Julian led a small convoy of nomad rides onto Interstate 29, Westbound.? Behind the wheel of his FAV, his mind was raced through the information that he had.? A forest?? What happened to Alabama?
Maybe that¡¯s not the right question, he thought.? Maybe I should be wondering what happened to Troy.
¡°Hey, jefe,¡± said his backseat passenger.? ¡°We¡¯ve picked up a tail.¡±
¡°A tail?¡± Julian asked.? ¡°What kind of tail?¡±
¡°It¡¯s one of those Crowder cars¡ªa Chevy by the look of it.¡±
A Crowder car was a catch-all term for the little electric cars that a lot of urban dwellers used.? Where it often cost $60+ to fill up a typical CHOOH2 car, the typical Crowder cost only $15 to charge.? If you didn¡¯t travel beyond a hundred miles, it was the perfect car.? As something trying to leave Troy any distance, it was terrible.
Well as long as the Townie doesn¡¯t get in the way, I¡¯m not going to give a shit, he thought.? On a list of ¡°WTF¡± issues, a Chevy Crowder eating their exhaust fumes barely registered.
Almost 10 miles out, Julian brought his ride to a halt, and the rest of the impromptu pack stopped with him.? He stepped out to examine the highway¡because it had just abruptly ended.? Not in the usual way where it becomes a surface road, but because 20 feet in front of him, it ceased to exist.? It was as if a blade had come down and cut it, and on the other side of the cut was uneven ground¡and forest¡the type he hadn¡¯t seen since he had been in Canada years back.
Trees¡coniferous trees.? They towered upward in sheer majesty, branches proudly spread.? No signs of blight brought on by air pollution, and on the ground, no sign that people had been through the area on the ground, just dense underbrush, dominated by moss and ferns.
¡°Julian¡this ain¡¯t normal.¡±
The comment came from Clarence McCoy, one of the Jodes.? He and his clan had come to get ready for the CHOOH2 harvest.? All they were waiting for were the combine drones in order to get started.? He wondered if they were coming at all, now.
¡°No, this isn¡¯t normal,¡± he replied, ¡°but it¡¯s here anyway.? Lucia, can you get some eyes above us?¡±
Lucia Cortez:? Aldecaldo and gadget nerd.? She had built her own recombinant motorcycle when she was 14, and built her first drone earlier than that.? Now she reached into one of her saddlebags, and drew out something little bigger than a smartphone, where she yanked out four branching arms, each with a miniature turbofan on the end.
A few seconds later, it was climbing in the air, getting above the trees.
¡°I¡¯m still getting some interference, jefe,¡± she said.? ¡°A lot of static over the link, but that forest goes on well ahead of us.? I¡¯m gonna guess about a half-mile before we reach whatever¡¯s causing that smoke plume.¡±
¡°Got it,¡± he said.? ¡°Okay boys and girls, looks like we¡¯re hoofing it to¡ª¡°
It was the sound of rustling brush that turned his attention.? That was all the time he got before a girl burst forth from the foliage and ran into him, sending them both to the ground.? He barely got a look at her.? She was dirty, wild-eyed and clearly scared of something.? Maybe it was him, or maybe he just added to the girl¡¯s fear.
She quickly scrabbled to her feet, darted looks around her.? Her face was a mirror of terror.? No one tried to approach her, and a few of his number backed off slowly.? Her clothes were odd, both in the fact that the style reminded Julian of old Amish styling, but also because it was torn and ripped.? And not from running through the woods¡
¡°Nobody move,¡± he said.? ¡°Just let her calm down¡ª¡°
There was the sound of more movement in the forest¡¯s underbrush.? Julian got to his feet and backed away.? The girl didn¡¯t wait any more.? She darted off to the left¡ªoff the road and into the wheat fields.? In front of him, the underbrush parted to reveal a group of six men, but unlike any men he had ever seen before!
Julian Ramirez had been around.? As a Nomad, that was easy for him to say.? The cities he had been to were full of people, and there were groups and gangs of all sorts.? There was even one known as the Society.
The Society was what used to be called the Society for Creative Anachronism, or SCA.? They romanticized the medieval period, and gathered into ¡°Houses¡± and ¡°Kingdoms¡±, and often dressed in expensive reproductions of old garb, and even sets of armor and weapons.
These folks¡they looked the part.? They were wearing body armor, but not the type he was familiar with.? This was metal¡ªwas that a cuirass they were wearing?? They wore almost identical metal helmets on their heads.? At their hips were¡swords?? Were they for real?
What really caught his attention though were the rifles they were carrying.? They were MASSIVE things.? He had never seen the like before¡and were they smoldering?
Whatever they were, they looked like they were ready for business, so Julian and his pack returned the gesture.? As nomads, one didn¡¯t go anywhere unarmed, and he yanked out his trusty Mustang Arms ¡°Mark II¡± even as others drew pistols and rifles.? If these bastards were looking for trouble, they had just found it, outnumbered 20 to 6, so¡
Of course they began pointing their massive rifle-like objects.
¡°First and last warning,¡± he barked, recalling his days as a sergeant.? ¡°DROP ¡®EM!¡±
¡°Halj meg pog¨¢nyok!¡± was their response before they¡pulled a lever?
The strange rifles boomed, but not like rifles should.? Julian was struck in the shoulder and taken down.? An instant later, nineteen guns answered back, pelting the six newcomers in a hail of automatic and semi-automatic fire.? Julian watched as the bullets tore through their armor and tore them apart.? He was a little embarrassed, but he was grateful he was wearing his armored coat.? What self-respecting individual went outside unarmored?
A few seconds later, and it was over.? There were six very dead¡soldiers?? And what was he shot with?? He was mildly surprised when he turned to see a deformed chunk of lead on the pavement near him.? Apparently it had bounced off his armor no problem¡but the size!? It must¡¯ve been at least .80 calibre!
¡°Jefe, you alright?¡± came Lucia¡¯s voice.
¡°I¡¯m fine,¡± Julian said, pulling himself up.? ¡°What were those assholes thinking?¡±
¡°Hey Julian!? Check this out!¡±
The cry came from McCoy.? He went over to one of the fallen bodies after the short-lived firefight, and now he was picking up one of the fallen soldier¡¯s (?) weapons.
¡°What¡¯s up?¡± Julian asked.
¡°This crazy thing,¡± McCoy said, gesturing at the odd weapon.? ¡°If I¡¯m not mistaken, this thing¡¯s a matchlock arquebus!¡±
¡°A what?!?¡± Julian was a little dumbfounded.? ¡°Are you serious??¡±
¡°As serious as can be,¡± McCoy nodded.? ¡°It¡¯s a fucking black powder weapon.? No wonder it didn¡¯t penetrate your armor coat.? Hell, I¡¯m surprised you even got hit!¡±
¡°Jefe¡why would anyone be using such antiques?¡± came the obvious question from one of the pack.? ¡°Where did they come from?¡±
¡°I¡¯m not sure,¡± Julian said.? ¡°And I¡¯m wondering if we¡¯re asking the wrong question.¡±
¡°²Ï³Ü±ð?¡±
¡°I¡¯m wondering if we¡¯re what¡¯s out of place.¡±
What was more plausible, he wondered.? The world getting replaced by temperate rainforest, or Troy appearing somewhere else?? Oy¡just the fact that I¡¯m asking that question makes me wonder if I need to have my head examined.
¡°Regardless,¡± he continued before the questions erupted.? ¡°There¡¯s a fire to investigate.? Lucia, I want you to take your sisters and find that girl who ran off.? I¡¯m hoping that being approached by women will calm her down.? You¡ª¡°
He pointed to the woman who had arrived in the Chevy behind them, recalling now that she was with them.
¡°Unless you¡¯re packing or you¡¯re a counselor, get back to town.? There¡¯s too much weird shit going on, and I can¡¯t babysit.¡±
(tag Jan)
