Rescue Mission

by Linda Jordan

  “Local people?”

  “Not all of them. But Jack, one of his advisors, had a hacker make a list of the arms dealer’s other clients. Some of them were local. Jack said he still has the list. It was on paper.”

  Damon said, “So, we break into their storage areas, risking our lives and killing a few of them, stealing weapons, ammo and disappearing. Then what?”

  “We keep doing it. For as long as it takes. All winter if need be. We train people hard. Create an army,” said Morrigu.

  “Even with an army, how do we attack Collins? He’s got aircraft and bombs, any one of which could obliterate our entire army in seconds.”

  “We don’t attack him. We meet with those whose land borders Collin’s little fiefdom. There was Morietti, and another one. We offer to combine our army with theirs and overthrow Collins.”

  “Will that be enough? What if they don’t want to fight Collins? What if they’re fine with things the way they are?” asked Damon

  “We don’t need to fight. All I need is the threat. We will demand a meeting with Collins or we will attack and obliterate him. All I need is to get into the same room with Collins and he’s dead.”

  “What if Collins won’t meet with anyone?” Damon asked. “I wouldn’t. Not with his power and security.”

  “Then we fight.” She stared at him, her green eyes blazing.

  There was no talking her out of this. Morrigu would have her revenge.

  “I’ll talk to Jack, find a couple of men to scout things out before we plan a mission. And get Gregor back to training people. When they’re not trying to build a place for us to eat, and trying to keep us all fed and clothed.”

  Morrigu said, “You are right, our people are not farmers and shepherds. I think we should steal what we need. Clothes, food and weapons.”

  “I’m not sure we have enough people to do that. Without losing a lot of them fighting.”

  “Don’t get caught,” said Morrigu.

  “Things don’t always turn out that way. I was there in the Zoo back when that’s what the gangs did. Before you came there. Stealing to survive. Of all of the people I ran with, only two people are still alive.”

  “Who?” asked Morrigu, cocking her head.

  “One of the villagers who Evangeline caught, back in the Zoo. The older woman, Cady, who was shot in the leg. She got out early, when she was still young. And myself. Everyone else from that time died or got out of the Zoo early on, like Cady. Stealing for survival is a hard road these days, too many losses. You won’t build your army up that way.”

  “All right, we’ll strike a balance. Steal weapons and grow everything else.”

  “That would be better. Because at least half of these people were support staff in the Zoo. Cooks, cleaners and all that. They aren’t warriors and there’s no way Gregor can make them into warriors. At best, he’d be able to teach them how to defend themselves if we’re attacked. At best.”

  “Well, go back to training anyone who has a possibility of becoming a warrior. Let the others focus on sustaining the rest of us. They will need to be trained to defend themselves. None of this comes without a risk of us being attacked again,” said Morrigu.

  “I can do that after we’ve got hold of seeds to plant and animals to raise for food and wool. And structures built for us. Otherwise, we won’t last through the winter.”

  Morrigu said, “Do what needs to be done, but send scouts out to find likely places to steal weapons from.”

  Damon nodded. As if that would be easy. Anyone with a large amount of weapons would have them under strong security. Still, he’d talk to Jack when he got back. At the moment, Jack was with those seeking seeds and animals. He’d agreed to negotiate, having few other skills to offer.

  There weren’t enough warriors to send out right now, anyway. Not until everyone returned. They were either out hunting for food, trying to barter for animals or guarding folks collecting wire and equipment. Damon would not leave everyone here undefended.

  Morrigu began to leave and then turned back.

  “Do you know what this village is called?” she asked.

  “No.”

  “It’s called Paradise Grove. There’s a sign down by the water with an arrow pointing this way. I love this place. It reminds me of my home. Before humans cut down too many trees. But if this was paradise, why did the villagers leave?”

  Damon said, “They had a seer. They probably saw us coming.”

  “Perhaps,” she said. “It’s of no matter. They weren’t warriors. We need warriors and I will find them.”

  Morrigu turned and walked back into the forest, soon vanishing behind the bushes and trees. Damon went back to his papers. There were twenty-five fighters gone right now. Leaving only twenty with the village. That made him nervous, but everything everyone was doing was important. And there were timelines on it all. They needed food now. They needed food in the future. They would need warmth in the winter. And they needed to be safe.

  He heard a yell.

  “Incoming! Take cover!”

  Followed by noise in the bushes.

  “Get down!” yelled Damon to everyone around him. He pulled his rifle off the table, thankful he’d kept it nearby. “Grab a weapon if you’ve got one.”

  People scuttled behind trees and behind buildings. He heard weapons firing and more rustling. Then Gregor and Eamon ran through the clearing and took cover behind a house. Damon joined them.

  “How many?”

  “Ten, maybe fifteen.”

  “Who?”

  “Local yokels. Not pros. But good shots. They got Cal,” Gregor said.

  Seven more people came through the clearing. One of them, a big man, dumped a deer carcass on the ground near the fire, and kept running to find cover.

  Damon raised his rifle to fire, but Gregor said, “They’re ours. Not going to leave dinner behind. The others are wearing camo. Probably surrounding us. I’ll watch your back.”

  “Eyes out!” yelled Gregor.

  Damon could see the other fighters, the ones who’d already been in or near the village, circling around. Two of them got off shots. Then he heard an unearthly scream.

  Morrigu walked into the clearing dragging a man by his short hair and two of her guards marched another in front of her.

  “Who are you?” she demanded.

  Neither man answered.

  “Why are you here, why did you attack us?”

  Silence.

  Some of Morrigu’s people came out of hiding. Damon and the other guards stayed put, watching for a continuation of the attack.

  Morrigu pulled the man upright. He shrieked again. Then she began to peel the skin off his face with a knife, in strips.

  Damon shut out the screams, looking away.

  At one point, she stopped, and yelled, “You will watch this. You will watch your friend die. This is what becomes of those who dare to attack Morrigu’s people. I am a goddess. You cannot kill me. I destroy anyone who dares to attempt to hurt me or mine. You are an insect I crush beneath my boot.”

  The first man continued screaming until he lost consciousness. He probably wasn’t dead yet. Damon hoped she’d kill him soon and be done with it.

  “Damon,” she said.

  He came out from behind the house and walked to her.

  “Do we have a place to confine this one until he wakes?”

  “We don’t have anyplace yet, no,” he said.

  “Pity. I’ll just have to kill him and be done with it. There’s more pain he could endure.”

  She sliced the man’s throat and took a yellow mug off the table, tossing out whatever liquid was in it. Then she held the cup at the man’s neck, filling it with blood, which she drank, letting it run down her face.

  The other man had already paled and was hyperventilating from fear. Watching Morrigu drink his friend’s blood made him vomit.

  Morrigu finished drinking and slapped the mug down on the table with a thunk.

  “Throw
his body on the fire. We will have human for dinner tonight.”

  Two guards did as she asked. Then she turned to the other prisoner, who looked ready to pass out.

  “I will let you go. You will spread the word wide and far about what happens to those who enter my territory with evil intent. I take care of mine. I am a warrior goddess and all who oppose me will die terrible deaths. Do not return.”

  She motioned to the guards to let him go. The man took about one second to find his balance. Then fled back the way he’d come.

  “That was quite a performance,” said Damon.

  “Yes, it was good, wasn’t it? But it will be effective. Those who hear his tale, won’t bother us.”

  “What about those who don’t believe it?”

  “They will come to us, challenging us. We will welcome them as warriors.”

  The guards brought Cal’s body to the fire, stripping it of weapons, ammunition and boots. Then his body, too was consigned to the fire.

  Damon left the area. He felt weary of the scent of burning bodies. When Morrigu and Roosevelt had finally made their peace, he’d thought that burning bodies would be done. And it had, for a very long time, unless someone died of an accident or illness. Now, it had begun again. It would get worse before it got better. Hadn’t enough people died?

  He sat on an old rotting log and put his head in his hands. Tired of taking other lives. Exhausted from fighting and running. He just wanted it to end.

  But they were going to war and it sickened him.

  18

  Evangeline

  Evangeline woke to find herself lying on the soft, damp grass. Where was she? Who was she? She sat up to see water, salty water by the smell. She was on a shore. Tall evergreen trees towered above her. She didn’t know what kind of trees they were.

  Standing, she startled a heron. The bird’s ungainly body took off with a thump, thump of wings, as the long neck folded into a compressed S-shape, and the heron tucked in its long legs. She felt just as ungainly, trying to find her balance.

  Whatever hit her must have been some powerful magic. Then she remembered Yemaya with those stormy gray eyes. And the work the goddess had given her to do.

  Evangeline rubbed her face then pulled her hair back. She found a strip of cloth in her pants pocket and tied those long braids back into a bundle. She was never going to be able to take care of her hair properly here. Perhaps it was time to let it go.

  There were a lot of things she’d never be able to do here, like have her beautiful clothes again. Or be connected into a network, always able to call for backup. Or see the people that were left in her family. That life was gone.

  Evangeline found the empty mug that the cook, whose name she didn’t even know, had given her. With the last cup of coffee Evangeline might ever have.

  Picking it up, she walked back to the village, passing the sign that read Paradise Grove. Well, she would turn it into her paradise. Whatever that took.

  As she moved down the path beneath the evergreens, the dimness of the forest surrounded her. The village needed to make or find boats. They could fish for food. She’d seen other boats out on the water fishing.

  And she needed to learn about the local plants. The former villagers had been thriving. They must have been able to get everything they needed. Morrigu and Roosevelt’s people would just have to learn how to do that. There must be books somewhere in the village that identified plants. She would search them out. See what the plants could do for food, for healing.

  Evangeline startled a little brown rabbit, which hopped a short distance and disappeared into the bushes. Small birds of some kind twittered all around her as they moved from shrub to small tree. She knew the short trees. They were maples of some sort, their leaves turning orange and crimson with the cooler weather. They struggled to find light beneath the taller trees.

  In a meadow grew mounds of brambles, bearing what she’d learned were blackberries. Very tasty. She ate several. Her stomach was grumbling. When had she last eaten?

  Evangeline didn’t know how long she’d been out. She couldn’t even see the sun in this part of the woods, so couldn’t see how low it was in the sky.

  When she made it back to the village, it seemed like an alien place. Everyone was busy. No one greeted her. She could have been a ghost.

  It looked like they’d gotten all the timbers up on the roof of the meeting area. Two men were on top filling the cracks between the logs with mud or something.

  The three main cooks were working, helped by two other people. It seemed like the cooks never stopped. There were a lot of mouths to feed.

  Evangeline went to the tub of warm, soapy water and washed her mug, rinsed it and set it on the table to air dry.

  She went to the older woman who’d given her coffee. The cook was stoutly built, but muscular beneath the extra weight. Evangeline had watched her heft huge pots filled with food. The woman had long red hair piled on top of her head and secured with two sharp ornamental sticks.

  “Thank you for the coffee, it was wonderful.”

  The woman scrunched up her face, as if puzzled.

  Then said, “That was yesterday, but you’re welcome.”

  “It was yesterday? I fell asleep down by the lake. I must have been really tired.”

  “You must have. You slept through gunshots and everything.”

  “Gunshots?” asked Evangeline.

  The cook filled her in.

  “I was exhausted. Too many days without sleep. I’m sorry, I don’t even know your name.”

  “Angie.”

  “Angie, I’m Evangeline.”

  “I know,” said the cook. “There’s some leftover roasted deer from last night, better grab some before it goes into this afternoon’s soup.”

  “Thank you.”

  Evangeline took a hunk of the meat, grateful for the food. It was chewy and tasted like most roasted meat. A bit dry though. At least they’d gotten a refrigeration system working for the cooks. The tech people had only found enough wire to run electricity in a small area so far. Evangeline found a jug of water and poured some into the clean yellow mug. After drinking the cool mineral-flavored water, she washed and rinsed the mug again.

  Damon was out at a central table surrounded by paperwork, where he’d been ever since they’d arrived in the village. He had his head down on the table and was snoring. He probably hadn’t slept in days either.

  She didn’t want to disturb him, but then he woke suddenly, sat up and looked around as if shocked out of sleep by a bad dream.

  Evangeline went over and sat down on the split log bench on the other side of the table. The bench was well worn from the previous villagers’ bodies.

  Damon was rubbing his face and he looked at her.

  “Fell asleep,” he mumbled.

  “When was the last time you slept?” asked Evangeline.

  “Last night. I slept long and deep. Couldn’t take it anymore.”

  “You’re probably still exhausted.”

  “Apparently,” he said, frowning.

  “When people were bringing books to you, were any of them about plants?”

  “Plants. …” he said.

  “How to identify them. Local plants.”

  “There are a couple in my house. Cady’s old house.”

  “Can I look at them?”

  “Sure,” he said. “Looking for anything in particular?”

  “I need to be useful here. I can learn about what’s growing nearby. What we can use for healing, what we can eat.”

  “You’re a warrior, you’re already useful.”

  “I’m done with that. I’m staying in this village. For good.”

  “How can you just turn around and say you’re done with that?” Damon asked.

  “I met a goddess yesterday, Yemaya. We had a … discussion.”

  “And she trumps Morrigu?”

  “I never agreed to work for Morrigu. She asked, but I never agreed. I will stay in this village. Be p
art of the community. Help it grow and thrive. But I’m done with fighting, war and being a bodyguard.”

  “I don’t know how that’ll work for you,” said Damon. “We are going to war. Morrigu’s made the first move.”

  “What did she do?” asked Evangeline.

  Damon described the torture and why Morrigu had done it.

  “She’ll have every young punk for miles and miles around flocking to her. Anyone looking for violence and trouble. And we’ll have to wrangle them into an army. While we’re stealing arms from anyone who has them. This village is going to transform quickly.”

  “You really think so? Well, then it’s a good thing I’m here to help keep the balance.”

  “Then, I’ll put you in charge of training the non-warriors in self-defense. They’re going to need it. They’re used to dealing with disciplined guards not hormonal adolescents who are hot to prove themselves any way they can. And I can’t spare Gregor for that. He’ll have his hands full.”

  “Challenge accepted,” she said. “I’ve always loved teaching people. This is going to be fun.”

  Damon put his head back down on the table.

  “You’re dreading this, aren’t you?” asked Evangeline. She stood up, “Come on, take me to your house so I can get those books.

  He rose and they began walking out of the center of the village.

  “I’m not a soldier. I don’t know how to fight a war on this scale,” said Damon

  He wasn’t telling her everything. She could sense he was holding back some information. Well, it didn’t concern her. She would do her work. Learn plants and teach people.

  “I don’t think anyone around here does. There hasn’t been a war around here ever, has there?”

  “Not in my lifetime,” he said.

  “So, there is no one suited for that job. Not in this part of the world. It’s either you, or someone goes out into the wide world to find and hire some mercenary. I don’t see that happening. No one around here has the gold to do that. Perhaps Morrigu could charm or threaten her way into a room on the other side of the planet, where she could find someone with that skillset. I think it’s not likely. I doubt she can travel far.”