18. Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Eighteen
Charon
The scent of desperation reaches my nose before the boat even fully stops.
Aster’s Hollow sits beneath a layer of fog, smoke curling from the smelter's stacked chimneys. The surrounding water shimmers with traces of oil and ash, clinging to the edges of the dock like rot.
It's quieter than usual. Miners move around like ghosts, their skin pale and sun-starved. A boy, no older than thirteen, drags a rusted ore cart behind him, the wheels groaning eerily.
Near the smoke stack, remnants of an old church still stand, charred and half-collapsed. On its walls, scrawled in thick black paint, are the words, “O thánatos ta niká óla.”
Death conquers all.
Someone added tally marks beneath it, hundreds or thousands, keeping track of their dead. Somewhere underground, buried in the mines, are miles and miles of graves. Did Hector ever add anyone to those marks? Was there someone here he cared for?
I stay seated near the bow, hunched forward with my arms braced on my knees as the soldiers begin lifting sacks onto the dock. The miners line up on the bank, their faces gaunt and stained with sweat. Most of them are kids.
Rita drops one of the ration bags onto the deck at her feet, kicking it hard. “Our illustrious Judge is in a good mood today. Double supplies to those who produced the most product since our last drop.”
My eyes narrow on a young man approaching with a cart full of bullets, silver gleaming beneath layers of soot.
Last time I was here, the soldiers weren’t loading silver, they were loading bodies .
I remember them all herded onto the boat, dirty and hollow-eyed.
Petty thieves, runners, those whose age had started to show.
Some wept, a few begged for their lives.
And in the middle of it all was a small, stubborn man with eyes like forest storms, chin raised in defiance.
Hector .
He hadn’t been crying, like most of the others, or bargaining. He’d been seething .
It’s that look that drew me to him. The defiance behind those eyes, even when a soldier grabbed him by the hair and shoved him onto the boat before knocking him unconscious. That was the moment I noticed him, before he even had a name .
All I can think about is getting back to Zone T, where I hope he'll be waiting for me. Every few seconds, I scan the sky for some sign from Nyx that he's safe.
My knuckles ache from how tightly I’ve been gripping the rail. The cold bite of salty air does little to clear the storm in my chest that's been growing since the truck carrying Hector disappeared. Every crack and creak of the boat sounds like a warning bell. Too much time has passed.
Rita wipes her forehead with the edge of her sleeve, grinning at the crates of silver bullets and coins. “This lot was better than last time. We should withhold rations more often.”
My stomach churns at the thought of these children working themselves to death for things they could easily get themselves, if not for the Judge, but I give her nothing in response.
“We’re running behind, let's bring the rest up the coast.”
Still, I don't move, just stare out across the muck-slicked water, where the mountains loom in the distance. Come on, Nyx. Please.
Rita clicks her tongue but doesn’t press further, clearly deeming me not worth her time.
The soldiers start piling in, and I finally force myself to my feet with heavy legs.
As they secure the supplies in place, I cast one more glance back at Aster’s Hollow, at the sagging tents and cracked cabins, the sallow cheeks and bent backs.
Every face that boards this boat gets remembered, even if they don’t survive long enough to step off it again.
Closing my eyes, I remember Hector’s face as he was dragged aboard, the way he looked at the prison walls when he first saw them, as if he was already planning on tearing them down .
That same fire had been in his eyes before he left, locked in that barrel like a secret weapon. Every nerve in my body longs to see him again, to know he's alright.
A flutter of wings cuts through the smog, and my eyes snap open to spot Nyx high above, diving sharply toward me with an anxious caw.
I push past the soldiers and hold out my arm before she lands hard, talons biting into my flesh. Her feathers are ruffled, blood crusted at the edge of her beak.
Her black eyes blink slowly as she cocks her head. “Gone.”
My blood runs cold, and I stagger back a step, my heart cracking in agony. No.
“All gone.”
The dock, the crates, the smoke all vanish behind the deafening roar in my ears.
Dead. Hector’s dead.
Nyx flutters to my shoulder, but I barely feel her. My knees hit the deck, and I don't even notice until splinters dig into my palms, lungs struggling to work. Rita shouts something, but I can't hear it over my thundering pulse.
He can’t be. He was supposed to come back. He promised .
A soft croak comes from my shoulder as Nyx nuzzles into my jaw, but I turn my face away. If she saw it with her own eyes…if she’s saying it, then it has to be true. She’s never lied, not about death.
My chest caves in as the thought slices through me like a blade.
Hector is gone. He's never coming back. They took another soul from me.
Rising slowly—too slowly for anyone to notice—my muscles grow taut with rage. Everything turns red as I stare at the soldiers still loading crates onto the boat.
Rita turns just in time to see the look on my face, her brows rising. “Charon?”
I snatch the nearest soldier by the collar and slam his head into the railing so hard his skull cracks. He collapses with a scream as the others scramble, hands reaching for their guns.
Another one rushes me, but I knock the rifle from her hands and drive my fist into her throat, roaring as she crumples to the ground.
“He’s gone rogue!”
“What the fuck is happening?!”
Copper floods my mouth, the scent of blood filling the air. Someone yells my name, but it’s distant, muffled as I throw a body to the floor and stomp until bones break skin.
They took him from me. The prison. The soldiers. The Judge . Just like they've taken everything else. There's nothing left for me in this world.
Two more come at me when I pick up an empty cart, catching one in the head with my swing before an electric shock ripples through my body. They deploy their tasers with enough force to drop me, but I lunge again, only to be hit with another wave of volts that tears a guttural scream from my throat.
I slam against the deck, convulsing as Nyx shrieks in rage above me. She swoops at their faces, but they've outnumbered us.
“Don't shoot! Restrain him! ”
Pain blinds me enough that my heart gives a painful thump, knocking me flat on my back. The last thing I see before darkness takes me is the sky above, grey and empty. Void of color or sound, miles of silence stretching overhead. Just like my life.
The world's already forgotten us both , and Hector's memory will curse me until my dying breath.