While Virginia was hopeful, she was also practical.
“What can we do right now? We’re trapped in here.”
The man’s voice rose to a snarl.
“See what toaster’s piloting this plane and take it over.”
“And crash us into the ground?” Reese shot back. “Besides, what would you suggest we do? Hold a gun to the onboard computer and threaten to blow its circuits out? We don’t have any weapons anyway.” He leaned back against the inner wall of the compartment, one arm draped loosely over his right knee. “No. I’m with you when it comes to trying a breakout, but not while we’re an unknown number of feet above the ground. We hold tight, wait until we land, and then look for the right spot and time to make a move.”
“Yeah, that’ll work,” the man growled. “Wait until we land and they dump us in a pot, or whatever.” His hands bunched into fists. “I’m not waiting around for whatever the machines got in store for me. I’m fighting back now.” He let his gaze sweep the compartment. “Who’s with me?”
The gauntlet he threw down was allowed to lie where it fell as his challenge was met by a deafening silence from the rest of the downcast prisoners. He kicked at the unyielding floor, unable to scuff the smoothly machined surface.
“Cowards.”
Ignoring him, Reese shifted Star against him. Having moved to join them, Virginia took one of the little girl’s hands in her own. “I’m going to tell you a story. Guaranteed to make you smile. Okay?”
Staring up at her, Star nodded.
But she did not smile back.
***
It was raining hard and Wright was cold again. The downpour didn’t seem to bother Williams. Or maybe she was just one of those stoic types who like to pretend they are immune to whatever the world cared to throw at them, be it bad weather, harsh language, or explosive projectiles. He had known many people like that and thought it a foolish way to go through life. Marcus Wright had never seen much point in trying to deny reality.
They had arrived at a racing arena of some sort, and clearly it had been a long time since anyone had taken a victory lap around the old racetrack. With humankind locked in a battle for its very survival against the machines, the devotion—even in another era—of so much time and effort to something so superfluous seemed not merely wasteful but obscene. Wright didn’t care whether the track had been home to pointlessly circling horses, deceived dogs, or supercharged engines masquerading as cars. What mattered now was that it offered the promise of shelter from the elements, which was more valuable than anything it had ever hawked when performing its intended function.
The first overhang they encountered was not large, but it was intact and kept off the rain. Moving as far in away from the weather as the structure would allow, Williams regarded their surroundings with satisfaction. They should be safe here for a while. Though the machines were immune to the rain, they preferred not to operate during strong downpours. Heavy rain complicated electronic perception of their surroundings and occasionally interfered with bipedal movement. Even the most powerful machines preferred to operate on a stable surface rather than mud.
“Looks like a good place to camp for the night.” Williams took a last glance at the compass before flipping it shut and slipping it back into her suit pocket. “I think if we can maintain the same pace as today, we can make it to my base by tomorrow night.”
Wright’s attention remained focused on their surroundings. The track was a useful place to stay because the open area fronting their shelter would allow them to see anything that was approaching while it was still a good distance off. Personally, except for the chill, he was enjoying the rain. In a world gone mad it was a familiar and insofar as he could determine unaffected companion from the past.
Turning away from the wind- and water-swept track, he watched as Williams slipped the pack off her back. She was moving slowly, deliberately. Using both hands she lowered her service belt to the ground. Eschewing comment, he took note of the holster and the oversized pistol it held. That was when he saw the dark stain that had soaked part of her flight suit. She winced as she dragged off the underjacket. As his eyes roved over her, his gaze settled on the gash above her arm. Something gleamed there that was not exposed flesh. In addition to dried blood he saw glints of metal. Evidently not all of her downed aircraft had been washed away by the river. Some of it was still stuck in her shoulder. The wound continued to seep blood, but not copiously. It was not a lethal injury, but it must have been a painful one.
His lips tightened. He ought to have asked how she was feeling. But in the course of the entire long afternoon’s march, she hadn’t said a word about the presence of the shrapnel.
He moved nearer, studying the injury with interest.
“You’re hurt.”
She waved him away.
“I can take care of myself. You want to help, go find something we can burn to keep warm.”
He gestured out into the deluge.
“Why not ask for steak and lobster while you’re at it?”
“I didn’t say it’d be easy. Look under the grandstand. It seems pretty much in one piece. It ought to stay dry under there, at least in spots.”
He nodded, staring at the rain and wondering why he wasn’t shivering.
“I think I’ve been cold all day.”
Her reply was mocking.
“That’s why they call it a nuclear winter, Marcus. Or did you think this was ‘normal’ weather for this part of the world?”
“I didn’t realize how much it had changed,” he murmured.
“Everything’s changed. Now those of us who are left have to find a way to change it back.” When he didn’t move but continued to stand and stare, she added a terse reminder. “Fire?”
“Oh. Right.”
He headed back out into the storm.
Once she was sure he was out of sight she began peeling down the top of her flight suit to completely expose the wound. The sight was not pretty, but she was up on all her shots and not too worried about infection. That confidence wouldn’t last if she left the shrapnel in place, though. A pouch on her service belt yielded gauze and hydrogen peroxide. Basic therapy, but it would have to do. The corner drugstore was closed.
Clenching her teeth, she used a small probe to dig out the bits of metal. She could only extract those she could see. Anything smaller or in too deep would just have to stay where it was for the time being. When she had the gash as clean as she thought she could manage she dosed a gauze pad with peroxide, gritted her teeth, and slapped it over the wound.
The rain would have drowned out any noise she wanted to make, and there were no machines about in any case. Still, she didn’t utter a sound. Because there was someone present who would have sneered had she whimpered.
Blair Williams.
Nothing organic survived in the ruins of the long abandoned racetrack. No food, no fried chicken bones, not even a ketchup-stained hot dog wrapper. Such edible debris had long since been cleaned up by the planet’s other organic survivors: dogs and cats, buzzards and crows, pigeons and rats and the ubiquitous insects.
Wright came across discarded beer and soda cans from which any remaining liquid had long since been drained or evaporated. There was nothing left to tell that the oval facility had once played host to thousands of screaming, cheering, blissfully happy human beings. Now the place was being reclaimed by the land and by the elements.
Williams’ assumption had been correct. Where the overhanging roof remained intact, it was dry beneath. He set about the business of ripping up anything made of wood, from railings to posts. Another man would have needed a saw, or at least a sledge, to do the job.