Whisper Gatherers (15 page)

I waited until he was out of sight, then followed. The rain came down heavy. As I ran through the droplets, I wished I’d taken a waterproof pelt with me before leaving. Needless to say, I was soaked when I reached Puritytowers. Shaking the excess water off, I bounded up the stairs to our place, hoping to see Santy. She had not returned, so I went straight into Deogol’s room. He was sitting at his comp as if nothing had occurred. I stood in the doorway, my arms folded. Without looking up, he said, “I’ve fixed Greatgrangran’s toy.”

“What were you doing in the Wilderness? Who were you speaking too?What was it he gave you?” I thought my bro would bluster and redden at my words, but he did not waver from his tappings and replied as though the matter was unimportant.

“Nowt. I was just went for a stroll, when this ‘dult turned up. Nowt was planned or the like. I was curious, that is all.”

“Lies Deogol. Now give me the truth before Santy Breanna comes back.”

“You wouldn’t understand.”

“Probably not, but give forth the info I asked for anyway.”

“Things are changing. I want to be part of that.”

“Explain”

Deogol turned his head and stared at me with such a look of solemnity that my insides turned up and over with deep concern. “I cannot as yet. I don’t have all the info, but I have learned that there is a place that is apt for those like me.”

“Yes. That place is here, not anywhere else.”

He turned back to his comp, “I knew you would say that.”

“Deogol?”

“I have no more to say.”

“I will have to tell Santy that you went out for a clandestine rendezvous with quite possibly an Agro.”

My bro’s shoulders stiffened. He stood, faced me and clenched his fists. I saw a fierce look in his eyes. “Do not tell. You must not say what you saw. It is nothing, I told you. I was sick from being inside and needed the openness to freshen my brain.”

“You do not enjoy the outdoors Deogol, tell the truth.”

“That is it. You know there are many strangers out and about now. Why would you not believe that I could have met up with one without prior arrangement?”

“You never go out. Suspish that you do, then meet up with a stranger, especially in these dangerous times?”

“All folk are strangers to me, you know that, why would this ‘dult be any different.”

I had no answer to that. Deogol did indeed find other folk hard to deal with; it was part of his Meekness. He sat back down. “You are dripping. Maybe you should dry yourself before Santy gets back?”

“I will, but not before you tell me what you have in your pocket.”

“This?” he said and took out the thing I saw him take from the probable Agro. “This is a playslab, nothing more.”

“Oh really? What games does it have?”

“Don’t know, haven’t tried it yet. You can use it later if you like.”

“Mebbe I can use it now. Hand it over.”

My bro clutched onto the thing and shook his head. “No. It was given to me, I will use it first.”

He had a mean look in his eyes. His fingers began to turn white from the effort of holding on to the dubious object. “Right, fine. I’ll go change my clothes,” I said and left.

As I walked to my room the storm became fierce. Cracks of lightning and crashes of thunder sent shivers up and down my back. I raced to my quarters, quickly put on some dry garments and returned to Deogol’s room. I pushed on the door, but it would not yield. I tried again, same result. I banged upon it. I shouted out his name, but no response came forth. I was puzzled in the extreme since there were no locks to secure said portals. I continued to bang and shout until I felt a hand on my shoulder. I swizzled round. “Santy. Where is Dreng?”

“He remains with the oldies. What is the problem?”

“Deogol has barricaded himself in.”

Santy pushed me aside and gave the door a goodly shove. It budged a bit so she tried again. “Help me. I think he has placed something heavy against it. After three, kick it as hard as you are able.” She counted and on, “Three,” we gave it a mighty boot. It opened enough for us to lean our shoulders against the wood. We shoved until there was a gap big enough for us to slip through.

“Deogol?” Santy said and rushed over to his prone bod. Slumped over his comp, with his head pressed down on the keypad. His arm hung limply by his side. On the floor at his feet, was the box the stranger had given him. Santy pulled him to a sitting position, knelt down, put her fingers on his neck and cocked her ear to his mouth. “Alive. Take his legs, we can lift him to the bed.”

He was easy to carry, being long and slim built. I gulped down the fear that was swelling in my throat and laid his legs gently on the mattress. Santy sat on the edge and held onto his hand. I picked up the box and brought it over for her to inspect. “What is this?”

“A stranger gave it to him.”

“What? When did a stranger call?”

I looked to the floor. If I told the truth then not only would my bro be in big trouble, but I too. “Erm.”

“Adara, I will know if you are lying.”

“Deogol went out.”

Santy took in a sharp breath of air. “Where you with him?”

“Yes and no.”

“Adara, this is serious.”

“I fell asleep. When I woke, he was gone. So I went outside and tracked him to the edge of the Wilderness. He was speaking with a ‘dult. Not Cityfolk. Maybe Agro.”

“Agro? Is that where he got this box?”

I nodded. Santy opened it. She looked inside, put her hand on her forehead and said, “Poisonpills.”

Chapter Eighteen

Blackout

“Should we call firstaiders?”

“No time. Get the Medicase.”
 

I ran to Santy’s restingroom and pulled out a red box from underneath her bed. It was her special Backpacker kit containing fixing things not normally found in regular med cupboards. I went to where Deogol lay and handed it to her. She opened it, withdrew a small phial, snapped off the top, lifted my bro’s head and let the liquid drop onto his lips. I watched it slowly seep into his mouth. Within a few secs, he sat up.

“Fetch a large pot from the foodpreproom. Quickly.”

I did. Santy grabbed it and Deogol barfed up what looked like his entire life’s worth of grub. The pot soon filled. I gagged when Santy told me to empty it and bring it back. My bro filled the thing three more times, before falling back onto the bed. His face was whiter than the sheets he lay upon and his whole bod shook. Santy took a Freshwipe and gently mopped his face.

“Is he better?

“I think so. We don’t know when he took the tablets, so there might be some residual poison left.”

There was a sweet, acrid smell of vom throughout the room. I retched and went to the cleansingroom for something freshly scented to block out the odour. The lights did not go on when I entered the place. I had to bang the console before they did. Even then they merely flickered. They gave off such dimness that I could barely see enough to procure the perfume spray. I took it and returned to Deogol’s room. He was snoozing. I filled the air with the odour-masking fragrance. Santy Breanna was leaning forward, elbows on her knees, hands clenched as if she were a Praisebee in prayer mode. I touched her shoulder. She flinched and turned to face me. “Tell me everything about this meeting with a stranger.”
 

“I told all.”

“Did you hear any conversation?”

“Nope. I was too far away.”

“Did Deogol seem upset?”

“No more than usual when he is interrupted from his musings on that thing.” I pointed to his comp, went over to it and switched it on. “He was looking at some pictures he said was a game, but I am not so sure. He also said something about there being a special place for those like him.”

Santy stood beside me. I touched an icon at the top of the screen. The image I’d seen before appeared. Santy bent close. “This is Agro stuff. Propaganda. I have seen similar picks from yesteryear. Not long after the Greatplague of 2086. The Agros began their dominance over the land. Tried to force folk into work camps and the like. That’s partly the reason why the country is split the way it is.”

“Do you think Deogol was on to something when he said that the Agros want to bring folk together again?”

“Highly doubtful. Agros only want to use folk. Addy, access the infochannel.”

“Erm, don’t know how?”

“Are you sporting with me?”

“Nope. Not really compfriendly.”

“But you used them at the Learningplace didn’t you?”

“Yeah, but they were the old style comps. Deogol’s is newer and far more sophisticated.”

Santy shook her head and touched several symbols that were neatly stacked at each corner of the screen. Some did nowt, others just showed numbers and odd calculations. Finally, she tapped on one and on came the infochannel. The headline read: ‘Agro assault on Cityplace causes havoc. Reports of unrest in other sections of NotSoGreatBritAlbion. Two more cases of Meeks going missing from Woodsfolk camps.’ Santy closed the lid.

“Agros are up to no good.” She went to Deogol and rolled up the sleeve of his tunic. “Hand me the hypo from my kit.” I did. Santy plunged it into his arm and sucked up a quantity of blood. My bro twitched a bit, then relaxed into his sleepy state once more. Santy shuffled around in her medbag and brought out a pack of different coloured swabs. She squirted a drop of Deogol’s blood onto each one, then placed them on the lid of the box. “We will have to wait a few secs.”

“For what?”

“To see just what the Agros gave your bro.”

“Poisonpills, we know.”

“I don’t think they are. He is too sleepy. Poisonpills would not cause his comatose state. Besides, Deogol is not a selfkiller, despite what he said about the Decontamination Place. He was under no threat.”

“Is it a ploy by the Agros?”

“Not sure. But it is clear that they mean to take more Meeks. For what purpose I cannot tell.”

Santy picked up the swabs, took out a chart thing and held each one up to various colours on the sheet. One such hue matched perfectly. “Purple. Confirmation that he did not take a lethal substance.”

“What did he take?”

“Mindfreetabs.”

“Aren’t they the most illegal thing in all this ever diminishing land?”

“Only Agros and Ladies have access to them.”

“Why would he take them?”

“Only he knows the answer.”

My bro’s comp came to life by itself. The lid popped open and the screen came on. There was the same image I saw before. We backed away and turned to Deogol. Still sleeping, he raised himself from the bed, and, as if in a trance, walked to the machine. He opened his eyes, sat down and began to tap on the keyboard.

“Deogol,” I said, he did not answer. “We must wake him.”

“No Addy, let’s see what’s what.”

We moved a little closer and saw that he was typing questions asking about the place that was for Meeks only. The answers were persuasive. They spoke of stuff that only Meeks would comprehend. Things like all the tech they could imagine and more. No wonder my bro was so keen. Then some random numbers appeared and the screen went black. My bro slumped in his seat. Santy pulled me away.

“We must not let Deogol out of our sight.”

I agreed.

Together we picked him up and placed him back onto the bed. Santy went to the small window opposite the compdesk and secured it. She put the key into her pocket and picked up his comp. “No more chat with Agro scum that’s for sure. Addy, you take the first watch. If he comes round, call me.” I nodded. She packed away all the stuff from the medicase and left me alone with my snoozing bro.

The storm raged less. I went to the window and looked out. The infoboards outside were working again. They flashed pic after pic of the Agro invaders. I was too far away to be able to read the words that scrolled underneath each image, but guessed they were similar to those Santy and I read on Deogol’s comp. The lights flickered both inside and out. At first, I thought it was lightning. Wrong. The infoboard images twitched and split then became nowt more than a series of disconnected shapes before the giant screen went blank.

All the lights went out.

“Addy, stay where you are, do not leave Deogol. Do you hear me?”

“Yes.”

A bright beam flashed in my face. I covered it with my hand. “Lower the torch.” She did and shone it onto Deogol’s bed. He was resting like a newbie after feeding, unaware of anything that was happening around him. I went to Santy. She handed me another torch.

“Go get the lightsticks from the foodpreproom. I’ll stay with Deogol.”

I did as she said and brought in all the neonglows that I found. I tapped two on the wall and they gave forth a cheery orange light that illuminated the room. I placed one on the comptable and the other on the windowsill. They produced enough light for us to switch off our torches. I sat on the edge of his bed. Santy sighed. “The comp’s not working either.”

“Agros?”

“Most likely.”

“Do you think they mean to attack again?”

“I think they do.”

“Well, they’ll get in without much bother. There was no guard at the perimeter fence when I was there searching for Deogol. The alarm was off too.”

There was a loud banging on the front door and a voice called out, “Is anyone in there?”

Santy stood and called back, “Yes.”

“You must come out. You must come with us to the Auditorium. We fear another Agro assault is imminent. All power has been cut to Cityplace. We must take all Cityfolk to the same place for safety.”

“We have a sickly young ‘un.”

“Open and I will help carry them.”

Santy left to let in the Buildingprotector. I gathered up some clothes for us all, then went to my room and slipped on my Synthbag. Santy entered with Brychan, the ‘dult in charge of safety for all in Puritytowers. He was a tall male with light red hair and as his name suggested, a whole host of brown speckly dots upon his skin. When Deogol and I were young, we wondered about joining them all together to see what kind of picture they would make. He nodded to me and followed us to my bro’s room.

“What ails the lad? Nowt contagious?” He put his hand over his mouth.