Prophet of the Badlands (The Awakened Book 1) (61 page)

“Tati’s telling everyone she saw some kinda bright light in the coolant storage tank,” said the owner of the sneakers.

“Bullshit.” The woman replied. “Tatianna’s a fuckin’ junky. She’s seeing Flowerbasket is what she’s seeing. Radioactive water doesn’t glow that bright.”

“It does not glow at all,” said a deeper voice from over the boots. “Cherenkov radiation is blue, not white, and there is no materials in there enough to produce the effect. All of the rods have been gone for at least a century.”

Sneakers laughed. “Why is it always something Russian, Ivan?”

“Bliad! My name is Gamedi, not Ivan.”

All three chuckled after the sound of a light slap.

“Guard duty sucks,” said the girl. “Wanna hide out in the generator room?”

“Generators need guardin’ too.” Sneakers trotted away.

“Da,” said the deep voice, exaggerating his accent.

Althea huddled in the dark, motionless, until the stairway door slammed. After another ten minutes, she crawled out and inched to the edge of the roof, squinting at the massive white towers still thrumming with the vibration of the wind. She leaned forward, only enough to peek over the side. The ground was at least four stories away, and there seemed to be no way down aside from jumping.

“Impressive, aren’t they?” Archon’s voice behind her.

She gasped, clutching her chest. She let her knees buckle so she didn’t pitch over the side and fall. Once she could breathe again, she got up and glared at his shoes. “Yes.”

“Cooling towers. Many years ago, this place was a nuclear power station until they gave up on the technology.” He sidled up to her, an unlit pipe in his right hand. “It was too hard to control, too dangerous when things got out of hand… Just like us.”

Althea half cowered, trying to hug herself warmer while waiting for the other shoe to drop.

“I must say I find your tenacity quite amusing. It would be nice if the others showed the same degree of motivation. You know that one fellow is still crying because of what you did to him in the van? We have to feed him because he refuses to eat on his own.”

She looked down, feeling a smidge of guilt. “He shouldn’t have tried to kidnap me.”

“Heaven’s sake, girl. You are not kidnapped. We are your real family.”

“I won’t help you take over the world.” She shied away.

Archon moved to her side, putting an arm around her back, chuckling. “I don’t want to take over the world, child. I want to create a new place for people like us. I want you to be safe.”

“You want to make people obey you. You’re just a raider chief in a silly coat.” She reached up to hold her hair down so it stopped getting into her eyes.

“I understand you have the wants and desires of a child. You want this so-called family you attached yourself to, you want things to be as they were, and you want everyone to be happy and love each other.” His face held a pained expression, as if choking those words up had wounded him.

She shot him a sidelong glance and frowned.

“You are very special, my child. There are so few of us, and the government would like to keep it that way.” He patted her shoulder. “If they thought they could not control you, they would have no problem at all putting a bullet right here.” He tapped her on the chest, over the heart.

“Is this because of the garden?”

“Garden?” His confusion felt genuine.

Althea shook her head. “I thought you were someone else.”

“Oh, that sentient Badlands twaddle? You know, Thea…”

“Don’t call me that.” Her voice came cold. “Only Karina’s allowed to call me Thea.” She scowled. “An’ Father.”

He sighed, gaze rolling to the clouds. “Cheeky little thing. Fine then. I do know more about you than you think. Like, your real mother.”

She tried to hold back the eagerness on her face. “You knew my mother?”

“I have information. Perhaps I would share it with a loyal companion. If you say you will not try to run away, I will tell you.” He patted her on the back. “All you have to do is promise, and I’ll not rest until I can tell you exactly where she is, or bring her to you. I know you keep your promises.”

Her heart sank. Promising not to run away was what she always did to avoid being tied, and look where it had gotten her. She remembered Karina crying in the field. “I’m sorry. I will not promise you that. I have to go home.”

Archon lifted an eyebrow. “Well, that is certainly out of character for you. I do not know whether to be impressed by your honesty, or pity your foolishness. A smart girl would have lied.”

“It’s bad to lie.”

“I suppose pity then.”

“You could pity my family instead and take me home.” She glared.

“Your mother”―he tapped a finger on his chin in thought―“worked for a western subsidiary of Matsushita Electronics, if I recall.” He paused, giving her an expectant look.

Red formed around her eyes, but she shook her head. “I won’t promise.”

“Some codswallop about advanced hyperspace drive research, they were attempting to open gateways to other dimensions or realities; a fool’s errand. From what I hear, the project was a contemptible failure. The prototype exploded and killed most of the poor sots working there when they tried to turn it on. That is one of the reasons they put those things out in the Badlands… So no one valuable dies if they fail.”

Althea shuddered at the evil words. “All life is valuable.”

He smiled. “Whatever energy that thing threw off when it imploded affected you in the womb”—he took on a dour tone of sarcasm—“and filled you with insufferable optimism and sweetness. Perhaps they opened a portal into candy land?”

She scowled.

“You are a bad person. I don’t trust you.” She lifted her head to look at him. “You only care about what you want. You don’t care you had to take me away from people who love me, and you don’t care Pixie is sad inside.”

His face flashed red. “Your mother tottered off pregnant as a foaling cow, injured and bleeding, and got lost in the Badlands. She threw you away before she ran off to die in a hole, alone and unloved.”

It felt like a lie said only to hurt, but it worked. The gentle hand on her left shoulder became a harsh grip on her arm.

“If you so desperately crave your wild tribesmen, perhaps I can make you feel more at home till you come around.” He took a pair of handcuffs from his coat pocket and dangled them in her face. Neon blue fur covered the loopy bits. “Try skulking off like this again, and I’ll fix you with these for a month.” He rattled them at her.

She stared through the rings at him, facing her second worst fear, helplessness. Her heart yearned to be home. Rachel’s words rang true in her mind; now she understood.

Althea turned her back and held her hands behind her. “Put them on me now then. I don’t care what you do… you’ll be waiting a long time.” She let her head sag forward. “I will not stop trying to go home.”

Her body tensed, waiting for the awful feeling around her wrists, but there was only silence. Sensing a twinge of distaste and a tiny bit of pity from him, she glanced back.

They were out of sight, gone back into his pocket. He had been bluffing.

“Althea, I’m trying to offer you a
different
life than what you are used to.” An arm behind her coaxed her into a walk at his side. “As long as you’ve lived, people lock you up and keep you on tethers, take you away from anyone you love.”

“Just like you.” She trudged, staring down.

“Bollocks.” He scowled over the wall so she could not see the frustration manifest upon his face, forgetting she could feel it exuding from him. “You’re supposed to be blonde and dim-witted, not to mention nice and cheery and full of sugar and smiles and… ugh.”

“I will not make your friends stronger so they can kill people who don’t join you.”

Althea evaded a pat on the head with a scowl.

“You are entirely missing the point.” Archon sighed. “You’ll come ‘round soon enough.”

The march back to the dormitory passed in silence. He did not speak again until they arrived at her room where Pixie waited, leaning in the doorway.

“Deal with this…” He shoved her toward the door and walked off.

Annabelle hooked a finger in the collar of her dress and pulled her in. “He really isn’t always like that.”

A strange metallic smell hung in the air, mixed with smoke. The haze surrounding the vent in the ceiling gave away the source. All the edges of the cover looked molten. She would not be taking that way out a second time.

“He’s bad.” She sulked to the bed, sitting down hard.

“Aww.” Anna sat next to her and patted her on the back. “You’re looking at it the wrong way, dearie. There are people out there who want to kill us because of what we are. He’s just trying to do what’s best. You are so pure and innocent you cannot see it. Sometimes, people have to do not-nice things to survive. He wants you to help him teach the little ones how to stand up and walk. When someone disobeys, he gets angry because it endangers all of us.”

Anna continued trying to be friendly. She sounded like an attempt to impersonate an older sister, without any sincerity. Her words carried a whiff of pity for a little girl in her situation, but the woman mostly wanted Archon to be happy. For some reason, whenever Althea made eye contact with her, she got sad.

Althea pouted in silence, not responding to anything Anna said until she gave up and went to leave.

“Wait.”

“Yes, dear?”

“I know you’re not all bad. You don’t have to be like him. Something hurt you, didn’t it?” Althea gave her a wide, innocent stare. “I can help.”

“I had it a bit rough comin’ up in London.” Anna sighed. “Bad memories is all; I’m not hurt.”

“He doesn’t treat you very nice. He hurt you in the hand.”

Anna rubbed the spot. “That wasn’t like him. He’s not mean.”

Althea frowned at the pile of datapads on the bed. “He said he’d chain me for a month if I try to run away again.”

Anna ruffled her hair. “Oh, he’s just bluffing. He’s a big softy; he wouldn’t do that to you. He really does adore children, even the petulant ones.” She winked.

“Is that why they were furry? So they don’t hurt?”

The woman’s face went bright red. “He showed you those…”

Embarrassment billowed out of her. She couldn’t bear to make eye contact.

Althea reached up and put a hand on her arm. “Pixie? Is he keeping you captive, too? Does he make you wear them so you don’t run away?”

“Sometimes… No…” she stammered. “It’s not what you―”

“Help me!” Althea grabbed her arm and shook it. “We can both get away.”

Anna seemed unable to even look at her now. “Stop. Don’t. It’s… I can’t talk about it. It’s not so I don’t run away. It’s… bugger. You’re too little.”

She rushed out and slammed the door locked behind her.

Althea fell back onto the bed, confused. Her impact disturbed the electronics piled at the other end.

The smiling rabbit appeared. “A is for apple. Can you say apple?”

She thought of a different word starting with A.

lthea slid from the bed and crept to the door. Rattling the handle, she reminded herself for the hundredth time she was locked inside the little room. The vent would not budge, even if she made herself stronger. Kim had dropped off eggs and toast, but did not stay to chat. Archon had ordered minimal contact until she changed her mind. He knew she hated being alone and was concerned she would influence someone who was not awakened.