Complex Three (The Savage Horde Series Book 3) Read online

  Except for Jade, each of them only had a handful of magazines holding fifty nickel-plated bolts apiece. She had refused to carry a weapon. Despite her earlier protests, Joe had yet to figure out why she wouldn’t hurt the enemy.

  “What are we doing, Sarge?” Leisa whispered, no doubt growing as restless as Joe.

  “Waiting. They’re a long way off.”

  “Surprised you don’t want us to dig foxholes,” Joe joked to ease the tension, and rolled into a prone position. “Too bad we don’t have shovels.”

  “You could use your hands. I’m just not…” Connie let the words trail away when he noticed Jade’s brow furrow. “What is it, darling?”

  “I’m not sure.”

  Jade was always sure, and that rattled Joe more than anything else she could have said.

  “Say what?” Connie tried to pull her closer to him.

  She held out a hand to keep him at bay. “Shhh. I hear voices.”

  “People, right?”

  Jade nodded, but said, “Probably.”

  “Huh?” Leisa echoed Joe’s thoughts. “It’s either a person or it’s not.”

  “It’s definitely your language. I just meant it could be a different kind of being. Like me.”

  Connie snickered, saying, “I like it better when you pretend to be human.”

  Jade harrumphed and shushed him again. All the while, Joe willed himself to sink into the hard ground like the savages’ blood into the desert floor.

  “They’re disorganized,” Jade finally said. “Lots of different voices, many sounding as freaked out as Joe.”

  “I am not-”

  Joe started to protest, but Connie jumped in. “Quiet and let her listen.”

  “Like you were doing a second ago?” Joe spat, but quickly hushed after a stern look from Connie.

  “There’s lots of talk about hurrying up. Kids’ voices too, but they’re not the only ones crying.”

  “Refugees.” Leisa rose to hands and knees, but Joe wasn’t willing to go that far. He remained stretched out on the cold dirt, staring at the billowing cloud in the distance.

  “We’re better off to let them go on their merry way,” Connie whispered. “Keep down and be quiet.”

  Joe found himself oddly conflicted. Not about whether or not they should show themselves; rather his mind kept drifting back to the way they had bailed out of the prison camp.

  Over the last day-and-a-half, when he wasn’t worrying about other things, Joe’s overactive brain kept returning to Old Stony Lonesome. In his haste to find Leisa, get free, and find his family, they had left a camp full of prisoners behind. The idea that he hadn’t done more to help them weighed heavily on his tired brain.

  And there he was cowering again, letting the refugees stumble their way to who knew where.

  “Are you sure?” Joe asked Connie. “There’s strength in numbers.”

  “Not those kind of numbers. You’re gonna think I’m being all harsh again, but there’s not strength here. They’ve got nothing to offer us.”

  “Maybe food,” Joe countered. “They’ve probably got food and water.”

  Connie teetered for a second before firming up his answer. “I’ll take my chances at Jade’s.”

  Joe wasn’t convinced, but he also wondered if it wasn’t the guilt talking. Connie had a point. If the refugees were as disorganized as the ones who had flooded into the prison camp in a useless attempt to outrun the savage horde, then there wasn’t much they could offer. Still, he couldn’t let them go by that easily.

  “They might have vehicles. Maybe other supplies. We could at least hitch a ride closer to Pasun. We’ve got a long way to go.”

  “Better to make it on our own.”

  Joe looked to Leisa for support, but Jade spoke first.

  “There are no vehicles. At least nothing with a motor. All I hear are shuffling clothes and dragging feet.”

  “Pretty much like us,” Joe said.

  “So no reason to draw more attention,” Leisa said softly. She sank back down on the sand, and stretched out next to Joe. “We can be much quicker and stealthier on our own.”

  “I’ll have you to Jade’s house by tomorrow afternoon. Maybe sooner.” Connie shook his head. “No way that happens if we join up with that mess.”

  It hurt badly enough to agree with his sergeant that Joe refused to say it out loud. Instead, he watching the dust cloud build on the horizon. He was transfixed, like watching a tornado cross over the plains. Only this storm had no energy behind it. At least not useful energy. There was plenty of chaos and damage to be left in its wake.

  Thankfully, before Joe could make out a bedraggled figure or hear any of the moans of the unfortunate, the cloud slowly angled away from them.

  “I’d say they’re heading to Pasun,” Connie said. “But it might just be dumb luck.” He sighed and muttered something under this breath that Joe couldn’t make out. “Oh, well. Poor bastards would be better off hiding in the hills.”

  “Why, Sarge?” Jade asked. “There’s a whole city waiting for them. A great big city with-”

  “More like a city of police that won’t want anything to do with that rabble,” Connie interrupted. “They’ll be lucky to get to the outskirts before they’re rounded up. Probably dumped in some refugee camp where they can’t bother the elites. Our fearless leaders aren’t going to want that mass of inhumanity anywhere near them.”

  “I wouldn’t doubt it,” Joe said to Jade’s shaking head.

  “They might cull out a few of the stronger looking ones and put them on guard duty, but there’s no way they get anywhere near the government buildings, much less the uppercrust on Chosin Hill.”

  “Here’s what I want to know,” Leisa whispered to Joe. “Do they really think they can stop the savages’ advance?” She pointed with her head toward Jade and then Connie. “Brainiac and Sarge here seem to think there’s no way we can field enough troops to stop the horde.”

  “It’s true,” Jade answered, having once again heard their whispers. “You’ll find that I’m very honest.”

  “I know, I know,” Joe said.

  Jade ignored the comment and continued. “Unless our people can get a solid perimeter established, there doesn’t appear to be any way to stop the savages. There’s too many, and our leaders are too incompetent.”

  “I couldn’t have said it better myself,” Connie beamed. “You make a good second-in-command.”

  “I thought that was me,” Leisa said, seemingly kidding.

  Joe was more concerned about the images continuing to flick through the back of his head every time a comment struck a bad memory like a raw nerve. As Leisa bickered semi-playfully with Connie, Joe relived watching Connie’s first number two, Kayla, die feet away from him at the hands of the savages while he had been unable to save her.

  “Enough,” Joe said, having snapped back to reality, and feeling all the worse for it. “They’re far enough way now. Can’t we move out?”

  “You in a hurry?” Connie said. “I could keep this going all night.”

  “If you two continue to argue, we won’t make it across the plateau before morning,” Jade said. “Perhaps we should get moving?”

  “You seriously telling me to be quiet, darling?” Connie shot back. “That’s like the robot calling the kettle black.”

  “Ouch,” Joe whispered under his breath.

  For the next hour, while they plodded off to the southeast toward Jade’s house, they all listened to a lengthy dissertation from her regarding the proper use of the terms robot, android, humanoid, and other terminology that Connie would forget before they made it halfway to their destination.

  CHAPTER 3

  As the morning sun crested over a distant hill, Joe asked, “Are we ever gonna get there?”

  “We’re practically there,” Connie answered. “Just another five or six miles.”

  “More like seven-and-a-half,” Jade corrected.

  “Whatever, darling. Anyway, we could j
ust jog it out if you’re in a big hurry.”

  “Yeah, why not? I need a couple more blisters,” Joe replied. “Besides, I could stand to puke up the food I haven’t eaten.”

  “I haven’t passed out in a few days,” Leisa added. “Might as well relive that experience too.”

  Connie chuckled, and thankfully didn’t pick up the pace. If anything, it seemed like he slowed a little even though it wouldn’t be long until daybreak.

  “We get up in those trees and we can catch a quick nap,” he suggested.

  “We need to catch a quick drink,” Joe muttered.

  Connie waved his arm across what remained of the barren plateau. “Tough luck there…at least for now.”

  At the far edge of the plateau, Joe noticed how the ground seemed to drop off into a densely wooded area. Once they made it there, the cover would be a nice change. But, first, he had other things on his mind.

  “Forget the nap. I’d rather keep going,” Joe said. “If we’re kinda close, surely we can crash at Jade’s house.” He turned to look at her. “You do have beds, don’t you?”

  “I suppose you could say that. I mean at least a couple.”

  “I’ll wrestle you for one,” Joe told Leisa.

  She laughed, and bumped him with her hip. “I’ll bet you would. But I was hoping you’d share.”

  “Well, yeah, uhm…of course that’s what I meant.” He was thankful the sun hadn’t fully risen over the distant treetops to where she could see him blush.

  “Where do you sleep?” Leisa asked Jade.

  “I have my own room. You are welcome to use it, since I can rest anywhere.”

  “And your siblings?” Joe asked.

  “I guess I should tell you now that some of them aren’t quite as…advanced as I am. They’re all great. They’ll be super excited to meet you guys, but…they maybe aren’t like what you are expecting. A couple don’t have anywhere special to sleep, and another has more like a table.”

  “Oh.” Joe quieted. He spent the next mile wondering what exactly Jade’s siblings must be like before Connie finally asked.

  “I guess I should find out a bit more about the in-laws,” he said. “Tell me about your, uhm, sisters. Is that right?”

  Joe leaned in closer to hear the answer.

  “I have one brother and four sisters. As I mentioned before, I’m the youngest, which makes me the most advanced. But some of the others might try to convince you differently. Especially Smig.”

  “Ooh, a little sibling rivalry,” Joe said. “Sounds exciting.”

  “Yeah, it does.” Connie grinned.

  Leisa jumped in to prevent any distraction, saying, “I guess you should tell us all about your siblings so we won’t be, uhm, surprised. Maybe Smig? That’s another acronym?”

  “Oh, oh. Would you like to play the guessing game again?” Jade chirped. “That was so much fun.”

  “Maybe later,” Leisa replied. “I’m a little tired.” She shot a playful look at Joe. “Someone decided he wanted to walk all the way instead of resting.”

  “Smig is the oldest of the group, so he basically thinks he can boss the rest of us around,” Jade said. “The name was arguably our creator’s least inventive. He thought about changing it a few times, but never settled on something different.”

  “I’m intrigued,” Joe said, “but too tired to guess.”

  “I’ll try,” Connie said. “How about Self-Managing and Interestingly Grandiose?”

  “Not bad,” Jade replied. “You’re almost kind of close in a nonsensical sort of way.”

  “Thanks, I think.”

  Jade smiled. “Smig is Semi-Mobile Intellectual Giant.”

  “Yeah, not that great,” Joe said. “But you said he, right?”

  “You could say he’s sort of the maleof the group. Not that he really looks the part, but he’s definitely the most masculine.”

  Leisa scratched her head as if considering a question, but ultimately kept quiet.

  “And then there’s four girls?” Joe asked.

  “That’s right, babe,” Jade said, slipping back into her initial nickname for Joe. He tensed up, and shot a sidelong glance at Leisa to see if it still bothered her. She’d gone uncharacteristically expressionless, her boots pounding out a rhythm as steady as a heartbeat.

  Jade continued on with her siblings’ names. “In order from oldest to youngest, it goes Mira, Barta, Faith, and Best.”

  “Best, huh?” Connie stifled a laugh. “That’s a lot to live up to. I thought I had the best one?”

  “Just ask her about it,” Jade answered. “Or maybe don’t. She definitely thinks she’s the best. That’s why I usually call her Bess. Heavens help us all if you feed that ego. The B could stand for Bossy.”

  “I was expecting a different B-word,” Connie said.

  “From yourself,” Jade retorted. “Unlike you, I’m not unnecessarily vulgar.”

  “That’s like giving him a compliment,” Leisa said, breaking her silence. “Anyway, so how’s this Smig not look like a guy? I can’t figure that out. Is he like transgender or something?”

  “He’s more like no gender,” Jade answered. “His voice is masculine as well as many of his thoughts. He has a lot of our creator in him, but not much of an actual body.”

  Leisa scratched her head. “So he’s like a walking computer?”

  “Technically, I suppose we all are,” she said softly, and tapped her head. “But he looks the most like a traditional, uhm, robot, much as I don’t like that word. Let’s just say that he’s the least humanlike, and a bit touchy about that.”

  “Message received,” Connie said. “I’ll do my best not to say or do anything stupid. Wouldn’t want to get off on the wrong foot with the in-laws.”

  “Good luck with that.” Leisa traded a grin with Joe.

  He wasn’t sure if she was more surprised that Connie might be able to avoid saying something insulting, or the idea that he kept referring to Jade’s family as his in-laws. Both were certainly curious.

  The conversation had served as a nice distraction. Joe finally remembered the refugee column. With daybreak upon them, he had no trouble noticing he could no longer spot a rising cloud of dust. While the refugees had seemed set on stumbling right toward the heart of Pasun, Joe’s group had given them a wide berth and headed off toward the south of the city.

  Connie kept them moving at a steady pace. He continued to throw questions at Jade like he was preparing for an examination, but Joe tuned that out. Instead, he watched as they grew gradually closer to the tree line.

  There was no telling what, if anything, waited for them in the forest; however, there was nothing they could do about that. Any chance at stealth had been lost when they’d started walking across the wide open plateau that stretched almost endlessly like the sea.

  Right before the sun climbed high enough to slam them in the face, they reached the shadows cast by the tallest trees. Joe tightened his grip on the coilgun though he knew it was pointless. If anyone had been waiting for them, they would’ve cut them down before they even knew what had hit them.

  “I don’t like this,” he whispered to Leisa. “We’re sitting ducks.”

  “We’ve been that way all night. You just noticing that now?”

  He bristled at the comment, and said, “It’s a little worse when I can actually see farther than a hand in front of my face.”

  “I know,” Leisa replied softly. “I feel the same way. I’m just kidding.”

  “What? You trying to be Connie?”

  “I thought you liked it when I was sassy.”

  “I can deal with sass. One Sarge is enough.” Joe almost took the comment back after remembering how well he’d gotten along with Connie over the short time they’d been stuck together in the prison camp. He wasn’t sure anyone else could’ve helped him out as much.

  “Let’s make a run for it,” Leisa was saying when he tuned back in to her. “We’ll pass the slowpokes.”

  “Sounds
good.”

  “Where’re you two going?” Connie said as they blew past him and Jade.

  “Running for cover,” Leisa threw over her shoulder.

  “You forget our secret weapon?” he called after them. “There’s no one hiding up there.”

  Joe knew he meant Jade had been scanning the forest with her exceptional eyesight, and probably listening with her superhuman ears—all while talking with Connie. But Joe remained a little leery. Though Jade had never been wrong, it wasn’t enough to put him completely at ease.

  Joe had hoped relief would flood in whenever he hit the edge of the woods, but there was an opposite reaction. Dense vegetation blocked his way. He had to scoot over several paces and twist to the side to find a path through the brambles.

  He dropped Leisa’s hand, and bent over lower than an elderly woman to get underneath the hanging vines. Charging like a tank, coilgun raised to act as a battering ram, he attacked the forest as brainlessly as a savage. And blindly, as he dared not open his eyes more than a sliver to keep from getting scratched or smacked in the face.

  “This sucks,” he muttered, still stumbling. Leisa echoed the thought from somewhere not too far behind.

  Thorns tugged at Joe’s uniform, scraping and biting the fabric as they tried to disrobe him. With a kick of his boot, he pulled free of a low vine and stumbled into a slightly more open area of the forest.

  “Wishing I still had that armor,” he muttered while rubbing the scratches on the back of his hand.

  Leisa wiped sweat off her brow as she came up beside him. “Maybe. It was way too hot, though.”

  “Yeah.” Joe had noticed the abrupt change in temperature back when they’d dumped their armor in the foothills outside the prison camp. It made sense to travel quick and light, especially with the heat. “Weird how it was freezing in that valley at Old Stony but as soon as we hit the plateau it turned hot. Now it’s a sweat bath.”

  “I can’t explain it.” Leisa looked over her shoulder at the sound of the others crashing through the brush. “But I’ll bet your girlfriend can.”