"Where do the Skel live? I don't see any dwellings amongst the market gardens," Madison asked.
"In the ruined houses further up the road, I presume," I replied.
"How many live here?" she asked.
"No idea."
"How come? Haven't you been here before?"
"Twice. But only to that community centre up the road," I explained.
"Why there?"
"That's where they bring the slaves they catch to be processed."
"Processed?"
"Branded and chained," I replied grimly.
"Can't we do anything for them?" Nanako asked.
"The slaves?" I queried.
"Yeah, can't we rescue them or something? They've gotta be going through absolute hell," she replied.
I looked at the slaves closest to us, at their slow gait, their sickly pallor, and the open sores on their skin. "I'd love to, but how?"
"Even if we could sneak some away from the Skel," David said, "they wouldn't get far. Not only are their legs chained, but look at 'em, they're so weak. Not to mention that if we rescued them, what'd we feed them? Where would we take them? And which ones would we choose? We couldn't take 'em all."
"We've got to do something," Nanako said softly, a lone tear slipping down her cheek.
I put a hand on her slim shoulder. "I know where you're coming from, but there’s really nothing..."
"But you rescued the refugees the Rangers tried to off load here two years ago," she pointed out, her voice thick with emotion.
"They were still relatively fit and healthy, and I sent them off in the Ranger's truck."
"But to be so close to them, and not be able to do anything..." Nanako sighed sadly.
"The best we can do is stop the Rangers bringing any more here," I said. "It's not gonna help those poor people out there; I admit, but it'll stop any other unfortunates ending up like them."
"I don't like it," Nanako said. "Maybe one day, when this stupid war between our towns is over, someone can lead an expedition here to rescue them?"
"I am sure that sounds nice in theory," Madison butted in, "but there remains the problem of the Skel. They will not take a back seat and let someone waltz in here and take their slaves, will they? Besides, no one in their right mind would risk life and limb to come here to rescue a bunch of half-dead slaves."
"You have a real way with words, Madison, you know that?" Nanako snarled and then tore herself away from the terrible view across the road.
Chapter Thirteen
"Hey, what's that smoke from?" Shorty asked, pointing to a plume of black smoke twisting lazily into the sky from the other side of the market gardens.
"Something's on fire?" I pondered.
"Nah, too controlled – more likely from a factory or something," David answered.
"Could it be the factory Reina told us about? You know, the one where they treat the bones with resin to make them bullet proof?"
"Don't see why they'd need fire for doing that."
"Then let's check that place out first," I suggested.
"When?" Shorty asked, moving back from the window to lean against the bedroom wall.
"We can't go traipsing about during the daytime; we'd be sure to be spotted. So let’s wait 'till nightfall and then go exploring," I replied.
"Oh, goodie," Shorty said as he rubbed his hands together with mock glee.
"That's the spirit," I said as I bopped him gently on top of his head. "And everyone, we need to set up a roster so that there’s always one of us watching up the road in case the Rangers come."
"I’ll take the initial watch, since it is my first time here – I want to familiarise myself with the place," Madison volunteered.
"Thanks."
"And while she’s on watch, let's eat and get some sleep," Nanako suggested.
I doubted I could sleep, but I'd welcome the rest. The walk here had been pretty tiring, and I was still emotionally beat up, thanks to the fearful thoughts that'd been tormenting me all day.
* * *
A couple of hours after dark, we gathered in the lounge room downstairs and prepared to go on our recon mission. Madison and I'd dressed in our Custodian fatigues, while the others had donned whatever dark clothes they'd brought with them. And barring Madison, who was unarmed, the rest of us had our bows and arrows, plus, I had my combat knife. Oh, and a pistol with four bullets that I couldn’t use except in the direst of dire emergencies.
"Okay everyone, listen up," I said when we were ready to set out. "I'll take point so I can spot any Skel and circumvent them..."
"Circum what?" Shorty asked.
"Circumvent," I replied.
"It means to go around," David explained.
"Right, got it," Shorty said, smiling broadly, an expression only I could see for I was echolocating whenever I wasn't talking.
"As I was saying, I'll cir...lead us around any Skel and we'll go and have a look at what's causing that smoke. Keep your weapons ready and don’t make a sound. Madison, you bring up the rear and use your hearing and flash sonar to check our surroundings like I taught you."
"Do I get a weapon?" she asked with forced politeness.
"When she’s at the back? I don't think so," David complained softly in the background.
"Yeah, I know right? She'll just stab us in the back," Leigh agreed just as quietly.
"You gotta prove yourself before I'll even consider that," I answered as I frowned at David and Leigh for their rudeness.
"So what do I do if I get jumped by Skel?" she demanded gruffly. "Use harsh language?"
"Echolocate properly and that isn't gonna happen."
"Thanks, that’s very reassuring.”
"Besides, how you figure you can use a weapon when your arm hasn't healed."
"My left arm is functioning fine. Can I have your knife?"
"Not happening," I said, and then moved out.
As we went, Nanako moved forward and touched my arm. "I've got your back, okay?"
"Wouldn't have it any other way," I said, giving her hand a reassuring squeeze.
"Do I really have to come? Can’t I stay here and man the fort?" Leigh said suddenly, his voice wavering from fear. Well, going by the expression on his face, more like abject terror.
I laid a hand on his shoulder in an attempt to bolster his confidence. "We need you with us out there, okay? You’ve proven yourself time and again when we got into scraps with the Skel, so don’t worry, you’ll be fine."
"But…" he protested.
"Perhaps we should leave him behind," Madison interrupted. "He has got a yellow streak down his back so wide we could land a jet on it."
"You ever seen a jet?" Shorty asked Madison.
"Nick off, cow," Leigh huffed.
"'Cause I heard they're pretty big," Shorty continued.
"Prove me wrong, Yellow-Boy," Madison snarled, taking a step towards Leigh.
"Too big to land on Leigh's back, anyways," Shorty finished.
"Will you shut up?" Madison snapped at Shorty.
"I was just asking," Shorty pouted.
"Cut it out, all of you!" I hissed. "And Madison, stop trying to rile up Leigh, or you’ll be the one we leave behind."
"Whatever."
"I mean it. We’re a team, and team members look out for each other, got it?"
"Yeah, David, got that?" Leigh muttered just loud enough for David to hear.
"How many times do I have to say I'm sorry?" David asked, his words heavy with heartfelt emotion.
"Saying sorry ain’t gonna bring her back…"
"I said to cut it out!" I snapped, louder this time. "Good grief, if I didn’t know better, I’d have thought you lot were nothing but a bunch of pre-schoolers. Now shut it and let’s go."
With that ugliness hopefully out of the way, we slipped single file out of the derelict house and into the cool, night air. The sky was partially overcast, but not impossibly dark thanks to the crescent moon high overhead. For me and Madison, though
, it may as well have been daylight, for the echoes returning from our ultrasonic shouts (musical notes in her case) illuminated the immediate area before us in an almost ghostly manner.
We crept furtively through the shrubs and tall grass that crowded the nature strip, and prepared to cross the road, but I held up my hand when I heard the faint sound of many raucous voices. Looking about, I saw a flickering, golden glow much further up the road to our right.
"What is it?" David asked.
"Is a building on fire?" I wondered.
"I can make out Skel voices – lots of them," Madison said as she joined me in staring at the flickering light.
"Shall we check it out?" David asked.
"Nah, let's stick with the plan and find out what's causing that smoke," I replied.
And so ignoring whatever commotion was happening further up Police Road, we crept silently across the road and into the market gardens on the other side, which were eerily quiet and empty with the absence of the slaves and their Skel overseers barking orders and insults at them. We threaded our way through the walking spaces that separated rows of vegetables, heading southeast.
"Hey," David, whispered, bringing us to a halt. He was holding a carrot which he'd plucked from rows of carrots beside us. "Let's load up on some of these, gotta be better than eating berries and those blasted quandong."
"Forget the carrots – let’s go for potatoes!" Shorty said, moving to a different row.
"Unless we can find a way to cook 'em, you can forget the potatoes," Nanako whispered back.
"Why?" Shorty asked.
"Raw potatoes can cause food poisoning," she explained.
"Then we gotta find a way to cook 'em," Shorty whispered desperately. I can't hack this diet we're on, if I get any thinner, I'm gonna disappear."
I picked up the potato and was pleasantly surprised to see that by using flash sonar, I could easily detect any green. "Don’t worry guys, Madison and I can tell if the potatoes are green or not, so lighten up. Shorty – you’re having potato tonight..."
"Yahoo!"
"However, let’s leave it for now and grab them on our way back," I said, almost salivating in anticipation of some wholesome vegies instead of the bush tucker we'd lived on over the past couple of weeks; because Shorty was right – we'd all lost weight. "Now, let’s get our minds back on the job."
It took us about forty minutes to pass through the market gardens and re-enter suburbia proper; street after street lined with partially ruined houses. Before long, we found ourselves in a long street with houses on its north side and factories and warehouses on the south.
But before we could go on, we had to hide amongst bushes that had reclaimed the nature strip, for three Skel armed with clubs and an old rifle had exited a warehouse across the road. We remained hidden for a full ten minutes until they'd disappeared from view.
When they were gone, we hurried across the road and clambered over the remains of a six-foot high wooden fence, which deposited us into the yard of a large industrial complex. The yard was filled with shipping containers, wooden and plastic cartons, wooden pallets, and the rusting wrecks of trucks, cars, and forklifts. We could see light coming from warehouses and factories to our right, but the object of our attention was a lone warehouse with cracked concrete-slab walls to our left, set far back from the road. Wisps of smoke still trailed from its chimney.
We threaded our way quietly between rows of cartons and containers, until the warehouse walls rose up before us.
"Shoot me dead, but what is that smell?" Shorty demanded as he tried to bury his nose in his sleeve.
"I’ve got a bad feeling about this," Leigh said as he tried to block out the smell too.
And they weren’t kidding about the smell; it was putrid – worse than anything I’d smelt before.
"What on earth is this place?" Nanako asked as we cautiously approached the warehouse’s side door.
"The smell – it’s decaying organic matter," David said when we reached the door.
Leigh was standing several paces back from the rest of us, eyes wide with fright.
"Shall we draw straws to see who gets to go in?" David asked, his voice shaking.
"I will go," Madison said as she strode boldly to the door and reached out to open it.
"As will I," I added, though with more confidence than I felt.
"Me too, then," Nanako said, her pretty button-nose screwed up from the horrid stench.
I had to help Madison get the door open, for it was stuck in the doorframe, and then Madison and I slipped inside with Nanako bringing up the rear.
It was pitch black inside, so I let rip with flash sonar, and immediately wished I hadn’t, for I was met with a grisly scene that completely defied description, a scene so horrific and unsettling that I turned bolted straight back outside and promptly threw up, and kept throwing up until my stomach was utterly empty. And even then, I dry heaved several more times until I was left panting for breath.
"What is it – what did you see?" Nanako asked in concern, for she’d followed me outside
Madison came running out of the warehouse now, and she proceeded to throw up too, though not as violently as I had.
"What’s in there, Jones?" David asked worriedly.
"Man, I ain’t never seen Jones spooked like this before. What did you see, mate?" Shorty demanded.
Chapter Fourteen
I wiped my mouth, stood, and concentrated on breathing in fresh air for a few moments.
"It’s a cross between an abattoir and a charnel house," Madison said from where she stood over near the door.
"A what and a what?" Shorty asked, glancing from Madison to me and back again.
My eyes bloodshot and my mind revolting against the images the flash sonar had illuminated, I explained to the others what I’d seen. "It’s a slaughter house, where the Skel strip the bones out of the corpses of humans, sheep and dogs for their suits of armour. After that they burn the bodies in a massive furnace – that’s what the smoke’s from."
"Ewwww," Shorty said, stepping back.
Nanako came over and massaged my back, trying to knead away muscles knotted with tension from vomiting.
"These Skel, they're not just barbaric; they're evil beyond comprehension!" I said emotionally. "I mean, we've all seen their suits of armour, and we knew where the bones came from, but to see the process up close, it's just so utterly despicable! How can such a culture exist? How did people devolve into such monsters with absolutely no regard or respect for the dead – it's incomprehensible!"
Apart from Nanako, who kept trying to work the knots out of my back, the others just stood there, too shocked to talk. Even Madison was at a loss for words, her face drawn and pale.
I had to get the horrific images burned into my retina out of my mind, so I turned to Nanako and used flash sonar to stare at her lovely round face, so full of care and concern, and let that image slowly weaken the intensity of the others. But it was a temporary measure, and I knew it. Every time I closed my eyes, every time I blinked, those images were conjured back into my mind. I shuddered to think what my nightmares would be like next time I fell asleep.
"Let's get away from here, shall we?" David suggested softly.
"Why don't we check out those warehouses?" I replied, pointing to the warehouses on the other side of the yard. Pale light was flickering from the windows set high in the walls of one, while the rest were dark and lifeless.
We left the horrific charnel house behind and hurried across the weed infested, cluttered yard and cautiously approached the warehouses on the other side. There were a dozen of them, arranged in a large rectangle. There was no warehouse in the southeast corner of the rectangle, just a driveway that led into a big internal car park, which, when we entered it, gave us quite a surprise. For it was filled with over two dozen battered old trucks that were just visible in the moonlight.
The smell of resin also permeated the whole area.
"Whoa," David exclaimed, "W
ho would've thought the Skel had this many vehicles?"
"I wonder how many of 'em still actually run?" I asked as I walked over to the closest truck and examined it with knowing eyes.
"Look over there," Madison said, pointing to a pile of oil drums stacked against one of the warehouse walls. She walked over to one and after knocking on it and sniffing it, turned back to us. "Full of petrol."
"Where on earth are the Skel getting petrol from?" Leigh asked.
"My guess’d be the Rangers, as Hamamachi still uses petrol," Nanako said as she went over to examine the oil drums.
"The resin smell is coming from this warehouse," Madison said as she left the drums and made her way over to the largest of the warehouses on our right. It was the one that had weak light shining from its windows.
"Okay, let’s check it out, and the rest of the warehouses too. I want to know exactly what the Skel get up to," I said.
"Doors are chained and padlocked," Madison said, hefting the chain in her hands.
"Allow me?" I asked as I pulled out my lock picks. While Madison watched me closely, I had the padlock open and the chain off the door in a jiffy.
I pulled the rickety door open – its glass panel had been replaced by wood – and slipped carefully inside with the others on my heels. The smell of resin was ten times stronger here, so much so that it made me a little giddy. It wasn’t an unpleasant smell, though, I kinda liked it.
I had an inkling of what I’d find in here, but after the shock I’d received when I entered the charnel house; my heart was thumping loudly in fearful anticipation.
We entered a foyer that led into a couple of offices, whose ceramic tiled floor was worn thin by the passage of many booted feet. Paint was hanging in strips from the walls, and the internal windows were all shattered.
Seeing nothing of value here, we passed through the offices and into the warehouse behind, but met another shocking scene, though thankfully, nothing like what I’d seen in the charnel house.
This warehouse was wide and deep, and was filled with dozens of shoddily assembled wooden work benches on which lay several suits of Skel bone armour in various stages of being assembled and coated with resin to make them bulletproof.
Forager - the Complete Six Book Series (A Post Apocalyptic/Dystopian Series) Page 57