Akasha 4 - Earth (18 page)

I sighed, relieved that she could
understand sex wasn't top priority in everyone's mind. But
no.

"Then you must be part of Erika's
group. No wonder I didn't recognize you. You all do keep to
yourselves; don't catch you around the prophylactic distribution
tent, if you know what I mean." She laughed, nudging me with her
elbow.

I forced a laugh in return.

Oh great, I have just come
out of a closet I didn't even know I was in.

But it worked. Her chatter ceased
until she found someone else to 'talk shop' with. There were no
protests when I began to fall behind. As soon as I was clear to
concentrate, I reached out, searching the electrical waves around
us, honing in on those with the telltale signature that screamed
human. I could do that much without causing an earthquake in my
head.

Bee was behind us, accompanied by a
Water and a muggle. I smiled. They were alone putting a safe
distance between them and One Less. I fell back further until
something else caught my ear. Crying.

I picked up the pace, making my way
forward among the ranks until I was almost to my very hetero female
companion. Just ahead of us were ten or so Elementals they had
caught from my group. I recognized the one crying, an eighteen year
old female who had joined us in Evansville.

"Shut it, will ya?" One of the guards
grabbed her arm, pulling her into him as they walked. "Once you get
to camp, there'll be plenty more to cry about."

She recoiled from his breath. He
laughed and shoved her away. The rest of the prisoners
instinctively crowded around her, shielding her from more
bullying.

"Quit messing with them," another
guard whispered to his coworker. "You're just jealous because the
prisoners eat better than us."

The man grumbled, but didn't outright
protest.

The girl stopped crying, but her
hiccups and deep, shaky breaths continued to float back to me. I
couldn't just abandon them. It was because of me they were here.
Apparently, they weren't the only prisoners. How did One Less
manage to hold Elementals?

Somewhere up ahead, a dog barked. I
flinched at memories of my penguin guard dog on Galapagos Island.
The feeling of my power drained, heavy limbs, and the bitter taste
of hopelessness raced through my body. Whether there was a place
like that close by or not, I couldn't let that happen to anyone
else, much less my people.

Without thinking, I reached for my
powers. By now it was muscle memory. They didn't come, only pain
greeted me. My head spun, splitting open as I fell to my knees. I
just managed to crawl to the side of the trail when I vomited,
spewing my insides all over the flora and its annoying, consistent
buzzes of electricity.

Desperate, I reached for my powers
again. Like a drug locked away from me, I panicked at the absence
of magic. I felt hands on my back, but the voices around me were
drowned out by the roaring in my head. I threw up again, dry
heaving stomach acid now. The puke-covered plant life raced up to
meet me.

* * *

"Easy there, princess."

I took two steps forward and
manipulated the gun out of Shawn's hand in a lightning quick move
Alex showed me once. I turned off the safety, took aim, and pulled
the trigger.

Chapter
26

Camp

A mullet swayed in front of me. All
business in the front and a party in the back. The mullet
disappeared as a head swiveled. Overgrown eyebrows and a square
chin greeted me.

"You must be Erika," I said. My mouth
was sticky and dry at the same time.

She smiled. "They brought you in
yesterday, and you've been asleep since. Must've been one helluva
fight – wish I’d been there."

"No you don't." I tried to shake my
head; a sharp stabbing pain shot through it.

"Here." She held a canteen of water to
my lips. I took a drink before she eased it away. "Doctor said not
too much."

"The prisoners." I tried sitting up.
My head felt like it would split open.

"Whoa, whoa, easy there." She pushed
me back down, it didn't take much.

I blinked away the pain.

When Erika came back into focus, she
was looking over her shoulder. She turned back to me, whispering,
"What business do you have with the prisoners?"

I didn't answer. My hands went to my
head, making sure it was intact.

"Listen," she said, "I don't care –
but other people will. All I'm sayin' is be careful who you say
things around."

I tried to nod, but then thought
better of it. "Sure, thanks."

She put a blanket over me. "They said
you was one of mine when they brought you here. I went along, but I
ain't never seen you before – at least not in my camp."

She stared at me, unblinking. I was
going to have to tell her something. "It's…I'm new here – and there
are…things…going on in camp that I don't want to participate
in."

She held up her hand. "Stop right
there – no need to go any further. Several of us that run with a
different crowd, but the majority of my group is just seeking
shelter. You’re welcome to bed down with us. There are just a few
rules."

"Okay." I could handle
rules.

"First, we follow the rules of camp.
Everyone pulls their duty – I can't protect you from
that."

"Okay," I repeated.

"Second, no drama."

I liked her already. "Is there a
third?"

"I think the second rule covers pretty
much everything else. Now, I've got clearance to keep you on bed
rest for another two days, but then I gotta put you back on
rotations. What were you on before?"

"Um…" I couldn't think
clearly. What duties was the camp likely to have? "Kitchen." I
pressed my lips shut.
Kitchen?
I couldn't think of a worse duty – which was why
it probably popped into my head. "But I hate it." I
added.

She raised an eyebrow. "Could be worse
– could be latrine."

I crinkled my nose.

She sighed. "I'll see what I can do –
someone will be in every few hours to check on you. In the
meantime, stay put."

Erika left before I had a chance to
thank her.

I surveyed my surroundings. I was in a
large tent, but just how large I had no idea. My small corner was
blocked off by a sheet draped over a clothesline. I heard activity
outside the tent, and kept my hearing on alert for the sound of
Shawn's voice. Three hours later, and no Shawn. Instead, I caught
clips and phrases of other helpful information.

I heard a working party returning for
the day.

"The river was choppy today – gear
kept rolling around on the boats."

"Good thing half the plant was
disassembled before we got here."

"Job will be done in a week. Then we
can head back to Utah."

"Only half of us will fit on the
boats, the rest have to walk."

I racked my brain, and
came up with Captain Carl's voice,
Fort
Calhoun's Nuclear Power Plant
. The
activity we’d seen was One Less. I shivered at how close we had
come to Shawn. I shivered at how close I was to him now. And if he
ever found Bee…

Bee!

Where was she? I closed my eyes and
reached out. The sounds around me dulled and the barely audible
buzzing of electrical signals became more prevalent. I followed
each one, systematically eliminating each Water I came across.
Finally, I found them – almost too far to detect. They were on the
other side of a hill, sheltered by thick brush. Safe for
now.

Do I run to them, or
stay?

I opened my eyes and the buzzing in my
head disappeared. I took a deep breath. Someone came in, smiled at
me, and set an aspirin on the table next to me.

Aspirin?!

I hadn't seen aspirin in months. I sat
up. Waves of pain gripped my head again. I reached for the aspirin
and swallowed, without the water. As she left, pushing back the
hanging sheet, I caught a glimpse of shelves and shelves full of
medication.

I lay back down, taking more deep
breaths until the pain passed. I'd be no use to Bee this way. Maybe
I’d stay until they could help my concussion; maybe even help me
get back my powers.

The more I thought about it, the more
it made sense. Perhaps putting a little distance between me and Bee
would help with the energy. No more earthquakes; nothing to tip off
Shawn. Then we could regroup and figure out what to do.

* * *

My first trip out of the tent was
necessitated by my full bladder. The late morning sun was blinding
after two days of sleep and a dimly lit tent. I stumbled forward,
feeling awkward and out of place, like the word 'spy' was tattooed
on my forehead.

No one seemed to notice. I adjusted
the blue band on my arm, spreading it out. Slightly more confident,
I took a deep breath, and followed the smell to the
latrines.

I watched the Elementals as they
worked around camp. They all looked like normal people. Fat,
skinny, old, and young. Diverse nationalities; I even heard several
languages. All were intent on some task. And all were…happy, or
seemed so, anyway.

There were hundreds of them. Shawn had
been busy. I passed a tent with a dozen or more people standing in
line just outside. "New recruits, stay in line! Have an ID ready if
you have one. You will be marked—" The man barking out orders cut
off at the screaming inside the tent. All eyes shot to him, people
straightening their backs and fidgeting, on edge.

He held up his hands. "This is the
price of admission. It will be clean and quick. You'll get a local
anesthetic before and an aspirin after."

More than I
got
, I thought.

I kept walking, strangely more secure
with the knowledge that One Less had several new recruits. Maybe it
wouldn't be so hard blending in.

"Whoa, there." I felt a hand pull back
on my upper arm. "Don't want to be stepping in there."

I glanced down at my foot, hovering
over a ditch. I threw my arm over my nose and mouth. "Oh, man – the
smell!" I turned to face my savior as he pulled me back to even
ground.

"I know. They’re behind on their
digging." He nodded to a dozen people with shovels a few yards
away, excavating more ditches.

Latrine duty. Suddenly the kitchen
didn't sound so bad.

"The women's bathrooms are over the
hill." He pointed in the opposite direction. "Much nicer facilities
from what I hear." He smiled.

I forced a laugh. "Yeah, well – thanks
for the rescue."

He shrugged. "No biggie. Maybe we
could meet up later – eat chow together?"

"Oh." My eyes went wide. I hadn't had
to turn a man down in a long time.

"I'll come find you – where do you
camp?" he asked.

"I'm – well, I'm over
there." I pointed in the general direction we had both come,
fumbling around for an excuse – an answer – something. "I'm with
Erika. Er, not
with
her – but I'm from her. Camp, that is."

I groaned.
Screwed that one up.

I put my hand on my hip and said a
little louder. "I'm part of Erika's camp."

"Oooohhh," said the man. "Sorry –
didn't realize. Well, have a nice day!" He turned and walked
away.

That was easy. Already Erika was
proving useful.

The sound of his zipper and a steady
stream of liquid hitting dirt got me moving. Up and over the hill,
another ditch greeted me. There was at least privacy from the camp.
I chose one end of the area and hesitated. My bladder, aching with
the need to empty itself, suddenly turned shy.

I waited until the women that were
there left, then relieved myself. No splashing – score. I stood and
zipped up my pants. I turned, planning a route back that avoided my
puddle and any other suspicious wet spots, when a procession of
prisoners crested the hill.

Tethered waist to waist with actual
shackles and chains, they were all Earths, guarded by other Earths
at a ratio of two to one. I recognized the one on the end as the
girl crying after she had been captured in the forest. More
specifically, she was one we had picked up in
Evansville.

After they made their way down the
hill, finding their spots in the ditch as best they could, I walked
over to them. I jumped, pretending to avoid a nastier part of the
ditch, and ran into her.

"Oh, sorry." I put my hands on her
shoulders, steadying her. Under my breath, I whispered, "Are you
okay?"

She turned, eyes going wide when she
saw my face. "You!" She glanced down to the blue band of material
on my arm. "You're with them?!"

"Hey – no talking to the prisoners!"
One of the guards pointed her finger at me.