“Something’s got to happen soon or we’re done for.”
“I’ve kept thinking that someday someone would come and light the way, to have the answers and this would all end,” Tom said, his voice growing quiet. “Seems it’s too late for that now.”
I remembered Tristan’s words. About me being the key to saving them all.
No matter how much I wished I could save this planet, I didn’t see how that could ever be possible.
Evening started to fall and the sounds grew less intense.
“That’s my cue to leave,” Tom said, standing. “I don’t normally linger this long. I’d better get moving. There’s always another town.”
I stood as well, tightening the pack on my back. “Thank you, Tom. You might have just saved my family.”
“I’ll keep warning people until I get caught,” he said, giving a shrug. “I’ll use this on myself though before I let myself turn.” He patted his shotgun.
“Stay safe, Tom,” I said with a nod.
He saluted me and started down the road. He didn’t go far before he climbed onto an ATV I hadn’t even noticed. It was well camouflaged with neutral paint. The engine growled and he took off.
I watched for an hour on the beach. Then there was no city left. Only rubble and smoke.
The army of Bane started marching east, just as Tom had predicted.
SEVENTEEN
It was dark before I dared head out. I turned the headlight on the motorcycle and started walking it through the cluttered street. It took me a long time to make my way through. Broken glass threatened to pop the tires. Busted concrete that was once part of some building blocked the way.
But finally I made it to the other side, back into open trees and clear road.
There were trees. Endless trees. More trees than I could even imagine.
There were tiny towns.
And there was the endless ocean to my right that gave me hope that I would be seeing my family soon. This was the same ocean Avian and I lived next to. Somehow that made him seem not so far away.
Hours passed and one state became another.
And I started seeing signs that made me pause.
Redwoods National Forest.
Where the Seattle people claimed they were from.
Lies.
The trees here were ancient, towering. They blocked out the starlight, creating a dark tunnel. The temperature dropped and the world grew eerily quiet. A barely-there skiff of snow covered the branches and ground.
My speed must have been pushing eighty miles per hour, so when the hulking object in the middle of the overgrown road came into my limited view, I didn’t have enough time to stop.
I slammed on the breaks and swerved just a little too hard to the right. Losing traction on the frosty road, the back tire came up as the bike turned and I was on the ground, sliding with the bike. We both slammed into something metal and large.
Gingerly picking myself off the ground, I saw what looked a lot like a track wheel where the motorcycle illuminated the object in the dark. I righted the mangled motorcycle, backing up to give light to the entire mass.
The words NEW EDEN were painted in big, bold, black letters on the side of the tank.
“Avian!” I screamed. “Royce? Gabriel!”
Adrenaline burned through my system and for the first time in the last three weeks, I felt truly alive again.
I dragged the motorcycle back, making the circle of light larger. I jumped up on the track wheel and climbed up to the hatch.
“Avian!” I yelled again as I struggled with the lock. “Bill?”
Finally unlocking it, I heaved the hatch open and peered into the dark.
“Hello?”
But only silence answered me.
I dropped down inside, my eyes struggling to adjust to the nearly nonexistent light. “Hello?”
My blood grew cold.
Grappling through the dark, my fingers found a flashlight and I flipped it on.
The interior of the tank was devoid of life.
Where were they?
I pulled my upper half back up through the hatch of the tank, staring out into the silent night.
“Hello?” I bellowed. “Is anyone out there?”
The trees were silent.
I dropped back into the tank. The light from the flashlight reflected off of something on the floor and I bent to inspect it. It was dark drops of blood and for a moment I was about to go into full panic mode for my family’s safety, when more drops fell to the floor and I realized it was my own. I shined the light on my right arm and found it ground to pieces. Small bits of gravel were embedded in my skin.
Ignoring it for the moment, I swept the flashlight through the interior of the tank again.
It was difficult to tell how many members of New Eden had come in the tank. It was an empty shell that offered no clues.
They could have gotten raided by marauders. But I doubted that. There weren’t many people left in general and anyone who would have come after me would now how to handle themselves.
They could have been found by the Bane, but I doubted that too. There would be nothing about this area that would attract the Bane. Not that there wasn’t a chance they tracked into the area, but I didn’t think that was it.
It circled back to the reason the tank had to be here. The Seattle people had said they were from the Redwoods. New Eden had come after me. Whatever supplies they’d brought with them they took out with them to go look for me.
They were out there. Somewhere.
And I had no doubt that Avian was with them.
I sat on the lip of the hatch the rest of that night, my shotgun ready in my lap. I listened for any trace of sound, but the trees and moss that surrounded me killed any noise.
The sun started creeping through the morning haze, washing the earth in gray light.
While I’d waited for morning to come, I strategized. There had to be thousands of square miles in these forests. Avian and the others could be anywhere.
But there was only one place they’d left the tank.
And eventually they had to come back to it.
I made a small fire as soon as it was light enough for me to find wood that might burn. It was nearly impossible to get it started. Everything here was wet from the snow and I didn’t have a proper flint. But after a half hour of trying, I finally got a small flame.
I blackened one end of a stick and when it was charcoaled enough, I took that end to the side of the tank.
I’m here. Be back at sun down. Wait. -Eve
I stepped back when I was finished writing, making sure it was noticeable enough.
They couldn’t miss it if they came back to the tank.
Dropping the stick off the side of the road and smothering the fire I’d worked so hard to start, I set out through the trees.
I headed east off the highway. If there really was a hiding colony like the Seattle people were supposed to have, that would be the logical direction for a camp. But they wouldn’t go more than a few days from the road and ocean. They would stick to their resources, just like we had back in the mountains.
It made my heart ache as I hiked through the forest. I had missed nature. I had missed trees and moss and soft earth. If I had a choice, I would choose to live in a place like this. Not in a city with endless buildings and concrete.
“Avian!” I shouted every so often as I hiked. “Royce? Bill? Tuck?”
But no one responded.
As the sky started to darken, I made my way back to the tank. My heart started beating faster as I moved back in its direction. I imagined how I would react if I found Avian there, waiting for me. The back of my eyes stung and my chest constricted.
But he wasn’t there when I reached the tank. No one was.
How long had the tank been sitting there? They could have come looking for me as soon as they realized I was gone. I didn’t know how long the fighting had gone on after they’d taken me, but I couldn’t imagine it was long. There had been a fairly large crew when we returned to Seattle. It probably took Avian three or four days to get from New Eden to the forest.