Children of the Plague

Chapter Twenty Six: The Lonely Road

~Chapter Twenty Six: The Lonely Road~

Lanni searched the MPC for survivors. She was surprised to find two unidentifiable colonists in the final moments of their existence, which were mercifully very brief. Most of the dorms had been cleared of personal belongings. All but the bulkiest supplies and equipment in the pantry had been taken, too. It confirmed that at least some, maybe most, of the colonists left before the blast.

The streets were glazed with nanite and human-flesh gore. The carnage ended at the precise locations where Alex’s barriers had created the original safe zone. Had he erected new barriers to stop the blast? How much of what happened had he known in advance? He spoke of Crane and Xipe like he knew them.

It was unlikely she’d ever know the whole truth. She wanted to cry when she found her spear a few blocks away, but tears wouldn’t come. The remains of her ninja gi, last seen on Lee, was a little further down the street. Maybe they had been torn away in the battle. Maybe he made it back to the prison to protect the fleeing colonists.

She’d only known him for a few minutes. She hadn’t needed longer than that to decide she liked him. She knew him well enough to know he wouldn’t leave another exterminator fighting in the streets if he could help. He was gone, too, just like everyone else she cared about or remotely liked. The tears still wouldn’t come.

Her days of mourning were over. She might never see another real person again. Accepting the stark reality of her future was the only way to maintain a sense of hope and determination. All that remained now was her desire to uncover the truths that her brother had hidden from her. He said something that gave her a spark of hope. He said he was ready to find out what kind of world he could create on his own. Were the children in the green boxes part of that plan? If she couldn’t remember, she’d try to find out another way.

On her way back to the prison, she saw a black-bladed knife sticking out of a mound of gelatinous offspring remains. Incredibly, she had walked right to the spot and stopped without seeing it. The messy sludge fell away clean as she picked up the knife. It bore the same symbol as the talisman she’d found in the warehouse. Holding both to compare the markings, she felt a tickle of energy between them, pulling her gently to the north like a compass or a divining stick.

#

From the top of the Manhattan Penal Colony she scanned the city with binoculars for the best route. Husks and offspring stirred beyond sector zero, but none crossed into the blasted area.

Days passed, and the mutant hoard crept further into sector zero. They would eventually roam free as they had before the safe zone existed. Lanni stood in the room with the green boxes, feeling the northerly tug of the knife and talisman. She had opened them all. Each box housed a hairless, silver-skinned child, neither alive nor dead.

Another room held more green boxes, each containing another child-like construct. She closed and sealed each box after verifying its contents. They might not be fully alive, but the very air here was caustic to them. Someone, quite possibly herself, had gone to a lot of trouble to protect them.

The mindless chore gave her plenty of time to think and search her memories for clues. The Mitch-host had said something that bothered her. Its words stuck with her like a splinter under her fingernail.

Imagine my surprise when I found you…

The host had recognized her. The new exterminator, Jamie, had, too. He had asked if it was really her. She mistakenly assumed he meant the ghost, but he hadn’t been at the MPC long enough to have known her as the ghost. What other secrets had Alex partitioned off in her mind, and why had he felt the need to keep her in the dark about them?