Chapter Seven
Later that day, Harper woke up sweating and with the sensation of having her eyelids glued shut. She forced her eyes open to see Grey standing over her table, examining what she had found.
First was a little homemade mallet, sticky with fruit juice. The next was a few old bills, corners torn and the face of Bachmann exed out in a child’s scrawl. Then there was an etching of a monster outline on a flat piece of scrapwood. An old, blue blanket barely held together by its bare threads and a torn T-shirt completed the collection.
Grey gently touched each item without picking it up. He seemed unwilling to hold a dead boy’s things in his palm. Though it required a huge effort, Harper slid out of bed and walked over to him, her back killing her from her night on the forest floor.
“Thanks for letting me sleep a little. I don’t know about you, but I had a rough night.”
“Of course.” He put his arm around her and kissed her temple. She gave him a big smile.
“So,” she said, stretching up and back in a big, sweeping movement, “what did you find out at the bar?”
“Let me get you some water first. Have a seat.”
“I’ll take the water. But don’t worry. I’m refreshed from my nap, I can stand.”
Grey’s eyes lingered over her belly, which was increasing in size every day. She snapped her fingers in front of his face.
“Hey! You can’t babysit me. You have to let me live my life. If I get tired, I’ll let you know.”
His shoulders drooped down, but he relented. He poured a cup of water from the big, unvarnished jug in the kitchen and brought it to her. “Here you go. At least you can admit when you’re thirsty.”
She stopped short of drinking, holding the cup in front of her chest. “What is that supposed to mean?”
“It just feels like, I don’t know, like you’re trying to be so strong and tough. But Harper, you’re pregnant. You don’t have to pretend to be anything, just relax.”
Her mouth opened into a little o as she listened to him. She shook her head back and forth.
“Wow. You really think this is all show?” She knocked back her water, gulping it as to show Grey just how capable she was of drinking huge amounts of water at once. “Look,” she set the cup down with a loud noise on the table, “I’m not feeling weak or tired or anything. If I were, I would do something about it like I did last night. Today I feel great. I feel ready to tear this whole house down and build up a new one for me and my baby. So let’s get to work.”
“Your baby?”
Grey went a little pale with the realization that he had not been included in the child’s parentage. He swallowed and waited for Harper to explain.
“It’s mine. Yes. If I feel like you can’t be her father than that’s that. I need a partner, not a boss.”
She crossed her arms and raised her chin, awaiting his rejoinder. He didn’t speak, but rather walked to her and put his hand on her shoulder.
“You’re right. You need a partner, not a babysitter. I’m sorry. Let me tell you what happened at the bar.” He pulled a chair out for her and she accepted, graciously. He filled her on all of it, the cash exchanging hands, the mention of secret money stashes around the forest, the booze.
“What was it, though? A vodka, a gin, anything you recognized?”
Grey shook his head. “Sorry. When I used to drink, I would just grab a bottle. I didn’t know the first thing about the different types of alcohol. All I know is it’s made from the local fruit and it has no smell or flavor. It’s a bit thicker than water but not much and it’s completely clear.”
“How did it make you feel?” she reached out for him as she asked, biting her lip in anticipation.
“At first, I was incredibly angry. Convinced that the entire world was out to get me,” he explained as he held her hand. “But, after my first drink a kind of happy stage set in. Suddenly everything was silly and wonderful. I couldn’t get enough. I remember a wall in the bar bouncing up and down with me and I think at some point myself and all the guys may have rolled around in the grass like kids. I can’t be certain, the stuff made me black out.”
Harper sucked her teeth. “Oh no,” she stood and looked down at him. “You must be hungover like crazy.”
He shook his head. “That’s actually the worst part. I’m fine. Not even a headache.”
She arched her eyebrows. “The worst part?”
“Yes.” He pulled her back to sit with him again. “Think about it; a crazy good drunk with no regrets, no symptoms the next morning, no memories. Something like that can do a lot of damage while feeling harmless. Who would worry about an alcohol that helps everyone have fun and forget themselves with no consequences? Let’s do it again!”
Harper closed her eyes and nodded. “I got it. It’s the perfect setup for some serious addiction.”
“Exactly.” Grey slumped back into his chair, his hands on his strong thighs. “I have to shut this down. But I have to find the people making it. They’re demanding cash, but it’s all just coming out of tree knots and spare shoes. No one actually makes money anymore. We’re bound to run out. Then, well, I hate to think about what would happen next.”
Harper fell back against her own chair, equally deflated. “Oh my gosh. We’ll have a whole village of drunks. Desperate drunks. But,” she sat up, her eyes flashing, “Grey! I think I know who would want that to happen.”
“What? Who?”
She grabbed his arm. “Come with me. We have to find Alex.”
Leaving all of Marcus’ things on the table behind them, the two went out and down on the lift. She told him about Alex’s last visit, the time he wouldn’t leave, just hung out on her porch and spoke in riddles.
“I’m sure he’s mixed up in this. He had that look in his eye, like he had a big secret he was just dying to blurt out. And he was anxious for me to help him.”
“But why?” Grey was rubbed his forehead as the ground approached. She took his hands away from his brow and held them to her chest.
“I don’t know what his plan is just yet, but only The Alliance would do something like this.”
He looked deep into her eyes and let out a big breath at the sight of the assuredness he found in them. “Okay. If you really feel like this is the right path, let’s see where it leads us.”
They walked East, away from the large trees and watched the forest get younger and thinner. The sun beat down on them as they strolled, neighbors waving to them and occasionally stopping them to touch Harper’s stomach. A few humans twisted their faces up at the thought of a mixed baby, but Harper was over their unspoken judgements. This child was hers and she was already fiercely proud of it. She wouldn’t let anyone’s opinion ruin this for her.
The two continued, leaving their beloved forest behind and moving into the ruins of The City that nature had chosen to leave in place. Only blades of grass and little pink flowers carpeted the ground that had once been a broad avenue. The Alliance lived together and eschewed the tree houses that Grey had designed. Harper had once heard Alex claim that they were too “separatist” and that groups needed to “cohabitate in order to truly bond.”
She could still feel that sticky, sick feeling in her stomach when she first listened to him spell out his philosophies on life. Somehow everything he believed felt so dark and treacherous no matter how much of a spin he put on it.
Whatever his intentions, Alex had managed to get a mixed group of humans and shifters to live together away from the main population. Altogether they made up about forty individuals and only came to the edges of the forest for food and fresh water. The building they had claimed as a home had once been an airplane hanger and then a large living space for the humans of The City. From the outside the building looked like sheets of paper stapled together at the edges and then draped over a flimsy frame. How did it not fall during the massive earthquakes or during a rainstorm?
They walked up and saw the guards right away. The Alliance never went a day without posting two guards outside of their big, metal doors. The kids in the forest thought this was hilarious and often pestered them when they needed a fun, new game, much to the frustration of The Alliance. It was just another instance of them not being taken seriously.
The guards were sitting on opposite facing fences and chatting when one of them noticed the couple on the path to their building. The two jumped up and stood at the top of the path. For weapons, they had roughly made spears with sharpened obsidian for blades. Harper had encountered such a blade only once in her life and she knew that they sliced through skin as easily as a ripe piece of fruit.
Neither guard spoke as they walked up hand in hand. Grey smiled at them and tried to ask permission to pass.
“Gentlemen,” he said politely, “we really need to speak with Alex. May we go in?”
No response. Both young men looked over at Harper, who drew in a slow breath and silently prayed for strength. She put a hand on Grey’s shoulder and turned to him.
“I think I have to go in on my own. Alex came to me. I’m the one he wants.”
She turned to the two guards. “May I go in, please? I believe I can help Alex with a plan of his.”
The two spearheads raised and pointed at the sky. The guards stepped apart and planted their staffs into the ground with a forceful movement.
“She has to go in alone,” one of them said, his eyes steely as they glared at Grey. “You’re not welcome.”
“But-” Grey stepped forward to reason with them but the spears swung forward in a quick motion. Harper grabbed his shoulder as the tips of the black blades pointed right at his stomach.
“It’s okay. Don’t worry.” He turned to her and she forced a smile. She lowered her voice a little. “This is all just a show. Alex just wants respect. If you wait out here while I have a chat with him, we’ll be fine.”
Grey looked at the guards who were still in fight mode. Their faces were as hard as the stones they used to threaten him. “I don’t like this, sweetheart.”
“Just stay close, okay?” She gave him a little kiss on the cheek and they hugged for a moment. She let him go and gave him another nod to help him stay calm. She turned to the guards and stepped forward.
“Please take me to Alex.”
They raised their spears again and stepped aside so that she could pass through and then followed her down the path while Grey stayed put and watched. He had a hard time seeing her walk up to the big metal door and knock on it with her tiny fist, but he did see the massive entrance swing up from the ground on a pivot. A little flash of movement told him that Harper had gone inside. The door closed and the guards returned to keep an eye on him while the love of his life was hidden inside a massive metal structure. He crossed his arms and gave himself a reassuring hug.
“She’s tough. She can do this,” he told himself. The guards took their stations again, not sitting or chatting this time and Grey settled in for a long wait.
Inside the hangar, Harper looked around in surprise. She had expected the interior to be sad and destitute, the polar opposite of the green and lush forest. However, here was a place that had been expertly designed and cared for by the people who inhabited the space. She looked around slowly and took it all in, her mouth open as she did so.
First, she noticed the upper level. It was a kind of loft workshop that was open to the rest of the space. It had large work tables and tons of resources that The Alliance must have scavenged from all over the ruins. One corner was dedicated to books only and the shelves they had built from scrap metal were packed with reading material all the way up to the ceiling. She could see some younger shifters and humans having what looked like a class with a human female who was encouraging them to connect some odd metal parts.
The lower level was the living space. There was a huge kitchen space with the first refrigerator she had seen in a long time, massive metal counters for chopping and holding different machines, more shelves full of cans and dried goods that had surely been scavenged as well. Then there were two big stoves with ovens underneath and it appeared that several Alliance members were planning out a meal. They stood in a group with their heads hanging down to see something being held in the middle of their view. A recipe of some kind.
The dining space was a huge, communal table with benches on either side that was right in the middle of the main space. Beyond that was a line of beds tucked under the loft and away from the kitchen. The air was cool and soft throughout the whole structure. Nothing was hidden or tucked away, but rather shared with everything else when it came to space. Harper looked at each individual living there and saw smiles, well-fed bodies moving and heard laughter and light conversation all around her.
“Harper. I was hoping you would come.”
She turned to see Alex holding one little pale boy in one arm and holding hands with a very small, dark-skinned girl with pigtails. She looked about two years old and was holding on tight to Alex’s pinky. She nodded and gave him a friendly smile. “Yes. I was hoping I could talk to you about some things that have come up recently. Is there somewhere we could sit and chat?”
“You’re in a rush,” he told her. He set down the boy and encouraged him to go upstairs and find a book. He whispered something to the girl, who put her fingers in her mouth and shook her head no. “You sure? We’re just going to do boring, grown-up stuff. You could go play.” She thought about it and shook her head no again. He looked up at Harper apologetically. “Little Daisy here is going to tag along, if you don’t mind. Her mom is out on a foraging trip and she’s feeling a little insecure.”
“I don’t mind,” Harper said, smiling at Daisy who promptly hid behind Alex’s leg. “She’s very sweet.”
“Yeah,” Alex agreed, reaching behind his leg to give her a little tickle. “She’s a doll. Come on, let’s get a cup of coffee- oh, no. I’m so sorry, you can’t. We’ll have tea and have a talk on the couches.”
They walked through the space and Harper wondered at the mention of coffee. Where were they getting that stuff? Even when her father was in power, the black, caffeinated liquid was extremely hard to find. Perhaps they had uncovered a stash of instant crystals somewhere.
Alex led the way to the big, soft couches just behind the massive table. He nodded to fellow members as they went and even stopped to hash out some details about work that needed done with one of the young women. “We need those ovens working,” he told her. “We can’t have everyone going hungry.”
“I’m on it,” she assured him and then nodded politely to Harper. They made it to the sofas and Alex pulled aside a young human boy.
“Max,” he said, “my friend Harper and I could really use some herbal tea. Would you ask if someone on kitchen crew could make us a pot? That would be so nice of you. Thanks.”
The boy walked off with the message and Alex turned to his visitor. “Well,” he said, gesturing to the space, “what do you think of our headquarters?”
“Alex,” she said, shaking her head a little, “why didn’t you show all this to everyone in the forest? We all thought you guys were out here living on next to nothing. None of us knew you had a whole crew of designers and builders. It’s wonderful in here.”
“You know,” he said, shaking his head and pulling little Daisy up onto his lap, “I tried. The idea of communal living is one that goes way back to ancient times. If it’s organized and well-run, it can be a very prosperous arrangement. But, people wanted privacy and walls. They laughed at me when I tried to change their minds.” He looked at her with a pointed expression, making sure she knew she had been one of the people who’d dismissed him.
“Well, I wish I had at least come to see it. Hey,” she adjusted on the soft couch, snuggling up to the cushions, “where did you guys find coffee?”
“Just a few minutes from here. A few wild spice plants have come up where the edges of The City used to be. I have no idea how they got there, but we’ve got coffee beans, vanilla plants and cinnamon trees. Someone must have had the seeds and not known what to do with them before the big change.”
Harper looked around again, not at the physical space but the people in it. She had always believed she’d found the perfect life for herself in the forest, but now she wasn’t so sure. Never seeing The Alliance had allowed her to create her own narrative for the group in her mind. Now, with all of them in front of her, none of that made up story matched up with the reality. These were well-rounded, educated and happy people. Hardly the angry, poor population that existed in her imagination.
“So,” Alex said, cross his legs and smiling at the young man who brought over the tea, “you’re here at long last. What changed your mind?”
She accepted the hot, steaming cup and breathed in the smell of lemongrass as she held it under her nose. “Thanks for this. Well, I was wondering if you know anything about this new, clear booze that’s being served in a little bar in the forest.”
“What about it?”
He didn’t look at her while he sat Daisy down next to him and took a sip of tea.
“So, he does know something.” She paused and took a sip as well. The drink was citrusy and bright. She could feel her muscles relax as it went down. “Mm. This is lovely.” She took another little sip and then set her cup down. “I’m concerned someone may have gotten drunk and hurt Marcus. I understand the drink erases the memory of the night it’s drunk. Maybe someone attacked the boy without knowing they did it.”
“That’s not necessarily true.”
She paused and looked at him a little more closely. He looked very tense and she could tell that he was chewing the inside of his lower lip. “No? Perhaps you can enlighten me.”
Alex appeared to be having an internal dialogue with himself and it didn’t appear to be going well. Harper waited, very curious about what it was that had made him so upset.
“I’m just saying, the alcohol only erases the drinker’s memory if they overdo it. If a person takes it easy and only has three or so, it’s fine. No memory loss. Just a good time.”
“Alex,” she said, touching his arm lightly, “can you tell me if The Alliance is making this stuff?”
He looked at the floor just in front of him, shaking his head no. “We were approached by a few guys we didn’t know were living out here. They’re very cagey and secretive, want to bring back the cash system. They asked if some of The Alliance could build them a still. Something to make the booze. Well, I have the best engineers around, so my children jumped on it.”
“You children?”
“Sorry,” he chuckled, “that’s a term we use around here. I just mean the younger generation. Anyhow, they got it together, the guys agreed to leave our property alone and come to us with any future jobs. We were told the stuff was safe, but, well…” His voice trailed off and he looked at the door. Little Daisy held up a piece of paper for him to see and he pulled her onto his lap and held her as if she were a little teddy bear. The little girl patted his cheek.
“Don’ cwy, Alice.”
He squeezed her a little tighter and let her wiggle off of his lap again. He watched her as he spoke to his guest.
“Harper, when was the last time you saw your dad?”
She cleared her throat. “The day he died. Why?”
He brushed a non-existent something off of his pants. “I’m just wondering if maybe there was a chance that someone in your family could still be alive. Did your dad have a brother or cousin he mentioned?”
“Alex,” she said, her voice rising as her blood went a little cold, “what are you talking about? Are there Bachmanns around here? If there are, tell me. Tell me now!”
All around them, members of The Alliance froze and looked over at the two people on the couches. Adults, teenagers, children all stopped and turned like curious statues. Alex raised his hand and smiled at the room.
“It’s okay. Back to work, everyone. It’s almost lunch time.”
They turned away, but they did so with a reluctant air, not quite sure if this angry woman was reason for concern or not. Harper could almost feel their eyes watching her from their corners. She turned her head and played with her hair for a moment. She longed to chew it but stopped herself.
“How much do you know about what Marcus was up to the day he died?”
She turned back to him. “Well, I talked to his mother and his friends. I found a little hiding place he had in the forest. I feel like I have a fairly clear idea.”
He nodded. “Good. It’s a good start. People are talking to you, which is important. My advice,” he said, his voice heavy and flat, “is to recreate the events of his last day. That should shed some light on all of this. Now,” he said, standing, “I would invite you to lunch but we’re not prepared for guests today. Next time, we’ll be sure to have some extra food for you and Grey. Just give me a few hours notice.”
He waited while Harper stared at him and then stood awkwardly. He helped her a little, taking her hand as the weight of her belly made her arch back and roll up. “Thanks. Alex, I still don’t understand. What about the still? The guys who commissioned it? What’s up with all of that?”
“I think,” Alex said in that same dark tone, “that if your dad didn’t tell you about certain family members, he must have been protecting you from some bad characters. Find who killed Marcus but, and I mean this, keep yourself safe. There are still some leftover elements of the old regime out there.” He took her arm as they walked to the big door. Just before it opened, he said one last thing to her.
“Helping with that still is my one regret. We made a mistake. Tell Grey to shut it down.”