Evolution (17 page)

"Ready to stop?" Apollon asks absently, touching
his sleeve.  His bite is healing slowly, but sometimes it bothers him.

"Yeah."  We're walking along an embankment in
deep forest.  Both of us have been eyeing the terrain, hoping for an easy
place to build shelter.  "You?"

"Yeah."  But we keep walking.  The bank
looks promising.  It could block out the wind.  But maybe if we go
just a little farther we can find an even nicer nook.

I let Apollon worry about that, and I look to my other side,
hoping for some newly fallen wood that I won't have to dig out of the
snow.  In a moment, I stray a few yards to pick up some small
branches.  I still need something more substantial, but what I've found
will help to get things going.

"Hey, check this out," Apollon says brightly as I
turn back to him.

We've come around a bend in the embankment, and there in its
side is a hole.  A little cavern, it looks like.  The perfect place
to get out of the weather.

"Awesome."  I head toward Apollon, who is
already stooping at the entrance to investigate.  I'm about three feet
from him when he starts backpedaling.  From just beyond him comes a low,
resonating growl like nothing I have ever heard before.

I drop my sticks.  Apollon is falling backward onto his
haunches.  I grab at his arm to help him up even as he twists, gains his
feet, and starts running.  I'm right beside him.  Behind us, the roar
comes again, angry and demanding.  I don't take the time to look behind
me.  I have never run so hard in all my life.

We barrel through the snow, and behind us comes the sound of
something following.  Something huge.  I want to scream at Apollon
and ask him what kind of monster is after us, but every bit of my effort is put
into running.  Behind us comes the sound of it crashing through the trees.

We hit opposite sides of the same huge tree and climb for
all we're worth.  Our experience with the wolves taught us how to
escape.  I just hope we don't have to start another fire.  We scamper
upward as though we were made for climbing.  As though we've had trees in
the Outpost to climb all along.  The one we scale is enormous.  My
side has better climbing branches.  I'm just ahead of Apollon when I glance
down, and the thing—it must be a bear—is right below him.

I shriek to warn him, but he's already stopped, hanging on
to the tree for dear life.  He looks down, puts his weight on one foot,
and as the bear snaps at him, he kicks it in the snout.  That just makes
it mad.  Apollon's mad, too, or desperate.  He hangs on and keeps
kicking.  The bear roars and snaps it's teeth, but Apollon is fast. 
Each time it tries to get him, he retracts his foot.  The monster tries to
swipe at him with a paw that has claws like long knives, but that doesn't work
out for it either.  It can't seem to reach above itself, especially not
while it’s hanging on to the trunk.

I grab a branch next to me and use my weight to snap it off,
lucky that it is dead and breakable.  I swing myself around so I can
reach, wrapping my legs about the branch beneath me so I won’t fall.  I
thrust my long, jagged stick at the bear, jabbing it in the neck.  Apollon
keeps kicking.  The bear is truly annoyed now.

"Can you throw your knife at it?" Apollon shouts
at me.

"Not from this angle," I pant between jabbing my
stick into the bear's neck and face.  I’m half-falling out of the tree as
it is, clinging to life with one arm and my legs.

Apollon curses under his breath as the bear almost succeeds
in its latest attempt for his leg.  My friend is getting tired, his hold
on the trunk slipping.  If I don’t do something about it quickly, he’s
going to lose that leg, or worse.  I need to hit the bear harder, but I
can only just reach.  I need to be closer.

The creature roars and snarls.  Apollon kicks it. 
It opens its mouth to lunge for him.

I take my arm from the tree, grab my stick with both hands,
and aim for the bear’s open mouth.  I topple toward it, only my legs
hanging on.  The stick jams into the open jaws and throat.  The
bear’s head jerks back, coughing, gagging.  I’m upside down, swinging from
my branch by my legs, exposed to its next attack.  But the bear has had
enough.  It withdraws, backing down the tree trunk.

Panting, we watch it grumble to itself and begin to move
away.  It sneezes twice.  Then it disappears into the woods.

For a long moment, both of us try to regain our
breath.  Blood swirls in my head as I look at the whole world from way up
high and upside down.  I allow my arms to hang, but I don’t let go of my
stick.

"Oh my god," I finally say, my voice sounding
weird from my body being inverted.  "Who knew that bears could climb
trees."

"No shit."  Apollon’s already on his way to
pull me up.  He hauls me back onto the safety of the branch, gives me a
squeeze, then moves away to a little nook in between two large limbs where he
collapses into a pile of relief.  "That was close."

"Too close," I agree, getting my arms around the
main trunk once again.  I hug it like it’s my best friend, propping my
stick against another branch.  "We've been chased by Sentries,
wolves, and bears.  What next?  Aliens?"

"Probably."  Apollon doesn’t sound too happy
about it.

We fall quiet for another long stretch.

“Thank you,” he says in a voice that is barely there.

I duck my head sideways to be able to see him around a
branch, and we share a smile.

"How long do you think we need to stay up here?"
he finally asks.

"Like... forever," I say.  "I don't want
to go back down there."

"Me either."

But it's starting to get dark now.  We need to get down
and move as far away from here as we can.  I don't know if bears hunt
during the day or at night, but I really don't like the idea of being anywhere
near its territory when complete darkness descends on these woods.  Of course,
considering climbing down, I wonder if the bear has really gone away, or if
it’s just hiding out of sight, waiting for us to be stupid.

I readjust myself on the branch, get to my feet, and begin
climbing higher.  "I'm just going to see if I see it anywhere."

Apollon groans.  Perhaps he hadn't considered the
possibility that it was still there.

But as I emerge into open sky and gaze out over the tree
tops, I forget the bear.  The sun is sinking, leaving a wash of red across
the western sky.  And rising through the red is a vertical streak of
grey.  I squint and I can just see a tiny orange sparkle below it along
the horizon.  "Fire," The words are knocked out of me, leaving
me breathless.  "A campfire."

"What?"  I can hear Apollon leaping up from
his reclining position.  "Are you serious?"

"No, I just made that up to annoy you.  Of course
I'm serious."

"Can you see anything else?"

I glance down.  His face is tilted up to me, eyes wide
and hopeful.  I squint at the orange fleck a little longer, then shake my
head.  "No.".  I point.  "It's that way. 
West."

"Alright.”  He sounds a little breathless,
too.  "Let's go."

I have no idea how far away it might be.  We could be
walking straight through the night for all I know.  But neither of us are
going to stop until we get there.  I prepare to climb down, glancing
around me for the best handholds.  For the best places to put my
feet.  That's when I hear, very faintly, another noise.  I freeze and
listen.  It's like the rush of something.  Water?  No.  A
motor.  Very far away.  I turn and check around me, and I see another
light moving.  The tiniest hint of a car in the distance.  There's a
road, probably further off than the fire and in the opposite direction.  I
consider.  It's to our east, not our south.  That means it is
probably the north-south road that will eventually intersect with the road
we've been waiting to run into.  That means that if we head south and
west, we should get to the city.  I'm still pondering this, and about to
open my mouth to tell Apollon what I've figured out, when I see something
else.  A tiny silver glimmer.  I peer into the swelling darkness and
realize it is not on the road, but near it.  I watch.  The silver
patch separates into two.  It's moving.  Not exactly toward us. 
The trajectory is slightly north of us.  Almost exactly on course for the
campfire.

"Go!" I shriek at Apollon, scrambling down the
tree so fast that I almost fall.  I slide a few feet, scraping my belly,
but I catch hold and keep going.  He starts climbing down as he sees my
panic, but he's clearly baffled.  I almost overtake him.  We hit the
ground at the same time.

"What the—" he begins, but I grab him and start
running toward the west.  "Run," I say as we scramble through
the dark forest.  "Sentries!  Run!"

Apollon shuts up and runs.

Under the cover of the trees, the darkness is thicker, and
my eyes have not yet adjusted.  I nearly plant my face in a tree trunk,
but Apollon yanks me sideways at the last instant.  I stumble and regain
my path.  We dart through the maze of trunks and bushes, jumping fallen
logs, slipping on icy patches, but never, never stopping.

"They saw us?" Apollon finally chokes out as we
run.

"Not us!"  My eyes are wide with fear. 
Our friends are almost within our reach, but they have no idea what nightmare
is coming.

He sucks in his breath as he comprehends, runs harder. 
I push my body to keep up with him.

It must be a couple of miles.  It seems like we are
running forever.  I would have collapsed by now, but the sheer jolt of
adrenaline keeps me going beyond what I could ever do if I wasn't frightened to
the absolute depths of my core.

We come through some trees and I can see the campfire ahead
of us.  I have no idea how quickly the Sentries are moving.  We had a
good lead on them, but they don't tire the way we do, and they’re much faster
at full speed.  I try to calm my racing thoughts.  So long as we
reach our friends first and warn them, we'll be OK.  We know how to yank
crystals now.  The Sentries are not as much of a threat as they used to
be.

I half-run, half-stagger toward the glow of the fire. 
Its swirling orange radiance is surreal against the blackening backdrop of the
world.  The idea of seeing Jonas again—the joy of finding him—competes
with the fear in my belly.  Quickly following is a surge of doubt. 
What if it's not our friends at all?  But then, who else could it possibly
be?

Apollon must share my doubt.  As we approach, he grabs
me by the arm and stops.  We stand a small distance off, silently peering
toward the fire.

But we've already made some noise.  A tall body next to
the fire raises to its feet, its hand going to its belt for a weapon.  It
looks in our direction, trying to pierce the cover of darkness.  Trying to
see what and where we are.

"Thank god," Apollon gushes under his
breath.  The figure silhouetted in firelight jerks a little and zeroes in
on us.

"Apollon?"  There is both relief and
trepidation in Jonas’ voice.  He paces toward us.  "Eden? 
Is Eden with you?" he asks into the darkness.  I can hear the worry
in his voice.  Whatever our differences, I want to run to him and hug him.

Beyond him, by the fire, Jacob and Taylor are scrambling to
their feet.

"No time to talk," Apollon says, moving to meet
Jonas halfway.  "Sentries."

"Let's get ready to yank crystals," I pant, trying
to catch at least some of my breath.  My head is swirling with
exertion.  I bend over and place my hands on my knees for just a second.

Jonas hesitates, his head turned toward me.  I can't
see his face in this darkness, and he can't see mine.  "No. 
Someone could get hurt.  It'll be better to hide."

"That would be great," Apollon says, also still
trying to catch his breath.  "But I don't think there's anywhere to
hide from a Sentry out here.  I, for one, am not going into any more
caves."

"C'mon." Jonas strides back to the campfire and
picks up his pack.  Jacob and Taylor are already shrugging theirs
on.  Mine is sitting by the fire, just waiting for me.  It surprises
me that they didn't leave it behind.  I grab it up, but I'm not sure I'm
going to make it very far, even before I take up the heavy load.

"It's just right here." Jonas grabs me by the
elbow and tugs me forward.  He must see how I'm stumbling like a drunk
under this weight.

"What is?" Apollon asks.  Jacob and Taylor
are moving off ahead of us, their steps quick but evenly measured.

"We were going to explore it in the morning,"
Jonas says.  "When we found it, we decided to camp here.  It
looks like it used to be a small city."

Neither Apollon or I reply.  We're gawking into the
darkness at the black shapes that begin to loom.  We move in between them,
into the quiet grave of a dwelling-place.  I feel like I'm disturbing
something that has not been touched in a long time.

"If people once lived here, there has to be an
underground," Jonas says.  "Some kind of basement or
something.  Maybe not a tunnel, but hopefully enough that the scanners
will miss us."

We scour through the buildings, and within a moment we find
an outside door that must lead into a cellar.  Jacob pries it open. The
squeal of the ancient rusted hinge flits away through the ruins.

Apollon and I exchange uneasy glances in the wan moonlight.

"Aliens," he whispers, and makes a face.

I punch him in the side.  Then I move past Jonas,
climbing in after Jacob and Taylor.  "I'll take aliens over
bears," I mutter as I go.

Jonas, last in, eases the trap door closed behind us. 
We stumble in pitch blackness to what seems like the far corner of the
cellar.  Huddling down against a cold concrete wall, I turn and try to
make out my friends in the darkness.  An arm brushes mine as someone leans
against the wall beside me.

"How will we even know if they come?" I
whisper.  "Or when they're gone?"

"They're here," Jonas answers, his whisper just a
trail of breath in the musty air.  "I could see the fire,
still.  Something blocked out its light as I was closing the door."

No one replies.  We are suddenly frozen.  We
hardly dare to breathe as we wait for hours in the darkness.

***

There is the smallest crack of light coming through the trap
door.  It reminds me of being in the tunnels under Outpost Three. 
Reminds me of the first time I was in them.  I ran to find a way
out.  I was lost.  Panicked.  And then, there was this little
strip of light from above.  Now, I shrug my back away from the frozen
wall, a tiny movement that doesn't make any noise.  I can't see
much.  I think the others are still dozing.  The floor I'm sitting on
is so cold that it feels wet.  I have to check my pant legs with my fingers
to be sure it's not water.  It's not.  Just cold.  I want to get
out of here—out of this hole.  I've been sitting here looking at the
light, wondering if we should dare to open that door.  The Sentries could
be waiting just above.  We're not going to get out without making some
noise.  If they're anywhere nearby, it will draw them to us.  We
should have just stood our ground and yanked out their crystals in the first
place.  It would have all been done by now.

"Do you think it's safe?" Taylor's voice breaks
through the silence abruptly, though it is pitched low and soft.  I'm not
sure who he's talking to.

A rustle of movement occurs off to my side.  "Only
one way to find out," says Apollon.

Next to me, a soft laugh.  Jonas.  My heart starts
racing.  As much to distract myself from the effects of his presence as
anything else, I shove to my feet and stiffly shoulder my pack.  The
others grunt and grumble as they follow my lead.

But Apollon is at the trap door before me.  He has his
knife out, and he's ready.  Realizing my own stupidity, I drop my pack
just under our exit and draw my own knife.  If the Sentries are there,
we'll need to be quick about disabling them.  We don't need any more
accidents.

Apollon throws the door open all at once, and we shrink from
the onslaught of daylight.  I feel like some creature from the netherworld
emerging into reality.  Blinded by light, blasted by air and
sunshine.  It's like being born.

Not a noise from above answers the creak and bang of our
trap door.  Just silence.  We listen for a moment and hear nothing
except the distant twittering of some bird.

Apollon heaves a sigh and climbs up.  I follow on his
heels.  We stand back to back, circling, taking everything in. 
Buildings stretch away from us in all directions, crumbling, but somehow beautiful. 
Nothing stirs.  A blanket of snow covers most of it.  It's been here
a while, not fresh.  It is melting in spots.  Softly curved corners
reveal bits of wall, and brick, and wood.  Tiny three-pronged marks wander
in little circles nearby, barely sinking into the snow's surface.  The
only other tracks are ours.  Do the Sentries rely so heavily on their
scanners that they missed our tracks entirely?

My pack launches into the snow beside me.  Jonas
follows, dragging his own by one strap.  He has a good look around, then
puts his knife away.  Jacob and Taylor come up behind him.

"Can you believe this?" Taylor asks, having a look
at the strange and quiet world around us.

I feel suddenly shaken.  "This isn't the city, is
it?  Has something happened to it?"

"Doubtful," Jonas says.  "But people
obviously lived here once.  Probably before the Turn."

I grab my pack and start walking, fascinated by the maze of
dwellings.  Most of the walls are only partial now.  Roofs are
long-since caved in.  Dried leaves and brown vines cling to surfaces here
and there.  In the spring and summer, the walls must be green,
flowering.  It must be beautiful.

"Think we should move in?" Apollon asks, catching
up to my side.  He nudges me with his elbow, then points. 
"That'll be my house."  The indicated structure is built of
stone, looming upward at least two levels into the sky.  "You can
live next door."

"What?"  I say.  "That?" 
The only "next door" I see is a broken pile of scrap that I'd
probably kill myself trying to climb into.

He just laughs.  We turn and glance behind us, where
the others are slowly following.  Jonas is eyeing us as he walks.

Apollon opens his mouth to say something to them, but
there's a noise from somewhere across the ruins.  A thunk of metal. 
It could be anything.  A piece of scrap an animal knocked over, the
buildings settling.  But we all freeze.  We listen.  Then Jonas
nods onward, and we start walking quickly without a word.  As interesting
as it might be to explore this place, it's not safe here.  Besides, we
have a tower to get to.  We head southward, out of the ruins.  Once
we enter the cover of the forest, we move even quicker.  None of us
talk.  We're too busy listening for signs of pursuit.  Our journey is
quiet and tense, the only sounds the squeak of our boots against the snow.

As I struggle onward under the weight of my pack, I consider
the change in the feel of our journey.  I thought I would be overjoyed to
find our friends, but I'm not.  Not really.  There's a quiet tension
between us now, like a thick wire that binds us in a group, but also holds us
apart.  There are walls and walls.  The laughter that followed me and
Apollon all this time is now safely stowed away.  It doesn't have a place
here.  And in the quiet, there are many things to think about that I
previously let myself forget.

I'm deep in these thoughts, soaked in my worry, body tense
in nervous anticipation.  I march on, grinding my teeth, forcing each
breath from my nose.  My vision blends into the snow-smeared glare, and I
am not really seeing at all.  Everything is inside.

We march on into the sinking twilight, determined to pass as
much terrain as possible before stopping, to put some distance between us and
the Sentries.  I can feel that we are just about to stop.  The others
seem restless under their packs.  Their faces in the dusk are filled with
weary shadow.  We're even slowing, tightening our group, when we notice
the glow in the sky ahead.

We stand and stare off at the horizon.  None of us say
anything.  We're all exhausted.  And there is only one thing this can
be.  Minneapolis.

Jonas drops his pack.  That's that.  We're
staying.  I glance around and find that the clearing we're in will make an
OK campsite, though Apollon and I would probably have picked something more sheltered. 
As we unroll sleeping packs and share out food—luxuries I'm no longer used
to—we debate the wisdom or foolishness of having a campfire.  The night is
cold—colder than last—and I'd rather not go without one.  Jacob insists
that the Sentry problem is worse than a little cold.

"It's not just the cold," I say, biting off a
piece of dried meat.  "It's the animals.  They don't like the
fire."

Jacob frowns at me.  "Animals?  Why, what did
you see out there?"

"All kinds of stuff.  Didn’t you?" Apollon
laughs.  "Couldn't say what all of it was, but I think it was a fox
that bit me."

"A fox," I chime in.  "Is
that
 what a fox is?"

"Sure," Apollon answers confidently.

But Taylor's talking over us.  "Something bit
you?"

Apollon pulls up his sleeve and shows off his wound. 
"It was Eden's fault."

"Wha—?"  I pluck a pinecone off a nearby
branch and throw it at him.

He shrugs away as it bounces off his shoulder. 
"It was pretty bold," he continues, ignoring me.  "The
fox.  But it's the wolves I'd be more worried about."

"You saw wolves?" Jonas asks softly.  He's
standing arms-crossed, considering.

"We were chased by them," Apollon explains. 
"Right up a tree.  We had to set it on fire to scare the wolves
away.  And then we had to outrun the fire."

Taylor's mouth is open in disbelief.

His brother, however, is still stuck on the wolves. 
"You were actually chased by wolves…"

"Yep."  Apollon nods.

"And a bear," we both add at the same time.

"A bear," says Taylor.

"The bear was probably the worst of it," Apollon
says, looking at me.  "Wouldn't you say?"

"Definitely the worst," I agree.  "Who
knew they could climb trees."

Apollon laughs, rolling his eyes.  "Who
knew."

"...Bears can climb trees?" asks Jacob, looking
confused.  "I thought they were supposed to be really big."

"Oh, they're big," Apollon says.

I nod emphatically.  "Nasty, too.  Their
claws are like, this long."  I stretch out my finger and thumb.

"Nah-ah," says Taylor.

"Uh huh," I say.

Jacob is rubbing his head.  "Holy crap.  It
sounds like you guys went through hell out there.  It must have been
terrible."

Apollon and I look at each other.  We shrug.

"Nah, it wasn't so bad," Apollon says.

"No, not really," I agree.  "It was...
kinda fun."  When I glance at Apollon, he's grinning at me.

"Eden—" he starts to say, and god knows what kind
of story is going to pour out of his mouth, but Jonas cuts him off.

"I'm sure we'd all like to hear about the rest of
it," Jonas says, "but right now there's the question of the
fire.  It sounds like we're going to build one, so how are we going to
shield it from the view of any lurking Sentries?"

Silence descends as we consider.  As Apollon and I eye
Jonas.  "Snow walls," I finally say, making my voice
light.  I start scooping the snow into a pile before anyone can continue.