Son of Sun, page 8
“Just a moment.” Julian slowed in front of her.
Nola skipped a step, teetering forward then righting herself as Jeremy stopped by her side.
“We’ll have to move a bit more slowly, I’m afraid,” Julian said.
Nola peered around his shoulder. A patchy swamp of frothy water blocked the way forward.
“Too bad this wasn’t on the map,” Jeremy said.
“Can we cut through?” Nola pressed her sleeve to her nose, blocking out the putrid stench that filled the air.
“I wouldn’t recommend it.” Julian stepped closer to the edge of the swamp. The ground squelched beneath his feet. “Pity a true freeze hasn’t come.”
“What do you mean?” Nola asked.
Julian tapped his toe on the surface of the water. The froth swirled in protest. “I forget how little children know,” Julian said. “Or rather how old I am.” He cut west, skirting along the edge of the water.
“How old are you?” Nola stayed close behind Julian, mimicking his every footfall.
“Old enough to remember snow,” Julian said. “And deep freezes. Proper seasons we could predict.”
“It used to snow here,” Jeremy said. The sound of the ground squishing under his feet stayed right behind Nola’s shoulder. “My dad told me about it. How it used to snow in the winter.”
“I loved winter,” Julian said. “Snow piled up along the bottom of the domes. The whole world washed in pure white. My partner and I would sit right next to the glass to feel the cold against our skin. We don’t have that anymore. There’s the hot season and the cold season. But the snow doesn’t come. The world has given up on a true healing freeze.
“The temperature creeps low enough to kill poor humans left to sleep in the open and frost over the crops we struggle to grow, then wavers so much from day to day it’s difficult to know what time of year it truly is. I miss real seasons, the markers that prove time is passing.”
“Does it get easier?” Nola asked.
“No.” Julian leapt over a fallen tree. “I do forget sometimes what being human felt like. Letting go of that life makes being a vampire less jarring, but I always miss having time mean something.”
“Stop.” Jeremy grabbed Nola’s arm, yanking her behind him.
“What?” She found what he had seen before the word had fully left her lips.
In the starlight, shapes shifted in the shadows to the north.
Nola held her breath, waiting for arrows to fly as the dark figures moved between trees across the swamp.
Julian rested his hand on the hilt of his sword.
Nola’s fingers trembled as she reached for the Guard gun at her hip.
The shadows moved again, crackling through the underbrush.
“Come along.” Julian waved them onward.
“What?” Jeremy stayed steady, his weapon aimed at the things moving across the swamp.
“Those beasts won’t hurt us.” Julian clapped his hands. The sound echoed through the darkness.
The shadows froze for a moment, then disappeared into the trees.
“Why did they run?” Nola whispered.
“Not they,” Julian said, “at least not people. Deer, I expect.”
He leapt a wide patch of sunken grass and continued west.
“How do you know?” Jeremy kept his weapon out as he and Nola followed Julian.
“A person would have the sense to either be quiet or call out,” Julian said. “The poor beasts were only searching for a meal and didn’t know what to make of us.”
Nola tucked her weapon back into its holster. “Animals and people living on the outside, I just…”
“Just?” Julian said.
“Want to tear through the glass of the domes, find every teacher I ever had, and shake them,” Nola said. “There are so many things they never bothered to teach us. I was just supposed to learn how to grow plants and get married and have kids. But when my generation had to teach our children, none of us would have known about deer that still eat in the woods.”
“That was the point,” Julian said. “I was old enough to understand the choice I was making in entering the domes. I believed in the need to protect the ability of humans to bear healthy children, and I knew what sacrifices were expected of me. Those born in the glass never had the chance to decide if safety and a lofty goal for the greater good were worth spending their entire lives trapped in a place the size of a small village. They were never able to choose between a brief, painful, and chaotic life on the outside or a small, regulated life lacking all compassion within the glass.”
The domes had never felt small to Nola, had never seemed like a cold and compassionless place. Not until she’d been to Nightland.
“The vast majority of the world’s population has died,” Julian said, “just as the Incorporation predicted when they built the domes. Most of those who still live in the open have turned to Vamp or Lycan to survive. Despite those horrors, there are some on the outside who would never choose a life behind glass if the opportunity were ever granted them. And there are those who live in the domes who would choose the open air if they knew such an option existed.”
“It’s wrong for them not to tell us,” Nola said.
“I agree,” Julian said.
A row of toppled down trees marked the edge of the swamp. Julian stopped, staring at the path ahead for a moment before shaking his head and walking north.
“I can sort of understand it,” Jeremy said. “People on the outside get sick and die too easily. Too many babies are born with birth defects they can’t survive. Lying to the domes children is wrong, burning cities is wrong, but making sure there will actually be another generation to take our place? I get that.”
Nola reached back, taking his hand, trying to think of something comforting to say.
I don’t even know if T’s baby will be healthy.
“The fate of the last person alive would be a terrible one,” Julian said.
“That’s not going to happen,” Nola said. “We’ve got a safe place in Nightland. We’re going looking for people we didn’t think could survive. The human race isn’t done yet.”
Julian stopped at the north end of the swamp. “Months ago, when Kieran told me of the wonderful girl in the domes he truly believed had the heart to care for those left to die outside the glass, I thought he was a lovesick fool. I’m glad to know he was right. That there are some who have never known hunger who still care for those who have never had a proper meal.”
“Kieran said that?” Jeremy said.
“More times than I can count,” Julian said. “I’m afraid the rest of us had given up hope of there being anyone worthy of survival inside the glass.”
“Then I’m glad Kieran ended up with you,” Jeremy said.
Julian turned to face them, one sleek eyebrow raised.
“Whatever Kieran might have done, he was right about Nola,” Jeremy said.
Nola squeezed his hand. “And Nightland. I’ll never forgive Emanuel for attacking the domes—”
“But it can’t compare to what the domes have done,” Jeremy said.
Julian smiled. “I never had children. As much as the Incorporation pushed, I refused the procreation orders. At times like this, I don’t mind that my DNA was never passed on. I’m simply proud to have been a small part of the story that led us here.”
Fallen leaves crackled under their feet as Julian led the way into the forest. The acid rain hadn’t torn through their thin membranes. The leaves had fallen to the ground whole, ready to decompose and give nutrients back to the trees.
Julian headed east, toward the place the animals had been hiding in the shadows, and stopped next to a tree where swatches of bark had been torn away. Hoof prints dented the water-logged ground.
“It really was deer.” Jeremy shook his head. “How have they survived?”
“The trees help clean the smog out of the air that hurts people so badly in the city,” Nola said. “If there’s a stream or some other kind of water that hasn’t been contaminated like this swamp and the river, they’d have something to drink. The trees are managing to grow, so they have food.”
“By keeping people in the city as labor, the Incorporation condemned them to live with the toxins the domes were built to avoid,” Julian said.
“They’ve been killing people from the beginning.” Deep lines creased Jeremy’s brow.
“I suppose,” Julian said, “but even if people had been told to flee the city and create a homestead far away from industrialization, some would have refused to leave. And those brave enough to head into the wilds might not have survived very long anyway. They might have found cleaner water and soil pure enough to farm—”
“But the weather still would have killed their crops,” Nola said. “And the sun would have hurt them, and their kids would still have gotten sick.”
A pang cut through the numbness in Nola’s chest she hadn’t even realized existed. She took a deep breath, letting the stink of the swamp burn her lungs.
“It’s okay.” Jeremy laced his fingers through hers.
The warmth of his palm traveled up her arm, surrounding the terrible ache. The pain didn’t ebb away, but the heat of connection transformed the hurt from a hollow hopelessness to a burning desire to fight.
“If the animals have found a way to survive, then people can, too,” Nola said. “This isn’t the end of the human race. We’re just starting over again as something different. We’re evolving to survive.”
“Adversity has always required adaptation,” Julian said. “The penalty we pay for having done so much damage to the earth is having to adapt so quickly, and not being able to change everyone so they can survive with us. Life will never be what it was before, but perhaps it will endure.”
They walked in silence for a long while. The ground firmed beneath their feet as they climbed uphill. They didn’t run as they had before. Julian kept them to a steady pace a human would have trouble matching but seemed like nothing more than a brisk walk to Nola.
She listened to the crackling of the brush and fallen leaves under their feet. Even in the darkness, she could see the details of the trees and the individual twigs that had fallen to the ground.
The hill crested in front of them, the rolling line of its edge standing out in the darkness.
Jeremy let go of Nola’s hand and reached for his weapon. “Julian, I think you should put that sun suit on.”
“The sky isn’t even gray yet,” Nola said.
Julian stopped in front of them, standing still for a moment, then taking off his pack. “I think you’re quite right.”
“What’s going—”
The breeze shifted, blowing up from beyond the rise. Nola gagged as the horrible stench of decay flooded her mouth.
“We don’t want to walk into any surprises with Julian vulnerable to the sun.” Jeremy wrinkled his nose, his mouth twisting into a frown.
“What is that?” Nola pressed her sleeve over her face.
“What was that is probably the more apt question.” Julian pulled the sun suit from his pack, quickly stepping into the oversized tan fabric and zipping himself in.
“Nola,” Jeremy said, “I want you to stay behind me, and trust me.”
“I do trust you,” Nola said.
Julian put on the wide-brimmed hat, pulling down the heavy veil to cover his face.
“If I tell you not to look,” Jeremy said, “I need you not to look.”
“Why shouldn’t I look?” Nola said.
“Because, sweet Nola,” Julian said, “the horrors of the world hurt those with loving hearts worst of all.”
A horrible dread weighed heavy in Nola’s stomach.
Julian slung his pack onto his back. “After me, I think.”
He started toward the rise of the hill, Jeremy close behind.
Nola moved to walk next to Jeremy, but he sidestepped, keeping her behind him.
I’ve seen terrible things. What could the world have left to torment me with?
She pinched her nose closed as they reached the top of the hill, swallowing the bile that rose in her throat.
“Damn.” Julian stopped on the crest of the hill.
Jeremy reached an arm back, trying to keep Nola behind him.
She dodged to the side, taking her place between Jeremy and Julian.
A wide valley opened up below them. Whatever trees had grown in the valley had burned, leaving nothing but charred stumps and ash in their wake. At the bottom of the basin, human figures lay unmoving on the ground.
Chapter Eleven
“What happened?” Nola took a step forward.
Jeremy grabbed her arm, holding her in place.
Dozens of people lay scattered across the bottom of the small valley, their bodies twisted and broken.
“How did this many people get out here?” Jeremy said.
“I’ve no idea.” Julian started down into the valley, the movement of his hat giving the only sign of his gaze constantly sweeping the burned out trees for danger.
“The Northerners,” Nola said. “Julian, be careful. They already shot you once.”
“I hope they will have such poor aim should we meet again,” Julian said.
A growl rumbled in Jeremy’s throat.
“What?” Nola searched his face for signs of pain.
“I should have convinced Emanuel to keep you in Nightland,” Jeremy said.
“Why?” Nola freed her weapon from its holster, her ears straining to hear the buzz of flying arrows.
“Because I don’t want you to see what’s down there,” Jeremy said. “I don’t want you to have to remember this. But I can’t leave you alone up here.”
“I can take it,” Nola said.
“You’re strong enough to take on the whole world.” Jeremy brushed a curl away from her forehead. “That doesn’t stop me from wanting to protect you.”
Nola caught his hand, pressing his palm to her cheek. “Thank you.”
Jeremy held her gaze for a long moment before turning back to the valley below.
Nola pressed her sleeve to her nose as she followed Jeremy and Julian down the hill. The crackling beneath her feet changed. The leaves had all been burned away by the fire that had torn through the valley but spared the surrounding four hills. Unburnt trees peered up over each of the ridges, as though the flames had known not to move beyond the bounds of the basin.
The bodies weren’t burned.
“This shouldn’t be possible?” Nola’s eyes watered as the stench grew too strong for her to ignore.
Julian reached the base of the valley where the bodies lay. Soot stained the bottom of his sun suit, giving him the look of a strangely tattered warrior as he drew his sword.
They can’t be a threat. They’re too far gone.
Nola bit her lips together, swallowing her scream as she approached the first of the bodies.
Whoever it was had been dead for days. Animals had already feasted on the remains. There were no gaping wounds from a battle or sores from illness left behind. They had been dumped like compost and left to rot. The taste of blood and bile filled Nola’s mouth.
“Are they Northerners?” Jeremy kept his hand to his face as he leaned over one of the corpses.
“No idea,” Julian said.
Nola began to ask a question and gagged on the putrid stink that flooded her mouth. “How did we not smell this from a mile away?”
“The swamp covered the scent until we got close,” Jeremy said.
“They weren’t killed here.” Nola leaned over a tiny corpse.
A child left to decay.
“Why do you say that?” Julian said.
“People run where they’re attacked,” Nola said. “It happened in the domes, in the tunnels of Nightland, when the city burned. People ran. These bodies aren’t spread out enough to have been running from something, and they aren’t packed close enough to have been corralled to be killed.”
“She’s right,” Jeremy said.
“But why go through the trouble of moving so many bodies?” Nola said.
“This valley is useless until the plants grow back,” Jeremy said. “You can be seen from all sides, and there’s no water source. The smell from the swamp covered the stink—”
“But we still found the bodies,” Julian said.
“Because they wanted us to, or because they didn’t think we could?” Jeremy’s gaze swept the hilltops around them.
“We shouldn’t stay here.” Nola backed away from the body of a person who had been left naked for the animals to consume. “I don’t want to be here anymore.”
“We should keep heading north,” Julian said.
“If this is what the Northerners do, I don’t know how much we’ll be able to learn from them before it come down to a fight.” Jeremy took Nola’s arm, guiding her around the corpses.
A glint of metal caught Nola’s eye. Sticking out of the torso of one of the bodies, a thin silver dart that had pierced the doomed person’s flesh.
“It wasn’t the Northerners,” Nola said. “The domes did this.”
Jeremy and Julian turned toward her.
She pointed to the dart.
“Damn,” Julian said. “I think it best if we run.” With barely a nod to either of them, Julian took off, sprinting north.
“Stay in front of me.” Jeremy drew his Guard gun, ready to fire little silver darts into anyone who might hurt them.
Nola pulled her weapon from its holster as she tore after Julian.
Footsteps thundered behind her. She wanted to turn and make sure it really was Jeremy following her, but Julian dodged through the burnt out trees with such speed, she couldn’t spare a glance behind without risking injury.
“The domes didn’t leave them like that,” Jeremy said.
Nola’s shoulders eased at the sound of his voice.
“It’s like the bones, it just doesn’t fit,” Jeremy said.
“The Outer Guard being this far from the city doesn’t make sense at all,” Nola said.
“It does if they’re searching for Nightland.” Julian crested the hill. He paused for a split second before veering slightly left as he continued to run.
