Alice in Deadland Trilogy (20 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.

When she walked into the room, she
saw that all the dozen members of the Council were there

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.

Throughout, Arun seemed to be on
edge. 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!
’

***

TWO

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.

'These men look up to you. Ask them to go back home. We can
all talk when people cool down.'

`Cool down? My son was torn apart by her kind, and you ask
me to cool down? We should have destroyed the Biters, but we had to tolerate
their presence because of her.'

Satish turned on the man who had just spoken and looked him
in the eye.

'Jai, you do remember that I took a bullet to save your
family when the Red Guards came? I also share your grief and want to punish
those responsible, but don't turn on Alice or rush to conclusions.'

Arjun was now outside, with Alice beside him. The big man
strode forward, and while he had his gun holstered, Alice saw several of the
men lower their guns as he approached. Satish had been an invaluable soldier in
their struggle, but he was a relative newcomer. In contrast, Arjun had been
leading his band of `Ruin Rats' for years, helping them survive against Biters
and Zeus troopers alike. Many of the men in the crowd had been part of his
original crew, and looked away as he addressed them.

'Jai, Ritesh, Ankush...all of you were my brothers. Brothers
who bled and fought with me.'

Alice saw some of the men sheepishly put away their weapons
as Arjun continued.

'But today you insult that bond by turning on a girl who has
perhaps sacrificed more than all of us. Give her a chance, that's all I ask of
you.'

Alice now stepped forward. She had left all her weapons
inside the Looking Glass.

'I did not choose to be this way. I too want to play with my
sister and eat meals with my parents. I too want to go to school and learn
something other than killing people. But I have no regrets, for in all that
loss we had created a bigger family than I ever had. A family called
Wonderland. I promise to personally bring to justice those who have done this to
your families and children, but please trust me at least this much. For all
we've been through together, please give me this much trust, and let me find
out who was behind this. If it was one of the Biters in Wonderland, I promise
you I will spare none of them.'

Whether it was the impact of her words, Arjun's cajoling, or
the simple fact that through the entire exchange the gun turret had been
trained on the group, they grudgingly dispersed, leaving only Arun. He walked
up to Alice and she half expected him to say something sarcastic or
provocative. Instead, he looked genuinely shell-shocked.

'Alice, I know we've had our differences. I know that in the
last few months people have been questioning why we still live in a state of
war when there is no war to be fought, and I know that yet others question why
we keep the Biters close at hand. But I'm willing to forget all of that if you
help us find out who was responsible for this massacre.'

Alice looked at him, trying to gauge whether he was sincere
or he just wanted to maintain the status quo since that best served his
political agenda. She was perhaps too young to judge and took him at face
value.

'Arun, we have known some measure of peace, but the world
outside is still at war. I know we situated Looking Glass outside the center of
Wonderland because you thought people would get alarmed at all the bad news.
The reality is we cannot pretend away the fact that the world is still
bleeding, and today some of that blood seeped into Wonderland.'

Arun looked away sheepishly as Arjun took up where Alice had
left off.

'Arun, you and others had voted to reduce patrols and cancel
regular combat training. We cannot pretend this is the Delhi the way it was
before the Rising. We know peace now, but that might change at any moment. Let
us get to the bottom of today's killing, but you as an elder need to help
people understand that things are much more dangerous outside Wonderland than
they may want to believe.'

Suitably chastised, Arun went back, and then Alice mounted
her bike.

'Alice, do you want me to come?'

Alice refused Satish's offer. This was something she had to
do alone. Maintaining her composure had been necessary in front of the bereaved
families, but now she was gripped with fury. Whoever had killed those children
would pay dearly.

***

The groaning Biter went down on his back, his hand cracking
in several places as Alice twisted it and threw him over her shoulder. Before
he had been turned, he had been a slight old man, but there was no sympathy or
pity in Alice's eyes as she kicked him, dislocating his chin. That did nothing
to improve his face, which already had skin peeling off in several places and
an ear missing from a gunshot.

'What lunacy made you let outsiders into Wonderland?'

She was not sure how much he understood, but she was so
angry she really did not care. The Biter was now on his knees, snarling, all
obedience to Alice gone. His teeth were bared, jagged and covered with dried
blood. He snapped as she came closer but she easily weaved out of the way. In
the time she had spent with the Biters, she knew that they would only obey a
leader who spoke from a position of strength. With Dr. Protima, their first
Queen, who had first opened Alice's eyes to the true nature of the Biters and
the conspiracy behind The Rising, that authority had come from her ability to
speak and reason like a human and her possession of the tattered copy of Alice
in Wonderland that the Biters had come to revere as their holy relic. For
Alice, that authority was backed up by her combat skills honed in years of
fighting to survive in the Deadland.

The Biter lunged at her again, and this time Alice caught
his right hand, snapping it back and then bringing the heel of her own right
hand snapping against his nose. The blow would have killed a grown man, but
Biters did not die so easily. The Biter fell back and struggled to get back up,
his face mangled and bloody, when Alice took out her combat knife and stabbed
him through the head. He did not get back up again.