Gen One

by Amy Bartelloni

  “Go on,” Rita instructed her, and Delilah made her way back to the small bridge, stepping between groups of people on the deck and into the small room, where Brute, Smoke, and Gen stood in front of the window.

  “The safe house is a few miles up,” Brute said. He pointed ahead to the shore. The ruins had spread out, or been overtaken by nature. Here and there an abandoned beach house appeared, but no tracks covered the sand. Windows were broken and roofs fallen in. Typical of the areas she and Zane scavenged. She itched to take him back here and explore.

  “Many of the prisoners are staying with us,” Smoke said, as Gen slowed the engine and scoured the land. “Going back would be too dangerous.” She looked at Delilah pointedly, and Delilah swallowed. She knew there was no going back, but hearing it made the hairs on her arms stand up.

  “But some are going back?” Delilah asked. Gen’s eyes darted faster than Delilah could keep up with. She wondered what the bot was looking for, and twisted the ring on her finger, the last piece of herself she’d carried from the beginning of this mess. A reminder of Zane. A symbol, in so many ways.

  “A few are willing to risk it.” Smoke pointed out a tree bent over the water, leading to a small inlet. A willow tree, if Delilah had to guess, like any other except for the reach of its branches. Gen nodded and headed toward it. It was early afternoon, and the reeds left shadows in the murky water. Brute’s stomach grumbled, but he didn’t complain. None of them had.

  “A few, like how many?” she asked. “And what’s our plan? When do we go, and how do we get supplies?”

  Brute snickered. “Slow down there, chief. It takes some planning to save the world.”

  Smoke took the helm from Gen and guided them closer to the tree, where Delilah spotted an expertly disguised pier under the branches. Beyond it a small, sandy beach bordered heavy woods.

  Gen roped her arm through Delilah’s. “We will get him back,” she promised. Somehow, real warmth and tenderness shone in her light blue eyes. Where had they gone wrong, between this generation of bots and the monsters out there? Gen was a gentle spirit, a kind soul. Delilah was convinced Gen had a soul, and a good one, at that.

  “Last chance to bail,” Brute said as the boat bumped the pier and Sunny jumped off to tie it in place. “Once you know the plan, you’re in.”

  Delilah squared her shoulder. “I’m in. I’ve always been in. I’ve been trying to tell you that.”

  “Okay.” Smoke cut the engine. “We’re not just dropping prisoners off. We’re meeting people. People who…specialize…in this kind of thing.”

  “Mercenaries,” Delilah guessed. Zane had talked about traveling soldiers with more than a little appreciation in his voice. She always thought he was daydreaming or imagining them, but they were real.

  “Of a sort,” Smoke conceded.

  Outside the cabin, someone was retching. That poor girl from the warehouse couldn’t keep anything down.

  “If it’s true what you tell me about the zoos, why haven’t you tried harder to get them out?” Delilah asked. She imagined the fate of the girl outside. It could have been much worse than throwing up on the boat. Since she’d been on board, she’d heard horror stories. That they pit the prisoners against each other in zoos like gladiators and refuse to feed them. Keep them in glass cases and watch them like bugs. Experimented. Bred. She couldn’t figure out how much was true and how much was rumor, but then again, no one else seemed to be able to separate the two, either.

  “You think we haven’t?” Brute asked, stalking off. He hunched his shoulders, a move he did when he was hiding something. Pain.

  “You lost someone?” she asked gently, but he waved her off.

  Smoke took over. “Every group we’ve sent in has failed,” she said, simply. “We have only the recon from old maps, and information we’ve gathered from prisoners on the fly, which isn’t always reliable.”

  Delilah took a breath. The woman was trying to scare her, but she wouldn’t be so easily swayed. She twisted her ring. The one Zane gave her a lifetime ago, in the Banks. Would she ever see the Banks again, or was this a suicide mission?

  “So, what is the plan, then?” she asked. “I assume you have one?” The others gathered on the deck, waiting for them and pointing excitedly at the land.

  There was an expectant pause, then Gen started to talk. “Well, if you’re in…” She waited, and Delilah nodded. “We got you a job.”

  “A job?” Delilah repeated. It wasn’t what she was expecting. They were picking up mercenaries, for crying out loud.

  “Well, it was Brute’s idea,” Gen clarified, which explained nothing. She made her way out the door.

  “It would explain your absence from work this morning,” Brute said with a smirk. “You were packing. Getting ready for your new life in Authority City.” They followed Smoke out and to the side of the boat. She stepped off and wobbled before getting her bearings. Prisoners gathered on the small beach, waiting for them.

  “And you?” she asked Brute, still not getting the connection, but any way in to Authority City was one step closer to Zane.

  “Actually, I’m going with you as Rank’s guy. He wants to know who killed the others. Authority was recruiting, and I volunteered us.”

  “Wait,” Delilah stopped him. “Rank is part of…this?”

  Smoke waved them forward. “Rank does what’s good for Rank. He knows about us and doesn’t sell us out,” she said, gripping the rail. “Wouldn’t be good for business.”

  “Neither are two dead men,” Delilah added. “Rank thinks the bots did it? Why?”

  Gen took over, eyeing the dock warily. “We think Tank and Spade found out something about the Authority’s plan. The giant bots. The war,” she answered. Her tone made it clear there would be no more discussion, but there was an underlying sadness. Delilah wondered how close she was to those men.

  Delilah cleared her throat. “I didn’t know they even had jobs in Authority City. Human jobs.”

  Another expectant pause as the last of the prisoners got off the boat. Sunny seemed to materialize out of nowhere. The girl was quiet and good at hiding. “You should tell her,” she told Brute, and jumped down off the boat with Smoke following.

  “Tell me what?” Delilah asked, but then added quickly. “I’m going. No matter what it is.”

  Brute shook his head. “Zane told us you were stubborn,” he said with a grin. “But he led us to believe you were fragile.” He tipped his head. “I’m not sure he was right about that. From where I stand, you’re pure steel. And we could have used you a long time ago.”

  “I plan to have a talk with him about that,” she said, absently. What Brute didn’t know was how fragile she was inside. How Zane had seen her the day her father died. How he held her when her aunt ran off and left them and she thought she’d die in the streets. How he helped her get a job and earn her own living. If she was steel, he’d forged her, and it was time to pay him back.

  “Well, you probably know already, but when someone goes in Authority City, they rarely come out.” He gestured for Gen to get off the boat first. The bot swung her legs over the rail gently, all the while watching the waves lap the pier.

  “But we are?” Delilah asked, following them on to the pier. It was unsteadier than she thought, and she had to hold Brute’s arm to avoid falling.

  “That’s the plan,” he answered. “Smoke has a network set up for us to get them the information they need. Then they plan to bust us out. And not just us. This has been in the works for a long time.” He stepped off the dock and looked back without a hint of amusement on his face.

  “She’s going to take out the zoos?” Delilah asked. She wasn’t sure how she felt about it. She’d gotten into this for Zane, but she’d come to believe in the cause. And after spending the last few days with these people, they felt like family.

  Brute shook his head.
“She’s going to take the whole damn city out. And we’re going to help her.”

  The survivors gathered on the beach, staying under the overhang of the trees. Most still wore the green prison jumpsuit, with bruises all over their faces and arms. Delilah had no doubt they were mistreated, but she couldn’t guess the extent. She fell in line when Smoke led them down a small path that wound through the woods.

  The sun peeked through the high branches zigzagging its light onto the path, and insects buzzed around Delilah’s head. They could still hear the waves on the shore when they emerged into a small village. Dozens of wooden shacks surrounded a main street covered in trees. It was so well camouflaged by the trees that Delilah wondered if it could be spotted from the air. She squinted as she looked up. The bots’ technology limits were unknown, but they were growing exponentially. Even the weapons hidden or destroyed at the end of the war were rumored to be making a comeback. It was good to stay under cover, but she wondered how long that would work.

  A small group emerged from the wooden, rectangular building at the top of the hill that served as a meeting place. The people who approached them were nothing like she expected. The group of fifteen or so men and women weren’t the sculpted soldiers of legend, but more a ragtag group of rebels just like them. She wondered if they even had weapons.

  She didn’t hear Brute sneak up until he was standing beside her.

  “Who are they?” she asked. She watched a woman approach the young girl she’d been so worried about. The woman wrapped a blanket around her and led her to one of the cabins.

  “Friends,” he said. His tone was even and cautious. “I thought you might have some questions. Second thoughts, even.” He turned his back to the prisoners and watched her. Something in his deep brown irises was unnerving. Daring her to back down. Even hoping she’d back down.

  Delilah made a fist and let it go, a trick she’d learned in the Banks to buy time. “No second thoughts,” she answered. She probably should be mad at his questioning, but then again, she should have second thoughts. Anyone would. She was basically marching into hostile enemy territory with a terrorist organization in order to take down the bots. Suicide, if they were lucky. But she was doing it for love, and that trumped all motivations and second thoughts. No, she wouldn’t be turning back.

  “Or questions?” he prompted. She tried to figure out his motives. He always had a grin, one that told her he was hiding his real feelings and fears. She understood the deflection. It was a tactic many people used in the Rez.

  His expression fell under her gaze, and he looked up past the meetinghouse and the prisoners.

  “You asked me if I lost someone?” he asked.

  She folded her arms as a gust of wind blew past, giving him the courtesy of not answering, but only listening.

  “My brother was involved in the Human Coalition before me. He didn’t want me involved, but I hounded him. He wanted to protect me.” He raised an eyebrow and looked at her. Yeah, she was familiar with that. She pursed her lips but stayed quiet. She knew what it was like to be underestimated, overlooked. Though from the look of Brute, no one had to underestimate him.

  “Anyway, my parents died when I was young. Accident,” he scoffed, in a way that made Delilah realize it wasn’t an accident at all, or he didn’t think so. “So it was just Thom and me. They called him Code because he was a genius with electronics. It was actually him that built the scrambler, and the map. I can barely upkeep the system, but I at least know the basics. Thankfully, he wasn’t carrying any tech when they captured him last year. He went in for a raid.” Brute paused. “And he didn’t come out.” He shrugged. “It’s a chance all of us take. It’s a chance you’re taking.”

  His gaze came back into focus and settled on her, but this time his expression was harsh and mean. She spoke softly. “He died?” she asked. She put a hand on his shoulder.

  Brute shook his head. “We don’t know, that’s the thing. These zoos? We don’t know what goes on in them.”

  “So maybe they’re rumor then?” Delilah asked. “Made up?”

  “No.” Brute pulled back out of her grasp. They watched the other prisoners enter the meeting hall. Smoke waved them forward, but they didn’t move. “They’re real enough. But how bad they are, no one knows.” He took a step up the path, but stopped to address her. “So I guess I have an agenda going in, too. Just so you know.” He shuffled his feet. “But, if it comes down to it, I protect you first. You’re getting out of there, Delilah.”

  Delilah smiled. “If there’s one thing you should know about me, Brute, it’s that I do not need protection.”

  They approached the building slowly, but before they could enter, he stopped. “I just want you to know, it’s been a long time for Code. If we find him, he might not be the same. You’re my priority, and Zane, and any of the others from the raid.”

  He held the door, but Delilah wasn’t going to let him go that easy. She pulled him back. “Your brother is our priority, too, Brute.” His eyes softened at the corners.

  “We might not be able to…”

  She cut him off. “We will. Or we’ll find out what happened,” she promised. She had no right to promise that, but at the same time she knew they wouldn’t leave Authority City without knowing what happened, or burning it to the ground.

  Brute just nodded and gestured for her to step in before him.

  Inside, the hall was just as she imagined, a wide, open area with chairs scattered here and there. Her stomach rumbled at a table with food in the corner. She caught sight of plates of bread and fruit before the other prisoners mobbed the table.

  Across the room, by the far door, Smoke huddled in a low conversation with another woman. Older than Smoke, if Delilah had to guess. Her light brown hair was a contrast to Smoke’s black, but it was streaked with gray. She had laugh lines around her eyes and mouth, but only just. Somehow Delilah suspected the woman hadn’t done much laughing to earn them. She had a deep tan, and a hard expression. She crossed her muscled arms and watched Delilah and Brute approach.

  “This is your recon team?” The woman arched an eyebrow.

  Smoke replied in a smooth voice. “You know better than to judge by appearances. Brute is the best we’ve got, and Delilah is…invested.”

  Slowly, the grimace melted from the woman’s face. She held out a hand. “Shadow,” she said, by way of an introduction.

  Brute couldn’t hide the surprise on his face as he looked from one to another.

  Smoke smiled. “Yes, the infamous Shadow. My sister,” she said.

  “Half-sister,” Shadow corrected. Their looks were so different that Delilah never would have guessed. Smoke was short while Shadow was tall. Smoke pale and Shadow deeply tanned. Even their hair was different colors, but they had similar mannerisms, right down to the grimace.

  Brute gazed around her. “Then this is…”

  “My team,” Shadow finished. “What’s left of them.”

  “You guys are legendary,” Brute said, with a note of awe in his voice.

  Shadow’s shoulders slumped. “Were legendary. We’ve lost a lot, and without your brother…” she trailed off.

  Delilah jumped in. “Brute thinks there’s a chance he’s alive,” she said.

  Brute held a hand up. “That’s not what I—”

  Shadow cut him off. “That’s what we’re hoping. This mission isn’t just to save Zane and your men. We’re teaming up. Again.” She nodded to Smoke who had an uneasy smile on her face. “We’re getting whoever we can out of that God damned city, and those zoos.” She exchanged a look with Smoke, who nodded. “And we’re taking them down.”

  “General Smoke said as much.” Delilah nodded. She coughed into her elbow. Though it wasn’t chilly, the journey had left its mark on her in fatigue and sickness. Even Brute had deep bags under his eyes.

  “Come on.” Smoke gestured to
the door. “There’s running water and food inside the cabins. Get some rest, and we can talk in the morning.”

  “Morning?” Delilah took a step and stumbled. Brute held her elbow and righted her, but concern was written on his face. “I’m fine.” She waved him off. Her equilibrium was off from the boat. She hadn’t realized how far down the sun had sank. The others had started retreating to the cabins. She was about to ask how the place had running water when the door opened and she saw beyond the cabins to the ruins. Miles of them.

  Shadow followed her gaze. “An old city,” she said, with sadness. They walked slowly to the closest cabin, and even still, Delilah struggled to keep up. Shadow leaned in as if imparting a secret. “A contingent of us are rebuilding it. There are basic amenities. Running water, but no power yet, not out here. We can keep the bots off our trail for a while, but power would tip them off.”

  The ruins weren’t as impressive as Authority City, but they weren’t as run down as the Rez. A port city once, if Delilah had to guess. In fact, she looked down, and she was walking on cracked pavement. Weeds made their way through the cracks, almost taking over the landscape. They’d grown over the buildings, too, and through broken windows, swallowing the once busy city back into the ground.

  “This was once a shopping village,” Shadow said with wistfulness. “Many of the shops burned down, but we rebuilt the best we could. See there? It’s one of the old frames.”

  Delilah glanced where she was pointing, and a rectangular cement block was half buried in the sand. A postcard from another lifetime.

  Her head spun by the time they got to the cabin. Gen was waiting for them, a bath drawn. The bot was already put together, but then she didn’t need as much maintenance as a human. There were positives to her makeup, to be sure, Delilah thought, as the others left and she sank into the hot water. The bathroom was rustic at best, but when she first saw the steaming water, she thought it would be heavenly. Instead, all she could think about as she washed the layer of dirt and grime off her was Zane. His rescue had become so much more complicated, but so much simpler at the same time. This group was where she was supposed to be. But whether they could pull it off, she wasn’t sure.