Judgement: The Undergrounders Series Book Three (A Young Adult Post-apocalyptic Science Fiction Thriller) (16 page)

T
wenty feet
away Viktor balances precariously on an uneven chunk of concrete overhanging the edge of the roof. His head is sunk low to his chest and his jaw moves up and down as though he's talking himself into the unthinkable.

Dimitri takes a tentative step forward, holding his hand up behind him to keep Trout and me at bay. "Papa!" he says.

Viktor doesn't even acknowledge that he's heard him. Cautiously, Dimitri closes the distance between himself and his father, calling out to him, but trying not to spook him.

Viktor's head swivels in our direction. His wild eyes sweep over us like beacons. I freeze, afraid even to flinch a muscle for fear he'll turn and take a forty-foot death dive to the ground below. Dimitri shrinks into a crouch as if this stance is somehow less intimidating to a man about to end his life. In reality, it's a terrifying posture, like a cougar stalking its prey. A sick feeling rises up from my stomach. "Please," I call to him. "Don't do this, Viktor!"

"Papa, I'm going to come over there now." Dimitri enunciates every word like he's speaking to a man with dementia.

Viktor stares at him with the kind of blank expression that tells me nothing's getting through anymore.

I hold my breath as Dimitri treads forward through the debris another half-step. Viktor keeps his head perfectly still, studying Dimitri's stealth-like movements like a curious bird. He lets Dimitri take several more steps toward him before a flicker of comprehension crosses his face. He turns away and shuffles several inches farther along the concrete ledge.

I grit my teeth. If Dimitri moves too quickly he'll spook him, too slowly and he might be too late. Beside me, I sense Trout getting ready to lunge toward Viktor, which would accomplish nothing. He could never make it across the roof in time to grab him. The only way Viktor's coming down off the ledge is if Dimitri can talk him off it--a familiar voice he can trust and someone worth holding onto life for.

Dimitri raises both hands in front of him. "Papa, I'll stay right here. Please, back away from the edge."

Viktor blinks. His head swivels back and forth. He peers over the edge like he's searching for something. Time expands until my brain feels like it's going to explode, each elongated minute stretching farther than the one before. I close my eyes, but when I do a gruesome bloodied Viktor, sprawled unnaturally in the debris, springs to mind.

Suddenly, Viktor lets out a long, shuddering sigh, startling my already frazzled nerves. Trout grips my arm.

"It's okay, Papa," Dimitri says, his face blanched of color. "I know you don't want to do this." He holds out his arms to his father. "Just put one foot behind the other and shuffle backward. I'll be waiting right here for you."

Viktor looks up and locks eyes with him. He stretches out his fingers toward Dimitri and then tips silently forward.

"Noooooooo!"

Dimitri's scream burns like acid through my scalp. He stumbles across the debris in the direction of the iron ladder, clutching at the air like a blind man. Trout and I lunge for him at the same time.

"No, Dimitri," I say. "Let me go down first."

A shout from below tells me someone has discovered the body. A shiver goes through me as I reach for the ladder.

By the time I get down to the ground, Viktor's body has been covered up. I exhale a heavy sigh of relief. The other scientists gather around Dimitri when he appears, forming a barrier between him and the gruesome sight of his father's blanketed corpse.

"Let me see him!" Dimitri sobs.

"He wouldn't want you to see him like this," one of the scientists says. He drapes an arm over Dimitri's shoulders and steers him back inside their living quarters.

I turn to the remaining scientists. "Take Viktor's body and bury him right away. I don't want anyone else getting wind of this."

"What happened up there?" one of the scientists asks, eying me warily.

I pin a steely gaze back on him. "His daughter was murdered. He couldn't deal with it."

The scientist throws an uneasy glance around, but the others seem satisfied with my response and turn away. There's no benefit to telling them what Viktor did. It will only stir up more ill will between the clones and the scientists.

"That was rough," Trout mutters.

I grimace. "Dimitri's not going to be in any state to help us locate the Megamedes now."

"At least he got the Superconductor up and running."

"Don't get your hopes up," I say. "It won't save us if the Schutz Clones come on foot."

Trout and I watch as the scientists pick up Viktor's remains and lay them in a cart.

"Let's go," I say. "We need to get back to the barricade."

A
s we approach
the container gate I can tell there's something going on. The riders and Undergrounders are clustered around talking and pointing through the barricade. I pick up the pace steeling myself to hear what I've been dreading most.

The Sweepers are coming!

I try to block the thought, but it circles like a shark in my mind.

Trout throws me a frightened look. "This could be it."

My heart flutters in my chest. "Come on!" I break into a panicked run and reach the barricade just ahead of him.

"What's happening?" I yell up to the guards in the watchtower.

"Some woman wants in. She's alone, but she won't surrender her weapons so we can't open up the gate.

I press my face up to the barricade and peer through the concrete and tangled steel girders, searching in both directions. My heart leaps when I spot a statuesque profile. "Lou!" I scream.

She turns in my direction and gives me a
good to see you too, now open the dang gate
kind of nod.

"Let her in!" I yell up to the guards. "I can vouch for her."

I hold my breath as the container gates swing wide and Lou strides through. She throws the guards a defiant look in passing and marches straight up to me.

I grin and embrace her. "You came after all."

Her eyes cloud over. "This isn't a social call. I came to warn you there are Sweepers headed this way."

My smile freezes, aching like an ice cream headache in my cheeks. The Ghost's ominous words flash to mind.

There is no freedom. The sweeps have resumed
.

"How many?" I ask.

She balks like she doesn't understand the question, then leans in close so no one can overhear. "Ten ships so far. They're camped out a few miles northeast of the Craniopolis."

My mouth goes dry. Two hundred Schutz Clones, give or take. Along with any number of Sweepers. A considerable force to reckon with and more could be on the way.

"What's going on?" Trout asks.

I introduce Lou to him and give him the news.

He rubs a hand slowly across his jaw.

"The Hovermedes won't be able to approach the city as long as the Superconductor is operating," I say. "The Sweepers will have to deploy Schutz Clones on foot." I search Trout's face for the strength I need, but he's as terrified as I am. We can't keep fighting like this. We need an exit strategy, a final solution. It all comes down to finding the Megamedes.

"We need to arm everyone in the city." Trout says. "Even the Rogues."

"Not Rummy," I say.

Trout throws me a dark look. "We could always let The Ghost take care of him."

"Take
care
of him?" I raise a brow. "You mean kill him?"

"I mean let them work it out," Trout says, sounding disgruntled.

"You might as well put a bullet in his head yourself," I say. "That's not who we are."

"Your call. I'll set the rest of the Rogues up with weapons," he says and strides off.

Lou turns to me, a smile on her wrinkled lips. "I like that boy."

I grimace. "I do too when his head's screwed on right."

She makes a disapproving clicking sound. "You can't fight other people's wars for them. Sounds like that's what you're trying to do."

"You should meet Big Ed," I say. "He talks like you."

Lou swings her quiver over her shoulder. "Don't care much about meeting people."

"Neither does he," I say. "You'd get along great. But first, you and I need to go to the courthouse and let Blackbeard know the Sweepers are coming.

B
lackbeard's eyes
widen when Lou describes the fleet of Hovermedes camped outside the Craniopolis.

"We have to locate the Megamedes and get on board somehow," I say. "It's the only way to shut them down. Even if we manage to fight off this first wave of Schutz Clones more will come."

"What about Jerome and the deviations?" Blackbeard asks.

"They're in no immediate danger. If the Sweepers discover them, they can feign ignorance of everything that went down in the Craniopolis."

Blackbeard looks unconvinced. "I'll head over to the CommCenter at the Superconductor and update Jerome."

"Got any water around here?" Lou asks.

Blackbeard gives a curt nod. "Follow me."

They exit the room just as Trout reappears. "I put the Rogues on the west side of the main gate," he says. "They're willing to fight--just thankful they made it to the city before the Hovermedes landed. Sven and some of his men are keeping an eye on them all the same."

I drum my fingers on Jerome's desk. "Do you really think I should let Rummy out?"

Trout looks somber. "We could use him. And The Ghost doesn't need to know he's here. We can put Rummy on the east side of the barricade with the riders."

I push my hands against the edge of the desk and slide my chair out. "Let's find out if he's up for war."

We make our way down the hallway to the holding cells. I can barely suppress a shudder as the memories come flooding back. Only a few short hours ago Sven and Trout carried Rocco's ossified corpse along this same stretch of corridor. Yet, every time the grotesque image springs to mind, I see Sven's face.

I nod in passing at the guard outside the holding cell and step inside the room. Rummy gets to his feet and I waste no time relaying the news to him.

"A fleet of Hovermedes, eh?" A slow grin spreads across his face. "We got 'em running scared."

"You can help us if you're willing to do it on our terms," I say.

"I ain't gonna sit in here with my dang feet up. I'll fight 'em."

"Just to be clear," I say, handing him back his weapon, "if we survive this you need to leave the city afterward."

"That's a fair shake," he says, inspecting his gun.

"There you are," Lou's voice calls out from behind me.

Rummy glances up. The crossed cleaver tattoos on his neck twitch once. My blood chills at the darkness that comes over his face.

I swing around and my eyes light on the wild turkey feather tips peeking out from Lou's quiver.

"
I
couldn't find
you any--" Lou's voice trails off.

I turn in time to see Rummy raise his rifle. My heart booms in my ears. Trout yells something. My lips part but the only sound is a whooshing past my ear. Rummy grunts and collapses on the floor in front of me, an arrow protruding from his chest.

Lou slings her bow over her shoulder and walks over to him. She kneels and checks for a pulse. "He's gone." She gets to her feet and locks eyes with me. "Who was he trying to kill?"

I blink, taken aback by the question. Rummy wanted Lou dead for sure. But was he about to shoot me for hiding her? "I don't know for sure," I say. "You killed his brother. And I was protecting you."

"He kept the arrow so he could track you down," Trout says, holstering his gun.

Lou runs a hand over her lined brow. "Sounds like one of us had to die, sooner or later."

I stare down at Rummy's body. I'm not sure why I don't feel more relieved he's dead. Rummy and I had some strange connection in the end. He saved Curly's life, and he had my back a time or two. But I'm glad Lou's alive instead of him.

"If it makes you feel any better," I say, "You just solved a huge problem for me."

Lou raises her brows.

"If The Ghost had discovered I was hiding Rummy we'd have had a bloodbath on our hands before the Sweepers got anywhere near the city."

Lou nods thoughtfully. "It's going to take more than an arrow to stop the Schutz Clones advancing."

Her words snap me back into action. I turn to Trout. "Find Jody and tell her to send out some riders as scouts. I want to know as soon as the Schutz Clones are on the move. Lou and I will swing by the Superconductor and see if Blackbeard has made contact with Jerome."

I track down a couple of Undergrounders and instruct them to bury Rummy and mention it to no one. With any luck, people will assume he died in the battle to come.

The air outside the courthouse has a bite to it. Lou and I are halfway to the Superconductor when the first snowflakes land on us. I look up, startled to see the sky has turned a translucent gray. Several more white flakes drift gently downward. "Look!" I say to Lou. "I haven't seen snow since the meltdown.

Within minutes, the few remaining children in the city are in the street trying to catch the flakes in their outstretched palms. They shriek with delight, tasting the snow with the tips of their tongues like eager puppies.

The feathery snow melts as soon as it touches the ground, much to the kids' disappointment. I catch sight of Izzy running around in circles, arms outstretched to the sky, laughing hysterically. I smile, remembering the first time I set eyes on her grubby face, her spindly arms wrapped tight around Tucker's neck. I saved her once, I only hope the Sweepers don't take her in the end.

I turn at the sound of hooves and a moment later Jody and the other riders come into view, trotting in the direction of the main gate.

Jody waves across to us, her body seamless with the horse's movements.

I wave back, my stomach churning as the riders disappear around the corner. I should have known Jody wouldn't send her riders into danger without her. I'm asking a lot, sending them out on a precarious scouting mission, but we need to be prepared for what's coming.

Lou pokes me in the ribs. "Hey! I thought we were going to the Superconductor?"

"We are," I say, tearing my eyes away from the horses.

"Snow's an odd sight after all these years," Lou says, as we walk off.

"If it's snowing, the earth must be cooling, right?" I say.

She pinches her brow. "The last snow we had was right before the meltdown."

I throw her a look of alarm. "You don't think it's going to happen all over again, do you?"

Her sharp eyes appraise me. "The earth is disturbed. Anything's possible."

We walk the rest of the way lost in our thoughts. If the snow is an omen of another meltdown we won't be safe in the city even if we can defend it. Maybe we won't be safe anywhere ever again.

I
nside the Superconductor
, the air is cool and static. A low humming tickles the hairs in my ears. Across the room, Jerome's hologram hovers above the CommCenter. Blackbeard rests his palms on the desk, head bent, as though weighing something Jerome said. He looks up when he hears us enter.

"Everything okay?" I ask, glancing between him and Jerome's hologram.

Blackbeard tugs at his beard. "The Sweepers are planning to evacuate the deviations. We need to get them out of the Craniopolis."

"It's too dangerous," Jerome says. "There are hundreds of Schutz Clones camped outside, and an armed guard posted at the door to Terminus. We'll never get through."

Blackbeard draws his bushy black brows together. "They don't know about the tunnel. We could use it to evacuate the deviations. We just need to figure out how to eliminate the guards at the door to Terminus without alerting the rest of the Schutz Clones."

Lou pats her bow. "Consider it done."

Jerome rubs a hand across his jaw. "Has to be tonight. The Sweepers are going to begin documenting the deviations for transport tomorrow."

"We'll leave within the hour," I say. "That'll get us there by midnight."

"Even if we manage to get them out, it's a long trek to the city," Jerome says.

"What if we take them east of the Deadwood River to the homesteaders instead?" I say.

"We don't know if the homesteaders made it," Blackbeard says. "The Sweepers could be extracting them as we speak."

"Your call, Jerome," I say. "Talk it over with the other deviations before we get there. You don't have long to decide."

Jerome acknowledges with a nod and the hologram fades from sight.

I gesture to the other scientists at work around the room. "Has anyone made any progress on contacting the Megamedes?"

Blackbeard points to a bald-headed, lanky man. "Gustav picked up a weak signal about an hour ago. He's been chasing it ever since."

I cross the room to talk to Gustav. He runs his fingers through his hair and sighs. "I've sent for Dimitri. He's the only one who can lock the signal in."

"If he's able to function," I say. "He's in shock."

"I told him we picked up a signal," Gustav says. "He wants to do this for Iskra's sake."

Before I can respond, the entry door swings wide. Dimitri walks in, stiff-limbed and pale. A short, stocky scientist guides him by the elbow over to the CommCenter. He stares at the controls avoiding eye contact with any of us.

I walk over to him and lay a hand on his arm. "Thanks. I know it's hard for you to be here."

His feverish eyes search my face. "Iskra wouldn't be dead, and my father wouldn't have been forced into the decisions he made if it weren't for the Sweepers. I will find the signal if it kills me." He leans over the control panel and depresses a sequence of buttons. "Iskra would want me to finish what she started."

I tighten my lips. He doesn't know about Iskra's deception and it's better that way. We desperately need his help to lock this signal in. I watch for several minutes, scarcely daring to breathe as Dimitri scans through row after row of data. His forehead glistens with sweat as he calls out occasional sequencing instructions to the other scientists. The minutes tick by and I wrestle to keep my doubts at bay that Dimitri can pull this off.

Lou grows restless and wanders around the room poking at equipment. I slump back against the wall. If Dimitri comes up flat, I have no plan "B" to save the city.

My eyes are beginning to glaze over when a harsh insistent buzzing fills the room. Lou jumps back from the monitor she was fiddling with. "Did I do that?" She looks around guiltily.

The scientists stare in unison at Dimitri. His fingers work furiously, adjusting knobs and gliding over screens until the buzzing sound evens out to a low hum.

"We did it, Iskra! We did it!" he whispers, his voice filled with awe. He sways forward so alarmingly that I grab him. He turns and looks at me. "I have the Megamedes!"

I glance around the room at the others. Trout grins across at me. The scientists exchange disbelieving looks with one another.

"Are you sure it's the Megamedes and not a Hovermedes?" Blackbeard asks.

Dimitri nods. "Positive. It's within a thousand mile range of here," he says, studying the screens in front of him.

"Why can't we hear anyone yet?" I ask.

Dimitri turns up the volume, then lowers it again when the loud buzzing sound starts back up. "Give it a minute."

I press my fingernails into my palms until Dimitri gives a sharp gasp. 'Listen," he whispers.

The other scientists gather around. I take a shallow breath, not wanting to drown out even the faintest murmur.

A moment later a loud crackling breaks the silence, and then a voice comes over the line. "... I repeat, do you copy, Craniopolis?"

"We read you," Dimitri responds. "Identify and state your position."

"This is the Megamedes. We have a contact bearing two hundred and eighty at four hundred and sixty miles and--"

The line sputters briefly and for a moment I think we've lost them.

"All surviving personnel evacuate to the Megamedes. I repeat, all surviving personnel evacuate to the Megamedes."