SAR ASCENDANT / Book 1: Incursion of the INDEN

Chapters 39 to 41

"Look!"

I peer around Jona and see what he's pointing at. Water has risen up the stairs. A memory surfaces. Jax in the water. "No!" I say. "Not that way!"

"We'll be OK. Remember, I can swim?"

"No, Jona! Just no!"

He starts to turn away from the stairs, says, "All right, the we have to go inland, away from the shore. If we stay in the lighthouse, we might encounter a storm surge. Who knows how fierce the wind will be."

"The engine house!" It's solid stone, I reason. "Protected by the forest and away from the shore. We'll be safer there."

"Let's not waste time," says Jona. He flashes a brief smile. "As we say on the farm, the first rule is to find the means to weather the weather."

Yep, in stride.

We push against the wind. It begins to swirl. The trail to the engine house is eclipsed by the movement of trees. They dance savagely, knocking against each other, and a few begin to splinter and split. Into the woods we go, fighting through darkness and the constant lashes of small branches and saplings. From the ground, mud rises, mixing with the organic layer of renewal. It coats us, and we struggle through this new forest of primitive power.

Finally, we reach the clearing leading to the engine house. I am not sure if we will make it to the door before we are taken in wide swirls of orange. Jona stands behind me, wraps his arms around my shoulders, steers us towards the green-painted door. We reach it, we pull it open, we fall inside. Jona kicks it shut. We curl up on the floor and listen to the roar of the wind. It ascends to an insistent whine, and chugs—a deep-throated groaning. Like animals dying, lying down in the path of devastation.

We wait. It seems to take hours. Evening becomes night. Grey becomes black. Jona's grip on me tightens and I feel as though the air is being sucked from my lungs. The small window beside the door cracks loudly and suddenly the cable that sliced off Willow's hand begins a snake-dance in the air. It whips about, and Jona moves so that he covers my body with his. At one point he cries out, but I can't find my breath. I have no words. There is a high pitched whistling. It rises until I think my ears will burst, and it rises more.   

Suddenly, the whistling stops, there is calm. Jona releases from me and peers through the window. The glass has blown out, and feeble moonlight illuminates his face. He has aged, I think. His black hair has come loose from its usual tie at the back and curls on his shoulders. His eyes are more deeply set than I remember and his usually sure and steady chin has retreated a little.

"It's time, isn't it?" Jona speaks through the damaged window.

I know what he's saying. "Yes, I think it is."

"Then let's talk it out. Tonight. Make a plan."

"Tonight," I agree.

It's been a hard day. Staying in stride takes its toll. And one can keep spinning for only so long.

Chapter 40

Jax is back at the house. We find him on the porch, chin on fists, dejected. Light orbs dance around his head, illuminating the surroundings. We don't have to spend a lot of time assessing the extent of the damage. Our trek back from the engine house has been difficult. Trees are down everywhere, broken trunks twisted and shredded. The ground is sodden. Clouds continue to shroud the moon, pass like furtive shadows.

"Look," says Jax, and he waves a light orb up to the top of the house.

A good part of the roof is gone.

"We can't live here anymore," he says with sadness.

"Where are the others?" I ask.

"Hazel and Allgo are in the lab. They're still working. When the water drained outside the Shimmer, I came to look for you and Jona and Willow. I thought at first you were all gone, that the wind might have taken you away, but Allgo said you were safe."