Morningside Fall(92)

“We’re close,” Wren said. “I think you should wait here, Mama.”

Gamble called for the team to halt and conferred with everyone. Wick guessed they had about a five-minute walk left to reach the compound. It was decided that Gamble, Wick, and Able would escort Wren to the compound to scout it out. Once they’d explained everything to Chapel, they’d notify the others to join them. The two groups split up and Wren’s team headed towards the compound.

Wren was more tired than he could remember being in a long time, but he felt excitement the closer they got. He hadn’t realized how much he’d missed Chapel, and Lil too – until the idea of seeing them again had become more than a dream, and was moments away from becoming a reality.

It was quieter than he’d expected. Much quieter. A distant sense of dread pricked his mind. Wren tried to ignore it. The compound was just ahead, beyond a little rise in the terrain. Probably the wind was carrying the normal sounds of life away in the other direction. Chapel would be there. Chapel and Lil. Everything would be just as he remembered.

But as they crested the rise, even as his mind denied it, Wren’s heart went sharply cold and he found himself running, running towards those low walls, with Gamble shouting after him to stop. And then Able caught him, but Wren barely felt it because he was screaming in wordless agony, with tears soaking his face and blinding his eyes.

It couldn’t be. It couldn’t be, but it was.

Chapel’s compound lay before them in ruins.





SIXTEEN


When Cass heard the scream echo through the cityscape, she didn’t hesitate. She knew her son’s voice. Cass was off at a full sprint before anyone else had even reacted.



The others were only a couple hundred yards away. As Cass approached, she saw Wick kneeling and Gamble standing nearby with her hands on top of her head. Able was holding Wren. Gamble reacted to the sound of her approach, but Cass’s only concern was for her son.

“Wren!” she called. “Wren, what happened?”

His face was buried against Able’s shoulder, and he didn’t answer at first. But as she drew nearer, she could tell he was sobbing.

Gamble intercepted her with a stony expression.

“Is he alright, is he hurt?” Cass asked.

“He’s not hurt,” Gamble said. But her face was grave.

“Mama,” Wren said, racked with sobs. “Mama, they’re gone! They’re all gone!” Able carried him over to her, and Wren clung to her fiercely, with her coat balled in his fists.

“What? What do you mean, Wren?”

Gamble just pointed down the slope. At first, Cass couldn’t tell what she was pointing at. Nothing caught her eye as unusual. Just more of the same broken and scarred urban landscape.

But then Cass noticed a low wall with gentle curves, and from there started picking up little details. Here a shredded bit of cloth. There some kind of tool, broken in two. The damage was more recent than the rest of the surrounding area. Much more recent.

The rest of the team came barreling up behind them and immediately moved into positions with their weapons up, scanning for targets. They were breathing hard from the sprint with all that gear, but every man was sharp and alert. Painter was the last to reach them.

“What’s going on?” Finn asked. He was inhaling deeply through his nose and exhaling out of his mouth, trying to bring his breathing back under control.

“Place is wrecked,” Wick said.

“That it down there? With the fence?” said Finn.

“Yeah,” Wick answered.

“Weir?”

“Not sure yet.”

“Better check it,” Swoop said. “G?”

Gamble nodded. That was all Swoop needed. “Wick, Finn, you’re with me,” he said. “Sky, think you can find a room with a view?”

“Yep,” Sky said. The four men started removing their packs and double-checking their combat gear.

“Rest of you hang here while we make sure it’s clear,” said Swoop.

“Keep your eyes wide open, boy,” Gamble said. “And watch your step. If it was scrapers, they might’ve left traps.”

“Heard, understood, and acknowledged,” Swoop said. “We’ll keep you posted.”

Swoop led Wick and Finn down the hill towards the compound, while Sky went off on his own to find an elevated position.

“Scrapers?” Painter asked.

“The worst kind of scavengers,” Gamble said. “They don’t necessarily wait around for you to die on your own. We had more trouble with them than we did with the Weir, back when Underdown was around.”

“They would r-r-raid outsiders,” Painter said. “I remember. Never heard them cuh… called that though.”