Pahnyakin Rising (14 page)

“Dresden,” Dodge said in awe, “they let you live.” 

-15-

Word quickly spread about the evening’s incidents.  More of the town seemed surprised that the Pahnyakins spared Dresden’s life than they were that Nick Shepherd was sporting two black eyes and a swollen nose the next morning. What was more shocking, Dresden thought, is that the crowd had actually cooled down from the town meeting.  Nobody was openly questioning her anymore, but instead whispered to one another as she walked by.

Although the beings retreated without an attack on Easton, many of the town’s citizens slept very little, including Dresden.  Her feet were dragging as Dodge walked with a limp to the arena as the morning sun began to rise.  His torso was wrapped tightly in gauze bandages that made his brown ribbed sweater bulge above his belly.  Lucky for him, Charlie, an R.N. in the world before the attacks and revered as the local makeshift doctor, figured Dodge walked away with a few cracked ribs.

“It just looks a little bruised,” said the bald-headed man with a slight lisp about Dresden’s elbow.  “I think you’ll live.  Good job, by the way.  I wish I could’ve seen the look on his face after you won that fight.”

Dresden did not walk with pride on her way to the arena.  Though she gained an ounce of respect from the town, she was still missing answers and was still shocked at the fury that she released the night before. 

Dodge was quiet most of the night.  She couldn’t tell if it was his pain or something bigger nagging at his soul that kept his mouth shut.  She had a sneaking suspicion that he felt guilty for not being able to protect her and suspected he felt a that she didn’t
need
him to. 

The two entered the caged field through the door she was walked through to fight the tired Uni.  In the orange light, Dresden laid eyes on six Pahnyakin molds that looked more like bubbly boxy mannequins that stood seven-feet-high.  Each of the silicone-like models was layered with thick metal exoskeletons.  There was a blood-splattered crocheted baby blanket on the ground in front of the bodies.  Dresden eyed various tools: a rusty crowbar, a long metal blade with one end wrapped in black electrical tape, and screwdrivers of all sizes.

“Pick one,” Dodge nodded to the tools.

“This is stupid,” Dresden mumbled.

“Why do you think that?” he asked with a sigh. 

She shrugged.  “These things aren’t real.  How am I supposed to learn to do something when the practice isn’t remotely close to the real thing?”

“Are we
really
going to do this again today, Dresden?  Just pick up a freakin’ tool and let’s get started.  You need to re-learn how to get their covers off to get to the ports.”

“Fine,” she muttered with resentment. 

She bent down to closely inspect the tools, as if she honestly had an idea about which would be more suitable for the task at hand.  Her right hand hovered over the pieces of metal and she bit at her lower lip. 

Would it matter which piece she chose?  She still didn’t know how this would help her.  These fake aliens were nowhere near trying to take down a real Pahnyakin.  She would be no match to one of the real creatures, something she’d already learned twice since being in this new Easton.  She had a better chance of cowering and pleading for her life, she thought, than going after an alien that could kill her with one movement. 

Despite her cynicism, Dresden settled on a 20-inch Tekton Phillips screwdriver.  It was light in her hand and she felt like she was carrying a sword to battle. 

“Okay,” Dodge coughed.  “Now I’m going to start counting and we’re going to time how long it takes you to get the back off one of them.”

The girl looked to Dodge.  “Seriously?  You’re going to time me?”

He nodded. 

“Dumb,” she said under her breath. 

She knew Dodge heard her, but she didn’t care. 

“Go to the back,” he motioned.

Dresden stomped slowly behind the immobile mannequin and slouched her shoulders.

Dodge nodded.  “Go.”

Dresden searched the model’s back for a break in the exoskeleton but could not find a crack.

“Three one thousand, four one thousand,” Dodge counted aloud. 

The girl attempted to stab the metal, but the tip of her screwdriver bounced away from the covering with a clink. 

“Seven one thousand, eight one thousand…”

“Dodge, there’s no way to penetrate this,” Dresden complained furiously. 

He shrugged.  “Twelve one thousand, thirteen one thousand…”

“I can’t do this if there’s no way to.”

Dodge continued his count. 

Dresden ran her fingers over the cold metal.  She squinted and moved closer to the being until she noticed a thin seam in the mannequin’s armor.  The teenager carefully lined the tip of the screwdriver up with the line and dug the tool under the metal. 

“Twenty-two one thousand…”

“Ugh, I can’t do this,” Dresden cried.  She pushed down on the screwdriver’s handle but the armor didn’t budge.

She looked to Dodge for an answer and became even more frustrated when he counted over her pleas for help.

In anger, Dresden kicked the mannequin’s leg.  The model wobbled but remained upright.

“Stop,” Dodge sighed.

“What do you want from me, Dodge?  There’s no freakin’ way to get this metal off of this thing.”

He argued, “Yes, there is.  You’re just not trying hard enough.”

She tossed the screwdriver in his direction.  It landed at his brown triangular-toed boots.  “Then
you
do it.”

Dodge bent over and picked up the screwdriver.  “You’d be dead by now if it took you that long in combat.  You get that, right?”

“But I’m already dead, right?  So what does it matter?”

“It matters that we have a second chance here, but all you’re doing is whining about how hard it is.  You know what’s really hard?”

“Oh, let me guess,” she sassed sarcastically.  “It’s
so
hard living without me.  It’s so hard having
Nick
as a leader.  Seriously, Dodge.  I’m not the answer to all of this.  I’m just some girl who ended up at the wrong place at the wrong time, that’s all.”

“No, what’s really hard is dealing with you right now.  But what’s worse is watching so many good people die.  You have a chance to stop it, but you won’t.  Can you really live with these people, with me, being eradicated?”

“That shouldn’t all fall on me,” she shouted back.  “You’re all looking to me like I have all the answers, but why don’t you try taking some personal damn responsibility and beating these things on your own?”

“We’ve tried,” Dodge bellowed.  “You are the key to all of this, Dresden.  I don’t know why you’re having so much trouble wrapping your head around this.”

“Because I’m not special,” she argued, lowering her voice.  She could see fog from her breath in the early-morning air.  “There’s nothing I can do that someone else can’t.”

“Except understand them.”

“And I can’t even do that.”

“Get back over to that mock and try again,” Dodge ordered.  “You
have
to
try
.”

Dresden blew out a frustrated breath and stomped back over to the mannequin. 

“Do you want this one, or do you want to try something else?” Dodge asked, waving the screwdriver.

“Just throw that one,” she said.  She extended her hands to catch it in mid-air.

“Okay.  Are you ready?”

She shook her head.  “No, but just tell me when to go.”

“Go,” he responded.

Dresden followed the line around the mannequin’s mid-back until she spotted an unlevel gap in its copper armor.  She inserted the tip of the screwdriver under the gap and pushed the handle of the tool downward once more. 

“Five one thousand, six one thousand…”

Like cold honey inching down the sides of a glass jar, the sheet of metal loosened.  Dresden grabbed the loose edge with her hands and pulled with a loud grunt.  She realized she was sweating.

“Fourteen one thousand, fifteen…”

“Agh,” she shouted, as the metal came off the pinkish jelly.  She threw the metal to the ground like she saw quarterbacks do with the ball during the football games her father watched religiously.

“Ha!” she exclaimed proudly.

Dodge smiled and approached her.  Unexpectedly, he wrapped his strong arms around her and Dresden’s face was buried where his chest met his stomach.  He smelled of smoke from an autumn campfire and musky vanilla. 

“Good job, babe,” he said.  “I knew you could do it.” 

Dresden didn’t understand the hug, but it was what she needed right then, just the tiniest form of encouragement and acknowledgement that she meant more to someone than an escape from war.

“How am I supposed to do that to one of them when it’s moving around?” she asked, lifting her gaze to view his eyes.

“There are more gaps on the real ones,” he answered.  “You don’t usually use that long of screwdriver like that, either…You’ve always said the shorter ones give you more leverage and pull.  And when you’re in the fight, your adrenaline takes over.  Trust me…I didn’t think I could do it at first, either.”

“So how did you?  What was your first kill like?”

“Scary.”

“Did it come after you or something?”

He thought and shook his head.  “Uh, no.  It was coming after you.”

“So you killed it?”

“Well…Yeah.  What was I supposed to do, just let you die?”

Dresden shrugged.  “Well, thanks for saving my life, I guess.”

“You guess?” he laughed.

She smiled softly.  “I guess I owe you that thanks a few times over now, huh?”

“Eh,” he grinned.

“Seriously,” she said, resting her left cheek against his sweater, “I haven’t acted all that grateful for how you’ve helped me so far.  I don’t know how to repay you.”

Dodge ran his fingers through Dresden’s tangled hair.

“I’m just glad to have you back, even if you don’t remember anything.”

-16-

Between taking rest breaks and nearly breaking down, Dresden stayed in the arena until the sun fully rose and was settled in the autumn sky.  It was not as chilly as she imagined it would be.  Although she had been without the capability only a few days, she missed telling time.  Dodge had learned to estimate it by the brightness of the sun, but he said nobody needed time anymore, that every second, every minute, was all the same: a fight for survival. He wondered aloud if any other surviving villages in the world kept time. 

“It might help some people feel normal, I guess,” he shrugged as he and Dresden sat next to one another on the ground, metal plating scattered around them.

Still yet, Dresden figured it was nine or ten by the time Dodge announced it was time to practice hand to hand combat, something Dresden dreaded, largely due to the blackening bruises on each side of her face and elbow.  She tried to argue with Dodge that she obviously could figure it out, but he wasn’t having it.

“You’ll have to take them down, you know,” he said. 

She didn’t know if he was talking about a Pahnyakin or a human.

The two moved to the far side of the arena. 

“You’re really gonna hit me?” she asked him.

He bugged his eyes.  “Well, yeah…Do you know another way to make fighting work?”

She shuddered. 

Dodge was 240 pounds of muscle and pudge mixed together and she already knew a blow from his fist could knock her out. 

“So don’t let me hit you,” he replied to her concerns.  “Before, there was no way I could take you down.”  He grinned.  “You used to have
me
on my knees.”

Neither noticed how a crowd had gathered outside the gate to the arena. 

“Hit me,” Dodge insisted. 

She shook her head.  “I can’t.”

“You’ve done it before.”  He spread his arms wide open and wiggled his fingers.  “Hit me.”

“No.”

“Then I’m gonna hit you,” he threatened.  He took a fake swing to which Dresden blinked and yelped. 

He laughed.

“Really, Dres?  You see a fist coming at you, and the first thing you do is stand still and cry?  Honey, you have to move.  The second you see movement, you have to be prepared to get out of the way.”

Dresden took a deep breath and Dodge took another swing with his left fist.  The girl had every intention of moving, but her nerves said otherwise.  Dodge’s knuckles landed against her left cheek and she bit her tongue on impact. 

She stumbled backwards and hunched over to spit out blood-tinged saliva.

“Don’t let me get a hit,” Dodge ordered with a half-serious laugh.  “Come on.  Get over here and do what I do.”

She looked beyond him and saw some of Easton’s people sitting on the stage. 

Dodge lifted his forearms to guard his face. 

“Do this.”

Dresden cowardly did the same, but her palms were open and facing her forehead.

“No,” Dodge corrected.  He wrapped his hands around her wrists and pulled her forearms down slightly.  His skin was warm.  He always had been warm.

He said, “And your hands…Dresden, what do you think you’re going to do with an open hand?  It’s not even facing me.  What’s going to happen is I’m going to hit you and you’re going to smack yourself in the face.”

Dresden blushed and pulled away.  “I can’t do this.”

“Yes,” he nodded, “you can.”  He pulled her closer and lifted her chin with his index finger.  “Hey, there’s nothing to be embarrassed about.  I’m going to get in a few hits, and then you’re going to learn this stuff and take over.”

“I feel so stupid,” she muttered.

“I’m not judging you right now, okay?  I’ll never judge you.”

Her glance darted to the townspeople gathered to watch the practice.  Children were arriving with their parents and friends.  Some of Easton’s people sat with their legs dangling over the side of the stage as they shouted to the field. 

“Don’t pay attention to them,” Dodge said with the flick of his wrist.  “Right now, you’re here with me, and that’s all you’re going to think about, okay?  You’re going to watch my hands, watch my body.  None of those people matter.  You’re just trying not to get hit, right?”

Dresden nodded.  “Right.”

Dodge turned his head and coughed.  He winced and grabbed at his ribs.

“You shouldn’t be doing this,” Dresden said.  “You’re going to hurt yourself even more.”

He pointed at her.  “And you have to use that to your advantage.”  He motioned to his side.  “This should be the first place you go for.”

She shook her head.  “I’m not hitting you there.”

“I’m just saying, you need to watch for injuries.  Watch for limps, cuts…Watch for weakness because that will keep you alive.  You have to know that they’ll be watching for anything that can bring you down.”

“So nobody’s brought you down,” she noted.

His thick lips trembled and his stare fell blank.  “I almost went down once.  They almost took us both.”

“How?”

“A group came for you and I was distracted.  It opened me up to an attack.  If we ever get out there again and are put in that situation…”

“Dodge,” she said quietly, placing her right hand over his.

“No,” he said sternly.  “You don’t come for me, got it?  You take care of yourself, and you
do not
come for me.  Promise me that.”

“But—.”

“Promise me, Dresden.”

She nodded with a scowl.  “I promise.”

He stepped back and shook his hands.  “Okay,” he said, “hit me.”

Dresden placed her left foot forward and lifted her right hand.  She hesitated to form a fist. 

“
Hit
me,” he demanded.  “There’s no time for this out there.”

“But I know you.  And I like you.”

“So?” he shrugged.  “I knew you, but that didn’t stop me from hitting you.”

She rolled her eyes.  “Gee, thanks.”

“You’re going to see people out there that you thought you knew, except…They’re not
them.
  You can’t let emotion get in the way.  Dresden, hit me.  Stop screwing around and hit me as hard as you—.”

The girl balled her fist and popped Dodge in the lip as he spoke.  He groaned in surprise and lifted his fingertips to his mouth.  There was a line of blood from where his lower right canine tooth sliced at his upper lip.

“Oh my gosh,” she exclaimed, rushing forward.  “I’m so sorry.”

He pushed her away and said angrily, “That’s gonna get you hurt.  Stop feeling anything.  There’s no remorse here, not until it’s all said and done.”

She sighed. 

“Try it again.”

Dresden shook her aching hand before taking another swing.  Dodge blocked her punch with his forearm before using his open hand to grab her wrist.  He twisted it counterclockwise and pushed it downward, just as she had done to him the night before.  Dresden cried out in pain and brought her body to the ground. 

“Dodge,” she huffed, “that hurt.”

He nodded.  “That’s the point.”  He extended his left hand and she took it.

Dodge pulled her to her feet.  Her ankle started to hurt again and she looked down at it.

“Don’t,” he warned her.  “Ignore it.  It’s bad enough to show your weaknesses, but if you acknowledge them before they know, you’re pretty much giving up.”

“But it hurts.”

“I don’t care.  Now, come here.  I want you to take me down.”

“Dodge,” she protested skeptically, “you’re double my size.  How am I supposed to do that?”

The man circled her.  He prodded at her kneecaps.  “Here.”  He stepped behind her and hunched over, pulling her closely against his chest.  She felt his finger poking the indentation of the back of her legs.  “And here.”

“Now,” he continued, still holding her with his left arm across her abdomen, “you won’t be able to grab them like this until they’re down.  But show me what you’re gonna go for when you have them like I have you now.”

She shrugged and was more focused on the amount of security she found from his embrace.

He ran his left hand upward to her ribcage.

“Get their armor off as soon as you can,” he said, “and put your blade right in their lungs.  If you can’t get to their backs, you go for the lungs.  It slows them down.”

“But doesn’t stop them?”

“They’re mostly mechanical, so no.”

Dresden pulled away.  “Mostly?”

The crowd was itching for action.  They were growing impatient with the couples’ jibber jabber and shouted out insults.  Dresden felt as if she and Dodge were in the center of a wrestling ring.

He nodded.  “We’ll deal with that a little later.  Now,” he said, pushing her backwards, “take me down.”

A cool wind blew and Dresden approached Dodge.  She lifted her foot to kick against his knee, but he grabbed her thigh and flipped her away.  The girl landed against the ground.  Her lungs emptied and she struggled to catch her breath.

“Never do it that way,” he said. 

“Dang, Dodge,” she complained. 

She rolled on her side and pushed herself to her feet. 

“Want to try again?”

“Yeah.”

Like the first attempt, Dresden moved in slowly and tried to kick at his knees again.  She wasn’t sure why she thought it would work that time around, but it didn’t.  Instead, she ended up back on the ground.  Boos from the crowd left her feeling frustrated.  She grunted and hopped upright once more.

“Try again,” Dodge urged.  “How would you bring Shepherd down?  How would you take down the Unies that killed your dad?”

“Please, don’t,” she begged.  “Don’t bring that up.”

He squinted his eyes and said apathetically, “They killed your mom.  They probably tore her chest open and ripped her heart out.”

Dresden gritted her teeth and charged at her friend.  She wasn’t sure he could stop her even if he wanted to, given the amount of rage that consumed her.  The edges of her ears and the tips of her fingers were burning from the wind biting her skin.  Dresden’s right fist hit Dodge in the side of his neck.  He attempted to duck, but her left fist hit him in the nose.  His eyes watered and he placed his forearms in front of his mouth, but she changed her focus from his face to his side.  She took great care not to jab at his injured ribs, but she was determined to cause pain to the other set.  Dresden rammed her right elbow against the dead-center of his ribcage and simultaneously landed the toe of her boot against his left kneecap.  He dropped to the ground in pain and placed his hands up to surrender. 

“Okay,” he panted.  “Okay.”

Dresden’s forehead was glossy from the beads of sweat that poured from her hairline like rainfall against a clear windowpane.   She bent over to catch her breath, placing her palms on her thighs, but instead began to sob.

“This is all real, isn’t it?” she asked aloud. 

She wasn’t talking to Dodge, but he responded.  “It is.”

“Ugh,” she laughed through tears she was trying like mad to wipe away from her skin.  “I can’t believe this.  I can’t believe we just went to talking in your busted up truck to all of this.”  She motioned around her with her arms wide open and a fire ignited in her eyes.  “All of these people want something from me.” 

Dresden faced the crowd and screamed, “Who wants me next?  Huh?  Who wants to come down here and test me next?”

“Dresden,” Dodge hissed, grabbing at her wrist. 

“Get off me,” she shouted.  She directed her attention back to Easton’s people.  “Come on over.  Get in here and test me.  You know you want to.  You people are just dying for me to prove myself to you.”

“This is a bad idea,” he warned.  “You’re inviting trouble.”

“No,” she laughed maniacally.  “This is what you wanted, right?  You wanted me to
prove
myself?”

“I want you to be able to protect yourself,” Dodge said bitterly. 

“You want me to lead.”

“Of course I want you to lead.  Almost everyone here wants you to take over again.  But what you’re doing now isn’t leading.  You’re not ready for this.”

“You don’t get to decide that for me,” Dresden yelled.  She motioned to the crowd.  “Someone come in here and fight me.”

“I’m not helping you,” Dodge said, shaking his head. 

Dresden peered at the stirring crowd.  They couldn’t make heads or tails of the situation.  Never before had the former leader challenged one of her own.  Had they caused this, or was this a result of reprogramming? 

Shepherd emerged from the crowd and walked through the chain link gate with his head held high. 

“Oh, I can’t believe this,” Dodge groaned.  “Dresden, this is a bad idea.  If he beats you you’re going to lose all credibility and you’ve gained so much since you’ve been here.”

Shepherd had changed out of his blue tee shirt and was now in a maroon sweatshirt that looked brand new.  It was clean and free of tatters.  It bunched above the brown leather belt that held his dark denim jeans at his hips.  He walked with a purpose: to end her.  As he neared, he stripped the sweatshirt from his body and exposed a plain white tee shirt.  His veins bulged as he flexed and pumped his fists.  That shirt, too, he stripped and tossed to the ground to expose a rippled abdomen of stone.  The dark circles under his eyes were the color of eggplants.