Conceived in Blood, A Post-Apocalyptic/Dystopian Novel (25 page)

"What happens to you, if I'm spotted?" Not that Lee cared, but it might help to know if this was another set up. There was more gold in the wagon. His honor could have suspected it, used this fake release to have Lee lead them to it.

"Another beatin' probably." Tino shrugged. "I've taken others afore his honor was done with 'em. Sometimes it's hard to tell dead from mostly dead."

"Who's Bertha?" Lee touched something cold. His heart beat a little faster. Was it a weapon? He traced the edges. Damn, a lid. Well, he might be able to break the jar and cut someone up. He wasn't going back to that hell.

"Your mule." Tino clucked and made another right. "I'll keep her safe for you, til you come back and are ready to head home."

Tino's actions made no sense. He had the wagon, the mule and all Lee's belongings. "Why?"

"Promised." Tino slowed the cart. "You saved Quinn; I'll put you on the train myself. Asides, your little girl, she fed me and wasn't scared. Maybe I'll marry her when she's older. You're old, so she’ll be good breeding stock once she’s fixed."

Over Lee's dead body. Not that he'd say the words. Tino might take him up on the offer.

Blades of shadows drifted over Tino's face. The clomp of hooves increased in volume, and light flooded the cart. "There's Doc Julia now."

 Lee shaded his eyes. Christ, they were there already. He wasn't even dressed. He pushed his pants toward his feet. Damned if he'll board that train naked.

"Tino!" A woman called out. "Over here."

The wagon veered to the left.

Lee recognized the voice of the woman who'd worked on his Sammy. A loud humming vibrated along the ground.

As soon as they stopped, a face appeared over the side. Doc Julia lifted his blanket and scanned him. "Christ Almighty. The things you Outlanders do to each other."

Peering over her shoulder, Tino frowned. "He don't look too bad for being in Bruce's company for most of the day."

Lee blinked. Christ Almighty was right. He'd hate to see the others who'd been imprisoned there longer.

"This is how it's going to work." Silver winked in Julia's hand before she plunged a syringe into his arm. "Tino, lift him out and set him on the ground. You," she jerked her head at Lee, "will climb onto the bottom tray of the gurney and lie still."

Lee nodded as a chemical taste exploded in his mouth. Heat crept from the injection site up his arm.

Tino paled but lifted Lee out of the cart. "The guards'll see. They'll tell his honor that you took the body."

Frigid air washed over Lee's backside. An odd lethargy gripped him when he touched ground. He barely felt the rocks digging into his bare skin.

"And they'll see you put another body back inside." Doc Julia set her hand on Tino's cheek. "We have brought a spare."

A spare? They had spare bodies lying around? Lee grasped the cold steel and dragged his body closer. He was so tired, so damn tired. Soft hands rolled him into place.

"Now let's get your brother on the gurney. The conductor isn't happy about the delay."

A shrill whistle rent the night.

Lee's hand skated across the gravel and he landed face first onto the metal bed.  Now for the rest of him. He commanded his arms to move. They lay still at his side. No. NO! He couldn't come this far only to fail.

His metal bed shook and shifted. Lee’s head slipped off and he inhaled dirt. Blackness ringed his vision. Move arm! His fingers twitched.

Hands lifted him, rolled him onto the cold metal bed.

"Stay still now." Doc Julia folded his arms over his chest.

The world dissolved in a white haze. When he glided over the ground, his head bounced against the metal bed to the squeak of the wheels.

"Tino, don't forget the body." Doc Julia called out.

Lee closed his eyes then forced them apart. After a big bump, he tilted up and the ride smoothed out. The ground underneath him sounded hollow.

"Shut the door and tell the conductor to haul ass." Doc Julia's voice dissolved in a high pitched rev.

A door slammed. Quiet settled around him, seeped into his bones.

Her face appeared in the cloud of white. "You're safe now. Do you think you can get out on your own steam? We'll move you to a room with Sammy. She's been asking for you."

Clean, fresh air surrounded Lee. Safe. He liked being safe. It didn't hurt. And Sammy. She'd be there. She wouldn't hurt either.

"Lee?" Doc Julia called from far away.

He closed his eyes and surrendered to the darkness.

Chapter 28

Harlan set a shaky hand on the door knob. This was ridiculous. If he valued his balls, he'd forget this nonsense and get out of this crazy world. With a twist of his wrist, he opened the door and stepped inside. A ticking sounded through the vents seconds before hot air whooshed out.

Soft white light glowed from the outlet on the wall, but the furniture dissolved in shadows. Chair to the right. Desk against the near wall. A door to a bathing room and toilet on the left. Across from him, a wardrobe and nightstand bracketed the giant bed.

"That's a good way to get yourself shot." Sera sat up in the center pointing at him.

From the gleam on the shiny barrel, he knew she wasn't beckoning him closer. Too bad. But then as long as her rabid uncle didn't catch him in here, he might live enough years to regret entering her bedroom. "Everyone's asleep."

"You're not." She lowered the stun-gun and threw off her blankets.

He waited by the door, one hand on the knob. Everything inside him screamed for him to leave. "Going somewhere?"

"Of course we are." She bent over the side of her bed and slid her boots on. With jerky movements she tied the laces. "Unless, of course, you know how to bypass security and avoid the booby-traps to get outside."

Booby-traps. Why would someone booby-trap their own building, especially when they were surrounded by so much technology? Good thing he hadn't planned on using the front door. The skin between his shoulder blades tightened. He should have known his escape was too easy. "I planned to shimmy out a window and drop to the ground."

"And risk breaking an ankle? I don't think so." She jerked her pack out from under the bed and shrugged it on. "We're going to have to move fast to stay ahead of Uncle and the cabinet."

There was no way to stay ahead of her uncle. They both knew it, and part of him was sure she should be returned to Dark Hope, locked up and kept safe. He leaned against the door. "I didn't come to break you out."

She rolled her eyes. "I don't need your help in breaking out. In fact, you need mine."

"I've managed twenty-nine years without you, I think I can do fine on my own." When she reached for the door, he shifted until the knob dug into his spine.

"I know your sister's whereabouts, and I can track her if she relocates."

There was that. Of course, now that he knew where to start, Harlan could track his sister on his own. He didn't need her or her fancy technology. 

Inching closer, Sera placed her hand on his chest, rose on her toes and whispered in his ear. "I've also packed those energy bars you're fond of."

He liked how she thought. Stepping aside, he opened the door and peered into the hallway. Empty. "We'll have to get you a change of clothes. That uniform will cause you to stand out."

"Already thought of that." Grinning, she slipped ahead of him. Her ponytail swung under a ratty handkerchief. Instead of the usual uniform set, she wore drab-gray homespun skirt and a tunic. Thick woolen socks poked through her worn reed shoes.

Well, damn, she'd gone all native on him. He crept after her down the hallway. Still, that glow of health would be noticeable and coveted. Especially where he was going. "There's just one more thing."

An important thing, necessary to keep them both alive.

Slowing, she rolled a cylinder in her hand before aiming at a rectangular sensor above the door. "Yes, I know, your world, your rules."

When she depressed the cylinder's switch, a beam of red light shot out of the device. The lock's tumblers clicked then the door popped open.

"Fire access." She rolled the cylinder in her palm then eased into the stairwell. "It overrides all the locks in the place. Would set off the alarms, too, but I disabled them."

Yeah, yeah, whatever. Pulling the door shut behind him, he cupped her elbow, staying her descent. "Sera, we're going to need help to free the tributes."

"I didn't think you could free just your sister and let the others stay with the 'Viders." She lifted up the hem of her tunic. In the bluish glow of the overhead light, she pressed something warm into his palm. "Two guns. One for you, one for me. Whatever help you hire have to supply their own weaponry."

"That's fine." He pawed at his pack to tuck the gun inside.

Her hand crept under his shirt, retrieved the stun-gun, and tucked it inside his waistband. "Keep it within reach."

Son of a bitch. Only things he wanted belonged in his pants. Hissing, he yanked it out.

"Relax. It can't shoot anything off." Pivoting, she descended. "But it can sting a whole lot, if it accidentally discharges."

"You sound a little too happy when you say that." He stuffed the thing into his pocket.

"I wouldn't wish you any harm." The stairs switched back and forth three times before they reached the second to last level. Using her toy, she shone the red beam again, and the door clicked open. With one hand on the knob, she peered out. "Coast is clear."

Cold air snaked around his ankles. He held onto the back of her shirt and reeled her to his side. Now was the time to convince her to stay.

Frowning, she glanced at him over her shoulder.

But everyone should have a say in their lives. He released her. "Let me lead."

Stepping to the side, she pressed the metal cylinder in his hand. "We're next to the warehouse at the train depot. Halfway down the fence, but before the guard's line of sight, there'll be a sensor. Flash the light at it and the panel should open, giving us access to the alley."

Harlan crept into the night and blinked, adjusting his sight. The overhead lamps around them were dark. Part of the escape plan, no doubt. A brisk wind scored his cheeks and whipped his hair around his head.

Sera sidled over to him, latched onto his shirt. "We have about three minutes before the lights brighten again."

The door clicked shut.

Harlan ghosted over the ground. The occasional crunch of gravel and tug on his waistband betrayed Sera’s presence.

Horses jingled in harnesses. Workers in Dark Hope uniforms switched grain and other crops from wagons to rail cars. Guards stood in the towers rising from the corners of the loading platform. The glowing red eyes of cigarettes gave away their positions.

None looked their way.

He flashed the red beam and the fence slid to the side. After one last check, he slipped through. Rats skittered in the darkness and garbage rolled down the alley.

Sera pulled the panel shut behind her. "These folks you plan to hire, you'll need to pay them, right?"

Doing the right thing should be payment enough, but everything came down to gold——even saving human lives. Turning right, he headed for the bright lights of town. He just hoped the Aces and Eights gang would still run with him. "I'm sure they'd like to get paid."

The bastards.

They used to do so much just for the thrill——harassing the guards, stealing food from the society parties, picking pockets and sliding necklaces off of fat necks.

"I have gold." She slipped her cold hand against his palm. "It's some of what you paid the boys to take the people to freedom."

Gold? She had gold? He stopped and scanned her. Thank God it wasn't visible. He didn't want their throats slit because of trinkets. "Where?"

"My bra."

First place he'd...search. Second place was farther down. His hand tightened around hers. No one else would get that close to her.

The clock in the square tolled three bells.

Closing time for the saloons. He had to hurry if he hoped to find the boys in an agreeable mood. "Keep it, for now."

He'd relocate it later.

Picking up the pace, he plunged across the street and into the next alley. Horse-drawn carriages clattered along the main thoroughfares. Laughter competed with glittering jewels for space in the darkness. Hemming the edges of the streets, pickpockets waited while the Opera and theaters emptied. Drunks in fancy dress tottered along the sidewalks, debating the merits of nearby breeding houses.

Shielding Sera from their gaze, Harlan skirted the shadows——far enough away so no one could grab them, but close enough to offer some protection from prying eyes. Ten minutes later, he arrived at the Deadwood saloon.

The backdoor slammed open, and a sot stumbled out. Well shit, today was Harlan's lucky day. Built like a rectangle with a head——Wayne, the Eights and Aces' Sergeant-at-arms, wasn't exactly forgettable.

Harlan pushed Sera against the wall. Her panting mingled with his. Good, it would serve a purpose. Raking off her handkerchief, he mussed up her hair and scrubbed his stubbled jaw over her smooth cheeks.

She drove her fingers into his shoulders. "I take it you know that man, and this is part of your master plan."

"He's our ticket inside." Harlan worked his way down her neck. Hers was like a summer garden, sweet-scented and warm. "You smell awfully damn clean."

"You need to shave."

Breathing hard, he pulled back. "Look, Peaches, I——"

"Harry?" The drunk slurred as he staggered closer. "Harry Westminister, the saint of Abaddon."

Harlan slammed his fist in Wayne's face. Pain zipped up his arm from the impact. "Don't call me Harry."

"You always were an asshole." Wayne's nose crunched and his head snapped back. Blood gushed down his chin but he calmly reset his nose.

Just as Harlan thought, Ol' Wayne wasn't as drunk as he pretended. Looping his arm around Sera's shoulders, he dragged her closer to his side. "When you'd get out? I thought you were digging ditches for the man."

"Nah, that was just a misunderstanding." Wayne's eyes glittered in the dim light as he stared at Sera's breasts and lapped up the blood dripping from his nose.