Feed the Machine (36 page)

Dia gulped it down. Her friend, fellow cleaner, Narissa sat across from her. She’d seen her son through a gun sight today and shot a wall rather than kill him. They could threaten you with death but their control only went so far. A missed shot during war could be disobedience but perhaps it was just bad aim.

“There are only three guards in here,” Narissa whispered to her plate.

Dia chewed her meal and glanced around. Two by the doors, one over near the food. There were at least thirty family members eating.

“I don’t see a gray disk,” Dia said. She swallowed her orange juice and went back for more, wandering over near the guard by the food. He was trying to watch everyone, a worried look on his face. Dia filled her glass and returned to her seat.

“No disk,” she confirmed in a whisper.

Even being watched over by guards at every moment, forced to fight and kill, rumors and speculation flourished. The bombs were the first attack of someone coming to free them. Someone had found a vault full of collars taken from their family members, held to keep them in debt, to force them to sell to Fat Man.

This rumor was not so much a rumor as a shout coming from everyone they faced. People yelled it from rooftops.

Most of them had seen the boy die though. Those that hadn’t were told by those they trusted. They were armed when they were defending the compound but no one dared to run.

No one would disobey.

“What can we do?” Narissa said, looking around.

“You hit him in the balls, I’ll take his gun. Then I’ll deal with the two at the door.”

Dia saw her friend worry at her food for a moment. She’d been forced to shoot at her own son today—it was obvious they couldn’t do nothing. The green guns were multiplying and so were the gray disks. Before long the guards would be invincible.

“Help me,” Dia whispered.

Narissa nodded.

They stood together and took their trays back for more food. The guard glanced at them but then looked away to the people still eating. He had his hand on his gun, holding it loosely in front of his body.

Together they moved down the line, taking pork belly and walking down to the orange juice. They filled their glasses and turned around.

The plan was limited and hinged on many things going right. If Narissa attacked but was too slow or was seen, she’d be dead in an instant.

Close to the guard now, stepping by him and Narissa dropped her tray. An enormous crash, broken glass and juice flying, every gaze in the room on her. She dropped to her knees babbling apologies. Between one
sorry
and
please
she hit the guard in the groin. He doubled over. Dia smashed him with her tray and there was a frantic moment trying to pull his gun away from him, the strap tangled somehow before she pulled it off.

The guards at the door were shouting, their voices far away, guns rising.

Dia killed one with a perfect shot across the large space. His head vanished in a crack of red light. She shot again at the remaining guard but he fell backwards, colliding with the door and was gone.

It was over in an instant.

Dia killed the unconscious guard. Narissa ran for the door, collected the second gun.

The family yelled a hundred accusations. You’ve killed us all! He’s going to explode your collars! Get out of here!

Dia shot the roof and silenced them.

“If he could explode collars he would have done it already! I don’t care if he can anyway—I am not going to kill my own children because they put a gun in my hand and demand I do it. We’re getting out of here—if you want to fight then come with us.”

The speech had come out of nowhere—she was even surprised herself—but then the roiling fury that joined it burned away her fear. If what the people were chanting was true then perhaps her husband’s collar was locked in some room. Perhaps they had fallen not because they were abandoned but because they were pushed.

She headed for the door, the gun in her hand. Narissa pushed it open and they slipped out.

Family members followed.

Chapter 56

Ash

There was some great and terrible weight on him. He tried to move and a stabbing pain raced up his arm.

“There’s junk on you,” Kin whispered. “Had to protect you from the hazels.”

Ash opened his eyes, the lashes stuck together with dried blood, but all he could see was dirt and junk. Sunlight shone in the chinks between the refuse. He was in a cocoon again, but part of it had collapsed, pressing down on his back.

“Where are you?” he croaked.

“Down here.”

Kin touched his face to Ash’s arm. It didn’t hurt and Ash sighed with relief.

“Can I get out?”

“Wait here, I’ll come back,” Kin said. Ash heard a scrabbling of sharp claws and some of the junk shifted.

He tried to move but he was too weak to get any leverage. Whatever was on his back was flat at least but heavy. He struggled for a minute and stopped.

Time passed, Ash breathing and trying not to panic at the idea of being trapped under junk forever. It was every scavenger’s nightmare—and he’d spent enough time trapped for the fear to throb red and black.

“Hey! Ash?”

“Raj?”

“Yeah! Give me time, I’ll get you out.”

Metal moving and sliding and gradually the weight lessened on his back. Ash heard Kin talking, giving instructions and providing commentary. Eventually the weight lifted off him. A pair of hands gripped his ankles and gently slid him out from under the pile of junk.

Ash got to his hands and knees and stayed there as the dizziness swirled through him. His arm wasn’t hurting as much now—it must have been something in the junk cutting into him. Raj knelt down in front of him, black heal in his hand.

“Drink this. I have some food too. Fuck, your clothes are burned.”

Ash took the bottle of heal and drank it. Every bottle of heal tasted different—even of the same color. This was berries and cool water together. The heal washed down his throat and felt like it flooded out to the end of his limbs like a wave. The pain and dizziness vanished.

He stood and the charred remains of his uniform fell off him.

“Fuck that must have been some fireball,” Raj said, pulling a pair of pants and top out of his bag. Multiple bottles of black heal clinked inside.

Ash brushed the last remnants of his burned uniform off and dressed.

“Where’d you get those?”

“Your sister, the little one not the hot one, got two tempcubes with a thousand doses each in them. I’ve been working behind the front line healing anyone who needs it.”

Raj gave him a wrapped wax paper package. Bread with strawberry jam. Ash gulped it down so quick he choked. The black heal was amazing but it didn’t stop him from being hungry.

Kin rubbed against his leg, his eyes on the bread. Ash tore off a piece and gave it to him.

“Did you cover me?”

“Silver gave you heal but then went off down the next mine. You healed but didn’t awake. It was too late to find anyone so I covered you with junk and protected you from the hazels. Then a big piece of metal fell off the ceiling and landed on you. Can I have more bread?”

Ash gave him the last of his bread. Kin ate it and sat down to bathe.

Ash looked around the mine. The walls were black and in some places melted.

“Let’s get out of here.”

They left the mine, Ash feeling better with each step. Black heal was a miracle. A pall of smoke hung above Cago.

“What’s that cracking noise?”

“Green laser guns. They’re mental. One shot and you’re dead. Fat Man’s guards have them plus all his slaves.”

A memory slinked from the back of Ash’s mind. He turned to Kin.

“You said
we
got the bomb from the Collector’s house. Do you mean you and Silver?”

Silver who had somehow put her voice into a bug telling him to set off the bomb. That she was going to save Nola, get the collars and get the gold.

“It was him.”

“Aw dude. Why?” Raj shook his head at the cat.

“
You
did the bombs?”

“Yeah… your sis is convincing. The little one not the—”

“—hot one, I get it. What did Silver tell you? How did you get the bombs?”

More cracking sounds from Cago. Someone screamed in the distance. Then their voice faded away.

“The Collector had them in his house. Silver knew where they were. She showed me this tablet she has with all these dots on it. Gold and platinum and a whole lot of stuff. If I helped her she said we could use it to get rich.”

“What? When did this happen?”

“A week ago maybe. Said we needed to set the bombs in some of the abandoned buildings and wait for her signal to set them off. It must have worked because Nola showed up at the Machine with like a hundred collars. Dumped them on the ground, everyone went fuck-off crazy. Now it’s war. Nola is like, the leader.”

“Nola? Fuck!”

He’d thought Silver had lied to him about the tablet but it had been innocent—she was being her usual self. He and Nola had made a plan but clearly Silver had her own in progress. She’d roped in Raj with promises of gold and Kin and now the whole of Cago were at war. He turned to Kin.

“What did she offer you to lie to me?”

“I did not lie! I said you have a week. That’s true. Or was. It’s a day now. Tomorrow.”

“What’s tomorrow!”

Ash was about ready to throttle Kin. He took a step in his direction and then saw Hello fly out of the next mine down. Silver must be nearby—they were inseparable. He rushed past Kin and down to the mine entrance, his blood boiling.

He’d been thinking of throwing someone to the wolves just for the chance to become a guard, to get some greater freedom of movement. Nola was working at the Golden Door looking to steal whatever she could so they could help Silver “repair” her tablet. She’d lied to both of them. They were risking medbeating or worse and for what?

Silver, the palest of the siblings, appeared out of the dark like a ghost.

Ash’s shout died on his lips when Silver rushed forward and hugged him.

“You’re alive,” Silver said, sobbing into his chest. He wrapped his arms around his little sister.

Chapter 57

Dia

They were twenty in number leaving the impromptu mess hall and were down to fifteen when they reached the edge of Fat Man’s district. They had six guns total now after coming upon four of Fat Man’s guards armed with green guns but not gray disks. Dia and Narissa shot them down before they could even blink. Five of their group had vanished, running off in different directions for their own reasons.

They had no idea where the guard who’d escaped from the mess hall had gone and they weren’t waiting around for reinforcements to come marching around the corner. Dia and Narissa held a brief talk considering whether they should turn around, take anyone who was armed and ambush more guards from behind. Before they could convince anyone, a laser cracked, burning a hole at their feet. The group panicked and bolted, running into Cago. Dia and Narissa were soon alone. They faced Fat Man’s palace, guns out and walked backward down the street. Two guards hiding behind a fence watched them go. One looked tempted to take a shot but changed his mind after Narissa took his hand off at the wrist.

Soon they passed the line of people armed with guns, slingshots, sharp spikes, rocks—anything they could get their hands on.

Dia saw Nola in the distance giving instructions, waving her hands around. Her heart leapt and she followed its pull, breaking into a run.

“Nola! Nola!”

She turned, her face angry but her expression quickly melted into relief. She took two steps towards Dia before they crashed together. Dia grabbed her daughter in a desperate hug. The fury that had driven her muted and soon she was crying, kissing Nola’s dirty face.

When her daughter struggled free, Dia saw she was crying too.

“Where are Ash and Silver?” Dia asked her.

“Someone saw Silver near home yesterday. I don’t know where Ash is.”

Faint cracks echoed and a splash of fire broke a window down the street.

“We’re too close. We need to go home.”

Dia grabbed Nola’s hand but she pulled it back.

“There’s nothing at home. It’s not even a home! This is where the fighting is happening! We need to do this.”

Narissa arrived, out of breath from chasing Dia’s sudden bolt.

“The guards have some kid back there. They’re letting him go.”

They turned towards Fat Man’s palace. The kid was naked and skinny, as pale as a mushroom. They were far enough away they couldn’t see his features but it was clear he was terrified. He was stepping over dead bodies, the guards at the palace shouting at him and shooting the walls to make him walk towards them.