The Last Red

Chapter 12: The Wild Red

Triss and Tay lay on the ground, his buffed arms around her thin waist.

They both seem to be asleep.

A few feet apart, the smart silent man who's against venturing East hugs another tribe member - the man who brought most of the phigees in. 

I use my hands for support as I approach Tessa - the woman easily responsible for my being alive. My wounded hand trembles, but I grit my teeth and suck it up. One cannot afford being spoiled in the Wild.

Here, we're all on our own. Even if you're part of a tribe, it doesn't guarantee you'll be protected if you can't fend for yourself.

"Look at them," Tessa acknowledges my presence but doesn't face me. Her eyes are instead glued to the sleeping couples. "No one knows how much they've struggled."

I lean on a tree next to her, finally exhaling in relief as I relax my wounded arm. "We've all known tough times." I lost my parents, my two best friends... Three of them dying right in front of my eyes.

She slowly shakes her head. I guess she is not referring to life in imprisonment.

Silence.

"They've been together for over four years now," she looks at me at last. "I think they finally quit. Quit hoping, at least."

My forehead crumbles. "I- don't think I follow..."

"That's why I told them the story you heard today," the woman ignores me, "to give them hope. To prove it can happen. But she was already too bitter by the time she heard it. She only decided to hear the wrong in it."

Oh, I finally realize. Triss is infertile. 

"Truth be told, that baby's the only baby I've ever seen in the Wild. It's true what they say," her face becomes grim. "The world is coming to an end."

"I doubt that. My block alone housed a million people. There's more of us than walls can contain."

She nods multiple times, slowly, staring into the distance. "Maybe that's precisely why it happened. Nature decided we needed to stop multiplying," she breaks a twig into two and throws it into the flames. The fire was starting to die. "There's only so many of us the planet can handle. Maybe we've hit the number."

My brows furrow. "You blame evolution for it?"

Tessa's dark eyes penetrate my hidden green ones in a second. "Just laugh, child. You don't know anything. You're too young to know."

I think I'm more educated in the field, though. No disrespect.

"Sure, there's no boundaries to what evolution can achieve, but not in such a short period of time. It would take generations of gradual birth decline." 

She doesn't look at me, so I decide to help her feed the fire with some twigs laying around. 

"I worked in a genetics department back in KTL," I state to back up my thesis, "and let me tell you, we don't need any physical contact between a man and a woman for a conception to happen."

"Damn right we don't. How else would we all be here?" she shares a mocking, somehow frightening smile. "But tell me, girl, which eggs will the scientists use if all are barren?" She chuckles just a tad. "You can put as much wood to a fire that died but you won't get any warmer."

I swallow hard - it is her. My father used to say that to me all the time. He must have heard it from her.

"The eggs can always be cloned," I shrug, suddenly feeling a need to soothe her. "Besides, whatever it is that causes infertility...can be cured with AI. We have the technology to modify any gene in existence."

She scoffs with almost pity. 

"Look around you, girl," she stands up throwing the last piece of wood into the flames. "We don't have shit." 

I watch her walk away until she lies down to a pile of fabric nearby.

They must be logged in here.

I stare at the fire, listening to it chirp and c***k - alone with my thoughts.

Is this group of rogues my possible ally? I shake the thought away immediately.

They showed they're not to be trusted.

I look at my bandage.

It's filled with blood. 

I'll have to change the dressings with the first light. 

That means I can't be here tomorrow when they wake up. I can't show my wounded skin to any of them superstitious people. If they see I'm not a mixed person, I'll be sold for sand in less than a minute.

I look around, feeling too cozy next to the warm fire to move.

Maybe just a ten-minute nap?

I lean onto a tree and close my eyes, heating my hands against the heat.

The contacts feel rough against my eyelids. I never sleep with them. But taking them out in front of these nut-heads is a big no-no.

I exhale in defeat. I wish I had Keet with me. He'd know how to make me laugh. He'd probably say something foolish about my ugly-a*s wounds and then I might be able to take my mind of Kory's death, if only for a moment.

The flames consume my gaze again. I will not be able to get any sleep.

There's a strange sensation inside me - today I met a woman who gave birth to me. But what do I feel?

Nothing.

I feel void of emotion.

And that scares me the most.

I throw one last glance towards Tessa. 

You let me live once. That doesn't mean I trust you'd do it again.

I don't trust anyone. And it's the way it should be.

I force myself up. 

No time for resting. I'll sleep better knowing I'm far from them. 

I manage to stand up but my right leg burns like hell when I try to put all my weight onto it. 

I bend down and use both of my hands and feet to reach a tree. I spring off of my healthy leg to grasp a pretty thick branch, then let myself slightly hang off it until it breaks.

"Ahh," I exhale with pride as it does, ignoring the sharp pain that just went through my calf. "Perfect," a proud whisper escapes my lips. 

I use the branch as a walking cane and head my way out of this little forest.

So long, Southerners.

Note to self: avoid people from block TX.

I limp my slow painful way northeast. I won't stop until I have to.

The farther I reach, the better.

Even though my prospects are not bright given how much I'm hurting.

This type of pain is so sharp and consistent that I'm not even thinking of crying. Actually, I am thinking of it, but definitely couldn't focus on it enough for tears to come - it's crazy. Strong stabbing pain's ruining nerves throughout my entire body. 

I keep my jaw closed, lips slightly apart and maintain shallow steady breathing.

It's the only thing I can do to hold the smallest fraction of my focus.

As I pass through the dark desert I see a little house made of wood, large enough to fit three or four people. 

Wow. A family home.

Back when I was a Wild kid, sightings like these were extremely rare. A contributing factor being that trees were so much scarcer than they are now.

The change is so noticeable that breathing comes almost as easy as in the block.

The Wild is developing.

For rogues, though, it's safer to always keep moving. If one is confident enough to build a permanent habitat, it means they're capable of throwing a good fight.

And currently, I definitely ain't.

Cold sweat makes me shiver. Or is it the pain?

Maybe I could knock and ask to stay overnight?

No! 

Gather yourself, woman. You know the Wild. You know where to go to reach the closest safe haven.

Just keep going northeast.

You're almost there...

Why northeast? I suddenly ask myself.

Am I secretly hoping that Koben's there? Well, currently he's the only alive person out of KTL that I somewhat care about. Guess meeting him wouldn't be the worst thing in the world.

Discipline.

Focus.

I don't even know how I go on. It must be the shallow steady breathing combined with visualizing reaching my destination that keeps me going.

Discipline.

Focus.

Hope.

There's so much new stuff out here. I bet I'm missing half of it because of the dark and lack of focus.

What's there on the left?

I can't see it clearly, but I recognize the smell.

Heating plants.

They're test-tube shaped constructions, boxed with tall steel rods constantly producing gas emissions. 

They're meant to heat the atmosphere. 

I hope they've had some progress - that nights have gotten warmer than I remember them being.

I slow down, all my muscles fully contracted as I move stiffly like a robot.

I can't tell how long it passes before I reach water, but my math skills tell me I must have walked for two hours.

"Ughhh," I grunt letting myself finally collide with the ground and stuff my mouth into the pond, greedily gulping onto the liquid.  

When I'm done I stay lying down, simply turning onto my back.

I'm so numb right now - I could fall asleep in a second. I look around me to locate the haven I know.

But wait... did I really go northeast? I look up to the Moon.

My forehead crumbles as I try to decipher the silhouette on my horizon.

Am I hallucinating from my prior dehydration or is it really there?

I get up and take two more limps, wiping the cold sweat of my forehead as my lips part.

Yes.

A yard in front of me, there's a sturdy, grey box construction stretching to the skies in its massiveness.

"Huh... Another block."