The Republic of Miracles

Chapter 2, in which Caitlin Lawless puts a pre-war diary to good use

In the eyes of many of her competitors, the young woman could pass for a beginner. But Caitlin Lawless had been looting houses for as long as she could remember. Even before she could walk, her mother carried her on her back and lugged her around the city on her expeditions. After a few years of work and stubbornness, by dint of taking risks, they had ended up carving out quite a reputation in a profession where all moves, even the lowest, were allowed. Together they were known as "The Lawless Team".

She had just turned fifteen when her mother died. She then thought about stopping everything, until she realized that not only did she not know how to do anything else, but that she was the best at what she did.

She had already been to Lac aux Bruants two years before. She was alone at the time, but since then, numerous Surve attacks had occurred and it had become too risky to venture into this corner of the region without close protection. The young woman had therefore presented herself the day before at Sécurpol, a firm with which she had often done business, and had reserved a bodyguard for the next day.

The one she usually hired was not available, so Arnaud Riopel was recommended to her for his sense of observation, his discipline, his honesty and his knowledge of martial arts. Caitlin thought he was the type to treat her like a little girl, but since he was a little older than her, it didn't bother her too much. For her part, she preferred her bodyguards to be a little younger. Fourteen or fifteen years was ideal. At that age, they were fearless, eager to impress, and tended to be overzealous. But this handsome tall mixed-race man, calm and composed, with a deep and slightly hoarse voice, seemed to be in splendid shape and quite capable of defending her against a pack of Surves. And that was exactly what she needed.

"You have to wonder why I think there's something there, right?"

"It's none of my business..." he replied laconically.

"It won't be a secret for much longer, so... When I came two years ago, I discovered, hidden under a board in the attic of the most imposing house in the village, the personal diary of a little girl. She described her daily life, talked about her friends, her parents... In 2069, can you imagine? Just before the Great Apocalypse. I couldn't find anything else. In any case, nothing that I could have exhibited at my store."

"I didn't know there was a market for old diaries..."

"It wasn't to resell it. I just wanted to read it. I'm curious and this whole period intrigues me, what people thought about, what they ate, how they earned their living..."

"Then you should meet my grandfather," said Arnaud. "He was a history professor at Laval University."

"That would certainly be interesting, yes!" she replied. "Towards the end of her diary, she reveals everything. She talks about this secret place where she and her family could take refuge in an emergency, she gives the code that she had to learn by heart... She does it in the form of riddles, but hey! It wasn't that difficult to decipher..."

"Not very careful of her!"

"Or rather from her parents. But I suppose they gave her this code so that, even if left to her own devices, she could have access to the shelter. And they did not imagine that their daughter would transcribe this secret in her diary, the existence of which they must have been unaware of, anyway."

"Nor that you would discover this diary fifty years later..."

Having passed a densely wooded area, she and Arnaud finally arrived in sight of Lac aux Bruants. They could see, through the bare branches where only a few buds were beginning to appear, a few dozen houses, grouped around an irregularly shaped lake that must have been a kilometer long.