They found a radio room with a box that had two rows of buttons and a signal screen. Headphones hung from a wall peg, and batteries were stacked like bricks on a steel rack. Wire trailed from the batteries to the radio and up the wall and through the ceiling.
“Should I try?” Milly said. “The ON button is clear enough and I can tune in the frequency, though it isn’t the agreed upon time of day based on the sun.” Their synchronized watch was long gone.
“Axe and Gerall said it doesn’t matter. They most likely won’t hear us. As to the time of day, that doesn’t matter either. Our message could bounce around the ionosphere for hours. Tye said even longer,” Robin said.
Milly put on the headphones, flipped the ON switch, and a burst of static made her jump. She adjusted the frequency knobs until the unit was tuned into 419.6mhz, which matched the Ear. The radio hummed and buzzed and the room smelt of burning rubber, oil and metal. She turned to Robin and said, “What should I say?”
Robin shrugged. “Tell them we’re OK and that we love them.”
Milly nodded. She lifted the microphone and pressed the talk button. The design was much like the ear except bigger and much older. “Respite. Respite. This is Milly Hendricks, and I’m here with Robin Hampton, and…” She released the talk button and the channel closed with a burst of static.
“What is it?” Robin said.
“This isn’t the way Tris and Hazel should learn about Peter. If I don’t mention him, they’ll suspect something is wrong,” Milly said.
“You’re over thinking this. Just tell them where we are, what we’re doing, and that we’ll call again when we can.”
Milly nodded and tried again. “Respite. Respite. This is Milly Hendricks. The date is April 24th, 2075, and the fellowship is heading north to a guidestone where it’s said we’ll find a clue to a new city. A place where the old world is being rebuilt. We’ll call again when we can. I love you Randy. Milly Hendricks out.”
“Do it a few more times. Don’t forget Curso,” Robin said.
Her husband. He’d become a distant memory. She thought more of Peter, as if he were her deceased partner. In many ways he was. What that meant for her and Curso she didn’t know, but she didn’t add his name to her sign-off. Milly recited the message into the void twenty times, each time waiting for a reply. No response came, and she hung up the headphones and powered down the radio for what would probably be the last time.
They found Larry in the kitchen perched on a chair back. He squawked and screeched as they entered and Turnip inched out from under the table. Larry was a white crow missing an eye and Turnip was a huge gray shorthair cat with golden eyes that looked part mountain lion. The animal watched them as cats do and sat down.
They were packing up food when Robin said, “When we were unlocking all the doors before, I had an idea. You remember the armory courtyard?”
“How could I forget?”
“We only used one door, but do you remember how many other doors there were?”
“Four. Each courtyard wall had one, except for the south end which had two. They’re same as ours. Large and thick with bands of steel crisscrossing the wood. We tried to pick the locks. We pounded on them, and once Tester pried one open.”
Milly remembered. “It opened into the viral’s space.”
“Tye and Tester think they all do. So do I. The way Axe led you in was through the viral’s space. They were around us all the time, watching,” Robin said.
Milly raised the keyring, which held at least fifty keys. “We haven’t used a bunch of these. We should be able to unlock different doors and get to the courtyard. Then we don’t need the three keys he hid.”
“We’ll have to go through viral territory,” Robin said.
“I’ll find a zapper box, and his guns. We’ll fight through if we have to. Tye and our friends must be starving by now. We have to get to them,” Milly said.
Larry squawked.
“Why didn’t Axe have the shock-box on him when he came for us?” Robin said.
Milly said nothing because her answer wasn’t good. If Axe had meant to end it, and them, he’d probably tossed the zapper over the wall or otherwise destroyed it. Milly hoped they could find a spare.
As usual, hope didn’t come through. They searched the house and found guns, food, three backpacks, ammo, canteens, clothes, but no shock collar controllers. Milly said, “We need to pack as much extra clothing as we can. Tye, Tester, and Ingo will need some of this stuff. The weather can get harsher up north.” Axe had a room full of gear he’d salvaged over the years, most of which had deteriorated to nothing, but the rubber boots and synthetic fabrics were still usable.
“What of Jerome? What did Axe do with his body?” Robin asked.
Milly sighed. “Axe made me bury him out back. We must tell his family if we ever get back, same as Peter and Vera.”
“Yeah,” Robin said.
As expected, Axe had been well armed. They found several rifles and handguns, and Milly retrieved her family Glock 19 and pocketed thirty-seven 9mm shells. She gingerly slung a rifle over her injured arm onto her shoulder and took two boxes of .22 caliber bullets. Peter’s axe she stuck in her belt and it hung by her side like a sword.
