Through Darkest America

“It’s a way out, Howie. You don’t have to come if you don’t want to.”

“It’s a way out if you want to get killed bad enough. Kari… you got the idea in that stubborn head of yours that you’re goin’ to get out, even if you get dead doing it.”

She fixed him with big, curious eyes. “You want to stay, Howie? I can see how you would, considering you had such a fine time here.”

“I got my eye took out,” he said sourly, “only it was a knife that done it. It wasn’t no Boomer or a rifle bullet. You ain’t making any sense, as usual.”

“I am to me.”

“Well you’re—” The noise turned him around quickly. He took one look behind him and jerked her back around the corner.

“What is it?”

He didn’t answer. He limped back over the short block, crossed the street, and angled down a narrow alley toward the wall.

“Howie…”

“Just shut up, and listen. The way we come back there’s filled with Rebels. They must’ve got through another break further down.” He muttered under his breath. “They’re goin’ to be all over the damn place in about a minute. They see us wanderin’ around out here they ain’t goin’ to stop to talk.”

The little crease between her eyes started working. “Then we’ll have to go out through the wall.”

“And meet ’em comin’ in that way, too?”

“All right. What do you suggest, Howie?”

Howie ignored her. He imagined he could hear boots scraping on cobbled streets. They could stay where they were and get caught—or keep moving, and run right into more Rebels, for certain. Either way… He stopped, sniffing the air. There was sure something besides smoke and black powder in the air. Something a lot stronger than that. He moved to the end of the alley and risked a look. The smell was overpowering, now. A man didn’t even need one eye to track down an odor like that.

There were maybe a couple hundred head—bucks, mares, and even colts. They’d broken out of their pen somewhere and nobody’d bothered to round them up. They were scared stiff, cringing together against the high wall, eyes glazed with fear. From the look of them, they hadn’t eaten in days.

Howie watched another long minute, then turned back for Kari. She was full of questions, but he wouldn’t talk to her until they were back around the corner from the herd.

“Kari…” He took a deep breath. The next part wasn’t going to be easy. “Kari, I want you to take your clothes off.”

Puzzlement, then anger, started at the corners of her eyes. He waved her off. “Now it ain’t what you think. I want you to take your clothes off ’cause we’re goin’ to drive that meat out of here through that wall, with us right behind ’em. Now don’t say nothing, just do it. There’s no other way and I figure them soldiers ain’t going to kill no stock. It’s ’bout the only thing they’re not shootin’ at.”

Kari found understanding. Her mouth dropped open and her big eyes widened. “You are crazy as you can be, Howie. If you think I’m going to run around naked out there… with meat…” Her mouth closed with revulsion around the word.

“They ain’t goin’ to look,” he said wryly. “I don’t like it no more’n you do, Kari, but we’re goin’ to do it. ’Less you got something better in mind.”

She stared as he dropped his trousers and stepped out of them, keeping only the pistol. He searched around and found two blackened sticks. He handed one to her. She shook her head.

“You won’t go without me, Howie. You know you won’t.”

He didn’t look at her. He took his stick and hopped down the alley as best he could and out into the sunshine. He waved his stick at the frightened stock. They’d probably never seen people without clothes on, he decided, but there were a lot of unusual things happening in the world, and even meat was going to have to get used to them.

Chapter Thirty-six

There was no problem getting the herd moving. They were glad enough to have someone tell them what to do next, and didn’t much care what it was. Once the point got turned in the right direction, the others followed— right through the shattered wall and out of the city.

There was noise and confusion out there and plenty of things to frighten an animal. But stock was like that. Howie’s father had always said meat felt a lot better being led to slaughter than having to think of something else to do.

The land rose up slightly outside the walls and the Rebels had placed their siege engines on small hillocks some two- hundred yards from the city. There were only three of the big catapults close by and a few troopers milling around them. That was one break, anyway, Howie decided. The real fighting had evidently shifted to the north wall and the bulk of the soldiers had followed it there. The Boomer crew would be taking a care where they dropped their missiles, with their own men entering the city from the east.

“Howie,” Kari moaned, “I can’t take this anymore. I mean it.”

He glanced over his shoulder. She had stopped a few yards back, standing with her legs rooted to the ground, hands stiff against her sides in tight little fists.

Howie was horrified. “Godamn, Kari!” He ran back and jerked her roughly forward. She pulled away and he smacked her soundly on her bare bottom.

Kari let out a little cry. Her eyes turned black. “Don’t you ever do that again, Howie. Not ever.”

“I won’t,” he told her, “less I have to. Just stick right up here where you belong… with the rest of us meat.”

Kari went white. He thought for a minute she was going to hit him. Instead, she gave him a dark look and stalked off ahead.

He had to grin at the red brand of his hand across her shapely rear. Karl’s slender, almost fragile figure stood out like a sore thumb against the sun-darkened, dirt-encrusted stock. He felt just as bad about the whole thing as she did. But he wasn’t about to tell her that. It made him feel queasy all over. It wasn’t right, people mixing with stock. It was against just about everything. It was some better than getting caught by the Rebels and maybe getting shot on the spot, but that didn’t make him feel any more comfortable doing it.

Someone fired a shot on the rise ahead and he hobbled off to the right for a look. He couldn’t tell what was happening, but troopers were swarming all over one of the big machines. The whole business made him nervous. What he’d like to do was swing the herd further to the left, as far away from the soldiers as possible. To do that, though, he’d have to move out of the rear and shout them over, putting him in plain sight of anyone watching.

Kari was up beside him, looking scared. “Howie, what are you doing? Don’t go off like that.”

“I’m not goin’ anywhere,” he told her, pulling her back into the protection of the herd. “I was just checking.” “What is it?”

“It’s nothing, Kari. I was looking, is all.”

There was a heavy, thudding sound and one of the dark Boomers whistled over their heads toward the center of the city. The herd grunted in fear and jerked as one away from the noise. Howie grinned. By God, he couldn’t ask for better help. There was high grass up ahead. Another fifty yards or so. All they had to do was stick with the herd until they could lose themselves out there. Then, stay low for a mile or so until the city and the troopers were far behind.

“I’m getting sick, Howie. I mean it.”

Kari sounded like she was strangling on something. “You don’t look too good,” he told her.

Her eyes blazed. “This is a terrible idea. I never should have listened to you.”

Howie shrugged. He sympathized, but there wasn’t much he could do. It was bad enough being naked with a bunch of stock. Besides that, it was never any fun trailing behind ’em. Especially on foot. They smelled bad enough