Strike (6 page)

“Almost,” Bova repeated. “I’m not against treachery, if it’s effective. Your stunt proved to be futile. Therefore, you are not deserving.”

The smile dropped from the dark-haired guy’s face. “But—”

Bova jammed his weapon into the guy’s gut and pulled the trigger.

The guy let out an anguished cry and fell to the ground. Dead.

Shocked gasps rumbled through the crowd.

Bova was coldly oblivious. He did an about-face and strode back to us.

Kent and I sat in the dirt, staring up at him.

I tensed up, ready for the shot.

Bova stood over us.

“Thank you,” he said. “That was quite surprising, and entertaining. The best bout we’ve had in weeks. Perhaps tomorrow evening the two of you will do us the honor of fighting each other. Two friends. A duel to the death. That will be quite the show!”

“Forget it,” I said.

Bova laughed. “Don’t count on that, Zero Three One One. Don’t count on that.”

He walked past us toward his jeep, still laughing as the guards dragged the dead prisoner to the other vehicle. Moments later both jeeps roared to life and drove away, forcing the spectators to scatter or be run down. No sooner were the jeeps gone than the floodlights came back to life, bathing the clearing in harsh white light, making the assembled squint and cower.

Kent and I sat in the dirt. Nobody came to help us or to see if Kent was okay. We watched in silence as the crowd dispersed and shuffled back to their barracks. Eventually, we were left alone in the center of the dirty field.

“I’m not going to fight you, Rook,” Kent said through gasping breaths.

“Don’t worry about it. We’ll take it one day at a time. Are you okay?”

“Better than the other guy.”

“What happened to my mother? And Tori? Did they make it?”

Kent massaged his throat and shook his head. “I don’t know. I remember you getting blown out of the door just before we hit. I saw stars, man. Literally. I was hurt so bad I had streaks of light flashing past my face. Must have been a concussion. It was all just a jumble. I couldn’t focus on anything, so I don’t know what happened to them. Next thing I knew I was in the hospital plugged into an IV.”

“Yeah, same with me.”

“I’m sorry, Tuck. Maybe they made it, but I just don’t know.”

Kent had nothing to be sorry about because he had done something for me that only a few minutes before I wouldn’t have thought possible.

He had given me hope.

“You know we’re square in the middle of Retro-central,” he said, his voice finally clearing.

“I do,” I said. “I know something else too.”

“What’s that?”

I looked up at the giant steel dome that loomed over the camp to see a black plane rising up, lifted by its musical engine.

“They’re going to wish they never brought us here.”

“I
can’t move, Tucker,” Kent said.

Now that the adrenaline had left his system, the pain from the beating had taken hold.

“It’s hard to breathe. I think I have a couple broken ribs. My knee is totally out of whack too.”

“We gotta get you to the medical building. That miracle juice will fix you up.”

I stood up and tried to help Kent to his feet, but he howled in pain.

“I can’t,” he cried. “Jeez, that scum really did a number on me.”

“I’ll get help,” I said.

“From who? The guards don’t care. Neither do the other prisoners. Everybody stays in their own little orbit so they don’t draw any attention.”

“Well we can’t stay here.”

Kent tried to get up again, and again he sat back down, wincing with pain.

What had been a fiercely hot day had quickly become a cold desert night. The barracks were dark. No guards were around. We were alone . . . until a set of headlights appeared, moving our way.

“Great,” Kent said sarcastically. “What are they going to do now? Kill us for being out past curfew or something? That Bova guy is a real piece of work.”

There was nothing we could do but wait and see who—or what—was coming our way. The vehicle was quiet, which made sense as it got closer. It was an electric golf-cart looking thing. At the wheel was a Retro guard. He glided up next to us and came to an abrupt stop.

“Get him in back,” the guard commanded brusquely. “I’ll take you to the infirmary.”

It was a rare show of humanity from the otherwise heartless guards.

“Let’s go,” I said to Kent. “Take it slow.”

“No problem there,” Kent replied.

I wrapped his right arm around my neck and gently stood up.

Kent strained not to yell out but said, “Jeez, I can’t breathe!”

I didn’t know what to do other than to ease him down again. Before I realized what was happening, the guard was kneeling at Kent’s other side.

“We’ll both lift him,” he said, all business. “Hold him behind his back and under his butt.”

We both slipped our arms under Kent from opposite sides.

“Now, lift together. One . . . two . . . three.”

We both stood up as Kent grit his teeth and did his best to keep from howling. The two of us quickly shuffled to the back of the golf cart, where there was a flatbed for cargo.

“Easy now,” the guard cautioned.

We eased Kent over the deck and gently lowered him to the surface.

“I’m good. . . . I’m good. . . . I’m good. . . .” Kent said, straining. He wasn’t even close to good.

“Ride in back with him,” the guard said. “Don’t want him falling out.”

“Thank you,” I said.

The guard didn’t acknowledge me. He went right to the driver’s side, hopped in, and slowly accelerated. He was careful not to bounce the cart too much, which wasn’t easy as we traveled over the rough dirt roads of the camp.

“That juice works every time, right?” Kent asked through gritted teeth.

“You’ll be better by morning,” I said with confidence.

“Maybe I don’t want to be better,” he said. “Things just keep getting worse, Tucker.”

It was hard to argue with that.

“You’re not a quitter,” was all I could think to say. “Stop talking like one. We’re not alone anymore. That’s something.”

I almost asked the helpful soldier about my mother and Tori but decided not to. I still feared that the Retros would put together that we were the team that destroyed the fleet of planes at Area 51. The less information we gave them about us, the better.

But I so desperately wanted to know what happened to my mother.

The trip wasn’t far, but it seemed to take forever because Kent let out a soft squeal of pain each time we hit a bump in the road.

“You guys took a big chance,” the guard finally said. “Both of you. How old are you? Sixteen?”

“Fourteen,” I said. “He’s sixteen.”

“Seventeen,” Kent said.

The guard sighed and shook his head. “Damn. I don’t believe it. You’re just kids.”

What
I
couldn’t believe was that this Retro was actually talking to us like we were humans, let alone showing sympathy.

“I was an idiot,” Kent said through clenched teeth. “I trusted that weasel.”

“He probably saved your life,” the guard said.

“Really? By setting me up and then crushing my windpipe?”

“If he hadn’t, Bova would probably have killed you both.”

“Why?” I asked. “To make an example?”

“That,” the guard said, “and because he hates you. All of you. It’s why he volunteered to run this camp. He enjoys making you all suffer.”

“That’s sick,” I said.

“That’s Bova,” he replied. “If you want to stay alive, avoid that guy.”

“Gee, you think?” Kent said with sarcasm.

“Why are you telling us this?” I asked.

The guard didn’t answer right away. He must have been thinking hard about what to say.

“Do you know why you’re forbidden to use your names here?” he asked.

“To degrade us,” I said.

“No. They don’t care about you enough to want to degrade you. It’s about us. They don’t want us to see you as real people with personalities and a past. It makes it easier to . . .”

His voice trailed off.

“To what? Kill us?” Kent asked.

The guard didn’t answer. He didn’t have to.

“Why are you helping us?” I asked.

“Not everybody believes in this war,” he replied. “We weren’t given a whole lot of choice. What I saw you guys do back there, you know, standing up to Bova and then running out to help your friend? It gives me hope.”

“Hope?” I said. “Hope for what?”

The soldier thought for a moment and then said, “Humanity.”

“What is it you Retros are trying to do? Reset civilization by wiping out most of it? It’s crazy, you know.”

“Crazier than you can imagine,” he said.

I looked to Kent, who gave me a wide-eyed shrug.

“Who’s calling the shots?” I asked. “The Air Force is just a weapon. Who is leading them?”

“You don’t want to know,” the guard said.

“Well, yeah we do.”

“We’re here,” the guard announced and stopped the golf cart in front of the infirmary building where I first woke up.

I jumped from the back of the cart and ran to face the guard as he got out of the vehicle.

“Tell me the truth,” I said. “Who is running this show?”

The guard shook his head.

“I can’t tell you that,” he said. “It would only make things tougher for you. Besides, you wouldn’t believe me.”

“Then tell me why we have to build all of these barracks? What’s going to happen here?”

The guard looked around wistfully.

“The answer you’re looking for is coming. Soon these buildings are going to be packed with more of us. Many more. That’s what this is all about, after all. It’s the whole point.”

“So it’s like . . . an invasion?” I asked.

The guard chuckled ironically. “Yeah. That’s exactly what it is.”

“A few days ago I asked one of your officers who you were. His answer was, ‘We’re you.’ Those were his exact words. ‘We’re you.’ What did he mean?”

“Exactly what he said,” the guard replied.

The door to the infirmary flew open and two more medical types came out wheeling a gurney.

“Look for the Sounders,” the guard said quickly so that the others couldn’t hear. “Stay alive and find them. They’re the only chance you have.”

The guard stepped back and made an odd gesture. He put his right hand over his heart, but then dropped it quickly.

“What?” I asked, confused.

“Quiet!” one of the medical guys barked.

Our conversation was done.

The two medical personnel pulled the gurney up to the golf cart and quickly lifted Kent’s body to load him on.

“Ahh,” he screamed in pain. “Easy. I think I’ve got a couple of busted ribs.”

The medical guys didn’t care. To them, Kent was just a slab of breathing meat.

“I’m staying with him,” I said.

“Go back to your unit,” one of the technicians barked curtly.

“No, let him stay,” the guard who brought us commanded. “They’ve earned it.”

“Earned it?” the technician said with disdain. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

The guard strode up to the two medical guys and stared them down. It was clear who the alpha dog was. It looked as though the guards who dealt with the prisoners were more badass than the soldiers who worked in the hospital.

“It means I ordered you to let them stay together,” the guard said coldly. “Am I going to have a problem with you?”

The soldier backed down and shrugged.

“Whatever. They’ll be out of here by morning anyway.”

The two soldiers wheeled Kent inside and I followed right behind. Before going through the door I looked back at the guard. He was already in the golf cart, driving away. Still, I was glad he added one more piece to this strange puzzle.

Sounders.

What were Sounders and how could they give us hope? Instead of getting real answers from the guard, he had only deepened the mystery. At least our few minutes with him proved that not all of the Retros were cold-blooded killers. Just most of them.

The soldiers wheeled Kent past the double row of patients until we came to an empty bed. A minute later Kent was lying down with an IV in his arm.

Before leaving, one of the soldiers pointed a threatening finger at me. “Keep quiet or you’ll end up in one of these beds yourself.”

I nodded and the two of them left.

The bed next to Kent’s was empty so I pulled it closer to my friend and sat.

“You okay?” I asked softly, so as not to disturb any of the other patients, or draw attention from the guards.

“I feel like hell.”

“That won’t last. Soon you’ll be back up to speed like nothing ever happened.”

“I know,” Kent said. “This is cake compared to the broken back I had.”

“What?” I exclaimed, a bit too loud.

“The crash. When I first woke up here I couldn’t move. The pain was incredible. I wanted them to put me out of my misery just to make it stop. They knocked me out right away and when I woke up again, I was fine. Sort of. This stuff may heal your body, but it doesn’t make you forget the pain.”

“And you have no idea if my mother and Tori are alive?”

“I don’t, Tucker. It was all so crazy. After we hit I couldn’t even lift my head to see what was going on. I know a lot of people came into the helicopter but I couldn’t understand what they were saying. I was really out of my mind. It was so confusing. I don’t know if they made it or—”

“They made it,” I said with more hope than confidence.

Kent nodded but didn’t seem as confident about it as I was.

“When you were sucked out of the chopper,” Kent said. “I thought you were done.”

“I thought so too, but after a dose of the magic medicine it’s like nothing ever happened.”

“Crazy, right?”

The two of us sat there silently for a good long time. I watched with fascination as the liquid dripped into the tube leading to Kent’s arm. What kind of chemical could this be that would instantly heal wounds and stitch together bones? And why had we never heard of it before?

“You saved my life, Tucker,” Kent finally said. “Thank you.”

I didn’t know which was stranger: Kent sincerely thanking me for something, or hearing him call me Tucker. I’d grown used to his sarcastic nicknames. I guess bumping up against death a few times is enough to mellow anybody.

“I wasn’t thinking,” I said with a shrug. “I saw the guy sneaking up on you and I just went for it.”

“It was a totally stupid thing to do.”

“Yeah, well, nobody ever accused me of being bright.”

Kent shrugged. “I’m not surprised that you did it. I’m not so sure I would have done the same.”

There was a huge elephant in the room that had to be talked about. It felt like as good a time as any to deal with it, especially since Kent couldn’t yet move.

“I’m sorry about Olivia,” I said.

Kent stared up at the ceiling fan. His eyes started to glisten. I knew he was thinking back to the moment when a Retro soldier fired his weapon at me and Olivia jumped out to protect me. She took the full charge and it killed her. It was one moment among many that had been forever seared into my memory.

“I wanted to kill you for that,” Kent said.

“I know.”

“Losing her was like giving up on whatever decent future we might have. Things are never going to be the same. I get that now. It hit me when we were maybe halfway across the country. We hadn’t seen anybody for days and I realized there was no way we’d ever go back to anything even close to normal. Not even if these Retro a-holes gave up and went away. Too much had happened. So I started looking ahead, wondering how this new life might play out. The only thing that made it bearable was knowing Olivia would be with me. I wasn’t just some stupid kid with a crush on the hot girl. I really loved her. I thought we would be together until . . . well . . . turned out I was right. We were together until one of us died. I just didn’t think it would be so soon.”

There was nothing I could think of to say that would make him feel any better. Olivia’s death took something out of me too. She wasn’t only a friend, she sacrificed her life to save mine.

“I don’t blame you for what happened,” Kent added. “You don’t have any more control over what’s going on than anybody else. She wanted to save you and that’s what she did. Just like you saved me today.”

“We’ve all been helping each other from the get-go,” I said.

“I know,” he said, his voice clutching. “I just . . . wish she was here.”

I wanted to say that I did too, but I thought he should be allowed to grieve on his own.

“I don’t want to die in this hell hole,” Kent said.

“I don’t see how anybody can die here,” I said. “Not with this miracle medicine.”

“You can die here all right,” Kent said. “If you cross Bova. That guy’s a psycho.”

“We’ve got to be good little prisoners,” I said. “Don’t break the rules, don’t call attention to ourselves. At least not until we find my mother and Tori.”

“And then what?”

“Something is about to happen, Kent. It’s why we’re building the barracks. I think the next phase of this war is going to take place right here.”