Or maybe it was the running itself. That was pretty weird, I have to admit, along with the attack from Mother Earth. This guy's probably just wondering what kind of freak I am.
Or how I might taste. That would really stink. The first person I meet after All-Clear turns out to be a freaking cannibal! Is that why he's regarding me so carefully? Sizing up his next meal?
"Do you have a name?" The feeling in the pit of my stomach is turning cold and heavy. "I'm Milton, from Sector 43. I—we got out a few months ago." I'm making an effort at congeniality here, but if I'm dealing with a cannibal, I don't want it to be common knowledge that I'm traveling alone. "Where-uh... Where are you from?" I take a few steps back, hoping I still have the strength to run for my life if I need to.
The figure launches himself from the ridge and seems to hang in mid-air for a moment before landing on all-fours before me.
"Holy—!" I gasp, nearly tripping over my feet. To jump from such a height and land with ease—he can't be human. Not a normal human, anyway.
The figure stands facing me, arms down at his sides. "You said you were alone," he says in the even cadence of a young woman's voice.
So he's really a she. Maybe it wouldn't be so bad getting eaten by a female cannibal. Even so, I keep my distance.
"So you can speak." I attempt another smile. My mouth is the only part of me visible beneath my open face shield. Will the size of my teeth determine dominance?
"First you said you were the only one out here. But just now, you said we got out. So which is it?" Her head cocks slightly to one side. "Are you alone, or are there others with you?"
Judging by my reflection in her goggles, I can tell why she's being cautious—if she isn't a cannibal, that is. I look like a freak, a filthy survivalist who gnaws on bones in his spare time.
Maybe she thinks I'm a cannibal.
I really need to think about something else.
"I am. Alone, I mean. Not a..." For some reason, I go with the truth. "I've been alone since All-Clear."
Her shoulders seem to relax, so I go on.
"I never gave up hope, though. I knew there had to be others. And there are, right? You're not the only one out here, are you?" Playful thoughts of Adam and Eve pass through my mind. I wish I could see her face.
"Come with me." She turns away and leaps onto an outcropping of rock, pulling herself upward in a single movement.
Does she expect me to do that? Not happening. I might be able to super-run or whatever that was before, but rock climbing has never been my thing. I've never had the grip strength for it.
"Why should I? I don't even know who you are."
She half-turns, and her goggles stare down at me. "Remember what you were running from?"
How could I forget? It was the weirdest thing that's ever happened to me...outside the bunker. "You saw that, huh?"
She resumes her climb. "You're not safe here."
Me? What about her? Shaking my head, I drop my face shield into place and start up after her. "At least tell me who you are."
Strange. With all that's happened in the last half hour, the only thing I want to know right now is the name of my newfound companion. Who cares about killer rocks when after months of solitude, I finally have someone besides my imaginary giants and an ill-conceived pet to talk to.
I'm not alone anymore. There are others like me out here. And as I climb after my new friend, the only thing I know for sure is that I would follow her anywhere.
"You have a name, right?" I watch her swing one-handed from a crevice in the rock and grab hold of another. Amazing, really. So agile—
"Climb." Her tone is firm, making it clear that conversation won't be part of this journey, wherever we're going.
I do my best to keep up, lagging five meters behind her at all times—but not due to any lack of effort. "Where are we going?"
"Higher."
Well, that much is obvious. She reaches the ridge where I first saw her and stands there, waiting for me.
"How far?" I grunt, pulling myself upward.
"Not very."
I pause to catch my breath. "You're not going to eat me, are you?" I half-smile, but my charm is lost now behind my face shield. "Because—if you are—then there's really no point in me going much farther. Right?"
"You need to hurry." Her tone is flat. "We don't have much time."
"About that." Straining every muscle in my fingers and forearms, I manage to reach the ledge at her feet. With as much grace as I can muster, I heave myself up and crawl toward her dusty boots. "The whole attack of the killer rocks thing. Is that commonplace around here? I mean, have you seen anything like that before? Because it kind of freaked me out."
Her goggles are fixed on me as I stand. Wish I could see her eyes. I like her voice—even-toned and calm, albeit humorless.
I've really been alone too long.
"We go up and over from here." She points. "Follow me, and stay close."
"Yes ma'am." I salute.
She watches me for a moment, then takes a running leap from the ridge, upward and to the left, landing with both hands jammed in the crevice of a sheer rock wall. She dangles for a moment, then swings single-handedly across
