Michael Robertson - New Reality - Truth

“Something was toying with me, scratching the stone I was sat on.”

“Why didn’t you tell me?”

“Are you being serious? I’m not sure if you’ve noticed or not, but you’ve been super freaked out since you saw the things chasing me. If I’d told you that—”

“I can’t believe you didn’t tell me!”

“All right, calm down.”

“I won’t calm down, Jake. How can I trust you when you keep secrets from me?”

“You’re a fine one to fucking talk!”

Standing to his full height, Tom looked down on his friend. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Secrets, Tom. Like you keeping secrets from me about what’s following us.”

Folding his arms over his chest, Tom looked over at the Rixon Tower.

“And while I’m being honest, you have to know that it wasn’t Rixon who emptied the vending machine.”

“What?”

“There was a hole in the bottom of the machine. A hole that had been punched through from the back.” Looking into Tom’s eyes, he could see his friend was breaking. “From something underground.”

“So you kept that from me too?”

“Would it have helped if I’d told you?”

“It may have prepared me better for last night. How can we survive together if we’re dishonest with one another?”

“I’m telling you now, aren’t I?”

With his arms folded across his chest, Tom stared at the Rixon Tower.

“Whatever it was had punched its way through the vending machine and climbed up. There were scratches across the red metal as if the thing had sharp claws.”

Tom’s eyes lost focus.

“There was a line of rubble leading from the machine, to me, and then back to where they’d come from. A line that was exactly the same as the one that led up to where you were sat last night. We’re not being followed by Rixon, Tom. I wish we were.”

“I bloody know that now, don’t I?”

The pair stood in silence for a minute or two before Tom finally turned his back and walked away again.

Wincing with every step, the burn in Jake’s shins wasn’t getting any better. The last few hours had passed in silence. The hill they were currently climbing was getting steeper, and the dark sky above was getting darker. They had to reach the summit before they stopped because there was no shelter on the steep incline.

Having lost count of the amount of times he’d tried to get his friend to talk, Jake tried again anyway. “Come on, man. If we’re going to find Rory together, we need to be able to communicate.”

Looking over at him, Tom dropped his head. “Who am I kidding? We’re not going to find Rory.” His features twisted like he was about to cry. “If they haven’t got him by now, he’s probably dead or at the bottom of one of those sinkholes.”

Walking and talking on his current oxygen intake seemed impossible for Jake. Reaching across, he grabbed Tom’s forearm.

Pulling himself away, Tom continued walking.

“Who are they, Tom? You’re getting the hump with me for not telling you what I saw, but you’re doing exactly the same. I’m a big boy, I can handle it.”

Tom stopped so abruptly it caught Jake off guard. “No, you can’t. Just fucking grow up and accept you don’t need to know.”

Stepping closer, Jake snarled. “Don’t tell me to grow up. You’re the one behaving like a child. You’re the one keeping secrets. I want to be prepared for what we might have to face, and you’re making that much fucking harder.”

Without replying, Tom stared at Jake, his jaw locked tight.

When Jake looked down at Tom’s balled right fist, he smiled. “Go on then, do it. Hit me if it’ll make you feel better.”

Clenching his hand so tightly it shook, Tom continued to stare.

Letting the tension in his own body sag, Jake stepped back a pace. “What are we doing? All we have is each other out here. Let’s not fight.”

Staring for a moment longer, Tom relaxed and unfurled his fist.

“Just tell me what you saw.”

Tom’s face buckled and his eyes watered. “It was horrible.” Gulping, he continued, “It all happened so quickly. I saw long black claws, white skin, dark mouths. But the worst of it was the eyes. Hundreds of pairs of eyes.” His own eyes widened. “They all looked straight at me.”

Letting the silence hang, Jake finally said, “And?”

Staring into the distance, Tom didn’t reply. Eventually, he said, “I don’t think I can keep going. I don’t think I can do this anymore.”

“Don’t be ridiculous. You’re the strongest man I know. If anyone can do it, it’s you.”

“Maybe no one can do it.”

“Rubbish. Most people would have given up a long time ago, but not you. Not my friend, Tom. You’re the only reason I’m alive. I wanted to top myself at several points in the first year, but you and the love you feel for your son has kept me going. Now it’s my turn to repay the favor. I’m not going to let you give up.”

There was the slightest lift in Tom’s posture.

“You never know what’s over this next hill.”

“Rubble,” Tom replied. “Rubble, and more fucking rubble.”

Laughing, Jake shook his head. “You’re probably right, but what if Rory’s there too?”

Tom’s eyebrows pinched in the middle. “Don’t do this to me. I can’t take it anymore.”

“But he could be.” Moving closer to his friend, Jake put his arm around him. “Come on, let’s go. We’ve got a lost boy to find.”

A gentle shove encouraged Tom to move as they both started walking again.

It took about twenty minutes, but when Jake reached the brow of the hill first and looked over, he turned to his friend and jumped on the spot. “Tom! Tom, come quick!”

The tension in her shoulders eased. This world was getting to Tom. Surely he’d give up soon. Especially when he saw what Jake was getting excited about.

Appearing over the brow of the hill, red-faced and out of breath, hope lifted Tom’s features. “Rory?”

Fuck! Wincing at his friend, Jake remained silent. What could he say to that?

Looking at the prize in Jake’s hand, Tom’s eyes narrowed. Turning a deeper shade of crimson, he ground his jaw.

Lifting the can, Jake offered a tentative smile. “Peaches! It’s a can of peaches.”

Pulling his wispy hair from his eyes, Tom’s long body sagged, and he dropped his gaze to the floor. “I thought you’d found Rory.”

“I’m so sorry. I saw the peaches and got excited. I wasn’t thinking. Sorry.” Getting to his feet, Jake pointed at a rock. “Sit down, Tom. Rest up while I get this open. You can have the first drink from the juice.”

Sitting down, Tom kept his head bowed.

Watching his friend for a second or two, Jake then pointed at a sheet of red metal on the floor. “It’s the remains of a car. It’s not often that we see cars now. Most of them are buried a good few meters below us. This must have been a multistory car park or something.” Huge lumps of cracked concrete littered the space, rebar protruding from them at all different angles.

When Tom didn’t reply, Jake scratched his head and busied himself with opening the can.

Looking first at the ring-pull, Jake then looked at his twisted and gnarled hands. The past few years had turned them into old roots not capable of once-simple chores.

Gritting his jaw helped him concentrate and block out the pain that nestled in his knuckles. Slipping a long fingernail beneath the ring-pull, Jake lifted it.

“Arghhhh!” White-hot pain tore through his hand.

Standing up, Tom frowned at his friend. “What’s up? Are you okay?”