by Grant Price
‘Ghazi? What are you waiting for?’
Cassady stood by the window, an impatient look on his face.
‘Sorry. I was miles away.’
The Runner’s voice softened. ‘Get inside, partner. Come on. It isn’t safe to be out here.’
With mechanical gestures, Ghazi warmed up the truck and drove towards the charcoal entrance. Cassady hopped onto the running board. The train tracks and sleepers in front of the tunnel were still in place. Inside, the headlights of the other pantechs lit up the walls. Victor and Tagawa were already working to get a fire started. Ghazi pulled in alongside them. No sound came from the cargo hold. He left the cab and followed Cassady back to the tunnel mouth, where they piled branches and plastic debris to create a makeshift wall. His bones ground against one another. Perversely, he was desperate to eat something.
‘How does she look?’ asked Cassady in a dull tone. He threw an armful of thick vines onto the pile.
‘She’s lost a lot of blood. Wyler says there’s nothing we can do.’
‘And what do you think?’
He hesitated, feeling it start at the edges of his eyes. ‘It’s true.’ Pain pulled the muscles in his throat tight and he swallowed hard. Somewhere out on the arid plain, creatures shrieked as they found or became food.
Cassady hefted a large branch onto the blockade. ‘That’ll do it,’ he said. ‘Let’s get over there.’
‘You okay?’
‘We’ll talk later.’
Shadows battled on the walls behind the fire. Brandt and Hearst carried Katarina out of Warspite and laid her by it. Her eyes opened when she felt the heat of the flames, and her skin became taut and her cries echoed through the tunnel. Hearst gripped her hand.
‘Look at me,’ she commanded. When Katarina turned away from the fire, she relaxed.
‘I thought I was in hell.’
‘No. Not for you.’
‘I have done terrible things.’
‘Yes. To survive.’
Ghazi stood nearby with Cassady. He didn’t want to listen, but the conversation was the only one that mattered in their world. Victor and Tagawa sat on the hood of the Silkworm with their hands entwined. Brandt had backed away and was now perched on the hood of Telamonian with his shoulders slumped. Wyler used his curved blade to dig out blood and dirt compacted under his fingernails. Ghazi squinted at his own hands, but the tunnel was dark and only their outline was visible.
‘I did not want to leave you, min dotter.’ The words were weightless. ‘I am sorry.’
‘Don’t.’
‘I thought death would hurt. But there is no pain.’
On Katarina’s cheek, a bloody fingerprint stood out like an accusation. Hearst rubbed at it until it was gone.
‘Where is Jürgen?’
‘Near.’
‘I want to speak to him.’
Hearst lifted her head and scanned the faces of the Runners who stood or sat in the shadows. Brandt jumped down off the hood and approached the fire.
‘Katarina.’ With a grunt, he dropped to her side. His vision blurred when he saw the colour of her skin.
‘You’ll have to find somebody else to retire with you, farbror.’ She managed a faint smile.
‘Don’t say that.’
‘Next time.’
The German’s shoulders heaved and tears fell onto Katarina’s arm. He squeezed her hand.
‘Jürgen.’
He tried to speak, but his throat was clogged.
‘Don’t fight with the boy anymore. Keep a calm head.’
He cuffed at his eyes until the backs of his hands glimmered.
‘Jürgen.’ She sighed and her lids drooped. Brandt pressed his lips to her hand and stumbled away towards the mouth of the tunnel.
Ghazi looked around, noticing that Victor and Tagawa had slipped away to their truck in the meantime. Wyler twirled his knife in his hand and slotted it home on his belt. He nodded at Ghazi and disappeared inside Telamonian.
‘Let’s wait in the cab,’ he muttered to Cassady, whose entire body trembled with terrible energy as he tried to hold something back. The Runner said nothing. Ghazi hesitated, then went to the cab and took out a couple of blankets. After the stench of blood, the stale scent of the fabric was a comfort. He draped one over Cassady’s shoulders and wrapped the other around himself.
They sat in silence, heads leaning against one of Warspite’s great tyres, and watched the fire.
Katarina’s eyes closed for the last time at dawn. As the branches at the tunnel entrance scrambled the light, Hearst pressed her lips to Katarina’s head and held her in her arms. Ghazi and Cassady lifted their tired bodies off the floor and crossed the rusted tracks. Hearst rose to her feet.
‘With her family now,’ she murmured.
‘I’m sorry,’ said Cassady. The words were too loud, too quick, too bloated with selfish remorse. The apology was not for Hearst.
‘Not about you.’
Ghazi grimaced. They had to be careful.
‘I didn’t say it was.’
‘Would prefer it to be.’
Cassady’s mouth fell open. ‘How can you say that? I know you’re upset—’
‘You do not know how I feel.’
Ghazi placed a hand on his shoulder before he could make the situation worse. ‘Stop,’ he whispered. He turned to Hearst. ‘We should bury her.’
She hissed and moved closer to him, crushing her fingers into ugly fists. She was as tall as he was and for a moment she became a wraith, wild, unreasonable and unkillable. His hand automatically snaked to his holster. When she spoke, her fetid breath was a veil that covered his face.
‘I decide.’
With some effort, Ghazi allowed his hand to drop to his side. His temples throbbed and his stomach growled. Lupo’s pills weren’t working like they had before. They were all strung out. He had to keep things under control.
‘I know you’re hurting right now, and you want to destroy something. Maybe that something is us. And after you’re done you’ll jump in your truck and smash through that pile of branches and we’ll never see you again. But this wouldn’t help anyone. We still have a run to finish, and if you lose it now then we’re done. And her death will have been for nothing.’
Beyond the rage and the hostility and the survival instinct, Ghazi saw his words connect. Her heaving chest fell still. Her fists unclenched and she took a step back.
‘Help me bury her,’ she said.
None of them wanted her final resting place to be in the tunnel, so they took her outside. Cassady, Wyler and Tagawa manoeuvred the pantechs into the light, set up the turbine chargers and took stock of the supplies. For the second time in a week, Brandt attacked the earth with his entrenching tool, this time helped by the man he had knocked to the ground two nights before. Now the quarrel meant nothing at all.
Ghazi and Hearst wrapped the body in a piece of tarp donated from Telamonian’s supplies. When the grave was ready, they lowered it in and Brandt and Victor shovelled the earth on top. The Runners stood around the fresh scar, shifting their weight from one foot to the other as Ghazi said a brief, ancient prayer in Farsi. Somewhere on the mountain, a bird called without receiving a response. Hearst bowed her head, took out a knife and cut her palm. She squeezed a few drops of blood onto the earth. Then she bound her hand.
‘Speak now or do not,’ she grunted. Her obsidian eyes skewered each man in turn.
‘Can you keep going?’ asked Tagawa.
She squared her shoulders. ‘Yes.’
‘It’s a long drive.’
‘No further than before.’
Brandt spoke up. ‘She’ll make it.’
Tagawa nodded. ‘I believe it.’
Cassady took the chance to outline the plan. ‘We’re running low on water. Food is down to half.’
‘Lupo’s pills ain’t working,’ said Victor slowly. ‘An hour after I eat a handful, I’m hungry again.’
‘That’s true,’ said Ghazi.
‘Then we’ll keep them in reserve,’ said Cassady. ‘The batteries aren’t fully charged, but we don’t have time to sit around and wait until they hit green. We’re still too close to that city and we need to keep moving.’ He drew out a map and they crowded around it.
‘We aren’t getting back on that highway.’ There were murmurs of agreement. ‘There’s a road here we can take. Looks to be single lane, probably pre-Change. This is some hairy country we’re running. There are bottlenecks here and here.’
Tagawa drew a thin finger across the map. ‘If the Zuisudra are still moving north, we may encounter them.’
‘I’m willing to take that chance. We use this route and we’ll be at the Alps two days from now. What do you say?’
‘We follow you,’ said Tagawa immediately. Victor nodded. Cassady glanced at Hearst, who said nothing. He didn’t press it.
‘No rendezvous today. We’ve lost too much time.’ He stabbed at a point on the map that was a thumb’s breadth away from the Alps. ‘Here’s where we’ll regroup. Try to keep each other in sight as much as possible. Rest up at dusk and don’t advertise your position. If you find water, leave a marker for the others and fill up as much as you can for the stills. Use your dew-catchers and transpiration bags. And stay on your guard.’
The Runners dispersed to their trucks. Ghazi ran around to the hood and propped it open. He’d forgotten the Old Lady had taken a bullet as well. The slug had gone clean through the metal and made a dent in the top plate protecting the engine cylinder. He rubbed it with his thumb. Lucky. Any closer and she would have been disembowelled.
Pebbles spilled down the mountainside. He jerked around, his hand already sliding the pistol out of the tough holster, and dropped into a kneeling position. His eyes darted from one outcrop to the next. His finger rested on the trigger. He waited. One second. Two seconds. Three. A bird gave a forlorn cry. Then nothing. He was jumping at shadows. He holstered the weapon, slammed the hood shut and dragged himself into the co-seat. Fatigue nipped at his muscles. He snapped open the blitz bottle, fished out a pill and threw it back just as Cassady appeared by the door.
‘Chetori?’
Ghazi blinked, surprised by the word. Cassady only knew a few phrases in Farsi and he rarely used them. ‘I’ve been better.’
‘I know. I’ve spoken with Hearst.’
‘Go on.’
‘I’ll drive with her today and tomorrow.’
‘Are you sure that’s a good idea?’
‘Why not?’ the other man snapped. ‘I don’t want her doing anything stupid.’
Ghazi took a deep breath. ‘Do what you think is best.’
‘Christ. I’m sorry.’
‘It was a long night for all of us. I can’t believe she’s gone, just like that.’
Cassady reached in through the window and placed a hand on his shoulder. ‘I know. Keep it together for a little longer. We’re getting closer. Here, pass me the pills.’ He rattled a few into his palm. ‘Don’t think about Kaja. Not now. Stay focused. We’ll rest before we hit the mountains. I promise.’ He jumped down from the cab and was gone.
The pill kicked in as Ghazi slid across to the driver’s seat and the lethargy melted away, replaced by a chemical high that aligned his thoughts and numbed his back teeth. He sucked on the tube snaking out of the bota bag. Only a few mouthfuls left. They needed to find a water source soon. He pumped the starter button and put Warspite into first. It would be a long two days.
9
‘Want to talk?’
The question slipped, unanswered, through the crack in the side window. The bug-eyed cab was too cramped for Cassady to be comfortable. The sun hammered against the glass and he fidgeted in his seat for the tenth time that hour, trying to find a position which didn’t make his thigh muscles or tailbone ache like hell. The heat wasn’t helping either, a dense block that pushed his entire body down. Each time they took a corner, he had to grab the window frame to stop himself from sliding onto Hearst’s lap. The chair’s cracked leather cover was torture. His shirt was soaked through with sweat and his tongue was fat and heavy. They needed water soon. They hadn’t found any pools or streams in the past 24 hours and the dew-catcher and transpiration bags had only managed to collect a mouthful of water each. That’s how it was in the Bowl.
Hearst hunched over the steering wheel. She threw the truck left and right, Orion’s tyres hurling chunks of mud into the tangled shrubs as they followed a ribbon road that wound through the forest-spattered hills. Cassady watched her out the corner of his eye. She’d said only a few words since leaving the tunnel the morning before. When they’d reached the road and found it to be in good condition, he’d been so relieved that he’d shouted aloud. Hearst’s blank expression hadn’t changed. He’d hoped she would take it steady and stick close to Telamonian, but she’d overtaken the larger vehicle in the afternoon and they’d been out of sight since. At dusk they’d stopped to recharge the batteries, eat a few old rations tainted with Cosinex, and grab some sleep. When they’d rejoined the road in the morning, a layer of mist had tied the trunks of the trees together. He’d offered to drive, but Hearst kept the reins in her hands, almost as though she had something to prove to herself.
His mind drifted to Ghazi guiding the Old Lady through the forest alone and wished he could check how his friend was holding up. It hadn’t been fair to leave him like that, but he needed to watch Hearst.
‘Tell me what’s on your mind.’
He snapped open his belt pouch and pinched one of the few sticks of root he had left. The lack of saliva in his mouth made it difficult to get it started, but the sweet numbness came soon enough.
‘If you don’t want to talk then I will.’
She stretched her arms until her elbows clicked, but remained silent.
‘Fine. How about this: I saw a helicopter once. I was alone, in the south, not too far from here and I remember hearing the hacking sound of a fuel engine working overtime. At first, I looked in front of and behind me and prepared for an attack. But it didn’t take long to realise the noise was coming from above, so I stopped the Old Lady and got out. The helicopter hovered just behind me, close enough to hit that swollen bug on the nose with a rock. It was old. The body was dented, twisted and covered in rust. I couldn’t see who was inside because the windows were dark.’
The road declined. He held a hand out against the window frame to stop himself from sliding forward on the leather. ‘I didn’t know what to do. It just hovered there. Not friendly, not hostile. I remember thinking that if whoever was in there had a gun on me, I was finished. I wouldn’t have made it back to safety. So I waved. I held my arms above my head and I waved to the machine.’
He paused. A muscle in Hearst’s scarred cheek quivered. He took it as a sign to continue.
‘Then I saw a hand pressed against the glass. Just for a second or two. After that it left. Headed towards the horizon and disappeared. I thought it might have come from the Alps, but I couldn’t work out why it would have crossed the border. I don’t know. Maybe it was looking for something out here.’
Hearst said nothing. He arched his back, massaged his thighs and grunted. He had one more angle to try, and it would cost him a lot to reveal it.
‘The last time I spoke to her, the morning before we joined the highway, she gave me some good advice. She told me I was the master of my fears. She said I’d been holding back since we left the stockade. I didn’t thank her, but she was right. Telling her made the fear real. It somehow became something I could face. And do you know what I did about it?’ He paused. ‘I strangled Victor on the highway.’
A bark of laughter escaped from her lips. The noise startled her, and she choked it off. He smiled inwardly. It wasn’t much, but it would do. He gazed through the unfamiliar windshield. The trees were unbroken streaks of green against the glass. The bleak road dipped and kinked and turned, and the engine hummed. They could have been the only people left on Earth. With a dirt-darkened finger, he eased
a sliver of pulp from between two of his teeth. A headache gnawed at the back in his skull. He was about to reach for the map and check once more for water sources when she spoke.
‘Only person I ever picked up.’
He stopped chewing.
‘Many people need help. Families, children, ghosts. I don’t stop.’ She spoke roughly, as though she wanted the words to be gone from her as quickly as possible. ‘She was different. Head down, hood over face, walking in a place where body and mind are apart. Drove next to her. Didn’t look up. Rain started. Pulled her hood down, shook out her hair. Pure white, long, beautiful. Stopped in middle of road, eyes to sky, arms held out. No fear. I wanted that. She saw me. I opened the door. Climbed into that seat and stayed. Taught me enough for decision to be a good one.’
Cassady didn’t know how to respond. He’d never heard her speak more than a few words before. He rubbed the stubble on his skull, coating his palm with a gluey film. His mind was muddled and bitter. His attention was drawn to her reflection in the windshield, and he focused on the scar that pulled her features tighter on one side.
‘So what do you do now?’
She narrowed her eyes. ‘Keep going.’
‘Why?’
‘What?’
‘Why do you keep going? What stops you from driving this rig off a cliff?’