Ranger

by William Stacey

  "The elves are too smart to work a pattern."

  "No choice. After six years, there's only so much salvage left. They have to be methodical now."

  Paco rubbed his chin, his gaze thoughtful. "I never understood why they stayed here, so close to us, when they could have moved anywhere. Shit, they have the entire continent now. Why not move south, where the air doesn't hurt your face during winter?"

  Alex shrugged. "Why haven't you moved south?"

  "This is our home. We're not going anywhere."

  "I don't know, brother. Maybe they figure if they stay near where they created their inter-dimensional gateway six years ago, someone will come back for them and they can go home. Maybe I don't give a shit. Maybe they're here, and I'm gonna deal with them."

  Paco's gaze turned hard. "Seeing as how you brought it up, you and your team have been busy since you came back from your re-sup run south a few months back."

  "What of it? We're rangers. We're supposed to be busy."

  "You supposed to risk burning down the forest, leaving death in your wake?"

  A chill ran down his back. "Paco… whatever you think—"

  "The Glover brothers were over in Goodlow a couple of weeks back, hunting elk. Came across your work, a burned-out Remnant camp, nothing left but ash-piles of what used to be boggarts and trolls. What did you use, Willy Pete grenades?"

  "Stay the fuck away from our business, brother. I mean it."

  "Your business? You're screwing around with incendiary munitions in a world where there's no more fire department or water bombers? That's not your job."

  Alex exhaled, a cold layer of sweat forming on his face. "You need to tell the Glover brothers and everyone else to stay away from Goodlow—or anywhere we've been working. I mean it. This is no joke. It's dangerous."

  "No shit it's dangerous. You and your hard-luck gang of elf-hating rangers aren't as clever or careful as you think. You experts burned the Remnant corpses but left the woods filled with dead animals, hundreds of 'em, lying everywhere. What the hell, man?"

  Alex looked away, a knot in his stomach. "Step back on this one, brother. Let it be."

  "Does McKnight know—"

  "McKnight is busy rebuilding civilization. Besides, after tonight, it won't matter anymore."

  "You trying to get yourself killed, Alex? You think that'll change what happened? Dude, she needs you."

  Alex turned away and ran his fingers over his face, forcing down emotions he couldn't even try to cope with. "She's better off..."

  "Alex," Paco whispered, his voice filled with concern. He reached out a hand toward Alex, but Alex drew back.

  "You tell her for me. Tell her I'll make them pay."

  "She doesn't want that. She never wanted that. That's you."

  Silence stretched between them. Finally, Paco broke it. "Okay, fine. If this is how it has to be, let's do it. But not just you guys. That's stupid. McKnight's been bragging about this new formation he's put together from what was left of the 1st Canadian Mechanized Brigade Group and the 82nd Airborne. He says he's got a shit-hot company-plus gang of new-world ass-kickers that can move fast and hit hard. He's calling them his Strike Force—don't look at me like that, man. Sounds stupid, but he swears they're legit. Let me call him in on this. They can roll over this Remnant camp. Shit, McKnight's got the only air force. Let him napalm their fantasy-monster asses from a thousand meters. You can stroll through after and piss on the embers."

  "Take too long. Even if they were wheels up in the next couple of hours—which you and I both know is bullshit—it's a three-hour flight. Then it's gonna be another few hours to sort out their shit, conduct a map recce, and begin mission planning. They're not landing on your strip in anything larger than a C-130 Herc, nothing that can transport an entire company overland. You're going to have to find vehicles and drivers then bring them to a stepping-off point."

  "McKnight said Kargin's been working on something special, that they could be here way faster than that."

  "Bullshit. Wishful thinking. Best-case scenario, it's going to take a day for them to get here. Then what? Hundreds of grunts breaking trail through northern wilderness?" He laughed bitterly, shaking his head, and moved over to a small window to stare out over the settlement as the sun set. No, I'm right. This is the only way.

  "Give 'em a chance," Paco said.

  "No one knows the elves like I do. They'll hear this Strike Force coming from a dozen kilometers away." He was horrified at the thought of that many soldiers stomping through the woods, thinking they were stealthy. "The elves will bolt—or worse, they'll stay, turn invisible, and set them on fire. No one will even see one. It'll be a massacre. Then what? Maybe now they're angry. Maybe they look toward you and your little walled town. Maybe this time they finish what they started."

  Paco, knowing Alex was right, looked away. The silence was thunderous.

  Outside, an elderly couple, their brown skin creased by time and hard lives, walked past, hand in hand. They disappeared around a trailer. Is this the future? Just old people?

  "It's my way or no way," he whispered.

  "There's something else," Paco said softly. "And it's going to hurt."

  Alex was sitting on the steps to the infirmary with Mo when Dallas found him. Paco and Clyde had left some time ago. Mo lay with his head on Alex's leg, Alex's hand atop the dog's head. Alex watched Dallas approach, thinking how badly he wanted to get drunk, how he needed to bludgeon his soul with alcohol. Once he started drinking, he'd never stop.

  But the mission came first.

  Dallas stood beside him. "You okay, boss?"

  "Bekka's going to Starlight. Just as well. She's not up to this anymore."

  Dallas nodded, not asking the obvious aloud—are you?

  Am I?

  Far off, an owl hooted, answered a moment later by a loon. The forests were becoming crowded. The wildlife had bounced back from humanity's abrupt departure, especially the birds. Some flocks had grown so large they darkened the sky when flying over. Well, not all the animals had prospered. Roaches nearly vanished in the first winter without humans to keep the heat on, and millions of livestock, cattle and poultry, had starved in pens. He didn't like thinking of the pets, the dogs and cats locked up in homes, waiting for owners who never returned. Some had broken out, though. The house cats turned feral overnight, doing just fine murdering small animals, but the dogs did less well without people, and the small dogs vanished… natural selection. The only ones to survive had been the dogs large enough to join wolf packs, or those saved by the survivors.

  "How's the team?"

  Dallas lit a cigarette. "Henry's being a little bitch about doing this without Bekka. Says it's crazy to go without a mag-sens. The brothers feel the same way, but they're solid. They'll be fine. Anjie wants payback for Bekka, and Sammy… well, I don't know about Sammy. He's all smiles, but there's something… wrong with that man."

  "Something wrong with all of us." Dallas wasn't wrong, though. The Battle of Taylor Bridge had changed Sammy. He had lost four young cousins during the fighting, likely even a part of himself. If he weren't a ranger, didn't have revenge to keep him going, what would become of him? What about you, Alex? What are you good for now? "I was thinking," Alex said.

  "Should I be worried?"

  "That I should do this by myself."

  "You drunk already, boss? Not fair."

  "It's cool. I'm tricksy." He paused, smiling at Dallas, who didn't smile back. "Cut me some slack. Unlike you, I wasn't an army cook before the Culling. I'm ex-Tier-1 Special Forces. Shit, I earned the nickname 'Ranger' years ago when I topped the US Army Ranger course. Trust me. I can move quieter by myself, set the timers on the payload, then didi mao back to the road."

  "Oh yeah," said Dallas, exhaling a cloud of smoke. "That's a great fucking idea. No backup, no fire support. I'm sure nothing will go wrong."

  "I'm serious. Alone means less noise, less chance of discovery."

  "No. Alone means dead, then
we lose everything."

  "I can always pull rank."

  Dallas snorted. "You'd have more luck pulling yourself, Major Benoit. Ranger rank is more of a… polite honorific. Hell, I'm a captain." He chuckled softly. "Captain Lee. Mom would have been proud."

  Alex scowled. "We'll talk about it with the others. Get 'em ready to roll. I'll be back in an hour." He climbed to his feet, and Mo jumped up with him, panting.

  "What are you doing?"

  "I have to say hi to someone."

  5

  Alex walked out of the walled settlement. The three older men on sentry opened the gate, saying nothing. They probably guessed where he was going.

  Besides, he was a ranger, at home in the wild.

  Shadows stretched through the trees along the river where the old reservation had been, and Alex strode toward them, leaving behind the ever-present noise of the settlement's many generators. Mo loped along beside him before darting after a particularly brazen squirrel. Dog and prey vanished into the thick foliage.

  Their cabin was now little more than pieces of charred beams overgrown by vines and bush. He stood, numb all over, staring at the ruins, remembering how it had been. Most of the three dozen cabins had burned that night. Some cabins had survived intact, but the forest reclaimed the abandoned homes, blanketing them in leaves and vines.

  Soon, that'll be us.

  Mo ran back, panting from his chase, and Alex moved through the ruins and came out upon the grassy bank of the river. The setting sun glinted on the surface of the Doig River, glistening red and gold, and a fish leaped from the water then splashed back again. Noah had played here for hours, with Leela sitting in a chair nearby, reading a book or levitating a toy for the boy's excited squeals.

  Alex stood breathless, staring at the small fenced plot and the even smaller wooden cross bearing his son's name. His heart shuddered with loss, and he fell to his knees before the grave. Mo sat beside him, placing his large head in Alex's lap. Alex trailed his fingers through the dog's fur. "Hello, Noah," he whispered.

  Alex remained there for a while—he didn't know how long—talking softly with his son. He didn't hear Leela arriving so much as he felt her presence. She wasn't trying to sneak up on him. It was just that she had grown up in the wild and was a far better woodsman than he'd ever be. She came around the burned cabin, wearing a plaid shirt, blue jeans, and a burgundy hoodie. Their eyes met, and she stood there, saying nothing, almost a ghost.

  Alex turned his gaze back to his son's grave. "Noah loved it here, but it's so quiet now…"

  "He's not there, Alex," she said. "Now he lives here." She pointed to her heart. "I carry him with me, as do you. You don't need to come here to talk to him."

  "I don't know what I need."

  She lowered herself beside him, being careful to leave a space between them, inches and an endless gulf. Mo lifted his head and licked her hand, and the faintest smile curled her lips. She glanced at his face in profile. "You grew a beard."

  "You don't like it?"

  She stared ahead over the river. "It's fine."

  A loon cried out, its call echoing over the woods. Leela slapped at a mosquito. They stayed like that for a while.

  Alex eventually spoke, his voice breaking. "Do you… do you believe it?"

  She didn't answer right away. The silence became so heavy, he considered asking again, but she finally spoke. "It makes sense, Alex. They left us alone for so long. We left them alone. I think we went two years without even seeing one. Then one night, they attack, burn the settlement? Seems weird, doesn't it?"

  "They're animals."

  "Are they? If so, what does that make us?"

  "They didn't need a reason to murder over seven billion people."

  "The dark elves, not the boggarts. Kargin told you they were little more than slaves to the Fae Seelie Empire, to this Queen Tuatha de Talinor. She forced them to come here."

  "I… I can't accept that this was our fault."

  She reached over and cupped his chin and turned his head so he looked into her large brown eyes. "Whether you accept it, it's true. The boggarts attacked us because hunters found one of their camps, got angry or scared, and shot them up. It breaks my heart that my own kind played a role in the death of my beautiful baby boy, but it happened, and I need to deal with it—you need to deal with it." Her eyes watered, her voice broke, and she turned away, pulling her knees up to her chest and wrapping her arms around them.

  He wanted to comfort her, to hold her, but he'd lost that right, so instead he stared at his son's grave. He knew it was true the moment Paco told him that one of the men involved, drowning in guilt, had admitted that they attacked the boggart camp first, provoking them. So why did he still hate them?

  Because the revelation changed nothing. Because they couldn't live together on the same world. Not now. Never.

  "I dreamt of him last night," she said, her voice strong once more.

  "I envy you," he whispered. "My dreams of Noah…." He sighed, his words falling away.

  "It was odd. He was with Elizabeth."

  He watched her face in profile. "Elizabeth?"

  "I barely knew her. Only met her before Taylor Bridge, but she struck me as a good person. But why dream of her and our son?"

  He didn't answer.

  "Maybe it's because we were linked through Kargin's crowns, me, her, and Cassie. She told me not to worry, that Noah was safe, and we'd be together again." Her lips curled into a faint smile. "Maybe it means something."

  It was just a dream, but he didn't tell her that. Instead, he said, "Paco tells me the last of the children have gone to Cassie."

  She nodded. "The ghosts. That's what they call them. Ghosts." She sighed and shook her head. "Harsh, don't you think?"

  "If I stop and think about anything… I'm not sure I can keep going."

  "I understand that."

  "Why don't you go as well? You can help Cassie. Helping the children would be good for you."

  "Maybe I will," she whispered, rocking in place. "After we do this thing."

  "What thing?"

  "Whatever you and your rangers have planned for this Remnant camp. I'm coming with you."

  He climbed to his feet, his posture stiffening. "The hell you are."

  She rose and confronted him, looking like she was ready to go a few rounds. "My brother told me you're going out again tonight. I saw your team prepping. Whatever stupid thing you're planning on doing, you can't do it without a mag-sens. So yes, I am coming with you. You don't get to tell me what I can't do!"

  "Baby—"

  "You don't get to call me that anymore, either. I've already told Dallas and the others I'm coming. They're fine with it."

  "They're not in charge. I am."

  "According to Dallas, rangers get to vote. They voted. I'm coming. Don't be an idiot. You'll need me, someone who can detect magic and protect you from their mages. Nobody shields like I do."

  "I have Witch-Bane."

  "Which does nothing for the others, and they know it. And don't even try saying I'll only get in the way 'cause I'm not a ranger or some such shit. Except for Sammy and Anjie, your team makes more noise than a pregnant caribou."

  That wasn't true, he knew. Even Henry had become a skilled woodsman, but none of them could move like her. "You had no right to talk to my team without me."

  "Bullshit! I knew you'd say no."

  "And you'd have been right."

  She shook her head in disgust and began to walk away. Alex reached out and caught her wrist, holding her in place. "Leela, please. Listen. I know you're angry with me for leaving you—"

  "For abandoning me after the death of our child, Alex. Say the words. Own your actions!"

  "For abandoning you. I'm sorry, but I had no choice. After Noah… after I failed him, I… I couldn't—"

  "You couldn't, Alex? You think you're the only one who failed Noah?" Her face darkened with anger, and she ripped her hand free. Her eyes surged with emotion—rage, ha
tred, maybe even contempt. He had broken her, this once-strong proud woman, as he had broken their marriage, their life together. Her voice rose, spittle flying as she advanced on him and jabbed him in the chest with her finger. "I was here that night, not you! You were out doing your job, and I've never blamed you for that. But I was here. I was supposed to keep him safe—and I failed." Now, the tears flowed down her cheeks, and her chest rose and plunged with her breaths.

  "Leela, it… it wasn't your fault. How… what could you have done?"

  "More, Alex. I should have done more. Now he's dead, and I'll be damned if I let you kill yourself avenging him. I'm coming. Whatever needs doing, we'll do it together. Then I'll go to Boulder City, and you can be alone in the wilderness for the rest of your life. You can turn into Grizzly Fucking Adams!" She turned and stormed away.

  He watched her, his emotions surging. He couldn't talk her out of this—if he could ever talk her out of anything. This would be so much harder now.

  6

  Leela entered the gated Ranger complex with Paco. The compound, a series of trailers and ISO containers, was a beehive of activity as the rangers prepared to go outside the wire again. Alex, bent over a map on a picnic table with Dallas, met her eye, his expression somber. Then he returned his attention to the map, giving instructions to Dallas. The two large Hispanic brothers, Royce and Gracie, were lying on their backs beneath two off-road motorcycles, working on them. Growing up, she had been an adrenaline junky, much to her brother's frustration, and while her main vice had been rock climbing, she had also been a motocross enthusiast and had even competed in local races. She didn't recognize these bikes. They looked like gasoline-electric hybrids. Sammy and Anjie, sitting at another picnic table, loading 5.56 bullets into black plastic magazines from a huge pile before them, paused long enough to nod at her and Paco. The tall American, Henry, scuttled past with metal ammunition boxes in each hand and loaded them into the back of an armored truck. Larry, Curly, and Mo lay on their bellies amidst the bedlam. Their heads swept up as she and Paco came in, but only Mo rose and padded over to greet her.