Chapter 16
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
BEE
Frightened, tired faces fill the old service station that we’ve chosen for the night. Everyone is exhausted from the long day on the road, but there is hope too. We’re one day down, no attacks or casualties, and we have a roof over our heads.
The reapers and watchers have organized an internal patrol while the devolved patrol outside.
We’re as safe as we can be, for now.
While Mira gets everyone settled and fed, I join Bastian at the back of the building in a small storeroom, where he’s going through some boxes left over by the previous occupants, looking for supplies.
“Anything?”
“Nothing worth getting excited about.” He shoves a box away from him with an exasperated sigh which I’m certain has nothing to do with the lack of viable goods in the boxes, and his next words confirm my suspicion.
“I can’t stop wondering if she’s okay. The monsters come from that place, and she’s gone there. ”
I’ve been thinking the same thing. All I can do to console him is repeat the words I’ve been saying to myself ever since we left the church. “She has watchers with her. Gabriel too. They’ll protect her. I mean, can you see anything getting past them?”
He pinches the bridge of his nose. “I just…I should be with her.”
“No, you shouldn’t. You just want to, and I get that. I wish I could be with her too. Being here…making this journey, important as it is, feels like being on hold.”
His gaze darts up to meet mine. “That’s exactly it. I feel like we’re on pause. Waiting.”
“We have a purpose too. Once we get to this base, you can see what’s on the flash drive…”
“Yes.” His jaw hardens. “Find out what the fucking Dominion is hiding.”
This, sorting through boxes is a distraction. A way to keep his mind from dwelling on the woman he loves. I don’t blame him. Our Rue walked into the belly of the beast, and we can do nothing but wait to see if she’s devoured or manages to cut her way out.
I grab a box. “We’ll get through these faster if we work together.”
He offers me a small smile that says he knows exactly what I’m doing but doesn’t call me out.
We get to work in companionable silence, and for a little while, the world feels like less of a fucked-up place.
An hour passes quickly, and we’re on the last storage unit of boxes when I notice a seam in the wall behind the unit. “Bastian, I think there’s a door back here.”
He stops what he’s doing to join me, peering into the gloom behind the shelves. “You’re right. I think there is.”
My curiosity is piqued, and I can see that his is too.
What’s behind the door? Why is it sealed? “Monsters?”
“This unit doesn’t look like it’s been moved for…well, years.” He swipes at the thick layer of dust and grime, then points at the rusted bolts that hold it to the wall. “Well before the monsters came.”
“Then, what?”
His eyes fill with the light of mischief. “Should we?”
“It might not be monsters, but it could still be dangerous. Why hide it otherwise?”
He arches a brow. “Valuable?”
“Money and jewels hardly matter in our world.”
“True, but…wouldn’t it be nice to know?”
I can’t lie. I’m intrigued. “Fine. But we should have backup before we—”
“Wait here.” He hurries off but is back a few minutes later with Erelim, Tumiel, and Sarq. “Now we have backup.”
It takes fifteen minutes to get the unit off the wall and expose the hidden door. The door is locked and bolted, but neither measure is any match for the watchers. The door pops open, and musty air spills out.
We back up as Erelim takes the lead, his scythe glowing to light up the room beyond. It illuminates a short set of stone steps and a stone floor and the back of something large and metallic.
Erelim descends the short flight and holds out his scythe to illuminate the back of a large vehicle, studded with metallic spikes. “What the—”
There’s a whirr, and then the lights come on, illuminating the whole room, which is filled with crates. In the middle of it sit two repurposed minibuses. Huge off-road wheels, viscous bumpers, and spikes all over their body.
“Fuck…” Bastian steps forward. “Someone was preparing. Someone knew what was coming.”
Tumiel cracks open a crate. “Non-perishables,” he says.
Supplies…This whole room is filled with supplies.
Bastian finds his way under the hood of the nearest bus. “Built to take a variety of fuel. This baby is perfect.”
“Keys?” Tumiel asks.
Bastian yanks on the door, his expression tight, as if he’s afraid it’ll be locked and we’ll have to smash a window, but it opens with a pop. He dives in, and long seconds pass before he calls out, “Found them. Under the seat.”
He emerges, keys in hand, a huge grin on his face, and the mood feels immediately lighter.
“Someone planned but never got to execute it,” Tumiel says.
“How could they have known?” Bastian asks. “There was no warning. Nothing.”
“There are those who can see,” Erelim says.
“Prophets, blessed with a direct line to God. In the old days, when man was new, people revered the prophets. But as man evolved, as society moved toward technology, science became the new god, and the connection between a prophet and the heavens grew weaker.”
“If that’s the case, if whoever did this was a prophet, it means that God knew what was about to happen, and instead of stopping it, he sent a message to some man or woman knowing full well that no one would fucking believe them.”
“What happened to the prophet, do you think?” Tumiel asks in a small voice. “After all their preparation…”
He or she was obviously dead. This place, locked up tight and abandoned, was proof of that.
“Their efforts won’t go to waste,” Bastian says. “We’ll load up with as many supplies as we can and drive ourselves to base zero. Better to come bearing gifts, right?”
The use of the vehicles would take a day off our journey. Now all we had to hope was that the occupants of base zero honored their connection to Gabriel and let us in.