Deadland: Untold Stories of Alice in Deadland (Alice, No. 5) (11 page)

Alice was herself not in much of a mind to pay attention.
She had always found these classes a bore, and after the events of the previous
day, she was convinced that all the kids should be learning how to shoot
instead of solving riddles on the board. When Sheila asked Alice to read
something out on the board, she said aloud, 'It must all be a riddle.'

The other kids laughed, and Sheila sent the kids home early.
As Alice was about to leave, Sheila asked her to stop.

'Alice, wait.'

Alice wondered if she was in trouble, and decided that she
might as well apologize before being made to do so.

'I'm sorry I said that thing about the riddle.'

Sheila sat down next to Alice, and she could see a sad smile
on her face.

'No, Alice, no more riddles.'

She took out the handgun at her belt and looked at Alice.

'I never paid much attention when I was being taught to
shoot, and I regret it. I was there a few feet behind you, but I was too scared
to do anything. I barely slept all night, as I kept thinking of how scared I
was and how I was unable to help despite being right there behind you.'

Alice didn't know what to say and Sheila continued.

'I just froze. I could see the Biters right there in front
of me. I could see Dakota standing there, and I knew that she was seconds from
being bitten. I knew all that, yet it was as if my hands wouldn't move. I had
the gun with me, but I hesitated, and I felt so terrible that because of me,
that little girl could have died. If I ask for you for something, will do it
for me?'

Alice nodded, though a bit uncertainly. It was unusual for
her teacher to ask something of her, and Alice wondered what Sheila wanted of
her.

'Alice, I don't want to be afraid again. I don't want to
freeze again like that. I've seen you practice more than any other kid, hell,
more than anyone else around here. Can I join you when you practice? Can you
teach me how to shoot like you do?'

***

MY VALENTINE

'Jane, what is a valentine?'

Her older sister blushed as Alice asked the question out
aloud in the middle of the dining room, where they were surrounded by dozens of
others. Jane whispered to Alice.

'I'll tell you later, okay?'

Alice didn't know why Jane was being so secretive about it
all.

'I heard Ravi ask you to be his valentine when he came
around the back of the garden last night. What does that mean?'

Jane gritted her teeth and got up and left the dining room.
Alice had no idea what she had said that would make her sister so mad, and when
she looked up she saw bemused expressions on her parents' faces and of most of
the adults around who had heard the exchange.

Gladwell leaned over towards Joanne.

'Jo, Alice is now eleven years old. Maybe it's time you had
a little chat about the birds and the bees.'

Jo looked like she was choking on her food.

'Bob, she's a baby.'

'A baby who's shot more Biters than you have. She's grown up
in a messed-up world, but in some ways, a pretty sheltered one as she's only
been around people she can trust. With all the new people joining us over the
last few months, it's inevitable that our girls will come into contact with new
young men. Jane is old and mature enough to know how to deal with things. The
more Alice knows of how men work and think, the better it is for her.'

'If you want her to learn about men, perhaps you should do
the talking.'

With that parting shot, Jo got up and left the dining room,
leaving Gladwell to contemplate what he had gotten himself into.

That evening, Gladwell and Alice walked around the garden.
The walls were down as the settlement was being expanded, and men with rifles
nervously stood watch as people worked round the clock to fill the moat and
expand the boundary walls.

'Alice, you asked Jane a question this afternoon so I
thought I'd answer it for her. Valentine's Day was something people celebrated
before The Rising when young men and women would give each other gifts and be
friends. A valentine is a special friend you made on Valentine's Day.'

'What kind of gifts?'

'Flowers, chocolates and so on.'

'What's chocolate, Dad?'

Gladwell looked down at his daughter, her seemingly
innocuous question breaking his heart, making him realize just what kind of
world she was growing up in and how she was missing out on so many things that
kids before The Rising had taken for granted.

'It's sweet.'

'Sweeter than a strawberry?'

'Yeah, sometimes.'

Alice thought that over.

'I'd like to have a chocolate sometime. Why did boys and
girls become special friends?'

'When young men and women reach a certain age, they begin to
have feelings for each other.'

'Feelings? Like when I find Junior stupid for showing off?'

Gladwell laughed.

'Not quite. You'll know it when you feel it. It's when you
find someone special, like your Mom and me.'

'Like Jane and Ravi?'

Gladwell thought about that one, weighing his words before
answering.

'Ravi seems like a nice young man, but let Jane decide how
she feels about him.'

'Dad, what if someone gives me flowers or gifts and asks me
to be a valentine?'

'You need to then decide just how you feel about that young
man. Is he really someone special to you or not?'

Alice mulled it over, and then shook her head.

'That is all so silly. I'll go and practice with Uncle
Jones.'

As Alice ran off to do her evening unarmed combat practice,
Gladwell followed her. He needed to talk to Jones as well.

***

They had a fresh batch of six kids aged between eight and
ten among the recent arrivals, and Junior, Alice and a couple of the older kids
were training them. While the new arrivals had survived in the Deadland for
close to a dozen years, most of them had never enjoyed the kind of stability
and security Alice's settlement had. Living on the run, with rudimentary
weapons, most of them were totally lacking in the kind of training that
Gladwell had taken for granted among his people, who were trained by experts
like Jones. As more and more newcomers came, to make them active contributors
to the settlement, they were getting crash courses in agriculture and
self-defence.

Gladwell had sent for Rajiv as well, and he arrived carrying
a small diary where he kept stock of their numbers and supplies.

'Bob, in the last three months, we've had thirty-two
newcomers. Now there are almost two hundred of us. We're expanding the walls to
fit people, but we also need to expand the gardens to grow more food.'

When Gladwell had taken the newcomers in, he had been under
no illusion of the practical difficulties they would pose, but there was no way
he could leave them to die in the Deadland, not when they had been shunted out
in part because they had chosen to follow the example Gladwell himself had set
by not going with the rest of their settlements to Zeus safe zones and farms.

'Jones, any more news about what's happening out there?'

'Not good, Sir. Not good at all. Zeus has the airport
operational and has at least two bases outside the old city. They're sweeping
the Biters out through air strikes—I was shocked to see they have Apaches
flying. I have no idea who's behind them, but they have a lot of kit that the
US forces had before The Rising.'

Rajiv spat in disgust.

'They say they're fighting back against the Biters, but all
they're doing is driving them out into the Deadland, right towards the
settlements, to force them to sign up. Latest I hear three more settlements
signed up last week and they were sent up in trucks to the farms. I also hear
from some newcomers that settlers are being sent off in planes.'

'Planes? Where to?'

'Rumors say Zeus' masters have got slave farms somewhere up
north.'

Gladwell had made his rejection of Zeus clear, and some
other settlements had taken up his call. The problem was that most of them did
not have the firepower or training to resist the Biters swarming the Deadland
as Zeus struck their hiding places. Many settlements had fallen to the Biters,
others had given into Zeus, and a few refugees had made their way to Gladwell's
settlement—a steady stream of arrivals whom they had taken in over the last few
months.

As they talked, the kids finished their drills and Alice
went to get her kit. She was still too young to be sent out on offensive
patrols, something she resented, but she knew she had to play her part. As the
adults got to work setting up perimeter defences, Alice and three older kids
were to work on a defensive patrol near the open walls at the rear of the
settlement.

The wall would be finished the next day, but for one night
there would be nearly a six-foot gap where the settlement had been expanded to
accommodate the newcomers. Working on it at night might get the job done
faster, but the light and sound would attract Biters, so the decision had been
taken to finish it at first light. People had already dug a shallow moat that
would slow any Biters down, but they all knew it would not be enough if a large
horde of Biters passed through, something that was becoming a common
occurrence.

They would take turns, watching the back of the settlement
in pairs all night. Alice and Junior were up first. Alice reckoned nobody would
get much sleep tonight, since everyone was on edge about the exposed wall. But
at least they could lie down on their cots and sheets, while Alice and Junior
would be out here in the cold.

Alice had her assault rifle lying on the ground by her side
and her handgun and knife were tucked into her belt. She was wearing a coat and
gloves, but still found herself shivering a bit in the cold. The adults said
that the land they lived in, which in the Old Days was called Northern India,
had always had cold winters, but after The Rising, the winters had gotten much
worse. Some said it was because of the nuclear blasts that had shaken the world
at the time of The Rising. Alice didn't know how all that worked, all she knew
was that the tips of her fingers felt a bit numb despite being inside gloves.

She turned to see Junior watching her, but he quickly
averted his gaze.

'Junior, do you think we'll have Biters come by today?'

'No idea. Hey, Alice. Can I ask you something?'

This must have been the first time Alice had heard Junior
ask for permission for anything, so she was curious to know what was on his
mind and she nodded.

'It's Valentine's Day tomorrow.'

'So I hear but how would you know anything about Valentine's
Day? You were a small kid when The Rising happened.'

'I talked to the older kids, like Ravi. He knows all about
it. He's quite keen on Jane, you know?'

Alice smiled, remembering her sister scurrying off for her
rendezvous with Ravi.

'I know. I just hope he's giving her chocolates. I sure
would like to share some with her.'

Junior had a blank look on his face, as if the way he had
planned for the conversation to go had been totally derailed, so he tried
bringing it back on track.

'Ravi was saying he'll set up a dance tomorrow for couples.
He sings very well.'

'I hope he doesn't sing too loud, or the Biters will hear
and come for his dance.'

Once again, Junior had a slightly dumbfounded look, as he
tried to steer the conversation the way he had hoped it would unfold.

'Alice, I was thinking maybe you and me...'

Comprehension dawned on Alice and she looked at Junior and
began giggling.

'Why are you laughing at me?'

'You need to at least give me flowers and chocolates first.'

Now Junior looked totally lost. Alice solved his dilemma on
what to do or say by reaching out towards him.

'At least start by giving me that scope. Let me have a
look.'

Alice took the night vision scope that had been salvaged
from the crashed Zeus aircraft and held it up to one eye. Jones had told
everyone that they had only two scopes, and they needed to be recharged using
the generator, which consumed precious fuel. So they were to be used sparingly
and only when absolutely necessary.

'Alice, only for a second...'

Now that she had the scope, Alice hardly registered Junior's
words and peered through the scope, switching it on. The land in front of her
was now bathed in a ghostly green light, but other than that she was amazed at
the clarity with which she could see everything. Then she saw two figures
ambling past the walls, out in the Deadland. With their shuffling gait, there
was no mistaking who they were.

'Biters.'

Junior sat upright at Alice's whispered warning. He took the
scope from her and took a look.

'Just two of them, but they're headed right towards us. I'll
go call others.'

Alice held his hand as he was about to get up.

'It's just two of them. We can take them out. I'm not afraid
of them.'

Junior hesitated. His instructions had been explicit—call
adults if there was any sign of trouble. The problem was that for reasons he
didn't fully understand, he didn't want to look weak or afraid in front of
Alice.

'Fine, let's shoot them and be done with it.'

Alice screwed up her face in a grimace.

'Shoot them? Just two Biters? We shoot them and we'll bring
in Biters from all around.'

Junior saw Alice reach for the knife at her belt. He had
always known Alice as being hot-headed, but going into the dark with knives
against Biters was not something he was sure he was ready to sign up for. Alice
stood up, the knife in her right hand, the handgun at her belt, and the rifle
lying where it had been.

'Come on, Junior. We'll get them as they fall into the
moat.'