by Jon Cronshaw
Abel climbs up onto the pickup truck and stands next to the wizard. “You can stand around debating this all day, but we really need to start getting to work. We need to make a ramp. We need to make weapons and shields. Look around you, these cars are made from things we can use. We should hit them at first light. They've got firearms. I'm sure there's a few of us around who’ve got weapons.” He pats the shotgun strapped to his shoulder. “We might be out-gunned, but we can use our numbers to overwhelm them. A few of you need to stay back here with the kids. With Big Ned's people and everyone from the Grid, there should be a good few hundred of us.”
“They're behind a big fence. And they are well-armed,” a bony man calls out. “You're sending us into a certain death.”
Abel shakes his head. “You're right. They've got all the advantages. But all of you from Trinity aren't going to be welcome here for much longer. You are going to have to split up if you're going to be in with a chance of surviving. And even then, most of you won't cope.” His eyes drift to Sal. “I'd hazard a guess that half of you will be dead by the time winter’s done, maybe more.” Raising his chin, he casts his gaze east, following the highway towards Trinity. “If you don't want to help, then go. Leave now and don't look back.” He scans across the faces, watching the low murmurings and whispers. “Anyone?” He waits again, but no one moves. “Good.”
27. The Campervan
Walking at the wizard’s side, Abel inspects the rusted remains of a pair of sinking trucks. “You think we can do anything with these?”
“No, man. It’ll take too long to do anything. We need to look for stuff we can use now.”
“These tyres look pretty hefty. I made some armour with some tyres once, saved my life.”
The wizard nods, rubbing his chin. “That could work, I guess. Only trouble we’ve got is if we start making things like armour, then we’ve got to make it for everyone.” He looks around. “We might have enough tyres, but how long did it take? I’ve tried to cut through those things in the past and they’re filled with metal.”
“Yep. Took me a while. You need tools to cut through them. We don’t have time.”
Grunting, the wizard yanks a rusted car door from its hinges, staggering back when it comes free. “We could use these though.”
“What?”
“The doors, man. A couple of people could walk behind these. Might be enough to stop an arrow or two.”
Abel grins. “Sounds good. We need as much cover as we can get.”
“I’ll tell the others.”
“Should start with the ones people aren’t using to sleep in.”
“Good point,” the wizard says. “If this thing doesn’t work out, then at least I’ll still have somewhere.”
Abel rolls his eyes. “Right.”
“What?”
“After everything you’ve been through, it’s still all about you.”
The wizard raises a hand. “I do what I need to survive, man.”
Abel stops and gestures past the wizard. “Remember that thing?”
“Yeah, I remember chasing after that thing. Nearly got me killed.”
Abel approaches the campervan first, its sides scorched. “We sure did a number on this.”
“What happened to those kids?”
“Most of them stayed at Trinity. A couple of them went back to the Family.”
“Glad we saw the back of them. It was hard when the plez dried up. A lot of violence around here.” He looks around, swallowing. “Bad days, man.”
“What do you mean?” Abel kicks the campervan’s tyres, still inflated.
“After what happened with us, we move them out. People still got plez though. And then it just stopped. They just got up and moved on.”
“You know where they went?”
“Damned if I know.”
“I took out their factory.”
The wizard cocks his head. “Yeah, right, good one. The factory is in the city. Unless you're good at swimming...” He pushes out his bottom lip.
“I had a boat and some dynamite. Watched it fall into the water.”
There's a long pause, and the wizard raises his eyebrows. “Is that true?”
“What do you think?”
“I think you're nuts, whether you're lying or not.”
“Got no reason to lie. And you said yourself the supplies dwindled.”
The wizard holds his gaze, looking at him for several seconds. “You’re telling the truth, aren’t you? You really did it.” He shakes his head, grinning. “You really are nuts.”
Abel looks down, smiling. “Maybe.”
Pacing around the campervan, the wizard crouches next to each tyre, testing them. After checking all four, he looks up at Abel. “We got four intact wheels and a solid frame. I think we can work with this for a ramp.”
“Look at it, it's burnt.”
“That's just the bodywork, man. Structure’s still intact.” He wanders around the outside, pondering the campervan's form. “We have to pull off the sides, keep the front and get rid of all of this.” He gestures to the campervan's accommodation.
“I suppose,” Abel says, rubbing his chin. “If we made a walkway, we could use it to get over the fence.”
“Let's get some people.”
Abel stops and shakes his head. “There's no way we’ll be able to get this to work.”
“What do you mean?”
“It's half a day's walk to Trinity.”
“So? We’ve seen this thing being pulled along before. That's what we need to do.”
Abel nods. “Right.”
BIG NED AND SECOND Bob sit cross-legged on the ground as they each drag a stone along steel rods, sharpening their ends to a point.
“How are you getting on?” Abel asks.
Big Ned looks up and snorts. “Busy making sharp.”
“We found these metal things, mister,” Second Bob says. “We whittling them to point. They better than sticks.”
Abel takes a seat on the ground and examines Second Bob's spike, nodding as the reflected sunset runs across its surface. “I think the wizard is nearly done building a ramp. You think your people are going to be ready to head out first thing?”
“We always ready, mister,” Second Bob says.
“Keep your words, boy,” Big Ned says, flashing Second Bob a glare. He turns to Abel. “We be ready. We got spikes. We got shields. If we get in, they going to get got.”
Abel sighs and looks down at his hands, the creases along his palms black with grime. “Yep. I just hope your people are okay in there. They killed a friend of mine, hung him up on a cross.”
“They pull Little Big Ned and Second Ned up on ropes by their necks. They took Big Bob’s head.” Big Ned says. “They bad. They got to get got.”
“I was thinking we should get on the highway after breakfast,” Abel says, looking up at the sky. “You should get some water boiled from the well, make sure you’ve got something to drink on the road.”
“How long it take, mister?” Second Bob asks.
“You can usually do it in half-a-day, but with the ramp, it's going to take a lot longer.”
“Whole day?” Big Ned asks.
“I'd say. Best time to strike will be just as the sun rises. It will be light enough for us to see, but most of them should still be asleep. We can take them by surprise.”
“And then they get got.”
SIS LOOKS OVER DAVID's shoulder, watching as he slowly dismantles his pistol, laying the bullets side-by-side at his feet, setting them into the ridges of the pickup truck's trailer floor. Abel tilts his head, feet on the ground, arms resting on the trailer’s side, light fading in the sky. “How's it going, you two?”
“Got my rifles clean,” Sis says. “David not so good at cleaning.”
“Always good to keep these things maintained. Either of you eaten?”
David shakes his head, his eyes still focused on dismantling the pistol. “I figured I'd eat once I've finished this.”
/>
“There’s not enough light left, kid. I was thinking, we’re going to need some people to stay here and look after the other kids. You think you can handle it?”
“I can,” Sis says.
David looks up. “I want to come.”
“No, kid. It's too dangerous.”
“We've seen worse.”
“No we haven't. This is serious, kid. There's going to be a lot of children staying here and not a lot of adults. I promise someone will come to get you as soon as everything’s done at Trinity.”
David looks up at Abel. “What if you don't?”
“Then you have to teach them how to survive out here. You know about finding food and water, how to find shelter.” Abel shakes his head. “The rest of these kids don't know that. This is a big responsibility. Think I can trust you both?”
David and Sis exchange glances then nod in silence.
“Hey,” Abel says. “There's nothing to worry about. You'll be fine. You'll be great.” He looks over his shoulder. “Just make sure you heat the water from the well over the fire until it bubbles. It should be safe to drink, but if you don't heat it, you might get ill.”
“It's not that,” David says. “I don't want you to go.”
“I need to, kid.”
“You've already done so much for them. We should go home.”
“Damn it, kid.” Abel slaps his hand against the trailer’s side. “I said I'm going to help these people. Once we get Trinity back, we’ll have somewhere to trade. We can get back out into the city and find some more great stuff. Remember how things were when we first met?”
David nods.
“Things have got better. Things will always get better. I think that's worth fighting for, don't you?”
“I'm scared you're going to die,” David blurts, his bottom lip starting to tremble. “Please, don't go.”
Abel reaches forward and places a hand on David's forearm. They look at each other for a long moment as Abel takes in a sharp breath. “I need to,” he says, lowering his eyes. “I'll be back. I promise.”
“Damn it, Abel. And what if you're not? I can't be alone out here.”
Abel shakes his head and forces a smile. “You don’t have to be alone, kid. You and Sis can run together. The people from Trinity will look out for you, I'm sure of it.”
“And what if you don't get Trinity back?”
“It will still be the same people. I need you to be strong and to be brave and to look out for all these other kids. You've been through more than they have and you survived — just remember that.”
David nods and sighs. “Sorry.”
“Don’t sweat it, kid. Let’s go eat before it gets too dark.”
“What about this?” David gestures to his pistol.
Sis crawls over to the weapon and fixes the parts back together. “There,” she says, handing the pistol to David and smiling. “We work together, whatever happens.”
SUMPTUOUS DARK CLOUDS eddy around the moon as Abel prods at a fire with a steel spike. Wrapping a hand with a cloth, he removes three tins of beans from the flames, and sets them down to cool on the asphalt. He turns away from the glare, squinting as the light dots cloud his vision. “Give them a while,” he says. “Did you manage to get water sorted?”
David fingers the tin’s edge and drags it towards him along the ground. “I'm bored of beans,” he says, wrinkling his nose.
“We got water,” Sis says. “We boil it like you say.”
Abel takes the spoons from his rucksack, offering them to David and Sis. Grabbing his own tin, he drives the spoon inside, and shovels the beans into his mouth. “You two still okay with the plan?”
“It's fine,” David says. “I just wish—” He looks up with a jerk as a person stands over him.
“Hey,” says Abel, getting to his feet. He turns to David, putting an arm around the man. “Kid, remember me telling you about that wizard?”
David nods. “Alf, right?”
The wizard ignores David and turns to Abel. “Are we okay to talk, man?”
“Sure, take a seat.”
The wizard shakes his head. “Alone.”
Abel shrugs. “Let me just grab these.” He leans down and picks up his tin of beans.
“This way.”
Abel follows the wizard past campfires and cars, the exposed metal along the Grid twinkling with the reflected moonlight. The wizard's poncho flaps as he walks, the plastic crackling and shifting in time with his steps. He comes to a halt at the Grid’s south end, stopping abruptly, Abel almost knocking into him. “How's it look?”
The campervan stands in the night, its sides stripped away, back door bent against a wooden ramp extending beyond the cabin’s front.
Abel’s eyes widen. “Wow.”
The wizard walks over to the ramp, running a hand along its path. Reaching beneath the chassis, he drags out a tangled coil of chains. “I found this,” he says in a low voice.
Abel nods. “Is that?”
“Yeah. We know it can pull this thing.”
Abel licks his lips, rubbing the back of his neck. “Right.” He looks around. “Is this the only way?”
“This is no time to get sentimental, man. Give me a hand with this. We need to untangle it.”
“Just going to finish these,” Abel says, gesturing to his tin. He spoons the beans into his mouth, his eyes drifting between the wizard and the campervan. Tossing the can aside, he wipes his spoon with a cloth and pockets it.
“You should pick that up, man,” the wizard says. “It's not like when you were here. People care about this place. Some of us have been trying to make it good.”
Going over to the tin, Abel squashes it beneath his foot and slips it into his pocket. He sits on the ground next to the wizard and takes up a piece of chain, straightening it along the ground, unravelling the knots. “If the plan works, you’re not going to be at this place for much longer.”
“Maybe. Maybe, not.”
“What do you mean?”
“Well, if it doesn't work, this is it.”
Abel yanks at another length of chain. “If it doesn't work, we'll be dead.”
“I'll be fine.”
“That's good. Confidence is good.”
The wizard snorts. “I'm not confident. I'm staying here.”
Abel raises an eyebrow and turns to the wizard. “Staying here?”
“That's what I said.”
“But we need all the people we can.”
Shaking his head, the wizard puts down his chain and gets to his feet, brushing down his trousers. “These chains look good, man. I'm going to go eat.”
“But what about Trinity?”
The wizard shrugs. “This isn’t my battle, man. Why should I care? I'll come when I know it's safe.”
Abel sighs. “You're a coward, you know that?”
“I'm a survivor,” the wizard snaps. “Rather be a coward than dead.”
28. Burden
Abel trudges forward, leaning into the chain around his shoulders as he pulls the campervan’s remains onto the highway. The first flickers of sunlight shimmer above as Big Ned, David, and Second Bob come to a stop at Abel's side.
“It's going to be hard run, mister,” Second Bob says.
Abel wipes his brow, dropping the chains to the ground. “You’ve got that right. But if we work together, we can do this.”
“They got to get got,” says Big Ned. “We got to get our women back.”
Abel nods and turns to David. “Listen, kid. If I don't make it back, the garage is yours. Take Sis there, look after each other, keep each other safe.”
David runs at Abel, hugging him. “I wish I was coming with you.”
“It'll be alright, kid. You need to stay here.”
“I know.” David looks at the ground, kicking a stone.
“So proud of you, kid,” Abel says, tussling David's hair. “I really hope this isn't goodbye.”
“Okay,” David manages, blinking.
/> “Same goes for you,” Abel says when Sis emerges from behind the ramp. “Keep each other safe, this is no world to be alone.”
Scores of people gather near the campervan, some of them with guns, most of them with spears, spikes, and bows. A dozen or so car doors are held on the shoulders of men and women. Residents of Trinity, the Grid, and Town stand shoulder-to-shoulder.
A young woman with straggly blonde hair stares at the ramp, shaking her head, tears streaming down her cheeks. She locks eyes with Abel and smiles.
Big Ned leaps onto the ramp, clambering to the top. He spins in a crouch, his spear held out before him. “These people took our people and they burn our home. We need to fight. They got to get got. They got to get got real good. Let's go kill. They no more than critters.”
Many people let out a cheer when Big Ned drops down from the ramp. Others look at each other with confused expressions on their faces.
Sal sidles up to Abel. “Should I speak to them?” she asks in a hushed voice.
Abel nods. “They'll want to hear from you.”
Taking a deep breath, Sal makes her way up the ramp with tiny, tentative steps, one hand placed down for support. She looks around as the people stare up at her, pushing herself to a standing position. “I want to thank everybody for their sacrifice. Those of us who came from Trinity know what a difficult journey lies ahead. You know what we will face when we arrive. I've prayed for all of us and I'm so grateful for the assistance and support of those of you who have not been part of our community before. Going forward, this will change and I know we will be successful.” She bows her head, pushing her hands together in prayer. “Let us pray,” she says. “Dear Lord, please give us the strength to complete our journey and offer us your protection in our time of struggle. We hope that you will bless us with the power and the conviction to carry out this journey and to assist us in taking back our home so we can continue to do your work on Earth. Amen.”