"They seen us?" asked Nanako worriedly.
"No, they're picking their way across no-man's land, probably wondering why the wall's lights aren't on."
"Hey, I can just make 'em out. Woah, they're even uglier in the moonlight. Shall we take 'em out when they get closer?" Shorty asked as he slipped an arrow out his quiver and notched it to his bow string.
"No, if even one of them sounds the alarm we'll have to abort. Let's just hunker down here for a few minutes until they pass by."
We remained motionless as we knelt on the road, invisible to the Skel thanks to our black clothes.
"I've got a bone to pick with you, Jones," David said softly. "Why did you get me and Shorty involved in this stupid suicide mission - assuming it was your idea to bring us along."
I was surprised by the level of anxiety in David's voice - he normally tackled danger head on. "Isn't this why we came back to Newhome? To protect it?"
"That was your idea, not ours," he grumbled.
"You could have at least asked us first, you know, given us the option to say yes or no," Shorty added.
"You guys would rather we sit back and do nothing while everyone starves because they've run out of food - all because of one blasted Skel sniper?" I asked. The three Skel were fifty meters away now but were going to bypass us by a good, safe margin.
David leaned closer, his eyes wide with fear. "And you think we can succeed when over a hundred Custodians couldn't?"
"They failed 'cause they walked right into a Skel trap. We're gonna sneak around behind them and bump off their sniper without going anywhere near their ambushes." I put a hand on David's shoulder. "We've done this many times when we were foraging, remember?"
"Never at night and never against so many of them. The most we ever fought was twelve. How many do you reckon are out here now? A hundred - two hundred?"
"There's about two-dozen less than there were yesterday morning," I replied, "but honestly, it's irrelevant. Those who aren't asleep will be facing the town, not looking behind them. Now stop worrying. If I didn't think we could pull this off, I wouldn't have brought you along."
"The Skel patrol's moving off - let's keep going," Nanako said.
We rose and continued north through no-man's land towards the Ascot Vale Housing Commission Estate. The estate was quite large, and was probably quite a sight once, with its irregularly placed multi-storey housing commission apartment blocks and cottages set amidst large lawns. But the brick buildings were in a sorry state of disrepair now and the lawns had been reclaimed by nature. Wild blackberry bushes, shrubs, ferns, waist-high wild grass and gum trees had turned the lawns into a veritable forest.
Echolocation revealed Skel sentries hiding at the edge of the estate - behind trees, bushes, and windows. However, there was a gap between two apartment blocks that contained no Skel sentries, so I led us directly towards it.
But we'd taken only a few steps into the waist high grass when I saw a tell-tale thin wire stretched from one building across to a home-made bomb lying against the wall of the other.
"Hold up, guys," I said, "There's a tripwire here. I'll straddle it and help you over it one by one."
Nanako looked up at me, her eyes full of trust, as I helped her over the wire, directing her feet one at a time. After that I assisted David, and lastly, Shorty, who although he followed my directions, appeared uncharacteristically uncomfortable.
With the tripwire behind us and nothing but apartments and forest before us, we continued on our way, but we hadn't gone far when I realised Shorty was hanging back, staring up at me as though I was some kind of freak.
"What?" I demanded impatiently.
"I couldn't see that wire at all, Jones, and you weren't doing your tongue clicks - so how the blazes did you spot it?" he asked suspiciously.
"Shorty, we don't have time for this," I said, taking a step towards him.
He stepped back, looking at me with fear - or was it revulsion? "You can see in the dark, Jones. You're one of those...those mutants, aren't you?"
Chapter Twenty-Six
"I'm not a mutant," I replied.
"Yes you are!" he exclaimed a little too loudly as he backed away from me as though I was contagious or something.
"Don't be a drongo, Shorty, nuclear radiation doesn't cause mutations like that," David whispered as he came to my defence. Then to me, he whispered, "You've been genetically modified, haven't you?"
"Got it in one, Mr. Chen," I answered.
Shorty looked most bewildered. "What are you two talking about?"
"There are no mutants, Shorty," I said. "At least, not like the Custodians claim."
"Then what the blazes are you?"
"One of the geneticists in North End secretly altered the genetic makeup of a whole bunch of foetuses - including me - around twenty years ago."
"Are you even human, then?"
"We haven't got time for this, Shorty!" I hissed.
David came forward and grabbed Shorty's arm. "Everything we eat in Newhome has been genetically altered. But that hasn't changed those foods into being something other than what they were to start with. The same applies to Ethan - he's still human. Now come on, the longer we stand here debating this, the higher the chance a Skel patrol will find us."
"I thought I knew you!" Shorty exclaimed petulantly.
I grabbed him by the scruff of his collar and pulled him close, towering over his diminutive frame. "You do, you silly git, now get over it and get your head in the game."
Shorty swatted my hands away. "Alright already."
With Shorty's fears apparently put to rest, we continued our trek through the Housing Commission Estate's overgrown 'lawns' and then continued east. We stayed away from the larger roads, using back streets as much as possible.
Thirty minutes later we reached the railway line that ran about a hundred metres north of the apartment block the Skel sniper was using as his hideout. The railway track was barely visible now, as the gravel ballast had been covered by a hundred years of wind-blown dirt, and had become a fertile bed for grass and weeds to flourish in. The wooden sleepers had also partly rotted away, though the overhead power lines and their steel poles were still largely intact. I tried to imagine how wonderful it must have been for our ancestors to ride those amazing, multi-carriage trains.
We crossed the railway line, slipped through the yard of a single story house, and then we were in Crown Street - a place I'd hoped to never see again.
We could hear sounds of drunken carousing and riotous partying coming from several buildings at the other end of the street - the Skel were celebrating their victory in their barbaric style.
“So that’s what they get up to at night,” David mused.
“Noisy bunch, aren’t they?” Nanako added.
“Not to mention rude – we didn’t get an invite,” Shorty pouted.
“That’s one party invitation I can do without,” I said. “Now come on, let’s keep going.”
Hugging the buildings to our right, we'd taken only several steps when Nanako pointed to the dark silhouette of Alpha Company's burnt out lead Bushmaster. "Is that...?"
"Yeah," I sighed, "This is where Alpha Company bought it - the whole company. They drove right into an ambush."
As we drew closer the whole column of burnt out vehicles became visible in the moonlight, two Bushmasters and four G-Wagons.
"What happened to them?" Shorty asked in horror.
"Roadside bomb, rocket, and Molotov cocktails," I replied as we drew alongside the first Bushmaster. The Custodian's corpses had all been removed, but this was no cause for rejoicing - they hadn't been taken away to be buried. No, the Skel would dismember them and extract their bones to make suits of armour. I suddenly felt nauseous and sickened to the depths of my being. How could human beings become so depraved, and not just individuals, but an entire society?
"Were there any survivors?" Shorty asked quietly.
"Not in this company, no."
"You were here when this happened?" Nanako whispered in awe as she reached out and laid a petite hand on my arm.
"I was in the next street across, where the Skel tried to lure us into a similar trap," I admitted, and having no desire to recount what happened that particular horrific morning, I said no more.
We reached the twelve-story apartment block behind the one the Skel sniper was using, so I called my teammates close. "Okay, this is it. We'll use this apartment block's staircase to get to the roof and then jump across to the roof of the building the sniper's using."
"Jump?" Shorty asked, trying to study my face in the faint moonlight to see if I was joking.
"Figuratively speaking - the two buildings butt up against one another. I think. Now keep your wits about you, guys, there could be Skel and booby traps anywhere now, so follow my lead carefully."
Nanako gave my hand a squeeze. "I've got your back."
"Okay, let's do this," I said and led my team over the apartment block's crumbling brick fence. We picked our way carefully around a rusting metal hopper-bin and a small shed, and then slipped through the side entrance and into the apartment. As expected, there was a booby trap just inside the doorway, which I helped my companions to step over. The sounds of Skel partying faded as soon as we entered the building, thankfully, this apartment block appeared to be uninhabited. From there we moved quickly down the hallway and into the foyer. We entered the stairwell beside the elevator and began the slow ascent to the twelfth floor and the roof.
The climb was slow but not overly tiring, well, not for me since I did this every day back home, but the others were panting by the time we reached the roof. So far there'd been no sign of Skel, which didn't surprise me in the slightest, since it never occurred to them that Newhome might send a small infiltration team behind their front lines.
On the roof, we sat beside the stairwell housing and waited to get our breath back. And while we were wolfing down some energy ration bars and water, we heard the sharp crack of a rifle shot. We weren’t the targets, though; it was the Skel sniper in the adjacent apartment block, firing from the top floor at a target over in Newhome.
"Time to put an end to this," I said as I clambered to my feet.
We readied our weapons and ran silently across the apartment building’s roof and onto the adjoining apartment block's roof - without having to jump, much to Shorty's relief - and made our way to the stairwell housing.
David pulled the door open as slowly as possible to minimize the noise made by hinges that hadn’t been used for decades, and revealed the stairs that led from the roof down to the building's top floor. It was pitch black inside. I didn’t want to use a torch, but as the others wouldn’t be able to see a thing in there, I pulled a torch from my belt, turned it on, and held it beside my pistol.
The others notched arrows loosely to their bowstrings, and with me in the lead, we slipped down the stairs. We exited the stairwell and entered a corridor whose floor was littered with broken light fittings, collapsed ceiling panels, and chunks of plaster from the walls.
Sporadic gunshots – which were extremely loud now – were coming from an apartment to the right, so we picked our way carefully down the corridor by torchlight until we reached the third apartment on the left. Its door had been bashed open and was attached to the door frame by its upper hinge only.
"Right – I’ll lead," I whispered to my companions, who looked as nervous as I felt. "We charge in there and take them out as fast as possible. We can’t let them shout for help, for there could be other Skel on this level."
Nanako, her countenance fierce, nodded. The lads just looked on with wide-eyed terror, which I took for their indication that they were as ready as they’d ever be.
Pistol at the ready, I moved furtively but quickly through the apartment’s lounge room and with my companions on my heels, sprang into the centremost bedroom from which the sounds of gunfire were coming.
The sniper and his spotter were lying on the floor in front of a window that had been converted to a bulletproof sniper hide. I was about to pump them full of holes, but only just managed to pull my finger off the trigger before I fired, for to my absolute shock, the sniper and his spotter were not Skel at all, but Hamamachi Rangers. In fact, the sniper was Sergeant Tamura and the spotter was Corporal Reina.
"Hold your fire!" I shouted to my companions just in time, for they'd been about to shoot their arrows.
"Sergeant Tamura, Reina?" Nanako asked, barely able to believe what she was seeing.
"Jones? Nanako?" Sergeant Tamura queried as he clambered to his knees and turned to face us, though still holding the sniper rifle.
"Put the gun down and put your hands on your heads – now!" I snapped angrily. It had never occurred to me for even a minute that these two were the ones who were slaughtering Newhome’s inhabitants.
The sergeant laid the gun beside him and put his hands on his head. Reina climbed to her knees and laid a magnificent, hi-tech set of binoculars on the floor beside her, and then put her hands on her head too. Blinded by the torchlight, they both strained to see who else was with me.
"Nanako, is that you?" Reina asked innocently, as though speaking to a long lost friend.
"What are you doing here, Jones?" Tamura demanded. "And how did you get past the Skel anyway - no, don't answer that, stupid question. You've always been able to sneak past anyone."
"We came to eliminate the sniper – we just didn’t expect it to be you," I replied. I noticed that he wasn’t the slightest bit nervous, so I tightened the grip on my pistol.
"Well, now you know, so stop pointing your weapons at us," he said.
"Put your pistols and your knives on the floor, and I’ll think about it," I growled.
"What are you talking about, Jones - you’re a Ranger, remember? We’re on the same side."
"I think you'll find I was discharged from the Rangers on medical grounds two years ago. And we are not on the same side – not only are you in bed with the Skel, but you’ve been murdering Custodians and civilians."
"That’s rubbish, Jones, and you know it," he replied angrily. "Newhome tried to nuke Hamamachi, remember? This is payback."
"I'll admit the attempt to nuke Hamamachi was wrong, but the Custodians only did that in response to Hamamachi supporting the Skel attacks on Newhome," I argued back. "And on that matter, why is Hamamachi trying to destroy Newhome?"
Tamura just stared at me.
"Answer the question, Tamura - why is Hamamachi trying to destroy Newhome? Or is it only the Rangers or perhaps a secret faction in Hamamachi behind the Skel attacks? Councillor Okada obviously knew nothing about it."
"Just trust me when I say we're doing what must be done," the Ranger sergeant answered at last. "Now get your weapons out of my face and either join us or get back to Newhome."
"I think you misunderstand the gravity of the situation, Sergeant. You two are coming back to Newhome with us as our prisoners. Now put your pistols and knives on the floor behind you and don't try anything or I will shoot."
"You owe us, Ethan," Reina said as she slowly got to her feet.
"All debts we owed you were cancelled when you started shooting civilians, now do as I say and then stand in the middle of the room!" I ordered more sternly this time.
The Rangers dropped their pistols and combat knives on the floor beside the sniper rifle and moved to the middle of the room. Echolocation, however, revealed they were both still calm - their heart rates had not increased at all. What did they know that we didn't? Had they managed to call for backup?
"Right, let's move out," I commanded, anxious to get out of the building as soon as possible. "David, grab the sniper rifle - we can't leave that behind. Nanako, Shorty, lead the way, I'll bring up the rear."
“Ah, Jones?” David said hesitantly, “Can’t we just take the sniper rifle and let them go?”
“What’ll that achieve? They’ll just get another one.”
“But we really do owe them for saving us
from the Skel,” he continued.
“News flash – they’ve been gunning down civilians, remember?” I wondered what was going on in his head. He understood the stakes as much as anyone else did, so why this sudden misplaced mercy towards our enemy?
“But the Custodians will interrogate and then execute them, Jones!”
“That’s enough, David! We’re taking them back to Newhome and that’s final, now get the gun!”
David glanced apologetically at the Rangers and went to pick up the sniper rifle. Then with David and me bringing up the rear and the Rangers in the middle, we quickly retraced our steps out of the apartment, down the corridor, into the stairwell, and up onto the roof. I was delighted to see the dismay our clandestine route caused Tamura - his heart beat accelerated as soon as he realised what we were up to. He must have been counting on us trying to get them past the Skel downstairs.
We crossed over to the adjacent apartment block and began the tedious descent down the stairs towards the ground floor. I kept my pistol and torch aimed at the Rangers the entire time, for I didn't trust them one iota. Anyone who could ally themselves with the Skel had to be either corrupt or as depraved as the Skel.
We rested every few levels, more for my companion's sake, as I needed them ready in case our prisoners tried anything, though I was beginning to think they weren't going to.
When we passed the first floor's landing, Tamura glanced back at me as he descended the stairs. "You know, Jones, I was with the team sent to find you and your four teammates when you didn't come back from that mission in 2120."
Several stairs further down, Nanako's head snapped up and around when she heard Tamura's claim - this was a topic close to her heart, for although she had pressed the Ranger colonel to tell her what happened, he refused to give her any details.
"And?" I replied, suddenly nervous.
"We found you all on the edge of Skel territory. We found your squad members first – they were in the same street in which we rescued you guys two weeks ago, believe it or not. They’d all been shot dead."
Forager - the Complete Six Book Series (A Post Apocalyptic/Dystopian Series) Page 40