by KM Fortune
CHAPTER 5
Matthew, his hands still tied but with his feet free so he could walk more easily, approached the darkened corner of the large room. Animal skins and blankets had been hung to give the woman privacy. A few candles illuminated the small area, and he could hear a soft whimper of pain. Andres, the man who begged for Matthew's help, stopped at the gap in the makeshift walls and paused. "Do you think you can help us?" he asked without looking back at Matthew.
"Let me see, and I will tell you the truth," Matthew promised. The other man nodded and pulled aside a blanket to permit access. Taking a deep breath to steady himself, Matthew stepped through and into the room. What he saw did not give him much hope. The woman was in labor, but the toll the contractions were taking on her strength was evident. Pale and drenched in sweat, she lolled her head toward the two men.
"Andres?" she asked. The young man went to her side and knelt beside where she lay on an old military cot. Only a thin sheet covered her, and it had soaked through. At least there is not much blood, Matthew thought and moved closer. Suddenly an older woman stepped into the space. Her face was lined with fury.
"What is happening here?" she said in an angry whisper. "This woman is in labor, and I do not want her disturbed."
Matthew turned to her. “Are you the midwife?” he asked.
“I am,” she snapped. “And I do not need your help. Now get out.”
“What are you doing to help her deliver?” Matthew asked as if he had not heard her. The midwife’s face turned scarlet.
"Step outside," she hissed and then turned to lead the way. Not sure what else to do, Matthew followed. "This is none of your concern, but if it will get rid of you then I will explain it to you," she continued. "I did not want to say this in front of the woman and her husband, but the girl and the baby inside her are going to die. All I can do is try to make her comfortable at this point."
Matthew frowned. “Die? Why?” The midwife rolled her eyes in frustration.
"Well, you won't understand this, but she has not dilated. There is no way for the baby to get out. It has been hours, and now the mother is too weak even if she did make more progress," she said. "I have seen this time and time again."
“There may be an alternative,” Matthew said. “But I must inspect her first.” He turned to go back into the room, but the midwife grabbed his arm.
“Absolutely not,” she said. “You have no place in this business.” At that moment, Andres came out of the gap in the blankets.
“I have asked for his help,” the tired man said. “He is a scientist from the Great Cave.” The midwife dropped her hand and wiped it on her apron with disgust.
"If he helps you, I will have no more to do with this," she threatened. "Andres, he will do more harm. Kill him now to be done with it and then go comfort your wife." Andres was quiet and stared at the ground. His shoulders sagged. Matthew could feel the despair and indecision coming off of him. Enough of this waiting around to die or not die. It is time to act, Matthew thought and held his tied hands out toward Andres.
"Cut me loose," he said. "And let me examine your woman. There is no time to waste." Andres turned his head and looked at Matthew's hands. Then he raised his eyes to meet Matthew's. Reading them was impossible. Slowly, the grieving man reached to his belt and pulled free a large hunting knife. Matthew held his breath and waited. Andres turned the blade from side-to-side in deliberation, as if watching the play of the candlelight on the metal and then with a sudden swipe of his arm, cut the bonds which held Matthew's hands.
Gabriel was on his bunk reading. The story was a classic from the colony’s library and full of action. Jack London was one of his favorite authors. Although he could not always relate to the locations and machinery described, the main character’s courage and strength were inspiring to the old soldier. It was just getting to the good part when there was a knock on the door of Gabriel’s private quarters. Grumbling, Gabriel set down the book and got up. “What is it?” he asked as he yanked on a pair of pants over his boxers.
“We might have a problem, sir,” replied the man on the other side of the door. Gabriel pulled the door open and looked at the private standing at attention in the hallway.
“At ease, soldier,” Gabriel said. “What kind of problem?”
“With the wastling and the man captured with her,” the private answered. Gabriel frowned. He did not like the nickname the men in the colony had given the little girl.
“You mean Hannah,” Gabriel corrected. The private colored with embarrassment and nodded.
“Yes, sir,” he said. “The little girl, Hannah. She and the man are trying to escape.”
“You’re kidding?” Gabriel asked. What could those two be thinking? The colony is completely secure. All exits are monitored closely now, he thought. Ever since the woman was allowed to escape. Before the private could answer the first question, Gabriel asked another. “How exactly are they making this getaway?”
The private smiled. “We saw them on the security monitor. They are walking down hall number four. We are assuming they think, because it is night and everyone has retired to quarters, the halls will be clear,” he answered. “No one is sure what they are planning to do at the gate.” Gabriel nodded thoughtfully. Hall number four was close by and led to the North Gate. If he hurried, he could probably intercept them himself and avoid a major incident. The last thing he wanted was another lecture from Samuel. Turning, he grabbed his uniform jacket and slung it on.
“Let’s go,” he told the private. “I want to see what is going on.”
The private led the way, and the two men half ran down the corridor where there was a pass-through to hall number four. At the corner, Gabriel slowed. "Okay Private, I'll take it from here." The soldier opened his mouth to protest, but Gabriel gave him a look to convince him otherwise. The private closed his mouth and snapped to attention. He saluted. Gabriel returned it and then watched as the soldier turned on his heel and marched back the way they had come. After he was out of sight, Gabriel picked up the pace and made it to hall number four in record time. He looked right and then left. The man and the little girl were about twenty yards past where he stood, so their backs were to him. Gabriel stepped out into the hallway. "Halt," he ordered. The man with the little girl hesitated but then started to run with Hannah in tow. Gabriel shook his head. Where does this guy think he is actually going to go? he thought. "I said halt!" Gabriel shouted. "Don't make me shoot you." In reality, Gabriel was not armed, but he knew the man would not know it. His threat worked, and the two stopped running. Gabriel walked toward them, and while the man hung his head, the little girl turned and looked back at Gabriel.
“We want to go home,” the child said.
"Don't you like it here, Hannah?" Gabriel asked when he was close enough. "Is someone mistreating you?" Hannah sighed and Gabriel held back a smile. She always sounded so adult to him in the few times they had interacted in the garden and around the colony. I’m really fond of this child, he thought. If anyone is treating her badly, I'll squash him like a bug.
"I do like it here, and nobody is mean really," she answered. "I just miss my family. I miss Blaze and Kit and Willow. Can't they come live here too?" The question caught Gabriel off guard. He could appreciate how she would be missing her family. It was normal. The idea she thought the unannointed heathen from the wasteland could come live here though was bothersome. Gabriel knew Hannah was starting on lessons about the world, particularly as it was presented by The Creator. Once she had down the basics, she would be baptized, and her soul would be saved. Those options would never be extended to adults out on the plains. Particularly the women. So how do I explain it to her? he wondered. How do I tell her she will never see her family again and in fact they were all most likely dead?
Shifting uncomfortably, it was all Gabriel could do to not look away from the face of the little girl. There was no malice there, only curiosity. And hope, he thought. How do I crush that without lying when tel
ling falsehoods is a sin? Gabriel had no idea.
CHAPTER 6
A breeze ran through the tunnel and ruffled Kit's cloak. The air smelled of sulfur and was surprisingly humid considering the frozen landscape outside. It was not unpleasant, almost welcome after the cold. Kit let it wash over her face and kept walking. She had explored tunnels before. There were a few scattered around the high desert for mining operations. This one was distinctly different. Even in the dark, she could tell it was huge by comparison. With her feeble torch, Kit could not see the ceiling, and the sides were smooth stone. Every so many feet, faded symbols were painted on the walls. They meant nothing to Kit, but she imagined back in the Before, the scribbles helped guide whoever used the tunnel. She wondered again about who would make such a thing and why exactly. What can be on the other side of this to make it worthwhile? It had to take forever to build, she thought.
Carefully walking forward along the rails, she began to hear a dripping noise ahead of her. With little light to go by, Kit could not see the source, but the smell of sulfur was growing stronger. After another dozen yards, she saw the first signs of debris. A twisted hunk of metal even taller than Kit and pockmarked with decades of rust, lay in the center of the tracks. Moving to examine it, she had no idea what it came from. There were symbols painted on it, similar to the ones on the walls and a picture of sorts. She ran her hand over the side of it and frowned. The mystery of the tunnel grew with her every step. Moving past the thing, she held her torch up high and could just make out more and more bits of metal on the tracks. She was puzzled. What is this all coming from? she wondered. It was not long until she found the answer.
Out of the gloom, she saw the shape of a huge machine. With smooth lines for the most part and the hint of a shiny surface, Kit had no idea what it might be. All she did know was it had at one point crashed. The front end of it was crumbled back onto itself where it had run headlong into the wall of the giant tunnel long ago. The impact had smashed a crater into the stone, and this was where water was seeping in. The source of the drip I keep hearing, she thought. Some sort of hot spring under the granite surface is leaking through.
Looking further, Kit saw the thing had tipped over, and she examined the underside. A series of wheels and other machinery indecipherable to her were exposed. All she could guess was the thing, apparently some sort of train, had jumped the tracks and crashed. At a high rate a speed too, she thought. I wonder where it came from and where it was going? Then she smiled. Or even better, what it was carrying? With a look at her slowly dying torch, she considered if she had time to climb aboard and explore.
Matthew stood up from his examination of the woman in labor and rubbed his eyes. He was tired and thirsty, yet knew his suffering was nothing compared to the human on the cot before him. Her baby, thankfully still alive based on what he could hear when he listened to her swollen belly, simply could not come out through the birth canal. For whatever reason, the mother's cervix had not dilated. It left him with only one option. Unfortunately, he knew it would not be popular. In fact, Matthew guessed the chances of his survival after explaining what needed to be done were at about fifty percent. To make matters worse, a majority of the clan had migrated over to the corner where the mother struggled. They stood outside the makeshift shelter within the great room of the lodge and murmured to each other, waiting with anticipation to see if the soldier could save the mother and child as promised.
Knowing wasting even an extra moment would not help the situation, he motioned to Andres, who held his wife's hand at the bedside, to follow him. The two of them stepped out through the door flap. All talking stopped, and every eye turned toward Matthew.
Matthew cleared his throat and figured it would not hurt his odds now to ask for some water. "Can I have something to drink? I haven't had anything all day," he said. He watched as the people around him all looked from one to another as if trying to decide who might be willing to help him. Finally, a woman tossed a waterskin at his feet. Matthew quickly scooped it up, pulled the stopper from the leather bag, and took a long, satisfying drink from it. It tasted fantastic, and he greedily took another before wiping his mouth with the back of his hand. Pushing the cork back into place, he started to give it to the woman. She backed away and put her hands up.
"Keep it," she said. "I don't want it now." Matthew nodded, understanding she would never want to use it after one of the Patrols drank from it.
"Well, thank you just the same," he told her and then turned back to address the group. "All right. I will need some volunteers to help me with what I must do. Also, please boil some water and bring me the cleanest rags you have. I mean extremely clean. My biggest concern right now is an infection. Also, I need the items taken from my pockets when I arrived." The clan members stared at him with no comment. Matthew felt his frustration starting to rise. If they won’t help me, the woman and her baby have no chance, he thought. Before he could repeat his request, he felt someone come up beside him. He looked to see Emilia, the clan’s chief, and Willow beside her.
“Sophie, boil the water and find the cloth he needs. Randall, where are his things? I want them returned.” Emilia said. Randall shifted his weight and looked down.
“All of it?” he asked.
“Yes, all of it. Now everyone, you will do what he asks,” Emilia commanded. “We’ve honored Andres request this far and I won’t have any chance to save his wife hindered. Do you understand?”
The crowd muttered agreement. Emilia turned her attention back to Matthew. “Is there anything else?” Matthew swallowed. This was the part he knew could be his demise. He rubbed his hand over his face. Just spit it out, he thought.
"I need a knife. The sharpest one you have in the entire clan," Matthew said quietly. Emilia blinked at him as if not understanding. Color rose to her cheeks as his request sunk in.
"Why do you need a sharp knife?" she asked.
Left with no other option but to speak the truth, Matthew looked Emilia in the eyes. "I will need to cut her open," he said.
Blaze, standing at the edge and watching the action, was as shocked by the scientist's words as anyone. Is he kidding? Blaze wondered as the crowd went crazy at Matthew's answer. Before Blaze knew what was happening, he felt himself being pushed, as the people surged forward wanting to crush Matthew en masse. Struggling to get out of the way, Blaze heard Matthew trying to shout above the uproar. "It's called a cesarean section!" Matthew yelled. "The mother and child can both live!" People were not listening. They could not get past his original statement. Suddenly, one of the clan members, a big man who was beside Blaze, whirled on him.
"This is one of the strangers! He was with him," the man said, pointing at Blaze.
Blaze held up his hands. "Whoa," he said. "Don't lump me in with this." Before he could explain further, the big man pulled a knife from his belt.
"I say we kill them all," the man suggested. You have got to be kidding me, Blaze thought and tried to back up. The people near him resisted, and Blaze felt his temper rise. With no place to go and not seeing any great options, he raised his fists.
"Bring it on," Blaze taunted the big man. "I'm not afraid of you fish eaters." The clan member growled and made a slow lunge for Blaze. Blaze sidestepped the knife and punched the other man in the throat with all his strength. He watched as his opponent dropped the knife and stumbled backward into the crowd with his hands around his neck. Blaze smirked. That move does work well, he thought as he swiveled in a crouch to meet the next attacker. The people around him stepped back. No one seemed ready to be his next victim.
"Blaze!" Willow yelled from the front of the pack. He turned to look and saw she was standing like a shield in front of Matthew. Dawn was with her. The two women were brandishing knives, but he knew they could not keep the crowd back for long. Swearing under his breath, Blaze started to force his way forward. He knew he had to help them and, by doing so, save Matthew. I guess the guy does deserve to show his stuff, he thought as he made it to
the front and took up a stance beside Willow. He saw Andres, the husband of the woman in labor, come stand beside Dawn.
"I believe in him," Andres shouted. "Who is with me to let him try?" The clan hesitated. A young woman peeled off and came to stand beside Blaze. She gave him a shy smile before she turned to face her people. She was followed by another woman and then another.
Soon the protective circle around Matthew was over a dozen. Finally, Emilia stepped between the two groups and held up her hands.
"Okay, enough," she said. "This man is a scientist, and although what he proposes sounds insane, we will support it. Everyone, back to your own areas." Slowly the crowd dispersed, and Blaze let out the breath he did not realize he was still holding. Unclenching his fists, he watched as Matthew came toward him. Blaze frowned. Now what? he thought.
"I'm going to need your help," Matthew said. "It is more than I can do alone." Blaze shook his head, but before he could tell the man to forget it, Dawn was with them.
"I'll help," she said. "Blaze and I can do whatever you need." Blaze sighed, feeling trapped but was unable to see a way to walk away now.
"Fine," Blaze said. "What do you need me to do?"
"I'll show you," Matthew said turning to go back to the enclosed space where the woman struggled in labor. Blaze reached out and grabbed the man by the shoulder.
"You do know what you are doing, right?" Blaze asked. Matthew did not respond, and Blaze felt a sick feeling growing in his stomach. "Matthew, you better not screw this up," he said not knowing what else to say. Matthew nodded.
"I know," he said and pulled away from Blaze's grasp.