Nil on Fire (19 page)

“We should get going.” Paulo studied the cliff base, surveying our route. It would be leapfrog, Nil-style, until we rounded the rocky bend.

“Hey, Chief.” Zane nudged me, his voice a low whisper as he not very subtly jerked his head to the dark-haired kid shaking water out of one ear. “Don't you think we oughta give the rook the intro?”

“I'm not sure he's a rook,” I said. “That katana didn't happen overnight.”

“Good point,” Zane said. He stepped closer to the kid, who eyed Zane with polite curiosity, feet planted a foot apart on the rock, lean arms crossed. His short black hair boasted the ghost of a mohawk. “I'm Zane,” Zane said, offering his hand.

“Kenji,” the boy responded with a nod.

“Good meeting you, man.” Zane grinned. “Although this place is more whacked than ever. Sick katana,” he added. Then Zane looked surprisingly businesslike. “So where'd you come from?” he asked. “The north side? Or the rain forest? And did you see anyone else?”

The boy looked perplexed.

Zane looked uncertain—of himself. “Maybe I should back up. Do you speak English?”

Annoyance flashed through Kenji's eyes.

“Yes, I speak English.” The kid rolled his eyes slightly. “I'm from Sacramento, dude. This is a bokken, not a katana. And you're the first people I've seen.”

Zane reddened. “Right on. I'm from Laguna,” he offered, giving Kenji another wave. “So yeah. Welcome to Nil.”

“Nil?” Kenji frowned.

“Nil.” I nodded. “It's what some of us call this place, anyway.”

I glanced at Thad, shooting him a clear
You want to take this?
look.

He tipped his head toward me. “Last time I checked, brother, you were the Leader, not me. Seems like this Nil belongs to you.”

Or Paulo
, I thought.

I turned to Paulo, expecting him to take the lead. His eyes were on the rocks ahead, like this discussion didn't matter. Like this
intro
didn't matter, only his footing. His aloofness brought Maaka to mind, a comparison that chafed.

“Other people have other names for it,” I continued, stifling my irritation, “but regardless of the name, we're all here. An island that exists somewhere, but isn't on any map.”

“Why are we here?” Kenji asked.

“It's the universal question, my man.” Zane nodded. “Well put.”

“I think he means why are we on Nil,” Skye interjected drolly. “It's a great question, and I don't think there's just one answer, not anymore. But the simplest answer is a gate. A gate picked you up and brought you here, and a gate will take you home.”

“Gate,” Kenji repeated. “The hot air.”

“Exactly,” Zane said. “Portal. Gate. Blackout tube. A not-so-magical carnival ride.”

Thad muttered something about island games that I ignored.

“Gates show up every day at noon,” I said, cutting to the chase. “Somewhere on the island. And never the same place twice. But if you don't catch one soon, in three months, a big one will show up on the mountain, big enough to take us all back. So the short story is, you've got three months to survive. Do that and you're home.”

“Different intro than before,” Thad observed quietly, his blue eyes clear. “A survival countdown to a preplanned group exit. Not the same Nil, is it?”

“Not for any of us. Except maybe Paulo.” For his part, he'd stalked a few meters ahead, leading the way, or maybe just keeping his distance.

Knowing Paulo, I'd bet on the latter.

“How do you know all this?” Kenji's voice stayed guarded.

“Firsthand experience.” I smiled, hoping to put Kenji at ease. “How long have you been here, Kenji?”

“A little over a week. Closer to two, I think.” He adjusted his bokken's harness. “I've been staying in the woods on the coast, exploring a little more every day. This is the farthest south I've ever come. And I haven't seen a single gate the whole time. Not one. But I've seen a crap ton of animals, and most aren't friendly, like the wolves.” He glanced back at the cliff. “So how long have you been here?”

“Which time?” Thad asked dryly.

“What?” Kenji jerked his head toward Thad.

As a team, we filled him in as we picked our way along the cliff base. Thad and I did most of the talking, with Zane chiming in occasionally as the three of us caught Kenji up to speed. Skye had jogged up to walk with Paulo, and he hadn't moved away from her like I'd expected.
Friend or foe? Ally or loner?

I hadn't figured this Paulo out.

We rounded the bend of South Beach, and the topography changed. Rocky, rough coast gave way to fine black sand; a beach sprawled wide. A bamboo thicket thrived far above the high-tide line, lush and large. A panda bear poked its head out, a piece of bamboo in its mouth.

“Oh, great,” Zane said. “More bears. Yay.”

We all veered closer to the water, giving the panda space. It seemed content, but no need to push it. Not on our Day 1, not when the animals already seemed restless.

As we passed the bear, Paulo dropped back to me. “Rives, thanks for welcoming Kenji. I never know exactly what to say, where to start. It's not as easy as you make it look. Believe me, I know.” He smiled wryly. “It's your job, not mine.” His smile widened, his eyes sincere.

I realized I'd read him completely wrong. He'd been listening, but not avoiding. He'd been giving me space he thought I needed.

Ally
, I decided.

I shook my head. “It's your Nil now, Paulo.”

“It was never mine. Or yours. It just is.” He glanced up at the sun and frowned. Noon was long past. “We should keep moving. We need to be back at the City by nightfall, and we haven't even hit the Arches yet.”

Picking up the pace, Paulo lapsed back into silence. Skye and I walked beside him, with Thad, Zane, and Kenji behind us. Two trios, one with a Nil veteran, the other with a Nil rookie; both groups rounded out with two second-timers.

Nil was all about the balance.

Around us, nothing chirped, nothing barked. Even the black sand shifting under our feet stayed silent, like the island was listening.

Had Nil always been this silent?

“I worried about you,” Skye said abruptly. She was looking at Paulo. “After I left. Being here alone, the fire. The whole thing.” She shook her head slightly—a classic Skye attempt to clear worries from her head, as if a quick shake would erase the images like a magical island Etch A Sketch.

If only it were that easy.

“How long were you alone?” she asked.

Paulo glanced around; he did that constantly as we walked. It reminded me of
me
.

“I don't think I was ever alone,” he said finally. “Not really. Skye, I know you want to know what happened at that gate, on the day you left. The truth is, I'm not sure myself.”

“It looked like you saw something. I was watching you, and you looked—” As Skye fought to find the right word, an image flashed through my head: Paulo, on the platform, a shadow passing across his face, darkness clouding his eyes from within. Skye's memory, not mine.

“Lost,” she finished. “Not frightened, exactly, but it was as if you saw something. Something that changed your mind. Something that stopped you.”

Paulo's expression was haunted. “That's just it, Skye, I didn't see anything. I remember you taking the gate, and then the gate was gone and I was alone. But I didn't see the gate close.”

“So you blacked out?” A line creased the skin between her brows.

“No. I just don't remember. It's like that piece of memory is gone. Erased. Stolen. I don't know.” He exhaled. “And it's happened again, maybe more than once since then. It's like I just zone out, and when I come back to myself, I haven't moved, but time has passed.” He shook his head. “I can't explain it. It's like the island is stealing time.”

“I don't like the sound of that,” Skye said.

A crisp memory flashed. Me, in the Looking Glass Cavern, waiting to hear Talla's voice. Me, losing time. But it wasn't Talla I'd been hearing; it was Nil.

Merde.

And Paulo had lost time at
noon
.

“Nil's stealing time,” I said slowly. “And not just any time, the most precious hour. Noon. That could be a serious problem.”

I glanced at Skye. “Do you remember the day we found the platform, with Nikolai?” I hated taking her back to that moment, but I had no choice. “We all stared at the carving, for what felt like hours. No,” I corrected myself out loud, “it
was
hours, but it felt like minutes. Do you remember that?”

She cocked her head. “I do. It was hours, but it felt like hours. I don't think we lost time that day, do you?”

Yes
, I wanted to say, but her expression stopped me. Like she was trying to read me. I thought we'd lost time, but Skye didn't?

“I don't know,” I admitted.

And that was the truth. I just didn't know what it meant.

“Chief.” Zane's voice was low. “I think I see someone.”

He pointed. At the high mark of the beach, where the black sand gave way to chunky rock, human feet pointed toward us, visible through a pair of black rocks. “Sleeping?” Zane asked. He squinted in the sun, trying to shade his eyes.

Permanently
, I thought. The position seemed unnatural.

I jogged closer, and sure enough, a body lay half exposed to Nil air, a mix of flesh and bone partially sunken in a hollow. The eye sockets were creepily empty.
Look around, pay attention
, they crooned.
Death is everywhere, watching you.

Got it, Nil.

Maybe I was finally learning after all.

Beside me, Thad swallowed repeatedly, looking with unblinking wide eyes between me and the body, then he turned and vomited on the sand. He choked as he stumbled a few steps away. “Need a minute,” he managed, then gagged again.

“Take as many as you need.” My eyes went to Skye, standing with Zane, Paulo, and Kenji a few meters away. “If you're willing, I could use a hand.” My eyes back on Skye, I flicked my eyes toward Thad.
He needs you more than I do right now
, I thought. The words felt heavy in my head. Thad had buried too many people during his first Nil stay. To revisit those memories on his new Day 1 sucked for sure.

I know it did for me.

Skye nodded. As she turned toward Thad, the rest of us got to work.

Moving with care, the four of us carefully covered the exposed body in rock. Nil might not honor the dead, but we would. Still, the task was gruesome, given that decomposition on Nil moved slowly. We all breathed through our mouths, unwilling to risk a whiff of death.

Halfway through, Thad joined in. I didn't meet his eyes, didn't try to. He had to work through his Nil demons like anyone else, and we both knew it. Skye handed me rocks.

After the last rock was placed, I itched for my sack of white coral, to lay a cross or star or mark of some kind, something to say
Someone rests here
. But I had nothing. No coral, no mark. No clue who this person was, no insight into this person's identity or gender. Maybe he was a Buddhist, maybe a Christian. Maybe he had no faith at all. We'd never know; we'd never know him. Or her.

I stepped back, shaken by the rawness of this moment, knowing someone somewhere cared for this person. A person now covered forever in black Nil rock, a person who may or may not be on the Wall.

The Wall may not even exist anymore.

I realized my hands were shaking.

Clenching them into fists, I stepped back. Beside me, Kenji was pale. Skye's defiant-yet-horrified expression mirrored the one she'd worn after Archie had died.

Zane's face read shell-shocked. Thad looked sick, and shaken.

Too much, too soon
, I thought. For all of us. Too raw a reminder of the death we'd seen on our last day here, of how little we knew. Of how much we existed at Nil's mercy, again.

“C'mon.” Paulo jerked his head, then started walking away, by far the most composed of our group.

Taking Paulo's cue, we followed, everyone eager to get some distance from the gravesite. The sea breeze sounded like laughter.

The Nil silence had turned eerie.

Back on black sand, Thad gripped my arm. “Sorry about that back there.” He looked at me. “I saw—” He broke off with a shake of his head, still staring at me. “Been a long time away, brother. I'd forgotten how much Nil likes to play head games.” He squared his shoulders, his eyes as intense as I'd ever seen. Fully focused, fully clear. “Just know I've got your back. Skye's, too.” He glanced ahead, to where she walked beside Paulo.

“Goes both ways, bro. No apologies needed.”

He nodded.

Side by side, we crossed the last stretch of South Beach. Skye took point with Paulo; Kenji and Zane were next. Thad and I brought up the rear.

The Arches loomed up ahead.

“Rives.” Thad's voice was measured.

“Yeah, bro?”

“Don't turn around, but I'm pretty sure we're being followed.”

 

CHAPTER

30

NIL

LATE AFTERNOON

The island watched the humans as they acclimated to the
now
, to the place the island had become. They had done well so far. So well, in fact, the island had chosen not to intervene.

Residual power still lingered from today's noon, but the island had consciously chosen to save it. To conserve it, to wait for the moment it would be needed most. For now, the island reveled in the fact that she was here, the one called Skye, the one the island needed beyond all others.

But she was not needed, yet.