by S. J Woods
The atmosphere, at the aircraft hangar, had been flat and almost stagnant, but Dane could feel the change in their energy as they gathered up their belongings ready for their hike into the wilderness. So far, there had been none of the team bonding that had occurred naturally on the assessment journey. Seraphine had maintained a cool, detached demeanour with everybody, apart from Faith. Dane was surprised at how different she was, barely speaking to him unless it was to bark commands during his individual training. The rest of the team remained in the loose groups that they had arrived in; their home territory of North, South or West being where they seemed most at ease. There hadn’t been a lot of time for making conversation and the confined pen that they ate, trained and slept in felt too claustrophobic to speak freely, particularly under Seraphine’s watchful eye.
Dane fell into step with Riku as they moved back into the main body of the building to make their departure. They passed the bank of transportation pods and exited the huge structure onto an empty airfield. With the exception of Cami, they had seen no one during their stay and Dane was disappointed to see that the whole complex was bare of any vehicles or people as they marched the length of a runway. A metal fence, over twenty-feet in height and circling the perimeter of the airfield, seemed impenetrable, but Seraphine led them towards it with confidence, and as they neared it, a portion of the metal wall parted for them to cross.
The squad paused as they passed through the boundary, stopping to take in their surroundings in awe. The airfield was situated in the middle of a huge clearing, surrounded by thick, green forest. The forest seemed miles away on all sides and the only thing visible, aside from the brilliant, cloudless blue sky, were the craggy brown mountains that loomed in the distance. Dane felt a burst of excitement as the sight invoked memories of both his hometown and the assessed journey. The air, which had been hot and stale in the enclosed yard, brimming with insects and dust, was fresh and clean out in the open. Without any formal command, the pace picked up naturally as Seraphine led them along the perimeter of the metal fence towards the forest.
She didn’t speak as they marched, and it crossed Dane’s mind to wonder whether she’d been here before as she showed no sign of hesitation as they entered the forest, approximately half a mile away from the entrance to the airfield. The forest was dense, and the ground was almost impassable as the undergrowth flourished at the damp, dark base of the trees. Seraphine stepped through the vegetation, beating a path for the team to follow. As they passed deeper into the forestry, the natural light grew scarce, with only the tiniest glimpses of the sky visible in patches. At first, they were too busy concentrating on following Seraphine’s crude path, avoiding sinking deeper into brambles and losing their footing, but as Dane grew accustomed to the unpredictability of the ground beneath him, he began to take in their surroundings.
With no sun visible through the thick canopy, Dane realised that he had lost all bearing of the direction they were travelling in; for all he could tell they could be moving in a straight line or moving in circles going nowhere. Nobody spoke, except to call out warnings to each other when the ground beneath them became deceptively thick and tangled, and the only sounds were their footsteps, the rustle of the brush around them and, in the distance, foreign calls of what Dane assumed were the wildlife of the woods.
They walked for some time, but with little natural light and no technological navigation, they had no idea of knowing when their journey would end. Dane walked at the back of the group with Riku in front of him. At times, the trees grew so close to one another that Dane couldn’t make out Seraphine at the head of the pack. He had volunteered to carry an additional bag, and he found himself starting to grow weary from the combined weight. A while back, he had noticed Riku and Gia, in front of him, start to show signs of tiring. Their breathing had become heavier and the rhythmic crackle of their footsteps on the undergrowth was punctuated by occasional sighs. Dane wished he were closer to the front to be able to ask Seraphine how much longer they would be walking, or even where they were headed.
He didn’t want to call out to her and so he continued to follow, wishing he had counted his steps or the time, anything to give him more of an indication of his bearings. He was used to putting blind trust in his Officers and he remained silent, keeping his eye on the progress of his squad ahead of him. Gia and Niall had slowed down, and Dane could make out a gap growing between them and the rest of the group ahead. A few times, he lost sight of Neha, who was walking directly in front of them, but she would reappear in the thick knot of wood as quickly as she’d disappeared from sight.
“They need to quicken up.” Riku muttered to Dane as they exchanged glances when Gia stumbled ahead of them.
“I know.” Dane replied through gritted teeth, not wanting them to overhear. “Do you have any idea how long we’ve been walking?”
Riku glanced at his wrist-device, and Dane was surprised to see Riku’s was still functional, unlike his own that had been reset to transmit his data to the Commanders but was useless to him as a communication or navigation tool.
“About five hours.” Riku replied.
“Yours still works!” Dane exclaimed in surprise; Gia and Niall’s struggles temporarily forgotten. “Do you know where we are?”
Riku looked over his shoulder at Dane, holding a warning finger to his lips. “No idea.”
The look he gave Dane told him that he certainly had a good idea of where they were, and Dane nodded to communicate that he understood not to ask again. Already in his mind, he was trying to figure out how to get Riku to divulge this without it being monitored by their devices.
They marched on for some time, before Dane felt that enough time had passed to ask again. This time, he scurried forward a little and tapped Riku silently to get his attention. He pointed to his own wrist and frowned to silently question how much time had passed. Riku’s head snapped back to check that nobody was watching, reminding Dane of his wordless conversation on the first day with Gia. When it was clear that the squad were focussed on the never-ending forest ahead of them, Riku glanced at his own device and held up seven fingers, indicating that another two hours had passed. Dane was debating calling out to Seraphine when he realised the group had drawn to a halt.
“Well done.” Seraphine was addressing the team, as Riku and Dane caught up to the huddle.
They were still in deep forest, despite walking for seven hours. He looked at the tired faces around him, seeing that everyone was looking more than a little weary and fed-up.
“We’ll set up camp here,” Seraphine continued. “We’ll start to travel again in the night.”
“Here?” Kaya held out her hands in genuine disbelief.
There was a faint murmur through the squad as a few people echoed Kaya’s surprise. Dane remained silent, but he felt equally surprised. He’d expected a clearing or a camp on the edge of the forest, similar to where they had stayed during the assessment. The area where they were huddled for Seraphine’s address was identical to the forest that they had been walking in for the best part of seven hours. The trees were packed tightly, barely an arm’s length apart in places, the undergrowth was ankle-deep and there was no way they could even stand in a circle, let alone lie down to sleep.
“Yes, here.” Seraphine said in a tone that commanded no further questions.
They drew the lightweight sleeping sacks from their bags, and Faith handed around hydration and nutrition capsules. The light above the forest was dimming, casting eerie twilight around the squad, and now that they were still and quiet, the calls and cries of the forest wildlife sounded strange and disturbing. Gia let out a strangled cry as something unfamiliar crawled across her arm, and she shuffled towards Dane, checking her arms thoroughly before submerging them completely in the makeshift bed. Dane pulled the hood of the bag up over his head and lay down, using his backpack as a pillow. He closed his eyes, anxious to fall asleep quickly, knowing that Seraphine’s orders were to move on before dawn.
&n
bsp; He woke with a start, the overwhelming darkness causing his heart to pound rapidly before consciousness returned and he remembered where he was. His eyes took a few moments to adjust to the night around him, but the moon must have been high in a cloudless sky as a silver-blue light could be seen above the shadowy black trees looming all around them. Dane wriggled one arm free from the sleeping bag, enough to prop himself onto his side and look around him. He could make out the shapes of his sleeping squad close by. Gia was next to him, breathing softly, tiny movements in her sleep rustling the nylon covers. Neha was beside her and then Niall. The bodies of the others were obscured, partly by the darkness and partly by the thicket of trees surrounding them. He raised his wrist to check the time, before remembering that it was nothing more than a fancy tracking device until training was completed. He shifted onto his other side, expecting to see Riku sleeping less than a metre away, but his empty sleeping bag and backpack sent a wave of panic through his spine. He pulled himself up into a sitting position, straining his eyes and his ears into the night to listen out for Riku returning before he risked overreacting and woke anyone up.
Without any concept of time, Dane started to count silently in his head, telling himself that he would give Riku one-hundred seconds before he got up to investigate. He lowered the hood of his sleeping bag, opening his ears up to listen past the chirping of nocturnal insects and the rustle of leaves. A sound, like footsteps crunching carefully over the tangle of undergrowth, made Dane sit up straighter, breath held to hear clearly. Just as he had dismissed it as the dash of a small animal, he heard it again, closer this time and accompanied by hushed voices. He opened his mouth ready to call out to his friend, but before he could he heard a whisper, angry and female.
“It’s not your place to be asking questions. This is an order.”
Dane flinched at the tone of the words, recognising the voice as Seraphine’s. He waited for a response, but none came. There was a crackle as footsteps moved closer, and he slid back down into his sleeping bag before he was seen. He felt Riku moving around next to him and sensed another person, Seraphine, stood over them.
“I don’t know if I can do it alone,” Riku’s voice was quiet and cold. “That’s all.”
“That’s fine,” Seraphine’s cool reply came. “The girl will be at base camp with her squad.”
“That’s fine then.” Dane heard a rustle next to him and pictured Riku turning away from their Officer.
Riku’s breathing grew deep and even after a few minutes, but Dane could hear Seraphine still moving around. Dane lay awake; their short exchange turning over in his mind. He wanted to ask Riku what they were talking about, but there was no opportunity to speak with every word they uttered being transmitted back to the Command Centre. He thought back to Gia, face pale, erasing the number in the dust that signified their dead-and-never-mentioned colleagues. He had never questioned an order in his military career, but the secrecy shrouding the operation was making him feel anxious and uneasy. There was something about both conversations which was stirring up a fraction of a memory in him; no images or sounds came to mind, no names, just the emotion tied to the fragment of whatever it was his mind was trying to retrieve. The more he tried to remember, the further it seemed to slip, and he willed his brain to switch off, conscious that even his sleep pattern was being sent back to the AMS database.
When he felt like it was safe, he opened his eyes again, staring up at the diamonds of silver-blue light that could be seen high above the treetops. The sky darkened as a cloud moved overhead, and Dane almost jumped out of his skin when he felt a light touch on his shoulder. He turned slowly towards it, seeing Gia’s arm was free from her covering and was bridging the ground between them.
“Ok?” He mumbled quietly, not wanting to wake the others.
He heard, rather than saw, her edge a little closer. He wished that there was enough light to make eye contact, so he could implore her to be cautious with her words.
“Riku ok?” She spoke so quietly that her words were little more than a sigh.
Dane freed his own arm from the sleeping-bag and searched in the darkness for her own hand. He felt her start to recoil, surprised at his gesture, but he started to trace out letters on the back of her hand in response to her question and she relaxed instantly, concentrating on his message.
“Seraphine?” Dane spelt out, emphasising the point on the question mark.
Gia was still a moment, maybe deciphering Dane’s message or its meaning, but as he was ready to withdraw his hand, he felt her nimbly turn his over and she started to reply.
Dane found interpreting the light strokes difficult and Gia had to repeat her message several times before he thought he understood what she was telling him. He felt his chest tighten and it took all his self-control to not utter the words aloud back to her to check he wasn’t misunderstanding a simple response. The sky above was growing lighter with each passing minute as dawn started to arrive, and Dane could just about make out the expression of concern on Gia’s face that matched the word she had spelled out.
“Don’t. Trust. Them.”
ELEVEN
The next day was much the same; a quiet trek through identical terrain with little interaction between the team. Dane’s body was growing tired with the monotony, but his mind was alive, still processing Gia’s warning.
He searched for distractions as they marched, looking out for plants that he recognised and keeping an eye on the sky above for glimpses of the sun, determined to teach himself to at least measure the hours that passed. He saw his first real wild animal. The cities were bare of any real plants, trees and water which discouraged any small creatures from crossing the boundaries of the National Parks, and the skies had been emptied of avian life years before to allow the air traffic to flow safely. Dane had kept his position at the back of the pack, but Riku had moved forward a few spaces. He hadn’t said much to Dane and seemed quiet and subdued. Dane had tried to get his attention, but Riku seemed to be purposely avoiding making eye contact with him, which made Dane feel even more concerned about the exchange he had overheard.
Gia, however, had dropped back into Riku’s place and when they heard a crash behind, they both turned and witnessed a golden-brown deer hurtling away from them into the thicket.
“Wow!” Gia exhaled, stock still and staring at the animal. “Was that a deer?”
“I think so.” Dane agreed.
The animal was long gone now, and Dane turned back, surprised that the rest of the squad hadn’t heard the commotion. Dane saw that a gap had grown between them in the time they’d stood staring after the magnificent creature. They looked at each other for a moment, suddenly very aware that they were alone for the first time. Gia’s face remained calm, but her eyes widened giving away her nerves that he might ask her to elaborate on either of their silent conversations. Dane saw the fear shadow her dark eyes and he turned away; as much as he wanted to know whatever she thought she knew, he didn’t want to cause her any distress.
“We’d better hurry.” He said, breaking their stillness and moving in the direction that he hoped the squad were travelling.
Gia nodded gratefully. “I hope they haven’t gone too far. It’s hard getting used to having no technology to fall back on.”
“Do you think we’ll get it back when we’ve finished training?” Dane asked, more to make conversation and put her at ease than out of any interest.
He picked up the pace and moved forward, carefully sticking to a straight line.
“I hope so,” Gia said, glancing nervously at her wrist-device. “It was bad enough when the country had that outage while we were home. People were freaking out!”
“Really?” Dane glanced back at her, raising an eyebrow. “It was for all of two minutes. If I hadn’t been in the middle of a landslide simulation with three little kids, I don’t think I’d have even noticed.”
“It was longer than that!” Gia protested. “What the hell were you doing that for?�
�
Dane explained briefly how he had taken his sister and foster-siblings on a hike, glossing over the details. “It was definitely less than two minutes even if it felt longer.”
“No way!” Gia shook her head decisively. “I was training with our Attendant and all the equipment switched off, I nearly fell off! Ally was frozen for so long! I completely freaked out!”
“I didn’t realise it froze the Artificials.” Dane said, surprised. “Although, I suppose that would make sense. It was over as soon as it had begun. It probably just felt like a long time because it was so weird.”
“One hundred percent it was longer than that!” Gia looked adamant. “I had to look at her creepy frozen face for about five minutes because the doors were frozen shut. Everyone in the block was freaking out! They couldn’t call anyone. There were people stuck in capsules. It’s lucky nobody crashed an air-pod!”
“I think the air-pods have emergency floatation,” Dane told her. “They’ll stay up for maximum five minutes if the charge dies or something shorts the system. So, it can’t have been that long.”
“Maybe,” Gia shrugged. “It felt like forever. Do you know what the weirdest thing was, though?”
Dane looked over his shoulder at her as she was speaking and even as the words left her mouth, she realised what she was saying and paled.
“We should walk a bit quicker.” Dane said quickly, looking to give her an out before she incriminated herself on any data that was being transmitted.
She gave him a grateful smile and mouthed the words “thank you” to him. Dane wasn’t willing to let a third mysterious conversation go though and he leaned forward, scooping up a handful of dried leaves. He stopped walking and pointed to his wrist-device, pulling his jacket down over the top of it and freeing one shoulder from his back pack, sliding the straps down so it hung over his wrist. Gia watched him with interest and a look of understanding flickered across her eyes. She mimicked his movement and took a handful of leaves. She started to crunch them in a fist over the device and looked Dane dead in the eye.
