Revelation (6 page)

Makara gave another sigh, but this one was out of exasperation. “Marcus, you’re going to have to let the past be the past. Give Char a chance to redeem himself. We don’t have time for bickering.”

Marcus held a hand on his pistol at his side. “I promise nothing. I hate Char. I hate him with everything I’ve got. And he will pay for what he did.”

Marcus’s face was passive, betraying no emotion, though I could feel the anger boiling beneath. For twelve years, he had nursed it. And it wasn’t going away until he did something about it.

“I don’t know how to handle this,” Makara said, shaking her head. “Since the Raiders are already by the gate, you just might have to camp somewhere else.”

Marcus’s face reddened. “That’s the treatment I get? After agreeing to help you?”

“This isn’t helping,” I said. “How are any of us supposed to work together if we can’t even camp in the same spot?”

Neither Marcus nor Makara answered as both Samuel and Anna walked up.

“We’ve finished loading the first of the bikes,” Samuel said. He looked at Michael, offering a hand. “Samuel Neth.”

“Michael Sanchez.”

“We need to get moving,” Makara said, her tone insistent. “It’ll be dark in a couple of hours, and I have to babysit two grown men to make sure they don’t kill each other.”

“Makara,” Marcus began, “the Exiles will get priority over the Raiders. We joined you first. I will
not
have my brother...”

“Marcus,” Makara said, dangerously, “we can talk about this when we land. You brothers will have to get along. If you don’t, this group will rip apart before it even has the chance to take off.”

Marcus fell into silence, crossing his arms. He was not happy.

“We’ll put down somewhere distant,” Makara finally said in the silence that followed. “Maybe half a mile from the walls, but not right next to the Raiders.”

“You’ll be out of range of our turrets,” Michael said. “Trust me. You don’t want that.”

“Actually, I think I do,” Makara said. “I don’t trust anyone in Vegas until I can get guarantees.”

“We’re not going to shoot you,” Michael said. “For one, I’ll make sure of that. And secondly, we need all the help we can get. The Great Blight has been getting rather nasty lately. If you are outside the range of our turrets, it will leave you open to attack.”

Makara eyed Michael, unhappy with what he was telling her.

“The Raiders and the Exiles will just have to live in peace, then.”

Marcus growled, but said nothing.

“Can you arrange a meeting between me and the other gang lords?” Makara asked.

“I will let Boss Dragon know,” Michael said. “Although every gang in Vegas will know about you within minutes of your landing. Each one will want to meet with you personally.”

“I don’t have time for that. Can’t I just meet them all at the same time?”

Michael smiled grimly. “There aren’t too many summits, these days. Things are near a snapping point, and most think there’ll be another gang war soon.”

“I don’t care,” Makara said. “I have to get these gangs focused not on each other, but focused on what matters. This city will be dead in a matter of weeks – maybe days. The Great Blight is preparing its next move.”

Michael nodded. “If I go to Boss Dragon personally about this, he might be persuaded. He’s mediated such meetings before. We can take you inside the city to meet him.”

Makara frowned. “I don’t like that idea. I’d rather he come out to meet me.”

“That won’t happen,” Michael said.

Makara sighed. “We’ll figure this out. What gangs are there in the city?”

“Well,” Michael said, “The Dragons are only one of six. There are the Kings, the Reds, the Sworn, the Diamonds, and the Suns.”

“And now, the Angels,” I said.

“And if you count the Exiles and the Raiders, that makes nine total,” Anna said.

No one said anything, pausing to the think of the repercussions of having nine violent gangs around one another.

“This is going to be a bloodbath, isn’t it?” I asked.

“Let’s go,” Makara said.

With that command, everyone moved to
Odin.

Chapter 6

After ferrying the last of the bikes across the gorge, we flew in a straight line northwest. The beginning of the city’s outskirts passed below, a maze of crumbling, gray buildings, houses, and roads scattered with rubble. In the distance rose dozens of skyscrapers, shadows against the darkening sky – the remains of the Vegas strip. Those lights had been out for thirty years, now. The buildings, roads, and city lay before us in a sprawled grid, completely empty save for abandoned vehicles and debris that cluttered the streets. The entire city had stopped in one moment, frozen in time, left to rot – to be buried in dust.

Makara landed
Odin
north of a large interstate interchange, right in the center of a cleared highway. Dust shifted on the smooth concrete, covering mangled green road signs with red sand. Dilapidated buildings and department stores lined both sides of the highway, their broken windows, lack of paint, and bare appearance reminding me of skeletons. Graffiti coated the buildings’ sides, florid letters in colors of purple, green, and red. The sun appeared as a red blotch to the west through the dust, sinking behind a tall skyscraper.

Ahead and to the north lay what Michael referred to as the Sunset Gate. A mountain of rubble rose before us, walling out the abandoned outskirts of town and sheltering what remained of Vegas itself – the tall buildings of the Strip, to our northeast, along with its surrounding blocks. The gate was a massive wooden construction, similar to the one I had seen guarding Raider Bluff. To open, it would slide to the side, its large wheels on a track. The gate guarded the northbound side of the highway, while rubble completely blocked off the southbound lanes. On either side of the gate rose wooden towers, where turrets had been set up. Men stood there, watching us.

We stepped off the ship. In the distance, we heard the rumble of the Exiles’ engines approaching. While we waited for them to arrive, the sun fell, covering the land in darkness.

Michael stood off a way, speaking on his radio. He was trying to figure out when, or if, we could come inside the walls.

The Exiles pulled up in a collective roar of engines, and parked their bikes along the overpass’s railing. One by one, the bikes were shut off, and the men began setting up camp. As tents went up and a bonfire was built, I marveled at their efficiency. I just wondered where they had kept all these supplies.

I noticed that some of the men spoke together in groups and looked off toward the south. A short way out from the overpass were a couple hundred tents, in the midst of which burned dozens of separate fires. It was the Raiders’ camp. Surrounding the whole thing was a crude, wooden fence that had been raised in a hurry.

Makara, too, stared off in that direction. For the first time in three months, she was going to see Char.

When our own fire was lit, Michael turned from his position and approached us.

“They’re not sending anyone out tonight,” he said. “Likely, they’ll organize a summit to decide what to do about you, first.”

“I need to meet with all of them as soon as possible,” Makara said. “This can’t wait.”

“That will happen, but you have to give them time to react to this,” Michael said. “I mean, a
spaceship
and thirty fighting men have just landed outside their walls. Wouldn’t you be surprised if that happened?”

Makara gave a noncommittal grunt. “There is no time for waiting. The Great Blight is moving, and won’t pause for anyone. Can’t we go in tonight? Not me, personally – I have to meet with Char.”

Michael nodded. “I’ll try to work out something out. Maybe if you give me a couple of your crew, then explaining what’s going on to the Boss will be much easier.”

“Take Alex with you,” Makara said.

I hadn’t expected to go in tonight, but I tried to take it in stride.

“Alright,” Michael said. “I think the Boss will be fine with that.”

“Remember, this isn’t just about what he wants,” Makara said. “I’m important, too.”

“I’ll protect your interests,” I said.

“So, is that his real name?” Makara asked. “The Boss?”

“It’s Elijah, but there are protocols,” Michael said. “I’ve only been here two months or so, and everyone calls him Boss Dragon. I’m not about to call him something different. He’s the last person I want to piss off.”

“If Alex is going, then I’m going, too,” Anna said, walking up. She turned to me. “I think you could use some backup.”

I nodded. I was glad she was coming, and was surprised that she would rather come with me than see Char, whom she had once guarded. The moral support would be good, and to tell the truth, she was much better in a fight than I was.

“There will be absolutely no fighting,” Michael said, seemingly reading my thoughts. “Things are tense enough as they are without starting another war. Besides, outsiders are required to leave weapons at the gate.”

“That’s not acceptable,” Makara said.

“No harm will come to either Alex or Anna,” Michael said. “What’s important here is letting Boss Dragon know what’s going on. He can update the rest of the lords on the situation.”

“Fine,” Makara said. “Both of you go. Samuel, Marcus, and I can hold down the fort here and meet with Char. Just try to get back by tonight.”

“Maybe this is a chance for Alex to catch me up on what’s going on.”

I nodded. Even though Michael was from Bunker 108, where my father researched the xenovirus, the virus itself wasn’t common knowledge. Only my father, Chan, and I had known about it in any sort of detail. And Khloe knew some, from what little I told her. To most people, these “Blighters,” as they were called, were nothing more than monsters. Soon, all that would change when Michael and others learned about the true cause of the Blighters – the xenovirus.

Hopefully, what we had to tell them would be enough to get everyone to stop their fighting and work together. And not only work together, but join Makara and the New Angels.

We had a long road ahead of us.

***

Michael, Anna, and I approached the Sunset Gate. Two large torches blazed on either side, casting a feeble orange light on the thick wooden doors.

“Are they always on guard duty like that?” I asked.

Michael nodded. “These days, they have to be. The gangs have a pact where each donates the same amount of members to man the walls, so that no one gets too powerful. Attacks from the Blight happen almost every night. Usually, it’s just a few crawlers that we can scare off with a few shots. Sometimes, there’s more, and you have to worry.”

“You must have a lot of ammo.”

“We won’t be running out for a while. Each gang has its own munitions stocked in its HQ. Any gang that doesn’t, won’t last long.”

“HQs?”

“They’re all close to each other, actually. Five of the six of the gangs are set up in the hotels and casinos along the Strip. Only one, the Reds, live outside city limits. They control most of the outskirts. Horrible place to be these days. The Reds have no walls, but they do have the most people. A lot of people live out there, in the slums. The Reds rule over them.”

“Seems like a dangerous place to be,” Anna said.

“You have to be a gang member, or good with one of the gangs, to be let inside city limits. If you aren’t, you join the Reds and hope they give you a job that’s better than slave. They have their own farms, and are seen as a threat by the city gangs. They’ve been upsetting the normal balance in the last year. Since farm space is so limited, the rest of the gangs work together to grow food out on what’s left of Lake Mead.”

We made it to the gates. Michael called upward.

“You going to let us in, or what?”

The man on the right-hand turret spoke. “Hold your horses, Sanchez. You’re still not cleared with Boss Dragon. You were told to come
alone.”

“Maybe so,” Michael said. “But I have two members of the Lost Angels, who will explain why they’re here much better than I could.”

“If they give up their weapons, then maybe. Let me call HQ.”

The man turned his back and talked on his radio. While the guard was talking, I decided to use the opportunity to ask Michael more questions.

“I guess this place has slaves, too?”

Michael nodded. “Unfortunately, yeah. They are kind of a necessity. Without anyone to grow food, no one can survive. I mean, most everyone who doesn’t fight has to work the farms, like my wife and kid. But the slaves get the most backbreaking labor.”

“And where do you guys grow food? You mentioned Lake Mead, but that looked all dried up by now. Plus, it’s really far away.”

“A lot of water actually survived in Lake Mead, but not on the surface. We use drills to tap underground reserves That water is used to grow crops, and a lot of it is transported back to town using trucks.”

“Sounds like a lot of trouble,” I said.

“It is,” Michael said. “Especially these days. The crawlers come out at night, mostly, so there’s a constant stream of traffic going back and forth between Mead and Vegas during the day. All supply routes are heavily guarded, as are the farms. By this point, the gangs are so used to it that it’s hardly a second thought.”

“What about the Great Blight?” I asked. “It can’t be too far from the lake.”

Michael nodded. “It’s getting closer, expanding a few feet every single day. It’s already at the western edge of the lakebed, and it’s starting to cover the river.”

“So, you don’t use river water to drink?”

Michael shook his head. “No. I don’t touch that stuff. People who drink it get sick, even if they boil it thoroughly.”

The turret guard faced us again.

“Leave your weapons here,” he said. “You’re clear to go in.”

Slowly, the gate rolled back, revealing a long stretch of empty highway. In the far distance, skyscrapers rose, shadowy in the darkness. Vegas’s days of glitz and glamor were over. Somewhere distant, a crawler screamed in the night, reinforcing that this was now the new reality.