Thinking about the Cloaked Lightning-Spitter from days before probably wasn't the best thing to have fresh on my mind as we headed out into the cold world of Tundra Five. But it was there. And I was paranoid.
I could hear the lightning blasts and crumble of nearby buildings in the horses metal hooves as they stomped down the frozen streets. I could vividly remember the destruction happening in real time as we passed high rises with gaping holes outlined by scorched concrete and Husk remains. All the while, very real Husks meandered inside. Horned things with lipless mouths and exposed spiking rib cages.
I could almost feel both the hounds leading the Horses and Knight-Hunters leading them take note at the exact same time.
But my paranoia only went so far.
It only quickened the movement of my eyes. Warmed my back and chest as my fingers danced on my kneecaps.
I couldn't let it dictate my actions or sway my gameplan.
As I sat in the carriage made from the metal body of an Old World Hummer, I looked to the young woman seated beside me. The child. Her tiny hands gripped the seat belt made of laced leathers with a white knuckled tightness spurred on by fear. The cold winds coming in through the open windows ruffled the small bits of curly hair spilling out of her stocking cap. It reddened her nose. She sniffed with every bump and turn they made.
"You haven't looked out the window, since we got out here." I didn't want her to know the carriage usually didn't have windows but I made adjustments just for her.
She shimmied in her seat, nothing to say as dead frozen city blurred by in a collage of silvers, browns, greens and whites. All paling in comparison to the undead glow of Husks in every shadowy nook and cranny.
"This isn't how you find your new source of light, Amy." I reminded her, referring to our previous conversation of fighting fears.
Amy sighed and wiped her nose with the sleeve of her sweater, "I know…"
"I know you know." I nodded, "This isn't supposed to be easy. My job is a challenge for me as much as this job is for you."
Amy's face twisted up in confusion, "I'm trying to fight my fears of the outside…. You're trying not to have a Zone War."
"One and the same really." I shrugged matter of factly, "Now, look at the world around you. Last thing you want to be is blind to reality. Especially this one, sister."
Amy nodded warily and turned her head, hesitantly taking in the outside world through the half opened windows beside her.
When I heard her gasp at the sight of our world I was taken back to my first time. Unlike her I was seeing other humans for the first time. Love. Togetherness. But also disdain and fear at the sight of me.
I couldn't fully understand what she felt as she gazed at the world beyond. Then again, the point wasn't to completely understand her— to guide her through everything perfectly. The point was to get her out of her shelter. Away from her helicopter parents. Put some callouses on her brain so when she has to grab hold of a new experience in the future, she could have a better grip.
I just needed her to see. The rest was on her.
All of it. The old skyscrapers— hollow and dark like decayed skeletons. The rusted and blown up trains on tracks clogged with ice and predatory birds feeding on corpses. The way the suns rays reflected off the blanket of ice layered over the world…. Shinning like diamond dust. As if some higher power was still trying to show her, in all the horror and endlessness of it, there too was beauty.
"It's so… bright…." Amy muttered, "And dark…"
I knew exactly what she meant, "It's a world of extremes."
"Oh my god!" Amy screamed suddenly, head tilted upward as she gazed upon something moving along the rooftops parallel to their carriage.
Ahead, the hounds howled and snapped at the air, sharp teeth clicking on the wind and telling the others they caught the scent.
Husk.
I lowered my head to gaze out the window and see what Amy and the others saw.
It ran along the rooftops rising overhead. Alone and fast. It had raised heels like it was meant to travel on all fours. But it stayed upright, running almost like man…..
But just enough was off.
The uneven gait. The lack of full body movement.
The swaying meaty grey skinned tail and head full of tendrils with extra mouthes.
I could see the glow of its organs even under sunlight.
Just like target practice.
As if on queue, bowstrings popped and a fiery array of arrows whistled through the air, mowing down the undead creature.
It hit the ground like a sack of meat and rolled off the rooftops, falling into the dark below the highway they traveled on.
Amy turned away from the window, finally having her fill. "They don't look like that in the books…"
"They're like fingerprints. None of them look the same."
"Why?" Amy questioned.
I like kids.
Adults rarely ask those questions. Simple but profound.
I shrugged, "Something about when the green scar hit. The news stations said it was… radiation… for the two days that they were able to stay up for. But radiation didn't explain why undead humans had rhino horns. Or brick wall skin. Or lightning breath."
Amy watched like a child at a campfire hearing scary stories…. If they were real.
"The reason none of them are the same, is the same reason why undead monsters are able to exist. The same reason why this was able to happen."
"What…."
"There's something out there….. around us. That makes these things possible. It twists and transforms death. It eats things." I explained.
"Like a…. Super-Husk?" Amy questioned.
I should've laughed. But the memory of the cloaked one came back to me.
"King…B?"
"Trish!"
I was stunned out of my thoughts by Gambit as he ran by my window casually at thirty miles per hour. His curly brown hair blew in the winds like a luxurious greasy mane.
"What?"
"We'll be in Tundra Four in less than a mile. I bet my rations I can get us there in less than half?"
"What I tell you about gambling?" I replied.
"Quitters are always one bet away from being winners?" Gambit winked and took off. The jingle of his swat gear and knights armor faded into sync with the rest of them.
I couldn't stop my eye roll.
"That was quick." Amy commented.
"The Tundra's are very close together. But the rest of the world is far away…. Very far."
"Did…. Did you used to live out there?" Amy asked quietly as we rolled along the bumpy road, "People say… you came here from the outside somehow. Did you come from beyond the Tundra's?"
I'd be lying if I said I never thought about where I came from.
But I'd never be telling the truth if I said anything other than, "I don't know."
Amy nodded.
The rest of the ride was silent.
She'd grown more comfortable looking beyond the windows as the world warmed and snow melted.
You could feel the heat through the carriage as we entered their territory.
Vines climbed the face of skyscrapers and empty stores, sprouting beautiful flowers and leaves that fell in sync with the half melted snowfall.
"They derive salves and medicines from those flowers." I told Amy.
"How come we can't take them?"
"Anything that's of value can be sold. And if it can be sold, nobody will give it away for free. Not without a fight." I pointed out the window, showing Amy the camouflaged guardsmen in green and vines, hidden in buildings and on rooftops.
"Each one of these buildings is a Generator Domain." I explained as I pointed at the largest buildings lining the roads we traveled.
"On one of the floors there's a generator that powers the Second Sun. They guard each one with their life."
Amy nodded, "The Second Sun is the huge solar lamp that Druids use to grow their crops right?"
"It's also what they use to power certain technology. I remember people use to say it was sun magic…. Bullshit." I enjoyed bringing more than just people down to size. A guilty pleasure.
Amy smiled for the first time. And then the carriage stopped.
One of the Knight-Hunters came to my door and opened it, "Welcome to Tundra Four, home of the Druids."
We stepped out to a world of green. Vine and flowers covered buildings. Hemp rope netting and walkways spanned from building to street sign to apartment complex like intricate spiderwebbing.
It was so warm it was raining.
Amy laughed, "Cool…"