And then he went around to the dead bandits, relieving them of their weapons and ammo. It was the same grisly job no matter where it was done. No matter what an enemy wore. What they believed. The language they spoke or the color of their skin.
You took what they had.
After all, they were dead. They certainly didn’t need it.
Still, unwrapping fingers frozen to a trigger never got to feel like a normal thing to do.
Driving back, he guessed that the radio was still totally useless.
The weapons-his prizes-rattled in the back of the buggy. He half expected to run into more members of whatever clan he had just killed, but-so far-the road was quiet.
Just the deep, throaty roar of the vehicle. The rattling sound of the chassis. It was starting to sound comforting.
He had wrapped a piece of one of the bandit’s shirts around his wound. It stopped the blood, though it was definitely not sterile.
Raine thought about this world he found himself in.
He’d been here a mere two days, and already there was a new normal. He knew he shouldn’t have been too surprised, though. Even a newbie arriving into an area with firefights, IEDs, and snipers learns very quickly: This is the fucking way it is.
Adaptable.
The species was goddamn adaptable.
Still, nothing told him what he was going to do. Strange to be in the future and not have a clue what your future held. So far it had been all about shooting people. Not that they didn’t deserve it.
Not like they didn’t have it coming.
But if that’s what was ahead, he’d better get his head around that idea.
Too many questions -why this, why the hell that -could screw up reflexes. Play games with your decision-making.
So-a first bit of resolve.
Acceptance. This was the world. Forget the other one. That was long gone.
And then, as if to accentuate just that point, the radio came to life.
“Raine? Raine!”
It was Dan’s voice-barely recognizable over the noise. Raine picked up the handset. “Yeah. Here. Where the hell-”
“Listen, we’ve been hit. Watch yourself coming back.”
“Hit?”
Bits of gritty sand flew into Raine’s face as he drove into a steady wind. He kept blinking to keep his eyes clear.
“The settlement-” Dan’s voice broke up. “Big attack.”
And he’d thought he would be the one to have the news. Five dead bandits. Some weapons.
“Watch it coming back. They’re likely to be-”
Another drop-off.
“Okay. I will. About twenty… twenty-five klicks, shit… I’m about sixteen miles from the settlement.”
Dan didn’t even ask about his recon. Guess it didn’t matter much.
“-careful, Raine.”
“Got it.”
He put the handset down and reached over to touch his rifle, making sure it was one quick grab away. The handgun was stuck awkwardly in a side pocket.
He drove fast, dodging the rubble where he could, scanning left and right, thinking what easy pickings he’d be out here.
He saw nothing.
Not another soul until he saw the settlement, the Hagar compound. Four smoky streams showed where they had been fighting fires, one a dark, sooty black. Raine guessed that maybe some fuel had been hit.
Guards by the entrance. He could see one with field glasses. The sun was behind them, nearly down, and they were shadowy figures.
Hope they can see me, he thought. Recognize me.
Friendly fire. It happened. Even here, he imagined.
Especially here.
He picked up the radio.
“Dan, almost there. Can you tell your guards… not to shoot?”
A female voice. Young. “They got you, stranger. Just slow it down a bit. No racing in. And watch your butt coming in. People are hurt here, shit.”
“Thanks.”
The last yellowish cusp of the sun slid behind a hill. Only minutes more of daylight. Torches had already appeared on top of the razor ribbon that served as a wall around the settlement.
He slowed down.
And then something he felt in his gut, that he had indeed felt before, told him the attack here had been real bad.
Abreast of the two guards, one waved him in.
The smell of smoke and gunfire filled the air.
Then… slower still, past the gate, he heard the sound of moans, shouts.
Which was when someone-a woman-walked in front of his buggy, a hand up, stopping him. Raine hit the brakes, pulling himself out of the buggy. He looked around and was shocked to see what had happened.
FIFTEEN
The woman’s voice-clipped, to the point, an order-didn’t offer any discussion.
“You have to leave this buggy here. Too much debris still in the streets. We’re still looking for anyone missing.”
“What happened?”
She hesitated. “You best ask my father about that. After all-he’s the one who brought you here.”
The disdain in her voice felt like a physical kick. This was Dan’s daughter?
“Okay. Where is he?”
“We’ve set up an infirmary right over-Hey, Tomas! Keep your goddamn eyes peeled out there,” she yelled at one of the guards who had been watching them. “Christ. They’re tired and so am I. But we can’t afford any more screwups.”
“You were attacked?”
“How observant. You Ark guys are really, really smart.”
“Okay.” He wanted more information, but clearly she wasn’t in the mood. “Dan. Where is he?”
“There’s a garage area behind Halek’s shop. Got the living and the dead in there.”
“Thanks.”
Which brought no reply.
He headed off in that direction.
Walking down the street as dusk took over, he saw signs of the battle.
Expended shells, bits of metal where something explosive ripped off a chunk from a nearby building. Even guns broken into pieces.
Some of Hagar’s people fought a fire still streaming out of a metal shed, handing buckets of water through a line. A rubber smell in the air-tires, probably. The smoke was noxious, and the people were using the water carefully.
A rare commodity here.
He walked past Halek’s shop to an alleyway leading in back, to see Dan, nodding as an elderly woman gestured at him, anxious. He spotted Raine. His face grim.
Raine walked up to him.
“They will die without it, Dan,” she was saying. “We just don’t have enough medicine.” The woman’s voice was surprisingly strong.
“Okay. I’ll take care of it.”
Raine stood by.
A voice came from behind. “Dan, the guards down by the gas tanks want some backup. Can’t afford to lose-”
Raine watched Dan take a breath. As if inhaling that much air could somehow fortify him for all the hard shit still to come.
“No. Tell them they’ll have to make do. Can’t pull anyone off any other-”
He looked at Raine.
“-what do you call them? In the military. Details?”
“Yeah. Sometimes.”
“Tell them to stay alert. Get them ammoed up. I’ll get them another body or two when I can.”
The messenger turned and ran out of the area.
Halek, who had been talking to a few settlers hunched over people lying on the ground, noticed Raine.
No smiles there, either.
Raine even hesitated asking the question.
“Dan, what… happened?”
“An attack. Like we’ve been expecting. But, God, not this soon. It’s why we had the patrols out. Like you. Had a few out today. The bandits must have seen them leave, been watching.” He shook his head. “Came damn close to taking the whole settlement.”
Raine looked at the people attending the wounded. Then, just to the right of them, other bodies, covered. No one attending them.
“They stormed both gates. Vehicles crashed through. Barely had time to react.” He looked at Raine, perhaps sensing that he hoped he’d understand. What it was like. What it felt like.
“Killed people. Just ordinary people trying to survive here. People trying to get by, out of the city, away from the Authority.”