Search: Virus+End Of The World.
The answer was right there, and it was the last thing I wanted to see. Since waking up, I’d been thinking about the animals, the life forms—all of it. How did life as I knew end in one way and explode in another? What project went south so hard that it ended up destroying the planet but leaving a legacy of things like three-meter-tall ogres, desert crocodiles, and things that scuttled in the shadows, feeding only at night?
Once again, I had my conspiracy theorists to thank, but as I read file after file, the news became mainstream. It broke out into the open, the governments unable to keep a lid on the horror show that was breaking free in cities across the globe.
“It started on 19 July 2033,” I said. Everyone was quiet, leaving me to read. Even Natif, a wiggly boy, was still, sensing this was important. “The virus appeared as an outbreak of the flu in three places, but no one died. People got sick, but they got better, so they were allowed to travel.” I shook my head, thinking of the best way to spread a bioweapon. Make people sick, then make them think they were better, then turn them loose to infect the wider population. A two-stage organism, probably engineered with a slow burn rate to make sure everyone got real cozy before the hammer fell.
And fall it did. “St. Louis went first, followed by Hong Kong, Durban, then South Africa. I bet if we had the time, we could trace a single carrier or an aircraft that took freight between those three cities. Once it was in Asia, that was the end, even if nobody knew.”
“Where is...Durban?” Mira asked. “We have maps of the world, but still—is that an old empire?”
“It’s on the tip of Africa. It’s—I mean, it was a beautiful city, on the ocean.” I tapped my chin, reading more. “Hmm...on the ocean. And Hong Kong is an island, which leaves St. Louis, which was as midwestern as you could possibly get. Totally landlocked, and not close to any body of water except the Mississippi.”
“You mean the Atchala? The big river to the east?” Mira asked, pointing vaguely over the horizon.
“That’s what it’s called now? Huh. Ok, yeah, that’s the river. Biggest on the continent, among the biggest in the world.” I shook my head, clearing it of the rabbit hole I was starting to go down. I didn’t need all the answers, just some. We have a working laptop, power, and enough drives to keep me reading for a decade. The only missing piece was Silk, so I turned to her and made my pitch.
“I asked Lasser, and I’m asking you. Would you ever leave the post?” I stared at her, watching for any kind of reaction at all, but her dark green eyes revealed nothing except mild interest.
“Go on,” she said.
I sketched out a plan of sorts, leaving out the parts where I was going to kill Senet with my bare hands and turn her brother into a punching bag. That kind of information would come later. The important part was securing people who knew how the world should work instead of how this husk of a country functioned.
When I finished, her gaze was cool and level, flicking to Mira before settling on me. “Is Lasser going?”
Lasser began to answer, but Silk waved him silent. “I’m asking you, Jack. Is Lasser going with you?”
I didn’t look away from Silk but merely answered. “Yes. And Natif.” The boy made a small noise of excitement, but Lasser just smiled.
“Do you know why I needed to know?” Silk asked.
“I’m sure you’ll tell me,” I replied as the stars brightened overhead. Full night was on, the breeze dropping away to a silent whisper.
“I’ve been a leader in my house, and I won’t follow someone who is weak. If you’re leading, then I’ll follow. There are—details to work out, but those will happen naturally,” she said, letting her eyes roam over Mira. It wasn’t the glance of a sister, but it wasn’t a rival, either. It was someone making a hard decision in a world where life and death were separated by a thin margin.
Silk leaned back in her chair, our business concluded. “I’ll tell the Hannahs tonight, and pack. There are conditions, but my answer is yes.”
“The Hannahs? You have more than one Hannah?” I asked.
“It was a popular name among the street girls some years ago. We found a working book reader, charged it, and the girls read about Hannah and liked her. Seems she had a habit of making money from men.” Silk shrugged, smiling. “So, we have a few Hannahs around, and two of them are my trusted seconds. They’ll care for the house, but I know what this trip really is.”
“What is it?” I asked her.
“A new start. I won’t come back here ever again, I think. Neither will Lasser. We’ve made our decision, and Mira made hers the minute she fought alongside you.” She fixed Mira with her eyes, but there was no anger there. Only curiosity. “What will we do about him?”
“Stop right there,” I said. “This isn’t your decision. It’s mine.”
“How do you figure?” Silk asked. Mira said nothing.
“Because the time of slavery comes to an end right now. You’ll be with me because you want to, and if that means sharing my bed, then that’s a decision that will be made freely. I won’t have it any other way,” I said. There was iron in my voice, but it was easier to make my stance clear before we went on the road to fight an unknown enemy. Mira and Silk would be on my side freely, or they wouldn’t be on my side at all. The choice was theirs.
Mira grumbled a sigh. “This will take some getting used to.”
Lasser lifted his eyes to the stars. “I hate you a little bit right now, Jack. I hate you, but I’ll be ready to go at dawn. We’ve got things to do. Natif?” They both smiled, rising to leave, but not before Lasser put a hand on my shoulder, grinning down at me. “Don’t expect me to join you in bed, friend. I’ll follow you, but you must promise to find me a nice woman in the desert.”
I lifted my hand, making a mock oath. “I swear it.”
“Well enough, friend. See you at first light,” Lasser said. He and Natif vanished, mumbling to themselves about gear and money and guards. I knew they would be ready, and knew I had chosen well.
“I have something to do, too.” Mira drained her cup, then touched my face. There was sadness in her eyes. “After our last trip out, Bel and I—we hid some things. I’m going to go get them.”
“A stash?” I asked. I knew she was smart, but this was the kind of thing that could save us in a pinch.
“Just outside the walls. It’s easy to get to, and we need every little bit of help we can get if we’re going to be out in the Empty for the long haul,” Mira said.
“Be careful. See you back here?” It was less a question than an order. I needed her just as she needed me. Mira was a steady gun. We would guard each other during whatever came next.
“I will.” She focused on Silk, her expression unreadable. “If you’re coming with us, make it count.” With that, she stalked off into the night, her feet nearly silent on the roof.
“I have a theory about the virus,” Silk said. Her eyes were bright and intelligent. She’d been thinking about what to say for some time, I could tell.
“And?”
“It’s complicated, and we have a long road south. We can discuss it on the way,” she said, standing. She was tall and lithe, soft in places that made me glad to be a man, her hands landing on my chest like butterflies, her fingertips dragging down my muscles with agonizing slowness. “Let’s go to my place. I have to give away my fortune and get dressed for battle.”
“You have clothes for war?” I asked her. Even to my own ears, I sounded doubtful.
She looked down at her body, then smiled. “Everything I own is made for war. It just depends on how you want to fight.”
23
Silk pulled at a small ring in the floor, lifting a trap door with ease. She was stronger than she looked, long and lean with muscle despite all of her curves.
In seconds, she lifted three bags out of the murk, the first being a backpack of handmade fabric over a bright aluminum frame. The pack was cut to fit a woman of her build, custom a
nd ready for hard use. It was filled, but not too heavy when she handed it up to me. She was prepared for a fast exit, and I gave her an appreciative nod of her foresight.
The second bag wasn’t a bag at all but a bundle of high-quality armor. Greaves, fingerless gloves, wrists bracers and a combo chest and shoulder piece made of stiff, interlocking hide topped by a headband and visor combo, the reflective glass nearly blue in the low light.
At my raised brow, she muttered, “Magnifies by ten at the top, clear at the bottom. Good for seeing them before they see me.”
“What’s the third bag?” I asked. It was small but heavy, and the movement within revealed that at least part of it was coins.
“Coins. Medical. Spare Hightec that I’ve never seen before, and ammo for this,” she said, brandishing a .45 in flawless condition. “I don’t like giving anything a second chance.”
“No shit.” I marveled at the .45 and it’s luster. She tucked it back in the oilcloth and heaved the door shut, closing it with a pronounced thump. I knew she was saying goodbye to part of her past, and bringing some of it with her.
“My rooms next, and then we tell the Hannahs. They’ll be busy until the rush dies down,” Silk said, cocking an ear to listen for sounds of commerce. I heard a laugh, some music, and the squeal of a woman that dissolved into giggles. The House of Silk was in full swing, with no knowledge of our presence in the back storeroom. She nodded to a dim stairwell. “Up this way. I don’t want to be seen on the floor. Better if you avoid it, too.”
In seconds, she opened a door with a key from around her neck, the lock falling inward with a mechanical snick.
“This is where I became Lady Silk,” she said, waving me in.
It was not what I expected.
The floors were bare wood except for small rugs in front of her bed, a mirror, and outside the door was an actual, working bathroom. I saw the legs of a tub, a sink, and small lamps at regular intervals, already lit, casting a muted yellow glow throughout the room. To the left was a second smaller room with a desk and three chairs, clearly the place where she did the actual business of running an espionage ring masquerading as a brothel.
The only thing that seemed personal was a small, weathered map printed on heavy paper. The lines on it were drawn by hand, the ink faded to sepia but still readable.
“What’s that?” I asked, leaning close to examine the document. Silk came over quickly, placing a hesitant hand on the corner before removing the map and rolling it up with reverent motions.
“It’s...it’s where my parents vanished. I think,” she said, her eyes hooded with grief.
I turned to her, and she seemed smaller and very close. “What did you do before all this?”
It only took her a second to decide. She might trade in lies, but she was leaving with me. The truth was a better decision, starting with her own past. She sat on the edge of her bed, leaning her head to the right. I followed her lead and sat down, waiting for her to reveal the truth behind a woman who carved a small empire out of nothing but sand and danger.
“For the first sixteen years of my life, I lived as a scavenger with my parents. I know what it means to be hungry. Tired. To run so far and fast you think your lungs will burst, and even then, you can’t stop because something from a nightmare is chasing you across the dunes because you crossed its path. That was my life. Terror. Hunger. Thirst. Sometimes, we found things. Usually, we didn’t, but my parents did well enough to keep us alive. What they couldn’t change was the danger,” she said.
“And you left them behind to come here?” I asked. “Bold for a kid.”
“I was no kid, and I didn’t leave them behind. I was beautiful, even when I was young. I saw how men looked at me. My father saw, too, and my mother tried to pretend I was still a child under all the dirt. The lie didn’t last,” she replied, her words bitter.
“You say they went missing? How do you know where?” I asked. The map wasn’t perfect, but I recognized enough of it to know her parents had been running routes in what used to be Oklahoma and Texas.
“Because that’s where they went when I stole my first secret,” she said.
“To the east? You found some reason to make them go east?” I asked her. I knew she needed help with the story. It was a source of shame, as well as her beginning.
“A boy from another caravan. He was my age, liked his wine and tried to impress me by spilling everything his family was doing on their long-range recons to the east. It only cost me a kiss, and even then, he was harmless. They were a much more successful family, with twelve wagons and a permanent guard. They had ogres, armor, and guns. I saw what they had and wanted it for myself.” She shrugged, her cheeks flushing with the memory. “I was tired of being hungry, and that moment was when Lady Silk was born. I’m not proud of what I became, but I was just a kid, and I was already tired of my life. I knew I would die out there, just like everyone else does, eventually.”
“Don’t ever apologize for wanting to live,” I told her. I put an arm around her, the scent of roses rising like a song.
“I try not to. I don’t talk about it. There’s no one else who would understand, except for my family, and they’re most likely dead,” she said. Jeweled tears filled the corners of her eyes, real and heavy. I fought the urge to wipe the tears away and kiss her, knowing it would stop her story. She needed this, and so did I.
“What did they go to find?” I asked her.
“An armory.”
“A—a real armory? How did you hear that term?” I asked, trying and failing to keep the shock from my voice.
“Hightec. We’re not the only people with working computers, Jack. The past isn’t dead at all. It’s just waiting,” she said.
“And they never came back?” I knew the map was more than a talisman. It was something to hold for the future if I could survive the next month.
“No, and their wishes were clear. Go to the post. Take the coins they gave me and go the honest route. Become a baker, or a healer—anything but a scavenger who waited on sandstorms to peel back the years and reveal scraps for us to survive on.” Her laugh was pure irony. “Obviously, I chose a different path.”
“Can anyone blame you? I want to tell you my passwords, and we haven’t even kissed,” I said, marking every inch of her perfect face.
“What’s a password?” she asked.
“For a computer geek, it’s the holy grail. It’s like a key, but used to open data, networks, and memory sticks. It’s the one thing someone needs to steal everything you are, even your identity,” I explained.
“And you want me to know yours already? Why, Jack?” she lowered her lashes, pulling at me with a hand that was warm and soft. She caressed my jaw, pushing me back with agonizing slowness. “I have no need of a password. I want something else entirely.”
Silk paused to lift her shirt off, discarding it in a backward toss without ever taking her eyes from me. She straddled me, her breasts high, soft, and proud, then pulling my hands to them so I could feel how delicate she was under her clothing. In a series of short motions, she had me naked, then pulled her rough spun skirt off, letting it fall from her hand, forgotten and unwanted.
I watched her appraise my muscles, my body, all of me with the eyes of a woman who knew every inch of a man, and in her gaze, I saw something that made me smile.
Hunger.
I felt the same way, as she was a woman at her utter peak, perfect from head to toe and designed for pleasure. The fact she was giving it to me, made me forget the past had ever existed, if only for the moments when she sat atop me, rubbing slowly as heat built between us in untapped potential.
“Now?” she asked, her body already lowering onto me, smooth and sure. I pulled her down to me, kissing her, driving her hips to find every detail yet undiscovered. I liked what I found, and by her moans, she was happy to let me explore. We rocked back and forth in short, intense motions, never straying too far from each other in case we missed something. Slower, faster,
then somewhere in between, we challenged each other for as long as we both could stand it, ending in her orgasm that made me call on every muscle to sit up, pull her tight, then let go. Together, we were a quivering mass of gooseflesh, only calming down when I flipped her over to stare down at her soft eyes and shy smile.
“Again,” I said, fighting the urge to high-five my ‘bots for their amazing side effects. Silk lifted a brow, but wasn’t the kind of woman to shy away from unexpected gifts. This time, I went even slower, because the road ahead of us wasn’t made for quiet moments. I made a map of her skin, running my hands over her breasts, arms, the round of her ass, all a masterpiece of what it meant to be a woman.
“You can have me again, you know,” she murmured. I liked the husky tone of her voice, lost in the moment.
“I know, and I will,” I said. Her eyes were bright but narrow, a fine sheen of sweat on her upper lip. She kept moving against me even as we spoke, not letting a second go to waste. She was the best multitasker in history, and she was mine.
When we came again, it was even better, seconds apart and longer, more primal, and different with me on top, watching her watch me. After a long breath, she reached up, taking my face in her hands.
“I don’t just mean like this. You can have me if you want me. I’m only Lady Silk because I haven’t met a man who could give me what I want, and let me give him what I have. You’re that man.” She was nervous, unused to baring herself. She’d been in bed, but never honest. I could tell that much from the rosy flush of her neck. It wasn’t just the sex. It was the openness. The sharing.
“I have a lot to do, and I’m going to do it all. You’re coming with me,” I told her, and that settled the matter, freeing us up for other activities. “How long ‘til dawn?”
“Not long enough,” she said, sliding alongside me and wrapping her legs around my hips.
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