Xander nodded but didn’t reply.
“They were going to shoot us, weren’t they?” she asked.
“They don’t know we’re the good guys. They just see a bunch of people flying through the air. I’m not entirely convinced, were roles reversed, that I wouldn’t shoot us too.”
Sean looked into the nearest hotel room. They were near the top floor of the building. The balcony opened to a broad living room. Though there was glass on the floor and some of the furniture was overturned, the room looked intact. As he watched, a young face emerged from behind one of the couches. As soon as the little girl noticed Sean staring at her, she squeaked and dove back behind the couch.
Xander noticed Sean’s confused expression and drifted closer to him. “What do you see?”
Sean watched the couch for a few seconds longer, but the little girl never reemerged. “Nothing that we have time for. We should go find the library before we draw any more attention.”
Beyond the hotels, there were shorter buildings, spreading out in a small city. They flew high over the city once, getting a feel for the town beneath them. At their height, Xander wasn’t overly concerned about accidentally getting shot.
“What does a library in Mexico look like?” Sean asked.
“I don’t think this is Mexico,” Jessica said.
“Oh my God. This again? Look me in the eyes, again, when I tell you, again, how much I still don’t care.”
Jessica frowned. “You’re such an ass.”
“Let’s fly lower and see if we can find something,” Xander said, diffusing the situation. “Even an elementary school would have a globe.”
Sean cringed slightly. “I’m not entirely sure that’s true in,” he paused and looked at Jessica, “not-Mexico.”
“If I could punch you right now…”
“Focus, you two,” Xander said.
They dipped lower as Xander made a second pass over the city. Though most of the buildings topped out at three stories, the town was spread fairly wide. They passed over the dual yellow domes of a mission as they scanned the streets below. The buildings were painted a rainbow of colors: browns crammed next to yellows, reds next to blues. A sky blue wall lined the street to the right as they flew by, matching the walls of the building it concealed. Above the entrance of the next building was a steeple, like a courthouse or plantation home, complete with a pair of white pillars.
As they shot past the building, Jessica yelled out. “Stop! Go back.”
Xander slowed them quickly until they were hovering a dozen feet above the street. “What did you see?”
“Go back and I’ll find out.”
The trio floated backward until the steeple was in view once more. Golden letters above the doorway read, “Biblioteca Municipal.”
“Biblioteca,” she read with a broad smile. “This is it. This is a library. We actually found it.”
Xander set them down on the ground before the open gateway. The trio hurried into the courtyard and up to the front doors. Sean stepped forward and grasped the handles. He pulled firmly, but the door refused to budge.
“Locked,” he remarked.
“Not for long,” Xander said.
The Wind Warrior stepped forward and grasped the handles. Ice crystals spread from the metal handles, creeping toward the small gap where the doors met.
“There’s something on the other side, like a metal bar holding it closed.”
“Can you open it?” Jessica asked.
Xander turned toward them, the whole of his eyes glowing a vibrant blue. “Of course.”
A screeching sound filled the air, like metal scraping against metal. It grew louder as Xander concentrated. With a thunderous crash, the doors grew slack and Xander was able to calmly pull them open. On the far side, littering the floor, were the frozen remains of a metal pipe that had been slid between the inside handles of the door.
“Someone put that bar in place,” Jessica said. “Someone inside the library. They may still be here.”
Xander nodded. “You two find the atlas or globe or anything else that would show us a triangle-shaped island. I’ll find out if anyone else is here.”
Sean and Jessica hurried into the library. Books still lined the shelves, neither looted by people nor burned by Fire Warriors. Jessica allowed a sigh of relief as they began searching through the volumes. Sean flipped open a couple of books but found encyclopedias written entirely in Spanish.
“How are these things even organized?” he asked as he dropped the encyclopedia and grabbed the next book from the shelf. “Haven’t these people ever heard of the Dewey Decimal system?”
“Like you have any idea how to read the Dewey Decimal system,” she replied sarcastically.
Sean mumbled something inaudible as he dropped the next book to the floor. He was reaching for a third when he heard the telltale sound of a hammer being pulled back on a weapon. He froze, his breath catching in his throat. Jessica turned toward him, but something from the corner of her eye gave her pause. She stifled a squeal of surprise.
“Paso de los libros o rodaré,” a man said from directly behind Sean.
Sean released the book in his hand and turned slowly, ensuring his hands stayed raised as he did. He hoped the man couldn’t see the pistol under his shirt. The dark-skinned man held a shotgun in his hands, both barrels of which were pointed directly at Sean.
“Mantenga las manos arriba,” the man said, gesturing with the barrel toward the open space between the rows of books.
“I don’t speak Mexican,” Sean said apologetically.
“Spanish,” Jessica corrected.
“Now is really not the time, Jessica.”
Sean’s outburst seemed to set the man on edge, so Sean quickly returned his warm smile. “We’re looking-o for a book-o. El atlas?”
“You are such a racist.” Jessica sighed.
The man opened his mouth to speak, but a hand clenched down on the barrel from above. With a firm yank, Xander tore the weapon from his hands. The man looked up in surprise only to see the Wind Warrior hovering over his head, his eyes glowing white.
“Dios Mio!” the man cried out, dropping to his knees and covering his head.
Xander floated down beside Sean before handing the shotgun to his friend. “Sorry that took so long. By the time I sensed him, he already had the drop on you.”
“No worries,” Sean replied, though his racing heart said otherwise. “I totally had it under control.”
“No luck finding an atlas?”
Jessica shook her head. “Nothing yet, but we just started.”
“I was in the process of asking this guy when you interrupted,” Sean said.
“You were getting nowhere with that bull crap,” she said.
“I didn’t see you helping.”
Jessica shrugged. “I had a plan.”
“Well, I’m sure your plan was stupid.”
“You’re stupid.”
“Your hair is stupid,” Sean replied.
“Your waistline is stupid!” she yelled.
Sean clicked his tongue disapprovingly. “So we’re back to fat jokes again.”
“Please,” the man stammered from his place on the floor. “Please don’t hurt me.”
“You speak English?” Xander said, surprised.
“Yes,” the man muttered. “Please don’t kill me.”
“I’m not going to kill you.”
“The dude flew through the air and took away your gun,” Sean explained. “If he’d wanted to kill you, he’d have done it a long time ago.”
Jessica shot Sean a disapproving glare. She stooped beside the man and slipped an arm around his waist, gently guiding him to his feet.
“We’re not the bad guys, I promise,” she said. “We’re actually here to help.”
The man’s gaze never left Xander. The Wind Warrior’s eyes continued to glow, as they had ever since he awoke from his cocoon.
“What’s your name?” she asked.
“Javier. Javier Pineda.”
“Well, Javier, we could use your help. We’re looking for a map or an atlas—something that can show the islands in the Pacific Ocean. Can you help us?”
Javier stared at Xander but nodded slowly. He remained transfixed, however, not moving from his spot between the rows of books.
“Javier, I don’t want to rush you, but we’re kind of on a time crunch.”
The Honduran man nodded as he seemed to awake from his stupor. “Of course. Follow me please.”
He led Jessica toward another row of thick books. Sean glanced at Xander and shrugged before joining the others. For a moment, Xander considered following, but thought better of it and instead flew to the top of one of the bookshelves, where he sat and watched the library.
Jessica sat cross-legged on the floor, flipping through books of maps. There were a few candles lit around her, casting a flickering illumination on the stacks of books. She moved speedily through most of the pictures, since they didn’t match up with the one Xander had described from his vision.
“It would help if I knew more of this island,” Javier offered.
Jessica shrugged and looked to Sean for help, but he only shrugged as well. “All we know is it’s triangular and has three volcanoes. I wish we had more to offer.”
Sean set a book aside and grabbed another from the tall stacks surrounding the three of them. “We can probably start with major islands. If we start looking at every tiny island, we’ll be here all day.”
“I wish the maps of the Pacific were a little clearer,” Jessica complained. “Most of them just show names above tiny dots for the islands. It doesn’t help.”
“Kind of wish you could zoom in, huh? Losing technology is going to be a bitch for a while.”
Jessica glanced toward Javier, but the man was staring upward rather than toward his book. She followed his gaze and saw Xander sitting atop one of the bookshelves.
“He still freaks you out, doesn’t he?”
“What is he? Is he El Diablo, like the men on the television?”
“What men?” Jessica asked.
“What television?” Sean asked.
“Before we lost our power, there were stories of blond-haired men and women roaming the streets, setting fires and burning whole cities. We have seen none of them here in Trujillo, but we know they will come for us.”
“They’re called Fire Warriors,” Jessica explained. “And no, Xander’s not one of them. He’s actually what you would call their opposite. He exists because someone needs to stop the Fire Warriors from destroying everything. That’s why we’re looking for this island. If we can find it, we can get the last piece of the puzzle, the last thing we need to stop them once and for all.”
Javier nodded. “I’m glad to offer help, though I don’t know if I’m doing much good.”
“This is the best lead we’ve had in a long time. Believe me, we appreciate your help.”
They flipped through more books, still not finding what they were looking for. Jessica grabbed a new one from the pile and sighed as she opened it.
“Why are you here, if you don’t mind my asking?” Sean asked Javier.
“In Trujillo?”
“I actually meant in this library. If you know the Fire Warriors are coming, then why stay? You had to know that a metal bar and a single shotgun wouldn’t stop these guys.”
Javier shrugged. “Perhaps. Perhaps not. Either way, I chose to come here to protect our history, our literature, the only written records of our way of life.”
“The Fire Warriors don’t want to know the history of the world. They plan to destroy all of humanity.”
Javier shook his head. “That’s the miracle of mankind. We persevere. No matter the natural disaster, the tyrant, the despot, or the disease, a portion of humanity always survives to carry on our legacy. It’s our blessing and our curse. Mankind will survive this, too, and when that day comes, it won’t be gold bars or precious gems that will be the currency of the day. It will be knowledge. This library will be more valuable than all the diamond mines in Africa.”
Jessica smiled at the dark-skinned man. “When that day comes, I plan on coming back to visit you here.”
Jessica and Javier went back to the books, flipping through pages in rapid succession. Sean stood and stretched before walking toward the end of the row of books. Xander floated down from the ceiling, landing beside his friend.
“How are they doing?” Xander asked, motioning toward the two still looking through the books.
“They’re doing their best, but you didn’t exactly give us a lot to go on.”
Xander glanced toward Javier. The man’s head was lowered as he poured through volumes of maps and atlases of the Pacific Ocean region. “What about our new friend? Do you think he’s okay?”
Sean nodded slowly. “I think he’s coping with a bad situation the best way he knows how. I admit, I kind of like the guy. He’s holed up in a library, protecting these books like a doomsday prepper protects a can of green beans.”
Xander laughed. “He seems to have his priorities straight. I’m kind of impressed. The world’s gone to crap, but he’s handling it all in stride. Honestly, same goes for you and Jessica. I would have never guessed that my comic and video game buddy and my ex-girlfriend would manage the apocalypse so well.”
“I’m not entirely sure Jessica and I are handling it all that well. Every time we get stressed, which is damn near all the time, we bicker and fight.”
Xander smiled but quickly hid it behind his hand. He had dated Jessica long enough to know how difficult she could be. Sean either didn’t notice the smile or didn’t care. He sat down, leaning back against the wall. Xander joined him and together, they watched Jessica and Javier work.
“All we seem to do is insult each other,” Sean said. “Even if we make it through the apocalypse, I’m not sure we are going to make it. You know, as a couple.”
Xander glanced toward Jessica. She looked far more disheveled than she would have ever allowed herself when she was head of her sorority. She had always looked impeccable, every hair in its place, often held there by a small sea of bobby pins. Now she looked dirty, wearing clothes that had seen better days, often worn threadbare in places. Even unkempt, Jessica exuded beauty and confidence.
“Let me give you a couple pieces of advice, Sean.” Xander turned toward his rotund friend and smirked. “Are you out of your freaking mind? Look at her. No, really look at her. You’re dating one of the most beautiful people in the world. I actually mean that literally. I have no idea how many women are still alive in the world, but her rankings had to have just shot way up the charts. You’re lucky to be dating a woman like Jessica, and I want you to consider something before you think about ever letting her go. Remember how I just said there weren’t a lot of women left in the world? I meant that. You may not find another woman like her because the women like her already died.”
Sean arched an eyebrow. “That’s both deep and disturbing. I’m assuming that was advice number one?”
“And here’s number two. When Jessica and I first started dating, I knew how lucky I was. I actually thought to myself that she might be the one. She’s brilliant, beautiful, ambitious—”
“Basically everything you’re not,” Sean chided.
Xander rolled his eyes before he continued. “All I’m saying is, at the time, I really thought she was my soul mate. But then I met Sammy and I knew we were meant to be together.
“Now I see you and Jessica together and I realize that what we had was cute but wasn’t really meant to be. No matter how odd it is for me to say this, you two are perfect for each other. I’ve never seen two personalities match so well, or two people seemingly so right for one another. She’s your one, your one and only. Don’t you dare let her go.”
Sean stared as Jessica and smiled. She frustrated him to no end, but he only loved her more for it. “I really wish I could find Cindy Graham.”
; Xander looked taken aback. “The cheerleader from high school?”
“That’s the one. I asked her out when we were juniors. Not only did she shoot me down, she told me I wouldn’t get a girl even if the world were ending. Man, I’d love to be able to rub this in her face… the girlfriend part, not the fact that the world is actually ending.”
Jessica leapt to her feet, knocking over a stack of books in the process. She stared at her page, her mouth agape, before raising it over her head and pointing frantically. “I’ve found it. I found the island.”
The page was flapping wildly, making it impossible to read from where Xander and Sean sat. They climbed quickly to their feet and rushed to where she and Javier had been studying.
“I was flipping through the pages and this one caught my eye,” she said excitedly. “I just knew. The second I saw the island, I knew this was the one you had mentioned.”
“Where is it?” Xander asked.
Jessica smiled. “Easter Island.”
She turned the book around so they could see the two-page spread of the island. It was roughly triangular with a volcano clearly marked at each of the corners.
“The one with the giant heads?” Sean asked.
Jessica pointed to markers dotting the island. “Each of these little rectangles is one.”
“What else does it say?” Xander asked, barely able to conceal his own enthusiasm.
Jessica handed the book to Javier, who read the caption written in the right margin. “Isla de Pascua is a Polynesian island in the southeast Pacific Ocean. Easter Island is famous for its 887 extant monumental statues, called moai, created by the early Rapa Nui people.”
Xander gestured for him to continue. “What does it say about a location? I need a location.”
Javier quickly scanned the rest of the notes before continuing. “The nearest town with a population over five hundred is Rikitea on Mangareva, 2,606 kilometers away. The nearest continental point lies in central Chile, 3,512 kilometers away.”
“Find me a map of the southern part of the Pacific Ocean,” Xander said.
Sean snapped his fingers as he tried to remember the illustrations in the books he’d read. He pushed over a pile of books until he found the atlas for which he was searching. Flipping it open, he found the page depicting the lower part of the Pacific Ocean, between South America and Australia. He quickly slid his finger across the page, moving west from the coast of Chile until he stopped. There, alone in the vast ocean, was a small dot marked with “Isla de Pascua”.
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