A few people in the crowd shouted out guesses, mostly outlying farms and fishing villages, but the giant holo-image shook its head sadly. Kira looked below to the man himself, a tiny figure in a worn brown suit made almost white by the spotlight. He turned slowly, shaking his head as the crowd called out locations from all across the island. He stopped turning and pointed at the floor.
Here, he said. Actually, just over there, south of the turnpike, in the old Kellenberg High School. The attack was small, and we managed to contain it without much bloodshed, so you may not have even known about it, but still, they were right there. How many of you live near there? He raised his hand, nodding at the others in the crowd who raised theirs as well. Yes, he said, you live right there, I live right there, that is the heart of our community. The Voice isnt just out in the forest anymore, theyre here, in East Meadow, in our own neighborhood. They want to tear us apart from the inside, but we are not going to let them!
The Voice objects to the Hope Act, he continued. They call it tyranny, they call it fascism, they call it control. You call it our only chance. You want to give humanity a future; they want to live in the present, and to kill anyone who tries to stop them. Is that freedom? If theres anything weve learned in the last eleven years, my friends, it is that freedom is a responsibility to be earned, not a license for recklessness and anarchy. If someday, despite our strongest efforts and our deepest determination, we finally fall, let it be because our enemies finally beat us, not because we beat ourselves.
Kira listened quietly, sobered by the speech. She didnt relish the thought of getting pregnant so quicklyshe had fewer than two years left before she came of agebut she knew the Senate was right. The future was the most important thing, certainly more important than one girls hesitation to take the next step.
Senator Hobbs voice was soft, grim, resolute. The Voice disagrees with the Hope Act, and theyve decided to express their disagreement through murder and theft and terrorism. Theyre allowed to disagree; its their methods that are the issue. There was another group, not so long ago, who used the same methodsa group who didnt like the way things were and decided to rebel. They were called Partials. The difference is that the Partials were unthinking, unfeeling, inhuman killers. They kill because thats what we built them to do. The Voices are human and, in some ways, that makes them even more dangerous.
The crowd murmured. Senator Hobb glanced down, cleared his throat, and continued.
There are some things more important than ourselvesmore important than the limits of the present, and the whims of the now. There is a future to build and protect. And if were going to make that future a reality, we have to stop fighting among ourselves. We have to end dissent wherever we find it. We have to trust one another again. This is not about the Senate and the city, this is not about the city and the farms, this is not about any little group or faction. This is about us. The entire human race, united as one. There are people out there who want to tear that apart, but we are not going to let them!
The crowd roared again, and this time Kira joined them. Yet even as she shouted in chorus, she couldnt shake a sudden sense of fear, like icy fingers in the back of her mind.
Youre late, Walker.
Kira didnt speed up, watching Jaydens face as she walked casually to the wagon. He looked so much like Madison.
What? she asked. Dont soldiers have to attend mandatory town hall meetings anymore?
And thank you very much for the attitude, said Jayden, leaning his rifle against his shoulder. It is a pleasure to have both you and your delightful wit with us on this run.
Kira mimed a gun with her forefinger, silently shooting him in the face. Where are we going this time?
A little town called Asharoken. He helped her up into the back of the metal wagon, already full of ten more soldiers and two portable generators; that meant she was probably going to field-test some old equipment to see if it was worth bringing back. There were two other civilians as well, a man and a woman, probably here to use the second generator on some equipment of their own.
Jayden leaned on the edge of the wagon. I swear, this island has the weirdest town names Ive ever heard.
You guys are loaded for bear, said Kira, looking at the soldiers heavy rifles. They were always armed when they left the cityeven Kira had an assault rifle slung over her shoulderbut today they looked like a war party. One of the soldiers was even carrying a long tube she recognized as a rocket launcher. Kira found an empty seat and tucked her bag and medical kit behind her feet. Expecting bandits?
North Shore, said Jayden, and Kira blanched. The North Shore was essentially unsettled, and thus prime Voice territory.
Valencio, youre late! shouted Jayden, and Kira looked up with a smile.
Hey, Marcus.
Long time no see. Marcus grinned broadly and vaulted into the wagon. Sorry Im late, Jayden. I had a meeting that got a little heavier than I planned. Very hot and sweaty by the end. You were a major topic of conversation, though, in between bouts of passionate
Just skip to the part where its my mother, said Jayden, and then Ill do the part where I tell you to go to hell, and then we can maybe get on with our jobs like were supposed to.
Your mother died of RM eleven years ago, said Marcus, his face a mask of pretend shock. You were, what, six? That would be incredibly crass of me.
And your mothers already in hell, said Jayden, so Im sure youll be seeing her soon. We should probably just drop the whole thing. Bastard.
Kira frowned at the insult, but Marcus only smirked, looking at the other people in the wagon. Ten soldiers, huh? Whats the run?
North Shore, said Kira.
Marcus whistled. And here I was worried we wouldnt get to do anything fun. I guess weve pretty much picked everything else clean by now, though, huh? He looked across the truck to the two other civilians. Youll have to forgive me, I dont recognize either of you.
Andrew Turner, said the man, reaching out his hand. He was older, late forties, with the beginning of a sunburn through his thinning hair. Electrician.
Nice to meet you, said Marcus, shaking his hand.
The woman smiled and waved. Gianna Cantrell. Im in computer science. She was older as well, but younger than Turner. Kira guessed maybe thirty-fiveold enough to have been in computer science well before the Break. Kira glanced at her stomach, a reflex she wasnt even aware of until shed done it, but of course the woman wasnt pregnant. Salvage runs were too dangerous to risk a child; she must have been between cycles.
Interesting mix, said Marcus. He looked at Jayden. Whats the deal with this place?
Grunt salvage went through a few days ago, said Jayden. They logged a clinic, a pharmacy, and a weather station, whatever that means. So now I get to go all the way back out there on a bunny run. You can imagine my joy. He walked to the front of the wagon and climbed up beside the driver, a young woman Kira had seen a few times beforestill a year or two below the pregnancy age, which made her fit for active duty. All right, Yoon, giddyup.
Interesting mix, said Marcus. He looked at Jayden. Whats the deal with this place?
Grunt salvage went through a few days ago, said Jayden. They logged a clinic, a pharmacy, and a weather station, whatever that means. So now I get to go all the way back out there on a bunny run. You can imagine my joy. He walked to the front of the wagon and climbed up beside the driver, a young woman Kira had seen a few times beforestill a year or two below the pregnancy age, which made her fit for active duty. All right, Yoon, giddyup.
The girl flicked the reins and clucked at the four-horse teamthe Defense Grid had a few electric cars, but none strong enough to haul a load this heavy with any degree of efficiency. Energy was precious, and horses were cheap, so all the best electric motors had been commandeered for other purposes. The wagon lurched into motion, and Kira put her arm behind Marcus to grip the side of the wagon. Marcus pressed in closer.
Hey, babe.
Hey.
Andrew Turner looked at them. Bunny run?
Thats just slang for a salvage run, with specialists like you guys instead of the normal grunts. Kira glanced at the mans growing sunburn. Youve never been on one?
I did a lot of salvage in the early days, like everyone, but after a year or so I was assigned to solar panels full-time.
Bunny runs are easy, said Marcus. North Shores kind of spooky, but well be fine. He glanced around and smiled. Road conditions arent great outside of the settlement, though, so enjoy the smooth ride while you can.
They drove for a while in silence, the wind whipping through the open wagon and tossing Kiras ponytail straight toward Marcus. She leaned forward, aiming the frenzied hair squarely at his face and laughing as he spluttered and brushed it away. He started to tickle her and she backed away in a rush, slamming into the soldier beside her. He smiled at her awkwardlya boy about her age, obviously pleased to have a girl practically sitting in his lap, but he didnt say anything about it. She scooted back into place, trying not to laugh.
The soldier next to Kira barked an order. Last marker. Eyes up! The soldiers in the truck bed straightened a little, held their weapons a little closer, and watched the passing buildings with hawk-like intensity.
Kira turned, watching the vast, empty city roll pastit looked empty, and it probably was, but you could never be too careful. The markers showed the edge of the East Meadow settlement, and the edge of the region their military could reasonably patrol, but it was hardly the edge of the actual urban area. The old-world city stretched out for miles in every direction, almost coast to coast on the island. Most of the survivors lived in East Meadow, or in the military base to the west, but there were looters, drifters, bandits, and worse sprinkled all around the island. The Voice had become the biggest fear, but they were far from the only one.
Even outside of East Meadow, the road here was well traveled and fairly open; there was garbage, of course, and dirt and leaves and the random debris of nature, but regular traffic kept the asphalt relatively clear of plants, and only rarely did the wagon bump over a major rut or pothole. The realm beyond the curbs was another story: Eleven years of disuse had left the city derelict, the houses crumbling, the sidewalks cracked and buckled by burgeoning tree roots, rampant weeds, and vast masses of kudzu that coated everything like a carpet. There were no lawns anymore, no yards, no glass in any of the windows. Even most of the side streets, less traveled than the main roadway, were crisscrossed with lines of green, Mother Nature slowly reclaiming everything the old world had stolen.
Kira liked it, in a way. Nobody told nature what to do.
They rode in silence a while longer; then one of the soldiers pointed to the north and hollered.
Pack rat!
Kira twisted in her seat, scanning the city, then caught a flash of movement in the corner of her eyea school bus, the sides hung heavy with odds and ends and the top piled high with boxes and crates and sacks and furniture, all precariously strapped down with hundreds of yards of rope. A man stood beside it, siphoning gas from the tank of a parked car; two teens, Kira guessed maybe fifteen and seventeen years old, stood next to him.
Dude, said Marcus, hes still using gas.
Maybe hes found a way to filter it, said Gianna, peering at the bus with interest. A lot of the outer communities dostill destroys the engines, but its not like were running out of those anytime soon.
They should just move into town, said Turner. He could have a real house, we could hook him up with electricity and security and . . . well, everything.
Everything but mobility, said Gianna. And anonymity, and freedom
What do you mean, freedom? asked the soldier sitting next to Kira. His name tag said BROWN. We have freedomwhat he has is anarchy.
Safety, then, said Gianna.
Private Brown hefted his rifle. What do you call this?
Large communities were the first to fall in the Partial rebellion, said Gianna. Population centers make easy targets, and if the Partials, wherever they are, develop a new strain of RM that overcomes our immunity, guns arent going to do any good against it. A place like East Meadow would be the worst possible place you could be.
Well, youre welcome, said Brown. Im glad all my life-risking is so appreciated.
Im not saying youre not appreciated, said Gianna. Im just saying . . . well, I just said what Im saying. Obviously I chose to live in East Meadow, Im just pointing out why he maybe didnt.
Hes probably a Voicer, growled another soldier. Raising those kids to be spies or assassins or hell only knows what else.
Private Brown cussed him out, and Kira turned away, ignoring them and feeling the wind on her face. Shed heard enough of these arguments to last a lifetime. It was a hot day, but the wind made it pleasant enough, and she always enjoyed the chance to snuggle up to Marcus. She thought about her night, and her morning, and the dead child and everything else. What was it my father used to say? she thought. I am stronger than my trials.
I am stronger than my trials.
It was hours later when they reached Asharoken, and the sky was already beginning to dim. Kira hoped they could finish the salvage quickly and camp somewhere farther from the shore. Asharoken was more of a neighborhood than a town, connected to the rest of the island by an unbroken mass of houses and roads and buildings, but Kira could instantly see why the grunt runs had avoided it for so longit was a narrow isthmus of land stretching north from the island, the sound on one side and a bay on the other. One shore made people nervous enough; two was almost too much to handle.
The wagon stopped in front of a small veterinary clinic, and Marcus groaned.
You didnt say it was a dog clinic, Jaydenwhat are we going to find here?
Jayden jumped down from the wagon. If I knew that, I would have picked it up myself when I was here two days ago. Grunts tagged meds and an X-ray machine; go do your thing.
Marcus hopped down to the street, and both he and Jayden held up a hand to help Kira. In a fit of mischief she took both hands, and smiled inwardly as they helped her down with sullen scowls.