Deserted (14 page)

“It
won’t prevent radiation completely, mind you – but it should hold off the
effects for a while. Not to mention…”
Krastanov’s
crazed face appeared behind the bottle that was now slowly being lowered from
the camera, “…that this door is made of lead. Guess they must have seen this
coming, huh?” He cackled quietly and shoved the KI bottle into a pocket upon
his coat. My heart dropped at the sight and my skin crawled from his laughter.
It barely sounded human.

“I’m
going to try to escape tonight – I have to.” His whispered words grew louder
with each breath. “Maybe I’ll go crazy out there, too, but I can’t stay here.
Whatever happened to those people…I have to get out of here; it’s a risk I’ll
have to take.” He nodded fervently.
“To anyone who may find
these files…good luck.
Maybe we’ll meet one day.” He shot me a crooked
smile. With sunken eyes and a darkened face, his once inviting appearance now
seemed menacing; I was glad that the broadcast was finally over.

The
screen returned to its original view and the side monitors continued in their
crazy jargon. I felt weak, but not just from
Krastanov’s
words. I crawled under the keyboard towards the tossed-aside drawer on the
floor and flipped it around; I sighed in relief when I saw four tablets had
been left behind. I snatched one up in my hand and hastily devoured it and then
I grabbed the rest and shoved them into my medical satchel. Hopefully they were
still good. I crawled back out from under the keyboard’s table and wiped the
dirt from my jeans, looking up absently as I did so – and then I froze. There,
at the window…a face was looking back at me.

Her
splotchy hands were spread across the window and she glared at me with
bloodshot eyes. Sores blistered out from the skin on her face – what little
there seemed to be, anyway, that stretched taut over her skeletal frame. A few
strands of grey, broken hair clung to her scalp, blowing lifelessly in the wind
and entangling
themselves
in her sticky and porous
face. If I wasn’t nauseous before, I certainly was now. I reached for my
dagger, not taking my eyes off the maddened creature before me. Her eyes narrowed
at my movement and she snarled. I pursed my lips and gripped at the bottom of
my shirt to steady my nerves. The woman pressed up against the glass but made
no effort to break it. Would she even be able to? There was a moment of tense
silence between us but I knew I had to get out of here – any more exposure
could cause some serious side effects, I was sure. I glanced towards the open
door on my left and braced myself for a run. Would she follow? Then, a more
disturbing thought…was she the only one? My courage waned. What if some were
waiting at the door for me? What if they were already inside? I could feel
panic start to rise up within me. I shut my eyes briefly and took long, deep
breaths. I had to think.

“Okay,”
I whispered to myself, “there’s a Known in front of you –
“ I
fluttered my eyes open, the decaying woman still watching me, “- and the
Unknown behind you. Which one is riskier?” It was a rhetorical question, of
course; I had to get back to
Ponika
and get as far
away from this lab as possible and that wouldn’t happen if I stood around all
day. An obvious choice, yet the question helped calm my emotions all the same.

With one
hand on my dagger’s hilt, I made a run for it. I bolted through the open
doorway and down the cluttered corridor, wishing there had been more windows to
seep in moonlight…although that could have been my problem to begin with. I
shouldn’t have removed the blinds. I ran past a stained and dusty window on my
right when suddenly a figure bolted past, mere seconds after I had. My heart
leapt; I wasn’t sure how many more surprises I could take at this rate. I
continued on down the corridor and each time I passed a window I found I was
being followed by the crazed woman outside.

I
rounded the last corner and removed my dagger from its sheath. I knew I would
have no choice but to fight my way out. Reaching the front door, I put my shaky
hand upon the knob when I heard the woman outside cry out in pain. And then…

“
Ponika
?”
His hooves were unmistakable.  I glanced
out the nearby window and was shocked to see my horse right outside, his legs
flailing wildly as he kicked and stomped at my pursuer.
“
Ponika
!”
I yelled, grasping for the door once again.
I didn’t know what this woman was capable of and definitely didn’t want my
horse to find out.

I flung
the door open and rushed outside just in time to see the haggard woman limping
hurriedly away, glancing back at us with a hissing scowl. “Something’s
definitely broken.” I said casually to my horse, watching our attacker scuttle
away with shambling limbs.

I turned
towards my horse to praise his fine work when I was suddenly knocked to the
ground, my father’s dagger flying from my hands. I was only down mere seconds
when I felt
Ponika
standing over me, pelting my
assailant with his strong hooves. The creature was knocked off of me and I
immediately ran for my weapon. With one swift movement I snatched it up and
turned to face my new enemy – and was surprised to see three.

The
beast that had attacked me lay in a crumpled heap by the door, unmoving. Three
more of these wretches had taken his place, though, and their bright red eyes
stared hungrily at
Ponika
, who whinnied and kicked in
a show of force. Even if they had just witnessed the murder of one of their
own, they didn’t seem to care; they were already trying to circle my only
companion. While the idea of inflicting pain upon another living being was not
something I felt I could do, the notion of fear or guilt was swept away when I
knew
Ponika
was in trouble. Without a second thought
I threw myself onto the closest lug and plunged my dagger deep into a squishy
recess. I don’t know which one – I had refused to look. Only when my weapon was
free of the spongy body it had plummeted into did I open my eyes, seeing the
deranged man lying still in the swirling sands at my feet.
Ponika
had already knocked another one down in the meantime and we turned our
attention towards the last assailant, although that didn’t last long. Dagger
firmly in my clutches, I inched towards the man when a blur of black and brown
charged into me, knocking me onto my back and temporarily taking my breath
away. The creature, however, wasted no time. I felt a wrinkled, lumpy hand
around my throat and stars danced in front of my eyes as the beast started to
constrict my neck. I gasped desperately for breath and struggled to break free
but the man had inhuman strength, pinning my arms and legs down with his tall
yet lanky body, his sharp elbows digging deep into my skin. Through
intermittent vision I had started to make out the face of my attacker and was
surprised to see his brilliantly clear skin, with only the smallest of scrapes
dashing across his cheeks. However, what should have been the reddish lump of
scar tissue covering them was instead a light green, glowing quietly from
underneath his epidermis. Panic rose even faster within my chest as I realized
what this sight would mean; that the man’s very blood was irradiated and likely
diseased, and yet here I was, inches from his face. He snarled at me, drool
dribbling from the corners of his foul-smelling mouth. I instinctively tried to
look away but there was no escaping the odour or the man’s grotesque visage. He
drew his face closer to mine, his teeth like razors as they hovered just over
my chin. I suddenly shivered as I felt the slimy sensation of drool crawl down
my chest as a pool had seemingly gathered on my shirt. The creature’s grip on
me tightened and I struggled to keep a steady eye on him, only faintly aware of
the sounds of
Ponika
fighting in the distance. The
man’s eyes pierced mine – bloodshot, yet cloudy. At first glance, his eyes
seemed animalistic and angry…and yet, somewhere in there I felt a shred of
humanity still shone, albeit faintly. I could see a sane man through those eyes
although his appearance was brief. I scanned them, hoping to find a way out and
realized this was no beast…no, he was still human, but his brain was
scrambled…confused; resorting to basic instincts of survival. In the brief
flash of a few seconds, I knew exactly what
Krastanov
was talking about.

I tried
to speak to the man but my words were garbled by his strength. Almost as though
he were offended by the attempt the pressed harder into my throat and growled
at me. But when he opened his mouth next, I was surprised at what came out.

“This…
our
place.
No outsiders!”

I
gurgled again in response, the world quickly going black. These…
people
–
were they threatened by me? I tried to look for
Ponika
but the man’s snarl was all I could see. Suddenly a pain shot through my right
shoulder as I realized that the man’s claw-like nails had pierced my skin and
embedded themselves inside. I felt sick. My fingers twitched rapidly and curled
themselves on top of something – something hard, yet ornate. My dagger! I
gripped it as firmly as I could, my life almost blinking out. I took one last
look at the man above me. He was scared – I could see that now. But he left me
no choice.

I
mouthed the words. “I’m sorry.” Then, before I could even process the motion
myself
, my hand was beside his head, my dagger reaching the
dark recesses of his skull. His eyes suddenly cleared before he slumped forward
and I pushed myself frantically away from the now limp body and its gaping
wound of red and green. The man had looked sane in those last moments and I
knew the vision would forever haunt my thoughts.

My
shoulder throbbed in pain but I had a new objective now –
Ponika
.
I searched wildly for him and stumbled to my feet, finally spotting a crumpled
heap of white further ahead. The deranged attackers lay dead all around him but
I saw no movement from my horse, either. I felt the swell of tears as I rushed
to him, shrieking his name. I fell to my knees beside him, fearing the worst.
As I gazed at his scarred body I saw a glimmer of hope – a short, shallow
breath. He was still alive but clearly in pain. I analyzed his wounds- a few
light scratches down his sides but one debilitating one seared across his hind
leg. The wound was gaping and
glowing
a slight green –
the
deranged’s
toxins must have gotten their way
inside.
Ponika
would not be able to stand on a leg
this infected, let alone walk – this was not good. I patted him gently and
whispered soothing words to him while I tried to gather my thoughts. My
shoulder raced in pain as I patted my horse and I feared the same thing
Ponika
would be going through…eventual loss of limb. I
could already feel the pins and needles jet down my arm every so often.
Whatever I was going to do, I had to do it soon.

I
fingered the satchel that lay across my lap, opening it slowly so that the
little amount of medicine I had wouldn’t come tumbling out after all that
movement earlier. I heard the jingle of containers tumbling against one another
and I reached my hand inside, feeling for one canister in particular – a long,
slim one that was always warm to the touch. I was starting to worry it had
broken somewhere along the way when I finally clasped my fingers around it and
gently pulled it out…only to find the lid had been dislodged during my travels.
It wasn’t empty, but it was close. I shut my eyes tight, trying to force away
the stressful tears that threatened to envelop me.

“Remember
this,
Ponika
?” I held the vial near his face and his
frightened,
black eyes glanced at it before turning their
attention to me. “It’s a panacea. Cures anything – even radiation and rot, I’m
sure. Very rare, you know – our Provider only ever gave people one.”

I
watched the thick liquid inside the vial as it slowly trickled its way down the
sides, sticking to the canister like glue. It was a brilliant silver colour and
sparkled when bathed in light. The moon’s soft rays illuminated the panacea and
its twinkling essence danced across
Ponika’s
haggard
frame, making his wounds seem even worse in the gloom. I sighed in frustration
– this would not be enough for the both of us. With one last fleeting idea I
shoved my hand inside my satchel once again and felt the sides, hoping to
salvage some of the medicine from its loose confines inside. The walls of the
satchel were hard, however – the panacea had dried upon its edges a long time
ago. I sat beside my horse and stared absently at the medicine in my hand. I
had to make a choice.

Kay and
my father would never be rescued without me. I knew how to scavenge, how to
take care of myself in the empty world around me.
Ponika
could find water, sure, but food? How would he be able to dig through the
wreckages that litter the towns or know how to prepare something properly for
consumption? How would he survive without me? I had always said that this was
my
journey that I started…and nothing was going to stop me from finishing it. It
seemed like the only logical option. I looked up slightly, staring into
Ponika’s
face and trying to stay as stoic as possible. My
only friend in the wasteland…

“I have
to do this, boy,” I said in an unsteady tone, “I’m sorry, but there’s no other
choice.” I blinked rapidly and tried to focus my thoughts on my next steps; I
couldn’t afford to waste the panacea.