Future Reborn Box Set

by Daniel Pierce

  “If you have salt, we’ll trade or buy it. I’d like to save this, I think,” I said.

  “What is that?” the leader asked.

  “Giant cat of some kind. It was eating a kill about twenty klicks back. Tried to make me the second part of the meal, but I took issue with that,” I said.

  The man walked toward me, then used a boot to unroll the hide some more. “You’re saying you killed this thing?”

  “That’s exactly what I’m saying.”

  He stared at me, saw I was serious, then noticed the puncture in the hide. His eyes flicked to the swords on my back, and he whistled softly. “Monte, ask Doc to bring his gear up here. You washed the hide?” he asked me.

  “Right after the kill. Dry now,” I said.

  He grinned, and it was the first natural expression on his face. “We have a little experience saving skins, but nothing like this. You say it was south of here?”

  “It was, and the carcass it was eating was the biggest animal I’ve ever seen. I know what it is, but it’s not supposed to be here,” I said.

  He took his hat off, wiping his face with a broad hand, then put the hat back with a decisive tug. “Have your people come over for a drink. We should probably talk.”

  “What’s your name?” I asked.

  He put his hand out. It was thick with callous and muscle. A working hand. “Stanger. My people are a mix of family and friends. We’ve been trading for nearly twenty years since our wells ran dry up north.”

  “Jack Bowman, and I’m the lead of a settlement just south of here. We’ve water if you need it,” I said.

  “Might take you up on that depending on our chat. You like whiskey?” he asked me.

  “No, I don’t. I love whiskey.”

  He thumped my back, laughing. “I think we’re gonna get along just fine, Jack.”

  After our introductions, Stanger’s people took the cat hide and began rubbing coarse salt into it with small brushes. They worked quickly, wasting no motion and turning the hide so that each section was treated three times.

  “They know what they’re doing,” I remarked as we sat on boxes in the shade of an extendable awning. We had cool water and a flask of whiskey that was young, but not too rough. I took a sip, handed it to Andi, and then waited for Stanger to speak. Breslin leaned against the wagon, casting a shadow all his own, but he was smiling because there were kids around and they seemed to gravitate to the big man.

  “You’re from the south?” Stanger asked.

  I’d already gotten a subtle nod from Andi, who knew what I was going to discuss. “We are. The Free Oasis, to be exact. We’re growing, we have the rule of law, and I have plans.”

  “What kind of plans?” he asked. His other people were listening intently as well.

  “Short version? I’m going to rebuild a working state, water systems, technology, power grid, dams, and roads. We’re going to have all the trappings of civilization without any of the bullshit you see in Kassos or Wetterick’s place.”

  Stanger looked openly dubious. “That’s quite a goal.”

  “I agree, which is why we’re so busy,” I replied, folding my hands and waiting for him to continue.

  He only hesitated for a minute, but it was enough. This was a man in trouble, despite his assured outward appearance. He had around eighty people by my count, and they were on the move for a reason, not just trade.

  “The salt is yours. Do you charge for safe passage through your lands?” Stanger asked.

  “No, and they’re not my lands. They belong to everyone for now. As The Oasis expands, our law will become the dominant structure, along with our actual buildings. Wherever we find water, we build. Where we build, we plant trees, and we’re going to reclaim The Empty, one community at a time,” I said.

  “And what of Wetterick?” he asked on a neutral tone.

  I held out my hand, regarding it with mild interest. “See this hand? I used to kill Taronic less than two days ago. You know him?”

  “I—yes. I did, anyway. Mean bastard,” Stanger said.

  “Not anymore. We took out an entire raiding party and saved him for last. He killed a girl, and two of my citizens knew him. The choice was his, and he made it some time ago. I say that the rule of law will hold control over this area, but I have limits. Slavery is out. Keeping ogres is out. Rape, theft, and other crimes like that are all out. We’re going to have a free society, but it will also be based on personal responsibility. If you can’t care for yourself, and you harm others?” I flexed my hand, and Stanger nodded. We had an understanding.

  “May I ask where you’re going now?” He looked at our truck, and his brows lifted with more than simple curiosity. He clearly knew what the vehicle was, but it wasn’t commonplace in this world.

  “Northeast, and that’s all I can say for now, but I have a proposition for you based on how you answer a question. An offer, if you will, for you and your people,” I said.

  “I’m listening.”

  “Why are you on the move?” I asked.

  “It’s not safe on our range anymore,” he answered without hesitation.

  “Why?” I leaned forward, sensing he was telling an uncomfortable truth.

  “Among other things, raiders, and not the kind who just want cattle. We’ve lost people to them in attacks, and they’ve stolen women, children, even a few young boys. Then there are the beasts,” he said.

  “What kind? I thought you would be used to almost anything, being out here in The Empty,” I told him.

  “I was. And then monsters started showing up. Things I can’t even describe, and big—big as a house, some of them. Horns, hooves, teeth. All of them hard to bring down and wherever they went came things chasing them. Like that cat you killed, which was a damn fine piece of work, if you don’t mind me saying so.” His tone was envious. He was a man who knew how easy it was to die out here.

  “I killed it on a carcass that was—well, show him, Andi?”

  She brought her tablet out and pulled up an image of the Indricothere. Eyebrows went up all around at the exotic tech, but the picture elicited a comment from nearly every member of Stanger’s party. “I take it you’ve seen one of these?”

  “Sure did. Thorneaters, we call them. Not often, but new in the past year or so, like they’re being driven. Or born, though I have no idea how something that big could be anything less than a hundred years old,” Stanger said. “Is that—computer there—an indicator of how you’re running things?”

  “It is. We’re reclaiming the old world, before the virus. The good parts, anyway,” I said.

  “I think I would like that,” Stanger said, and just then, he sounded tired.

  “If you don’t mind, I’d like to meet your people, Stanger, and I’d like them to see us as well, because I don’t know a lot about cattle, but I have an idea,” I said. As we talked, I took note of the condition of his people, their wagons, and the absence of any other commanders. I let my eyes play over the horizon, finding what I was looking for then pulling my attention back to the people around me. My moment of thought was broken by the distinct crow of a rooster, and Stanger jerked his thumb toward a wagon that had cages. “Chickens, too. We have a portable oven for baking.”

  “Chickens and cattle,” Andi said. “Those sound like the good parts of life, don’t they?” She smiled at me, and I knew she understood my thoughts.

  “They sure do,” I agreed. We stood as Stanger began to introduce us, walking from wagon to wagon, shaking hands and murmuring words of greeting. Some of the looks we got were guarded, some friendly, but none were hostile. The people were tough, hard-working, and self-reliant, just as I had hoped. When we finished our circuit, the cook wagon was beginning a meal, and Stanger invited us to stay. I accepted and asked him to walk with us for a minute.

  “I know you have responsibilities, so I won’t waste your time. If you would like to join us at The Oasis, you’re welcome to go right now,” I said.

  He drew up, regard
ing me with his dark eyes in a moment of intense scrutiny. “All of us?”

  “Yes. Every last one, even the old aunties who are fussing over the chickens,” I said.

  “Especially them,” Andi added.

  Stanger smiled, then wiped his face again with a cloth. He was buying time to think, and I let him because it was a big decision. “My people are self-sufficient, but that won’t last. What can you offer us? You see what we have, and while it isn’t much, it’s something. We have skilled labor, too, across a lot of different crafts, but none of us use Hightec like you do, even though I work and trade with it. Hightec makes a lot of money, but it’s inconsistent.”

  “I’m more interested in saving what you have,” I said.

  “Saving?” he asked, mild confusion on his face.

  “You’ve led them across The Empty, and you’re doing a damned fine job of it, but eventually, you’ll start to lose people. You know how this place is. It might be a fall into a washout, or a predator, or some rogue band of raiders, but you’ll lose people the longer you’re out here. That won’t happen at The Oasis, and you’ll have homes, water, food, and a place to earn a living in safety. You have my word.”

  “And mine,” Andi said.

  “Mine too,” Breslin said with a decisive nod. “Jack took my family in when we had nowhere to go. My children are safe as we speak. My mother is a doctor, and I sleep in a bed at night, not under the stars wondering if the wild things are going to take my family in the night. It’s a good place.”

  Stanger took Breslin’s words to heart, because he saw something in him that he recognized. The big man was a fellow parent and survivor on the way to something better, and not entirely sure if he could keep his family safe on the way. Their shared reality had far more impact than my invitation, and I saw Stanger make his mind up that instant.

  “The cattle need water, and a lot of it. They browse on almost anything but feeding them is a constant challenge. The chickens are simple, and they breed easily. The cattle need a fence, but the chickens stay close to their coop, and they’re damned useful at getting rid of pests,” Stanger said.

  “We have water and land in abundance. What we don’t have is people. I can tell you we have no need of your animals for food. We hunt, and we have means of extending our hunting range a huge distance. You would have at least a year or more before we even think about changing that policy,” I said, and he nodded, looking relieved that I didn’t see his herd as a walking cheeseburger stand. “Our policy is simple. You’re given help and materials, and you build your home. We have two hundred people and we’re growing, and the command structure is small. Your people, your rules—as long as they don’t engage in crimes against others, but I get the feeling that’s discouraged.” I smiled because I knew a clean operation when I saw it, and Stanger’s people had the look of a community that understood their survival depended on each other. “We have areas where we’re building craft stalls, too. Those are free. We have no taxes, and no money, and we’ll stay that way as long as we can.”

  “Do the craft stalls have access to water?” he asked.

  “They do. What do you have in mind?” I asked.

  “We have a pair of metal workers, and obviously we work with leather and hides. Got a weaver and about ten carpenters, too. Cooks and the like. My cousin is good with wheels and the wagons, and he tinkers with Hightec when we find it,” Stanger said, looking at Andi’s tablet.

  “I can use the help. Good,” she said.

  I held out my hand. “Will you join us?”

  “We will,” he said without looking around. He knew a good deal when he heard it, and he wasn’t going to waste time. I like that kind of decisiveness.

  “Who is your second in command?” I asked.

  “My sister, Elsie. She’s—”

  I turned and waved vaguely to the west. “Out there with a rifle on me. Tell her to come on in.”

  Stanger fell into stunned silence for a second, then he smiled, abashed. He lifted a thick hand and made a circle with his index finger, and Elsie stood up from her cover some hundred meters away. She was small, pretty, and wearing a broad grin as she slung her rifle and began loping toward us in an easy trot.

  “When did you see her?” Stanger asked.

  “I didn’t, but I also didn’t see your second in command, so I figured they were giving you cover,” I said. Elsie arrived, not breathing hard and still smiling. She was just over five feet tall and had large, intelligent dark eyes in a pretty face. I thought she looked Persian, but when she spoke, there was a slight drawl to her words.

  “He made me right away, but I couldn’t signal. She was watching, too,” Elsie said, nodding toward Andi.

  “Damn. Twice?” Stanger asked.

  “Call it a healthy sense of suspicion,” Andi said.

  “I’d call it good eyes, too,” Elsie concluded before taking a water bottle and drinking deeply. Her neck glistened with sweat, and she wore clothes that were so bland in color I never would have seen her, not unlike the cat that attacked me.

  “Now that we know each other a bit better, how will we gain entrance to the, ah, town? I assume you can’t just walk up and move in?” Stanger said.

  “No, you can’t, but we have security in place just for things like this. How many people do you have, in total?” I asked.

  “Eighty-three,” he answered.

  “Okay, Andi? Let’s get them catalogued,” I said. She stood, swept a finger over her tablet, and inserted a small drive in one of the ports. “We’re going to ask the name, skill, and age of everyone in your group, and then we’re going to take their picture. You’ll take your people south with Breslin as your guide.”

  “I’m staying with you, Jack. You need three, not two. Hell, you need an entire war party, as far as I’m concerned,” Breslin said.

  “You would be right, if we were going to war. We’re not. This is deep recon and nothing more, and I trust you. Take Stanger and Elsie and their people home, and give Silk the drive. You’re in charge of their housing, and ask Silk and Lasser to assign sites based on their crafts. The cattle are another issue entirely. We don’t have fencing, and I don’t know how to build it without stripping material we need for houses.”

  “I can help with that,” Elsie said.

  “I’m listening,” I replied, interested in her solution. She was young, but confident and cloaked in an air of competence, like her brother.

  “We only have forty head, with about eight calves on the way unless there are twins. We need a small lot for them if we can graze them during the day. They’ll need a barn first, but even that can wait if there’s cover from the sun,” Elsie said.

  “There is. We have trees that give shade,” I said.

  “Okay, then we can set up a wire and pole fence from the stores we have, and if you can find stone and lumber, we put up a low barn, no more than three meters high with a sloped roof,” Elsie said, tilting her hand to indicate an angled structure.

  “Consider it done. We have ample access to dry timber. The roof might be tricky, but we have a sawmill under construction for planking. It’s not ready, but it will be,” I said.

  “Then we keep the cattle bottled up until it is, and it’s no different than how things are now. Fewer threats, I imagine,” Elsie said, then her face broke into a grin that made her seem very young. “You really have trees?”

  “We do,” Andi said. “And ponds, and clean water, and people. You’ll be a part of something stable, if that’s what you want.”

  “I do. I mean, we all do. We just—something is wrong out here. Monsters and shit coming around at night, and even in the day, and things I’ve never seen before. None of us have,” Elsie said, concern mixing with relief in her voice.

  “We’re used to seeing animals flee during the fire season, but there are no fires,” Stanger said.

  “There’s a fire, you just can’t see it. It’s the virus, and it never stopped working,” I said.

  “I wi
sh it would rain, then,” Elsie said, and I felt myself nod along with her sentiment. Maybe one day we could be the storm that puts the fire out permanently. Until then, we would find safety where we could, and allies whenever possible.

  “Me too,” Stanger said. He cupped his hands and shouted that everyone should come to us for pictures, earning a few odd looks and some open smiles by people who knew what that meant. Andi began taking their images and asking questions as she built a mini-census of the camp, while Breslin, Stanger, and I looked over their wagons for possible contributions to The Oasis. They had tools, food, and a minor smattering of Hightec, but nothing comparable to what we had tucked away in the Cache.

  The census took nearly two hours. We took our time, getting to know the people, because in a few days, they would be my people and under my care. I knew the process would have bumps, but giving them a calm word would go a long way toward assuring them that Stanger was making the right move. Andi was a natural in her role, and the kids found Breslin fascinating. By the end of the survey, he had no less than five little ones following him around, asking so many questions he couldn’t get a word in edgewise. That occupied his mind, if only for a while, because when he got home he would have to see the source of his betrayal. I hoped time would, at minimum, let him tolerate Jossi’s presence, but if it didn’t work, then she would be the one leaving, not Breslin. That much I already knew.

  When we were done, it was afternoon, right in the sweet spot where animals and kids need a nap. Even the chickens seemed subdued, sitting in their wide veranda on the wagon, emitting the occasional soft cluck but little else. Stanger was showing me some of the fine points about cattle, and milk, and the giddy fact that we would have dairy products again in The Oasis.

  “I haven’t asked you this because it’s not my concern, but I will now. Where are you going?” Stanger’s question was reasonable, given that we were throwing in together to build something.