Rumbles: A post apocalyptic dystopian young adult novel (The Fortress Book 2) Read online

  Rumbles

  The Fortress Series II

  Isabelle D Boutin

  Copyright © 2020 Isabelle D Boutin

  All rights reserved

  The characters and events portrayed in this book are fictitious. Any similarity to real persons, living or dead, is coincidental and not intended by the author.

  No part of this book may be reproduced, or stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without express written permission of the publisher.

  Chapter 1

  Tamer was covered in sweat. He had been up all night crossing the river, struggling through its muddy waters, to finally climb the cliff that bounded it. He had only stopped his journey once he had reached the top, invisible and inaccessible to the eyes of the guards who had been sent to find him. He had suspected that Paul would eventually spill the beans and blame him for his accusation, which is why he had stayed away during the execution. Close enough to hear what was going on, and far enough away to be able to flee in case Paul slipped up. What an idea he had had to associate himself with this coward! Unable to carry out his project. Incapable of taking the necessary precautions not to get caught. It was all over now and it was with clenched teeth that he realized he could never return to the Fortress.

  He had found refuge in a dilapidated building a few hundred meters from the cliff. Sitting on an old, smashed mattress, he had quietly caught his breath and let his anger subside. There was no point in criticizing Paul for what had happened. It was to himself, Tamer, that he owed this bitter failure. He should have trusted someone else. But how could he have foreseen that Paul would attack Dylan like this? His belly tightened as he thought of her. He barely knew her, but he had always struggled with the very concept of death, whether it was near him or not.

  He rubbed his eyes and let himself fall on his back, the springs of the mattress sinking into his skin. Now what? In his haste, he had not recovered anything before crossing the walls. No food, no clothes, no weapons, no tools. He should leave in search of supplies at daybreak. He got up and went outside to look at the sky. The stars shone dimly, but there was no sign of the sun in the east. He went back inside and lay back on the mattress waiting for the light to come. The building may have hidden some useful objects for his journey, but he would not waste his time searching in the almost total darkness. He continued to brood for a while, looking for a different solution than the one that had crossed his mind when he left. The solution that had led him to cross the river instead of going west by road. He was not convinced of the merits of this solution, but he did not come to any other conclusions. He ended up falling asleep at times, abandoning himself to the sound of the wind outside.

  He woke up suddenly, straightened up and noticed that day had dawned. The opening of the door let enough light in so that he could finally explore the place. He got up and snooped around hoping to find a container of some kind, something he could use to carry water or food. He opened the cupboards and found several rusty, unusable metal containers and all kinds of debris. A large plastic sheet was lying in the corner of the room. He grabbed it and it crumbled in his hands. Behind it were cabinets with open doors hanging loosely. As he searched, he spotted some dishes, including a glass bottle in perfect condition. He put it in his pocket and continued his search, but found only junk and garbage.

  The skeleton of a staircase with several missing steps filled the wall on the other side of the room. Tamer followed it with his eyes to see if it was possible to go up and began to climb it very slowly, one step at a time. Each step cracked the wood and moved the structure, so that on the fourth step the staircase collapsed, taking Tamer with it in a cloud of dust. "Shit! "he shouted as he rubbed his right wrist that he had just shattered on the floor. There was no time to hurt himself. He got back on his feet and left the building to go to the one next door. All along the cliff were two rows of houses of varying heights. The roofs of the houses overlooking the cliff were mostly collapsed and he preferred not to venture there. Instead, he concentrated his search in the buildings on the other side of the path. Luck finally struck him in the third one. There he found a bag with a large shoulder strap, the seams of which still seemed strong. He slipped the glass bottle into it and threw it over his shoulder as he continued on his way. By the end of the street, he had managed to gather several jars of different sizes and a metal container with which he could make a water filter. He was getting hungry and thirsty and still had no idea what the next step in his journey would be.

  He continued on his way, visiting each building, so much so that a few hours later he had gotten his hands on a few more things, including two knives, a few tools and a blanket. The sun was now shining at its zenith and the temperature was rising rapidly. Tamer looked up at the sky, squinting, hoping to see rain clouds, but the sky was mocking him with its deep midday blue. He continued his journey south along an old road. He had to find water at all costs, the heat was tiring and dehydrating him.

  He passed through the ruins of the old city without success and continued on his way tirelessly. A little further on, he put his hand on a piece of filthy but light cloth, which he tied on his head to protect himself from the sun’s rays. He continued walking for some time and finally stopped on a viaduct over a four-lane road. He leaned on the guardrail and looked into the distance. The road went straight ahead for miles in both directions. Completely deserted.

  He let himself fall to the ground, stretched his legs out in front of him and put his bag between them. He wiped the sweat from his eyes with his sleeve, bitterly regretting that he hadn’t brought water or any fruit or vegetable that could have helped quench his thirst. The sun was slowly going down in the sky, but it would still take several hours for the night to come. At least it would provide him with some freshness.

  He was beginning to repent of his decision to cross south. Maybe he should have aimed north. "No," he said aloud. "There is no such thing as the Great Fertile North. Another whim of these citizens. "He looked down at the pebbles on the ground, picked the biggest ones and threw them over the railing. "And to the south..." He sighed." Not sure that’s a good idea. »

  Unable to make a decision on his own, he drew a line in the dust between his spread legs and threw a pebble toward the sky. "Left is south, right is north," he murmured as he watched the stone come down toward him. He sighed again as he saw which way it had fallen.

  - Damn it!" he grunted as he stood up. He picked up his bag and set off again.

  *

  Ifa approached the steps with a quick pace. She was late for the morning meeting, having hung out with Josette and Janis’ children. It was now a week since she had started in her new position as a councillor, but the little ones thought she was away too much and wanted to tell her a thousand stories. She greeted the guard at the door and the man, with the help of his colleague on the other side, opened the passage and let Ifa into the Fortress. If there was one thing she didn’t like about her new job, it was that she had to go through the gate every day. She did not particularly enjoy meeting the guards who always looked at her with disdain. Fortunately, every other day she would run into friendly guards who didn’t make her feel like an intruder.

  She walked the streets of the Fortress and took the "flower street" as Soroban called it. She smiled as she thought of him. She was so happy to be able to spend time with him every day in this new setting. She hastened her pace when she heard the bell announcing the approach of the meet
ing. She had never experienced it before, but she knew that delays were not appreciated at the Council, and that a lapse on her part would only worsen her already strained relationship with Helena.

  A shiver ran down her spine as she thought of her. Helena had seemed to hate her from the moment she walked into the Council Chamber. She looked at her continuously with a cold, hard eye, her arms folded over her chest and systematically rejected any proposal suggested by Ifa.

  She still had not accepted the fact that a new councillor position had been created for communications with citizens, let alone that a citizen be appointed to it. Soroban had explained that Helena had strongly opposed its creation, but since the Council made its decisions by majority vote, the position had been created by a vote of five to two. The other councillors were therefore more welcoming to Ifa.

  She finally arrived at the Fort and went to the Council Chamber. There were still a few seats available, and she went to sit directly next to Soroban after kissing him on the cheeks.

  “How are you?” she asked once she was seated.

  “I’m fine. And how are you? You seem out of breath.”

  “The children didn’t want to let me go this morning, I had to walk fast!”

  Her grandfather answered with a smile. Lucas and Helena entered at the same time and sat down around the table, Helena avoiding to make eye contact with Ifa very effectively. As soon as they arrived, Soroban stood up to speak. There was no precise schedule in the meetings. Those who wished to speak on a topic simply spoke at the beginning of the meeting and explained their point in the order in which they stood up.

  “Good morning everyone. Today, I would like to propose an occupation for our fortified Kal, without work since the death of Dylan.”

  The councillors nodded.

  “I wish to report on the work to block the passage to the City,” Joachim announced.

  Ifa turned to him. Since her arrival on the Council, Ifa had never seen Joachim speak without a question directly addressed to him. Very reserved, he spoke rarely and was hardly noticed in the group.

  No one else stood up, which meant that Soroban could start with his proposal. Ifa turned to him and smiled. She felt a great sense of pride in seeing Soroban on the Council. Her grandfather had raised her since her mother’s death when Ifa was only eight years old. She had always seen him as a very intelligent but fragile person whose health seemed precarious. However, since her arrival on the Council she had discovered a new side to his personality. Soroban possessed great leadership, his proposals were generally accepted without discussion and his work as head of agriculture and distribution was beyond reproach. He had created a production plan that completely changed the techniques put in place since the fortification and knowing him, Ifa was certain that his new layout would be even better than the old one.

  “The fortified Kal was until recently assigned to the position of Dylan’s assistant. Since the death of the latter, Kal has been without occupation. I propose to give him the task of assistant to the crops by my side. He will be able to help me coordinate the new plan and supervise the existing staff. These new duties would be a logical extension of his former position.”

  Seeing that no one was talking, Soroban called for a vote. Everyone raised their hands to accept the proposal, even Helena, who kept her lips pursed. Ifa smiled heartily. She was relieved for Kal and happy to know that he would continue to work with his grandfather. Knowing that the two would be there to support each other reassured her. Soroban sat back on his chair and Joachim stood up. He seemed nervous.

  “So.”

  He paused, wiped his hands on his pants, his head tilted and his eyes fixed on the table.

  “After last week’s event...”

  He gave Ifa a furtive glance but she pretended not to see it. Of course, he was talking about the illegal irruption of Ifa, Titus and Manu into the Fort on the day of the revolt the week before. Ifa had tried everything to prevent the situation from turning into a tragedy. She had thus avoided a violent retaliation of the Fortress towards the citizens who were demanding more food. A risky gesture that proved to be very effective since she now sat on the Council as spokesperson for the city.

  “... the fortified assigned to the maintenance team redoubled their efforts to finish the work and thus block the secret passage linking the City to the Fortress...”

  “So it’s over?” asked Helena.

  “Yes, it is. The door was closed with boards and cement. In addition, we put a lock on the outside hatch of this building. We checked and the basement is not accessible from the inside of the house. The only access is now secured.”

  “Bravo!” said Helena with a loud applause.

  A few others cautiously clapped their hands in turn. Ifa kept her hands on the table. She didn’t dare to take part in this celebration, after all it was partly her fault all this had happened. Her journey in search of the Fertile North had sown discord among the citizens. No matter what Emilie, the mother of her travelling companion Manu, said, when asserting that the people would have revolted one day as the baskets were rationed.

  Lucas, the secretary of the Council, finished taking note of the discussions and, seeing that all the subjects had been discussed, proposed to conclude the meeting. Everyone rose to return to their various occupations. For Ifa, this meant talking with Kal and Soroban for a few minutes before returning to the City. The minutes spent with them were precious and she enjoyed them as much as she could. She turned to her grandfather and they left the room in silence, heading towards the square where they were to meet Kal.

  Chapter 2

  Soroban watched his granddaughter walk away from the door. She couldn’t stay much longer after the meetings, so they had only five short minutes to talk in a more personal way. He felt a hand on his shoulder and relaxed.

  “She’ll be back tomorrow!” Kal reminded him.

  “You’re right.”

  The two were sitting on their usual bench in the Square and enjoying the morning sun. They liked to take a break together after the Council before Soroban went to work. This morning, he had good news to tell Kal and he had waited for Ifa to leave to do so, taking advantage of her presence to hear about her. He turned to Kal, who had taken his hand from his shoulder and was staring at the buildings across the square, his eyes blinded by the reflection of the sun in the windows.

  “The Council made its decision this morning.”

  “About what?” Kal asked nonchalantly.

  “About you,” Soroban replied calmly.

  “Oh...”

  “You are officially reassigned to crops with me!”

  “Wonderful! They accepted without any problem?”

  “Everyone agreed. They had no reason to refuse, you know that. Then we can work together again and find a strategy to accomplish our great project.”

  He had pronounced this last idea in a lower tone. Kal and Soroban were eager to reverse the current situation and allow citizens to visit the Fortress and vice versa. They believed that the future was a more inclusive society where everyone would be free to do the work they wanted, but also a future where everyone could use the resources available and become self-sufficient.

  “Dylan would be happy to hear this,” Kal added in the same tone.

  Soroban smiled. Indeed, that was Dylan’s plan: to improve production and eventually liberate the City. A hidden plan, which she had let Kal discover moments before her death. They did not yet know how they could do it and how long it would take, but they were convinced that they could do it by combining their mutual skills.

  Kal suddenly straightened up and stood up with a decided look on his face.

  “So, what’s the plan for today, boss?”

  Soroban burst out laughing. He now had a new employee under his command. Little Kal, Ifa’s childhood friend, had become a man during all the years he had spent alone in the Fortress, far from his family and friends. He grabbed him by the shoulders and began to walk slowly by his side.

>   “Soon it will be time to finish harvesting the season’s crops, except for a few cultivars. So today, our mission is to have the team pick everything that is ready. Afterwards, I would like us to make plans together.”

  Soroban explained his project to Kal. The idea had germinated in him in the last days following the arrival of Ifa on the Council. From as far back as the archives allowed, crops had always been seasonal in the Fortress. The land was cultivated during the hot season and during the cold season, as the ground froze, everything was harvested while waiting for the return of good weather. This meant that for half of the year food was plentiful and in the second half of the year food had to be rationed. Soroban was maturing the idea of finding a way to generate resources all year round. So he had researched his old books in the library to find out what was being done before. Before the Council, before the Fortress, in that distant period so unknown. It was said that the cold season was longer and colder at that time, yet people were able to feed themselves well.

  His readings had revealed to him that many of the foods of the past came from faraway countries that did not have a cold season, so they could grow them all year round. However, he had also learned that many crops could be grown indoors in what were called greenhouses. The first floor of Fort Victory was full of large windows overlooking the cultivated fields, so Soroban wondered if it would be viable to grow food there. Perhaps not root vegetables, but perhaps lettuce? Tomatoes?