“I also said that our clan could give assistance to help rebuild the town. We have enough older clan members who think they know everything. Let’s give them a chance to prove it.”
Tuko wasn’t a jerk. I was. He had come up with a great solution that saved our butts and helped these kids. Maybe he deserved to run his clan. Jinn looked at him with renewed respect.
“Good call, brother. Dad could help a lot here. Our clan has tons of adults who would love to tell these kids what to do.” A couple of kids in the back shuffled and looked less than enthused at taking orders from adults they didn’t know. Suddenly a kid with red hair came running into the room. He was out of breath and had to lean over for a few seconds before he could talk.
“We. Have. A problem.” Then he looked at us and pointed at me. “Zombie clan is here, and they are looking for her.” All eyes were on me. Suddenly I felt like a poker chip in a game of life or death.
“We had a deal.” Tuko glared at Saul. “The only thing the Zombie clan will give you is a silent thank-you as they keep the reward.”
“We don’t want any trouble,” one of the boys said as he started to back away,
“Hold on.” The boy from the store tried to puff up in size. “Nobody tells us what to do. Let’s have a vote.” A couple of the kids rolled their eyes, but I got a feeling that this was a common way for them to decide how to proceed. “Who says we turn these three over to the Zombie clan?” Three hands shot up. Everyone looked around the room. “Who wants to help them and get support from the Armor clan?” About eight hands went up, including Saul’s and the boy from the store.
“Then it’s decided. We help.”
“They’re right behind me,” red hair said, pointing at the door.
“Are you going to stick us back in the storeroom?” I asked.
“No, we can go under the town,” the boy from the store stated.
“Come with us.” The girl motioned as the five of us headed back down the flight of stairs. A sudden knock on the front door meant that we had to move quickly. Halfway down the steps, I bumped into the back of the girl as she stopped suddenly. With her foot she depressed a board that sank into the wall. A door opened, and we quickly stepped in. Once inside, she quickly hit a rock and the door shut. She motioned us to be quiet as we entered what looked like a mineshaft. Wooden beams covered the ceiling, holding up the roof. As we walked across rocky ground, all five of us remained silent. Finally, the girl stopped.
“It’s okay to talk now. We’re far enough away that no one can hear us.”
“Who are you guys, and why are these tunnels here?” I asked. I looked at Jinn and Tuko, and their faces held the same questions.
“I’m Sena and that’s Arch. When my mom is here, she runs the bar.”
“You already know what my dad does,” Arch said defiantly. Man, this kid has a chip on his shoulder.
“Before this town was known for hunting and its herds, there used to be a huge mineshaft that ran from the town up to the east mountain. There was tons of iron ore used for making steel for vehicles and weapons. To make it easier to process, the tunnels were run to several stores in town for processing and transport. The ore was mined out about five years ago, and most of the tunnels were abandoned.”
“Except kids knew a good thing when we saw it,” interrupted Arch. “We figured what is a better way to sneak out of the house? Instead of climbing out it, we crawled underneath.”
“The adults didn’t figure it out?” Tuko asked.
“Some knew,” Sena answered, “but I think they wanted us to have a way to cope with so many parents not returning. They thought if the kids had a secret, it would help them deal with the losses.”
Something scurried by my foot. I suppressed a scream because I didn’t want to give Tuko the satisfaction of seeing me act like a scared girl. Didn’t matter; Arch saw the look on my face.
“Don’t worry,” he said. “Seeing rats is a good thing. Means the fumes haven’t overcome anyone yet. They’re like our canaries in the coal mine. Only when you see a bunch of dead rats should you be worried.”
“And if I see a lot of rats running away?” Jinn asked, probably picturing a dozen furry things go by her legs.
“Best to run, unless you want to see what’s spooking them. You only need to be faster than the slowest rat,” he commented, like he thought himself an expert. Sena opened a door, and the air rushed through.
“Why do you have doors down here?” I asked.
“It helps with the air flow,” she answered. “Air is pretty lazy; it will go the shortest distance possible to make its way back to the surface. We have to force it in a certain direction if we want to be able to breathe down here.”
The ceiling began to get lower, and the uneven ground made walking more difficult. I felt water trickle, and its coldness made me shiver. This was a place I did not want to get trapped in.
I had to distract myself.
“Where are you taking us?” I asked.
“The water tower,” Sena answered. “It will help us see how many clan members there are.”
“What is so special about Zombie clan?” I turned my attention to Jinn and Tuko. I needed to understand who or what we were up against. “I don’t get their whole silent treatment. Did someone cut out their tongues?” Jinn and Tuko looked at each other as we continued walking through the mineshaft.
“Zombie clan has a philosophy,” Tuko started, and he seemed a bit condescending, “that almost everyone has heard.” Okay — that’s a dig against me.
“Lighten up, Tuko.” Jinn came to my defense. “Not everyone is the son of a clan leader and knows everyone as well as us.” Jinn turned back to me. “The Zombie clan is silent because they believe that actions are the currency of their clan. Talk is cheap and worthless unless action is followed through. Only the leaders speak verbally, but if you watch them carefully, the rest speak through a series of hand signals and sign language. They feel it gives them advantage, since no one knows what they plan next.”
“Why the face paint? Are they trying to be intimating?”
“Yes,” Tuko answered, “and they want to appear different from everyone else. No one is going to mistake them for another clan. They believe that once you become converted to the Zombie clan, you can never leave for another clan. Many of their facial tattoos are permanent, so there is no hiding where you came from.”
“And they want me for… ?”
“The usual. Money. Prestige. Recognition. They don’t care if you’re innocent or guilty,” Jinn answered. “Your capture will make them look good.”
“We’re here,” Sena interrupted. We stopped at a ladder heading up to the surface. A metal trap door was in the ceiling along with a hanging tube.
Arch climbed up first and looked through the tube, going around in a full rotation. I imagined it must have been a periscope to the surface. “Clear,” he said after a few seconds and reached for the handle on the door. It opened and I could see a metal shaft reaching into the air. Once we climbed out, the light momentarily blinded me. In about thirty seconds, we pulled ourselves up another ladder and lay prone on the balcony of the water tower. Arch grabbed a pair of binoculars hanging from a hook and scanned the town. We were at the north end, with the mountains behind us and most of the main street to the front and right of us. I could see our car in the distance sitting in front of the store. Several people sat in the front seat, waiting. Tuko was furious.
“If those guys hurt my car, I will string them up until they scream. And I don’t care that they don’t talk.”
“Relax,” Jinn reassured him and patted him on the back. “We got much bigger problems than your car.”
“You can say that again,” Arch commented and passed her the binoculars. “Look over there.”
I looked through the binocs and scanned the area. I counted at least three vehicles and about fifteen Zombie clan members. Most of the clan seemed like teenagers, with a few adults sprinkled in. They travele
d in packs of three, combing the town, taking the buildings one at a time.
One of the clan members stood out, and I focused on a large tattoo on a thick neck. A sharp earring dangled from the right ear. His head turned, and I saw a large flame tattoo stretched across the left side of his chin, over his face to his forehead. His smile wasn’t pleasant as he motioned orders at another clan member. Whoever he was, he looked like he was in charge. Suddenly, he stopped gesturing and looked straight in my direction. I almost dropped the binoculars.
“Watch out! Those are expensive,” Arch scolded and took back the binoculars.
“What’s wrong? What did you see?” Jinn asked.
“Guy with flame on his face. Felt like he could see from there. The way they were searching the town, I don’t think we can hide out up here forever,” I answered.
“Got to be Viktor. He’s a nasty piece of work. Probably be the head of the Zombie clan in a few years,” Tuko commented.
“Any chance we can reason with him?” I said.
“Naw. He’s all about the glory. He and Abraham are cut from the same cloth,” Jinn replied.
“Great. This just keeps getting better. How do we evade him and get out of town?” I said.
“We could go back to the tunnels. Hide out until they get bored and move on?” Jinn offered.
“Yah. Like that’s going to happen,” Tuko added sarcastically. “If the car is here, they know we’re around.”
“So let’s take the car for a ride,” Sena interrupted, looking smug, like she had all the answers.
“No one drives my car but me.” Tuko acted all tough. Jinn gave him a look like he wasn’t the only driver.
“Hear her out,” Arch commanded. “For a girl, she’s pretty smart.” High praise from this little boy. We turned to her while hugging the floor of the water tower. She smiled as if she wasn’t used to this kind of attention.
“If we create a diversion at this end of town,” she pointed to the junkyard area that we had escaped from,“ most of the clan will come running.”
“But they’re still going to guard the car. They won’t leave that alone,” Tuko commented.
“Then you’re going to have to bust some heads,” Arch said, “unless you’re afraid to get your hands dirty.” He was going to be trouble when he was older. Maybe he already was.
“Actually, we can help you if you move them to certain places. We can lead them to a few traps,” Sena said.
“Okay, you have my attention. Now we just need to figure out a diversion,” I asked.
“I have an idea for that too,” Sena replied as we gathered around her.
This had better work or I was going to become a permanent acquisition of the Zombie clan.
8
Diversion
Twenty minutes later, we lay huddled under one of the town stores, waiting for the signal.
“You sure this is going to work?” Tuko asked. Seriously, this guy’s negativity was a real downer.
“It has to; we don’t have a chance on our own against all of the Zombie clan. And we sure aren’t going to get to the Cradle by walking,” Jinn added.
“What if I took one of their cars instead?” I suggested, knowing Tuko’s response. Jinn answered for him.
“Most of the clans have a tracking signal or kill switch in their vehicles. We wouldn’t get far,” Jinn mentioned, keeping her eyes focused straight ahead.
“Plus we’d lose all the supplies I bought,” replied Tuko.
“Shush!” interrupted Arch, trying to wiggle past me for a better vantage point. “It is amazing you guys haven’t been caught yet with all the talking.” He was right. We should be quieter. For two whole minutes, no one said anything. We looked straight ahead at the street, waiting for something to happen.
“When is this going to start?” Tuko asked, exasperated. Before Arch could give him a look, over a mile away a small shed exploded.
A large board fired straight into the sky like a rocket, and debris shot out in the field. The cattle looked unimpressed and barely raised their heads. Then several fireworks exploded up into the air. The cattle looked more interested. And so did our pursuers.
Viktor wordlessly pointed to the field and made hand signal number three. The zombie clan gathered into three cars. The first one spun dirt into a nearby wall. The other two followed quickly as Viktor scanned the town. Two zombie clan members remained. One sat in the back of Tuko’s car, playing with something on his fingers, while the other leaned on the side of car, watching the rest drove away.
“You got five minutes,” Arch directed, “before those guys figure out that there is nothing there. You better take these two Z’s out quickly.”
“Leave that to me,” I answered and then ran as fast as I could. I ducked into the street heading toward the car; both clan members were still distracted and didn’t notice me. I bent down and grabbed a rock. I tossed it at the clan member leaning against the car and missed. I was never an athlete, but it had the desired effect as dust spayed up in the air.
“I hear you’re looking for me. What’s that — you have nothing to say?” I mocked their lack of speech. Their expressions showed they were less than impressed. I ran past them toward an alley about fifty feet away. They looked at each other in surprise, and then the guy in the car leapt out and started after me. His friend was a second behind him. Both looked fast, and they would catch me in no time.
I turned a corner and leapt over a tarp in the middle of the alleyway. I didn’t look back, imagining that their arms were close to grabbing me. The clan member from the car came first, stepping onto the tarp. There was no ground to support him, and he fell ten feet into the tunnels beneath the town. The tarp wrapped around him, and I could hear him struggling within. I stopped and turned around. The second Zombie clan member pulled up short and glared at me. He looked down and made a hand signal as if communicating with his fellow clan member and gazed around, trying to find a pole or rope to throw down. Before he could find anything, Tuko slammed into his back like a baseball player sliding into base. The clan member tried to recover his balance, failed, and fell into the hole.
“Right on! I love it when a plan comes together,” Jinn said from behind Tuko.
“Like you did anything.” Tuko grinned as he wiped the dirt off his pants.
“Come on!” Arch yelled, holding the binocular in his hands. “The other cars are turning around. They’re coming back.” We ran toward the car, jumping in without opening the doors. Tuko slammed the key into the ignition, and the car roared to life.
“Thank you,” I yelled to Arch.
“Yeah, yeah,” he dismissed, “just make sure you follow through with your end of the deal.”
Tuko turned hard on the street, trying to escape the town. Our goal was simple: get as much space between us and them as possible. It wasn’t an elegant plan, but it was all we had. Tuko turned the last corner, heading away from town into the wilderness. I took one final look back at the other cars. Strangely, they weren’t pursuing us. Rather, they were circling something. Or someone.
“Stop the car!” I yelled.
“Why? We’re getting away,” Tuko screamed back.
“What’s wrong?” Jinn asked.
“They have Sena.” Tuko slammed the car to a stop. A dust cloud formed from behind and slowly traveled over our heads.
“They knew the risk. If we go back now, we’re all caught and this was all for nothing. Besides, the Zombie clan won’t hurt them. They only want us.”
The coward in me wanted to believe him. I came into this world to get to my mother. I didn’t have to go back. But part of me wanted to. I reached into my pocket and pulled out the dead drone bee. One of these things had watched me my entire life. It never helped, it just reported back to those who were supposed to help. Sometimes they did. And sometimes they didn’t. Others decided who was worth saving and who wasn’t.. And I was running away from the few people who had offered to help me. A bunch of kids.
; “Keep going. Find your parents. Tell them what happened. I can’t let Sena or any of the kids get hurt because of me.”
“Like hell we’re going to leave you behind,” Jinn yelled. “We’d didn’t leave you when a hundred-foot dinosaur was chasing you. We’re definitely not leaving because of a bunch of silent, tattooed freaks.”
“Well, I’m out of here,” Tuko said. Jinn looked at him with anger glowing in her face. He noticed and intercepted before she screamed at him. “Someone needs to lead these guys on a merry chase so you two can slip in unseen.” I smiled — I kept underestimating this guy. I kept underestimating these people. Maybe they were backward compared to the technology from my home, but they sure had a lot of heart. Nobody would have put up any resistance against the drones back home. Here, kids would fight against bigger kids to help. I had to return the favor.
“Then get going.” I slapped the back of the car. “Don’t get to far ahead. Try to take as many cars with you as you can.”
“Oh, they can’t catch me.” He smirked as Jinn and I got out of the car.
“Be careful…” Jinn started, but Tuko pulled away. Mud sprayed on her shoes. “Brothers.” She shook her head. We quickly got off the roadway and headed back into town. We hid behind a clump of trees and watched as one of the cars drove closer.
“Stay here until they pass,” I warned.
Two cars rumbled toward us, but I was struck by the silence. No one talked, no music from the radio. Only the noise of the engine. A silent predator intent on capturing us. The dust cloud traveled over us, and Jinn coughed. It wasn’t loud, but one vehicle roared to a stop. Does this clan have super hearing?
The two of us looked at each other, and Jinn covered her mouth to prevent any further noise. We hugged the tree and peered through the branches. I could see the face of one of the boys in the back of the car. I thought the leaves provided good cover for us and we stayed perfectly still. His face was covered with scar tattoos, and he looked extremely unpleasant. His skin sagged, and the tattoos stretched under his bulk. He scanned the woods and then stopped at our area.
Clan World Page 7