The Day After Never - Blood Honor (Post-Apocalyptic Dystopian Thriller) (19 page)

“Water’s a little cold, but not too bad.”

“I’m used to cold.”

Ruby led Eve to her bedroom, leaving Lucas to his demons. He walked around the big vault, eyeing the paintings and stuffed birds. The art was abstract and colorful, and the birds so realistic they seemed alive. He was beyond tired, the fatigue so profound his bones ached. The day’s events had commanded all his reserves, leaving him emotionally and physically bankrupt. He wanted more than anything to ride off, find those responsible for his grandfather’s death and the massacre at the town, and give them a strong dose of their own medicine – no more mercy offered than they’d shown their victims. But doing so now would be stupid, and he knew it. He needed sleep. Tango did, too.

There was always tomorrow to smite the wicked, and he would be more than happy to act as the instrument of their destruction.

His thoughts turned to Sierra. He needed to find her and, if possible, rescue her – although for all he knew, she was already dead. Either way, the cartel would be a bloody smudge in the dirt by the time he was done with them. He’d see to that.

Which reminded him – he needed to reach Duke and warn him.

Assuming he was alive.

“Ruby?” he called as he walked toward her bedroom.

“Just a second, Lucas. We’re almost done.”

Several minutes later they emerged, Eve swaddled in a too-large robe, her hair glistening with moisture and her enormous blue eyes sleepy. Ruby’s expression was troubled.

“What?” Lucas asked.

Ruby raised Eve’s left arm and pointed to it with her free hand. “Her bracelet. There’s no obvious way to get it off, and when I took a harder look at it, I don’t think it’s just jewelry.”

“I’m not supposed to take it off,” Eve said with a shake of her curly locks.

“She kind of freaked out when I tried,” Ruby said.

Lucas knelt until he was eye level with Eve. “What do you mean? Who told you not to take it off?”

Fear flashed across her face. “Them.”

“Well, they’re not here, so you don’t have to follow any stupid rules,” Ruby declared, and practically dragged the little girl to her workstation. The older woman sat down, slid a drawer open, and removed a pair of Fiskars scissors.

Eve shook her head mutely, but Ruby ignored her and sliced through the hard black plastic. When the bracelet came off, Eve practically burst into tears.

Ruby shook her head. “None of that. See? Nothing happened. No reason to cry.” She studied the bracelet closely and then set it down on the tabletop. “You ever taste dried apricots?”

Eve shook her head, unconvinced.

“They’re like candy,” Lucas said.

“Candy?” Eve tried.

“Like the best thing you ever tasted,” Ruby assured her, completely serious.

Eve’s curiosity surfaced. “Really?”

“Yes. And I have some.” Ruby gave Lucas a sidelong glance and bent down to give Eve a hug. “And you can have a few, since you’ve been so brave today.”

Lucas turned the bracelet over in his hand as Ruby and Eve padded to the kitchen, and held it up to the light, close to his face. He could see that there was a thin copper core in the center of the rubberized plastic, and was considering cutting it apart when Ruby returned with a munching Eve. Ruby saw his intent clearly and gave him a single shake of her head.

“Let’s get Eve to bed.”

“Sounds like a plan.”

Eve looked up at him. “Are you going to be right next door?”

“Of course, and Ruby will be in the room beside you. You won’t be alone.”

She stared at the nearest bird, an owl with wings spread and its claws extended, simulating a landing. “Are there any of those?”

Ruby laughed. “No. Never got around to decorating it. Why, you want one to keep you company?”

Eve shook her head so hard beads of water flew from her hair, and spoke in a small voice. “No, thank you.”

When Ruby returned, any trace of good humor was gone from her eyes. “You take a hard look at it?”

Lucas nodded. “Yes. Looks like a wire inside.”

“I’ve seen those before. They were using them on prisoners before the collapse.”

“What is it?”

“Tracking device. Probably emits a signal on a radio frequency that can be pinpointed within a mile or so.”

“Tracking…” Lucas repeated, and scowled at the bauble. “We need to destroy it.”

Ruby slid another drawer open. “No. It could also contain information. Some of them did. All the soldier’s vital stats. Blood type, allergies, service history.”

“They were ambushed in the middle of nowhere by Raiders. Those idiots don’t have the capability to track their own behinds, much less a bracelet.” He stared at the black vinyl envelope in her hand. “What’s that?”

“An RFID-blocking wallet. It’s a kind of Faraday cage. I used to use it for my passport and credit cards, to prevent anyone from reading the RFID chips, but it will stop a transmitter, assuming this has one, which I’m betting is the case.”

“Faraday cage?”

“Like in a microwave, to prevent the radiation from escaping. Same thing.”

“Oh.”

“Of course, being three stories below ground and surrounded by high-density concrete and steel will also work.”

Lucas nodded. “How about a cave?”

“Same principle.”

“Doesn’t the bracelet require a power source? And how would it work? I mean, I understand that there are still satellites working, but don’t the signals have to be calibrated or something by a ground station?”

“I read about them. They have tiny batteries that will go for a decade.” Ruby paused. “And like I said, this wouldn’t require a satellite – just a receiver that was tuned to the same frequency. You’re thinking of something different.”

Lucas’s face hardened. “We should destroy it.”

“There’s been enough destruction for one day.” Ruby slid the bracelet into the wallet and pocketed it.

Lucas didn’t protest. He looked to Eve’s partially open door. “Does she have a tattoo? On her upper arm?”

Ruby nodded slowly. “An eye. How did you know?”

Lucas’s eyes narrowed and he retrieved his lemonade glass. He drained it and handed it to Ruby.

“I just did.”

Chapter 26

The muffled creak of his door opening woke Lucas from his deep sleep, and light streamed through the doorway. He groggily checked his watch – it was three a.m., and he’d been asleep for six hours. Ruby’s halo of wild gray hair announced her presence before she spoke in a low voice.

“The motion detector triggered. Someone’s here.”

Lucas sat up as he came fully awake. “Could it be an animal? The horses?”

“No. I have them set inside the building up top. Someone was in there, and they found the hatch. There’s a contact alarm on the rim.”

Lucas was already pulling on his shirt. “What do we do?”

“The blast door should hold them off. Unless they’ve got a plasma torch. Or some pretty serious explosives and can blow the lock.”

“We can’t just sit around while they figure out how to cut off our air.”

“I’m not suggesting that.” She looked away. “Finish dressing while I get Eve up.”

Lucas was waiting for them when Ruby emerged with the little girl.

“They must have tracked us here with the bracelet,” he said.

“Probably,” Ruby agreed.

Lucas frowned in thought. “But if it’s the same group that razed the town…we passed them last night. Why didn’t they know we were there?”

“Depends on how the chip is programmed. Could be intermittent, transmitting only every couple of hours to conserve battery time.” Ruby patted her pocket. “If that was the case, you simply got lucky.”

“Some luck.” Lucas eyed Eve. “Good morning.” He turned back to Ruby. “So what’s the plan?”

Another alarm chirped from the workstation. Ruby blanched. “That was fast.”

“More bad news?”

“That’s the motion detector outside the blast door. They’re inside now.”

“But you said the door would hold.”

“I said it
should
. But I’ve been wrong before.” She looked around the big room wistfully and then nodded. “All right. I’ve got a bug-out bag with some basics in it. Lucas, grab your stuff.”

“Why?”

“One of the nice things about these bunkers is they came equipped with an escape tunnel.”

Lucas didn’t need to be told twice. He strapped on his M4 and went to retrieve the saddle and bags, and was back in moments. Eve watched him wordlessly. Ruby reappeared with her shotgun and an overstuffed backpack, and shrugged it on.

“The tunnel’s through the kitchen,” she said, and made for the doorway, Lucas and Eve right behind her. She opened the pantry, fumbled with a bolt, and then another heavy blast door materialized behind the wooden panel. Her key opened the industrial lock, and she guided them through before pausing in the doorway.

“What are you waiting for?” Lucas asked.

“I need to arm the security system.”

“I thought it was already armed.”

“No, these are for motion detectors inside the bunker. Any movement, the system gives you half a minute to enter a code, and if you don’t, it activates.”

“And then what?”

“Then, hopefully you’ve made peace with your maker, because you’ll be meeting him shortly.”

Lucas appeared incredulous. “Really?”

“I told you I was a crazy old lady.”

“Crazy like a fox.”

Ruby depressed a button, entered a four-digit code, and then pushed the door closed. It sealed with a solid
thunk
. She pulled a foot-long LED flashlight from her bag and twisted it on, and the tunnel flooded with light. “This way,” she said.

“Where does this let out?”

“About seventy-five yards from the building. The hatch is disguised as a boulder. Very lifelike.”

“What if some of them stayed above ground?”

“We’ll cross that bridge when we come to it.” Ruby’s tone left no room for discussion, so they marched the length of the concrete passage until they reached a spiral staircase that led up into the gloom.

“Can you get your saddle and bags up that without a problem?” she asked.

He considered the steps. “Should be able to.”

“Then you go first. There’s a small room at the top, with a ladder that leads to the surface.”

“Any way to see whether someone’s standing near the boulder?”

“At one time there was a camera system, but it’s long dead. Prehistoric. Thing was the size of an air compressor. I never got around to changing it out.”

“Too bad.”

“One problem at a time.”

Lucas mounted the stairs. His gear grew heavier with each step, as though the earth was conspiring against him making it to the surface, but he eventually emerged onto a platform and switched on his penlight. Rusted steel rungs continued up the far wall to a hatch above. He set the saddle and saddlebags down and waited.

Ruby’s footsteps echoed up the stairway, with Eve’s less pronounced sandaled footfalls a fast contretemps behind her. The older woman’s unruly silver mane rose through the gap and then she was standing beside him, breathing heavily, Eve on her tail.

“I don’t suppose you have night vision goggles?” he whispered to her.

“As I said before, I didn’t get a chance to finish outfitting the place.”

“Once I’m up by the hatch, I’m going to shut my light off so my eyes can adjust. Stay completely still. Understand, Eve?”

The little girl nodded, and Lucas could see that she was taking the situation seriously – oddly understanding for a child, he thought – although what did he really know of children? He turned to Ruby. “If the coast is clear, I’ll let you know, and we’ll trade places while I haul my gear up.”

“Lead the way,” Ruby said.

Lucas hauled himself up the rungs, flakes of rust crumbling in his hands, and then shouldered the hatch up. The hinges groaned, and he winced at the sound. Once it was open, he ascended the rest of the way, ending up in a space six feet square, with no more than four feet of headroom and another hatch above, with four steps leading to it.

He extinguished the flashlight and paused, listening for anything that might signal someone nearby. After a long thirty seconds, he moved to the hatch and felt along the rim for the twist handle he’d seen. He slowly turned the lever, sucking in his breath as the latch scraped. When it was open, he unslung the M4, took a deep breath, and pushed the hatch upward a few inches with his shoulder so he could peek through the gap.

Only to see nothing but high grass.

He stood with the hatch ajar, ears straining, cursing the ringing that was the legacy of all the shooting over the last days, and when he didn’t hear anything, pushed the hatch higher and, climbing the steps, higher still until the fiberglass boulder above it was lying on its side, the hatch pointing straight up at the night sky.

Lucas stepped into the open air and peered through the rifle’s night vision scope. The field appeared empty, but he could make out at least twenty horses by the shabby decoy building. When he was sure that there were no guards with the animals, he ducked back below and hurried down the rungs.

“It’ll take two trips to carry all this. I’ll be right back,” he murmured, his voice low.

Ruby offered a whispered assent, and he hoisted his saddle and carried it to the antechamber, and then returned for his saddlebags.

He leaned into Ruby. “Follow me up.”

The old woman took Eve by the hand and showed her how to climb the ladder, and hauled herself up behind her. The girl scrambled up with the ease of youth, while Ruby’s limbs complained with every rung. When they were crowded into the small room, ducked low, Lucas eyed them both in the dim starlight. “Eve, stick with Ruby.”

“Okay.”

“Ruby, you know this area better than I do. Make for the fastest route away from the bunker, and I’ll follow you.” He stopped, remembering their earlier conversation. “You said the acreage is surrounded by a chain-link fence?”

“I said it was when I bought it. I tore down most of it. Hated it.”

“Not a sound once we’re outside – noise travels on a still night,” Lucas warned. He took another look outside and then angled his head toward them. “Ready?”

They both nodded, and he took the steps two at a time. Once above ground, he crouched low. Ruby and Eve emerged, and Ruby pointed to her right and said in a soft whisper, “Over there.”