by Alice Sabo
Nick almost ran off the road craning his neck to look at her. “How do you know about them?” He knew Martin wouldn’t have told her. And now he was second guessing every move he’d made today. Including bringing these folks as back up.
“I’d seen them before,” she said. “Helped a family smuggle one out of the city.”
“A biobot?” Dunham asked.
“They’re living encyclopedias,” Nick said. “We’ve got one for arts, and one for sciences. And they are irreplaceable. And they’re teaching the kids right now.”
TILLY HURRIED THROUGH the kitchen toward the back hallway. “Trouble,” she announced on her way out. Halfway down the hall, she stopped in front of a utility cabinet, opened it, pulled out the false front and grabbed the guns inside. When the alarms started blaring overhead, Tilly realized where Ted had gone.
Eunice peeked out from the kitchen door. When she saw what Tilly was doing, she hurried over. Tilly gave her a loaded gun and a spare clip.
“Where?” Eunice asked.
“Take Mary and the rest of them down to the shelter. We can escape that way if needs be.” Tilly sent her on her way but hesitated a moment. Where should she go? She wasn’t sure what the problem was. Ted had been hiding from someone in the hall and felt it was drastic enough to set off the alarms. So raiders were here for some reason. If they were after the food, they’d be here already, so not that. She couldn’t wander around the school looking for the trouble. When in doubt, always go for the most vulnerable. She headed down the stairs to find the children. And came out into a bizarre scene. It would almost be humorous if it hadn’t been so dire.
There were three men backing towards her with the children pacing them every step. One man had his arms wide, overloaded with something, the other two flanked him, guns trained on the children. Shrill screams of anger banged around the narrow corridor as the children advanced. Tilly couldn’t see what had the kids in such an uproar. The two gunmen didn’t seem rattled by the ear-piercing racket. She couldn’t see how to end the standoff. Until the animals arrived.
Shaggy and Stripes bolted toward the men barking and snapping at their legs. Pumpkin raced up the back of the burdened man as Snowball did the same with one of the gunmen. The first man twisted trying to get the howling cat off his shoulder. Tilly saw that he was carrying Elsa and Dieter. The little man hung limply in his grasp, and Elsa was sobbing.
Pumpkin clawed his way higher leaving a trail of blood across the man’s scalp. The kidnapper dropped Dieter and Elsa to wrestle the cat. The other gunman was having to deal with both dogs now. He tried to shoot one of the pups, but nearly missed his own foot The raiders’ screams added to the cacophony. A pup squealed in pain.
Tilly dashed in and grabbed Dieter by the collar and Elsa by the hand. Something in her shoulder went pop when she tugged on him. The little Font weighed more than he looked. And suddenly she was looking up at a gun. She froze. The eyes that looked down at her were cold and unrepentant. “That’s mine now,” he growled.
A gun went off, and Tilly dove, try to shelter both Fonts with her body. The gunman wilted in front of her, crashing to the floor with the sickening thud of dead meat on concrete. The second gunman started shooting wildly. He had a cat on his head and a puppy on his ankle. Bullets slammed into the ceiling, the walls and ricocheted off a doorframe. Tilly dragged the Fonts into an alcove and leaned back out to see where she should go next. The children had scattered from the gunfire. Small faces peeked out of doorways.
The second gunman was down and the kidnapper was screaming under the assault of three cats now. Tilly beckoned the children back in.
“Get some rope to tie this one up,” she called out, hoping someone would obey. “Let’s round up the animals. Is anybody hurt?”
The children had gone oddly silent. A group of them stood around someone on the ground. Tilly felt her throat close up with dread. She pushed through the circle of children to see Jean lying in a pool of blood.
Chapter 57
Despite all the death and loss and hardship, somehow we still manage to fall in love.
History of a Changed World, Angus T. Moss
BARRELING UP THE DRIVEWAY, Nick didn’t know what to expect. There were three bodies on the front steps and a whole lot of blood. He saw one green armband, but not a face. There was too much at stake to pause for even a minute. But he tossed an order to one of Dunham’s men to check the casualties.
Nick flew out of the van as soon as it stopped. He left it, doors open, engine running, as he dashed into the building with the Depository soldiers right behind. The hallway was empty. The siren was still hooting out its SOS. Nick ran for the cafeteria.
“Nick!”
He spun, almost falling. Ted peeked out of the door to the stairwell.
“Where?”Nick barked.
“Downstairs. I heard gunshots.”
With a nod to Dunham, Nick sent a couple men to different stairwells. Then he pushed past Ted slamming down the stairs as fast as he could. He burst out, gun drawn into a somber scene.
Tilly was on her knees, hands bloody. “Nick, get help.”
He froze unable to process what he was seeing. “No...”
Bridget hurried over and knelt next to Tilly. “It’s bloody, but not fatal if we can stop the bleeding.”
A shiver hit him so hard it made his neck hurt. “I’ve got her.” He scooped Jean up and headed for the stairs. The children lined up, a silent escort to the door, up the stairs and out to the corridor to the infirmary. Doctor Jameson was on his way to meet them and promptly turned around to lead the procession. Nick didn’t think about how heavy her inert body was, or how her head lolled back across his arm.
The infirmary was down to emergency staff because everyone else was down at the train station dealing with the wounded. Two of Dunham’s men grabbed a gurney and headed out. A woman Nick didn’t know guided him to an unoccupied bed, then pushed him out of the way.
He staggered back feeling limp as a wet rag.
Mica and William came in carrying Dieter. Lily followed in her brother’s shadow, holding hands with Elsa. The little biobot was pale with red-rimmed eyes. Tilly was right behind. “I need a guard on a wounded man downstairs,” she said.
Nick couldn’t take his eyes off her bloody hands. “What happened?”
“I’m not sure. We need to ask the children.” Tilly hugged herself smearing blood all over her blouse. “Can someone please turn off that damn alarm!”
Dunham murmured behind him sending a few soldiers off for a sweep. Nick nodded. That was good. They needed to get word to Martin. They needed to do a lot of things, but he couldn’t move from this spot until he knew if Jean was going to make it.
WISP FOLLOWED THE MOVEMENT of uniformed soldiers through the long shadows of late afternoon. He slipped from building to building keeping out of sight. Somewhere ahead of him was a concentrated ball of fear. He checked a few doors finally getting access to a four-story building. A moment in the dark foyer, and he knew the place was empty. He found a stairwell and started climbing. The corner apartment was locked, so he had to take the second best choice. The rooms were dusty and cluttered with broken furniture. He wove through the cobwebs and old discards to a smoke-hazed window. A ragged curtain had been tacked up but fell in fragile tatters across the streaked glass.
He stood to one side, out of the rays of the setting sun. Below him the street was empty. To the left, led back into the wreckage from the storm and fire. To the right, was a broad intersection. In the middle of the road, a pen had been erected. Wisp suspected that it originally had to do with the sheep that everyone in Clarkeston had been raising. Now the enclosure held people. Mostly women, a few teenagers. People that had waited too long to flee the clash between Washburn’s men and the Rovers.
A man in a uniform banged against the wire fencing in a bid to intimidate those within. He needn’t have gone to those lengths. His captives were frightened enough. That made Wisp realize that this was a t
rap set specifically for him.
TILLY CARRIED A BUCKET of water and a handful of rags down the empty hall outside the classrooms. She was useless elsewhere. At least she could get something productive done here. Someone had finally shut off the alarm, but the silence didn’t help. Angus had plowed into the infirmary demanding answers. He and six of the Watch had been trapped in the Strategy Room until one of Dunham’s soldiers had let them out.
She knelt on aching knees to scrub the bloody smears off the floor. Angus had sent her away to wash and change her clothes like a naughty child. She tried to stoke up a righteous anger, but she knew he was right. She hadn’t realized that she was covered with Jean’s blood.
Nick was in shock and wouldn’t speak to anyone. Between Angus and Dunham they’d gotten people moving, sending them off to look for others, gather wounded, check on the resident biobots, woman, and children, the animals. And she’d stood there like a block of wood.
Her bucket of water was too red. She lugged it down to the janitor’s closet to empty it. By the third bucket, her hands and back ached as much as her knees. But there was still so much blood.
WISP MOVED OUT OF COVER just long enough to be seen. A shout from the soldiers assured him that he’d been sighted. Washburn’s men scrambled after him. He’d already chosen his route. It had taken him over an hour to scout out an exact course that might seem like random movement. In that time, the sun had sunk below the horizon. The uncertain light of twilight was to his advantage. A rumble warned him that they’d taken to vehicles. His pursuers on foot had backup.
He had to wait for them to catch sight of him before he turned the corner, running as if in a panic. The street led back into the maze of storm damage. They’d have to follow him on foot through there. He jogged to the carefully chosen path, pausing long enough for a shout to go up. A random shot was fired, but it was nowhere near him. The shooter got a lecture. Washburn wanted biobots alive. That gave Wisp a shiver.
There were at least ten men on his tail, possibly twelve, he couldn’t be sure. He moved quickly and erratically enough that they couldn’t flank him. The piles of broken houses made a lateral attack impossible. A cloud of ash rose around him as he raced through the destruction. Not far behind he could hear the soldiers yelling to one another. They were concentrating on him, which was exactly what he’d wanted.
He pelted around a house-sized pile of rubble into a cleared zone. Out on the perimeter, he felt more men moving in from the other side. By the time he got to the center of the open area, all of them had eyes on him. He was surrounded.
IT WASN’T UNTIL ANGUS grabbed her hands that Tilly registered his presence.
“My love, what are you doing?” he asked. He knelt next to her, holding her cold, sore hands.
“What does it look like?” She wanted to snap at him, but she was too tired.
Angus glanced around. “Like you’re scrubbing a clean floor.”
Tilly examined the hallway. He was right. She’d been scrubbing blindly at the same patch. “How’s Jean?”
“Stable.”
Tilly sagged in relief. She puffed out a sigh. “Help me up.”
Angus pulled her to her feet and she became very aware of her injured shoulder, which reminded her of how she hurt it. “Dieter?”
“Still unconscious.”
“What happened here?”
Angus pulled her into a hug. She leaned into him, accepting his love and perhaps forgiveness. “Is this my fault?” she squeaked.
“I don’t think we can lay this any anyone’s feet. We need to rethink some things, but I think we did well today.”
“You didn’t see it,” she murmured pressing her face into his shoulder. “The children. The animals. It was surreal.”
“We must count ourselves lucky that everything came together as it did. Jean is a hero. She took out the kidnappers.”
Tilly pulled away from him. “Have you seen the bodies?”
“No.”
She had a blurred flash of Pumpkin and the puppies, howling, yapping, and the persistent tapping of blood dripping. “We need to talk.”
WISP SLIPPED INTO A debris-covered utility hole as the battle began in earnest. Martin’s men charged across the square towards Washburn’s men. He descended swiftly leaving the killing to the humans. The tunnel was dark, but he knew where it came out. A few minutes of walking through the blackness took him to another exit. He came up in the intersection right next to the pen. Their fear had worked like a beacon to draw him back here. As he suspected, they hadn’t even left a guard. Feeling smug, he slipped the latch to release them all.
NICK SIPPED A CUP OF coffee that Eunice had brought him as he watched Jean breathe. It wasn’t a serious wound, just dangerously placed. A nick in a major artery. She’d hit her head when she’d fallen. A deadly combination if no one had seen it happen. Jameson had transfused her from a couple volunteers. Now she just needed rest. But he still wasn’t leaving.
Chapter 58
I CAN SEE THE FUTURE and we are two steps away from destruction. That’s an improvement. Yesterday we were a step closer. Tomorrow we might go either way.
The battle is over and no one won. Or so they might think. Decisions have been put off for a time. Maybe only a short time. But that gives them all a respite in which to regroup.
Washburn lost more than men. He lost their loyalty due to his misunderstanding of human nature. Any creature will fight to protect its home and young. Regardless of skill or strength when threatened, even the weakest amongst us will struggle to preserve what they consider to be theirs. He forgot. And so he failed.
Angus knows he didn’t win. Despite the bodies of the enemy that he had buried. Despite chasing away the ersatz soldiers, he knows this was only a skirmish in a greater battle.
But there have been some wins.
Dunham’s men won’t starve to death now. I had seen that as a strong possibility. Mutiny, losing them all to flu and simple dissolution after the death of their commander were other courses, but none of them good.
Tilly witnessed what the animals are capable of. She will try to forget what she doesn’t understand, but the children will remember.
Nick is being nudged closer to the point when he will finally start breeding. His children are crucial. This is a juncture point that must be carefully considered.
Martin has more men and women to help with the training. That’s a win that will be a major decider in a few years.
I can see the future and we are still in it, for now.
Chapter 59
People trickled in on foot, by train, on horseback and we welcomed them all.
History of a Changed World, Angus T. Moss
WISP WALKED A CIRCUIT of the fringes of High Meadow in the cool dusk. Martin had asked him to even though he was sure they’d picked up the last of Washburn’s men. In the week since the battle, almost all of them had surrendered. Angus was debating what to do with them. Martin wanted to use the Depository as a prison. Wisp was glad he didn’t have to be part of that decision.
He headed up another new path. It was getting to be a much longer walk since all the new settlers had come in. Bridget followed his footsteps, skillfully silent. He could feel her turning over questions that remained unasked. He remembered her because her light was different. Every now and then he saw people who had an extra sheen to their minds. He wasn’t sure what it meant, but he saw them from time to time.
“You were the one that came to our rescue,” Bridget said.
Wisp wasn’t sure how much he wanted to discuss about that time in his life . He’d been out on his own when he’d sensed the fight. It had been Bridget’s light that had drawn him in. Something made him want to protect that light. He’d fought on her side without knowing the stakes. Plowing in blindly, for a slippery need that even now he couldn’t explain. “You looked like you needed help,” he said evasively.
“How did you know?”
He stopped in a small clearing where he usuall
y did a long range scan. “I can feel people,” he said.
She frowned at him, a thread of annoyance marring her curiosity.
There was something about her that made him want to trust her. Like Nick or Angus, there was a clean clarity to her thoughts. “I’m an empath.”
“That’s not reading minds, right? Because Gary will have a breakdown if he finds that out.”
“Emotions. I can feel the presence of anything living.”
“Wow.” She stared at him, and Wisp thought that maybe he had gone too far. “Is that why your hair went white?”
He smiled. “That’s a side effect of whatever concoction my designer came up with.”
She nodded, but there was still a tendril of uneasiness in her. “Must make you a good scout.”
“The best.”
She snorted at him. “And not an ounce of modesty.”
He leaned back against a large oak. It was where he usually rooted himself before reaching. “I need to do a search,” he said. “Give me a minute.”
She found a rock to sit on and waited with the patience of a soldier.
Her quiet presence was surprisingly easy to ignore. He reached out around himself, searching for anything out of the ordinary. Small flickers of rodents and birds were all he found first. He reached a little further. A pair of Rovers and the Hunters were deep in the woods. He indicated that he was done, and they moved on.
Bridget silently trailed him through the failing light. It surprised him to find her company so appealing. He was so used to doing this on his own that he’d almost refused her request to join him. There was a pleasant aspect to her emotions that he couldn’t quite describe. It was just nice to be around her. He wasn’t sure what to do with that observation.