Chapter 20

“No! I refuse!”

“This one can provide escort. Analyze situation for optimal response. Inclusion recommended.”

“I said no!” Anya huffed and puffed her cheeks. “And that’s final!”

The verbal scuffle continued for a few more minutes as the little girl adamantly refused any suggestion of the abomination accompanying her. She committed to this decision not out of spite, but with the genuine belief that the creature would sap any form of enjoyment from the journey if it was allowed to attend. Eventually, the abomination yielded to Anya’s demands under the condition that she would be escorted by a force of its choosing. It was obvious that the creatures were unable to follow her within the city limits, thus they would disperse once she had reached the patrolled ‘safe’ zones surrounding Luminus.

“I’m going to go pack. Have everything ready within an hour.”

“This one will see to it.”

…

The creature had succumbed to Anya’s will, however, she was still surprised by its resilience: being able to hold out for such a prolonged argument, considering that she held absolute authority. The girl pondered the extent of her control over the creatures. Technically, the abomination did not disobey, but it was able to alter the conditions through negotiation.

Upon arriving at her chamber, she quickly surveyed the piles of clothing that littered her floor. The girl wished to present herself pleasantly, ensuring that she would neither stand out nor shame herself. Digging through the masses of wrinkled outfits, Anya only found articles that were either patchy or just visually displeasing. From the corner of her eye, silky white fabric laid buried beneath countless other textiles. Firmly holding the skirt, she pulled the dress from beneath the mountain of clothing, knocking the pile over.

It was the dress given to her by her mother, the same one she wore when she snuck into the convoy.

All but a tiny splotch of the dried blood stain was removed. In a cruel way, this was a memento from both of her parents.

With her eyes closed, she embraced the dress tightly against her chest, trembling slightly as her sunken emotions resurfaced little by little. Silently she sniffled, only to mumble one word repeatedly.

“Daddy…”

***

Swinging her legs, Anya waited impatiently at the base level lobby of the structure. The girl lacked a viable way of precisely distinguishing time. Yet, she felt that the abomination was dreadfully late. Having nothing else to do, she decided to inspect her outfit and her gear once more.

Despite being stored under a heap of other clothing, her dress lacked crinkles of any form. Beneath it, she wore black tights that suffered some wear and tear, but it still remained intact and comfortable. The dress went past her knees, completely covering the tights beneath, therefore she was not bothered by its shoddy state. A patchy green satchel hung from her shoulder and rested on the side of her hip. Inside was Boone’s pistol with some spare clips.

While seating herself back down, Anya rested her mother’s rifle on her thighs and examined it. Burn and scratch marks could be found all over its body. The name ‘Anna’ was still clearly engraved onto the side of the wooden stock. She pulled back the bolt and glanced into the empty ammo chamber.

Sigh

Without the proper ammunition, the rifle served as nothing more than a glorified whacking stick. Still, the girl could not bring herself to leave it behind.

Releasing the bolt, the loading chamber immediately snapped itself shut.

A few more uneventful minutes passed before the abomination appeared with three infesters and a berserker.

“You’re late!” She huffed angrily. “I said an hour!”

“My Queen. Time constraint not violated. Required evaluation of escort. Preparation of supplies. This one apologizes. Ready for departure. However, issues still need to be addressed.”

“What issues?” Anya crossed her arms as she approached the gathering of creatures, inspecting each of her bodyguards.

“Communication with Queen only possible verbally. Inconvenient. Necessary to address. Has solution.”

“How else will you talk to me?” She spoke with an expression of bewilderment.

“Brood uses telepathic communication. However, Queen cannot be connected.”

“What’s tele…” Anya furrowed her brow at the unrecognized word.

“Telepathic. Without words. Through mind.”

Retrieving a fist-sized sac from one of its hidden pockets, the abomination displayed the small pod to the girl. Using two of its sharp claws, the creature ruptured the sac and extracted a small wiggling worm.

“What… is that...?” The girl questioned with a worried expression.

“Organism connected to Brood. Allows for telepathic communication. Insert into eye socket. Latches onto brain. Will not harm. Energy consumption minimal. Establishes symbiotic relationship with host.”

“I’m not putting that in my eye.”

“Organism will not harm Queen. This one recommends-”

“NO!”

“…” The abomination silenced itself in contemplation.

“This one obeys. Alternative solutions will be formulated.”

She returned to examining the creatures. Anya began to question the abomination on the details of his preparations.

“I thought you would bring more.”

“If the Queen desires, then this one-”

“This is fine. I thought I would have had to tell you to reduce the escort size.”

“Watchers observe paths. Major threats eliminated by Brood. Escort of this size is adequate.”

“Glad to know. So, what about the supplies?”

The abomination pointed at a large tumor-like pouch on one of the infester’s back.

“Membrane contains food suspended in preservation liquid. Sac will reseal itself once punctured. Contamination not likely.”

Upon hearing this, Anya felt an unpleasant disgust and at the same time wished to lash out against the abomination. Yet, she knew that there was no alternative besides the unbearable red goop, and thus she swallowed any form of resentment and continued.

“So, how long will it take to get to Luminus?”

“Possible within a day.”

Taken aback by the brevity of the travel, the girl further enquired.

“A day?! I thought we were really far from the city!”

“Infester specialized in mobility. Reduced time in transition.”

With a finger resting on her chin, Anya contemplated on the creature’s words.

“So… I’m riding on those creatures?”

Without hesitation, the abomination immediately responded.

“That is correct.”

Under the gray-ridden sky, the creatures of the shadows traversed swiftly. Infesters, with their flexible limbs, crept through the debris-ridden streets of the crumbling houses. Unlike the towering constructs that surrounded their hive, the buildings here were two stories at their highest. Generous spacing separated the individual residences as rotten wood partially fenced their parameters.

The three infesters sustained a ‘V’ arrangement while the berserker followed closely behind, dashing with all its might. The creature’s legs were designed for strong leaps, not rapid sprinting, thus the leading infesters held back their speed, allowing the berserker to stay in formation.

Anya sat atop the infester stationed in the middle, bounded in place by the creature’s two tails. The sensation of chilly breeze brushing against her face brought great joy; yet, the twisting and turning of the creature’s torso created great discomfort. Hours had passed since their departure and her endurance was near its limits.

“Let’s take a break!” She commanded.

Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii

The infester she saddled emitted a calling as if relaying her order to the surrounding creatures. Steadily, the group decelerated until they came to a complete stop. With the tails’ grip loosened, Anya hopped off the creature and began patting her sore bottom.

“So...” she spoke while staring at one of the creatures. “How long until we get there?”

The creature remained silent as it tilted its head slightly off to the side.

Sigh

Anya laid her hooded cloak onto the dirty ground before seating herself down, careful not to muddle her white dress.

“I guess I shouldn’t have expected an answer.”

Although she was denying it at first, the girl felt some regret not allowing the abomination to accompany her. Even though she was displeased with its constant nagging, at least she could converse with the abomination. The creatures that were present only produced unintelligible noises despite being able to listen to her.

“Can you guys understand me?” She asked, wanting to make sure it wasn’t just coincidence that her orders were carried out.

With a blank stare, the creatures tilted their head sideways like before.

Knowing that they couldn’t speak, Anya scratched her head as she scrambled for a solution.

“Ah!” the girl exclaimed, raising her index finger. “Nod for ‘yes’ and shake your head for ‘no.’ Can you guys do that?”

After a quick glance at one another, the creatures all nodded near simultaneously.

To her surprise, the creatures actually replied.

“Do you guys do understand everything I’m saying?”

Once again, the creatures all nodded.

“Can you guys talk?”

Eeeeeeeeeeeeeiiiiiiiiiiiii

Eeeeeeeeeeeeeiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii

Eeeeeeeeiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii

UUUUUUUUUUURRRRRRRRAAAAAAAGGGGGG!

“I guess not…” Anya was too slow to cover her ears from the loud roar, causing them to ring. “Just stick to nods and shakes from now on…”

Witnessing her glare, the berserker quickly nodded in agreement.

“So…” Having remembered how the infester seemed to have passed down her command beforehand, the girl let loose another question. “Do you guys have to talk to each other verbally?”

All of the creatures nodded.

“Wait, but the Abomination can communicate with you guys without making a noise, right?”

Nods.

“Can you talk to the Abomination tele…pathic-ly?”

Nods.

“But you guys can’t talk to each other that way?”

Nods.

Was this what that weird worm thing supposed to do?

While pondering her previous interactions, the girl stood up and dusted her cloak before wearing it. The quick break had replenished her stamina and spirits. Anya was now ready to depart.

Right before she ascended onto the infester’s back, a soft high pitch ringing struck her ear.

Quickly turning her head toward the direction of the noise, she could see nothing but the faint outlines of the ruins.

“Can you guys hear that?”

The creatures all glanced toward the same direction as Anya and nodded.

“Do you guys know what it is?”

They shook their heads.

Her curiosity only grew upon hearing the strange noise. Anya wanted to discover the source of the sound.

“Which way are we supposed to go?”

One of the infesters raised its leathery claw toward a direction not too far off from the source of the noise. She figured that the abomination assured that all major threats in the area had already been neutralized, so the girl saw no harm in a little distraction. The prospect of discovering something yet unknown excited her and the fact that it would be in the same direction as their original objective further solidified her decision.

Anya turned to the creatures with a great big grin on her face.

“Let’s go check it out!”

After a quick glance at one another, the creatures conformed to the little girl’s will.

…

They had been traveling for a while now, longer than Anya had initially anticipated. With each passing second, the ringing steadily grew more prominent. Suddenly, it vanished without a trace as if it was swept away by the wind. That, however, did not discourage the girl as they continued in the direction the noise originated from. The scenery changed as the party progressed further: buildings became sparser while the empty soil became more prevalent. Eventually, they had to stop when a seemingly endless barb wire fence blocked their path.

This proved to be only a small hindrance as the berserker’s blades easily sliced a gaping hole through the thin metal wires. Effortlessly pushing through the obstruction, Anya pressed forward with a sureness that something must be near. As they advanced, the air became eerily quiet. The muffled hum of the wind and the small chatter of the insects seemed to have abandoned this place. The soft dirt ground was replaced with unnaturally smooth stone. Not a single outline could be observed for as far as the eye could see.

How big is this place? Anya wondered.

Clank-Clank-Clank-Clank-Clank-Clank-Clank

The sound of their footsteps changed from that of stone to those of metal. While ordering the escort to halt, she noticed the black and yellow markings that covered the ground below. As soon as the infester slowed to a complete stop, Anya jumped off and knocked on the floor.

Clonk-Clonk-Clonk

From the resulting sound, she could tell that the metal was thick, but could not understand why such a thing was here.

“ARRRGGGGG!” Anya suddenly screamed and attempted to cover her ears. The ringing had returned, more deafening than ever. Afar, it erected curiosity within her, but when near, every fiber of her being screamed to run away.

“IT HURTS! IT HURTS! GET ME OUT OF HERE!” She yelled as a pounding headache ravaged her. Wondering why the creatures did not react, she peeked at them only to find that they, too, were incapacitated by the pain.

EEEEEEEEEEIIIIIIIIIIIIIII!

UUUUUUUUUUURRRRRRRRRRRRAAAAAAAAAAAGGGGGG!

Agony filled the once silent air, which was only made worse by the abrupt inclusion of a piercing siren.

Without warning, the earth itself began to shake violently as it moved. Not far from where she fell, a fissure opened, splitting the ground in two. The mighty growl of monstrous engines wailed louder and louder only to be swiftly concluded with a shrill screech. Groans and moans of bending and snapping metal soon followed.

CLUNK

The terrible ringing resonated softer and more distant until Anya’s mind was no longer overwhelmed by the pain. That was when she realized that the ground was no longer beneath her, for she was free falling.