King of the Wasteland: Follow-up to Knight of the Wasteland

by Jon Cronshaw

  Jacob looks away. “That's not fair.”

  “It's perfectly fair. Sometimes you have to do what’s right, even if it’s the hardest thing to do.”

  “I don’t see why I should do this alone.”

  “Damn it, Jacob. I’ve already said I'll come with you.”

  “And me,” says Sis. “I can keep watch.”

  Abel nods. “Okay, you, me, and Jacob. We’ll do this. Tonight.”

  “What about me?” asks David.

  “You should help out here, kid. There's lots to do and the more of us on the road, the more chance we’ll be spotted. If we can get the weapons, then we’ve got a chance of getting Trinity back.”

  The corners of Jacob’s lips twitch. “Fine,” he sighs, folding his arms.

  Abel turns to Sis. “I need you to keep watch. I need you to promise me that you’re not going to kill unless your life is in immediate danger. That sound fair?”

  Sis nods.

  THE LAST RAYS OF SUNLIGHT cast the hills behind them in a fiery glow. Jacob takes a left off the highway, climbing an embankment.

  “Where are we going?” Abel asks, his feet catching on knotted tree roots.

  Jacob pauses for a moment, shaking his head. “We are going to Trinity.”

  “But it’s not for a few miles.”

  “We need to approach from the rear. We can cut across the farmland.”

  They reach the slope’s top and push through a cluster of birches and oaks, their trunks closely packed and limbs bare. Branches snap underfoot as ferns and nettles brush against their legs.

  After ten minutes or so, they reach the trees’ edge and look out over the farmland. A wire fence snakes across the fields, rising and falling with the landscape. Bales of hay lie stacked at regular intervals along ploughed ridges. A network of irrigation ditches runs along the fence, tributaries branching out into the fields.

  In the distance, Abel squints at a cluster of white dots moving around beneath the emerging moon.

  “What are they?” Sis asks, following Abel’s gaze.

  “They’re sheep,” Jacob says. “It looks like that so-called king hasn’t ventured out this far.”

  “This is all Trinity?” Abel asks.

  “Of course.”

  “I didn’t know it went out this far.”

  Jacob vaults a ditch and climbs over the wire fence, stumbling onto the soft dirt. “We’ve got a settlement of more than two-hundred people...” His voice trails off. “We had.” He shakes his head.

  “We’re going to get it back,” says Abel. “Whatever it takes. There are too many lives on the line here.”

  Jacob stops and rubs his chin.

  “What is it?”

  “I was just thinking about the implications of what we’re about to do. When we get these weapons, we’re admitting that we are prepared to kill.”

  “I am,” Sis says. “You have to.”

  Jacob turns to her. “You may be comfortable doling out death like some Godless raider, but we are not God. We do not have the right to make that decision.”

  “What you doing, then?” Sis shrugs. “You go back. Live at Grid. Feed those people.”

  Abel lets out a sigh. “Sis is right. You’ve got all these fields for Trinity. You’ve got the Grid looking pretty good, but you said it yourself you’ve only got a few days’ food.”

  Jacob looks around and waves his hands in a helpless gesture. “We need to go back. It’s over. I’m not like you. I’m not a fighter.”

  “Damn it, Jacob. I’m not a fighter either. If you go back, you’re splitting your community for good, and that choice will be on you.”

  There’s a long silence then Jacob nods to himself. “Fine,” he says, moving forward.

  AFTER TRUDGING ACROSS the fields for almost an hour, Trinity appears over the brow of a hill. They look down at the settlement, white smoke rising into the sky.

  “What’s the plan?” Abel asks.

  Jacob swallows. “We wait until they are asleep. I’ll go down first, open the cache. Once I’m in, I’ll get the weapons out.”

  “I’m hungry,” Sis says.

  Abel looks around and walks over to a pair of trees, huddled together and bent by the wind. “We’ll wait over there and eat. I’ve got a tin in my jacket. We can share that. It’s going to be cold, but we can’t start a fire.”

  Abel sits cross-legged with his back against the taller tree. He pierces the tin with his hunting knife and flips the lid, sniffing its contents.

  “Is it beans?” Sis asks.

  Grinning, Abel holds the tin up. “Not this time. We’ve got peaches.”

  Jacob gives a relieved sigh. “I can’t abide cold beans. Shall I say grace?”

  Abel shrugs. “You do what you want. I’m hungry.” He dips his fingers into the syrup and pulls out a couple of peach slices, cold and fleshy, and passes the tin to Sis. His mouth fills with the sweetness and he leans back, swallowing.

  When Sis hands the tin to Jacob, he places it on the ground, closes his eyes and mutters a prayer to himself. With delicate movement, he fishes out a slice with his bony fingers. He holds it up and turns it, inspecting it, his lip curling.

  “It’s not going to bite,” Abel says. “Just eat it.”

  Jacob winces then lowers the peach slice onto his tongue. “It’s not bad,” he says, chewing. “I don’t usually care for canned fruit.”

  “If you don’t get Trinity back, you’re going to have to get used to that.”

  “You two sleep,” suggests Sis. “I can watch then wake you when safe.”

  Abel removes his jacket, wrapping it around himself like a blanket. “You sure?”

  “Rest is good. I will watch.”

  “Thanks, Sis.” He takes the switchblade from his jacket pocket and flicks open the blade. Turning it against the moonlight, he gropes around on the ground until he finds a round stone. With his back against the tree, he sharpens the blade, building into a slow, methodical rhythm until drifting to sleep.

  ABEL IS AWAKENED BY a gentle shake at his shoulder. He looks around at the bare branches, shivering.

  “Jacob gone ahead,” Sis says, standing over him, her eyes focused on something in the distance. “We wait then get weapons.”

  Sitting up, Abel looks around confused. “What? Where’s Jacob?”

  Sis points towards Trinity. “He gone. He nearly there. He said we follow and he get weapons.”

  “Right.” Abel gets up and shakes the soil from his jacket. He stretches and rolls his shoulder, tilting his head as bones pop and crack. “Shall we?”

  Sis leads the way towards Trinity, marching over damp soil. She takes her rifle from her shoulder and looks through the sight.

  “What you seeing?”

  “He nearly there. He not good at hiding.”

  “Can I see?”

  Sis nods and hands the rifle to Abel. He raises the sight to his right eye, sweeping it along the fence until he spots Jacob. “Damn it,” he says. “He’s not even trying.”

  He hands the rifle back and pulls at his beard. “We should pick it up a bit. We don’t want him down there for longer than he needs to be.”

  “Okay,” Sis says, jogging ahead.

  Abel follows and they make their way towards Trinity’s rear fence.

  Sis stops when they are fifty or so metres away and takes up her rifle.

  “Where is he?”

  “He looking around for something. He keep scraping at ground.”

  “Can I look?”

  Sis passes Abel the rifle. He cocks his head, gazing through the sight, watching as Jacob paces back and forth, rubbing his chin. He kicks at the ground and stops, dropping to his knees and clawing at the soil in a flurry of movement. “I think he’s found it.”

  “We wait,” Sis says, taking back her rifle. “Then go when he inside.”

  Abel nods. “We should probably get some better cover,” he says, looking around.

  Sis runs towards a hay bale and takes up her
rifle. Abel follows, tripping over rough ground. A loud metallic scraping echoes around them. “He open ground. He going inside.”

  “Damn it, they’re going to hear him for miles.” Abel bites down on his bottom lip, sweat pooling around the back of his neck.

  “Crap.” Sis drops the rifle’s sight, turning to Abel with wide eyes.

  “What?”

  “They climb fence. Drop down.”

  “Who?”

  “Men. They got Jacob.”

  Abel shakes his head. He snatches the rifle and looks down at Jacob. A couple of men retrieve weapons from the cache. Another man leads Jacob away. “Damn it. Now what?”

  “Shoot them.”

  Shaking his head, Abel looks away. “I can’t.”

  Sis grabs for the rifle and Abel pulls it back.

  “Don’t,” Abel snaps. “We can’t fight them. We need another way.” He looks back at the settlement, shaking his head. “Let’s go back. Sal needs to know.”

  20. Jacob

  Abel marches along the highway, his fists clenched as the late morning sun shines above.

  Sis lags behind, stumbling.

  “You okay?” Abel asks.

  “Just tired. How far?”

  “Shouldn’t be too long at all. We're nearly there. Just a bit more.”

  Sis nods and adjusts the rifles on her back.

  “Do you want me to take any of those? I don't mind carrying them the rest of the way.”

  “No. I keep them with me.”

  “Aren't they heavy?”

  “Sometimes. They are now. Just need sleep then I'll be okay.”

  Abel nods. “I guess you didn't sleep last night, did you?”

  “Was watching.”

  Abel gestures ahead as the rocky outcrop emerges to the highway’s left. “Here we go,” he says, smiling. He shakes his head. “Never thought I'd see the day when I’d be glad to be back at the Grid.”

  Sis catches up to Abel, matching his pace. A line of rusted lamp posts stands bent and twisted, their surfaces mottled with moss and stained with streaks of rain-smeared dust. Yellowed vines cling to the highway’s edge, their forms dead and brittle. A sheet of plastic catches the wind, swirling in aimless loops, chased by leaves and rolling twigs. “Why did you stay there?” she asks.

  Rubbing the back of his neck, Abel looks up at the circling clouds and sighs. “Was a long time ago.” He shrugs one shoulder. “I was taking plez back then. Didn't really have anywhere else to go. When I was there, everyone was on the stuff. The Family was set up there. It was a really bad place.”

  “Seems bad now. People fighting. Don't like trouble.”

  “Yep,” Abel says. “Different type of bad. At least people are looking out for each other, even if they're divided. Back when I was there, people only wanted one thing, and it didn't matter who they robbed or killed.” He grits his teeth. “There was no loyalty, no friendship. I can't believe I was like that.”

  “You killed?”

  Abel stops and shakes his head, tugging at his beard. “I never killed, but I robbed people. I used to steal things, mug people on the roads. I was a bit of a mean bastard and it was all because of the drugs.”

  Sis staggers to a halt and looks back at him. “You clean now. You don't rob.”

  “People change,” he says. “We can be different people.”

  Sis shifts a rifle from her shoulder and holds it out in front of her with both hands, staring down at the barrel. “Think I can change? I don't want to kill. I don't like to.”

  Abel walks over to her and places a hand on her shoulder. “You are a good person, Sis. You just need people around you.” He gestures behind him. “We should keep going.”

  Sis takes Abel's hand and they walk along the highway together, not speaking.

  AS THEY APPROACH THE entrance to the Grid, Sis stops and points. “Sal waiting.”

  Abel squints at the blur in the distance, marching forward until her shape comes towards them, jogging.

  “Thank God you're back,” Sal says, almost breathless. “I was praying for you all.”

  Sal looks past Abel. “Where's Jacob?”

  Abel opens his palms and shakes his head. “They took him, Sal. There was nothing we could have done.”

  A breath catches in Sal’s throat. “What happened?”

  “Jacob opened the shutters and it must've drawn them out. A couple of them came. They got him. I think they've taken him hostage.”

  Sal tugs at her hair and glances over her shoulder towards the Grid. “For Heaven’s sake, what are we going to do?”

  Abel shrugs. “All I know is they’ve got Jacob and they’re better armed than they were.”

  “They've got the weapons too?”

  Abel nods. “Sorry, Sal.”

  “I could have shot them.” Sis says, staring off. “Abel not want me to.”

  “What should we do?” Sal asks.

  There's a long pause and Abel looks down at the ground. “I don't know.”

  “Don't you think you should think of something?”

  Abel raises his hands and goes to walk away.

  “Wait,” Sal says, grabbing his shoulder. “Wait.” Her voice softens. “Please.”

  “Damn it, Sal. You can't keep putting stuff like this on me.”

  “I'm sorry. It's just...” She gives Abel a haunted look. “I can just see everything falling apart around us. I feel so powerless.”

  “We should get a group of us to try to get Jacob back.”

  “I'll come.”

  Abel snorts. “And do what?”

  “They sent an envoy. We could do the same. I could tell them about the farms, how to manage the animals, how to rotate the seeds in the fields.”

  “For what?”

  “Exchange the knowledge for Jacob. I can offer to help them keep Trinity running, without us.”

  “You think they’ll want to talk?”

  “I don't see why not. They don't know what Jacob’s skills are. They’ve got no reason to kill him. We can talk to their leader and try to see if we can reason with him.”

  Abel shakes his head. “You sure that's what you want to do?”

  “Yes.”

  “What if we hit another bug swarm or a dust storm?” He offers her a grim smile and sighs. “I’m worried about you, Sal. You don't seem to be coping well with this at all.”

  “If you are talking about the other night—”

  “Don't,” Abel raises his hands, turning his head away. “Just leave it. It's not about that. It's everything. You cut off your locks.”

  Sal reaches up and tugs at her hair. “There were too many bugs,” she says. “I didn't know what to do. I'll get used to things.”

  Abel lets out a deep breath. “Okay,” he says, shrugging. “When do you want to leave?”

  “Now.”

  “I go find David,” Sis says, walking away.

  “Damn it, Sal. We’ve just got back from there.”

  Sal’s eyes narrow. “Now,” she snaps.

  SAL WALKS AT ABEL’S right, skirting the highway’s edge. Sis and David walk several metres behind them, pushing each other and giggling.

  “I can't believe you lived out here for so long and survived,” Sal says.

  Abel takes in the bare earth, the blast craters, the foundations of long destroyed buildings. “I wouldn’t live here,” he says, frowning. “This is too open — no trees, no life. You need food, water, and somewhere to keep you warm and dry — there’s none of that here.”

  “Is it better where you are?”

  “You mean my garage?” Able shrugs. “I guess. There are more things growing. There’s a lot of dead trees, but a lot of them are still alive.”

  “I'd like to see it.”

  “See what?”

  “Where you live. David was telling me you've been fixing it up over the past year. It sounds like you made yourself quite the little home.”

  Abel stiffens and looks at the ground. “I don't know, Sal. It
’s a hard journey. I'm not sure if you’d cope.”

  Sal stops and glares at Abel. “Why would you say that?”

  “Say what? Just being realistic. You nearly had a meltdown, and that was just half-a-day's walk. You're talking an extra day's travel. Finding somewhere to sleep halfway. Not wanting to be disrespectful.” Abel looks around. “All I'm saying is you’ve had it too good at Trinity. You're not used to being out here. You don't have what it takes to survive. That’s nothing against you, that’s just how it is.”

  “You could teach me.”

  “I've got my life to live, Sal. I need to get ready for winter.”

  “Just go then,” Sal snaps. “Leave me. I thought you cared.”

  Abel shakes his head as Sal looks up at him with teary eyes.

  “I'm not going to leave you until you’re safe. Let's try to stay focused.”

  Sal nods.

  “Things like that aren’t going to help you survive. You’ve got to keep your emotions out of it.” He turns to see Sis and David ahead, Sis scanning the road with a rifle.

  Sal stares at him, wordless.

  “We should keep moving,” Abel says. “The longer Jacob is there, the more danger he'll be in.”

  Sal raises her chin. “Jacob is smart. He will be teaching them about medicines and how to treat wounds. I just hope they are willing to talk to us.”

  “Yep. Me too.” Abel stops and looks her up and down.

  “You got any weapons?”

  Sal shakes her head. “Nothing.”

  Abel nods. “Here.” He reaches into his jacket and pulls out the switchblade, tossing it to her. “It’s not much, but if anything happens...”

  Sal catches the handle and flicks the knife open. She stares at the blade for several seconds, turning it in her hand, and smiles. “Thank you,” she says. “God willing, I won’t have to use it.”

  THEY TURN LEFT ONTO the trail towards Trinity, stepping over filled-in trenches as the settlement comes into view.

  Abel raises a hand, gesturing for them to stop. “Sis, what can you see?”