A Cold Black Wave (13 page)

Then he tried to focus himself to the task at hand.  Thinking about her was completely distracting him from everything else.  The world had shrunk to a tiny thing in his mind that crowded out every other thought and seemed to replace his vision with imaginations and memories.  No wonder the Academy discouraged relationships!

Josh wasn’t sure how much time had passed when Leah stopped at the edge of a broad ravine and turned to wait for Josh.  This was it.  This is where he’d make his move.  As he stood next to her his nervousness overwhelmed him and he couldn’t even make eye contact.  In the time they had been hiking his relentless thoughts had turned her into a mythical creature that imposed some kind of supernatural control over him and he felt helpless to do anything about it.

“Well?”  She asked.  “What’s the matter with you?  You see a ghost or something?”

He let out a nervous laugh.  She was so funny!

“Should we go down this ridge or what?”

“Oh, yes, absolutely.  Let me help you down first.”

Before she could say anything Josh awkwardly led her towards the edge.  Whoa!”  She said, stopping.  “Careful, you trying to throw me over?”

He quickly let go, “Sorry.”  He set his mind to sober up and took a deep breath. “Okay,” he said, surveying the grade of the slope they’d be descending.  “Let’s go down this way and use the rocks.  Test them first before you put your whole weight down.”

They helped each other down a narrow, rock-laden ridge that dipped into
 
a broad stream which wound lazily through bushels of swaying brown-headed reeds.  Patches of snow hid in shadows and aspen trees dotted the edges of the stream.  Josh was beginning to think that he had guessed wrong about the season and now he believed that they were on the tail end of winter, not the beginning.

“Wait,” he said.  “Do you see that?  Over there.”  He pointed to a black object protruding from the ground on the other side of the stream.  It was well hidden in lush, ten foot grass.

“We should take a look?”

“Maybe.  Last time my curiosity didn’t work out so well.”

Once they reached the stream, Josh found a stick and used it to plumb the depths as they made their way across.  The clear water ran over smoothed rocks and bubbled gently as it split around a small island.  He signaled for her to ready her weapon as they approached the object.

He hunched down and pushed his way into the wall of leafy grass that easily bent away with each step.  They could see the top of the object clearly now and it had the shape of a tail fin with indiscernible markings on it.  Time and weather had nearly faded it away.

When they reached it, the grass and weeds had grown around it to such a degree as to make it a part of the natural landscape.

Leah appeared next to him, “What is it?”

“Some sort of jet.  Single seat, or what’s left of it.  Definitely military.”

As he circled around the nose, which appeared to have disintegrated upon impact leaving only the cockpit somewhat intact
but separated from the fuselage
, he kept an eye out for any surprises that may be lurking in the grass.  He had little knowledge about the machines, who made them, or what their purpose was.  Until he did, it was safe to assume there were many more and they could be anywhere.

“It looks ancient,” she said, running her hand against the eroded fuselage.  Rust rimmed holes pock marked the grey exterior.  Josh leaned over the cockpit and tried lifting the metal canopy that closed around the pilot seat.  Only small remnants of jagged glass lined the metal edges.  There was no body inside.

“Whoever was in here was either very lucky or got carried away by some animal.”  As he knelt there he examined the length of the jet as it protruded up at a forty five degree angle.  “I don’t recognize the design.”

“Maybe you didn’t learn about that one in your studies.”

“I told you, we studied everything.”

“So you’re some encyclopedia of earth?”

“More or less.  I had years of study left so there’s a lot I’m missing.”

“This could be something you missed then?”

“No.  Not this.”

“One of those machines flew this?”

“No, a human piloted this.  It doesn’t make sense to put an expensive machine into an expensive jet.  You’d just stick the CPU in here, not the whole body.  The machine we ran into was meant for ground warfare.  Look, see this?  There are burn holes in the fuselage.  You’d need high tech stuff to burn clean through like that.  Not sure who was fighting who but if you look at the markings on this plane, and the language, it matches what we saw on the can, but not the machine.  If I had to guess, whoever designed the machines were the invaders.  The pilot in this cockpit was defending his homeland.”

“Well, okay.  We should go.  This creeps me out.”

“Yeah.  We need to set up camp.  It’ll be dark soon.”

Leah coughed, this time in fits and Josh eyed her with consternation.  She just smiled and waved it off again so he didn’t press her about it.  He led them up a rocky incline that took them out of the stream bed, finding themselves at the edge of an open expanse of thickly seeded grass that came up over their heads.

“I’d rather not go through here,” she said, wiping her nose.  “Why don’t we follow the stream down some more and find another way out?”

“My only worry is the time.  We can’t go poking around the stream bed too long looking for another way out.  These ridges are steep and this spot is
the
only place we could climb without risking a fall.  We can’t camp near the water though.  Too many animals coming and going.  Sooner or later we’ll run into the type that isn’t so cute and friendly.”

“Let’s find another way.  I’m not walking through that.  God knows what’s in there or where we’d end up!”

He took her suggestion despite his deep misgiving about doing so, and they climbed back down to the stream bed, following alongside it to locate a path out that didn’t require walking blindly through a maze of giant grass.  As dusk set upon them, frost followed.  Josh felt the pressure to get out of the ravine and set camp up soon and quickened his pace.

They trekked along the wet, rocky stream bed for awhile until Leah stopped and slipped off her backpack.

“What’s wrong?”  Josh asked as he walked back to her.

“Just catching my breath.  Hey,” she smiled. “I’m out of shape!  What can I say?”

“You sure you’re okay?”  He kneeled down next to her and noticed her skin was flush.  “Here, eat this.” He unwrapped an energy bar and handed it to her.  “I’ll go ahead and find us a place to camp and come back.  Give me fifteen minutes!”

“Don’t forget about me!”  She teased.

Josh hustled further down stream where the water made a sharp curve around a cliff which was making it impossible to see around the bend.  The gradient had become too steep along the sides of the ravine to climb out of even if they wanted to, but he refused to make camp in the ravine and alongside the stream.  He needed to see what was around the bend and whether the terrain would markedly improve enough to climb out, so Josh continued, stepping over clustered layers of slippery rocks that followed along the base of the cliff.  When he rounded the corner, he stopped abruptly at what he saw.

A modern bridge spanned the width of the stream only a hundred yards ahead.  The water rushed around the metal support beams, and a dual metal rail lined the top of the bridge.  Josh watched for a minute to try and spot any movement along the road.  Nothing.

Without putting himself too close to the bridge, Josh carefully looked for potential exit points along the edge of the ravine and found nothing.  He attempted climbing one spot, as conveniently spaced rocks acted like steps, but he realized it was too steep for Leah.  She was running on empty and the risk of her slipping off the ridge and injuring herself was not worth it.  If she broke her leg or twisted an ankle they’d be in a world of trouble.  Sunlight had given way to an ashy, shadowy sky so he hurried back.  They’d have to go in the opposite direction, upstream, and hope for better luck that way.

When he came back to Leah he found her huddled and with her knees to her chest and shaking.

“I’m freezing ...”

“You feel good enough to walk right?  Let’s go, come on.”  He reached down and helped her up, holding her with one arm and her pack in the other.  She didn’t say anything and just followed him as best as she could.  As the evening wore on her pace slowed markedly.  Her legs turned wobbly and were barely capable of carrying herself a step further.  Josh snapped, “Hurry up!”

“Josh, please ... can’t we just camp here for one night?”

“No.  Just a little farther.”

A little farther turned into nightfall.  She was trying her best to keep going, not to let Josh down, but she couldn’t take it anymore and collapsed.  “Josh ...”

He ran back and held her up off the ground.  She was feverish and sweating profusely under her parka.  Her eyes glazed over and she felt frail and delicate as she trembled uncontrollably in his arms.  “Leah!  Christ.  Sit up, over here.”

Josh slipped her pack off and lifted her entire weight, placing her underneath a tree that had fallen from atop of the ravine, the head angled down into the stream with the roots pulled from the earth above them.

Josh set up their camp there, pulling the thermal wrap over the top of the tree and using the space underneath it to sleep under.  At least the soil here was soft once he tossed all the rocks and branches out of the way.  He stretched his blanket down for her to lie on and then helped her wrap up with her own after he retrieved it from her pack.

She lay there shivering and clammy, her sweaty hair matted against her forehead.  He tried giving her some water but she could only manage a few sips before handing it back.  The stream rippled quietly just twenty yards from them.

“You look sad,” she whispered.

Watching the pained, sorrowful look on her face welled up a terrible empathy within him. “I’m sorry Leah.”

“For what?”

“Everything.  I’m not a good person.  I shouldn’t have forced you to walk.  I-I should have just set up camp for us so you could rest and-”

“Why would you say that?”

“I’m just-I’m just not.  Your dad was a good man for finding a way to keep you out of the academy.  He let you have a life.  The academy was just another lie that men tried to justify as good and beneficial to others, but it was just a product of a dying world.  It bred death, and spawned people like me.”

“You are a good person, Josh.  I’ve seen it.”

“No,” he said plaintively.  “You haven’t.  You haven’t seen the real me.”

She reached out to him and softly placed her hand on him, “I want to.”

He tried to smile but couldn’t.  If she saw the real him, she would never look at him the same.  His heart was compelling him to reach out to her, but he realized then why he shouldn’t have feelings for her.  She could never accept who he is, and in the end he would only bring her pain and disappointment.  The scar of the Academy was deeply embedded in his psyche, and would inevitably ruin whatever good had been created between them.  She was perfect as she was and he couldn’t live with himself if he somehow snuffed out that flame of life within her, that hope and belief in something good left in this world.

He stood up. “Look uh, I’m going to get the med kit and cover the packs for the night.  I’ll be right outside if you need me.”

She worried, “Okay.  Don’t stay out too long, its cold.”    His attempt at smiling turned to a slight frown and he turned to leave, but her hand stopped him and a smile rose to her lips.  “It’s going to be okay.  I promise.”  He gently took her hand off his and stepped out outside, her deep coughs cutting through the night as he walked away.