Raw Future [Embrace the Future 3] (Siren Publishing Ménage Amour)

by Berengaria Brown

“Yeah, seriously primitive,” added Ruby.

  “None of the children knew what scissors were,” said Zuri, then told them about the rules for having a baby.

  “Even if you never slept with a woman, all she has to do is say the kid is yours and you’re bankrupt for a year. Nasty,” said Pagan.

  “Gods yes. Enough to make a man keep his pecker in his pants permanently,” joked Ghedi.

  They built a campfire of their own, even though they weren’t going to be cooking or eating any food. Then sat in a circle around it so some of them could watch the trucks and the others could watch the other people. Ghedi sat sipping a cup of water and wishing the smell of other people’s cooking didn’t make him feel so hungry. Dammit, he was used to hunger. It’d been part of his daily life for years. He needed to man up and deal with it.

  “Look at the kids,” whispered Adena, pointing to the community nearest their own campfire.

  When the food was cooked, the men came and ate. After they finished, all the men left the campfire, and the women ate. Only then were the children served. Ghedi noticed the women who seemed to be mothers had saved the children some food, but the men and other women obviously hadn’t. That was why the kids reminded him of the valley a year or two ago. They were underweight. And it was pretty obvious why.

  “I’m guessing when the men count out food portions, the kids aren’t included. That sucks,” said Adena, her voice soft but anger flaring through it.

  “Yeah. If a man has to pay so much for a child, that makes it damn hard for him to love the kid I reckon. My guess is that kids are seen as burdens, except maybe by their own mothers,” said Arthur.

  “They’d better watch out. Another couple of years and those kids will form their own community and steal the food back for themselves. And I don’t reckon they’ll have kindly feelings toward those who have neglected them over the past years,” warned Zuri seriously.

  Ghedi felt himself nodding. She was absolutely right. They were setting themselves up for some serious trouble. It would be much simpler to treat the children fairly now, instead of engendering a deep well of anger in their own children.

  * * * *

  They were up very early the next morning wanting to be prepared in case the Prince gave the order to move at dawn. But it was midmorning before people packed their campsites away. They had so few possessions it didn’t take long. Adena, Arthur, and Ghedi stayed with the trucks. The other six had broken into three groups of two to wander around and try to learn more about the people.

  Adena scrambled up onto the roof of one truck so she had a good view out over the fields. Most of the people were sleeping rough just out on the ground wrapped in a few blankets or a tarpaulin. There were some tents scattered around, but it seemed the men used them to contain the food and supplies, rather than to house their families.

  The carriage appeared again, with just the prince in it, and headed down the road toward the south. Behind it came a couple of large open wagons, also pulled by horses, filled with possessions, the three women, and all the children. Six men walked beside the wagons, and two more drove the prince’s carriage. One or two of them carried stout pieces of wood, but there didn’t seem to be any other weapons.

  Next in line was a trailer on wheels that held a huge, strange machine under a tarpaulin. Adena had no idea what it was and hoped Ruby or one of her men saw it and could identify it. She was positive it had an engine on the back, though, and might be why the two cans of fuel had been taken.

  The people followed in a long line, most walking, many of the women pushing wheelbarrows, or two or three of them together hauling a wheeled cart. The few men on pushbikes seemed to be guarding their own community’s supplies from attacks by the other groups of the prince’s people.

  Adena noticed the children she’d seen the day before also pushed or hauled loads. She wondered if they’d sneak a few bites of food. She sure as hell would in their shoes. In fact, she’d do it now. Her belly was gnawing at her in a manner both familiar and hated, from the past. Determinedly she concentrated on what she could see.

  As the last group of people joined the long line heading south, half a dozen older children raced out from the trees, scouring the fields for anything left behind. Several of them poked through the ashes of the cooking fires, evidently hoping for some food, but she didn’t think they had much success. Zuri was right. In a few more years there’d be enough young people to form their own community and steal from those who had neglected them over the years.

  Koby, Pagan, Arthur, and Tau had already squeezed into the front of the truck, so Adena climbed down and joined the others inside the vehicle. She wished she could see what was happening but knew the basic plan. They would follow the group until they came to a suitable turnoff heading east, or better still, southeast, and then they’d travel as fast as they could to get away.

  She didn’t really think the prince would care. He’d already gotten his ten percent from them after all.

  Once they were moving slowly down the road, she asked Ruby, “Did you see the machine under the wrap? Following the prince’s family? It had an engine, I’m sure.”

  “No, I didn’t. The prince had left before I got back to the truck. What did it look like?”

  “It was on a huge wheeled trailer. It was quite big, higher than the truck and at least as long, with a pointy front end and a squared-off rear end with the engine on the back. It had a roof only over the front of it.”

  “I don’t know what it is from your description. Can you draw it?” asked Ruby.

  Adena wiped a clean square on the floor then spat on her finger to draw. Tau, who’d seen it, too, made a few alterations to her picture then drew the engine, what he’d seen of it, as a separate picture.

  “It’s a boat, a motorboat. Why would the Prince have a boat? I don’t think there’s a big lake or river anywhere near here.”

  “He must use it to cross a large body of water to go somewhere. Surely he wouldn’t keep it just to show it off. It has to have a purpose, and it must be a clue to where he lives, or at least stays for part of the year,” said Ghedi.

  “Yes, the people were sleeping out. They can’t do that in winter, or they’d all die of cold. They must stay indoors at least for part of the year,” said Zuri.

  “Yes, but where?”

  “Tonight, when we can look at the maps, we should be able to work it out. Or at least guess,” said Udo.

  Chapter Five

  Arthur was so tense with worry, his empty stomach was roiling with bile, and he had to swallow hard over and over again to avoid disgracing himself by throwing up. He’d done his best to memorize the maps and knew Koby had as well, but as leader, the responsibility was his, and the ultimate decision to leave the prince’s people and make a run for home was his alone. He knew Adena and others were convinced the prince couldn’t care less whether or not they stayed or left, but it was still a huge risk. They’d already lost so much. If the truck was taken away from them, their lives would be seriously in danger.

  Koby and Pagan had identified two possible routes, one only about five miles ahead of them, the other maybe twenty miles. Both appeared to take them east then south where they could meet up with the forest track to the winery Koby wanted them to visit. Arthur felt sure the motorcycle gang would have long ago left the winery and the chance of them finding much food there was slim, but the idea of taking some grape vines back to the valley to grow for fresh fruit was a good one. The valley people needed more fruit in their diet. They had adequate grain and vegetables, but fruit was a sweet treat seldom enjoyed.

  The people traveled at walking pace, so Koby stopped the truck for five minutes every twenty minutes or so to let the people get ahead of them again. “It’ll get them used to the idea we stop for a while but always catch them up again. Then when we disappear, likely they won’t realize for a while. Besides it’s better for our fuel consumption to stop than run the engine all the time,” Koby said.

  “That�
�s a good point. But stop for longer next time, perhaps ten minutes, so they get used to that instead. We want all the leeway we can get. The prince still may have a motorcycle or something with an engine in one of his wagons to chase us,” said Arthur.

  “I agree with you about the stopping, but I don’t think the prince has a motor vehicle. I reckon he’d ride around in it if he had one. Besides, why have that convertible pulled by horses if it actually worked as a car,” said Tau.

  Arthur hoped that was true, but couldn’t risk acting on mere hopes.

  The prince’s people didn’t stop to rest at midday or midafternoon either, and Arthur was considering suggesting they all eat something the next time the truck paused, when the people ahead of them suddenly sped up.

  “What’s going on?” said Pagan.

  “I bet they’ve been told the campsite’s just ahead. Remember how they just vanished the day we met them, when they were told about the farm?” said Tau.

  “That would be good. I reckon the first turnoff is not far ahead. If we go left when they go right, hopefully no one will notice for a long time,” said Koby.

  “Unless they’re heading down the road we want to take. But we could work with that plan,” added Arthur.

  They drove on slowly. Although the people were moving much faster, they’d stayed on the same road. Arthur was in an agony of indecision. This seemed like a good time to try to escape, but was it really a stupid decision? Was he risking everything on a whim?

  A leader has to take risks. A leader has to lead.

  “Koby, stop the truck and come around this side. Pagan you drive. Sit as far forward as you can, and Tau, wiggle in behind him with the mirror to watch behind us on that side. Koby you take this window and watch this side with the other mirror.”

  Koby got out of the truck and walked around while the others scrambled across the seat. Tau grumbled, “I’d have more room if Adena was driving. She’s only a little thing.”

  “Much safer with the women in the back,” replied Arthur.

  Pagan moved off again, and the turn they’d been waiting for was only around the next bend. Pagan glanced at Arthur his eyebrow raised, and Arthur nodded. “Stay at this speed for two or three hundred feet so the engine noise doesn’t change abruptly, then very gradually speed up until we’re traveling as fast as you reckon we can go.”

  Koby and Tau became all businesslike with their mirrors, watching intently behind the truck, along the road, and in the bushes. Arthur leaned forward, scanning the trees and road ahead of them, knowing Pagan would be concentrating on avoiding the worst rocks and potholes in the track. At least when they’d been following all the other people, their feet had beaten a clear path to follow.

  Pagan did exactly as Arthur had said, gradually increasing speed until the truck was swaying and bumping along the road. Tau and Koby had braced themselves against the window frames on their respective sides. Arthur had both hands gripping the dashboard, hoping his nose didn’t get bashed on the windshield over one of the bumps. But speed was their greatest asset. Well, he hoped it was. He really, really hoped the prince didn’t have a motorcycle hidden somewhere that would come roaring after them.

  Pagan continued to speed, dodging rocks on the pathway and the largest potholes, driving with far more skill than he could have done himself, Arthur knew. Although Adena and Zuri were both pretty good drivers, and definitely better than him or even Ghedi.

  The daylight was starting to fade. Now Arthur had another tricky decision to make. Slow down, or use the sidelights or headlamps? Which would he choose? Finally he decided slowing down was the best option. Using lights would make it easier for people to track them than just the noise of the engine. Besides, traveling more slowly would decrease the engine noise.

  “Slow down now but don’t stop. Go slow enough to be sure you don’t break an axle in a pothole, but as fast as you think is reasonably safe,” he said.

  Pagan just nodded and eased his foot off the accelerator a little. As the road darkened, Pagan slowed farther, but once the moon came out, he increased his speed slightly.

  Finally Koby said, “I think the turnoff south shouldn’t be too far now. We’ve come a long way in the past three or four hours.”

  “Exactly what I was thinking,” said Pagan, his teeth shining white as he grinned in the darkness. He slowed down a little more, and about twenty minutes later, Tau and Koby pointed together to a crossroad.

  Pagan smoothly turned into it, and the other two hung out their windows checking for any signs of anyone following them.

  Arthur heaved a huge sigh of relief. For the past hour, hope had been rising inside him that they’d managed to escape. Maybe Adena was right and no one cared whether they’d stayed or left. But right now, it seemed good to him that they were safe. Well, as safe as they could be outside the valley in a world full of madmen and danger.

  He also became aware of his empty, aching belly and an urgent need to empty his bladder. He guessed everyone else would be suffering the same symptoms. Although maybe those in the back of the truck had eaten as they’d traveled. And even peed into an empty container. Well, whatever. “See if you can find one of those big trees with branches down to the ground to hide us under, Pagan. It’s more than time we stopped and ate. Then rested some before we start again at dawn.”

  Pagan slowed down a little more, and they all kept looking. It was Tau who spotted the perfect tree, and Koby got out and checked that the ground under it was solid enough to take the truck. Pagan parked the truck, and Koby ran back several hundred feet then swept the track so there was no sign of their passing.

  As soon as Arthur opened the back of the truck Adena threw herself into his arms. “We want to know absolutely everything that’s happened all day. But first…” He grinned as she raced into the bushes, closely followed by Zuri and Ruby.

  The men went in the opposite direction. Arthur waited by the truck until the first few people returned before leaving himself.

  They were all so hungry it was difficult to stick to a single portion, but no one complained. After all, they still didn’t know where their next meal would come from. The first danger was gone, but they were a long way from home, and with no way of knowing what other dangers may approach them, even in the few remaining hours of the night.

  * * * *

  The next few days were like a return to the early days of their journey, except that they were all in the one truck, which Ghedi liked. He also liked that the three women shared the driving, with one of their men jammed behind them watching out the window with the mirror while another man watched out the passenger window with the other mirror.

  The person in the middle watched ahead for danger while the driver concentrated on the road.

  Ghedi was becoming used to semi-starvation again. He didn’t like it, but his belly no longer pained him as much as it had the first day or so. Or maybe he was better able to ignore it. Anyway, Ruby was sure they were getting closer to the farm she and her men had found on one of their trips where there’d been some animals. Ghedi didn’t like killing animals for food, but he didn’t like starving either. It was even possible they might find some edible canned food, though that was less likely.

  He hoped to hell they didn’t find it had been scavenged by some other group, or worse, that another group lived there now. It really bothered Ghedi that people had disappeared. He sure liked not meeting gangs, but the people had to have gone somewhere, and logic suggested they’d either followed the food manufacturers—and he wished to hell he knew where that was!—or were on farms growing their own food.

  Meeting up with the prince had demonstrated forcibly to him that scavenging as a lifestyle wasn’t going to continue working. But his village was not self-sufficient, and apparently never had been. It seemed to him their only hope was to make it produce enough food for everyone before they ran out of scavenged food. Maybe grapes would help, but they needed more than just fruit. They needed a regular supply of protein. He shrug
ged. At least they all had some milk now, thanks to the cows.

  He was in the back of the truck when it bumped to a stop, and Udo opened the door. “We’ve arrived at the farm. Where should Zuri park the truck?”

  Koby jumped out. “Follow me. I’ll show you.”

  The others all got out, too, and walked beside the truck. Ghedi was astonished. This had been a very profitable place once. The barns were huge, and there were many of them.

  “This is where the mobile home was set up,” said Koby, as he waved his arms showing Zuri where to park the truck sheltered under a barn roof.

  Ruby grabbed a container, and she and Adena headed to the barn where the chickens were roosting to collect eggs.

  “Dammit, go with them, Ghedi. We don’t know that this place is safe. Just because it was once doesn’t mean it still is,” said Arthur.

  Ghedi ran after the two women. Yes, it was just as well to remember how fast the situation could change. After all, those people had attacked their trucks out of absolutely nowhere. Although they’d seen what they thought was evidence of a storm first. Ghedi’s head swiveled around in all directions. Nope. The place looked untouched.

  While the two women collected eggs, Ghedi stared at some thick wire mesh. If he could build an enclosure, they could take some more chickens back to the village with them. They already had quite a few, but they didn’t like eating very many as they were always aware that the hens could stop laying eggs at any time. Surely they could bring another half dozen back to the village with them. Eggs were full of protein after all. If he could nail the mesh across one corner of the truck…He’d need to add a roof to their enclosure as well, or they’d fly out of it and get out whenever someone opened the door.

  When he got back to the truck, dutifully guarding the women and looking all around him for signs other people had been at the farm, he searched for Arthur.

  “How do you feel about us taking half a dozen more chickens back to the village? I saw some rolls of mesh, and I reckon we could make them a sort of cage in the back of the truck.”