Revelation

But then, her eyes would find me, connecting to the world once again. I wanted to hold her in those moments, let her know she wasn’t alone in them.

“I wonder if the Great Blight has something to do with how warm it is,” I went on. “You think? I noticed the same thing when we were in it. The fungus is alive, isn’t it? Maybe it radiates heat, somehow.”

“It’s possible,” Anna said. “I’d never really considered that. It would make sense, though.”

Thousands of square miles of Great Blight, all of it producing heat, would add up. Warm, in the Wasteland, was just a relative term. Right now, it was only slightly above freezing. All the tales I’d heard of the cruel Wasteland winter didn’t seem to be true, at this moment.

“The winter will fall like a hammer,” Anna said. “You’ll see. Every year, it comes at a different time. It’s just late in coming this year. There’ll be this great cloud of dust, and it will storm for about a week. Then, it will leave behind air so cold that it’ll freeze your blood.”

“Literally?”

Anna gave a small laugh. “No, not literally. But you’ll feel it. Sometimes, it’s so cold that you cry. You want to stay inside those days, with plenty of firewood and stew. That’s when raiders take to drink, living in the bars and inns of Bluff. At least, that’s how it used to be.”

With Raider Bluff gone, things had definitely changed.

“And we’ll be crossing the Wasteland while all that happens?”

Anna nodded. “Not much choice in the matter. This place is dead, either way. We will be, too, if we don’t go soon.”

She leaned against me, and I wrapped my arms around her. Feeling her warmth made winter seem like a faraway thing.

“If we’re going to L.A, we’ll be passing your home, won’t we?” I asked.

Anna nodded. “Last Town is right on the way, guarding the pass into the city. Last time I saw it was when the Reapers took over for good, and they laid it to dust. I hear they’ve rebuilt it, though. It’s a fort now, and all the trade has to go through there to make inside L.A.” She sighed. “It’ll be hell trying to take it down.”

From the south came the roar of approaching engines. I looked in that direction to see a dark cloud of dust advancing toward us.

“Marcus,” I said.

We both stood, walking toward the approaching bikes. As they drew close, I saw that something was off. More of them had left this morning than four. I could swear it.

“Only four are coming back from that patrol,” Anna said. “At least six or seven left, right?”

I waited a moment, just to be sure there were fewer Exiles returning. Without doubt, there were only four coming back.

“I’ll get the others,” I said.

I ran to Odin. We were in for some bad news.

* * *

As everyone on Odin ran down the boarding ramp, Marcus and what was left of his patrol walked up to the base of the ramp. Marcus hadn’t been away so long because he had been trying to avoid Char. He had been fighting for his life.

“Crawlers?” Anna asked.

Marcus shook his head. “The Reds. They ambushed us in west Vegas, and we didn’t have time to react. They took out Flex and Wedge. We gunned it back here, and they chased us a good way.”

Makara’s face darkened. “Wait. You were attacked by the Reds?”

“Yeah.”

Marcus’s clothes had somehow become tattered during his escape. His men stood beside him, silent.

“They just shot at us,” one of them said. “No warning or anything. They want a war.”

“They just attacked, for no reason?”

Marcus shook his head. “They might have thought we were attacking. We were just scouting, though. We never wanted this to happen.”

“The Reds have always been more violent than the others,” Michael said. “Why do you think Elijah didn’t invite them to the summit? There’s an agreement where the entire west side is theirs. But the east, that’s for the rest of the gangs. That’s where the water trucks are.”

“They thought you were attacking,” Anna said. “That must be it.”

“We can’t stand for this,” Marcus said. “They killed two of my best men! We’re down to just twenty three now, and…”

“Marcus,” Makara said.

Marcus quieted, and looked at Makara. She stood for a moment in silence, commanding his attention.

“You’re right. I cannot allow this to go unpunished. If the other gangs get wind of this, they’ll think us weak if we just let this happen. We’re going after them. Tonight.”

Everyone turned to look at her, unbelieving at first.

“Are we really going to attack them?” I asked. “Shouldn’t we be focusing on other things?”

“No,” Makara said. “Like I said, word of this will reach the gang lords by tomorrow. I want them to know we don’t take this kind of thing lightly. We attack them, let them know not to mess with us like this. We’ll take Odin, load it up with our best men, and go. Raider style.”

Char smiled, and Marcus made a fist. For a moment, the two brothers’ eyes locked. It was the first time they had looked at each other with anything other than hostility since they had gotten here.

“If you think this is the best move for the group,” Samuel said, “I won’t stop you. You’re the leader of the New Angels. As long as this doesn’t interfere with the main mission, I can get behind it.”

I looked at Samuel, unbelieving. Was I the only one who thought this was a bad idea?

“We can’t be serious about this,” I said. Everyone turned to look at me. “We can’t waste more men and bullets on this. Leave the Reds to the Blighters. We’re getting out of here in a few days, anyway. We need to be preparing to leave this place behind.”

Makara looked at me, weighing my words. Anna was quiet, and I could tell that she wasn’t sure what to think. She was a Raider, at least by association, so she at least knew of their culture for retribution. When a rival gang pushed you, you pushed back twice as hard.

Makara heaved a sigh, then turned to Michael.

“Michael, what can you tell us about the Reds? Numbers? Weaknesses?” She paused. “Where they hell are they, even?”

“Well, they’re a large gang, led by a man named Lucius. They have a lot of territory, and are very possessive of it. They are mainly on the west side of town, in the suburbs. They have their own farms and slaves, separate from the rest of the Vegas Gangs. They are probably as strong as the Kings.”

“If we took them out, would anyone inside miss them?” Makara asked.

Michael shook his head. “Most of them would be glad. Only Jade and the Diamonds have dealings with the Reds. Contracting slaves, that sort of thing.”

“That settles it,” Makara said. “They’re done.”

“Settles what?” I asked. “We can’t just attack them. We’ll lose a lot of men. We can’t get drawn into a war when we’re already in one. This just makes us weaker to the Blighters.”

“Alex, let me explain something to you,” Makara said. “Marcus is one of us. One of us got attacked. If we do nothing, we appear weak. The Reds, right now, are probably preparing a defense. We have to hit them before they’re ready. If we leave them be, they’ll be a thorn in our side. You think they aren’t going to leave Vegas when the rest of us do?”

That gave me pause, because it was something I hadn’t considered. The Reds weren’t to be trusted, and having them picking on us while we were on the run was a very real threat.

“Besides,” Makara said, “making an example out of the Reds will make the other gangs think twice before crossing us. I’m not proposing an all-out attack. Just a fly-by in Odin. Some guys on the ground taking some easy shots. Should take five minutes.”

“Seriously?” I asked. “It’ll take longer than that.”

Everyone watched as Makara and I faced off. She didn’t have me convinced. It just surprised me that I was standing alone. Anna looked at me, wanting to support me, but knowing she couldn’t. She agreed with