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“Our fighting men were trained in a military that no longer exists. They think in terms of enemies and war when we need strategies to deal with raiders and thieves.”
History of a Changed World, Angus T. Moss
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NICK FOLLOWED NADINE’S whispered instructions as they stumbled through the woods in the pale shadows of dusk. James had told her of a boat house. A gap in the trees showed the path that should lead down to the river. The smell of water, fish and loam was strong. Trees crowded down to the water where they were met by vines and rushes making an impenetrable mat on the bank. Along the verge, an old boardwalk led to a pier with three ramshackle buildings. The boardwalk was rotted through in a handful of places. Moss grew all along the edges. Nick hoped at least one of the boats was in better condition.
“Here,” Nadine said, pointing to a rope tied to a tilted bollard on the other side of the walkway. It appeared to be just an old line dangling in the reeds. “He said there’s a boat.”
Nick put a foot on the rotting boards, testing them. Three quick steps and he was across and down into ankle deep muck on the river bank. He tugged on the rope, relieved to feel some kind of weight on the other end. He braced a foot against the bollard and hauled the slimy, wet line in, hand over hand. He heard the sound of something moving through the rushes, then a slender canoe bumped against the bank.
A floodlight pierced the night exploring along the pier. Nick reached across the walkway for Nadine. She grabbed his hand as the rotten boards bowed under her weight, but luckily held. She stifled a gasp as she landed in the scummy water next to him. Nick nudged her toward the canoe. The light edged away from them, searching toward the shacks. “Hurry,” he whispered.
She stumbled into the canoe banging a knee with a reverberating thunk that sent Nick’s heart pounding. He pushed the craft away from the bank, deeper into the reeds. The water rose up to his knees, then his hips. The spotlight hit them a second before a bullet pinged off the canoe. Nick shoved with all his might, feeling the craft pull free of the vegetation-choked shallows. Cold water washed over him as the current pulled them in deeper. He could hear multiple gun shots now. The canoe swerved rapidly into the current. Nick held on to the side as bullets dimpled the water around him. The spotlight caught them once more before the river pulled them away.
“Get in!” Nadine squeaked.
Nick could feel her warm hands on his cold ones. She reached into the water to grab his shirt. “I got it,” he said as he worked his way down the gunwale to the center of the canoe. “Lean that way,” he warned her. It took three tries and a lot of water in the canoe, but he managed to get in without tipping it over.
They were drifting in a fast current in complete darkness. Nick was chilled to the bone, shivering in his sopping wet clothes. He felt around in the water at the bottom of the canoe. “Ah!” He pulled out one paddle as he felt for the other. “Rats. I think there’s only one.”
“Better than none,” Nadine said. He could hear her teeth chattering.
He stabilized the craft, pointing the bow downstream. Looking up at the lighter gloom of the overcast sky, he could estimate the center of the river by locating the blackness of the trees on either side. “How far is this farm?”
“He said it was a couple miles by car.”
“And you believed him?”
“I asked him what the colors on the tags meant. I wanted to know where Abby went. He said the blue tags went to a couple places, but when I described the woman who came for her, he said it could be the orphanage.”
“Orphanage?” Nick barked. “How did he know?” He was caught between fury and relief. If someone did go back to gather the kids, he could forgive them for taking the adults. But the whole system stunk.
“I guess he helps out there too. Can’t be too many doctors left. And since he’s a biobot, he’s got to do whatever they say, right?”
Nick started to embark on a rant that had been brewing for days when he saw a light ahead on the riverside. He guided the canoe into the shadows at the far bank trying to avoid snagging on any underwater debris. The current was much more sluggish in the shallow water. They slowed perilously just as the canoe came opposite the illuminated pier. The river was wide enough at this point that Nick thought they were well hidden under the trees. The paddle hit bottom in a couple places as Nick nudged them along.
This dock looked in good shape, but there weren’t any boats tied up. A utility pole held a single old fashioned street lamp that illuminated the bank, the pier and a portion of the river. A man sat in a lawn chair at the base of the pole with a long gun across his lap. They were too far away for Nick to get a good look at the person or the weapon. He dipped the paddle into the water as silently as possible. They were almost past when a big black van arrived. Nick guided the canoe further out into the current. As the water got deeper, their speed increased.
“What was that?” Nadine whispered.
“Guard post?”
“Think there will be more?”
“I don’t know.” Nick looked back, but a curve of the river blocked the light. Behind him he saw the varying shades of darkness that denoted the sky, river and trees. “If James knew about the orphanage because he visited there, then the General might have guards there.”
“So we shouldn’t go there?” Nadine asked.
“Why do you want to?”
“I’d like to find Abby and her kids. That’s why she was acting crazy. They took her and left her kids behind. James thinks the kids should be at this orphanage.”
“So there’s a crew that goes around after these pressgangs to scoop up the kids?”
“That’s what he said.”
They rounded another curve to come upon another lighted area. A large house, that might have been a hotel, was set back on a rise with a rolling lawn that flowed down to a stretch of beach on the river. A pair of docks flanked the beach creating a protected lagoon. Security lighting lit up the entire area. The building had a few lights on in the windows on the upper floors, but the entire first floor was aglow.
“I think that’s it,” Nadine said.
Nick directed the canoe over to the bank. “There’s no way we can get up there without being seen.” He found a shallow eddy to drift into and stopped under the curtain of a weeping willow so they could take a closer look.
“Nobody around,” Nadine said.
“Guards could be anywhere,” Nick warned. He examined the building. Shade trees had hidden what looked like two long wings on either side of the main structure. Too many windows in rows on the upper floors made it look like a hotel or hospital.
“So what should we do?”
“Wait,” Nick said. He knew that they needed food and dry clothes soon. He was still shivering, and hypothermia was right around the corner. His wet shirt stuck to his skin stealing warmth instead of giving it. Nadine wasn’t much dryer after his flailing attempts to get into the canoe.
She leaned forward as if that would help her to see better. “How long?”
“Until some of those lights go out.”