Scavenger Alliance (Exodus Book 1)

by Janet Edwards

  Marsha came hurrying up to collect our knife belts. I unbuckled mine, my fingers slow and clumsy from cold. Tad was still wearing his belt, so I undid that as well, and tugged it out from under him, before handing both belts to Marsha.

  Donnell handed his own belt over to Marsha as well. “Where’s Machico?” he asked.

  “Rigging an engine to pump river water up to the roof tank,” said Marsha. “Now we have proper hot water, everyone’s having showers and catching up on washing clothes, so we’re getting through the water fast.”

  I looked round for Cage, and tensed as I saw he was walking across Reception towards us. Donnell took a couple of steps forward to meet him, but Cage ignored his approach, coming to stand facing me instead.

  “Are you going to do what I want, Blaze?” he asked. “Yes or no?”

  “No,” I said.

  He laughed as if he was pleased at my refusal. Perhaps he was. I could imagine that Cage was so angry by now that he’d prefer to take the alliance leadership by force rather than have his enemies meekly surrender.

  Cage turned to face the room and raised both arms above his head. “Everyone, pay attention!” he shouted. “I have important news for you.”

  There was no need for Cage to yell like that. Everyone had already been nosily watching us come in with the stretcher. They’d obviously seen Cage coming over to me, and were wondering what was going on. Cage was just shouting to maximize the drama.

  Donnell took a step towards me. “What’s happening, Blaze?”

  I gave an urgent shake of my head. “Please trust me to handle this myself. It’s vital you don’t get involved.”

  He frowned.

  “Trust me,” I repeated. “I’ve got this under control.”

  Donnell nodded in acknowledgement, but shrugged off his coat and dumped it on the floor, clearly braced for a fight. Everyone else in Reception was sitting or standing perfectly still, so the single movement over by the entrance to Sanctuary caught my eye. Machico had just walked in and was watching this too.

  “Blaze has been lying to us.” Cage’s voice boomed out across Reception. “Months and months of lies. She’s made fools of us all very successfully, but that wasn’t enough for her. She had to push her luck too far, and mock us by becoming an officer.”

  Over at the Brooklyn division tables, Ghost stood up. “Is there any point to this speech, Cage, or are you just indulging your usual desire to be the centre of attention?”

  Cage turned towards him. “My point is this. Blaze has problems with her arm. We’ve had her forced on us as an officer, when she isn’t just a girl, but a burden on the rest of us.”

  There was a sudden burst of whispering round Reception. I’d spent the journey back downriver planning how to handle this. I couldn’t fight Cage physically, but I didn’t need to. This battle would be fought with words, and the more noise Cage made at the beginning, the deeper he committed himself to the attack, the better. He was aiming to use me to destroy Donnell and the alliance, but I could turn the full force of that destruction back against him.

  The biggest danger was that nobody would listen to what I said, or even hear it. I was an insignificant figure standing next to the bulk of Cage, and I couldn’t shout as loudly as him. I marched straight past Cage to reach the Resistance tables, and used a chair as a stepping stone to stand on one of them.

  “I’m no burden,” I shouted. “I bring home as many fish as anyone.”

  “Fish!” A male voice jeered from somewhere behind me. “Fish don’t count for anything.”

  “If anyone would rather not eat on fish days, then just let me know and I’ll give bigger helpings to everyone else,” yelled a woman’s voice from my left.

  There was a ripple of female laughter, and Ghost’s wife, Ludmilla, called out from over in the Brooklyn division area. “Everyone knows Blaze broke her arm last summer. She’s still having a few minor aches and pains, but it hasn’t stopped her doing her share of the work, so why make a big drama about it? Do you think that having a female officer will bring the world to an end?”

  I hadn’t expected other women to join in on my side against Cage. Why the chaos were they risking his anger? I glanced round, and the mixture of apprehension and defeat on a dozen female faces gave me my answer. Hannah had done her work well, making them believe I had serious problems with my arm. They were afraid that I’d lose my new officer position, and no other woman would ever have a chance at power again.

  “The point is that your precious female officer doesn’t have a few aches and pains, but a totally useless arm,” shouted Cage. “Hannah will confirm what I’ve been saying. She’s been helping Blaze hide the truth for months.”

  Everyone turned to look at where Hannah was sitting at one of the Manhattan tables. She seemed to shrink down into her chair for a moment, before forcing herself to stand.

  “Cage is right,” she called out. “I’ve spent months carrying things for Blaze and doing most of her work for her. We’ve been pretending she just had a few aches and pains in her left arm, but the truth was that she could hardly use it. Blaze said that I had to help keep her secret or I’d be thrown out of the Resistance.”

  She shook her head. “I gave in and did what Blaze wanted. I thought that as long as I could struggle on with the double workload, nobody else was being hurt, but then Blaze became an officer. I realized we wouldn’t just be lying to a few of the other fisherwomen now, but deceiving the whole alliance. I couldn’t bear the situation any longer, so I moved to Manhattan.”

  She sat down again, and people looked back at me. I had to admit that Hannah had told her story well. The hint of wounded righteousness in her voice when she mentioned the double workload was very convincing. But of course Hannah was a convincing liar. She’d had a lot of practice lying to me over the years.

  I couldn’t tell the truth and accuse Cage of attacking me, because explaining that Tad had defended and healed me would lead to questions that put him in danger. It was time for me to tell a few lies myself.

  “There’s nothing wrong with my arm,” I said. “It healed perfectly weeks ago, but I suspected Hannah was spying on the Resistance for Cage. I told her I still had problems with my arm, swore her to secrecy, and waited to see if she’d go running to Cage with her story. Of course she did.”

  Cage laughed. “There’s no point in denying things, Blaze. We’ve all been watching your arm while you’ve been standing there. You haven’t moved it because you can’t move it. I’m an alliance representative of Manhattan division, and I call general justice on Blaze of the Resistance for hiding a useless arm for months and making Hannah do all her work for her. Who supports my call?”

  “There’s nothing wrong with my arm,” I shouted, before anyone had time to answer. “Look!”

  I stooped and grabbed a full jug of water with my right hand, then stood up again holding it over my head.

  Cage strode towards me, making a spitting sound of impatience. “Your other arm, Blaze.”

  Standing on the table meant that for the first time in my life I had the advantage of height over Cage. I smiled down at him, lowered the jug, swapped it from my right hand to my left, and raised it high overhead again. “You mean this arm, or are we talking about a third one?”

  There was laughter from all sides, and Ghost called out from the Brooklyn corner. “There doesn’t seem to be anything wrong with either of Blaze’s arms, but I notice you still have a scar on yours, Cage. Teeth marks from a little girl!”

  Everyone’s eyes went to the scar on Cage’s bare right arm, and there was a wild roar of laughter. Cage looked up at me in fury. I noticed a movement over in the Manhattan area. Hannah had stood up again. She was staring at me, her right hand covering her mouth, and her face pale with shock.

  I forced my eyes back to Cage. “Hannah has been your spy in the Resistance for a long time, hasn’t she, Cage? You’ve been threatening her. Forcing her to do everything you wanted. It wasn’t just spying either. Six y
ears ago, she was caught stealing medicine. She’d been taking it for some time. Giving it all to you.”

  There were gasps from round the room.

  “Did you share any of that medicine with the rest of Manhattan division?” I asked, “or did you hoard it all for your own private use?”

  Wall had been silently watching this from the Manhattan division area. Now he got to his feet in a sudden, decisive movement. “Manhattan division has no knowledge of any stolen medicine!”

  I saw a movement in the Queens Island division area. Their rebel, Rogue, was climbing onto a table, an eye-catching figure in a short-sleeved shirt with yellow, green, and black stripes.

  “Cage has been boasting about how fast he recovered from the winter fever,” he called out. “Now we know the reason for that fast recovery. When other people were dying of winter fever, Cage was treating himself with his hoard of stolen medicine.”

  I was stunned at Rogue joining in my attack on Cage. I stared across at him, and he gave me a fierce smile in return. His skin a fraction darker than Luther’s, Rogue didn’t have Luther’s classic good looks, but there was something arresting about the sheer energy in his face.

  It was clear Major disapproved of this. He was glaring up at Rogue as if he’d cheerfully strangle him, but Rogue was totally ignoring his division leader, turning to look round the room. He obviously knew that Cage had helped Major set him up for a brutal punishment. Now Rogue was grabbing his chance to hit back.

  Cage glared at Rogue. “Lies!” he snapped. “Nothing but empty lies. I don’t have any spies working for me, or any hoard of stolen medicine. Blaze tricked Hannah into believing there was a problem with her arm and drove her into leaving the Resistance. Hannah told me her story, and I was fooled into believing it too.”

  There was a moment of tense silence. Wall had pointedly spoken in defence of Manhattan rather than Cage himself. Rogue had joined me in accusing Cage. Now everyone else was looking round, waiting for others to speak rather than risking it themselves. Ghost, leader of Brooklyn division, had the calculating expression of a hunter considering whether this was the right moment to shoot an arrow at his prey.

  Donnell had been standing perfectly still, watching events with a frown, but now he started moving towards me. I caught his eye, and gave an urgent shake of my head. Donnell mustn’t get involved in this.

  There were words that needed to be said now. I waited hopefully for Ghost to say them, but he leaned back in his chair instead.

  I bit my lip. Only Rogue had joined me in standing up to Cage. The rebel of Queens Island, in constant disfavour with their leader, wasn’t one of their alliance representatives. He couldn’t say these words, so I’d have to say them myself.

  I shouted at the top of my voice. “I call general justice against Cage of Manhattan. He is guilty of hoarding stolen medicine, and using threats to force a Resistance member to work for him.”

  Cage laughed. “You can’t call general justice against me, little girl.”

  “Blaze is an officer of the Resistance, and as entitled to call general justice as any other alliance representative.” Rogue’s voice rang round the room. “Does any other representative here have the courage to speak in support, or is every last one of you a craven coward?”

  There was a few seconds of silence, and then I heard a rhythmic sound to my right. I turned my head and saw Raeni was using her fists to pound on the table in front of her. After a moment, the sound got louder as Natsumi and Himeko joined in, then it suddenly spread round the room and grew to a deafening volume. The women of the Resistance and all four of the other divisions were hammering on the tables, some using their hands, and others a boot or water jug.

  The hammering abruptly stopped. I saw Ice was climbing onto a table, his face flushed a deep red. “I call general justice against Cage!”

  I’d believed it impossible for Cage to be blackmailing Ice, and I’d still no idea what threat Cage could have used to pierce Ice’s armour, but I had to accept he’d managed it somehow. I’d been born into London division, and lived under Ice’s rule for eleven years without ever seeing a hint of emotion in him, but now his face and voice were filled with a mixture of anger and shame.

  “Two representatives from two divisions,” screamed Rogue. He waved his arms like someone conducting music, and the hammering started again, only to stop as Hannah moved clear of the Manhattan tables.

  “What Blaze said is true,” she said, in a shaky voice. “Cage forced me to steal medicines for him. It wasn’t my fault. I was …”

  Her voice was drowned out by Aaron shouting. “I call general justice against Cage.”

  I was startled by the pure fury in Aaron’s voice, then realized I was a fool. Cage’s stolen medicine had helped him make a fast recovery from the winter fever, while Aaron’s wife had died.

  “Three representatives from two divisions call general justice against Cage!” Rogue looked expectantly round the room.

  Ghost stood up. “I call general justice against Cage.”

  “Four representatives from three divisions!” Rogue called. “Which of you wants the honour of casting the final vote to bring Cage to justice?”

  Several voices answered him. Rogue turned to give a triumphant look at Raeni, and she smiled joyously back at him. Cage had helped Major set Rogue up to face a general justice trial. Now Cage would stand trial himself.

  I felt the table under me shake as Donnell climbed up to stand next to me. “The necessary five alliance representatives, including representatives from three different divisions, have called for general justice against Cage,” he said. “Under the rules of this alliance he will stand formal trial in seven days’ time.”

  He paused. “Anyone wishing to speak in accusation or defence should notify me at least one hour before that trial starts. Due to the nature of the charges, I wish to make it clear that anyone accusing Cage of threatening them will not be asked to give specific details of the threat.”

  Hannah hurried over to stand looking up at Donnell. “I told the truth, Donnell. Supported Blaze’s story to help bring Cage to justice. You have to ask Wall to let me rejoin the Resistance now.”

  Donnell shrugged. “I felt that was a very last minute change of heart when you saw the tide of opinion had already turned against Cage, but I’ll accept Blaze’s decision on this.”

  I remembered how Hannah had helped Cage ambush me. I remembered Hannah standing by watching him attack me. I remembered the whining self-justification in Hannah’s voice as she told me it was my fault not hers. I wasn’t sure if it was vindictiveness or simple common sense on my part, but I wasn’t inviting her back into the Resistance.

  “You chose Manhattan over the Resistance, Hannah. You made that choice in the full knowledge that the other divisions demand allegiance for life. You belong to Manhattan now.”

  “But …”

  I interrupted her, shouting to drown her out. “The Resistance will not take you back, Hannah. You belong to Manhattan now.”

  “You heard the decision, Hannah,” said Donnell. “Go back to your chosen division.” He turned to look at Cage. “You too, Cage. You’re trespassing on Resistance ground. Leave it now before I shoot you!”

  Cage glanced down at his feet. Maybe he’d been so intent on our argument, that he hadn’t been aware he’d walked the last crucial couple of steps that took him among the Resistance tables. For a second, I thought he might be furious enough to refuse to move, but he backed away, turned, and headed for the Manhattan corner. Hannah threw a last pleading look at me, before turning to trail after him. I saw Wall striding to meet the two of them.

  “Why didn’t you defend me?” Cage demanded.

  “Defend you?” Wall laughed. “I’ll be keeping you locked up until your trial, and I won’t be speaking a single word in your defence. If the alliance rules allowed a division leader to call general justice against his own division member, I’d have done it years ago.”

  Wall punched Cage after
that. I didn’t stay to watch the rest of the fight, because I was more interested in getting Tad off his stretcher and into a proper bed in Sanctuary. There was no need to watch the fight anyway, because I knew exactly how it would end. Wall had got his nickname from the fact that hitting him had as little effect as hitting a concrete wall, so Cage wouldn’t stand a chance.

  Chapter Thirty-one

  During the height of the winter fever, we’d had a couple of hundred sick people on mattresses in Reception, but now things were back to normal. The hospital area of Sanctuary consisted of three large rooms, each with eight beds, and Phoenix and Braden were the only patients in one of them.

  When I entered the room, Nadira, our most experienced nurse, was standing by Phoenix. She glanced at me, then watched Luther and Aaron carrying Tad into the room on his makeshift stretcher.

  “Put him over there.” Nadira pointed at the bed next to Phoenix.

  Luther and Aaron obediently lifted Tad onto the bed.

  “How are the other two off-worlders?” I asked.

  Nadira’s hair was covered with a red and gold silk headscarf, but one long, greying strand had escaped. She brushed it back into place and sighed. “They both have the winter fever extremely badly. Perhaps off-worlders have less resistance to it. The man may survive, but the woman is definitely going to die.”

  I hurried across to where Phoenix was lying, face flushed and eyes closed. I touched her forehead with the back of my hand and felt the burning heat of her, then leaned so my right ear was close to her mouth. There was a faint whistling sound as she breathed in and out.

  Chaos weeping, Nadira was right. I’d heard that whistling sound too often to mistake it. People who breathed like that on the first day they got ill, never made it through the critical third day of the winter fever.