12.2
After fighting their way west, the shortest way out of the city and into the strip of low mountains that sliced into it, the group, now increased to a number of seven, found a little house in the woods.
Its walls were decayed, but its roof was still there, and they filed in through an open doorway.
A large table, looking far too big inside such a tiny shelter, sat in the center of the room they walked into, with eight chairs lined around its perimeter; somehow, they were all still standing upright.
One by one, they sat down at the rotting wooden table. In the middle of a deserted wilderness, they prepared to discuss the future of the world.
Light streamed in through the windows and a few small gaps in the roof, so they were able to see each other well enough. The table was rectangular in shape, and Echo and Eve sat on one side, with Nikki, Yumi, and Sasha, facing them. Jelani was at one end, and Corvus was at the other.
"Alright," Echo said, kicking off the conversation. "This is important, so let's start at the beginning. I guess I'm the only one who knew Silas… let's call him Blake instead. I'm the only one who knew Blake before he disappeared into the woods. He was in charge of the elemental research they did in Blackpool, which was where Eve and I lived."
She shared a brief smile with her daughter.
"Some shit happened, and they took me away from her. They placed me in Blake's program, but, obviously, the only thing I cared about was getting out. When they realized they couldn't get me to cooperate, they sent me to prison in Iron, and I was stuck there for years before I finally escaped."
"But while I was in the Blackpool program, I saw Blake once. He looked completely different. His hair was shorter and black, and he had a beard. His eyes were a different color, and I'd assume he acted differently from when you guys knew him. I only recognized him because of his voice. Back then, my only impression of him was that he was cold and logical."
"I was there for such a short time that I never learned exactly what they were doing, but it's obvious that they were trying to access as much elemental power as they could–they were using both people and technology to do it.
"When I learned about the 'accident' that happened at the main facility, I was certain it was intentional. There's no way that Blake would have let it just blow up."
"Are you talking about the Blackpool Incident?" Jelani interrupted.
"Yeah."
"I heard some of the subjects disappeared," he said. "It was just a rumor, but you would say that it's true, right?"
"Yeah," Echo affirmed. "Like I said earlier, there are probably more, but I have no idea about the exact number. I'm certain they're dangerous, and the fact that they guided you guys into Portland safely proves it."
With that, Echo's tale of her history with Blake came to a close, and she turned to Nikki expectantly.
"Actually," Nikki said hesitantly in response to Echo's scrutiny, "Corvus was the first one to meet Blake."
She looked at Corvus with an encouraging smile. "Is there anything you have to share about Blake, Corvus?"
What followed was a heavy silence. This was a topic that had never been broached, and neither Nikki nor Eve had any knowledge of its details.
"He saved me," Corvus whispered dryly, in his voice that sounded like a cold wind.
"From Ilwaco," the spider-like man continued. "I lived there. He promised me justice… against the people who'd done wrong. I believed him… because I didn't have hope left."
"But he betrayed justice today, and now he's one of the people… who needs to die."
They all felt as if the air had been sucked out of their lungs, and they averted their gazes from Corvus's hunched figure, terrified they might 'betray justice' if they kept their eyes on him for another second.
"O-ok," Nikki stammered, gulping as she broke the wall of silence. "I think I can go now, although I don't have much to add."
"…I've always been pretty good at understanding emotions, like sensing when people are upset or lying, but when I first met Blake, I couldn't read him like I could with other people, so I was a little anxious right away. But he hadn't actually done anything wrong, and I had just run off into the woods alone, so I was super grateful when he offered for me to join him and Corvus."
"He asked me to consume an element, and I believed him when he assured me that I could do it. From then on, we basically just survived together. We'd follow Blake's direction, and he was honest about wanting to one day change society for the better. I was glad that he was open about it, but I was still suspicious about the things I knew he was hiding."
She held up two fingers.
"Over the entire time I spent with him–I think it was around four years–apart from my gut feeling, there were only two things that I could find suspicious about him: his journals, and his radios."
"I don't even know how many journals he had, but there were a bunch. He kept them stashed in one of the backpacks, and he nicely asked us not to look at them, but anyone could tell that he really, really didn't want us to. I thought about sneaking a peek, but he always slept with that specific backpack right next to him, and he never let it out of his sight."
"He kept the radios in the same bag, and we used them to communicate with each other if we ever split up, like if we were searching for food. That was all fine, but what bothered me was what he'd do at the rebel gatherings we went to every once in a while for supplies."
"Sometimes, we'd split up so that we could see all the deals before they sold out. We'd each carry a radio and let the others know if we found something good. It seemed like it made sense, but it really creeped me out. I guess it just didn't feel like something Blake would do, but it's hard for me to say exactly why."
Nikki took a deep breath, looking down at the table thoughtfully.
"I think that's everything I have to say. Do you want to add anything, Eve?"
Eve's gray eyes weren't so sharply narrowed as they used to be, and she'd sacrificed her facade for an honest, vulnerable expression. But in return, she'd gained happiness.
The girl shook her head. "I'm not like Nikki, so I just saw Blake as some arrogant guy who thought he could do more than he really could. But when I think about it now, I guess he wanted me to believe that. He probably had a plan from the very beginning."
"Yeah, I agree," Nikki said with a somber nod. "I guess that's everything we know about Blake, so now we should decide if we're going to do anything about it."
"Hang on," Jelani interjected. "I just have one thing I want to say. After Blake told us that someone, who turned out to be Echo, 'might' have been hunting us, he told me–just me–that she definitely was. I also got the impression that he knew something about her that we didn't. I might be wrong, but I think we should consider it."
"Hmm… ok, thanks Jelani," Nikki replied thoughtfully, putting her hand to her chin. "That might be important… Anyway, does anyone have any questions?"
"I do," Echo responded immediately. "Yumi and Sasha," she said, directing her attention to the pair, "you two have nothing to do with this, so if we decide to do something about it, will you help? And to be honest, I'm more curious about why you even left society in the first place."
"I'm just doing what I want," Yumi declared. "So I'll only hang out with you guys if I want to."
Echo looked at Sasha, who blinked a few times under her terrifying eyes.
"Uhh," he started nervously, "I'll just do what Yumi does, because I don't really have anywhere else to go."
"Hey," Yumi said crossly, "I was going to pick what you did, Sasha. You're supposed to decide."
Sasha glanced at her.
He hesitated, but then he took a confident inhale, reminding himself that he'd resolved to be a little more decisive.
"We'll help you guys… as long as you aren't doing anything too crazy."
"Oh, it's gonna be crazy," Echo said ominously.
"A-ah. Well, ok. We'll do it."
Sasha was feeling good about himself for being so manly, but then Yumi patted him on the back a few times, and his face flushed in full color.
"Heh. Nice," Echo observed in amusement.
"If I had my way," she continued, wrapping an arm around Eve's shoulders, "I would forget about Blake and start a peaceful life with Eve, but I don't think that's possible."
"I asked you what you wanted to do, Sasha, but there isn't really a choice. We're all gonna have to deal with Blake eventually."
When those final words were absorbed by the damp wood of the abandoned shack, a thick silence fell over the company.
They were going to do something, but what? Blake's plans were a secret that no one knew.
Nikki, whose face had been screwed up in thought, took a long inhale of the heavy, woodland air.
"We need… we need to figure out what he'll do. Well, obviously he wants power, but how's he going to get it? I guess he'll break into a city and then…"
Just imagining his exploits pained her, and it showed on her face. Her mouth hovered open, but it finally fell shut, with nothing confident to say.
Echo nodded slowly. "Yeah, he's gonna break in, but…"
While they were all puzzling over this riddle, an unexpected voice shyly broke the silence.
"Based on what you guys are saying, it seems like he wants to go to Blackpool eventually, but it probably won't start there."
It was Sasha who spoke, cautiously angling his blue eyes at Echo, who examined him curiously.
"What are your reasons?" she asked.
He took a deep breath, building up his confidence and steadying his uneasy gaze.
"I'm assuming that he has enough power to take over at least one city by force, because otherwise, he probably wouldn't see it as logical to move now. Of course," he added quickly, "I don't know him. All I know is what I've heard today."
"He's been waiting for seven years, right?" Sasha said, looking at Echo for confirmation.
She dipped her head in a nod, and he continued. "That's a long time… He must have a plan that he's confident in."
Sasha swallowed, pausing in case the others wanted to speak.
But, with looks of careful anticipation, every eye in the room was fixated on him, and every ear could hear the words from his mouth, and his mouth alone.
He blinked at the spotlight he was under, clearing his throat uncomfortably as he realized that it was still his time to talk.
"I, uh… I think he'll attack Hoodsdale."