Naught and the Circle

Chapter 9 - Through Vermillion Plains

The sunrise felt warm on Katherine's back.
She zipped down her jacket and leaned forward in the truck-bed. The dust cloud trailing behind the pickup as they rode across the desert. Shelby was driving the thing like he wanted to break it. He had been doing so for 2 days, only stopping once to let her take the wheel while he dozed off.

At her feet laid Strawberries, covered in blankets. Her chest barely moved now. The young girl had been moaning for the first half of the trip. Now she lay silent for what seemed like an eternity.

The aftermath of the assault felt chaotic and unreal. The enemy had been driven back, the angel had brutally disposed of her employer in the process. She kept her distance from Cassiel now. He seemed less, as if tainted by some corruption. She made sure he rode up front with Shelby. Away from her.

Katherine had gone from captor to captive, to now a "friendly" tag-along. The negotiations were brief and awkward. Along the lines of: 'We gotta leave town.'
Strawberries needed medical attention. Cassiel wanted to reach H-City. And for Katherine herself, a death warrant hung above her head. They were tied to the same fate now. Shelby had stolen the first working car he could find, and here they were, following the caravan tracks of the East-Traders.

She knew little of them. Rumors had it they were a tribe of people born in the unforgiving wasteland. Others said they were survivors from the north. Katherine didn't know what to believe. In the 5th, The East-Traders kept to themselves and answered in short, but polite manner. Haggling the prices of the valuable ammunition from H-City, before trekking the long way back through the Vermillion Plains.

The sun peaked over the hill and everything it touched was a beautiful radiant shade of red. The bedrock twinkled as if made of rubies. It was mesmerizing. Miles and miles of smooth glass. She had never been this far east. It made her wonder what else lay beyond.

"Lovely, innit?" Gavin said.

She had almost forgotten he was there. Sitting across from her in this meek state, a dirty violin case in his arms. The coward who had abandoned everyone and left a hole in the line of defence, only to show up after the battle like a lost puppy.

"Huh?" she replied, uninterested in his answer.

"The fields." He said. "I 'aven't seen 'em in years."

"Yeah, I guess so." She replied, hiding her admiration for them.

"They say," he continued. "That when the angels landed 'ere, they charred the ground so bleedin' hot that the stones melted."

"Is that so?"

"They say people are melted into it as well."

"Oh, I'm sure you would know." She retorted icily.

"Not me, luv." He said. "I used to be an upright bloke back home. 'till it got fucked by Maggie." He saw that Katherine wasn't following. "I got buggered in a car accident. Some shite wreck like the one we find ourselves in. Not a scratch on me body though!" He flashed his ugly mug. "Except for a bloody stake through me heart."

"Fitting."

Gavin looked at the rear window, to where Cassiel was riding shotgun. "Never thought I'd see the day when Ol' Shelby gives an angel a free ride."

"I'm surprised he's giving you one." She replied. "You know he'll have your head, right?"

Strawberries coughed.

Katherine took a warm, wet cloth, poured some more fresh water on it and dripped it on her lips.

"Come off it, mate. A kid can't be darting about like that." He replied. "You don't understand what's on the other side. I ain't going back to that."