Three figures trudged through an expanse of rubble from crumbled buildings and roads. The sun set to their back, coloring the landscape orange where it touched, and black in the shadows.

The tallest of the three stopped and took his gaze off the ground. His tired old eyes searched the shadows of the sun.

The other two stopped as well. One was a young boy, the other a girl in her upper teens. Strands of her brown hair waved lazily in the breeze. She didn’t raise her eyes to look about.

There was a deep quiet that could be felt all the way to the horizon. The tarps of empty makeshift shelters flapped in the breeze. A building softly groaned as it settled. A pebble clattered as it fell, then echoed into silence as it disappeared into the jagged maze of rubble.

The sun sank, its last rays disappearing from the top of the hill of fallen buildings they faced towards. The sky continued to darken and the shadows deepened to an inky blackness.

Suddenly, a blue flickering light, like the light from a welding torch, lit up a hill next to the one they faced. It cast the shadow of a ruined building in sharp relief against the hill’s side.

They couldn’t see the source. The hill they faced was in the way. It flickered weakly, then stuttered brightly, casting the whole hill in front of it in a sharp silhouette. Then there was darkness.

“Eohin’s Gate.” The tone of the old man’s voice was matter-of-fact. He looked back down, he couldn’t walk in the rubble with the shadows so deep.

So, he didn’t walk. He sat down.

The other two did the same, looking at their feet.

The concrete they sat on had rebar sticking out of it. The slabs were angled in every direction like boulders.

The boy absently scraped his foot against them.

“Tomorrow,” the old man said. He rose and looked carefully in the faded light for the deepest shadow among the ruins.

“Come.”

The two young ones rose and followed the man, who slowly felt his way down the slope.

He reached the shadow and peered into it. Then carefully, very carefully and slowly while bracing himself, he lowered one leg into the darkness. His shoe scraped against concrete.

“Come.” He lowered himself more into the hole in the ruins, reaching out to find where the walls were.

The girl followed next, then the boy. In the darkness they found spots where they could set their backs against to sleep the night.

The sound of their rustling soon quieted to the occasional scuff.

The breeze whispered quietly outside. It gusted weakly, sighing softly.

Their eyes blinked slowly.

The faint blue of the moon glowed softly against the white concrete.

The old man went to sleep first. His quiet snoring became a soothing and reassuring lullaby.

The eyes of the girl and boy grew heavy. Their breathing slowed. Within moments their weariness pulled them into sleep.

Hours passed, the wind died down, all was quiet. A cloud passed over the moon, casting the land in its shadow.

The wind picked up and moaned softly.

The man’s snoring stopped and his sleeping face creased in a frown.

The wind moaned louder, closer.

His eyes slowly opened.

The wind softly moaned its low note and died away. Nothing could be seen in the darkness.

The man felt his pulse beat faster.

The wind picked up again, hissing against the bones of buildings. Its low moan started again, held, then the wind died and the moan separated itself from a far-off howl.

A shoe scuffed against rubble in the dark. The young ones were awake.

For a moment they all sat quietly. The howling came again, it didn’t sound closer or further away.

In the shadow, the girl stirred and pulled something from her small pack. A blue light suddenly lit her face in the dark.

“Elthia, is there anyone?” The old man asked. He hoped the howling would go by them like it had so many times before.

Elthia tapped buttons on the device and the light against her face changed color and brightness a few times. She shook her head.

Another howl from far off was carried on the wind.

They all stilled, waiting.

The howl died and there was silence again. For long moments they waited.

The moon came out from behind the cloud. A shaft of light shone into their little cave.

Elthia broke the silence. “You said it connects to someone in the past. Weren’t there more people then? Where are they?”

“There were more, not many were dying in those days.”

“It’ll save me if I die.”

“Yes,” The old man nodded reassuringly, “yes.” She had asked him this many times, as if it would suddenly change one day.

“Only if there is another connected to me.”

“Yes, yes.”

She shook the device.

“Elthia.”

She stared at the device. Her information was displayed on its screen. Name, birth date, height, weight, blood pressure, blood type, ethnicity, medical history, onset of lethal illness date…

“If no one from the past can help you, Eohin’s Gate will bring you to them.”

The howl came, closer, more distinct. Deep it started, with the faint reverberations of rapid clicking, then it rose slightly in pitch and the clicking changed into a high-pitched creaking.

They sat there in shock.

The wind whispered. There was no sound. No sound by which to know a location. Something was in the darkness.

Elthia slowly put the device away. Then sat stock-still.

The whites of the boy’s wide eyes reflected the glow of the moon.

The old man’s eyes gazed at the floor with an almost disinterested look. Within his chest his heart beat hard against his ribs.

Again, the howl filled the silence, closer.

Elthia tried to keep her breathing normal.

The boy’s jaw clenched and his fist grasped the end of a piece of rebar with white knuckles.

The howl came again. It sounded like it was atop the very hill of rubble they were in. The clicking and the creaking beneath the howl echoed within the rubble. It sounded like the very animal itself was scurrying about within the crevices of the concrete and all around their little cave.

Something clattered down the slope. A piece of rubble.

Elthia clutched her bag tightly to her chest. Her eyes were fixed on the opening of the cave.

More rubble clattered. Something could be heard shuffling up above them. It clambered over the ruins. Something sharp scraped against stone.

Tears dripped down the boy’s face.

The thing was joined by others and together they meandered down the slope.

Closer they came, bodies brushing on concrete. They panted, the sound growing louder towards the way they faced.

A howl. So loud it sounded like one of them had jumped right into the cave with them.

Scraping claws and thumps right outside the cave as the beast jumped from one slab to the next. The panting sound turned away, becoming quiet, then suddenly louder and closer.

A shadow moved over the mouth of the cave.

The man’s wide eyes bored into the floor of the cave.

Elthia’s heart beat so fast it hurt. She clenched her teeth like a cage for the scream in her throat.

The boy’s face whitened, his body rigid, then he slumped, unconscious from the fright.

The beast’s shadow blocked out the light of the moon. Seconds passed. Suddenly, there was moonlight again.

Claws scraped and grew more distant. The thumping of beasts running down the slope came and passed.

All was silent again.

Elthia didn’t remember how many minutes, or hours passed before the last howl could be heard. She fell into sleep.

Tomorrow, she thought, tomorrow I’ll be healed at Eohin’s Gate and leave this world.

***

Aeson sat in the waiting room bouncing his foot. He crossed his arms over his chest, left over right. His mother was on his left reading a magazine, his father was on his right with a stare that looked past the wall across from him.

Aeson switched his arms, right over left. The room was quiet, save for the occasional telephone ring or the receptionist and her talking. Old men and women sat in chairs waiting for their own appointments.

Unlike many of the waiting rooms that Aeson was accustomed to, this one didn’t have any toys for children.

Not that he needed them. He was seventeen. It’s just, there were no children playing. Even sick children playing with toys made a lighthearted atmosphere. This place…well, it had a feeling of somber resignation.

He shifted in his seat and winced at the pain in his side. Despite it being mid-afternoon he felt like he needed to sleep.

“Honey.”

Aeson looked at his mother out of the corner of his eye.

“Let’s get something to eat after this, okay? Whatever you want.”

He gave a nod and followed his father’s gaze into the wall. She didn’t have to act like she already knew the results. Eating out was usually reserved for celebrations. Times like birthdays or graduations or even having friends over. He wasn’t likely to have many more of those celebrations. Eating out after doctor appointments were always meant to soften pain.

The door to the doctor’s office opened and Aeson held his breath.

A male nurse walked out and stopped just outside the door.

“Aeson Nash?”

Aeson let out a breath and stood.

His parents stood with him and his father squeezed his shoulder.

The nurse led them through the offices which always seemed like a maze to Aeson. Instead of going into one of the examination rooms, they were led to Doctor Winter’s office. Aeson had already spent enough time in those rooms and being scanned by machines.

As they walked down the hall, they passed by a man and woman about in their fifties. Aeson noticed they had red eyes and crestfallen faces.

The nurse opened the door and ushered them inside.

There was a desk and three chairs in front of it. The room was larger than their living room. A spry man stood from behind the desk and motioned them to the chairs.

“Please, sit.”

Doctor Winter had a light voice and just as light a frame. He was skinny beneath his white lab coat, though not unhealthy.

To Aeson, the man looked like a tree without leaves draped in snow. The man’s appearance seemed appropriate for his name.

Despite his light appearance, the man’s voice held a tremor of gravity that made Aeson’s heart sink. His mother had started tearing up. He knew she was holding out hope.

Together, they sat down in front of Winter’s desk.

Winter opened a thick file folder and started flipping through it. He glanced up. “Mr. and Mrs. Nash, how have you two been holding up this past week?”

Aeson’s father cleared his throat. “Um good, we’ve been holding up just fine.”

Dr. Winter nodded and glanced up at Aeson’s mother.

She forced a smile with watery eyes. “Felton, please, just tell us the results.”

Dr. Winter nodded solemnly. “I understand ma’am, I just need to refresh myself on the particulars.”

He found a few printouts and pictures and looked them over. He glanced up at Aeson. “And how about you? How are you doing?”

Aeson swallowed. “I, uh, I bumped my shoulder against the doorframe two days ago. It didn’t hurt but I have a large bruise now.”

Winter nodded with serious eyes focused on Aeson. “So, you’re bruising easily then.” His eyes glanced at Aeson’s parents. He flipped through a couple more papers. “Yes, I believe the scans have shown us what is going on definitively.” He finished reading a piece of paper and set it down. He looked up and cusped his left hand in his right.

“Aeson, I don’t mean to cause you any alarm by saying this, but you have cancer.”

His mother sucked in a breath and clasped a hand over her mouth as tears ran down her face.

His father put an arm around Aeson and squeezed Aeson’s shoulder.

Aeson just said, “oh.”

Winter let out a breath. “There are options, of course. There is radiation therapy, surgery…”

Cancer. Aeson thought. What can I do about this? How long do I have? What about college? Could I do treatments and college at the same time? Will I have time to become a car engineer? “How much time do I have?”

Winter stopped in the middle of answering a question about treatments his mom had asked. He cleared his throat. “At this time, the best guess is…two years.” He bowed his head as if a weight had been added to it.

“Of course, this can be lengthened with treatments.”

His father opened his mouth to ask a question.

Winter held up his hand. “I should also tell you that this cancer isn’t a slow progression like many others. It has only started occurring in younger individuals over the past decade, but it has a tendency to rapidly accelerate in the second stage. Sometimes, a person’s estimation is shortened from five years to a week.”

“Then, how…” his father stammered.

“There is something we can give him for that. It’s a medical device that will give him a second chance. It uses Syndmell technology, so we may have to try out a few before we get one to work on him.”

Aeson’s father seemed to gain energy from this. “That tech is unreliable anymore. How can we trust it? The quantum entanglement across the space-time geography –”

“I know you’ve programmed for the technology, Mr. Nash, but the way the quantum mechanics work with this device means it either works or it doesn’t. If it successfully activates, then it will continue to operate until it is destroyed. It doesn’t use Syndmell tech in the way the spaceplanes used to. There won’t be a repeat of Wandon. Regardless, it’ll give your son more time.” His severity quieted Aeson’s father. He turned to Aeson. “Now, let’s get you fitted with a S.Q.E.D. shall we?”

Dr. Winter walked over to a side door in his office. The door looked heavy and had a flat black panel to one side of it. The door itself had no handle.

Dr. Winter placed his hand on the black panel and there was a click. He pushed against the door with his shoulder and the door swung inward to a narrow and long closet space. Along one side were shelves, along the other were what looked like safe-deposit boxes.

He swiped his finger on one and it popped open. He took out a roundish device about the size of Aeson’s hand with outstretched fingers.

He waved Aeson over and Aeson obediently stood and walked over. He found his legs were a little weak, but he was able to walk.

Aeson stepped into the closet.

“Hold this one.”

Aeson held the device. A progress bar lit up the screen with a “connecting” message displayed on it. They waited for a couple more moments, then the screen displayed an error message.

Deftly, Dr. Winter took the device from Aeson and put it away, taking out another just as quickly.

Aeson held this one too.

“Aeson.”

Aeson took his eyes off the S.Q.E.D.’s progress bar and looked at Dr. Winter.

The doctor’s eyes were soft as they looked into Aeson’s eyes. “What are you planning to do with your life?”

Aeson felt his eyes grow hot, but he couldn’t stop a tear from escaping. He looked down at the device. “I was going to go to college.”

“What were you going to go for?” The doctor gently prodded.

“I was,” Aeson breathed in, “I was going to become a car engineer.”

“Aeson, look up.”

Aeson looked up. Dr. Winter took the device from his hand and handed him another.

“You can live your life in many ways from here on. Some despair, others party until they can’t anymore, others continue like they always have as if nothing has happened. Some want to live in a way that will create a positive memory in those they leave behind.”

Aeson held the device awkwardly and thought. He do I want to live the rest of my life? He thought. He mused over the weighty question. He sniffled. The device wasn’t connecting. He would die one day, with this device or not. He looked up.

“I want to design a car.”

The device in his hand chimed and the screen flashed green.