Raelon watched the grate spark as the rats continued their suicide. He shook his head and went over to stand alongside Jannah, still digging around for food.
"Fucking vultures," Jannah said, Raelon putting a hand on her shoulder. "They're leaving nothing now."
"They think they're protecting us," Realon said. "So long as they're fed, that means they can do their jobs."
"What a farce."
He wished he could help her. More than anything, he wished he could set her free from the bonds she had wrapped around herself, but Raelon was ignorant to the world and didn't know the language of ease.
Jannah rose up and hefted her backpack. "There's nothing for us here."
They wandered for a long while. Raelon said very little if anything at all. Sometimes Jannah looked as if she might say something, and then their walk would continue, stepping over bodies as if they were nothing.
Now they were among green plains stretching over horizons. Jannah sat and parsed a hand through her hair, Raelon in-tow for if anything he was obedient to whomever he followed. This had always been true, of course, but there was something different about Jannah.
She picked one of the flowers with white pedals and placed it into her hair, sighing sadly.
"I wish I could help you."
She smiled at him, but it was false. "Thanks. I appreciate it. I really do. But some things you just can't fix."
"Maybe if you talk about it."
She shook her head. "I'm trying to survive. That's it. Not enough anymore, yeah?"
"Yeah."
She got up. The wind took her hair and beyond the sky lurched with newfound electricity. There'd be a storm soon, but this in and of itself was not abnormal and so Raelon did not despair like he used to. He would follow in her wake. Without her, he was drowning.
"I can't stand this place. I need to go up."
Raelon closed his eyes tightly.
"You don't want to. I get that. You don't have to go if you think it's a lost cause."
"Jannah, no one has..." Raelon sighed. "No one's been able to do that for a long time. Not ever since..."
"The poison," Jannah whispered.
Raelon turned, and there coming out of the folds of the city was the gas, trickling along. When it came to them, Raelon breathed freely, for both of them had been forced to inhale the stuff and were now bound to the city, no matter where they went.
"It's up there," Raelon said. "It has to be. They're suffering just like us."
"Jesus, Ray. When have they ever suffered? You invent these scenarios because they make you sleep better at night. I can't do that. I wasn't made that way."
That Raelon did agree with, though he didn't say it. Jannah took a step forward and breathed in the fumes. As she did, she began to cough, falling to the ground. Raelon tried to help her but she waved him away. When she was done she wiped away her tears.
"I just want to go home," she whispered.
A shiver, rolling down his back, and Raelon knew then that they had to try.
"Okay." He exhaled. "Okay."
He took her hands. When she looked up into his eyes, he found himself renewed. He would do anything for her. He would kill anyone for her.
"Do we wait, or..."
Raelon clutched her hands tightly. "I think it's important that we go now."
He'd miss the green, but now he had something like purpose, and this in a way was pleasant for him.
When they came to the first street, Jannah kissed him suddenly. Raelon teetered at the precipice, wondering what he should say, so he just smiled, following after Jannah.
"It was somewhere near the factories," she said, standing on her toes so that she could look over the buildings of the city.
Raelon couldn't help himself: He watched, memorizing every part of her, wishing more than anything that things were back to normal.
"I remember driving by there with my dad," said Raelon. "He told me never to get too close. They treat people differently if they aren't already from up-top."
She stopped and came up to him. "Do you remember where it was?"
"Yeah."
He went on, and she followed. Sometimes they'd hear a gunshot. Before, Raelon would flinch. He was better about that now, having wanted to prove to Jannah that he wasn't a coward despite all of his friends and family being cowards.
A hovercar screamed overhead.
"Fucking vultures."
He'd died a long while ago. He was curled up into himself, as if he were protecting something hidden. But there was nothing there: just another corpse for the bugs.
"He was old," Jannah said, peering at the dead man's face. "Wonder why he left the apartments."
"Sometimes they think they can make it out okay," Raelon responded, watching their backs.
She got up, then nodded. "Sorry. Keep going. We shouldn't give a shit about this anymore."
Raelon didn't know why, but that was the saddest thing he had ever heard.
The blocks became flat plains of nothing, the good earth smothered by metal. Yellow lines against black.
A set of gunshots, then the barking of dogs. Raelon fled by instinct; by now they had both been tempered by the constant vigil of the vultures. Racing across that gray dune, Raelon looked only once to see long shadows cast against the ground.
They made it across, Jannah waving him in as she stared in-horror at the dogs racing after them, and from the mist: monsieurs, dipping into shadow.
They ran into the nearest apartment. Jannah shut the door and slammed the latch down. One of the dogs yelped, then: silence.
"That was close," Jannah managed to say, still trying to catch her breath.
Raelon leaned against the wall. The apartment was completely void. He wondered if there was anyone living inside the rooms, secretly hoping it wasn't the case.
"Maybe you were right," he said. "Maybe it's a good thing we're doing this."
"I don't want to do it anymore than you do, but they have to be taking people. They have to know what's going on."
Raelon could hear the dogs, pacing back and forth.
"I don't know. Think about how much we ignored before it all went to shit."
Jannah seemed startled by this answer. She took a step forward, then said, "Let's try and keep positive, okay?"
"Okay."
They went out the fire exit and--trying not to make any unnecessary noise--fled from the monsieurs. They managed the escape, though Raelon did not lower his guard.
"Where are we?"
Pieces of cloth hung from poles and wires, colorful, layered on top of one another. Raelon took a few more cautious steps, finding little but more cloth, nothing that might indicate anyone was here.
"We're not far."
Jannah nodded, then followed, glancing to the side.
It was becoming harder to step through that maze, the cloth bunched up on the ground. Raelon was constantly searching for something to jump out at him from the sheets.
"Raelon...what the hell is this?"
"I don't know," Raelon said, and it was the truth.
"Raelon--"
"Just follow me, okay?"
Jannah touched her forehead in a quick, nervous motion.
They came to a gate, black as the city. Raelon tapped it with his shoe. Nothing.
"Guess we climb."
They appeared out of nowhere: men with guns. Raelon raised his hand, then motioned for Jannah to do the same.
"Where did you come from?" one of them asked. He was savage-looking, crazed in the eyes.
"Look, we don't want any trouble--"
The torches flared up.
"We want to go to the station," Jannah said.
"The station?" the man clicked his teeth. "That doesn't happen anymore. Military has that shit on lockdown."
"We were still gonna try," Raelon said.
The man sniffed the air. "We're gonna have to take them to King."
"Wait--"
As the guns forced them onward, Raelon figured they were lucky thet hadn't been caught by monsieurs, though strangers were strangers and they had impeded their journey forward--at least for now.
They were carried through tubes leading into the sides of great skyscrapers that still could not touch that dead sky. No matter how hard they had tried, Raelon realized they were nothing without the earth which had been given them. With only the sky, they were dead.
A door. It whisked open on their arrival. Inside, darkness reigned. It was impossible to see much farther than Raelon's outstretched hand. Then, light thrummed to life, and the walls were revealed to be mostly wires, all coming down to a man. Or at least he had once been a man. He was so horribly mutilated Raelon pitied him, sure that he was dead.
The man came to life. He had once been handsome, Raelon figured. The face was bruised but not gone, and this gave the man some life. But the rest of the body was wires, pumping into his arms. Here was a man dead, forced into a tomb.
"Found these guys out back," said the man with the gun. "I didn't like their story."
"Fine."
The man in the wall raised his head, and now Raelon could see the traces of silver metal throughout his face, his body.
"I am Bobby King. I don't know who you are, and I don't care. You're not a monsieur, you're not Gordon's, you're not...well, anything. You're just a couple of dumb kids."
Jannah took a step forward. "What are you?"
Bobby King snickered. "Shit. Still doesn't get easy. I'm what I am, woman. Just another messenger-boy from god."
"Are you being kept alive by these machines?"
Bobby King shifted his gaze to Raelon, as did Jannah. She looked disappointed by his question.
"Yeah, they're keeping me around. I can read your head by the way. You don't have a fantastic poker-face. My life is fine, thank you very much. I had a lot more work to do and was cut off...prematurely. So it's fine."
"I didn't think anything like this could exist," Jannah said in something like reverence.
"It couldn't, until the world ended. It's amazing: we thought tech would save us, and it did...just a couple months too late."
Raelon took a step forward. "Look, we need to go. I don't know what this is, but we were headed to the station."
"Hold on."
Bobby King came forth, the wires holding him together straining with the weight.
"I must judge your quality."
"What does that mean?" Jannah asked in a small voice.
Bobby King grinned. "Means whatever it needs to mean. You're on my side now, okay? You trespassed and I need to make sure you're not causing harm to this city, to this world."
"How would you ever figure that out?" asked Raelon.
"It's easy. We just have to have a talk."
The way Bobby had said that last part made Raelon think the machine was lying.
"No bullshit," Jannah said. "We just want to go up."
"Up?"
Bobby King shifted his massive body, cranning his head back so he could see higher, and there like a dying light came an orb, listless, coming down and placing itself gently between Bobby King and his guests.
Bobby snatched up the orb and stared hard into it. He wiped it off a little with his still-human hand, then exhaled deeply and said, "What is the most important thing in the world?"
Jannah blinked. "What..."
"Answer my question."
For a while all Raelon could do was stare. He was taken out of his head by Jannah, reaching out and taking his hand.
"We just want to get to the station," Raelon repeated himself, emboldened
But Bobby King only smiled.
"Would you go alone, if you had to?"
Jannah was holding him so tightly he thought she might squeeze his hand off.
"No."
"Why not?"
"Because then there wouldn't be any reason for me to go....anywhere."
Bobby King closed his eyes and nodded solemnly. "Good. I can see that you are not a liar, and indeed if you were I would have to do what must be done to all sinners. These sinners, who infected our world, must be swept away. The next culling. Only by coming together under the glory of God might we achieve anything other than exile."
"If you're such a good person," Jannah said, "let us go."
"Oh, that's not fair and you know it. You'll have to think back on this conversation, which you will, from time to time, to make sense of this fate of yours. For now, you cannot go."
Jannah took a step back. "What? Why?"
"We're not staying here," Realon stated.
"But you don't really have a choice. No one has any real choice. Not anymore. And that, I think, is the saddest thing of all."
Raelon watched as Jannah bound her hands into fists. Her eyes were wet, and her body was rigid.
"What do you want from us?" Raelon persisted.
"I want you to stay here. I'm gathering a bunch of people. You see, when I died--or, rather, when my body died--I had a sort of...premonition."
Jannah took Raelon and forced him to look into her eyes. "Raelon, we have to go--"
"You're not going anywhere."
Bobby King rose up, and now Raelon was afraid. Before, Bobby's disposition and his religion made him seem like something of an ally. Now all Raelon could see the dark shadow cast by that being, and knew King was not of the land but something else entirely.
"I will not be tested. You will remain here and help me guide my flock to the next life. When it is over, you will see that I have saved you. The rich cannot save you. Their lease on life will soon be over."
Jannah pressed a hand to her face.
"Please," Raelon said. "We don't want this."
"Neither did I."
Bobby King crumpled into himself and then grew so silent and still Raelon was sure Bobby was dead. Yet the lights were still on, and the wires still vibrated with energy.
Down they went, deeper into that catacomb, surrounded not by the slick black-and-silver surface of the city but brick and mortar. Here was an old place, from the old world, sometimes seen outside but here it was concentrated. Jannah didn't say anything, and when Raelon was able to look at her face he saw nothing. Just another blank slate.
"Here we go."
King's man from before had led them to a door, taking out a ring filled with keys.
"I don't remember the last time I saw keys," Raelon said absent-mindedly.
The man smiled. "Yeah, well, down here we do things differently. Old Bobby King hates this new world of ours, so he's gone back to the basics."
He found the right key and opened the door.
Jannah and Raelon stood at the precipice.
It was a home. That was the word that came to Raelon as he grasped for a way to comprehend what he was looking at. There: an old-world clock, an old-world fireplace, pictures, and a piano. There was even a television; Raelon hadn't seen a television in many years. He thought that his uncle had one, sort of as a keepsake, but never before had he witnessed such a specific, well-maintained snapshot of history.
"What..."
"It's where you'll be living," the man said. "Shower takes a second to get going and you might hear thumping at night; that's just us making sure the grounds are safe. Other than that, this is all yours. In a sense."
"What does that mean?" Jannah asked sharply.
"Nothing. Just that you didn't exactly earn any of this, did you?"
Jannah looked ready to punch the guy.
Raelon placed a hand on her arm. Jannah tore away from him, marching into the room and then standing in the center, observing but not speaking, here and yet so far away Raelon couldn't reach her.
"We just want to leave," Raelon whispered.
The man grinned. "King'll tell you more when he wants to. For now, just sit tight. Who knows? Maybe he'll change his mind tomorrow."
The door closed behind them and the clock began to sing.
"Jannah..."
He tried to touch her but she whipped around, nearly hitting him.
"I'm so fucking done."
"I...I don't know what to do, how to help you."
"Help yourself," she said, turning. "Don't you see what's happening? He's..."
She searched the room, then exhaled. "I don't trust him. At all."
Something caught Raelon's eye. A chair. He touched the surface. Felt. He sat down, still feeling the material.
"My grandpa had a chair just like this."
Jannah sighed, her hand on her forehead as she began to pace the room. "Can we just...go?"
"I don't know what would happen if we did that," Raelon said. "I..."
"Are you afraid?"
He stared at her. "What?"
"Are you afraid?"
"Yes I'm afraid. Why kind of a question is that? Look around Jannah. Things are not good. Maybe it'd be fine if we got up to the station, but it would only be fine for a little while."
"You don't know that."
Raelon smiled. "It's the only thing I know for sure: that none of this is gonna last."
"Jesus."
She stepped away, then threw the clock off the mantle, glass shattering on the floor.
"I'm so tired."
She sat and put her head in her hands. Raelon, powerless to do anything else, came over and sat beside her on the floor, taking her shoulder, trying to give anything like comfort.
She leaned into him. This surprised Raelon a little. She looked up into his eyes, and he looked into hers, and there lay everything that he was, splayed out for the world to see.
They kissed. He felt her, and she did not fall away.
"Please," she said, a tear going down her cheek. "I just want to feel safe again."
Raelon stared hard into her face, then went to the door. He pressed his head against the wood, then opened it, just enough so that he could peak outside.
No one was there so far as he knew, so with determination he pushed the door and stepped outside.
Still alone, save for the rustling of leaves, wrapping around poles black as obsidian.
He turned to her. She didn't move, as if a statue.
"If we're going to do this, we have to go now."
Jannah got up, then they were running, their bodies strained to their limit as the city grew dark-gold, smothering them in its strange vibrations.
Finally Jannah tripped over something, and Raelon skidded to a halt.
"Are you okay?" Raelon said, frantic.
"I'm fine."
He looked down the way. "Do you think..."
"I don't know."
Jannah searched the ground before her. "I don't understand. Why weren't there any guards?"
"Maybe He thought he had convinced us."
"I didn't get that impression."
She came up to him. "I don't know what's going to happen next. You're right: I'm afraid. Maybe you 're right about everything. Maybe it all means nothing. But I got to hold on to something."
"Jannah, not here."
"Yes right here!" Jannah shut her eyes and sighed deep. "Okay. Okay, let's...just go."
They went over and climbed a sheet-metal fence, running into the street, ducking low and finding shadows to sneak through.
Raelon couldn't believe it. It was so easy.
Now he felt they were far enough, removing his hood and making sure Jannah was safe. As he began towards her, Raelon recognized one of the buildings, a thousand white scratches on the side. Growing up, Raelon had always wondered what animal had made the scratches.
"I think we're close."
Jannah stepped forward, blinking slowly. "Do you feel..."
Tired.
Raelon reached for his pack and drew out his ventilator. Jannah, wide-eyed, seemed to know it was too late for her.
She fell, and would have hit the floor if Raelon hadn't shot forward and saved her.
He got up and ran, looking behind his shoulder every so often, straining as he hefted Jannah so that she wouldn't fall. He thought he heard voices but he wasn't sure.
"Jannah."
She stirred, and he could see that she was drugged, her eyes glossed-over.
"Ray..."
She passed out again.
Walls unending, rising towards a putrid sky without form. There was a sullen glare from beyond the veil, washing out everything.
Finally, there stood the tower. Realon saw a faint outline, a city coming from heaven.
"We're here," he whispered into her ear.
She did not move.
Slow steps, to be sure not to jostle her. He approached the tower, a red flashing light on the door. He considered trying to find a gun and shooting it, instead kicking it in, the machinery chirping and the door sliding open.
Jannah stirred.
"Jannah--"
Sparks flew. A great tube lifted from the ground. Raelon came close to it, then the doors leading in swung open, completely silent.
Raelon lowered Jannah to the floor and helped her up. For a while they just stood there in awe.
"It's been so long," Jannah whispered.
Dogs, barking.
Raelon gripped her arm. "We have to go."
They climbed in and--without any more hassle--began their ascent. It took Raelon a second but eventually he became used to that upward-momentum.
The city was dying; up here it was clear. Raelon lamented silently, Jannah coming up to the glass and pressing a hand against it.
Then: darkness. They were jostled one more time, and the doors opened.
Instead of roads the station was composed of smooth surfaces, and out ahead they could see marbled catacombs glowing faint-red. The clouds stuck to the station so that a sort of fog permeated at each corner.
They snuck below canopies wavering with artificial wind and beyond if Realon squinted he could see the outline of a bubble. The sun was there, not quite as faded as back on earth but still surrounded by dark clouds.
Buildings upon buildings upon buildings, colored lights filtered throughout, and suddenly they were inside a world teeming with life, many as young as they were or younger, a sort of safe-haven for the station's children still living out a placaded life.
They came together at the side entrance to a mall.
"If only they knew," Realon whispered. He couldn't help himself; the juxtaposition was too much.
Jannah stared at him.
"But they do."
A man wearing a visor--probably security. He came and waved them over.
"You live around here?"
"Yeah, of course," Raelon said quickly.
"Let me see your IDs."
Raelon froze, slowly looking down at his pocket.
"I forgot it."
The guard sighed. "Look, I don't have time for this."
Jannah stared at Raelon, petrified. Raelon wasn't faring any better.
"You're not from around here," the guard stated.
Jannah flashed the guard a cruel look. "The tube was working. What are you going to do, arrest us for visiting?"
The guard changed then, taking a step back.
"Are you infected?"
"What are you talking about?"
"Did you breathe in the smoke?"
Jannah began to blink very quickly. "We had masks--"
"Jesus Christ, how did you get up here?"
A couple hovercars raced into Raelon's vision, painted black. They swerved and delved upon their position, screaming at the sky.
More guards, these ones armed with dark visors.
"Get back."
"What are you--"
Frank felt bad after, but it had to be done. If they had to shut it down again he didn't think they'd live out the afternoon.
He hooked his mask on so that it covered his mouth and nose, the others doing the same. Sally, her ponytail caught in the strap of her mask, came forward, glancing at the bodies.
"There's going to be questions."
"They said they got up by the fucking tube."
Frank clicked his receiver on. "Brandon, where the hell are you?"
"I'll be there in a second. What happened?"
"Just some couple, from...below."
Nothing. Frank scowled and put the receiver away.
"He's pissed," Sally said, checking the woman. "He doesn't like it when they sneak up here."
"So long as we keep it low-key, we'll be fine."
Sally looked up at him. "Are we poisoned?"
Frank was startled by the question, quickly saying, "Everyone's got some of it in them."
"Frank, that's fucking bad."
"It's just the way it is."
She found some ammo in the girl's pocket and tossed it to Frank, marching off.
"We'll tell you when we get the green-light," Sally said, getting into the hovercar. "Just promise me you won't dig up any more of these freaks."
Frank grunted. "Can't do that."
Sally shook her head as the door closed and they sped off into the sky.
"Frank."
The receiver buzzed until Frank clicked the switch.
"Scrap it--we'll just have a crew clean it up. We've had a report of a bad stink coming from an apartment, Block 86. Think you can swing by?"
Frank sighed. "Yeah, fine. Want to get my mind off everything anyways."
The receiver clicked, and Frank wandered off. He hoped the day would get better.