Well. With some effort, she rallied for the sake of the brats. Stay together. There must be dinner around here somewhere.
Miss Thimble, a brat said timidly.
Yes?
Why did the world end?
It wasnt a question about Topside; she realized that much. So he wanted to know about the recent fighting. Impossible to explain such things someone so young.
But she tried as she picked a careful path through the wreckage. The elders had rules that werent fair. They punished people who didnt do anything bad. Some other people got angry and wanted the elders to stop, but they wouldnt, and so they fought.
Who won? a girl piped.
Nobody, Thimble said softly.
Everythings broken and dirty and we didnt get any breakfast, another brat put in.
She couldnt remember their numbers. That wasnt uncommon in the enclave. Only fellow brat-mates bothered to learn the numerical designations for everyone in their dorm. To everyone else, the brats were underfoot and interchangeable, unless they proved strong enough to earn a name. Today, that saddened her.
The tallest brat asked, Who will take care of us?
I will, she replied.
But youre a Builder.
Once things are back to normal, the Breeders will take over. If enough of them survived. But until then, youre with me.
Thank you. The brat holding her free hand squeezed it.
Stones brat wrapped an arm around her neck and put his head on her shoulder. A dirty thumb went into his mouth. An odd softness radiated through her at the way he nestled there, such perfect trust. This brat was part of the boy shewell, her friend, Stone.
She spoke with more confidence than she felt. Come on.
Thimble averted her eyes from the worst of the carnage, guiding her charges away from the deceased. But one girl stood fast, her face sick and pale as she stared at a fallen female.
After endless moments, she lifted damp eyes in a thin and dirty face. That was my dam. I wasnt supposed to know, but she gave me extra meat at meals.
Thimble would have felt better if the brat had cried, but the girl swallowed her tears like gravel and her gaze went flat and still, fixed on nothing in particular. She didnt stare at the dead Breeder anymore. With a choked reassurance that even she didnt believe, Thimble went on toward the kitchen area where the conflict had started. She found offal, blood, chunks of flesh, severed limbs, and corpses already attracting flies. The stench stole her breath.
We cant eat in here.
There must be stores somewhere, she said aloud.
The brat who had asked about their welfare suggested, The fish pools?
Lets go see.
Please let them be intact.
She moved as fast her bad foot could carry her. The fish pools were forbidden to any but Copper and Whitewall, but at this point the old rules didnt matter. The brats constituted slim hope for the future, and she had to provide for them. To her vast relief, the dim tunnel where the forebears had broken holes in the rock remained untouched. No dead littered this part of the enclave; the fighting hadnt spread this deep.
In the faint torchlight, the water rippled with movement. Which meant the fish were alive. Fresh. Healthy. Some of the worry loosened its stranglehold on her chest. Thimble grabbed the nearby net and scooped out three fish. She didnt know how to cook, how to prepare them, but she knew they didnt have bones or scales when she ate them, so that was a place to start.
We cant cook in the kitchen area, a brat said. Its bad there.
Ill build a fire pit.
Somehow.
Chapter 4
It took Stone longer than he liked to count the survivors. Not because there were so many, but he wasnt good with numbers. More than once, he had to start over, until he finally had the depressing figure to carry back to Silk. Everyone he saw questioned him about what would happen to College, now that the battle was over. He could only shake his head.
In the common area, Silk had already made some headway dealing with the bodies. Her remaining Hunters had been put to work, cleaning up the wreckage. He didnt see how it would be possible to make the community so nice again; it had taken years to haul in all the scrap meal.
The commander of the Hunters greeted him with an impatient look. Well? After Stone made his report, Silk paced. Thats less than half our original population. What about the brats?
We lost four.
Better than all, a big Hunter put in.
Crane, he thought. Deuce had fought him during the exhibition. He was tough, strong and unshakable in his loyalty to Silk. Something about the way the Hunter stood made Stone think Crane had feelings for his captain that he wasnt supposed to. Not that Silk seemed to notice. Hunters werent allowed to have personal connections.
Hows cleanup coming outside the common area? she demanded. The cook space?
People are working on it, Crane replied.
Stone took that chance to slip away, but before he found Thimble and Boy23, a Builder cornered him. Youre strong. You should be hauling bodies.
He drew in a breath, wanting to protest, but part of him felt like he should suffer for his role in the slaughter. Show me where to go.
Like the fighting, his hours on cleanup passed in a miserable blur. By the time he cleared his section of the enclave, he was half-blind with exhaustion. Stone couldnt remember when hed last eaten or slept. But before he found a quiet, clean place to lie down, he had to find Thimble and Boy23. They had become his center.
So he stumbled through the enclave, eyes burning, and didnt stop until he located Thimble back by the fish pools. A fire smoked lazily before her, and he smelled the remnants of a meal. Shed created pallets for the brats, and they slept huddled together for warmth and comfort. Her expression brightened when she saw him, but he held up a hand to keep her from getting up.
Youre all right?
Tired, she said softly. I dont know when Ive been so tired. I havent even had a chance to see the workshop yet.
He grimaced. Its bad. I cleaned in there earlier.
So thats why you were gone so long.
Were you worried? Stone knew he shouldnt be glad that she cared when everything was such a mess, but
he was.
A little.
Did he give you any trouble? Stone tilted his head at his brat.
No, hes sweet. And asleep. She shifted, revealing Boy23 curled on his side behind her.
Thanks again. I dont know what Id do if anything happened to him.
Though her gaze sharpened, she didnt say anything. Hed always been able to tell Thimble anything, and she was gentle when his jokes were dumb, not funny. Sometimes he didnt realize when hed gone too far or mentioned something best left alone. Others werent as kind.