Knights of the Apocalypse (A Duck & Cover Adventure Post-Apocalyptic Series Book 2) (11 page)

Jerry pointed
to Shane. “He almost died! You could have saved him.”

The man in
black grunted. “That man is not worth a bullet.”

Jerry kicked
the door. “You son of a bitch!”

The eyes behind
the slot showed no emotion. They looked him up and down. “You might be though.”

The slot
closed.

TEN

The post-apocalyptic
world was quiet. It wasn’t the lack of people or traffic. It was the abundance
of secrets that had to be kept.
A source of clean water.
A store of food.
All survivors had secrets. It’s how
they survived. And, if they didn’t, they pretended they did so they could fit
in. A walk through any town was filled with the silence of secrets. Commerce
was done. Information was traded. But little was said that didn’t have to be
said. A wrong word would give a possible enemy the advantage. A slip of the
tongue could lead bandits to one’s home. There were no idle words.

That was not
the case in the mountain kingdom.

The Kingdom of
the Five Peaks had an odd way of dealing with panic. The news of the princess’s
abduction spread quickly after the meeting in the town’s square. The women
gasped, the children cried and then everyone collectively shrugged and went
about their day.

Erica strolled
the town with Chewy at her side. If this was where they were going to stay, she
felt she should explore a little. Her wanderings exposed her to whispers of
gossip first uttered in amazement and soon dismissed with a wave of the hand.

The princess
was sweet, the whispers said with a reluctant acceptance. But Erica could hear
envy in every compliment and fewer and fewer tears being forced as the day went
on. The whispers turned to how the princess never really belonged, how she
never really was one of them. Within an hour they had written the young woman
off and the talk turned to who would be the next princess and how hot the
prince looked. They secretly hoped
they
would be the
next
Mrs. Your Highness
.

By noon, they
were talking about everything but the kidnapping.

The calm
demeanor reminded Erica of New Hope, her home before the assassins started
showing up. There had always been dangers in the Texas town, but there had been
neighbors and friends. They worked and laughed together. The town was filled
with people they could trust. But, staying there put everyone in danger. So
they left.
 

Ever since that
day, she had looked over her shoulder. She never let herself be distracted from
her surroundings. Jerry or Chewy were always at her side.

It must have
been the mountain air, because, after only a short while, Erica didn’t care
about the princess either. Within an hour she found herself lost in the
architecture and staring into the shop windows as if the end of the world had
never happened. She was a tourist once again. She even let Chewy explore on her
own, though the dog never let Erica out of her sight.

Even when Brae
snuck up on her at a store window, Erica didn’t jump, scream or reflexively
cripple the girl.

“Hey,
girlfriend!” Brae was all smiles.
She
was
always all smiles
. “Whatcha looking at?”

Erica smiled
back. She had no idea
who
this girl was or how she
knew Jerry, but it was good to have a friend again. “Nothing,” she said. “And
it’s wonderful. This place is so peaceful.”

“I absolutely
love it here. And you should see it in the spring.
Or the
summer.
The summer is gorgeous.”

“No one seems
worried about anything.”

Brae giggled
and took Erica’s hand. She led her down the street. “What’s there to worry
about? There’s plenty of food.
Plenty of big strong men to
keep us safe.
If you don’t think about it too much, it’s like the
Crappening never happened.”

They passed a
group of women that were laughing together. Brae waved with a smile. The women
grew quiet and turned their eyes away.

“What was that
about?” Erica asked.

“See? Women can
be just as bitchy here as they were before the bombs dropped. Isn’t it great?
It’s the happiest I’ve been since we left back east.”

“Where did you
come from back east?” Erica asked.
 

“Knoxville. Or
what was Knoxville. Have you been?”

Erica shook her
head. “No. What’s in Knoxville?”

“Oh my God.
What’s not there? They’ve got everything. Music, theater, dance, art … it’s
amazing. They’ve still got the lights on.”

“I hadn’t
heard.”

“The people
that run the city are brilliant. I mean, total geniuses. It’s completely safe
and everything is beautiful. The whole city is filled with artists of all
kinds. You can’t get in unless you’re an artist. Or you had to be a patron.”

“A patron?”

“Uh huh. It’s
simple, really. If you weren’t making art, you were a patron of the arts. You
would basically sponsor an artist. Make sure they were fed and had a place to
live and create their art.”
 

The girl’s big
personality began to make sense. “You’re an artist, aren’t you?”

Brae laughed
and waved to another group of women after the laugh caught their attention. The
women didn’t return the wave. Brae continued, “I couldn’t paint a house. Shane
is the artist. He’s a musician.”
 

“Really?”

“Yes.” Brae
raised her hand. “His whole band survived the Crappening and they were one of
the first acts in the city. That’s where we met.” She rolled her eyes in a big
way. “That’s right. I fell for the rock star.”

Brae smiled.
Most relationships in the wasteland formed out of necessity. Even she and Jerry
had met under duress and, although it was love, they couldn’t say they would
have met had it not been for the roving death truck. It was nice to hear of
love blossoming under normal circumstances. “His band must have been good.”

Brae teetered
her hand back and forth. “They were okay. But they were absolutely the best of
what was left.”

A man passed
them with a smile. “Hello, Brae.”

Brae’s smiled
faded. She nodded at the man as he passed. “Hi, Tony.”

Erica didn’t
press the coldness she sensed in the conversation. “So what happened? Why did
you leave Knoxville?” Outside the walls of the kingdom, she would never have
thought to ask this question. You didn’t ask people about their past. It
usually ended up with someone crying. But here, it felt right.

Brae’s smiled
returned. “What always happens to a rock band? They broke up.” The pair crossed
the street and turned towards the slope. “Their singer got a big head and
became a big dick. The others in the band put up with it, but Shane had known
the guy forever and tried to talk some sense into him … so, they kicked him out
of the band.” Brae grew silent and stared at the ground.

“I’m sorry,
Brae,” Erica said, but it didn’t help. “Why no solo career for Shane?”

“Well, he’s a
bass player. There’s not much work for a bass soloist.”

“He couldn’t
play anything else?”

“Like I said,
they were an okay band. Not really the best musicians.”

“He couldn’t
find anyone else to play with?”

Brae shook her
head. “Without the band, we lost our patron and had to leave.”

“But, all the
way out here? Why wander so far?”

Brae shrugged
“Why does anybody wander? We were chasing a rumor.
Another
myth of the wasteland.
People said the musicians went west. We heard
there was a town full of nothing but musicians. Shane wanted to find it. He
wanted to start another band and return to Knoxville and show his old band up.”

Erica opened
her arms to the town. “And instead you found a fairy tale.”

Brae’s laughed
returned and she began to speak, but her words were interrupted by the blast of
several trumpets.

“Were those
trumpets?” Erica asked.

“Of course they
were!”

“Of course they
were,” Erica echoed with less enthusiasm.

Brae grabbed
her hand. She did that a lot. “The king is about to speak. Let’s go.”

The pair rushed
through the streets back to the town square as Chewy tore up tracks in the snow
to catch up with the girls.

The stage had
been repurposed since the conscription service. The king’s colors were draped
as the backdrop. Carpeting had been set across the wooden slats and several
knights stood on the ground in front forming a wall of protection.

The crowd had
changed as well. It was larger than before, but there was no sign of the men
from the mine. Everyone in attendance dressed in clean clothes. Their skin was
untouched by the signs of labor and they smiled and gossiped as they awaited
the king’s arrival.

The knights at
the base of the stage raised five silver trumpets and blared. They gleamed in
what little light broke through the clouds and they blared a five-note
announcement as the king stepped from behind the drapes and walked to the
center of the stage accompanied by two knights.

His presence
silenced the crowd and the king began to speak. His voice boomed. “Citizens of
the Five Peaks—my friends. My fellow survivors, I come before you today a
troubled king. It is my understanding that there is a rumor running rampant
through our fair city. It is a rumor that I must say, with heavy heart, is
true.”

The crowd
gasped and a woman screamed, “Mark, you cheating bastard.” She began to beat
the man next to her about the head and shoulder.

“No. Laura …
Laura, please wait. That’s not what …” The king turned to one of the knights on
the stage. “Make her stop hitting him.”

The knight
dropped from the stage and worked his way through the crowd to the domestic
dispute. He pulled Laura back from Mark and turned her to face the king.

“Good,” the
king said. “Laura, that wasn’t the rumor I was talking about. I hadn’t even
heard that rumor. I was talking about the princess.”

The crowd
gasped again. One woman raised her hand. “I heard the princess was kidnapped.”

“Right,” the
king pointed to her. “That’s the one. That’s the rumor. Now if everyone could
just settled down.” Elias cleared his throat and continued on. “I’m afraid it
is true. Our fair princess has been taken from us by those that wish to do us
harm. I will not let this stand. As I speak, the prince races to his
betrothed’s rescue. It will only be a matter of time before she is returned
safely to us.

“I’m aware how
much she means to all of us. Many of you are her friends or admirers. So, we
shall welcome her home with a celebration worthy of a princess. We shall have a
feast!”

The crowd
cheered with a passion Erica had not seen in years. She watched the joy beam
from the crowd and whispered, “Wow.”

Brae hung her
head. “Oh yay. A feast.”

The king
continued. “I shall need your help. We’ll need banners. We’ll need dancers. All
of the bards will play. And we’ll need a meal the likes of which no one here
has ever seen.” Elias signaled the trumpeters. “Let the preparations begin!”

The trumpeters
blew, the crowd roared and the courtyard quickly emptied as the excited
citizens saw to their tasks. Erica and Brae were left all but alone.

Erica was in
awe. “Wow, he really does this king bit well,” Erica said.

“Well, he
should. He’s been the king for over twenty years.”

“Wait. How
could it be that long?”

“Oh, you don’t
know the story. Well …”

“Shouldn’t ewe
be seein’ to ya chores, ladies?” That voice.
That horrible
English accent.

The girls
turned as Tommy swaggered across the square. Brae couldn’t hide her lack of
enthusiasm. “Hi, Tommy.”

“Sir Thomas to
ewe, Brae.
And to ewe, Jennifa.
Ewe may be unaware
as ewe’re
new here, but the king speaks for the ears of the
citizens only. Lil’ Brae ’ere knows better.” His eyes grew hard. “What are ewe
doing here, Brae?”

“We were just
walking by when it all started. I promise.”

“Right.” Erica
agreed with the lie. “We’re really excited about the feast.”

“Oh, really.”
Tommy laughed and reached up to touch Brae’s face. “I didn’t think ewe enjoyed
feasts.”

Brae knocked
his hand away and stormed off. “Come on, Jennifer.”

Erica hurried
to catch up as Tommy laughed behind them and said, “See ewe at the feast.”

They walked in
silence until Tommy was out of sight. Erica could tell the girl was upset and
genuinely wanted to help. “What’s going on here, Brae?”

“Oh right. The
history. You see
,
Elias has been king like forever.”

It wasn’t what
Erica meant, but she didn’t press Brae and let her continue the story. “Explain
that.”

“A lot of these
people—well, most of them anyway—were Renaissance fair workers.”

“What?”

Brae laughed,
“I know, right? They travelled the country with the seasons playing knights and
damsels and Elias always played the king.”