“I told you already—”
“Yes, I listened to your bullshit the first time,” Mitch interrupted. “Now I want to know the truth. You are here because of me, David. Maybe it took a while for you to get here but you came because of what I told you. So you owe me. What were you doing in there for three days?”
David avoided meeting that characteristically intent stare Mitch had directed at him. It was hard to look straight into that glaring light. David wondered if he had used that to ensure his leadership. It couldn’t have hurt.
“Mitch, they kept me locked up in the cellar. I don’t know what else I can tell you. I didn’t even know it was that long.”
“David, you want to know what my plan is?” Mitch asked.
“Wha—? Yeah, I do,” David stuttered.
“We’re in this together, right?”
David recalled his grouping Mitch and himself together as the ones who would get the Outliers into the Base.
“Right. Mitch, I’m one of you. I came here because I have nothing left, just like you. I want to help.”
“You want to help, huh? You’ve been here for one day and you’re ready to spearhead the operation?”
“Are you trying to get me to back off, Mitch, because I—”
“Dammit, David!” Mitch swore. “I’m putting my life on the line here. If my plan doesn’t work—” Mitch paused. “It will work. But if it doesn’t, they’ll kill me. I’ve done what I can to tame these people, David, to mold them into model citizens that will fit in at the Base, but they’re survivors at heart. If my plan fails, I’m dead. There won’t be a second chance. They’ll probably roast me over a fire and suck the meat off my bones. David, if you know something, if you came from the Base to sabotage me or something, I’m going to give you one chance to leave. Because if that’s your intent, to destroy everything I’ve been working for, I will kill you. This is your one warning.”
David stared slack-jawed at Mitch. There was a murderous glint in the hazel eyes that spoke for the truthfulness of his friend’s words. The mouth buried in the shadowy beard was a hard line.
“Mitch, I told you, I’m here to help,” David began, piecing his words together. “My life is on the block right next to yours. If I can’t find some solution here,” he stopped, putting as much steel into his eyes as Mitch’s doubled their intensity, “then it’s all over for me.”
“I knew it,” Mitch spat. “You made some deal with them, didn’t you? They were probably gonna kill you, and you sold your soul to that fat-faced Mayor to save your own skin. You’re here to ‘help,’ David? Who exactly are you helping out here?”
“I’m with you!” David barked. “I came here because there was nothing left for me back in the valley, and this was my last hope. I was starving, I thought everyone had died and I was the last one left. I was lying by the river, ready to die, hoping to die, when…”
“When what?” Mitch said with a raised eyebrow.
“I remembered something,” David said, glad he had not gone on to mention Elizabeth. He didn’t want Mitch to know about her. It might be useless, because he probably already did, but David couldn’t help but feel protective of her. “What you said to me the last time I saw you. About there having to be something out there. ‘Someone had to have dug in somewhere.’ You remember that?”
“Yeah, it’s what I told everyone,” Mitch said. “I liked the way it sounded so much I turned it into a kind of speech when I was trying to get people to come with me.”
“Yeah, well, I remembered that and I headed off in the opposite direction of the city. I knew there was nothing that way. But Mitch, you have to know that I am with you, all right? I’m not a spy, and I’m not a member of the Base. I’m just working for a place for myself, and I’m gonna bring you in with me. I’m going to find a place for everyone. That’s how it’s going to work.”
“You sound pretty sure of yourself,” Mitch said, his iron jaw relaxing, though he did not quite smile. “You were always better with plans than I was. So what are your orders then, Dave? From the Base?”
“Well, it’s a pretty tough sell, but—”
“Just tell me.”
“And then you’ll tell me your plan?”
“Absolutely.”
“Okay. Well, the plan starts with you guys, the Outliers…” David hesitated. It had seemed like a plausible idea at the Base, had even been sound in his own mind, but now that the words were in his throat, he saw the ludicrous nature of what he was about to say.
“Us doing what?”
“It starts with the Outliers… giving up their weapons.”
“What? Is that a joke?” Mitch looked at David with wide eyes and the hint of a grin playing at the corner of his mouth.
“No. That’s the only way the Base would be able to trust you. You have been raiding them, and—”
“They would have told you that. No one is getting in. The raids are nothing.”
“But they are happening,” David surmised.
“Sort of. Go on. I’ll explain when you’re done. So far your plan is terrible but please, continue.”
“You would have to give up your arms and move closer to the Base, where they could guard you and keep an eye on you, to ensure their own safety.”
“Much better. Then what?”
“And they would give you all the food they could spare through the winter, and when the spring comes, they would give you their excess seeds and you would start your own ‘Base’ somewhere else.”
“So they have the means to do this but they would still rather not take us on full-time? Afraid we might drag them to the bottom of they let us come aboard?” Mitch mocked. His tone was sardonic and it was beginning to get under David’s skin.
“They might, they don’t know, or at least that’s what I was told. The harvest was better than they anticipated and the Mayor thinks they could support you for the winter, but that would run their stores dry. They know you won’t last the winter, or at least they assume, I guess.”
“They know because I’ve told them that a thousand times,” Mitch grumbled. “I’m glad they didn’t bother mentioning any of this to me. I don’t see why they couldn’t have at least bounced it off me when I was meeting with the Mayor.”
“They expect you to attack them before the snow starts. They imagine you’re growing desperate.”
“They have no idea,” Mitch murmured.
“So that’s what you’re planning?”
“What?” Mitch burst from his internal reverie.
“You’re going to attack them?”
“David, are you stupid?”
“No. I don’t think so. Why?”
“Do you think I’m stupid?” Mitch asked with all the patience of an adult speaking to a toddler.
“No,” David replied deliberately.
“Why would I be trying to get the Outliers to forget their anger and resentment toward the Base whenever it comes up if I want them to attack it?”
The question danced circles around David’s mind, and he had no answer. An exasperated sigh escaped Mitch’s lips.
“David, I am not planning to attack the Base, at least not if I can avoid it. I am aiming for a smooth transition. Willing immigration versus militant overthrow. We’re waiting them out. And—”
“You’re waiting them out? You are waiting out the ones who have food to spare?”
“Will you let me finish, please?”
“Sorry. Proceed.” David motioned forward.
“We are waiting until there is the right number of us that can be comfortably supported by the Base.”
“What does that mean exactly?”
“It means—”
“You’re not waiting for your own people to starve?” David gasped.
“What the—? Can I get a word in here?”
“Sorry. Go on.”
“If you interrupt me again, I’ll cut something off, David. Something you’ll sorely miss, I promise.”
“Are y
ou going to finish?”
“All right. You are with us, David?”
“Yes! God, I am with you. To the end. Through thick and thin, and all that. Now explain.” David’s voice rose in frustration. Mitch had been his best friend for years, and their conversations had fallen right back into place.
“Okay, well, we’re at the end of the line here,” Mitch began, now looking hesitant himself. “We have to be practical, right?” It was rhetorical, but David almost answered; then remembered what Mitch had threatened and zipped his lips.
“No ideal solution exists here. I swear I’ve tried them all. There’s no way I can get the Outliers to give up their guns and knives, or I would have done that already. Sorry to burst your bubble, but just trust me on that one. The people here are survivors, and they’re not stupid. The stupid ones died a long time ago. But some people are rash and hasty and they would just cause a rift between those of us willing to forget the past and forge ahead once we are in the Base. They are a liability, you understand? And I have to do what’s best for the whole here.
“So, my new plan is this. I let the angry ones, like Dmitri, go ahead and strike at the Base. They think they’re doing what they have to, when they’re only hurting themselves. I know security at the Base is tight now; no one’s gotten in for months. I tell them this, warn them, so it’s no skin off my nose when they abandon their sense and rush in—”
“And die,” David finished.
“The Mayor has been adamant that the Base can only support a certain number of immigrants, David. We would risk the lives of our and their people if we all came in, I know that.” His face darkened. “At least I hope that’s true. I don’t like the Mayor, and I don’t think I can trust everything he says.” He shook his head and went on. “Anyway, it’s better that some of us survive than we all die out here, right?”
“Isn’t that the kind of thinking that brought the whole world to a stop?” David responded, feeling for a moment that it sounded like something Elizabeth would have said to him. “If that’s your plan, why don’t you just hop the fence? You know the guards, right?” David was trying to keep his voice calm but it cracked in silent rage and betrayed him.
“It’s too late for that. And I thought there was a chance of getting everyone in, to be fair. Now I know that’s not going to happen, and I won’t let the Outliers all die. You have to understand, old friend. There are women out here, someone just had a child. A child, David. New life. Do you know how important that is? And the mother, her name is Sam, you know the Base offered to let her come in with her baby, and she said no. Can you believe that? She said she wouldn’t leave everyone out in the cold. How could I abandon them now? These are the best people the old world had to offer. And one new one, the first of the new world. That kid is a damn treasure.”
“But you would let some of your people die to save him?”
Mitch turned away from David, walked over to a tree and pounded it with his fist. Droplets of water showered down on his back but he didn’t seem to notice. He was shaking his head, and David hoped he had not pushed him too far.
“I just want you to fully understand what you’re saying,” David explained to the back of Mitch’s head.
“I know what I’m doing, David,” he spat. “You don’t think I’ve sat up nights, filled with self-loathing? I hate that I have to do this, but it’s the only way. It’s their only chance.”
David took a deep breath and took a step toward the troubled figure. He lay a hand on his moist shoulder. He felt the man stiffen, but otherwise ignore the touch.
“Give me a chance, Mitch. I could be your secret weapon. Maybe I can figure out a way that doesn’t require more deaths? Just give me a week. Let me try and figure something out.”
“Why do you think you can do this? What makes you so special? You’re stuck out here with us now. And I won’t let you go back there. Now that you know my plan, I’m keeping you by my side at all times.”
“Keeping your friends close?” David joked in an attempt to ease the incredible tension between the trees on that sodden morning.
“Something like that.”
CHAPTER 32
David slunk through the woods, ducking under trees, looking back over his shoulder after every few steps. The forest was dark and silent. He was far enough from the camp for the sounds of snores and the crackling fire to have long since faded away. He went slowly at first, treading lightly, carefully placing every step to avoid making a sound. He had seen no one since slipping out of Mitch’s cabin, saying he needed to take a walk and clear his head. Mitch had argued that point but seemed distracted, and after a time he had told David to “Do whatever you want. I’ve got something to take care of. You’re a big boy.”
Even so, David moved as stealthily through the wood as possible, knowing the chances of running into a wandering Outlier were not terribly slim; their fervor for standing watch bordered on paranoia. David thought they went a tad overboard, that their fear of being attacked was ironic, but he understood. Living in the woods long enough, you begin to realize the unpredictable is everywhere. Especially in a crumbling world with no rules.
David bent back the branches of a sapling and stepped past it. It was slick with night frost and whipped back against another, causing a small powdery explosion that made David cringe. He stood statuesque for a moment, listening for any trace of a sound in reaction to the whipping and falling of the snow, but heard nothing, and continued on.
David looked down at his fingers, glistening in the moonlight with the moisture of the frozen sapling he had been grasping. The frosts had come. Winter was just around the corner. A weight sunk down into his stomach, though not before he had to choke it down.
He was just beginning to think he had lost his way in the shadowy labyrinth when he saw the same yellow grass pop up between the trees, which themselves had begun to grow further and further apart. He stopped just before stepping out into view of the Base sentries. He could see them standing on the wall, their pale skin like beacons in the clear night. David looked up at the sky and wondered at the absurd clarity. The stars were visible in places where the clouds broke to reveal the naked sky. The open sky seemed such an odd and alien sight.
Drawing his attention back to the task at hand, David took a seat on the ground, his back against the chilly trunk of a tall pine, where he could see the Base unobstructed. He hoped he was not visible here in the shadows of the woods. If those guards could see him, they would no doubt be watching him with an intensity that matched his own, and then the night was sure to be long and full of disappointment. Getting away from Mitch, however, might not be so easily accomplished again, so he had to try.
It was cold but David had brought a blanket and wrapped himself up in it. The guards paced tirelessly along the wall, back and forth, back and forth. David counted seven that he could see; two never moved from their posts above the gate, the other five treading endlessly, heads bobbing between the points of the crude palisade, rifles held at the ready. Mitch had not been kidding when he told David of the obstacle of getting in the Base; sneaking over the wall, over those sharpened points of logs, would not be easy. Maybe when they changed the guard, or someone abandoned their post for a few moments to relieve themselves, David could slip through a blind spot.
David caught a blur of motion on the south side of the wall out of the corner of his eye. The guards on that side of the wall were both facing opposite each other on either side of that blur, so they made no move in reaction to it. One yawned. The time for him to rest must be coming swiftly. Or maybe he will just fall asleep on his gun, David thought. That would make things easier.
The other guard whipped around as a noise caught his attention. David had heard nothing but the guard was leaning over the wall now, rifle at the ready, calling something to the other guard, who came over to investigate. David turned his head to follow their eyes to the forest on the south side of the Base, though nothing seemed to be amiss. Then, a few hundred feet away
, he saw the branches of a tree ruffling. He stood up then bent down and picked up a rock, cursing the Base for the umpteenth time for sending him out unarmed. Perhaps he could ask Mitch for a gun, he thought, though they probably had precious few to go around as is.
He slid behind the trunk he had been lying against, watching as minute movements betrayed the presence of another being. He braced his feet, ready to throw the oversized rock at the slightest provocation. He did not know who was coming but instinct took over.
And then he saw a white-gold flash and dropped the rock. He could not believe his eyes. He must have fallen asleep against the tree, he decided.
“Hello there,” he said in a hushed tone. All the movement in the trees stopped as she froze. “What in god’s name are you doing out here?”
“David?”
Elizabeth broke from the undergrowth and came into view, sidling out into the moonlight. “What the—?”
David marched over to where she crouched, looking warily around for the sound of his voice. “Are you alone out here?” David asked as his fingers touched her arms. She jumped back and glared at him. His face turned an impressive shade of crimson, visible even in the dim light, and he dropped his arms. Hopefully his attempt at an embrace was lost on her.
“So,” he said, turning away so that he would not have to meet her gaze, “let’s come away from the Base to talk. I’m assuming you don’t want them to see you out here.”
“And I’m sure you feel the same,” she countered.
“Well, it would make sneaking over that wall a little harder,” David responded.
“And why are you trying to get over that wall?” she asked as they retreated into the depths of the ancient wood. David stopped and sat on a smooth log once the trees were thick enough to screen them, and she joined him, sliding close, presumably so they could speak quietly, though David allowed his imagination to feed him other reasons.
“You notice I did not pull a gun on you when I heard you in the woods?”
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