Page 93 of Crocodile Tears

“Having to make a difficult choice. Those people you saw me with earlier were indentured servants who’d escaped from their houders. My associates helped to smuggle them out of Britain, but you can’t just dump people in Europe at the mercy of the warlords – you have to give them more help than that. So I picked them up en route and brought them to LKG to start a new life.”

“What…?” Josiah stared at him. “You mean… they’ve been with the convoy for weeks? How the hell did you feed them and keep them quiet?”

“They’ve only been with us since Essen. I took stores onboard at the outset – just basic rations, but enough for the journey. They were hidden in the back of this truck – I made sure I was the only one with the key, and I let them out every night after we made camp.”

“After that ambush… you said you had to go and check on something… and I fell asleep…” Josiah said slowly.

Hunt nodded. “Yes – I went to make sure they were all okay after the scav attack.”

“If you were taking them to LKG, what is she still doing here?” Josiah demanded, jerking his head at the woman.

“Liz wants to go a little further – she has relatives in Hanover, and I said I’d see her safely there. So, you see, Joe – you have a tough decision to make, and I really am very sorry about that.”

“You mean, do I turn you and her over to the Thorities at Barkhausen?”

Hunt looked momentarily confused by his use of the Quarterlands word.

“Well?” Josiah demanded.

“Yes. That’s precisely what I mean,” Hunt replied softly.

“Or you could shoot me and leave my body on the shores of LKG, along with all the other corpses. Nobody would know.”

“I would never do that, Joe. That’s not an option. Here. See.” Hunt slowly took his gun out of its holster, put it on the floor, and kicked it towards him.

Josiah stared at it and then back at Hunt. “Why are you doing this?” he demanded. “Why are you helping them? And why the hell should I be party to it?”

“Because they’re basically slaves, and I find that obscene,” Hunt told him bluntly. “Their houders can dress it up any way they like, call them indentured servants and give them one-sided contracts, but these people have been living the lives of slaves, with all the abject misery that entails. They’re desperate, and they wanted to escape. LKG might be lawless and dangerous, but at least they’ll be free there.”

“Nobody forced them to become indentured servants.” Josiah rounded on him angrily. “Not unless they broke the law anyway. They chose to take someone’s ID tag.”

“You’re surely not that naïve?—”

“Don’t preach to me.”

Hunt took a step forward, his arms held out in a placatory way. “You don’t understand what it was like for them, Joe.”

“Yeah, I do. I absolutelydofucking understand. See, I was born in the Quarterlands.”

Peter stopped dead in his tracks.

“Yeah, that’s right; I’m Quarrie scum. Living like rats in the damp and dark because we’re too bloody proud to wear someone’s ID tag and be chipped like a piece of property. So, don’t you dare stand there and lecture me about how I should feel sorry for indentured servants.”

“I’m sorry, Joe. I had no idea,” Hunt said softly.

“I worked my way out, but these people sold themselves out.” Josiah stabbed his finger viciously in Liz’s direction. “They sold themselves for medicine, for food, and for a roof over their heads. They sold their freedom away – so why should we help them?”

“My mother was dying. I sold myself to raise the money for her medical treatment,” Liz said suddenly. “She died anyway, and myhouder… well…” She shook her head, her eyes glittering in the darkness. “I couldn’t bear it anymore.”

“You knew what you were getting into when you took your houder’s money, so what you’re doing is nothing more nor less than stealing.”

“Joe, listen—” Hunt began.

“No, you listen,” Josiah snapped. “My dad died from pneumonia. I could have saved him, if we’d had the money to buy the medical help he needed, but he always said we lived and died free – he’d never have forgiven me if I’d sold myself into service for him.”

“I’m sorry,” Liz whispered. “I’m so sorry.” She placed a gentle hand on his arm.

“I won’t turn you in,” Josiah said, pushing her away. “Your grubby little secret is safe with me – sir.” He spat out the last word and then turned and jumped out of the AV.

---