Rise of the Scorpion

by Scott McCord

  All eyes go to Mary as she considers my request. She nods reluctantly and turns back for her belongings.

  “Everything you need is in New Hope. We don’t have time for anything else. Leave it. Just grab a full waterskin,” I say.

  “What about us?” a woman demands.

  “What about you?” I answer.

  “You can’t just leave us.”

  “Watch me,” I growl. “I have things to do, a life to live, so if you think for one second I’m staying here to be gutted by a bunch of Scorpions or hauled back to Community to be flogged and strapped to a culling post, you are mistaken.”

  The guard has retrieved Cassandra, and she watches me silently as I stab the crowd with sharp words. Rosie and Mary join me, and that’s all I’m waiting for. Mary is carrying a crate, but I let it go.

  “Ready?” I ask. Rosie nods. I glance to Cassandra. “How about you?” She nods as well. The Utugi stand drop-jawed as we turn our backs and walk away. Mild protests and biting insults about Cassandra follow, but words don’t matter. Long morning shadows begin to shorten, and the Ark’s dew dries from the leaves.

  The grassy expanse gleams like something out of a fairy tale. The reds and purples are fading to gold, and the dark trees on the far horizon seem a million miles away. Cassandra, Mary, Rosie, and I stand with our toes hanging Outside and our noses to the very Edge.

  “I feel small,” Mary murmurs.

  “Outside is a big place,” Cassandra says under her breath.

  I stroke the back of Rosie’s head. “Not as big as you think. We’re only going to the trees—just a small stretch of the legs. How long has it been for you ladies?”

  The rest of the Utugi, arms full of belongings, quietly sidle up to join us. I was hoping they would.

  “Jack and I hunt for herbs in the shallows pretty regular. He never finds as many as I do,” Mary says.

  “I come out every day, even though Jack says not to go by myself,” Rosie answers.

  “It’s been a while for me,” Cassandra admits.

  “Okay,” I announce to everyone. “That is where we are going.” I motion outward with my bow. “That is where Johnathan and the pilgrims are right now…and if a bunch of candy-ass pilgrims can make the trip over, I know Slitters can too. If you haven’t been Outside in a while, pair up with somebody who has. Try to keep an even pace and follow my lead. As it turns out, I’m pretty good at ferrying. So in the immortal words of our dear friend Jack, toes up, nose up.” I lean down to Rosie. “Stay close to Cassandra,” I say.

  After a brief moment of negotiating partners, we’re ready to leave…and we do. Some test the Outside with a hand or a foot like they are about to go for a cold swim. Others move right in. One woman turns around as soon as the anemic air hits her lungs, but a guard catches her, and coaxes her to proceed. Fear is with us, showing itself in every wary face as the final remnant departs the Ark into the deadly Outside. The Calling leads me, and the Utugi follow behind.

  The sun is higher on my left than I like, but at least we’re leaving before a kill squad arrives. Eighty more yards to get out of bow range. We’re slow, but we’re going to be okay. A little more distance, and we’ve made it. Maybe I overestimated Will. I begin to ease, and the weariness of last night settles in my legs. I motion Rosie and Cassandra up to join me. Rosie is lively as ever, and Cassandra is in much better shape than I expected.

  “Good,” I say. “You’re doing fine.”

  “I’ve had easier days,” Cassandra says.

  “I know. I’m sorry.”

  “They didn’t listen to me. I told them what to do, what needed to be done, and they didn’t listen. They were more afraid than inspired, and I couldn’t find words to tip the scale. If the Scorpions are coming, we’d be lost. The Scorpions are coming, aren’t they, Mim?”

  “I thought so.” I turn, taking a few backward steps to look at the Ark—nothing.

  “You got us moving.”

  “I couldn’t have done it if you and Mary hadn’t played along. There’s no way either of you would leave without the rest.”

  Cassandra musters a dim smile. Outside is taking an immediate toll, and our tiny caravan is already beginning to string out as thin air attacks the weaker people.

  “It’s important for you to lead, at least for a while. Folks would rather follow you than me.”

  “I don’t—”

  “A good vein runs just off to the left, toward that patch of scrub brush. Keep walking that way, and I’ll be back before you get there. Cassandra’s eyes flood with fear. “It’s important you do this. Your people need you to do this,” I say. “Rosie will help. I’m going to step back and tighten these pansies up. We need to be quicker.”

  I don’t wait for Cassandra to protest again. I head down the line of straggling men and women—some leaning on each other, moving like they’ve walked fifty miles instead of fifty yards.

  “If you haven’t been out in a while, your body takes a little longer to acclimate, but don’t worry, if you weren’t going to make it, you’d already be dead. Everyone is conditioned well enough to get across. It will get easier as you go.”

  The people dragging by barely look up as I speak. I glance at the tree-line where we left ten minutes ago…still no Scorpions.

  “Push harder. You’re almost safe. Cassandra has a place we can sit and rest. You’re going to be fine, but you have to move.”

  I watch the tree-line as the Utugi hobble by, until only Mary is left bringing up the rear. She would be faster if it weren’t for that damn box she’s carrying. I walk back to help her with the load. She fumbles her crate to the ground and trips. I catch her before she falls.

  “Thank you,” she says. “This thing is heavier than I thought.”

  “You weren’t supposed to bring it. You should be up front with Rosie and Cassandra. It’s not safe back here.”

  “That box is too important to leave.” She runs the back of her hand across her forehead and raises her face to the morning sun. “It’s too early to sweat like this.”

  “It’s not that early. Here, I’ll carry the box so we can catch up.” I shoulder my bow and reach for the crate.

  “Oh you don’t have to do that…just leave it.”

  “I thought you said it was important.”

  “I said it was too important to leave. I didn’t say it was important enough to take. I figure we’re far enough Outside now that the Scorpions won’t get their hands on it. The evil inside belongs to me, and I want to keep it that way.”

  “What’s in there?”

  “A little of this, a little of that…stuff Cassandra doesn’t even know about…my secrets...my recipes. Some heal you quick, some hurt you bad, and some put you to sleep for a long, long time. There’s other things too. You know, the boys thought I was a witch, always brewing things up. Maybe that’s why they were more afraid of me than Jack.” She musters a faint smile when his name crosses her lips.

  “You dragged that thing all the way out here just so Community couldn’t get it?”

  “So The Body couldn’t get it,” she says.

  “Okay then, I guess it’s good where it lies. Nothing you need out of it?”

  Mary shakes her head.

  “Good, let’s go.”

  I start to turn away, but Mary catches my wrist before I do. “Jack died yesterday,” she says.

  I drop my eyes to the ground.

  “Ben and Jeremy too,” she adds.

  I don’t look up.

  “They decided so quick to love you…even before you decided to love them back. You did love them, didn’t you?”

  I nod, raising my head without making eye contact.

  “That’s why they went with you when you left. That’s why they died.” I feel her staring at me even though I’m not looking back. “Did they die well?”

  “Like heroes.” I run my finger along the underside of one eye.

  “Men are coming for us, trying to root us out, and if my boys…my br
ave boys…hadn’t stood up for us, we’d all be dead right now.” Her voice cracks. “I’m not sure what I’ll do without them.”

  “Walk. Jack would want you to walk. Get to New Hope, see Rosie grow up, find herself a pair, and make you a grandma. You’ll be a great one…taking Rosie’s boys by the ears, making sure they know all the things they’re supposed to.”

  Mary smiles at the thought. “You may have boys too.”

  My face scrunches involuntarily, but now is not the time to argue. “A lot has to happen first,” I say, glancing over my shoulder at the people moving off behind Cassandra. They’re finding their legs and have put quite a bit of ground between us. Mary and I have been talking longer than I realized. “Come on, let’s go.”

  We fall in side by side and start after the group.

  “We have to move faster,” I say, and we pick up our pace.

  “I know I’ve been hard on you,” Mary says after a few steps. “I was never sure we did the right thing by bringing you in. But I want you to know, I don’t blame you for anything, this was always coming, and you being with the Utugi didn’t make it any worse than it would have been anyway. I think we’re safer because you are here. Jack and the boys were fond of you…they trusted you and I do too.” We take a few more slow steps. “I don’t blame you for getting them killed.”

  I swallow hard. “Thank you,” I say.

  “Don’t let us down, Mim.”

  “I won’t.”

  “How’d we get so far behind? We’d better get you up there in a hurry. Cassandra can’t steer this boat alone.”

  “She’ll be okay for a bit, but you’re right. Let’s catch up.”

  Our feet quicken. Mary handles the Outside well, and the promise of a new life away from the Ark seems to spark some hope in her. She’s lost a lot—more than the rest.

  “So tell me about New Hope,” she says as we walk. “How big is it? I hear there are permanent buildings. There’s a lot you can do in a permanent building…”

  Mary can be more of a babbler than I knew. Her enthusiasm makes me smile, and after all this time, I think we can be friends. Rosie will like that.

  “Maybe I’ll have a kitchen,” she says. “Jack always said he’d build me—”

  Mary’s words are cut midsentence. I take three more steps before realizing she’s no longer at my side. I turn back with her kitchen still fresh on my mind, already formulating a way to build it for her.

  “We have to keep moving,” I say before noticing her face has gone ghost white. It’s like every drop of blood has drained away. Mary sways a little, mumbling something I can’t understand. She blinks in disbelief, drops her eyes to her chest, and slowly reaches up to touch the arrowhead encircled by a widening pool of red. She goes to her knees, as arrows rain down a half-dozen at a time. She’s struck again and again by silent projectiles sizzling to the end of their arc. The rest of the group is safe, but Mary and I are still in range of the Scorpion bows at the Edge. Arrows drop in all around, suddenly appearing in the earth, stuck to mid-shaft.

  “Bastards!” I scream, pulling my bow, sending two line-shots back at the Scorpions. All but one scramble for cover. It’s not shooting fish in a barrel when the fish shoot back. I reach for Mary, but she took a second arrow through the heart and a third in the back of her neck. She’s gone to be with Jack and the boys.

  I rise, and fury rises with me. I step over Mary’s body to get a look at the murderers who shot her in the back. My first two arrows sent most of the Scorpions diving behind rocks and trees, but the last one stands out in the open, defiant and unafraid. He steps closer, until his toes are on the very Edge.

  “What are you?” he yells. It’s Will.

  I charge up for a better shot, whipping an arrow from my quiver, sending it sizzling as Will attempts to do the same. He’s fast, but not fast enough. My arrow finds his bow, knocking it from his hand before he can shoot back. I pull another arrow and send it hissing after a Scorpion hiding behind a tree. I have no chance of hitting him, but it will make him think twice about popping out to take a shot at me.

  “What have you done? She was just an old woman,” I wail.

  “You attacked the bridges. You killed Gas. Why, Mim, why Gas?”

  “I didn’t!”

  “You did! Don’t lie! The Bowie was in his back!”

  “I didn’t!”

  “What kind of monster are you, Mim? You run around Outside like a filthy Lopper. Are you human at all?”

  I draw my bow. An arrow will shut his mouth.

  “You’d better put me down,” he yells, “because if you don’t, I’ll kill every Slitter I find, and I don’t care if they’re inside or outside the Ark. I have an army…” he waves his arm toward the Utugi group straggling off in the distance, “…and all you have are rag-a-muffins!”

  I step forward and lean into my bow. There are six of them. I’m good for three…maybe four, but if something happens to me now, Cassandra will never make it to New Hope. I burn inside as this arrogant puke shakes his fist at me from the tree-line. I want him dead, but now isn’t the time to fight. I look for something to say, some threat to make.

  “I’m coming for you, Will! I’m coming for you and your army in three days! Three days, do you hear? And when you’re flat on your back dying, you’ll know you’re the reason I’m ripping Community to the ground. I’ll have Ayden’s head on a pike!”

  The words aren’t idle. I mean everything I say, lacking only the military force to carry them out. Three days? I don’t know why I said three…because two isn’t enough, and four is too many, I guess. Angry tears well in my eyes. One day, and Rosie is all that’s left. I want to hurt Will. I want to make The Body pay, and I have the rest of the day to figure out how. Fear of the Ark running aground at New Hope, will be all I need to convince Johnathan and Cassandra we should strike.

  “What are you going to do, stab us all in the back or cut our throats while we sleep? Why wait, murderer? Are you afraid to bring it now? You have your bow! Let’s see what you can do!”

  Will taunts me and my insides flame, but I’m done talking. I hoist Mary’s box to my shoulder, hoping one of her secrets is enough to wipe out an army. A Scorpion arrow nips at my heel and another slices the ground off to my right. I trot a little, until they can’t reach me anymore.

  Silent people watch me approach. Hesitating at the Edge got Mary killed, and most of them know the part they played. One of Cassandra’s men is holding Rosie. When I’m safely out of range, and the Scorpion threat is reduced to harsh language, Cassandra nods, and the man releases the girl. She runs to greet me, pausing to confirm in my face what she already knows. Mary’s gone. I shake my head. Rosie throws her arms around me and buries herself in my chest. A tear drops from her eye to my skin.

  “I’ll make them pay. I’ll make them all pay,” I whisper.

  Rosie nods into my shirt without looking up. “Me too,” she says.

  We take another moment before returning to the group together.

  “Rest time is over,” I say to Cassandra as I pass. “We have work to do.”

  42

  Will

  “Dammit!” How are they doing that?”

  “Gills, boss, I heard once they had gills,” one of the Scorpions answers. “So they’re the ones, you think?”

  “They’re the ones…I know,” I say, watching the Slitters move off where no human can follow.

  The milky-eyed Scorpion picks up my bow to examine it. Mim’s arrow split the wood just above the grip. “Must be your lucky day, boss,” he observes, “a half inch either way and you’re a dead man.” He bends the bow down to salvage the string, and it cracks under his weight.

  “You really pissed that Slitter off, boss,” another man says.

  “Provoked the shit out of her,” his friend adds.

  “Looks like we’ll have a situation in three days…sounds like she’s bringing a friggin’ army.”

  “She doesn’t have an army,” I say. “You
saw the camp, it looked more like a group from Community than a military outpost—weaving looms, spinning wheels, candle molds. No, I wasn’t sure at first, but it sounds like our initial intel was right…Tommy wasn’t lying. They’re not much more than a band of robbers and cutthroats…criminals with big mouths and big threats.”

  “Are you sure that’s not an axe you’re grinding, boss. Look at them walking off where there ain’t no air at all. How do you know they don’t have a horde of Slitter warriors hidden out there somewhere?”

  “Because they ran away and left all their stuff instead of fighting. There’s only six of us…easy pickings for an army of Slitters. Besides, look, they’re stumbling all over themselves. They’re hurting. They might be able to move around a little, but they can’t last long Outside. As soon as they’re out of sight, they’ll have to turn back and find another way into the Ark.” I smile to myself. “And… Mim said three days instead of two or four, which means she has exactly nothing, but doesn’t want me to know it. She’s always been an easy read.”

  “What now, boss?”

  “Let’s rest a bit and then go home along the Edge. Who knows, if the Slitters head west, and we get lucky, we might catch them coming in.”

  “What about Xavier?”

  “He’ll figure out where we’ve gone in a day or two.”

  I give the patrol an hour to relax before we leave. The men grumble when we don’t go back by the Slitter camp, leaving their piles of booty for the next Scorpions who come through. We stay inside the tree-line as we head for Community—just deep enough to easily see the grassy plain Outside, without being seen ourselves. I watch as we move, hoping to spot Mim returning to safe air, but it seems she’s out guessed me and come in another way.

  The afternoon is fading into early evening by the time the guard opens the flap of Ayden’s old tent, and I enter to give Ven my report.

  “Where’s Xavier?” Ven asks when I step into the room.

  In the wake of the assassinations and the arrest of Starter, Ven is making himself oddly comfortable in the digs of our recently demised Supreme. Everything has been rearranged to better suit the High Command.