Kyle West - Darkness

Ruth stepped forward with wide eyes, crossing her arms in a futile attempt to keep warm. She wasn’t as used to it as either Anna or I, and her clothing was built for living underground in a Bunker, not above ground in a world covered with meteor dust.

I took off my parka and, feeling the bite of the wind, placed it around her shoulders. I had far more layers than she did.

She looked at me gratefully. “Thank you.” She turned back toward the ramp. “What now?”

I nodded ahead. “We go out. I’ll see if I can reach Makara once we get on the slope. From there, Odin will pick us up.”

Ruth nodded. I could tell from her eyes that she wasn’t sure at all about this. I didn’t blame her.

“Where we’re going,” I said, “you’ll have food and a place to help out. You’ll see Lauren.”

“A lot colder than I remember,” Ruth said.

“It’s December,” Anna said.

Ruth walked out ahead. I started walking out to join her as Anna fell into step beside me.

When we reached the top of the ramp, Ruth merely stood, gazing out at the dimly lit Wasteland. The slope of Hart Mountain fell downward, meeting the red valley. The trailer was out of sight, perhaps hidden by the slope. In the distance, red mountains rose up, their tops obscured by dust. I saw the crane, still buried in red sand. I remembered it from when Michael and I had ventured into the Wasteland all those months ago.

I looked at Ruth. It was hard to read what was going on behind those eyes.

“You alright?” Anna asked.

“The second time for me to be outside,” Ruth said quietly. “And it’s not much easier than the first.”

I remembered my first time coming out into the open. It wasn’t just the cold or the lack of life that got to me. It was the sheer amount of space. It was unworldly until you got used to it — but after you did, you couldn’t imagine living underground again.

“You’ll make it,” I said. “Just as I have. You won’t see how, but the how works itself out as long as you don’t give up.”

Ruth nodded. I stepped forward, trying to gauge our location. The distant crane appeared farther to my right than if I were standing in front of the main door of Bunker 108. That meant the trailer had to be in that direction as well. If we angled down the mountain toward the right, we would surely come upon it.

Regardless, checking in with Makara was long overdue. I raised her on the radio, and after she had yelled at me for a good two minutes, she said that one of the ships might be spared to get us out of our predicament. With things the way they were, flying Askal back would not be a good idea. It was early evening already, and the temperature was dropping. If Ruth’s nerves were this unsteadied by merely being in the Wasteland, I couldn’t imagine how she’d feel flying above it.

Granted, she would be flying in the spaceship, but there was a huge difference between flying on Gilgamesh and flying on Askal.

When I was done speaking with Makara, Anna and I walked out to join Ruth, who had ventured ahead to a ridge. Still, she stared at the red Wasteland stretching before her. She seemed lost.

When we had caught up, she spoke again.

“It feels so unreal,” she said. “Inside, all of my life.”

“I can’t even imagine,” Anna said.

“It’s tough,” I said. “But you are tough. You’ve survived this long.”

Ruth nodded. “You’ve found your reason to go on.” She looked at me, her blue eyes haunted. “Now I just have to find mine.”

We waited by the trailer, and thankfully were able to find it. Askal still waited beside it. Explaining the dragon’s presence to Ruth was a bit…interesting, to say the least. I had told her about Askal back in Bunker 108; I had neglected to mention that Anna and I had ridden him to get here. Still, she seemed to take to him. For a dragon, Askal was admittedly cute and he tried to play that for all it was worth.

I explained the situation to Askal, who said he would stay until one of the ships arrived. He said he needed to return to the Great Blight in order to feed, but that he would return to Pyrite within a day or two.

Thankfully, Gilgamesh arrived about an hour later. When the ship’s landing lights streamed from the sky, I pointed my own flashlight upward to signal our position. With a roar, Askal soared up into the darkening sky, flapping his wings toward the east. I watched his form shrink with distance as Gilgamesh alighted about a hundred feet distant from the trailer.

The boarding ramp descended, giving access to the wardroom within. Ruth stared for a moment, shocked, before we all started toward the ship and up the ramp. Once inside, the warm wardroom air tickled my skin with its heat. Ruth shivered a moment and started to hand back my parka.

“Keep it for now,” I said.

Makara walked into the wardroom from the bridge, eyeing us all critically. Her eyes turned upon Ruth. I had already told Makara a bit about her on the radio.

“This is Ruth,” I said.

Ruth looked up at Makara, meeting her gaze. “Pleased to meet you.”

Makara gave a single nod. “I’m Makara. Welcome aboard the Gilgamesh. I know there’s a lot to catch up on, but we’ll get you up to speed soon.”

Ruth’s eyes looked unsure for a moment, but she nodded. “I’ll try.”

“Lauren should be in the medical bay with Samuel,” Makara said. “Anna, make sure she gets situated. But first, all of you need to shower up. Don’t want whatever was in that Bunker stinking up this place. After that, I want a full status report.”

We did just that. Gilgamesh had more than just Makara on it. I headed for the medical bay to watch the reunion. When I walked in, Lauren was caring for several of the wounded in the clinic — several hospital beds had been set up in there. My eyes, however, went to Samuel. He lay on his back, eyes closed, the top of his head wrapped with a bandage. I could see the deep purple and blue of a heavy bruise taking up most of his face.

My heart sunk at the sight. It had been two days now since the battle on the hill and Samuel was still unconscious. I feared he might never come out of it. I dreaded what might happen to us if he were to die. He always knew what to do, always had a plan. Likely, he was improvising as much as the rest of us, but he at least had a knack for it.

Ruth walked in from behind me. Lauren said nothing as the friend she thought was dead entered the room. She put a hand to her mouth as her own eyes watered with tears. The women walked toward each and gave each other a tight embrace.

They parted and stepped back. Ruth managed a smile, but it was a little sad.

“Here, sit down,” Lauren said.

Ruth allowed herself to be led to the stool, where she was seated.

“She was living in Hydroponics,” I said. “She saved our lives.”

Lauren nodded. “Hey, just relax for now, Ruth. You’ve been through a lot.”

At that moment, Ruth started crying. Lauren held her again.

“Alex, go see if you can have Char set up a bed for Ruth,” Lauren said.

I nodded, even as Ruth shook her head. “No. That’s really not necessary.”

“Not here,” Lauren said. “There’s one left in one of the cabins. It’s yours. I just can’t believe you’re here.”

Ruth nodded gratefully. I left the two women to catch up as I went to find Char. When I walked into his cabin, I saw him putting on a pair of boots. Apparently, he had just woken up. Marcus’s bed was empty. I had no idea whose idea it was to put the two of them up in the same cabin, but space was a bit limited, so maybe there had been no other option.