by J J Hane
“Um. You’re welcome?”
Azrael laughed. It was a hollow sound, like an echo heard from a distance, startling after his quiet tone. He stepped between Serenity and I, gently pushing us toward the throne. “Come, celebrate with me. We have food to spare today.”
We started moving without thinking. With a twinge of guilt that I didn’t fully understand, I noted how he put a slight emphasis on the word ‘today.’
“I brought more medicine,” I said as he guided us past the throne and into a smaller room filled with cushions and the fragrance of unknown foods.
“We’ll talk about that later,” he assured me. “For now, let’s celebrate.”
Several of those who had been waiting in the throne room joined us. There were thirteen of us in total. We all sat around the food in the center. The experience was sort of bizarre for me, being very different from what I was used to in the Martyrion. That said, the food was good, if a little unusual. Once again, I reminded myself of the need to visit the medical center. Just in case.
While we ate, most of the men and women seemed to all be talking at the same time, telling stories, laughing at jokes, and starting arguments. Serenity was quiet, watching everything while keeping her head down, not drawing attention to herself. Azrael was mostly silent, only occasionally adding his input to one of the many conversations that were occurring simultaneously. He seemed to be following each of them closely, despite the chaos.
After a while, a woman who was probably just a few years older than Azrael fixed me with a predatory stare. Her lank hair was thin, patchy, and one of her dark eyes was glassy. A puckered scar stretched from her lip into her hair line, crossing that eye. She wore short sleeves that displayed the scars of severe burns covering her right arm, disappearing into her clothing.
“So, monk,” she said to me, setting down the piece of meat she had taken up. “How did you get all these pills?”
“Monk?” I repeated, uncertain.
“Leave him alone, Margot,” Serenity said without looking up at her.
Margot’s face split in an only partially-toothed smile. “You bring a pet with you and you think you can play with the big dogs?”
Serenity shrugged. “Dogs without teeth aren’t much of a threat.”
Azrael let out a bark of a laugh, more genuine than before. Margot’s eyes narrowed, her hand closing tightly around the knife she had been using to cut her meat.
I cleared my throat. “What do you mean, ‘monk,’” I asked, a little louder.
Azrael answered for her. “It is what we call your people in the city, after the cowards of the last age who hid away in their fortresses to talk to God while everyone outside suffered and died. It is an insult.” He looked pointedly at Margot. “One that does not apply to our friend Raphael.”
I shook my head, not quite understanding.
“So?” Margot said. “I asked you a question, boy.”
I realized that I had the attention of everyone in the room. Given that any one of them was both able and, quite possibly, willing to kill me at a moment’s notice, that was a very uncomfortable position to be in. As they were all waiting, I didn’t really have a choice. I stumbled awkwardly through a quick explanation of what I had done.
“How brave of you,” Margot said without inflection when I was finished.
“Thanks,” I muttered.
“So,” Azrael said into the relative silence. “How can I repay you for what you have done for us?”
I blinked. “Um. Nothing? I mean, you don’t need to repay me.”
“Oh?”
“Serenity bringing me here was all I wanted,” I told him. “I just wanted to know what the world outside the walls of the Martyrion is like.”
“Ah. You have the heart of an adventurer.” Azrael’s voice was still quiet, as if the words themselves were stalking their prey. “I like that. Well, for what it’s worth, you are always welcome here.”
“Thank you.”
Margot rolled her eyes. “You brought more medicine, yes?”
I lifted the bag that I had kept close to me. “Right here.”
Leaning across the plates between us, Margot snatched the bag from me as quickly as a snake might snatch a mouse.
“Hey!” I protested weakly.
Ignoring me, Margot upended the bag, emptying its contents. She took up one of the bottles of pills, popped it open, and eyed the little green-and-white pills within.
“How do we know this isn’t poison?” she demanded, addressing Azrael rather than me. “This could be some ploy to get us to kill ourselves: give us the pills, let us die. Like insects.”
Serenity sighed heavily. “He’s not poisoning us, Margot. What kind of stupid metaphor is that?”
“Termites,” I blurted. All eyes turned to me. “Um. Termites? Most of them can’t feed themselves, so the workers do the feeding. If you give poison to the workers, they’ll poison the whole colony for you.”
Serenity’s mouth hung slightly open. “Thank you for that very useful information, city boy.”
Azrael ignored her, his eyes locked on mine. “Is this poison?”
“No.” I unconsciously wiped my sweating palms on my pants.
“I believe you,” he said after a moment. He relaxed, and it was only then that I realized he had been tense, as if about to pounce. Serenity elbowed me in the ribs as soon as the man looked away from me.
“Fine,” Margot said sullenly. “But how do we know? Your belief won’t protect us, Chieftain.”
Azrael clenched his jaw, his whole body going still. Everyone in the room froze, young and old alike. He spoke softly. “You question me, Margot?”
The fire in the warrior woman’s eyes went out, replaced by a cold fear. Even I was afraid, and I wasn’t the focus of that glare.
“No, my chief,” she replied, her voice suddenly quiet, eyes cast down to the floor.
“That’s fine, Margot,” Azrael said, the false cheer back in his tone. “I encourage independent thinking in my generals. You’re right, of course. He could be lying to us, bringing us some sort of poison. I don’t think he looks like the type to get away with a lie like that, but maybe he only thinks he’s telling the truth. Two hundred years ago, we could have tested the pills in any lab, but those days are gone. For now. For most of us. We have to resort to cruder means. And since you were the one to volunteer…”
I watched the interaction with mounting alarm. Margot opened her mouth as if to protest. Azrael moved with almost inhuman speed, his muscles exploding into action. With a smooth motion, he pounced from where he sat, grabbed the bottle of pills from Margot, and slammed bodily into her. The impact knocked her flat on her back, with the chieftain landing on top of her. He deftly twisted the older woman’s arm into a painful angle, popped a singled pill out of the bottle, and leaned over her. She tried to protest, but he shoved the pill into her mouth, covering her mouth with one calloused hand.
“Swallow.”
Margot struggled for a moment, but Azrael’s attack had been so sudden and so forceful that she had not been able to prepare herself. She swallowed. Azrael rose gracefully, leaving Margot to pick herself up as she rubbed at her wrist.
“Good. We’ll know soon enough if he was lying.” Azrael’s expression turned pensive. “You should thank me, Margot. I just gave you the way out of this sickness, one way or another.”
Margot rubbed her throat.
“Thank me,” Azrael ordered. He wasn’t loud or particularly forceful. He just commanded. Margot obeyed.
“Thank you, Chieftain.”
The man nodded once in acknowledgement before returning to his seat.
Chapter 7
“I apologize for the interruption,” Azrael said to me. “Don’t worry: I will make sure the medicine gets to those who need it most. I take care of my people.”
My fingers hurt from squeezing the cushion I was sitting on. Forcing myself to relax, I gathered my courage to speak. “I was told that you would be del
ivering the medicine to children who are suffering.”
Azrael spoke without a single other muscle in his body moving. “Many children are suffering. I will do all I can to help them. This,” he nodded toward the warrior woman, “was necessary. I hope you understand that not everyone in my tribe respects your word.”
“I understand,” I mumbled, finding it difficult to make eye contact with him.
After a brief, intensely uncomfortable silence, he spoke again, voice as charming as a spider. “That gives me an idea. Why don’t you go out and meet some of our children? I’m sure they would be excited to meet you. Margot, would you escort him outside? I would like to thank Serenity for her sacrifice and willingness to serve her people by helping this young man.”
Margot bowed her head, her features once more alight with smoldering hatred directed at me. I gave an uncomfortable little wave. She stood, jerked her head toward the door so hard I thought she would hurt her neck, and strode off. She led me all the way out of the building, to the north-facing side.
“Stay,” she ordered. Grumbling something under her breath, she left me there, storming back into Azrael’s ‘palace’.
I was at the edge of a small field that had once been a parking lot. The soil in which weeds were growing was only an inch or two deep in most areas. Patches of broken asphalt were visible where storms had dug them up, slowly crumbling into the earth. A dozen children were nearby, playing a game involving kicking a ball around between improvised goals, which consisted of pieces of weathered, broken plastic. At first, I thought they were playing soccer, but I quickly realized that this was a much more ‘contact’ sport.
I watched with amusement as they ran, fighting over the ball with fierce joyfulness. One of the smaller boys slipped when his foot caught on one of the crumbly patches of the old parking lot. He fell headlong into the grass. I started to move forward instinctively, thinking the kid must have hurt himself. The moment he stopped sliding, though, he bounced back to his feet, evidently unfazed.
The kids noticed me then, every one of them stopping to stare.
It must have been a pretty bizarre sight for them. On the somewhat rare occasions when the Martyrion traded with the tribes, the meeting places were usually somewhere reasonably distant from the city and the dwelling places of the tribes. If something went wrong, nobody wanted to risk any more lives than necessary. For that reason, I knew that none of the kids had ever seen someone from Martyrion.
“Hi,” I said, waving and trying to look friendly. The kids clustered together a little more, exchanging looks and whispers. One of them must have said something funny, because they all started giggling.
One girl, maybe seven or eight, stepped away from the group, looking up at me with wide, curious eyes. She was small, thin, and her breathing sounded a little labored.
“I’m Cassidy,” she announced in a squeaky little voice.
“Uh, hi Cassidy. I’m Raphael.”
“That’s a silly name,” she replied.
“My friends call me Raph.”
She made a face. “That’s okay, Raph. Are you going to play with us?”
I looked around, hoping that Serenity would be coming out. Failing to see her, I shrugged. “Sure, I guess.”
Cassidy smiled brilliantly. “Great! You can be on my team.”
The little girl led me over to the others, introducing everyone in a rapid succession. I didn’t actually catch any of the others’ names. I was struck by how small they all looked. Some of them were obviously healthy children, but some of them clearly had medical issues that the Martyrion had eradicated among its citizens. If things had gone just a little differently, I would have grown up just like them.
I wondered, darkly, how many of them would get the chance to grow up at all.
The kids didn’t give me time to worry. Cassidy explained the rules, which seemed to consist mainly of not being allowed to go outside of the very nebulous boundaries and not hitting anyone in the face unless they hit you first. They didn’t give me a chance to clarify anything before the game began and I was surrounded by darting, laughing kids.
By the time Serenity came outside, my shins were bruised, my clothes were dirty, and I was more than a little out of breath. Small and malnourished they may have been, but they were fast little people.
It took me a moment to realize that Serenity had come out. She was leaning on the wall, watching us play, her brow furrowed in thought. I extricated myself from the game with some difficulty, assuring the kids that I would come back later if I had time. I approached Serenity.
“Hey,” I said, walking over to stand beside her. She watched me, unmoving. “How did your talk with Azrael go?”
“Fine,” she muttered. She looked away from me for a moment, taking a deep breath. When she turned her head, I saw a bruise forming on her throat, as if someone had grabbed the back of her neck and squeezed. Hard. Her hair fell over the bruise before I could look closely.
“Are you okay?” I asked, concerned. Azrael clearly did not have any fear of hurting his own people. Why would he hurt Serenity, though? If it weren’t for her, I wouldn’t have been able to bring the medicine.
“I’m fine,” she said, her voice laced with steel. Even so, she couldn’t help but reach up to unconsciously adjust her hair so that it covered her neck more thoroughly.
“Did… did he hurt you?” I felt like I was wandering into territory where I didn’t belong, but that brief glimpse of the bruises had already burned itself into my mind’s eye.
Serenity faced me, looking up at me with fire in her eyes. “I told you I’m fine.”
I held up my hands in a pacifying gesture. “Okay, sorry.”
Several emotions crossed her face in rapid succession. She seemed to settle on cool anger covered with a dusting of friendliness. Again, it was unsettling.
“Come on, Raphael,” she said. “Let’s get you back to your city.”
I studied her for a second. “I don’t like it when you do that. It’s creepy.”
Serenity laughed at that, one of those genuine laughs that reminded me of the fact that she was not just a mysterious outlander, but also a young woman my age. A very pretty young woman…
“Can you go back to threatening to hurt me?” I asked as she turned to go. “It feels more natural.”
“Whatever you say, city boy,” she said over her shoulder, smiling.
Just then, Cassidy came running over.
“Serenity!” she called with excitement. The little girl had to stop a few feet away, bending over double in an attempt to catch her breath.
Serenity was at her side in an instant. Genuine worry drew lines in her face that I didn’t know someone could have so young. She kept it out of her voice, though. “How’s it going, Cass?”
“Good,” Cassidy replied between gulps of air, her little face bright red. I thought it might have been asthma or something similar, although it was impossible for me to say since Martyrion didn’t have those kinds of health issues.
“I told you to take it slow,” Serenity said, her tone that of someone who has worn themselves out repeating the same thing over and over again.
Cassidy beamed up at her, trying to still herself long enough to control her gasping. “I know. But we never get to meet city dwellers! Are you going to come play, too?”
“Not today, Cass. I’ve got to babysit him so he doesn’t hurt himself.”
“Hey,” I protested. “I’m standing right here.”
Cassidy giggled. “Okay. I have to get back to the game. My team will lose without me.”
“Definitely,” Serenity assured her solemnly.
Cassidy flashed a bright grin at me, then headed back to join the others. She made a concerted effort to slow down, which resulted in a sort of skipping walk interrupted by the occasional cough.
Serenity watched her go with a pained expression. I got the feeling that the little girl’s breathing trouble hurt Serenity much more than the bruises on her neck.
<
br /> “Are you two related?” I asked into the awkward silence.
“No. I just keep an eye on her.”
“Are her parents… um, around?”
“You could say that. Their ashes are scattered somewhere around here. Come on. We better get going.”
After several minutes of walking around the settlement, I was starting to get an idea of just how big the population was. It was nothing compared to the Martyrion, of course, but there were easily well over a thousand people just inside the sprawling building. I got the sense, too, that there were a lot of more people staying there than I could see.
“Do I have to go back to the city now?” I asked. “I don’t think anyone is going to be worried about me for a while yet. As long as I don’t miss dinner with Ab.”
“Ab?”
“Abishai. He’s my friend. We usually hang out.”
“Does he know you’re here?”
“No. At least, I don’t think so.”
Serenity thought about it for a minute. “Well, Azrael wants you to feel welcome here,” she said, a playful gleam in her eyes. “I think I have an idea of something we could do before you go.”
#
A little while later, we were standing in an underground portion of the building, something that might have served as an entrance for delivery vehicles back when people used to buy things at the many stores. The sky above was visible through a collapsed section of the concrete ceiling, the crumbled chunks forming a pile of rubble below. The roots of a small tree held the pile together in a web of sturdy wood, the tree itself poking up into the open air.
In the center of the room lay a large, padded mat. It was thick and old enough that I doubted it would provide much more cushioning than the concrete floor itself. Several other people occupied the room, most of whom looked to be in their mid-teens, like us. Many of them had the tell-tale signs of environmental sickness: off-color skin, too-thin frames, yellowed eyes. Some of them even had deformities from the excessive levels of radiation that still permeated the world.