Deadland: Untold Stories of Alice in Deadland (Alice, No. 5) (6 page)

'Captain, I've said this to your predecessors but since
you're new, I'll repeat myself so that there's no misunderstanding. No, we do
not recognize Zeus as representing any legitimate authority. No, we will not
give up our weapons in return for guarantees of safety. No, we will not move to
your so-called safe zones and work your farms and have our boys and girls
drafted into your force.'

Morgan nodded and began to walk away, then he stopped and
turned towards Gladwell.

'Sir, I get where you're coming from, but I do hope you
think of the future as well as the present. The future does not lie in isolated
settlements like this. Civilization will not be restarted like this. It lies in
a more ordered society, where people don't have to worry about defending
themselves but trust some central authority to do it for them.'

Her father's grip on her hand tightened.

'Morgan, we screwed our world up enough by trusting it with
politicians and so-called statesmen. The best bet for securing our safety and
freedom lies not in the speeches and promises of politicians but in a
well-maintained rifle by my side. Let me guess, Morgan, you were a soldier
before The Rising, right?'

The man straightened a bit as he answered.

'Yes, Sir. US Marines.'

'Morgan, I served in the Army and in the Diplomatic Service.
At least then we served a flag, a nation. Who do you serve now? The guys with you
are mercenaries, most of who look like they belong in prison. Who are your
masters? Why don't we see them?'

Gladwell saw the look in the man's eyes and he guessed the
truth.

'You don't know either, do you? Find out who you really
serve and what they really want, and then come back and ask us to sign over our
freedom.'

As they walked back to the settlement, Alice said, 'Those
men aren't nice, Daddy.'

'Sweetheart, all men are capable of being good or evil. It
really comes down to what you choose. They're choosing to serve the wrong
masters. Now come on, I'm so hungry I could eat a horse.'

They laughed and entered the gate, where Jane was waiting
for them, a bemused look on her face. 'Alice, are you my bodyguard now?'

Alice looked up at her older sister.

'Yes, I am. If only Dad would let me learn from Uncle Jones,
I'd blow all of them up.'

Jo had joined them, and her look of relief at seeing
Gladwell back safe quickly give way to exasperation at Alice's outburst. 'It's
not nice to always want to fight, okay? What you did with Junior...'

Before she could complete, Alice cut in.

'Junior is an ugly toad, and if he picks on me again, I'll
hit him again so hard he becomes even uglier.'

With that, she ran off with her mother shouting after her.

'You come back here, young lady!'

***

'Daddy, why can't I learn how to fight?'

Gladwell put his cup of water down and asked Alice to sit
next to him, on the edge of the garden.

'It's not as if you don't get into enough fights as is.'

'I don't get into fights, they pick on me.'

'All of them?'

Alice looked away as he turned towards her.

'Alice, sometimes it's necessary to fight, so I won't tell
you to never fight. But you can't fight all the time. Sometimes it's better to
walk away, and to solve issues without fighting. That's all your mom's been
trying to tell you.'

'I've seen you fight, Dad.'

'Yes, and how many of those times was I fighting because of
myself or what I wanted?'

Alice looked at him, a slightly blank expression on her
face, so Gladwell explained.

'The best reason to fight, and the only reason I ever fight,
is to help others and to keep others safe. The worst reason to fight is because
of your own anger against someone. Now go to bed, it's late.'

Alice went back to her room, lying down inside the old
sleeping bag next to Jane. She would lie awake for quite some time, thinking of
what her father had told her.

***

'We got a Biter!'

The call shook Alice awake, and when she rushed out, she saw
that her parents were already up and running towards the walls. The sun was
barely up and visibility was still pretty poor so many people were asking where
the Biter was and who had called the alarm. Someone joked that one of the men
on guard duty had probably had a bad dream.

Alice was at the wall now and she looked around, scanning
the Deadland, and then her gaze locked in on a figure moving towards the
settlement. Someone else noticed the Biter and called out before she could.

'There it is!'

The Biter had lost an arm along the way, and was shuffling
towards them, growling now that he had seen humans. Alice had wondered what
made them so crazed, so eager to attack. Some of her friends said that they
were the undead, and so were evil. Alice had no doubt they were evil, but they
had been people once, so what had happened to make them the monsters they now
were? This Biter wore nothing but a pair of old shoes and was now waving his
only remaining hand at the settlement as he closed in.

Her dad called out.

'Are there any more? Does anyone see any more Biters?'

When it was clear that there was only one Biter coming, the
gate opened and Jones ran out, an axe in hand. Jones sprinted towards the
Biter, and even without breaking his stride, brought him down with a kick that
swept the Biter's feet from under him. Even before the Biter had fallen down to
the ground, Jones' axe crashed into the Biter's skull.

It was one thing to watch people at practice but seeing
Jones demonstrate his deadly skills for real both shocked and excited Alice.
Jones walked back, and a team of boys headed out to carry the Biter out back
and burn the body. As Jones passed her, he caught her looking at him.

'Hey, Alice. All well?'

'Uncle Jones, please teach me to fight like that. I promise
not to tell Dad.'

He laughed as he answered.

'Sweetheart, believe me, you'll see your share of killing
and fighting, but why hurry? You'll start learning soon, when your dad and I
agree that it's time. Okay?'

It wasn't okay, but Alice knew that arguing wouldn't get her
anywhere. As she trundled towards the garden where she had morning duties, she
kept replaying the scene in her head. The explosive speed with which Jones had
moved, the way he had brought the Biter down effortlessly. If she could fight
like that, nobody, least of all that snot-nosed Junior, would pick on her. And
then she could be the one protecting everyone, not a little kid who was never
allowed to do anything. Wouldn't that be something?

The morning went by in a blur of daydreaming and scarcely
completed chores, but by mid-day, Alice realized that something was amiss. She
heard from Jane that three more Biters had stumbled upon the settlement and had
to be put down.

That afternoon, all the adults met in the community center,
which was basically the same as their dining room, but with the benches pulled
to one side. As always, Alice didn't listen to their instructions for the kids
to stay home and she stood by the window, listening in.

'Sir, it could be a coincidence that we've had so many
stragglers in one morning.'

Her dad looked at Jones, and she could tell that he was
worried. 'It could be, but I can't trust everyone's safety here to coincidence.
We've not had so many stragglers in one day in some time, and if there's a
chance that a larger horde is passing our way, we need to be ready. Let's get
some patrols out there so we can get an idea of what's happening. Remember, no
heroics. If you see Biters, no need to engage. Get a fix on numbers, bearing
and distance and get back.'

As everyone disbanded to prepare for the patrols, Jones
caught up with Gladwell near the window where Alice was hiding.

'Sir, I'll take out one of the patrols, and if all's clear,
I was thinking of taking out some of the older kids later in the day. They've
had enough classroom training and it's about time they got out there and
learned some fieldcraft. I'll get them back before dark.'

Gladwell considered it for a second.

'You know your job best. If you think they're ready and it's
safe enough out there, go ahead.'

A rush of excitement coursed through Alice. The kids in
Jones' class would be taken out on a real patrol! Of course, she would be told
to stay at home. There was no chance of a kid her age without formal training
going out into the Deadland on a patrol.

Of course, when Alice had set her mind on something, what
she was told to do counted for little.

***

By mid-afternoon, the patrols had all reported back. Two of
them had encountered single Biters whom they had despatched without much
effort, but there was no sign of any larger horde anywhere.

The adults met again in the community center and Jones
outlined what they had found. There was an almost audible sigh of relief in the
room. While peace was too much to expect in any settlement in the Deadland,
even one as well protected as this, they had it much better than the others.
They hadn't faced a large Biter horde in many months, and bandits who still
roamed the Deadland had long learned that attacking this particular settlement
was a bad business decision. That was why the appearance of so many Biters in
one morning had been unusual and the thought that had been weighing on
everyone's mind was that they would once again have to defend against a large
Biter horde like their early days.

Finally, Jones addressed the parents of the five kids he was
planning to take out. Four actually, since one of them was Junior, and he had
already had that chat with his wife.

A year earlier, Junior had been out on a hunting trip with
Jones and they had stumbled upon a Biter, whom Jones had told Junior to shoot.
He hadn't quite managed to finish the job, but being part of a patrol that had
killed a Biter explained a lot of his bravado around the settlement, and the
fact that he thought he had a God-given right to bully other kids.

All the parents agreed to Jones taking their kids out.
Before The Rising, it would have been absurd for any sane parent to consider
sending eleven and twelve-year-old kids out into a wasteland teeming with
undead monsters, but the rules of parenting, and of survival, had changed a
lot.

Jones asked the kids to get their kits—a backpack filled
with a water bottle and some fruit, a small knife at the belt, and a handgun
with a loaded clip. Jones was carrying an assault rifle, but he thought it
would be enough for the kids to carry a handgun out. They were still small, and
they still needed some growing up to march with an assault rifle for any
extended period. Also, he figured that he had no intention of venturing far,
and if they did bump into a Biter, they had more than enough firepower.

Unknown to her parents, Alice was doing her own packing. She
had a small bag slung around her shoulder, carrying her own bottle of water and
an apple that she had plucked from the tree in the garden. She had no firearms
of her own, of course, but that didn't mean she would go out totally unarmed. She
took a knife from Jane's things and stuck it in her belt.

As Jones began to leave with the group, she was thinking of
a good excuse for her to not be around her parents, but then she was presented
with a golden opportunity. Everybody was so relieved at not having to face a
large Biter horde and happy at the big stash of weapons and ammunition that
Rajiv had brought with him that Gladwell had decided to host a small party when
Jones and the kids got back to properly welcome the newcomers. Everyone was busy
preparing, gathering vegetables and fruits from the garden for the feast, some
of the men pulling out the drink they brewed in the shed out back, and everyone
else busy in laying out the community center for the party. A couple of men
were at the gate, keeping watch, and Alice decided a small lie couldn't hurt.
She walked up to one of them.

'Uncle, Dad's calling both of you. He said it's urgent and
he wants to see you for a second right now.'

They looked at each other for a second and then jogged over
to the community center. The gate was locked and they'd be back in a matter of
minutes, so they didn't think much of it. Alice pushed her bag out the small
opening at the bottom of the gate, and squeezed through. When she had been a
four-year-old chasing her puppy through the same hole, it had been much easier,
but she was still very thin, and after some wiggling and pushing, she was out.
She could see Jones and the kids in the distance, and she ran after them.

Her heart thumped with excitement. She was going on a
patrol! That would wipe the smile off Junior's face for sure. Once he knew she
had been out on a patrol, her Dad would definitely think that she was old
enough to be trained.

Jones and his group walked at high speed, and she began
running after them, both to catch up with them and also to get away from the
walls before one of the sentries saw her and hauled her back. She loved the
feel of the wind in her face as she ran, feeling her hair flow behind her. She
loved the feeling of being out in the open. She had envied the adults and older
kids for being able to explore what lay beyond the settlement. She had never
been out alone so long outside the settlement and while she knew it provided
safety, she longed to be out in the open, to run at full speed, to explore what
lay outside. She was faster than any other kid in the settlement, a fact that
had been proven in race after race, and she was fast gaining on Jones when the
group disappeared behind a collection of broken-down huts that had long been
abandoned.

She ran up to the nearest hut and stood next to it, her back
flat against the wall.

'Kids, the first lesson is on how to set up a perimeter out
in the open. We've practiced in the settlement, but this is for real—unfamiliar
terrain, and places Biters could come from unless you know how to watch for
them.'