by Kyle West
“You don’t know that,” Anna said, stubbornly. “If we can just kill her, somehow...”
“Another Xenomind would rise up and fill her place,” I said. “All the memories are preserved in the xenofungus. All it would take is a new body to manifest them. Askala cannot be killed. She can only be converted.”
“Maybe you’re right,” Anna said. “Still – I’m not giving up.”
I loved her for saying that. And looking into her eyes, I believed her. I hoped, foolishly perhaps, that she would find a way. If only it were that easy.
Askal snorted from behind – probably impatient to be off. I turned, seeing him watch us with his alien, white eyes.
“Now that I can see one up close,” Anna said, walking toward Askal, “they are kind of endearing, aren’t they?”
Askal cooed in answer to Anna’s statement. This Askala knew how to play his cards. It was a strange sound to be coming from a creature so large and so dangerous.
We went to stand before the dragon together. Askal regarded Anna with his white, intelligent eyes.
“Can I touch him?” she asked.
“Go ahead.”
Slowly, Anna placed a hand on him, rubbing Askal’s neck.
“He’s warm,” she said, surprised.
Askal nodded his head toward me. He wanted to say something.
I placed my hand alongside Anna’s.
Your mate?
I felt my face go red. I’m working on it.
You should mate with her.
My face burned even hotter at the suggestion. Askal didn’t understand that we humans worked a little differently from the Askala.
“What is he saying?” Anna asked, with a smile.
I was too flustered to answer immediately. I felt my vision swim, and Anna’s form wobbled before me.
She paused a moment. “Your eyes...”
“They turned just now, didn’t they?”
She nodded.
“So, it is when I’m interacting with xenolife. Otherwise, they are normal.”
“That’s it, then?”
“They were white while I was in the Great Blight. They are white here, touching Askal. And when I awoke on Odin, after having my dream, they were white...” I paused. “I think the connection is clear.”
“Well, what is he saying? You still haven’t answered me.”
I hesitated, wondering how to respond. Clearly, the Askala liked to cut to the chase. Askal felt insistent that I should tell her exactly what he had said.
I decided to compromise a bit.
“He says...” I paused. “He says that you and I make a good pair.”
She smiled, and blushed slightly.
I hopped onto Askal’s back, reaching out a hand for Anna. She hesitated at first. After a moment, she took it, and I helped her onto Askal’s back. She sat behind me, wrapped her arms around me, settling her head on my shoulder.
With a thought, I gave an image of the mesa we had left behind. With a roar, Askal cast off, leaving the ground below.
It was time to meet with the others.
Chapter 22
When Askal flew near the mesa, I decided on impulse to fly directly into the camp. These people would have to get the idea that at least some of the Askala were on our side. What better way to do that than flying one and landing it in the middle of all of them?
It seemed like a great idea at the time.
“Um...” Anna said. “Are you sure we shouldn’t be landing this thing farther away?”
“A little shock might do everyone good,” I said.
“I think they’ve had enough shock...”
Just when I realized that Anna was probably right, it was too late. The camp came alive, having spied the dragon from a distance. People ran into tents, grabbed rifles, and pointed them into the air.
They reacted far more quickly than I would have thought. They must have trained or something.
“Pull back,” I said.
Askal obeyed, and I could feel his gratefulness. Several shots fired, but they were so distant that they would have missed by a wide margin. Askal wheeled around, turning to the direction we had come from.
Only to find Gilgamesh approaching at lightning speed.
“Down!” I yelled.
The ship’s turrets opened fire, bullets whizzing through the air. Anna began to slide off the Askala’s back. She screamed, but Askal jerked to the side, throwing her back on before she could fall. Her fingers dug into my torso, and I gritted my teeth in pain.
“You alright?” I asked.
Anna didn’t answer as the ship swooped overhead, the turret disengaging.
Tell your girl to hold on.
What?
There was a lull for a moment.
“Anna, hold on!”
She complied, and immediately after, Askal made a nosedive, letting out a mighty bellow. We both cried out as we zoomed toward the nearby mesa. Gilgamesh was turning around, chasing Askal away. They meant to shoot us down, right here, right now.
I can’t outrun that metal Askala, Askal said.
I knew he couldn’t. Gilgamesh was way too fast. Instead, Askal circled round the mesa, then roosted on a ledge. His long neck craned to the left, the right, searching for somewhere to hide.
But it was too late. Slowly, Gilgamesh glided round the mesa sideways, its front facing toward us. Its twin turrets spun, aiming directly at us all. Anna and I threw up our hands, waving at the ship’s crew to stop.
Gilgamesh paused. One second. Two. Three.
They knew it was us.
“We’re safe!” I said.
Gilgamesh turned sideways, facing the blast door toward us. As it slid closer through the air, the door opened, revealing a familiar face I hadn’t seen now in over a week. He wore an unbelieving smile.
“Alex!” he yelled.
“Julian! Thanks for almost killing us.”
He shrugged. “I see you found a new ride, huh?”
Michael was next to appear in the doorway. He cupped his hands around his mouth. “Ashton says to follow him back to camp. Fly in sync so that they know we are together.”
I gave a salute of acknowledgement. Both Michael and Julian disappeared from the doorway, and the blast door closed. Gilgamesh veered away in the direction of the camp.
“You get all that, Askal?”
Askal snorted, and cast off from the ledge. Anna gripped me more tightly.
“That was too close.”
“We got lucky.”
Askal eased in beside Gilgamesh, flying at the same slow speed. I could feel the Askala’s nervousness. I didn’t blame the poor guy.
“You’ll be fine,” I said, patting the creature’s back.
Gilgamesh circled and alighted atop the hill next to Odin. When Askal flew right along next to it, people that had once fired now lowered their weapons. They could clearly see Anna and me on the Askala’s back.
The worst of everything was over – at least, for now it was. Askal flapped his wings a couple times, slowing his descent. He gingerly landed next to Gilgamesh. He kept his head down. I could feel his body shaking beneath me. I could feel his fear in my mind, emanating in waves.
“It’s alright, buddy,” I said. “Nothing’s going to happen to you.”
While I tried to calm the Askala, Anna tapped my shoulder.
“Look,” she said.
A large crowd had gathered before us. At the front were Makara, Char, Ashton, Julian, and Michael, all staring up at me.
Makara was the first to speak.
“Alright. You have a lot of explaining to do.”
I nodded. “I know.”
“I’ll let Samuel know they’re back,” Michael said. “Hopefully, they won’t be out too far.”
While Michael raised his radio to his mouth, Ashton took a step forward. His expression was more curious than afraid. Was he already beginning to piece together what the rest had yet to figure out?
“We can talk of all this,”
Char said, “but first, let us step inside the ship.” He gazed in the direction of two of the gang lords, who had been drawn to the commotion. There was Rey, and Cain beside him. Their eyes stared, hollow and cold. I suppressed a shudder.
It had been a while since I had seen any of these men – Rey, Cain, Jade, Grudge – even Boss Dragon. They were here with us, too, but I had not had the burden of dealing with them, fortunately. That had been Makara’s and Char’s prerogative, and I had no idea what their plans were regarding the gangs. I guessed I would find out as much about that as anything as soon as I went inside Gilgamesh.
***
We sat around the conference table. It was quiet, and no one spoke for a while. It was me, Anna beside me, and on my other side, Michael. Across the table were Makara, Char, and Ashton. On either end of the table were Boss Dragon and Rey. They were both here to represent the Vegas gangs. The others had balked at not being included, but with a word from both the Dragon and the King, they had backed down quietly.
First, everyone wanted to know what I had learned. So I told my story. It was a lot of catching up, so I tried to keep it brief – I would let Makara or anyone else in the inner crew know more in greater detail later on. For now, I just stuck to the main points. I didn’t want to take up too much time with a play-by-play, and besides, there were people in the room who might not be friends. This is what I did say: I told them that I was infected, but that there were two different versions of viruses – Elekai and Radaskim. I told them that I had the first one, and that each virus corresponded to a different alien faction. The Elekai were trying to stop the Radaskim from taking over Earth. Next, I told them about the war between the Elekai and Radaskim that had been waging for millions of years. I told them how we were just one world out of a thousand that had been attacked, and that it was my job to stop the Radaskim Xenomind, Askala – that as both a human and an Elekai, I was the only one who could infect Askala – that this was the only way to stop the Blights and the invasion.
After I was finished, everyone sat in silence. Julian’s brown eyes held a dazed look from the information overload. Everyone had a question or two of his or her own, and I did my best to answer. It was a lot of information, and I wasn’t even sure I understood it all.
“That’s quite the bit of news there,” Ashton said. “And yet, the pieces fit. As soon as I saw that dragon – that Askala, I should say – I thought you were controlling him. But the fact that you are connected to that Askala through the Elekai xenovirus makes more sense.”
Everyone looked at the doctor, surprised that he had made that pronouncement.
“There is still so much to be discovered about the xenovirus,” Ashton said. “But I think the greatest piece of evidence supporting the existence of the Elekai and the Radaskim is that second Voice. The one we silenced when we killed the Xenolith.”
“I had no idea that...” Makara began.
“None of us did,” Ashton said. “We were right to consider it a threat. Still, it would not make sense for there to be two Voices – two Xenominds – controlling the same side. The entire time, the second Voice was in direct opposition to the first.” Ashton paused. “As Makara said, we had no idea.”
“The Wanderer called it ‘the Dark Voice,’” I said. “Maybe we can say the same thing to differentiate between the two.”
“How do we know these Elekai aren’t the bad ones?” Rey asked.
“They would have killed me a long time ago,” I said. “Why would they bother to show me all this information if they were just going to kill me?”
Rey shrugged, apparently satisfied at that answer.
“Then, the Blighters came,” Boss Dragon said, resigned. “You guys had no idea what you were messing with.”
“No, we didn’t,” Ashton said. “But now, we have our answer. Perhaps too late.”
“It’s not too late yet,” I said. “We have our newest ally now – the Elekai. Together, we can be strong enough to push back against the Radaskim. We can stop the invasion if you guys can get me to Ragnarok Crater. I have to find Askala, the Radaskim Xenomind, the Dark Voice. It’s the only way to stop them.”
“No,” Anna said. “You are not going to kamikaze yourself on Askala. We’re going to find another way.” She looked around at everyone at the table. “Right?”
No one answered Anna. It wasn’t a good sign.
“We have more important priorities for the moment,” Rey said. “We need food. Water. Shelter. We’ve been camped here for two days. My eastern patrols are finding more and more crawlers breaking away from the xenoswarm.” He looked at Makara, hard. “This cannot go on. Soon, they will grow bored of that feast that used to be our home. They are going to come after us.”
Rey gestured at everyone at the table. No one denied the truth of his words.
“What do we do, then?” Boss Dragon asked. For a moment, the former enmity of the two gang lords was forgotten. They were on the same side now.
“Pyrite is another day out,” Makara said. “Now that everyone is here, we can set off in the morning. We can pick up whatever people want to come with us there, and they can join the Exodus.”
The Exodus. That was new. So that was what they were calling this now. Maybe they had been this entire time, ever since we’d left the ruins of Vegas behind.
“We have other problems,” Michael said. “The Reds are still out there. When we left by the western gates, that entire side of town was vacated.”
“Where do you think they went?” Char asked.
“My guess?” Michael asked. “They probably went south to throw in their lot with Augustus.”
I glanced at Rey, to see his reaction. It was not a move I would put past him or his gang, either, if it came to that. His face, however, remained blank.
“That is something the Reds would do,” Boss Dragon said. “We picked up some of their slaves on our way here. They said as much. The Reds took their bikes and rode off, even while we were fighting for our lives inside the walls.”
“There’s still so much to do,” Makara said. “And no time to do it in.” She sighed. “But Rey is right. We have to take care of our own, first. We can reconvene when we make sure our people aren’t starving and freezing.”
“That will be difficult,” Char said. “It is cold. And getting colder.”
“Anything that affects us will affect Augustus’s army as well,” I said. “Unlike us, they are not used to this cold. The attrition might send his army back before we have the chance to.”
“I wouldn’t count on such luck, kid,” Ashton said. “Augustus is a planner, and would have accounted for this. I checked on his position while in the air, and they are still marching up the Mexican coast. If it’s too cold by the time they get here, which should be in February or so, they’ll probably hole up in Colossus, their farthest-north colony. That’s at the mouth of the Colorado, so it’s just a stone’s throw from us. However long they end up taking, there’s still not much time to work with.”
“The best plan would be to find a place to shelter,” I said. “Somewhere large enough to fit two thousand people until the weather warms.”
“There is no such place,” Makara said.
“There is one,” Michael said.
At first, I was the only one who knew what he was talking about. And it was a place I never in a million years wanted to return to.
“It’s on the way to Los Angeles,” he said. “It is still far – about two hundred miles – but it is our closest, most realistic option.”
Makara’s face blanched when she realized what Michael was talking about.
“Even Bunker 108 isn’t perfect,” I said. “It was only designed for five hundred people. We have two thousand.”
“Who says that two thousand are even going to make it that far?” Rey asked.
“That’s a fair point,” Ashton said. “But we can speed things up by using the spaceships. The main Exodus can head southwest, going as fast as it can. Meanwhile, Gilgamesh
and Odin can start ferrying people over. The first group will contain the best fighters, who will have the job of going in and clearing out the Bunker, making it safe to use. Anyone else who comes along can start doing cleanup. I say it’s a week before we have everyone over there.”
“A week?” Boss Dragon asked. “That’s not so bad.”
“But how will we fit everyone in there?” I asked. “It’s way too small.”
“People don’t have to stay in the dorms,” Ashton said. “There is plenty of floor space, such as the commons and the cafeteria, which can both be used. And it’s only temporary – to wait out the weather until we can start fresh in late spring.”
“Spring?” Makara asked.
It seemed so far away. But with winter coming on and two thousand people to care for, many of them already weak, what other choice did we have? And a lot of what we did depended on Augustus. If he charged into the Wasteland in winter, we would have no choice but to face him.
But sheltering in Bunker 108 was a bad idea, for many reasons.
“There should still be plenty of food and supplies in the Bunker. My main fear is the xenovirus. Even if we clean everything up, all it takes is one person to get sick for all to come crashing down.”
Ashton looked at me. “I didn’t realize how bad it was. Did the attack happen in every part of the Bunker, or just certain parts? We could avoid the infected areas.”
“It was pretty much everywhere. If everyone there is infected or dead, who knows how many Howlers we’ll have to deal with?”
“It’s too dangerous, then,” Makara said. She looked frustrated. “Are there any other Bunkers we can use? Ones that did not fall from the xenovirus?”
“That would be much safer,” Ashton said. “Since 108 is off the table, and 114 for the same reasons, we have to look at other Bunkers. Our options will be very limited, both by location and other reasons. Most Bunkers aren’t as large as 108; that closes off most even from consideration.”
“Any Bunkers you know of that are nearby?” I asked.
“Then there are others that haven’t been heard from in years – even decades. I can’t remember all of them off the top of my head, but 111, 112, and 106 are all nearby. I’d have to go through my files to refresh my mind on the details of each.”
