And then he’d learn the truth.
One way or the other.
Chapter 29
Ruby heard Elliot’s distinctive voice before she saw him. He rounded the corner of the sleeping quarters from the trail that led to the lab, in a heated discussion with Michael and Arnold. Eve was playing with three of the local children, Ellie the piglet running alongside her as she hopped on one leg and made horse noises, their game punctuated by loud peals of laughter when one or the other caught up to the lead pretend rider. Ruby looked up from the kids as Elliot neared, and he drew up short when he spotted her.
“Ruby, dear woman. Good morning to you,” he said.
“Dr. Barnes,” she said with a nod.
“Please. Elliot.”
“Elliot,” she said. “What can I do for you?”
“I need to take some blood from young Eve here so I can begin working on the vaccine. I have considerable sense of urgency in light of the recent developments.”
“Yes, I can imagine. Troubling.”
“I’m glad you understand. It’s the last thing any of us were expecting under the circumstances…”
“Agreed. But Lucas will sort it out. I have a lot of faith in him. He’s faced down armies and lived to tell the story. He’ll get to the bottom of it in short order.”
Arnold frowned. “You don’t think his relationship with the woman could affect his judgment?”
Ruby’s expression was stony. “You don’t know Lucas.”
“I know human nature,” Arnold replied.
“Lucas was as surprised as any of us.”
Arnold regarded her skeptically. “That’s the story, anyway.”
Ruby stood. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
Michael touched Arnold’s arm, but he shrugged it off and took a step closer to Ruby. “It means that you two weren’t part of the deal when Jacob arranged this, and now we have a security breach that could result in disaster. No offense, but you’re both unknown quantities, and by inviting you in we’ve put ourselves at risk.”
Elliot scowled. “Arnold, really, I don’t think…”
“No, Dr. Bar…I mean, Elliot, he’s right,” Ruby said. “You don’t know anything about us except what we’ve told you. That is, except that we’ve put ourselves in harm’s way multiple times, crossed the state to reach you, and been almost killed in the process of delivering Eve to you.”
Arnold’s stare was glacial. “So you say.”
“Maybe you should talk to Colt,” Ruby snapped. “He watched Lucas kill several dozen Crew fighters single-handedly so we could escape. Or you can ask Eve. She was there when we all ambushed another Crew war party down by the Texas border.” Ruby fought to control her fury, and her tone softened. “It must be lost on you that I didn’t ride off in the dark, and neither did Lucas. It was Sierra, who your Jacob vouched for and sent with Eve. We’re just the poor slobs who did your people’s job for them. If it wasn’t for us, there would be no Eve, and your entire reason for existing would be gone, wouldn’t it?”
Arnold had no comeback. Elliot stepped between them. “Arnold, take some time to cool down. She’s right. She came here in good faith and has done nothing wrong. You’re out of line.”
“Out of line?” the security chief demanded angrily.
“Yes, Arnold, out of line. You’re insulting our guest. I understand your frustration; we all share it. But lashing out at Ruby accomplishes nothing. The problem still remains.”
“Fine. Handle this however you like. But don’t ask me to be happy about it.”
Arnold stormed off, trailed by Ruby’s dark stare. Elliot shook his head and sighed. “I’m sorry, Ruby. Tensions are obviously high, and Arnold’s responsible for security. He takes his job personally.”
“Sometimes too personally,” Michael said, pursing his lips in disapproval.
Eve continued racing after the other children, who were now chasing a butterfly, its bright yellow wings flapping above their heads as they jumped with outstretched arms. Elliot couldn’t help but smile at the sight, and when he turned back to Ruby, his eyes were sparkling with his usual good humor. “Ah, to be young again, eh?”
“It goes by fast,” Ruby agreed.
“That it does, dear lady, that it does. Can I presume upon you to help me with Eve? She’ll probably be frightened having her blood drawn.”
“I imagine she’s suffered through worse,” Ruby countered. “But sure, I’ll help.” She cupped her hands around her mouth and called out, “Eve! Come here, please.”
Eve gave her a long-suffering look and disengaged from her companions, panting as she ran to Ruby, her eyes dancing with joy, Ellie scampering behind her.
“Is Auntie back?” Eve asked.
“Not yet. But Dr. Barnes needs to check you to make sure you’re healthy.”
“I feel fine.”
Elliot smiled. “I’m quite sure you do, my young friend. Purely a formality. Won’t take more than a minute or two.”
Eve looked to Ruby, who nodded. “It’s no big deal, Eve. You’ll be back playing in no time,” she said, holding out her hand.
“Can Ellie come?”
Elliot and Ruby exchanged a glance, and he nodded gravely. “Normally we don’t allow swine in the lab, but I think we can make an exception in this case.”
Eve looked uncertain. Ruby clarified for her. “You can bring Ellie. I can carry her if you like.”
“I’ll do it,” Eve said, and scooped up the animal, which squealed before settling into her arms. They followed Elliot and Michael to the cave and then down the steps carved into the stone to the steel blast door of the lab.
Inside, every light was illuminated, and it was nearly as bright as outside. Elliot escorted them to the sterilized area of the laboratory and moved to a rack of equipment. He selected a butterfly needle in a sealed packet and a bottle of alcohol, and placed a plastic vial holder filled with glass tubes on the table beside him.
“Sit down here, young lady, and we’ll get this taken care of.” He laid a hand on Ruby’s shoulder. “Would you see to our piglet while I do the honors?”
Ruby nodded, and Eve reluctantly handed over Ellie.
“Put your arm on this pad, please,” Elliot said to the little girl.
Eve did as instructed, her face suddenly slack. Ruby glanced at Elliot, who nodded once – he’d caught the change in her demeanor too. He pretended not to notice and swabbed her arm with alcohol before cinching a length of rubber surgical tube around her bicep and studying the veins in the crook of her arm. Satisfied, he had her make a fist.
“Why, you’re going to be an easy one,” he declared jovially, and removed the needle from the package. He offered another smile and lowered his voice. “You should look over at Ruby. This might sting just a little.”
Eve leveled a stare at Elliot that chilled him for its dead quality. When she spoke, her voice was no longer that of an innocent child. “I’m used to it.”
Elliot nodded and slipped the tiny needle into the vein. Eve didn’t blink. The narrow plastic tube that hung from the needle went crimson with blood, and he snapped the first of three vials into place.
True to his promise, he was finished in little more than two minutes, and Eve was holding a cotton ball against the needle mark, her arm folded. Michael brought a glass of fruit punch and offered it to her. “Drink this. You’ll feel better.”
She took it with numb fingers and nodded mutely. Ruby watched as she drained the glass and set it down carefully on the table beside her, and then looked at them with the same blank expression that had settled over her when she’d sat. “Done?” she asked.
Ruby looked to Elliot, who was sliding the vials into another tray. “Yes, yes. For the time being, anyway. You’re a very brave little girl, Eve. Remarkable.”
“Can we go?” Eve asked.
Ruby nodded and held out her hand, the piglet squirming in her other. “Let’s.”
Elliot watched as the woman led the child out the
door and frowned at Michael, his eyes troubled.
Michael shook his head. “Poor thing.”
“Yes. She’s obviously been traumatized.” Elliot finished his task and placed the used needle into a glass tray and immersed it in alcohol – supplies being far too valuable to throw anything away.
“Animals.”
“Yes, Michael, they are. Now you get a sense of what we’re dealing with. If they have their way, we’ll all be their slaves, and the world will be a dark place indeed.”
“That won’t happen. You’ll be successful. You always are.”
Elliot regarded the test tubes full of the most precious blood on the planet and nodded thoughtfully. “I hope you’re right. For all our sakes.”
Chapter 30
Sierra followed Tarak along the trail that paralleled the Rio Grande, her cowboy hat pulled low on her brow against the afternoon heat. The Apache was clearly annoyed by their slow pace, but Nugget couldn’t manage any more than she was giving, still not a hundred percent after the grueling march north.
Tarak had waited for Sierra in Los Alamos, as she’d arranged with him the day before she’d slipped away from Lucas at five a.m. He’d had no problem with her accompanying him after she’d paid him a hundred rounds of ammo, which left her with only sixty for her rifle – he was headed back south anyway. But his disposition had turned sour at the pace of her horse, and they’d ridden all day without a word, which was fine by her, given everything else on her mind.
She’d improvised a story when challenged by the sentries and for a nervous moment had feared that her trip would be over before it started, but to her relief they’d let her pass. That had been the big hurdle, and the rest was now downhill – literally.
A dove cooed from a tree by the river, its call plaintive and sad, and she urged Nugget faster as Tarak’s horse soldiered on with the determination of a bulldozer. The trail had transitioned from hard stone to shale, and her horse was having difficulty with the surface.
“Come on, Nugget. You can do it. Once we’re in Albuquerque, you can take a break. Just a little further,” she coaxed, her voice low.
If Nugget was swayed by her words, she didn’t show it; she maintained her plodding gait, barely above the speed Sierra could manage on foot.
The river curved left and they followed the trail along the gentle bend, where the land turned lush and green. Farmland that some enterprising grower had leveled and plowed had been reclaimed by wild vegetation, and some of the chaotic sprawl of plants stood taller than a man. A branch brushed at her face, and she pushed it aside. Tarak pulled even further away from her as Nugget slowed.
“Tarak, wait up,” she called, and dug her heels into Nugget’s flank. Sierra rounded another, sharper bend, and almost ran headlong into Tarak, who’d stopped in the middle of the trail.
“What is it?” Sierra asked.
Tarak turned his head partially toward her, his eyes remaining on the trail. “No sudden moves.”
“What? What’s wrong?” she asked, and then her words froze in her throat as a mountain of a man covered in tattoos, whose black leather vest and eye of Providence on his forehead announced him as Crew, stepped into view, assault rifle trained on them.
“That’s far enough,” the big man said. “Get off your horses. Now. Reach for your gun and that’ll be the last thing you ever do.”
Two more men emerged from the brush, also covered in prison ink, pointing the menacing snouts of their AKs at Sierra. With a glance over his shoulder at her, Tarak shrugged and dismounted, landing on the bank with the lightness of a cat.
Sierra moved more slowly, calculating her chances of escaping or shooting it out – neither of which were realistic, she concluded by the wary anticipation on the faces of the gunmen. She lowered herself and stood with her hands raised as one of the pair made his way to her and disarmed her.
The big man stepped closer to Tarak and nodded. “Took you long enough.”
“It’s a couple of days away.”
“You map it out?”
“No need. I can give you clear directions. You can easily find it on a map.”
Sierra’s eyes narrowed and she gasped. “You’re working with them!”
Cano moved toward her and backhanded her across the face, knocking her head to the side. She staggered but didn’t go down.
Cano grinned, the effect more chilling than if he’d hit her again. “You’re a regular genius, aren’t you?”
Sierra gaped at Tarak. “How could you? Why?”
Tarak’s face was untroubled. “Orders. This isn’t our fight.”
“They’ll destroy everything.”
“Kind of like the white man did to my people? You’ll get over it.”
“You’re no better than they are,” Sierra spat.
“Whatever.” Tarak shrugged and informed Cano, “They’re up past Los Alamos. In the mountains to the west. Probably about, oh, nine or ten miles up the canyon. I’ll give you directions – it’s a little tricky, but not if you know the way. Oh, and they have snipers guarding it, so you’ll need to deal with them.”
“They paid you to stay silent,” Sierra hissed.
“No, they paid me to guide them through our territory, which is what I did. I don’t decide this – my superiors do, and they worked a deal that’s to their advantage. They told me when I radioed from Los Alamos.”
“Enough with the questions,” Cano snapped.
“What are you going to do to me?” Sierra demanded.
“Anything I want. You’re lucky I like ’em with more meat on their bones.”
“I’d rather die.”
Cano smiled. “That can be arranged. But I think Magnus will want to decide that, not you.”
“Magnus…” she whispered.
“That’s right.” Cano turned to his men. “Take her. Tie her up.” He waited until they’d grabbed her arms before bellowing at the top of his lungs. “Luis!”
Sierra struggled, but a painful squeeze from one of her captors convinced her to think better of it. She licked away a trickle of blood from the corner of her mouth and probed her cheek with her tongue, where the flesh was already swelling from the blow. The men led her into a small clearing by the river where four others were waiting, guns at the ready. All focused on her as one of the men approached with a length of yellow nylon cord, smirking at her predicament, his eyes taking in every inch of her with a lascivious intensity that left little to her imagination.
Chapter 31
Arnold pulled the door closed behind him and strode into the room where his six most loyal men were already waiting, troubled expressions mirroring their demeanors. Arnold sat heavily at a round table and poured himself a cup of water from a steel pitcher.
“It’s not good,” he announced.
“Tell me about it,” Toby grumbled.
“What we know so far is nothing. The woman took off after the guide. And this Lucas character left in search of her. At least, that’s what they would have us believe. I’m not so sure.”
“You think it’s a con?” Toby asked.
“Could be. The old woman swears it isn’t, but they could have tricked her, too.”
“I talked to her some. She seems straight,” Ken said.
“She probably is. But the rest of them – who knows?”
“Maybe it’s exactly what it looks like? The woman bolted for unknown reasons. The way she was going at it with Lucas that night, maybe she had second thoughts?”
“No way of knowing. It’s all speculation until he finds her. Assuming he does.”
“None of this makes any sense,” Toby said. “They crossed hell and back to deliver the girl. Why would they do so if they weren’t on the level?”
“To find us,” Arnold said softly.
Ken cleared his throat. “It’s pretty frigging hard to keep the compound safe if the Doc’s bringing in unvetted strangers.”
“I’ll second that,” Toby said.
“I think we have to as
sume the worst,” Arnold said. “That we’ve been compromised.” He looked around the room. “Which means we either need to prepare for an attack or pack up and move.”
“Be pretty hard to move three hundred people without leaving a trace.”
“True,” Arnold acceded. “That leaves us with defense.”
“Not like we haven’t run scenarios for the last four years. It would be pretty hard to attack us successfully,” Ken said.
“Maybe. Depends on what they throw at us,” Toby said.
“Don’t you think we’re getting a little ahead of ourselves? All that’s happened so far is a woman decided she didn’t want to stay. Could be a million reasons. Maybe she didn’t like it here. Or maybe Lucas rubbed her the wrong way.”
The men chuckled, but the sound was like boys laughing hollowly as they passed a graveyard.
“We need to have a meeting with the Doc and Michael,” Toby said. “They have to be brought up to speed.”
“I already spoke with Elliot. He thinks I’m overreacting,” Arnold said.
“He doesn’t have any kind of tactical background, so his opinion’s meaningless when it comes to defense,” Toby countered.
“No, it isn’t. He’ll listen to reason if we have a strong case. It’s Michael I’m more worried about.”
Arnold and Michael had a long-running rivalry. Michael was educated and dismissive of Arnold’s ideas, whereas Arnold viewed him as a suck-up, a yes-man who played to Elliot’s ego. That Elliot often deferred to Michael for operational decisions stuck in Arnold’s craw, but when he’d brought it up, Elliot had assured Arnold that he was in no way playing favorites – that Michael simply had more depth in some things than Arnold by virtue of his scientific background.
By ‘depth,’ Arnold understood the doctor to mean that Michael was smarter. Which might have been true academically, but not operationally, and certainly not tactically. Arnold had lived through combat under the harshest conditions before the collapse and had proven himself time and time again in the ugly new world of anarchy that was their everyday reality. Michael, on the other hand, had spent too much time in the safety of Shangri-La and had forgotten the snake pit that was the world outside the canyon walls.
The Day After Never - Covenant (Post-Apocalyptic Dystopian Thriller - Book 3) Page 14