Remnants 14 - Begin Again (7 page)

His gaze flickered to Echo, Lyric, and Mattock, then to a few of the
Mayflower
people. “Some of you might be familiar with what I’m going to show.”

Stupid thing to say,
he realized too late. Half of the Marauders shot dirty looks at the Alphas and Remnants. He’d just reminded the Marauders that he knew more than they did.

“I need a lesson,” Noyze said with a laugh. “I was terrible in science class. Maybe I can finally learn something.”

Jobs gave Noyze a quick, thankful smile. With the tip of his spade he drew the solar system as it had been known before the Rock. He pointed out Earth and the other planets. He showed them Earth’s moon and sun. Next to the crude diagram he drew another one to show what it meant for a planet to spin on its axis. Then he illustrated a planet’s path of rotation.

“So, if Billy is talking about a newly green planet, Earth might begin to spin again,” he said, becoming lost in the thrill of his work. “To rotate around the sun, too. Which means night and day, and phases of the moon and high and low tides, and —”

“Spin!” Curia cried. “Earth will fall out of the sky!” Jobs looked up, startled, to see the young Marauder woman climbing to her feet. “We will fall off Earth!”

A murmur of horror swept through the group.

“No, no!” Jobs said. “You don’t understand. That’s not the way it works. There’s gravity and … Look, I know it sounds scary but — trust me. I —”

“Why should we trust j’ou? Nesia shouted. “J’ou talk crazy.”

Jobs looked pleadingly at Mo’Steel. His friend walked into the center of the rough circle and with his foot wiped away Jobs’s drawings.

“That’s enough for now,” he said loudly, firmly. “Newton? You had a good idea. Now, who’s got a story to tell? And make it funny.”

“WE WILL MAKE A NEW HOME.”

Later, the Marauders gathered of their own accord, one by one drifting away from camp until all but the smallest children — and Sanchez — were present. Behind them, Mo’Steel and his group still sat in a circle. The three Alpha refugees had withdrawn on their own.

Through the gloom, Newton could see Mo’Steel watching them, waiting, wary. The kid was probably scared, Newton told himself. Well, he should be.

Newton assumed leadership of the impromptu meeting. Tension was high — and he was just the one to bring them higher.

“I say talk of this — regreening — this new world, it bad news!” he whispered fiercely.

There were nods and murmurs of agreement. From almost all of the Marauders.

“How will we survive on this new planet?” Curia wondered, her eyes wide. “What will we eat? Where will we live? How will we — who will we be?”

“Where will Beasts go?” Claw asked. “Or Slizzers?”

Snipe laughed inanely. “What, j’ou saying j’ou will miss them killers?”

Claw shrugged. “I wonder, is all.”

Good,
Newton thought. They will all go my way and say no to Sanchez and that thing hanging in the light.

“We will know nothing in this new place!” Newton said now, looking from grim face to grim face. “What good will that be to us? We will be like little children. Worse! Children have adults to tell them what is what. Who will tell us?”

“Them Alphas,” Nesia said darkly. “Or Mo’Steel and them. They will tell us what to do.

Marauders will be nothing!”

“Don’t be foolish!” Aga said. “How will Alphas know any better than Marauders? J’ou think they be better than us?”

That Aga,
Newton thought, scowling at the old woman.
She nothing but trouble. I’ll get rid
of her soon. Get rid of that troublemaker, Sanchez, too.

“There will be no home,” Grost said, stumbling slightly into Badger

“We will make a new home,” Badger answered, catching the girl’s arm. He looked from Marauder to Marauder “Think about what Violet say. Plenty of food. Plenty of water! Yes, that thought is — I can hardly think it. But — I will take a chance. And — beauty. There will be beauty as far as the eye will see.”

Yorka looked at Badger with shining eyes, but Newton scoffed. “What beauty? What do they mean by that word? Marauders have no use for beauty. Nor for ugly.”

“But we will! In the new world,” Badger argued, “Marauders won’t have to struggle all the time. We will have time. Time to sit and think and —”

Newton snorted and waved his arm in the air dismissively. “Nothing but trouble come from that, sitting and thinking.”

Badger,
Newton thought.
He
will go, too. And Yorka.

Now Cocker stepped forward. Newton tensed. Cocker was the idiot who had saved the lives of those Alphas. If it were Newton, he’d have killed and robbed them, no question.

“I was told about the past,” Cocker said. “What it was like here, before. I was told about what we were like then. We — human beings — were magnificent.”

Balder laughed. “J’ou been drinking that stuff again!” he said, but Newton noticed that he was eyeing Cocker keenly.

Cocker went on but Newton called him out.

Soon — very soon — he would confirm Balder, Claw, and Snipe on his side. And together, they would put an end to this new world horror.

While the Marauders held their private meeting, the Remnants held theirs. Mo’Steel refrained from adding his comments. His entire attention was focused on the distant gathering.

For which Jobs was very glad.

“You know, we won’t be able to rebuild an advanced civilization in our lifetime,” Olga pointed out “Not in many lifetimes. For countless generations there’ll be no masterpieces and museums to put them in. There’ll be no research hospitals. There’ll be no construction companies to build the hospitals and museums. No architects to design them, no —”

“No books,” D-Caf blurted. “Okay, we could write some — but with what? First, we’d have to make paper of some sort. Then writing instruments. No printing presses! But what does that matter when there’s no population waiting for the latest installment of the series!”

Jobs groaned. “Okay, I got it,” he said. “Life won’t suddenly be all cozy, like it was when we were shot into space. No links, no computers, no home entertainment centers. Okay, no hospitals or laser surgery or morphine. But so what? It’ll definitely be better than — than this!” Jobs said, sweeping his arm to indicate the gray, ashy surroundings.

D-Caf grunted. “Until another Rock comes along, at least.”

“Aren’t you upbeat today,” Violet noted. “Look, I’ve got my doubts, too. But I keep thinking of Tate. All the chances she took. For the future. For us. I just don’t see how we cannot try to make Billy’s scheme work.”

“Yeah. Violet’s right,” Noyze said. “We’ve come so far. How can we give up now?”

“No one’s talking about giving up,” D-Caf argued. “Some of us are just trying to be reasonable. Realistic. I just don’t think we should expect too much.”

And I think we should expect everything
, Jobs countered silently.

“Your opinion. Jobs,” Violet said. “Honestly. Do you think it will ever come to pass? Will Earth ever be reborn?”

Jobs felt all eyes upon him.
Yes,
he thought,
I do
. Aloud, he said, “That’s the second question none of us can answer. We still have to deal with the first question. What exactly is Billy trying to tell us? If we can’t answer that, then, no, Earth win never be reborn.”

Mo’Steel got to his feet, and Jobs felt an adrenaline rush.

“What’s up?” he whispered, darting a look at the Marauders. “Trouble?”

“Leg cramp,” Mo’Steel replied.

Olga giggled with relief.

D-Caf leaned in. “Here’s something else,” he said. “Even if we discover what it is Billy wants us to do, there’s still the matter of doing it. What if the Marauders just won’t go along with the plan? Can we force them to? Do we even have the right to make them take a chance with us? With Billy?”

Silence followed D-Caf’s words. Out of the corner of his eye. Jobs saw the Marauders returning.

Quickly, he got to his feet. “Too many questions,” he said softly. “There are always too many questions.”

Mattock dropped down next to Echo and Lyric.

“Tell us again what j’ou saw in there,” Lyric said eagerly.

Mattock looked over his shoulder, though the four exiled Alphas were clearly alone.

“Yes,” Echo prodded, rocking the baby gently. “Tell us again.”

It was strange, he began. He recounted the experience in detail, though the girls had heard it all twice before.

Echo frowned. “What j’ou think of this new world Sanchez says will come?”

“Might come,” Mattock corrected.

“I think it sounds very nice,” Lyric said.

“First the Alpha colony,” Echo murmured. “Now, this is our home. And already, we are talking about yet another place. I’m so tired….”

“Are j’ou saying j’ou don’t want to live with plenty of water and food?” Mattock challenged.

“Of course not. It’s just that…” Echo thought about how to express what she was feeling. “It’s just that I want my baby to be safe. To be happy. And already she has suffered so much.”

Lyric leaned over and kissed the baby’s forehead. “A world with lots of food will be good for her,” she said.

“Good for j’ou, j’ou mean,” Mattock laughed. Lyric smacked his arm but a grin spread across her face.

“What if it’s all a lie,” Echo blurted. “I’m tired of being lied to. I don’t want to be made a fool of again. I don’t.”

Echo struggled to her feet and looked down at her two companions, who’d suddenly stopped goofing around.

“I’m going to the sleeping circle now,” she told them.

She could feel their eyes on her as she walked away.

“WE WANT THE NEW WORLD.”

The rest of the camp was asleep. Only Newton remained awake, the official guard, prowling the perimeters. But while his eyes were watching for predators, his mind was focused on what had happened earlier.

After the Marauders’ impromptu meeting, several of the group had rejoined some of Mo’Steel’s gang. Among them were Cocker and Badger. More disturbing. Claw, Snipe, and Balder had gone along with them. There’d been a lot of talk. Some loud voices. More laughter.

Newton didn’t like laughter. Not now. Not ever.

When he was sure everyone was deeply asleep, Newton woke each member of his crew with a kick to the side.

Without too much of a racket, the four Marauders were gathered a few yards from the others. Newton had some business that needed to be taken care of now.

“This new world thing,” he said, watching closely for signs of lying. “That what j’ou talking about with them others?”

Readily — too readily — Claw, Snipe, and Balder nodded.

“Yeah,” Snipe said. “We heard a lot.”

Claw and Balder stayed silent but their demeanor showed no fear.

This is no good,
Newton thought.

“J’ou with me or j’ou against me,” he hissed, grabbing Claw’s rotting fur vest and yanking him close. Claw’s facial tic grew more pronounced and his eyes bulged.

“All I saying is it sound good,” he said pleadingly. “All that food.”

With a curse, Newton threw Claw away from him. “J’ou make me sick. J’ou some kind of stupid person, trusting that kid!”

Snipe licked his cracked lips and opened his mouth to speak. “Sanchez, he say it a good thing. We always go with Sanchez.”

Newton sneered. “Sanchez is only telling us to listen to that — thing — ‘cause he like the girl. Violet, the one with the stories. She got him all turned around….”

Balder hitched his baggy pants and shook his head. “Me, I want what they call — um … yeah, a life of leisure. I hear j’ou lay around, food come right to j’our mouth. Water all around, and it be warm and —”

Beside him, Claw and Snipe nodded vigorously.

“And a man, he be his own boss,” Balder added with a drawl. “That sound good to me.”

“Who told j’ou that stuff?” Newton demanded.

“All of them,” Claw replied.

“That one, D-Caf,” Snipe added eagerly.

“A kid!” Newton roared. “What he know? We let Sanchez and that — thing — do this —

this regreening, I tell j’ou what happen. Earth go spinning around and we all fall off and die.

That, or Marauders be slaves to the others. Be sure, something bad happen. Something very bad.”

A slow, knowing smile spread across Balder’s face. “J’ou scared,” he said, the grin growing ever more broad. “Big Newton scared, ha-ha!”

Claw and Snipe joined in the laughter. Newton felt almost weak with frustration.

“J’ou saying j’ou not scared, too?” he cried, and immediately regretted his words.

Snipe and Claw proceeded to fall all over each other, guffawing, slapping thighs and backs.

Balder, on the other hand, sobered up and looked Newton straight in the eye.

“It don’t matter what we are,” he said calmly, and Newton knew he’d lost his crew for good.

“We want the new world.”

Jobs was repairing a tear in one of the bladders. Already a few drops of water had leaked through and that was a few drops too many. While he worked, he hummed a song that had been popular just before the Rock destroyed all singers and musicians and instruments and recording studios with their multimillion-dollar equipment. The tune had just popped into his head, startling him. He’d totally forgotten about it. He hadn’t even liked the song. So why was it still hanging around in his brain, taking up valuable space?

“I want to tell j’ou why I left the Alpha colony.”

Jobs jumped and dropped the half-repaired bladder Echo and the baby had appeared out of nowhere. “Whoa,” he said. “Sorry. I didn’t hear you come up.”

Echo smiled and reached down to pick up the bladder at the same time Jobs reached down —

“Ow!”

“Ow!”

They both stood, grinning sheepishly.

“Are you hurt?” Jobs asked.

“No. Are j’ou?”

“I bruised my pride, but my head is pretty hard. I’m fine. So, uh, you were going —”

“Yes. I want to tell j’ou why I left the Alpha colony.”