The Water Wars - Cameron Stracher [35]
“I can’t walk anymore. I think my toes are broken.”
Nasri signaled with one open hand, and a hover-carrier appeared as if from nowhere, pulling up beside him and floating silently. I had never seen a hover-carrier before. They were very expensive, owned only by the military and the wealthiest WABs. Fast, sleek, and silent, a hover-carrier could reach speeds of 250 kilometers an hour without kicking up any dust as it glided over the rocks and dirt. I couldn’t imagine how PELA could afford one, but before I could even ponder that riddle, two more hover-carriers glided to a halt beside the first. Men in camouflage jumped from the back and stood at attention, waiting for Nasri’s orders.
“Search the bodies,” he said. “Take any weapons you find and all their personal effects. We’ll ransom them back to the families.”
The men broke into groups and fanned out downriver. Nasri turned his attention to me. “Into the carrier,” he ordered.
“Where are you taking me?”
“You may still be valuable. Do you have all your teeth?” He fingered my mouth. I winced and pulled away.
“The army knows we’re here.”
“In Minnesota?”
“We’re from Minnesota.”
Nasri smiled. His teeth were small and flat, worn down like a desert rat’s. “Not likely,” he said. “Now get into the truck.”
He shoved me roughly toward the hover-carrier. Another man grabbed my arm and yanked so hard that I practically fell into the back of the cargo hold. I stumbled, then regained my balance, but the man had already slammed the door shut behind me. I grabbed the handle. It would not open, and the glass was thick and obviously bulletproof. I pounded at it with my palms, but it barely made a sound. My nails hurt just trying to scratch it.
I turned, and my eyes adjusted to the dark. I picked out boxes, weapons, and electronic equipment lining the shelves in the narrow hold. Many things were still wrapped, untouched, as if they had been newly purchased. There seemed to be no order, just rows of expensive items—loot from PELA operations. On the far wall I noticed a small machine with the name Bluewater stamped on it, which I assumed was the owner or manufacturer of the machine.
Then I noticed something else as well—a body lying prone on the ground. A boy’s body. He was bloody and covered with mud. He didn’t move.
“Will!” I cried.
CHAPTER 10
The hover-carriers glided silently over the ravaged land. Where rivers once flowed, there were now only huge gashes like scars on the earth. Lake beds had dried up, forming dust bowls that swirled with toxic chemicals and heavy metals. The ice and permafrost that covered the northern reaches had disappeared or been melted for water. The sea levels had risen, and salt water poisoned any underground aquifers that were not depleted from years of overuse. Rain fell, but in such torrents and violent storms that most of it washed into the ocean. The weather was unpredictable, and humans stole the clouds, sucking moisture from the sky and using it for their own purposes. Drought and death darkened the continents, and even the fittest could barely survive.
Nasri told me these things while my brother lay cradled in my lap. Will’s face was hot with fever and damp with perspiration, but at least he was alive. I brushed the hair from his eyes and kissed him lightly on the forehead. He stirred but did not speak. Nasri had given him some medicine, but it didn’t seem to be working. His leg was infected and raw, and it would take more than pills to cure it.
“We have to get him to a doctor,” I said.
“He’ll live,” said Nasri.
“You don’t know that.”
“I have seen men with legs seeping maggots survive in the desert. Their legs were simply amputated, and they moved on.”
“You can’t amputate his leg!”
Nasri shrugged. “We do what we have to. This is war.”
“We’re not fighting your war.”
“Of course you are. We’re all fighting the war.”
“What war are you fighting?” I demanded.
“We’re fighting on the side of the land.”
“The land? By blowing up dams and sabotaging water