by J. Thorn
Hado shook her head. “I’m not sure.”
Decker suddenly turned and ran back toward them—only, he didn’t stop when he got to them. He kept running, barking as he went speeding back through the front gates and joined the horses.
“What’s his deal?” Dia asked.
Hado heard the roar then, and looked up. A brown bear stood eight feet tall before her and Dia. Hado reacted first to the bear’s approach, pushing Dia out of the way as the bear swiped at her with a massive paw. She dove to the right and the bear stepped between them. Dia had managed to stay on her feet, but Hado was now on the ground.
“Run!”
Dia froze as the bear looked at her.
Hado jumped to her feet and grabbed her spear. “Hey!” Hado screamed at the bear.
The animal turned.
“Run!” Hado said again to Dia. “Now!”
The girl took another wide-eyed look at the bear, and then she ran.
Hado dropped into an attack stance, keeping the tip of her spear pointed at the animal. The bear was on all fours now and focused on Hado—not Dia. Bears were deceptively fast, though. Hado had encountered them in the wild before and was glad this one hadn’t taken off after Dia. Hado licked her lips, waiting for the beast to make a move.
“Come on, you bastard.”
The bear growled again and stood up, bringing its large paw down; Hado shuffled sideways, avoiding the blow. She leaped to the bear’s side then and stabbed the spear into its ribs multiple times. The bear cried out and swiped at her again but Hado rolled out of the way. The beast’s roar echoed through the empty zoo, and then the bear dashed into the forest. Hado watched it for a moment from the ground, catching her breath.
“Hado, come on!”
The Venganza warrior turned to see Dia sitting on top of Piva, just beyond the gate.
“Hurry!”
Hado took one more look at where the bear had been, but the animal had disappeared deeper into the zoo. She knew there were most likely others, and she wasn’t going to wait around for them to come out.
She jumped to her feet, but felt a pinch on her arm as she moved. The bandage had fallen off, and the air had gotten the pus-filled gash itching anew. The skin around the wound had turned several colors now—purple with shades of yellow. She’d seen these kinds of wounds before on Venganza warriors… before they’d taken a fever and died.
Nothing I can do about this now. No need to frighten Dia.
Hado ran back to the entrance, squeezing through the gate. She untied Ree from the post and jumped on her back. She then looked at Dia.
“No more zoos.”
And with the bear still roaring from inside the zoo’s walls, Hado kicked Ree, and the women were off again, Decker following behind.
Chapter 21
Shiva emerged from her cabin an hour after the sun had risen. The cold wind blew in off the lake and the air brought with it the bitter tang of chemical rot. They would be lucky if the temperature clawed its way above the freezing mark today. Even Los Muertos would be hunkered down around pitiful fires, trying their best to absorb the heat and store it for the brutal winter ahead of them.
The girl stood about five feet away. She had long, stringy brown hair, and deerskins hung loosely on her thin frame. The girl’s blue eyes shone in sparkling flickers, drawing Shiva’s gaze in like the swiftly moving current—the reason she had become known as River.
“Good morning,” River said.
“Did you do what I asked?”
“Yes, ma’am.”
River bowed her head. With Kareena gone, this girl would now serve as her assistant. Shiva didn’t have the patience for building relationships anymore, which was why she had put so much effort into taking control of the Council through her style of tribal politics. She had used brute force when she’d been younger, but while effective, it was not a leadership style that could sustain one later in life. Shiva believed in the old adage about the best way to attract bees.
“Walk with me, sweetheart.” Shiva started walking without waiting for response, and River followed, several paces behind her.
As Shiva moved through Erehwon, she looked at each woman she passed. She saw a gaunt young mother sitting on the ground against a bale of hay, cradling an infant girl. The child had been taken in one of the first spring raids on Los Muertos, but she had not grown enough to be transitioned to solids, and so the woman held her to her breast. The woman’s face appeared gray, with blistering, red marks on her cheek. The baby cried as it pecked at the nipple in front of it, but the woman’s dehydrated body couldn’t produce milk.
“We need to make sure nursing mothers are receiving a larger ration of water,” Shiva said to River.
“They are. We just don’t have much to go around.”
Shiva sighed. Only a few weeks, and yet we’re already dying without the water whisperer. If I can get Dia back, that won’t be my concern for much longer.
Even though Shiva was certain that all women had been born with the ability to find fresh water, Dia’s instinct for it was the most sensitive and delicate she’d ever seen. None of the other women in Erehwon had found a new source, Los Muertos was due to come hard at them again, and once the winter froze the lake, the Venganza could be on the verge of vanishing from the ruins if something didn’t change soon.
They arrived at the barracks and Shiva set aside her thoughts. River opened the door for her, and Shiva entered the building. Inside, the Venganza warriors silenced their conversations and gave their attention to the head of the Council. River stepped in front of Shiva and addressed the bedraggled women.
“Shiva needs a full inventory of all our weapons. Everything, including arrows, as well as payload for the catapults.”
The girl had known what she had wanted before she’d asked for it. Shiva smiled at River before speaking herself.
“I’ll also need a compound bow and a quiver of practice arrows, along with a half-dozen throwing axes.”
A warrior left and returned with the weapons Shiva had requested, and River stepped forward to take them. She tossed the quiver and sack of throwing axes over her shoulder, then held the bow in her hand and waited for Shiva’s next command.
“I know you miss her. I do, as well.” The women in the barracks sat up straighter, listening to Shiva, but with their heads hung low. “But she left on her own accord. Stole the girl, and killed one of our own. Because of Hado, we are running low on water and women will die this winter. I promise you that. She did what she thought was right, I imagine, and so will we.”
Shiva walked through the back door and River followed. Outside, the head of the Council stood still on the bluff near the ridge, staring out at the Great Lake cutting across the horizon like a perfect gray razor. Heavy clouds had moved in, and the first few flakes of snow were beginning to drift down to the ground.
“Bow.”
River handed Shiva the quiver first, which Shiva threw over her shoulder. Then she gave Shiva the bow.
Shiva drew an arrow and nocked it, then pulled the string back, staying focused on the tree 100 yards away. She let go, firing the first arrow.
It whistled through the air, landing with a satisfying thud in the middle of the trunk. She nocked another arrow. After clustering five arrows within a three-inch radius of the first, Shiva stepped back and lowered the bow.
“I’d like for you to go to the stables. Prepare Jex for me. I’d like her re-shoed, and dressed in her saddle and bridle.”
River nodded and ran toward the stable.
Shiva reached into her bag and grabbed an ax. She walked to within fifteen yards of the tree, reared back, and threw the handled blade. The ax split the shaft of the first arrow she had fired and stuck in the trunk.
I might not make it back.
But that was a risk she would take. Staying here and appeasing Los Muertos while trying to control the Council with puppet strings would be just as difficult as the journey she now faced, and maybe more of a risk.
“I will go,” she said.
The cold wind fell silent.
Chapter 22
9 Days West of Erehwon
Hado sat down on the stairs and pulled her fingers away from the wound. She grimaced, her hand sticking to the dried blood and peeling away some of the gray flesh as it came loose from her arm with oozing pus. The rank odor made her eyes water.
“Damnit.”
The wound looked even worse than it had at the zoo. She was glad they’d found a place to camp, where she’d have an opportunity to re-dress the cut.
Hado had decided it was best for them to get through Omaha before stopping again—she had no way of knowing how far out into the city the bears had ventured. And, making camp on the west side would ensure that they had either spooked or avoided humans living in the ruins.
She’d stopped at the remains of an old farmhouse a few miles from what had been downtown Omaha. The top floor had caved in, collapsing onto the ground level in a heap of rotting pine and asphalt shingles. They had moved a few pieces of furniture out of the one corner of the living room where the top floor had held firm. It would protect them from the elements and yet still give Hado a view from three directions, with the only erect wall at their back.
All that was left standing of the nearby barn were two walls and a lonely gate that no longer kept anything in or out. Dia had explored the space with Decker, gathering timber to use as firewood so they could cook the rabbits Hado had trapped on the outskirts of the city. Hado had already skinned the animals and hung them from the banister of the house’s front porch. The two horses were tethered to the bannister after grazing on wild grass and drinking from a nearby stream.
Hado reached into her bag and pulled out another strip of fabric she had taken from the men in Chicago. She’d been using the old shirt to re-dress the cut on her arm and was down to two more wraps, including the one she was fashioning now. She made a mental note to search the nearby houses for more fabric, and finished tying off the makeshift bandage just as she heard Decker barking.
The dog ran toward her, wagging its tail. She didn’t understand why the animal had taken a liking to her. Perhaps it was because she didn’t pay him attention, making him want it that much more. Dia followed, carrying a bundle of timber—hunks from the barn, some still covered in the faded, red paint which had been applied decades before.
“Is this enough?” Dia asked.
“That’ll be fine. We only need enough to cook. Once we’ve eaten, we’ll hit the trail again while we still have daylight.”
Dia lay the boards down in a patch of dirt in front of the house. Hado checked the dressing on her wound, then made her way over to the wood and started the fire.
As the old boards caught and the flames crackled, the two women sat around the fire, waiting for it to get hot enough to cook the rabbits. Dia turned away from Omaha and gazed upon the endless miles of fields that had used to be farmland. Other than an occasional tree, the wild grasses appeared like a golden sea in the setting sun.
“There’s nothing around here but open plain. What did these people do to survive? We passed all these homes out in the middle of nowhere, and I can’t imagine how these people lived.”
“It’s simple, really.” Hado pointed to the dilapidated barn. “They were probably farmers. At one time, these fields would have been filled with crops, grains, even cattle. They’d eat what they needed and trade the rest for things they didn’t have.”
Dia looked off again, her eyes tight and her head cocked slightly to the side. “What do you think you would have become in the Old World?” Dia asked.
Hado smiled, chuckling. “I think that’s an irrelevant question. I only know the life I’ve been given, and the world I was birthed into. It’s impossible for me to answer.”
Dia nodded her head, then looked at the dirt. She used her finger to draw patterns in it. “I like to think that I would have done some good in the world,” she said. “That I would have helped people. Maybe have become a doctor or something.”
“You have helped people, Dia. Lots of them. You don’t have to have been born into the Old World for that.”
Dia kept her eyes averted. “Yeah, I suppose you’re right.”
Hado gently nudged Dia in the arm. “This fire’s warm enough. Let’s cook.”
Hado got up and fetched two of the rabbits. She skewered one of them and handed it to Dia, then did the same with the other. They didn’t speak as they cooked, the only sounds around them coming from their three animal companions and the crackling fire. When the meat browned, and before it dried out, the two women ate in silence. Both shared with Decker, who sat between them, looking back and forth to see who would feed him next.
Hado was about to take the last bite of her rabbit when she froze. Dia hissed.
“What is it?”
“Shh.” Hado placed her finger over her mouth and eased herself to her feet. She made her way over to her horse and grabbed her spear. Then she moved around the horse in a crouch, and looked out at the wooden fence still standing on the edge of the property—the noise had come from that direction.
“Don’t hurt me,” a male voice said. “I’m not a threat.”
Dia’s eyes went wide as she looked at Hado. She stood, but Hado urged her with her palm out to stay back.
“Show yourself!”
“You’re not going to hurt me?”
“I’m not sure yet. Come out with your hands up, very slowly.”
A short figure emerged from behind the fence. He had thick, black hair with a hint of scruff on his face. Hado could spot his tan complexion and slanted eyes from a distance, and pinned him to be of Asian descent. He had raised his arms, and stood peering out from beneath an oversized, burlap poncho. It was a strange way to dress, like nothing Hado had ever seen.
“I made noise on purpose so that I wouldn’t scare you,” the man said.
“What do you want?”
“My name is Kuno. I’m unarmed, I swear. I had a knife, but I lost it. I was wandering near here and saw the smoke. The closer I got, the better whatever you're roasting smelled. I’m starving, and I was hoping you might share.”
“No, I’m sorry. Now leave.”
“Please,” Kuno said. “I don’t have much that I can trade, but I will do anything. Please, for even just one bite.”
“No!”
“He doesn’t seem like a threat,” Dia said, standing. “Come on, Hado. Let’s at least give him a couple of bites.”
Hado narrowed her eyes. “Have you not learned anything on this journey? He could be leading us into a trap. I would doubt that he’s even alone. Who would travel alone? Out here?”
“I have a good feeling about him. I truly believe he isn’t going to hurt us.”
Hado looked at Kuno, then back to Dia.
“Please, Hado.”
Kuno kneeled next to the fire, shoveling the meat into his mouth. Hado kept her narrowed eyes on him, sitting close enough to stab him with her spear if he tried to make a move.
She had checked him for weapons before allowing him to join them around the fire. He hadn’t been lying about being unarmed. Once he’d been frisked and cleared, Dia had roasted their last rabbit for him.
He finally looked up, his eyes wide.
“Thank you for this,” he said, speaking for the first time since he’d begun to eat.
“It’s no problem,” Dia said.
“I lost my knife two days ago while hunting. Ran into a pack of wolves; dropped it while trying to get away.”
Wolves? Seems to be a lot of that going around, Hado thought.
“How did you get away?” Dia asked.
“I’m a fast climber.” Kuno grinned. He chewed some more, passing a small morsel to Decker. He then directed his finger back and forth between Hado and Dia. “What brings the two of you out here to Nebraska?”
“How do you know we don’t live here?” Dia asked.
Kuno laughed and gestured to Hado. “
Because after what she did to me, I know that you’re in better hands than someone who would choose to live in a broken-down heap of junk like this. Plus, your accents—haven’t heard anything like that, and I mean no offense, but the mask thing… don’t see that much around here.”
“We come from east of the Mississippi,” Hado said, looking at her mask where it was sitting on the sack. “A settlement called Erehwon, in Ohio.”
“East of the Mississippi is where I’m headed.”
“And what is it that you hope to find?” Hado asked.
Kuno hesitated, then looked at Hado. “Hope.”
Dia shared a look with Hado, her smile shifting into a frown.
“What is it?” Kuno asked.
“We have fled from the East for the same reason,” Dia said. “Seeking hope.”
Kuno laughed. “You’ll find little of that going West. At least where I came from.”
“And where is that?” Hado asked.
“Washington, up around Seattle to be exact.”
“Wow,” Dia said, her eyes wide. “What’s it like up there?”
Kuno looked down. He took a deep breath before looking up again, his eyes reddening.
“I’m sorry I asked,” Dia said.
“No, it’s okay. I just haven’t really come across anyone for weeks, so I haven’t talked much about this.”
Hado waited, sensing that the man needed to tell his story, and also that it was something she needed to hear.
Kuno said to Dia, “It’s a difficult time there. The city has been in an all-out war for some time now. It’s lasted for years and could go on for decades. The Ravagers can’t stand the Black Rats. The Diamonds hate the Crows. And my tribe, the Hydrans, tried to bring peace to all the clans, but we ended up getting stuck in the fight, too. I got tired of the killing and the death, so I fled. Eventually, one of the groups will take control and crush the rest. I didn’t want to be around when it happened.” He shook his head. “The war has already taken so much from me.”
“I’m sorry,” Dia said, reaching out and running her hand down his arm.
