Forager - the Complete Trilogy (A Post Apocalyptic/Dystopian Trilogy)

by Peter R Stone

  With the tripwire behind us and nothing but apartments and forest before us, we continued on our way. We hadn't gone far when I realised Shorty was hanging back, staring u at me as though I was some kind of freak.

  "What?" I demanded impatiently.

  "I couldn't see that wire at all, Jones, and you weren't doing your tongue clicks. So how the blazes did you spot it?" he asked suspiciously.

  "Shorty, we don't have time for this." I took a step towards him.

  He stepped back, looking at me with fear – or was it revulsion? "You can see in the dark, Jones. You're one of those...those mutants, aren't you?"

  Chapter Twenty-Six

  "I'm not a mutant," I replied.

  "Yes you are!" he exclaimed a little too loudly as he backed away from me as though I was contagious or something.

  "Don't be a drongo, Shorty, nuclear radiation doesn't cause mutations like that," David whispered as he came to my defence. Then to me, he added, "you've been genetically modified, haven't you?"

  "Got it in one, Mr. Chen," I answered.

  Shorty looked most bewildered. "What are you two talking about?"

  "There are no mutants, Shorty," I said. "At least, not like the Custodians claim."

  "Then what the blazes are you?"

  "One of the geneticists in North End secretly altered the genetic makeup of a whole bunch of foetuses – including me – around twenty years ago."

  "Are you even human, then?"

  "We haven't got time for this, Shorty!" I hissed.

  David came forward and grabbed Shorty's arm. "Everything we eat in Newhome has been genetically altered. But that hasn't changed those foods into something other than what they were to start with. The same applies to Ethan – he's still human. Now come on, the longer we stand here debating this, the higher the chance a Skel patrol will find us."

  "I thought I knew you!" Shorty exclaimed petulantly.

  I grabbed him by the scruff of his collar and pulled him close, towering over his diminutive frame. "You do, you silly git, now get over it and get your head in the game."

  Shorty swatted my hands away. "Alright already."

  With Shorty's fears apparently put to rest, we continued our trek through the estate's overgrown 'lawns' and then continued east. We stayed away from the larger roads, using back streets as much as possible.

  Thirty minutes later we reached the railway line that ran about a hundred metres north of the apartment block the Skel sniper was using as his hideout. The railway track was barely visible now, as the gravel ballast had been covered by a hundred years of wind-blown dirt, and had become a fertile bed for grass and weeds to flourish in. The wooden sleepers had also partly rotted away, though the overhead power lines and their steel poles were still largely intact. I tried to imagine how wonderful it must have been for our ancestors to ride those amazing, multi-carriage trains.

  We crossed the railway line, slipped through the yard of a single story house, and then we were in Crown Street – a place I'd hoped to never see again.

  We could hear sounds of drunken carousing and riotous partying coming from several buildings at the other end of the street. The Skel were celebrating their victory in their barbaric style.

  “So that’s what they get up to at night?” David mused.

  “Noisy bunch, aren’t they?” Nanako added.

  “Not to mention rude – we didn’t get an invite,” Shorty pouted.

  “That’s one party invitation I can do without,” I said. “Now come on, let’s keep going.”

  Hugging the buildings to our right, we'd taken only a few steps when Nanako pointed to the dark silhouette of Alpha Company's burnt out lead Bushmaster. "Is that...?"

  "Yeah," I sighed, "This is where Alpha Company bought it – the whole company. They drove right into an ambush."

  As we drew closer, the whole column of burnt out vehicles became visible in the moonlight. Two Bushmasters and four G-Wagons.

  "What happened to them?" Shorty asked in horror.

  "Roadside bomb, rocket, and Molotov cocktails," I replied as we drew alongside the first vehicle. The Custodian's corpses had all been removed, but this was no cause for rejoicing. They hadn't been taken away to be buried. No, the Skel would dismember them and extract their bones to make suits of armour. I suddenly felt nauseous and sickened to the depths of my being. How could humans become so depraved, and not just individuals, but an entire society?

  "Were there any survivors?" Shorty asked quietly.

  "Not in this company, no."

  "You were here when this happened?" Nanako whispered in awe as she reached out and laid a petite hand on my arm.

  "I was in the next street across, where the Skel tried to lure us into a similar trap." I had no desire to recount what happened that particular horrific morning, so I said no more.

  We reached the twelve-story apartment block behind the one the Skel sniper was using, so I called my teammates close. "Okay, this is it. We'll use the staircase here to get to the roof and then jump across to the roof of the building the sniper's using."

  "Jump?" Shorty asked, trying to study my face in the faint moonlight to see if I was joking.

  "Figuratively speaking. The two buildings butt up against one another. I think. Now keep your wits about you, guys, there could be Skel and booby traps anywhere now, so follow my lead carefully."

  Nanako gave my hand a squeeze. "I've got your back."

  "Thanks," I said. Knowing she was watching over me gave me a strong sense of security.

  "Okay, let's do this." I led my team over the crumbling brick fence surrounding the building. We picked our way carefully around a rusting metal hopper-bin and a small shed, and then slipped through the side entrance and into the apartment. As expected, there was a booby trap just inside the doorway, which I helped my companions to step over. The sounds of the Skel party faded as soon as we entered the building, thankfully, this apartment block appeared to be uninhabited. From there we moved quickly down the hallway and into the foyer. We entered the stairwell beside the elevator and began the slow ascent to the roof.

  The climb was slow but not overly tiring, well, not for me since I did this every day back home. The others, however, were panting by the time we reached the roof. So far there'd been no sign of Skel, which didn't surprise me in the slightest, since it never occurred to them that Newhome might send a small infiltration team behind their front lines.

  On the roof, we sat beside the stairwell housing and waited to get our breath back. And while we were wolfing down some energy ration bars and water, we heard the sharp crack of a rifle shot. We weren’t the targets, though; it was the Skel sniper in the top floor of the adjacent building, firing at Newhome.

  "Time to put an end to this," I said as I scrambled to my feet.

  We readied our weapons, ran silently across the roof, and clambered onto the adjoining roof. There was no need to jump, much to Shorty's relief – and we made our way to the stairwell housing.

  David pulled the door open as slowly as possible to minimize the noise made by rusty hinges, revealing stairs that led down to the top floor. It was pitch black inside. I didn’t want to use a torch, but as the others wouldn’t be able to see a thing in there, I pulled a flashlight from my belt, turned it on, and held it beside my pistol.

  The others notched arrows loosely to their bowstrings, and with me in the lead, we slipped down the stairs. We exited the stairwell and entered a corridor where the floor was littered with broken light fittings, collapsed ceiling panels, and chunks of plaster from the walls.

  Sporadic gunshots – which were extremely loud now – were coming from an apartment to the right. We picked our way carefully down the hall by torchlight until we reached the third apartment on the left. The door had been bashed open and was hanging from the doorframe.

  "Right – I’ll lead," I whispered. My friends looked as nervous as I felt. "We charge in there and take them out as fast as possible. We can’t let them shout for help. Th
ere could be other Skel on this level."

  Nanako, her countenance fierce, nodded. The lads just looked on with wide-eyed terror, which I took for their indication that they were as ready as they’d ever be.

  Pistol at the ready, I moved cautiously but quickly through the lounge room. With my companions on my heels, I sprang into the centremost bedroom, where the sounds of gunfire were coming from.

  The sniper and his spotter were lying on the floor in front of a window that had been converted to a bulletproof sniper hide. I was about to pump them full of holes, but only just managed to pull my finger off the trigger before I fired. To my absolute shock, the sniper and his spotter were not Skel at all, but Hamamachi Rangers. In fact, the sniper was Sergeant Tamura and the spotter was Corporal Reina.

  "Hold your fire!" I shouted to my companions just in time for them to draw back their weapons.

  "Sergeant Tamura, Reina?" Nanako asked, barely able to believe what she was seeing.

  "Jones? Nanako?" Sergeant Tamura clambered to his knees and turned to face us, still holding the sniper rifle.

  "Put the gun down and put your hands on your heads. Now!" I snapped angrily. It had never occurred to me for even a minute that these two were the ones who were slaughtering Newhome’s inhabitants.

  The sergeant laid the gun beside him and put his hands on his head. Reina climbed to her knees and laid a magnificent, hi-tech set of binoculars on the floor beside her before she put her hands on her head too. Blinded by the torchlight, they both strained to see who else was with me.

  "Nanako, is that you?" Reina asked innocently, as though speaking to a long lost friend.

  "What are you doing here, Jones?" Tamura demanded. "And how did you get past the Skel anyway? No, don't answer that. Stupid question. You've always been able to sneak past anyone."

  "We came to eliminate the sniper. Just didn’t expect it to be you," I replied. I noticed that he wasn’t the slightest bit nervous, so I tightened the grip on my gun.

  "Well, now you know, so stop pointing your weapons at us," he said.

  "Put your pistols and knives on the floor, and I’ll think about it," I growled.

  "What are you talking about, Jones – you’re a Ranger, remember? We’re on the same side."

  "I think you'll find I was discharged from the Rangers on medical grounds two years ago. And we are not on the same side – not only are you in bed with the Skel, but you’ve been murdering Custodians and civilians."

  "That’s rubbish, Jones, and you know it," he replied angrily. "Newhome tried to nuke Hamamachi, remember? This is payback."

  "I'll admit the attempt to nuke Hamamachi was wrong, but the Custodians only did that in response to Hamamachi supporting the Skel attacks on Newhome," I argued back. "And on that matter, why is Hamamachi trying to destroy Newhome?"

  Tamura just stared at me.

  "Answer the question, Tamura. Why is Hamamachi trying to destroy Newhome? Or is it only the Rangers or a secret faction in Hamamachi behind the Skel attacks? Councillor Okada obviously knew nothing about it."

  "Just trust me when I say we're doing what must be done," the Ranger sergeant answered at last. "Now get your weapons out of my face and either join us or get back to Newhome."

  "I think you misunderstand the gravity of the situation, Sergeant. You two are coming back to Newhome with us as our prisoners. Now put your pistols and knives on the floor behind you and don't try anything. I will shoot you if I have to."

  "You owe us, Ethan," Reina said as she slowly got to her feet.

  "All debts we owed you were cancelled when you started shooting civilians. Now do as I say and move to the middle of the room!" I ordered more sternly this time.

  The Rangers dropped their weapons on the floor beside the sniper rifle and moved to the middle of the room. Echolocation, however, revealed they were both still calm – their heart rates had not increased at all. What did they know that we didn't? Had they managed to call for backup?

  "Right, let's move out." I was anxious to get out of the building as soon as possible. "David, grab the sniper rifle – we can't leave that behind. Nanako, Shorty, lead the way, I'll bring up the rear."

  “Ah, Jones?” David said hesitantly, “Can’t we just take the sniper rifle and let them go?”

  “What’ll that achieve? They’ll just get another one.”

  “But we really do owe them for saving us from the Skel,” he continued.

  “News flash – they’ve been gunning down innocent people, remember?” I wondered what was going on in his head. He understood the stakes as much as anyone else did, so why this sudden misplaced mercy towards our enemy?

  “But the Custodians will interrogate and then execute them, Jones!”

  “That’s enough, David! We’re taking them back to Newhome and that’s final, now get the gun!”

  David glanced apologetically at the Rangers and went to pick up the sniper rifle. Then with David and me bringing up the rear and the Rangers in the middle, we quickly retraced our steps out of the apartment, down the corridor, into the stairwell, and up onto the roof. I was delighted to see the dismay our clandestine route caused Tamura. His heartbeat accelerated as soon as he realised what we were up to. He must have been counting on us trying to get them past the Skel downstairs.

  We crossed over to the adjacent apartment block and began the tedious descent down the stairs. I kept my pistol and torch aimed at the Rangers the entire time. I didn't trust them one iota. Anyone who could ally themselves with the Skel had to be either corrupt or as depraved as the Skel.

  We rested every few levels, more for my companion's sake. I needed them ready in case our prisoners tried anything, though I was beginning to think they weren't going to.

  When we passed the first floor landing, Tamura glanced back at me as he descended the stairs. "You know, Jones? I was with the team sent to find you and your four teammates when you didn't come back from that mission in 2120."

  Several steps further down, Nanako's head snapped up and around when she heard Tamura's claim. This was a topic close to her heart. She had pressed the Ranger colonel to tell her what happened, but he refused to give her any details.

  "And?" I replied, suddenly nervous.

  "You were all on the edge of Skel territory. We found your squad members first. They were in the same street in which we rescued you guys two weeks ago, believe it or not. They’d all been shot dead."

  So I had been there before. But what on earth happened to my squad? Had they really been taken out by Skel? Fragmented memories flashed through my mind, of my teammates lying dead on the road beside the large dark green truck, of Skel charging me, of the vague impression that others were also present. What did this all mean?

  We reached the ground floor. Nanako and Shorty opened the stairwell door and led us into the darkened foyer. From there we went into the corridor that led to the side entrance.

  "And what of Ethan, Sergeant – did you find him too?" Nanako asked keenly.

  "We found Jones a good half a mile away from the others. He had his pistol in his left hand and a bullet hole in his head, and was just barely hanging onto life," the sergeant replied as we approached the entrance. Nanako and Shorty halted, mindful of the booby trap set across the doorway.

  "You found me half a mile from the others?" I asked, shocked. Surely I didn’t leave them and run? And what was with the pistol in my hand – Nanako said I’d been shot at point blank range by someone I knew. How did all these pieces fit together?

  Sergeant Tamura stopped and turned to face me. "Who killed your team?"

  "I have no idea, Tamura, thanks to this blasted amnesia," I replied, my words tinged with frustration.

  He took a step closer, his face completely illuminated by torchlight. "Why’d you try to pop yourself, Jones?"

  Chapter Twenty-Seven

  "What?" I stammered, stunned by his question and its implications. What could have led me to attempt suicide? If the Skel had killed my team, why didn’t I try
to avenge them?

  "That’s not possible!" Nanako exclaimed from where she stood near the door.

  "It’s your fault your team got ambushed and wiped out, isn’t it?" Tamura continued. "The great and mighty Ethan Jones, who could supposedly spot a Skel ambush a mile away. You led your team right into one, didn’t you. And then you ran."

  "No, I can’t have," I practically whimpered, looking to Nanako for help. She told me I’d been shot by someone I knew – not by myself!

  "You ran like a coward and then when you realised you’d led your teammates to their deaths, the shame was so great you decided to kill yourself rather than live with it. I’m right, aren’t I, Jones?"

  "I…I can’t remember what happened that day." I stumbled over my words as the horror of what he was saying tore through me like a hurricane. Did I lead my team into a Skel ambush? Is that what my memories meant? Did I run and try to kill myself in a fit of remorse?

  As I desperately tried to wade through the morass of thoughts and fears that raged through me, my hands dropped so that the torch and gun were no longer aimed at the sergeant. And that was the opportunity he’d been waiting for. He sprang into action immediately, kicking the gun from my hands and striking me full in the chest with a palm fist, sending me stumbling backwards. He turned to David next, who stood there and made no attempt to defend himself as the sergeant delivered a roundhouse kick to the side of his head. David dropped like a stone.

  As I quickly regained my balance, I saw Reina attack as well. She kicked Shorty in the groin and when he doubled over in agony, she grabbed his head and bounced it off her knee. I heard the crack as his nose broke, and the poor guy cried out in pain and collapsed, blood pouring from his nose. After that Reina turned on Nanako, but as my wife had been trained in karate during her Militia days, she fought back ferociously, doing her best to block Reina's kicks and punches and delivering some of her own.

  But that was all the time I had to watch because Sergeant Tamura attacked me with intent to kill as he tried to deliver a knife-hand strike to my throat. I stepped back and deflected the blow, but he followed with a roundhouse to my ribs, sending pain lancing through my torso.