The Eternal War

CHAPTER 59

2001, Dead City

The voice came from further up the avenue. She couldn’t see anything with the glare of the sun in her eyes, but she recognized the voice. ‘Liam?’

‘Aye! Jay-zus!’ His voice echoed back down the avenue. She heard the slap of his feet on hard tarmac and finally he emerged in front of the soldiers and stood before her. ‘Well, look at you …’ He checked her over. ‘Look a state, so you do.’

She felt a rush of relief so intense her legs felt unsteady beneath her. She noted the bandage on his head. ‘You got hurt?’

‘Knocked out, Sal. Stupid, I should’ve ducked. That’s why I — ’

‘So, this is your sister, is it?’ called out another voice, crisp and commanding.

Sister? She glanced up at him. He nodded slightly. She realized Liam must have told them that for a reason. Out of the bloom of sunlight, she saw a tall wide shape emerging. Unmistakably Bob. Beside him another man, slim, wearing a white pith helmet.

‘This fella here,’ said Liam as they approached, ‘is Captain McManus. It’s really all thanks to him we found you, so.’

Beneath the helmet’s peak she saw the taut face of a young army officer. ‘Sister?’ He frowned. Confused. ‘But you’re white and she’s …’

‘My step sister, so she is,’ cut in Liam. ‘Closest family I got, so help me.’

McManus cocked his head and shrugged. ‘Well, then — ’ he extended a white-gloved hand — ‘Really rather pleased we found you in one piece, young lady.’

She reached out and shook it lightly. ‘Thank you.’

‘And you, sir?’

Lincoln shook his hand. ‘Abraham Lincoln.’

‘Jolly good to have retrieved you unharmed, Mr Lincoln.’ McManus nodded politely. ‘Now … we’ve got a few of these runaways back in the alley, have we?’

Sal nodded. ‘Look … please don’t hurt them!’

He frowned at her. ‘Don’t hurt them?’

‘Please! They’re harmless!’

He tapped his finger pensively against his chin. ‘How many of them down in that side street there?’

She shrugged. ‘Couple of dozen, I think.’

‘These creatures, Captain … they did not kill any people. It was other creatures. Nor have they hurt us,’ said Lincoln.

‘They treated us really well,’ added Sal. ‘Gave us food and water. They didn’t hurt us.’

‘Really?’ McManus looked bemused. ‘That’s rather untypical behaviour of these things. They’re feral animals. You can’t predict how they’ll behave from one moment to the next.’

‘You sure they didn’t hurt you?’ said Liam. ‘I mean they were … well, they seemed pretty ferocious back in that farmhouse.’

‘They were scared, Liam! They’re like frightened children.’

‘Frightened, perhaps, but they are still exceedingly dangerous. They need to be apprehended. And then we can decide what’s to be done with them. I can’t promise clemency if we discover any of them were directly involved in the recent killings — you understand that?’

Sal nodded. ‘Honestly, it wasn’t any of them.’

He glanced over her shoulder at the deserted brick tenement building. ‘Do we need to flush them out of there as well?’

She shook her head. ‘No … I told them not to go inside and hide. That it would just make things worse.’

‘Very sensible advice.’

‘They’re all just waiting back in the alley. They just want to come out … like we did. Just come out with their hands up.’

He shrugged. ‘Good.’ He cupped his hands round his mouth. ‘YOU RUNAWAYS HIDING IN THE ALLEY … BEST YOU COME OUT NOW!’

Nothing emerged from the alleyway. For a moment Sal had a sinking feeling that fear had got the better of them and they had quietly slipped away into the tenement buildings on either side. But then they heard a soft frightened whimper emerge from the gloom.

Too frightened to budge.

‘Let me try,’ she said to McManus.

‘If you wish.’

‘SAMUEL!’ she called out. ‘It’s OK! They’re not going to hurt any of you! Do as he said … all of you! Just like I did … slowly, with your hands nice and high!’

Silence. Not a murmur. She was about to cup her mouth and try again, but then the first pale figure slowly emerged, blinking, into the sunlight.

Samuel. He was doing as she’d instructed: his thin, child’s arms raised above his oversized head. Twenty yards away, she could see he was trembling. The ape emerged behind, towering above him, huge muscular arms raised.

‘No shoot!’ it cried in a deep voice.

Sal nodded encouragement. ‘That’s right! No one’s going to shoot you. Come on!’

The others began to emerge one by one. ‘That’s it … come on. It’s OK!’

Captain McManus studied the creatures as they stepped into the daylight. ‘By the shape of the heads I’d say these are mostly Watson-Rutherford Class Eugenics. Manufactured fifteen … some of them twenty years ago,’ he mused. ‘Hmmm, all old stock, very poor condition looking at them, largely malnourished.’

He ordered some of his men over to herd the group together.

Liam stepped beside Sal. He put an arm round her shoulders and hugged her. ‘It’s a relief to see you again,’ he whispered, squeezing her tight. ‘I let you down, Sal. God, I’m so sorry! When I came round … I was … you were already gone — ’

She put a hand to his mouth. ‘I’m OK. Honest.’

‘But if — ’

‘We’re both fine, Liam,’ she smiled. ‘Hungry … very hungry, but fine.’

‘Closer together, Corporal!’ barked McManus. ‘Don’t want any of these devils sneaking off!’

‘Mr Lincoln? You’re not hurt?’ asked Liam.

‘As this young lady said … we are both fine, Mr O’Connor. But I could eat a whole barn full of horses!’

‘Liam?’ She stepped back. ‘Heard anything yet from Maddy?’

He shook his head and lowered his voice. ‘Nothing.’

McManus was busy issuing orders and appraising the condition of the eugenics. ‘Not a thing,’ he replied. ‘She must have problems of her own to deal with.’

‘And those of you wearing clothes,’ called out McManus, ‘let’s have those removed, if you please … you’re not human!’

Sal turned to look up at Bob and smiled. ‘Good to see you too, coconut head.’

‘I am glad you are both unharmed,’ he replied.

She punched his flank gently. ‘You know, one or two of these genics have got even bigger muscles than you!’

He scowled. ‘Muscle-tissue density, not size, is the determining factor.’

She tipped her head back at the creatures. ‘Seen the big one back there? Hmm? Jealous?’

He looked puzzled. ‘That is not a human emotion I have managed to generate files on yet.’

‘Not jealous? Yeah right.’ She turned round to point out the ape and stopped dead. ‘Hold on! Hey! … What’s going on?’

The others turned to see Captain McManus unbuckling the flap of his gun holster. The creatures were huddled tightly together in the middle of the avenue, their items of clothing — hats, scarves, aprons — discarded on the ground. The soldiers had formed a loose circle round them, a cautious dozen yards between them and the eugenics, carbines raised to their shoulders and aimed.

‘Excuse me!’ called out Sal. ‘What’re you doing?’

McManus ignored her. ‘Mark your targets, men!’

‘Jay-zus!’ Liam jogged over towards him. Sal followed. ‘Captain McManus! What? Hoy! Stop! You’re not planning on shooting them, are you?’

He turned to Liam. ‘What? Yes, of course we are.’

Sal saw Samuel at the front of the huddle, his eyes picking her out. His ragged lips moved. A whispered unheard question.

Sal? You told us …?

‘Clearly they’re not a danger to anyone now!’ said Liam. ‘Can you not see? They have no weapons! Look at them … they’re — ’

‘They are faulty, Mr O’Connor. Faulty eugenic units. Which makes them unreliable. As I said, unpredictable.’

Sal looked at him. ‘Faulty?’

‘Quite faulty, yes.’ He nodded casually. ‘They can’t be reconditioned. Quite honestly they’re in an appalling condition anyway. And we certainly can’t leave these things running around on the loose.’ He turned back to his men. ‘Make ready!’

‘Stop!’ she shrieked. ‘Please! Stop!’ She grasped his gun hand.

‘Excuse me! Would you mind letting go?’

‘Look! Captain,’ said Liam, ‘I don’t think this is right either! You can’t just shoot them like this!’

Lincoln had joined them now. ‘My friends are quite correct, sir! These poor wretches should not be treated in this way!’

McManus looked at them all. Bewildered by their concern. ‘You do understand these are not — ’ he looked at the shivering huddle of ash-white eugenics — ‘that these are not … people? Good grief, they’re not even animals. They’re eugenic products! Blood and bone factory machines … that really is all they are.’

‘No!’ cried Sal. ‘Jahulla! No! They’re more than that! They … they … they’re just like us! They’re intelligent! They can talk and — ’

‘Of course they can talk. Some of them were designed that way. Good God, some of the smartest ones can almost be convincing. But listen, young lady,’ he said softly, almost sympathetically, ‘don’t ever make the mistake of thinking one of these things can be your friend.’

He twisted his hand out of her grasp. ‘Understand, they are products. That’s all! Machines. More importantly, they are broken machines … and that makes them unreliable. Unpredictable.’ He raised his gun. ‘Dangerous.’

‘Please!’ cried Sal. ‘Stop!’ She saw Samuel … his scrawny arms folded in front of his face. McManus fingered the safety catch on his sidearm and filled his lungs with a breath.

‘TAKE AIM!’

The ape standing behind Samuel quickly moved a thick arm down and wrapped it round Samuel’s small torso protectively, as if the bulk of his muscle was going to be enough to shield him.

‘FIRE!’