Sam shot back from his seated position on the floor. The foot of the couch behind him helped to break the fall backwards but there wasn’t much cushioning there. It hurt. Not just the sudden impact of barely cushioned wood but the noise of it all. His senses always flared after a dive. The noise of hitting the couch sounded like an explosion. The feel of the carpet on his hands was as if it was made from a cactus. He did his best to keep his eyes jammed shut but the light still filtered through. Fireworks exploded on the back of his eyelids. The worst of it all was the smell of mildewing paper and burnt rubber that filled Rinzo’s house.
The backlash from diving too far for too long. Blood from the nose and eyes, fine. That was manageable with some rags and water. Uncontrollable senses attacking his own body. It was unbearable. He had to force himself to hold his breath in fear of the excruciating pain a scream would cause to his ears.
A sudden, overpowering intake of all the senses. It felt as if his head was going to tear itself apart just from the massive intake of information. Then, it was gone. Back to normal in an instant. Like it never happened. The world felt flat now, muted. All except for the pounding in his head stemming from the very back and rounding its way to behind the eyes. Relieved of the sudden influx of information, Sam slowly opened his eyes and loosened the grip he had on the carpet.
Rinzo was there. A mix of concern and curiosity covered his face, a blood soaked rag in one hand and a cup of water in the other. He held the cup out towards Sam nodding down to the water. “Drink. That seemed like a rough one man.” Sam took the glass and drank the whole thing in just a few gulps. “Don’t think I’ve ever seen you jump back out of a dive like that.” Rinzo had concern in his voice as he spoke. His eyes held that of a family member caring for a sick relative.
After Sam had drank the water he looked back over towards Rinzo who smiled at him and gestured his head towards the kitchen. “Had someone show up for you while you were gone.”
Sam turned to look and found a familiar face leaned up against the doorframe. She was tall, dressed in jeans, a jacket and chunky black boots. From an onlookers perspective she looked fairly ordinary but Sam knew that jacket did wonders in covering a muscular physique that he could only dream of achieving. Her black hair was braided back. Why she hasn’t just cut it all off was a mystery to Sam, she always complained about it getting in the way.
“Anya! I was actually just on my way to meet you.” Sam stammered out with obvious embarrassment in his voice.
She smiled and pushed away from the doorframe. “Were you now?” She teased. She picked up the old newspaper that Sam was using for his dive from the ground. “Looks to me like you were having a bit of fun without me. What was it this time? Had to be something important for you to dive on a day like this…” She faltered off as she began to study the photograph. It looked like there was a bit of recognition in her expression but she shook it off just as soon as it came. She folded up the paper and stuffed it into her jacket pocket.
“C’mon, we need to get going. If it wasn’t for the time sensitivity I’m sure 13 would have us pulsed just for wasting her time.” Anya complained as she held a hand out to help Sam up.
Sam took her hand and was yanked up to his feet. “Yeah, I get what you mean. This one was important though Anya.” He met her eyes. There was something there, an understanding that they will talk later. It was easy for them to read each other. They had grown up with each other. Basically the same age and the only Bleeders in Credence. They learned to stick together and formed a tight bond because of it.
“Wait! Wait! You still need to tell me about your dive! What did you see?” Rinzo shouted while reaching out towards Sam’s arm. He grabbed a hold and wouldn’t let go. His eyes were pleading and full of wonder.
Sam put a hand over Rinzo’s on his arm and spoke softly to him. “I really need to go, Rin. I’ll be sure to call you after our meeting with 13. You should still be within Credence’s radio range, right?”
Rinzo’s grip loosened and he retreated back a couple steps into his living room. He looked defeated. Like a child that just had his toys taken away as punishment. “Yeah, I guess.” He pouted.
“Still in range?” Anya questioned.
“He’s heading to Richmond today.” Sam said heading towards the front door.
“Woah! Richmond, huh? Big trip Rin, think you can manage?” Anya said excitedly. She layed one hand on Rinzo’s shoulder. Her sleeve pulled up just enough to see the faint blue glow of her veins when her heart beat.
“They should be done putting up their walls by the time I get there. Got lots of product that’ll sell well in a new settlement!” Rinzo responded with a cheerful voice. Sam hoped what he said about calling before he was out of range was true. He didn’t know how long this meeting was going to be or how fast Rinzo was going to be traveling.
They bid Rinzo a safe trip and left him to finish packing. They traveled in silence for a few blocks after leaving. Sam knew he messed up not getting Anya before diving but he just didn’t have the time. In reality, he thought the dive wouldn’t have taken the half hour that it did.
When they passed the old man McCauleys noodle shop four blocks down, Anya cleared her throat and looked towards Sam. “So, nothing to say for yourself? Traitor.” She said with the slightest bit of a tease in her voice. For most people they probably wouldn’t have picked up on that and took what she said for face value. Sam knew how she operated. Always sounded so serious but in reality there are very few things she said that didn’t have a joke behind it.
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Sam sighed in defeat looking at his feet as they walked. “Yeah, I guess I deserve that one.” He glazed over at her and noted the beginnings of a smile creeping into the corners of her mouth.
She held the stare for a second before breaking into a hearty laugh. She then proceeded to punch Sam full on in the shoulder. Not expecting it he was thrown off his balance (and a couple inches off the ground) into a clothing merchant stand knocking over an entire rack of salvaged and crafted hats.
Sam apologized profusely to the rightfully furious shop owner while he picked up the fallen hats. Anya spent the whole time doubled over laughing to the point of coughing.
“That was for leaving me waiting for nearly forty minutes in the middle of the market.” Anya joked after Sam had returned to their path on the street. “You know I hate it down here. I don’t understand how you can stand living down here. The way these people look at us…”
“It’s not all bad really. You learn to just ignore the looks. I have made some friends here too. Not everybody thinks we’re monsters you know?” Sam answered while rubbing the shoulder Anya had most assuredly bruised until the next pulse. “Besides, it’s not like I had much of a choice after dad died. I’m lucky I even found a place that I could afford. Or better yet a place that woiul;d even take me in the first place.”
Anya joined Sam in his observation of the ground before speaking in a more somber tone. “You know there is always a place for you at our house. My parents would gladly take you in in a heartbeat.”
“Yeah, I know I know. Just… I need the space right now. And Mom will need a place to stay when she gets back too.” Sam said longingly.
Anya stopped and looked at Sam. “She’s going to come back. You know it, I know it, we all know it.” She took his hand and held it up for a moment while they looked at each other.
Sam looked away. “I know. It’s just getting harder to believe every day that passes.”
“So are you going to tell me what all that was about with Rin? Why you abandoned me all alone in a strange place with no signs of rescue?” Anya lamented with a dramatic flare. Back of the hand on the forehead and everything.
They continued walking out of the market and into a more residential part of town. “Yeah of course. Well I paid Rinzo a visit, he proceeded to use me as a marketing gimmick for an old camera he found and I decided to talk for a while. He showed me that newspaper clipping you stole from me and convinced me to do a dive. I think that’s about where you came in.”
“Diving without me. Tsk tsk tsk. And here I thought I meant something to you.” Anya teased.
“It’s not like that and you know it!” Sam countered. “Rin was leaving and you know how much he likes to watch me dive.”
“Yeah, I get it.” Anya said. She reached into her jacket pocket and pulled out the newspaper clipping. “So the dive was about your mom I’m assuming” She said while pointing to the symbol on the back wall of the photo.
“It was. Lily found it while she was out on a run. Rin said he was paying her to keep an eye out for stuff like this.”
“Huh, what a find right? I mean for this to still be intact after all these years.” She held the page up and studied it. “I feel like it’ll turn to dust if I look at it the wrong way.”
“I don’t really care how lucky it was. I’m just glad it made its way back to me.” Sam said.
Anya folded the paper back up and stashed it in her jacket again. “So what’d you find? You seemed pretty frazzled when you came out. Looked like you stayed too long again.”
“Yeah, I did. Pulled out just in time. Had hyper senses when I came out.” Sam visibly shuddered at the thought of it. “Nothing on my mom, but I did get some info on a few scientists.”
“Scientist? What kind?” Anya asked.
“I’m not too sure. There wasn’t a whole lot in the vision to go off of. One of them said something about an accelerator thought. As you’ve already noticed there was mom’s symbol on the wall too.” Sam said while trying to fish up all the information he gathered from his dive. “Oh, and there was something else there. A device of some sort that they were working on. It gave me that sense of familiarity you get when you see something from your last pulse.”
“Is that all you got from it? No memory flashes or anything? Do you think it was something you’ve seen before?” Anya asked.
They were nearing the edge of town. Building tapered off as a large mostly barren hill rose up from the ground. A solitary one man wide foot path twisted up to the top. A chain link fence separated the rest of the town from the foot of the hill. Two guards, rifles slung over their shoulders, leaned against it beside the gate chatting.
Sam stopped before they would be in earshot of the guards. “Im fairly certain I have seen it before.” He said nervously. “Well a little bit more than that. Look, on my last pulse you know what I saw. You and 13 are the only one’s I’ve told. By the way, she’d have my head if she knew I told you.”
“I’m sure she already knows you did Sam.” Anya said flatly.
“Yeah you’re probably right. Anyway, that doesn’t matter right now.” He took a step closer to Anya in order to whisper, just in case those guards were a little more attentive than they seemed. “I’m pretty sure I had that device on me when I pulsed.”
Anya stared down at him, reading him. “Are you sure?”
“Almost positive. It would make sense. I mean you know how pulse memories are. They are sporadic and vague so I can’t be one hundred percent but I’m at least in the eighties.” Sam said while gesturing wildly with his hands. “I’m telling you it’s the only thing that makes sense. I don’t know why I feel the need to keep it a secret either but promise me you wont tell 13 until we're able to recover it and figure out what it is.”
Anya stared for a moment longer than rolled her eyes and turned to continue walking. “I suppose they don’t call you Sherlock for nothing. Of course I’ll keep this a secret for you. You of all people should know that I’m good on my word.”
Sam let out a sigh of relief. “Thank you Anya. I know you are. I’m not sure why I feel the need to keep it this way but I just want to play it safe for now.”
They walked up to the gate and the guards let them through with a wave. Dave and Heather were on duty. They were always nice to Sam and Anya. Saw them as equals, not monsters spawned from the distortion. They offered a drink and a game of cards but Sam had to refuse. He explained that they were already late but might have to take them up on their offer later in the evening.
They moved on up the hill winding left and right around rubble and debris. It took them about ten minutes or so to crest the top of the hill. From there they had a clear view down the other side. They looked out over a dirt field with patchworks of grass giving it a mangey look. In the center of the field was a large hanger-like building with a fenced off yard surrounding it. Scavenger and Pulser Operation Center. They began down the hill.