Burn

by G E Hathaway

  “Lights,” she said.

  “Yeah,” Noah said, smiling widely. “I was able to reroute the house network to a local source, feed the power directly into the infrastructure. I had to modify the original backups, but it worked out okay. My next goal is to-”

  Talisa let out a loud groan and doubled over, clutching her stomach. Noah reached out to keep her from hitting the ground.

  “Are you okay?”

  It hurts,” she gasped.

  “Quick,” Liam said, “get her in the house.” He lifted her by the other arm and started moving her toward the doorway. She writhed violently, pushing away.

  “No! No, stop! I can’t go in there!”

  “Stop!” Ellie ran down the driveway. “Let her go!”

  They released her and Talisa dropped to the ground. She held up her hands, and they all jumped back in horror. She was fading in and out of existence, her body flickering like a dying light.

  “What’s happening?” Ellie shrieked.

  “Is it the sun god?” Noah asked.

  Liam looked at the setting sun, a sliver of the disk now peaking over the mountains. “I don’t know, I don’t think so-”

  Talisa was shaking her head and trying to crawl back to the street. “No, not him,” she said breathlessly, “not him. The house, I can’t go in there-”

  “The Grid,” Liam realized, “Noah, the Grid is hurting her-”

  Noah spun around and ran back inside, turning the hallway corner and into the garage. He tripped over bicycles and skateboards in his haste to get to the power closet. Wires were strewn everywhere. He didn’t know what would happen if he suddenly unhooked the power supply.

  “Get her to the street!” he heard Ellie shout through the closed garage door. “She’s fading!”

  Noah held his breath and pulled all the wires at once. The house plunged into darkness. Heart racing, he stumbled back out of the closet and to the garage door. He felt around for the manual switch, fingers brushing against dust and cobwebs. Finally he felt cold metal, and he pulled hard. He heard a loud click as the garage door reset, and he pulled it open.

  The sunset was dazzling. Pinks and oranges filled the sky, reflecting down on the buildings and streets. Talisa lay across the driveway, Liam and Ellie crouched over her.

  “Is she okay?” Noah ran over to them. Talisa was breathing hard, but she was solid again. Ellie ran her fingers soothingly through her hair, speaking softly to calm her.

  “It was the Grid,” Liam said. “You were right, Noah. She can’t be near the Grid.”

  Noah didn’t know what to say. He looked at the car. It was Grid by design, but since the Fall it had only run on his local power source. If she could handle that but not the house…

  “They can’t coexist,” he realized.

  “Let’s get inside, the sun is almost down and we’ll need to light the candles and flashlights,” Liam said. He bent to help pull Talisa up, but something was pulling on him. He turned around just as Talisa shouted out a warning.

  The sun god stood right behind him,a sword in his hand.

  Noah yelled and scrambled away, pulling Ellie with him. Liam reached for his gun, then realized he no longer had it.

  “Wait,” he said, “stop-”

  The sun god stepped forward and shoved him aside like a rag doll. He hit the hood of his car and rolled off onto the other side at out of sight.

  “Liam!” Noah shouted.

  Talisa scrambled to get up, but her arms were weak and she couldn’t gain distance. The sun god reached down and pinned her to the ground.

  “All your little tricks don’t matter,” he sneered at her, and his voice echoed painfully in Noah’s head. “When will you ever learn?”

  Then he plunged the sword through Talisa’s chest.

  Noah froze. Ellie screamed.

  “It’s the dawn of a new era,” he told them. He pointed his finger at the house, and it burst into flames. The explosion was deafening, fire instantly consuming everything inside. The heat radiated out of the windows and doors, threatening to scorch everything within reach.

  The sun god looked calmly at Noah and Ellie, his sword hanging at his side. Blood dripped off the blade and onto the driveway. The world had turned red.

  Then the sun finally set behind the mountains, and he faded away.

  Chapter Twenty-Nine

  “Talisa!”

  Blood pooled onto the concrete, soaking into the rain goddess’ clothes and hair. Ellie pressed her hands against Talisa’s throat and felt the familiar throb of a pulse against her fingertips. Faint.

  Talisa’s eyelids fluttered.

  “Get towels!” Ellie screamed.

  Liam appeared at her side, his hands empty. “The house is gone, we have to leave.” He looked up. “Noah! Get away from there!”

  Noah was standing before the front door, staring at the raging inferno inside. He didn’t move.

  “Get Noah,” Liam told her. “I’ll get Talisa into the car.”

  “We have to stop the bleeding-”

  “I will. Get Noah!”

  Ellie turned and ran back up the driveway, the heat of the fire threatening to burn her skin. Soon she was close enough to pull on his arm. He didn’t respond and she pulled harder. He looked back at her with wide eyes.

  “Noah, we have to go!”

  He ran his hands desperately through his hair. Years of his memories and work were now destroyed inside the house. “I have to-”

  “No you can’t!” She was tugging on him now, forcing him back down the front porch to the driveway, the heat at their backs. She was surprised to see Liam already loading Talisa into the backseat of her Charger. He had retrieved his bag of spare clothes and equipment from his own car, and was now pressing a sweater tightly against her ribcage.

  “Drive,” Ellie said, tossing him her keys. “I’ll sit in back.”

  She jumped into the backseat and resumed pressure against Talisa’s chest as Liam dropped into the driver’s seat. For a second she wondered if they had lost Noah again, but then the passenger door opened and Noah climbed in. She searched Talisa’s face for signs of life. Her eyes were closed now, but she could hear her softly breathing.

  The car roared to life. Liam punched the gas pedal, and Ellie had to reach out quickly to keep Talisa from rolling forward. As Liam turned the car into the street, they all stared through the windows. The flames had wrapped around the house now, swallowing the structure like a fiery monster from hell. The roof collapsed.

  “Head toward Phoenix,” Noah said suddenly.

  The city was ninety miles away.

  Liam turned the wheel and drove down the road. Ellie watched the inferno fade into the distance, a beacon of light against the dark night. She ran her fingers soothingly through Talisa’s hair. “Hang on,” she whispered to her. Talisa held out her hand, and Ellie clasped it tightly.

  “Find Winter,” she breathed.

  Ellie didn’t understand, but Talisa had opened her eyes and was looking at her now. Ellie nodded reassuringly. “Don’t worry,” she said, “you’re going to be okay.”

  Talisa’s eyes widened and she shook her head. She tightened her grip on Ellie’s hand. “No! You must find Winter.”

  “Okay,” Ellie said, alarmed. Seemingly satisfied, Talisa closed her eyes again. Ellie felt something sticky under her arms and against her leg. Blood had leaked over the seat and onto the floor, staining the carpet.

  Liam turned the car westbound toward Phoenix. The house was a speck in the distance now. They rode in silence for several miles. Talisa’s breathing was more labored, and Ellie shuffled through Liam’s bag for clean clothes. She removed the blood-soaked sweater and took a moment to examine the wound. The cut was clean, approximately three inches wide, straight between her lungs. It was a miracle neither had collapsed yet.

  Was a god’s body the same as a human’s?

  She brushed hair from her face, unconsciou
sly wiping blood across her forehead. She tore the fresh shirt into strips of fabric, lifting Talisa from the seat just enough to wrap them around her torso. The goddess groaned in pain, but kept her eyes closed. Ellie folded up another sweater and carefully pressed it against the wound, tying the strips securely over it.

  It was the best she could do for now.

  “What’s in Phoenix?” she started to ask, twisting around so she could face the front of the car. At first she couldn’t see Noah, only Liam sitting rigid in his seat, his fingers clenching the wheel, but then her eyes adjusted to the dark and she saw him doubled over in his seat. “Are you okay?”

  “He’ll be okay,” Liam said quickly.

  “That was his family’s house,” she pointed out.

  “I know.”

  Noah’s voice was thick. “How is she?” he asked.

  Ellie considered lying since Talisa could probably still hear them right now, but she realized hiding the truth wouldn’t help anyone at this point. “She’s going to die if I don’t get her to a hospital. I need supplies. A convenience store won’t cut it. Why Phoenix?”

  Liam looked at Noah, and she realized he was just as perplexed as she was.

  “It’s where Elysian Field 5 is located,” Noah explained.

  “So?”

  “Every region in the US powers its own Grid network, activates its own satellite systems. Phoenix is the homebase for the southwest system. When the Grid fell, it was because all the Fields lost connectivity, but no one knows exactly why it happened. I want to find out why.”

  “You want to bring the Grid back,” Liam said.

  “Yes. Talisa couldn’t come close to real Grid technology. The sun guy...he didn’t show up until after I shut down the house. I think he could have the same weakness.”

  “But your car was Grid technology-”

  “Not after the Fall. I repurposed it using batteries,” Noah said. “My Gridlight, the house...that was the Grid. And now Elysian Field 5.”

  “If you turn it on, Talisa will die,” Liam said quickly.

  Talisa coughed and Ellie turned around. Blood had bubbled up around her cheeks, and Ellie quickly wiped them clean.

  “Tailsa told us to look for Winter,” Liam said. “Winter is supposed to help us.”

  “What does that even mean?” Noah countered. “How are we supposed to do that? Do you know someone named Winter? Is Winter going to pop out of the ground? Do we need to go back in a cave? Up a mountain? It doesn’t exactly snow in the desert!”

  Liam remembered the man’s scream as the sun god burned him alive in the mission, and he swallowed hard. “The sun god wants to kill us all,” he said quietly. “I saw it. I couldn’t stop him.”

  Ellie breathed in sharply.

  “Okay then,” Noah said, “we go to Phoenix.” He glanced back at Ellie. “There’s a hospital near Field 5, we can stay the night there.”

  Ellie nodded, and she eyed Liam. She wanted to ask so many questions, learn about what he saw. He met his gaze in the rearview mirror, then quickly looked away. He didn’t say anything, and they rode the rest of the way in silence.

  * * *

  Once one of the largest Grid cities in the country, Phoenix had become a ghost of its former self, a shadow of abandoned towers and darkened neighborhoods. It had served as a test city for Utopian Industries prototypes, and was home of the world-famous multi-layered transportation network that accommodated both traditional grounded vehicles and hover vehicles.

  The moon shone brightly on them as they drove into the city, a silent stalker in the sky. Ellie watched it with apprehension. Talisa stirred, her chest rising and falling with each shaky breath. Ellie checked the bleeding. The wound had finally clotted over.

  “There should be a hospital downtown,” Noah said,

  Liam peered through the dark streets. “Can you get us there?”

  Noah pointed. “See the largest tower? That’s Field 5. Head in that direction. The hospital will be a few blocks from there.”

  “Have you been there before?”

  “No.”

  The answer came too quickly.

  Liam slowly navigated the downtown streets, dodging abandoned vehicles and equipment. Unlike downtown Tucson and its older, crumbling buildings, Phoenix looked surprisingly pristine. Its entire infrastructure had been replaced with Grid technology long ago, and therefore rendered unlivable after the Fall, but its buildings looked as new as the day they were made.

  Ellie recognized the hospital emblem even in the dark, a red cross against a white backdrop hung high on the building entrance. ‘Emergency’ was printed underneath.

  Liam parked in front of the entrance and pulled a flashlight out of his bag. He handed it to Ellie.

  “Hold her carefully,” Ellie instructed as Liam and Noah climbed out and pushed their car seats forward to give her clearance. She hopped out and inspected the front doors to the building. They had already been smashed open ages ago, remnants of broken glass littering the floor. She carefully stepped through and switched on the flashlight. She half expected to see bodies strewn across the lobby, but the room was surprisingly clean.

  She looked back to see Liam and Noah gently pulling Talisa from the backseat of the car, Liam supporting her under her back while Noah lifted her legs. Her clothes were stiff from dried blood. Ellie quickly checked her pulse again. Still faint, but steady.

  “Lead the way,” Liam said.

  The lobby was drafty, but once they crossed through the swinging double doors into the back hallways, the air became musty and she wondered if this had been a good idea. Super viruses lived in hospitals. Did gods have to worry about that?

  “Where’s a medicine god when you need one?” Noah asked. His voice echoed loudly in the empty hall, and Ellie shuddered.

  She followed the directional signs to the first surgical room and pushed through the doors. Her heart leapt when she saw the stainless steel operating tables and cabinets.

  “Place her on the table,” she said. She opened the first cabinet and rifled through, elated to see that most of the supplies were still there. She pulled out antibiotic cream, bandages, antibacterial hand sanitizer and sterile packaging.

  Talisa lay motionless on the table, her skin pale and translucent. Ellie covered her hands and forearms with hand sanitizer before pulling up her shirt to get a better look. Liam stood next to her, watching quietly as she worked to clean the wound, carefully spreading antibiotic cream so she wouldn’t disturb the clot. Noah waited on the other side of the room. She applied the sterile packaging, carefully leaving an edge open to air out the wound. Then, with Liam’s help to elevate Talisa’s body, she wrapped her torso with the bandages.

  “It’s stable now,” she said, “but I don’t know what kind of internal damage she sustained. I don’t know how to fix that.”

  Liam reached out and grabbed Talisa’s hand. “When will we know?”

  “Hopefully we’ll have a better idea in the morning.” She noticed the deep circles under his eyes. “I know it’s difficult, but you should sleep,” she said.

  He nodded, but didn’t move. “Maybe a little.”

  She glanced at Noah, who was leaning against the doorframe. “Both of you. Get sleep,” she said. “I’ll watch her for now.”

  “I’ll unpack the car,” Noah said, straightening up from his perch.

  “I’ll help you,” Liam said. He lingered a moment longer, than released Talisa’s hand and stepped away from the table.

  “Are you sure?” Ellie looked at them in surprise.

  “We’ll be okay,” Liam reassured her, and they disappeared like ghosts down the dark hallway.

  Chapter Thirty

  Noah didn’t have anything to unpack from the car.

  He walked quietly through the hospital to the front doors, conscious of Liam’s heady footsteps behind him. Glass crunched under his feet as he reached the sidewalk, and he breathed in the clear night air.
It felt unusually warm.

  “We should probably talk about next steps,” Liam said.

  “We should talk about what happened to you back in Tucson,” Noah rounded on him. “You brought the sun god up to my home?”

  Liam held up his hands in defense. “I didn’t know that would happen, honestly. Didn’t you see what happened to the sun?”

  Noah stammered. “Not exactly, we were distracted for a little bit, but-”

  “A little bit?” Liam barked out a disbelieving laugh. “Noah, if all you needed was for me to leave you alone with her, all you had to do was ask.”

  Noah’s cheeks burned. “This is neither the time nor place to talk about this, what we do is our business.”

  “All right, fine. The sun god had taken over San Xavier mission, he had broken through Talisa’s cloud seal, but I think he wanted us to come to him. He closed us in, and when we went inside he was...sacrificing people.”

  “Burning people, you said.”

  “Yes. He’s getting stronger. When I first saw him, I was able to put a bullet in his chest and scare him off. Now, I can’t get near him. We were only able to escape because Talisa used the Darkness amulet, and it swallowed him whole. Along with the sun itself.”

  Noah stared at him. “For how long?”

  “No more than a few minutes, Talisa was able to get to Twin Peaks mine and throw the amulet inside. I think that’s why the sun came back.”

  Noah thought back. “Ellie did say something about the sun.”

  “I asked Talisa to keep her clouds away so we could track the sun. Then when she got sick outside the house, she dropped her guard and...”

  Noah looked up at the moon, a mere sliver in the sky.

  Liam followed his gaze. “While Talisa’s unconscious, he will always know where we are. You think you can turn on the Grid?”

  Noah felt a rush of anxiety and he looked down the block at Elysian Field 5, a towering skyscraper housing some of the world’s most advanced technology in a tomb. The Tucson office was only a quarter of its size.