The Orphans of New Lur

by Blake Vanier

  A knot inside of Nero coils itself tightly around his lungs, making it hard for him to breathe. What if this old pipe collapses? Nero’s head hits Thea’s butt.

  “Hey, Nero, slow down,” she laughs.

  Nero catches himself. I’ve done this before. It’ll be okay.

  They crawl for several long minutes when Nero bumps into Thea again. “Oops, sorry, Thea. Why’d you stop?” Nero asks, trying to peek around her.

  Iona’s hand drums the side of the cooler. “Move it, Korbin. You know I hate tight spaces.” The drain swallows the sound and all that is left is their breathing. “Korbin?”

  “What’s Korbin doing?” Thea asks.

  “I’m not sure; he just stopped.”

  “Is he alright?” Thea’s voice begins to rise. “Did something happen to him?”

  “I don’t know, Thea. I can’t see anything.” Iona huffs and pushes against the cooler. “It won’t move at all.”

  Nero struggles to look backward and sees the faint light of the day from the entrance. Maybe we should turn around now, before we all get trapped.

  “Korbin!” Thea’s sharp voice slices their eardrums. “Are you okay?”

  There is a muffled cough from the other side of the cooler. “You must go back,” Korbin whispers, “before it’s too late…”

  “What, Korbin? Speak up,” Iona says.

  “What’s going on up there?” Ryder asks.

  “Something happened to Korbin,” Iona says. “I think he’s hurt.” She smacks the cooler again. “Korbin, what’s going on?”

  Silence. Thea squeezes her way beside Iona. “Korbin, are you okay?” Still, there is no response. “Korbin! Please talk to me.”

  “Bwah-hah-hah,” Korbin breaks out laughing. “You guys are too easy!” His laugh continues to echo down the pipe and the cooler starts to move again.

  The rest of the children fail to move for a long moment. “I’m going to kill him,” Iona growls as she starts forward.

  After crawling the rest of the way in silence, they arrive at a musty chamber crisscrossed with other drains. Light from a manhole entrance illuminates a corner, where Korbin is dancing and grinning from ear to ear. “Boo-ya. I got you guys so good!”

  Iona punches his arm. “You’re a jerk.” She starts climbing up a metal ladder.

  “Oh come on, that’s what you get for double teaming me and putting tooth paste all over my face this morning,” he says, rubbing his arm.

  Thea walks up to him with her hands on her hips and shakes her head. “That was really mean. You scared me.” She follows Iona up to the surface.

  Korbin drops his shoulders. “Jee, so sensitive. I was just having a bit of fun.”

  The daylight is blinding. As their eyes adjust, the broken shells of old buildings take shape. Shattered windows and demolished walls provide glimpses of melted machinery. The chilling silence that permeates the surroundings is an eerie backdrop.

  Ryder heaves the cooler from the access hole with a huff. “Let’s drop the food off at our base before we start setting up for the attack,” he says. “We’ll take the long way to see if we can find anything cool.”

  The group navigates through the streets and over piles of rubble. Occasionally, one of the children scrambles over the debris and picks up a piece of wreckage, flipping it over in their hands and assessing its worthiness as an imaginary tool or weapon.

  A faint scream cuts through the silence.

  The children freeze. They strain their ears and hold their breath, waiting for something more. Pinpricks run all over Nero’s body, along his back and under his scalp. His skin tenses, causing the hair on his arms to stand up. Oh no, someone’s just been eaten by a monster!

  “What was that?” Thea asks.

  “Probably nothing,” Nero says quickly. “We should head back home.”

  “Aw, spineless Sam,” Korbin says. “Did you forget your blanky at home?”

  “Quiet, Korb,” Ryder says, surveying the empty husks of the buildings. He points down one of the streets. “I think it came from there.”

  “We should check it out. What if someone needs our help?” Thea starts to walk.

  Ryder nods his head, putting the cooler down. “Everyone, follow me and stay close. Let’s take a quick look.”

  Nero’s eyes widen, and he waves his hands at Ryder. “Whoa whoa whoa. No, wait, what if it is some kind of monster or something?”

  Korbin runs to the front with his chest out and his fists on his hips. “I’m not scared, let’s go!”

  “Korbin, be quiet!” Ryder hisses. “And chill out, Nero, there aren’t monsters here.” He steps out in front of Thea, walking carefully. He hugs the walls and stays in the shadows when he can.

  Oh, this is so stupid. We’re going to get eaten for sure. With a great effort, Nero wills his legs to follow the others, pulling up the rear.

  Ryder sneaks around several buildings and sticks his head around a corner. “I don’t see anything.”

  They look around the corner, bunched together. The street leads toward the cement wall surrounding the industrial district. One of the buildings to the right has collapsed onto the wall, turning the once impregnable barrier into a more manageable obstacle.

  Nero steps back from the corner. “Well, I don’t see anything either. Let’s go back to base!”

  Iona points. “Woo! I think I see something at the base of the wall where it’s partially collapsed.”

  Ryder squints his eyes and nods. “Yeah okay, stay behind me. We’ll just get a little closer to take a better look.” He hunches over, ducking in and out of doorways and side streets at every chance. The other children follow him like a series of train cars, mimicking his every move. Ryder stops at a hiding spot where they see a small lumpy object lying among the rubble.

  Nero’s heart kicks against his ribs. With every pulse, it tries to escape from his chest, throbbing loudly in his ears. He holds his breath and looks around at the other children to see if they can hear the thunderous beats of his heart. They pay him no attention.

  Korbin leans onto Ryder’s shoulder. “What is it?”

  Ryder shakes him off. “Geetoooff Korb. I don’t know.”

  Iona moves her head forward. “It looks like a backpack.”

  A backpack with a monster in it! Nero squeezes Thea’s arm. “What if there’s a m―”

  Ryder glances back at Nero with mild annoyance. “Shhhh, we’re going in.”

  Ryder and the rest of the children jog over and crouch around the backpack. Nero hesitates but something draws him along, gently blowing his concerns away.

  The backpack is bulging at the zipper, and several edges are outlined in its fabric. Ryder stands it upright and gently unzips the top, releasing a soft glow of white light that blossoms across his face. Gingerly, he slips his hand into the bag and pulls out a metal, cylindrical canister just bigger than a soda can. It has a matte black finish and brass colored trimming. There are two rectangular eyelets of silver glass along its length. A white shimmering light glows from within.

  Korbin leans forward to get a better look. “What is it?”

  Ryder turns it over in his hands and slides his finger over a series of engraved numbers and letters. He looks closely into one of the windows and then shakes it by his ear. “I haven’t a clue, but it sounds empty. It’s almost like it’s just trapped light. Maybe it’s from the Minis.”

  Korbin reaches for the bag. “Awesome. Let me get one too.”

  Ryder yanks it back. “Just hold on a sec! We don’t even know what they are.”

  “I want one too,” Thea says, squirming her way closer to the bag.

  “I think we should just leave them,” Iona says. “I don’t like it.”

  The children continue to argue when Nero suddenly snaps back to reality. He pulls himself away from a strange, comforting warmth that is emanating from the canisters. He stands up. Where did the bag come from? Who’s the owner? He looks up at the crumbling wall and notices a shoe hanging
in a clump of rusty barbed wire. Stepping back from the circle, he looks around. In their excitement, none of them had done so earlier.

  He sees a crumpled mass of a person lying in the middle of the street twenty meters farther down the wall. Without turning, he reaches for Thea and tugs on her shirtsleeve.

  “Hey look, there’s a body,” he says, but she brushes his hand away, still arguing about the canisters with the others.

  The body’s arm jerks to life, and Nero jumps. It begins to rise, a puppet guided by a jerky master. Facing away from Nero, it moves its wobbly legs under its torso and begins to stand, its arms and head dangling lifelessly from its hunched back. It sways from side to side for a moment and then, as if it just remembered how to stand, it steadies and stretches. Suddenly, its head twitches to the side as though it has heard something. It turns.

  The light plays over the outline of a man’s face and shaggy blond hair, but as he continues to turn, the light is lost in a dark void of his left eye.

  Nero jumps back and slams into Korbin.

  Korbin spins around and pushes Nero away. “Dude, Nero, what the heck?”

  “There’s someone down there,” Nero says as he turns back, thrusting his trembling finger toward an empty street.

  Korbin jabs Nero hard in the ribs. “Imagining monsters again, Sammy?”

  Nero scowls at Korbin. JERK!

  “Stop being so mean, Korbin,” Thea says. She shoves him lightly.

  “Enough,” Ryder says. He slides the canister back and zips up the bag. “We should get out of here. We can look at them back at base.” Ryder turns to Iona. “Will you take the backpack with you, so Nero and I can go get the cooler? We’ll meet you there.”

  Iona’s jaw drops. “What? I told you I don’t like those things. What if they’re dangerous. What if Fae finds out?”

  “I think we should definitely take them,” Thea says.

  Korbin reaches for the bag. “Here, I’ll carry them.”

  “No!” Ryder pulls the bag away from Korbin. “Thea, you take the bag. Nero and I are going to be quick. Meet us at the base and don’t mess with the backpack.” He hands the bag to Thea. “Let’s go, Nero.” He gestures to Nero to follow.

  Nero takes one last look down the empty street before jogging with Ryder back the way they came.

  After the other children fall out of ear shot, Ryder speaks up. “Nero, you’ve got to stop pretending to see things.”

  “No, I really saw something this time!” Nero says. “I promise. It’s the truth.”

  “So, what was it? Just some guy?”

  “No… Well yeah but he had this one crazy eye that was all black. It looked like there was a hole in his head.”

  “Could you see what he was thinking?” Ryder chuckles.

  “No, seriously, Ryder! He had this black eye and he just disappeared when I looked back! Do you think that was his bag?”

  Ryder shrugs. “Who knows? If it was, then he probably shouldn’t have run away.” They jog in silence for a moment until Ryder starts to shake his head. “I really should have kept the bag with me. I just didn’t want it to slow us down… Let’s hurry”. He quickens his jog.

  In no time, they make it to the cooler and carry it together. They walk quickly and in silence. After navigating through the abandoned streets, they arrive at a large building that towers over the rest. An open doorway leads to a fire escape, where they begin to ascend many flights of stairs.

  On the fifth floor, they hear a loud crash from above.

  They run up the last two levels, leaving the cooler behind. Nero follows Ryder through a door that opens to a huge room. It is enveloped by dirty windows that look out over the industrial district and the surrounding grasslands. A gentle breeze circulates through the room dragging away the smell of old dust. There are chairs and upturned wooden crates placed around a large, rectangular table in the center of the room. Heaps of semi-organized junk litter the back wall and a few surviving shelves.

  Korbin is there, standing over pieces of a broken wooden crate. He catches Ryder’s eye and runs over to a heavy metal table off to the side.

  “Hey Ryder, look what I can do!” Korbin grabs the bottom of the table and heaves it up on two legs. Junk slides off the top and clatters to the ground. With one more push, he pivots the table on its legs and it crashes down. The floor vibrates.

  Ryder looks over the disaster. “What are you doing?”

  Thea and Iona are both standing on crates by the large table in the center of the room, each holding a long piece of wood like a sword and wearing pieces of bent metal on their heads. Thea jumps down from a crate and runs over to Ryder. She grabs onto his arm and hides behind him. “He opened up one of the canisters and he’s acting all crazy!”

  Iona arrives next to them. “Korbin is picking stuff up and throwing it around like a thick-skulled ape!” Iona shouts, jabbing her wooden sword in Korbin’s direction.

  Ryder clenches his eyebrows together. “No, back up. Did you say he opened up a canister?”

  “Yeah, I tried to stop him, but he took it from me!” Thea yells.

  “Wait a second!” Korbin jumps in. “She was going to open it first!”

  Ryder balls his fists. “I can’t believe you did that, Korbin. You were supposed to wait! What if it’s dangerous?”

  Korbin shakes his head. “It’s not dangerous, trust me. I had a good feeling. Plus, I feel great. Remember how hard it was to move that table in here?” He flexes both of his arms. “I bet I could take you easy. And now I’m probably even faster than Iona. Here, I’ll open up another one to prove it’s okay!” He runs over to the large center table where the bag is. The remaining five canisters are strewn about. He grabs one of them

  “Wait, Korbin, just stop!” Ryder yells.

  Korbin’s eyes open wide in surprise. “Oh jeez, Ryder. It’s not going to kill you.”

  Ryder hurries over. “Korbin, if you open that I’m going to tell Fae!”

  With a mischievous smile, Korbin rotates the locking mechanism, opening the top of the cylinder. A thick grey mist vents out and collects in the air. It radiates white light, crackling with energy.

  Korbin hesitantly takes a step back. “Just touch it, Ryder.”

  The anger disappears from Ryder’s mesmerized eyes and he approaches the glowing mist, lifting his hand. The cloud dims and retracts from Ryder’s outstretched fingers, but not quickly enough. As soon as Ryder touches the mist it disappears into his finger. There is a bright flash as the last bits of the cloud disappear. He jerks his arm away, stumbling backward. His face crinkles up and his legs turn to jelly. He falls.

  Thea and Nero run over, but Iona keeps her distance. “Are you okay?” Nero asks.

  Ryder gets up, holding his head. “I shouldn’t have done that,” he groans.

  “Oh man, you should have seen your face! It was ridiculous,” Korbin says, bursting into laughter. “How do you feel?”

  “I feel strangely good… well, besides the headache and my tingling scalp. Is that what happened with you, Korb?” Ryder asks rubbing his temples slowly.

  “Yep, same thing, except I didn’t make that pansy face.”

  “Oh please, Korbin,” Iona says. “You screamed like a baby.”

  “I did not! You’re just jealous you didn’t get one.” Korbin walks over to the canisters. “I think there’s one more!” He sifts through the three other canisters and grabs the only one that glows. “What should we do with the last one?”

  Ryder sits down. “Leave it alone.” He hangs his head while still rubbing his temples.

  “Yeah okay.” Korbin turns to the others. “Iona? Thea?”

  “I don’t want it!” Iona squeaks.

  Nero takes a hesitant step forward.

  Thea excitedly jumps before him. “Can I have it?”

  Korbin shrugs. “Sure. It’s the one you picked out first.” Korbin grabs the canister in both hands and strains to open it. “Dang, it still won’t budge.”

  �
��Let me have it,” Thea says, wiggling in anticipation.

  “If I can’t get it, I doubt you can, but whatever.” Korbin tosses it to her.

  Thea fumbles with it for a moment until there is a click. A glowing mist hisses from the container. “Ha! Got it.” She jumps. The mist forms another cloud. This one shifts about actively. With each new movement and shape change, there is a flash of light. Thea reaches out to touch it but the cloud jumps at her.

  It disappears into her chest before she can even react. She yelps. Thea looks around at the others uncertainly and blinks repeatedly; a shiver runs through her body.

  Ryder runs over and puts a hand on her back. “Are you okay? What happened?”

  After a moment, Thea focuses on him. “I’m not sure, but I feel great…” She looks around the room for a moment, then snaps back to Ryder with a big grin. “Catch me if you can!”

  Thea bolts off and Ryder and Korbin follow. The three children start playing a wrestling version of tag. Iona sits at one of the windows and Nero moves to the table, collecting Ryder and Thea’s canisters on the way.

  He looks at the white engravings on Thea’s canister, which read ‘SPEC UK741,’ and then that of Ryder’s, which reads ‘EXP B113T6.’ Nero grabs the only other open canister and it reads ‘EXP R121T2.’ He then picks up one of the canisters that Korbin discarded. ‘EXP O-B302T9.’ A sharp edge of shattered glass catches his finger. One of the glass eyelets is completely broken. If there was a mist in this one… it probably got out when the glass broke. He finally grabs the last one, which reads ‘EXP X301T1’ and inspects the glass eyelets for damage. His eye catches the slightest glint of light from within.

  What? He puts the canister on the table and makes a dark seal with his hands to look in the eyelet. In the darkness, he can see a dim swirl of light. He jumps to his feet and twirls around holding the canister in the air. “This one isn’t empty!” The others stop playing and jog over. Oh no… I shouldn’t have said anything.

  Korbin arrives first. “Give it to me! Let me see.”

  Ryder steps in front of Korbin’s advance. “Lay off, Korb.”