Phantom Frost

by Alfred Wurr

  Brad stared at him. “Do you know how?”

  Alan looked at the floor. “I did it to Otto once, for kicks. Just need to find the ignition, battery, and starter wires, twist the first two together, then spark the starter wire.”

  Brad glared. “You hotwired my van?” He shook his head. “My brother the car thief, everyone.”

  “I don’t know,” I said. “I think there may be fighting in the garage, or at least soldiers patrolling the area.”

  “What do you think, Lucy?” Brad asked, looking at her. “Without supplies and a compass, we might die hiking across the desert.”

  “I’d rather not get bitten by a rattlesnake,” Lucy said. She looked down the hall. “Can we at least try to sneak into the garage and take a car? If we have to, we can take the emergency exit instead.”

  The garage was a more immediate risk, but the sun was coming up. I probably had enough soda pop stashed in my hat for me, but not enough for all of us. “Okay, let’s go for it,” I said. “Follow me. Quietly.”

  I led them down the hall, followed by Lucy, Lilith, and Alan, with Brad bringing up the rear, to a set of stairs that led down to the first floor. Reaching the lower level, we followed the first-floor hallway in single file to the edge of the foyer where the Bodhi Group soldiers, armed with the fire hose and extinguisher, stood guard.

  The foyer burned, set alight by a fire elemental that was hurling fireballs at the three soldiers, who squirted the hose and extinguisher at it and the growing blaze. The glass doors leading into the building were shattered, letting in the desert wind to fan the flames, as more fire elementals entered through the breach. The soldier with the extinguisher screamed and went down, holding his burned arm, as sprinklers burst to life overhead, spraying the interior with water. The lead fire elementals howled and retreated from the deluge, shrouded in steam.

  Outside, beyond the ruined doors, vehicles burned on a battlefield of fire and smoke. Bodhi Group soldiers approached from the left, shooting assault rifles from the cover of parked cars, ducking molten meteors thrown by an opposing mob of more fiery wraiths.

  I herded my companions into the stairwell. With everyone safe on the other side, I slipped to the head of our procession and down a short flight of steps to another door, which I knew from my earlier reconnaissance opened into the parkade itself.

  I peered through the thick wire-mesh-reinforced rectangular window upon a second battlefield. Two hundred feet away, soldiers unloaded assault rifles into a line of fire elementals as they descended an entry ramp, using cars and concrete pillars for cover.

  We snuck out the door and scuttled to the left, stooped over, moving from car to car until we were three rows over, out of sight of the combatants. As we ducked behind an old Studebaker, sprinklers overhead came on, showering us with water. Shrieks and howls echoed through the garage from the direction of the firefight, followed by cheers.

  I beckoned Alan to my side. “Okay, dude, which car do we take?”

  Alan rose up from his crouch, scanning the garage. “Over there,” he said softly, pointing.

  “Lead the way,” I whispered.

  We scurried up the slope thirty feet and crouched next to a large desert-gold two-door coupe. Chrome lettering identified it as a Buick Wildcat. Alan tried the driver’s-side door while the rest of us huddled by the trunk and sides. He shook his head, releasing the handle.

  I started to follow as he moved on to check another car.

  “Wait,” Lilith said in a hushed voice. “Look.” Still crouched by the trunk, she held up a small rectangular box—a magnetic key holder—and pulled out the spare key inside. She smiled widely. “I found this under the bumper.”

  We duck-walked back over to her as she slid the key into the passenger-side door, unlocked it and jumped inside. She reached across and pulled up the button on the driver’s side. Alan hopped into the driver’s seat a moment later, while Brad, Lucy and I squeezed into the back, pressing Lilith into the dash as we did so.

  The teen twisted the key and the old car turned over with a growl, then rumbled to life. We all sighed and smiled, soaking wet but elated at our good fortune.

  “Nice one, Lil,” Alan said, kissing her on the cheek. He slipped the car into gear, backed out slowly, and turned toward the exit.

  “Go slow, Alan,” Brad said. “Try to get as close to the exit as you can before we’re seen. If we’re spotted, gun it.”

  Alan bobbed his head in silent agreement, peering through the windshield like a hawk looking for a mouse. We ascended the slope, heading for the exit, then rounded the corner as the deluge from the fire sprinklers diminished, then stopped completely. I held my breath as the car rounded the turn, and let it go.

  The exit was deserted.

  Alan swung the automobile to the left, taking us outside. Just beyond the exit, soldiers chased smouldering fire elementals as they withdrew to regroup with their approaching allies. The new arrivals lobbed fire at the Bodhi Group soldiers, over the heads of their fellows. As we appeared, one of the soldiers cried out, clutching at his chest as he caught fire. A nearby squad mate tackled him, smacking at the flames like he was digging a hole, then dragged the fallen man behind the sparse cover of the nearby entry gate, while those soldiers still standing laid down covering fire.

  I stared out the side window of the car, mesmerized by the fire monsters that, in the building’s shadow, drew the eye like campfires on a moonless night. I squinted and frowned, spotting something peculiar in their midst. Behind the vanguard, walking at the centre of a new cohort of fire elementals like a shepherd among sheep, strode a muscular humanoid, seven feet tall, with crimson skin and horns that glowed like hot coal—a devilish man with skin awash in flames.

  As he advanced, the demon moved his hands like he was conducting an orchestra, and half his honour guard raced ahead, splitting off to reinforce their comrades on both fronts: that near the parking garage and the one raging by the building’s main entrance a few hundred feet away.

  “Get us out of here, Alan,” Brad hissed from the back seat. His kid brother nodded and stomped the gas pedal. I fell back in my seat as the Buick lunged forward. Alan wrenched the wheel nearly hitting a soldier, but the trooper ignored us, continuing to fire controlled bursts from his weapon at the approaching enemy.

  “Easy, dude,” Brad said, grabbing his brother’s shoulder. “Easy. Don’t wreck us.”

  Alan narrowed his eyes at the road ahead but made no reply. Lilith screamed as another of the monsters jumped into our path. The teen driver tugged the steering wheel, slaloming by the obstacle like a race car driver on a closed course. In reaction to the movement, the near-roadkill whirled and bounced a fireball off the back window sending Brad, Lucy and me down in our seats.

  I popped my head back up and watched as the fire demon, the apparent leader of the attack, waved his hands and three of his minions altered course to intercept us. More fireballs streaked through the air like mini comets; one hit the windshield, spreading cracks across the surface.

  Alan turned on the wipers, spraying fluid over the cracked glass. The wipers skipped across the fractures, smearing ash and dirt, reducing visibility further.

  “Hang on,” Alan said. He twisted the wheel to the right, tapped the brake, then stomped the accelerator.

  “Alan, what are you doing?” Lucy shouted as I was thrown against her.

  “Getting us out of here,” he said grimly. “That’s the road out. They’ll move.”

  More fire elementals changed direction, moving to block our exit, raising trails of fire on the black asphalt in their wake. Several more incendiaries sailed toward us, knocking out a headlight and banging off the side of the car, leaving a residue that continued to burn as we drove.

  They’re trying to take out the engine, I realized. We still had a hundred feet to cover before breaking through to the other side. We’re not going to make it.

  Alan jerked the wheel to the left as a new barrage sailed our way, so that most of th
e incoming projectiles hit the car’s passenger-side door, just below the window. The vehicle fishtailed slightly as it left the tarmac and its wheels dug into the softer desert soil until the teen coaxed it back onto the pavement. We were still moving but heading the wrong way, back to the Institute, with fire elementals to the front of us and more behind.

  I took a deep breath as my mind raced. There were way too many to fight. I could raise snow to slow them down and use for cover, but that wouldn’t help my companions. Larry, the soldier that I’d helped on my way out of the Allfrost Chamber a few days earlier, had suffered serious burns despite a heavy winter jacket. From a single fireball. My friends didn’t have even that much protection.

  Damn it, I should have left them where they were, I thought. At least inside the Institute, they’d have a chance.

  “Look,” Lucy said, pointing out the back window. To the south, armoured vehicles were heading this way. Reinforcements, I thought. They were still far away, though, and the Bodhi Group defenders, pressed hard by the lead monsters, were retreating into the Institute, hounded by their attackers.

  I pressed my eyes shut, wishing my friends and I could just disappear. That’s it, I thought.

  “Alan, turn the car around,” I said. He looked at me in the rear-view mirror like I’d lost my mind. “Trust me. I’ve got an idea.”

  “Do it, Alan,” Brad said.

  The teen turned the wheel again, reversing our course.

  “That’s it,” I said, patting his shoulder. “Now gun it, full bore. Run them down if necessary. Just don’t stop, whatever happens.”

  Alan swallowed and shook his head. “I hope you know what you’re doing, dude.”

  So do I, I thought.

  I made a cage with my hands, touching fingertips to fingertips, took a deep breath, and began to concentrate, as I had at Wilhelm’s when the Faction had tried to kidnap me. Only this time, instead of just imagining myself slipping into the Underfrost, I envisioned a perfect bubble of space expanding around me, encompassing my entire body, then concentrated on making it larger, growing it rapidly outward until it engulfed my friends and the entire vehicle around us.

  “Sh-sh-shivurrr, what…are…you…d-d-doing?” Alan asked as his teeth chattered. My friends gasped and huffed, hyperventilating at the sudden cold that filled the car. Their hair and clothes, still wet from the parking garage, grew stiff as the moisture froze. Lucy, Brad, and Lilith hugged themselves and shivered uncontrollably as Alan struggled to keep the car on course. Visions of my friends freezing to death because of me filled my head. I pushed down a swell of panic before it could break my concentration. This was our only chance.

  The car, travelling over sixty miles per hour, continued to barrel forward, passing through the onslaught of fireballs and elementals that stood in its path like they were mere tricks of the light. The Buick shook and shuddered halfway through the mob of monsters, cooling fast and threatening to stall. I felt a wave of panic, feeling myself sinking too far into the depths of the Underfrost. I pushed my hands together like I was crushing a drink can, collapsing the imaginary bubble back down to the size of a pea in my mind, then smaller still, and then closed it off completely.

  The car continued to roll forward, but the engine still shuddered. I checked the rear window. Two hundred feet behind us, the nearest fire elemental slowed and turned away, returning to the battle at the Institute.

  Brad’s teeth chattered next to my ears. “Did we lose them?”

  “Alan, roll down the windows. Let warm air inside.” I never thought I’d say that, I thought.

  Alan looked at me, teeth chattering. “Huh?”

  I leaned into the front, resting my belly on the seatback. Steadying myself with my left hand, I reached across and pushed the button to open Lilith’s window with my right, thankful the car windows weren’t crank-operated. Warm desert air flowed into the car. I slumped back in my seat and snugged the zipper of my jacket to my chin. Moments later, the engine revved back to life as it finally recovered from the deep freeze.

  I looked behind us again. “They’re not following,” I said, taking a deep breath and letting it out like a balloon with a slow leak.

  “Guess we’re not a threat anymore,” Lucy said in a quavering voice.

  I could see an increase in muzzle flashes as the reinforcements arrived. Then we were too far away to see much of anything. When we were a few miles away, a column of dark smoke rose into the sky where I judged the Institute should be.

  Alan stopped the car, and we got out to allow everyone to warm up and look back at the distant fire. When we hopped back into the car a few minutes later, I switched seats with Brad so he and Lucy could cozy up and share body heat. I closed my eyes and fell asleep moments after.

  Just over an hour later, we pulled into a gas station on the edge of Tonopah. The car was running on fumes and my fellow travellers were hungry and thirsty. I sat slunk down low in the back with the hood of my winter jacket drawn forward to hide my face.

  “Let’s be quick, people,” Brad said as Alan cut the engine. “The longer we’re here, the more likely someone notices the cracked windshield.”

  “Not to mention the busted headlight and scorch marks,” Alan said with a smirk.

  Lilith breathed into her cupped hands. “Oh my God. I need to brush my teeth before someone gets hurt,” she said before thrusting the passenger door open and heading in to use the washroom.

  Brad finished pumping gas and went in to pay, passing Lilith returning the other way as a green Plymouth Satellite pulled in behind us. I ducked low in the back seat as the driver got out and started to fill up.

  The Satellite’s driver looked to be a late twenties, early thirties male with chestnut-brown hair. He was dressed casually in a white T-shirt, jeans, and work boots. A pack of cigarettes was visible on his shoulder, twisted into the sleeve of his short-sleeve shirt. He held an unlit cigarette between his lips and looked around idly as the numbers on the pump rolled by. His gaze passed over us, then moved back abruptly.

  “Oh, boy,” Lilith said as he studied our car with interest. “Is he looking at the char marks?”

  “Yeah, I think so,” I replied.

  Lilith got out as the man finished pumping and approached us.

  “Morning, miss,” he said, slipping off his sunglasses. “This your car?”

  Lilith shook her head. “No, sir. It’s my boyfriend’s.”

  “My buddy has one just like it,” the man said. He leaned to the side, looking at the Buick’s rear end. “Yours is in rougher shape, mind you. You drive it through a forest fire?”

  Lilith wagged her head. “He bought it that way. He’s going to fix it up.”

  The stranger stared a moment, raising a brow. “Huh. Well, all right, then. Hope it gets you where you’re going. You got far to go?”

  Lilith shrugged. “Reno.”

  “Figured you weren’t from around here,” the man replied, slipping his sunglasses back into place. “Safe travels.”

  He stepped between the pumps and went inside as Alan appeared with grocery bags in hand.

  “What’d that dude want?” Alan asked as he slipped into the back seat next to Lilith.

  “Just some guy. He noticed the burn marks,” Lilith said. “Aren’t you going to drive?”

  “Lucy’s going to take over,” Alan said. “I’m wiped out. I didn’t sleep a wink last night.”

  Brad and Lucy jumped into the car a half minute later, carrying bags of snacks for the road. The young woman started the car, pulled out onto the street, and drove us toward US Route 95, which would take us to Las Vegas.

  By the time we reached the highway, Alan had fallen asleep. Lilith leaned against him, resting her head on his shoulder, and moments later nodded off too. Ten minutes later, Brad joined the young couple, resting his head against the side window, mouth slightly ajar.

  Pushing the car and everyone in it across to the Underfrost, and not having slept in days except for a short nap in the
freezer at the arcade, I, too, found myself struggling to stay awake. I chatted with Lucy for a while to keep her company, but before long, the gentle rocking of the car combined with the air conditioning lulled me to sleep.

  Chapter 29

  Shoshone

  I woke sometime later to the sound of music playing on the radio. Alan and Brad still dozed while Lilith looked out the window at the passing countryside.

  The teenage girl looked over at me. “Déjà vu all over again,” she said. “At least no one’s following us this time.”

  “Wouldn’t matter,” Brad said with a yawn. He rubbed his eyes. “Shivurr would just mess them up—use his magic on them.”

  “It’s not magic,” I said.

  “Come on, dude. We flew through those fire things like phantoms. This entire car. I saw it.”

  “Fire elementals,” I said. “I call them fire elementals.”

  “Whatever. Point is, you ghosted us and brought us back. A couple days ago, you stopped a car just by waving your hands at it.”

  “And Alan told us what he saw in Wil’s backyard, during the fire,” Lilith added.

  “Exactly,” Brad said. “Magic. Tell him, Lucy.”

  “Science or magic, you’re amazing, Shivurr,” Lucy said, looking at me in the rear-view mirror.

  “Ah, I’m blushing.”

  Lucy laughed. “I’ll take your word for it.”

  “How much farther, Lucy?” Brad asked.

  “A few more hours, I think.”

  Brad looked at me. “Where do we pick up Caleb?”

  “Uh, you can’t. At least not without a boat.” I removed my hat and shoved my hand inside, pulling out an ice-cold soda.

  “Hold this, would you?” I said to Lilith. She took it wordlessly, and I reached in again. This time, I pulled out Olivia’s Walkman.

  “Is that my Walkman?” Lilith asked. “I thought I left it at Scott’s place.”

  “Uh-uh. Orithyia—I mean Olivia gave it to me.”

  “Olivia?” Lucy asked. “Oh my God, Shivurr, she must be devastated. Does she know about Wilhelm and Bear?”