“What of the bunker?”
Durnag snorted, a most human expression, he would monitor himself in the future. “No bunkers survived.”
Again his expression must have stilled the words in Robertum’s throat for he spoke no more.
“Prepare the soldiers. We will move north along the crest and attack from the edge of the eastern forest.”
Robertum only nodded, backing away then trotting off toward the heart of the camp.
There was no wonder Durnag had been brought in to take care of this clan. There had been four or five other dispatches from the council. All had ended up terminated.
Whereas, Durnag had fulfilled how many missions seamlessly? He had single-handedly wiped out over a hundred clans. The Motiks. The Hendersons. The Valmonts. All the great clans. Gone. The agitators put to rest.
Now the Tuckers.
After this there were no more great families. The rest of the clans were scattered, afraid. None would be left to challenge the council.
None.
CHAPTER 6
Appie couldn’t believe everything that was within the bunker as they explored it further. They had guns, ammunition, and metal galore. It was like an old world metal emporium. She wasn’t sure if they had metal emporiums, but this was exactly what one would look like.
Turning, she caught Drake’s gaze. She gave a smile. This was all because of him. Had they attempted to take on the Jeholos on their own, none of them would have been as hale and hardy as they were to be able to enjoy the abundance before them. Ruby’s normally happy countenance was near jubilant. She’d never seen so much grain in her long life.
Chimmus came around the corner, several necklaces around her neck and a piece of cornbread in the mouth. She tried to talk but all Appie got were crumbs in the face.
“Slow down,” Appie urged.
Chimmus wiped her mouth with the back of her hand. “Can’t you just enjoy yourself for once?”
So easy for Chimmus to say. She wasn’t responsible for dozens of souls. She could be brash and foolhardy. No one’s life depended on her.
Besides, Appie was enjoying herself. They had found a stash of the micro-discs that Drake was talking about. She could literally spend years watching them. And that was exactly what she planned on doing once the clan was safe.
She would turn over the clan’s authority to Mattu and live a fun life such as Chimmus could only imagine.
Pipo burst into the room. “There’s enough flour here to bake enough bread for all the clans.”
The woman’s hope had returned.
Even Old Man Grey wore a smile. “And the medicinals, Appie. There will be no more stomach scourge.”
Besides the Syns and the dinosaurs, illness haunted every clan. A fully grown healthy man could be taken down by a single sip of the wrong water.
“There’s even medicine to help Lavla with labor,” Pipo said, brushing back some stray hairs. “I think we might even be able to help Lik and his limp.”
Then the two women rushed back out of the room to categorize their prizes.
Mattu on the other hand sat cross-legged in the middle of the storeroom, his eyes closed.
Appie knew that he was praying his thankfulness. He would take nothing from the store for himself. Everything would be used for the clan and any other clan that was in dire need.
She walked over and sat next to him. He had the right of it.
Mattu slowly opened his eyes. “Chimmus is correct. You should enjoy yourself.”
Appie shook her head. “I have no need for any of this, only to know our clan is safe.”
Mattu frowned. “Do not become me, Appie. Your young heart is what feeds our clan’s soul. Look to your movies. Listen to your music. I will be sure the gods know of our gratitude.”
Her powwaw broke their gaze and looked to Drake. “Take her. Do not return her until she is full of giggles and happiness.”
“Mattu…”
The older man nudged her up as Drake offered his hand.
With a sigh she rose. This didn’t feel right. As Shawnee, she should have been on the floor and Mattu reveling in their new stores.
But she knew her powwaw. He would not relent now that he had spoken his wishes.
Drake tugged her toward another room. “Come on, there’s a clothing room.”
* * *
Appie’s hand fell from Drake’s as they entered the storage area. He didn’t take it personally. The room was impressive even to him. The clothes were meant for all the people that were scheduled to emerge from the tubes. There were men and women’s clothing, jeans and couture dresses. This was, after all, a pretty affluent crowd.
Ruby strutted in behind them, pecking with her beak, tugging at the clothes, Drake assumed to make sure they weren’t hiding any grain.
Appie walked down the row, her hand touching the fabric. “It is so soft,” she murmured.
Her fingers played with the edge of a chiffon dress. “And these were worn?”
Drake couldn’t help but chuckle. She of course meant worn outside on the savannah, chasing down dinosaurs.
“Yes they were worn, but to parties and events.”
“Like a gathering?” Appie asked wide-eyed.
Drake had not been to a gathering before, but he doubted if chiffon had ever been in attendance before.
“No, more like my age where we got together in a room with decorations and music.”
“No weapons?” Appie asked narrow-eyed.
“No. None. Parties were purely social functions.”
Appie sighed, putting tulle up to her face. “In all that free time they could not have solved the nuclear problem?”
Drake’s smile fled. She was right. His generation had perhaps partied a bit too much rather than working on the world’s problems. Had they been Nero? Dancing while Rome burned?
He was almost glad to have been asleep through it. At the least the destruction of mankind wasn’t on his shoulders.
“I don’t think anyone realized how far on the edge they were until it was too late.”
“Like a hare when a hawk is watching from above.”
“Yes, something like that,” Drake answered.
He hadn’t noticed how pretty Appie was. Now that her face wasn’t pulled into a grimace getting ready to fight, her beauty shone through. It made him uncomfortable. He’d had a girlfriend, back before he got sick, but he certainly was no lady’s man. That had been his best friend, Kyle.
What had happened to the teen? Would he ever know?
“Mine, mine, mine,” Chimmus announced as she walked into the room. She grabbed the dress that Appie had been admiring right off the hangar, then grabbed several other items and was gone as quickly as she had come. Ruby hissed at the rude teen.
Appie frowned and nearly went after the girl, but Drake caught Appie by the arm. “Let her have them. There are plenty more.”
* * *
She wanted to argue, but with this much bounty how could she blame Chimmus for her wants? The girl had never even had a brand new set of leather leggings before. Without parents, she had grown up with hand-me-downs.
The yellow dress would look beautiful on her.
“Besides,” Drake said. “This green one matches your eyes.”
Was clothing supposed to match your eyes? Appie had never heard such a thing. It must have been an old world tradition. She was learning more about the old world in the past few hours than her parents had ever taught her. How they would have relished this find, and Drake.
His hand slid over hers as she touched the slight material.
“It is silk,” Drake explained, closing his fingers over hers. She turned to look into his eyes. They were the color of the sky just before a storm hit. Normally she disliked the company of boys her age. They were too worried about their stature in the clan, always proving themselves.
Drake had no need. Without effort he had proven his worth a hundred times over.
Then Mattu entered the
room. Appie’s hand fell away from Drake’s.
“I’m going up to witness the clan’s progress.”
Appie wiped her sweaty palms against her pants. “Of course, I will join you.”
“No need,” Mattu stated. “I am taking Grey.” Before she could answer, Mattu added. “And that is final.”
Her mouth snapped shut.
Drake stepped forward. “Just remember there is that last dat.”
Mattu held up his hand. “Trust that I will let the beast out as long as he does not attack us. I would not come between you and your totem.”
* * *
Drake watched as Mattu and Grey left. He turned back to Appie, but she was several steps away. He thought they’d had a moment. Just a moment, but then it was gone.
“We should catalog the essential versus non-essential goods while Mattu is gone,” Appie stated leaving the room.
Perhaps that moment would never happen again.
Grabbing a few pairs of jeans, Drake followed Appie out of the room, turning out the light behind them.
They walked out into the main cryo room to find Pipo and Salvve skinning and cleaning the dat meat off the bone. Even with all of the supplies here, the clan still left nothing to waste. The other bodies, the human bodies, had been removed from sight. Drake was glad for that.
Appie took a step forward. “I’ll start an inventory.”
The others simply nodded and continued their work.
Then Chimmus walked in from another room. She was wearing the chiffon dress, but she had cut it up the middle to reveal a pair of jean underneath and she had on a camouflage jacket over the ensemble.
Drake almost opened his mouth to tell her that wasn’t how it was worn, or at least not since days of Sid and Nancy. However, the girl seemed so very pleased with herself, he just couldn’t.
“Looks better on me,” Chimmus stated, as she walked by Appie.
The Shawnee seemed to let the slight slide off of her as she gave an order. “Catalog the medical supplies.”
To his surprise Chimmus didn’t retort back. She simply went over to the medicine cabinet and began her job. He guessed insulting the boss was one thing, disobeying her was another.
“What do you want me to do?” Drake asked just as the banging at the front door started up again. Guess whatever was out there had heard them.
Appie looked over her shoulder at the staircase that led to the main entrance. She bit her lip. “Start packing the perishables. We may have to leave in a hurry.”
Yah, Drake kind of got that. He went to the stasis storage room and grabbed a few bags and started packing up the essentials. Flour, sugar, salt, and of course, chocolate chips.
He also found some coffee and tea and baking powder. He wasn’t quite sure what that was used for but there was a lot of it so he packed it.
The banging became almost routine. Almost a melody to hum along to. Drake let his mind wander, not keeping it strictly to its task. It needed to do some serious processing.
How had things gone so wrong? The doctors had said that a cure for his kind of cancer was within a decade, which was before the nuclear holocaust. Why hadn’t he been awakened then? Had his parents died? What else could explain their lack of participation?
And how, out of the rest of the tubes, had he survived?
He should be dead. Long ago. And yet here he was alive five hundred years later in a world that would have even challenged Mad Max.
“Drake!” a voiced called out from the main room.
Drake rushed out to find Chimmus holding out a vial. “It has your name on it.”
His hand shook as he took the vial. The handwriting was his mother’s. It described the serum within and that he should take a last dose to cure himself of the cancer.
“What is this long number at the end?” Drake asked.
Pipo stood and pointed to a view screen. “I’ve seen numbers like that over there.”
Drake went over and typed in the number to the keyboard. His mother’s beautiful, but sad face bloomed on the screen.
“Drake, if you are watching this you have awoken, and for that your father and I are so grateful.”
He reached out and touched the screen, brushing his mother’s cheek. She had stood by him every moment of his life. Never wavering. Never putting herself above his needs.
“We have finally got the cure, and we have given you the first dose. However the doctors say it won’t be very effective while you are in cryo so you must take another dose the day you awaken.”
Drake looked down at the small vial. It seemed too tiny to cure anything, let alone his aggressive cancer.
Tears spilled down his mother’s cheeks as she continued. “You are probably wondering why we aren’t waking you up now….”
Yes, as a matter of fact that was exactly what Drake was wondering.
“You know that tipping point everyone teased Al Gore for? Well, he is the last one laughing now. We hit it a few years back and things have gotten….bad and they only look like they are going to get worse.”
Drake could feel tears now rolling down his cheeks. He could remember his mother’s hug like it was yesterday. But in the picture she looked a decade older. More wrinkles, less spark in her eyes. And where was Dad?
“Your father is in the hospital. His heart again. They even gave him an artificial one, but his blood vessels are collapsing. And my kidneys, well with my rare blood type, we aren’t going to find a donor anytime soon.”
Why hadn’t he been there for them? He should be the one comforting them, not the other way around. His whole life had been turned upside down by the cancer.
He felt Appie’s presence to his left. While they did not touch, she still gave him strength.
“We want you to know that your father and I have discussed this at length and have weighed all the information, and in no way are we abandoning you.”
What in the heck was she talking about?
“We could put ourselves in cryo as well, but then we could only afford a few hundred years each and the experts are saying we could be thrown into another Dark Age that could last centuries.”
Now Drake was starting to understand what his mother was talking about, but they really couldn’t have made that decision, could they?”
“So your father and I have decided that the best course of action is to allow nature to take its course with us and prepay for your cryo for a thousand years. Now that you are cured, you deserve the best chance for a happy life.”
He snorted around his tears. Clearly his parents hadn’t expected a robot versus dinosaur versus human world. But now, at least some of this made sense. By prepaying for so long, that must have kept his tube fully functioning, hence why he was alive and the rest long dead. It was common only to pay a few decades in advance back then.
His parents had gifted him with the greatest legacy of all.
He leaned forward and gave his mother a kiss on the cheek as she finished.
“Know that we love you, Drake, and wish we could have spent our final years with you. Know that whenever you wake, we shall be there in spirit. No matter the circumstances of your awakening, we wish you the very best.”
Then the picture snapped off and Drake was left feeling empty on the inside. It was like his life was taken away again.
“Uh oh,” Chimmus said behind him. Drake didn’t even care what she was talking about.
* * *
Appie spun around to the girl who was wearing her dress. “What?”
“Listen.”
Appie cocked an ear but didn’t hear anything. “And your point?”
“Well,” Chimmus said pointedly. “Either Spino has given up or he’s broken through.”
A chill coursed down Appie’s belly and clenched her stomach. Spinos weren’t too bright and tended to latch onto a prey and not let go. It didn’t stop because it got bored.
“I will go see,” Appie stated.
“No, allow me” Chimmus offered.
/> Appie looked the girl up and down. “And with you looking like a giant lemon? I think not. Wait here in case Mattu returns.”
Brooking no more argument, Appie left to climb the staircase. She had a large rifle she had found in one of the storage rooms. Her father had taught her how to load and shoot one, but she knew even this large weapon wasn’t going to crack that Spino’s skull.
Carefully she crept forward, cocking her head every few feet, trying to divine what was happening up ahead. But there were no clues. Not a sound. Not a sight except for Ruby following her despite Appie’s protest. Soon she just gave up. It was easier to let the ostrich follow. Stepping foot over foot, Appie kept her presence to a minimum. She carried no torch or flickering light. She did not wish to give any dinosaur a target.
Finally she arrived at the outer door. It was warped and beaten. A corner was pulled up, but not nearly enough to fit even the snout of the Spino. She tried to open the door, but it was stuck.
Even putting her back into it, Appie couldn’t get it to budge.
This was going to take some time and Ruby was no help nudging her pockets for grain.
CHAPTER 7
Lavla’s body was consumed with pain. It was like her insides were on fire, only hotter than that. Down below? She could not even quantify how her nether region felt. Excruciating was the closest she could come.
“Look!” someone yelled. “Mattu!”
Even in her agony, she was glad to hear the name. Lik was right beside her, holding her hand until she feared she would break it.
The widow was kneeling between Lavla’s spread legs.
“He is crowning!” she yelled. “One more big push.”
Lavla feared she did not have one more big push in her. She felt spent. Tapped. Like she’d run after a tritop for an hour without water or food.
“Push!” the widow yelled as Lik kissed her forehead. “One more.”
It was more from his ministrations than the widow that Lavla took another big breath, helping her body as the contraction spread through her belly. She was grinding her teeth while she pushed as hard as she could.
Over her own screams she heard Mattu, “What is the meaning…”
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