Road to Arcadia: the Path East

Chapter Twenty-one: Deadwood

"Gilling!"

He tripped over the litter as he scrambled to meet his teammate. Underneath the pile of stuff Largo was hoisting, he could see it.

Her. A woman. Her matted hair was the same color of the soot that covered her face, but she was alive and alert.

Kai wormed his way into the hollow, careful not to fall into the duvet she was caught in. He extended a hand. "Can you move?" He asked, trying to inject his question with as much care as needed to cover up his anxiety.

She nodded, expression contorted into a muted cry. She reached out until her fingertips grazed his skin.

Kai was able to pull her out, her legs shaky but able to support her. She was in her thirties, casual loungewear mostly intact. He steadied her shoulders as Carsten let the remnants of the frame fall down. "Are you injured?" he asked, doing a once over to catch anything her shock would miss.

She shook her head, face still contorted.

"Was there anyone else with you?"

She hesitated, shock rolling off her like heat from a furnace.

"Was there anyone else in the house with you?" he repeated.

"No," she finally spoke, words wavering. "I was home alone."

Kai nodded. "Okay. You're safe now. You're safe, okay?"

She nodded.

"What's your name?"

"Jackie."

"Jackie, great. Can you do me a favor, Jackie?" He shifted his shoulders until his body faced the street. "I'm going to need you to head over towards that bus, okay? You head down there and we'll get you help. Can you do that for me?"

She nodded. "I can do that."

"Great." He steadied her as they walked across the uneven ground until the sidewalk mercifully appeared. He watched as she took the first few steps, making sure she was steady enough to finish her trip, before turning back to Largo.

One down.

Who knew how many more were left to go.

The longer time went on, the less grounded Kai felt in his own body. The rush was like being in training again, but the monotony was replaced by panicked urgency. The reserve of time they had to pull from was unknown, but it was running out nonetheless.

He began to understand the repetition of the drills. They made it so your body still worked when your brain ceased to.

Kai didn't even know how he arrived at this house. The wreckage mirrored the rest so well he nearly mistook it for the first. He tried to take solace in the small patches still standing, perhaps a good omen for its inhabitants.

Carsten lifted yet another hunk of house up with relative ease but less momentum. Even under the enormous weight, his eyes were trained carefully to the spot in front of him. There was a noticeable shift, the light of recognition.

Kai reacted, ready to rush over and offer a weak, but determined, hand.

Instead, Carsten stuck his arm out in front of him, more worried about signaling Kai than the weight against him. "Gilling, wait!" he strained.

Kai froze. Whatever Largo saw, he didn't want to share in the sight.

The seasoned squad member inched his way closer to his target, maneuvering the wreckage awkwardly around him.

Kai wanted to protest. He knew what Carsten was looking at and why his senior didn't want him to see. The gesture, while noble, was unnecessary. Kai lacked physical strength but he wasn't weak-willed. He'd made it this far, hadn't he? He didn't need to be protected by Carsten Largo or any other member of the Baz squad.

The glimpse of a motionless hand struck his nerves enough to still his tongue for the remainder of the assignment.

Time liquefied. Thoughts became water. They coalesced into a river that flowed right past him, becoming something he could no longer grasp with his hands.

He didn't remember how many people they found.

He didn't remember how many of those people they saved.

It couldn't have been many. The further they moved up the street, the less damage they encountered. Buildings started to look like buildings again.

They were modest; he learned. Many of the homes on the street were single level, cheaply made. It may not have been that severe of a storm, but merely poor workmanship bending to the force of a strong-willed Gaia. He wasn't sure which truth was more terrifying.

Still, even if the damage wasn't apocalyptic, it was exhausting.

They ran nonstop until his legs shook with the subtle tremor of an exhausted ache. Largo's face was pink and beaded with sweat, but the rigidity of his spine left no suggestion he was feeling as tired as Kai was.

After a final sweep of their quadrant of the block, they made their way back to the bus.

The survivors of this nameless town weren't loud--most weren't even talking out of shock. But there was something clouding the atmosphere. A buzz. An energy radiating off the masses blurred the edges of his thoughts. He tried to block it out without bumping against the bodies around him.

Alayna was in the midst of a slowly congregating squad. Her body was present, but eyes were ten miles beyond the rest of them. "Largo and Gilling," she noted, less of a greeting and more of a tally. "Where's Zigs and Desco?"

"Triaging on bus B," Irene spoke up.

She nodded once, attention not yet grounded. "Right. Then let's proceed. Local EMS is limited, but we were able to get word the local evac point is the elementary school. Four miles northeast, relatively close. We'll take Bus A to the school and regroup. Bus B will get to the nearest infirmary and meet up with the rest when we're done. I'll take the sick bus with Ziskin and Descoteaux. Largo, you're with me. Kirk, take the rest to the school. Try to get a better sense of the structure around here. Prepare them for extraction no sooner than tomorrow. I'll contact the Arc when I get back. Garver and Gilling, keep 'em calm. Keo, keep an eye out for troublemakers. We'll reconnect as soon as possible."

Without a formal close, Baz was off to her respective bus, Largo following close behind.

Deon offered no conclusive thoughts, either. He headed for the other bus, not stopping to ask the other squad members to follow.

When they boarded the bus, Kai didn't make eye contact with any of the evacuees. Instead, he scanned over them, tracing their silhouettes to get a better idea of how many had come aboard. A dozen? Two dozen? He wasn't sure if any were occupying the upper level or if they had all congregated in the same space.

Jey must have had a similar train of thought, pushing past the rest of them to ascend to the second level.

Deon hopped in the driver's seat and prepared to embark.

Kai didn't move. His attention was pulled in all directions--Deon's hands on the dashboard, sounds of the light drizzle on the glass windows, glimpses of the strangers huddled in bus seats, searching for signs of activity on the upper level--

He felt something on his shoulder, grounding him instantly.

It was Irene's hand, warm and gentle to the touch. Without saying anything, she guided him into a nearby empty seat until he was sitting, against the will of twitchy feet and restless legs. The slightest side eye glance from her told him everything he needed.

You did the best you could do. The scary part is over now.

Breathe.