by J. Rock
27.
"The last human was here," Blaine says, getting up from the kneeling crouch he'd used to examine the body. There is blood everywhere, but not all of it belongs to this unfortunate fellow.
Not by a long shot.
"Yes, High Deacon," Jude agrees, kneeling in another patch of flattened grass only a few feet away. There’d been a body here as well, but somebody had moved it.
That meant that somebody was still alive.
The Children of Mutanity, using floating rail carts obtained in Venecici, had ridden the Engie tracks all the way to the Fringes, only to find that the last human and her friends hadn't gotten off at the end of the line. They’d jumped off somewhere.
It hadn't taken long to pick up the trail though.
"They went that way," Jude points, his finger finding a nearly faded path of flattened grass meandering to the horizon. The wind is constant out here, causing the grass to ceaselessly shift and reassert itself. The path won't be visible much longer. Blaine joins him, staring in the direction Jude is indicating.
"There's something out there," Blaine says, squinting.
Jude squints his own eyes, but can't be sure. It could be something, but it could also just be a rounded hilltop.
"Farseer," Blaine orders, reaching out to one of the Children behind him. A mutant man, laden with field equipment, passes a long brass tube to Blaine who takes the device and holds it up to one eye. He smiles, handing the Farseer to Jude. Jude takes it and looks, a bulbous metallic structure suddenly appearing on the magnified horizon.
"There's a Manse behind it too," Jude announces.
"We move quickly and quietly," Blaine says, reining his Children together. "Stay low in the grass. There's little cover out here, but that cannot be helped. Jude, you're with me."
Jude nods, pride swelling in him.
This was it! The moment his life had been leading up to.
The last human.
Who is the last human?
You know who it is!
It's not her! It can't be!
Does it matter?
He shakes his head.
No, he finally thinks. I must kill the last human.
Blaine's voice in his head overpowers his own.
THE LAST HUMAN MUST DIE!