After the Fall- The Complete series Box Set

by Charlie Dalton

  “Denver City,” he said.

  Jamie’s head snapped up. His brother wouldn’t look at him.

  “Treasure hunters, huh?” Isabelle said.

  “What do you mean?” Donny said.

  “Many people come here from all over, trying to get inside the City,” Isabelle said. “There’s said to be so many riches that you could sell it and have so much money and resources that you could live one hundred lifetimes.”

  “No one’s managed to get inside?” Donny said.

  “Not a single step,” Isabelle said. “No matter what people try, they can’t get in. It’s protected by a kind of system that no one alive knows how to break.”

  “Where we’re from no one even knows there’s a City right there, in the mountains,” Donny said. “Right under their noses, and no one knows.”

  “You do,” Isabelle said with a cheeky smile. “Everyone here knows where Denver City is. It’s not a secret. Not with that big damn cannon they built into the mountain.”

  Donny’s eyes widened.

  “It’s real?” he said. “The cannon?”

  “Sure,” Isabelle said. “Boy, you guys really aren’t from around here, are you? Find any hilltop in these parts, look in the right direction, and you’ll see it. It’s not exactly a packet of peanuts.”

  “Do you know what they were building it for?” Donny said, testing her.

  Isabelle shrugged.

  “What are all weapons created for?” she said. “To destroy something. What gets me is they built it facing the wrong way.”

  “What do you mean?” Donny said.

  “Well, it’s set facing the sky,” Isabelle said. “We don’t have enemies up there, unless they expect Rages to suddenly start growing wings and fly one day. They should be aiming at the ground. That’s where the danger is.”

  None of them said a word, and instead took an unhealthy interest in the trees around them. It wasn’t lost on Isabelle.

  “Why do I get the feeling you all know something you’re not telling me?” she said.

  “Believe me, you wouldn’t believe us if we told you,” Donny said. “I hardly believe it myself and I was shown the evidence. Trust me, you’re better off not knowing.”

  “Okay,” Isabelle said cheerfully.

  To her credit, she never pried or brought the subject up again. She really was a proponent of keeping things simple. Jamie wished he could do the same. Things had gotten complicated since the Reaver attack.

  “Actually, I think you guys are in luck,” Isabelle said. “You should be able to see the cannon from here.”

  “Where?” Donny said, casting around.

  All they could see were shrubs and trees.

  “Right. . . here,” Isabelle said.

  Humperdinck pulled them up over a short rise and came to a stop on the apex. The forest fell away before them, revealing rolling, undulating hills, the most distant misty and unclear. It was nothing like the desert they were used to where it was free and unobstructed for miles to the naked eye.

  The hilltops were sprinkled with a healthy dose of foliage, blocking the view for a mile or two, before falling away to another hilltop. It was beautiful but came at a price. It left them open to whatever resided in those deep valleys on the other side. A horde of Rages could be hiding right there, unseen until you crested the hill. By then it would be too late.

  One mountain held their attention more than the others. It was located on its own massive rise, the shape of the mountain like a giant finger pointed at the sky.

  “Wow,” Donny said. “That’s it? That’s the cannon? It’s huge!”

  “Yep,” Isabelle said. “There she is.”

  Fatty turned his head to one side.

  “Are you sure it’s not just a mountain?” he said. “It looks green and rocky to me.”

  “Of course it does,” Isabelle said. “The weapon was built within the mountain. Now it makes up the whole mountain itself. That was the reason they chose that particular spot in the first place if you ask me. But like I said, hundreds—maybe thousands—of treasure hunters have tried to break into it. None were successful. They used explosives, guns, horses, sticks, you name it.”

  “We can get inside,” Lucy said with confidence.

  Isabelle smiled politely, then straightened up when she saw how serious Lucy was.

  “How?” she said.

  “Maybe we’ll get lucky,” Lucy said. “Or maybe one of us has that long forgotten knowledge you mentioned.”

  Isabelle pursed her lips, intrigued, taking Lucy in. Then she appraised the others.

  “You certainly are a motley crew,” she said. “Lucky for you, I’m a bit motley myself. You guys said you’re not treasure hunters. If you’re not after what’s inside that place, why are you looking to go there?”

  “We didn’t say we didn’t want what was inside,” Jamie said.

  He left it at that. Let Isabelle’s imagination fill in the rest.

  “If you do manage to get inside I’d love to salvage what they’ve got,” Isabelle said. “Grab the most valuable things before other traders get a whiff. I’d give you ten percent of whatever I salvage.”

  “Keep the money,” Donny said. “I figure we owe you that much for getting us out of that hole.”

  “You’re letting me have the whole City?” Isabelle said.

  She shook her head.

  “Listen to me,” she said. “Honestly thinking you might get into the City!”

  “You can have whatever’s inside, right guys?” Donny said.

  They nodded. What need did they have for Denver City? They only needed the weapon. And that for a single shot.

  “Only two conditions,” Donny said, piping in.

  “Here we go,” Isabelle said, rolling her eyes. “You want my soul forever or something?”

  “First, you take us there in your cart,” Donny said.

  “I’ll be making some stops along the way,” Isabelle said. “Forgive me, but promises in the future tend not to turn out the way they should. I don’t want to make this trip a total waste.”

  “Fair enough,” Donny said.

  “What’s the other proviso?” Isabelle said.

  “We go in the City first and do what we need to do,” Jamie said. “After we come out, it’s all yours.”

  Isabelle rolled the concept over in her mind, looking for potential avenues for trickery. She’d seen everything in her time.

  “You’re not planning on going in there and never coming out till you die, are you?” she said with slitted eyes.

  “Not if we can help it,” Fatty said with half a laugh.

  It took a moment before Isabelle reacted. When she did, she snorted, threw her head back and let her laughter explode out, mouth huge, the sound enormous. Her eyes were wide and her nostrils flared, staring them each in the eye, one after the other. It was, frankly, scary.

  “Man,” she said. “You’re a funny dude. I haven’t laughed like that since. . . well, I don’t think I’ve ever laughed like that.”

  Please don’t do it again, Jamie thought. Donny didn’t seem to share his opinion and looked at Isabelle with his head cocked to one side. Isabelle took up her usual burly expression, looking like she’d never laughed once in her whole life. She spat in her hand and offered it to Donny.

  “Deal,” she said.

  “What am I supposed to do with that?” Donny said.

  “Shake it, of course,” she said.

  Donny took her fingers and shook her hand, careful not to touch her saliva.

  “Who are you guys?” Isabelle said with a frown. “First you’re helpless prisoners locked away in a cell, now you’re masters of the universe?”

  “We’re survivors like you,” Jamie said.

  “You might be survivors but you’re not like me,” Isabelle said.

  “We’ve had enough of being bullied and pushed around by. . . outside forces,” Jamie said.

  “Amen to that, brother,” Isabelle said. “I�
��m sincerely glad I ran into you fellows. This could turn out to be a wonderful business partnership. You can call me Belle, by the way. As we’re now business partners, we can operate on a first-name basis. One proviso on my part: I’ll be doing all the cooking on our journey.”

  “Are you sure?” Jamie said. “Fatty cooks pretty well.”

  “I don’t eat nothin’ that ain’t been prepared by these two hands,” Isabelle said.

  We’ll see how long that lasts, Jamie thought. There was no resisting Fatty’s food once you got a whiff.

  Belle clucked and Humperdinck continued on down the path. The great cannon sank beneath the preceding hilltop, wiping it from view, but very much not from mind.

  85.

  THE WHITE River forest was massive. Just when Jamie thought they had left it behind they turned a corner to find the forest marched on. According to Isabelle, this forest did not house dangerous or deadly creatures. There were snakes and spiders, and people got stung or bitten, but no one died of their wounds. It was an alien concept to those from the Mountain’s Peak commune. Virtually everything was deadly in the desert and surrounding area. Even many of the plants!

  The forest air was moist as it rained almost every day. Isabelle laughed at them each time they moved into the rain to dance and wash in it. That lasted only the first few days. Then the gang began to huddle under the large leafed plants alongside Isabelle and Humperdinck.

  That was another crucial difference. The rain didn’t last long in the forest but when it fell it really fell. Small streams swelled to the size of miniature rivers in a matter of minutes. The ground became thick and marshy and sucked at the soles of their feet, making walking extremely difficult. The cart was even harder to shift. They had to get out and push, using levers for when it got badly stuck. Fatty fell face first into the mud several times. So, it wasn’t that this side of the world didn’t have its problems, they were simply different problems.

  Jamie divided these problems into two extremes: scarcity and abundance. The desert suffered from scarcity; a lack of rain, a lack of food, a lack of opportunities. The rainforest suffered from an overabundance of these things.

  Jamie felt relieved that growing up in the harsher environment had given him the skills to excel in the easier one. If it was the other way round he was certain he would perish before learning the skills necessary to survive in the desert.

  The benefits of living in such a harsh environment as the desert became apparent when they went hunting. A Mountain’s Peak hunter did not fire his catapult or bow until the creature was within easy striking distance. Patience was key because you never knew when your path would be crossed by the next rabbit. Isabelle existed on a completely different philosophy: shoot now, aim later. Jamie couldn’t understand why she would hunt like that until they noticed how many rabbits there were. No sooner had they run off than they came back to converge on the very same area again! Within half an hour they had caught three rabbits each.

  “You guys ought to stop otherwise you’re going to cull the whole damn lot of them!” Isabelle said, half in jest.

  The way to cook and preserve their catches here was different too. In the sweltering heat of the desert, meat tended to go off very quickly. They would cook what they could in soups and stews, then cut the remaining meat into strips and leave it out in the sun to dry. After that, they could eat it whenever they wanted. In the cool forest, their soups and stews kept for long enough that they could eat it fresh.

  Jamie considered the forest to be one of the best places to hide. If the trees were strong—they did not necessarily need to be very tall—it was possible to build a small treehouse that would give you the protection you needed. You would also be away from the most dangerous area—the land. The Rages could not reach you. And you could dispose of them with ease from your elevated vantage point.

  When Jamie was a boy he’d read with fascination the stories of Robin Hood and his Merry Men and wished he could live in the trees alongside them.

  You were surrounded by nature. Not only did it make you feel good with the fresh, clean air, but there was easy food to be picked from the trees and bushes. Breakfast was but a short trip away. Jamie was surprised to find Isabelle’s first port of call was a commune instigating his very own concept.

  Not only a single tree, but dozens of them, linked by vine ropes and bridges. Winches and pulleys brought items up and down. A hand-powered device pumped water up through clear tubes. They also collected rainwater in large containers. They wore clothes they’d hewn from the very nature around them. With a world of plenty on their doorstep, it was no wonder they had such big smiles on their faces.

  Money was largely a thing of the past but it was still used when one trader didn’t have anything the other side wanted. They would barter on price and keep the coins in storage to use again later when the situation arose. Mostly, they exchanged items.

  Isabelle had a load of food she wanted to get shot of. The gang had made a small dent in it during the trip but it would spoil if she didn’t get rid of it soon. The tree dwellers had their own orchards and vineyards and were the wrong people to sell these kinds of products to. Still, Isabelle bargained hard and did well selling ice to the Eskimos.

  What were of more use to the locals were the rabbit pelts the gang had gathered during their recent hunting trips. The tree dwellers were not good hunters, preferring to live off the land. Jamie thought this was long-term suicide and short-term laziness as there were plenty of easy opportunities if the tree dwellers only expanded their scope a little.

  Isabelle could see Jamie’s fascination with the tree dwellers and their tree-borne houses and managed to haggle one night in an empty treehouse.

  “You might only get to come here once,” she said. “You might as well try everything out while you can.”

  It was better than Jamie had expected. He loved the ropes and the climbing and the animals and birds in the trees. The locals were very happy to show him how everything worked. They were very proud of their innovative techniques. Jamie studied them and decided he would bring some of the ideas home.

  The others enjoyed the nature too. Lucy seemed to find great peace amongst the silence and calm. She sat for hours on the ledges that overlooked a great lake on one side—where the locals washed, showered and bathed—and the rolling hills on the other.

  Fatty studied the locals too. He was—as always—only interested in their cooking techniques, or rather, their lack of them. They seemed to enjoy cooking as little as possible and only ever started fires when necessary. Jamie could understand this, as it could be very dangerous while living in trees. A single strong breeze and they might lose everything.

  Fatty was keen to show them some food combinations he’d discovered over the years. The locals tried with great relish the different tastes he could create with the simplest of herbs and spices. Some they cared for, some they didn’t, but they made notes of the ones they liked.

  It was then that Isabelle learned of Fatty’s genius when it came to cooking. She let him help her prepare food for their meals, checking over his shoulder to study his methodology. She was learning new things too.

  Donny was fascinated by the traps the tree dwellers used. They didn’t use many as they loathed killing animals, but when they did, they made such innovative systems that Donny was certain it would work on Rages and Reavers alike. He even discovered new knots he’d never seen before; ones that slipped easily and others so strong that struggling only made them tighter.

  It was toward the end of the evening when the locals were preparing for bed that Jamie approached his elder brother who sat with his legs dangling over the side of the raised back porch. Jamie took a seat beside him. They sat in silence, breathing in the fresh wet air.

  “It’s nice here, isn’t it?” Jamie said.

  “Very nice,” Donny said. “An easy lifestyle.”

  “We could relocate the commune one day,” Jamie said. “We already know people here. They would be
happy to help us. And I think we could thrive.”

  “Maybe,” Donny said. “We’re desert folk. I’m not sure they’d want to leave.”

  They sat in a silence a moment longer. Relocating the commune wasn’t really what Jamie had come to talk about.

  “I thought we were going to head back and save Dad?” he said.

  “It’s like you said,” Donny said. “If we can destroy this Bug ship then we can save everyone. Not only Dad.”

  And because Dad is already dead. He didn’t say it. He didn’t need to. With the time it would take them to cross the open land back it would have already been too late. Dr. Beck had given them a new purpose. A mission. The last chance for the human race, no less. But they couldn’t tell Isabelle that. She would run a mile. He couldn’t blame her.

  “You think Lucy can get us into the City?” Donny said.

  “She calls it ‘hacking,’” Jamie said, stumbling over the word. “Like cutting through a forest, I suppose. She thinks she can do it. It’s what she was made for.”

  “How do we know she can even connect to computers?” Donny said. “Dr. Beck said she can do it but she’s never done it before.”

  “Actually, she has,” Jamie said.

  He proceeded to tell his brother about how she ‘patched’ (another new word) into the computer at the City so she could give him and Fatty the warning about the Rage creeping up behind them.

  “I’m sure glad she’s on our side,” Donny said.

  “She was built to be on our side,” Jamie said. “But I think it’s more than that. She’s one of us. She’s human. Just with a few alterations.”

  Donny smiled.

  “You like her, don’t you?” he said.

  Jamie, shy and embarrassed, looked away.

  “She’s nice,” he said.

  Donny, in a rare example of self-restraint, left it at that.

  Jamie looked up at the sky. The stars twinkled like long lost friends. That was something better in the desert. No foliage to block the night sky.

  “You think it’s really up there?” Jamie said.