come from the south, the west, the north, the east, ten thousand strong.
And when they freed those held in cages and labs and camps, the army would swell.
“Your mind’s busy,” Tonia commented. “It’s buzzing all over.”
“They fight for nothing there. They can’t stop. The city’s dead, a rubble on charred bones, but they won’t stop. Once we take it, all that’ll be left are ghosts and the hollow ring of false power.”
She left it behind, winged south. “See, a few camps scattered through the hills. Nothing permanent or structured.”
“Good hiding places,” Tonia said. “Bad roads, and the winters would be hard. A couple feet of snow, what roads there are would be rough going without a good horse or enough fuel to run a Humvee like Chuck’s, or a tank or snowplow.”
“Plenty of game, wood, water.” Fallon circled.
“Lots of water—lots of fish, probably mussels, crabs, clams. Get some boats seaworthy, and it’s seafood time.”
“Merpeople,” Fallon pointed out, and watched the jeweled tails flash as they dived. “Good warriors.”
They circled up, over a bluff. Good, high ground, to Fallon’s mind.
“No power,” she noted, “but those cabins look sturdy. There’s a clearing. I’m going down.”
The air sparkled, fresh, clean, and cooler than it had been. She smelled pine, and water from a stream, a hint of smoke from a camp a few miles west.
She walked toward a cabin that reminded her of the one she’d spent her first night in with Mallick on the way to his cottage.
“A hunting cabin most likely, or a vacation place. Log, well built. No power, but we can restore it.”
She saw the red flash of a fox, deer scat, tracks from bear.
“This is nice.” Tonia turned a circle. “I’m not especially a nature girl, but this is nice.”
Fallon flicked a hand at the door, opening it as she approached.
“Scavengers picked it clean,” she noted. “Nomads, probably, since they left the heavier furniture and there’s no sign anyone settled in for long. Ashes in the fireplace, old and cold.”
“The other cabins around here are likely the same. No supplies, but solid walls, roof, fireplace for heat. Tiny kitchen.” Tonia turned the rusted tap on a shallow sink. “No running water, but yeah, we can fix that, too.”
“One bath, toilet and shower. Serviceable, and more than I had for a year with Mallick.”
Tonia’s mouth dropped open. “Seriously? A year?”
“Deadly. This is better than I thought,” she decided as she walked out, pushed her way along an overgrown track to another cabin. “Secluded but strategic. Get the basics up and running, add security, sentry posts, communications. Clear some of the land for a decent garden, a greenhouse, beehives, fortify the cabins, and use one as an armory. Get those boats on the waterways. Flash or fly in supplies. There’s plenty of wood to build more cabins, for fuel. Let’s see how many…” She trailed off, looked at Tonia.
I hear them, Tonia said in her mind. North and south.
About three dozen. Hold on.
Not wanting to frighten off, but ready to defend, Fallon spoke clearly. “We’re not here to harm, or take. You have nothing to fear from us unless you attack. Then you have everything to fear.”
“Big talk from little girls.”
The man who stepped into the clearing made John Little look spindly. He reached seven feet, with a burly, muscled body clad in a scarred leather vest and boots, and denim pants worn to holes at the knees.
He had a face like carved ebony, a black beard that hung to his chest, black hair in a grungy series of braids.
And an arrow nocked in his bow.
Some of the handful behind him held wooden spears or bows. One held a sword in a way that told Fallon he didn’t actually know how to use it.
“Anyone would be little measured against you,” Fallon said easily, and kept her hands at her sides. “Is this your land?”
“We’re standing on it.”
“And so are we. If it’s your land, you haven’t made much use of it. Still, you’ve got no need to defend it from us. We’re not here to fight you.”
He smiled wide, showed the gap of a missing tooth. “Why would you? You’re outnumbered. Skinny girl with a big sword, best go back the way you came before we have to hurt you.”
“You know what?” Tonia cocked a hip, set a hand on it in a gesture of defiance. “I don’t like being threatened for walking in the woods. You?” she said to Fallon.