“Speaking of quiet, you haven’t had any nightmares in a while,” he comments.
I don’t know why they’ve suddenly stopped, but I’ve slept better since the night I recognized Terrance’s face.
We ride in silence the remainder of the day, taking only occasional breaks.
As the sun begins to set on our third day, we notice thick plumes of smoke in the distance. Braxton indicates it’s coming from the area of the Trade Borough. Ten minutes later we see the elevated rail lines of the defunct shuttle to Nuceira and turn north. Jagger radios us to see if Braxton wants to stop and check for survivors, but Braxton ignores his calls by turning off the receiver.
Since we’re so close to where we think the Hostem are encamped, Braxton decides to push on through the night. Several hours later we all trade spots so that Braxton, Gage, and Tobin can get some rest. I turn the receiver back on, but don’t hear anyone transmitting.
I drive through the night and into most of the morning. We switch again before the afternoon.
“We should reach Oasis One tonight,” Braxton tells everyone over the receiver.
As evening falls around us, the receiver is hot with activity. The Hostem seem to have made Oasis One their base of operations, so we’re forced to change direction, turning and heading west again. At our closest, we’re about a mile from the nearest Hostem, from what I can tell on the receiver. We have to travel several hours out of our way to make sure we’re far enough away from Oasis One to start heading north again.
As the sun begins to rise on our fifth day of travel, Duren transmits a message to the world through a Regulator channel the Hostem know about.
“Regulators, this is Captain Braxton of the Acheron High Ruler guard. We are planning an offensive strike against our enemies, the Hostem. All available units, please take a transport vehicle to the Dormitories where additional weaponry is stored. I will meet you there in two days’ time.”
The transmission ends.
We wait in hushed stillness for the Hostem to begin chattering, but all remains quiet.
“What day do you think it is?” I ask Braxton several hours after the message.
“I think it’s sixty days after the Winter Solstice. Why?”
“I was born in the winter, so I must be nineteen now.”
“You don’t know when you were born?” he asks.
“Do you?” I respond.
“Laics are different. We aren’t told the day of their births. It’s to keep us from determining our age.”
“Why would they not want you to know how old you are?”
“Control, I think.”
I look out the window at the passing trees…snow changing to rain…the grass underneath our wheels coming out of its slumber. The seasons change, but the Laics have no marker to tell the passage of time for them. Somehow that makes their life seem even more dismal to me.
Hours seem to pass like days.
Even with the detour, we should reach the Dormitories by early morning at the latest, but the isolation and inactivity is making me anxious and agitated.
“I think I’m thirty-eight,” Braxton whispers from a faraway daydream.
We stop for a final break when it’s close to dark.
Our stomachs are growling, so we set up a small fire to heat up some of the provisions. Gage patrols, allowing the rest of us to eat. The food is only lukewarm, but we eat it all the same. We save Gage some, which he eats while Jagger drives.
The sun begins to rise as we find the transport road. We wind up and down several small hills before coming upon a shattered watchtower. Rusty metal pilings stick out from the earth; razor wire lays snarled across the entrance, as the fence it had been attached to has disintegrated. Lehen steps out and removes a swath of the razor wire so the vehicles can pass.
This place is very unpleasant for me. I can hear muffled screams and smell acrid smoke, though I know it’s just my memories.
The road winds for another ten minutes before we stop at to the top of a rise that overlooks the complex. I’m the first to step out of the vehicles, walk a few feet to my right, and look down into the gorge.
Blackened and cracked granite walls lay scattered across a blasted landscape. The concrete sidewalks lay broken in large pieces, some with small trees breaking through, others with patches of grass peeking through the upturned edges. It’s hard to tell how many buildings once stood, but I close my eyes and see the image from the tablet Devlan left me. The fountain in the center is the only discernable landmark; the manmade pool it sits in has long since dried up.
“It’s amazing any of you survived,” Braxton says, as he joins me.
The rest of the group stands along the ridge with us, surveying the destruction below.
“Let’s prepare,” I say and head back to the Morrigan vehicle.
Chapter 29
Once we reach the ruins, Lehen sets out to try and locate Vier, who I’m hoping is still close by. The rest of us remove the weapons from the vehicles and create a perimeter around the complex. Gage and Tobin plant detonators wherever they can find an open piece of land, synching them to a master control recovered from one of the Hostem carriages back at the hatchery. Jagger hides several conflagration cannons under the rubble of two of the housing buildings, leaving enough room for him and Keller to squeeze under so they can operate them. Keller and Braxton are working on our defensive and escape plans if something goes wrong.
I hunt through the remains, looking for anything, not even knowing what I’m looking for…but find nothing.
I crawl in and out of small dark spaces, my mind going back in time. I wander around the property, not quite going as far as the forest, my feet remaining on the cracked concrete. After some time, I head back to
