Jake Morrison's Arc

Chapter 54 of 54

The airship set down inside the walls of Heartward Enclave at dusk. Jake climbed off the deck and faced the problem waiting on the stone yard below. Dozens of freed prisoners huddled between the greenhouses and the mall. They had no homes and no food. If Jake didn't shelter them fast, they would wander back into the ruined city, where the bred creatures still hunted. He watched a thin man stare at the open gate, ready to run. Jake had won the fight at the dome. Now he had to win the harder thing that came after. Darrell met him at the base of the ropes. The stocky man crossed his arms and looked over the crowd. "You brought me two hundred mouths I can't feed," he said. But he was already counting them, the way he counted everything. "So we don't feed them here. We move them." "The islands," Jake said. "The caves." "The caves," Darrell agreed. "Frank's got room for a thousand. These people fit ten times over." Marisol dropped from the deck beside them. She had grease on her hands from the flight north. "Airship's loaded and steady," she said. "We move them tonight, before one of them bolts and dies in the dark." Jake nodded. He climbed onto a crate so the crowd could see him. "Nobody sleeps in this city," he called. "We fly you to safe islands with caves and food. Sick or scared, you still come. But every one of you gets checked for bites first. That's the rule. It's the rule that keeps you all alive." The thin man near the gate stopped. Others turned toward Jake's voice. One by one they lined up along the wall. Marisol and Darrell's people walked the line with lanterns, rolling sleeves, checking arms and necks. It took hours. Jake worked the line himself. Two people showed old scars. He questioned them close, then let them pass. By midnight they loaded the last group onto the airship. The scientist stayed roped and guarded below in the enclave prison, waiting for Darrell to decide his fate. Jake stood at the rail as the ship rose over the walls and turned south for the islands. The airship docked at the Enclave dock the next day and the settlers filed into the cave island's fences. Frank's garrison took them in. The problem was solved. The prisoners had homes. But the crowd changed things. Word of the airship and the war spread fast now, through hundreds of new mouths. Jake felt the old fear return. More people meant more chances the vaccine secret slipped loose. He pushed it down for one night. He and Marisol took a flying machine back to the cabins. Inside, their twins waited, a year old now. Little Jessica had Jake's fair hair. Martin had Marisol's dark eyes. Jake sat on the floor and pulled a book off the shelf. Marisol curled beside him. He read them a bedtime story until both children slept.