The QuaranTeens, #1

by Keith B Darrell

  She gave him another smile. “That sounds lovely.”

  Esme walked hand-in-hand with Blaine outside the bunker, staring up at the newly constructed watchtower. “Did you build that whole thing?”

  “I tied the logs together. And I mixed the paste we used to glue them together. But Ian lifted the logs and carried them here, and Kai and Covid did most of the actual building. You should see the job they did helping Archer and Robin build the corral for the horses.”

  She squeezed his hand. “Your job on the watchtower’s quite impressive.”

  “It’s part of our new security initiative. Now that we’re building an aboveground camp we need to protect it and keep guard for threats.”

  “You mean the Nomads, Raiders, and Utopians? I get them confused. Besides, Archer and Robin are Raiders and they seem friendly, and Maga’s a Utopian and she doesn’t seem threatening.”

  “Maybe not, but I’ve noticed Kai’s body language whenever the subject of the Utopians comes up. He always seems uneasy and subconsciously covers his crotch.”

  “Maybe I should try to get to know Maga better,” Esme said. “After all, she’s sort of one of us now, right?”

  A few yards away, Kai and Corona were standing beside the Humvee. “All I’m asking is for you to talk to Covid. You’re his sister; he’ll listen to you.”

  “It’s not that simple,” Corona said. “He respects Destine’s opinion. Covid views her as almost a mentor.”

  “That may be, but she’s totally wrong about the battery. I need to hook it up to our generators to recharge it so I can repower the not-a-sports-car. Otherwise, it’s just going to sit here like a dead weight.”

  “Technically, no one’s in charge so you don’t need anyone’s permission but if you did hook it up and it blew out our generators like she fears it could, we’d all be in huge trouble.”

  “I know, but that won’t happen. I’m the last one to care about breaking the rules but if Covid can convince Destine it’s safe, then I can get the not-a-sports-car up and running without looking like a menace to the community.”

  Corona grinned. “I know how much you want your toy back. I’ll talk to him at dinner.”

  “You’re the best.” Kai leaned in and kissed her.

  Varian knocked on Keiana’s door. “I got your message.”

  “Come in.”

  Varian closed the door behind him. “Why did you send for me?”

  “To continue our conversation. Frankly, I wasn’t about to shed a tear if you had been banished or worse, but since you’re still here you can play a vital role in the project you first proposed to me: protecting the bunker from outside forces.”

  Varian took a deep breath. “I had surmised there might be threats emanating from any potential survivors. From what Kai and Covid report, it would appear my fears were justified.”

  Keiana nodded. “Unfortunately. Until we can select a new leader we’ll have to work together in the spirit of cooperation, if only to ensure our survival.”

  Varian shot her a sly glance. “You’re afraid they’ll end up choosing Covid, aren’t you?”

  “Thanks to you, my reputation’s been soiled by Lucian’s murder as well. Be that as it may, there are more pressing matters to concern us. Corona and Kai didn’t share their entire ordeal with the others. Some of the details were too grisly and disturbing for the younger children to hear. While the Raiders may come for our supplies, the greatest threat is posed by the Utopians.”

  “How so? Because of their advanced technology?”

  “In part, but more disturbingly they don’t view outsiders as equals, or even as human beings. They use the Raiders they capture as unwilling organ donors and process their remains as food.”

  Varian gaped. “They’re cannibals!”

  “Not like the jungle natives stirring stew pots in our picture books. According to Corona, they have a modern processing plant they call the farm where people are recycled outside their domed city and returned as packaged portions of meat.”

  “Then, they not only will want our supplies but they’ll view us as a source of human organs and food, both essential to their survival!”

  “It’s worse than that,” Keiana said. “According to Kai, they developed a vaccine against the virus but it had the unintended consequence of rendering Utopia’s male population infertile. The Raiders were never given their vaccine, but the virus left behind pathogens in the environment that significantly decreased all the other male survivors’ sperm counts. However, they tested Kai and found him to be the most virile male they had ever encountered. None of us was exposed to the pathogens over the past twelve years. Kai says they want to drain our sperm and collect our eggs before they harvest our organs and send us to their farm. You can see why we didn’t share any of this with the younger children.”

  Varian gasped. “It’s enough to give any of us nightmares. At least they don’t know where we are, do they?”

  Keiana shook her head. “Kai and Corona told them they were lost. But they know we exist, they want what we have, and sooner or later they’ll find us. We have to be prepared for that day.”

  “I saw the watchtower go up and I know Robin and Archer have been teaching everyone how to make and shoot bows and arrows. What else is being done to fortify the bunker’s defenses?”

  “That’s why you’re here. You were the one who first brought the potential threat to my attention. I assume you must have had some ideas. I want you to work with us to protect the bunker.”

  “You trust me?”

  “I trust you want to stay alive and not end up in the hands of the Utopians. And I know you have the necessary leadership qualities to keep us alive as you always claimed. It galls me to say this, Varian, but we need you. Not as our leader but as an integral member of an elite team working to save the bunker. Are you in?”

  Varian nodded. “Of course. You can count on me.”

  Keiana grimaced. “I hope so.” She felt as though she were recruiting a viper to protect her from a pack of wolves.

  Covid saw Varian leaving Keiana’s room. He knocked on her door. “I just saw Varian; what did he want?”

  “He’s a conniver and a strategist; we could use his talents. What can I do for you?”

  “Come with me to see Destine. Corona wants me to convince her to let Kai hook up his vehicle’s battery to our generators to recharge it. Destine thinks it could short out all of our power.”

  “Destine’s rather smart. I doubt it’s likely, but why take the risk?”

  “Destine and I found a storehouse of food and other supplies near the Outpost. It had been claimed by Robin and Archer’s band of Raiders and the other Raiders steered clear of it. When they discover everyone at the Outpost has been slaughtered, my guess is they’ll raid the storehouse and clean it out.”

  “Unless we get there first. But we only have a dozen horses and we won’t be able to carry much back to the bunker. It would require many trips and exposing the riders to the risk of being shot, either by Raider arrows or Utopian bullets.”

  “However, we could fit a lot inside the not-a-sports-car and only the driver would be at risk. Archer says their arrows bounce off those vehicles and bullets might, too.”

  “And Kai would be willing to assume the risk?”

  “Kai’s always been reckless and impulsive. He’d volunteer in a second – especially if it meant getting to drive his not-a-sports-car.”

  “So if we present it that way to Destine, you think she’ll change her mind about charging the battery?”

  “Absolutely. She was in the storehouse with me; she knows what it contains. Of course, I’ll have to get Archer and Robin’s permission to bring their supplies here but I can’t see how they would object when the alternative is leaving them other for Raiders to steal.”

  Keiana nodded. “After you talk with them, come get me and we’ll see Destine together. This could alleviate the food shortage Varian feared until the outdoor gardens we’re planting blo
om and help us lay in a food supply in the event of a siege.”

  Covid found Robin and Archer outside the bunker planting seeds in the garden and joined them. “I wanted to thank you again for sharing your seeds with us. I know everyone is looking forward to eating the new fruits and vegetables that grow from them.”

  “We’re happy to share them,” Archer said. “There’s more seeds at the Outpost than Robin and I could ever harvest even if we was still living there.”

  “I know it must have been painful for you to return to get them.”

  “Nah, we done lived there our whole lives,” Archer said. “It’s still home, ‘cepting without Granny and the others.”

  “I wanted to ask another favor of you two.”

  “Anything,” Robin said, smiling at Covid.

  “Let’s hear him out first and see what he wants,” Archer said.

  Robin shot her brother a displeased look but realized he was right. “What is it you want?” she asked Covid.

  “Your cache of supplies in your store where we first met you. When the other Raiders learn your outpost has been destroyed and everyone else killed, I suspect they’ll come for it. I propose we bring as much as we can to the bunker where it will be safe.”

  “So you’re saying we should let you eat all of our food instead of other Raiders?” Archer asked.

  “If you have other Raider friends you want to share it with, that’s your business. But from what you’ve told me about Raiders they take whatever they can.”

  “Archer, you know he’s right,” Robin said. “As soon as the other outposts learn what happened they’ll raid our store and there won’t even be crumbs left. These folks done shared their food with us and gave us shelter. They even helped bury our dead. Let ‘em take whatever they want.”

  Archer nodded. “All right. I’ll ride back to the Outpost and get enough saddlebags fer all the horses.”

  “That won’t be necessary,” Covid said. “I’m hoping we can use Kai’s vehicle to transport the supplies.” He braced himself for his meeting with Destine.

  Kai grinned as he hooked up the Humvee battery to the bunker’s generators.

  “How long do you think it will take to give it a full charge?” Covid asked.

  Kai shrugged. “I’ll leave it hooked up overnight just to be certain. Then I can start out for the store in the morning.”

  “Are you sure you’ll be able to find it? Destine or I could come with you.”

  “If you do, that leaves less room in the not-a-sports-car for supplies. Don’t worry; I’ll have the map with me and you’ve marked the spot.”

  “Be careful when you go,” Corona said in a worried tone.

  Kai smiled. “This is the sort of thing I live for. I’ll leave in the morning and be back by late afternoon.”

  Corona returned his smile with a heavy sigh.

  Kai was up at dawn, eager to get back behind the wheel of his not-a-sports-car. He sat inside the Humvee and flipped the lever. He smiled as the engine turned over. A cheer went up from the crowd that had gathered outside and Kai waved goodbye as he set off.

  In his office in Utopia, Proctor reached for his neck and then lowered his hand in frustration. Dr. Carstairs noticed his agitation and asked if anything was wrong. “I must have lost my St. Sebastian medal.”

  “Perhaps you lost it on your excursion to the Outpost. You never told me what transpired there. Was your mother—?”

  “I told you the mission was a failure. The children weren’t there. They’ve gone back to wherever they came from and we’ll never see them again. That’s all you need to know."

  “Of course, sir. I didn’t mean to pry. Would you like me to bring you some anxiety pills?”

  “Doctor, I—” Proctor was interrupted by a young man bursting into the room.

  “Donjay, you know better than to barge into my office, especially when I’m conferring with someone.”

  “I’m sorry, sir, but I thought you’d want to know immediately.”

  “Know what?” Proctor’s eyes narrowed. “What fresh hell has this morning brought?”

  “The stolen Humvee,” Donjay said. “It must’ve been fully powered up: the tracking signal’s coming in loud and clear.”

  “The Humvee Kai and Corona escaped in?” Dr. Carstairs asked. “But the tracker wasn’t working.”

  “It won’t work if the charge drops below fifty percent,” Donjay said. “Someone must have given it a full charge.”

  Proctor’s eyes lit up. “Either they found an unused working generator on their travels, which is unlikely, or they used the generator powering their bunker. What are the coordinates?”

  Donjay handed him a slip of paper. Proctor pulled out his map and a ruler. He drew two perpendicular lines and pointed to their intersection. “That’s where the Humvee was charged. And most likely, the location of their hidden bunker.” A Cheshire grin enveloped Proctor’s face. “We have them, Dr. Carstairs. Not simply Kai and Corona but all of them!”

  Chapter Nineteen

  Maga sat alone in the social area perusing the St. Sebastian medal. Now that the surface was open to them, most of the teenagers preferred to spend their time outdoors basking in the sunlight, even competing for the new phenomenon of sporting a suntan. There was plenty of work to be done outside including building structures that would form a future base camp above the bunker. Fortunately, the library had several books on building and carpentry and one of the storerooms and had been presciently stocked with an array of hand tools. Still, Maga found it ironic to be the only person occupying what she had been told was the social area. Yet the solitude did give her time to think. She stared at the St. Sebastian medal. There could be no doubt about it: it was definitely Proctor’s. The man had been an ever-present figure looming over her life ever since the initial days of the pandemic when he had led a small band in revolt against the governing powers of their city. It was Proctor who had killed her father and taken her mother. It was Proctor who had separated her from her toddler brother. It was Proctor who had turned her from a spoiled child of a wealthy political family into his maid. It was Proctor’s medallion for she had seen it dangling from his neck the entire time. And if it was lying beside Granny’s body at the Outpost, it could only mean one thing: Proctor had committed the massacre.

  Maga tried to picture the scene. There must have been a struggle during which Granny ripped the St. Sebastian medal from Proctor’s neck. It all led to one inescapable conclusion: her people were responsible for slaughtering the Raiders at the Outpost and killing Archer and Robin’s grandmother. If she felt like a pariah now, how would Maga feel when they learned the truth?

  “You look so deep in thought.”

  Maga looked up at the girl who had entered the social area.

  “I’m Esme. I know it must be hard to keep track of all the names. I’ve had my whole life to learn everyone’s names and you’ve only had a week.”

  “Yes,” Maga said uneasily.

  Esme noticed the medal in her hands. “What’s that?”

  Maga quickly slipped it into her pocket. “Nothing.”

  “You’ll like it here. The bunker’s a friendly place.”

  “That boy Tristan doesn’t seem to like me. He gives me odd looks whenever we pass in the halls. Have I done something to offend him?”

  “No, Tristan’s usually friendly and cheerful. His best friend died recently and he hasn’t been himself.”

  “Maybe I’m being too sensitive but even this morning he glowered at me as I came out of the bedroom.”

  “Oh,” Esme said. “The bunker was built to house fifty of us. When you and Archer and Robin came to stay with us, Archer and Robin were given Arlo and Nico’s rooms and you were given Lucian’s room. I guess Tristan finds it unsettling to see anyone other than Lucian coming out of his best friend’s room.”

  “So I’m sleeping in the same bed someone was murdered in?”

  “Oh, they washed the sheets.” Esme paused. “It’s usual
ly not like this in the bunker. We’ve never had a murder before. If you’re uncomfortable staying in that room, there are the grown-ups’ quarters. The only one using them also died several weeks ago and nobody’s been in since. You could pass for much older anyway. How old are you?”

  “Twenty-three.”

  “Wow. So you remember what it was like before the plague.”

  “Only bits and pieces. My brother and I were young children when the first wave hit. I was seven and he was four. I don’t remember anything before then. The plague killed a lot of people and then it went away. We were able to leave our homes and go places. We played with other children. I remember school and the playground and places we would go to eat or shop. And then, four years later, it came back. We were locked up in our houses again but that didn’t keep everyone safe this time. So many people died in the second wave. My father said at least eighty percent of the population. It was nothing like the first time.”

  Esme sat listening spellbound, hanging on every word.

  “Finally, it ended. People stopped getting sick and dying. I was eleven years old and I tried to comfort my little eight-year-old brother like any good big sister would. I told him the worst was over and everything was going to be all right now.” Maga closed her eyes and shook her head. “ I was so wrong.”

  “Why? What happened?” Esme asked.

  “Politics. Back then, the world had been filled with people divided into countries. We had a photograph of our country’s leader on the wall of our home. My parents worshiped him and believed him when he said he would bring greatness to our country. They even named my brother and me after him. He brought many changes but when all the governments fell and every local community had to become its own nation, Proctor and his friends emerged from their homes with guns and automatic weapons. Proctor said the great leader, despite all his drastic changes, hadn’t gone far enough. Proctor took charge of what remained of our city and killed everyone who stood in his way, including my father. He moved everyone that was left, only about eight hundred survivors, into the nicest neighborhood and walled us in with a huge dome. They called it Utopia.”