Chapter 9
We were less than a mile from Hamilton when I smelt smoke. I looked back at Alex, because the two of us knew what it meant, but fortunately Mare and Jake were still in the dark.
Normally our decision would be simple: go to Hamilton, grab what we could, and move on. Everyone was either going to be dead or have fled when the mercenaries attacked, as that was the sensible thing to do. Maybe, if we were lucky enough to come across them, we’d be able to help them, although it was unlikely. After a moment Alex nodded, because we needed to talk to the other two members of our group before we made a decision. Neither of them would be ready for it - none of us ever were. Fortunately they did have someone who could tell them what had happened before they reached it, though, so they could prepare for it as best they could or make the decision to stay away.
“Rest break.” Alex’s voice was as normal as it could be considering the circumstances and neither of them knew him well enough to be able to hear the fear in his voice, as there was a chance the mercenaries would still be around. “Five minutes before we carry on.”
I could feel Mare’s eyes on me, but she didn’t say anything and I couldn’t help thinking she knew what she was smelling. “We have to go on.” Jake’s certainty surprised me. “Even if there isn’t anything we can do it’s worth trying.”
Alex sighed. “If we come across the mercenaries when they’re still attacking Hamilton they’ll attack us too and it will be an entire camp… well, almost an entire camp. Usually the healers stay in safety.”
“The healers?” Mare asked hurriedly.
Alex explained, “One of the things the mercenaries are very good at is making sure they take what they need, which will include people to look after them when they’re sick or wounded. The few we have managed to rescue say that escaping is almost impossible and most, in the end, don’t bother to try. Surviving in the wastelands is hard enough, without attempting to avoid the mercenaries. Since there’s very little shelter out here it makes things very difficult. They’ve always had their weapons taken off them, and stealing food is something they wouldn’t dare do, because stealing from the mercenaries is a mistake that could lead to them having their hand cut off or worse.”
Mare shuddered. “I hope my brother hasn’t joined them.”
“He wouldn’t have. He’s not that sort of person, Mare, but he might have been captured by them. Maybe that’s why I’m being drawn to the deep desert.” Jake smiled at her, before turned to Alex. “How likely is it that they’re still there?”
Alex and I sniffed the air at the same time. “Smells of smoke more than burning.” I hated that I knew both smells well enough to tell the difference. “I would have thought they were already well gone, so we could go on ahead, but in the end it’s up to Alex.”
“Exactly how did I become the leader?” Alex sounded more dismayed than irritated. “That was always you before, Kat.”
“Now things have changed. I know what I want to do, but right now my mind is being affected more by the way I feel than it was before, and I hope that I can rely on you to be logical.” Our eyes met for a moment and I smiled at him. “You have always been able to see things in a different way than me, love. What do you think, Alex? Should we wait?”
“I think they’re gone, but…” Sadly we knew that the mercenaries did sometimes lie in wait for unsuspecting victims and there was always a chance that we’d run in to them no matter when we entered Hamilton. “We have someone with us who is incapable of using a weapon, so going in there might well end up being a mistake. We need to decide where we’re going next. Are we going to aim for the next town to gather supplies?” Alex glanced at Jake. “Or are we going to enter the deep wastes?”
I thought for a moment about our options. “Do you want to go with Mare and Jake?”
As Alex looked between the two of them I was almost certain he’d made his decision. “Would you still like us to go with you?”
“Yes, Alex, we do.” Mare reached out to take hold of my hand. “Going out into the deep wastes alone when we know so little about this place would be a mistake, so your help is something we desperately need.” I squeezed her hand gently, trying to reassure her. “Kat has said she’ll teach Jake how to fight.”
Had the world been more kind Hamilton would have been the perfect place to train him, but now we were going to have to do it in the wastes. Fortunately the deep wastes were not somewhere you would use a gun too often, so I could train him using bows instead, which meant it would be silent and we wouldn’t have to worry about drawing the mercenaries or the mutants in. My eyes met Alex’s again. I could see the glint of amusement in them. That was when I knew for certain we were going with Mare and Jake. Even if he hadn’t been sure before finding out that I would be training Jake made him sure.
“Kat is the best.” Alex smiled at me. “Learning from her doesn’t mean you’ll necessarily become the best too, Jake, but you stand a good chance of getting close to her standards.” He kneeled in front of us. “Here’s the plan: we hit Hamilton, spend an hour in there and take everything that we can…”
“Won’t the town be... gone?” The tremor in Jake’s voice told me he wasn’t ready and I would have tried to convince him to stay behind if I thought it would work. “How will we be able to take anything?”
“No one will have had time to hit every spot. Even if they did they wouldn’t take everything, just in case, because they know someone else might need it. We’re going to need to leave things behind ourselves.”
I nodded. “All of the guns can go into storage, because we’re not going to need them, along with the powder and ammo. We leave behind the food that isn’t going to last when we’re in the deep wastes, while taking as much jerky as possible. If we’re lucky we might be able to hunt out there.” Knowing more about the deep wastes would have been appreciated, but we were going to have to learn as we went. “Alex and I will leave behind the things we came to trade with, as someone else will be able to use them.” Mare shivered and I felt it because she was still holding onto my hand. “If either of you want to stay…”
“We don’t.” Both of them spoke at the same time, but it was Mare who continued. “As we’re the reason you’re going in to the deep wastes the least we can do is go into Hamilton with you to gather supplies.”
“Mare, it’s different now. We’ve been to a town like this before, so we know what to expect, but the two of you are new to all this.”
“That doesn’t mean we need to be protected from all of the bad things.” She smiled at me. “We’re going to be okay. Going into Hamilton won’t be easy and we’re as prepared for that as we can be. I was hoping I’d have a chance to get clean…”
“You can always take a dip in the nearest river.” Alex grinned. “That’s what Kat does when she gets so grimy she can’t cope with it any longer. From the words that come out of her mouth I get the feeling it’s cold, but she’s always been more picky about being clean than I have.”
“He can go for months without bothering.” I shrugged. “Personally I like to be clean, even though it isn’t easy to stay that way out here, and after we’ve gone through the town we are going to need to do something.”
“Grab some clothes if you can. Town clothes are going to last you better in the wastes.” Alex paused a moment. “Make sure to think about the winter, because we have no idea how long we’re going to be out there, and there is a chance it might be longer than you both believe it’s going to be. Finding Mare’s brother isn’t going to be easy, even with Jake around, so we need to prepare for that as best we can, which has already been made much harder by the mercenaries.” He shook his head. “Medicine will also be useful - antibiotics if you can pick them up. As Hamilton is close to Third City there should be some and we’re probably going to need them.”
“Any dried herbs you find will also come in handy.” I looked between Jake and Mare. “Although I don’t know as much as a trained healer I know enough to be able to u
se them.”