by Michael Ford
Kobi said nothing, and neither did the others. There was nothing to say. They just watched, enthralled, as the mass of the mountains loomed closer like the spine of some vast prehistoric monster.
At the last stop, the adults went toward a shed with a transparent plastic roof, scanning cards at the doorway, but Kobi and the others hung back and continued on foot. The road became rougher and emptier, coarse grass growing over skeletons of ancient, abandoned cars and trucks. They began to climb into the forested foothills on what must have been an old hiking trail, though it looked like no one had been this way for years. Kobi took the lead, feeling oddly at home away from the hard lines and industry of the city. These weren’t the Waste-infected forests of Old Seattle but real, healthy trees. The smell of pine resin was rich in the air. Kobi had never seen a wilderness that wasn’t full of Waste. It was so peaceful.
Yaeko and Leon walked close together, marveling at the soaring trunks. Kobi realized they’d probably never seen anything like them in their lives. Plants at Healhome had been potted and pruned, and there was nothing like these in the slums.
“Amazing, isn’t it?” said Kobi.
“At least the trees here don’t try to kill you,” said Asha.
Only Fionn looked unimpressed. “Boring.”
Yaeko ran her fingers along one of the trunks, and her fingers momentarily took on the dark hues of the bark, seeming to blend with the wood. They looked just like Johanna’s. When Yaeko saw him watching, her skin blinked back to normal. She tries to hide it, but she’s just as upset about Johanna as we are.
When a stream cut across their path, Kobi and Leon pushed over a dead oak and together carried it and toppled it over the water to make a bridge. “Too easy,” Kobi said to Leon.
“Nothing to it. Not for the Caveman.” The tall boy gave a halfhearted smile that quickly faded. Since Rohan’s death, it was like the life had been sucked out of him.
They emerged from the forest after a couple of hours and stopped for a break on a scrubby plateau. Kobi was amazed how far they’d come already. The crop fields were far below, and in the distance New Seattle bristled in the sunlight. The slums, climbing to the north, were an ugly mound. More drones than he’d ever seen were patrolling the skies above.
Asha came to his side. “D’you think anyone made it out? Really?”
“I hope so,” he replied. “But if CLAWS got their hands on the Horizon drugs, I’m sure they destroyed it all. If we fail now, the resistance is finished.”
A weight pressed down on Kobi as he said the words. How did this happen to me? he wondered, struck with a disorienting sense of disbelief. “Not long ago, I only had to worry about keeping myself and Hales alive. Now we have to protect the entire human race.” He met Asha’s gaze.
“Easy peasy,” she said, and they both laughed.
They trekked late into the day. As the foliage thickened to dense forest, the calls of animals began shrill against the setting sun. Fionn ran ahead. After about ten minutes, they heard his voice projected into their minds. “Come here!”
Fionn was sitting on the ground, grinning, in front of a pine cone as big as a football. Kobi looked up and saw other cones weighing down the sagging branches. His heart sank. He’d seen some large ones earlier, but this was clearly not natural.
“There must be Waste here,” said Asha. “Maybe this is where it’s getting into the city from—the water runoff from the mountains is getting into the tunnels under the city. I thought the point of the Scorched Lands was to prevent the airborne spores crossing from Old Seattle. Waste needs to be carried by fungi and plants to spread, right? And animals, though I guess the desert can’t stop birds and insects just flying here if they can dodge the incinerator drones.”
Leon frowned. “Do you think CLAWS is monitoring it?”
“They must be. They just don’t care,” said Yaeko.
Kobi surveyed the trees. Some were still normal, but others had branches that were swollen and twisted out of shape. The familiar mutations brought a pang to his chest. He realized he had almost missed the sight of a natural Waste environment. But he knew also how dangerous it was that the contamination was so close to the city. If animals were getting across the Scorched Lands and spreading Waste, why wasn’t CLAWS doing anything about it? They could have drones out here spraying insecticide, and targeting airborne mutated creatures. The answer came clear to him. How could he be so stupid?
“It’s not that they don’t care,” said Kobi, his voice growing loud with anger. “I think they want some Waste in the city. It keeps everyone scared and raises the demand for their drugs.” The more he thought about it, the more he was sure he was right. “But they can’t control it. They think they can, but they can’t. The Waste always finds a way to spread. It can’t be contained.”
Asha and Kobi exchanged a look. He guessed her thoughts also had honed in on the forest of Waste that lay in wait beneath the city. CLAWS had created that. Kobi was stuck in an overwhelming wave of the extent of the scope for evil CLAWS had.
“They’ll pay for what they’ve done,” said Asha, placing a hand on Kobi’s shoulder. “We’ll make sure they pay.”
The landscape on the other side of the mountains was all black. A steep, lifeless desert, like the surface of another planet. The trees were charred stumps. The vehicles on the melted road looked like rusting shells.
“The Scorched Lands,” said Asha. “Name checks out.”
“I wouldn’t come here on my vacation,” said Yaeko. “But I’ve never had a vacation. So I wouldn’t know.”
Kobi stared at the devastation—not a single tree or building or animal. “The old city is on the other side somewhere,” he said.
“Past the incinerator drones?” said Yaeko. “Those sound fun.”
“Johanna got us the schedule,” said Kobi, drawing out from his bag a map with different zones and lists of patrol times.
“Is it accurate?” asked Yaeko.
“Let’s hope so,” said Kobi.
Leon just shook his head, his eyes fixed in horror at the endless burned terrain. “We don’t have to do this,” he said. “We could turn back.”
“To CLAWS?” said Asha.
“To somewhere else,” said Leon, his expression hardening. “Not New Seattle. That place is doomed, right? But we could go to another city. Rohan always wanted to travel. Spike talked about other places that are Waste free.”
“That’s just avoiding the problem,” said Asha. “Waste free for how long?”
“I’ll take those chances,” said Leon. “When New Seattle gets filled with Waste, people will turn on CLAWS anyway. We just need to wait it out.”
Kobi felt a lightness spread in his chest. “CLAWS would be ruined. No one would ever trust them again. Maybe then Sol could reemerge. We could use Horizon to cure people, spread it to the world without CLAWS getting in the way.”
Leon nodded. “They brought this on themselves.”
“No, Kobi,” said Asha, shaking her head at him. “We can’t let all those people die. It would be like Old Seattle all over again—thousands and thousands of lives. We’re not CLAWS. We can’t let innocent people die.”
Kobi closed his eyes shut for a moment, letting out a deep sigh. “You’re right. I know. It’s just . . . Jo, Mischik, Hales. All those people CLAWS let die to keep them in business. Finally, people would see them for what they are.”
Yaeko cocked her head at him. “Come on, Caveman. We all know you aren’t going to let that happen. You like being a hero too much.”
Kobi didn’t bother to protest. He felt the weight of responsibility falling heavily on him once more. For just a moment he had dared to hope that it all didn’t rest on him, but that was all it was: a hope.
He remembered the message from Hales. “There is one person who could make it.”
“I can’t turn back.”
Leon pointed at the black landscape. “Look out there—you really think we’ll find answers out there?”
&n
bsp; Kobi didn’t want to look at the others because he was scared of what he might see in their faces. He wouldn’t blame them if they wanted to turn back now.
“I’m with Kobi,” said Asha. Kobi felt a surge of gratitude. “We’ve come this far. We owe it to Sol.”
“I don’t owe them anything,” said Leon. “They let Rohan die.”
“I’m with Kobi too,” said Fionn.
“Okay, consider this,” said Leon. “If you make it to another city, they’ll have scientists too. Who says they won’t be able to synthesize your blood and create better medicines?”
“CLAWS would try and stop us,” said Kobi.
“We can keep you safe,” said Leon.
“We couldn’t even keep Rohan safe,” said Asha. “CLAWS won’t stop hunting us.”
Yaeko stepped toward Leon. “You were right. It was my fault, what happened to Rohan. So if I can make things right I will. And that means going with Kobi.”
Leon folded his arms. “Suit yourselves,” he said, “but the Waste has taken my whole life so far. This is where I stop.”
Kobi looked at his stony expression and saw there was no way he could make Leon change his mind.
“Where will you go?” Kobi asked.
Leon shrugged. “Back to the bus stop, I guess. Then find a train out of New Seattle and down the coast. I heard Hollywood is clean.”
“They’ll be looking for you,” said Yaeko.
“They’re looking for Kobi,” said Leon.
The words stung Kobi, but he kept his words calm. “I won’t force you. Any of you.” Rohan would have come, thought Kobi. But it seemed like something had died in Leon too when his best friend succumbed to the Snatcher’s toxin.
“I’m not a hero,” said Leon. “I never asked to be.” Kobi’s heart sank as he watched his friend trudge away and not look back.
I never asked to be either, Kobi thought.
10
THE ROLLING HILLS OF black desert were a constant presence on either side of the freeway. Each step kicked up clouds of ash and charcoal. The air tasted thick, filled with particles of unseen dust. They took out spare T-shirts that Johanna had packed for them and tied them around their noses and mouths. Still, when the wind gusted, it snatched up black clouds, and they were forced to turn away or take shelter until the ash storm passed.
“We’re safe on this route for another hour,” Kobi shouted into the choking wind, “then we need to head east to avoid the Scorcher drone!”
Forty miles to go, Kobi thought, reading the map. Today and tonight and we should be there. He was gripped with a sense of guilt. If he was on his own he could run it in a third of the time, and the risk from the incinerator drones would be reduced. Was he right in bringing the others with him? It wasn’t too late to send them off after Leon, away from danger. But he had to believe in his gut. It was the oldest rule and the simplest.
“Trust your instincts, Kobi.”
And his instincts said that they were stronger as a team.
But as they carried on, doubt curdled in the back of his mind. What if they’d miscalculated? What if this was the wrong direction? There were no landmarks to measure by other than the contour lines showing elevation on the map, so he had to guess at distances. He kept the arc of the sun in mind. But drifting a mile either way could take them into the path of an incinerator drone.
Occasionally they talked, if only to check in or to share water. They rationed it to sips, but Kobi knew as they finished the first of their four flasks that the battle against dehydration would be as much of an obstacle as the distance. When they were halfway through their supply, they’d have to make a choice. The safe option: turn back. The other: push on.
As evening began to spread its cloak over the endless, burned landscape, Kobi began to notice the silence. It hadn’t been obvious when it was light. But usually twilight brought animals, perhaps a cool wind rustling the trees, the buzz of insects. Out here there was nothing. The silence itself seemed like a continual background hum in his ears.
“Can you hear that?” said Asha. Kobi saw her watching him in the dark. Kobi listened. “In the distance.” Then he heard it. There was a hum washing through the silent open landscape. So faint it was almost imperceptible. But as they trudged on, and he honed in on the sound, he noticed slight changes in its frequency.
“Scorchers.” He tapped his map. “They’re close.” He pointed into the distance as a haze of orange spread through the sky, sweeping closer until it blazed perhaps only a mile from their position.
“If we’re going to be incinerated, don’t bother letting me know,” said Yaeko, dark eyes like jewels in the fiery light.
“Me neither,” came a voice in Kobi’s head, and he could tell Fionn had projected it to the other two as well because Yaeko grinned.
“Let’s hope it doesn’t come to that,” said Asha. “But you know what, don’t tell me either.”
“Got it,” Kobi said.
Above, the stars shone like brilliant eyes in the pure black sky. To draw his attention from the cascading hum and deadly glare of the nearby scorchers, Kobi named the constellations, hearing Hales’s voice pointing them out.
“That’s Taurus, son, the bull. And that’s Orion, the great hunter. The Greeks believed he was never seen in the sky with Scorpio, the scorpion, because he was running from it. The scorpion’s sting killed the hunter when he showed too much hubris. Gemini, the twins. Aries, the ram. The compass—that one can only be seen in the summer months. Sirius, omen of death, near Thuban, there, which was once the North Star in ancient times. The night sky changes over the centuries. Right now our North Star is there—exactly at the pole. Pretty useful if you need to know where you’re going.”
The North Star, second brightest in the sky, now flickered like a distant boat, light in a black ocean. Kobi kept it to their right-hand side.
“We’ve been going for four hours,” said Asha, checking her watch. The orange flare of distant Scorcher drones on the Horizon surrounded them now. It matched up to Kobi’s map and schedule. Right now they were in the eye of the storm, in the only safe zone in a ten-mile radius.
“We should be able to see the old city at any minute,” said Kobi.
“Are you sure we’re going the right way?” asked Yaeko.
Asha gave her a look. “Thanks for the input, but if you wanted to help in orienting, maybe you could have offered your help a bit earlier? But who knows? Maybe Kobi’s got it wrong, and we’ll find ourselves in Hollywood with Leon.”
“All right, jeez,” said Yaeko. “I was just trying to help, but you know what? I’ll just enjoy the scenery. Those incinerator drones are so pretty.”
Kobi surveyed the Horizon. The paths of the drones remained at a safe distance. He allowed himself a brief moment of satisfaction that he had so far navigated the drones without any mistakes.
“Never take your situation for granted. Things can change in a second.”
Kobi gave a small nod in reply and turned back to the map before Fionn’s voice cut in.
“I can see something ahead.”
Kobi spotted a line cutting across the terrain, like a perfectly even mountain range. The orange dawn sun peeped over it, casting rays into the bluish skyline like spotlights from a concert stage. “It’s the wall.”
“It’s a massive wall,” said Yaeko.
“Built to contain the Waste,” said Asha. “It’s part of the quarantine.”
Kobi knew of it too, having read at the Sol base all he could about recent history. He’d been so shocked he’d almost laughed to learn that his entire former home had been contained within such a defined boundary. But now seeing it for himself, he felt only disbelief. “All my life, I was living inside that thing, and I had no idea.”
“How are we going to get over it?” said Fionn.
“I don’t know,” said Kobi truthfully. “But let’s just take things one step at a time.”
“Well, I can climb it,” said Yaeko. “As much as I
’d love to wait with you until the Scorcher drones come.” She flicked her gaze at Asha. “I am good for something.” Asha rolled her eyes.
The wall grew in size as they approached. Kobi hadn’t realized exactly how massive the scale would be; he guessed they were still miles away. He looked at his watch. We have only an hour before the Scorcher drone is scheduled. “We need to get moving.”
They hurried on until the wall rose above them. It cast the desert in shadow. Kobi had the impression of a frozen tsunami about to crash over them. His skin itched. The concrete surface was scarred and pitted.
“Oh no.” Fionn’s voice filled Kobi’s head with a jolt of fear. “They’re coming.”
Fionn was staring behind him. Kobi turned. There, like distant birds in the sky, came a fleet of incinerator drones. Their progress was a distant rumble, and they flew in perfect formation, descending serenely. Kobi counted fourteen of them, all heading in their direction. He checked the map again. The drones were arriving ahead of schedule. Perhaps the timings had been adjusted.
“They’re coming sooner than I thought. Quick! We have to get to the wall!”
Kobi ran, but the others couldn’t keep pace. The Scorchers were only a few hundred yards away when the sheets of fire began to fall from their bellies. The roar was deafening. As the flames hit the ground, smoke rose in great clouds behind them. Kobi knew they wouldn’t make it. The wall was still too far away. Even if they reached the bottom, they had nowhere to hide. It was hopeless.
Flames filled the air. Kobi pressed his hands over his ears. The heat was coming in waves, and he knew it would only get worse. Everything was yellows and oranges. Yaeko threw herself to the ground and curled into a ball, and Asha shielded Fionn, as if her body could somehow protect him. But Kobi remained standing, facing the flames. For a second he thought of Hales. Then he thought of nothing.
