“Where’s Sharon meeting us?” Amy turned in the front seat to face me.
“By the old grocery store in Mobridge.” My leg fidgeted as the outskirts of the forgotten town appeared. Mobridge wasn’t big. It never had been, and since nobody lived here now, the streets were empty.
Ian gazed ahead. Across the Missouri River lay Reservation 1. Snippets of the tall fence could be seen from certain angles.
My heart thumped. It had been over three months since I’d left this place. I’d had no idea if I’d ever come back the last time I’d seen that perimeter, but my hope had been if I did, that it would be to free my friends once and for all.
That was a hope that still lived in my heart, yet with each day, it seemed more unattainable.
Sharon was parked outside of the abandoned grocery store. She stood leaning against her car, her arms crossed. Long auburn tendrils escaped from the bun at the nape of her neck. They flowed across her cheeks in the breeze. She wore jeans, sturdy boots, a down jacket, mittens, and a hat. It was even colder up here than it had been in Sioux Falls.
As soon as we stepped out, Sharon pulled me into a hug. Her arms wrapped around me as her lavender scent tickled my nose. Our winter jackets made the hug bulky and awkward, but I still returned it fiercely. I’d always been like that with her. Touching Sharon felt like hugging the mother I never had.
“I’m so glad you’re here,” she whispered. “It’s been awful.”
I pulled back and looked her over. “How have you been? And more importantly, have you been eating and finding water?”
She nodded. “That kid I met, Cash, he lives on an old farm about ten miles from here. He gave me a few gallons and some food.”
“Where have you been staying?”
She pushed a stray tendril of hair from her gaze. “An abandoned house that way.” She nodded north.
I let go of her and stuffed my hands in my jacket’s pockets. “Tell me more about this kid.”
I could feel Ian and my co-workers listening in. All of us stood around Sharon.
Davin’s mother stuffed her hands in her pockets. “Cash’s parents were farmers before Makanza hit. They were one of the few families around here that survived. When the Second Wave struck, they moved up to Bismark. It had been too hard for them to survive here, but now that things are changing, they’ve moved back. They only returned a month ago, but Cash has already seen a lot of what’s happening on the rez.”
My shoulders stiffened. “And he has it all on video?”
“Yes. Hours worth of videos.”
“Good.”
“Sorry to interrupt, Megs, but are you going to introduce us?” Mitch stood with his hands on his hips. Beside him, Amy watched Sharon and me with an alert gaze.
It suddenly struck me that none of them had met Davin’s mother before. I smacked my hand to my forehead. “Sorry. Sharon, this is Mitch Hess, Amy McConnell, Charlie Wang, and Ian Gallager. Mitch, Amy, and Charlie all work with me in Sioux Falls. Ian’s from Compounds 10 and 11 in Washington state. He flew back with me.”
Sharon nodded hellos to everyone.
With the introductions complete, Charlie blew onto his hands and rubbed them together. “What are we going to do from here?”
“From here, we go to the reservation and see if we get in,” I replied.
A cold breeze rolled through the streets. I shivered and not just from the cold. Just across the river lay answers to all of my questions.
Now, it was just a matter of getting them.
TWENTY MINUTES LATER, the five of us lay on a hill overlooking the reservation. We’d parked our vehicles at the bottom and then hiked to the top to observe what was going on. But even at this height, we couldn’t see the town, it was too far into the rez.
The rolling prairie stretched as far as the eye could see. A tall, chain link fence surrounded the entire reservation’s perimeter. Watch towers were stationed every couple hundred yards. Even in daylight, it looked like a prison.
Things had definitely changed on the rez since I last visited. More guards patrolled the grounds. In each watch tower, at least four guards were stationed with combat gear and assault rifles.
It was freezing out here. Literally. There wasn’t any snow on the ground, but the earth was frozen solid, and the temperature was only in the twenties. The ground felt like a giant ice cube beneath the tops of my thighs.
“I don’t see any Kazzies.” My teeth wanted to chatter, but I locked my jaw and stayed flat on the ground.
“No, you won’t. They never allow them near the entrance.” Anger filled Sharon’s words.
“How does Cash video them?” Ian asked. He lay on my other side. Beside him were Amy, Mitch, and Charlie.
“And more importantly, how has he not been caught?” Amy’s hair blew in the breeze. It looked like fire.
Sharon shifted on the cold ground. “He’s been sneaking down to the western side where there’s a dip in the valley. He can get pretty close to the perimeter without anyone seeing him. He said there’s an outdoor area near there for the Kazzies. He’s witnessed a lot from that place.”
“An outdoor area?” I pulled my hat down more. “So the Kazzies aren’t locked up?”
A pained expression crossed Sharon’s face. “I don’t know. Cash hasn’t seen anyone in that area in over a week.”
Amy uttered a sound of disgust. “Didn’t you say the president was monitoring Dr. Roberts?”
“She said she would.” I bit my lip. “But maybe she stopped since nothing bad was happening.”
“What about the other family members?” Mitch asked. “Are any of them inside still detained for the three week quarantine? Maybe they know what’s going on.”
Sharon shook her head. “All families visited within a few weeks of the borders opening. All of us have already gone through our three week quarantine. Now, we just come and go when we visit.”
“Have other families been able to get in?” Amy asked.
Sharon peered around me to look at Amy. “No, the other families have all been turned away too, just like me.”
“So why is nothing being done about it?” Charlie asked the obvious question. “Why is nobody asking questions or raising an uproar?”
Sharon’s breath puffed in a cloud around her face. “I think they will, now that we have these videos, but before everybody believed what the guards were telling them. You have to remember that this all happened very recently. The guards only stopped allowing visitors a few weeks ago. And then, everyone was fed the same story. An outbreak of influenza, maintenance on the phone lines which cut off communication, etcetera. So far, most families have no reason to doubt the guards. Initially, I didn’t either.”
I remembered Sharon’s soothing words, telling me that it would all be fine. She’d truly believed the guards too.
Sharon frowned heavily. “Right now, I’m the only one who’s stayed in the area. The other family members I’ve spoken with went home. You know how it is now. Any mention of any outbreak of any kind, and people run for the hills. Besides, it’s hard for them to travel here. Almost all of them live in different states.”
“How convenient that there are no hotels or places to stay for miles.” Mitch shook his head.
“The reservation has always been isolated.” I frowned. “I’m sure that’s part of the reason this area was chosen.”
Charlie grunted and shifted in the cold. “Okay, so we know there are more guards with more guns stationed around the perimeter. Can we get off this hill now and go talk to them?”
“I second that idea.” Mitch was already pushing himself back up. “No point laying here in the cold now that we know what to expect when we get there.”
Mitch, Charlie, and Amy all shimmied down the hill before standing. Ian, Sharon, and I remained as we were.
“Do you really think they’ll let us in?” Ian asked.
I shrugged. “Only one way to find out.”
The three of us joined Amy, Mitch, and C
harlie at the bottom. We all stood together in a huddle. It was getting close to dark. A gray cloud cover blanketed the sky. The setting sun wasn’t visible, but it grew darker by the minute.
I hunched my shoulders up to fend off the cold. “Okay, so what’s the plan when we reach the gates?”
“Besides telling them to open up and explain to us why they’re shooting people?” Charlie’s words rolled through the cold wind.
Amy ignored him. “I think it’s important that we let them know something fishy’s going on.” Her hands were stuffed so deep in her pockets, her coat had swallowed them to mid-forearm.
Sharon nodded. “I agree. It’s only a matter of time before it gets out what they’re doing, and the sooner that happens, the better. Maybe it will stop the guards from continuing this nonsense. People tend to behave better if they know others are watching.”
“So we tell them that we know they’re mistreating the Kazzies?” I tucked my face back behind my scarf when a particularly strong gust of wind bit my cheeks.
Ian nodded. “Yeah, I agree with Sharon too. Seems like a good place to start.”
“Let’s go then.” Mitch opened the door to his SUV. “It’s getting dark. We better get a move on.”
8 – RESERVATION 1
My heart pounded steadily as we drove toward the reservation. A break in the cloud cover had the setting sun lighting up the western sky. The red orb hung just above the horizon when we pulled up to the gates.
As soon as we did, a bright spotlight shone through the windshield. I raised a hand to shield my face. Between the spotlight and sun, it was blinding.
“State your name and intentions for approaching Reservation 1.” A voice came through a megaphone.
I grumbled. Apparently, some things never change. The welcome visitors received at Reservation 1 hadn’t improved in the slightest.
“Is this where we say, ‘we come in peace?’” Charlie muttered from the back.
“Seriously. Maybe we should.” Amy craned her head to look up the massive fence. She shuddered.
All of us stepped out of the vehicle, our slamming doors filling the quiet.
Mitch stepped forward first. “My name is Dr. Mitch Hess. I’m accompanied by my colleagues from Compound 26: Dr. Meghan Forester, Dr. Amy McConnell, and Dr. Charlie Wang. Sharon Kinder, Davin Kinder’s mother, and Ian Gallager from Compounds 10 and 11 are also with us. We’d like to be admitted to the reservation.”
“The reservation is closed right now, Dr. Hess. You’ll need to return at a different time.”
I stepped forward. The sun had almost disappeared under the horizon, and the blasted spotlight turned on me.
“Is the light necessary?” I asked.
Somebody turned it off. Now, only the lights around the watch towers illuminated anything.
I put my hands on my hips. “Please tell Dr. Roberts that I’m here to see him and that we’d all like to enter the reservation. I’m sure he’ll make an exception.”
The blaring voice came again. “As I just said, Dr. Forester, the reservation is closed. Please return to your vehicle.”
So he recognizes me. I hadn’t told him my name.
I glanced around, trying to figure out who I was speaking to. The voice seemed to come from a large speaker system above the gates. Two watch towers rose alongside the massive entrance, outlines of guards at the top.
“Who am I speaking to?” I shaded my eyes against the watch tower lights and tried to see the guard’s faces. I couldn’t. “Is it Sergeant Beckenworth?”
In September, when I’d returned to the reservation and asked to be admitted, I’d gone through a similar process. Sergeant Beckenworth had been in charge then. I was hoping it was still him. At least, he knew me.
“No, it’s Sergeant Major Muller.”
Sergeant Major? So the night guard was now a higher rank. I wondered why that was.
Since I still couldn’t see the guard, I glanced toward the speaker. “Sergeant Major Muller, will you please tell Dr. Roberts that we’re here. We need to speak with him. It’s come to our attention that a few incidences have occurred on the reservation that are concerning. We want to insure the Kazzies contained within are safe.”
The Sergeant Major’s voice turned glacial. “As I said before, the reservation is closed. Return to your vehicle and depart. There will be no admittance tonight, Dr. Forester.”
Amy took a step forward. “We’re not asking. Tell Dr. Roberts that we’re here!”
I smiled inwardly. Amy’s fierce lioness was shining through.
The Sergeant Major’s voice dropped. “I won’t say this again. Return to your vehicle. All of you. We will use force if necessary to make you leave.”
His cold words chilled me. Beside me, Charlie and Ian shared an uncomfortable look. Even Sharon seemed afraid as she hugged her arms tighter around her.
“We have proof of what you’ve been doing,” Mitch yelled. “We have videos of you shooting a Kazzie.”
Tension hung around us as we waited for the Sergeant Major to respond. When he finally did, his voice was even darker. “I suggest you depart now before force is used.”
All of us eyed one another as cold wind blew around us.
“We’ll be back.” Charlie’s words didn’t sound as threatening as I’m sure he meant them to be.
“With friends,” I added. Perhaps Cate will have better luck.
With stiff movements, the six of us slid back into Mitch’s vehicle. A crazy image overcame me. It was of us barreling through the gates in the SUV. The gates weren’t steel, not like the Compounds. I felt somewhat confident that a vehicle going at high speed could break through them.
But then I pictured the watch tower guards raining bullets down upon us.
We wouldn’t be of any help to the Kazzies if we were dead.
Keeping my thoughts to myself, I clasped my hands tightly together as Mitch turned the motor on and shifted the SUV into reverse. My heart pounded the entire time as the reality of what was taking place sank in.
They won’t let us in! It doesn’t matter that we know what they’re doing!
That meant the only chance we had was if Cate was able to pull rank and get us inside. But that would only come with special permission from the president. And if the president didn’t grant that access, we’d have no better luck.
WE CROSSED THE Missouri river a few minutes later.
Sharon rubbed her hands together as her forehead furrowed. “We should collect my car. Then we can return to the house I broke into while we figure out what to do from here. There’s a fireplace and plenty of wood that was left from the previous owner. It will be good to warm up and have something to eat.”
Mitch’s eyebrows shot clear to his hairline as he drove back to the abandoned grocery store. “Did you just say, house you broke into, as if that’s a completely normal thing to say?”
Sharon didn’t seem perturbed by Mitch’s comment. “It’s been abandoned for years, and there’s a wood burning fireplace. The living room warms right up when a fire’s going.”
“Is that where you’ve been staying?” Ian asked.
Sharon nodded. “Yes. It’s a bit like camping indoors.”
Mitch groaned.
“Come on, Mitchy.” Amy elbowed him from her front passenger’s seat. “Who would have thought you were such a pretty boy. Haven’t you ever gone camping?”
Mitch raised an eyebrow. “That would require a tent and sleeping on the ground. I really don’t know why you ask.”
Charlie laughed. “You can still bring cologne and hair gel when you’re camping.”
My co-workers continued their usual wry jokes. I could tell they were trying to lighten the mood, but Amy’s voice still shook and Charlie’s responses weren’t quite as sharp as they usually were.
I tried to join in, but I kept picturing my friends in the reservation. They may not be getting drugged, but what else is Dr. Roberts doing to them?
After collecting Sharon’
s car, we pulled in front of an abandoned two-story house down a generic residential street. I bundled my coat tighter around me as we stepped out of the vehicle. Sharon waited on the cracked sidewalk. A heaving driveway waited behind it.
“Follow me.” Sharon turned and walked briskly to the front door.
Throughout the neighborhood, waist-high brown grass and weeds swayed in each yard. Shutters hung precariously from several of the home’s windows. More than one house had broken mailboxes or kicked in front doors.
I paused in the drive as everyone else followed Sharon inside. Stuffing my hands in my pockets, I gazed at the dark, abandoned street.
I could only imagine the chaos that had ensued in these very streets seven years ago. Since the Second Wave broke out on the Cheyenne River reservation, the reservation that was now called Reservation 1, I couldn’t fathom the fear that the residents of Mobridge felt. Only a river had separated them from the outbreak.
Makanza had run rampant through this portion of the state. Almost nobody survived. Those that had survived had been the lucky ones.
Most Mobridge residents had fled the second the news was out that the virus had returned. Tragically, all that did was spread the virus more since almost all of them had been infected but didn’t know it. The remaining Mobridge residents had stayed in town, locking themselves in their homes for the quarantine period, but it was too late.
They’d all been dead within a month.
The MRRA had been the ones to clean up this town. The news never showed that footage, but it would have taken hundreds of Makanza Research and Response Agency workers in their biohazard suits, going from house to house, to retrieve the dead bodies from within. From there, the bodies would have been burned before they were buried.
Nobody who was infected with Makanza was allowed to be buried whole. They were all cremated.
My brother had been no different.
I swallowed tightly. After Jeremy had become sick and died, his body had been turned to ash. He now lay buried in a cemetery outside of Vermillion. One of thousands of bodies lain to rest there following the Second Wave.
Section 12: Book #3 in The Makanza Series Page 7