Out of Exodia (24 page)

“
They sound like
boys.”

“
Pretty tall for kids,
don’t you think, Blake?”

A mammoth of a man, eight feet tall at
least, came through a high gate and called two of the players home.
Josh got a funny tingle in his gut when he realized that these
six-footers were only boys. What if all the adults were
giants?

* * *

The four men who had taken the right
fork toward the farms spent quite a while chomping on raw
vegetables they pulled from the rich soil. They brushed the dirt
off carrots the length and girth of a grown man’s forearm; pea pods
were plumper and sweeter than anything they’d had before;
over-sized watermelons had them stumped as to what they were. None
of the four had seen fruit so large. Felix took his knife and
sliced one open, scooped out sections for each of them, and threw
the rind aside.

“
This place is
unbelievable,” he said, looking up and around. He spit a couple of
seeds out the corner of his mouth, missing Shane by
inches.

Jules concurred but added, “We probably
shouldn’t be stealing like this. Remember the ten rules we had to
memorize.”

Shane scoffed, “Nobody’s going to miss
these few vegetables. We’ll cover our tracks. Besides, it’s too
dark to see us. Let’s check another field.”

The men moved on, skirted a wheat
field, and walked through rows of beans. By morning they came upon
the orchards, ate their fill of apples, and found a place to rest
and spy on the locals. Jules volunteered to walk into the village
alone and test the people’s friendliness toward
strangers.

* * *

The third group followed a trail that
Sam and Emil guessed had been a railway path at one time though no
tracks remained. Billy fell behind the others, grumbling about
Josh’s decision to split them into three groups. He didn’t think it
was fair for Josh to only take Blake with him. He didn’t think it
was fair for those two to get to explore the city where there would
be more to see and do. Who appointed Josh their leader? And, for
that matter, why was Sam always out front in this group?

By dark they were close enough to the
flat-topped settlement to determine that what they’d seen and
imagined from their hilltop view was not what this was. Sam, Emil,
and Paul waited for Billy to catch up before discussing what was in
front of them.

“
They’re factories,” Sam
said.

“
Factories? Like in
Exodia?” Billy snarled at Sam’s suggestion.

“
That’s what I think. Do
you have another idea what they are? Housing units? Warehouses?”
Sam could barely see Billy’s face; it was after
midnight.

“
I’ve heard of gemfry
rehabilitation centers. Maybe that’s what they are.”

“
What?” Emil exclaimed.
“What are you talking about? That’s an old Suppression myth. Pretty
much every one of us is a gemfry. Genetic modification from
radiation exposure is just something people say to explain our
differences or to label people they don’t like.” Emil would have
punched Billy in the arm if he’d been standing closer. Instead he
dismissed him by turning toward Sam and asking, “So, do you want to
explore in the dark or wait until morning?”

* * *

On the afternoon of the fortieth day
since the twelve scouts had left a cry went up from all the
children who played near the front entrance of the campground. They
were not so much scared of the dozen bedraggled men, horseless now,
who traipsed toward them, but rather they were in awe of what those
familiar men carried on poles or dragged behind them. The children
darted around them, making a game of stealing samples from their
burdens.

By the time the group passed Bram’s
cabin, Harmon, the rest of the judges, and most of the men of the
camp were assembled.

“
Here you go, Bram,” Josh
spoke first. “You wanted fruit. We brought you fruit.”

Jules and Shane lifted the poles off
their shoulders. Mammoth clusters of grapes, purple, green, and
red, swung from branches tied to the poles. Felix emptied out bags
of apples, pomegranates, figs and other fruits. Chris spread out an
array of colorful vegetables.

Eyes went wide. Suddenly the women made
their way between the men and children, gathered armfuls of the
bounty and started chattering about the feast they’d
serve.

Bram couldn’t wipe the smile off his
face.

* * *

I am amazed at the size of the food
they’ve brought back. I shouldn’t be. I knew the land that we were
promised was supposed to be the best.

“
Well,” I say, “it’s pretty
obvious that the land is fertile. Tell me about the people that are
already there.”

Billy speaks over Josh’s first words
and continues, cutting him off, “They’re powerful, Bram. Listen to
this, all you judges: the men there are ten feet tall!”

Seth agrees, “Giants. We’re not
kidding. They stole the horses from me and Joey.”

There’s an icy pause. I suspect there’s
more to that story and those two have had to bear a fair amount of
abuse from the others on the long walk back. I look to Josh who
starts to speak again, “As I was about to say, the land is truly
wonderful. I think the old expression is ‘a land of milk and honey’
and it certainly is. There are sheep and cattle and dairy herds,
fields of every crop, and orchards, rivers, streams. The water is
pure and the sky is blue.”

I glance from man to man, noting the
indecision in a couple sets of eyes. Blake takes over. “But the
people … they’re something else. Gemfries like no others.” He looks
to Billy. “Not quite ten feet tall, but seven, eight feet on
average. The cities are large and they’re fortified. But I don’t
think that’ll be a problem for us. We should go and take possession
of the land. We can do it.”

“
No way,” Billy says. Most
of the other scouts show the same misgivings on their faces. “We
can’t attack those people; they’re stronger than we are. You know
what my group found? Factories. Weapons factories. There’s even an
airstrip with planes sitting ready.”

Sam nods somewhat reluctantly. “True.
The part we explored, well, it was pretty evident that they
wouldn’t have any trouble against Exodia. Probably that’s why
Exodia has stayed away from there. They’d be devoured. We’d be
devoured.”

I look to Harmon and see he’s thinking
what I am: we’ll have a fight on our hands right here to convince
the Reds to go north.

I nod at Jules, hoping he’ll have
something encouraging to add. He bites his lip. “I went into the
village. I felt like a grasshopper in their eyes and I bet I looked
like one to them. They were friendly enough, said they’d heard of
us and how we wander around following a cloud and fighting old
women and disabled men. I told them we follow God. They
laughed.”

“
He’s lying,” Josh
interrupts.

“
I’m not. They don’t see us
as a threat.”

“
Yes they do!”

“
Shut up, Josh. We wouldn’t
stand a chance against those monsters. They’re all
goliaths.”

“
Well, I’ve heard enough,”
Eugene shouts. “We’re halfway between Exodia and this glorious
promised land which already seems to be claimed by a race of
gemfries who will eat us for breakfast. Might as well go back and
work for Truslow.”

“
Yes,” a woman’s voice
cries out, “we had real food to eat there. Homes. Jobs.”

“
We were slaves,” I remind
her.

Another man argues, “I wish I’d died in
Exodia. I don’t want to have to fight some giant, have him kill me,
then take my wife and children as plunder. No way.”

It quickly gets out of hand. They’ve
waited forty days for these twelve to return and only Josh and
Blake seem willing to seize what was pledged to us. Have all the
Reds forgotten Ronel’s promise?

Lydia sidles up to me, puts her hand on
my shoulder and calms me down. The grumbling and arguing persist. I
hold my tongue, an old habit. Paul whispers in his father’s ear and
Teague nods.

“
We should choose a new
leader,” Teague says. When he voices this ultimate betrayal I lower
my eyes, keep my face down in front of the whole assembly. Harmon
does the same. Josh and Blake tear at their clothes, clearly the
most upset at this disloyalty.

Josh yells at the Reds. “This land we
explored is really, really good. Remember what we learned from
Ronel? What we heard God’s voice say? It can be ours. We can take
it. We can win it.”

Blake cries out, too. “Stop this
rebellion. You think you’re rebelling against orders from Bram, but
you’re really rebelling against the Lord. Don’t be afraid of the
giants in that land. We’ll swallow them up!”

Josh leans over, pulls Harmon and me
toward him, and shouts at the Reds. “Blake and I went to the city.
Yes, it’s fortified, but it’s outdated. Their protection is gone.
Don’t be afraid. The people there have heard of us. Word has
reached them of how we fled Exodia, how the Blues were vanquished.
They even believe that we are protected by a magic so great they
believe it comes from the God we were allowed to worship in
pre-Suppression days. And they’re right. The Lord is with
us.”

* * *

Bram gestured to the judges and they
worked their way through the crowd and over to the largest tent,
the meeting tent. The people started to pick up stones as they
passed by, threatening to throw them at their leaders. The judges’
wives planted themselves around the tent, arms folded, chins
jutting out. Malcolm ran for the box.

“
We promise you,” Josh
pleaded after every judge found a spot on a blanket, “the land is
worth it. You saw the produce. The people in the promised land have
done the hard part for us: building and farming and ranching. This
is the place that Ronel said he’d prepare for us. Obviously he
somehow used these giants to keep Exodia’s army out and to save the
best part of this earth for us. Don’t you understand?”

Bram and Blake were the only ones
nodding. Then slowly Barrett’s father joined in, tapped his left
elbow and indicated his desire to speak.

“
We can’t let a few
hotheads lead everyone away from the goal. We’ve lost loved ones to
get this far. It’s taken us years to travel what should have been
little more than a week’s journey. Do we really want to go back to
Exodia? I don’t think so. Do we want to wander around out here for
another year, four years, forty?”

Heads shook no. Then Eugene spoke up.
“We need a sign.”

“
Asking God for a sign
really shows your unbelief.” Harmon aimed a finger at Eugene.
Eugene stared back. The air of friction held a note of
truth.

Bram broke the tension with an upraised
hand. He cocked his head. He heard the hum of Malcolm’s box. A
moment later the other judges picked up on the sound. It grew
louder and the men covered their ears. All except Bram. The buzzing
was not at all uncomfortable to his ears. He heard the
words:

“
How long will the Reds
treat me with contempt? How long will they refuse to believe in me?
Have they not witnessed the miracles? Have they not seen the
signs?”

Bram looked at the men. Their eyes were
pinched shut, hands pushed tight against their skulls, and their
heads were bowed. He bowed his head too.

“
I will strike them down
with a plague, then I will make them into a nation greater and
stronger.”

* * *

I’m afraid for my friends and family.
The last thing they need is a plague. They suffered the effects of
some of the plagues in Exodia and blamed me.

The buzzing stops, the tent flaps open
and Lydia pokes her head in to speak one chilling word,
“Snakes.”

Chapter 17 The Reunion

From the thirteenth page of
the fourth Ledger:

They climbed the trees,
slipped into the water, and slithered beneath their blankets. Their
fatal venom rose, ebbed. The wise looked up.

WE LEAVE THE tent. The women’s shrieks
make it hard to focus. Children cry and the few horses that are
tied nearby strain against their ropes, their rear ends fanning
back and forth, hooves dancing high. Four large snakes dangle from
an oak. One winds its way along the branch to the trunk. I’m
fascinated by its movement. It briefly crosses my mind that this
could be the plague, but I dismiss the thought just as quickly.
There are only four. So few snakes will be dealt with swiftly if
not calmly; already Josh nears the oak, knife out. The snake lifts
its green head, mouth open, ready to strike. I can see the white,
venom-tipped fangs from here. I scan the trees and ground around us
and pull Lydia closer to my side.

“
There’s going to be a
plague against us,” I whisper to Lydia. “But I don’t think it’s
snakes.” I can feel her doubt through my skin. I glance at her, but
she keeps her eye on the oak.

The women and children stop their
screaming and hold their breath to watch Josh work his way closer
to the threat. The snake’s neck coils back in an S, ready to
strike, but Josh is quicker. The knife slices through the snake’s
neck as easily as through the silent air. Our collective breaths
release. The second snake drops to the earth, and the third and
fourth ones, too. Sam and Jules and Billy, the three scouts who
spoke most vehemently against going to the new land, suddenly find
their bravery and charge the snakes stopping a few feet short,
readying weapons. But they are not as proficient as
Josh.