Alice in Deadland Trilogy (5 page)

'It was just a dream.'

'Every prophecy is a dream, but if we believe in something,
we can make it happen. The powers behind this conspiracy have a vested interest
in keeping this war alive. Have you considered how they keep those helicopters
flying? How do they get those weapons, and why do they focus so much on
bringing more and more human settlements under their control using the fear of
Biters as an excuse? We fight it out in these barren wastelands while the
elites behind all of this are perhaps living in luxury somewhere, in their own
settlements from which they rule over us, with all the wealth and resources of
the world at their disposal. You
’
ve
seen only the Zeus troopers since they patrol the Deadland, but I know they are
commanded by Red Guards, Chinese shock troops. I have seen them myself near
Zeus bases beyond the Deadland. How is it the Chinese still seem to have such
an organized force?'

Suddenly a beeping noise came from Alice's pockets and she
froze in fear. She had forgotten all about the beacon. The Queen reached out
and took out the small sphere from Alice's pocket and recoiled as she saw the
logo on the side.

'What have you done?'

Then Alice started hearing the dull thud of explosions
overhead.

***

Alice used the distraction of the explosions to bolt from
the room, narrowly evading Bunny Ears' outstretched arms. The Queen was
screaming now, all human speech and civility replaced by the wild screeching of
Biters. Alice heard footsteps behind her, and given the rage the Queen had
flown into, Alice thought it more prudent to get to safety instead of trying to
reason with her. The sound of explosions was now closer and Alice ran into a
corridor that seemed to lead towards the explosions. Overwhelmed by panic and
the hope that she might get back to her parents, Alice put aside all that the
Queen had said and focused on finding whoever had come to rescue her.

She came across a group of four Biters huddled in a corner
and realized just how foolhardy she had been in running out alone. Without the
Queen or Bunny Ears to save her, and with the attack on the base unfolding
outside, the Biters would tear her to shreds. The four of them took one look at
Alice and stood, moving towards her with their teeth bared. In such a confined
space, the only silver lining was that they would have to come for her one by
one, and she used that to her advantage. As the first Biter, a fat woman with
her scalp half shorn off, came within reach, Alice kicked her in the chest,
putting all her body weight behind the kick. The kick sent the Biter stumbling
back and into the path of the one behind her, and the two of them stumbled down
in an ungainly heap. However, Alice had lost her footing and was now on the
floor. She knew she was now in severe danger. There was no way she could fight
off all four Biters in such a confined space, and with Bunny Ears and others
likely chasing her, there was no question of her going back the way she had
come.

As the first Biter reached for Alice, his head exploded and
he fell to the side. The other Biters turned to face this new threat and within
seconds, all three were down, with their heads split open by precisely aimed
shots. Alice looked down the passageway to see three black-clad soldiers. She
recognized one of them as the grey-haired officer she had seen in the forest.
He waved at her with his assault rifle.

‘
Come
over here!
’

As she ran towards them, she heard howling behind her. The
officer shouted to his two men,
‘
Set
up Claymores here and let
’
s
withdraw.
’

Both troopers set the anti-personnel mines and then joined
Alice and the officer who were already racing up the tunnel. Alice saw some
movement to her right and dove to the ground just as a Biter hiding in an
opening jumped at them. The trooper behind her was not so lucky as the big
Biter grabbed him and bit his throat. The trooper
’
s
screams soon gave way to gurgling pleas for help as he fell to the ground,
bleeding from his throat and face. The grey-haired officer with her kicked the
Biter off his comrade and then shot him in the head twice. He then paused and looked
at the fallen soldier, and Alice saw him close his eyes as he shot him in the
head.

They then continued running up the tunnel. Alice could now
see the light ahead from the tunnel
’
s
opening as they heard the Claymore mines explode behind them. As they got
closer to the opening, she saw more than a dozen Zeus troopers, each carrying
an assault rifle and standing at attention. The officer shouted to them.

‘
Hold
them while I call in the air strike! The Red Guard jet should be on patrol now.
’

Alice stumbled out, slipping and falling on the grass
outside, which was slick with the dew that came with Delhi winter nights, as
the troopers took position and began firing into the tunnel. The officer pulled
her to one side and asked her to wait while he reached into a backpack lying
nearby for a handheld radio.

‘
Apache
One requests immediate air strike at last reported co-ordinates. We
’
ll be clear in five.
’

With that, he ordered his men to plant a few more mines at
the entrance and then get as far away from the tunnel as possible. It seemed
like an eternity since Alice had been standing in front of the Queen, but in
reality it had all taken less than five minutes. Alice was still in a bit of
shock, and followed meekly when the officer pulled her along. It was now nearly
Sunset and the sky was beginning to darken as they jogged to a nearby hill and
then the officer pushed her down, telling her to lie flat. She saw the other
troopers take up position next to them. She now had a clear look at the tunnel,
from which Biters were flowing out. The troopers all had their rifles at their
shoulders and were firing away. Many of the Biters were hit by bursts of full
automatic fire and twisted and turned before falling. Alice knew only a head
shot would take them out permanently, but the damage the bullets did would make
sure many of them never walked, as she saw legs torn off by the land mines and
withering fire. She had accurately read the officer
’
s mind as he bellowed to his men.

‘
Don
’
t bother with head shots.
Take their legs off so they can
’
t
move away from the target zone in time.
’

Suddenly Alice saw the entire tunnel disappear behind a
giant cloud of smoke, and a split second later she heard the deafening boom of
the explosion. The shock wave almost lifted her off the ground and as she
looked again, she saw that the tunnel had largely caved in and there was a
gaping hole in the ground, exposing the warren of tunnels underneath. There
were dozens of Biters littered around, their bodies burning in the wreckage.

The officer spoke calmly into his radio.
‘
One more pass. Aim for the
opening.
’

Alice heard the roar of an aircraft flying overhead and
looked up to see a dark shape silhouetted against the setting sun. It turned
towards them and dove down, and Alice saw a small cylinder detach itself from
the aircraft and track down towards the tunnel. It entered the hole opened by
the previous explosion, and once again there was a thunderous explosion as the
bomb struck home. Alice had never witnessed such an awesome demonstration of
firepower and she was in total awe of what Zeus seemed to be capable of when
the officer told her to keep going.

‘
Some
of the critters must have got out and will be around among the trees. So we can
’
t afford to wait.
’

They ran through the forest, and Alice was soon setting the
pace that the Zeus troopers were trying hard to match up to. When the officer
yelled for her to stop in a clearing, she saw that he was panting a bit when he
caught up with her.

‘
You
sure are fast. Wait here while I radio in to confirm where our pickup zone is.
’

The troopers set up a perimeter as the officer radioed in.
It was now nearly pitch black and Alice was beginning to get worried. It was
one thing to bomb the Biters from thousands of feet in the air as the Zeus
forces or these so-called Red Guards had done, but it was quite another to
contend with them on the ground in the dark. Alice had grown up in an
environment where knowing how to best survive exactly in such circumstances was
the difference between life and death every single day. As she scanned the Zeus
troopers around her in the dim light thrown up by their emergency lights, she
realized that for all their heavy weaponry and fancy equipment, they looked
terrified. Only the officer seemed a bit composed, and as he finished asking
for the helicopters to zero in on their lights, he smiled at her.

‘
I
never introduced myself. My name is Colonel Dewan and I am in charge of the
North Indian operations for Zeus.
’

‘
Hi.
I
’
m Alice Gladwell.
’

Dewan smiled as he packed his radio.

‘
Alice,
everyone knows who you are by now. The only human to be a captive of the Biters
and live to tell the tale.
’

Alice felt more than heard something and whispered to the
colonel,
‘
Should your
men have those lights on?
’

He replied, even as he was putting a scope on his rifle,
‘
All of them have night
vision scopes like these on their rifles. We are quite safe here.
’

Alice was not so sure. Having lived and fought in the woods
since she was a child, she knew that in the darkness, victory went not to those
with the most firepower but those who knew how to use the darkness to their
advantage. The troopers, including the colonel, seemed to believe, as she had
done just days ago, that the Biters would just mindlessly walk in to be
slaughtered. But after what she had seen, she wondered if they even knew what
they were up against.

Something rustled in the dark to her right and a trooper
opened fire. Dewan screamed.

‘
Cease
fire till you have a confirmed target!
’

Another trooper screamed as a huge shadow leaped out and
grabbed him. Alice noticed the floppy hat in the dim light as the trooper
screamed while being dragged away into the trees. The other troopers were now
firing wildly, and Alice saw that Dewan was now screaming on his radio for the
helicopters to come in. More shadows emerged from the trees and two more
troopers fell within seconds. Dewan had picked up the light and shone it to his
right, revealing a blood-stained trooper who had now crossed over to the Biters
and was walking towards him with his teeth bared. Dewan calmly raised his
pistol and put two rounds in the man
’
s
head as he asked Alice to pick up a weapon to defend herself. Alice needed no
prompting and had a rifle in her hand and was on her knees, waiting as the
Biters emerged from the trees. The remaining troopers were huddled in a tight
circle and as the Biters came in sight, Alice selected single round mode and
put a bullet into one
’
s
head. She then sought out another target and brought him down. Dewan was doing
the same, and he had shot three Biters in quick succession.

The troopers took courage from Dewan and Alice and they
began firing in a more disciplined way, covering each other, using overlapping
fields of fire. As Alice kept squeezing the trigger, she realized this was
turning into a slaughter. There were dozens of Biters down now and as others
emerged from the trees, it was a matter of seconds before they were cut down.

She heard the sound of helicopters emerging and then the
rattle of machine gun fire as one of the helicopter gunships opened fire,
scattering the nearest group of Biters, many of them cut to ribbons by the
heavy-caliber fire. One helicopter hovered overhead and lowered ropes which the
troopers used to climb on board as other helicopters provided covering fire.
Alice grabbed the rope when her turn came and then looked into the forest one
last time. She thought she caught a glimpse of tall, pointed ears like a rabbit
and a frail looking female form next to him. She then heard the Queen scream
one last time.

‘
Alice,
remember the truth! Don
’
t
believe their lies!
’

As she scrambled onto the helicopter, Dewan sat down next to
her.

‘
You
’
re safe now. It
’
s all going to be okay
now.
’

Alice sat in silence, thinking back to the Queen and
everything she had told her.

***

FIVE

It was the first time Alice had tasted chocolate and she
licked the wrapper clean. Food for her had consisted of whatever could be
hunted or scavenged. One or two men in their settlement had harbored dreams of
growing their own food, but when you
’
re
constantly on alert and may have to abandon your position in minutes, you don
’
t really have a lifestyle
suited for agriculture. Dewan had walked in and sat down next to Alice. He had
showered and changed and was wearing a simple khaki uniform. He seemed to
epitomize all the ways in which Zeus was different from the life she had known.
He was clean, wearing spotless clothes, and was not constantly looking over his
back. He seemed to be about the same age as her father, and he asked Alice if
she wanted to shower and change before she met anyone else.

Alice was instantly aware of just how she must have looked
in the muddy clothes she had worn for the last few days. At the settlement, her
mother had gone on and on about how young ladies should always appear well
groomed, but when your big extracurricular activity is sniping at Biters and
your favorite toy is a handgun, meeting such archaic standards was impossible.
Alice
’
s hair was
cropped short (so that nobody could grab it in a close fight, as her
instructors had said), and her face was lean with her cheekbones showing
prominently. She was thin, but certainly not weak, since she had the wiry frame
and strength that came with years of running and combat training every day.

After she changed into some khaki clothes Dewan gave her,
she joined him in what appeared to be a cafeteria of some sort. There were long
benches and tables which were filled with black-clad Zeus troopers. Most of
them were men, though Alice did see several women. They all greeted Dewan with
deference and he asked her to sit down and ordered dinner. Alice felt her mouth
water as hot soup and chicken were put in front of her and Dewan smiled.

‘
Dig
in and don
’
t worry
about formalities. You must be starved.
’

After that, she needed no more encouragement as she polished
off her food. Dewan told her that he would talk more to her the next morning
and showed her the way to her room. As Alice was walking to it, she saw two
young Zeus troopers looking at her and whispering among themselves. One of
them, a young, pimply Indian boy, worked up the courage to talk to her.

‘
Are
you the one from the Deadland who lived with the Biters?
’

Alice looked him straight in the eye and saw him flinch at
her response.

‘
The
Deadland?
’

‘
Oh,
you know, the settlements outside our centrally administered zones where people
are
…
.
’

‘
Free.
’

Alice completed the sentence for him. Her father had told
her about how Zeus tried to get more and more settlements into their fold,
promising protection in return for the supply of young men and women for their
army and effective control over their defenses and supplies. The settlements
who signed up got security, but effectively became bonded labour, growing food
in farms for Zeus and their masters, giving up their right to bear arms unless
Zeus allowed them to, and supplying young men and women to serve in factories
and mines that those who controlled Zeus ran. Nobody really knew who the real
masters behind Zeus were, but the Queen had mentioned Chinese Red Guards, and
she had heard her father sometimes grumble about how he would never submit to
the Red Guards.

She walked back to her room, and lay down on what was a
simple cot, but a luxury compared to what she had just been through, and also
compared to the old sleeping bag that was her bed back home. She was fast
asleep within seconds of hitting the mattress.

She was awakened by a light tap on the door and she found
Dewan standing there, wearing a black uniform.

‘
Your
father is on the way and should be here any time. I thought I
’
d let you know.
’

Alice ran more than walked to the small attached bathroom to
shower and change, and then joined Dewan in a small meeting room. There were
two more men there with him wearing black uniforms covered in medals and
badges. One was white and other Indian. The white man, who was bald and built
like a bull, spoke first.

‘
Good
morning, young lady. My name is General John Appleseed and I oversee all the
Asian operations for Zeus. I flew in last night when we learnt that your extraordinary
ordeal was coming to an end.
’

The Indian, wearing the traditional Sikh turban, spoke next.
‘
I am Major Balbir
Singh. I am in charge of the Indian subcontinent.
’

Alice never thought she would get intimidated by any man,
but the way these men spoke and the way Dewan showed deference to them told her
just how big and organized Zeus was. That feeling was intensified when her
father walked in. He was tall, wiry and wore faded jeans and a crumpled shirt.
At first sight one might have assumed that he would be awed by the men in front
of him, but he gathered his sobbing daughter in his arms and looked them
straight in the eye as he thanked them.

As he began to leave with her, General Appleseed spoke up
softly.

‘
Chief
of Mission Gladwell. It is a pleasure to see you after all we have heard of
you. It is a pity that you choose not to join your old comrades again.
’

Alice felt her father stiffen as he turned to talk to the
General. There was a cold bite to his voice, very different from the gentle,
loving father she had known.

‘
General,
I served the United States of America and what she stood for: freedom, liberty
and equality. That nation is dead, but the spirit lives on in all of us who
refuse to bow to the new dictatorship of big business and hired guns and the
Chinese tyrants who pay you.
’

The General
’
s
eyes hardened but his voice remained soft.
‘
How
long can you last out there by yourselves in the Deadland?
’

‘
We
’
ve done well so far.
’

With those words, he whisked Alice out of the room and
walked her out. She wanted to tell him so much about what had happened, but he
just hushed her, telling her that they would talk more when they got back. When
they stepped out of the building, Alice saw that there was a sprawling air base
outside and Dewan ran up behind them.

‘
Your
helicopter is waiting there. Mr. Gladwell, you have an incredibly brave
daughter. Good luck to you both.
’

Alice
’
s
father seemed to size Dewan up for a second and then, seemingly liking what he
saw, shook his hand, thanking him again as they walked towards the waiting
black helicopter. Alice saw four boys whom she recognized from the settlement
standing at a far corner. They looked miserable and scared and one of them
glared at Alice as she passed him.

‘
Dad,
what are they doing here?
’

‘
They
’
re here to join Zeus as
recruits.
’

‘
But
we never
…’

Her father stopped her.

‘
That
’
s the price we paid to get
you back. Four young, untrained boys for a trained combat veteran like you. We
all agreed it was the best decision when Zeus demanded something in return.
’

Alice felt like she had been punched in the stomach and felt
sick that four boys would now have to live away from their families, in the
murky world of the Zeus army, because of her. As they sat down in the
helicopter, she looked at her father. He looked old and tired, as if he had
aged years in just the few days she had been gone. He had implied that the
leaders had decided on trading her for the boys, but she knew just how much it
must have been gnawing at his own conscience. She reached out and took his arm,
and he smiled at her. She saw Dewan waving to them as the helicopter took off
and she sat back, wondering just what she had got herself into with that one
fateful decision of jumping into that hole behind the bunny-eared Biter.

***

Alice
’
s
mother smothered her in hugs when she landed, and her older sister, Jane,
ruffled her hair. That was as close as she had ever seen Jane get to a public
display of affection. Jane was almost ten years older than Alice, and remembered
enough of what the world had been like before The Rising to harbor bitterness
at what she had lost. That bitterness had never entirely left, and if anything,
it had acquired an even sharper edge with the years of fighting to survive.

For the last one year, they had made an abandoned village
their home. The village was located near the crest of a small hill with a great
view of all directions, and that made it both easily defensible in case of
attack and also offered several escape routes if they had to abandon their
settlement.

When Alice walked into the large building that had once been
a school but was now the communal dining hall, she could feel many eyes on her.
She had been well liked and also respected for her skills, but she saw that
something had changed. Many of the men and women she had fought shoulder to
shoulder with were averting their gazes. She sat next to Jane, who seemed to be
in a foul mood as well.

‘
What
’
s wrong?
’

Jane took a small bite and then answered,
‘
Everyone
’
s really angry about us
giving into Zeus and sending our boys over. They think once Zeus has a foothold
they
’
ll be back for
more. Some people are saying Dad made the others agree since you were the one
involved.
’

Alice ate in silence, realizing that whatever she said would
not help.

She came back to her room and saw that a fresh set of
weapons had been laid out for her. Whether they grumbled or not, everyone at
the settlement knew that her skills could be needed at any time. She spent the
next few hours cleaning her guns and then lay down to sleep.

She heard a knock at the door. It was her father.

‘
Alice,
tomorrow some folks from Zeus will be here to take you.
’

Alice sat up in a panic, wondering if saving her life had
meant sending her to join Zeus as well. Her father saw her expression and sat
down next to her.

‘
No,
no. You don
’
t need to
worry. I would never let them take you. But they want to question you about
what you saw and heard while you were in the Biter base. Nobody
’
s survived so long behind
enemy lines and they want to know what you saw. Anything you
’
d like to tell me before
you go with them?
’

Alice thought about all that the Queen had said, and even as
she began to say something, she realized just how ridiculous it would sound. A
Biter Queen who could talk. A supposed conspiracy behind it all led by shadowy
powers trying to bring about a New World Order. Biters who were not entirely
the bloodthirsty monsters everyone took them for. Whichever way she tried to
spin it, she thought it made her sound crazy or delusional. So she just
shrugged and lay down to rest and was asleep within seconds.

She was awakened by the sound of helicopter rotors, and when
she sat up, she saw her parents standing near her.

‘
Sweetheart,
they
’
re here to get
you. They promised us that you
’
d
be back by evening. Just tell them whatever they want to know and you
’
ll be fine.
’

Despite his reassuring words, Alice could see the strain in
her father
’
s eyes.
She knew that he was dealing with a lot of compromises he had been forced to
make to get her back: sending the boys to Zeus and dealing with those he had
tried hard to avoid all these years. He had often told Alice that unlike before
The Rising, when there was at least some form of order due to governments, the
chaos and vacuum that had resulted had been filled by greedy, power-hungry men
and their private armies. He had spent all these years keeping their settlement
free of such men, and now, to protect his daughter, he had been forced to
compromise with them. Alice was old enough to realize just how much of a
sacrifice her father had made for her and she hugged him tight as she boarded
the black helicopter.

The helicopter turned north-east, and flew over forests on
the outskirts of what had once been Delhi, but was now simply called the Ruins.
On her previous flights she had been too terrified or tired to notice, but now
she got her first look from the air at what lay below. It was a depressingly
familiar pattern: miles upon miles of wrecked buildings and debris, broken by
the occasional small settlement of humans. Without many standing buildings, the
sands from the Rajasthan deserts were now freely swirling over the cities
nearby, creating a near constant haze.

She then saw a large fortified compound with gun turrets on
the walls, followed by the airfield she had seen before. As the helicopter came
to a rest, she saw Dewan run up to it. While he was a stranger by any
standards, he was the one familiar face and she felt a bit more comfortable
having him there. He spoke loudly to be heard over the helicopters and Alice
leaned over to hear what he was saying.