Page 20 of Inceptive (Ingenious #3)
20
WILL
F our weeks had passed.
Any day now the water would recede from the main road. Farmers had donated backpacks, food supplies, spears, hiking poles, boots, lanterns, and whatever was needed for the four days of muddy travel. They believed that Zach would erase Will’s memories in the steam lodge and hold him hostage until the evacuation was completed.
Three grenades—small, light, and powerful—were sewn inside the corners of Will’s backpack. The rings required strength to pull, and once tossed, he had six seconds to find cover. Or he could manually twist the cap, and a timer would allow an hour after he planted the explosive. He’d practiced with fake grenades, and Dante had stressed that they wouldn’t accidentally loosen and explode if he dropped his backpack.
Will’s heart raced when Dante finally summoned him to the exit ramp. He put on his overalls, boots, and straw hat and strapped on his backpack. Zach would bring the hiking gear and an enormous backpack with supplies. They’d exchanged messages but hadn’t seen each other since saying goodbye at the basin’s ramp.
When Will entered the exit’s vaulted chamber, oily smoke poured from the ramp, which was struggling to lower and extend to the outside. He fanned the smoke from his face, shouting to be heard above the screeching gears. “What’s the problem?”
“My apologies. It’s stuck.” Instead of appearing in his humanoid form, Dante’s voice floated, as if he was ashamed to face Will. “Something outside is blocking it.”
Belle returned from scouting the problem on the outside wall. Her chip showed images of tons of mud burying the door. She fanned her wings at the smoke, chittering in distress.
“This debris wasn’t there last week,” Dante said. He ordered two bots to apply maximum pressure to turn a wheel to push open the ramp manually.
The bots’ hands snapped off. More oily smoke poured out, and mud oozed through the slight crack at the top of the doorframe.
“Oh, my. Blocked and broken. Your trip is aborted,” Dante said.
Will coughed and hurried into the hall. “This can’t be happening. Zach and I have to reach Fort Hope before the bridge opens.”
Belle hovered by him. “No worry. You get out same way I get out. Shortcut through a window. No mud blocks window.”
He’d assumed the basin’s ramp lowered for Belle to fly back and forth. He followed her to a lift that carried him to the level where her window was on the east wall facing the main road to Fort Hope. He stuck his head out and gaped at the twenty-level drop to the muddy ground below.
In his humanoid form, Dante glided into the room. His red insectoid eyes measured the window. “Plenty of room for you and Zach to squeeze through, one at a time. You’re pale and shaking. What seems to be the concern?”
“Like how will we get down?” Will wheezed the words.
“Resolved by using a cane fiber rope. Lightweight but can hold a pony.”
“I can’t climb into a hammock without falling out and puking.”
“Hmmm. Probability of falling is unlikely if you rappel your way down using two ropes.”
“I don’t understand rappel ,” Will said. “And I want to hear zero probability of falling.”
A screen dropped and showed him a series of images on how to descend using a foothold in a looped rope with clips and a handlebar. The heading of each image cautioned it was a dangerous and unadvised method for long descents. Practice was advised for inexperienced climbers.
Will slapped a hand at his chest. “ I’m inexperienced! You’re showing me increased probability.”
Dante actually cooed to him, “It’s as simple as putting your foot in a loop and gripping a handlebar while a bot lowers you to the ground. Then Zach will lower himself. He’s accustomed to rappelling from the cave dwellings. I’ve sent a CinderX with a message that there’s been a change of plans, and he’ll bring the equipment.”
Will groaned. “I’ll faint before reaching the ground. What if the bot’s hand snaps while I’m midair? If the fall doesn’t kill me, the grenades will explode upon impact. I’ll be fertilizer.”
“The grenades are sewn securely in the corners and won’t detonate from a fall.”
Belle perched on his lap. “I be with you. Scare away snakes until you wake from fainting.”
Wearing knee pads, Will stuck one booted foot in a loop, with the other free to kick off the wall as he descended. His gloved hands were tied to a handlebar attached to a rope that a bot would slowly unreel from an anchored axel.
“Your hands and foot are secured,” Dante reassured him in that cooing voice that terrified Will because reassurance meant he would probably crack bones bouncing off the wall, but his hands and foot would land safely.
“You ready?” Zach bounded into the room and checked the loop and grip. “Looks perfect.” He wasn’t wearing kneepads or a helmet. How the fuck could he seem cheerful?
Tears in his eyes, Will stood frozen, unable to hold out his arms for a hug, which he desperately needed. “I can’t… I can’t…” he whimpered.
“I’ve missed you.” Zach gripped his face and kissed him hard with lips and tongue and bristly beard. When Will pulled away for breath, Zach shoved him out the window. Halfway down, he caught his breath and cursed that damned fucking Treetop. He was dimly aware of Belle hovering in front of his face, blocking his view. When his feet touched the ground, he would’ve thrown up, but his stomach was still in the window.
The bot lowered their gear using a second rope. Once the heavy gear landed and acted as an anchor, Zach climbed down its rope, hand over fist on his own, using a foot to bounce off the wall. He freed Will, helped him stand, divided the gear and supplies, attached a leash to their tool belts, and set off for the main road a mile away.
“Love it, love it, love it,” Belle whispered in Will’s ear. “Better trick than fake poop.”
When he could talk, Will phrased his words carefully. “Zach… did… you… know… why I wasn’t warned about… oh… every fucking detail !”
Zach jerked the leash closer. “Dante said you were terrified. Rappelling from cave balconies is basic training for farmers.”
“You pushed me out the window!”
“Like pulling a thorn from the sole. Quick and smooth. No point fretting. Save your breath for walking.”
After sloshing a mile through muddy water toward the main road, Will’s temper cooled, and he coughed a laugh—because, well, it was funny, and he’d zipped to the ground without broken bones. He elbowed Zach, who grinned down at him. They’d survived and escaped the basin against impossible odds. After four weeks apart, they had the next four days alone together.
The fields stank of dead fish in drying puddles. Scavengers abounded, fattening to nurse young and feed them chunks of flesh. Hunting lessons would begin soon.
He and Zach wore gloves, neck scarves, and hats with their overalls and long-sleeved tees and walked the center of the road to avoid sliding off into ditches, which had become deep pools of sticky mud.
Road crews hadn’t plowed mud off the road yet, which meant the rest stations weren’t cleaned and restocked.
Belle accompanied the men, scouting the roads and transmitting information to Dante. She dropped flyers to settlements, proclaiming emergency migration to the basin. Farmers were told to watch the sky for the flares, indicating a wagon caravan was underway. The reason was a carefully worded statement of an ague in the basin originating from the pteryox feces. Symptoms had mounted over the years of exposure to contaminated food. Fort Hope’s people were immune, but their blood was the sole treatment for infected Islanders. As their mayor, Zach ordered every person to abandon their homes and harvests and pack for two years in the basin, where the sanctuary and their awakened creator would be introduced to them.
Will shook his head when he read the flyer. “It sounds as if the new mayor has the ague. Will they believe the threat or think this flyer’s a prank?”
“My people don’t practice unkind pranks.”
“You call pushing me out a window without warning a kindness?”
“I’ll massage your legs in the rest station tonight.”
“Massage my dick, and you’re forgiven. I’m tired of my hand.”