by Shay Savage
“Didn’t you say there was a lower level of the complex?” I ask.
“Yes.” Aerin narrows her eyes at me. “Why?”
“Well, how low is it? Could there be another exit farther down, closer to the water?”
“I don’t know. My map isn’t complete. It’s not even all that accurate.”
“Maybe we should go back inside and look,” I say. “If that complex has been here through all these eruptions, it might be safer inside that out on top of the mountain anyway.”
Aerin furrows her brow and stares at the floor of the lookout tower in contemplation. I lean back in the corner of the tower’s railing, but it offers no protection from the cold, western wind as it continues to blast me in the face. I cough into my arm and remind myself to locate something that can be used as a scarf.
Mostly, I’d like to get back inside and out of the ash and wind.
“Power!” Aerin suddenly shouts as she jumps to her feet.
“Power?”
“You asked before, ‘Where does the power come from?’”
“So?”
Aerin grumbles as she rifles through her pack and pulls out a folded paper map. She sits back down and opens it, leaning close to me to block the wind as she starts pointing to sections of the hand-drawn diagram of the complex.
“This is the living area, where we spent the first night,” she says. “That’s on level one. Here’s the corridor going from east to west, through the mountain, and the exit behind us. Over here is the elevator shaft going to level two, where the geology and chemistry labs are located.”
“I don’t see anything about power,’ I say.
“I don’t either, but it has to be there, and there must be access to it from somewhere. The power is still operating at the living quarters. At the very least, there must be a maintenance shaft to get to the power source even if the primary access is blocked.”
“Makes sense.”
“We just need to find the area on level two that connects to the power below.”
“Why do you think it’s below?”
“Heavy equipment,” Aerin says, “is difficult to transport, even back then. They’d keep it lower on the mountain. Also, I’ve been thinking about the source of the power.”
“What about it?”
“If it’s still working, it must be fed by something constant. The shower also still provides hot water, so the energy source is probably geothermal. If that’s the case, there will be shafts going deeper into the mountain. It also means the equipment was most certainly brought from the West, where most geothermal energy was developed. The access point will be on the west side of the mountains, which is where we need to be.”
“Damn,” I say and then let out a low whistle. “You’re smart.”
“Don’t act so surprised,” she replies with a wink.
I smile and my stomach turns somersaults as a realization hits me regarding why I’m so attracted to this woman. Aerin is very well educated, possibly more so than I, and I haven’t encountered anyone like her since I left the capital city. Naughts aren’t stupid—far from it—but they don’t have the deeper educational knowledge I possess, and I have to hide that aspect of myself from them. I have to hide who I am, what I know, and where I came from.
I don’t have to hide from Aerin.
She already knows my true identity. She knows my background and my heritage. She has at least some knowledge about why I left the capital though I haven’t disclosed the details to her. Certainly, some of my activities I wouldn’t want her to know, but I feel like I could tell her more—I could reveal everything about myself to her—and she wouldn’t turn against me. In time, I could share everything with her.
Well, maybe not everything, but almost.
Along with this realization, I also want to know everything about her. Did she get all this geological knowledge from her mother, or did she study it as well? What happened to her father, and what does she hope to accomplish by collecting her samples and delivering them back to the capital? Does she want me to go back with her? Could I even consider it if she asked?
Yeah, I could. Going back to the capital after all these years is terrifying, but I know I’ll never let her go back alone. Getting in isn’t any easier than getting out, and she’ll need help. Once she does get inside, she’ll need someone with first-hand knowledge to support her claims.
I stand up and hold my hand out dramatically to help Aerin to her feet.
“Let’s go find the power source!” I say with a bright smile.
Chapter 13
Aerin and I return to the efficiency apartment to start our search for the power source of the Rock Mountain complex. We examine the walls, ceiling, and floor but find no access points anywhere near the area.
“I’m sure the source is below us,” Aerin says. “Nothing else makes sense. The access point is somewhere, and we’re just going to have to do a grid search to find it.”
“How do we do that?” I ask.
Aerin lays her map out on the table and leans over it.
“The map I have isn’t great, but it’s a starting point. We section it off, add anything not on it, and go through it section by section until we find something. We could cover more ground if we split up.”
“But we only have one flashlight,” I say. Though the observation is completely accurate, I also don’t want to be away from her. “I think we’re stuck with each other.”
“True enough.” She doesn’t look up from the map. “I think we should start here in the corridor just outside this room and spiral our way out.”
“Can we start after dinner?” I ask with a smile. “I’m famished.”
“We should probably get a good night’s sleep as well,” Aerin says. “Our chances of missing something will be far greater if we’re tired. We can start in the morning.”
“It’s a plan.”
Aerin volunteers to cook while I take a turn in the bathroom. When I return to the main room, I’m greeted by warm, inviting scents of tomatoes and garlic.
“I found some dry pasta in the back of the cabinet,” Aerin says. “I tried to make sauce for it, but I’m not sure it turned out that well.”
“It smells fantastic!”
“Thanks!” Aerin smiles as she places plates on the table, and we sit down.
We eat in relative silence. My mind is overflowing with everything I learned today, but I also can’t stop thinking about how, underneath the small table, Aerin’s knee is just a couple of inches from mine. I think I can feel the heat of her skin right through our clothing, but I’m probably just imagining it. Every time she shifts toward me, I tense, hoping she’ll accidentally brush against me, but she doesn’t.
I close my eyes for a second and try to get a grip so I can focus on the real problem at hand. I’m still in shock from what I saw from the mountaintop, and I am unable to process it all. Logically, I get it—there is no more land to the west—but emotionally I can’t quite cope.
I keep seeing the faces of all the people I sent to the West. I keep thinking about how I looked them in the eyes and said they were going to be all right. I remember loading farming equipment, food supplies, and general tools onto carts to be transported along with them.
Would my father really go through such a ruse in order to get rid of Naughts without a fuss? Would he use me like that?
“Are you okay?”
I startle, not realizing Aerin had stood up from the table and is now standing beside me. For a moment, I just look up at her blankly, then manage to collect myself.
“Just trying to understand it all.” I try to smile, but it probably looks as forced as it feels.
“It’s a lot to take in.” Aerin gives me a sad smile.
I volunteer to clean up while Aerin heads into the bathroom for a shower. As I wash each dish, I keep thinking about Aerin in the shower, running soapsuds over her naked body. I think about how it would feel if I were the one washing her, and I nearly drop a dish.
<
br /> Aerin walks out of the bathroom right as I’m placing the last dish in the cabinet. She’s wearing shorts and a rather tight, light blue tank top.
Though her clothing isn’t drastically different from what I’ve seen her wear to bed before, the color of the tank top combined with her slightly damp skin has made one drastic difference—I can see her nipples poking out. They’re perfectly round and just right there. I swear I can hear them calling me, and my fingers twitch uncontrollably.
I tear my eyes away and lick my lips. How long had I been staring? Long enough that my dick is threatening to poke out as much as her nipples, and I have to turn away from her as I try not to let my increased heart rate move into the full-fledged panic that would come if she noticed me staring.
“That felt good,” Aerin says. “I needed to get warmed up.”
My mind runs through all the different ways I might keep her warm. Without answering, I close my eyes and will my dick to behave.
“It was so cold outside, I thought I might never be warm again.” She laughs nervously.
I hear her footsteps getting closer to me, and I force myself to turn toward her.
“Yeah,” I say, feeling like a fool when I can’t think of anything else to add. I clear my throat a couple of times as she comes right up next to me and reaches up for a cup from the cabinet.
“I found something else,” she says with a sly grin. “Are you thirsty?”
“Thirsty?” My mouth is watering, and I wonder if that counts.
Aerin grabs a second cup and hands it to me before she heads over to the pantry and pulls out a recycled cardboard box with a picture of grapes on the side of it.
“Want some?” She pops open the top and pours wine into her cup while I watch. She sniffs it before taking a sip and making a face. “Ugh! It’s awful.”
“Gone bad?”
“No, it just is bad.” Aerin laughs. “Still, wine is wine, right?”
“I suppose so.”
She pours some of the fermented liquid that has probably never seen a grape in its life into my cup and places the box on the table before looking up at me expectantly.
I lean against the counter and take a small drink of the wine. It’s bitter but not any worse that the homemade wine often found in Plastictown. I nod and try not to let my eyes wander back to her chest as I hold the cup in the air.
“Cheers!” I say out loud. Here’s to nipples, I say in my head.
“To getting some answers,” Aerin says as she raises her cup.
We both drink, and Aerin wrinkles her nose again.
“I think you must be used to good wine,” I say.
“I wouldn’t say I’m used to it,” she replies, “but what I’ve had was definitely better than this.”
Aerin finishes her drink and pours another. She holds the box out to me, and I quickly down my first drink and accept another. Tasty or not, the wine is doing a good job of relaxing me a bit. I’m not a drinker, and I can already feel it going to my head.
“I’m really glad you’re here,” she says softly. “I haven’t had anyone to talk in so long, I’m surprised I still speak English.”
Aerin walks up to where I am still leaning against the counter next to the sink. I grip the cup a little tighter to hide the way my hand is starting the shake. It’s taking all my willpower not to look down at her chest to see if her nipples are still sticking out.
They are. I know they are because I can’t help but glance at them again.
“It’s nice not to have to hide who I am,” I say, forcing myself to stare right at her face. “I mean, you already know, so it’s not like I can keep it from you.”
“I admit, I wanted to kill you at first, but now I’m really happy you’re here with me.” Aerin closes the gap between us and takes my free hand in hers, running her thumb over my wrist. “When I realized you were the president’s son, I didn’t know what to think. I wasn’t sure what kind of person you were. I’m actually kind of glad we were stuck in that shaft for a while.”
“You did that on purpose.”
“I didn’t know if I could trust you.” She rubs my wrist again. “Now I know that I can.”
“You think?” My voice cracks, and I stop speaking so I can clear my throat.
“Yeah, I think.”
I’m very aware of how close she is to me. If I were to lean forward, our bodies would touch. I swallow hard as I realize in my effort not to stare at her nipples, I’ve been staring at her lips instead. I look back to her eyes, hoping she didn’t notice my gaze, only to find her staring at my mouth.
Our eyes meet, and I feel my ears heat up. Aerin opens her mouth as if she’s about to say something but then closes it quickly as her cheeks redden. She takes a step back, releases my hand, and the air between us cools significantly.
“Are you tired?” she asks suddenly. She cringes and takes a deep breath, no longer keeping eye contact.
“Not really.”
“Me either.” She looks left and right and then left again. “Maybe I’ll, uh, read for a bit.” She practically throws herself toward the bookcase and grabs a book. “I haven’t read this one yet. Have you?”
She holds up the tattered paperback.
“I’ve never read any Stephen King books,” I tell her.
“Oh, you should. They’re scary as hell, but he does such a great job at building suspense, and his characters are fabulously flawed.”
“You have quite the book collection,” I say. “Did you steal them all?”
Aerin squares her shoulders and tilts her head up to look down her nose at me.
“I’d have more if someone hadn’t stopped me. That house had some Kurt Vonnegut books. I’ve always wanted to read those.”
“I’ve never been much of a reader,” I say. “Mom had a few that she liked at the house, and I had children’s books but never really read anything I didn’t have to read for school.”
“Books are a hobby of mine, I guess,” Aerin says. “My great-grandmother was an author back in the day. Apparently, she made a living off really steamy romance novels.”
“Steamy?” I grin and raise an eyebrow at her as I try to ignore my rising blood pressure at the thought.
“Graphically steamy,” Aerin says. “As in, something I don’t want to associate with great-grandparents.” She laughs. “I have never seen any of her writing though. She was mostly eBooks, I guess. All that has been lost.”
For the first time since I graduated, I want to read a book.
“Do you know how long it has been since someone had an actual book published and printed for regular people?” Aerin asks. “I don’t mean those reports handed out by the government. I mean an actual book of fiction, a story that only exists for the pleasure of the reader.”
“I never really thought about it.”
“The day of the eruption.” Aerin lays her book aside and looks at me. “No books, no movies—nothing of the sort. If it weren’t for the mountains here, no one would have survived. Even with that, do you realize how close we came to going completely extinct?”
“I know there was more impact than just to this continent,” I say. “Ripple effect or whatever. It’s not like we really know. We haven’t been able to communicate with anyone else since it happened.”