Rey had waited for dark to get on the road.
Anyone else would have considered it madness. Raiders were known to attack lost or reckless travelers who wandered off the safe paths. Hostile gangs in vehicles bristling with rusty blades, stinking of blood, gasoline, and cheap liquor became merciless under the cover of night. They liked to pick off the slow vehicles at the tail ends of caravans, those with engines struggling against steep inclines or that bogged down in the sand. Before their prey could scream for help, the night raiders would slit their throats, and steal everything they had. Everything was fair game: food, gas, women, children, slaves for their workforce. Whatever could be consumed would be. Whatever could be used would could be sold would be, be it human slaves or unneeded equipment.
Vehicles that were too slow or inadequate to make efficient war machines would be stripped to their bones by sunrise. At dawn, the only remnants of the vehicle and its passengers would be a skeletal metallic structure, bloodstains and signs of struggle in the sand. By noon, the wind would have erased them and by the following night, the abandoned structure would already seem part of the desolate landscape.
No woman on her own would consider leaving the security of her fortified village.
Yet Rey didn't fear the night.
She found the velvet of the darkness a soothing touch. At night, all skin was black. At night, the ochres, reds, browns and tawny shades that burned her eyes during the day turned to indigos, blues, purples and crimsons.
The campfires of distant villages were landmarks on the vast plains, like stars fallen from the heavens, twinkling on the desert sands. But Rey didn't need landmarks to find her way. She could see perfectly even in the deepest darkness.
She had always been like this. Other people, normal people, feared the night because they knew they were easy prey, stumbling blindly in the dark, but not Rey. Quite the opposite, in fact. There was less movement at night and barely a sound to be heard. In those moments the world was all hers, and in this endless landscape, she could spot danger from miles away.
She shivered and tightened her shabby cowl around her shoulders. Temperatures were quickly dropping as the sun set. She took a quick inventory of her motorbike. She had a gallon jug of water, not to mention the full canteen on her belt. The detour through Tuanul had been fruitful. Villages under Starkiller Citadel's control were strictly forbidden to dig their own wells. Anyone caught operating a well was condemned to death; an efficient way to keep control over the people. Rumor was that the Citadel's stronghold was built over a dammed lake. Millions of gallons of fresh water, dispensed drop by drop to ambassadors who came to pay their taxes. But Rey had found out that the small village of Tuanul was concealing a well under a hut of corrugated sheet metal. She sensed the water while driving by the village. It was a difficult feeling to describe. A shiver. A dryness in her mouth, a tickle in her skull that she only felt when she was close to living beings. It was an unusual gift.
After the nuclear apocalypse, many had developed tumors, deformities, allergies, and incurable diseases. As for Rey, though, she had been born with her powers. She had the keen senses of a bird of prey and could feel living creatures from nearly a hundred feet away. And where there was a spring, even underground, there was life. Algae, bacteria, amphibians, small mammals, sprouts of vegetation… What she felt in her bones passing by Tuanul wasn't the presence of the men, women, and children living their lives in their slum, but the water.
She had kept Lor San Tekka's secret; it was always worthwhile to have allies.
Niima was about a two hour drive away. She would be there before midnight. Her jug had been filled in Tuanul, a costly one-hour detour, but without which she would have run out of water. Her gas tank was half full, hopefully enough to get her back to the village. She was towing a small wagon behind her bike, loaded with equipment she had scavenged from the shipwreck. Radar equipment, navigational tools, acoustic baffles that shouldn't be hard to fix…
Unkar Plutt would be happy. She had gone scouting for wrecks to scavenge, and that gigantic ship grounded in the middle of the desert had turned out to be a real treasure trove.
"I doubt we'll find gas, though."
She gasped at the sound of her own voice. She had said that out loud.
Gas, certainly not, it would all have been pumped out or leaked through a hole in the hull long ago. But there would be enough iron, pulleys, and cables to fill a truck. She would tell Unkar to set up an expedition.
Meanwhile, it was time to get back.
She drank a sip of water from her canteen and had just hopped on her bike when a sharp pain spiked into her temples.
Someone was here. Close.
She repressed her instinct to react. They were coming up behind her, expecting to take her by surprise. But they underestimated her. She slowly unbuckled her weapon on her left hip, and reached with her right hand to grab her staff, lashed to the side of the motorbike. She frowned. The muffled pounding wasn't human; it was an animal.
She turned sharply, spinning her staff.
The dog jumped backwards with a startled yelp. He fell backwards and seemed to struggle for balance as the sand slid under his paws.
Rey couldn't resist laughing.
He had once been a rather good looking dog, with reddish fur, pointy ears, and a curved tail that looped up to his back. The fur down his sides was short and dark as if it had burned. Patches of white skin were visible between tufts of scattered orange hair. A piece of metal embedded in his right paw was making him limp.
Rey hopped off her vehicle and squatted down to face him. She clicked her tongue.
"Hey. Come… come closer!"
She spoke in a soft voice, pulling a piece of dry meat out of her pouch and holding it out to the dog. He whined but didn't come any closer.
Rey took a few steps towards him.
"Don't be scared, I'm not going to hurt you."
The dog stretched out his neck, his nostrils quivering at the smell of the meat. With a clap of his jaw, he snatched the treat and swallowed it greedily.
Rey smiled.
"If you let me come closer, I'll take care of that."
With very slow gestures, she closed the space between them and softly petted the dog. His back was orange, his stomach white. One of his ears was torn.
As have all inhabitants of this damned desert, he must have seen battle, thought Rey.
She gave the dog another piece of meat to distract him, and while he was chewing on it, she swiftly pulled the iron splinter out of his paw.
The dog yelped loudly and jumped backwards, but came right back to her.
Rey tenderly petted his head.
"You're welcome. Go on now, I have to leave. It was nice meeting you."
She stood up and walked to her bike sitting a few steps away. The dog followed her.
Rey gave him an impatient wave.
"Shoo! Go on! Go!"
She hopped on the vehicle, tied her staff back in its place, and revved the engine. The dog let out a loud whine that sounded like a plea. When Rey's bike started moving, he followed close behind.
Rey stopped and put her foot down to look back at him.
"Go away. If you come to Niima, Unkar is going to roast you for breakfast."
The dog, sitting down on the sand tilted his head at her and whined again.
Rey shrugged.
"It's your funeral. You won't be able to keep up anyway."
She gave a quick twist to the throttle, spraying sand behind her bike as she took off. The dog ran after her. Rey sped up, keeping an eye on him over her shoulder. She was easily outrunning him, especially since he was still limping. His paw needed to be cleaned and bandaged.
"Fuck."
She stopped sharply.
"All right, come on up."
She gave a tilt of her chin, inviting the dog to hop on the wagon. He jumped on the vehicle as if he was used to doing so, and that comforted Rey in the idea that this dog was used to humans, and - hopefully - to motorcycles. He wasn't afraid of her, or her engine.
She sighed as she adjusted her goggles on her face, pulled her scarf up over her mouth and nose, and fired up her engine.
This animal was only get her into trouble, she didn't need her special abilities to sense that.