Isabelle didn’t look back. She snapped the reins and forced Humperdinck into a trot. She daren’t risk going any faster for fear dear old Humperdinck might trip, fall and break his leg. There would be no escape after that.
“Stop!” the guard behind her shouted.
“Not bloomin’ likely, chum!” Isabelle said, hunching over and ducking her head down.
The smaller the target, the harder it was to hit. The bolts whistled past her ear, into the endless dark. Would the older boy be able to hang on with this amount of movement? He looked strong, but it would take a lot of effort. Well, it had been up to him. He’d have to live with his decision.
Thunk!
The bolts embedded themselves in her cart. Damn it! And she’d only just got her newly waxed too! They had better not hit her merchandise or she would get really mad.
Humperdinck’s slow but methodical trotting pulled them closer to the blazing ball of swelling light. Each time they fired a bolt they had to stop, reload, aim and release, putting even more distance between them. Isabelle hated everything about the Preacher and his commune, but they sure knew how to use their weapons. They’d had plenty of practice, she supposed.
Humperdinck, the poor fellow, was already beginning to tire by the time they breached the exit, but she didn’t ease up on him. She couldn’t. Not until they got somewhere safe.
The light was blinding, warm and beautiful. If those fools thought sunlight was their problem they were under some serious misconceptions. In truth, Isabelle didn’t much care what they chose to believe, so long as they kept buying her goods. It was all the same to her. They had stopped being her customers, so in her eyes, they ceased to exist.
Isabelle pulled sharply on the reins, tugging Humperdinck to one side, and then worked him around in a big circle. The zealots would rush to the opening, hoping for a shot at her, but they would never come far out enough for the golden sunlight to touch their skin.
Tucked behind the rise that gave birth to the commune’s entrance, Isabelle pulled Humperdinck to a stop.
82.
ISABELLE CLIMBED off the cart, took hold of the tarpaulin and threw it aside.
“We’re here,” she said. “You can get off now.”
She leaned down to look the older boy in the eye.
“You too, handsome,” she said. “This is the disembarkation point. Do not pass Go. Do not collect two hundred dollars. Your ordeal is over.”
She picked up a whole cabbage from the back of her cart—there seemed to be suspiciously few leaves remaining on it—and gave it to Humperdinck. He whinnied with excitement.
“You earned it, boy,” Isabelle said, patting him on the neck.
The kids climbed off the cart. They stretched their arms and legs as Isabelle pulled the bolts from the back flaps of her cart and deposited them in a box. She’d sell those too.
Then she froze.
One of the bolts had buried itself in one of her boxes of red apples. It’d sliced through half a dozen before it finally came to a stop on the other side of the container.
“Red apples?” she said, voice hollow and distant. “You dare mess with my red apples?”
She crushed the remnants of the fruit in her fists. Humperdinck nodded his head and dug at the ground with his front hoof. Isabelle obligingly gave him one of the spoiled apples and tossed the others to the kids.
With a look of pure rage, she reached into a pot and came out with a paintbrush and small pot of paint. She moved to a tree with the same aggression and flexed her hand. One instant her hand was empty and the next, it had a short knife clasped in it. She carved at the tree, then gripped the bark with both hands and pulled it off. She turned it around, creating a large canvas.
“Man, am I glad to be out of there,” Fatty said.
“The cart?” Jamie said.
“The hole,” Fatty said. “The cart was actually pretty comfortable.”
Donny crawled out from beneath the cart. Fatty glanced at him and did a double take. He clutched his stomach with both hands, laughing hysterically.
“What’s up with him?” Donny said.
Jamie and Lucy caught an eyeful of Donny and burst out laughing too.
“What?” Donny said
He ran a hand through his hair. Checked his fingers. He was covered head to foot in dirt, dust and, by the smell of it, more than a little of Humperdinck’s lower bowels.
“Eugh!” he said.
“There’s a stream behind that tree,” Isabelle said. “Wash up there. And do us all a favour.”
She reached into her cart and came out with a fresh set of clothes.
“Get changed out of those things,” she said.
Donny disappeared behind a hedge to scrub himself. Fatty worked the tears out of the corner of his eyes with his thumb.
“Oh, that was good,” he said. “So good.”
Jamie checked their surroundings. They were in a forest, green and jubilant with bright flowers in every colour imaginable. Birds swung on invisible wings and sang the ballad of nature. He didn’t think he’d ever seen such a beautiful place.
The wind rustled the leaves and whispered ancient tales of adventure. After their recent ordeal in the dark embrace of the underground, it was a welcome respite. Until just an hour ago, their lives could have turned out very differently.
“I want to thank you,” Jamie said to Isabelle, who was still busy with her paintbrush. “We all do. For helping us escape. We never would have gotten out alive if it wasn’t for you.”
“You’re very welcome,” Isabelle said, concentrating on her painting.
“Why did you help us?” Lucy said.
“Because those people are crooks, liars and cheats,” Isabelle said. “We made a deal and they reneged on it. You don’t reneg on a deal. Not ever. On the surface, we risk our lives and they want to give us nothing for our wares.”
“Hell hath no fury, huh?” Donny said, emerging from the bushes with a washed face and new clothes.
“What?” Isabelle said.
She didn’t recognize the expression.
“Never mind,” Donny said. “You were in business with those creeps?”
“Used to be,” Isabelle said. “We all have to eat.”
“You only had a problem with what they do after your business dealings with them soured,” Donny said.
“I wouldn’t be so quick to judge if I were you,” Isabelle said. “There might come a time when you’re forced to do something that turns your stomach but you do it anyway.”
Donny’s grin faded.
“Unless, of course, you already have experience with something like that,” Isabelle said.
“Are we safe here?” Jamie said.
“Those freaks won’t come outside their little hole,” Isabelle said. “Not for any reason. We’re safe. I must say, it feels good to have taken their sadistic little game away from them.”
“Has anyone else managed to escape before?” Jamie said.
“I heard about one guy not too long ago,” Isabelle said, making her finishing touches. “Someone far too smart to be caged by the likes of these people.”
“Do you know who it was?” Jamie said.
“No,” Isabelle said. “I don’t even know if it’s true. It’s just a rumour. It doesn’t matter. The people down there will be gone soon anyway.”
She stood back and appraised her handiwork.
“There,” she said, wiping a dob of red off her thumb. “What do you guys think?”
Isabelle had written in large capital letters across the canvas. Donny grinned ear to ear.
“I love it,” he said.
“How to wipe out a commune in three words or less,” Isabelle said. “Help me bring it over to the entrance.”
She and Donny lifted the canvas and carried it to the hillock. Directly on the other side was the entrance to the underground commune. They attached ropes to the canvas and wrapped the ropes around the nearest trees.
“Who’s going to see it?” Jamie sa
id.
“Hopefully other traders,” Isabelle said. “No one messes with my business and gets away with it. We’re safe here but I never quite feel at ease until I’m at least a mile away. Hop back on the cart and I’ll give you guys a lift.”
They climbed onboard and peeled away, laughing. They were having just about the best day of their lives.
83.
THE OUTSIDE world was on fire, bright and disgusting. A demon with feathered wings fluttered by and landed on the branch of a hideous giant plant. The guard did the beast a favour and put a bolt through its heart.
Then, laughter. Laughter of the children who had escaped. Laughter of the damned and dying. It chilled the guard to the bone.
“Let’s get out of here,” he said.
They turned and headed back into the welcoming embrace of darkness. They never saw—in fact would never even have the chance to see—what Isabelle had installed above the entrance to their domain. It consisted of just three words, the paint still drying, and would, ultimately, end in their destruction:
CONTAMINATED
KEEP OUT!
84.
JAMIE HAD a hard time trying to name the trees in this forest. Some he recognized, others were completely new to him. It was another reminder of how far away from home they really were. As if Isabelle could read his thoughts, she asked a pertinent question.
“You’re not from around here, are you?” she said, negotiating Humperdinck through the dense trees.
“What gave it away?” Donny said.
“Just about everything,” Isabelle said. “Where are you from?”
Now there was a loaded question. Did they answer with the commune they’d been born and raised in or their most recent location? The kids shared an uneasy look.
“Prefer not to say?” Isabelle said. “I can respect that. Sometimes it’s best to keep your history to yourself.”
“It’s not that,” Donny said. “It’s just. . . a little complicated.”
“Oh dear,” Isabelle said, mouth twisted like she’d eaten something unpleasant. “Complicated is never good. Best to keep schtum and not explain it.”
“We’re from a small commune west of here,” Jamie said. “Other than that, it’s hard to be more specific.”
“I’m from a commune too,” Isabelle said. “We were onto a good thing for a while, growing larger and stronger. Just beginning to develop trade links with other communes. That’s when they came.”
She didn’t need to say who they were. Rages.
“They overwhelmed us and our defenses,” Isabelle said. “There were too many of them. We couldn’t hold them back. After that, they swept over us like butter across hot bread. We didn’t stand a chance. You want to know the worst of it? We didn’t even do anything wrong. They came out of nowhere, without warning.”
The kids shared another look. The story fits perfectly with what Dr. Beck had told them about how the Bugs targeted large settlements. Once a commune had grown to a certain size, had become successful and prosperous, the Bugs sent some kind of signal that attracted the Rages. To destroy the commune. They used humanity’s own sense of survival against them, hammering them when they were starting to get a foothold. It’d all been a tragic lie. They were never going to succeed. They were never going to survive. They had been allowed to become successful because it acted like a beacon, attracting more and more people to it, like a honeypot for bees.
“Where are you guys headed, anyway?” Isabelle said.
The gang exchange another look. Their original plan had been to return home, to the City, to get Donald. But the chances of him still being alive weren’t good. Finally, Donny spoke up.
“Denver City,” he said.
Jamie’s head snapped up. His brother wouldn’t look at him.
“Treasure hunters, huh?” Isabelle said.
“What do you mean?” Donny said.
“Many people come here from all over, trying to get inside the City,” Isabelle said. “There’s said to be so many riches that you could sell it and have so much money and resources that you could live one hundred lifetimes.”
“No one’s managed to get inside?” Donny said.
“Not a single step,” Isabelle said. “No matter what people try, they can’t get in. It’s protected by a kind of system that no one alive knows how to break.”
“Where we’re from no one even knows there’s a City right there, in the mountains,” Donny said. “Right under their noses, and no one knows.”
“You do,” Isabelle said with a cheeky smile. “Everyone here knows where Denver City is. It’s not a secret. Not with that big damn cannon they built into the mountain.”
Donny’s eyes widened.
“It’s real?” he said. “The cannon?”
“Sure,” Isabelle said. “Boy, you guys really aren’t from around here, are you? Find any hilltop in these parts, look in the right direction, and you’ll see it. It’s not exactly a packet of peanuts.”
“Do you know what they were building it for?” Donny said, testing her.
Isabelle shrugged.
“What are all weapons created for?” she said. “To destroy something. What gets me is they built it facing the wrong way.”
“What do you mean?” Donny said.
“Well, it’s set facing the sky,” Isabelle said. “We don’t have enemies up there, unless they expect Rages to suddenly start growing wings and fly one day. They should be aiming at the ground. That’s where the danger is.”
None of them said a word, and instead took an unhealthy interest in the trees around them. It wasn’t lost on Isabelle.
“Why do I get the feeling you all know something you’re not telling me?” she said.
“Believe me, you wouldn’t believe us if we told you,” Donny said. “I hardly believe it myself and I was shown the evidence. Trust me, you’re better off not knowing.”
“Okay,” Isabelle said cheerfully.
To her credit, she never pried or brought the subject up again. She really was a proponent of keeping things simple. Jamie wished he could do the same. Things had gotten complicated since the Reaver attack.
“Actually, I think you guys are in luck,” Isabelle said. “You should be able to see the cannon from here.”
“Where?” Donny said, casting around.
All they could see were shrubs and trees.
“Right. . . here,” Isabelle said.
Humperdinck pulled them up over a short rise and came to a stop on the apex. The forest fell away before them, revealing rolling, undulating hills, the most distant misty and unclear. It was nothing like the desert they were used to where it was free and unobstructed for miles to the naked eye.
The hilltops were sprinkled with a healthy dose of foliage, blocking the view for a mile or two, before falling away to another hilltop. It was beautiful but came at a price. It left them open to whatever resided in those deep valleys on the other side. A horde of Rages could be hiding right there, unseen until you crested the hill. By then it would be too late.
One mountain held their attention more than the others. It was located on its own massive rise, the shape of the mountain like a giant finger pointed at the sky.
“Wow,” Donny said. “That’s it? That’s the cannon? It’s huge!”
“Yep,” Isabelle said. “There she is.”
Fatty turned his head to one side.
“Are you sure it’s not just a mountain?” he said. “It looks green and rocky to me.”
“Of course it does,” Isabelle said. “The weapon was built within the mountain. Now it makes up the whole mountain itself. That was the reason they chose that particular spot in the first place if you ask me. But like I said, hundreds—maybe thousands—of treasure hunters have tried to break into it. None were successful. They used explosives, guns, horses, sticks, you name it.”
“We can get inside,” Lucy said with confidence.
Isabelle smiled politely, then straightened up when she saw how se
rious Lucy was.
“How?” she said.
“Maybe we’ll get lucky,” Lucy said. “Or maybe one of us has that long forgotten knowledge you mentioned.”
Isabelle pursed her lips, intrigued, taking Lucy in. Then she appraised the others.
“You certainly are a motley crew,” she said. “Lucky for you, I’m a bit motley myself. You guys said you’re not treasure hunters. If you’re not after what’s inside that place, why are you looking to go there?”
“We didn’t say we didn’t want what was inside,” Jamie said.
He left it at that. Let Isabelle’s imagination fill in the rest.
“If you do manage to get inside I’d love to salvage what they’ve got,” Isabelle said. “Grab the most valuable things before other traders get a whiff. I’d give you ten percent of whatever I salvage.”
“Keep the money,” Donny said. “I figure we owe you that much for getting us out of that hole.”
“You’re letting me have the whole City?” Isabelle said.
She shook her head.
“Listen to me,” she said. “Honestly thinking you might get into the City!”
“You can have whatever’s inside, right guys?” Donny said.
They nodded. What need did they have for Denver City? They only needed the weapon. And that for a single shot.
“Only two conditions,” Donny said, piping in.
“Here we go,” Isabelle said, rolling her eyes. “You want my soul forever or something?”
“First, you take us there in your cart,” Donny said.
“I’ll be making some stops along the way,” Isabelle said. “Forgive me, but promises in the future tend not to turn out the way they should. I don’t want to make this trip a total waste.”
“Fair enough,” Donny said.
“What’s the other proviso?” Isabelle said.
“We go in the City first and do what we need to do,” Jamie said. “After we come out, it’s all yours.”
Isabelle rolled the concept over in her mind, looking for potential avenues for trickery. She’d seen everything in her time.
“You’re not planning on going in there and never coming out till you die, are you?” she said with slitted eyes.
After The Fall (Book 2): The City Page 17
