26
The truth obliterates us all.
Khalani’s mouth hung open. The organ in her chest wasn’t racing. It had stopped beating entirely.
She kept staring at the picture. The girl had the same oval face, nose, lips, and smile. Even the expression in her glimmering eyes matched what Khalani stared at in the mirror.
But it wasn’t her.
It couldn’t be.
She lifted her gaze to Winnie and Takeshi, searching for assurance. Waiting for one of them to agree that the picture meant nothing.
It was pure coincidence that the girl looked like her.
There were a lot of people in the world who looked alike.
But Winnie’s face had gone pale, her body frozen. Takeshi barely breathed beside her. His dark eyes were cemented on the photo, studying every minute detail. And when he shifted his focus back to Khalani, she saw the answer in his tense expression.
“No.” She flicked her hand. “Th-that…that is obviously fake.”
“Khalani,” Winnie whispered.
It was the first time Winnie had ever looked at her with fear. Not for herself, but for Khalani.
Derek walked over to see the photo for himself.
“I don’t understand.” He looked up. “Why is there a picture of you in here?”
“It’s not fucking me!”
“Kanes.” Takeshi took a slow step toward her, cautious, as if she were one breath away from exploding. “Just calm down.”
“Calm down. You want me to calm down?!” she reiterated in disbelief.
Her legs started to wobble, nearly collapsing. Takeshi moved to catch her, the lines of his face etched in deep concern, but she held up her palm.
She couldn’t handle anyone holding her.
She could barely hold herself.
“Do you really believe that’s me in the photo?” she asked him point-blank.
“I…I don’t know, Kanes.”
“Of course, you don’t know. You don’t fucking know or remember anything.”
“Khalani,” Winnie reprimanded.
Takeshi flinched, the words hitting him like daggers, but he didn’t lash out like she wanted. He kept a tight leash on his emotions, which only pissed her off more.
“I know you’re upset,” he said in a calm voice. “But we need to leave before the Chief comes back. We’ll go back to the house and figure everything out. Together.”
“Together?” she scoffed. “Since when are we together? I see your back more than I ever see your face. Why should I give one damn what you have to say?”
“I deserve that.” Takeshi breathed harshly. “And you can hate me all you want. But now is not the time. We have to get out of here.”
“That’s not going to happen,” the Chief said, stepping through the door with her gun drawn. She took in the scene, and when she noticed the album in Khalani’s hand, her expression fell.
“What did Ansel tell you?” she sighed.
“The truth,” Khalani hissed. “That you’re liars.”
“You’ve been spying on us the whole time. How could you do that to us?” Derek shouted, the betrayal thick in his voice.
“I won’t apologize for protecting my people,” the Chief stated.
Takeshi was rigid beside her, his gaze centered on the Chief.
And the exit behind her.
“What do you have to say about this?” Khalani lifted the album.
“You wouldn’t understand.”
“No! You need to explain.” She trembled, losing what was left of her sanity, not caring that a loaded gun was pointed at her. “Why is there a picture of you from over three hundred years ago? And why the fuck is there a photo in here that looks like me?”
“You?” The Chief’s brows pulled together. “I…I don’t know. I was instructed not to look in the black album.”
“By who?” Takeshi demanded.
“I can’t answer that.”
He clearly had had enough and took an aggressive step forward, but the Chief cocked the gun.
Not at him. But at Khalani. And it halted Takeshi right in his tracks.
“I didn’t want it to be this way,” the Chief pleaded, genuine regret spilling from her shaky voice. “We kept our secrets because we needed to. When I told Ansel the truth, it started a war. I couldn’t risk any more deaths. I’m sorry.”
“Just tell us what it means!” she bellowed.
But even if the Chief did, Khalani didn’t know what the truth even looked like anymore. The nature of her reality shifted like grains of sand through her fingers.
“You can trust us,” Winnie said to the Chief, her voice soft and steady.
“I’m afraid it’s too late for that.”
The Chief slowly backed toward the exit, still keeping the gun trained on them. “Now, Patreus!” she yelled.
Gas canisters were suddenly tossed through the doorway, spewing smoke as the Chief left the darkened room. The four of them ran to the exit, but the metal door was sealed shut. A foul, sulfuric scent permeated the air as they banged and screamed.
“Let us out!”
“Please!”
But the Chief didn’t answer.
Winnie and Derek started coughing violently, and she heard a loud thump. Khalani turned as Winnie fell to the floor, unconscious.
“Winnie!” She tried to lift her up, but Winnie was dead weight in her arms.
Khalani’s eyes watered as she coughed, covering her mouth. Smoke filled the windowless room, and in the next moment, Derek slumped to the ground as well.
“Derek!” she cried.
Takeshi rammed his shoulder furiously against the metal door. He punched and kicked. But even with his incredible strength, the door refused to budge. When her wails hit his ears, he immediately ran to her.
In one swift movement, he pulled his shirt over his head and covered her mouth and nose. His warm scent brought momentary comfort, but smoke ravaged her throat and chest.
“Try not to breathe it in, Kanes.” He coughed as well, but his focus was solely on her, not himself.
He gathered her into his arms and pulled her to the corner of the room farthest from the canisters, but by that point, her vision was starting to blacken.
“No, no. Come on.” He tapped her cheeks, his eyes frantic. “Stay with me.”
She wanted to stay with him.
God, she wanted that more than anything.
But her mind and body were slipping, and she was helpless to stop it. The last thing she saw was a tear rolling down his shadowed face before darkness swallowed her whole.
* * *
“Khalani, dear.”
The soft voice, like a distant melody, drifted to her.
“Wake up.”
Her eyes snapped open. She was sitting on the floor of a cool, dim room, a single lamp dangling over her head precariously.
“Winnie?” She blinked, searching for one ray of hope in the darkness.
“Over here.” Winnie’s voice came from the other side of the room, seated in front of a pole.
Khalani immediately shifted forward, but her shoulders were jerked back. She winced and realized she was chained to a pipe just like Winnie.
Takeshi and Derek were nowhere to be found.
She scanned the small space for an exit, and when she spotted the rickety staircase, Khalani groaned, banging her head back against the bar.
“What is it, Khalani? Do you know where we are?” Winnie desperately asked.
“When we first came to Desert Spring, they interrogated us in here.”
“What do you think’s going to happen?”
“I don’t know. We need to get out of these chains and find the others.” She pulled on the bindings again, gritting her teeth as her shoulders twisted painfully.
They had to escape.
She needed to warn her family. Khalani had no idea how long they’d been asleep, but Ansel was attacking tonight. If they didn’t raise the gate, he’d find a way to get over the walls and kill them all.
She yanked harder on the chains, dangerously close to dislocating her shoulder again, when rugged boots descended the stairs.
Her stomach clenched as the Chief dropped to the bottom step. She was alone, weaponless, save for the wooden chair she dragged behind her.
Khalani stiffened, mentally preparing herself for the worst, having lived through unimaginable pain at the hands of Doctor Strauss.
But with Winnie tied up too…
The Chief’s face was grim as she walked to the center of the room and set the chair down, a heavy sigh escaping her, like an endless weight settled on her shoulders.
“Where are the others?” Khalani asked, unable to withhold the panic from her voice.
“Patreus and the guards are watching over them.”
“I swear if you hurt them—”
“We never had any such intention,” the Chief snapped, offended. “That’s not how we were raised.”
Her brows rose incredulously. “And how exactly were you raised?”
The Chief hesitated as she slowly sat, head bowed, elbows on her knees, squeezing her hands together. Silence emanated through the room, and Winnie was the one to break it.
“You don’t seem that different from us. But you are, aren’t you?”
“I wish I could say no.” The Chief’s lip twisted. “But the longer I stay here, I realize we’re more alike than it was ever intended to be.”
Winnie frowned, but didn’t speak another word, like she was afraid the slightest whisper would prevent the Chief from giving them answers.
“I want to tell you a story.” The Chief finally lifted her gaze, weathered and broken. “I know you have a lot of questions, but I only ask that you hear what I have to say.”
Khalani would rather watch the Chief impale herself on a sword than hear anymore lies. But in their tight bindings, they had no choice but to sit and listen.
“I was twenty-one years old the first time I died.”
The Chief’s gaze grew faraway and distant, as if she were remembering a world they’d only read about in history books.
“Before the Great Collapse, I grew up in a tiny community outside Las Vegas. I had a family. A sister. A dog. I had dreams, though…I don’t remember what they were anymore.”
She swallowed, her voice dripped in melancholy.
“But I remember going to college and returning home when the war started.
There were protests. Massive raids. Banks closed overnight.
And when the President sent troops into the cities and started killing our own people, I remember the panic setting in.
It was unclear who sent the missiles first. My sister told me theories of our own country setting nukes on the West to rid themselves of their true opposition.
But then, the attacks happened everywhere.
When black dust covered the sun, we all knew it was the end.