“Hey, it’s the only theory we’ve got. I’ll go with it.”
“Thanks.”
“How are you holding up?” Goldman asked.
“Like I said, I’m entertaining the notion that I’ve lost my mind. Is that a healthy coping mechanism or not?”
“Beats me. I was impressed that you wanted to come with.”
“Don’t be so impressed. I like nature. I used to be a girl scout a loooong time ago, and being out here reminds me of camping trips with my parents and friends. Opellius is nice, in a wise old grandpa kind of way, but his cabin is stifling for me. And I don’t want to be around that guy you took prisoner. It’s unsettling.”
“You understand he tried to kill us, right?”
“I do. But you could have left him there.”
Goldman nodded. “We could have. It’s just…well, we thought leaving him there would keep things how they’d been for Nate’s people.”
“And now? How are things now?”
“You know the answer. We don’t fucking know. Damn it. I see your point. But still…we thought he could tell us something. And he could. He did.”
“That Weber is still alive. Assuming you’re talking about the same guy.”
“Right. Alive and directing traffic from somewhere.”
“And all of that means nothing if you can undo it.”
“Yeah…shit. When you lay it all out there it sounds really pointless.”
“I’m not saying it’s pointless. I don’t know. Whatever. I’m just happier out here.”
He smiled, and again she turned away rather than smiling back.
“You’re a mystery to me,” he said.
“I’m comfortable with that,” she replied.
Goldman turned and began to walk back to where Nathaniel was stretching and standing up. He heard footsteps, and turned around to discover Lilli was walking back with him.
They slept that night under the stars that were visible through the opening in the leafy canopy. Nathaniel observed the budding camaraderie between Goldman and Lilli with some satisfaction. Lilli only trusted Goldman a hair more than she trusted him, but that was still something. She was willing to stick with them.
Even so, as they sat down and unfolded blankets made of an unknown material, Nathaniel saw Lilli pick a spot far from her two male companions. He sighed. If there was one thing he knew after such a long life, it was that some things, maybe the most important things, took time.
He got comfortable on the ground and closed his eyes. For a quick moment he remembered the flickering light from the inn in the enclave, and the dreams that had portended trouble. But he saw nothing and there were no dreams.
He was startled awake by a scream. Lilli. He bolted upright. It was hard to see in the faint moonlight, even with his enhanced vision, but he saw Lilli crouching in the corner of the clearing, and a mutant stalking her.
The mutant wasn’t as big as the one he and Goldman had fought, nor the one who had given him such a hard time when it broke into his territory. Still, a mutant was a mutant, and those that lived in the world outside the territory were wildly powerful and violent.
Where the hell is Goldman? he wondered. Nathaniel jumped to his feet and ran at the mutant. He tackled it sideways, and the thing fell over but rolled, tossing Nathaniel over it. He spun around and reclaimed his footing. The mutant was back up too, and it turned its hideous visage toward him.
The yellow eyes seemed to glow as the monstrosity snorted and charged at Nathaniel. He planted his feet and met it with a thrust to its throat. It made a rough hacking sound, shook its head, and charged again. Nathaniel swung, but the mutant ducked out of the way and swung a fist into him with a clobbering blow that sent him flying.
He saw the thing turn back to Lilli, who was still trembling and curled into a ball. Nathaniel jumped to his feet again, and felt a twinge as something pulled in his thigh. He grabbed the leg with both hands and cursed his ailing body.
The mutant closed the distance to Lilli quickly. Nathaniel was helpless as the thing raised its clenched fists over its head. There was a crackle of energy, and he saw blinding light come from the woods and hit the mutant in the head. The creature’s hands dropped as it convulsed, then it shook off the attack and linked its fingers again. Another shot. This one hit the mutant in the back. Another convulsion, and this time the hands stayed down as the massive arms vibrated and twitched.
Nathaniel felt his muscle release, and he got back to his feet and bolted for the stunned mutant. He jumped on its back and wrapped his arm around its neck. In seconds, it was dead.
Nathaniel hopped off as the mutant collapsed to the ground. Goldman had emerged from the woods and was helping Lilli to her feet.
“Are you okay?” Nathaniel asked her.
She nodded. “I got up to pee over behind those trees, and this thing came crashing through the forest toward you two.”
“It came for us?” Nathaniel asked.
“Yeah,” she said. “It was heading right for Goldman. And I distracted it. I didn’t give it any thought. Just got myself in all kinds of trouble.”
“You saved me,” Goldman said. He sounded stunned. “You saved my life.”
“And then you saved mine,” she said. She smiled at Goldman, and the young man blushed and smiled back.
They looked at Nathaniel and he nodded. “You looked out for each other. That is good. That will be necessary as we go on.”
“How the hell are we going to sleep now?” Lilli asked.
“The mutants in this part of the world hunt individually,” Nathaniel said. “I do not think we will encounter any more in this particular part of the woods.”
“I want to believe you,” she said, “but I’m a little scared either way.”
“Then I suggest we have someone stand watch,” Nathaniel said. He saw Goldman put his arm around Lilli. Nathaniel smiled. “I will take the first shift.”
6
The rest of that night was uneventful, as were the day and night that followed. The second night, Goldman and Lilli insisted Nathaniel sleep through the first shift. He slept for what he assumed was several hours, then alternated with them.
Midway through the third day, they came to the edge of the woods and emerged in a field of tall, yellowing grasses.
“And here I thought getting out of the woods would make travel easier,” Goldman said. “What I wouldn’t give for a machete right now.”
“What is that?” Nathaniel asked.
“Like a big sharp blade for cutting down long grass.”
“Ah. We have such a thing where I come from. It’s called a Klaus knife.”
“Like Santa Claus?”
“The Klaus spirit. Those who believe such things say that the Klaus guided the Christ baby through the wilderness by hacking away at the plant life, much as you would like to do now.”
“That is a weird spin on Christianity,” Lilli said.
“It is what we knew,” Nathaniel said.
“Does your weather change?” Lilli asked.
“Aye. It will get warmer, then it will get colder. And then it snows. Assuming the weather here is like in my territory. But I don’t think we will be out here when that comes. Winter is many months away.”
“There’s no way it would take us that long to…” Goldman paused, then smiled. “Nate, were you attempting a joke?”
“Perhaps,” Nathaniel said. “Achmis said I am not very good at it.”
“I mean, that was particularly bad,” Goldman said, “but they can’t all be winners. Do what I do. Throw a bunch of shit against the wall and see what sticks.”
“I don’t understand why I would want to do that. It sounds revolting. Or is that another of your strange phrases?”
“Yeah, it’s a strange phrase. Brings up an interesting point though. You know curse words like we have where Lilli and I come from.”
“Some things are timeless,” Lilli suggested.
“True,” Goldman said. “But
what continues to perplex me is the mix of cultures that defines Nate’s world.”
“The accent?” Lilli asked.
“That’s part of it. You didn’t see what I saw in his territory. There are certain elements that almost seem right out of colonial America, and other things that look lifted from the Middle Ages. And then there are parts of his language, like some phrases and the cursing, that are from what we would consider more modern. It’s like somebody left a very particular and curated guide for people to follow as the society developed.”
“You believe someone manipulated the development of my world?” Nathaniel asked. “I thought you were under the impression it evolved independently within the walls.”
“Maybe both things are true,” Goldman said. “The description of the other territory was both similar and different enough to make me think so, at any rate. If we can get into this third territory, we might learn a thing or two.”
The third night came. Their supply of food was almost exhausted. Nathaniel had refused to eat for most of the day, since he was the only one who could survive without daily sustenance.
Goldman had protested. “We’ve got a lot of water, and you might not die without food but you’ll get weaker, and we can’t afford that.”
“Come nighttime, I’ll hunt,” Nathaniel said.
And so he did, creeping through the heavy grass and listening for the tiny hints of sound that represented animal life.
He saw a large bird circling in the sky above. Its silhouette blocked part of the moon as it passed. He steadied the energy weapon. He didn’t trust such devices, and wondered if the aim would be true across such an expanse. He wished for his bow, the weapon that had supported him through so many hunts and had provided food for the enclave he had called home.
He fired the weapon as the bird completed another swooping arc. The energy bolt connected and the bird fell.
Not long after, he walked back to their makeshift camp, an area from which they had torn up all the grass they could grab. He held the bird carcass by its legs in one hand.
“Holy shit,” Goldman said. “I thought the last bird you hunted down was big. The wildlife out here really is massive.”
“Apex predators, I think,” Lilli said. “Very little competition and very little threat. It explains why we aren’t seeing rodents and rabbits and all of that.”
“Nathaniel is the apex predator for sure,” Goldman said.
Nathaniel wasn’t sure if he should take that as a compliment or an insult, but he decided it made little difference. He dug a trench in the ground surrounding a pile of sticks they’d brought from the edge of the woods. He covered the sticks with some of the removed grass, and used the energy weapon to set the pile ablaze.
“That gun came from your homeland?” Lilli asked as the fire crackled around the bird.
“Aye. The Authority’s soldiers used them.”
“Seems so similar to what the Loyalty Guard was starting to work with,” she said.
“It is,” Goldman said. “Very similar. And totally out of place for Nate’s home. These devices are very old. Or maybe the blueprints for how to make them. The weapons are multifaceted.”
“How do you mean?” Lilli asked.
“There’s a switch on the side that determines the kind of energy that comes out. There’s the destructive one that the Guard uses. What Nate calls a blast of hellfire. Then there is a stun setting that paralyzes muscles. And then there’s one that wouldn’t do anything to you or me, but it somehow interferes with Nate’s powers.”
“Interferes how?”
“Turns them off. Or blocks them out. I don’t know. It’s temporary.”
“Why would the Loyalty Guard have need of that kind of thing?”
“That is a very good question,” Nathaniel said. “Not all of their weaponry is like this, but they seem to be overprepared for a world of Great Ones that hadn’t fully emerged yet.”
“But there were hints of it,” Goldman said. “Lilli, I’m sure you heard the rumors about the superheroes fighting during the war.”
“Well, yeah, of course. But I always thought they were conspiracy theory bullshit.”
“Right. So did most people. But look at what we’ve seen.”
“I see your point. So Weber knew about the existence of the Great Ones. Or he was one of them? And he prepared somehow.”
“He was certainly testing things,” Goldman said. “The zombie people were a result of that, I think. But I just don’t know where his people would get this kind of technology. I know they had siphoned off scientific minds from research for the public benefit to research for Weber’s benefit, but still…”
“There are many mysteries,” Nathaniel said. “And when we find the Prophet we will ask him our questions.”
“Speaking of,” Lilli said, “How far are we from this other territory? I feel great with all the exercise we’ve been getting, but it’s been days.”
“Opellius said the hive mind can’t communicate endlessly,” Nathaniel said. “We must be close.”
“Do we need to worry about their brethren around these parts?” Goldman asked.
Nathaniel shook his head. “Not likely. Our hive mind were to tell the others we were coming. If they are out there, they are intentionally keeping their distance from us.”
“So what now?” Goldman asked. “We eat dinner then stare at the stars again?”
“Aye. Is that a problem?”
“Just boring, is all. We need some entertainment that doesn’t involve something trying to kill us.”
“What did you have in mind, Goldman?”
“Well…I thought maybe you could tell us the story about your time as a mortal.”
Lilli leaned forward with excitement. “Ooh that sounds good!”
Nathaniel frowned. “I told you that was a long time ago and I don’t talk about it.”
“You kinda said that you could tell me eventually.”
“And you think ‘eventually’ means now.”
“What else do we have to do?” Lilli asked.
“I believe you two are unfairly teaming up against me,” Nathaniel said.
“Indeed we are, Great One,” said Goldman. “So? What’ll it be? You can’t hold out forever.”
Nathaniel sighed. “I will try to tell it, but you know it is filled with complicated memories, some of which I haven’t allowed myself to access in thousands of years. But I will try. Goldman, I told you already about the trials of the Great Ones. How in our youth we have our powers removed and we leave for a week to explore the world…or the world as we knew it.”
“How did they remove your powers?” Lilli asked.
“It was a mysterious process,” Nathaniel said. “Patrick and Maxwell, my two closest friends, were sent with me down into the core of the Great Ones’ palace. We participated in a series of tests and challenges, and when we passed those we were sent individually to the lowest level. Down there, machines stabbed at my arms. That’s all I know. I can’t say if I fainted or if the procedure induced a blackout. I simply know that I was poked by those devices and woke up in my room as a mortal.”
“Sounds horrible,” Lilli said.
“It was frightening,” Nathaniel said. “And that fear was a strange and disturbing sensation for one who had never truly had to worry about anything. But it was brief. When I woke, I was confused, but the excitement of the experience to come quickly replaced all other emotions.”
7
Nathaniel sat up in bed. He looked at his arms, expecting to see wounds, or perhaps the scabbing remnants of such. The needles were large enough to have made significant punctures in him as he had instinctively used his arms to protect himself. Strangely, there was nothing. No sign of any damage.
Had it been a dream? It seemed too real and vivid for that. He looked around and saw Maxwell Goodheart sleeping loudly. Snoring was not an attribute of a Great One, even a young one whose powers had not fully developed.
Nathaniel l
ooked for Patrick Shelvey, but his friend was not in the room. He tried to get out of bed and stumbled on unsteady legs. Nathaniel flopped back against the mattress and looked up at the ceiling. He felt strange and uneasy. His body felt atypically limited, both in capabilities and longevity. He could not understand how he could feel such things, and wondered if he wasn’t creating sensations that he thought he should be feeling.
Nathaniel closed his eyes, and fell asleep again. When he woke, Patrick was standing over him and grinning. Maxwell, in typical Maxwell behavior, loitered in the corner of the room.
“You wake!” Patrick said. “Praise the Prophet. I was preparing to call the nuns of the Klaus for funeral rites.”
“Fuck off,” Nathaniel said. He made to push away the blankets and realized they had already been pulled down. He vaguely remembered having woken before. So much confusion. His brain had never been so mystified and befuddled, at least not at any time he could recall.
“You’re disoriented,” Patrick said. “I felt the same way, but I got better. Now Max…he soiled himself while trying to get out of bed.”
Maxwell’s cheeks turned red. “I told you that in the strictest confidence!” he fumed.
“Forgive me,” Patrick said. “I leak like a sieve.”
“So it was real?” Nathaniel asked. “It truly happened?”
“I know not if you mean our trials or Max’s defecation, but the answer to both is yes.”
Nathaniel sighed. “So this is what it is to be a normal.”
“It would seem to be the case,” Maxwell said, eager to change the subject.
“How long do we have until exile?” Nathaniel asked.
“You slept through most of the grace period,” Patrick said. “We have to leave tomorrow morning. Do not forget we have the banquet this evening.”
“How could I forget?” Nathaniel groaned. “I am not in favor of such public acknowledgment.”
The Lost Enclave Page 5
