Forager - the Complete Six Book Series (A Post Apocalyptic/Dystopian Series)

by Peter R Stone

  Hamamachi was a small town so we arrived at the hospital minutes later. Nanako was rushed off into emergency on a gurney, while I was left to sit in the corridor outside along with the two Militia who'd brought us here. The nurses wanted to check me over, but I wouldn't hear of it, choosing instead to wash the blood off my face when I had to make a quick toilet break. I should have accepted some painkillers, though, for I had a massive headache.

  I'd been waiting half-an-hour when I heard somewhat familiar footsteps. I turned and quickly jumped up when I saw Councillor Okada hurrying towards me, his face a mask of concern. With him was a petite, small woman around his age whom I recognised immediately as Nanako's mother, and Ken. Ken was walking behind the councillor and was doing his best to avoid making eye contact. I wonder what'd happen if I was to inform the councillor right now that Ken hadn't taken us all the way back to Newhome last December like the councillor had asked, but had dumped us off in Lilydale instead.

  Councillor Okada remained a polite distance behind as Nanako's mother rushed over to me and took my hands in hers. She was a good couple of inches shorter than her daughter was, but a familiar kindness radiated from her round face. She reminded me very much of her daughter.

  "It has been a long time, Ethan," she said as she looked up into my eyes.

  "I wish I could be catching up with you again under better circumstances, Mrs. Hirano," I said sadly. I hadn't seen her for over two years, not since Nanako had taken me to Newhome after I'd been shot.

  "Oh no, you must not call me that," she said kindly. "Call me Okaa-san. Now tell me, how is my daughter?"

  The councillor came forward now and shook my hand, and then I filled them both in on Nanako's condition, about having been shot and the problems with her pregnancy, though without mentioning anything about me being genetically engineered, of course.

  After that, the councillor dismissed the two Militia, and then the three of us sat in the seats against the wall, with me in the middle. Ken remained standing further down the corridor, for all intents and purposes trying to blend in with the wall.

  "You have been very busy since I saw you last," the councillor said quietly.

  "Yes, Sir."

  "This affair over in Inverloch, is this your doing, as they are saying on the radio? Did you lead that expedition into Skel territory?"

  "Yes, Sir, I did. Not that we really had much choice, for we had to leave Newhome or face execution."

  "I wish..." he began, but his voice petered off.

  "You wish what, Sir?" I prompted tiredly.

  "I just wish your people had reported this abhorrent situation to us with discretion, so that we could have dealt with it privately, as an internal matter. There will be many repercussions, reparations and loss of honour for years to come from the Rangers' incomprehensible actions," he said wearily.

  "You didn't have any idea the Rangers were doing these things?" I queried, although I already knew the answer. Had he known, he would have done something about it.

  "Not even an inkling – they covered their tracks too well," he lamented.

  "What will happen to them?"

  "The Militia are out rounding them up as we speak. They will be prosecuted according to the law, and sentenced accordingly. Some of them, starting with Colonel Yamada, will be facing life in prison. But tell me, how did you know the Rangers were up to these nefarious activities? What tipped you off?"

  This was a great opportunity to land Ken in it, if I was to tell the councillor that Rangers had rescued us out from the middle of Skel territory thanks to Ken abandoning us in Lilydale. But, I wasn't in the mood to cause a fuss right now, so I decided to try a different tack.

  "Since I met Nanako my memories of my time here in Hamamachi have been coming back, and..."

  "You've remembered who shot you?"

  "No, not yet, but I have..." My words trailed off when the door to the emergency department was swept open and a doctor emerged. He spotted us, bowed to the councillor, and then came straight to me, though I could tell from his expression that he didn't have particularly good news.

  "Ethan Jones?"

  "Yes, Sir?"

  "Your wife is doing well, and we will be moving her to her own room shortly, at which time you will be able to see her. However, I regret to inform you that she has suffered a miscarriage."

  "Th-thank you, Doctor," I stammered, but I was already turning away so that I could sort through the mass of emotions that had spontaneously erupted within me at hearing Nanako had suffered another miscarriage.

  My first thoughts were for her, about how she must be feeling right now. I remembered her sharing with me that she was late and suspected she was pregnant, and the quiet hope that had filled her when Madison had confirmed it. And now the little child that she had carried for just five or six weeks was gone, and with him or her, went Nanako's hopes and dreams for raising a family with me. For this miscarriage confirmed Madison's damning words, that we'd never be able to have children. And on that score, I felt a wave of guilt wash through me. This was all because of me. If she'd married a normal guy, even if she'd had another miscarriage, she'd still have hope for the future.

  I also felt a deep-seated sense of loss because I'd never get to meet the little one she'd carried for such a short time. I wondered if the child had been a boy or a girl, and what he or she would have looked like. Would the child have had dark hair and a darker complexion like their mother, or fairer hair and complexion like me? I sighed deeply, contemplating that now the little one was gone, I'd never be able to hold him or her in my arms and cradle them to sleep. I wouldn't see the first smile, or watch him or her batting the toys dangling from their play gym while they lay on their back. I wouldn't get to see the little one giggling as he or she learned to crawl, or run to the door to welcome me home from work. I wouldn't see the child off to their first day of school, or leap to my feet and cheer when he or she graduated from high school.

  Finally, I remembered my intention to divorce Nanako should this pregnancy result in a miscarriage. Well, it had, and so I now knew with utter certainty, that I had to divorce her and get out of her life so that she could marry a normal person and have children and a family.

  Knowing that I had to do this tore my heart apart, for Nanako was my world, but I knew with conviction that this was the right thing to do, for I knew how important it was for her to have her own children, and that was something I could never give her. A deep calm entered my soul as I pondered this course of action. The only thing that remained was to wait for the right time to tell her, and that time was not now.

  A small hand slid into mine, interrupting my painful deliberations. I looked down to see Okaa-san standing beside me, searching my face with gentle kindness. "Everything will be okay, Ethan, you'll see," she said.

  I gave her a weak smile, for she didn't know the truth, for nothing would be okay.

  Fifteen minutes later a nurse came and took us to Nanako's room, which had four beds, three of which were occupied. Nanako was in the bed in the back left near the window, lying on her back and staring despondently at the ceiling.

  Okaa-san and the councillor hung back while I quietly approached her. I dragged over the closest chair and sat down.

  "The doctor told me what happened. I'm so sorry," I said softly.

  Nanako's eyes remained empty and lifeless, but she reached out, grabbed my hand, and clutched it to her chest. Her mother and the councillor approached now and sat in two chairs on the other side of the bed, and offered their condolences. Nanako nodded briefly, but apart from that said nothing.

  An hour passed and Nanako suddenly turned towards me and locked her deep brown eyes on mine. "I'm sorry," she said.

  "For what?"

  "For getting so angry with you."

  "There's no need to apologise," I assured her gently.

  "No, there is. I didn't realise that this is just as hard for you as it is for me."

  I couldn't reply, for I'd choked up and had to
hold my breath to keep the tears back. So I just nodded and held her hand.

  The day fled by ever so slowly, but Okaa-san and I remained at Nanako's side while she continued to mourn the loss of her baby. Councillor Okada had left some time ago.

  "Nana-chan, do you remember Chiba-san?" Nanako's mother asked after a while.

  Nanako gave a tiny nod.

  "I don't know if you recall, but she had five miscarriages before she had her three children. So don't lose heart, okay? You are still very young, and you have plenty of time."

  Nana nodded politely, but her eyes were fixed on mine, and I knew what she was thinking. Our case was different, it wouldn't matter how much time we had – all of her pregnancies would result in miscarriages.

  Chapter Twenty-Nine

  That evening, about an hour after the sun had set and Nanako was fast asleep, Councillor Okada came to see me. But he didn't talk, he just motioned for me to join him. I bade a quick farewell to Okaa-san and followed the councillor out of the room, down the corridor, and into an empty nurses' station. Except it wasn't empty. Madison, David, Leigh and Shorty were all there.

  "Hey man, you all right? You look a right mess," David said as he came forward and gave me a quick hug, before stepping back. His right arm was in a sling and had been set in plaster. "We heard what happened to Nanako. Sorry, mate, that's rough."

  "Looks like we got the easy end of the deal for a change, and yeah, sorry about Nanako," Leigh said as he checked out my bruises. I noticed with no small amount of satisfaction that Leigh was standing next to David. He'd finally forgiven him.

  "Them bruises gonna fade, I reckon, what a shame – they'd make awesome trophy wounds," Shorty said, trying to lift my spirits. He gave me a hug too.

  "My condolences, Jones," was all Madison said, but for her, that was something, I guess.

  The councillor stood beside us all, and was clearly waiting for something, though what, I couldn't guess.

  "You guys must have a story to tell – how'd you get away from the Rangers and get all the way to Inverloch without being detected?" I asked.

  "This girl," Shorty said, indicating Madison with a flick of his head, "is a legend. She took out the Ranger driving your truck first, then the one driving the 4WD, and then the 4WD's passengers..."

  "Then we loaded all the slaves from your truck into the other two, plus two Rangers who'd only been wounded, and drove straight to Inverloch," David added.

  "Them older dudes, Martin and Judy? They knew a back route to Inverloch, so we were able to get there without the Rangers spotting us," Shorty continued. "Madison directed us straight to their local radio station, and they just about pooped 'emselves with excitement when we told 'em who we were and where we were from. They started airing our story and interviewing the slaves on the air pretty much straight away."

  "Once the information was out, we took the slaves to the hospital, and that's where they are right now," David explained. "They were pretty worried about you and Nanako, especially Beth and Jack, so when we got the message from Councillor Okada that you two had been found and were okay, they were so relieved."

  "Yeah, Beth, Jack, and the others – they all send their thanks, by the way," Leigh added.

  Councillor Okada cleared his throat, and the lads suddenly piped down. "I apologise for having dragged you away from your wife's side at this time," the councillor began. "But a serious situation has developed that requires your immediate attention."

  "The Rangers have escaped," Madison said.

  "They what?" I blurted, unable to believe my ears.

  "Specialist Madison speaks the truth, I am ashamed to say," Councillor Okada added in embarrassment. "It appears that the Rangers who were still in the field managed to infiltrate the town undetected, and then sprung all of their incarcerated comrades from the jail, including, I'm afraid, Colonel Yamada."

  "Then you'd better send the Militia out to round 'em back up again," I said, wondering why the councillor thought I needed to be told about this.

  "I am afraid that is not possible."

  "And why not?"

  "We have been able to locate them by tracking their Smartphones."

  "And?" I prompted, irritated that the councillor wouldn't just come out and say it. Wait – were they on the way here, wanting to take me out in revenge?

  "They are on the way to Newhome," he replied.

  "Oh no," I replied, as I recalled the Colonel's words that he wanted to see every Korean man, woman and child in Newhome dead. "Still, there won't be a great deal they can do, right?"

  "They raided the Militia's armoury before they left," the councillor admitted, clearly shamefaced. "And among other items, they took a Javelin missile launcher."

  "They're gonna blow a hole in the wall," I concluded, and then looked up. "Still, I don't get why you're telling me all this."

  "I am going after them – I'm leaving in a few minutes," Madison said, taking a step forward. "And I want you – all of you – to come with me."

  I laughed. "We've done our bit, we exposed the Rangers. This is Hamamachi's mess, so they can clean it up."

  David, Leigh, and even Shorty, sighed in relief when they heard me say that.

  "The council will not send the Militia to help Newhome, not after they tried to nuke our town," Councillor Okada declared emphatically.

  "Which they did in response to your Rangers sicking the Skel on them!" I protested.

  "Nonetheless."

  "We're still not going."

  "Jones, do you think the Custodians will stand a chance against the Rangers?" Madison asked gruffly.

  "No. But it's still not our fight."

  "Look, I realize you are feeling down right now with the loss of your child..."

  "Madison!" I snapped angrily.

  "And that the Rangers beat you up, but you are quitting before the job is finished. Ask yourself why you went to Skel territory to expose the Rangers. Was it not to break their alliance with the Skel and get them taken out of the picture?"

  "Still not going."

  "Jones – if you stop now, you have failed the mission that Captain Smithson gave you to save Newhome from the Rangers and the Skel. For right now, this very moment, the Rangers are on the way to Newhome, no doubt to team up with the Skel, and then attack and destroy it."

  "Councillor, you have to convince the council to send the Militia," I pleaded.

  "I tried, young Ethan; I argued and shouted at them until I was blue in the face, but they would not be moved."

  "Ethan, your family, do you care about them?"

  "Of course I do!" I snapped, as my emotions rose up and threatened to overwhelm me. I'd done my bit, hadn't I? I'd been tortured, my wife had been shot and tortured and was lying in a hospital bed and needed me by her side. This wasn't my fight anymore, right?

  "Jones, the chancellor and all the councillors are going to die!" Madison said, choking up with emotion.

  "That doesn't particularly worry me," I said, though that was only part of the picture, and I knew it. The Colonel wanted to kill all the Koreans, even the children.

  "Ethan," Madison said, surprising me by using my first name. "There is something I have not told you."

  "Oh great, and that is?"

  "All of the Korean children aged ten and younger, they are like you and me. And if we do not stop the Rangers, they will all die too."

  That statement sent my blood boiling, for it meant that the geneticists' attempts to reverse engineer the genetic engineering that had been done to Madison, me, and the others, had been successful – and at the cost of the lives of many young boys whom they dissected. And so I immediately resented and hated those children. On the other hand, this was not their doing. They were completely innocent, and I suddenly realised that I couldn't bear the thought of those little children being slaughtered just because the Rangers blamed them for something their forebears did a century ago.

  The Rangers – the Colonel – had to be stopped.

  Wh
en I looked up and met Madison's eyes, there was a fire in my eyes. To my surprise, even she took a step back. "Fine, I'll come, but just me, not my boys. I gave them a promise that I'd never ask 'em to fight Rangers, and I'm sticking to it."

  "I knew I could count on you, Ethan. Let us leave right now!" Madison said, smiling with delight.

  "Just one thing."

  "Yes?"

  "Providing I survive this night and we beat the Rangers, how will I get out of Newhome again?"

  "I give you my word that I will get you out, and I assure you that I have the authority to make this promise," she said.

  "Okay," I replied, kind of convinced.

  "Right, let us go. There is a vehicle waiting for us outside.

  "Weapons?"

  "In the vehicle. Pistols, Austeyr assault rifles, even a hankyu Japanese half-bow."

  So this was it, I was just gonna up and go to Newhome to take on the Rangers and Skel virtually single handedly, without even saying goodbye to Nanako? I choked back the tears that threatened to flow as I realised that if I didn't make it back, Nanako would be set free from me and the curse of my inability to give her children without having to divorce her.

  I turned to the councillor. "Sir, please apologise to Nanako that I have ducked off without saying goodbye, but I don't want to wake her. Besides, she wouldn't let me go, and I have to do this. And if I'm not back within a week, it means I have been killed. If that happens, please look after her and encourage her to remarry when she passes out of her period of mourning."

  "I will take good care of her, you have my word." The councillor took my hand and shook it firmly. "Oh, I almost forgot. Here is a phone. Call me and let me know when you're done so we can know when to expect you back. I've already put my number in it."

  "Thanks," I said as I took the phone and tucked it in my pocket. I sucked in a deep breath. "Okay Madison, let's go."

  Shorty took a tentative step towards me as I turned to follow Madison from the room. "Jones?"

  "No, Shorty," I said firmly. "Stay here and look after David and Leigh, okay?"

  "But..."