Tom stepped out.
His sunglasses were gone.
His cigarette hung from his lips, the smoke curling upward.
He aimed his gun at the blades and fired.
Once.
Twice.
He reloaded with practiced speed and fired again.
Annie helped him.
Side by side.
Two warriors against the impossible.
“Get in faster!” Lomro shouted from the bus door.
His voice was frantic.
His hands were waving.
They climbed inside.
Bodies tumbling.
Gasping for air.
Legs burning.
Lungs screaming.
“Officer, Annie, get in!” William shouted from the driver’s seat.
“Just drive!” Tom said.
He took the shotgun from Annie’s hand.
His grip was firm.
Unshakable.
“Go in!” Tom commanded.
William started driving.
Tom jumped inside and pulled the door shut with a clang.
The blades stopped behind them.
The sound of metal faded into the distance.
They had escaped.
“What are you doing here?” Zander asked.
He was breathing hard.
His face was a mask of confusion and relief.
“Sit down and tell me where that girl is,” Tom said.
His voice was rough.
Serious.
A man who had seen too much and was done with questions.
“We don’t know anything about her.
We tried to find her, but we couldn’t find anything,” Blinc said.
His voice was hollow.
Empty.
The voice of someone running out of hope.
“One second, Hector’s son,” Tom said quietly.
He knew more than he was saying.
“Where did you get this bus?” Annie asked.
She was still catching her breath.
“Whatever vehicles are here are alright.
There’s just no diesel or petrol in them,” William said.
His hands were steady on the wheel.
His eyes were fixed on the road ahead.
Suddenly, a sound came from ahead.
A growl.
Low.
Deep.
Hungry.
William stopped the bus.
The brakes screeched against the strange road.
“What happened?” Annie asked.
Worry tightened her voice.
William looked forward.
His hands gripped the wheel so tight his knuckles went white.
His face was pale.
A Karbu landed a short distance ahead.
It stood on its hands and feet.
Like a tiger ready to pounce.
Its muscles were coiled.
Its black eyes were fixed on the bus.
Deathly stare.
Unmoving.
William sweated.
Seeing a Karbu for the first time — truly seeing it — fear filled his eyes.
Pure.
Raw.
Primal.
“William!
Drive!” Annie shouted.
Her voice was desperate.
William did not answer.
His jaw was set.
His eyes were hard now.
Something had changed in him.
“It’s show time,” William said.
His voice was low.
Almost a growl.
He changed the gear.
“What the hell are you doing?” Tom asked, looking at the gear.
His eyes went wide.
William did not change to reverse.
He put it forward.
The Karbu ran toward the bus.
William drove the bus toward the Karbu.
They raced at each other.
Metal and flesh.
Machine and monster.
The Karbu jumped.
William turned the bus sharply left.
The bus slid on the strange ground.
The Karbu caught the back of the bus.
Its claws scraped against metal with a sound like screaming.
It climbed onto the roof.
Heavy footsteps thudded above them.
One.
Two.
Three.
“This is not the time to become a hero!” Tom shouted.
His hand was on his revolver.
“No!” William said.
His eyes were fierce.
Burning.
“I am always a hero.” He stopped the bus hard.
The Karbu flew from the roof and landed in front of the bus.
Its body hit the ground with a sickening thud.
William drove again.
The bus crushed the Karbu.
Dead.
Black blood splattered across the road.
Then, from behind, many Karbu came.
Climbing house roofs.
Running on the road.
Screaming.
A wave of them.
A tide of death.
William sped up.
He drove at ninety kilometers per hour.
His hands were steady.
His eyes were focused.
He was not afraid anymore.
Fear had transformed into something else.
Something harder.
The Karbu fell behind.
Their screams faded.
The bus raced on.
The bus stopped in front of the Miller Jeff house.
They got out and ran inside.
Their legs were burning.
Their hearts were pounding.
They reached the gate.
Everyone went through.
One by one.
Blinc was the last.
He looked back.
Sadness on his face.
He stared at that other world.
The violet sky.
The cracked tower.
Somewhere out there was Amili.
Alone.
Waiting.
Afraid.
He walked toward the gate.
As he crossed it— In the other world, right in front of the gate, thunder clapped.
Wind burst out.
Light and darkness tore together.
A storm of everything and nothing.
The elements themselves were at war.
Dust flew everywhere.
Everyone closed their eyes.
The world was chaos.
Blinc stood close to the gate.
He opened his eyes a little.
The dust covered everything.
He could see nothing.
Only light.
Blinding white light.
Then, suddenly, everything stopped.
Silence.
Complete.
Absolute.
The kind of silence that feels like death.
Blinc opened his eyes fully.
He looked toward the gate.
His face filled with shock.
His heart dropped into his stomach.
His blood turned to ice.
He ran and looked outside.
There was nothing there.
Only the stairs leading up.
A broken wall.
Dust settling on old wood.
It was the real world.
The gate was closed.
Tears fell from Blinc’s eyes.
Silent.
Streaming.
Each tear a name.
A memory.
A hope that had been crushed.
— Tom took the C.D.
and gave it to Bruce.
Bruce took the C.D.
and went back to the base.
No words were exchanged.
Just a nod.
The transaction of two men who understood too much and said too little.
Tom promised them that he would not say anything about all this.
But they had to stay away from it.
His voice left no room for argument.
His eyes said he was protecting them.
His tone said he was protecting himself.
Inose told Tom about the C.D.
and the other world.
But she did not say anything about Amili.
Or Blinc’s power.
Her voice was quiet.
Careful.
She chose every word like it was a piece of broken glass.
Blinc and the others fought with Tom to give them the C.D.
back.
They shouted.
They pleaded.
They cried.
But Tom did not listen.
He took the C.D.
away.
His decision was final.
His face was stone.
— Eight Days Later.
Night.
December 20, 1980.
Monovi was covered in snow.
Soft.
White.
Silent.
Workers were clearing the streets, their shovels scraping against the frozen stone.
The sound echoed through the empty town.
Christmas lights flickered on houses.
Life continued.
It always does.
Blinc’s House.
His Room.
The room was dark.
Blinc lay under a blanket, curled into himself like a wounded animal.
Dark circles sat heavy under his eyes — purple bruises of sleeplessness.
Guilt filled them.
Dull.
Empty.
His face had no life.
He looked like a ghost haunting his own body.
Amili’s smiling face kept appearing in his mind.
Every time he closed his eyes.
Her laugh.
Her voice.
The way she tilted her head when she was curious.
The way she said his name.
Gone.
All gone.
He got up.
Washed his face.
The water was cold.
It shocked his skin but did nothing for the numbness inside.
He put on his black long jacket and shoes.
He went out.
Snow fell softly.
Fat, white flakes drifting down from a gray sky.
People were shopping for Christmas.
Colored lights hung on the streets.
Smiles on faces.
Kids held balloons.
Laughing.
Living.
The world had moved on.
Blinc moved away from all of it.
He walked with his head down.
Hands buried in his pockets.
A dark figure moving against the tide of joy.
He walked to the street of the Miller Jeff house.
Dark there.
Quiet.
No lights.
No people.
The house stood alone.
Waiting.
Remembering.
He reached the house.
He looked up at the first-floor window.
The same window where the gate had opened.
Now just glass.
Just wood.
Just silence.
“I knew you would still come here,” Zander said from behind him.
His voice was soft.
Knowing.
There was no judgment in it.
Only sadness.
Cult, Lomro, and Inose were there too.
Standing in the dark.
Waiting.
They had come for the same reason.
Drawn by the same invisible force.
The need to remember.
The need to grieve.
To be countinue