The Deathless Trilogy

3.21. Not Alone

14 days until Roberts' crew lands.

We are stopped on the banks of the Mississippi. We followed interstate highways all the way from Arizona to St. Louis, a city all but blackened with ash except for vegetation growing in and out of the rubble. Two large metal posts stand in the distance. Declan tells me they used to connect to make an arch, but the center has since fallen in decay.

The Immortal drove through an old commercial area to get here, knocking into and scraping against buildings that look like they were abandoned even before the blast. Spray paint graffiti consumes the concrete structures and the barriers between the land where we've stopped and the river. Most of the graffiti looks like it was once colorful designs with funky lettering, but one catches my eye even from the balcony of the Immortal, something plain. "Gone but never forgotten. RIP," the wall reads in faint blue paint, and then a list of names and dates follow. I always forget that survival was difficult for some people even before the world ended.

The Immortal is large enough to drive through the river, but the Beast and the pods aren't. They will have to drive over the large bridge to the north of us, which still stands in the water, though some of its dirtied white supports have fallen, like snipped yarn.

While we are stopped, engineers work to disconnect the pods from the Immortal and reattach them to the Beast for the last leg of our trip to Virginia, and everyone is taking the time to restock supplies and walk around outside, including Phoebe. Joe can't leave the Immortal in his wheelchair, but Phoebe was the first person off once we stopped. She fell to the ground and gripped the overgrown weeds in her hands. If I didn't know her any better, I would have thought she was worshipping the grass.

Before we leave the Immortal, Declan and I scan the area for signs of other survivors. "Are you sure they were spikes, and not just branches or something?" he asks after I tell him what I saw last night.

"Positive," I say, a little anxious. With all of the hollowed out factory buildings, anyone could hide anywhere. I'm reminded of the day the Deathless found us in the Prowlers, of searching through Mountville, wondering if I would be shot like the mayor's daughter. I've since met and befriended many Nomads, so I know they're not the monsters my parents made them out to be. Dad was a Nomad once too, for goodness sake. But still... the thought of someone watching and trying to trap us sends chills through my blood. I pull my sweater sleeves over my hands and cross my arms.

"I mean... we were farther away last night. I'm sure we're safe here," he says as if he's trying to convince himself as well. "Besides, no one messes with the Immortal."

He smiles, and I let myself smile back. "I hope you're right."

The door from the hall of labs creaks open, and I look back to see Dad holding it for Eleanor as she wheels Joe onto the patio. Mom, holding baby Tempest in the arm that is still skin soft, follows behind. She smiles at me, and as Dad wraps his arm around her shoulder, a pang of hurt ripples through me. Right now, everything is as it should. My parents are together, they are happy, and they are expanding our family; but soon, we will be marching into battle. What if we lose this?

I rush into my parents' embrace, my face inches from Tempest's. She looks up at me with wide eyes, open to all the world's ugliness, so I kiss her forehead. I want one of the first things she sees of this world to be love, though I'm sure Mom has made sure of that already.

A gust of wind pushes the hair from my neck, and Joe laughs to himself. "What is so funny?" Eleanor asks.

"I forgot about wind," he says. "It's so good to feel it again."

Dad explains his wind theory to Joe, and as he talks about those we've lost, Eleanor closes her eyes and tilts her head back to let the air pass over her. Joe takes a few moments to think it over, staring out over the muddy river. "I like that," he finally says. "You Blumes are a creative tribe."