Morningside Fall(94)

“Nothing close, G. We could try to roll back east, but I’m not sure what kind of shelter we’d be able to find in short time.”

“Then I guess we might as well make ourselves at home. Swoop?” she asked.

“Back across the courtyard, there’s an L-shaped building,” he said. “Still mostly intact. Probably the most defensible for us.”

“Alright. Let’s get to it.”

“There’s something I want to show you first.”

“It’ll save time if you just tell us.”

Swoop shook his head. “You gotta see it for yourself. Finn’s down there now.”

Cass picked Wren up, and Swoop led them all through the village, towards the western side. They found Finn standing to one side of a rectangular plot, where a series of rods jutted up from the ground, some covered by tangled masses of something Cass couldn’t identify. As she got closer, though, she realized what she was looking at.

Plants. More than that. Crops.

“Would you look at that…” Sky said, quietly. Almost in reverence.

It’d been years since Cass had seen real, out-of-the-ground grown fruits or vegetables. And she’d never seen so many all in one place. There were beans, and some sort of green leafy things, though most of what was planted Cass couldn’t identify. Many of the crops had been trampled, and some she’d just never seen before.

“I had no idea anyone still farmed,” Mouse said, reaching out to feel the green leaves of one of the taller plants. “Doesn’t look like enough to feed two hundred, though.”

“They had other stuff too,” Wren said. “But the growing things always tasted better.”

“Heads up,” Swoop said all of a sudden, and he moved to put himself between Cass, Wren, and the bordering wall. Finn and Wick reacted quickly, and fell in beside him.

A group of figures stood in the distance. For a long moment, the two groups stared at one another, unmoving. Cass counted nine of them. As she watched, though, a few of them broke off from the group and disappeared behind a cluster of buildings.

“What do you think they want?” Wick said.

“All the stuff that’s scattered all over the place, probably,” Finn answered.

“Scrapers?”

“Could be.”

Gamble gave Sky a look, and tilted her head to one side. Sky nodded and slipped off.

The group started advancing slowly. Five of them. No sign of the other four.

“Keep your weapons lowered,” Gamble said. “We’re going to be polite and friendly.” She stepped around in front of the others and walked forward a few paces. And then over her shoulder she added, “But be ready to kill every last one of them.”

Cass let Wren slide down to his feet, and then put him behind her. Mouse and Able took up positions on either side of her and a few steps behind.

Painter stepped up on her left. “Do they have guh- guns?”

“I can’t tell,” Cass said.

“I hope not,” he said. “There’s nnnn-nowhere for us to hide.”

Cass glanced around. Painter was right. They were exposed, and the closest point of cover was a small structure a good twenty yards back into the village. If it came to shooting, it was almost guaranteed someone was going to get hit. And where had those other four gone?

The group of others halted their advance about ten yards back from the boundary wall. Three men and two women, judging from their builds, though Cass knew that wasn’t always accurate. They were all wearing long cloaks, and two of them had their hoods up. Cass didn’t see any guns on them, but they were all carrying weapons of some kind or another. Blades mostly, though one of the men had a short spear. It was telling that those weapons were on display; the cloaks could’ve easily concealed them. The message was clear enough. Though if those were the weapons they were willing to display, Cass wondered what else they might have hidden.

“Afternoon,” Gamble called.

“Ma’am,” answered one of the hooded figures. A woman, judging by her voice.

“What brings you out this way?”

“We were wondering the same about you.”

“Just traveling through. Thought we might find a friend here.”

“You won’t.”

“Yeah…” Gamble said. She glanced back over her left shoulder and gave a little nod. Mouse and Finn both turned to face that direction. A few seconds later the four missing members of the other group came into view. Gamble looked back at the five. “Well, one thing we’re not doing is looking for trouble.”

“I wouldn’t have guessed that, judging from all the hardware you’re running.”