The Path of Ashes [Omnibus Edition]

by Parker, Brian

  He tried to relax and cleared his throat, “Ah, I guess… I guess we should get back on topic. You said the Vultures were going to attack—”

  “I said the birds were going to attack. I don’t know what it means. Maybe there are giant birds out there that you don’t know about.”

  He nodded his chin for show, but he wasn’t naïve. He knew exactly what the reference about birds meant. “Okay, good point. Something is going to attack San Angelo and it’s my fault. You said the walls would come down and everyone would die. That about sums it up, right?”

  She thought about it and then replied, “Yes. I think that’s all that I saw.”

  “Do you know when?”

  “No. I’m sorry. You looked roughly the same, not gray-haired or anything.”

  “Hmm…” Aeric rubbed his chin as he thought about a way to figure out a timeframe for the attack. “Was it harvest time or were there vegetables on the crops?”

  “I didn’t see that,” she said. “Everything was on fire. I saw you and several men run towards the birds and then they…”

  She stopped talking once again. “It’s okay, Maria. I’ve lived a full life and can handle what you’re going to say. What about me?”

  “They’re going to put your head on a pole by one of the gates. Maybe the Northern Gate. I’m not sure.”

  Veronica let out a sob and pushed away from the table. Aeric watched her rush off towards the bathroom. He considered going after her and discarded the idea. It would be better to let her be alone for a moment and give her time to calm down. He glanced back at Maria, who was staring at the empty bowl once again. “Do your visions always come true?”

  “Mostly,” she replied.

  “Are you sure that you don’t have any idea of when this is going to happen?”

  “No. Sorry, Mr. Traxx.”

  “It’s okay. Looks like we need to start preparing our defenses better though, huh?”

  She shrugged, “Couldn’t hurt.”

  He smiled and pushed himself up from the table. “Okay, kiddo. Thank you for telling me everything that you know. I’m gonna go talk to Miss Veronica. Make yourself at home. There’s more stew in the pot if you’re still hungry.”

  Aeric didn’t wait to see if she acknowledged him before walking into the next room. That girl gave him the creeps. He knocked gently on the bathroom door and heard Veronica pour water into the toilet’s tank behind the seat, then flush away whatever had been in it.

  “It’s open,” she said.

  He turned the handle gently and slipped inside. The air smelled of partially digested stew. “We don’t get much meat, can’t be wasting it like that,” he teased.

  “Shut up. I couldn’t help myself.” She wiped her eyes with a rough hand towel that had seen better days. “I thought that we’ve set up a nice, safe home here and… And I’d hoped that all of that stuff with the Vultures would be in the past.”

  She wiped away more tears and jabbed her finger towards the door, “That girl is talking about them cutting your head off. Babe, I can’t…”

  Veronica trailed off, not wanting to finish her statement. Aeric reached out and pulled her to him. He wrapped his arms around her, resting his cheek on the top of her head as she cried into his chest. “We’ve lived far longer than most people have in this screwed up world, love,” he mumbled into her hair. “I don’t want to die either.”

  “Then let’s leave,” she said unexpectedly, leaning back and wrapping her fingers around his jaw. “We can go. If the Vultures want you, then we can leave and they won’t even have any reason to attack the city. We can choose our own future, regardless of what that little girl says.”

  He shook his head gently. “I can’t do that. I am the mayor of this city. I can’t run away and leave them to whatever the Vultures have in store for them.”

  “If we leave and that will save the city, then isn’t that better for everyone?” she pleaded.

  “I wish it was that easy. You’ve heard the stories about them, the Vultures won’t stop until they’ve finished the job they started when they initiated the war. The fact that I’m here is just a bonus to them.”

  “So we’re going to wait here to die?”

  “No, we’re not,” he answered. An idea had been kicking around in his head from the moment he heard Maria say that the birds were going to burn San Angelo to the ground. “I’m going to Austin to stop them. They’ll never expect an attack.”

  *****

  “How are you holding up, Ty?” Aeric asked his best friend.

  “I’m good, bro. You?”

  Traxx nodded his head noncommittally. “Is there anything I can get for you, maybe some aspirin for the pain?”

  “Nah, save that shit for someone who has a chance. I can take it,” Tyler replied. “It’s been a couple of days since you were over, what’s going on?”

  “Nothing. Everything is good. We’re doing alright,” he answered woodenly.

  “Yeah, you can tell me what you did with Aeric, you pod person… Body snatcher!” Tyler reached over playfully from the couch towards his friend.

  “Tyler, be careful,” Nicole admonished. “You don’t want to start coughing again.”

  Aeric eyed the bloody towel on Tyler’s lap, evidence that something was majorly wrong with the big man. He’d seen him go into a coughing fit a few weeks ago from exertion while walking to the Provisions Warehouse where he worked.

  Tyler stuck his tongue out at Nicole, who snorted. “Oh, that’s really dignified for such an old man,” she scoffed.

  “Old? I’m only fifty-five! I’ve got thirty good years ahead of me.”

  His comment hung in the air, silencing the banter between the three friends. Tyler was sick, most likely cancer, and Aeric doubted if he’d survive the upcoming winter. Even with their masks, the two of them had spent months upon months on the open road immediately after the war on Aeric’s quest to find his family, planting the seed of guilt firmly in Traxx’s mind that his friend’s illness was his fault. Added to that were the decades that Tyler spent as the leader of the Gathering Squad as the city struggled to procure every usable resource in the surrounding area, breathing in the shit in the air and eating food that was probably tainted with radiation.

  Aeric plastered a fake smile across his face and said, “I didn’t know they let the nursing home patients talk that way to their caretakers.”

  Nicole folded her arms under her breasts and cocked her hip out to the side. “Aeric, this old fool wouldn’t know what to do with a nurse as hot as me. Nah, I’m just here to make sure he doesn’t crap his pants.”

  Tyler grinned and mumbled, “Thankfully, that hasn’t happened to me yet.”

  “Can I get you anything to drink?” Nicole asked Aeric.

  “No, thank you, I’m fine. Have a seat; I’ve got some news that is going to affect everyone.”

  She started to sit on a side chair, then thought better of it and sat on the couch beside Tyler and gripped his hand in hers. “What is it this time, Aeric?” Tyler asked. “Are Martians invading and we’re Earth’s last hope? Do we need to go fight some dinosaurs that hatched from million year old eggs?”

  “Oh man, I wish it were that easy,” Aeric replied. “Do you guys know Maria Salazar?”

  Both of them shook their head so Aeric tried another approach, “Have you heard of the children with the Gift? It’s what people in the community are calling the kids who can predict the future.”

  “And this girl, Maria, can predict the future?” Tyler surmised.

  “Yeah—well, not really predict, she has visions of what will happen. The other kids seem to be able to determine a few things here and there, but they’re not reliable and she has a much better track record with her visions. Like a hundred percent success rate.”

  “Pretty good odds,” Nicole smirked. “Can I take her to Vegas?”

  Aeric laughed at her attempt at lightening the mood in their home. “She says that the Vultures are coming.”
/>   Tyler sighed and asked, “To San Angelo?”

  He nodded. “Granted, she didn’t say the Vultures were coming, her visions aren’t that specific. She saw giant birds attacking and burning the city. So unless there’s some type of crazy mutation in the bird population that we don’t know about, I’m pretty sure that she means the Vultures.”

  “Yeah, I think you’re right about that, not much else it could be,” Tyler admitted. “What else did she say?”

  Aeric spent a few minutes relating the details of Maria’s vision until he got to the final part about his own death and that the colossus would save a tribe. Tyler interrupted him at that point, “What does that even mean?”

  He shrugged, “I don’t know. Hell, she doesn’t even know what the word means; it just came out when she started talking.”

  “The Colossus of Rhodes was one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World,” Nicole stated. “What? I liked history in high school. The Colossus was a giant statue that stood over the harbor in the Greek city of Rhodes. It only stood for a few decades before an earthquake knocked it down.”

  “So, a giant statue is supposed to save a tribe? Of what, Indians?” Traxx muttered.

  “Maybe she meant a group of people or a family,” Nicole offered. “A tribe can be both.”

  “So, what, we build a large Trojan horse, put a family inside it and hope the Vultures don’t look inside?” Tyler snickered. “Thanks, for telling us what the word meant, Nicole, but it doesn’t really help.”

  “I don’t care if you are sick, Mr. Nordgren. I will kick that big ass of yours if you don’t play nice.”

  “You see what I have to deal with?” Tyler pleaded. Aeric chose to remain silent, ignoring the peculiarities of their relationship. They’d lived together as platonic friends for over thirty years and often got into minor squabbles, which helped to keep their friendship strong.

  “I can’t help you, buddy,” he replied.

  A knock on the door made them all turn towards it. “Expecting company?”

  Tyler looked thoughtful for a moment and then shook his head. Aeric pulled a large knife out of the sheath on his hip and held it against his forearm as he trailed behind Nicole. He felt foolish. Maria’s words had him spooked; they were safe behind the walls.

  “What are you doing?” Nicole hissed.

  “Taking precautions. The mayor and the two leaders of the Gathering Squad in one location makes for a pretty lucrative target.”

  He positioned himself near the door. “Just don’t stab anyone,” Nicole muttered before she opened the door. When she turned the knob, pulling the door inwards, the smile on her face made him relax.

  “Hi, Kayla! How are you?” Nicole asked as she leaned forward hug Tyler’s step-daughter. “Oh, good, you brought the baby! She always makes Tyler so happy.”

  Aeric slid the knife home, feeling even more foolish when Kayla stepped through the doorway and saw him standing in the shadows. “Hi, Uncle Aeric. What are you doing behind the door?”

  “I, uh… I was just stretching my legs. Your dad and I have been talking for a long time.”

  She accepted his answer and gave him a brief hug before walking to the living room where Tyler waited. Nicole shook her head at him and he walked slowly back to the room where everyone waited.

  “And then, at the warehouse, Greg got into a scuffle with some boy from the Barrio. The police broke it up and took him back home. Can you believe that?”

  Kayla, baby Ketchup, was all grown up now. She sat beside Tyler on the couch holding her own daughter, Anna. She gently passed her over to him and he played with her hands while Kayla continued to talk.

  “It’s been crazy. People are scared of those demonbrocs that keep getting in. Dad, have you heard about that?”

  “Hmm?” Tyler asked with the goofy grin of a proud grandfather plastered across his face. “Demonbrocs? Yeah, Aeric told me about them a week ago. Did you ever figure out where they’re getting in?”

  “We, ah, we have a pretty good idea.”

  “And?”

  Aeric glanced at the three adults in the room, all of them were extremely close to him and he’d give his life for them. However, if the information about the demonbroc breeding for meat got out, then there’d probably be a riot. People would storm the Barrio and demand that the dangerous creatures be put down, which would likely result in their cages—or whatever Huerta had them in—getting opened. He trusted everyone present, but Kayla would tell her husband Greg and there was no telling who he’d pass the information off to. No, he thought, it’s better to keep it to myself.

  “We think they may be coming in from the sewer, so we’re going to explore that further,” he said, which was true. He just hadn’t had the time to deal with Huerta and his illegal operation.

  “Hmpf. Makes sense,” Tyler answered while he made a funny face at the baby. “Those sewers deposit out in the wastes, all sorts of things could follow them back up and inside. We should make sure the grates are still in place.”

  Aeric smiled at his friend. “Don’t worry, buddy. We’ve got it; you just stay here and rest.”

  His friend looked up to him and said, “I hate this crap, Aeric. I feel like such a drain on the community.”

  “You’ve given your entire life over to this city, Ty,” Aeric countered. “You can take a few weeks off until you get better.”

  “What if I don’t?”

  “Dad, don’t say that!” Kayla exclaimed. “You’re gonna pull through whatever is making you sick. Anna needs her grandpa in her life.”

  Tyler’s grim expression softened. “Oh, I’ll be here. Don’t worry, sweetie.”

  Anna started to cry and he handed her back to her mother who slipped the baby under her shirt to feed. Aeric stood aside and watched the small family’s interaction with one another. He’d been the one to slight the Vultures, causing them to seek him out. If it wasn’t for him, they probably wouldn’t even know that San Angelo still existed. He needed to do whatever he could to keep his friends and family safe. It was his duty to protect them and put a stop to this whole mess.

  He’d made up his mind about what he was going to do, regardless of Veronica’s protests. He’d vowed to himself long ago that he would never allow himself to be hunted down again. Aeric was a hunter; he didn’t cower in the corner, waiting for someone to attack him. He went out and met them on his own terms.

  His friends and family were the most important things in his life, a close second was the city of San Angelo, and he’d do whatever he could to end this before it even began. He planned to leave for Austin first thing in the morning.

  TEN

  “The little girl, Anna, that’s Grandma, right?” Tanya asked with wide eyes.

  Aiden adjusted the pillow under his arm and used his good hand to pull it in closer to his side. “Yes, child. Kayla, was the little girl that Aeric and Tyler rescued when they went to Missouri to find Aeric’s family. She grew up and had Anna, whom I married years later, after the fall of the city.”

  “Are you making all of this up, Grandad?”

  He chuckled and accidentally swallowed a little bit of saliva, causing him to choke. Tanya backed away, frightened that he was going to be sick. He raised his hand to let her know that he was fine. “I’m okay. I’m okay, just swallowed some spit.”

  He gestured weakly and said, “Come back over here. I promise that I’m not making this up. It really happened.”

  “What about Kate’s sister, uh…”

  “Julie.”

  “Yeah. What about Julie, is she in this story too?”

  “No, I’m sorry, child. Julie died of the flu or dysentery or one of the other godawful diseases that hit the city after her sister died. So many people died between when Aeric first came to the city and when I was born. It’s a miracle that most of our family survived.”

  Tanya’s eyes fell to her lap. Aiden had to strain to hear her tiny voice, “Grandad, why does everyone die?”

  “It’s
a part of life, sweetheart. Everyone—and everything—dies at some point. There’s nothing we can do about it. The real measure of a life is how you choose to live it.”

  “Like you and Aeric?”

  “Yes, like all of our ancestors. I’ll die one day—no, not today,” he smiled at her expression. “When I do, I want you and your cousins and all of the family to say that I lived an honorable life. That you are proud to be related to me.”

  “Of course I am, Grandad,” she said and hugged his neck a little too roughly.

  “Then I can die a happy man, and know that I did my duty for our family.”

  *****

  Aeric waved at the trucks as they headed back towards San Angelo on the old road. He’d gone to Lorelei and asked for a lift to the edge of the renewed patrolling area. He hadn’t wanted to risk going any closer to Austin in the Shooters’ loud, steam-powered trucks, so he figured the town of Eden would be fine. That way, the city’s defenders could make a loop through the outer defensive perimeter and it would save him about thirty miles of riding.

  Of course, Lorelei had insisted on coming with him, which he’d refused. Her place was leading the defense of the city and ensuring that all of the residents there were safe. She eventually relented. It didn’t stop her from trying to load him down with more weapons than he could feasibly handle. He’d taken a 30.06 rifle with a high-powered scope and silencer, instead of the 30-30 that he’d had forever, because he needed the stopping power at a distance that the larger caliber would give him. He also had a military style M-4 rifle for close targets, ammo for both weapons, and his fighting knife. Everything else was too unwieldy to balance on a bike for the two hundred and fifty mile round trip.

  He watched the twin rooster-tails of dust recede in the distance and then lifted his leg up over the frame of his bicycle. He had about a hundred miles to ride; if he pushed it, he could be on the outskirts of the old Austin city limits within a few days.