Akasha 4 - Earth (28 page)

"Throw plastic sheeting over the
gardens at night – make them last as long as we can in the ground."
Shawn's voice grated at me.

My neck twitched.

"We can plant cover crops - grasses or
small grains will help shade the soil and prevent weeds from
growing over the winter." David stood by Shawn.

Shawn stopped. "I know how a garden
works, David. I've been feeding these people for two years
now."

Shawn started walking again. The group
of people followed. I turned my back, and stripped off my jacket
and my shirt. My sports bra could pass for appropriate hard labor
clothing, and reveal as much of my new ink as possible. My
disguise.

I risked a glance over my shoulder.
Behind me, Micah had blended in with a group of workers. He pulled
his hood up over his head.

Shawn surveyed one of the mobile
gardens that had yet to be replanted. "This looks better than when
we rolled out of Fort Calhoun. What'd you do different?"

One of the workers stepped out of his
group; an Earth, by the feel of her. "We started using human hair
in our compost a while back. We also—"

"Whose hair?" Shawn asked, cutting her
off.

I cringed, ducking down trying to make
myself as small as possible.

"Well." She looked down at her toes,
smiling. "Mine, for one. And—"

"Let's get some of these potatoes out
for dinner tonight." Shawn, always impatient, was already moving
on. "Make room for more from the mobile gardens. I want everything
in the ground and covered up. Nothing goes to waste. We have to
last the goddam winter, here."

"Yes, sir. Potatoes will go well with
the wild dog that was brought in last night."

"Who caught a wild dog?"

I sucked in the slow sigh of relief I
was letting out. The tension in the air increased, and I risked a
glance at Micah. He had already turned around, fists clenched,
ready for a fight. I made a shooing motion at him behind my back
with my good hand.

"Lucy…" David's voice trailed off as
he searched the parking lot that seemed to be growing smaller by
the second. "Oh, there she is."

I tucked my hair behind my ear and
turned my head. My face tattoo was in full view. Along with my
bared shoulders, partially bared back, and wrapped wrist – I hoped
Shawn would be thrown off. I could feel his eyes boring into the
back of my neck. The scar on my shoulder itched.

"I don't think I've met Lucy…" Shawn's
voice was cold.

Footsteps.
Oh God, is he coming over?
I wasn't ready for a fight. My powers weren't nearly strong
enough – unless he was allergic to broccoli.

"Hey, baby. You're all dirty – why
don't come take a break?" It was my hero, Erika. She wrapped one
arm around me, pulling me into her and blocking my face from
Shawn.

She motioned with her
eyes.
Play along – if you want to get out
of this.

My turn. I tried to relax into her.
"Sure, as long as it's with you."

I let her pull me away. She rubbed my
arm with the back of her thumb and I played with the hem of her
shirt. I risked a glance at Shawn. He was still watching; our
flirting with each other wasn't doing the trick.

I laid my head on her shoulder. "Where
have you been all morning? I've missed you."

"Tease," she said. She tilted my chin
up and toward her with the tips of her fingers. Before shock could
register, our lips brushed. I went with it. Better this than pull
everyone into a fight. My arm snaked around her waist and I pulled
her in tighter, opening my mouth.

Might as well give those
boys a show.

We continued to walk, heading out of
the parking lot. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Shawn raise his
hand. It was covered in bandages. He took a step toward us. I
sucked in my breath.

"Keep walking," Erika mumbled into my
mouth.

A large crash stopped Shawn. It
stopped everyone except us. As we disappeared in between two tall
buildings, I glanced back. Clay was in the middle of the lot, an
entire mobile garden tipped over in front of him.

"Oh, geez. Sorry about that Shawn.
Don't worry, I can get this cleaned up before dark." Clay was
bumbling around the tipped over truck bed.

My second hero.
All three of them; Micah, Erika, and Clay had
come out of nowhere.
Do I have an army of
stalkers?

"Well, what is everyone staring at?
Help him!" Shawn ordered. He knelt himself, brushing the dirt into
a pile with his bandaged hands.

The only one not distracted by Clay's
aversion was Micah. He openly stared at me and Erika, mouth hanging
open.

Chapter
44

Romance

I sat on the black granite
wall at Writer Square that used to contain a fountain. Now it held
much more. Soil, seeds, growing plants, hope, life. I thought of
Felix and his trash can of fire.
How did
he survive? Does he tend his own garden?
It would be hard to find space for one amidst a jungle of
concrete. I laid my hand down in the rich soil of the fountain.
Then again, maybe not.

"Hey." A hand extended to
me.

I took it, rising up to meet Micah's
eyes. "Hey, yourself," I said back, smiling. "I brought us dinner."
I motioned to two large lettuce leaves – the new plate of choice –
wrapped around full servings of delicious wild dog meat and
potatoes.

"Perfect," he said. He held up a
canteen. "I brought us wine."

A pair of Fires walked by, whooping
and hollering about how awesome they were. I turned my head. I had
already removed my blue band identifying me as One Less, but the
infamous Lucy and her wild dog was spreading like wildfire;
especially among those that wielded the flame – they loved a good
story.

"Come on, I know of a place we can go
to eat in peace."

We walked the length of the mall. As
we passed the final lantern, I paused. "Should we take it with us?
Denver is…dark."

Micah took the wrapped food from me,
then held my good hand. "There are more lanterns where we are
going. Besides – look, a full moon."

We went the opposite way of Felix and
the dogs. After ten minutes of walking, we turned east, passing
several large, burnt out buildings.

"University of Colorado." Micah nodded
to one of them. "The city fell to looting and fighting after
several nights of darkness. Some thought they might be safe here –
what's in a college to steal? Desks? Normally nothing of any worth
- but refugees brought supplies."

"Oh, my God."

Micah nodded. "Whole
families—"

"Don't tell me anymore. I don't want
to know." I turned away from the shell of the building.

He squeezed my hand. "I'm just glad
you weren't in a big city right after it happened."

We walked through an expansive parking
lot, stepping over cracks and weeds in the asphalt, before skirting
around a large stadium.

"The city set up a command center and
temporary housing inside the Pepsi Center," Micah said, pointing at
the stadium – also half burnt. "When it became apparent the power
was not coming back on, the cops left to go protect their own
families – and there was more fighting over food and blankets that
were brought in."

I looked up – the moon was a far
prettier sight. "Our food is getting cold," I mumbled. "How much
farther?"

He looked down at me. "You've walked
thousands of miles in the past few years, I think you can handle
another few steps."

"Much of that was rowed," I corrected
him. "But, it's like – you make me weak."

I stopped, stunned that I had just
said that out loud. But it was true. When he was around, I checked
out. I relied on him too much.

He sighed. "Come on, Kaitlyn. We'll
talk about that later."

We stepped over a large, red, plastic
'E' lying on the ground. I looked up at a rounded entrance. The
outline of several more letters could be made out, "Elitches? An
amusement park?"

Micah smiled. "The new whimsical home
of the Wiccans."

"And this?" I touched a painted
pentagram with the words, 'Devil Worshippers' inside it.

"Put there by some that don't
understand." He shrugged. "We leave it there because it seems to
keep people away. The stupid ones, anyway."

We walked through what used to be the
ticket booths. A group of guards, or at least what seemed to be
guards, sat in a circle playing cards. There were no
weapons.

"Are they Elementals?" I asked as
Micah waved to them.

"Some are; mostly Earths. Come on, I
want to show you the observation tower."

I craned my neck up, looking at the
building just inside the entrance.

"We're going to the top," said
Micah.

I groaned. The thing had to be 250
feet tall. "Wouldn't you rather show me the Ferris wheel? Or the
carousel?"

"The view is worth the climb," Micah
said. We passed the useless elevator and started up the stairs.
"Besides, this is where I sleep."

"You do this every night?" I
asked.

"And now, so will you." He paused,
waiting for me to catch up. He took my hand and pulled me along
behind him.

My butt is going to be so
sore in the morning.

By the time we made it to the top, my
legs were on fire, and I was breathing hard. Another guard greeted
us at the round platform. This one I recognized; an Elemental from
the Chakra.

"Natasha?" I squealed, lunging for
her. I scooped her up in a hug. "You made it! The last I remember
you were being chased into the woods by those Fires."

She detached herself from me,
smiling.

"I'm sorry I didn't go back for you."
I took a step back, looking at Micah. "Why didn't I go back for
her?" My mind began reconstructing events from a day I tried not to
think about for over a year. It was like racing down a dark tunnel,
knowing something bad was waiting at the end.

Micah interrupted my thoughts, "She
left for one of the several rally points we agreed upon. Something
you should've done, too."

I narrowed my eyes. "I was searching
for you. I thought—"

"I know," he cut me off. "I know…" He
put his forehead against my own.

We pulled apart when Natalie shuffled
by us to leave.

"It is so good to see you!" I called
after her.

She turned slightly and
nodded.

I looked at Micah, confused. "She
didn't say one word. Is she mad at me?"

"She rarely speaks, not since
Daybreak," he whispered back. "She has the ability, but she is
still suffering from the battle, mentally
and…physically."

I looked back. As she turned,
descending the first of the stairs, moonlight glinted off one side
of her face. Raised, pink scar tissue ran the length of it. Her ear
was non-existent, and one nostril almost closed off. Her eye
couldn't open all the way.

My hand went to my mouth as tears
stung my eyes. "Burn scars." I stepped forward, wanting to hug her
all over again.

Micah put his hand on my shoulder.
"She doesn't like attention."

I swallowed, hard, and hugged him
instead. When Natalie's footsteps faded away, Micah led me around
the elevator shaft to the other side of the tower.

"The tower isn't necessarily manned
24-7. Just when we have the time." He pulled back a curtain. A
mound of blankets and pillows sat on the other side.

"Oh my God – you have pillows?!" I
dove into the pile, and rolled. "They smell so clean."

He sat next to me, taking off each of
our shoes and pulling the bedding aside to lay out our dinner. "I
was busy last night, getting ready for you."

I cleared my throat,
fiddling with the edge of a pillow. Thank God I had managed to
borrow a razor from Erika. "So…aren't you worried about being so
close to One Less?" I nodded in the direction of the
16
^th
Street Mall.

He handed me the canteen of wine and
laid out our wild dog and potatoes. "We were here long before them,
and they have yet to venture out of their camps. But…"

"But?" I prodded him, unscrewing the
lid to the canteen.

"But it will be a long winter, and
they'll probably get restless. We've started moving supplies and
personnel to an underground silo, fifty miles east of here. Within
a month we'll all be gone."

I paused with the canteen halfway to
my mouth. "All of you?"

His lips pressed into a tight line and
he rubbed his temple. "Let's talk plans later – now, we feast." He
picked up his lettuce-wrap. "Cheers."

We touched lettuce to canteen, and I
took a deep swig.

Rich, black fruit flavors danced along
my tongue to the back of my throat. The aftertaste held a hint of
vanilla. The sweet liquid warmed my entire body as it went down.
"That is…so good."