said.
Her paper-white skin was burning red with the strain of physical exertion. Her colorless hair hung in limp strands around her face. She looked almost elfin. Cheng knelt by the brook and stared into the water. He was sweating like they were, but somehow it didn’t seem that he was tired. He appeared to be almost pained.
“Cheng?” Luli demanded. “What do we do now?”
“Falcon Point,” Cheng replied, standing. But he didn’t look at her. He looked at Elle.“That’s the closest settlement. We can hide there.”
“What’s Falcon Point?” Elle asked.
“It’s a trade settlement in these hills,” Cheng explained, pushing strands of sweaty, black hair away from his face. “For lack of a better term, it’s the black market of the apocalyptic world we now find ourselves so joyfully living in. A black market in the sense that people like you and me can find food and supplies without turning to Omega.”
He flashed a dull smile.
Elle knelt at the brook, testing the water. She cupped her hands and drank from the cool stream. It wasn’t sanitary – she knew that. But she was weak from thirst, and dehydration could be just as deadly as a bullet. Bravo loped over, testing the water with his nose. He didn’t find anything offensive, so he dove in snout first.
More silence.
They were all thinking about the mass graveyard they had left behind. The hundreds of innocents who had died in the smolderingremains of a military base that had dedicated the entirety of its existence to helping survivors.
“Why would Omega kill them?” Elle said at last. “It was a refugee camp! We weren’t hurting anybody. Why couldn’t they just leave
one thing alone
?”
Cheng’s lips tightened.
“Omega is like a viral infection,” he remarked, flat. “It wants to devour everything in its path. There’s no stopping it.”
That wasn’t an adequate explanation, and they all knew it. But it would have to work for the moment. Right now they had to focus on staying alive, and on reaching the place that Cheng called Falcon Point.
“If it’s the black market,” Elle said, “then it can’t be a safe place, necessarily.”
Cheng stood.
“That’s what makes it fun, Elle,” he replied, but there was no real joy in his words. “The most interesting part about Falcon Point is also its most attractive attribute: anonymity. We can slip in and out of town relatively unnoticed.”
“How far is it from here?” Elle asked.
“No more than one day,” he answered.
“What will we do once we get there?”
“Lay low for a while.”
“Omega doesn’t know we’re alive,” Elle pointed out, “so I don’t think they’re tracking us.”
Cheng didn’t falter.
“We’ll still lay low,” he insisted. “We have to, if we’re going to survive.”
Luli seemed to agree, and Elle didn’t want to cause an argument, so she said nothing. Inwardly she wondered what Falcon Point would be like, and how they would fit in there. Three teenagers and one dog. In her experience, any large gathering of people in the apocalypse was a red flag. She didn’t trust Falcon Point, but she trusted Cheng…to an extent. She would follow him into the settlement and see what it was like. If she smelled danger, she would leave, and Cheng and Luli could survive together.
Without her and Bravo.
After they rested, they slowly began moving again. She walked in the back of the group, keeping her eye on Cheng, who was in thelead, and Luli, who trudged behind him with a veiled expression on her face.
Elle looked at Bravo. He trotted ahead, sniffing trees and shrubbery as they walked, breaking out of the forest, into the open spaces of the foothills. He was alert, making sure the environment was safe. This was his element, and his senses were working overtime. Elle smiled. It was nice to see Bravo working, especially after the grisly events of the previous night.
The open spaces disturbed her. Ever since she had left the city, she feared
Her paper-white skin was burning red with the strain of physical exertion. Her colorless hair hung in limp strands around her face. She looked almost elfin. Cheng knelt by the brook and stared into the water. He was sweating like they were, but somehow it didn’t seem that he was tired. He appeared to be almost pained.
“Cheng?” Luli demanded. “What do we do now?”
“Falcon Point,” Cheng replied, standing. But he didn’t look at her. He looked at Elle.“That’s the closest settlement. We can hide there.”
“What’s Falcon Point?” Elle asked.
“It’s a trade settlement in these hills,” Cheng explained, pushing strands of sweaty, black hair away from his face. “For lack of a better term, it’s the black market of the apocalyptic world we now find ourselves so joyfully living in. A black market in the sense that people like you and me can find food and supplies without turning to Omega.”
He flashed a dull smile.
Elle knelt at the brook, testing the water. She cupped her hands and drank from the cool stream. It wasn’t sanitary – she knew that. But she was weak from thirst, and dehydration could be just as deadly as a bullet. Bravo loped over, testing the water with his nose. He didn’t find anything offensive, so he dove in snout first.
More silence.
They were all thinking about the mass graveyard they had left behind. The hundreds of innocents who had died in the smolderingremains of a military base that had dedicated the entirety of its existence to helping survivors.
“Why would Omega kill them?” Elle said at last. “It was a refugee camp! We weren’t hurting anybody. Why couldn’t they just leave
one thing alone
?”
Cheng’s lips tightened.
“Omega is like a viral infection,” he remarked, flat. “It wants to devour everything in its path. There’s no stopping it.”
That wasn’t an adequate explanation, and they all knew it. But it would have to work for the moment. Right now they had to focus on staying alive, and on reaching the place that Cheng called Falcon Point.
“If it’s the black market,” Elle said, “then it can’t be a safe place, necessarily.”
Cheng stood.
“That’s what makes it fun, Elle,” he replied, but there was no real joy in his words. “The most interesting part about Falcon Point is also its most attractive attribute: anonymity. We can slip in and out of town relatively unnoticed.”
“How far is it from here?” Elle asked.
“No more than one day,” he answered.
“What will we do once we get there?”
“Lay low for a while.”
“Omega doesn’t know we’re alive,” Elle pointed out, “so I don’t think they’re tracking us.”
Cheng didn’t falter.
“We’ll still lay low,” he insisted. “We have to, if we’re going to survive.”
Luli seemed to agree, and Elle didn’t want to cause an argument, so she said nothing. Inwardly she wondered what Falcon Point would be like, and how they would fit in there. Three teenagers and one dog. In her experience, any large gathering of people in the apocalypse was a red flag. She didn’t trust Falcon Point, but she trusted Cheng…to an extent. She would follow him into the settlement and see what it was like. If she smelled danger, she would leave, and Cheng and Luli could survive together.
Without her and Bravo.
After they rested, they slowly began moving again. She walked in the back of the group, keeping her eye on Cheng, who was in thelead, and Luli, who trudged behind him with a veiled expression on her face.
Elle looked at Bravo. He trotted ahead, sniffing trees and shrubbery as they walked, breaking out of the forest, into the open spaces of the foothills. He was alert, making sure the environment was safe. This was his element, and his senses were working overtime. Elle smiled. It was nice to see Bravo working, especially after the grisly events of the previous night.
The open spaces disturbed her. Ever since she had left the city, she feared
Similar Books
