The Givers (Pack)

by Jones, Rogue

  We left the tent, the three of us walking together, sand and dust blowing up around our feet with each step. We headed towards the lake. Except for rain, it was our water source for everything. Solar panels had been set up to provide warm water for showers. We relied heavily on solar panels, thankfully, it was tech that the Givers had never bothered with, and it was ready to be used whenever we found it. A shower would feel good. After the shower, I sank into a deep, dreamless sleep.

  Usually the sun wakes me up this time I woke up because I could hear activity outside. Lots of it. I threw on my boots and headed outside, squinting into the sun. I listened and then I heard the cause of the excitement, a car engine. I looked back into the old barn that housed the two operating vehicles that we had a VW bus and some ancient looking car that was such a hodgepodge of different parts that no single make or model could be identified. I rode in that car once, scarier that facing any Giver, let me tell you. That car was held together with duct tape, chewing gum, and prayer.

  From where we are, there are three main roads. One leads up to the California border, one leads to the East, and one continues South. It was from the road from the East that the sound was coming from and from the dirt clouds in the air, they were nearly here. Why had no alarm been sounded, I was starting to get annoyed and it must have shown in my face.

  “They phoned ahead,” Mom said, laying a hand on my arm. She smiled, “Just like in the old days, company called before arriving.” I smiled and relaxed.

  “Who are they?” I asked mom.

  Before mom could answer, Dr. Hopewell provided the answer I was looking for, “Allies. The Givers are trying to figure out what happened and from all reports, they think that the strike came from the North, from further up the coast and they are heading that way. The Givers have pulled out from southern Arizona, leaving some valuable territory unguarded.”

  I looked up, hope flared like a supernova, “Yuma! The marine base at Yuma?”

  Laughing, Dr. Hopewell nodded. “Yes. The base, although heavily damaged has been closely guarded for all of these years. The group out there monitors it, and they have reported that at least 75% of the Givers are gone. We are going to take the base back! Several of us are going to Yuma to help. We have a stock of vials of venom and more of the flu, they have developed a poison from scorpions, and their doctors also have the flu bug, plus something even nastier. The chicken pox!”

  I laughed. The chicken pox, I envisioned the Givers, trying to scratch under their suits. Hey, we take our humor where we find it these days. It was good to laugh. I walked along with Dr. Hopewell to greet the newcomers. As the car rounded the rise in the distance, I did a double take. Did it have wings?

  Rod, our best tech guy, gave a low whistle, “Solar. Sleek.” I squinted, sure enough; those “wings” were solar panels.

  “How can that power a car from Yuma to here?” I asked.

  Rod answered, “It doesn’t. I bet that is a hybrid. Runs on gas and electric, when the battery is low, it switches to gas. They must have found a way to remove the Giver technology and modified it.” Rod, Thomas and the other geeks had just started having success at turning Giver tech into items that were safe for us to use. The good news about Giver tech was that it did not seem to have a long shelf life; it was as if the little chips they integrated into all of our own technology had a little nugget of organic material, which would eventually become inert. Once inert, we could use it.

  The Givers, reliant upon their own organic technology and items, probably never figured that a ten or fifteen year life for the items would be a problem. I don’t think they thought that we would be a problem for that long. Still, separating their chips from even the most basic of items had proved problematic, as the pile of destroyed toasters, blenders, and even electric shavers proved. Once they figured out what steps to take to disable the fail-safe circuits that would self-destruct, burning out the product totally, it became easy to start to re-assemble things for us to use. A joint project was being put together to get cell towers working again.

  The car glided to a stop. With a hiccup, the motor turned off, the door opened, and a tiny woman stepped out. I mean, she must have been sitting on a cushion; she was perhaps five feet tall. From the backseat, two men emerged and then a tall woman from the passenger seat. They all stretched, looking around. The shorter woman seemed to be looking for somebody and then her lined face broke out into a smile.

  “Brent, get your ass out here!” Standling hustled over, leaned down, and gave her a big hug. He turned around, “Everybody this is Anne Standling; otherwise known as, my mother.” Ah, that is right, Standling had come from the encampment nearest Yuma, I had forgotten that even though it was a recent event. Known as the Desert Rats, their encampment was bigger than ours was, and was a major hub in the network. Information from the South passed up through us, but the Desert Rats were a major hub for the lower half of the United States, along with Florida and one in Texas.

  The woman from the passenger seat was tall, with short blonde hair, a tattoo of a snake crept up her shoulder, ending behind her ear. She wore fatigue pants, a bright pink tank top and had tortishell glasses on. I did not recognize her but Rod and Thomas were practically drooling, in fact, our entire tech group was. I elbowed Thomas.

  “Ah, that is Diane Heart, guru of gadgets.” He looked at me expectantly but my blank face must have told him that I was clueless so he continued, “She is a genius at gadgets. Prior to the Givers, she was one the Forbes list of most powerful women for her designs.”

  I turned my attention to the two men who got out of the backseat. They were muscled, very muscled. They filled out their combat pants very nicely. Their eyes roved the crowd, always checking and never resting. I pinned them as security. Thomas nudged me, “Stop drooling over those muscle bound dudes.”

  I nudged back, “I wasn’t!” Okay, so I had been, just a little bit but I didn’t see the need to tell Thomas that. Anne Standling introduced herself to the crowd, then Diane and then the two mean. The slightly taller man, with the shoulder length brown hair she introduced as Talon. The shorter man, with a buzz cut, was introduced as Mike Edge. Both men nodded curtly and then went back to what they were doing, surveying the crowd. They each had a holster on their hip.

  A camouflage tarp was unrolled and flung over the car and the group headed toward the medical tents. I lingered behind with Thomas but Dr. Hopewell gestured for us to follow and so we fell in line behind the others. Tina and Bob joined us, summoned by Dr. Hopewell as well. Indeed, most of us, except for the ones that usually stayed behind, such as the young, the old, the sick, the teachers, the medics and the rest that did not go on raids or missions. Would we all be going to Yuma?

  Once in the tent, people found chairs and sat down. The air practically vibrated with energy, but the good kind. The kind of energy that motivates and gets stuff done, I think anticipation would be a better word for it. Anne Standling strode to the front of the tent. For being so short, she was certainly a commanding presence. I know that her son was certainly one for getting things done with efficiency; I could see now whom he learned that from.

  She spoke, her voice firm but it had a musical harmony to it, “Some of you know me. I am head of the medical team of the Desert Rats. I used to help cure disease; now I am helping to create them.” She nodded at Standling, “My son came up with the idea about the diseases affecting the Givers. Word has been spread, and will continue to spread about how to effectively use common disease cultures to weaken and hopefully destroy them.”

  To my surprise, she pointed towards the corner where Thomas, Tina, Bob, and I sat, “Thanks to these four, we have proof not only that the cultures work but that they work quickly!” She gave a nod to Diane, who unfolded her long body from the chair to stand.

  “As you can see, we have been able to un-chip vehicles and make them run again. Because fuel supplies are finite, we are running on hybrids using solar. We have been able to grow quite a bit. We stay under
the radar by sticking to small groups, spread out. We have been able to get short wave radios working and from what we have heard, groups working along the coast, especially in Los Angeles are close to being able to restore some cell tower service.”

  Taking a drink, she continued, “However, my focus is solar. With solar power and cars that have been modified to remove the Giver tech, we can be mobile again. I have the schematics here for you. I’ll be meeting with your tech guys to help them learn how to do this. You will then send somebody with the schematics to the next nearest encampment to train them and so forth. Soon, we will all be mobile again!”

  We were on our feet cheering. Mobile means faster strikes, more strikes, and being able to range further! The mood in the tent could only be described as euphoric. We did not know it, but it was about to get better.

  Diane waved us quiet, “We all know that their weapons are laser beam based. Although we do have guns, our bullets are not efficient against their bioorganic suits. However, their suits ARE vulnerable to their own lasers! We have tested this out; the problem is, getting the lasers in the first place.”

  She held up a small box, “Ultrasonic emitter; it will disrupt their laser weapons, allowing you to kill them. Once you do, take the laser. The lasers will only fire for us, but because they lose power when not continually connected to a bio-suit, you will be able to only use each laser about five to ten times but that is better than nothing.”

  Diane sat down and Talon and Mike Edge stood up and made their way to the front. I heard Thomas snort from behind me and I shot him a glare, he rolled his eyes at me. Mike Edge took center, “Most of you are not trained in hand-to-hand combat. That will change. This is the largest mission we will have ever undertaken. With the laser disrupters you will be able to get close to them if need be, and we will be training you for how to take them down quick and fast.”

  The crowd was quiet. Those suits are sturdy; gunfire does not even pierce them. Yes, we can disrupt the laser, when close enough, but those suits are a serious problem. I was about to ask about that when Talon took center of the room.

  “The Givers have fortified the suits against projectile weapons. However, while tough against projectiles, their suits are actually fairly easy to disable when used hand to hand. The joints are built to take a fast moving projectile, but if you hit them with a broad strike from close up, it will disable that section of the suit. You can then use a dart, a gun, or their own laser to take them down. They are also vulnerable at their air pack on their back and their nose. Disrupt their air filter and you have an opportunity to take them down easily. A fast, hard strike to the ear hole will also stun them.”

  Anne Standling took the center again, “We will be taking some of you back to Yuma. The ones who can fight will go. The ones who cannot and the tech people, they will stay. We need you to work on learning how to build the sonic disrupters and on how to convert cars to being usable to convert to hybrid and solar.”

  Mike Edge stood up, “I will be staying here as well, with Diane. The ones who stay behind will be trained as well, just in case. Talon will be going back to Yuma with you, along with Anne. Luck be with us all.” He nodded to Anne and sat down.

  My mind was racing, Thomas was one of our tech people, I looked at him, and his eyes were already on mine. Dr. Hopewell sat down next to us, “Thomas, we need you here.” She looked at me, sorrow in her eyes, touched my arm briefly, and then left. Bob and Tina exchanged glances and left. Although others were in the tent, it felt like it was just the two of us. I felt tears threaten. I rarely cried and I fought back against them.

  Without saying a word, Thomas took my hand and led me out into the night air. The air was chilled and the stars twinkled brightly. To avoid having to say anything, I stared at the stars. I used to know at least ten constellations, now I knew the North Star and the Big Dipper. I wondered which star system the Givers came from and how many other planets they had destroyed. Maybe we were the first, but I doubted it. They were so coldly confident about what they did to us, we must not have been the first.

  We walked away from the lake, down to one of the arroyos. I heard coyotes in the distance and a rabbit skittered out from a bush and ran for cover. That is what we were to the Givers, rabbits. Only these rabbits were about to fight back. We ran, but only to grow strong and to organize but we were coming out of the shadows now. We were rabbits but we were running towards danger this time, not away.

  However, Thomas and I had been friends since we were 18. We met in Hell and it suited us. Now, suddenly, we were going to be apart. Neither of us had ever dated much, not that anybody “dated” anymore. Truth be told, whenever I saw another man, I always measured them up to Thomas, and found them to be lacking. We had never even kissed each other but yet under the moon and the stars I could not image spending a life where I would never kiss him.

  That is what I did, pulled him towards me with a ferocity that surprised me. The kiss tasted of dust but it was probably the best kiss that I have ever had. It felt right and it was something that we should have done long ago.

  “Well…I….wow,” Thomas was at loss for what to say so I saved him the trouble and kissed him again. As we broke apart, he sighed, “Finally.” I lightly punched him the shoulder and he smiled. I knew then that I loved Thomas. In this Hell, in this chaos, things made sense with him. When I saw him, I saw us and it pleased me. Thomas lived by himself, and without saying a word, I followed him to his place.

  I woke up to a tangle of sheets and the sound of somebody knocking on the door. Looking sheepish, Thomas and I hopped around to get dressed and opened the door at the same time. My mom stood there, a smile beaming from ear to ear.

  “About time, however, they are moving out soon. I’ve always wanted to say that, moving out.” Oh, that meant that I would soon be leaving my mom and Thomas behind. My heart clenched a little bit.

  “I’ll watch over her,” Thomas whispered into my hair. My mom raised an eyebrow at him and he amended his statement, “I’ll keep an eye out on her.” Mom’s eyebrow raised further, turning red, Thomas said, “I mean, if she needs me to haul water or help with the kids, I’ll be there to help.” Mom smiled and nodded. Yeah, I know how Thomas felt; my mom was tough as nails.

  I held up a finger to signal to mom that I would be right out and she nodded. We closed the door. I put my boots on in silence. I was not sure what to say. Thomas beat me too it, “I’ll see you before you leave and I’ll see you when you get back.” He kissed me softly and gave me a push towards the door. I went through the door, paused, and then kept going, shutting the door behind me. Looking back can be dangerous, and I do not want to think about what I am leaving behind, I need to have him to look forward to coming home to.

  Mom fell into step beside me, still smiling. I know my mom, that smile was holding back a lot of fears. Fears that I felt swirling around me, almost more real to me than the dust kicked up by my boots made my heart pound. Silently, side-by-side, we went back to our house and we began to pack for my trip. It did not take long to pack my clothing. I took my bow, and one of the pistols. The other I left with mom. I left her half of the ammo as well. So far, we had not needed it out in Hell, but you never knew. The best way to be safe anymore is to never take your safety for granted.

  Shouldering my pack, I walked out of the house, into the sunshine; mom holding my elbow, and I let her. I saw that during the night more cars had arrived, we would be riding in style to Yuma. I stowed my pack in the car that Tina was leaning against. All of the cars were painted in desert camouflage; all had the wide solar panel wings. I tried to imagine being driven to Yuma from here, and was a bit disquieted to realize that I was going to not enjoy it. I was used to riding a horse, reigns in my hand, totally in control of the situation.

  Mom hugged me, kissed my cheek and then she turned to melt into the crowd. My eyes scanned but did not see Thomas and I felt a pang of sadness. Actions had to be done for the greater good of the people, not because of what we w
anted so I had to go and we both knew it. Dwelling on it would not change it. But I would use that emotion and harness it to make me fight better. We would win. We had to win.

  As goodbyes were said and the cars were packed, we got into the cars. Tina and I in the backseat of one, with Bob in the front and one of the Desert Rats driving, a sweet looking young girl who managed to pack more swearing into a single sentence than anybody I know. She introduced herself as Lina, showed us how to use the seat belts and we were off.

  Tina reached for my hand at the same time that I reached for hers. We were buckled into a car, racing over unused roads, bouncing along, with most of our weapons stowed in the trunk, strapped in! I was starting to get claustrophobic. Bob was trying to be stoic, but from the way he was gripping the door and from the look on his face, he was not faring much better than we were.

  “Not used to this huh? Well, soon we all will be again. If you are going to be sick, hang your head out the window.” Lina said, after assessing that her passengers were not sitting easy in the car. After the first hour in the car, we were able to relax. I had come from the coast down to Hell, so we were traveling land that I was not familiar with. As we got closer to the border, more empty houses and ransacked towns. Sometimes we passed people, peeking fearfully out from broken windows.

  The border was a maze of burned out cars, tangled fences, and buildings that had been blown apart. For the close quarters that we would be using, the cars folded the solar panels and the entire array was moved to the top of the car, allowing us to navigate better. A pack of dogs stood on a hill, watching us, as we, and every car in the caravan, maneuvered the solar array to their new position.