Scavenger Blood

by Janet Edwards

  “I called on all the divisions to arm their people,” said Aaron. “Weston and Vijay said that our best way to fight drones at close quarters was to throw blankets over them, and then smash them with baseball bats and swords. I opted for short swords rather than broadswords or rapiers, because we’d be less likely to injure each other by accident.”

  Donnell nodded. “In that case, each division had better gather in their own area of Reception, collect their weapons together, and take them back to their armouries. After that, we’ll have a lot of fun trying to work out which tables and chairs belong where.”

  The Resistance moved to stand in the centre of the room, while the other divisions went to their corners of Reception. The division leaders started issuing orders about collecting the weapons.

  Tad frowned at me. “Why are you still standing here, Blaze? You’re supposed to be going to Nadira for treatment.”

  I groaned. “I’m going. I’m going.”

  I went through the curtain marked with a red cross. Nadira had set up a table in front of the Sanctuary staircase, and piled it high with ointments and bandages.

  “What sort of injury do you have, Blaze?” asked Nadira.

  “A very minor laser burn.” I pointed at the damaged area of my coat.

  “And hypothermia,” said Tad’s voice from behind me.

  I glanced over my shoulder, and saw that it wasn’t just Tad that had followed me into Sanctuary, but both Phoenix and Braden as well.

  “Hypothermia?” Nadira looked down at her table. “I wasn’t expecting to need a thermometer during a drone attack.”

  “I’m only a little chilly now,” I said, “and it’s so warm in here that I’ll soon be back to normal.”

  “I’d still better ...”

  Nadira was interrupted by a voice shouting from back in Reception.

  “I am leaving Queens Island division!”

  That was Major’s voice. I hurried to peep through the gap at the edge of the Sanctuary curtain. Major was standing only a couple of paces in front of me.

  Shark’s voice came next. “I am leaving Manhattan division.”

  A moment later, Shark was standing next to Major, and there was the sound of other voices shouting that they were leaving their divisions as well.

  Tad came to whisper in my ear. “Why are they declaring Bronx division earlier than planned?”

  “Because of the weapons,” I whispered back. “They’re grabbing their chance to declare Bronx division while they’re armed.”

  I was anxiously counting the number of people moving to join Major and Shark. Knave brought the total number of Bronx division to twenty-three, mostly men but a handful of women too. There were a few seconds of silence, so I thought that was everyone, but Major and Shark started calling out names, clearly trying to force the hesitant into joining them. Three more people came forward, and I grimaced as I saw Wasp was among them. His leg had recovered enough that he didn’t need crutches to limp across to stand by Shark.

  Again I thought that was everyone, but then I heard Luther’s voice call out. “I am leaving the Resistance.”

  I watched in shock as he went to stand next to Major.

  “What do you think you’re doing, Luther?” demanded Donnell.

  Luther laughed. “What does it look like I’m doing?”

  “We declare a new division for the alliance,” cried Major. “We are Bronx division, and we claim the Sanctuary wing as our territory!”

  Chapter Thirty-eight

  Bronx division was gathered in front of the Sanctuary curtain, all of them armed with short swords. They’d obviously chosen to declare Bronx division there because they were claiming the Sanctuary wing to be their territory. They probably didn’t realize that Nadira, the off-worlders, and I were in here, but this situation was getting dangerous.

  The figures of Bronx division were blocking my view of Reception now, but I heard Donnell’s voice calling out. “You have all broken your oaths of allegiance to your old divisions. An act that is punishable by death. The alliance leaders are willing to grant you an amnesty now, but that offer will never be repeated in future.”

  Major laughed. “I don’t think your amnesty will tempt any of us into returning to our old divisions.”

  “The amnesty isn’t meant to tempt anyone into returning to their old divisions,” said Donnell. “It’s intended to encourage anyone else who wishes to join Bronx division to do it now.”

  “Yes,” shouted Ghost. “Choose your allegiance now, but choose wisely, because this will be an irrevocable decision.”

  “No one will ever be allowed to move to Bronx division in future,” said Ice’s coldly expressionless voice.

  Wall bellowed at a deafening volume. “No one will ever be allowed to return to their old divisions in future either.”

  “Declare your allegiance now or never!” cried Raeni.

  Two more people came to join Bronx division, and there was a pause before Donnell spoke.

  “Anyone else? You have thirty seconds to change your mind before I declare all new allegiances binding.”

  Another long pause, and then Donnell spoke again. “You have made your decisions, and all new allegiances to Bronx division are binding. We’ll now move on to the next problem. There is no Bronx division in this alliance.”

  Major laughed. “There is now.”

  “No, there isn’t,” said Ice. “There is only a new division requesting to join the alliance, as London division requested to join it six years ago.”

  “The existing division leaders voted on London division’s request to join the alliance,” said Raeni.

  Bronx division’s declaration had come earlier than expected, and there was the complication of its members all being armed with weapons, but the division leaders were following the agreed plan. When Bronx division was refused membership of the alliance, and told to leave the Parliament House, there’d be a battle.

  I grabbed Tad’s arm, and dragged him back to where Phoenix, Braden, and Nadira were standing. “Nadira,” I whispered urgently, “are we the only people left in Sanctuary?”

  “Yes.”

  “Then you should take the off-worlders up the Sanctuary stairs and across to the Resistance wing. You won’t be able to use the Parliament Chamber route, because the children are all barricaded inside there. Go to the top floor of Sanctuary, and through the Banqueting Hall. That security door is open now.”

  Nadira nodded and headed up the stairs, with Phoenix and Braden behind her.

  Tad frowned at me. “What about you, Blaze?”

  “I’ll check what’s happening, and then come after you.” I pulled a face. “It won’t take me long to catch you up. Phoenix isn’t going to be able to run up the stairs to the sixth floor, is she?”

  Tad still hesitated.

  “Go and help Phoenix climb the stairs!” I hissed the order at him.

  Tad groaned, turned, and hurried up the stairs. I went back to listen at the curtain.

  “It’s ridiculous to claim there has to be a vote on Bronx division joining the alliance,” said Major. “Every member of Bronx division is already a member of this alliance.”

  I carefully formed words in my mind. “Gun command tracking display on.”

  The tracking display appeared, showing hundreds of white dots in the Reception area. Most of them were clustered into five groups, positioned in the four corners and the centre of the room, but there was a smaller group of white dots just in front of me. The single green dot of Donnell seemed tantalizingly close to me while also an immeasurable distance away.

  “Every member of Bronx division has broken their allegiance to their old divisions,” said Raeni. “That means you aren’t alliance members any longer.”

  “Which makes this exactly the same situation as with London division,” said Ghost, in an incongruously cheerful voice.

  If Donnell was well inside the range of my gun’s tracking display, then I must be well inside the range of his. He�
��d have seen Nadira and the off-worlders start climbing the stairs. He’d know that I was still standing here and listening to what was happening.

  “A vote is pointless,” said Major. “You have to accept Bronx division into the alliance.”

  “We don’t have to do anything,” said Wall.

  I counted the nearby group of white dots, made it twenty-nine, and thought another order. “Gun command designate twenty-nine nearest targets as hostile.”

  “When Donnell first negotiated this alliance, he said that we needed to work together to survive,” said Major. “That’s even more true now than it was back then.”

  “The flaw in your argument is that Bronx division is made up of all the people who’ve consistently shown they’re incapable of working with others,” said Ghost.

  The group of nearby white dots had turned to red.

  “We will now vote on whether to accept Bronx division into the alliance,” said Donnell. “The Resistance votes no.”

  His voice was followed by those of the other division leaders speaking in turn.

  “Manhattan votes no.”

  “Queens Island votes no.”

  “Brooklyn votes no.”

  “London votes no.”

  “Bronx division has been rejected by this alliance,” said Donnell. “We’ve already imprisoned Cage in the Citadel. You will now surrender your weapons and be escorted to join him.”

  “Where does that leave my baby and me?” a woman’s voice called out urgently. “When I married Knave, I had to move from London division to Manhattan division. Please don’t cast my baby and me out with him. I swear I knew nothing about this Bronx division.”

  “No one in the alliance needs to worry about being punished for another person’s actions,” said Donnell. “Partners and children will be able to stay in their current divisions.”

  “That’s right,” said Wall. “Diana and her baby are welcome to stay in Manhattan division. Should she prefer to return to London division, and Ice agrees to accept her back, then I would also consent to that.”

  “My wife has to come with me,” shouted Knave.

  “I’m not going anywhere with you,” Diana yelled back at him. “You never stop to think before you do things. What are conditions like inside the Citadel? How long would our baby survive outside the warmth and safety of the Parliament House? A month? A week? A day?”

  “Diana was always of good character as a member of London division,” said Ice. “If she and her baby wish to return to us, then I would gladly accept them back.”

  “You can take your time to make your decision between Manhattan and London divisions, Diana,” said Donnell. “Similar arrangements will be made for other guiltless parties.”

  “You’re busily issuing orders, Donnell,” said Major. “You clearly think you’re in control of this situation. Let me explain a couple of details that you’ve overlooked.”

  His voice took on a gloating tone. “Firstly, Bronx division is composed of the best fighters in this alliance, and we’re all carrying swords. Secondly, we’ve got Blaze, Nadira, and all three of your off-worlder pets trapped in Sanctuary as our hostages. After you led your search party off this morning, I made sure the back door to the Sanctuary wing, and both doors through to the centre of the building, were all welded shut. The windows of Parliament House are all made of unbreakable glass, so there’s no way for them to escape now.”

  He paused. “If you want your daughter to live, Donnell, then you’ll have to agree to all my demands.”

  “You seem to be forgetting that my daughter has an Armed Agent weapon,” said Donnell.

  “I’m not forgetting anything, Donnell,” said Major. “I’ve been studying the lights of your Armed Agent weapon for years. I know the rapid flashes that mean you’re preparing to fire. I know the slow pulsing rhythm that means you’ve got the gun in safety mode. I know the lights grow a little paler after you’ve fired the gun several times.”

  Major smiled smugly. “When you and Blaze arrived back here, I saw there was barely a flicker of light from your guns. You’ve just fought a battle with eighty seek and destroy drones, so I believe the lack of lights is because the guns are totally out of power. That’s why I took my chance to declare Bronx division now.”

  He gave a triumphant laugh. “Shark, take ten men and round up our hostages. Everyone else will stay here with me and guard the entrance to Sanctuary.”

  “Do you really believe that you can defend Sanctuary from a massed attack by the whole alliance?” asked Donnell.

  Major laughed again. “You won’t dare to attack us, because if you do then we’ll kill the hostages.”

  Shark was coming to tug the Sanctuary curtain aside, so I turned and sprinted for the stairs. Chaos weeping! I’d sent Nadira and the off-worlders upstairs into a trap. I told myself that sending them to a welded-shut back door would have been even worse, and tried to think what our best option was now.

  Major had worked out that the lack of lights on the tendrils of my gun meant it was out of power. I could pretend that wasn’t true, and threaten to shoot someone, but they’d challenge me to fire my weapon and I couldn’t do it. Firing my gun even once would probably kill me, so I could only use it in a final act of utter desperation.

  If the off-worlders, Nadira, and I were going to fight to defend ourselves, we’d have to do it without the help of my gun, and we were hopelessly outnumbered. A glimmer of an idea came to me. We had to get to the roof!

  As I ran up the second flight of stairs, I could see eleven red dots following me on the tracking display and hear heavy footsteps behind me. The red dots of the rest of Bronx division had moved just inside the entrance to Sanctuary, but Major’s threat to kill his hostages had kept the green dot of Donnell and the white dots of the rest of the alliance in Reception.

  “Get out of my way,” shouted Luther’s voice from behind me. “I can climb faster than the rest of you, and I want to be the one to capture Blaze. She turned down my offer of marriage. She told me she wouldn’t marry me if I were the last man in New York. She’s going to regret that.”

  Shark laughed. “Have fun with Blaze if you like, Luther, but be careful not to kill her. We need to keep the girl alive to make sure Donnell does exactly what we tell him.”

  I ran on upwards, gasping for breath, and panicking about how fast I was tiring. I’d thought I’d recovered from my gun draining my body heat, and would be able to run at full speed up these stairs, but I’d been wrong.

  The red dot that was Luther was gaining on me rapidly, and was terrifyingly close behind me by the time I reached the sixth floor of Sanctuary. I saw Nadira and the off-worlders in front of me. Nadira was just turning down the corridor that led to the steel security door of the Banqueting Hall.

  “The way to the Banqueting Hall is blocked,” I shouted. “Head for the roof instead!”

  Nadira turned and ran towards the narrow staircase that led to the roof of the Sanctuary wing. The off-worlders chased after her, with Braden half-carrying Phoenix, but the red dot of Luther was right behind me now. I pulled the knife from my belt. It was intended to kill falling stars, but it would work equally well on a man.

  I turned, knife poised ready to stab Luther, but saw him raise both hands in surrender. “I’m on your side.”

  Chapter Thirty-nine

  “What?” I sheathed my knife, and stared at Luther in bewilderment.

  “I’m on your side,” he repeated. “Donnell sent me undercover to spy on Bronx division. If we’re going to the roof, we’d better get moving.”

  I turned and ran after Nadira. With Luther on our side, I was more hopeful now, but when I reached the staircase that led to the roof, I saw the door at the top was missing. I groaned. I’d been planning to barricade that door to hold off Bronx division, but I’d have to think of another idea. I sprinted on up the staircase, out of the open doorway, and saw Nadira and the off-worlders standing in a group on the roof.

  “Luther’s right b
ehind you, Blaze!” Phoenix called a warning.

  “It’s all right,” I said. “Luther’s been spying on Bronx division for Donnell, so he’ll be fighting on our side.”

  “Things are far from all right,” said Luther. “We’re outnumbered by ten to six. Blaze can’t use her gun because it’s out of power, and I’m the only skilled fighter. We don’t stand a chance of winning this battle.”

  “We don’t need to win this battle,” I said. “We just need to hold off Bronx division until Donnell finds a way to help us.”

  Luther shook his head. “With Major threatening to murder you, Donnell won’t dare to do anything at all.”

  “Donnell will think of something.” I studied the flat rooftop. It looked identical to the roof of the Resistance wing, featureless apart from a rectangular tank for collecting rainwater.

  The roof had a low parapet around the edge, guarding what appeared to be a sheer drop on all sides. There was a vast gap between it and the flat roofs of the two neighbouring wings of the building, which were those belonging to Brooklyn and London divisions. There was what looked like an equally large gap between it and the sloping roof of the central section of the Parliament House.

  I’d spent a lot of time on the roof of the Resistance wing though, so I knew that appearances were deceptive. The gap between this roof and that of the central section was just an illusion created by a mismatch in heights. If you peered over the parapet, you’d see an awkward section of linking roof below.

  “The rest of you start fighting the first few people who come through the doorway,” I said. “Once they’re all here, I’ll create a diversion by pretending to jump off the roof. You mustn’t worry about me at that point, because I’ll only be dropping down to a slightly lower section of roof. Just wait for the moment when I tell Shark to go pollute himself, and grab your chance to take down some more opponents.”

  The others nodded. Tad and I were still wearing coats, but Nadira, Phoenix, and Braden only had their indoor clothes, and were shivering from cold. Tad stripped off his coat, and held it out to Phoenix.