by ID Johnson
An arched eyebrow from her friend told her that she shouldn’t have even asked. “Would you rather die?”
Rain didn’t bother answering. Instead, she ran her hand down her leg, willing the muscles to stop screaming at her and allow her to push up off of the ground and find the strength to run. Whether or not she was going to die hadn’t crossed her mind in the last few hours that they’d been running for their lives, but when Adam’s hand extended into her line of sight to help pull her to her feet, she took it, just as determined as ever to make sure that nothing happened to him.
Chapter Forty
The plants of the forest grew closer together the further away from Michaelanburg the military traveled. Working her land riders through the foliage was slow going, and at times Jaguar thought they might have been better off on foot. But their average time traveling a mile was still faster than the Mothers running on foot, so Jaguar didn’t abandon her vehicle just yet. Besides, they finally had a lead.
“Her behaviors are so erratic, it doesn’t make sense,” one of the uniformed Mothers who was doing the majority of the tracking, Mother Scorpion, said to Jaguar’s left. “At times, she’s perfectly still for hours. Then, she takes off running so quickly, it doesn’t seem like this could possibly be a human.”
“What are you saying?” Jaguar asked, praying she hadn’t just shifted course and started moving in on one of their primary objective’s transponders for no reason. When the signal had first come up the day before, the girl, Mist of Weather House, had been unbelievably lethargic, as if she were sleeping in the middle of the day. It was the first sign of life they’d had in their zone for hours, though, so they’d taken off in that direction as quickly as possible. Now, from what Scorpion was reporting, it wasn’t quite so clear they were moving in the right direction.
“I’m saying, it doesn’t make sense. We know that Mist is intelligent. Why wouldn’t she be moving more linear?”
Jaguar slowed her vehicles so she could lean in closer to look at the tablet she had attached to the top of her land rider. A quick glance at the screen told Jaguar something was off. She stopped her land rider completely, as did the others. Stepping off, she extended her gloved hand for the device, which Scorpion placed into her palm.
A closer inspection of what they were tracking was a clear indication that they were closing in on someone who was lost and disoriented--or not a human at all. But how would that be possible? Could the women have come up with some sort of tracking device that was made to simulate the rebel’s own unique transponders?
Anything seemed possible at this point. Clearly, these women had more devices than they were aware of, despite White’s insistence that Lightning had told them everything in exchange for the lives of her friends. But if that were truly the case, wouldn’t they have been able to find more of these insurgents by now?
At last count, there were still over forty escapees missing, which was embarrassing, to say the least. The Motherhood should’ve never been vulnerable to such an attack to begin with, certainly not something of this magnitude. Now, it had been over twelve hours since any of the runaways had been found, and those had been of little help. Two construction workers and a woman on the fringes of the operation who knew nothing of use. They were being sent back to Gretchintown for questioning, but Jaguar had a feeling even White wouldn’t be able to get anything beneficial out of them. Now, she’d spent over a day and a half out here chasing down--what? A phantom tracer?
“The drones have done nothing,” Jaguar said, folding her arms and staring off into the trees. What was she missing? How was Mist able to keep their drones from picking up a heat signal? Lightning had been questioned about that but had given White no valuable information. “What are the settings?”
Scorpion leaned over the tablet. “The drones are set to pick up all heat signals over the average human weight, but less than what we know to be the largest of our Dick’s weight so we won’t get many animals. There have been a few false alarms with some decent sized animals, but nothing has triggered the drones in our zone. That is how the three rebels that were taken in yesterday were located.”
Jaguar stared at the screen but in her mind, she was envisioning the drones’ path across the sky. They were always linear, always moving in the same manner. it was predictable. Mist wasn’t stupid. “We need to change the pattern,” she said, turning to look at Scorpion.
The woman was shorter than her, with white blonde hair and wide blue eyes. Pretty, Jaguar had to admit. A bit naive, if not downright lacking in intelligence. “Change the pattern? With all respect, Mother, if we make them random, the drones could collide. We could miss large swaths of forest.”
“If we leave them as they are, the fugitives will continue to dodge them. As for the size, change the perimeters. Any living creature with a body heat signal registering over eighty pounds. Period. No upper limit. Then, send a drone back over the tracker. It should register then. I’m afraid we’ve been fooled, Mother Scorpion.” Her breathing shallowed, the muscles in her abdomen tightening as she fought the shaking in her hand, the tablet extended back to the deputy. How much time had she wasted tracking something that was clearly not human? She’d have to be careful not to make this same mistake twice. As it was, Mother White was sure to be less than pleased to hear that this change in course would not successfully produce the rebels Jaguar had been sent to find. It wouldn’t surprise her at all if she was stripped of her command.
With her forehead puckered, Scorpion began to punch the codes into the tablet that would result in the requested changes. It was obvious she still didn’t understand what was happening, but the subordinate knew better than to question Mother Jaguar.
Looking around at her teammates, Jaguar quickly decided who she could spare on this fool’s quest and who she wanted to take with her. Presently, she had no idea where Mist and her friends might be. Until the drones picked up on something, all she could do was strike out into the forest and hope she got lucky, which was no way to run a mission.
“The changes have been made, Mother Jaguar,” Scorpion said.
“Good. I think it’s only fitting that Mother Tiger take over tracking on this particular mission. I’m putting Mother Amethyst in charge of this undertaking. The three of you will accompany them,” she said, gesturing at three of the women standing near Amethyst. “The rest of you will be coming with me.”
“Yes, Mother,” all of them said in unison, but the confused looks continued to permeate the ranks.
Jaguar rolled her eyes. “I believe, with the help of the reprogrammed drones, you will soon find your objective. When you do, be ready to shoot. I fear it won’t be a small woman and her three companions you stumble upon. Instead, I have a feeling Mother Tiger is about to meet her namesake. Perhaps if there was a chance our objective was a jaguar, I’d be willing to stay.”
Rolling her eyes, she climbed back aboard her land rider, locking her heavy boots into place on the standing platform as she pressed the buttons necessary to change directions. She’d already wasted so much time, it was possible the group they were tracking was close to no-man’s land or the insurgent town of Dafo by now. Taking a deep breath, she let the scents of the woods calm her the best she could, knowing it was possible the rebels could find help in the remnants of that city. Beyond that, if they were successful in reaching the River Red, the opportunities of finding allies were exponentially greater. No, Jaguar knew she couldn’t let that happen.
As soon as she changed directions, moving away from the alleged tracking location, her com went off, as expected. White was watching her carefully. She’d want an explanation. The transporter bumped along over the uneven ground as she dodged tree roots and watched for low branches, moving through narrow gaps in the trees. The last thing she wanted to do was admit to her superior they’d wasted so much time chasing a damn tiger.
With a deep breath, she pressed the appropriate button. “Yes, Mother White?”
“What’s happening?�
� her superior asked over the com. Jaguar was utilizing the microphone and speaker located in the shoulder of her uniform so that she wouldn’t have to lift her arm.
“I believe we’ve been foiled, Mother,” she said, keeping her voice even. “I have sent another group to confirm my suspicions, but due to current erratic behavior from the device we’ve been tracking, it’s my opinion that this is not a human, and that the rebels have further techniques and devices to throw us off their track that Lightning hasn’t disclosed to you, Mother White.” She’d done her best to put part of the blame back on White herself without being obvious about it.
There was silence over the com for a long moment. “You believe a tiger was somehow capable of sending a signal exactly the same as Mist’s tablet?”
“Yes, Mother White,” she said confident in her answer though unsure as to how it was possible.
Again, her commander was silent for several seconds as she either fought to regain composure or swore to herself. “Find them, Jaguar. Do not fail me. If you have one more setback, I will be forced to come after them myself, which means when you return to Gretchintown, you’ll have to face President Violet, and I do not think it is in your best interest to do so. Do you understand?”
“Yes, Mother,” Jaguar said, able to keep a waiver out of her voice but glad that she wasn’t standing face to face with the woman where the Mother could read her expression and see fear. The others in her party were all smart enough to pretend they weren’t listening, and none of them dared to turn to look their leader in the face, not when she was clearly being berated by their leader.
White disconnected the com, and Jaguar increased the speed on her land rider to six miles per hour, which was faster than most humans could possibly run over this uneven terrain, even with energy pills. It was dangerous to go much faster when a root or large rock could send the land rider tumbling at any moment, but the pressing nature of the hunt had Jaguar willing to take the risk.
If this didn’t work, and the Motherhood was forced to use larger vehicles and more invasive means to find and capture the rebels, the repercussions for their nation could be costly. The Motherhood had secrets, dark ones, ones that they’d been hiding from the rest of the world for decades, since the inception of their nation in some cases. Their enemies were many, but most were too busy concentrating on their own affairs to worry about a small nation run completely by women to leave their own lands and start a conflict.
However, if Michaelanburg were forced to show its hand, the situation could change quickly. President Violet would be obligated to choose between allowing a few rebels to escape and letting the rest of the world know their secrets. On the surface, it seemed like it would be better just to let them go. But considering the recent threat of attack on the southern border and the rumors that other countries were suddenly curious about their way of life in Michaelanburg, having proof of the nature of the male existence in the nation might be enough to spark interest from some of the larger countries nearby, nations that already suspected Michaelanburg had other secrets.
It would certainly be better if she could track the rebels down using their current methods—land riders, drones, the occasional electric powered motorbike--nothing larger, nothing that was powered by anything other than electricity or solar means. Use of the heliobirds, the larger ground vehicles, the few boats they had available... those would be problematic.
“Mother Jaguar, this is Mother Tiger. Do you copy?”
The sound of the woman she’d left in charge coming through the com pulled her out of her thoughts. “Mother Jaguar here. What is it?”
“We’ve located the source of the tracker on footage collected by the drone. We’re about twenty feet away and want to know your orders. It is, in fact, a large tiger.”
Rolling her eyes, Mother Jaguar held back the curse words that threatened to slip between her teeth. “Destroy it,” she said, wishing she could somehow destroy the person who’d placed that tracker at the same time. “Find that damn tracker, and send it back to headquarters to be examined. I want to know how she did this.”
“Yes, Mother,” Tiger said and ended the com.
Jaguar tried to keep her face blank as she plowed on over the treacherous ground. She accidentally caught Scorpion’s eyes and glared at the other woman until she looked away. They were running out of time and space. Soon enough, they’d be in no-man’s land, then Oklasaw, and while she was confident they had the fire power to take out the bumpkins on the border, she had no idea what the ramifications of that might be with the rest of the world, and no idea what President Violet would have her do if she ran out of room before she caught the rebels. Would she even be around to see the outcome of the mission if she failed? There was a good chance Jaguar might find out what was on the other side of the Bridge rather than discovering what was on the other side of the River Red.
Chapter Forty-One
The drones were acting odd. The ache in Rain’s feet didn’t overshadow the fact that the drone they’d expected to hear at least five minutes ago hadn’t made its trip overhead as scheduled. Since they’d realized the drones were following a grid pattern, they’d known exactly when to expect them and had been able to scatter out of range whenever they’d announced themselves about twenty feet before they arrived above them. But since they hadn’t heard any in a while, it was clear that the Mothers had changed things up a bit, and their eyes in the clouds were no longer following the same pattern.
She would’ve mentioned it to her companions if she wasn’t absolutely exhausted. Beyond that, she was certain the others had probably figured it out, too. Mist was sure to have noticed before she did. Her friend was so smart, so aware of everything. Mist’s worldly knowledge sort of made Rain consider perhaps she should’ve paid less attention in school and more attention in life.
The trees were not as close together here. The ground beneath her feet also felt different, as if the rocks and small pebbles she was used to feeling underneath the cover of leaves was shifting to something else, something she couldn’t quite place. It wasn’t as spongy as the forest floor, and every once in a while, she’d step on what felt like highly uneven ground. Could this have something to do with the ruins of the city Mist had mentioned?
Adam was jogging along beside her. If he was tired, it didn’t show, though he was sweating a little more now than he had been when they’d stopped a few hours ago. Rain had given up on trying to count the hours. Did it even matter? They’d keep running, keep walking, keep crawling, until they reached Quebec. Everything else between here and there was just one step in front of the last.
Mist and Walt were a few feet ahead of them. The temptation to slow even further and see if Adam did the same so they could speak without the other two listening in was ever present, but Rain ignored it. Staying together was important; getting separated from one another could be deadly. Visions of that enormous tiger mixed with ideas of the Mothers with guns behind them were constantly playing in Rain’s mind, so she kept her pace up so that she was within a few steps of Mist.
The sun had come up a while ago--there was that insistence on knowing the time again. She’d hoped Mist would stop at dawn, but now that the glaring orb was almost straight overhead, Rain had given up trying to figure out Mist’s thinking. She just kept her boots moving in a mostly northern direction, ignoring the throbbing in the bottom of her foot where her muscle was screaming for relief and the ache in her calves that threatened to explode at every step.
A reassuring smile from Adam now and again was enough to keep her moving. She’d given up any hope of returning to the status quo for herself and Mist the moment she’d put on that military uniform, and she was willing to accept the consequences of her own actions. But thoughts of what would happen to him if they were captured kept her going. Would they even bother to take them prisoner? If the Mothers’ actions at the broken down house were any indicator, the answer was a resounding no. They hadn’t given the construction workers an opportunit
y to be heard; why would they give anyone else that chance?
Her thoughts were brought back to the present when she heard Mist utter, “Holy shit,” as she stepped through the trees in front of her. “There it is.”
“There what is?” Rain asked. The fact that Mist had stopped allowed her to catch up. She rested a hand on her friend’s shoulder under the guise of concern but she was really taking the opportunity to relieve a tiny bit of the pressure from her screaming feet.
Mist didn’t have to answer the question, though. When Rain caught up to her and looked over her shoulder, it was obvious what she was referring to.
The glare from the sun was blinding at first. Rain raised a hand to shield her eyes so she could better take in what she was looking at. In the distance, maybe ten miles away, dozens of steel and concrete edifices protruded from the ground. Some of them looked as if they hadn’t been touched by war, though age had taken its toll. Others were nearly gutted, their inner contents spilling out down the sides, the metal skins split open, rebar and broken concrete splintering around the wounds.
Everywhere, plants staked their claim on what used to be their territory. Greenery covered much of the remaining exteriors while trees and other plants poked out from windows and adorned the roofs. Vines snaked along the outside, winding their ways in and out of windows, across the gouges, carrying their flowers and berries upward on their backs.
“That’s unbelievable,” Walt said, shaking his head slowly. “What is it?”
“It used to be one of the biggest cities in Texas, in the United States,” Mist said. “It was called Dallas-Fort Worth. It’s part of no-man’s land now, the area closest to Oklasaw where some survivors attempted to resettle after the war. The Mothers waged war against them, wanting a bigger buffer between themselves and the rest of the world, particularly when it was unclear exactly how many men had survived the purge and capture techniques undergone after the war had ended and women seized control. Michaela originally wanted to rule the entire former United States, but she was only able to keep a small part of it, and since the world was desperately looking for energy sources, she decided to move her operation to what had formerly been south Texas and parts of Mexico, declaring the world would never be able to use any fossil fuels located there.”