“Game face?” Salyers asked.
“Sorry, old saying from my time. What I mean is—everything we say and do from this point is a negotiation,” I clarified.
“I’m more of a stalker, hunter, killer type myself, so if you don’t mind, I’ll leave all this to you,” he said, smiling as we made our way back to the sanded path.
Rowan appeared at the top of the path, along with Lyss and several other people I didn’t know. Some were young women dressed simply in smocks and work boots, wearing belts with an array of tools that made sense if you were fighting for survival in The Empty. “You weren’t kidding when you said it would be fast,” Rowan said.
“We ran. Nice day for it.” I clasped his hand, giving Lyss a polite nod. The other people looked on with a mixture of suspicion and amusement, although a couple were outright hostile. The young girls averted their eyes, except for the dark-haired girl on the far right. She peered at me with a hesitant curiosity, her blue eyes shining with intelligence in a heart-shaped face.
I held up a hand, gesturing that we should pause. “Before we come in, probably ought to ask where the power plant is, since I know it isn’t here.”
Everyone stiffened at my tone except for Rowan, who had been expecting the question based on his reaction. He smiled, turning to address Lyss in a casual voice. “Told you he would get right to the point.”
“I didn’t lie,” Rowan said. “The plant is nearby, but it’s hard to defend. This place is better, has other. . .advantages. We need more experience with the Hightec, frankly, and that’s where you come in. Will you eat with us, and we can discuss it?”
“We will,” I answered, marking his body language. He was hiding something, and not just the location of the plant. Rowan looked different than he had two days earlier. There was a vibrant gleam in his gaze that hadn’t been present out in The Empty. It might have been due to home cooking and his own bed, but I had my doubts.
“Great. Come on up, and let’s get inside. I have a feeling there’s weather on the way,” Rowan said, earning a grunt of agreement from Salyers.
“Maybe. Not until later,” Salyers said.
“Then we have time for a quiet meal outside before we get under a roof,” Rowan said.
Lyss moved aside, and the other people dispersed without a word, vanishing to their tasks with unnerving speed. They were either in fear or dedicated. I made a note to find out which, because I wasn’t about to tolerate another version of Wetterick in my midst.
“We’re thankful for it,” I said as we climbed the path. The view from the top was a good one, revealing a spread of The Empty that turned from raw desert to something more alive as my eyes tracked east.
A fire crackled in their stone ring, placed at the western edge of the plateau and surrounded by low wooden chairs. On a spit, the hulking form of an enormous lizard roasted away, the skin sizzling and popping. Two skewers of root vegetables cooked alongside, and one of the young women ladled steaming liquid over all three items, catching the drippings in a steel pan that would later double as a serving bowl.
Sitting down, the pretty girl I’d noticed handed me a cup of water, the distinct scent of cactus rising from the cool liquid.
“Thanks,” I told her, earning a silent nod as she handed a cup to Salyers and moved back to the unseen center of the plateau. There was a depression in that direction, somewhere behind the few buildings that stood arrayed before us. The stone structures were low, made of block and wooden roofs, and facing inward with the doors away from our location at the communal fire.
In economical motions with a knife, Rowan made a show of serving everyone roots, lizard, and broth. When we settled in to eat, he toasted me with a forced amiability, his smile fixed before he lowered his mouth to sip at his bowl.
“It’s good, Chloe,” Rowan said. “Mind setting three bowls aside for the patrol? Thanks,” he said, without waiting for her answer.
The pretty girl, who now had a name, looked startled, then gave an awkward smile.
“I know you think I lied about the power plant, but I didn’t, Jack, and I have something that will prove it. The only reason I’m offering you this sign of our intent is because we need each other. I want to get started in the right way.” He motioned to one of the other women, who brought me a weathered plastic folder. “Take a look at that.”
I set my bowl down and opened the brittle folder to see plastic covered pages of technical data for restarting something called a Micro-Hydro Fusion Reactor. The pages were in English, and more importantly, the document wasn’t just technical specifications. It was a restart manual for a commercial unit that produced ten times the energy of its water source, and it had been in production for government and public use since 2029. Holy shit. They made thousands of them, I thought, schooling my face into a mournful frown.
“It’s—hard to read, but I think it’s got something to do with a water engine, used for driving water to crops,” I lied, smoothly and while continuing to stare at the pages in confusion. The plastic binder wasn’t government issue. It had been printed by a library, or a homeowner, or anyone who owned one of the reactors, probably left alongside like a card that sat next to a furnace, showing how to reignite a pilot light. It was so simple a teenager could have done it, and for the moment, the secret was entirely mine.
“Crops?” Rowan asked, fighting to keep the disgust from his face. He’d been thinking weapon or some other device that would give him an edge in The Empty; his expression was like a roadmap to delusions of grandeur.
“Sure. Sort of a pump, but strong enough to work with low water flow, and maybe even high temps. Might work here in The Empty. Can’t help to try. Do you have need of irrigation?” I made a show of looking around for nonexistent crops on the plateau, only to be rewarded by Rowan’s irritated wave.
“Not here. Too small, too dry. We don’t even live up top, really. The only protected area is underneath, down the racks,” he said.
“Racks?” I asked him, not seeing anything that looked remotely like a rack.
“Stairs, cut into the interior of this—structure. It isn’t natural,” he admitted. Lyss shot him a warning glare, but he dismissed her protest with a derisive snort. “Who gives a fuck? They have to sleep somewhere if it rains, and now that we know the devices don’t work—”
“Rowan,” Lyss hissed as he realized his mistake. I kept my eyes down gnawing on the lizard, which frankly tasted nothing like chicken. It tasted like an animal that ate other lizards, and maybe the occasional shit-smeared rat.
The wind freshened just enough to raise my eyes to the west, where a roiling bank of clouds was building.
“No choice. We go down into the interior, and we can negotiate the rest in the morning. Jack, sorry to say we have to cut this short, but the storms won’t wait.”
“Appreciate the hospitality, and to put your minds at ease, there’s nothing useless about an irrigation system, if the seals and gaskets can be repaired. The Empty will need more crops as our population grows. I know we don’t always plan on struggling to eat and live, Rowan,” I said.
He considered me for a moment, then a genuine smile flared to life on his face. “Well said. I, for one, will plan for success. If you’ll look at the pumps, then we can work something out. No sense in leaving Hightec to rot, is there?” He clapped a hand on my shoulder, taking my measure as we stood, scuffing at the fire and piling bowls together.
The young women took everything down a concrete stairwell carved in an oblong opening that gored the middle of the plateau, their steps light and certain as they vanished into a wide double door, thrown open to the evening sky. The wind rose further to a low moan, and I felt the first hint of drops in the air.
“The rain is close. Never seen a storm move that fast,” I remarked, ducking into the gloomy interior of a hallway lit only by oil lamps.
“Out here, you can be overtaken by a storm so fast, you’re only a memory. Lighting, floods—even seen hail kill an entire trav
eling party. Found ‘em beaten to a pulp and rotting in the sun a day later,” Rowan said.
We emerged in a large common area that had once been the dining hall of a small facility, but nothing remained except for crude wooden tables and storage lockers, the paint long since scoured away by time or human hands. There was a familiarity to the layout, but I kept my eyes down as we settled around the low table while Lyss pulled the doors closed just as the first serious rain began to hit. Other than the odd drop hitting the doors, there was no sign of the weather outside.
“Having all that concrete overhead makes for quiet nights,” Rowan said. Chloe lit candles as we settled into an uneasy silence, then Lyss rose to loom over the table, leaning forward on her scarred hands.
“We have rooms ready for you both,” Lyss said with an uncharacteristic smile. It fit her badly, but she appeared to be making an attempt at hospitality. Rowan might not value my description of the pumps, but she did.
“Is there a—” I began, but Lyss smiled again, pointing down the left hall. “Third door. We have running water, and a shower that works, too. It’s not hot, but it’s clean.”
“Thank you. It’ll feel good after today. Salyers, you first?” I asked.
“Don’t mind if I do. Never pass up the luxury of a shower. Or dinner. Thank you for that, by the way,” he said with a polite nod. He rose and vanished into the hall, where I heard a door close with a wooden thump.
“What was this place?” I asked, curious if anyone would give me a real answer.
Rowan tried. “I think it was meant for science, or Hightec, but as to what kind, I don’t know. There were no bones in here, and parts were locked up tight when we found it. It’s part of a chain, you might say, something to do with Hightec being saved for humanity’s last stand. Might be bullshit, for all I know.”
“How long ago was that?” I asked.
“About four months. We’ve been clearing debris ever since, but there are still rooms filled with dust. Big job, and not one we want to hurry. You never know what you might find by looking into the past,” he said.
“I couldn’t agree more.” I said nothing else, waiting for him to ask the question he’d been holding back. He was a decent actor, but not ready for the stage.
“Did you happen to remember the medical supplies?” Rowan asked. He tried for a casual air, but failed, though I made no notice of his naked greed.
“Sure did.” I let him squirm for a second, then reached into my pack and withdrew the bundle. “Could only spare two needles in the lot, but with proper sterilization, they should serve for a bit. Also some bandages and disinfectant.”
His relief was a physical wave, hand steady but fast as he reached for the package. He held it up with a casual air that rang as hollow as his bullshit story about arriving four months ago. The dust told a different story, and there were no crops, nothing indicating a steady presence.
Then, there were the girls.
I noticed their arms first, despite their efforts to avoid my eyes. The women had been in manacles or cuffs, and recently, the red marks livid enough to see in the low light of our campfire meal. I knew Salyers had seen it, too, because he’d spoken little, maintaining a casual air while forcing down the lizard meat and half-burned desert yams. If Rowan and his people were making this a permanent home, then he had the laziest crew in history.
I guessed that he had only recently found the facility, and he had other secrets as well. Our meeting—courtesy of the Hannahs—was probably no accident, but I had a roof over my head as the storm raged outside, and that meant that my suspicions could wait until the morning.
“Can’t thank you enough,” Rowan said. “Care for a drink before you bed down?” He offered a battered metal flask, the cap replaced with a carved wooden plug.
“I would, thanks.” I took the flask and sipped, feeling the raw spirits scorch my throat. I suspected that my ‘bots would help with poisons, but I wasn’t really concerned with Rowan dosing me this late in the game. Based on the flavor of the lizard, I could survive most anything. I drank again and handed the flask back with a thankful nod.
“Salyers, we’ve got a room for you too. The last two doors on the right, side by side. You’ll find what you need in there, and don’t be afraid to ask for anything you don’t see,” Rowan said.
Lyss faded silently into the shadows, and the various young women began to tidy up without a word. I stood, repeated my thanks, and went to my room, with Salyers following alongside.
“Stay alert,” I told him in a low voice, to which he merely grunted, slipping into his room even as he drew his weapons. We were in for a long night, and a longer day, but there was no real reason to trust anything about Rowan, except that part of his story was true. He’d found an old facility, inexplicably in the heart of old Oklahoma, and that set wheels spinning in my head about why there seemed to be so many secrets in an area known for farming.
I also began making a list of goals, starting with finding and seizing every single pocket reactor that had been manufactured. Every other issue fell to the wayside in the face of such an incredible possibility. Endless, portable power based on the one thing that we could count on—water—and based on the manual, simple enough to operate that I could build a network of them, given enough time.
The pages I saw told me something else about the hydro-reactors. They were tough. Designed for hard use in, under, and along water, their casings and mechanism were the kind of design that computer wonks had dreamt of for decades. I mulled all of this while arranging myself on the cot, fully clothed with my shotgun comfortably across my hip, barrels facing the door in an unhealthy greeting should anything go wrong.
When I was a kid, I had the ability to mark time in my head, a sort of hidden talent that never really went away. I wasn’t accurate enough to track minutes, but for hours, I was spot on, knowing the hour I woke up regardless of outside light. I let myself doze lightly, the back half of my brain ticking down as the night wore on, with only occasional sounds disturbing the peace of the hallway. A low thrum told me the storm still raged outside, the punctuation of bass rumbles penetrating the walls at intervals that told me whatever was happening in the skies, it wasn’t going anywhere for a while.
I heard her before I saw her, and my eyes adjusted to the gloom courtesy of my ‘bots and a lack of outside interference. I didn’t raise my gun, but I didn’t put it away, either. She carried a small candle, the flame throwing dancing shadows on the bland concrete walls of my room as she slipped through the door.
“Jack?” she asked.
“Chloe.” It was a statement and an invitation to explain herself, delivered in a single, low word.
“I’m coming over to your bed. I have something to tell you, but I have to be quiet,” she said. Her blue eyes were enormous in the low light, face tight with nerves.
“Come over. Keep your hands on the candle, okay?”
“Okay.” She came closer, kneeling by the bed. My knee pushed against her breasts, which were soft under the rough clothing she wore. “This place is a lie.”
“I know, but go on,” I said.
Surprise spasmed across her features, but she recovered quickly. “Something is wrong with Rowan.”
“The needles?” I asked.
“Yeah. He gets sick, sort of, then he’s better, and each time, he’s changing. Same with Lyss, but she’s less—she’s more stable. They keep us here, and act like we can go if we want to, but no one tries. Two girls tried to run. We never saw them again, and he says they’re fine, but I know that’s bullshit,” she said.
“How long have you been here?” I asked.
“About three weeks. I came from the north, some of the other girls too, but some are from places I don’t know. Rowan was a trader, or at least that’s what he says. I don’t know where Lyss came from, but I know she’s bad. She listens to Rowan like she’s afraid of him, when she isn’t scared of anything at all, least of all the scumbags who ride patrol,” she said.
“The bowls of food you set aside? Those were for another group?” I asked her.
“The patrol. Three men, bad guys. They come and go, bringing things in and out. I think they need the needles too, but mostly, they come back with goods and to fuck the girls. I’ve avoided them so far, but I can’t avoid Lyss. She’s got a mean streak in her that the patrol will never have. I think Rowan’s just crazy, but at least he doesn’t rape us. That isn’t the way with Lyss and the patrol. It’s never our choice, even though Rowan makes it seem like we’re just helping out by giving up our bodies.” She shuddered, part from anger and part from disgust. I touched her hand, and she gave me a sad smile. “They’re going to kill you just before dawn. I heard them.”
I considered the time, and knew we had three hours to go. “I don’t think so.”
“But you’re trapped in here, and there are five of them?” she asked, hoping I would explain away their advantage.
“I have Salyers. And myself, if you want to know the truth. We’re not trapped. They are.” I edged up on the bed, sliding to a sitting position. “Do you want to leave here, Chloe? I won’t force you to do anything, not ever, but you can come with me. You can bring whoever you’d like, too, and they’ll receive the same promise. Freedom and choice. It’s what I offer, and what you’ll find at the Free Oasis.”
She smiled, and her beauty was a physical wave in the candlelight. “I accept. Let me tell the—”
The door burst in, two figures coming through in a shadowy rush. I fired my shotgun, taking the first shape full in the chest, rewarded by a hideous scream as he fell in a wet spray. Chloe rolled away, her candle doused as she shrieked, but I was already moving in a blur.
My fist took the second man in the gut, collapsing his belly far enough to feel my knuckles crunch against his spine. He spun, and I lost contact with him in the dark, then he fell back into me, howling in anger as I felt his knife score my arm in a long, shallow gash that didn’t end until it hit my elbow. I grabbed his hair and twisted, feeling his neck separate with a muffled pop as he went limp. I dropped him, leapt through the gaping hole where the door had been, and saw Salyers in a life and death struggle with two people.
Future Rebuilt: A Post-Apocalyptic Harem (Future Reborn Book 2) Page 6