Dustborn

by T. W. Piperbrook

  Darius looked at the cave entrance, his mind a dozen klicks away. Kai seemed likewise preoccupied.

  “But—” The rest of Raj’s protest was stuck in his throat.

  Before he could manage more words, they walked off in the opposite direction, intent on whatever mission had brought them out before.

  “How did it go?” Adriana asked.

  Raj kicked at the dirt beneath his boots. He stared at the ground. He did anything but look at her. His face stung with embarrassment. No one had listened to him—not even Kai or Darius.

  His mission had failed.

  “Did you tell them?”

  “I—” Raj kept his head down in humiliation. He couldn’t answer.

  He couldn’t fathom telling Adriana what happened. Instead, he wanted to bury his head in a hole and never come out.

  “Raj?” Adriana asked, stepping toward him.

  His face reddened. He didn’t think he could get many more words out. Before emotions took over, he satisfied her question with a croak. “Telling someone our secret was a mistake. I didn’t say anything to them. I’m sorry I brought it up.”

  Clenching his hands, Raj hurried away toward an area of the cave where he could hide his face in shame.

  Chapter 37: Neena

  The sun poked over the top of the eastern formation, baking Neena, Kai, and Darius with its early morning heat. Still, Neena shivered as they walked along the fifteen-foot wide ledge toward the mouth of the Left Cave. They moved side by side without speaking, consumed by their thoughts and fears. Neena glanced over her shoulder, watching Robert and Salvador stand rigid at the mouth of the cave they’d left behind. The idea of speaking with Bryan and his Watchers seemed easier when they were sitting around in the Right Cave, surrounded by the people with whom they’d shared camp.

  Now, if things went sour, Neena had only Darius and Kai on which to rely.

  At Darius’s suggestion, they’d left their spears behind. Those long, pointed weapons might heighten the tension in a bad situation. Still, she wished she had something more than a knife as they first approached the Center Cave, where several guards lingered. Seeing them coming, Ed and two other men stepped out onto the ledge, making no effort to hide their unfriendliness.

  Darius raised a hand in greeting.

  None reciprocated.

  Neena’s eyes flicked toward the steep, nauseating drop-off. Only a handful of steps separated them from a long, fatal fall. Neena had never been particularly afraid of heights, but she reconsidered that comfort now. She concentrated on putting one boot in front of the other, keeping a close eye on the first set of men toward whom they walked.

  Passing them, Darius announced, “We’re going to speak with the people in the Left Cave.”

  Ed and his men watched them with uninviting stares. No one responded. It had only been a day since Neena had set foot in the Center Cave to speak with Gideon, but it felt like much longer. The smell of smoke from the cooking fires and the charred scent of rat were innately familiar, but the people preparing those breakfasts felt like strangers, whose attitudes and demeanors she could no longer predict. Most were only silhouetted shadows further down the dark, craggy tunnel. All at once, Neena realized how Kai must’ve felt, approaching Red Rock. Ed and his men stood shoulder-to-shoulder, barring the entrance, as if Neena and her companions might try to get in.

  “Is Bryan in his cave?” Neena asked, pointing toward the distant, Left Cave entrance.

  “I wouldn’t bother checking,” Ed said, spitting on the ground. “He doesn’t want to speak with you.”

  Ed’s response gave her a shiver.

  “We were hoping to express our condolences for Gary,” Neena said.

  “Those words have already been spoken at the ceremony,” Ed retorted. “What more could you have to say?”

  His words reinforced the widening gap between them. Seeing that they were getting nowhere, Neena, Kai, and Darius continued along the ledge.

  Neena scoured the mouth of the Left Cave. Sunlight splashed intermittently against the jutting rocks around the entrance, but too many crooks were obscured by shadow.

  Neena swallowed as she saw three men lurking partway inside. It felt as if she and her companions were storming a protected hovel, rather than visiting their fellow colonists. When they came within twenty feet, The Watchers stepped out of the cave, standing alongside one another, holding their spears. Their rigid forms reminded her of their protection of the Comm Building, back when Red Rock was intact. She recognized the man in the middle as one of the men that had accompanied them on the scavenging trip, during which Gary had died.

  Stopping ten feet shy of the defensive guards, Darius said, “We’re here to see Bryan.”

  “Why?” asked the familiar Watcher, coldly.

  Darius looked at Neena and Kai. He looked at the guard. “We’re here to offer our sympathies for your fallen brother.”

  The guard held up a hand, keeping them at a distance.

  “Didn’t you hear what Bryan said when he last saw you? He said to leave us alone.”

  The other two guards stood, stone-faced.

  “We did hear him,” Neena said, peacefully. “But we were hoping we might talk to him, all the same. Can you ask him if he will speak with us a moment?”

  Unable to see inside the cave, Neena had another feeling of regret. She looked behind her, where Ed and his men unabashedly stared. Much farther away, Salvador and Robert were little more than silhouettes under the morning sun.

  Were they to run for it, they would only make it a few steps before The Watchers put spears in their backs, if that was what they intended to do.

  “We’d just like a few moments to speak with him,” Neena tried again. She stood straight, making it clear that they weren’t leaving.

  After a long silence, the guard relented. “Let me check. But don’t expect an answer you’ll like.”

  The guard disappeared into the cave.

  They waited in uncomfortable silence with the two other, unfriendly men. A few birds squawked overhead, circling the peaks of the highest parts of the ledge, while Neena waited for the answer that would confirm the futility of their trip.

  Finally, the first guard returned.

  In a dry, emotionless voice, he surprised her and said, “Come in.”

  Neena, Kai, and Darius walked slowly into the cave. Bands of sunlight gave way to torches, fires, and staring people. Neena’s heart beat faster as she surveyed a cave that she’d only been in a few times, in the few weeks she’d been here. The long, craggy walls of the cave could easily be mistaken for either of the other caves in which she’d spent more time.

  The people were decidedly more hostile.

  Thirty feet inside the cave, a line of Watchers stood guard, their hands rigidly on their spears. Others were positioned by the sides of the cave, or stationed near the walls farther back, standing cautiously in front of sixty or so women and children behind them.

  The last conversations hushed. The women pierced them with hard glares. Neena felt like a spectacle, an object to be judged. She wanted to crawl out of her skin. She wanted to renege on a bad plan and head back outside.

  Steeling her nerves, she waited.

  For a long while they stood in silence—a hundred Watchers and their women and children, facing Neena, Daruis, and Kai.

  Finally, heads turned.

  Some of the people in the back of the cave parted.

  Two people walked through the newly created gap, earning the attention of everyone who wasn’t already looking in their direction.

  One was Bryan. The other was Gary’s widow. Under the silent stares of the rest of the crowd, they approached Neena and her companions, scrutinizing them.

  Neena held her breath. She felt like a hunted Rydeer
, sensing something in the wind before its death.

  “I told you to stay away,” Bryan said curtly, stopping short of them.

  A few of The Watchers near him and the widow shifted, adjusting their spears.

  Darius took a polite step forward. “We came to apologize for your loss.” Directing a comment at the woman, he said, “We feel awful about what happened to your husband, miss.”

  The woman shifted angrily. “My name is Sherry.”

  Darius bowed his head. “I don’t believe we’ve met, Sherry. I’m sorry.”

  “Save your words,” Bryan said stiffly. “None of them will bring Gary back. Nor will they revive any of the rotting people in Red Rock.”

  “They won’t heal my arm, either,” Louie called from the shadows, glaring at them.

  “Obviously, we cannot undo what was done, but we would like to pay our respects,” Darius said. “I’m sure that others in our cave would like to offer their support, as well.”

  Exchanging a look with the widow, Bryan said, “Gary is already buried.”

  Darius nodded. “So we’ve heard. Is there a place where his friends can visit?”

  Bryan continued, “He is in one of the lower caves, where he will rest without the pointless sympathies of your people. His closest relatives and friends have already said goodbye.”

  “I could’ve shown you a place to—” Darius started.

  “We handled it fine,” Sherry interrupted.

  Neena smiled sympathetically at the woman, but she received only a hateful glare in return. Sherry’s dirt-stained face was tracked with dried tears. Her eyes were piercing. Feeling the awkward weight of silence, Darius shifted, looking from Bryan to some of the others.

  “Obviously, we’ve had our differences,” Darius began. “But we were hoping to make amends.”

  Neena held up her hands apologetically. “Everything we’ve done has been with the best of intentions. I want you to know that. If we could take back the deaths of our people…”

  Bryan’s face was hard. “Obviously, you can’t.”

  “Of course not,” Kai said, drawing the attention of the crowd to him. “But perhaps we can prevent the deaths of anyone else.”

  Neena took back over. “Over the past few weeks, we have worked alongside one another to find food and water, to survive. It is our hope that we can get along again. It is our belief that we can help each other avoid more tragedy. Perhaps we can even kill the monster together.”

  Neither Bryan’s nor Sherry’s expressions wavered.

  A long silence followed.

  Finally, Sherry broke it.

  “You caused my husband to die.” Sherry’s words cut through the room like a blade. She raised her arm, wiping spittle from her lips. A few men leaned forward, equal disdain in their eyes. “Because of you, we are up here living in these squalid caves like animals, scrounging for our meals in the dark. We are dirty and tired. More than half our relatives are dead. Your words mean nothing.”

  Trying one last time for peace, Darius said, “Let us work together, the way we did before. We cannot guarantee safety, but at least we’ll have a better chance. Maybe one day, we can even return to our homes.”

  Darius fell silent. Bryan and Sherry traded an unreadable look. A few of The Watchers in the room twisted their spears.

  “If there’s anything we can do for any of you, let us know,” Neena concluded.

  She waited with a hopeful expression, moving closer to Kai and Darius to show their solidarity.

  “There is one thing you can do,” Bryan said. His face hardened. “Stay the hell out of our cave. The next time you step in here, we will consider it an act of aggression, and you will be dealt with accordingly.”

  Chapter 38: Neena

  Neena, Kai, and Darius hurried away from the Left Cave. The Watchers’ stares were like daggers in their backs. Bryan’s threats were no longer threats. They were promises.

  Their hope for a resolution was gone.

  “Everything I feared has come true,” Darius said.

  With each boot step, Neena replayed the conversation, wishing she could change something, but of course, she couldn’t.

  She had felt the futility of their words in each pair of cold eyes that watched them in the cave, and each jaded answer from Bryan and Sherry.

  Their plan was doomed from the beginning.

  They kept their heads down and their conversation quiet as they passed the guards at the Center Cave. Neena sensed Ed’s smug expression. A guard beside him chuckled.

  Clearly, they sympathized with The Watchers.

  One thing was certain: the Right Cave was alone.

  When they were out of earshot, Neena told Darius and Kai, “We are one incident away from a battle, or death. We need to be prepared.”

  “Unfortunately, I agree,” said Darius.

  “So, what should we do?” Kai asked.

  “I think it is time we had a serious talk with our cave,” Neena said. “The time for holding things back is over. If our cave doesn’t work together, we will all die.”

  Chapter 39: Neena

  With a spear in her hand and a heavy heart, Neena faced a new crowd in the Right Cave. The hundred and fifty people spread out before her, Darius, and Kai in a half-circle, watching them with fear-stricken eyes, their sallow faces showing the effects of their paltry rations and dirty conditions. An anxiety hung over the room, as a few people whispered amongst themselves, already guessing the topic of the meeting. The elderly watched with a reservation that Neena had only seen at the worst gatherings in Red Rock.

  Not for the first time, she said, “Everybody, please listen.”

  Eventually, the whispers tapered to silence.

  “As you know, tensions are worsening with the other caves. It was our hope that we would mend things, but it seems that isn’t possible right now.”

  “What do you mean?” asked a nervous woman from the front row.

  “This morning, Kai, Darius, and I went to the Left Cave to speak with Bryan and resolve our differences.”

  Murmurs floated through the room.

  “Why didn’t you talk to us first?” one woman called out.

  “We hoped to deescalate the situation, without putting anyone else in danger,” Neena explained. “We hoped to bring you good news.”

  “And you didn’t think anyone else should accompany you?” the woman furthered.

  More cries went through the room, as people agreed, or asked the same questions amongst themselves. Before the meeting grew unruly, Neena cut in, “It was not our intent to keep you in the dark. In fact, it was our hope that we would resolve this without further issue and report back to you. Unfortunately, that is not the case.”

  With a pit in her stomach, she repeated what everyone knew about Gary’s ceremony, and how the guards had disallowed visitors from the Center Cave. Finally, she spoke of the meeting they had with Bryan earlier, and the threats he had made.

  Some in the crowd were shocked.

  Others seemed as if they expected the news.

  “It is not a secret that Bryan blames us for the deaths of his friend and the people in Red Rock,” Darius said. “Unfortunately, he has decided to punish our entire cave.”

  Ripples of unease spread through the crowd.

  “We will talk with them again,” one man shouted, decidedly. “Certainly they will listen to the rest of us.”

  “I wish that were possible,” Neena said. “But they have made it clear they do not wish to see anyone in the Right Cave again. In fact, I think it would lead to violence.”

  “I have some friends in the Center Cave,” offered a woman. “Perhaps they will help us talk sense into the others.”

  “Going to either cave would not be wise,” Darius said. “We d
o not know what kind of untruths they have been spreading.”

  Speaking louder, he reiterated Ed’s harsh words, and the way his guards had blocked the Center Cave. A few people shook their heads, disbelieving, or not wanting to believe. Others backed instinctively away from Neena, Darius, and Kai, losing faith.

  One woman called out, “They are clearly angry at you, and not us. How is that fair?”

  A chorus of discontent spread through the crowd. Peoples’ faith was wrung out, and they were looking for someone to blame. Neena could see it in their exasperated expressions, and their brooding eyes. A few men and women talked loudly, raising concerns among their neighbors. Neena had seen how this worked. She knew how quickly a building resentment could give way to pointing fingers and threats.

  Before those angry, blaming people could turn on them, she asked, “Do you remember the day we survived the Abomination?”

  Her words stifled a few of the extraneous conversations.

  “We survived, because we helped each other, and kept each other close.” Quieting the rest of the cave, she said, “As of this moment, we are all each other have. It is possible we will mend things with Bryan and the others in the future, but right now, we need to stick together. If we start arguing among ourselves, we will have chaos, just like that day with the monster, and more people will certainly die.”

  People watched her silently, unconvinced.

  “Give us the chance to fix this together,” she said. “Let us prove we can work as a group and survive. Let us stand united, the way we did that day.”

  She couldn’t tell if her words were having an impact, until a new person stepped forward.

  Amos’s expression was genuine as he turned to face the crowd. “Neena and Darius have always done things with the best intention. And so has Kai. I believe in them.”

  Another person backed up his claim.