Darkness (2 page)

“We’ll make it there soon enough,” I said. “And when we do, we’ll have
Odin
pick us up this time.”

“If
Odin
isn’t busy,” Anna said. “I didn’t think it would be this bad.”

Even if it was absolute misery, we
would
make it, if only because we had to.

That was when I saw wooden buildings rising on the horizon, surrounded by a wooden wall. In the center of the buildings was a gleaming pond, frozen.

“Oasis,” I said.

Anna perked up behind me, looking over my shoulder. Smoke rose in streams from the clustered wooden buildings on Oasis’s southern side. It was good to see at least one settlement alive when so many had already been overwhelmed – even if that settlement was Oasis. I wondered what Ohlan’s reaction would be to the Vegas Exodus and the New Angels – that is, if he did not already know about us.

“Hard to believe we’ve flown this far already,” I said.

“Oasis is at least a hundred miles from Pyrite.”

Askal flapped his wings in long, steady sweeps, never breaking his rhythm, oblivious to our conversation. The Askala was a lot faster than I’d given him credit for.

It would just be an hour or two more until we touched down by Bunker 108. This thought was both welcome and unwelcome – welcome because we would be out of the cold air, and unwelcome because we had go inside that horrible place.

A few minutes later, we passed over the city. The buildings below looked empty and forlorn. I would have thought the town abandoned except for the fact that I saw a few people walking its streets, pausing to look up at us. Some of the people ran for the cover of buildings. Obviously, they had seen xenodragons before. We were far enough above the town to be out of range, unless someone below happened to get a very lucky shot. We soon found ourselves flying over a line of hills, having passed the town in mere seconds.

I realized, with a start, that Makara and I had traversed these hills a little over three months ago when we had been running from Brux and his gang of Raiders. Seeing that rough terrain pass in just a minute was a bit surreal. It had taken
hours
to cross those jagged hills. Below, toward the east, a winding trail struck across the desert plain, between two ridges of mountains.

“Raider Road,” Anna said. “Runs from Raider Bluff in the east all the way to Los Angeles in the west. A little farther south and it takes a turn for the city along the line of I-10.”

“Which all means what?”

“That if Bunker 108 is north of I-10, we must be close.”

It had taken a little over a week for me to get from Bunker 108 to Oasis when I had first entered the Wasteland. But I hadn’t been going in a straight line. I’d set off east and had wandered aimlessly for a week before meeting up with Makara. That meant that Oasis might
not
be that far from Bunker 108, as I had originally thought – perhaps only a two days’ journey. Bunker 114 and Bunker 108 were about fifty miles apart, and Oasis was probably halfway between Bunker 108 and Bunker 114, give or take.

My brain did a flip as its internal cartography was thrown upside down.

“So I don’t really know exactly where I’m going anymore...” I said.

“We just have to find that trailer you talked about. Right?”

Yeah, that was all we had to do. We just had to find a line of really big mountains – but there were
a lot
of mountains in this area toward the south. It could take a while to search.

Anna squeezed my shoulder. “There it is! That
has
to be it.”

She pointed to our left, down into a secluded red valley surrounded by mountains. There gleamed a small, metallic shimmer. There was no doubt – it was the trailer, alright – the very same one where Khloe had died, where I had been left alone in the world.

The flood of emotion came back in full force. I hated this place and all of the terrible memories it held, things I would never be able to forget no matter how hard I tried. I had never intended to return here. Yet, here I was. I tried not to think about how the red valley reminded me of blood. I tried not to think of all the people who had died, tried not to think of the spot where I buried Khloe, over three months ago.

I pulled my glove off and placed my cold, bare hand on Askal’s back, allowing him to read my thoughts.

This is it,
I said.

Askal snorted in acknowledgement, immediately circling down toward the trailer. Anna and I gave a start at the sudden change in trajectory, but we leaned forward into Askal’s body. I held tightly to the ridge on Askal’s back, and Anna wrapped her arms tightly around me. As we lowered, butterflies rose in my stomach. The trailer grew bigger as we approached. The air warmed, but only slightly, as we descended. It was the only welcome change.

By the time Askal alighted, I felt frozen to my spot – from both physical cold and nerves.

“Come on,” Anna said, hopping off onto the ground. “We’ll be out of here in no time.”

I looked down at her doubtfully, but in the end, I supposed she was right. Maybe this would only take a few minutes, and then we would be back on our way to Pyrite aboard the
Odin.

I eased myself down, sliding off Askal’s back. Pinpricks flooded my feet as I landed with a thud on the ground. I shook each foot, wincing, trying to get some circulation back. I took a few steps forward to work out the stiffness. Only thirty feet in front of me lay the trailer, just as I’d left it three months ago. If there was any difference, it was that it was covered with even more red dust and grime. There must have been a dust storm recently.

The Bunker entrance wasn’t far. I didn’t even know what I expected to find – Khloe and I had shut that Bunker door, which would make it impossible to get in. If the main entrance
was
closed, there was always the motor pool entrance. I didn’t even know where that was, though I supposed I could ask Michael by radio, if it came to that.

I took a deep breath. I didn’t want to be a coward, but then again, maybe my fear was justifiable when I had lost everyone I cared about in a single, horrifying night.

Anna had never had that experience in this place, even if she had experienced it elsewhere. She walked toward the trailer. Her hand was on her holstered pistol rather than her katana. She stood in front of the trailer door, reached out her left hand, and tried the latch.

“Wait,” I said, jogging to catch up with her.

It might have been overly protective of me, but I didn’t want her going in anywhere by herself. It was a silly sentiment, since Anna was far more likely to protect me than the other way around.

The metallic door swung wide open, and Anna took a few steps back, her hand never leaving her handgun. The opening revealed only darkness. We waited a few moments before approaching the trailer once more.

“Me first,” I said.

Anna shrugged, letting me pass.

I flipped on the light, and everything was illuminated in a pale yellow glow. Everything was as I had left it: the couch, the fridge, even the red fleece blanket that had covered Khloe and me, were all still in their places. The cabinets were opened from when I had rummaged in them for food and supplies. Whatever the case, it didn’t seem like there was anything of interest now. I shut off the light and closed the door, stepping back onto the dusty ground.

Askal stared at me with his white alien eyes. I wondered what was going on in his mind. He knew that I wanted him to wait here until we got back from the Bunker. Just looking at the Askala reminded me that
I
was infected with the xenovirus.
Elekai
or not, it still gave me the shivers. I didn’t know if that was something I could
ever
get used to. Anna looked at me and smiled, her thoughts seemingly distant. We’d had more than a few conversations lately about what the Wanderer told me. I still felt defensive when the subject of the
Elekai
virus came up. It made me feel different from everyone else.

“We could stay here for tonight if the exploration takes a long time,” Anna said.

“I don’t plan on staying here the night,” I said. “It’s too dangerous.”

I’d already lost one girl I loved at this place. I didn’t want to lose another.

“You going to be alright?” Anna asked.

I felt sudden sadness clench my throat. “Yeah.”

She touched my shoulder, grabbing on and pulling me close.

“You’ll be fine,” she said, looking me in the eye and smiling. “We’ll try to get done before the day is out.”

I nodded. Maybe Anna didn’t understand why I hated this place so much, but that was to be expected. I didn’t expect anybody to understand. Too often, that was just the way things were.

“Sometimes, all you can do is put one foot in front of the other,” Anna said. “You can’t get anywhere without that.”

I nodded, and Anna started walking in the direction of the Bunker.

“Wait,” I said.

Anna paused, half-turning back to me.

“There’s something I need to do first.”

As Anna raised an eyebrow, I turned away and circled around the trailer. I didn’t know if Khloe’s grave would still be there, but I intended to find out. I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to see her. I didn’t know when, or if, I would come back here again.

I walked on, and as soon as I rounded the trailer’s corner, I paused. The rocks I had laid on the ground over three months ago were still there, perfectly arranged in the shape of a heart. The rocks were partially covered in red sand. No one had been this way since I’d left. Somehow, that gave me comfort.

I walked forward a few steps, the tip of my boots touching the bottom point of the heart. The cold wind let up and everything stilled into silence as I watched that spot of Earth.

It was so hard to believe that it had only been three months ago. It felt like another lifetime. Another person. But the feelings were still there, visceral and bleeding.

I had often wondered what things would have been like if Michael and I hadn’t found that man infected with the xenovirus. Everything would have been different. Bunker 108 would still be running, probably. My father would still be alive. Khloe, over whose grave I stood, would still be alive. At the same time, I would have never met Anna, Makara, or Samuel. This whole mad quest to save the world would have never started in the first place.

I realized that it had all happened for a reason. Maybe...maybe this loss was necessary. I hated that thought: that
any
loss was necessary. But I also saw how Khloe’s death led to everything we had accomplished: discovering the origins of the xenovirus, meeting the Wanderer, gathering the Vegas gangs, discovering the purpose behind the
Elekai
and the
Radaskim.
Even knowing this, I knew there were no guarantees. Khloe’s death would mean nothing if we failed, if we were destroyed by the
Radaskim
in their aim to conquer all life. Even with the Wanderer guiding me, there was the overwhelming probability of failure. After all, hadn’t a thousand worlds already failed? What made ours so special?

But at least we had the chance to go down fighting. Like Khloe had.

Anna stood next to me and laid a hand on my shoulder. I wrapped my right arm around her waist. She leaned into me, silent.

“This is it, isn’t it?” she asked.

I nodded. This
was
it. Or at least that was what I had thought three months ago, when I had left this spot behind and wandered into the Wasteland with nothing but the clothes on my back and a pack filled with a blanket, water, and granola. That had been the beginning of a whole new life – a whole new person. It was a life that, surprisingly, lasted more than a couple of weeks. And now here I was – standing with someone I loved over the grave of someone I
had
loved.

“Come on,” I said.

We turned from the grave and trod south in the direction of the Bunker door, about a mile distant. Making peace with my past, such as I could, gave me a strength to go on that I had not expected. With Anna by my side, I could handle scouting this Bunker. I could handle anything.

At least, that was my hope.

Chapter 2

“It’s
open.”

Anna stared into the dark opening of Bunker 108. That vault door, which Khloe and I had closed so long ago, had swung inward all the way. Either the wind had blown it open, which I found unlikely, or someone, or
something,
had come out after us on that dreadful night long ago. Or, perhaps, someone had gone
in.
I didn’t know which prospect was the worst.

If someone had gone inside – a Raider, perhaps, seeking spoils – the odds that they had come back out again were very slim.

And yet, that was what
we
planned on doing. If the door was open then there was a chance the Howlers had gotten out. Whatever that door being open meant, one thing was clear: neither of us had expected it.

“Should we still go in?” Anna asked.

I hesitated. I wanted to say “no,” but Makara would probably want us to scout this out. You didn’t just turn tail and run when you encountered the unexpected.

“Let me raise her.”

I put the radio to my mouth. “Makara. Got a copy?”

Static sizzled from the speaker as Anna and I waited for what seemed an eternity. Finally, Makara responded.

“Go ahead.”

“We’re here. The door is open. Khloe and I didn’t leave it like this. It means someone has gone in or come out since then.”

I stared into the darkness. I imagined Makara, sitting safe on the deck of
Gilgamesh
, two hundred miles distant. Was she going to decide to risk our lives?

“Proceed with recon?” I asked.

Finally, Makara answered. “Do you...smell anything?”

It seemed a strange question at first, but I soon realized its significance. Anything infected with the xenovirus carried a trademark rotting odor.

I inhaled deeply, the icy cold air stinging my lungs. I smelled absolutely nothing.

“Negative,” I said.