Through the Killing Glass (3 page)

They drove back
as the sun rose over the horizon, and after changing her bloody clothes Alice
went to the Council meeting that had been called that morning. She hoped that
her present of two new school buses would help mollify Arun and his friends.

The dozen
council members were already present when Alice arrived, including Arjun and
Satish. Arun was in a corner, mumbling something to two of his friends, and
when she entered the room, he rose to address her.

'Good of you
join us, our Queen.'

Alice saw
murder in Arjun's eyes and she gently tapped him on the shoulder as she passed
him. She had no idea why Arun was so riled up this morning, but the last thing
she wanted to do was to take the bait and say anything she might regret. She
sat down and the meeting began.

As Wonderland
had begun to take shape, Alice had gained a new appreciation for all the
complexities her father had to deal with as one of the leaders of their
settlement in the Deadland. Fights over food supplies, disputes over who took
how much of the communal pool of clean drinking water, cases of adultery and of
people getting into fights after having too much to drink
–
all the problems that
ironically came with humans becoming more civilized and living in more settled
communities. Today was no different, and they talked about the banalities of
running the community for some time. Alice noticed that Arun seemed on edge, as
if he was dying to say something. Alice tried to work out what it could be
–
and then, when the
discussion turned to security, she realized what it was.

As the head of
security within Wonderland, Arjun first rose to give his update. 'Folks, no
real crime to report since last week, unless you count the Chopra kid getting
drunk and taking a leak in front of Arun's house as an offense.'

Everyone
laughed, and Alice was once again grateful as to how the salesman turned
guerilla leader turned security chief seemed to have a natural talent for
defusing tension. But things took a turn for the worst when Satish rose to give
his update on external security.

'Thankfully,
not much excitement to report outside either. The Red Guards have been
relatively quiet in our neighborhood. Intranet reports show that the Central
Committee is dealing with enough unrest in China and a very tough war in
America to pay us much attention. We do have some big news to report, though.'

Everyone seemed
to sit up as he continued, 'We made contact with the Americans last night.'

There was a
palpable buzz in the room as Satish outlined what had been said, but before he
could talk about the incident involving the Red Guards, Arun stood up.

'Alice, the Red
Guards no longer bother us and we enjoy a peace we have not known for years.
Why did you then provoke war with your ambush last night?'

Alice was not
entirely surprised. Many of Satish's men had taken up wives in the settlement
and word would have spread.

'We did not
ambush anyone. There was a large force of Red Guards well within our territory,
and we gave them a chance to surrender. When they fired, we had to defend
ourselves.'

Arun glared at
her, his jowls almost shaking as he contained his anger. He had been a
politician before The Rising, and Alice knew that in Wonderland, he finally saw
his chance at gaining that kind of power again. The problem was that she came
in his way. He knew that many people in Wonderland would unquestioningly follow
the young girl who had brought them together and lost so much on their behalf
rather than trust him
–
once a career politician, and a man who had joined them only after the worst of
the fighting was over.

Alice adopted a
more conciliatory tone. 'Arun, we got two buses I thought the school could use.
Moreover, whatever the Red Guards were up to, they would have got the message
that they cannot come here anymore.'

The subject
dropped, but Arun moved onto something else to needle Alice.

'What news of
those Biters?'

Alice's eyes
narrowed at the contempt in his tone.

'They are well within
the area we had decided to give to them, and I have people in charge who I can
trust.'

'People
indeed.'

Several other
sniggers whispered through the room.

Alice
’
s voice took on a new
edge. 'You all seem to have forgotten that we would never have defeated the Red
Guards without the thousands of Biters who died acting as our foot soldiers.'

'They owe us no
loyalty or love, Alice. They are animals that follow only you. I want our
children to grow up without their shadow, to grow up like civilized people did
before The Rising.'

Satish stepped
in on Alice
’
s behalf.
‘
Arun, the Biters
cause us no problems now. Just let it be and let
’
s
move on.
’

Just then, the
door swung open and two people walked in. Alice recognized them as two of Arjun
’
s men who had been assigned
to do the rounds of Wonderland during the daytime. They both looked ashen-faced
and their hands and clothes were covered with blood.

Alice had left
her other weapons in her room, but still had her handgun. Instinctively she
gripped it, ready for action.

‘
What happened? Did the Red
Guards attack?
’

One of the men
looked at Alice, a snarl of hatred forming on his face.

‘
It was the damn Biters.
They slaughtered our kids!
’

***

Alice raced out
of the building and rode her bike as fast as she could towards the area where
the incident had taken place. Ten children of between eight and ten years of
age had been taken for a trip by their teacher. Their first day at the new
school was to have been a special treat, a visit to the old airport where they
were to learn of how the city had been once, how the Red Guards had used the
airport to fly out settlers from the Deadland to work in labor camps, and also
learn about the famous battles waged there against the Red Guards.

As Alice
dismounted, she saw the pick-up truck that had carried them there on the side
of the road. She could not see any bodies yet, but the stench of death was
unmistakable in the air. Some people had already arrived, most of them parents
of the kids who had gone on the trip. One of the mothers, a recent entrant to
Wonderland whom Alice did not know well, lunged at her.

'You monster!
See what your people have done.'

Her husband
held her back as she continued screaming.

Laying eyes on
the bodies, Alice cursed that she could not cry. Biters did not shed tears, but
her heart broke and she fell to her knees as she saw the torn bodies strewn
across the field beside the road. The teacher, a young man called Gaurav, had
tried to protect the children, and from the looks of it had gone down fighting.
His right hand still gripped the pistol he carried – but that was about the
only intact part of his body. The rest of him had been torn to ribbons. Even
with the relative peace they enjoyed, no adult went about unarmed, yet nobody
had thought that an innocent school trip would have required more protection or
heavier firepower.

Satish and
Arjun caught up and jumped out of their jeep to run to the scene of the
carnage. Both had seen brutal combat up close, but the slaughter of innocent
children was too much even for them. Arjun had tears streaming down his face
and he put his hand on Alice's shoulder.

'Alice, we need
to get you out of here now.'

Alice looked
up. 'I have to be here. These are my people. These are the same people I
promised I would keep safe. These...'

Her words
dwindled to silence as Arun had come up to join them. He knelt and retched at
the sight before him. He looked at Alice, his face pale.

'What have your
Biters done? What have you brought upon us?'

Alice was too stunned
to reply. She had sacrificed everything: her family, and ultimately her
humanity, so that the people who depended on her could live in safety. So that
she could fulfill her father's last wish that she not let her people down and
lead them to a better life. She lived a tortured existence where she could feel
some human emotions but never act on them. And now, in one fell swoop, the same
people she had done nothing but help, asking for nothing in return, were
casting her off.

She felt strong
arms grip her and Arjun guided her away. She noticed that Satish had his
assault rifle in his hands. She was about to ask him if that was necessary when
she saw several of the men around Arun with their guns drawn. Arjun bundled her
into his jeep and Satish joined them as they drove off. Alice just sat there,
her shaking hands the only sign of the turmoil she felt inside. What had just
happened?

When she asked
Satish where they were going, he replied grimly, ‘The Looking Glass. If there’s
trouble, we can at least defend ourselves there.’

The drive was
taken in silence. When they arrived, they saw Danish standing at the entrance,
a shotgun in hand. It was the first time Alice had seen him with a gun.

The Looking
Glass was in a temple complex, with the main communications room in what had
once been the glass-fronted office. When he had set it up, Satish had been
clear it needed to be defensible against Red Guard assaults, so there were two
hardened positions on the roof from where his men could fire man-portable ground
to air missiles. Those would be of no use today, but there was one remotely
controlled gun turret that they had captured from a Red Guard base. That had
been installed on an elevated position on the roof, offering 360-degree
coverage. As Alice entered the Looking Glass, she shuddered at what things had
come to. She would never have imagined using these defenses against her own
people, and hoped it never came to that.

Inside, Alice
sat in silence, trying to understand what she had seen. Arjun looked at her and
shook his head sadly. Danish was sitting quietly in a corner. Gaurav had been a
good friend of his, and he looked devastated.

'Arjun, it
could not have been one of the Biters around Wonderland!'

'Alice, Biters
did kill those kids. No man could have torn them apart like that. While it's
possible that a band of outside Biters crept in, there's no way we can prove
anything.'

Danish spoke
up, having got a message from one of his men in the city. ‘There’s a mob headed
our way. This could get ugly.’

‘Alice, there
are people who love you and would die for you, but with so many deaths, people
are losing their minds. Let Arjun and me try and cool things down. The Looking
Glass is set up to be defended, so if it comes to a fight, we can make a stand
here.’

‘Make a stand?
Mobs? God, Satish, listen to yourself. This is our own Wonderland, our home.’

Arjun spoke up
for the first time. ‘Satish is right. Human mobs are every bit as dangerous as
a Biter horde. They won’t think; they won’t ask questions. We need to get some
sense into people’s heads before anyone gets to you.’

Taking Danish
into a corner, Arjun said, ‘You can go if you want. You don’t have to stay.’

Danish sat down
at his console. ‘I lost my family in The Rising, and then lived like a rat for
years. The only purpose I have in my life now is helping us stay in touch with
the world through the Looking Glass, and the only family I have is the people
of Wonderland. Both of those I owe to Alice. I will not desert her now. You
thugs do what you need to do; I need to keep the Looking Glass running.’

Satish used the
radio to get in touch with his teams. Most of his men were part of his original
unit at Zeus and had fought side by side with Alice since they first met up.
They were fiercely loyal to her and he knew they would fight for her if it came
to it.

‘White Rook
One, this is White Rook. Get to the Looking Glass to reinforce positions.’

Alice touched
his arm, shaking her head.

‘No, Satish. I
will not have our people turn on each other because of me. Tell your men to
stay away and not get involved in the fight.’

Alice looked at
the feed from the camera mounted on top of the Looking Glass. A mob of at least
a hundred men was approaching, among their numbers some of the fathers to the
dead children. All of them were armed, and one or two carried half-full bottles
of alcohol. Arun was with them, and while he was not egging them on, he was not
doing anything to try and stop them either.

‘He wants to be
a leader, and is now no more than a common rabble-rouser. He should be the one
talking some sense into the younger ones. Instead, he leads them.’

Without even
waiting for Alice to suggest it, Satish had moved the joystick controlling the
gun turret, swiveling it until it was aimed at the approaching mob.

‘They won’t
last more than ten seconds if I let go on full auto.’

The mob
stopped, knowing they would be seriously outmatched if it came to a fight. The
only way for someone to take the Looking Glass was with heavy anti-tank weapons
or RPGs, and the only ones with such weapons in Wonderland were Satish’s
forward recon teams.

Alice touched
Satish’s arm and she felt him flinch at the contact, once more aware of how
different she was now. Her touch had none of the warmth it once held. It was
now as cold as a corpse.

‘No, Satish.
There will be no more killing here today.’

'Bring the
Biter bitch out!'

Satish stepped
out, his rifle at his shoulder.

'Which son of a
whore said that? Step forward if you're man enough to back those words up!'

No answer came.
Satish turned furiously to Arun.