Tsunami Blue (14 page)

Chapter Twenty

I woke up ten minutes later in the bottom of the dinghy. My eyes were greeted with the familiar sky and a bevy of stars that seemed to wink,
Welcome back.

Much to my amazement, the little boat was beached safely on the shore, hidden even, with the oars neatly stacked alongside. Hadn’t I had them stowed in the boat with me?

I stood and stepped out of the boat, checking for weapons, and yep, all accounted for, even the switchblade taped to my wrist with pink duct tape. That had been another surprise. Who would have thought that a man as dangerous-looking as Gabriel Black owned pink duct tape? The way I had been spun, I would have bet that the knife would have been dislodged. But duct tape was duct tape, pink or industrial gray. It held.

Looking to the moored sailboat, I chewed my lower lip. What to do? Row out and broadcast the impending wave? Or forget it and just get to New Vancouver and try to save the day—the night-that is—by rescuing Gabriel? Of course, after saving him, I might just turn around and kill him. Wait, hadn’t we been here before?

If I did get a broadcast off, would anyone believe it? I always gave more notice. Always. Hell, I’d always had more notice. Always. “What’s up with that?” I asked the sea, as if it could read my mind.

Switching it up
, the sea answered.

Well, that was spooky. But I couldn’t worry about it now.

If I really hurried, I could row out, broadcast, row back in, beach, walk the mile into the town, save Gabriel, kill him or not, outrun the wave, and be back at the boat before dawn. Drinking Starbucks. Hey, if I pulled this off, I deserved a little downtime. Okay, that was a plan. I pushed the dinghy back into the water.

“So, my friends, believe it or not. But as always, I beg you to believe. The wave comes at midnight or shortly thereafter. Go to high ground, New Vancouver, go to high ground. Please. This is Tsunami Blue signing off on a night when a wave is coming. I’m sorry, my friends, but please, please believe it.” I held the mic to my lips and prayed as I always did when I had a broadcast like this. And then, “Please, folks. Listen. Believe. Run.”

I dropped the mic and ran up and out of the boat. I knew what was most likely waiting for me in the city. The protests, the insults, the accusations. And I didn’t have the time or the stomach for it tonight.

Still, as I rowed my heart out to make up precious time, I could only hope that some would listen and lives would be saved. Especially those with children.

Gabriel was right: New Vancouver was a dangerous and ugly place. Ugly because of the rotted hulks of buildings and the trash and the graffiti. I mean, I’d never minded tagging. Some of the work I’d seen in the early days after the first waves had been beautiful, artistic, hopeful, even—like my tattoo.

But now it had changed. As people lost hope and desperation set in, so too did the messages on the walls. They were full of hate and venom. There were threats, and most disturbing of all was the ugly taint of racism, creeping back like a serpent.

Then there were the ones about me.

People fear what they don’t understand, Blue
. Gabriel’s words came to me softly, calming my nerves. A little. Even after learning of his betrayal, his association with the devil Indigo, I still held on to his words. To him. How sad was that?

I pushed Gabriel out of my mind and focused on the crowd. A crowd that intimidated me.

Through the smoke of torches and the smell of rancid oil burning in barrels, I could see the mass was easily a hundred times larger than the number of people I had seen altogether in the last ten years. They pushed, shoved, and plowed their way to wherever they were going. No one made eye contact. Unless you were targeted for theft. Or worse.

I watched two nasty-looking men eye a pretty young Uplander of about sixteen. They followed her for a block or so and I followed them, fingering a blade that I had slid down into my palm. I so did not want to get involved.

But I would.

I breathed a sigh of relief when I saw her rush into the arms of a young man who just happened to be built like a black bear. Luckily, he had two friends about the same size. The creeps backed off, but not before they made obscene gestures of masturbating behind the backs of the retreating youngsters.

I wanted to stick them. Just a little, to make them bleed. But in the forty minutes or so I’d been here, I realized I wanted to stick half the population. And as for the rest? Well, I wanted them to bathe.

The stench of human waste and filth filled my nostrils. I wanted to gag. People were ragged and filthy and, well, gross. At least with my black-on-black clothing, skull boots, pissed-off disposition, and a black eye that even the shades couldn’t hide, I belonged. Kind of.

I mean, I did smell better, which set me apart. I smelled of vanilla and almonds and honey. The thought reminded me of Gabriel, which reminded me of why I was here. I moved on.

Rotting teeth, foul breath, filthy clothes—how was it possible that cows and cream and fresh vegetables came from a place like this? And potatoes? What about those spuds in Gabriel’s hold? From here? Not possible. Not even.

Seamus hadn’t lied: Uplanders were a lot like the Runners. At least in appearance. And as Runners mingled with the Uplanders, they mostly blended in. To a novice they might all look the same, but I could tell them apart instantly. It was the pure Runner evil showing in the eyes.

New Vancouver, which had once been a beautiful, gleaming city by the sea, was now a vipers’ nest full of misfits and opportunists and worse. How had Gabriel gotten caught up in this? How?

“Tsunami Blue.”

I gasped and made a critical mistake. I turned, acknowledging my name.

Relief swept over me as I saw the man was not speaking to me. It was then that I realized that my name was on the lips of the crowd everywhere. The broadcast had gotten out.
Thank you, God
.

“She lies.”

Well, there you had it. Maybe I hadn’t done much good.

“She’s a devil. That much is for sure.”

Um, no. The guy standing next to you about to steal you blind…now, him, the Runner, he’s the devil.

“She’s a witch. If I got my hands on her, I’d burn her.”

How nice.

“Good idea. It ain’t natural, someone seein’ the future. She’s unholy.”

No. I’m not
, I wanted to say.
Now, vampires
…

I kept walking.

And then, “She’s never been wrong.” I stopped. I recognized that voice. Didn’t I?

“And she saved us. The wave would have gotten us.”

Okay. I recognized both voices. And it scared me. Not for me. For them. What were Nick and Alec doing here?

“Now, you boys don’t know what you’re talking about,” said an older man. “But we can sure educate ya. Why don’t you two come with us? We’ll fill ya in.”

“You know her?” Nick asked, not able to hide his excitement.

“Tell us.” Alec sounded equally excited.

“They call me good old Uncle Sam, boys. And I’ll tell ya all about it.”

I turned to see the boys talking to two men who were unshaven, unclean, and decisively unholy. I could tell by the way the older man licked his lips as he studied the boys. Uncle Sam hid his intent better, but not by much. I’d been raised in Runner camps until Seamus had stashed me on an island. I had seen this look too many times. These men were perverts. And I wanted to kill ’em.

My blood heated and I had to restrain myself from just gutting the two of them right there, leaving them to die in the filth of these streets. Just where they belonged.

I walked over and stood behind the boys.

“Gonna show them a puppy,
Uncle
Sam?” I drew out the
uncle
, long and soft, just to show him my disgust. And to show him I was onto him. Big-time.

The boys turned at the sound of my voice.

“Bambi,” they said in unison.

I couldn’t help it. The boys had me grinning in under a second. In under two, they both had me in a bear hug. I wasn’t used to public displays of affection. Hell, I wasn’t used to displays of affection period. But I found myself hugging them back and enjoying every minute of it, even as I felt color climb into my cheeks.

When they let go, both boys were beaming. Beaming with excitement at seeing me and beaming with the excitement of thinking they had a lead on Tsunami Blue.

“Hey,” Alec said. “These guys”—he hooked a thumb over his shoulder—“they know about Tsunami Blue.”

“Where’s Just Gabe, Bambi?” Nick asked. And then, “What happened to your eye?”

How could I tell them that Gabriel wasn’t with me, had never really been? And how could I tell them about Gabriel and the cage, when I wasn’t even sure what it was? All I knew for sure was that it wasn’t good. Not on any level. And as for their newfound friends? That was ending. Now.

“Now, the boys and me, we’re havin’ a right nice conversation, girly.” Sam pulled my attention away from Nick and Alec. “Why don’t you just run along and find some ice for that eye of yours. Don’t know what happened to ya, but”—he pulled his jacket back to reveal a knife bigger than any I had on me—“you probably deserved it. Now just shoo.” He motioned at me with the back of his hand like he was batting at a fly.

I wanted to remove my sunglasses, to raise an eyebrow in warning. I wanted to show him that I indeed was Tsunami Blue. That the boys need look no further. And then? I wanted to kill him. But I kept my cool, and the shades stayed on. No sense inviting even more trouble.

 The boys looked at me with wide eyes. I think they were amazed at the way Uncle Sam had talked to me. They looked around past my shoulders, clearly searching for Gabriel. Like he would put these guys in their place. Like maybe I couldn’t. Oh, but I could. Still, I looked at their young faces… No, it was time to move on.

If I didn’t, the boys would see the ugly side of me, and I didn’t want that. I’d spilled enough blood today, and the night wasn’t over yet. There might be more to come.

I put my arm around each boy protectively. “Let’s go, boys. I have a lot to tell you, including”—and I glared at Sam and his dirtbag friend—“how Gabriel and I met Tsunami Blue.”

“What?” Nick all but screamed.

“Tell us!” Alec added, unable to keep the excitement out of his voice.

“The bitch lies.” This time it was from Sam’s buddy in perversion.

“She does not.” Nick.

“She’s no bitch.” Alec.

I turned the boys around and gave them a friendly but firm push down the street. “I’ll catch up, guys.”

Nick looked at me with worry in his eyes.

“We shouldn’t leave you,” Alec said.

I gave the boys a pat on their heads. “Don’t worry.” I winked. “I’m the grown-up, remember?”

“A scrawny one,” I heard Sam say under his breath.

That word again.

And just when I was trying to keep my temper.

I gave the boys another little nudge along with a carefree smile.

“Okay.” Nick went, but not without hesitation.

“Come soon,” Alec said. “Like, in a minute.”

Nodding, I waved, then turned to face Creep One and Creep Two.

I was twirling a knife when I did. Fast. The silver gleamed in the light from a smoldering burn barrel. Suddenly flames played off the steel as the debris in the barrel caught fire: orange, blue, then red. More red dripped off the blade. The men screamed in pain, grabbing their throats as crimson spilled onto the dirty pavement.

I didn’t slit their throats. Almost, sure, and they’d have scars, but all in all, a survivable wound. But it was the “p” I carved into their foreheads for the entire world to see that would ultimately be their undoing.

In this new and dangerous world where kids were more at risk than ever before, the Uplanders, at least the ones who cared about children and futures and sanity, had taken to a form of branding.

The carved “p” was a death sentence. It stood for
pedophile
.

I wouldn’t have known about this particular brand if Gabriel had not told me. He had told me a great many things about New Vancouver, mainly not to enter the city without him. Well, he hadn’t given me a choice.  

As I walked away from the lowest form of humans on this blue, blue planet, I gave the men two weeks, tops, before someone took them out.

And I couldn’t say I felt bad about that.

Chapter Twenty-one

I walked down the dark, damp, and dangerous streets of New Vancouver between Nick and Alec. None of us spoke. I had found out they hitched a ride to New Vancouver on a supply junk. And there just wasn’t enough time to lecture them properly on the dangers of that. I might have overreacted with the “what in holy hell were you two idiots thinking?”

“Cage fight.” They had said. Great. How was I gonna deal with that?

So for now we just shuffled in silence with a swelling, pushing crowd. With the crush of bodies ripe with filth, the air was suffocating. It was almost hard to breathe. What, I asked myself again, were the boys doing here?

The boys, just as I had feared, had seen me at my worst. Instead of walking down the street, they’d cut across it to stay closer to me. And, let’s face it, to have a better look. I shook my head. Kids. Like they would do what they were told. Some things, even in a ruined and wet world, never changed.

I glanced at my moon clock, a tiny wristband that measured time by solar power, wind, and the phases of the moon. It had been on Gabriel’s boat—another one of his top-quality toys. But now I figured it was mine.

With batteries so scarce and the self-wind wristwatches corroded in our new salt-ridden world, the moon clocks started to crop up. They worked best in summer, when we had sunlight for solar energy, but there was also some kind of magnetism built in and the moon pulled at the hands like it does the tides. Ingenious, really. Too bad Runners had killed the man who had invented them. Now the bands were in short supply, which was why I kept mine hidden. I’d seen men killed for far less.

The way I figured, I had an hour and twenty minutes to find the cage, figure out how to get Gabriel out of it, run far away from a wave no one believed was coming, and most important? Get Nick and Alec out of here. Before the wave did it for me.

I also had a strong feeling it wouldn’t go down well with them if they knew about Gabriel’s little dilemma. Okay. Not so little; he was supposed to die. And if I knew the boys—and I thought I did—they’d get right in the middle of it. I’d be damned if, should there be a body count tonight, two of them would be theirs.

“Um, Bambi?” Nick said. “You were kind of, well, awesome with those two scumbags tonight.”

“Yeah, amazing. Can you teach us how to twirl knives like that? Next time Nick and I get some sicko after us, we can just kill him ourselves.”

Alec sounded way too pumped on that last note. This was just what I was afraid of. The boys being, well, boys, had glamorized the bloodletting and violence. Gabriel had done well in keeping them safe and sound. And yet after ten minutes with me, they were ready to don weapons and start slicing and dicing? I didn’t think so. Not on my watch. I had to turn down their adrenaline, fast.

I saw my chance and took it. A Dumpster stood off to the side, large, rusted, and—oh, I wanted to gag—smelly. But the space behind it looked private enough. I grabbed the boys by their fleece collars and yanked them behind it.

“What gives?” Nick said.

“Hey, watch the neck,” Alec complained.

The crowds pressed past us, fanning out and filtering into a wide area leading to a distant stadium. Or at least, what was left of it. It had to be where the cage was; everyone seemed just a little too eager to get there. Why did I feel this was a spectator sport? A big one.

I turned to face the boys, their expressions open and honest and—this was what got me the most—innocent.

I had their full attention. Which, given that they were ten-year-olds, was a small miracle.

“First, what the holy hell are you two doing here?”

I didn’t mean to sound mad, but the fear just seeped into my voice and so I had disguised it as anger.

The boys looked shocked at my tone, and then—and I didn’t want this—defensive.

“Gee, don’t get all mad. We just came to see the fight.”

“Fight?”

“Yeah,” Alec said, “the cage. It’s like the biggest fight of the year. We heard about it clear in New False Bay.”

The cage. A fight. To the death.
Oh, Gabriel.

I stuck my trembling hands in my pockets and steadied my breathing. I had to get these guys out of here; I
had
to. But how? And then it came to me. Was it the right thing to do? Would it work? I had to try. But first…

“Look, guys.” I spread my hands out in front of me. “Have either of you taken a life?”

The boys looked sheepish and shook their heads no.

“Have you ever seen anyone die?”

Again, no.

“Well, I have.”

“You have?” Nick asked. “Did you kill them?”

I was silent as I thought of the two Runners who had died by my hand less than twenty-four-hours ago. And I thought of the Runner scum I’d killed when I was close to Nick and Alec’s age. That death had changed my life. I didn’t want it for them. I wasn’t sure how the boys were being raised. But I’d bet all the Starbucks on Gabriel’s boat it wasn’t with Runners. These kids were too naive to survive in a Runner camp. And if they saw Gabriel die? Frustrated, I slammed my fist into the metal of the Dumpster, making the boys jump as the sound echoed around us.

Between the stench and the memories and the pain, it was all I could do not to grab the kids and shake them.
Run
, I wanted to scream at them.
Run, guys. Run away from here
. But instead I answered them.

My voice was as hard as ice and I glared at the boys. “Don’t glamorize it, kids—don’t you ever. Death is death. And there’s no coming back. Until you have the blood of a human being—a once living, walking, talking, human being—on your hands, and until you see someone gutted, with intestines hanging and the sea crabs feasting on their insides, you have no idea.”

 They looked at me like I was crazy. And maybe I was. Was this what caring about someone did to you? Made you nuts? Made you relive the most horrific death you had ever seen? I had just described finding Seamus O’Malley, my last living relative. I had thought I didn’t care. But I did. Just as I cared about the boys. And damn it, I cared about Gabriel. Lord help me, I didn’t want to, but there it was.

Taking off my glasses, I lowered my hood. I reached back and yanked on the band that was holding my dark mass of hair in my traditional ponytail. My hair tumbled around my shoulders. I felt better, more like myself, less like Bambi. And right now, in this dark and slimy place, I needed to be myself.

Because I was going to tell the boys that I was Tsunami Blue and a wave was coming. And they had better run.