Future Reborn Box Set

by Daniel Pierce

  “And you left them behind to come here?” I asked. “Bold for a kid.”

  “I was no kid, and I didn’t leave them behind. I was beautiful, even when I was young. I saw how men looked at me. My father saw too, and my mother tried to pretend I was still a child under all the dirt. The lie didn’t last,” she replied, her words bitter.

  “You say they went missing? How do you know where?” I asked. The map wasn’t perfect, but I recognized enough of it to know her parents had been running routes in what used to be Oklahoma and Texas.

  “Because that’s where they went when I stole my first secret,” she said.

  “To the east? You found some reason to make them go east?” I asked her. I knew she needed help with the story. It was a source of shame, as well as her beginning.

  “A boy from another caravan. He was my age, liked his wine, and tried to impress me by spilling everything his family was doing on their long-range recons to the east. It only cost me a kiss, and even then, he was harmless. They were a much more successful family, with twelve wagons and a permanent guard. They had ogres, armor, and guns. I saw what they had and wanted it for myself.” She shrugged, her cheeks flushing with the memory. “I was tired of being hungry, and that moment was when Lady Silk was born. I’m not proud of what I became, but I was just a kid, and I was already tired of my life. I knew I would die out there, just like everyone else does, eventually.”

  “Don’t ever apologize for wanting to live,” I told her. I put an arm around her, the scent of roses rising like a song.

  “I try not to. I don’t talk about it. There’s no one else who would understand, except for my family, and they’re most likely dead,” she said. Jeweled tears filled the corners of her eyes, real and heavy. I fought the urge to wipe the tears away and kiss her, knowing it would stop her story. She needed this, and so did I.

  “What did they go to find?” I asked her.

  “An armory.”

  “A—a real armory? How did you hear that term?” I asked, trying and failing to keep the shock from my voice.

  “Hightec. We’re not the only people with working computers, Jack. The past isn’t dead at all. It’s just waiting,” she said.

  “And they never came back?” I knew the map was more than a talisman. It was something to hold for the future if I could survive the next month.

  “No, and their wishes were clear. Go to the post. Take the coins they gave me and go the honest route. Become a baker, or a healer—anything but a scavenger who waited on sandstorms to peel back the years and reveal scraps for us to survive on.” Her laugh was pure irony. “Obviously, I chose a different path.”

  “Can anyone blame you? I want to tell you my passwords, and we haven’t even kissed,” I said, marking every inch of her perfect face.

  “What’s a password?” she asked.

  “For a computer geek, it’s the holy grail. It’s like a key, but used to open data, networks, and memory sticks. It’s the one thing someone needs to steal everything you are, even your identity,” I explained.

  “And you want me to know yours already? Why, Jack?” She lowered her lashes, pulling at me with a hand that was warm and soft. She caressed my jaw, pushing me back with agonizing slowness. “I have no need of a password. I want something else entirely.”

  Silk paused to lift her shirt off, discarding it in a backward toss without ever taking her eyes from me. She straddled me, her breasts high, soft, and proud, then pulling my hands to them so I could feel how delicate she was under her clothing. In a series of short motions, she had me naked, then pulled her rough-spun skirt off, letting it fall from her hand, forgotten and unwanted.

  I watched her appraise my muscles, my body, all of me with the eyes of a woman who knew every inch of a man, and in her gaze, I saw something that made me smile.

  Hunger.

  I felt the same way, as she was a woman at her utter peak, perfect from head to toe and designed for pleasure. The fact she was giving it to me made me forget the past had ever existed, if only for the moments when she sat atop me, rubbing slowly as heat built between us in untapped potential.

  “Now?” she asked, her body already lowering onto me, smooth and sure. I pulled her down to me, kissing her, driving her hips to find every detail yet undiscovered. I liked what I found, and by her moans, she was happy to let me explore. We rocked back and forth in short, intense motions, never straying too far from each other in case we missed something. Slower, faster, then somewhere in between, we challenged each other for as long as we both could stand it, ending in her orgasm, which made me call on every muscle to sit up, pull her tight, then let go. Together, we were a quivering mass of gooseflesh, only calming down when I flipped her over to stare down at her soft eyes and shy smile.

  “Again,” I said, fighting the urge to high-five my ‘bots for their amazing side effects. Silk lifted a brow, but wasn’t the kind of woman to shy away from unexpected gifts. This time, I went even slower, because the road ahead of us wasn’t made for quiet moments. I made a map of her skin, running my hands over her breasts, arms, the round of her ass, all a masterpiece of what it meant to be a woman.

  “You can have me again, you know,” she murmured. I liked the husky tone of her voice, lost in the moment.

  “I know, and I will,” I said. Her eyes were bright but narrow, a fine sheen of sweat on her upper lip. She kept moving against me even as we spoke, not letting a second go to waste. She was the best multitasker in history, and she was mine.

  When we came again, it was even better, seconds apart and longer, more primal, and different with me on top, watching her watch me. After a long breath, she reached up, taking my face in her hands.

  “I don’t just mean like this. You can have me if you want me. I’m only Lady Silk because I haven’t met a man who could give me what I want, and let me give him what I have. You’re that man.” She was nervous, unused to baring herself. She’d been in bed but never honest. I could tell that much from the rosy flush of her neck. It wasn’t just the sex. It was the openness. The sharing.

  “I have a lot to do, and I’m going to do it all. You’re coming with me,” I told her, and that settled the matter, freeing us up for other activities. “How long ‘til dawn?”

  “Not long enough,” she said, sliding alongside me and wrapping her legs around my hips.

  “Then we’d better get to work,” I told her, and we did our best to fill the hours of darkness with something good.

  24

  “Pack seems light,” I said to Silk and Mira.

  “We hunt on the way, but there are enough dried rations for two weeks. We have two days between water sources, and we can travel at night for speed. How many rounds of ammo?” Silk asked Mira, who answered without hesitation.

  “Forty rounds for mine,” she said, hefting her short stock M16, on loan from Lasser, though he gave it to her with a wink as the sun came up, and I don’t think he expected to get it back.

  My shotgun was in hand, the ammunition in a belt that crossed me from shoulder to hip, the shells tapping against my back like the world’s best security blanket. Silk’s .45 gleamed with wicked purpose in the rising sun, and she wore her own armor, the only feminine concession a long, gauzy wrap that kept the sun off most of her skin.

  “We’re ready,” I said to the space between all of us, and with that, we moved through the south gate under the watch of guards who looked at us like we were already dead.

  “Be seeing you boys,” Silk said, earning a shy smile from the guard on the left.

  “A customer of yours?” I asked, smiling at his embarrassment.

  “One of the Hannahs. A very good customer.” She blew him a kiss as we started south, the road clear under a scarlet flash of the new day. In the distance, a vulture swept west, little more than a still silhouette in the air.

  “Never thought I’d walk across Oklahoma,” I said, thinking of the map and where I’d been before going into the tube.

  “Was this a
good place?” Mira asked.

  “It was hard, but not bad. The entire country was beautiful. Rivers, lakes. Timber, land, and cities. We had everything, and then we killed ourselves with a virus because bombs and guns weren’t enough. Maybe we deserve this,” I said.

  “How many people were here?” Silk asked. She knew Kassos and the traders, so her curiosity was natural.

  “More than three hundred million here in the United States. Billions in the world. I’m guessing almost all of them are gone, unless Australia made it.” I hoped there were pockets of something from the old world. If not our ways, at least our technology, and maybe some of our culture. There had been beauty in my world, even if it was seasoned with fear.

  “Billions?” Silk asked. “How is that even possible? The predators alone would—”

  “We were the top predator, and we fucked up,” I said with a shrug. It made no sense to deny history. The bones wouldn’t be ignored.

  We were making good time, on alert to dangers but staying on the road. I kept active watch ahead, Silk to the left and Mira on our right. We all turned back occasionally, watching the post fade into a blur as we descended a low incline along the southern road. We’d lose elevation all day, then hit a rise at nightfall, when we would have to decide if we camped or went on until the moon set. At the rate we were going, it seemed we would double the speed of the Harlings’ wagons, and the trip started to feel less like an impossibility.

  Not that I would quit. Not with Taksa on the way and inhuman creatures camping on a source of water, safety, and tech.

  “You said we were going to hunt for fresh meat?” I asked Mira. She was squinting into the distance, her eyes following a lanky bird hot-stepping across the scorching sands.

  “Save your round. Nothing but bones and feathers on him. We’ll hunt toward the dusk, when the fat ones get active,” Mira said.

  She was hiding something, so without breaking stride, I gave her a searching look. “What aren’t you telling me?”

  “Nothing you don’t already suspect. Or haven’t eaten, anyway,” she said while smirking.

  “Huh. Giant snakes. Didn’t see that coming.” My conclusion was right, because all Mira did was laugh, pointing her finger like a gun. “At least tell me these aren’t burrowing invisible death rattlers, or something?”

  “They’re not. Just big, pissed off, and delicious. They’ll be near rock outcroppings, which means,” Mira said, drawing the last word out as she looked ahead, “about an hour from now, we’ll get our first chance to see if you’re any good with that sawed-off.”

  I peered into the wavering distance, and she was right. There was a huddled rock group on the east side of the road, rising as we walked toward it. “Water there too? Looks like some green.”

  “A small spring. Good eye,” Silk said.

  “Thank my ‘bots. Never could see that far before, but now, it’s easy.” I focused on the group of stones, seeing how they tumbled inward to a central point. The spring was at the bottom, judging by the circle of small trees and shrubs, poking hopefully above the shattered landscape. “Just how big are they? The rattlers?”

  “About four meters for a female. The males are smaller, but sneakier. We’ll kill one of them if we can. Don’t want to remove the breeder. We might pass this way again, and even if they’re mean as hell, they’re still a food source. I’d rather not dig for beetles again,” Mira said with a grimace.

  “High in protein, though,” I told her. She responded with two middle fingers, which made me feel a little bit more at home. At least people were still rude to each other through hand gestures.

  We approached the rocks without any attempt at stealth after Mira told us the snakes would feel us coming, or at the very least, smell us on the wind.

  “There she is,” Silk said, nodding toward an unremarkable lump between two broken boulders. “Damn good coloring.”

  “No shit,” I agreed. The snake was enormous, curled around a palm tree, her black eyes watching us with stony intent. It was the biggest snake I’d ever seen, and when she lifted her rattle, I felt hesitation in the part of my brain that went back to the days when humans were prey for everything with teeth and claws.

  “We’ve come full circle, then,” I murmured, swinging my sawed-off forward after checking the load. “Headshot?”

  “If you want to save the meat. If you want to save the round, slide that blade out and get to work,” Mira said. There was a challenge in her eyes, her lips curled upward at the corners. Silk just watched to see what I would do, since saving ammo took precedence over fear of screaming death at the hands of a giant, venomous snake.

  I sighed and put my shotgun away, nodding. “I hate your logic.”

  “But you love the rest of me. Now get in there and hack that rattler, big boy,” Mira said with a laugh. I was glad she could be lighthearted about my fight with a prehistoric beast. I cracked my knuckles, drew both blades, and went into a low fighting stance, getting three steps before I thought to ask a question. “Have you ever killed one of these before?”

  “Hell no,” Mira answered. “I’m not stupid.”

  “I’ve tamed other kinds of snakes,” Silk added brightly. “You’re on your own.”

  “That’s what I thought,” I said to myself, moving forward as the snake watched me with her obsidian eyes.

  A male rattler came from behind one of the boulders, attacking from the side, lashing out in a silvery strike that came inches from driving his wicked fangs into my neck. Without a thought, I brought one blade up and one down in a scissor motion, sending his head to the sky, spitting venom and blood in equal parts. The head landed with a thud as his body convulsed in wild loops, curling in and out until three meters of rattlesnake finally died, twisted to reveal his pale belly.

  The female never even moved. “Thanks, sister,” I told her, dragging the male away by the tail. “I think they broke up.”

  “I’ll say. Let’s skin him before the desert spoils your work. Nice cut. Thought he had you for a second. I know he would have had me,” Mira said, her tone one of open admiration.

  “Did you know he was waiting?” I asked her, feeling my heart slow down after the adrenaline jolt.

  “No, but I figured he was nearby. They’re territorial, and none too friendly to visitors,” Mira replied. “I think your blood is making you something else, Jack. That was an impossible strike.”

  I stared at the dead snake, wondering who was the bigger danger, him or me.

  25

  Four days of walking brought us to the second oasis, a small series of pools nearly a klick west of the road. Two lean wolves skulked away at our approach, their sullen glares revealing an intellect that I found troubling.

  “Maybe we don’t stay here,” Mira said while keeping an eye on the wolves. An aura of danger clung to the creatures, and I thought there would be more of them in the area. “Hunting in the daytime. They’re hungry.”

  “Let’s move on. We’re making good distance, and we can put some space between us before nightfall,” I said. When we’d drunk our fill and had skins bulging with water, we moved south. The wolves didn’t follow, but they watched us all the way.

  “Will they strike tonight?” Silk asked. She understood predators, be they human or beast.

  Mira considered her question, shaking her head. “Not if there are two. If there’s a pack somewhere, then yes. They wait until the moon rises, and then surround us at camp.”

  “When they come, headshots only,” I said.

  Mira grinned. “The pelts are valuable in the city. In the post, no one can afford them. Except you, Lady.”

  “Too hot, and they smell of the wild. I had one once, a gift from some fawning idiot who thought to woo me with gifts. He gave me a pelt that was half-cured, reeking of piss and death. It may surprise you to find that our relationship ended rather suddenly,” Silk said.

  “Why can’t they just give us food and space to sleep?” Mira asked, but it was directed at no
one.

  “I’ll make a note of it on your birthday. Food and a nap,” I said.

  “You know me already,” Mira said, earning a laugh from Silk. “I would like to celebrate my birthday again. Haven’t for years.”

  “We can start. I like food too much to avoid a holiday, no matter what reason. I’m even starting to like rattler more than I expected. Given how many skins we’ve seen, I don’t think the Empty is in any danger of running out of snakes.”

  “Or scorpions. Or crocs, or wolves. There are hornet nests the size of houses, I’m told, but those are near the coast in the swamps. I have no interest in seeing them up close,” Mira said.

  “Do ogres live in the wild?” I asked. I’d been reading on the computer every night, trying to learn about the fall of the world, virus, and what it all meant. Answers were spotty, but I thought it was clear the virus had jumped species with shocking ease. Everything from insects to mammals had been under the gun, breaking apart into new and terrifying variations of life.

  The ogres were the closest thing to humans, and I couldn’t find a reason why. There were no apes in the United States, and that meant ogres were something new, but then much of the world was new after the ravages of the virus.

  “They stay close to humanity. They’re not smart, and even though they’re incredibly strong, they don’t do anything in a hurry,” Mira said.

  “Like cows?” I asked.

  “Steer? I guess, but ogres are more docile. The big steer in the grasslands are known to attack a camp, especially at dawn. When the calves are around, they’ll charge anything that comes near, even lions,” Mira said with a casual flick of her hand.

  “Lions? Seriously?” I asked. “Big cats?”

  “And jackwars too, but they keep to the trees. Of course, the rivers—the big ones, like the Atchala or the Mizoo—you’d best not go swimming there. Hippos down south, and crocs everywhere else, but big. A lot bigger than the ones out here,” Mira spat the last words, her face a mask of pain. She was thinking of Bel. I reached out to touch her hand, and she gave me a brief squeeze, never breaking stride. “Sorry. Knew we wouldn’t die of old age.”