Freedom

Chapter 48

Only a little sunlight shone down through the canopy of leaves above, but it was enough to show me the dappled clearing we lay in. I didn't panic. I wanted to, but nothing was moving, and it was actually very peaceful, so I managed to hold it together. I felt ill, but I didn't think I could justify being sick at a time like this. I counted half a dozen fallen drinkers, and leapt to my feet, only to notice that Velvet had been lying beside me.

That sent a shock through me, and a deluge of memory. I forgot all about the drinkers and dropped to my knees. I didn't see any wounds on her. Her pulse was strong and steady, and her chest was rising and falling, but I wasn't looking, I was trying to shake her awake. I should've seen the next part coming.

I fell back in the leaves clutching my nose.

Velvet sat up, blinked, shook her sore hand, and rubbed her eyes.

"Not cool," I groaned.

"Don't surprise me like that," she yawned.

"You're okay," I said, watching her stretch.

"Why wouldn't I be? Oh, dear." She'd noticed all the drinkers – but her eyes quickly narrowed again. "You're such a showoff."

"What – you think I did this?"

"You didn't? What was I doing sleeping on the ground, anyway?"

The relief that she was safe was something that couldn't be described – but the situation around us couldn't be ignored, either. I gathered myself and got up.

"I don't know," I said, looking down at the nearest drinker. It was definitely dead – it wasn't playing a cruel joke on us or anything. I carefully scanned our surroundings – but I didn't sense any danger. Velvet got to her feet, brushed the leaves from her fatigues, and picked up her MPL. She looked around, leaned the gun on her shoulder, and shifted her weight to one hip, shrugging. "This is odd," she said, shaking her head.

Understatement. I patted myself down. Everything was still there. I remembered the dream – but I didn't remember what had come before. We were in the Forest – and we were looking for someone. I remembered that much. The Biker was at Kevorich. So was Russet, and Tyrian. And Sagaris. The Merc was off doing something – getting Velvet's stashes. I shook my head again. Reality felt good. Actually, it didn't – I was stiff and thirsty, and I'd just been punched in the nose, which was still tender.

I took a drink from my canteen. "They've all had their throats cut," Velvet noted, crouching beside one of the bodies. She gave me a suspicious look. "You really didn't do it?"

"I totally didn't," I said.

"And you just woke up too?"

"Yeah."

She adjusted her beret and stood up, hands on her hips. "Then we both just decided to take a nap?"

"That's what it looks like."

"I've heard of anomalies that can do that," she said, turning to look around again. "And drinkers to capitalize on it? Did someone do us a favor?"

"I think they must have."

"Someone who could kill six drinkers without using a gun?"

I didn't say anything, but someone did spring to mind. Though the thought of him having been so close to us was positively eerie. And why would he protect us if we'd stumbled into an anomaly? I'd thought the dream I'd had was insane – was this really any better?

"We should get out of here," Velvet said.

"Yeah."

She got out her PDA, took her bearings, and then looked at her compass. "I miss having satellite coverage," she sighed.

"Where are we?"

"I'm not entirely sure." She frowned. "But we can't be far from the eastern edge. I don't think we got very far before we got caught in this. I suppose I took the Forest lightly."

"Should we back off?"

"And risk the same anomaly again? I think not. We go deeper." She rubbed her eyes again. "Can't get over that dream."

I'd moved ahead of her, because if we were going to walk into another anomaly like that – I mean, it had to have taken us by surprise, right – I wanted to be in front. But now I stopped and looked back. "Dream?"

She nodded. "Longest, strangest – best dream I've ever had." She gave me a funny look.

"What was it like?"

Velvet stopped and looked thoughtful. She crossed her arms. "There was this great football stadium, and everyone was you."

"Me?"

"Yeah – I can't explain it. And there was a game on, and it was one of the best I've seen."

My head swam. Me? Football? "Wait – you mean soccer?"

"What?"

She did mean soccer. These grubby uncultured Europeans – I'd never get used to them. So I had seen a city full of Velvets, and she had seen a stadium full of Mists.

"I don't know what you Americans call it," she saying.

"And it was fun – wait, I'm Canadian, dammit – I mean Chinese – that's not the point – you said you actually liked the dream?"

"Of course. I love football. And I felt at ease there." She looked down at her hands. "Like I could touch people. I wasn't afraid." She looked up sharply, eyes narrowed. "Not that it's any of your business."

"Hey – if it was a bunch of mes around, who were you touching?" I asked, spreading my arms. "It's okay – I'm a handsome devil. I know."

She held up her fist.

"Okay – okay, look – I'm asking seriously. There wasn't anything bad or scary going on in there?"

She gave me another one of those funny looks, then shrugged. "Not really. The game was maybe a little rough, but everyone was playing by the rules. The mascots."

"What?"

"There were people in big, black costumes shaped like a hand. Like foam rubber. Anyway, they were creepy. Not as creepy as having a dream about you, but creepy."

"Hey – I am not creepy."

"What do you mean you're not creepy? You're like half dumb kid, half total psycho!"

"Well – well, you're like half cute chick, half total psycho!"

"Shut up, or I'll go full psycho."

"How is that fair?"

"I'm not psycho, you're psycho – I'm not the one who was killing people with a hammer."

"You punched me in the face for waking you up!"

"You startled me!"

I think we both realized at the same time that shouting at each other in the middle of the Red Forest wasn't the best idea. Velvet turned away huffily and folded her arms. I stared at her back for a moment, then groaned.

I tried to get her to let me take the lead, but she wasn't having any of it. She marched off, and all I could do was follow. I kept careful watch for danger, but the Forest was still and quiet. We seemed to be past the dark and the decay of the outer rim. It still didn't look normal, but it seemed less sinister than it had before.

But I wasn't really thinking about the forest, I was thinking about what Velvet had told me. She'd dreamed about me. I'd dreamed about her. For me, it had been a miserable and traumatic battlefield. For her, it had been a soccer game.

Theories were beginning to form. They were ridiculous, impossible. But I was thinking them anyway. How else could I explain it? It still didn't explain everything, I couldn't didn't have the prerequisite knowledge to attach the right meaning to every little thing I'd seen – but it was all coming together. If Velvet's mental landscape was a bloody battlefield and mine was a rough soccer game – then – then what?

Velvet didn't seem to be thinking too hard about it. Maybe she took these kinds of things for granted. She'd been in the Zone a lot longer than I had. Hadn't she said it was something like ten years? I'd never said it aloud, but I'd never stopped wondering what could have brought a woman like her here. And what could have kept her here for this long?

But the memories were coming back. I couldn't stop them. When I'd woken, it had been a jumbled mess. Now things were falling into place. I could see Velvets dying by the dozen, and hear their screams. I wanted to forget.

I remembered more than the horror of the battle. I remembered the theater, and what I'd seen inside. It had been clear in the dream, but now it was just a montage of sights and sounds. Unfamiliar architecture. Silhouettes. A shattering impact. Blonde hair. A bloody letter.

I knew what no one else did. I knew because I'd seen it in her own mind. I knew why she was here. I knew why she'd walked out her life, and I knew why she'd come here instead of somewhere else. I understood everything.