Chapter 44 #2
Ronin drew the blanket down and offered Lara his hand. After a few careful breaths, she took it and slid her legs over the side of the bed. He placed his other hand on the small of her back, supporting her as she stood.
Slowly, she eased into the wheelchair, tucking her splinted arm against her middle.
Nancy brushed her fingers over Lara’s braid. “Enjoy yourself. I’ll see you back here later.”
Ronin pushed Lara out of the room, which he’d called the Infirmary, and followed the green line on the floor along a large, rounded concrete tunnel. The muffled voices of a crowd drifted down the corridor from ahead. They passed several people, many of whom cast friendly smiles in Lara’s direction.
It was strange. Back in Cheyenne, direct eye contact was sometimes considered a threat, too often ending with a knife buried in someone’s gut.
But these people just…smiled. They all looked healthy, if a bit pale, like they’d never missed a meal in their lives.
Their clothing was clean and well-mended.
Their skin wasn’t weather-damaged, and they didn’t have dirt under their fingernails.
This is what I was becoming after Ronin took me to his house.
The voices grew louder as Lara and Ronin emerged from the tunnel into a huge room.
There were dozens of people all around, engaged in conversations and various activities, many of which were unfamiliar to her.
Pictures flickered on screens here and there on the walls, and machinery thrummed, buzzed, and clanked.
Lara’s gaze shifted from face to face. “There are so many people.”
“Not all human,” Ronin said.
“There are bots here, too?”
“I’ve counted thirty-three, but I know there are more.”
She looked over the crowd, spotting a few skinless bots. If there were synths present, she couldn’t tell them apart from the humans. They all spoke with their hands as much as their mouths, all laughed together, all wore their emotions on their faces.
It was nothing like Cheyenne. These people were not divided.
They lived in harmony.
A line of six men in matching clothes marched out of a tunnel ahead, each carrying a rifle. More weaponry dangled from their belts—pistols and knives.
“Who are they?” she asked.
“Soldiers.”
“Like the gearheads, only human?”
“Not all human,” he repeated with a chuckle, “and not like the gearheads. They’re here to protect the people who live here, not to hold them under the thumbs of their leaders.”
Lara’s eyes followed the soldiers until they disappeared in the crowd. “How many of them are there?”
“I don’t know. They trust me enough to let me walk around the common areas, but I haven’t been able to get an accurate impression of their real numbers or armament. They don’t flaunt it here.”
She frowned. Now that she recognized their clothing, she counted three more soldiers on the walkways overhead.
Ronin turned down another tunnel. As they moved along it, the air grew moist, carrying rich scents that took Lara a moment to identify—damp earth and vegetation. The smells only strengthened as Ronin wheeled her into another large room.
Rows and rows of plants and trees, many of which were unfamiliar to her, stood beneath bright, warm lights. Dew drops glistened on vibrant green leaves, colorful fruits hung from branches, and vegetables grew closer to the ground. The air itself was thick with life.
Stopping beside a tree, Ronin reached up, plucked an orange fruit, and handed it to her.
The fruit was smaller than her palm, with soft, fuzzy skin. She gave it a gentle squeeze. “What is it?”
“An apricot. Take a bite.”
She stared at the apricot for a moment before raising it to her lips. Her teeth sank into the tender flesh, and sweetness swept over her tongue. It was the most wonderful thing she’d ever tasted. And yet…she could barely bring herself to swallow it.
Lara ran her gaze over the tree, along branches weighed down by the countless apricots growing upon them, and then looked at the surrounding trees, all of which were equally bountiful. Something twisted in her belly, something heavy.
“Like it?” Ronin asked.
“It’s…good.”
“Your tone says otherwise.” He stepped in front of the wheelchair and crouched, his brows low as his eyes searched hers. “What’s wrong?”
“It’s a whole other world down here.” She gestured at the plants. “I’ve never seen so much food in my entire life.”
Ronin turned his head, following her gesture, and then met her gaze again. “And this…upsets you?”
Lara looked down at the apricot and brushed her thumb over its fuzzy skin. Part of her mind insisted this little fruit wasn’t possible, that it couldn’t be real. That none of this could be real. Because if this was real, if all this existed so close to Cheyenne…
But before she could put any of her thoughts into words, several loud moos sounded from somewhere deeper in the compound.
Her brow furrowed. “Cows?”
“Yes, and more.” Ronin rose and returned to the rear of the wheelchair. He pushed Lara onward, past the trees and rows of plants, toward an opening into another room. The smell from within was far more pungent and less pleasant.
The cows stood in a penned-off area, their heads bowed and tails flicking from side to side as they chewed grass. A man sat on a stool beside one. As he tugged on its udders, milk sprayed into a bucket.
As Lara stared at the man and cow, something simmered deep in her belly.
“There was an old man back in Cheyenne who had a cow when I was a little girl. Its skin was stretched over its bones, and its eyes…its eyes were always so sad.” She scowled, flicking her gaze over these plump, contented beasts.
“One night, someone decided to steal it, and they shot the old man when he tried to stop them. They’d already butchered the cow and sold the meat by the next morning. ”
Ronin was silent, but she could almost sense the questions brimming within him.
Chickens wandered closer, clucking as they bobbed their heads, and sheep and goats bleated farther back.
Lara wanted to scream, wanted to rage, but she couldn’t. It was already getting hard to breathe with how her throat was tightening. She clenched her fist in her lap. “I want to go back.”
Without a word, Ronin rolled her back the way they’d come, not jarring her aching body a single time.
Nancy was waiting in the Infirmary, along with a tall, brown-skinned man who turned to face Lara as Ronin wheeled her inside.
“Did it feel good to get out of this room for a change?” Nancy asked. When Lara didn’t respond, Nancy tilted her head to the side, frowning before she gestured to the man. “This is Colonel Jack Rodriguez. He’s our Head of Security, and he’s been talking a lot with Ronin since you two arrived.”
“Hello, Miss Brooks,” Rodriguez said. “Now that you’re feeling better, I have some questions for you.”
Lara held his gaze. Anger burned in her gut. The way this man stood, his confidence and air of authority, reminded her of Warlord.
“Lara?” Ronin asked from behind her.
“Why didn’t you help us?” she asked, voice level.
Rodriguez’s lips parted, and a tiny crease formed between his eyebrows. “You’re alive because we helped you.”
“Why didn’t you fucking help us?” She ignored the pain of each breath, unable to tamp down the firestorm raging inside her. “You left us to them! Left us to starve, to die!”
His expression hardened. “I don’t know what the fuck you’re talking about, Miss Brooks, but—”
“Cheyenne! All those people. You left us to sift through the fucking Dust, trying to find enough shit to earn a few bites of food from that bastard when this whole time you had food and shelter and medicine here. You have protection here!”
She didn’t realize that she’d stood up and advanced toward Rodriguez until Ronin’s hands settled on her shoulders and stopped her.
Rodriguez didn’t back away, didn’t break eye contact. “You’ve been through a lot, and I can’t pretend I know what it’s like.”
“And you did nothing. My sister is dead, hundreds of people are dead, and you might as well be responsible for it. You let that monster run free while you live here in luxury.”
“We work for everything we have down here. Every. Fucking. Thing. Every time someone eats a piece of fruit”—his eyes dropped to the crushed apricot in her trembling fist—“we have to worry about whether we’ll be able to produce another.
Every time someone needs medical attention, there’s a chance we’ll never be able to replace the supplies used to care for them.
We have a lot of our own people to worry about right here, Miss Brooks.
We’re not responsible for the rest of the damned world. ”
“Fuck you!” Lara’s chest heaved, and black spots dotted her vision. Agony pierced her chest. But her heart hurt more than anything. All those years, all those people, all that suffering, and peace and abundance had been right here the whole time? “Fuck…”
Nancy rushed forward. “That’s enough, damn it!”
Lara’s legs gave out, but Ronin was there, taking her sagging weight into his arms. He carried her to the bed and laid her down carefully.
“You need to drink this now,” Nancy said. Something cool pressed to Lara’s lips.
It smelled sharply of alcohol and something else—the sleep of the dead.
“No. I don’t…want it…” Lara turned her head and swiped at the cup.
Nancy was quicker, moving it back before Lara could knock it out of her hand. “Tilt her head back and plug her nose.”
Ronin followed her orders, his hands too strong to fight, yet somehow retaining their gentleness.
No!
Lara stared up at him, unable to believe the betrayal.
Nancy held the cup closer to Lara’s mouth. “This will dull the pain and calm you before you do any lasting harm to yourself.”
“Please listen, Lara,” Ronin said, his voice oddly strained.
Tears stung her eyes, and she averted her gaze. The moment she opened her mouth to take a breath, Nancy poured the foul liquid in, covering Lara’s lips to prevent her from spitting it out.
With no other choice, Lara choked it down.
“She’s not going to get out of it,” Rodriguez said. “I expect to be notified when she’s well enough to be questioned, Doctor Cooper.”
His footfalls were heavy as he walked away.
“I’m sorry, Lara. I really am,” Nancy said, pursing her lips as she and Ronin removed their hands.
“You need to rest. Once you’re stronger, you can berate Jack all you want, but as your doctor, I can’t allow you to hurt yourself.
” She brushed a stray lock of hair back from Lara’s temple, glanced briefly at Ronin, and left.
Lara turned her face away from him as tears trickled from the corners of her eyes.
Ronin’s fingers slipped around Lara’s right hand, but she jerked it out of his hold. “Don’t.”
“I vowed to protect you, Lara Brooks,” he said, curling a finger beneath her chin and guiding her face toward him. After she met his eyes, he leaned forward and brushed his lips over her forehead. “I’m not going to fail to uphold that vow again…even if it shatters me.”