Post-Anything
Part One: Before the Sail
Chapter Two: News Flash
"Send who?" Ram asked, crossing his arms. Then it dawned on him; "Ah," he said knowingly; "You must be the drifter Ruby opened her doors to…"
"But she let scum like you in," Amerie said quietly, and Slade chuckled.
"Girl, think twice about what you say," Slade warned; "Or else you might be out on the roads again."
Amerie was quiet, and looked at Slade with an angry and desperate stare. She wanted just one swing at Ram, only one. But Slade merely shook his head; he wasn't about to have a brawl in Ruby's saloon. Amerie looked back at Ram, glaring.
"Where did you send them?" she asked again, deliberately.
"Send who?" Ram asked arrogantly.
"My tribe!" Amerie said, trying to hold back a sob. Clenching her hands into fists and closing her eyes to fight back tears, her face contorted with misery. Slade had to hold her up as her knees buckled under her, and he lowered her to the ground. Amerie covered her face and sobbed, shaking her head.
Ram looked on, not sure of what to do, how to feel, or what to say. He began to walk over but Ruby threw her arm out, and she walked to Amerie instead. Bending down she helped the girl up, and embraced her. Ruby patted her back and whispered encouragement, all the while glancing back at Ram with a heated gaze. Ram was at a loss; he'd never expect to face someone he'd ruined like this.
"Paradise was a horrible mistake," Ram said, "It was wrong to try to duplicate heaven."
Amerie sniffed, gently pushing Ruby away. She stood away from the rest, her fists at her sides, her eyes locked on Ram. "You came at night," she said; "To the tribe I was at, with my love. You exercised genocide, Ram, genocide. Thirty-three people, all gone. You took him away from me, you bastard!" she screamed; "The only one I could trust. I thought you wouldn't come so far out, but you did—!"
"Amerie-" Ruby began.
"No," Amerie said; "Don't cover for either of us," she said, looking at her; "I've said what I've wanted to say for so many years," she paused, looking at Ram again; "Yes, Ram, so many years. Remember when Paradise was in its infancy? All the people you sacrificed to that monster?"
And it hit Ram. Yes, he had remembered sending forces out to a remote spot, by a river, where a large gathering of people was reported to have settled. Yes, there had been thirty, but not all of them had been used for Paradise.
"Not all of them are dead," Ram suddenly said as Amerie started to turn and walk away.
Amerie looked at him, shocked; "What?" Lex asked.
"Not all of them are dead!" Ram repeated; "Most of that group was sent to Labor Island, and then others were enlisted into the Technos."
"The person I search for most would never agree to have a T on his head," Amerie said; "He would rather die."
"Ah," Ram said, crossing his arms; "There was this one fellow, yes," he stroked his chin in thought; "Actually went to see him myself. He'd managed to escape five times!" he paused.
"What happened to him?" Slade asked.
Ram shrugged; "I suppose he's been sent to one of our Islands," he said.
Amerie nodded; "Know where I could find a boat?" she asked Slade.
"What? No, I don't," Slade said; "Stick around, Amerie, there's more to be done here."
"I'm not part of your war with Mega," Amerie said; "I'm just trying to find my tribe."
"Ah, but you know of our 'war'," Slade insisted; "You seem smart, we could use your intelligence."
Amerie stared at him, and then she looked around. Without warning, she went to the stairs and disappeared into her room.
"What the hell was that about?" Lex asked, looking at Slade.
"She's gone through something, Lex, and it sparks up some anger," Slade said; "We could use that during the uprising. She's bound to have it out for anybody whoever looks like or whoever's in association with the Technos," he glanced at Ram; "We just have to make sure she gets the right ones," he said quietly, with a sly grin.
Lex laughed quietly, and Ram grinned; "Pigs," Ruby said with disgust; "I'll have none of that."
"It's just a thought, Rubes," Slade insisted; "We won't actually go through with it, will we, Lex?"
"No, no," Lex said, crossing his arms and shaking his head; "Manipulation is so low, beneath us."
At this point in time, Ebony chose to walk down the steps; "Well," she said; "I just met a new guest," she said, glancing at Ruby; "she seems a bit… strange," she leaned against the bar, looking around.
"Yes well, it seems that more of Ram's skeletons were freed from his closet," Slade said; "Sleep well?"
"Very, thank-you," Ebony said; "So, what's on the agenda?"
"You're chipper today," Lex said, crossing his arms and eyeing her suspiciously.
"Well, Lex, today we get to plan and strategize," Ebony said; "And I'm ready for revenge."
Amerie went into her room and closed the door, slowly. She sighed and leaned against it. Rubbing her temples methodically, she looked around her room. She went to her bag and opened the side pocket, and pulled out a small, durable appearing black box. Opening it, she saw the six bullets, all in their places. At one time there had been twenty-four, but now, eight remained. With the thought of the missing two, Amerie closed the box, put it back in the pocket, then opened up the main part of the bag. Reaching in. she pulled out an object wrapped up in a white cloth.
Amerie sat down, and set the object in her lap. Slowly, she unwrapped it, revealing a gun. She opened up the chamber, and saw the two bullets. Satisfied, she wrapped it back up, put it in her bag, and laid down, acting as if she hadn't even given it any thought.
One WEEK LATER
Tribal leaders eager to overthrow Mega filled the main saloon room. Tables had been lined up to form a long war table, Lex standing at the head, holding up a map. Ebony sat at the other end, Darryl, Slade, Ruby, and Jack sat around the sides. The other tribe leaders flocked around them. Lex explained his plans, and people asked questions every now and then.
"Could Ram knock out the zappers from here, though?" Darryl asked.
"Yes," Jack said; "He should be able to."
"But what if he doesn't? we're as good as dead!"
This caused a quick uproar, and Lex quieted the crowd; "It'll be fine," he said.
"Sound."
"What?" Lex asked, looking around, "Who said that?"
"I did," Amerie said, getting up from her place at the bar; "Use sound to knock them out, as a back up."
"And how would he do that?" Jack asked skeptically.
"Well, take dogs for instance;" Amerie said, "They have sensitive hearing. Whistles were invented that emitted a very high pitched sound when blown, a sound so sharp no human could detect without straining their senses. But dogs would be so affected by it that they could be controlled, or disabled by it. The Techno's equipment is like a dog's hearing. It's sensitive, delicate, but powerful when harnessed. If we were able to scramble it with a high-pitched sound, or even a certain frequency of sonar, the zappers would be disabled long enough for you all to scale the boundaries and take them."
Slade smiled; "See, told ya we'd need you," he said, then he turned to Lex; "So, we find a source of sonar or sound, and someone can sneak in before us and set that into motion."
"I know where we can find it," Amerie said; "But, I'll need some help."
"Fine," Slade said; "I'll go with you."
"What? No, we need you here!" Ebony exclaimed, getting out of her seat.
"Ebony, we won't move out 'til tomorrow, anyway," Slade said.
"No Slade, you should stay," Ruby said.
"For heaven's sake, I'll go!" Lex said; "Come on, Amerie."
Amerie nodded, grabbing her black jacket and getting her bag. They left the city, taking a beaten path up a hillside. They walked in silence, Lex following Amerie and keeping a look-out for danger. They stopped at the hill top, and Amerie saw Lex's gaze drift towards the left. Amerie sighed as she watched him slowly walk that way, and she followed him. She found him on his knee before a grave, with a wooden cross and a name with decorations above it.
Civa…
"You know," Amerie said quietly; "She isn't really gone."
"Well, she isn't exactly walking around, now is she?" Lex asked sardonically, rolling his eyes.
"Just because her body has failed, does not mean that her spirit has, too," Amerie insisted; "She's still here."
Lex sighed, rising; "Come on," he said; "Let's get this over with."
Amerie nodded; "We're getting close," she said as the descended the hill; "We just have to sneak around the plant and—"
"Whoa, wait, the plant?" Lex asked, stopping; "Amerie—"
"Lex, trust me," Amerie said, stopping and looking at him; "I have connections, it's not like I didn't have friends apart from my tribe," she paused; "The Gizmos will help us out." And so saying she began to walk down the hill.
"The Gizmos?" Lex said to himself, confused by the foreign tribe name. Sighing, he shook his head and followed Amerie.
TBC
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