Revelation (25 page)

I noticed that the dragon was looking at me while my mind rambled on. My hand was placed on his head. I wondered what
he
thought of that jumble of thoughts circulating around in my mind, or if he even understood it.

I realized at that moment that I still had to tell Askal my name.

Alex
, I thought.

Alex
. The Askala repeated the word in my mind, as if it were unfamiliar.

I remembered how Askal had shown me his life with images. I decided to do the same thing. I gathered my thoughts, trying to think of how best to tell my story. Then, I realized, I was already telling it. Any thought that crossed my mind could be read and interpreted by the dragon instantly. So I thought my story from beginning to end, everything coming out in a whirlwind. A minute later, I had gotten the hang of it. It was like remembering – when I remembered something, it was communicated. Mixed in with my thoughts were Askal’s reactions – his interest, his sadness when I talked about Khloe and my father, his fear any time I thought of Howlers. For some reason, it made me feel better that this giant, powerful creature was just as spooked by those ghouls as I was.

Once finished, I took my hand off Askal’s head. The creature gave a long sigh, pained by what he had heard. Was my story really so painful? Well, I guess it was. When my story would end with my death, I guess it couldn’t be any other way.

Askal nodded, as if telling me to put my hand back on his head. When I did, Askal transferred a thought to me.

We need to go back.

“Go back? Go back where?”

To your friends.

“They’ll shoot you.”

The image of guns spewing toward the sky left my mind, entering Askal’s.

Your puny weapons will not harm me. If all of what you said is true, then we do not have time.

“You can only take me if you drop me off somewhere in the distance. I don’t want them hurting you. They won’t understand.” I sighed. “Hell, they might even shoot
me,
for all I know.”

Askal paused, considering.

“I think maybe we should just...go.”

I didn’t have to explain where I meant. Askal knew immediately. Ragnarok Crater. It was time to end this – and waiting wasn’t going to help anything.

No
, Askal answered.
One day, we will go, brother. But not now. They are too strong.

I just wanted this to be over with. All the same, I realized Askal was right. The others needed to know about everything I had learned. Everything, in case I failed. After they knew,
then
I could go.

I nodded. “I don’t know how my friends will feel about a dragon walking around their camp...”

In the next thought transferred to me, I could imagine a sharp, toothy smile, although Askal’s face remained expressionless.

Perhaps they will change their minds when they see me fighting for them.

“Fighting for us?”

Yes. The Elekai and the humans are on the same side. We both hate the Radaskim with all of our souls. The sooner we realize that, the sooner we can stand against them.

This was all growing much larger than I could have ever imagined. It wasn’t just the humans we were trying to bring together. It was a whole tribe of aliens. I wondered what the aftereffects would be. Would the
Elekai
and humanity live in peace, if they ever won?

I could sense that Askal thought this was a strange question. One, because no one had ever beaten the
Radaskim
before, not on a thousand worlds. And two, the
Elekai
were at their core peacemakers, and would never attack humans.

“We are different, then,” I said.

Askal still did not understand, but he saw my thoughts when I realized that it was not the
Elekai
who would attack us. It was
we
who would attack
them
.

Askal was shocked at this, and for a moment, no thought crossed over from him. Finally, he responded.

There are always second chances. There are always new beginnings.

Then I knew it was time. “I’m glad to have met you, Askal.”

The Askala nodded, closing his white eyes. Upon opening them, he readied his legs to cast off.

I circled around the dragon’s back, hopped on, and settled between the two ridges. Immediately, Askal took off for the west. The fungus fell away before me. The warmth of the Great Blight was left behind, and the cold air whipped at my face and body, shocking my senses.

I leaned forward, both to get a steady grip and to keep warm from Askal’s body. We were flying west, and soon crossed the border of the Great Blight. For hours, we flew across the Wasteland, past the smoking ruin of Vegas, past tall mesas and cracked mountains. It was hard to believe, looking down at the city, that it had been brought down so quickly. We flew on, past flat deserts and ridges of mountains capped in red cloud and snow.

Things had changed, so much so that I wondered how it would all ever work out. The hard part, the immediate problem, was going to be making the others understand everything – for them not only to accept me back, but to believe what I had to tell them. I had seen the
Elekai,
had spoken to the Wanderer. I was the messenger. I had the revelation.

Would any of them believe? It was hard to imagine Samuel or Ashton buying it. I realized then what I would have to do. I would have to agree to go back to Skyhome, so that Ashton could test me. He could see for himself, beyond the shadow of a doubt, that the virus that infected me was different from any other kind. Maybe when he saw that, he would understand.

Maybe they all would.

Chapter 21

Askal landed a good distance away from where the army was camped. The Askala settled behind a tall, wide mesa that would completely block him from view. I told him to wait there, and that I’d be back in an hour or two.

As I jogged away, I saw ripples in my vision once more. My eyes were reverting to their normal state. So I had to be touching something with the xenovirus, somehow, for my eyes to turn white. When I walked into camp, I wouldn’t be mistaken for a Howler. Maybe the whitened eyes were an effect that only happened while communicating with xenolife. That would make sense. It made me wonder why my eyes had been white back on
Odin,
after I had first woken up. Then again, hadn’t I been communicating then, too? The Wanderer had sent me that vision, so maybe the vision had something to do with it. It was good news, because it meant I could have some control over when my eyes were white, and when they were normal. Or at least, that’s what my hope was. I would have to test that theory later. Maybe it was something Ashton could test. Hopefully, going back to Skyhome wouldn’t be necessary to figure that out.

After hiking a mile or so,
Odin
came into view on top of the same bare hill where I had departed from it. It was mid-afternoon – the warmest part of the day, which meant the frigid air was barely tolerable.
Gilgamesh
was gone;
Odin
was the only ship left. The hill was surrounded by crude tents, shanties, and blazing fires to keep back the cold. Now off the back of the dragon, now out of the Great Blight, I was hit in full force by the reality of the frigid air.

I rushed ahead to get to the ship. My mind raced with everything I would tell everyone. I didn’t even know where to start.

As I passed the outer ring of tents, I started to feel nervous. I passed under the gaze of fearful men, who stared to the east from where they had fled, huddling in groups around fires for warmth. I hurried past them, averting my eyes. I passed women and children, wrapped in blankets inside tents. The army had remained camped on the hill rather than moving on, which meant that Makara and the gang lords had come to some kind of impasse. With both the cold and the xenoswarm, any lack of movement was death.

I wished I had a mirror, so I could make absolutely sure my eyes were not white. Just in case, I had my hood drawn up, and kept my face down. Getting mistaken for a Howler would be the worst thing possible right now. I’d be dead before I even had the chance to do my job.

I climbed the hill, the sharp wind blasting against me. I started to run, the cold air like ice in my lungs. I crested the hill, and
Odin
hulked above me. I couldn’t see inside the tinted windshield, but if anyone was in the cockpit, they would now see me. I just stood there, in the cold, waiting for someone to come out and meet me. I didn’t want them to think I was being aggressive. I also didn’t want them to somehow capture me before I had a chance to explain what had happened. I grew colder the longer I stood there. It looked like I was going to have to go into
Odin
myself. Maybe they were all away, for some reason. If luck was with me, Samuel or Michael would be the first one out that door. Both of them had been the calmest at my change.

I grew impatient, and started walking forward toward
Odin
. It was then that the blast door slid open. Makara walked out, alone, wearing a thick black parka with the hood pulled up. She stood on the boarding ramp a moment, arms folded, staring in my direction. Her expression was inscrutable.

Finally, she sighed and walked the rest of the way down the boarding ramp, and came forward. The fact that she was approaching me rather than calling for backup was a good sign, I guess. Maybe she had changed her mind. Still, I felt nervous, even though it was only Makara and I had known her longer than any of the others. I thought of all we had been through, and how much had changed. We had been through a lot in the last three months, and our journey to Bunker One had changed everything – had given us new purpose in our lives.

The thought didn’t have more time to develop, because Makara now stood before me. Even though she was playing it cool, I could tell that she was glad to see me. I could see it in her eyes.

“You’re back,” she said.

“It was inevitable.”

She arched an eyebrow. “Quit being cryptic. Where did you go? Thought you would have been inside a dragon’s stomach by now.”

“That dragon is actually pretty nice,” I said. “His name is Askal.”

Makara stared at me. “Askal?”

“Turns out all of you guys are right,” I said. “I’m infected, but it’s something different. There are two different kinds of the xenovirus.” I forced a smile. “Turns out I have the good kind.”

“Alex...” Makara said. “We have a
lot
to talk about.”

“Where’s everyone else? Anna? Samuel?”

Makara looked away, shaking her head. “Ashton and Michael left in
Gilgamesh
yesterday, not too long after you left. They’re going to New America, trying to find recruits.”

So I had been gone
two
days rather than one. I was starting to lose my hold on time.

Something in Makara’s face told me that there was something else. Something she didn’t look forward to telling me.

“Where’s Anna?”

I knew the news was not good.

“Samuel and Marcus are off looking for her,” Makara said. “An hour after that dragon took you, she ran off, that way.”

Makara pointed to the east. The direction of the xenoswarm. The direction of the Great Blight.

“And you let her go?”

“Of course I didn’t,” Makara said. “You think my opinion would have stopped her? It was an hour before anyone realized she was gone. Marcus found one of his bikes missing.” Makara looked at me. “Not hard to figure out what happened. He and Samuel went after her, but they haven’t found anything yet.”

“It’s been two days,” I said. “You should have found her by now.”

Makara nodded. “I know. Either she doesn’t want to be found, or...”

Makara didn’t finish, but she didn’t have to.

“What about Ashton? Michael?” My voice was becoming more emotional. “They could find her with their ship.”

“They’re on their way back, and I just got off the comm with them,” Makara said. “They’re bringing Julian and some new recruits from New America; that’ll add more to the search. As for me and Char, we need to stay here and keep an eye on things.”

My next question was why Anna had run off. I didn’t want to believe that she had done it because of me. That was a bit difficult to comprehend. I didn’t see why anyone would want to do that.

“I’m going after her,” I said, turning around.

“I guess there’s nothing I can say to convince you otherwise.”

“No. I’ll find her before the day is out. I promise you that.”

“You sound very confident of that.”

“I have every reason to be. I’ve got something no one else has.”

I ran from the camp, and Makara stood there on the hill, watching me go. I didn’t truly believe I had every reason to be confident. I just wanted to prove to Makara that I was right.

And hopefully, I was.

***

I ran down the hill, past tents and startled people, past the fires and into the cold afternoon. My boots churned the bare, rocky ground as I set out across the Wasteland. The mile pretty much ran itself, and within minutes I was circling the mesa, only to find Askal was not where I had left him.

I slid to a stop, throwing up a cloud of dust. I was crestfallen that he had flown off. I hadn’t counted on that.

It was then that I heard a mighty roar that shook my bones. I stared upward at the mesa’s side. The dragon was roosting on a thin ledge, his long neck snaking around to the mesa’s side, where he sniffed at a small patch of xenofungus. He then noticed me below, staring at him. With a flap of wings, he glided to the desert floor, his light pink body catching the sun’s rays and glowing golden. He settled onto the dirt in front of me.

“About time,” I said, rushing to climb on his back. I held onto the ridge in front of me, preparing for flight.

“We have to find Anna.”

What happened?

He read my thoughts about Anna. My worry about finding her had now become his. Askal charged forward, nearly sending me careening rearward off his back. He flapped his wings mightily, pushing off the ground. We were once again in the air, each new beating of wings carrying us farther above the crimson desert.