“What?”
“Oh, come on, don’t what me.”
“Is this some more vagrant mind-reading junk?”
“I don’t need to be a vagrant to know what you’re thinking. Pressing, vagrants, Apostles, your home being destroyed and your family killed, and you are thinking about Carl.” She picked up a bag from their transport and slammed it into his chest, almost knocking him over.
“You can sleep wherever you want,” Stefani said. “And here’s some advice: don’t fall in love; it’ll just hurt worse when they die.”
“That’s real insightful.”
“Especially with her.”
He watched as Stefani stalked off into the darkness toward the tent she shared with Carlee. A pair of boulders not too far from the transport had a welcoming look, so Jeff hobbled over to them and set up his sleeping bag. It was a frustratingly difficult task with only one arm. He kept trying to use his left arm, which no longer existed.
The exhaustion he had been ignoring fully set in by the time he managed to crawl into his sleeping bag. The night air was warm, but it was comforting to be nestled in his bag. The stars were bright, but he had seen those before. Jeff rolled onto his side and looked over to the vagrants’ camp, which had settled down in a hurry.
Two men sat near the faux fire, sipping on drinks. Someone was sitting in front of a glowing panel of indicators on the back of one of the larger transports. All the other tents were dark and silent, except for Jane’s. It glowed weakly from the inside.
It was the first time that he had the opportunity to miss his home. Everything had happened so quickly since his fight with Canon. He didn’t mention it to Chad or Dane, but he had been proud of himself. The coalition ensured that no one excelled or had a better life than others. More importantly, the coalition engrained into everyone that prosperity was only to be sought for the community and species as a whole. But he had longed to be the best fighter. He had never wanted much out of life—expectations in this world only led to regrets at death—but he had wanted that.
A meaningful death had been the only thing he dared to aspire to, but now he was here, with the vagrants and safe for the time being—until the Apostles were able to track them down, or some warlord ran them through. Given the circumstances, a meaningful death still sounded like an attainable goal, but he foolishly let his mind wander to other possibilities.
He could go to Dallas, assuming they could get him there without getting themselves killed. Maybe he would find a woman and have some kids, hoping Petra didn’t turn on them or use them for some Apostolic experiment.
He could be Chad.
No. Chad was dead. Jeff didn’t have anyone to protect anymore. He didn’t have anyone to live for. He couldn’t sit around knowing that Dane, the mayor, Horus, and the white Apostle lived while his brother was dead. He would avenge them; he owed his brother that much.
The light went out in Jane’s tent, as if she had reached the answer at the same time Jeff had. The only way that vengeance was possible was if he became a vagrant.
6 LEADERSHIP
“HE DIDN’T TELL US THE entire story,” Jane said. “There is more to him than we understand. His motivations are unclear, his history muddled, and we can’t afford to be teaching anyone right now.”
“But Horus left him alive,” Carlee said.
“Jeff said there were other survivors,” Talon said.
“Sure, but why were the leeches around his body? That’s what I keep thinking about,” Carlee said. It was early in the morning, and the day was starting as they usually did, with Carlee discussing matters with Jane and Talon. They didn’t have a formal title for their leadership council; it had just developed naturally over time.
“What are you suggesting?” Jane asked.
“I don’t know what I’m suggesting. But it seems a little too convenient that the only survivor of the attack was someone with pressing tendencies. I saw it—he picked up on the ambush before me or Stefani. That doesn’t just happen.”
“If he has vagrant instincts, then the riddle is solved,” Talon said. He didn’t speak often, but his deep voice was impactful every time he did. Usually, he sat quietly while Jane bounced her thoughts off Carlee, but today, he clearly had an agenda. She didn’t want to have to compete with Talon, but Jeff needed them.
“I don’t think it’s that simple,” Carlee said.
“Are you suggesting that Horus has discovered a way to tell whether a person has developed the ability to press even in its more limited forms?” Jane asked.
“Is it unreasonable?”
“It is unreasonable,” Talon said.
“It is troubling. The paths that would occur from such an invention would be dark indeed for our kind. And all the more reason why it would be an unnecessary hazard to have the young man join us.”
“But if it’s true, we can’t leave him, especially in Dallas, where Petra might be able to discover his abilities. He wouldn’t live long.”
“I pondered this last night as I said I would. It has been a while since I let my mind wander along so many paths, trying to get an understanding of what our new friend is capable of.”
“He’s already been too much of a distraction, then,” Talon said.
“A distraction? People like him are exactly who we are trying to help. If we can’t help him, what are we even doing out here?”
“Please, I won’t have the two of you out of harmony,” Jane said. “Especially now, when unity is more important than ever. Paths exist for us all, and there are more for Jeff than for most, not all of which are on track to destinations we want to associate with. I don’t want to put the vagrants in any more danger than they are already in.”
“Jane, when I found him, I could—”
“We have more important things to discuss,” Talon said.
“For Jeff, this is the most important,” Carlee said.
“You are free to do as you wish at any time, Carlee. I hope you will stay with us—your presence is invaluable to our cause—but I will not fault you for leaving.”
“I’m not going to leave you,” Carlee said. Her frustration gave way to defeat. She knew that Jeff was meant to stay on the same path as them, at least for now, but there was no persuading Jane. She had promised herself that she would always follow Jane, ever since Jane had proven her wisdom in the most painful of ways. But it wasn’t always easy. And her heart begged her to try to convince her again, but she knew now wasn’t the time. Not with Talon set against her. She would try again after the meeting ended, when she could catch her alone.
“Then let us focus on other matters.” Jane took a deep breath and let it out slowly. It wasn’t going to be good news, but they hadn’t had much of that lately. “We now know the Apostle behind the leech forces streaming in from the north. Horus is apparently aiming to rekindle the Apostolic Wars.”
“Do you know why?” Carlee asked. She set her concern for Jeff aside; this was potentially a history-altering issue playing out. The first time the Apostles had gone to war, the world had collapsed beneath the struggle.
“Its motivations are a mystery to me. I continue to direct us away from its forces, but it is not easy with our stalker.”
“We still haven’t shaken it, then?”
“There are numerous paths, but it keeps appearing in many of them. Whichever Apostle this is, it is entirely focused on tracking us down. I don’t believe any of our traditional methods to conceal our travel are going to work. Furthermore, with Horus’s forces closing in around us, our options are limited.”
“And you still believe that Dallas is our best chance?”
“Do you not?” Jane asked. Carlee looked to Talon and back to Jane.
“I don’t.”
7 JEFF’S PATH
THE SUN ROSE SLOWLY OVER the desert. It had been a short night, despite the little sleep he had enjoyed. He felt like a new man after finding a purpose that focused him unlike ever before. Joining the vagrants slowly emerging fro
m their tents for breakfast was the first tiny step on his path to revenge.
As soon as Stefani left her tent, Jeff started down the small slope toward the only vagrants he felt comfortable talking to.
“You’re still here,” Stefani said. She sounded half-asleep as she stumbled over to where some grills were crackling with food.
“Couldn’t exactly run away . . .”
“Oh, that’s right. You can’t run,” Stefani said. She sounded as amused as she possibly could be, given the hour.
“Where’s Carlee?” Jeff asked.
“Talking to Jane, probably about your fate.” Her response was less than enthusiastic.
“Oh.” He didn’t ask any further questions. He didn’t want to come off as overly concerned about the decision—or Carlee.
“Take a seat, Handsome. I’ll get your food for you,” Stefani said. She had a way of talking that made it sound like it wasn’t a command but also conveyed that it wasn’t an offer he could refuse.
“Thanks,” Jeff mumbled as he wandered over to where some supply crates were stacked around the faux fire. People gathered around energy cells in Fifth Springs as well, and the connection helped him relax.
“So how was it, really?” an older man asked as he took a seat next to Jeff.
“What?”
“Being right up next to ole Horus? Did you crap your pants?”
“Honestly, I think I might have at some point. But I wasn’t in the best of shape.” Jeff gestured to his missing arm.
“That’s a trip . . . Jeff, is it?”
“Yeah,” Jeff said. “I’d shake your hand, but you’re on my bad side.”
“Drew. You keeping your head together?”
“Trying to.”
“I only joined up a few months ago, and I’m still trying to find my way with these vagrants,” Drew said. “I’d been pressing for a few years on my own, though, so it wasn’t as rough for me. Thought I was some kind of Jesus there for a while, turning stones into bread.”
“How’d they find you?”
“Find me? Ha! I found them.”
“No, he didn’t. Jane had Talon swoop in and grab him before an Apostle could put the poor old man out of his misery,” Stefani said. She handed him a plate with eggs, sausage, and potatoes on it. It was the finest breakfast he had seen in years.
“That’s not how I remember it,” Drew said.
“That’s because you’ve been pressing for too long.”
Drew grumbled a response, but he didn’t seem interested in continuing the conversation with Stefani around. It was a shame; Jeff liked the man. He seemed more human than the rest of the vagrants he’d met.
“So . . . When do we head for Dallas?” Jeff asked.
“You that eager to get away from us?”
“Not at all,” Jeff said. He swallowed deeply and tried his best to sound casual. “I was thinking that I might stay. Become a vagrant . . .”
“Just yesterday you were trying to decide whether you wanted to stare down an Apostle with a crutch or come with us. Now you want to enlist. You hit your head again last night?”
Stefani didn’t bother chewing her food all the way before talking, but that didn’t bother him. Manners were another one of those luxuries that people didn’t have time for these days.
“Maybe I won’t.”
“Yeah, maybe you won’t,” Stefani said with a wink. “Tell me this isn’t about Carl.”
“No! No. Not that she’s not great, but . . .” Jeff checked around for her, but Carlee wasn’t in sight. “I just want to help.”
“Help? Ha!” Stefani said. “What exactly would you like to help with?”
“Er . . . everything.”
“It’s a good thing you’re handsome.”
“Guys with no arms do it for you?” a tall vagrant said as he walked by.
“Yeah, I can help you with that if you want, Louis,” Stefani said with an edge to her voice that Jeff hadn’t heard since they had first met.
“Look, I know that I don’t know anything about how you guys work or even what you do. But you saved my life, and it sounds like you are at least trying to do something. That’s better than everyone else, just sitting around waiting to die.”
“That’s quite the outlook on life,” Stefani said.
“Why do you do it?” Jeff said. “Why are you a vagrant?”
“Best food around,” Stefani said with a grin.
Jeff shook his head and focused on eating his breakfast instead. It was as delicious as any he had ever tasted. He looked around for Carlee; she was the one he needed to convince, not Stefani.
“You said we might not be going to Dallas?” Jeff asked after he had finished his food. He couldn’t find Carlee, so he tried his luck with Stefani again.
“Jane can seem a bit erratic to the people who don’t know her,” Stefani said.
“Does that bother you?”
“I learned to stop worrying about it. I just sit back and do what I’m asked. It was hard at first, but I got used to it.”
“Can I ask why she’s in charge?” He had kept a loose eye on Jane’s tent, but she hadn’t emerged yet.
“She’s not in charge,” Stefani said. “Not like you’re thinking anyway.”
“Huh?”
“She isn’t some phony leader the coalition set up or something. We don’t have to follow her. There is nothing keeping us here. She can’t punish us or anything like that.”
“But you follow her anyway.”
“I do.”
“Why?”
“I’ve never met anyone like Jane. She just knows . . . what to do. And when to do it,” Stefani said softly. “At least some of the time anyway. Personally, I think Carl should be—”
“Telling secrets with the new kid, eh, Stef?” one of the twins he had seen last night said.
“Don’t listen to a thing she says,” his twin said, addressing Jeff. “She’s a real heartbreaker.”
“You’ll get over it someday, Paul,” Stefani said flippantly.
“When are you going to give me a rematch?” the first twin asked.
“Jane said no more playing that game, Lion. And I get into enough trouble without sticking you full of knives.”
The twins took a seat next to Jeff and started to eat their meals.
“Tell us the truth, kid,” Paul said. “Was Stefani the one who cut off your limbs? You can tell us. We’ll protect you.”
“These two have never found a fight they wouldn’t run from,” Stefani said.
“She actually made me the new one.” He gestured to the incredibly light metal leg attached to the stump of his right leg. It was still hard to believe that it was there and his flesh had been left behind in an ash pile.
“Explains the poor workmanship,” Paul said.
“No offense intended,” Lionel said.
“Couldn’t press him something better to work with?” Paul asked.
“To you anyway,” Lionel said talking to Jeff.
“Paul and Lionel, as you see before you,” Stefani said, making an obvious effort to address Jeff, “are the two dumbest vagrants traveling with us. At first, I was convinced Jane meant them as some sort of long-running joke. But sadly, they’re merely the team idiots.”
Jeff wanted to be anywhere but where he was. There wasn’t going to be a fight, at least he didn’t think there would be one, but it was extremely uncomfortable. The other vagrants around the campfire made noticeable efforts to stay out of the quarrel.
“So, what were you before all of this happened?” Stefani asked. She spoke only to Jeff. It didn’t feel like a question that she was genuinely interested in hearing the answer to.
“I fixed things, or at least I tried to. I didn’t have much to work with. Sometimes I helped tend the crops when they needed me.” He answered her question despite her lack of real interest.
Thankfully, Paul and Lionel lost interest in the conversation and turned to talk to another vagrant on their right, a p
retty woman a few years younger than Jeff with dyed-gray hair.
“That’s it?” Stefani asked.
“And I boxed.”
“Now, that’s more interesting! You seem a little small for a boxer . . . were you any good?”
“Never lost.”
“Impressive. Did you lose your strong hand?”
“Didn’t lose anything,” Jeff said. “I can still whoop anyone with just this one.”
It wasn’t true, and he knew it. His left arm had always been his strongest, but it wasn’t in his nature to admit weakness. It was a personality trait that had landed him in hot water with the coalition on a number of occasions.
“I thought the people in the little coalition weren’t allowed to be good at anything.”
“You didn’t grow up in a coalition community?”
“I—” Stefani stopped, and Jeff followed her eyes over to Jane’s tent. Talon was walking toward them in his vagrant uniform, looking as imposing as the rest of the vagrants combined. Jane was next to the tent, talking to Carlee.
Carlee was gesturing enthusiastically while Jane stood and nodded. Everyone around the fire went quiet as they watched the conversation. Jane raised her hand, and Carlee stopped. She nodded her head and stepped aside as Jane approached the fire. The other vagrants in the camp gathered around where Jeff was seated.
“Good morning,” Jane said with a smile. It was friendly enough, but she still seemed as if her mind was somewhere else completely. She would have been pretty if her manner wasn’t so unnerving and if she were a few years older. Age differences were the least of some people’s concerns these days with the limited selection, but it never felt right to him.
“After last night, I still intend to go to Dallas. Some of you have expressed concerns about that path, but the people of Dallas need our help. Logic would detract from my confidence because Petra still resides there, but I believe it is our path,” Jane said.
Jeff expected people to complain or voice opposition, but there was none of it. Some people shrugged or nodded their heads, but most of the vagrants were content to just listen and keep eating.
Vagrants (Vagrants Series Book 1) Page 5
