Embattlement: The Undergrounders Series Book Two (A Young Adult Science Fiction Dystopian Novel)

by Hinkens, Norma

10

  “What are you talking about?”

  “You’ll know soon enough, if Jerome lets you stay.”

  I stare at a piece of black plastic fluttering in a pile of rubble. I don’t know what a superconductor is, but it sounds like it might be some kind of power plant. My mind races in several directions at once. Have they jury-rigged some way of conducting power to the city? Some way of disabling the Hovermedes? They can’t possibly have built a superconductor—whatever that is—in the six years since the meltdown. Which means it must have already been in existence. I don’t remember learning about it in school. But then, we didn’t know the Craniopolis existed either. I wonder what other secrets the sovereign leader and the world government hid from us?

  The conversation lulls and my head gradually begins to nod in time with the horse’s leisurely gait. I jerk myself upright repeatedly, fighting the urge to slump forward and sleep on the thick ponytail in front of me. I peer off into the distance, looking for something to focus on to keep me awake. Miles of rubble stretch in every direction, but off in the distance the debris looks like it’s stacked into some kind of structure.

  “What’s that up ahead?” I call to Jody. “It looks like a barricade.”

  “That’s exactly what it is. It’s how we keep marauders out.”

  “I thought you said Sweepers can’t operate here, with the superconductor thingy.”

  “Sweepers can’t. Rogues can. And they’ve been on a killing spree. That’s why so many of the Undergrounders are fleeing here.”

  I jerk upright, more wide awake than I’ve been in days. So it’s true! The Undergrounders are uniting in the city. I breathe slowly in and out, my system cranking up on adrenalin. Maybe the rest of our bunker made it here. A wave of homesickness washes over me as a string of familiar faces flash to mind, but almost immediately despair takes over when I realize I’ll have to break the news to them about Da and Owen. I throw a quick glance over my shoulder at Jakob. He might be about to see his parents again. I tighten my grip around Jody’s waist. There’s a selfish part of me hopes that not the case. I don’t want to have to feel the weight of their disapproval again.

  My apprehension mounts as we approach the imposing barricade; a twenty-foot wall of strategically placed wrecked vehicles, interspersed with steel girders and tangled barbed wire. Perched above an entry gate fashioned out of a graffitied shipping container is a heavily guarded wooden watchtower. Two armed men in cowboy hats appear at the front of the structure and peer down at us. Jody lifts her arm and makes some kind of hand gesture that appears to satisfy them. One of them leans over the parapet and whistles. After a moment, the metal container gate begins to swing inward, creaking and groaning like a monstrous iron jaw. Whatever the superconductor is used for, it’s not feeding power to the gate.

  Ida reins in her horse and brings it alongside ours. Jakob looks across at me and gives me a tenuous chin up. I don’t see fear in his face, more like jittery anticipation. I hope we’re not kidding ourselves that Jerome and the riders will help us once they hear our story. I don’t want to end up trapped here tonight, or maybe even longer.

  “The city doesn’t look anything like it used to, does it?’ I say.

  Jakob hikes his brows up. “I wouldn’t know.”

  I gasp. “You’re kidding, right? You’ve never been to Shoshane City?”

  Jakob shrugs. “Never needed to.”

  I stare at him, mouth slung wide, as if seeing him for the first time. He’s told me plenty of stories about growing up Septite. I pictured it as being more like having a house in the country than living outside of civilization entirely. If he’s never been to the city, then he’s never walked through a mall, or seen a movie, or even ridden a bus.

  It dawns on me that if it weren’t for the meltdown, we’d never have crossed paths, let alone shared a first kiss. In the world I miss so much at times, Jakob Miller would never have existed for me. I look away, afraid my eyes will betray what I’m thinking. Truth is, I would have been embarrassed by him then with his shapeless overalls and grungy trucker cap. We might have shared the same planet, but we came from two different worlds. Not anymore. The only reality now is survival. And that might have been enough for us, if Sven hadn’t shown up.

  The container gate swings wide. Jody makes that clicking sound again, and our horse trots through the opening in the barricade and out into a wide street. For a moment I freeze, bewildered by the sight of so many people assembled in one place, strolling around in small groups, entering and exiting buildings, pushing carts laden with supplies, barrels, vegetables, live chickens and goats. Almost immediately my mouth begins to water at the tantalizing aroma of open air cooking. A woman swings a small boy into the air and catches him, amid squeals of laughter. I stare at them, hungry for their play, a stabbing sensation in my heart that’s halfway between pleasure and pain. The child laughs with abandon, but I can’t help but notice the reciprocal smile on his mother’s face is tempered by a note of sadness.

  Jody leads the horse past a group of grubby kids chasing each other up and down the street. I gaze wistfully after them, keeping a sharp eye out for Izzy. I turn around to see the expression on Jakob's face and catch him gawking at a couple holding hands in a doorway, gazing into each other’s eyes. My cheeks flush when I recall Jakob's lips pressed to mine in our secret spot huddled against a damp, bunker wall. There’s no need to hide anymore, but he’s not who I want anymore either.

  I tear my eyes away from Jakob and appraise my surroundings. The buildings on this street, mostly abandoned stores and offices, appear to be inhabited. Sheets flutter in windows and doorways, tomato plants and vegetables spill over the sides of pots and barrels, and even disused tires sport tiny trailing flowers.

  Some of the people milling around throw curious glances our way, but no one attempts to engage us in conversation. We haven’t been vetted yet. I feel like I’m wearing a not processed by Jerome sign around my neck. Maybe they’re right not to get our hopes up. After all, Jody was pretty adamant that not everyone gets to stay.

  “We’re here.” Jody pulls back on the reins and gestures up at a large concrete building in front of us. “City headquarters. Used to be the courthouse.”

  I let go of her waist and get ready to dismount.

  “Hold up! Sit tight a few more minutes!” Jody digs in her heels and the horse turns and clip clops obediently up the rutted concrete staircase leading to the courthouse entry. Instead of stopping on the patio, we continue on straight through the gutted front doorway into a large foyer.

  “You bring your horses inside?” I try to suppress a laugh when I see the dumbfounded look on Jakob’s face.

  Jody dismounts, one hand loosely gripping the reins. “Lot of strangers in town lately. A horse is an extremely rare and valuable commodity. If you can ride, that is, or trade.” She stares at me long and hard, and then nods to several men standing in an archway. “They’re all yours, Blackbeard.”

  “Got ’em Jode.” A heavily bearded man with a slight limp heads our way. He ushers Jakob and I into an adjoining room and motions to a splintered bench along the back wall. “Wait here,” he says, before disappearing back down the hallway.

  I lean back and smooth my hands over my hair. “Well they’re definitely not Rogues, so that’s a good start.”

  “That’s all you managed to ferret out?” Jakob taps a foot on the cracked tile floor impatiently. “I talked to Ida on the way here. She and Jody came here with a dozen or so other ranchers about a year ago. They were packing high up in the mountains when the meltdown happened. They stayed above the snow line where the air was pure, never did go underground. They’re a tough crew, I’ll give them that.”

  “Did Ida say who else was living here in the city?”

  “Mostly Undergrounders fleeing bunker raids.” Jakob hesitates. “A few survivors from the city.”

  My heart almost shudders to a stop. I turn to Jakob. “Seriously, there were survivors?”

  Ja
kob throws a quick glance out into the hallway. “Ida says the south side of the city wasn’t incinerated. A few lucky people who knew about the city’s emergency shelters got down to them in time.”

  My chest tightens until it feels like it’s going to burst. I know I shouldn’t torture myself with the vain hope of finding Ma alive. And yet, there’s always a sliver of hope I can’t relinquish. I suck in a quick breath. “Did you ask if anyone from our bunker made it?”

  Jakob shakes his head. “She didn’t recognize any of the names I gave her. But a lot of new people have fled here in the last few days. Most of them she hasn’t even met yet.”

  I chew on my bottom lip. “We can look for your parents as soon as we’ve had a chance to bring Jerome up to speed. First we have to persuade him to send riders out to Trout and the others before they leave for the wilderness. And we need to find out if Izzy’s okay.”

  “Looks like we’re about to get our chance,” Jakob gestures to Blackbeard eying us from the doorway.

  He motions for us to follow him. “This way.”

  We trek back out into the foyer and down a dusty hallway to a spacious office. A guard standing outside gestures with his gun for us to enter. I pull my shoulders back and lead the way. At the far end of the room a tall, broad-shouldered black man stands with his back to us studying a tattered map on the wall. When he turns to face us, Jakob and I gasp in unison. The skin over most of the man’s face is thickly webbed, like he’s been badly burned. His right eye socket is empty, caulked shut with scar tissue. He flashes a perfunctory smile and reaches out a large, discolored hand. “I’m Jerome.”

  “Uh, Derry. Derry Connolly.” I shake hands awkwardly. It’s not something I’ve done much of since the meltdown. But it’s heartening, a good indication the “processing” won’t entail much more than a few cordial introductions.

  While Jakob introduces himself, I throw another sidelong glance at the man’s face. His injuries don’t look recent, maybe he’s a war veteran from before the meltdown. I mask a shiver. Must have been a gruesome injury if that’s the best the plastic surgeons could do.

  “Grab a chair and make yourselves comfortable.” Jerome gestures at a seating arrangement in the corner of the room. “Then you can fill me in on where you’re coming from and how you ended up here.” He plunks himself down with a loud ‘humph,’ and points to the map on the wall. “I’m tracking which bunkers Undergrounders are fleeing from. That way we have some idea of the Rogues’ movements.”

  I lean forward on the edge of my seat, emboldened by his comradely tone. “Jerome, we don’t have much time. The rest of our group is hiding in the forest, waiting for us. If we’re not back in a couple of hours, they might think something has gone terribly wrong and take off without us.”

  He frowns. “How many survivors are there from your bunker?”

  I hesitate, a moment too long. The expression on Jerome’s face clicks into a heightened state of alertness.

  “We’re … from different bunkers.” I throw a warning look Jakob’s way. I’m not sure how Jerome will feel about us traveling with a military clone, and hostages like Won and Rummy in tow, but until I know for sure, I’m leaving out those details.

  Jerome frowns. “Can you give me the locations?”

  “I can give you mine.” I get up and walk over to the map. My eyes widen at the large number of markers plotted throughout the mountains and downriver. I had no idea there were so many bunkers within a day’s hike of ours. I’m guessing most of them were individual family units. About a third are marked with a red “X.” Raids, no doubt. I jab my finger at the grid reference that indicates our location. “We’re right here.”

  “That’s farther north than we’d estimated.” Jerome taps his thumb against his chin. “What about the little girl the riders picked up? She doesn’t seem to know much about you. Keeps asking for her brother. She from your bunker?”

  Izzy’s safe! I blow out a long, silent breath.

  “We found her in the forest,” Jakob says. “Her parents were killed in a raid.”

  Jerome’s eye flicks between us, hard and black as a lump of coal. “Risky move on your part sending an orphaned kid as a shield into an armed compound.”

  “No! That’s not how it went down,” I say. “She slipped away while we were trying to come up with a plan to make contact with you.”

  “Not the best babysitters, are you?” Jerome stands, paces back and forth, his oily forehead rumpled. “Every kid without parents ends up here in the city. That makes them my problem.”

  I raise an eyebrow at Jakob. I’m not sure where Jerome is going with this, but at the very least I can reassure him we’re not going to be another bunch of hungry mouths to feed. “Look, we’re not asking you to take us all on, just the kid. We had an injured woman with us too. We were bringing her in on a stretcher when a Hovermedes extracted her. We just needed some medicine, then we were going to be on our way.”

  Jerome twists his lips in a dark grimace. He walks behind the desk and leans forward, resting his palms on it. “If you weren’t planning on staying here, where exactly were you going?”

  I swallow and do a quick gut check. Should I tell him now, or wait until Sven and the others are here to corroborate my story? I can’t get a read on what Jerome’s thinking.

  He stares intently at me, waiting for me to respond. I have to give him something.

  “We were on our way to the Wilderness of No Return.”

  Jerome blinks, a sudden gleam in his eye. “What for?”

  “To recruit subversives. We were planning to attack the Craniop—” I freeze when I see Jerome flinch.

  He clenches his powerful fists. “You know about the Craniopolis?”

  I hold my gaze steady. “I’ve been there.”

  A look of disbelief flickers across Jerome’s face.

  “Captain!” Blackbeard bursts through the doorway, his expression grim.

  “What is it?” Jerome snaps.

  “Rogues. A rider spotted them about ten miles away, approaching from the east.”

  Jerome yanks open a drawer in his desk and pulls out a Glock. “All guards on duty around the barricade. Lock down the gates.”

  “Yes sir.” Blackbeard’s eyes flick dispassionately over Jakob and me. “What about them?”

  Jerome calmly loads his gun. “Take them to the holding cell.”

  “What? No!” I jump up. “You can’t do that. We have to get back to our group or they’ll leave without us.”

  With a flick of his wrist, Jerome pins the pistol to my temple. “And who exactly is in this group of yours?” He juts out his chin across the desk until it’s almost level with mine. “You showed up here with a Hovermedes and a posse of Rogues on your tail. Either you’re the dumbest Undergrounder ever to resurface, or you’re a doggone snitch!”

  11

  Jerome signals something to Blackbeard. Almost immediately two more guards materialize behind us. Jerome straightens up and holsters his gun. “Lock them up and then get to the barricade as fast as you can,” he says, and abruptly exits the room. Jakob and I exchange baffled looks. What just happened? It seemed like the conversation with Jerome was going well, at least until I mentioned the Craniopolis. Maybe he was just lulling us into a false sense of security to get us to talk. It’s possible he never had any intention of letting us go, or helping us. At the guards’ direction I get to my feet in a daze. They exchange a few words with Blackbeard, then escort us out of the office and down the corridor in the opposite direction from which we came.

  Jakob and I make repeated attempts to engage them in conversation, but they ignore us, poker-faced as they go about the business of locking us up in a cell in a dingy room at the north end of the corridor.

  “I’m telling you we’re Undergrounders. Please! You can’t do this,” I say. “We’re not a threat.”

  Moments later the sound of their boots pounding the tile floor fades to silence, and I resign myself to the fact that they’re no
t going to relent and turn us loose, despite my passionate pleas of innocence. I slump down on the concrete and drop my head into my hands. “I’m sorry. This isn’t how things were supposed to turn out.”

  “It’s not your fault.” Jakob rubs my shoulder gently and I bite my lip to keep from bursting into tears. A wave of despair washes over me when it hits me that I can’t save Owen or Panju now. Coming here was a huge mistake. I should have taken Izzy back to the Council’s base and left her in Big Ed’s care. I’ll never be able to convince these people, let alone subversives, to help me.

  Rummy was right. Some leader I’ve turned out to be. I’ve lost Panju to Sweepers, let Izzy wander off, left Trout to lead a dangerous mission I initiated, and now Jakob and I are locked up inside the city, charged with treason by the sound of it, and with no hope of getting out.

  “Do you really think Jerome believes we’re snitches?” Jakob asks.

  I shrug, then lean back against the wall and close my eyes. I’m not sure what he believes. Obviously, I misread him. Big Ed always told me to go with my gut, but it didn’t serve me well this time. I straighten up and push down the depressing thoughts threatening to muddy my thinking. I can’t fold now that I’ve come this far. There has to be some way out of this predicament I haven’t thought of yet. Maybe I can reason with Jerome when he gets back.

  I straighten up with renewed resolve. “Jerome probably just needs a reason to keep us contained until he can check out our story,” I say, as much to convince myself as Jakob.

  “Contained? That’s what you call this? We’re behind bars, in case you hadn’t noticed.”

  “He has a responsibility to protect the people who are already here,” I say. “He doesn’t know who we have hiding out there in the woods. He’s probably had to deal with all kinds of crazies and marauders trying to get in.”

  “And Rogues.”

  I stand and pace back and forth, eying with increasing frustration the padlock and chain that holds the iron door to the holding cell shut. Blade might be with the Rogues who were spotted east of the city, and if so, he’s closing in on Trout and the others. “We have to find a way to warn Trout and Sven. They have no idea they’re in danger.”