-Chapter 14-
56 years after the Collapse
In the daylight, Leper felt exposed. Around him, rolling plains of white stretched in all directions. He was a spec, visible from horizons away as he traversed the void, and he needed to find shelter. Kia was wrapped in her blanket, struggling to stay awake.
After hours of progress, the mountains drifted into view, their peaks obscured by low-hanging gloom. Like a wall at the edge of the world, their sheer size dwarfed the sky. The wheeler’s engine boiled as Leper accelerated, but no matter how far they traveled, the mountains never seemed closer, and the ground never changed beneath them. It was like they were fixed in place.
Kia didn’t speak, focused on her surroundings as the wind blew strands of hair over her face. Leper tried to concentrate on the task at hand, but his mind kept slipping into anxiety. You never should have stolen that bag, said a voice inside his head, You have only put her in more danger.
“It was the only option,” Leper said, his voice lost in the wind.
You’ve failed her. You failed her the moment you left her alone in the dark, and you’ve failed her every moment since.
“I failed her a lot further back than that.”
She will never survive out here on her own, and her protector has only put her in further danger. What do you have left? Why are you still trying?
“I have no other choice. I’ve waited too long to stop now.”
…
An ancient bridge lay in ruins across the foothills. If the towering cement structure still stood, it could have challenged any of the skyscrapers from the Split City, and its length stretched out so far Leper couldn’t see where it ended. One of its arches sat like an entrance to an indented rock shelter at the base of the mountain. Kia gawked at it as they pulled in. It was a naturally formed rock cave that ended only twenty strides from the entrance. At least it was a shelter from the wind.
Leper switched off the wheeler and dismounted. Wind howled across the entrance. Taking a seat, Leper flipped the bag in front of him and took stock. Kia sat silently across from him, curious at the contents.
There was a cooking puck, a pot, some utensils, and a variety of cans. There was plenty of water, too. Satisfied, Leper began packing it back up, trying to decide on rations for the days ahead. If they used one can a day, they could last at least a week. Leper decided to start with something other than rice.
“That bridge…” Kia said suddenly, “Isn’t that…?”
“The Rydenfort Tower Bridge, the largest bridge on Torus… At least it used to be.”
“But…” Kia struggled, “I went to see it with my mom and dad. It was in the water.”
Leper looked up at her to see that she was on the verge of tears.
“After the world collapsed, everything went somewhere else. It’s possible the mountains formed from cracks in Torus’s crust. It’s also possible floods carried the bridge away.”
“And the bugs are big,” Kia shuddered.
“Yeah,” Leper added a can of beans to the pot. “Some of them survived. I’m not a scientist, so I can’t tell you how that happened. You like beans, right?”
“Those men were after us because you stole their food.”
Leper set the pot aside to cook. The words he wanted to say were so hard to put together. He needed her to understand, but if she did, she would be scared.
“Kia, I need you to realize what’s at stake here. You’ve seen what the world is like now. Society is built on a need to survive. Those that have managed to thrive rule over everyone, and they are not benevolent leaders. Do you understand?” Kia shook her head. Leper could tell she was scared. “The people with the food are taking advantage of everyone else. They refused to help me feed you, so I did the only thing I could.”
“Then… Where are we going?”
Leper didn’t answer immediately, “Somewhere safe,” he lied.
You have no clue where you’re going to go. In all your years of searching, you never once bothered to figure it out. Do you want to know the truth? Because you already know it.
Nowhere is safe.