Chapter 13
Rayne and I raced back up the stairs, past the door behind which we could hear the angry cries of the monsters we had trapped inside, until we reached ground level. The floating particles swirled around us as we ran through the hall toward the exit. I could see the doorway up ahead, and the cracked concrete ground just outside the door, and foggy, yellow air beyond it. Despite my initial negative reaction to the outside environment on Wildern, at that moment, I was desperate to be out in the open again, even if it was dreary and desolate.
We emerged out of the doorway and ran down the long road that led away from the nuclear power plant, past the fence, and we didn’t stop running until I saw my spaceship up ahead. Once I had the ship in my sights, I slowed my pace, and Rayne did the same, until finally, we came to a stop so that we could catch our breath.
I still had both of our bags strung across my shoulders, and while the weight wasn’t a problem for me, it still felt a bit restrictive. So, I took both bags off for a moment and laid them down on the cracked, dry ground. Then, I placed my hands on my knees and took a few deep breaths.
I looked to the side and saw that Rayne was doing the same while she pulled her mask away from her nose and mouth. Running up and down stairs was tiring, even more so when we were being chased by horrifying mutant creatures that wanted to rip the flesh off our bones. My muscles ached, but it was a good kind of achiness, sort of like they were maxed out.
“Well, we definitely got our ten thousand steps in,” I said.
“Our what?” Rayne asked.
“Nevermind,” I said as I shook my head. “Earth thing.”
“Earth?” she said with a smirk.
“Yeah, that’s the planet I come from,” I said.
“Isn’t earth another word for dirt?” she chuckled.
“Hey, at least we can see the sky where I come from,” I countered as I gestured to the permanent fog that smothered us.
“Touche,” she said.
“Well, according to Francine--” I began.
“Who?” Rayne asked.
“My AI,” I replied.
“The robot?” she asked.
“I am not a robot,” Francine grumbled.
“I’ll address that another time,” I said, sort of to both of them. “According to Francine, Wildern and Earth are extremely similar, or they were at least, before all of… this.”
I looked over the nuclear fallout and grimaced before I remembered I was with a local. I glanced at Rayne, but she only shook her head at the desolate scene.
“Explains why we’re such similar lifeforms,” Rayne replied. “Although, your eyes are super weird.”
“Uh, yours are practically glowing,” I said. “That’s weird.”
“Yours look so dull,” she chuckled. “Like little brown pellets of--”
“I get the picture,” I laughed. “Thank you, I’m so flattered.”
“Sorry,” she replied sheepishly. “I’ve just never seen anything like them.”
“Would you like to see them again?” I asked as I pressed the section of my suit next to my neck, and the headpiece crawled back down my face to reveal my face again.
She stepped closer for a better look, and her neon irises pierced their way through mine like beautiful, green daggers. I didn’t break away from her gaze, and I could tell that both of us were acutely aware of the lack of space between us.
“Yeah, I still like mine better,” she said eventually, and we both laughed.
“Can you see in the dark?” I asked. “I just noticed that you didn’t need any help seeing down there. I have my visor that allows me to have night vision, but you didn’t have anything. Not even a flashlight.”
“I guess, when you never really get any proper daylight, your eyes start to adapt,” she said with a shrug. “There were a couple of generations after the war that we lived totally underground, so that-- plus the radiation-- probably caused a mutation. I mean, I’m fully aware that neon green isn’t exactly a natural-looking color.”
“I like it,” I said with a smile. “Plus, it’s pretty convenient when being chased by mutant people.”
“Yeah, one of my favorite pastimes,” she sighed as she looked back at the crumbling nuclear power plant. “I don’t think I’ll be coming back here for a while.”
She pulled her arm into her body again as she studied the crumbling facility, and I remembered that she had gotten injured back during the fight.
“How’s your arm?” I asked.
“I’m not sure,” she said. “I can’t bring myself to look yet.”
She had a grave look on her face. I realized that in such a harsh environment where supplies were scarce, that sometimes even a common cold or the smallest scratch could be a death sentence without the right medication or coverings. I could imagine that infections weren’t uncommon, and I could see the silent panic on her face as she considered whether or not the scratch from one of those grimy monsters had sealed her fate.
“Let’s get you and all of this back to my ship,” I said. “I have medical supplies. We can have a look at your arm, and then I’ll give you a ride back to your village. It’ll save you carrying all that stuff.”
“I don’t wanna be too much trouble,” she said, but I saw her look longingly over at my ship.
“Not at all,” I assured her. “Come on. I’ll give you the grand tour.”
“Okay,” she said with a smile. “You know, I like you more without the mask on.”
She blushed and then hurried past me to the ship. I stood there for a moment, surprised by her comment, and then I shook it off and picked both bags up again. I walked after her toward my spaceship and smiled inwardly to myself.
“I noticed your heart rate increased when she smiled at you, Will,” Francine said with an amused tone of voice.
“Oh, shut up,” I chuckled.
“Does someone have a crush?” the AI asked.
“I’m not a ten-year-old on the playground,” I muttered as I looked back over at Rayne, who had almost reached my ship. “Besides, I don’t know if she’s into me or if it’s just, you know, her being nice.”
“I do not know why she would not be interested in you,” Francine said. “You have a kind nature, you are occasionally amusing, you have very symmetrical features which are scientifically proven to be attractive, and, thanks to some help from my nanobots in your body, your body is in peak athletic condition.”
“You know what, that was actually really nice of you,” I said. “Thank you, Frankie.”
“You are welcome, Will,” Francine replied.
“The wing-robot strikes again,” I chuckled.
“I am still not a robot,” Francine sighed. “I do not understand how that is difficult to grasp.”
“Oh, I grasp it,” I said. “I just love annoying you.”
I chuckled as I joined Rayne beside my ship, and she turned to look at me when I arrived.
“Having a good conversation?” she asked.
“Oh, yeah,” I said. “Sorry, I’ve kinda gotten used to it just being Francine and me, and I forget that I just look like a crazy person talking to myself.”
“It’s fine,” she giggled, and then she turned to look at my ship. “You have a really wonderful ship.”
“It’s not bad,” I replied humbly.
“It’s incredible,” she said as she gawked at it. “I’ve never seen one up close before.”
“Well, it’s not the most high-end ship out there,” I said. “But it’s got all the best technology.”
She raised her hand gingerly and moved it toward one of the sides of the ship. As her hand got closer, there was a quiet fizzing sound as she touched the shields, which I had forgotten I had left on. She gasped fearfully and yanked her hand away.
“Sorry,” I said. “Francine, lower the shields, please.”
“Of course,” the AI replied.
A moment later, I reached out and placed my hand on the cool metal hull of the ship and gestured for Rayne to do the same. She reached her hand out again, a lot more cautiously this time, and slowly lowered her palm until it came to rest on the metal surface. As soon as her fingers touched the ship, she smiled happily and looked up at me with a wide grin on her beautiful face.
“Wait ‘til you see the inside,” I said. “This way.”
I led the way to the ramp, which began to descend as soon as we stepped around the corner. Rayne watched in awe as the ramp came down to reveal the storage compartment beyond it. I had somewhat forgotten how truly incredible it was that I owned an actual spaceship, especially one as awesome as this one now that Jeelie had made all of the improvements to it. Rayne’s reaction to it had reminded me of how lucky I was, and I enjoyed watching the look of wonder on her face as she stared at it.
“After you,” I said to her.
She grinned nervously and then walked up the ramp into the storage compartment. She looked around at the boxes that I had stored inside it, and while she looked around, I put both of our bags down on one side of the room. As I did so, the ramp began to fold back up and closed us inside the ship.
“This is just the storage compartment,” I said as I walked over to the ladder in the corner of the room. “Follow me.”
I clambered up the ladder, went through the hatch, and then I leaned back through the hatch to help Rayne up the ladder, since she still had an injured arm. She could still use it, but once she was high up enough, she allowed me to take her good arm and help her up the rest of the way.
“This is my sort of kitchen, bedroom, living area,” I said. “I mean, it’s no mansion, but…”
“It’s amazing,” she gasped as she looked around at my humble living space. “What is that?”
She pointed over at the kitchen area of the room, and I knew exactly what she meant.
“You have to try this,” I said as I fired up my coffee machine. “It’ll be ready soon. In the meantime, I’ll show you the cockpit.”
I led the way through the door into the cockpit, and she blinked a few times in surprise as she looked around at the various control panels, joysticks, and buttons that covered almost every surface.
Suddenly, something burst out from behind my pilot’s chair and came running at us. Rayne jumped, pulled out a small shank knife from her utility belt, and got into a fighting stance.
I jumped as well, but I quickly realized who it was as it bounded over to me beeping happily.
“Hey, Bob,” I said as I patted the robot fondly. “Try not to scare our guest next time, okay, buddy?”
Bob beeped affirmatively.
“Now, he is a robot,” Francine said.
“This is your… pet?” Rayne asked as she looked curiously at the yellow bot beside me.
“Uh, I’m not really sure I know how to describe him,” I said. “I guess that you could say that he’s kinda like one of Santa’s helpers.”
“Who?” she asked.
“Nevermind,” I chuckled. “The coffee should be done. Come on.”
I walked back into the living area and put a mug underneath the coffee machine, just as the glorious liquid began to pour out of it. Once it was full, I put the second cup underneath it while I handed the first mug over to Rayne, who looked very concerned about what I was giving her. She sniffed it suspiciously and looked up at me as though she was trying to decide whether or not this was some kind of trick. It was kind of sad that, even after saving one another’s lives, she still felt that she had to be careful of me to some extent.
“Be careful,” I said as I picked up my own cup and blew on my drink. “It’s hot.”
I sipped my drink to show her that it wasn’t poisoned or anything, and then she cautiously took a tiny sip as well. As soon as the coffee touched her lips, her eyes widened, and she eagerly gulped down half the cup. She must have had some kind of heat-proof mouth because I wasn’t sure how she managed to drink it so quickly when it was so fresh out of the machine, but she seemed to enjoy it nonetheless.
“Good, right?” I said.
“Very,” she said. “What is it?”
“It’s called coffee,” I said. “It’s the best drink in the universe.”
“I agree,” she said as she licked her lips. “And it just comes out of this machine?”
“Yup,” I replied.
“Incredible,” she said as she shook her head in disbelief. “You really have everything in this ship.”
“I’m well stocked for now,” I said with a nod. “Now, let’s have a look at that arm.”
“Okay,” she said as she took a deep, tense breath.
“Have a seat,” I said and gestured to the bed.
While she sat down and sipped her coffee, I rummaged through one of the cupboards and took out all of the medical supplies that I thought I might need, like bandages, scissors, cotton pads, and antiseptic liquid. I put it all down on the bed beside her, and then knelt down in front of her.
“Ready?” I asked.
“Yes,” she said as she held her arm out to me and rested it on her thigh.
I could see where one of the claws had cut through her fleece, and what was underneath the shredded material looked pretty messy.
“Here we go,” I said as I picked up the scissors and started to cut the sleeve of her fleece open.
I cut it just to the side of the wound, and once I had cut all the way up to the crook of her elbow, I very gently peeled the fleece back over the gash so that I could see what I was working with. She winced as I pulled the material out of the cut where it had gotten stuck in some of the blood, but she was a strong woman, so it hardly fazed her.
We both looked down at the cut to see what damage had been done.
It was a long cut, but at least it didn’t look too deep. There was a lot of blood around it as well, but the good news was that it already looked like it had begun to clot. I noted that her blood was red like mine while I picked up some of the cotton pads and poured some antiseptic liquid onto them.
“This will sting, but it’ll sterilize it,” I said.
“Just do it,” she said as she braced herself.
I dabbed the cotton pads over the cut and cleaned away some of the blood, as well as the dirt and grime that had already collected around the wound. It could have been worse, though, with all the dirt and dust that had been flying around the power plant, so the fleece had done its job.
When I’d finished cleaning the wound, I bandaged her arm up as best I could and secured it with some medical tape. Rayne admired my handiwork with a smile, and then she pulled her split sleeve back down over the bandages.
“Thank you,” she said.
“Don’t mention it,” I replied. “It doesn’t look too bad. It should close up fine. Does it feel okay?”
She hesitated for a moment while she considered my question, and then she slowly raised her hand and gave me a thumbs up, which made me laugh.
“Nice,” I chuckled.
“I need a suit like yours,” she said. “I saw one of those things biting on your arm, and it didn’t even scuff your suit.”
“That’s all Francine’s handiwork,” I said.
“Lucky you,” she said.
“Well, I need one of those fireball launchers you’ve got,” I said. “It was pretty awesome.”
“That’s all my handiwork,” she said. “I’ve only got one, though. The materials I need for it aren’t exactly readily available here.”
“Right,” I said. “Well, I’ll just have to stay jealous of it, then.”
“Yeah,” she chuckled.
“Are you hungry?” I asked. “I could make you something to eat first, and then we’ll head back to your village.”
“I could eat,” she said. “But I feel bad for taking all your stuff.”
“Don’t be silly,” I replied. “I’ve got enough to go around. I’ll just make us some sandwiches.”
“Some what?” she asked.
“You’ll see,” I chuckled.
I quickly whipped up some ham and cheese sandwiches, simple but perfect, and handed one to her. She bit into it carefully, and then I watched a very similar reaction to when she tried the coffee come across her face.
“This is delicious,” she said.
“You don’t have to be nice,” I chuckled as I led the way back into the cockpit.
“I’m not,” she said. “All we have is ancient canned food and whatever the livestock give us, which isn’t much.”
“I see,” I said. “Well, I’m glad you like it.”
I sat down in the pilot’s seat, and Rayne took a seat in the passenger’s chair. It was just lucky that I had bothered to install one in the first place, or else she would have had to try to balance while I flew the ship back to her village.
We both wolfed down our sandwiches, and then it was time to get going. Rayne looked nervous as she figured out how to do her seat belt, but she was determined to do it herself. She frowned whenever I started to offer a helpful hint, so I focused on preparing the ship to fly.
“Ready?” I asked when she was finally buckled in.
“No,” she chuckled.
“Tough,” I laughed as I fired up the thrusters.
They rumbled to life, and Rayne grabbed hold of her seatbelt tightly as the ship began to lift off the ground. I knew for a fact that I had looked like that the first time I had taken off in this thing, but it was nice to be on the other side of it for a change.
Once the ship was high enough, Rayne pointed the way, and I took off in the direction of her village.
“See, that wasn’t too bad, was it?” I said.
“There’s room for improvement,” she said with a cheeky grin on her face.
“I like this woman,” Francine said.
“So, how far is your village from here?” I asked.
“Pretty far,” she said. “But not in this thing, I suppose.”
“What’s it like there?” I asked. “What’s life like on Wildern?”
“Hard,” she said. “Every day’s a fight to survive. You never get a day off. It’s pretty exhausting, to be honest.”
“I can’t even begin to imagine,” I replied.
“But, the people in my village make up for it,” she said. “My village is very peaceful. We never have fights or crime or anything like that. Other villages are awful, but not where I come from. I’m lucky in that respect.”
“Sounds like a good bunch of people,” I said. “Have you got any family?”
“No,” she replied, and her eyes seemed to darken for a moment. “Not anymore.”
“I’m sorry,” I said.
“It’s fine,” she replied. “It happened a long time ago, anyway. It just reminds me to appreciate that my heart’s still beating when I wake up every morning.”
“That’s a nice way of looking at it,” I said. “I was trying to imagine when I got here what Wildern used to look like before the war.”
“I heard it was beautiful,” she said. “Waterfalls, forests, lakes, you name it. But then some greedy people wanted to take our resources and our power, so they fried the planet and left us here to rot. The authorities went off to fight and never came back, so the rest of us were just stuck here with no leaders and no way of knowing how to survive. Luckily for me, my family did. Well, long enough to have me, anyway.”
“Would you ever wanna leave?” I asked.
“Definitely,” she sighed. “Even though I’ve lived here my whole life and everyone I know is here, I would love to see what else is out there. I wanna see stuff that isn’t just fog and dust.”
I nodded, and a comfortable silence descended over the both of us as we each got lost in our own inner thoughts. I could see her picturing the universe beyond her burning planet. Given how she had reacted to my spaceship, I was pretty sure that her head might explode if she ever saw a sunny beach or a waterfall.
She kept a firm grip on the seatbelt as we flew over the desolate surface of her home world. Occasionally, she would direct me to angle the ship slightly in one direction or another, but for the most part, it was a straight shot to get to her village.
“So, how come you were at the nuclear plant in the first place?” I asked. “I mean, I know you were collecting stuff, but surely there are some safer, less monster-infested places you could go?”
“Not for the good stuff,” she said. “I sell most of what I find, and when I get good products, I get more for it, obviously. Let’s just say I’ll be eating well this evening with that haul.”
“Rayne Trader,” I said.
“Imaginative, right?” she chuckled. “Last names aren’t really useful in small villages like mine. Everyone has a different name. It’s more of a formality, and my parents were traders, so it made sense to make things simple.”
“I like it,” I said.
“What does Ryder mean?” she asked.
“I don’t know,” I chuckled. “Ask whichever of my ancestors chose it.”
“Maybe I will,” she said. “I can converse with the dead, after all.”
I looked at her to see if she was joking, but her face was deadly serious.
“Wait, for real?” I asked.
“Of course not,” she laughed.
“You had me for a second there,” I chortled. “Damn, I was gullible, wasn’t I?”
“Just a bit,” she said as she looked back out of the window. “We’re almost there.”
“I’m excited to see your village,” I said.
“Don’t be,” she said. “You’ll be disappointed when you do.”
“I’m sure I won’t be,” I replied.
“Well, I’ll give you the ‘grand tour’, as you put it, when we get there,” she said. “Maybe we can have some food, and I’ll show you around, and then I’m guessing you’ll have to shoot off to whatever planet you’re going to next.”
“Pretty much,” I said, though I felt a pang of regret that I would have to leave her company, which I was really quite enjoying.
“Bring the ship down behind those trees,” Rayne said as she pointed to a clump of trees that was just a short distance from a collection of ramshackle huts. “The people I live with might be nice, but if they see this treasure chest, then they won’t be able to resist having a snoop around.”
“Okay,” I said. “Down we go.”
I took the ship down behind the trees and landed as gently as I could, for Rayne’s sake. She looked a bit shaken when we touched down, but her eyes lit up with excitement as the thrusters powered off.
“I can’t believe I just rode in a spaceship,” she giggled. “No one in the village is gonna believe me.”
“They’ll probably think you’re crazy,” I said.
“Hopefully,” she replied. “It’s much more fun that way.”
We both laughed as we undid our seatbelts, and then we made our way through the living area and down to the storage compartment. I went to grab her rucksack, but she swooped in and picked it up before I could get the chance.
“You’re a gentleman,” she said. “But I can take it from here.”
“Yes, ma’am,” I replied.
We walked down the ramp together and stepped onto the dusty ground. As we walked around the side of the ship, the door on the side of the cockpit slid open, and Bob clambered out before I could stop him. He beeped stubbornly when I went near him to put him back inside, and I got the hint. He was coming with us, whether I liked it or not.
“Home sweet home,” Rayne said as she gestured to the village beyond us.
It was about a mile away, but since the landscape was so barren and flat, we were able to see it perfectly from our position. There was a high fence around most of the village, but through the front gate, I could just about see the makeshift houses in the little village, around twenty of them, as well as the small pens where the livestock was kept. There were carefully cultivated green areas as well, where plants grew to produce fruits or vegetables. It was strange to see living plants there, and they looked more out of place than my ship.
Rayne led the way toward the village, and we talked about Wildern a bit more as we did. However, our chatter came to an abrupt halt when we heard a scream erupt from the direction of the village.
“What the hell is going on?” I asked as I turned to Rayne.
She drew a gun from her rucksack, and her face hardened.
“Bandits,” she hissed.