The Roadhouse Chronicles Box Set [Books 1-3]

by Cox, Matthew S.

  “Tris…” She let go of her arm to cover her mouth.

  “Hey kiddo,” said Dad2. He had no blood on him, though his clothing consisted of a pale blue bath towel held around his waist by a closed fist. As soon as she looked up at him, he threw his free arm around her back and squeezed.

  The AI had called him Marcus, but she’d sooner call him Dad2 to his face. After she gave up insisting that she’d been adopted, every time she’d called him ‘Dad’ had made her feel guilty, like she’d kicked Doctor Jameson deeper into his grave.

  “We’re sorry.” Yana looked down. “For not believing you.”

  Tears brimmed across Marcus’ eyelids. “We… thought you were ours.”

  Ugh. “It’s not your fault. I’m not angry with you anymore. The AI showed me how they set you up to believe I was really your daughter. I don’t know why they ran it in real time without compression… normally sixteen weeks of VR pass in one real week.”

  “Nine years is too long for a single session to be time compressed. The brain can’t handle the rapid influx of data. It would’ve felt false and might’ve caused brain damage.” Marcus slid his hand from her shoulder up to cradle her cheek. “I realize what happened, but I can’t help but think of you as mine.”

  Tris slung the rifle from her shoulder and handed it to Kevin before embracing her foster parents. “You basically were my parents for nine years. I used to think you were part of the conspiracy, but you really did believe I was crazy.” She sniffled. “I don’t mind continuing to think of you as my parents, but you should know…”

  Yana smiled and cried. “We wondered what had happened to you. You’d been so sweet up until nine… and then every time you smiled at us it felt like you were hiding something. Like one day you all of a sudden couldn’t stand us and… were afraid.”

  Tris looked down. “That’s the day we left VR. The daughter you thought you had was a computer program.”

  The ISF, and a handful of armed citizens, herded the remaining three members of the Council out through the crowd at gunpoint. Kevin shook hands with Alex and the youngest as they passed close enough.

  “They tried to give me a memory overlay that would’ve made me believe I’d grown up with you my whole life. The AI blocked it… as far as I knew, you were adoptive parents they put me with less than a day after they told me my dad died in an accident at his lab.” She sighed. “I took in a kid, and… even if you weren’t conditioned to believe you’d given birth to me, it doesn’t matter. You’re my parents.”

  Marcus smiled and wiped a tear or two.

  “Tris…” Yana clamped onto her and sniffled.

  “She does kinda resemble you,” said Kevin. “Almost the same shade of blue eyes.”

  “Umm… Mom… Dad… this is Kevin.” Tris put a hand on his shoulder and pulled him closer. “He… uhh… we…”

  Kevin’s face showed a little red.

  Her parents exchanged glances.

  Say it. I can say it. “We’re… well… married.”

  Yana gasped. “No…”

  Tris’ eyebrows furrowed. “Yes. We are.”

  “I mean…” Yana looked at Kevin. “You haven’t had any kind of ceremony have you? We weren’t there. I don’t know what you did. Where were you? They said Detention and the next thing we know you’re out and everything is going crazy. Where did he come from?”

  Kevin laughed.

  Oh… maybe it was better being an orphan. She flashed a cheesy smile. “It’s a long story. I’ve spent about nine months out in the Wildlands. I’ve got a daughter”―she held up a calming hand―“adopted. Who I feel ten shades of awful for leaving behind to come here. I’m going home soon.”

  “Home?” asked Marcus. “I suppose we could make room.”

  “No, Dad.” She leaned on Kevin. “We’re going to Nederland. This place is… a little too crazy.”

  “But what about the pairing? Dovarin seemed like such a charming man.” Yana blinked, looking confused as to why she wouldn’t want him.

  “That program was only needed because the Enclave is so isolated.” She scowled. “And if Dovarin comes within five feet of me, he’s going to wind up missing something rather critical to his anatomy.” Tris stared at her hand for a second before making a fist. “As a matter of fact, I’m not quite the same weak little flower I used to be. Maybe I’ll pay him back for that mark he left on my face.”

  “What?” asked Yana. “Mark? What happened?”

  “Okay, Mom. I guess if I’m going to accept you as my parents, I should open up with you. I had trust issues after that whole ‘she’s crazy’ situation.” Tris looked down. “I thought I’d say something wrong and you’d ship me off to a padded cell or something.”

  “We had no idea,” said Marcus.

  “I know that now.” She held a breath for a second, exhaled, and made eye contact with Mom2. “Dovarin… that son of a bitch hit me within a half hour of being alone with him. He didn’t want a wife, he wanted a toy.”

  Yana gasped. Marcus glowered at the crowd. “I thought I saw him outside somewhere… It was a complete mess. ISF shooting at soldiers. Soldiers shooting at soldiers…”

  “The First Tier Administration and the Council had about two hundred military personnel who somehow decided to remain loyal even in the face of the truth,” said Not-Dad from above. “The fighting is ebbing at this point. A handful of holdouts have fled into the Wildlands. I counted twenty-eight of fifty members of the first through third tiers gunned down by a vengeful mob. People are starting to calm.”

  “What about asshole?” asked Kevin.

  “I’m sorry. There are no residents of the enclave with that name,” said Not-Dad.

  Kevin gave Tris the side-eye. “And you say I’m a literal bastard.”

  “Dovarin? He is not dead.” The AI paused for a second. “He was wounded, but he’s filtered in among the crowd, acting like one of those freed from the pods.”

  “They’ll recognize him eventually.” Tris frowned. “He’s not worth the effort… though I would like to give him a good shot across the jaw.”

  Yana gasped. Marcus blinked with a surprised grin.

  “I told you, I’m not the same little timid thing I used to be.” Tris hugged Marcus and lifted him off his feet for a second.

  “She’s had some work,” said Kevin.

  Tris smirked at him.

  Marcus patted her on the back and laughed. “I’m glad to see you smiling. I… we’ve always wondered what we did that you turned into this gloomy, sorrowful little wraith.”

  “Sorry.” Tris bowed her head. “I thought you were part of the lie. Well, I mean you were, but not for wanting to be. And… I think some part of me remembered before the war. I was so little, but the Enclave never truly felt ‘real’ to me. More like I’d been trapped in some strange, future-techno dream that I couldn’t wake up from. I didn’t feel like I belonged here. I still don’t. I’m going back to Nederland. You two can come with us if you want, but I can’t stay here.”

  Marcus hummed with an exhale, and sent an uneasy glance toward the door. “Out there? Are you sure that’s what you want? I mean… they exile people as the greatest punishment.”

  “Dad…” It’s going to take a while to get used to calling him that. “They conditioned everyone to think of it as horrible. It’s not… I mean, okay it’s got its shitty bits, but for the most part it’s fine. The technology is lacking, but as this place pulls its collective crap together and starts contributing to the world instead of trying to destroy it…” She choked up. “I haven’t felt hope in a long time.”

  “Well, they did kind of misplace our house.” Marcus chuckled. “I couldn’t even find it. A lot changed out here in nine years. Wow. Core City never existed. I’m still trying to process that.”

  “Your house doesn’t exist either. Simulation, remember.” Tris sighed. “You don’t have a home to go back to.”

  Yana gave Tris a look equal parts happy and terrified. “I suppose
we could try your Nederland for a little while. If it doesn’t work out, we can come back.”

  Tris spun into Kevin’s arms and kissed him. “I don’t know about you, but I am done with this place.”

  “Me too.” He nodded at the door. “Any idea how to get back to Amaranth?”

  She shrugged. “Well I could always go back the way we came.”

  He paled.

  “No. I said I. You are staying right here away from possible Infected in the subway.”

  He pulled her tight against him. “You know I’m going to go crazy with worry if we split up.”

  “You won’t worry; you’ll be unconscious.” She winked. “Did I mention my dad is a doctor?”

  “So?”

  “Hey, Dad.” Tris knocked on Kevin’s sternum. “Can you fix my man up here with ‘some of them Nanites?’”

  Kevin laughed.

  37

  Wishes

  After two days of long driving, ‘the parents’ still sat ramrod straight in the back seat of the Challenger, stuffed into a pile of children’s clothes. They stared out the windows with the kind of faces Kevin expected he’d make if someone had taken him on a safari tour through a city full of Infected. They seemed afraid to touch anything.

  ‘The Parents’ had more or less kept silent following Tris’ retelling of what had happened in Amarillo. They couldn’t believe that their Enclave would use such a horrible weapon at all, much less on innocent people. She’d gotten a little short with them, perhaps a taste of what the last year or two of her ‘home life’ had been like before Detention. He had to keep a hand over his mouth. She’d sounded so much like a teenager while shouting at them he started to feel like a dirty old man.

  At least it made for a quiet ride.

  Ugh. Kevin shifted in his seat and rubbed the middle of his chest. A slight pressure in his chest felt like a tiny rock balanced atop his heart. According to Marcus, random tingles and pins would continue for a few more days as his new nanites acclimated to his ‘DNA profile,’ whatever that meant, and repaired old scars. To him it had felt like only a minute or two had gone by, but Tris had been sitting next to him, already returned from the Resistance hideout with his stuff, Amaranth, the Challenger, and the rest of the crew in tow.

  She’d spent the ride in the Persephone’s lap, rather ‘Nikki’s.’ Since the artificial woman had apparently helped her deal with Nathan, she invited her to Nederland, and the android accepted. At some point between a four-hour meeting with what remained of the leadership structure of the ISF and their leaving, she’d found the time to issue some command or whatever to the android. She didn’t act like Bee anymore, or even like Snow, the one he’d met at Pinos Altos. ‘Nikki’ wasn’t scary or intimidating at all despite what that body could do. In some ways, the personality had come out like Tris. Not quite as…

  He smiled to himself.

  Not quite as ‘adorable.’ Nikki had a soft spot for people who needed a little help, but perhaps that part of her still controlled by tactical analysis algorithms kept her from being like Tris―no regard for personal danger when she had to help someone. Seeing the artificial woman giggle and tell jokes like some ordinary twenty-five-ish person unnerved him more than the emotionless android throwing people through walls.

  He shivered, picturing the hole in the front of the Council building he’d seen on the way out. The soldier who’d raised a weapon at Tris had more or less liquefied inside his armor when the android hurled him through the wall.

  With each mile closer to Nederland, his anxiety grew. Tris told him a drone had been within spitting distance, loaded with Virus. As far as the AI-dad-thing knew, it had turned the drone back before it released any of its payload. Bullet holes in things carrying liquid doom seemed like a horrible idea… who knew what might’ve leaked.

  Kevin rubbed his thumb back and forth across the little plastic button that would unload the M60s on the hood while picturing everyone in Ned lost to the infection. In his mind, Emma perked up from the gate as she so often did to wave when he pulled up, but this time she’d be staring at him with ‘nobody home’ eyes and bleeding sores on her face.

  His knuckles creaked on the wheel.

  Tris and Nikki looked at him.

  “Can’t wait to get back.” He kept his gaze forward. That android really does look like her older sister.

  Before too long, he followed the road west away from Boulder.

  “Are those… trucks?” asked Yana.

  He snapped out of his fog, startled by the appearance of Nederland’s gate. He hadn’t even noticed it in his morose thousand-yard stare. Much to his relief, a smiling (and quite normal-looking) Emma jumped up and down on the left side truck. After a few seconds, the thirteen-year-old guard trained a pair of binoculars on them.

  Kevin waved and smiled.

  Old Socrates emerged next, still wearing the same battered duster coat and hat.

  Emma yelled something that reached the Challenger only as a high-pitched warble, and jumped down. The dump truck bin on the left shuddered open. Emma darted across the road to the other side. Kevin rolled to a halt for less than four seconds before the other truck bed scraped over the paving to open.

  “Yes, I do believe those are trucks,” said Marcus.

  “You’re back!” Emma ran up to Tris’ door and grabbed on. “What happened?”

  Tris put her hand on top of Emma’s. “It’s over. We destroyed the Virus, and all the drones. I’ll tell you the whole thing sometime. Right now, I need to get home.”

  “Yeah.” Emma nodded. “Abby’s been kind of a mess. She’s hanging on, but she’ll be thrilled to have you back.”

  “Thanks.” Tris looked down as they pulled away from the gate.

  Kevin felt the same guilt, but let it out on a sigh. “She’ll understand.”

  “I hope so,” whispered Tris.

  He drove through the town, drawing a small group of curious followers, and pulled off the road onto the grass to the right of their house.

  “Well, place is still standing.” Kevin shut down the car’s six switches. “Oh, damn do I need to stretch my legs.”

  He opened the door and got out before pulling the seat forward to give Marcus room to leave the car with his case of Enclave-tech medical supplies. They’d last a few months here, but a trip to get more once the dust settled would likely occur.

  Abby’s scream carried from down the road back by Bill’s place. Her long brown hair trailed behind her and she made it about halfway before her haste sent her moccasins flying. Kevin left Marcus to fend for himself and rushed around the back end of the car. Tris sprinted to Abby, catching her in a kneeling hug a short distance away from the house.

  Everything Abby tried to say came out as sobbing. She reached toward Kevin as he jogged over. Tris stood, lifting Abby off her feet. Kevin embraced the pair of them; such relief and joy washed over him he couldn’t find words.

  “Kevin!” squealed Zoe. She hit him in the side like a blonde missile, grabbing on and cheering.

  Abby clung to them both, bawling uncontrollably. A few times, she came close to forming words like ‘you’re alive,’ or a slurred mumble ending in ‘scared.’

  Kevin cradled the back of her head in one hand. “We’re sorry for scaring you.”

  “You’re back.” Abby sniffled, cried for a few seconds more, and gasped for air. “I was scared you weren’t gonna make it.”

  Me too. “Well… we did, and you’re stuck with us for a while now.”

  “We shot down drones,” chirped Zoe.

  “You did?” Tris gasped. “Or do you mean ‘we’ as in the town?”

  Zoe puffed up her chest, fists on her hips. “I shot one down. Abby spotted it. Militia got another one ’couple days after… and me an’ Abby shot at another one, but we scared it away.”

  Tris burst into tears.

  Abby went still; all the color faded from her face. “That was the one, wasn’t it? That one had the stuff in it…”

&nb
sp; Kevin nodded.

  “Uhh.” Abby looked ready to throw up.

  “It’s all gone.” Kevin patted her on the back.

  Tris clung to them both, fighting back trembles. “All of it. There’s no more Virus left in the world.”

  “Hey.” Kevin reached into his armored jacket. “I brought you something.”

  Abby bit her lip and canted her eyebrows up in the middle.

  He pulled out the silver cylinder. “This is a vaccine injector. It’s like the one they gave Tris when she was a little kid. Younger than you are now. After this, even if an Infected bites you, you can’t get sick. It won’t be too long before the Infected are gone for good.”

  Tris kept rubbing Abby’s back. “Some friends gave us that before we went to the Enclave. We had to get through a whole tunnel full of Infected. Kevin didn’t take it. He wanted you to have it.”

  Abby hugged him before breaking down and crying into his shirt.

  Kevin hadn’t thought much about it, but Tris insisted Marcus inoculate him too. At least the extra half hour in the infirmary let them confirm the cylinder Amaranth gave them checked out. Since they had the means to verify, he couldn’t think of giving it to Abby without being absolutely sure what it contained.

  “You could’ve died,” wailed Abby.

  “Nah.” Kevin ruffled her hair. “I’m too sneaky. And I had Tris to watch over me. I was only gonna run past Infected for a couple minutes. You needed to run through your dreams for a bunch of years still.”

  Abby looked up at him with a guilty smile. “I don’t wanna ever catch it.” She held out her arm. “Please?”

  “Maybe it’s a ass needle?” asked Zoe.

  “Uhh.” Abby glanced at her friend. “Is it?”

  “Shoulder’s fine,” said Marcus, walking over. “Do you know how to work it or would you rather I administer it?”