The Oracle of Refuge

Chapter 11

The mountain rose up from the misty hills, looming like a sentinel, which made Brynne think of Sync standing over her. It appeared blue in the mist, slashed here and there with the white of snow and snow-covered trees. Its peak was surrounded by a dark gray cloud that almost seemed to circle around the mountain.

"That's where your city is," Reuben told her, handing her a pair of binoculars. "Always drowning in fog."

Brynne looked through the lenses. The cloud around the peak was indeed a fog, brownish-gray and nearly opaque. As it swirled, she caught glimpses of right angles and straight lines, buildings made by human hands.

"Does anyone still live there?" she asked, handing the binoculars back to Reuben.

He shook his head. "Not that I know of."

"Why did you go there?" she wanted to know.

Reuben looked at her quietly for a moment. "To be honest, young lady, I was looking for a place to die."

Her breath caught in her throat. Before she could apologize for asking, he spoke again.

"My family was gone. I wanted to be gone, too. Figured the easiest way to do it would be to let someone else do it for me, so I went up there, where I knew it was dangerous." He rubbed his gray beard. "Thing is... on my journey I found out I wanted to live and that Someone else wanted me to live. There was still something for me to do, something to honor my family and my God." He smiled. "I guess this is it."

She smiled back. "I guess so."

Beyond Reuben, she could see Adam standing there, looking around, pretending not to be listening to their conversation, probably uncomfortable with Reuben's confession, probably antsy to get their little convoy on the road.

"We should keep moving," Brynne said, and her companions agreed.

They continued up the narrow, faded trail that ascended the mountain. The higher they rose, the more patches of snow draped the ground until all of a sudden, they were surrounded by snow and snowy pine trees. The air thinned and cooled with every upward step, and the trail disappeared under the snow.

Sync took the lead without being asked, scanning the ground before him and reaching down to sweep snow away from the path.

As the climb grew steeper and the mountain colder, the travelers grew quieter, the men and the android focused on getting everyone safely up the mountain, and Brynne focused on anything but going up the mountain.

Still sore from their previous adventures, Brynne motivated herself to keep going by thinking of anything other than her aching body. She thought about her siblings and her parents and thanked God that they were safe, wherever they were. She thought about the people back in Refuge–Kelvin, Ruth, Maggie, and Alvin. She wondered about Officer Hunter and Oren Clay, if they could be trusted. She wondered if she should apologize to Suzette Blaze for speaking so harshly to her. She thought about meeting Holly Oake in the room with all the trees. She thought about Adam and Sync fighting to defend her. And the dogs. And the angels.

Brynne's right food slipped in a patch of ice, and she started to skid backward, but Adam was fast. He came up behind her, bumping against her back with his chest, taking her elbow gently and righting her on the trail.

"Thank you," she murmured, feeling suddenly warm, which was a nice change.

"You're welcome, Oracle. Keep your focus on the trail."

Brynne sighed. "I have to think about something other than walking up this mountain or I'll start thinking about how much it hurts to walk up this mountain."