by Kelli Kimble
“Thinking about your guy again, are you?” Thanos said. He closed the distance I’d just created, and he pulled me to him. From my parents’ perspective, he probably looked like he was hugging me, but I knew differently. He trailed a finger down my cheek. “How come your guy didn’t come to save you, huh? You ever wonder that?”
An icy-cold chill went up my back. Had Thanos done something to the others? To Red? My knees suddenly felt weak, and though I wanted to push away from him, I needed the support, or I would fall. “You didn’t,” I said.
He gave me a slow, lazy smile. “We’ll never know, will we?”
But I had to know. I pushed away from him. My pack was in the corner of the shelter, and I grabbed it and threw it on my back. “I’m going home to my village,” I said to my parents. “I don’t know when I’ll be back, but I’ll come back.”
“Wait,” my father said, sitting up in the hammock. It upset their balance, and they set to giggling again as they made their way to a stand, my mother draping herself along my father’s side; they were both giddy with happiness. “You can’t leave now. I’m cured,” he said. “Thanos cured me.”
“And I just taught her how to do it. She’s a fast learner, our Nimisila.” Thanos grabbed my hand and held it, the way a lover would. I felt him enter my head. “If you leave, when you come back, all these people will be dead. Including your parents.” His whisper crawled around my brain.
I turned to look at his face. He was smiling, an expression obviously meant to convey pride to my parents – and damnation to me. I tried to open my fingers, but he’d locked them in place.
“Tell them he’s right; you can’t leave, now that he’s cured.” His grip tightened on my hand. “Say it.”
I dropped my gaze to the ground. He wasn’t going to let me leave. He wasn’t going to let me walk away from helping him take over the city.
And he sure as hell wasn’t keeping me around to make sure he stayed on the righteous path.
Chapter 11
That night, I dreamt of Red. He was still at home. He’d stopped working on our hut, though. He looked tired and worn, and he turned, looked right at me, and said, “You know what you have to do.”
I woke with a start, realizing he was right. I did know what I had to do. I just didn’t want to do it. I tried to turn on my side to face the wall, a feat that wasn’t as simple as it sounds in a hammock. I finally managed to arrange myself and tried to settle back to sleep.
“Having trouble sleeping?” It was Thanos, but I didn’t want to give him the satisfaction.
“No,” I said without turning to look at him.
He was hanging above the two people who shared the shelter with my parents. When they’d come back from dinner that night, my dad had proudly introduced Thanos and me to them. Then, he’d thumped his chest and asked if they noticed anything different about him. The bewildered couple, Bunny and Lat, glanced at each other but gamely replied he looked the same to them.
“My future son-in-law cured me,” he said. “With his abilities.”
They turned quizzical eyes on Thanos, while I’d turned to look at my dad. Future son-in-law? What lies had Thanos been filling their heads with?
Thanos had put a hand on my shoulder and drawn me close to his side. “Nimisila can do it, too. She cured your friend Rori today, out by the fire. Right while she was working. Didn’t you?” He’d looked at me with fake pride.
I couldn’t think of anything to do but nod and agree.
Bunny and Lat had been impressed. Lat pointed to his foot. “Can you do anything about this terrible pain in my foot? It hurts to walk.”
Thanos had laughed. “You’ll have to take a number, I think. It takes a lot of energy to cure cancer. We’re both a little bit tired.” He’d yawned and stretched his other arm up, making a big show of seeming tired – but the hand on my shoulder pressed down, the thumb biting into my shoulder blade. Since he’d gotten into my head while helping Rori, his presence loamed large in my senses. He was no longer blocking me from seeing him; instead, it felt like I could see nobody but him.
My mom had spoken up, then. “Even God needed seven days, Lat. Give them a minute to breathe.”
“All right,” he’d said, “but I expect to be first in line when you’re feeling up to it.” He wagged his finger at us, like he was scolding a dog who’d peed inside. “This injury really impinges upon my quality of life.”
I’d fought back the urge to roll my eyes. Did that jerk really think his limp rated against cancer?
By nightfall, everyone knew Thanos and I could heal. Rori came and thanked me, bringing me a special pot of stew she’d made just for me. Her cold attitude was gone, and though I appreciated that, I didn’t like that it was Thanos who had managed to break the ice with these people. What did that say about them?
Worse – what did it say about me?
Others came, bringing their aches and pains. Thanos cheerfully listened to everyone but insisted we could offer no help until we’d fully rested from the difficulty of curing cancer. No pain seemed too small to mention. It reminded me these people had been privileged in the city. Here, even in the face of the total lack of hierarchy, they each felt entitled to bring up their woes and get them addressed to their satisfaction – no matter the cost to the person addressing it.
It was absurd. These people were going to die if they didn’t return to the city. Surely, they knew that. The cold would get worse and worse, until it finally settled into an inhospitable situation, but there they were, worried about bunions and bald spots. I turned it over in my mind. What a wretched group of people. How had my parents lived here all this time? I resolved to take them aside in the morning and ask them about it.
My eyelids were finally sliding closed again when I heard feet padding into the shelter. I felt for the life-force of their owner, but I couldn’t break past Thanos. His presence seemed to drown out even my parents, who were physically closer to me. The footsteps receded. I lay quietly, hoping nothing would happen. It wasn’t until hours had passed, and I heard the first stirrings of the morning birds, when I finally slid into a restless sleep.
◆◆◆
There was a buzz around the shelter when I woke in the morning. My head was fuzzy and ached from my interrupted sleep in the night, but I jumped down from the hammock to find a familiar man talking nonverbally to Thanos, just outside the shelter. My parents, and Bunny and Lat, were not in the shelter, but I spotted Arisa squatting by the fire, eagerly slurping a bowl of food.
Ignoring the newcomer, I went to Arisa and squatted beside her. “Good morning,” I said. “It’s good to see you again.”
She continued to slurp from her bowl and didn’t make eye contact. “Hey, cousin,” she said. “I hear you and your friend there have made quite an impression around here.”
“That guy talking to my friend; that’s Orthos, right? The man you were waiting for?” I tipped my head back towards the shelter. Rori appeared at my other side with a breakfast bowl in her hand. She offered it to me with a genuine smile. I thanked her and accepted the bowl – even though I didn’t really have an appetite.
“Yep, that’s him.” The animosity coming from Arisa was palpable.
I studied her from the corner of my eye. What had I done to deserve this treatment? “He’s not what I expected,” I said. I decided to ignore Arisa’s attitude and concentrate on the problem at hand. “I thought he’d be a lot bigger.”
She shrugged. “He’s as big as he needs to be.” She finished slurping the food from her bowl, then wiped it clean with her fingers, like everyone else did.
“Where’s your mom?” I asked.
She stopped moving with her fingers in her mouth. “You’re kidding, right?” If it was possible, her animosity expanded to an even deeper level.
“No,” I said. I wanted to backpedal and start the conversation over. I reached out to sense what I could from her and maybe read what was going wrong, but I’d forgotten they all had some basic
abilities.
“Get out of my head,” she said, swatting at the air between us. “After what you did, you don’t have the right to just barge in like that.”
“I’m sorry, Arisa, but I don’t know what the issue is. What do you think I did?”
“I don’t think, I know.” She stood up and jabbed an accusing finger at me. “You left me there. By myself. Why didn’t you take me with you?”
I stood up to face her, my aching head swimming. What was she talking about? “By yourself? What do you mean? I left you with your mother. When Abbey and I left, you and your mother were together, and you were fine.”
“I knew you were going to lie about it,” she said. She turned on her heel and walked away, her bare feet making no sound in the dirt.
Confused, my eyes drifted to the shelter. Thanos was still deep in conversation with his dad, but his gaze caught mine. He smiled with a sharp gleam in his eyes.
I was in way over my head, and there was nothing I could do but play along.
◆◆◆
I didn’t have to wait long to meet Orthos. He caught me coming out of the poop-hole box not long after breakfast. “Nimisila,” he said out loud, catching me off-guard. His voice was surprisingly smooth. “It’s a pleasure to finally meet you in person.”
“Hello,” I said. I glanced around. We were alone. My hands started to sweat, and I wiped my palms on my pants.
“You’re probably wondering if I hate you,” he said.
The question had crossed my mind – I’d destroyed the lab where he’d worked and killed most of his coworkers – but he’d escaped, and, according to Thanos, he had been happy for that opportunity.
“I don’t,” he explained. “I’m in awe of you. You stood up against your oppressors and emerged even stronger for it. It’s an admirable quality.”
“Um, thanks,” I said.
“You’re not in any danger,” he said, apparently observing how I kept looking for an escape route. “You could kill me with a thought. Why would you worry so?” He patted my arm. “I know. You’ve been through a lot, haven’t you? You just don’t know what’s what yet. It’s understandable.”
I didn’t know how to respond to that, but he seemed to be expecting an answer. “Okay,” I said.
“Thanos has been telling me your plans for the city. It’s quite an ambitious project, reworking the entire power plant to a different fuel source. Are you sure you’re up for that?”
I finally found my tongue. “That isn’t my plan. I don’t even have a plan, unless you count going home. It’s Thanos who has a plan, and the power plant fuel source is the bottom of his list, not the top.”
“Oh?” he said. He tipped his head inquisitively. Thanos’ appearance was so like his father’s, it was uncanny.
It caused a flash of anger to burn in my chest. “Yes. Did you know he intends to take over the city, and he wants to kill the mayor and everyone who stands in his way?” I blustered. I swept my arm over the landscape. “He thinks he can stop the weather from changing and make the city a beacon for the people who are still struggling out in the world – but I’d bet my two front teeth that isn’t what he wants at all.”
Orthos seemed unaffected by my revelation. “This worries you? His plans?”
“Yes,” I said. “He’s not stable. He’s crazy.”
“Uh-huh.” Orthos nodded and guided me through the grass. Since I had his ear, I didn’t bother resisting. “What has he done to make you think that?”
“He’s playing mind games with me,” I said.
Too late, I realized I’d said too much to Orthos. He was likely happy to see his son; even though Thanos had ignored his warnings in times past, Orthos likely still loved him.
“You’re probably just imagining that, my dear,” he said. “Thanos isn’t a very bright boy.”
I changed the subject. “I really appreciate you saving my parents. I can’t tell you how many times I thought of them and worried they’d died . . .” My throat caught, and I trailed off. I needed to appeal to this man – I could see that now – and making accusations against Thanos wasn’t likely to get me on his good side.
“That wasn’t just for you,” he assured me. “I couldn’t, in good conscience, perform the task given to me. It’s not in me to take a life.”
I breathed a sigh of relief at that. If he was anything like Thanos, he could have easily picked up an ability that could best me. “And my cousin, Arisa,” I continued. “I can’t tell you how glad I was to see her – though I don’t really understand what she’s doing here. I mean, the people you brought here were all supposed to be executed, right? Why would anyone want her dead?”
Orthos nodded. “Indeed. Arisa is a lovely young girl, isn’t she?”
“Right,” I said. His avoidance irritated me. “Her mother isn’t here, though. What happened to her?”
“Oh, you’d have to ask Arisa that,” he said.
“I did. She seems to think I did something.”
“Mm. Well, she was rather young when she came here,” he said. “Maybe her recollection of the situation isn’t to be trusted.”
“Yeah,” I said, giving a weak laugh. “Kids.”
He nodded. “You know, it’s odd,” he said, putting a firm end to the subject. “When I saw your father this morning, he welcomed me into your family. What could he have meant by that?”
Heat rose to my cheeks. I tried to turn so that he couldn’t see my face, but he caught it.
“Ah, I can see by your delicate blush it’s true,” he said. “You and Thanos are to marry?”
“I wouldn’t say that, not exactly,” I said.
“Then, what would you say?”
“I’d say we’ve agreed to be partners.”
◆◆◆
It took an entire week for the sick feeling in my stomach to fade after I’d admitted to Orthos I was going to partner with Thanos. It prompted Orthos to plan a celebration. There was nothing I could do to get Orthos or anyone else to believe a party was not what I wanted at all.
My parents were overjoyed. I tried several times to remind my mom my heart belonged to Red, but she’d have none of it. Anyway, if everyone believed I loved Thanos – including Thanos, though that was unlikely – my life would likely be a lot easier. After several days of resisting, I finally began to assist with the party planning.
Really, a party there was nothing more than everybody eating something special at once around a larger-than-usual fire, without the distribution of food being rationed. Thanos said he knew just the thing, and a few days before the party, he left on a hunting trip. Everyone worked on tidying up the shelters, collecting firewood, and searching for extra food.
The day before the party, Thanos returned with the carcass of a feline. His eyes flashed a knowing look at me when he brought it to the fire circle, draped around his neck. It was a medium-sized cat, not fully-grown, so it would be nice and tender. Despite who had provided it and what it was for, my mouth watered. The food rations here were minimal and rarely included meat. It reminded me the winter cycle had to end – and soon.
Besides planning the party, the week had passed in a blur of curing ailments as serious as clearing nearly-blocked arteries to the heart and as trivial as an ingrown toenail. I was exhausted by the time the party came to pass, and eager for everything to be over – except for the food. I gorged myself on everything available, and not one person begrudged me, nor Thanos, the choicest parts of the meal – though there was plenty to eat for everyone, and nobody was shy about stuffing their faces. Apparently, even these once-privileged people could forget their manners to fill their stomachs to bursting for once. At the end of the night, I went to my hammock with a stomachache. I’d eaten far too much, and judging by the groans I heard as I lay there, trying to coax myself to sleep, I wasn’t the only one.
Not long after I fell asleep, I lurched awake.
“Nimisila.” It was Thanos.
“What?”
“The time has
come. I need to set my plan in motion. I’m leaving in two days’ time. You’ll come, won’t you? Be my partner in all this?”
My thoughts shifted to my parents and Red. If I didn’t go, would Thanos shut off the winter cycle? I knew I couldn’t trust him, so I knew I had to do it. Though I could never hope to overpower Thanos, I knew I couldn’t influence anything at all from where I was. “I already agreed to be your partner,” I said. “That’s why we had a party today, wasn’t it?”
“I want to hear you say it. Agree to be my partner and take over the city. That’s what I want you to say.”
“I agree to be your partner in the city.”
“You’ll help me overthrow the mayor and rule over the city once we have power?”
“Yes, I told you I would.”
He didn’t say anything, but even without my abilities, I could sense the smile on his face. I wanted to rip it off, but I kept still. I needed him. He thought he needed me; I vowed to keep it that way.
Two days passed quickly. Thanos and Orthos were bowing over a paper map Orthos had brought back from the city. They traced their fingers over locations and streets, discussing when to strike and where. I wanted to avoid the sessions, but it seemed like a good idea to know what the plan was going to be.
“We’ll arrive here.” Orthos stabbed a finger at the map. “And walk in through the slums. Nobody will stop us there or question our presence. Then, we’ll access the underground system at this pump station. We can get to city hall undetected through the sewers. There’s no security down there. I’ve checked.”
“The way is clear?” Thanos asked. “We won’t get lost down there?”
“No. It isn’t clear, but I know the way,” Orthos said. “I’ve memorized all the main pipelines large enough for a man to walk through.” He stopped and tipped his head towards me. “Or a woman. It’s complex, but I can get us there, and we won’t need to escape that way. Not if you prevail.”
