Weight of Ashes
Page 7
“Yes, but—”
“And I nominate Court as interim council member in my absence.”
“What?” Court blurted out.
“What?” Paul echoed.
“He apprenticed with me so he knows how I see things. He’ll be able to represent my point of view well enough. And he doesn’t have a family to care for so he has the time for council business.”
“He doesn’t have a family because he’s barely of age,” Paul said.
“But he is of age. That’s all that matters for serving on the council.”
Colleen held up a finger to halt Paul’s response. “Court, Elle, I think you two should wait outside for this discussion.”
The two of them waited near the council’s cabin long enough for Court to note the shadows of trees slowly drifting across the wall. When the door swung open, Paul walked past them without saying a word. Councilpersons Anica and Jess spoke to each other with hushed voices. Only Marsh and Colleen stopped.
“The council voted you in as interim member during Marsh’s absence. As acting chair, I will coordinate your orientation activities. We might be a small village but there’s plenty you will need to familiarize yourself with. We’ll start the day after tomorrow. I need some time to prepare and do my own knowledge transfer with Marsh before he leaves. Any questions?”
“Only a hundred or so. I wasn’t prepared for this.”
“I can appreciate that but I mean any immediately pressing questions.”
“No, I don’t think so.”
“Alright, then clear your calendar and buckle up.”
“I don’t know what that means.”
“It’s an old figure of speech. It means to get ready, you’re going to be busy.”
“Oh.”
Colleen turned to Marsh. “Can we talk in private?”
“Of course. Just give me a few minutes. I’ll meet you back here. Court, walk with me.”
The two men walked the perimeter of the village, something they used to do together every few days when Court was apprenticing with Marsh.
“I feel it’s only fair to warn you that the vote was not unanimous.”
“Paul?”
“And Anica. They share concerns about your age. They think I’m playing favorites.”
“So a three to two vote. Not a very welcoming start.”
“Give them a few weeks to adjust. Work hard and be pleasant. Soon enough, the demands of daily tasks will outweigh their concerns and you’ll simply be part of the team.”
“What if that doesn’t happen?”
“It will, I’m confident. Besides, it will be a tremendous learning opportunity for you either way. Consider it an advanced apprenticeship, a little bonus lesson from me.”
“I’m worried about you going away by yourself.”
“I’ll hardly be alone. The whole point is to take Elle.”
“I meant without someone who knows how to survive in the woods. You should be taking someone else with you, like you did for your trip to Alma.”
“That’s part of why I wanted to speak with you. I’m not willing to put anyone from the village at risk. I might have completely misinterpreted Clint’s message. Or Nora might, in fact, be long dead as Paul suggests. And I think Elle is more of a survivor than you give her credit for. But she is lacking in some basic training. I’d like for you to spend the day tomorrow teaching her as much as you can. Show her what’s safe to eat. Make sure she can build a fire. Teach her how to hunt with a mag gun. Show her how to dress and roast it. Rabbit as well as dog or coywolf if you can.”
“Yes, of course. That’ll be a full day. I’d better go tell Elle to be ready for an early start tomorrow.”
CHAPTER 17: COURT
Court and Elle spent the morning collecting edible plants and talking about the unpleasant effects of eating the ones they weren’t collecting. Near midday, they chanced upon a rabbit sitting in a clearing. Court handed the mag gun to Elle. She hesitated, her face twisted in disgust. She finally brought the gun up and fired, the arrow lodging in the upper hind leg. The rabbit tried to limp away; Court was on it in an instant.
Elle gave a tiny wail as the animal twitched in his hands.
“This time you’ll need to watch. First thing you do, break the neck.” Court grabbed the neck and snapped the head back with his other hand. Elle flinched as if the movement had hurt her. She watched in silence while he showed her how to skin and clean it.
“I really don’t want to do that myself.”
“You’ll change your mind when you’re out here half-starved and living off sour high bush cranberries.”
She was more at ease with fire building, which she took to as naturally as she had the mag gun. They sat on the ground and ate a hearty lunch of roasted rabbit, bittercress, peppergrass, and thistle.
“It’s not potatoes and corn but it’ll keep you alive,” Court said as he licked food from his fingers. “What did you think?”
“I didn’t mind the thistle root.”
“That’s good because it’s easy to find. I have to say that was a successful morning. I thought it would take longer. Only other thing Marsh asked me to show you was how to dress a dog or coywolf.”
“Why would I need to know that?”
“Feral dogs are easy targets and still reasonably plentiful the closer you get to where people used to live. We’ll have to walk an hour or two to find one but I know where a few packs have claimed some territory.”
“But why would I need to dress one?”
He raised his eyebrows, trying to understand her question. “Wait, do you think—” He started to chuckle. “Did you think I meant put clothes on a dog?” His chuckle grew into a full belly laugh. She threw a rabbit bone at him and he rolled to one side so that it sailed past him.
“Stop it.”
“I mean, sure, maybe that could help you and Marsh survive your trip. I’m not sure how but it might.”
She threw a pine cone that bounced off his temple.
“Ow.”
“You deserved that.”
“Dressing is what we call prepping the animal after the kill.”
“I know that.”
“Sure, now that I’ve told you.”
She threw another pine cone at him but her small grin told him it was in fun.
Court felt light as he packed the uncooked half of the rabbit and Elle buried the smoldering remains of their fire.
“You will need to be careful with scavengers like dogs and coywolves too close to where people live. If they’re eating the gar—” He stopped abruptly. “Do you hear that?”
“The humming?”
“That sounds like a grav flyer, like the one that… No. The village. We have to get back. Now.”
He didn’t wait for her response. He snatched the mag gun and his pouch with extra ammo and ran. Branches snapped and whiplashed as he crashed through them at a full sprint.
The hum grew louder then softer as the flyer overhead outpaced him.
Marsh said they would come looking someday. It’s too soon.
More humming. Another flyer passed overhead. Then a third.
No!
The undigested meal shook inside him. His lungs screamed for a break. He kept running. Only the village mattered. His legs burned but he didn’t slow down. Ahead, he saw the forest brightening where the trees gave way to the clearing around the village.
He spotted a rabbit snare as his foot was about to go into its loop. Court jumped to one side to avoid it and pushed off the trunk of a tree to correct for the sudden change in direction. He lost just enough speed for Elle to catch up and tackle him.
“Get off me.” He struggled to get back up, but she kept her full weight on his back.
“What are doing? You can’t run in there with a toy gun. They’ll shoot you before you get across the clearing.”
“You don’t know that. You don’t know what’s going on. I need to be there.”
“I do know that. I watched th
em do it already. So did you.”
He turned on his side enough to get his arm free. He grabbed her hair and pulled. She rolled off, moving fast enough to keep him from ripping a handful from her scalp.
“Court, stop. I don’t want to lose you like this. Please.” He hesitated on his hands and knees. “They will kill you if you just charge in there.”
“What am I supposed to do? Hide out here and hope they leave after a friendly chat?”
“Let’s just look first. Quietly. Alright?”
He nodded and hated himself for it even if she was right.
CHAPTER 18: COURT
They moved along the perimeter of the village, staying a dozen trees deep in the woods, until they found a vantage point through a gap in the forest near the southwest trail. The grav flyers floated just above the clearing. Court counted fourteen armed men in body armor. Men, not Qyntarak. He estimated thirty villagers were huddled together, standing back sixty or seventy feet, watching.
He whispered, “Is it normal for humans to use grav flyers?”
“I’ve never seen it before, at least not at the research center. The Others fly them.”
One of the outsiders led Marsh into the clearing, yanking on the old man’s free arm while he tried to keep pace with his walking stick. Court tensed.
Another man disembarked from a flyer. He wasn’t wearing full armor, just some type of protection over his torso.
“Marsh Lapin, yes?”
“Who are you?”
“I am, I hope, the bearer of good news. My friends call me Kane and I do hope we’ll be friends at the end of this.”
“Parking three of these alien monstrosities in our yard is a poor first impression.”
“It’s a long walk here and I’m afraid that my schedule didn’t allow for such a rustic journey.” Kane laughed at his own comment.
Marsh didn’t. “And what brings you so far out of your way?”
“Some nasty business unfortunately. I represent the affairs of Governor Torkanuux. There was a defector from a research facility recently. A man named Clint Donovan. I believe you and he are acquainted.”
“We were, a very long time ago.”
“Dr. Donovan, it seems, carried off some of our intellectual property when he left. We have reason to believe he brought it here and left it in your possession. I’ve come to collect it. As consideration for your help, the governor’s office is prepared to supply you with a full restock of your medical field clinic and commit to buying your trade goods at a twenty percent premium for the next two years. I am led to believe that your community, although isolated, does trade food and pelts in order to buy the things you cannot make or grow.”
“That’s generous but I’m afraid I don’t know what you’re looking for.”
Kane put his hands on Marsh’s shoulders. “You disappoint me, Marsh. Our scanners already found the antique motorcycle he rode here. How can we be friends if we’re not honest with each other?”
“We found Clint and his motorcycle on an old road. He was dead already, so we buried him.”
“What about the data vault?”
“What data vault?” Marsh’s voice sounded convincing but his eyes betrayed him.
Kane didn’t miss the involuntarily movement, the eyes glancing down, confirming that a precious item was still safe. He patted Marsh’s pockets then his sides and chest. He yanked the necklace from under the old man’s shirt. “A bit macabre wearing this, isn’t it?” Kane shoved the assortment of bone and antler fragments into a pocket on his leg. “What about the girl?”
“What girl?”
“Honestly, Mr. Lapin—”
“Doctor. It’s Dr. Lapin.”
“Of course, my mistake. I am trying to be civil here. It’s not your fault that Donovan defected or that he kidnapped a girl in the process. We just want our property back and to reward you for your help. Let’s not play games.”
“Believe me, none of this seems like a game to me. There’s no girl here.”
“Tsk tsk tsk. You know, a hazard of my job is that it’s easy to lose hope in humanity when you are lied to day after day after day. You get to be good, though, at telling when someone is lying to you. And when you can’t tell, you just assume. If she’s here, my team will find her. If she’s gone, we will track her. You’ve only hurt your community by being pig-headed and for nothing.”
Kane waved his hand and his small army raised their weapons. “Let’s make it quick, gentlemen, I have a meeting to get back for.”
Court started moving when the first shot rang out. A blue jay flashed across his line of sight as it fled from the noise. He raised the mag gun and looked past the sight marks as he moved forward. The reports of more shots echoed around him. He saw bodies falling. Paulo went down. Anica was staring at him when bullets tore through her and she rolled forward, her shoulders following the direction her head had been looking and she crumpled on top of Paulo.
The screams and cries lasted for several seconds after the gunfire stopped. It was over so fast.
“How could you?” Marsh croaked. He lunged at Kane who stepped to one side then kicked Marsh’s knee, sending him to the ground with a howl.
“You had your chance. Places like this are allowed to exist as long as they aren’t inconvenient. A flea on a dog, out of sight, out of mind until you become a nuisance.” Kane unhooked a baton from his side. It was long enough that he only had to bend slightly to jab it into Marsh’s chest. Marsh convulsed then fell still. Kane pressed the baton into him again with no reaction.
Court collapsed to his knees on the path a few paces from the clearing. The trees around him seemed to spin and sway. He wanted to scream but couldn’t.
What could he do? His little mag gun arrows wouldn’t pierce their armor. He’d be dead in seconds, then they’d take Elle. Or kill her.
There are still a lot of people in their cabins or hiding somewhere. I’m a council member now. I need to survive this. I owe it to them, I owe it to Marsh.
The thought was still coalescing in his mind when the men spread out in a light jog. Explosions followed within moments. The village had twenty-seven cabins for living quarters, the hospital, the council cabin, and three communal buildings. Smoke billowed from all of them in less than a minute.
Then more gunfire. And more screams.
“You’re too exposed,” Elle said. She tugged at his shirt sleeve but it wasn’t enough to move him. “Court, come on, they’re going to see you.” She pulled harder. He didn’t resist and toppled to the ground. “Court, hide, please,” she pleaded.
She kicked him and he grasped what she was saying. He crawled behind a tree a few feet off the trail.
“They’re killing everybody. What are we supposed to do?”
“We stay alive,” she said. “For now, we just stay alive.”
CHAPTER 19: KANE
“Did you see that old woman with the fur shawl? What a zoid.”
“At least their buildings lit up fast so we could get out of there. I was worried I’d get dysentery if we stayed out there too long.”
“You get that from eating stuff. Were you planning to cook dinner with them?”
“Jones, Wilkes, shut it,” Kane barked over the comm. Some of these guys were monsters. The humanity had been trained out of them to the point that they cared less about human lives than Kantarka-Ta did.
Wilkes asked, “What’s the problem, boss?”
“Show a bit of decency. They lost their lives because of bad circumstances, not because they lived like that. Don’t dishonor the dead.”
Kane couldn’t see their faces behind him in the grav flyer to know whether they were showing remorse or rolling their eyes. Did it even matter? At least the comm was quiet.
I hope some of these sons of bitches have nightmares too.
After a few minutes of quiet, the men slipped into chatter about home life and plans for the weekend. Kane took some comfort in knowing they still had that much humanity in them.
CHAPTER 20: ELLE
The grav flyers had been gone for at least fifteen minutes and Court was catatonic. They needed to make a plan while they still had plenty of daylight.
“Court, we have to check if anyone is still alive.” Elle shook his shoulders, but he didn’t respond. “I’m going to look.”
He didn’t move even when she slid the mag gun out of his hands. The gun wasn’t much protection, but she felt better having it as she approached the fallen bodies.
“Can anyone hear me? Does anyone need help?”
There was no moaning, no small movements. Nothing. It was hard to look at them. It was a grotesque slaughter, and she knew there were more dead in the buildings.
Maybe it’s better that Court didn’t come. This was his family.
The charred ruins of the cabins stood like grotesque monuments. Those monsters had let them burn while they methodically slaughtered each individual. When they had finished, they’d stopped the fires, but Elle didn’t understand how. These people, whoever they were, had access to technologies that humans weren’t supposed to have. If they wanted her, it was only a matter of time. At least they had left, which meant they didn’t know she was here. But how long would that last?
She moved from cabin to cabin, stopping to throw up several times from the sights and smells until she was coughing up nothing but drops of clear liquid.
“Hello?” she shouted. “Anyone? Please? Someone.”