Ashes, Ashes (15 page)

“Let’s go,” Del muttered.

Lucy fumbled for her knife. It wasn’t at her waist. For the first time, she had forgotten to fasten it on her belt before she went to bed. She cursed herself and dug into the sweatshirt pocket. Not there, either.

It must have fallen out.

She bent to the tarp she’d been sleeping on, searched the surface with trembling fingers. The thick layer of clothing made her clumsier than usual.

“Come on,” said Del. “And be quiet, would you?” Lucy thought but couldn’t be sure that she’d muttered something about a “buffalo.”

“My knife.”

“Leave it.”

“No!”

Del snorted with impatience. “Hurry,” she said. Lucy felt around the edges of the tarp and was finally rewarded with the hard outline of the hilt under her fingers. She picked up the knife, instantly feeling more confident.

A motor revved nearby. It sounded as if it was right in front. The tent flap was tied shut, but it was flimsy. They couldn’t go out that way.

“We’ve got to get out of here,” Del whispered, making for the back of the tent. She pulled on the bottom where it was pinned to the earth by metal hooks.

“Help me get this loose. Quietly.”

Lucy joined her and, stowing her knife in her pocket, grabbed a handful of canvas and heaved. The ground was hard, compacted mud; the stakes had been pounded in, and they couldn’t pull it loose. Del muttered a few choice curse words under her breath.

“Wait,” Lucy said and pulled her knife back out. She stabbed at the heavy material. The sound of tearing canvas seemed incredibly loud. Del stifled an angry exclamation, which Lucy ignored. Once she had a big enough hole, she held it open and Del clambered through it, swearing as her boots caught in the folds of material.

Lucy started to follow her, and then she remembered her backpack. First rule: Always carry what you need with you. She hesitated. She could imagine what Del would say, but the habit was too ingrained. For over a year she had survived on her own because she was always prepared for the worst, and because her backpack held everything necessary for her survival.

She couldn’t leave it.

Del was just about through, but it would just take a second.

She turned back to the tarp, scooped up her backpack, and shrugged it over her shoulders. Then she ran back to where Del’s foot had just disappeared through the gap.

“What are you doing?” Del hissed, sticking her head through the hole.

“I’m coming!”

Someone burst into the tent. A heavy body struck Lucy in a tackle. She fell to the ground, biting her tongue hard on the way down. The taste of blood was in her mouth. She was pinned by strong arms attempting to grab her own and the weight of someone’s body across her legs. She flailed, striking out wildly, and twisted around so she was lying on her back. Lucy kept struggling and kicked out with both feet. A sharp
crack
. She had hit something hard enough to make her ankles throb. An explosive grunt, the sound of fumbling, and then a helmet thudded to the ground near her head. The visor was smashed. Before she could struggle to her feet, the man threw himself forward. Lucy brought her knees up, trying to force him off of her. She lashed out with her fist, feeling the vibration in her elbow as she connected with his face. His breath was hot against her cheek. She felt a slick wetness on her forehead. Her blood or his?

A thick arm pushed against her neck. She tried to land another punch, but it was hard to breathe. Black dots danced in front of her eyes, and her pulse pounded in her temples.

Lucy attempted to scream, but the sound was choked off in her throat. With one last burst of energy she raised her head and bit down as hard as she could. It wasn’t much—the man’s arm was covered in thick material, denim or heavy cotton, but it was enough. He shifted and she arched her back, simultaneously rolling to one side, and managed to push him off. She scrambled to her feet, panting, and aimed a kick at him, not caring where it landed. She heard the satisfying
thump
of impact.

The man groaned and threw out a hand, closing his fingers around her ankle, and suddenly she was pulled off her feet. She landed hard on her back, the blow cushioned by the bag across her shoulders, although she felt a sharp pain radiate up her spine. She must have landed on her dead flashlight. The breath left her body in one involuntary gasp. And then he was dragging her toward him. She dug her fingers into the dirt, but it was useless.

Lucy twisted her body, trying to break free, and then from the side and slightly behind him, a shadowy figure appeared. Del raised the hurricane lamp high, then brought it down. Some instinct must have warned him because he moved slightly, and rather than hit him on the head, the lamp smashed into his shoulder. Still, it was enough to break his hold on Lucy’s leg. Shards of glass flew everywhere. Lucy felt a chunk sting her face. Del hauled her to her feet and dragged her out the front of the tent.

They ran toward the shouts and screams, then stopped, blinded. The square was lit up. The vans were positioned in a half circle, their engines idling. On top of each one was a powerful searchlight.

Lucy shielded her eyes. She could see little pockets of people to either side, mostly younger kids clutching one another and crying; the old man with the walrus mustache she’d noticed at dinner. No one who looked like they could defend themself. Many of the shelters had been destroyed, the wooden supports smashed, canvas tarps trodden into the dust. There were perhaps a dozen Sweepers scattered around.

She could hear yelling coming from other parts of the camp. They must be everywhere. The scavengers were divided. She wondered where Aidan was. Henry, Leo, Grammalie Rose? Had they been captured already?

Del swore again under her breath.

Lucy cast a glance behind them. A Sweeper stood there, blocking the way back into the maze of alleyways. Why hadn’t they run in that direction?

“Get ready to fight,” Del said.

Lucy pulled her knife out and held it ready.

Del moved so she was standing with her back to Lucy’s. She bent and scooped up a length of twisted metal. They circled, taking small steps and trying to look in every direction at once, to find a hole they could break through. A searchlight was moved so that it pointed directly at them. Lucy tried to see past it, but the intense light threw everything else into deep shadow. She caught a glimpse of white-suited figures rushing toward them, flanking them.

Del shouted and was suddenly yanked away from her. Lucy moved her knife, blade edge out, in a sweeping motion. She was grabbed from behind, her knife hand pinned. A muscular arm settled around her neck, restricting but not cutting off her breathing. “Easy,” a voice breathed in her ear. She felt a pinching sensation in her wrist, and her fingers opened. She dimly heard the thud as the knife fell to the ground. She was lifted off her feet. There was a flurry of movement to her left. And then Del was free. She swung the metal bar, aiming at her captor’s groin. The blow connected and the man dropped to his knees. She swung again with a ferocity that was terrifying, catching him across the back, and he fell forward, groaning. Lucy’s Sweeper was distracted, and she took the opportunity to stamp on his instep with all her might. With a roar of rage he pushed her away with so much force that she stumbled, falling to her knees.

“Duck!” Del yelled, swinging the metal rod like a madwoman. Lucy made herself as small as possible.

Her knife gleamed in the dust a few yards away. It might as well have been on Mars. She began to crawl toward it. She could hear Del cursing, panting, and, amazingly, mocking the Sweepers. But there were too many of them.

“Del!” Leo bellowed, appearing from an alleyway at a run and beating his way to the girl’s side. He was armed with a two-by-four studded with nails. The Sweepers fell back for an instant, and then, as if obeying an order, advanced in a solid line on the two of them.

Two more Sweepers joined them, effectively containing the scavengers within a small area. Leo circled.

And then, surprisingly, one of the Sweepers moved forward alone. It didn’t make sense. The scavengers were totally outnumbered. Lucy had reached her knife. She picked it up. No one was paying any attention to her. She crouched in the shadows, looking for an opportunity to help.

Leo pushed Del behind him and faced off with the Sweeper. A grin spread across his face. “Come on then,” he yelled, advancing. He slapped the wood against his palm.

The Sweeper moved in closer and suddenly lunged forward, his arm outstretched. Concealed within his hand was a small black box. Lucy screamed a warning, but her cry was drowned out.

Leo raised his club.

And then there was a flash of electric blue light and a sound like meat being seared on a hot grill.

Leo collapsed to the ground like a felled tree. His body jerked spasmodically, and then he was still.

“Leo!” Del shouted, running toward his prone form. She’d taken only a few steps when another Sweeper stepped into her path. The blue light flashed again, and she crumpled.

Lucy shrank back into the shadows, drawing her hood forward around her face.

The Sweepers were gathered around Leo and Del, who were as still as corpses.

Were they dead? Leo groaned as one of the Sweepers nudged him roughly with a boot. Lucy felt a surge of relief. Another man picked up Leo’s nail-studded two-by-four, studied it, then hurled it to the ground in disgust. It bounced, landing not far from where Lucy lay hidden.

She thought she could see smears of blood on the board. What could she do? If she tried to help, they would capture her, too. She was safe for now. She felt a sense of relief mingled with the shame of escaping capture. If she had not paused for her backpack, then Del might still be free.

Slowly, Lucy forced herself to crawl backward toward the collapsed shelter behind her. Once she was concealed under the tarpaulin, she curled into a ball and tried to control the tremors that racked her body. She listened to the heavy sounds and grunts of the Sweepers, picturing them as they loaded Del’s and Leo’s unconscious forms into the nearest van. She heard the low rumble of voices and the piteous sound of a child sobbing. The doors slammed shut, the engines roared, and heavy tires crunched through the debris.

The rumble of the vans slowly died away, and afterward there was silence, which felt oppressive and filled with threat.

It was hours before she moved from her hiding place.

Lucy sat on a small hill above the camp and watched the sun rise. She was cold and cramped, but she could see everything from this vantage point. As soon as she had dared, she’d scuttled out from under the tarp and run, heading for higher ground.

Her thoughts went around and around in her head. She’d been arguing with herself for hours, unable to sleep.

She’d figured out this much. One: She was scared. Two: She badly wanted to leave. Three: That was the one thing she could not do.

The reality was, she was involved. Not only because she’d been right there when Del and Leo were taken, but because probably—
definitely
—Del wouldn’t have been caught if not for her.

She untied her backpack and scanned the contents. A journal, a few pieces of clothing, her sleeping bag, a yearbook, a broken radio, a flashlight without batteries, a sharpening stone, and a tinderbox with a book of soggy matches in it.

Nothing she owned was worth someone else’s life.

She looked down on the settlement. All the shelters around the square had been ripped apart. Flimsy supports lay twisted and snapped in two, plywood lean-tos were scattered in splintered heaps. The soft, packed earth where the trading market had been held just a day ago was torn up, and the deep tire tracks of the vans snaked through the devastation.

She looked south in the direction the road curved. The road that ended at Roosevelt Island. From here she couldn’t see the red light flash at the top of the tower, but she knew it was there.

She got to her feet with a sigh.

A small group had assembled in the square. She recognized Aidan, Henry, Grammalie Rose, and a few others.

Lucy paused. Turned and looked in the opposite direction. She could make her way inland, find another perfect place to build a home, go back to life as she knew it. Alone.

A shout wafted up from below.

She gazed down. Henry had lifted his hand in a wave. He flourished it back and forth as if he were signaling an airplane.

Slowly, she waved in return and started down the path.

CHAPTER ELEVEN
AIDAN

T
he scavengers stood in a close group near the kitchen. Lucy shuffled her feet, not sure if she should interrupt, and was grateful when Henry hollered at her to join them. His left eye was blackened and puffy, the whites shot through with red. His hair was plastered to his head with sweat and filth and he bounced from foot to foot with nervous energy. He moved over to make room for her in the huddle.

“Lucy,” Aidan said. His eyes went to the cut on her cheek and she touched it, shaking her head. It stung, but it was little more than a scratch. She’d collected a few more bruises, but she’d been lucky. Most of the blood on her belonged to other people. “I’m fine,” she said.

Aidan’s knuckles were scabbed and raw. A deep gash ran across his forehead, and there was dried blood in his hair. Lucy looked away from the expression of anguish on his face.

She stood apart and he made no attempt to move closer to her.

There were two teenagers, a boy and a girl, Lucy hadn’t seen before. They both appeared to be about nineteen.

“
Wilcze
,” Grammalie said, and nodded as if she was pleased she was still around. “This is Connor and Scout.”

Connor was tall and rangy with red hair and a very direct gaze. Scout was tiny and had a pixie cut and worried brown eyes. They exchanged awkward greetings.

“We were out hunting,” Connor told the group. “Didn’t get back until this morning.”

“How many this time?” Scout asked, wringing her fingers together. Connor grabbed her hand and enfolded it in his own.