Note: I'm about 1k words away from the next one. Don't like leaving chapters hanging (even if I get kudos for it)
Night had fallen, as always, like a curtain drawn over the world.
Kasimir stared at the girl, trying his damnedest not to snap at her like he had before. To not lose his temper while the Sailback leader acted like the snide bastard he always had been, and to not simply lift his rifle and shoot the whole lot of them.
She'd not failed, this time. Any other plan he might have made was ruined because she'd come looking for him, or simply not listened to anyone but her own self. In the past few days, he'd come to the conclusion that she was a nuisance, useless to him with her lack of experience and knowledge about what went on around the Island―an unwanted restraint, as he'd told Duval.
A nuisance that was his creation, he realized now. The thought didn't make him any less angry with her, or with himself, or with the situation. And truth be told, he'd sent Jake with to get him captured by the Sailbacks. Even if he told himself it was a test to see how "loyal" the man was, it had really been for revenge.
Thirteen times. The fourteenth was looking closer than ever.
It hadn't occurred to him that Matus would want to broker a deal with the Unnamed. The man's predictability in the past lent to him a much more stubborn nature, one that did not move of its own accord. If Matus was becoming flexible, it could only mean that the Unnamed were far more powerful and much more intimidating than Kasimir had imagined before.
And here he stood in his Tek armor, staring down the girl and trying to put together a plan. How to break her deal with Matus, how to remove the both of them from Riverbend, and how to weather the storm that should come, once they were again hunted.
Fate, however, made his struggle much easier.
Matus opened his mouth to deliver a long-winded diatribe, but was interrupted. With a mighty crack and and a loud crash, a tree fell into the camp from the cliff wall above them. The flaming mess broke into two on impact, showering the onlookers with splinters, smaller branches, and hot ember.
Then, suddenly, the enemy was in the camp. Dinosaurs broke through the trees and around the rocks, streaming into Riverbend like they'd had an invitation. A few were immobilized―Kasimir could hear the snap of bear traps, activating and clamping down tight on carnos and raptors. Their agonized roars of pain were overshadowed by the last spinosaur the Sailbacks had.
Viktor bellowed out in fear and panic, rearing up and slamming his feet down onto his master. Matus disappeared into the cloud of dust and sand, involuntary grunts of pain the only sign he still lived.
Screams came from all around them. The crack of broken limbs and gushing of blood from the unlucky, the sound of wooden structures being smashed into a million pieces, even the pounding of his own heart in his ears―
The attack was so swift and brutal, there wasn't much time to react. Jake had already vanished. Kasimir could no more begrudge him his retreat than he could the girl, her reaction―she was standing, stock still, with her mouth agape and eyes wide. Fire reflected from her dark eyes, her body shaking like a leaf.
He, himself, had not been prepared for this. Kasimir knew there was only one course of action to be had.
He turned, grabbed the girl around her waist, and activated his jet pack.
Del gasped in surprise as she was lifted into the air. Kasimir wrapped his arms about her and crushed her into the fancy armor, flying directly up into the air with a shuddering jump.
And he could fly?! She couldn't imagine why he hadn't managed to get out of this place, yet. What he was able to do, the armor, the rifle, it was miles ahead of everyone else on the Island. The tech he was using now was on par with the implants and the towers in the sky―nothing like the primitive equipment everyone else used.
She squirmed under his grip, the plates on his chest digging into her back. Air rushing around her head made it impossible for her to hear anything, her voice lost to the wind as they climbed into the sky like the pteranodons she'd seen flying about.
For just a moment or two, Del let herself marvel at the darkened land underneath them. The sickly-colored moss that covered the swampy ground, mandrake trees rising from the mud in clusters. The sprawling hills covered with brush and the odd dinosaur or two roaming them, even a wall that enclosed everything to their east and south.
Sprawling rivers, yellow sand, a waterfall that crashed down into a small pool of deepening blue. Mountains in the distance past the enormous redwood trees that made up the Island's interior, dusky white-capped peaks even farther away. Beams of light came down from the sky, their auras illuminating parts of the land. The Island was beautiful―
But not so impressive as the fingers of stone that surged out of the ground, set in a circular pattern around a hole that flickered with energy. A stream of light led upward into one of the suspended towers, its sides impossibly black against the night sky. She could see the diamond set into the side, pulsing with vibrant green light, as they drew closer and closer to its base.
Del turned her head to the side, looking down to see the whole of Riverbend was being overrun. Fire danced through the camp, lighting up figures running in all directions, showing the carnos that rampaged through. Smaller dinosaurs darted back and forth and she could imagine the hellish screeches that they must be making as they jumped onto the backs of the people, tearing into flesh and drowning out their screams―
Del closed her eyes and turned away from it all. Kasimir adjusted his movement with a jerk as she wrapped her hands around his forearms, the world suddenly gone quiet as his jets cut out. She tightened her hands on the slick armor, feeling her palms sliding against the plates, as he started to fall downward―
Kasimir swore. The jets sputtered pathetically, making alarming noises, short coughs as the device spun but couldn't keep their altitude.
Del screamed as they fell faster and faster toward the ground, Kasimir spinning around uncontrollably―
She didn't remember hitting the ground. Del opened her eyes to see the jutting stones hanging over her like they were about to close up and bury her forever. She was cold, lying on her stomach with her legs and hips in a pool of water that had collected at the base of an enormous stone pedestal.
Her face hurt like a motherfucker, dried blood peeling from the foliage as she turned her head to look around. She blinked blearily into the near-darkness, trying to sort her jumbled thoughts. Great, another concussion!
Light radiated from a mass of slick black rock that was embedded into the stone wall. She realized that it was the same as the alien tech that made up the tower above her. It cast an otherworldly shine onto the ground, making everything glitter with green.
She coughed, her throat dry and chest tight, and pushed herself up with one arm. A burning, stabbing pain shot through the limb, causing her to fall face-first onto the ground. The agony of hitting the ground made her gasp and inhale broken leaves and dirt.
Her arm was broken. Her nose probably was, too. She'd had broken limbs before, and falling from such a high height sure would have caused one. Wondered if the water had made the fall less dangerous, because she should have had more broken bones.
Del spat out a small rock and rolled onto her back, pushing herself out of the water with only her feet. She laid on her back, staring up at the tower in the sky, seeing the blackness somehow darker than everything else around it. It made her uneasy, staring at the thing. As if it were waiting for her to make a move and would laser her to death or something, the minute she did.
A glint of blue through the darkness caught her eye, dangling over the edge of the pedestal. Del pushed herself up, carefully, and squinted.
Kasimir! Her eyes popped open, remembering exactly what'd happened. The jet pack on his armor had failed, causing them to fall―he'd hit one of the stone fingers and bounced off, dropping her into the water. His path through the air must've landed him in the middle of it all, hanging dangerously near the edge.
Del pried herself from the ground and looked around, finding a path that led around the inside of the stone bowl and up onto the pedestal. With some effort―she felt the bruises from her own landing acutely―she made her way to the middle ground. Kasimir was lying with his head and arms over the edge, his waist caught in-between two rocks.
Without a thought otherwise she marched across the circle of metal laying flush with the earth and grabbed Kasimir with her good arm, awkwardly pulling him out of the rocks and flipping him onto his back. He was either unconscious or dead, but she couldn't tell which with the crazy futuristic armor on.
Del parked herself on the ground nearby and used the scraps of her shirt to wipe her face, grimacing in pain as she rubbed her nose the wrong way. Her arm ached but didn't give any more stabs until she wrapped the bloodstained fabric around her elbow, tucking in an end and making a makeshift sling.
The air was quiet. Nothing stirred about the tower, but for herself. Eventually, she moved off and stripped berries from the bushes, mashing them into her face hungrily. Her stomach groaned with pain but was silenced by the meager offering.
She missed her mom's meatloaf. It was her least favorite food, the overcooked beef too dry to stomach and every other bite full of tasteless crackers, but she would have done anything to be at home eating it. To be at home, at the table, flicking peas at her sister and claiming innocence. To sit down to dinner in a warm house, with people who drove her crazy and never once imagine that they might hurt her.
Crying only made her face hurt more. Del sucked in snot, wiping away her tears, and looked back at Kasimir. Would the memories fade, with time? She hoped so. Every little thing that she remembered only made this world feel so much more terrifying and hopeless.
Hot showers. Big Macs. The smell of her dad's leather chair. Fighting over the T.V. remote, sticky with blackberry jam after her sister got her hands on it. The light of her cell phone in the dark of her room, when she stayed up too late.
...Toliet paper. Del breathed out, letting the memories fade away. Even if she forgot them forever, it wouldn't hurt any less.
Kasimir stirred, finally, planting his feet flat onto the ground. The armor righted itself with a scrape of metal against metal, making her ears hurt. He made an excruciating noise, pain and something else, as he was pushed upward involuntarily.
The sight was ridiculous but also cringe-worthy, and she made a face at him. Flapped her good arm at him and gave him a weary smile. "Good morning, sunshine," she said, halfheartedly.
He didn't move for a moment. Suddenly he reached up and ripped the helmet from his head, turning and vomiting into the rocks. Chunks of red splattered everywhere, disgustingly. Del fought nausea, gagging as she looked away.
"Fuck!" he shouted, throwing the helmet onto the ground. It bounced into the metal circle, spinning in a slow oblong until it stopped. She glanced back at him, saw his face splattered with blood and vomit. His eyes met hers, full of anger and pain.
Kasimir put his hands on his hips and moved his gaze away, breathing heavily. He stared out into the sky, his face slowly turning to stone. Del turned her attention back to her arm, tightening the sling as it slipped.
"Well, we're alive," she muttered, to herself. Not that it meant anything. She didn't even know what happened after you died on the Island. How you came back, or whatever.
"Not for long," Kasimir shot back, moving across the ground to retrieve his helmet. He stared at it, then shook it with both hands violently. Oozing blood covered his scalp, a large gash at his hairline. The skin was buckled, pushed back from his skull. Del couldn't bear to look directly at it.
"Not if we don't get out of here," he added, looking up at the tower above them.
She hadn't wanted to look up. As she did, she could see the "legs" of the tower hovering just above them. The green light was blinding, forcing her to look away.
"Then let's go," she said, pushing herself up from the ground. The motion made her broken arm twinge in ache.
"There's nowhere to go," he snapped.
"We can't go south." Del pulled the fabric up and tried to tie it together with one hand. "But we can go north. Probably a safer bet than east or west."
"And how would you know?" Kasimir dropped the helmet again, moving to her side. He pulled the sling up and tied it into a rough knot above her shoulder. He wasn't nice about it, either.
Del hissed in pain. "Even if you think I'm some dumbshit from the boonies, I do pay attention." She pointed to the south, the land less mountainous than the north. "That's Willow Tree's shit, right there." She pointed at the ground below them. "This tower is also his shit. We're in Runner territory. We need to go north."
Kasimir's hands stilled on the knot, then dropped to his side. He looked back where she had pointed, and made a tutting noise. "You're right," he said, crossing his arms over his chest. "But we can't get over the wall."
Del frowned at him for a moment. She sat herself onto a rock and looked up at him expectantly, clearing her throat. "Then what do we do?"
"We die."