Spanners - The Fountain of Youth (17 page)

The council looked at each other and some gasped. The woman at the front stood up, put her hands out and everyone calmed down.

“Threats are not heard here, especially from a terminally ill boy,” said the woman. “You speak with the foresight of a man who will still draw breath one month hence. And furthermore—”

“This isn’t a threat,” said Mayfly. “All we want is to take our scourge home, and if you give us the fuel, you’ll never see us or the scourge again.”

The woman looked at Adam.

“Is this true, Dr. Parr?” she asked. “I understand you don’t lie.”

“We are hoping to bring a deadly spanner home,” said Adam. “And if you give us fuel, the spanner won’t harm your city.”

“All right,” said the woman. “What else can you give us?”

Adam had nothing to say, but once again Mayfly jumped in.

“I understand you aspire to be the purest form of humanity?” asked Mayfly.

“We
are
the purest,” said the woman. “Humanity has reached its peak with us and has
no more need
to evolve. Furthermore—”

“You’re anything
but
pure,” said Mayfly. “I studied biology for a day and learned that ninety percent of your cells are nonhuman; they’re other species of bacteria that live on you and in you. It’s called the
human microbiome,
and it makes you quite dirty.”

“State your point, boy,” said the woman. “What will you give us?”

“One hour of my time,” said Mayfly. “I have a photographic memory and know as much about human microbiome as anyone else on earth. I know that there are five tribes of bacteria on your inner elbow competing for space, you carry a kilogram of bacteria in your gut, and that every one of us is born completely free of these pathogens. I’ll tell you everything I’ve learned, including how to get rid of all the foreign bodies inside your body; you have me for one hour, and then we get our fuel.”

The council looked at each other and then
at the woman.

“This is interesting indeed,” she said.

“Yeah, it is,” said Mayfly, smiling, “and make up your mind soon. I’m a ‘terminally ill boy’ and don’t have much time.”

/***/

Mayfly came out of the session smiling even more. They’d listened to every word he said but had only asked what they wanted to hear.
How do we clean ourselves of these vermin? How do we sterilize our insides and outsides? How do we become more pure, more human?
Mayfly felt obligated to warn them that they
shouldn’t
sterilize themselves; it was impossible to clean themselves because the microbiome was just too ingrained to be extricated.
We have time to clean ourselves, unlike you, mayfly,
they had told him. Mayfly knew that stripping a body of its microbiome would lead to a slow death, but chose to let them learn that on their own.

Mayfly returned to the RV alone and saw a single clone helping Brogg load the fuel canisters. The clone was a female and looked different from the rest of them; she was sad, a bit weathered, and had no partner. She had a heavy jacket and a lot of camping equipment too.

“Get in,” said Adam. “We’re taking her with us.”

/***/

Adam waited until the RV was out of the camp’s range before making introductions.

“This is Davelia,” said Adam. “She has a name and can be trusted; she’s escaping this place.”

“I’m not escaping,” said Davelia. “They won’t follow, or even notice that I’m gone.”

Davelia looked at the crew in the RV and then hunched over
, defeated.

“My husband-
brother died two years ago, before we could have children,” she said. “I’m useless to them, so I’m hoping to make it back and re-enter normal society.”

“How are you going to get back?” asked Trey. “It’s dangerous out here.”

“It is,” said Davelia. “But I’ve gotten good at hiding, and I have no other options. The roads north lead in a hundred different directions, but all the roads south lead out of the Wild Zone. It’s not hard to escape this place if you can hide, as long as you keep moving south.”

“You’re welcome to come with us,” said Mayfly.

“No,” said Davelia. “You’re going north, and I’d just get in the way of your mission.”

Mayfly looked at Adam and he nodded back in understanding; this single clone knew a lot more than they had told the rest of the clones.

“What do you know about us?” asked Adam.

“I know little,” said Davelia. “But I know you’re not out hunting for a scourge. Rest assured, the other clones bought that white lie you told wholesale, but I know there’s more to the story. Juan Ponce de León’s been sending his spider-wolves north; we found them in the woods around our village, and he only sends spider-wolves when he’s looking for something important.”

Adam nodded.

“We have a different mission,” he admitted.

“Tell me what it is, or part of it, and I’d be glad to help in any way I can,” said Davelia. “Or tell me nothing and let me on my way; either one is fine with me.”

Adam nodded at Cattaga
; her eyes flashed for a moment, and she came up close to Davelia. Cattaga smelled the clone and nodded her approval at Adam.

Cattaga can smell the hormones released while lying,
thought Mayfly,
and this clone isn’t lying.

Mayfly looked at Davelia and sensed that she was genuine and also sensed that she was lonely. She was an outcast from a village of outcasts
, and even if she wanted to reveal their secrets, she wouldn’t have anyone to reveal them to. Mayfly gave his own nod of approval and Adam pointed to the back where the Fountain was sleeping under her cold blankets.

“We have the Fountain,” said Adam.

Davelia looked back behind the curtain and smiled.

“Interesting,” said Davelia. “What would you like to know?”

“We’re taking her north to Santos de León, also known as the Surgeon,” said Adam. “Are we doing the right thing?”

“Yes,” said Davelia.

“Go on,” said Adam.

“We know of the Surgeon here,” said Davelia. “Spanners come to him voluntarily because he takes away their weaknesses, albeit in painful ways. It’s akin to visiting a doctor in the hopes of becoming taller and having him put screws in your leg bones for a year.”

“They say the Surgeon will separate the Fountain’s power into life and death and unleash them both,” said Mayfly. “How will he do this?”

Davelia thought for a moment and then nodded.

“We’ve heard the legends about this in our city, of the Fountain, and of the battle for the Fountain,” said Davelia. “We’ve always considered them legends and nothing else, but I knew they contained truth. They say that the Fountain is both life and death at once, much as a mule is both a horse and donkey at once. You can’t split the mule back into the two creatures, and you can’t split the Fountain back into life and death.”

Davelia smiled a bit and looked down.

“This is only a legend of course, but there are also legends around the Surgeon, and the legend says that if you brought him a mule he’d find a way to split it back into a horse and a donkey. He lives in a dark place and many have met their end there, but he’ll find a way to split her in two, something that no one else on earth can do.”

Davelia looked behind the curtain, nodded and looked at Adam.
             

“The clones rejected me, but I’m glad they did,” said Davelia. “They have their little kingdom here, but they won’t expand, and one day they’ll die out with no one to remember them. But all the legends surrounding this girl speak of her importance in history. Her power might make this world anew or might end it; I don’t know, and all the myths I’ve heard are unclear as to her end. But if the choice is between bringing her to Santos de León or his brother Juan Ponce, I’d choose the former. The Surgeon will split her in two but has no desire to use
her powers for his own gain. He has no intent, and Juan’s intent is to put the world under his thumb. The results may end up the same, but from where we stand right now, you have no choice but to continue north.”

Adam nodded, and then Davelia’s gaze
d at the road ahead; Trey was driving towards a snowbound intersection.

“That’s my stop,” said Davelia. “Remember, if you ever get lost, just follow the roads south. It’s dangerous, but they always lead out.”

Trey parked the RV, and Davelia got out with her heavy winter gear and her backpack. She nodded goodbye to all of them and then walked down the road while the RV turned away from her. Mayfly envied Davelia; she was free from the destiny that had somehow trapped him, and if she were to survive the journey south, she’d be able to spend the rest of her days however she wished.

A few moments later, Davelia disappeared into the morning snow
, and they resumed their journey north.

/***/

They hit a roadblock hours later, just after the sun had set; it was a large tree fallen over in the middle of the road. There was a deep ditch on either side of the path and Trey started to drive to the side to peek over, but Adam stopped him.

“Don’t,” said Adam. “The ditch is too deep and this tree’s way too big to be from around here; it might be a trap.”

“A trap,” said Trey. “Who would set a—”

Adam put his hands up to his lips and Trey got quiet. Adam motioned
for Mayfly to come out with him, and together they went out to inspect the obstruction.

/***/

They crept up to the tree quietly and could see it quite well with both the RV lights and the moon shining through the clear night.

“It’s been ripped from the ground somehow,” said Adam. “What else do you see?”

Mayfly jumped on the trunk and scurried over it. A few moments later, he came back to Adam and pointed to the curve of the path beneath and the dense forest around them.

“This tree is in the perfect place to block us,” said Mayfly. “We won’t be able to get around. And look at the missing bark on the trunk; it was like a bear pulled it up from the ground. Someone placed it here deliberately, someone
big
.”

They heard a voice coming from the woods that was humming deeply. There was a pause and then it started again, and another voice joined it from another
part of the woods. There was another moment of silence and then a third voice joined in; soon the forest came alive with humming from all around them.

“A bear didn’t pull up this tree,” said Adam. “It was a
berserker
, or rather a
group
of berserkers.”

/***/

Back in the RV, Adam spoke to Trey and looked out the window.

“We need to go another way,” said Adam.

“There is no other way,” said Trey. “They only have one road.”

“Then we leave and come back,” said Adam. “Turn around.”

“The road’s too narrow and I can’t turn,” said Trey. “I can only put it in reverse.”

Cattaga pointed ahead at the fallen tree in the middle of the road. There were two massive, muscular and pale
-looking creatures on the tree looking back at them. They looked like they once were humans, but their faces had somehow been overgrown and distorted with time. They were twice the size of gorillas and were barking and growling at each other, and then one of them looked at the RV and started lumbering towards it. The one who stayed behind opened his mouth and hissed, showing two rows of sharp teeth.

Trey slipped the RV in reverse and backed away. He looked through the rear view mirror and the road seemed to be clear, but out of the blue the RV braked to a halt and everyone went flying backwards, including the Fountain. Trey floored the gas again, but it was to no avail; they were stuck. Another Trey had
put his head out the window and looked outside.

“Two more of these things are behind us, holding us up,” said the driving Trey.

The berserker that had first approached them was now right in front of the vehicle, staring forward with glowing white eyes. He jumped on top of the hood of the RV, blasted his fist through the metal beneath and came up with a fistful of wires from the engine, some of them pouring liquid over his hand. He then turned around on the hood and started to hum and was soon joined by his friend at the roadblock and the two berserkers who were holding up the RV from behind.

“We can’t drive anymore,” said Trey. “There’s just no way.”
             

“Can we use the Fountain?” asked Cattaga. “Perhaps her touch is still dangerous.”

“She’s not dangerous in this weather,” said Adam. “It’s too cold. But there’s a way out of this, there’s always a way—”

Adam was interrupted by the sound of the side door opening and the wind rushing in. Brogg had exited the RV and was angrily storming towards the berserker right in front of them.

/***/

Brogg’s attack was crude, but somewhat effective. He didn’t quite land his punches on the berserkers because they were surprisingly nimble, but even his glancing blows pushed them backwards.