“No. No hospital,” Cecilia uttered for the n-th time.

I watched from the sidelines. Addy lay at my feet, body flat against the warm red glass. Layla stooped low and poked Addy’s side. This provoked a scathing grunt from Addy, much to Layla’s amusement.

“We hear you,” Kendra reaffirmed, “Please, tell us what you do want.”

“No. Not this. I don’t want this. No. No hospital. No hospital.”

“No hospital, got it. What else don't you want?” Kendra asked.

Cecilia replied by pointing in Kendra’s general direction. Keeping her hand extended, she spun in two-thirds of a circle, and her accusatory finger landed on Maisie.

She was blind, of course. I doubted she even knew who was where, excepting Kendra.

Maise still took it to heart.

“You did that last time. Cecilia, we can’t know what’s on your mind. You have to use your words!”

“No hospital. No this.”

I was at a loss, but that came as no surprise. When it came to nonverbal communication, my brain betrayed me. There was no ‘getting better with time and practice.’ Reading expressions and the subtle movements of the body was a skill I would never learn. If actions spoke louder than words, I would never know the distinction.

Cecilia didn’t seem to be using either effectively. Neither actions nor words. And I might have detected some frustration creeping into Kendra’s voice.

“Like it or not, a hospital is happening. Now tell us what else is bothering you so we can please help you!”

Cecilia pouted her lips and tossed her head side to side. More of the same. We were getting nowhere with this. Meanwhile, Cecilia, Addy, and Kendra needed medical attention. That meant finding a hospital or searching for Photo.

There was also a demon on the loose.

Kendra moved to grab Cecilia. Cecilia sensed his approach and stumbled backward into Cassie. Cassie wrapped her arms around her waist and squeezed.

“You’re scaring me, big sister! You’re the strong one and I’m not!”

A streak of blood escaped the cloth pressed against Cecilia’s face. She wiped it away and said, “I’m strong because I don’t have a choice. Kendra made the choice for both of us.”

“What are you talking about!” Kendra erupted, “You know I’d never do that to either of you!”

“That’s true! He wouldn’t!” Cassie urged, “He really really loves us too much for that!”

“He loves us very too much,” Cecilia agreed.

“So I’m not allowed to love my own two sisters? Even when they’re the most important people in my life?”

Maisie stepped forward and put a hand on Kendra’s back. She said, “Of course you’re allowed to love them. Don’t ever think that you can’t.”

Kendra swallowed, grunted, and shook his head fervently.

“Even if I wasn’t allowed, I’d love them regardless.”

“Oh brother,” Addy mumbled weakly.

Kendra turned on him and said, “Am I bothering you, little man?”

“No. Your lovely-dovey bullshit isn't what's doing it. The pain in my chest - from when you stomped the shit out of my ribcage? That’s what’s bothering me.”

“Good,” Kendra said, “That’s what happens when you tell one of God’s chosen that you created a demon!”

“You aren’t one of God’s anything. We made that up, just like Teddy and I made up that demon. God is the one who created the demon and strung you along on a fake adventure.”

“Is that so? Tell me more about this evil God you serve.”

“Nah. I think I won’t. I don’t think you have the temper for it.”

“Please oh please, can we not fight right now?" Maisie interjected, “A child is bleeding from her face!”

“The child will be fine. Let boys be boys,” Layla said, “Trust me, it’s delightful to watch.”

She continued to prod Addy’s side, each time scoring a small whimper or squirm.

Kendra folded his arms. Held his head a little higher. His black dress shirt was less recognizable under the coat of blood, grime, and ash.

“No. The blonde one is right. We can settle this later.”

“Fine by me,” Addy said, eyes sealed shut.

Sweet relief.

Though I wondered what might have transpired otherwise. Without the call for action. Would Addy and Kendra have continued to escalate, reaching a point of physical conflict? At what point would I have stepped in?

Not soon enough, I knew. I needed to get better at that.

We set to gathering materials and absorbing them into the game stone. The red glass and sand were our only real options.

As I carved a section of glass with my wand, I overheard a conversation between Maisie and Layla.

“Call them boys and they’ll do anything to prove their manhood,” Layla whispered.

“Layla! That’s wrong! You can’t treat people like that!” Maisie whispered back.

“You wound me, Zizi. And your morality is so dated. I have only the best intentions, same as you.”

“Yeah, but that’s still a manipulative thing to do! Wrong, no matter what you believe!"

“Ah, so we’re using the M-word again. I’ve told you, not all manipulation is bad. And never mine.”

“Strong disagree! All manipulation is bad! For one thing, it’s dishonest!”

"Dishonesty doesn't have to be bad, either. Come on, Zizi, you're such a bore sometimes. Where's that wild side I've come to love, hm?"

Blaine also carried a carving wand, retained from our short stint in the Pillars of Humanity. Together, we fed the sheets of glass into Kendra’s game stone. Kendra drew them back out in shimmering cords, layering the glass on top of itself. Reinforcing the construction to account for its fragility.

When he was done, Kendra allowed the airship to lift off of the ground, and climbed into one of the pilot's seats. A gyrating cord continued to connect the game stone to the floor of the craft.

The rest of us boarded. There were ten seats in total. Two up front, side by side. Behind that, two columns of four chairs, separated by an aisle. All atop a flat sheet of red glass with beveled edges.

Eerily similar to how Photo had assembled the spectator's platform. Less comfortable, for the lack of recliners. Also because these chairs were glass and not the flexible kind. Kendra had at least given them armrests.

Addy took the other pilot's chair. I sat behind him and slightly off to the right. Cecilia tried to take a seat, but Kendra insisted she lay on her back in the aisle When everyone was situated, Kendra commanded the ship to climb into the air.

It was a smooth lift-off. No sudden jerks or rocking. I sat as comfortably as my chair would permit.

The demon came into my thoughts again, as did the puzzle of what to do next. I pushed the queries to the back of my mind. I could figure that out later.

If I did it now, the guilt would overtake me.

We floated up and through the hole in the ceiling. The same hole the demon had climbed through. The world above was starkly bright. Clear blue skies, mountains which glowed in the heat. Light caught the glass of the ship, and red rays were reflected into my eyes.

Below, the earth had been pummeled and scorched in places. I could vaguely make out a trail of footprints, jagged, monstrous, and tracking across the crags and valleys. The sparse trees which dotted the landscape were ablaze. All of them, including trees that were miles from the trail or high atop mountains. If it could burn, it was on fire.

“Sure is hot out,” Brad commented.

“Yeah, it is,” Addy agreed, “Are you saying that because you see burning trees everywhere?”

“I’d say that’s part of it,” Brad admitted.

“It’s not. That’s Incumtox’s heat vision.”

“Heat vision? You mean, like, he can shoot laser beams from his eyes?”

“Nah,” Addy said, “More basic than that. He just sort of applies heat to whatever he looks at.”

“So based on what we're seeing, he has an eye for nature?” Brad surmised.

“That, or he wants to see it all burn. Either way, I respect it.”

Heat vision. It explained the sand and the glass. It accounted for the trees. What else would burn? Lakes? Rivers? What happened when the demon entered a city? Would the heat get trapped in the space between buildings, effectively cooking its citizens?

I forced myself to turn away from the thought. What could I even do? The demon was invincible. Dwelling on an inevitability wasn’t constructive.

We came to a stop a few hundred meters in the air. The airship began to rotate in a lazy circle and Kendra stood from his seat.

“Looking for anything familiar. There’s a local place, but the better hospitals are on the state border," he said, "Ah-ah. Mm, aha. There's Yerington."

He pointed to a small village, surrounded on all sides by low mountain ridges. Most of it was farmland, hedged into blocky polygons.

The path of destruction intersected the edges of the town, and there were more fires there. Crops, buildings. People's livelihoods - up in flames.

"Yerington. Got it. Mind telling us what state we're in?" Addy asked.

"You don't know which state you're in?" Kendra remarked.

"We weren't even sure what country we were in if we're being honest," I admitted.

"Yeah. We came here from space," Brad supplied.

Kendra slowly turned to face his passengers, wearing an expression of utter horror.

"No, we did not come here from space," Addy corrected, "Photo brought us into orbit, then dropped us back on Earth in a random spot. We are not aliens."

"Right," Kendra said, his chest rising and falling, "That's a fucking relief. We're in Nevada, for the record."

"Near the state border, you said? Of which state?" Teddy asked.

"California. Why?"

"Why? Why you're in luck!" Teddy said, "Palo Alto isn't far from here, and some of our country's finest doctors are on my... payroll..."

"Better treatment for my little sis? I absolutely accept."

"Yes. Cheers. Also-,"

"Pardon me for interrupting. Before we talk directions, how expensive are we talking? Just so I know."

"Expenses? Ha! No, I could cover any expenses. Of course I could. My treat," Teddy promised, "Addy, too, and whomever else."

Addy turned in his seat and made an uneasy face, "Don't worry about me; mine's not urgent. I appreciate the offer."

"You sure?" I asked, cautiously, "You took quite a beating, and the glass... You at least need stitches."

"I'm fine. Really," Addy said, and he shot me a look.

Oh. So he wasn't fine, but he didn't want to press the issue?

I nodded to him in agreement. Addy was his own individual. He could make his own judgment call.

"I wouldn't mind seeing those doctors," Brad said, "My bodies been feeling weird, ever since the playground. Do you have psychologists on your payroll?"

"Don't be rude, Brad," Addy cautioned.

"Rude? I'm not! I'm just asking because I think I need it. I've been thinking nonstop and I really think something's wrong in my head."

"Here's a fix: stop thinking," Addy suggested, "Don't ask another man to pay for your therapy. That's just bad manners."

"Coming from you?" Blaine started.

"If I may," Teddy interrupted, "I don't have any therapists on my payroll. None."

"Ah. Look at that. No therapists," Addy said, deadpan, "Brad's trauma can get solved another day."

"I'd still like to see those doctors," Brad reaffirmed.

"How about we save the doctors for the people who need it?" Kendra remarked.

Brad looked between him and Addy, myself and Blaine, the girls, then looked to Teddy. Teddy shook his head gingerly. An unspoken 'sorry, pal.'

"Hey! Dying kid on the floor! Can we hurry this along?" Layla interjected.

"Yeah, we can," Kendra agreed, taking a seat at the helm, "Strap in. We've got one more pit stop to make before we get going."

♣

We touched down in a multi-colored parking lot. It was small, mostly empty of cars, and had been repaved in two places, each time with a different material. One of the three sections had a web of cracks running through, and potholes littered the borders between sections. The futility of the maintenance was striking.

The store was Jakob’s Hardware, though the sign could have fooled me. JAKOB’s was written in thick cursive and HARD was embossed and made to look like metal sheets. The ‘ware’ felt like an afterthought, and the resultant message was disturbing.

Kendra disconnected the game stone from the craft and the airship ceased floating. We landed in the lot, occupying a row of five parking spaces. A ringing thud sounded with the impact, but the glass was thick enough to remain intact.

“Sit tight,” Kendra said, pocketing the stone and stepping onto the asphalt, “Just asking for directions.”

“Can I come with you and pick a flower?” Cassie asked, already out of her seat and moving.

Kendra stopped in his tracks.

“Mother let you take the free flowers?” he asked.

“Yes, yes! But only when I got good marks and definitely not anymore.”

“Huh. I didn’t think mother trusted… ah. Mm-hm. Stay.”

Kendra turned and entered the store. Cassie begrudgingly returned to her seat.

“Free flowers, huh? That sounds fun,” Maisie commented. She knelt beside Cecilia, dabbing at dried blood with the corner of her shirt.

“It’s the best! They have red and yellow and pink and white and you’re only allowed to get one if you’re cute like me, so mother never got any, but I always got red. I bet he’d give both of you flowers, Maisie, Liza!”

“Do you think I’d get a flower?” Blaine asked.

We ignored him.

And that was fine. I still wasn’t sure what I thought of Blaine. When everyone else had made their apologies – sacrificing pride – Blaine hadn’t. Couldn’t do so in a crisis, nor at the request of a dangerous assassin. It was disappointing, and it put a damper on our relationship.

I still hadn’t told anyone about the fake apology. Would I even be believed?

Addy would believe me, however biased his perspective.

“It’s Layla, dear,” Layla corrected her, “Think Delilah, but shorter.”

“De-li-lah. Mm-lay-la. Ok. Ooh! I shortened my name, too! It used to be Cassandra, but I changed it!”

“That’s a shame. I think I prefer Cassandra," Layla said.

“Mother did, too,” Cecilia added. She sounded half-asleep.

“Well everyone’s wrong then because ‘Cassie’ is better!” Cassie said.

“No, it’s not,” Cecilia argued.

“Is too! It's less letters I have to write and it's less con-so-nans I have to say and it’s prettier. It’s better by a lot.”

“Me, Layla, and mother are older than you, so what we say is more correct.”

“That’s not true! Kendra says we’re all individuals with same-sized feet!”

“Really? Kendra said our feet are all the same size?” Addy asked, showing concern.

“Uh-huh, he did!”

“Did he use the term ‘equal footing?’” I guessed.

“Yeah, that!”

“Thank God,” Addy said, pushing his glasses up his nose.

Following this, there was a lapse in the conversation. I looked around, but there wasn't much going on in the town. A few cars, a handful of townsfolk milling about the sidewalks, and the distant echo of a truck blowing its horn. We were miles from the fires, and word must not have reached everyone yet.

Peaceful. Something that was in short supply as of late.

Our presence was disrupting that peace. People stopped to gawk at what must have been a damn confusing sight. Eight adults, two kids, and Ted Lax were parked at the local hardware store, sitting atop a glass ship. Addy waved at the gawkers and a few waved back.

“So,” Blaine began, “Worlds ending soon. Any virgins?”

Kendra burst through the doors of the hardware store, saving us from that wonderful conversation. Someone was following him, power-walking to keep up and cradling an injured arm. Kendra paid him no mind.

“Good to go. This man generously donated his cell-phone to our cause,” Kendra informed us.

"No I fucking didn't, you lying fucker!" the injured man shouted. Jakob, going by his name tag. My eyes glanced down to his pants before I could stop myself, and I quickly averted them.

Suffice to say, he wasn't hard. I was relieved.

"Kenny, did you steal?" Cassie inquired, eyes wide.

"It's not stealing if it's from the likes of him," Kendra explained, "Its comeuppance. Long past due."

"It's illegal," Jakob said, "So is breaking my fucking arm."

"I didn't break it you wuss," Kendra said, stepping onto the glass platform, taking a seat, and shoving the cellphone into Addy's hands. The cord snaked out of the game stone, reconnecting to the craft.

"I prefer the term restructure," Addy commented, because of course he did.

"Didn't do that, either," Kendra stated.

"You assaulted me and you took my personal property."

"Yup. Leaving now. Bye, Jakob."

Jakob wrung his fists and advanced, stepping onto the platform.

The glass rippled, and a glimmering red fist manifested from the floor of the ship. Massive, with sharp studs along the knuckles.

The fist slammed into Jakob.

His body flew through the air, blood streaming from his chest, and smacked against the walls of the store with enough force that he stayed embedded in the wood.

What-

I couldn't tear my eyes from the scene. Couldn't process what had just happened.

Jakob stared back at me with dead eyes. He gave no signs that he was still conscious or even alive.

Why...

Why...?

Maisie sprung up, breathing frantically, but Layla pulled her back. Police sirens were blaring and they were close.

Police. My mind jumped three steps ahead.

The end of the world was approaching and Photo wasn't with us. We would need credibility if we were to be believed, and criminal charges were the opposite of that. If Jakob was alive... I hoped he was still alive, with all of my being. But if he was alive, he would charge us and it would all be over. If he was dead, the cops would identify our airship and give chase; reinforcements would be called. Either way, we couldn't leave the body behind.

I heard the squealing of tires as the police car rounded a corner. Not much time. I stood, stepping off of the platform and towards Jakob's crumpled body.

Something roped around my sides and yanked me back into my seat. Knocking the wind out of me. A glass seatbelt fastened itself around my waist.

Before I could think or react, the airship shot into the air. A couple hundred meters in a few seconds. The image of the town was replaced by open sky.

No! We have to go back!

Addy turned, resting arms and chin on the back of his seat.

"Maisie, Alec. You gotta cool it with the heroics. I thought I was impulsive."

"I think we may have killed that man!" Maisie said, tugging at her restraints. She wore a seatbelt, same as me.

"Dead or alive, we can't leave him behind!" I added, slamming my fist against the thick belt, "They'll call for our arrest! We'll be fugitives!"

"If he dies, that's on me," Kendra said, "But try not to dwell on it for too long. The worlds better off without him."

"It's not better off for him!" Maisie retorted, and I couldn't agree more.

Kendra spoke with a menacing edge, "I say this with respect. You're entitled to an opinion, but you don't get a say. You didn't know him. He was an evil man."

"No, that's not fair! No one's actually evil. And you might be leaving out all of the good parts of him-,"

"I'm not."

"-so you can't know for sure and it sure doesn't justify murder!"

Kendra glared at Maisie, beaming with hatred. He looked like he might snap if someone said the wrong thing. His connection to the airship was distorting. Weird shapes and sharp edges sliced in and out of the cord as if there was an abstract energy under the surface, desperate to break free.

"Want me to dig up the truth? I could get the facts and we could all vote on it," Addy suggested, waggling the cellphone.

“Use that for navigation,” Kendra growled, “Directions to Palo Alto. Now.”

“Geez, alright, you don’t have to tell me twice. Paaa-looo Aaaal-to. Search. Ok, it’s finding a route… and… any day now…”

I didn’t trust Kendra. How could I trust someone who had so effortlessly committed murder? Not to mention the attitude problem. Getting angry and snapping at Maisie when he was the one off his rocker. Irrational at best. At worst, something dangerous. Something broken at its core.

“Alright, we have a few options, so sit tight. By car, it will take us 5-ish hours. On foot, 4 days. If we splurge and get-,”

"Quit being a smart-ass and point in the fucking direction!"

Addy made a small noise, then covered it up with a smirk.

Yeah, this was not okay.

"That way," he said, after some further analysis of the map.

I did a double-take, to make sure I was looking in the right place. Then I got angry. Not at Kendra, but at the goddamn universe.

Addy's finger was pointing in the same direction the demon had traveled. His arm and the path of destruction were parallel.

Fucking hell. Why?

More seatbelts appeared for the rest of the passengers. Two looped around Cecilia, who was passed out on the floor. Kendra reoriented the ship, aligning it to the direction Addy had pointed.

And then we were off. Moving from one terrible thing to the next, with no breaks.

We glided over the town and left it far behind a moment later. It was difficult to gauge how fast we were going. Faster than 60 miles per hour. Probably double. Maybe triple.

Kendra was quick to raise walls to protect against the air resistance and the insects. In the first minute alone, multiple people took bugs to the face. I wasn't even aware bugs existed this high up.

We flew in silence. No one was keen on talking, given Kendra's temper and what he had done.

The explanation we owed him was on hold, perhaps indefinitely. The situation with the Zeiton needed to be handled delicately, which meant we couldn’t include this barbaric man in our plan.

Our plan. What was our plan? We didn’t really have one, and the clock was ticking. We had - what - one hour until the scout found Earth and called for reinforcements? Maybe sooner.

We needed Photo if we were to stand a chance. Sure, I had seen Photo kill six drug dealers and brutalize young girls with electrical shocks. Photo had kidnapped us, manipulated us. And we didn’t stand a chance without it.

Find a way to contact Photo. That could be our new plan. I just needed to tell the others without clueing Kendra in.

“Is that...?” Blaine began.

I looked up.

There was no need for him to elaborate. We could see it clearly through the red-tinted windows. The demon was visible on the horizon, sprinting with alarming speed. Taller than a two-story house, with slate black skin cast in the colors of the sunset.

It shouldn’t have come as a surprise. We were headed in the same direction, moving faster than any bipedal could run, invincible or no.

Even so, I was caught off guard by my anxiety. All of the guilt flooded back in. Addy and Teddy’s monster, enlarged and set free by my critical mistake. As destructive as any force of nature, and made worse by its seeming intelligence. It could think for itself. React to circumstances. It had laughed at us.

It had a target. A lone police car, battered and smashed, with pieces hanging off. Speeding down the highway and whizzing around tight bends. The torn-away corner of a billboard was propped up on the back of the car, fixed at an angle by metal stilts which poked through the roof.

“Get closer! Blaine has to see his chest tattoo!” Addy pleaded.

“Already saw. It didn’t make sense,” Blaine said.

“What about it ‘didn’t make sense?’ I thought it was pretty clear-,”

Addy stopped when the singing began. A female’s voice, mature and tantalizing. Heads collectively turned to Addy and the phone resting in his hand.

“Worship me... offer me security...”

Jakob had the song saved as his ringtone. The phone screen glowed, displaying ‘YERINGTON POLICE DEPARTMENT.’

“Should we answer it?” Addy asked the group.

“Yes! We need to clear our name. Give them a false account. Answer it!” I implored.

“Alright, alright, here goes,” Addy narrated, pressing the button to answer the call, “Hello, how can I help you?”

“I need a lift. Car is almost dead.”

My eyes drifted to the battered police car. Then back to the phone. It couldn’t be...

But it was. Not only the car. The voice.

“Message received, loud and clear,” Addy said into the phone, “We’re en route to your location, Officer Kioshi.”