Uprising_A Post-Apocalyptic Dystopian Novel

by Kate L. Mary

  “Indra.” I turned as Mira jogged up beside. “It is over.”

  “And we have won?”

  “We have won,” she said.

  The news did not bring me the relief I had expected, and I slid my knife back into its sheath, knowing what I had to do next. “I must check on something.”

  Mira followed as I headed across the village. She did not ask what I was doing, but she also did not look surprised when I stopped outside Asa’s house. The door was open, which was to be expected. The Outliers would have searched every building in the village to be certain they had missed no one. I just hoped they had found this one empty.

  The hinges squeaked when I pushed the door open the rest of the way. The room was dark, unlike the other night, but I did not need light to be able to tell that it had been cleared out well before we arrived in the village. The blanket was missing from the bed, and there was no lantern in sight. Asa had fled.

  “He made it.” The knots in my stomach loosened and unraveled. He had listened to me. He was safe.

  “He will come find you,” Mira said from behind me.

  I turned to face my friend. “Should I want him to?”

  “You love him, Indra.” Mira said it with confidence even though I had never uttered the words to anyone but Asa. “There is no shame in that. No matter what Emori wants you to think.”

  “I do not care what Emori thinks.” I made no attempt to deny my feelings. “The problem is only that I do not know what I think. I know I am glad he is not dead, but he is still a Fortis, and I do not know if we can make our two worlds fit together.”

  “You are wrong, Indra.” My friend put her hand on my arm. “He is not a Fortis. If he were, he would be here. And thanks to you, the Fortis are no more.”

  “Perhaps you are right.” I looked past her, over the village that now brimmed with death. “For now, we must focus on the next move.”

  Mira and I found the other Heads gathered in the very square where we had been harassed so often over the years. The dusty earth beneath us was painted red, as were Ontari’s face and arms. Roan, too, was splattered with the blood of his victims, and in the light of the moon it almost appeared as if his piercings were bleeding.

  Cruz, alone, seemed unmarred by the battle. I had been on the other side of the village, so I was not sure what part he had played in the fight. Perhaps he had left the majority of the killing to his men. Or, perhaps, his tribe had not contributed as much as we had hoped.

  “We have done it.” Roan smiled when I stopped in front of him, and at his side, Zuri did as well. “Just as you predicted, we have taken out the Fortis.”

  “I knew the Outliers could do it.” My gaze once again moved over the silent village. “We are much stronger than we have believed.”

  “That we are,” Ontari said. “And after this, the Sovereign will be easy.”

  I had to agree. Without the Fortis to defend them, the Sovereign would be as helpless as children. Assuming we could get inside the city. That would be the difficult part.

  Cruz, who stood a little separate from the group, said nothing, and even though the disgust when he looked at Ontari and me was obvious, I could not figure out what he was thinking. If he agreed, if he planned to help us when we fought the Sovereign, or if he was already considering breaking our treaty now that the prisoners had been freed.

  We broke off into groups once again so we could raid the homes for anything that might be useful. There were enough of us that it did not take long, and after we had freed the houses of everything we wanted, we set fire to the village.

  Most of the Outliers left once the fire got going, but I stayed with a few others and watched as it spread. Seeing the flames light up the night sky filled me with satisfaction, but it gave me a small sense of closure as well. This village and these people had been a stain on the earth for too long. But no more. We had made sure of that.

  The flames jumped higher, lighting up the sky until the wall just beyond the Fortis village was clearly visible. It was impossible to know if the Sovereign were already aware of what had happened, but it did not matter one way or the other. They would find out soon enough. Dawn was not far off, and when it came, the people inside the city would expect the Fortis and Outlier workers to show up. But they would not. I just wished I could be there to see how Saffron and the other women reacted to the realization that their world was about to come crumbling down around them.

  “Will the Sovereign do anything to retaliate?” Mira asked as we made our way through the valley and back toward the wilds.

  “I do not think they will be able to,” I said. “Without the Fortis, they have no chance against us. Even they have to know that.”

  The sun had begun to rise over the wilds by the time we reached the point where the river forked off. Right now, the Sovereign were waking up to a reality they had never faced before. One where they had no servants and no muscle. One where they were vulnerable even behind their walls.

  The other Heads and I stopped, as did a few stragglers from each of the tribes. I spied Xandra among them, still holding Gaia. At her side stood Atreyu and Linc, as well as a couple of the other Winta men we had rescued, and their uneasy expressions reminded me that my fight for the day had not yet ended.

  “It has been an honor to fight with you,” Ontari said.

  She grasped my arm with her hand, wrapping her fingers around my forearm as I did the same with hers. It was the first time we had touched, but seemed like the perfect way to end the battle. It also felt like it was sealing us as allies, not just now, but for decades to come.

  “We will meet again soon to discuss our next move.” I released Ontari’s arm, and grasped Roan’s in the exact same way. “The Sovereign must pay for what they have done.”

  “Thanks to you,” he said, “they will.”

  Cruz kept his distance, but he nodded when I turned toward him. “Our treaty will continue, Indra of the Windhi people,” he said, addressing me for the first time since the day he slapped me. “We will tear down the walls with you.”

  Electing to stay silent, I merely nodded in response. I had not forgotten the sting of his hand against my cheek, nor would I ever, but it was the disgust in his eyes that made me the most uneasy. Once this was all over, I would not continue our alliance even if he chose to. I had no desire to be allies with someone like Cruz.

  The tribes parted ways, promising to meet after a day of rest, and I headed off into the woods with my own people. I had little hope that rest was in my future, though. Not with the way Linc was watching me, and not with the anger that still burned inside Emori.

  My tribe was loaded down with supplies when we returned to the caves. The possessions we had lost when our village was burned to the ground had at last been replaced, and with much nicer items. The Fortis had lived like animals, but because they had received the Sovereign’s castoffs for centuries, they had items we had never been able to get ahold of before. Things like pottery, such as bowls and plates, cups, pots and pans, and even silverware. Luxuries I only knew existed because of my time working inside the city.

  The women who had stayed behind to watch the children, Isa among them, had already prepared a stew and were busy dishing it out, while around the room, the remaining members of the Winta sat huddled together, covered in furs. They seemed shaken and unsure about our new home, the men especially, and I had barely had time to set down the supplies I had carried back when Linc was on his feet.

  “Who is Head?” his voice rang through the cave, bouncing off the walls.

  I held back a sigh as I waved to the floor. “Sit, please. Eat. We have much to discuss, and we might as well do it on a full stomach.”

  Linc frowned, but he did as he was told. With everyone we had saved gathered in the room, I discovered we now had seven men. It would have been a welcome addition since we would need them if we had any hope of growing in numbers, except I had a feeling most of them would not be receptive to the changes.

 
; “The Winta tribe is no more,” I said once everyone was sitting. “The Fortis burned our village to the ground, leaving only women and children. This made it impossible for us to continue as Winta. How could we? The Winta told us we were weak, that we needed a man to look after us. But there were no men.” I paused and looked around, meeting the shocked, confused, and even angry gazes of the newcomers. “We have formed a new tribe. A tribe of hunters and strong women. We have called ourselves Windhi, both to honor the Winta, and to honor Bodhi, who taught me to be strong. I am Head of the Windhi.”

  “This is an outrage.” Linc jumped to his feet, knocking a bowl over in the process and spilling the stew across the floor of the cave. “You are a woman. You cannot be Head.”

  Xandra moved to stand at my side, leaving Gaia for the first time since their reunion. “She can in the Windhi tribe, just as Ontari is Head of the Huni tribe.”

  “And you all agreed to this?” Atreyu looked around, his eyes wide but not angry like Linc’s. “You have decided the Winta should be no more?”

  Around the room, the other members of the Windhi nodded.

  “We have lived without men for more than a year now,” Mira said gently. “If we had not done this, if we had not decided to be strong, we would have all died.”

  For a moment, the group in front of me was quiet. I looked the men over slowly, taking my time to meet each of their gazes. While Linc’s anger was the strongest, he was not alone. Still, I had to believe all was not lost. That they could see reason just as the women had after our tribe was wiped out.

  Linc’s face scrunched up. “You are still a woman, and now that we have returned, so can the old ways.” He looked around, maybe waiting for someone to agree with him, but no one spoke up. Not even Emori.

  “Women cannot lead!” Linc threw his hands up in exasperation. “They are not strong enough.”

  “We were strong enough to save you,” Anja spit at him. “Where would you be right now if we had rolled over and given up?”

  “Not only that. We have also unified the Outliers.” Tris waved toward me. “Indra did that. She brought us together, and because of her, you are here and the Fortis have been destroyed.”

  “This is how you want things to be now?” Atreyu looked the women who had been following me for more than a year over. “You want Indra to lead?”

  All the members of the Windhi tribe—except Emori—nodded. Linc’s gaze was on her, and I saw it when he registered the discontent in her eyes. He would use that to his advantage, just as she would use him if she needed to.

  “This is the new way, the way of our new tribe. The old way told us women were not strong, but we now know that was not true. We are strong, and we have owned our strength.” I paused and looked the men over again, holding Linc’s gaze longer than anyone else’s. My eyes were still locked on him when I said, “Now we just need to know if you can accept the changes. If you can accept me as Head of our tribe.”

  My words bounced off the walls of the cave, but when they faded away, I was met with silence. Most of the men seemed more exhausted than angry now, and I started to hope they would see reason once they had gotten some rest.

  Linc was the main exception to this. He glared at me like I had been the one to lock him up, not free him.

  “What if we cannot?” he asked. “What if we refuse to go along with this?”

  At his feet, Atreyu shifted uncomfortably.

  I had to fight against the exhaustion in my body so I could straighten my back, but I did not blink when I said, “Cruz, Head of the Trelite, has offered to allow any of the remaining Winta people to join their tribe. That is your right.”

  “But these are our people.” Atreyu looked around the room, at the other people gathered in the cave, and shook his head. “I have lost almost everything. I cannot stomach the idea of losing anything else.”

  “Then you are welcome here.” I gave him a grateful smile, and then looked the other men over again. “There is no reason to make a decision now. You are tired, you are hungry, and we all need rest.”

  I hoped Atreyu’s presence among the men would be a blessing, and I was sure that, Like Bodhi, he would be able to understand that teaching women to be strong benefited everyone. Only time would tell if the other men would be able to adjust, but I had to hope they would. Atreyu was right. We had lost too much already. Throwing more away would be reckless.

  23

  One day of rest was all I could allow my tribe, but I could not allow myself even that much time. The day following our attack on the Fortis village, I met the other Heads in the clearing to plan our next move. The fact that the Sovereign had no training and could do nothing for themselves made them weaker, but taking them out would still be complicated. They were hidden behind an impenetrable wall, and even with all the other advantages we had, that wall remained a problem.

  “We cannot climb it or get the gate open from outside,” I told the other Heads. “Which leaves only the secret tunnel at the back of the city.”

  We were circled around a small model of the city I had made on the ground, using rocks and sticks, and I pointed to the area behind the wall where the tunnel sat.

  “You fled the city through this tunnel?” Ontari asked me, her eyes on the small city.

  “I did.” I tilted my head toward Xandra, who once again stood at my side. “Xandra helped me get out. The mistress of the house connected to it is sympathetic to Outliers.”

  “I did not know any of the Sovereign were sympathetic to Outliers.” Zuri lifted her gaze, and the frown she wore contrasted with her usual happy appearance.

  It was no surprise that Roan had brought his wife to the meeting, but as predicted, Cruz was not thrilled by the addition. Especially since her presence meant we now had twice as many women as men. Not that the Trelite Head had done or said anything to add to the discussion. He might as well have been one of the rocks on the ground in front of me.

  “Aralyn is not the only Sovereign sympathetic to us.” Indicating where Aralyn’s house was, Xandra tapped the fake city with the stick she was holding. “There is a group inside who wishes for reform, but it is small.”

  I had worried that she would not want to leave Gaia so soon after their reunion, but thankfully Xandra had insisted on coming with me today. After seeing how gaunt the woman she loved now was, it seemed as if her determination to wipe the Sovereign out had doubled.

  “She will help us?” Roan tore his gaze from the city in front of us and looked between Xandra and me. “Will this Sovereign woman help us, knowing it may cost her everything?”

  ‘“I believe she will.” Xandra pressed her lips together, her gaze once again going to the small rock that represented Aralyn’s house. “We will have to promise to spare her. Not just her, but her family and anyone else who is sympathetic to our cause.”

  “That is not a problem.” I spoke up before anyone else had a chance to reply. “Anyone who helps us is worthy of redemption.”

  I was thinking of Asa, wondering where he was and how long it would take for him to come find me. Not long. I was sure of it, just as I was certain his thoughts were as much on me as mine were on him.

  Xandra’s gaze met mine, and as if she knew what I was thinking, she covered my hand with hers. One quick squeeze was all she gave me before once again focusing on the city of rocks in front of us, but it was enough to give me comfort.

  “Can we all go into the city through this tunnel?” Roan was asking.

  “It is much too small to send an entire army through.” Xandra pressed her lips together and stared at the ground thoughtfully. “I think it would be wise for me to go in first so we can get a better idea of what is happening. We killed many Fortis, but there is no way of knowing if we got them all. Some may have fled into the wastelands. If there are survivors and they have been welcomed into the city, they might be ready for our attack.”

  “You cannot go alone.” Cruz spoke up for the first time since the meeting started, his outrage o
ver the proposition apparently overcoming his desire to avoid dealing with women. “It is too dangerous.”

  “I came out of the tunnel on my own many times.” Xandra kept her voice level even as her brown eyes flashed with a fierce hatred for the man in front of her. “However, I did not plan to go by myself. I intend to take someone with me.”

  We had discussed all of this before leaving the caves, and it had been Xandra’s idea to send a small party inside, as well as to volunteer for the job. But no decision had been made about who would go with her. Someone from our tribe made sense because they would already know and trust one another, but we had a feeling the other Heads might want to send one of their own people. Cruz, especially.

  The Trelite Head lifted his chin so he could look down at Xandra. “One of my men will go.”

  Her expression did not change, but her gaze did flick my way. We had anticipated this, and even though we were not happy with the idea, we knew agreeing to the plan would be wise. Our treaty with the Trelite was shaky, due to their extreme dislike of women in authority, and if we refused to let them help us now, it could damage things permanently. While the alliance could not last, I hoped we could at least keep our numbers up going into the next battle.

  Both Ontari and Zuri frowned at the idea, and Roan did not look much happier. He seemed on the verge of saying something, but was cut off when Xandra spoke up.

  “That is acceptable.”

  Cruz crossed his arms and what could be called a smile pulled up his mouth, although it looked more like a scowl. He was the only one who seemed happy about the decision, but if he noticed, he did not care.

  “I have just the man.” The Trelite Head had gone back to avoiding Xandra’s gaze. “Bowie will be a good ally to have.”

  Xandra nodded even though neither of us believed any of the Trelite men would be a good ally. Still, keeping the peace was the most important thing at the moment. We needed to maintain our numbers, especially since we were unsure about what we were going to face once we got inside the city.