Men of Truth (The Wasteland Soldier #4)

Nuria was in his dreams.

He ached for her smile, ached for her touch.

But it was stupid to think of her and he grew angry. The dream tormented him and laughed at his futile attempts at reuniting with her.

He pummelled his fists until they bled. He blackened the dream with fury, driving her away, and suddenly she was gone and he was back on the streets of Kiven, the bustling and noisy half-ruined city governed by the Alliance.

There was a population of one hundred thousand where once it must have been five times that. But even amongst all those faces there was still nowhere to hide. He had fled from one place to next, grabbing a few hours at a time before being tracked down and forced to run again. The death squads were drawing the noose tighter and tighter, and they would have revenge for the bodies he’d dropped that fateful day he crossed the Place of Bridges.

His hands were black. He could smell the smoke. He stood in the dark and stared at the firebombed building. Impossibly, Cali stood with him, nodding, patting him on the back and giving him the thumbs up. A convoy of vehicles arrived and they hunkered down in the gloom, both of them recognising the tan and black uniforms of the League of Restoration. A cluster of masked men carried a half-burnt body from the ruins. Cali was patting him on the back once more but no matter how hard he tried to shrug her off she would not stop.

Blood flowed into his eyes. Cali was laughing. Stone was shouting at her to tell the truth.

The masked men crouched and studied the half-burnt body and began to cheer. A few of them fired pistols into the night air.

A chain was lashed around the man’s ankles and a pickup revved its engine, ready to drag the body of the wasteland soldier through the streets.

Then one of the men stumbled from the building, pulled off his mask and doubled over.

The driver of the pickup took his foot off the gas pedal …

Stone turned his head, and winced at the sudden flare of pain. He blinked, rapidly, and found himself looking into Yuan’s pensive eyes. He was lying on a bunk and she was sat beside him on a folding metal chair.

His thoughts clicked into gear. He remembered the shootout, and the girl taking her own life, and putting a noose around Bobby and stringing him up. Shame the bastard hadn’t suffered for longer.

Yuan saw alertness in his eyes and her mouth curved upward, her cheeks flushed with colour.

He sat up and opened his mouth to speak, but she pressed warm fingers against his coarse lips.

“No, first you drink.” She poured water from a jug. “In here, I give the orders. Not you.”

He nodded, saying nothing, and drained the cup. His face glistened with sweat. His beard was damp.

“Nianzu stitched your head. He has experience with wounds. He said the bullet was not in your skull. You were very fortunate. You could easily be dead. He said you will have bad headaches for a time and you might suffer with dizzy spells.”

Gingerly, Stone touched his bandaged head.

“I helped him. You will need to rest here. I will take care of you.”

She poured another cup of water.

“My father is very angry with you for the violence this morning.”

Stone croaked. “Fuck him.”

He was inside was a makeshift medical hut with ridged metal wall panels and a wooden plank floor. There was a stove glowing brightly and throwing out plenty of heat. He saw scattered bunks, all empty, and a locked metal cupboard. There was a window in the roof. It was black outside.

“How long have I been out?”

“Since this morning.”

“Shit.”

Pain shot through his skull as he attempted to rise. He gritted his teeth. Yuan took a wet cloth but he caught her wrist, slim and warm against his leathery skin.

“I can do that.”

“I want to help you.”

“I can manage.”

He wiped his sweating face, tossed the cloth. He swung his boots over the edge of the bunk, leaned forward.

He spoke bluntly. “We found your cousin. She shot herself.”

“That wasn’t Suyin.”

“What?”

She explained it to him.

“Jia was outgoing, confident. She is like, I mean, she was like Cali. She would explore a lot and go beyond where my father says we are allowed to go. Her parents want to speak with you.”

“I don’t want to speak to them.”

“They want to thank you.”

“For what? I watched their daughter die.”

“But you freed her.”

Stone shrugged.

“Cali told us what you did. Travis got some men together. They brought Jia’s body back here. She was buried this morning. The story is all around the compound of how you hung one of the men who hurt her.”

Stone said nothing.

“People are happy. You did a brave thing this morning.”

“Some men deserve to die, and die badly. That’s all that happened this morning.”

“I’m not my father, Stone. I’m glad you hurt those men. Jia was so thin. She must have suffered.”

“Where’s Cali? Is she around?”

“She was eating in the main hangar. I don’t know if she’s still there. I couldn’t eat. I was worried about you.”

He frowned.

“I’m glad you’re OK.”

“I’ve been shot before.”

She patted his arm, allowed her hand to linger. “You’re a good man.”

“I’m not.”

He noticed she’d changed her clothes. She now wore a drab looking, ankle length skirt with a broad belt and a shirt worn loose beneath a thick fleece. He didn’t see many women in skirts. Her waist was slender. Her skin was cleanly scrubbed. Her hair was washed and brushed.

“Where are my things?” he asked.

She pointed.

He nodded, but didn’t rise. Fresh beads of sweat popped onto his face. She picked up the cloth, dipped it into the water basin, and wrung it out. This time he allowed her to help. He was light-headed, feeling weak. She gently dabbed his skin.

“How did you get that scar?”

“Which one?”

She noticed he was half-smiling.

“This one.”

She touched it.

“A prison warden took a whip to me.”

“Is that where you were branded? My father saw the marks on your arm. He said it means you are a criminal. Are you?”

“What do you think?”

She set down the wash cloth. “I think what you did today matters more than what you’ve done in the past.”

He got to his feet, without a word, and picked up his coat. She rose from the chair and stood with him as he checked his revolver.

“My people have really taken to Cali. They’ve been very kind toward her.”

Stone listened.

“They want her to stay.”

Stone continued to listen.

“You shouldn’t shout at her so much. She has a good soul. She helped you back here.”

“Well, I need to talk to her.”

“Look at what she gave me earlier today.”

Yuan produced a small tin from her pocket. She opened the lid. Stone glimpsed a kind of paste, dark green in colour.

“Look.” She fluttered her eyes. There was paint on the lids and lashes. “It makes my eyes look pretty, doesn’t it?”

He rooted out a bottle of whiskey from his pack and took out the cork.

“Maybe you shouldn’t drink so much. Not this soon.”

“It’ll numb the pain.”

“My father is angry with me as well. Not just you. I’m not impressed with your behaviour, Yuan. Those were his words. I’m not impressed with your behaviour.”

Stone lowered the bottle from his mouth.

“I’ve met a hundred men like your father. Somehow they’re always in charge. He should be impressed that you’re alive. You handled yourself with guts and took down a man who would’ve hurt you.”

He offered her the bottle.

“I shouldn’t. My father doesn’t approve of drink.”

“He’ll get over it.”

She grinned, swigged from the bottle. She wiped her lips with the back of her hand.

“You carry a lot of guilt.”

He slung the submachine gun onto his shoulder, ignoring her comment.

“You were talking in your sleep.”

“I wouldn’t take any notice of me.”

“You saved my life. All I can do is take notice of you.”

He took another swallow of whiskey.

“You really should rest, Mr Stone.”

“Just Stone.”

“Do you have a first name?”

He began to walk away. “I need to find Cali.”

“You kept saying you were sorry. Over and over. I didn’t know. I didn’t know. I’m sorry.”

Stone hesitated at the door.

“What are you sorry for?” asked Yuan.

Cold air blasted his face. She came after him and placed her hand on his chest.

“What did you do that gives you so much pain in here?”

Pavla looked through the night-vision binoculars.

“The girl is here.”

Timo got to his feet.

“Are you certain?”

“Yes.”

Light spilled from an open hangar doorway. It was Cali, bold and confident, bathed in green light from the binoculars. She was a beacon amongst the bland and the dull; walking with her shoulders back, hands thrust into her pockets, coat open, swinging her arms around as she skipped across the snow, her long black hair blowing in the wind.

“Is the stranger with her?”

“No, she has the company of another man.”

“Could he be the sixteenth man? The name missing from the list?”

Pavla watched.

“He carries a rifle. It’s possible.”

Timo fetched his shotgun. “What is happening now?”

“There is conversation. The girl is smiling at the young man. She wants him to go with her. She is clearly offering herself but he appears reluctant. Now something has caught his eye. He looks angry.” She paused. “The girl has looped her arm though his and now he is going with her.”

“We found the pickup around dawn,” said Timo. “Why would the stranger waste a day in this place instead of being on the road?”

“Wait,” said Pavla.

She turned the binoculars.

“The stranger is here, Timo, and he is wounded. His head is bandaged. This is why they have remained here.”

“Let us take him now.”

Pavla got to her feet.

“We have focused too much on the stranger. The girl was Jeremiah’s partner.”

She picked up her assault rifle.

“She is the key and she is vulnerable.”

They both heard clumsy movement outside and looked at each other. Pavla went back to the observation post.

“There are armed men in the street, Timo.” she said. “They are advancing on the compound.”

“Who do you think I am?” said Stone. “There’s nothing more.”

“I want to go with you.”

“No.”

“I want to see Silver Road. With you. It sounds an incredible place.”

“You’re staying here.”

“With a father who has no respect for me? He won’t even listen to anything I say. It’s his way. Always his way.”

“I don’t care.”

“Or should I stay for Deshi who used me the way those men used Jia? And what about Deshi’s wife? She wants to rip my eyes out. The community will look at me differently now.”

Stone shrugged.

“I don’t like it here. I’ve never liked it here. I don’t want to stay.”

“It’s your home,” he said. “Be glad you have one.”

Cali tasted his tongue. She cupped the front of his trousers.

“That’s the good stuff.”

Travis wrapped his arms around her and pulled her close. She dipped her head back, a feathered cloud of breath escaping over her wet lips. She smiled at him and travelled his face with her eyes. She leaned into him once more, damp and aching. She chewed his lower lip, kissed his chin, and nibbled his ear.

Her hand slipped into his trousers. He groaned and half-stiffened inside her palm.

“That really is the good stuff, Travis, I’m impressed, man.”

He buried his face into her shoulder but his hands were loose and he really needed to get with it.

She moulded one around her breast, placed the other between her legs.

Travis shook. Cali blinked. “What?” She freed her hand from his trousers and stepped back.

Tears were barrelling down his face. He looked crushed, broken-hearted.

“I love her. Why can’t she see how much I love her? I can’t stop thinking about her.”

Cali fumed. “For fuck’s sake, man.”

Then the shouting started up.