She stepped into the hallway, closed the door to her room and set out to find Mildred. If something was going terribly wrong, they’d have a better chance of surviving if they were together.
WHEN CLARISSA REACHED the entrance to the part of the hydro-electric tunnel she called home, there were still several muties waiting outside. They seemed happy to see her, and even happier still when she opened up a bag of leftover fish and uneaten scraps for them.
“Gather the tribe,” she told them as they ate.
“Series?” one of the muties asked.
He’d meant to say “serious,” but it had come out wrong. Of course it was serious, but what was the best way to explain it to the triple-stupe brain-damaged muties so they would understand. “Yes,” she said in the end. “Triple-big serious.”
The muties seemed to respond well to her words, but she decided they needed to be even more excited about what was going to happen.
“Tonight. All you can eat.”
That did the trick.
The muties cleaned up the fish scraps, then scrambled away to gather the tribe.
“I DON’T SEE ANYBODY out working the orchards,” Dean said as he crouched amid a tumble of weeds. “All I see is sec men walking up and down the rows between the trees like they’re looking for something.”
“Someone,” Jak said.
Dean looked at Jak. “You think someone escaped?”
Jak nodded. “Ryan.”
“But if no one’s out working, how will we get a message to my dad, Krysty or Mildred?”
“Don’t know. Mebbe give signal.”
“What kind of signal.”
The albino shook his head. “Don’t know yet.”
SEC CHIEF GANLEY brought the raiders to a rest atop a rise north of the ruins of the city that had been labeled Clifton Hill. From here they were able to see the waterfalls, what had once been Niagara Falls and, more importantly, the thriving farm complex. Behind the perimeter of a wire mesh fence was the wealth of breeding men and women that Reichel ville desperately needed to survive.
“Is that the place?” someone behind the sec chief asked wearily. They had been carrying fish to offer in trade for hours over the rough terrain, and many were close to the point of exhaustion.
“Yes, it is,” Ganley answered.
“It’s fenced in, and there are sec men on patrol everywhere.”
It seemed madness now to think they could trade their meager fish for slaves, but that had been their plan from the start and Ganley was determined to try trading first. If he succeeded, they might be able to trade for breeders on a regular basis, and if he failed, then they would return to try to take what they couldn’t get in trade.
“I’ll need two to come with me,” Ganley said. “The rest of you can rest here until dark.”
Rhonda was the first to step forward, followed by several men.
The sec chief put a hand on Rhonda’s shoulder. “No women. They’d take you as a slave in a second. Besides, I need you here to lead the raid if I don’t return.”
Rhonda looked disappointed, but understood.
“Franz and Ruznicki,” he said.
The two men stepped forward and picked up the fish they’d be offering in trade.
Ganley turned to the rest of the raiders. “If we’re not back by dark… We hope we won’t meet you on the last train heading west.”
And then they were gone.
Chapter Thirty-Four
Emon Kauderer walked the fence to the west and north of the main building. Along with the other sec men in his squad, he’d been walking the orchards all morning, searching them tree by tree for the one-eyed outlander. But as thorough as their search had been, there’d been no sign of him. It was if he’d simply vanished into the misty morning air.
Grundwold was feeling the heat from the baron over it, too, and Kauderer hoped they found the outlander soon. If they didn’t, then the sec chief would be chilled, enslaved or sold off at auction, and who knew which one of the sec men would take over. One thing was for sure, anyone who desperately wanted the job wouldn’t be right for it; anyone good enough for the position knew enough about the baron not to want it For a moment Kauderer thought of putting his name in for consideration, but then thought of the fate of Grundwold hanging on the search for this one man, and thought it better just to be an ordinary sec man for a little while longer. The jack wasn’t all that much, but the food was good. It wasn’t all that tough a job, and he could rut as often as he liked with the skags in the sec men’s lounge. It wasn’t a bad life, all things considered.