“Not the prettiest ride, but it should do the job,” I said as I got out and helped throw the few bags in the back seat. I took a handgun, made sure the safety was on, and tucked it in my pants.
“What are you expecting up there?” Magnus asked.
“Hopefully, nothing. But I don’t think it’s going to be that easy.” I had so many questions, and I still had no answers. Was I going to turn the damn thing off? We had to find it first too. Did Mary, Ray, or Vanessa even make it there? Maybe they were behind us, trying to make it here themselves.
“If you’re bringing that, I’m bringing this.” He hefted out a semi-automatic with the firepower to take down more than an alien or two, if that was who we were going to be fighting.
Natalia grabbed one too, smiling at us. “She’s the happiest with a weapon in her hands. You have no idea how many times I’ve told her I’m thankful she’s on my side. Whatever we find up there, be glad you have us with you.” Magnus grinned back at her.
I wasn’t so sure. What if I told them we couldn’t turn this thing off? Would they just do it? Would they blink an eye at disposing of me to fulfill their dead buddy’s wishes? I had just me then. The gun sitting in my belt suddenly felt much heavier.
“I’m driving,” I said, and took the driver’s seat, Carey in the passenger seat beside me. The other two climbed into the back and rolled the windows down. The air was cooler in this part of Peru, especially with this high elevation. It was going to get much cooler as we climbed the switchbacks. The first few miles were fairly straight as we made our way in the dark down the road. I was extremely nervous, sweat dripping down my back despite the cool air blowing in through the windows.
“Looks like the climb starts just ahead. We’re so close I can smell it,” Magnus said, and I could almost hear his smile.
“How do you speak English so well? You are Swedish, right?” I asked, wondering why it took me this long to find it strange.
“I get that a lot. Actually, I speak five languages well, and a couple more are passable. I’m what you would call an army brat; dad ranked high, and we moved all around the world when I was young. I spent three years in Anaheim when I was eleven. I remember going with my dad to the beach, and there were those guys who always worked out at those outdoor muscle beaches. Something drew me to it, and that’s where I first got the idea to become a builder.”
As he spoke, I drove up the small sections of roads. They reminded me of seeing those horse trails on the sides of hills: grass worn out in paths carving up the hillside. It took me back to a trip to Montana when I was a kid, riding a horse for the first time. Now I was climbing a much larger, steeper hill in a van, carrying a gun, with a huge dilemma at the end of the road. As if to reiterate my fears, flashes of light crossed the sky, presumably from Machu Picchu.
“What was that?” Magnus asked from behind me.
“No idea. Maybe lightning again? No rain, though.” It caught me off guard, and I’m sure my voice cracked a bit. I didn’t think it was lightning. I thought it was coming from one of their ships. “I think we only have about five more miles to go,” I said, and kept driving in the dark, the dim headlights the only light on the narrow pathways. The van was groaning constantly now, its life probably hanging in the balance. I just wanted it to get us up top; we hadn’t seen any other vehicles on the way up so far, and I doubted we would.
“Is this bucket of bolts going to get us there?” he asked.
“I don’t know, but I hope so.”
We made it another mile before it crapped out, black smoke rising from under the hood. It gave a final gasp and lurched to a halt just as I turned up a sharp bend. This time it was me who rested his head against the steering wheel.
Light still shone from above, sometimes flickering. I knew we didn’t have much time to do whatever I was going to have to do. We needed to get up there quickly. I left my bag and just started trekking up the road like a man on a mission. I could hear Magnus calling to me but didn’t have time to wait. I had no light to guide me, but the clouds had cleared up here, or we were now above them. I wasn’t sure. The beam from a ship shone down, giving me enough light to see the road, and I ran. I heard Carey catch up to me, and when he did, I got a little yip from him. I think he thought we were playing, and he raced past me, determined to win the race. My feet pounded the ground and I kept running.
I thought I heard a gunshot, but it could have been my imagination. I was picturing so many crazy things that might be happening up there that I didn’t know if it had really happened. I must have run a mile when I started to breathe a little more heavily, my legs tight from sitting in cars so much for the past few days. Carey kept pace with me now, still happy to run alongside me up a steep mountain pass. His tongue hung out the side of his mouth by mile two, and I didn’t blame him. I think mine hung out for a while too.
I assumed the other two would catch up to me soon, but I must have been running like I’d never run before, because there was still no sign of them back there. I thought I heard my name being called but couldn’t be sure. I was in the zone, and just focused on getting to the top. If I still had the option, would I deactivate the device? Images of Janine flashed on the back of my eyelids every time I blinked. The first day we met at the Boathouse, the way she looked sitting there drinking a scotch, the archway behind her covered in twinkle lights. I thought she might have been an angel, and I guess I’d been right that she wasn’t from this world. I saw her when I proposed to her, eating a bagel outside on the bench. It was our bench from then on. Our wedding day, standing in front of all our loved ones. She couldn’t have looked more beautiful than in that moment. There were so many days after that where I treasured her. That face was so engrained in my mind. Our trip to Hawaii, skiing in Aspen, all memories, but gone for good. I remembered her face as I looked into her coffin. It wasn’t the same face I’d known all of those years, yet at the same time, it was. The little laugh lines by her mouth, the tiny birthmark above her lip… all telling me it was her. All of these hit me as I ran with all my heart to the top of the road. Tears streamed down my face, and I knew it wasn’t from the pain of the non-stop sprint I was on.
This was all about to end one way or another. Either I was going to save the world or end it, and I had just enough guts to give it a try. I was slowing down as I rounded the final bend, and was on the last section of road leading up to the ruins of the Inca city. There was a car parked at the end of the lot, and a path leading up even higher. Carey stopped and fell to the ground, rolling on his side. He lapped at some water in a small pool on the road, and this time, I didn’t stop him. I had half a mind to join him, and instantly regretted not bringing my own water. I searched the car and found a half-empty water bottle in the cup holder. I drank it without hesitation; not something I would normally do, but my lungs were burning and my legs aching from the few miles’ uphill run. My treadmill at home didn’t have incline quite this intense. I tossed the bottle to the car floor and started the trek to the city. I still couldn’t see much and crossed through a stone archway that led to a steadily inclining pathway. There was still an intense light ahead, but it was pointed away from me, so I stumbled a few times on rocks or steps that I couldn’t quite see.
Carey followed along again, stopping every now and then to drink from a puddle. He didn’t seem to mind the muddy water too much. “Almost there, little guy,” I said. His tail wagged at my voice.
I heard my name and saw Magnus and Natalia a few hundred yards behind. I kept going. I didn’t want them there to decide for me. I picked up the pace and started to move at a jog. My thighs fought me every inch of the way, but a few hundred yards of paths and stairs later, I entered the Incan city of Machu. Even in the darkness, it was beautiful. I finally had a vantage of what was going on. One of the ships was hovering near the ground at the far side; Wayna Picchu loomed behind everything like a gravestone in the dark. It was an eerie sight, making the hair on the back of my neck stand straight up.