The Day After Never - Blood Honor (Post-Apocalyptic Dystopian Thriller) (26 page)

“Nope. Quiet as a cemetery.”

“No traders?”

“Not today.”

Had it really only been twenty-four hours since he’d ridden south in search of vengeance? It seemed like a week. Lucas shook his head to clear the cobwebs.

At the sound of their arrival, Duke stepped out onto the porch, followed by Doug and Slim.

“How’d it go?” Duke asked.

“Eventful,” Lucas said.

“I picked up some reports. Doesn’t sound like you left many of ’em.”

“I was pressed for time, or they’d all have bitten it.”

Duke studied his face. “I reckon they would.”

“Probably cut down your trading some.”

Duke shrugged. “I can use the rest.”

Lucas dismounted and helped Sierra down. Duke eyed his bandaged arm. “How bad?”

“Graze.”

“You bring my monocle back?”

“Of course.” Lucas removed the scope from his pouch and handed it to Duke. “Need to do some trading with you.”

“Gunner behave himself?”

“Horse has the heart of a superhero.”

“Yeah, he’s a good one. Lot of stamina,” Duke agreed. “Whaddaya need?”

“Shower, food, and a horse and saddle for the lady. And some clothes, if you’ve got any that’ll fit her.”

Duke nodded slowly. “I can probably find something. We can dicker after you get cleaned up. Looks like you could use a clean bandage.”

“Add it to the bill.”

“Oh, I will.”

Lucas gave him a tired grin. “I know.”

Sierra bathed first, and Duke returned from his stores with a smaller pair of shorts and three T-shirts, all faded, one with several small holes. “These work?” he asked, handing them to Lucas.

Lucas inspected them and nodded. “Assuming they fit.”

“You fixin’ to spend the night?”

“No. Got to keep riding.” Lucas glanced over his shoulder at Doug and Slim. “You may get some company. They sent a war party after us.”

Duke’s face was a blank. “I know nothing.”

“It’s your new boys I’m worried about.”

Duke chewed on his lower lip. “I’ll keep ’em on guard duty. Aaron’s about ready to rest anyway.”

“These are some bad dudes, Duke. If they show up, just tell them the truth – I rode off with Sierra and didn’t say where we were going.”

“Can I at least tell ’em you went west?”

“Long as your boys don’t contradict you.”

Duke grinned. “They may not even show up. Or we may be closed for repairs. Been thinking about a little fishing trip. All work and no play…”

“Don’t underestimate these scum, Duke.”

“Yes, Mom.” Duke cleared his throat. “Didn’t you say you wanted to trade something?”

“Got the six bottles of white lightning. I can let eighty rounds of .32 go. And I only used up a few mags of the 5.56mm, so I can part with, say, three of those, too. The civilian ball, if that’s okay.”

Duke sighed. “That’s mighty light for a horse and saddle.” He sat back and regarded the ceiling. “Look, we can go round and round on this all day, but you’re in a hurry and I’m a busy man, so let’s just cut to the chase.” Duke named a price.

Lucas closed his eyes and took a calming breath. “I want a crossbow, too.”

“I expect I can find one of those.”

“And lunch.”

“I’ll let you keep two bottles of your grandpa’s poison, for old times. I’m a fair man. Hang on to the 5.56mm ball as well. You might wind up needing it.”

Lucas shook the trader’s hand and stood. “Highway robbery, you know.”

Duke nodded. “Have to support my lavish lifestyle somehow, partner. You want a drink?”

“Nah. I’d collapse. I’m going to wash up, clean my guns, and then we’ll hit it. Got anything cooked up?”

“Leftover stew from yesterday. Dove. Over white rice. The rice’ll keep for thirty years.”

“I know.”

“I’ll warm some up.”

Lucas smiled. “Thanks, bud.”

“For my new favorite customer? Nothing’s too good.”

Chapter 37

It was well after dark by the time Lucas and Sierra made it to Ruby’s. Lucas was one gold coin lighter, but both of them were fully outfitted, complete with the NV monocle a magnanimous Duke had thrown in as a bonus. The crusty trader had also restocked and expanded Lucas’s first aid kit and supplied Sierra with a sidearm: a battered Colt 1911 that was well used, but would do in a pinch. Lucas had wanted something that was interchangeable with his weapons for ammo reasons and had finally talked Duke into a swap of Sierra’s AK-47 for one of the AR-15s he’d recovered when rescuing her, even though they commanded a higher trade price. Four of Hal’s white lightnings had lubricated the transaction, along with a gold one-ounce maple leaf that Lucas had hated to part with, but had seen no alternative to trading if he wanted a horse and reasonable weapons.

Sierra’s palomino mare was young, well behaved, and powerfully built for her gender, easily capable of carrying both Sierra and her niece. Tango at first seemed distracted by her presence, but quickly lost interest as Lucas pushed him harder, wanting to minimize trail time after dark. He had a bad feeling about the cartel – he didn’t think they were just going to give up, and every mile he could put between Pecos and himself seemed like a worthwhile investment in life insurance.

When they reached the storm cellar, Lucas noted a few solar panels strategically located in one of the surrounding trees, where a black cable twisted around the trunk before disappearing into the earth. He smiled at Ruby’s ingenuity. Despite her age, she was sprightly and had the fighting spirit of a thoroughbred, which had served her well after the collapse.

He tied off the horses and Sierra helped him water them, and then he removed the saddles and bags and turned them loose to graze. Duke had told him that the mare, named Nugget, had been trained not to wander far. Lucas hoped he hadn’t been exaggerating, or his gold coin had just trotted off with Tango, never to return. Lucas saw the familiar shape of Jax by a grove of skinny trees, and Tango led Nugget to the mule for an introduction.

Sierra touched his arm, a wan smile on her face. “Thank you for everything, Lucas. I can never repay you, but I’ll try.”

Lucas turned to her, and forced himself to ignore the look in her eyes – an expression that hinted at the possibility behind her words. She rose on her tiptoes and was leaning into him when he stopped her and held her at arm’s length. “You can start by leveling with me, Sierra. I can’t ride with someone I can’t trust. You haven’t told me everything, and it’s sticking in my craw.”

The storm shelter door opening interrupted Sierra’s response, and Ruby emerged, shotgun in hand, with Eve, who ran to Sierra when she saw her in the moonlight.

“Auntie!” Eve exclaimed joyfully, and Sierra knelt to hug her. Sierra held her for a long time, tears rolling down her cheeks.

“Eve,” Sierra murmured, rocking her slightly and smoothing her hair, “I’m so glad to see you. I’m sorry I had to leave you.”

“It’s okay.”

“I’ll never do that again. I promise.”

Lucas stepped away to give them a little privacy and nodded at Ruby, who took in his bandaged arm. “Souvenir?” she asked.

“You should have seen the other guy.”

She nodded. “Nice to see you back in one piece.”

“Likewise.”

“Any trouble?”

“No more than expected.”

“You eaten? Got some leftovers. Eve helped me make vegetable curry.”

“Sounds great.”

Sierra stood, Eve’s hand in hers, and joined them. “Thank God, Lucas. And thank you.”

“More the former, I think,” he said. “Let’s eat.”

He carried his tack into the cellar and then reemerged to cart Sierra’s in. Once the cellar door was closed, Ruby switched on a tiny LED lamp. “I took the liberty of going to the ranch and getting a few panels, the inverter, and a couple of batteries. Hope you don’t mind,” she said.

“Not at all. Find anything else they missed?”

“A few odds and ends.”

“You’re welcome to them.”

“This pot and the plates and silverware might look familiar.”

“Not doing anything sitting in a cabinet.”

They ate in near silence, and then Ruby put Eve to bed in the other room, which she’d tidied up and converted into passable sleeping quarters. Lucas laid a pair of bedrolls inside, said good night to Eve, and then returned to the outer room, where Sierra was helping Ruby.

“You take your antibiotics?” he asked Sierra as he sat on one of Ruby’s collapsible camp chairs.

Sierra nodded. “Of course.”

“Good.” Lucas hesitated. “We got interrupted earlier. But we still need to talk.”

Sierra uttered an exasperated sigh, but Lucas was having none of it. He fixed her with a hard stare. “You need to come clean, Sierra, or this is where we part ways. And frankly, I don’t much like your chances on your own. So you’re going to tell me everything, and I mean everything, or this party’s over. Clear?”

Sierra looked over to Ruby, as though for support, but the older woman’s face could have been cast from iron. Sierra finished her task and then sat in one of the chairs facing Lucas.

“What do you want to know?”

Ruby looked over at them. “You can start with why Eve was equipped with a tracking device.”

“She was?” Sierra exclaimed, her surprise appearing genuine.

Lucas nodded. “Her bracelet.”

Sierra’s hand flew to her mouth. “Oh, my–”

Lucas cut her off. “Ruby disarmed it, but you have some explaining to do.”

Sierra closed her eyes, and when she opened them, there was no fight left in her. When she began speaking, her voice was tentative.

“Eve’s a very special child.”

Ruby smiled. “We know that.”

“No. No, you don’t.” Her eyes searched Lucas’s face. “She’s one in a million. Maybe in hundreds of millions. They weren’t sure, or they never said.”

“Who?”

“The doctors working for Magnus.”

“He has doctors?” Lucas asked.

“He has everything. Engineers, doctors, scientists, you name it. Like I said, if you want to live, you work for him. If not, you’re just another body for the cremation pits.”

“What were they doing, Sierra? These doctors?” Ruby asked, moving her chair next to Lucas and sitting down.

“First off, you need to know about Eve’s background. Magnus found her in Vicksburg. He’d sent a trading party there, and when they arrived, the city was a mausoleum. Everyone was dead, except for Eve.”

“Everyone dead? How?”

“The doctors believe it’s a new, mutated variant of the flu. Far more lethal, if that’s even imaginable. Same basic mechanism as the original, only more contagious and with a much higher mortality rate.”

Ruby’s face was white. “The original was like the Spanish flu. It triggered a cytokine storm in the body. That’s why the Spanish flu was so devastating to the general population and hit healthy people the hardest – the old and very young had weaker immune systems, but the healthy…they were the perfect hosts.”

“Cytokine?” Lucas asked.

Ruby nodded. “Turns the immune system against itself. It sends so many immune cells to fight infection in the lungs and airway that they swell to the point where they can’t function. We all saw it – people suffocating and drowning with no way to stop it. The stronger the immune system, the more lethal a cytokine storm is.”

Sierra nodded. “That’s it exactly. Anyway, Eve was wandering the streets, crying, looking for her mother in a city of the dead.”

“But I thought you said that the very young weren’t as affected by the virus,” Lucas countered. “So how was Eve unusual?”

“In the Spanish flu and the last generation of this flu, that was true. But not the new one. It kills everybody just the same – at least, from what the doctors could tell. Only not Eve.” Sierra allowed that to sink in.

Ruby held Sierra’s eyes. “I’ve heard rumors of a new virus. But I thought that’s all they were. You know how that goes; every day there’s a new one. Dime a dozen.”

“This one’s true,” Sierra said. “The only reason it hasn’t killed everyone is that people aren’t traveling much anymore, and the ones who have it die before they can get very far. So it’s limited, for now. If there were still airplanes, we wouldn’t be having this discussion.”

Ruby frowned. “Just when you think it can’t get any worse…”

Lucas interrupted. “So they were trying to figure out how Eve survived. Why?”

“To develop a vaccine.”

“They have the ability to do that?” Lucas asked, surprised.

“Vaccines have been around for centuries, Lucas,” Ruby said. “First one was smallpox – back, I think, around 1800. It’s not that technically sophisticated. You don’t need electron microscopes or anything. Properly educated scientists could do it, even under the present circumstances.” She paused. “But why would they need Eve after they’ve drawn her blood and gotten their samples? Wouldn’t that be enough?”

Sierra shrugged. “I’m no scientist, but the way I understand it, there’s something about this virus and the way it mutates that makes Eve necessary for every step of the process. They weren’t able to develop it on their own, even with Eve’s blood, and they were still working on why. But they won’t give up until they figure it out and create the vaccine. That much I do know.”

“Why is Magnus trying to create one?” Lucas asked. “He doesn’t strike me as the Good Samaritan type, from what you’ve been saying.”

Sierra frowned. “Power. Wealth. Think about it. Whoever has a vaccine could dictate terms to everyone. They’d have the power to decide who lives and who dies. Theoretically, once a vaccine exists, they could deliberately infect areas that didn’t cooperate.” Sierra blinked rapidly, her chest rising and falling as she grew visibly agitated. “Magnus wants to run things. With the vaccine, he would have the power of a god.”

They sat in silence, absorbing the implications: a madman capable of anything, with the power of life and death over the entire country, if not the world.

“It really is the end of days,” Ruby said quietly.

“Wait. How did you find Eve, if your sister died in Vicksburg, Sierra?” Lucas asked.

Another long sigh from Sierra, and then she sat forward and locked eyes with him. “I’m not Eve’s real aunt.”

Chapter 38