Death and The Divide (19 page)

Min’s shoulders slumped. “Thanks, man.”

“Hurry and do what you need to before someone else finds us,” Linc said, bending over the man. “He’ll wake up eventually.”

Min nodded, still panting and trotted to the rear of the area. He stopped before a tall structure, staring at it with a grin on his face.

“What is that?” Ria pointed to the twenty foot high pyramid-shaped structure that pulsed a blue light from its top every five seconds. It was nearly blinding in the dim interior of the power plant. She kept looking over her shoulder for more workers. It was night and likely not highly staffed at this time, but one had already found them. She pressed her back against a wall, staying in a shadow.

“It’s a quantum energy digitizer.” Min fingered a wheel on his handheld device. “This should be a good place. The energy pulses here weaken the shield, which is just outside this building. I need to mark the exact position of the digitizer, then when we go outside. I can use that to calculate the disruption sequence.”

She shook her head. Everything he said sounded like,
blah, blah, digitizer, blah, blah computer, blah, blah calculate…
Linc’s frown and shrug told her it puzzled him, too. Good. She wasn’t completely stupid.

They’d come this far, threading past guard posts, dodging drones, and using Min’s technology to break into seemingly impenetrable portals. She had to admit, without him, she and Linc wouldn’t have made it.

“Now I have to coordinate the resonance of this beam, and we’ll be able to drop a grid section outside.” The young man concentrated on his device, rapidly moving his finger across the screen. “Okay, got it!”

They retraced their steps to a side exit. He reset the door’s alarm system and they slipped through to the paved area that ran around the perimeter of the structure. Linc and Min kept close to the wall, hunkered down as they moved, so she did the same. Bright lights randomly circled the area, so they scurried quickly from one sheltered spot to another.

“There. See that mondo shimmer?” Min pointed to a glossy shine with a grayish tint. “That’s the shield.”

“What happens if you touch it?” she asked. Hairs on her arm rose in a static state that tickled and itched at the same time. It smelled the same as just before a thunderstorm.

Min gave her a strange look. “You die. Don’t you know anything?”

“Not about this stuff. But I do know about a hundred different parasites that can kill you if you eat them,” she retorted.

“Whatever.” He shrugged and yawned, then returned to fiddling with his handheld computer. “Okay, when the grid drops, you’ll see an opening about three feet square in the shiny surface. I can only keep it open fifteen seconds without the system reporting a failure. So when I say go, grab your scoop and run like hell. Don’t hit the sides of the portal or, you know, you’ll die. Ready?”

“Ria first,” Linc said. “Then you, Min, and I’ll bring up the rear. If I don’t make it, you two keep going.”

“Sorry, Dope, but I got to be the last,” Min said.

“Dope?” Linc gave him a stern look.

“Yeah, that’s what we call people who don’t know much about computers. Like you two.” He made a last entry. “Line up.”

“Shit, there’s a light coming,” Ria said looking to the right.

“Too late. I’ve entered the coordinates. Just run!” Min nudged Linc who pushed against her back.

The gray shimmer thinned and then a dark square appeared.

“Go,” Min shouted.

She ducked and bolted, keeping her arms tucked close to her body. Adrenalin pumped through her as she hurtled into the black unknown, her heart pounding. A rush of cold met her and she stumbled on something that sent her tumbling across rocky ground. Stones bit into her skin, and she yelped.

A second later, Linc nearly landed on top of her and rolled to the side.

“Min?” She sat up, searching in the darkness. “Did you make it through okay?”

“Here,” he said from a few feet away. The device glowed in his palm, shining up to show his beaming smile. “That was tight!”

“Where’s Linc? Did it close?” She crawled toward him.

“I’m fine. He’s here somewhere. I saw him go through. Wow. That was total tightness. It worked!” His face looked eerie in the blue light of the computer screen.

As her eyes adjusted to the darkness, she found Linc and made out a line of small shrubs and scraggly trees about ten feet away. In the direction of the shield, the shimmer was darker than the other side, almost impossible to see if she didn’t know it was there. God help anyone who stumbled upon it unknowingly.

Linc rose and gave her a hand to help her to her feet. He slapped Min on the shoulder. “Great job, kid.”

“Thanks, Dope.” Min gave him a lopsided grin.

“Now to reach Kansas City,” she said, dusting off her leggings and sweater.

“First, I need to scan for drones. We might not scope them out here.” Min pointed to the sky. “Hmm, looks like one about a mile to the south and another a couple miles to the east.”

“So they have them outside the city, too.” Ria frowned. “I was hoping they didn’t.”

“Uh, isn’t that exactly where we need to head?” Linc asked, rubbing his shoulder where he’d landed.

“Yeah. It is. I’ll keep the screen up to track them. If they get close, we have to hide.”

“I’ve set the coordinates for Kansas City.” Ria turned on the direction program of her wrist comm.

“We probably have until morning before they start looking for us,” Linc said, taking his light from his bag. “Let’s get going.”

Ria led, following the directions on her comm-unit, with Linc lighting the way. Min kept glancing at the drone tracker program and brought up the rear. They headed into a stand of scraggly trees. Their boots crunched over fallen twigs and dried leaves, and occasionally a cricket chirped. Away from the city, the smell of the meager vegetation overwhelmed her senses. The tang of cedar and musty decaying leaves dominated the aromas.

She wondered if any wild animals still lived in these abandoned spaces between cities. Unfortunately, the bombs and weapons of the civil war had left many areas in the North like this, scorched and almost barren. After that, most available land had been used to provide housing for their overburdened system as thousands of Southern undesirables flocked to the North. Animals not in zoos or protected parks perished without sufficient food and water. Probably some small animals survived, but the larger ones had died out. How different this was from the rich forest where she and Linc had crashed. If she hadn’t been so terrified, she would have marveled at the experience of a large lion in the wild. Okay, well, a cougar.

“The southern one is headed right for us,” Min said urgently. “We need to find a place to take cover.”

“Over here.” Linc herded them toward a rock formation. Two boulders had a space between just wide enough to allow them in sideways. Min went first.

“I have claustrophobia,” Ria said. Panic froze her in her tracks. “I can’t go in there.”

Linc grabbed her hand and pulled her to him, sheltered under the overhanging rock. “Shh, close your eyes and you won’t know.”

He wrapped his arms around her, keeping her from moving. A faint buzz passed overhead, and even the crickets stilled. A breeze lifted scanty tree limbs, and leaves rustled. She squeezed her lids tight, focusing on the solid feel of Linc’s chest against her back. Her panic slowly subsided.

“It’s gone,” Min said. “The one to the east is now heading further east.”

Linc released her, and she bolted from the tight space, holding her chest. “Thanks, but next time, let’s find a bigger place to hide.”

“I’ll call ahead for reservations,” he joked, straight-faced.

She had to smile, and play-punched his arm. “See that you do.”

They set out across the rocky terrain, occasionally stopping to duck under rocky outcroppings or roll into ditches. She collected more bruises and scrapes. Just what she needed.

“There’s a small town about ten miles ahead,” Min said. “We should try to cop transportation there so we can make better time.”

“How are we going to do that?” Ria asked. “If they’re looking for us, we’ll be reported.”

“We’ll have to steal something,” Linc said, brushing dried leaves from his hair.

“Yep,” Min said eyes still on his pad. “Not a mondo deal.”

“Right,” she said with a sigh. “Not a mondo deal.”

Chapter Nineteen

“What do you think?” Ria asked Linc.

“If it runs, it’ll work.” He scanned the old mobile van sitting neglected behind a small lettuce hydroponic greenhouse. White paint peeled off the rounded silver surface, and scraggly grass grew around its wheels. “Doesn’t look like it’s been used for a while, so it won’t be immediately missed. What exactly is it?”

“A food-vending van. After the war, smaller towns used them to deliver perishable products to apartment buildings so there was no waste by selling the items at the local food commissary. After the production caught up with the population about twenty years ago, they went back to mass distribution. Looks like that one stayed in service, though, it’s not that old.”

“Can you jack it, Dope?” Minlo sat up. “I only know about computers.”

Linc crawled from the edge of the hill overlooking the greenhouse. Morning sunlight filtered golden pink through leaves above him, and somewhere, a bird chirped. They’d be highly visible now that the dark cover of night had given way to daylight.

“Hell, yeah, I can jack it,” he said. “The problem is power. It’s electric. As long as it’s probably been sitting there, it’s not charged.”

“There’s a recharge port about ten feet in front of it.” Ria still stretched on her stomach at the edge of the hilltop. “This is the best option we’ve found. If we had a connector cord…”

“It might be inside the van,” Min suggested. “That would make sense.”

“If we could plug it in and no one noticed, it could charge while we get some sleep. Then we could head out tonight,” Linc said. They’d have the whole night to travel before daylight made the rather obvious old-fashioned van clearly visible.

The buzz of a drone made Ria scurry out of the open. She hissed at Min, “Hey, aren’t you keeping an eye on those little bastards?”

His face fell. “Sorry, I was busy thinking about getting into the van to see if the cord is there.”

She closed her eyes a moment. “Okay, but we can’t make mistakes. If we’re caught, I don’t know what they’ll do to us.”

Linc knew what she really meant. They were still valuable for solving the parasite problem and would just be locked in the lab to continue working. Minlo, on the other hand, might be killed. “She’s right. We don’t know how to run your computer and monitor the drones, so that has to be your priority. I’ll attempt to break into the van and look for the connector.”

Ria’s eyes widened for a second, and she seemed about to say something then pressed her lips together and nodded.

“All right.” Min returned his gaze to the small screen. “There’s one about half a mile to the west headed in this direction. Once it’s past, we’ll be tight.”

They hunkered down beside the large oak tree with its spreading limbs and dense leaf cover. It was one of the biggest trees he’d ever seen and a rare sight here in the North. The others they’d passed in the night had been short with twisted limbs and sparse leaves, struggling to thrive in the parched soil. This beauty was a proud survivor of at least a hundred years or more. The people here must water it and give it fertilizer to keep it so healthy. Who knew what stories it could tell if it talked. That it survived sent a thrill through him. He pressed a hand to the rough bark, hoping some charm of lucky longevity would rub off on him.

An armored military vehicle slowly passed in front of the lettuce plant, followed closely by the buzz of an overhead drone. The tiny copter meandered its way across the blue sky like a huge bee seeking a promising blossom. Its hum faded in the distance as it continued to the east.

“Now,” Min said. “No drones in sight.”

“Be careful.” Ria took Linc’s arm and stopped him. “Don’t take any chances, okay?”

He smiled and plucked a brown leaf from her hair. He liked it that she worried about him. Sometime soon, maybe he’d be able to explore that attraction he felt. “Don’t worry. I’m in no hurry to end up in the clutches of those RD soldiers. You guys keep your heads down.”

She and Min slithered on their bellies to the edge of the hill as he scrambled down. When he made the bottom, he ran flat out to the side of the van and crouched beside it. No one had arrived for work yet, so he kept an eye on the road for passing vehicles. He glanced at Min who gave him a thumbs up, and moved to the side door. He flipped the handle cover and pulled. The door resisted a bit but finally creaked and slid a few inches. He pushed, and the opening widened enough that he could hop inside.

Flat black plastic trays lay scattered over the floor and on shelves that lined the van’s interior. He pushed them aside and breathed a sigh of relief to find the refueling cord coiled neatly under the lowest shelf. Before he left, he wanted to check the controls to determine their condition.

A thin panel slid back to allow passage from the body of the van into the cockpit. The two seats there had rips in their covers, and dust made everything gray. As happened with a lot of older vehicles, this one hadn’t been stripped for parts. Good. He pressed the button on the charge panel, but it provided no readout. If he could get it recharged, he might stand a chance at making it run.

Returning to the side door, he peered out. Min again signaled no drones coming. Linc held up the coil, and Min pumped a fist. Now to find the charge port. He examined this side of the van then around the back. Finally, he located it under a flap on the front under one of its headlights. After prying it open, he plugged one end of the connector to it. Now he had a stretch of open area to traverse before reaching the recharge port.

Still no sign of people at the plant. Maybe they stayed home due to the new RD threat. He uncoiled the cord and hurried to the port. It attached after a couple jiggles. A sharp whistle from the hill and Min pointed to the air. Damn. Incoming drone. He ran and dove, rolling under the van, pulse racing. That was unnervingly close. He lay on his back a moment as thoughts flashed through his head about being caught, or Ria being hurt. He couldn’t let that happen. So much rode on their ability to safely reach Manson.

A few seconds later, the telltale buzzing approached then faded. He carefully poked his head from under the rear of the vehicle. Min’s head appeared above the hill’s crest, and his arm signaled all was clear. Linc scrambled out and ran.

***

Ria clutched a hand at her throat until Linc topped the hill and rejoined them, her blood pumping fast as if she ran with him. She’d been sure they were done when that drone appeared suddenly. It flew faster than the others had. Something had changed. Maybe the RD discovered their disappearance and the drones now searched for them. That would make their remaining journey much more difficult.

“Made it,” he said, breathing hard after his exertion. He shot her a grin.

“What’s inside?” Min asked.

“Not much, dust and some old trays. Looks like they parked it and left it. No missing parts.”

“Now what?” She pushed up the sleeves of her sweater. Its warmth had been welcome in the coolness of night, but with the sun up, she began to sweat. “We can’t sit here all day.”

“There was a collapsed shed about a mile back.” Linc rubbed the nape of his neck. “We should check it out and see if we can sleep there until tonight.”

“What if it has rats?” Min asked, a slightly green cast sinking into his normally white skin. “I’m not tight with rats.”

“Don’t worry. I’ll kill them for you, Binky,” Linc said.

“Binky?” Min raised a brow.

“That’s what we call pacifiers and people who are afraid of rats.” He slapped the young man on the shoulder and headed along the trail to the shed.

Ria stifled a chuckled and followed.

The caved-in shed was little more than boards forming a triangle lean-to of wood with weeds growing out of it. New tree growth had sprouted around the edges and poked through crevices in the wood. The structure had to be fifty years old or more.

Link hefted fallen boards from the side and peered in. “No rats.”

She followed and used one of the pieces of wood to rake out the debris while Linc cleared the remaining rotted pieces of the sides that had collapsed. The musty smell of decayed vegetation rose as she pushed out a pile of damp leaves and twigs.

Linc twisted off some hunks of tall dried grass from a nearby patch and spread it over the dirt. “There, just like home.”

She had to laugh at Minlo’s gaping mouth and darting stare when he looked in the emptied space. He probably spent his whole life in the city, camped in front of a computer screen. No wonder he was so pasty white. “Come on, Min. It’ll be okay. We have to get some rest.”

He picked his way in and sat cross-legged in a stiff pose, constantly scanning the ground as if expecting some creature to crawl out and attack him.

She sat beside him and took out some Nutri-bars and water packs. Maybe eating would distract him. “Here, have some breakfast.”

Light filtered in through cracks in the boards. As Linc entered, the buzz of a drone approached.

“Man, that one came in fast. It wasn’t even on the screen a second ago,” Min said, chewing a bite of his bar.

“Did you notice they’ve started moving faster?” she asked. “Don’t you think the change in their activity is strange?”

“The one that nearly caught Linc at the van moved fast, too. Before that, they wove around in a slow pattern.” Min squinted at his screen. “There’s another one.”

B
zzzzzz.

“Maybe they’ve met some resistance and need views from above to quell it,” Linc said. He accepted the food and water she handed him. “Thanks. I doubt they’re looking for us. I don’t think they’ll realize we left the city right away. They’ll assume we’re hiding somewhere inside the shield until that utility worker’s story of intruders catches their notice.”

She hoped he was right. “If they’re having problems, it might make it easier to travel. Why would they stop a lettuce delivery truck?”

“Uh, because it’s old as hell and mondo suspicious?” Min asked sarcastically.

She threw another bar at him. “Just trying to be optimistic.”

He caught it in one hand and grinned. “Try another idea. That one made me worry.”

Linc downed a water pack. “Let’s try to get some rest. When it starts to get dark, we’ll head to the van. If we’re lucky, no one will notice our attempt to recharge it and we can get out of here.”

“If it runs,” Min muttered.

She worried about that, too. If it didn’t, they wasted an entire day.  But if it worked, they’d make much better time and likely reach Kansas City before dawn. It was worth the risk. After finishing her bar, she arranged her backpack as a pillow and curled on her side.

Min glanced at her, hugging his pack to his chest. “Aren’t you concerned something might slither in here, like a snake or something?”

“I’m so tired, I don’t care,” she said.

“As long as you don’t attack them, they’ll leave you alone.” Linc followed her lead and positioned his bag under his head.

“Where did you learn that?” Min asked, giving him a skeptical look.

“I was in the army. Survival training is part of boot camp.” Linc yawned. “When we saw a snake, we killed it and ate it.”

Min visibly shuddered. “That’s mondo gross.”

She patted his knee. “Come on. Try to sleep. We’ll have a long night ahead of us.”

Buzz Buzz

Another one. Something was definitely up.

***

Linc peered out the opening of their makeshift shelter. He rolled his head to loosen the crick in his neck from sleeping with a lumpy bag for a pillow. Dusk settled over a ragged stand of bushes and trees, casting an orange glow over the landscape. To the east, dark purple coated the sky, spreading to an orange pink glow in the west. In another couple of hours, night would sink them into darkness.

“Time to go,” he said.

Poor Minlo didn’t look like he’d slept much. Dark circles smudged the skin under his almond shaped eyes. Ria’s curly hair had gone wilder than normal, sticking out in all directions from her head with grass and leaves poking through the waves. She rubbed her eyes and yawned.

“Man, I’m stiff,” she said, grimacing as she rose and clambered outside, rubbing her back.

“I think a bug crawled down my pants.” Minlo scratched his leg. “I hope where we’re going has better amenities than this piece of crap.”

“If Manson’s there, it will,” Ria said. “He’s not one to rough it.”

“I want to get there alive,” Linc said. “I’ll worry about how comfortable it is once we’re there.”

“At least there are no lions around here,” Ria quipped.

“Lions?” Min’s face fell.

She waved a hand. “It’s a long story. Don’t worry. There aren’t any wild animals here big enough to attack you.”

“I could still be bit by a snake,” he grumbled. Once away from the shed, he lugged his backpack to his shoulder and turned on his handheld. He frowned. “There are about twenty drones hovering a few miles to the south. That’s weird.”

“That’s a little to the west of where we’re heading,” Linc said, relieved they wouldn’t have to deal with dodging that hazard.