The No Names

by Frank Albelo

  I chose to remain silent while the man stood, coming closer, makeshift blade in hand.

  “What can you offer? What good’ll come of having more mouths to feed?” The man punched me in the arm, none too lightly.

  In a flash, I gripped the metal blade and bent it in half. My left hand having grown to its larger size as I held the metal I had snatched from the man.

  “Hunter. 82. Digit. Trash. I can tell you are not a fan of the Government. I can tell you might even hate them as much as me. So I will ask that you trust I will offer a great deal to this group.” I dropped the metal to the ground, noticing a slight tremble in the man as I stepped closer. “Those people out there are under my protection. I will do all that I can to keep them alive. Now, I know you have a lot of knowledge that can help with that, so I would like to cooperate.”

  I moved closer still, mere inches from Hunter’s face. “But if you get in my way, I have no qualms about getting rid of you. I have fucked over plenty of Officials to get here, what’s one more stuck up Digit?”

  I could see the gears turning in the man. I had no doubt he was well trained, based on the tone muscles I could see underneath his leafy robe, and the slight scarring I had noticed on his knuckles and hands. His efforts would be futile if he faced off directly with me, I knew that then. The swelling in my muscles filled my body with a heat that screamed to be released. A hunger to destroy and run rampant. I barely kept it in check, but it was enough to get my point across to the man.

  “I… see. Very well, I think I can work with this.” There was a thin sheen of sweat on the man’s brow, but there was now a crooked smile on his face and the same mischievous look I had seen earlier.

  Reining in my mutation and bloodlust, I fixed the man with a calculating look. When he didn’t back away, I raised my arms up in a submitting gesture. “Glad we understand each other.”

  I plopped on the ground, back to the warm stone walls of the cave. The cave walls were unnaturally clean, so the survivors must have cleared them of moss and soil while living there. Once I had settled into my spot where I could keep an eye on the group outside and Hunter I relaxed.

  “Would you mind fixing this? Bit of work to get a proper edge with a rock and would rather not lose a bunch of work?” I heard Hunter toss the V shaped section of metal. Dismissively, I grabbed it and pushed it with my left hand against the wall over my shoulder. I heard the metal screech in protest as I bent it back, using the stone to flatten it as much as I could before tossing it back at Hunter.

  The man yelped in alarm as the blade stuck in the ground, but then chuckled. “Seems I misjudged you. I guess I can finally let someone in on my plan. How ambitious are you, Alpha?”

  I tilted my head in his direction, prompting him to explain.

  “Well, it’s quite simple. It starts with a bit of dirt and some of these alien plants.”

  The man had a wicked smile on his face and I felt a similar look cross mine as he elaborated.

  Chapter 12: Putting Down Roots

  Over the course of the night, Hunter and I discussed his and my plans for our group. Hunter said that they had found several types of fruits and vegetables that appeared edible thanks to one of the people that used to be with his group. Sadly, but not unexpectedly, the man had eaten one of the alien fruits that was definitely not edible, which led to a spectacularly painful death; as far as Hunter described it. Apart from the foreign flora, Hunter himself had gone as far as to test the meat of the different alien and Earth species. He was sure that if it was thoroughly cooked there should be no concern.

  I felt a bit better that our food situation had a potential solution. We discussed the mechanics of how they were acquiring their food and Hunter became visibly upset. He said that one of their members had been a farmer, but they too had perished under one of the mutant attacks. The man had only rudimentary knowledge about actually growing food, so his plans had been forced back.

  Processing the information he was giving me, a thought occurred to me.

  “The kids! Gamma used to do farming! Beta was a drover of some kind! They might be able to help us with setting up some of these systems!” I told the man excitedly.

  For the first time since I had met him, a genuine smile split Hunter’s face. We were ready to jump to work, but before we had realized, it was night time. During our exchange, everyone except for Koma and Galileo had fallen asleep. My group was huddled together by the fire and the others from Hunter’s group were sitting propped on the logs, heads lulled on their chests.

  The pair were quietly staring into the fire, but I could see Koma’s extra arms fiddling with a branch in front of him. When we reached them, he set the branch down and listened to the outline of our plan. They both nodded, Galileo smiling as he discussed the possibilities and benefits of farming food. Without delay, Galileo went to bed on the log with his fellow survivors. Hunter stayed, apparently on watch.

  I was intending to do the same, even though I was sure Marvin would alert us of anything from the forest and I would be able to deal with any mutants. Koma, however, had other plans. The Calforn insisted that I head to bed, that he would be better suited to watch the jungle until I was accustomed to it. Seeing no reason to argue, I dropped on the ground by the fire and within seconds I was snoozing.

  ● ● ●

  While I slept, I had the first dream since arriving on Dun Lund. What I could remember was brief, but I was back in the holding area of the USG base. I stood, alone, as a blizzard raged around me. I could see my regular slacks and shirt; my armor nowhere to be seen. The cold was near unbearable. I pulled my arms into my shirt as I shivered.

  “Hello! Anyone?” I shouted. My voice didn’t carry very far as the wind stole it.

  I moved over to the fence closest to the base and repeated my call. The whistling of the wind was my only response. I huddled down, kneeling in the snow as the burning on my skin turned into a pressing numbness. I tried to croak out my call as I felt the snow start to pile around me. Before the frost managed to cover my eyes, I spotted a man standing on the gangplank. He was too short to be Starden, but the glint in his eyes told me he was no better than the Captain.

  Seconds later, the snow covered my face and a suffocating pressure covered my whole body. Right before I felt like I would be crushed into pulp, a voice hissed in my ear.

  “Grow. It is near.”

  ● ● ●

  When I awoke from my dream I leapt several feet into the air. Thankfully I had chosen a spot a ways from any of the the others, so when I landed I didn't crush anyone. The group looked at me in shock, suddenly tensing, expecting something to jump out at them. I was glad they could respond at a moment’s notice but I waved them off.

  “Bad dream, my bad guys.” My explanation seemed to placate everyone. Well, everyone but Koma.

  I know there is more. Fear. Confusion.

  We can talk about it later. We need to get these plans going if we want to survive long enough to worry.

  The man stared at me for a few more seconds, then gave another of his curt nods.

  Thankfully, while I had been oversleeping Hunter had explained our plan to the group. Beta and Gamma were more than game for using what they knew to set up a base of operation. The young Digits began to discuss what they could do. It obviously excited them as well as the rest of us. The survivors reentered the cave and produced assorted fruits and some roots that they showed us were edible. Several of them I recognized from Earth; potatoes, onions, apples and oranges. The others were definitely alien. One of the roots was about as long as my arm but only about an inch wide. Of the fruits, one of them was a dark blue and green when Justin split it to show it off.

  I did my best to memorize the plants and insisted that the others do so as well. Receiving no arguments, the survivors went through their entire stock of plant life to show us what was edible. They mentioned that there were two more they were out of that were also edible from the wilds around them. I stashed that information a
s I turned to our youngest members.

  “So. You all have a plan?”

  “Of course!” They shouted in unison. Over the course of the next hour they detailed out what we would need to do in order to farm and potentially herd animals.

  Gamma explained that a large plot of land would have to be cleared in order for us to farm. Considering they had several root based foods, it would be important to figure out which grew the fastest. As Gamma explained, potatoes were a good safe bet but might grow differently in the moon’s soil.

  “If there was something similar to carrots, that would be one of the fastest things to grow,” she explained. Everyone agreed that it was a reasonable plan. Before delegating any tasks, I prompted Beta to speak.

  He explained that having clear land and lots of vegetation would be key in order to maintain the animals. Without the genetic modifications and advanced space management techniques of Earth, having large quantities of animals would be extremely difficult. He explained that oviparous animals, those who lay eggs, would be our best bet in terms of food. Recalling the presence of some short bird looking creatures, I imagined we might be able to arrange for a chicken coop type setting. At my mention of that Beta became extremely excited, already moving near Marvin to see where the coop area should be located.

  Once the youths were done laying out their plan, the rest of us all took a second to digest it. It was obvious we would need more open land or cleared space, so logging would be a priority. However, the most important thing was maintaining a constant supply of food. I looked around at the camp and when I looked at Hunter, Delta and Koma a plan began to form.

  “Alright, listen up! I think I know how we can get this food party started.” I grabbed a stick from the pile used for firewood.

  “This is the general location of the camp. If we can set up the large clearing projects in the direction of the city, it would make travelling there significantly easier.” I drew a rough circle in the ash around the fire pit with a rectangle to represent where we would be clearing land.

  “Thanks to Koma and I, hunting in the forest should be much easier. Or at the very least safer. If we have Koma, Delta and Hunter focus on acquiring different animal meat it would go a long way to help out the situation.”

  After giving the trio pointed looks, I turned to the rest of the group. I explained that Galileo and I would lead the main construction effort while the others provided support. Justin and Zeta would be responsible for gathering and teaching everyone the alien flora that was safe as well as the ones that were definitely not safe.

  “Wait, what about us?” asked Epsilon as he moved closer to Lara, Beta and Gamma.

  “You’ll all be responsible for improving camp. I know you have some ideas Epsilon, and helping them set up farming will be your priority once Galileo and I have some of the land opened.”

  The man looked surprised by the amount of confidence I was putting on him, but considering his quick reactions and out of the box thinking I felt comfortable leaving the camp to him. Hunter nodded grudgingly at my suggestions, a look between us was sufficient to know that he would have more to say at a later time.

  I felt excitement for the first time since arriving on Dun Lund. Not because my life was in danger, or the lives of the others, but because we had a real chance to get everything working in our favor.

  “I’ll keep making deliveries to the base in hopes of getting more supplies and storage boxes. As of now, we only have the one we brought with us, but the one at B1 can serve as a relay point between the surface and our camp here.”

  “That trip is going to take the entire day. We’ll really need to think about when you go.” Delta looked to be okay with my lead, but expressed his concern. Even if we did become more efficient at traversing the forest, it was possible we would have to stop either at the surface camp or at B1 after delivering the mutants.

  “We can figure that out later, Delta. Don’t get too worried about me now.” I joked with the man, receiving a huff in response.

  “Those plans sound well and good. What about now?” Hunter moved closer to me as he spoke, waving his arms at the camp while he spoke.

  “Now we build ourselves a true sanctuary.”

  ● ● ●

  That same day we put the plan into motion. While the survivors had enough rations for at least two days, and we had about four, it was imperative we stock up. Hunter paired up with Delta and Koma climbed the trees as back up as they made their way away from the group. Zeta and Lara, with Justin at the lead, left to forage for vegetables that would not go bad as quickly as meat. I put Marvin under Zeta’s command, whispering a short order to protect Zeta if either of the other two became violent, so they would be able to recover and carry more to camp.

  Beta and Gamma fiddled with my drawing in the dirt while I discussed with Galileo what could be done to the base to improve it. His immediate suggestion was to make a completely enclosed camp. While having the walls up was beneficial at hiding the survivors and keeping out some of the wildlife, they had had to deal with several unpleasant encounters. I agreed with him and we quickly got to chopping trees.

  Hunter had managed to create rough axes from stone to use for chopping the large trees. Once they were on the ground, he had actually burned the wood to turn it into logs. I wasn’t familiar with the technique, I wasn’t familiar with pretty much anything wood based, but it made sense that the fire would burn through a section eventually. Galileo explained that it would be beneficial to raise the existing walls some, then use full size logs to create the roofing for the camp. I had a general idea of what he wanted and he said to simply worry about acquiring and placing the materials.

  The man obviously knew his stuff, and I knew when to let someone with more experience lead a situation. Working under hellish supervising Digits had engraved that deeply within me.

  Instead of using one of the stone axes Hunter made, I found the closest flat rock and started to beat on the trees. Based on my helmet HUD, the city was roughly south of our location so I began cutting there. The rock I was using had a slight edge on it, thanks to chipping it on another rock, and I started making progress quickly. Galileo and the young Digits were pacing out the area that would be for our first planting. After only a few minutes I called out to the others and I heard them scurrying as the thirty foot tree began to topple thanks to a generous push on my part.

  This continued for a while, and I managed to fell four more trees before my body started to ache severely. I felt my breath coming quickly and sweat dripped down my back. I made it back to the camp just in time to swallow two ration packs, the bloodlust of the mutation easing. Thankfully no one had made it back to the camp while I had my episode, but it served to give me a rough estimate of my limits. Superhuman lumberjack abilities were not without their drawbacks. I released my mental wall against the Overmind and heard the progress my woodcutting had afforded me.

 

 

  Once I finished the ration packs, I looked around for water. The survivors had set up hollowed out bamboo shoots to carry their water back and forth from the stream and I gulped one of the cups in its entirety. While breathing deeply, I did my best to calm my racing heart. The progress we had made within the day was astounding, especially with getting everyone coordinated, but I couldn't help but feel like time was running out.

  I must have been staring off into space, because Beta strode by the camp and I hardly noticed him until he waved his hand in front of me.

  “Something on your mind, Boss?” he asked.

  “Oh. Uh, nothing really, Beta. I guess that might be the thing.” I laughed, having been caught off guard by the youth. “Anyhow, I’ve been meaning to ask; what's the deal with the whole ‘Boss’ thing?”

  “Oh that? Epsilon started that. Must have been what he called his old boss or something. You know how those big headed supervisors are.” I nodded in agreement while he conti
nued. “We thought it fit you, what with all the bossing around. Old man Delta is still stuck on calling you Alpha, I’m sure if he knew your Digit he would call you that to be honest.”

  “Wait. Do you think I am bossing you all around?” I was a bit shocked by the youth’s words and it must have shown on my face.

  “No, nothing like that! We just see you as our leader. Heck, I’m more comfortable with you than I ever was with my own supervisor. Then again, you know how that turned out…” I saw Beta’s expression darkened, so I tried to redirect the conversation.

  “I understand. But hey, how are you and Gamma holding up with the other Digits?”

  Almost as if he the thoughts had never been there, Beta perked up. “Awesome! Galileo is a quiet dude, but he has some really cool ideas. He helped me think through some of the fence construction and he was working with Gamma on what they can use to grow crops better.”

  “What about the others?” I pried. I wanted to make sure my original group was still comfortable with the situation, since nearly doubling the group could cause some morale issues. It always caused problems when mining teams were split and mixed when a Digit got promoted to supervisor; new supervisors always wanted the best workers.