That’s not a good thing.
I meet Notto’s eyes, seeing that he’s spotted the mark on the big green sign as well. Drystan stares at it as we get closer, but Rainer doesn’t appear to have taken notice as he’s still looking around.
He hasn’t brought up the pod in quite a while, so I wonder if maybe he’s changed his mind. We don’t bring it up as we pass the sign. In the distance, I see an exit for a rest area where we can stop. Take a breather. Have a chat. See where Rainer is now.
Drystan takes his hand, and Rainer smiles. The trees are turning orange and red and yellow, making the entire area look like it’s glowing. Leaves are beginning to cover the ground, hiding holes and cracks. It’s probably time we stop walking on the road, honestly. It’s going to become riddled with dangerous holes hidden by nature.
The rest area is a shell of what it had been. Between fallen trees and the wear of time, the structure itself is in disrepair. One wall remains upright, stubbornly refusing to fall, even with a massive tree leaning against it, having been toppled in a past storm.
There’s still a handful of stone benches that are seemingly untouched by the century since they were placed there.
Rainer drops to a bench and sighs. He stretches and yawns, which is probably a sign that he’s ready to stop for the day. Perhaps we ought to see what’s around. The next actual exit isn’t for several more miles. After examining the rest stop, I think we can take shelter well enough here.
I crouch in front of him, and Rainer meets my eyes, the hint of a smile lingering on his pretty pink lips.
“Are you still interested in tracking down the pod that killed your parents?” I ask.
The smile fades as he closes his eyes. A couple weeks ago, I’m sure his answer would have been an immediate yes. That he’s hesitating now tells me that he’s had some time to think about it.
“I knew I had no chance of avenging their deaths,” he says quietly. “I’ve been on a suicide mission. Furious and guilty because they left me alive. They left me behind and took everyone I loved. I wanted to know why. Evenknowingthat I wasn’t actually going to get an answer, I wanted to be able to say that I demanded one. Then I’d die like they did, just as I was supposed to.”
Notto looks at me before taking a seat. He wraps an arm around Rainer’s shoulders and pulls him in tightly, carefully considering his words. “You saw what the humans at the pod we just disassembled were going though,” he says gently. “Had you succeeded in finding them, you weren’t in for a quick death.”
Rainer winces. “I know,” he whispers. “I know that now. I didn’t then.”
I nod, taking his hands in mine. “What do you want to do, precious? It’s up to you.”
He sighs. “I guess I don’t really want an answer as to why they killed my parents, especially since I didn’t see them die. I saw them being hauled away, and I’m choosing to believe that they simply died. But I still want to know what they’re doing. I want to stop them.”
“Them as a whole or them as in the pod that killed your parents?” Notto asks.
“Both, but right now, the ones that killed my parents. Whatever they’re doing, it’s not good. Why are they doing it?”
“When you tell someone no and they’re not willing to take that as an answer, they find a way to accomplish what you tell them they can’t do. A hundred years ago, our mistake was thinking that keeping our heads down meant that Silence would go away. We waited too long to act, and now the entire human world has paid the price as well as hundreds of thousands of monsters. Wearen’tletting that happen again, Rainer. I’m sure their current agenda hasn’t changed much from what ithad been. They’re just beginning again, but this time, we’re not complacent enough to let that happen. Theyarebeing hunted.”
“Who’s winning?” he asks.
“I’m not going to pretend that there aren’t more pods lingering around than we’d like there to be. But I promise you, there are far moregoodmonsters in the world who are actively exterminating them. We won’t let them gain power again.”
He nods. For a minute, he’s quiet. What thoughts are moving around in his head? Which way is he leaning? Is there an outcome I want?
Rainer takes a deep breath. His eyes drop to Kaida, who's sitting like a perfectly alert little watch dog—monster style. I smirk. She nudges her nose against his hand, and he pets her.
“What do you think?” he asks Kaida.
We all turn to the lut as if waiting for her answer. I’m partially holding my breath, wondering if I missed the fact that she could speak this entire time. Can she?
Kaida gets up and rests her head in Rainer’s lap. He nods.
“I want this pod to die,” Rainer says. “I want to be a part of their death. I want to see that they’re dead. But… I’m not sure I’m really cut out for it. I still feel queasy when I think about what we saw at the last place.”
“How about this,” Notto says. “We’ve crossed into the pod’s hunting grounds now, so we’re close. Let’s locate them. We’ll do a little recon, then decide what our best course of action is. There’s a chance that there’s more of them than we’re comfortable taking out on our own. Once we get a feel for what’s going on, we’ll make a decision on what we do.”
“Regardless of our decision, you don’t need to go in if you don’t want to,” Drystan says. Notto and I nod in agreement. “You and Kaida can stay a safe distance away while we take care of it.”
“Then we can bring you in to show you that they’re dead while keeping you from seeing anything that they’ve been up to,” I say.
“I feel like a coward,” he mutters, looking miserable.
