A smile breaks out across my face at the welcome news. It's a drop of hope in the sea of desperation we're swimming in. "Thanks for taking such good care of him," I say.
Hannah examines each of the Rogues, in turn, directing the Undergrounders to clean and bandage wounds as needed. I watch discreetly as she stitches up a Rogue's leg, talking quietly to him as she works.
"Hey! How 'bout I get some o' that lovin'?" a Rogue calls across to her. "He ain't hurt that bad."
Hannah rolls her eyes at me and I smile back.
All of a sudden there's a commotion at the door and a military clone bursts into the room. "Rocco's been shot!" he yells.
Sven jumps to his feet. "Is he alive?"
"Barely," the clone replies.
Sven grabs a stretcher and I toss some compresses and trauma dressing on it.
Hannah lays a hand on my arm. "I'll send for Jakob. He can take out the bullet."
I give her a grateful nod and hurry out of the clinic after Sven and the military clone. My mind spins with confusion. The only people who have any reason to shoot Rocco are Dimitri and Viktor and they're at the Superconductor. My thoughts gravitate to Rummy. He's at the courthouse too. Surely he couldn't have had something to do with this.
When we arrive at the courthouse Rocco is unconscious, cradled in Trout's arms, a blood-soaked rag pressed to his chest. The cell is splattered with enough blood to make me think he was hit more than once. A sign of unchecked rage. I clap my hand over my mouth, trapping the bile rising up from my gut.
Trout looks up with relief when he sees us. "We have to get him to the clinic before he bleeds out."
"Did you see who did this?" I ask.
Trout shakes his head. "I heard the shot and came running."
"What about the guards?"
"There's only one outside Rummy's cell. All the others are on the barricade."
Sven grabs a trauma pad and does what he can to stem the bleeding, before lifting Rocco onto the stretcher. Trout and Sven grasp the handles and lift their cargo. I follow a few feet behind as they charge down the main corridor and out through the front entry.
We make it to the bottom of the courthouse steps before Rocco's hulking frame recedes to gray, shrinking in on itself like a tiny mummified child.
26
Sven falls to one knee and leans over the stretcher, his massive shoulders twitching with grief.
I want to reach out and comfort him, but I'm terrified to touch him in case he crumbles to dust too. The unrelenting fear I keep pushing down has surfaced with a vengeance. I can't stop shaking. All I can think about is that Sven could be next.
I take a deep, calming breath and try to pull myself together. "I'll find whoever's responsible," I say to Sven. "You stay here and take care of Rocco. I'm going to the Superconductor with Trout."
I nod to Trout and he falls into step beside me. I'm thankful he seems to realize without a word who it is I'm going after. If Dimitri and Viktor had anything to do with this I'll track them down and have them arrested.
One harrowing scenario after another races through my head. Things are spinning out of control. The clones might attack the Undergrounders once they find out that Rocco's been murdered. And what if the Superconductor doesn't kick back on before the Hovermedes arrive? What if Viktor and Dimitri sabotaged the Superconductor and fled like fugitives? I swallow back a sob. I need Big Ed and his wise words now more than ever.
"You okay?" Trout throws me a sidelong glance.
I shake my head. "I can't put out the fires quickly enough."
"One blaze at a time," Trout says. "Let's find Viktor and Dimitri first."
When we reach the Superconductor, I breathe a small sigh of relief. The charged whirring sound assures me it's up and running again. One less thing to worry about. We enter through the main doors and race up to the second level. Dimitri is stationed at the CommCenter with another scientist, his forehead furrowed in concentration. He looks up when he sees us. His eyes are bloodshot from crying. "Derry! What are you doing here?"
"Where's your father?" I ask, fighting to keep the emotion out of my voice.
Something in my expression grabs his attention. He gets to his feet and scrutinizes me. "Is something wrong?"
"Is he here or not?" Trout asks.
"He went back to his quarters to lie down. It was too difficult for him to be here." Dimitri swallows hard. "I've been trying to locate the Megamedes. I have to finish this for Iskra. She was so close to finding the coordinates."
I throw a quick glance Trout's way. Dimitri's response seems genuine enough. If I had to hazard a guess, I reckon he doesn't know anything about what happened at the courthouse. "Rocco's been shot," I say. "He's dead."
Dimitri's eyes widen. He clutches the edge of the counter. "You killed him?"
"We arrested him. Someone else got to him in the holding cell."
"We don't know who," Trout adds. "The courthouse was unmanned except for the guard outside Rummy's cell. Anyone could have got in there."
Dimitri traces his fingers back and forth across his forehead. "Did he ... confess?"
"Yes," I say. "I'm sorry."
Dimitri gives a somber nod. "He would have been executed anyway after he was tried by the Council," he says as if reasoning with himself.
I chew on my lip but don't respond. It serves no purpose to tell Dimitri we were planning on helping Rocco flee the city.
"Thank you for letting me know," Dimitri says. "I'll break the news to my father."
"We need to speak to him," I say.
Dimitri frowns. "Why?"
"We can't have vigilantes," Trout mutters.
Dimitri shoots a glance in Trout's direction. "You can't possibly think my father had anything to do with this. He doesn't have it in him."
"Everyone has it in them," Trout says, gruffly. "It's like a lock, just takes the right combination."
Dimitri staggers backward, as though contemplating the possibility. He snatches up his jacket and walks toward the door. "Let's sort this out right now. Come with me."
My stomach churns as I follow Dimitri out of the Superconductor. I hope we're not making a huge mistake. Viktor may not have had anything to do with Rocco's death. If we're wrong, it's a devastating accusation to make against a man who's just lost his daughter.
We're halfway between the Superconductor and the boarded-up office building in the old section of town where the scientists are housed when I spot Jakob going up the steps to the clinic.
"Wait here," I say to Trout and Dimitri. "I need to make sure Big Ed's all right."
"Jakob!" I shout as I jog over to him.
He turns and waits for me at the top of the steps.
"You look tired," I say, eying the puffy, purple ovals under his eyes.
He grimaces. "We could have used the homesteaders' help to treat all the injured."
If only Owen hadn't been so thick-headed.
He doesn't come out and say it, but it's a jab all the same, and I don't blame him. Owen left us short-handed.
"How's Big Ed doing?" I ask.
"Hard to believe, but he seems to be on the mend." Jakob rubs his hand over the back of his neck. "He's a feisty old goat, but Hannah can handle him."
"I like her," I say, after an awkward pause. "She's ... capable, like you."
Jakob gives me a strange look. "You mean like you. I'm the one who stayed at the clinic while you went off to fight the Sweepers."
"I can't do what you do either," I say.
"You've changed so much, Derry." He gives me a rueful grin. "So much was thrust on you. And you've risen to the challenge. But then you always knew you were destined for more."
He adjusts the peak of his cap and gestures at the clinic door. "They need me inside. I better get back to work."
I walk slowly back to Trout and Dimitri, mulling over Jakob's words. He's right. A few short months ago I was a girl with a dog and a handful of bunker chores. Now the weight of an entire city rests on my s
houlders.
When we reach the building in the old section of town where the scientists are living, I push open the makeshift door and step inside. The stale, trapped air and musty scent of old newspapers hit me right away. Trout wrinkles his nose. "Smells like mold."
Dimitri shoves a decrepit office chair out of his way and peers around the deserted space.
"Viktor?" I call out. "Are you in here?"
A man tromps halfway down the splintered staircase at the back of the room and leans over the sagging railing. "We're upstairs."
Dimitri strides across the floor. Trout and I follow him up the staircase and nod in greeting to the scientists milling around an open seating area.
"Is Viktor here?" Dimitri asks.
"He came in a little while ago, but I haven't seen him since," one of the scientists replies, scratching his head. "He might be having a lie-down." He points down the corridor. "Bedrooms are that way."
I hurry out the door and down the corridor after Dimitri and Trout, taking a quick scout through each of the rooms as I pass by.
"We're in here," Trout shouts, sticking his head out from a doorway.
"Any sign of Viktor?" I ask when I join them inside the room.
Dimitri shakes his head without looking up from the bag he's rummaging through. "None of his stuff's missing. He's not exactly acting like a fugitive planning to hightail it out of here."
It's hard to miss the resentful tone in Dimitri's voice. I don't want to sour my relationship with the only person who might be able to help Sven, but I need to find Viktor as soon as possible. If he didn't shoot Rocco, it means there's an unidentified killer at large.
"Viktor has to be somewhere in the building," Trout says. "None of the scientists saw him leave."
"What about the roof?" I say. "Some of these old office buildings have a patio area up top. If he wanted to be alone that would be a good place to hang out."
Dimitri stops tossing items back into the bag and looks up, a frozen expression on his face. "Where's the roof access?"
"Fire escape would be my guess," Trout says.
Dimitri drops the bag and darts out of the room. Trout and I follow him to the end of the corridor. He clambers out through the empty window frame and onto the fire escape ladder and begins making his way up to the roof, his boots clanging eerily on the rungs with every step. I climb up the ladder after him and wait for Trout at the top. As soon as he appears, we follow Dimitri across the rooftop patio area, weaving our way through a jumble of crumbling concrete, twisted rebar and broken furniture.
"Viktor!" Dimitri calls out, disappearing behind a rickety chimney stack.
I skirt around it after him, and almost slam right into him when he comes to an abrupt stop in front of me.
He holds out his arm to keep me back, but I already know what he's looking at.
27
Twenty feet away Viktor balances precariously on an uneven chunk of concrete overhanging the edge of the roof. His head is sunk low to his chest and his jaw moves up and down as though he's talking himself into the unthinkable.
Dimitri takes a tentative step forward, holding his hand up behind him to keep Trout and me at bay. "Papa!" he says.
Viktor doesn't even acknowledge that he's heard him. Cautiously, Dimitri closes the distance between himself and his father, calling out to him, but trying not to spook him.
Viktor's head swivels in our direction. His wild eyes sweep over us like beacons. I freeze, afraid even to flinch a muscle for fear he'll turn and take a forty-foot death dive to the ground below. Dimitri shrinks into a crouch as if this stance is somehow less intimidating to a man about to end his life. In reality, it's a terrifying posture, like a cougar stalking its prey. A sick feeling rises up from my stomach. "Please," I call to him. "Don't do this, Viktor!"
"Papa, I'm going to come over there now." Dimitri enunciates every word like he's speaking to a man with dementia.
Viktor stares at him with the kind of blank expression that tells me nothing's getting through anymore.
I hold my breath as Dimitri treads forward through the debris another half-step. Viktor keeps his head perfectly still, studying Dimitri's stealth-like movements like a curious bird. He lets Dimitri take several more steps toward him before a flicker of comprehension crosses his face. He turns away and shuffles several inches farther along the concrete ledge.
I grit my teeth. If Dimitri moves too quickly he'll spook him, too slowly and he might be too late. Beside me, I sense Trout getting ready to lunge toward Viktor, which would accomplish nothing. He could never make it across the roof in time to grab him. The only way Viktor's coming down off the ledge is if Dimitri can talk him off it--a familiar voice he can trust and someone worth holding onto life for.
Dimitri raises both hands in front of him. "Papa, I'll stay right here. Please, back away from the edge."
Viktor blinks. His head swivels back and forth. He peers over the edge like he's searching for something. Time expands until my brain feels like it's going to explode, each elongated minute stretching farther than the one before. I close my eyes, but when I do a gruesome bloodied Viktor, sprawled unnaturally in the debris, springs to mind.
Suddenly, Viktor lets out a long, shuddering sigh, startling my already frazzled nerves. Trout grips my arm.
"It's okay, Papa," Dimitri says, his face blanched of color. "I know you don't want to do this." He holds out his arms to his father. "Just put one foot behind the other and shuffle backward. I'll be waiting right here for you."
Viktor looks up and locks eyes with him. He stretches out his fingers toward Dimitri and then tips silently forward.
"Noooooooo!"
Dimitri's scream burns like acid through my scalp. He stumbles across the debris in the direction of the iron ladder, clutching at the air like a blind man. Trout and I lunge for him at the same time.
"No, Dimitri," I say. "Let me go down first."
A shout from below tells me someone has discovered the body. A shiver goes through me as I reach for the ladder.
By the time I get down to the ground, Viktor's body has been covered up. I exhale a heavy sigh of relief. The other scientists gather around Dimitri when he appears, forming a barrier between him and the gruesome sight of his father's blanketed corpse.
"Let me see him!" Dimitri sobs.
"He wouldn't want you to see him like this," one of the scientists says. He drapes an arm over Dimitri's shoulders and steers him back inside their living quarters.
I turn to the remaining scientists. "Take Viktor's body and bury him right away. I don't want anyone else getting wind of this."
"What happened up there?" one of the scientists asks, eying me warily.
I pin a steely gaze back on him. "His daughter was murdered. He couldn't deal with it."
The scientist throws an uneasy glance around, but the others seem satisfied with my response and turn away. There's no benefit to telling them what Viktor did. It will only stir up more ill will between the clones and the scientists.
"That was rough," Trout mutters.
I grimace. "Dimitri's not going to be in any state to help us locate the Megamedes now."
"At least he got the Superconductor up and running."
"Don't get your hopes up," I say. "It won't save us if the Schutz Clones come on foot."
Trout and I watch as the scientists pick up Viktor's remains and lay them in a cart.
"Let's go," I say. "We need to get back to the barricade."
As we approach the container gate I can tell there's something going on. The riders and Undergrounders are clustered around talking and pointing through the barricade. I pick up the pace steeling myself to hear what I've been dreading most.
The Sweepers are coming!
I try to block the thought, but it circles like a shark in my mind.
Trout throws me a frightened look. "This could be it."
My heart flutters in my chest. "Come on!" I break into a panicked run and reach the barricade jus
t ahead of him.
"What's happening?" I yell up to the guards in the watchtower.
"Some woman wants in. She's alone, but she won't surrender her weapons so we can't open up the gate.
I press my face up to the barricade and peer through the concrete and tangled steel girders, searching in both directions. My heart leaps when I spot a statuesque profile. "Lou!" I scream.
She turns in my direction and gives me a good to see you too, now open the dang gate kind of nod.
"Let her in!" I yell up to the guards. "I can vouch for her."
I hold my breath as the container gates swing wide and Lou strides through. She throws the guards a defiant look in passing and marches straight up to me.
I grin and embrace her. "You came after all."
Her eyes cloud over. "This isn't a social call. I came to warn you there are Sweepers headed this way."
My smile freezes, aching like an ice cream headache in my cheeks. The Ghost's ominous words flash to mind.
There is no freedom. The sweeps have resumed.
"How many?" I ask.
She balks like she doesn't understand the question, then leans in close so no one can overhear. "Ten ships so far. They're camped out a few miles northeast of the Craniopolis."
My mouth goes dry. Two hundred Schutz Clones, give or take. Along with any number of Sweepers. A considerable force to reckon with and more could be on the way.
"What's going on?" Trout asks.
I introduce Lou to him and give him the news.
He rubs a hand slowly across his jaw.
"The Hovermedes won't be able to approach the city as long as the Superconductor is operating," I say. "The Sweepers will have to deploy Schutz Clones on foot." I search Trout's face for the strength I need, but he's as terrified as I am. We can't keep fighting like this. We need an exit strategy, a final solution. It all comes down to finding the Megamedes.
"We need to arm everyone in the city." Trout says. "Even the Rogues."
"Not Rummy," I say.
Trout throws me a dark look. "We could always let The Ghost take care of him."
Judgement: The Undergrounders Series Book Three (A Young Adult Post-apocalyptic Science Fiction Thriller) Page 17
