I frowned, watching the young merchant trail a hand over Stellan’s chest.
“Doesn’t it bother you?” I asked.
Perri shook his head. “Stellan and I are soulmates. It goes beyond dating. He’s my best friend, my family. He’s a continuation of me, as important as a vital organ. Nothing will ever change that.”
Must be nice, I caught myself thinking with envy that night.
But right now, as I witness Stellan’s panic as he searches for the coordinates on the map, I realize their love is a double-edge sword. One cannot survive without a vital organ.
“He’ll be fine,” I say, eyes on the dust road. “Perri is resourceful. And he would have heard the coordinates on the radio.”
Stellan doesn’t say a word, and after a few seconds, I can’t help but to look at him. He’s staring at the map, his hands holding it too tight. All I can smell is his gut-wrenching fear, and I feel the urge to gather him close.
3
Vex.
“Mankind reached an impressive level of technological advancement in less than a century. By the year 2037, we had invented the best computers and the best AIs. We could make prosthetics to replace missing limbs, organs, and eyes. We were ready to send the first manned flights to Mars with the idea of building colonies. And then, the Rise happened. No matter how evolved our society was, it still crumpled under the old gods’ threat. They brought down entire cities. And the more we fought them, the faster they destroyed us. So, you tell me. Has our advanced technology ever helped? What was all this even for?”
Video transcription of a video file shared among survivors, 2045, content creator unknown.
PERRI
A storm is coming. I can see it on the horizon, like a giant wall of dust. In the wastelands, there is only one thing that can produce a sandstorm like this, moving so erratically. Hartross is coming straight towards me. The old god is a mystery of nature. She’s rarely out of her storm, but I’ve seen a few pictures. She’s a scaly beast with four wings beating as fast as a hummingbird’s. A plane-sized hummingbird with talons and a beak that could crush a car. Her territory spans over three states. All traveling merchants do their best to avoid her trajectory. I was too busy talking with Vex and I must have missed the warning on the radio.
“Shit,” I say out loud.
“What is it?” says Vex through our open channel.
She’s been my companion since I left the Market. I hate solitude and I get lonely very easily. Especially out here in the wastelands.
“Hartross is coming,” I say.
“The old god you told me about?”
“Yes.”
I’ve been giving her updates on the outside world since we started talking weeks ago. She knows nothing.
“You need to find cover, Perri. Quickly.”
There is worry in her robotic voice. I’m always so impressed by the range of emotions she displays as an AI. Every day, she evolves and builds connections to make herself more human. A true marvel of technology and intelligence. Which makes it even more cruel that she’s been stuck in the underground labs for twenty-eight years alone.
I put my foot on the gas and aim for the small town I saw five minutes ago. I usually avoid towns and ruins, they can hide many threats, but I’m out of options. I’d rather face hungry nomads than a god set on devouring little me. If Hartross notices me, I’m fucked.
Our truck is fast and efficient on the desert’s uneven ground; Stellan always made sure that it stayed in the best condition in case we needed to escape a situation like the one I find myself in right now.
I reach the town’s ruins in less than five minutes. And it’s not a minute too soon. I keep my eyes on the rear view mirror and the dust storm chasing me. I park the truck behind a concrete building that looks sturdier than the others, then close all the windows. I reach for the radio’s antenna on the roof and throw it on the passenger’s seat before pushing my seat back all the way. I hide under the steering wheel like a terrified child.
“Perri,” says Vex, worried.
“Here goes nothing,” I say, just as the storm reaches me.
The truck gets engulfed by the cloud of sand and debris. Rocks hit the windows and I startle at every major impact, blessing the day that Stellan decided to put in unbreakable glass. Vex is talking, but I can’t hear a thing over the incredible noise. In the ruckus, I almost swear I can hear the beating of giant wings.
If Hartross finds me…
The storm rages, and my vehicle shakes and slides in the dust for the longest minutes of my life. I expect Hartross to rip into my truck at any moment with her talons.
