The Rat Collector: A Dystopian Thriller (Age of End Book 1) (14 page)

They had two tents; one for Vince and Ella, the other for Alan, Rupert, and Fred. After pitching the tents, they entered the woods to gather firewood.

Night fell, and they huddled together. A kettle of beans hung over the crackling fire. As they ate, Vince retold his story. Ella and Rupert had already heard it, but it was important for Alan to know about his powers, and his relationship with Saul, as well.

When his story was done, Alan’s reaction was one of disbelief. “Two hundred years? You’re telling me that you and Saul are two hundred years old.” He darted his eyes from one face to another. “You all actually believe this?”

“He’s older,” Rupert said. “And yes, I do believe it. This draining business may sound farfetched, but Carl saw it with his own eyes. And Vince’s feet are healed. That’s all the proof I need.”

“I assure you,” Vince said, “I’m telling the truth.”

“Amazing,” Alan said. “How can anyone live for so long? It’s ridiculous.”

Ella turned to Alan. “The giant tortoise can live for over two hundred years.”

They all looked at her. “Why do you keep bringing that up?” Rupert asked as he scooped more beans from the kettle.

“I don’t know. I read it in a book, and that sentence stuck with me.”

Alan ignored Ella and continued with his thought. “You drained his horse, huh? Can you drain something else? That is something I would like to see.”

Rupert nodded. “Yes. I would too.”

“Me too,” Ella said, raising her hand.

Fred shrieked and hopped to Rupert’s other shoulder, away from Vince.

“Easy girl,” Rupert said. “He isn’t going to drain you.” He turned to Vince. “You said it works on trees. Drain that one.”

Vince looked at the tree. “I suppose I can if it helps convince you that I speak true.” He stood up and placed his hand on the trunk. “Are you ready?”

The others nodded.

The tendrils stretched from his skin, burrowing into the bark. “Okay, here it goes.” He closed his eyes and started draining. Leaves fell until the branches were bare. Cracks formed near the base of the trunk and worked their way up. The bark crumbled off to reveal the rotting core. The colors faded to shades of ash. Within seconds, the tree had gone from vibrant and beautiful to hollow and dull. An empty shell of what it once was. When he was done, he opened his eyes and turned to face them.

They had all risen to their feet, speechless. Even Fred’s beak hung open. They had never seen something so hauntingly beautiful. They stared at the tree, and then at Vince. He was grinning. “Alan, I’ll take your silence as a sign of belief.”

“Belief?” Alan yelled. “I feel terrible for ever doubting you. That was incredible!”

Rupert placed a hand on his shoulder. “Calm down, Alan. It was indeed incredible, something I hope to learn more of in the future, but it’s getting late. We need sleep. We leave as soon as the sun is up.”

“What?” Alan exclaimed. “I can’t sleep after seeing something like that.”

“Try. We have a long day ahead. You’ll need all the rest you can get.” He tugged Alan’s arm. “You’re with me. See you two in the morning.”

Vince and Ella put out the campfire and entered their tent. Vince opened his bag and pulled out the metal box.

Ella glanced at the device as she climbed underneath her covers. “You’re not going to sleep?”

“I’m not tired. I’m going to spend the night taking this thing apart.”

She picked it up and turned it around in her hands. “What is it?”

“I don’t know, but I intend to find out. Rupert and I found it in a tree back in Snow Peak.” She yawned as he spoke. “I won’t keep you up, though. I’ll do it outside.”

He grabbed the device and opened the front of the tent. “No,” she said. “I want to watch. Now I’m curious.” She plucked it out of his hands and studied it’s shiny surface more closely.

He sat down next to her. “Okay, if you insist.”

“If you had to guess, what do you
think
it is?”

“I’ve seen them all over, but never this close. Perhaps some kind of monitoring device.”

“Monitoring device?” She held it to her ear. “Who would want to monitor us?”

“That’s the question, isn’t it? It must be someone powerful. These things are all over the world. Someone well-traveled.” He grabbed it back and tinkered with the cut wire sticking out the back. “Someone that doesn’t want us to know they’re watching.” He pulled out his tools. “Now let’s get started.”

*****

By morning, they had fully disassembled the box. All of the parts were splayed across the ground. Ella helped sort the pieces. “Organization is key,” she had said and insisted on forming different piles for different types of parts. The first contained exterior parts. The six metal plates that formed the outer shell, a cylindrical piece that extruded from a hole in the front, and the wire that Vince had cut. The second pile held an assortment of curved glass parts, mostly pieces from the inside of the front cylinder. The third pile held the larger interior pieces. Plates with strange patterns on them. And the final pile held the smaller interior pieces, consisting mostly of tiny gears.

Vince placed his tools down and leaned back to admire their work. “And that does it.”

“What do you think it is now?”

He looked at each pile carefully. “I still don’t know. I have never seen anything like this before.”

“Me neither.”

“It is very advanced, no doubt. And it has a defense system.” He held up the wire. “It almost killed Fred before I disabled it.”

“So whoever placed it up there didn’t want us to find it.” She picked up an interior piece and turned it in her hand. It was nothing special. Just a rectangular metal plate. As she placed it back down, she noticed something in the corner, under her thumb. It was a small gold colored symbol. She brought it close to her eye, but it was too small.

Vince handed her a curved piece of glass. “Use this.”

She held it up to magnify the symbol. Printed in gold paint were two overlapping ovals, one slightly angled to the right. A large “C” sat in the center, with the words “City Property” engraved below. She smiled and handed it over. “See, being organized helps. Take a look.”

He examined the symbol. “City property, huh? Well, it’s our property now.”

“What is City?” Ella asked.

Vince placed the piece down. “Alan heard Saul talking about it, right? He said he was taking them there.”

“Why would this City place plant this device in Snow Peak?”

He shrugged. “Not just in Snow Peak. They’re planted all over.”

The front of the tent opened up, and Rupert walked in. “I see you two are already up.” He looked at the mess on the ground. “And you took apart that box.”

Ella jumped up with excitement. “We figured out where it’s from.”

Rupert placed his hand on her shoulder. “That can wait. The sun is almost up. Pack up. We need to get moving. You can tell me as we walk.”

Before she could argue, Rupert was gone. She looked at the four piles. “So much for being organized.” They scooped the pieces together and dumped them in an empty pouch. Vince threw it in his bag and helped Ella disassemble the tent.

THIRTY-FOUR

THEY WERE PACKED and up walking as soon as the sun peeked over the snow. The cold wind blew as they followed the tracks deeper into the snow plains. Alan turned to see their progress. The woods in the distance were just a small speck now. He turned again to look at the snow tracks, stretching far ahead into nothingness. “Hey Vince, how long do you think we’ll be out here in the middle of nowhere?”

“Hard to say. All we can do is follow these tracks.”

“But we could be walking for days. Weeks even. How do we know when to stop?”

Vince glanced at Alan. “We never stop. We keep walking until we find him. A day, a week, a year…whatever.” He stopped walking and turned to face the others. “I hope you all understand. I will not stop.”

Rupert nodded. “Yes, we understand. We will stay with you for the time being, for Patrick, but you must understand that we have lives back in Snow Peak. We have loved ones waiting for us. And we will return home.” He looked to see if the others agreed. Both Ella and Alan nodded. “We’ll stay with you for now, but if we don’t find him, we’ll have to go home.”

“I understand. I must say, I am starting to like this little group we’ve formed. The company is nice. I very much enjoy your presence, and I hope you feel the same.”

Alan walked up behind Vince and patted his back. “Of course we do, buddy. I only just met you, but I can tell you’re a good guy.”

Ella grinned. “Yeah Vince, you’re our friend. No matter what happens, you’re always welcome to visit us.” Fred left Rupert’s shoulder and flew over to Vince, rubbing her face against his cheek. Ella chuckled. “It looks like Fred likes you too.”

They all laughed.

They started walking again. Vince noticed a set of footprints alongside the tracks they were following. If Saul was riding the cage that Alan described, why would there be footprints? “Were these here before?”

“No,” Rupert said. “They were not. I noticed them as well. Do you suppose Saul has a follower?”

“Perhaps. I imagine he has many enemies.”

“Maybe someone got lost out here,” Ella said, “They might be following the tracks in search of a town.”

“I suppose it’s possible, but where are they coming from? The only place around here is Snow Peak.”

“We should continue on this path,” Rupert said, “but with caution. We know Saul is dangerous, but this second person could be even more dangerous.”

Someone more dangerous than Saul. The thought frightened Vince.

THIRTY-FIVE

THE NEXT TWO days were quiet. They walked. Ate. Slept. Vince had many stories to pass the time, tales of his early years, about his troubles as a child lost in the vastness of the open plains. He enjoyed telling stories to his new friends. He had traveled in silence for so long, it was nice to have people who were willing to listen. Occasionally, Ella and Alan would share a story from Snow Peak, and Vince was fascinated. Rupert barely spoke at all. He told no stories. He only listened, a wide grin peeking through his beard.

The third day in the snow plains was not as pleasant. It was horrifying.

The day began just like the first two. The five woke at sunrise, packed their bags, and walked along the tracks. They discussed languages and the difference between Snow Peak’s dialect and Vince’s Pugg speak. The two were remarkably similar. Grammar was almost identical, but there were minor differences in vocabulary.

“Pelon,” Vince said, “a word I presume you have never heard, is a unit of measurement. It measures distance. An inventor from the Pugg coined the term. Rodin’s very own Harry Hedcrown.

“Hedcrown?” Ella raised her head as the name caught her ear. “That sounds familiar.”

“Yes. I mentioned him earlier in my story about Saul. He left the Pugg to explore the outside world, but he never returned. In Rodin, he was an inventor. The pelon came from an experiment of his. He was testing the limits of the human body.” Vince stroke his chin. “I believe a pelon is the average distance a person can walk in a day.”

“How far is that?” Alan asked.

“I don’t recall. It once held truer meaning, but now I use it as more of an expression. On a slow day, I say I walked a bad-pelon. On a good day a good-pelon.”

“What about an average day?”

Vince did not respond.

“…Vince?”

Alan waved his hands to get his attention, but Vince just stared off into the distance. They turned to see what held his eyes, but there was nothing but the same white snow. Fred, with her excellent eyesight, was the only one who knew what he was looking at, and the sight was terrifying. She shrieked with panic, fluttering her wings and hopping about Rupert’s shoulder.

“Woah, calm down girl,” Rupert said. “There is nothing to worry about. Everything’s just fine.”

Fred knew that everything was not just fine as she stared with Vince at the scene up ahead.

Vince saw blood but said nothing to the others. There were no words. They would have to see it themselves. At a distance, it was hard to tell if the blood was Patrick’s. He watched the red splotch grow larger as they got closer, and waited to see who would notice first.

“Oh no,” Ella cried as she jogged ahead.

Alan reached out. “Ella, wait!” He followed right behind her.

Rupert and Vince stayed back, maintaining a calm stride. Rupert watched as Ella and Alan ran off. “Is it bad?”

“It’s hard to say,” Vince said, staring straight ahead. “There is a lot of blood, but it may not be his.”

“We can only hope.”

When they reached the scene, Ella and Alan stood over the red snow with terror on their faces. Written with blood were the words
STAY AWAY
. Above, was a severed hand, propped upright as if it was waving at them.

“That monster,” Alan muttered.

Vince studied the hand. “Do we know this is Patrick?”

Ella pointed to the blue ring around the pinky. “Yes. That’s his ring. Martha has one just like it.”

“What should we do?” Alan asked. “Do we listen to the message?”

Rupert swiped his hand, dismissing the idea. “Absolutely not. Saul knows we’re following him. This is his way to scare us off. I am frightened, no doubt, but this gives us even more reason to continue. Now we know how dangerous this man is. How far he is willing to go. Sure, if we persist we risk putting Patrick in even more danger.” He paused to think about his next words. He wanted to get them right. “But if we do as he says, if we stay away, Patrick is gone forever. We have an advantage. We outnumber him. And we have Vince.” He patted Vince on the shoulder. “We can rescue Patrick. I know we can. And I’m not going to let some pathetic threat like this scare us off.”

“That’s right,” Ella said. “There’s no way we’re going to turn around now. This Saul guy doesn’t realize who he’s dealing with.”

They turned to Alan, who chuckled. “What? Do you even need to ask? Of course, if you’re in I’m in. Let’s get that son of a bitch.”

Vince smiled. “Good, we all agree.”

They continued walking, past the bloodied hand.