It was one of the larger mining towns, several of which existed and it was fairly well known.
Amato reached down and pulled a tattered sheet of paper from one of the pockets in the pack attached to the horse. It was a crudely drawn map and Leci stared at it in wide-eyed wonder. Maps were hard to get hold of, kind of rare and most of the time even if you did get your hands on one they were inaccurate, mostly because stuff moved so often. The bigger towns were easy enough to map out but the smaller trader sections were transient and fleeting. A lot of people scrawled up fake maps covered in random pictures and marks and then sold them on for a huge profit. Countless people had ended up walking off a cliff or getting dragged down into some swampy bog or even passing through into toxic territory where your lungs burned with every breath you took as a result of buying from unknown sources. Unless you were confident of the origin of a map you knew never to trust one. Leci trusted Amato and didn’t ask where he had gotten this one from.
He planted his finger at a place marked with a small green X and ran it along several lines until he arrived a larger green X.
He tapped the point and nodded.
‘About three days.’ He said, more to himself than to Alecia, folding the map and siding it away.
She stayed quiet, sullen and brooding and he left her to her own thoughts as they rode through the night and towards the place where Alecia had lost everything she had ever loved.
Chapter 32
Official Statement of Events Regarding Potential Breach of Prison Security
Report Number: 00403
Date of Occurrence: August 27th 2154
Occurrence Type: Inaccurate outside propaganda leading to misinformation regarding prison business.
In the early hours of the morning of the 27th, at roughly 02:00am, a female Renegade calling herself ‘Alecia Walker’ a name previously unknown in an Official capacity, claimed to be an escapee of the maximum-security facility located in Ricksonville.
The female was noted to be positioned on the roof section of a four storey building. Eyewitness reports confirm that slanderous and unsubstantiated claims were made by the Renegade, implying the existence of Cloned individuals within the facility.
At no point did the woman in question speak of accomplices.
Two Officials present at the scene, one Gareth Stallman and one Casey Jackson have both given accurate accounts and their testimony stands as official record.
The woman, clearly suffering some mental degradation, became a threat to the general public when it was revealed that she carried a weapon and intended to start shooting civilians.
Stallman used his own firearm to disarm the woman. She was uninjured in the process but, apparently unhinged by the loss of her weapon, she jumped from the building.
Simultaneously, the pistol she had dropped misfired as it hit the ground. A spark from the errant bullet set fire to the clothing worn by the falling woman and her body was in flames when she hit the ground.
Cause of death was determined as massive blunt force trauma.
Due to the disturbing nature of these events, several civilians in the vicinity panicked upon seeing both the woman fall and the fire caused by the gun.
The civilians who witnessed these events have been debriefed thoroughly and are no threat to the organisation.
Official Admittance RE: Potential Clone Subjects
Admittance Form ID: 01537
Date of Admittance: August 28th 2154
Number of Prisoners Admitted: 54
Reason for Arrest: Maintaining the peace by halting a violent demonstration and apprehending those responsible.
On the afternoon of August 28th, 13:42pm, a shipment of 54 Prisoners, genders varying, was delivered to the secure unit at Ricksonville.
Every Prisoner was subjected to a health examination. RE the results of said examination, 22 prisoners were deemed too ill to be allowed to live comfortably within the facility and were terminated.
The remaining prisoners are awaiting further examination, at which point it will be decided whether they are fit for manual labour or are suitable candidates for Cloning.
Chapter 33
Alecia was tired.
Not only was she tired, she was also hungry, dirty, frustrated, cold, a little bit wet, uncomfortable, had a numb ass and, well, if you wanted to sum it up and make things simple; she was pissed off.
They had been riding endlessly for the last three days.
Ok, maybe not literally, but it sure as hell felt that way. They had avoided all towns, trader stalls, campsites, pretty much any sign of human life whatsoever.
The food in their packs was long gone but Amato had insisted they live off the what they could salvage from the land around them, he was still wary about showing their faces anywhere at all just yet. She didn’t know why, she was fairly sure that the plan would’ve worked, she was actually quite proud of herself, figured it had gone down better than she had hoped, but he was insistent that they remain cautious and so she submitted. It was easier than arguing.
When the food they had brought with them was gone, they lived off what they could glean from the area around them. Luckily, most of their travelling time was spent in places that weren’t as barren as they could have been, if they had found themselves travelling through the desert things would’ve sucked even more than they already did. There were plants and shoots to pick at, but much better there were a few wild animals roaming around aswell.
The first one that they had killed had been a wild dog that had burst from a nearby bush, snapping and growling, spooking the horse and causing it to dance and skitter in panic.
Amato had killed the hound with a single shot to it’s head, but when they had inspected, it he had allowed Leci to burn the body but had forbidden her from eating the meat.
The dog’s muzzle was caked in a frothy, foamy looking substance, its eyes were bloodshot, and bulged from its skull as though an intense pressure were being applied from behind them.
‘It’s got the sickness.’ He had muttered, prodding it with the toe of his shoe.
‘Burn it Leci, to a cinder, to ash. We can’t eat that.’
She had done as she was told, her stomach protesting loudly against the destruction of possible food, watching forlornly as the animal caught fire and then intensifying the heat until nothing but a blackened pile remained.
Then she set fire to a tree.
Just because.
Because she was tired and hungry and pissed.
Amato had raised an eyebrow but said nothing, she had climbed back into the saddle and prepared to be bounced and jostled and have her thighs rubbed raw from riding the horse for far too long all over again. She knew that there was a good cause to all of this, that they were doing it to fulfil the only goal she had ever had. She knew she ought to be grateful to Amato for being willing to put himself through the same discomforts she was experiencing, just to help her. She knew she should stop being so childish, quit whining and just suck it up. He was tolerating her exceptionally well, all things considered. He had only snapped at her a couple of times, told her to shut the hell up before he made her. She knew she was being irritating to the point of deserving a good slap and so when he requested it, she managed to keep her mouth shut for at least a couple of hours at a time.
She was fairly sure that a lot of her mood was caused by fraught anticipation, she had endured worse conditions than this without making anywhere near as big a deal about it, and she was sort of blowing things out of proportion. She was acting up because she was afraid, she knew that he understood that, wanted to tell him she loved him for it but couldn’t, the words wouldn’t come.
She was nervous about the prospect of finally meeting her nemesis and putting to rest what had been her only driving force for so long, but at the same time she was terrified of what would happen afterwards, if she was successful, if they arrived in Coleville, found the men who had killed Xavian, if she killed them...
Then what?
What did she have left?
She would never admit it to herself, but now that the end was so close in sight that she could practically see the red tape marking off the last portion of the journey, she was making things as difficult as she could. A part of her didn’t want to end this, didn’t want to be left asking herself what she was good for once her crusade for vengeance was gone.
They had stopped a few times to rest, mostly just small breaks to stretch their legs, wander around and try work out all the aches and kinks. They had set up camp twice, if you could call it that.
Camp, in the loosest sense of the word, meaning that they had twice located a relatively dense copse of trees, had hacked their way to a small clearing, and then Alecia had lit a fire to chase away some of the chilling cold that seeped into your bones and made your teeth chatter. They had huddled around the fire, seeking body heat from one another, feeling the dampness of the ground slowly soak through their clothes until they weren’t just cold and uncomfortable anymore; they were cold, and uncomfortable, and wet.
The only plus side to the whole thing was that the environment had had no impact on either of their libidos. Leci genuinely wondered if there was anything at all that might dampen Amato’s appetite, he seemed insatiable at times and she loved it, loved the feeling of being wanted, desired, loved that he couldn’t seem to keep his hands off of her.
When they were cuddled together around a fire it was nice, satisfying, maybe even better than the times they let their passion completely overtake them, giving into the animalistic desire that coursed through the both of them, it was tender just to be able to hold one another close, to share a special moment. When they were riding she sat in front of him, his arms around her as he gripped the reins, and he would surprise her occasionally by kissing or biting her exposed neck, most of the time she couldn’t tell if it was the pistol at his hip pressing into the small of her back or if he was just really pleased to be with her.
So, despite her irritation at the whole thing, her unspoken fear, and the apprehension that hovered over her like a little black raincloud waiting to burst at any moment, there were up sides too. When she was in a good enough mood for conversation she enjoyed their talks, found that it gave them the opportunity to discover a lot about each other. She supposed that when you were travelling alone with someone for so long, you either had to get to know them and appreciate the company or just end up killing one another.
Killing him had occurred to her, when his snoring kept her awake, or when he wouldn’t let her eat because he had decided the meat was ‘diseased’. Leci was proud of her restraint, was almost certain it had to be written somewhere that being driven to murder due to snoring was not a punishable offence.
During the quiet times on the road she found herself either thinking about Xavian, or about the Clones. She wondered how they were doing, back at the cabin, hoped they were alright and that they weren’t too worried about her. She felt bad, guilty, for leaving the way she had done and for causing so much concern over her whereabouts. She felt worse for being the reason Amato had left them, but she consoled herself with the knowledge that they were in no way defenceless. Beriael was a strong guy. He had muscles that were scary big and the bald head did not help with the whole ‘I eat live babies’ look that he had going on.
Creepy eyes too.
Though, that could’ve been because she was so used to seeing them glaring at her, filled with hate and loathing.
Maybe.
And Bitsy, she had her freaky mind shit to keep them aware and alert. She’d probably be able to radar the feeling or intentions of anyone who got close long before they were a threat. Not only that, but they had found an arsenal of weapons and ammo stored in the cabin. The old guy looked like he had made his own bullets, melting them down over his stove. He had a shitload. They couldn’t really be much more fortified than they were and she was content they were safe.
But that didn’t stop the guilt.
She wished there was some way to get a message to Morgan, let them know that her and Amato were safe; let them know what had happened and where they were heading, what they were doing.
That they might be home soon.
Hopefully.
Leci hadn’t been lying to Amato, when she had said that she had never gone back to the place Xavian had died because she had just expected his killers to have moved on.
The transient lifestyle was a common one and was all she had known from birth. It just made sense to her that the men would not remain in the town where they had committed such a crime, that they wouldn’t go back there.
There was no denying though, that she had also chosen to avoid the place. Maybe a part of her suspected that they might still be there but had just never had the heart to admit it. She was scared of that place. It held so many bad memories for her and she didn’t like the idea of facing them again.
When those men had left her, beaten and used, laying next to the body of her brother, she had wanted to die. She had prayed for the strength and the courage to be able to end herself, and when that failed she had asked to be struck down by some almighty hand.
Apparently, death had not been on the cards for her.
Full of bitterness towards a world that seemed to have abandoned her entirely, Alecia had lain there for a long time, until the buzzing of the flies around Xavian had stirred her from wherever it was she had retreated to, within herself.
Vacant and not entirely aware of herself, or of her surroundings, one side of her face had been swollen so badly her eye was stuck closed, she could open the other, but little more than a slit. Her mouth hung slack, it was painful to try to close it. Every inch of her body had ached, bruised and torn, bleeding all over. Her insides felt raw, she was tender everywhere. It hurt to move, hurt to breathe, hurt to fucking piss, but the biggest pain was in her heart, and she couldn’t just lie there and allow the flies to settle on her brother.
Leci remembered trying to force herself to her feet. It had taken a very long time, she managed to get up once only to totter and fall again, making herself cry as, too weak to hold her arms out to shield her fall, she had hit the ground face first.
In the end she had given up trying, had simply dragged herself over to him and then thrown her body protectively over his.
The insects rose from him in a buzzing, angry cloud and dispersed.
Leci had blacked out.
When she had next been tormented with consciousness she had woken to find herself even more of a mess than before. Covered in Xavian’s blood where her body lay against his, feeling it, sticky, tacky on her skin. The flies had returned in greater numbers and now covered the two of them like a sheet. She remembered wearily lifting herself to try shooing them away.
When she was able to stand, holding onto a wall for support, she had left the dim alleyway, loathe to leave her brother’s body for whatever scavengers might find it in her absence, but knowing she needed to help herself before she could help him.
Alecia had bathed herself in a trough of dirty water that had stood outside the back of a tavern, washing away the blood and as much of the grime as she could, unable to get rid of the idea that she could still feel those men’s hands on her, feel them invading her body, smell them against her.
She could not scrub that away for a long time.
She had rested for a day or two, gaining strength, tending to her wounds, for most of that time she hadn’t left his side, she had guarded him from the bugs, and from stray cats, and wild dogs who had been able to smell the rotting flesh and had come in search of a free meal.
Hidden away at the end of a dim and dark alleyway, she hadn’t often had to protect herself or Xavian from other people. When they had come along, she had spat and shrieked and ranted and hurled things. People didn’t like to be around crazies, they left pretty quickly, as though afraid of catching some disease. At one point she had left to find food, only to come back and see that Xavian’s shoes had been stolen. People had no lim
its, no respect.
When she felt strong enough, or maybe it was when the stench had become too much to bear any longer, she couldn’t quite remember which, she had dragged the body away from town.
It had been hard work, he hadn’t been so heavy by then, everything seemed to have started breaking down, but not being seen was the difficult part. People tended to keep to themselves, and you could get away with a lot, but the sight of a young girl dragging a decomposing corpse through the streets was likely to raise a few eyebrows.
She had waited until the quietest hour of darkness and had kept to back alleyways, using buildings for cover.
She had taken his body some way out of town, then had used the shovel that she had stolen to dig a shallow grave for him in hard, cold ground.
He was maybe three, four feet down. She hadn’t had the energy to dig any further, had been hopeful that the animals wouldn’t find him and that he would be allowed to rest in peace.
Alecia had left the grave unmarked. Marking it would have been like placing a beacon for looters and robbers. Xavian had nothing at all of value on him but people would dig up his bones anyway just to make sure.
She hadn’t marked it, but she knew she would be able to find it again without a second thought.
Chapter 34
She was jostled awake suddenly and sat up with a start, grabbing the horse around the neck to stop from falling, as the motion caused her to lose her balance. She felt Amato’s hand’s tighten on her hips, holding her steady.
‘I was asleep?’ She murmured, drowsily.
He chuckled softly and kissed her neck.
‘Been asleep a good couple of hours, baby. I didn’t want to disturb you, but we’re here.’
‘We’re here?’ She sat up straighter and looked around.
They were still some distance from Coleville, but the large town was unmissable and the sight of it hit her like a battering ram. She felt the breath whoosh out of her and she struggled to stay on the horse as she became dizzy, bile rose in her throat and she fought to keep it down.
The Condemned Page 23