“I know,” she said “But I can explain.”
She relayed the events since her aborted expedition with some degree of accuracy, though crucially she left out the renunciation of her citizenship and plan to escape to Avalon. Instead she claimed that she was acting as an ambassador, and was promised technology in return for aiding Loma.
“I don’t know,” said Robert, scratching the ash from his brown hair. “Shouldn’t you have taken her back to Retragrad?”
“She refused,” said Alana. “She wanted to remain ‘incognito’.”
“Well, what’s to stop her from killing you as soon as she gets what she wants?”
Alana jutted her jaw out and stood up straight. “There ain’t a soul living who can outgun me,” she said in a deep voice. Robert stared at her shaking his head, then laughed a little through his nose. He pushed her away. She pushed him back.
“I hate you,” he said lovingly. “But this scheme of yours—” he looked away and shook his head.
“You won’t grass me up will you?” said Alana girlishly, holding his forearm with both of her hands.
He looked down, then at her. “No of course not,” he said. “But I don’t approve. And I don’t think top brass will either. I think you should come with us, help escort the people back to Retragrad. We have an oblast waiting for them.”
“This is a once in a lifetime opportunity,” crooned Alana. “The tech she gives me could change the face of the country.”
“If she gives it to you.”
“I’m willing to take that risk.”
“You shouldn’t be the one making that decision,” said Robert, grimacing. “I respect the initiative. But you’re fucked if people back home find out – especially if your plan fails.”
“You’ve always had such confidence in me,” said Alana curtseying her poncho.
“You’ve done so much to inspire confidence in me,” he said, bowing.
They had made their way back to the village, which was now swarming with people, mostly women and the elderly. Robert sobered up, put his goggles and bandanna back on. Alana lost the spring in her step, she observed the people. They were covered in ash, like everything else. They were packing whatever they could salvage into carts, backpacks and wheelbarrows.
Alana whispered to Robert. “Where are the children?”
“They were taken.”
“All of them?”
“All of them.”
An old woman stopped her packing and looked up at Alana, her aquamarine eyes shining out from the grey of her face. She looked pleadingly, then turned back to her business. There were about 50 others, they moved like ghosts, they’d lost almost everything. When Alana reached Saburo, there was a woman on his arm, begging him.
“-He’s about your height, he has red hair like his father.”
“I’ll keep an eye out for him,” said Saburo, “I promise.” He looked down at her and patted her back awkwardly. He looked up at Alana.
“We have to go,” said Alana.
“Oh please, if you see a boy – his name is Kenneth Jacoby, he’s about this tall, very skinny with red hair. Please tell him where we’re going,” she started sobbing.
Alana hugged her. “I will,” she said. “I have to go, I have an important mission, I will look out for him, and all the others.”
The woman released Alana and was escorted away by a sympathetic friend. Alana looked to Robert who was helping to load a cart. Saburo had revved the engine and approached. She got on the bike and looked back again at Robert. He took off his goggles and gave a salute, a raised fist that landed on the heart. She returned it. She hugged onto Saburo’s back, and they disappeared into the smoke.
32
They found Loma walking amongst some green ruins, she dropped her rifle and took off her helmet as they approached, she smiled broadly.
“Long time no see!” she called out. “What happened to you?” she said gesturing to Saburo.
“Got ambushed. Had to run. Sorry.”
“And you,” she said, smiling at Alana, but with sadness in her eyes.
“Had a run-in with a countryman of yours,” said Alana meekly.
Alana relayed all that had happened to them. Loma explained to them what she knew of Fiddler. That he was an enemy of Kirwyn’s, that he was no Avalonian.
At the riverbank they crouched over Kirwyn’s unconscious body. Alana pulled back his blanket and grimaced at his wounds. She placed a hand on his chest and pulled back the bandages over his shoulder, she seemed surprised by what she saw.
“Do you think he’s going to be ok?”
“I didn’t think so at first,” said Loma. “But he’s getting better.”
Saburo peeked from far away, he frowned and walked off. “I’ll hide the bike,” he said, and hopped up to the road.
Kirwyn muttered feverishly in his sleep. They wrapped him up in his blanket and walked to a nearby smoky fire – they sat beside it. Loma stoked the fire with a log in silence. Alana looked down – but then raised her chin and cleared her throat.
“How are you?”
“It still aches, but I’m doing a lot better,” said Loma.
“Those things I said back in the tunnels. They were completely out of line—”
Loma swatted the notion out of the air and smiled benignly.
“I was very… frustrated and exhausted – but that’s no excuse. I fucked up. I don’t want to be that person anymore. I’m sorry.”
“It’s fine – I’m not upset,” said Loma. She stood and opened her arms for a hug, Alana meekly acquiesced, closed her eyes, they held and swayed a while, Loma released, held Alana’s shoulders gently.
“You know, you remind me of my sister,” said Loma.
“Oh yeah?”
“Yeah she’s a cunt too,” said Loma smiling. Alana burst into laughter.
33
“Kirwyn,” said Loma gently.
Kirwyn opened his eyes. It was night, He was laying by a fire. Covered in a blanket.
“How are you feeling?” said Loma.
“I’m not—” Kirwyn drifted off, closing his eyes, coughing.
Loma felt his forehead, it was burning. She unravelled his blanket and looked at his wounds. “You shouldn’t be alive,” she said, her eyebrows furrowed.
“ok,” said Kirwyn.
She felt the bandage on Kirwyn’s shoulder. He did not react. She held him up to a sitting position. He held, woozily. She undid the bandage. Though the arrow had cut him deeply less than two days ago, the wound was completely dry and clean-looking, no infection. It looked as if he had been in a hospital, resting for a week, eating good food…
“You’re not—” Loma began, looking down at Kirwyn with trepidation in her eyes. “You’re not bog-standard human are you?”
Kirwyn looked up at her lazily. He crept forward and vomited black bile. Loma jumped back and shrieked. Then he fell back near the fire, covering himself in the blanket. He shivered violently.
“I need food and water,” he said.
They had camped near the riverbank, so water was in no short supply. The only food to hand was Kirwyn’s red cubes, the last of which he guzzled down greedily. After a while he found the strength to sit up. He saw Alana sitting across from him, her hand casually close to her rifle. She stared at him with concern.
“I am… genetically engineered,” said Kirwyn. “I have the Marius gene. It skips generations, but I have it… It’s hard to kill us but we don’t tend to last very long. We tend to go… crazy,” said Kirwyn. “And worse.”
Kirwyn coughed deeply, then spat black blood into the fire. “I used to wonder why God made me like this… Why he gave me such terrible strength, such terrible wrath. Why? When he wanted his children to live peacefully. It didn’t make any sense… But then I figured it out… God didn’t make me. A man did. A strange, cruel man, hundreds of years ago. The greater part of me at least… I’m not a human, like you say. I can’t… go to heaven.”