Awaken (24 page)

I was real surprised at the lack of
arguing I got from Finn and Tater at the news of our leaving. I had
expected some resistance to my decision but they had just simply
nodded and agreed to what I had told them. Tater had even gone as
far to say,

“
No worries my dear, our
imminent departure is understandable and totally predictable. It
was truly fun while it lasted but I never was one to delay when
something had to be done. As my dear mother would say... never let
the grass grow under your feet.”

I figured that meant he was okay with
it. And as for Finn, well I reckon I could have told him we were
going to the moon and he just would have asked how long it was
going to take us to get there. The only one who seemed to have any
trouble with us leaving was Vi. She truly seemed upset with my
telling her. She had questioned my decision. Didn’t I think it was
too soon....shouldn’t I take more time to heal completely. Did Jax
have anything to do with my decision? As much as that mule turd
didn’t deserve any loyalty from me, I didn’t give him up to his ma.
She needed him, and to know that I had caused any strife between
them was not okay by me. So I had told her the decision was mine
and mine alone. She wasn’t happy with it but she did accept it. And
being a woman of her word, waiting for me in the morning was a
clean pair of trousers and a tunic all fitted for me. She must have
worked long into the night to finish this. I am truly touched by
her gesture and find myself wishing I could stay longer...get to
know this remarkable woman better. Quickly I squash this thought.
As much as I hate to admit it to myself, Jax was right. I would
never be able to live with myself if any harm came to Vi or anybody
in the village ‘cause of me. There truly was no place for me here.
I ignore the little voice in my head questioning if there was any
place for me anywhere and focus on getting dressed.

The sun is barely up yet but Vi must
have already been up for hours getting everything prepared. She has
waiting for us slingbags filled with supplies, food, water, all
packed neatly onto Winnie and another horse, one I don’t recognize.
I question the gifts and the horse. It is too much...we cain’t take
so much from them, but she assures me the trade made for it had
been a good one. The villager she had traded with had gladly taken
Busher’s hardy beast in exchange for the older nag and the
supplies. Hearing that lessens my concern some. She then hands me a
hunting knife in a real leather sheath and all! It was her
husbands, she tells me and to go ahead and take it. I feel real
guilty but since losing all our own stuff to the raiders I know we
are going to need it. I secure it to my leg and try to thank her
but she ain’t done. Stepping in front of me she folds a soft cloth
over my head, covering my hair then loops it loosely round my neck.
A neck wrapper. Of all the gifts this one is my undoing. It reminds
me of gra’da and I can feel the tears filling up my eyes as her
lips gently brush my forehead.

“
Remember what I said
child...you have a great gift, do not waste it. And if you ever
find yourself in need of a safe haven we will always have shelter
for you here.”

If only that were true, I think...but I
know I will never see her again. I could never put her in any
danger, this woman I barely know but who has touched my heart so
deeply. I hug her real tight and whisper a ‘thank you’ in her ear.
The words sound so inadequate for all she has done...I wish I could
express to her my gratitude, my thankfulness but, as usual, the
words don’t come. I find I don’t have to say anything though ‘cause
it’s like she can see straight through me, right into my heart and
sees what I’m feeling. She just nods at me and smiles. She says her
goodbyes to Finn and Tater and I half listen but my eyes are
seeking....looking for him. Jax ain’t nowhere to be seen though
...he ain’t even got the decency to see us off. It don’t surprise
me none but I cain’t help but be a little hurt by it. We had been
through a lot in our short time together. I had even saved his life
but obviously it wasn’t enough for him to even wish us a safe
journey. Oh well, it was maybe a good thing he weren’t here. Cain’t
rightly say if I would of just said goodbye or told him to go
straight to hell, though the way I was feeling right now it
probably would have been the latter. Sky was welcome to the
jackass.

Vi keeps waving as she watches us ride
off and I keep looking back ‘til she ain’t nuthin but a little
speck in the distance. Finally I cain’t see her no more and I stop
looking back. He never came...the little nagging voice in the back
of my head keeps saying. He don’t care...about any of us. I quell
the hurt and push it away. It was done.

Gray Valley was way off Tater’s usual
trading route so the territory we find ourselves traveling in is
unfamiliar to all of us. Vi had told us that Littlepass was likely
no further than a couple weeks of riding but she had failed to
mention anything of the strange lands we would have to pass
through. Maybe she was truly unaware or maybe she had simply
forgotten but after a day of riding through valleys and slopes we
had come across a very unexpected strange sort of track cut through
the rocky hills. The path was wide and level...and old. Settler
made to be sure. The parts of it not cracked and overgrown with
weeds is a strange combination. Weren’t rock nor metal...nuthin I
could put a name too. Tater said he believed it had once been
called a ‘highway’ and that these highways were how the settler’s
veacals had traveled around and that the highways went on for
leagues and leagues. I find it amazing that the settlers had been
able to build such things. They must have had a lot of time on
their hands for sure. The track goes on into the horizon as far as
the eye can see. I wonder how far it goes. Will it take us all the
way to Littlepass? I reckon we’ll find out soon enough.

We keep riding, Tater’s occasional
singing the only sound in the deserted stretch of open ground other
then the clip clop of the animal’s hoofs. We talk some, play a few
riddle games to pass the time, but we avoid any mention of new
bloods or our run in with the army. It still ain’t something I’m
willing to talk about.

Sometimes a wolfling or some other
creature I cain’t put a name too, picks up our scent and they
follow along with us on the outskirts....tracking us almost. But
all it usually takes is a shot from one of our iron shooters to
scare them off. I was real glad Tater had saved the shooters and
had been smart enough to barter for some slugs for them. I had a
feeling they were going to be well needed out here.

We stop only long enough to sleep,
making camp in the sandy ditches that run along the sides of the
‘highway’. We don’t bother with making campfires. Besides the fact
that there ain’t any kindlin’ to be found I get the uneasy feeling
it would just draw attention to us. Like we’d just be making
ourselves a target. I cain’t say why I feel this way...other then
the critters we ain’t seen nuthin else moving out here. We take
turns on watch throughout the night, Cat as our companion. Our
shooters may scare off the critters during the day but that don’t
mean they won’t try and sneak up on us in the dark. Sometimes when
I’m sitting, watching over the others, my blanket covering my
shoulders to keep the nights chill at bay, I turn my face into the
wind and I swear I can all but smell the creatures that occupy this
land. It is a blended odor of dirty fur and fresh shite and the
clarity of it, of my awareness…it spooks me. It says to me I’m
changing.....to what I ain’t sure. But I don’t say nuthin to Tater
and Finn. How can I explain it to them when I don’t understand
myself?

Five days we’ve been traveling. Quiet,
uneventful days. Days so full of boredom it was almost an effort at
times to keep from falling asleep as we ride and falling off our
nags. But on this day....mid noon of the sixth day, we pass over
the top of a rise and see an astonishing sight. It stands in the
distance, a massive shape against the blue mid morning sky. I pull
my nag up short and Tater pulls abreast of me on Winnie. Finn, who
has been resting quietly against my back, pokes his head round me
to see what has stopped our travel.

“
What is that?” he whispers
but I don’t got an answer. I ain’t quite sure what it is. I can
make out two sets of tall metal towers, one set at each end of the
structure. Between them hang a few gigantic ropes, or wires...some
sort of material joining them together, though there are mainly
just gaps and holes and empty air ‘cause most of it had already
crumbled away. The broken fallen pieces were piled high underneath
the span in the remains of a dried up riverbed. I understand then
what it is...or more so, what it had been at one time. It was on a
much bigger scale but it was the same kind of structure the old
folks had built in Rivercross for crossing the river. It was a
bridge. But it hadn’t been built by anybody in my lifetime or
dozens of lifetimes before mine. It was a true settler’s relic...
and still standing! Amazing!

Tater is the first to speak. “This is
not good.”

“
What is it Tater...is it
dangerous?” Finn says, showing more interest than he has in
days.

“
Course it ain’t Finn,” I
say. “It’s just an old bridge the settlers used for crossing the
river that used to run here. We can just cross the dry riverbed
Tater...ain’t no big deal.”

He raises one of his shaggy brows at
me.

“
It’s not the bridge my dear
girl that has me worried. It’s what is on the other
side.”

For the first time I see what Tater is
seeing. Off in the distance on the horizon the rusted iron
skeletons of sky towers. The dead remains of a settler’s city! Just
like in the old folk tales. It was vast, bigger than anything I had
ever imagined, spread far into the landscape. Would probably take
days to go around, days we cain’t afford to lose. As amazed as I am
at the sight in front of me, I understand what has Tater so
concerned. Out here in the open lands you could at least see the
dangers approaching but in there, in the midst of all those ruins,
dangers could be hidden anywhere. Critters, raiders anything could
be waiting for us. But we ain’t come this far to stop now. And we
ain’t wasting any more time. We’re going through.

“
Let’s go,” I
say.

I nudge my horse but don’t get far
before Tater stops me.

“
Tara….think about this.
Trust me I am just as eager to reach Littlepass as you are my dear,
maybe even more so, but this is foolhardy. We have no idea what to
expect in there. I have avoided areas like this my whole life.
These dead cities are aptly named for a reason,” he
says.

“
Maybe Tater is right Tara,”
Finn joins in hesitantly. “Maybe we should go around…”

“
No Finn, we ain’t going
around!” I snap at the boy and I can feel him stiffen behind my
back. “I ain’t going around…I’m going through. We have wasted
enough time already. The longer I take to get to Littlepass the
colder Ben’s trail becomes. You and Tater can do what you want…I
won’t stop you. But let me remind you, you both hitched yourself
onto me and slowed me down… so now this is my decision! I’m going
through….it’s just a bunch of stupid empty ruins. So make your
choice. You can go your separate ways or stay with me, but decide
now!”

Finn don’t say nuthin but the scrawny
arms that encircle my waist give me his answer. Squashing down the
guilt I feel at snapping at him I nudge the horse again and start
moving. I don’t look back to see if Tater is following but the
incessant muttering and grumbling I hear behind me makes me fully
aware of his presence ….and his feelings about the whole idea. So
be it.

We reach the city by late afternoon. It
had been a bit of a struggle to get the animals up over the
riverbank but the gods had been on our side and we had stumbled
onto a slope leading out of the dry riverbed. Whether it had been
the wind or other travelers who had made it only the gods knew but
it had come in real handy. The road we had been traveling carries
on through the city, overgrown and full of deep craters but still
passable. We were going to have to be careful with the animals
though, cain’t risk having one of them stepping in a hole and
breaking its leg. We would have to lead them through.

The rusted remains of the sky towers
line both sides of the road, looming above us like menacing
overseers. They are mostly destroyed, just bare bones left really,
but it makes me wonder what could have brought down such massive
structures. Was it the great war like in the old folks tales or
just the passing of time. And what had happened to all the people
that had lived here? Sickness? War? Critters? Drought? Were they
all lying here, rotted away under our feet or had they been forced
to move on? Reckon we will never know but I cain’t help but
speculate.

We can see shapes and mounds where some
of the buildings had crumbled away, ages ago, and over the years
had been covered by the sand and grass and the earth. Once majestic
structures now nuthin more than rubble under our feet, their
secrets long hidden by the passing of time. Numerous other roads
branch off from the one we’re on and weave through the rusted
bones, dark and spooky looking, but there ain’t no way in hell
we’re going to stray from the main road and travel those. We are
going to try and stick to the open the best we can. It seemed the
safest bet.