Chapter 11 Dottie
I cringed at the feel of the sticky fabric against my palms as the shuttle suddenly veered to the left, forcing us to hold on lest we be smashed against the wall.
Alice and I were crammed into the sleeping nook of the stolen Xarc’n shuttle, along with several young women.
I recognized them from around New Franklin but didn’t know them well, since they were pretty new to the settlement.
Even the Xarc’n warrior’s high-tech microbe and dirt-resistant fabric couldn’t handle the abuse the shuttle had gone through.
The rest of the shuttle was no better. It was a dirty, smelly mess.
The air in here was stale, and the stench of sweat and gasoline clung to it.
I tried to breathe shallowly, but the smell still stuck to my throat.
Alice sat closest to me, her shoulder brushing mine whenever the shuttle dipped.
She looked relatively calm considering our precarious situation, but that was probably because she knew that her Xarc’n warrior would come for her.
The other women were less calm. One of them stayed quiet, but her jaw was grinding so loud I could hear it from a few feet away.
The youngest one was crying in the corner, and the last one was beating on the sleeping nook’s energy shield in a futile attempt to get out and attack our captors.
If I didn’t already know that it was impossible to get through the energy barrier, I would join her.
The flight didn’t last long, and soon we were descending again, until they eventually marched us out of the shuttle with guns at our backs.
The area looked familiar; this was the south side of town.
I almost didn’t recognize it, even though I used to come this way every week when my son was younger and had to see the physiotherapist for his sports injuries.
The buildings were still standing, but they were run-down and partially destroyed.
We landed in the parking lot of a strip mall. The asphalt was cracked and all faded by years of inclement weather. Most of the empty storefronts had their glass broken, and the back of a van stuck out from one of them.
Another stolen Xarc’n shuttle landed next to us, uncloaking as it did.
More assholes stepped out, dragging more of our women behind them.
But it was the helicopter suddenly appearing out of thin air that had me tightening my grip on Alice’s arm.
I’d heard one when we were grabbed, but I thought I’d imagined it.
How had they managed to get the Xarc’n cloak working on it?
We had to warn the others. But first, we had to survive.
They herded us toward the only unit with an intact front window. It had been a bar. The NEM must have been here for a while because the place stank.
It was warm inside, especially when the other NEM bandits piled in with us. They had shoved all the chairs and tables to one side, and there were supplies stacked against the opposite wall.
As they shoved us unceremoniously into a corner, a man wearing an eye patch rose from his seat. He wore an old army uniform—stolen because it clearly didn’t fit him—and had a yellow New Earth Militia band sewn to the sleeve at the bicep. He looked like the tough guy straight out of a movie.
“Where the hell are the brats?” he demanded.
“Th-They were caught,” stammered one of the men who hadn’t been in our shuttle. “I saw them with the crates and bins, but the guards got to them before I did.”
The boys and the loot? My stomach twisted. I thought of the short interaction I had with Jason at the library, and the snippet of conversation Ror’k and I had overheard. The realization that they’d been working with the NEM made me queasy.
“Excuses!” roared the man with the eye patch, who I was guessing was the big boss here. “You had one fucking job! Our contact says nobody suspected them. This is on you.” He smacked the guy across the head.
“I couldn’t land.”
“Our sensors show that all hunters were off fighting the bugs. What do you mean you couldn’t land?”
“The-The-They had guns, and…”
“You have guns, you imbecile.” Eye Patch pointed his weapon at the bumbling idiot.
“Wait!” shouted another man. “Don’t waste him yet. We can still use him.”
“Fine. But this is your last warning. The next time you fuck up, I’m feeding you to the bugs.”
“Boss?” A woman’s voice shouted from behind the bar. “We’ve got a problem. Hunters are coming.”
“Fuck. I told you all not to uncloak.”
“But command said…”
“Fuck what command says. Command is safe in their bunkers. I don’t give a fuck how much fuel it wastes. We’re the ones out here risking our hides. We need to get moving.” Eye Patch walked over, surveying us ladies. “She’s too old,” he said. “You were supposed to grab the young ones.”
“We didn’t have time to pick, sir.”
“Whatever. Leave her behind with the brothers. They’re no use to us anymore now that the brats are caught. They can feed the bugs. Load everyone else up and let’s get out of here.”
The next few minutes were a mess as they dragged Alice and me apart. Then I was standing alone in the abandoned bar with nothing but light streaming in from the darkly tinted windows.
A shuffling sound caught my attention. I wasn’t alone after all. I turned toward the sound, holding a chair in front of me as protection.
“Hello?”
Just more shuffling. Then there was a tapping.
Tap-tapa-tap-tap, tap-tap.
Tap-tapa-tap-tap, tap-tap.
That was not an accident. I squinted in the dark as I edged over to the door. I cracked it open and wedged a chair in place for more light.
I found two young men bound and gagged at the back of the room. I hadn’t even noticed them with everything else that had been happening. They were dirty and emaciated. One of them looked familiar.
“You’re Jason’s brother!” I hurried over and removed their gags.
“You know my brother?”
“I spoke with him briefly. I didn’t know he was working with the NEM.”
“He doesn’t want to!”
“None of them do,” said the second man. “We’d never steal from New Franklin. We were even thinking about joining up. But these assholes held us and forced them to go. They wanted some hard drive or something.”
I knew immediately which hard drive they wanted, but kept quiet.
Right after the First Annual Trader’s Market, Kiera and Bael’k had gone on a dangerous quest into a Dead Zone to retrieve a hard drive full of old Earth technology.
Think the secret to microchips and all that.
We didn’t have the equipment to use the information, but knowledge was the first step.
The fact that the quest had been successful had been kept a secret.
We acted like we were just celebrating the fact that they’d returned at all.
The Tech Wizards, humans who took on the Xarc’n military role of technical advisors to the hunters, knew about the hard drives.
And some of the hunters knew. But that was it.
I only knew because that fateful meeting had happened in my library after hours, with the doors firmly locked.
Perhaps the NEM had only guessed we had it and didn’t have proof.
“That doesn’t explain why he trashed my library.”
“I’m sorry for what he did. But they were trying to rescue us.
There was no other option for them. We’ve traded with the NEM before, even though we know we couldn’t really trust them, but we needed the vitamins because the younger ones are still growing.
This time, they turned on us and locked us up.
Then they told the younger boys that if they didn’t infiltrate New Franklin and steal things for them, they’d kill us.
The NEM claimed they had someone on the inside, and they’d know if they went for help instead. ”
“Wait, let me get this straight. They captured you, then forced the younger ones to do their bidding, while holding you as ransom?”
“Yeah. They knew that it wouldn’t work the other way around if they kept the younger ones here and let us go; they’d have to keep one eye open every night. And our reputation with New Franklin will be forever tarnished. That is, if I ever get to see my brother again.”
“You will.” Deciding to trust them, I found a knife at the bar and started to saw at the ropes.
“When we get back to New Franklin, we’ll let them know what happened.
They probably exiled the boys, but we’ll find them.
And I’ll talk to Roger. He’s a good man.
He’ll understand, especially if you help him root out the traitor they say the NEM has on the inside. ”
“There is. And they have a way to communicate too.”
“So that’s how they knew it was planting day and everyone was out.” I continued to saw at the tough rope with the dull knife. “We did get quite a few new people. It could be any of them.” My mind reeled. If this were true, it would put everyone at risk. “We have to get this info back to Roger.”
“Roger’s good people, I hope New Franklin will be able to forgive us for this. I’m Shawn, by the way. And this Kai.”
“I’m Dottie.”
The knife finally went through the last strand holding Shawn prisoner.
He took the knife from me and freed his friend much faster than I did him.
With them both standing, I could see how lean they were.
They were surviving in this bleak and dangerous landscape on their own, but they weren’t thriving.
Still, considering they had a bunch of younger boys to look after, I’d say they’d done very well.
If others at New Franklin were willing to forgive them, perhaps we could convince them to join us. In order to survive this long while taking care of a group of younger boys, they had to be smart and capable, and we always had the use of smart, capable young men.
“We should get going,” Shawn said, searching the bar for anything useful. “The NEM usually calls in the scourge to clean up after them. This place is going to be overrun with bugs soon.”
My stomach sank. “But how?”
“We’re not sure,” Kai replied, passing me a bottle of water the NEM had left behind in their rush. He cracked another one open and chugged half of it before continuing to speak. “But they seem to be able to control them at least for a short time.”
With one of them armed with a steel pipe and the other with several billiard balls—don’t ask, I had no idea how that would protect him—we stepped out of the bar. The NEM was gone, and along with them Alice and the other women.
I was glad Alice and I had the forethought to ditch our phones the moment we realized we were getting kidnapped. They were now on the ground next to the field, probably trampled, but at least the devices weren’t in the NEM’s hands. They’d taken everyone’s devices when we were on the shuttle.
I had to believe that Kaj’k was already out looking for his mate. They’d taken the wrong woman, that was for sure.
“Where do you think they took the others?” I asked, as I followed them across the parking lot, cursing the fact that I already knew I’d have trouble keeping up. I was going to slow these two down. That was deadly out here.
The thought that Alice and I were separated didn’t sit well. It wasn’t that I didn’t think they wouldn’t come for me, but that I knew for certain Kaj’k would go to the end of the universe for Alice. Those Xarc’n warriors really did love their mates.
And that had me thinking of Ror’k. Now wouldn’t that have been a sight if he’d rushed in there to save us. But it wasn’t like I was his mate. I was too old for that.
“They have another hideout not far away. I have no doubt that’s where they’re going. The leader ain’t dumb. They won’t leave the area until they get what they came for.”
“And what did they come for? This hard drive thing?”
“That’s just a bonus. They’re looking for Xarc’n tech. Blasters. Shuttles. Communicators. Translators. Anything.”
I scoffed. “And they claim they don’t need the aliens.”
But that was all I could say because I was already starting to feel out of breath as we hurried down the street. They were moving fast, and for good reason too. I heard them before I saw them, the sounds of many exoskeleton-covered feet against the pavement.
“Oh fuck! They’re already here.” Shawn looked behind us, then at me. “Do you know how to get back to New Franklin from here?”
“Yes. I think so.”
“Good. You can cut across the town now, as long as you make a few blocks detour around where the nest had been because of the fungus. Move fast, but don’t tire yourself out.
Rest when you need. Stay close to the buildings, under the overhangs if you can.
Stop and listen for danger often. And hide if you see any flyers. ”
I could hear him saying those exact words to a bunch of younger boys.
“Why? What are you two—” My words cut off as almost a dozen scuttlers came out from behind a building.
Visceral fear speared through me at the sight of them. Not quite ant, not quite spider, with praying mantis-like blades tipped in neurotoxin for arms, each one was at least hip-high on me. And the worst part? They always travelled in packs.
“Keep going this way. Kai and I will lead them away. We’ll try to find you before you get to New Franklin, but if we don’t, please talk to Roger for us. Tell him what happened. Tell him the boys were coerced. I know he’s a good man, and he will understand. Tell my brother I’m coming.”
“Mine too. He’s the other Sean, spelled differently. Now go, while we have their attention.”
I gawked at the two young men who were even now turning back.
“Go!”
Kai’s word spurred me into action, and I started down the road, staying close to the buildings.
Loud shouting had me turning back. The two were waving and screaming at the scourge, drawing their attention away from me. I had to believe that these young men had a plan. They had to, right? Right? They’d survived out here for years.
Not wanting to waste the distraction, I broke into a jog. I had to make it home.