The Collapse Trilogy (Book 3): Through the Ruins

by Rod Carstens

  “Roadblock, now!” Tanner yelled, as he led the others toward the crude barrier. As he approached it the man who had been doing the talking came to his knees and raised his rifle. Cat shot him before Vin could, and his torso exploded in a pink cloud.

  The others stayed down, screaming, “No, no! We surrender!”

  “Don’t shoot! Please!”

  Tanner led the others to the roadblock at a dead run. They spread out, so Tanner and Mike were on one end of the barrier and Cat and Matos on the other, with the City people on the ground between them.

  “You…you shot down a tilt-rotor!” a beautiful woman who reminded Tanner of Christine the woman who had led him into the City to rescue Rule and Morgan said.

  “Yeah. If you know what you’re doing, it’s not that hard. Now don’t move if you want to stay alive,” Vin said.

  Then he realized they were missing Johnny. He looked back at the SUV. Johnny was lying on his back beside the vehicle, and even from the roadblock Vin could see a growing pool of blood coming from his torso.

  “Fuck, Cat. It’s Johnny,” Vin said.

  Cat glanced over her shoulder and spat, “Goddamnit!”

  “Mike, Matos, keep these fucks quiet. Cat, on me.”

  Vin and Cat ran back to the SUV and knelt next to Johnny. He had a hole right over his heart. His eyes were open, but they were unseeing, and he was taking long, slow, gasping breaths.

  “Get Danielle!”

  “Vin, he’s gone.”

  “Get her, goddamnit! Now!”

  Cat turned and ran back toward the convoy. In all Tanner’s years with the teams, and now as leader of the settlement, he had never lost someone in combat before. It was his fault. He never should have let him come with them. He didn’t really need the extra gun. He could have stayed back with the convoy. This hadn’t had to happen. Johnny was too young and too inexperienced to be out front.

  Vin stared into those young, half-open, dead eyes and thought of how he much Johnny had grown in the last months, and now this would be it. He wouldn’t have any more time. It all stopped here.

  He heard running feet and saw Danielle and Julia with Cat in the lead, running toward them. Then he heard a scream and saw Morgan running too.

  “Cat, don’t let Morgan see this,” Tanner said.

  Cat stopped and ran back to Morgan. Morgan fought and tried to get past her. Danielle and Julia arrived and knelt beside Johnny’s body. Danielle put two fingers on his neck to check his pulse. She only shook her head.

  “He’s gone, Vin. He’s gone.”

  Vin stood and walked away. He didn’t want anyone to see him cry. Why did it have to be the youngest among them?

  Then his grief turned to rage, and he stormed toward the roadblock, raising his rifle as he approached. Just as he was about to fire, Julia grabbed his arm and spun him around.

  “Stop, think. Do you really want to shoot these people? Stop.”

  Vin froze his rifle still up pointing at the head of their spokesman, then turned to face Cat.

  “Yes, I really want to shoot these people. You heard what they said we’re just Zoners. They can take anything they want from us because they are citizens of the City. Well out here they aren’t citizens of shit, they’re targets just like the rest of us,” Tanner said his voice low and hard. He spun back around and put his rifle to his shoulder and took careful aim at the man who had spoken for the group. Him first, Tanner thought. Him first.

  “Don’t do this. It is what they would do. It’s not what we do. Not now,” Cat paused. “Not anymore.”

  Tanner slowly tightened his trigger finger. Everything in him wanted to kill these people and what they stood for, it was the reason they were all standing there. The arrogance and entitlement of people like this had brought them all to this point. It had destroyed the earth and now it was killing the Johnny’s of this world.

  “Vin it’s what they would do, it’s not what we do. Not now. Not anymore. Remember why we walked.”

  Tanner lowered his rifle. Cat was right they had walked so they could be different. Tanner realized that if he pulled the trigger everything they had walked away would be lost. Everything they had built since they walked would be lost. Cat put her hand on his shoulder, Vin turned his head and they eyes met.

  “You’re right,” Vin said quietly. He turned and walked over to Johnny’s body. Danielle still knelt beside him.

  “It’s not your fault. It could have been any of you,” Danielle said.

  “But it was Johnny. He…”

  “Vin, you can’t blame yourself. It won’t do you any good, and it won’t do the rest of us any good if you’re not on top of your game. You have to think of the rest of us. We all need you.”

  Vin knew she was right. He turned and walked several feet away. People depended on him, and he didn’t have time for this. There was much that had to be taken care of before he could allow himself the luxury of grieving for Johnny.

  When he turned around, someone had brought a blanket up and covered Johnny. Danielle was doing the best she could to comfort Morgan. Vin looked at the five prisoners. They all looked terrified and not capable of any real trouble.

  “Mike collect their weapons then put a guard on them ,and if any of them gives you any trouble, shoot them.”

  “You can’t—” one of the men began.

  “You want to be the first, asshole?” Mike said in a low, hard voice. “A good kid just got killed, and I’m in no mood for any shit from someone like you.”

  “Matos, come with me. I want to clear that house up on the hill.”

  Vin led Matos at a trot up the interstate. About a hundred yards down the road they came across a road that had been cut into the interstate from the house. It gave them direct and easy access. No one cared anymore, so why not?

  Vin and Matos walked up the road toward the house; it was wide and smooth. Both had their weapons up and ready for any trouble. Vin discovered it wasn’t a house so much as it was a compound, with the main building and several smaller ones. One was a garage, another appeared to be a guesthouse, and the others looked like outbuildings that provided services to the big house. The big house was modern, with huge windows to take advantage of the spectacular view that the surrounding hills provided.

  “Jesus,” Matos said. “I’ll bet this is a gold mine for scavenging.”

  “Yeah. Let’s check the grounds before we go in.”

  They split up, and there was nothing moving or anyone around. Tanner walked out to the landing pad where the other two tilt-rotors sat. There were hoses in their gas tanks and aviation fuel spilled on the ground. They must have had to siphon gas out of these two to keep the third in the air.

  Again, no signs of life. He met Matos on the other side of the house.

  “Find anything?” Vin asked.

  “Quiet as a ghost town.”

  “Go get Danielle and have her come up here. I want to talk to her before we go into the house.”

  “Right.”

  Matos turned and trotted down the road to the interstate. A plan was beginning to take shape in his mind, and he needed to know something before he went forward. He stood there looking out at the scenery. It was beautiful, but he couldn’t appreciate it. He kept thinking about Johnny. A few minutes later, Danielle and Dr. Rule came up the hill.

  “Danielle, I’m thinking of bringing the convoy up here for a few days to rest. It would give us time to scavenge the compound and generally get our shit together. I wanted to know what you thought about it from the medical perspective. I mean, is it safe? You said some diseases can exist outside the body for some time, and since we don’t know if these people are infected, I didn’t want to bring the rest up here before we talked.”

  Danielle walked around the compound looking at everything. “They kept this place clean and that is the first step in protecting yourself for disease,” she said. “So as far as the chances of being exposed to the disease, I think they are small as long as we limit our contac
t with the people. I questioned them. It seems they left early and have been here for weeks. They say no one’s been sick, and I believe them. They do know what’s going on. They just ran as soon as they could, without thinking about food supplies and other survival needs. As far as the surfaces inside being clear of infection, I believe that we can assume they are. Smallpox is unusual in that respect, only people who are symptomatic shed the virus that has infected them.”

  “Good. You guys go back and tell everyone to bring the convoy here. I’ve got something to plan.”

  “What?”

  “I’m going back for Blondie while you guys wait here, safe and sound in this nice compound.”

  “Vin, are you sure?” Danielle said.

  “I lost someone today that who I can’t bring back. I can bring Blondie back, and that’s best for the community. We can’t afford to lose two good people this close together.”

  CHAPTER THIRTEEN

  The blow knocked Blondie to her knees. Others continued to pummel her from both sides as she struggled to stand. She was being pushed down a gauntlet composed of Jo’s Shield Maidens. Each had a large wooden stick which they used to strike her as she staggered down its length. They had pulled out the stops for this test. One woman wore shoulder and elbow pads, and leather gloves with the fingers cut out. Another had welders’ goggles on top of her head holding her hair back. One, in just a vest with her hair pulled up in a vertical ponytail and red and blue war paint on her face, slammed her stick hard across Blondie’s back. With her hands tied behind her, it was hard to get to her feet. She was bleeding from her nose and mouth, not to mention her head.

  The Shield Maidens had been joined in the gauntlet by younger girls who had the war paint on. They must be Shield Maidens in training. Someone struck her across the back again; the blows were painful but were not doing her real damage. After her years with Bear, this was a mild beating. They hit like girls, Blondie thought to herself.

  She regained her feet as they continued to pummel her, then she stumbled the last few feet of the gauntlet and stood in front of Jo, who with arms crossed was waiting for her.

  “Well done. Blondie, you have passed the first test. Every Shield Maiden must go through the gauntlet.”

  Blondie wanted to say something smart like I’ve been beaten worse than that before. Is that all you got? Instead she kept her smart mouth to herself and played it down. “Thank you, Jo.”

  “Take her back to her cell. Tomorrow she will face the next test. If she passes, we will have her take the pledge.”

  Two Shield Maidens grabbed Blondie by the arms and shoved her back down the bridge toward her little shack. They threw her in and slammed the door.

  Blondie slowly sat down and took some deep breaths. She did inventory, moving her arms and legs as best she could to see if she had any serious injuries. Everything moved the way it was supposed to without any significant pain. Either they were being careful not to seriously hurt her, or they really did hit like girls. None of them seemed to have any training, and they did not wield the sticks with the practiced moves of someone who had trained with them. Still, she was going to be in pain for a few days, and if this gauntlet was any indication of the kind of test she would face tomorrow, she couldn’t wait any longer. She would have to escape tonight. It had been more than twenty-four hours, so Vin and the others should be far enough away by now that she could slip away without endangering them.

  Blondie had been studying how the community on the bridge worked and its rhythms each day. The mornings were busy as people fished or went foraging in the woods. At noon people seemed to have a quick meal before doing repairs or upgrading their shacks for the rest of the afternoon. At dinnertime everyone began to settle in for the night and gathered in their huts to cook and clean up. They had few lights in the community—no candles, just a few places where they kept fires going along the bridge. So there was plenty of deep shadow she could use when she made her move.

  The more she studied the situation, the more she felt her best bet was to go over the edge of the bridge and crawl along the outside. Once everyone settled in for the evening, there was little traffic in the community, so it should be relatively easy to slip over the side and reach the far end of the bridge. Then all she had to worry about were the guards, and they would not be looking at the community but at the interstate for threats. She might be able to slip past them without having to harm anyone; while Jo was bat-shit crazy, this was a mostly peaceful community just trying to survive, even if their rules came from some weird combination of Viking folklore and pseudofeminist dogma.

  Blondie didn’t want to hurt anyone, except Jo. She remembered the look in little Chris’s eyes. Jo was abusing her power and using that girl, and there would be others. Blondie should know. She’d had the same look in her eyes for years.

  They still hadn’t searched her, and she had everything in her clothes, even the boot knife. She bent her knees so she could pull it and cut through the ropes binding her hand then she stopped. It was late afternoon and Chris would be bringing her supper soon. So she did what she had done during her years of captivity: when she was left alone, she slept. Rest gave you strength to face whatever wasting going to happen and there was always something about to happen. Blondie was asleep in minutes.

  Someone was gently shaking her awake. Blondie opened her eyes and found Chris sitting next to her with her dinner. Blondie was famished. Chris helped Blondie her into the sitting position.

  “Thanks, honey,” Blondie said.

  Chris glanced over her shoulder at the door before she said, “You’re welcome. Please eat everything. Tomorrow’s test will be more difficult.”

  Chris fed Blondie a spoonful of stew, then held up a cup of water for her to drink. Blondie looked at the girl carefully. She was obviously more frightened than usual.

  “What’s the matter, Chris? You seem upset,” Blondie asked between spoonfuls of the stew.

  “It’s Jo. I think she’s getting tired of me and is going to choose a new companion.”

  “So? That sounds pretty good, getting out from under her.”

  Chris again glanced over her shoulder.

  “Another Shield Maiden can claim me, and some of them are much worse than Jo. They make their companions, boys or girls, do things…” Chris hesitated and looked over her shoulder as if someone might be listening. “Some like to hurt their companions. One killed a boy when she got carried away.”

  Blondie could see the desperation in her eyes. Could she trust the girl to have the courage to come with her? She had been kind and taken care of Blondie, but Blondie had seen girls with Bear’s gang who, once broken in, could never leave. As if all the courage had been pulled out of them and they could not imagine being strong enough to escape. They’d stayed even when they could have escaped, and a number of them had died because of it.

  She stared at Chris, trying to read her. Blondie saw much of herself in the girl, and she decided she had to try. Blondie was sitting with her feet tucked underneath her and her hands on her boots. While Chris was scraping the last of the stew onto the spoon, Blondie slipped the stiletto out of her boot and cut the ropes binding her wrists. When Chris went to feed her the last spoonful of stew, Blondie brought her hands around her back and took the bowl and spoon out of Chris’s hands.

  The girl couldn’t have looked more surprised if Blondie had suddenly sprouted wings and flown around the room.

  “How…I mean…what…” Chris stammered.

  Blondie reached down and put the knife next to the stew bowl on the concrete of the interstate. Chris looked at the knife, then back up at Blondie.

  “You had it all the time?”

  “I’ve had a plan since I got here. Now listen. I’m leaving tonight, as close to 3:00 a.m. as I can estimate. If you want, you can come with me. Do you want to? It will be dangerous and you will have to be brave, but you will be free with us. I’m going back to my community. They’re waiting for me.”

  Chr
is sat there staring at Blondie, then at the knife, not saying a word. Maybe Blondie had been wrong to think this girl wanted to leave. She might have just blown her plan by trying to be the savior. She couldn’t hurt the girl to silence her, so she had to trust her instincts.

  Finally, after what seemed like hours, the girl slowly nodded yes. “Yes, Blondie. I’ll do anything you want, just take me with you.”

  “Can you slip away from Jo tonight?”

  “Yes.”

  “Good. As close to 3:00 a.m. as you can. Can you do that?”

  Chris just nodded.

  “The guards are usually sound asleep then, and you can simply walk by them. If they aren’t and they’re awake, then tell them Jo sent you to check on me. I’ll take it from there. Are you brave enough to do that?”

  “Yes, yes. Thank you, thank you, thank you!” Chris threw herself into Blondie’s arms, and Blondie hugged her tightly, then she said, “Now get the plates and get out of here, before the guards suspect something.”

  Chris did as she was told, and Blondie slipped the knife back into her boot, then put her hands behind her back and managed to wrap the rope loosely around her wrists in case the guards happened to check in on her. None had before, but there was always the first time. Blondie lay down and tried to go to sleep. She would need her rest.

  Vin, Cat, and Matos were in one of the SUVs barreling down the interstate back toward the bridge and Blondie. Before they left, Vin and the others had brought the whole convoy up into the compound on the hill. They had immediately begun to ransack the compound for anything usable, finding everything from tools for Peter and his guys to a couple of laptops for Rule and Morgan. It still had power and water, so the whole community was going to get to have a hot shower or two before they left. Peter had been after him for days to pull over so he could do some serious mechanical work on the vehicles, and with the tools he’d found he was beside himself with excitement. He was finally going to be able to do some real repairs instead of just jury-rigging them.