by Kyle West
“He also said that we would be smart to bring Black to our side,” I said. “That’s if we joined up with the Empire.”
“Makara won’t hear of it,” Samuel said. “Black is the reason the Angels fell four years ago. And the raiders don’t really like the Reapers, either.” He sighed. “We will need to choose one side, or the other.”
“How is that even a choice?” I asked.
Samuel didn’t say anything as both Ashton and I waited for his response.
“A lot of what Augustus said made sense,” Samuel said. “I hate to say it, but if we give Augustus what he wants, his army and Black’s can control the entire Wasteland. They can force everyone else there to help us...Char included. The alternative is to organize the raiders and any other group who will listen to us. We have two months to do that if we go down that road. The Reapers and the Empire together will be hard to stop.”
“I don’t trust Augustus,” Ashton said. “There’s a reason I didn’t give him that berth in Bunker One. He tried wheedling it away from Dr. Keener, Alex’s grandfather. He might have been able to charm President Garland and the others, but I saw right through that bullshit.” Ashton sighed. “I know you’re tempted to believe him. Hell, I am too. He makes it sound so easy. But this is anything but easy. We won’t sell our souls unless that’s what it comes down to.”
“We need every major player in the Wasteland to stand with us,” I said. “When they are warned about the Empire, they will have a reason to stop bickering. If we can take out the Reapers first, before the Empire arrives...”
“We have two months to do it,” Samuel said.
“We have to do it,” I said. “Augustus by now knows we have Gilgamesh. How could he have not seen it flying into his city? He had counted on us taking a while to get back to the Wasteland. Now, we have months to prepare. If Augustus is smart, he’ll do his best to get his army to the Wasteland as soon as possible. The Wasteland is a long way from the Empire. And if the Reapers join him, then we’ll be fighting two forces, one on either side.” I shook my head. “Raider Bluff, not to mention the other settlements, won’t stand a chance. But if we can take out the Reapers first...”
“Then the Empire will be easier to deal with,” Samuel said.
We said nothing for a while, letting our thoughts collect. Then, Samuel spoke.
“All this talk has reminded me of what the Wanderer told me.”
The Wanderer. That strange and mysterious man had told each of us something we must do, in order for us to be successful in our mission. I remembered what he had told me, what seemed ages ago – that the success or failure of this entire mission hinged on me, somehow. It was an awesome responsibility, and those words were no clearer today than they had been then. I wondered what he had told everyone else. I was about to find out about Samuel.
“What did he tell you?” I asked.
“He said that I would be tempted,” Samuel said. “But in that moment, I would need to trust my ideals. Part of me feels agreeing with Augustus would be easier, and safer. But a future where he is in charge is no future at all. I have to trust in my ideals – the people of the Wasteland must remain free.”
At first, I agreed with him. But then, I thought about who we were siding with. Sure, Char was on our side. But was he really better than the Empire? After all, the raiders stole, they raped, they enslaved, albeit on a smaller scale. What difference would a Raider Empire be from the Novans?
“You’re right,” I said. “But we need a new agenda. A new vision.”
Both looked at me, curious. I had it.
“It’s time to reform the Lost Angels.”
Both stared at me for a moment. Then, Samuel broke into a rare smile.
“That is quite the idea. But how do we do that? Who will lead them?”
“She’s in the back of the ship right now.”
“You mean Makara.”
I nodded. I don’t know why I chose her over Samuel. It just felt right, for some reason.
“She was closest to Raine,” I said. “Though Raine is dead, his legacy can live on through her. From what she told me about him when we first met, Raine had been the best thing to ever happen to the Wasteland. He kept no slaves. Los Angeles was prosperous while his gang ruled. He helped people rebuild communities. People were kept safe from violence. If we could create something like that, a society that people could believe in...”
“You’re talking about a resurrection.” Ashton said. “It could be powerful. People know of Makara’s connection to Raine. She was like a daughter to him. If she were to rise to the mantle, gather any Angels who escaped as well as anyone else who was willing to follow her...”
“This could work,” Samuel said. “This is what we need. If Makara could get the other Wasteland leaders to band with her, we just might be numerous enough to stop the Empire, as long as we took out the Reapers first.”
“We may not even need to go that far,” I said. “We need to avoid as much bloodshed as possible. The more of each other we kill, the stronger Augustus’s army is by comparison. We need to be more cunning.”
“What do you mean?” Samuel said.
I took my index finger, dragging it along my throat.
“You mean...assassinate Black?”
“You know how any gang of violent men is,” I said. “As soon as the head is chopped off, the rest of the body dies. Once Black is dead, the reformed Angels can acquire the Reapers. Once we are in that position, we can ally with Raider Bluff and anyone else...all before Augustus arrives. He will find us united, rather than separate.”
“What about the xenovirus?” Ashton asked. “What about these dragons?”
“That might actually work for us,” I said. “Augustus might be afraid to move out if the xenodragons are threatening his Empire. They can keep him pinned until he has his house in order. And, he might be more reluctant to send as many troops as he planned on to begin with. But at the same time, he is desperate. He needs to take us out before we have a chance to prepare. He will be wrestling with that in the coming days.”
“I need to speak to Makara about this,” Samuel said.
“Let her rest for now,” Ashton said. “Actually, it would be a good idea for all of us to rest. We have been through a lot, on very little sleep.”
“So rest, refuel, get Julian home...” I said. “Am I missing anything?”
“We need to go back to Raider Bluff and let Char in on our plan,” Ashton said. “He is close to Makara, and may have some information and advice on how to proceed.”
“We also need to get Odin back,” Samuel said. “It’s still parked in the forest.”
“Yes, there is that. It should be fine where it is, but I can drop you all off there before returning to Skyhome. There are some matters I must attend to there.”
“Like what?” I asked.
“Well, I was in a middle of a research project before I was called down here. I was setting up some wave length monitors to plant around Ragnarok Crater.”
“I’m glad you didn’t end up doing that,” I said. “Ragnarok Crater is probably a bad place to be right now.”
“With these xenodragons, I guess so,” Ashton said.
I smiled. Despite Anna’s illogical hatred of the word “dragon,” I was happy to see my name sticking.
“That is something I still need to do,” Ashton said. “Preparing the monitors will take some time, but I can drop them around the crater from a height. They only need to be there for a few minutes to triangulate the point of origin of the Voice.”
“We’ll be on our own, then, for the next leg?” Samuel asked.
“It’s looking that way. But we will still be in contact through radio.”
As Samuel and Ashton continued to discuss plans, I began to feel a bit overwhelmed with everything that needed to be done, and the short amount of time it needed to be done in. I was grateful for both Samuel and Ashton, because doing things and making decisions quickly seemed to be their element.
Ashton was brilliant, and Samuel was decisive. Together, they made a good team, and it made me wonder what they even saw in me.
“This Lost Angels thing...” Samuel said, shaking his head. “It’s brilliant. In Skyhome, Makara was always so down. This will give her something to work on.”
“Well, it’s not anything, yet,” I said.
“It will be, though,” Ashton said. “Everything great begins as an idea. A good idea inspires. The fact that this idea has unlocked everything else, unbarring our progress into the future...” Ashton paused. “It will do the same for others. I know it will.”
Well, maybe that was my answer. Maybe this was why they had me here.
Chapter 23
We landed on a pristine, white beach in what used to be Baja California. After setting up the thick, blue water lines and anchoring them in the sea, we took the rest of the day to relax. It was going to be a while for the ship to refuel. After catching up on some much needed sleep, Anna and I came outside to enjoy the warm sun. We found a place to lay down and be alone. Together, we watched the waves in silence, enjoying each other’s company.
It was the best day of my life. We ran into the cold water together. The shock was refreshing on my skin. I dove under, and came back up to see Anna’s face, her black hair framed around her pale face, her hazel eyes looking into mine. It was good to just be with her, with no pressure or pain.
The air was warm, yet not too warm, and the late afternoon sun was a couple of handbreadths above the blue line of the sea. Everything was calming and beautiful.
We returned to the beach, and laid down to dry off. About half a mile away, Samuel was walking with Makara, trying to get her some light exercise. She said she had needed it, or she would go crazy in the clinic bed. Julian spoke with Ashton atop a twisted rock formation jutting out into the sea, against which wave after wave crashed.
Everything about the day was perfect. I wish life were always like this – more about peace than fighting.
“Do you think this is what people did before?” Anna asked.
I smiled. “They would be crazy if they didn’t.
A large, cold wave came. Anna laughed as the water lapped at our feet.
For some reason, my thoughts turned to love and friendship. To people who had never experienced those things, they seemed scary. That’s how I felt I once was – closed off and reserved, rarely talking to anyone, except for maybe Khloe and my dad. But once you have loved, you can’t imagine living without it. I know, because I have lived both sides. It was sad that my entire life had to be burned away. I wished it could have happened in a way that didn’t cause so much pain, to myself and to others. But I had found these people: Samuel, Makara, and Anna; even Ashton and Julian. It was a good, warm feeling that was all too rare in this world.
Perhaps it was rare in the Old World, too.
“Even if we’ve done some crazy and suicidal things that I will never, ever want to do again,” I said. “I’m glad we’ve met, Anna. I wouldn’t have had it any other way.”
“Even with the Bunker?”
Anna had hit on something. It was hard to let go of that. The ghosts of my father and Khloe would always haunt me, in a way. But after almost three months, I knew I would never be the same person. I remembered what Samuel had told me in Skyhome: that I was going to change and become who I was always meant to be. I didn’t know when that was going to happen. I didn’t know if that was already happening. All I knew was that I had changed a lot. I had seen too much. I had loved too much.
“No, I don’t regret anything. Because without that, I would have never met you.”
Anna smiled, but said nothing as we continued watching the ocean. Gilgamesh hulked above on our right, the ship’s thick, blue water lines going out of its sides and into the sea. The water would be desalinated and filtered once inside the ship, and then converted into the deuterium and tritium needed to fuel the fusion reactor. The process took a while, and ironically, it almost took almost as much energy to create those two wily isotopes of hydrogen than we got out of fusing them. Which meant that we were stuck here for the next two days until both canisters of isotopes were completely filled.
Which was completely fine with me. It gave us a much needed break, and a chance for Makara to heal. Maybe it gave everyone else a chance to heal.
“So,” Anna said, “why did you come back for me?”
I turned to look at her. Her long, black hair was still wet from our swim in the ocean earlier. I could see the salt and sand clinging to her hair. She looked at me with her warm, hazel eyes. She was so beautiful that it was hard to find words.
“We all came back for you.”
“But it was your idea.”
I smiled. “How do you know that?”
She turned away, whipping her hair around flirtatiously. “You just told me.”
I turned on my side. “Told you? How?”
“I can just tell.”
“That doesn’t explain anything.”
Anna shook her head. “Apparently, you’ve never heard of this thing called women’s intuition.”
I laughed. “Alright. You got me there.”
It was quiet for a moment before she spoke again.
“You haven’t answered my question yet.”
Well, there was no getting out of this one.
“I came back for you because...”
She turned to me, her eyes telling me she didn’t want a joke, which is what I was tempted to do. Being serious is always hard for a guy to do for some reason. At least, that’s how it was for me. If you really want to be serious, you have to mean it, or else you risk hurting the girl. And hurting Anna was the last thing I wanted to do.
“...I came back because...of a personal reason. And that’s all I’m going to say for now.”
She smiled, but said nothing more. I couldn’t tell if she was disappointed or not. Still, I felt like my answer was lame. The three words I wanted to say were somehow the hardest to say of all. It’s a guy thing, I guess.
“That’s cool, I guess,” she said.
I turned to face her. She was looking at the sea.
“You were going to say something to me, in the arena,” she said. “When we thought those guards were going to kill us. I haven’t stopped thinking about it.”
“I was going to say...”
Anna leaned forward. Those eyes again. I knew, looking at them, that she had never looked at anyone else like that before. It both exhilarated and terrified me.
“How about I just show you what I wanted to say?”
I leaned forward to kiss her. Her face was so close to mine. We paused, right before our lips touched. When they did, I felt a surge of energy run throughout me. I moved my lips against hers gently, and she kissed me back. I reached my hand to touch her face. We stayed like that for a while, and it was the most wonderful thing I had felt in a long time. It was something I had been wanting to do for a while, something I had even dreamed about.
After another moment, I pulled away, my eyes still closed.
When I opened them, she was looking at me. And smiling.
“So, that’s how you feel?”
I nodded. “Damn straight I do.”
Anna laughed, and nestled against me. Together, we watched the waves and the sun fall, casting the sky and sea in light pink and orange. It was too perfect, and even if I knew such perfection wasn’t meant to be in a world so fallen as ours, that didn’t take away from its beauty. It only made it more beautiful.
***
It took two days, but we found New America. It was on the Texas coast, as Julian had said, about fifty miles south of Houston – a small, non-walled village in the center of a thick stand of trees not too far from a brown, winding river. On its western side were farms, growing rows of green produce. To the east were the apocalyptic ruins of a massive industrial complex, once silvery towers and tanks shattered and ruined. It could not have been a safe spot to pick the founding of a new city, but I gues
s home remained home to people, no matter how bad it got.
If anything, it was hundreds of miles from any Blights, which probably went a long way to explain how the town still existed after so many years. But for a town called New America, it was humble. There couldn’t have been more than two hundred people living there, judging from the couple dozen or so buildings it consisted of.
We landed in a field to the south of the town, not even trying to hide the spaceship. Julian walked outside into the warm, muggy air, and we followed him from behind. The sky was mostly clear, though tinted with red. The meteor fallout was not as thick as in the Wasteland, but this land still carried wispy traces of it. The people came out of the wooden buildings, one by one – ragged, dirty, thin, their eyes wide. It was such a stark contrast to the Empire, and it was a sign of how far we had fallen, how low America had been made by Ragnarok. Isolated as it was, it was a surprise this community had survived for so long. And yet, they had survived.
As we walked forward, Julian in the lead, several goats crossed our path. Weeds and tall grass grew thick, and from the low, hanging trees, insects chirped.
Julian stepped into the center of the gathering.
“I am Julian,” he said, tears coming to his eyes. “After ten years, I have finally come home.”
At first, there was silence. Then from the crowd there was a wail. A woman, maybe in her late forties, had fallen on her knees, hands outstretched.
A collective gasp went throughout the crowd. The people stared in disbelief, turning their attention from the spaceship and to Julian, who now ran into the embrace of his mother. She held him tightly. The tiny woman gripped him with such ferocity that it seemed like she would never let him go. Julian was crying like a baby, doing nothing to restrain his emotion. The mother stroked his back, her eyes closed in contentment, tears streaming down her face.
“All these years, Mijo,” she said. “I knew that you were alive. I knew it.”
Another, younger woman came from the crowd, with tears on her face. It was the little sister Julian had spoken of, now grown up. She threw herself on her mother and her brother.
