"How much longer?" Prencess ran up to the captain, a bright smile pasted between her cheeks.
"Just twenty five minutes- five minutes less than when you asked me five minutes ago," he muttered as she brushed past her. "Now will you please stop asking me?"
"Sorry," she giggled, returning to Augustus's side as he peered over the edge of the ship. "I'm just excited to be on land again.
Eva glanced at me, a look of annoyance spread all across her face. If there was any reason not to like the twins, it would be the impatient, giddy behavior they'd been displaying since this morning. Everyone else had been too similarly happy to notice.
Krev barely had a moment to spare in preparation for docking, but he paused to give me an apologetic mention. "What's your plan, kid?"
"First we get everyone safely off the boat."
He gave me a firm nod and was on his way.
Augie approached me with a sheepish frown. "So..." he mumbled, "what is your plan?"
I looked over at Eva. "I have to confront Naceo- the god. Its all I can do."
The only pleasant thing about an empty boat was the quiet. All I could hear were the waves caressing the sides of the ship, then briefly a lone seagull cawing overhead.
It wasn't completely empty; I knew Eva and Augie were still helping the last few heads cross the plank over to safety, and Krev had no interest in abandoning his vessel while I was still aboard. "I know what this means for you," he sighed, "but I can't afford a stowaway- not one like you."
"I understand," I bowed me head, "I'll be gone soon."
Each of them took their turn to say half a goodbye, for it was not certain if I would ever resurface resurface once I took the plunge. Captain Krev, a solid handshake; Augustus took my hand too but went in for a quick, awkward hug. "Good luck Jace."
Eva kissed my forehead. "I believe in you."
I stood on the edge, wavering in the air as I balanced upon the railing. Then I dove.
The pure water felt so good, I nearly forgot the demon I was about to encounter. It didn't take long for him to arrive before me.
He was calmer now. Even just a week can suppress a grudge in god-years, I suppose. "It's impressive you'd lasted this long," he grinned knowingly.
I went straight to the plan, disinterested in making meaningless conversation to appease him. "I was thinking maybe we could cut a deal."
He crossed his legs, floating with his chin in his palm. "This interests me."
I took a deep breath. Clarity of mind was definitely making this task less daunting. "Hundreds of years ago, a tribe made you a promise... and their descendants have not honored that. As you can tell, I am a pretty persistent human. Let me live on land, and I will restore the conditions of their promise."
Naceo seemed like he was considering the idea, but I wondered if his quiet contemplation was all just an act of intimidation when he suddenly blurted, "No."
""N-no...?" I shivered, "can I... can I at least know why?"
"Fine," he shrugged, "but you'll forget everything I told you within a few minutes, so I don't really see..."
"Please!" I couldn't be sure, but I felt tears bleeding from my eyes.
"Persistent indeed." he smirked. "That promise from long ago is none of your concern, for you are no longer living in a human-dominated world. What humanity does with itself is inferior to me. I solved your problems by ending them."
"Do you honestly believe that humans aren't going to make a comeback? We are already repopulating... regrowing... the cycle will continue!"
There was an undertone of disgust as he spoke, "why do you keep saying we like you're still one of them?"
To hear this stung my heart... he really was just taunting me now.
"I was one. But I'm not not yours either... not a zombie."
"You're Neither," he smiled. "Alright, I have a better deal." He swam in circles around me. "I was never as careful as my mother, the stars... I was never as powerful as my father, the earth. But I am still a god... a creator. Let's see what I can do with you." His fingers twiddled, each of them sparking with a brief burst of light sporadically.
"What are you doing...?" I tried backing away, but resistance would be futile underwater.
"Making our deal."
I didn't bother to try telling him that the point of a deal was to have both sides in agreement. Compromise wasn't a word in Naceo's vocabulary. His touch was intensely electric, and his fingers burned my skin as they dragged across it. I screamed, cringing as his hand came across my chest and up my neck. "STOP!" I couldn't help but cry out, but I hear his voice respond, surrounding me like the water, a chorus of "ahh... but this is what you wanted...!"
Did I really want this? How could I have asked for something so painful? My body trembled, my eyes twitched. He was transforming me into something else. Something new.
After a a few minutes of this torture I could finally bear to open my eyes. I noticed that whatever Naceo was doing to me was also making him weak. His eyes were winced and he was biting down on his lip, gradually losing control of his finger movement.
I summoned all the strength inside me to raise my knee up to my chest, and I kicked him away. To my surprise, he flew. He was at least twenty feet under me now, and slowly coming to. I hadn't expected such power, and starting a fight was not my intention. Yet when he zipped back up to have at me again, I was able to block him with a quick jab of my elbow.
Not only did our battle last for a few long minutes, but it was equal. I tended to have the upper-hand just as much as he did, and we both ended up on the sandy ocean floor, laying on our backs and exhausted. I knew the fight would continue, but something didn’t feel right. It was fair- unfairly fair. Why would the god let this happen if he was only looking out for himself?
“I don’t want to fight you,” I was breathing hard.
“Then why’d you kick me?” He was like a child when his anger took him, and luckily he was too worn out for a physical comeback now.
“What did you do to me?”
He rolled over. I could see he was bruised all over his back. I wondered what I looked like.
"I made you stronger,” he was crawling to his knees now. “Your skin is tougher. Your reflexes, keener.”
It didn’t make any sense. Why would he want to make me more powerful? I looked down at my arms and watched as all the freshly made scrapes and slashes healed before my eyes. Even my knuckles, which had been blistering up from when I’d punched the boat, sealed back into fresh skin.
“You were right, Neither…” Naceo spat, “as long as the world has humans, humans will dominate. I’m tire of being the bad guy. So you’re the bad guy now.”
I was confused, but I knew Naceo wouldn’t say something like that if he didn’t truly intend for it to happen.
“What was the deal?!” I growled.
“You’ll figure it out soon enough…” I couldn’t watch his lips form the words, for he had vanished into the darkness beyond me.
I was left alone, puzzled and terrified.
What did this mean? I boggled over it for some time. He was allowing me to stay in the sea for now. If I left, there was a chance he would not let me return. But we were equal in combat now. I could fight to stay, even for just a few breaths. No… he would let me return. I was baffled- yet something about what he said stuck with me. He didn’t want to be bad anymore? Even Zupak had foretold that the god’s intentions weren’t worse than society’s.
Reflecting on my encounter with Zupak, I wondered if perhaps someone else’s wisdom could settle my confusion.
Krev’s ship was still there when I was drifted ashore by a passing wave. I heard them calling out to me from on the deck.
“Don’t touch…” I reminded Eva gently as she ran towards me. She stopped shore in the dry sand.
“What happened in there?” Augie exclaimed, “For a minute the waves got huge! Our whole boat almost fell on its side.”
“We… made the deal.” What was wrong with me? Why did I cover up the truth once again? I looked at Eva. She was smiling cheek to cheek. She hugged Augie to cope with her own excitement.
“I knew it would work!”
Did I not have the heart to tell Eva what had really happened? Or could this actually be what we wanted?
I didn’t want to think about it just yet. Right now I was just glad I had another moment to spend with the people around me.
Augie had assured us that everyone was already started on the trail which would lead from the waterside to the cityscape, but he was mistaken.
The twins had straggled behind, curious as to why it was taking so long for us to “help Krev dock the boat.” They had witnessed the enormous tide that resulted from my fight, and had seen me emerge from the water. We caught them hiding behind the withered remains of a surfing equipment rental shack.
“How much did you see?!” Eva had snapped, and they came clean. Even if they hadn’t seen anything, they could see me now. I was dripping wet. I stripped down to my underwear and hung my clothes on the broken plank that once had “welcome” painted on it, now just “ome” with half its c. I was paying extra attention to Bitty. Eva was right… she did look at me differently.
“Are you going to be okay?” she reached out to me tenderly.
“Don’t touch him!” both Eva and Augie swatted her hand away, though it seemed Eva enjoyed it more.
“What happened? Why were you in the water?”
“I thought I saw Eva fall in.” Augie and Eva were surprised to hear me lie. “It’s ok, I have my vaccine. I might get sick like Augie did when he accidently got wet, but I’ll be okay soon.”
“You’re very brave,” the girls gasped in unison.
I winked at Eva, and for once in a long time there was delight in her eyes.
Krev handed the SafeZone route map back to Augustus, trading it for another map we’d found stashed under the register of the old rental shack. “There’s an outlet right off the trail. I can grab what I need for the way back, and so can y’all for your journey.”
“It’s not exactly on our way, but we’ll need to stop anyways. The group isn’t used to moving again yet.” He folded it and tucked it into his back pocket. “Come on, let’s catch up with the others.”
I was reluctant to continue with them, for it had been many months since I had last traveled from the shore. When Krev gave me a suspicious look as I trailed behind Augie’s lead, I added, “I could think of a few things hat would be useful for our trip.”
What was I thinking of? Immediately the idea of a container crossed my mind. Maybe I could travel with them the whole way if I was able to keep enough ocean water inside some type of large jar. I’d grown accustomed to smaller doses because of the awful boat trip and this time I would be fueling on clean water. Yes… I would be able to stay with Eva for longer! And even if the amount wasn’t sustainable, I could turn back and travel alone once I’d taken a sip past what I could afford for a pleasant return.
I brought up the idea to Augie once we had made it to the outlet. Everyone was now resting on the abandoned merchandise of a furniture store. He was standing guard by a shattered window.
Augie’s bike had been transported with us in the ship. He left it on- the plan was to accompany Krev back tonight after collecting resources for the way back. “Let me go with him,” I offered, “I can be the one to get your bike back. I want to find a container… fill it with ocean water. I can make it last.”
“Are you sure a container is going to be enough? I mean… how big are we talking?”
I peered beyond the broken glass and spotted a sporting goods store. “I could carry at least five canteens in a backpack. If I’m running low by the third one, I could turn back sooner.”
He gave me a worried look.
“I know,” I sighed, “I’m really pushing my limits. But I really want to protect Eva, and-”
“Protect?” Augie snorted, “If anything, it’s Eva who is protecting you! Are you scared she won’t come back for you?”
Was I? No… I was afraid of being alone. I didn’t want to leave the group. Moving with them felt confirming to my humanity.
It was too complicated to explain, especially to someone like Augustus. So I left it at that. “Please let me do this,” I grit my teeth, “I just want to be with her.”
Augustus was eventually understanding, overwon by the idea of passion for a girl. During the ferry ride, he and Prencess had become more exclusive. I knew he had a soft spot for love.
But the plan was shut down immediately by Krev.
“No offense kid,” he looked me up and down with a bitter frown, “but you make me nervous. I’m not going anywhere with you if it’s not without him.”
He was pointing at Augustus.
I gave Augie the same pout as I had before. “I can ride on the back. Please, Augie.”
Krev wasn’t very thrilled by Augie’s final choice.
We started at the supermarket. It was peculiar to be inside a building again, much less a remnant of the pre-apocalyptic era. This grocery store had hardly been touched. At first it seemed we should be delighted by the surplus of food and supplies, but then a dark thought dawned on us: towns nearby the ocean were probably invaded by the disease too rapidly to escape it.
Which must mean this city was crawling with children.
Just as the realization had hit all three of us, a dank scent of death filled the air. We stumbled backward as soon as we’d entered the aisle. Two dead bodies were strewn in pieces across the floor.
Before any of us could inspect further if they were freshly killed or just a tragedy of the pat, we heard a metal clank, and a can of soup rolled slowly across the floor.
We stood terribly still. Whatever it was… or were…
They were small, like kindergartners. There were twelve of them and they looked like skeletons. They were far too malnourished. Zombies wouldn’t die of starvation, but it affected their appearance. There wasn’t a trace of human left inside of them.
Augie didn’t hesitate to shoot, but we were outnumbered. They weren’t particularly fast creatures, but running wouldn’t do any good. They had ambushed us from the exit.
I grabbed the nearest thing, which happened to be a small box of salt. I hurled it at one of the children, and the package exploded upon the impact of its chest. I continued forward; flight shifting to flight.
I slaughtered all of the children within the same minute we sighted them. Blood all over my arms and legs, I looked back and growled at Augustus, “I must need extra protection, huh?”
He was quiet.
Krev concluded his sour attitude towards me after I’d saved them in the supermarket. Next we raided the sports store. I took a backpack, four canteens, and their heaviest baseball bat. Krev took one too.
But when we made it back out to the shore, we were in for a horrible surprise.
The ocean was gone.
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