Most of the group stayed by the fire pit they created and lit with a tiny blast of fire from Scarlet. Jared lay with his back to Scarlet, and Vanessa snuggled against his side. This moment was perfect, and he never wanted it to end. Before he nodded off to sleep, Jared nudged Vanessa.
“Do you…I—” Jared’s voice squeaked. He cleared his throat and tried again. “If you’d like, perhaps we can walk together tomorrow?” He dropped his head to stare at the ground, suddenly unsure of himself.
“I thought you’d never ask. I’d love to.” Vanessa pressed into his side and laid her head on his shoulder.
The smile she gave him made his heart beat so fast he feared she’d feel it through his chest. Jared returned the smile and wrapped his arm around her. He was in his own little world with Vanessa and nothing else mattered.
Jared’s spirits were in the clouds as they set out the following day. He hardly remembered their surroundings because he spent the whole time talking with Vanessa and learning about her childhood. It wasn’t until dusk when Scarlet called out to him that he snapped out of it.
“Where are you?” She’d taken to the skies some time ago to scout the area and Jared didn’t see her.
“I am a few miles southwest of you. There is a colony along the road we travel.”
“Is it a small colony? Are there any roads that go around?”
“It is larger than the one by the lake, and there are roads that curve around. I can guide you.”
Jared strained his eyes, looking for Scarlet against the sky, but he couldn’t see her, which meant this little colony shouldn’t be able to either. However, the massive dragons that accompanied them would be a problem.
“Is it going to be a problem for your brothers? They don’t exactly have a low profile.”
“I think the trees on the west side should provide sufficient cover, but it might be prudent to send Kitty to investigate.”
“All right, I’ll have her go check it out.”
Jared contemplated walking into the village to assess the situation himself but decided against it. Eventually, he’d visit colonies, but now was not the time. They weren’t far enough from the floating city just yet, and he didn’t want to endanger others, nor did he want anyone to know they were around.
Kitty came back and reported that they should pass unnoticed, provided the dragons lowered their heads to stay concealed by the trees.
It took a couple hours to detour around the city, and Jared hoped there weren’t any people gallivanting around outside the colony.
The rest of the day was uneventful, and true to her word, Vanessa remained by his side the entire time. They enjoyed chatting and talking about their lives and the lives of those around them. The insight Vanessa provided about her people let him understand all their quirks and personalities. It turned out that Pete was basically a hermit and rarely, if ever, spoke or talked to anyone.
Since taking on the responsibility of technologist and bonding with Kirgor, Pete’s demeanor had flipped on its head. He still had trouble communicating, and his stutter often proved frustrating to both parties, but he’d made considerable improvements in the last few weeks.
The longer they talked and the more Jared learned, the more he found himself amazed at how far everyone had come in such a short time. It excited him to think about the force they’d become. Not just to fight the cities, but after they won the war, they’d have a solid group of people to set things right in the world. It was a small group, but they had to start somewhere. They had a budding colony and most of the professions they needed to see it flourish.
It will flourish, Jared promised himself. No matter what it takes, we will persevere.
The next week passed quickly; already they’d been on the road for nine days, and the constant walking sapped everyone’s strength. Jared decided they’d find a place to hole up and recover.
He’d send Kitty out to gather food. A few hearty meals and rest for two days should lift everyone’s spirits. They had under two weeks to go if they didn’t run into any issues along the way.
The last couple days, Jared had found himself walking hand in hand with Vanessa. Even when he talked to the others in the group, they walked together and joined in asking questions and making small talk. They presented a unified front, and it was obvious they’d grown closer.
Before it got too dark, Jared asked Scarlet to find a place for them to hole up for a couple days. If she could find someplace like the field they’d used the first few days after their flight from the city, that would serve nicely.
“I will find a resting place.”
“Thanks.”
It didn’t take long before Scarlet let him know she’d found a small abandoned town. All the buildings were empty, many gutted by fires long ago. There were several gulches nearby that the dragons could use to keep a low profile. Once they’d arrived, Jared addressed everyone before they spread out to explore.
“We’ll hole up here for a day or two and let everyone get their strength back. I need a couple folks to help me chop firewood. Daryl? Can you and Kitty head out hunting? I’d like us to have some fresh food to replenish everyone’s energy.”
“Aye.” Daryl nodded at Kitty before dropping his gear and stalking off with only his phase rifle.
Jared gathered the volunteers for chopping firewood. They hadn’t brought axes with them, but a few had hatchets. Collecting the weapons, Jared led them off the road and a short distance into the trees. It wasn’t the most efficient tool for hacking into hardened, desiccated trees, but it worked well enough for the time being.
Everyone else not occupied filtered through the buildings, laying claim to an area. Jared didn’t clear the buildings because his spider senses let him reconstruct the images in his mind, confirming they were vacant. Aside from a few smaller rodents, there was nothing overtly dangerous for the group. If something showed up, everyone had weapons and could fend for themselves, not to mention they had half a dozen dragons surrounding them.
It was nice that he didn’t have to shoulder the burden solo anymore. They’d become much more independent, and it would only improve as they all became stronger. Several times throughout the last week when they’d stopped for breaks, Jared and Johan coached people on the use of the phase weapons. Eventually, they’d managed to get everyone in the group passingly familiar to the point they weren’t afraid to carry a weapon and use it if needed. Several of them had yet to test their mettle in a fight, but Jared was much more confident in them now than when they’d first set out from the lakeside town to their home in the cliffs.
For the next two days, they lounged around the area, feasting on whatever Daryl and Kitty found. They’d had a variety of meals, including wild dogs, deer, and a smattering of rabbits and birds. Several of those that had bonded approached him, letting him know they were ready to assign their nanites. Only Johan and Casey had done so since the bonding ceremony.
When he’d asked about it before, they’d made excuses or told him they hadn’t decided yet and wanted more time to think about it. Jared agreed to help everyone that night and told them he’d stay on watch to make sure everyone was okay. He also asked everyone who planned to make the changes to move into one building so he could keep an eye on them.
There was no need to set a patrol since the dragons spread out in every direction. Nothing would come for them during the night. If they did, Jared felt sorry for whatever hapless creature wandered into the area.
He sat next to Vanessa and held her hand as she fell asleep. She’d opted to dump most of her nanites into Mind attributes, aside from the one-fourth she’d dedicated to Body Manipulation as they’d talked about before.
Vanessa Nanites Available – 100%
Body
Physical Augmentation
Body Manipulation – 25%
Mind
Brain Augmentation
>
Intelligence Enhancement – 75%
She hoped a quarter of the nanites was enough to start changing her body back. Based on the rapid improvements he’d seen in Carla and Pete, he suspected it would be enough, but they had no frame of reference to say for sure. Without Malsour around to help guide her, Jared wasn’t certain she’d be able to effect all the changes, anyway. Scarlet promised to help, but they couldn’t meld the same way until Vanessa’s intelligence improved enough for her to start down the path to Clear Mind and increase her Telepathy ability.
Images of Cayuga Lake sprang into his mind as he watched everyone sleep. There was so much potential for fast growth there, yet there was nothing they could do. The city floated directly above it, and a treasure trove of nanites lay below. Somehow, they needed to get back there and absorb them. If they hijacked the drop ships, there was potential he could take the bonded humans with him in the night and quickly absorb some. His only concern was the light show that was sure to follow.
The lake extended many miles though, so it was possible they could circle around to the opposite tip where he and Scarlet had hidden the robot parts, but even then, the light would be visible, especially from the sky. All the plans were hypothetical anyway, since Pete needed to figure out a way to hijack whatever signals the ships used.
These thoughts kept Jared’s mind occupied throughout the night. Occasionally those going through changes stirred, but most of them lay quietly.
It was quite an interesting contrast from Johan’s changes the other day. When he’d gone through all his physical enhancements, it’d had some interesting side-effects. He’d thrashed about in his sleep and Jared had ended up moving him away from the others for fear he’d accidentally hurt them.
That thrashing had lasted through the entire night, and when Jared asked Johan about it the next day, he’d said he didn’t think it was something he normally did.
Jared had discussed it with Scarlet, and they’d come to the conclusion that the reflex changes had made his muscles spasm uncontrollably. It was similar to tapping the knee and the leg jerking forward. Only, with the nanites, it’d been a lot more intense.
Seeing things well in hand and the night nearly over, Jared went to find Scarlet.
“You awake?”
“I am.”
“Are you good to scout the area one more time? I was thinking today might be a good time to get flying lessons in. All of your brothers now have seats formed, Ballog finished healing, and we have a couple days of down time.”
“Yes, that sounds good. My brothers grow restless. The chance to stretch their wings is exactly what they need.”
Plans made, Jared walked back inside, waiting patiently until everyone woke from the changes. It was midday before the first people roused. One of them was Vanessa as she staggered out of the building. Jared ran up to her and steadied her.
“There’s so much.” Vanessa shook her head, staggering against Jared and muttering incoherently. She squeezed her eyes shut and squinted as she tried in vain to crack an eye open.
“It will take time to adjust. Please sit down,” Jared said and guided her over to a stump by the smoldering fire pit.
“There’s so much.”
Jared knew exactly what she meant. When he’d enhanced his mind, it was a massive influx of mental capacity; it had taken him a while to come to grips with it all. Jared waited patiently for her to adjust. Finally, she opened her eyes and stole Jared’s breath.
Her eyes were no longer a milky white but shone a brilliant green. Jared had to pick his jaw off the floor as he stared into her mesmerizing eyes. There had been something exotic about her before and this change only amplified the look. Not only did they captivate him, they reflected the edge of fierceness Jared had grown to love over the past months.
“Your eyes.”
A frown furrowed her brow. “What happened to them?”
“They—” Jared cleared his throat, his voice coming out hoarse. “They’re beautiful.”
Jared realized her disorientation wasn’t the influx of mental information like it was for him, though that could be part of it, but rather her eyesight being restored.
“Vanessa.” Jared cupped her cheek in his hand and grinned like a fool. “Look around.”
Vanessa blinked rapidly and looked away from Jared. “I can s—” Her voice cracked, tears streaming down her cheeks.
Still grinning, Jared reached up to wipe the tears away. He stood and held out a hand for her. She took it and they walked through their small encampment. Jared wanted to work with her on all the changes, but after seeing her reaction to the world around her, there was something he wanted to do first.
They stopped in front of Scarlet, and Jared gestured for her to climb on top.
“Scarlet, can you take Vanessa for a quick flight? She had her sight restored, and I’d like her to see the world from a new perspective.”
“Absolutely. Hang on tight.”
The grin never left his face as he watched Scarlet soar through the sky. Vanessa whooped and hollered in Jared’s mind, her thoughts streaming a thousand miles a minute as she absorbed everything around her. The moment they landed, Vanessa shimmied off Scarlet’s back and ran to Jared, throwing her arms around him tightly.
“Thank you so much! I don’t know how we’ll ever repay you for everything you’ve done for us. That was amazing.”
Jared started to ask if she wanted to go through all of her changes right then, but more people stumbled from the room, and Jared broke away to help them adapt. As with Vanessa, everyone had their sight restored. The milky white eyes he’d gotten used to were gone, replaced by blue, green, and brown. Unlike Vanessa, he didn’t immediately take them to the dragons for a joy ride since he and Scarlet already planned on that later in the day.
Once he’d helped everyone adjust and determined they were okay, he rejoined Vanessa, and they spent the next few hours going through everything that had changed and what she should focus on. It was likely he’d need to do this again with the others, but the one-on-one time with Vanessa didn’t bother him in the least. In fact, he preferred giving her a private run down of everything she had to look forward to. When he was with the group, he’d keep things succinct and revert to teacher mode.
It wasn’t like that with Vanessa, and it let him tune out the world to focus on just her. She picked up on the instructions quickly and practiced meditation to explore the nanites in her body. Jared left her to it and found the other group exactly where he’d left them.
“Hey, everyone. I’m sure you noticed it, but your sight should be whole again!” As Jared looked around the small group, he saw all of them had crystal clear eyes and many shimmered from unshed tears. “I can’t imagine what it must be like to see the world clearly after so long. I don’t want to keep you from the experience, so I’ll make this brief.”
Jared quickly explained how they could learn to meditate and left them to figure out much of the rest on their own for now. Their dragon companions would be the best help, but since some of Scarlet’s brothers were away finding the other dragons Jared promised he’d coach them after they learned to meditate.
So far no one showed signs of adverse effects or had trouble coping with the changes. That hadn’t been the case with Johan. After he’d changed, Jared had approached the man and placed a hand on his shoulder.
It was like the touch had shocked him, and he’d rebounded like a cat, landing several feet away in a crouch. Even now, Jared smiled as he remembered the reaction. When Johan moved, he glided across the ground.
After Jared explained everything to Johan and suggested he go work with Midri to understand everything more clearly, Johan had sprung to his feet, accidentally launching himself five feet off the ground.
Jared had watched, amazed at the transformation. Every movement showed calculation and precision. For a moment, he’
d regretted not adding more nanites into his physical enhancements, but the thought was fleeting. He’d come a long way from the scrawny explorer of just a few months ago. Aside from his facial features, he hardly recognized that person anymore. He stood inches taller, his muscles had tripled in size, and the wisdom behind his eyes was leaps and bounds ahead of the old him.
Jared gave everyone several hours to explore their bodies and practice meditation before he gathered them all into one place.
“I know you’re all excited to keep exploring your bodies, but I also wanted you to get a taste of flying today.”
Cheers went up around the group. Only Carla and Vanessa had flown besides him. There’d been a couple asks over the past week, but all the dragons were still working on making a place for their companions to sit. It hadn’t been as easy for them to create the seats as it was for Scarlet since they needed to rearrange several spikes on their backs and then build the seat. Her brothers also didn’t have as many nanites, and the changes were slow.
“Obviously, we must take turns, but those who just finished the enhancement process will go first. I want you to experience the world with your restored eyesight before the sun sets.”
Jared had to help almost everyone up on the dragons as it was too high for many of them. Johan was the only one that didn’t need help. He scrambled up Midri’s back like a spider, easily making his way to the seat fashioned for him.
“Hang on tight!”
The words acted like a launch command as all the dragons leaped into the air. Jared stood with Scarlet, and they laughed together as everyone had the same reaction as Vanessa.
There were a few outbursts interspersed, but to everyone’s credit they mostly screamed in their minds, cognizant of the fact they needed to keep a low profile. Scarlet’s brothers had a little fun themselves, performing aerial maneuvers that pinned their riders into place and took their breath away. The first group came back, and everyone but Joe groaned in disappointment.
Radioactive Revolution: A Dystopian, Post-Apocalyptic Adventure Page 30