The coverage switched to a public health official confirming that an influenza outbreak inside Fengdu had been contained, and then an international segment on the situation at the Front. Rich took over the dial and found a country music station.
Her headache was back, tidal. She pressed her palms against her temples to ride it out. Rich hauled his pack over from the back seat. Water, he said. And paracetamol.
The pack was bulging with medical supplies – he must have stripped the shelves before he got out. She found the right pills, swallowed two, calculating the points before she remembered. They passed a water bottle between them and then Li found readies further down and they shared one, just enough to take the edge off. She wasn’t sure how long the food would have to last. She hadn’t seen an animal, living or dead, since they left Transit.
She fell asleep trying to remember the last time she’d heard music. When she woke it was still raining and Rich was on the phone.
Yeah. Yeah, we’ll eke it out, call you if we have to. Yeah, I got a patcher with me. He raised his eyebrows at Li. Dunno. Might be going on east. Well, you can ask. All right, see you there if you don’t hear from me first. He disconnected and grinned at her. That was my new mob. They were further north – just caught the tail end of it, so they’re wet but they’re not dead.
She sat up, looking out at the rain. You’re meeting up with them?
They’re on their way, yeah. We’re aiming for the last roadhouse before the range, bout a hundred and eighty clicks from here. He looked at the fuel gauge. We’re not gunna make it on this tank, though.
He waited for a clear break on the side of the road and pulled over. Li strapped on her crutch and got out. Midafternoon, they’d been driving for about four hours. The rain had eased but the ground was water-logged and turning to mud – no plants left to hold it together. She turned her face up and caught moisture on her tongue. Had a sudden hunger for privacy. There was no cover, so she walked behind and away from the vehicle and squatted to piss. Twenty metres from her, the body of a woman lay face down, one arm extended as if she was still flying.
When she got back, Rich was putting diesel in the tank. He pointed to where he’d found the jerry can, stowed on brackets between the wheel arch and the tailgate. She shouldn’t have missed that. It was held in place with a ratchet strap, and somehow it hadn’t leaked or cracked when the vehicle tipped over.
He whistled through his teeth, lightly, easily. I reckon our luck’s turning, Li.
She took the phone a few steps away and tried the hotline again. This time she just got an engaged tone that went on and on until underneath it she heard something else, a rumbling. Vehicles coming from the east.
Rich came and stood beside her, holding the can, squinting. She counted four. After a minute he said, Leave this one to me, yeah?
Why’s that?
Cos you’re not really a sweet-talker, are you?
A spasm of memory. What she’d been willing to do before she gave up.
Anyway, he said, I know how these fellas work. He went back to stow the empty can.
The convoy kept coming until the road was filled with mud-green armoured personnel carriers. The lead vehicle slowed and pulled over and the others followed. Two men in fatigues climbed down, heavily armed. Cautious but not hostile. Rich held his hands clear of his sides and took a step forward. Li did the same. For the first time she noticed the Serkel logo along the side of the four-wheel drive and wondered if that was going to be a good thing or a bad thing.
You all right? one of the men called from the road.
Yeah, we’re right, Rich said. Thanks for stopping. He walked forward to meet them. Li leaned on the bonnet and watched how he did it. How at ease he was, accepting a cigarette, rocking back on his heels. They turned together to look west, Rich talking with his hands, the others nodding, serious. Asking questions. Once, they turned towards her and he said something and the soldiers laughed. She looked away down the line. Saw a woman covering her with a pistol through the driver’s window of the next vehicle.
When Rich came back he was carrying a stack of army-issue readies and two canteens. Doors slamming behind him, engines starting up again.
What did you tell them? she asked.
Told em the truth. Some of it.
Two short blasts on a horn. He dumped the food on the bonnet and gave a wave that was half a salute. They watched the convoy move off.
I said we worked for Company. Told em what to expect, said there were people alive back there.
What did you tell them about me?
What they wanted to hear. You gunna hold it against me?
It didn’t seem like a rhetorical question. She looked for resentment, came up empty. Remembered the shock of her own face in the wing mirror and suddenly the idea of her as anyone’s sex object was funny as hell. When she laughed she felt the tug of scar tissue, a stiffness to the mechanics of it. She said, I guess I still look pretty hot from a distance.
He grinned back but it was hard to read. They’re disaster relief. Maybe backup if XB Force can’t cover the breach. They’re not interested in us.
You handled them pretty good, she said with her eyes on the food.
People like me. Told you before.
Yeah. I don’t get that reaction much.
I like you, Li.
They ate standing, tearing open the readies with their teeth. Meat, pasta, beans in a curried sauce, richer stuff than either of them was used to. Soon Li’s shrunken stomach forced her to slow, then
