Nuclear Rising

by Christian Smith

  “Yes, of course,” Bree replies. “It’s just the first time anyone close to me has died, other than my mom of course, but that happened before I could even talk.”

  The thought of my own sisters and parents makes me wonder if they’re even still alive.

  “I can’t imagine,” I reply, resting my hand on Bree’s rarely cold hand. “You’ve been through a lot the past few days, hell we all have, but I can’t imagine losing someone close like that.”

  She begins tracing her finger around the windshield, lost in thought then says, “Vonn was a total jerk most of the time, but ever since I met him five years ago, he’s always looked out for me. There was one time when daddy was out finding a place for us to build, we were just wandering around like a bunch of homeless people. It was winter time, really cold. Vonn came over with a heavy wool blanket, took it off, gave it to me and didn’t say much, but he just smiled while he shivered by the fire.”

  “Sounds like he was your big brother from another mother.”

  A little chuckle sounds out, and Bree says, “Right. He thought a lot about himself and his muscles, but never tried to take advantage of me or hurt me like others in the tribe. He was my protector, and I thought he was invincible too, but now he won’t protect me anymore.”

  A single tear drips onto my hand amidst the teetering rain drops and I look into her round green eyes as flickers of moonlight peek between clouds. “I’ll look after you Bree. I promise I will always protect you.”

  “But how do you know that?”

  I let out a snort, replying, “I just know it. I was meant to protect you that first night I met you and I will protect you from any other stinky bandits we run into. What Vonn had in muscles, I make up for in swagger and dumb luck, which goes a lot further in the real world.”

  She chuckles softly, reaching her hand around mine, filling my palm with warmth. “You promise?”

  “Cross my heart, though I hope I don’t die.”

  “Not today please.” She pats my hand, smiles weakly and turns away to look out the side window.

  Another hour passes silently, me turning on the CD player to listen to Drake once again and Bree seemingly unable to get comfortable as she shifts back and forth on her seat while the rain continues to lightly drizzle on our heads off and on.

  “Quinn,” Bree finally says as she turns toward me, fire showing behind her eyes, her breath closing in next to me. “Can you tell me one thing? There's something that’s been bothering me ever since we were in that garage and I haven’t been able to put my finger on it. But you know that horrible girl – I saw it on your face when we were hiding. You know their Queen. How do you know her?”

  I stutter.

  “I-I.” A nervous laugh. A pause. A hum. “It is really complicated – you’d probably be bored by it.”

  “I’ve got nothing scheduled. Go right ahead.” She crosses her arms, eyeing me expectantly.

  Sighing, I reply, “Well, let’s just get to the bomb already shall we?”

  “Yes, lets.”

  “Long story short, Celeste, or Queen Celestia as she so eloquently puts it, was my fiancée.”

  “Wait what? That bitch?” Bree spurts out, then apologetically replies, “Sorry…Um, that girl?”

  I roll my eyes. “Yes, that girl, who believe it or not, was actually pretty sweet and kind back in the day. Sure, she was a snob when it came to other girls and designer clothes, but she saved my life, more than once when we were younger. I think she’s gone through things, you know, pretty heavy stuff and it’s brought out the worst in her.”

  Huffing and shaking her head, Bree says, “I’ll say. You know what that girl did to me?”

  “No, I don’t. What?”

  “After one of those torture mind games we went through, it was one where I confessed…well, that’s not important what I said. It was the same question over and over, ‘why are you here?’ So one time I told them. I was brought into their fancy hall where she came down from her platform, yelled at me, told me how I was trash and that I would die as trash, slapped my face, spit on me, and then had the guards drag me out all paralyzed and punch me in the gut before they threw me back in the cell. It took a week to heal from that one.”

  I can see she’s shaking, her fists balled up, and her eyes tearing in the patches of moonlight.

  I reach out my hand to her, but she hisses and hides against the door.

  “Bree,” I say quietly, stopping the car. “I don’t know what to say, but I am really, really sorry she treated you like that. Like I said, she’s not the person I used to know either. I see flashes, glimpses of the girl I almost married before, but that all changed when N-Day happened. She didn’t used to be like that, I promise. She’s all mixed up, but I think she can come back.”

  “You want her to come back?” Bree replies. “You still have feelings for her don’t you?! How can you feel like that after she treated me that way? Don’t I mean something to you Quinn?”

  A tightness grows in my chest. I say, “Of course I do! She is the mother of my child – As far as I knew, the day I woke up on that ship, she was still going to be my wife. So yes, Bree, I do have feelings for her! And yes Bree, you do mean something to me!”

  A warm rage was brewing under the skin of my face, and I couldn’t help gritting my teeth as I breathed heavily.

  “You have a child with her?” Bree shouts. “You’ve dug your own grave, Quinn. With her charming personality, your kid is just going to be a bright and shining star in the world!”

  “My son is gone Bree!” I reply back, shouting. “She lost him. He could be dead. He could be alive. He doesn’t even know me for what it’s worth! So don’t you dare even talk about him.”

  Bree’s silent when she realizes she crossed a line.

  “Sorry.”

  “You don’t know anything about me Bree. So don’t even assume you know anything about Celeste and I. You don’t get to judge us.”

  She mutters, “Yeah…I guess.”

  “You know,” I continue, starting to drive again. “I woke up one week ago on some spaceship. Five years had passed. My world was completely gone. And the one thing I wanted most in the world was to find her. Well I did, and now I wish I’d never found her. So think about that before you go off on me.”

  “You’re right.”

  “I am right.”

  Bree’s voice is soft with a slight quiver when she speaks next. “What happened to you Quinn? I mean, with the spaceship thing and coming to Vantage - How did we end up meeting?”

  “That’s another long story, Bree.”

  “I’m still not going anywhere.”

  Another sigh. “Okay.”

  I begin my story about meeting Sledge.

  ┈┈┈┈┈․° ☣ °․┈┈┈┈┈

  Seeing the Alloy city again, with its hodpodge of silver and gold glinting in the sunlight, its wire fences strewn across the riverbank with waterwheels churning power as imposing guard towers watch across the widespan bridge – it seems like a century since we had stepped across the bridge, left the rainbow lights with wider smiles and a bigger party than we had now.

  The morning sun was rising across the water, casting its glowing color on the surface of the water as the mist drifted in to usher in a new day. Birds chirped happily in the treetops across the way and bugs darted across the water, every now and then a large monstrous-looking fish jumping out to eat them.

  “We made it,” I say to Bree, who after dozing off a couple hours, looked slightly better than me, though with messier hair like she had just taken a redeye flight. She grabs a piece of cloth from the back of the jeep and waves it, pausing every now and then as if she were typing something in morse code.

  After about a minute, she turns to me and says, “We’re good to go now – daddy will be waiting for us inside.”

  “Can’t wait to see him again.”

  Bree rolls her giant green eyes emphatically and I press my foot on the pedal, driving us across
the large bridge, and through the massive gate of Vantage. James the guard is there of course, manning his usual post at the guardtower, and letting out a big yawn, waves us forward along the wide, main road that heads through central Vantage.

  “Where’s the rest of your group?” James shouts as we drive by. “Captain Vonn?”

  All I can do is grimace and shake my head while Bree looks down at the floor. James mumbles something to the effect of, “A true warrior has his rest,” and motions his hands for us to get out.

  We drive on the bumpy stone road for about five blocks, slowing as I spot a large troop of soldiers, at least twenty men wide, roadblocking the area so that people walking by suspiciously eye our jeep with sneering side glances and hurried pacing.

  “Just the welcome I was expecting for a couple heroes,” I mutter.

  From the midst of the armored, camouflaged soldiers, one, giant bear of a man with stark auburn hair and sharp green eyes emerges, pushing toughened soldiers out of the way like he’s parting the red sea with ease.

  Bree flings the car door open, and sprinting excitedly, jumps into her father’s arms like she’s a small doll.

  “Hello daddy,” she says, while the soldiers in the crowd relax around her. I get out of the car, though with a much slower pace, make my way toward General Patton Eyre and his cadre of soldiers.

  A deep booming voice says, “You scared me, my little flower. You should never have left – that was so incredibly foolish of you. The world out there is a terrible place and they hurt little girls like you.”

  With a tear welling up in Bree’s eye, she softly replies, “I know – you were right. And Vonn got hurt because of it.”

  “What?”

  “The Terra soldiers shot Vonn right in front of us. He protected us. Died like a true warrior daddy.”

  Suddenly the rest of the group, looking shocked from the news, simultaneously say out loud, “A true warrior has his rest.”

  As Patton Eyre notices me, he gently lets Bree down to the ground, and with a face screwed tight that appears on the edge of fury rushes toward me, though I don’t flinch.

  “You,” he says. “Somehow you survived out of all people.”

  I smirk up at him, flashing my gray eyes with a wink and reply, “It’s nice to see you too General.”

  “Vonn was one of the best soldiers. He fought hard and he was one of the smartest of my men. I had hoped one day he would marry my daughter and become the next General of Vantage. I had hoped he would bear me grandsons, more warriors for our army. Yet he died by the hands of those filthy Terra snobs.”

  I look up at the General, without any snark in my voice and reply. “I’m very sorry General. For what it’s worth, he did die as a warrior, and he did save your daughter.”

  Eyre smiles down at me, flashing a wicked smirk, replying, “And I hope it wasn’t all in vain Private York. Please tell me you brought the battery.”

  “I did.”

  “Then where is it?”

  “I have it, but I want our terms met first. Where’s Brig?”

  “Elliot?” Eyre replies. “She’s under house arrest with her lesbian lover, which thank goodness for your opportune arrival, else she’d be taking a trip down Main Street with my firing squad. That or we’d just burn the place down.”

  “How reassuring,” I mutter, risking a glance at Bree, who now stands just to the right of Eyre. “And the three of us can leave Vantage, no problem? As much as I love your city with its dodgy brothels and ex-convict soldiers, I’m sure we’ll probably be more welcome to bunk with the skulks than we will here.”

  Eyre comes up to me, a flash of concern as Bree also lunges forward. But the General wears a wide smile hiding under his hairy face, and when he’s a foot away, he extends his hand, clasping mine tightly.

  “You saved my daughter,” Patton Eyre says. “As much as I hate a pretty boy like yourself, Quinn York, my daughter’s life is the most important thing in the world. You’re free to come and go whenever you want, but you should at least stay for the festivities later today.”

  “Should I?” I ask. “I think it’d be better if I just take my lesbian friends now and head anywhere but here.”

  “So be it, though I am a little offended,” Eyre says with a shred of sarcasm showing in his wrinkled eyes. “Your loss. What’ll happen this afternoon will be the day Semper tribe takes a leap. Like when man landed on the moon. That battery you have will finally make others wish they’d been born a Semper. Not a snobby Terra or Mechanicus jerk.”

  I smile back to Eyre, though I can see in the corner of my eye that Bree is definitely unhappy with how we’ve been talking. “Take me to my friend and you can have your stupid battery.”

  “I thought you’d never ask,” the General replies, clapping his massive hand on my back, immediately knocking me off balance so I almost end up on the ground.

  As we walk, the gaggle of soldiers spreads out on both edges of the street, ushering the busy women and children to the side to make way for the procession. As we pass a restaurant called “Atilla’s Grub,” the savory aroma of bacon hits my nostrils, and immediately my stomach lurches in reply. Bree says something to her dad as they walk, and a second later she joins me at the rear of the group.

  Twisting her hair between her fingers, she eyes me quietly, smirks, then says, “Thank you Quinn.”

  I look into her emerald eyes, trying my best to fight any foolish impulses to stay in Vantage just because of a girl. A monotonous, “You’re welcome, Bree,” comes from my lips as I stare straight ahead.

  I feel a warm hand reach itself around my arm, and for a split second I freeze up, then acquiesce.

  Bree says those words I was preeminently dreading. “Quinn…you can’t go. You said you’d always be my protector now – How do you plan on doing that if you’re mayor of Skulktown or whatever your stupid plan is?”

  I try to fight the urge.

  The words feel stuck in my throat.

  “Bree,” I mutter eventually, feeling her breath against my cheek. “I…I don’t know where I’m going to go, or what I’ll do, but I have to start over. I have to figure out who I am, what my favorite food is, if I really do like listening to Drake. I just need time.”

  “So this will be it then? Just like that. You’re going back on your word?”

  I dare a second’s glance to her eyes, but wish I hadn’t a moment later when I see tears glistening in her eyes.

  “I’ll be back, Bree,” I say. “I’ll be your protector – I just don’t think I can stand still right now. I need to find more answers. I need to find Celeste, and my son.”

  Suddenly her hand drops, and I can feel the bitterness ebbing in as Bree glances as far as possible from me.

  “You still love her. I don’t get it.”

  “It’s…complicated doesn’t even do it justice. If there’s a chance I can find my son though, I might have what your dad has with you. I might have something to live for, something to fight for.”

  “I understand, Quinn,” Bree says, a slight pout curling on her lip. “But you’re the first person I’ve ever met that I feel…that I feel I have something to live for. I try to fill my life by visiting orphans and baking them cookies, but I never knew really how empty my life was until you came into it. That’s the whole reason-“

  “You snuck away and came to Pyre?” I reply before she can finish so I don’t have to hear the words. “I know. Another reason I should get as far away as possible from you. I told you I would be your protector, but I can’t even do it with my friends, let alone with someone I-“

  I stop.

  “What?” Bree asks. “What were you going to say?”

  My throat feels like it closes in, but I swallow back the tightness. “Nothing. My point is, it’s better I stay away from you because I don’t ever want you to hurt. I don’t think I could handle it if something bad ever happened to you, Bree. You’re too…good.”

  “I can take care of myself!”

 
; “No, you can’t!”

  “YES I CAN!”

  Bree’s shouting triggers her father to look back with irritated eyes, and storming off without another glance, she leaves me at the rear of the procession, bitterness and anger welling up on the inside.

  Five long minutes pass without another glance from Bree and several suspicious I’ll-get-the-shotgun glances from General Eyre. Eventually we come to a cutesy tin house, just large enough to have two bedrooms and a bathroom maybe, much like a metal storybook cottage. In the two windows in the front, little metal flower boxes hold some of the only flowers I’ve seen in the city, with smiling daffodils and purple pansies fluttering in the air. A wavy tin roof sits on the top where even a small chimney puffs out smoke. A small garden sits to the side of the house, where various greens sprout out from the ground.

  “Brig lives here?” I say, a chuckle rising out of my throat. “Tough as nails, doesn’t take crap, skulk-killing Brig lives in Fairy Godmother’s shanty house? Now I’ve seen it all!”

  I spy a masked smile from Bree as she looks over, makes eye contact, and quickly darts her eyes toward the front door, which is painted a sharp burgundy color.

  “Elliot!” One of the guards raps against the metal door, calling for Brig.

  “Yes, yes, coming, keep your panties on soldier,” a gruff voice calls out which I immediately recognize. Suddenly I realize I missed my only true friend here.

  The door swings open smoothly, a grim-faced Brig, while appearing angry at first, then changes her countenance to relief when she sees me smiling widely.

  Before another second passes, Brig sprints toward me, throwing her arms in a tight hug that takes my breath away.

  “You have no idea how good it is to see you,” I say under my breath.

  “So good,” Brig replies, “But so bad to smell you Quinn! Have you taken a shower lately – you smell worse than the Sempers. You really have let yourself go, rich boy.”

  “Yeah, you’re welcome by the way,” I reply smugly. “I sacrificed my hygiene for your life – I hope you realize how much that means.”