by Mark Russo
“What are you doing?” I asked while chasing after him. “We can’t go in there.”
“I can. Andrew asked me for a small heating system to be installed in his tent.”
“Okay, you check it. I’ll wait outside.”
Vaim entered the tent as everyone around us stared at him, no longer clapping.
A few seconds later, he was already out. “The thing I put in there works normally. Anya is not there. Did you see her leaving?”
“No. She almost never leaves. Let’s ask Andrew.”
We looked around but didn’t see him. I asked people, without success. Vaim went left, and I went right to cover more ground. Several heads shook before me. When I checked on the robot, he did that too. We met again after having gone full circle around the camp, coming up empty-handed.
“No one saw or heard from Andrew or Anya,” Vaim said.
“Good thing we didn’t startle these people too much.”
“Where might have they gone?”
“There’s not much to see around here. I really have no clue.”
The youngest guy approached us. He looked over his shoulder and leaned forward. “Milan, can I have a second, in private?”
I stepped away from Vaim and asked him to continue.
“Look. I didn’t want to talk around people, but Andrew told me Anya was not doing well. It’s not like we were friends or anything, just once I saw her running in the middle of the camp barely wearing any clothes.”
“Are you saying she suffers from mental illness?”
The guy rolled his eyes. “I’m not an expert, but she did not seem fully conscious. She approached me and mumbled some confused sounds before running away again.”
I nodded, trying to conceal my thoughts. “Okay, this all is very sad. Do you know where to find them?”
He shook his head while he exhaled. “Nope, but I thought this information might be relevant.”
“It sure was. Thanks.”
I found Vaim tinkering with the generator. The thing seemed to work already; all lights were on, and it whirred just fine, but he would not let the thing be.
“Will you let that poor thing be? It’s working. We’re done with it. Come on, let’s see if we can find those two.”
He gestured, suggesting he would follow me, all with a new blankness in his eyes.
We went to the side of the camp away from other people’s sight and took the path that led to the woods. No better ideas came to my mind. I could have flown, but that would have stuck out too much. The robot and I walked without speaking.
I slowed my pace and silently went by his side.
He did not react. His eyes stared mindlessly at the horizon.
We came to a furrow in the ground dug by a water stream. When I jumped, he did the same. He landed on both his feet and kept marching forward in stride.
I tried something different. My pace slowed again so he would lead the way.
Again, he kept sauntering in front of me, as nothing had happened.
I slowed even more.
His back remained straight as he cruised forward.
I stopped and yelled from a distance, “Vaim? What are you doing?”
He turned to face me in slow motion. His mouth opened, but his words made little sense.
I got closer. “Man, what is going on? You seem weirder than usual.”
“Yes, okay, I’ll tell you.” He exhaled loudly. “I’ve been having some issues with my core unit. I tried to fix it, but I did not manage yet.”
“Can I do anything for that?”
“No, you can’t. I’m running some tests in the evenings, but I can’t solve this.”
I patted his back, and we walked again. Given what he had just said, I gave up on all tricks and focused on finding Andrew and Anya. We entered an area where the woods thickened. The sunrays could hardly penetrate the thick canopy of the tall trees.
“Did Andrew share anything about Anya? That guy Cody said she’s not doing her best,” I said after looking around for a second.
Vaim opened his arms. “No, he did not. He just wanted to make sure she had something to keep her warm at night.”
“He could do that himself.”
He did not react to my joke. “I don’t think he could, since he asked me,” he said, further confirming that he did not get my joke.
“Let’s switch topics completely. Did you ever see Anya? Could you say someone was her if you met her?”
Leaning on a large tree trunk in front of us stood Andrew. “Hey, guys. What are you doing in this part of the woods?”
“We were looking for you. Vaim installed a heater in your tent for Anya.”
He took a couple of seconds to gather his thoughts. “Thanks. There was no need for you to come and tell me in person, but thank you.”
“Sorry, we did not mean to intrude,” I said.
Something rustling through the dead leaves stopped our conversation. A barely dressed woman with matted hair emerged from behind a bush and ran for the depths of the wood.
Andrew’s face reddened. “I really did not want you guys to see that.”
“What is this?” I asked.
“Anya. She ran away from her tent this morning,” he stated without making eye contact.
“Can we help you? What are you doing here?”
“See if you can … catch her, but please, do not hurt her,” he said in a low voice.
I asked Vaim to go left so I could go right. We would circle Anya so we can easily get to her.
Andrew heard the whole plan and did not comment.
When I left the others behind me, the voice in my head pestered me. “It looks like you’re not the craziest one around anymore.” I ignored the message and kept moving forward. The wood expanded for as far as I could see; I had never explored this area before. I heard her ungainly footsteps somewhere around me, but I could not see her. The option of using my skills did not seem viable, as I did not want Andrew to notice anything different about me. I passed a scrawny bush and spotted the woman kneeling by a pond and watching something inside it. My next steps could have been stealthier, but Anya did not react. I had gotten close enough to talk to her. “What are you doing?”
“I want to make sure my face remains the same. It changed. I don’t recognize myself anymore. I don’t want it to change again,” she said while staring at the blurry reflection of herself on the surface of the pond.
“Are you trying to stop time?”
“Yes, that is my main task. You can help if you want.”
Vaim and Andrew had gotten close and approached her. They helped her up, and her husband offered her his jacket. She calmly accepted, and we returned to camp. When we arrived, Andrew walked Anya to her tent as most of the other people watched them. Some approached me to asked what had been happening, but I dodged their questions. I noticed Vaim standing outside Andrew’s tent, almost immobile. They asked me about him, but I deflected their queries again.
Andrew exited shortly after and walked toward me; that was when those two guys left me in peace. “The heating system works just fine. Is your friend okay? He seems a little off today.”
“He’s going through some stuff. He’ll be better.”
“Thanks for today. I trust we can keep all you saw between us.”
I nodded as I gently touched his elbow. “Listen. We must thank your friends. If it wasn’t for them, we wouldn’t have electric lights here. Let’s have them over this evening. We could all use a little party.”
“Okay, I’ll invite them. We could use a little party.”
I stepped away and went to Vaim still standing outside Anya’s tent, as if his internal engines had switched off. “Come on, we should return to Emma. Andrew wants us all here this evening. We’re having a party.”
He gazed in my eyes for way too long. “Okay, you can go. I’ll need a minute or two. I’m just working out some updates on my system.”
“Okay, I’ll fly there. Don’t let us wait too much
. You must handle the transportation.”
He said he would then shook my hand, despite that we usually would not do that.
I jumped in the air, headed for the other island. While in the sky, I spotted the third island too, the tiniest one. We had never gone there.
“You will not dodge your responsibilities forever, Vagras. You’re a murderer.” I ignored the voice and kept flying straight. “They’ll find out, eventually. You won’t get away with this.” I accelerated. Maybe the noise of the air would cover the sound of my thoughts.
18
Emma
A lot more people than I would usually see gathered around a large bonfire, sharing beers, and talking. Their voices intertwined, producing quite a lot of noise. That was when I realized no one was talking directly to me, so I took a walk around the fire.
The flying people were always roasting dead animals on their fire. I wasn’t close enough to decipher what kind of beast the carcass was. I looked away before the knot around my stomach got too tight.
Andrew’s group had many more people than I had remembered. I was seeing some of them for the very first time. I made eye contact with a graying-haired, tall man.
“You must be Emma,” he said when he got closer.
“I’m sorry, but I don’t know your name.”
“I’m Neal. We’ve never spoken before, but you’re famous around here. Everyone talks about the others.”
“I hope they do in a good way.”
He took a pause that really made me think they did not.
“Of course, they all do. And now that you guys got us electricity, they have an even higher opinion of you guys.”
I paused before changing the subject. “So, Neil, what were you before the apocalypse?”
“I-I was a US Marine. Then it all kinda changed.”
“Yes, it changed for all of us. I was a student. Now these people look at me and expect me to solve their problems.”
“That seems like a lot of responsibility. You definitely are a tough one.”
He smiled as Vagras approached us in his new suit.
“Is this one bothering you?” he joked.
“No, it’s fine. Why don’t you keep him company while I get myself some more beer?”
The two flying guys behind me talked loudly as I noticed was Vaim sitting by himself on a large rock. Maybe it was because he wasn’t eating or drinking, but he seemed weirder than usual.
“What are you doing here all alone?”
He fidgeted with the only button on his t-shirt. “I’m updating my system. It has been giving me some problems recently.”
“Well, I’d be lying if I said I didn’t notice.”
“Many told me so. Even Anya, Andrew’s wife, noted I looked a bit off.”
“I don’t think I know her. Can you introduce us?”
He turned his messy head and pointed at a woman wearing a large fur coat moving a large box around the camp.
I made eye contact with her, and she gestured with her hand for me to come closer. When I reached her, she dropped the box, came by my side, and invited me to walk with her. She took me by the arm, and I almost froze.
“Don’t worry, Emma. I have just a couple things I’d like to say to you,” she said as she almost dragged me forward.
“You know my name? It looks like everyone knows my name around here.”
“And why does that surprise you? You did a lot for us. This entire party is for you.” She kept pushing me forward and placed her body too close to mine.
“I’m glad we could help you. I’m sure you didn’t ask me to come here just to flatter me, right?”
She stopped shoving me and appeared in front of my face.
I looked around to see she had brought me to the entrance of her tent.
“Come in. You need to see something.”
I kneeled and followed her into her lair. The tent interior looked much bigger than it seemed from the outside, and it reeked of incense. Lots of carpets and drapes crowded the space, giving the idea of a Persian antique store.
She sat in front of me and offered me some tea.
I happily replaced my beer with that; it couldn’t have been worse than that. Bas-relief ornaments adorned the small metallic cup she offered, and it instantly warmed my hands. I took a sip, and the tea tasted like incense too. It could have been worse.
“Thanks for following me in here, Emma. Make yourself comfortable.”
I had already done that, as my body had sunk in the large pillows. I had not been that relaxed in the last couple days. “Thank you for having me. I didn’t know you had such a nice place for yourself.”
“We’ve been here for quite some time now. I’m trying to make it look like a house, the more I can.” The lines around her eyes deepened, framing her two blue stones in a complex structure of skin and eyes.
“This tea tastes much better than most stuff I’ve had recently. How do you even have this?”
She smiled but covered her mouth with her hand. That one was almost wrinkle free. “I had a lot of this before the apocalypse. Now I’m just using my stocks. Until then, we can enjoy this.”
“I’m glad to hear that, but I guess you didn’t invite me here just to have a cup of tea.” I wondered if that came across as too blunt, but her face didn’t show any peculiar reaction.
“Just a second. I have to concentrate for that.” She closed her eyes and breathed noisily, her nostrils widening. It continued for a minute, and I almost got up to check if she had fallen asleep. When her eyes opened again, they were completely white. “Hi, there,” she said in a voice that wasn’t hers but of someone I hadn’t heard in nearly a month.
“Is this really you, Maria?”
Anya’s body was almost completely still except for her mouth moving. “Yes, it is. You don’t recognize my voice? It hasn’t been that long.”
“The voice is not the problem, it’s where it comes from. Can you please tell me what’s happening?”
“You don’t have to worry for me. I’m doing fine.”
A teardrop reached my right eye. “Are you saying we should stop looking for you?”
“Aren’t you tired of looking for me? Let go of me, Emma.”
“Are you okay? At least tell me this.”
Anya’s body twitched. “I’m better than I’ve ever been.” My host mumbled a few unintelligible sounds, then her head bent backward with a loud snap.
I was about to get up and help her, but she spoke again. “This proved way more tiring than I remembered. Please, Emma, let me have some rest now.”
I jumped to my feet. “Please, can you tell me how you did all that?”
“Talk to Andrew. He will explain.” She fell asleep; I could tell from the snoring.
Not knowing what else to do, I left the tent to search for Andrew.
Outside the tent, the people had gotten much drunker. Some danced shirtless around the fire. One proudly showed the biggest belly I had ever seen. Despite all their racket, as some were playing bongos, I had no idea where they had found, they didn’t prove helpful.
I asked one a question, but he raised his hands skyward and shouted something in a foreign language. I saw James next; he seemed tipsy but wore all his clothes.
He spotted me and hugged me.
“Did you see Andrew?” I asked as I emerged from between his arms.
“I saw him. He should be somewhere there.” He pointed into the darkness around us. “I saw him there maybe ten minutes ago.”
“Thanks. I’ll see if I can find him there.” I pointed in the same direction. My head spun slightly, and I puked a little in my mouth.
Away from the fire, the darkness required my eyes a few seconds to adjust. I extended my arms to use as feelers. The more I ventured into the woods, the more I thought I had made a bad choice. I turned and approached the light, past the drunk people and the drums.
“Emma, do you need help? You seem lost,” Andrew’s voice called from somewhere around me.
He emerged from behind a tree, holding a lit cigarette. When he got closer, I smelled a strong odor I had never smelt before.
“I needed a me moment away from the party and all the noise. What can I do for you?”
He took a long puff from his tobacco stick, his eyes turning red when the light hit his face. “I talked to your wife. She said some things to me. How does she know all that stuff about people?” He blew a large cloud from his mouth.
“She is a very peculiar person. What did she say to you?”
“Anya mentioned someone I haven’t seen in months. She did with that person’s voice.” He took the longest drag his lungs could bear.
“It is her thing. She has always freaked me out with that. This ability of hers took a toll on her mind. There are days where she is lost.”
He emitted weird sounds with his mouth, but I couldn’t tell what he was doing because of the dim light.
Someone shouted behind us.
When I turned, I saw a person wrapped in flames and many others scattering.
Andrew almost trampled me when he ran toward them.
I did not move; I noticed my breath slowed, as the movements of the man covered in burning red hypnotized me. I doubted he was still dancing despite what was happening around him.
A few buckets of water were emptied on him, diminishing the intensity of the fire but not killing it. The flames grew tall again and engulfed him once more. The drums stopped, and all I could hear were people screaming, some running, and water splashing left and right. Another, much bigger cloud of water flew toward the burning man. I was sure it was my heightened senses, but it looked as big as a sea wave.
The man fell to the ground. The flames were gone, but his screams filled the air.
A large group gathered around him. I would have joined them, but my legs wouldn’t budge.
The guy cried from the top of his lungs as more people encircled him. All of them seemed drunk, at least a bit.
Andrew yelled at the crowd to make space, as they were not really helping.
