Chapter Twenty Six
“This newest discovery may be our greatest hope yet. We’re calling him ‘The Father’. He is an infected priest found outside Larkspur who’s heightened intelligence has persisted. Further study may show us how to reverse HBRS-15.21, or at least control its effects. I will personally examine him.”
–Dr Ava Sherman. Cheyenne Mountain, Colorado. 3 Months After.
* * *
“You don’t have to do this,” Nelly said.
Liam shoved his plastic green canteen into the bag. “Have you seen the flares?”
“Liam, please.”
He dug through their prepper closet with a grunt. Leave it to Nelly to move my stuff around. Was it really so hard to just keep things where they were!?
“The car will be here soon,” he explained. “If I’m not out that door and on my way to Santa Monica when it arrives, they’re going to lock down the airport for good, then there will be no way I’ll crack the world record before the premiere.”
She stood obstinate. “This has nothing to do with breaking any records. ‘World’s Fastest Single-Man Aerial Circumnavigation.’ Seriously? The studio’s added so many extra qualifiers that they might as well just say that you’re the only person anyone’s thrown a bucket of money at in the last decade. It’s all mass marketing.”
He grimaced. “I agree that it’s not as romantic as we first thought, but look on the bright side. I never thought I’d fly my own plane until a year ago, and now I’ll get to put my little stamp in the history books too.”
“Is that all this is? You getting to say ‘Liam Fenix isn’t just a TV celebrity and respected survivalist, but also the fastest man to cross the globe. Don’t forget to check out Season Five!’”
“Oh, bugger off, Nelly! That’s not what I meant, and you know it.”
She sighed. “I don’t know what to believe anymore.”
Liam rubbed his eyes. He could feel the argument coming. It was always about the same things. How he wasn’t home enough, and that she wanted more intimacy, and that Lilith was growing up without a father, and all sorts of other nonsense. There simply wasn’t enough time to rehash this mess yet again.
He took a deep breath. “I know the last few weeks have been a whirlwind, especially with the stuff happening out East, but we’ve almost made it through. I clear this record right here and now and they’re saying we’ll rake in more than two hundred percent our usual audience for the season. That’ll put me on the top, Nelly. The top. We’re talking late night talkshow appearances, book deals, documentaries about our time in Alaska, and tens of millions of dollars rolling in.” He glanced around their crumbling mess of a kitchen. “That’ll be enough to finally pack up from this dump, once and for all.”
“This dump was my mother’s, remember?”
“You know what I’m trying to say.”
Her eyes welled. “I do, and that’s what makes this so hard.” She blinked a tear away. “I want a divorce.”
As if a hot poker had been rammed through his heart, Liam stumbled back and dropped his bag.
Sure, they had been having their foibles. Every marriage had. But of all the shouting and slammed doors and passive aggressive calls, Nelly had never come anywhere close to this.
“You can’t be serious,” Liam said. “Why would you say something like that?”
“Because this isn’t a marriage! When I agreed to be your wife, it wasn’t just so I’d get to be your wife. We’re supposed to be in this together!”
A car-horn beeped outside, but Liam barely heard. “We still are, Nelly.”
“No, we aren’t. These past few years, you’ve run off every chance you could, and you’ve never once considered what I wanted.”
“Of course I have. Why do you think I’m doing all of this? It’s all for you, Nelly. You and Lilith. With all the money and the people I can hire with it, we’ll finally be able to break back out of this damned city and all its responsibilities, once and for all. Back out into the country, where we belong. That’s what we want, yeah?”
But she only hardened. “See? You’re only proving my point. That’s what you want, Liam. Not us. Lilith starts first grade in a week. All she cares about is getting through her first day without crying. All I care about is making sure that happens. Where are you in all this?” She grit her teeth. “That’s why I have to do this, Liam. I can’t keep living like this. I’m my own goddamned person, not some prop you sometimes pull out of the closet! I deserve to be free.” She sobbed. “Even if you can’t be there too.”
The car beeped louder, and again Liam ignored it. How foolish had he been? Nelly was right, and only now could he see it. His reputation and financial independence had exploded over the years. More than he had ever dreamed possible. Liam had traveled the world, braved unimaginable lands, and accomplished feats that would carry into the ages. His life was perfect, in every sense of the word.
But it had all come at a cost, and she was standing right in front of him. Nelly was as much a free spirit as he. That was why he’d always been so in love with her. She was the only other person in the world who could understand what true liberty meant. And yet, Liam had deprived her of everything they’d once held dear. All to sate his own hubris.
He grabbed her shoulders and squeezed, his throat weak. “Please, don’t leave me. I’ll do anything, Nelly! Anything you want!”
The tears burst free. “I can’t do this again! I can’t just let you string me along with another empty vow!”
The car honked with more urgency. Why couldn’t they give him a bloody minute!? Liam wanted nothing more than to grab a bat and smash that blasted wheel to pieces!
But he couldn’t break from this. Not now. “Nelly, please listen to me. I’m sorry! I’m so, so sorry for hurting you this way. I’ll quit the show! I’ll cancel every meeting! Whatever you ask, I’ll do it. Just don’t leave me!”
“I only want one thing, Liam,” she said. “You being here. That’s all it’s ever been about.”
“I can do that. Of course I can.”
She met him straight in the eyes, her old will rekindled. “Promise me, Liam. Promise you’ll come back home. Promise me that you won’t leave us for another interview or event or last-minute tour across the globe. Promise me that this trip will be your last, and you’ll be with us again. Not for a couple hours, or a couple days. For real.”
He leaned his head into hers, unblinking. “Nelly, my love. I promise I’ll come back. No matter what it takes.”
The car alarm blared, and Liam snapped out of the moment. His head was in a tempest, but he couldn’t delay anymore. Not without throwing this away too. He grabbed his bag and went for the door. No doubt the airport would have everything his pack still lacked.
Liam looked over his shoulder one last time. Nelly was still standing there, just as trapped in bewilderment as him.
“I promise,” he repeated.
And by God, did he mean it.
* * *
Aspen looked promising, all things considered. Unlike every other ruin they’d walked through, the lodges were no worse for wear. Most of the windows were still intact, and the pine walls were far from rotted out. The streets were littered with abandoned cars, but that was to be expected. Billboards pointing refugees to the government relief center had pocketed the road since they’d found it in the morning. No signs of soldiers or survivors met them though, even when they entered town.
Well, of course they’d have to abandon the outside. Liam had seen enough of the infection to know how dangerous it was. There’d be no reason for anyone to put in the risk.
They reached downtown. A great concrete blast wall had been erected, with modular frames bolted together, stretching for hundreds of yards in either direction. Locks anchored the chain-link fence gate, with an added tarp draped on top, and no way to see inside.
“We should be careful,” Liam suggested. “We don’t know who’s in there, or what they’ll think of you.”
“Uh huh,” Leah said before strolling farther down the street, out towards another entrance.
So much for me leading us. Leah had been growing more bold since they’d left the Clarks. Though she had allowed him to plot their course without complaint, she’d found a hundred moments to go against his recommendations. Her resolve was cast in steel yet again, and she only followed him by choice and not necessity. It was as if she’d been reborn on that farm and become a harder version of herself.
Liam shook his head. Whatever had happened could wait. He dared not broach the issue. Not when they were this close to Nelly.
Leah paused. The next gate was unlocked. And open.
Liam threw caution to the wind and ran inside, dropping his gear and ignoring the protests behind. He thrust the chain-link gate aside and floundered through. A sea of half-collapsed tents met him in an open field, as if they were multicolored tombstones in an endless, green graveyard. There were more tents than he could count. More than anyone could search in a lifetime!
Please, not here too. Hisses erupted from some of the tents as hollows spilled into view, but still Liam stumbled onward. He barely noticed as pings started sailing through the air, nor the hollows dropping as soon as they appeared. The shouting behind him was so close, and yet so very far away.
There had to be more to this place. Some inner protection, or bunker, or sign that would point him to her hiding spot. This was the place. It had to be!
As the last of the hollows died, Liam closed his eyes and took a long, deep breath. His mind found a semblance of clarity. “We should look around.”
“For what?” Leah asked.
“I don’t know… Some kind of list or manifest. They would’ve controlled intake somehow. If we can find where they’d been staying, we’ll find the next note that Nelly left for me. We just have to take a moment and collect ours–”
“Look around you!” Leah shouted. “You think this is just another stop on the road? No, Liam. This is where it ends. She’s dead!”
But Liam only shook his head. “No! You don’t know her like I do. She’d make it through this. She’d find a way out! We just have to figure out where she went next.”
He looked to Mastermind and Kurt for support, but neither were willing to face him.
Leah laughed, deep and malicious. “You know what you are, Liam? Just a fucking ghost that’s chasing ghosts. Nelly’s dead. She’s been dead this whole time. Little Lilith too. They both died, just like every other person you’ve ever known. Get the fuck over it already!”
Liam matched her laugh with his raucous own. Could she not see her own blindness? “Then point out the body, yeah? Show me exactly where she died, if you’re so brilliant! I want to see your proof!”
“You want to see proof? Sure, I’ll show you what happened to them.” She rifled through Liam’s pack and pulled out Thirsty. Before he could ask what she was doing, she placed his canteen on the ground and stomped a foot. Thirsty shattered to pieces. “There. Dead.”
Liam fell to his knees, and the air caught in his throat. Thirsty had been with him since the beginning. He had been his best friend, his sole companion throughout this nightmarish journey. Not you, mate. I can’t lose you too. If even Thirsty was gone… What hope was left?
And Leah still towered above, her demonic glare gleeful over the victory she had claimed.
Liam made his charge with a roar. He did not care about what came next, only that she felt his pain. She deserved to suffer as he had!
His body struck her lithe form before Leah could react, and both rocketed below. A crack reverberated out as her skull struck the dirt.
Leah dragged a hand behind her head. She looked in horror as her gloved fingers came back coated in ichor.
Liam snapped out of his delirium, realizing what he’d done. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to do that…”
But her eyes twisted into madness, and Liam’s body seized as she struck his wounded chest with her other fist. In a flash, her legs slid out from under his and around an arm. The burn was heavy as the force of her thighs wrenched it out of place, and then Liam was on his back, with her on top.
“Stop this lunacy at once!” Mastermind shouted.
“You think you’re the one who survives!?” Leah screamed. She punched him in the jaw. “I’m the one who makes it! Not you. I’m the one who kills instead of dies!”
Blows flew down from above as Liam lay powerless. The pain in his chest was crippling, and his arms were locked in place from her pin. The light flashed each time his head struck the ground, but still she did not relent. Then Leah changed tactics and pressed both arms into his neck. Liam gasped for air and came up short. Each second pressed against the next, and her eyes burned with ferocious intensity, even as his vision faded. Oh God, she’s going to kill me!
Another few seconds, and it was over…
With a yelp, Leah was suddenly yanked away. Liam coughed out a mouthful of bile and sucked in fresh air. The strangulation-induced blurs faded a beat.
Like a child gripped by a bear, Leah dangled helplessly against Kurt’s massive fist.
He pressed his palm around her throat and held her head up high. “One squeeze and it’s over, boss.”
She gasped. “What the fuck are you doing!?”
“No, Leah. What are you doing!? We’re supposed to be helping Liam, not killing him.”
“He almost killedme!”
“Yeah, after you goaded him. Seems where I’m standing that you got what was coming.”
Again Leah tried to wriggle free, and again she failed. “You fucking bastard… After everything I’ve done for you!”
“And I’ll never forget.” He pulled her in an inch. “Doesn’t mean I won’t kill you, right here and now.” He thrust her into the ruins of a nearby tent, then held out a hand for Liam. “Come on. Get up.”
Liam embraced his arm and limbered to his feet. Part of him couldn’t believe what had just happened. All the time that they’d been together, and he’d never seen Kurt rebel against her in the slightest.
Leah stayed where she’d landed, as crippled with the shock as the rest of them
“Why?” she begged.
To that, Kurt grinned. “Here we are, trapped in the amber of the moment. There is no why.”
Liam stared at him sideways. “Kurt, that was… Surprisingly poetic.”
He shrugged. “I read it in a book.”
Leah still laid in place, even as the others moved against her. Liam scooped up her suppressed 1911 that she’d lost during their confrontation, and aimed straight for her head. When Mastermind drew his own MP5 and did the same, she didn’t even flinch. She just sat and stared as the inconceivable unfolded.
The group stood in silence, their weapons trained on her. Whatever could’ve been said about the camaraderie they’d shared had all but evaporated. This wasn’t some simple misunderstanding. Leah would’ve killed Liam had Kurt not stepped in. The burn in his throat stood as a constant reminder to how close of a call it had been.
“Go on and ask it,” Leah said, staring into the barrel of her 1911 with unblinking eyes. “We both know what you’re thinking.”
“What did you do to the Clarks?” Liam asked. He needed to hear the words out loud.
“I Hunted them. Started with the woman. Jabbed her straight in the eye. The kid didn’t put up a fight either, though it helped that he never saw me coming.”
“How could you do that to them? They helped us. Clothed us. Fed us.”
“And then they died, and I did not. I am a survivor. That’s what separates me from them, and me from you.” She looked to each of her companions. “Sure, you can all act tough now, but who else would’ve done what was necessary? Who would’ve had the strength to turn our hosts into sustenance? Last I checked, each of you just sat by and let it happen.”
She narrowed her gaze. “Don’t give me that look, Mastermind. You knew what I was when you joined me.”
His eyes watered. “And what is that?”
“The leader you never were.”
“I stood up for you, mum. Time and time again, I vouched for your judgment, even when you were so terribly wrong.”
Leah snorted. “You think that means I owe you? Please. All you’ve given me is vindication. A leader acts, but you’re just an indecisive child. You hide behind my coattails and call me ‘mum’ because you’re too much of a coward to admit the obvious to yourself. Your precious little Munchkins died because of your hesitation, not your vanity. The only reason I’d ever keep a weakling like you around is because your Rez is cheap to maintain and full of the type of strategy that I can use to my advantage. But you’re no leader and you’ve never been one.” She leaned in. “Want to prove me wrong? Pull the fucking trigger and end me!”
Mastermind lowered his gun in silence.
“Boss…” Kurt said.
She turned to him. “Wouldn’t forget about you, Kurt. Just didn’t think you were worth the time. What have you read… The same five books over and over in all the time I’ve known you? Your reservoir would burst if it took anymore. You’re a meathead, and I was lying whenever I said otherwise. We used to throw sacks of muscle like you into herds before the Styx came up. All brawn and no brain. The perfect follower.” She beamed. “And you won’t prove me wrong either. You don’t have the balls to kill me without being ordered. Well, no one’s going to, so if you want to cave my skull in, then it’ll be up to you to decide. Let’s see what you’ve fucking got!”
Kurt wrapped his knuckles tighter against his sledgehammer, but then he took a step away and relaxed, the tears streaming from his eye.
“What about Buttercup?” Liam challenged. “Was he just another pawn to you?”
She nodded. “Even Buttercup. Saw some potential and handed him a rifle. Made for a good shot from behind a wall, but throw him in the front lines, and he dropped as fast as any other freshie. Oh well. That’s what I get for picking an amateur.”
“He saved Liam’s life,” Mastermind sobbed. “He died for this mission!”
“A lot of good that did him, huh? Dead is dead. Doesn’t matter what stupid thing you do to cause it.” She grinned. “My only regret is that I didn’t get to eat him myself.”
Liam wanted to puke. “You are a monster.”
Her eyes lit up to that. “Yes, Liam. Speak your mind. Utter your truth. I am a monster, born from a race of monsters. You want to know why camps like this one fell apart? Why every concerted effort against the Hollowing failed? Because of me. I was the first Hunter. I was the first creature to go bump in the night. When Hades told me of his plans to protect our kind by wiping out the rest of yours, I didn’t shy away. I led the charge.
“And you want to know what else? When we were in Pandemonium, I made a deal with Hades. Your life for my survival. I would’ve done it too, had you not chased after that dead fucking family of yours. Funny, right? If only you managed to stay put, you could’ve died quickly and brutally like they did.”
She laughed. “Wouldn’t that just be fucking priceless too? Imagine if you ran halfway across the continent after them, and in the end, it was the person right next to you that ripped out their jugulars while they begged for mercy. For all I know, that’s how it went down. I’ve destroyed so many places like this one that I can’t even keep their memories in my Rez anymore. There’s been so fucking many.
“Would you like to see the face of your reaper, Liam? Do you want to gaze upon her naked self!?” She ripped off her scarf.
Liam had always known that her Mark lay beneath that burgundy scarf of hers, but the damage was more than he’d expected. Her otherwise smooth skin gave way to a tangle of rotted flesh around the mouth, with the cheeks reduced to strands of shredded meat, and lips missing entirely. Misshapen teeth had been exposed by the injury, stretching out inhumanly before disappearing into folds of blackened gums.
“Look at me!” Leah shrieked, her eyes ablaze. “Look at your monster! That’s what I am, and that’s all I’ve ever been.”
There was no denying that she was unpleasant to look at, but that wasn’t what made Liam feel so repulsed.
“This has nothing to do with your appearance. You chose to do those things.” He blinked through the tears. “Just as you’re still choosing to do them now.”
“Fuck you! Pull the trigger already, you coward! I know you’re the only one who has it in them.”
God, what a miserable creature. This was no longer the fearless stranger who had saved his life, but a heartless demon who killed because she could. What was her life, but a fruitless exercise in survival? Existence with no point other than to snuff out any threat to its own existence. No better than the disease that had created it.
Liam shook his head. “I trusted you, Leah. I really did.”
“You shouldn’t have,” she said. “Trust died the moment the Hollowing came.”
The 1911 quaked in his hands. “You raised this gun to Hades when he came for me. Why? Why didn’t you sell me out if I’m nothing to you!?” He just couldn’t believe what he was seeing.
“Because…” Leah started, but her voice cracked halfway through. The reddish liquor began to roll down her cheeks and into her mess of a jaw. Fists curled into dirt. “Because I was weak, and I didn’t want to die without ever having the chance to live.”
She cried. It was a deep, heavy bawl that came out unnaturally. The tears and snot flowed without restraint, and drool began to ooze through the holes in her jaw. She cried and cried, pounding her fists against the cruelty of it all.
How had it come to this? No one had ever asked for such injustice. Not Liam. Not Nelly or Lilith. Not Kurt or Mastermind or Buttercup. Not even Leah. They were all just cogs in this horrific machine, all subjected to the same avalanche of struggle. What could be done against such unrelenting torment?
Life. What did the term really mean? Was it truly no more than the beat of his heart, or was there something more? An ineffable, irreplaceable essence that could never be understood, much less explained. Liam knew what he’d wanted. He knew what had driven him to this point. But now, those visions were gone, and his own future extinguished. All that remained was seeing if any of this survival had ever had a point.
All that remained was to give his own life meaning.
Liam walked to Leah. “Get up.”
Her eyes widened, but she did not move.
“Don’t think this makes us friends, or that I forgive anything you’ve done. But the way I figure it, there’s still over a hundred miles between us and Cheyenne, and nobody’s better at surviving this hell than you. Do you still want to live, Leah?”
She blinked. “Yeah.”
“Good.” He handed over her pistol. “Then earn it.”
