Читать книгу Crossroads: The Beginning After the End - - Страница 8

– Oh, what’s the holdup? We could slap it here on the spot and throw it in the forest! It would be fertilizer for the soil, – said the tall red-haired man with small eyes, sucking on his cigarette. He pulled out a huge knife from behind his back and playfully pointed the blade at the man tied to the pole.

– Willie, calm down, – his partner said in a measured, husky voice, pulling the hood of his cloak tighter by the laces. – How do you envision this? We stomped all this way just to swat him? No. We need to find out who he is and what he’s doing in our territory. – The hooded man pushed back the dense cloud of smoke that the redhead’s lungs released, interlocked his fingers and crunched them together. – Marcus wasn’t likely to be thrilled with another head. We should interrogate him. Maybe this one’s getting his feet dirty for the Kreds, or the Order sent another preacher. His clothes are strange. I’ve never seen anything like them before.

– You’re right, Billy. You’re the head! It’s not for nothing that my mother called me the oldest, even though I was born earlier, – the smoker grinned.

The loud voices and laughter woke Adam up. His head was buzzing, a throbbing pain in the temples and back of his head. His eyes snapped open. His hands and feet were bound, he couldn’t even feel them. The tight cord was cramping his veins, digging into his skin, preventing the blood from flowing along its usual route. There were two men in the garage-type room besides him. Both tall, well-fed. They were dressed in military style: insulated boots, black overalls, a hiking cloak that concealed rare armor elements and a simple military exoskeleton – they looked dangerous, to say the least.

Behind him the door opened ajar. A disgruntled woman’s voice filled the room at once:

– Guys, no, come on! – the woman was clearly angry. – What are you guys doing here? Not only did you bring a tied-up man to me, but you’re smoking at home! I’m grateful for a lot of things, but I won’t let you sit on my neck. Follow the rules! – Confirming the seriousness of her words, she tapped her shoe on the concrete floor.

– Rules!!! – The hooded man turned around and added with a smile. – Have you gone to the Credes, Maria?

Maria was standing behind me. Yes, that was definitely her voice. Daring to speak, Adam ventured into the conversation:

– I’m sorry, there must be some mistake, – he said carefully.

There was silence in the room. Only the big red-haired man noisily let out another puff of smoke. After a brief pause, footsteps approached quickly. A woman’s legs covered in a thermal suit, a slender body, and Maria’s face, for some reason twisted in a grimace of contempt, came into view. Before Adam realized what was going on, a slap left a red mark on his cheek. The thugs laughed.

– This is for your gratitude! – To their applause, the woman voiced her resentment. – I carried you a kilometer and a half on my back, then washed you, treated you, washed your clothes. I did everything, and what did you do?!

Her eyes were a whirlwind of emotion, and he didn’t know what to say. Her words were true-he’d done the wrong thing. He hadn’t thanked her properly, and he’d been rude. The shame and feelings that came with the well-deserved but seemingly unfair slap were burning him from the inside out.

– I… – he stammered, and, driven to the limit, he swore, shaking his arms and everything he could. – Damn ropes, take them off! – Yeah, I was wrong. I’m sorry. But you’ve got to understand me! I don’t remember anything since RobotixGansIndustries, and then you show up, telling me fantastic stories that I’m sorry, but I can’t believe. Then the weird grass, the monster at the mill, my head is spinning. I think I’m crazy, but I’m not! Forgive me, if that’s possible. I acted like an idiot, it’s true. But please, please help me sort this out and set me free! Goddamn it, I’m not a criminal!

– Soulful! I almost cried, – the hooded man said ironically. – You may need help, but there’s nothing and no one here to help you. You may not be a criminal, but you’re Capers property now. You’re nothing now, you understand? – he wheezed menacingly.

Billy was just as sturdy as the red-haired Willie. Only now, when he got a better look at Caper, did Adam notice their similar features: eyes, eyebrows, nose, even lips. All that distinguished him was his sunken cheeks, the baldness of his red curls, and the cool calm in his eyes.

– Wait a minute, Billy, – Maria said suddenly. – Until we settle up, it belongs to me. I’m the one who found it, so I own it. That’s what the Code says, isn’t it?

– Yeah, damn you, woman! – the hooded caper bellowed. – What do you want him for?

Billy stood up and stared at her, waiting for an explanation.

– Maybe I don’t need to, – Maria said uncertainly. – But I honor the Code. After the Determination, anyone will have a chance to buy it back. I’ll even give you a discount, since you and your brother helped me get it back.

The hooded caper fiddled unhappily, but there was nothing to do.

– I’ll tag him, – he said, pulling a strange device from behind his back. – That’s so we don’t have to run after him again. When we get to Arbor, you’ll be paid and you’ll give him to us. Don’t forget to deduct our services. We don’t trample the earth for nothing!

– Deal! – Maria agreed and nodded contentedly.

She took one last quick glance at Adam and left. The redhead smoked again, shaking his head unhappily. Meanwhile, his bald double walked over to Adam, grabbed him by the hair, pulled him down, and then put a peculiar device to his exposed neck, and with one pull of the trigger, drove the bug under his skin.

– Ouch! What was that?!

– It’s your chain, you fucking runner! I don’t advise you to go further than a hundred meters away from me, – Caper replied emotionlessly.

– What’s going to happen? – A new question sounded.

– You try it and you’ll find out, – Willie said with a grin. He put out the cigarette butt on his palm and threw it in the corner. – Come on, brother, I’m starving!

– All you want to do is eat, – Billy cut him off harshly. – Come on, let’s go. There’s nothing more to do here.

– Oh, what about me?! I’m not going anywhere, but the ropes are too tight. I honestly can’t feel my arms!

The brothers laughed again. Leaving the question unanswered, they grabbed a few small slips from the table and left.

Time passed mercilessly slowly, accompanied by pain of all colors and kinds. His stomach twisted with hunger, his head ached from a recent blow, his bound hands and feet ached, and his soul was racked with fear. It seemed that all existence was filled with suffering. Adam still didn’t understand what had happened, didn’t know how to deal with it, and this sense of loss was mocking him, driving him mad. There was only the faint hope that it was all a horrible dream or a twisted vision. He had already seen Annet’s death, maybe there were flashes and activity in the sun again, and he was lying on the floor of the corridor, unable to distinguish reality from illusion. Better that than that it was all true.

Adam sat on the cold floor. He wanted to calm down, to try to forget and relax, but the pain prevented him from doing so. So he tried to distract himself, examined everything he could see, tried to loosen his bonds, but that didn’t help either. Eventually, he became so uncomfortable that he started jumping nervously in place and banging his shoulders against the pillar. He was shaking. Absorbed in this process, he didn’t hear someone enter the room. The guest turned out to be Maria.

– You won’t do yourself any better, – she said, ending the man’s fidgeting momentarily. – How did you come to be in the woods?

The appearance of the living person and the question brought Adam to his senses. As he could see, Maria was no longer angry. On the contrary, she sounded concerned and sympathetic.

– Again, sorry, – he said awkwardly. – It’s just that these ropes are literally driving me crazy. As for your question, I don’t know. I was testing a new kind of energy, in the underground control center. Something went wrong, some unknown substance got out of control. I was sucked into some hole in the air and passed out.

– What year is it? – Maria asked, giving her companion a probing look.

– I hope it’s two thousand one hundred and fourteen. Isn’t it? – The man answered uncertainly.

– The thing is, it’s the thirty-second year. Just the thirty-second. – She shook her head sympathetically and sat down across from him. – In the year 2114, the Day of Zero, because of a rare natural phenomenon, everything based on fusion went offline. Nuclear reactors exploded, as did the remnants of nuclear weapons. You don’t know that? – Adam looked at her incomprehensibly and shook his head silently. – You don’t know that most of the cities of the North Atlantic Alliance and the Federation of Independent States were wiped out?

He didn’t know that either. He didn’t know anything Maria was asking, and the more she talked, the heavier the lump in his throat became from the realization of missed events.

– It’s terrible… – he said quietly, with sadness in his voice, doomed.

– Well, I’ll tell you, everyone here had to take the news with the same feelings. I was a little girl myself. My other mother explained it all to me then, – Maria admitted, sighing heavily. – I was only five years old, and I didn’t understand anything at all. I remember the bright sun changed to a green glow. Everyone came out to watch. It was beautiful, very beautiful. Then there were sirens, someone’s voice all over the place and panic. People were running and screaming. My dad packed up and dragged me and my mom behind him, but I got lost in the crowd. How I cried then… – She stopped talking, bowed her head, wrapped her arms around herself, and continued speaking more quietly. – I never found my parents. I don’t think they survived. Few survived those days. But I was lucky to have help. A couple picked me up on the road late at night and brought me here. But they’re not alive anymore, they were old. My mom first, and then my dad. I call them the second ones. – Anyway, – she changed her tone to casual. – Thirty-two years have passed since the day that changed everything. That’s where the new chronicle begins. Oh, I’ve heard of your kind. We call you «tagged.» You didn’t just jump through a hole in the air, did you?! You must have been touched by the glow in the kiss?

Adam tried to recall the details of his last few days.

– I remember green tongues of some substance, – he began uncertainly. – They were everywhere. They were sucking the life out of people. I don’t know what it was, but if I had stayed, I would have been as dead as the others. That’s all I remember… – he paused for a second. – Wait, if all this is true, then I missed thirty-two years?! But how did I survive?! It’s impossible. What about my wife, Agatha and the others?!

– We’ve all lost someone, – Maria replied sadly. – I don’t think you can find someone from the past. There are hardly any people from the old world left. And as for you, well, it’s not easy with the labeled ones. You have some kind of special mutation, but I don’t know the details.

Adam exhaled hopelessly, rested his head tiredly against the pillar. Maria had told of many things. It was clear from her words that the entire planet had suffered, one way or another, on that ill-fated day. It had changed everything. It was as if nature had rebelled against man after that day and had consistently killed those who had been spared by the nuclear flames and radiation clouds. Explosions, earthquakes, tsunamis, fires, floods, hunger, disease and climate change were added to all this. And, as a cherry on top, a riot of streams of the same unknown substance, changing spaces, giving birth to various natural mutations. The locals called it «the Great Mother» for some reason. This «Mother» changed everything: flora, fauna and even man himself. Mari told more about the local organizations that had sprung up in the remnants of the Age of Abundance. The Order of Truth (a collection of fanatics united by a new religion), the Capers (the largest organization in these lands), the Bionics, the Maidens of Alvilda, the Riders of Morvan, and many others.

Adam learned that he had to go to Arbor, the Capers’ capital, to undergo some kind of Determination procedure. He had no idea what it was, but it was clear that he had no rights before he went through it.

– I’ll untie you, but stay in this room. It’s for your own safety, – Maria said conspiratorially. – The brothers would love the chance to mock you. You’d better sleep here. I’ll bring food and water, and we’ll be on our way tomorrow morning.

She cut the ropes and left, but soon returned with a mug of water and a plate of food. The first sip felt like a gulp of life itself. Every cell, like withered earth, greedily absorbed the liquid, demanding more. A sip, another, and it felt better.

– Thank you.

Adam felt the pain and weakness go away with surprising speed. Maria smiled in response. She was a kind and gentle person, Adam could see that. He thanked fate for meeting her specifically, for from what he had heard, kindness and caring were rare in the new world. Maria walked away, leaving him alone with his thoughts and a half-empty plate. He had no idea what would happen next, couldn’t get used to the layer of news that had descended on him. The old world had been destroyed but, how and why? What had become of Annet and the others? Where did the mutations come from, what power lurked beneath the name «Great Mother»? What did he have to do with it? How had he survived? Was Audley’s experience the end of everything and the beginning of something completely new? And after all, he was talking about a new world…

Chapter 8: The Road to the Capital

The morning was cold and gloomy, rich in penetrating winds and the usual heavy, heavy clouds. Billy was the first in the chain. He was carrying an unusual-looking laser rifle, or «lasgun,» with a multitude of attachments, wrapped in dark camouflage netting. The wind was blowing the flaps of his tattered cloak, but the hood, as if glued to his bald head, remained immovable. Maria was following, barely keeping pace with Caper’s long strides. Her rucksack hung behind her, her familiar revolver on her hip, and her faithful Alpha walked beside her. Adam was placed third. He had been given different shoes and warm clothes. The sleeved cloak looked like a black robe, smelled strange, but it was tight, kept out the wind and rain. The wide pants had to be tied with a rope, but they were also very practical and comfortable. The shoes, however, were not the right size, which made them chafe. In order to avoid unpleasant pain he had to clench his toes and so, limping, move on. Willie was at the back of the group. His lasgun hung on his belt, his right hand was always resting on the trigger, and his left hand was always chasing the air, scaring away invisible gnats, or bringing another cigarette to his weathered lips.

The group moved at a quick, steady pace. Within three hours they had crossed the valley that Adam knew, leaving the ominous mill somewhere out of sight, and then passed a small scrub forest. The same forest where Adam had first met Willie, where he had met the butt of his lasgun.

On the way we met new hills and lowlands painted in bright colors. The unknown plants excited the imagination, and the small rodents that were everywhere, not afraid of dogs or people, jumped underfoot as if they were playing a dangerous game. Because of the riot of colors, variety of flora and cute fearless animals there was an unrestrained desire to ask questions. They piled up and at one point Adam couldn’t take it anymore.