by Travis Brett
“That’s okay. I’ve already decided to kick you out of my team anyway.”
“What?”
Roman grinned. “Well, you did kinda break your promise, remember? You weren’t meant to follow me into the Ministry. I can’t keep you if I can’t trust you.”
“Whatever.” She nudged him playfully with her good shoulder. “You can’t kick me out, you’ve no one else left. Besides, you work for me, remember?”
“I distinctly recall it being the other way around.”
“Don’t be so naive.”
They fell in a comfortable silence while they watched six glowing blue figures scale the Security Ministry. The Adrenalites climbed between the windows. One by one, they tore off the steel beams supporting the Ministry’s walls and cast them to the ground.
Roman thought about asking them to stop. Not because of the Adrenalites still underground, but because of all the resources still inside, especially the books. But he decided that, right at this moment, he didn’t really give a damn.
“Legacy won’t be the same after this,” he said.
“It won’t. But the world has been through worse,” Ruby replied. “After the Days of Fire, people learned to move on. They’ll do the same again. Humans are far too stubborn to know when to quit.”
Roman nodded. “Yeah. We are.”
After a drawn-out silence, he asked the one question that wouldn’t leave his mind. “Ruby. Why did you follow me into the ministry?”
She looked away. “I thought about what would happen if I escaped, but you had died in there. And I decided that I couldn’t live with that.”
Roman’s heart lodged in his throat, along with his lungs and everything else. I just killed Juliette, and helped bring down an entire Ministry, I shouldn’t be nervous about this. He carefully put his arm around her. “I can’t say that I’ve enjoyed all this.” He gestured to the Ministry, just as another two steel beams came crashing down. “But I’m damn glad that you stuck with me through it all. I . . . appreciate you.”
“Wow, you don’t hold back, do you?”
“Fine. I care about you.”
“I already guessed that,” she said softly.
“Of course you did. I just wanted to say it.”
From the ministry came a deep rumbling. The Adrenalite’s leapt from their positions, hitting the ground and running away just as the first giant crack appeared in the wall. Another crack came, then a third. The rumbling quickly became a roar when the Ministry began to tilt. Roman watched in awe as the building’s foundations caved in. The tower of concrete and steel came crashing down onto the Ministry of Science. The buildings collided and the ground shook violently.
Watching the two towers crumble, Roman didn’t think he had ever seen anything so impressive, or as satisfying. The noise was deafening as Reformation square was engulfed in a storm of dust. When the ground finally went still, he let out the breath he had been holding.
“Death to the captain,” he muttered softly. “Death to the Ministries.”
Ruby chuckled. “Who’d have thought it would end like this.”
“Yeah. Who’d have thought.”
They sat there for hours, with Ruby’s head on Roman’s shoulder, both lost in their own thoughts as they stared at the ruins.
Epilogue
Roman knew he was being followed.
Ruby was back at home, asleep. Gods knew she needed it. In all honesty, Roman needed it too. It had been a hell of a day. He had slept for a couple hours, laying beside her, but had woken just after the sun had set, frustratingly awake and restless. He got up, put on his coat, and headed for the Mutt’s Tail.
He made it four blocks when he first noticed his pursuer.
He wasn’t surprised. Not really. Somehow he had suspected the boy would make an appearance, although he hadn’t expected it this soon.
Roman didn’t acknowledge Sparks until he arrived at the bar. He opened the door but didn’t go inside. Instead, he stepped to the side, turned to the boy, and motioned for him to go first.
Sparks’ stopped dead in his tracks, five paces behind. “You knew I was trailing you?”
Roman nodded. “You’ve got a lot of talents, kid. But being subtle isn’t one of them.”
“Oh.”
They stepped inside and claimed their usual booth. Roman signalled Griff for a pair of drinks. Sparks put his feet on his chair, squatting with his chin on his knees. “You came back for me,” he said simply.
“I did.”
“Why?”
“I owed it to you. After all, you saved my life at the station. Also, it was for Caleb. He would have come for you by himself if he had to.”
Sparks looked down. For once, the boy looked as young as he was. “It’s my fault he died.”
“He chose to do what he did.”
“But he chose it for me.”
“Yeah. He did.”
They fell into silence, during which Griff delivered two beers. If Griff had any comments about their wounds and bloodstained clothes, he kept them to himself. Roman raised his mug to his lips and took a deep gulp. He didn’t think he had ever appreciated alcohol as much as he did right then — Tan would have been proud.
Finally, he said, “You’re just going to have to live with it.”
“But how?”
“You don’t have a choice. Yes, Caleb died today, and yes, if it wasn’t for you, he might still be alive. But the guilt won’t kill you. No matter how much you wish it would. And you’ll hate yourself for a long time, but then you’ll get revenge, maybe, and after that . . . I don’t know what happens after that. I guess we’ll both find out.”
Slowly, Sparks lifted his head, brushed his fringe to the side, and took a long drink of his beer. He put it back down with a weary sigh, closing his eyes. Roman finished his drink. The silence lengthened and become uncomfortable.
Sparks broke it first. “How’s Ruby?”
“Still alive.”
“That’s good.”
“Better than the alternative.”
Sparks nodded. “So . . . what happens now?”
“Now I get another drink.” Roman motioned to Griff again.
“I mean, what are you gonna do? Go back to being a historian?”
Roman shook his head. “I’m done with being concerned about the past.”
“Then what?”
Roman considered this while Griff delivered the next round of drinks. What did he want? He supposed he could try live a standard life, working at the steelworks, or the granaries. No, that wasn’t an option. “Maybe I’ll look to the future. I reckon Legacy needs a bounty hunter now more than ever, and I reckon I’m the most qualified for the job. But, this time, I won’t limit myself to rogue Adrenalites. There are a couple hundred bandits in this city that somebody needs to stand up to.”
Sparks raised an eyebrow. “Kinda hard to be a bounty hunter without the Ministry to pay the bounties, isn’t it?”
“I’ll manage. I always have.”
“You’ll need a new team.”
“I suppose I will.”
“Then there’s nobody you’ll want more than me,” Sparks said. “After all, I am the best fighter in Legacy.”
Roman couldn’t hide his surprise, or his suspicion that followed. “I thought you’d want to stay with Candle.”
Sparks shook his head. “I like Candle. He’s a good fighter. An amazing one, really.”
“So what’s the problem?”
“The problem is that if I ever want a proper challenge, and a chance to prove I really am the best, then I better align myself with whoever is going to be fighting against Candle.”
“I’m not opposing him.”
“But a man like him, and a man like you, both in this city — it won’t take long before one of you finds a reason to kill the other. And when that happens I plan to have a front-row seat to the action.”
Roman took a sip of his drink while he thought this over. “I can’t think of a worse re
ason for anyone to join my team,” he said. “But right now, I don’t think I have any other volunteers.”
Sparks smiled. “I’ll want—”
Roman pulled a pair of activation needles from his jacket and laid them on the table. “I took these while we were leaving the Ministry,” he explained. “They’re yours now.”
Sparks’ eyes narrowed. “That was too easy. You’re serious?”
“Dead serious.”
“You trust me now?”
“I’ve accepted the fact that if you were going to kill me, you’ve had plenty of opportunities by now.”
“Missed opportunities.” Sparks winked. “I already regret them.”
“You will regret it if you ever double cross me.”
“I won’t,” Sparks said, then quickly added, “Probably won’t, at least.”
“Good.”
“I just have one question.”
“Just the one?”
“Yeah. You told Juliette this city was a shit hole. So why go back to risking your life for it?”
Roman didn’t have an answer to that. Not a proper one, at least. “Someone needs to do it.”
“But why you?”
“I’m someone, I guess.” Roman finished his drink and considered whether he needed a third or not. Probably not.
Sparks frowned, confused. “But it’s not your fault.”
“That’s true. This isn’t our mess.” Roman motioned for that third drink regardless. “We’re just the cleanup crew.”
“We,” Sparks said the word slowly, as if tasting it.
Roman nodded. “That’s right. We’re partners now.”
“What does that mean exactly?”
“It means we’re gonna have to protect each other.”
Sparks smiled. “I’ll have your back, if you watch mine.”
Roman extended his hand. Sparks shook it. And Roman realized that he truly believed the kid. Also, having seen the kid fight, he knew there was no one better to have protecting him than Sparks.
Sparks’ grinned, obviously pleased with himself. Still, his expression held a generous amount of bewilderment, as if he couldn’t quite believe the two of them had actually agreed to work together. Roman figured he probably had the same damn expression on his own face.
Griff laid a pair of drinks on the table. “A toast, then,” Roman said, taking his glass and raising it. “To the future of Legacy.”
Sparks’ glass met Roman’s. “To this shit hole of a city. Because it’s our city.”
The boy had the right of it, Roman reckoned. Legacy might be hell, might be falling apart, might be doomed, but it was theirs, and it was all they had left. Adrenalite or not, everyone was trapped here together, for better or for worse, in Humanity’s last city.
It wasn’t much, but it was worth fighting for.
Well, that’s the end.
Thank you for reading Legacy.
It was a journey to write.
