Her little hammer tapped rhythmically against the hinge as she set
the door up. She stopped for a second, to try and reach the center of her
back, where an itch had been pestering her for an hour. A hand landed,
scratching it for her. She looked up and smiled.
"Thanks, Quinn." He nodded, and continued into the tunnel. His bare back glistened with sweat. A sigh passed her lips as she continued hammering the bolt into the hinge.
She stood up, and, leaving the hammer outside, swung the door to make sure it fit right. It closed perfectly. The only problem was that she couldn't seem to get it open again. Quinn walked over to see what her problem was.
"Kes? What's wrong?" She was tugging at the handle.
"It won't open, Quinn." He gently moved her to the side, gripped the handle, and pulled. The door swung right off the hinges, and her hammer came flying up, popping her in the head. She stumbled back, and hit the floor. Quinn dropped the door, and kneeled beside her. She had a couple tears stinging at her eyes.
"Kes? You alright?" he asked. His hand landed on her shoulder, but she shoved him back.
"I quit. I can't do this.I never have been able to, I never will be able to." She stood up, and stepped over the door, heading out into the whole of the tunnel. Quinn sighed, and stood up. A guy walked up him.
"Quinn? She alright?" he asked.
"I hope so, Jared.I hope so," he said.
Kes leaned out the window in the little chapel. Her hands connected, and she could hear the gasps and laughter and claps of the children one room away. They came flooding from the room, and waved goodnight to her. She waved back, but didn't look at them. She was trying not to cry. Quinn walked out, and stood behind her, looking at the moon as it rose.
"Kes?" She jumped, and turned around.
"What?" she asked, walking towards the door.
"Are you alright?" he asked.
"What does it matter? Every time something's wrong, you tell me that it will go away. But you know what? It never seems to want to go away. Sure, sometimes it will go away, but for the most part, it won't," she said, and walked outside. Quinn was confused: he didn't understand. Kes had just reached the head of the stairway when a man came rushing by. A few moments later, Quinn came flying the other direction.
"Quinn?"
"Eddie's at it again." he muttered. She followed him down the stairs, and out the door. While he followed the path, Kes leapt on the rocks and over, meeting him on the other side. They raced into the garage.
"Eddie, what are you doing?"
"We are going to go harvesting, Quinn."
"Again? Don't you remember what happened last time you went without permission, Eddie?" Kes asked.
"You stay out of this, psycho. This has nothing to do with you because you are one of them." Eddie said. Kes fell back a step: that was completely uncalled for.
"She is not a psycho, Eddie.you leave her alone." Quinn reached into the jeep, removing the keys like he had way back then.
"Give those back."
"You bloody take 'em from me." Quinn dared. Kes looked around, and stepped up.
"Eddie, if you wish to go harvesting, that's fine. But you are going to walk there, and you are going to walk back, and you will not touch the jeep. And it will be just you, for if you drag anyone else out there, you may never come back, because you may have jeopardized this community, do you understand?" she asked. He glared at her, but nodded. Quinn pocketed the keys, and walked outside. Kes followed him.
"Why'd you stick up for me?" she asked.
"Probably for the same reason why you backed me up," he said. She smiled.
"Thanks, Quinn." She kissed his cheek, and jogged inside. He smiled as she ran off.
She sat in her bed, unable to sleep. Finally, she got up to go downstairs for something to drink. As she passed Quinn's room, she saw a little boy against the wall. She walked over, and picked him up.
"Zene? Are you alright?" she asked.
"I'm scared." he mumbled. The door squeaked open, and Quinn looked out at them.
"Jared said its dragon breath," Zene said, before Quinn could ask anything. He looked at Kes.
"He was just sitting here when I walked by."
"Well, it's not dragon breath. It's just the wind." Zene looked just as frightened as before.
"Alright, come on in," he said. Kes set Zene on the floor, and he ran into the extra bed.
"What about you? Are you alright?"
"Yea." Quinn smiled.
"Do you want to stay in here, too?" he asked. She shrugged.
"It's not my room, so it's not my choice." Quinn reached out for her hand, and closed the door behind her.
Kes rolled over, moving her face nearer to his shoulder. She sighed, and her breath slid up his skin, and into his open eyes. He grunted, and rolled over. When Kes, still asleep, discovered she had more room, she slid over, pushing her body against his. Her lips pressed against his shoulder, and her hand landed on his stomach. Kes' cold hands sent a shiver up his spine. He reached down, holding it to warm her up. His eyes closed, and he fell asleep.
Kes awoke the next morning, her lips beside Quinn's. A tapping sound was buzzing in her ear, and she rolled over. The alarm was going off. Her and Quinn got up, and, ushering Zene from the room, ran to the tower.
"What's going on?" he asked.
"Someone's 'ere." Kes ran to the balcony, and leaned out. A few tanks were pulling up.
"Reminds me of last time," she whispered, and ran from the tower. Quinn followed her, and they ran downstairs, outside, meeting Jared. He handed them each a gun, and they stood, alert, with the others living with them. The top of one tank pushed open, and a guy pulled himself out. Kes stopped. Quinn looked at her, to tell her to come with him, and noticed her face.
"Kes? Are you alright?"
"Come on." she said, and led him down the steps, to the gate.
"Kes, what's going on.?" She didn't answer, but she pulled the door open, and walked out to the tanks. The man on top hopped down, standing in front of her. She turned, handing her gun to Quinn.
"Kes, what are you doing?" She looked back at the man, and laughed. He smiled. She hugged him.
"It's good to see you again, Ricky." Quinn looked around, at his people, and they were equally surprised. Kes stepped back, and touched Ricky's cheek.
"I thought you were dead." He shook his head.
"Those air bastards can't kill us that easily. So, I see you've made some friends."
"Yea, come here." She pulled him over.
"Ricky, this is Quinn. He's one of my best friends here. Quinn, this is Ricky.my brother." Quinn dropped her gun.
"What?" Kes picked the gun up.
"Yea.my brother. He's about.five years older than I am." Quinn nodded.
"What do you want, Ricky?" he asked. Kes dropped her head, closing her eyes.
"Well, I was in troop with Denton, but he was sent here. And when we saw the male flying over head a few weeks ago, without any word from him, we came to find out what's going on." Kes lifted her head.
"Denton is dead, Ricky. He was killed by a male, right before Quinn here killed it." Ricky looked around.
"So that means."
"There could be more than one." Kes pulled Quinn aside.
"Van Zan believed in you more than anyone else, and right now, we need to you believe in me. Let my brother come in. He won't be as big a problem as Van Zan.please, Quinn." Quinn looked down, realizing her hand was holding his. He nodded.
"Open the gates!" he called. Kes smiled, and ran back to Ricky.
"Come on."
"Ride with me, up on top of the tanks." She smiled.
Kes walked downstairs, to check on the children. Ricky came with her. So did Quinn.
"Kids?" she asked. They quieted, and looked up.
"Kids, this is my brother, Ricky. Ricky is here to help us with the dragons. Ricky, these are the kids of Castle Ru."
"Castle Ru?" She smiled.
"Yea.Short for Ruins. And this is Jared. He helps us watch out for everyone. You knew Alex, right?"
"Yea.."
"She's around here somewhere."
"Who's around here somewhere?" a voice asked. Ricky turned around.
"Alex?"
"Ricky?" He walked over, hugging her. Kes smiled.
"Well, you've met the kids, you've met Jared, and Quinn.I want to say I'm missing someone." She turned to face Jared. He shrugged.
"I don't think so." A little boy came running into the room.
"Ah, Zene. Hey, kid-o? This is my brother, Ricky. Ricky, this is Zene." Ricky shook Zene's hand.
"At some point the kids will introduce themselves to you personally." They smiled.
"But right now, I have to show you around. At the moment, we are standing in the tunnel. It's been here since Quinn, Barlow, and Creedy started living here so long ago."
"Who is Creedy? And Barlow?" Kes looked at Quinn, glad he didn't hear the question, took Ricky's arm, and led him outside of the tunnel, where he wouldn't hear the answer.
"Creedy was Quinn's best friend in the whole world. They'd known each other since they were about five or six. Barlow is a friend of theirs.Now, about two years ago, when you sent Denton here, the dragon lit the sky with fire by torching this Castle. We've fixed it up just enough to continue living in, but that's all. Now, when the dragon torched this place, Creedy was caught right outside the tunnel door. The fire closed the door on Quinn, and killed Creedy. Barlow died a few days after that, because his burns were too severe. Now, Quinn is still touchy about the two of them, so please, do not mention it to him. He'll never forgive me for telling you." Ricky nodded.
"Alright, if you come upstairs, we're in the bedrooms. All the kids sleep in bunk beds. Some of them sleep in rooms upstairs. Jared sleeps in a room, and he shares it with Zene and Raity. He was the one with the scar right above his eye. Don't ask about it. Now, right here is Quinn's room. I sleep down the hall. These two rooms belonged to Creedy, Ajay, and Barlow. No one has been in them since they died. Ajay was the radioman, which I'll explain in a minute. He died the same day as Creedy.burned by the fire." Ricky nodded, and followed her up to the tower.
"Up here we have the tower. In that room is the radio. Someone will listen, and if there's a reason for the alarm, he calls up to the top.from here someone will back up the reason, and the person with the radio will crank the alarm." Ricky nodded.
"Out in that direction is the burial ground. Hundreds of bodies, markers to where they are. Off in the direction are the crops. Quinn, Jared, and I go out there once every harvest season. We pick about eighty percent, coming back within a week to toss the seeds into the ground for the next year." Ricky followed her downstairs, outside.
"Now, if Quinn gets pushed just far enough, he will fight you, and he will try to kill you. Last time, he fought Denton. Got his ass kicked. It took me holding a gun to a couple guys' heads to get them to pull the two apart. The garage is there, and Quinn's horse stays in a barn about a mile to the south." Quinn jogged up, and looked at Kes.
"Can I talk to you for a minute?" he asked. Kes patted Ricky's arm, and headed off to speak to Quinn.
"What's up?" she asked.
"I know he's your brother, but why are you being so kind? Remember when Van Zan was here? You hated him.And you said he had been your best friend when you were little."
"It's a long story, and I don't feel like explaining it." Quinn shrugged.
"Well, has he ever taken down a dragon before?" he asked. Kes turned to see Ricky, and sighed.
"Hang on." She walked over.
"Have you ever taken down a dragon?" she asked.
"About twenty. Why?"
"Just wanted to know." She kicked up some dust on her way back.
"About twenty. Why do you want to know?" she asked.
"Because if he's staying here, he'd damn well better know what he's doing."
"Remember, Quinn. He and Van Zan were together in the Kentucky Irregulars. They fought the first one together." She held up the tooth Van Zan wore the day he arrived.
"Do you remember this?" she asked.
"Of course. I held it in my own hand. Why?"
"Because this was ripped off by Ricky. It was given to Van Zan as an award of bravery. No one else would have been able to stay and fight that dragon like he did. Even if any one of the others with him had had the same epiphany, they'd have run off. Van Zan didn't. He stayed. He fought with Ricky. He took it down. Ricky is made up of the same flesh and blood as I am. There are very few differences between us. And I need you to trust me. If I believe in my brother, you'd damn well better believe in me, understand? If you don't, I'll make you all stay here, and I'll fight the dragon by myself." Quinn shook his head.
"You wouldn't dare."
"Wanna bet?" She walked back over to Ricky, and looked at him.
"Denton gave me this, the day he died," she said. He looked at the tooth.
"He said that if something goes wrong, he wants you to have it." Ricky shook his head.
"He told me that if I got it, to give it to you. You were the only sister he had. He wanted you to have this. You were his only weakness."
"Thanks, Quinn." He nodded, and continued into the tunnel. His bare back glistened with sweat. A sigh passed her lips as she continued hammering the bolt into the hinge.
She stood up, and, leaving the hammer outside, swung the door to make sure it fit right. It closed perfectly. The only problem was that she couldn't seem to get it open again. Quinn walked over to see what her problem was.
"Kes? What's wrong?" She was tugging at the handle.
"It won't open, Quinn." He gently moved her to the side, gripped the handle, and pulled. The door swung right off the hinges, and her hammer came flying up, popping her in the head. She stumbled back, and hit the floor. Quinn dropped the door, and kneeled beside her. She had a couple tears stinging at her eyes.
"Kes? You alright?" he asked. His hand landed on her shoulder, but she shoved him back.
"I quit. I can't do this.I never have been able to, I never will be able to." She stood up, and stepped over the door, heading out into the whole of the tunnel. Quinn sighed, and stood up. A guy walked up him.
"Quinn? She alright?" he asked.
"I hope so, Jared.I hope so," he said.
Kes leaned out the window in the little chapel. Her hands connected, and she could hear the gasps and laughter and claps of the children one room away. They came flooding from the room, and waved goodnight to her. She waved back, but didn't look at them. She was trying not to cry. Quinn walked out, and stood behind her, looking at the moon as it rose.
"Kes?" She jumped, and turned around.
"What?" she asked, walking towards the door.
"Are you alright?" he asked.
"What does it matter? Every time something's wrong, you tell me that it will go away. But you know what? It never seems to want to go away. Sure, sometimes it will go away, but for the most part, it won't," she said, and walked outside. Quinn was confused: he didn't understand. Kes had just reached the head of the stairway when a man came rushing by. A few moments later, Quinn came flying the other direction.
"Quinn?"
"Eddie's at it again." he muttered. She followed him down the stairs, and out the door. While he followed the path, Kes leapt on the rocks and over, meeting him on the other side. They raced into the garage.
"Eddie, what are you doing?"
"We are going to go harvesting, Quinn."
"Again? Don't you remember what happened last time you went without permission, Eddie?" Kes asked.
"You stay out of this, psycho. This has nothing to do with you because you are one of them." Eddie said. Kes fell back a step: that was completely uncalled for.
"She is not a psycho, Eddie.you leave her alone." Quinn reached into the jeep, removing the keys like he had way back then.
"Give those back."
"You bloody take 'em from me." Quinn dared. Kes looked around, and stepped up.
"Eddie, if you wish to go harvesting, that's fine. But you are going to walk there, and you are going to walk back, and you will not touch the jeep. And it will be just you, for if you drag anyone else out there, you may never come back, because you may have jeopardized this community, do you understand?" she asked. He glared at her, but nodded. Quinn pocketed the keys, and walked outside. Kes followed him.
"Why'd you stick up for me?" she asked.
"Probably for the same reason why you backed me up," he said. She smiled.
"Thanks, Quinn." She kissed his cheek, and jogged inside. He smiled as she ran off.
She sat in her bed, unable to sleep. Finally, she got up to go downstairs for something to drink. As she passed Quinn's room, she saw a little boy against the wall. She walked over, and picked him up.
"Zene? Are you alright?" she asked.
"I'm scared." he mumbled. The door squeaked open, and Quinn looked out at them.
"Jared said its dragon breath," Zene said, before Quinn could ask anything. He looked at Kes.
"He was just sitting here when I walked by."
"Well, it's not dragon breath. It's just the wind." Zene looked just as frightened as before.
"Alright, come on in," he said. Kes set Zene on the floor, and he ran into the extra bed.
"What about you? Are you alright?"
"Yea." Quinn smiled.
"Do you want to stay in here, too?" he asked. She shrugged.
"It's not my room, so it's not my choice." Quinn reached out for her hand, and closed the door behind her.
Kes rolled over, moving her face nearer to his shoulder. She sighed, and her breath slid up his skin, and into his open eyes. He grunted, and rolled over. When Kes, still asleep, discovered she had more room, she slid over, pushing her body against his. Her lips pressed against his shoulder, and her hand landed on his stomach. Kes' cold hands sent a shiver up his spine. He reached down, holding it to warm her up. His eyes closed, and he fell asleep.
Kes awoke the next morning, her lips beside Quinn's. A tapping sound was buzzing in her ear, and she rolled over. The alarm was going off. Her and Quinn got up, and, ushering Zene from the room, ran to the tower.
"What's going on?" he asked.
"Someone's 'ere." Kes ran to the balcony, and leaned out. A few tanks were pulling up.
"Reminds me of last time," she whispered, and ran from the tower. Quinn followed her, and they ran downstairs, outside, meeting Jared. He handed them each a gun, and they stood, alert, with the others living with them. The top of one tank pushed open, and a guy pulled himself out. Kes stopped. Quinn looked at her, to tell her to come with him, and noticed her face.
"Kes? Are you alright?"
"Come on." she said, and led him down the steps, to the gate.
"Kes, what's going on.?" She didn't answer, but she pulled the door open, and walked out to the tanks. The man on top hopped down, standing in front of her. She turned, handing her gun to Quinn.
"Kes, what are you doing?" She looked back at the man, and laughed. He smiled. She hugged him.
"It's good to see you again, Ricky." Quinn looked around, at his people, and they were equally surprised. Kes stepped back, and touched Ricky's cheek.
"I thought you were dead." He shook his head.
"Those air bastards can't kill us that easily. So, I see you've made some friends."
"Yea, come here." She pulled him over.
"Ricky, this is Quinn. He's one of my best friends here. Quinn, this is Ricky.my brother." Quinn dropped her gun.
"What?" Kes picked the gun up.
"Yea.my brother. He's about.five years older than I am." Quinn nodded.
"What do you want, Ricky?" he asked. Kes dropped her head, closing her eyes.
"Well, I was in troop with Denton, but he was sent here. And when we saw the male flying over head a few weeks ago, without any word from him, we came to find out what's going on." Kes lifted her head.
"Denton is dead, Ricky. He was killed by a male, right before Quinn here killed it." Ricky looked around.
"So that means."
"There could be more than one." Kes pulled Quinn aside.
"Van Zan believed in you more than anyone else, and right now, we need to you believe in me. Let my brother come in. He won't be as big a problem as Van Zan.please, Quinn." Quinn looked down, realizing her hand was holding his. He nodded.
"Open the gates!" he called. Kes smiled, and ran back to Ricky.
"Come on."
"Ride with me, up on top of the tanks." She smiled.
Kes walked downstairs, to check on the children. Ricky came with her. So did Quinn.
"Kids?" she asked. They quieted, and looked up.
"Kids, this is my brother, Ricky. Ricky is here to help us with the dragons. Ricky, these are the kids of Castle Ru."
"Castle Ru?" She smiled.
"Yea.Short for Ruins. And this is Jared. He helps us watch out for everyone. You knew Alex, right?"
"Yea.."
"She's around here somewhere."
"Who's around here somewhere?" a voice asked. Ricky turned around.
"Alex?"
"Ricky?" He walked over, hugging her. Kes smiled.
"Well, you've met the kids, you've met Jared, and Quinn.I want to say I'm missing someone." She turned to face Jared. He shrugged.
"I don't think so." A little boy came running into the room.
"Ah, Zene. Hey, kid-o? This is my brother, Ricky. Ricky, this is Zene." Ricky shook Zene's hand.
"At some point the kids will introduce themselves to you personally." They smiled.
"But right now, I have to show you around. At the moment, we are standing in the tunnel. It's been here since Quinn, Barlow, and Creedy started living here so long ago."
"Who is Creedy? And Barlow?" Kes looked at Quinn, glad he didn't hear the question, took Ricky's arm, and led him outside of the tunnel, where he wouldn't hear the answer.
"Creedy was Quinn's best friend in the whole world. They'd known each other since they were about five or six. Barlow is a friend of theirs.Now, about two years ago, when you sent Denton here, the dragon lit the sky with fire by torching this Castle. We've fixed it up just enough to continue living in, but that's all. Now, when the dragon torched this place, Creedy was caught right outside the tunnel door. The fire closed the door on Quinn, and killed Creedy. Barlow died a few days after that, because his burns were too severe. Now, Quinn is still touchy about the two of them, so please, do not mention it to him. He'll never forgive me for telling you." Ricky nodded.
"Alright, if you come upstairs, we're in the bedrooms. All the kids sleep in bunk beds. Some of them sleep in rooms upstairs. Jared sleeps in a room, and he shares it with Zene and Raity. He was the one with the scar right above his eye. Don't ask about it. Now, right here is Quinn's room. I sleep down the hall. These two rooms belonged to Creedy, Ajay, and Barlow. No one has been in them since they died. Ajay was the radioman, which I'll explain in a minute. He died the same day as Creedy.burned by the fire." Ricky nodded, and followed her up to the tower.
"Up here we have the tower. In that room is the radio. Someone will listen, and if there's a reason for the alarm, he calls up to the top.from here someone will back up the reason, and the person with the radio will crank the alarm." Ricky nodded.
"Out in that direction is the burial ground. Hundreds of bodies, markers to where they are. Off in the direction are the crops. Quinn, Jared, and I go out there once every harvest season. We pick about eighty percent, coming back within a week to toss the seeds into the ground for the next year." Ricky followed her downstairs, outside.
"Now, if Quinn gets pushed just far enough, he will fight you, and he will try to kill you. Last time, he fought Denton. Got his ass kicked. It took me holding a gun to a couple guys' heads to get them to pull the two apart. The garage is there, and Quinn's horse stays in a barn about a mile to the south." Quinn jogged up, and looked at Kes.
"Can I talk to you for a minute?" he asked. Kes patted Ricky's arm, and headed off to speak to Quinn.
"What's up?" she asked.
"I know he's your brother, but why are you being so kind? Remember when Van Zan was here? You hated him.And you said he had been your best friend when you were little."
"It's a long story, and I don't feel like explaining it." Quinn shrugged.
"Well, has he ever taken down a dragon before?" he asked. Kes turned to see Ricky, and sighed.
"Hang on." She walked over.
"Have you ever taken down a dragon?" she asked.
"About twenty. Why?"
"Just wanted to know." She kicked up some dust on her way back.
"About twenty. Why do you want to know?" she asked.
"Because if he's staying here, he'd damn well better know what he's doing."
"Remember, Quinn. He and Van Zan were together in the Kentucky Irregulars. They fought the first one together." She held up the tooth Van Zan wore the day he arrived.
"Do you remember this?" she asked.
"Of course. I held it in my own hand. Why?"
"Because this was ripped off by Ricky. It was given to Van Zan as an award of bravery. No one else would have been able to stay and fight that dragon like he did. Even if any one of the others with him had had the same epiphany, they'd have run off. Van Zan didn't. He stayed. He fought with Ricky. He took it down. Ricky is made up of the same flesh and blood as I am. There are very few differences between us. And I need you to trust me. If I believe in my brother, you'd damn well better believe in me, understand? If you don't, I'll make you all stay here, and I'll fight the dragon by myself." Quinn shook his head.
"You wouldn't dare."
"Wanna bet?" She walked back over to Ricky, and looked at him.
"Denton gave me this, the day he died," she said. He looked at the tooth.
"He said that if something goes wrong, he wants you to have it." Ricky shook his head.
"He told me that if I got it, to give it to you. You were the only sister he had. He wanted you to have this. You were his only weakness."