Chapter 7: Where do we go when we die?
Coelho breathed deeply as he tried to get his racing heart to calm down. It happened when he had discussions that got heated, and as much as he hated that about himself, it happened every time. Murphy and he had synchronically decided to not talk to each other after their debacle, but now that they were approaching a MULE sensor pylon, they went back to talking terms.
"Last I heard, a delivery bot destined for the elder had been intercepted by MULEs. The bastards have extended their territory since the reversal started," Murphy spoke with a subdued tone, her voice almost a whisper as she slowly scanned the horizon.
"So, we get his meds and bug out?"
Murphy nodded, "if they've still got 'em, otherwise we'll get something else he could use. We have to make sure they can't track anything on us. Turn off your exo-skeleton."
Jamie didn't argue, it made sense that electronic equipment could tip the MULEs off to their location. The Cuff-Link was surprisingly difficult to deactivate, and Murphy had to repeat the precise steps a couple of times. Once everything was turned off, the two crouched closer to the ground.
"You'll find it easier to walk crouching now. Those legs aren't programmed for going along stealthily. We're going to be looking for a large boulder-"
"Why would we look for a boulder?" Jamie interrupted, earning a be quiet hiss and a glare from Murphy.
"Because that's what they camouflage their storage units as, you f-" she took a deep breath, "Be on the lookout for an out of place boulder, roughly two metres tall. We'll have to communicate but without talking, so we'll use taps. Tap me on the shoulder once if you see a boulder, twice if you need to stop, three if you think we've been spotted."
"If we don't have anything on us, why would we care if we're spotted? They have porter syndrome."
"It's like you completely forgot what we were arguing about. Chiral contamination has made these guys all the more violent. Having nothing on us gives us the benefit of not appearing on their scans."
Jamie nodded with pursed lips.
"Alright, I think that's it. Stick close to me, keep your mouth shut and if I stop you, drop flat on the ground. Good?"
Jamie nodded again, and with that, they stalked into the MULEs' territory. Murphy led them towards a patch of tall grass and stopped in the middle. With her index and middle finger, she pulled her lower eyelids slightly down, to signal for them to look around. She mouthed the word 'careful' as he was about to raise his head. The two scanned their surroundings, not finding any boulders, but Jamie spied another patch of tall grass in the distance that they could sneak to. Murphy tapped Jamie's shoulder and pointed at a place off to the side: five MULEs were walking along the perimeter of their territory.
The two nodded at each other and made their way to the edge of the grass. The next patch was a few hundred metres away, but the MULEs they'd seen were behind a rise in the terrain. If they stayed crouched as they went, it would be impossible for the MULEs to see them. They quickly scampered out of the grass and stalked towards the next piece of cover, keeping their heads low as they went. Suddenly, Murphy's open palm pushed back against Jamie's chest. He understood immediately, and the two dropped flat on the ground. Moving only her head, the old porter eyed Jamie and tilted her head back towards where the MULEs were. Squinting through the grass, Jamie was able to make out the yellow glow of an armoured MULE's hood-lining bobbing up and down behind a small patch of rocks… rocks!
Tapping Murphy's shoulder Nicolas pointed in the direction of the MULEs. She shook her head and pointed back at the patch of grass they were heading towards. She eyed the MULEs again and saw that they'd turned away from them. She nodded at Jamie who slowly got up to a crouching position before the two continued towards the patch of tall grass. As they reached it, Jamie tapped Murphy again.
She breathed out an almost imperceptible whisper, "Those rocks are too small."
Jamie tried to whisper like her, but couldn't go as low, so resorted to hand signals. He cupped both hands together and then pointed at the lowest point, trying to convey that the boulder could be at the lowest point of a small depression. Murphy frowned pensively for a moment before nodding at Jamie, motioning for him to come closer.
She whispered in his ear, "Peak out and look at them for a while. If you notice that any of them flicker, let me know."
The two raised their heads and squinted at the rock formation. They couldn't be sure, but the notion of there being a depression in the terrain made it feel like they were seeing it. A minute later, Murphy tapped Jamie and nodded, there was a fake rock there.
"When we get there, I'll need you to be on the lookout. If we get spotted while I'm getting the lockbox open, we'll have to run for it, if the box is already open, we stay until we find the meds or something useful. Clear?"
Jamie nodded and once again, they were stalking out of the grass. The MULEs that had been walking close to the rocks had made their way to the edge of their territory, and the other group was nowhere to be seen. The pair could hear a truck in the distance but couldn't see it. As they drew closer to the rocks, they noticed the depression. It was as if a meteorite had landed there at some point, making a hole in the land roughly five metres in diameter. The largest rock, in the centre of the hole, flickered slightly, betraying its holographic nature. Murphy picked up a pebble from the ground and tossed it at the boulder. It flickered a bit more strongly and Murphy spotted what she needed to see, the front of the lockbox. They inched closer to it and she motioned for Jamie to start the lookout. Kneeling in front of where the front of the box was, she took a deep breath and dipped her hands into the hologram, making it flicker wildly. It didn't make a noise as she started unscrewing a panel beside the door's hinge, but that only made her more anxious, knowing she might be dealing with a silent alarm. Surely enough, the sounds of shouting bubbled up from all directions.
"I think we've been spotted, Murphy," Jamie whispered hoarsely.
"Not yet. They know a lockbox is being hacked, not which one. Keep looking."
Murphy was right, Jamie saw a group of MULEs running away from them. He knew that meant another group was coming for them, though, and he circled around the holographic boulder. His heart sank as his eyes widened, the truck they'd heard came bouncing over a slope in the terrain. It was heading straight for them.
"Murphy," Jamie was talking now, urgency entering his tone as he repeated, "Murphy?"
"I'm almost there…"
"There's a truck!" he snapped.
That got her to take her gaze off of what she was doing. Her eyes dashed from side to side for a second before she spoke up, "Shoot the tires, that'll give us time."
"I-" he started before shutting up and walking to the edge of the depression. It would be futile to argue. He unholstered his revolver and rested the bottom of the handle on the ground. Levelling the iron sights with one of the front wheels, he took the shot. A loud bang echoed after the revolver's blast and the truck swerved to the side before tipping over with a long metallic groan. A MULE was sent flying from the cargo hold, landing flat on the ground a few metres closer to them. A few seconds later, the driver of the truck climbed out of the tipped vehicle and started running for Murphy and Jamie, but they stopped and turned to their fallen comrade.
"They know which lock-box it is now, Murphy, let's move!"
"I've got it!" she shouted as she stood up and away from the hologram. She ran with the large, noticeably heavy case over to Jamie and started putting it in his backpack, "Turn your exo-skeleton back on, we're gonna need it."
"How much medicine does this guy need?" Jamie complained as he felt the weight of the box for a few seconds as the exo-skeleton started up.
"It's mostly packaging weight. Wouldn't want a clumsy delivery bot ruining the cargo. Ok, run!"
He didn't need to hear it twice. The servos on his legs whirred as the sprinting function activated. He looked back to see Murphy doing her best to keep up- but she was lagging. It'd be a futile effort to try and escape without assistance, and MULE groups had already seen them. The shooting would begin soon. Pursing his lips, Jamie stopped running and kneeled, extending his arms to signal for Murphy to get on his back in a fireman's carry. She understood immediately and dropped her empty but bulky backpack before climbing on his shoulders. The exo-skeleton whirred louder, and despite the added pressure on his lower back, Jamie's legs still felt very light as he stood up and started running again.
A gunshot rang and the ground off to Jamie's side erupted from the MULE's bullet shredding through the ground. Before he could say anything, Murphy was removing the revolver from Jamie's holster. He made a conscious effort to run with as little bobbing up and down as possible as she took aim and fired back. As he kept running, Jamie noticed that no more shots followed them. Perhaps Murphy had killed the MULE?
"I think that particular MULE is short on bullets. Keep running, before the others arrive with more firepower."
"Oh, I was actually thinking of stopping right here," Jamie shook his head as sweat dripped from his nose. We're headed for the hill up ahead?"
"Yes, the elder lives on top of it. I saw some climbing ropes off to the East side last time I was around here. Head that way."
Jamie kept running in silence. It seemed like the MULEs had decided to pay more attention to the flipped truck than them. It made sense. They had made off at a speed which none of the MULEs could equal. The elder's hill was now upon them, and somewhere along the way, they had passed the MULEs sensor pylons. Jamie hadn't dared lower the pace, in case some MULEs were still sneakily following them.
"You can put me down now," Murphy groaned. When she had been lowered, she stretched her limbs for a moment and Jamie did the same, trying to push the ache out of their tensed muscles.
"You mentioned climbing ropes?"
"Yeah, a little further up. Let's go before the sun sets," she said as she started walking. The overcast sky had begun to turn orange, as the sun somewhere above was getting close to setting.
…
The LED lights on Jamie's exo-skeleton flashed yellow as he pulled himself over the last ridge, signalling he'd need to find a charging pad soon. Luckily, the elder's shelter should have one. They'd reached the shelter just in time, as the external lights lit up, signalling that the sunset had just gone by. Murphy hummed to herself suspiciously as she walked up to the open shelter entrance. She activated the delivery terminal and a deep frown creased her face.
"What's up? Isn't he home?" Jamie asked as his gaze wandered around the shelter entrance.
"My thoughts exactly. He has an alarm for whenever someone enters the area…" she mused as she walked past the delivery terminal to the heavy door that lead to the inside of the shelter. Inputting a code, the door opened and Murphy brought a hand to her mouth. Her voice cracked as she murmured, "Oh, Eddie."
Jamie knew what that meant. He walked over to Murphy and put a hand on her shoulder, not knowing if a hug was in order. The elder was on the floor, not far from the entrance. His skin was a deathly white, and his side closest to the floor was a dark shade of purple. From his days in security, he knew that he couldn't have been dead for more than a few hours. They'd just missed him.
"We have to take him outside before the reversal starts, Murphy."
She nodded, blinking away a few tears, "Yeah, Ok."
Between the two, they lifted the body gently. The elder had been laying with his arms at his sides and with closed eyes, so perhaps he'd known his time had come and laid down by himself. They carried him out of the shelter and placed him a few metres beyond the door, folding his arms over his chest. Not much else could be done. The two stood silently at the edge of the shelter until the door started closing automatically, pre-empting the reversal.
"I'm sorry for your loss," Jamie spoke up once the shelter's closing mechanism had stopped making noise.
"He was a good guy. There weren't many of us who knew him well, and it felt like there wasn't much to know anyway. He never talked about his life before coming to the US, and he holed up in here not long after arriving. He always said the land of the free had become the land of intolerance. That's why he made a point of being nice to all his visitors," Murphy chuckled, "I bet at some point he didn't have a shortage of people coming to see him. This shelter actually predates the first stranding."
"You never knew where he was from?"
"No… it was almost as if he was afraid it'd make people look at him different. Whoever gave him a hard time before the stranding must've been a real piece of-… best not to dwell on it."
Jamie frowned at Murphy, "Interesting."
"What is?"
"To not dwell on it. I was taught to remember the bad, so we can be better."
Murphy chuckled, "And I was taught to forget the evil, because they don't deserve to be remembered."
Murphy went into the Elder's shelter to see if there was anything they could use while Jamie showered and washed his undersuit in the cargo area. As he was straining the water out of his shirt, the shelter rumbled and groaned for a second before falling silent again. He asked Murphy if she had heard it as she emerged from the shelter with re-heated food.
"The reversal has been putting strains on buildings that they were never built to withstand. I've heard production rates of building materials wouldn't be able to keep up with an eventual wave of crumbling buildings… but I say that shouldn't be happening until a couple of months in the future, if I know anything about structural resistance."
Jamie raised his eyebrows at the porter, "Do you?"
"Not at all, but that's what I think."
They laid out their sleeping equipment without speaking much. There was a solemnity in the air as they went to sleep. Jamie knew Murphy's thoughts were with the Elder. The next day, they'd do the last leg of the trip to the distribution center South of Lake Knot City. Hopefully it'd be less eventful.