Chapter 18

Sleet pattered on the rooftop throughout the night, and the melt formed puddles on the floor. Allie’s cinderblock mattress remained unaffected, tucked far enough in the corner that the roof’s slope funneled the ice and water mixture away. Unlike her, I sat on edge all night.

  Dan made sure I didn’t sleep. Although he never spoke, his eyes told me everything. Unfortunately for him, the shock of being caught wore off, and so did his posturing. We both waited for the other to make a move until the first sign of light lit the entrance.

  Chris woke and left the hovel, complaining about back pain and stiff joints like an old man. Twenty minutes later, Allie rolled on her side, yawning and stretching as if she spent the night in a five-star hotel.

  She slid from her sleeping bag, humming Christmas tunes and shivering. “Am I the last one up?”

  The sleet and snow overnight coated the ground with a thin layer of crunchy white ice. If you ignored the rubble and ruins, waking in a festive mood was easy enough.

  “We should leave soon.” Dan’s morning grunt matched the front he put up.

  Allie returned a cheery grin, but said nothing. Not only did she dress like she auditioned for a fall catalog, but she also slept peacefully through night. As if she dreamt of afternoons surrounded by wildflowers.

  “Did you check outside yet? I need to get ready.”

  “Chris went. I’ll head out now.” Dan glared in my direction, a warning shot, then left with my rifle in hand.

  Allie grabbed her bag and dug through a front pouch. A wooden detangling comb, scissors, toothbrush and toothpaste, moisturizer, and a small kit. I recognized a few of the shades.

  She closed her eyes and drooped her head. “The things I have to work with.”

  Layered blonde hair to her shoulders and impeccable makeup—she didn’t care that the world ended. On the base, people tried to hold on to a piece of their old lives. Allie’s was a morning routine.

  “Alright, let’s pop the top.” She reached below my chin and pulled at the strap despite my protests. “Oh, stop struggling. Let me see already.”

  We fought back and forth, but after she showed no signs of letting up, I gave in. I found out Allie trained as a makeup artist before everything crashed. A pixie cut and a nod of approval later, she packed her things away and handed me a mirror. I didn’t look.

  Dan returned with Chris, carrying the scent and chill of winter with them to the enclosed space. A road atlas in his hand. Allie finished her routine and turned her attention to the maps while Chris heated a few cans of stew.

  “If we travel here,” Dan whispered, drawing a line with his fingers and trying his best to keep his voice too low for me to hear. “We can get there in maybe five or six days.”

  “Sixty or seventy miles according to this, right?” Allie didn’t bother hiding what she said. Dan took a deep breath and exhaled slowly.

  “Why don’t you just leave a note with directions to our location.” He closed the book and walked out, but didn’t make it far.

  “Dan, bring that map back now.” Her hum disappeared, and Dan didn’t dare take a step further. He was stronger than her, but he hadn’t opposed her yet. Not in any meaningful way.

  “And what about her?” Dan asked. “Are you gonna risk her talking about us?”

  “Talking to who? Who’s coming? Get over it. Nobodies sending out a team to capture us, Dan. Not for a few people.” Allie slipped a gray beanie on her head, and Dan gave her the map. “She’s coming anyways. Right?”

  Scabs picked off the last group I traveled with until no one remained. When too many of us bunched together, we drifted between locations, spending most of our time searching for supplies. “I’m. I’m not sure that a good idea. It might be hard with everyone.”

  Allie walked to me and grabbed my hands, but she didn’t use her ability again. Instead, she offered a reassuring smile and a tug at my fingers. “We’re all going to Albany; let’s go together.”

  Dan scowled, but she ignored him. Allie and Chris were siblings, and Dan, her older cousin by six years. She claimed fights with Dan were common, so she used her ability to deescalate the problem. Chris never challenged her dominant role as the older sister; he obeyed on instinct.

  Dan stooped and rubbed the back of his neck. “It’s not smart telling people where we’re going. Or bringing her with us.”

  Allie placed a hand on her hip and used the other to rub her forehead. “She’s coming from the north, we’re coming from the west, and the Breach is coming soon. Doesn’t take a genius to figure out where everyone’s headed.”

  We all bet on Albany, and none of us knew if the fortress existed. There was nothing else. The stories may have been just that, stories, but the soldiers believed. And at the very least, their convoy went in that direction.

  “Why don’t we just go down the freeway? It’s the quickest way.” Chris wiped his fingers on his pants and pointed the route South.

  “No, it’s too open. It’s not like the plateau.” Dan shook his head at the suggestion, nixing the idea. “We need to avoid this stretch of towns and highways as much as possible.”

  “You came from the west, right?” I removed the pamphlets from my bag. A waterfall lit with blue and pink lights two hundred feet below ground. “Did you pass the caverns?”

  Allie took the flyer, and the sparkle she had earlier dulled. “There was a shelter, but—”

  “It collapsed,” Dan interrupted her flat voice. “Just a grave now, so forget it.”

  If the cavern collapsed, everyone below would have died, but it didn’t sound like the entire story. They most likely saw something or lost someone they didn’t want to talk about. I left it alone. There was no point digging into it further unless they caused the cave-in, which I doubted.

  They had traveled northeast, avoiding the turnpike and cities to the south. Along the way, they marked X’s on places to avoid. Towns, routes, and highways. They crossed anything dangerous and labeled territories where they passed scabs. A circle with an X marked the caverns.

  Dan placed his finger on the map and traced a route. “We’ll go east, cut down through here.”

  He mapped a path halfway between Vermont and us. State and county roads through sparsely populated areas where encounters were less likely. I didn’t know the region, but no large towns showed on the map. It did, however, present another issue. Rivers. And not the kind I nearly drowned in.

  Dan took a pen and circled areas with crossings. “These three are small, probably streams, so we can wade through them. But these I’m not sure. We’ll check for bridges or get a boat.”

  If the trip came down to a boat, I probably wouldn’t continue with them. Allie was nice, and I wanted to believe she wasn’t acting, but rivers weren’t empty, and boats tipped. Dan looked like the type that wouldn’t care if I floated downstream. He cared about his family, not me.

  We spent the rest of the time going over details, potential stops, and ambush locations. I only learned about it from Andy, but Allie shared brutal stories of Greer’s people. Their plan to unify humanity and bring them back to a position of superiority. It sounded great until you remembered Alton Greer, a cult leader, was at the head of the project.

  Before we left, Allie made Dan return my weapons. He refused to yield the ammunition belt, though. One shot in the rifle, and one in the pistol. More than enough, according to him.

  “You should clean this once in a while.” Dan loaded a round in what he called a magazine and chastised me over the gun’s condition. “Pretty standard 700, three o eight, with a three by nine scope. Guessing this thing’s seen its share of whitetail.”

  I didn’t understand what he said other than the binocular was a scope, and the gun killed deer.

  With everyone packed, we waited for Dan to search the area and tell us it was clear. He didn’t trust the alert in my helmet. Detectors failed, and they gave a false sense of security according to him. Not every monster would trigger the system, and he wanted to be certain before leaving.

  On our way out, I still couldn’t picture the city for what it once was. Bricks and glass peeked from beneath the white blanket, and walking through the debris became twice as difficult. The town was probably the ideal mix between rural and urban at one time. Picket fence houses and family-owned businesses next to chain restaurants and factories. Not the worst place to grow up.

  The ice-topped snow crunched below our feet on the route out and created a record of every step we took. Despite Dan’s grumbling, the only thing we could do is hope the temperature rose before someone saw our tracks.

  Coated leaves beneath the trees sparkled red and yellow, and the wind surrounded us with the groans of oaks and maples weighed down by their icy branches. If the sun broke through, the world would glisten, and we’d go snow blind.

  Allie hooked her arm in mine and whispered in my ear. “So, what’s your ability? You already know ours.”

  Allie altered moods and planted suggestions. Dan masked his output when needed, fooling sensors and hiding his presence. And Chris could heat anything he touched. A good friend to have in the cold. But none of them understood how they did it. Most of us didn’t unless you joined the studies.

  Were they good people? Were they tricking me? If I told them, would they use it against me? Part of me felt guilty about not sharing. The other part wanted to talk to someone about everything that happened—at least the details I could share.

  “I, I can manipulate essence.”

  “Oh, so you frontlined or something?” Allie opened a cookie package and took a bite. Like the day before, she fell into a daze.

  “No. No, I didn’t fight.” I waved my hands to remove the idea. “I wasn’t a frontliner, but I knew a few.”

  She nodded her head and turned back to see how far Dan lagged. “Strange. I thought all essence manipulators worked for the state. Dan used to work with them. Kind of like a spy on other groups. Mostly The Order.”

  Priests overwhelmingly opposed joining The Order, but a Papal Proclamation brought many onboard. Even if only a minority succumbed to the pressure, that meant thousands. And somehow, they grew quicker than everyone in strength. Governments worried about how strong they had become.

  Allie waved to Dan and called him over. He mouthed the word “no,” but eventually caught up once we stopped. Chris dropped the large packs from his back, rubbing his shoulders and stretching his neck. Of all of us, he carried the most weight.

  “Dan, tell her what you learned about The Order. Tell her about the tithe. It’s crazy how efficient they were, Amy.” Allie’s face glowed, and she could hardly hold still.

  I never heard rumors, but she looked so excited it rubbed off on me.

  Dan sighed as if exhausted from telling the story. “Wouldn’t she know already? Priest hat, priest mace, and priest vest—only Order members have that equipment.”

  “I’m not a priest,” I barked. Wearing their gear was bad enough already. The last thing I needed was someone believing I belonged to the Order.

  “Well, whatever. It’s not like it matters anymore. And plenty of people knew about it.” He put his pack down and used his hand to melt the ice on his beard. “Backed churches tithed essence. Members signed these pacts, and the church threatened them with excommunication if they spoke out.”

  I knew people donated money, but I had no idea what an essence donation was.

  Unable to hold herself back, Allie jumped in. “The church changed donations to ten percent of your equilibrium essence. Said it would strengthen the armies of God. The frontliners had no chance.”

  Everyone had an equilibrium. An amount of essence that the soul absorbed naturally, and once the absorption rate matched the decay, equilibrium was met. But it was on the order of gram fractions, even for the largest soul’s.

  “But how did they do that? Did they?” I didn’t finish. I didn’t want to think the church would do something so terrible.

  “Huh? Don’t tell me... don’t you know how essence manipulation works?” Allie’s eyes bulged, and her body tensed. “It can’t be that you don—”

  “Obviously, she doesn’t.” Dan cut her off, took a sip of water, and explained. “If someone lets you, you can siphon essence from them. Priests collected and transferred. Frontliners did too, but they couldn’t compete number wise. The church ran a mass collection scam on their followers. Strengthened their elite, sold some on the side, and traded for favors.”

  “I thought beasts had to die before their essence came out.” I never heard of transferring essence or bribes. Mike didn’t tell me anything, at least. I could pull it from a person’s soul with my ability, but only a tiny amount after a lot of effort. Stitching was different, it was painful, and it meant death.

  “Well, dead things can’t resist, so that’s easier,” Dan replied frankly. “We can’t pull essence. Allie and Chris are at equilibrium. In a year, I’ll run through the transfer the military gave me.”

  That was true for everyone. If I didn’t absorb more, my soul would revert to the fifth breach equilibrium, but the forced layers remained. Allie, Chris, and Dan could strengthen themselves with what they had, but they couldn’t pull more. They couldn’t interact with essence outside their bodies.

  None of us were strong, not anywhere near a frontliner or priest, anyway. I didn’t gain as much strength as I hoped for during my time in the mountains. Killing anything stronger than the raccoon was hard, and Allie had the same worries as me. Fortresses meant safety from beasts, not other people.

  “Amy. Hey, Amy.” Allie pulled my head to her, tapping on my visor, and floated an idea loud enough for only us to hear.

  I turned back to Chris and Dan, who were preparing to leave again. My stomach tightened, and I couldn’t respond. Would it really work the way she thought? Or was I better off alone? I didn’t know. But I wasn’t against using Dan as bait.

UYScuti

A bit more about the world and about the characters. Things are going to pick up as the next breach draws near. Leave any thoughts below, and thanks for reading to this point.