Alice in Deadland Trilogy (6 page)

‘
General
Appleseed himself is here. From what I gather, what our Intelligence folks most
want is tactical intel. So just tell them what happened when you went into the
Biter base, what you saw, the numbers of Biters, and so on. Also, any clues as
to where hidden entrances could be will be very helpful. That
’
s really all they want, so
it should be pretty simple, and then you
’
re
on your way home.
’

It sounded simple enough and Alice was feeling much more
reassured when she stepped into the briefing room. General Appleseed was the
only one there and as Dewan saluted, he asked him and Alice to sit down. The
big general folded his arms in front of him and smiled, trying to put Alice at
ease. With his big neck, huge arms and bald head, it was hard to think of the
general as anything other than a raging bull, but Alice smiled back, glad that
he was at least trying to be nice.

‘
Ms.
Gladwell.
’

He paused, puzzled as Alice stifled a laugh.

‘
I
’
m sorry, nobody
’
s ever called me Ms.
Gladwell before.
’

Appleseed grinned and continued.

‘
Okay,
Alice. I know you
’
ve
had a tough few days, but you know just how terrible our continuing war is, and
any information that can help us strike a blow for all humans would be of great
value.
’

Alice didn
’
t
say anything, but she noted that Zeus was now claiming to represent all humans.
She wondered what her father would have said to that as the general continued.

‘
So,
please just let me know everything you saw and experienced. Don
’
t worry about any detail
seeming to be too small or insignificant; just tell me everything from the
beginning.
’

So Alice began her tale, starting with how she had seen a
Biter jump down a hole and how she had followed. She watched Appleseed raise
his eyebrows as she talked about the first confrontation in the caves and how
she had managed to get away. He was scribbling notes furiously and stopped when
she mentioned about the room she had entered and the seal she had seen on the
door. He looked at Dewan.

‘
That
can only be where the US Embassy was. I know we had underground bunkers, but
who would have thought those mindless monsters would have used our own
underground bunkers and the ones the Indians had built against nukes to hide?
When we
’
re done here,
I
’
d like a recon
group to go and check out the area.
’

Alice continued her story, about how she managed to get into
the room and saw old newspapers. When Appleseed asked what was on those papers,
Alice replied that she saw the pictures of when The Rising first happened, but
that she could not read fast enough. She thought she saw a flicker of
satisfaction cross Appleseed
’
s
face as he continued.

‘
Now,
these creatures were outside the door. How did you manage to get out?
’

Alice started speaking and then wondered how she could
possibly explain the drawing on the wall and why the Biters did not tear her
apart or at any rate bite her to convert her into one of them. However, she had
never been a good liar, and struggled with what she should tell the general.
Her dilemma was solved when a trooper knocked on the door.

‘
Sir,
we are serving lunch in the cafeteria now. Will you come and join us, or should
I send it over here?
’

Appleseed growled, his friendly demeanor gone in an instant.
‘
Trooper, we
’
re working here! Colonel,
can you ask them to arrange a bite here?
’

Dewan walked out, resting a friendly hand on Alice
’
s shoulder as he left.
Alice looked back to see Appleseed looking at her with his chin in his hands,
as if contemplating something. Finally he came around the table to sit next to
Alice.

‘
Alice,
we will continue the debriefing when Dewan gets here, but there is one thing I
needed to ask you in private. It is a highly confidential matter that nobody
else should know about, but if you helped me with this, it could make a huge
difference to the war effort.
’

He took out a photograph from his pocket and put it on the
table in front of Alice. It was an old, faded photo, with some of the edges
torn off, but the smiling face with greying hair in the middle of it was
unmistakable. It was the woman whom Alice had met as the Queen. She tried to
contain her reaction, but Appleseed must have noticed.

‘
Alice,
I need you to tell me if you saw this woman.
’

***

Alice was saved from having to answer by Dewan coming in
with some sandwiches. As they ate, Alice told them about how after the
encounter in the Embassy room, she had managed to hide in the underground caves
and tunnels for the next two days. Appleseed was skeptical and his expression
showed it.

‘
When
our men first saw you, it seems you were in the company of Biters. How did that
happen?
’

Alice
’
s
mind raced. At the best of times, she was terrible at making up excuses; now
she had to find some plausible reason for why the Biters around her had not
attacked her when they first encountered the Zeus helicopters.

‘
General,
I was hiding behind some ruins when your helicopters arrived. The Biters would
have found me in minutes if they had not landed up when they did. I was hardly
with the Biters then
–
but with all the fighting, I couldn
’
t
get to the troopers and I hid underground.
’

‘
And
what about the incident in the forest when we gave you the beacon? Or did you
again just happen to be near the Biters? One of our men said that it looked
like they had you in their custody.
’

Alice saw that Appleseed was not going to be so easily
convinced.

‘
Biters
can hardly take anyone in their custody. They tried to get me in the forest and
I was fighting them off when your men arrived. It was all so chaotic that
someone must have mistakenly believed the Biters had captured me. I was scared
and in the middle of so many Biters that I just dove into one of the openings
in the ground. It seemed to lead into one of their bases and I hid there,
waiting for you guys to get me.'

Dewan nodded at Appleseed and whispered that he had indeed
seen her fighting Biters when he first saw her. The general just grunted as
Alice continued her tale about how she had been deep underground escaping the
Biters when the rescue mission was mounted. As she talked, she noticed that the
general seemed to be relaxing a bit as he clearly got pieces of information
that he deemed useful, such as the exact location of the tunnels near the old
Yamuna river, and more than once he whispered to Dewan to get sorties out over
the areas to check them out for any sign of Biters. Finally he closed the
writing pad in front of him and asked Dewan to go and check if the helicopter
to fly Alice back had been arranged.

As Dewan left the room, Appleseed was again right beside
Alice, the photo in his hand.

‘
Alice,
in my time I
’
ve
interrogated many men and women, and I know that you
’
re keeping something from me.
’

He reached over and gripped Alice
’
s knee hard, and then Alice felt his hand
moving up her leg.

‘
In
my time, we had many ways of persuading young, attractive women like you to
co-operate.
’

Alice cringed as the general
’
s
hand moved higher
–
and then, on instinct, she grabbed his hand with her left hand, and just as her
instructors had taught her, she twisted it and brought her right palm hard
against the flat of his hand. Appleseed
’
s
hand snapped back and he howled in pain as Alice stood up, ready to fight. The
general towered over her and outweighed her by a big margin, but Alice
’
s parents had not brought
her up to give in so easily. She would go down fighting if need be. Appleseed
was holding his wrist and his face was red.

‘
I
should have known better than to reason with a wild girl from the Deadland like
you. Savages like you aren
’
t
fit to be with humans anymore. The days of isolated settlements are going to be
a thing of the past
–
and you need to learn how to live in human society again.
’

Alice spat on the ground, knowing that there was no need to
waste her effort on being polite any more.

‘
So
that we can be slaves to you and your masters, whoever they are? Is the war
against the Biters your mission or is that an excuse to get power?
’

Appleseed smiled.

‘
The
woman whose photo I showed you is a known traitor and a Biter sympathizer. We
know that she lives among them and claims to be some sort of leader. We don
’
t let that information get
out because we don
’
t
want anyone to know that the Biters can be lived with after all. She is a
traitor and the Central Committee has already condemned her to death. Anyone
collaborating with her is also a traitor.
’

Alice didn
’
t
flinch at the threat.

‘
I
have no idea who she is, but it looks like you are the ones who are keeping
secrets. How would your men feel if they knew that the Biters could actually
co-exist with us, and that your war is based on lies?
’

Alice regretted what she said next a second after the words
left her mouth, but she was angry and wanted to lash out, to see Appleseed on
the defensive.

‘
I
cannot read fast, but I can read, and in the rooms below, I saw papers that I
had lots of time to read. Papers that talked about experiments done before The
Rising, about how the Great Fires were wars waged by elements in human
governments to get power, about how people could have been vaccinated if your
masters wanted to.
’

Appleseed looked as if he had been punched in the gut, but
then he smiled: not a smile born out of good humor, but that of a predator
looking at a helpless prey.

‘
Your
friend Dr. Protima had tried to reach out to her associates in the early days,
telling them such stories, and I personally had the pleasure of breaking many
of them. I never got her but I managed to stamp out these lies. My masters have
been working for years to create a new Earth, one where there is no
overpopulation, no poverty, no weakness. They selected those who were to be
vaccinated and we would have repopulated our cities and started afresh. The
spread of the infection and the way it mutated surprised us, but we would have
achieved what we wanted long ago by wiping out those critters had it not been
for that stubborn hag.
’

Alice was suddenly very afraid. There was only one reason
Appleseed could be sharing all this so openly: if he had no fear that she could
give away these secrets. He loomed over her.

‘
And
you, my dear, a wild girl from an inconsequential settlement, ruled by that
delusional, idealistic father of yours. Do you think you can come in the way of
the vision of the most powerful men in the world? The Central Committee is
based in China, but unlike what your father believes, it
’
s not just the Chinese. Elements of the
Chinese government of old are there, together with the richest and most
powerful bankers and politicians of the Old World. You are like an insect
before their vision for a New World.
’

He heard the door open as Dewan came back, and he leaned
close and whispered,
‘
Be
careful, my dear. Accidents are known to happen all the time in the Deadland
where you live.
’

Alice walked to the helicopter, numb with fear and dreading
what was to follow. A part of her had wanted to believe that the Queen's rants
and prophecies were nothing more than the product of a delusional mind. She had
wanted nothing more than to forget about all that she had seen and heard while
she had been among the Biters and to get on with her life. To have Appleseed so
casually admit that it was all true chilled her. There was, of course, the
realization that perhaps everything the Queen had said had been true after all,
and that perhaps the Biters were not the only, or even the most dangerous, enemies
ordinary people like Alice and her family had to fear. As the helicopter took
off, she saw Appleseed standing on the flight line, waving to her.

Her first thought was that she would go and tell her father
everything. She didn't know if he would believe her, but she was sure that he
would have some ideas on what to do. After all, what could she do alone against
someone like Appleseed, his masters, and all the force Zeus could bring to
bear? Between the hordes of Biters, who regarded every human with fear and
hatred, and Zeus, what chance did she have alone?

Then an even greater fear gripped her. Appleseed had known
who her father was. He would know that she would likely go and tell him
everything. She suddenly felt very afraid for what the coming days were going
to bring for her and her settlement.