Stranger King (5 page)

Chapter Eight

Lena
made
her perimeter rounds as the sun rose in the sky. She saw only the trees and the rich kids in their exo-suits, each hand-painted to mark the individual inside. She had been given a few nervous glances as she passed, her nearly bare skin an open threat.

As the opening act began to play from behind a tinted Plexiglas shield, the crowd turned from her, focusing on the band. They had been a fad when she was at school, but Lena had very little interest in them at the moment.

She planned her actions again. She would vid her father, grab what cash and survival gear she could, and go up north. The days were growing shorter there; she could survive outside longer until the summer began again. Lena didn’t know how long she would have to wait, but anything was better than being taken from her homeland.

She remembered the wars vaguely. Peace had been officially declared almost a decade before she was born, but there had been much infighting and rebellion in the provinces left behind.

Lena remembered her mother somewhat, a willowy Japanese woman with soft brown eyes. She remembered her carrying Lena close to her chest as they ran. She remembered being handed into her father’s arms. Harvin Greenwood was so timid about taking the child into his arms. She remembered looking up into his steel blue eyes for the first time, and the sense of calm that followed. He did not need to say it aloud, but they both knew in that moment that he had sworn his life to keep her safe. He was her dad; there was no question even from the very start.

Lena had asked little about why her father had been in Ontario. He didn’t want to discuss it. As an adult, she realized it was dangerous for her to know, even though her curiosity only grew over time.

How much trouble would he be in when they realized she had run? They certainly would go to him if they couldn’t find her with Manthras. He wouldn’t tell them anything. Perhaps they would leave him be. Perhaps he would manage to get north too, and hide out with her. She didn’t know. He would know better than her how to do this. And how was she going to get the trackers out of her arm so they couldn’t find her?

Lena could still feel them in her body. They hurt less as her muscles adjusted. Gratefully, they had put them in her right arm, not realizing she was left-handed. Her aim would be accurate, and she still had quite a few clips. She could trade for more when she went up north.

The music ended abruptly and she could hear the crowd murmur. Lena looked up, gun cocked, her eyes scanning the horizon. Her vid-com came on, and she could hear Kozol swear, “Holy shit!”

Lena looked to the sky. She blinked at first, the brightness too much for her eyes to handle. As her false irises adjusted, she saw them. Three dark shapes coming toward them. She saw people run, looking for shelter. Lena simply stood, watching the three shapes grow closer. When she could make out the metal paneling on their hulls, she realized very quickly they were not of human make.

Her brain thought two things, almost simultaneously: she could leave now for the north, no one would think she had survived, and they would assume her trackers were stolen from her corpse for scrap. And she thought of her father.

She ran toward the fleeing crowd. She called out for Kozol and Stiar on her vid-com, telling them to go true north, head deeper into the mountains, and reconnect with her. She looked up for them in the crowd, two figures clad in white among the exo-suits.

She saw one just as the firing began. Later she would remember the smell, her brain concluding that they were being shot with a compound of sulfur and iron. People fell and she ran to the side of the white suit who had collapsed onto the ground. Stiar looked up at her blearily and Lena hoisted the woman over her shoulder, carrying her as the crowd fled.

“Kozol!” she called out, scanning the crowd. She saw him to her left and their eyes met. She followed him into the forest, holding Stiar as close to her body as she could. Kozol signaled her to get down and she did so, crouching in the brush as they watched the scene unfold. Stiar breathed heavily as they watched others fall. Kozol passed her a green and brown paint and Lena began covering both her and Stiar’s suits with the mixture, to blend them into the ground.

Kozol went as low to the ground as he could. Lena held her head up, watching as the ships docked, their landing gear digging into the softened earth. She panted, watching as the first figure departed. She recognized the face at first. It was an older man with papery pale skin and hazel eyes. She had seen him on Haida Gwaii. She remembered the jagged scar on his right cheek. It was the same one her father had. It was common for Canadian prisoners of war; it was used to differentiate them from the American prisoners.

He said something in Mandarin that Lena did not understand. When he switched to English, Lena felt a chill.

“I am translating on behalf of the Great Council of Hal-Water-Joy. The Mission asks you to lay down all weapons and step forth in a sign of peace.”

As he began to repeat the same phrase in French, Lena looked over at Kozol. He shook his head and they remained in the brush. Others came forward, kneeling in the dirt before the entrance of the ships. Some came out firing weapons, but snipers shot them down.

Lena could make out the creatures as they walked off the ship. They were taller than an average human, most of them a bit over seven feet. She could not see their skin underneath what she assumed was their variant of an exo-suit. She could see that they were bipedal, with a tail of limited mobility. She guessed that was due to the suit, but she could not be certain. They spoke in the clicks and hisses she had heard before, and she knew that the message had come from them.

As one stood by the scientist, a large hand resting on the human’s shoulder, the scientist continued first in Mandarin and then in English, “The Great Council thanks you for your cooperation. In the name of the one true Goddess and the three suns of the collective, you are blessed for being diplomats of your home world. You will now line up in an orderly way and will be brought along as guests. Our ships have been made to accommodate you without what you call exo-suits. Others of your kind are already on board and will help you adjust. Deviants will be dismissed immediately.”

As the message was repeated in French, Lena turned and whispered to Kozol, “We need to get out of here.”

He looked down at Stiar and nodded.

Lena said quietly, “I need to get to my father.”

“Calvin’s in Hope. That’s on the way.”

Their eyes met and there was a quiet understanding as Lena whispered, “Okay.”

They waited for hours as the captives were processed into the ship. As it grew close to five, the three of them tried to lay still. They were protected by shade, but it was not nearly enough, and they all grew thirsty.

Kozol and Lena laid side by side, her head resting on his shoulder. She could feel her lips cracking and her hands slowly burning. Kozol whimpered slightly, a blister forming along his jaw line.

“Hang on,” Lena whispered, her voice cracking.

As the sun started to fade, she could hear ships leave the ground, but began to smell ash before she saw the fire.

“We need to go, now,” she ordered.

Kozol stood weakly, helping Lena carry Stiar as they tried to run. Their muscles ached as the fire grew near.

“Leave me,” Stiar whispered hoarsely.

“No,” Lena said simply, pushing through the brush until she made it to a clearing. Kozol pointed to one of the shelters and they ran. Kozol kicked open the door and they entered, sealing it behind them. Lena started the generator, the air sweeter and cleaner as it filtered out the ash.

They looked at each other in exhaustion. Lena took a bottle of water from the fridge.

“It’s the only one,” she whispered, “We have to make it last until the fire dies down.”

She drank a sip greedily before handing it to the other two. She tried to look at Stiar’s wound, but the woman brushed her off.

“I’m stable,” Stiar whispered hoarsely, “Don’t waste supplies on me until we know we can get out of here alive. We need rest.”

Lena nodded, lying on the floor with the other two. Kozol shivered and the three huddled together, some ash still reaching them through the filters. Lena coughed and tried to fall asleep.

She could barely shut her eyes. She did not want to stop watching Stiar, who winced and moaned quietly beside her. Lena put her arm around her friend, holding her close as they both tried to fall asleep.

*

Lena woke first, rising uneasily to her feet. She took another drink of water and looked out through the Plexiglas portal. The grass around them was incinerated, the trees still burning embers. It was somewhat light out, but she could not tell what time it was nor how long they had slept.

She remembered Stiar’s wounds and kneeled down beside her friend to examine her. As she looked, Lena realized that Stiar had stopped breathing. She looked peaceful, a small smile on her blistered face. Lena’s hands shook as she closed Stiar’s eyes, her fingers trembling. She had been holding her when she died and didn’t even notice.

Kozol was warm to her touch and he stirred as she called out his name softly. He saw Stiar’s body first and sprang to his feet.

“We’ll bury her before we go,” he said softly.

Lena nodded, trying to hold back her tears.

“Check for any gas masks,” Kozol pointed to the cabinets, “We’ll strip the camp of supplies and head east. There’s no point going back to Metro city, they would hit the major population centers first, if they’re already out this far…”

Kozol bowed his head and whispered, “How many of my crew are dead?”

Lena said softly, “We’re still here. Two of us are alive. Come on. We need to move.”

With full packs, their wounds bound and treated as best they could, Lena and Kozol buried Stiar in the ashy ground. Neither of them could think of any kind words to say, but simply bowed their heads in silence as the sun set in the sky.

Kozol took Lena’s hand in kindness and they walked into the forest like two lost children trying to find their way home.

Chapter Nine

Lena
woke
at the sound of frosted ground crunching slightly under the heavy footsteps of another. She grabbed her pistol and stood, seeing Kozol walk from the brush, his hands in the air. She sighed, lowering her weapon.

“You can’t try to shoot me every time I need to take a piss,” Kozol grumbled, lowering his hands.

“Sorry,” she apologized, “I’ve been on edge. I don’t think you can really blame me.”

“It’s alright. If you’re awake, then we better get moving. We’re near the edge of Hope. We’ve been lucky so far, but those bastards might be here already.”

Lena nodded. It was easier to not call them by what they were. Considering what they had seen, the slur seemed more appropriate anyway.

They had been walking down the wreckage of the Lougheed Highway for three days now. Chilliwack had been burnt out –– they’d seen the glow and smelled the smoke from across the Fraser River –– and they’d skirted Agassiz for fear of the questions they couldn’t answer. While neither of them said so, there was a good possibility that Hope would not exist when they crossed into the mountains. The grid had gone down within hours of fleeing, so they had no way of communicating with any others and all the transports and vehicles that relied on the grid were dead. The thought flittered through her mind that they might be the last two alive. They had not seen another soul for two days. It was as if the modern world had disappeared and all that remained was crumbling highways from a long ago era.

Lena went through her pack and looked for any winter gear. There were only two light jackets, both of them too big for her and too small for Kozol. They dressed in what layers they had while night settled in around them. With winter just around the corner, they were relieved to have shorter days to walk through, but the cold was seeping into their lungs and bones. It had been hard adjusting to the increasing altitude, their energy wore out quickly and sleep called to them, but as it grew colder, the chances were greater that sleeping would kill them. Instead, they kept moving; they had to.

As the moon rose higher and the sky brightened, they crossed the bridge into Hope and saw their first view of the town. They both held their breath. There were no electric lights, but both of them could see campfires flickering in the distance.

As they reached the first few homes, they grew cautious again. It seemed that the locals had evacuated further into the town center or maybe up into the mountains themselves. They continued on, looking through empty houses for signs of life or supplies to refill their packs. There were few signs of either.

“Calvin’s mother lives on the other side of the valley,” Kozol said hopefully. “They might even still be there, if those fires are any indication. If not, we’ll keep moving.”

Lena watched his reaction curiously and asked, “Why him?”

“Because I can’t let him die too,” Kozol said quietly, “I don’t leave my men behind. Especially not him. I’ve already lost one love of my life. I can’t lose another.”

Lena followed him as they drew closer to the firelight. There was a hasty barbwire fence strung around a camp and they circled it until they found a gate. They saw the guards first and they both put up their hands and let the guards pat them down.

“They’re both armed,” a woman announced. She was tall, dirty blonde hair braided down her back. Piercing green eyes scanned them through the dark night. A large scar ran across the lower half of her face. She was a P.O.W. too.

The woman placed a sawed-off shotgun against Lena’s forehead. Lena started sweating. She looked over at Kozol who said quickly, “We’re not scavengers. We’re looking for a man named Calvin Potter. His mother, Joanne, lives here. We have supplies. We would be willing to share them with you if you would let us in.”

Their packs were taken and the guards looked through them, picking out choice pieces.

“Are you both clean?” the woman asked, gun still cocked at Lena.

They looked at each other in confusion and she asked louder, “Did any of the creatures touch you?”

They both shook their heads and the woman stepped forth, lowering the barrel of the gun directly between Lena’s eyes.

“God help me, if you bring disease into this camp, I will kill you both and leave your skulls for the bears. Do you understand me?”

Lena nodded, and the woman lowered the shotgun.

“Then follow me.”

The woman introduced herself. “My name is Charlotte. I’m sorry for the rude introduction, but it hasn’t been easy keeping this area secure.”

“It’s only been a few days,” Lena said, “You have set up well considering.”

“We had to move quickly,” Charlotte said. “Suddenly we had this influx of people coming from all over the Metro area. Then the grid went down, everything’s dark. There’s no electricity. Last reports we heard, the creatures were moving down the western seaboard. The rumor is they’re trying to secure the whole continent, but who the shit knows. What I know is that I can’t manage the peace much longer here. Tensions are building. People want to go east, get as far away from the coast as they can, but who knows if the Americans will even accept us as refugees. Who knows, what if they’ve been struck even harder? I’m telling you this because Calvin said you would be coming this way. I don’t trust many folks, but I have a soft spot for that man. He was good to my mother before she passed.”

“How did he know we were coming?” Lena asked.

“He didn’t tell me about you, he told me about him. His asshole boss who would come looking to win him back to the team. Daywalkers. You’ll come in handy here, though I imagine less so when the drugs wear out. How long since you’ve had an injection?”

“Five days,” Lena replied.

“Shit. You’re going to be going through withdrawal soon. It’s bullshit, but you’ll handle it alright.”

“How do you know all this?” Kozol asked.

“I worked for Milnes Company for a few years to pay off school. It was all right work, but I missed the mountains. It’s hard to get those out of your blood.”

“How bad was the withdrawal?” Lena asked fearfully.

Charlotte shuddered. “Pretty bad. You’re going to be useless for a few days. You’re going to want to find a safe space to hole up when that happens.”

“A little warning about that would have been nice,” Lena grumbled.

Kozol shrugged. “It’s survivable. We would deal with it when it came time. If we lived that long in the first place…”

Charlotte snorted, “I think you both have bigger problems to worry about. Now your friend is just past those posts. He’s sharing that brick house over there. The one with the black doors? Yeah. If he’s not there, one of the others should be able to tell you where he is. When you leave, I’ll give you your weapons back, but until then, hand them over.”

Lena went to protest, but Kozol grabbed her pistol from her, as well as his own, and gave them to Charlotte.

Kozol marched through the frosted mud and Lena followed behind him, wary of those who watched them hesitantly. Kozol paused in the street, his breathing slowing. Lena went to his side, looking up to see Calvin leaving the house, carrying a basket of rations.

“Calvin, I’m sorry,” Kozol said softly

Calvin put the basket on the doorstep as others circled nearby, watching the exchange. He walked down the steps to stand in front of Kozol and the two men watched each other for a tense moment.

Then in a rush, Calvin pulled Kozol into his arms. “About time,” he grumbled.

Kozol whispered something in response that Lena couldn’t hear and they kissed, a tear running through the ash and dirt on Kozol’s cheek. Calvin let go of him, Kozol took his hand. Calvin used his other hand to shake Lena’s.

“Thank you,” he whispered. “Thank you for bringing him back to me.”

Lena smiled. “I’m glad to see you’re safe.”

“You too. Come on in. There are a few extra cots. Have you eaten yet? There’s some soup. It’s not very much, but it’ll warm you up at least.”

Kozol and Lena’s eyes met. They had not discussed what would happen after they found Calvin. They needed rest and food, yes. But Lena had much further east to travel to reach her father … if he still lived.

Kozol said to them both, “We’ll stay here tonight, but I think we should talk about what to do next.”

Lena nodded and followed them into the house.

The place smelled of unventilated fireplace. She saw refugees crammed into most corners of the rooms, bowls of soup in hand, which they drank hungrily.

“There’s a corner of the house outside where you can relieve yourself. Once it gets really cold, we’ll have to think of something else. Food is communal, based on the honor system. Hopefully that’s still true by the end of the week, or the night even.”

“What happened here?” Lena asked.

Calvin signaled them to follow him up the narrow staircase, leaning to avoid others coming downstairs. He led them into a small room, filled almost completely by a firm bed and a footlocker. He locked the door behind them and signaled them to sit where they could.

“The refugees got here first,” Calvin began, “The … things have been moving down the coast. They don’t seem to be moving further inland.”

“They were as north as Haida Gwaii, at least,” Lena said. “I recognized one of their hostages.”

“So they are taking hostages,” Calvin sighed. “I heard the rumor, but I thought they were just killing us off. I don’t know. I pick up what I can from an old radio, but stations are disappearing, even the American ones. The acting Prime Minister announced a state of national emergency, but from what I can tell, that’s occurring everywhere in North America.”

“Anywhere else?”

“It’s hard to tell. My instinct says yes, but I also believe it’s a rather small invasion force, seeing how long it’s taking them to spread. The main problem right now is panic. People think they carry a disease that spreads like wildfire. It starts in your lungs and slowly burns its way out. People are so afraid of it that they’ll shoot anyone who they think has come into contact. It seems to be flesh-borne, but it’s hard to guess without having a better sample of it. Were either of you touched?”

They shook their heads.

“And Stiar?”

“She didn’t make it,” Lena said softly, “We were caught in a fire and we didn’t have enough supplies. It was a strange wound, but it was caused by their weapons, not skin-to-skin contact.”

Calvin nodded. “Then we’re safe for now. If we had Sam, maybe she could come up with a vaccine.”

“There may be a way to find her,” Kozol said quietly.

They both looked at him in confusion.

“I had a contingency plan. I should have told you, Lena, before we got out of the city, but I honestly didn’t think we’d get this far. Eight years ago, it looked like the Americans might invade,” Kozol explained, “If they did, I thought they might go after Daywalkers. They tend to fear us down there, think we’re vampires.”

“Aren’t we the opposite of those?” Lena laughed.

Kozol smirked. “I thought it was pretty stupid. But anyway, we have a base in the Rockies. There’s supplies, weapons, a functioning electrical unit that’s not dependent on the grid. Sam knew to get herself and anyone else from Manthras there in the event of disaster. We may be able to make it there ourselves.”

“So you had that planned, but no plan for dealing with withdrawal?” Lena asked.

“Drugs are finite supplies. If withdrawal was going to kill us, I would have planned for it.”

Calvin shook his head at Kozol, and then turned to Lena, “It’s not too bad. I have a few herbs that will help you out.”

“When did you turn into a medicine man?” Lena grinned.

Calvin rolled his eyes. “I did extensive work in botany before I came to work for Kozol’s ridiculous band of thieves.”

“Hey!” Kozol glared.

“Of all things, you like plants?” Lena asked incredulously.

Calvin waved them off. “Let’s get back on track. How far is this hideout?”

Kozol shrugged. “By transport, a day, maybe two. By foot? Over the mountains? It could be weeks.”

“We may not have weeks,” Lena reminded, “And I need to find my dad. You two can leave first, give me the coordinates and I’ll meet you there.”

“Kelowna is on the way,” Kozol said. “We’re not splitting up, not now.”

Calvin paused, his eyes going soft and sad. “Lena … you’re not going to be able to go to Kelowna.”

“Why not? It’s not far off the highway, it’ll still be easy enough to find.”

Calvin sat beside her. “The disease I mentioned … well, Kelowna had an outbreak, the whole Okanagan valley did. There was chaos. Someone set a fire, decided to kill the city off to save the rest of us.”

“No,” Lena whispered hoarsely, her arms giving out as she tried to raise herself up. “That’s not … how did it get that far east? That’s not…”

“It doesn’t matter how it happened,” Calvin said quietly, “The city is gone. If your father is alive, he’s certainly not there.”

Lena felt her body going into shock as Calvin put his arm around her.

“My mother was gone by the time I got here. She left for the American border. I don’t know if she made it. It’s not the same, but I understand. We’re here, you won’t be alone.”

She wanted to push him away, but she felt too weak to do so.

Kozol asked, “What do you have in the footlocker?”

Calvin kneeled down beside it, unlocking it, and lifting it open.

“A few weapons, some dried food. There’s some cash for bribes, but I don’t know how far that will carry us. We’ll scavenge more supplies as we go.”

“How many can the base support?” Lena asked.

“Eight,” Kozol said, “It was meant to be me, the six of you, and Sam.”

“Then we should take five more refugees,” Lena stated.

“What?” Kozol laughed harshly. “We can survive longer with just the three of us.”

“We have a chance to help five others. We can pick five who have skills we don’t, that might help all of us survive.”

“And how do you suggest we do that without the others knowing, without getting ourselves torn apart?”

“It was just an idea, okay?”

Calvin replied, “It’s not a bad idea. But if others are there already?”