[Warbinger Returns Arc]
Chapter 03
Not a Burden
Richard stared up at the hallway he’d come down from. It looked so much farther from the bottom. His new friend was sitting comfortably—he hoped—crossed-legged on the ground nearby. He needed to get them out of the pit, and quickly. That fire wasn’t out of control yet but if they took their time the building would start to come down on them.
The problem was, the wall was packed dirt and concrete all the way up with nowhere to grab. Even if he had a rope there was nowhere to tie it. “Sorry friend, if I had come down here with a plan we might not be in this mess. We’ll get out though, I know it.”
They said something quietly, and he followed their gaze to a couple of rectangles they’d drawn in the dirt. One stood vertically, and the other lay horizontally. They slapped the ground next to their drawing three times.
He scratched his head. “Rectangles?” He looked back towards the elevator shaft. “Yeah, I think I understand. The doors?” he asked.
They slapped the ground once.
“Yes,” Richard nodded. “Yes, that might just work. It’s a good thing you’re so good at drawing.”
A big grin crossed their face as they nodded in imitation.
He ran back to the elevator shaft where the heavy doors lay depressed in the mud and laboured to haul them back through the spiny foliage. He set them up as the drawing described and then took a step back to look. He thought he could get enough height to climb up if he was careful not to tip the doors, but with someone on his back…
His friend spoke again, and this time they had two lines on a ninety degree angle drawn above the rectangles. Underneath the rectangles was a circle and a triangle. As he watched they drew another line from the triangle to the rectangles, and finally to the top.
“You were a circle last time. Then am I the triangle?” he frowned. “You want me to leave you down here?”
They nodded and held their hand palm-up.
Richard shook his head. “That won’t do. Who knows how long it would take me to find something to get you out? I could search every apartment up there and not find anything. It’s better if we find a way to get out together, even if I have to pile up every single piece of rubble in this hole.” He knew there was no time for that, but he hoped his friend wasn't thinking about the fire too. Or the tree holding the building up.
He looked at the deep holes dotting the tree’s surface. It might have been good for climbing if it wasn’t on fire. As it was, he’d only be able to get to the most dangerous floors.
Their ears pointed downward, combining with their frown for a concerned expression considerably more expressive than he expected.
“Don’t worry, we’ll make it out. I’m going to start piling up rocks until I come up with a better idea. It beats sitting idle. If you think of anything you’ll draw it for me, right?”
They nodded, so he got started carrying rocks and cement over. He quickly realised that, as he suspected, if he piled up everything he could carry it still wouldn’t be enough. He paused for breath by the massive slab of roof that was upright against the far bank. It wouldn’t be any easier climbing up the dirt bank, but that slab would have been perfect if there was a way to move it.
It crossed his mind that they might be able to shelter behind it and wait out the fire. Even if the entire building fell it might protect them… and leave them trapped forever underneath, most likely. He looked behind it anyway. There was no space. It stood almost completely vertical so it was nearly flush with the bank. Not even the native could fit behind it. He started to wonder if he would be able to dig out the bank to make room if need be, and something blue caught his eye. A tiny bit of unsullied something.
Richard knelt down and brushed dirt away. There was a tarp pinned beneath the corner of the roof, but the collapsed part of the bank had buried it. He peered over his shoulder at the doors and a new idea came to him. He would get them out. He just had to dig this tarp out first.
He worked with newfound enthusiasm to shovel dirt with both hands until he could yank the tarp out from under the concrete, and then shook the excess dirt off and dragged it back. It was filthy and heavy but it would work. The fire crackled loudly overhead now and the tree kept groaning under strain of the building, so it had to.
The native was waiting with a new idea. One of the doors was drawn angled into the wall. A ramp that would get him closer to the top and make it easier to climb too.
“Good thinking,” he said. “It’ll work with my idea too.”
Their ears perked back up, but their face was expressionless.
His plan started with a stack of whatever rubble he could find that wouldn’t topple over when piled high. High enough that he could lean the door upright against it without it touching the wall. Then he pulled off his uniform top and cut the sleeves off with his pocket knife. He threaded them through the loops at each end of the tarp and tied them to make something that resembled pockets. A twist in the middle of the tarp finished it off.
Now he hung it over the door so there was a pocket on each side. He filled the pocket on the back with rubble to weigh it down and rested it on the stack so it wouldn’t pull the tarp down.
“See this?” Richard smirked confidently. “This is how we get you up.” He lifted his friend carefully and placed them in the front pocket. Their legs dangled limply and gave the impression they were not secure, but it would work. It had too; he was out of other ideas. He piled more rubble on the other side until his friend was pulled high enough up to sit on the door and lean against the wall.
He was aware of them watching him nervously from their high perch as he took the other slab of metal. Leaning against the wall, it would give him the elevation to jump to the other doortop where his friend sat. He lifted the low end and pushed it into the wall as much as he could, but the packed earth didn’t give an inch. He had to pile more stones underneath so it wouldn’t fall under his weight, and used a few heavy pieces of concrete to hold the bottom steady too.
This better work, he thought.
“What do you think?” he asked them. A loud snap sounded above and they both turned to watch as part of the upper floor buckled and collapsed, showering the pit with flaming debris near the elevator shaft. They wore a worried expression when he looked back at them. “Time to go?”
They nodded.
He took a jogging start, stepped carefully up the ramp and jumped from the height of the first door. His foot landed square on the corner of the second and he clambered over the edge before his weight could send the door crashing down and topple their plan—not to mention his new friend. “Give me your hand now!” he called, reaching down.
They raised their arms up behind their head as high as they could. They were small and light so it was easy to lift them up; only his precarious position on the edge of the hall made it any trouble, but once they were up he breathed a sigh of relief. “See? We made it. I might have been stuck down there forever if it wasn’t for your help, so thank you.” Nevermind that he only jumped down there to help them in the first place. You do what you have to do.
They offered a reserved smile in response.
“I don’t know where I am,” he explained as he lifted them onto his back. “I came from the same world as this building, so I can get us through it, but after that I’m lost. Don’t know how to get home, don’t know how to get anywhere.” He carried them towards the stairs with his flashlight held awkwardly in one hand. “I don’t even know if there’s anywhere to get to. I’d be grateful if you were willing to keep helping me.”
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They tapped his shoulder once in response.
Water pooled at the bottom of the stairwell, but it was no longer dripping. “Water was running down here from one of the rooms earlier,” he explained, “but I guess the tank ran out.” He hurried up the steps to the second floor of the building and shone his light down the hall. It hadn’t changed, except for the water and sounds of the building creaking and crackling above.
Walking the crooked hall was much more strenuous than he anticipated with someone on his back. He found himself sidling up carefully with a hand on the wall. There was another loud crash and the end of the hall crumbled away in a fiery deluge that let in clouds of smoke. He turned his head as the smoke stung his eyes.
His friend made a quiet, pained noise he wasn’t sure was a word. “Hold your breath and shut your eyes, we’re there.” he said. They coughed on the smoke.
With his breath held and eyes squeezed shut Richard sidled upward, feeling blindly against the wall until finally he felt his hand grasp the door frame he had left open earlier and pulled himself inside. He kicked it shut to keep the smoke out and set his friend on the sofa.
They both suffered a few painful coughs when they released their breath. He rubbed smoke from his eyes before opening them. “Ten seconds,” he said.
He took the grey sheet off the bed and draped it around his neck. From the pantry he stuffed a jar of something he hoped was jam in his pocket and a box of crackers into his pouch. He thought they’d need more but he was carrying quite a bit already. “Ready to go.”
It took some clumsy one-legged hopping to get over the blocked doorway but the balcony rail was a simple climb, and then they were out. Relief washed over him like the cool breeze.
He took a deep breath of the fresh air. They were safe, but his conscience stung him like a viper’s bite. He had to explain himself as he walked. “So I took a few things from that home,” he confessed. “They’re not mine to take, but I thought we might need them and whoever owns them is back in my world. I hope.”
He looked up at where he expected the tear to be in the sky. It was gone, but the circle was still there, looking less pale without the purple glow obstructing it. The circle had more of a blue tone now, though it was faded as if seen through a foggy glass. Blue, and green. Like Earth. For how big it was in the sky, it felt impossibly far away. The tear had felt so close.
The native tapped his chest and he was shaken from his thoughts.
“Sorry,” he continued rambling as he walked. “I don’t blame you if you disagree with me taking those things. If I make it back I’ll try to find them, thank them, and since their apartment is gone I’ll help them any way I can. Until then, we can make use of this.”
They tapped him once. That was their ‘yes’ so he hoped that meant they were okay with it.
He set them down in a patch of violet grass and laid out the sheet. “I forgot to ask, do you have a name? My name is Richard. My best friend Geoff calls me Rick.”
They nodded, and with a finger pointing at themself they spoke a word that sounded gentle and sweet like a rare flower in full bloom.
“Is that girl’s name?” he asked. “Don’t mean to be rude, I’ve just never seen someone like you so I want to be sure.”
She nodded.
“I like it,” he said, “I hope I can get the hang of it.” He placed her down on the sheet so it was between her legs, and then wrapped it around her waist before tying the ends as tightly as he could around his shoulders. It was incredibly uncomfortable forcing his shoulders down so hard, but it held her up without requiring him to hold her… if he needed both hands for something else. “I hope it’s more comfortable for you than it is for me,” Richard laughed.
He straightened his legs. Right away her arm stuck out beside his head, pointing across the stream full of cars he’d seen before. The critter was gone, which made him glad. They wouldn’t spook it walking by. “How did you get across this creek?” he asked. There were a few rocks jutting out, but they looked too slick to jump across safely. The car trivialised the crossing by comparison.
She said something. He didn’t understand, but he realised he couldn’t remember her name. The sounds of her language were too foreign for him to really parse the words and remember them. “Can you tell me your name again?” he asked, climbing carefully off the car to avoid jostling her.
Her gentle voice repeated the name right next to his ear.
“Sp… iset?”
A tremendous crash erupted behind them and he whirled around. The apartment building was partially obscured by trees, but he could still make it out as it finally succumbed to the flames and crumbled with an incredible, horrible, finality. It lay quietly smouldering, blue leaves spinning through the air like little drills around it. A mound of embers puffing out enormous amounts of black smoke.
Richard hoped the fire wouldn’t spread well in the damp woods. And that it had truly been empty.
“Sparlyset,” he said quietly, not really hearing himself speak.
She tapped him once.
“So many homes, gone up in smoke. I think part of me was holding out hope I could bring it back with me. Or something. Feels horrible watching it all fall apart. Their homes… Those ‘things’ they owned that represented moments in their life journey. It’s more important that they’re okay, but I can’t help but feel a sense of loss watching it all disappear. Like the memories made with those things are now doomed to fade.” Richard shook his head. Geoff would tell him he’s thinking too much. “I don’t know about you, but I want to find out what’s doing this and stop it.”
Sparlyset tapped him three times, and he turned away from the wreckage. He followed her directions through the forest. The broken bits of Hometoll discarded in the forest shade created a melancholy atmosphere. Sinkholes of loose dirt where trees had disappeared held cars and quartered structures, Signs from the train station sprouted from stones and swung from trees as if in imitation of their origin and the occasional building sat in the shadows like a tombstone of civilization.
Her directions became hesitant as she started having trouble navigating. A few questions revealed that one of her landmarks was missing, but her home should be close so she was confident that she could find it anyway. They continued their upward-sloping path. Richard was sick of slopes already.
The colourful, spiky foliage of the forest floor gave way more and more to stones and boulders. It felt like half an hour before she finally identified the rocky overhang that sheltered the tunnel through the mountain like a natural doorframe.
He pulled the sheet to adjust her position slightly. His shoulders ached, and worse, the wound in his shoulder from the thorns was beginning to burn. Carrying her only grew more uncomfortable with time, but they were nearly there.
Sparlyset tapped him twice. He stopped. “What is it?” he asked. She wiggled on his back, threatening to pull herself loose, so he set her down. Immediately he felt weightless, like if he jumped he’d fly off into the sky.
She grabbed her legs near the ankles and pulled them together to cross them. He settled next to her, and she was already drawing another circle and triangle. She added a horseshoe shape, for the tunnel he guessed. The triangle was leaving the circle behind again.
“Guess you can tell I’m getting tired, huh?” His breath was heavier, so it was no surprise. He pulled out the crackers and jam. “It’s hard walking uphill, so we’ll take a break.” He popped the jam open and frowned at the smell of raspberry. “Hoped it would be strawberry. Oh well. Mom always said, ‘unless the next meal’s already in the fridge you don’t get to be picky’.”
She cocked her head at him.
“Did you understand that?” He asked. She looked confused.
She tapped the ground twice.
“Sorry. Maybe you don’t have a word for ‘fridge’?”
Two taps again.
“It’s uh… a box that keeps things cold.”
Her ears wiggled as she stared off, like she was thinking deeply about it.
He spread some jam on a cracker and offered it to her. “I cut my sleeves with this knife earlier so I get it if you don’t want any. Or maybe you can’t eat our food, I don’t know.”
She smiled at him and took the cracker. They were vegetable crackers, so he was unsure how well they would go with jam, but it ended up being decent. She popped hers in her mouth and tilted her head at him.
“Sparlyset,” Richard said, handing her another loaded cracker. “I know you wish you could help more. But remember, I’d be lost and helpless in this world without your help. Because we’re working together, neither of us is helpless. You’re not a burden.”
She pouted at him.
Did I say something wrong? Dammit Richard.
He opened his mouth to apologise, but she turned her head towards the tunnel with a puzzled look on her face. He faced the same way to try to find what she was looking at. There was nothing there, so they sat quietly for a moment just watching. Listening.
Her pink eyes widened as he heard it. Felt it. There was a deep rumble in the ground, so faint he wasn’t sure it was there at first. Sparlyset waved both her arms urgently towards herself. He tucked the food away and fastened her to his back quickly. She communicated her desire to approach the rumbling in the tunnel with a jabbing finger.
“Why would you want to go over there?” he asked. She kept jabbing her finger forward. He supposed she could be worried about the tunnel, if it was an important entrance to her home. “Alright, alright. We’ll get closer but not too close.”
The ground was shaking enough to rattle pebbles on the ground and send them rolling down the hill. He braced himself on the side of the tunnel with one hand. It was like an earthquake. The flashlight showed the entrance tunnel was actually not very long; it quickly opened into something larger. He approached it carefully. His instincts told him it was dangerous, and even Sparlyset was no longer urging him forward.
He didn’t want to get closer, so he just stopped, grasping for any handhold he could find along the wall. It felt like the entire mountain was about to collapse. He was afraid he wouldn’t keep his footing if he tried to move.
Panic started to take him. Something was coming, making a chugging sound he could barely hear through the deafening rumble. He recognised the sound immediately and his heart threatened to beat out of his chest. Knowing made him more afraid. It was the largest of its kind ever built; a colossal monster of a machine. The absolute pinnacle of Martyrsmith engineering.
The Leviathan Train.