25. Slave labour
Some teams have been sent off in the direction of the road the survey team followed. I presume their task is to clear the road of debris and make what repairs are necessary. Perhaps the Chief Engineer is expecting a large enough workforce to try opening both the road and rail routes. Or perhaps it means he still doesn't know the condition of the road and rail bridges across the wide river that will be the final link in the supply route to the old city.
"I still can't understand why they don't ferry everything to the city by air," mutters Moose as we work.
"Politics and money," replies Wulfram. "The government can't spare the military transporters for a regular long haul supply drop, and the cost of hiring private airfreight operators would be prohibitive. In the long run, it's cheaper to have slave labour clear an overland route. Besides, all the lumber and minerals in this area will need transporting back to Panem."
"We're not slave labour," I retort, taking exception to the term.
"In all but name. Even the greybacks only get paid a pittance," replies Wulfram, using the common term for the grey uniformed free citizens who now represent about a quarter of our number in Sunny Glen.
We make good progress in clearing the route despite our limited numbers. We return to Sunny Glen and I wait patiently for Cato to return. His team was assigned to working on the road. I don't need to wait for long and we share a meal with the others before retiring to our hut. The days are getting shorter and the temperature is dropping as winter gets closer. I light our stove to provide some warmth. The terrain here is similar to that of District Twelve, and back at home I'd be anticipating the first winter snow in less than a month. I hope the Chief Engineer plans to get us to lower ground before then, or provide us with warmer clothing. Jed's store stocks only a few items of winter clothing, all of it priced beyond most prisoners' means.
As it turns out, the Chief Engineer has plans for Cato and I to leave here much sooner. Tonight in fact.
"Pack you things and be ready to leave in ten minutes," says the Chief Engineer to Cato when he answers the knock on our hut door. "Both of you. You won't be returning."
We could waste time by asking what is going on, but the Chief Engineer doesn't linger at our door. We've enough sense to know his order means that danger is approaching. What that danger is, exactly, is something we'll worry about later.
The Chief Engineer returns a few minutes later with his own belongings packed in a rucksack. Cato and I have so few things that they all fit into the rucksack I've kept since returning from the survey mission with Dominus. I grab my bow, and fasten the quiver of arrows across my back.
"Let's go," says the Chief Engineer. "I've told Fowler and Maggie that the three of us are on a survey mission to assess the river bridges into the old city."
"Won't they be suspicious that we are leaving at this time of night?" asks Cato.
"Possibly. I said we needed to arrive at the bridges in daylight, and we could only do that by leaving tonight. It's a risk we'll have to take. I've been told that the supply train due to arrive tomorrow morning will be carrying twenty new prisoners ... and six peacekeepers. I think the peacekeepers are just the vanguard of a much larger force. I don't know what's going on, but the standing instructions I was given when I agreed to hide you at Sunny Glen were to get the three of us out of here if peacekeepers turned up. So we're going."
We follow the Chief Engineer, who leads us along the railroad route my team had begun clearing.
"Wouldn't we make better progress on the road," asks Cato as soon as we reach the end of the cleared stretch. In the dark, what lies ahead of us seems impenetrable.
"The route by road is nearly twice as long as this old railroad," replies the Chief Engineer. "We are nearer to the old city here than where Katniss reached with the survey party."
It seems strange to hear someone say my real name again. Even Cato has been careful enough to call me Katie or Kat.
"You had better let me take the lead," I suggest to the Chief Engineer. "It'll be easy to lose the trail in the dark, and there may be predators out hunting at this time of night."
I'm taking a risk in giving orders to the Chief Engineer. If I did this back in camp I'd likely earn a public flogging. But he silently acknowledges that I'm the more experienced person in this situation. We carry on our way, although at a much slower pace than before.
I don't think I'll ever be able to teach Cato how to move stealthily. At least his crashing about will probably scare off all but the most determined predator. It's possible this area was the exclusive territory of the mountain lion I killed the other day. If we're lucky another predator hasn't yet taken the opportunity to fill the void left by the lion's death. But I'm not going to take any chances.
Around midnight we reach the clearing that was once the old lake. It's virtually impossible to see the route of the railroad in the dark, but fortunately we don't need to at the moment. We only need to head down the valley towards the broken dam. We can resume following the railroad route from there. I guide the three of us around the remnants of the lake and by three o'clock we've scrambled over the rubble and are on the other side of the old dam. Now we are entering territory I've not travelled before. Following the railroad route would make the most sense, although the alternative is to keep to the small river formed by lake water leaking through the rubble. In practise the railroad keeps close to the river in any case.
We're all getting tired by now and the Chief Engineer calls for a rest a short while later. I think he meant for us to resume our journey after half an hour, but we all fall asleep and don't wake until a hint of dawn lights the sky. Sleeping without someone on watch was a dangerous thing to do, but fortunately no harm came of it. We eat the few berries which I had stored in our hut and remembered to throw into my pack at the last minute. It's the only food we are carrying, so I'll need to hunt for our next meal.
"We had best get going," says the Chief Engineer. "The peacekeepers should be arriving at Sunny Glen in a few hours and they may decide to call for an air hopper to retrieve us."
From what I know of the peacekeepers' methods, their air hoppers carry heat seeking technology which can identify human beings from above. We will be sitting ducks if we're caught in this valley. It would have made more sense for us to head off in a different direction to the one the Chief Engineer told Fowler, but we aren't carrying enough equipment to survive in the wilderness for very long.
"How long before they can get a hopper here?" asks Cato, echoing my concern.
"If there's a nationwide crackdown, then it could take them days. The peacekeepers don't have an inexhaustible supply of hoppers, particularly for places as remote as the outer regions of District Seven. Unfortunately, I don't know the reason for the crackdown, so I don't know what priority will be given to hunting us down."
"How did you know the peacekeepers are coming?" I ask.
"Carrier pigeon from my contact at the rail depot," replies the Chief Engineer. "It's the only means of getting messages in and out of Sunny Glen apart from the official mail delivered by the supply train."
We continue on our journey. I manage to stop the habit of looking up at the sky for air hoppers. It would be a pointless exercise in any case. The air hoppers have stealth devices which make them all but invisible until they are on top of you.
The going is relatively easy. After a few kilometres we see the newer railroad route joining our route from the right. The remains of the track has almost rusted away. Removing it will probably slow the rebuilding process, but it's the same problem the track layers have faced before. We press on with our journey.
The sun has risen over the hills by the time we come to what must have been a junction. Suddenly the track towards the old city appears to be in much better condition. It could even have been used recently, although the broken rail joints and uneven alignment suggest a train would have to travel extremely slowly. To our right, the better track curves away from the route we have been following before disappearing off to the east.
"The sawmill must be to the east of us," says the Chief Engineer. "This must be the route used to move the lumber from the sawmill you heard those men talk about."
I can't fault the Chief Engineer's logic, although I've no desire to bump into those men again. Fortunately we don't intend to go in that direction. Our goal lies north-west of where we are.
"They have horses," I say pointing to the horse manure in the middle of the track.
"Makes sense," says the Chief Engineer. "This track isn't in a fit state for a locomotive to use. Horse drawn wagons are probably all that can navigate this railroad."
We don't linger and make quick progress in the direction of the old city. It's probably too early in the morning to encounter any wagons heading to or from the city. Nevertheless we keep a good lookout. I for one would prefer that we see any strangers long before they see us.
By mid morning we are approaching our goal. Either side of us are traces of ruined buildings, and we can practically smell the river ahead of us. The railroad branches near to the river. A disused line curves to our left and starts to rise towards a bridge over the river. Unfortunately the bridge has partially collapsed and I can see that several sections have fallen into the river. The track which the sawmill uses branches off and halts at a wooden pier built out into the river. There's no sign of anybody about but there's clear evidence that the pier is used from time to time. There a hut and a coral for horses ... both empty at the moment. A side track holds a couple of empty wagons, presumably waiting for a return trip to the sawmill.
Cato examines the area near the pier, while I join the Chief Engineer who is studying the bridge and the ruins on the other bank, which must be the old city.
"I don't understand why we can't see any evidence of the settlement the government established over there," says the Chief Engineer when he sees me studying the far bank of the river. "The last air drop was only a few weeks ago, and there were no reports of any problems."
"Perhaps the settlement is hidden by the trees," I offer in reply as I study the view from up river to down river.
"The workers at the sawmill must know about the settlement. We'll go and ask them about trying to cross the river. There doesn't seem to be any intact bridges, so we'll need to see what they have by way of a boat. It's too far to swim to the other bank."
I don't want to go to the sawmill, but there doesn't seem to be any alternative. Waiting here until someone turns up would give the peacekeepers time to catch us.
"Did you know that all the bridges were damaged?" asks Cato of the Chief Engineer as we retrace our steps along the track.
"The aerial survey reports were ambiguous about the bridges, and I couldn't get anyone to do a second survey. Dominus and the survey party were supposed to reach the bridges and report back, but I hadn't heard from them before we left Sunny Glen last night."
It seems strange that the three of us have reached this place in a little over twelve hours, whereas it would have taken Dominus and his party at least four days by the other route. It's probably not a fair comparison, since we were rushing, while the survey party was doing what it was instructed to do, and document every obstacle they encountered.
Just before we reach the junction we see a group of men looking after a train of six horse drawn wagons. They carry firearms as though they are expecting trouble. The Chief Engineer throws caution to the wind and walks towards them. Cato signals for me stand behind him and that I should keep at a distance. I notch an arrow to my bow, but realistically a bow and arrow is seriously outmatched by the weapons these men are carrying. Our appearance clearly classes as trouble, since the men all point their weapons at us.
"Lay down your weapons," orders one of the men. The Chief Engineer indicates we should comply, and reluctantly I do as I'm told.
"I'm the Chief Engineer of Sunny Glen. I wish to speak with whoever is in charge."
Some of the men confer while a couple of them disarm us. While I can understand their caution, I think their reaction is unnecessarily hostile. I'm not certain we've done the right thing in approaching them.