Years After Series | Book 1 | Nine Years After

by Clary, LeRoy

  Another voice, a woman said, “What you shouted was repeated and circulated like no other rumor ever has. The council issued denials, at first. Several of them. They even threatened anyone who spread the lies with punishment, even death.”

  My eyes were closed again. The pain had subsided, and I listened. My mind was working at a rate twice as fast as they spoke, and I wished they could speed up. Instead, they talked in soft monotones very slowly as if I was stupid and I realized the drugs surging in my body were working overtime.

  “They hid you in a storage area where you were beaten and questioned. You were ordered to tell the truth.”

  I remembered part of it. Not much.

  The woman in charge leaned closer to me and almost whispered, “Only one thing is critically important right now. How much of what you said was true?”

  “All.” That one word tore at my dry lips and hurt to say.

  The man took the time to do whatever. I didn’t hear or watch so the only thing that got my attention was when he addressed me again. “We are part of the medical staff and our lives have been threatened if we ever revealed the subject of low births. There were quite a few born for the first two years. We assumed women were taking precautions in not having children in this restricted environment. That lie was spread as truth. However, in the past three years, some of us have questioned that.”

  Much the same as in Deep Hole.

  He seemed to struggle with the next statement. “Those present in this room know the truth. We hid our research from authorities but found the water is treated with a birth-control drug, thanks to you tipping us off. If what you said was true, there had to be a central distribution method that every woman had to share, and there are only a few possibilities for that. The water was obvious, once we knew what to look for.”

  “Why?” I mouthed, trying not to move as I spoke. His answer might explain a lot.

  “Simple. Babies mean more mouths to feed. Fewer resources for all. Our supplies were estimated at lasting fifteen years and are rapidly decreasing. They will not last that long unless the population decreases drastically Restricting births will allow the sanctuary to exist longer.”

  “Damn.” The word flowed naturally from my mouth. That explained the reason. If the same thing had happened in two sanctuaries, it must have been part of the original plan—or a contingency. The leaders knew that they could extend the resources by limiting births, which is another way of saying that the leaders could live their natural lives below ground. They would never have to face the expected horrors on the surface.

  It also meant they chose the younger people to live through hell as the food stores and other resources ran out. The people would be too scared to go above ground yet living below would be impossible. They had traded their lives for those around them.

  It all made sense. Just the mention of reducing births through the only source of water in the sanctuaries filled in the gaps Mayfield and I had missed at Deep Hole. We’d almost guessed the entire answer, but that lone piece had escaped us.

  Probably because it was so perverse and twisted, too hard to believe. The leaders traded the lives of future babies, so their extended presence and safety were paramount.

  I tried to sit and failed. A hand restrained me.

  The woman who had spoken earlier, the one who asked me how much of what I’d shouted had been true, moved in front of the man, directly in front of me where I didn’t have to shift to see her. She said, “Now we know. Three days ago, we rescued you and brought you here. You are probably our only hope.”

  The man said, “The soldiers tried to stop us, and kill you.”

  The woman nodded and continued, “That was the beginning of the revolt. It is where we now stand. The members of the council have control of the weapons and army, such as it is. More of a police force to protect them, in my opinion. We have numbers on our side. Everyone is upset and taking sides.”

  “You told everyone down here?” It hurt to say even that much but I needed to know.

  “Yes,” the woman said. “Rumors were already spreading, many of them so wild they couldn’t be true and might cause more harm. We mutually agreed to tell the truth about the children to everyone. The council heard about us and sent four of their men to kill us if you can believe that. Guns and everything.”

  The man said, “We’re barricaded in here. Too late for them because we managed to get the word out before they did that. We also snuck to the storage room where they had you locked up and put you on a gurney to roll you here.”

  The woman stepped back into my field of view. “They built the doors to the infirmary with strong locks and there are hundreds of people in the passage outside protecting us. We hear there have been two battles, the army against everyone else.”

  That didn’t sound good. The army had weapons.

  As if predicting my response, she hurried on, “Don’t worry. Some of the army troops defected and joined our side. Others refuse to shoot friends and relatives. More are questioning all we’ve believed for nine years, and slowly leaving their assignments and joining us. You can help convince the remaining doubters.”

  Me? I couldn’t move, let alone talk.

  She gave me a soft pat on my shoulder and nodded to the one standing behind me. I felt myself drifting off once again. She must have told the nurse to increase the medication again.

  When I woke, the overall pain was less. The room was crowded with people, all of them watching me. I did a quick count and found the number above fifteen in a room intended for five or six.

  My mind returned from sleep to crystal-clear in moments. It had to be the drugs.

  “Can you speak?” the same woman asked.

  I worked my mouth, moved my tongue, and wet my lips before saying, “Yes.”

  “Give it a few more minutes. This won’t take long, and you can rest and revive some more. If you see shocked expressions on some of us, understand that they beat you severely and most of your body is covered in bruises, cuts, and scrapes. You were a mess when we rescued you.”

  “I came to rescue you,” I tried to joke. Not a single person laughed and only a few smiled. They were worried and fearful.

  My pain wracked my body with any move, but they had propped me up slightly before I woke, and my mind was racing.

  “We have questions when you are ready,” the same woman said.

  It seemed that everyone had been ordered to let her do the talking. I appreciated that. “Ready.”

  She said, “How about I talk and then ask what you agree or disagree with? Save you some trouble of trying to talk too much.”

  “Good.”

  Like the others down here, no one had introduced themselves. They knew on one level I was a stranger, but on another, they hadn’t met anyone new in years.

  The room, like all med units, was mostly white trimmed in stainless steel. It has the leftover scents of previous meds and numerous cleanings. The bare walls bounced her voice back at me.

  “Let me make a few bare statements, first. Don’t worry if they are not a hundred percent accurate, we want to establish the basics and pass those on to the rest of our people. If you agree, blink twice.”

  I did.

  “Up there, things are like they were as far as plants and animals. By that, I mean there are no mutations, radiation illness, and people still speak English.”

  I gave her two blinks when she paused.

  “There are opposing factions fighting for territory. No sign of national rule.”

  Two blinks. There were many more than two opposing sides, but that was irrelevant at this point.

  “We assume they had forgotten about us until your arrival.”

  One blink.

  “Oh? Well, that will need clarification later. My point was, they left us alone for all these years.”

  Because they didn’t know where we were. Still, I gave her two more blinks and would explain later.

  “They recently located a nearby smaller sanctuary
and burrowed into it, killing everyone and taking the guns and ammo.”

  Two blinks. Then a grunt. I said, “Also located my home. We killed them. They still are searching.”

  “Save your voice, but I understand. Your sanctuary sent you to locate others and warn us. The weapons they use on the surface are old and ineffective, so what we have here swings the balance of power. The local baron wants to expand and locating this sanctuary will enable him to defeat others.”

  Two blinks.

  “We are safe because he does not know where we are.”

  No blinks.

  People shuffled, looked at each other, and exchanged fearful expressions.

  She said, rewording her question more definitively, “Does he know our location?”

  “Not yet. He knows you are close.”

  “And he will not stop searching until he finds us. He also has a hostage he is torturing from another sanctuary. One that knows our location. You do not know which one. He may reveal us.”

  Two blinks.

  “The other has a map? You also had one. Where is yours?”

  “A friend.” I jabbed a thumb into the air to indicate she was right above us. At least, she had been the last I knew.

  More fearful looks were exchanged. The possibility of a pair of maps indicating the locations scared them all. It should.

  She paused as she framed the next question. “We have information that those people up there hate us and will kill us on sight. True?”

  Two blinks.

  “You estimate that we have, at most, six months to live. We heard that you told that to our council of leaders and they ignored you.”

  Ninety days, but what the hell? Two blinks.

  “You also said that we may be attacked in as little as two or three days.”

  I met her steady gaze, glanced at the others waiting for my answer and blinked twice.

  Fear permeated the room as tangible as the myriad of smells.

  “Go to sleep and we will talk later when you can fully participate.”

  CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE

  I awoke twice more, for brief intervals where I ate and sipped water through a glass straw. An intravenous needle fed meds into me. I saw the swellings go down, the bruises fade, and my strength returned. Only a silent nurse remained at my side.

  The third time I woke, the woman with the questions was back, a new bandage wrapped around her forehead, an eye was blackened, and a fresh cut over her lip. She looked in better shape than the man at her side.

  I asked, “What happened?”

  My pain felt greatly reduced, to overall stiffness. A slight headache dulled my thinking but seemed to be alleviating quickly. I was in a semi-sitting position.

  Only the three of us were in the dispensary, the nurse, the woman without a name, and me.

  “A lot,” she said. “While you’ve been sleeping, a full-scale revolt took place where dozens have perished in the fighting.”

  “They got inside? Sir Wilson’s men?”

  “No, no. Not from above. We were fighting our leaders. Those you were interviewed by when you arrived. Everything you told them was true, although much needs further explanation and that time has arrived. We’ve pumped you full of stimulants again, so you can talk. Hopefully, that’s okay with you.”

  “Fine,” I said, anxious to hear her story as much as she was to hear mine. “You first.”

  “Not much to tell. Between your outburst and two members of the council, who believed what was happening was wrong and broke away, the story leaked out. The truth. When those on the council ordered you locked up and beaten, people objected. The next thing we knew was when armed soldiers marched through the sanctuary arresting troublemakers, which included me.”

  “You’re free now?”

  She gave a weary smile then winced in pain. “People started fighting back. We threw chairs, dishes, anything. Some of us called out soldiers we knew by name. Shamed them. Several refused to fight us, some even joined our side. In a few hours, it was over.”

  “Over how?” My questions were quick and to the point, because I didn’t know how long the meds would keep me active.

  “Three of the council died in the fighting. Ten of us did. In the end, the others on the council are locked in a conference room and we have a new government.”

  “You’re part of the new government?”

  “Hell, I’m the leader.” Another laugh attempt and another wince.

  “What do you want from me?”

  “Information. Do you mind if I have a few others in here, so I don’t have to repeat everything you say?”

  “Bring them.”

  A few minutes later, the room was crowded with silent people who didn’t introduce themselves. I looked at the woman and said, “I need to know who you are.”

  “Maggie. Maggie Henderson a long time ago when I had a husband. Now we just use first names.”

  “Danner,” I said looking around the room, so they all knew my name.

  Maggie said, “There is something of a time-crunch, with all that’s going on and a population of extremely anxious people. Can we get right to it?”

  I nodded, curious what information she considered the most important.

  “Let’s clarify a few facts, so everyone here understands the overall picture. Above, on the surface, is free of contagion and is much like before we escaped below ground.”

  “Far fewer people, but yes. Even better than before in many ways.”

  “Those people up there, to your knowledge, have no centralized government and have descended to something of a feudal system where areas are held by locals with enough of an army to maintain control.”

  “I don’t know about anywhere else, but that is true for here.”

  “Their weapons are old. One out of every ten in disrepair, and there is little ammunition. They make their own, which is not very good. For that reason, they want to find our sanctuary and take our guns and ammo, which will tip the balance of power above.”

  “All true.” It was obvious the people in the room had heard all of this but wanted to hear it from me.

  Maggie allowed the pause to continue. It was clear she was building up to something. “The local leader calls himself Sir Wilson and he knows there are more sanctuaries than the one he has raided. He killed all the occupants there. You saw that yourself.”

  “Yes.”

  “He has a prisoner from another sanctuary that you believe has a map. Because of that, Sir Wilson’s men located your home.”

  “True.”

  Heads turned to look at others. Feet shuffled. She was about to spring her trap. “You told the council they did not enter your sanctuary that you call Deep Hole and Sir Wilson has not sent the bulk of his army there to destroy the sanctuary. Why not?”

  There it was. She had found what seemed a weakness in my story, or maybe an outright lie. She went for it before I could think of how to spin my answer. I spoke without emotion, “Because the woman who was sent out with me, and myself, killed them all eighteen of them and dragged their bodies into the entrance of Deep Hole, closed and locked the outer door, then cleared away all evidence the army had been there. We re-hid the entrance.”

  Her eyes narrowed. “How many did you say you killed?”

  “Eighteen.”

  There was disbelief on several faces. Maggie quickly went on, “Can you tell us how two raw youngsters with no military experience killed eighteen soldiers while neither of you was wounded?”

  I shrugged. “They were stupid. Inexperienced recruits still training with inferior weapons. We set a couple of traps and had better weapons. In our sanctuary, every young person was instructed in personal combat and the use of weapons by a former sergeant in the American army.”

  I was not liking the way the questions were going. My anger was in check but barely. I forced myself to relax. If the situation were reversed, I’d be asking hard questions.

  Maggie said, “You located us because of your map. W
here is it?”

  “With friends.”

  “Not people from sanctuaries?”

  “True. It was not left with them on purpose but was stored with my things. I only intended to meet with your leaders for an hour and then the three of us were leaving for Montana.”

  “I see. But the fact remains that if Sir Wilson or any of his men capture your friends, the map will indicate our location.”

  “Not necessarily.” I saw the anxious faces and decided to give them hope. “The leaders of Deep Hole were concerned with the map falling into the wrong hands, so the map had random icons placed on it. Houses, trees, dogs, roses, and others. The roses indicated the known sanctuaries, however, nobody with the map would understand that. I can’t say what the map the other has, or the details on it.”

  “Thank your leaders for that! We are told the larger problem is that they have found and raided, at least, one sanctuary and know there are others. Rewards for information have been offered. It would take only one resident of Everett who knew of the original construction to reveal us, even though it was done in secret. Still, things like that are never fully unknown. Construction crews, carpenters, and all.”

  I said, “Even without a map, now that they are searching, there are clues. Without a map, I could had found this place. They will find it.”

  “What sort of clues?”

  I let my mind wander for a moment and finally said, “A lot is negative information. The government wouldn’t build a shelter below a supermarket, or movie theater, or row of private houses, so Sir Wilson can rule those places out. It probably would be under a building owned by the government. One where a lot of people enter and leave so hide the face of what it is, so rule out small buildings. The elevator in this one probably had some sort of special key or code to go down to the sanctuary instead of the other floors.”

  “Meaning most places could be ruled out or eliminated by logic. I see. That limits the search considerably.”