Page 25 of Rebirth

I don’t imagine it. A chill goes through the room at his utterance and no one speaks. I try to smile, to soften the mood, whatever this is.

“Intuition? You went to the spot where the veins were, almost like you could sense them.”

He simply stares at me and I force away the shiver wanting to go down my spine.

There’s more to this. More I don’t know.

“You hypothesized the veins would disappear once the last of the Gryken dies,” Fer’ro says.

“Aye,” He’rox responds.

“But?”

There is tension in the room, so much that I could probably cut it with a knife.

“It has changed. Is changing.” He’rox’s voice is so calm, so reflective. If I didn’t understand his words, I would think he wasn’t talking about something so potentially dangerous.

Adira inhales deeply before resting her back against her chair. She places a hand on Fer’ro’s arm. “Let him go investigate. What harm could it do? Best-case scenario, it’s nothing to worry about.”

“And if it is?” San’ten growls. He looks like he’s ready to fight and again the tension intensifies.

Fer’ro leans forward, eyes on He’rox. “You go investigate. You go alone.”

My brows dive immediately. “I’m going with him.”

All attention turns to me.

Fer’ro’s eyes seem to blaze before that fire turns on He’rox. “You’ve convinced her? She’s only just arrived. Our responsibility is to keep her safe.”

“He didn’t.” My voice is steady despite the erratic beating of my heart. I move my gaze to the other women before me. “That’s what I’m here for, right? To help? I’m here to help. Let me help.”

Adira’s throat moves. “We may have liberated most of this area, but it’s still dangerous out there, and I’m not talking about the Gryken.”

I know exactly what she’s talking about. She’s talking about other humans. Wild animals that survived. Even just the fact that there is no shelter and out there is like an uninhabitable wasteland.

“There are gangs,” Deja says.

“Cults…” Sam adds, and they glance at each other.

“I know,” I reply. My father’s lessons were like little apocalypse packs, filled with information about what he thought would happen. How society would devolve. Growing up, those lessons felt like nightmares. But now, I’m glad he raised me that way. Prepared me, even for this worst-case scenario.

Maybe that’s why when the first alarm sounded and I saw one of those machines heading my way, I knew exactly what to do. It hadn’t been panic or terror, but practiced movements, my brain kicking into gear with everything that had been drilled into me for as long as I could remember.

My only regret as I climbed into that bunker was that I was doing so alone.

It had only been me and my father, and after he passed, that left me only me. I lived alone. And I was going to die alone.

“I know what’s out there,” I repeat, leveling the women and the Vullan before me with a steady gaze.

“And you still want to go with him.” Fer’ro speaks directly to me, and I have to remind myself that this is real. That I’m in a room with aliens and this isn’t some ultra-realistic dream.

“I do.”

I force down a lump in my throat and shoot He’rox another smile. I don’t expect him to respond, and his stoic calmness is almost comforting. Steady. Something I can trust in this world filled with uncertainty.

“We should tell her.” It’s a whisper, Adira to Fer’ro and then Sam to Adira. “Do we really? It’s more alien than the Vullan themselves. I don’t think she’s ready…”

Deja barks a laugh. “I don’t think any of us were.”

---