The X-Variant (The Guardians Book 1)

by Rosemary Cole

  Kala came over and studied the items. “This seems different from other human food.”

  Alex gave her a strange look. She hadn’t yet fully explained to him her true nature and where she was from. He said, “The important thing is, we can use this to barter for stuff we need. It’s as good as money.”

  “Right,” Brandon said, staring at the food longingly.

  They piled back into the Jeep and drove on, maneuvering carefully through the wrecks and then picking up speed again. The highway was lined with low, undulating hills covered with tawny dry grass; lions resting in the sun. At the exits, they caught glimpses of sprawling suburban communities that were no doubt ruined and desolate.

  The highway turned into a bridge crossing above a wide river. The sparkling blue water looked so inviting that Kala pulled off the highway on the other side and they went down to bathe and refill their water supply. It was the middle of August now, and very hot. Everyone jumped in clothes and all, hooting with pleasure.

  Kala waded in with the baby and began patting water on her arms and legs, and cooling her hot red cheeks. Looking up, she saw that Brandon had come out of the water and was sitting on a rock, staring at the river and brooding.

  “Poor guy,” Alex said, wading up to her. “I’m sure he’s thinking of Jennie and how much she would have enjoyed this.”

  Kala nodded and then glanced at Victoria, who was gleefully trying to stand on her hands. Her scrawny white legs waved in the air before disappearing underwater again with a splash. Wilm hovered nearby up to his waist in the water, keeping an eye on her.

  “You do not need to answer if you would rather not discuss it, but where is Victoria’s mother?” Kala asked.

  Alex pressed drops of water from his scraggly moustache and beard, then stripped off his shirt and wrung it out. He had gained a little weight, but every rib still stood out sharply. “She had cancer,” he said. “It was a long time ago; Victoria was just a baby.”

  “I see,” Kala said. “I am sorry.”

  Alex had long eyelashes and a sharp, hawk-like nose. Kala found his mild, easy manner quite pleasant.

  “The thing that gets me is they can cure it now,” he said. “They couldn’t back when I was a kid. But we couldn’t afford the treatment and the government doesn’t help with that anymore. Medicine is only for the rich—at least that kind is.” He sighed and looked out over the water. “Haven’t found another lady since that could hold a candle to my Katie.”

  The group had a sparse lunch, trying to conserve the supplies, and got back on the road.

  After a couple of hours, Brandon stirred from a nap and asked, “How we doing?”

  “Eugene is about twenty miles ahead. We will be turning off soon to look for a place to stay in the outskirts.”

  Brandon said, “Cool,” and closed his eyes again.

  Kala stomped on the brake, bringing the Jeep to a full stop. The passengers were thrown forward and then back.

  “What? What?” shouted Brandon, sitting up and looking around.

  “Ghal,” Kala whispered. Her drones had picked them up on the road ahead. The Ghal were moving south out of Eugene, coming toward them.

  “How many?” Brandon asked, reaching for the SMG. “I could mow down a whole bunch of ‘em with this.”

  “Too many,” she said. “They are between us and Eugene, filling up the highway. Sometimes they migrate like this; no one knows why.” She maneuvered the Jeep into a wide U-turn and then sped back the way they had come, heading south down the northbound lanes.

  “What we gonna do?” Wilm asked in English.

  “We will get off the highway and wait for them to pass by,” Kala said. She came to an exit she remembered passing and took it, driving the wrong way down an on-ramp into the outskirts of a town. She turned left onto a road leading east into the countryside. A sign read Dorena 12 mi.

  Kala drove for about five miles. They passed isolated country homes set on large, overgrown estates, and pastures dotted with the skeletons of livestock. Kala spotted a small open area, shaded by trees, off to one side of the road, and pulled the Jeep into it.

  “We will wait here to see if they move past,” she said.

  They got out and walked around a little bit, stretching their legs. The sun beat down, and they retreated to the shade.

  An hour went by. Brandon asked, “Have they gone by yet?”

  Kala, who had been closely monitoring the Ghal with her drones, replied, “They are at the town where we left the highway. They are milling around, but do not seem to be moving away.”

  “Damn. They could be there for who knows how long.”

  “Wait—many of them have begun moving this way. Everyone please get back in the Jeep.”

  “It’s like they’re chasing us!” Brandon shouted. “How could they know we’re here?”

  “That is unlikely,” Kala said. “They are simply seeking out communities to look for new victims.”

  “That means we’ll have to go on past that town up ahead,” Alex said.

  No one spoke. Everyone was aware of their situation; they were running dangerously low on food, fuel and water.

  Kala drove on, and they entered the tiny abandoned town of Dorena. A quick drone scout revealed no food or water, and they got back in the Jeep and continued east.

  “There is a lake about twenty-five miles ahead, in the mountains,” Kala said.

  “Do any more peoples living there?” Wilm asked.

  “There are a few small towns.”

  “So not good for to find food.”

  “We have no choice. We cannot go back and it is the closest water source I can find.”

  “Let’s get in the Jeep and drive back in the morning,” Brandon suggested, continuing an ongoing argument. Stars were beginning to appear in the velvety night sky, and the group sat huddled around a campfire. In the foothills of the mountains, the nights were already getting chilly, and Brandon had the baby slung against his chest for warmth. Victoria wore one of the spare blankets like a poncho.

  “It’s been over a week; I’m sure all the Ghal are gone by now,” Brandon added.

  “The Jeep battery could very well run out somewhere between here and the highway,” Alex pointed out. “We don’t want to be stuck on foot with no water around for miles.”

  Kala remained silent, staring moodily at the flames. Brandon wondered what she was thinking.

  “Way I see it, we got no choice. We’re almost out of food,” Brandon argued. “I’m just about ready to break into that luxury basket.”

  “You don’t touch,” Wilm said. “This is what you call? Money.”

  “I should never have taught you how to speak English, Wilm.”

  “There’s lots of deer and rabbits up here,” Alex remarked. “Maybe we should go hunting tomorrow with that gun.”

  “If we need to hunt, I will do it,” Kala said reluctantly. “My drones can kill an animal quietly and painlessly.”

  Brandon snorted. “So we’re going to live on just meat? We’ll be malnourished. And what about Little Kala?”

  Silence.

  “Brandon is right,” Kala admitted. “We have to try to return to the highway, or at least to some towns near it.”

  Brandon sat back and gave Alex a smug grin.

  The next morning they broke camp early and started out in the Jeep. Kala began to backtrack the same way they had come. They had only gone a few miles when the Jeep coasted to a halt. They were still in wild, scrub-forested lands.

  “Oh, no,” Brandon said. “Not now!”

  Alex gave a sigh that meant I told you so.

  “The battery is dead,” Kala said. Brandon thought he heard a tremor in her voice, and a river of dread washed through him. If Kala was scared, they had serious trouble.

  “We’re gonna have to walk,” Alex said grimly. “Nothing else we can do now.”

  They went through their equipment and supplies, discarding the least important things and dividing the rest between
themselves. There were two military backpacks Kala had brought from SanFran, and several canteens. Kala and Wilm carried the packs, Brandon carried the baby and the SMG, and Alex carried the two irons and a makeshift pack fashioned from a blanket.

  They stopped once, looking back just before the Jeep was out of sight.

  “ ‘Bye, old girl,” Brandon said. “You did real good, and we’re gonna miss you.” He turned away and they trudged on.

  The dirt roads out here were a convoluted maze. Now that they were on foot, Kala ignored them, following her drones straight west across country.

  “At least we don’t have to worry about getting lost,” Brandon remarked to Alex. “We’ve got DroNav—drone navigation.”

  Alex gave him a strange look. He still didn’t fully understand about Kala and knew nothing about any drones. “Whatever,” he said. “I just trust that she knows what she’s doing. She got me away from Snap, so she can do just about anything in my book.”

  Wilm nodded. “Trust Kala. If she can, she will do.”

  They trudged on through fields of low scrub, sometimes crossing large, barren areas where nothing grew. There were plenty of old creek beds, but no water in any of them.

  The sun rode higher in the sky as they walked, its rays intensifying. They managed to cover ten miles before Alex dropped onto a fallen log. “I’m sorry,” he wheezed. “Out of shape, I guess.”

  Brandon sank down next to him, one hand pressing his ribs on the bad side. “Me, too.”

  It was mid-afternoon. Kala had been carrying the baby as well as her own pack for some time; Wilm carried Alex’s in addition to his own.

  “You are both weakened by illness,” she said. “I cannot expect you to do as well as if you were healthy. We will make camp here.”

  They passed around the rest of the water.

  After a while Kala said, “My drones have found a small spring not far away. I will take the canteens and fill them there. It will not take me long.”

  Wilm volunteered to come with her, but she persuaded him to stay with the others.

  After she had left, Alex groaned and raked his hands through his sweaty hair. “God, remember that gorgeous river where we swam? I’d kill to be back there right now.”

  Their food supply had become almost nonexistent. Brandon broke out the luxury items. “Let’s have a good meal before we die,” he said. This time, there was no protest from anyone.

  When they tried to get Wilm to eat some of it, he refused. “You eat,” he said. “I okay. Unathi not need much.”

  A few days later, they were still struggling through the wilderness. Kala’s drones had confirmed that the highway was still haunted by a large number of Ghal, and she decided to strike directly north instead, toward a lake about twenty miles southeast of Eugene. There were few Ghal in that area and they would have access to plenty of water and the hope of finding some food, as there were still a few humans living there.

  Her companions were growing weaker with hunger and couldn’t walk very far at a time. Each day, Kala left them somewhere with Wilm while she walked miles to fill the canteens and then return. Each day, they covered less ground. Victoria slowed the pace even more. Kala finally realized they weren’t going to make it.

  She changed course again, leading them to the nearest small, muddy spring her drones could find. When they got there, Brandon and Alex collapsed to the ground.

  “I am going to leave you here while I go on and try to find a vehicle and some supplies,” Kala said. “I will come back for you as soon as I can.”

  Victoria began to cry. Alex and Brandon glanced at each other, their faces grim.

  Wilm said, “I come with you.”

  “No, Wilm. I need you to stay here and protect the humans, okay?”

  He nodded, gripping his tire iron. “Okay.”

  “Take the baby with you,” Brandon said, his voice strangled. “In case in case you don’t make it back in time.”

  Kala felt a twinge in her chest. “You must have faith in me. I will do everything I can.”

  “I know you will—I just don’t know how you’re going to get hold of a vehicle that runs.”

  “I will find a way,” Kala said, clenching her fists. “No matter what it takes.”

  “Okay. I trust you. But please, just take her.”

  She nodded and they strapped the baby onto her back so Kala could keep her arms free. She took a canteen with a little water in it. There was no food left, but even if there had been, she wouldn’t have taken any.

  They wouldn’t let her go without a long hug from each of them. Brandon kissed the baby’s forehead, whispering to her and struggling to hold back tears. Victoria clung to Kala’s legs, wailing and pleading with her not to leave.

  Kala gently disengaged herself from the little girl, turned and strode away, blinking away tears. She headed straight north toward the lake, making much faster progress now that she was alone. The baby cried until she was exhausted and then fell asleep, her head bumping softly against Kala’s neck.

  Araka?

  Yes, dear one?

  Not that I believe you, but tell me more about this supposed special destiny of mine.

  All right, but you won’t be satisfied. I cannot yet tell you the why or the how.

  Why? she asked, her body tensing with anger. She wanted to reach inside herself and rip her accursed sym right out, watch him disintegrate into nothing on the hard ground of this bleak land.

  Because you won’t understand. It’s not time yet. He gave a dramatic simulated sigh. I understand your anger, but please be patient, my dear. All will be understood. For now, just know that you have a special role to play in upcoming events of great importance. You must prepare yourself; gird your loins, as it were. You will prevail, I will see to that.

  Prevail? What was it she was supposed to prevail against? She blew out a breath and walked faster, trying to think of nothing, pushing herself harder and harder. She had been walking for about two hours when she heard a voice in her head.

  Greetings. I’m Sidra. Is there anything I can do to help?

  Kala stopped short, confused. How could an Unathi be contacting her? Suddenly she remembered that her drones were no longer incognito. At some point in the recent spate of problems, she had checked the local Dronet, and hadn’t bothered to return her drones to their previous incognito state. The population up here was very sparse, no SanFran agents were following them, and at this point she thought it no longer mattered.

  She attuned her thoughts to the Dronet. The person hailing her was a male agent from somewhere outside Eugene, maybe sixty miles north of her present location.

  Greetings, she replied. Yes, we could use your help. Do you know our situation?

  I’ve heard about you, Kala, Sidra replied, and I admit I’m very curious to learn more. You would be welcome at my Guardian refuge here in Whitcomb Creek. Your humans, whatever their virus strain, will be safe here; you have my word. Shall I send a vehicle?

  Yes, please, Kala returned, her body sagging with relief. We’re out of food and water, and I have a hungry baby with me who needs some milk or infant formula.

  Okay, a convoy is leaving right now. They should be there in three to four hours, if nothing crops up. In the meantime, keep on your heading for the town of Lowell. We have a supply cache there, so you and that baby can get some sustenance right away. My team will meet you there and then go on to pick up the rest of your people.

  Thank you, Kala said, tears blurring her vision. Thank you so much.

  You’re very welcome, Kala. Contact me when you get to Lowell and I’ll direct you to the cache.

  She arrived at the town a little before three in the afternoon. Sidra sent a holographic beacon to direct her to the food cache, which was beneath a secret trapdoor in the basement of an abandoned office building. She found some canned milk and started feeding the baby, using a plastic pouch and nipple she’d found in a pharmacy and kept just for that purpose. Little Kala sucked desperately,
and Kala laughed.

  “Not so fast, little piglet,” she crooned in English. “You will be sick.” She had to pull the nipple from the child’s mouth with a bit of effort to force her to take a break.

  “All right, all right,” she said softly to the fussing child. “Yes, I know you are hungry, and I am sorry. There is more, just wait a moment”

  When the baby was finished, Kala selected a few energy bars for herself and ate them one-handed, jiggling the baby on her shoulder with the other arm. It had been days since she had eaten anything, and the plain bars tasted exquisite. She closed her eyes, humming in pleasure as she ate. Afterward, she went up to the street to wait for Sidra’s people, keeping well clear of the small group of humans that still lived here.

  The Whitcomb agents arrived about forty minutes later, meeting her on the edge of town. They drove a couple of blocky, desert-camouflaged armored vehicles, mounted high on large tires with chains and metal guards across their grilles. The party bristled with guns and other weapons—someone even had a crossbow—and they wore additional armor that appeared to be of human make. She guessed all of this must be in case of a Ghal encounter. She climbed into the lead vehicle, holding the baby on her lap, and they drove on south toward Wilm and the others still out in the wilderness.

  “We’ve packed a nice picnic meal for your party,” the driver said. Her name was Kiran. “Help yourself if you want anything right now.”

  “Thanks, but Little Kala and I just ate.”

  Kiran glanced at the human baby with something like amusement in her eyes. Or maybe it was a hint of scorn—Kala couldn’t be sure.

  The Whitcomb agents were well-prepared and seemed very efficient. As the vehicle bumped and surged through the rough countryside, Kala realized that despite finally being among other Unathi after all this time, she felt more alone than ever. Once, she would have automatically trusted them, but things seemed to be changing. She didn’t know what to believe or whom to trust anymore. But Sidra seemed to mean well, and anyway, what choice did she have? All she could do was accept his help and hope that he proved to be trustworthy.