Zillow Stone and the Unholy One

by Brindi Quinn

  “No.”

  “How about this?” I shifted my hand to the pocket where his jaw met his neck and pressed.

  “YOW!” He shot his wet hand over my fingers on his neck.

  “You’re just bruised,” I said. “You didn’t jar anything too badly. You’ll live.”

  “Ah. Well, that’s good because it feels like I’m dying,” said Theo.

  I rolled my eyes at him, suppressing a grin evoked by impulsiveness. Theo let his hand fall, but I let mine remain on his neck. Today, being caught in this sunken plant, unable to escape the red glow, was the first time I realized exactly how much I needed a partner. It made me realize how much I needed Theo. He’d shown me where to get water, he’d shared his food with me, and today, he’d come through when I needed him. No matter how much I hated to admit it, I owed him one. No, that was a lie. I owed him more than one.

  My hand on his neck, I caught his gentle gaze with mine. His eyes were soft and feminine and didn’t match his physique. His eyelashes were long, and made him look sweet and innocent, though he wasn’t really like that at all.

  “Thank you, Theo.”

  At my offering of gratitude, his jaw tightened as his teeth pressed together, and in the aftermath of the expression, he winced from the pain it caused him. “For what?” he asked.

  “The gambit.” I left it at that, and let my hand fall. Then, I gathered up my pack. “Let’s find the retrect and then find a way out of here.”

  Theo was fully in agreement.

  The floor of the plant was littered with shredded conveyor belts and upturned machines, torn apart by whatever had massacred the building. Some of the machines continued to fizz, though they no longer functioned as they were supposed to, while others were silent, and still more, those higher up and secured to the wall, hummed and let off bouts of steam and heat. As we made our way through the interior of the factory, Theo lagged behind, hawing over his bruises and scrapes. Maybe he didn’t understand that he should have been lucky to be as intact as he was. I was lucky too. The fall I’d suffered left my shoulder throbbing, but the absence of bones protruding from places they shouldn’t was enough to make me grateful.

  I knew that twenty minutes had passed when the fluttering of my mark shifted from soft red to strong green. Again, I released a long exhale of relief. To my Marker it would look like I’d gone off the grid somewhere to the north.

  We ventured deeper.

  Eventually, we came to a hallway where even the glow of our hands was stifled by the dark, and throughout the blackness, the beady lights of machines glistened like the eyes of unknown creatures hidden just out of reach. I shuddered and trembled, despising my own weakness, until Theo removed a flashlight from his pack and used it to illuminate the way.

  “I wasn’t aware that you had a flashlight,” I said through my teeth, flummoxed and ornery.

  Theo tapped his chin. “Batteries are hella expensive. I only use it when I absolutely have to.”

  We slid beneath cords and tucked around gears. This whole place was like a jungle – not that I’d ever seen a jungle in real life, not that jungles yet existed in this dying world. But that was what I thought dipping over root-like hoses and vine-like cords. Each foreign sound could very well have been that of a beast. After all, machines were beast enough.

  We trekked on, without any sign of the retrect, and becoming wetter and wetter the deeper we crawled inside the factory’s belly.

  “It’s hard to breathe,” I observed after some time.

  “Sure is,” Theo panted. “Let’s hope we find it soon. I’ve never been soggier in my entire life.” Theo switched off his flashlight periodically so that the ‘red light’ of the retrect would be more noticeable; but as the day waned on, there was still no sign of any such red light, aside from the one that had been streaming from my hand hours earlier.

  I was just beginning to feel the first pangs of hunger when I saw it. True, I’d been expecting a red light, for that was what Theo had called it, but I hadn’t been expecting . . .

  “That’s it!” My partner exclaimed exuberantly.

  As we passed from one room into another, I saw a floating cylinder hovering like a beacon in the corner, blasting bright light that was more firelike than the ‘red’ I’d been expecting. Indeed, at first glance, it looked like a great fireball suspended in the air. The room was cluttered, like the rest of the factory, and the light cast drowsy shadows over everything, disfiguring the machines and rubble. The overhead beacon was blinding, in contrast to the darkness everywhere else. I stopped to gawk at it, but Theo took my moist hand in his and yanked me behind him.

  “Come on, Zill!” Pushy, he drew me after him through the messy space, eyes fixated on the firelike beam. But while he was transfixed, I was thinking. This retrect we were after – it was supposedly much sought after, though no one had managed to capture it yet. The reward was supposedly much greater than the other fetch quests.

  True, it had been a struggle entering the building, but surely others had made it in. Why, then, was this particular retrect so . . .?

  While Theo’s sight was lost in the beam, I was looking elsewhere, rapidly surveying our surroundings for sign of a trap.

  If others had made it this far, what had stopped them from claiming the retrect? What had . . .?

  “STOP!”

  I put my full weight into holding Theo back, and though his momentum was strong, I was strong, too. I managed to keep him from making the same mistake others undoubtedly had. Sharply, the ground ended just before the cylinder, though it was hard to see because of the way the shadows were cast from the gleaming overhead light. The floor in the corner of the room was missing, and if there was a bottom below the cylinder, it was too deep and dark to see. Adding to the illusion, several of the cords continued on over the dead space like tightropes, and even some of the beams, though I wouldn’t trust them to hold any great weight. The retrect’s placement was intentional. If Theo had kept going, he would have run straight over the edge.

  Realizing his folly, my rash partner stumbled backwards into me. “Hell!” he shouted, and then after tiptoeing to the edge of the abyss – “H-how’d you see that?!”

  “It’s my job, remember? To keep you from falling into potholes.”

  “Har. Har.” Theo shook his head. “Damn, though. Did someone plan it that way?! That’s downright malicious!”

  Yes, it was malicious, and I still didn’t understand the point of it. Even if we’d fallen into the trap, there would have been no one to see it. None of the unholy ones could have gained any pleasure from our failure. Why, then, make such a trap? Unless . . . A test?

  “Well, shit,” Theo grumbled, peering over the edge of the floor. “Where’s the retrect, then?” He searched the black hole, taking out his light and probing the deep reaches, to no avail. Meanwhile, I was looking up.

  “Is that it?” I pointed to a small golden thing attached to the wall beside the glowing cylinder. “It sticks out because it’s cleaner than everything else in here. It isn’t tarnished or rusted like the rest.” Theo followed my point. He squinted at the golden thing, turning his head this way and that until–

  “Probably. We won’t know until we get it down, though. How the hell are we supposed to do that?” He frowned at the artifact. “It’s not like we have a ladder, and even if we did, there’s no floor to prop it against!” Theo shook out of frustration and little dribbles of water fell from various parts of his body.

  I maintained my composure. “Let me see your light.”

  “Huh?”

  “Your flashlight, Theo, let me see it.” I held out my hand expectantly and he handed it to me. I shined it on the wall. “See that?” I asked. “There are little indents.” I moved the light along the wall, to the edge reachable from where we stood. “They continue to here. I think it’s a path. I think we’re supposed to climb it.”

  At the suggestion, Theo’s eyes bulged. “Climb THAT?”

  I nodded.


  Theo looked from the wall to the beacon and then to the hole in the floor. “Are you crazy?! If we fall, we’re totally goners! I can’t even see the bottom of this pit from here! Who knows how far down it goes!”

  “We won’t fall,” I said calmly. I put a hand into the lowest groove.

  “Suuure. Easy for you to say. How are we supposed to climb all wet like this?”

  “Watch,” I said. I removed the blanket I kept in my pack and used my katar to slice off four strips. “Tie these around your palms,” I said. “Once they’re a little moist, they’ll help us keep our grip. Also, the wall here looks roughed up. I don’t think it will be that bad.”

  “Phoooo.” Theo’s face scrunched as he weighed my plan. “Really? Do you reeeeally think that’s the best thing to do? Like, is it even viable?”

  I gave one firm nod. I saw no other option. “I’ll prove it,” I said. “I’ll go first.”

  First tossing Theo his flashlight, I wound the strips of blanket around each palm, and again made my way to the side of the wall. I placed my hand into the first groove and used it to pull myself up. My hand slipped from my weight and Theo gave a start. “It’s fine,” I told him over my shoulder. I let the cloth soak up a bit more moisture before trying again. The second time, I gained a firm hold. I used the first several indents to lift myself off the floor.

  Theo stood yonder, mouth hanging. “I mean, if you’re sure you want to do that, Zillhammer . . . We don’t BOTH need to do it, though, right? I mean, you can just grab the retrect and come right back down, can’t you?” He forced a chuckle laden with apprehension.

  “No,” I countered. “The path keeps going higher beyond the retrect. I think we should follow it.”

  Theo was quiet a moment. Most likely, he was waiting for a punchline from me, though thus far I hadn’t proven myself comical. When one didn’t come, he shakily offered, “Oooh, okay, sure. Mind telling me WHY you came to that conclusion?”

  “Simple,” I said, pulling myself further up the wall. “I think this retrect quest is a test of some sort.”

  “A test?” Theo repeated.

  I nodded. “Yes, I don’t know why or what they’re testing us on, but we’ve already established that the missions serve some other purpose than just retrieving items for the Directors. I’ve been thinking about it, and . . . they may be in place to test us. As far as this quest goes, I think the test was that trap. It was to see if we’d go charging in rashly, thereafter falling to our deaths; or if we’d approach the situation with caution, instead discovering the path up the wall. Because we passed, I believe the rest of the way might be laid out for us – a reward, so to speak.”

  “Like a way out?” said Theo.

  “Exactly.”

  “But . . . how can you know that, Zill?” Theo said, voice unconvinced.

  “I don’t. That’s just my guess.” Taking a deep breath, I moved sideways along the grooved path, over the portion of the room missing a floor. “And it’s all I have to go off of. Now,” I said, moving higher into the firelike light of the beacon, “are you coming, or not?”

  Chapter 15: Crash

  “Dang, Zill! Looks like you were right!”

  The golden plaque marked with the Director’s seal was now securely within my backpack. I felt its weight unevenly in the corner, a small reminder that we’d accomplished our goal. After no small share of griping, my doubtful partner had followed me up the wall and out of the room. The grooved path led to a small passage that ran horizontally through the factory – an enclosed catwalk of sorts. Unlike the rest of the plant, the passage was clear of clutter; or rather, it had been cleared of clutter by whoever had devised the retrect’s retrieval task.

  Most remarkable, however, was that no sooner had we entered the passage, we saw the outside light of salvation streaming from above. At the far end of the catwalk was the way out we’d hoped for.

  “It’s one of the smokestacks,” I concluded, peering up. The inside of the smooth stack was adorned with a welded column of bars allowing for an easy exit.

  This time, Theo took the lead. “So it really was all a setup?” he said as he grabbed hold of the first rung.

  “Mm,” I grunted. This ladder only furthered the theory.

  Theo was quiet a moment. He climbed up a few more rungs before offering, “You know, I’m really glad I bumped into someone like you. I expected this whole thing to be hard, but . . .” Theo shot me a grin from over his shoulder. “There’s no way I could’ve done that alone. If it was me, I’d still be stuck outside, scratching my head over how to get inside! Not even kidding.” Apparently, the thought of being free of the place was enough to make him forget about his injuries. He pulled himself up the peg ladder with ease.

  Together we made our way up the smokestack and into the dusk. At the top, we secured a length of rope to the topmost rung and used it to slide down the high exterior of the stack. Once at the bottom, Theo’s glee turned to reproaching. He glared at the towering thing. “I see how it is,” he said, gesturing. “There’s an easy way in right there, but it’s impossible to get to from down here! That’s tricky as fuck.”

  I was in agreement. The entire thing was tricky, suspiciously so. Now wasn’t the time to dwell on it, though.

  The slanted roof was no easier to cross the second time around, but this time, we were starting from the middle and had only to make it to the edge of the building. We kept the large smokestack at our backs, between the abyss and us, as a safeguard. If we slipped, we’d have that to catch us. Very carefully, we inched along the roof, clinging to any stacks within reach, until safely to the edge of the building where the great wheel was waiting.

  I’d never breathed a greater sign of relief than I did when my feet hit the outside ground. Dusty and warm, it received me with solidarity. It wasn’t the only one to do so. Theo flung his arms around my neck in a hearty, choking embrace. “We did it,” he said into my hair. “Wait till Peck and the others find out! That’ll wipe the smug smirk right off of Kipper’s fat face. Heh. Heh. Heh. We really, really . . .” His body jolted and he removed himself from me, keeping his hands firmly on my shoulders and peering into my eyes with determination. “But we aren’t done yet, Zillness. We still have to get it back to a waystation, and we only have a day to do it. Now that we’re out, let me have a look at that thing.”

  I retrieved the heavy plaque and tossed it to him, and as he began to study it, I removed a canteen from my pack and took a few vigorous glugs of water. I wiped my mouth with the back of my hand, stared into the dimming sky, and allowed myself to smile. We’d done it. We’d retrieved the retrect, and now I’d have more than enough SPs to get by. I’d purchase my own gambits and nutrient packs, and Theo would share his knowledge with me. I was in a much better place than when I started. From here on out, I’d conquer the wastelands, I’d take control of my cursed status, and I’d beat my Marker at his game. I’d beat the Directors at their game.

  I was fast and strong and smart. I, Zillow Stone, was a marked one, and I was going to win.

  Letting the smile swell, I started along the wall of the factory. “Are you coming, Theo?”

  “Hell yes. Get me out of this shithole. But go ahead. First I gotta take a piss.”

  I shook my head at him before cutting through the gnarled bushes and rounding the corner to the backside of the building. The day was at its end, but the dawn of my time in the wildlands was just beginning. I’d made it this far in only a few days. I’d make it farther. I’d make it farthest.

  I’d–

  I stopped dead in my tracks, for there, at the backside of the plant, sitting leisurely upon the heated, dirty ground that had welcomed me with such reassurance, was a person in a black jumpsuit.

  The person had hair of fire and eyes of ice and a flat mouth that was curled up in one corner.

  When he saw me, he stood.

  My katar was already unsheathed. I held it in preparation.

  “I caught up to you, Zillow Stone,” t
he person said with quiet amusement. “That didn’t take long.”

  I didn’t know what to say, but my mouth had been trained. It said the only thing it knew how to respond:

  “My Marker.”

  Thank you for reading Act 1 of THE ONGOING PURSUIT OF ZILLOW STONE!

  If you like this series, please write a review and tell a friend!

  Find out what comes next!

  Act 2 is now available in paperback and for e-readers:

  ~ ZILLOW STONE IN PARADISE ~

  If you enjoy the style of this series, you may also enjoy THE WORLD REMAINS or SECONDS: THE SHARED SOUL CHRONICLES, also by Brindi Quinn!

  More Info

  About the Author:

  Zillow Stone is MN author Brindi Quinn’s eleventh published work.

  Shortly after finishing college in 2010, Brindi began her mad dash into authordom. The Heart of Farellah Trilogy was first to hit shelves in 2011, and she hasn’t stopped since. In addition to her debut trilogy, Brindi’s publications include: Seconds: The Shared Soul Chronicles, a third person sci-fi romance; Sil in a Dark World: A Paranormal Love-Hate Story; The World Remains, a dystopian adventure; Atto’s Tale, the miniseries spinoff to Heart of Farellah; The Eternity Duet, a two-part fantasy romance; and The Death and Romancing of Marley Craw, a sexy supernatural tale.

  Brindi considers herself a nerd, indulging heavily (when she can) in video games, anime, manga, horror flicks and good sci-fi TV.

  Follow Brindi on Twitter:

  @Brindiful

  AND connect with her on Facebook:

  Facebook.com/Brindiful

  About the Artist:

  Ene Karels is a young artist working from her home studio in Minnesota. She creates both digital and traditional art using watercolors, acrylics and pencils. Her works are in styles ranging from anime, to cartoon, to realistic. From people, to animals.