“Where are we going?” Terra asked as she struggled to suck in a breath.

“I don’t know. Let’s hope for a miracle and that the little girl dropped us off near a city. We’ve got about fifteen minutes left before the atmosphere does permanent damage.” Eimose replied, his stomach already roiling from the chemicals he was breathing. “If it hasn’t already. You’ve asked me that question three times now.”

“Oh.”

They walked in silence, not from lack of conversation but more so because whenever they opened their mouths they would vomit. They were covering their mouths and noses with the collars of their clothing, but it was not a proper substitute for a respirator. Eimose wished that the girl, Alter was it, had at least left them with supplies. Or a map. Hell, even just pointing them in the right direction would have been incredibly helpful. The robot head he was carrying did little but weigh him down. Should he even still be carrying it? What was his end goal here? Maybe it was stubbornness, maybe it was attachment; it felt weird throwing it away at this point in his journey.

Images of Terra writhing on the ground flashed into his mind. Had she suffered a seizure? How exactly did that entire dark space disappear? Why was Terra holding those two crystals and where had she gotten them from? Seriously, what the hell was going on right now?

He glanced to Terra with the intention of getting answers, but she seemed to be in more pain than he was in according to the way her face was twisting and how her legs dragged through the dirt, leaving a very odd trail behind. It looked as if she would fall over at any moment, yet she hadn’t complained once, although he did admit her asking where they were going on more than one occasion was testing his patience.

Trudging ahead he prayed to the gods for some sort of sign to indicate where they could find fresh air to breathe. His foot abruptly sank further into the ground than he’d accounted for and he pitched forward, landing on all fours.

“Wow, you’re committed. Are you going to sniff our way to safety like a dog?” an amused Terra asked, coughing a few time when her lungs didn’t agree with the atmosphere.

Eimose stared at her as if she’d lost her mind as he rose and shook his clothes free of sand.

“What the hell is a dog?”

Terra stared at him in disbelief.

“You know what it is. It’s an animal with four legs and fur and stuff. Super friendly?” She described, her forehead furrowing as she tried to recall what it looked like.

“I have no idea what you’re talking about. Is this some sort of foreign creature? Was it back in that zone with the blue sky?”

“Uh,” Terra racked her brain. “I don’t think I’ve actually seen a dog in person now that I think about it. I think I saw it in a book a really long time ago. I still don’t know what a hamster looks like though.”

“What the fuck is a--never mind.” Eimose looked to the horizon, spotting opaque shapes in the red fog. Well, it may not have been fog but merely his sight growing hazy from inhaling too much atmosphere. “I think that’s a city. Let’s see if we can get someone to help us or if we can get some respirators.”

Terra was more than happy to comply and she followed Eimose like a puppy.

It didn’t take as long as Eimose thought to get to the border of the city, but all thought of getting help escaped his mind as the state of decay the city was in came into focus. The buildings were in such a distraught condition he was surprised to see so many standing, and sand overruled every aspect of aesthetic. He doubted that the interior of the city would be in any better condition than these buildings on the outskirts.

“Where are we?” Terra choked out.

Eimose squinted at a blurry rectangular shape that looked like it was floating above some buildings near a very wide road. He ran toward it with the hopes it would reveal a city name or a clue as to where they were. For all he knew, he could be on the lost continent of Avios and the entire area was radioactive. Crossing his fingers, he stopped several buildings away as the words come into clear focus.

Lots 4 rent. May’s Expressway Next Exit.

Apartments and Houses Available!

Eimose groaned when the billboard did little to solve his location crisis. Plus, the billboard was so filthy that he could barely piece together the words. In reality, less than half the words were legible, leaving behind only a ‘t’, the word ‘rent’, the apostrophe ‘s’, ‘w’, ‘ar’, ‘e’, and ‘house’. Getting a closer look, it seemed like the letters around these certain ones had been purposely dirtied and the exposed letters kept revealed. And then it hit Eimose.

12. 32

Trent’s Warehouse

The final note Petri had left him. The cause of sleepless nights as Eimose struggled to come up with a solution. Was this it? There was no way it wasn’t, a coincidence this great didn’t happen.

Eimose felt a burst of energy send tingles down his spine and everything was momentarily okay. He needed to find May’s Expressway and discover where those lots were. Or was he supposed to go to the billboard and find his answers there? His stomach churned and he was reminded of the current situation he and Terra were both facing--he needed to make his decision fast.

“Eimose, is that you?”

When he turned to the voice, Eimose was pleasantly surprised to see a familiar face.

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

“Regal, what are you doing here? Where are--”

“No time!” Regal interrupted. “Where in Onto is that place you were planning to take us to?”

“Onto? Oh, is th--”

“Just take me to the place!” Regal screamed.

Eimose pointed to the billboard. Regal practically dropped the bag he was carrying to put out his screen.

“Thank gods, they’re practically on top of it.” He muttered under his breath, then turned to Eimose. “Show me the way. I’m sure there’s some security system installed and you’re going to get me past it.”

“Wait, but I don--”

Regal pulled his gun from his holster and pointed it at Eimose, effectively shutting him up for the third time.

Eimose glanced to Terra and saw that she was at attention, poised to attack, but her skin was taking on a green hue and her eyes were unfocused. He knew she had fight in her, but they both needed to get indoors as quickly as possible, so perhaps this was a sign urging them in the right direction. As long as Eimose was interpreting Petri’s message correctly.

Urging them to a job with his gun, Regal fell in behind the two others as Eimose and Terra ran side-by-side.

“You know what you’re doing?” Terra coughed to Eimose, nearly bringing up her lung doing so.

“No clue.” He confessed, praying Regal hadn’t heard their short transaction.

As the billboard loomed closer, Eimose dreaded what would happen if they found nothing. Would Regal really shoot them both? Perhaps Eimose could distract him while Terra found a way to run away without getting hurt; he’d already lead her into one trap before and he was not going to again. It seemed like there was something special about her--the mask, that odd little girl in that dark place, all that stuff with the crystals and what-not--if anyone should live it should be her.

In no time at all they reached the base of the billboard, cutting off his train of thought as his fate drew near. Apparently, his fate had also planned for him to cross paths with two more familiar people as Brit and Jer were waiting near the concrete pillar. Actually, it was more like Brit was holding up a limp doll called Jer thank anything else.

“Alright, where’s the base?” Regal yelled as he dug the muzzle of his gun into Brit’s back.

“Ummm, it’s underground so there's a panel or door around here somewhere?” Eimose fumbled, looking around for anything out of the ordinary like a hatch or an arrow pointing them directly at the entrance.

“You don’t know where it is?” Brit asked incredulously. “It’s your base!”

“Well, it’s not exactly mine, per say. More like the information was handed to me and I had to figure it out?”

Eimose couldn’t tell the way Regal reacted since he couldn't see his face, but the gun prodded even deeper into his spine and Eimose was sure he was going to pull the trigger. Then the gun was gone and a deflated Regal walked to Brit’s side as Brit gently lowered Jer to the ground.

His veins froze when he saw how much blood was caked on Jer’s back and how white the parlor of his skin was. Wait, her skin? He’ll ask about that later. Nonetheless, unless Jer received a blood transfusion within the next few minutes there was no way they’d be able to make it. Terra and Eimose only had a few more minutes left as well, overexposure a very real threat now. First, they’d lose consciousness, then their lungs would seize, their kidneys would start to fail, next their nervous system, and then all muscle function. Best case scenario they’d either be brain dead or they’d be paralyzed.

Out of desperation, Eimose approached the pillar that held the billboard, running his hands around it to feel for any irregularities, having difficulty sensing with his left hand so it took even longer than it should have had. When he found none, he stomped on the ground around the area in case there was a hollow area, indicating the location of an underground lair but the sand dampened any sounds he made. Cursing at his uselessness, he went back to the pillar and visually inspected the cylindrical object. There!

At the base of the concrete tube, where it intersected the ground, partially buried by sand, was a crack too straight to be naturally created. Using his hands like shovels he scooped away the sand and pried the crack open, revealing two small metal panels, each with a number pad. Recalling Petri’s clue, he typed twelve into the first one, then thirty-two into the other. Nothing happened for a few seconds, but then the ground around the pillar sank down in an incremented pattern, creating a spiral staircase leading down.

The others heard the commotion and turned to Eimose with hope reflected in their eyes. Brit quickly scooped up Jer as they all rushed to the base of the billboard where stairs had formed.

Eimose jumped down first; if there were any obstacles in the way he’d get be sure to clear them by the time Brit got down. Not to mention black spots were doing little dances in his line of vision, meaning that unconsciousness would be approaching soon, so whatever was down this rabbit hole would be better than the alternative.

At the bottom of the stairway was a large steel door, dully illuminated in-between the shadows of those seeking refuge. Eimose pushed the metal, thinking it would swing forward as there was no apparent handle on the exterior. It didn’t budge.

“What holding you up?” Brit impatiently asked when he nearly crashed into Eimose.

“There’s no way to enter.”

“Find a switch or panel or something.” Regal pitched.

“Why didn’t I think of that. Oh, wait, I did!” Eimose replied, annoyance laced in every word.

“We don’t have time for this,” Brit bellowed. “Open the goddamn door!”

“Move,” Terra urged, barely a whisper.

She pushed past Regal and Brit and stood beside Eimose in front of the door. Eimose saw her move the clear crystal into her left hand, keeping the dark clenched in her right. When she motioned for Eimose to move away, he could see from her unstable form that she was bearly keeping it together. He moved away knowing that despite looking sick and weak, Terra was a force to be reckoned with.

Terra straightened her back, squared her feet slightly further than her shoulders, and raised her hands up as if she were about to fight several men. From her right first burst a dark form that wrapped itself around her arm, encasing her arm in a form similar to Eimose’s left side. With a quick twist of her hips, she jammed her fingers in between the steel door and the metal door frame, the shriek of metal nearly overwhelming as she curled her hand into a fist and swung the door open using brute force.

Eimose had never been more afraid of anyone than her at this moment.

“There, it’s open,” she mumbled, and then she collapsed.

He rushed to her side, clumsily draping her arm over his shoulder and hoisting her up while he continued to hold onto that dastardly robot head; Terra was heavier than she looked. Stumbling in, Eimose desperately sucked in breathes of clean air before the outside contaminants could enter.

Lights flickered on as he entered, lighting up a large hallway covered in wires and pipes. This, however, also allowed him to stare dumbfoundedly at the multitude of figures pointing a variety of weapons, mostly overly large guns, at the intruders.

A large man with a shotgun stepped forward and Eimose nearly pissed himself. The man’s bicep was as big as Eimose’s head and he had burns and scars covering his exposed skin. Eimose was certain this man could literally rip him in half without breaking a sweat, and almost laughed at the sight of the man even bothering to carry a shotgun. Talk about overkill. Literally.

“State your business within the next five minutes or die a quick death,” The man stated calmly, though the sound was deafening to Eimose’s ears.

It was at this moment that Eimose’s body shut down and he sank into a darkness that promised rest and escape.