by Jay Posey
“The worst kind of scavengers,” Gamble said. “They don’t necessarily wait around for you to die on your own. We had more trouble with them than we did with the Weir, back when Underdown was around.”
“They would r-r-raid outsiders,” Painter said. “I remember. Never heard them cuh… called that though.”
Gamble didn’t respond, and the group fell silent. Even Wren. He’d cried himself out, and was now just lying with his head on Cass’s shoulder.
Down below, Swoop and the brothers cautiously approached the low wall that marked the boundary of the compound, and then slowly worked their way through one of the gates.
“Might as well get comfortable,” Gamble said. “It’ll be a while.”
The team didn’t budge. Cass figured Gamble’s comment was meant for her, so she carried Wren over to a nearby building and sat him in her lap while she leaned back against a wall. No one spoke much. Cass could tell the team was checking in at regular intervals from Gamble’s occasional one-sided responses, but otherwise they all just waited.
It was over an hour before they got word that it was clear for them to join the others. Sky reappeared a few minutes after they got the signal, and then they gathered up the packs that had been left behind and moved to the compound.
From a distance, Cass hadn’t really gotten a sense of how extensive the damage was. Walking through the compound made everything all too real. There was no doubt that people had been living here not all that long ago. Belongings were broken and scattered all across the grounds. It was almost as if some great wind had scoured the little village for every last person and blown them from their homes.
The walk was both heartbreaking and mind-boggling. Everywhere Cass looked, she saw lingering signs of a carefully cultivated existence. An outpost of human life, here on the border of the Strand. And at the same time, she couldn’t fathom how in the world people had ever managed to survive in such a place.
There were no strong defenses, no high walls, no bristling gun towers. If Wren hadn’t told her so many stories of the people he’d met, she would never have imagined anyone could’ve lasted here for more than a few days.
They met Swoop and Wick in front of one of the larger structures in the compound, at the bottom of a set of stairs. Wren sat down on the steps and just stared vacantly at what was left of the place. Fire had consumed portions of the surrounding buildings, and there were clear signs of battle. Dark splotches spotted the ground, especially around the area where they now stood.
“What do you think?” Gamble asked.
“Weir, definitely,” Swoop said. “Too much stuff left behind for it to have been scrapers.”
Cass sat down next to Wren and rubbed his back.
“A lot of ’em, too,” Wick added. “Judging from all the tracks. I’d say sixty at least. Maybe more.”
“Sounds like an awful lot just to be prowling around,” Sky said.
“Yeah, that’s another thing. Looks to me like they all came in the same way, from the north-east.”
“Not from the Strand?” Cass asked.
Wick shook his head. “My guess is the people put up a fight near the wall, and got pushed back. Tried to make a stand here.”
“I don’t understand what people would be doing out here in the first place,” Sky said. “They couldn’t have thought those walls would do anything.”
“We aren’t animals that we should live in a pen,” Wren said quietly. Everyone turned to look at him.
“What, sweetheart?” Cass asked.
“It’s what Chapel used to say. The people were their own protection.”
Sky started to make a comment, but a sharp look from Gamble shut him up. “Damage looks pretty recent,” she said.
“Yeah, three days, maybe,” Wick said. “I’d guess five at the most.”
“There was an attack when I was here before,” Wren said. “A big one. Some people died. But they won. I just… I can’t believe they’re all gone.”
“Well, I don’t know about all,” Wick said. “I think there were survivors.”
“Got a guess on numbers?” Gamble asked.
Wick shook his head. “Not many. But I don’t know how many there were to begin with. Do you remember, Wren?”
Wren shook his head slowly. “Not exactly. Two hundred? Maybe? I don’t know really, I never thought to count. There were a bunch of kids…” He trailed off and put his face in his hands. Cass pulled him closer and laid her cheek on top of his head. She wasn’t sure how much more he could take.
“Think you could track ’em?” Swoop asked Wick.
He shrugged. “Probably. Not sure how much help it’d be.”
“We’re gonna need a plan here pretty soon,” Mouse said. The overcast sky made it tough to judge exactly how late in the day it was, but it was pretty clear they didn’t have much time to travel.
“Wick, what you got?” said Gamble.
“Nothing close, G. We could try to roll back east, but I’m not sure what kind of shelter we’d be able to find in short time.”
“Then I guess we might as well make ourselves at home. Swoop?” she asked.
“Back across the courtyard, there’s an L-shaped building,” he said. “Still mostly intact. Probably the most defensible for us.”
“Alright. Let’s get to it.”
“There’s something I want to show you first.”
“It’ll save time if you just tell us.”
Swoop shook his head. “You gotta see it for yourself. Finn’s down there now.”
Cass picked Wren up, and Swoop led them all through the village, towards the western side. They found Finn standing to one side of a rectangular plot, where a series of rods jutted up from the ground, some covered by tangled masses of something Cass couldn’t identify. As she got closer, though, she realized what she was looking at.
Plants. More than that. Crops.
“Would you look at that…” Sky said, quietly. Almost in reverence.
It’d been years since Cass had seen real, out-of-the-ground grown fruits or vegetables. And she’d never seen so many all in one place. There were beans, and some sort of green leafy things, though most of what was planted Cass couldn’t identify. Many of the crops had been trampled, and some she’d just never seen before.
“I had no idea anyone still farmed,” Mouse said, reaching out to feel the green leaves of one of the taller plants. “Doesn’t look like enough to feed two hundred, though.”
“They had other stuff too,” Wren said. “But the growing things always tasted better.”
“Heads up,” Swoop said all of a sudden, and he moved to put himself between Cass, Wren, and the bordering wall. Finn and Wick reacted quickly, and fell in beside him.
A group of figures stood in the distance. For a long moment, the two groups stared at one another, unmoving. Cass counted nine of them. As she watched, though, a few of them broke off from the group and disappeared behind a cluster of buildings.
“What do you think they want?” Wick said.
“All the stuff that’s scattered all over the place, probably,” Finn answered.
“Scrapers?”
“Could be.”
Gamble gave Sky a look, and tilted her head to one side. Sky nodded and slipped off.
The group started advancing slowly. Five of them. No sign of the other four.
“Keep your weapons lowered,” Gamble said. “We’re going to be polite and friendly.” She stepped around in front of the others and walked forward a few paces. And then over her shoulder she added, “But be ready to kill every last one of them.”
Cass let Wren slide down to his feet, and then put him behind her. Mouse and Able took up positions on either side of her and a few steps behind.
Painter stepped up on her left. “Do they have guh- guns?”
“I can’t tell,” Cass said.
“I hope not,” he said. “There’s nnnn-nowhere for us to hide.”
Cass glanced around. Painter was ri
ght. They were exposed, and the closest point of cover was a small structure a good twenty yards back into the village. If it came to shooting, it was almost guaranteed someone was going to get hit. And where had those other four gone?
The group of others halted their advance about ten yards back from the boundary wall. Three men and two women, judging from their builds, though Cass knew that wasn’t always accurate. They were all wearing long cloaks, and two of them had their hoods up. Cass didn’t see any guns on them, but they were all carrying weapons of some kind or another. Blades mostly, though one of the men had a short spear. It was telling that those weapons were on display; the cloaks could’ve easily concealed them. The message was clear enough. Though if those were the weapons they were willing to display, Cass wondered what else they might have hidden.
“Afternoon,” Gamble called.
“Ma’am,” answered one of the hooded figures. A woman, judging by her voice.
“What brings you out this way?”
“We were wondering the same about you.”
“Just traveling through. Thought we might find a friend here.”
“You won’t.”
“Yeah…” Gamble said. She glanced back over her left shoulder and gave a little nod. Mouse and Finn both turned to face that direction. A few seconds later the four missing members of the other group came into view. Gamble looked back at the five. “Well, one thing we’re not doing is looking for trouble.”
“I wouldn’t have guessed that, judging from all the hardware you’re running.”
“Trouble sometimes comes to us.”
Wren stepped around in front of Cass. She grabbed his shoulder, but he tried to shrug it off.
“Let go, Mama.”
“Wren, not now–”
“Let go,” he said, jerking away from her. There was almost a growl in his voice. Cass was shocked by his tone, and she held up her hands. She watched as he squeezed between Swoop and Wick, and went to stand next to Gamble.
“Wren, what’re you doing?” Gamble asked, but he stepped past her.
“We’re looking for a man named Chapel,” he called. “Do you know what happened to him? To the people that lived here?”
The group of five reacted, exchanging glances with one another. Then the hooded woman spoke.
“Wren?” She laid back her hood. She had long brown hair and pale blue eyes. “Wren, is that you?”
“Lil!” Wren yelled, and before anyone could stop him, he took off towards her. She hopped over the low fence and went down on her knees to catch him in her arms. He nearly knocked Lil over with his tackling hug. It was strange for Cass, to see her son so happy to see someone she’d never met.
“So,” Wick said. “I’m guessing we don’t have to kill all of ’em, then?”
“Looks like,” Finn answered.
“Stay sharp,” Swoop said. “Ain’t over yet.”
The two groups started moving towards one another warily, with Lil and Wren at the center. Cass trailed a little behind the main group. Mouse and Finn were a few paces behind her, keeping their eyes on the four-man group that had come around their flank.
“Mama!” Wren called. He’d let go of the woman’s neck with one arm and turned back partially towards them. “Mama, it’s OK! It’s Lil!”
Lil was smiling now as they approached, and Wren was rapidly introducing everyone, pointing to each in turn as he spoke their names.
“That’s Gamble, and Swoop, and that’s Wick, and that’s my mom–”
Lil gasped and shot to her feet. One of the men from her group gave a little shout. Weapons flashed; swords from sheaths, rifles to shoulders. Cass noticed Lil had a grip on Wren’s arm, and had pulled him slightly behind her.
“Wait, no! No,” Wren called, pulling away. He stepped between the two groups, waving his arms. “It’s OK, it’s alright!”
Cass held up her hands, palms out, trying to look as nonthreatening as she could.
“Lil,” she said, keeping her voice calm and controlled. “Wren’s told me so much about you. About you, and Chapel, and Mister Carter.”
She could see the utter confusion on the other woman’s face, the horror mingled with incomprehension of the words Cass was speaking. Cass berated herself for not wearing her veil. A stupid and careless mistake.
“I’m sorry, I know it’s a shock,” Cass said.
The tip of Lil’s blade lowered slightly.
“What… are you?” she half-whispered, fear evident in her voice.
Cass tried to think of how to answer. How could she possibly explain it?
“She’s my mama,” Wren said.
After a long tense moment, Lil lowered her sword, though she still looked confused and a little frightened. The people behind her lowered their weapons as well, but not completely. It was clear they didn’t trust the situation.
“I don’t understand,” Lil said.
“They took her, Lil,” said Wren. “But I got her back. And my friend Painter, too.”
“Are they… human?”
“Not exactly,” Cass answered. “But we are ourselves.”
Lil shook her head, and then did it again more forcefully. The second time almost as if she were chastising herself. She sheathed her weapon and approached with her hand out.
“I’m sorry,” she said. “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have said that. It’s just…”
“Please don’t apologize. It was thoughtless of me. I should’ve let Wren warn you. All of you,” Cass said as she shook Lil’s hand. “My name’s Cass.”
“Lil. It’s amazing to meet you. Really.”
Some of the others kept their distance, but one of Lil’s companions stepped boldly forward and introduced himself as well, a grim-faced man named Elan. After that, with the immediate crisis seemingly averted, the two groups carefully came together and made hesitant introductions. Gamble called Sky back in from his hidden position. Cass gave a brief account of their journey from Morningside, though she was careful to avoid mentioning any details about why they’d left. Lil dispatched several of her companions to carry out whatever business they’d come to attend to, and then with the remainder, escorted Cass and the others back to the large rectangular building.
They went up the steps together and into the large main room, but stopped just inside the entrance. Like the rest of the village, the room had been largely wrecked, but there were a few tables and long benches that were still intact. The group gathered some of the furniture and set it up near the entrance. Swoop, Gamble, Cass, Wren, and Painter sat around the table with Lil and her escort. The rest of Gamble’s team spread out around the room, standing nearby or leaning against walls in various locations.
The first few minutes were awkward, but as they continued conversation, it started to become clear that these people were all cut from the same cloth. Cass had seen it before. Even when they weren’t on the same side, there just seemed to be a natural bond between warriors.
“They came three nights ago,” Lil said. “In overwhelming numbers. We mounted a strong defense, as we had many times before. But this time…” She trailed off, shaking her head.
“Something changed,” Elan said. “The way they moved. And fought.”
“It was like… I don’t even know how to describe it.”
“Like they were one?” Cass said.
Lil looked at her and nodded. “One being, made from many creatures.”
Gamble and Cass looked at each other. “We’ve seen it too,” Gamble said. “Once in Morningside, and then again the night we left.”
“What about Chapel?” Wren asked. “Is he OK?”
Lil looked at him sadly, and reached over to stroke his hair. She shook her head. “We lost Chapel many months ago. He was taken not long after you left. I’m sorry, Wren.”
Wren’s shoulders went slack and he closed his eyes. His face contorted as he tried to hold back the tears, but little coughing sobs escaped. Cass reached over and pulled his head to her shoulder to hold him wh
ile he cried. She noticed Lil watching them with a sweet smile tinged with sadness.
“Where are your people now?” Gamble asked.
“About forty minutes north and a little west,” Lil answered. “There’s a refuge. We’d hoped never to need it.”
“Closer to the Strand?” Wick asked.
“Slightly.”
“And how many are you?” asked Gamble.
Lil shook her head. “Too few.” For a moment, her eyes lost focus, and her jaw clenched. She lowered her gaze to the table and inhaled deeply, trying to regain her composure.
“Eighteen able bodies,” Elan said. “About thirty old, sick, wounded, or children.”
Lil put a hand to her brow. “The children…” Elan put a hand on her shoulder and squeezed. Lil gathered herself and continued. “We’ve made a few trips back, to recover what we could. We’ll need to get under way again soon. Our numbers are stretched thin as it is. I assume you’ll return with us?”
Gamble exchanged a quick look with Swoop. “We haven’t made any decisions yet,” she said.
“I see. I’m not sure what your options are, but I imagine they’re few. And we could use the help.”
Gamble gave a non-committal nod. “Understood.”
The two women held each other’s gazes for a moment, and then Lil bowed her head slightly. “We’ll let you discuss your plans. But we leave in twenty minutes.” She stood, and her companions rose with her. They moved to the stairs, but Lil paused at the entrance and said over her shoulder, “I hope you’ll do the right thing.” And with that, they headed out to join the others in the village.
Once Lil and the others had cleared the room, the rest of the team gathered around the table to discuss their options.
“Thoughts?” Gamble said.
“Gotta go our separate ways,” said Swoop. “No question.”
“How you figure that?” Finn said.
“You got fifty frightened, dying, and desperate people holed up in some reinforced area we’ve never seen before. All that gear we’re carrying?” He shook his head. “I don’t care how nice they seem now. That’s not a good set-up for us.”
“We could be a lot of help to them, Swoop,” Mouse said.
“No arguing that,” Finn responded. “Just not sure how good it is for us.”
