As it turned out, squalor was an accurate representation of how Kéron and Ava lived. After they had driven my original ride into a nearby river—“to make it so they can’t track us,” Ava had said—and an uncomfortable ride on the very back of their ATV, I was prepared to go inside and get comfortable. But those desires shriveled and died as we stopped in front of a two-story building that looked like it had been built before electricity had first been harnessed. The bricks were pale from sun exposure, and stained dark, grimy colors. The windows were filthy and cracked.
I laughed nervously as the pair disembarked. “This… this is a joke, right? We’re not gonna go in there, right?”
The two looked at me as if I was crazy. “Of course, we’re going in there,” Kéron said as if I was the one who’d said something borderline insane. “Where else would we go?”
That was my first hint that I might’ve made a bad decision in coming to the middle of nowhere to employ help—but I couldn’t have done it in Salt Flat City. I would’ve been turned in to my father immediately, who probably hadn’t even noticed my absence yet, thanks to his stupid meeting. Tentatively, I jumped off the ATV and watched as they brought in their belongings, undoing half a dozen locks—both magical and physical—before entering the building. Neither of them waited for me, much to my chagrin. I hurried inside and gawked at the interior. It was worse than I had thought. The walls were peeling, the ceiling was water-damaged, and everything looked like it had been left outside for a year before being given minimal cleansing. Their place seemed to be a repurposed garage of some sort, and the large windows on what looked to be doors were the main source of light.
What have I gotten myself into? I thought, trying to find a light switch, praying it’d work. I flicked it, holding my breath, only to be let down. A few more tries yielded similar results.
“What are you doing?” Ava asked derisively. “Lights don’t work half the time, su alteza.”
I would’ve responded if it weren’t for the fact I was so disgusted by the state of the place. Just touching the light switch made me want to wash my hands. A shudder rippled through my body as I walked over to the sink, and turned it on. My eyes practically popped out of my head as strange-colored liquid came spewing out of the tap after a moment of intense groaning.
“Hey!” Kéron shouted. “Don’t drink the tap water; it’s toxic! Use the purifier instead. The filter should be good. We changed it a month or two ago.”
I would’ve been less inclined to believe him, due to his quite literally shadowy appearance, but I couldn’t refute what was right in front of my eyes. I turned the tap off and watched the much-too-thick water swirl into the drain in disgust. “That’s water?” I asked incredulously. There’s no way. They’re joking, I thought, still in disbelief. He’s pulling my leg.
“Yep,” Ava chimed in. “Lead, chromium, Etherchemical waste, all that good shit.”
I couldn’t even comment on her use of profanity. “Isn’t all that… deadly?”
“Mhm,” Kéron confirmed, opening the trunk of an SUV. “All those factories nearby don’t take care of their waste properly, and it gets into the water—and into the rain, which makes everything even worse.”
I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. It was baffling that anyone lived like this. In an effort to distract myself, I walked over to the couch and leaned on it. “So, uh, what’re you doing?” I asked as Ava shoved a bag of tools into the back of the SUV.
“Getting the hell out of dodge,” she responded as she walked to pick up a bag Kéron had already packed. “Can’t be sticking around any longer than we need to. The Contractor certainly isn’t happy with us, and if we stay too long, he might go ahead and change his mind about not turning us into ground beef.”
“Oh.” Neither of them seemed eager to continue talking, so I decided to sit on the couch, which felt as crusty as it looked. It faced a fireplace, which looked like it had been used just this morning, and smelled like it too. The air stunk of soot and dust, making my nose all clogged and runny. Everything felt dirty, giving me the desire to take a shower as soon as possible—but even the water was toxic and filthy. I glanced over my shoulder at Kéron and Ava, who were packing their bags into the back of their SUV that looked like it was from the Secession War with how raggedy it was.
I watched as they worked, watching Ava’s dark hair bounce as she forced a bag into the trunk. She’d be pretty, if it weren’t for the fact she was so grimy, I thought, wrinkling my snout at the prospect of being so dirty all the time. It was a wonder how they managed to live day to day. I would’ve never been able to make it a week in this sort of environment. The lack of electricity would’ve driven me insane by day one. Surprisingly, they had enough energy to power rudimentary phones, which Ava was using to dismiss yet another call. My knees bounced erratically as I tried to calm myself down with prayer. Dear Lord, bless me that I’ll have the strength required to get through these trials. I ask thee in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.
It helped less than I was hoping. Perhaps I was unable to feel the Holy Spirit as well as normal, thanks to my filthy surroundings. As I sat and waited, my thoughts turned to Dad. I wonder when he’ll realize I’m gone? A smirk crept across my snout as I imagined his pudgy face turning red upon realizing I’d followed through on my plan. Maybe he’ll come to my room, and try and apologize through the door, before finally entering and realizing that I’m gone after searching through every nook and cranny. It was a funny thought, imagining his overly large self bending over to look under the bed.
My thoughts were interrupted by the sound of car keys jingling. “Woah—you’re packed already?” I asked in surprise.
“We don’t have much,” Kéron said. “It’s easy to pack up in a hurry.”
“Yeah, we don’t have a million extra things that require a whole fucking caravan to bring along,” Ava added.
"Language." I glowered at her—an expression she returned—and pushed off the couch. “Wait, don’t you need to know where you’re going first?”
“It’d be nice, but we need to get on the road first,” the Dragonborn told me. “The longer we stick around the higher the chance of…” His ears perked up and he stared at the ceiling, his eyes flickering side to side. “Do you hear that?”
I perked up my ears as well, straining to listen. All I could hear was the howl of the storm outside, and the creaking of the building’s weak walls. I began to open my mouth to respond, but then another sound registered to me. The all too familiar whining of military helijets. A bolt of fear coursed through me. Already?!
“Get in the car!” Kéron shouted, his voice full of urgency. Ava didn’t even question it and bolted for the driver’s seat. He grabbed me by the shoulders and shoved me into the backseat, which had barely enough space for me to fit myself as well as my tail, and slammed the door. The whining of engines grew louder as he jumped into the passenger seat.
“Shit!” Ava cried. “The garage door!”
An explosion rocked the building as the front door was flung off its hinges. Dust rained from the ceiling, and soldiers pushed into the entryway. Oh, heavens—those aren’t any regular soldiers.
“Those aren’t the Contractor’s men,” Kéron breathed. “Who—?” He was interrupted by a hailstorm of bullets slamming into the windshield, which were repelled in a turquoise flash of light, leaving no trace of impact.
“I knew investing in Abjuration-inforced glass was a good decision,” Ava muttered as she jammed the keys into the ignition.
Another volley of bullets hammered the glass, making me yelp and cower behind the driver’s seat. The sound was like having pots and pans slammed directly next to my head. I gasped as I looked at the windshield. The protection magic had weakened after the first round of bullets, and tiny cracks had developed across the glass. The soldiers crept ever closer, undeterred by the glasses' strength.
“Ava, what’s—”
“I don’t fucking know, Kéron!” She shouted as the engine stalled.
“Didn’t—”
“Fueled, oiled, double and triple checked! So there’s absolutely no reason for this mecánico butch TO FUCKING STOP WORKING!” She cranked the key with so much force I worried that it’d break. The engine coughed feebly. Another hail of bullets hit the windshield, and the cracks began growing larger with each impact.
“COME ON!” Ava bellowed, turning the key one last time. The engine roared to life, and behind us, the garage door rolled open as soldiers flanked us. Ava wasted no time shifting into reverse and slammed the gas. I felt sick as the car rocked as she ran over a pair of soldiers who were too slow to react. The tires squealed as she turned in the opposite direction of the helijet that was blocking the entrance of the alleyway. The car rocked as she flung the vehicle around a corner without letting off on the gas, the back of the car swinging wide. In a matter of seconds, we were back to the front of the building and were met by soldiers.
Both Ava and Kéron pulled their masks and goggles over their faces as bullets slammed into the glass, which kicked tiny particles into the air. There was a heavy thud as Ava barreled through the line of soldiers on the road. Bullets hit the back of the car, but quickly faded away as she drifted around a corner. I couldn’t believe she could see where she was going; the windshield was so heavily cracked that everything was a malformed blur. She made a motion with her hand, and Kéron pulled his legs up and started kicking at the glass. It came loose and flew away as Ava swung around another corner. Frigid air and snow tore through the interior of the car, getting into my eyes and making it difficult to see.
“Those were fucking Utahn soldiers!” Kéron shouted over the wind, turning his head to see Ava.
“I know!” She replied, hunching forward to try and see better. “Fucking bastards must’ve tracked down Isabelle, somehow.”
The Umbrite Dragonborn was frozen for a moment, before turning back to me. “Hey, you got any jewelry?”
I wasn’t sure I heard him properly over the wind. Jewelry? That’s his big worry right now? “What?!”
“Jewelry!” He repeated, enunciating each syllable.
I held up my ruby necklace quizzically. “Yeah. Why—” I yelped as he reached out and snapped the chain and tossed it out the window, grayish wisps following its links. “What the hell?!” I shouted.
“Any more?” He held his hand out expectantly. I stared into his goggles, which reflected my distraught appearance.
“Why should I? I just met you!”
“Because we said so,” Ava shouted over her shoulder. “Now fucking fork it over!”
I didn’t want to hand over the jewelry I had to Kéron, but I felt more inclined to listen to Ava. Tentatively, I handed over my rings, horn finery, and earrings. Despite knowing what was going to happen, I still felt a pang of pain when the Umbrite threw my jewelry out the window.
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“What was that for?” I cried as he rolled down his window and stuck his head out, checking behind us. “What are you looking at?” I turned to look out the rear window, and only saw snow swirling behind us. The car took a sudden left, and I felt my heart leap into my throat as its wheels left the pavement for a moment. Looking back out the nonexistent windshield, it looked like Ava was driving us into the middle of a field—except for the fact she was following a very specific path with utmost care. The SUV rocked as we crossed over uneven terrain, and I felt carsick. I put my hand on my stomach, trying to resist the urge to lose my lunch. After a few more minutes of driving, a small building swamped in snow came into view, much to my relief.
Without waiting for the car to stop, Kéron jumped out and ran to the front of the building, quickly shoveling snow out of the way of the garage door. He made short work of it, and opened the door, beckoning for Ava to drive forward. She obliged and pulled in. I stumbled out, the sickness in my stomach not wanting to leave me be. The Umbrite crouched in front of a fireplace, peeled off his glove revealing orange scales, and snapped his fingers. Sparks lingered on the blackened stone for a moment before suddenly bursting into a raging flame. He noticed me gawking and pulled his glove back on hurriedly.
“Fuck!” Ava shouted, stepping out of the car, and holding her head in her hands. “I knew this would happen, Kéron! I fucking told you!” She paced back and forth agitatedly, tearing her goggles and mask off, breathing heavily.
“Woah, woah, hey, hold on,” the Umbrite said placatingly, removing his mask and goggles. “It’s gonna be alright, Ava—”
“No, it’s not!” She fumed, fixing him with a glare. “This stupid fucking—fucking…” She pointed at me, her hand shaking. “Bitch gave us up. I told you it would happen. But what did you tell me? Give her a chance? Well, she’s had her chance, and she’s blown it!”
“Ava, wait, let me just—”
“Just what? I say we cut our losses,” she growled. I felt a pang of dread shiver up my spine. “We could just steal all her shit, get our payment, and leave her face down in a snowbank.” The dread spiked, turning into fear. “No one would have any idea what happened to her until it was too late.”
“W-what did I—?” I tried to say but was met by the barrel of a gun.
“Shut up!” Ava shouted, her eye twitching. “Just shut the fuck up! I don’t want to hear whatever silver-tongued bullshit you’re gonna spew, alright?” Her hand shook so badly I was surprised she hadn’t dropped her weapon. “You hija bastarda de una serpiente y un cerdo, ¡debería despellejarte y convertirte en un par de botas de piel!”
She wouldn’t just shoot me, would she? I thought, petrified. The thought of the soldiers she ran over earlier, and the string of Spanish she just spat at me did nothing to ease my worries.
Kéron bolted forward, pushing Ava’s hand down. “Hey! What the fuck are you thinking?!” He shouted, forcing her to look at him. “I know you’re pissed, but that’s not any excuse to be making frankly stupid decisions. You’re smarter than this.”
“But she—”
“She didn’t do anything,” the Umbrite told her, peeling the gun from her hands. “Listen to me.” He lowered his voice, staring into Ava’s eyes as he spoke. The cacophony of the blizzard raging outside, making the walls creak and groan, drowned his voice out. I watched as his lips moved, and Ava’s erratic breathing calmed down slightly. After a long moment of them staring at each other, Kéron patted her shoulder, and nudged her toward me. I tensed up as she approached, her boots stomping heavily on the concrete floor.
“Sorry for wanting to kill you,” she growled, her brown eyes brimming with fury.
“Uh—”
“We good?” She held her hand out stiffly. I took it after a long moment of staring at her and winced as she crushed it in an iron grip. “Bye.” She turned on her heel and marched back over to Kéron, who looked disappointed, yet couldn’t make himself say anything.
I let out a breath I didn’t know I was holding, feeling shaky. Ava was terrifying when she was angry, and her waving a weapon around so carelessly only accentuated that. She lingered near the windows, watching the swirling white skies as if she were able to see through the clouds. She was obviously trying to distract herself; the clenching of her fists told me it wasn’t working very well.
I turned away, trying to collect myself. My hands shook, and I felt sick. Staring down the barrel of Ava’s gun had me convinced I was going to die, right then and there if it wasn’t for Kéron’s intervention. I considered saying a prayer of thanks, but my brain felt too frazzled to connect thoughts simpler than I almost died.
“So,” Kéron muttered, “we need to figure out our plan of attack.” He clapped his hands together—making me flinch—and opened the back of the SUV, pulling a small bag out. He opened it as he walked around to the hood, and unrolled a large roll of paper covered in scribbles and tiny, indecipherable words. I walked over, putting him between myself and Ava. The paper took up the entire hood, and even then, it wasn’t the full thing. I squinted at it, trying to make sense of what I was looking at.
Finally, it clicked. “Is this a map?”
Ava fixed me with a death glare, which I shied away from, and Kéron glanced at me, confusion in his eyes. “Yeah? What, you don’t have maps up in the flats?”
“Not like this,” I muttered. “All I’ve gotta do is pull out my phone and…” I brought up the map app on my phone and showed him the screen.
He raised an eyebrow. “Uh-huh.” In the blink of an eye, my phone disappeared from my hand, and he was peeling the case off of it.
“Hey! What are you doing?!” I tried to reach over his shoulder to take it back, but he hunched over, curling into himself, disallowing me from grabbing hold. “Stop that!” I cried as he took the back off and pulled out two cards. He threw the phone and one of the cards on the ground and smashed them under his boot.
“Here, this has got all your photos on it,” the Umbrite said, handing me a card smaller than my claw. “Figured you might like to keep ‘em.”
“What was that for?” I demanded. “First all my jewelry, and now my phone?!”
“Hey, rich girl,” Ava barked. “All that shit was to track you down, in case you ever got antsy and tried to run away.”
“I-I didn’t run away,” I protested. “I just wanted to prove myself and—”
“You wanted to prove yourself. So you ran away.”
“Uh… I wasn’t gonna be gone for long. Just like, be out for a day or two, and be back. He wouldn’t even notice I was gone!”
Kéron cleared his throat before Ava could speak. “Well, whatever it was, we need to figure out where the hell we’re going—and how we’re gonna disguise Isabelle, because anyone with eyes and ears is going to know who she is.” He pulled a bullet out of his pocket and placed it on the map, somewhere south of Salt Flat City. “That’s us. So far, all we know is that we’re going west. But west could mean as far as northwest Nevada or even all the way in—Umbra forbid—the California Provisional Government.” He turned to look at me expectantly.
“Well, we need to go more south, for the most part, actually,” I said, tracing my finger along the road to New Vegas.
“But… that would leave us right on the CPG-Sprawl border,” Ava muttered, her voice full of apprehension.
I tried to think of an explanation that didn’t include the CPG since they seemed to be so adverse to it. “You see, we need to go further south than New Vegas. We’ll have to go through the República de Baja and then west.”
“Well, I guess that’s better than trying to go through the Provisional Government’s border,” Kéron mused. “But what are we looking for? Why couldn’t your dad just hire some sorta strike force and go and do it?”
“Well, it’s the República’s territory,” I explained, which was technically the truth. The California Provisional Government was out of my father’s jurisdiction, therefore he would have to get a state with more pull within the People’s Republic of America’s government to take notice, and listen—but chances of that happening were extremely low, thanks to the fact the PRA had its hands full on the east coast. I explained the situation to the two, deciding to substitute CPG with RDB.
Ava crossed her arms. “So you decided to come to us, why?”
“Because you seemed trustworthy and hardworking.” And inexpensive. “Your names were also some of the first to come up when I searched for hired work south of SFC. Seem to have a decent reputation down here,” I said, allowing a hint of admiration to creep into my voice.
“Well, yeah, we were pretty damn good at our job,” she said proudly, dusting off her jacket. “An almost spotless track record—until Kéron blew up our latest client’s contract. Literally.”
“So, we’re going south, to the República’s border,” he said, ignoring her last comment. “All that’s left is a disguise for you, Isabelle.”
“Uh… how’s that gonna work?”
He tapped his hands rhythmically on the hood of the car. “I’ve got plenty of extra clothes, I’m sure they’d fit you.”
The prospect of wearing his grimy scavenger clothes made me feel sick, but if I wanted to keep him somewhat amicable toward me, I needed to listen. I shrugged my shoulders and nodded, and he took that as his cue to move to the back of the car. I fixed my gaze on Ava. She was a whole other can of worms. Her tanned skin reflected warmly in the firelight, and her brown eyes glowed—but despite her kind appearance, she seemed to absolutely hate me. I couldn’t figure out exactly why, but based on the way she spoke about me, I had a few ideas. Thankfully, I had already learned one way to get under her skin and soften her up; flattery. It was hardly the most surprising thing, but it worked wonderfully for me.
“So…”
Ava glanced at me, skepticism in her eyes.
“It’s pretty impressive, what you two have managed to achieve down here. I can’t imagine it’s been easy.”
She glared at me, weighing my words. I felt a pang of satisfaction as my words wormed their way into her mind, softening her expression. “Yeah, it’s been tough. Way harder than you’d ever be able to imagine, what with your silk linens and hundred thousand square feet houses.”
I ignored the jab, and nodded. “Mhm. I’m sure it’s been even more difficult, being the younger of the two—”
“Me? Younger?” Ava burst out laughing, and smashed her fist against the hood, causing the bullet to leap and roll onto the floor with a small metallic skittering noise. “Oh, no. I’m not the younger one. Kéron over there’s the bebé. Surprised you mixed that up, given your upbringing.” That seemed to remind her that she was supposed to hate me. “What do you care, anyway? Dunno why you’re even talking to me.” She turned to stare into the fire, squinting against its bright light.
The Umbrite came back around with a stack of dark clothes in his arms. He glanced between the two of us quizzically. “Did I hear laughter, or…?”
“You didn’t hear anything,” Ava snapped.
“Got it,” he said, giving her a look. “So, Isabelle, I’ve got some clothes for you to try on. I tried to find the baggiest things I had, so you might need to use a belt.” He pushed the clothes into my arms, without waiting for me to respond. “Just go back there and get dressed. We won’t look.”
I shifted the weight of the clothes, and went around to the back of the SUV, wrinkling my nose at the smell. It wasn’t particularly unpleasant, but the strange, earthy mustiness felt wrong to me. Seeing no other place to put them, I resignedly plopped them on the ground and went through them. I wanted to choose something stylish, but all of his clothes were gray, black, and camo—and no two pieces properly complimented each other. After a long moment, I finally settled on desert camouflage sweat pants, a gray tank top, and a long coat that hung to my ankles, covering a significant portion of my tail. I figured I might as well grab a mask as well as goggles since that seemed to be the status quo in Kéron and Ava’s wardrobes. I walked around the car, to find the pair talking to each other quietly. Ava noticed me and tapped Kéron’s shoulder, pointing at me.
“Oh, hey, that’s not half bad!” He exclaimed.
“Yeah, it’s terrible,” Ava sniped.
The Umbrite smacked her arm forcefully. “So, we’re all ready to leave, then?”
“I think so,” I muttered, glancing down at my outfit. Ava was right. It did look terrible. Perhaps I could’ve chosen better if I had taken more time. “But what about the windshield?”
“Oh,” Kéron glanced at the SUV. “I’ve got something up my sleeve.” He turned away from me and peeled off his gloves, going through the bags around his waist. “Why don’t you guys just go ahead and get in the car? I’ll be there in a moment.”
Ava folded the map, strode back around to the driver’s seat, and got in without hesitation. “C’mon, kelp breath,” she called to me. I glowered at her but went around to the back seat and got in. As I did so, I caught a glimpse of Kéron drawing around the frame of the windshield with multicolored pieces of chalk—all of which were in shades of blue—before he walked in front of the car, and made some strange movements with his hands, almost like a mime. I blinked as a blue flash flared up where he had drawn, and raised my eyebrows in surprise upon seeing a transparent field across where the windshield used to be. He pulled his gloves back on as he walked to the garage door and opened it, snow flooding in with a vengeance.
“Let’s go,” he muttered as he jumped into the passenger seat. “That field won’t last forever, so let’s try and get out of this storm ASAP.”
“Roger,” Ava responded, throwing the SUV into reverse.
As we pulled away, I watched the small building fade into the blizzard. I looked down at the card between my claws, and the feeling of disbelief that had been following me the entire time began to fade away. I was knee-deep in trouble, and this was only the start of it. I stared out into the storm, its gray-white swirls raging against the safety of the SUV. Well, the good thing about this is that it’ll be simple enough, right? I thought optimistically.
…
Right?