Chapter 16 #3
The man stops next to one of the rooms and gestures for us to enter.
We step into what seems like a playroom with old toys and a dusty television.
There are posters of cartoons on the walls, but I can’t tell if they were from television shows or from books.
Maybe both. I go over to the bookstand at the side of the room and scan the books, stopping when I find one with stories about Greek mythology.
We have similar books in Unity, and now I remember why the name Hector sounded familiar.
“Is this where he picked up his name?” I ask, holding up the book.
“Yes. This was Paul’s favorite story. He loved Hector’s bravery, despite his tragic ending.”
“What was in there?” River asks, pointing at a glass cage with little rocks inside.
“They had lizards as pets. Paul was their keeper.”
The dots connect in my head, but there are still gaps between the child Paul and the cruel man who now rules over Denver.
“Did Hector send the lizard men here?” I ask.
“They arrived a few years ago and tried to attack, but we can be deadly. Now they roam at a safe distance and keep visitors away, though people rarely try to come here.”
“Why would Hector want to attack you?” Josh asks as he looks at a poster of a smiling mouse with white gloves.
“We have tried to ask Paul through our faint connection with him, but he refused to speak with us. Perhaps he views us as a threat. We are the last link to his past after all.”
“We need to take him down,” Josh says, facing the man in the yellow substance. “He holds our friend captive, and he’s planning something that will likely get many people killed.”
“We’re sorry to hear that, but we do not wish to harm Paul.”
Josh takes a step closer, fists clenched. “This bacteria you’re in has helped him stay alive for all these years and gave him powers. You can’t pretend you’re not partly responsible for his actions.”
The man goes quiet for a few moments before saying, “Your claim is thought-provoking. How far does one’s responsibility extend, and for how long?”
“Until you clean up your mess.”
The man turns around and walks toward the door. “We will consider your request, though we do not have a magic cure. Best to keep your expectations in check.”
We follow him to the cafeteria, where he steps into the yellow substance and merges with it.
“You may walk around if you wish,” the man says, his voice once more coming from different directions. “We are in disagreement at the moment. It’s been a long time since we had an important decision to make. You will be informed once we’ve made up our minds.”
I hope we don’t have to wait long, but I’m mostly worried they don’t have a real way of helping us. That would leave us more informed than before, but still without a way to fight Hector.
We walk outside of the facility, and we can no longer see the lizard men. The sun is still high in the sky, but it won’t stay there for long. We take food from our backpacks and eat as we walk around the area, making sure not to wander too far.
“That bacteria thing should freak me out, but I guess I’ve seen too much to care,” Buck says before taking a swig of his beer. I don’t like the idea of our pilot drinking alcohol, but maybe it takes a lot more to affect him.
Josh sits on a rusty bench. “I don’t care what that thing is—I just want to know how it can help us.”
“Sometimes knowledge can be a deadly weapon by itself,” Timothy says, which is a very Timothy thing to say. “You need to use it wisely, like you used your knowledge of River’s secret mission to trick Ivan and take down the New-Humans.”
Josh nods gravely. “It was a do-or-die situation, and it did end up with death. Well, a temporary one.”
River sits next to him. “Please don’t make fun of my death. I’m very sensitive.”
Josh laughs. “You’re horrible.” They kiss, sparking the familiar pang of jealousy in my chest.
I look around, not spotting even a single lizard man in the distance. “Where do you think they’ve been staying?”
“Sewers,” River says. “I smelled it on them.”
That explains why we didn’t notice them before we landed.
“How do you think Hector made them? Or maybe he found them and made them obey him?” There are many parts of the old United States we know nothing about.
It’s anyone’s guess what befell them after Doomsday.
There could be a nation ruled by lizard men for all we know.
“I’ve no idea where he could’ve gotten them,” Buck says. “Never seen or heard of them until recently.”
“It doesn’t mean they weren’t out there,” Timothy says. “We’ve never seen anything like our friends in that factory before today.”
Buck shrugs. “I wouldn’t hurry to call them friends just yet. They’re likely to be more loyal to Paul than to a bunch of strangers.”
“Your concern is valid, large man.”
We jolt at the unexpected sound, looking around us for the source until we spot three small yellow puddles on the ground.
“Why don’t you look like the one from before?” I ask.
“The three of us have volunteered to join you. We are in an energy-conservation state to prolong our lives. Rest assured, we can still communicate with the rest of our shared organisms.”
“Does that mean you’re going to help us?” I ask, not sure what they’re offering.
“Within reason. We accept your claim that Paul has grown dangerous, but we will need more information to make a decisive decision. Accompanying you will be the first step.”
I hoped for more, but I’m in no position to argue at the moment. “How can we take you with us?”
“We should fit inside a bottle for now. Do not expect us to remain communicative since it will be a waste of our energy.”
I take an empty bottle of water and crouch down. “You can try fitting into this. Our chopper isn’t far from here.”
“We’re afraid we won’t be traveling in your chopper,” the substance says as it slides toward the bottle in a single puddle instead of three.
“Why not?” I ask. “It’s not far, and we should have—”
I fall back at the deafening roar of an explosion. A massive fireball rises to the sky, coloring everything in bright orange. My skin grows hot from the heat.
“What the fuck happened?” Buck shouts, but I can barely hear him through the ringing in my ears.
“Paul’s friends were careless,” the substance says and slides into the bottle. “We believe that one of them tried to eat a missile, causing the unfortunate explosion.”
I pick up the bottle with shaky hands. It weighs more than I expected.
River helps me back to my feet and says, “I think the explosion killed most of them.”
I watch the rising smoke, and it dawns on me what this means. “It will take us days to get back to Florence.”
“It sure the fuck will,” Buck grumbles and begins walking. “We’re not going to get there any faster by staying here.”
I feel like screaming. We came here to find a way to help Caden, but this is going to set us back, and we don’t even know if what we found can truly help us.
Josh puts his arm around my shoulders. “I hate this too, but Caden will need to hold on for a bit longer.”
I stop myself from saying that for a Defender at the hands of Raiders, a bit longer can feel like a lifetime. But there is nothing I can do about it now, so I walk with the rest, carrying with me what I pray will be worth the trouble.