Sky of Dust: The Last Weapon (9 page)

“
They took my dad’s body away
,
and I sat there the rest of the night, crying. In the morning
,
I went to the road
,
where I followed it to a small house with an older couple. I told them who I was and
that
my dad was dead. A few days later
,
they took m
e
out into a field and placed me in a box
,
and I was brought to the
W
est.
”

I felt bad for bringing up the topic. Things started to make
sense
about Abigail's actions. She was independent because she had no real family. She got mad when I said they wouldn't take my family because I was infected. It was because her family was taken away because of her. It must be tough for her to trust anybody.

We walked in silence after that until we reached a steep slope in the mountain.

“
The cabin is between those breaks in the mountain
,
”
Mary pointed.

She led us to an overgrown path that zigzagged towards the crevice.

“
A couple lives up there.
They maintain the radio tower that the
E
as
t uses for communication. T
wo
of their
children were taken about
ten
years ago if I remember correctly. The husband was out at the tower
,
and
,
when he returned
,
two of his children were missing. His wife told him that Guards had taken them. Apparently
,
they were spotted at school with bloody noses. They told the
wife
that the only reason that all of them were not being taken away was that they were needed at the tower. They threatened the couple
, telling them,
if they tried to do anything stupid
,
they would be back for their other child
,
”
Mary continued.
“
I guess that didn'
t sit well with them.
They began to intercept radio calls between our spies and the
W
est. They offered their aid if the
W
est would take their
youngest
child. It was a good deal to have someone controlling the airways, so the
W
est agreed. They make sure the airspace is clear by monitoring the airwaves and let
ting
the
W
est know when it is safe for p
ickups and drop offs to happen.
”

“
So they are your contacts
?
”
I guessed.

“
Yep,
”
Mary responded.
“
I radioed them
,
and they contact
ed
the base.
”

The trek was not as difficult as it look
ed
since we were following a mostly cleared path. A few times
,
it looked like the mountain had slid down, blocking our path with a wall of stone.
Most
ly,
we just climbed or walked around, but
,
just as the cabin came into view
,
we ran into a ledge about forty feet high
that
appeared to wrap around the other side of the mountain.

Abigail elected to
throw
Peter up the small cliff along with my rope. Peter was not happy about be
ing
tossed like a ragdoll
,
but he agreed.

Peter and Abigail activated their
watches
so they could control their abilities better. Abigail placed herself
with her back to the wall
and held her hands between her legs so Peter could place his feet in.

Peter took a running start and pushed up on Abigail’s hands as she launched him upwards.

WHAM!

Peter crashed into the wall and fell down.

He was fine other than a ripped shirt and an angry look on his face.

“
I'
m sorry
,
”
Abigail apologized.
“
Mayb
e if I moved forward a little
—
”

Peter
mumbled
some
choice words and backed up to get a running start.

WHOOSH!

Peter flew through the air like a rocket. Then
,
as fast as he went up, he came down.

THUMP!

We heard Peter grunt as he hit the ground. At least he made it this time.

“
You alive?
”
I called.

There was no answer,
but
then we heard movement
,
and a rope fell over the side.

“
It’s
tied
off
,
”
Peter yelled down.

“
Who goes first?
”
Casey asked.

Mary had a stunned look on her face.

“
I can’t climb that!
”
s
he blurted out.

I looked at the rope.

“
Maybe we can make a loop in the rope. The rest of us can go up first and pull you up
,
”
I suggested.

Mary thought about it for a second then agreed
.
“
Okay, that will work.
”

“
I will go up first
,
”
Abigail offered.

A sinking feeling formed in my gut as I realized I had no idea how to climb a rope either. I had tried during the survival classes but never made it more than a few feet.

“
I will go last, to stay with Mary
,
”
I offered.

Maybe if I watch
ed
Abigail and Casey do it
,
I would have a better shot at it. I could just imagine myself sitting in a loop as a pretty girl pull
ed
me up. Nope, that
was
not happen
ing
to me.

“
Are you guys coming?
”
Peter shouted down.

“
I’m coming up now!
”
Abigail shouted back.

She began to climb at a pretty rapid speed. I wonder
ed
if she was using her watch. She reached the top and yelled down that she made it.

Casey went up next. Again, he began to climb a
lmost as fast as Abigail. 

Then it was my turn. I had not learned a thing from watching them. I gripped the rope and pulled myself up. I wrapped my legs around the rope
,
attempting to support my body. I slipped.

My hands and calves were burned by the rope as
I slid
two feet to the ground.

Mary walked over and quickly put her hands on my legs and then my hands until all that was left
of the rope burns
was a little blood.

“
Thanks
,
”
I said.

“
Try walking up the wall
,
”
s
he suggested.

I nodded and gripped the rope again. I placed one foot on the wall and pushed back, then placed my other foot on the wall. It seemed like it was working
,
so I began to move slowly towards the top. Once I was about two feet from the top
,
I encountered another problem
—
getting over the ledge. I felt helpless. I let my pride go.

“
He
y
, can I get a hand
,
”
I struggled out.

I heard some movement.

Please don’t be Abigail, please don’
t be Abigail, p
lease don’t be Abigail
,
I repeated in my head.

I was relieved when I saw Casey poke his head over and g
i
ve
me
a wide grin. He extended his arm over.

“
Come on, a few more inches
,
”
h
e urged.

I took another step and panicked. I
threw
myself up
,
and he grabbed my hand and pulled my over the side.

“
Watch what you’
re doing!
”
Mary
yelled in an annoyed voice
.
“
I almost got hit by rocks!
”

I looked around.

Abigail was near a tree holding the rope while Peter was untying the knot.

Abigail then looped the rope around
her waist and
walked towards the edge of the cliff.

“
Mary, sit in the loop and use your feet to keep yourself from hitting the wall
,
”
Abigail yelled down.
“
I will pull you up.
”

When Mary was secured, Abigail tapped her watch and began to back up. All was going well
,
and Mary was a few feet from the top when Abigail screamed
as
she began to slide towards the cliff.

Mary began to scream as she fell.

Peter and Casey grabbed the rope
,
and I
threw
my hands around Abigail’s
waist
;
together we were able to catch Mary.

We all pulled back together
,
and
,
while Casey and the others were supporting her weight, I pulled Mary over the edge.

Her legs were cut badly
,
and her head look
ed
like it had been scraped
against the entire length of the
rocks. She was barely conscious and was mouthing the word
“
Watch
.
”

I took off my watch and secured it to her arm. I tapped the button on the side to activate it
,
and we all gathered around and watched.

Her face began to mend. Skin grew like a web across her face. Hair grew back. Bits of rocks and twigs forced their way out of her skin. It was disgusting yet amazing to watch. Within minutes
,
she looked like normal
,
minus the blood that still stained
her
skin and clothes.

Mary sat up and brushed herself off.

“
I hate doing that
,
”
Mary said
,
making a face of disgust.

She put her hand to her head
like she was woozy
and said,
“
We will have to take it slow. I haven’t
healed that much before.
”

“
It was my fault
,
Mary
,
”
Abigail started.
“
My watch ran out of the serum. I used it so much the past few days
.
I should have checked it.
”

Mary raised her hand.

“
We are alive now
,
so there is nothing to apologize for
,
”
Mary said calmly.

The sky was getting orange as night began to creep up.

“
We can still make it before it gets dark
,
”
Mary insisted.

I took out the remaining food and water I had in Donald’s bag and passed them around. We ate as we walked
,
and within an hour we approached the cabin.

It looked extremely old and about as safe as me climbing a rock wall. The wood was rotting
,
and it leaned to one side. The porch was more of a shell since the boards had rotted away.
There was a row of logs that made a sort of staircase to the door. Despite night
being
now upon us, there seemed to be no lights on and no movement from inside.