We Had Flags (Toxic World Book 3)

by Sean McLachlan

  “I met some of them,” Yu-jin said with a nod. “They didn’t seem to have much love for their leader.”

  “They were practically slaves. Many ended up as refugees in the countryside around the Burbs, raiding the farms in order to eat. The Doctor gave them amnesty and set them up as fishermen. Mitch said he knew where the Pure One was going with his hardcore supporters, so we set out with a team to find them. He told the truth about knowing where they were headed. Even fought at our side when things went sour and we had to retreat. Fooled us all. Then a refugee named Susanna told us he was actually one of The Pure One’s select guards. He’d defected and was playing a double game with us.”

  “So this guy was no good?”

  Annette’s face darkened. “He kept women as sex slaves like all of the inner circle did.”

  Yu-jin gritted her teeth.

  The same old story.

  “But what does this have to do with Pablo?” Yu-jin asked.

  The trail passed through a rocky section and momentarily disappeared. Yu-jin had to search in a broad half circle for a couple of minutes before she picked it up again. Then she realized Annette hadn’t answered her question. She glanced at the sheriff and saw her eyes wet with tears.

  “Pablo’s father died when he was a baby. He’s always looking for a substitute, and he latched onto Mitch. The bastard probably acted nice to the kid just to get in good with me. He could be very charming, very convincing.”

  Sounds like you were taken with him too. I bet you were looking for something as much as Pablo, Yu-jin thought. She said nothing, though. She didn’t want to get slugged in the face. Annette continued.

  “So when we got back to the Burbs and Susanna fingered Mitch as one of the cult, we lynched him. Pablo’s barely said a word to me after that.”

  “It’s not your fault,” Yu-jin said.

  “It is, though!” Annette cried, her voice cracking. “I haven’t been spending enough time with him. I’ve been so busy with being sheriff and trying to get citizenship. I want him growing up within the walls. Trying to give him a better life has actually given him a worse one.”

  “You’re doing your best as a mother. You’re all alone.”

  “Maybe I should have married again. Some guys have been interested over the years, but none could hold a candle to my husband. He was perfect. But maybe I should have married anyway just so Pablo could have a father.”

  “That’s asking you to do too much,” Yu-jin said with a shake of her head. “You shouldn’t marry a man unless he can give you what you want.”

  So where does that leave you and Randy?

  Yu-jin bit her lip and tried to push that thought away, but it crept back to haunt her.

  He can’t give you a child and you want one. It doesn’t matter how wonderful of he is, if you stay with him in the end you’ll feel like you’ve gotten less out of life.

  Not now. We’re out in the wildlands in heaps of danger. Think of that later.

  You always put it off until later, don’t you?

  Just like you’ve been putting him off since this whole thing started.

  She’d spotted him approaching when they had gotten onto the row boat. She hadn’t waited. There had been too much to do. There’d been too much to do ever since the freighter came. He’d stopped being a priority as soon as those Chinese sailors had landed on the shore of Toxic Bay.

  The thought nagged at her as they proceeded further south and the trail grew ever fainter, passing over ruins and slabs of concrete. She only found peace of mind from her own future when the present became all too troubling.

  For as the ruins grew in size and number until Yu-jin and Annette had to wind between heaps of collapsed buildings and their way became littered with bricks and chunks of concrete, the trail disappeared.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE

  Failure. I’ve failed at everything. Lucas died because of me, and now everyone on the ship is going to die, and Yu-jin will die too.

  Hell, New City will die, just because of the actions of a few paranoid idiots who should have been born into the madness of a generation ago. They would have deserved it.

  The Doctor sat slumped on the ground, a circle of guards around him. His breathing came irregularly and his sight clouded. Dimly he was aware of a greater circle of civilians gathering around the guards, arguing with the men holding him. He also heard Clyde shouting into the walkie-talkie.

  Clyde could shout all he wanted. Everything was over. The Doctor didn’t care anymore.

  But Clyde’s words cut through his despair and made him pay attention.

  “What do you mean you can’t blow it?”

  A crackly response came from the walkie-talkie. The Doctor recognized Kent’s voice. “You waited too long, Clyde. Now the ship’s out of range! I got another plan, though.”

  “What?” Clyde asked, casting a nervous glance at the growing crowd around them.

  “We grabbed a Chink kid and…another kid. They got a radio. I think it’s them who called the ship in the first place.”

  The Doctor perked up.

  “What’s your plan?” Clyde said, having to raise his voice over the shouts of the crowd. More and more people were gathering now that it became apparent that The Doctor was being held against his will.

  He couldn’t hear Kent’s answer over the rising clamor. The guards fidgeted, uncertain, as the angry faces of their friends and neighbors shouted at them to let The Doctor go.

  Marcus pushed through the crowd.

  “What’s going on here?” he demanded.

  The Doctor stood up, stumbling and almost falling over. He steadied himself, let his head clear, and elbowed through the circle of muscular gunmen.

  “Clyde thinks he’s in charge,” The Doctor said.

  Marcus looked at the Head of the Watch and then back at him uncertainly.

  “Want me to—”

  The Doctor cut him off with a resigned shake of the head.

  Arrest him? I’d love for you to do that, but who would you use to do it?

  Clyde pocketed the walkie-talkie and raised his hands over his head. “Calm down, everyone, calm down! We got everything under control.”

  “What do you mean you have everything under control?” someone in the crowd demanded.

  “As Head of the Watch I have the right to take over when there is a clear and present security danger.”

  “Only for defense, not for running New City or detaining The Doctor!” someone else shouted.

  “We’re not detaining anyone. Does he look detained to you? And I’m not running New City, only taking care of the security situation until everything returns to normal and we’re all safe.”

  The Doctor let out a bitter laugh. Like anything was ever normal and safe in this world!

  “So what are you going to do?” Marcus demanded.

  Clyde glanced over his shoulder at the ship, which was still receding towards the horizon. “That’s classified.”

  “What the fuck is that supposed to mean?” a woman in the crowd said. “There are no secrets here.”

  “We have the safety of New City to consider. Don’t worry.”

  The Doctor snarled and took a step towards Clyde. “Listen here, you—”

  He never got to finish his sentence. His sight dimmed at the edges, everything going distant. The ground came up to meet him. There was a flash, followed by darkness.

  Consciousness was slow in returning. The Doctor felt the soft mattress and familiar smells of his own bedroom. Lights dazzled his eyes, and as he blinked, trying to focus, he saw a vague feminine form hovering over him.

  “Yu-jin? Sorry. I failed.”

  “You just rest, Doctor.”

  That wasn’t Yu-jin’s voice.

  His mind and sight cleared.

  Marsha, one of the nurses, sat by the side of his bed. She was taking his pulse, concern stamped on her face.

  “Have you had these stress-related fainting spells before?” she asked.


  “No. How long have I been out?”

  “Only a few minutes. Try to rest.”

  “What’s been going on?”

  “Nothing. I just told you that you were only unconscious for a few minutes. What could happen in a few minutes?”

  “A hell of a lot,” The Doctor grumbled, struggling out of bed. Marsha put a hand on his chest.

  “You really should—”

  “Beat it.”

  “But—”

  “I said beat it!”

  Marsha fled the room.

  “Why can’t people ever do what they’re told the first time?” he grumbled.

  He sat slumped on the edge of his bed, his head in his hands. Weakness and exhaustion tugged at him. His bed beckoned.

  No, too much to do. But how to do it? He wasn’t even in charge anymore.

  He had to get the ship back, reason with Captain Wang.

  Before he could do anything, he needed to have his heart medication. He had forgotten this morning. The Doctor stumbled over to his medical pack, remembering the old saying about doctors making the worst patients. It certainly held true in his case, he thought with a sad smile.

  The emblem of the Red Cross, Crescent, and Star reminded him of Lucas again. Shaking his head, he opened it, grabbed a pill and popped it, adding half a tablet of herbal speed as a chaser. He needed to keep his energy up.

  Then he looked at the medical pack again.

  Of course, what an idiot he’d been! He had everything he needed right here. Captain Wang’s lungs were slowly killing him, the old bastard must know it, and here he had anti-cancer agents and soft tissue restoratives and everything else he could possibly need to cure him. All the wonders of Old Times medicine were here at his disposal. He had more medicine than anyone else in the world.

  Except Radio Hope, he corrected himself. They gave this to you, after all.

  Screw Radio Hope. What the hell are they doing to help?

  If he cured Captain Wang, that would go a long way to solving this shit storm.

  Within a minute he’d put on his coat, packed a pistol, slung the medical pack on his shoulder, and strode out of his quarters. He had to shove aside Marsha and a succession of guards and so-called assistants as he left the warehouse and hurried to the dock.

  A guard stood nearby, gripping an M16.

  “Remove the barbed wire,” The Doctor ordered.

  The guard looked uncertain. “I need to speak with the Head of the Watch.”

  The Doctor pulled out his pistol and shoved it in the man’s face. The guard was so surprised he was too slow to react.

  “Remove the barbed wire,” The Doctor repeated, taking the man’s gun.

  The guard’s face went white and he hurried to obey.

  Maybe I should point guns at people more often. Things would get done quicker around here.

  The Doctor hurried down the dock. As he stepped into the boat he saw the guard running off, calling for Clyde. It didn’t matter. The boat was always kept ready in case of emergencies and was the only one with a functioning motor. No one could catch him.

  The Doctor sat at the stern and pulled the engine cord. The engine started with a roar. He cast off the moorings, revved the engine, and shot across the water, chasing after the ship as it dwindled away on the horizon.

  CHAPTER THIRTY

  Pablo shivered as Kent loomed over him, the M16 he carried almost poking him in the chest. The guards were all glaring at Hong-gi.

  He had failed. He had tried to protect his friend and now they were caught.

  Kent looked at Pablo. “Don’t worry, kid, we won’t hurt you. Annette will see it our way once the ship is taken care of and we return you to her safe and sound. You just sit tight and behave and you’ll be home soon.”

  “I don’t want to go home.”

  “Sitting tight means shutting the hell up,” Kent snapped. He turned to Hong-gi. “OK, you little shit, you’re going to do exactly as I say and maybe I’ll let you live. Now answer me and answer me truthfully. You called the ship, right? You’re a spy for them.”

  “Yes,” Hong-gi said.

  “No, I called the ship,” Pablo said.

  Kent frowned at him. “I told you to shut up. Stop protecting your mongrel friend.”

  The guard named Norton looked nervous. “Look, Kent. I don’t feel right about this.”

  “Nobody asked you,” Kent dismissed him.

  “They’re kids.”

  Kent turned to him. Norton looked at his feet. Kent turned back to Hong-gi. “OK, so here’s where we stand, kid. Our boss told us a drone buzzed New City earlier today, spying on us.”

  “What’s a drone?” Pablo asked, then tensed when he realized he had spoken again.

  One of the guards snorted and pointed at Hong-gi. “Ask your friend. It’s a little flying machine with a camera. The ship sent it to find out our weaknesses in preparation for an attack.”

  Kent nodded. “It saw all the Asians camping inside the walls. The soldiers on the ship probably think they’re being held prisoner.”

  Pablo and Hong-gi looked at each other, confused.

  “They’re not?” Hong-gi asked.

  “They should be,” the snorting guard said, snorting again. “The sheriff brought them inside the walls to protect them from getting what they deserve and The Doctor was dumb enough to let her.”

  Pablo’s jaw dropped. Mom hadn’t arrested all the Asians? He thought back at the riot he had seen. Mom had been herding all the Asians into New City like they were goats, shouting something about “arrest.” But what if she wasn’t arresting them? What if she had been threatening to arrest the people who were trying to hurt them? Mom and her sheriffs had been trying to protect them!

  He had gotten it all wrong.

  “My mom was saving the Asians!” he cried.

  “Not for long,” Kent said, still looking at Hong-gi. “Now here’s what you’re going to do. You’re going to call your friends on the ship and say the Asians have all been released and The Doctor wants to talk. Try to get them to come back into the bay. They’ll be suspicious, so you got to convince them. They’re sure to send the drone back to check on what we’re saying, so we’re going to let all the Asians back into the Burbs.”

  “They’ll get beaten up,” Hong-gi said.

  “We won’t let that happen,” Kent said with a smile that seemed to add the words for now.

  “Then what are you going to do?” Hong-gi asked.

  “We’re going to have a little talk with your friends on the ship,” Kent said, still smiling.

  The two boys looked at each other again. Pablo knew what his friend was thinking. They’d heard the men talking about some sort of bomb that was too far away to set off. They wanted to get the ship back close enough to blow it up.

  Hong-gi squared his shoulders and stood tall. He couldn’t stop trembling as he uttered a single word.

  “No.”

  Kent grabbed him by the shirt front. “You’re not getting me, boy. If you don’t do this I’ll—”

  “For crissake, Kent, he’s a kid!” Norton objected.

  “Stay out of this,” another guard said, pushing Norton back a step.

  “I won’t do it!” Hong-gi shouted.

  Pablo stared at the ground, frozen. He felt like he had back when that guy was hitting Hong-gi in the market—helpless and scared. His hand grasped the clasp knife in his pocket but knew it wouldn’t save them this time. In the market there had only been one guy and plenty of places to run. Now they were surrounded by six guys with guns.

  There was nothing he could do. Hong-gi was going to be killed. All the Asians were going to be killed.

  The radio lay out of reach. He could see it behind a pair of camouflaged legs, sitting on the ground next to a pile of old bricks.

  He jerked at the sound of a slap.

  “Kent!”

  “Shut up Norton!”

  “No, Kent.”

  “Get his gun.”

  �
�Stop!”

  “Got it.”

  “Damn it, kid…”

  “I won’t do it! I won’t do it!”

  Pablo kept staring at the radio. It had been the best thing in his life ever and look at what it had done.

  “I’ll cut you in pieces, you little mongrel.”

  “I won’t do it! I won’t do it!”

  Pablo took a deep breath and shouted, “I’ll do it!”

  Everyone stared at him. Pablo stepped up to Kent. He didn’t dare look at Hong-gi. He didn’t want to see the expression on his face.

  “I’ll do it. We called the ship together. Hong-gi promised me a lot of cool stuff if I helped him spy for the…Chinks.”

  Kent’s eyes narrowed in suspicion. Pablo went on. “You got to unspool the antenna. It’s best to put it on a slope so that it gets better range and a clearer signal. The radio waves run out along the sea then instead of up into the sky. That pile of rubble will work. You turn on the power, connect the microphone, make sure it’s tuned to 8.505 Megahertz, and then just push the microphone button and talk.”

  “Shit, the kid really does know how to use a radio,” one of the guards said.

  Pablo nodded, and in a voice he hoped sounded convincing said, “I’ll call them for you, but you got to let me and my friend go. You can do what you want to the rest of the Asians.”

  He winced as he heard his friend sob. He kept his eyes on Kent.

  The guard nodded slowly. “All right, kid, but no funny stuff. It’s better to have someone speaking in English anyway. I was worried about this kid pulling some trick.”

  The men moved aside, one taking Hong-gi and dragging him several meters away. Kent and Pablo went up to the radio.

  Pablo knelt in front of it, pushing aside some old bricks that were in the way.

  “You need to unspool the antenna,” he told Kent.

  Kent motioned to one of the guards. As Kent stayed close to Pablo, the guard walked slowly up a nearby pile of rubble, laying out the wire behind him.

  Pablo stared at the radio, heart beating fast. He watched his own hand reach out like it was separate from his body and turn on the power. The dials lit up and the speaker let out a low crackle.