The Wheel: A Young Adult Dystopian Novel (Nightfall Book 1)

by Cynthia Hickey

  “What’s yours?”

  His teeth flashed. “Ah, if I told you, I’d have to kill you.”

  “What do you get out of it?” Why wasn’t I given a special assignment?

  “Extra luxuries when my time here is done.” He got up and rolled up his blanket. “Time to get these bums up. We’ve a lot of scavenging to do if we’re going to build two wagons, one big enough for all of us to sleep on.”

  I got up and straightened my own bedding. “Hopefully, we’ll get the tent or something else to keep us from the rain while we sleep.” What we needed almost as bad was more Stalkers. “Pulling two wagons through the kind of debris we’ll encounter will be rough.”

  “There’s too many supplies for us to carry on our backs. Dropping a trailer when we’re attacked will be easier than shucking packs.”

  I agreed, just wished for an easier way. I nudged Gage with my foot. “Time to feed everyone so we can get started.”

  Fawke made the rounds of waking everyone else. Our shelter filled with groans.

  “Let Kira make breakfast,” Gage whined.

  “It’s your job.” I frowned. “Kira will be helping us find supplies. Be glad for the easier task. I’ll leave Jolt behind with you to guard our supplies.”

  “Suits me,” the new guy said. “I’m not in any hurry to face those things again. Especially when the other alternative is time with a pretty girl. You can’t have been here long, Gage.”

  “A year.” She filled a pot with water running from a hole in the roof, then started a fire. “It’s a can of mystery soup again.”

  I grimaced. “It’ll be hot and filling, if nothing else.” I longed for one of my mother’s biscuits or simple butter sandwiches.

  The device propped on a cinderblock crackled. Ezra reached up and turned it on. “Sharon.”

  “Miss Dayholt, please.”

  He glowered. “Guess I’ve been relegated to somewhere below you in the communication pyramid.” He gave a sarcastic wave forward.

  “Sharon.” I stood and awaited instruction.

  “We’ll be dropping the tent off tomorrow with two thieves delegated to join your ranks. Once you leave the place you’ve camped for so long, we’ll make your weekly drops according to the location of your tracker.”

  “My tracker?”

  Sharon raised a brow. “You are the leader, are you not? If you are to find yourself separated, you’ll need what’s in that drop. If the others want to partake of these things, they need to keep you safe, don’t they?” She clicked off.

  I narrowed my eyes and stared at the dark screen. After a second, I touched it. My fingertip connected with the reflection. No space in between. I smiled. I’d discovered how Soriah watched us. At least when we were at camp. Still smiling and deciding to keep the information to myself for now, I moved to the entrance and stared into a gray day finally dry from the rain. Gathering supplies would be cooler without having to wear the suits. Covering our skin with blood would suffice.

  Fawke joined me. “What’s on your mind?”

  “How do you feel about traveling at night? The Malignants sleep.”

  “It’ll be rough. If we wake them, we won’t see them coming? If we sleep during the day, they could sneak up on us.”

  I exhaled heavily. “I guess we take our chances during the day.” I turned and sat by the fire to await breakfast.

  After we ate, we spread blood from a recent Malignant we’d killed on our skin. Outside the door, to the right, we had quite the pile of Malignant carcasses. Since we needed to disguise our scent, we consistently dragged a new body to lay over our supplies and block our door. I couldn’t believe the smell started to become normal. So did the drab scenery of toppled buildings and eternally burning fires.

  I glanced at the sky, recalling a picture from a book of what had once been a bright blue with fluffy white clouds. That seemed like a fairy tale. My parents hadn’t even been born when the world ended. I didn’t think their parents had either. This was humankinds reality now.

  Kira and I marched behind the men as we looked for what we needed. Our job was to guard while they had the laborious task of rolling iron wheels back to camp. Over and over we went, retracing our steps, venturing farther out seeking what we needed.

  So far, we hadn’t run across enough Malignants to worry about. We’d see them skirting the edges of the shadows, not paying us much attention. Such a needless existence. “What do they eat with the only humans around being us?”

  “Rats.”

  “What?” Kira shot me a glance.

  “The Malignants spend their time hunting rats.”

  She shrugged. “If they can’t get a human, yeah, I guess. Never thought about it. Trying not to get eaten myself takes up my time.”

  I wondered what her special assignment was. I figured I knew Ezra’s. Find other survivors. Maybe the others had the same mission, not knowing everyone had been given the same orders. Everyone but me. What did Soriah want me to do? It didn’t make sense that they thought a petite eighteen-year-old could do what the previous leader couldn’t.

  “Am I really the leader because I got the black wheel when there was a vacancy for leader?”

  “Yep.” She grinned. “Lucky you.”

  “Why not let the group vote on a leader? Fawke is more qualified.”

  “Who knows what those crazy rich people who make the rules want. I think it’s because he’s too valuable to be in such an expendable position. Strong men are needed. Especially those who are good fighters, and he’s one of the best. Plus, he has a way of memorizing this city in a way I’ve not seen anyone else do.”

  “What about Ezra or Moses?”

  “Again, seasoned fighters. Our previous leader was a woman, too. A lifer like Kira, killed on a supply drop.” Her features saddened. “I think she let herself be killed on purpose. At thirty-two, she had a very long time left here.”

  I could see people losing hope. At least life in Soriah, no matter how sparce food and lodging, a person didn’t worry about things from your nightmares trying to kill you. Stores carried meager choices of groceries for those with a few coins in their pockets. Here, we waited on the charity of the city who’d sent us here. What would happen to us if they decided to stop the weekly drops?

  It took half a day to gather ten iron wheel rims from discarded, rusty vehicles. Finding enough, close by, of the same size proved harder than originally thought.

  “Now, we need a bed and more bars to attach the bed, too.” Moses surveyed a line of vehicles in front of a towering structure that looked ready to fall at any time. “Something flat.”

  “The beds of old trucks,” Dante said. “We might have to screw two or three together for the larger trailer, but it’ll work.”

  Moses pulled a screwdriver and mallet from his pack. “Let’s make some noise. Gals, watch out backs.”

  “I’ll watch with the girls,” Fawke said after the first ring of metal against metal.

  If nothing drew the Malignants out before the hammering, nothing would. I kept my eyes and ears peeled for any sign of an attack. Blood covering us or not, they’d know we weren’t Malignants now.

  “Incoming.” Kira jerked her chin in the direction we’d come. “Looks like six or eight of them. They’re coming in fast.”

  I raised my gun, setting the sight on one of the creature’s head. A deep breath, count to three, release, and squeeze the trigger. The others didn’t falter as their comrade fell.

  Their hungry shrieks filled the air. Fawke and Kira fired, bringing down two more.

  I didn’t get my gun up again before an attack came from my left. The Malignant knocked me on my back, it’s snarling teeth snapping mere inches from my neck. I fought to keep my weapon between it and me.

  Fawke slammed the barrel of his gun into the creature’s skull, then stabbed his knife in the base of its skull. “Are you hurt?”

  “No.” I scrambled to my feet and pulled my sword, dropping my gun which was no good in ha
nd-to-hand combat. “Ezra, come help. Dante and Moses keep working.”

  The four of us made quick work of the remaining Malignants. We’d have to hurry, though. More would be coming. We couldn’t unscrew rusty metal without making a lot of noise.

  It didn’t take long for the next group to arrive, this time from the back. Fawke stepped in front of me, shoving me out of the way.

  I frowned and moved back to his side. “Backs together, protect Dante and Moses.”

  The longer we fought, the more apparent it became that Fawke spent more time trying to get between me and one of our attackers then I thought necessary. I’d proven myself a good fighter. “Whatever it is you’re up to,” I said, taking the head off the last one, “stop it right now. Don’t put yourself in danger to protect me.” My face heated. “I’ve told you we’re all equal in this group. Unless…” I narrowed my eyes. “I’m your special assignment? Am I right? Because if I am, what good does it do now? You failed at keeping the prior leader arrived. Let me look after myself and you do the same.”

  I wiped the blood off my sword, slid it back into its sheath, and took up my gun. “Got it?”

  A mixture of emotions flickered across his face. Regret, anger, fear…

  I felt a pang in my heart for causing him pain, but I would not have anyone sacrifice their safety for mine just because some unknown person demanded them to.

  10

  I woke to the thwump thwump of helicopter blades in the distance. Hoping our tent had arrived, I jumped to my feet and joined Fawke at the entrance to our soon-to-be abandoned home.

  Two people exited the chopper, a third parachute following. I turned and grabbed my weapons. “Newcomers.”

  Fawke reached out to stop me. “I’ll go with you. It’s safer.”

  I nodded. I’d been so excited to see more humans to join our ranks, I’d forgotten the Malignants would lie in wait for them to hit the ground. The monsters knew the sound of an arriving chopper as well as I did. “Let’s make it fast. If that’s our tent, I want to leave soon. The rest of you load the wagons.”

  With Fawke leading the way, as usual, we stepped from our shelter and sprinted to the drop location. Shrieks rose around us. The monsters knew they were at risk of losing a good meal.

  The newcomers, a man and a woman both dressed in leather, were deep in a battle when we arrived. The man slashed with a knife in one hand and shot a handgun with the other. The woman struggled, staying close to her companion’s side.

  Having been slowed down by the package dropped with them, they’d been surrounded. I started shooting on the run, switching to my sword when we were close enough for hand-to-hand combat. The Malignants might be many and strong, but they weren’t fast or smart. The four of us were able to dispose of them easily enough.

  “Crynn Dayholt. Leader.” I held out my hand. “This is Fawke Newton.”

  The woman stared at the blood smeared across my skin and grimaced. “We’re Orions. I’m Lara, this is Shane. I’ll pass on the handshake for now.”

  I shrugged. “Follow us, quickly. More Malignants will come. You can tell us your stories once we’re safe.”

  “Our stories?” Shane snorted. “We were starving, stole a loaf of bread, and here we are.” He kicked a rock, sending it scuttering across the cracked concrete. With a heavy sigh, he grabbed one handle of the crate while Fawke took the other.

  “More than a tent in here,” Fawke said. “It’s heavy.”

  “Early supplies?” I arched a brow.

  “Possibly. Sharon does know we’re about ready to leave on the President’s stupid quest.”

  I nodded and led the way, keeping my eyes open for creatures skirting the shadows. I spotted a few, but no groups large enough to want to take on four armed humans.

  Once we rejoined the others, I made the introductions and grabbed a crowbar to open the crate. “Yes!” A large water-resistant tent lay folded inside with cans of food and more water purification tablets. “We leave in the morning.”

  “For where?” Shane frowned. “We just got here.”

  “We’ve been assigned the task of heading to the mountains in search of other survivors.” I left everything inside the crate. “It’s going to be a long hard journey, so get your rest today.”

  “Survivors?” Lara glanced around the group. “Soriah is all there is.”

  “Nope.” Kira shook her head. “That’s what we all thought, too. We’ve seen the smoke in the distance.”

  I studied the two newcomers. Other than the leather suits they wore, they weren’t heavily armed, and neither carried a backpack. “Were you not given access to the weapons room? Or allowed to fill packs?”

  “We were chipped, then given a handgun and a knife and told to take the crate with us when we landed,” Shane said, dropping to a cross-legged sitting position next to the fire. “Good thing there’s food in there, huh? Lara and I won’t go hungry anymore.”

  “How long did they send you for?” Dante asked, handing them each a tin cup of water.

  “Life.” The man’s shoulders slumped. “Life in hell for a loaf of bread.”

  I glanced at Fawke. The astonished expression on his face told me he felt as surprised as I did at such a harsh punishment.

  “Why’d you steal?” Ezra reclined on his blanket. “You had to know the consequences of breaking the law.”

  “We have two children.” Tears spilled from Lara’s eyes. “Shane wasn’t making enough to keep them fed. Now, they’re in the orphanage and we’re here.”

  My heart dropped to my knees. These parents would never see their children again. The shining point was that the children wouldn’t go hungry either. “I’m sorry. Rest today.” I turned away and moved to the entrance.

  Was this my fault? I’d asked for more fighters. Would Soriah send anyone who broke the law? I wanted help, but not at the expense of a family.

  “What’s wrong?” Fawke put a hand on my shoulder.

  I hitched my chin. “I think this is how we’ll get the fighters we need. Senseless, over-the-top, punishments.”

  “We do need them. Shane looked pretty capable out there today.”

  “Lara didn’t. She isn’t a fighter.”

  “She’ll have to learn or Shane will lose her to.”

  We stared outside in silence for a few minutes, each lost in our thoughts. “How far have you ventured from this building?” I asked.

  “Maybe a mile or two. After that, traveling is difficult. Too much debris. It’s going to be hard with the wagons. We’ll have to stop a lot to clear our way.” He leaned against the wall.

  “That might be why no one has ever seen any scouts. They don’t think it’s worth the trouble.” Which meant any other survivors might not know we exist.

  He nodded. “There will be hordes of Malignants, too. We keep this area manageable. Unless someone has been clearing the area further on, then they’ve been allowed to thrive. They run in packs, so they will have found others and multiplied their numbers. Be glad of whatever help those on the hill send. Sad story or not, we need more people.”

  I stepped out and walked around the wagons. A small one for our supplies, the larger one for our tent. We’d be crowded like sardines. If our group grew, some would have to sleep under the trailer. They’d still be kept safe from rain.

  Turning, I gazed across the cleared courtyard, evidence of years of hard work by Stalkers. Now, here I was, an eighteen-year-old, believing I could lead a ragtag team across this cement jungle full of monsters. I turned my attention to the mountain. No plume of smoke rose in the distance today. Perhaps the fire had been set by scouts skirting the edges of this once mighty metropolis.

  How long until we ran into them? Would they be friendly or want to take what was ours?

  “You aren’t handling this alone,” Fawke said. “We’re all in this together.”

  “We could all die together.” I glanced over my shoulder.

  “Then we die. But,” he gave a crooked grin, “we die f
ighting.”

  “Small consolation.” I returned his smile, despite the fear churning in my gut. The fact I’d taken to a life of fighting so easily scared me. This place changed a person. Maybe not for the best.

  “You’re a good leader, Crynn. Don’t doubt yourself. If you do, there are some here that will lose respect and not follow your lead.”

  Ezra. I took a deep breath, releasing it slowly. “Let’s get some rest. I want to leave right after breakfast.”

  “What’s the plan?” Moses glanced up from darning a sock. “This won’t be a walk in the park.”

  “Who here has seen a park?” Gage asked. “How do you know? Before I came here, all I knew was concrete. Here…concrete and fires.”

  “There’s trees on the mountain,” Jolt added. “Probably spindly ones, but at least there’s trees.”

  I mended a few of my own items of clothing as the others dreamed of how life on the mountain might be different from where we were. I didn’t want to dwell on what ifs. Instinct told me the life here was going to feel like a piece of chocolate, smooth and sweet, over what awaited us out there.

  “Have you seen the trees?” Gage arched a brow.

  “No, but mountains have trees. I saw a picture in a book.” Jolt gave a one shoulder shrug. “Don’t dash my dreams, Miss Blue.”

  She laughed. “Only fools have dreams.”

  “I have a dream,” Dante said softly. “When my time is up, I’m going to get married and have kids. I’ll be living a life of luxury. Why not share it with someone? I’ve only got a year left.”

  “Must be nice,” Kira muttered.

  “I guess you shouldn’t have killed someone.” Dante’s eyes narrowed.

  “Some people don’t deserve to live.”

  “Sexual assault,” Moses whispered to me. “Attempted. Poor idiot didn’t get a second chance.”

  “I would have killed him, too.” I tied the string in a knot and bit off the end, tossing the pair of stockings back in my pack. I did a quick inventory of my few personal belongings, then zipped the bag closed and leaned back against it. All I owned could be worn or carried on my body at one time if needed. It was still more than I’d owned back home.