by J. Rock
33.
"Are you sure about this, Juno?" Altair asks. "It'd be much safer–and easier–just to–"
"No," I counter, arms crossed. "I've made my mind clear on this, Altair. Dura has agreed to let the Children out of the dome a week after we leave here. There's nothing around for hundreds of miles, correct?"
Altair nods.
"Then they're as good as dead anyway. The boys will send them off with nothing but the clothes on their backs. If they can work together and survive, good for them. But there's no food or water out here. The Children are broken, Altair. Blaine was the only thing holding them together. They were brainwashed by him. You didn't see how easily they gave up after he was killed."
Altair nods. "I was kind of unconscious at the time." He rubs his head. There's just a small bandage there now, covering the stitches Tien used to seal the wound.
Altair crouches, hunkering next to the little mound we’ve made in the grasslands.
Tien's grave.
"I never got to thank him," Altair says. "He saved my life."
"Me too," I agree, sighing audibly. It's been two weeks since his death, but Tien will always have a place in my heart. Always. There's lots of room in there, now that I've excised everything I've ever felt about Jude.
Except the loathing.
I hate that man more than I ever could have ever loved him. I haven't seen him since he murdered Tien, and I don't plan to. Before all this happened, Jude was dead to me. Literally. Now, he's still dead to me, so nothing's changed.
We're still heading to Everwinter.
CHOOOOOO!
A shrill whistle breaks the moment of silence between me and Altair, and we turn to see Traylor and Jurid, waving and running toward the Engie that’s just pulled to a stop in the field.
"I guess it's time," I say, turning back to Altair.
He's still staring again at Tien's final resting place.
"What happened between you two?" he asks, nodding at the low mound. I shoot an unimpressed look at him, but he just shrugs. "I can tell by the way you talk about him," Altair explains. "You liked him, didn't you?"
"What business is it of yours if I did?" I ask, pretty much a snide admission to the accusation.
Altair stoops down and shoulders his backpack. "It's not," he says. "I just like to know what's going on with my crew, that's all."
"You and me both," I agree. It's all I have to say on the matter.
I stoop down now too, grabbing my own meager travel pack.
We head for the Engie.
"Dura really came through for us," Altair admits, eyeing the vehicle suspiciously. Not that I blame him, particularly after what happened the last time we rode on one of these.
Is this the same one?
I gaze at the long machine, but I can't tell. I'm not that observant.
"Yeah," I agree. "I imagine he can be quite persuasive when he wants to be."
Dura is waiting for us at the back of the Engie, along with Ursa, Traylor, and Jurid. Dura had traveled to Venecici for us, 'persuading' the conductors to stop and pick up a few lost passengers on their next route. Altair had given Dura one of his throwing stars to use as part of the threat.
Altair's reputation definitely precedes him.
We reach the last of the Engie's cars. "Tertiary Class again?" I scoff. "If you could get the Engie to stop out here in the middle of nowhere," I chide Altair, "then why couldn't you get us Prime Class seats?"
Altair rolls his eyes, climbing up the ladder at the back of the car. "Don't worry," he soothes, "we won't be riding in steerage this time. They call this car the caboose." He opens a door. "'And we have it all to ourselves." His disappears inside.
The Engie suddenly wails from the head of its fifty or so cars.
Dura turns to me, leaning low to compensate for the height difference. "It's time to go, Miss Quinn," the mutant informs me. "I hope you find what you are looking for in Everwinter."
"Thank you, Dura," I say, standing tiptoed to peck his icy cheek.
I order Traylor to climb aboard, but he's hesitant. He's made a good friend in Jurid. "I hope we see each other again," he says to Jurid, hugging him then finally waving and climbing up the ladder.
"Me too, Traylor Quinn," Jurid replies.
I feel myself getting a bit weepy eyed, and sneer at my own soft-heartedness.
I follow Traylor up the ladder.
Ursa is conversing with Dura now–the only mutant that knows the woman had once conducted experiments here. They exchange terse looks and I worry, but then Dura finally pats the deformed woman on the back. She jumps up beside me just as the Engie starts to move.
"All good?" I ask her as we wave to the mutant boys, getting further and further away by the second.
"Yes," Ursa nods, smiling. "Everything is just fine."
THE END OF BOOK 1
OF
THE FORERUNNER ARCHIVES
☯
About the Author
J. Rock lives in Thunder Bay, Ontario, Canada, and works in
the Parks & Recreation department. Other than writing and
reading, J. enjoys camping, fishing, mountain biking, and
plays bass guitar in a local alternative band. He is currently at
work on the sequel to Everwinter: The Forerunner Archives.
Contact J. Rock: [email protected]
Dinosauria on the web: https://dinosaurianovels.webs.com/
eBooks by J. Rock, available at all major online retailers:
The Forerunner Archives
Dinosauria Volume I
Part I: A Memory of Time
Part II: Garden
Part III: Twin City Crossroads
Part IV: Nuevogato
Dinosauria Volume II
Part V: This Is War
Part VI: Purple
Part VII: Supermassive Black Hole
Part VIII: The Harrowing
Dinosauria Volume III
Part IX: The Hunt for the Nuevogato
Part X: The Twisted Combination
Part XI: A Brief History of Dinosauria
Part XII: Worthy Adversary
Dinosauria: The Complete Volumes I, II, & III
The Dinosauria Cycle (Volumes I-III)
The Death Clock - a short story
Ex Machina - a short story
Upcoming Works (working titles):
Untitled Forerunner Archives Sequel (Book 3)
The Progenitor Saga
In Other Worlds
Contact J. Rock: [email protected]