by M C Rooney
“It’s our way,” Sam replied with a shrug. “We are warriors.”
He watched as Tom gave a shiver; no doubt he was thinking how cold they would get. Sam had been brought up thinking a bare chest was a sign of manliness, but looking at this giant with the green jacket, he was forced to reconsider his opinion.
“Can I ask what that man was, and … how?” Tom finished with a sigh that conveyed his absolute astonishment at what Rodent had been able to do.
“He was called Lord Rodent,” Sam replied.
“A Lightning Lord?” Tom replied.
“Is that what you call them?” Sam said in surprise.
“That’s what the rumours called them at least,” he replied.
“Bloody rumours.” Sam gave a snort.
“Tassie is small,” said Tom.
Sam nodded at that and felt a small amount of kinship with the tall Southerner.
“He was the chief’s son, the bad son, you might say,” Sam replied with a grimace. “I was sent to find him and bring his suit back.” And I wanted its power, and what did that bring me but many dead friends?
“You put an arrow in the back of the suit, and I ripped open the front with my sword. It won’t work now, otherwise I wouldn’t be here,” Tom replied with a shrug of apology.
“Where is the body?” Sam asked.
“Just over there,” replied Tom, pointing up at the nearby slope.
“Good, I need to go spit on it,” Sam replied as he slowly lifted himself onto his feet.
“You should rest,” Tom said, looking at Sam’s arm.
“No, I have to find my brother.”
“Was he attacked by that man as well?” Tom asked.
“Yes, I think so, not far from here,” replied Sam and felt again that strong pain in his heart at the thought of his brother lying there dead.
“I better get my horse,” Tom said with a touch of urgency. “I’m sorry that we have no time to bury your friends.”
“Doesn’t matter,” Sam replied. “They are in the afterlife now.”
Tom looked as if he was about to say something, then shrugged and went to his horse.
He cares about my brother, Sam thought in wonder. Were Southerners all like this? Was this part of being a ranger? And what was a horse? Was it the beast?
His people believed that they were the only ones who had survived the Collapse, mainly because they had this arrogant belief installed by the Martin and Roberts families that only they were strong enough to have survived.
What a crock that turned out to be.
“I only know bush medicine, I’m sorry,” said Tom as he returned with his horse and again was looking at Sam’s burned arm.
“What others are there?” asked Sam as he looked at this massive animal in wonder.
“Plenty of others, from what I read,” replied Tom.
“I can’t read,” Sam admitted with a grimace. “Hockey never bothered with things like that.”
“Hockey?” Tom asked.
“Our leader,” Sam explained.
“Well, maybe I will teach you one day,” Tom offered as he lifted him up onto his horse.
“And what makes you think I want to?” he replied as he looked down nervously at the animal.
“Who wouldn’t?” Tom replied with a surprised look. “Books are amazing. There is so much to learn from them.”
Sam felt a flush of embarrassment at his ignorance. Yesterday, he had been this big, brave warrior, and now he was feeling like a little uneducated fool.
“Maybe I’ll just ride off … on this horse now and leave you behind,” he snapped. “What’s to stop me?”
“Well, three things,” replied Tom mildly. “One, you look like you’re about to pass out. Two, you obviously have never ridden a horse before, and three,” Tom smiled at Sam, “this is my horse.”
Sam looked warily at the beast and wondered if it was about to throw him off its back … or eat him.
“Look,” Tom said as he untied his saddlebag, “this is why I have journeyed north.”
Sam watched as Tom held up a small round glass; it held within it a shining light.
“What is that?” he exclaimed.
“We believe it is powered by the tower,” Tom replied with a smile. “It only started to shine as we got closer.”
“How?” Sam said in disbelief.
“Just the same way Lord Rodent’s suit made the lightning,” replied Tom. “Except maybe the little amount of power is travelling up my body to the lightbulb. Or maybe it is in the air?” Tom’s face lit up almost as strong as the lightbulb, and he spoke with a real passion in his voice. “We have hopes of returning to the old days, Sam. Lighting, heating, medical equipment,” he said as he glanced at his burns. “All the hospital equipment is there in our city; we just need the power to make them work.”
Sam took another look at this young man from the south and felt a wave of shame. This ranger wanted the tower to be used to help his people, and Sam wanted the tower to give the suit its power so he could rule over people. That made him almost as bad as Rodent! He also felt a wave of nausea go through his body, and it wasn’t from the burns on his arm. Every belief in his life had been turned upside down over the last few days. For three years, they had been fighting over a piece of land when the technology to change everything back to the old days was staring at them straight in the face. Surely Hockey must have realised this?
“Take me to my brother,” he muttered. “I need to see him.”
And as they walked past the torn silver body lying facedown in the grass, Sam spat on it.
“I’m not like you,” he said quietly to the dead lord.
East Coast, Tasmania
Molly and Edward stood in an open field as she finished instructing him on the suit’s use. Hundreds of soldiers sat a distance away on an animal she had never seen before. There were even more soldiers encamped over the nearby hills, making their numbers as high as two thousand.
Molly was now wearing a green dress, which she had reluctantly accepted from the governor, whilst Edward wore his regular blue soldier jacket underneath Molly’s suit. She was glad he now wore something over his blue jacket, as the way he constantly picked at the sewn hole that he had received from one of the Westerners, was starting to drive her crazy.
Todd Abercrombie watched on from a safe distance with a frown on his face, but Edward’s father had a look of pure contentment, and even the ever-angry second-in-command, Lieutenant Doyle, looked happy.
“And then you push the third and second button together and the ground beneath your feet will give way.”
Molly’s suit seemed to fit him all right. It was a bit stretched from his height, but Edward was a slim man, and bagginess could be seen around his chest.
“How is this possible?” said Edward as he took off the helmet. “How can land give way to vibrations like that?”
“You’ll have to ask the Professor,” replied Molly.
Edward looked at Molly for a moment and pursed his lips in thought. Funny how she used to think he was attractive; now he just made her feel uncomfortable.
“I will ask the Professor,” he replied, “and he will answer all my questions, believe you me, Molly.”
“Are you going to threaten him with my life, just as you did to me with my friends?” she asked.
“Yes,” he replied.
Well, he was honest at least. But there seemed to be a complete lack of empathy about him. He made up his mind about what direction to take, and it didn’t bother him in the least if he ruined other people’s lives to get there. “And where are my friends?” she asked. “I haven’t seen them for two days.”
“They are being kept safe for the moment.”
“Your father gave his word, remember?” Molly said in a tight voice. “He promised they wouldn’t be harmed.”
“And my father keeps his word,” Edward replied. “They are safe and will be released once you have told me all of the suit’s secrets.”
“I have,” Molly lied, trying to keep a straight face.
Edward sighed. “You are a bad liar, Molly McLaren. You do not realise that your face goes red when you tell a lie.”
“It does not,” she replied. Does it?
She didn’t have a mirror to check, and if she did, she probably would stand there looking at herself for ten minutes like she had at the salon. She had to admit that she loved her hair now. It seemed so soft and didn’t carry various types of small creatures in it, which had seemed to gross Michelle out terribly and had the hairdresser screaming and running from the room.
“The Westerners will put up a fight, you know,” Molly said, trying to change the subject. “They seem very stubborn.” And you should know, Molly thought.
“Savages,” he replied. “We shall ride through them, have no fear, young lady.”
“They are not savages; they are people like us,” she said.
“And you killed them, Molly,” Edward replied. “You killed hundreds.”
“I know,” she snapped, “and I feel sick about it.”
“After three long years,” he replied with a laugh.
“Yes, after three long years!” Molly shouted. “I was fifteen when they arrived, and the first time I ever killed someone was when I was just ten years old.”
Bandits had been through the Midlands from time to time. They couldn’t resist the massive tower that was only protected by an old man and a little girl. She thought of the Westerners as bandits at the beginning. Now she knew they were a tribe, a culture all their own. Tasmania had such a small population now, according to the professor, and she had killed a little of what was left.
“Talk to them,” she continued. “Reason with them. If you attack them, they will fight back, but if you tell them what you want the tower for, perhaps they will let you speak to the Professor.”
The governor had joined them now the lessons were completed. He looked at her for a moment then smoothed his huge mustache with his hands and rolled his eyes, but his nephew who accompanied him, Todd Abercrombie, looked on thoughtfully, and maybe with a little hope.
Edward, however, just smiled at her and said, “I want the tower to keep working for all of us, dear Molly; that is why we must remove the savages.” Then a cold look came over his face. “But I want to know how the suit is made even more.”
The governor nodded his head at this emphatically, but his nephew now watched his cousin Edward with a look of deep concern.
Molly studied Edward with a feeling of dread. The professor’s suits, which were meant to keep the dead at bay, had now turned into a weapon people would kill for and be killed by. What was she to do?
Lieutenant Doyle had now joined them and had his angry face back on. “It’s time to go, Captain,” he said gruffly.
“Have the men mount up, Lieutenant,” Edward replied in his normal authoritative voice. “It’s time to secure the tower.”
Doyle nodded and walked back to his men, and Molly thought she would have one last attempt at seeking peace.
“They have two suits,” she said.
“Yes, they do, but I am willing to wager anything that they do not know the full extent of its power,” he replied and watched as Molly flinched at the truth. “And I will do anything to find out its secret,” he continued, “anything at all.” He gave her one of his most charming smiles.
Of course, what woman could resist the charms of Edward Abercrombie, he thought, as he unconsciously pressed his hand against the sewn hole in his blue jacket. Perhaps he would let her see her friends as a measure of goodwill, and maybe he would find another way of getting her to reveal her knowledge.
Tasmanian Lower Midlands
“So tell me about the West Coast,” Tom said.
“Nothing much to say, really,” replied Alex. “The towns were lost to the zombies during the Collapse. Two families fought over who was to rule the survivors, and we moved inland to the bushlands.”
“Two families?” replied Tom.
“Well, one really, but that was a long time ago,” said Alex.
“So the zombies are still there?” Tom replied. “You didn’t destroy them?”
“No, they are there.” Alex shrugged. “But surely the pale ones would be truly dead by now.”
Tom looked ahead in thought. Forty-seven years had passed. The elements would have wasted away their bodies by now. Wouldn’t they?
“So you are telling me,” said Chris, “that the glass thing you are holding is powered by the tower?”
“Yes,” replied Tom as he led Pips north with his left hand and held the shining lightbulb in his right. “Hobart is full of old abandoned buildings,” he continued, “and these things are everywhere but have never worked before. However, when I was about an hour’s ride from here, it began to shine and hasn’t stopped since.”
“That’s amazing,” said Ian, who seemed fascinated by his horse and everything Tom said or did … or wore. “How come you have clothes on?” he asked.
Tom looked at the four Westerners. Sam and Chris had shaved their hair at the sides, whilst Alex and Ian had fine, short hair. But for some reason, all of them only wore fur trousers and had bare upper torsos. They even covered their bare torsos and faces with some sort of thick paint.
“Because it’s Tassie, and it’s cold,” Tom replied with a smile.
Ian looked up at the Follett brothers, who were both now riding Tom’s horse. Both were burnt badly but seemed to be braving that pain as much as possible.
“Isn’t our tribe’s clothing a way of being tough?” he asked.
Sam looked straight ahead and didn’t reply. He seemed to be in a world of his own.
Alex just shrugged and reached for his now non-existent beard. “It was the belief in which we were raised, Ian.” he said.
“What?” Ian replied.
“Tough, Ian,” replied Alex. “We are tough, so tough.”
Ian nodded his head and went back to staring at Tom.
“Well, the way you boys are handling the burns certainly suggests so,” said Tom, and he meant it.
Alex acknowledged Tom’s compliment with a smile, but Sam still stared straight ahead. The burns looked horrific, but on the brothers being reunited, both of them seemed to take pride in their injuries and were even arguing about whose were worse.
Sam’s was worst, Tom thought with a chill. Alex’s chest looked like it had only taken a small hit, whilst Sam’s arm looked burned to a crisp. The herbs he had given him would only partially dull the pain, and Tom wondered if he would ever be able to use it properly again.
“Why didn’t we know about this?” Chris said in disbelief about the tower. “Surely Hockey would have known something about this from the old days.”
“We have elders too,” replied Tom, “and we only guessed at what the tower could do.”
“But you were right,” said Alex, “and we stood underneath that bloody thing for years and never thought for a moment what it could do, apart from killing people with those suits,” he said with a grimace towards his chest.
Sam awoke from his contemplations and looked behind at his brother before turning and gazing towards the horizon again.
“So what is this thing here?” said Ian as he pointed at the horse.
“What do you mean?” asked Tom.
“The thing Alex and Sam are sitting on,” he said.
“Um … that’s my horse,” replied Tom. Was this a joke? Were they making fun of him?
“A house?” replied Ian, scratching his head.
“No … no … a horse,” replied Tom. “He carries me where I need to go and can run at great speed, and … are you saying you have never seen a horse before?” Tom was completely astounded.
“We only have sheep and cows in the west,” replied Chris.
“And snakes,” said Ian, looking at the grass in case one suddenly appeared.
“Animals are rare after the Collapse,” Alex said. “Very few survived the zombies
.”
“What, not even dogs?” Tom asked.
“What’s a dog?” Ian wanted to know.
Tom couldn’t believe this. Was Grovetown full of animals only because it was a rural community that had survived at the time of the Collapse?
“A dog is an animal that you would love, Ian,” said Tom. “Man’s best friend they were called.” He thought of his aunt’s huge black dog that she absolutely doted upon.
“Oh,” replied Ian. “Well, I don’t need a dog then. I have Alex.”
Chris laughed, even Sam smiled a little, but Alex decided to look at something that was very interesting in the opposite direction.
“So what is Hobart like?” asked Ian.
“Big and empty at the moment,” replied Tom. “We also have a disease spreading through our people. A lot of us have died. That is why they sent me and my friends north, to see what we could learn.”
“To see if you could use this … hospital stuff?” said Chris.
“To make you better,” added Ian.
“Yes,” Tom replied to both of them.
“And what happened to your friends?” asked Chris.
“My friend Locke got hit by your Lord Rodent,” Tom replied quietly. He hoped Locke was resting up now.
“He wasn’t our Lord Rodent,” Sam said, awakening again from his thoughts. “He was a … ” He trailed off and shook his head.
Alex glanced at his brother with a worried expression.
“A piece of shit, that’s what he was,” replied Chris quietly. They had lost so many friends to that man.
Tom decided to avoid the subject of Lord Rodent from now on, especially since he had killed him. He was their chief’s son after all. “I don’t know what I am going to do when I see this tower,” he said. “I was just sent to confirm its existence.”
“Well, maybe the Mad Professor will tell you all there is to know,” replied Chris.
“The Mad Professor?” Tom replied, confused. “Who is he?”
“The man who built it,” Sam replied, looking down at Tom. “The man who knows how it works.”
“He is still alive?” Tom said in shock.
“Well, he was a few days ago,” replied Sam.