"I'm just saying that "Nameless" sounds a little melodramatic. Can you come up with an actual name for yourself, or at least let me pick one for you?" Ridgeway persisted in the argument that had been going, on and off, for the better part of an hour.

"Can I just hold out hope that something might make me remember what my name was, before? Besides, I'm not even sure I know where to start thinking of one. I mean, what if I accidentally start calling myself something that's actually an insult or means something ridiculous?" The Risen replied.

The child in the back seat spoke up, having overheard the conversation.

"I saw you fight the aliens. I watched you get back up after they killed you, and fight even harder. I think you should call yourself Fearless instead of Nameless." He interjected.

"I appreciate the compliment, kid, but I want to find out what my name was before the first time I died." The Risen said to the child. "Now, Ridge... about this piece I took offa' one of the small ones."

"Ah, yes. I suppose your name can wait, and I still protest, but we'll go with Nameless for now. Anyhow, the weapon. We'll call it a Shock Pistol for the moment. These are Eliksni weapons. They fire small bursts of energy similar to Arc Light, and are powered by a battery cell instead of ammunition. These should be far easier for me to maintain than your rifle, but they have limited range, so keep both. I modified the Dreg's holster to fit a human body, as well. You should be able to wear it." The Ghost explained.

"Thinking I should familiarize myself with it first chance we get." The Risen said.

Ridgeway silently "nodded" while floating about the front passenger seat of the car.

A quiet fell for a while. They would need to stop soon to rest and gather food. Finding shelter from the skies would be a challenge, but as long as the Risen didn't call on the Light, they should be difficult to detect. As it turns out, in talking to other Ghosts over their network, that's the best guess as to the difference between remaining hidden, and being tracked, so far.

The Risen stopped at a location with the best concealment he could find. It took some doing to find enough trees and terrain features to do the job, but he managed it all the same. Instructing his Lightless charges to not stray too far from the car, and to hightail it out if they were found and he was too far away to respond to a call for help, the Risen set out to find something that could at least pass for food.

"Ideally, you'd like to find a turkey. I think we're in central Utah by now. They should be plentiful in most areas." Ridgeway said.

"Remind me what a turkey is?"

"They're ground birds. Not too good at flying, but large. Brown feathers, funny-looking head. Big fans on their tails for attracting mates. You'll know one when you see one. Trust me."

"I... think that's enough of a description to go on."

They searched a while longer. The Risen had so many questions to ask, but he was at a loss for where to start. This was all so confusing and terrifying when he was alone with his thoughts. Normally, with a task at hand, he could at least keep his mind off of things, but this hunt didn't require enough concentration to keep his mind from wandering.

Occasionally, he could catch the briefest glimpses of his old life, albeit hazy and difficult to make sense of, the images were. Lacking context, too. Mostly, emotions and feelings were what came through the loudest, though, again, without context or clarity. He knew his past life wasn't without trauma of its own... but there was also comfort, and people who loved him. It was through one of these moments of fuzzy memory that he pulled the name he gave his Ghost. If only his own name weren't so difficult to recall.

Mostly, he was eager to find out what happened to the Traveler, and when the aliens first arrived. He thought to ask his companions, but aside from the child, none of them seemed to want to talk to him much. Understandable, that. He had just upended their entire lives, and his first contact with one of them was a nearly-lethal fight.

After losing himself in thought for a while longer, he happened upon his prey for the evening. This... turkey, as it were, was bigger than he'd imagined. The bird was nearly completely unaware of his presence. And even when it noticed him, it didn't seem to care. And that would be its undoing.

The Risen slowly and quietly drew his knife, thinking briefly about trjectory and force before letting it fly. He threw the knife, sidearmed, like a frisbee. The blade made perfect contact with the animal's neck, severing its head. The body bolted for a short distance before the nerves lost their electrical impulses, and the body collapsed in a heap.

"Nice throw! Now, to gut this thing and prep it to be cooked. We'll want to find the best possible shelter if we're to have a cooking fire. A cave would be perfect." Ridgeway instructed the Risen.

"And if we can't find one?" He retorted.

"We keep the fire small, and put it out as soon as the bird is cooked. And be ready for anything. It seems there aren't any Eliksni anywhere near us, but we don't want to take chances."

With his Ghost guiding him through the process, the Risen began the task of removing the feathers and internal organs of the large bird, before hauling the kill back to camp. They started back the moment he was done. Ridgeway collected and stored a few of the largest feathers, explaining that if they ever found a hunting bow, he could use the feathers to fashion fletchings for a couple arrows.

When they arrived back at camp, they found that all was well, thankfully. All three humans were huddled together outside the car, keeping an eye out for trouble. All the previous air of casual disdain faded when they laid eyes on the plucked and cleaned body of the turkey. Funny how the prospect of a good meal was enough to at least temporarily quell the tension.

"We need to find more shelter to cook this. We can't have a fire out in the open." The Risen explained.

"I have a solution for that in my gear. Hold on half a moment." The man said, before going back to the car and opening a bag.

He returned with a collapsible device for smokeless cooking, powered by a fuel canister. It wouldn't provide any warmth, but it would solve the problem of starting a campfire in sparse cover. Once it was set up, the Ghost instructed the Risen in how to construct a makeshift spit to cook the bird, whole, and the Lightless human lit his portable stove. They all sat around, waiting for their meal to cook, the Risen occasionally rotating the spit.

"Suppose we shouldn't be so unkind to you." the Lightless man finally spoke up.

"Because I've fed you, now you want to make peace?" The Risen made it obvious his question was sarcastic.

"You didn't know what you were doing when we met. As you said, you're newly awakened, and we were the first living things apart from your Ghost you'd seen in this life." He continued. "And, you did save our lives, afterall. I've never seen your kind in person, much less watched one of you fight the invaders. You died for people you didn't even know. Then you got back up and risked dying again. There's something to be said for that."

"It's my job. Any of my kind would." The Risen said.

"That's not true. Everyone wishes it were, but it's not. Some of you come back wrong. Or maybe you were wrong in your before-lives, who knows? Point is, some of your kind are dangerous to more than just the Fallen."

"Hold on. Fallen?" The Risen asked.

"The aliens. Do you all not call them that?" The man's wife said. First words Ridgeway and his Risen had heard her speak since they met.

"They call themselves the Eliksni. I wasn't aware that humans had a word for them." Ridgeway interjected.

"Aside from the point. I told you before I heard stories. To some Risen, we Lightless are just animals. They come through in packs, demand our food and weapons for their "cause", promise us protection and safety, and then leave us hungry and defenseless. At best. Some of them kill us when we don't give them what they want. Some, still, set themselves up as warlords and put us under their heel. And who can stand up to something with weird powers that can't be permanently killed?"

"What kind of Ghost would allow such a thing to happen? N...... Nameless, if you ever become like that, know now that I will refuse to raise you when someone finally puts you down." Ridgeway was appalled to hear the human's story, but had no reason to doubt it. The disgust in his voice was nearly tangible, it was so heavy.

"I'd deserve worse." The Risen said. "I understand why you were so angry before. What are your names, by the by?"

"My name is Ravi. My wife is Cherisse, and our son's name is Yassir. I guess it's as proper an introduction as we're gonna get, considering you don't know your name." Ravi extended his hand to the Risen, who had no idea what the gesture meant.

"He's offering you what's called a handshake. It's a human formality. You should grab his hand. Firm, but not TOO firm. And don't hold on for more than a couple seconds or it might get awkward for some people." Ridgeway said.

"Ah. I get it now." The Risen felt slightly embarassed to be at such a loss, but quickly reminded himself that he'd only been back to life for a few days at this point.

He did as his Ghost explained. It felt... nice to have physical contact with another living thing. He'd forgotten what that felt like, along with a great many other things. More hazy, contextless memories visited him. Memories of the sillhouette of friends he'd had before. No names, no faces, no voices, but he began to remember the emotions he'd felt before. And silently hoped to one day find one of them similarly raised as he had been.

"We can tell now that you aren't one of the bad ones. We were talking about it while you were in the woods, and you pretty much validated our thinkin' when you brought back that turkey. We're sorry for our hostility. We trust you, and we owe you for saving our lives." Cherisse said.

"I'm not interested in being indebted to anyone. I'm going to try my best to get you three to safety, and seeing you end up in a settlement with other people will be thanks enough." The Risen stopped her cold at that thought. He wasn't, afterall, doing this for recognition. He was doing it because it was his purpose. All he knew right now was that he had to do what he was raised to do. "But since you're feeling generous right now, mind if I ask you a few questions about what happened to the world? Near as I can tell, you were both around when the collapse went down."

"Well, that is true. We were both working at the airbase in Las Vegas when Earth was attacked. It all happened so suddenly. But we think it was the Fallen. Somehow or another, in all the chaos, the Warmind ended up wounding the Traveler. Then, the Fallen began attacking our cities. Anyone who didn't die in the initial attacks were scattered. That was 15 years ago. We've been living like this, ever since. Over the years, we've heard stories about your kind, and now you know not all of them are good." Ravi explained.

"Okay. Las Vegas?" The Risen asked.

"Yeah. Big city in the middle of the Nevada desert. Not too far from where you found us."

"Right. So, moving on, what was it like before all that?"

"Oh, Traveler, it was beautiful. We were experiencing a utopia. I've heard that long before we were born, people could only expect to live a few dozen years at most, and Earth was the only planet that had life. After it showed up, suddenly, people were living 3 or 4 centuries, every planet and most of the moons became habitable." Ravi's eyes lit up with joy as he described it all.

"We made unbelievable scientific advancements, and prejudice became a thing you only hear about in history books. All the religions of the world suddenly came true, at least in part, and we could see our God in the skies for the first time. And for those who couldn't make do with living half a millenium, there were mechanical bodies you could "jump" your consciousness into, if you were brave enough to try." Cherisse picked up where her husband left off.

"I would like to have seen it. That sounds incredible. Maybe I did, but if so, it's not like I can remember any of it." The Risen lamented.

"I am sure you were alive and died, prior to the Traveler's arrival, at least by what I could tell when I scanned your remains. But you'll get to experience that, some day, if we succeed at restoring the world. And when the Traveler eventually moves on, we Ghosts and our Lightbearers will go with it. To see new worlds."

"You're saying the Traveler will leave us, some day?" Yassir spoke up and asked Ridgeway.

"Why, yes. That's what it does."

"I suppose it's silly to think somethin' that calls itself the Travler would stay put too long." Ravi accepted the Ghost's words.

"Any rate. Turkey seems cooked. Let's eat up, catch a quick nap, and get ready to move along as soon as we're rested." The Risen said.

Ridgeway gently woke his Lightbearer after a few hours. Allowing him just enough rest to refresh him enough for the drive ahead. Today, they would be crossing into Colorado. More forest and more mountains meant more chances at safety, and most of Colorado looked like that.

Once they were out of the Rocky Mountains, however, there would be little cover for a long time. They'd have to travel at night, starting once they crossed into Kansas.

Of course, none of these words meant anything to the Risen as Ridgeway was explaining it. But the Lightless humans knew these names all too well.

"At best speed, with plenty of breaks for rest and remaining as hidden as possible, it will take us a little over half a week to make it to Ft Drum." Ridgeway said.

"Now, what is Ft Drum, again?" The Risen asked.

"It used to be a military complex, before the Collapse. This continent used to be three countries. Canada, the United States of America, and Mexico. We're in America now. Ft Drum was an American Army post. At some point during the Golden Age, humanity united and there were no more independent nations. Just planetary governments working together." Ravi replied.

"And many humans have gathered there for relative safety, and closer proximity to the dormant Traveler. You can actually see it on clear days from there. I can't wait to show you." Ridgeway continued.

"Well, now seems as good a time as ever. Let's break camp and get back underway. Go see what the hype is all about." The Risen said.

They drove on for a few hours. The rocky terrain gave way to open plains, briefly, then forested mountains. The air became sharper and colder, the further they went. Hunger began to set in for the group, and the Risen made plans to stop wherever he deemed it safe to search for something to eat and find a place to rest yet again.

Before too much longer, he found a prime spot. Ridgeway informed him this place was called Grizzly Creek. It would have been known as a "rest stop", before the Collapse. A place where drivers could stop to stretch and sleep if needed. Fitting, as that's exactly what they planned on using it for.

Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.

The Risen guided the car into a large, flat, paved surface and stopped. There were tall cliffs to either side of them, with a river in between, and snow covered everything around. The raised freeway scarred the view to one side, but the other was as nature intended. It was the most breathtaking thing the Risen had yet seen. He took a moment to appreciate it all before getting the lay of his surroundings.

When the moment had passed, he decided to scout the manmade structure built into the hill next to the water. He told his Lightless companions to stay put while he determined if it was safe. Readying his rifle and shock pistol, he set out with his Ghost.

The Risen made his way down to the building, slowly and quietly. He listened for every little sound, and paid attention to the smell in the air. He'd never forget the scent of those Eliksni he met a couple days ago, and he'd decided right after that confrontation that he would be ever on the lookout for that.

The silence of the canyon was almost frightening. Other than the faint noise of moving water and an occasional light breeze, there were no sounds of nature. No birds. No ground critters. Nothing. The winter had made a barren, yet beautiful wasteland out of this place. His feet landed mostly on concrete, the snow melted away by the sun over most of it, but every few paces, the light crunch of iced-over snowfall sounded out below him.

"Don't let your guard down just because this is so lovely. We're still in danger. Always." Ridgeway said.

"I know. It's just... peaceful." The Risen said, scanning the open space around him, before continuing.

"We can make the whole world this way, again. Just you see."

"I hope you're right."

A sharp sound in some nearby trees interrupted them, and the Risen snapped his rifle to his shoulder in the direction the noise came from, safety off, and ready to fire. Luckily, instead of a threat, a large brown animal with what looked to be barren trees growing out of its head darted into the open and bounded past them.

"That was a deer. Nothing to worry about. Although, too bad we didn't have a quieter weapon. Humans eat those things. Allegedly, their meat tastes delightful. Not that I would know." Ridgeway explained.

The Risen remained silent, allowing his heartrate to relax a little before finishing his sweep and moving on to the building. They reached the entrance and stopped for a moment. Remarkably, the glass was still mostly intact on the building. The Risen reached out to open one of the doors, but it merely clattered under his hand, refusing to budge the rest of the way.

"Locked, but don't worry about that. I can deal with simple mechanical doors, quite easily." Ridgeway cast his beam of "prehensile" light on the mechanism and bid it to unlock. After that, the Risen opened the door.

The inside of the building was dark and musty. Nobody had been inside in over a decade, and it showed. Ridgeway searched around for a bit until he found the building's electrical box. He quickly and deftly repaired a couple fuses and restored power to the building. Lights came on, ventilation system rumbled to life and began to draw fresh air in. Soon the climate controls began working, and the interior slowly warmed up. With the lights back on, they could see clearly that the building was indeed empty. Nonetheless, the Risen searched every corner of the few rooms inside, before going back to retrieve the others, just to be absolutely sure.

Upon returning to the car, he told the three of them it was safe to come out, and that there was secure shelter. Relieved to finally be out and able to walk about, Ravi, Cherisse, and Yassir retrieved their bags and made their way to the building. The three of them were elated to find working climate controls inside. It was probably the first time in 15 years the two adults had felt central heat, or had electric lights. And judging from his wide-eyed wonder, most likely the child's first time, ever.

"I figure we're probably safe to take a long, proper rest here. But, turn the lights out and lock the doors while I go look for some food for us. If anyone else, alien or human comes along.... hide and be quiet. I won't be long." The Risen said before exiting the building and going off to forage. The Lightless humans just nodded in acknowledgement. The Risen marvelled at how people could look both relaxed and fearful at the same time.

"Nameless, there are fish in this river. They'll be a bit harder to catch than that turkey was, but easier to cook. I'd say two for each of us will do fine, if you can manage. And try for these ones. They're called rainbow trout, and they're quite nutritious." Ridgeway said as he showed a brief holographic image in the air of a grey fish with a pale underbelly and a bright multicolored stripe along either side.

"I'll keep an eye out, but food is food, and I'll take whatever I can catch."

The Risen waded out waist-deep into the river, and began to rely on his augmented speed and reflexes to snatch a few good-sized fish out of the water. He'd briefly considered just running a current of Arc Light into the water around him to get his job done a little faster, but he remembered what Ridgeway had said the other Ghosts relayed about unnecessarily tapping into the Light.

It took some time to gather eight fish, but it happened. Most of them looked like the one his Ghost had shown him. He moved to the bank of the river to clean his catch, and drop their insides back into the water. Meanwhile, Ridgeway pulled raw materials out of the ground and air to synthesize enough combustible gas to refill the tank of Ravi's cooking device. They then made their way back to the building.

The Risen carefully scanned everything around, before having Ridgeway unlock the door again. It was still quiet and serene, but he still wasn't taking any chances.

Ridgeway stood watch while the Risen and the Lightless humans cooked and ate their meal. They talked and even laughed a little. The Risen kept stopping to get up and make sure everything was safe outside, still. Eventually, night began to fall, and the lights and heat would have to be turned off to avoid attracting unwanted attention. Ridgeway continued to scan and be on guard, ready to wake everyone up at the first sign of trouble.

But the night would pass without any. For the first time since leaving that small village behind, the four of them had a proper rest, and woke up feeling refreshed.

As the sun began to rise at the far side of the canyon, the humans gathered their scant belongings, and began to repack. The Risen stepped outside for a quick patrol and Ridgeway attempted a few long-range scans. The terrain made it difficult, but it seemed as though all was clear for the moment.

"If you're sure we're in the clear, then I guess it's time to be on our way." The Risen said, letting his rifle relax in the sling as they headed back to the entrance of the building. With the doors in sight, the Risen stopped dead in his steps a moment before Ridgeway alerted him. He felt it before his Ghost could speak out to warn him, but let him speak anyway.

"Skiff approaching. We don't have much time. They'll be passing over any second. I don't think we can hide from this." Ridgeway warned his Lightbearer.

"I know. I can feel it." The Risen then turned from ridgeway and shouted to the Lightless ones who were about to step outside. "Go back inside. Lock the doors and hide. Don't come out until I call for you."

The skiff passed over shortly after that, and Ridgeway dematerialized, just like last time. The Risen didn't even try to take cover. He knew they were going to find him, regardless. There would be another fight for certain, and he steeled himself for it. Several Eliksni leapt down from their hatches and into the parking lot, approaching like predatory animals. The Skiff then hovered off to circle the area.

The Risen locked eyes with the closest one, and quick as lightning, drew his stolen shock pistol to gun the four-armed one down before dashing to cover away from the doors and switching to his rifle.

He had to hold their attention. Keep them away from the Lightless ones. There was no way he was going to fail them, so soon.

Bolts of energy surged past him as he dove for cover. A grenade landed next to him, and he kicked it away into the treeline. The explosion was a surge of electrical energy that crackled in the air, and left the smell of ozone behind. And that smell reminded him of that moment after being resurrected during the last fight. But he held onto that thought. Kept it in the back of his mind. Waited until he needed it. Last time, he was caught off-guard by the alien threat. This time, he was ready for them.

He gathered himself for a moment, and blinked away to another concrete barrier nearby, before popping up to fire his rifle at a lowly Dreg. All three rounds of his controlled burst found the Eliksni's head, and the alien fell in a heap next to its comrade, who shrieked in anger as it returned fire. But the Risen was no longer there when the energy bolts arrived. He was already sprinting to his next position, providing his own covering fire as he ran.

Another large four-arm took aim and shot the Risen in the flank. He staggered from the impact, but kept sprinting and firing. His next burst missed his target, but he kept firing, kept moving, kept looking for any form of natural camoflage to help break up his silhouette and keep him in the fight. Dying, even briefly, was not an option here. The Risen had to make himself a nuissance until the aliens gave up, or were all dead.

"That was a gun on the nose of that Skiff, right, Ridge?" The Risen said out loud.

"Yes. Skiffs are armed. If you get hit by that thing, it'll vaporise you instantly. I can still bring you back after something like that, but it'll take longer."

"Noted."

He kept periodic watch on the position of the Skiff, and tried to stay out of its line of sight as much as possible as it continued to circle. Frantically switching his focus back and forth between the ship and his enemies on the ground, he continued to use his own speed to his advantage. Circling back around, he managed to get close enough to yet another Dreg to draw his knife, briefly charge it with Arc energy, and plunge it into his enemy's neck. The Dreg, however, managed to get a glancing shot off just before it died a scintillating death. The Risen caught the edge of an enegry blast to the left side of his face. The searing pain made him angry, and his anger only seemed to make him faster.

Wheeling around on his heel, to roll with the impact of the shot to the face, he found his sights lined up perfectly, if only by accident, on the nearest four-arm. He paused, and laid into it with every round left in the magazine, putting a fourth enemy on the ground.

Three more to go. They looked like they had no interest in running, either. The skiff circling the field, however, cut hard over the middle of the parking lot, and four more aliens leapt down. All four-arms, but one much larger, wearing more ornate armor, and brandishing a pair of swords.

The largest one flourished at the Risen, and let out a deep, low-pitched shriek before squaring up for the fight.

"Nameless..... that's. That's a Captain. As dangerous as all Eliksni are, this one is no joke. You're in for a hell of a fight. But, remember something important." Ridgeway said.

"What?"

"You're already dead."

The Risen let his rifle fall in its sling, and he reached into the Light. That same trance-like state from before washed over him. Crackiling with fury and determination, he surged at the aliens, and cut down all six of the smaller four-arms, one after another. Each of them fell, twitching and cooking from the inside-out as he drove into them. Before he or his enemy knew it, he was face-to-face with the Captain, and the sheer size of the brute broke his concentration. The trance fell away, the Arc subsided, and the Risen attempted to improvise in the moment. The knife still plunged into the Captain almost reflexively, and he'd intended to follow up with as many extra stabs as he could manage before he had to break contact and back away, but without the Arc to back it up, the knife merely pissed the beast off.

-Shit. I forgot about the extra arms.- The Risen thought to himself.

The Risen felt his body leave the ground as the Captain picked him up with its upper arms, and began to slam him onto the ground. He came to a moment later, with the Captain walking toward the building.

"You're back. Go!" Ridgeway said before dematerializing again.

It was at that moment he fully appreciated how strong his opponent was. The impact had killed him, stone dead before he even knew he'd been slammed. Thankfully, this monster didn't seem to fully understand how fast a Ghost could resurrect a Lightbearer.

With a fresh load of ammunition in his rifle's magazine, the Risen rejoined the fight, peppering the Captain's back with a burst of lead. The huge Eliksni turned to greet its resurrected enemy with another loud roar, and charged at him with both blades out. The Risen dug his heels in and dodged several swings, stabbing at openings whenever he saw them. The dance lasted for what seemed like an eternity until the Captain connected with one of his swings, instantly severing the Risen's left arm at the shoulder.

He quickly blinked back a few yards, re-appearing with the shock pistol out in his right hand. He fired several shots, but only connected with one of them. The Captain staggered from the impact, but kept advancing. The Risen tried to keep his distance long enough for the Light within him to restore his missing dominant hand and arm. The Captain was bewildered at the sight of it, but kept charging forward.

He had to catch a moment. Just long enough to concentrate and call the trance back. So, he kept dodging and blinking and keeping distance between he and his opponent. But the enraged Captain got close enough to swing out with a lower fist, and shatter the Risen's jaw, knocking him cleanly to the ground. By the time he got up, the behemoth had hold of him with all four arms, and with unbelievable strength, quartered the Risen with its bare hands.

A moment later, the Risen gasped his first new breath, yet again, just in time to see the Captain board the skiff and fly off. Strangely enough, the Captain bowed deeply to him just before scurrying back inside. And it dawned on him that he'd lost, and the Captain merely spared him out of respect.

"The Lightless...." The Risen said.

"No. They're fine. It killed you, said what I think was a compliment to your corpse, and called the Skiff back." Ridgeway informed him.

"Thank the Traveler." The Risen sighed.

As he took in everything that just happened, the skiff circled back around, and blasted the car to slag, leaving the Risen and his charges to continue their journey on foot.