“We’ve come a long way with no water and food. Can we please have a drink?” Milly said.
“Sit down,” the old man said. “I’m just a gatekeeper. You listen to what I say, and do as I tell you, and you’ll be on your way lickety-split if you choose. Savvy?”
“Yes,” Tye said.
Pepper and Turnip edged closer to the fire, and both looked like drowned rats as the snow melted off them. Robin sat next to the fire and slumped over. She was done.
“My name’s Calvin, and I’m not highborn or reborn or newborn or any of that crap. I hid out in the mountains as everything fell apart. Me, a hundred cases of my best friend Jack Daniels and some supplies, and I waited for everyone to kill each other. Where you been?”
“The greenies didn’t tell you about us?” Tye said.
“I don’t talk to the squires. They’re not allowed here,” Calvin said.
“Why?” Tye said.
“When you train someone to kill, they want to fight. That was part of the old world’s problem. Economic wars. Someday, when all the rogue military stations have bent the knee to Argartha and the reborn, perhaps they can become citizens. Where you folks coming from?”
“An island in the South Pa…”
Tye cut Milly off. “What about our friend, Tester? You know where he is?”
“No, sir, I do not. Don’t worry on it though; people get separated during processing all the time. It don’t mean nothing,” Calvin said. “I’m sure he’ll come through.”
“Are there other ways to get to Argartha?” Tye said.
The old man looked dumbfounded. “Why, of course there are. What? You think there’s one path?”
“What is this place?” Milly said.
“These are kind of like vacation cottages. People come here in the summer to get away from the clutter of the city,” Calvin said.
“Sure doesn’t look like a cottage,” Milly said.
“All these mounds have the same thing under them; storage bays with access to an underground tunnel system. This was an ordnance facility back in the Cold War days and was converted into a survival community. It was designed to house five thousand people for twenty years.”
“This where you live?” Robin asked.
He looked at Robin as though she’d just appeared. “I do, little lady,” Calvin said.
“Alone?” Tye said.
“It suits me, and I’m not alone. Like I said, there are tunnels. I’m on duty so I’m dug out and fired up, but there are others living beneath the snow.”
“Duty?” Milly said.
“I help people get through the outer lands to Argartha. In the summer it’s a beautiful walk which brings us to the business we share. A few rules before I pass you off to Orientation,” Calvin said.
“How do you know we’re supposed to be here and didn’t sneak in?” Tye said.
“A fly couldn’t get through the squire’s perimeter. Listen up, this first part is just advice. You are a second-class citizen here. Act like it. The reborn rule Argartha. You guys have any idea what superheroes are?”
General nods and agreement.
“Imagine living in a town where Superman strolls down every block. That’s why some of us choose the outer lands. It’s wild, but the perimeter is maintained by the squires. So, pay attention when they ask you to select where you want to live,” Calvin said.
“I won’t be staying,” said Milly.
“You’re here for a year, minimum. That’s the deal. You can’t come and go as you want. You may travel home one day, but you’d need to earn that right.”
“I’ll leave when I want. I have a child,” Milly said.
“That you left behind?” Calvin said.
That shut Milly down, and Tye said, “So we’ve already agreed to a one year minimum when we passed the guard post?”
“Yes, sir. None of the greenies told you that?” Calvin said.
“No,” Tye said.
“Did you have a reborn with you?” Calvin said.
“Yes, Ingo,” Tye said. Pain shot down his back. They hadn’t been told because the squires didn’t want to risk Ingo not going to Argartha.
“Well there you have it. You guys are lucky. Your friend will be able to jump you a few steps, if you know what I mean?” Calvin said.
“Like get me permission to go home?” Milly said.
Calvin holstered his gun. “Probably not, unless he can turn piss into wine. They went and kicked Ozzie out, and he was one of the best ever.”
Silence fell, and the crack of the fire and harsh scent of smoke brought Tye back to the Womb again. The swirling snow bit at his face. Snow. What the hell had he been thinking? He could be enjoying his elder days lying on the beach being served by the young turds. This wasn’t how he’d envisioned his retirement.
“You’ll be given a set of rules, and I suggest you read them as many times as you need to until you fully understand what you can and cannot do. The reborn have their own set of rules that most of them follow most of the time. You must follow every rule, at every moment, or you’ll be banished, or worse. When in doubt, don’t do it and ask for clarification. That said, don’t fret. If you know the tenets of Argartha, follow the law, and show up for duty, you’ll live in a world you can’t possibly imagine. One that makes the rest of the world look like the stone age by comparison. Well, maybe the old fossil there can remember the days before the end. You from the gone world, old timer?”
“That I am,” Tye said.
“Where you
