Crisped + Sere (Immemorial Year Book 2) (4 page)

“The most ferocious,” Cavalo said quietly.

Bad Dog closed his eyes and slipped back into his dreams, curling closely to Cavalo to stay warm.

Cavalo watched him sleep.

Hours passed. The cold air through the window prevented Cavalo from sleeping. It seeped through his deerskin coat and chilled his flesh. He thought of many things, none of them good. The ruination of flesh. Blood splashing against snow. The gnashing of teeth. A little boy, hands outstretched, with a live grenade in his lap. A lady with turquoise hair. A lady who danced amongst the trees. Of Charlie, who lost something. Of a woman with an infected cut on her foot opening a door to snarling animals. Of robotics. Of machines that purified. Of machines that destroyed.

And of Lucas.
I am Lucas
, always there in his head. Lucas, who had the audacity to kiss him in the lookout and ruin everything he knew about himself to be true. Lucas, who had the gall to watch him as he did, like a predator hunting prey. Lucas, who had the temerity to exist at all, to bring Cavalo’s ordered little world crashing down as if it were constructed of nothing but ash and smoke.

Lucas, Lucas, Lucas.

Cavalo’s skin hummed at the thought of him. He wished Hank had not taken his knife so he could have attempted to cut Lucas out of himself. It was the only thing that made sense. Lucas was a sliver underneath the skin that had become infected. Cavalo needed to cut him out.

And on and on it went. Those circles in his mind. Round and round. The bees screamed. Cavalo gritted his teeth. It would never stop. It would never—

Bad Dog raised his head. Sniffed the air. Cocked his head.

“What?” Cavalo asked.

The dog’s tail thumped once. Twice.
They’re here.
He sounded surprised. He stood. Shook himself. Glanced over at Cavalo.

“Who?” Cavalo asked.

Smells Different.

“For fuck’s sake,” Cavalo muttered. “Has he killed anyone?”

No. No blood. He won’t let Smells Different kill. We don’t know if they’re bad guys yet.

“Who?” Cavalo asked again.

Tin Man. Tin Man’s here too.

“SIRS?
SIRS
is here?”

Yes. Yes. Bag of bolts came down off the mountain. Has he ever left before?

Not in all the years Cavalo had known him. Not once. “This can’t possibly be good,” Cavalo said.

All together again!
Bad Dog said with a low bark, spinning in a circle.
Like at home!
He stopped, and his tail drooped.
Except we’re still in jail.

Cavalo stood. “I doubt it will be for much longer.”

Really?
Bad Dog asked, looking up at him.

Cavalo shrugged. “Either that or we’re going to die a whole lot quicker.”

I pick the first one. I don’t like being dead.

“You’ve never been dead before.”

Yes, but I know I wouldn’t like it.

Cavalo turned toward the window. The chains pulled at his arms. He prayed Bad Dog was wrong, though Cavalo knew in his heart he wasn’t. If they were here, it meant they’d come to rescue them. It meant they worried, SIRS more than Lucas. Especially for the robot to have left the prison. How Lucas had convinced the robot to leave, Cavalo didn’t know.

He waited. Nothing moved outside the cell. The moon peeked through the clouds again, and shadows shifted and changed.

Then:

Fingers curled around the bars. A face appeared, dark eyes cloaked in a black painted mask, a hood over his head. Lucas’s eyes narrowed as they peered between the bars, but then his gaze found Cavalo. The scowl turned into the shark’s grin.
Found you
, that smile said.
I was hunting you and now I found you.

“Why are you here?” Cavalo asked.

Lucas glanced over his shoulder, then looked back at Cavalo. He tugged on the bars once. Twice.
Because you’re in jail
, he said.

“We knew this might happen.”

Lucas rolled his eyes.
Because you’re a shit messenger.

“It’s a lot to take in,” Cavalo said. “They need time to think.”

We don’t
have
time
, Lucas reminded him.
He’s coming.
He pulled on the bars again, jerking his arms. One of the bars spun slightly in its groove but nothing more.

“That’s not going to work.”

Lucas glared at him.
You don’t say.

“Lucas!” a voice hissed from out in the snow. “You vile creature! I told you to
wait
for me! I could have gotten lost! I had to hide from a man with a
very
large gun. If he’d spotted me, our cover would have been blown! I am positive that—what on earth are you doing hanging from a window?” Glowing orange eyes appeared next to Lucas’s head. “Ah! Now it makes sense. You know, Cavalo, these humans made it very easy to sneak in to a supposedly fortified town, and I’ve never snuck into anything before in my life. And you think they’ll be able to fend off Patrick and a group of Dead Rabbits? I think our chances are infinitesimal. Let me break down these walls and we can go back home. There is a lesser chance of being eaten hiding behind the walls of the prison. And we have defenses that they do not have here.”

“Could you be any louder?” Cavalo asked. He glanced back at the door. Nothing moved.

The robot’s eyes flashed. “I am sure I could. Shall I?”

“You left the prison,” Cavalo said.

“At great risk to the remaining shreds of my sanity,” SIRS said. “Why, even now I can feel my processors shutting down. I undoubtedly am facing an imminent death. The things I do for you. Can we go home now? I find I don’t like the outside world very much. It’s too real.”

“I told you not to come.”

“Our psychotic little friend here seemed to think something would happen to you. Funny, that.”

“Did he?” Cavalo asked. “Maybe because he already knew what they did here.” He hadn’t thought of this. Not until now. He didn’t know if that made it better or worse that Lucas had thought he needed help.

They do many things
, Lucas told him solemnly. Lucas pulled on the bars again.
Can’t go this way, too loud.
His eyes flickered over Cavalo to the door. His feral grin returned.
We can go through the front.

“You can’t kill anyone,” Cavalo said. “Do you understand?”

The smile turned into a frown.
Why not?

“These people don’t deserve it.” He wondered if he believed that. Surely they deserved
something
. Much like Cavalo himself did.

I thought they were maybe bad guys?
Bad Dog asked.
We kill bad guys with our teeth. Maybe bad guys too because it’s safer than sorrier.

“Not here,” Cavalo said. “No one dies.”

What’s the point?
Lucas asked with a scowl.

I never get to kill anything anymore
, Bad Dog said.

“What happened here?” SIRS asked.

“Not now. I need to get to Hank.”

“And then?”

“I’ll figure it out.”

“This isn’t going to end well.”

“Does it ever?” Cavalo asked. “One guard that I can tell. SIRS, do not let Lucas kill him.”

“What about maiming?” The robot sounded amused.

“No maiming.”

“I tried,” SIRS told Lucas.

I will maim if I feel like it
, Lucas said. He reached in between the bars and gripped Cavalo’s face tightly.
I could maim you right now. Spill your blood.

Cavalo waited.

Lucas released him and shook his head. He pursed his lips and buzzed.
All those bees
, he said.
They want many things from me
. He looked back up at Cavalo.
I will get you out.
He dropped down out of sight.

Cavalo sighed. “SIRS, make sure he—”

“I know, I know. No violent bloody murder. You know, maybe you should have just a little more faith in him.”

“He’s a cannibal.”

“Too right,” SIRS said. “But aren’t we all?” The robot turned from the window, his bright eyes disappearing into the dark.

We gonna be okay?
Bad Dog asked him.

“Probably not.”

Gonna make it?

“Probably not.”

Gonna die?

“Probably.”

Bad Dog shook himself. Sniffed the floor. Bumped his head against Cavalo’s leg.
We’re gonna make it
, he said.
Not gonna die. Not today. Have stuff to do.

“Do we?”

Yes. Chase birds. Eat grass. Throw up grass. Chew bones. Defeat bad guys and save the world.

“In that order?”

Yes. It is the best order.

“I don’t know what to do,” Cavalo admitted.

Find BigHank. Make him believe.

“Believe?”

Believe that Smells Different is who you think he is. That he can save them. And you.

Cavalo looked away. “I’m already too far gone.”

Maybe
, Bad Dog said.
Probably. But maybe not. He is one of us. Like Tin Man.

“Why?”

Don’t know. Just is.

Cavalo said nothing.

A crash from outside the door. A hoarse cry. The sound of a heavy blow. The thump of a body falling to the floor.

Cavalo and Bad Dog waited.

Shadows stretched under the door. For a moment Cavalo thought it was blood.

The door opened, and Lucas stood before them. He stepped lightly, his eyes embedded in the painted-on mask never leaving Cavalo. Stalking him. Hunting him. Gooseflesh prickled the back of Cavalo’s neck. He took a step toward Lucas, the chains pulling against his arms.

Lucas pressed his face between the metal bars of the jail cell. It was a cage of man or God, Cavalo knew, and how quickly things had changed! Just how quickly these roles had become reversed!
Clever monster
, Cavalo thought as Lucas grinned at him through the bars.
Clever cannibal.

You need me
, that smile said.

You want me
, those eyes said.

Found you
, Lucas said.
Found you. Found you.

Cavalo darted forward, the chains jerking his arms back. He swore he heard something pop in his right shoulder. He bared his own teeth at Lucas. This boy was nothing. He knew
nothing
. He was a means to an end and nothing more. It was time he learned his place.

The Dead Rabbit didn’t flinch. If anything, his grin widened.

“Are you both quite done?” SIRS asked, ducking into the room. “It’s disconcerting to think that potentially the fate of our known world rests in the hands of two people who can’t stop growling at each other like animals. Why, if I didn’t know any better, I might think there was some kind of unresolved tension between the two of you that needed to be explored—”

“Open the door,” Cavalo barked.

“Bossy human,” SIRS said. “You’re lucky the world ended when it did, before robots had time to rise up and enslave the human populace. Apparently, that was quite a popular notion in the Before times.” He came up behind Lucas. “Since you’re new, you’re at the bottom of the food chain, even if you eat those at the top of the food chain. I get to boss you around. Move, tiny man.” SIRS pushed Lucas out of the way. Lucas lashed out against him, hand whipping against the robot’s chest. There was a loud clang. The robot was unfazed. Lucas ground his teeth together as he held his wounded hand to his chest.

Stupid metal robot
, he grumbled.
I will destroy you
.

“I can’t understand you like Cavalo can,” SIRS said as he inspected the lock. “But I am sure you are saying nothing but nice things about me.”

I will see you cleaved in half!
he snarled.

“Yes, yes. You’re scary. I know. Magnetic lock? How ridiculous! In
my
prison, we actually want to keep the prisoners
in
.” SIRS pulled on the cell door. It held at first, but something snapped in the lock and the door slid open.

“Keys?” Cavalo asked.

“None on the unfortunate man out there,” SIRS said. “I looked after Lucas smashed his head in.”

“Is he alive?”

“I’m sure he is. I get the feeling that Lucas likes to play with his food.”

Lucas looked up at the mention of his name. He was sucking on his knuckles where the skin had been split against the robot’s chest. He pulled his hand away for a moment and grinned again. His teeth were stained with blood.

Blood
, Bad Dog said dreamily.
Smells like blood.

SIRS took Cavalo’s hands in his and, with a neat flick of his wrist, broke the cuffs around his wrists. The chains fell to the floor. Cavalo rubbed the raw skin. “Hank took my knife. My gun.”

The robot took a step back. Clicked. Beeped. In a conversational tone said, “Sun Tzu once wrote that the supreme art of war is to subdue the enemy without fighting.” Clicked again. Beeped again. “We’ll get them back.”

I have a knife
, Lucas said. He gripped the handle at his side.

“Not that you’re going to use it,” Cavalo told him.

Lucas licked the blood from his lips. Shrugged. Smiled again.

Cavalo walked past them out into Warren’s old office, sure he’d find the guard with his skull cracked and leaking onto the floor. He allowed himself to be surprised when the guard snored at his feet, a raised welt on the side of his head. The old rifle he’d been carrying lay beside him. Cavalo bent and picked it up. Looked down the sight. It was off. The gun looked as if it hadn’t been cleaned in years. Not that it mattered.

“Empty,” he muttered as he checked the chamber. “Guarding me with an empty gun.” He was almost insulted. And he knew that didn’t bode well for their chances in the days ahead.

If they stayed that long.

THEY KEPT
to the shadows as they moved through Cottonwood. Hank and Alma hadn’t taken his words lightly as there seemed to be an increased Patrol presence along the outer wall. Cavalo counted at least ten men and women moving along the platforms, their breaths trailing behind them in a vapor. They carried rifles. Pistols. Cavalo wondered how many of them were loaded, or if they even knew how to use them.