“Look!” Jinn pointed behind us. I turned and saw the lead Miner vehicle come over the hill. Its front hood had a massive drill attached. The vehicle could drive and dig underground at the same time. “I don’t think they’re going to slow down!” The vehicle sped up toward the wreck, as if it was a small bump to run over. Would it crash into the roadblock?
The wreck exploded upward into the air. There was dust everywhere and I couldn’t see the Miner truck. Then the wreckage flew so high that the Miner vehicle drove right under it. I couldn’t make out their faces; the driver and rider were wearing goggles with a yellow tinge.
“Okay. We’re in trouble,” I said. The wreckage had barely slowed them. This Miner clan was determined and they were catching up.
“They may not be the worst thing in this jungle. Look!” Jinn pointed to the trees ahead. As first I couldn’t make out what I saw. Their eyes were huge and spherical, and each eye was double the size of our heads. They reflected strangely and I could see doubles of copies of the tree around it. It hovered, and I realized large wings were propelling it upward. Its massive legs rubbed together as if was salivating over its next meal. It was a huge fly!
“Can that thing hurt us?” I asked. “It looks like a house fly. Annoying, but can it do anything but buzz around our heads?”
“It can do much more than annoy us; unlike a common fly, it’s an oversized horsefly. Think of a regular fly that takes a chunk of your flesh to get at our blood. A thing that huge can literally rip you apart to get at your blood.”
Great! Maybe we should have surrendered to the Miner clan before entering the jungle? As if it could hear, the fly began to circle around, waiting for an opportunity to land on us.
“Can you drive any faster?” I yelled to Tuko.
“Only if you want me to crash,” he responded without taking his eyes off the road.
The massive horsefly hovered above the vehicle in front of us. The driver closed the window to avoid it from striking. The fly took this as a challenge and buzzed the windshield several times, ramming against the glass. Then it looked at us. Five bodies in an open convertible. A dinner of five waiting with no exterior protection. It rubbed its front legs with glee, as if it was anticipating a yummy meal.
“It’s coming right at us,” Tuko yelled, unable to drive any direction but toward it.
“Tell us something we don’t know,” Jinn growled. Valsa took a long knife and waved at the approaching creature to get its attention.
“Grab something sharp or heavy. If we can’t kill it, make it regret swooping down to take a piece out of you.” Lucaz and I searched around. In the packs from the crashed car we found a tire iron and a whip. Now if we could only hit the bug.
It flew low and fast, swinging right to left. It was difficult to determine which way it was going to strike. Fortunately, the canopy helped keep it in front of us, so it couldn’t attack from behind. It flew at Valsa first; his motion had attracted its attention. It lunged at him. Valsa stabbed upward, but the bug was expert at evading his lunges. I figured its eyes gave it an advantage; you weren’t going to sneak up on this creature.
“Don’t worry, I can keep this thing away from us. It’s tiring, but the bug doesn’t want to be impaled.”
“That is fine — but what are you going to do about those?” Jinn pointed to the trees ahead of us. Several dark shapes were hovering in the leaves. This bug had friends.
“I don’t how good you are with that knife. Unless you get some extra arms, you can’t keep them all away from us,” Lucaz said.
“Not to make this any worse, but the Miners are gaining on us,” Tuko said as he looked in his rear-view mirror.
I turned to see that they were indeed gaining ground. We needed our enemies to attack each other. I struggled to remember what I learned from biology class. I looked at Valsa.
“What attracts the bugs to us? Is our body heat, smell, what we breathe?”
“All of the above. And the fact that we have blood that they would like to drink.”
“I remember clusters of flies near our garbage at home. They circled around the smell. Is there something to entice them to go elsewhere?”
“Check the rest of the packs we unloaded from the wrecked car. There might be some food,” Valsa answered, focused on the sky.
Lucaz and I grabbed the packs and opened the drawstrings. Metal tools, clothes, and a bunch of objects that made no sense to me. Lucaz had more success.
“A container of a sweet-smelling liquid — I don’t know if it’s to drink or a lubricant,” he answered.
“I’ve got someone’s lunch — must be meat. It’s smelly,” I answered. “Let’s put the food in the pockets of that shirt, but don’t pour the liquid on it yet. I don’t want the flies on us any sooner.”
“We may not have any choice; they’re circling us. I won’t be able to fend them off if more than two of them attack,” Valsa answered, swinging his knife from right to left to keep them away.
“Are we going to throw this in a tree?” Lucaz asked.
“We should throw it at our friends.” Jinn pointed behind us.
“I couldn’t agree more.” I smiled grimly. “Tuko, slow down!”
“You think that’s smart? What if your package doesn’t work?” Tuko shook his head as if he didn’t have much faith in my idea.
“They are going to catch us eventually, but my gift may even the odds.” He nodded and grudgingly eased up on the gas. The Miner clan vehicle was only a short distance behind us, and I could see their faces underneath their goggles. They were dirty, as if the underground was always a part of them. I didn’t hate them, but I had no doubt I wouldn’t like being captured by them. It was us or them. Too bad for them.
“Ready?” Lucaz asked.
“Wait for it,” I said, wanting the Miners to get just a shade closer. Then I looked at my cocked arm and realized I was making a mistake. “Valsa, you make the throw. I’m betting you’re good at throwing that knife. Hope you can throw something less aerodynamic.”
“One way to find out,” Valsa said confidently. Lucaz poured the sweet liquid over the bundled shirt with meat sticking out of its pocket. The flies hovered, and I wondered if they could smell the shirt. I could see the reflection of the shirt in the closest bug’s eyes.
“Now!” I yelled as the Miners’ car was close enough to throw their weapons at us. The shirt sailed in the air and hung there for a long time. I almost thought Valsa had overthrown it when the shirt landed in the truck bed. The driver and passenger barely acknowledged it, as if a shirt couldn’t do anything to hurt them. They were wrong.
The flies immediately changed their focus to the Miner’s car. There were at least six bugs now, and they moved as a coordinated unit to surround the Miners’ vehicle. A sharp knife flew out of one of the windows. One of the flies fell backward then flew away from the group and into a tree. The Miner’s vehicle drove, erratically trying to hit the flies, which flew out of reach. Suddenly the Miner’s car flew into the air as it hit a bump while evading the bugs. It landed and rolled on it side. Mercifully, we rounded a corner so there was no way to tell if the flies or the Miners would be the ultimate winner.
“The car flipped on its side. No vehicle behind them will get through for at least a few minutes. The flies bought us some time,” Valsa said. I shuddered as I considered what buying time might look like.
“I can see why you avoid this region,” I said. “What other creatures are we up against?”
Valsa made a face at me. “Let’s just say that you may be wishing for dinosaurs instead of what lives in this jungle. But if we drive fast and don’t hit anymore obstacles, we should get through in about thirty minutes.”
“What if the Miner clan is waiting for us on the other side?” Tuko asked.
“Unlikely. It would take hours to circumvent the jungle. We crossed at the shortest route. Unless they knew we were going to enter here, our enemies are in our rear-view mirror, not the front,” Valsa resp
onded.
Tuko drove at a steady rate, careful not to hit potholes. I slumped back in my seat. I looked at Valsa. “Why? Why are you helping me? You are pitted against so many other clans who want me. Isn’t that going to damage your relationship with them once this is all over? Am I worth it?”
“You passed the trial, Pene. You are kin in the eyes of Rustin. For our clan, that deems you worthy of our protection.”
“No offence, but trading your clan security for one person doesn’t seem like a very strategic plan,” I replied.
“Our father,” Jinn gestured to herself and Tuko, “would have a similar view as a Relic. If a clan always tries to please others, it eventually pleases no one. Especially itself.”
“I’m afraid Spider clan might not be as honorable as Armor or Relic,” Lucaz interjected. “We’re a small clan and pretty dependent on the goodwill of the other clans. I’m not sure even knowing the truth about Pene would change their minds. No one wants to rock the boat.”
“You haven’t spoken much about your clan, Pene. Will they be at the Cradle once we arrive?” Valsa asked. Before I could think of an awkward answer that would probably not fool anyone, Jinn came to my rescue.
“I think several other clans have been impeding their progress to the Cradle. Besides us, Pene is on her own.” Thanks, Jinn. As I had become closer to my new friends, my lies had become harder to manufacture.
“Good thing you met us then,” Valsa nodded. But there was some doubt behind his smile.
“Does it matter? Once we reach the Cradle, isn’t everyone going to grab me to turn me over for the reward? Won’t all of this running be pointless?” I gestured.
“No,” Lucaz answered. “Luther always promoted the Cradle as a safe zone for all clans. No matter what the actions of an individual or a clan, they could not be prosecuted there. The Cradle is our greatest mystery. Once we arrive, everyone has an opportunity to be unhindered by others, to find the answers. Especially with Luther’s death, clans aren’t going to break this rule.”
So I just had to solve this world’s greatest problem and all would be forgiven? Who was I kidding? I was in way over my head. I thought I could get through this on my own, but I owed my life to everyone else in this car. I just wanted to find a way out of this world and closer to where my mom was. Was she still alive?
I hated my home and its constant drone surveillance. But it was better than this place and its constant wars. Alliances seemed to change all the time and no one could really trust each other. Maybe my life before wasn’t so bad. Or maybe this world was what life was really like. Everyone fighting for top spot, always willing to step on whoever was in their way.
“Pene? You okay?” Lucaz was concerned.
“Farthest thing from it. I am surrounded by captors at every turn and have only a car full of friends to protect me. Yet I’ve never had so much fun.” All of us laughed. The sound was alien after my last few days. It felt good. Tuko gave me a sideways look.
“You have a funny outlook, Pene, I wonder if the rest of your clan is so strange. I’d really like to meet one of them.” He looked at me in the rear-view mirror, and I realized that he knew. He knew that I wasn’t part of any clan. He knew that I was a liar.
“Like you’re so normal,” Lucaz teased. “Everyone has a backstory, if you just asked instead of talking about yourself all of the time.” Before Tuko could respond, Jinn interrupted.
“Boys, enough. We talk about what to do once we arrive at the Cradle. It maybe a safe area, but we are not going to be welcomed. Clans will still accuse Pene of being a killer. Like the tree trials, we have to prove her innocence.”
“Can we get Abraham to support us? When he blamed Pene, she became enemy number one. The radio propaganda still promotes stories of her guilt,” Lucaz said.
“We don’t even know if he’s still alive. The last time we saw him, he was on the back of a dinosaur. He didn’t come back to our aid. If he made it out of the desert, I doubt he’s becoming part of my booster club,” I said.
“He’s alive. Abraham is the toughest guy I know,” Tuko said. “He’s also the most stubborn. I doubt he would go back on his statement, even if he knew he was wrong.” The car hit a bump and we lurched. Valsa didn’t participate in our conversation. He was looking for more bugs.
“So, except for the Relic, Spider, and Armor clans and the people in this car, everyone else is going to be against us.”
“Why do you do that?” Jinn spoke. “Why do you pit yourself alone against the world? We can help. We know you are innocent. And explaining what the Chycle clan have been doing with the dinosaurs may sway other clans to our side.”
“Sorry. You must remember a week ago, I didn’t know any of you. I’ve always gone at problems alone. I’m adjusting to the fact that there is a ‘we’ here. Do you think that Chycle have been using the dinosaurs to keep people away from the Cradle?”
“I don’t think so, but if you are constantly fighting against animals that are trying to kill you, you may not be focusing on solving the Cradle’s entrance. I haven’t been there since I was young, but even then I felt the elders in my clan concentrated more on the ceremonies than on creating a solution,” Lucaz offered.
“What if there isn’t an answer?” Tuko said. “You have an entrance with a console that no one has been able to make operational. You can’t climb over or dig under it and you can’t blow a hole through it. What if there is no way in?” Our silence to the question made me uneasy. Then I remembered a class from school
“I remember a history class where two armies fought against each other. One retreated to a huge fort on a hill. The other army attacked all night and day. Each time their losses were immense and the results were few. They examined the fort’s defenses — they were made of stone and could not be burned down. The ground was hard and difficult to dig under. Any battering rams or ladders were crushed the moment they were placed against the fort. The harder they attacked, the more determined the other army was to repel them. Their attacks were feeding the other army’s reserve. The harder they fought, the greater their losses.”
“I don’t remember that history lesson,” Lucaz answered as I realized my slip. My history didn’t match their history.
“Doesn’t matter whose history it is.” Jinn made the save. “What is the lesson?”
“Don’t attack,” Valsa answered without looking at us. His eyes danced amongst the treetops.
“What do you mean?” Tuko asked. “Pack your bags and go home? Great idea, bet lots of armies win that way.”
“No — I think I understand what he’s saying,” Lucaz said.
“Good to see someone is listening,” Valsa commented.
“To keep fighting caused many losses and produced few results. What if they stopped fighting and let the other army come to them?” Lucaz continued.
“You mean let them starve? They could have reserves for months, maybe a year,” I added.
“Nobody said the right answer was the quickest,” Lucaz said.
The car slammed to a stop and I grabbed the door handle to keep myself from flying out. A large fallen tree trunk blocked our path.
“I can’t get through,” Tuko cried. “There is no room to maneuver. We have to move it. Where is the rest of the Relic clan?”
“They’re gone! The tree must have just fallen after the last vehicle passed. But once they realize we’re not behind us, they’ll come back,” Valsa said.
“We may not have enough time for that.” Lucaz pointed. Dust formed in the distance. Another Miner vehicle had appeared and was only moments away. There was no way to avoid a confrontation now. I knew what we had to do.
“Time to follow history then. Let’s stop fighting and bring the enemy to us.”
21
The Light
The vehicle hurtled toward me, intent on reaching its goal.
Me.
I sat on the hood, as inviting a target as possible. The truck slammed on its brakes at the last
second. A plume of dirt sprayed into the air. The engine’s roar died, but no one exited the truck. I watched — the windows were tinted dark. If I was being studied, I could not see them in the cab. The only noise was the screech of a bird. A bead of sweat trickled down my neck as I started to doubt my plan.
The door creaked open and a large man with pale skin, at least the skin not covered by rags, stepped down from the truck. The other door opened as well, and a tall woman stepped out, a zigzag scar crossing her forehead. Goggles covered both of their eyes. I could not tell their eye color and only saw my own reflection. They walked slowly, and even their steps were mirror images of each other. Their heads shuffled to the jungle, as if everything but me was more interesting to them. I made no aggressive moves but waved my hands to get their attention back on me. It worked. Both tilted their heads
As they walked toward me, they neglected to see the hands that reached out from under the car and grasped their ankles. The girl went down quickly. Jinn and Tuko jerked her to the ground. Jinn scurried out from under the car and sat on her while Tuko grabbed her arms. The man stumbled but was too strong for Valsa and Lucaz to pull to the ground. Valsa came out from under the car first, but the man tried to stomp on Lucaz’s fingers. He pulled back quickly, but Valsa had to face the larger man on his own. Valsa threw a punch that was swallowed up in the man’s fist. He pulled Valsa’s wrist to the side, making him kneel to the ground. This wasn’t going as planned.
I grabbed the tire iron from the car and jumped toward the Miner, swinging as I went. He evaded me, but the tire iron did glance off his right shoulder. He barely grunted. His arm shot out at me and grabbed me by my throat like a vise. I tried to kick him in the groin, but he kept me out of reach. I felt light-headed, then the grip released as Lucaz tackled him. Lucaz swung wildly. The man deflected most of his blows, but he was still paying for Lucaz’s savagery. Valsa turned the man and pulled his arms behind him, taking most of the fight out of him. Lucaz didn’t stop in time and knocked the man’s goggles askew. The Miner clan member cried out as if he was experiencing real anguish. I thought I saw what was causing the problem.
Clan World (The World Series Book 2) Page 21
