Barry’s smirk grew wider. “So tell me,” he said. “What now?”
“Shoot him,” Kailee said, dully. The life and light seemed to be gone from her eyes. “Kill him.”
“Shut up, bitch,” Barry said. Oddly, his voice remained calm and even. “This is men’s business.”
He looked at Gary, holding his eyes. “What are you going to do now?”
The bastard was right, Gary realised. What was he going to do? Barry was too dangerous and untrustworthy to be kept around. But if Gary ordered him to run into the forest ... Barry would come at them in the darkness, when none of them could see a thing. But, even after such a scare, there was no way Gary could relax near Barry. The moment he closed his eyes, Barry would jump him, take the gun and then ... kill him. Or merely beat the living daylights out of him.
“Kill him,” Kailee repeated. “Please.”
“You’re not a killer,” Barry said. He somehow managed to project reassurance into his voice, even though he had to know that Gary wouldn't believe a word he said. “Do you really want to see another person die out here?”
Gary shuddered. He’d seen violence – he’d been the target of violence – but he’d never seen anyone die until he'd come to Meridian. Yates and the others in the plane, Abdul ... he shuddered again, wondering what had happened to Austin, Darrin and Samantha. Had they been killed too? Would they spend the rest of their days wandering the forest, unable to find their way back to the settlements? Or would they kill each other, here and now.
“Go,” Gary said, jerking the gun. “Run. Leave us.”
Barry smiled, although it didn't touch his eyes. “Do you really think you can survive out here without me?”
Garry felt a sudden upswing of bitterness that surprised him. It hadn't been Barry who had helped them survive. It had been Austin, who had stuck with them even though Barry had sniped at him constantly. Gary wouldn't really have blamed Austin for walking off and abandoning the Earth-born in the countryside, not really. It said a great deal about the colonial boy that he’d stuck with them. But now they’d been separated ...
“I don't think we can survive out here with you,” Gary said. Barry was strong, strong enough to help, but he could never be trusted. “Go.”
“You just want Kailee all to yourself,” Barry said. “Or should I take her with me? Or should she go off on her own too?”
Gary felt his anger flare again. “Shut up and go,” he ordered. “Now!”
Barry met his eyes. “You’re no killer,” he said. “I’ve known you for years. You’ve never had the nerve to fight anyone, even someone as weak as yourself. You won't kill me.”
He was right, Gary knew. Gary had never been violent, let alone a killer. But fighting had seemed so futile when he couldn't win. There were boys at school who would fight anyway, kicking and biting even though they knew they would lose, yet Gary had never been one of them. The gun seemed to waver in his hand ...
Barry leapt forward. Gary pulled the trigger. There was a loud BANG and Barry let out a curse, staggering forwards and collapsing onto the ground. Gary almost dropped the pistol – the recoil had hurt, something that wasn't shown on the entertainment flicks – and stumbled backwards. Blood was leaking from a wound in Barry’s chest.
Gary stared in disbelief. All the entertainment flicks had shown bullets missing their targets or causing instant death. Gary had never really questioned what he’d seen. But now, watching Barry thrashing about on the muddy ground, he found himself wondering just how many other lies they’d been told. But there was no one to ask. Instead, he watched as Barry started to pull himself forwards.
“Bastard,” Barry managed. His breathing was becoming ragged. “Help.”
There was a howl of incoherent rage from behind him. Gary looked up, just in time to see Kailee picking up a branch and bringing it down on Barry’s head, time and time again. Barry let out a gasping sound and collapsed completely, but Kailee didn't stop until his head had been smashed into a bloody pulp. Gary watched, feeling a strange mixture of horror and gleeful pleasure, as Barry died. Blood spilled, dirtying the ground. It was over.
He’d never thought to see one of his tormentors killed. It had seemed unbelievable that Yates had flattered Barry with a single punch, stranger too to watch as Barry and Darrin were lashed. And yet ... Barry was now dead. The horror faded away, replaced by a strange numbness that pervaded his body. It was definitely over. Barry would never torment anyone again.
Kailee dropped the branch and fell to her knees beside Barry’s body. Gary stared at her for a long moment, then reached out and enfolded her in his arms. It wasn't sexual, even though she was naked. He wanted to reassure her, to tell her that they would be safe. But he couldn't find the words, even as she started to sob into his arms.
Barry was dead. The thought kept running through his mind. Barry was dead. Barry was dead. It was over.
He held Kailee tightly, trying to push away the memories. But they kept coming; Barry picking on him for the first time, then the second, then thousands of times, all blurring together into a nightmare that had lasted twelve years. He’d worked hard to escape the CityBlock because of Barry and Moe, because he had known that – one day – they would kill him. But he’d never dreamed that it would end on a planet thousands of light years from Earth. It sounded like a bad fantasy – or a banned entertainment flick. And yet it had happened.
Kailee stiffened against him suddenly, then pushed him away. Gary understood; he moved backwards then stood, giving her some room. He'd been though hell, but it would be far worse for her. Walking back to the fire, he pushed in some more wood, then picked up the crab shell and headed off to find water. There was a stream not too far from the clearing.
A weight seemed to fall off his shoulders as it sank in. Barry was no longer looming in the background, ready to pick on Gary the moment Yates or Austin were looking the other way. And Moe was thousands of light years away. There had been others – Darrin hadn't always treated him very well too – but watching Barry die had given him a strange kind of confidence. He pushed the gun back into his belt – somehow, he hadn't even been aware that he’d still been carrying it – and smiled to himself. Whatever else happened, he vowed, he would never let himself be bullied again.
The day seemed much brighter than before, he realised, as he knelt by the stream and scooped up some water. It looked clean, but he couldn't tell for sure. Carrying it back to the clearing, he placed the shell on the ground and added a purification tablet. A quick check revealed that there were only four tablets left in the emergency kit.
Next time, he told himself, make sure you bring a full camping kit.
It was funny, he realised, how the trip had turned from a nightmare to something almost enjoyable. Now Barry was gone ... he understood, suddenly, just why Austin had had that light in his eye when he talked about the Scouts. Maybe there was a scout troop in the city he could join. Or something akin to it in space, if he managed to find a berth on a freighter.
Kailee was still huddled on the ground, almost curled up into a ball. Gary hesitated, then picked up the water and carried it over to her. She stared up at him blankly, then took it and started to drink. Gary watched her for a long moment, then walked back towards the fire. It was still cold and she was naked. She needed to warm up, he decided. And maybe eat something ...
But he didn't know what else he could do for her.
Chapter Thirty-Three
The signs were clear centuries before the Fall of Earth. Even so, the bureaucrats not only ignored them, they actively sabotaged any attempt to come to grips with the situation. This wasn't surprising; the bureaucrats feared the results if their control over the educational system was shattered. In order to prevent other systems from engaging in competition and exposing their weaknesses, the bureaucrats waged war on them.
- Professor Leo Caesius. Education and the Decline and Fall of the Galactic Empire.
Kailee lay on the ground, wrapped in her own
thoughts.
Barry was dead. She had not only watched him die, she’d killed him. Gary might have shot him – and why hadn't he shot Barry earlier? – but Kailee had delivered the final blow. The damage he’d done to her body and mind had been savagely repaid. And yet ... she found herself shaking helplessly, knowing that she had lost control completely. Even regaining it, even killing Barry, hadn't helped her recover.
The memories tormented her as she curled up into a ball. Barry had forced his way into her, violating her most private place and stealing her virginity. He would have done worse, she knew, if he had been allowed to live. Kailee had heard horror stories, each one worse than the last, about him and other boys who thought that they had the right to force themselves on girls. And yet, she had managed to stay pure ... until now. She thought she would never be clean again.
Her body, she was dimly aware, was battered, bruised and covered in mud. She should consider herself lucky, she knew, that Gary hadn't taken her as well. He was supposed to be weak, but in her current state she couldn't have fought off a child, let alone a grown man. But he was a decent person, decent enough to bring her water ...
She shook her head. It wasn't enough. She knew she could swim in the lake or shower for hours and yet she would still be able to feel Barry’s touch on her skin. And she knew that she had been lucky, even though the very thought was repulsive. If Barry had survived, he would have done far worse than merely force his way into her. She felt defiled, yet she knew it could have been worse. The thought mocked her as she uncurled and sat upright, looking around nervously. She’d been careful before, just like the other girls, but now ...
They would have done nothing on Earth, she thought, looking over at Barry’s body. None of the boys at school had ever been held to account for rape, as far as she knew, certainly not by the teachers or the Civil Guard. There were classes and counselling sessions and other completely useless measures, none of which hid the fact that someone had shattered a girl’s confidence, made her nothing more than a receptacle for his lust ... and gotten away with it.
Here ... rapists died. If they weren't killed by their would-be victim, they were killed by the rest of the population. Somehow, Kailee found that more reassuring than anything else. On Earth, girls had committed suicide because they had been raped, then had to watch their tormentors walking around school, free and clear. But on Meridian ... she looked back at Barry’s body and snickered, humourlessly. Who could say that she hadn't had her revenge?
Carefully, she stood and examined herself. Her body was bruised, bleeding in a dozen places; carefully, she touched between her legs and winced in pain. There was blood dripping down from where he’d torn her maidenhead ... she fought down the urge to kick his dead body, then looked over at Gary. He was politely averting his eyes. Kailee felt an odd flicker of gratitude, then walked over to her pack. Thankfully, there were enough clothes left to cover herself.
“I need to wash,” she said, once she was decent. It struck her, a moment later, that she should probably have washed before dressing, but she hadn't been at her best. “Is there a place to go?”
“There's the stream where I got the water,” Gary said. “It isn't very deep, but it should do.”
Kailee allowed him to lead her to the stream, then asked him to leave her alone for a few minutes. Once he’d retreated into the forest, she undressed and stepped into the stream, then lay down in the water. It was bitterly cold – she had to force herself to remain in the water – but it washed her clean. And yet, as she climbed out of the stream, she still felt dirty. His phantom touch kept stroking her body.
There was no point in trying to dry herself. Instead, she pulled on her clothes and walked back towards the clearing. Gary was already there, sitting in front of the fire and preparing a handful of green leaves. Kailee felt her stomach rumble and winced, grimly aware that neither of them knew how to hunt properly. Without Austin, it was only a matter of time until they starved to death.
“We need to decide what to do,” Gary said, as they nibbled the leaves. They tasted faintly unpleasant, but they seemed to be edible. “Do we wait here, in hopes of meeting up with the others, or do we go onwards?”
Kailee gave him a sharp look. She would never have pegged Gary for a confident man, but watching Barry die seemed to have changed him. Perhaps, she decided, she was looking at the real Gary now, the figure who would have emerged if Barry hadn't kept knocking him down. He hadn't tried anything, thankfully, nor forced her to talk. She’d always hated being forced to talk about intimate matters, particularly with boys.
“I don't know,” Kailee said, finally. She knew as little as he did about surviving in the wild. “What do you think?”
“I think that we should go on,” Gary said. He nodded towards the fire. “If we stay here and they meet us, well and good. If not ... we’re going to run out of food pretty quickly.”
Immediately, Kailee thought. Austin had plucked crabs out of ponds and shot deer – it struck her, suddenly, that there might have been crabs in the stream – but they didn't know how to hunt properly. All they knew was a handful of semi-edible plants. And how long would those keep them alive?
“I think that's the right direction,” Gary added, pointing towards a distant mountain. “We should cross the Jordan fairly soon.”
Kailee had no idea if he was right or wrong – or, for that matter, if they would recognise the Jordan when they encountered it. They'd already seen one river – barely two metres wide – that they’d mistaken for the Jordon, before Austin pointed out that it was nowhere near wide enough to take a canoe, let alone a steamboat. The Jordan would – logically – be much wider, but they knew little else about it.
She smiled, weakly. At least Gary was asking her opinion. Most boys would just make up their own minds and then expect her to follow them, without asking questions. And Barry ...
“We should keep moving,” she decided, pushing the thought aside. If nothing else, she didn't want to stay anywhere near the dead bodies. She stood up and reached for her pack. They’d have to go through the other two packs, sort out what they needed and abandon the rest. “And ...”
She heard someone walking through the forest, a moment before he stepped into the clearing, weapon in hand. Kailee stared; she’d expected to see Austin or Darrin, not a complete stranger in ragged clothing. He looked as if he hadn't shaved for months; his companion, stepping out behind him, looked worse. Kailee felt her blood run cold as she met the first man's eyes and knew that he wasn't entirely sane.
“Well,” the man said, in a voice that was so thick as to be almost beyond her understanding, “what are you doing here?”
He waved his rifle at them, threateningly. “Explain.”
Kailee and Gary exchanged glances. “There was a plane crash,” Gary said, finally. He didn't sound as if he had any idea who the newcomers were – or what they wanted. “We've been hiking towards the Jordan ever since.”
“Really,” the second newcomer said. His accent was oddly familiar. “You’re from Earth?”
“Yes,” Gary said, shortly. “And so are you.”
Kailee felt an odd flicker of admiration. She'd known that the accent was familiar, but Gary had placed it as being from Earth. It was a large planet, which suggested that the newcomer had come from a nearby CityBlock. There wasn't, as far as she knew, a different accent for each block, no matter how insular they were. But she could easily be wrong.
“And you took a rabbit from one of my traps,” the first newcomer said. “Why?”
Gary sounded annoyed with himself. “I didn't realise that it was a trap,” he said, sourly. “I thought that the rabbit had trapped itself.”
The second newcomer let out a bark of harsh laughter. “I believe you now,” he said. He elbowed his older companion. “That sort of ignorance can only come from Earth’s towering cityblocks, where children know everything and nothing.”
His gaze fixed on Kailee’s face. It wasn’t lustful, she reali
sed in surprise; he seemed to be assessing them. “How did you even come here, children?”
Kailee flushed, then exchanged another glance with Gary. Gary scowled, then explained about the competition and how they’d been rewarded with a trip to Meridian. The two men snickered loudly when Gary reached the point where the plane had crashed, then exchanged significant glances of their own. Kailee realised, in a flash of insight, that they might have moved from the frying pan to the fire.
“Interesting,” the second newcomer said. “Don't you think, Dave?”
Dave – the first newcomer – nodded, then pointed his rifle at Gary’s head. “Put your hands in the air,” he ordered. He jerked a nod at Kailee. “You too, young lady.”
Kailee shivered. “What ... what are you going to do with us?”
“If they’re going to send you back to Earth,” Dave said, “they might be willing to pay ransom for you. We can trade you back to the settlement government in exchange for money and supplies. Or ... we can always find other uses for you.”
He nodded to his companion. “Doug, search them,” he ordered. “And then bind their hands.”
Kailee gritted her teeth as Doug ran his hands over her body, then pulled her hands behind her back and wrapped a rope around them, tying them firmly in place. He did the same to Gary a moment later, removing the pistol and sticking it in his own belt. Once Gary was tied too, they were pushed to the ground and told to wait while the two men searched their bags, looking for anything useful. From the sounds they made, it was clear that they hadn't seen civilisation in a long time. Neither of them bothered to comment on the bodies.
Gary looked at her, then over at Dave. “Who are you?”
Dave gave him a brilliant smile. “Let’s just say that we’re political refugees,” he said. “I think that sounds convincing.”
The Empire's Corps: Book 07 - Reality Check Page 30