by Nate Phelps
I sat back my chest heaving. The trees rustled behind me and I spun around. My gun was stuck, my sword lost.
Johnny came out of the woods and my terrified scream turned into a gasp as I dropped to my hands and knees. He was covered in dark blood and his clothes were shredded. Black gunk caked his shoes. Despite his appearance, he was smiling. He looked at the dead Crawler next to me and his smile widened.
“You did it!”
* * *
I knocked on Sarah’s door. It was late, but I felt like she’d be up.
“Who’s that?” asked a sweet voice, likely her mom.
“I’ll get it,” I heard Sarah reply.
I started to tremble. No, this wasn’t how I wanted this to go.
The door was yanked open. Sarah’s eyes widened as she took in my appearance.
“Kleiner? What happened?”
My inhibitions broke down and I began to sob uncontrollably as she wrapped her arms around me.
Chapter 9
“Observe, if you will,” I said in dramatic fashion, “what happens when my solution, BTX, freezes rapidly!”
I stuck my ice pick into the small dome I had presented before my classmates. The solution reacted the same way it had earlier that week when I’d been fighting for my life. The students gasped in appreciation as the weak plastic covering gave way and the crystallized foam expanded outward, blooming like a deathly flower.
The gasps soon gave way to applause as Professor Laevis came forward, pounding me on the back. “Brilliant, my boy! I’m not sure I quite understand the practical use in regards to your project, but I’m sure you’ll think of something.”
“Yeah,” I grimaced at his mention of the project. It’d been three days since the incident. Besides Sarah, I’d only told Dr. Henry about what happened. Sarah and I hadn’t talked since that night. The shame of making myself look like a complete idiot in front of her wasn’t something I wanted to deal with quite yet. After Brad had agreed to give me the week off, I hadn’t left the school. This was home, and I had realized that there wasn’t much for me outside of it.
“I’ll be heading to Sanitatem again,” Laevis said. “Riker is coming to escort our group. This side project of mine has been fascinating. A great meeting of the minds from each city. My brother and I have been working furiously. I can’t wait to tell you about it.”
“You’ve been going there a lot,” I noted.
“Maybe I’ll take you with me next time. The subject of our tests would be absolutely fascinating for you, as long as you have a strong stomach.”
He chuckled and I smiled weakly. I didn’t want to leave the city, but I didn’t tell him as much.
Laevis gave me a funny look as if he could hear my thoughts. He pulled me aside, away from the others asking me questions and congratulating me. We made our way out of the laboratory and down the hall towards the common area.
“You’ve made incredible progress,” he said. “This school didn’t have half the credibility it does now before you arrived.”
His comically-large mustache bounced as he talked. He put away his goggles and gave me a sympathetic look. I smiled back. No one can choose their father, especially an orphan, but if I’d had the chance, he would have been at the top of my list.
“I’m sorry, Professor,” I said. “I know your hopes were riding on me and this project.”
“You won’t be returning, then?”
“No… I don’t think I can go back. It’s a bit too much for me.” I sighed heavily trying to avoid thinking of Crawlers.
He nodded, but didn’t say anything.
“Are you disappointed?”
“Disappointed?” He laughed loudly. “Your inventions and studies have been groundbreaking! How could I be anything but amazed with you?”
My chest swelled at his praise. “I’m going to be a teacher like you. I’ve thought about it before. It seems right.”
He smiled again, but still seemed hesitant.
“Is that bad?”
“Bad?” He shook his curly grey hair. “Not at all. I love teaching, it’s my calling. Are you sure it’s yours, though?”
“I think so. I enjoy these presentations and I have lots to share.”
“You’d be incredible, to be sure. But would you be happy?”
I tried to answer, but it got stuck in my throat.
“I just worry, my boy, this project you’ve been doing… it seems important. More important than you and I realized when we pieced it together a year ago. You’ve helped the entire city, and you’ve helped Johnny Q. The evidence is clear.
“More importantly, though…” He met my eyes with a penetrating look. “I’ve never seen you happier than when you are in the middle of one of your missions, using your inventions and solving problems. This is your passion and your element. I don’t know what happened, but I just want to make sure you leave the project on your own terms and not terms decided for you. Conquer that dragon, as it were.”
Dragons. Monsters. Pale flesh and sharp teeth. A shudder ran up my neck. Laevis knew me well, but he didn’t know everything. We’d gone over the data together—I had plenty to finish the degree. This meant that I’d be the first Mid… no, the first person anywhere with a Master’s degree since the end of the world. It was more than just a piece of paper to me. This was a sign that civilization and culture was recovering after being pushed to the very brink.
As these thoughts rolled around in my head, the professor had gotten ahead of me. My head was down as I walked into the common area and when twenty to thirty people shouted “HAPPY BIRTHDAY!”, it nearly knocked me off my feet. They’d swept the couches aside and pulled out tables. There were balloons, posters, and some homemade confetti.
“Surprise!” bellowed Gerald, Laevis’ son. “I set up the party for you. You’re welcome.”
“Holy crap!” I laughed. Was I really nineteen already? I’d lost track.
For the next hour or so, we played games, laughed, and talked. I had a very welcome surprise when I realized that the one catering the party was none other than Ricky.
“Hey!” I said when I saw him.
“You!” He dumped a full ladle of enchilada sauce on Gerald’s plate.
“Ah, man.” Gerald walked away slowly, trying to balance the plate without spilling the sauce everywhere.
Ricky came out from behind the table to talk to me. The next student in line looked sadly at his empty plate.
“Is this your party, bro? What are the chances?”
“I’ve no idea.”
“Dude,” he leaned towards me in a conspiratorial sort of way, tapping my chest. “They won’t let me sell my tacos in Lutosa anymore. You gotta tell your boy Johnny to stop beating up my customers.”
I frowned. Johnny’s fight with Radon wasn’t common knowledge. “How’d you know about that?”
“I’ve got my sources. Get some food, birthday boy.”
Ricky loaded up my plate with three different kinds of tacos, two enchiladas, a torta, and five taquitos. Gerald started telling stories; Professor Laevis put dry ice in the punch; some of the younger guys attempted to pull of some low limbo bars to impress the girls, and I began to relax for the first time in days.
Then Sarah walked in and I froze. What was she doing here? I scrambled to think of something witty to say to dispel the awkwardness I was feeling.
She sauntered over to me, sporting a large smile. “There he is!”
“Fine. How are you?” I slapped myself mentally. Idiot.
“Here, this is for you.” She tossed me a small wrapped gift.
I regained some of my confidence. “Aw, but Sarah… I didn’t get you anything.”
“Shut up.” She laughed. “You can unwrap it later. Let’s go party.”
My awkwardness quickly dissipated as the night progressed. Sarah dragged me to every game and conversation. She got more than a few interested looks that made me jealous, but she didn’t pay those guys much attention, keeping her focus on m
e. We cheered and applauded as Gerald continued his stories, and I nearly broke my back trying limbo. Sarah laughed at me. I got her back by thrashing her at cards.
“Stupid game!” she growled, tossing her hand on the floor. “What does Rummy mean, anyway? Let’s play limbo again.”
We got into a deep conversation with Ricky about his secret recipes.
“Twelve generations, bro!” he explained as he expertly threw down some dollops of sour cream on the plates of hungry scholars. “We almost lost them, but Mama Lucia gave all the ninos to Papa Julio and carried the recipes out herself when Los Angeles was overrun, back in the day. She’s a legend.”
“Ricky,” said Sarah. “If you don’t give me the recipe to these taquitos, I’m gonna die.”
“Ay, are you crazy?” He seemed shocked at the idea. “Mama Lucia would come back on el Dia de los Muertos and kill me herself.”
Things started to wind down, and soon Sarah and I were left sitting on a couch, looking out the window at the city and talking. She seemed completely at ease and hadn’t mentioned anything about my embarrassing break down or my ignoring her for the past several days.
“I’d really like my own place,” Sarah was saying. “But I feel like my mom would be so lonely in that giant house all by herself. She loves the company, and she likes being involved in my life. It’s just a bit smothering sometimes.”
“Sounds nice,” I said. “I think I could do with some smothering.”
Sarah pulled me close and squished my cheeks. “How’s this? You feel better?”
“Get off me.” I pushed her away, grinning. Truth was, it had felt nice.
“Yeah, yeah,” she yawned, stretching out a leg and resting it across my own. “You always have to one-up me with your two missing parents while I only have the one.”
I glanced at her leg, blushing. Sometimes, I swore she knew the effect she had on me.
“Do you really not remember them at all?” she asked.
“Hmm?” I had to focus to understand her question. “My parents? Not a bit. My life before Midhaven is just a grey blot.”
“You’re definitely from Sanitatem. You’re not stiff enough to be Lutosian. Their babies don’t arrive the normal way. They come out of factories in tight square boxes.”
“Oh yes,” I agreed. “I passed over the baby factory during my visit with Johnny. I hope you’re right; I’d hate to find out I was a box baby.”
“You ever try to look it up? Your birth papers, I mean?”
“Neither of those cities keep decent records.” I shrugged. “I worried about it for a while, but I’m over it now.”
She gave me a sad look and I shrugged again. I really had stopped worrying about it. Why would I freak out and whine about not knowing parents that hadn’t wanted me in the first place?
“So,” she said slowly. I looked at her, curious. “Speaking of Lutosa, did you ever figure out what’s going on?”
I nodded. “Kind of. When I requested time off, I stopped by Dr. Henry’s and he filled me in pretty well. Apparently, Lutosa thought it’d be a good idea to put a Crawler nest right by our door so that we’d have to buy more guns from them. Business wasn’t booming like they wanted, I guess. Greedy jerks.”
“Really? There has to be more to it than that. Is this what Johnny concluded?”
“Yeah. He figured it all out. When I saw the Crawlers in the forest, he got suspicious and asked Riker about it. Riker had seen some weird things too. That’s why we chased that guy Thirteen. He was some sort of Lutosian informant who tipped us off to Radon’s involvement. The rest is history. Johnny beats him up, and then we went and…”
I hadn’t meant to hesitate. My face burned and I stared at my shoes.
“Then you killed a freaking Crawler.” Sarah smiled at me. “You know how hard that is? I heard it takes dozens of bullets to kill one of those things.”
That was the moment I realized that Sarah had known how embarrassed I was the whole time. She knew why I’d been avoiding her, but she had come to the party anyway. I lifted my eyes and met hers. Her smiled widened slightly. I had the strongest urge to kiss her.
“Do you think they’re going to tell everyone that the Crawlers are back?” she asked me.
I shook out of my reverie. “They’ll probably keep it under wraps as long as possible to prevent a panic.”
“What about the guy you saw?”
“What guy?”
“The one in the forest. He must have been the one who started the nest. If they have a way to control the creatures, it would probably be simple enough. We need to find him as soon as possible.”
“That makes sense.” I nodded. “How else would they be able to move Crawlers where they wanted to? He must get around, because he was nowhere near where we found the nest.”
Sarah scrunched her face and the cute dimple emerged. “What else did you learn?”
“Dr. Henry is livid. He says this could be the end of our alliance with Lutosa. They may try to cut them out of the agreement. I don’t see how though. We rely too heavily on them. Not to mention, they have a butt load of weapons. Starting a fight would be a crappy idea on our part.”
“As long as we have Johnny, we’ll be fine,” Sarah said. “He’s the strongest Sentinel by a long shot.” She said it begrudgingly, as if she didn’t want to admit we had to rely on him.
“Yeah,” agreed someone behind us. “He can handle it.”
We turned to see Ricky leaning against the back of the couch, shoveling rice into his mouth with a piece of tortilla.
“Ricky!” I said. “You weren’t supposed to hear that stuff.”
“Too late now, eh?” He wiggled his eyebrows at me and grinned.
“Should we have him arrested?” asked Sarah.
Ricky paused, a handful of food nearly to his mouth. “Que?”
I didn’t think she was serious, but I was enjoying the elicited reaction. “Not a bad idea.”
“Please don’t send me to jail,” Ricky begged, much more pious than before. “My mama would kill me. Her chancla stings like the devil.”
“I dunno, Sarah,” I said. “He might be useful. He has lots of connections. And tasty food.”
“Keep him in our pocket, huh?” Sarah nodded approvingly. “I’m rubbing off on you.”
We got into a conversation about Ricky’s mom and her chancla, and soon my stomach hurt from laughing.
“Oye!” Rickly looked at the watch on his wrist. “What have you done? I have another party.”
“Tonight?” I asked, surprised.
“You’re not the only one who has birthdays, you baboso.”
“Yeah, baboso.” Sarah shoved me off the couch.
“You’re so rude,” I said from the floor.
Ricky went off to pack up his pots and pans. Sarah stretched and stood. “So, I’ll see you Monday then?”
“Uh…” I pushed myself up and a busied myself with picking up confetti and abandoned plates. “Yeah, I think so. I need to talk to Brad about my shift, and…”
“You’re thinking of quitting, aren’t you?”
“What? No, I just…” I sighed avoiding eye contact. “Yeah, I am. I talked to my professor, and I have plenty of hours and data to finish.”
“Congrats.” She gave me a sad smile. “I don’t blame you at all. A couple years ago, I was in the exact same spot.”
“What do you mean?”
“My partner was killed during my second week,” she explained. “That wrecked me.”
“Oh… that’s horrible.” I grimaced as I rubbed my neck.
“Traumatic moments like that mess you up,” she continued as she grabbed her jacket and put it on. “You’re never really the same. It made me question all my choices up to that point.”
“What’d you do?”
“Well, I searched my soul a bit. I was at a crossroads. Being an Enforcer was what I’d always wanted, but I hadn’t always known why. Was it because it was fun and I looked cool, or was I trying
to make a difference? Once I figured it out, I went back.”
My stomach lurched. Her words rang true.
“You’ll make the right choice,” she continued. “Just make sure you figure out what it is you want.”
She made to leave, but then paused and turned back. “Hey! I forgot your present. Open that thing so I can see your face.”
I pulled her gift out of my pocket and unwrapped the small box. Inside was a black ring. I looked at her, confused.”
She was on one knee.
“Kleiner, my beloved,” she said. “Will you marry me?”
“Uhh…” My breath stopped.
She burst into laughter at my startled expression and stood straight. “Sorry, couldn’t help it. It’s pretty nice though, huh?”
My heart was hammering in my chest. “What is it?”
“It’s a friendship ring. I’ve got one too.” She flashed a silver ring on her right hand. “I wanted to get you something nice. Now we’ll be besties forever.”
Great, I thought.
“Thanks Sarah.” I put it on. “It fits.”
Sarah wrapped me in a tight hug. I made to let go after a moment, but she held on. When she finally released, I caught sight of an unusual expression on her face. Was she going to say something? Did she want me to say something?
Her mouth opened. “Hey…”
She was interrupted by her watch buzzing. After glancing at it, the new expression disappeared and she gave me her mischievous grin. “I gotta go. See you later, Cleaner boy.”
“See you Monday.”
She paused, halfway out the door and gave me a wide smile. It sent a thrill through my body. “I’ll have your reports ready.”
She left. I grinned and tapped my leg excitedly, turning to go back to the lab. “Gah!”
Ricky was standing close by, watching me quizzically.
“You really need to stop that,” I said.
“It’s beautiful,” he said, nodding.