Chapter 2
Finn
“You’ll need to speak with him before the meeting tomorrow,” Dino says from across his desk.
We’re sitting in his new office, not far from the Foreign Relations building where he used to work before he was elected president of Unity’s assembly.
Old photographs of the Before Times hang on the walls, offering a glimpse of a world long gone.
“I’ll speak with him,” I say, “but last time we spoke, the ambassador from Blue Moon claimed they couldn’t give us better prices for their fertilizer.”
“Yet they still ask for better prices on our vegetables. Try to find out if there’s something more to it.”
“I will.”
“It might be related to the growing risks of transportation,” Timothy says.
The black synthetic spider is standing with his eight legs on the nearby couch—each leg ending with a human palm.
He has a dark, triangular body, and his face is white and smooth while faintly resembling the features of a young man, which Timothy used to be over a century ago.
As a key member of the Enhancement Project in Kansas, he helped create the Semi-Humans so they could purify our air after the bombs fell.
When his consciousness was transformed into this spider form, he remained in the underground lab as the sole caretaker of the Semi-Human babies.
Decades later, he saved River by waking up his clone after he had died during the downfall of Las Vegas and the New-Humans.
We couldn’t stomach the thought of leaving Timothy alone in the lab once we got River back, so I invited him to join us at Unity, though I wasn’t sure whether he’d be granted entrance. But by then, Dino had already become the new president of the assembly, which made things easier.
“You think that the risk of transportation is behind this?” Dino asks Timothy.
“They did lose a shipment last month due to a Raiders’ attack.”
As did others. It’s been happening more and more lately, almost as if the Raiders are baiting us to react.
Dino rubs his short beard. His hair is a mix of gray and brown, and even in his fifties, he’s a handsome and impressive man. I don’t like thinking of where I’d be today if he didn’t allow me to stay in the Hive and offered me a role as his assistant.
“The general claims they are doing everything they can to keep the roads to Unity safe,” Dino says, “but we all know we don’t have enough Defenders to cover everything. These attacks might be the catalyst we need to convince some of the settlements to stop acting alone.”
The phone on the table rings, and Dino picks it up. “Yes?” His eyes narrow before his face falls. “Are they bringing him in? Okay, I’ll be there soon.” He hangs up and rises to his feet. “Caden’s back. Something happened.”
I stand up as well, my stomach churning. “Is he injured?”
“No, but he returned alone.”
Alone?
*
By the time we reach the main gate, General McCoy is already there with two of his officers.
Caden is another subject for the general and Dino to have tension over.
As captain, Caden is the general’s man, but his history with Dino makes things complicated, and I know he feels torn between the two men.
“What do you know?” Dino asks.
The general gives him a frosty look through his single eye—the other one is made of glass, a result of a battle years ago. “Something happened to his squad three days ago. He only reached one of our outposts this morning. They’re bringing—”
Caden walks in through the metal gate. He doesn’t seem injured, but he’s clearly exhausted, his black uniform dirty. He doesn’t have his rifle with him.
Our eyes meet, but he looks away to salute the general, who asks, “Do you need medical treatment?”
“No, sir. We’d best go speak at HQ.” He tells Dino, “You too.”
I’m not invited to join, so I watch them walk toward the Defenders’ headquarters, telling myself that whatever happened, at least Caden is okay.
Timothy raises one of his hands to hold mine. “We’ll know more soon.”
I squeeze his hand. We must look ridiculous to anyone who’s watching, but I don’t care. “I’ll feel better if I can wait next to his apartment.”
“Then we have our destination. But first, let’s get you something to eat. You’ve skipped lunch.”
I don’t bother denying, since Timothy can sense things like hunger.
We take the elevator down one floor and exit into the Central Hub, where both Caden and I live.
It’s right between the other two main floors, which are called the Heights and the Depths.
Caden’s building is nicer than mine, and his apartment is bigger with a small garden he hates taking care of.
Dino can get me a better apartment, but I’m not in a hurry to leave the first place I ever called my own.
I stop to buy noodles, but I’m too distracted to appreciate the taste.
“Finn, is it true? Did Caden return without his squad?”
I take a breath before I turn around on my stool to face Otto. We have similar roles, though his is under Assembly Member Lock, who competed for Dino’s position before losing the vote.
“I’m not discussing that with you here.”
Otto runs a hand through his oily dark hair. He’s stocky and always breathes fast, as if he’s running even when standing still. His skin is even paler than the average Hiver, the exact opposite of my dark skin. “Then let’s go somewhere else to talk.”
“Any information about what might have happened will not be shared by Finn or me,” Timothy says.
“I was talking to the human.”
I slam my fist on the table. “Say that again.”
Otto glares at me, but there’s fear in his eyes. People may look down on the ex-Raider who rose above his station, but nobody likes the thought of what he’s capable of. Dino taught me early on to use it to my advantage, and I took that lesson to heart.
“Didn’t mean anything by that,” Otto says stiffly. “I’ll go speak with Assembly Member Lock. I’m sure he knows what’s going on.”
“Sure he does.”
Otto huffs as he leaves.
“Don’t let him get to you,” Timothy says. “He’s harmless.”
“Harmless people can still be annoying.”
Once I finish eating, Timothy and I go to sit on the low stone wall surrounding Caden’s three-story building. I know the code to his apartment from when we were together, but it doesn’t feel right using it.
“Did you see the look in his eyes?” I ask Timothy, who sits next to me. “Something really bad must have happened.”
“Best not jump to conclusions when we have so little information. Let’s play a game.”
“A game?”
“It will distract you. I spy with my little eye something green.”
I sigh. “I’m not a child.”
“Oh my. Are you finding the game too difficult? Help! Finn is finding the game too—”
“Alright, shh! Is it the grass next to the front door?”
“I’d hardly call it green grass.”
“Hmm, is it the towel hanging by that window?”
“Correct. Now, I spy with my little—oh, behind you.”
I stand and turn to see Caden walking toward us, his shoulders slumped and his eyes tired.
I don’t know what to say, even though I’ve been waiting to speak with him.
The last time we exchanged more than polite greetings, it ended in an ugly fight.
He refused to ask his superiors to spend more time in the Hive, even though I barely got to see him.
I have a job to do, Finn, and that is what is keeping you safe. Try to respect that.
“We were waiting for you,” Timothy says once Caden stops in front of us. “Finn was very concerned.”
I give him a warning look before I ask Caden, “Are you okay?”
“Been better.”
For a second, I wonder if he’s about to ask me to leave, but he says, “Come inside. He’ll catch up with you later, Tim.”
Timothy climbs down, his movements elegant despite needing to maneuver eight limbs. “I’ll go find Dino. Good evening.”
I follow Caden into his apartment, feeling like I haven’t been here for years, but it’s only been a few months. Caden walks to the kitchen area, which is separated from the living room by a small dining table. He pours water into a glass and drinks, watching me as his Adam’s apple moves.
“Can you tell me what happened?” I ask once he puts the glass in the sink.
“Later. I need a shower.”
“Okay. Hmm, are you hungry?”
“Yeah.”
“I’ll make you something.”
“Thanks.” He walks into the bedroom, and I turn away once I catch him pulling off his shirt.
With the water flowing in the bathroom, I take out food from his fridge after checking the expiration date.
I’ve had my share of food poisoning while moving between shitholes with my parents, so I’m careful about things like that.
I make an omelet with some ham and add beans with tomato sauce on the side.
The Hive used to invest a lot in raising chickens, but they were a headache to take care of and feed, so now we’re trading with the Free Cities for most of our meat and eggs.
I put the food on the dining table when I hear Caden stepping out of the shower. He walks out wearing sweatpants and a sleeveless gray shirt, his dark blond hair slightly wet. The stubble on his cheeks and chin is a couple of days away from becoming a modest beard.
“Starving,” he grumbles and sits down to eat.
I sit down as well, but he doesn’t look at me, even though we’re closer than we have been in weeks. He finishes eating and finally meets my eyes. “Thank you.”
“You have a cut on your neck.”
“Got it from a pointy tail. A doctor looked at it earlier—it’s healing fine.”
I don’t understand how a pointy tail could have reached his neck. “Can you tell me what happened?”
He leans back and crosses his arms. “My squad was about to take down a small group of Raiders. We tracked them for hours, then we found out too late that their leader was a mutant.”
I frown. “Isn’t that something you figure out the second you see one?”
He shakes his head. “He seemed human until he decided to reveal himself. There’s no way we could’ve missed his tail and scales for over an hour.”
I’ve never heard of a mutant who could grow a tail at will, but our knowledge of mutants is limited at best. There used to be more of them during the decades following Doomsday, but the purification of our air by the Semi-Humans caused fewer of them to be born.
I listen closely as Caden shares the sequence of events that led to the brutal death of his squad, including the mutant’s warning about a coming plague and the demand for us not to travel armed.
To do so will be the equivalent of committing suicide.
I feel numb as Caden tells me about the lizard men rising from the grass after butchering his squad.
“I’ve never heard of mutations like that,” I say.
I’ve spent almost my entire life—seventeen years—living in the wilderness of Colorado, and I thought I’d heard of every possible mutation by now.
Some are more severe than others, but they never result in a full-body transformation like Caden is describing.
“What was the last thing that man told you?” I ask.
“To pass on his message. He seemed to be acting as a representative of the Raiders. Have you heard of someone like that? He said his name was Hector.”
I lean with my elbows on the table. “I’ve never met him, but I know of him. He’s the one who united the old ruling houses in Denver and became their leader. It happened right before I escaped Derek and his gang, so I don’t know what happened since then. I just remember how odd it was.”
“Why?”
“Well, he wasn’t a part of any of the ruling houses, so why would they decide to support him?”
“With the way he commands those creatures, I can imagine how he got everyone to obey. But he wasn’t anywhere near Denver when we met him.”
“That is strange.” Was it so important to him to personally deliver the message to a Defender, or was there more to it?
Caden sighs. “If that guy is the ruler of Denver, it makes his warning all the more serious. You’d better tell Dino what you know of him.”
“Hmm, okay.” I move to stand, but he catches my arm.
“I didn’t mean now. It’s late.”
“Oh.” I sit back down, and he lets go of my arm.
We remain silent for a while until Caden asks, “How are things around here?”
I tell him about some of the discussions I’ve been a part of with our allies. In some I was only present as a listener, but in others I had a more active role.
“You love those boring things,” Caden says.
“I do.” For years, I witnessed conflicts solely resolved by violence, and I’m eager to be a part of any peaceful alternatives.
“I got a new letter from River,” I say. “I can let you read it.” Some of his letters are personal, but the latest one reads like a short story about what he and Josh were up to.
I have a new adventure for you, Finn! But first say hello to Nanny Spider for me.
Caden nods. “I’d like to read it. How many letters have you gotten from him so far?”
“Twenty-three.”
“Damn, that’s a lot of words.”
“He loves to share.” And he knows I’ll never get bored of his stories. It makes me feel good knowing there’s someone out there who spends time writing to me.
I meet Caden’s eyes and gather the courage to ask, “Is it okay for me to say that I’ve missed you?”
He seems surprised by my words. “You can say whatever you want, and you know that the feeling is mutual.”
I don’t know that, in fact, because Caden is hard to read and stingy with his words. Now that we’ve established that both of us missed each other, I don’t know what more to say. He’ll be out of here in a few days, and I’ll be left to worry when and whether he’ll be coming back.
I can’t go through that again just because I miss him.
“I’m going to sleep,” I say.
“Okay. I’ll look for you tomorrow.”
So we can be awkward with each other again?
I nod and leave his house.