The time came for me to take up the sled again. Eliza had disappeared somewhere. We hadn’t spoken much all day, and I was missed her. There would be time to catch up when we arrived at our destination. We passed through the plains with their sporadic foliage and larger and larger trees surrounded us. As the day wore on I could swear that I saw some kind of animals flitting through the branches but every time I turned to look the shadows were gone. After the panther kill, the idea that there were more creatures watching us from afar made me edgy. Eliza gave the limited number of guns to a few trusted individuals, who now jogged at the edges of the group, firearms in hand. There was limited ammunition so there would be no training; their instructions were to fire only in an emergency.
The signal grew ever closer with each step. When it was time to make camp for the night, we were so close to it that I could see pulses of light as whatever powered the beacon pushed fresh energy into it. The unnatural blue color reminded me of the welding torches we used in the shelter. If you stared at it long enough your eyes would sting and spots would linger in front of your pupils for a few minutes. The horizon itself looked warped; if I squinted I could see the outlines of some really strange looking trees. They towered above the ground, their leaves jutting out from angular structures that looked like...holy hell.
Buildings.
“Buildings!” The word leapt from my mouth without a second thought. “Buildings on the horizon!” Eliza found me and dug out a set of binoculars from her bag. She peered through them, a huge grin spreading across her face. She handed the binoculars to me and took the sled from my shoulders. I adjusted the lenses and I couldn’t believe my eyes. Skyscrapers. Concrete and steel buildings stretched high into the sky. They had been firebombed; the windows were blown out and the buildings not protected by an entanglement of plants were crumbling at the roofs. I searched desperately for signs of life. The outlines of people, fires, anything.
There was nothing. I kept telling myself that it was the middle of the day and that any people alive in those towering edifices would probably lay low during peak daylight hours. When I lowered the binoculars I saw dozens of faces turned toward my wife. The ideological differences dividing us disappeared and were replaced with the barely concealable excitement of people who saw a brighter future, just in front of them.
Chapter Ten
It was a struggle to make camp that night. Hell, it was a struggle to keep the hundred of us from sprinting to the light once word got around about the buildings. There was no chance that I was going to sleep tonight. Buildings! The presence of a city held the promise of a miracle. If those buildings held even a few thousand people it meant untold access to resources, shelter, and social interaction. It might even mean opportunities for breeding and creating a new society. I thought of the possibility of reconstructing the house Eliza and I had raised Marcus in. We couldn’t return to the shores of Iceland, but we could settle into a calm life in our golden years. Maybe we could set up a farm and plant some vegetables. It was the glittering brass ring, and all we had to do was reach out and grab it.
I joined Eliza as she conferred with her guards and volunteers to cover the overnight shift. “We’ll have the camp set as closely together as we can. Between the loss of Paul Tolland and the fact that there are almost certainly some humans over that next ridge, we cannot afford to have a single colonist go missing. It’s possible that the people living in those buildings will not be happy to see us. Should that be the case, we need every body we have.”
Encouraging words from my practical wife. Never one to sugarcoat things, she had a point. We weren’t equipped to handle a fight. My hopes had blinded me to the possibility. I whipped around to feel a hand on my shoulder. It was Dad.
“Cheerful stuff she’s talking about, isn’t it.” His grip tightened. “It would be a damn shame to have come out here to get our heads blown off.”
Something was wrong. He had a point, of course. I certainly wanted to return to the colony with my limbs intact, but I could feel the hidden weight behind his words. After triumphing over Gabriel—twice—Dad had proven himself to be a more than capable fighter, so why was he shying away from the possibility of a conflict? Then I remembered that in his own way, my father had spent almost the same amount of his life in the shelter as I had. The man had grown up with the same people, day in and day out. Maybe he was feeling skittish over encountering other humans because he forgot what it was like. If that was the case, he had a point. Any other people we encountered out here might as well be creatures from another planet.
“What’s the plan?” Eliza turned as if surprised to see me there. She gave a brief nod to Dad.
“At the moment? We’re going to try and gather as much information as possible before moving any further. If things look like they’re not safe, we’re turning tail and going back home.”
“How are you going to know if it’s safe or not? It’s not like we’re going to get an introduction to these people.” That wasn’t the right thing to ask. She widened her eyes slightly in a glare
