Prophet of the Badlands (The Awakened Book 1) (14 page)

“Search him for keys,” Rachel shouted, rattling the cuffs.

Zhar had just managed to get her balance and grab the gun when a wicked explosion reduced a man-sized door at the far end of the factory to metal shreds.

“No time.” Zhar hooked Rachel’s arm and hauled her away from the flaming door towards the truck ports at the rear.

The detonation had sent Ramani into a ball under the shelves back in the security cage; Althea took her by the hand, dragging the shell-shocked captive away from certain death.

Chattering automatic fire came between screams and charging engines. Running past long-dead forklifts and roll doors, Zhar led the group towards the rear exit. Most of the fighting was on the front side, in the main yard. Behind the building, two decaying semi-trailers were well advanced in the slow process of rejoining the Earth. Zhar looked around at the great wall of corrugated steel, concrete, and barbed wire erected around the compound. The path to escape led through a hundred and a half men, or what remained thereof―shooting at each other.

“Shit!”

“This way!” Althea called out, running to the edge of the loading dock and leaping to the ground.

Ramani followed without hesitation, as did Aya. Rachel stopped at the edge, casting an uneasy stare at the ground. After one more annoyed twist at her handcuffs, she jumped down, landing in an ungainly stumble. Zhar lingered, annoyed by the usurpation of her authority by a twelve-year-old.

Althea ran backwards for three steps so she could make eye contact. “Zhar, please…”

Shaking her head, the redhead climbed down and caught up. Ahead of clattering collars and scattering curse words, Althea ran across the tarmac and vaulted into the drainage ditch with a splash. Aya and Ramani supported Rachel’s arms as she navigated the uneven dirt. Zhar jumped right in.

The water varied in depth, sending a paralyzing chill through Althea’s body as it rose up over her waist. If not for the gunfire behind them, she sensed Ramani might have enjoyed the cool bath. Down here, they had the protection of earth between them and stray bullets. Althea went right for the pipe she remembered seeing during the arena matches. A hundred and change yards to the end of the ditch and around a corner to the left, they trudged through muddy water as the sound of war filled the air. Althea climbed into the corrugated metal tube and waved at the others to follow. It was tall enough for her to run at a slight stoop, but the others had to crawl. Rachel managed a clumsy knee-walk, which left her cursing each time her shins found rocks.

Althea held her hands to the sides for balance as she skidded through the occasional patch of semidry mud, wondering what the distant blur of hot sand would offer them.

lthea was first to step onto the hot dirt at the bottom of the shaft. Miles of open space led off in every direction except backwards, and with it came the fear of the unknown. Captivity provided a sense of order as well as some degree of safety, but now Althea was bereft of both. She backed up, watching the mud-covered women emerge from the pipe before glancing up at the sun, weak in the western sky. With a hand held over her eyes, she squinted at the sparse clouds. The sound of Rachel falling on her ass made her look.

Althea peered up again. “It will be dark soon.”

Zhar helped Rachel to her feet.

“Hey, Zhar.” Rachel turned her back and pulled her arms as far apart as she could. “Shoot the chain out.”

Zhar shook her head. “Not worth the bullet, and it will make noise… attract danger.”

“What?” Rachel’s voice began as a shout but sank to a whisper. “Y… You can’t just leave me like this! Two damn months, Zhar. Two months! I can’t take it anymore.”

“We can make it to my home in about four days. We have tools there that can get you free. A few more days won’t hurt.”

Rachel glared. “You’re not the one fuckin’ stuck like this. Couldn’t take two god damned minutes to search him for the k―”

A distant explosion silenced her as it rumbled through the ground.

Zhar glanced at the compound, then to Rachel. “You rather be chained or dead?”

Rachel had to think about it.

“Please stop yelling and let’s get out of here!” Ramani bounded forward like a scared deer.

The fighting at the factory still raged; the sound as well as the danger somewhat muted by the distance. After looking around in a spin, Zhar picked a direction and led the group through the scrubland. For some time, only the rattling of steel collars, the occasional nervous whimper from Aya, and Rachel’s sub vocal grumbles at her situation broke the silence.

Sun-fire danced over the large pistol Zhar carried like a mark of authority, as if it made her their leader. In a way it did; the ability to kill any of them instantly provided a strong motivator to follow orders. Althea made up her mind; she would command Zhar not to hurt anyone if she had to.

The sun slid without ceremony into the hazy mountains in the west, and Zhar stopped walking. Citing the darkness as a reason to take a break, she waved the pistol at the ground. Aya was first to sit where she was pointed, followed a few seconds later by Ramani. Rachel glared for a moment, but gave in. Althea knelt close to Rachel.

Zhar paced around them, studying their surroundings. “Aya, you take first watch. In two hours, wake up Ramani. Ramani, you watch for two hours and wake me up.”

“I can see in the dark,” Althea said. “I should watch when it is darkest.”

“No way, kid.” Zhar shook her head. “Those eyes of yours will attract death like moths to candles. Stay down, and keep them closed.”

Althea sulked and kneaded the soreness out of Rachel’s arms. Everyone was thirsty but there was no water. The night would get colder, and they had no protection from it aside from each other, and clung in a pile for warmth.

Althea tucked up to Rachel, whispering for a while about what the world was like in her time, where people called police would never let raiders exist. This world sounded like stories made up to help children feel safe in their beds. Eventually, exhaustion guided Rachel off to sleep and Althea felt the tug of sleep at her eyelids.

The shadows of the sinking day elongated over the entwined mass of women, and darkness took the land.

“Help!” A plaintive whisper grew louder over several repetitions until it woke everyone.

Althea rubbed the sleep out of her eyes and felt the warmth of daytime around her. To her left, Rachel lay rigid, staring at a black scorpion the size of a man’s forearm moving with a tentative creep onto her stomach from her thigh. Its pincers poised not quite closed, and the tail barb swayed like a snake charmer’s pet. Its presence had even stalled the perpetual war between Rachel’s arms and the steel around them. Aya’s casual morning stretch stopped with statue stillness when she saw it, and Ramani scampered backwards.

“Get it off me!” Rachel whispered. A trickle of blood ran from both of her wrists as she strained.

Althea crawled over and stared at the scorpion. “Hello.”

Primitive territorial anger wafted from the creature. She wrapped her mind around the emotion and forced calm over it. Its pincers closed, empty. Althea stooped and eased her hands under it, plucking it off Rachel’s belly. As soon as it no longer touched her, the woman rolled away, shivering.

“Hey there. We’re sorry we bothered your home. We won’t be staying long.” Althea swiveled it around to look at its face, radiating trust and peace.

The tail relaxed. She carried it a few paces away and set it down, whispering soothing, meaningless sounds. A moment later, it scurried off into the sand. Ramani knelt, bowing at Althea and muttering. Rachel still had not taken a breath until a nearby gunshot shocked air into her lungs.

Aya and Ramani flattened on the dirt, trying not to scream. Rachel tried to spring up in a combat pose, but wound up on her face. Althea crouched with feral readiness, staring in the direction of the sound. Half a minute later, Zhar arrived with a dead animal that resembled a huge prairie dog. After skinning it with her hands, she tore off hunks of meat and passed them out.

Althea ate without hesitation, as did Zhar and Aya. It took Ramani awhile longer to get the raw meat down, but Rachel just stared at it. Althea held some up so she could bite, and eventually hunger overcame her disgust.

“I was wrong.” She cringed after swallowing the first mouthful. “I didn’t think this nightmare could get any worse.”

“At least the kid kept Vakkar off you.” Zhar smirked.

Althea frowned, feeling guilty the raiders had not abducted her soon enough to spare the redhead Vakkar’s touch as well.

Rachel made sad eyes at Zhar. “Hey… you shot the dog. Please get me out of these damn cuffs?”

“We have to eat. Food is needed, comfort isn’t.”

“Comfort? Comfort!” Rachel struggled to her feet and stepped up on Zhar. “Are you fucking kidding me? We could get attacked at any time out here and in case you haven’t noticed we’re all butt-ass naked, and I’m helpless.”

“Get your tits out of my face.” Zhar’s hand flexed on the pistol grip.

Althea darted over and took Zhar’s wrist with both hands, shaking her head. “No, don’t. Don’t be mad at her ‘cause I stopped him from wifeing her. Be mad at me for not being kidnapped sooner.”

Zhar broke her gaze from Rachel to sigh down at the girl. “Pathetic. I don’t understand why you can make people do whatever you want, but you just let them piss on you.”

Althea stared down, watching several dark spots form around her toes from fallen tears.

The cuffs rattled. Rachel might have just punched Zhar if she were able to.

“You shot. Things will have heard. We should move.” Althea did not look up as she muttered.

The tension fizzled out; a lingering glare between the two women broke as Zhar paced off. Althea fell in step at Rachel’s side, mending the cuts caused by her scorpion-fear. Rachel tried a few times to awkwardly pat, hug, and console the child who still wore a pout from what Zhar had said to her.

Some hours later, they stopped at a small rain-puddle and drank. It tasted like dirt, but was a wonderful relief from thirst nonetheless. Althea cupped her hands together, lifting water to Rachel’s lips. Sitting around on this break, she sensed Zhar’s impatience, Ramani’s embarrassment, and Aya’s worry about what her new owners would be like. Rachel had abandoned shame at this point to focus on anger.