by S J Taylor
Colony 41
Volume Two
S. J. Taylor
Colony 41
is © COPYRIGHT
First published in Australia by South Coast Publishing, March 2016.
Copyright S.J. Taylor (2016)
This is a work of fiction. The characters, incidents and locations portrayed in this book and the names herein are fictitious. Any similarity to or identification with the locations, names, characters or history of any person, product or entity is entirely coincidental and unintentional.
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Contents
Book Four - Enemy of my Enemy
Part I
Chapter 1 - Safety
Chapter 2 - Numbers
Part II
Chapter 3 - Hide
Chapter 4 - Seek
Book Five – Shadows of Shadows
Part I
Chapter 1 - All Fall Down
Chapter 2 - Ashes, Ashes
Part II
Chapter 3 - Fire, Fire
Chapter 4 - Burning Bright
Book Six - Revelations
Part I
Chapter 1 - Mirror, mirror
Chapter 2 - In the Hall
Part II
Chapter 3 - Who’s the Fairest
Chapter 4 - Burn them all
Epilogue
About the Author
Book Four - Enemy of my Enemy
Part I
Chapter 1 - Safety
Era’s Journal, Entry #3057
Where was I?
Right. Going to see Commander Ross. We figured the leader of the Freemen resistance group in this area would be our best bet to stay safe.
As it turns out, that may not have been one of my smarter ideas.
Fine, I’m still writing this, so you know I’m not dead. Yet. That doesn’t mean everything went the way we planned. What plan, you might ask, to which I might say…
You’re right.
I haven’t planned for any of this. I’m not supposed to be making up plans to save myself and my friends and the whole blistering world. My life in Colony 41 was all decided for me. What I would become, what I would wear, what I would eat. The biggest decision I had to make on a daily basis was whether to do extra training sessions on my own after classes were done at the Academy. As for the rest of it, well, I usually just did what I was told.
Until I didn’t anymore.
Escaping the Colony hadn’t been my plan. It just happened. Falling off the ship that took me out to sea—and then washing up on the shore near Jadran Rill’s village—hadn’t been part of any plan, either. I certainly hadn’t planned on coming here, to the fortified Freemen camp.
And I definitely hadn’t planned on falling in love with Jadran.
Guess some things just work out.
Other things? Not so much.
You’ll see what I mean.
Camp wasn’t really the right word, I guess.
All this time, Jadran’s been telling me we were going to the Freemen camp. The camp of the rebel dissidents. The camp of the outcasts. The camp where his friends staged their raids against the Enforcers and protected the pockets of humanity still hanging on by their fingernails in this part of the Outlands. To the camp, he said. Going to the camp.
Running for our lives to get to the camp.
I guess I started to form a picture in my mind of what the place would look like. Tents. Defenses made out of cut logs and rope. Dogs tied up on leashes to scare off intruders. Fire pits. Sentries with spears and bows and arrows. Things like that.
The reality was nothing like my mental picture.
Well. Except for the dogs.
The Freemen camp, as it turned out, was in another part of the sprawling city that used to be called Jacksonville. Instead of barricades made of wood, I saw more buildings made of stone and brick. There was a fortification constructed all around the place, but it was made from huge blocks of stone and mangled vehicles turned on their sides, the metal frames twisted together into walls that were thick and strong. They’d created a fortress out of an entire section of the city. I wouldn’t want to try breaching this camp with anything less than a gyroscopic cannon.
Unfortunately for the Freemen, I was pretty sure I’d seen one of those back at the Enforcer camp when I scouted them out. Not to mention the HoverHawks. How long ago had that been? Four days? Five? I’d lost all track of time. Everything was running together. The days ran into the nights and they ran right back into the days again. I had to wonder if it would ever stop.
Inside that barrier, buildings huddled together. A couple of five story buildings stood near the front of the camp, up near the wall. They used these for lookout posts and defensive positions. The rest of the buildings, more or less intact, were used for housing or storage or whatever else they needed. It was an oasis of life in the middle of a dying, broken city. I was still trying to get used to the overpowering size of everything here. Nothing should be that tall, or that big, or… how did people used to live like this?
That’s something I would never understand.
The Event happened just ten years ago, but it had wiped civilization off the map so completely that everyone left behind had been forced to start over. They had banded together to hold onto what was left. It wasn’t much, and the Restored Society wanted to take away even that little bit so they could have their perfect world.
That was the threat now. Not holocausts of fire raining down from the sky, but the armies of the Restored Society. The Enforcers. The same thing I had been training to become, before I opened my eyes to see how evil the Society was.
Now I’m on the run, here in this Freemen camp, trying to live through one more day.
Which won’t happen if the Enforcers come crashing through that impressive barricade around the camp and kill us all.
It won’t happen if the Freemen kill me, either.
Down on my knees, with my hands tied behind my back with rope, I was beginning to rethink the whole idea of coming to meet Commander Ross. Jadran was in the same position next to me, which I guess should have made me feel better.
It really didn’t.
We were supposed to be safe here in the Freemen camp. They were supposed to take us in and hear our warning about the three columns of Enforcers marching this way. Then we were al
l supposed to come up with a plan that would make sure we went on living.
Commander Ross had other ideas.
“Tell it to me again.”
Commander Talbott Ross had a voice like two massive stones grinding together mixed with some accent I couldn’t identify. He was a tall, dark skinned man, and I’m pretty sure his muscles had muscles. His green shirt was pressed and creased in a way that resembled a military outfit even though the buttons strained to hold it together across the barrel of his chest. His pants were loose and baggy and held up by a broad leather belt that held a handgun on each side and leather pouches for spare ammunition clips and other stuff. The outfit looked scrounged together, which it probably was. I guess this far into the Outlands he didn’t have the option to shop at a store for clothing or have something tailor made for himself.
I’m betting I didn’t look any better. My short dark hair was tousled and matted down with the dirt and dust from everything we’d been through to get this far. The rip that had already been there in my brown cotton pants had been joined by others until both my knees were exposed. My loose top had a gash in the back as well. I still wore the boots I’d had with me when I escaped Colony 41, but somehow I doubted that was gaining me any points with Commander Ross.
Jadran’s clothes hadn’t fared any better. One elbow was torn out of his long-sleeved shirt. Blood stains from the monsters we’d met in the city streaked the front of his pants. His long dark hair had slipped its usual pony tail and was just as gray with dust as mine.
I could almost understand why the Freemen didn’t want to believe us.
Right now, Commander Ross had his thumbs hooked through his belt as he scrutinized us severely. His black eyes never blinked. His long hair, done into intricately braided rows, lay perfectly still against the nape of his neck. It was like he was a statue dedicated to the god of impatience.
The Reformed Society would have considered that blasphemy if they’d heard me thinking it. For them, there was only one God, and no room for any debate on the issue. While I believed in God, I’m pretty sure my God and their God aren’t the same one.
Blasphemy. I was strangely okay with it.
“We have told our story to you,” Jadran said, somehow imitating Commander Ross’s inflexible, confident demeanor from where he knelt. “Told you several times already, is what we have done.”
I looked from Jadran, to the Commander. Unstoppable force, meet immovable object.
“This isn’t getting us anywhere,” I protested, interrupting their staring contest. “Commander, we’ve told you everything we know. Your own people backed us up, didn’t they? We came here with Carline and those other two Freemen. They must have said something that shows we’re telling the truth?”
“What they told me,” Ross said, “was that six of my people died bringing you to me. Including Lockett, my good right hand. They told me they was attacked by every Enforcer on this side of the world as soon as they found you, little Miss. That’s what they told me. All adds up to one thing to me. You two are trouble.”
He walked over to stand in front of Jadran and bent down low in front of him. “You been to our camp before. Plenty of times. Never thought you’d make me regret it.”
“You shouldn’t regret it now,” Jadran assured him. “Era Rae and I have come to help.”
I saw Ross quirk an eyebrow. “By getting my people killed?”
Jadran set his jaw. “We did not kill your people. The Children of the Event did that. More active than I ever remember them being, is what they are.”
Ross backed off, pacing to the other side of the room. “You’re not far wrong. Thing is, I got other troubles to worry about now. Like the Enforcers you led to my doorstep.”
I’d had just about enough of this. Getting up off my knees brought the attention of the two Freemen standing over by the door down on me, as they tightened their grip on their rifles, but I didn’t care anymore. “You’re right, Commander,” I snapped at him. “The Enforcers are coming. But, we didn’t bring them to you. They would’ve come here whether Jadran and I came or not. They’re after something. You guys are just in their way.”
That made both of Ross’s eyebrows twitch. “That so? Well, Little Miss Era Rae, formerly of the Colonies and friend of us Freemen, you mind telling me exactly what so many Enforcers want way out here in the Outlands? See, I figured they was here to kill each and every one of us Freemen, but if they’re here for something else then maybe we should just leave them to it.”
I shook my head, wondering at just how stupid men could be sometimes. If I’d been talking to a woman, I had no doubt she would’ve gotten it by now. “Commander Ross, you can’t just hide and wait for the Enforcers to go away. Whatever they want is leading them right here. Enforcers don’t go around anything. They travel in a straight line, and God help anyone standing in their way. That wall you built around yourselves is impressive, I’ll give you that, but it will not stand up to what the Enforcers are bringing.”
Jadran finally stood up with me, and Ross regarded us both for a moment. The room was empty except for us, him, and his bodyguards, and I had the feeling he’d done a lot of interrogations in here before. If he had to kill someone, there would be less of a mess to clean up in an empty room. That look in his eye told me he might just decide to kill both of us at any second, if I didn’t manage to make my case with him.
“You got spunk, girl,” Ross said to me, and I felt heat rise up in me when he called me girl. “Don’t mean you have sense, though. Fine. You think the Enforcers want something else besides us. What is it? Hm? Tell me that.”
I looked helplessly at Jadran. I’d told him about my suspicions on our way here, and we’d both racked our brains to find an answer to that same question.
Unfortunately, we’d both come up with the same answer. “I don’t know.”
The little smirk that crossed Ross’s face told me he didn’t like that answer.
He spread his hands wide, then let them drop to the handles of his guns in their holsters. “Then I don’t see how you’re any good to me.”
“We are here to help you,” Jadran pointed out. His voice was way calmer than mine. “You will need every fighter you can get.”
“I have fighters.” The way Ross said it made it clear he was done with this conversation.
He motioned to the two Freemen behind us, and I knew what was coming.
They were going to kill us.
I felt a calm like liquid silver flowing over me, embracing me, wrapping me into its stillness. It was something I’d felt so many times before. Like the embrace of an old friend.
Then it happened.
The bodyguards weren’t going to waste a ballistic charge on us. They set their rifles aside and unsheathed long knives from their belts instead. I felt it when the one behind me took a hard grip on my shoulder and started to bring the knife around to my throat.
I dropped into a crouch, landing on his forward leg, catching the bulge of his knee and using my weight to bend it sideways.
It doesn’t matter how big you are, or how strong you are, the joints of the body were only designed to bend in certain ways. Bend them the wrong way, and the result is always the same.
The man howled in pain and dropped his knife and fell to the floor, clutching his broken leg. For good measure, I kicked him there.
His skin turned a sickly green pallor and his eyes rolled back in his head. He wasn’t going to be getting up anytime soon.
The other man was holding Jadran in front of him like a shield when I turned around. The metal tip of the blade glinted against Jadran’s throat. It was sharp, and double-sided, and it would only take a little bit of pressure for him to end Jadran’s life. The Freeman backed up against the wall, sure in his defensive position.
“Now listen to me, little Miss,” I heard Commander Ross say, his tone sharp, “that’s enough—”
I heard him. That didn’t mean I listened.
“You’re dead,” I tol
d the Freeman holding Jadran.
I meant it, too, and that scared me.
The man’s eyes widened, and I could see my own fear reflected there.
Two steps to the right, then a springing jump at the wall. My right foot planted itself and pushed me off again and I spun in the air, twisting mid-leap, to put my back to the Freeman guard.
As I did I caught his knife hand with the edge of my boot and pushed it away from Jadran’s throat.
My momentum carried me through an arc that intersected with his blade.
The thin ropes holding my wrists slid against the edge of the weapon.
I didn’t think about any of it. I just reacted.
I landed on one foot and one knee, spinning like a dancer to face the man holding Jadran.
When I flexed my arms, the ropes split along the deep slice the Freemen had unwittingly cut into them.
My vision narrowed to a dark tunnel surrounded by fuzzy red light. The center of that tunnel was the man holding Jadran.
He was a dead man, and I was going to kill him.
A meaty hand grasped the back of my neck. Ross’s other hand caught my left wrist. He yanked me back off the floor.
My focus shifted in an instant to meet this new threat. I slipped his hold on my neck easily and kicked around with my foot, meaning to catch Ross’s jaw with the heel of my combat boot and end him.
End him.
“Era Rae!”
It was Jadran’s voice, and I’d never heard him sound so frightened. Not in all the time I’d known him. Not when he was facing entire columns of Enforcers. Not even when we were being attacked by the Children of the Event.