Barren Sky, page 4
“Valvers. I know it doesn’t sound like an important responsibility, but you’d be surprised how many thousands of gallons we’ve lost from valvers who don’t pay attention. We’ve gone days—sometimes weeks—before somebody detects a faulty valve, and by then we’re down six, seven inches in the cisterns. That could be a week’s worth of water, depending on how much we use and how much rain we get. And those valves are worth their weight in gold. It took us months to find the right sizes. This all goes to shit without valves and they are not easy to find in the ruins.”
Dia knew the importance of storing rain water, the only truly safe source. Shiva had known it and so had Hado, which was why Dia had ended up in the California territory in the first place. The girl hadn’t gone water whispering yet only because she hadn’t needed to do so. But Dia’s experience crossing the continent with Hado had made her understand the value of water, and that she shouldn’t casually tell others about her abilities. Many places received little to no rainfall and those places became devoid of life. But a filtration plant could solve that problem.
Lane continued. “You need to understand how the system works before you sit on the valves. Assuming, of course, that Willie accepts my sponsorship of you. You’re not going to do anything to jeopardize that, are you? No fist fights with the idiot teenagers of Los Muertos?”
“No.” She smiled. “No more fights.”
“Okay then. Follow me.”
Lane walked Dia to the far corner of the floor where the intake lines had been cut through the walls.
“Those pipes bring in hundreds of gallons of water per day. The average person uses three gallons a day, so you can do the math. What makes it complicated is that the flow of the water varies. After a heavy rain, the valver has to keep them tight or the system gets overwhelmed. But, during dry spells, he has to open them all the way to keep up the pressure.”
Dia nodded as Lane used the flashlight to point at the rusted valves. They looked like steering wheels from old cars and each intake pipe had its own valve.
“Once the water flows into the plant, it goes through the bio-filters that we’ve built.”
“Wait. Where’s the water coming from?”
“Good question. We’re not entirely sure. The pipes tie into the old municipal system and we haven’t yet traced them back to the source. As long as the water flows, we don’t need to know.”
That’s a vulnerability.
After time spent at Shiva’s side, Dia understood the catastrophic implications of leaving any system vulnerable.
“Let me explain how the filters work. You got three basic components: gravel, sand, and activated charcoal, which is nothing more than charcoal that’s had air blown through it.”
Lane aimed the flashlight at the first tank.
“This one is full of gravel. It filters out the big contaminants like leaves, rocks, and human skulls.”
Dia raised her eyebrows.
“Kidding.” Lane shuffled to the second tank. “This one is full of sand which, as you can probably figure out, filters out whatever makes it through the gravel. All of this is pressure-fed from the intake pipes, and then we give it a boost using gravity—the tanks descend from high to low.”
“And this one is the charcoal.”
“Right. Process of elimination. The charcoal catches bacteria, chemicals, other environmental toxins. We can’t be sure if anything microscopic can get through the charcoal, but we haven’t had any water-borne illness in the clan since the plant became operational, so I have to assume we’re good.”
“How many gallons does the filter clean per day?”
“Depending on the pressure at the source, I’d say a few hundred or so because it takes time for the water to move through each filter. With a few hundred people in the clan, that means we usually have enough water. Some of the source is diverted into barrels we’ve got stacked outside, which are then delivered to the vegetable beds. But another crew handles that. My responsibility, and your job, is mission critical. If we fuck up, there’s no drinking water, and people die.”
Dia looked at the other tanks on the floor. “The big one?”
“Right. That’s where the potable water goes once it’s been aerated. We push the water back and forth between two tanks, which simply adds air to the water. Once that’s done, fill your cup and bottoms up.”
She smiled and nodded, but the voice inside her had begun to mumble.
If they find out you’re Venganza, they’ll kill you. And if you tell him you can water whisper, you’ll be a prisoner the rest of your life. No leader in his right mind would let that kind of resource go. You’ve got to keep your identity hidden. Do not trust these people and do not trust this man. Trust no one or you will be stuck with this clan for the rest of your life.
“Questions?”
Dia shook her head and smiled at Lane, although he’d already shined the flashlight back the way they’d come in.
“It’s getting late and I’m tired. New valvers aren’t supposed to be told how the system works until they’ve proven themselves. But I trust you, girl. I probably shouldn’t, but I do. Others won’t, which is why we’re here now. When Willie accepts my sponsorship and they put you on the valves, you do what you’re told and nothing else. You don’t speak unless spoken to. Got it?”
“Yes.”
Her mind had been spinning about Lane, Willie, the water filtration plant, the solar panel—all of it. Dia felt the pressure in her head like the force of the water coming through the intake valves.
“Lane?”
Lane sighed. “The answer is, ‘we’re fucked.’ What is your question?”
“What happens if the plant breaks or another clan attacks it?”
He grinned, nodding at Dia.
Chapter 8
At first, Dia believed that Lane had exaggerated her role at the filtration plant. Anyone could sit and watch a valve all day long. Or so she thought. The task required an extreme focus, and at the same time, no effort. Others moved through the plant attending to their specific duties and few stopped to speak to her. Dia wasn’t sure if that was because they still didn’t trust her or if that was how the plant operated. Lane had come by a few times to check on her and she’d seen Willie walking across the steel catwalk two floors up. He had paused to put his hands on the railing and look down. He’d winked at her, but then turned away.
This is not where I want to be.
All of this because she’d chased that damn fawn across the bridge.
She liked Lane, and had even begun to warm up to some of the others. Snowball had come by several times over the past few days and she’d noticed the edge had fallen off his voice. He wasn’t exactly friendly, but he wasn’t hostile, either. And still, this was not her clan. Well… in a way, it was, but in another it wasn’t. Dia couldn’t decide where she belonged. She’d practically been born into Los Muertos in Ohio, but had spent most of her life in the Venganza. And once they’d been betrayed by that clan, Hado and Dia had fled. When Hado had died, Dia had decided she had no need for tribal allegiances. She could live on her own and be quite content that way. But that fawn and her damn curiosity had fucked it all…
“Sector 7G.”
Dia spun to see Snowball standing behind her. “What?”
“I need you to check the valve in Sector 7G. It’s on the outside, on the south side of the factory. Nobody’s recorded a visual on that in weeks and I don’t want to end up with a burst pipe on my hands.”
She didn’t quite understand what Snowball was asking her to do or why, but she understood that it wasn’t a request—he was ordering her to do the inspection.
“What do I need to do?”
“C’mon, girl. You gotta valve for a brain? You go out there, shut the valve, open the valve, shut the valve, open the valve. You need to make sure that no rust or sediment is gunking it up. Once a valve gets rusted up, you can’t close it. It’ll snap off, and then we’ve got a break we’ve got to deal with. Got it?”
Dia nodded, but she didn’t get it. She’d do what Snowball had ordered, but the rationale behind the action wasn’t something she’d cared about. Dia hoped she’d be gone from this settlement long before valves rusted, or rotted, or whatever the hell Snowball claimed they did without routine checks.
“Do that and then head back to the settlement. I’ll do a visual on your valves here and check off the inspection sheets.”
“Okay.”
She walked past Snowball and up the steel-grated steps, passing through the hallway and out the door without encountering another worker. The sun had slid toward the western horizon and most of the workers had probably finished for the day. Snowball had the responsibility of locking up the plant each day, although Dia still wasn’t sure why. Around the fires, she’d heard rumors of Venganza and another clan that inhabited a castle on the mainland. Both enemies seemed far off or inconsequential—at least to her.
Dia followed the path that ran along the wall. The crickets had come out and for some reason her thoughts went to Decker. She missed Hado, her surrogate mother. But her heart ached for Decker. That dog had given its life for her, and she’d never forget that.
A few gulls flew overhead and Dia stopped to look up. She’d lost track of the seasons here on the edge of the Pacific where they’d faded into the surf. It was always sunny, temperate, comfortable. She could understand why these ruins were so massive, and had held so many people at one time. Why they were so large in Chicago would remain a mystery. The winters there had been as brutal as those on Lake Erie. And yet, millions of people had lived in what the old timers called the Windy City. Dia realized many mysteries of the old world would remain buried in the ruins.
She’d gotten to Sector 7G—someone had spray-painted it on the wall above a set of valves. Snowball had mentioned one, but Dia saw three, so she proceeded to close, open, close, and open all of them. A trickle of water came from the stem of the middle valve, but after a few moments it stopped, so she didn’t bother to make a note of it. Dia turned when she felt an arm wrap around her chest and a hand slap over her mouth.
“Don’t struggle and don’t scream.”
That voice. She knew it immediately even though her brain told her it was impossible.
Dia nodded, and then she turned around.
Shiva.
“Hello, whisperer.”
“What are you doing here?”
“What are you doing here, child?”
She sighed and leaned back against the wall, looking at Shiva. The fierce Venganza leader looked the same as she always had. The older woman still had streaks of gray running through her hair, which had been bundled and positioned atop her head almost like a crown. Her scarred and gaunt face seemed thinner, accentuating the woman’s high cheekbones and piercing green eyes. The collection of bones and rusted metal hung around her neck seemed bigger, still hanging beneath a heavy, woolen vest. She’d not been wearing her mask, but she held a spear and her eyes had been bordered with war paint.
“I was hunting deer.”
Shiva stood back and laughed. “Yes, true. And I’ve been hunting you.”
“I’m leaving here soon. I want to be left alone.”
“You’re a water whisperer for the Venganza. You have a responsibility to me, to us, to Erehwon.”
“That isn’t my home anymore.” Dia looked left and right, seeing none of the other factory workers around. “And Venganza is not my tribe.”
The woman took a step closer and looked down into Dia’s eyes. “Venganza will always be your tribe. We saved you from the ruins. Don’t ever forget that.”
“You chased me through them like an animal.”
“You ran like an animal.”
Dia shook her head. She’d been around Hado and Shiva long enough to understand how masterful the older woman was with wordplay. She could be as deadly with her tongue as she could her spear.
“What do you want? If you’re here, why not take the plant? You always take what you want.”
“I don’t want the plant and I don’t want the filthy Los Muertos settlement you’ve been living in. These are not my lands, not my people.”
“Then why?”
“Things have not been good since you turned traitor and fled with Hado.” Shiva appeared to wait for Dia to argue, but when the girl did not, she continued. “Not only have the waters gotten worse and the rains dried up, but we lost our water whisperer. Now, winter is coming, and what little water we have left will freeze.”
“So, you want to steal the water? How exactly do you plan on doing that? And how do you think you can transport it across the continent? That doesn’t make sense.”
“You’re right. It doesn’t. That’s not my plan.”
Dia shook her head, her stomach grumbling and her head pounding from the mental gymnastics that Shiva enjoyed so much. “Then what is?”
“The plant, the workers—the filthy clan. Not of value to me. Without a whisperer, I have no way of finding pure water. That leaves me only one option.”
“To clean the dirty water.” Dia bit her lip, the realization beginning to seep into her brain.
“Yes, my dear. I’m here for the technology. And from what my spies tell me, I need those valves also. We can’t start filtration without them and I can’t exactly walk into the local hardware store and buy them—the valves are key. So, I need to take them and the technology back with me to Erehwon. You led me right to our salvation, as you have so many times on the water hunts.”
Shiva put a hand on Dia’s head, but she backed away.
“They won’t let you in.” Dia looked towards the door, but saw nobody else leaving the plant. “And neither will I.”
“I don’t need to get inside the plant. You’re already there.”
“Whatever it is you want, I don’t have it. And I can’t get it. I have valve duty. I watch valves all day, turning them on and off once per shift. That’s it.”
“Don’t sell yourself short. The more time you spend in there with your new friends, the more you’ll learn. And you already know about the valves. You’re going to be my spy. You’re going to take notes on how they’ve created this plant so I can then take what I need and save my people. Our people. I don’t care about whatever nasty leftovers we have between us. This is about saving the Venganza of Erehwon.”
“Like Hado?”
“She chose to desert. That is of her choosing.”
“I won’t do it,” Dia said, ignoring Shiva’s false claim about Hado. “I won’t help you.”
“You will.” Shiva raised her spear and two dozen Venganza masks seemed to float out of the darkening woods ringing the island. “Because, if you don’t, I’ll kill you and every last Los Muertos scum within five miles of this plant.”
“But then you won’t know how to build a filtration system.”
“Not at first, but I’ll have plenty of time to figure it out once I eliminate the tribes distracting me. Venganza will die in the meantime, but that will be on your head, not mine. I want to preserve life, not take it.”
Dia shivered and looked at the masked warriors. Shiva lowered her spear, and they faded back into the coming night.
“You spy for me, or you and everyone else here dies. Simple as that, my dear.”
Chapter 9
She woke to the sound of Lane rapping on her door.
“Dia! Get up!”
The light had barely turned from deep purple to a gauzy gray in the morning mist. Surely, she hadn’t slept beyond daybreak?
“What is it?”
“I’ve got someone we need to train on valves today.” Lane continued speaking through the door. “Take the morning to yourself.”
In the week or so she’d been working at the plant, there had not been talk of mornings off—or people valve training other than her. Dia pulled the blanket up to her chin and put her arms over her face in an attempt to keep the burgeoning light from hurting her eyes.
“Okay. You needed to wake me up for that?”
“You needed waking up?”
Dia smiled and nodded although Lane couldn’t see her. He responded as if he could.
“Meet me at the plant after the mid-day meal. Those valves aren’t gonna turn themselves.”
She listened as Lane’s footsteps cracked upon fallen branches and through the dry, brittle leaves. Dia couldn’t detect the seasons, but the trees could. They’d begun dropping leaves.
“Now I’m awake.”
She sat up and silently cursed Lane. He could have just let her be, but then she would have shown up at the plant for a shift when it wasn’t necessary. As sleep ebbed away from her, Dia decided to get out of bed and take the day as it came. At least until mid-day.
Her clothes lay upon an old chair that Snowball had delivered a few days before. She had her own hut, and now she had a single possession, thanks to him. She’d stood over it for an hour the evening Snowball had dropped it off. Dia hated it and loved it at the same time. Possessions became nothing but burdens, and she’d done well to avoid them since leaving Erehwon. But the gesture and what it represented made her feel like part of Los Muertos—even when she knew in her heart that she wasn’t.
Willie, Snowball, Lane—and even some of the others who she didn’t know by name yet—they’d brought her into the settlement and treated her with respect. It made her cry out of frustration. If these people hadn’t been so nice, she wouldn’t be struggling right now.
“Who cares about them? I need to get myself rested and nourished, and then it’s time to head back out into the ruins. By myself. Where I belong.”
Dia had spoken the words aloud, but only because she’d been trying to convince herself that they were hers, coming from her own mouth. She tossed the blanket aside, grabbed her clothes off the chair, and dressed. A walk through the woods would calm her nerves and let her think more deeply about the situation.
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