“It looks like I owe you again,” he said, with a small smile.
Chapter 102: Neena
Neena walked south down the main path of Red Rock toward the Comm Building, pushing an empty wagon. A few people wheeled past her, headed toward the desert behind the eastern formation, where she’d just been, maneuvering around the massive trenches and holes. Still others worked along the path, clearing the wreckage and filling in smaller holes that might catch a boot and trip someone.
She smiled at a former Center Caver passing by her, before heading down the path. The woman gave her a hesitant wave. A day after the battle with the monster, old alliances no longer seemed important to Neena, but she knew that mending their old emotional scars would take time.
Right now, they had an important task.
Reaching the area of the Comm Building, she followed the trail her people had been using, heading toward the grisly carcass at the colony’s center. Men and women knelt on either side of the massive beast, carving up its flesh, depositing it into people’s waiting wagons so they could dispose of it. Farther down, others carefully cut away the scales on the beast’s side and piled up its quills.
Rolling up her wagon in a line behind a few others, all of whom waited for pieces of the monster, she found Kai approaching her.
“How is everyone doing in the desert?” he asked.
“We’re burying the beast far enough away that we shouldn’t have to look at it anymore, or smell it,” Neena said.
“It will take a lot of work to cut up the bones, but we’ll get it done,” Kai said confidently. Reiterating the colonists’ decision, he added, “I think it makes sense to use its parts, rather than burning it.”
“I agree. The quills will be useful for our spears, and the scales will reinforce our hovels,” Neena said. “The pieces we bury in the desert will bring scavenging animals, so we can hunt them.”
Kai nodded. As disgusting as the beast had been, it had its uses.
“Are the guards still watching for predators?” Neena asked him.
“Yep. We have a group of men taking shifts on the outskirts of the colony,” Kai said. “They’ll alert us if they see any wolves that they can’t handle. The blood from the enormous carcass is sure to draw them.”
Neena’s gaze wandered to the people working on the monster. Every so often, they changed shifts, while others rested their arms, or recuperated.
“At least our people are working together,” she said, with relief. “I thought we might have some trouble.”
“The colonists are glad to be out of the caves,” Kai told her. “And they’re happy the monster is dead. Everyone knows you’re responsible for killing it. You saved their lives.”
Neena enjoyed a rare moment of warmth.
Her eyes returned to the people working on the beast. They’d already removed a pile of organs from the creature’s neck. She shuddered as she saw some people working near its stomach. She was certain they’d find more bodies inside, as well as more of the dead in the rubble. But hopefully, they’d be past it all soon.
Kai sighed, looking toward the cliffs. “Do you think you’ll ever go back up there?”
“No,” Neena admitted. “I’m glad to be down here.”
“Raj and Samel seem happy, too. The heavens know they’ve been through enough.”
“We’ve all been through enough,” Neena said. “Hopefully, we can move forward.”
Chapter 103: Raj
Raj and Adriana walked through the colony alleys, treading a path they hadn’t walked in a while. In between watching for the rubble, Raj stole glances at her. Adriana’s long, dark hair swayed over her shoulders, blowing with a gentle breeze. Her eyes were radiant and blue. She looked even more beautiful than he remembered. Or maybe it was the light of the natural sky, under which they hadn’t strode together in too long.
“Where are you taking me?” Adriana asked, a curious expression on her face.
“You’ll see.” Raj smiled.
He led her through a path between broken hovels, weaving around the fallen stones, or the leftover piles of sand that swooped up along their edges, which no one had had a chance to clean. For the first time in a long while, he was free of his plaguing fear, and his doubts.
“It’s so strange to walk through the colony without worrying about the monster,” he said.
“You’re sure that no one minds us coming here?” Adriana asked.
“They won’t miss us for long,” Raj said. “We’ll be back soon. Besides, Samel is safe with the other children in the tradesmen’s buildings.”
Adriana nodded. They’d both been working hard to assist with the cleanup of the monster, and the transport of its body to the desert. Raj figured they needed a break.
They wound through the alley, watching their footing, until they reached a batch of familiar structures. Some of the buildings in the alley had fallen, but one stood out. Adriana opened and closed her mouth.
“My house!”
Raj nodded, smiling.
“I had heard it survived, but I hadn’t seen it until now,” she said, incredulously.
“I hoped it might be a good surprise,” Raj told her.
For the past few nights, they’d mostly slept in the intact buildings at the front of the colony, keeping together, where they were protected from predators. Only Adriana’s parents had been here. Walking up to the door, Raj carefully pushed it open and inspected the dwelling.
“No wolves,” he said, adding, “or dust beetles.”
Adriana walked inside, a smile plastered to her face. She looked around at the dwelling, finding a few bedrolls and pieces of cookware inside.
“My parents told me some of our belongings survived,” Adriana said. “I can’t believe how everything looks the same. It’s so strange.”
“You were definitely fortunate,” Raj said.
“I’m sorry that your house didn’t fare as well,” she said.
“It’s fine,” Raj answered. “We’ll rebuild. Our next house will be even stronger, Neena says.”
Together, they took a seat on the floor, glancing between each other and the open doorway.
“This is the first place we officially met,” Adriana said, reaching over and taking his hand.
“I remember,” Raj said.
They met each other’s eyes, sharing a nostalgic moment, and then a kiss.
Raj closed his eyes, enjoying a moment he’d wished for too often, in his many days in the colony without her. Her lips tasted the same way he remembered—soft, but familiar. Leaning back, he felt the same, dizzy feeling in his stomach.
He wanted that feeling to last forever.
If he was lucky, it might.
Far in the distance, other colonists chatted, or clanked tools. The smell of the cooking fires brought Raj a security he hadn’t felt in too long.
Raj squeezed her hand. “Neena told me how you tried sneaking out of the caves to find me.”
Adriana nodded. “I was worried about you.”
“You didn’t have to do that.”
“I wanted to.” Adriana looked at the ground. “I felt bad about some of the things that happened in the caves. I’m just glad that everything worked out the way it did.”
“So am I,” Raj agreed.
“I heard how you dug out Kai and the others, in one of the monster’s tunnels,” she said, giving his cheek a soft punch. “You are a hero.”
Raj blushed and let go of her other hand. “I don’t know about that.”
“I mean it,” Adriana said, leaning over and eyeing him playfully. “You crawled in there without fear, the same way you did in that passage in the caves. If not for you, those people wouldn’t have been alive. And no one would’ve had the device to kill the monster. Who else would’ve found it?”
Raj couldn’t help a humble smile.
“Maybe when things settle, we’ll do some more exploring,” Raj said, with an adventurous grin.
“Back in the caves?” Adriana
frowned.
“Or in the desert, after I learn how to hunt,” Raj said.
“I think I’ve had enough of the caves.” Adriana made a face.
“Yeah.” Raj laughed. “Me, too.”
Chapter 104: Neena
Under the light of a new day, Neena looked out over the two hundred people facing her at the edge of the graveyard. High above, the morning sun shone down on them, providing a comfortable warmth. The survivors consoled one another quietly, wiping their eyes and holding on to their children. Far up on the cliffs, several men stood on the ledge, watching for sandstorms, keeping Red Rock safe in the same way The Watchers had.
She smiled softly as she recognized Roberto among those men, performing his new duty.
Beside her, Kai, Amos, Nicholas, and Salvador stood with their heads lowered, their hands folded. Unlike the hunters in the desert, who’d once watched her with disdain, the crowd regarded her with deference, even affection. The past few days of working together had healed some bonds, and forged new ones. Their lives weren’t perfect—and they had much work to do—but for the first time in a long while, the colonists could see a path forward.
They consoled one another, leaned on one another’s shoulders, and dried each other’s tears.
Their undeniable loss bound them together.
Sucking in a long breath, Neena glanced over her shoulder at the long rows of freshly dug graves. For most of the night before, she’d lain in bed, contemplating the old speeches of The Heads of Colony. She’d even recited a few of them quietly in her bedroll. Now, she could think of none of them.
Looking out over the crowd, she let her own words guide her.
Putting a fist to her chest, she said, “For the past few weeks, we’ve faced challenges that no one expected. But we faced them with courage and valor. We fought with pride, and we defeated a horrific monster, the likes of which none of us have faced before, so that those who are left might walk this colony without fear. And the people behind me—the relatives we lost—did a service that we will never forget. They fought bravely, so that our children may grow old, and so that our colony may continue. It is a future that many of us never thought that we’d see.”
The colonists squeezed their relatives tightly.
“I’m not sure what comes after our lives; I don’t think any of us do. But wherever our loved ones are, I’m sure they’re looking down at us with pride. They know that we honor them. And they know that we love them.”
Neena swallowed past a lump in her throat, thinking of Darius, Helgid, and Samara, while the crowd openly wept. “We should be proud. Not just of what we have accomplished, but that we persevered. Our hearts will always feel a little emptier because of the people we lost. But their courage will live in us, as we protect our children, and our children’s children. Our people—the people of Red Rock—will never be forgotten.”
Neena lowered her head, turning to face the rows of graves. For the past few days, they’d worked tirelessly to bury their loved ones.
Now, they would live their lives in honor of them.
**
Neena walked slowly next to Kai as they made their way to one of the plots they’d dug together, in the back of the new rows of graves. All around them, people filtered through the graveyard, speaking with one another in quiet tones, saying their goodbyes. Stopping next to a large, beautiful rock they’d pulled from inside one of the caves, they knelt down together over it, clasping hands.
“I think Darius would’ve liked this rock,” Neena said, tears stinging her eyes. Her gaze roamed to the top, on which they’d carved a familiar, circular marking.
Darius’s marking.
“He loved the caves, despite their dangers, or maybe because of them,” Kai said, pulling Neena close. “I think it’s only fitting that we buried him next to his lost friend, Akron.”
Neena glanced over at the rock next to him, which they’d marked with Akron’s triangle. After most of the other bodies had been found and buried, they’d headed to the caves, transporting both the boy’s remains and Darius’s to a more suitable resting place.
“May they forever be exploring, wherever they go.”
They nodded, overlooking the plot in silence for a few moments, before moving on to Samara’s plot. After a few tearful words, they joined Raj and Samel, who kept vigil near Helgid’s empty grave.
“Are you holding up all right?” Neena asked Raj.
Raj nodded, tears in his eyes. “I’m going to miss her.”
“We all will,” Neena agreed, doing her best to console him.
“Helgid was like family. And I will miss Darius, too,” Raj said, opening and closing his eyes. Some of his guilt had abated, but he’d always carry the grief. Everyone would.
“You remind me of him,” Neena said, smiling as Raj tucked his hair behind his ears.
“I do?”
“He was proud of your sense of discovery,” she said. “I think you have his spirit of exploration.”
Raj smiled back through his grief. “I could only hope to be as wise as he was.”
“One day,” Neena promised.
She leaned over and hugged him. She was surprised when he not only returned the embrace, but hugged her more tightly than she expected, burying his face in her shoulder. Samel joined in on the hug, and then Kai. Together, they stood by the stones, the wind blowing gently around them, a band of survivors in a colony of the fallen.
Chapter 105: Neena
“We have one last thing to discuss,” Kai said.
Neena looked over at him, following his gaze to the cliffs.
For the past few days, while the colonists had tended the dead and started repairing Red Rock, Jameson had kept his post in the dark cove in the Center Cave, tending to one patient. Most of the colonists had avoided the disturbing topic of the old Head of Colony, discussing it only in whispers, while burying their lost loved ones. But everyone knew they had to deal with him eventually.
“He’s still up there,” Kai said.
A dark shadow clouded Neena’s mind. The thought of Gideon dredged up dark memories of the past: his lies, his treatment of Neena and Kai, and the things they’d learned from Nicholas, in the days since the monster’s death.
Too many were gone, because of him.
His lies were evident in every person they buried, in the hidden monster carcass in the caves’ bowels, and in the way he’d feigned incompetence with Neena, Kai, and Darius. If not for him, many more people would’ve been alive.
Now, his lies were exposed.
Everyone knew about his plans to return to power, and the way he had rallied up Bryan and the others, because everyone bore the consequences.
“He would’ve killed us, if he had the chance,” Kai reminded Neena. “And I still believe he would’ve let you rot in that jail cell, if you didn’t persuade him to let you out.”
“And he ordered The Watchers to slit your throat,” Neena remembered. “He would’ve dumped your body in the caves.”
“No one has forgotten the lies he told that day on the podium,” Kai said. “In a way, he was responsible for the deaths of half your people.”
“And he sent away yours, all those years ago,” Neena recalled.
“Too many times, I’ve wondered how that might’ve gone differently.” Kai blew a long breath. “But none of that makes our decision for us. So what should we do?”
Neena’s gaze wandered to the cliffs. Despite the atrocities their former leader had committed, she couldn’t imagine harming or killing him, especially in his crippled condition.
“His body bears the result of his choices,” she said, after some thought.
“And yet he continued to plot against us,” Kai said. “Maybe we should put him in a jail cell in the Comm Building, once we fix it. Or we could construct another one.”
Silence fell between the two of them, until another option surfaced in Neena’s mind.
“Perhaps we could do nothing at all.”
K
ai looked at her, confused, until she explained.
“Perhaps we have Jameson come down here with us, and we leave Gideon to his cove. We won’t punish him. We won’t hurt him. But we won’t help him, either.”
“You mean we’ll stop tending him?”
“That’s all,” Neena said, with a firm nod. “It is more mercy than he showed you, when he ordered you killed.”
“And it is certainly more courtesy than he showed his people, by lying to them for all these years.” Kai nodded, thinking that through. “Do you think the rest of the people will have an issue with that?”
“I don’t think anyone will,” Neena said. “In fact, I think we will all sleep easier, knowing that his lies will never hurt us again.”
Chapter 106: Gideon
Gideon stared around the dark cove, watching his bedside torch flicker. His empty stomach growled. Waves of pain washed over him, as the last of his herbs wore out. It’d been almost a day since he’d seen Jameson, and even longer since he’d heard any commotion from the women and children in the Center Cave. He still recalled Jameson’s strange expression before he’d left.
He’d barely looked at him.
What was going on?
Perhaps he’d forgotten to have someone take his place.
Gideon struggled to move his arms and legs, but too many days of inactivity had made him weak. He couldn’t stand, and of course, he couldn’t walk. Maybe if he tried his hardest, he could crawl and find someone to assist him.
He was contemplating trying to move when he noticed his last torch dying out.
In the time Jameson had been away, he’d burned his last light down to the end. Gideon’s uneasiness grew, as the flame shrank, wavered, and died.
Blackness enveloped him.
Gideon waved his hands, clawing at the inky darkness, as if he might beat it back. But it was useless. It was all around him. He’d need another torch. And in order to find one, he’d have to venture out of the cove. What if there were none around?
Something skittered down the main tunnel.
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