The Glitch (The Glitches Series Book 1) Read online

  This animal has teeth that curve up, a pushed in snout, and fur that looks more like wiry hair. It’s short and stops at once, snorting and blowing spit out from the short nose.

  Bobcat grins and mutters, “Boar.”

  I have no idea what that means, but the thing in front of her looks like it could kill someone with those big, turned up teeth that seem to jut out from its face.

  The howling shifts, and the thing—the boar—in front of Wolf and Bobcat—spins as if it’s afraid of that howl.

  Wolf stands and lunges in one smooth, fast move. The sharp metal he holds in one hand flashes and falls, and the boar squeals. It spins, throwing Wolf off and into the air. Bobcat moves in, her stick held high. She tries to jab it at the boar, but the animal turns on her.

  A shout from behind has me turning. I glimpse Bird’s fluttering ribbons. The boar sees them, too, and turns on her. Bird slips from Bear’s reach, but Bear makes a grunt and moves even faster, sweeping up Bird again. Bear steps between the boar and Bobcat, too.

  Wolf yells, but too late. The boar lunges and slashes Bear’s leg. He stumbles and the boar turns again. Bobcat and Wolf both fall on the boar—Wolf with his sharp steel and Bobcat with her stick.

  For a moment, I see just legs, fur, and glinting teeth.

  At last, Bobcat stands, the stick lifted over her shoulder. Wolf’s metal flashes again.

  Dust swirls and a copper tang comes to me on the breeze. I want to look away but I can’t. Red liquid splashes the ground. The boar squeals again, and Bobcat plunges her stick deep. The boar falls and lies still on the ground.

  Wolf climbs to his feet. A shadow moves on the rocks. I look up to see two animals—both shaggy with big feet. Wolf ignores them and goes to Bear. Bird sits next to Bear, pulling her ribbons from her hair and trying to press them against the red spitting out from Bear’s leg. He is cut in several spots.

  Bear shakes his head. “I’m done. Can’t go home like this.”

  “We’ll carry you,” Wolf says.

  Bear shakes his head again. His face is pale now and his hands shake. He pushes Bird away and holds out one hand to Wolf. “Can’t. Wheels leave tracks. ‘Sides, this much blood—I’ll be slow in dying. Means clan can’t move. Tracks and not moving means clan’s in trouble. I won’t do that. And it’s my right to choose how I go out. Give me your knife.”

  Wolf glances at the sharp metal in his hand. I step forward. I know what Bear and Wolf are thinking. “We can carry him back. Croc can help. And a fire—we’ll cauterize the wound.” The word comes from memory. It’s like with a circuit, you use heat to fuse new metal in place, and heat can fuse the broken blood vessels.

  But Bear doesn’t look at me. He keeps his hand out to Wolf. “Fair exchange. Wolves drove the boar to us. Take much as you can home. Leave them the rest. Leave me, too.”

  I glance up at the animals above us—the wolves. They look hungry, but they don’t seem to want to come close.

  “We can’t leave him.” I glance around, but no one is listening to me or looking at me.

  Wolf slowly sinks into a squat and puts a hand on Bear’s shoulder. “It’s your choice—your right to choose. But you sure?”

  Bear nods.

  Wolf puts his sharp metal—his knife—in Bear’s hand. My throat tightens. We can’t leave Bear.

  “This isn’t right.” The words come out on their own.

  Wolf stands and glances at me. “Bear’s thinking of the clan. We should, too. Bobcat, carve what meat we can take. Leave some for the wolves. It’s their kill, too.”

  I stare at the dead bore, my skin cold, both fascinated and a little disgusted. I have only seen death in my dream. I have never seen anything so messy. Then I look at Bear. I will not leave him.

  But a firm, warm hand wraps around my upper arm and gives me a hard yank. I’m jerked back by Wolf. “We have to go.”

  “Without Bear?”

  Wolf glances at Bear, who nods back. “Bear never leaves us after this.”

  I stare up at Wolf. The warmth from him seeps into my skin, and it is too hot a day for that much warmth. The coppery scent—which must be the red from the boar—clings to him along with sweat.

  My eyes burn and my vision blurs. “We can’t leave him.”

  “Have to,” Bear says. “Can’t walk and don’t want to be lame. Bears can’t live like that.”

  Bobcat hacks off a leg from the boar. She carries that away with her.

  The clan will have food—but at what cost?

  Wolf stands and comes over to stare down at me, his dark eyes glittering. “Glitches don’t usually want to see a kill. Blood makes ‘em throw up. But every Glitch needs to know law. Law is every Rogue gets to make a choice about how to live and when to fall back into being one with the dirt. We’ve few rights, but that’s one we won’t give up.”

  I glance at him. “It’s a bad law. The group always comes first. Well, that’s not right.”

  Turning away from him, I can still smell death. The copper tang of red liquid—the blood from the boar—soaks into the dirt. I don’t want to think about Bear’s blood joining that flow.

  Wolf grabs my arm again and pulls me with him to the ATs. Raj stands there as if he doesn’t know what to do. He won’t look at anyone. Moisture streams down Bird’s face, leaving streaks.

  Raj’s stare flickers to me. He is pale and his hands shake.

  Everyone is silent as Bobcat packs up the meat on the back of her AT—the spot where Bear rode. Raj uncovers his AT. Wolf does the same. Raj climbs on the AT. Mouth pressed tight, I grab the water skin and head back to Bear. I leave the skin with him. “You should at least have water,” I tell him.

  Bear shakes his head and pushes the skin back at me. “Rogues don’t waste anything. Now get before Wolf has to have Raj carry you back. And don’t forget my story.”

  I shake my head and leave the water skin with Bear. Stumbling back to the AT, I climb on. I can feel Wolf’s and Bobcat’s stares hot on my back. Bird’s soft sniffles mix with the wind and the distant howls of the wolves.

  Glancing back, I whisper. “I won’t forget, Bear.”

  Chapter Ten

  Lion isn’t waiting for us. Bobcat only shrugs and says, “Guess he saw the signal.”

  I’m numb as we walk back to the tunnels. I stumble but no one tries to help me. We leave the ATs covered and walk…and walk. This time we have to carry water and the meat and I must carry as much as I can. We don’t have Bear to help. My throat closes down and a weight seems to settle on my shoulders. I didn’t even like Bear, but he shouldn’t have been left like that.

  It was his choice, but I don’t understand such a choice.

  I am more than grateful to finally get down into the tunnels and drop the stinky meat Bobcat gave me to bring back.

  The main room falls silent. I can almost see the other Rogues counting.

  Bear is not with us. My chest tightens. Bear is probably dead. Guilt fills me now.

  We should have at least tried to save him. But how do you save someone who does not want it?

  Wolf glances at Bobcat. “Call a Fire tonight. We’ll remember Bear’s story and thank the wolves for the meat.”

  Bobcat nods, her eyes bright. Glancing at Bird, Wolf says, “Bear made his choice. Be happy he could. Some don’t get that right.”

  She shoots him a dirty look and shakes her head. Half her ribbons are gone. Turning, she disappears down one of the side tunnels.

  I turn from Wolf and Raj and start over to Skye. But Wolf grabs my hand. “I’m not going to ask you to keep this from Skye. But people get fidgety when it comes to losing one of our own. We’ll tell Bear’s story and that’ll be enough.”

  Raj chokes out a laugh and it seems a harsh, humorless sound. “You mean Rogues get angry when they lose one of their own. Never matters much if a Glitch doesn’t come back.”

  Wolf turns to Raj and his eyes narrow. Wolf lets go of me. I wrap my arms around my middle as though that might steady the swirl
ing feelings inside. But I turn to Raj and say, “We all feel bad. But taking that out on each other won’t help. Bear said it was his choice—so it was.”

  Eyes widening, Wolf glances at me. He gives a nod. “Just stay close with the other Glitches.” He turns and walks away, and it seems to me his shoulders hang low from a mixture of anger and weariness.

  I turn to face Raj. “It wasn’t his fault.”

  Raj shakes his head. “Then whose was it? And just how do Rogues think they can save the group if they can’t save each member in it?”

  I have no answers for him, and I wonder if the AI is like the Rogues. Does it throw away Techs, make them into Glitches, because it thinks it can afford to lose individuals?

  I turn away from Raj and head over to Skye. I don’t have to tell her anything. She glances at me and looks away, saying, “Word’s spread already.”

  I slump onto the floor and nod. The tension in the room is so strong I can almost feel it. The other Rogues whisper to each other. No one is talking very loudly. I spot Bobcat sitting at the far edge of the room. She’s tense and silent, refusing to even look at anyone. I wonder how close she was to Bear, but don’t think I’ll ever ask. Maybe closeness is just something the Rogues practice, something different from how the Glitches seem to interact with one another.

  Find the Glitches.

  I don’t know why the echo of a voice filters into my head, but it sends a shiver through me. My shoulders slump. I have found only four Glitches. Am I failing my purpose? It’s the only thing I can remember.

  Before I can dwell on it further, Skye brushes the back of my hand with a finger. “At least you’re back.” She leans closer. “Raj says you got water.”

  I frown. “I’m not sure it was worth it.”

  She lifts her shoulders in a shrug. “We all need water.”

  I glance around. Raj is talking to Chandra, so I ask Skye, “Is Raj…well is he always…does he ever act odd during a connect?”

  Skye shrugs again. “Did something bad happen? Did you hit a firewall? Sentinels?”

  Before I can decide what to tell her, she grabs my arm and glances around at the Rogues. They’re keeping their distance. They don’t look at us like we are friends. Skye motions with her head for me to follow. She doesn’t wait for me to decide but grabs my hand and drags me along to the sleeping room. It is empty. A sudden exhaustion sweeps me and I sink down on a blanket.

  Skye does the same and says, “I hate it when stuff like this happens.”

  I frown. “What do you mean?”

  “You know, the whole Bear thing?” She shakes her head. “We’ll get dirty looks for days. One of theirs is dead. Like that makes it our fault.”

  “So they really do hate us?”

  After a moment of considering me, she finally lifts her shoulders and looks away, glancing at the ceiling, which has sunlight streaming in through the hole. “I’m sure not all of them, but enough. At least it wasn’t a Glitch.”

  I suck in a breath but say nothing. When Raj told me about the divide between Glitches and Rogues, I thought his opinion was just his. Now, I begin to understand this thought permeates everything. It startles me because… because isn’t that what the AI is doing in the dome?

  “Anyway, I’m glad you’re not dead.” She’s grinning at me and her voice is chipper. It leaves me feeling just a little bit sick.

  I, too, am glad I returned, but I feel badly for Bear. The ache in my chest is made worse to know Skye seems to care so little.

  I lie back and turn on my side, curling away from Skye.

  “You need sleep?” she asks.

  I nod. My throat is dry and something is lodged there. She pats me on the shoulder. “You did good today. Get some rest. I’ll wake you up for the meal.”

  When she leaves, I stare at the far wall. I don’t know that I like it here, but what choice do I have other than to stay. Or choose to be made nonfunctional. Forever.

  Skye comes back and shakes my shoulder. I haven’t been sleeping, but I feel as if I have. My body seems sluggish. I don’t complain as I follow Skye down the tunnels to the main room. The Rogues do shoot us glares and narrow-eyed glances, but no one stops us or says anything. Skye leads the way to our small group of Glitches.

  Chandra and Marq are sitting apart from each other. They aren’t speaking, not even to each other, but it’s clear they are far more comfortable and familiar with each other than any others. Raj is essentially alone. He looks up at us but frowns and looks down again. I feel instantly unwelcome—by everyone except Skye at this point—but I follow her over to Raj.

  Where else am I going to go?

  I sit down next to Skye, so I’m not next to Raj but Chandra and Marq still have their space.

  “They haven’t started yet, have they?” Skye asks Raj.

  He rolls his eyes. “No. Wolf’s still being all leader of the pack.”

  I can hear the venom in his tone and his words, but Skye just brushes it off. I wonder now if his bitterness doesn’t bother her.

  “Started what? The meal?” I ask.

  Skye looks over at me, and Raj sighs. He says something under his breath. Skye leans her elbows on her knees. “The stories,” she tells me, her eyes shining. “It’s sad that we only hear them when…well, when someone goes back into the ground. But everyone has a story. It’s their way of remembering.”

  “Waste of time,” Raj says. He sounds condescending, but his voice is a little tight. Like maybe he feels badly about this. Or maybe I just want him to.

  Skye shakes her head. “Raj thinks the stories will be told until they get corrupted over the years.”

  I think about that. It’s true in a sense. Sharing things orally has an inherent complication in that each time you tell the story, it can change slightly. Memory shifts until people have corrupted the original so much that it doesn’t even resemble the original story.

  “Why don’t they just document it?" I ask.

  Raj snorts. “With what? They don’t use gear. Won’t even use it if you shove it at them. Metal gets made into knives instead of being repaired.”

  I expect Skye to butt in and say something, but she barely seems to have registered what Raj said. Does she think the same of the Rogues?

  “They seem to use everything,” I tell him, feeling… insulted on their behalf. “They just… don’t have much.”

  “Whose fault is it if they throw away gear?”

  I open my mouth to argue, though I don’t know exactly what I’m going to say. But the room falls silent. I look up to see Wolf standing in front of a fire burning so hot the color is actually blue rather that the red-orange I have come to expect.

  Wolf holds up his hands. “Today, Bear chose to go back into dust.” His voice echoes across the room, his tone low but strong. “He made the choice for all of us. He made the choice to keep the clan strong. He made the choice to keep the dark forces from the clan. He made the choice we all must face.”

  Sitting still, I wonder if I will have to face such a choice. If I do, will I choose the same thing? I can’t believe I will—life should matter more. Every life should matter.

  Wolf sits down. Bobcat stands and starts to tell Bear’s story.

  “Over two hundred moons ago, a woman who called herself Tracker and Gazelle gave Bear into this life.”

  Her voice sweeps through me, and I can almost see the story she tells.

  Bobcat talks of Gazelle holding a baby as though he is the most precious thing in the world, but the woman Gazelle trembles as she thinks of the trials ahead of him.

  This baby will survive. This child will be strong. He is already big and she names him after the largest animal she knows—Bear.

  The clan welcomes the child with the naming ceremony.

  Bear is seven when he goes on his first scavenge. He proves Bear is his name that day by following a bear’s tracks to a cave and finding gear left by another clan.

  Bear grows even bigger and earns scars on his chest and arm
s, some from battles with drones. He is the best at taking out a drone with a well-thrown rock.

  That leaves me wondering why drones are such a problem for the Rogues.

  Bobcat stops her story and glances at Wolf. He stands now and starts to talk. “Bear followed me from the first. We grew together. We fought and scavenged. Bear called me leader. Now Bear leads the way to the path we all must one day follow.”

  Stillness holds the room. Reaching into the fire, Wolf pulls out a burning chunk, throws it into the dirt and steps on it, putting out the light and the warmth. Wolf raises his arms. “Bear of the Tracker Clan, I call you my brother. We meet again when the ground takes me back to what is beyond.”

  My eyes burn and my nose tingles. I blink away the moisture gathering and rub my nose. Skye nudges my shoulder. “Don’t you want to eat?”

  I glance over to see her holding out a wooden plate with cooked meat—the boar that killed Bear and was killed in return. My stomach twists and a sour taste surges to my mouth. Shaking my head, I push the plate away and look back at the Rogues. They don’t seem to have any trouble eating, and they sit close together, talking and sharing stories of Bear.

  Staring at the fire, I wonder if I should stay. Will the Rogues expect me to die for them if I stay? I can’t imagine such a thing.

  Slowly, the Rogues finish eating and head to the sleeping rooms. They go off one at a time or two and three together. The Glitches, like always, are the last to leave. It is as if we have to stay close to the light as long as we can. But Skye stands, so I do, too.

  At the entrance to the tunnel that leads to where we sleep, I stop and glance back at the fire that is almost out. I wish I didn’t have to tuck myself so closely to everyone else.

  Turning, I find Wolf standing in front of me. His voice is soft and as deep as it was earlier in the night. “Lib, some may say you bring back luck.”