Mike Mullin - Ashen Winter

“Promotion. For exemplary performance at Camp Galena.”

“Very funny. Mass starvation and a breakout won you a promotion? Right.”

“No,” Levitov replied, “after your stunt with the bulldozer, I convinced Washington to authorize us to reclaim the wheat you found on the stuck barges to feed the inmates. Conditions improved. I traded my leaf for a bird and was moved out here.”

I wasn’t sure how to take the fact that he actually remembered me from among the thousands of prisoners at Camp Galena.

“We’re barely getting enough food here,” Mom said.

I snorted. “More than we got at Camp Galena.”

“Enough,” Colonel Levitov said. “Talk.”

I clamped my lips shut, but Dad started talking. Told Colonel Levitov the whole story: girls disappearing, his nighttime patrols, the battles with the DWBs.

When he finished, a long silence ensued. “Not acceptable,” Levitov said finally.

“What’s not acceptable?” I said. “That your guards are corrupt or that we had to do your job and protect the refugees ourselves!”

“Both. And you do not understand our mission here. If I could write my own orders, protecting refugees might be my first priority. But what the politicians care about is preventing a flood of refugees from entering the yellow and green zones. People in areas that were less badly affected by the eruption, at least initially, are afraid of being overrun by refugees.”

“You can’t keep people locked in camps forever,” Mom said.

“True. Our strategic posture is unstable.”

“Will civilian control order you to kill the refugees?” Ben asked.

Mom gasped, but Colonel Levitov didn’t seem fazed. “A massacre? It could happen. I would not obey such an order.”

“You would be within your rights under the Fourth Geneva Convention, which specifically protects-” Alyssa kicked Ben in the ankle, and surprisingly, he shut up.

“So what happens to the other refugees? To my girls?” Mom asked.

“I will see that those responsible for allowing the DWBs to enter the camp are reassigned.”

“Reassigned?” I said. “They should be prosecuted.”

Ben added, “Courts-martial would be the proper-”

“I don’t have the manpower for that. But the kidnapping of inmates will end. You have my word on that.”

I didn’t believe him, but there wasn’t much I could do about it.

“So what happens to us?” Alyssa asked, her voice low.

“You’ll be transferred to Camp Aledo in Illinois tomorrow. I recommend you keep your heads down. If you continue to make trouble, things will not go well for you there.”

“Better that than where I was,” Alyssa whispered.

“Why not just let us go?” I asked. “Then we’d be out of your hair completely.”

“My orders don’t allow for that.” Colonel Levitov strode past us, toward the exit.

“And the DWBs?” I yelled after him. “The ones who actually did the killing and kidnapping? What happens to them?”

“Not my concern,” Levitov yelled back. “I’ve got bandit gangs coming out my ass. It’s all I can do to hold off the Peckerwoods’ raids.” He left the tent.

I slumped. I was further than ever from finding Darla. Tomorrow I’d get shipped to some other godforsaken camp. Something was in my eyes, making them water, but I couldn’t rub them with my hands cuffed behind my back.

Ben’s voice cut through my morose thoughts. He yelled after Levitov, “I know how you can get rid of the Peckerwoods completely.”

Levitov reappeared in the doorway to the maintenance tent. “How? You’ve got thirty seconds.”

Ben replied, “They’re based in Anamosa-”

“I know that.” Levitov sounded annoyed. I cranked my head around, straining to see him standing behind me.

Ben didn’t pick up on it, just kept right on talking. “The Sister Unit and I were at the old prison.”

“It’s a limestone fortress.”

“It is vulnerable because it is set up like a prison,” Ben said. “The electronic systems are all offline, but the manual emergency lockdowns should still work. There are fewer than 150 of the original prisoners still there. The rest have left or been killed. A small force, attacking at the right time, could take control of the manual lockdowns. Then you could lock the Peckerwoods out of their own armory and split up the forces that bunk in each wing. Once they’re isolated, you can clear the area via force or leave them there to starve.”

“Not the most humane plan,” Mom murmured.

Alyssa glared at Mom. “Not half as bad as they deserve!”

Colonel Levitov strode back into the tent and crouched in front of Ben, who was staring at his own shoes. “Do you know how to operate the emergency lockdowns? You know where they are? Can you draw us a map?”

“Yes, I can map most of the prison. I did not see it all.”

“Cut him loose,” Levitov ordered.

“Um, Ben?” Alyssa said.

“Cut the Sister Unit free, too,” Ben said.

“Ben!” Alyssa whispered. “All of them.”

“Yes,” Ben said, “Ben will help you if you let all of Ben’s friends go free.”

“That’s almost as good as transferring us to another camp,” I said. “You can report that we escaped.”

“I’m not allowing any of you to go anywhere until I’ve verified the intelligence you’re supplying.”

I had to go on the raid. Darla was in Anamosa. Or she had been a few days ago when Alyssa last saw her. “Fine. Take us all when you attack the Peckerwoods. That way if anything comes up, Ben’ll be handy. When you’re done kicking the Peckerwoods’ butts, you let us go.”

“Five noncombatants in the middle of a firefight? Forget it.”

“Ben can’t go by himself,” Alyssa said.

“I could, in fact, go by myself, Sister Unit.”

“Take us all. You can leave us outside or locked in a truck or something while you fight. We won’t be in the way.”

Colonel Levitov nodded slowly. “Deal. Captain Billson!” he yelled. “Escort these five to the infirmary. Put them in the empty bunks with a twenty-four-hour guard, three-man detail.”

One of the camo-clad guards yelled “Sir!” as Colonel Levitov pivoted and disappeared. They cut the cuffs off our wrists and marched us into the abandoned WalMart. It was subdivided into hallways and rooms with canvas walls. After a couple of twists and turns, we arrived at a small room into which a dozen cots had been packed.

It was easily the most luxurious sleeping arrangement I’d seen since I left Worthington. One of the grunts even brought us two pails of water-one to wash up in and one to drink from. We huddled together and talked over what we’d learned from Colonel Levitov, trying to keep our voices low enough that the three guards just outside the doorway couldn’t hear us.

We were stuck. We had to help Colonel Levitov no matter how much we distrusted him and hope he kept his promise to release us. Then maybe we could find Darla and hightail it back to Warren.

“I promised to let you take the truck so you could drive to Worthington,” I said to Alyssa.

“Well, I. . do you think your Uncle Paul would take in a couple more people?” she asked.

“I think he’d be glad of the extra help,” I said.

“I don’t know,” Dad said. “They were running awfully low on food when your mom and I left.”

“Things got better. We were doing okay when Darla and I left,” I said. “And Alyssa and Ben would pull their weight.”

“Yeah,” Alyssa said, “I’d like to go to Warren with you. . if that’s okay.” Her voice dropped to a whisper and she leaned closer to me. “You’re the only decent guy I know in this shitball world.”