“You love me?”
“I do,” I say as I nod. “Unconditionally… no matter what happens to us or what you do.”
“It’s just that you haven’t…”
“I haven’t?”
“You know, we haven’t been together—I thought maybe you… felt differently.” Claire says as she looks away.
“I umm,” I begin, as I think back to the past few days. I can’t think of many opportunities that have arisen as to where we would have found time. “I thought you needed to get better—it’s not like I haven’t thought about it. That day in the bathtub…”
“I kind of ruined that though.”
“It’s okay,” I say as I reach down and kiss her lips.
“I do to,” Claire says as she begins to undress. “I love you… although you probably know.”
“It’s good to hear you say it,” I say as I toss my clothing into the backseat. “I didn’t want to just assume.”
Even though I am exhausted, we make love in the dimly lit car. We do not hide ourselves beneath blankets. We are bare to each other—we are open… freed. Each soft exhale of pleasure that passes through her lips makes me feel as though nothing in the world really matters—not even with everything that is going on. There is no world outside of the car—we might as well be floating in space, lost… forever. It would matter not a bit to me. Only this, us—joined and together, two pieces that make something beautiful and whole… this is all that matters.
“Rest now…” Claire whispers as her naked body lies against mine.
“No running off this time…” I say with a short, tired laugh.
“I promise,” Claire says as she squeezes both of my hands tightly into hers.
That day I dream of falling into the ocean, endlessly. I begin to struggle but I find myself unable to pull my head above the waves. Finally my arms give up—there is no strength left within me. I, strangely, do not drown. I float down to the bottom. There I see Noah, naked… not a completely pleasant sight. He is eating a starfish from the ocean floor. As he feels my presence, he turns to me and attempts to speak. Large bubbles escape from his mouth and float off into the surface. I shake my head—I cannot understand him. I suddenly hear his voice in my head. He simply says, “Deliver my message… save them.”
I jolt awake, startling Claire. I let out a heavy breath as my body is covered in sweat.
“Nightmares…?”
“Yeah…” I say as I reach for a half full bottle of water from the backseat of the car.
“I get them too,” Claire says as she nods. “Sometimes… I can’t remember them though—what was yours about?”
“It was a reminder for me to not fail…” I say as I look at the metal case in the backseat. I reach for the case. I examine it for a moment; however there seems to be no latch or way to open it. I flip it over a few times in my hands and see nothing outstanding that would help me reveal its contents. It would have been nice of Noah to at least tell me how to get it open. I slide my finger across the top and a display appears at the top. In red letters it flashes ‘not yet’ over and over.
“Not yet…” Claire whispers as she places her arm against my back.
“I wonder what that means…”
“…what that means…”
I figure that it must have some kind of GPS built in to know when it is somewhere safe, but how would it know any better? This could be a safe place—I could be giving it to someone important here… a remote location like this seems like it would be the safest place to open this. Part of me really wants to know what is inside—however, I know I must first get it to someone… the truth will come in time, right now my priority is figuring out how to get it to someone who will listen… maybe one of these new journalists? They do not seem to be under C-Shapes influence… after all, I imagine at this point C-Shapes all but completely gone. Once I get Claire safely back at her old home, I am sure that I can figure something out.
“Can we sleep in a house tonight?” Claire asks after a short time.
“Yeah, I can see what we can do about that,” I say with a nod. I take a look at the map and make it larger—I figure with it being around noon now… “We should be able to stop… well looks like there is an unpopulated area called Eagle’s Nest in New Mexico. Should be about five hours…”
“Good,” Claire says as she smiles. “We kind of smell bad, it’s like a fart box in here.”
I shake my head and laugh. “Clear windows?”
As commanded the tint slowly fades away. My eyes slowly adjust to the bright light of the noonday sun as I begin to drive once more. The hours pass by and the scenery dramatically changes. The desolate open plains turn into beautiful forests and rivers, large stones and tall mountains fill the view which in turn changes gradually into rock and dessert with large buttes in every direction. A tint of red fills the air as the dust flows heavily in the strong wind.
“This is pretty…” Claire says as she stares out the window.
The closer we get to Flagstaff, the more dramatically the scenery changes once more. We begin to ascend tall mountains. It is much colder here. I never imagined that the country should change so quickly… so dramatically and beautifully. There is a certain grace to the way that the forests give way to deserts which flow into tall mountains. I definitely feel a world away from Chicago—most of the area around where I grew up was just plain flat—sure there was the occasional rolling hill or forest, but nothing so spectacular, nothing on this scale.
After we take a few country roads that keep us well north of Flagstaff, we reach a small area called Eagle’s Nest. Against the striking view of the mountains I find an old log cabin. I pull into the empty driveway and head towards the back of the house—It seems empty from the outside… a good indication so far. I put the car into park and take a look around the area… it looks abandoned. I see no signs of any kind of life. It is much colder here… I return to the trunk of the car and retrieve my camouflaged jacket and the backpack full of supplies. Claire hops out, she rushes over beside me and pulls out her suitcase. She grabs a yellow sweater with a white collar and pulls it over her white t-shirt. For once I cannot make a single mental comment about her brining fall clothes along.
“We must be pretty high up,” I say as I sling the rifle against my back. I let out a sharp cry as it hits a sore spot where I hit the wall from my encounter with that Aggro that Claire managed to subdue.
“You alright…?”
“Yeah… damaged, just not broken,” I say as I grab a grocery bag full of soup cans and self heating meals. I don’t know if this place will have power or any kind of provisions.
Claire and I make our way to the back of the house. An old yellow door with heavy dog scratches on the bottom stands before us. I lead the way and give the knob a turn—it is unlocked. I am not sure if I count this as lucky or not. As we entered the large cabin, I begin to walk through the kitchen—it leads to a larger room with a loft.
I hear the metallic click of a gun being cocked.
“If you come here to rob me, well there isn’t anything to take,” A man with a deep voice says from the corner of the room. “If you come for trouble, I got plenty of that to give.”
“We are just travelers, looking for a place to stay,” I say as I raise my hands.
“We’re looking for a shower…” Claire adds softly from behind me.
“You have any food?” The man asks as he lowers his weapon. I look over to the man who sits in a rocking chair. He has a pistol in his lap and is wearing brown and black military fatigues. He has an assault rifle sitting beside him like an obedient dog. He looks older, I would guess in his late fifties. He has a bald, clean shaven head and dark skin.