Black Harvest

Mildred stepped forward. “Are you all right, girl? Is someone you know hurt?” Mildred looked confused. “What’s bang?”

“Gimme bang,” she said, turning to Mildred.

“I’m sorry, child, but I haven’t got any… And from the sounds of it, I don’t think I want any, either.”

“Gimme bang!” she demanded, louder this time.

“What’s wrong with you?”

The girl didn’t answer. Instead she ran toward Mildred and leaped into the air, a knife glinting in her hand.

But as the girl soared through the air, there was a sharp crack of a blaster and half of her head vanished in a spray of blood-red mist.

Mildred wiped a bit of the child’s blood and brain matter from her face. “Damn! Thanks, Jak.”

“Yes, well done, Master Lauren. Quick, decisive and an expert shot,” Doc said. “As always.”

“What did she want?” Krysty asked.

“Bang, whatever that is,” Mildred answered. “I don’t think she was hurting.” She knelt over the body and examined it. “Most of these scars have been healed over for weeks. The fresh ones look like she’d been picking at them.”

“Mebbe was crazy,” Jak said.

Mildred ignored the comment. “Well, whatever bang is, she wanted it pretty bad.”

“Think it’s a drug?” Ryan suggested.

“That would be a good guess.” Mildred got up from beside the body. “Can’t be sure, though.”

“Well, whatever it is, it’s a good bet that there are other people in the redoubt,” J.B. stated.

Ryan nodded. “Triple red, people.”

The chatter going on behind Ryan died down, and his companions followed him through the redoubt in silence.

As they moved up and down stairs, along corridors and through holes blasted in the walls, they could find nothing of value left inside the redoubt and no evidence of anyone else living inside it. Most items left behind had been destroyed, or had otherwise been rendered useless. Two sections of the redoubt that had been cleaned out were the medical lab and the kitchen. Everything inside those rooms had been carted away, with pipes and wires neatly cut from the walls rather than torn out in a hurry. Somebody was making use of the equipment, and likely using it for more than making meals and treating the sick.

They continued searching the redoubt for anything of value, and as they turned the corner at the end of a long corridor, Ryan saw a light in the distance.

It was a dimly reflected light, and had to be checked out.

“Jak,” Ryan said.

The albino teen moved to the front of the line and came up by Ryan’s side.

“See where that leads,” Ryan commanded.

Without a word, Jak headed down the corridor toward the light. The others had their blasters trained on the end of the hallway, covering him just in case.

They watched the teen’s body get smaller and smaller until all that could be seen was his stark white hair growing brighter the closer he got to the light source. And then, all of a sudden it was gone as he turned the corner into the light. Minutes later he reemerged, and when he neared, it was obvious that he had some good news.

“Outside,” he said, gesturing down the hall.

“People?” Ryan asked.

Jak shook his head. “No.”

“What’s out there, then?”

“Sky. Rolling fields. River.”

“Anything else?”

“What more want?”

Ryan and the others walked toward the light and exited the redoubt to a hot, sunny day, the sky tinged by a slight purple hue with streaks of green and orange throughout. The surrounding fields were barren, or else overgrown by weeds, but they seemed to roll with the irregular undulation of foothills, suggesting they might be somewhere in the Midwest.

Jak tapped Ryan on the shoulder and pointed to the south. “River, near trees.”

Ryan took out his marine telescope from a pocket in his coat, extended it to its full length and brought the lens up to his eye.

After making several adjustments to focus, he said, “About an hour away on foot. We can make camp there, mebbe catch something to eat in the river.”

“Sounds like a plan,” J.B. said.

And then, without another word, the friends were off, heading south in single file to cover their tracks in the earth, Ryan leading the way, J.B. bringing up the rear.

They didn’t know what to expect.

But together, they were ready for anything.

Chapter Two

When they got to the river’s edge, Mildred did a quick rudimentary test of the water to see if it might make them sick. “It’s pretty clean,” she said, holding up a test tube of the clear liquid.

Ryan nodded. “Let’s make camp, then. Krysty, Doc and Mildred set up a perimeter. Jak, you and J.B. see if you can catch us something to eat.”

In silence, the friends split up and took their positions.

Meanwhile, Ryan gathered a few dried branches and set them in a pile for a fire. He’d light it later, depending on how lucky J.B. and Jak were in the river. If not, they’d have to eat the last of their rations and hope to find something else to eat in the morning.

His stomach growled and churned at the thought of it.

“Help!”

It was a woman’s voice coming from somewhere downriver.

“J.B.?” Ryan called.