed in every conceivable free space, all illuminated by a domed stained-glass window in the ceiling that shot out different tints of light at oblique angles over the masterpieces on the walls.

He trotted up to the desk in the centre of the room. The commander-in-chief looked up expectantly from a mound of paperwork and raised an eyebrow.

“Sir,” he said with a mixture of respect and excitement, “I’ve found the missing money.”

“Really! Excellent work. Do tell.”

“Thank you, Sir,” he gushed. “It was stolen from the factory that destroys. We didn’t see it earlier as the thief kept the money on site.”

“So, where is it now, then?”

“This is where it gets interesting; it seems to have been taken to a cult of some type.”

“A cult?”

“Yes, Sir. I’ve done some checking and there seem to be several outstanding warrants on the members, including 1 for murder and 1 for serious fraud.”

“Ah… a haven for miscreants and treachery.”

“Er… I suppose so, Sir.”

“Well, I won’t have it. I
won’t
have it.” He banged his fist on the table to emphasise the point.

“How do you want me to
proceed
, Sir?”

“Take them down, eh?”

“Arrest them, Sir?”

“I said, take them down. They’re as guilty as each other.”

“I see… It might take some organising to make it lo…”

“Don’t bother me with details.” He waved his hand around. “Just get it done.”

“Yes, Sir.”

*

DAY 29

Gareth – 12:13

Bloody idiots, the lot of ’em! I’m glad to be in the fields all day.

Sunny – 13:02

I
so torn
about what to do. I feel like I would be betraying Izzie and the others but I have to think about the future. This would pay off all my student loans and sort out everything else. It’s not like I’ve known these people for all that long anyhow. I don’t know… I do feel bad.

Deborah – 16:20

I don’t really know what’s going on around here
anymore. Jacob and his military
sidekick have been cooking up some sort of wild scheme that they’ve been trying to get support for. I told them straight out that me and Howard wouldn’t be part of it. Since then I’ve not really spoken to t
hem and a lot of other people. T
here’s a real divide in the group.

Isabella – 17:32

Oh my
god.This
place is weird! Me, Sophia and all them have been having a right laugh but most of the others are just weirdos. They’ve even started eating on their own!
There’s
now 2 separate places where people eat! I daren’t go over to the workers’ building. Wouldn’t want to anyway. I mean, oh my god, come on people.

Jacob and Ben – 17:51

We have good news!

Very good!
We
’
re about ready to put phase 2 of our operation into place. Tell them about the numbers
,
Jacob.

Okay. S
ince Bill’s arrival
, we have 10 non-workers, 9 halv
es and 9 workers. We ha
ve 7 of the workers on our side.
Deborah and her husband didn
’t want anything to do with it but
6 of the halves and surprisingly 3 of the non-workers
are with us t
otalling a magnificent 16!

And we only need 15 to put rule 4 into action.

Indeed
,
Ben, and once the new rule
is
in place
,
the majority can then decide who they want to kick out.

We
’
re calling a meeting later on today!

Yes, we decided not to wait any longer as we’re sick of them spending our money and once everyone realises that we only need 20 people to sell this place then I’m convinced attitudes will start changing around here.

Sunny’s going.
I can tell you that much. I don’t care what we told him to get his vote, that boy’s got no discipline.

I concur. W
e still have to
remember that this is a TV show.
I think we should tell Gordon about our plans.

Won’t that just tip him
off and give him time to organis
e support for the non-workers?

No. We will tell him just before the meeting, but we need to be sure that even if he disagrees with the addition of rule 5 that he will allow us to vote on it. I don’t want anything to go wrong.

What if he won’t allow the vote?

He can’t stop it.
I just don’t want to have that argument with him at the meeting. I don’t think it would help our cause.

You really have thought of everything.

Let go and see him then.

*

Gordon was sitting in his office trying to compile a timeline of events that had led him to this point in time. It wasn’t working and large chunks of time were simply unaccounted for. He had debated with himself about asking for Bill’s help but wasn’t sure it was good idea and didn’t really know how to approach the subject or even if he could help. He couldn’t
just walk up to him and say, ‘
Y
ou
know when I worked for you? What happened?’
I
t just didn’t seem like the thing a sensible person
would do. He wondered if he was
an alcoholic. Last week he
spent a whole afternoon on the
i
nternet
researching memory loss and it seemed to offer the most realistic explanation. He had always drunk
alcohol
so
,
perhaps
,
it was a possibility. It didn’t sit right
though:
most people who are alcoholics wake up years later under a bridge realising that they have lost everything. No alcoholic has ever shaken off the fuzz of abusing their body to find they have acquired a TV show, a million pound piece of property, and a group of friends. It just doesn’t happen. As he shook his head
,
there came a knock on the door.

“Come in.”

“Post. Can you sign for this please?”

“Sure. Where is it?”

“Just outside. Hang on.” The postman
poked his head outside
,
motioning to someone. 2 men with similar uniform
s
came inside the office struggling
under the weight of a large crate. “Just here
,
please.” He pointed at a clipboard. Gordon signed and the men left hurri
edly. Gordon picked up the hand-
written note attached to the top.
It read:

Contained within this crate is the means to defend
yourselves
. On Monday we will come. You have 2 days to prepare.

Anyone leaving the compound or attempting to signal the outside world will be dealt with. Watch tonight’s news.

B
emused, Gordon went to the tool
shed to fetch a
crowbar to pry the lid open
. To his astonishment and with a growing sense of alarm
,
he found a pile of weapons inside. Handguns, rifles, boxes of ammunition
and even what looked like hand-
grenades were contained within. He rummaged around the crate in disbelief before slumping back into his chair, reaching for the note with a sweaty hand. He reread the note, swore, and picked up the phone. It was
dead. He grabbed for his mobile:
no signal.

Gordon jumped as the silence was broken by a knock on the door. He knew immediately it was Ben from his trademark military drum roll knocking technique and guessed Jacob was most likely with him. Opening the door proved his brief speculation correct. Gordon felt immediate annoyance as he looked at the
ir
smug faces. Ben in particular looked like he’d just discovered a toy soldier in his breakfast cereal. Jacob folded his arms and spoke
first
, without introduction or any kind of friendliness.

“We have called a meeting later. We have some important things to say before it starts.”

“Not as important as what I’ve got to say…”

*

DAY 30

Deborah and Howard – 09:20

This whole TV show has turned ridiculous. We’re seriously considering going home and I know we’re not the only 1’s who feel like this.

Yes, dearest. Ridiculous, we thought.

The whole business is starting to scare Poppy and I won’t have that. Where on earth do they come up with these ideas?

It’s all about ratings these days. I did warn you it wouldn’t be straightforward, didn’t I? And that Gordon - he never did seem to be fully with it,
if
you know what I mean.

I do, Howard, I do.

This was supposed to be a relaxing weekend away from the restaurant.

Well, it’s ruined now.

Ben and Jacob – 09:47

Ha ha! T
his has suddenly got all very interesting, yes?

I would have to agree
,
Ben
.
I would have to agree. That stunt with the box has certainly put people on edge. Our little plan will have to wait till all this nonsense is over with.

It’s so obviously a set up!

If they wanted to do a better job of it
,
they could have at least employed a decent actor.

I know! Gordon won’t be getting many acting jobs after that performance.

Perhaps in panto!

I thought cutting the phone lines and the cell signal was a nice touch
,
though.

And I’m looking forward to the news.

And me.

Sunny and Isabella – 15:11

I think I know what’s going on. I think this was all planned from the start. I reckon it
’
s all about the prize. I think whoever stays here till the end will get it.

Oh my god. Y
ou think?

Yes, without a doubt. I mean who on earth would want to kill us lot?

I know. I
t’s stupid.

Well
,
we’re not going anywhere.

Nor me.

Watch out though
, Izzie.
I reckon these mind games will get worse.

Oh my god. Y
ou reckon?

Yeah, I wouldn’t be surprised if a lot of these people are actors.

That’s well creepy!

Gareth – 16:19

What the bloody ’
ell i
s going on round here? The missu
s won’t even come into
’ere no more. Gone off the camera
s
,
she has. I tell you what
,
though, if I don’t bleedin
’
stop after this weekend
,
I’m out of
’ere,
TV show or not.

Sophia and Isabella – 23:44

I can’t believe he doesn’t trust me.

Oh my god. Don’t cry. H
e’s not worth it.

Let’s go.

*

Gordon unobtrusively walked into the TV room and leaned up against the door at the back of the room. Everyone was in attendance, apart from the children. The adults were all seated, squashed together on the sofas and perched on every available space. Every single face turned when he entered, the light from the TV flickering on their profiles. It seemed like an age to Gordon before, 1 by 1, they turned back to the screen. Only Bill smiled and put a thumb up in greeting. Then it happened.