Chapter 5
Three days was much longer when there were two injured people to look after. Alex I was less worried about because we’d been in the wasteland for long enough to deal with those sorts of things. Although I did still keep an eye on him to make sure the wound was healing right.
Mare and I both checked on Jake regularly. He was beginning to get irritated by it, but I’d much rather he be irritated than keeping secrets from us. That was something I’d dealt with before.
Unfortunately that was why we rarely traveled with a group - even though we’d been paid to look after them they often didn’t trust us enough to tell us if there were any problems, so they died. I got the feeling that Jake didn’t trust Alex or I enough to tell us if there was a problem and I chose to make certain that he didn’t have to say anything.
As I checked it once more, while we stopped for a rest break, I could feel Jake staring at me. “Why?”
“We offered you both our help in getting safely to Hamilton. Letting you die would mean failing in our duty and that is something I refuse to do.”
“You don’t like me.”
“I never said that.”
“Did you have to?”
Sighing, I looked at him. “Jake, you’re a baby out here. You know nothing about the wastelands. Alex and I have been in your position, and we’ve learned what we needed to know through experience, some of it absolutely terrifying. The reason I make sure I know what resources we have is because I don’t want to die, which is what will happen if we’re not careful. I’ve seen it happen more times than you could imagine. When you come out here and act like you know it all… if it had just been you we would have walked away. I don’t doubt that others would have done the same thing. Mare is the reason we gave you a chance.” I smiled, pressing the bandage back into place gently, so I didn’t hurt him. “I think, given time, you could become her protector, but you need to learn how to use a knife and a gun.”
He shuddered. “Weapons training was never something I was good at and…”
“Don’t make excuses. Out here you fight or you die, unless you’re lucky enough to be with someone who will fight for you.”
“I don’t understand why Alex did.”
“Neither do I, but it doesn’t matter why. What matters is that you have the chance to learn instead of being dead at the hand of a group of mercenaries. You need to learn how to protect yourself and Mare. Once we get to Hamilton I’m certain there’s someone there who’ll help you.”
“Can you?”
My smiled faded. “Are you seriously asking me if I can teach you?”
“I saw you out there, Kat. If there’s anyone I want to fight like it’s you.”
“Honestly, I have no idea if I can, because I’ve never taught anyone before. Someone told me a long time ago that I was meant to be out here, as I was a natural fighter, and, as we’re still alive, I guess she was right.” I reached for my bag to get a bit of jerky. “I’m willing to give it a go on one condition.”
“What’s that?”
“You don’t give up just because it’s hard. Learning to wield any weapon safely is difficult, it’s going to take time, and you are, at some points, going to hate me for pushing you to get better. To survive in the wastelands you have to be the best, otherwise…”
“I’m going to die.” He smiled. “I get that.”
“Good.”
I sat back on my heels. “You’re healing up okay, Jake. I think you should be fine, but I still want you to tell me if you feel weird in any way, as feeling weird is a sign that the wound is getting infected.”
“How many times are you going to tell me that?”
“As many as I feel I need to.” I shrugged. “I’ve seen people die because they haven’t been honest with me about how they’re feeling and that’s not going to happen to you.”
“Is that why Mare’s been on my case about it?”
“No, I think she’s worried about you. Even though you aren’t the person she would have chosen to have out here with her you came and she feels responsible for you, in much the same way that I do, so she’s going to make certain you don’t die too.”
“I had to.” Jake brushed a hand through his hair. “I couldn’t let her come out here alone, no matter how useless I am.”
“Like I said it is better that there’s two of you. If you learn what you need to know then you will be an asset to Mare in the hunt for her brother.”
Our eyes met. “When I said I could feel him I was being honest with you. I can feel Mare too and the longer I spend with you the more I can feel you. Alex is still a mystery, but that’s not really a surprise.”
Alex hadn’t spoken a word to Jake since we first met and I couldn’t convince him to change his mind. He was certain that we’d made a mistake when we asked them both to join us, while I… even though I didn’t want to be, because Jake really wasn’t any use to us right then, I was more open minded about him. The wastelands had already taught him that they were a dangerous place and he did seem to be coming to the realization that he did need to learn more if he was going to survive. Maybe, in the end, Alex would be proven wrong about Jake.
“Do you know why?” I asked Jake.
He shook his head. “It’s just something I’ve always been able to do. Only Mare and her brother knew about it before, because I knew what everyone in the city would say.”
“That you were a mutant and you should be on the surface.” That was something I’d seen happen before - one of my closest friends had ended up being forced to leave Third City when she admitted to certain abilities that ‘no one’ should have. “You made the right choice, but it is something you’re going to need to keep quiet up here as well. Even though the people here are more open-minded you do need to learn who you can trust. As we haven’t been to Hamilton before we can’t help you. We need to learn that for ourselves.”
“Have you really been traveling around the wastelands since you left the city?”
Nodding, I smiled. “How else do you think we got to Third City from Fifth City?”
“It seems like a dangerous thing to do.”
“Most of the time it is, but Alex can’t stay in one place for too long. He needs to be free and I’m not going to trap him in one place. The time may come when I want to settle down, so he’ll have to find another companion. I just can’t see it happening any time soon. So far I haven’t found anywhere I’d really like to stay for any length of time… not without him, anyway.”
“What’s it like?”
“Dusty, mostly.” I shrugged. “The wastelands are not like the cities. We don’t have any currency up here, but you can barter. Some people like pretty things, some have addictions that they need to feed, some are after information, and the last group, the most dangerous, are those who will give you what you want in return for you doing something for them. Even though they are the most dangerous we often go to them, because you get more for your trade that way.”
“Pretty things?”
“When the world was coming to an end people buried things, thinking they’d be able to come back to them.” I shook my head. “I have no idea why they thought that, but people are people, and if you find those caches you might be lucky enough to come across jewelery, or china, or occasionally, if you’re really lucky, a number of books from the time before. Those books… well, they’re worth a lot to the right people.”
Jake rubbed his forehead. “I really didn’t have any idea what I was doing.” Sighing, he bit off a piece of his own jerky. “Do you believe Mare’s brother would have survived out here?”
“Can you feel the dead?”
“Not that I know of, but that doesn’t mean something else might not have happened to him. He could be a ghoul.”
“That’s a very good point.” I thought for a moment - a man out here, alone, would have a much better chance of survival than a woman, especially if he knew how to fight. Unfortunately that didn’t mean the depression wouldn?
??t have got the better of him. “He could be. If he was anywhere near as good as Mare with a weapon he might have survived.”
“Mare wouldn’t though, would she?”
“I don’t know.” I looked over at her. “If she’d been sensible and made the choice to travel to Hamilton first she might have done. There will be people who’ll help her there, even now, for the right price. Had she made the decision to travel into the deep wastes I think she would have died no matter how good she is with a weapon,. She doesn’t have enough supplies or the knowledge to be able to supplement them, and going out there without the right equipment is always a mistake.”
“She didn’t want to. When I convinced her to bring me with her she told me that I needed to listen to her, but…” He shrugged. “You were there and I reacted badly to what I saw as interlopers. Instead of acting like an adult I behaved like a child, because I didn’t want you around, even though I realized quickly enough that was a mistake. Now I’m willing to listen to what you and Alex have to say, Kat, so I can stay alive out here, as well as keep Mare safe. Maybe she doesn’t need me…”
“If you’re both serious about going to the deep wastes then she does need you. So far no one who’s gone out there has come back.”
As our eyes met again I thought I knew what he was going to ask and it terrified me. “Will you and Alex come with us?”
“Before I can give you an answer I need to talk to Alex. If he says no…”
He nodded. “I know, but I had to ask. We’re going to need help out there and we both trust you. Mare trusts Alex.”
“Maybe Mare should ask him. If it comes from her he’s much more likely to say yes. He’s the sort of man who always likes to help the damsel in distress.”
“What are you then?”
“The woman he loves and trusts to fight by his side.” I glanced over at Alex who was busy cleaning his rifle, one of his many guns. “If we didn’t trust each other we wouldn’t still be alive today. Our lives have been hard and we’ve made difficult choices, but we’ve survived together and we’ll continue surviving together.”
“Yet you were willing to help two newbies who could have brought about both of your deaths.”
“From the moment we saw Mare we knew she was the one who could fight, which was why you were in the middle. Unfortunately, when you get into a fight, there’s no real way of keeping someone where you need them to be. You moved and Alex was quick enough to get to you before someone could do any real damage. If he hadn’t…”
“I know. Next time I’ll do my best to stay out of the way.”
“Hopefully there won’t be a next time before you’ve learned how to fight. Then you can help us.”