B. E. V. Page 8

  For the next twenty minutes, I walked around duck-footed.

  "Now me! Now me!" shouted Bev.

  I studied the small jars of paint Kat held. "There's not much –"

  "Hold these." Kat shoved the bottles into my hand and dashed out again. A few minutes later I heard her call from outside, "Hunter, give me a hand, will ya?"

  Kat lugged two large wooden crates from the doctor's lab. "Help me open these."

  I discovered a crowbar in the corner of the room and attacked the tops. In five minutes the lids popped off and we pulled can after can of purple and pink day-glow paint out.

  "Hey Bev," Kat called, "ready to get pretty?"

  "Bring it on, sister!" Bev chortled. "Do me!"

  We started at her rear and worked forward with swirls and stripes, stars and circles, and ended at the front with a pink blotch on one side, and a corresponding purple blob on the other. When we finished Kat and I stood back and admired our handiwork.

  "What do you think?" Kat called out.

  "Am I pretty?" Bev asked anxiously. "Am I beautiful?"

  "You're something else all right," I replied. "I've never seen anything this different before."

  "I think it's time we all got some sleep," Kat stated. "We'll have a busy next few days – we have to find our dads. Bev, you want to come along and help?"

  She issued an enthusiastic buzz. "Oh, yeah. I need the whole world to bask in my beauty." Bev paused. "No pillow fight, girl talk?"

  "It's late, honey," said Kat, stretching and covering her mouth.

  "Aw, let's steal a bottle of wine and get giddy," she complained. "Who wants to do a chug-a-lug with me?"

  "Not tonight, Bev," I replied, "Besides, you wouldn't enjoy people seeing you hung-over, would you?"

  "Oh, all right." If a computer could yawn, I'd swear she did too. "Come on in and settle down. I'll see ya in the morning."

  I woke the next day with a shiny yellow duckling perched on my chest staring at me. Doctor Krumboton was herding a troop of his mechanical toys through Bev's open lock. Kat was in the other pilot's couch, lying prone, her eyes wide open, with two green snakes crawling over her chest and neck. A few rats sniffed at her feet.

  "Doc – what are you doing?" I stood, rubbed sleep out of my eyes, as the duckling fell with a clatter. "What is all of this?" I scooted the reptiles off Kat so she could sit up.

  Doctor Krumboton stared at me in surprise and waved his hand at the critters scurrying on the floor. "You said you wanted help. Well –" three mice ran over my feet "—here is help. I even took the time to redesign them." He sounded upset.

  "It will be fine," Kat replied and punched my arm.

  "What's the matter, handsome, don't you want my relatives?"

  "Okay, I'm sorry." Jeesh, everyone was jumping on my case.

  Doc's flying ball zipped through Bev's hatch and started a flight path up and down the length of her interior.

  "My eye!"

  "What did you say?"

  "You found my eye," Bev replied. She addressed the flying orb in a vexed voice, "You naughty little brat. Where have you been?"

  "She was out with Doc," I replied, confused.

  Bev's voice hovered next to my ear. "She's my little sister, and a bother, but I'm supposed to watch her."

  I gave up. "Uh – breakfast?" I said to Doctor Krumboton.

  "Come right along." The doctor trooped out of Bev, Kat and I trailed slower, tiptoeing through little bot thingies.

  "Powdered eggs, powdered milk and powdered orange juice," exclaimed Doc, waving his hand at the workbench where bowls and cups were set up along with spoons and forks. A jar of instant coffee teetered on the edge of the table with a sugar bowl flanking it. Miscellaneous bits and pieces of bot scattered in a pile leaving enough room for three cans and two pitchers of water, one with steam rising from the interior, the other with beads of moisture dripping down the sides. "Make your own."

  Kat squatted on a stool and started mixing. I made myself some eggs and sniffed. "Yum."

  "I have reprogrammed my robots to take commands from B.E.V.," the doctor said as he made himself coffee. "Instruct her on what you need them to do, and leave the rest to her."

  "We may not be back for a couple of days," cautioned Kat. She made a face at her eggs and stuck a spoonful in her mouth.

  "Not to worry," exclaimed the doctor. "I have plenty to keep me busy. There must be a way to grow my own peaches." He studied Kat's face with concern. "What is the matter, something wrong with the eggs?"

  "Oh no," Kat exclaimed, and took a big spoonful and slurped. "Wonderful."

  I seized the jar of coffee crystals and made myself a tepid cup, hoping it would brighten my day. I was wrong.

  Kat scowled at her eggs and pushed the plate away. I took another sip of the coffee and did the same.

  "Well, Doctor Krumboton," I stuck my hand out, "Thanks. We'll be back as fast as possible."

  Doc reached out a gnarled hand and took mine. "Good luck," he said. "I hope everything works out all right for both of you."

  I could find no place for Doc's bots, so Kat and I managed to push the whole bunch far back into the bay, but they kept creeping forward. Kat and I finally constructed a barrier using the cushions from the spare chairs to act as a playpen.

  "I think we're all set here," I said at last, catching a snake making a slithering escape toward the control board.

  Kat's face was bright red from bot chasing and her hair popped out in all directions. She tied it back with a rubber band and said, "We better start before these things escape again." She kept one eye on the bots to make sure we had no more jailbreaks. "I feel as if I'm riding herd on a bunch of bunnies."

  We strapped ourselves down. I said aloud, "Ready here, Bev – let's go."

  "Aye-aye, chief!" came her clipped reply. "We're off and running."

  Once we were out in the open Kat asked, "Which way, do you think?"

  "What did you say?" Between the squeaking and the chirping of the bots, I couldn't hear myself think.

  "WHAT DID YOU SAY?"

  "BEV!" I swung around. The bots had breached our barricade and swarmed over the floor of the cargo hold. "Can't you shut those things off? What is this, Noah's Ark or something?"

  "Yes, sir." One by one, the bots fell quiet and wound down to a halt.

  Silence.

  The flying ball continued to zip around our heads, a happy bird on a holiday.

  "Bev, can your eye, or sister, whatever it is . . . ." I complained. Kat tried shooing it away toward the cargo bay. The ball twisted, evaded her hand, and hovered behind me, nudging the back of my head. "Ouch, you hurt!" I swatted at the little menace. The ball ducked out of reach and bobbed up and down as if it was laughing at me.

  "Sorry, she doesn't want to turn off."

  "I'll settle this." Kat fixed her gaze on the orb and marched to the cargo bay, opening one of the storage closets. "You, in!" she commanded the sphere with a wave of her hand, pointing. "Now."

  The orb hesitated and then entered the closet, settling to the bottom. Kat slammed the door. "Okay?" she asked me with a sweet smirk.

  "Better," I agreed. "I think the first thing we should do is swing by my place and yours on the chance our dads are waiting for us, agreed?"

  Kat nodded. Bev said, "You're taking me home to meet your parents? Oh my gosh, I'm so nervous. I didn't know we were getting serious!"

  "Be quiet, Bev. If we don't find anyone, next stop is town. At least we'll learn if anyone was taken prisoner and which way they went."

  Not many homes existed out this way. The few we passed were smoking wrecks, burnt to the ground, or with doors broken in and windows smashed out. As we headed for my house, we saw no one, not even livestock.

  The devastation I'd imagined happening to the farm during the attack was far worse when seen in daylight. The personnel carriers crushed the fence, twisting the chain-link into useless metal. Explosions from the landmines pitted large sections of the yard into gaping
holes, and the house itself crumbled into a smothering pile.

  "No use searching for anything around here," I said, shaken by the sight. I picked my way over to my shed. The bent fender of my scooter poked out from beneath the collapsed roof. "There isn't even enough left to make a doghouse."

  Kat's home was still standing. The front door swung by one hinge, and clothing made a line across the front lawn – a pair of Kat's underwear fluttered from a branch of the willow tree in front of the house.

  "Do you want to go in?" I asked.

  "For a moment," Kat replied. We crept up to the broken door and entered. Inside, papers, books, and the contents of every drawer scattered on the rug in heaps. "Oh, no," Kat whispered. She stooped and picked up a smashed photograph of her parents and slipped the picture out of the frame, tucking it into her shirt.

  I waited in the living room while she wandered around from the kitchen to the bath, muttering under her breath. She stopped at the bedrooms last, first her dad's and then hers, returning with a stuffed pillowcase. Mr. Piggy's head stuck out of the top. "I'm all done," she said quietly. "Let's go."

  We climbed back into Bev. "I guess next stop is the town. Bev –"

  "Wait!"

  Kat sprang up and hurried to the door. "What is it, forgot something?" I asked.

  She leaped out of Bev's hatch without replying. I watched while she dashed to the willow in the front yard, made a flying leap, and ripped down her underwear. She strode back and stuffed them into the pillowcase without saying anything to me.

  I couldn't help it, I let out a snicker and pointed at the pillowcase with my finger. "Anything else?"

  "What are you laughing about?" Kat snapped at me as she slouched back into her seat and strapped herself in. Her face was red.

  "I didn't know you could jump so high," I choked out between gasps. "Is it a new sport, panty jumping?"

  "Pervert," she said. "Let's start moving."

  While we drove to Paradise Cove, a light mist began, obscuring the wall until we were right on top of it. I expected to see the main entrance manned in case of another attack, but the gate was gone, huge gaps pockmarked the wall, and the sentry towers were deserted.

  We passed the guard shack with no one challenging us, and rolled along the main street, skirting rubble. The side streets we didn't even attempt to navigate, other than to stop and search for people; collapsed buildings and wrecked vehicles clogged each we passed.

  "Do you think anyone is still alive?" wondered Kat. Dead bodies littered the sidewalks.

  "There has to be," I said. "Morgan couldn't have killed or captured everyone, they must be hiding."

  At the end of the street, a lone figure, a girl, sat on the curb, covered in mud, barefooted. She stared at her hands.

  It was Sonja.

  She didn't glance up as we stopped. We climbed out and hurried to her. "Sonja, are you all right?" I asked and shook her gently by the shoulder.

  Her head jerked around, terror in her eyes, and shrank back from me in fear. Kat sat next to her and held her hands.

  "Sonja, it's us." Kat reached out, took Sonja's cheeks, and swung her head around, staring into her eyes, "Kat and Hunter. Are you all right? What happened?"

  Recognition flashed across Sonja's face. "Kat?" She scrutinized me. "Hunter?" Her hair hung in limp strands, plastered to her face by the rain. She burst into tears and buried her head in Kat's shoulder.

  Kat's lips twisted with concern. "It's okay now, everything is all right." She said, patting Sonja on the back and giving her a tight hug. "Tell me what happened."

  I took out my handkerchief and handed it over to Kat; she wadded it into a ball and wiped away Sonja's tears and some of the dirt from her face.

  "Feel better, now?" Kat asked.

  "Uh-huh. Thanks," Sonja replied and snatched the hanky, blowing her nose. "It was terrible!" she wailed.

  "The fighting?" I asked.

  Sonja cast a frightened glance from Kat to me. "We watched from the upstairs window of my house," she sniffled. "My dad made me and my mother stay home. The men went to meet those soldiers and suddenly – suddenly –" She choked back a sob and said, "Fighting started, screaming, and a lot of shooting. These big trucks rolled down the street with men everywhere."

  "What happened next?" Kat whispered.

  "I don't know." Sonja was calmer, as if she recited from a book. "My mother and I hid in the basement when the men stormed down the road. I heard explosions. More screams. Saw smoke." She glanced up and down the street. "My mother fell asleep, I couldn't. I decided to come out here. Everything is gone."

  I sat on the other side of her, and then backed off. She smelled of raw sewage. "Don't worry," I said, "we'll rebuild. Did you see my pop anywhere, or Kat's dad?"

  Sonja shook her head. "No, your dad was part of the party meeting the soldiers," she replied, composing herself. "I didn't see any of them come back."

  "How about Kat's dad?" I said when I saw the worry on Kat's face. "Did he go out with my pop?"

  Sonja chewed on her lip, thinking back. "No. Kat's dad stayed here, I saw him, I think, but I don't know what happened to him afterward. Everything was so confusing." She noticed Bev sitting on the roadway for the first time. "What's this?" She pointed with a shaky finger, fear creeping back into her voice.

  "Don't worry, it's Bev," said Kat. "She's with us."

  Sonja frowned and narrowed her eyes. "What do you –?"

  Before I was stuck with a long explanation, or Bev spoke up and freaked Sonja out, I said, "Is there anything we can do for you, Sonja? Take you home, maybe? Do you want to come with us?"

  She surveyed Bev suspiciously. "No, I feel better now. I'm going to sit here a while longer and see if anyone I know comes by, and then go home and find out if my mother is awake. Have you seen Hank?" she asked hopefully.

  "No, you're the first person we've run across, everyone else is still hiding, I guess."

  "Where are you going now?" Sonja asked. "Stay here?"

  "No, we can't," I denied, "We have to locate our dads."

  She clutched at my shirt, obviously upset. I added, "Maybe we'll see Hank and bring him back with us." Sonja appeared so miserable I said, "Are you sure you'll be all right here by yourself?"

  "Yeah, I'll be fine," she mumbled, staring back down at her hands.

  We left Sonja perched on the side of the road and climbed back into Bev. "Well, this was a bust," Kat said. "Did you notice the tower was down? Even if our dads weren't captured and are lost somewhere, they still can't let us know if they're all right."

  I felt bad about leaving Sonja all alone. "Sonja was a mess, wasn't she," I said, "and she stunk. I hope nothing happens to her, sitting there."

  "Did you notice?" Kat whispered to me.

  "What?" I scanned the street for soldiers. "I don't see anything."

  "Black roots."

  "Huh? What black roots, what are you talking about?" We hadn't passed any downed trees, but Kat appeared smug.

  "Sonja's hair – she had black roots," Kat said in triumph, crossing her arms and lounging back in her seat. "I always suspected she wasn't a natural blonde."

  I couldn't understand how Kat would notice hair when Sonja was so upset; but she sat, smirking, as if she'd discovered a big secret. "This is no time to be –"

  Kat put her finger to her mouth. "I wonder if she pads her bra, too?" She glanced down.

  This was a discussion I didn't even want to become involved in. I shook my head and changed the subject to things more important. "Do you think we should search the rest of the town? People might be down by the river leaving."

  "Huh?" Kat was busy studying the front of her shirt. "Oh, no. If either of our dads were still here, they'd be out helping people," she glanced at a body, "or cleaning up. This whole thing was a waste of time."

  "Not really, at least we know where they're not," I replied. "The question is, where are they now?"

  "We're done with this?" Bev said, "We're playing word games? Good.
Let's see, is it bigger than my garage?"

  Kat and I ignored her. "Well, Morgan marched from the west," Kat said.

  "Which means they're probably traveling east, scavenging everything they find before turning back," I replied, thinking. "Last night we saw the lights moving around in different directions. Do you remember which way most went?"

  "A round? Maybe it's round? A small round garage for my little sister?"

  "I think east," Kat said, "Yeah, a bunch traveling east, some moving west, and a few heading north. So let's start checking east of here and see what we find." Kat called out, "Bev – eastward ho!"

  "Hoe, it was a hoe?" Bev grumbled as she swung around. "Darn, I never win."

  Chapter Seven

  A short distance from the lab we located tracks from an armored vehicle. We followed the ruts until they joined others and the trampled grass of marching men.

  The light drizzle, which started in the morning, tapered off as the moon rose. A thin layer of fog covered the earth, creating swirls as we passed, but tracking Morgan's army was easier than I thought; all we did was ride along the path of destruction, and garbage, left by ten thousand men on the march.

  The next day was sunny and we made better progress, but we drove with a sense of urgency. We'd discovered bodies scattered along the way – prisoners who were unable to keep up.

  "The little bird, with the little bill, was sitting on, my windowsill. I lured him in, with crumbs of bread, and then I smashed his, little head!"

  "Bev – cut it out, will ya?" She had sung the same song over again for hours. "Are you picking up anything?"

  "Yo – ho, Columbo, his ba – Wait! – Yes, I am." She paused and reported, "Three miles ahead. I've got a whole lotta something."

  Kat leaned forward in her seat. "Can you tell what it is?"

  "Nope – but someone better tell me to switch into stealth mode before we're spotted."

  "Bev – stealth mode!" I shouted.

  We topped a rise. Spread out before us was Morgan's army.

  Men tramped in a mindless jumble, each hurrying on a task only he knew, ants crawling across the Earth – a distant roaring ocean filling the air. This sea of humanity stretched from one edge of a forest to the other, jamming the depression in between.