by R. A. Rock
Hunting
Chad
I stood at the edge of our bare camp. And I use the word camp very loosely. Basically, it was just a circle of stones and a pile of tinder, sticks, and logs for the fire. With spots of trampled grass where we had slept.
A cold wind blew my curls out of my face and froze my cheeks, making me feel even more restless and unsettled. It seemed as though the nice weather would soon be over. That meant that we had to make some decisions. Because staying here much longer was not an option. Winter was coming and we needed to be prepared.
It was early afternoon and everyone else had cheered up a bit because they were mostly getting their powers back under control, except for Shiv. Still, all he needed was a little more precision.
Not me. I couldn’t use my powers at all. I glared at the prairie, trying to find some peace but not succeeding in the least. I knew it wasn’t fair to be mad about the bricks. Yumi had saved me from going insane again and for that I would be eternally grateful. But I felt like a cripple without my powers and it wasn’t something I was used it. It made me intensely frustrated.
At least I could hear the others, though.
I made a note to myself to thank Yumi once I wasn’t so annoyed and exasperated with my situation.
I usually leave the bricks of Telepaths I know out a crack so that if they send to me directly, I can hear them but not out so far that I pick up on their thoughts all the time. And that’s why I caught Gracie’s broadcast that she sent to Yumi.
“Did you hear that, Yumi?”
“Hear what?”
“Just listen.”
There was air silence for a while.
“Maybe,” Yumi sent back. “There’s something weak coming through. It’s probably some group of people near Gimli or even the Survivor community. You and I are pretty strong Telepaths, Grace. You know we can pick up unshielded thoughts from pretty far away.”
“That’s true,” Grace sent back. “But it doesn’t feel far.”
“It has to be, Grace. There’s no one around here but us.”
“That’s right.” Grace’s thoughts were troubled and confused and I wondered what they were hearing.
There’s this strange paradox about my powers. I am the most powerful Telepathic Receiver ever discovered but because of that, when I developed my abilities I instinctively created the wall in my mind, which my teachers subsequently helped me refine and develop — the wall was to protect me from going insane from all the thoughts in all the minds.
So, I can hear any mind in the universe, but I have to deliberately slide out their brick. The result is that I’m not a very good eavesdropper.
It’s different for the others. They don’t have to protect themselves from all the minds, so they can hear stray thoughts from other people in a way that I never will be able to. And I guess that’s what the girls were talking about. That they could hear other people’s random thoughts.
“So, what’s the plan?” Audrey said, getting our attention.
She looked uncommonly pretty today and it was easy to forget that she was a formidable woman who had come extremely close to taking over the entire galaxy.
Her blonde hair was braided back — she wasn’t doing her hair with the weird hairstyles from her home planet anymore because she was trying to fit in on Earth. The biting wind had tinted her cheeks the kind of delicate pink you see in paintings of beautiful women from the Victorian era. Today, for once, I could understand what Dorian — her missing boyfriend — had seen in her before he disappeared.
“I’m sure one of you wants to tell us all what to do, so please, fill us in on your grand scheme for everyone.”
I turned around, trying not to glower at my friends.
“We need food,” Shiv said, tucking his hands in his pockets. The wind was freezing today. “I’m starving.”
He tilted his head back and forth, as if he were arguing with himself.
“Okay, I’d just like to qualify that… I’m not literally starving. We each maybe have about five pounds at least of body fat. And each pound of body fat contains 3500 calories. If we each need around 2000 calories a day, um, we could go for…” He calculated in his head. “More than a week if not longer before we would technically be starving.”
“Yumi doesn’t have five pounds of fat,” Grace pointed out. “She’s pure muscle. And Chad’s pretty skinny too.”
She gave me a look of disapproval. I don’t know what she thought I should do. It’s not like we were having a twelve course meal for supper every night. I can’t help my high metabolism. It’s hard for me to keep weight on under normal conditions. But especially when we’re eating as little as we had been lately and getting so much exercise.
That reminded me, I needed to start doing body weight workouts. And we needed more food. I was down to probably five percent body fat. Pretty soon my body would start burning my muscles and I didn’t want that. If I was weak, I couldn’t defend myself or the others. And in this world, I needed to be able to fight.
“Whatever,” Shiv said, waving away her comments. “We need to get some food first. But that’s because I’m hungry — not starving. Just wanted to be clear.”
“Then what?” Audrey said.
“Then we discuss together,” Grace said, with a stern glance at Audrey. “What the different courses of action are and what we should do.”
“Fine,” Audrey said, looking bored and like she didn’t give a shit.
It was so disturbing to see her acting like her old self. Her old self meaning the Audrey Merrywell that we had been enemies with.
Very disturbing.
“Chad,” Yumi said, grabbing her bow and quiver. “Let’s go hunting. You guys forage.”
“Yes, sir, captain sir,” Audrey said, snapping a salute at Yumi.
“Kiss my ass, Audrey,” Yumi said and Audrey blew her a sarcastic kiss.
It kind of annoyed me that Yumi assumed I would go hunting with her. But we were definitely the best hunters in the group and we pretty much always hunted together, so it wasn’t so much of a stretch for her to think that we would go together. Still, I was kind of mad at her and didn’t appreciate her assumptions.
But I decided to go with it because we didn’t need any more arguing within the team. We needed to stick together. It was the only way we were going to get home.
“Grace, you still have that knife?” I said but she was way ahead of me, already unstrapping it from her thigh and tossing it to me, sheath and all.
I removed the belt that had held it to her leg and tossed it back. She caught it with one hand and I shoved the knife in its sheath into my back pocket. It was a multipurpose knife with a good sharp blade.
Yumi was already gone, so I put on a burst of speed to catch up with her. She was running at a steady pace towards a copse of trees that we could see not that far away. I knew she was hoping that there would be some rabbits or prairie chickens hiding there.
We didn’t say anything when we got to the small stand of poplars and bushes, we both knew our parts. I moved downwind and Yumi went to the other side. When I saw she was in position with her bow ready, I began beating the brush, flushing out any game that was hiding in it towards her.
I scared two rabbits. One took off to the side but the other ran out of the trees at Yumi and she took it straight through the heart. She didn’t even look at where it fell, just turned and sighted with her bow at the other that was running. It was a long shot, but Yumi’s damn good with a bow.
She turned smoothly on her heel, keeping the rabbit in her sights as it moved.
“It’s too far,” I said, as she let the arrow fly. It hit the rabbit, wounding it but not killing it. I ran to it and slit its throat, so it wouldn’t suffer. When I got back with its body, she had picked up the other one.
“This should make a pretty good supper,” I said and she gave me a look of disbelief. She removed the arrows and cleaned them as best she could on the grass.
“Shiv’s eatin
g,” she said.
True enough.
He was a tall guy with plenty of muscle and he could really pack it away, especially if he said he was hungry. Which he had, earlier.
Hence, the hunting trip.
“There’s another spot where there’s some bushes,” she pointed. “We might scare out some more rabbits or prairie chickens.”
“Sure,” I said, taking the rabbits by the hind legs and falling into step beside her. We repeated the same procedure and six chickens flew up into the air, the beating of their wings like the sound of drums. They startled me, even though I had been expecting it.
She missed on the first one but pulled another arrow from the sheath on her back and was sighting and releasing a few seconds later, taking down one of them. After the others landed again we spotted a few that were sitting very still in the grass close by — this is one of their defences — and she shot two more.
She grabbed the three birds by their feet, slung the bow over her shoulder and began walking back towards camp.
“Yumi,” I said, trying to start a conversation. “I want to thank you for opening everyone’s bricks. I feel better, being able to hear you guys.”
Her stony face softened a little.
“You’re welcome,” she said letting her emotions show. Her eyes were still upset. “I’m just trying to make things right. I know I shouldn’t have fused all the bricks in your wall. It’s just another thing I’ve fucked up. Like I fuck up everything.”
“No,” I said, stopping and she turned to face me.
“Yes.”
“No,” I said. “In case I haven’t made this clear, I am very grateful to not be insane or dead because of my powers going out of control. You were the only one who could stop that and you did.”
“But…”
“There was nothing else to be done at the time,” I said. “I get that, Yumi.”
“Of course you do.” She kicked at a tuft of grass beneath her feet.
“It’s just… I don’t like feeling helpless. And as if I’m handicapped. I shouldn’t be taking it out on you.”
She stared at me for a long moment, gave me one sharp nod, then she turned and started walking again.
“Let’s get these back to camp to clean and get them cooked,” she said. “We’re all hungry.”
I nodded and we set off once more across the prairie that was turning brown. There were spots of green here and there but by this time of year most everything was dying.
“Look at that,” I said, pointing to what looked like smoke or steam rising up from the prairie to the east near where our camp was.
“What the… ?” Yumi stared at the it.
A moment later, it was gone leaving me wondering if I had imagined it.
“What do you think that was?” she said.
I shrugged.
“I have no idea. But I sure hope it’s not people.”
“Amen to that,” she said.
Of course, if that was smoke from a campfire, it was definitely people. And after our experience with the Plague Carriers and the Survivor community, we weren’t particularly keen to hang out with any more people. Without having to discuss it, we both began a loping run, heading straight back to camp as quickly as we could.
Just in case.
They Figure it Out
Yumi
Chad and I searched but couldn’t find the source of the smoke or steam or whatever it was. So we went back to camp. Nobody knew what it might be, so I ignored it, in favour of thinking about what Chad had said. I appreciated his apology, but I couldn’t help thinking that I wouldn’t feel better until I figured out a way to undo what I had done.
When we got back to camp, I watched as he expertly slit the rabbits’ chests and removed the breast meat. These were pretty small rabbits and without a pot to make soup, there was no point in trying to eat the legs and other bits. He did the same with the chickens.
We ended up with four large pieces from the rabbits and six smaller pieces of meat from the chickens. Grace had made a fire while he cleaned the meat and Shiv had sharpened five sticks.
All of us women voted that the guys have the rabbit breasts because they were bigger pieces and we each took two of the chicken breasts.
“You just don’t want this gamey rabbit meat,” Shiv said, narrowing his eyes at Gracie.
“You want to trade your big hunk of meat for my little teeny one?” she asked.
“No way,” he said.
As the sun headed for the horizon, we built up the fire, skewered the meat on our sticks, and roasted it slowly over the hot coals, which we raked out. If you cook food over the flames of a fire, it often burns. The coals were a more steady source of heat. But though we were using the embers, it was still difficult to cook the meat evenly and by the time the pieces were done, we were all ravenous.
Gracie handed us all the dandelion and plantain leaves she had found and we wrapped the meat in the leaves and ate the bitter greens without complaint, knowing we needed the vitamins in them as much as we needed the protein in the meat.
I took a small bite of the wild chicken and dandelion leaf wrap, chewing many times before I swallowed. It wasn’t because the meat and greens were tough, though they were. It was because I had been hungry before and I knew that the best way to make food seem like more, was to eat it slowly and chew it a lot.
So, when the others were long finished, I was only starting on my second piece. They all looked at it longingly, but I ignored them and took my tiny bites, chewing and chewing — making it last as long as I could. The bitter flavours of the greens mixed with the rich, savoury meat. And after being so hungry, the simple meal tasted like the best thing I had ever eaten, though that seemed highly unlikely.
“Okay, who’s doing the mental grumbling?” Shiv said, as we all sat around the fire again, not exactly full, but feeling a lot better for having eaten. I glanced at the others and saw identical looks of confusion on their faces.
“What are you talking about, Shiv?” Grace said.
“When I’m not shielding, all I hear is this low level grumbling in the background all the time. Whoever it is, you need to stop, it’s driving me crazy.”
He glanced at Chad and grimaced.
“Sorry, man.”
“Not a problem,” Chad said. “And not me.”
“Well, it’s not me,” I said.
“Me neither,” Grace added.
“Why would I grumble?” Audrey said, gesturing dramatically. “I am a fucking ray of sunshine.”
“Well, it’s someone,” he said.
“He could be picking up the same thing we were hearing,” Grace said. “From a nearby community.”
Shiv frowned.
“As far as we know, the nearest community is in The Wastelands,” he pointed out.
“I know,” Grace said.
He lifted his eyebrows.
“Thanks for the vote of confidence, babe, but I don’t have nearly that kind of range. You know that.”
“Oh,” she said, as if she were just remembering. “That’s right.”
“That’s weird,” Chad said. “It doesn’t make sense.”
It didn’t make sense. And it was pissing me off.
I gazed towards the setting sun that was blazing in the west where it had just touched the prairie and was burning down the earth as it went.
And that’s when I saw it.
The silhouette of a person appeared against the sunset. Any other time of day and there was no chance that I would have noticed anyone.
I watched as the silhouette moved away from its first position, then back, and then it disappeared again.
“Okay,” I said. “Something weird just happened.”
“Another weird thing?” Grace said, concerned. “The weird things are piling up.”
“I just saw someone appear and then disappear.”
“Where did they come from?” Chad said. “If they appeared, you ought to have been able to track where they
came from.”
“No, they didn’t come from anywhere. The silhouette appeared against the sunset. Moved that way,” I pointed with my finger. “Then returned to its original position and disappeared again.”
“Like they teleported?” Grace said, always thinking like a Kinetic.
“Not likely,” Shiv objected. “It’s possible that they could have been walking towards the east, but even so you should have seen the silhouette getting bigger, not suddenly appearing and then disappearing.”
“Then what’s the explanation, if it’s not a magic show?” Audrey said, smiling at her own snark.
“It’s as though they appeared,” I said, thinking it through. “But if they didn’t, then it’s as if they came out of…”
“The ground,” Shiv and I said together, staring at each other with big eyes.
“The ground.” Audrey scowled. “Why would someone come out of the ground?”
“The only reason I can think of is because… they’re living down there?”
“Oh. My. God.” Grace’s mouth dropped open.
Audrey’s eyebrows flew up.
“Seriously? You guys come from a messed up planet.”
Shiv was amazed, his eyes filled with wonder as he gazed at me.
“Well, guys,” he said, a smile lighting his face. “I think we might have just found Winnipeg.”
They Get In 1
Chad
When the sirens started blaring, I knew that our stealthy approach to infiltrating the underground city hadn’t worked. We should have gone in the middle of the night as Yumi had suggested. But we hadn’t been able to wait.
As soon as we had finished eating, we had put out the fire and headed to the place where Yumi had seen the silhouette. It was relatively easy to find the entrance once we knew where to look.
Yumi had suggested again that we should go in in the middle of the night. But nobody had been able to get on board with that idea, not even Yumi, really. After all the trouble we had gone to to find the place, we just wanted to get in. Plus we were pretty sure that we had the skills to sneak in unnoticed.
We had been overconfident. And now we would pay. Though as for that, I supposed it wouldn’t have mattered when we tried to get in. They probably had a million safeguards to make sure the Plague Carriers or other undesirables couldn’t just walk on down.