by E. R. Jess
Eight threw up his hands in confusion, then helped direct the group as ordered.
Makz stood in the middle of the street where he had been left. He reached for a gun that wasn't there. He sighed inwardly. Makz shrugged and joined the rest. He turned to Sam and Dernen and said, “Do you people do this every time someone passes by? Grow some balls.”
Dernen rolled his eyes and Sam went to scold him, but saved her breath.
Makz hefted himself up onto an oil drum and got comfortable, whistling to himself.
Kagan tapped Eight on the shoulder and motioned for him to follow. Kagan headed down the side of the path, towards the dust cloud.
Eight complied, but was still confused. “What are we looking for?”
Kagan did not answer. He walked low and quickly along the rubble strewn sidewalks until they got a better vantage point of the path ahead. Smoke rose up in thick clouds, dwarfing the surrounding buildings. Noble was burning.
All of the running about was too much for him. Kagan stood upright, putting his hand on his hip and flinching from the pain.
Eight ran to him and pulled Kagan's arm around his shoulder to help him walk back. “What were you thinking? You can't go jogging around yet.”
Pain fell over Kagan. He struggled to speak, “Noble. It's gone.”
“I know. There's nothing we can do for them,” Eight said as he tugged him along, helping him limp back to the group.
Kagan turned his head back to the township. He cried out, “It's our fault, it's my fault.”
Eight could barely handle his weight, so he stopped. The two of them crumpled to the dusty pavement. Eight replied, “You don't know that. This is life out here. Homes burn.” And Eight sat on the ground with him. “It's not your fault.”
Kagan clutched his shoulder, it throbbed with incredible pain. “I have to leave you. I will be the death of everyone,” he said as best he could.
Eight looked at him long and hard. He shook his head. “No, that's not happening,” Eight said as he stood and pulled Kagan up to his feet, “We are going to find another way around and you're going to heal up and we'll get that damn implant out.”
Kagan moaned in pain as Eight hauled him back. When they arrived, the others helped him pull Kagan into the vehicle's back bay. Eight was out of breath when Alessa came to him with questions. Eight put up his hand to indicate that he didn't want to speak about it.
“We saw the smoke. It's not good news, is it,” Alessa stated instead of asked.
Dernen shivered from the thought. Their new friends along the path were in trouble or gone. He stammered angrily, “All its good works. Barbarians.”
Makz intoned from his comfortable seat, “If you want to help your friends, you may have to do what you don't want to. Or let me.”
Dernen stomped over to him and said sternly, “If it wasn't UPC, it was people like you. Stay quiet and learn a thing or two about humanity.”
Makz laughed wearily, “Desperation is humanity. That is just another town caught up in a fight for water or food. Desperate people can't afford the luxury of a philosophy. You'll all be hiding somewhere and skulking in the dark when a raiding party finds you and teaches you about humanity.”
Dernen wrung his hands. He began to yell back, but restrained himself. “You know little. We help people when we can. We're going to try and help them,” he said as he walked off. “Eight, go ahead with two others and let's see if there's anyone to save. Ask for volunteers to help you, depending on what you find.”
Eight nodded in agreement. “Will do. And keep an eye on him, don't let him do anything stupid,” Eight said, motioning to Kagan.
“Jenna, you look pretty quick, do you want to scout with us?” Eight asked her.
Jenna, by the vehicle, put her hand on Kagan's good shoulder. “I may be able to help him instead. The implant shouldn't be causing him to act this way.”
“I'm up for a walk,” Makz said.
“Whatever. Just do what I say and keep your views on humans to yourself,” Eight responded.
Makz grinned and jumped off his barrel. He clapped his hands together. “Fair enough,” he said.
Eight, Makz and Darek, one of the new members, a ruster from the south, headed down the road.
Dernen watched them vanish, then went to the front of the UA-X.
“Bad business,” Vorn said to the old-timer.
Dernen nodded grimly, then said, “The man in charge of Noble gave me a frequency to use in case we needed to contact them. I should give it a try.”
Vorn shrugged and let Dernen in the vehicle's cab. “Best of luck,” Vorn said.
They reached the border, a row of stacked tires arranged as a fence. Smoke drifted in the air and the men covered their faces.
There was no one visible in the once bustling township. Eight led the way as they walked through Noble's street market. Debris cluttered the area and the market stands were left unattended, some with food and water out in the open. Makz swiped a carrot from a cart.
“Raiders wouldn't leave anything behind,” Makz said as he took a bite.
Eight said grimly, “UCM would.”
Darek's eyes went wide when he realized what he was seeing. Tons of supplies, food and water, all waiting for them to take. “Whatever happened, we can't leave here empty handed,” he said, picking up a peach and letting his mouth water.
“One thing at a time, fellas,” Eight said wryly.
They walked over to the warehouse where the group had stayed when they came through. The building behind the warehouse burned. Ash singed their skin. Eight slid open a bay door. A couple of bodies tumbled out.
Darek flew back a few steps. Makz balled his fists.
Eight knelt down and inspected them. No marks or wounds. Pale corpses with blank expressions.
“Eight,” Makz said and motioned into the warehouse door.
Eight stood and looked inside. Dozens of bodies were strewn about the floor.
“UCM rounded them up, they rounded them up and took them all out,” Darek said, out of breath.
Eight said nothing as he stepped in, watching his footing. He checked for pulses, for signs of life.
Makz turned and studied the street up and down, making sure whomever was there had left.
Eight saw people he had met before. Their faces all blank and staring into nothing. They didn't appear to be hurt or particularly emaciated, everyone seemed to have simply slumped to the floor dead.
There was a sudden clang amongst the corpses.
Makz's hand was halfway to his gun before he remembered again that it wasn't there. He cursed and headed into the warehouse anyway.
Eight jumped over to the sound and slid a body out of the way. There was a man moving, someone alive. It was Malek, the town's leader. His eyes had rolled back in his head, his skin clammy and cold. He was not long for the world.
Eight held his face up and felt for his heartbeat. Eight asked if he could hear him. Malek did not respond.
“You might want to consider finishing the job,” Makz said humorlessly, “But you won't, so I will, if you ask nice.”
Eight ignored him. “You two, do me a favor and watch the door,” he said.
Makz did as he asked. Darek, shaking visibly, nodded.
Malek's breath was deadly shallow. Eight exhaled hard and closed his eyes. He began to delve the dying man's memories.
At first, all Eight could read was a dark room. It was not easy to do, it felt to him like perching over a great void, that he himself was facing his own demise. The only memories he could sense were blurry emotions, despair and doubt. Eight had never entered the mind of dying man, and he soon found the reason why. He was hit by a massive block of memory, a flurry of images and sounds that jumped at him and nearly knocked him flat.
It was the memory of Malek's life flashing before his eyes.
Eight flung himself back. He clutched his head. His skeleton rattled around under his skin. Eight screamed into the air, his ears filled with
a thousand thousand voices. All he could see was pure white as every vision that Malek had ever seen was blended together in one impossible image. Eight's heart stopped. He fell to the floor.
Makz ran back in. He shook Eight's shoulders and opened his eyelids. Eight stared blankly into the ceiling. Makz grimaced and began to pump his palm on Eight's chest. “Hey, I don't know how to do this, how the fuck do you do this?” Makz asked frantically.
Darek went to him quickly and pounded his fist on Eight's chest as hard as he could. The two men stepped back. They looked on Eight's form helplessly.
Eight choked and coughed in a great fit. He rolled over on his side and yelled into the floor. Makz and Darek pulled him to his back. Makz said loudly, “Jesus, brother, Jesus.”
Eight coughed up blood and shook like a leaf.
“Let's get out of here,” Makz said and began to heft Eight up to his feet.
Malek let out a death rattle and left the world.
Eight said in great pain, “They gave up. They all gave up.”
Makz and Darek began hauling him out of the building. Makz said, “And you nearly lost your life for your trouble.”
“They stopped their own hearts. They burned their homes and somehow they stopped their own hearts,” Eight said in a whisper, “They all came here to commit suicide.”
Makz, Eight and Darek gathered what they could and left Noble. The town smoldered against the sunset and the men left covered in ash.
Alessa was waiting for the bad news with Vorn. They made a quick camp in case they would be there a while. The children huddled in the UA-X for warmth and shelter. Kagan was sitting upright and working with Jenna on stabilizing his implant. They had little luck.
When Eight and the others returned, the looks on their faces told volumes. Alessa and Sam helped pull Eight into the cot where Kagan had been. The cargo bay of the UA-X was quickly becoming an emergency room. Sam had moved in some medical supplies. She used them to look over Eight. He was awake, but in pain.
Makz and Darek slumped down against the UA-Xs tires and rested there. They were drained and dirt-covered. Makz tried to laugh it off. “Hey, Alessa,” he called, “you pacifists are pretty tough after all. I don't know what Eight got himself into, but you almost lost him.”
Alessa went to him and asked, “What happened? And leave out the clever observances.”
Makz smirked. He replied, “Your man did some mind-reading and it doesn't look like he found anything good. Everyone was dead. Eight said it was suicide, but I don't see how.”
Alessa, having little reason to trust Makz, chose to wait for Eight to explain what had happened.
Darek spoke up, “No signs of struggle, lots of bodies. I never seen anything like it. But we did get some supplies, some food. Though I doubt I'll be hungry for a week,” he said, pointing to their full duffel bags and satchels.
Alessa thanked him and peeked around the corner at Eight. Head in hands, he winced inwardly. He looked up at Alessa and put his hand in the air in surrender. “Makz is right. They're all dead. I don't understand how, but it was as if their lack of will was enough to end their lives,” Eight said.
Kagan pulled himself off the UA-Xs tailgate. He looked back towards Noble and then to Eight. “There was no attack?” he asked.
Eight shook his head. “From what I can piece together, the entire town came to the decision to end their lives. Some kind of suicide pact. Maybe something threatened them, or a disease spread through the town. We didn't find much evidence either way.”
Kagan said, puzzled, “I swear that I envisioned a struggle, someone there interfering.”
Jenna offered, “Your wires have been crossed. Your memories are interfering with your perceptions. Nothing I can do about it, the Antikythera program and the implant are too much for me to hack. You'll have to be careful from now on. From what your doctor says, you could have opened your wounds again.”
“I'll be careful,” he said plainly.
“Whatever the cause, we have to go around Noble. The last time we came through here, the south was nearly impossible to navigate. What is north of Noble, does anyone know?” Alessa asked and looked at Dernen.
Dernen, a million miles away, turned and said, “No, sorry.”
“A dry lake bed. Rough terrain, even for this hunk of junk,” Vorn answered.
“What about those tunnels?” Jenna asked, pointing her question at Makz.
He shrugged, “Never been out this far. I wouldn't suggest it without some scouting.”
Alessa was surprised at Makz's candor, he seemed more and more willing to help. She thought for a while, then turned to Kagan. “What do you think?”
“I told you, I'm not exactly running at one hundred percent. I wouldn't trust me right now,” he answered honestly.
Alessa grinned, “Kagan, I'll take your bad advice any day.”
“Then I say we go north, skirting the lake bed. At the very least, we would get a change of scenery,” he said with a little bit of humor in his voice. The first in a long while.
Alessa looked to Vorn, who nodded in agreement. Eight did the same. Sam put her hand up to protest and Alessa cut her off, “After these men have had a chance to rest.”
Everyone went about their business, preparing everyone to leave. Jenna walked with Makz to the back of the group. Darek hauled his satchels into the back of the UA-X. He approached Eight, who had just laid himself down with a sodden rag on his forehead. “I'm sorry about what happened back there. But for what it's worth, that outcast, Makz, he tried to save your life,” Darek said, a little surprised.
Eight put his hand on Darek's arm and patted it. “Thank you. I know that was hard,” he said.
Darek handed Eight a ripe tomato from his duffel bag and left. Eight held it up to the light and forced out a smile.
Kagan went to a nearby steel and poured concrete wall. There was a large pane of green glass embedded there, a clean sheet, unbroken but dirty and dusty. Kagan began writing. With his finger, he wrote out a letter in the dust, a letter about the people of Noble. It said:
Never a finer people did the Free City house than the people of Noble. Let them find the peace and rest that they could not find here. They made a home in the belly of the whale. They shed their forms this cold autumn, and wherever they are headed, may their journey be easy.
Bury My Guns
While conformity camp C4587s supply convoy was waylaid by a group of raiders, Colonel Morgan and his Redlist team were effectively in two places at once. Their bodily forms stood in a labyrinth of underground passages, while their conscious minds were otherwise engaged attending a briefing at the Outernet version of UCM's headquarters, the Imperium.
Colonel Morgan did all the talking, his men remained silent. Their avatars were dressed in business suits that had trouble fitting over their massive frames. Morgan sat steely eyed before a board of inquiry.
“Colonel,” Elann, the new Minister of UCM, began, “You and your team were at the site of the convoy attack, you have any intelligence relating to it?”
“Are there, Minister,” Morgan answered.
Elann continued, “Are, yes Colonel. Your current mission is... you're expanding our Outernet capabilities and in pursuit of Redlist offenders, correct?”
“Yes, Minister,” Morgan replied.
“And you and your team were able to assist in the investigation of the convoy attack?” Elann asked as she scanned over an e-paper document.
“Minister?” Morgan asked.
“What did you find there?”
Morgan glanced over at his men and replied, “Nothing that wasn't found in the initial investigation. It's all in our report. Wasteland raiders staged an attack on the convoy resulting in a few casualties and loss of equipment. We were going to continue the pursuit and close the case.”
Elann smiled. “My predecessor had great faith in you, Colonel, which means I should be wary. This is the new UCM. Our first priority is amnesty.”
“Our curren
t mission is to find and eliminate the outcasts and seditious on the Redlist. Are we to halt this assignment? Are those on the Redlist to be given amnesty as well, Minister?” Morgan asked.
“Colonel, you've been out of the city for a while. Amnesty is the only mission. You're here to be informed that the nature of the Redlist has changed, the list now represents those that you are to find and bring to a camp for conforming first. No more deadly force,” Elann said seriously and with great emphasis.
Morgan kept his cool. “Yes, Minister. Capture only, understood.”
Elann dismissed him with a wave of her hand.
Morgan stood and prepared for his avatar to be removed from the Outernet chamber. “Minister, if I may ask, what became of your predecessor, Revan Kore?”
Elann answered without looking up from her paper work, “Reassignment.”
Colonel Morgan paused for a moment, then acted satisfied with the answer. His form dissipated and he found himself staring at the burned hulk of a street tank.
First Sergeant Cavel went over to his Colonel. “What was that all about, sir?”
Morgan pulled his rifle from his back and checked the clip. “Changing of the guard. Nothing new,” he answered.
“And the new orders?”
“Did you hear about any new orders, First Sergeant?” Morgan asked sarcastically.
“I guess not, Colonel.”
“Capture was always our first priority. It rarely works out, does it,” Morgan said as he and his men left the wreckage.
Morgan and his men were able to track down some of the rusters responsible for the raid. Their new Outernet camera network was up and running in that area and Morgan watched an elaborate recreation of the tail-end of the raid, and the cameras caught images of the assailants. One of their names graced the Redlist and Colonel Morgan signaled for his men to follow.
A makeshift camp on the side of the road outside of Port Brunswick was filled with rusters. Morgan's wire sent an aerial drone over the area and updated the Outernet. The team went over their tactical options and planned their strike. A single vehicle idled in an alley. A few dozen people were scattered about. Their Redlist target was among them.