Page 27
The drakes, Markos and I arrived in town early in the morning, before the sun hung its possessive crown in the sky.
The tribe leader and a few selected warriors set up a mission to destroy the television tower, wiring and electricals to stop all town communication while myself and another group of men spent the day knocking from door to door and convincing people to leave their livelihoods for the promise of another day. Threatening them was a more accurate description. The town alarm sounded the evacuation, and everyone was desperate to run away. To save themselves from the death that would come chasing.
It was hard.
It was painful.
It was effective.
We did not stop until we knocked on every door, until everyone was out. Until the screaming stopped and the abandoned town remained covered in silence.
We did not stop until the town remained a ghost of its once formidable spirit. Until every door remained open and mourning the loss of a family that had just hours ago lived inside. Until the shadows of the streets remained just that, empty paths that used to be walked on, now useless. And ready for the incoming destruction.
I spent a few more hours making sure there was no living soul left, nothing that would be damaged after Dahr completed his cycle of fiery torture.
And then I went home.
When I went to say my goodbye to her, in between tears and long hugs, Karisha had gifted me a cross-body bag where Dahr’s box of jewellery fit perfectly and, without realising, I ended up carrying the worth of an entire town just as I was helping to destroy one. I climbed the stairs to my flat, enjoying for once the peace and quiet the effect of having no neighbours offered. I knew it wouldn’t last long however, that this was possibly a once in a lifetime experience, so instead of crying for the loss of my old life, I turned the key that opened the way to my home and contemplated the decision lying ahead.
I could start a new life… or what remained of it. I wouldn’t have to work, I could travel, buy a home by the sea and lose myself in the waves every single day until I vanished. I could help another school for girls just like the one I had grown up in, I could change the life of whomever I chose to.
As I lay in the bed I thought I had missed so much but felt empty without a heavy pile of muscles warming my body, I knew none of these options were truly a choice. And that there was only one path I could follow. But if I was going to find my end by fire, I was going to do it far better dressed than this.
Taking a long time to enjoy what would possibly be my last shower, I used all the conditioner and hair product I wanted, without caring about the cost. After all, it was all going to burn soon. I let the feeling of steamy water falling on my skin carry me and scrape away any doubt that might crawl into my bones. And then, I went to my wardrobe and thanked god for the clean jeans and underwear I had lying around.
I didn’t spend too much time getting dressed or dolled up, choosing to be practical instead. Grabbing the backpack I carried all my work into, I dropped the carefully coordinated and annotated papers on the floor and filled it with two extra pairs of jeans, underwear, a spare pair of shoes and a couple of t-shirts. Then, I placed it over my shoulders with Karisha’s bag tracing my torso diagonally and closed the door that held my entire livelihood. Now, no longer important.
“Hello?”
I started running through the streets, the comfort of my Nikes and the jeans doing wonders for my ability to jog.
“Hello? Markos? Are you still here?”
I screamed across the abandoned streets, the echo of emptiness carrying my voice on the walls. My heart started thumping with fright at the thought that they might have already left. When I had said my farewell to Markos, he announced that he would leave at sunrise and advised me to clear out as quickly as I could, and the shower and packing had taken just a little longer than I had wanted to. Still, they couldn’t have just vanished. I returned to the parking lot where we initially drove to, hoping that they would still be there and, thank every deity in this world, I saw men dressed in leathers.
“Hey!”
I shouted at them as I desperately ran to their side.
“Nora?”
Markos shoved his head out of the driver’s seat window.
“What are you still doing here?”
The tribe lord looked at me as though I was a ghost and I ignored how out of place he looked, dressed like that, in a terrain car. Truly, all of them did.
“I thought I’d catch a lift with you,”
I said as I pressed a shy smile, hoping he would be accommodating. Because my plan had no chance of sprouting success without Markos’ help.
“I’m sorry,”
he shook his head apologetically.
“We can’t spare the time; we’re going straight back to camp.”
“Same,”
I nodded and started walking towards the vehicle, assuming that I would take the same seat as when we initially came here. Which was in Markos’s car.
I carried the weight of their gazes as I moved and opened the door to shove myself into the passenger’s seat and buckled my seatbelt with slow movements. I placed the backpack at my feet and when I was ready for the drive back, I looked at the tribe leader, urging him to start the engine.
I still couldn’t get over the shock of seeing the drakes in terrain cars, since I had spotted them either walking or using horses for transportation. And when Markos had removed the tarp placed in the merchant’s side of the camp to reveal 4x4s, my jaw dropped. Apparently, the merchants were using them to bring in goods and blend in. Markos instead, has used them to gain time. To help save more of my town.
“I’ll be damned,”
he shook his head and grinned, then tapped on his door to make the announcement of departure while the rest of the warriors took their seats in the car.
“I didn’t think you had it in you,”
he looked over at me with a smirk just before he started driving.
Even though I knew this would probably be my only chance to catch some sleep, I felt too excited to shut my eyes. Adrenaline flowed through my system to become thicker than blood, the weight of the decision I had just made starting to quicken my senses.
I watched the sea as we drove by narrow and forgotten roads, detouring a lot more than we should have in order to get back to the camp unnoticed. I did not mind it though, it gave me the opportunity to say my goodbyes, since there was a slim to none chance for my eyes to witness the deep blues ever again.
“Are you sure about this?”
Markos asked after what felt like an eternity of hearing only the rumbling of the engine.
“No,”
I replied earnestly.
“But I also know that I wouldn’t be able to live with myself if I didn’t come back,”
I confessed. I must have said something to earn his approval, because the tribe lord shifted his gaze from the road towards me and kept his attention focused for a long while.
“Are you sure you know what you are getting yourself into?”
Markos asked in the softened tone of voice I heard him use once before.
“Are you sure this is what you want? Because once we get there, there’s no turning back.”
“I’m not going to leave him to do this alone,”
I replied with determination, fighting back the knot in my stomach. This conversation wasn’t helping, and Markos’ poking questions made me more nervous than settled. Maybe that was exactly what he intended.
“Sometimes Dahr doesn’t remember the month before,”
he continued as if I hadn’t even spoken.
“Sometimes he looks me in the eye, and I can see he is not there, even now. If he does manage to spare you, Nora, the power will make him pay.”
“I already know that,”
I snapped back, a little harsher than intended. I didn’t understand what Markos wanted exactly, since he seemed more than happy to drive me back, but he was now doing his best to change my mind.
“It might destroy you both, is all I’m saying…”
he shrugged innocently.
“It’s a chance I’m willing to take,”
I reassured him.
“Death will find me, sooner or later. There’s not much point living in fear, is there?”
I turned my head to look at the focused side of his face and saw the exact moment when he realised I fully understood what tomorrow entailed. And I appreciated that he held back his pitiful gaze.
“Thank you for saving my town,”
I said and meant it. Markos and the rest of his warriors had been essential in saving thousands of people and had not rested until everyone was safe and far away from the future graveyard that the following day brought.
“If it all goes according to plan, this might be our last stop,”
the tribe leader pressed his lips together to disguise his hope, as he continued driving in silence.